Moe

Moe
Canonical information
First appearance	January 30, 1986
Last appearance	November 20, 1995
Alter egos	Moe's alter egos View Doofus Ignoramus
Physical description
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown

Moe is a supporting character in Calvin and Hobbes. He is a bully at Calvin's School, and one of the main antagonists of the series.

History

Moe is a recurring character in Calvin and Hobbes. He is a bully at Calvin's school and seems to beat up or threaten Calvin every time he appears. Moe appeared early in the strip, and was immediately shown to be merciless and have no capacity for kindness (Bill Watterson describes him as "every jerk I've ever known"). Although Moe had made many appearances in the strip, his character changed little over the years since his primary purpose in the comic is to threaten and bully Calvin, taking his stuff (e.g. lunch money, or in one storyline, Calvin's truck).

Appearance

Moe is usually seen with brown pants, a black T-shirt, and a raised fist. His brown hair is shaggy and covers his eyes. His nose is quite large. Calvin claims that, albeit only six years old, Moe actually shaves. ("NEVER argue with a six year old who shaves.") However, it is likely that Moe was much older than Calvin and got held back multiple times.

One unusual characteristic is the handwriting font used in Moe's speech bubbles. His words are written in a sprawling, childish scrawl (with any letters that don't need capitalization not being capitalized) which suggest Moe's slow speech patterns and/or level of intelligence. Calvin's observations to the audience support this; he once described Moe's vocabulary as monosyllabic, which is partially true. It seems like his favorite word is "Duh."

Characteristics

Moe seems to be the only character capable of frustrating Calvin to the point of absolute resignation and operates solely through brute force and physical coercion. Calvin's rare attempts to retaliate have mainly consisted of mocking Moe with words the bully can't understand. Calvin seems to take a certain delight in this. In one strip showing Moe "shaking down" Calvin for lunch money, Calvin tells Moe that his "simian countenance suggest[ed] a heritage unusually rich in species diversity." Moe replied, "What?" Calvin handed over his money, saying "Here you go. That was worth 25 cents." Another time Calvin asked Moe, "Are your maladjusted antisocial tendencies the product of your berserk pituitary gland?" Moe responded a while later, with a mere "What?" and Calvin announced to the audience, "Isn't he great, folks? Let's give him a big hand!". Moe often mentions how he will beat up Calvin in gym class; however, he was only seen doing so in a single strip. Moe commonly calls Calvin "Twinky", as shown in the dialogue below.

Quotes

• "Okay Twinky, let's have that ball." – Moe in his first appearance, demanding a ball from Calvin.

• "You got two periods to live, Twinky. Then it's gym class, and I turn you into hamburger casserole!" – Moe to Calvin

• "You're dead at recess, Twinky." - Moe to Calvin

Dialogue of Bullying

Moe: I want that truck, Twinky.
Calvin: It's mine, Moe. I brought it from home.
Moe: I said gimme the truck.
Calvin: Moe, you can't just take things from people because you're bigger.
(Moe picks up Calvin, threatening to punch him)
Moe: I'm not taking it. You're giving it to me because we'll both be so much happier that way.
(next panel shows Calvin; truck gone along with Moe)
Calvin: How touching.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Moe (Calvin and Hobbes character). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with The Calvin and Hobbes Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.