Ratbert

Ratbert
Dilbert character
First appearance	July 23, 1990 (1990-07-23)
Created by	Scott Adams
Portrayed by	Kat Cressida (Dilbert's Desktop Games) Tom Kenny (TV series)
Information
Species	Rat
Gender	Male

Ratbert is a regular character from the Dilbert comic strip. He was not originally intended to be a regular, instead being part of a series of strips featuring a lab scientist's cruel experiments (Ratbert's name at this stage was XP-39C²). Ratbert soon realized that he was the subject of a hideous macaroni and cheese experiment (the scientist made him eat huge amounts of it and writes in his notebook that it causes paranoia in rats) and escaped, eventually finding a refuge in Dilbert's house. He was not initially accepted by the residents, especially Dilbert, who was highly prejudiced against rats. However, he finally allowed Ratbert to become a permanent member of the household.

Ratbert chose his name through a discussion with Dogbert. Dogbert suggested names such as 'Rodney the Rodent' and 'Vernon the Vermin'. XP-39C² suggested the name 'Bill the Rat' before finally settling on 'Ratbert'.

As a simple rat, and having been specially bred to be susceptible to peer pressure, Ratbert is very gullible and innocent, although optimistic. Sometimes his actions can become quite annoying, such as doing "rat dances". Like Dogbert, he has made inroads into business, once working as an intern, a concierge, a consultant (with an "external brain-pack" tied to his torso, which was actually a slab of liver) and vice-president of marketing (for which he was hired on the basis of his week in a dumpster at Procter & Gamble). He also became CEO after a series of strips that involved the previous CEO jumping into a volcano and the first replacement (a vampire) burning up due to daylight. Ratbert was fired for varnishing employees for use as office furniture. He received a severance package of $100 million, the corporate jet, perpetual benefits and a salary of $1 million per year.

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