Dilbert (character)
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Dilbert is the eponymous main character of the Dilbert comic strip. He has a rare condition characterized by an extreme intuition about all things mechanical and electrical (and utter social ineptitude), an idea that was explored in the animated television episode titled "The Knack". He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Although his ideas are typically sensible and occasionally even revolutionary, they are seldom carried out because of his powerlessness. He is easily frustrated by the incompetence of his co-workers (most often the Pointy-Haired Boss) and is often sarcastic and snide. Dilbert's unusual name was suggested to Scott Adams by a co-worker; Adams later found that the name likely came from a cartoon character used by the United States Navy during World War II.[1][2]
In an interview with the New York Times, Adams said that he based Dilbert's character on someone he knew, saying: "I worked around engineers for most of my 16 years of corporate life. Dilbert is actually designed after one person in particular. Interestingly, that person is not aware that he is the model for Dilbert. I didn’t know him well and never mentioned it to him."
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[edit] Relationship with other characters
Dilbert lives with his pets, Dogbert and Ratbert, and the three dinosaurs Bob, Rex, and Dawn. Dilbert often interacts with his co-workers, most commonly including Alice, Wally and Asok (and in the TV series, Loud Howard). He is currently single as a result of his poor social skills, although he has been on many dates and was in a relationship with a woman named Liz for two years between 1994 and 1996. While he is frequently seen having dates with eligible women, the dates almost invariably end in disaster, usually in surreal and bizarre ways. Dilbert has only two notable friends, Dogbert and Wally (though Wally once told him "don't flatter yourself" when Dilbert referred to him as a friend), and Dogbert has alluded to staying around Dilbert out of amusement concerning Dilbert's suffering. And, because the coffee is good. Dogbert will play jokes and even be cruel to Dilbert, but like all faithful dogs, he will not tolerate anyone else doing this to Dilbert. Dilbert treats the Pointy-Haired Boss like the plague and has very little loyalty towards him or the company. Dilbert can often predict exactly how and when the boss will doom the current assignment. Dilbert loves computers and technology, and will spend much of his free time playing with such things. He is also good friends with Blondie and Dagwood from the comic strip Blondie, as he was seen as one of the many guests at their 75th anniversary party.
[edit] Family
Dilbert's mother appears once in a while in the comic and the animated series. She is frequently referred to as "Dilmom". While apparently a great Scrabble player, she has been accused of cheating in many strips and in the animated series. In the series, she dances on the table top when she wins a game of Scrabble.
Dilbert's father never appears in the strip, as he has spent his life since Christmas 1982 at a 24-hour "All-You-Can-Eat" restaurant in the mall. (As far as we know, he won't leave until it's "all he can eat.") He can be seen in the episode "The Gift" in the animated series, although his face is never shown.
[edit] Physical appearance
Dilbert usually has no visible mouth or eyes. In more recent strips the mouth has been drawn on occasions when Dilbert is eating, surprised, furious, or nervous, and in the television series his mouth is drawn when he is speaking. Dogbert looks very much like Dilbert, with glasses and no mouth; his mouth likewise appears when he is speaking in the animated series.
In nearly every strip, Dilbert's tie is curved upward. While Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has offered no definitive explanation for this, he has explained the tie at least as a further example of Dilbert's lack of power over his environment. A second explanation given by Adams in the Dilbert FAQ is that "he is just glad to see you". Adams has also hinted that the tie may be displaying an aversion to him. Additionally, in Seven Years of Highly Defective People, Adams wrote: "Many readers asked me to allow Dilbert to lose his innocence with Liz, so to speak. But I didn't see any way I could do that in a comic strip and get it past the editors. So I developed a secret sign. I told the people who receive the Dilbert newsletter that if Dilbert ever got lucky with Liz, I would draw his normally upturned necktie flat one day." The flat-necktie strip was printed on August 9, 1994, in which Dogbert suspected that Dilbert had gotten lucky.[3]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Adams, Scott. Seven Years of Highly Defective People.
- ^ Adams, Scott (2007-03-02). The Dilbert Blog: Most Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ dribibu.xs4all.nl - Comics archive
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