The Adventures of Captain Underpants is an American children's novel by Dav Pilkey, and the inaugural novel of the Captain Underpants series. It was published in September 1997, becoming a hit with children around the world. In the novel, George Beard and Harold Hutchins turn their principal, Mr. Krupp, into the "greatest superhero of all time", The Amazing Captain Underpants. The success of The Adventures of Captain Underpants spawned a multimedia franchise, including sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations.
George Beard and Harold Hutchins are two mischievous fourth-graders who attend Jerome Horwitz Elementary School in Piqua, Ohio. They are known for making comic books featuring Captain Underpants, a superhero of their own creation. After the boys ruin the school's football game with an array of practical jokes, their principal, Mr. Krupp, threatens to expose their mischief to the football team using video evidence unless they submit to a list of rules he gives them. George and Harold find themselves burdened with good behavior, extra homework, and chores for Krupp.
To escape their punishment, George orders a "3-D Hypno-Ring" from the Li'l Wiseguy Novelty Company. The boys use the ring to hypnotize Krupp, and Harold replaces Krupp's videotape with one of his little sister's "Boomer the Purple Dragon" sing-along videos. When George jokingly instructs Krupp to behave like Captain Underpants, Krupp dresses as the Captain and leaves the school to fight crime. The boys find "Captain Underpants" confronting a pair of bank robbers and carry him away.
The three witness two robots stealing a large crystal from a shop and follow them to an abandoned warehouse. There, Captain Underpants is tied up by the nefarious Dr. Diaper, who harbors a plan to annihilate the Moon with his crystal-powered Laser-Matic 2000. George uses a slingshot to hurl fake dog feces between Dr. Diaper's legs. Believing the feces to be his own, Dr. Diaper goes to change himself, gifting George and Harold the opportunity to destroy the robots and free Captain Underpants. Harold pulls the machine's self-destruct lever just as Dr. Diaper returns. After Captain Underpants subdues Dr. Diaper, he and the boys escape before the entire warehouse explodes, leaving Dr. Diaper for the police to apprehend.
Back at school, Captain Underpants redresses as Krupp so the boys can reverse the hypnosis, but they have misplaced the ring's manual. George impulsively pours a vase of water on Captain Underpants's head, reverting him to Krupp. After Krupp leaves with Harold's videotape, George finds the manual and throws it away, failing to notice a warning that immersing a hypnotized person in water will cause them to relapse into their trance at the sound of fingers snapping. George and Harold return to their usual mischief, but realize they must keep Mr. Krupp from hearing finger snaps, which turns him back into Captain Underpants.
Title change
Early printings of the book have "An Epic Novel by Dav Pilkey" instead of "The First Epic Novel by Dav Pilkey", and the "Little Apple" logo on the cover of some early paperback editions of the book, being removed in later copies.
Development
On why he focused on underwear in the book, Pilkey stated "I think underwear is funny because you’re not supposed to laugh at it."[1]
After the main series concluded with the twelfth novel, Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot, in 2015, a spin-off comic series titled Dog Man was released the following year in 2016.[2] The spin-off series has 13 books so far, with a 14th book titled "Big Jim Believes" scheduled to release on November 11 2025. It received its own spin-off series titled Cat Kid Comic Club in 2020, with a totle of five books.
DreamWorks Animation acquired the rights to the series to make an animated film adaptation, entitled Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie which was released on June 2, 2017. It grossed $125 million worldwide against a budget against a budget of $38 million, and received positive reviews.
On July 31, 2025, it was announced by People Magazine that a manga adaptation of The Adventures of Captain Underpants, titled Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga, would be written and adapted by Dav Pilkey with new illustrations by manga artist Motojiro. It is scheduled for release on April 7, 2026.
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