Sunday, December 19, 2021

Character Analysis: Popeye (Feat DJTiki)

 

Popeye, the Sailor Man


Preliminary Notes

  1. Popeye is a series with nearly one-hundred years of history to sift through. He came about through his original appearances in Thimble Theatre. Since then, he’s had more newspaper strips, cartoons, comics, live-action movies, and tons of reboots and parodies. Listing them all here would be a pain.


  1. This analysis will focus on all of Popeye’s officially sanctioned material with the cartoons acting as the main source for information. Anything that is fanmade is excluded from the analysis.



Background


Born as the son of Poopdeck Pappy and an unnamed woman in Santa Monica, Popeye would be born at two to three years of age (with a pipe in his mouth, likely a gift from Pappy). His father would leave him with an orphanage to go on adventures. Popeye exercised as quickly as he realized he could (around age 4). Eventually, a fellow by the name of Whaler Joe would take him in. 


At age 6, he would take it upon himself to fight bullies and try everything he can to make sure that his guardian couldn’t fall on hard times. Despite this and his troublemaking (or heroic?) habits, he still grew up without much. Whale Joe would inspire him to take the path of a sailor, so that at age 12, he would find himself amongst the Josie Lee crew of sailors. Coming into his own, Popeye found many successes. He went back home to Sweethaven to find his mother and live with her for a while. Here, he figured out the power of spinach. He would then grow into an adult and reconnect with his old sailor rival, Bluto. 


During the story of Thimble Theatre’s comic strip run, Popeye would fall head over heels over a woman named Olive Oyl. She had left her previous boyfriend Ham Gravy (yes that is his name). His old rival Bluto would also set his eyes on being Olive’s lover. And so, the two would form a mutually toxic relationship of battling for her affection. Forty-years old, Popeye is going on adventures with his girlfriend, rivals, storybook villains, his nephews, and the people of Sweethaven as he takes to spinach and wins… whatever the issue is that day.



  • Name: Popeye

  • Gender: Male

  • Age: 40

  • Height: 5’6”

  • Weight: 158 lbs | 71 kg

Powers & Abilities


Base Popeye

Superhuman Characteristics - On his own, he’s already much stronger than an average human, being able to bend iron, toss around pianos, and punch out bricked walls easily.

Body Malleability - Popeye’s body is like that of rubber. When he gets squashed, crushed, twisted, he can restore himself. He can also do this intentionally to his body for pseudo-flight or stronger punches. HIs famous Twister Punch is him twisting his arms and unleashing a tornado-like attack.

Deconstruction & Matter Manipulation - As quickly as the first episode, Popeye is shown to be able to punch anything into something else (inanimate or otherwise). Typically it works by deconstructing an object to something similar, but it has worked by turning one thing into another type of matter entirely. 

Corn Cob Pipe - His pipe can be used to blow fire or as an airway in case he’s incapitated and needs spinach. He has used it for flight before.

Regeneration - His body can survive total disintegration. As he’s able to pick up Spinach despite the fact. This extends to the fact that hard hits never actually tear his body apart.

Hypnosis - By reading a book Bluto had on hypnosis, Popeye learned to do the same.

Space Sustainment - Can survive in the reaches of space, on the moon or other planets.

Spinach Summoning / Control - If Spinach is around, he can get it. He keeps one in his shirt, but he’s also been able to summon some from nowhere, whistle for it, and even call to the audience to get some.

4th Wall Awareness / Interaction - Popeye knows that there is an audience of people watching him. He can ask them for aid and it’s likely they’ll give it to him. He can even exit the cartoon.


Spinach Popeye

Massive Improvements to previous abilities plus…

Unlimited Stamina

Invisibility

Flight - His pseudo-flight turns into actual flight. Whether that is just regular flying or turning into a rocket.

Non-corporeal Interaction - Fights enemies with no discernable physical mass like ghosts or lightning.

Age Restoration - In case he needs to, spinach can turn his base back several years.

Shapeshifting - Turning his body into anything. Literally anything the situation calls for.

Genius Intellect - He gains intellect so profound that he can solve engineering issues with a simple flurry of his fists.

Time Manipulation - Popeye reached relativity with spinach and traveled through space “in an hour.”

Perfect Temperature Control - He cannot be frozen or melted in his state of being.

Resistance to magical attacks & physical harm - most conventional attacks don’t work on him now.

Resistance to Existence Erasure - Even if the universe itself is turned off, Popeye is fine.


Toon Force - This is the catchall term for cartoons that have feats based on the fact that it’s funny. Anything can happen to Popeye or his friends and they will be fine. This means that nothing has ever had long term repercussions to Popeye’s body. He can do what he needs for the story.


Spinach Can - Most infamous of Popeye, his Spinach Can is no joke. If anyone eats it, they gain the powers of Popeye listed above. By eating it, your body is instantly revitalized and improved, even if you never ate spinach before. It could be theorized that Popeye’s been eating it for so long that he naturally had some of its strength applied to him.

Feats


Strength & Attack Potency

Base

Spinach

Speed & Reactions

Base

  • Faster than lightning bolts (1:02)

  • Steering his boat across the south of US in seconds (1:16)

Spinach

Durability & Stamina

Base

Spinach

  • Spinach instantly revives him whether he’s tuckered out, frozen, or completely disintegrated.

  • Was unaffected after “The Man Upstairs” shut off the entire universe.

  • The same as Base Popeye and scaling to his own attacks. Generally speaking, Popeye has never actually been defeated or even hurt after eating Spinach, so there’s nothing in the way for direct durability feats.

Skill & Intelligence

Base

  • Served in the Navy and received many medals due to his patriotism.

  • Excellent handyman, pilot, hunter, and of course, sailor.

  • Trained himself in the sport of boxing

  • Tracked down lost treasure and his lost father.

  • Worked as a private eye detective once

  • Started his own diner

  • Did battle with Hercules, Sinbad, Ali Baba, and “The Man Upstairs”

  • Favored by the Greek Gods 

  • ...is a fan of Superman comics...

Spinach

  • Previous stuff enhanced.

  • Becomes an excellent dancer.

  • Can play any instrument.

  • Solved complex engineering and construction issues in mere seconds.

  • Knows exactly what to do to win a fight and does it. (likely linked to Toon Force)

  • Saved Earth from alien invasions multiple times

Weaknesses


  • Nothing notable besides his irritability. Most of his in-universe weaknesses are usually handwaved by a random ability he can just pull out (such as summoning spinach from real life if he’s in a lot of trouble).



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