Formally-Named Pet - Television Tropes & Idioms

"When Dr. Evil gets angry, Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset. And when Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset, people die! "

How do you show that your pet is special? When you want to go above and beyond a normal pet name, a formal title is the easiest way to add some sophistication. He's not just Fluffernutter, he's Mister Fluffernutter! You can usually expect such a pet to be a little lap dog or a pampered kitty. However, they may occasionally be horrible giant scary monsters, so beware.

Often overlaps with Mister Muffykins. The Right-Hand Cat is often a Formally-Named Pet. Likewise in pet-related cases of Consulting Mister Puppet. How NOT to Write a Novel mentions this as something that is overdone.

Examples

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Advertising

In this ad for Petsmart, a man has an unseen pet named Mr. Barkey von Schnauzer.

Anime & Manga

Mr. Tadakichi from Azumanga Daioh.
Mister Soichiro from Maison Ikkoku.
In the English version of Ranma ½, Kodachi's pet is "Mr. Green Turtle". And no, it isn't a turtle but a huge crocodile.
Sakamoto from Nichijou tries to be this, insisting on "-san" being added to his name. Nano complies, the Professor does not.
Sarasa's Big Friendly Dog Antoinette Ghandi XIII in Lime-iro Senkitan.
In Axis Powers Hetalia, Iceland's pet puffin is appropriately named Mr. Puffin.

Comics

B.A.'s cat in Knights of the Dinner Table is Colonel Prowler.
Mr. Bun, Suzie's stuffed rabbit from Calvin And Hobbes.

Films — Live-Action

Mr. Bigglesworth from Austin Powers.
Mr. Tinkles, the cat villain of Cats & Dogs.
Big Fat Liar: Movie producer Marty Fox has a stuffed monkey named Mister Funnybones to which he's... oddly attached.
True Grit: The cat's name is General Sterling Price, after the American Civil War general of the same name.
Mr. Smith in The Awful Truth

Literature

Harry Potter: Filch has a pet cat, Mrs. Norris.
In the Discworld book Making Money, Topsy Lavish (née Turvy)'s dog and eventual chairman of the bank is named Mr. Fusspot.
Peter S. Beagle's Tamsin features a cat simply named Mister Cat.
From T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (and thus also from Cats), the magical Mr. Mistoffelees (the only one of all the cats in the book/musical to be named that way).
In The Dresden Files, Harry Dresden's cat is named simply Mister.
Pippi Longstocking has her little monkey, Mr. Nilsson.
In A Song of Ice and Fire, Tommen has kittens named Ser Pounce and Lady Whiskers (and another named Boots).

Live-Action TV

On The Dick Van Dyke Show, Sally's cat is named Mr. Henderson.
- In one episode Alan Brady gets Rob to work on a play he's in that's written by a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Truman Capote. "Capote" has a pet German Shepard named Mr. Ben which he takes everywhere and consults for advice.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Willow and Tara get a cat and name it "Miss Kitty Fantastico". The cat later disappears without mention. It's brought up later, when Dawn implies in a quick aside that the cat was killed in a household cross-bow accident.
- Drusilla's dog is "Ms. Sunshine."
Mr. Muggles, the Pomeranian from Heroes.
The Drew Carey Show: Drew and Lewis bribe Oswald into voting to sell Buzz Beer by giving him a bunny. Oswald immediately names it Commander Bun-Bun and starts to act like a Diabolical Mastermind with a Right-Hand Cat.
Brittany on Glee has a cat named Lord Tubbington.
Sex and the City: Carrie's book reading is interrupted by the appearance of one Mr. Winkle, a real celebrity dog, who has a book of his own, which he's signing (by putting his paw print on it).
When Leonard is considering getting a cat in The Big Bang Theory, one of the names he's thinking about is "Colonel Fuzzyboots".
My Name Is Earl: Darnell's turtle is named Mr. Turtle.
- In one episode Joy & Darnell - an interracial couple - interact with a reverse-color interracial couple, Liberty & Ray-Ray. Liberty is Joy's half sister. Ray-Ray has a bearded dragon (a type of lizard) he calls Mr. Bearded Dragon.
In Friends, Mr Heckles pretends he has a cat named Mister Bob Buttons.
- Rachel bought a hairless cat she named "Mrs. Whiskerson" because she can't call her "Fluffy".
On Degrassi, Fiona's ex-girlfriend has a cat named Mr. Tuxedo-Pants.
On Psych, Shawn's cat's name is Chairman Meow.
In Jessie, Ravi's pet water monitor lizard is named "Mr. Kipling".

Video Games

Bioshock: Little Sisters call their pet Big Daddy "Mr. Bubbles".
In Tales of Monkey Island, Hemlock McGee has a cat named Miss Prettywhiskers.
If you give Anders a cat in Dragon Age: Awakening, he names it Ser Pounce-a-lot.
- And his favorite cat from his days in the Circle Tower was Mr. Wiggums, who was his only company when he was locked up as punishment for running away. Sadly, poor Mr. Wiggums had to be put down after he was possessed by a rage demon and killed three armored Templars.

Web Comics

In Chapel Chronicles, Chapel's pet hedgehog is named Sir Rupert Tennyson Bollingsworth the First
In Eerie Cuties an ancient vampire queen had a kitty named Mr. Boodles.
Jarad has a pet Gyarados named Mr. Fish in Manly Guys Doing Manly Things.
Housepets! has at least 10 cats called Mr Bigglesworth, due to their owner being a Crazy Cat Lady. They all look the same, though they're not related and some are female. They occasionally mess with other pets who don't know there's more than one.
John in Homestuck names Rose's mutant cat Dr. Meowgon Spengler, not knowing that she has already named him Vodka Mutini.
Mr. Scruffy, Lord Shojo's cat in The Order of the Stick. He gained a canine Evil Counterpart within the Linear Guild with Sir Scraggly.
- There's also Mr. Stiffly, the Monster in the Darkness' name for O-Chul. He counts because he got the name while the MITD was using his paralyzed body like a stuffed animal for his make-believe tea party.
Sluggy Freelance: After surviving a horrible explosion, Bun-Bun temporarily loses his memory and is adopted by a family that renames him Mr. Fuzbutt.
Raven's cat in El Goonish Shive refers to himself as Mr. Fuzzball although according to Raven his name is actually Max.
At one point, Helen from Narbonic tries to control the insane, super-intelligent gerbils she's created with an adorable kitten named Sir Pounce after eating several gerbils, he gets strapped to a bomb, blown up, and sent to Hell.
Nick's pet raccoon in Samurai Princess is named Mr. Fluffycuddles.

Web Original

TVTV 's Expy of Frankenstein's Monster has "Mr. Stiffy", a very, very dead cat.
In one episode of commodoreHUSTLE, "Rarelywinter", Kathleen suggests naming a defeated dragon, "Sir Burns-A-Lot". Graham translates this to Jer as, "Kathleen can't think of anything either."

Western Animation

The Venture Bros.. The Monarch keeps the taxidermied corpse of his old cat, Mister Mostly Mittens, in his dining room. Apparently, it had three white paws and one not-white paw (hence "mostly").
Mr Cool, the Fonz's dog, from The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang.
Ms Lion from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
Mr Cat from Kid vs. Kat.
In Dan Vs. "The Animal Shelter", Dan takes home a kitten and names it Mr. Mumbles.
Mr. Kitty, Eric Cartman's pet cat from South Park.
- Mr. Garrison's toys/pets Mr. Hat, Mr. Twig, and Mr. Slave.
- In one episode Paris Hilton comes to South Park and tries to buy Butters from his parents to be her new pet; she renames him Mr. Biggles.
Mr. Twitches, Lizzie's pet cat from Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue
Mr. Pettibone, Goofy's pet cat in Mickey Mouseworks, House of Mouse, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Mr. Whiskers, the rabbit from Brandy & Mr. Whiskers (although not a pet).
Mr. Puffy Fluffy from Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Phineas and Ferb
- Doofenshmirtz took in a cat and named it Mr. Fluffypants, after his uncle Fluffypants.
- In another episode, Candace had a bunny that she called Mr. Cutie Patootie. Turned out he was a rogue OWCA agent trying to find Perry's lair.
WordGirl: Captian Huggyface. Although it's hard to say whether or not he's actually a pet.
On The Simpsons Nelson's cat is Mr. Mooch and Moe's cat is Mr. Snookums.
Mrs. Boots from Slacker Cats. A Running Gag is Eddie pushing her Berserk Button by continually asking where Mr. Boots is.
On Family Guy, Peter is revealed in a Cutaway Gag to have once had a goldfish named Lieutenant Shinysides.