| “ | This is a lot more dangerous then I thought it would be. I guess I'll leave that job for real superheroes. | ” |
| —Erica Wang, "The Problematic Pandemonium of the Punishing Plungerina" |
Erica Wang is a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. She appears in The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants.
History
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants
Erica is one of George and Harold's best friends. She often acts as a big sister figure to them and is the voice of caution when participating their bizarre schemes. Her goal in life is to become a successful senator.
In "The Vexing Villainy of the Vile Vimpire", she suggests that George and Harold should try adding a strong female character to their comics because the girl characters they're already using are too flat and stereotypical. The boys think she's just trying to ruin their fun and make a mean comic about her. To get back at them, she pretends to be a vimpire (a vampire that sucks out everyone's happiness, instead of blood). When Melvin's invention turns Jessica into a vimpire, George and Harold get down on their knees, apologize to Erica and beg her to help, to which she agrees.
In "The Strange Strife of the Smelly Socktopus", she decides to prank George and Harold into getting themselves suspended on purpose when she claims it is like a vacation. The boys eventually prove they have what it takes, only to realize that Erica tricked them and suspension is terrible.
In "The Confounding Concoction of the Crooked Combotato", she suddenly appears and attempts to join the game of plot potato. When questioned as to how she was aware of the game, she simply says "I know everything". She tries to end the story by saying that she put Captain Underpants and Combotato in prison. The group finds this ending unsatisfying and so she leaves frustrated. Later, as the real Combotato is chasing them through the ropes course, she swings by and tries to shout out her idea for a different ending to the story, where Captain Underpants realizes he had just imagined Combotato. This ending is also rejected. Later, as Bo is about to finish the story for real, she interrupts him by revealing she saved Mr. Krupp from the rain and that now they can do fun things again. She asks if they find this an acceptable ending. Everyone once again simply replies "meh", much to Erica's frustration.
Appearance
Erica is African-American and around 12 years old. She wears a teal green T-shirt under an aquamarine vest, purple sweatpants, and yellow rain boots. She has a large pom pom hairstyle joined by a purple headband.
In several episodes, she wears a yellow bikini with a bandeau top in a few scenes.
As Plungerina, she wears a purple superhero costume, has plungers for makeshift claws and plunger stilts.
Personality
Erica is somewhat more sensible and mature than most students, but she does not hesitate to have fun. She has slightly higher intellect than other kids, but unlike Melvin Sneedly, who had a crush on her, Erica's intellect is low enough so that she doesn't share his arrogance. She also knows the difference between what is funny and not. She surprisingly knows everything about George and Harold's shenanigans and even pranked them twice before. Her best friends are Harold, George, and Dressy.
Trivia
- In "The Taxing Trauma of the Treacherous Tattle Trials Part 2", it is revealed that she will be elected as President of Earth in the future, an event that is also in one of George and Harold's comics.
- Erica shares the same first name as her voice actor.
- Erica was created in order to rectify the franchise's lack of strong female characters. This is the main focus of "The Vexing Villainy of the Vile Vimpire".
- In "The Tenuous Takedown of the Tyrannical Teachertrons", Erica's future self replaces Melvinborg as Jerome Horwitz Elementary's superintendent.
- She is a great singer, as seen in "The Soggy Salvation of the Swirling Sweatnami" and "The Ghastly Danger of the Ghost Dentist".
- Erica is biracial; her father is Asian while her mother is black.
- Erica did two comic books: One being a guest star in the Plungerina comic, and the other replacing George Beard as the author of the Baloonatic comic.
- Season 3 is the only season where she appears in every episode.
