List of Pearls Before Swine Characters - Minor Characters

Minor Characters

• Stephan Pastis (debut: June 1, 2003) — Pastis appears self-reflexively in many strips as the cartoonist of the strip, usually exhibiting ambiguous feelings toward his characters (and an exasperation with Rat in particular, who gives it back to Pastis in return especially when things don't go his way). On one occasion, Rat had him briefly change the name of the strip to "Worship The Rat". He is often seen smoking, although Pastis has mentioned in his books that he does not smoke and has no idea why he drew himself that way to begin with (though Rat and Guard Duck are often featured smoking as well). In The Crass Menagerie he says that he's gotten criticism for his smoking, as people seem to believe he's glamorizing smoking (Pastis claims he's doing the exact opposite). On the week of July 7, 2008, the cartoon Pastis announced that he would be killing off one of Pearls's characters in order to "stay competitive" with other strips. That Wednesday (July 9), Pastis was found dead in the cartoon, but he and Rat (who died of a heart attack due to excitement from finding out) were sent back to the strip days later. Pastis has since returned to drawing himself in the strip.
• Pigita (debut: July 22, 2002) — Pig's on-and-off girlfriend, known for her wild mood swings. According to the strip published on September 6, 2007, Pig and Pigita have been together for seven years. However, in the treasury "Pearls Sells Out" Pigita seems to want either that Pig propose to her or they stop going out. In March 2011 she broke up with Pig; however, they are seen together in a number of strips after their "breakup."
• Chuckie is a non-anthropomorphic sheep who appears occasionally. He is good friends with Goat, but is despised by Rat, who finds no point of having a non-anthropomorphic animal in the strip. He can only say "Bah".
• Farina (debut: August 19, 2002) — Pig's germaphobic sister who lives in a bubble, although that doesn't prevent her from dating characters from many comic strips. After her debut, Pastis removed her from the strip for two years, and when he brought her back he had to do a complete reintroduction (from Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!). In "Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic", Pastis said that part of the reason why he doesn't draw her as often is because she is the only character who requires a drafting compass to draw and he usually cuts himself using it.
• Snuffles the Cat (debut: September 30, 2007) — Zebra's cat, accidentally given to him by the crocs, who occupies his time committing crimes and running scams.
• Angry Bob and Danny Donkey (debuts 2002 and 2006, respectively): Rat's two main fictional characters in his writings. In "The Adventures of Angry Bob", Angry Bob always starts out angry and decides on a particular reason, then goes to do something about it. Angry Bob always finds some level of success in becoming happy, only to meet a horrible death at the end of nearly every story. Rat is shown drinking heavily while writing 'Angry Bob' stories. Danny Donkey is a children's book character with an amazingly twisted moral compass and a hatred of most every person on Earth. He is a passionate kleptomaniac and loves cigarettes and beer.
• Max and Zach: Zebra's other neighbors are laid-back, surfer type lions. Their lioness wives used to hunt for them until they divorced them, but they received frozen zebras as court-ordered support from them; despite this, Max and Zach have proven to be capable hunters when necessary, earning jealousy from the crocodiles (at least one of which- Larry- stole the frozen zebras). It is unknown whether the lions are friends or enemies of Zebra. They ask for high fives when their wives kill Zebra's friends but give him advice that will help him not get eaten himself.
• The Hyenas: A pair of hyenas who, along with the lions and crocs, are frequently trying to eat Zebra; however, theirs is more a scavenger nature. Two Hyenas, both named Hy, have tried to get food via a funeral home. Hyenas are the third type of predator that plague Zebra's herd. Before 2008, they had only appeared in the strip twice: first, a series in which Zebra was an online advice columnist for other zebras; the second appearance was a single Sunday strip in September 2007 as new neighbors of Zebra. Starting on February 25, 2008, a strip was published featuring the hyenas as operators of a funeral home, in which they eat those they are supposed to bury.
• Andy: A dog who makes big plans for his life only to have them dashed by the fact he is tied to a pole in his backyard. In the treasury 'Pearls Sells Out', Pastis mentioned that whenever he shows Andy, animal-rights supporters complain because they feel it is cruel for a dog to be tied to a post in the backyard. For a period of time Andy shared the backyard with a female dog named Olive, who like Andy was chained to a post. She left him after her chain broke in the middle of the night.
• Viking Figurines: Pig has miniature Viking figurines that write in their diaries and do other non-manly things. Rat is often seen putting on WWE or singing violent songs etc. to make them try and become more like Vikings.
• Gary, the coffee shop manager: Rat works at a coffee shop at which the manager yells at him for being rude to the customers, yet they cannot fire him due to a corporate diversity policy. In one strip Rat creates clones of himself that turn out to be kind and caring so he gives them to Larry the croc (feeder mice). Larry then gives them to the coffee shop, allowing them to fire Rat. When Rat asks Larry why he can't handle feeder mice, the response he gets is "Dey punch me in hed". He has not made any appearances yet (although Rat got his job back, we still have not seen much of him since he hired the clones of Rat).