The Top 50 Cartoon Characters - They Aren't Your Favourite, They're Just Drawn That Way

[Octopus Prime]

I was the other vote for Master Shake.

It was down to either him or Carl for someone from ATHF, and, well… only one of them is voiced by Dana Snyder

 

[Kirin]

Catching up:

Zuko is a fantastic character with a fantastic arc and could easily have made my list if I didn't limit it to no more than two characters from the same show.

Atom/Astro might have made my list if I'd thought of him. Obviously hugely seminal to the whole dang medium, and while I haven't read/watched a lot of his original material I loved him in Pluto.

I was the second vote for Coraline. On the character side she's got a lot of depth for someone ostensibly in the "plucky child protagonist" role, and on the animation side, goddamn that Henry Selick stop-motion has never been better.

Also the second vote for Lupin III. Wist basically covered that one; another character who's just a huge defining influence on his genre, and also just a heck of a lot of fun to watch. I have a personal soft spot for his sidekick Jigen since I cosplayed him a bunch back in the day, but Lupin holds the whole thing together so he made the list.


Edit: watching clips I just realized that Aku is the same VA as a completely different character I voted for. I need to see more Samurai Jack someday.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

30. Porco Rosso

81 Points, 4 Lists, #11 Patrick ​

"I'd rather be a pig than a fascist.”

Source Material: Porco Rosso

Voice Actor: Shūichirō Moriyama, Patrick Harlan (English), Michael Keaton (English)

Porco Rosso, AKA Marco Pagot, is a World War I fighting ace living in Italy in 1929. With the war over, Porco now works as a bounty hunter, taking out pirates with his plane. He is also a pig. He wasn’t always a pig but for reasons unknown, he transformed into a pig but continues to fly as a heroic ace after. He often is seen at the Hotel Adriano and is admired by the woman Gino. He ends up in a rivalry with an American pilot, Curtis, and makes friends with the young mechanic Fio.

Porco Rosso is a brave pilot and is a true professional, smart and intrepid. He started flying from a young age. Despite his love for his country, he is an enemy of the fascist regime of Italy. Rosso is willing to sacrifice himself in order to help others and has a strong sense of pride. Those who can see something powerful within him have been known to see him in his human form from time to time.

Do forgive the brevity of this entry because it has been a long time since I’ve seen this one. I do remember that I like it, though.

Plaintiffs:

Defense:

“It will probably involve a lot of pork puns. Mostly, I have a lot of material I want to test out and this seems like the place for it.”

 

[Kirin]

Johnny, it looks like your first vid there is blocked in the US.

Porco is great, and Johnny nailed his money quote. I didn't get to him only because I was considering basically all of Ghibli as one source when culling my duplicates.

 

[Dracula]

Porco is a good Robotnik.

 

[Rascally Badger]

I didn't manage to submit a list, but if I had Porco would have ranked highly. He's a great mix of calm professionalism and self hatred. It shouldn't be as entertaining as it is, but he's got a dry sense of humor and world weariness and a refusal to participate in making things worse than they already are.

 

[Issun]

An excellent choice.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

29. Homestar Runner

82 Points, 4 Lists, #11 Octopus Prime ​

“Homestarrunnerdotnet. It’s Dot Com!”

Source Material: Homestar Runner

Voice Actor: Matt Chapman

Homestar Runner is a terrific athlete from Free Country, USA. He lives with a small collection of friends including his coach, Coach Z, the concessions guy Bubs, his girlfriend Marzipan, his co-athlete Pom Pom and rival Strong Bad. Though in all honesty, it seems like Homestar and pretty much everyone else mostly have forgotten he’s an athlete. Most of the time, he’s a weird buffoon who is just looking for a good time and has no sense of whether people are tolerating him.

Homestar spends a lot of time spending time with Strong Bad, which Strong Bad usually would rather not do. He assumes a level of friendship that Strong Bad does not share and does not care to tolerate. Part of it is due to Strong Bad’s general antagonism towards most people but he also has a hard time with the fact that Homestar seems only to have the loosest idea of what people are talking about at any given time, and often his conversations only partially line up with what the person he’s talking to says. Strong Bad does like taking advantage of his gullibility, though often this backfires due to Homestar’s stupidity or alternatively, some surprising bursts of wit. Homestar speaks with a moderately severe de-rhotacism, and also sounds as though he experiences chronic nasal congestion.

Homestar is your classic cartoon idiot in a lot of ways but the fact is the creators of the Homestar franchise have more or less made their own cadence and way of speaking. It is a series that feels like injokes within injokes and yet remains funny rather than overstuffed. Homestar’s manner of speech and weird turns of phrase are part of the charm of the series as a whole and feel representative of the entire mindset. If anything, his weirdness feels like a modern incarnation of the classic screwball cartoon characters of the 1930s, sewing chaos not through traditional slapstick but weird dialogue wormholes.

Plaintiffs:

Defense:

“Hopefully our jury will be under 80 and not know this one.”

 

[Violentvixen]

I'm sad Aku was only on two lists! Brilliant villain.

Bagheera was on my first draft list and was part of the first cut, but also very good.

I cut Winnie the Pooh because he's more of a book character to me than a cartoon character, but I know that's not the case for many people.

 

[Issun]

Say, young man! Say, young man, young man, young man, young man, young man, young man, young man! You look like you come from a long line of five bucks-havers. Well, the Homestarmy has a career for you in the no-armed forces! Say, you good at video games? I'm not good at video games. The last time I fired up one of my old Sega tapes, it made me a waffle. Say, you got a girlfriend? Well, what if your girlfriend was a wooden spoon and an orange plastic bowl? That'd be really weird, man. What kind of screwed-up kid are you?We don't recruit your kind! Get out of here!

 

[Purple]

His proudest moment! That's how I always remember him.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Dang, I forgot to put up the next character before work. You'll see it later tonight.

 

[Octopus Prime]

It's taking all my moral courage to not turn this into another thread full of Homestar quotes

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Go for it.

 

[Octopus Prime]

You expect me to just apwhy them wibbleawhee?

I have too much Gwit, and Gumption to just make use of an adooaboo speech impoodamoo

 

[Dracula]

STWONG BAD I SWALLOWED YOUR COMPUTOH

 

[Dracula]

His proudest moment! That's how I always remember him.

I really like how Starscream's character model changes completely for this scene only. Beyond the obvious extra costume elements, he's got exaggerated heroic proportions - his arms are longer, his chest turbines are huge, and his shoulder intakes are about twice as tall as they usually are, plus they added a little bit of extra mechanical detail here and there. When we see him crumbling after taking a shot from Galvatron's cannon mode, though, his proportions are all back to normal.

 

[Issun]

Thanks, man! I'd just about had it with that talking toastow.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

28. Darkwing Duck

83 Points, 3 Lists, #2 Issun ​

“I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the jailer who throws away the key! I AM—feeling really stupid. Boy I hate it when I'm early. You'd think criminal masterminds would be more punctual.”

Source Material: Darkwing Duck

Voice Actor: Jim Cummings, Chris Diamantopoulos

Darkwing Duck is a superhero from the city of St. Canard. By day he’s Drake Mallard, a bachelor with an adoptive daughter, Gosalyn. At night, he’s a crime fighter with his and mechanic sidekick, Launchpad McQuack. Darkwing fight crime with his martial arts and detective skills, his “gas gun” and his vehicles. He has a number of villains, including Negaduck, Quackerjack, Megavolt and Bushroot, to name a few. He also has a girlfriend, the powerful sorceress Morgana Macawber.

In Ducktales, the character is somewhat different, an actor who wants to take the role of Darkwing Duck as he inspired him to stand up to his bullies and even learned martial arts. After the former Darkwing actor goes mad, Drake is inspired to become a REAL superhero. In both incarnations of the character, he is competent but also extremely arrogant, often far more than is appropriate. He is also a glory hound, desperately hoping everyone knows how amazing he is. Though he does have an actual desire to help people, it does seem second to getting kudos, which often works against him. He also has a one-sided rivalry with the superhero Gizmoduck, as he is far more popular.

Darkwing is beloved for good reason. There’s no shortage of wacky superheroes but Darkwing, despite being a Disney character, feels very much in the mold of Chuck Jones era Looney Tunes, a character who is undermined by his own faults to the point where it is easy to overlook his good points. And he does have them. He’s not incompetent and can actually be a very effective crime fighter… when he’s not tripping over himself and his own pride. Usually he gets a humbling and can pick himself up by episodes end, only for next week to once again seek attention and glory for his adventures.

Plaintiffs:

Defense:

“If only we knew his true identity...”

 

[Issun]

I loved Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers and Tale Spin, but as soon as DW entered the lineup it was the height of the Disney Afternoon for me. Johnny covered most of it. That two-part premiere is still some of the best stuff Disney's put in an animated series, and a lot of it is seeing that, though Drake/Darkwing fancies himself a devil-may-care crimefighter, he still cares deeply for those closest to him.

Shame Jim Cummings turned out to be a shitheel.

 

[Dracula]

Man, JU, before I watched one of the clips you provided I'd forgotten just how Looney Tunes this show was! It feels like it belongs more squarely in the Tiny Toons / Animaniacs school than with the Disney afternoon stuff. I loved this show as a kid, when I would occasionally catch it, but it's one of a few that I've never revisited it as an adult. The clip made me chuckle quite a few times so I guess it's about time I do!

And I really really need to watch the newer Ducktales...

 

[Falselogic]

That second clip is that from something else? It def doesnt look like the cartoon I remember. Was there a second DD cartoon?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

That second clip is that from something else? It def doesnt look like the cartoon I remember. Was there a second DD cartoon?

Yes. It was called "DuckTales". I actually go into the Ducktales DD continuity in the write up. Fun fact, Jim Cummings is the voice of the "previous" Darkwing who goes mad and becomes Negaduck. This happened RIIIIIIGHT before we learned Cummings was not that great. The characters are a little different but both are great.

Also worth noting, the other Darkwing cartoon in the works will be a different continuity. I do hope they use Chris again. He's definitely great in the role.

 

[jpfriction]

Kind of a bummer that the spoilered bit didn't actually lead to anything. Likely due to the aforementioned shittiness of the VA and/or the canceledness of the TV show.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Man, JU, before I watched one of the clips you provided I'd forgotten just how Looney Tunes this show was! It feels like it belongs more squarely in the Tiny Toons / Animaniacs school than with the Disney afternoon stuff.

Yeah, it feels very Chuck Jones. More sticks of dynamite and even chainsaws than the other series on the block, before or after.

 

[Issun]

Yeah, it feels very Chuck Jones. More sticks of dynamite and even chainsaws than the other series on the block, before or after.

I never watched Bonkers but, given the aesthetic, it's surprising it didn't pass DW for Tooniness.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

27. Chihiro Ogino

84 Points, 3 Lists, #3 Issun ​

“I finally get a bouquet and it's a goodbye present. That's depressing.”

Source Material: Spirited Away

Voice Actor: Rumi Hiiragi (Japanese), Daveigh Chase (English)

Chihiroo Ogino is a young girl on her way to her new home with her parents. When they stop at an abandoned amusement park, her parents are turned into pigs after eating enchanted food. Trapped in this strange place, Chihiro is given a place in the spirit world, becoming a worker in a bath house for yokai run by a cruel witch. Chihiro ends up having to find a way to free her parents from the curse and learns there are others who need her help.

Apologies but this is another character who’s film I’ve seen but it has been a long time. What I do retain is the fairy tale nature of the story where empathy and kindness help Chihiro overcome a very dangerous situation. Miyazaki created the character to represent what he felt like was an audience that needed better; ten year old girls. At the start of the story, Chihiro is somewhat sullen in the way children often are and goes through a lot of trials to mature. The character was designed to be more down to Earth than her contemporaries, which are often colorful and bubbly and make her someone who is just a kid. But a kid who manages to be heroic by reaching out to and helping others.

Issun

There's not a Miyazaki character I don't like, but she defined his ethos perhaps better than any of his other creations.

Plaintiffs:

Defense:

“I mean, Chihiro has a far less fragile witch to deal with. In fact, I think it might have been a convoluted, pre-meditated assisted suicide. Dorothy only needed a bucket of water? That was hanging around the castle? She clearly didn’t want to live.”

 

[Issun]

Wow, my picks are coming fast and furious now. I stand by my statement that Chihiro is the consummate Miyazaki protagonist. The balance of wonder and fear is just right, and this is indeed a story for preteen girls just starting to find out who they are, but Chihiro is also all of us sometimes, thrust into situations that feel alien AF and yet one must make the best of it.

 

[Violentvixen]

Darkwing Duck is one I struggled to keep on my list but didn't make the final cut. Very close and easily could have. I'd also forgotten just how Looney Tunes this show could be!

 

[Zef]

Re: Darkwing. Should I dig into the specifics of what happened with Jim Cummings? Like many others, I loved the Disney Afternoon DWD, but I also enjoy the new iteration and would love to see him get his own show (as soon as they fix his weird sleeves ) I thought the passing of the baton was great and was looking forward to a continuation/resolution of that cliffhanger.

And yeah, it's amusing how much more cartoony and Chuck Jonesy the original DWD was compared to other DA shows, especially with how serious it could get for its more climactic episodes.