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 Castor Oyl: "Hey you, are you a sailor?" Popeye: "Ja think I'm a cowboy?" Castor Oyl: "Okay, you're hired." Popeye the Sailor Man-one of the eight wonders of the Newspaper Comics and Western Animation world, and one of the most popular cartoon stars of The Golden Age of Animation. Initially appearing as a oneshot character in the middle of an arc Thimble Theater, the comic E.C. Segar was making at the time, was going through, Popeye quickly gained the status of Ensemble Darkhorse among the comics readers, and stayed in the comic long after his debut adventure was over, until he finally overtook the whole comic, with it being renamed Popeye and tossing out Ham Gravy as the main character and Olive Oyl's original love interest.Part of what made Popeye such an instant hit with audiences was that, despite his odd appearance and gruff conduct, he was one of the few moral forces in the world of Thimble Theatre-Popeye also got along great with children, even going as far as to tearing apart a guys hot dog vendor once just because he wouldn't give a broke kid a hot dog on credit (that, and insulting Popeye to his face). In other words, he was a very likable, sympathetic character despite having none of the obvious qualities of one at first sight. He was the original Anti-Hero. He is also a very noble (but ignorant) being and is very loyal to his girl Olive Oyl and will give anyone the benefit of the doubt, even his rival Bluto.Speaking of original, Popeye was the original superhero-over a decade before Superman graced the comic pages, Popeye was blessed with inhuman strength and astounding durability and endurance, taking at least 15 bullets in his first adventure before finally being brought down.While Popeye was already a major force in the comics, the sailor with a sock got his big break when animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer, known for their Betty Boop cartoons, brought him to the big screen alongside Betty Boop in a six minute short subject. These Fleischer cartoons took the series to new levels not even touched by the original comics-while Popeye was already very strong in the comics, the Fleischers made Popeye strong enough to stop a train dead in its tracks and move entire landmasses, as well as Reality Warping abilities—he could punch objects which would either morph them into something different or split them into multiple smaller objects—one short even had Popeye blow out the sun like a candle just so he could get some private time with Olive. And he could do all of this ''without' eating any spinach-in fact, the spinach can very rarely popped up in the original comics-this was made prominent in the Fleischer cartoons.While some animation fans have criticised the series for it's "formulaic Popeye Vs. Bluto structure", in reality this was done out of necessity-the original comics had stories that went on from weeks to even MONTHS at a time, which would have been impossible to compress into six minute low budget cartoon shorts. On that note, the series didn't even rely on the Bluto and Popeye fighting as much as one would think-there were plenty of shorts the Fleischers made that experimented with other settings and stories outside of their rivalry, and even the ones that did feature the status quo pulled many, many different, creative variations of the formula-from battling on logs floating down a river to competing for the title of "King of the Mardi Gras", these shorts are still as fresh and original feeling today as apple pie. And obviously, the Fleischers love of surreal sight gags and Deranged Animation was carried over from their Betty Boop shorts, with such sights as the visual metaphors that appear in Popeye's muscles upon consuming spinach and the aforementioned reality warping powers of Popeye-none of which ever appeared in the original comics. Another odd fact was that prior to the war years, Popeye was hardly ever on ships-most of his adventures were set on dry land, only sporadically going off to sea.Needless to say, Popeye's theatrical cartoons were an instant smash success on release, quickly toppling Mickey Mouse as the then-king of cartoons. While the series was gradually toned down as time went by (even in the comics, Popeye was forced to be toned down due to him having a large kid fanbase) this character and friends still pop up in some form or another to this day, with a recent TV special celebrating his 75th anniversary, as well as an upcoming Sony Pictures CGI film. Here's hoping for the best with this sailor's future!—Popeye's debut on January 17, 1929 in Thimble Theater, as well as his Establishing Character Moment. Tropes Used By Popeye:
 Tropes used by Olive:
 "All brawn and no brains, dat's me!" Popeye's rival, who only appeared once in the original comics, but was made into a prominent character in the Fleischer cartoons. He's the bully we all know or have known in life. His relationship with Popeye is shaky, but it seems more like a rivalry than anything, and the two have had their friendly moments together-and if we take one Minute Maid ad at face value, they can become downright affectionate towards each other sometimes.—Bluto to Olive in "The Anvil Chorus Girl". Tropes used by Bluto
 "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!" Wimpy is a recurring character in the Popeye comics and cartoons, and the sheer incarnation of The Load. Smart, but cowardly, greedy, selfish, and overall a glutton, Wimpy is the kind of guy who would sell out his friends for a hamburger (in fact, he even sides with a villain at one point in the comics).While he was a very significant character in the comics, in Segar's days even coming close to eclipse Popeye himself in importance, the Fleischers merely made him an incidental character in the cartoons, who was always just there for the mere sake of comic relief — mostly because Dave Fleischer considered the character, such as he was in the comic, "too intellectual" to work in the film cartoons. In fact, he was so minor in the cartoons that he was abandoned by the Fleischers after "Onion Pacific", and it wasn't until a full decade later that he would appear again, in the short "Popeye Makes A Movie."However, he has become a fan favorite, and even has a brand of burger joints in Europe named after him called "Wimpy's."—Wimpy's Catch Phrase Tropes related to Wimpy as a character:
 Tropes related to Swee'pea:
 Tropes related to Eugene the Jeep:
 Tropes related to Poopdeck Pappy:
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