-
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
- The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
- Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
The Top 50 Cartoon Characters - They Aren't Your Favourite, They're Just Drawn That Way
- Thread starter Johnny Unusual
- Start date
She's definitely a character who could fit in with the old Looney Tunes style (or maybe Tex Avery...).
Aw... C'mon man.
Alright alright ghost solidarity and all. We can share the gif.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Sharing? Not on my watch! And if you try it again, I'm busting you down to Boo Berry.
Actually, that's pretty solid.
(I might have anti-capitalist views but I still would love to do a top 50 mascots list)
Actually, that's pretty solid.
(I might have anti-capitalist views but I still would love to do a top 50 mascots list)
Well the hat and bow tie are quite stylish but I'm not sure how I feel about the piercings...
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Same, I have no idea what the final result for this is going to be. @Lumber Baron and I only have *checks quickly* three of the same characters on our lists and I would have guessed at least half of ours would overlap.
I am very confident that I've picked the less popular characters of shows that will make it though since they happen to be the ones I like more.
A part of Haruko's characterization that I really like is you only see her real self for like two minutes at the end of the series, after Naoto crawls out of Canti's screen. Everything up to that point is a persona she's affecting for Naoto's and the audience's benefit. It's really raw an unvarnished and when she loses what she wants she just doesn't have the will to keep it up anymore. That's all the manic anime pixie you get, see you never.
I didn't consider much anime on my list but Haruko is definitely a memorable character.
I've got FLCL on my DVD shelf, but ain't never watched it
I decided to exclude anime from my list just to make it easier on myself, but if I had kept anime in, Haruko would have been in my top five, and maybe even at number one. FLCL has been my favorite anime since I first saw it at anime club in high school on someone's fansubbed VHS. I rewatched it countless times on Adult Swim and later on my personal DVD copies. It's been a few years since I've given it a watch, but the series is always fresh in my mind.
In some ways Haruko fits the "manic pixie dream girl" trope. She takes manic to new levels in every scene she's in, and one of her functions in the plot is to make the nebbish Naota grow a little bit. But what separates the weak MPDGs from the strong ones is a sense of self - and Haruko is always pushing for her own personal goals, even if it looks like what she's doing is coddling a no-account teenager. She's a personification of a theme but she's her own person as well.
I really like her, and I always find something new to enjoy about her each time I rewatch FLCL.
In some ways Haruko fits the "manic pixie dream girl" trope. She takes manic to new levels in every scene she's in, and one of her functions in the plot is to make the nebbish Naota grow a little bit. But what separates the weak MPDGs from the strong ones is a sense of self - and Haruko is always pushing for her own personal goals, even if it looks like what she's doing is coddling a no-account teenager. She's a personification of a theme but she's her own person as well.
I really like her, and I always find something new to enjoy about her each time I rewatch FLCL.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
48. Pearl
61 Points, 2 Lists, Top Vote: #3 Bulgakov
61 Points, 2 Lists, Top Vote: #3 Bulgakov
“I asked her about her hair, and then she asked how I colored mine. I told her, "My appearance is just a conscious manifestation of light." and she said, "I know how that is." although, heh, I highly doubt it. Oh! And then I added, "By the way, I saved your planet, and your species, and you're welcome.”
Source Material: Steven Universe
Voice Actor: Deedee Magno Hall
Pearl is a pearl, an alien “gem”, on of a crystalline alien race who created a galaxy spanning empire. You can learn more about that here. Thousands of years ago, she rebelled against her masters during the Earth occupation and after the war continued to live on Earth along with the remaining rebels, the Crystal Gems, cleaning up the remnants of the war for the safety of the Earth… and the remnants. Pearl looks after Steven, the half-human son of the Crystal Gems’ former leader Rose Quartz and helps train him to be a Crystal Gem.
Pearl is a fighter of precision and grace, and was the first recruit in Rose Quartz war and her most loyal friend and confidante. However, while Pearl is a perfectionist, she can also be anxious, particularly when a situation goes outside of expected perimeters, which often can cloud her judgment. As the series begins, she has an inferiority complex and later admits she needs constant validation and a leader to follow. Her journey is to move beyond simply living for the now-gone Rose Quartz, to whom she had complicated romantic feelings towards, and learn to become confident and trust herself.
Steven Universe has no shortage of great characters to love, all of whom we see both as brave in fighting against impossible odds and also the truly important art of self-betterment and care. While Pearl begins the series seeming to be pristine, she is revealed to be the one living with a need to truly understand and improve herself. The process happens slowly but surely and it comes with tremendous heartache as we see the true depths of who Pearl is and what makes her tick. I think it’s safe to say while she plays perfect, it’s the vulnerability of the character people love and exemplifies how truly resilient she really is.
@Bulgakov
I mean, that’s the look from the pilot.
That barely counts.
Another show that I couldn't pick one character to list.
I did vote a character from SU, and it could easily have been Pearl, but it wasn't.
One of the most Pearl moments in the show is in that episode where she gets a big manic idea to build a spaceship which she then insists on taking on a test flight with Steven. Before they even have a chance to discuss it, they're already blasting off for the nearest star system. Pearl reassures Greg that they'll be back in a quick fifty years. "I'll be dead by then!" Greg says, which is somehow a line that's stuck with me forever. It still feels a little shocking for a western kids' cartoon to bring up death in such a flat way, and that's exactly the kind of character moment Pearl tends to inspire.
The ship trip doesn't work out, by the way, which is also very true to Pearl.
One of the most Pearl moments in the show is in that episode where she gets a big manic idea to build a spaceship which she then insists on taking on a test flight with Steven. Before they even have a chance to discuss it, they're already blasting off for the nearest star system. Pearl reassures Greg that they'll be back in a quick fifty years. "I'll be dead by then!" Greg says, which is somehow a line that's stuck with me forever. It still feels a little shocking for a western kids' cartoon to bring up death in such a flat way, and that's exactly the kind of character moment Pearl tends to inspire.
The ship trip doesn't work out, by the way, which is also very true to Pearl.
Pearl asn't my pick from SU, but she is one of my favorite characters from it.
Always kiiiiinda bugged me that she has a reputation for being The Pearl Who Rebelled, and she leans into that a lot, but she never did; she was doing exactly what her Diamond told her at all times, even posthumously. It's just that nobody knew that Rose was Pink. which feels like it should be a character beat that should come up more than it did
Always kiiiiinda bugged me that she has a reputation for being The Pearl Who Rebelled, and she leans into that a lot, but she never did; she was doing exactly what her Diamond told her at all times, even posthumously. It's just that nobody knew that Rose was Pink. which feels like it should be a character beat that should come up more than it did
You should rectify this
Ultimately I felt just a liiiiitttle bit let down by SU as a whole, many times for things like this. Part of it was just how high of a standard I started to hold it to after a while, though. The show just set such a high bar for 'toons of its type, and sometimes it felt like it wasn't holding up under its own standards.
But it might have just been the staggered release schedule...
Quick catchup thoughts:
- tfw your gif fits so good
- I dunno what that old guy is but he looks like he belongs in a house floating with a bunch of balloons
- Haruka did not make my list but she's a lot of fun. She's mildly problematic, but not so much I resent it.
- Birdmom bestmom
- tfw your gif fits so good
- I dunno what that old guy is but he looks like he belongs in a house floating with a bunch of balloons
- Haruka did not make my list but she's a lot of fun. She's mildly problematic, but not so much I resent it.
- Birdmom bestmom
Looks like I am here to bring balance to the force because I made my list exclusively anime (mostly just to make things easier on myself)
Same here as well; cutting down to one or two per source was painful. And oof, that Rose's Scabbard sequence still gets me. (...... nobody post It's Over.)
I mean, I feel like Pearl learning that she can in fact do things for herself and not just for someone else was a big character arc through the whole show.
Got to see her in person recently and learned that Pearl voice is completely just her regular everyday voice, which is both awesome and slightly disturbing in the moment. (This actually seems to be true for most of the main cast characters/actors on the show, except a few with obvious affectations like Amethyst and Peridot.)
If I'd made this list 10 or 15 years ago I'm sure it would have been like 90% anime. This time around, especially from trying to balance sources and avoid characters that could be just as easily nominated for print versions, I ended up a bit under a third anime.
Oh wow, it really is.
Only 8-9 of my picks have source material; I went out of my way to preserve anime-only entries for my list and I've seen so much anime in my years that I could have easily made a list with anime-only/first characters. The ones with source material that made the cut though, are by and large more famous for their animated depictions. Especially when the voice acting for certain characters are so good and iconic that they essentially transform a character in the minds of viewers and become definitive.
Also, I gotta thank Johnny for letting my list squeeze in past the deadline, and to also apologize beforehand about how I rushed so fast to get it submitted I didn't even do a single customary pass over what I'd written for typos so get ready for some bad grammar and spelling mistakes.
It wasn't intentional but looking over my list it is anime free.
I only had two anime characters on my list and I'm not sure if they'll make the 50. I and not even sure how to gauge the odds of either of them showing up but I feel like one is more likely than the other.
I had only watched Western cartoons in my youth and most of the anime I watch doesn't have characters that I would personally classify as "cartoons". But it could also be that many of the anime I watch have ensemble casts so it was hard for me to pick a single character out of the group. Of course I did have that same problem with some of the Western animation I watch.
However the whole root issue could just be that I'm a grumpy pedantic old nerd.
I had only watched Western cartoons in my youth and most of the anime I watch doesn't have characters that I would personally classify as "cartoons". But it could also be that many of the anime I watch have ensemble casts so it was hard for me to pick a single character out of the group. Of course I did have that same problem with some of the Western animation I watch.
However the whole root issue could just be that I'm a grumpy pedantic old nerd.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
47. Dr. Zoidberg
62 Points, 3 Lists, #7 JBear
"Your music is bad and you should feel bad!"
62 Points, 3 Lists, #7 JBear
"Your music is bad and you should feel bad!"
Source Material: Futurama
Voice Actor: Billy West
Dr. John Zoidberg is a medical doctor living in New New York City of the 31st century. An alien crustacean, Dr. Zoidberg has been working as the resident doctor for the Planet Express delivery company for a very long time, despite the fact that he seems not only ignorant of human physiology but seems completely incompetent in all fields of medicine for non-marine life and may not have a medical degree (though he does have a doctorate in art history). Zoidberg is also living in poverty (specifically in a dumpster outside the Planet Express), likely do both to the poor worker policies of Planet Express and his own poor money management abilities.
Zoidberg tends to be extremely unpopular with his colleagues most of the time due to his incompetence, stench, and inability to read the room. While he does suffer from some sadness due to his position, he often is nonetheless good natured, if extremely careless. He can also be petty and foolish, often squandering the few times he is in people’s good will. He is, however, largely a good person when he doesn’t get carried away, even making it onto the nice list of Robot Santa, who is infamously hard to please.
(I hope you like obnoxious watermarks)
Having a proper sadsack character in comedy is always a balancing act. You want a certain amount of patheticness and sympathy without going overboard. Zoidberg really is one of the great sadsacks in that despite everything people dump on him, he tends to remain upbeat and friendly. And despite the fact that he is friendly, he likes to build himself as an expert, so there is a certain amount of fun deflating element to him. But mostly, we enjoy the comedy of this poor dude stumble through life with none of the qualities that the occupation of doctor should have. A lot of his character is also inspired by American Jewish culture, with him having a very strong Yiddish accent and having the Decapodian people be an extended parody of such.
JBear
Bulgakov
The Estate of Lou Jacobi
Defense:
"The best I can do is the “blood from a stone” defense. Does that hold up in court? I’m asking for a client."
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I was really late into anime. I remember my cousins watching Totoro but don't think I ever saw it myself until much later, and they called it Japanimation which uh boy that term hasn't come up for a while. I specifically remember reading an article about Princess Mononoke coming to theaters in the newspaper and am pretty sure that's the first time I read the word anime. I asked my dad to take me, loved the movie and after that really wanted to learn more about what Studio Ghibli was about, but looking up clips wasn't really an option back then and I don't think our local video rental store had much. It probably wasn't until the early 2010s that I started watching things here and there, but have definitely missed out on a lot of it.
Anyway, looks like I have two anime characters on my list and one of my very late cuts to make it to 25 was an anime character too. As we move on I'm curious to see where some of my late cuts place.
Edit: Oh hey I think this might be the article? The tone and a few lines seem familiar.
Anyway, looks like I have two anime characters on my list and one of my very late cuts to make it to 25 was an anime character too. As we move on I'm curious to see where some of my late cuts place.
Edit: Oh hey I think this might be the article? The tone and a few lines seem familiar.
Last edited:
That's the best way to show your appreciation of him.
Listen, there's a key difference here. Zoidberg is nice. Desmond's an *asshole*.