Gunge as it is known in the British Isles, or slime as it is known in America and most English-speaking areas of the world, is a thick, gooey, yet runny substance with a consistency somewhere between that of paint and custard. It has been a feature on many children's programmes for many years around the world and has made appearances in game shows as well as other programming. While gunge mostly appears on television, it can also be used as a fundraising tool for charities, youth and religious groups. Gunge tanks have appeared at nightclubs and Fun Days. The British charities Comic Relief and Children in Need, supported by the BBC, have used gunge for fundraising in the past. In America, slime is sometimes associated with Nickelodeon, even having several game shows revolving around it, such as Slime Time Live. In most countries, being gunged is seen as a forfeit with the aim to cause embarrassment. In contrast, being slimed in America can be a good thing as well as a bad thing. Overall the main point of being gunged or slimed is to cause mess.
The Slime is the mascot of the Dragon Quest role-playing video game franchise. Originally inspired by the game Wizardry to be a weak and common monster for the video game Dragon Quest, Slime has appeared in almost every Dragon Quest game since. The character's popularity led to the appearance of many varieties of slimes, including boss characters, and even emerging as the protagonist of the Rocket Slime video game series.
The Slime has been placed on a multitude of different kinds of merchandise. The Slime's friendliness, limited power, and appealing form have caused the Slime to become a popular character and symbol of the Dragon Quest series.
The inspiration for the Slime came to Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, from a role-playing game called Wizardry. "I was really hooked on 'Wizardy,' the PC game, ... There's...slime-looking characters ..., so I got the inspiration from it. I was doodling the slime-looking character and I took it to Mr. Toriyama, who did the character design, and he made it the Slime we see today." Horii said that when it was originally conceived, the Slime was "a pile of goo", but Toriyama's design came back as a tear-drop which they considered "perfect".
Die Maserung in deinem Gesicht
Erinnert mich an Marmor
Und auch an Stein der ganze Rest
Du sagst, du wüÃtest sehr genau, was zu tun ist
Und krampfhaft hälst du an deinen Dogmen fest
Keine Bewegung, keine Bewegung
Du bleibst stehen, du bleibst liegen
Die Zeit vergeht, du redest viel -
Doch du stehst still
Sag, was ist das für eine tiefe Rinne
Die quer dir über den Schädel geht?
Ist das vielleicht der Ansatzpunkt, wo man dich
Tagtäglich immer weiter in den Boden dreht?
Keine Bewegung, keine Bewegung
Du bleibst stehen, du bleibst liegen
Die Zeit vergeht, du redest viel -
Doch du stehst still
Für dich macht deine groÃe Theorie einen Sinn
Doch einfach menschlich zu sein,
Das kriegst du nicht hin
Du weiÃt, was überall auf der Welt geschieht
Doch singst seit Jahren immer nur dasselbe Lied
Keine Bewegung, keine Bewegung
Du bleibst stehen, du bleibst liegen
Die Zeit vergeht, du redest viel -
Doch du stehst still
Still - still