Who is the best Looney Tunes character ever created?

[This means Warrior]

I have already asked something similar to this concerning two specific characters, but which Looney Tunes character in ALL of Looney Tunes history is the best in terms of...

1. Characterization?

2. Storytelling?

3. Humor?

What are your reasons for each category?

[Marty26]

Not to sound rude, but you probably should've waited until tomorrow to post this. I think, today, everybody's so hopped up on April Fools Day that a "serious post" like this would only get lost in the shuffle.

[kaneda]

For me, Wile E Coyote.

1. He believes he is a genius but keeps losing to a bird with a peanut for a brain.

2. Typically repeitive like a number of Warner Bros characters but his intricate inventiveness keeps him intersting.

3. The humour is how he inevitably fails.

[jonmayo15]

Daffy and Speedy. Greatest combo ever.














I know you're serious. Couldn't help myself.
I do like Daffy though.

[oceansoul]

Characterization: Porky. I like his character overall. Very well defined right from the start, he is very likable, funny, and involved in many great episodes. Sylvester is close second though.

Storytelling: WTF? You asked for an episode or a character? One shot stars usually more involved in storytelling episodes than the big stars.

Humor: DAFFY DUCK (without Speedy of course). This is the only undisputed answer. Runner up might be Foghorn Leghorn.

[speedy fast]

I haven't really made a decision. I just decided to bump this thread since April 1 is almost over and figure that it deserves to be seen after all the thread lockings.

[Geezil]

Pete Puma, hands down. He's got trace elements of all three and a tag line that'll ***HEEEEEUUUUUUUGGGHHHHHHH!*** scrape the bark off any tree. All other Looney Toonies must bow in shame to ol' Pete. Even the second greatest of them all, Rapid Rabbit. Here's to you, Grand Puma! <<clink>>

[Marty26]

Now that AFD is officially over, I'll finally respond to this thread.

1. Characterization? Probably Daffy Duck, since he was ultimately the most complex and developed of the main Looney Tunes characters.

2. Storytelling? Storytelling was never really a selling point for the Looney Tunes, but I'd have to go with Bugs Bunny because of his more plot-driven shorts like What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit Of Seville.

3. Humor? Easily a toss-up between Bugs and Daffy. But I think I'd have to go with Daffy, overall, because he was basically the ultimate anti-hero. Which is ALWAYS good for a laugh.

[oceansoul]

I don't think Opera Doc and Seville are plot-driven shorts. Typical plot-driven shorts are I Love to Singa, The Dover Boys, One Froggy Evening or Feed the Kitty. I think star characters are rarely parts of complex storytelling.

[cartoonfan4ever]

This is a tough one but here is what I chose.

Characterization- Porky. I like how his character had developed and he is not dumb.

Storytelling- Marvin Martian. What plot can be bigger than trying to blow up the Earth?

Humor- It's a tie between Bugs & Daffy but I'll pick Bugs because of how he out-wits the enemy.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

It's a tie between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. They were the funniest wiseacres in the Warners stable. Both had well defined characters. I would say that Daffy was a little more versatile in terms of character than Bugs was, but both are great in my book.:bugs2: :daffy:

[frizfrelengfan]

Bugs. Most cartoon characters are losers, and Bugs is a winner. He keeps his cool no matter what the situation. He does what you would like to do but can't. I love his cartoons with Sam.

Daffy is hilarious but his personality changes over the years.

Porky is a great foil for Daffy, but other than that his personality is kind of bland. Most of his non-straight-man-for-Daffy humor is based on his stuttering.

[Speedy Boris]

In terms of major characters, sorry to be so predictable, but either Bugs or Daffy. Nine times out of ten, I rewatch any cartoon with one of these two.

In terms of minor characters, the bulldog from "It's Hummer Time", "Early to Bet", and "A Fox in a Fix". He's hilarious.

[FleischerFan]

Like most, it would have to be Daffy with Bugs just a "hare" behind.

I also think Sylvester turned out to be a pretty versatile character starring with Tweety, Porky, and on his own.

[Matthew Hunter]

Characterization- Sylvester. Bugs, Daffy and Porky get all the praise as the major stars, but Sylvester is, in my opinion, the most versatile character. Bugs was heroic, Daffy was usually a loser, and Porky was fairly level-headed...but Sylvester could be all of these things. He could carry a cartoon on his own, or he could be a losing foil to Tweety, Speedy or Hippety Hopper. He also had a very broad range of emotions...he could be playful, sneaky, evil, neurotic, lazy...the list goes on. It helped that nearly every director used him at one point or another, and each added a new dimension to him.

Storytelling- Bugs Bunny. Think of all the settings Bugs Bunny was placed in, and all the foils he faced. They could put him nearly anywhere and have a good story...and they did! Adventure, slapstick, musicals, chases, satires.

Humor- Wile E. Coyote. Just. Plain. FUNNY!

[oceansoul]

In terms of minor characters, the bulldog from "It's Hummer Time", "Early to Bet", and "A Fox in a Fix". He's hilarious.

Uhmm... what's so hilarious in that filler character? He has no personality at all. It's like saying the bulldog from the Tweety shorts is the most hilarious of the minor ones.:confused:

[Douglas E.]

Characterization- Sylvester. Bugs, Daffy and Porky get all the praise as the major stars, but Sylvester is, in my opinion, the most versatile character. Bugs was heroic, Daffy was usually a loser, and Porky was fairly level-headed...but Sylvester could be all of these things. He could carry a cartoon on his own, or he could be a losing foil to Tweety, Speedy or Hippety Hopper. He also had a very broad range of emotions...he could be playful, sneaky, evil, neurotic, lazy...the list goes on. It helped that nearly every director used him at one point or another, and each added a new dimension to him.

Storytelling- Bugs Bunny. Think of all the settings Bugs Bunny was placed in, and all the foils he faced. They could put him nearly anywhere and have a good story...and they did! Adventure, slapstick, musicals, chases, satires.

Humor- Wile E. Coyote. Just. Plain. FUNNY!
You pretty much hit the nail on the head for Characterization. I wanted to say Sylvester, but I couldn't quite word it right. But great job, Sylvester deserves WAY more attention. :sylvester

Not sure who to say for Storytelling, but in terms of Humor, I must mention Foghorn Leghorn whose combination of witty dialogue, and slapstick makes him one of the funniest characters ever made. :foggy:

-Doug

[Speedy Boris]

Uhmm... what's so hilarious in that filler character? He has no personality at all. It's like saying the bulldog from the Tweety shorts is the most hilarious of the minor ones.:confused: First of all, he has a funny character design, with that huge upper body and comparatively puny waist/legs. Second, the fact that such a buff bulldog speaks with an articulate voice is funny in and of itself (or in the case of earlier shorts like "Hop, Look, and Listen", a Jimmy Durante parody is similarly amusing). Third, in the aforementioned cartoons, he's actually polite and calm even while beating up and tricking characters, which is a funny concept. For instance, in "It's Hummer Time", when accidentally and repeateldy hit by the cat, he doesn't say a word as he coolly takes the cat to take his latest elaborate punishment. Or in "A Fox in a Fix", he congenially explains that he understands that the fox wants to steal his chickens but doing so makes him look bad, all while slapping him around a bit. That's funny.

He's one of LT's most underrated minor characters. (I forget, does the bulldog even have a name?)

[Jack G.]

I love Bugs a lot, but Daffy is more complex.
He evolved right along with the studio from his looney beginnings to the flawed little black duck.

As for also-rans I love early Foghorn a lot.

[Boy Wonder]

As much as I love the Heartbreak Hare Bugs Bunny, I'm going for DDD here (Daffy Dumas Duck). As people have said earlier, he is the most evolved cartoon character of all time. He went from a crazy duck in the 30s, to a transitional phase of looney to righteous in the 40s, to complete "look after myself/hunter" role of the 50s and 60s. He is a character who plays both the good guy and bad guy well, and can be played off as such against EVERYBODY on the Looney Tunes roster, right down to Bosko and Buddy. :daffy:

[dandu]

I really like Daffy duck for the character, actually following his progression in a psychological sense does feel true to an actual insane human being.
Like his first cartoons he is happy yet looney, in his later ones he is still looney yet angry and depressed, very interesting from a psychological perspective. He is very amusing, though i prefer the humor in the more jolly duck, especially 1942-1948.

[captchucky]

Daffy Duck, then Wile E. Coyote. Those two tend to be obsessive and for some reason that appeals to me in a cartoon character. Bugs tends to be overly perfect. He's funny, but it's a little hard to identify with a character like that.