Sufferin' Succotash!
Sylvester's catchphrase.
Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr. (Sylvester the Cat or simply Sylvester) is an anthropomorphic cat and a major character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies repertory, often treated as the main antagonist chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper.
He is also the titular main protagonist of the animated series The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries.
What Makes Him A Shonen Rival?[]
- Anti-Heroic/Anti-Villainous: While he is oftentimes treated as a usually anti-villainous character with a normal fixation on hunting birds and mice, and is often more of sympathetic predator who's only hunting as he's told to, he has protected several people and animals from danger and harm to bring a peaceful ending (this includes his archenemy Tweety, his irresponsible owner Granny, his enemy Hector the Bulldog, the oblivious Porky Pig and even went out of his way to protect a baby bird and a baby mouse from being hurt), and has helped the Looney Tunes gang (including Michael Jordan) to defeat the Nerdlucks/Monstars.
- Honorable: He has spared Tweety Bird's life with one last request for anything he wanted to have before Sylvester did anything in the episode "Point, Laser Point" (as well as showing showed kindness and empathy towards Wile E. Coyote by saying that Sylvester wishes all the best for him in his goals and whatever he goes through), fought against his compulsive addiction to hunting after Tweety and wanting to find ways to stop his rivalry with said bird even when it did harm to his sanity in "Birds Anonymous", and he even prevented a bird from committing suicide by not eating him and stopping said bird from getting himself eaten by Sylvester in "Life With Feathers".
- Tragic Past: He is one of the series' biggest punching bags for a variety of reasons. Especially since he's shown to be shorts where he is starving and also homeless, is often ignored by his owner Granny, has had several insecurities that have been played for sympathy (as well as played for dramatic tension as seen in the episode "Birds Anonymous"; which also gave him psychological undertones to Sylvester when he was shown as almost neurotic and struggling with an obsessive-compulsive disorder with not wanting to hunt birds), has died more times than any other Looney Tunes character in the entire series, and was a ghost in the film Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas since a disgruntled employee killed and squashed him with a forklift at least nine times on Christmas Eve.
- Intelligent: Sylvester's cleverness manifests in his ability to finding exact opportune moments to get the better of Tweety when there isn't anything or anyone getting in his way from winning (e.g managed to achieve at killing Tweety by eating him twice in the 1957 short Greedy for Tweety for a short amount of time and also went through with his success yet again in the 2002 webtoon Twick or Tweety), was keen enough to pick up Tweety's naiveté in the episode "A Bird in a Guilty Cage", was skilled enough to be a decent enough leader as well as a resourceful heckler towards Porky in "Kat Kornered", has enough common sense and street-smarts to survive in the wilderness on his own when put in a situation with Tweety and Taz (who both were much more naive and unsuspecting than Sylvester was in a The Looney Tunes Show episode "Ridiculous Journey") and being able to understand from another person's point of view as well as taking classes that taught him words (ex. "fortuitous", "serendipitous" and "propitious") that enhanced his vocabulary, seeking mental help when he really needs it and acknowledging that his own rival Tweety is smarter than he looks ("Point, Laser Point").
- It must be worth noting he was able to outsmart Porky a few times in several Looney Tunes Cartoon episodes to list (e.g "Door Tricks", “Window”, & “Eyeball”) and he is notable for being among the few characters who'd come up with plans that'd actually succeed with eating Tweety despite his horrible luck and his inability to eat and one-up Speedy due to the latter's super speed.
- Naturally Talented: Unlike Tweety, who just relies on others and contrived methods to defend him from danger at several convenient times (even when Tweety is being sadistic with relying on others' privileges), Sylvester has shown to be a genius inventor with crafting gadgets and robotics, happens to be a good magician in a season 3 episode of Looney Tunes Cartoons, is a ultra-talented construction worker in the Looney Tunes Cartoon episode "Put the Cat Out: Inside Out", and has shown to be a versatile actor due to his expertise of improvisations and singing (this also includes being able to handle multiple musical instruments and several pranks he utilized to his advantage and was also an resourceful prankster towards Elmer in the episode "Back-Alley Oproa").
- Arrogant/Jerkish: Has shown to be very prideful, an egoist, sometimes grouchy, a chaotic heckler on occasion, and can be a snarky/sarcastic jerk sometimes.
- Pursues A Big-End Goal: While wanting to capture and eat Tweety Bird and/or Speedy Gonzales for good, Sylvester also did seek to find food and water to have, wanted his son to become a great hunter in the future (especially since Sylvester's mom wanted him to be a good bird/mouse catcher), and even wanted to be a great singer.
- Pessimistic: While somewhat optimistic, he sometimes he feels like bad things would happen to only him every time he is in a conflict that involves Tweety, which to be fair, Sylvester isn't in the wrong here since it happens more often than not.
- Persistent: Even when Sylvester gets the worst out of most situations and is often clumsy as well as ill-fated, he is dedicated with wanting to eat Tweety no matter how many times he's mistreated for doing what a normal tomcat should do, and Sylvester shows much pride in not ever giving him winning against Tweety despite being on the “loser” side of the Looney Tunes winner/loser hierarchy.
- Believes in the Power of Individual Strength: Believes only in his own abilities and skills, whether if it works or backfires on him.
- Redemption Arc: While the franchise's continuity makes Sylvester either on or off, he has tried to redeem himself as a villain once in The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, specifically the last episode of the show "This Is the End"; where Sylvester expresses his love towards Tweety after Sylvester had a nightmare of what it'd look like if he ate Tweety and won.
- Is A Serious Threat/Villain: While the Looney Tunes franchise is almost always played for laughs, Sylvester can show off a slightly threatening side to him:
- Torturing and bothering Elmer Fudd to the point of committing accidental suicide ("Back-Alley Oproa"), nearly disfigured Hector the Bulldog's foot by drilling a hole inside of his foot cast and placing a lighted up TNT inside of the foot cast with a cork ("Greedy For Tweety"), has shown to be a whole lot more ferocious and violent towards Daffy in a more threatening way than ever before in the 2016 game Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, and it is heavily implied that he killed a lot of mice in the short Speedy Gonzales, where a mouse tries to get the cheese from him and he eats him off-screen.
- Heck, he even gleefully abused and assaulted a couple of feral animals in the zoo (ex. using a whip and using a mallet to whack a lion's head in Tweety's Circus) out of pure mischief and sadism in multiple episodes like "Tweet Zoo", "Pest Coaster", "Tweety's Circus" and "Rhino Ya Don't". He even had the intent to kill multiple animals in the zoo as well.
- Irritable/Short-Tempered: "NEVER MIND WHAT I JUST SAID!"
- Is a Mentor: He serves as one to Sylvester Jr, shaping him up to be a skilled/successful fish and mouse hunter.
- Spiky Hair: Has a spiky tuft of fur on his head.
- Celibate: Was often not aware of how much flying gnomes or male skunks were attracted to him (much to his shock and disgust).
- Vengeful: He is always on the hunt against Tweety and remains determined in getting his revenge towards Tweety for all of things that Tweety put him through.
- Wears Red/Black: Moreso, he IS black (due to his fur) and has a red bulbous nose.
- Is A Delinquent: Sylvester has been shown to be pretty mischievous since he was seen cheating in a competition and attempted to set many dangerous traps for Daffy Duck to get killed or trapped ("Toon Marooned"), violated the rule of "No Hunting and Fishing" in "Tweet Tweet Tweety", has brutally whacked a bulldog on the head with a umbrella stick for just snarling at him and also telling said dog "AAAAAAH SSSHADDUP!" because of Sylvester's irritation with the dog ("All A Bir-r-r-d"), and he attempted throwing a brick at a glass wall at the pet shop Tweety and a mouse were seen poking fun at Sylvester; he also tossed a flower vase to a group of dogs out of pure anger and yelled at them to keep their mouths shut ("Ain't She Tweet").
- Is A Tsundere: He sometimes shows this side to him when he had a wife and son.
External Links[]
- Sylvester on the Heroes Wiki
- Sylvester on the Villains Wiki
- Sylvester on the Looney Tunes Wiki
- Sylvester on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
- Sylvester on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki