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This article is about the character. For other uses, see WordGirl (disambiguation).
"Word up!"
WordGirl's catchphrase
WordGirl
WordGirl Front Base
Name WordGirl
A/K/A Becky Botsford
Gender Female
Age 10 (as of "Becky's Birthday")
11 (as of "A World Without WordGirl")
Occupation Superheroine
Student
Alignment Good
Homeland Lexicon (formerly)
Earth
Race Lexiconian
Friends Violet Heaslip (best friend)
Todd "Scoops" Ming (former crush)
Captain Huggyface
Family

Tim Botsford (adoptive father)
Sally Botsford (adoptive mother)
TJ Botsford (adoptive younger brother)
Bampy (adoptive paternal grandfather)
Grandma Botsford (adoptive paternal grandmother)
Unnamed biological parents

Abilities High-speed, flight, ability to communicate with Captain Huggyface, immense strength, invulnerability, super-hearing, echolocation, enhanced vocabulary, fast reading, arctic breath, and a supersonic scream
Voice Actor Dannah Phirman (Original series)
Candi Milo (Website version)

WordGirl is the titular main protagonist of the show of the same name. Her secret identity is mild-mannered 5th grader Becky Botsford, but whenever evil arises, she instantly becomes WordGirl by placing her hand to her chest and exclaiming, "Word up!".

Her trademark insignia consists of a red star imposed on a golden shield. She appears to have a fondness for maroon, as both her WordGirl and Becky designs wear it.

WordGirl is extremely popular in Fair City, which she protects, there has been ample merchandising and honoring of the heroine. She has even received many (over 200) keys to the city.

While most heroes cannot stand the evil-doers they face, WordGirl actually has a great respect for all the city's villains. This was confirmed in the special "The Rise of Miss Power", when Miss Power called them lousy, WordGirl defended them, admitting that they are tough, and she is actually glad to face them. The villains were glad to hear this and even defended her when Miss Power said that she doesn't deserve to be a hero.

Background[]

WordGirl was born on the planet Lexicon, and as a baby/toddler, accidentally wandered onto a spaceship, which was piloted by Captain Huggyface. While he was driving the spaceship, WordGirl woke and startled him, making them collide into an asteroid and forcing him to crash land on Earth in order to save the both of them. Neither of them have tried to return to Lexicon since.

WordGirl was then adopted by Tim and Sally Botsford, who at that point had not had children of their own (though later they had their own boy, TJ Botsford, who would be her sibling), and she was given the name "Becky". Captain Huggyface was also "adopted" as a pet and given the name "Bob". The downed spaceship remained in the same spot, and would be used as WordGirl's secret hideout.

She grew up well, though she displayed her enthusiastic intelligence at an early age - she was found on the Botsford's doorstep as a toddler reading their newspaper (even though in one flashback, she was found in the woods). Sooner or later, she took up the identity of WordGirl. She has a number of meanings in her dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment's notice.

Physical Appearance[]

WordGirl has shoulder-length straight dark brown hair styled into a classic flip. She has light brown skin and her face is circular. She, like everyone else in the show (with the exception of Dr. Two-Brains), does not have a specific eye color, except for times that she's under mind control (e.g., in the episode "The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour" and "Big Business").

In her civilian persona, she wears a cream-colored shirt under a V-neck green sweater with a maroon skirt and a matching headband. She wears cream-colored knee socks with black and white saddle shoes. In her superhero attire, she wears her powerful suit, with her red star embellished on a golden shield on her chest, a symbol of Lexicon. She has a golden cape, a 2-way communication belt, dark red boots, and gloves.

Secret Identity[]

WordGirl finds it hard to keep her identities separate, often making slips, but thankfully no one notices. In truth, she does very little to disguise her true identity. Her helmet does absolutely nothing to hide her face or her distinctive hairstyle, and Becky is the only other person in town shown with a monkey pet/sidekick (aside from Professor Tubing). The fact that it's made so obvious to the viewing audience usually adds to the comic element of the series.

Only a few times have people guessed or discovered her secret. Each time, however, she manages to put them off the truth. One of the most serious times her secret has been exposed is in the episode "Two-Brains Forgets", when Dr. Two-Brains overhears a conversation between Becky and Bob regarding new WordGirl and Huggy costumes. Through a fortunate turn of events, his memory of this event is later erased. In "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", Becky confesses to being WordGirl to her father and brother (in spite of Bob's protests) after feeling that she has hidden it from them for too long... but neither of them believe her, even after the episode Becky kept her identity secret from the family. Tobey also guesses that Becky is WordGirl due to her possessing the remote to his robots, but she convinces him otherwise by the means of a clever plan between her and Huggyface. Those who do learn the truth about Becky/WordGirl are:

  • Violet's cat Priscilla watches Becky transform into WordGirl in "Tobey's Tricks and Treats". However, since she is a cat, this does not present any real threat to WordGirl's secret.
  • The mailman is able to witness Becky's super-strength in "Earth Day Girl" when he delivers an absurdly large package to her door, and even sees her flying around in excitement when he walks past the window. However, he dismisses it saying, "I'm just a letter carrier, so I won't give it another thought."
  • Becky's grandfather Bampy realizes she is really WordGirl in the episode "Bampy Battles Bots". He reveals this to her at the end of the episode, telling her that her secret was safe with him.
  • Scoops finds out her secret identity in "Invasion of The Bunny Lovers". Although referring to this discovery as "the scoop of the century", in the end, he decides it is best to keep it a secret.
  • Rose uses investigative reporting to figure out who she is in "News Girl". Scoops persuades her not to reveal WordGirl's secret identity.
  • Kid Math found out Becky's identity in the eponymous episode. When Becky asked him how he found out, Kid Math (as Rex) said “Are you serious?”, which means that it was obvious to him.
  • Violet finally learns that her best friend Becky is WordGirl in "Rhyme and Reason". This drove a wedge between them, but in the end, they made up because of their friendship.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Supernatural Intellect: Despite her young age, Becky possess a vast intellect, as she outsmarts others with genius intellect, has knowledge in robotics, as well as a comprehensive vocabulary as she has a handful of meanings on her dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment's notice. She knows most hieroglyphics as well.
  • Lexiconian Physiology: Usually, like all Lexiconians, Becky is able to perform different inhuman feats.
    • Super-Hearing: WordGirl often hears or screaming people from across the city, her hearing sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
    • Enhanced Vision: WordGirl's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
    • Flight: WordGirl is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering, to moving in any posture, in any direction.
    • Supernatural Speed: WordGirl can fly at supersonic speeds, She commonly uses her speed to appear and disappear faster than people can notice, as well as to somehow change in or out of her suit in seconds. She also has the ability of speed reading.
      • Supernatural Reflexes: WordGirl's reflexes are so fast, she can respond to attacks within seconds.
    • Supernatural Strength: WordGirl's strength is enhanced while not limitless, the extent of her super strength is undetermined; she is among the strongest terrestrial beings, allowing her lift or press objects or structures that are larger than herself, such as planes or ships.
    • Cold Breath: WordGirl is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also rewind the process to pull larger volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.
    • Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and fully charged bio-electric aura, WordGirl is high-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. Although she can still catch colds and hiccups.
    • Supersonic Scream: WordGirl can unleash a highly destructive stream of ecto-energy from her vocal cords and mouth.
    • Oxygen Independency: As Lexiconians, both WordGirl and Huggy do not need oxygen to breathe in space or underwater.
    • Fourth-Wall Knowledge: She knows that she and her world is fictional, can communicate with the invisible narrator to see what happens next, track down villains, or usually talk to him, and at end of the story/episode she poses in mid-flight and even looks/waves in the viewer's direction.

Weaknesses[]

  • Her powers are disrupted by Lexonite, a substance from her home planet Lexicon. In the episode "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", it makes her weak and disrupts her ability to define words correctly. In the episode "Gift Pony", it not only saps her power but she has an allergic reaction to it.
  • Her love of Pretty Princess can be considered a serious weakness for her, since it takes away her focus from crime fighting, such as in the episode "Showdown at the Secret Spaceship Hideout". It also allows her to be hypnotized by Mr. Big in the episode "The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour".
  • She's suspicious to almost everything. This is revealed when she sees Mr. Big's yo-yos and Tiny Big performing, she believes that she knows better and is more smart than most people in Fair City. Same thing occurs when Mr. Big runs for Mayor, she is the only one who can see through him.
  • Even though she can very smart and a really good problem solver, she can be tricked or one-upped by villains like Granny May or Mr. Big.
  • One of her weaknesses is that she cannot take any action if she can't prove a villain's wrong-doing. This is a constant problem but she manages to prove it in the end.
  • Her weakness is juggling through family and crime-fighting life. Crime happens randomly causing her to omit her family and friends to stop that particular crime for some reasons while leading into conflict with her family life, and most likely her time alone.
  • Even though she has a high level of stamina, she gets exhausted/stopped by hot temperatures.

Age[]

11candlesAworldWithoutWordGirl
  • She states that her age is 10 and a half when interviewed by PBS reporter Jim Lehrer which occurred prior to August 2007. It aired when WordGirl was only in a series of shorts, and prior to the main TV series. This means that in real-life time, many of the events of the first season are actually flashbacks which would have occurred during 2006 and aired a year later.
  • She celebrates her birthday in the episode "Becky's Birthday" (which aired September 2007). The cake in this episode has no candles on it, and her age is never mentioned.
  • In the episode "Department Store Tobey" WordGirl lets slip that Becky is 10. This would mean she's 9 prior to the events of 4b.
  • In the episode "Great Granny May" she explains Granny May's mother that she's 10 and a half.
  • She reveals having already turned 10½ in "Slumber Party Pooper".
  • She celebrates another birthday in the season three episode, "A World Without WordGirl" (which aired December 2011). The cake in this episode has 11 candles, and occurs after episode 11, making her 11 years old past this point.

Becky Botsford[]

As Becky Botsford, she attends Woodview Elementary and has a few friends. Her closest friends include Violet Heaslip and Todd "Scoops" Ming (whom she has/had a crush on). Akin to her relationship with him as WordGirl, Becky finds a rival in Tobey McCallister III, who tries to outdo her (as well as everyone else) constantly in events such as Field Day or elections. In season three, her newest rival is Victoria Best, a girl who is "the best at everything she does" according to her parents. Becky's intelligence is astonishing for a ten-and-a-half year-old girl, but her skills do not go into every field. While she has an excellent vocabulary, is well-read, and enjoys geography, she's a poor artist, can't dance and can't sing. She also isn't very good at charades (see the episode "Meat with a Side of Cute" for reference). She has, however, shown to be good at sports such as soccer and even learned to play the accordion. She's a huge fan of "The Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour" TV show, as well as the Princess Triana books, even dressing up as the Pretty Princess for Halloween in the episode "Tobey's Tricks and Treats".

Becky also has a great love for unicorns and has a big collection of them in her room. One of these, named Angelface, gets broken a number of times throughout the series, much to her anger.

Appearances[]

TV Show[]

Comics[]

Gallery[]

Main article: WordGirl/Gallery

Trivia[]

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Huggy finding her as a baby.

  • On the official WordGirl website, it used to state on WordGirl's profile that when she was an infant, she was found on the Botsfords' front steps reading their newspaper. However, in the episode "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", while telling Mr. Botsford and TJ she's WordGirl, she says the Botsfords found her as an infant in the woods with Huggy, which is either an oversight or retcon.
  • By age 2, she was completing crossword puzzles.
  • In addition to the English dictionary, she knows most hieroglyphics as well.
  • The official Soup2Nuts website states WordGirl to be nine years old[1], rather than ten. This was originally correct for the shorts and episodes 1-4a, however she is 10 for most of the series and recently turned 11.
  • WordGirl is said to be an affectionate parody of Superman, due to them both having similar powers, coming to Earth as infants, and being vulnerable to radioactive fragments from their home world.
  • As the titular character, she has appeared in every episode in the series.

References[]

  1. http://www.soup2nuts.tv/word_girl.html "WordGirl - PBS KIDS GO! (2007-present) When trouble strikes, 9-year-old Becky Botsford transforms into WordGirl, a crime-fighting superhero who defends truth and justice... one word at a time."
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