Pop Culture References of Wizard101: Wysteria – Professor Heironimus Bunch

Professor Heironimus Bunch – Bob Hieronimous “The Man in the Suit?” – Hieronymus Bosch
https://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Heironimus_Bunch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson%E2%80%93Gimlin_film
https://www.bfro.net/news/korff_scam.asp
https://youtu.be/-x3__akoM5w
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch

Heironimus Bunch is the instructor of the School of Chaos at Pigswick Academy. He is also a scholar of the rare and impossible.

In 1967, Roger Patterson (1933–1972) and Robert “Bob” Gimlin (born 1931) filmed an unidentified subject that the filmmakers have claimed was a Bigfoot. The footage was shot in Northern California, and has since been subjected to many attempts to either authenticate or debunk it.

In 2005, the National Geographic channel had a series entitled “Is it Real?”. In the episode titled “Bigfoot,” a man named Bob Hieronimous claimed to be “The Man in the Costume” in the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot footage.

Hieronimous claims he was friends with Roger Patterson, and accompanied Patterson and Gimlin to Nor Cal with his costume. Patterson’s widow says he’s lying. Bob Gimlin says he’s lying. To date the Patterson-Gimlin footage has not been proven to be a hoax. Bob Hieronimous’ claims are still disputed as well.

EDIT: Dec 26,2022

In the comments, NCWeber pointed out another probable reference, Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.

Hieronymus Bosch; born Jheronimus van Aken (c. 1450 – 9 August 1516), was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oak wood, mainly contains fantastic illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. Within his lifetime his work was collected in the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain, and widely copied, especially his macabre and nightmarish depictions of hell.

Little is known of Bosch’s life, though there are some records. He spent most of it in the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, where he was born in his grandfather’s house. The roots of his forefathers are in Nijmegen and Aachen (which is visible in his surname: Van Aken). His pessimistic fantastical style cast a wide influence on northern art of the 16th century, with Pieter Bruegel the Elder being his best-known follower. Today, Bosch is seen as a hugely individualistic painter with deep insight into humanity’s desires and deepest fears. Attribution has been especially difficult; today only about 25 paintings are confidently given to his hand along with eight drawings. About another half-dozen paintings are confidently attributed to his workshop. His most acclaimed works consist of a few triptych altarpieces, including The Garden of Earthly Delights.

The current list of all the (known) Wysteria references are located here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references, I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Heironimus Bunch image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.

‘Bigfoot’ film is (c)1967 Roger Patterson and Robert “Bob” Gimlin

Portrait of Hieronymus Bosch is borrowed from Wikipedia and is in the public domain

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.