Cattivik

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Cattivik was an Italian comic book created by Bonvi, well known for Sturmtruppen. It started as a parody of Diabolik, another Italian comic. The main Character is an ugly pear-shaped thing with a black suit that commits (or at least try) crimes, usually mugging people or by burglary, but is always thwarted and suffers lots of Humiliation Conga of all sorts.

Its humour is often based on parody, fart and burp jokes and ludicrous violence, frequent parodies of Italian politicians, and politically incorrect jokes.

It was published from 1989 to 2005. In 2008 an animated series was made, based on some episodes of the comic.


Tropes used in Cattivik include:


  • Abhorrent Admirer: "I Fanzinari Brufolosi" (the Zitty Fanboys) towards Cattivik and, in one story, a huge, ugly Fangirl who kidnaps Cattivik and force him to draw a story for her(which is a parody of Stephen King's Misery).
  • Anti-Hero: Cattivik, even if he is more like a Villain Protagonist.
  • Bank Robbery: Often attempted, rarely successful.
  • BFG: He sometimes wields large guns in his misfits.
  • Black Comedy Rape: In one story he's captured by an amorous male Gorilla and he later comes back in lingerie, wig and bra. Sometimes he gets dragged away by some ugly women (or gay men) with amorous intents.
  • Butt Monkey: Every single time. Also his usual victim, the Solitomino (Everydayguy).
  • Camp Gay: Stylist are portrayed this way. Also Prince Charming.
  • Catch Phrase: "Uaz Uaz Uaz" (Cattivik traditional laugh). Also the words "Brivido, Terrore, Raccapriccio" (Chills, Terror and Bloodcurling) repeated at the start of each history.
  • Comedic Sociopathy: It usually derives from Cattivik's Amusing Injuries.
  • Crapsack World
  • Collector of the Strange: "Battista il Collezionista" (which sounds like "Hector the Collector") IS this trope: names something, he collect it. Including rocks, lockets, couchs, fish, Muslim's erotic magazines, hounds, carnivorous plants, bombs and mines, weapons, blowpipes, hot air ballons, ropes, caves, gems and even experience.
  • Depending on the Writer: The art and his behaviour changes frequently.
  • Drop the Hammer: He wields a trusty wooden hammer. Sometimes a large, steel one.
  • Exit, Pursued by a Bear: Actually never a bear, but also: an angry mob, crocodiles, hounds and sharks. In a particulary funny story he poisons (with the foul stench from the sewers) a ball party... of all kind of policemen and such. He almost get away in time.... only to be spotted and chased by a ludicrously large (about five whole panels) mob of policemen, firefighters, scouts, anti-riot troops, dog units and so on.
  • Extreme Omnivore: He can eat almost anything, but usually disgusting stuff, including salamander filled with fly's eggs and fried in spider's grease with origan.
  • Family-Unfriendly Violence: Very often.
  • Fan Disservice: Whenever he appears naked. Also many female characters are quite ugly.
  • Fat Bastard: Cattivik.
  • Fire and Brimstone Hell: And he managed to escape from it... by the Etna Volcano....
  • Fluffy Tamer: He once considered to keep a gator as a pet, and in one story he managed to subvert his status as Butt Monkey by beating a large, mean gorilla to a pulp.
  • Gag Boobs: Used sometimes. Most notably in one story (where everything is white because of a lazy artist strong blizzard) and he land from a great height on something soft and warm. Reveled to be the large bosom of a streetwalker. In one story he even ends up with two fake breast which looks like beach baloons (complete with the plug).
  • Gender Bender: In one story he ends up in the operative room of an hospital and is later seen with flowing blond hair,skirt and big breast.
  • Gonk: Many people in the comic.
  • Groin Attack: Often.
  • Hammerspace: That or his leotard is really spacious.
  • Hidden Depths: Even if Cattivik can barely read or write he can conjure weird contraptions or a Thememobile using only whatever junk he can find into the sewers he lives into.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: It happens to him quite frequently.
  • Humiliation Conga: Being beaten to a pulp is quite common. Other fates include being thrown in jail, captured by a group of Boy Scouts, sealed somewhere, exposed as a freak , forced to work as a (female) prostitute and even got married to a Camp Gay stylist (as his bride, no less)
  • Hyperspace Arsenal: From spoons to howitzers.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Often.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Guess who.
  • Jerkass: Cattivik. Also some minor characters, like other punks or the Skinheads.
  • Karma Houdini: Usually the other delinquents or characters who trick Cattivik.
  • Knife Nut: He also like knives.
  • Living Crashpad: Happens twice in the same story. The first time he lands on something "bouncy" revealed to be the breasts of a prostitute. Later he's sent flying again and this time lands on something soft and hairy, revealed to be the back of a polar bear in the zoo.
  • Looks Like Orlok: Surprisingly, in the Dracula parody story, the count "Nosfigatu" looks more like Nosferatu. And, is a even greater Butt Monkey than Cattivik himself.
  • Low Speed Chase: In one story , Cattivik is chased by a stubborn carabiniere and the fast chase slowly declines to a walking pace, then to a agonizing crawl.
  • Ludicrous Gibs: Cattivik often ends like this, only to scoop himself back together a few seconds later.
  • The Mafia: Usually composed by two identical men with fedoras and moustache.
  • Mugging the Monster:
    • It happens to him from time to time. Subverted once where he flee screaming seeing a very tall, angry man who is actually a balloon wielded by a little kid.
    • Or when he mug a normal-looking man who promptly react by beating him to a pulp in order to subvert a stereotype.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Occasionally invoked whenever Cattivik's hijinks involved a celebrity.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: His rats.
  • No Fourth Wall: Sometimes the loud introductions of the narrator rudely awakes Cattivik from his slumber. Sometimes,Cattivik actually argues with the authors of the story.
  • No One Could Survive That: He survived to being clubbed, slashed, impaled, squashed, bisected, diced, shot, poisoned, eaten and even nuked.
  • Politically Incorrect Hero: Let's just say the whole comic.
  • Refuge in Audacity
  • Rube Goldberg Device: Cattivik occasionally builds one, and a whole episode was dedicated to explain how one of them worked.
  • Running Gag: His stench, which is so strong it can cause even Mummies, zombies and monsters to puke.
  • Shallow Parody: Of Diabolik at first and later of various other works.
  • Status Quo Is God: No matter what happens to him, in the next story he's back on his feet in the sewers looking for another goal.
  • Summon Bigger Fish: With weapons in a hooligan themed episode: He first mug a large hooligan with a kitchen knife, and the guy just pull out a huge knife and dice him. Then he try his luck against another hooligan (this time with a pistol), put the other one pulls out a rocket launcher. The last time he attempted with a small cannon, but the "victim" was a small band of delinquents with a Tank!.
  • Take Our Word for It: The blizzard episode where everything's white. At one point he runs into a colossal Ice sculpture representing the October's Revolution and the assault on the Chzar's palace complete with horses, soldiers and any possible kind of minute decorations.

Cattivik: "I'm shocked with awe and surprise! Is a pity that you can't see this!"

  • Tempting Fate: And it never miss a chance of biting him in the ass.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: In one episode (a homage to Sturmtruppen) Cattivik finds a group of really old, senile nazi soldiers who are unaware that the war is over.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: In at least a couple episodes (both involving a psychiatrist) he manages to finally steal something without getting torn to pieces.
  • Verbal Tic: He often omits the last vowel of each word.
  • Wholesome/CreepyCrossdresser: Only once was voluntary, while the other times is usually part of an Humiliation Conga.
  • Wrong Parachute Gag: Subverted when the hero gets the wrong parachute but still manages to land safely on a plane (don't worry, It Makes Sense in Context)
  • You All Look Familiar: The family members of the Solitomino (is actually the surname) have the same traits.