Calvin
First appearance:	November 18, 1985
Last appearance:	December 31, 1995
Other characters

"Let's go exploring!" -Calvin's last sentence, from It's a Magical World

Calvin, named after theologian John Calvin, is the main protagonist of Calvin and Hobbes. He is a perpetually six-year-old boy with a habit of getting into trouble and has a wild vivid imagination. The comic centers around Calvin's life, his troubles, and his adventures, with Hobbes alongside all the while.

Calvin is characterized chiefly by his imagination, mischief, philosophy, social awkwardness and extensive vocabulary. His first piece of dialogue was the first line of the strip and his last line of dialogue was also the strip's final line. Calvin appeared in almost every strip of the series ever printed and published.

Contents 1 Background 2 Biography 2.1 Genealogy 2.2 Life 3 Appearance and artistic evolution 4 Personality 4.1 Imagination 4.2 Behavior 4.3 Curiosity 4.4 Philosophy 5 Social relationships 5.1 Calvin's mother 5.2 Calvin's father 5.3 Susie 5.4 Moe 5.5 Rosalyn 6 Intelligence 7 Imagination 8 Imagined Adventures 9 Real World Impact 10 Imagination Turned Real? 11 Personal life 12 Inventions 13 Gallery 14 Trivia 15 See Also

BackgroundEdit

Main article: Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin originated alongside Hobbes as a minor character in one of Bill Watterson's early submissions. The rejected strips, two of which (see left) were published in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, established Calvin's short-lived Cub Scout membership from the early strips, and also his perception of Hobbes.

Calvin's eyes were originally covered by his hair. However, Watterson's syndicate recommended to make the eyes visible, leading to Calvin's later hairstyle. The hair-over-eyes look was reused for Moe and his dodgeball teammate.

BiographyEdit

GenealogyEdit

As any given Calvin and Hobbes strip is contemporary to its publication, Calvin was born in 1979 through 1989, depending on the chosen strip. Calvin is an only son, and his parents go unnamed throughout the entire strip. He has four other known relatives:

• His uncle Max, blood brother of his father, who is unmarried and childless.
• His grandparents, who never appear in person. His maternal grandmother is clearly identified, and the strip mentions "Calvin's grandfather" in such contexts that they appear to be on both sides of the family. The status of his paternal grandmother is unknown, leaving three confirmed living grandparents.

LifeEdit

Main article: Timeline

There is no offical progression for the events in the comic. However, a few events in Calvin's life do echo throughout the timeline (sometimes contradictingly):

• His camping trips,
• the Noodle Incident,
• and uses of the Time Machine, the Duplicator and the Transmogrifier (Gun).

Appearance and artistic evolutionEdit

Like most children in Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin is extremely short compares to the adult characters, to the point that child-size short pants touch his feet, and has an oversized head. Aside from spiky blond hair, he has few distinct facial features, whereas other children in the strip often have glasses or freckles. Like all characters in the strip (and most in any form of cartooning), Calvin usually only has four fingers, including his thumb. Calvin 's eyes have been blue, green, red or brown throughout the Sunday strips.

Over time, as Watterson's drawing style evolved, so too did Calvin's appearance. Though originally somewhat stubby, Calvin became thinner and taller with time, making his head smaller in relation to his body. His relatively blocky skull got more rounded, and his neck more distinct. His shorter growths of hair rarefied, giving way to large spikes. His old "dot"-syle eyes became more oval in shape.

Calvin's regular outfit recalls that of Peanuts character Linus van Pelt: black shorts and a striped red shirt. Uniquely, though, Calvin wears white-bordered red sneakers. Calvin's winter outfit is made up of a blue coat, black snow pants, a blue puff-balled hat, black boots (Size 5) and red or green mittens. Calvin is also seen wearing a yellow raincoat in rainy weather and a swimsuit.

Calvin's underpants are featured as a running gag. He has several kinds, and preferences regarding which he would rather wear; a good-luck charm pair with a cartoon rocketship design, "tightey-whitey" generic underpants, and a pair licensed with cartoon characters.

PersonalityEdit

ImaginationEdit

Calvin has a hyperactive imagination that he engages in his free time, or while bored at school. In some fantasies, he appears as an alter ego or alongside certain attributes; other characters may also appear in his fantasies, such as his parents, school staff and Hobbes. His three most prominent (given their place in The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book) alter egos are:

• Spaceman Spiff, a space explorer who battles aliens (usually losing) and gets stranded on other planets,
• Stupendous Man, an unsuccessful superhero,
• Various dinosaurs,
• and Tracer Bullet, a stereotypical film noir private detective.

BehaviorEdit

Calvin is ill-behaved most of the time. He challenges authority, complains at length and does not see past his own needs and desires.

At home, he frequently challenges his parents' authority and complains about the rules he is made to observe, regarding for example:

• Baths: he has tried several tactics to avoid bathing, up to decoys, and when finally in the tub, he complains about his ordeal. His dislike of baths was stronger and more prominent in later strips.
• Television: Calvin watches television after dinner until his bedtime, and will often plead to stay up a little longer to watch his program.

Calvin is highly mischievous.

At school, he has built up, in his principal's words, quite a file owing to his behavior.

CuriosityEdit

Calvin is highly inquisitive, asking a wide range of questions usually to Hobbes or to his parents.

PhilosophyEdit

Calvin has thought of several philosophies throughout the length of the series.

Social relationshipsEdit

Calvin is somewhat asocial, with few friends and many enemies. He has said before, "I wish I had more friends, but people are such jerks".

His closest, and only stable friend is Hobbes. The occasional dispute aside, they never question their friendship. Hobbes' special status owes to his animal nature: Calvin has confessed to Hobbes that he prefers animals over people, and his friend had been a source of comfort to him after unpleasant experiences with his schoolmates, particularly Moe.

Calvin's motherEdit

Calvin fails to recognize his mother's effort and care toward him, and acts rudely around her. He struggles when told to take his bath, ignores his bedtime, and loudly protests the meals he is served for dinner. The only efforts he acknowledges are those that he doesn't require, such as when he is served hot cocoa after a long day outside in winter.

Calvin's fatherEdit

Calvin looks up to his father and believes even his most outlandish and colorful tales as truth. However, he detests being forced to build character and has vastly different values and philosophy. Whereas his father is a terrific outdoorsman, Calvin prefers to adhere to the television and stay inside during summer. Also, where Calvin's father sees the need for firm leadership, Calvin desires more laid-back policies and less discipline, and shows his disagreement with his dad through Polls.

SusieEdit

Calvin's behavior around neighbor and classmate Susie Derkins is bipolar; although he goes to great lengths to set up mean-spirited pranks (it was Susie's arrival that spurred him into creating G.R.O.S.S.), he has also been seen enjoying and even seeking her company. He joined Hobbes at Susie's birthday party, got her a gift and managed to enjoy her company. On Valentine's Day, shortly after their first encounter, he sent Susie a hate-mail valentine card; later, he was pleased to observe that Susie had noticed his efforts. On at least four occasions, he has agreed to play House with Susie (although the first time he had little choice).

MoeEdit

Defenseless against Moe's brute force, Calvin has little choice but to give in to the bully's demands. These include the dispensing of lunch money, the requisition of facilities that Moe wants access to, and joining the baseball team for fear of humiliation and beatings.

RosalynEdit

Calvin, being naturally hostile to all babysitters, antagonizes Rosalyn. His initiatives to postpone his bedtime under her rule (Rosalyn invariably gives Calvin an early bedtime) are mischievous and unsafe, such as locking Rosalyn out of the house and threatening her by stealing her science notes. Only once did he manifest the maturity not to oppose her, and this was in Rosalyn's last appearance.

IntelligenceEdit

Named after 16th century theologian John Calvin, (founder of Calvinism and a strong believer in predestination), Calvin is an impulsive, insubordinate, egocentric, bratty, overambitious and obnoxious, but also imaginative, energetic, curious, and intelligent six-year-old who always acts before he thinks. However, he occasionally does try to show his true, good side in front of Hobbes.

Calvin is generally misanthropic, and only feels significant sympathy for non-human animals. He has a significant admiration for tigers, instituted as a result of his friendship with Hobbes. Once, he even (unsuccessfully) tried to adopt the lifestyle of tigers.

Calvin is a poor worker, postponing homework until the last minute and failing to pay attention in class. Despite his glaring lack of effort, he laments the amount of work he is given and insists that his dubious performance is not his responsibility but rather the system's. Although aware of his bad grades, he tends to concoct outrageous boasts, claiming that he will become very powerful and influential in the future without investing any more than he already does. When Calvin does apply himself, it is to fruitless goals; despite not having any ambition to be a palaeontologist, he studies dinosaurs extensively, and his knowledge regarding the content of his comic books is impeccable.

This is not to say that Calvin is unintelligent. Despite his low grades, he masters an expansive vocabulary and an advanced sense of irony which even rival those of an adult. Even so, he does not pass up opportunities to learn swear words, which he estimates to know too few of. He is prone to expressing philosophy when going for a stroll in the woods or using vehicles such as his wagon. His grapples with philosophical quandaries are usually cut short by a banal distraction, mischievous urge or sarcastic retort from either of his parents.

Bill Watterson has described Calvin thus:

• "Calvin is pretty easy to do because he is outgoing and rambunctious and there's not much of a filter between his brain and his mouth."
• "I guess he's a little too intelligent for his age. The thing that I really enjoy about him is that he has no sense of restraint, he doesn't have the experience yet to know the things that you shouldn't do."
• "The socialization that we all go through to become adults teaches you not to say certain things because you later suffer the consequences. Calvin doesn't know that rule of thumb yet."
• "I must admit, that Calvin is good. he's always been my favorite book character and a good read when I'm down in the dumps. He always makes me laugh, and his surly attitude and having Hobbes around really just does it for anyone."

Calvin has often been shown to have minor anti-social tendencies. He has wished he were dead, only to then say he really wished that everyone else was dead at least once, and often shows reluctance to join organizations. For example, story lines involving him as a Cub Scout were dropped because Watterson saw them as uncharacteristic, and, while explaining to Susie on a see-saw why he didn't sign up for recess baseball, says he hates organized sports (as opposed to when he plays Calvinball with Hobbes).

Calvin occasionally addresses John Calvin's belief in predestination. Being a short-sighted child who dodges work, Calvin considers predestination as a favorable release from his responsibilities, whereas Hobbes sees it as a threat to individual freedom.

ImaginationEdit

Calvin's imagination far exceeds that of a normal child. His wild imagination may take him to worlds where he does battle with aliens, or it may stay on Earth and use earthly creatures, such as dinosaurs, to perform his imaginative deeds.

Imagined AdventuresEdit

Calvin's thoughts will on many occasions wander to an "alternative reality," or an exaggerated world. Things that happen in the real world, such as his teacher yelling at him, often affect what happens in his imagination.

For example, during his daydreaming, Calvin often turns into Spaceman Spiff, while his parents or his teacher pose as the aliens.

These alleged adventures, such as traveling back in time to the Jurassic period and photographing dinosaurs, are seen to be imaginary by Calvin's parents and peers, whilst believed by himself. This goes to show that his imagination is overactive, yet he and Hobbes believe that they actually occurred.

Real World ImpactEdit

When not daydreaming in the middle of his classes, Calvin will also exhibit his imagination in the real world, an example being his turning into Stupendous Man or skipping school as part of a Spaceman Spiff scenario. This will often lead Calvin to injuries or punishment.

Imagination Turned Real?Edit

Many occasions, things that would have been part of Calvin's imagination happen in real life. For example, Hobbes is a plain stuffed animal to anyone but Calvin, but his actions are real. One time, when Hobbes tied up Calvin during his attempt to be the next Houdini, his father disregards the fact that Hobbes tied Calvin up, yet he couldn't have tied himself up without the help of Hobbes. Also, the Duplicator, an imaginative invention of Calvin's, creates duplicates that act exactly like him, yet a simple cardboard box couldn't have done something to a great technological advance. His imagination, in these cases, caused real things to occur, though it has stirred controversy.

Personal lifeEdit

Calvin's personal life is documented to a certain extent.

Both Calvin and Hobbes seem to be fans of superhero comic books. Batman and Astro Boy are the only "real" superheroes Calvin likes; although he is never seen reading any of the comics, there have been a few explicit references in some strips. The strip also contains several made-up, generic superhero comics; among them are Captain Napalm, Nukeman, Captain Nitro, and Captain Steroid.

InventionsEdit

Main article: Calvin's inventions

Calvin occasionally makes machines usually made out of a cardboard box (but with some exceptions), which normally lead to disaster. Here is a list of his inventions:

• Transmogrifier
• Duplicator
• Time Machine
• Transmogrifier Gun
• Upgraded Duplicator (with Ethicator)
• Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron, a.k.a Thinking Cap
• Writer's Block
• Huge bird foot
• Invisible Cretinizer

GalleryEdit

TriviaEdit

• Calvin writes with both hands, but it is commonly shown to be right-handed. During the baseball strips, Calvin noticeably can be seen wearing a glove on a different hand in each panel.
• In both his first and last appearances, Calvin is wearing a hat: a pith helmet in the former and a snow hat in the latter.
• Aside from English, Calvin has briefly spoken German Latin, and some phrase-book Spanish.
• Calvin sometimes is shown having a watch, but it disappears between panels.
• Calvin is creeped out by somnambulists, or sleepwalkers.
• In one strip, Calvin claimed that he always carries a Swiss army knife. However, no mention of it was ever made again.
•  Bill Watterson stated in the Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book that he wouldn't want Calvin in his house.

See Also Edit

• Calvinball
• Cardboard box
• Hobbes
• Calvin-Susie Derkins relations

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