Ratso's Henchmen

Ratso's henchmen are four male rat characters who appear in JumpStart Math for Second Graders. Their names are Buzzo, Melmo, Chunko, and Zombo.

Appearances
Chunko is the first rat on the left in the Banquet Hall activity. He has a round body, a round head, round ears, a red round nose, and rounded teeth that are visible even when his mouth is closed. He wears a gray tunic with full-length sleeves and a green collar, a green belt with a dark yellow buckle, and green gloves. He has yellow eyes, although they appear to be white when he appears to give CJ the Rat Tax challenge.

Melmo is the second rat from the left in the Banquet Hall activity. He has a skinny head, large eyes, a red round nose, buck teeth, and drooping ears. He wears a gray tunic with short green sleeves, a green collar, and stripes. He also wears green fingerless gloves.

Buzzo is the third rat from the left in the Banquet Hall activity. He is quite skinny and has a pointed snout, a small red nose, and short pointy hair sticking straight up from his head. He wears a gray tunic with a green shawl over it.

Zombo is the fourth rat on the far right in the Banquet Hall activity. He has a thicker body with wide shoulders and a low head. His snout is pointed down, and he has a very small red nose, dark rings or shadows under his eyes, and shaggy hair on top of his head. He wears a gray tunic with a ripped collar, ripped sleeves, and a light gray band over light gray shirt with elbow-length ripped sleeves.

Personalities and Characteristics
All of Ratso's henchmen are cruel and mean-spirited to some degree. Chunko is rather gleeful. Melmo appears to the somewhat neurotic and precise. Buzzo appears to be more sly. Zombo is fairly impassive.

In the Game
All four of the henchmen appear in the activities Banquet Hall and Tic Tac Ratso. In the Banquet Hall activity, CJ must serve the rats exactly what they ask for. Chunko and Buzzo can sometimes appear in hallways to give CJ Ratty Challenges. Chunko will make CJ pay a Rat Tax, and Buzzo will challenge CJ to joust. Zombo appears in the Catapult activity, where he attempts to build walls around the castle that CJ must break down.

After CJ wins the game of Tic Tac Ratso at the end of the game, Ratso and all of his henchmen are shrunken down to the size of normal rats, and CJ puts them in a cage.

In Books
Two of Ratso's henchmen appear in the JumpStart 2nd Grade Math Workshop workbook, both with very different designs from the game. It is unclear which, if any, of the henchmen in particular they are meant to be based on.