Where do imaginary friends go... when they're forgotten?
 

Has the subject ever been officially covered in a Foster's episode? I mean, they're made of real matter, but do they just suddenly go *poof*? Or is there an imaginary friend cemetery somewhere? Maybe it's too heavy a subject for kids to think about...

When the show debuted a few years ago, Lauren Faust (Head Writer and Co Creator) said in an interview that she and the other writers wrestled with the very subject of death and what happens to an IF when they pass away, but then decided that it would be too much of a touchy subject to fully explore, so they thought it would be for the best if they didn't go there. Which is good because it would have led to some very depressing episodes IMHO.

Not to say the whole mortailty thing hasn't been brought up in smaller doeses in some episodes, IE characters put into life or death situations and worrying about going to the boneyard.

I moved this thread from "Spam", which is for randomness, games, and otherwise non-Foster's stuff, to "General Character Discussions", since it IS about the Imaginary Friends within the context of the "Foster's Universe". It really did not belong in "Spam".

As Taranchula said, the show's creators have decided it would be best not to really delve into the aspect of character deaths too deeply, as it might be too depressing or disturbing, especially to young children who are just really beginning to grasp the concept of mortality. It's been strongly implied, though, that Imaginary Friends DO eventually die, and it's pretty much canon that they can be killed. We do not know how long they live, compared to us, or whether they are subject to the same physical maladies, like heart disease, etc. that humans are. I know that there was one episode(can't recall which), where Mr. Herriman expressed concern about some of the residents putting on too much weight, so apparently, being overweight DOES cause health issues for Imaginaries, too. We know that Imaginary Friends do believe in a concept of an immortal soul that continues after physical death, which means that they know that their physical bodies will at some point die.

pitbulllady

Exactly. When Lauren stated that they didn't intend to deal with the issue of death within the Foster's universe, I've always assumed that she was talking about its implications and, more specifically, the issue of bereavement. To be fair, I can think of some cartoons aimed at younger audiences which have managed to pull this off successfully, most notably the Alvin and the Chipmunks episode "Cookie Chomper" (which did really upset me as a kid, but with hindsight I'm very glad that I saw it, since it was partly my memories of that episode which later helped me to cope with the death of my pet rabbit), but I can fully understand why others would choose to avoid it. It is a slightly different matter, however, to include the threat of death within a show, which is a staple aspect of many drama and adventure stories, and something which I believe that even small children would have some understanding of, if only on an instinctive level.

Plus, we do know, from the case story of that ill-fated pizza slice, that Foster's isn't beyond the dispatching of an incidental IF for comedic value. ;)

Poor Master Pepperoni Pizza Slice, sacrificed solely for thy cheap laughs!

In a "Dexter's Laboratory"'s episode (Koosie's first appearance), when Dexter imagined him away, and he disappeared.

Come to think about it, I can't recall too many kids' cartoons (aimed at audiences aged around 7) that touches death (as in, characters being permanently gone, not like, the death in Grim and billy and Mandy).

Back in the day, the Transformers stirred up quite a bit of emotions with their animated movie, and to make it worse, I read that it was done just to sell a new line of toys! Talk about toying with your fans!

Also, Whoa, I just read the synopsis of "Cookie Chomper III". Sounds like a harsh way of getting rid of a character, even a minor one. But I guess it had to be done in a "realistic" manner for it to have an effect, not in a "cartoonish" manner, like having a safe fall on top of it.

There's a big difference, though, in how Imaginary Friends in the "Foster's Universe" are depicted, and how they're depicted in most other tv shows or movies. In the world of Foster's, Imaginary Friends become fully alive, biologically as well as cognitively, as soon as they're imagined into existence, and more or less from that point on are subject to the same laws of biology that most other higher organisms are. While they can be killed, by traumatic injury or disease, and presumably do eventually die, they can't be "imagined" away. There would be little need for a place like Foster's Home if that were true, since as soon as most kids got angry with their Imaginary Friend, or just got tired of him/her, that Imaginary Friend would cease to exist. Everyone can see the Imaginaries on Foster's, unlike most "traditional" Imaginary Friends, the type that Ben E. Factor described, that could only be "seen" by their creators and no one else, and whose existence seems to hinge upon those creators continuing to think about them and want them around.

pitbulllady

Cookie Chomper's death did, fortunately, occur off-screen, though I can remember it still making quite an impact, no less because it represented a pretty abrupt change of pace for the episode, which had previously had more of a "Who Let the Dogs In?" vibe to it. I certainly do admire Alvin and the Chipmunks for being brave enough to tackle such an issue. It's a very touchy area for a kids' show, but it is nonetheless something which most kids will eventually have to deal with in some way or another.

Also, I do have memories of a Rugrats episode which ran along a similar theme, in this case involving a woodlouse which Chuckie got very attached to. I seem to have repressed the exact method of the woodlouse's demise, but yeesh was that episode a sad one. :'(

He just died. If you asked me Chuckie probably didn't keep him damp enough; I used to keep roly-polys as pets when I was a kid and they always died even though I was sure I took good care of them. I didn't know that they actually have gills and if they're not kept damp enough, they suffocate.

Lol, and knowing is half the battle. 8D

Aww, poor Melville...for 'twas his name.

In a episode Mr.H leaft Fosters because f Frankie,he went to s shop,he was working as a salesman,in remember this one. :bloogrin:

I think perhaps you misunderstood the original poster's question there. He was asking whether nor not Imaginary Friends can die, or if they live forever, basically, and if something happens to them other than dying, what? It's been established, though, that they CAN die, so I would assume that like us, they live out their lives and then die.

pitbulllady

I am sorry. ::)

Huh, I kind of have a theory of what happens to IFs when they're "forgotten". They are, after all, ideas, thought up by their creator. Ideas can fade, especially once the person who came up with it is no longer around to remind others of it. So after the creator departs from this world, the IF can start to "fade", and maybe get sickly and age or something. When they are in fact forgotten by everyone, then they depart from this world as well. In the case of Uncle Pockets, he was obviously a hit when his creator was young, and even after his creator is gone, he's still remembered and known by many, so he's still going strong. In the case of the scribbles, they are still remembered in the very back of the subconsciences of the babies that thought them up. And as for being taken before their time, it's the manipulation of the creators (or the human thinking of them at the moment) imagination that does them in.

But then this doesn't exactly fit into the Foster's universe where IFs do indeed become "real", but eh, it's the best I can come up with. ;)

That was ORIGINALLY, more or less, what Craig and Co. had in mind, but realized that it wouldn't work with the whole premise of the Imaginary Friends becoming living, biological beings once created, since we all know that living things DO eventually die, so they scrapped that idea. They'd originally just figured that when a creator died, or even stopped thinking about an Imaginary Friend, that IF would just sorta fade away, becoming harder and harder to see, and less tangible, but if that were the case, MOST Imaginary Friends would have faded long ago, and indeed, we'd see that happen quite often on the show. Most kids DO forget, and I mean completely forget, their Imaginary Friends, perhaps intentionally, and unless reminded of them, wont' think of them again. They just do not seem to care;case-in-point: Mac's mom. If that is how Imaginary Friends cease to exist, for lack of a better term, then probably the only ones that would still exist would be those like Wilt, whose creator never stopped thinking of him, never stopped worrying about him or loving him, in spite of them being separated(and not because he WANTED to be separated, either), even after Jordan became an adult. While the show's writers decided not to tackle the issue of ANY major character actually dying, whether human or Imaginary, they've implied that IF's are still very much mortal beings. Foster's would hardly be needed if so few "survived" their creators forgetting them, and hundreds of such places would be needed if every Imaginary Friend that was ever created lived forever, barring accidental or intentional trauma, so the mortality rate of Imaginary Friends has to roughly balance out with the numbers being created.

pitbulllady

My theory was always that since the imaginary friends are real living beings in the show that it went something like this.
When no one remembers them, not they're creator, not any other humans, they die. It is being completely forgotten that kills imaginary friends, That is why Foster's is so important, since it's moto is "Where good ideas are never forgotten." They literally save the lives of those imaginary friends, because as soon as they are not remember by anybody, completely forgotten, they die.

Anyway doubt its right, but this is what I believed on the issue.
Erik Berg

What would an afterlife for IFs be?

IF heaven?

Has it been shown that friends can age? I'm thinking some are "born" to look/act old, but I remember :D :smed: and ;) in Somthing Old Somthing Bloo made tthemselves look old

In my mind, Imaginary Friends will never be forgotten. :bloogrin: :)

All we do know is that they do believe in an afterlife, and doesn't occur when the creator dies - just when the IF dies, like pretty much any other life. It seems that IFs have a longer lifespan than ours, but as they become elderly they will show signs of it, although thew process of that may take a long while, maybe longer than us, like their lifespans.

However, where they go after death is as questionable as us, save for the fact they don't vanish or anything, they just keel over like everything else. I'd believe it'd be a one answer for all living things, be it a heaven or reincarnation or what-have-you. Probably just so it's not confusing.

I can't say if any of them are correct. For all we know, we could be way off.

Well, here are my theories.

When a creator starts to forget about his/her imaginary friend while the friend is living in Foster's, the friend starts to have his/her health decline, and when the friend is completely forgotten, the friend dies.

UNLESS, of course, the friend is adopted. So even if the original creator forgets about his/her friend, the friend, they will still have a new companion.

Though I'm not completely sure what happens when the creator dies first. If I can remember from "Infernal Slumber" (Note: I'm not entirely sure, I last saw this episode in November 2007), when Mac starts shooting his mouth off at Bloo, most of it is inaudible gibberish (was he swearing? Because they used something similar to that in Chowder), but the only thing I could make out was "IF I DIE, THAT MEANS YOU...", does that mean...:wiltshock:

Well, Foster's never outright talked about death of anyone anyway, not even pets, as do most shows for the same target audience (well, except for Recess and Rugrats)

Can an imaginary friend die? I think they're just merely forgotten. Doesn't mean they die.