Chowder is DJ's best friend, and a main character in Monster House, and the film's video game adaptations.
Background[]
Physical Appearance[]
Chowder is a chubby 12-year-old boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. In the Gameboy Advance version of the video game adaptation of the film, DJ describes him as huge.
Personality[]
Chowder is, for the most part, a comic relief character. Unlike DJ and Jenny, he is rather immature and timid, and acts like a kid most of the time.
However, he can be resourceful, should the need arise; an example is when he pilots an excavator to save Nebbercracker from his house's wrath at the climax of the film. Despite his immaturity, he is shown to be civil when interacting with Jenny.
Film[]
As DJ's parents are preparing to go to a dentist's convention, returning the following day in the evening, Chowder runs right into the back of their car, wearing a Halloween mask (which makes it hard for him to see). He and DJ proceed to play basketball while discussing their Halloween plans; DJ says that he probably doesn't plan on trick-or-treating due to feeling he's too old for that activity, much to Chowder's dismay. While trying to throw the ball through the hoop, he accidentally hits himself in the face, and his ball ends up on Nebbercracker's lawn. Chowder convinces DJ to retrieve it, only to get caught by Nebbercracker, who gives him an earful before having a heart attack and fainting on top of DJ. After Nebbercracker is taken to the hospital, and DJ's babysitter Zee arrives, Chowder goes home.
That night, DJ, believing strange things are going on at Nebbercracker's house, calls Chowder at his house and asks him to help investigate the house. Chowder disagrees with DJ's beliefs, and crawls up to the house and rings the doorbell; the house awakens, revealing itself to be a monster, and tries to eat Chowder. He narrowly escapes, and he and DJ flee back to DJ's house, where they spend the night watching the house, noticing a glamorous red-haired girl, Jenny Bennett, walking down the street selling Halloween candy. Upon noticing she is heading right towards Nebbercracker's house, they run out to warn her, and rescue her before she ends up being the house's breakfast.
After Zee, Jenny's mom, and even the cops dismiss their claims that Nebbercracker's house is haunted, DJ, Chowder, and Jenny go to Reginald "Skull" Skullinski for answers. He tells them that he has heard about human souls taking control of man-made structures, turning them into a rare type of monster, and to defeat the possessed house, they have to attack its heart. Chowder reluctantly steals cold medicine from his dad's pharmacy to put in a dummy that they will feed to the house so they can sneak in and extinguish the furnace. Unfortunately, the three end up being arrested by the police. The cops then get eaten by the house as they investigate it themselves; the house then devours their car, though the kids manage to escape. Exploring the house, they find dynamite, paintings of Nebbercracker and his wife Constance, the toys Nebbercracker confiscated from children, and Constance's cement-coated remains. The kids accidentally wake up the house and are thrown out. Nebbercracker returns home and retells his and Constance's story, explaining that because he knew Constance' soul brought the house to life, he had to act like he hated kids as a precaution. DJ persuades Nebbercracker to let Constance go for the better. She doesn't take it well, pulls herself free, and goes after the four of them. Fleeing to a construction site, Chowder mans an excavator to fight the house, while DJ and Jenny climb up a crane and use a dynamite that Nebbercracker provided them to blow up the house, finally putting Constance to rest.
Afterwards, DJ, Chowder, and Jenny help Nebbercracker return the confiscated toys to the neighborhood kids, Jenny's mom arrives to bring her home, to which she tells DJ and Chowder that she hopes to see them again in the near future, and DJ's parents return. DJ and Chowder, considering everything they've been through that day, decide to unwind by going trick-or-treating.
Game[]
Chowder, DJ, and Jenny also appear in the video game adaptations of the film. In the game, they have to explore the house as they try to find the heart.