32 pages • 1 hour read
Dav PilkeyCaptain Underpants
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “Fun with Hypnosis”
Harold and George inspect the drawer from which Mr. Krupp produced the videotape. They find many confiscated items, including sling-shots and whoopee cushions, as well as every issue of Captain Underpants. They read every copy, laughing happily, then command Mr. Krupps—who is still hypnotized—to become a monkey and a chicken.
Harold orders Mr. Krupp to become The Amazing Captain Underpants. Krupp tears off his clothes and stands triumphantly before the boys. Standing in his underpants and a cape, he sings Captain Underpants trademark phrase “Tra-La-Laaaaa!” The boys laugh hysterically, then notice that Mr. Krupp, as Captain Underpants, is gone.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Out the Window”
George and Harold see Krupp in the grounds below, running away. The boys figure that Krupp, inhabiting the psyche of Captain Underpants, is going to fight crime. They gather skateboards and slingshots from the drawer of confiscated items, as well as fake doggy doo-doo, and follow Mr. Krupp. They travel on skateboards, and bring his clothes and toupee with them.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Bank Robbers”
George and Harold skateboard around town looking for Mr. Krupp. They finally find him outside of a bank, where he is threatening bank robbers with “wedgie power.” The robbers laugh hysterically at this unthreatening threat. Police arrive and move to arrest Krupp, who confidently introduces himself as Captain Underpants, “the world’s greatest superhero” (65).
Krupp, as Captain Underpants, explains: “I fight for Truth, Justice, and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony!” (65). The police go to handcuff Krupp. George and Harold quickly skate through the scene on their skateboards, knocking over Krupp and carrying him away from arrest.
Chapter 14 Summary: “The Big Bang”
George and Harold resolve to quickly un-hypnotize Captain Underpants and turn him back into Principal Krupp. Before they can, two robots burst out of a crystal shop across the road. Captain Underpants runs in front of the robots’ van to stop them; his cape is caught on the van as it drives around him and away.
Harold and George grab Captain Underpants’s ankles as the van pulls him along. A boy at a bus stop tells his mother about the unlikely scene, but she dismisses it as a ridiculous story.
The robot van stops at an abandoned warehouse. A strange voice from inside says “Well, well, well [...] it looks as if we have a visitor” (72).
Chapter 15 Summary: “Dr. Diaper”
George and Harold hide behind the van until the others have gone inside. When they peek into the warehouse, they see that Captain Underpants is tied up and guarded by robots. A little man in a diaper is laughing “maniacally.”
The man introduces himself as Doctor Diaper; he plans to take over the world. He wants to destroy the world by blowing up the moon—using the stolen crystal in a laser machine—and then take control once all of the major cities have been destroyed by moon chunks.
George fires the fake doggy doo-doo with his slingshot. It lands behind Doctor Diaper, who sees it, and assumes that he was responsible for the mess. Very embarrassed, Doctor Diaper retires to change his diaper.
George and Harold take advantage of his absence by running into the room. The robots see them and resolve to “destroy the intruders” (78).
Chapters 11-15 Analysis
Pilkey continues to use humor and outlandish situations. For example, Krupp—as Captain Underpants in his underwear—declares to police and robbers that he fights for “Truth, Justice, and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony” (65). This image is comedic for its absurdity, as is the image of Captain Underpants being towed along by the truck (which his cape is caught on) with the boys on their skateboards holding onto his ankles.
Pilkey creates humor by satirizing well-known tropes of comic book superheroes. Doctor Diaper greets his guests by saying “well, well, well [...] it looks as if we have a visitor” (72). This conforms to tropes of supervillains with their smug greetings, maniacal laughs, and schemes to take over the world. Pilkey renders his supervillain as laughable as his superhero: Doctor Diaper—although scheming and malevolent—wears nothing but a large diaper. Like superhero comic plots, the boys distract the villain and save Captain Underpants, but they do so humorously and ridiculously, using fake dog poo.
Pilkey’s intended audience of elementary-aged readers is clear in his use of toilet humor and fourth-grade heroes. George shoots the rubber dog poo through the air: “Dr. Diaper looked down at the doo-doo between his feet and turned bright red. ‘Oh, dear me!’ he cried. ‘I’m dreadfully embarrassed! Please excuse me.’ He began to waddle toward the restroom” (77)
George and Harold, who were initially only interested in causing mischief, become unlikely heroes as they try to rescue Captain Underpants. The boys have previously not taken responsibility for their pranks—such as when they disappointed their school by ruining the football match. At that time, George and Harold felt only triumph and mirth. Now, they rush to save Krupp, even though they despise him. Their heroism shows growth.
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