History Main / CigarChomper

* The King from ''ComicStrip/{{Conchy}}'' is never seen without a cigar clenched in his teeth. h
He is gruff and blunt, but undeniably in charge, and no one ever argues. He once turns back an entire invasion fleet armed with nothing but a sign.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': J. Jonah Jameson, as befits his 1960s news tycoon type.

* Perry White in ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' ... sometimes. (In one story he gave up after a lung cancer scare. That seems to be getting ignored now.) Like J. Jonah Jameson above, it fits his tough-as-nails newspaper editor character.

* In ''VideoGame/NeonWhite'' Mikey, the gruff, no-nonsense, New York-accent-toting DaChief of Heaven Central Authority, is never seen without a cigar.

* ''Series:MagicCity'': Ben Diamond, Bel Jaffe, and Ike Evans. Diamond lives in a luxurious mansion with a trophy wife and lounges around his pool. Bel Jaffe is a bookie. Ike Evans runs a luxury hotel.

* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016'', being for kids of all ages, follows the NoSmoking rule, but, garage owner Grimroth Razz has tusks, the right one of which is broken into a very cigar-like shape and sticks out at a very cigar-like angle. His Brother Felton's tusks do the same thing in the [[IdenticalTwinIDTag opposite direction]]

%%[[folder:Western Animation]]

%%%%* Krusty the Clown from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

%%[[/folder]]

* British TV executive Lew Grade. A producer working for him once allegedly complained that his salary was less than Grade's cigar budget. Grade replied that the producer didn't give him as much satisfaction as his cigars. Creator/RogerMoore (himself an example of this trope) once quipped that you should never wear a brown suit around Grade, as he might try to smoke you.

* Music/KidRock. In a somewhat infamous moment (depending on how you view it), he and [[Music/MotleyCrue Tommy Lee]] got into a fistfight at the 2007 MTV [=VMAs=] where Kid not only won the fight, but did so without even dropping his cigar.

%%* SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}.

* Captain Steven Hiller in ''Film/IndependenceDay''. As a tradition for his squadron, he flies with a cigar in his pocket so that he can light up after a successful mission. David's father, Julius, is also shown smoking cigars throughout the film.

* Radio/RushLimbaugh. Aggressive? Hell yes. Tough? Well, that depends on where on the political spectrum you fall. In a real-life case of RealityEnsues, though, Limbaugh's love of cigars resulted in him developing the cancer that would kill him in 2021.

* "Sir" Integra Manga/{{Hellsing}} is a female example, though technically she smokes cigarillos. She even forces one of Iscariot's assassins to light one of them based on sheer charisma.

* [[Manga/BlackLagoon Balalaika]] is another female example, befitting her as a fearsome [[TheMafiya Mafiya]] boss and one of the main movers and shakers in [[NotSoSafeHarbor Roanapur]].

* ComicBook/NickFury.

* The Comedian in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''.

* SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}.

* Muffet is one in the Undertale fanfic Fanfic/MuffetTheMom. Her cigar is huge, purple, and made of spiders and webbing.

* VideoGame/DukeNukem.

* VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} features [[NewOldWest Jesse McCree]], a former outlaw turned hero who constantly smokes cigars, even in battle.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear''
** [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Naked Snake]], aka [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Big Boss]] from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' smokes cigars. He's so badass, he can use them to burn off leeches off of his body without worrying about getting an infection.
** [[spoiler:Senator Armstrong]] from ''Videogame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' feels the need to light up a good ol' cigar right after delivering a stomping Raiden wouldn't forget any time soon, and [[spoiler:outlining his ideals in a speech that, batshit insanity aside, was actually an engaging one for politician standards]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Ann Tamaki's AntiHero FightingSpirit, Carmen, can always be seen with a cigar in her mouth, as a ShownTheirWork reference to [[Theatre/{{Carmen}} the play she comes from]].

* Captain Price from the {{VideoGame/Call of Duty}}: {{VideoGame/Modern Warfare}} series is this. He smokes cigars all the time, and even [[spoiler:lights one in satisfaction after killing Makarov, the BigBad of the series]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

A character who is never seen without his cigar, which is then used to as a visual cue to some aspect of his personality. This is Almost AlwaysMale (except in Cuba), so most of the examples are of male characters, although female examples are also possible.

This denotes that said character is a tough, aggressive, take-no-nonsense type. Because good cigars are an expensive habit, they also carry a connotation of wealth, power and high status. Plus, having to prevent the cigar from falling out when talking makes them always speak with a sneer. Characters such as DaChief, SergeantRock, TheGeneralissimo and your local CorruptCorporateExecutive often chomp on cigars, as will anyone in a SmokyGentlemensClub who hasn't got [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe a pipe]]. In animated or otherwise illustrated works, the cigar is more likely to be in the character's mouth at all or nearly all times, and tends to be impractically massive (it also tends to be shaped sort of like a football, while RealLife cigars are generally straight cylinders).

* [[Manga/BlackLagoon Balalaika]] is an another female example, befitting her as a fearsome [[TheMafiya Mafiya]] boss and one of the main movers and shakers in [[NotSoSafeHarbor Roanapur]].

* ''Robot'' example -- Kup is portrayed as this in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW IDW's Transformers comics]], starting in ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron All Hail Megatron]]''. It's apparently called a "cy-gar". Its also ''medicinal,'' as it contains radiation that prevents him hallucinating zombies and turning into a panicked berserker. In short, he 'smokes' to stay sane. This was also done to turn him into a robotic {{Expy}} of SergeantRock.

* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} fit this until the mid 90s or so, and it fit with his hardboiled, take-no-shit attitude. When he temporarily lost his HealingFactor, the first cigar he lit up without it was enough to convince him it was time to quit that particular habit.

* Detective Casey in ComicBook/{{Mickey Mouse Comic|Universe}}s subverts this trope. He ''thinks'' he's tough and respected by both colleagues and crooks....

* ComicBook/JonahHex, as befits he status as a badass BountyHunter.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Mervyn usually lights up a cigarette on the job (as part of his blue collar image), but in ''The Kindly Ones'' he breaks out a stogie to go along with his army uniform and drill sergeant schtick. He produces one again in ''The Wake'', presumably in recognition of the formality of the occasion and his evening wear.

* Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks illustrated his role in ''ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie'' as THE wealthiest man in the strips with his tux, his diamond stickpin and his ever present cigars.

* ComicStrip/DickTracy's tech provider, Diet Smith, is rarely seen without cigar in mouth. This is another marker of him being a sterotypical wealthy capitalist.

%%%%* Conrad, the self proclaimed frog prince, is a cigar connoisseur.

%%%%%%* Sgt. Snorkle in ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'', although he stopped around the mid-80's as readers became more health-conscious.

* ''Film/LolaMontes'': A very rare female example in the person of Lola Montes, 19th century dancer, courtesan, and mistress of Franz Liszt and King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Lola Montes's fondness for cigars marks her as an iconoclast and free spirit, in an era when women were not supposed to smoke cigars.

* Inspector Cramer in the ''Literature/NeroWolfe'' novels, who almost never actually lights his cigar, just gnaws on it. He does, however, smoke a [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe pipe]] in his first appearance in ''The League of Frightened Men''.

* Sgt. Veelie, Inspector Queen's offsider in the ''Creator/ElleryQueen'' novels usually has a stogie in his mouth. Veelie is a classic example of BookDumb but street smart tough cop. Especially apparent in the [[Series/ElleryQueen 1970s TV series]] where Veelie (played by Tom Reese) is almost never seen without a cigar in his mouth.

* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'', at least in the earlier novels. In ''The Happy Return'', he is almost unable to hide his joy when El Supremo offers to supply him with several ''hundred'' cigars, rolled in his "domain" in Nicaragua from Havana tobacco, and reflects to himself that the last cigar he had was a rather mild Virginian in the West Indies. In ''The Commodore'', Lady Barbara, now his wife, gives him several boxes of Jamaican cigars for his mission in the Baltic, which he smokes after most breakfasts, and mentions how he loathes to toss the butts overboard when he's done.
* The ''bollivquar'' indigenous people of ''[[Literature/JetlagTravelGuides San Sombrèro]]'' smoke so many cigars a day that they wear sombreroes which double as ashtrays.

* Starbuck from ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' loves this trope -- the Starbuck from the [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 reimagined series]] is one of the rare female examples. Many of the pilots are shown smoking cigars in celebration of missions, which is common among present day pilots as well.

* Professor Jirafales from ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' was very often smoking cigars. He could be seen smoking even when he was at school teaching the children, but, as the series is from the late 70's and early 80's, [[ValuesDissonance that was normal by the time]].

** Harmon Rabb occasionally smoked cigars, until third season episode "The Return of Jimmy Blackhorse" when he had decided to quit. Many minor characters; particularly senior military officers, intelligence officers and businessmen; are often seen chomping cigars. In review panning the series in its first season, TV Guide even characterized it as:

** The first season episode "Desert Son" features one such cigar chomper, Captain Reed, an abrasive artillery officer who climbed through the ranks starting as an enlistedman, and who entirely fails to get along with Lieutenant Rabb, while [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold privately giving support and career advice to a young lieutenant under his command.]] Bonus points for [[LetsGetDangerous lighting up his cigar]] just before ordering his artillery battery to fire.

* Del Boy Trotter from ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' regularly smokes cigars that fit with his brash, wheeler dealer personality, whereas his brother Rodney always smokes cigarettes.

* A rare female example was [[Wrestling/TerriRunnels Marlena]], who would sit there puffing on a cigar while Wrestling/{{Goldust}} was in the ring in the 1990's.

** Lord Castellan Creed of Cadia and Col. Schaeffer of the Last Chancers are two of the few human characters who's known for their love of cigars, to the point that their models include them.

** After [[spoiler:exposing Mengsk's role in the Fall of Tarsonis]], Raynor and Matt Horner celebrate by enjoying some cigars. There's even an extended sequence of them selecting, sniffing and lighting the cigars.

%%%%%* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'': Bill is an interesting case, being a ''cigarette'' chomper. He doesn't really smoke it, despite its constantly being lit, just kind of of keeps it there all day. It even stays lit after he dies. [[spoiler:The only time it's unlit in-game is after he's been KilledOffForReal.]]

%%%%* In a divergence from the comics, the Penguin from both ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'' has shown a preference over cigars than the traditional cigarette.

* In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', RetiredBadass Jackson "Jax" Briggs has acquired an habit of smoking cigars, including having two of them holstered in his outfit, as well as prominently smoking one in his intros and victory screen. In fact, in one of his [[FinishingMove Fatalities]], after crushing the enemy's arms into their torso and splitting their head in half by the mouth, he puts the cherry on top by putting out his cigar using the tongue of the poor dead sap.

* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016'', being for kids of all ages, follows the NoSmoking rule, but, garage owner Grimroth Razz has tusks, the right one of which is broken into a very cigar like shape and sticks out at a very cigar like angle. His Brother Felton's tusks do the same thing in the [[IdenticalTwinIDTag opposite direction]]

** Another famous photo has [[http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/churchill-and-tommy-gun/ Churchill inspecting a Thompson Submachine Gun,]] complete with a drum magazine, while wearing a pinstripe suit, bowler hat, and smoking his cigar. The Germans attempted to use the photo to drum up an image of him as a mafioso, but gave up when they realized it wasn't doing anything to hinder his MemeticBadass status.

* Notorious outlaw Bonnie Parker was a rare female example. Newspapers called her a "cigar smoking gun moll", and she was often photographed with one.

* General Isreal Putnam of the American Revolutionary War may be the UrExample of this trope. He discovered cigars in Cuba and introduced badass cigar chomping to the Colonies. [[note]]Cigars had been popular in the Colonies for generations, particularly since Virginia was a tobacco growing colony. General Putnam made it badass to chomp cigars.[[/note]]

** His grandson George VI also smoked like a chimney, and died from the heart attack brought in by the lung cancer being only 56.

* Creator/DeathRowRecords executive Suge Knight is known for his love of cigars. He takes the "aggressive" stereotype of cigar smokers further than most, and is notorious for his violent tendencies.

* Lenny Balinger, the foreman for ComicBook/DamageControl in the MarvelUniverse.

%%%%%* In ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'', one of Teruzuki's Chou-10cm-Hou-chan has a bullet clenched in its teeth in a manner that looks very much like it's chomping a cigar.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Ann Tamaki's AntiHero GuardianEntity, Carmen, can always be seen with a cigar in her mouth, as a ShownTheirWork reference to [[Theatre/{{Carmen}} the play she comes from]].

It's okay for heroes to smoke cigars seemingly because of the expense: average cigars are ''much'' more luxurious and expensive than the amount of cigarettes of the same weight. No matter how cool the smoking of cigars is made to look, it's not a habit as easily and cheaply picked up as cigarette smoking, so it's more acceptable to show a hero smoking the occasional victory cigar. DoNotTryThisAtHome unless you absolutely know what you're doing.

* Radio/RushLimbaugh. Aggressive? Hell yes. Tough? Well, that depends on where on the political spectrum you fall.

* UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. [[https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/great-moments-kennedy-cuba-and-cigars-7840 Kennedy sent his Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger, to acquire 1,200 Cuban-made H. Upmann cigars for himself]], prior to signing off on the US embargo against Cuba - which made it illegal for US citizens to purchase Cuban cigars.

* General UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant usually smoked a clay pipe until newspapermen caught him smoking a victory cigar handed to him by another officer after his 1862 capture of Fort Donelson, and he was subsequently flooded with boxes of them as presents for the rest of his life. He later died of throat cancer--probably brought about by his cigar habit.

%%%%%%%% Saying that character x is this trope is not context. It is classically "X Just X".
%%%%%%%* The goblin leader in ''[[Creator/SimonRGreen Blue Moon Rising]]''

* UsefulNotes/FidelCastro, who certainly liked to be seen as a tough military leader. One of the CIA's attempts to kill him involved sneaking in an exploding cigar.

This denotes that said character is a tough, aggressive, take-no-nonsense type. Because good cigars are an expensive habit, they also carry a connotation of wealth, power and high status. Plus, having to prevent the cigar from falling out when talking makes them always speak with a sneer. Characters such as DaChief, SergeantRock, TheGeneralissimo and your local CorruptCorporateExecutive often chomp on cigars, as will anyone in a SmokyGentlemensClub who hasn't got [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe a pipe]]. In animated or otherwise illustrated works, the cigar is more likely to be in the character's mouth at all or nearly all times, and tends to be impractically massive (it also tends to be shaped sort of like a football, while real-life cigars are generally straight cylinders).

** Raynor and Matt Horner get an entire cutscene devoted to Raynor selecting, sniffing and lighting a cigar.
** Continuing the theme, Mengsk has a big ol' cigar in the final cutscene of HeartOfTheSwarm. But as he goes to light it, [[spoiler:it turns out the lighter is the control mechanism for the Xel'Naga artifact.]]

If the character is also supposed to be brutal and/or cruel, or extremely hardy and a KnifeNut even in their unarmed state, it's also not uncommon for them to cut the said cigar prior to smoking using a razor-sharp cigar cutter. Bonus points if said cutter is then used/threatened to be used in a [[Main/Fingore more mutilating manner]].

If the character is also supposed to be brutal and/or cruel, or extremely hardy and a KnifeNut even in their unarmed state, it's also not uncommon for them to cut the said cigar prior to smoking using a razor-sharp cigar cutter. Bonus points if said cutter is then used/threatened to be used in a [[Fingore more mutilating manner]].