WordGirl

''This article is about the character. For other uses, see WordGirl (disambiguation).''

"Word Up!"

- WordGirl

WordGirl (whose real name is Becky Botsford) is the main protagonist and heroine of the series of the same name, and is voiced by Dannah Phirman. Her secret identity is a mild-mannered fifth-grader, 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 seems to have a fondness for maroon, as both her WordGirl and Becky forms wear it.

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

Background
She was born on the planet Lexicon, and as an infant accidentally wandered onto a spaceship, which was piloted by Captain Huggyface. While he was driving the spaceship, WordGirl woke and startled him, making them hit an asteroid and forcing him to crash land on Earth in order to save the both of them. However, neither of them have tried to return to Lexicon since.

WordGirl was then adopted by Tim and Sally Botsford, who at that point had no children of their own (though later they had their own kid, T.J. Botsford, who would be her brother), 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 then be used as WordGirl's secret hideout.

She grew up in a normal life, though she displayed her keen intelligence at an early age - she was found on the Botsford's doorstep as a baby 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 the entire dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment's notice.

Physical Appearance
WordGirl/Becky Botsford has shoulder-length dark brown hair that curls up at the ends and bangs with a small gap in the center. Her skin is light brown 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 has been under mind control (e.g., in The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour).

As Becky Botsford, she wears a V-necked green shirt with a matching purple skirt and headband. She wears knee-length socks with white and black shoes. As WordGirl, she wears her superhero outfit, with her red star emblazoned on a golden shield on her chest. She has a golden cape, a 2-way communication belt, and 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 sidekick. The fact that it is made so obvious to the viewing audience actually adds to the comic element of the series.

Only a few times have people guessed or discovered her secret. Each time, however, she has managed 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 overheard a conversation between Becky and Bob regarding new WordGirl and Huggy costumes. Through a fortunate turn of events, his memory of this event was later erased. In "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", Becky did confess to being WordGirl to her father and brother (in spite of Bob's protests) after feeling that she had hidden it from them for too long...but neither would believe her. Tobey also guessed that Becky was WordGirl due to her possessing the remote to his robots, but she convinced him otherwise by the means of a clever plan between her and Huggy. Those who did 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". Scoop persuades her not to reveal WordGirl's secret identity.
 * Violet finally learns that her best friend Becky is WordGirl in "Rhyme and Reason (episode)".

Powers
Her superpowers include:
 * Flight (Mach 1 according to the lyrics of the opening, "flying at the speed of sound...")
 * Vast intellect
 * Immense strength (enough to catch a meteor)
 * Invulnerability (regularly hit by giants without any obvious bruises, although she can still catch colds and hiccups)
 * Super-hearing (often hears alarms or screaming people from across the city)
 * Comprehensive vocabulary (although she is able to compensate for losing it with effort by using her observation, as displayed in WordGirl Makes a Mistake.)
 * Super-speed (has it but was envious when Rhyme had the superpower)
 * Cold breath
 * Sonic scream

Weaknesses

 * Her powers are disrupted by Lexonite, a substance from her home planet Lexicon. In WordGirl Makes a Mistake, it makes her weak and disrupts her ability to define words correctly.  In 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 weakness for her, since it has taken away her focus from crime fighting on certain occasions, such as in Showdown at the Secret Spaceship Hideout. It can be said that it also allowed her to be hypnotized by Mr. Big in the episode The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour.

Age

 * She states that her age is 10 and a half when interviewed by Jim Lehrer which occured 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 a birthday in season 1 episode 4b Becky's Birthday (which aired September 2007). The cake in this episode has no candles and her age is not mentioned.
 * In episode 11 (Department Store Tobey) WordGirl lets slip that Becky is 10. This would mean she was 9 prior to the events of 4b.
 * In Great Granny May (episode) she tells Granny May's mother that she is 10 and a half.
 * She states having recently turned 10½ in Slumber Party Pooper.
 * She celebrates another birthday in season 3's 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. This does not appear in the series, but in a year later, she turns 12.

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 a crush on). Akin to her relationship with her as WordGirl, Becky finds a rival in Tobey McCallister, 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 is a poor artist, cannot dance, and cannot sing. She also is not very good at charades (see "Meat with a Side of Cute" for reference). She's a great fanatic of "Pretty Princess" as well as the Princess Triana books, even dressing up as the Pretty Princess for Halloween in "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, has been broken a number of times throughout the series, much to her anger.

Gallery


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Trivia

 * On the official WordGirl website, it used to state on WordGirl's profile that when she was an infant, she was found on the Botsford's 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 in the woods with Huggy.
 * 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, rather than ten. This was originally correct for the shorts and episodes 1-4a, however she was 10 for most of the series and recently turned 11.
 * WordGirl has been 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 homeworld.