Popeye (cartoon)/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters from Popeye (cartoon) include:

Popeye The Sailor

I yam what I yam and that's all wot I yam!

Castor Oyl: "Hey you, are you a sailor?"
Popeye: "Ja think I'm a cowboy?"

Castor Oyl: "Okay, you're hired."
—Popeye's debut on January 17, 1929 in Thimble Theater, as well as his Establishing Character Moment.

Popeye the Sailor Man: one of the eight wonders of the Newspaper Comics and Western Animation world, and one of the most popular cartoon stars of The Golden Age of Animation. Initially appearing as a oneshot character in the middle of an arc Thimble Theater, the comic E.C. Segar was making at the time, was going through, Popeye quickly gained the status of Ensemble Darkhorse among the comics readers, and stayed in the comic long after his debut adventure was over, until he finally overtook the whole comic, with it being renamed Popeye and tossing out Ham Gravy as the main character and Olive Oyl's original love interest.

Part of what made Popeye such an instant hit with audiences was that, despite his odd appearance and gruff conduct, he was one of the few moral forces in the world of Thimble Theatre-Popeye also got along great with children, even going as far as to tearing apart a guys hot dog vendor once just because he wouldn't give a broke kid a hot dog on credit (that, and insulting Popeye to his face). In other words, he was a very likable, sympathetic character despite having none of the obvious qualities of one at first sight. He was the original Anti-Hero. He is also a very noble (but ignorant) being and is very loyal to his girl Olive Oyl and will give anyone the benefit of the doubt, even his rival Bluto.

Speaking of original, Popeye was the original superhero-over a decade before Superman graced the comic pages, Popeye was blessed with inhuman strength and astounding durability and endurance, taking at least 15 bullets in his first adventure before finally being brought down.

While Popeye was already a major force in the comics, the sailor with a sock got his big break when animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer, known for their Betty Boop cartoons, brought him to the big screen alongside Betty Boop in a six minute short subject. These Fleischer cartoons took the series to new levels not even touched by the original comics-while Popeye was already very strong in the comics, the Fleischers made Popeye strong enough to stop a train dead in its tracks and move entire landmasses, as well as Reality Warping abilities--he could punch objects which would either morph them into something different or split them into multiple smaller objects--one short even had Popeye blow out the sun like a candle just so he could get some private time with Olive. And he could do all of this without' eating any spinach-in fact, the spinach can very rarely popped up in the original comics-this was made prominent in the Fleischer cartoons.

While some animation fans have criticised the series for it's "formulaic Popeye Vs. Bluto structure", in reality this was done out of necessity-the original comics had stories that went on from weeks to even MONTHS at a time, which would have been impossible to compress into six minute low budget cartoon shorts. On that note, the series didn't even rely on the Bluto and Popeye fighting as much as one would think-there were plenty of shorts the Fleischers made that experimented with other settings and stories outside of their rivalry, and even the ones that did feature the status quo pulled many, many different, creative variations of the formula-from battling on logs floating down a river to competing for the title of "King of the Mardi Gras", these shorts are still as fresh and original feeling today as apple pie. And obviously, the Fleischers love of surreal sight gags and Deranged Animation was carried over from their Betty Boop shorts, with such sights as the visual metaphors that appear in Popeye's muscles upon consuming spinach and the aforementioned reality warping powers of Popeye-none of which ever appeared in the original comics. Another odd fact was that prior to the war years, Popeye was hardly ever on ships-most of his adventures were set on dry land, only sporadically going off to sea.

Needless to say, Popeye's theatrical cartoons were an instant smash success on release, quickly toppling Mickey Mouse as the then-king of cartoons. While the series was gradually toned down as time went by (even in the comics, Popeye was forced to be toned down due to him having a large kid fanbase) this character and friends still pop up in some form or another to this day, with a recent TV special celebrating his 75th anniversary, as well as an upcoming Sony Pictures CGI film. Here's hoping for the best with this sailor's future!

Tropes exhibited by Popeye include:
  • Adaptational Attractiveness: In the Popeye Special series, especially Double Trouble Down Under, Popeye is portrayed as being much more handsome. Possibly justified as the series takes place at an earlier point in Popeye's life where he's only a young man, but the manga-esque art style doesn't hurt either.
  • Anti-Hero: Type II or III, depending on the short.
  • Breakout Character
  • Catch Phrase: "Well blow me down!" (when surprised), and "That's all I can stands, cause I can't stands no more!" (when angry).
  • Deadpan Snarker: It got even funnier when Jack Mercer took over as the voice and made lots of funny quips and mumbles, all improvised on the spot.
  • Handicapped Badass: One-eyed badass sailor, at least with the Fleischer shorts.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Zig-zagged. Popeye loves animals and "can't stan' t'see a dumb animal cry", but is willing to fight animals in order to knock some sense into them, but isn't proud when does it, like in The Land of the Jeeps.
  • Funetik Aksent: His violence may have been toned down over the years, but his accent remains as strong as it ever was.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: An exaggerated version.
  • Made of Iron: The sheer extent of it tends to vary. In some stories such as Borned to the Sea, Popeye was injured enough to go to the hospital after getting in a fight with an entire buildings worth of armed men, while in some stories like Popeye's Apocalypse, he survived an entire factory's worth of bombs exploding at once, several SCUD rockets striking him, his atoms being destabilized and all of existence being erased without much harm.
  • Motor Mouth: He's always muttering something under his breath. He talks way beyond the animation. This was because his voice, actor and comedian Jack Mercer, was allowed to improvise lines after the animation had been drawn. This became a staple of the character.
  • Nice Guy: For as gruff and daring as he is, Popeye has a big heart and has no issues showing it. He's a generally friendly, easy-going, heroic man who is willing to go to great lengths to protect others, specially his fiends and family.
  • Noodle Incident: He claims his lost eye was the result of "the mos' arful battle of me whole life" but he has never given details.
  • Reality Warper: Big time.
  • Signature Move: "Me special twisker punch!"
  • Smoking Is Cool: Even after almost a century, the way he toots his pipe during the theme music had never gotten old.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Spinach, of course.
    • Shown Their Work: His choose of food, Spinach, actually contains magnesium, nitric oxide, and ecdysteroids. These materials actually does have an effect on the body, which natural bodybuilders opt for because it has similar effect as anabolic steroids but found naturally. Along with prompting the sale of spinach, Popeye prompted the bodily benefits of the food as well. In other works, he was got this right.

Olive Oyl

Popeye's love interest and frequent Damsel in Distress. Olive is a very fickle being, who keeps going between liking Popeye and liking Bluto, despite the loyalty from both of them.

Tropes exhibited by Olive include:

Bluto
"All brawn and no brains, dat's me!"
—Bluto to Olive in "The Anvil Chorus Girl".

Popeye's rival, who only appeared once in the original comics, but was made into a prominent character in the Fleischer cartoons. He's the bully we all know or have known in life--big, ugly and stupid. His relationship with Popeye is shaky, but it seems more like a rivalry than anything, and the two have had their friendly like moments together-and if we take one Minute Maid ad at face value, they can become downright affectionate towards each other sometimes.

Tropes exhibited by Bluto include:
  • Beard of Evil: Though he sometimes shaves it to disguise himself.
  • Breakout Villain: Thanks to the cartoon.
  • The Brute
  • The Bully
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: In some appearances, he knocks the can of Spinach out of Popeye's hands before he can get a single morsel in his mouth.
  • Dirty Coward
  • Depending on the Writer:
    • His personality can vary widely on who the animator is. Willard Bowsky depicts him as a dangerous sociopath ("Be Kind to Aminals" and "Dizzy Divers"), Seymour Kneitel makes him a Laughably Evil buffoon ("The Hyp-Nut-Tist" and "For Better or Worser"), while Dave Tendlar is somewhere in-between.
    • There's also a lot of disagreement as to how strong Bluto is compared to Popeye. Sometimes, Popeye is no match for him without spinach, while other times, Popeye can put up a good fight against him even without it. Still other times, Bluto has a terrible glass jaw, and even Olive Oyl (and in at least one case, even Swee'Pea) can knock him out.
  • The Dragon: To the Sea Hag in many cartoons.
  • Expy: There's another similar character named Brutus. The 1980s Ocean Comics miniseries stated that they're twin brothers.
  • Foe Yay: The Minute Maid ad makes it really suspicious, especially Olive's confused look when neither one even takes a second glance at her flirting.
  • He Cleans Up Nicely: Looks nice when he dresses up and shaves.
  • Large Ham
  • Made of Iron: Though not quite to the extent of Popeye.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: In Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, to jarring levels. He's a nice guy, best friends with Popeye, and when Olive starts hitting on him (not knowing she's being mind-controlled by the Sea Hag) he turns her down.
  • The Rival: Mostly in the cartoons, whenever he and Popeye have the same occupation. In the comics, Popeye claims Bluto is the only person who might be able to beat him in a fight.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Is often this to Popeye, their competition over Olive causing the vitriol between them.

J. Wellington Wimpy AKA Wimpy The Moocher
"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!"
—Wimpy's Catch Phrase

Wimpy is a recurring character in the Popeye comics and cartoons, and the sheer incarnation of The Load. Smart, but cowardly, greedy, selfish, and overall a glutton, Wimpy is the kind of guy who would sell out his friends for a hamburger (in fact, he even sides with a villain at one point in the comics).

While he was a very significant character in the comics, in Segar's days even coming close to eclipse Popeye himself in importance, the Fleischers merely made him an incidental character in the cartoons, who was always just there for the mere sake of comic relief -- mostly because Dave Fleischer considered the character, such as he was in the comic, "too intellectual" to work in the film cartoons. In fact, he was so minor in the cartoons that he was abandoned by the Fleischers after "Onion Pacific", and it wasn't until a full decade later that he would appear again, in the short "Popeye Makes A Movie."

However, he has become a fan favorite, and even has a brand of burger joints in Europe named after him called "Wimpy's."

Tropes exhibited by Wimpy include:

Swee'pea, AKA "Scooner Seawell Georgia Washenting Christiffer Columbia Daniel Boom"

A Door Step Baby adopted by Popeye (or Olive Oyl, depends on the incarnation or the story), Swee'pea is a little baby who has a knack for getting himself into trouble.

A fairly major character in the comic (especially after he learned to talk) but a pretty minor one in the cartoons -- his last appearance under the original Fleischer Studios was, fittingly, in their last cartoon, "Baby wants a Battleship" in 1942, and he would appear again in the 1950 Famous short "Baby Wants Spinach."

Tropes exhibited by Swee'pea include:

Eugene the Jeep

An odd dog-like, orchid-eating creature that is Popeye's pet, usually referred to as "The Jeep", he has a very powerful nose and his able to teleport, turn invisible, phase through walls and even levitate/walk on air!

Tropes exhibited by Eugene the Jeep include:
  • Living MacGuffin: In his first appearance in the comic, he becomes this -- there are a lot of people who want him for his abilities.
  • The Omniscient: He knows everything and can predict the future, and will gladly tell you if you ask him -- but since he can't talk he can only answer "yes" or "no" questions.
  • Once For Yes, Twice For No: Ask him a "yes" or "no" question; if he raises his tail, the answer is "yes," if he lowers it, the answer is "no." This method of communication isn't flawless, however, as he like so many animals also often uses his tail to express emotion; at one point Popeye thought the Jeep was answering "yes" to a question -- it turned out that he hadn't heard the question and was raising his tail because he had seen something interesting on the ground and was curious about it.
  • Picky Eater: Jeeps only eat one thing - orchids.
  • The Unintelligible: Some cartoons ignore the Once For Yes, Twice For No thing and just make him this, leaving other characters to translate what he's saying.

Poopdeck Pappy

Popeye's long lost, 99 year old, senile father. Almost identical to Popeye in appearance (although he frequently denies it) except with a beard and a higher pitched voice.

Tropes exhibited by Pappy include:
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