The Fairly OddParents is, appropriately, an odd show both in terms of its content and how long the program endured in the public eye. Existing in one form or another since 1998, The Fairly OddParents was a massive part of Nickelodeon's programming in the early to mid-2000s and childhood cornerstone for anyone born in the mid to late 90s. The magical misadventures of Timmy Turner fueled by his wish-granting fairy godparents are some of the most entertaining stories created by Butch Hartman and broadcast on Nickelodeon. That being said, there is a lot of weird stuff in The Fairly OddParents.

There are some rather nonsensical plotlines, unusual character introductions and departures, and loads of eyebrow-raising concepts that appear out of left field without characters questioning the development. One of the most consistent sources of these strange elements is the titular fairly odd parents, Cosmo and Wanda. This fairy couple uses their almost unlimited magical abilities to bring the desires of lonely children to life and bend reality with little care for the consequences of their actions. Of course, there are plenty of things about these characters outside of their actions that make no sense.

Cosmo and Wanda are inherently strange characters not bogged down by the constraints of reality, but sometimes these whimsical elements become downright bizarre or convoluted. Even if it doesn’t make them any less lovable or entertaining to watch, some things about Cosmo and Wanda just don’t make sense. These 20 items are some of the most peculiar things about these iconic cartoon characters.

20 How Do They Look Like This In Real Life?

The live-action Fairly OddParents film, A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!, is a hodgepodge of unusual and surprising decisions. Chief among those odd decisions is that the highly accomplished and respected actors Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines play the live-action versions of Cosmo and Wanda respectively. Seinfeld veteran Jason Alexander is one of the most recognizable actors in television and Cheryl Hines received two Emmy nominations for her time on Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s almost crazy that a made for TV movie got actors of this caliber to embody two cartoon fairies, even if it was only for a brief amount of time.

19 How Can They Age If They're Immortal?

In a bit of contradicting lore, Cosmo and Wanda are immortal beings that can live for eternity but also age. The Fairly OddParents shows both characters as infants, children, and teenagers over the course of the cartoon, yet firmly insists that as magical creatures they will exist forever. Maybe once they reach adulthood fairies are able to stop aging and or alter their appearance at will, but then again both of Cosmo and Wanda’s parents appear visibly older than them. This contradiction in their biology is really strange and draws into question exactly what kind of rules fairies' follow when it comes to how they age and appear throughout their unending lives.

18 How Can They Have Two Godchildren?

In the tenth, and likely final season of The Fairly OddParents, Cosmo and Wanda are assigned to be the fairy godparents of Timmy’s new neighbor, Chloe. This makes them the only fairies in the series to have two godchildren simultaneously. The explanation give for this dual assignment is that there is a shortage of fairies and that the lonely Chloe desperately needs the help and guidance of a set of godparents. It’s rather strange that such a logistical hangup would even occur in the world of The Fairly OddParents, since these immortal beings of limitless magical power could literally just make copies of themselves to assist Chloe.

17 How Do They Still Have Their Jobs?

Despite being the most prominently featured fairy godparents in the cartoon, Cosmo and Wanda aren’t actually that good at their job. They frequently go against their better judgement to grant wishes for Timmy that put him in dangerous situations, and frequently brush up against or violate the Fairy taboos outlined in “Da Rules” book. Moreover, it’s revealed in the show’s later seasons that the reason Cosmo and Wanda tend to call Timmy “Sport” is because they have terrible memories and often forget his name. Cosmo and Wanda are so bad at their job that they cannot even remember the name of the child in their care half the time.

16 Why Are Inexperienced Fairies In Charge Of Timmy?

Even if it only rarely comes up in the course of the cartoon, Cosmo and Wanda are two of the youngest fairies in this universe. Cosmo was the last fairy born until Timmy wished for their baby Poof, and Cosmo and Wanda are roughly the same age as there are numerous scenes showing the two growing up together. This begs the question, why were two of the most junior fairies in existence placed in charge of as big a troublemaker as Timmy Turner? This decision doesn’t make a lot of sense and, even if they are thousands of years old, surely there were more senior and competition fairies better suited to handling Timmy’s haphazard wishing habit.

15 How Are They In The Live-Action Shows?

The Fairly OddParents was such a success for Nickelodeon during the show's heyday, that Cosmo and Wanda appeared in several live-action Nickelodeon programs. The fairy couple appeared in both Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and Big Time Rush. This either means that Cosmo and Wanda exist as recognizable cartoon characters in the world’s of these shows or their magical powers are so omnipotent that they can will themselves into other realities. Either way, the appearance of these green and pink fairies in other television shows is as surprising as it is bizarre and it’ll be fun to see where else they appear should The Fairly OddParents get renewed for more seasons.

14 How Does Cosmo Know Beethoven?

As immortal beings that have lived for thousands of years, Cosmo and Wanda have some pretty unusual relationships with historical and mythical figures. Most notably Cosmo is in a band with figures like the famed composer and pianist Beethoven and the Greek deity Pan. Most concerningly, he is able to pull these figures out of time and space so that they can get in a quick jam session whenever he wants. The implications of this are staggering, and makes a viewer wonder how other characters react to these figures disappearing into thin air for minutes or hours at a time.

13 How Could They Do That To Crocker?

While their reality-bending powers make them able to vastly improve the lives of those around them, Cosmo and Wanda also possess the ability to meddle in a person’s life. When the antagonist Denzel Crocker was a child, Cosmo and Wanda were his godparents and made his life a happy one. That is, until Cosmo made the existence of fairies known to the world, and forced Crocker to lose his godparents and all of their effects. This made Crocker a sad, lonely boy once more and made his life even worse by instilling in him a deep-seated sense of loss from having once possessed something amazing that he isn’t able to remember.

12 How Are They Weightless?

Despite being physical, tangible beings that must be made of matter or some other substance, Cosmo and Wanda are completely weightless. While there are several possible explanations for this bizarre piece of information, each one raises more questions than it provides answers. Perhaps they are only technically weightless because their magic lets them cancel out gravity and therefore technically do not have any weight. Or maybe they aren’t affected by the rules of the universe since they exist originate from Fairy World, a space that might be outside of it. Either way, it’s weird that they weigh a flat zero pounds and zero ounces.

11 Why Do They Have Allergies?

Despite being immortal beings with access to unlimited power with only the barest of rules containing their actions, apparently, fairies can have debilitating allergies. Cosmo is allergic to peanuts and will swell up considerably if he consumes any food that contains the substance. The fact that these all-powerful beings have such a mundane inconvenience is strange enough as it is, but the fact he simply does not remove this feature of his anatomy or have a godchild wish that he was no longer allergic to peanuts is even stranger. Sure, Cosmo’s limited intelligence is the butt of a lot of jokes in the cartoon, but this change just seems like a softball decision.

10 What's Up With Their Fingerprints?

In the television special Abra-Catastrophe, viewers learn that Cosmo and Wanda’s thumbprints are shaped like hearts. While it can be written off that fairies in this show naturally have that unique fingerprint, the character Jorgen Von Strangle calls out this feature as being unique. Maybe it was merely a way to bolster the romantic song and sequence that played during this part of the special, but at face value, Cosmo and Wanda apparently have this extremely uncommon feature. Even considering that the anatomy of fairies in The Fairly OddParents is never thoroughly explained and likely made up as the show went on Cosmo and Wanda are apparently unique even in this magical universe.

9 Why Are Nets Their Weakness?

A weakness shared by all fairies in The Fairly OddParents is that they are unable to escape from butterfly nets. The reasoning behind this weakness is that as butterfly nets are met to capture small, flying things and since fairies also fit this description, the otherwise flimsy nets render them powerless as well. It’s never really explained, though, why these normal nets also rob them of their magical and reality warping powers. Nor is it ever explained why fairies simply don’t just have a godchild wish away butterfly nets and eliminate one of the few threats to the mythical creatures.

8 What's Up With The Antis?

Anti-fairies are villainous counterparts to the generally good fairy godparents. They are supposed to be the exact opposite of fairies, except that this reversal is never consistently applied. For instance, Foop, the Anti-Poof, is able able to speak in complete sentences while his counterpart is only able to say his own name. However, every other anti-fairy show in the series are also able to speak, despite their good counterparts having fully developed vocal communication abilities. Like a lot of ‘Bizarro’ counterparts, the rules that make anti-fairies the opposite of fairies are never thoroughly established and haphazardly applied. This makes Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda the opposite of Cosmo and Wanda, but not really.

7 Why Do They Let Their Parents Boss Them Around?

Both Cosmo and Wanda have less than healthy relationships with their parents. Cosmo is a bit of a mama’s boy and values his mother’s opinion as much as, if not more than, his wife’s. Wanda isn’t able to say no to her father, and goes to incredible lengths to earn his approval. The fact that they haven’t been able to work out their issues with their parents despite existing for millennia is concerning, and shins a light on their own insecurities and character flaws. Maybe someday they’ll be able to gain more independence, but as it stands now they let their folks have way too much influence over how they live their lives.

6 Why Do They Let Magical Build-Up Happen?

Apparently the relationship between a fairy godparent and their godchild is a symbiotic one, as fairies in The Fairly OddParents will explode if they go too long without granting a wish. This phenomenon is known as magical build-up, and turns a fairy into a pile of confetti until another fairy is able to use their magic to return them to their usual form. How fairies without godchildren avoid this event is unknown, but the fact that Cosmo and Wanda let themselves enter this helpless state multiple times throughout the series is rather strange. Especially considering that they can burn off a bit of magic by changing their shape and appearance whenever they want.

5 Why Did They Forget About Poof?

While Cosmo and Wanda’s child Poof did shake up the status quo of the cartoon for a while, he was also quickly written out of the show as soon as he learned to talk at the end of season nine. While the antics of a super powerful magic baby who couldn't control his powers did breath a bit of life into the show for a bit, the novelty also wore off rather quickly. Considering that fairy lives last for millennia, if not eternity, it’s strange that Cosmo and Wanda would let Poof go live his own life despite only just being born is pretty peculiar.

4 Why Do They Eat If They Don't Have To?

Both Cosmo and Wanda eat food throughout the course of The Fairly OddParents, with Cosmo actually being a bit of a glutton. However, as magical and eternal beings, they possess no biological need to eat. Their feelings of hunger or desire for food are entirely psychosomatic and they’d be totally fine if they went without any kind of nutrition. The fact that they do eat, and sometimes magically create food to satiate their need to consume it, is rather bizarre and an instance of them not fully utilizing their magical anatomy. Although, when Cosmo does it it’s usually more than he’d be physically able to, so maybe he is making the most of his powers.

3 Why Are Pixies Against Them?

Another antagonistic force in the series, pixies are business-minded magical creatures that try to snatch power away from fairies many times throughout the cartoon. They’ve grown to despise Cosmo, Wanda, and Timmy in particular, as these three have foiled their plans numerous times. However, considering that pixies have the same reality-altering powers as fairies and can, therefore, create entire dimensions to mold as they see fit, this antagonism doesn’t make all that much sense. Considering the scale of what these almost divine beings are capable of, such hostility towards two fairies and a human boy comes across as exceedingly petty.

2 Why Do They Have No Friends In The Fairy World?

Both Cosmo and Wanda are outcasts in their home plane of existence, Fairy World. Wanda lives in the shadow of her celebrity sister Blonda, and the havoc Cosmo wrecked as a toddler borderline outlawed the birth of any more fairy babies. Of course, considering how strange and colorful the other citizens of Fairy World are, like the cynical Easter Bunny or the humanoid Tooth Fairy, it's strange that Cosmo and Wanda would be considered such misfits. Considering how enjoyable their antics are to viewers, it’s surprising that there aren't at least a few other fairies shown as their friends in the course of the series.

1 How Do They Have So Many Enemies?

Cosmo and Wanda have a borderline ridiculous number of enemies. Be it the jilted Juandissimo, the nutty Denzel Crocker, the nefarious pixies, or their own villainous doppelgängers; there are a lot of people plotting against the iconic fairy couple. While some of the antagonism towards them is warranted, as they can cause unintentional harm with their magical powers, a lot of people just don’t seem to like this quirky couple. As these grudges usually serve as some of the most entertaining plotlines in the cartoon, it’s unlikely that things will ever improve between these parties on the off chance the cartoon someday returns.