It’s been theorized (by me) that Danny Antonucci based
Ed, Edd ‘n’ Eddy on the
Freudian theory of the composition of the
personality. On a symbolic level, the three boys represent a single person’s mind divided into the
Id, the
Ego, and the
Superego. This is why they are all named a derivative of
Edward.
The characters go like this:
1. Ed, the brainless, overpowering numbskull with certain, very peculiar fetishes, such as an odd obsession with chickens, ketchup, and buttered toast, is the Id (the pleasure drive). He also has a hilarious propensity for impulsive action, like banging his head into the ground and saying, “I am a woodpecker, only with dirt.”
2. Eddy, the cash-crazy, power-obsessed swindler, is the Ego. He constantly tries to exert his will over the neighborhood in effort to satisfy the Edboys’ greatest desire – jawbreakers, while shamelessly relishing in his own ability whenever he pulls it off (if only for a moment). “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel!”
3. Edd or DoubleD, the rational, observant lover of rules and everything orderly, is the Superego (the rational side). He desperately tries to keep the other two in line, but, ultimately, rarely has the power to do so. Hence the crazy situations the characters get themselves in, episode after episode. “Eddy! We must have rules!”