Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)
| Hobbes | |
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| First appearance | November 18, 1985 |
| Created by | Bill Watterson |
| Comic strip | Calvin and Hobbes |
| Information | |
| Species | Plush Bengal tiger |
Hobbes is one of the two main characters in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. He is Calvin's stuffed tiger and best friend, being depicted with two distinct identities.
Hobbes is seen in two differentiating perspectives. Calvin perceives him as a live tiger and a best friend, capable of speech and independent action. To everybody else, he is an inanimate stuffed tiger.
Hobbes is often shown to be smarter and wiser than Calvin when he is perceived as a real tiger. He is seen reading more often than his owner and attempts to be the voice of reason when Calvin tries to perform a risky stunt or engage in a dubious scheme. Hobbes' advice often falls on deaf ears with Calvin, who usually ignores his reasoning and winds up getting in trouble for his actions. Because of this, some fans say that Hobbes represents Calvin's conscience. However, Hobbes is shown as terrible at math and spelling, quite possibly worse than Calvin himself, seemingly reflective of Calvin's own limitation.
Hobbes is named after Thomas Hobbes, a philosopher who at times had a poor outlook on life and human nature. When Hobbes is shown to be alive, he is proud of his species and glad not to be a human, showing that when Hobbes comes to life, he too believes he is a real tiger.
For the most part, Calvin and Hobbes converse and play together, reveling in what is ultimately a deep friendship. Hobbes acts as a philosophical foil to Calvin; where Calvin is preoccupied with predestination and dreams of grandeur, Hobbes is a much more realistic thinker; he is much more focused on the present and the simple pleasant things in life. A prime example is a strip in which the two talk about what they would do with a wish; Calvin makes it clear that he'd want material things, while Hobbes wishes for a simple sandwich, adding that he got his wish. Later Calvin asks Hobbes "If you could wish for anything, what would it be?", and he replies "A big sunny field to be in", something he already has. They also frequently argue or even fight with each other, though their disagreements are generally short-lived. Hobbes often beats up Calvin with an energetic pounce-and-tackle attack, which leaves Calvin bruised and scraped up but not seriously harmed. Hobbes takes great pleasure in his demonstrations of feline prowess, while Calvin expresses keen frustration at his inability to stop the attacks or explain his injuries to his skeptical parents. Hobbes is proud to be an animal and seems to have a low opinion of humans in general (when Calvin is wondering why people exist, Hobbes simply responds "tiger food"), and Calvin claims that he once ate a kid in his school named Tommy Chesnutt for making fun of Calvin bringing Hobbes to school.
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