Popeye the Sailor Man

”I'm strong to the "finich", 'cause I eats me spinach” - Popeye's song.
Popeye is the main protagonist of the Popeye franchise, a sailor character created in 1929 by Elzie Crisler Segar for his Thimble Theatre comic strip (subsequently renamed after Popeye himself). Initially introduced into Segar's (then long-established) strip as a minor character, Popeye, throughout his debut storyline, rapidly amassed substantial popularity among the strip's readership, catalyzing his induction into the regular cast in August 1929. Over the following years, Popeye's prominence would significantly increase, eventually outright assuming the strip's lead role by 1931 (at the expense of long-standing original protagonists Castor Oyl and Ham Gravy). The advent of Popeye resultantly boosted Thimble Theatre's popularity exponentially, elevating Segar's strip to the center of a multimedia franchise (many elements of which continue into the present day) by the mid-1930s.
The star of many comics and animated cartoons, he is best known for his squinting (or entirely missing) right eye, huge forearms with two anchor tattoos, skinny upper arms, and corncob pipe. He can occasionally be seen smoking his pipe but usually he toots it like a tugboat and sometimes uses it as a weapon by blowing the smoke in his enemies faces. His strength varies among his portrayals: as per the original comics, he is super-humanly strong and can lift huge objects, while in later adaptations he is not quite as mighty until he gains a boost in strength by eating spinach. He is known to mutter when he speaks, sing to himself and mangle the English language (e.g, he calls elephants and infants "elephinks" and "infinks", respectively) in his signature New Jersey accent. In addition to his theme song, his catchphrase is "Blow me down!" and he is also noted for saying "That's all I can stand, cos I can't stand no more!" Popeye's creator E. C. Segar characterized him as violent and uncivilized yet introspective and with a high moral fiber.
Popeye has a long and rich history spanning nearly a century and is one of the most recognizable and beloved cartoon characters in the world, and is consistently regarded as one of the best ever created.
Category:Article of the week
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Sailors
Category:Heroes
Category:Popeye characters