Spirou (character)

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Spirou is the main character of Spirou et Fantasio and Le Petit Spirou comic strips.

The character, and his comic strip, was originally created by Robert Velter (Rob-Vel) for the launch of his Journal de Spirou in 1938. Spirou was originally an elevator (lift) operator (in French: un groom) for the Moustique Hotel. Spirou has a pet squirrel called Spip, and spirou means "squirrel" (lit.) and "mischievous" (fig.) in Walloon.

Though the change was never shown, Spirou has been for many years an investigation reporter for the Spirou magazine, alongside his best friend and co-adventurer Fantasio. Spirou is honest and brave, and tries to fight the injustice around him, often the origins of their adventures, and he's usually more level-headed than his friend Fantasio.

Spirou's design has changed through the years and the creators that had worked his adventures (see the Spirou et Fantasio article for information on the story of the strip) but he has retained his spiky red-hair and mostly red clothes (for many years, he still wore his old red uniform even when he was already a reporter).

A six year old version of Spirou is the star of the later series Le Petit Spirou, which is more centered around his tribulations with school and the anatomy of girls. It is generally acknowledged, however, that the character in Le Petit Spirou doesn't have very much in common, psychologically speaking, with the old one.

[edit] Spip

Spip is Spirou's pet squirrel, that accompanies him into all his adventures. Spip is pretty intelligent and tries to communicate with Spirou with mimic and cries. Spip doesn't talk, but his thoughts, often sarcastic, are displayed to the reader. A bit grouchy, he's not happy to be dragged around from danger to danger, but he tries to help as much as he can.