As shown by his speech, Popeye is no better than you or me. He acts and dresses, of course, like a sailor, not the least refined. He might have lost his right eye in a brawl, but certainly fistfights explain the loss of his teeth and shape of his nose. We are not sure what the deformity of his calves and forearms, and the size of his double chin tell us unless it’s that maybe it doesn’t matter how odd you are, you can give as much as you receive.
Loyal to Olive Oyl, in spite of her being fickle, and protective of Swee’Pea’s innocence, Popeye is just a nice guy, but when angered, he doesn’t stint on using his fists in spite of the odds against him. Fortunately, he has rubbed the head of the Whiffle Hen. Fortunately, spinach gives him the strength and resilience of a superhero.
Popeye is deficient in reason, but he’s not rash. When pressed past the limit of his patience, he says, “That’s all I can stands, cuz I can’t stands n’more!” Then he settles the problem with brute force, concluding, “I yam what I yam, and tha’s all what I yam.” For this, the world will always be grateful.
Like Sherlock Holmes, Popeye enjoys his pipe, but we rarely see him smoking it. Whereas Sherlock smokes a Meerschaum, Popeye, with his corncob pipe, is less refined. Popeye’s pipe is the all-purpose instrument of his ingenuity, serving as a cutting torch, jet engine, propeller, periscope, ship’s whistle, and basically anything except for smoking tobacco.
A cross between an African wild dog and living cells that slipped from the fourth dimension, Eugene the Jeep was found in Africa and sent as a pet to Olive Oyl by her uncle Ben Zene. Eugene’s magical abilities, due to his origin in the fourth dimension, include immunity to the Sea Hag’s hexes, being able to disappear in one place and reappear in another, to walk on ceilings and through walls, and to predict future outcomes. Being intelligent and playful, Eugene is a loyal and helpful companion, more fun than a guardian angel, and more able to help in an emergency than Lassie, yet he eats only orchids and says only “Jeep.”
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