Related to https://aeolipera.wordpress.com/2021/10/12/reflections-on-the-recent-desire-to-grift/
I didn’t initially have Dogbert in mind, but he’s the Platonic grifter. Very similar to Triangle from Blockheads. Or maybe call him the Platonic Noble Grifter, since he at least tends to target people who probably need to get weeded out of the breeding pool. This isn’t an apologia for “noble” grifting or sociopathy in general, I’m just observing as an disinterested SCIENTIST.
Speaking of SCIENCE, I was wondering in the shower whether Dogbert serves as some sort of libidinous melonhead Jungian Shadow function to archetypal neanderthard Dilbert in the same way that Mulan’s pet Mushu represents her feminine libido. Not sure, but it feels right. Scott Adams doesn’t strike me as an evangelist for sex magic the way Disney writers were (there’s a definite male/female split in the two fandoms), but he’s got pretty good instincts for developing archetypal characters.
Aeoli Pera 