Dilbert (character) - Physical Appearance

Physical Appearance

Dilbert usually has no visible mouth or eyes. In more recent strips the mouth has been drawn on occasions when Dilbert is eating, furious, nervous, or in agony. In the television series (where he is voiced by Daniel Stern), his mouth is drawn only when he is speaking. Dogbert looks very much like Dilbert, with glasses and no mouth; his mouth likewise appears when he is speaking in the animated series.

In nearly every strip, Dilbert's tie is curved upward. While Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has offered no definitive explanation for this, he has explained the tie at least as a further example of Dilbert's lack of power over his environment. A second explanation given by Adams in the Dilbert FAQ is that "he is just glad to see you". Adams has also hinted that the tie may be displaying an aversion to him. Additionally, in Seven Years of Highly Defective People, Adams wrote: "Many readers asked me to allow Dilbert to lose his innocence with Liz, so to speak. But I didn't see any way I could do that in a comic strip and get it past the editors. So I developed a secret sign. I told the people who receive the Dilbert newsletter that if Dilbert ever got lucky with Liz, I would draw his normally upturned necktie flat one day."

The flat-necktie strip was printed on August 9, 1994, in which Dogbert suspected that Dilbert had gotten lucky; ironically, the tie was shown flattened after Liz stated she did not believe in fornication (Dogbert wondered if Dilbert, who was acting oddly serene, had discovered religion; Dilbert said he "thought he was Unitarian"). In another strip, Dilbert met Antina, an overly masculine female coworker who caused his tie to flatten and point downward, strengthening the idea of the tie being a phallic symbol (Adams himself has said that he does not know what it means). On January 11, 2011, Dilbert was diagnosed with pon farr which caused an irresistible urge to mate. His tie was straight for the next two strips. Sometimes when Dilbert is surprised, scared, or has been beaten up, his tie goes straight. A series once went on about his tie, during which Dogbert attempts to find out. He tries having Ratbert eat one of the ties, theorizes that it has an aversion to him, and eventually gave up after a discussion with the garbageman.