History ComicStrip / Garfield

''Garfield'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] (since June 19, 1978) {{newspaper comic|s}}, written by Jim Davis. It stars Garfield, a [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]] [[IntellectualAnimal cat]] famous for his [[HeavySleeper laziness]], [[BigEater gluttony]], occasional spurts of [[CatsAreMean evil]] and [[KarmaHoudini avoiding of karma]]; his owner, Jon Arbuckle, a cartoonist who dresses badly, [[LethalChef cooks badly]] and [[CasanovaWannabe was long a complete failure with women]] (until, 28 years later, the veterinarian Liz finally gave in); and Odie, a [[DogsAreDumb really dumb dog]] with a penchant for licking, and the only animal who doesn't have "thought speech".

[[folder:P - R]]
* PaintingTheMedium: Bugs "speak" in smaller letters, except in Sunday strips.
* PantsFree: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/07/31 Jon]].
* PaperThinDisguise: In the educational webtoons, Garfield's Professor G disguise just consists of him [[ClarkKenting putting on glasses]].
** After getting caught trying to eat a pizza, Garfield disguised himself as the pizza. Jon didn't fall for it.
* ParanoiaGambit: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2009/ga090305.gif "Just playing with your paranoia."]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800411.gif "I love mental games."]]
* ParentalIncest: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800719.gif Played for laughs, albeit creepily, here]].
* PayingTheirDues: [[invoked]] Garfield says this is what his fence act is.
* ThePeepingTom: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100108.gif Here]] is proof that Garfield and Odie are voyeurs.
* PhoneInGameShows: In a 1988 Sunday comic, Garfield is listening to a radio game show. The question asked is what sound a "felis domesticus" makes. Garfield quickly dials in and meows, getting the question right. However, since [[RealityEnsues he can't actually speak]], he is unable to tell the show hosts who he is and where he lives to redeem his prize.
* PickyEater:
** Garfield does NOT like raisins.
** Squeak, [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850222.gif once]] seeing a mousetrap, tells Garfield, "A nice Camembert or a creamy Brie would be well worth going in after...but that '''Processed American Cheese''' is ''an insult to my palate!''"
* ThePictureCameWithTheFrame: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga980930.gif "Only Jon would carry around the picture of the girl that came with the wallet."]]
* PieInTheFace: The "Splut!" pies, which make that noise when they hit Garfield.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Those who have been around long enough will know that Jon is supposedly a cartoonist. It was mentioned in the first strip, and his drawing board was seen in some early strips. The only times it's been mentioned after that is the storyline in 1984, where Jon goes to a cartoonists' convention and Liz describing Jon to her parents in the May 2, 2010 strip. That's right; his job went unmentioned in the strip for ''twenty-six years''.
** In the TV series his job is a focus of several episodes. And one of the comic book stories involve him trying to come up with a new comic book idea.
* PlaceWorseThanDeath: Garfield has often tried to get rid of Nermal by mailing him to Abu Dhabi.
* PleaBargain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/12/01 Parodied at this strip.]]
-->'''Jon:''' Santa knows when you've been bad.
-->'''Garfield:''' Maybe I could cop a plea bargain.
* PlutoIsExpendable: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2011/ga111127.jpg "The planetarium called... Your stomach is replacing Pluto as the ninth planet!"]]
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: A 2010 strip both parodied and ridiculed this trend, with a TV show featuring cowboys solving their disagreements by playing tag.
* ThePollyanna: Jon would have to be one to put up with everything he goes through. Garfield mistreats him constantly and sometimes very cruelly, the women he'd try to ask out before finally getting Liz for keeps would use [[ComedicSociopathy harsh jokes to reject him]] (and even Liz herself wasn't very kind over the years), and he doesn't have a lot to show for the life he's led. But he keeps his head held high, finds delight in anything he can, and has only occasionally felt bothered enough by his lot in life to let it show over the years.
* PopTheTires: Garfield, in one strip, slashed the tires on a donut truck in order to eat its contents.
* PossessionPresumesGuilt: The December 7, 1980 strip has Garfield eating all of Jon's fern but the last leaf, which he puts in Odie's mouth. Jon subsequently yells at Odie instead.
* PosthumousCollaboration: The calendar and [[http://www.zazzle.com/GarfieldandRockwell/ merchandise line]] ''Garfield Visits [[Creator/NormanRockwell Rockwell]]'', which adds Garfield to some of Norman Rockwell's ''Saturday Evening Post'' covers.
* PottyEmergency: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810522.gif "He'll find out how bored I am if I don't get to a litter box soon."]]
* PoundsAreAnimalPrisons: [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=24&month=01&year=1981 A 1981 story arc]] had Garfield being sent to the city pound, which was portrayed this way. (He escapes when Fluffy, another cat there, smashes him through the wall) It was even parodied in one of the strips:
-->''(the gate slams)''
-->'''Garfield:''' How did I get into this fix? One minute I'm free as a bird, then I'm in the city pound. Where did I go wrong? I'm just a number here, I've almost forgotten what it's like on the outside. '''It's not right to cage a wild animal!''' '''These four walls are closing in on me! I can't take it anymore!'''
-->'''Cat:''' You've only been here two minutes.
-->'''Garfield:''' I know, but this is my first shot at a prison scene.
* PowerOutagePlot: A 1984 arc deals with a power outage in Jon and Garfield's house. The two talk and sit around in the dark with only their eyes visible. When the power comes back on, Jon jinxes it and it [[HereWeGoAgain immediately turns back off]]. However, this storyline is [[AbortedArc abandoned in the next strip]].
* PreciousPuppy: Odie. In Kaboom Garfield #14, Odie was even called adorable twice.
* PrecisionFStrike: Quite mild compared to most examples of this trope, but Davis got a lot of letters for having Garfield say "sucked" in a 1990 strip. This was the only instance of the word being used in the comic.
* PreppyName: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/03/16 Garfield lenghtened his name to "Garfield Horatio, III, Esq." and got a dish big enough to write it on.]]
* PrimalChestPound: In one strip, Garfield pounds his chest to show he's tough enough to eat a "he-man burger".
* ProducePelting: Happens frequently to Garfield when he's singing on the fence. He once had a ''watermelon'' thrown at him.
** A watermelon? Psh. Remember Booga-Booga's wonderful scout troop? Only bloody currency is GIANT STONE WHEELS.
* ProjectileToast: Seen quite often:
** November 19, 1982, as the result of Garfield hating the toaster.
** August 21, 1994, as the result of Jon "fixing" the toaster...
** October 28, 2003 gives us a toaster that hates ''Jon''. And it turns out to be possessed by an evil spirit.
** {{Inverted|Trope}} on August 10, 1986, where Jon turns the toaster upside-down to prevent Garfield from stealing the toast. The ''toaster'' becomes projectile and smacks Garfield in the head.
* ProphecyTwist: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/02/05 This strip]]: Garfield read this from a fortune cookie fortune: "Today you will be whisked away to a large white building where all you have to do is lie in bed all day as lots of people pay attention to you and bring you food". As Garfield said it sounded "too good to be true", he failed to notice he was about to fall from the table.
* ProtagonistTitle
* PunyEarthlings: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/07/08 Garfield is called a "puny earthling"]] by a pair of invading aliens. Unfortunately, for them, they're snowmen in the middle of summer.
* PuppyDogEyes: In the [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/08/04#mutable_982041 August 4th 2013]] comic, Garfield does this to Liz for a snack...and she does it right back at him. Garfield's response? He gives HIS food to her and tells Jon "She's good."
* PyrrhicVictory:
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/11/07 a 1993 strip]], Garfield and Jon are fighting over one muffin. They angrily get into a fist fight over it, with Garfield ultimately knocking out Jon unconscious, though Garfield also suffered major bruises himself from the fight. He takes a bite out of the muffin, only to realize it's a ''raisin'' muffin.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/10/05 In this strip, Garfield resists Jon's attempts to force him to exercise]]. Jon still succeeded in dragging him around, and even repeatedly [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty smashed Garfield's head into a table multiple times]], but then Jon gives up and declares Garfield won. Garfield actually agrees he won, but it's an empty victory.
-->'''Garfield''': An empty victory. But a victory none the less.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: [[https://c.garfield.dale.ro/static/images/1983/ga831016.gif One strip]] sees Garfield looking at Odie and getting progressively more annoyed at how cheerful he is. The fat cat [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech delivers a speech]] about how Odie is "too happy" and, by the end, is screaming skyward: [[TemptingFate "Who could possibly love a grinning idiot like you?"]] [[CueTheRain It immediately starts raining]] on everything ''except'' Odie. Garfield's response? "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"
* RaisedByWolves:
** In a week long Garfield storyline Jon fell in love with a woman in a rec center who had been raised by wolves, as it turns out she had only been in civilization for a week and she had tendencies like scratching her head with her foot, messily devouring her food, trying to bite off her foot when her shoe was too tight, and howling at the moon.
** Garfield once met a cat (Ed) who was raised by squirrels. Before they met, Ed didn't know the meaning of "ground". And neither his "mother" did. Ed has the habit of storing birds for winter. When the tree branch where Ed and Garfield were stiing on fell, Ed had the first chance to walk "sideways". Odie was the first dog Ed ever met and Garfield explained to him cats were supposed to fear dogs albeit Garfield doesn't remember why.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/07/21 Jon's cousin Earl after being accidentally left at a rest stop.]] He went missing for years and eventually sent a postcard claiming to "have acquired a taste for small game".
* RakeTake:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/05/18 "There's the first rake in the face."]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/11/07 "It just wouldn't be autumn without our little traditions".]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/04/12 One of the bad things happening to Jon in this strip.]]
* ARareSentence: Jon and Garfield are eating salad when Jon says, "Hmmm, interesting lettuce." After a BeatPanel, Garfield says, "There's a phrase you don't hear every day."
* ReadTheFinePrint: Garfield sees three signs in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/09/17 this strip]]: "Danger", "Beware of the...", and "Fine Print!". The last one has a long text with a small font size.
-->'''Garfield:''' Okay, now I'm intimidated.
* ReadingsBlewUpTheScale: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/27 Jon's calculator blew up trying to keep count of the calories Garfield takes in.]]
* RealityEnsues:
** In a case that hardly happens nowadays, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/04/06 Garfield attempting an angry call]].
** Here's a very likely outcome of [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/a/ae/1982-06-02.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180120022546 biting into a Dagwood sandwich]], where all of the sandwich's contents end up spilling out of the bread slices.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Jon was once [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/10/22 deported to Mongolia]], for some reason.
* RedHerring: The video game ''Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal'' involves Garfield using various items from around his house and the neighborhood to rescue Arlene. Some of these items have an actual use, but others are just there to refill Garfield's hunger meter (if it depletes too much, he eats whatever he has on hand). If Garfield eats an important item, the game becomes UnwinnableByDesign.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Liz has gone from occasionally and begrudgingly dating Jon to his full-fledged (and willing) girlfriend.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/07/28 Their kiss]] on the night they finally got together may be quite a shock for readers until you realize ''they've kissed before,'' '''''[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/12/19 around 24 years ago]]'''''.
* RelaxOVision: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2005/ga050430.gif This strip]].
* RememberTheNewGuy: Jon's aunt Gussie. Also most of Garfield's family, who appeared only in one week of strips and ''Here Comes Garfield'' without ever being mentioned again (except for his mom, who showed up in ''one'' other strip).
* RepeatAfterMe: Garfield uses Odie as a ventriloquist's dummy to make this exchange: "Say hello to the people, dummy." "Hello to the people, dummy."
* RepetitiveAudioGlitch: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850630.gif This]] strip.
* {{Retcon}}: Two big ones. Odie was originally Lyman's dog, and Nermal was originally Jon's parents' kitten. Now the former is treated as if he were Jon's all along, and the latter is just a neighborhood cat who wanders in to torment Garfield.
* RetroactiveWish:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/11/04 Garfield was sick of his hiccups]] and wished they'd just disappear. After they did, Garfield claimed to be sick of Odie.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/03/01 Garfield demanded respect.]] When Jon showed up saying he respected garfield, Garfield smacked himself saying he could have demanded a pizza.
** {{Inverted}}: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/07/10 Garfield's outside and]] [[TemptingFate hopes it doesn't rain, so it rains.]] He then walks back inside shouting "I hope we don't have any fudge!"
* ReversePsychology:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/08/04 When Jon told Garfield to go away, Garfield dared Jon to make him do it]]. Jon then told Garfield to stay and Garfield left.
** [[hthttps://www.gocomics.com/garfield/ 1979/11/20 Jon tried to use it]] to keep Garfield from clawing a couch. It backfired.
-->'''Garfield''': Reverse reverse psychology.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/05/10 Jon told Ellen she'd have to beg if she wanted him to go out with her and she laughed.]] "So much for reverse psychology".
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2004/ga040124.gif One time]], Jon told Garfield that it ''isn't'' time to get up. Garfield ends up getting out of bed to protest.
* RiddleForTheAges: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/07/29 When Jon got stuck on a wall and asked for Garfield's help]], he told Garfield not to ask how it happened.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Nermal
* RidiculouslyLoudCommercial: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/07/18 This strip]], which includes a Snuggie reference.
* RightBehindMe: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/03/05 Jon speaking about Liz]].
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield, Liz may be my special "one". Sure, she may tell lame jokes and her nostrils twitch when she's angry, but she may still be the "one".
-->'''Garfield:''' The "one" is right behind you, big mouth, and her nostrils are twitching.
* RightWayWrongWayPair: Jon and Garfield respectively are this. Garfield indulges in junk foods, laziness, sleeping all day and even crudeness or bullying while Jon engages in proper diet and exercise and is mostly a kind, compassionate person. Garfield is obese while Jon is ideal weight (a 1985 strip specifies he's 6'0" and weighs 175 lb).
* RimShot: In a series of strips from July 1985, Garfield introduces "Mr. Skins" (Odie) as an assistant to his fence act. Naturally, this doesn't go over very well:
-->'''Garfield''': I knew a dog who was so ugly, he had to--
-->'''Odie''': (''TIDDY-BOOM!'')
-->'''Garfield''': Let's talk timing.
-->(''later'')
-->'''Garfield''': I knew a dog who was so ugly, his fleas wore dog collars!
-->'''Odie''': (''Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom!'')
-->'''Garfield''': Padding our part, are we?
* RingRingCrunch: Garfield has destroyed plenty of alarm clocks.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/23 one strip]], he destroys a clock, then a phone, and finally smashes an ice cream truck.
* RoadTripPlot: Garfield and Jon (and sometimes Odie) often embark on this.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Garfield has, more than once, faced a mouse bigger than he was.
** There's also the legendary [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790808.gif Matt the Rat]].
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Every now and then.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga820327.gif "Okay… who waxed the fench?"]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830325.gif "Your not a sailplane, you know."]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900222.gif February 22, 1990]] misspelled Pooky's name as "Pookie." The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/02/22 official site]] fixed it.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900719.gif July 19, 1990]] contains the JustForFun/{{egregious}} spelling error of "Garfied." Also [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/07/19 fixed]] on the official website.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030511.gif May 11, 2003]] "Everybody" has the E and R reversed.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030525.gif In this strip]], Davis and co. left out the first E in "loneliness."
** PlayedForLaughs: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900930.gif September 30, 1990]] with Garfield and Odie as Pat Sajak and Vanna White, respectively, on the ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' set. The puzzle board reads "GARFIEDL."
** "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2008/ga081115.gif I can't get my mind off that ham in the the fridge]]".
*** One ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' strip was made only to fix this one, and is otherwise identical. It leaves you looking around for the punchline when you find it after [[ArchiveBinge binging]] on the other strips and getting used to their surreal comedy.
* RubberMan: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga010812.gif "I forgot how far cats can stretch."]]
* RuleOfThree: After finding the Italian restaurant where he was born: "It's all gone! Where's the pasta? The people? The pasta? The excitement? The pasta?"
** Also: "Decorations, presents, caroling, presents, mistletoe and presents. Six things I love about Christmas."
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/03/24 Jon has three words to live by]]: live, laugh, love. Garfield has three words of his own: eat, sleep, repeat.
* RunningGag:
** Kicking Odie, Mondays, spiders, Spluts. Although the Spluts haven't appeared since the mid-1990s.
** Later years have 'beware of dog' signs.
** At least in the 1980s, Garfield would hide in a fern and the first two panels would appear the same, delivering a different punchline every time.
--->'''Jon:''' Garfield, I know you're in my fern. I can see your tail. What do you have to say for yourself?
** Also, [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=03&month=02&year=1979 a number of 1980s strips]] had Jon saying some variation of "I wouldn't say you're fat Garfield, but...", followed by an extremely insulting joke about Garfield's fatness. Garfield usually attacked Jon in some way after that.
*** In the final strip that had the gag, it was {{Subverted|Trope}}. Jon says the line, but Garfield stuffs his food bowl in Jon's mouth before Jon can finish the insult and Garfield says "Then don't."
** Garfield's [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=23&month=05&year=1979 uncles]] and [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=06&month=06&year=1979 aunts]].
** In the late 2000s, a running gag started of Garfield reading letters addressed to "Dear Ask a Dog", with Odie providing some kind of funny response.
** "Here comes Arlene. She's crazy about me."
** Garfield singing on the fence at night (and usually getting something thrown at him).
** For a while, the strip made a running joke out of Garfield suffering "nap attacks", sudden fits of sleepiness, often in the middle of doing something else.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S]]
* SadistShow: Almost all of the humor in the strip comes from inflicted pain on the characters (usually Jon):
--->'''Garfield:''' Life is funny.
--->''(Garfield laughs at Jon, who has fallen down the stairs and is lying in a heap.)''
--->'''Garfield:''' For some of us.
* SantaClaus: He [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga781224.gif occasionally]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga831223.gif appears]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1995/ga951223.gif during]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga951221.gif Christmas]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga011207.gif strips]]. He [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/12/12 can be bribed]].
* SawItInAMovieOnce: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/03/16 Jon says]] that "just because you see somebody doing something in a movie... doesn't mean '''you''' can do it" and Garfield wonders why Jon's limping.
* SayMyName: Used often with Garfield.
* ScaredOfWhatsBehindYou: One Sunday strip featured Garfield going to a zoo, getting into a lion cage, and roleplaying his fantasy of what it would be like if he were a wild animal. At one point he takes a swipe at some patrons, and congratulates himself when they're scared. He does this not noticing the gigantic lion now sitting behind him...
* SelfDeprecation: In-Universe in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/11/19 this]] strip: A TV show's host loves hosting it because it means not having to ''watch'' it. Garfield wished to be the host.
** After laying dominant for twenty-four years, Jon's cartoonist job was used to deliver one, with [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/05/02 a strip]] where both of Liz's parents hyperventilate in a paper bag after Liz tells them about it.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness:
** In a 1983 strip, Garfield knocks a PricelessMingVase off the shelf and explains, "I know I destroyed a priceless Ming Dynasty vase as an overt expression to communicate my contempt for the politically oppressive doctrines of their early 17th century administration."
** Later in 1983, after getting trapped in the heat vent: "Forced to spend my reamining days fending for myself in the tin tunnels of the duct work, the solenoid jungle of the wiring system, and the polyvinyl chloride playground in the crawlspace... Hey! I think there's a book here somewhere."
* SeriousBusiness: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/09/15 Triple-Coupon Day]]. It's almost like a deranged ''Series/SupermarketSweep''.
* SewerGator: {{Parodied|Trope}} in a strip, where Garfield falls into a sewer and meets up with a giant alligator that was in the sewer, along with a canary and a goldfish that have also become giant after ending up in the sewer.
* ShamefulShrinking: Happens to Jon in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100127.gif this]] strip.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Garfield uses this as extortion to get Jon's steak.
* ShapedLikeItself: "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2007/04/21 The more you learn…]] the more you, um… learn."
* ShoutOut:
** The logo boxes in Sunday strips featured many, including ones to ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Series/TheHoneymooners'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', Creator/LaurelAndHardy, ComicBook/FantasticFour, Series/WheelOfFortune, and ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow''. More recent ones depicted him as ''Franchise/HarryPotter''', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and [[MemeticMutation the Nyan Cat]]
** The logo box to [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga851013.gif this strip]] depicts the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWPcB4qIR8&feature=channel&list=UL American Express "do you know me?" ad]] in which Jim Davis appeared.
** [[ComicStrip/RoseIsRose How]] [[ComicStrip/{{Blondie}} many]] [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes comic book]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} kids]] can you recognize in the title box of the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/10/30 October 30, 2005 strip]]?
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830408.gif There's]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840329.gif quite]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890217.gif a]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga881114.gif few]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100212.gif to]] ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.
** There is a ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' background image on the wall in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2007/ga071203.gif this strip]].
** In the [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830425.gif April 25, 1983]] strip, Garfield says ''Film/OldYeller'' is his all-time favorite movie, because "I love movies with [[ShootTheDog happy endings]]."
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/02/02 February 2, 2011]], Garfield said Odie needed to look more menancing. Odie then put on [[Franchise/FridayThe13th a hockey mask]].
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/05/13 May 13, 2012]]'s logo box, Garfield was chasing one of the VideoGame/AngryBirds.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/09/12 September 12, 1981]], Jon woke up to Garfield wearing his (Jon's) reading glasses. Garfield explained it was [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood "all the better to scare you with, my dear"]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/01/23 Jon said "last night's date]] was like a [[ExactWords fairy tale"]]. She ran away from the restaurant [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve at midnight]] and left a steel-toed work boot. Garfield suggested going to the foundry to [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} find who it fitted]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/01/08 Jon was in an "artistic mood"]] and wanted to start painting. When he asked where to start, Garfield suggested him to [[Creator/VincentVanGogh "cut off an ear"]].
*** The same event was refernced in a another strip, where Jon reads about it and [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar wonders what he can cut off]]. Garfield suggests "that last shred of dignity".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/02/17 The ghost of]] [[Literature/AChristmasCarol hamburgers past]] showed up to show Garfield the error of his ways. Garfield ate it and said it "needed more of the ghost of ketchup past".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/05/26 Odie's inner tube looks like]] [[ComicStrip/USAcres Wade's]] without the duck face. [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/08/30 Jon's]] looks like Wade's with the colors pink and blue reversed.
** Several to ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'', enough for [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=805 a compilation]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/12/19 Spider Claus]] says his sleigh is pulled by "six tiny gnats, and a team leader with a bright red light". Garfield asks if the leader is [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/11/13 "Faster than a speeding basset hound!]] More powerful than an asthmatic chihuahua! Able to leap dingleballs in a single bound! Up on the table! It's a bird dog! It's a plane! It's '''[[{{Superman}} Super Odie!!]]'''" Garfield then kicks Odie off the table and says "Up, up and awaaay!"
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/03/06 Garfield describes Pooky]] as "able to stave off loneliness [[Franchise/{{Superman}} in a single hug"]].
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/12/10 is visited]] by ''[[Literature/AChristmasCarol the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future]]''. The three of them are afraid of the dead bulb on Garfield's Christmas tree.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/01/02 One strip]] had Garfield celebrate Creator/IsaacAsimov's birthday for the sake of having something to celebrate after the holiday season.
** The only clue to the movie Jon and Garfield are watching in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/29 this strip]] other than it being something Jon watched back when he was a kid is Garfield commenting that ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz "The flying monkeys are gone now, Jon"]]''.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/08/05 A Field of Dreams reference]]. After luring Garfield, Liz, Squeak, Odie and Arlene with a barbecue, Jon says ''[[Film/FieldOfDreams "If you grill it, they will come"]]''.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/11/12#.U5YzBHYXKrk A reference]] to Magazine/{{Highlights For Children}}'s "Creatures Nobody Has Ever Seen" feature, right down to the critter's AchillesHeel.
* ShowDontTell: Averted pretty hard. Davis has a tendency to set up elaborate gags which are only expressed verbally.
* ShowWithinAShow: Garfield's fence act.
* SideEffectsInclude: Parodied in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2005/ga050417.gif this]] strip.
* SirVerbALot: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/02/24 Jon and Garfield play a medieval themed vídeo game where Jon likes to play as a character named "Sir Whines-a-Lot"]]. Needless to say, he starts whining when he doesn't get to be him.
* SkewedPriorities:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/10/16 Jon was buying a cake when three midgets wearing gorilla costumes burned the place down and ran off with the cash register]]. The detail Garfield wanted to know about: what kind of cake.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/05/28 Garfield is watching a mystery show on TV]].
-->'''Inspector:''' I have solved the mystery of who ate all the peanuts!\\
'''Another character:''' But what about the murder?\\
'''Inspector:''' Oh... that...
* SlidingScaleOfLivingToys: Garfield's teddy bear Pooky is at Level 0.
* SmartAnimalAverageHuman:
** Garfield the cat and his owner Jon Arbuckle. Garfield is a snarky and clever cat while Jon is a bumbling average human.
** Sometimes even Odie is shown as being smarter than Jon by beating a video game or a Sudoku puzzle neither of which Jon could solve.
* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Garfield often invokes this, prioritizing food over even the most serious emergencies.
** In one strip, Jon comes running to the house to alert Garfield that while he was buying a cake at a bakery, three gorilla mask wearing robbers set the place on fire and ran out with the cash register. [[SkewedPriorities Rather than being amazed Jon escaped without injury]], Garfield asks if the cake is vanilla or chocolate.
** In another strip, Arlene tells Garfield she had a dream that they were having sandwiches until suddenly [[BearsAreBadNews a bear attacked them]] but [[KnightInShiningArmor Garfield rescued Arlene]] and defeated the bear in combat. Garfield asked what kind of sandwiches they were.
** In a 1999 strip, Jon was mercilessly attacked by a married couple at a salad bar but Garfield just asks Jon what the soup of the day was.
** In a 1991 strip, Garfield was alerting Jon about giant spiders invading, a 5000 foot tidal wave but then gets distracted by jelly donuts that Jon is eating.
** In a 2008 strip, Garfield ignored Jon knocking on the door ordering to be let in until Jon announced he had groceries. Garfield then took in the groceries then closed the door again with Jon still locked out.
* SnarkyInanimateObject: A frequent gag in the strip involves Garfield stepping on a talking scale, which would then make some crack about his weight.
* SoMuchForStealth: The spider in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/04/24 this strip]].
* SodaCanShakeup: Provides the page image, and has been used at least 3 times:
** The page image is from [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/07/12 this comic]], where this trope happens to Garfield, and the exploding bottle startles Jon.
** In one comic, Garfield tried to prank Jon by giving him a shaken soda can, but a GenreSavvy Jon aimed the can at Garfield when opening it, resulting in Garfield getting sprayed.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/12/02 this comic]], Garfield tries the same prank, and again it seems Jon is going to turn the tables on Garfield instead. But when Jon opens the can, the pressure inside sends him flying backward rather than the soda getting sprayed all over Garfield.
* SoreLoser: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/08/16 Jon reading this letter from his brother]]: "Maddie Ferguson's pie took first place at the fair, so Mom burned her barn down".
* SoundDefect: Every so often.
** In one strip, the doorbell only goes "ding-". The person at the door? A man from Ed's Dong Repair.
** There's also [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1995/ga950119.gif a kick going "Blagoonga!"]] and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850208.gif a shoe going "Splut!"]].
* TheSpeechless: Odie, most of the time. Once, he said "I'm hungry" through ThoughtBubbleSpeech like Garfield, and in ''Garfield and Friends,'' he sometimes "barked" short words.
* SphereEyes: Suprisingly, they were gained through ArtEvolution.
* SpidersAreScary: In the early comics, Garfield would react with fear and disgust whenever he saw spiders. Starting in the 90s, the spiders would have their own lines, and they turn out to be fairly harmless, though that doesn't stop Garfield from swatting them without remorse. Whether the swatting results in AmusingInjuries or [[KilledOffForReal actual death]] varies from strip to strip.
* SprayingDrinkFromNose:
** Garfield once made Jon [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1993/ga930320.gif squirt soda out of his nose]]. Given a CallBack in a later strip: his description of this puts Garfield off his food, which is [[BigEater quite an achievement]], as Garfield lampshades.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/07/31 When Jon is about to tell what he's going to do to impress his date]], Garfield makes a point to finish his soda first so it won't [[InvokedTrope squirt out of his nose]].
* SquirrelsInMyPants: In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2011/ga110724.gif this strip]], Jon gets a gopher in his pants. Again.
* StartMyOwn: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/02/21 A cat hair left]] Garfield to start his own cat. Upon getting caught by Jon's vacuum cleaner, he said they didn't tell about that in business school.
* StealthInsult: Garfield's nod to an old-fashioned insult, being a roundabout way of calling someone [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=20.08.1979 a bastard]].
* StealthPun: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/03/23 This strip's]] splash panel has Garfield sleeping on a music staff. In a measure that has a ''rest'' in it.
* StockAnimalDiet: Much to Jon's frustration, Garfield is disgusted by the idea of eating mice, and often treats them as friends. He once had to cover his eyes while Arlene caught a mouse and ate it. Birds and fish are not as lucky however, since he will gladly eat those (and not just cooked ones either, living ones too). He also likes to eat Jon's houseplants sometimes. Of course, his all-time [[TrademarkFavoriteFood favourite food is lasagna]]. Sometimes he talks with whatever he is about to eat.
* StockShoutOut:
** [[{{Superman}} Super]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/10/09 Pooky]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/07/09 Ellen reminds Jon of a comic book hero: Clown Boy.]] Garfield commented: "Who, disguised as mild-mannered geek, Jon Arbuckle..."
* StockYuck:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/11/28 Jon recalled his family holidays]]. As an act of magic, his Uncle Joe made the fruitcake disappear. Garfield didn't consider it a great loss.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/01/15 Garfield likes pizza with anchovies. Jon and Odie don't]].
*** In both the cartoon adaptations, he hates anchovies as well. Odd, considering he likes fish as much as any other adaptation.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/12/17 Jon left a fruitcake]] "out in the yard for the birds". Garifeld notices they're "regifting it to the squirrels".
* StoutStrength:
** Subverted by Garfield. In one strip, while Jon is flexing in front of the mirror and complementing himself on his muscles, Garfield immediately flexes what looks like his own immensely powerful muscles. Jon stares at him in shock as Garfield walks away, explaining that he simply "flexed his fat".
** Garfield did it again in another strip when he ran into Arlene. She continued to stand and watch in amusement, as Garfield struggled to keep up his flexing:
-->'''Garfield''': Uh...don't you have somewhere you gotta be?\\
'''Arlene''': And miss seeing how long you can hold that pose?
** Played straight in another strip where Jon and Garfield begin poking each other with sticks and ordering each other to do things. The sticks keep getting bigger until Garfield finally [[SerialEscalation uproots an entire tree and brings it into the kitchen]] to try and poke Jon with, until he finally tires out and the tree squishes him.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/08/04 When Jon told Ellen his life was meaningless without her]], Garfield said it's meaningless anyway. Then we learned Ellen thought the same. Garfield said "Great minds think alike".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/10/11 Liz invited Jon to watch a figure skating competition on TV.]] Jon's reaction from his side of the phone line made Garfield correctly guess it.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/02/28 While deciding what to wear for a blind date]], Jon ends up wearing [[ItMakesSenseInContext a cowboy hat, a "suave and sophisticated" suit and, from the waist down, sports wear]]. His date shows up wearing the same style of outfit.
-->'''Garfield:''' God made two of 'em!
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/13 When Liz asks if Jon likes her new shoes]], Garfield mentally tells Jon to "lie and say yes". After Jon's hesitation, Liz says he's "supposed to lie and say yes".
-->'''Garfield:''' Play by the rules, dummy!
** Jon tries to compliment Liz in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/23 this strip]]. ComplimentBackfire ensues.
-->'''Jon''': Liz, you're not like the other women I've known. You haven't run away screaming.
-->'''Liz''': Yet.
-->'''Garfield''': She beat me to it!
* StrictlyFormula: Downplayed, a large portion of comics (particular in the last twenty years) can be summed up as "Jon says or does something (usually having something to do with how much of a stupid loser he is) and Garfield quips something short and snarky in response (often having to do with him being fat, lazy, or always stuffing his gob with food)". This is almost always in three panels (unless it's a Sunday comic).
* StripArchive: Every single strip ever is available to read for free on their website. Also, [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php a website]] allows you to search every single strip (the interface is in Estonian, but the search and transcripts are English.)
* StrongAnts: Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/08/18 was about to take a nap when some ants appeared and he feared they'd carry him away]]. One of the ants said [[SubvertedTrope they'd need heavy machinery]].
* StuffedIntoATrashcan: Nermal, at least once.
* StuffedIntoALocker: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/04/16 Wally Sneedhocker used to stuff Jon in the school locker.]] He became an undertaker.
* StylisticCallback: The strip marked its 25th anniversary with a StoryArc where 2003 Garfield meets 1978 Garfield.
* SuddenlyShouting:
** In an early strip:
-->'''Jon''': Be careful there, Garfield. Hanging on the drapes can be very painful. 'CAUSE I'M GONNA BREAK YOUR LEGS IF YOU DON'T GET OFF THEM THIS INSTANT!
** In this one:
--->'''Jon''': Some dirty, rotten, low-down, slimy, filthy, disgusting, gluttonous, hog STOLE MY SUPPER!
* SuicideAsComedy:
** Garfield tries to stick his head in the oven when Jon considers getting him declawed... [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/10/18 only to find it's electric, not gas powered]].
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890211.gif This strip,]] in which Garfield attempts suicide, is rather dark for a piece of family-friendly media, much less a newspaper comic strip.
* SuperheroesWearTights: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/02/19 when Jon sadly says]] he "could never be a super-hero" because he doesn't look good in them.
* SupremeChef: Jon's mother, especially when it comes to baking pies and preparing potatoes. She once prepared a meal with eight kinds of potatoes (her personal best). In fact, eating is one of the two things Garfield actually likes to do at the farm. (The other is leaving.)
* SureLetsGoWithThat:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/08/22 A woman at a park called Jon "Disgusting"]]. Jon and Garfield each claimed she was talking about the other. When Jon suggested she was talking about herself, Garfield said "Let's go with that".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/05/19 Friday night and the phone didn't ring.]] Jon believed the ringer to be busted and Garfield said "Right, sure, yeah, we'll run with that".
* SurpriseJump: This happens to Jon several times, usually when Garfield scares him.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
** "Fib alert! You can't believe Odie! No matter what he says, I did not paint him green! And it wasn't with a two inch horsehair brush!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/05/24 In this one]], Garfield didn't eat "one of those birds that looks kind of like a sparrow, but isn't". He forgot what they're called.
* SwivelChairAntics: Diner stool variant: [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2002/2002-03-06.gif The reason]] why Jon and Garfield always sit by the counter instead of at the booth at Irma's Diner.
* SymbolSwearing:
** One strip had Garfield watching an Uncle Roy episode where he goes to a factory. When Uncle Roy gets too close to a machine, he says "Turn this #%^$ thing off!".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/01/16 This is what happens]] when Garfield's lips get stuck to popsicle.
** This occured two other times: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780911.gif This comic]] where Garfield angrily cusses after a leg cramp forces him to get out of bed, and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030514.gif this one]] where a woman on a knitting TV show cusses after dropping a stitch. Garfield lampshades it in the latter instance by commenting "Grandma's a colorful old gal".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:T]]
* TakeAThirdOption: In one [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/04/22 strip]], Jon offered Garfield either a cookie or a donut. No guess for what Garfield decides on.
-->'''Garfield:''' What is this "or" stuff of which you speak?
* TakeOurWordForIt: Garfield's and Jon's reactions upon [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/04/27 seeing the picture of Doc's girlfriend]].
* TalkingAnimal: Although the animals only think. Well, there ''is'' and early strip where it seemed Garfield was talking but it was Lyman pulling a prank on Jon.
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/05/11 Liz left Jon a message at his cell phone confirming their date and asking him to leave the accordion at home.]] In fact, he was with the accordion while listening to the message.
* TastesBetterThanItLooks: Jon makes "weenie gelatin" in one strip, which is a green hunk of jello/jelly with sausages poking out. Garfield eats it and remarks that his mouth liked it, but his stomach is still making up its mind.
* TastesLikeChicken: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/01/24 Garfield comments that the cat food he's eating "tastes sort of like chicken".]] Upon reading the label, he learns "it's made from sort of chickens".
* TastesLikeDiabetes:[[invoked]] Parodied in one strip where a scene of Pooky next to a flower quickly evolves into a mass of cute animals.
-->'''Garfield:''' Woah, that's even too much for [[CutenessProximity me...]]
* TechnologicallyBlindElders: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/07/19 Old Man Yarber is so out of touch with technology he tries to control a tractor with a whip.]]
* TechnologyMarchesOn:[[invoked]] After not using the landline since 2012, a 2017 week arc has Jon and Garfield reminisce about all the times they spent using it [[TheDitz (and Jon forgetting that it hasn't got a camera and what a dial tone sounds like)]].
* TemporalParadox: To celebrate the strip's 25th anniversary, they ran an arc where 1978!Garfield meets 2003!Garfield. 1978!Jon and 1978!Odie also show up alongside their 2003 counterparts at the end.
* TemptingCookieJar: Cookie jars have made frequent appearances, usually as a source of temptation while Garfield is on a diet. In one 1991 strip, Jon places the cookie jar atop the fridge, and Garfield is seen running with a pole so he could vault and reach it.
* TemptingFate:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/04/09 At the beach, Jon tried to get the attention of a girl by screaming "Shark!"]]. He was trampled by everyone who ran away out of fear, was slapped by the girl and, when he said things couldn't get worse, a shark appeared.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/07/22 Jon was in a date with Ellen]] and she couldn't even remember who he was. When he said it couldn't get worse, Garfield showed Liz dating somebody else.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/07/27#.U9WUylboZhA Taken to absurd extremes]] when Jon, Garfield, and Odie once went on a walk.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/09/01 Garfield during this Monday strip]]. "Well, at least Monday's over" He rips a calendar page, revealing the next day to also be a Monday. "I'll be going back to bed now".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/12/09 Jon believes]] the best part about Christmas shopping online is "no lines, and no waiting!". He's then forced to wait while his order is processed.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/11/14 During a diet arc,]] Garfield is glad he's not having any weird hallucinations this time. A roast chicken shows up wanting to borrow a cup of giblet gravy.
-->'''Garfield:''' Don't look, Garfield. Don't look.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/03/04 Garfield addresses the weather in the wrong month]].
** Garfield tells the reader that he'll beat up the next person who uses BabyTalk on him. Unfortunately, said "next person" turned out to be a muscular, spike-and-chain-wearing man.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/05/16 When Jon, Garfield, and Odie are wrapped inside a curtain roll, Jon wonders how they'd get out of it. The curtain gives way and drops them to the floor, still wrapped inside said curtain roll.]]
-->'''Jon''': Isn't that the way? Just when everything looks hopeless, things work out.
-->'''[[CatsAreSnarkers Garfield]]''': I love happy endings.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/06/13 A menu shows up as one of Garfield's age nightmares.]] Garfield doesn't find it scary, until...
-->'''Menu''': I'm the menu you can't read without the glasses you can't find.
-->'''Garfield''': I stand corrected.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/07/02 When Garfield gets stuck in a tree, he tries to cheer himself up by stating that "no cat has ever lived his whole life up a tree".]] A random cat appears behind Garfield and contradicts him by saying "I have".
-->'''Garfield''': You stay out of this.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/03/08 Garfield wonders why Jon always takes him golfing.]] Cue Jon accidentally breaking a glass window of a car while golfing and deflecting the blame on Garfield when the car owner confronts him.
* ThatCloudLooksLike:
-->'''Jon''': I think that cloud looks [[ShapedLikeItself just like a cloud]].
-->(BeatPanel)
-->'''Garfield''': Which one?
** Garfield once found one that resembled Odie: the same ears, the same stupid expression. When it started to rain, he commented that it also had "the same slobber."
* ThereWasADoor:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/03/25 Tired of the mess]] Garfield and Odie were making, Jon opened the door and told them to go outside. They jumped through the window. Berating his pets, Jon told them to use the door next time. Unfortunately, since it was closed then, they broke it while reentering.
** There's one strip in which Jon calls Garfield to dinner. Garfield comes bounding up to Jon from off panel. Jon says, "I appreciate your promptness, Garfield...." and finishes in the last panel, "... but next time, OPEN THE DOOR!", revealing that Garfield broke through the (closed) door. Could be justified in that Garfield is a cat and can't work a doorknob, but....
** There's also one where he comes through the pet door, but gets stuck inside because he's too fat and thus rips the normal door from its hinges anyway. Also, he repeatedly kicked Nermal out the front door without opening it first.
** And there's another wherein he smashes the front door down and says, "When I want in, I want in [-NOW-]!"
** Happens in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830904.gif yet another strip]] when Jon yells "FIRE!" to test his pets' fire drill knowledge. Both run straight through the wall -- or, rather, we assume they did, thanks to the hole.
* ThisExplainsSoMuch: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/08/24 Garfield's reaction]] when Jon shows him a picture of his father trying to milk a pig.
* ThisIsMyHuman: Garfield refers to Jon as "his cartoonist" in the very first strip and considers himself to be superior to Jon in every way imaginable (and thus treats Jon accordingly).
* ThisIsNoTimeToPanic: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/07/25 This comic strip]]. Jon Arbuckle was desperate about his age because he found a gray hair. Garfield told him not to panic. When Jon said it was in his ear, Garfield replied "Okay, panic".
* ThisJustIn: Garfield gives us the page quote from [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910524.gif this parody]].
* ThisLoserIsYou: Jon, although this wasn't a big part of the comic until the nineties.
* ThoughtBubbleSpeech: Coupled with InnerMonologueConversation, as Jon seems to be able to understand what Garfield is thinking when they interact.
* {{Threatening Shark}}s: Jon, reading the warning on Garfield's new flea collar: "While this collar will repel fleas, it has been known to attract sharks."
* TheThreeCertaintiesInLife: One strip had a variant, "Death, taxes, and teddy bears. Three things you can always count on."
* TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/05/22 In this comic strip]], Garfield tried to climb a tree but it fell through. His comment: "They don't make trees like they used to."
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/07/10 In this one]], he broke a ming vase and said "Ming, schming. They don't make'm like they used to."
* TimeCrash: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830228.gif "Maybe if I tore Monday off the calendar there'd be no more Mondays."]] He attempts this [[DidntThinkThisThrough on a Monday.]]
* TimmyInAWell: Repeatedly parodied.
* ToiletDrinkingDogGag: A running joke is dogs, usually Odie, drinking from toilets.
** [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2000/2000-04-26.gif?v=1.1 When the toilet starts overflowing, Odie runs towards it excitedly]].
** [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1997/1997-03-18.gif?v=1.1 Garfield is woken up by the sound of Odie drinking out of the toilet]].
** [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1979/1979-04-20.gif?v=1.1 Lyman laughs when Odie licks him. Garfield thinks that Lyman wouldn't be as happy if he knew that Odie just drank out of the toilet]].
* ToiletHumor: A story arc has Jon, Garfield and Odie visiting a tropical island called "Guano-Guano".
* TombstoneTeeth: The characters usually smile with piano-looking teeth, specially when it's [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1995/1995-12-01.gif fake]] or [[https://assets.amuniversal.com/4225a020980501365539005056a9545d smug]].
* TongueOnTheFlagpole:
** A variation. Odie gets his tongue stuck on a frozen fire hydrant. The strip then shows [[OverlyLongTongue six panels' worth of outstretched Odie tongue]], leading to Garfield saying, "We need a blow dryer and a really, really long extension cord."
** Jon once got his tongue stuck on the ''mailbox'', but it wasn't seen.
* TheTonsillitisEpisode: [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=25&month=04&year=1988 Happened to Jon in April 1988]].
* TooDumbToLive: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/08/21 A snowman]] is happy to have won "a two-week vacation at the beach!".
* TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: Occurs in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/02/07 this]] strip for "Honko's Chain Mail Body Sock".
* TotemPoleTrench: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/08/18 Garfield and Odie use Jon's shirt]] to bypass a ride's [[YouMustBeThisTallToRide minumum height requirements]].
* ToThePain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/04/15 Jon receives this]] when he tries to pick up a girl by claiming he has ESP.
-->'''Woman''': I'm going to pull your ears over your head and tie them into a knot. Then I'm going to stretch your upper lip over your chin, and then I'm going to pull your shoe off and stuff it up your left nostril.\\
'''Jon''': [[BlatantLies I knew that.]]
* ToweringFlower: [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2016/2016-05-03.gif This]] strip has Garfield walking next to a daisy almost twice his size without batting an eye. According to the cat, it really had rained a lot.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Garfield eats everything except raisins and spinach, but he prefers lasagna. He's also very fond of pizza, to the point that he considers the pizza delivery boy his best friend. Early strips also had a running gag of him eating Jon's chicken in creative ways.
* TrappedInTVLand: The ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episodes "The Lasagna Zone" and "T.V. of Tomorrow", the video game ''[[VideoGame/GarfieldCaughtInTheAct Garfield: Caught in the Act]]'', and ''The Garfield Show'' episode "Virtualodeon".
* TremorTrampoline: In a couple of strips, Garfield is able to bend the panel with his weight, and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/02/14 another has him bouncing on a hardwood floor]]. In an early one, Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/12/13 even manages to flip Jon's chair over just by jumping]]!
-->'''Jon''': Diet time.
* TriviallyObvious: In this [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/10/12 strip]], Jon says: "Odie, you're such a good boy! And Garfield, you're such a... such a... cat."
-->'''Garfield:''' A "good boy" would kill you, wouldn't it?
* TwoWordsAddedEmphasis: [[http://garfield.nfshost.com/1995/07/15/ July 15, 1995]]:
-->'''Jon''': It's the weekend, and you know what that means... Two words, Garfield... "Board games".\\
'''Garfield''': [[SarcasmMode Whoa! My fun meter is a-jumpin' off the scale!]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:U - W]]
* UglyGuyHotWife: The cartoony art style obscures it a bit, but the reader is given to understand that Jon and girlfriend Liz vary widely in levels of attractiveness. Garfield himself will sometimes remark on it.
* UncattyResemblance: Jon and Garfield commented on this trope, with pets who look increasingly (and more absurdly) like their owners. This culminated with some guy who looked like a man in a bird suit and his pet canary. Another strip had Jon sitting down to eat dinner with Garfield, which they both began gobbling up in perfect sync. The strip ends with Jon realizing he has to get away from Garfield when they eat.
* UncleSamWantsYou: A Garfield strip [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/09/15 featured A sign with Binky saying "I want you. Join the circus"]] and making an Uncle Sam pose.
* UnderTheMistletoe: A frequently used gag during the holiday season.
* {{Understatement}}: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/06 Garfield describes the "Santa's Elves Versus Godzilla" battle as "just a little loopsided".]]
* {{Unishment}}: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/06/28 It's so hot that Garfield decides to kick Jon while the later is watering the flowers]]. Jon retaliates by hitting him with water, which Garfield liked. Realizing what just happened, Jon kicks Garfield hoping to receive the same retaliation. [[AvertedTrope Garfield instead pulls down Jon's shorts and wraps him with his hose]].
* UnnamedParent: Jon's parents. Also, Garfield's mother, who appeared in a series of strips in 1984.
* UnsoundEffect:
** For a rather unconventional example, whenever a hammer is being used, the sound effect is usually "hammer" instead of "bang."
** Others include "unscrew" for the top of a saltshaker being unscrewed, and "plug" for Christmas lights being plugged in.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790304.gif These]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790729.gif two]] early strips use "Leap!" to indicate Garfield jumping off a table.
** And there's plenty more where that came from, such as [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810425.gif Hook!]] for Garfield being [[VaudevilleHook Vaudeville Hooked]] offscreen.
** And "Fling!" [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga901021.gif is]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910120.gif often]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940113.gif used]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940729.gif to]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960606.gif indicate]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960723.gif a]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga970131.gif character]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1999/ga991003.gif flinging]] something.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Garfield is all over this trope.
* UnusualEuphemism: Garfield notably says "Oh, lawsey, lawsey, lawsey" when Odie makes his first appearance. This is an old-fashioned and primarily Indiana-centric euphemism for using the Lord's name in vain.
* UnwinnableByDesign: Spin-off game ''Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal'' is a Cruel variant. You play as Garfield, who has a constantly depleting hunger meter. If the meter depletes and Garfield doesn't have any items, it's GameOver. Otherwise, Garfield eats whatever he currently has. The game is full of {{Moon Logic Puzzle}}s and {{Red Herring}}s, so it's hard to figure out what you actually need and what's just there to refill the hunger meter.
* UrineTrouble:
** Hinted at in the April 21, 1982 strip, where Garfield disguises himself as a bush, then notices that Odie is sniffing at him.
** The December 12, 1995 strip has Jon, Garfield and Odie trying to pick out a Christmas tree. Jon states that he can't decide which tree he likes, then makes a shocked expression while Garfield quips "Neither can Odie. He likes them all", clearly implying that Odie is marking his territory on all the Christmas trees.
** Implied in the May 16, 2011 strip when Garfield once again finds himself stuck up a tree.
-->'''Garfield''': Oh, look! Odie has come to rescue me from this tree! ({{Beat}}) Well, he did ''something'' involving this tree.
** Hinted at once more in the April 4, 2012 strip when Garfield admonishes Odie while the dog is walking by [[NotSoInnocentWhistle whistling]].
-->'''Garfield''': Some of us like to ''climb'' that tree!
* VaudevilleHook: Garfield has been hooked off the fence a few times. Once, during a Christmas week, an oversized candy cane was used as one.
* VengefulVendingMachine: The Soda Pop machine from one strip. It works fine until Garfield tries putting more coins in to get more soda cans, after which a huge can crushes him.
* VerbThis: Jon had to [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/04/13 free-float this]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/07/29 forget that]].
* VisualPun: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/01/23 This]] strip featured Frank, a friend of Jon's, meeting Garfield for the first time and rubbing him. Garfield reacted violently and stated "Some people rub me the wrong way".
* VolumetricMouth: The side-view variant is used quite often.
* VomitIndiscretionShot:
** Garfield's reaction to finding out that he had eaten octopus was to spit it all back out (on Jon, no less) and then remark that it wasn't half bad.
** Strongly implied in a 1979 strip when when Garfield is trying to alert Jon on a road trip.
-->'''Jon:''' What is it, Garfield? What are you trying to tell me? Oh... You're carsick, you say.
* WaitingSkeleton: The comic used this trope a few times.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/04/23 The services on this airline are rather bad]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/06/27 Cats don't always get rescued from trees]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/06/26 The doctor is running very late]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/06/09 Garfield can't wait for the pizza delivery man]] (though this one is a DaydreamSurprise).
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Garfield on the pursuit of mice: "It's not the ''having,'' it's the ''getting.''"
* WayPastTheExpirationDate: In one strip, Jon claims that he looked danger right in the face and laughed. Garfield then lets the readers know that Jon drank milk that was past the expiration date.
* WeightLossHorror: Garfield has had nightmares about these in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/07/07 July 1979]], [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1987/1987-03-03.gif March 1987]] and [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1989/1989-01-08.gif January 1989]].
* WentToTheGreatXInTheSky: A spider wants to take revenge for his grandfather whom, as he says, Garfield sent to "that big web in the sky".
* WhatAreRecords:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/10/03 A TV example]].
-->'''TV:''' Don't touch that dial.
-->'''Garfield:''' Okay, I won't. And what's a dial?
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/6/14 Garfield has a birthday nightmare where he's old enough to remember what records are.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One strip has a blind date of Jon's named Gwen, who dresses as absurdly as he does on dates and finds him cute. Garfield even says "God made two of them!" Although she would have been a good recurring character, perhaps as a DistaffCounterpart of Jon, she was never mentioned again.
* WhatsAHenway:
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield, do you know there's a mouse in the garbage?
-->'''Garfield:''' I think so... (singing) Oh, there's a mouse in the garbage, and I don't care...
* WhatsAnXLikeYouDoingInAYLikeThis: You could say that Garfield {{inverted|Trope}} this one.
-->'''Garfield:''' What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?
-->'''Arlene:''' But this is a nice place.
-->'''Garfield:''' Like I said... What's a girl like YOU doing in a place like THIS?
* WhatTheFuAreYouDoing: Garfield shows what happens when an untrained person (well, cat, in his case) tries to karate-chop bricks [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/01/25 in this strip]].
* WhenIWasYourAge: When he was Jon's age, Jon's Dad was already married and had a kid. Jon's reply ("Yeh, me") prompted him to state it was a good argument but he still thought Jon should get married.
* WhenPropsAttack: A late 2011 ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip had Garfield eating cookies in the cookie jar, but when Jon catches him, Garfield pretends that the cookie jar is eating him. Of course, Jon isn't fooled one bit by it:
-->'''Garfield:''' Help! I'm being eaten by a cookie jar!
-->'''Jon:''' Get out of there!
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/01/25 In this strip]], Garfield is using Jon's butter as fast as he can because it expires at midnight.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Garfield's town is never specified, except on animated special ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'' it's Muncie, Indiana (Jim Davis' residence since 1963 and Paws, Inc.'s HQ).
* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: In one strip, Garfield is watching a commercial for [[AllNaturalSnakeOil a health supplement]] that promises to help men attract women, but then the ad mentions that SideEffectsInclude uncontrollable knee slapping, foot stomping, and blinking, as well as [[RapidHairGrowth abnormal hair growth all over the body.]]
--->'''Garfield:''' What idiot would buy that product?
--->''Jon stands behind Garfield with hair growing all over his body, blinking wildly, stomping his foot, and slapping his knee over and over again''
* WilliamTelling: The protagonist being the glutton that he is misses intentionally so that he can eat the apple afterwards.
* WireDilemma: Parodied [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/07/21 here]]:
-->'''Woman on TV:''' Bob, we've only got 3 seconds before the bomb explodes! Cut the red wire, not the green one!\\
'''Man on TV:''' Bernice, there's something I've always wanted to tell you...\\
'''Woman on TV:''' Yes?\\
'''Man on TV:''' I'm color-blind.\\
'''Garfield:''' Bye-bye, Bob and Bernice.
* WishingForMoreWishes: An indirect example occurs in the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/24 October 24, 2020]] strip, where Garfield watches a television program about a kid finding a genie. After the kid is told that they have three wishes, the kid's first wish is that the genie is bad at math, which results in the genie unwittingly deciding that the kid has nine wishes left.
* WordSchmord: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780904.gif Labor Day, Shmabor Day]], and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830710.gif Ming, Shming]].
* WorldOfSnark: Garfield's the most prominent snarker, but just about everyone gets plenty of turns.
* WorldOfPun: They are very, ''VERY'', rare, but [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800918.gif they]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810116.gif are]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga980502.gif there]]. Davis stopped doing them because he wanted the strip to translate internationally.
* WorthIt:
** Jon giving Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/07/12 a rubber hamburger]].
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/07/07 asked an alarm-o-clock what time it was and it said it couldn't know because it wasn't wearing a watch. Garfield broke it and it said "It was worth it".]]
* WouldHitAGirl:
** Garfield once, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/10/12 knocked Arlene out by throwing Odie at her.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/11/18 That's what happens when a cat girl tries to eat Garfield's food]].
* WriteWhatYouKnow:
** In-universe example. [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/02/10 Garfield wants to write a book]] and [[InvokedTrope claims]] "a writer must write something he knows about" while trying to decide on a theme. He picks "night indigestions".
** Another time, he picked a topic he wasn't already familiar with and then said he would experience it for himself so he could base his book on it. The topic? Running with the bulls of Pamplona. The title? ''The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done''.
* WrittenSoundEffect: "SPLUT!" is the sound that a pie makes when it hits Garfield's face, although some other foods go "SPLOT!" instead. "Dingle" is also used for Odie's toy balls with bells in them. Also, "GOOSH!" is quite commonly used for wet splats.
* WroteTheBook: April 21, 1990.
-->'''TV:''' Viewers, are you lethargic? Then let us help you.\\
'''Garfield:''' No thanks. I wrote the book on lethargy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:X - Z]]
* YankTheDogsChain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/05/11 An alarm clock]] induced Garfield into dreaming he was locked inside a pasta factory. Then, as Garfield was seconds away from the greatest feast in history, the alarm clock rang.
* YawnAndReach: Jon tries doing this with Liz at the movies, only for her to "ahem" him away. He then leans on ''Garfield'', who also gives him an "ahem."
* YouAllLookFamiliar: Non-video-game example; the RecurringCharacter Squeak looks just like any other mouse in the strip, and it's not often that he's explicitly named as such. Currently, the last strip in which he is named is on [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga970616.gif June 16, 1997]].
** He reappears on [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/09/07 September 7, 2011]].
* YouAndWhatArmy:
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/02/11 this strip]], Garfield asked that question when Jon said he'd give Garfield a bath.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/04/09 Garfield is in the middle of asking this]] to a kid whose sandwich he stole when he notices the bear behind him.
* YouAreFat: Most often said by the scale or Jon to Garfield.
* YouCanSeeThatRight: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/22 Liz hallucinates Jon's face looking like a donut.]]
-->'''Liz:''' Okay, did you see that?
-->'''Garfield:''' He usually has sprinkles.
* YouDidntSeeThat: Used a couple times.
* YouDoNOTWantToKnow: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/29 Garfield takes a giant cone outside to fill it with snow.]]
-->'''Liz:''' Where'd he get the bucket of cherry syrup?
-->'''Jon:''' Somethings are better left unknown...
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga921115.gif This strip]] features a pink haired girl, and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960728.gif this one]] has a purple haired one.
* YouJustHadToSayIt:
** In one of the Garfield comic strip's rare strings of positive continuity, Garfield, Odie and Jon are on a camping trip which has been plagued with calamities.
--->'''Jon:''' This camping trip's been a total disaster. The wind blew our food everywhere, the ants ate my cherry pie...\\
'''Garfield:''' No, Jon! Don't say it!\\
'''Jon:''' What else could go wrong?\\
''[It promptly starts raining]''\\
'''Garfield:''' You said it!
** Or of course [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/08/03 this alternative version]]:
--->'''Garfield:''' He's gonna say it.\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks left'')\\
'''Garfield:''' I just know he's gonna say it.\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks right'')\\
'''Garfield:''' It wouldn't be Jon if he didn't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks left'')\\
'''Garfield:''' 4... 3... 2... 1...\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks right'') What a long train.\\
'''Garfield:''' '''''ARRRRGH!'''''
** Or [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/02/16 this one]]:
--->'''Jon:''' Well, there's a blizzard outside...\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' We're snowed in...\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' The cable tv has gone out...\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' And we're out of hot chocolate.\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' What else can go wrong? [lights go out]\\
'''Garfield:''' You said it.
* YouMustBeThisTallToRide:
** Garfield and Odie [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/08/18 wore Jon's shirt to get past that.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/01/19 This strip has three signs]]: "Beware of Dog"; "Thrills Galore!"; and "You must be this tall to be bitten". The minimum height requirement is very low.
* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/06/03 One strip has Garfield go out to do his entertainment routine on the fence wearing Nerd Glasses saying "you wouldn't throw tomatoes at a guy wearing glasses would you?"]]. We see splat sound effects in the next panel.The last panel is a upset Garfield who is covered with tomato everywhere on his body except his head.
* YourBrainWontBeMuchOfAMeal: In one strip, Garfield pretends to be TheIgor, wandering around saying "A brain! I need a brain for my master!" He pauses to take a look at Odie, and then moves on, repeating "A brain! I need a brain for my master!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/03/02 Jon was afraid an insect was eating his brain and Garfield said it'd starve.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/10/27 An]] [[TheIgor Igor-like]] character shows up and claims he "must have human brain".
-->'''Garfield:''' (to Jon) Notice how he walked right past you.
* YourMom:
** When Garfield stands on the talking scale:
--->'''Scale:''' Let me put it this way... Have you ever considered a career as a river barge?\\
'''Garfield:''' Your mother was a blender!\\
'''Scale:''' That hurt.
** In another strip, when he does his act on the fence, he tells his audience: "All your mothers wear army boots!"
** Yet another strip, Jon tries to train Garfield to be an "attack cat", and makes a dummy from him to practice. When he orders "Attack!", Garfield tells the dummy: "Your mother wears combat boots!"
** In another strip, when Garfield is a bad mood, he shouts to a bunch of dogs: "All your mothers wear flea collars!" which gets him beaten up.
** A spider says this to Garfield in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/11/09 this strip]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/04/24 Odie was chasing cars]] and Garfield tried to caution him against it because he could get clobbered. Realizing he said "clobbered", Garfield then told Odie a Buick said "unkind things" about Odie's mother.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/09/04 Garfield, as "The Caped Avenger", felt he could get into all sorts of troubles and]] be protected by his sidekick Odie (a.k.a. Slurps). When Garfield smacked a dog and said the dog's mother chased garbage trucks, Slurps resigned his "comission".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/02/18 Garfield's idea of "get" a mouse was saying the mouse's mother dressed it funny.]]
* YouTalkTooMuch: Said by an old lady [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1987/ga870816.gif here]], even though no one else spoke while she was babbling. Garfield also [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020710.gif said this to Jon once]].
* {{Zipperiffic}}: Deconstructed, bizarrely enough. Jon wears a suit with an absurd amount of zippered pockets, then forgets which pocket he put his keys in. Cue Garfield giving an OhCrap face and exclaiming, "This could take months!"

[[/folder]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:D - F]]
* DagwoodSandwich:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920424.gif These things can be dangerous!]]
** Another time, he made one so long that it extended across the street.
** And during one AprilFoolsDay, Garfield [[http://www.april-fools.us/blondie980401.gif came across]] the TropeNamer himself making one.
* DamnedByAFoolsPraise: Anything Jon likes is subject to this. Jon has ridiculously weird taste in things and tends to purchase things on impulse, then almost immediately forget he had those things upon obtaining them.
** There's a comic strip where Garfield is watching an infomercial for something unknown but so bad that he can't help complaining endlessly. Jon walks by and tells Garfield he has three of the product.
* DamnedByFaintPraise: Bill Watterson, creator of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' once tactfully described Garfield as "consistent."
* DeadpanSnarker: [[WorldOfSnark Pretty much everyone at some point]], though Garfield is the most prominent. Special mention must be given to the bathroom scale ("You know those two pounds you lost last week? They are back with reinforcements"; "Let me put it this way... Have you ever considered a career as a river barge?").
* DeepFriedWhatever: "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/09/23 If it ain't deep-fried, it ain't worth eating.]]"
* DemotedToExtra: Almost all of the supporting cast (particularly Arlene, Nermal and Jon's family) hardly appear in the 2010s.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Ever since the strip went to being in color every day, there's been little to no consistency on the palette of Jon's house, wardrobe, etc. This also applies to the older strips, which were colored retroactively with just as little regard for consistency.
** This even seems to extend to the point of things sometimes being colored some shade that makes no sense whatsoever; for instance, the bushes outside of Jon's house are sometimes bizarre colors such as orange or pink.
* DepravedDentist: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/07/20 This strip's]] "Beware of Dog" signs read "Beware of the dog" who somehow managed to get dentistry tools.
-->'''Dog:''' Next.
* DesertSkull: In one sequence, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Jon]] brings home one of these, which Garfield then [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset puts]] on Odie, while Jon talks to his mother about it.
** Jon also has one under his bed as a example of how rarely he cleans.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** Garfield once caught a bird and attempted to throw it up in the air and catch it in his mouth, [[IdiotBall completely forgetting that birds can fly]].
** When one of Garfield's shows is interrupted for breaking news, he calls a television station to give them a piece of his mind. The plan goes sour when he forgets that all he can say is "Meow".
** In a similar strip, Garfield hears about a radio station contest offering a new house for the first caller to answer a question. When he discovers that "Meow" is the answer, he gets through and wins the prize. Garfield is thrilled...until he finds that he has to give his name and address over the phone as well.
--->'''Announcer:''' Uh, and how do you spell your name, Mr. [[WrittenRoar AAARRRGGHH]]?
** In one [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/10/22 strip]], when Garfield is about to eat a fish, it warns him that it'll call reinforcements if he comes closer. When he does, the fish calls a bunch of other fish in bowls. Garfield only considers this a sushi bar.
-->'''Fish''': That didn't have quite the effect I was hoping for.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/07/08 Two alien snowmen]] invade Earth and melt before finishing their threat to "puny Earthling" Garfield.
--->'''Garfield:''' Who schedules your invasions?
--->'''Alien:''' Oh, shut up.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/08/15 A bird tries to attack]] Garfield from behind and ends up being eaten by him.
--->'''Garfield:''' I don't think he thought that through.
* DietEpisode: There are numerous strips about Garfield being put on a diet by Jon (or occasionally Liz).
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/10/11 While talking to Liz on the phone]], Jon says he lied about his past and had thousands of girlfriends.
-->'''Jon:''' Okay, I'm still lying!
-->'''Garfield:''' And the hole gets deeper.
* TheDinnermobile: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/08/18 this comic]], Garfield mistakes a hot dog truck for a giant hot dog. He feels rather silly when it proves inedible, but then decides to have "dessert" by doing the same thing to an ice cream truck.
* DirtyOldWoman: ”HEY WORLD! I'M TAKING A BATH! COME ON IN AND WATCH!" "I'll be right back." "I'm sure the man's joking, Reba." [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840916.gif (September 16, 1984)]]
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** Another "I wouldn't say you're fat" joke leads Garfield to look for... [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=23.09.1980 Hit men? In a phone book?]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/03/29 This strip]] has Jon throwing Garfield out the window (and it wasn't even open!) just because Garfield was making fun of his suit.
* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/04/27 When Garfield and Jon are absent]], Odie watches a documentary about Mozart, reads Literature/WarAndPeace and dresses like the dog from the trope page, pipe included.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/12/06 Jon got a huge pipe]] and asked Garfield if that made him "look more sophisticated". It was a bubble pipe and Garfield replied, "Sadly enough, I have to agree".
*** Although in earlier strips, Jon ''did'' smoke a ''real'' pipe. This died out rather quickly.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/08/12 Garfield while displaying a spider trophy.]]
* DistractedByTheSexy: Happens to Jon while riding his bicycle in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810620.gif this strip]].
* DoesNotLikeSpam: Garfield ''really'' hates raisins. Doubles as ShownTheirWork, as raisins can be fatally poisonous to cats in RealLife.
** He also won't eat spinach, snails, mice, fruitcake, grapefruit, and certain brands of cat food, but other than that, he'll eat anything.
* DoesThisMakeMeLookFat: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/02/02 During an Arbuckle Family Reunion]], a woman asked if her pants made her hips look big and somebody answered "it's not the pants".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/03/16 Jon made a phone call and was told to hold. When he told Garfield his call was "very important to them"]], Garfield said "and the check is in the mail, and this won't hurt a bit, and no, those pants don't make you look fat at all".
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** There was a strip in which Garfield got a lot of amusement out of scratching Odie's rear, because that made Odie become so excited that he jumped up and down. Garfield just kept scratching until poor Odie was in a frenzy. A few readers have noted that the gag [[ADateWithRosiePalms looks suspiciously like a metaphor for something else]]....
** Just look at [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900408.gif the second-to-last panel]].
** Another beach one, with Jon wearing a flotation device [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=02.09.1995 with a very Freudian placement of the head]]....which the woman he asked to "go boogieboarding" leaves in a much lower, more flaccid state when she turns him down....
* ADogAteMyHomework:
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2009/ga090818.gif this strip]] Garfield passes by a dog, who holds a sign saying: "Will eat homework for food".
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920910.gif another strip]], Jon goes to a class reunion, and meets his old English teacher, Mrs. Fronzak:
--->'''Jon:''' What are you doing at the class reunion?
--->'''Mrs. Fronzak:''' Waiting on that overdue term paper, Jonny.
--->'''Jon:''' My, uh, cat ate it!
--->'''Garfield:''' Leave me out of this!
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/02/02 also finds out]] that this is actually a very lucrative business for dogs.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/04/09 A dog]] [[BeggarWithASignboard has a signboard reading "will eat homework for food"]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/01/03 When asked if dogs really eat homework]], Odie eats the piece of paper with the question.
* TheDogBitesBack:
** Garfield had a few laughs at Nermal's expense in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/01/18 this strip]], but Nermal got the last word.
** In one strip, Odie turns to Garfield and actually ''talks'', giving him a massive TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and chewing him out for all the abuse he's put up with over the years. Garfield wakes up, revealing [[AllJustADream it was all a dream]] and goes to kick Odie like always, when Odie gives him the [[OrWasItADream strangest smirk...]]
** Jim Davis has admitted that since most of the humor is derived from Garfield pranking, or downright [[SadistShow abusing,]] Jon and Odie, he'll occasionally draw a strip where Odie, Jon, or both, will pull a fast one on Garfield to break the monotony.
** A spider, presumably one of those that Garfield smacks often, gets some payback on Garfield in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/04/29 this strip]].
-->'''Spider''': Revenge is mine!
* ADogNamedDog: Conversed in an early strip, where Lyman said that he grew up with four cats all named Cat, because there's no point in naming an animal that won't come when you call it.
* DoingItForTheArt [[invoked]]: Garfield's performances on the fence, which always have a hostile reception. The strip itself is an inversion of this trope.
* DoNotCallMePaul: Jon Arbuckle's brother hates being called "Doc Boy". Unfortunately, their Dad likes to call them and their mother "Jon Boy", "Mom Boy" and "Doc Boy".
* DontAnswerThat: Garfield says this to his mirror after asking it who's the cutest cat and then seeing Nermal walk in.
* DontExplainTheJoke: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/04/26 April 26,2012]], a spider about to be swatted said it was okay as long as Garfield didn't sit on it and then explained he said it because Garfield was fat.
* DontTellMama: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/07/02 Jon was at Irma's Diner and she pointed out he didn't eat the vegetables]]. He sarcastically asked if she'd tell his mother. When she said that she would, he quickly started eating them. Garfield told Irma to tell Jon's mother he ate the dessert first.
* DontTryThisAtHome: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/12/03 Garfield readies himself for a 20-hour nap]] and tells the readers "Remember, I'm a professional. Don't try this at home".
* DontWakeTheSleeper: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/05/27 This strip]] has Odie wake Garfield up with a bark, causing Garfield to jump in shock and bump his head onto the ceiling. The result is implied to have ended badly for Odie.
-->'''Jon''': You're up.
-->'''Garfield''': And Odie's on a bus bound for Nome.
* DonutMessWithACop: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/03/16 Two cops seeing Jon, Garfield and Odie's antics.]]
-->'''Bubba's partner:''' I'd say they've at least broken at least three city ordinances. Right, Bubba?
-->'''Bubba:''' I didn't see nothin'. Let's get a doughnut.
* DoomItYourself:
** This occurred in one strip when Jon and Doc tried setting up some Christmas lights when Jon visited the family farm for the holidays. They ended up both getting entangled in the lights:
-->'''Jon's Dad''': What am I going to do with you two?\\
'''Garfield''': Why don't you plug them in?
** Jon walks in, a bruised and disheveled mess:
-->'''Jon:''' I got the Christmas lights up.
-->'''Garfield:''' I know. I saw it on the evening news.
** Jon has had a ''lot'' of these. In one strip, Garfield puts toast in the toaster and wonders if Jon's fixed it. Cue the toast flying out of the toaster, ricocheting off of every wall in the house, chasing Jon ''and'' Odie and finally crashing into something off-screen. Did Jon fix the toaster? [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/08/21 "Yup."]]
* TheDoorSlamsYou: Has occurred to Garfield at least once. Not surprisingly, on a Monday.
* DopeSlap: Garfield does these frequently to Jon.
* DorkInASweater: Jon sometimes becomes a fashion victim, and a few of those occasions have involved sweaters.
* DoubleEntendre: "[[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/07/28 Wanna pet my parrot?]]" (said to a woman). Even Jim Davis pointed out in a compilation how risqué that one is.
* DownOnTheFarm: Jon takes Garfield to his parents' farm from time to time. One notable instance was during Christmas, as covered by one of his TV specials.
* DropTheHammer: Jon does this [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/03 in this strip]]. It occurs off-screen, but the indicated sounds should leave little doubt about what -- or who -- gets hit.
-->*Smash*
-->'''Jon''': Owww!
* DrippingDisturbance: Garfield faces this occasionally. First he turns the shower head upside down to stop the dripping, only for it to keep dripping even upside-down, then he notices it as one of the sounds commonly heard at night and then he stops the faucet from dripping by using Jon's toe.
* DrosteImage: Done in the logo box of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/01/05 this]] strip.
* DuckSeasonRabbitSeason: Liz, of all people, pulls this on Jon [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/05/17 here]].
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: During the first few years, the strip barely resembled itself. By the mid-1980s, it settled into its style that it has more or less held to this day.
** Garfield had a larger, more lumpy design and was almost always seen on all fours.
** Jon was more of an everyman instead of a loser, and he was also a cartoonist who smoked a pipe.
** Jon gets a roommate early on in the series named Lyman. Many of Jon's early interactions are with Lyman instead of Garfield. Odie is introduced as Lyman's dog until Lyman [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome mysteriously fades out of the comic]], and Odie becomes Jon's by default.
** The humor was often topical in nature. Early strips reference Weight Watchers, bachelor magazines, college football, the Mickey Mouse Club, Labor Day, Milk Duds candies, and other things that would largely be familiar only to American audiences. They also feature a [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece range]] of '70s and '80s slang and trends such as Lyman donning a white disco suit in an early strip. Some strips had wordplay and puns (such as Garfield calling a diet "'die' with a T" and Lyman quipping that his motivation to view a film where a boy places a tack on his teacher's chair lay in his liking for films where "the boy gets the girl in the end"). By the early 1980s, the topical references and wordplay were largely abandoned in order to make the strip more marketable in other countries.
** The strip's art style was vastly different during the first few months of its run, with more bizarre proportioned character designs (Odie's elongated neck and Jon's more bizarrely elongated face) indicating a more caricature-focused approach than successive years and elaborate use of detail/shading. By 1980, the strip had largely settled into a flatter and more laconic style, which in turn elapsed into a wackier and more perspective-based aesthetic (one largely retained by the strip until its transition into computerized drawing in 2011) by 1985.
** In one early strip, Garfield admits to ''liking'' Mondays because he doesn't have to work.
* EarWorm: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga941204.gif This strip]] has Jon whistling a melody which Garfield then finds unable to get out of his head… until he whistles it into Odie's ear, causing it to get stuck in Odie's head.
* EasterEgg: The strip [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/02/09 seen here]] seems to be nothing more than a lame attempt by Garfield to brag about how lazy he is... unless you actually look up the strip on the day [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/11/08 (twenty-four years previous!)]] he's referring to.
* EekAMouse:
--> '''Mouse:''' Your owner doesn't seem to like us.
--> '''Garfield:''' Well, he's got this thing about mice...
--> '''Mouse:''' You mean the part where he stands on a chair and screams?
--> '''Garfield:''' That too.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/06/21 Jon did it the first time]], and was appalled at Garfield's reaction.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/01/18 Garfield jumped on Jon]] in this one.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/09/09 Garfield did it in consideration for the mouse's birthday.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/08/24 Jon yelled "Eeeeeeek!"]] then he said "Um... I mean, get the mouse." Garfield said it'd go into his blog.
* EleventyZillion: From the aforementioned zipper strip: "Take a gander at this outfit. It has six gajillion zippers!"
* EmbarrassingNickname: Doc, Jon's farmhand brother, whom Jon always calls "Doc Boy". Still better than [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890711.gif "Iguana Gums"]].
* EmbarrassingPyjamas: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/07/17 this comic]], Jon gets locked outside in his bunny pyjamas. And Garfield refuses to let him back in before everybody can see it.
* EnemyMine: After being driven crazy by a fly for a few days, Garfield is desperate enough to ally with [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/03/26 a spider]] to get rid of it.
* EpicFail:
** Garfield attempts to kill a spider by closing a window on it. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/08/04 It doesn't go well]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/08/07 Jon bought a set of weights for his workout.]] He "can't get them out of the car".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/01/30 This]], also a case of TemptingFate.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/12/21 Jon's attempt to wrap a gift ends with him covered in tape and the gift still unwrapped.]]
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/07/15 Odie tries to bury a bone]] but ends up burying himself instead.
* [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas Even Bad Cats Love Their Mamas:]] A famous multi-week story arc had him meet his mother in a [[TearJerker touching reunion]]. This story was adapted for the television special ''Garfield On The Town''.
* EverybodysDeadDave: Used in the [[spoiler:Halloween 1989]] story arc.
* EveryoneHasStandards: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/02/24 Jon spent all morning writing a love sonnet and then the computer crashed.]] Actually, it didn't. "Even the Internet has its standards".
* EvilLaugh: One strip has Garfield squish a spider with a rolled up newspaper, when:
--> '''Spider:''' [[NotQuiteDead He he he he...]]
--> '''Garfield:''' [[OhCrap That's not good.]]
* EvilLawyerJoke: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/02/26 A spider showed up with a lawyer and a restraining order against]] Garfield, who was smiling because he'd "never squished a lawyer".
* EvilTwin: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/04 When Jon tells]] Garfield SantaClaus has been watching him, he wrote a letter suggesting Santa might have seen his evil twin.
* ExactWords:
** "We'll be back after a word from our sponsor." "Sasquatch." "And we're back."
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/11/25 Jon tells Garfield that he can have "one bite of lasagna and that's it"]]. Garfield then proceeds to eat the rest of the lasagna in one bite.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/09/02 Jon once wanted to take Garfield for a trip but Garfield didn't want to get inside the kitty carrier]]. Jon was quite clear: "Before we go on this trip, one of us is going to have to get into this kitty carrier". Naturally, Garfield then stuffed Jon inside.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/05/23 Last helping]]. Jon took the last helping of lasagna and allowed Garfield to do whatever he wished with the pan. Garfield hit Jon with it.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/10/27 Jon told Garfield not to scare him from behind.]] Garfield scared him while facing him.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/04/26 Jon told Garfield not to kick Odie off the table]]. Garfield kicked him ''to'' it.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/05/03 Jon told Garfield not to take the lid off a cookie jar.]] Garfield then turned the jar upside down and "took the jar off the lid".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/03/26 Jon told Garfield not to set foot on Mrs. Feeny's property again]]. He later had to tell him to get his ''toe'' out.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/05/29 Jon asked Liz out for a date and she said she'd think about it after wheeling Garfield to X-Ray]]. Then she thought and answered "no".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/01/06 Jon told Garfield not to hit him "in the face with that pie".]] Result: "pie down the pants".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/08 Garfield was drinking coffee when Odie made a "yip" sound at him.]] Garfield told Odie not to do that and then Odie barked.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/06/22 Jon told Garfield not to destroy the couch.]] Result: "[[LampshadeHanging Destroyed everything]] ''[[LampshadeHanging but]]'' [[LampshadeHanging the couch, right?]]"
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/03/31 Garfield's idea of breakfast in bed]] is to have his bed filled with breakfast.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/05/23 Jon warns Garfield that his hamburger better be on his plate when he comes back]]. Garfield eats the burger and sits on the plate.
** [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/5/58/1990-07-01.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180903061730 Jon attempts to teach Garfield self-control by putting a box of kitty treats in front of him while he's sitting in the living room and tells him not to take the treats.]] He leaves the room, telling him the treats still better be there. Jon peeks and sees everything in the living room gone, except for the treats.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/09/11 Jon asks Garfield to get up and do something.]] Garfield gets up... and scares Jon with a frightening face.
-->'''Jon''': Don't ever do that again!
-->'''Garfield''': I can't win.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/12/04 Garfield claims that an evening inside a warm house while it's snowing outside is perfect for "curling up with a good book".]] The strip ends with him curling up on top of a book.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/07/09 Garfield states that he's saving the cookie he's holding for later.]] He eats it soon afterwards.
-->'''Garfield''': Late enough.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/02/11 Jon tells Garfield that it's "time to get up"]]. Garfield gets up... still asleep.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/05/13 Jon states that he has put a bell around Garfield's neck to allow him to tell where Garfield is.]] It turns out that he has Garfield wrapped with a rope around a bell that's bigger than Garfield.
* TheExitIsThatWay:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/09/18 Jon opens a door]].
-->'''Jon:''' Boy, it's dark outside!
-->'''Garfield:''' That's the closet.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/01/01 Jon is excited about the new year and tries to get out of his house, only to mistakenly open the closet door]].
-->'''Garfield:''' New year, new start, new world, same Jon.
* ExposedAnimalBellybutton:
** Played straight with Garfield on more than one occasion, but subverted in one strip. Garfield notices a black spot on his belly in the mirror and remarks "I didn't know I had a belly button". Said spot turns out to be a bug, which promptly flies away.
** Also played straight with some animal characters who appeared in some strips of this comic, especially bigger ones.
* EyePoke: One strip features a televised face-slapping tournament that ends with one of these from one of the athletes.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Jon's mom.
* FaceFault:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000421.gif "Hey, Garfield, I lost a button...Garfield?"]]
** Garfield does this in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/12/19 this strip]] when Jon fools him into thinking that the gas bill is a letter from Santa chastizing him for trying to convince Santa that he's been good.
* FailedASpotCheck: Happens to Jon [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/08/31 here]]. He's so wrapped up BreakingTheFourthWall, that he doesn't notice Garfield taking off with the refrigerator.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Jon getting a girlfriend, until his birthday on 2006. This was because Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield had made Jim Davis realize he'd accidentally created the most depressing character in newspaper comics outside of ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean.
* FakeRabies: Garfield and Odie have had fun with [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920916.gif Jon's shaving cream.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/12/30 When Jon asked Lisa if she already had plans for New Year's Eve]] she screamed and fell down. Jon told her she had faked her death "last year".
* FallingChandelierOfDoom: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/07/05 It was a monday]] and the screws on the chandelier above Garfield needed tightening.
* FalseReassurance: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/11/06 A mouse tries to get Jon's cheese but Garfield beats him to it.]] "No mouse will ever get your cheese while I'm around." Garfield tells Jon and then eats the cheese.
* FatFlex: When Jon is FlexingThoseNonBiceps, Garfield gives himself a HeroicBuild [[http://neversawsuchawoman.blogspot.fr/2011/04/fat-cat-wit.html before commenting]] "Did you know you can flex fat?". [[RecycledScript Another with the same premise used]] "It's amazing what you can do with fat."
* FightForTheLastBite: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/03/26 this comic]], Garfield and Jon's date Berta end up fighting over the last piece of food.
* FilchingFoodForFun: The strip has stealing food for fun as a stock behavior for Garfield, as well as one of its most frequently recurring gags. One strip has Jon try and turn the tables on the cat by stealing his food. Garfield, who is already tucking into Jon's dinner that night is unimpressed.
* {{Filler}}: The first collection, ''Garfield At Large'', ends with a single-panel filler strip of Garfield [[RidingIntoTheSunset walking into the sunset]]. The follow-up, ''Garfield Gains Weight'', begins with a single-panel filler strip of Garfield sitting atop the television and looking into the screen, much to the annoyance of Jon, Odie, and Lyman.
* FinaglesLaw: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/06/07 Jon had a date that night]]. That made him sure he'd "get a huge pimple" that day. Garfield considers it "a time-honored tradition".
* FirstGrayHair:
** Garfield finds a gray hair, panics, and tries to dye it. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/13 It doesn't go well]].
** Jon finds (presumably) his first gray hair -- or, rather, Garfield finds it ''for'' him -- in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/06/17 this strip]] shown two days before Garfield's 20th birthday in 1998.
* FirstNameUltimatum: "Gaaaaaaaaaaaaarfield!"
* FirstWorldProblems: Jon sings about "having the blues", and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/11/26 hits on a woman passing by his house:]]
-->'''Jon''': Hey good lookin', I got the blues. Wanna cheer me up?
-->'''Woman''': You? The blues? Ha! There you sit in your powder-blue oxford shirt in your own home in a middle-class suburb. You don't know nothin' 'bout the blues!
-->'''Jon''': Well, excuse me for succeeding!
** In another strip:
-->'''Arlene''': So how's domestic life treating you, Garfield?
-->'''Garfield''': Awful! Jon used too much oregano in the lasagna tonight...
-->'''Arlene''': I grieve for you, Garfield.
-->'''Garfield''': It's a jungle in there, Arlene.
* FishbowlHelmet: Garfield wears a fishbowl helmet while pretending to be an astronaut, much to Jon's frustration about his missing goldfish that the fishbowl used to house.
* FiveFiveFive: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/01/23 This strip]].
* {{Flanderization}}: While certain character and story elements were present in the strip almost from the very beginning (Garfield's love of lasagna, for example), the early strips might come as a surprise to readers born after 1980 or so. When the strip was starting out, many things were different: Jon wasn't overtly a nerd, although he did have trouble getting dates; Odie was stupid, but not to the extreme degree he was later portrayed; and Garfield himself was less a cool-as-ice DeadpanSnarker than a genuinely mean-spirited (and at times sadistic) misanthrope. (The mean streak remains, of course, although the outright sadism has now softened into ComedicSociopathy.) Also, the stories were originally ''slightly'' more based in reality; the madcap surreality that the strip has become famous for didn't truly get under way until the mid-1980s.
* FleetingDemographicRule: Many of the comics' have [[RecycledScript near-identical jokes as ones that have appeared]] previously, usually some years apart, but occasionally this is subverted as there have been almost indistinguishable strips ''only a few months apart''.
* FlippingTheBird:
** Garfield's [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020330.gif response to a reprimand]] (Garfield is off panel for the whole strip):
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield! get your paw out of the cookie jar!
-->[next panel: no dialogue, Jon looks shocked]
-->'''Jon:''' Who taught you that gesture?!
-->'''Garfield:''' You, in the car, when you drive.
** Who can forget [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=27.03.1995 the time Jon got flipped off by someone off panel?]] Odie's face is priceless there.
* FlowerPotDrop: The strip has used this a few times:
** Odie crashes into a piece of furniture and the flowerpot on it falls off and crashes onto Odie's head.
-->'''Garfield:''' [[NotMeThisTime I'm innocent! I swear it!]]
** One of Garfield's audience members throws a flowerpot at Garfield before he can get on the fence.
** A flowerpot is thrown at Garfield, along with many other things, during his fence act.
** A mouse drops a flowerpot on Garfield for taunting him.
** Garfield drops a flowerpot on Odie after he kicks him off the table.
* FluffyDryCat: Garfield had this happen to him sometimes.
* FluffyTheTerrible: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/08/08 This]] strip featured Fluffy the Fierce. Sure, he was not much taller than any cat that'd fit the name Fluffy but he was described as a legendary ratter. Until he met Matt-the-Rat, that is.
* FlushingToiletScreamingShower: Garfield once turned on the hot water in the sink to show Odie that all the pipes were connected. Of course, Jon's shower went ice cold.
* FoodAndAnimalAttraction: Used in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/02/10 this]] strip.
* ForInconveniencePressOne: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/03/08 This strip]] features Jon trying to call Liz only to receive the following message: You have reached the veterinary clinic of Doctor Liz Wilson. If this call is an emergency, press six. If you wish to make an appointment, press two. For billing, press three. For office hours, press four. For directions, press five. To speak with the receptionist, press one. Para Espanol, presione siete.[[note]]For Spanish, press seven.[[/note]] To leave a voicemail for Doctor Wilson, begin speaking after the beep. Please leave your name, the date and time you called, a number you can be reached at and a brief message. [[spoiler:Jon ends up leaving a snore as voicemail]].
* ForceFeeding:
** Shows up in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/03/03 this]] ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} strip, using scrambled eggs.
** In one strip Garfield forces Jon to eat a smart phone.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/11/19 Garfield does this to Jon in this strip when Jon reads from a cat food label that it's "fit for a King".]] Garfield describes Jon as "the "King's" food taster".
* ForgottenBirthday: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/09/25 Jon doesn't even care to learn what he forgot to make Liz angry at him.]]
-->'''Jon:''' Liz is angry with me for some reason. I forgot something or other. Like a birthday, or whatever.
-->'''Garfield:''' Women are so detail oriented.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/01/10 This strip]] during a week involving Garfield's conscience.
* FormerlyFat: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/01/12 One of Jon's female acquaintances, Bertha, lost 200 pounds.]] Garfield was disappointed.
* FountainOfYouth: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/06/19#.U6Ql7UAXKrk On his birthday in 2014,]] Garfield tried to change the year on the calendar so that he would get younger, rather than older. It worked a little ''too'' well.
* FourthWallMailSlot:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780708.gif A]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga781216.gif few]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810702.gif early]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga820225.gif strips]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830425.gif had]] Garfield answering letters.
** They then [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2007/ga070220.gif revisited]] [[http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/351f20106c04012d63e600163e41dd5b the practice]] [[http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/7776e7504c1a012e126700163e41dd5b three times]] in later strips.
* FourthWallPortrait: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/07/04#.U6QqokAXKrl This strip]]. While Jon's pig drawing fits with the comic's art style, Garfield's... doesn't.
* FunnyAnsweringMachine: This trope is used several times by any woman Jon tries to call for a date.
--> '''Suzy:''' Hi, this is Suzy. I'm not at home, but please leave a message at the tone... Unless you're Jon Arbuckle, in which case the machine will automatically hung up. ...Beep!
-->'''Jon:''' This is, uh, Ed Smith. ''(machine hangs up)''
-->'''Garfield:''' Just amazing.
** A [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/04/27 2008 strip]] had Liz listening to Jon's answering machine message, commenting on it being 'funny'. Jon was being pounded by Garfield while he recorded the message.
* FunnyRobot: More like a "funny AI system", but Garfield constantly has to endure fat jokes directed at him by his [[DeadpanSnarker wise-guy]] talking bathroom scale. (Although he has bribed it on more than one occasion to get Jon to take him off a diet.)
* FurIsClothing:
** Garfield ripped his "cat suit" [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/02/12 in the February 12, 1981 strip]] when he tried to pick up a chocolate covered peanut. He then said he needed a bigger one.
** The August 10, 1985 strip had Garfield try to cheat the bahtroom scale by taking off his fur as if it were a suit before stepping onto it.
** In the September 20, 1987 strip, Odie notices a thread on Garfield and pulls at it, which causes the fur covering Garfield's lower half to fall down like pants. Jon laughs at Garfield's misfortune, which causes Garfield to retaliate by making Jon's pants fall down by taking his belt. The mailman Herman Post then laughs at Jon, which results in Herman Post running in terror while Jon tries to pull down Herman's pants and Garfield grabs onto Jon's legs while trying to hold his fur pants up, the scene witnessed by Jon's eldery neighbor Hubert, who calls for his wife Rheba to come and see.
** The title panel of the August 1, 1993 strip shows Garfield's fur hanging on a clothes hanger as if it were a suit.
** The title panel of the November 7, 2004 strip shows the door to Garfield's dressing room opening, revealing a startled Garfield powdering his face and clad in only boxer shorts, a corset and socks while his fur suit is hanging on a clothes hanger behind him.
* FurryEarDissonance: Garfield has very round ears for a cat.

[[folder:G - I]]
* GRatedDrug: Garfield, like a lot of RealLife cats, tends to react this way to catnip.
* GardenHoseSquirtSurprise: Happens to Odie.
* TheGhost:
** Ellen, until she finally appeared onscreen. And had ''amnesia''.
** Jon's neighbour Mrs. Feeny and her dog. All that's known is that they really hate Garfield for horrendous things (e.g. Garfield had shaved her dog bald, painted him green, stole his bell collar, duct taped him to the ceiling; for Mrs. Feeny, Garfield gave her laxative-laced bran muffins, sent her a hairball package for Christmas, destroyed her garden, and even abducted 15 howler monkeys from the zoo then dumped them all into her house[[DontExplainTheJoke ....yeah, we don't know how Garfield did it either]]). Since Mrs. Feeny can never get back at Garfield, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/09/14 she beats up]] '''''Jon''''' instead.
* GilliganCut: Happens when Garfield writes a letter to Santa in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/12/12 this 2012 strip]].
-->'''Garfield''': ''[typing]'' Santa, bring lots of presents to my house. I will have cookies.
-->'''Jon''': Ha! You can't bribe Santa!
-->'''Santa''': Ooooooooo, cookies.
* GlassShatteringSound: Parodied [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/08/22 in the August 22, 1991 strip]], where Garfield sings a note so high, the last panel shatters.
* GoneHorriblyRight:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/10/31 Wanting to approach birds without being noticed by them]], Garfield glued some feathers on him and put on some swim fins. He ended up being chased by other cats.
** In the 2014 birthday comic, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/06/19 Garfield changes the year on the calendar]], thinking he'll get younger on his birthday if he does so. It turns out this also affected Odie and Jon.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/07/19 this comic]], Garfield tries to lure a seagull with a slice of bread so he can catch it, only to get burried under an entire flock of Seagulls.
* GonnaNeedMoreX:
** In the September 15, 2007 Garfield comic, Garfield's normal RunningGag about crushing spiders with newspapers was interrupted when Jon saw a spider with a hard hat walk by, chuckling to itself. Garfield followed it saying, "I'm gonna need a bigger newspaper".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/02/19 When Jon and Garfield go to the donut shop]], the employees say they'll need a bigger fryer.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/08/18 Until he ate them]]. Also a variant with them arguing over whether or not he should eat a pie. Garfield says he'd be thinner if the good angel were quicker witted to the bad one's retorts.
* AGoodOldFashionedPaintWatching:
** Occasionally used to show how boring a life Jon's family has on the countryside, since the most mundane things excite them (watching the washing machine instead of the TV ("Here comes the red sock again!"), counting every brick in the wall of the silo, taking a trip to see the new water tower, going to the airport to watch the planes land etc.)
** There's an actual in-universe TV show called ''Watching Paint Dry''.
** In one strip, Jon accuses Garfield of watching the paint dry and Garfield says he's actually waiting for it to peel.
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/10/25 Garfield shows Jon's underwear with teddy bear prints to a girl Jon's trying to impress.]]
* GoodParents: Garfield's Mom, in her rare appearances, does prove to be one. She never strays from being kind and understanding toward him and treats even his BigEater habits as more of a charming feature than something to be ashamed of. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/11/05 This strip]] even implies that Garfield still keeps in touch with her after their reunion ten years prior.
* GoryDiscretionShot: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/02/23 Jon plays a video game]] and is shocked by his character getting decapitated. Thankfully, we don't get to see it.
* GracefulLoser: Liz's date in the arc where she and Jon finally become an item. He goes out with Jon's initial date, Ellen, instead.
* GreasySpoon: Irma's Diner. You have two kinds of coffee (regular and decaf), ''pickle brine'' as a choice of beverage, and a five-pound "he-man" burger. Jon has found dry-cleaning slips and false eyelashes in his food. Irma thinks that letting cheese age means keeping it in the back of her truck, and her idea of a "special treat" is a scoop of mashed potatoes in an ice cream cone. Garfield once found a ''hoof'' in a burger there.
** If you order a burger, you just get a hamburger patty plopped down on the counter in front of you. If you want a bun, you have to order the ''Deluxe'' Burger.
--->'''Garfield:''' Go for it, Jon. Get the Super Deluxe and get a plate, too.
* GroinAttack:
** Happens to Garfield on the fence in [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990-03-30 this]] 1990 strip.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga970130.gif Garfield throwing a snowball at Jon]]: "Oops, a little low..."
** [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=31.03.1995 What happens to Jon’s "traditional" leaf outfit.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992-11-18 That time]] Jon put his pants on when they came straight out of the dryer, and found out the hard way that certain metal parts might still be hot and thus very uncomfortable for a man to wear.
* GroundedForever: In the book ''Garfield's Big Book Of Super School Excuses'', one excuse for "Why I Can't Go Out With You" is "I'm grounded until college".
* GroundhogDayLoop: In a StoryArc in July 1986, Garfield gets stuck in a week of Mondays.
-->'''Garfield:''' Oh no! It's the Monday that ''wouldn't DIE!!!''
* GrumpyOldMan: Jon's dad. Also his neighbor Hubert (who was mainly a character in the 80s).
* GuestStrip: Davis' father wrote [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/02/12 this 1982 strip.]]
* GuiltyPleasures:
** In-universe, everything Garfield catches on TV.
** Jon enjoys a show called "Bowling for Geeks", but quickly changes the channel when Garfield walks in.
* GypsyCurse:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/01/25 Back when he was in school]], Jon annoyed a gypsy woman who cursed him, saying he'd never get a date to the prom. Garfield considered it "a waste of a perfectly good curse".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/03/19 This comic strip]], in which Jon unwisely angers a gypsy fortune teller and she makes his head shrink as a punishment.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/04/24 Jon believes Garfield to be one.]]
* HalfWittedHillbilly: The Arbuckle family represents a downplayed example: they aren't necessarily ''stupid'' compared to any other character, but they do some really backwards things in accordance with the RuleOfFunny. For example, Pa Arbuckle brings a live rooster to use as an alarm clock when visiting the city.
* HalloweenEpisode: The arc that ran the week of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/10/23 Monday, Oct. 23, 1989]], in which Garfield imagines himself to be starving alone in a boarded-up house. Or at least he's probably imagining that--the Saturday strip that closes the arc leaves open the possibility that Garfield's happy, well-fed life might be the imaginary one.
* HandsGoDown: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/09/12 Jon and Garfield discussing vacation plans.]]
-->'''Jon:''' Where can we go on vacation this year, Garfield? (Garfield's paw goes up) Aside from a lasagna factory.
-->'''Garfield:''' That's a stumper.
* HappyBirthdayToYou:
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/06/19 Garfield sings a variation with him as the birthday cat and the readers as the cake:]]
-->'''Garfield:''' Happy Birthday to me
-->Happy Birthday to me
-->Happy Birthday dear Garfield
-->Happy Birthday tooo meee!
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/06/19 Jon decides to tease Garfield with a new version.]]
-->'''Jon:''' Happy Birthday to you
-->Happy Birthday to you...
-->Happy Birth-Day, you're '''for-ty...'''
-->Happy Birthday tooooo yoooou! (gets cake splashed at his face)
-->And ma-ny mooooore.
* HashHouseLingo: Jon asks for a hamburger with extra onions. Irma then turns to the kitchen and yells "BURN A COW AND MAKE HER CRY!" which causes Jon and Garfield to lose their appetites.
* HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight: Binky the Clown:
-->'''Binky (on TV):''' Heeeey, kids! Wanna see Binky do a magic trick? Well, forget it! I'm not spending another minute in this stupid clown suit! I am an actor! But, noooo... Too short, they said!
-->'''Garfield:''' Third time this week. He's lost it.
* HatingOnMonday: Garfield may just as well be the TropeCodifier. And it's little wonder he hates the day, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/09/18 because nothing good ever seems to happen to him on that day]].
** He also seems to hate certain months, too, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/02/08 such as Feburary]].
** Oh yes, and he ''especially'' hates [[ThirteenIsUnlucky Monday the 13th]]. '''''Especially''''' if that [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Monday the 13th is on a February]].
** Averted [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness earlier in the comic run]], [[http://i.imgur.com/FmZJMSi.gif where Garfield actually loves Mondays.]]
* HawaiianShirtedTourist:
** In a 1985 story arc, Garfied was diagnosed with "Hawaiian Cat Flu", which resulted in him donning one of these while expressing a desire to surf and luau.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/03/07 Garfield was lying down when he decided it was "Vacation time"]]. He remained lying down but with a Hawaiian shirt.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/07/10 Garfield sees a "tourist from outer space"]] whose outfit includes one of those shirts.
-->'''Garfield:''' Invader from outer space! (sees how the "invader" is dressed) Okay, tourist from outer space.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/08/08 Garfield sees more tourists from outer space]].
-->'''Alien:''' Take us to your theme parks!
-->'''Garfield:''' That explains the Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops.
* HeadsTailsEdge: Garfield flips a coin to decide whether to stay in bed or watch TV. The coin lands on its edge, so he [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs watches TV in bed]].
* HereWeGoAgain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/02/08 In this strip]], when two characters in a show on TV that Garfield watches act like SickeningSweethearts, Garfield changes channel... only to show two different characters in a different show acting like SickeningSweethearts, leaving Garfield to FacePalm.
%%* HeroicComedicSociopath: Garfield displays tendencies of this.
* HiccupHijinks: One arc from 1998 featured Garfield "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga981102.gif freestyle hiccuping]]," with the downright silly {{Written Sound Effect}}s of "hickety," "huc huc" and "hickey" (no, not ''that'' kind of hickey).
* HiddenWire: Discussed. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/02/11 Liz asks what's on Garfield's mind]] and he asks if she's wearing a wire.
* HighOnCatnip: [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=09&month=01&year=1979 Used several times]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/09/01 Garfield tries to pounce on Odie from the top of a chair]], only for his blanket that he's wearing as a cape to get caught in the chair before he manages to touch Odie, leaving him hanging high and dry.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/07/19 In this strip]], Garfield spots a seagull at a beach and decides to use a slice of bread to lure it close enough for Garfield to attack and eat, only to end up with a flock of seagulls dive-bombing him the moment he takes out the bread before the seagull he intends to bait can even move.
* {{Homage}}: Some of the barn animals in the April 22, 2001 comic may be familiar: among them are Booker, Orson and Roy from ''ComicStrip/USAcres''.
* HomemadeSweaterFromHell: A RunningGag is that Jon's mom always sends Garfield one of these for Christmas, and they usually have a glaring defect (no neck hole, three arms, etc.). Subverted on the December 27, 2012 strip, where the sweater is actually well-made and looks good on him… which troubles both Jon and Garfield, as [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness they feel something's wrong with Jon's mom]].
* HonestJohnsDealership:
** Invoked in a 1987 StoryArc where Jon buys a new car:
-->'''Jon''': Honest Ed seems nice enough, Garfield, but there's something about him I don't trust.
-->'''Garfield''': Maybe it's the fact his office is in a pickup truck with the engine running.
** Appears in an early 1990s strip where Jon buys a Christmas tree from "Honest Frosty's."
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/22 Honest Arnie's Used Car Emporium]]. Arnie's cars are as bad as expected from this kind of dealership but, unlike most examples, Arnie is really honest about them.
-->'''Honest Arnie:''' You want cars?! We've got cars!! Here's a sweet 2009 minivan... candy apple red, and only driven off a cliff twice! And how about this little beauty? Just 30,000 miles, and absolutely no, that's right... '''no''' brakes! Want an economy car? Look no further! It's a V-8, but only four of them work! Think of the gas savings!! Like folks to know you're coming? The engine in '''this''' stunner shrieks like a debutant at a [[EekAMouse rat]] convention! So come on down to Honest Arnie's used car emporium, and push one of these bargains off our lot!
-->'''Garfield:''' He never sells anything, but he '''is''' honest.
-->'''Honest Arnie:''' Flat soda and day-old balloons for the kids, too!
* HorribleCampingTrip: Garfield has been forced to go an a few of these (though from his perspective, a camping trip can only be horrible).
* HumanlikeFootAnatomy: Strangely, Garfield's feet are still shown to be digitigrade when he's laying down, but turn into humanlike feet when he stands up. They've also gotten progressively bigger over time, as [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=736 demonstrated]] in ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield''.
* HumanSnowman: Happened twice;
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900107.gif Garfield does this to Odie.]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940109.gif Odie made a miniature snowman on Garfield's head after some snow landed on his head.]]
* HypocriticalHumor:
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790125.gif this strip]], Garfield smacks Jon upside the head for turning on a violent TV show, then says, "I don't like violence."
** Jon asks Garfield if he'd like to go for a walk with him and Liz, Garfield decides to stay home, and thinks about how he tried walking once, didn't like it, and how it'll never catch on, before getting up and ''walking away.''
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/08/22 This strip]] has Garfield trying to put up a dignified appearance, only to abandon it the moment Jon shows up asking if he wants some snacks, at which point Garfield jumps up and down with his arms/front-legs flailing about, all dignities forgotten. Then it ends as shown below:
-->'''Garfield''': (with mouth full of snacks) [[NoFourthwall You didn't see that.]]
* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat:
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/farfield/2004/03/02 Jon told]] Garfield "Stop whatever you're doing" and later admitted he "just always wanted to say that".
** Likely the same thing happens in [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/10/15 this strip]], where Garfield had really, ''really'' wanted to make that joke, and Arlene had finally given him the right set-up line.
** [[https://gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/24 Jon YELLS]] "ROCK AND ROLL!" out of the blue and admits that he "always wanted to yell that". Unfortunately for Garfield, he was drinking coffee when Jon yelled, which causes Garfield to spit out his coffee in shock and spill it all over himself.
* IAmBigBoned: Garfield does it sometimes, a few with the trope name (the page image is the response of his sarcastic bathroom scale).
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/01/29 January 29th, 1979]], Garfield literally claimed to be big boned. Jon called Garfield "disgustingly, slovenly, sloppy fat" and Garfield said Jon obviously had "disgustingly, slovenly, sloppy fat" confused with "big boned".
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/09/21 September 21st, 1979]], Garfield stated people under 6'4" aren't overweight. They're "undertall".
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/11/16 November 16th, 2002]], a mouse used that excuse to have a hole the size of the dinning table.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/01/19 As Garfield said about the scale in January 19th, 2008]], "he can dish it out, but he sure can't take it".
* IAmNotWeasel: Garfield is often mistaken for a pig. He's also been mistaken for a fat pig and an ''elephant''.
* IAteWhat:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/05/30/ This one]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/05/13 Garfield gets fed cat food by Jon, then he notices that the cat food package has some labels on it. Garfield is shocked to see the food is entirely processed and made of additives and chemicals. He thinks Jon's trying to dispose of him]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/04/07 Garfield didn't realize he ate the fishbowl's castle instead of the fish until Jon showed him the fish]].
** Every strip featuring Irma's Diner has the potential to become this.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/02/16 Garfield enjoyed his dinner until]] Jon told him it was "Back-of-the-fridge-bottom-shelf-behind-the-baking-soda stew" and he could "only make it about once every five ''years''".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/10/24 Jon liked eating escargots before learning they're snails.]]
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/01/06 When Jon and Garfield are eating Chinese food]], Garfield is disgusted upon learning he ate an octopus. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] because he later decides "it wasn't half bad".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/04/02 Jon, Garfield and Odie have this reaction upon learning what "unguah" is.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/07/07 Garfield spits the dog food he cheated Odie of once he learns it has indeed been recalled.]]
** In one strip, Garfield laughs when he seen Jon drinking coffee, because he's unknowingly using Garfield's mug. Then he gets a surprise when a mouse laughs that Jon is drinking out of his hot tub.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/02/09 Zigzagged in this strip.]] The lasagna is fine, but the pan that contains it...
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/06/21 Jon takes a bite out of the hamburger Garfield leaves alone. Too bad it turns out to be one of Odie's squeaky toys.]]
-->'''Garfield''': Well, I'm afraid Odie's a little disappointed in you.
* IdeaBulb: Sometimes played straight; parodied in one strip where Garfield's IdeaBulb burns out, and in another where Odie (being none too bright) gets a candle over his head instead.
* IdentityAmnesia: In the arc beginning February 2nd, 1987. Eventually, Jon starts missing [[WeWantOurJerkBack the old Garfield.]]
* IfIHadANickel: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/10/14 Jon said he'd be rich if he had a dollar for every cat hair on his rug]]. Garfield said he was doing his part.
* IfYouDieICallYourStuff:
-->'''Garfield''': How about a nice little game of “Stomp The Spider”?
-->'''Spider''': I'm warning you... You'd better not pick on me, cat!
-->'''Garfield''': And what happens if I do?
-->'''Spider''': I'll tell my big brother!
-->'''Garfield''': Fine! Bring him on!
-->'''Spider''': Hey, Rusty! C'mere!
-->'''Rusty''': Yeah?
-->'''Spider''': This big, stupid cat says he's gonna stomp me.
-->(''BeatPanel'')
-->'''Rusty''': Can I have your [=CDs=]?
** Also:
-->'''Jon (talking on the phone)''':Ellen, if you don't go out with me, I'll die. (Beat) It's just a figure of speech, Ellen. (Beat) No, you can't have my computer!
-->'''Garfield''': Can I have the TV?
** In another Jon tells Garfield that he wrote his will and Garfield asks him if he can have the fridge.
** Also, the August 28th, 2016 strip. Odie is asked to get the paper, and runs off. This follows:
-->'''Jon''': He could be most anywhere by now.
-->'''Garfield''': He was a good ol' dog. Dibs on his treats.
* IFellForHours: Happens to Garfield in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/09/27 this strip]].
-->'''Garfield:''' I'm falling from a tree! (takes a quick nap) A '''really''' tall tree.
* IHaveToGoIronMyDog: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/05/30 After Jon heard some noise]], Garfield claimed Odie tripped and then he presented a piece of paper with some animal paw prints he claimed to be a sworn testimony claiming he was in Bolivia at the time.
* IHaveToWashMyHair: A prominent RunningGag regarding Jon, with most of the lines overlapping with IHaveToGoIronMyDog. (Or "I have to stay home to floss my otter.")
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow:
-->'''Garfield''': (''holding a rolled-up newspaper'') Come a little closer.
-->'''Spider''': Make me.
-->'''Garfield''': Make me make you.
-->'''Spider''': Make me make you make me.
-->'''Garfield''': Make me make you make me make you.
-->'''Spider''': Make me make you make me make you make me.
-->'''Garfield''': Make me make you make me make you make me make you.
-->'''Spider''': Make me make you make me make... um... ummm... Wait a minute. I forgot what we were talking about.
-->'''Garfield''': Come a little closer, and I'll tell you.
-->'''Spider''': Make me.
* ILied: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/04/11 Garfield claims to be sticking to his diet but, when Jon asks about the missing donuts, he admits to have lied.]]
* IllFatedFlowerbed: If Garfield comes across a flower parterre, he ''will'' destroy it.
* IllogicalSafe: In a Sunday strip, Garfield drops a safe on Odie, which he then exits from. Garfield comments that it always surprises him no matter how many times he sees it.
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder:
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/06 Jon tells Garfield to do something about a mouse hole.]] Garfield says "Hey, I'm a cat, not a carpenter!"
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/10/08 When Jon asks Liz to go out with him]], she says "I'm single, not desperate". Later, when Liz tells Garfield to talk to Jon, Garfield says "I'm a cat, not a psychiatrist".
* ImpactSilhouette: Garfield has done this to Nermal a few times, through both doors and walls.
** Has also happened to [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga901014.gif Garfield]], [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840308.gif Odie]], and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910404.gif Jon]].
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/02/23 On a slow news day.]]
* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: Jon frequently wears these on dates.
* InconsistentDub: The Spanish translation usually keeps the characters' names the same, but it has waffled more than once on translating the names of both Doc Boy and Pooky (to "Chico Doc" and "Puky", respectively).
* InflationaryDialogue: Garfield didn't believe when [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/11/21 his grandfather stated]] "You kids have it good these days. I remember when I had to walk six miles every day just to chase rats." When Garfield said he didn't buy that, his grandfather asked "Would you believe across the street to spook a chicken?"
* InsistentTerminology: Garfield never forgets. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/07/30 He just has]] "convenient lapses of memory".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/04/15 Garfield is not lazy, he's "sedentary". "Which is classy lazy".]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/10/02 Garfield won't call it laziness]] even if he fails to come up with another way to call it.
-->'''Garfield:''' Some call this laziness. I call it... whatever another word for laziness is.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/18 Garfield says]] "Cats don't scurry. Cats stroll.".
* InstantHumiliationJustAddYoutube: A couple of comics, but especially [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/05/21 this one with Jon doing embarrassing poses and gestures]] in front if his webcam -- without him knowing.
* InstantWristwatch: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/02/10 Happens on February 10th of 2018, completed with a]] LampshadeHanging.
-->'''Garfield''': I see by my watch that it's time to... wonder why I'm wearing a watch.
* InsultBackfire: In one comic strip, Garfield tells Odie to act like each other, in an attempt to mock him for being a dog. As Garfield prances and pants mindlessly like Odie, Odie gulps down Garfield's food, and kicks him like Garfield does to him, and lies down and falls asleep.
-->'''Odie:''' Zzz
-->'''Garfield:''' I've been a dog for less than a minute, and already I hate cats.
* InsuranceFraud: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/08/27 "On today's show, people who don't trust their pets".]]
-->'''Pet owner:''' I walked into the kitchen and found Fluffy at the table... reading my life insurance policy!
-->'''Garfield:''' Kinda obvious there, Fluffy.
* IntellectualAnimal: Garfield has been seen successfully dialing a phone number, writing on a typewriter, and using a computer.
* TheIntern: [[RememberTheNewGuy Biff]], Garfield's college intern, appeared in one 1998 arc. He's sent off to scare Jon (unsuccessfully) [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome then never heard from again]].
* InterspeciesRomance: Suggested in the May 14, 2017 strip. After sitting and listening to Liz reminise about a cat she had as a child who inspired her to become a vet and help other animals, and how it's good to have a cat in her life again, Garfield thinks to her that "If Jon doesn't marry you, '''I''' will".
* InTheStyleOf: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/10/14 This strip]]'s logo box, as confirmed in a compilation, was done in the style of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Roth Big Daddy Roth]].
* IntimidatingRevenueService: Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/04/12 Once read about a movie titled "The Mummy's Curse"]] on his TV guide. The synopsis: "Mummy rises only to be hit with five thousand years of back taxes."
* IResembleThatRemark:
** In one Christmas comic, Jon tells Garfield that his excitement for Christmas exceeds the excitement of the children in his acquaintance. Garfield, waiting upside down in the chimney, retorts that he doesn't.
** In another strip, Jon puts Garfield on a diet again, saying he's gotten too chubby. Garfield thinks angrily that he would have beaten the tar out of Jon if he could have scaled the armchair.
* IronicEcho: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/21 this strip]], Garfield tells the big dog sporting a sad face: "You look ridiculous." Upon witnessing the dog getting a treat as a result of being seen with said sad face, Garfield decides to get food with the same sad face. Unfortunately for him, Jon's reaction to Garfield's sad-face imitation is, instead of giving him food, telling him "You look ridiculous."
* IsNothingSacred:
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/10/03a this strip]]:
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield! You're using my toothbrush!
-->'''Garfield:''' Stick around. You can watch me floss.
-->'''Jon:''' Is nothing sacred?!
-->'''Garfield:''' Where's the mouthwash?
** Garfield utters the line when Jon buys an [[AluminumChristmasTrees aluminum Christmas tree]], which turns in an electric stand.
* IsTheAnswerToThisQuestionYes:
** In an early strip, Jon asks Garfield, "Did you ever think you could win a cat show?" Garfield responds, "Does a baby go goo?"
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2015/ga150418.gif This]] strip had Arlene ask Garfield if he thinks she's getting fat, to which Garfield responds "Do you think I'm getting stupid?" [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] afterwards, when Arlene tells Garfield, "You answer me first", with Garfield telling her, "I did".
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015-12-11 this strip]], Garfield has a "Christmas nightmare" where Santa's "naughty list" visits him. He asks if he's on it, and it says, "Does an elf eat candy canes for breakfast?"
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/03/23 Jon gets these responses from Bertha and Garfield]].
--->'''Jon:''' Ready for dinner, Bertha?
--->'''Bertha:''' Is the sky blue?
--->'''Garfield:''' Do cats hate dogs?
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/10/30 This strip]].
--->'''Jon:''' Hungry, Garfield?
--->'''Garfield:''' Is Odie stupid?
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/01/11 Garfield's response when Jon asks if they should get a new refrigerator]] is "Do you think air will catch on as a breathing medium?".
** In a 1983 story arc where they go to Hawaii. Jon, buried in the sand, asks "Are you bored, Garfield?" Garfield responds, "Is there sand in your swimsuit?"
** Garfield's response to [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/03/09 Arlene wanting to hold paws with him]].
-->'''Arlene:''' Would you like to hold paws?
-->'''Garfield:''' Is there food in your paw?
-->'''Arlene:''' (shows clean paw) No. (beat) Well?
-->'''Garfield:''' I'm trying to follow your logic.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne:
-->'''Arlene''': Garfield, I just don't know what I see in you. You're rude, obnoxious, fat, selfish, egotistical, and totally devoid of any charm.
-->'''Garfield''': '''I am not egotistical'''.
** Another time too, but Garfield takes it positively.
-->'''Old Lady:''' You are the ugliest little boy I've ever seen.
-->''(Garfield looks surprised and [[AsideGlance glances at the audience]])''
-->'''Garfield:''' You think I'm little?
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/07/10 Jon described Garfield]] as "a fat, worthless cat". Garfield said "that fat part was uncalled for".
* InherentlyFunnyWords: In a 1987 arc where Garfield and Jon order Chinese food:
-->'''Jon''': Some egg foo young, garfield?
-->'''Garfield''': Sure.
-->'''Jon''': How about some moo goo gai pan?
-->'''Garfield''': Do you know what I love about Chinese food? It's as much fun to say as it is to eat!
* TheInternetIsForCats: The October 24, 2016 strip has Garfield claim that the internet was ''invented'' for the purpose of watching cat videos.
* ItCameFromTheFridge: Several times, Jon's leftovers have become sentient. One even left the fridge because it was no longer wanted.
-->'''Garfield (referring to Jon):''' [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/03/02 The bacon is grazing on the lettuce, and he asks if the refrigerator needs cleaning]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/11/30 "Go ahead, tell her how the lunch meat has evolved into an intelligent life form."]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Garfield's standard outlook on life.
* IWantGrandkids: Now that Liz is offically his girlfriend, Jon's mother has been [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/10/21/ expressing this desire]].
* IWantMyMommy: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/08/18 Jon's school's football team.]] Before each game, they'd yell their cheer [="MOMMY!"=]. Garfield says it "explains the losing season".
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/01/03 Jon while arm-wrestling]].
-->'''Jon:''' My arm is killing me!\\
'''Garfield:''' What happened?
-->'''Jon:''' I arm-wrestled my old gym teacher and lost badly!
-->'''Garfield:''' Hey, it's not like it's the end of the world.
-->'''Jon:''' And I had Miss Bryant right to there!
-->'''Garfield:''' Okay, it's the end of the world.
* IWasQuiteALooker:
** Jon's aunt Gussie.
** Garfield's grandmother, who had a "body that wouldn't quit." Until it did.
** Jon's mother.

[[folder:J - M]]
* JawDrop: Lampshaded in one strip where Garfield lists off the ways he's seen Jon express surprise after Garfield claws the couch. "All right! 'Jaw dropping'!"
* JawsAttackParody: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920216.gif This]] Sunday strip banner featured a ''Jaws'' parody.
* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife: In one strip, it was implied that the police were after Jon for trying to redeem expired coupons at the supermarket.
* JerkJock: Jon encounters one when he and Liz go to the beach. He kicks sand in Jon's face then tries to hit on Liz, who is clearly unimpressed and tells him to get lost.
* JumpingOutOfACake:
** Garfield [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020619.gif is not amused]] to find a mouse jumping out of his birthday cake.
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2006/ga060618.gif another strip]], Garfield gets a cake for his birthday from the mice in the house. He gulps it down, then spits out a female mouse.
* KentBrockmanNews:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga001019.gif "The weatherman is losing it."]]
** "Here's the news! ...Uh! Gee, this is small print! Unfortunately, I can't see a thing without my glasses. So here's a song! Feeeeliiiiings..."
* KickMePrank: Jon came home looking dirty and beaten up, because someone apparently stuck a "Bury Me Alive" sign on his back.
* KickTheDog: Garfield does this quite literally, and on a regular basis.
* KidsPreferBoxes: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/11/11 For Garfield's diet,]] Jon brings a box of fat-free, unsalted pretzel sticks. Garfield would rather eat the box than the sticks.
* KlatchianCoffee: Garfield's favorite kind.
** Gafield's coffee is so strong, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/06/11 it can even eat a donut]]... or [[AteTheSpoon the spoon(s)]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/12/01 he uses to stir it.]]
** He also likes coffee so thick that after a few seconds of pouring, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/05/29 you can let go of the coffeepot and it won't fall]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/10/20 In one strip]]:
--->'''Jon:''' The coffee's strong today.\\
''(it reaches out of the cup and slaps Garfield round the face)''\\
'''Garfield:''' Not just strong, but mean!
* LaboriousLaziness: Garfield is prone to this sort of thing.
** In the comic that provides the page quote, the lazy cat ''nails the TV to the ceiling above his cat bed'' so he can watch it without getting up. Think about how much effort it would've taken to hoist that television up there and then keep it in place while he nailed it there, and then think about how much effort it would've taken simply to get up and walk over to where the TV was.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/05/06 Jon, Garfield and Liz were watching TV when the remote control's batteries ran out of power]] so Jon and Garfield went out to buy new batteries. Liz then pointed out the set was five ''feet'' away. Garfield thought "Girls".
* LastResortTakeout:
** One strip had Jon measure chili powder for a dish. He has a heaping pile in a measuring cup, and asks Garfield if it's enough. Garfield okays it, causing the mixture to explode as the chili powder is poured in. Garfield then tells Jon to ditch it out and order pizza.
** Another has Jon prepare a lasagna dinner for Liz. Off-strip, Garfield, who [[TrademarkFavoriteFood loves lasagna]], gets to it first, so the two decide to eat out.
* TheLastStraw: Happens in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga881221.gif this]] Christmas strip, with an ornament.
* LatexPerfection: Not done in the typical spy manner, but Garfield has enjoyed [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/03/08 scaring people with rubber masks]] from time to time (usually Jon.)
* LawyerFriendlyCameo:
** Parodied in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/04/21 one strip]] with "Grafield".
** ComicStrip/{{Marmaduke}} appears in the title panel of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/03/31 1991-03-31]] - or rather, some unspecified dog whose name just so happens to end in "aduke".
* LaxativePrank: One time Garfield fed laxative-laced bran muffins to Mrs. Feeny's dog. This made Jon very angry, and Garfield tried to calm Jon down.... by offering him a bran muffin.
* LeastRhymableWord: In one strip, Jon is trying to write a love poem. After a BeatPanel, he asks Garfield, "What rhymes with 'wolverine'?" and Garfield suggests "loser".
** Changed to "skunk" in the Spanish translation.
* LeavingFoodForSanta: The comic used this a few times during its Christmas strips.
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga811224.gif one early strip]], Jon sets a hamburger and a glass of milk nearby the chimney, saying, "And here's something for jolly old Saint Nick." Garfield then rises from a present under the tree and begins eating it, saying, "Ho Ho Ho."
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga901219.gif One strip]] shows Jon about to have some milk and cookies lying out. He then gets caught in a net booby trap, and Garfield comes over and angrily comments, "Hey! You're not Santa!"
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga981224.gif another strip]], Garfield leaves out a T-bone steak and a pot of coffee for Santa, because "A big fat guy who's driving all night doesn't want milk and cookies."
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga011225.gif the Christmas Day 2001 strip]], Garfield says that Santa is even nicer then he thought, because ''he'' left ''Garfield'' a cookie.
** The Christmas-themed book ''Seasons Eatings'' has a list of top 10 things Garfield would do if he replaced Santa. Among them is "Order kids to leave out a T-bone steak and curly fries for him instead of milk and cookies."
** The 12-12-2012 strip had Garfield emailing his wish list to Santa and promising to leave out plenty of cookies for him. Jon claims "You can't bribe Santa!", but at the North Pole the big guy is revealed to be excited about the promise...
* LegionOfLostSouls: Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/04/26 ate a fish and tried to hide it by leaving a note at the fishbowl claiming the fish joined the French Foreign Legion.]]
* LethalChef:
** Jon is like this at times. In one early strip, Garfield says that "The only time he knows my dinner is ready is when it sets off the smoke alarm." There are other strips where he turns bacon into "bacon flambé" and otherwise proves a bad cook.
** Irma, or whoever cooks at her diner, is far worse, at times giving this Trope the potential to be ''literal''. She once claimed that the chef was out sick with ''anthrax''. There was also this tamer exchange:
-->'''Jon:''' What's good today, Irma?
-->''(Irma says nothing)''
-->'''Jon:''' What's ''edible'' today, Irma?
-->'''Irma:''' Try the meatloaf.
** Irma's chef may literally be one, given her response to Jon ordering two tuna specials:
-->'''Irma:''' ''(sobs)'' Sorry, I get emotional... My first husband passed away while eating the tuna special.
-->'''Garfield:''' Cheese! I'll have a grilled cheese!
* LetsSeeYOUDoBetter: There are many Garfield Comic Creators. [[http://www.garfield.com/fungames/comiccreator.html Here's]] [[http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_comics_lab.html two]] of them.
* LightbulbJoke: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}:
-->'''Garfield''': Here's a joke, how many mice does it take to screw in a light bulb?
-->'''Mouse''': Mice don't screw in light bulbs. Light bulbs are much too big and cumbersome, and not to mention that it's much safer for us to pilfer food in the dark.
-->'''Garfield''': [[LampshadeHanging That joke took a sobering turn.]]
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/01/17 "How many dogs does it take to replace a light bulb? One... if you screw him real tight!"]]. Garfield tells that at a dog-hating club.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Jon and Garfield have moments like this. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/03/31 This strip]] has Garfield complain the magic has gone out of their relationship.
* LimitedWardrobe: Jon almost always wore a "powder blue oxford shirt", as one strip put it. Averted nowadays both by the colorists being unable to make up their minds, and Jim and co. occasionally drawing Jon in a different style of shirt.
* LiterallyLaughableQuestion: In one strip, when Jon asks Garfield, "Do you think I'm good enough for Liz?", Garfield starts laughing uncontrollably. Jon says, "You're the wrong guy to ask," and Garfield muses, "Oh, I think I laugh for everyone."
* LiteralMetaphor: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/09/29 Garfield wants to "put a smile on Jon's face"]]. He draws a smile on it.
* LiteralMinded:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/06/11 Believing that "You can't know someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes", Jon's Uncle Forrest had three hundred pairs when they caught him.]] Garfield said "That's about a seven on the creepy scale".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/10/04 When Jon asks Irma what's new on the menu]], she describes the new stains on it.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/09/20 Jon and Garfield take turn illustrating this trope in this strip.]]
-->'''Liz''': What do you see in the future for us, Jon?
-->'''Jon''': Dinner.
-->'''Liz''': I mean after that.
-->'''Garfield''': Dessert!
* LivingToys: Garfield's teddy bear Pooky, although he can't move.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: Garfield encounters this in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2009/ga091206.gif a Christmas strip]].
* LoggingOntoTheFourthWall: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000730.gif Dingleball.com]] and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000907.gif coffeequick.com]].
** Subversion [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2006/ga061014.gif here]].
* LogicBomb:
-->'''Garfield: '''Today's the day I do nothing. Unless I'm mistaken. Though being mistaken would be something, not nothing. So if today's the day I do nothing, I can't be mistaken. [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga941205.gif Unless I'm mistaken.]]
* LookBehindYou: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/01/28 Garfield stops chasing a mouse when the mouse uses that trick.]]
-->'''Mouse:''' Look, a banana cream pie!\\
'''Garfield:''' He's gone, isn't he?
* LoopholeAbuse:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/12/24 Jon allows Garfield to have one bite of chicken]]. Garfield opens his mouth wide enough to eat the chicken whole.
** Jon once scolded Garfield for burying Odie in sand at the beach. Garfield defended himself by pointing out that "I only buried him up to his knees." Which would be fine....if he hadn't been buried ''upside-down''.
** "Ah, it says here carrots are on my diet. And this is a "carrot" cake. '''A loophole!'''"
** Jon once told Garfield, "I'd better not see you hitting Odie". Garfield covered Jon's eyes with his paw, and hit Odie with his other paw.
** Jon tried to teach Garfield self-control. He left a box of kitty treats in the room Garfield was in, telling him [[ExactWords not to take the kitty treats]]. He left the room, then reentered a short while later. Garfield took everything except the box.
** Even more audacious when Garfield was on another diet and Jon told him "You may have a salad." Garfield promptly helped himself to some pork chops, and when Jon called him out he claimed that no one had ever told him that pork chops were not a salad!
** And once again: "This salad needs something. I think I'll garnish it. With a ham!" *wham*
** Taken UpToEleven in one strip where Jon put Garfield on a diet, saying he could eat anything he could sip through a straw. Garfield promptly sucked ''an entire chicken'' through said straw. "Well, back to the drawing board," said Jon.
** And in ''another'' early strip, he put Garfield on a diet where he was only allowed one drumstick per day. Garfield was [[RuleOfFunny somehow able to find a butcher that sold pterodactyl drumsticks.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/09/16 When Liz tells Jon he and Garfield need at least one vegetable on their shopping list, Jon writes "onion rings".]]
-->'''Jon:''' Techinically a vegetable
-->'''Garfield:''' All right, loophole boy!
** However, [[DefiedTrope Liz gets wise to this]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/10/06 in a later strip]] when she tells Jon that he and Garfield need to eat more greens, and that green sprinkles on a doughnut don't count.

* LosingYourHead: A [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/10/26 headless swamp monster]] doesn't scare Garfield more than his dish bowl being empty.
* LostInCharacter: Parodied.
-->'''General on TV:''' Holy '''bovines''', Corporal! There's a giant monster invading the city!\\
'''Soldier on TV:''' That's not a monster, sir.\\
'''General:''' What are you talking about? Call out the artillery!\\
'''Soldier:''' It's just a bad actor in a rubber suit.\\
'''General:''' Oh, it is '''not'''! It's a monster!\\
'''Soldier:''' Come on... I can see the zipper.\\
'''General:''' Egad! A '''zipper''' monster! That's the worst kind!\\
'''Soldier:''' And that's not a real city.\\
'''General:''' '''Insolence!''' I'll have you '''court-martialed!!'''\\
'''Soldier:''' These are just tiny little model buildings.\\
'''Garfield:''' General Cordwood seems to have buried himself in the part.\\
'''Soldier:''' See?\\
'''General:''' PUT MY HOUSE DOWN!!!
* LudicrousGibs: Mixed with GoryDiscretionShot, had Jon talk to Garfield about an uncle who sold dynamite for a living, while looking at a photo album:
-->'''Jon:''' Look, here's a picture of him there! And there, and there, and there...
-->''Garfield gives a [[{{Squick}} squicked-out]] look at the reader.''
* LyingFingerCross: Garfield crossed his ''toes'' [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/12/18 while making a promise]].
* MagicMirror: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/08/22 This strip]]:
-->'''Garfield''': Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the...
-->'''Mirror''': Wait... before you even get started... you're fat.
-->'''Garfield''': Where's my brick?
* [[MailmanVsDog Mailman Vs. Cat]]: Played with, it's ''Garfield'' who harasses the mailman. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope in an early strip asking "Why should dogs have all the fun?" Sometimes he just pulls harmless pranks while other times he sadistically attacks him or catches him in an elaborate booby trap. However, the mailman will occasionally get his revenge on Garfield.
** There's a paperboy who is [[TheGhost rarely seen]] who attacks Garfield by just throwing his papers right at him and smacking him in the face. It's taken UpToEleven when it's the Sunday paper.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident:
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/09/08 hired a dog to get rid of Nermal and use the trope.]] However, the dog found Nermal too cute to be harmed.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/09/18 Garfield's "struggle between good and evil"]]: "Should I kick Odie off the table? Or sorta accidentally bump him off the table?"
* TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack: Used in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/09/02 this]] strip. Garfield walks in front of a mirror when his reflection says "Stop right there!" with a demanding tone and then compliments: "You are lookin' great today!" The original Garfield says "Back atcha!".
* MarshmallowHell: Happens to Jon at the end of a blind date with a rather large woman named Bertha.
-->'''Garfield:''' How was your date?
-->'''Jon:''' I think I made an impression on her.
* MasochistsMeal: Occurs in a strip where Jon and Liz are at a restaurant:
-->'''Jon:''' Is your chili spicy?\\
'''Waiter:''' Not really.\\
'''Guest:''' ''(offscreen)'' GAAAHH! MY THROAT! MILK! ICE WATER! ALOE VERA!!!\\
'''Waiter:''' Unless you're a weenie...\\
'''Jon:''' Bring it on!
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/10/06 When Jon and Garfield are at Irma's Diner]]:
-->'''Jon''': What's the special today?\\
'''Irma''': [[YouDoNOTWantToKnow You don't want to know]].
-->'''Jon''': Gimme the special!
-->'''Garfield''': There's a gambler in the house!
* MeaningfulName:
** In a very early strip, Odie had an "accident" inside the house and is punished by Lyman. Garfield snarks that they should have called him "Spot" instead. ([[MythologyGag That was going to be the name of Odie]], but it was changed due to there being a dog called that in ''ComicStrip/BonersArk''.)
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/03/16 Jon believes every name has a meaning.]] Looking his up, he found out it meant "he who gets beat up for his lunch money".
* TheMeaningOfLife: Jon and Garfield wonder about it sometimes. The September 9, 2014 strip has Garfield ask Odie to demonstrate it, which he does by falling asleep on his feet (which Garfield approves of); similarly, the January 11, 2017 strip has Garfield ask him to "fetch the meaning of life", and is very happy when Odie brings him Pooky.
* MeatOVision: Frequently during Garfield's diets.
* MediumAwareness: All the time.
** Shortly before his 26th birthday: "Is it just my imagination, or [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2004/ga040614.gif is this strip getting longer?]]"
** After being hit in the head with a shoe, the WrittenSoundEffect "SPLUT!" appears over Garfield's head. He looks off-panel and says, "Wait a minute! [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850208.gif Shoes don't go 'splut'!]]"
** After getting a cold in a very early strip: "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga781127.gif Loog, eben my thoughts are stuffed ub.]]"
** Davis also has fun with the "Z" bubbles that he uses to indicate sleeping:
*** One time, Garfield said that he couldn't seem to wake up, until he realized that the large "Z" was still over his head. He [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga891113.gif popped the "Z"]] and promptly woke up.
*** Lampshaded at least once: "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020427.gif I eat, I sleep. That's all I do. Do I look like I'm sleeping?]] '''[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020427.gif Do you see a 'Z' floating over my head?!]]'''"
*** Garfield, unable to sleep, [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910811.gif stole the "Z" from above a sleeping Jon's head]] and placed it over his own.
* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The page image comes from a 2003 arc in which (then-current) Garfield meets up with his 1978 self. Much lampshading ensued. Jon and Odie have similar experiences by the time Garfield's birthday rolled around during that arc.
* MegatonPunch:
** Garfield has done this to Odie and Nermal, socking - or, more often, kicking both (figuratively) to the moon.
** And [[NotHyperbole literally]], Garfield once actually kicked Odie into next week: "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840702.gif I have this nagging feeling I'm forgetting something... (Odie falls on him) ... Oh yes, I forgot I kicked Odie into next week, last week.]]"
* MerchandiseDriven: The strip itself is designed solely to make money. [[CashCowFranchise And boy has it]]
* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/02/28 Garfield when Liz]] catches him near an empty popcorn bowl.
-->'''Liz:''' Garfield! That popcorn was for everyone.
-->'''Garfield:''' And "everyone" is my middle name, baby!
* {{Metaphorgotten}}:
** "Boy, am I bored. I'm so bored I have nothing better to do than lie here flat as a pancake. A big fluffy pancake dripping with butter and maple syrup... Boy, am I hungry."
** "Life is like a birdbath. It's made of concrete, filled with water, and uh... birds like to splash in it. Boy, that was dumb. Life isn't anything like a birdbath. Life... is like a sock monkey..."
* MidnightSnack: Often.
--> '''Garfield''': I wonder if it's time for my midnight snack? (''looks at clock'') Hmmm... Eight P.M. Close enough.
* MiserableMassage: In one strip, Jon ordered an in-home massage and got TheAhnold for a masseuse. Nothing's shown but Garfield hears a loud cracking sound, followed by Jon asking if that was him.
* MindScrew:
** The aforementioned Halloween 1989 arc, of course.
** The October 26, 1981 strip had nothing but Garfield sleeping for all three panels, no doubt leaving many readers outright baffled when it first appeared in papers. It makes much more sense when read in the books, where the next day's strip completes the gag.
* MiningForCookies: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/05/19 This strip]] has Jon casually going to work in the donut mines. Garfield then realizes he's dreaming.
* MisfortuneCookie: Referenced in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020410.gif the April 10, 2002 strip]].
-->'''Jon:''' Still eating, Garfield? Soon your stomach will grow large and you will explode.\\
'''Garfield:''' He's like an evil fortune cookie.
** Jon once got a fortune cookie that said, "A runaway hubcap from a speeding car will lodge itself up your nose."
* MixAndMatchCritters: Garfield meets a mouse who is half-lemming (and thus constantly trying to kill himself) in a 1983 story arc.
* MomentKiller: Ever since Jon and Liz got together, Garfield and Odie would stop at nothing to do this.
* MonochromeToColor: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1995/ga950910.gif This]] Sunday strip shows the titular cat bemoaning Mondays, rendered in black and white. When he gets the paper and discovers that it's Sunday, the last panel regains its normal coloration.
* MoonLogicPuzzle: The tie-in game ''Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal'' is not very logical. You have to feed a rat a spinach donut and bring seeds to a park so a duck will pick you up and fly you around.
* MothMenace: [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2014/2014-08-31.gif This]] strip has Garfield rudely smacking a butterfly away, only to have it calling out his father, which is a ''gigantic'' butterfly with spots shaped like tough anchor tattoos on its wings, probably getting ready to beat the orange cat up.
* MotionlessMakeover: In the February 27, 1996 strip, Jon's back gives out and Garfield puts a cloth and potted plant on Jon.
* MotorMouth: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/01/11 Garfield meets a mime who's this during breaks.]]
* MouseHole: Mice in this comic have these.
* MuggedForDisguise: In order to get some donuts from a bakery that doesn't let cats in, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/12/16 Garfield stole a kid's clothes]].
* MundaneUtility: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2013/ga130405.gif "The computer is a wonderful thing. For instance, if I turn it off I can see an excellent reflection of myself."]]
* MushroomSamba: One censored comic which only appears as a rough sketch in the 25th anniversary book, features a half asleep Garfield as he watches a periscope emerge from his water dish, followed by a tentacle. Garfield then smiles and says, "Man, that was some gooooooood catnip!"
* MusicIsEighthNotes: A gag involves an {{Earworm}} Jon inadvertently gave to Garfield. The Earworm's represented by a single eighth note.
* MustacheVandalism: Garfield [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940428.gif does this to a picture of Jon]], and when Jon demands for Garfield to fix it, Garfield draws a mustache on Jon's face as well.
** Another example:
-->'''Garfield''': "I just drew a mustache on every picture of Jon in the house!"\\
'''Jon''' (shows up): "I just drew a mustache on my face!"\\
'''Garfield''': "Troublemaker!"
* MustHaveCaffeine: Garfield [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga791210.gif sure]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800203.gif likes]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2007/ga070521.gif coffee]], and [[KlatchianCoffee he likes it strong]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/06/13 This strip]] shows how he reacts to insufficient amount of caffeine.
-->'''Jon''': How's the decaf?
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg:
** Garfield said [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/06/25 "The world is filled with many wonders... and Jon".]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/12/04 This strip]] features Garfield and Jon discussing Santa.
-->'''Jon:''' Santa will be here soon with presents for everyone who's been good.
-->'''Garfield:''' And me!
-->'''Jon:''' And you.
* MyGrandmaCanDoBetterThanYou: A ShowWithinAShow featured a [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/10/27 character mocking a monster's slowness by claiming]] "My Grandmother could outrun that mon-" "[=EEEK=]!" "Um... [[SubvertedTrope check that]]".
* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes:
** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/08/02 one of the comics]] the titular cat says, "My life just flashed before my eyes. It looked like a fast food commercial." Not surprising considering all he does is eat and sleep.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/02/05 The electronic scale says]] "If I had eyes my life would be passing through them".

[[folder:N & O]]
* NarrativeProfanityFilter:
** Jon [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790622.gif getting shot down over the phone]] (June 22, 1979):
--> "You'll meet me when WHAT freezes over!?"
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1986/ga861209.gif this strip]], Jon attempts to invite Liz to a party he's having. Since this is roughly [[PrintLongRunners 20 years]] before they started dating, she naturally shoots him down with a comment that prompts the response "[[ADateWithRosiePalms Do you mean that literally or figuratively?]]"
--> '''Garfield:''' Literally has my vote.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/12/28 "I just learned three new words."]] "[[MediumAwareness "Unsuitable for a comic strip,]] [[LampshadeHanging no doubt.]]"
* NegativeContinuity: To some extent.
* NeverMyFault: Garfield's typical form of "self-chastisement". Quite amusing some of the time.
* NewhartPhonecall: Often done with Jon's phone conversations with Ellen.
* NewYearsResolution:
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/01/01 decided not to sleep]] more than [[ExactWords eight hours a day]]. Upon calculation, he told Jon to wake him up on May, 3rd.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/12/28 Garfield promised not to do this prank anymore but he's not sure he'll keep the promise]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/01/01 Jon promised to brush his teeth everyday.]] Even if he's not going anywhere.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/01/05 Jon and Garfield resolved not to eat donuts anymore. After each one hallucinated a donut asking him to eat it, they decided to break the resolution.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/27 Jon's resolution]]: No more thumb-sucking! Except during scary movies.
-->'''Garfield:''' That goes without saying.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/28 Garfield resolves]] "to stop eating junk food, and to exercise every day, and to curb my incessant lying".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/29 A spider promises to think before he speaks...]] and then blows it up by calling Garfield "fatso".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/30 Garfield makes the same resolution he makes every year.]] "Not to mess with perfection".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/22 Three weeks after giving up donuts for her new year's resolution]], Liz hallucinates that Jon's face looks like a donut.

** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/12/29 Garfield doesn't have any resolutions this time because]] "you can't improve on perfection". He then "thack"s his face on a wall.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/01/01 Jon resolves to be less geeky and more sophisticated...]] and then botches it by blowing chocolate milk bubbles in his Binky the Clown mug.
* NoFourthWall: The fourth wall came crashing down on the first day and never went back up:
-->'''Jon''': Our only thought is to entertain you.
-->'''Garfield''': Feed me.
** One time (in the 1980s) Jon decided Garfield should go on a diet because his weight was causing the comic strip box to dip where he walked.
** The fourth wall is sometimes AWOL in-universe as well:
--->'''Woman on TV''': Come closer... closer...\\
(''Jon moves closer to the TV'')\\
'''Woman on TV''': Uh... that's close enough, dork boy.\\
'''Garfield''': Et tu, TV?
** Another time, a television host yelled at a sleeping Garfield to turn the set off after signing off for the night.
* NoirEpisode:
** ''Babes and Bullets'', one of the segments in ''ComicBook/GarfieldHis9Lives''. Wasn't included in the animated version but was adapted into a stand-alone TV special the following year.
** Parodied in a SundayStrip — the atmosphere is quickly ruined when Odie appears in a clown suit, and Garfield says "I was this close to making my big dramatic debut."
* NoMoreForMe: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/03/01 this strip]], Garfield pours his coffee right back into the pot upon witnessing a spider he just stomped being taken away by an ambulance.
* NoMouth: Garfield's teddy bear Pooky had one, but as per ArtEvolution he lost it ([[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga811006.gif 10-6-1981]] and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga820207.gif 2-7-1982]] being the last strips to depict him with a mouth). Since then, at least [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850613.gif two]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100505.gif strips]] relied on the fact that Pooky had no mouth.
* NonIndicativeName: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/02/08 "Aphrodite"]] isn't a name that fits a mule that "had three legs, a glass eye, and one tooth".
* NonsenseClassification: Garfield states the four basic food groups are [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/10/06 meat, vegetable, dairy and catsup.]]
* NoodleImplements:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/05/25 For some reason]], Jon was running inside the house without his pants telling Garfield he needed a belt, a fishbowl and a fire extinguisher.
** [[InvokedTrope "I'd explain this,]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/07/12 but it gets kind of technical."]]
* NoodleIncident: Anything that Garfield himself does to [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=07&month=02&year=2000 Mrs.]] [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=10&month=02&year=2002 Feeny]].
** Garfield's New Years Eve parties.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810413.gif "You met a ballet dancer and went to a sack race?"]] "Close enough."
** It's probably for the best that the details of [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/07/15#.U5o85HYXKrl this one]] are never explained.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/09/06 A woman considers Jon]] "the ''second'' most pitiful excuse for a man" she ever met.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/10/09 A girl named Ruby was once in prison.]] The only clue the readers get to her crime is Jon's decision to "hide the potato peeler" once he learns what she did.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/01 Liz is looking at several pictures of Garfield kicking Odie off the table]] until she finds one of Odie doing it to Garfield.
-->'''Liz:''' What happened there?
-->'''Garfield:''' (glaring at a smiling Odie) We don't discuss that one.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/03/16 This strip]] features Jon limping and the only clue to the reason is Jon telling Garfield "just because you see somebody doing something in a movie... doesn't mean '''you''' can do it".
* NoseNuggets: Garfield spends the first panel [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020816.gif picking his nose]]. After a BeatPanel, he looks out to the viewer and says, "[[MediumAwareness I'm on, aren't I?]]"
** Jon's been caught with his finger up his nose twice: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/06/21 The first time,]] he was assembling a model airplane and got glue on his hands ("I have to go to the hospital now"), while [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/08/27 the second]] saw Garfield, acting as a director, telling Jon to play the part of "a pitiful goofball" -- right on cue, Jon's fingers got stuck up his nose.
* NoseShove: "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/03/24 There appears to be a camera shoved up your nose.]]"
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: In-universe, [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910120.gif Odie loves any kind of attention as long as it's attention]].
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Nermal has been around since the strip's second year, but is still referred to as the "World's Cutest Kitten." Garfield sometimes inquires how he stays the same, and at various points we've learned that he's a midget who's had anti-aging therapy and had [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2008/ga080527.gif extensive plastic surgeries]]. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/05/06 The coffee and cigarettes help too]].
* NotSoAboveItAll: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/07/12 This strip]] shows the extent of [[DefrostingIceQueen Liz]]'s willingness to join in on some of the shenanigans in which Jon and Garfield get involved.
* NotWearingPantsDream: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/12/01 1991-12-01]], during which Jon announces at the United Nations that he can't get a date to save his life.
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: In July 2006, after 27 years of constant failures, Jon finally managed to get together with Liz and they've been in a relationship ever since.
* NotMeThisTime: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/02/02 Somebody threw away all of Jon's shirts]] except one that reads "I (heart sign) cats". Believing Garfield to be responsible, Jon threw him outside, where Odie, wearing a shirt, has a malicious smile.
* NotSoImaginaryFriend:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030716.gif Clive]]. This is also an example of a BrickJoke, as it came seven years after the [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=23&month=04&year=1996 week-long arc]] that introduced Clive.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/10/07 Garfield chasing an invisible mouse]].
* NowILayMeDownToSleep: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1987/ga870429.gif One strip]] shows Jon starting the prayer, but he stops because he hears Garfield open the refrigerator door.
* NutritionalNightmare: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2013/ga130418.gif This]] strip had Garfield eat a slice of toast with a whole stick of butter on it, much to Jon's disgust.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: In the April 27, 1989 strip, Odie waits until Jon and Garfield leave the house. Then he wears a robe, smokes a pipe, watches "A Evening With Mozart" on tv, and has a copy of "War And Peace" on the table.
* ObviousObjectCouldBeAnything: In a 1995 Christmas themed strip, Odie is shown shaking a wrapped bone, then wondering what it could be.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** In the Abandoned House Nightmare arc, Garfield ''wants to wake up'' because of the nightmare he's having.
** A much more lighthearted version of this trope involve the HomemadeSweaterFromHell made by Jon's mother that turns out to be... perfectly fit and tasteful. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/12/27 Jon and Garfield feel worried as the result, with Jon deciding to check up on her with a phone call.]]
** Another version regarding a HomemadeSweaterFromHell takes place in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/12/27 this strip]]. Jon's incessant praises about it only serves to convince Garfield that something is off.[[note]][[ProperlyParanoid Garfield is right]] -- a cow's udder was sown onto the sweater, but on the back, so Garfield doesn't see it.[[/note]]
-->'''Jon''': And it's 100% cow.
-->'''Garfield''': There '''must''' be a catch.
* OddballInTheSeries: In general, the daily strips were carefully designed to have at least 3 panels, occasionally more (i.e. the later strips of the Halloween 1989 arc). The four exceptions are an original strip at the end of ''Garfield at Large'', an original strip at the beginning of ''Garfield Gains Weight'', [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/08/02 the 2014-08-02 strip]], and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/12/23 the 2014-12-23 strip]].
* OffModel:
** From about [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000904.gif September 2000]] to [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga010113.gif January 2001]], the art was a little more jagged and pointy (look at Garfield's ears and mouth in particular).
** Between [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2005/ga050320.gif March 2005]] and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2006/ga060101.gif January 2006]], Garfield's ears were shrunken drastically.
*** A particularly jarring example of off-model Garfield in that timespan [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2005/ga050209.gif here]].
** And in this [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/04/23 April 2006 strip]], Jon's entire face was rather off model.
** In this [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010-10-03 October 2010 strip]], Garfield and Jon look very off-model.
** The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/08/12 August 12, 1989 strip]] looks ''unusually'' off-model for the period. No other strips of the time had Garfield and/or Odie drawn in such a way.
** The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/09/17 diet arc from September 1984]] is another example.
* OffstageVillainy: Garfield's constant harassment of his neighbors.
* OhCrap: Garfield gives this facial expression a lot. See the "zippers" strip above as an example.
* OhWaitThisIsMyGroceryList: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/05/29 Jon mistakes]] Garfield's shopping list for a poem he wrote for Liz.
* OlderAndWiser: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/06/13 Garfield believes he's getting smarter as he gets older]] until he sees Jon asking why people don't make cars out of cardboard and wonders if the others are getting dumber.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Garfield likes to stomp spiders and hates when [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/04/19 Jon beats him to it]]. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/02/03 However, when Liz did it]], he told Jon to marry her.
* OrWasItADream: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/07/10 In this strip]], Garfield has a dream in which he's about to kick Odie off the table, only for Odie to snap at him [[TheDogBitesBack "Don't even think about it!"]]. Then Garfield wakes up, sees Odie and goes to kick him for real... only for Odie to turn around and glare at him.
* OutOfContextEavesdropping:
** In the October 4, 1981 strip, Jon calls the garage to bring in his car for a checkup, and then describes what he wants: "You'd better flush out his system... Tighten his hoses. Replace all the worn parts. Oh yes, and have him reupholstered." Unfortunately, Garfield just heard "I'd like to bring him in for a checkup." and everything afterward, and assumed Jon was speaking to the vet about him. In the final panel he's seen outside with a sign asking someone to take him to Abu Dhabi.
** In the April 21, 2000 strip, Jon's been sawing something, then Garfield hears him say "Oops. Boy, I hope that can be sewn back on." By the time Jon comes over with the button he's lost, Garfield's fainted, presumably assuming Jon had accidentally cut off a body part.
* OutOfFocus: The comic used to have a large ensemble cast, but since the late 1990's, many of the side characters have been pushed to the background. Even more since Jon and Liz became a couple. These days, any character that is not Garfield, Jon, Odie or Liz is barely seen anymore.
* OverlyLongGag:
** Many Sunday strips are padded out to the maximum seven panels, when they could just as easily work in three.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/01/23 This strip]] is an InUniverse version of this trope, though Garfield doesn't find it funny.
* OverlyLongName: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/02/22 Betty-Jo Bobbie-Sue Mary-Jane Anna-Lee Becky-Lou Wanda-June Ed.]] According to Jon, "she was named after her six aunts and one uncle".
* OverlyLongScream: Jon does one in a 1992 strip that takes up the top of every single panel. In the last panel, we see it's because he had enough Christmas lights to decorate the entire outside and inside of the house, but ran out of cord inches before he could plug it in.
* OverlyNarrowSuperlative:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/07/26 Garfield describing Jon in this strip]]:
-->'''Garfield:''' Jon is the most interesting guy I know.
-->'''Jon:''' I just sorted my socks!
-->'''Garfield:''' He's the '''only''' guy I know.
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/10/02 this]] strip. Garfield eats a cookie and describes it as the best one he's eaten that day. As Garfield says and the pile of empty boxes shows, "the competition was fierce".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/06/19 This strip]] has Garfield declaring June 19th, 2020 as his best birthday ever and acknowledging he's "forgotten all the other ones".
* OverlyNervousFlopSweat: Happens to Jon in one strip after Liz tells him whatever he decides to get her will be just perfect.

[[folder:P - R]]
* PaintingTheMedium: Bugs "speak" in smaller letters, except in Sunday strips.
* PantsFree: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/07/31 Jon]].
* PaperThinDisguise: In the educational webtoons, Garfield's Professor G disguise just consists of him [[ClarkKenting putting on glasses]].
** After getting caught trying to eat a pizza, Garfield disguised himself as the pizza. Jon didn't fall for it.
* ParanoiaGambit: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2009/ga090305.gif "Just playing with your paranoia."]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800411.gif "I love mental games."]]
* ParentalIncest: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800719.gif Played for laughs, albeit creepily, here]].
* PayingTheirDues: [[invoked]] Garfield says this is what his fence act is.
* ThePeepingTom: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100108.gif Here]] is proof that Garfield and Odie are voyeurs.
* PhoneInGameShows: In a 1988 Sunday comic, Garfield is listening to a radio game show. The question asked is what sound a "felis domesticus" makes. Garfield quickly dials in and meows, getting the question right. However, since [[RealityEnsues he can't actually speak]], he is unable to tell the show hosts who he is and where he lives to redeem his prize.
* PickyEater:
** Garfield does NOT like raisins.
** Squeak, [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850222.gif once]] seeing a mousetrap, tells Garfield, "A nice Camembert or a creamy Brie would be well worth going in after...but that '''Processed American Cheese''' is ''an insult to my palate!''"
* ThePictureCameWithTheFrame: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga980930.gif "Only Jon would carry around the picture of the girl that came with the wallet."]]
* PieInTheFace: The "Splut!" pies, which make that noise when they hit Garfield.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Those who have been around long enough will know that Jon is supposedly a cartoonist. It was mentioned in the first strip, and his drawing board was seen in some early strips. The only times it's been mentioned after that is the storyline in 1984, where Jon goes to a cartoonists' convention and Liz describing Jon to her parents in the May 2, 2010 strip. That's right; his job went unmentioned in the strip for ''twenty-six years''.
** In the TV series his job is a focus of several episodes. And one of the comic book stories involve him trying to come up with a new comic book idea.
* PlaceWorseThanDeath: Garfield has often tried to get rid of Nermal by mailing him to Abu Dhabi.
* PleaBargain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/12/01 Parodied at this strip.]]
-->'''Jon:''' Santa knows when you've been bad.
-->'''Garfield:''' Maybe I could cop a plea bargain.
* PlutoIsExpendable: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2011/ga111127.jpg "The planetarium called... Your stomach is replacing Pluto as the ninth planet!"]]
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: A 2010 strip both parodied and ridiculed this trend, with a TV show featuring cowboys solving their disagreements by playing tag.
* ThePollyanna: Jon would have to be one to put up with everything he goes through. Garfield mistreats him constantly and sometimes very cruelly, the women he'd try to ask out before finally getting Liz for keeps would use [[ComedicSociopathy harsh jokes to reject him]] (and even Liz herself wasn't very kind over the years), and he doesn't have a lot to show for the life he's led. But he keeps his head held high, finds delight in anything he can, and has only occasionally felt bothered enough by his lot in life to let it show over the years.
* PopTheTires: Garfield, in one strip, slashed the tires on a donut truck in order to eat its contents.
* PossessionPresumesGuilt: The December 7, 1980 strip has Garfield eating all of Jon's fern but the last leaf, which he puts in Odie's mouth. Jon subsequently yells at Odie instead.
* PosthumousCollaboration: The calendar and [[http://www.zazzle.com/GarfieldandRockwell/ merchandise line]] ''Garfield Visits [[Creator/NormanRockwell Rockwell]]'', which adds Garfield to some of Norman Rockwell's ''Saturday Evening Post'' covers.
* PottyEmergency: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810522.gif "He'll find out how bored I am if I don't get to a litter box soon."]]
* PoundsAreAnimalPrisons: [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=24&month=01&year=1981 A 1981 story arc]] had Garfield being sent to the city pound, which was portrayed this way. (He escapes when Fluffy, another cat there, smashes him through the wall) It was even parodied in one of the strips:
-->''(the gate slams)''
-->'''Garfield:''' How did I get into this fix? One minute I'm free as a bird, then I'm in the city pound. Where did I go wrong? I'm just a number here, I've almost forgotten what it's like on the outside. '''It's not right to cage a wild animal!''' '''These four walls are closing in on me! I can't take it anymore!'''
-->'''Cat:''' You've only been here two minutes.
-->'''Garfield:''' I know, but this is my first shot at a prison scene.
* PowerOutagePlot: A 1984 arc deals with a power outage in Jon and Garfield's house. The two talk and sit around in the dark with only their eyes visible. When the power comes back on, Jon jinxes it and it [[HereWeGoAgain immediately turns back off]]. However, this storyline is [[AbortedArc abandoned in the next strip]].
* PreciousPuppy: Odie. In Kaboom Garfield #14, Odie was even called adorable twice.
* PrecisionFStrike: Quite mild compared to most examples of this trope, but Davis got a lot of letters for having Garfield say "sucked" in a 1990 strip. This was the only instance of the word being used in the comic.
* PreppyName: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/03/16 Garfield lenghtened his name to "Garfield Horatio, III, Esq." and got a dish big enough to write it on.]]
* PrimalChestPound: In one strip, Garfield pounds his chest to show he's tough enough to eat a "he-man burger".
* ProducePelting: Happens frequently to Garfield when he's singing on the fence. He once had a ''watermelon'' thrown at him.
** A watermelon? Psh. Remember Booga-Booga's wonderful scout troop? Only bloody currency is GIANT STONE WHEELS.
* ProjectileToast: Seen quite often:
** November 19, 1982, as the result of Garfield hating the toaster.
** August 21, 1994, as the result of Jon "fixing" the toaster...
** October 28, 2003 gives us a toaster that hates ''Jon''. And it turns out to be possessed by an evil spirit.
** {{Inverted|Trope}} on August 10, 1986, where Jon turns the toaster upside-down to prevent Garfield from stealing the toast. The ''toaster'' becomes projectile and smacks Garfield in the head.
* ProphecyTwist: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/02/05 This strip]]: Garfield read this from a fortune cookie fortune: "Today you will be whisked away to a large white building where all you have to do is lie in bed all day as lots of people pay attention to you and bring you food". As Garfield said it sounded "too good to be true", he failed to notice he was about to fall from the table.
* ProtagonistTitle
* PunyEarthlings: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/07/08 Garfield is called a "puny earthling"]] by a pair of invading aliens. Unfortunately, for them, they're snowmen in the middle of summer.
* PuppyDogEyes: In the [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/08/04#mutable_982041 August 4th 2013]] comic, Garfield does this to Liz for a snack...and she does it right back at him. Garfield's response? He gives HIS food to her and tells Jon "She's good."
* PyrrhicVictory:
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/11/07 a 1993 strip]], Garfield and Jon are fighting over one muffin. They angrily get into a fist fight over it, with Garfield ultimately knocking out Jon unconscious, though Garfield also suffered major bruises himself from the fight. He takes a bite out of the muffin, only to realize it's a ''raisin'' muffin.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/10/05 In this strip, Garfield resists Jon's attempts to force him to exercise]]. Jon still succeeded in dragging him around, and even repeatedly [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty smashed Garfield's head into a table multiple times]], but then Jon gives up and declares Garfield won. Garfield actually agrees he won, but it's an empty victory.
-->'''Garfield''': An empty victory. But a victory none the less.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: [[https://c.garfield.dale.ro/static/images/1983/ga831016.gif One strip]] sees Garfield looking at Odie and getting progressively more annoyed at how cheerful he is. The fat cat [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech delivers a speech]] about how Odie is "too happy" and, by the end, is screaming skyward: [[TemptingFate "Who could possibly love a grinning idiot like you?"]] [[CueTheRain It immediately starts raining]] on everything ''except'' Odie. Garfield's response? "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"
* RaisedByWolves:
** In a week long Garfield storyline Jon fell in love with a woman in a rec center who had been raised by wolves, as it turns out she had only been in civilization for a week and she had tendencies like scratching her head with her foot, messily devouring her food, trying to bite off her foot when her shoe was too tight, and howling at the moon.
** Garfield once met a cat (Ed) who was raised by squirrels. Before they met, Ed didn't know the meaning of "ground". And neither his "mother" did. Ed has the habit of storing birds for winter. When the tree branch where Ed and Garfield were stiing on fell, Ed had the first chance to walk "sideways". Odie was the first dog Ed ever met and Garfield explained to him cats were supposed to fear dogs albeit Garfield doesn't remember why.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/07/21 Jon's cousin Earl after being accidentally left at a rest stop.]] He went missing for years and eventually sent a postcard claiming to "have acquired a taste for small game".
* RakeTake:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/05/18 "There's the first rake in the face."]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/11/07 "It just wouldn't be autumn without our little traditions".]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/04/12 One of the bad things happening to Jon in this strip.]]
* ARareSentence: Jon and Garfield are eating salad when Jon says, "Hmmm, interesting lettuce." After a BeatPanel, Garfield says, "There's a phrase you don't hear every day."
* ReadTheFinePrint: Garfield sees three signs in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/09/17 this strip]]: "Danger", "Beware of the...", and "Fine Print!". The last one has a long text with a small font size.
-->'''Garfield:''' Okay, now I'm intimidated.
* ReadingsBlewUpTheScale: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/27 Jon's calculator blew up trying to keep count of the calories Garfield takes in.]]
* RealityEnsues:
** In a case that hardly happens nowadays, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/04/06 Garfield attempting an angry call]].
** Here's a very likely outcome of [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/a/ae/1982-06-02.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180120022546 biting into a Dagwood sandwich]], where all of the sandwich's contents end up spilling out of the bread slices.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Jon was once [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/10/22 deported to Mongolia]], for some reason.
* RedHerring: The video game ''Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal'' involves Garfield using various items from around his house and the neighborhood to rescue Arlene. Some of these items have an actual use, but others are just there to refill Garfield's hunger meter (if it depletes too much, he eats whatever he has on hand). If Garfield eats an important item, the game becomes UnwinnableByDesign.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Liz has gone from occasionally and begrudgingly dating Jon to his full-fledged (and willing) girlfriend.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/07/28 Their kiss]] on the night they finally got together may be quite a shock for readers until you realize ''they've kissed before,'' '''''[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/12/19 around 24 years ago]]'''''.
* RelaxOVision: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2005/ga050430.gif This strip]].
* RememberTheNewGuy: Jon's aunt Gussie. Also most of Garfield's family, who appeared only in one week of strips and ''Here Comes Garfield'' without ever being mentioned again (except for his mom, who showed up in ''one'' other strip).
* RepeatAfterMe: Garfield uses Odie as a ventriloquist's dummy to make this exchange: "Say hello to the people, dummy." "Hello to the people, dummy."
* RepetitiveAudioGlitch: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850630.gif This]] strip.
* {{Retcon}}: Two big ones. Odie was originally Lyman's dog, and Nermal was originally Jon's parents' kitten. Now the former is treated as if he were Jon's all along, and the latter is just a neighborhood cat who wanders in to torment Garfield.
* RetroactiveWish:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/11/04 Garfield was sick of his hiccups]] and wished they'd just disappear. After they did, Garfield claimed to be sick of Odie.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/03/01 Garfield demanded respect.]] When Jon showed up saying he respected garfield, Garfield smacked himself saying he could have demanded a pizza.
** {{Inverted}}: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/07/10 Garfield's outside and]] [[TemptingFate hopes it doesn't rain, so it rains.]] He then walks back inside shouting "I hope we don't have any fudge!"
* ReversePsychology:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/08/04 When Jon told Garfield to go away, Garfield dared Jon to make him do it]]. Jon then told Garfield to stay and Garfield left.
** [[hthttps://www.gocomics.com/garfield/ 1979/11/20 Jon tried to use it]] to keep Garfield from clawing a couch. It backfired.
-->'''Garfield''': Reverse reverse psychology.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/05/10 Jon told Ellen she'd have to beg if she wanted him to go out with her and she laughed.]] "So much for reverse psychology".
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2004/ga040124.gif One time]], Jon told Garfield that it ''isn't'' time to get up. Garfield ends up getting out of bed to protest.
* RiddleForTheAges: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/07/29 When Jon got stuck on a wall and asked for Garfield's help]], he told Garfield not to ask how it happened.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Nermal
* RidiculouslyLoudCommercial: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/07/18 This strip]], which includes a Snuggie reference.
* RightBehindMe: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/03/05 Jon speaking about Liz]].
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield, Liz may be my special "one". Sure, she may tell lame jokes and her nostrils twitch when she's angry, but she may still be the "one".
-->'''Garfield:''' The "one" is right behind you, big mouth, and her nostrils are twitching.
* RightWayWrongWayPair: Jon and Garfield respectively are this. Garfield indulges in junk foods, laziness, sleeping all day and even crudeness or bullying while Jon engages in proper diet and exercise and is mostly a kind, compassionate person. Garfield is obese while Jon is ideal weight (a 1985 strip specifies he's 6'0" and weighs 175 lb).
* RimShot: In a series of strips from July 1985, Garfield introduces "Mr. Skins" (Odie) as an assistant to his fence act. Naturally, this doesn't go over very well:
-->'''Garfield''': I knew a dog who was so ugly, he had to--
-->'''Odie''': (''TIDDY-BOOM!'')
-->'''Garfield''': Let's talk timing.
-->(''later'')
-->'''Garfield''': I knew a dog who was so ugly, his fleas wore dog collars!
-->'''Odie''': (''Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom! Tiddy-boom!'')
-->'''Garfield''': Padding our part, are we?
* RingRingCrunch: Garfield has destroyed plenty of alarm clocks.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/23 one strip]], he destroys a clock, then a phone, and finally smashes an ice cream truck.
* RoadTripPlot: Garfield and Jon (and sometimes Odie) often embark on this.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Garfield has, more than once, faced a mouse bigger than he was.
** There's also the legendary [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790808.gif Matt the Rat]].
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Every now and then.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga820327.gif "Okay… who waxed the fench?"]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830325.gif "Your not a sailplane, you know."]]
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900222.gif February 22, 1990]] misspelled Pooky's name as "Pookie." The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/02/22 official site]] fixed it.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900719.gif July 19, 1990]] contains the JustForFun/{{egregious}} spelling error of "Garfied." Also [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/07/19 fixed]] on the official website.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030511.gif May 11, 2003]] "Everybody" has the E and R reversed.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030525.gif In this strip]], Davis and co. left out the first E in "loneliness."
** PlayedForLaughs: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900930.gif September 30, 1990]] with Garfield and Odie as Pat Sajak and Vanna White, respectively, on the ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' set. The puzzle board reads "GARFIEDL."
** "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2008/ga081115.gif I can't get my mind off that ham in the the fridge]]".
*** One ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' strip was made only to fix this one, and is otherwise identical. It leaves you looking around for the punchline when you find it after [[ArchiveBinge binging]] on the other strips and getting used to their surreal comedy.
* RubberMan: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga010812.gif "I forgot how far cats can stretch."]]
* RuleOfThree: After finding the Italian restaurant where he was born: "It's all gone! Where's the pasta? The people? The pasta? The excitement? The pasta?"
** Also: "Decorations, presents, caroling, presents, mistletoe and presents. Six things I love about Christmas."
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/03/24 Jon has three words to live by]]: live, laugh, love. Garfield has three words of his own: eat, sleep, repeat.
* RunningGag:
** Kicking Odie, Mondays, spiders, Spluts. Although the Spluts haven't appeared since the mid-1990s.
** Later years have 'beware of dog' signs.
** At least in the 1980s, Garfield would hide in a fern and the first two panels would appear the same, delivering a different punchline every time.
--->'''Jon:''' Garfield, I know you're in my fern. I can see your tail. What do you have to say for yourself?
** Also, [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=03&month=02&year=1979 a number of 1980s strips]] had Jon saying some variation of "I wouldn't say you're fat Garfield, but...", followed by an extremely insulting joke about Garfield's fatness. Garfield usually attacked Jon in some way after that.
*** In the final strip that had the gag, it was {{Subverted|Trope}}. Jon says the line, but Garfield stuffs his food bowl in Jon's mouth before Jon can finish the insult and Garfield says "Then don't."
** Garfield's [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=23&month=05&year=1979 uncles]] and [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=06&month=06&year=1979 aunts]].
** In the late 2000s, a running gag started of Garfield reading letters addressed to "Dear Ask a Dog", with Odie providing some kind of funny response.
** "Here comes Arlene. She's crazy about me."
** Garfield singing on the fence at night (and usually getting something thrown at him).
** For a while, the strip made a running joke out of Garfield suffering "nap attacks", sudden fits of sleepiness, often in the middle of doing something else.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S]]
* SadistShow: Almost all of the humor in the strip comes from inflicted pain on the characters (usually Jon):
--->'''Garfield:''' Life is funny.
--->''(Garfield laughs at Jon, who has fallen down the stairs and is lying in a heap.)''
--->'''Garfield:''' For some of us.
* SantaClaus: He [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga781224.gif occasionally]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga831223.gif appears]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1995/ga951223.gif during]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga951221.gif Christmas]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga011207.gif strips]]. He [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/12/12 can be bribed]].
* SawItInAMovieOnce: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/03/16 Jon says]] that "just because you see somebody doing something in a movie... doesn't mean '''you''' can do it" and Garfield wonders why Jon's limping.
* SayMyName: Used often with Garfield.
* ScaredOfWhatsBehindYou: One Sunday strip featured Garfield going to a zoo, getting into a lion cage, and roleplaying his fantasy of what it would be like if he were a wild animal. At one point he takes a swipe at some patrons, and congratulates himself when they're scared. He does this not noticing the gigantic lion now sitting behind him...
* SelfDeprecation: In-Universe in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/11/19 this]] strip: A TV show's host loves hosting it because it means not having to ''watch'' it. Garfield wished to be the host.
** After laying dominant for twenty-four years, Jon's cartoonist job was used to deliver one, with [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/05/02 a strip]] where both of Liz's parents hyperventilate in a paper bag after Liz tells them about it.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness:
** In a 1983 strip, Garfield knocks a PricelessMingVase off the shelf and explains, "I know I destroyed a priceless Ming Dynasty vase as an overt expression to communicate my contempt for the politically oppressive doctrines of their early 17th century administration."
** Later in 1983, after getting trapped in the heat vent: "Forced to spend my reamining days fending for myself in the tin tunnels of the duct work, the solenoid jungle of the wiring system, and the polyvinyl chloride playground in the crawlspace... Hey! I think there's a book here somewhere."
* SeriousBusiness: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/09/15 Triple-Coupon Day]]. It's almost like a deranged ''Series/SupermarketSweep''.
* SewerGator: {{Parodied|Trope}} in a strip, where Garfield falls into a sewer and meets up with a giant alligator that was in the sewer, along with a canary and a goldfish that have also become giant after ending up in the sewer.
* ShamefulShrinking: Happens to Jon in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100127.gif this]] strip.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Garfield uses this as extortion to get Jon's steak.
* ShapedLikeItself: "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2007/04/21 The more you learn…]] the more you, um… learn."
* ShoutOut:
** The logo boxes in Sunday strips featured many, including ones to ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Series/TheHoneymooners'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', Creator/LaurelAndHardy, ComicBook/FantasticFour, Series/WheelOfFortune, and ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow''. More recent ones depicted him as ''Franchise/HarryPotter''', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and [[MemeticMutation the Nyan Cat]]
** The logo box to [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga851013.gif this strip]] depicts the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWPcB4qIR8&feature=channel&list=UL American Express "do you know me?" ad]] in which Jim Davis appeared.
** [[ComicStrip/RoseIsRose How]] [[ComicStrip/{{Blondie}} many]] [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes comic book]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} kids]] can you recognize in the title box of the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/10/30 October 30, 2005 strip]]?
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830408.gif There's]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840329.gif quite]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890217.gif a]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga881114.gif few]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100212.gif to]] ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.
** There is a ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' background image on the wall in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2007/ga071203.gif this strip]].
** In the [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830425.gif April 25, 1983]] strip, Garfield says ''Film/OldYeller'' is his all-time favorite movie, because "I love movies with [[ShootTheDog happy endings]]."
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/02/02 February 2, 2011]], Garfield said Odie needed to look more menancing. Odie then put on [[Franchise/FridayThe13th a hockey mask]].
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/05/13 May 13, 2012]]'s logo box, Garfield was chasing one of the VideoGame/AngryBirds.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/09/12 September 12, 1981]], Jon woke up to Garfield wearing his (Jon's) reading glasses. Garfield explained it was [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood "all the better to scare you with, my dear"]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/01/23 Jon said "last night's date]] was like a [[ExactWords fairy tale"]]. She ran away from the restaurant [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve at midnight]] and left a steel-toed work boot. Garfield suggested going to the foundry to [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} find who it fitted]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/01/08 Jon was in an "artistic mood"]] and wanted to start painting. When he asked where to start, Garfield suggested him to [[Creator/VincentVanGogh "cut off an ear"]].
*** The same event was refernced in a another strip, where Jon reads about it and [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar wonders what he can cut off]]. Garfield suggests "that last shred of dignity".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/02/17 The ghost of]] [[Literature/AChristmasCarol hamburgers past]] showed up to show Garfield the error of his ways. Garfield ate it and said it "needed more of the ghost of ketchup past".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/05/26 Odie's inner tube looks like]] [[ComicStrip/USAcres Wade's]] without the duck face. [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/08/30 Jon's]] looks like Wade's with the colors pink and blue reversed.
** Several to ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'', enough for [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=805 a compilation]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/12/19 Spider Claus]] says his sleigh is pulled by "six tiny gnats, and a team leader with a bright red light". Garfield asks if the leader is [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/11/13 "Faster than a speeding basset hound!]] More powerful than an asthmatic chihuahua! Able to leap dingleballs in a single bound! Up on the table! It's a bird dog! It's a plane! It's '''[[{{Superman}} Super Odie!!]]'''" Garfield then kicks Odie off the table and says "Up, up and awaaay!"
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/03/06 Garfield describes Pooky]] as "able to stave off loneliness [[Franchise/{{Superman}} in a single hug"]].
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/12/10 is visited]] by ''[[Literature/AChristmasCarol the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future]]''. The three of them are afraid of the dead bulb on Garfield's Christmas tree.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/01/02 One strip]] had Garfield celebrate Creator/IsaacAsimov's birthday for the sake of having something to celebrate after the holiday season.
** The only clue to the movie Jon and Garfield are watching in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/29 this strip]] other than it being something Jon watched back when he was a kid is Garfield commenting that ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz "The flying monkeys are gone now, Jon"]]''.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/08/05 A Field of Dreams reference]]. After luring Garfield, Liz, Squeak, Odie and Arlene with a barbecue, Jon says ''[[Film/FieldOfDreams "If you grill it, they will come"]]''.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/11/12#.U5YzBHYXKrk A reference]] to Magazine/{{Highlights For Children}}'s "Creatures Nobody Has Ever Seen" feature, right down to the critter's AchillesHeel.
* ShowDontTell: Averted pretty hard. Davis has a tendency to set up elaborate gags which are only expressed verbally.
* ShowWithinAShow: Garfield's fence act.
* SideEffectsInclude: Parodied in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2005/ga050417.gif this]] strip.
* SirVerbALot: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/02/24 Jon and Garfield play a medieval themed vídeo game where Jon likes to play as a character named "Sir Whines-a-Lot"]]. Needless to say, he starts whining when he doesn't get to be him.
* SkewedPriorities:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/10/16 Jon was buying a cake when three midgets wearing gorilla costumes burned the place down and ran off with the cash register]]. The detail Garfield wanted to know about: what kind of cake.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/05/28 Garfield is watching a mystery show on TV]].
-->'''Inspector:''' I have solved the mystery of who ate all the peanuts!\\
'''Another character:''' But what about the murder?\\
'''Inspector:''' Oh... that...
* SlidingScaleOfLivingToys: Garfield's teddy bear Pooky is at Level 0.
* SmartAnimalAverageHuman:
** Garfield the cat and his owner Jon Arbuckle. Garfield is a snarky and clever cat while Jon is a bumbling average human.
** Sometimes even Odie is shown as being smarter than Jon by beating a video game or a Sudoku puzzle neither of which Jon could solve.
* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Garfield often invokes this, prioritizing food over even the most serious emergencies.
** In one strip, Jon comes running to the house to alert Garfield that while he was buying a cake at a bakery, three gorilla mask wearing robbers set the place on fire and ran out with the cash register. [[SkewedPriorities Rather than being amazed Jon escaped without injury]], Garfield asks if the cake is vanilla or chocolate.
** In another strip, Arlene tells Garfield she had a dream that they were having sandwiches until suddenly [[BearsAreBadNews a bear attacked them]] but [[KnightInShiningArmor Garfield rescued Arlene]] and defeated the bear in combat. Garfield asked what kind of sandwiches they were.
** In a 1999 strip, Jon was mercilessly attacked by a married couple at a salad bar but Garfield just asks Jon what the soup of the day was.
** In a 1991 strip, Garfield was alerting Jon about giant spiders invading, a 5000 foot tidal wave but then gets distracted by jelly donuts that Jon is eating.
** In a 2008 strip, Garfield ignored Jon knocking on the door ordering to be let in until Jon announced he had groceries. Garfield then took in the groceries then closed the door again with Jon still locked out.
* SnarkyInanimateObject: A frequent gag in the strip involves Garfield stepping on a talking scale, which would then make some crack about his weight.
* SoMuchForStealth: The spider in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/04/24 this strip]].
* SodaCanShakeup: Provides the page image, and has been used at least 3 times:
** The page image is from [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/07/12 this comic]], where this trope happens to Garfield, and the exploding bottle startles Jon.
** In one comic, Garfield tried to prank Jon by giving him a shaken soda can, but a GenreSavvy Jon aimed the can at Garfield when opening it, resulting in Garfield getting sprayed.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/12/02 this comic]], Garfield tries the same prank, and again it seems Jon is going to turn the tables on Garfield instead. But when Jon opens the can, the pressure inside sends him flying backward rather than the soda getting sprayed all over Garfield.
* SoreLoser: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/08/16 Jon reading this letter from his brother]]: "Maddie Ferguson's pie took first place at the fair, so Mom burned her barn down".
* SoundDefect: Every so often.
** In one strip, the doorbell only goes "ding-". The person at the door? A man from Ed's Dong Repair.
** There's also [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1995/ga950119.gif a kick going "Blagoonga!"]] and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1985/ga850208.gif a shoe going "Splut!"]].
* TheSpeechless: Odie, most of the time. Once, he said "I'm hungry" through ThoughtBubbleSpeech like Garfield, and in ''Garfield and Friends,'' he sometimes "barked" short words.
* SphereEyes: Suprisingly, they were gained through ArtEvolution.
* SpidersAreScary: In the early comics, Garfield would react with fear and disgust whenever he saw spiders. Starting in the 90s, the spiders would have their own lines, and they turn out to be fairly harmless, though that doesn't stop Garfield from swatting them without remorse. Whether the swatting results in AmusingInjuries or [[KilledOffForReal actual death]] varies from strip to strip.
* SprayingDrinkFromNose:
** Garfield once made Jon [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1993/ga930320.gif squirt soda out of his nose]]. Given a CallBack in a later strip: his description of this puts Garfield off his food, which is [[BigEater quite an achievement]], as Garfield lampshades.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/07/31 When Jon is about to tell what he's going to do to impress his date]], Garfield makes a point to finish his soda first so it won't [[InvokedTrope squirt out of his nose]].
* SquirrelsInMyPants: In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2011/ga110724.gif this strip]], Jon gets a gopher in his pants. Again.
* StartMyOwn: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/02/21 A cat hair left]] Garfield to start his own cat. Upon getting caught by Jon's vacuum cleaner, he said they didn't tell about that in business school.
* StealthInsult: Garfield's nod to an old-fashioned insult, being a roundabout way of calling someone [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=20.08.1979 a bastard]].
* StealthPun: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/03/23 This strip's]] splash panel has Garfield sleeping on a music staff. In a measure that has a ''rest'' in it.
* StockAnimalDiet: Much to Jon's frustration, Garfield is disgusted by the idea of eating mice, and often treats them as friends. He once had to cover his eyes while Arlene caught a mouse and ate it. Birds and fish are not as lucky however, since he will gladly eat those (and not just cooked ones either, living ones too). He also likes to eat Jon's houseplants sometimes. Of course, his all-time [[TrademarkFavoriteFood favourite food is lasagna]]. Sometimes he talks with whatever he is about to eat.
* StockShoutOut:
** [[{{Superman}} Super]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/10/09 Pooky]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/07/09 Ellen reminds Jon of a comic book hero: Clown Boy.]] Garfield commented: "Who, disguised as mild-mannered geek, Jon Arbuckle..."
* StockYuck:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/11/28 Jon recalled his family holidays]]. As an act of magic, his Uncle Joe made the fruitcake disappear. Garfield didn't consider it a great loss.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/01/15 Garfield likes pizza with anchovies. Jon and Odie don't]].
*** In both the cartoon adaptations, he hates anchovies as well. Odd, considering he likes fish as much as any other adaptation.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/12/17 Jon left a fruitcake]] "out in the yard for the birds". Garifeld notices they're "regifting it to the squirrels".
* StoutStrength:
** Subverted by Garfield. In one strip, while Jon is flexing in front of the mirror and complementing himself on his muscles, Garfield immediately flexes what looks like his own immensely powerful muscles. Jon stares at him in shock as Garfield walks away, explaining that he simply "flexed his fat".
** Garfield did it again in another strip when he ran into Arlene. She continued to stand and watch in amusement, as Garfield struggled to keep up his flexing:
-->'''Garfield''': Uh...don't you have somewhere you gotta be?\\
'''Arlene''': And miss seeing how long you can hold that pose?
** Played straight in another strip where Jon and Garfield begin poking each other with sticks and ordering each other to do things. The sticks keep getting bigger until Garfield finally [[SerialEscalation uproots an entire tree and brings it into the kitchen]] to try and poke Jon with, until he finally tires out and the tree squishes him.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/08/04 When Jon told Ellen his life was meaningless without her]], Garfield said it's meaningless anyway. Then we learned Ellen thought the same. Garfield said "Great minds think alike".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/10/11 Liz invited Jon to watch a figure skating competition on TV.]] Jon's reaction from his side of the phone line made Garfield correctly guess it.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/02/28 While deciding what to wear for a blind date]], Jon ends up wearing [[ItMakesSenseInContext a cowboy hat, a "suave and sophisticated" suit and, from the waist down, sports wear]]. His date shows up wearing the same style of outfit.
-->'''Garfield:''' God made two of 'em!
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/04/13 When Liz asks if Jon likes her new shoes]], Garfield mentally tells Jon to "lie and say yes". After Jon's hesitation, Liz says he's "supposed to lie and say yes".
-->'''Garfield:''' Play by the rules, dummy!
** Jon tries to compliment Liz in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/23 this strip]]. ComplimentBackfire ensues.
-->'''Jon''': Liz, you're not like the other women I've known. You haven't run away screaming.
-->'''Liz''': Yet.
-->'''Garfield''': She beat me to it!
* StrictlyFormula: Downplayed, a large portion of comics (particular in the last twenty years) can be summed up as "Jon says or does something (usually having something to do with how much of a stupid loser he is) and Garfield quips something short and snarky in response (often having to do with him being fat, lazy, or always stuffing his gob with food)". This is almost always in three panels (unless it's a Sunday comic).
* StripArchive: Every single strip ever is available to read for free on their website. Also, [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php a website]] allows you to search every single strip (the interface is in Estonian, but the search and transcripts are English.)
* StrongAnts: Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/08/18 was about to take a nap when some ants appeared and he feared they'd carry him away]]. One of the ants said [[SubvertedTrope they'd need heavy machinery]].
* StuffedIntoATrashcan: Nermal, at least once.
* StuffedIntoALocker: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/04/16 Wally Sneedhocker used to stuff Jon in the school locker.]] He became an undertaker.
* StylisticCallback: The strip marked its 25th anniversary with a StoryArc where 2003 Garfield meets 1978 Garfield.
* SuddenlyShouting:
** In an early strip:
-->'''Jon''': Be careful there, Garfield. Hanging on the drapes can be very painful. 'CAUSE I'M GONNA BREAK YOUR LEGS IF YOU DON'T GET OFF THEM THIS INSTANT!
** In this one:
--->'''Jon''': Some dirty, rotten, low-down, slimy, filthy, disgusting, gluttonous, hog STOLE MY SUPPER!
* SuicideAsComedy:
** Garfield tries to stick his head in the oven when Jon considers getting him declawed... [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/10/18 only to find it's electric, not gas powered]].
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890211.gif This strip,]] in which Garfield attempts suicide, is rather dark for a piece of family-friendly media, much less a newspaper comic strip.
* SuperheroesWearTights: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/02/19 when Jon sadly says]] he "could never be a super-hero" because he doesn't look good in them.
* SupremeChef: Jon's mother, especially when it comes to baking pies and preparing potatoes. She once prepared a meal with eight kinds of potatoes (her personal best). In fact, eating is one of the two things Garfield actually likes to do at the farm. (The other is leaving.)
* SureLetsGoWithThat:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/08/22 A woman at a park called Jon "Disgusting"]]. Jon and Garfield each claimed she was talking about the other. When Jon suggested she was talking about herself, Garfield said "Let's go with that".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/05/19 Friday night and the phone didn't ring.]] Jon believed the ringer to be busted and Garfield said "Right, sure, yeah, we'll run with that".
* SurpriseJump: This happens to Jon several times, usually when Garfield scares him.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
** "Fib alert! You can't believe Odie! No matter what he says, I did not paint him green! And it wasn't with a two inch horsehair brush!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/05/24 In this one]], Garfield didn't eat "one of those birds that looks kind of like a sparrow, but isn't". He forgot what they're called.
* SwivelChairAntics: Diner stool variant: [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2002/2002-03-06.gif The reason]] why Jon and Garfield always sit by the counter instead of at the booth at Irma's Diner.
* SymbolSwearing:
** One strip had Garfield watching an Uncle Roy episode where he goes to a factory. When Uncle Roy gets too close to a machine, he says "Turn this #%^$ thing off!".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/01/16 This is what happens]] when Garfield's lips get stuck to popsicle.
** This occured two other times: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780911.gif This comic]] where Garfield angrily cusses after a leg cramp forces him to get out of bed, and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2003/ga030514.gif this one]] where a woman on a knitting TV show cusses after dropping a stitch. Garfield lampshades it in the latter instance by commenting "Grandma's a colorful old gal".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:T]]
* TakeAThirdOption: In one [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/04/22 strip]], Jon offered Garfield either a cookie or a donut. No guess for what Garfield decides on.
-->'''Garfield:''' What is this "or" stuff of which you speak?
* TakeOurWordForIt: Garfield's and Jon's reactions upon [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/04/27 seeing the picture of Doc's girlfriend]].
* TalkingAnimal: Although the animals only think. Well, there ''is'' and early strip where it seemed Garfield was talking but it was Lyman pulling a prank on Jon.
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/05/11 Liz left Jon a message at his cell phone confirming their date and asking him to leave the accordion at home.]] In fact, he was with the accordion while listening to the message.
* TastesBetterThanItLooks: Jon makes "weenie gelatin" in one strip, which is a green hunk of jello/jelly with sausages poking out. Garfield eats it and remarks that his mouth liked it, but his stomach is still making up its mind.
* TastesLikeChicken: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/01/24 Garfield comments that the cat food he's eating "tastes sort of like chicken".]] Upon reading the label, he learns "it's made from sort of chickens".
* TastesLikeDiabetes:[[invoked]] Parodied in one strip where a scene of Pooky next to a flower quickly evolves into a mass of cute animals.
-->'''Garfield:''' Woah, that's even too much for [[CutenessProximity me...]]
* TechnologicallyBlindElders: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/07/19 Old Man Yarber is so out of touch with technology he tries to control a tractor with a whip.]]
* TechnologyMarchesOn:[[invoked]] After not using the landline since 2012, a 2017 week arc has Jon and Garfield reminisce about all the times they spent using it [[TheDitz (and Jon forgetting that it hasn't got a camera and what a dial tone sounds like)]].
* TemporalParadox: To celebrate the strip's 25th anniversary, they ran an arc where 1978!Garfield meets 2003!Garfield. 1978!Jon and 1978!Odie also show up alongside their 2003 counterparts at the end.
* TemptingCookieJar: Cookie jars have made frequent appearances, usually as a source of temptation while Garfield is on a diet. In one 1991 strip, Jon places the cookie jar atop the fridge, and Garfield is seen running with a pole so he could vault and reach it.
* TemptingFate:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/04/09 At the beach, Jon tried to get the attention of a girl by screaming "Shark!"]]. He was trampled by everyone who ran away out of fear, was slapped by the girl and, when he said things couldn't get worse, a shark appeared.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/07/22 Jon was in a date with Ellen]] and she couldn't even remember who he was. When he said it couldn't get worse, Garfield showed Liz dating somebody else.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/07/27#.U9WUylboZhA Taken to absurd extremes]] when Jon, Garfield, and Odie once went on a walk.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/09/01 Garfield during this Monday strip]]. "Well, at least Monday's over" He rips a calendar page, revealing the next day to also be a Monday. "I'll be going back to bed now".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/12/09 Jon believes]] the best part about Christmas shopping online is "no lines, and no waiting!". He's then forced to wait while his order is processed.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/11/14 During a diet arc,]] Garfield is glad he's not having any weird hallucinations this time. A roast chicken shows up wanting to borrow a cup of giblet gravy.
-->'''Garfield:''' Don't look, Garfield. Don't look.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/03/04 Garfield addresses the weather in the wrong month]].
** Garfield tells the reader that he'll beat up the next person who uses BabyTalk on him. Unfortunately, said "next person" turned out to be a muscular, spike-and-chain-wearing man.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/05/16 When Jon, Garfield, and Odie are wrapped inside a curtain roll, Jon wonders how they'd get out of it. The curtain gives way and drops them to the floor, still wrapped inside said curtain roll.]]
-->'''Jon''': Isn't that the way? Just when everything looks hopeless, things work out.
-->'''[[CatsAreSnarkers Garfield]]''': I love happy endings.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/06/13 A menu shows up as one of Garfield's age nightmares.]] Garfield doesn't find it scary, until...
-->'''Menu''': I'm the menu you can't read without the glasses you can't find.
-->'''Garfield''': I stand corrected.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/07/02 When Garfield gets stuck in a tree, he tries to cheer himself up by stating that "no cat has ever lived his whole life up a tree".]] A random cat appears behind Garfield and contradicts him by saying "I have".
-->'''Garfield''': You stay out of this.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/03/08 Garfield wonders why Jon always takes him golfing.]] Cue Jon accidentally breaking a glass window of a car while golfing and deflecting the blame on Garfield when the car owner confronts him.
* ThatCloudLooksLike:
-->'''Jon''': I think that cloud looks [[ShapedLikeItself just like a cloud]].
-->(BeatPanel)
-->'''Garfield''': Which one?
** Garfield once found one that resembled Odie: the same ears, the same stupid expression. When it started to rain, he commented that it also had "the same slobber."
* ThereWasADoor:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/03/25 Tired of the mess]] Garfield and Odie were making, Jon opened the door and told them to go outside. They jumped through the window. Berating his pets, Jon told them to use the door next time. Unfortunately, since it was closed then, they broke it while reentering.
** There's one strip in which Jon calls Garfield to dinner. Garfield comes bounding up to Jon from off panel. Jon says, "I appreciate your promptness, Garfield...." and finishes in the last panel, "... but next time, OPEN THE DOOR!", revealing that Garfield broke through the (closed) door. Could be justified in that Garfield is a cat and can't work a doorknob, but....
** There's also one where he comes through the pet door, but gets stuck inside because he's too fat and thus rips the normal door from its hinges anyway. Also, he repeatedly kicked Nermal out the front door without opening it first.
** And there's another wherein he smashes the front door down and says, "When I want in, I want in [-NOW-]!"
** Happens in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830904.gif yet another strip]] when Jon yells "FIRE!" to test his pets' fire drill knowledge. Both run straight through the wall -- or, rather, we assume they did, thanks to the hole.
* ThisExplainsSoMuch: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/08/24 Garfield's reaction]] when Jon shows him a picture of his father trying to milk a pig.
* ThisIsMyHuman: Garfield refers to Jon as "his cartoonist" in the very first strip and considers himself to be superior to Jon in every way imaginable (and thus treats Jon accordingly).
* ThisIsNoTimeToPanic: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/07/25 This comic strip]]. Jon Arbuckle was desperate about his age because he found a gray hair. Garfield told him not to panic. When Jon said it was in his ear, Garfield replied "Okay, panic".
* ThisJustIn: Garfield gives us the page quote from [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910524.gif this parody]].
* ThisLoserIsYou: Jon, although this wasn't a big part of the comic until the nineties.
* ThoughtBubbleSpeech: Coupled with InnerMonologueConversation, as Jon seems to be able to understand what Garfield is thinking when they interact.
* {{Threatening Shark}}s: Jon, reading the warning on Garfield's new flea collar: "While this collar will repel fleas, it has been known to attract sharks."
* TheThreeCertaintiesInLife: One strip had a variant, "Death, taxes, and teddy bears. Three things you can always count on."
* TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/05/22 In this comic strip]], Garfield tried to climb a tree but it fell through. His comment: "They don't make trees like they used to."
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/07/10 In this one]], he broke a ming vase and said "Ming, schming. They don't make'm like they used to."
* TimeCrash: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830228.gif "Maybe if I tore Monday off the calendar there'd be no more Mondays."]] He attempts this [[DidntThinkThisThrough on a Monday.]]
* TimmyInAWell: Repeatedly parodied.
* ToiletDrinkingDogGag: A running joke is dogs, usually Odie, drinking from toilets.
** [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2000/2000-04-26.gif?v=1.1 When the toilet starts overflowing, Odie runs towards it excitedly]].
** [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1997/1997-03-18.gif?v=1.1 Garfield is woken up by the sound of Odie drinking out of the toilet]].
** [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1979/1979-04-20.gif?v=1.1 Lyman laughs when Odie licks him. Garfield thinks that Lyman wouldn't be as happy if he knew that Odie just drank out of the toilet]].
* ToiletHumor: A story arc has Jon, Garfield and Odie visiting a tropical island called "Guano-Guano".
* TombstoneTeeth: The characters usually smile with piano-looking teeth, specially when it's [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1995/1995-12-01.gif fake]] or [[https://assets.amuniversal.com/4225a020980501365539005056a9545d smug]].
* TongueOnTheFlagpole:
** A variation. Odie gets his tongue stuck on a frozen fire hydrant. The strip then shows [[OverlyLongTongue six panels' worth of outstretched Odie tongue]], leading to Garfield saying, "We need a blow dryer and a really, really long extension cord."
** Jon once got his tongue stuck on the ''mailbox'', but it wasn't seen.
* TheTonsillitisEpisode: [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=25&month=04&year=1988 Happened to Jon in April 1988]].
* TooDumbToLive: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/08/21 A snowman]] is happy to have won "a two-week vacation at the beach!".
* TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: Occurs in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/02/07 this]] strip for "Honko's Chain Mail Body Sock".
* TotemPoleTrench: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/08/18 Garfield and Odie use Jon's shirt]] to bypass a ride's [[YouMustBeThisTallToRide minumum height requirements]].
* ToThePain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/04/15 Jon receives this]] when he tries to pick up a girl by claiming he has ESP.
-->'''Woman''': I'm going to pull your ears over your head and tie them into a knot. Then I'm going to stretch your upper lip over your chin, and then I'm going to pull your shoe off and stuff it up your left nostril.\\
'''Jon''': [[BlatantLies I knew that.]]
* ToweringFlower: [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2016/2016-05-03.gif This]] strip has Garfield walking next to a daisy almost twice his size without batting an eye. According to the cat, it really had rained a lot.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Garfield eats everything except raisins and spinach, but he prefers lasagna. He's also very fond of pizza, to the point that he considers the pizza delivery boy his best friend. Early strips also had a running gag of him eating Jon's chicken in creative ways.
* TrappedInTVLand: The ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episodes "The Lasagna Zone" and "T.V. of Tomorrow", the video game ''[[VideoGame/GarfieldCaughtInTheAct Garfield: Caught in the Act]]'', and ''The Garfield Show'' episode "Virtualodeon".
* TremorTrampoline: In a couple of strips, Garfield is able to bend the panel with his weight, and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/02/14 another has him bouncing on a hardwood floor]]. In an early one, Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/12/13 even manages to flip Jon's chair over just by jumping]]!
-->'''Jon''': Diet time.
* TriviallyObvious: In this [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/10/12 strip]], Jon says: "Odie, you're such a good boy! And Garfield, you're such a... such a... cat."
-->'''Garfield:''' A "good boy" would kill you, wouldn't it?
* TwoWordsAddedEmphasis: [[http://garfield.nfshost.com/1995/07/15/ July 15, 1995]]:
-->'''Jon''': It's the weekend, and you know what that means... Two words, Garfield... "Board games".\\
'''Garfield''': [[SarcasmMode Whoa! My fun meter is a-jumpin' off the scale!]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:U - W]]
* UglyGuyHotWife: The cartoony art style obscures it a bit, but the reader is given to understand that Jon and girlfriend Liz vary widely in levels of attractiveness. Garfield himself will sometimes remark on it.
* UncattyResemblance: Jon and Garfield commented on this trope, with pets who look increasingly (and more absurdly) like their owners. This culminated with some guy who looked like a man in a bird suit and his pet canary. Another strip had Jon sitting down to eat dinner with Garfield, which they both began gobbling up in perfect sync. The strip ends with Jon realizing he has to get away from Garfield when they eat.
* UncleSamWantsYou: A Garfield strip [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/09/15 featured A sign with Binky saying "I want you. Join the circus"]] and making an Uncle Sam pose.
* UnderTheMistletoe: A frequently used gag during the holiday season.
* {{Understatement}}: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/06 Garfield describes the "Santa's Elves Versus Godzilla" battle as "just a little loopsided".]]
* {{Unishment}}: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/06/28 It's so hot that Garfield decides to kick Jon while the later is watering the flowers]]. Jon retaliates by hitting him with water, which Garfield liked. Realizing what just happened, Jon kicks Garfield hoping to receive the same retaliation. [[AvertedTrope Garfield instead pulls down Jon's shorts and wraps him with his hose]].
* UnnamedParent: Jon's parents. Also, Garfield's mother, who appeared in a series of strips in 1984.
* UnsoundEffect:
** For a rather unconventional example, whenever a hammer is being used, the sound effect is usually "hammer" instead of "bang."
** Others include "unscrew" for the top of a saltshaker being unscrewed, and "plug" for Christmas lights being plugged in.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790304.gif These]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790729.gif two]] early strips use "Leap!" to indicate Garfield jumping off a table.
** And there's plenty more where that came from, such as [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810425.gif Hook!]] for Garfield being [[VaudevilleHook Vaudeville Hooked]] offscreen.
** And "Fling!" [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga901021.gif is]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1991/ga910120.gif often]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940113.gif used]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940729.gif to]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960606.gif indicate]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960723.gif a]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga970131.gif character]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1999/ga991003.gif flinging]] something.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Garfield is all over this trope.
* UnusualEuphemism: Garfield notably says "Oh, lawsey, lawsey, lawsey" when Odie makes his first appearance. This is an old-fashioned and primarily Indiana-centric euphemism for using the Lord's name in vain.
* UnwinnableByDesign: Spin-off game ''Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal'' is a Cruel variant. You play as Garfield, who has a constantly depleting hunger meter. If the meter depletes and Garfield doesn't have any items, it's GameOver. Otherwise, Garfield eats whatever he currently has. The game is full of {{Moon Logic Puzzle}}s and {{Red Herring}}s, so it's hard to figure out what you actually need and what's just there to refill the hunger meter.
* UrineTrouble:
** Hinted at in the April 21, 1982 strip, where Garfield disguises himself as a bush, then notices that Odie is sniffing at him.
** The December 12, 1995 strip has Jon, Garfield and Odie trying to pick out a Christmas tree. Jon states that he can't decide which tree he likes, then makes a shocked expression while Garfield quips "Neither can Odie. He likes them all", clearly implying that Odie is marking his territory on all the Christmas trees.
** Implied in the May 16, 2011 strip when Garfield once again finds himself stuck up a tree.
-->'''Garfield''': Oh, look! Odie has come to rescue me from this tree! ({{Beat}}) Well, he did ''something'' involving this tree.
** Hinted at once more in the April 4, 2012 strip when Garfield admonishes Odie while the dog is walking by [[NotSoInnocentWhistle whistling]].
-->'''Garfield''': Some of us like to ''climb'' that tree!
* VaudevilleHook: Garfield has been hooked off the fence a few times. Once, during a Christmas week, an oversized candy cane was used as one.
* VengefulVendingMachine: The Soda Pop machine from one strip. It works fine until Garfield tries putting more coins in to get more soda cans, after which a huge can crushes him.
* VerbThis: Jon had to [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/04/13 free-float this]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/07/29 forget that]].
* VisualPun: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/01/23 This]] strip featured Frank, a friend of Jon's, meeting Garfield for the first time and rubbing him. Garfield reacted violently and stated "Some people rub me the wrong way".
* VolumetricMouth: The side-view variant is used quite often.
* VomitIndiscretionShot:
** Garfield's reaction to finding out that he had eaten octopus was to spit it all back out (on Jon, no less) and then remark that it wasn't half bad.
** Strongly implied in a 1979 strip when when Garfield is trying to alert Jon on a road trip.
-->'''Jon:''' What is it, Garfield? What are you trying to tell me? Oh... You're carsick, you say.
* WaitingSkeleton: The comic used this trope a few times.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/04/23 The services on this airline are rather bad]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/06/27 Cats don't always get rescued from trees]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/06/26 The doctor is running very late]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/06/09 Garfield can't wait for the pizza delivery man]] (though this one is a DaydreamSurprise).
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Garfield on the pursuit of mice: "It's not the ''having,'' it's the ''getting.''"
* WayPastTheExpirationDate: In one strip, Jon claims that he looked danger right in the face and laughed. Garfield then lets the readers know that Jon drank milk that was past the expiration date.
* WeightLossHorror: Garfield has had nightmares about these in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/07/07 July 1979]], [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1987/1987-03-03.gif March 1987]] and [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1989/1989-01-08.gif January 1989]].
* WentToTheGreatXInTheSky: A spider wants to take revenge for his grandfather whom, as he says, Garfield sent to "that big web in the sky".
* WhatAreRecords:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/10/03 A TV example]].
-->'''TV:''' Don't touch that dial.
-->'''Garfield:''' Okay, I won't. And what's a dial?
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/6/14 Garfield has a birthday nightmare where he's old enough to remember what records are.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One strip has a blind date of Jon's named Gwen, who dresses as absurdly as he does on dates and finds him cute. Garfield even says "God made two of them!" Although she would have been a good recurring character, perhaps as a DistaffCounterpart of Jon, she was never mentioned again.
* WhatsAHenway:
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield, do you know there's a mouse in the garbage?
-->'''Garfield:''' I think so... (singing) Oh, there's a mouse in the garbage, and I don't care...
* WhatsAnXLikeYouDoingInAYLikeThis: You could say that Garfield {{inverted|Trope}} this one.
-->'''Garfield:''' What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?
-->'''Arlene:''' But this is a nice place.
-->'''Garfield:''' Like I said... What's a girl like YOU doing in a place like THIS?
* WhatTheFuAreYouDoing: Garfield shows what happens when an untrained person (well, cat, in his case) tries to karate-chop bricks [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/01/25 in this strip]].
* WhenIWasYourAge: When he was Jon's age, Jon's Dad was already married and had a kid. Jon's reply ("Yeh, me") prompted him to state it was a good argument but he still thought Jon should get married.
* WhenPropsAttack: A late 2011 ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip had Garfield eating cookies in the cookie jar, but when Jon catches him, Garfield pretends that the cookie jar is eating him. Of course, Jon isn't fooled one bit by it:
-->'''Garfield:''' Help! I'm being eaten by a cookie jar!
-->'''Jon:''' Get out of there!
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/01/25 In this strip]], Garfield is using Jon's butter as fast as he can because it expires at midnight.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Garfield's town is never specified, except on animated special ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'' it's Muncie, Indiana (Jim Davis' residence since 1963 and Paws, Inc.'s HQ).
* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: In one strip, Garfield is watching a commercial for [[AllNaturalSnakeOil a health supplement]] that promises to help men attract women, but then the ad mentions that SideEffectsInclude uncontrollable knee slapping, foot stomping, and blinking, as well as [[RapidHairGrowth abnormal hair growth all over the body.]]
--->'''Garfield:''' What idiot would buy that product?
--->''Jon stands behind Garfield with hair growing all over his body, blinking wildly, stomping his foot, and slapping his knee over and over again''
* WilliamTelling: The protagonist being the glutton that he is misses intentionally so that he can eat the apple afterwards.
* WireDilemma: Parodied [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/07/21 here]]:
-->'''Woman on TV:''' Bob, we've only got 3 seconds before the bomb explodes! Cut the red wire, not the green one!\\
'''Man on TV:''' Bernice, there's something I've always wanted to tell you...\\
'''Woman on TV:''' Yes?\\
'''Man on TV:''' I'm color-blind.\\
'''Garfield:''' Bye-bye, Bob and Bernice.
* WishingForMoreWishes: An indirect example occurs in the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/24 October 24, 2020]] strip, where Garfield watches a television program about a kid finding a genie. After the kid is told that they have three wishes, the kid's first wish is that the genie is bad at math, which results in the genie unwittingly deciding that the kid has nine wishes left.
* WordSchmord: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780904.gif Labor Day, Shmabor Day]], and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830710.gif Ming, Shming]].
* WorldOfSnark: Garfield's the most prominent snarker, but just about everyone gets plenty of turns.
* WorldOfPun: They are very, ''VERY'', rare, but [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800918.gif they]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810116.gif are]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga980502.gif there]]. Davis stopped doing them because he wanted the strip to translate internationally.
* WorthIt:
** Jon giving Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/07/12 a rubber hamburger]].
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/07/07 asked an alarm-o-clock what time it was and it said it couldn't know because it wasn't wearing a watch. Garfield broke it and it said "It was worth it".]]
* WouldHitAGirl:
** Garfield once, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/10/12 knocked Arlene out by throwing Odie at her.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/11/18 That's what happens when a cat girl tries to eat Garfield's food]].
* WriteWhatYouKnow:
** In-universe example. [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/02/10 Garfield wants to write a book]] and [[InvokedTrope claims]] "a writer must write something he knows about" while trying to decide on a theme. He picks "night indigestions".
** Another time, he picked a topic he wasn't already familiar with and then said he would experience it for himself so he could base his book on it. The topic? Running with the bulls of Pamplona. The title? ''The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done''.
* WrittenSoundEffect: "SPLUT!" is the sound that a pie makes when it hits Garfield's face, although some other foods go "SPLOT!" instead. "Dingle" is also used for Odie's toy balls with bells in them. Also, "GOOSH!" is quite commonly used for wet splats.
* WroteTheBook: April 21, 1990.
-->'''TV:''' Viewers, are you lethargic? Then let us help you.\\
'''Garfield:''' No thanks. I wrote the book on lethargy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:X - Z]]
* YankTheDogsChain: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/05/11 An alarm clock]] induced Garfield into dreaming he was locked inside a pasta factory. Then, as Garfield was seconds away from the greatest feast in history, the alarm clock rang.
* YawnAndReach: Jon tries doing this with Liz at the movies, only for her to "ahem" him away. He then leans on ''Garfield'', who also gives him an "ahem."
* YouAllLookFamiliar: Non-video-game example; the RecurringCharacter Squeak looks just like any other mouse in the strip, and it's not often that he's explicitly named as such. Currently, the last strip in which he is named is on [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga970616.gif June 16, 1997]].
** He reappears on [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/09/07 September 7, 2011]].
* YouAndWhatArmy:
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/02/11 this strip]], Garfield asked that question when Jon said he'd give Garfield a bath.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/04/09 Garfield is in the middle of asking this]] to a kid whose sandwich he stole when he notices the bear behind him.
* YouAreFat: Most often said by the scale or Jon to Garfield.
* YouCanSeeThatRight: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/22 Liz hallucinates Jon's face looking like a donut.]]
-->'''Liz:''' Okay, did you see that?
-->'''Garfield:''' He usually has sprinkles.
* YouDidntSeeThat: Used a couple times.
* YouDoNOTWantToKnow: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/29 Garfield takes a giant cone outside to fill it with snow.]]
-->'''Liz:''' Where'd he get the bucket of cherry syrup?
-->'''Jon:''' Somethings are better left unknown...
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga921115.gif This strip]] features a pink haired girl, and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960728.gif this one]] has a purple haired one.
* YouJustHadToSayIt:
** In one of the Garfield comic strip's rare strings of positive continuity, Garfield, Odie and Jon are on a camping trip which has been plagued with calamities.
--->'''Jon:''' This camping trip's been a total disaster. The wind blew our food everywhere, the ants ate my cherry pie...\\
'''Garfield:''' No, Jon! Don't say it!\\
'''Jon:''' What else could go wrong?\\
''[It promptly starts raining]''\\
'''Garfield:''' You said it!
** Or of course [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/08/03 this alternative version]]:
--->'''Garfield:''' He's gonna say it.\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks left'')\\
'''Garfield:''' I just know he's gonna say it.\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks right'')\\
'''Garfield:''' It wouldn't be Jon if he didn't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks left'')\\
'''Garfield:''' 4... 3... 2... 1...\\
'''Jon:''' (''looks right'') What a long train.\\
'''Garfield:''' '''''ARRRRGH!'''''
** Or [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/02/16 this one]]:
--->'''Jon:''' Well, there's a blizzard outside...\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' We're snowed in...\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' The cable tv has gone out...\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' And we're out of hot chocolate.\\
'''Garfield:''' Don't say it.\\
'''Jon:''' What else can go wrong? [lights go out]\\
'''Garfield:''' You said it.
* YouMustBeThisTallToRide:
** Garfield and Odie [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/08/18 wore Jon's shirt to get past that.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/01/19 This strip has three signs]]: "Beware of Dog"; "Thrills Galore!"; and "You must be this tall to be bitten". The minimum height requirement is very low.
* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/06/03 One strip has Garfield go out to do his entertainment routine on the fence wearing Nerd Glasses saying "you wouldn't throw tomatoes at a guy wearing glasses would you?"]]. We see splat sound effects in the next panel.The last panel is a upset Garfield who is covered with tomato everywhere on his body except his head.
* YourBrainWontBeMuchOfAMeal: In one strip, Garfield pretends to be TheIgor, wandering around saying "A brain! I need a brain for my master!" He pauses to take a look at Odie, and then moves on, repeating "A brain! I need a brain for my master!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/03/02 Jon was afraid an insect was eating his brain and Garfield said it'd starve.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/10/27 An]] [[TheIgor Igor-like]] character shows up and claims he "must have human brain".
-->'''Garfield:''' (to Jon) Notice how he walked right past you.
* YourMom:
** When Garfield stands on the talking scale:
--->'''Scale:''' Let me put it this way... Have you ever considered a career as a river barge?\\
'''Garfield:''' Your mother was a blender!\\
'''Scale:''' That hurt.
** In another strip, when he does his act on the fence, he tells his audience: "All your mothers wear army boots!"
** Yet another strip, Jon tries to train Garfield to be an "attack cat", and makes a dummy from him to practice. When he orders "Attack!", Garfield tells the dummy: "Your mother wears combat boots!"
** In another strip, when Garfield is a bad mood, he shouts to a bunch of dogs: "All your mothers wear flea collars!" which gets him beaten up.
** A spider says this to Garfield in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/11/09 this strip]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/04/24 Odie was chasing cars]] and Garfield tried to caution him against it because he could get clobbered. Realizing he said "clobbered", Garfield then told Odie a Buick said "unkind things" about Odie's mother.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/09/04 Garfield, as "The Caped Avenger", felt he could get into all sorts of troubles and]] be protected by his sidekick Odie (a.k.a. Slurps). When Garfield smacked a dog and said the dog's mother chased garbage trucks, Slurps resigned his "comission".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/02/18 Garfield's idea of "get" a mouse was saying the mouse's mother dressed it funny.]]
* YouTalkTooMuch: Said by an old lady [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1987/ga870816.gif here]], even though no one else spoke while she was babbling. Garfield also [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020710.gif said this to Jon once]].
* {{Zipperiffic}}: Deconstructed, bizarrely enough. Jon wears a suit with an absurd amount of zippered pockets, then forgets which pocket he put his keys in. Cue Garfield giving an OhCrap face and exclaiming, "This could take months!"

[[/folder]]

* Garfield/TropesDtoF
* Garfield/TropesJtoO
* Garfield/TropesPtoS
* Garfield/TropesTtoZ

* WishingForMoreWishes: An indirect example occurs in the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/24 October 24, 2020]] strip, where Garfield watches a television program about a kid finding a genie. After the kid is told that they have three wishes, the kid's first wish is that the genie is bad at math, which results in the genie unwittingly deciding that the kid was nine wishes left.

[[folder:A]]
* AbortedArc: Many storylines end like this, especially the ones where Garfield, Jon and Odie take a trip. They always go out of their way to make a strip or two preparing or heading to their destination, but by Sunday they're suddenly back home as if nothing happened. If the story spans more than one week, the Sunday strip will continue the storyline instead.
* AccidentalTruth: In one comic strip, Garfield tells Odie there's been a dog food recall as an excuse to steal his food. Then Jon reads in the newspaper that it really ''was'' a dog food recall.
* AchievementsInIgnorance:
** Odie was once able to climb a tree because he didn't know he couldn't.
** Odie once hung in a upside-down hammock. Garfield said he's successfully doing that because Odie's too stupid to understand gravity.
* AcidRefluxNightmare: Garfield has had several after eating leftovers late at night. For instance, a 1988 strip leads to him dreaming that he slept for 50 years and woke up to a world where cats are hunted for food.
* {{Acrofatic}}: For such a ball of lard, Garfield is surprisingly athletic when he wants to be, being able to run extremely fast and even beat up other animals and even people! Some readers have theorized that all those diets Garfield has endured over the years were partially successful.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: That one Monday Garfield falls into a sinkhole in his own house, even he can't help but be amazed at Monday's originality.
-->'''Garfield:''' Cool! A sinkhole, right here in the kitchen!
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal:
** The 10-24-1999 strip saw Garfield destroying daisies, maiming marigolds and mauling mums.
** In a strip where Pooky goes missing:
-->'''Garfield:''' Aha! Could this be a telltale trail of teddy bear hair? Even if it isn't, that was a pretty nifty bit of alliteration.
** "Welcome to Binky Burger. I'm Binky's Buddy, Biff."
* AerosolSprayBackfire: Jon corners Garfield and triumphantly tells him it's time for his flea spray... then proceeds to spray a huge cloud of it in his own face.
* AesopAmnesia: [[https://garfield.dale.ro/garfield-1979-may-14.html At least ]] [[https://garfield.dale.ro/garfield-1983-august-8.html twice]], Garfield became so fat his feet couldn't reach the floor. And yet as soon as he slimmed back down, he went right back to his gluttonous ways.
* AffectionateParody: Jim Davis sometimes uses Jon's family to poke fun at his own DownOnTheFarm roots. Jon's father is depicted in one strip at being amazed by an indoor toilet, while in another he breaks Jon's sink after trying to pump the faucet.
* AffectionatePickpocket: Garfield has done this to steal food from people's pockets on at least two occasions.
* AintTooProudToBeg: Odie begs to Jon for food (with PuppyDogEyes, to boot) in this strip. Garfield is shocked that it works.
* AirGuitar: Jon plays air guitar in the April 26, 2015 strip. Garfield counters with Air Lasagna.
* AlienAbduction: Garfield is worried about his girlfriend Arlene]] because she believed his alien abduction excuse.
* AlienAnimals: One strip suggests that cats are invaders attempting to subjugate humanity, and that they are responsible for certain seemingly-mindless actions of dogs and lower-class humans.
* AllClothUnravels:
** Garfield only pulls on a thread from Jon's pants, but the shirt somehow unravels, too, leaving Jon naked outside.
** Garfield once tried to unravel his way out of a HomemadeSweaterFromHell in this manner, only to have Jon's mother re-knit the sweater immediately, catching up to him by the third panel.
* AllJustADream:
** WordOfGod is that [[spoiler:the 1989 Halloween story arc]] is this, although some readers continue to have their own interpretations.
** In one strip, Garfield discovers a bottomless pan of lasagna. He's not happy when he realizes it was just a dream.
** Jon got a date and asked Garfield to [[PinchMe pinch him]] to be sure it wasn't a dream. It was, and he screamed.
* AlliterativeList: Jon lives by three words. "Live, laugh, love".
* AluminumChristmasTrees: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/12/21 This strip]] features one of the TropeNamers themselves.
* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Arlene is about as pink as a bottle of Pepto-Bismol.
* AmbiguousSyntax: Jon [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/01/03 once]] told Garfield, "We are going on a diet." Garfield starts questioning the implications behind this statement... implications that aren't obvious, that is.
-->'''Jon:''' I don't think I'm getting through to him.
* AnalProbing: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/03/11 "Dang Earl, yer bein probed!"]]
* AndADietCoke:
** Occurs in [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2007/11/04 this]] strip.
** Inverted in [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/07/06 this]] one, in which Garfield is given a lasagna that's low calorie and one-third fat. He requests two more.
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/01/05 this early 1990]] strip, Garfield looks over Jon's cereal wanting it. Jon retorts that Garfield's already eaten 12 donuts, 6 pancakes, 1 pound of ham and a quart of milk. Garfield asks just what kind of point Jon is making.
** Jon makes a complicated pizza order in [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2007/11/04 this]] strip ending with "2 diet Colas".
* AndThenWhat:
** In one strip, Garfield is being chased by a dog and wonders what the dog would actually do if it catches him. So he turns around and surrenders to the dog, asking it what it's going to do now. The dog then starts a ''waltz'' with Garfield, with an irritated Garfield demanding that he gets to lead next time.
** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/09/25 another one]], a mouse tells Garfield mice would rule the world some day. Garfield asked "Then what?" and the mouse said they'd then live in people's house and eat cheese. Garfield was unimpressed by the answer.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/03/22 An insect said someday they'd rule the world.]] Garfield asked "Then what?" and the insect hesitated before saying they'd "crawl on stuff".
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/05/11 Ellen's reaction when Jon tried the sympathy angle by claiming he only had one week to live.]]
* AndThisIsFor: Garfield [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/11/15 clobbered Odie]] and said "That's for not being a cat." [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/11/16 Later on]], Garfield realized it was wrong on his part to Clobber Odie for not being a cat since it wasn't Odie's choice. Garfield then kicked Odie. "This is for being a dog."
* AnimalJingoism: The traditional cats vs. dogs rivalry is played straight on many occasions between Garfield and Odie and all the other dogs he interacts with, but it's also repeatedly subverted. Garfield and Odie can get along perfectly well when they feel like it. One particular strip involves what looks like a large, angry barking dog chasing a terrified Garfield, but in the last panel they stop to catch their breath as a despondent Garfield tells the dog that they'll never catch the ice cream truck.
* AnimalsLackAttributes: None of the animals are anatomically correct, but in a family-friendly daily newspaper comic strip, would you really ''expect'' them to be?
* AnthropomorphicShift:
** Garfield originally started out looking more like a real-life housecat, but per ArtEvolution, he became extremely humanoid in 1984.
** This was lampshaded in two strips. In one, Jon asked Garfield where the cookies in a jar went. After getting no response, he said, "For a cat who walks on his hind legs, you don't speak much!"
** In the other, Jon told him that cats can't walk on their hind legs. Garfield said, "I didn't know that," and then, to Jon's shock, started walking on his ''front'' legs.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
** "What's new, Garfield?" "Well, King Kong is on the roof batting down airplanes. The entire planet is being ravaged by brain-eating aliens... but [[ItsAllAboutMe more important, my dish is empty]]."
** "Birthdays bring you lots of things... Gray hair. Bad eyesight... Creaky joints. Ear hair, aches, pains, bad teeth... Sigh... And cake!"
** Another one that occurs while Jon's watching a soap opera:
--->'''Jon:''' I have some bad news, Garfield. I ran out of your favorite cat food.\\
'''Garfield:''' I'll survive.\\
'''Jon:''' Odie chewed up your scratching post.\\
'''Garfield:''' Big deal.\\
'''Jon:''' And Frank left Marcia for Stephanie.\\
'''Garfield:''' (''dramatic expression'') HOW COULD HE?!
** "Why do people expect us cats to eat mice? This mouse could be somebody's mother. This mouse could be a deacon in its little mouse church. And one of the fuzzy sucker's bones might get caught in my throat."
* ArtEvolution: A rather extreme example, as Garfield has gone from having a huge body and beady eyes, to having a huge head and a body that looks like a basketball with legs. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garfieldevolve.png Just look at his face alone.]] The art evolution even predates ''Garfield'', as the short-lived predecessor ''Jon'' features a slightly different face for Jon, a lumpier and un-striped Garfield who has enormous jowls and a marking on his tail, and an Odie (then named Spot) who resembles an oversized Chihuahua more than anything else.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d heavily in a 25th-anniversary arc where [[TemporalParadox 2003 Garfield meets 1978 Garfield]].
--->'''2003 Garfield:''' So I was you, huh?\\
'''1978 Garfield:''' A long time ago.\\
'''2003 Garfield:''' How did I see out of those itty-bitty eyes?\\
'''1978 Garfield:''' First explain how you stand on those two spindly legs.
** Further lampshaded in that year's birthday strip where we see not only 1978/2003 Garfield, but also 1978/2003 Jon and Odie.
* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: Real cats are lactose intolerant. In real life, feeding a cat with lasagna would eventually kill it (that may explain why Garfield is overweight, though).
* AscendedMeme: Jim Davis not only approved of ''Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield'', he also [[ParodyAssistance contributed a few to the book]].
* AsideGlance: Occurs in the final panel of nearly all the comics, often as a reaction to a particularly stupid line or action.
* AskAStupidQuestion: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/07/27 Jon asked if Garfield would sleep all day.]] Garfield then checked his social calendar. He said he'd have a high tea with the Queen of England but had no appointments for that day so he slept and Jon mentioned the trope's name.
* AssShove:
** Implied in one strip where Jon says, "Ellen, I have a cold. I thought you might like to feed me some soup… that's not what spoons are for, Ellen."
** "[[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/03/12 There's a novel new place]] to park the remote."
** Is also implied a couple of times when Garfield is upset that the vet took his temperature (or in one strip, when she ''threatens'' to do so if he doesn't cooperate. He decides to cooperate.)
** [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=21.11.1982 "I don't even want to know where THIS goes..."]]
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/5/12 "Ever had a mizzenmast stuck up your-" "No, and let's talk about anything else right now"]].
* AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption: In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890530.gif one strip]], Jon begins a phone call politely, only to yell threatening things at Garfield for stealing his food yet again. Needless to say, Debbie thought the yelling was directed at her.
* AttackBackfire: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/10/30 This]] strip had this happen to Garfield, with Jon ComicallyMissingThePoint of what Garfield was actually trying to do.
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/06/24 One of the announced movies on TV]] is "Attack of the 50-Foot Calzone".
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/04/24 Garfield was grateful for the trope]] when a dog that was chasing him suddenly decided to chase the mailman instead. The dog then decided to chase a squirrel instead of the mailman.
* AttentionWhore: Garfield practically wrote the book on this.
* AuthorAppeal: There is a definite point in the comic's long run when you will notice that most of the (human) females begin to be consistently drawn with huge breasts, butts, and lips. Some strips, such as [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/07/28 this one]], draw women in a NonStandardCharacterDesign.
* {{Autocannibalism}}: Hinted [[http://assets.amuniversal.com/bd3b61b0bf4e012fdcd0001dd8b71c47 here]], combined with in-universe {{Fridge Horror}}.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: They may give each other a hard time, but Jon and Garfield really do care for one another. Jon even went so far as to throw out a potential girlfriend (literally) when she told him she was allergic to cats and forced him to choose between her or Garfield. Garfield and Odie also qualify.
* AwkwardSilence: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/03/28 THIS Strip]] is where Jon asks Liz for the reason of why she goes out with him. Then, it eventually caused Jon and Liz to pause for some seconds while staring at each other. Finally, Jon said that "this is an awkward pause" and Liz finally mentioned that she is gathering her thoughts, actually.

[[folder:B]]
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Subverted and slightly altered with Nermal being able to talk (in the strip, at least, Nermal is an adult or at least adolescent cat who is ''intentionally'' invoking this trope; he deliberately stunted his growth because he's able to get away with more if people think he's a kitten). Though averted in the cartoon as Garfield sabotages Jon's dates to avoid (future) little kids making his life a living hell.
* BabysittingEpisode: Not quite babysitting, per se, but two different arcs had Garfield and Odie being pet-sat while Jon was out on a date with Liz. The first time, they were pet-sat by the [[BlindMistake horribly nearsighted]] Lillian while the second time had them under the care of the muscle-bound Greta.
** Very early strips had Garfield and Odie being babysat by Jon's Aunt Gussie.
* BadDate: Happens a lot to Jon [[spoiler: until he and Liz become an official couple]].
** One example went something like this:
-->'''Random Woman:''' Jon Arbuckle?
-->'''Jon:''' Hi, do I know you?
-->'''Random Woman:''' We went out once.
-->'''Jon:''' We did?
-->'''Random Woman:''' I ran away screaming from our date...
-->'''Garfield:''' You'll have to be more specific than that.
* BaitAndSwitch:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/04/03 In this Sunday story]], a dog was approaching Garfield, giving the impression he'd maul the cat but then the dog instead invites Garfield for lunch. Garfield commented that "Things aren't always as they seem".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/07/16 Jon asks Odie to guess who's going to the vet.]] Garfield, believing Odie to be the one, makes up a tale to make the experience seem scary and then Jon reveals that Garfield is the one going to the vet.
* BaitAndSwitchComment:
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/03/19 Garfield notices a spider]], produces a can of bug spray and says it "ought to do the trick". He then whacks the spider with the can.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/12/31 It's the last day of 2019]] and Garfield is counting the seconds until something arrives. After he happily exclaims its arrival, it's revealed he's talking about a pizza.
* {{Balloonacy}}: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/05/03 Jon has "the world's largest balloon" delivered.]] Results in AllBalloonsHaveHelium when it floats the house away.
* BananaPeel: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga820204.gif Here]], [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga880228.gif here (logo box)]], [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900513.gif here]], [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900514.gif here]], [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900515.gif here]], and [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1997/ga970109.gif here]]. Variant [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2004/ga040121.gif here]]. Subverted [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960526.gif here]].
* BangingPotsAndPans: Garfield does this to Jon a lot.
* BasedOnATrueStory: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/03/15 According to Garfield,]] Jon's love song to Liz "I'll Stay With You Forever Even If You Try to Lose Me in a Shopping Mall" is "based on a true story".
* BeachBury:
** Garfield once [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1980/ga800814.gif buried Odie]] "up to his knees" (i.e., only his legs were sticking out of the sand).
** Happens when Jon lets some kids bury Garfield. He actually finds it relaxing... at first.
* BeachEpisode: The cast frequently visit the beach. Bad things happen to Jon every time.
* BeatPanel: Very often, which is surprising for a three-panel strip.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
** One strip has Garfield [[CatUpATree stranded up a tree]]. Garfield says to it "Stupid tree...May all your stupid branches fall off!" Needless to say, all the trees branches broke off and fell to the ground. Including the one he was on.
-->'''Garfield:''' [[SarcasmMode Nice curse]], Garfield.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/03/15 Garfield wished]] for a pizza and then he got it. He then [[RetroactiveWish wished for some music]] and a piano fell on him.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/12/08 When Jon and Liz were about to take their Christmas card photo,]] Jon called for Garfield and Odie, claiming they wanted ''everyone'' in it. Garfield then brought [[ExactWords Arlene, Nermal, Pooky, Squeak, a spider, a chained dog, a goldfish, and the pizza guy ("He's like family.")]].
** In another strip, he wished for a fifty-pound pan of lasagna. It fell on him. "Now wouldn't you think I'd know better than to make a wish like that on a Monday?" he mused.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/08/06 In a ''very'' early strip]], Garfield is shown hanging onto the screen door complaining of his boredom. He wishes for something to happen, which does when [[TheDoorSlamsYou Jon slams the screen with him still on it to announce lunchtime]].
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/09/02 After returning from a camping trip, Jon wishes he "could camp just one more night".]] Garfield locks him outside their home.
** One strip has Garfield wishing for a lasagna, and one magically appears in front of him. Shocked, the fat cat says that he wishes Jon could be here to see this, and Jon walks into the frame. Realizing that he's been granted the power to have anything he wants, Garfield [[GenreSavvy figures out]] that the scenario is most likely a dream, but remarks "I wish it wasn't, though." He promptly gets this wish, too--by waking up.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/09/27 Garfield blows a raspberry and asks Odie to try it. He ends up soaking wet and asking Jon for a towel as the result.]]
** Garfield gets himself wet trying to drink from a water fountain, and suggests Odie to have a drink of water himself. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/05/27 Odie does so... and STILL manages to get Garfield wet.]]
** Garfield makes a business proposal with a large dog, telling said dog to attack Garfield's target and MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. His target of choice turns out to be Nermal. Unfortunately for Garfield, the dog turns out to be a HitmanWithAHeart, takes a liking to Nermal at once, and turns on Garfield for asking him to hurt Nermal. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/09/08 It ends badly for Garfield as the result.]]
-->'''Jon''': What happened to you?
-->'''Garfield''': (in badly beat-up shape) I hate cute...
* BedsheetGhost: Featured in these [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/10/30 two]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/10/27 comics]]. The first is with the ghosts of animals he ate and the other is with characters wearing ghost costumes.
* BeeAfraid:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/08/16 On his way to Liz's house, Jon picks up some flowers.]] Unfortunately, some bees show up looking for the flowers. By the time Jon arrives at his destination, his face is full of sting marks and the flowers are ruined.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/11/08 Jon hears a buzz from his pocket and thinks it's his phone.]] After Garfield calls his attention to the fact his phone is on a table, he realizes what the buzz really is and runs away in fear.
-->'''Garfield:''' Aren't you going to answer your bee?
* BeggarWithASignboard: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/04/09 A dog]] says he [[ADogAteMyHomework will eat homework for food]].
* BellyDancer: In the 34th book "Life to the Fullest", an extra strip reveals a few group of women considered to be Jon's worst dates, among them being Suki, a Japanese woman who is a combination of a sumo wrestler and a belly dancer.
* BerserkButton: ''Don't'' ask Garfield to "beg" for something. Garfield has also triggered Jon's on occasion such as [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980-01-20 this memorable early cartoon]] where Jon reacts to Garfield eating his chicken by pelting him with all the other food on the table.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Odie usually tolerates Garfield's abuse... but only usually.
* BeyondTheImpossible: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/04/01 Garfield ate a pizza]] ''before'' it arrived. He has "friends high up in the delivery business".
* BigBallOfViolence: Showed up in early Garfield/Odie fights.
* BillBillJunkBill: Garfield, when channel surfing:
-->'''Garfield''': Garbage... Junk... Garbage... Junk... Garbage... Junk... Ah! Trash!
-->'''Garfield''': Quality... Quality... Quality... Quality... Dreck... Quality... Quality... [[DelayedReaction Woah, back up there!]]
* BirthdayHater: Garfield's birthday is celebrated every year, and he doesn't like it much, as it reminds him how old he is. He often has nightmares and weird hallucinations related to age. (He does like getting cake - and the attention - when the actual party comes, however.)
* BlackComedy
** The mass amount of pain inflicted on Jon and Odie often leans into this:
--->''([[RunningGag Garfield kicks Odie off the table]])''
--->'''Garfield''': Ooo... I bet that hurt.
--->''(Garfield leaves and returns with a potted plant. He drops it onto Odie with a crash.)''
--->'''Garfield''': Get well soon!
** His repeated murder of spiders (which are sapient in this universe) also veers into this on occasion. After he kills one spider, its spouse comforts its child in a heartwrenching scene while Garfield looks on.
--->'''Garfield:''' I guess I should feel like a heel. But I don't. ''*STOMP*''
* BlatantLies:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/11/01 When Liz asked Jon if he believed in ghosts]], he reacted in fear but then tried to recompose himself and said he didn't. Garfield told her to ask him about his ''23'' night-lights.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/03/28 When Odie denies rooting through the garbage all the time]], Garfield says it'd be more believeable if he didn't have a banana peel on his head.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/12/12 Garfield writes a letter mentioning]] an EvilTwin Santa's "been watching all year". Believing "he's not '''that''' gullible", Garfield decides not to send it to Santa.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Generally averted, since Jim Davis has said that he tries to avoid US-centric references or puns, so that the strip can be easily translated. However, this was not always true in the early years.
** The Spanish translation was pretty rocky at first:
*** "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/12/15 I ate a Milk Dud and kissed a cat]]" became "I hate spoiled milk and kissing cats".
*** "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840116.gif I love it when the Good Humor man comes]]" had the ice cream brand name "Good Humor" translated literally, as if it were just a friendly man who inexplicably hands out ice cream to cats.
*** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/12/14 this strip]], Garfield's dialogue was translated to something like "But at least I haven't broken a limb" even though he's clearly pointing to a branch — i.e., the "sturdy limb".
*** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/12/11 This one]] oddly changed "They say the pet alligators that are flushed into the sewers grow to huge proportions" to "They say there are huge ''crocodiles''…" with no explanation as to how they would get down there.
** The current Spanish translators (see [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol here]] since it's no longer on the Garfield website) are generally quite skilled, to the point that they sometimes slip in their own puns. For instance, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/11/06 this strip]] went with a pun on "sleeping bag" that still works when [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1932 translated back into English]]. They even localize some references properly, one of the most obvious being that cats are said to have seven lives instead of nine in most Spanish cultures. But even then, they're not infallible:
*** "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/07/24 Somewhere between Floyd the whistling snake and crabgrass]]" [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2001/07/24 became]] "En algún lugar entre la serpiente y un cangrejo." ("Somewhere between a snake and a crab.")
*** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2007/01/23 This one]] had the translators failing to realize that "chili dog" is a food, [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2007/01/23 and thus translated it as]] "chihuahua".
*** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/01/13 This one]] [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2008/01/13 got translated literally]] into Spanish ("Philomena Scott-Aphat-Ramsbottom" is rendered as "Filomena Escotia Afat de Ramsbottom"), but to be fair, it was a very rare exception to Jim Davis' "no wordplay" rule.
*** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/04/30 this strip]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/23 this strip]], "'Sup?" (i.e. "What's up?") [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2008/04/30 became]] [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2012/01/23 "¿Cena?"]] (as in "[Do you want to have] supper?")
*** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/05/06 this strip]], "You sound like you're breaking up" [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2009/05/06 was translated incorrectly]] to refer to ending a relationship, as opposed to the intended context of poor phone reception, thus causing the joke not to make sense. Averted in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/05/17 this strip a year later]], where "Hold on, you're breaking up" was translated as [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2010/05/17 "Hold on, I can't hear you very well"]].
*** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/04/21 These]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/04/23 two]] strips accidentally [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2010/04/21 ended up with]] [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2010/04/23 each other's dialogue]] in the Spanish translation.
*** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/espanol/garfieldespanol/2010/11/27 the Spanish version]] of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/11/27 this strip]], they forgot to invert the words for "beef stew", thus killing the joke. Considering how well most of the other strips are translated, this one really stands out as a glaring error.
** A couple of Hungarian bloopers: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/02/07 this strip]], the spider's line became "I can tell when I'm being fooled!". Which doesn't make the slightest of sense. In another strip, "my place" was translated litarally, as "én helyem" ("my spot"), when "nálam" ("at my place") would have been correct. Similarly, the expressions "Well, what do you know!" and "Okay, I'll bite" have also seen word-for-word translations ("Just what do you know!" and "Okay, I'll bite you"). Also, in one instance, the word "Egad" was left untranslated.
** [[http://www.geocities.ws/szzenigma/garfieldpb.jpg One Brazilian translation]] turned Jon's dialogue into (roughly) "Yes, that was me. Okay." instead of [[http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2/57/1600/ga900912.0.gif the original]] dialogue meaning "SmellyFeetGag UpToEleven".
* BluntYes: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/05/31 Garfield's answer]] when Arlene asks if he's going to stare at his phone through their entire date.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In one farm-based strip, Garfield says "wanna swap sheep jokes?" His editor, concerned over this being misconstrued for a bestiality reference, changed it to "dirt jokes". Another farm-based strip kept in "sheep jokes," however.
* BoxAndStickTrap:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900120.gif This]] strip has Jon doing this to Garfield to take him to the vet:
--->'''Garfield:''' Jon thinks he can trap me into going to the vet using a grilled cheese sandwich as bait. What kind of gluttonous idiot does Jon take me for anyway?
--->''[GilliganCut to the stick down and Garfield in the box, enjoying his sandwich]''
--->'''Garfield:''' What, no pickle?
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/06/12 Garfield sees one of these traps]] with a birthday cake as bait and says another birthday is out to get him.
* BrattyFoodDemand: In one strip, Jon's cousin Judy visits with her bratty little daughter Tammy, who demands food by repeatedly shouting, "Mommy!", then repeatedly shouting, "I'm hungry!". Garfield offers to "disappear" her.
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs:
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/11 Garfield is looking in the mirror]] when he says: "Oh no, a wrinkle! Oh no, a gray hair! OH NO, A WRINKLED GRAY HAIR!!!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/07/16 This]] exchange:
-->'''Garfield''': Cats are very complicated.
-->'''Jon''': You're a lump.
-->'''Garfield''': Cats are very complicated lumps.
** "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/05/14 Drivel, Nonsense, Nonsensical Drivel]]."
** In one strip, Jon and Garfield are standing over a package Jon's mom sent. Jon hopes it's cookies, Garfield hopes it's ham. It's ham-shaped cookies.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/02/04 This strip]] also has one:
--> '''Garfield''' (''staring at food bowl'') Glop.
--> '''Jon''': (''puts rosemary in it'') And a sprig of rosemary!
--> '''Garfield''': Glop with a sprig of rosemary.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/06/20 "I'm in the mood for romance."]] "I'm in the mood for pancakes. (beat) Romantic pancakes!"
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2014/ga141129.gif This strip from 2014]]: Cat treats are a greater invention than the wheel. (''surprised expression'') '''WHOA!''' A wheel made from cat treats!
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Happens fairly regularly.
--> '''Garfield''': Is it my imagination, or is this strip getting longer?
* BrickJoke:
** The "X DOOOOOG!" running gag reappeared almost a year after his original [[http://sluha.pri.ee/stuff/garfield.php?day=22&month=10&year=2001 week of chaos]], which ''itself'' counts as a Brick Joke considering it was not the dog's first appearance. And of course Clive; see NotSoImaginaryFriend below.
** Garfield "kicking Odie into next week". Odie is absent from the comic for the next 6 days, and, sure enough, he comes crashing back down (Onto Garfield.) on the seventh day.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2009/ga091214.gif This 2009 Christmas strip]] references [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000520.gif this strip]] a good 9 years prior.
** Garfield [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/10/26 sleeps through an entire Monday strip]]. In the next day's strip, he [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/10/27 wakes up and says, "You know it's Monday when you wake up and it's Tuesday."]]
* BriffitsAndSqueans: Briffits are the most common.
* BubblePipe: Jon uses a bubble pipe once or twice. Garfield himself once blew soap bubbles with a real pipe:
-->'''Jon''': My ivory-stemmed, mother-of-pearl inlaid meerschaum!\\
'''Garfield''': My blow toy.
* BuffySpeak:
** In one StoryArc where Garfield and Odie run away from home, Garfield describes the feeling of being on his own as "so....out-on-my-own-ish."
** An even earlier example had Garfield describe the sight of Odie begging for food as "bug-eyed and pant-y and slobbery."
** Jon describes a hammer he's holding as a "smashy-thingy" [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/03 in this strip]].
* BulletSeed: Shows up in two strips, both times with watermelon seeds. One example provides the page image.
* BullyingADragon:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/08/01 This strip has Jon recount the story of a kid in Jon's neighborhood when he was growing up. Said kid had a mean streak of teasing farm animals -- the streak ended one day with a cow eating him.]]
** There are several strips where Garfield gets the snot beaten out of him because he made the mistake of picking a fight with a dog much bigger than he is.
* BurpOfFinality: [[https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/1996/1996-03-03.gif One strip]] has Jon sit down to watch a video cassette that turns out to be an ApocalypticLog recorded by his rare and expensive talking parrot.
-->'''Taped!Parrot''': AIEEEE!
-->'''Taped!Garfield''': BURP!
-->'''Jon''' ''[sporting a VolumetricMouth]'': [[SayMyName GARFIELD!!!!!!]]
* TheBusCameBack: Lyman appeared two more times after his last appearance as a regular [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830424.gif (4/24/83)]]: once for [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga880619.gif the 10th Anniversary strip]] (although only in the logo box and a photograph) five years later, and once on a newspaper in the [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2013/ga130402.gif 4/2/13]] strip ''twenty-five'' years after that.
* BurpingContest: Many strips have them between Jon and Garfield.
* ButtMonkey: Jon is a ''huge'' one. [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1993/ga930207.gif Here's]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1998/ga981018.gif just]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga881209.gif a]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga001022.gif few]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2010/ga100425.gif of]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1999/ga991010.gif his]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020130.gif moments]].

[[folder:C]]
* CaninesPrimaryFelinesSecondary: {{Inverted}}. Whenever he and Odie show up together, Garfield the cat tends to have the spotlight.
* CanonImmigrant: Garfield's family first appeared in the [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials special]] ''Garfield on the Town''. That special was later reworked into a 1984 storyline where they appeared in the comic.
** Binky the Clown was first seen in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'' before appearing in a 1986 storyline about Garfield and Odie getting lost and joining the circus (although one earlier strip had Garfield wondering where the Binky the clown show was).
* CantStandThemCantLiveWithoutThem: Garfield and Odie's relationship, to a tee.
* CartoonCheese: Shows up often when the mice are involved.
* CasanovaWannabe: Jon is an excellent cringeworthy example -- until his RelationshipUpgrade with Liz.
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2011/ga111010.gif Upon reflecting on this years later]], Garfield determines that Liz "became a loser with men".
* CashLure:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/01/07 This]] strip from 1979 featured Jon pulling this trick on Garfield. Jon used a blueberry muffin instead of money. Garfield retaliated by knocking down the table Jon was on.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/02/23 Garfield pulled it on Jon with the last cookie]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/06/06 A mouse did it to Jon]], this time with actual money. ''More than once''.
* ACatInAGangOfDogs: Inverted, Odie is the only dog in a gang of cats.
* CatapultNightmare: Garfield has had several.
* CatchingSomeZs: Usually it's only a single Z in a speech bubble variation (although [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780701.gif some]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780910.gif early]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga781007.gif strips]] play it straight).
* CatchPhrase: Jon has yelled out "Garfield!" so much, it's pretty much become as synonymous with him as [[Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks "Alvin!" is for Dave]].
* CatsAreMean: Could probably be the TropeNamer. Not that the trope is deployed ''consistently'', but Garfield's ComedicSociopathy is probably one of the series' most frequent recurring aspects (although at times he also demonstrates the capacity for great kindness).
* CatsAreSnarkers: Garfield, of course.
* CatUpATree: Often happens to Garfield. As he puts it, cats are the world's greatest tree climbers, but the world's worst tree climber downers.
* CeilingCorpse: They weren't dead, but Garfield once duct-taped his neighbor's little dog to the ceiling above her phone, and when she called Jon about the missing dog, indicated that he should tell her to look up.
* CensorshipBySpelling:
** One of Jon's attempts while on the phone with Liz:
-->'''Jon:''' I know a place with a great B-U-F-F-E-T.
-->'''Garfield:''' Make it a table for T-H-R-E-E.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/12/20 Jon tries it again during Christmas season]] while on the phone with liz.
-->'''Liz:''' What did you get Garfield for Christmas, Jon?
-->'''Jon:''' I got him a C-A-T T-O-Y. (whispers) He's right here.
-->'''Garfield:''' I wanted a J-E-T S-K-I, you D-O-R-K.
* ChalkOutline: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/09/12 Jon did it to Garfield for laughs]].
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the early days, Garfield acted more like a regular cat, compared to the more humanlike behavior of later comics. Jon, on the other hand, was more like the average cat owner, displaying none of the weird eccentricities he later came to possess. Also, the relationship between Jon and Garfield was completely opposite to what we see today, with Jon acting as the straight man to Garfield and Jon making the sarcastic quips about Garfield's sometimes weird behavior.
* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Jim Davis opens the comic's 20th anniversary book by claiming, "I was born July 28, 1945, in Marion, Indiana, and was promptly dropped on my head - [[SelfDeprecation which explains my lifelong desire to become a cartoonist.]]"
* ChildishPillowFight: In one strip, Jon challenges Garfield to a pillow fight. Garfield easily defeats him with a pillow stuffed with a giant chicken's feathers.
* ChristmasEpisode: From the 2000s on, Davis has taken to devoting ''the entire month of December'' to Christmas-themed strips.
* ChristmasLightChaos: The comic has used this trope many times:
** In the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/12/22 1991-12-22 Sunday strip]], Jon opens the box of Christmas lights and finds a tangled mess. He decides "screw it", and hangs them up without bothering to untangle them.
** The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/12/18 1992-12-18 strip]] is about the classic "find the one bad bulb that makes them all go out" problem. In the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/12/17 1996-12-17 strip]], Jon faces the same problem and manages to solve it, but electrocutes himself in the process. Similarly, the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/12/10 2017-12-10 Sunday strip]] has Garfield being haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future... and the dead bulb on their Christmas tree, which scares the three ghosts.
** The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/12/20 1992-12-20 Sunday strip]] is about Jon rigging up a lot of lights, only to find out that the cord is a little too short.
** In the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/12/17 1995-12-17 Sunday strip]], Jon somehow gets tangled up in the Christmas lights and ends up hanging upside-down from the roof. The same happens in the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/12/01 2014-12-01 strip]].
** In the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/12/14 1997-14-12 Sunday strip]], Jon gets electrocuted by the Christmas lights. The [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/12/15 following strip]] shows him injured and covered in Christmas lights. Similarly, the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/12/08 2009-12-08 strip]] shows Jon covered in pine needles and Christmas lights.
** In the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/12/11 1998-12-11 strip]], Jon somehow gets himself and the Christmas tree tangled up in Christmas lights. In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/12/12 the next strip]], Jon's struggle with the decorations is unseen, but obvious from the sound effects. Two days later, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/12/14 Jon successfully rigs up the lights. Unfortunately, turning them on blows a fuse.]]
** In the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/12/21 2000-12-21 strip]], it's shown that Garfield has been covered in Christmas lights after climbing someone's Christmas tree.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Lyman. once it became apparent that he was TheArtifact (he was originally brought in to give Jon someone to talk to). Arguably one of the most iconic examples in the funny papers. Although he [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2013/ga130402.gif appeared]] in a photograph in the newspaper Jon's reading '''three decades later'''.
* ClarkKenting: Parodied. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/11/13 As an excuse not to chase a mouse]], Garfield claimed he "didn't recognize him in those glasses".
* ClipShow: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga880619.gif June 19, 1988]], the 10th anniversary strip. This strip is also the last personal appearance of Lyman (look at the logo box).
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Irma, the eponymous diner waitress of Irma's Diner. Jon sometimes wanders into this as well, making comments such as "I think my toes are jealous of my fingers because they get to point at things."
* ClownCar: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/04/30 Jon says]] his Uncle Clarence was a circus clown who retired last year and "thirty of his buddies came to his retirement party in one car".
* ClutchingHandTrap:
** Happened to Garfield with a cookie jar in a 2002 strip, but he subverts it by breaking the cookie jar on Jon's head, instead of just simply letting go of the cookie that he wanted.
** Jon got both of his hands stuck in pickle jars (as did his date) in another strip.
** Garfield gets his hand caught in an olive jar in an early strip.
* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: Every time Garfield goes on a diet.
* ComedicSociopathy: Especially in the earlier years, much of the humor comes from Garfield's abuse of almost everyone he meets, usually just for his own amusement. Jon, Odie, Nermal, spiders, dogs on chains and the mailman are frequent targets. Garfield is on the receiving end sometimes too.
* ComicBookAdaptation: ''Garfield'' finally got a comic book in 2012 through BOOM Studio, written by Mark Evanier (who also wrote a lot of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episodes). One of the covers was drawn by ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' stalwart Al Jaffee!
* ComicBookTime: A weird zig-zagging. Garfield's birthday (and occasionally Jon's) is celebrated in every year, and he complains about getting old. However, none of the characters ever age physically.
** One should also note that after the 25th anniversary, they stopped listing Garfield's age every year. Possibly because of the fact that a real cat typically only lives within half the time that Garfield's been around.
*** This was even lampshaded by Jim Davis with the title of a retrospective that was released at that time: ''Garfield at 25: In Dog Years, I'd Be Dead''.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
-->'''Jon:''' This morning I had a bowl of cereal with strawberries. When I turned my back, a mouse ate them. What do you say to that, Garfield?!\\
'''Garfield:''' We have strawberries?
** In another one, Jon mocked Garfield by commenting Garfield must be missing the time he could see his feet. Garfield then asked himself if he had feet.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/11/03 Wondering about what pets did when they didn't know their owners were watching]], Jon snuck aroung and saw Garfield and Odie playing cards.
-->'''Jon''': I don't believe it.
-->'''Garfield''': Neither do I. [[SmartBall Odie just drew to an inside straight.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/02/16 Liz wondered what the future held for them and Jon suggested they might have ice cream.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1993/02/19 Jon once commented that]], according to a chart, Garfield should be eleven feet tall considering his weight. Garfield asked if Jon was calling him short.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/05/17 Liz, with a dirty appearance]], asked Jon if he noticed someone cleaned his kitchen. He then came to the conclusion "Elves do exist!!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/04/22 Jon was expecting Liz to arrive at his home when he realized his watch had stopped. He then thought she'd never arrive.]]
** Many of these could however simply be Garfield snarking.
* TheComicallySerious:
** Liz, whose job for nearly three decades was to become exasperated by and/or [[DeadpanSnarker snark at]] Jon's attempts to woo her.
** Jon's father, too. He typically was a GrumpyOldMan who was there to complain about the antics of the other characters (though on certain occasions he did get to be silly).
* ComplimentBackfire:
** A strip shows Jon telling Vet Liz that because animal medicine is a difficult field, she must "have a great mind for a woman." She, offended, responds, "I have a great mind for a MAN." He attempts to flirt by telling her she has "a great body for a man too."
** Jon's attempt at complimenting Liz doesn't work out as well as he hoped in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/23 this strip]].
-->'''Jon''': Liz, you're not like the other women I've known. You haven't run away screaming.
-->'''Liz''': Yet.
-->'''Garfield''': [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike She beat me to it!]]Jon's attempt at complimenting Liz doesn't work out as well as he hoped in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/23 this strip]].
-->'''Jon''': Liz, you're not like the other women I've known. You haven't run away screaming.
-->'''Liz''': Yet.
-->'''Garfield''': [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike She beat me to it!]]
* ContinuityNod: "[[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga011111.gif Ah-HA! I knew I]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga821212.gif still had those old rubber arms!]]"
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790424.gif This strip]] is undoubtedly a reference to [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780806.gif this earlier one]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/02/09 Sometimes, Garfield can't sleep.]] He thinks it was November 8, 1992. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/11/08 That day's strip]] features Garfield being unable to sleep because of the night noises.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/03/18 In a 1987 strip,]] Jon goes on a blind date with a rather large woman named Bertha. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/01/12 Almost 16 years later,]] he runs into her again at the grocery store, [[FormerlyFat surprised to find that she had dropped 200 lbs.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: Jon gets his head caught in a wastebasket and his hands caught in pickle jars right before his date, then worries what to do because his date is coming at any moment. Turns out she had the same thing happen to her.
* CoolCat
* CoolOldLady: Jon's grandma, who rides a motorcycle, boogies down on the piano, and is just an out-and-out badass grandma. (Ironically, her daughter is ''much'' more old-fashioned.)
** Also Jon's Aunt Gussie, who, among other details, made a living teaching "slam-dancing", commonly referred to today as "'''moshing'''". Yes, you read that right.
* CoveredInKisses: Once on a date, Liz commented that Garfield must've been a cute kitten. Jon replies that he was and whips out his wallet to show her a picture. Liz, at first, appears to be surprised that he keeps a picture of his cat as a kitten in his wallet. When Jon returns home, his face is covered in lipstick as he tells Garfield, "I owe you one."
* CrazyPrepared:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/05/09 Whoever put the "Stay Off the Grass" sign]] Garfield [[LoopholeAbuse decides to climb]] also put a "Stay Off the "Stay Off the Grass" sign" sign.
-->'''Garfield:''' Oh, come on!
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/04/16 Garfield wraps a pillow behind his head with a rope, his blanket around his neck like a cape, and carries Pooky with him.]]
-->'''Jon''': Uh... Garfield...
-->'''Garfield''': Because nap attacks can strike anytime, anywhere, without warning, that's why.
* CreatorCameo: Jim Davis appeared in the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1988/06/19 title panel for the 10th anniversary strip.]]
* {{Crossover}}:
** ''ComicStrip/{{Marmaduke}}'' appeared at the beginning of a [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/03/31 sunday]] Garfield strip. As Garfield realized the fence he was painting his name on was Marmaduke's, he apologized stating [[BreakingTheFourthWall "wrong strip"]].
** April Fools Day 1997 saw various United Features Syndicate strips crossing over with one another. This strip's contribution saw Jon and Garfield temporarily moving in with [[ComicStrip/{{Blondie}} Blondie and Dagwood]] while they wait for the fresh coat of paint on their house to dry up. (That day's ''Blondie'', in turn, saw Garfield stealing one of Dagwood's famous [[DagwoodSandwich sandwiches]].)
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/08/07 This strip]] features ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' characters, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2001/04/22 as does this one]][[note]] with Cody & Blue [[PaletteSwap in different colors]] and Wade without his inner tube[[/note]].
** In one strip, Garfield walks past a mirror, but instead of seeing his reflection, he sees [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]]. He chalks it up to it being Monday.
* CryingWolf:
** While camping, Jon told Garfield to look out for wild animals. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/05/24 Garfield started playing tricks on him]]. When Jon refused to believe him, a bear caught Garfield.
** Also, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1986/03/30 this]] strip.
** And [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/04/04 this one]], similar to the above.
* CueCard: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2019/04/14 Jon is using cue cards]] at a restaurant to sound romantic for Liz while Garfield holds them behind her. Not realizing the last card was Garfield telling him what he wants in exchange for it, Jon says "and I want a big, fat doggie bag for this".
* CueTheFlyingPigs:
** Consciously averted by Garfield: "Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I'd never hurt a dog. And if I'm lying, may lightning... *pause* ... strike the dog next door." (Crack) "Yip!"
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/07/04 Jon made a drawing of a pig.]] Garfield made a better drawing, although his had wings. When Jon complained that pigs didn't have wings, Garfield said they would before Jon outdrew him. Also counts as a ShoutOut as that strip ended with Garfield calling Jon [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso "Pablo"]].
* CueTheRain: Common, especially when the gang goes camping. In a Sunday strip:
-->''(Jon has just finished mowing the lawn)''
-->'''Jon''': Finally! All done!
-->''(It immediately starts raining. It then stops, and the grass automatically regrows)''
-->'''Jon''': That's just not fair!
-->'''Garfield''': Suck it up, mow boy.
* CulturalTranslation: In the Spanish version of the strip, "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fudge fudge]]" is usually translated to "chocolate".
* CutAndPasteComic: It's not, but [[http://content.ytmnd.com/content/4/c/f/4cf4c554bbc6443f2e70bbda837f115b.gif the remarkably regular art style gives this impression]].
** The strip began using digital artwork in November 2011, and thus artwork is often reused and modified, pushing it into this trope.
* CutASliceTakeTheRest:
** One logo box pictures Jon holding a single slice of pizza, and Garfield holding the entire rest of the unsliced pizza over his mouth.
** A variant, one comic depicts Garfield trying to decide whether to leave one scoop of ice cream or two while he eats the rest.
* CuteKitten: Nermal, the world's cutest kitten. (Often qualifies as CuteIsEvil, as he can often be very mean to Garfeld. Also, in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/05/06 one strip]] it is revealed that Nermal is using coffee and cigarettes to purposely stunt his growth, and claimed to be a midget in another.)
* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: One of [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga790924.gif Jim]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1979/ga791224.gif Davis's]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000707.gif favorite]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga001215.gif gags]].

[[folder:D - F]]
* DagwoodSandwich:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920424.gif These things can be dangerous!]]
** Another time, he made one so long that it extended across the street.
** And during one AprilFoolsDay, Garfield [[http://www.april-fools.us/blondie980401.gif came across]] the TropeNamer himself making one.
* DamnedByAFoolsPraise: Anything Jon likes is subject to this. Jon has ridiculously weird taste in things and tends to purchase things on impulse, then almost immediately forget he had those things upon obtaining them.
** There's a comic strip where Garfield is watching an infomercial for something unknown but so bad that he can't help complaining endlessly. Jon walks by and tells Garfield he has three of the product.
* DamnedByFaintPraise: Bill Watterson, creator of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' once tactfully described Garfield as "consistent."
* DeadpanSnarker: [[WorldOfSnark Pretty much everyone at some point]], though Garfield is the most prominent. Special mention must be given to the bathroom scale ("You know those two pounds you lost last week? They are back with reinforcements"; "Let me put it this way... Have you ever considered a career as a river barge?").
* DeepFriedWhatever: "[[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/09/23 If it ain't deep-fried, it ain't worth eating.]]"
* DemotedToExtra: Almost all of the supporting cast (particularly Arlene, Nermal and Jon's family) hardly appear in the 2010s.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Ever since the strip went to being in color every day, there's been little to no consistency on the palette of Jon's house, wardrobe, etc. This also applies to the older strips, which were colored retroactively with just as little regard for consistency.
** This even seems to extend to the point of things sometimes being colored some shade that makes no sense whatsoever; for instance, the bushes outside of Jon's house are sometimes bizarre colors such as orange or pink.
* DepravedDentist: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/07/20 This strip's]] "Beware of Dog" signs read "Beware of the dog" who somehow managed to get dentistry tools.
-->'''Dog:''' Next.
* DesertSkull: In one sequence, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Jon]] brings home one of these, which Garfield then [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset puts]] on Odie, while Jon talks to his mother about it.
** Jon also has one under his bed as a example of how rarely he cleans.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** Garfield once caught a bird and attempted to throw it up in the air and catch it in his mouth, [[IdiotBall completely forgetting that birds can fly]].
** When one of Garfield's shows is interrupted for breaking news, he calls a television station to give them a piece of his mind. The plan goes sour when he forgets that all he can say is "Meow".
** In a similar strip, Garfield hears about a radio station contest offering a new house for the first caller to answer a question. When he discovers that "Meow" is the answer, he gets through and wins the prize. Garfield is thrilled...until he finds that he has to give his name and address over the phone as well.
--->'''Announcer:''' Uh, and how do you spell your name, Mr. [[WrittenRoar AAARRRGGHH]]?
** In one [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/10/22 strip]], when Garfield is about to eat a fish, it warns him that it'll call reinforcements if he comes closer. When he does, the fish calls a bunch of other fish in bowls. Garfield only considers this a sushi bar.
-->'''Fish''': That didn't have quite the effect I was hoping for.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/07/08 Two alien snowmen]] invade Earth and melt before finishing their threat to "puny Earthling" Garfield.
--->'''Garfield:''' Who schedules your invasions?
--->'''Alien:''' Oh, shut up.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/08/15 A bird tries to attack]] Garfield from behind and ends up being eaten by him.
--->'''Garfield:''' I don't think he thought that through.
* DietEpisode: There are numerous strips about Garfield being put on a diet by Jon (or occasionally Liz).
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/10/11 While talking to Liz on the phone]], Jon says he lied about his past and had thousands of girlfriends.
-->'''Jon:''' Okay, I'm still lying!
-->'''Garfield:''' And the hole gets deeper.
* TheDinnermobile: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/08/18 this comic]], Garfield mistakes a hot dog truck for a giant hot dog. He feels rather silly when it proves inedible, but then decides to have "dessert" by doing the same thing to an ice cream truck.
* DirtyOldWoman: ”HEY WORLD! I'M TAKING A BATH! COME ON IN AND WATCH!" "I'll be right back." "I'm sure the man's joking, Reba." [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840916.gif (September 16, 1984)]]
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** Another "I wouldn't say you're fat" joke leads Garfield to look for... [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=23.09.1980 Hit men? In a phone book?]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/03/29 This strip]] has Jon throwing Garfield out the window (and it wasn't even open!) just because Garfield was making fun of his suit.
* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/04/27 When Garfield and Jon are absent]], Odie watches a documentary about Mozart, reads Literature/WarAndPeace and dresses like the dog from the trope page, pipe included.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/12/06 Jon got a huge pipe]] and asked Garfield if that made him "look more sophisticated". It was a bubble pipe and Garfield replied, "Sadly enough, I have to agree".
*** Although in earlier strips, Jon ''did'' smoke a ''real'' pipe. This died out rather quickly.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/08/12 Garfield while displaying a spider trophy.]]
* DistractedByTheSexy: Happens to Jon while riding his bicycle in [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810620.gif this strip]].
* DoesNotLikeSpam: Garfield ''really'' hates raisins. Doubles as ShownTheirWork, as raisins can be fatally poisonous to cats in RealLife.
** He also won't eat spinach, snails, mice, fruitcake, grapefruit, and certain brands of cat food, but other than that, he'll eat anything.
* DoesThisMakeMeLookFat: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/02/02 During an Arbuckle Family Reunion]], a woman asked if her pants made her hips look big and somebody answered "it's not the pants".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/03/16 Jon made a phone call and was told to hold. When he told Garfield his call was "very important to them"]], Garfield said "and the check is in the mail, and this won't hurt a bit, and no, those pants don't make you look fat at all".
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** There was a strip in which Garfield got a lot of amusement out of scratching Odie's rear, because that made Odie become so excited that he jumped up and down. Garfield just kept scratching until poor Odie was in a frenzy. A few readers have noted that the gag [[ADateWithRosiePalms looks suspiciously like a metaphor for something else]]....
** Just look at [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900408.gif the second-to-last panel]].
** Another beach one, with Jon wearing a flotation device [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=02.09.1995 with a very Freudian placement of the head]]....which the woman he asked to "go boogieboarding" leaves in a much lower, more flaccid state when she turns him down....
* ADogAteMyHomework:
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2009/ga090818.gif this strip]] Garfield passes by a dog, who holds a sign saying: "Will eat homework for food".
** In [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920910.gif another strip]], Jon goes to a class reunion, and meets his old English teacher, Mrs. Fronzak:
--->'''Jon:''' What are you doing at the class reunion?
--->'''Mrs. Fronzak:''' Waiting on that overdue term paper, Jonny.
--->'''Jon:''' My, uh, cat ate it!
--->'''Garfield:''' Leave me out of this!
** Garfield [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/02/02 also finds out]] that this is actually a very lucrative business for dogs.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/04/09 A dog]] [[BeggarWithASignboard has a signboard reading "will eat homework for food"]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2018/01/03 When asked if dogs really eat homework]], Odie eats the piece of paper with the question.
* TheDogBitesBack:
** Garfield had a few laughs at Nermal's expense in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/01/18 this strip]], but Nermal got the last word.
** In one strip, Odie turns to Garfield and actually ''talks'', giving him a massive TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and chewing him out for all the abuse he's put up with over the years. Garfield wakes up, revealing [[AllJustADream it was all a dream]] and goes to kick Odie like always, when Odie gives him the [[OrWasItADream strangest smirk...]]
** Jim Davis has admitted that since most of the humor is derived from Garfield pranking, or downright [[SadistShow abusing,]] Jon and Odie, he'll occasionally draw a strip where Odie, Jon, or both, will pull a fast one on Garfield to break the monotony.
** A spider, presumably one of those that Garfield smacks often, gets some payback on Garfield in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/04/29 this strip]].
-->'''Spider''': Revenge is mine!
* ADogNamedDog: Conversed in an early strip, where Lyman said that he grew up with four cats all named Cat, because there's no point in naming an animal that won't come when you call it.
* DoingItForTheArt [[invoked]]: Garfield's performances on the fence, which always have a hostile reception. The strip itself is an inversion of this trope.
* DoNotCallMePaul: Jon Arbuckle's brother hates being called "Doc Boy". Unfortunately, their Dad likes to call them and their mother "Jon Boy", "Mom Boy" and "Doc Boy".
* DontAnswerThat: Garfield says this to his mirror after asking it who's the cutest cat and then seeing Nermal walk in.
* DontExplainTheJoke: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/04/26 April 26,2012]], a spider about to be swatted said it was okay as long as Garfield didn't sit on it and then explained he said it because Garfield was fat.
* DontTellMama: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/07/02 Jon was at Irma's Diner and she pointed out he didn't eat the vegetables]]. He sarcastically asked if she'd tell his mother. When she said that she would, he quickly started eating them. Garfield told Irma to tell Jon's mother he ate the dessert first.
* DontTryThisAtHome: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/12/03 Garfield readies himself for a 20-hour nap]] and tells the readers "Remember, I'm a professional. Don't try this at home".
* DontWakeTheSleeper: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/05/27 This strip]] has Odie wake Garfield up with a bark, causing Garfield to jump in shock and bump his head onto the ceiling. The result is implied to have ended badly for Odie.
-->'''Jon''': You're up.
-->'''Garfield''': And Odie's on a bus bound for Nome.
* DonutMessWithACop: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/03/16 Two cops seeing Jon, Garfield and Odie's antics.]]
-->'''Bubba's partner:''' I'd say they've at least broken at least three city ordinances. Right, Bubba?
-->'''Bubba:''' I didn't see nothin'. Let's get a doughnut.
* DoomItYourself:
** This occurred in one strip when Jon and Doc tried setting up some Christmas lights when Jon visited the family farm for the holidays. They ended up both getting entangled in the lights:
-->'''Jon's Dad''': What am I going to do with you two?\\
'''Garfield''': Why don't you plug them in?
** Jon walks in, a bruised and disheveled mess:
-->'''Jon:''' I got the Christmas lights up.
-->'''Garfield:''' I know. I saw it on the evening news.
** Jon has had a ''lot'' of these. In one strip, Garfield puts toast in the toaster and wonders if Jon's fixed it. Cue the toast flying out of the toaster, ricocheting off of every wall in the house, chasing Jon ''and'' Odie and finally crashing into something off-screen. Did Jon fix the toaster? [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/08/21 "Yup."]]
* TheDoorSlamsYou: Has occurred to Garfield at least once. Not surprisingly, on a Monday.
* DopeSlap: Garfield does these frequently to Jon.
* DorkInASweater: Jon sometimes becomes a fashion victim, and a few of those occasions have involved sweaters.
* DoubleEntendre: "[[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1996/07/28 Wanna pet my parrot?]]" (said to a woman). Even Jim Davis pointed out in a compilation how risqué that one is.
* DownOnTheFarm: Jon takes Garfield to his parents' farm from time to time. One notable instance was during Christmas, as covered by one of his TV specials.
* DropTheHammer: Jon does this [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/10/03 in this strip]]. It occurs off-screen, but the indicated sounds should leave little doubt about what -- or who -- gets hit.
-->*Smash*
-->'''Jon''': Owww!
* DrippingDisturbance: Garfield faces this occasionally. First he turns the shower head upside down to stop the dripping, only for it to keep dripping even upside-down, then he notices it as one of the sounds commonly heard at night and then he stops the faucet from dripping by using Jon's toe.
* DrosteImage: Done in the logo box of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/01/05 this]] strip.
* DuckSeasonRabbitSeason: Liz, of all people, pulls this on Jon [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/05/17 here]].
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: During the first few years, the strip barely resembled itself. By the mid-1980s, it settled into its style that it has more or less held to this day.
** Garfield had a larger, more lumpy design and was almost always seen on all fours.
** Jon was more of an everyman instead of a loser, and he was also a cartoonist who smoked a pipe.
** Jon gets a roommate early on in the series named Lyman. Many of Jon's early interactions are with Lyman instead of Garfield. Odie is introduced as Lyman's dog until Lyman [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome mysteriously fades out of the comic]], and Odie becomes Jon's by default.
** The humor was often topical in nature. Early strips reference Weight Watchers, bachelor magazines, college football, the Mickey Mouse Club, Labor Day, Milk Duds candies, and other things that would largely be familiar only to American audiences. They also feature a [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece range]] of '70s and '80s slang and trends such as Lyman donning a white disco suit in an early strip. Some strips had wordplay and puns (such as Garfield calling a diet "'die' with a T" and Lyman quipping that his motivation to view a film where a boy places a tack on his teacher's chair lay in his liking for films where "the boy gets the girl in the end"). By the early 1980s, the topical references and wordplay were largely abandoned in order to make the strip more marketable in other countries.
** The strip's art style was vastly different during the first few months of its run, with more bizarre proportioned character designs (Odie's elongated neck and Jon's more bizarrely elongated face) indicating a more caricature-focused approach than successive years and elaborate use of detail/shading. By 1980, the strip had largely settled into a flatter and more laconic style, which in turn elapsed into a wackier and more perspective-based aesthetic (one largely retained by the strip until its transition into computerized drawing in 2011) by 1985.
** In one early strip, Garfield admits to ''liking'' Mondays because he doesn't have to work.
* EarWorm: [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga941204.gif This strip]] has Jon whistling a melody which Garfield then finds unable to get out of his head… until he whistles it into Odie's ear, causing it to get stuck in Odie's head.
* EasterEgg: The strip [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2017/02/09 seen here]] seems to be nothing more than a lame attempt by Garfield to brag about how lazy he is... unless you actually look up the strip on the day [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1992/11/08 (twenty-four years previous!)]] he's referring to.
* EekAMouse:
--> '''Mouse:''' Your owner doesn't seem to like us.
--> '''Garfield:''' Well, he's got this thing about mice...
--> '''Mouse:''' You mean the part where he stands on a chair and screams?
--> '''Garfield:''' That too.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/06/21 Jon did it the first time]], and was appalled at Garfield's reaction.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/01/18 Garfield jumped on Jon]] in this one.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/09/09 Garfield did it in consideration for the mouse's birthday.]]
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/08/24 Jon yelled "Eeeeeeek!"]] then he said "Um... I mean, get the mouse." Garfield said it'd go into his blog.
* EleventyZillion: From the aforementioned zipper strip: "Take a gander at this outfit. It has six gajillion zippers!"
* EmbarrassingNickname: Doc, Jon's farmhand brother, whom Jon always calls "Doc Boy". Still better than [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890711.gif "Iguana Gums"]].
* EmbarrassingPyjamas: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/07/17 this comic]], Jon gets locked outside in his bunny pyjamas. And Garfield refuses to let him back in before everybody can see it.
* EnemyMine: After being driven crazy by a fly for a few days, Garfield is desperate enough to ally with [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/03/26 a spider]] to get rid of it.
* EpicFail:
** Garfield attempts to kill a spider by closing a window on it. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/08/04 It doesn't go well]].
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2013/08/07 Jon bought a set of weights for his workout.]] He "can't get them out of the car".
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/01/30 This]], also a case of TemptingFate.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/12/21 Jon's attempt to wrap a gift ends with him covered in tape and the gift still unwrapped.]]
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/07/15 Odie tries to bury a bone]] but ends up burying himself instead.
* [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas Even Bad Cats Love Their Mamas:]] A famous multi-week story arc had him meet his mother in a [[TearJerker touching reunion]]. This story was adapted for the television special ''Garfield On The Town''.
* EverybodysDeadDave: Used in the [[spoiler:Halloween 1989]] story arc.
* EveryoneHasStandards: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/02/24 Jon spent all morning writing a love sonnet and then the computer crashed.]] Actually, it didn't. "Even the Internet has its standards".
* EvilLaugh: One strip has Garfield squish a spider with a rolled up newspaper, when:
--> '''Spider:''' [[NotQuiteDead He he he he...]]
--> '''Garfield:''' [[OhCrap That's not good.]]
* EvilLawyerJoke: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/02/26 A spider showed up with a lawyer and a restraining order against]] Garfield, who was smiling because he'd "never squished a lawyer".
* EvilTwin: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/12/04 When Jon tells]] Garfield SantaClaus has been watching him, he wrote a letter suggesting Santa might have seen his evil twin.
* ExactWords:
** "We'll be back after a word from our sponsor." "Sasquatch." "And we're back."
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/11/25 Jon tells Garfield that he can have "one bite of lasagna and that's it"]]. Garfield then proceeds to eat the rest of the lasagna in one bite.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/09/02 Jon once wanted to take Garfield for a trip but Garfield didn't want to get inside the kitty carrier]]. Jon was quite clear: "Before we go on this trip, one of us is going to have to get into this kitty carrier". Naturally, Garfield then stuffed Jon inside.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/05/23 Last helping]]. Jon took the last helping of lasagna and allowed Garfield to do whatever he wished with the pan. Garfield hit Jon with it.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2016/10/27 Jon told Garfield not to scare him from behind.]] Garfield scared him while facing him.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1994/04/26 Jon told Garfield not to kick Odie off the table]]. Garfield kicked him ''to'' it.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/05/03 Jon told Garfield not to take the lid off a cookie jar.]] Garfield then turned the jar upside down and "took the jar off the lid".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/03/26 Jon told Garfield not to set foot on Mrs. Feeny's property again]]. He later had to tell him to get his ''toe'' out.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/05/29 Jon asked Liz out for a date and she said she'd think about it after wheeling Garfield to X-Ray]]. Then she thought and answered "no".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/01/06 Jon told Garfield not to hit him "in the face with that pie".]] Result: "pie down the pants".
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/01/08 Garfield was drinking coffee when Odie made a "yip" sound at him.]] Garfield told Odie not to do that and then Odie barked.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/06/22 Jon told Garfield not to destroy the couch.]] Result: "[[LampshadeHanging Destroyed everything]] ''[[LampshadeHanging but]]'' [[LampshadeHanging the couch, right?]]"
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/03/31 Garfield's idea of breakfast in bed]] is to have his bed filled with breakfast.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/05/23 Jon warns Garfield that his hamburger better be on his plate when he comes back]]. Garfield eats the burger and sits on the plate.
** [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/5/58/1990-07-01.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180903061730 Jon attempts to teach Garfield self-control by putting a box of kitty treats in front of him while he's sitting in the living room and tells him not to take the treats.]] He leaves the room, telling him the treats still better be there. Jon peeks and sees everything in the living room gone, except for the treats.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/09/11 Jon asks Garfield to get up and do something.]] Garfield gets up... and scares Jon with a frightening face.
-->'''Jon''': Don't ever do that again!
-->'''Garfield''': I can't win.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/12/04 Garfield claims that an evening inside a warm house while it's snowing outside is perfect for "curling up with a good book".]] The strip ends with him curling up on top of a book.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2011/07/09 Garfield states that he's saving the cookie he's holding for later.]] He eats it soon afterwards.
-->'''Garfield''': Late enough.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/02/11 Jon tells Garfield that it's "time to get up"]]. Garfield gets up... still asleep.
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/05/13 Jon states that he has put a bell around Garfield's neck to allow him to tell where Garfield is.]] It turns out that he has Garfield wrapped with a rope around a bell that's bigger than Garfield.
* TheExitIsThatWay:
** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/09/18 Jon opens a door]].
-->'''Jon:''' Boy, it's dark outside!
-->'''Garfield:''' That's the closet.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1995/01/01 Jon is excited about the new year and tries to get out of his house, only to mistakenly open the closet door]].
-->'''Garfield:''' New year, new start, new world, same Jon.
* ExposedAnimalBellybutton:
** Played straight with Garfield on more than one occasion, but subverted in one strip. Garfield notices a black spot on his belly in the mirror and remarks "I didn't know I had a belly button". Said spot turns out to be a bug, which promptly flies away.
** Also played straight with some animal characters who appeared in some strips of this comic, especially bigger ones.
* EyePoke: One strip features a televised face-slapping tournament that ends with one of these from one of the athletes.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Jon's mom.
* FaceFault:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2000/ga000421.gif "Hey, Garfield, I lost a button...Garfield?"]]
** Garfield does this in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/12/19 this strip]] when Jon fools him into thinking that the gas bill is a letter from Santa chastizing him for trying to convince Santa that he's been good.
* FailedASpotCheck: Happens to Jon [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/08/31 here]]. He's so wrapped up BreakingTheFourthWall, that he doesn't notice Garfield taking off with the refrigerator.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Jon getting a girlfriend, until his birthday on 2006. This was because Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield had made Jim Davis realize he'd accidentally created the most depressing character in newspaper comics outside of ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean.
* FakeRabies: Garfield and Odie have had fun with [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1992/ga920916.gif Jon's shaving cream.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/12/30 When Jon asked Lisa if she already had plans for New Year's Eve]] she screamed and fell down. Jon told her she had faked her death "last year".
* FallingChandelierOfDoom: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2004/07/05 It was a monday]] and the screws on the chandelier above Garfield needed tightening.
* FalseReassurance: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/11/06 A mouse tries to get Jon's cheese but Garfield beats him to it.]] "No mouse will ever get your cheese while I'm around." Garfield tells Jon and then eats the cheese.
* FatFlex: When Jon is FlexingThoseNonBiceps, Garfield gives himself a HeroicBuild [[http://neversawsuchawoman.blogspot.fr/2011/04/fat-cat-wit.html before commenting]] "Did you know you can flex fat?". [[RecycledScript Another with the same premise used]] "It's amazing what you can do with fat."
* FightForTheLastBite: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/03/26 this comic]], Garfield and Jon's date Berta end up fighting over the last piece of food.
* FilchingFoodForFun: The strip has stealing food for fun as a stock behavior for Garfield, as well as one of its most frequently recurring gags. One strip has Jon try and turn the tables on the cat by stealing his food. Garfield, who is already tucking into Jon's dinner that night is unimpressed.
* {{Filler}}: The first collection, ''Garfield At Large'', ends with a single-panel filler strip of Garfield [[RidingIntoTheSunset walking into the sunset]]. The follow-up, ''Garfield Gains Weight'', begins with a single-panel filler strip of Garfield sitting atop the television and looking into the screen, much to the annoyance of Jon, Odie, and Lyman.
* FinaglesLaw: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/06/07 Jon had a date that night]]. That made him sure he'd "get a huge pimple" that day. Garfield considers it "a time-honored tradition".
* FirstGrayHair:
** Garfield finds a gray hair, panics, and tries to dye it. [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1991/06/13 It doesn't go well]].
** Jon finds (presumably) his first gray hair -- or, rather, Garfield finds it ''for'' him -- in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/06/17 this strip]] shown two days before Garfield's 20th birthday in 1998.
* FirstNameUltimatum: "Gaaaaaaaaaaaaarfield!"
* FirstWorldProblems: Jon sings about "having the blues", and [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1989/11/26 hits on a woman passing by his house:]]
-->'''Jon''': Hey good lookin', I got the blues. Wanna cheer me up?
-->'''Woman''': You? The blues? Ha! There you sit in your powder-blue oxford shirt in your own home in a middle-class suburb. You don't know nothin' 'bout the blues!
-->'''Jon''': Well, excuse me for succeeding!
** In another strip:
-->'''Arlene''': So how's domestic life treating you, Garfield?
-->'''Garfield''': Awful! Jon used too much oregano in the lasagna tonight...
-->'''Arlene''': I grieve for you, Garfield.
-->'''Garfield''': It's a jungle in there, Arlene.
* FishbowlHelmet: Garfield wears a fishbowl helmet while pretending to be an astronaut, much to Jon's frustration about his missing goldfish that the fishbowl used to house.
* FiveFiveFive: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1998/01/23 This strip]].
* {{Flanderization}}: While certain character and story elements were present in the strip almost from the very beginning (Garfield's love of lasagna, for example), the early strips might come as a surprise to readers born after 1980 or so. When the strip was starting out, many things were different: Jon wasn't overtly a nerd, although he did have trouble getting dates; Odie was stupid, but not to the extreme degree he was later portrayed; and Garfield himself was less a cool-as-ice DeadpanSnarker than a genuinely mean-spirited (and at times sadistic) misanthrope. (The mean streak remains, of course, although the outright sadism has now softened into ComedicSociopathy.) Also, the stories were originally ''slightly'' more based in reality; the madcap surreality that the strip has become famous for didn't truly get under way until the mid-1980s.
* FleetingDemographicRule: Many of the comics' have [[RecycledScript near-identical jokes as ones that have appeared]] previously, usually some years apart, but occasionally this is subverted as there have been almost indistinguishable strips ''only a few months apart''.
* FlippingTheBird:
** Garfield's [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020330.gif response to a reprimand]] (Garfield is off panel for the whole strip):
-->'''Jon:''' Garfield! get your paw out of the cookie jar!
-->[next panel: no dialogue, Jon looks shocked]
-->'''Jon:''' Who taught you that gesture?!
-->'''Garfield:''' You, in the car, when you drive.
** Who can forget [[http://www.listen-project.de/garfield/index.php?date=27.03.1995 the time Jon got flipped off by someone off panel?]] Odie's face is priceless there.
* FlowerPotDrop: The strip has used this a few times:
** Odie crashes into a piece of furniture and the flowerpot on it falls off and crashes onto Odie's head.
-->'''Garfield:''' [[NotMeThisTime I'm innocent! I swear it!]]
** One of Garfield's audience members throws a flowerpot at Garfield before he can get on the fence.
** A flowerpot is thrown at Garfield, along with many other things, during his fence act.
** A mouse drops a flowerpot on Garfield for taunting him.
** Garfield drops a flowerpot on Odie after he kicks him off the table.
* FluffyDryCat: Garfield had this happen to him sometimes.
* FluffyTheTerrible: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/08/08 This]] strip featured Fluffy the Fierce. Sure, he was not much taller than any cat that'd fit the name Fluffy but he was described as a legendary ratter. Until he met Matt-the-Rat, that is.
* FlushingToiletScreamingShower: Garfield once turned on the hot water in the sink to show Odie that all the pipes were connected. Of course, Jon's shower went ice cold.
* FoodAndAnimalAttraction: Used in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/02/10 this]] strip.
* ForInconveniencePressOne: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/03/08 This strip]] features Jon trying to call Liz only to receive the following message: You have reached the veterinary clinic of Doctor Liz Wilson. If this call is an emergency, press six. If you wish to make an appointment, press two. For billing, press three. For office hours, press four. For directions, press five. To speak with the receptionist, press one. Para Espanol, presione siete.[[note]]For Spanish, press seven.[[/note]] To leave a voicemail for Doctor Wilson, begin speaking after the beep. Please leave your name, the date and time you called, a number you can be reached at and a brief message. [[spoiler:Jon ends up leaving a snore as voicemail]].
* ForceFeeding:
** Shows up in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1985/03/03 this]] ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} strip, using scrambled eggs.
** In one strip Garfield forces Jon to eat a smart phone.
** [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1987/11/19 Garfield does this to Jon in this strip when Jon reads from a cat food label that it's "fit for a King".]] Garfield describes Jon as "the "King's" food taster".
* ForgottenBirthday: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2015/09/25 Jon doesn't even care to learn what he forgot to make Liz angry at him.]]
-->'''Jon:''' Liz is angry with me for some reason. I forgot something or other. Like a birthday, or whatever.
-->'''Garfield:''' Women are so detail oriented.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/01/10 This strip]] during a week involving Garfield's conscience.
* FormerlyFat: [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2003/01/12 One of Jon's female acquaintances, Bertha, lost 200 pounds.]] Garfield was disappointed.
* FountainOfYouth: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2014/06/19#.U6Ql7UAXKrk On his birthday in 2014,]] Garfield tried to change the year on the calendar so that he would get younger, rather than older. It worked a little ''too'' well.
* FourthWallMailSlot:
** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780708.gif A]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga781216.gif few]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1981/ga810702.gif early]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1982/ga820225.gif strips]] [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1983/ga830425.gif had]] Garfield answering letters.
** They then [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2007/ga070220.gif revisited]] [[http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/351f20106c04012d63e600163e41dd5b the practice]] [[http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/7776e7504c1a012e126700163e41dd5b three times]] in later strips.
* FourthWallPortrait: [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2010/07/04#.U6QqokAXKrl This strip]]. While Jon's pig drawing fits with the comic's art style, Garfield's... doesn't.
* FunnyAnsweringMachine: This trope is used several times by any woman Jon tries to call for a date.
--> '''Suzy:''' Hi, this is Suzy. I'm not at home, but please leave a message at the tone... Unless you're Jon Arbuckle, in which case the machine will automatically hung up. ...Beep!
-->'''Jon:''' This is, uh, Ed Smith. ''(machine hangs up)''
-->'''Garfield:''' Just amazing.
** A [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2008/04/27 2008 strip]] had Liz listening to Jon's answering machine message, commenting on it being 'funny'. Jon was being pounded by Garfield while he recorded the message.
* FunnyRobot: More like a "funny AI system", but Garfield constantly has to endure fat jokes directed at him by his [[DeadpanSnarker wise-guy]] talking bathroom scale. (Although he has bribed it on more than one occasion to get Jon to take him off a diet.)
* FurIsClothing:
** Garfield ripped his "cat suit" [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/02/12 in the February 12, 1981 strip]] when he tried to pick up a chocolate covered peanut. He then said he needed a bigger one.
** The August 10, 1985 strip had Garfield try to cheat the bahtroom scale by taking off his fur as if it were a suit before stepping onto it.
** In the September 20, 1987 strip, Odie notices a thread on Garfield and pulls at it, which causes the fur covering Garfield's lower half to fall down like pants. Jon laughs at Garfield's misfortune, which causes Garfield to retaliate by making Jon's pants fall down by taking his belt. The mailman Herman Post then laughs at Jon, which results in Herman Post running in terror while Jon tries to pull down Herman's pants and Garfield grabs onto Jon's legs while trying to hold his fur pants up, the scene witnessed by Jon's eldery neighbor Hubert, who calls for his wife Rheba to come and see.
** The title panel of the August 1, 1993 strip shows Garfield's fur hanging on a clothes hanger as if it were a suit.
** The title panel of the November 7, 2004 strip shows the door to Garfield's dressing room opening, revealing a startled Garfield powdering his face and clad in only boxer shorts, a corset and socks while his fur suit is hanging on a clothes hanger behind him.
* FurryEarDissonance: Garfield has very round ears for a cat.