Jonathan Q. "Jon" Arbuckle, or more commonly known as Mr. Arbuckle, is the tritagonist of the Garfield Franchise. He is presented in all branches of the Garfield franchise except a few video games. He is the deuteragonist in the comic strip and is rarely absent. He and Garfield provide most of the dialogue on a regular basis, though he is the only one whose dialogue is in speech bubbles. He has a very large family, especially consisting of uncles and aunts. Jim Davis based much of himself onto Jon Arbuckle, such as that Jon has the same birthday as Jim Davis. He has a girlfriend named Liz Wilson. His parents and brother are farmers. He always teased his younger brother and calling him as "Doc Boy", a name that his brother hates when he always yelled "Don't call me Doc Boy".
Background[]
Jon Arbuckle was born to farm-owners Mr. and Mrs. Arbuckle. He also has a brother whom he always calls Doc Boy, much to his brother's annoyance.
When he attended high school, he was nicknamed "Carpface" by the other students. He was once college roommates with Lyman. On June 19, 1978, he adopted Garfield from a pet shop.
Garfield and Jon play an odd pair who are comedic or unusual. Garfield is often, but not always, normal. Jon, meanwhile, has very awkward habits, usually related to curing his boredom, speaking random aspects of philosophy, ruining or complaining about his chances of getting a date, or complaining about unfortunate events. In most comics, Garfield will provide a punchline that is usually supposed to be the primary sentence of the comic. Jon sometimes delivers the primary sentence in strips more about Garfield performing a solo act.
Jon manages to make enough money to keep Garfield with food, which is no easy feat. Jon, as well as Garfield, frequently get bored, normally coming up with "fun" ways to cure boredom, such as buying new socks, clipping toenails, or playing "Guess the Burp" with Garfield.
Jon is an easy prank target for Garfield, either played when he is awake or asleep. A recurring gag in The Garfield Show is Jon being afraid of mice, usually screaming at the sight of them. In the comic strip, he chases mice and urges Garfield to catch them.
Diets[]
Since Garfield is capable of eating large quantities of food, Arbuckle has put Garfield on several diets over the years. Jon is shown to be harsh during diets, seen as he will not allow Garfield to go off his diet. Jon has at least dieted with Garfield twice.
In The Garfield Show, Jon has been tricked by Garfield commonly of times. This usually makes Jon feel bad and gives in into giving Garfield food. Sometimes, Jon has threatened not to feed Garfield unless he does a certain task.
In 20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection, Jim Davis stated in an annotation that his reading audience has always demanded comic sequences where Garfield has to go through a diet, or else they complain.
Physical appearance[]
Jon is a tall and skinny adult man with light skin and curly, messy brown hair with a black mullet. While he wears shirts of different colors, he is most frequently seen in his signature powder blue polo top. He also wears dark blue pants (in older appearances, he wore black pants) and brown shoes. In Garfield and Friends, he often wore brown pants with a darker blue shirt.
In the November 22, 1985 comic strip, RX-2 states that Jon weighs 175 pounds and is 6 feet tall.
He is often seen wearing suits when he goes on dates. The suits are often composed of clothing items with patterns such as polka dots, plaid, and stripes, and usually have bright, clashing colors.
In the May 18, 1992 comic strip, it is revealed that Jon owns contact lenses, but it is unclear how often he wears them or why he needs them. In the April 29, 2017 comic strip, Jon's eyes are shown to be green, while in The Garfield Movie, they are brown.
Personality[]
A nerdy and clumsy man, Jon is the owner of Garfield and Odie. He has been portrayed as being extremely pathetic in the world of dating and coolness, constantly striking out when trying to get dates with women. This has been partly due to his ridiculous pick-up lines (said to a woman in the grocery store: "You must be today's special, 'cause you're making me hungry!" This explained the genosha salami in his ear.) and loud flashy outfits. Jon is the primary fodder and conversation partner to Garfield and is often the victim of his jokes. In Garfield and Friends, he was frequently portrayed as being incredibly gullible when faced with unscrupulous salesmen and extraordinarily dumb in general. Jon Arbuckle is a guy. He is similar to Garfield, they are both hungry and loyal. Sometimes he is lazy and self-centered just like Garfield.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Jon's name originates from a coffee commercial.
- “The name Jon Arbuckle came from an old coffee commercial I remember hearing. I’d also used the name as an ‘expert source’ to add ‘credibility’ to my speeches. When I created the comic strip, the name just seemed to fit the kind of poor sap who would get stuck with a cranky cat like Garfield.” - Jim Davis
- According to one comic strip, Jon is six feet tall and weighs 175 pounds (~79 kg).
- In "The Six-Can Solution", Jon weighs 182 pounds (~83 kg).
- Jon's favourite colour is red.
- Jon's car's license plate number is TB-312.
- In the DTV movies, it is Jon 731.
- In The Garfield Show, it is JON-731.
- Jon is based on Jim Davis.
- It has been implied in a few strips that Jon's eccentric and dim-witted personality is due to brain damage he suffered from several incidents that happened growing up at the farm, such as the May 13, 2002 strip, where he mentioned that their cow Bossie kicked him in the head, before repeating the same thing shortly after, and in the June 16, 1999 strip, when he recalled playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" with an actual donkey at his 21st birthday party, then stating that he cannot remember anything after that, to which Garfield remarks "This explains a lot."
- It has been hinted several times throughout the comics that Jon has a terrible voice when it comes to Christmas caroling.
- In the first Garfield strip, Jon establishes himself as a cartoonist, although he was rarely seen making cartoons. The job was more frequently mentioned in Garfield and Friends. By the late 1990s, Jon's profession is rarely brought up, with at least one exception on August 2, 2015.
- Jon had a cousin named Leonard who claimed to be kidnapped by aliens. Jon notes that said aliens "denied the whole thing", to which Garfield says, "Okay, now I'm frightened. Are you frightened?"
- Jon is 37 years old in Garfield: The Movie.
- On December 23, 1980, Jon mentions to Garfield that he is 29.
- In The Garfield Show, Jon is described as 22.
- In "Furry Tales", Jon is supposed to be 20 going on 21.
- Jon's neighbor had a dog when Jon was a child named "Scraps", who chased a stick into a thresher. Garfield remarked that he lived up to his name.
- A few comic strips have Jon wearing contact lenses.
- The most common meal that Jon is seen eating is mashed potatoes, peas, and meatloaf. Garfield tends to steal it from him. The reasons vary, from Garfield preferring Jon's dinner over his own dinner (cat food in a green bowl) to Garfield still being hungry after eating his own dinner.
- There is an ongoing comic strip that began in 2008 entitled "Garfield Minus Garfield", in which Jon is the main character featured and most of the other characters have been removed. In the strip, Garfield is depicted as Jon's imaginary friend, whom only he can see. A running gag has Jon appearing to be talking to himself or having sudden mood swings, making him appear insane, or sometimes depressed and seemingly suicidal. Jim Davis is a fan of the strip and sometimes contributes to the site.
- Jim Davis says that Jon cannot understand Garfield's thoughts, but rather his actions. This is because he wanted a realistic cat and not one that talks.
- On the fourth Friday of November, Jon and Garfield have "Candy Cane Karaoke Night".
- Since Jon's only sibling, Doc Boy, is not shown to be married or have kids, it is unknown how Jon has nieces and nephews, as shown in some of the comic strips, one episode of Garfield and Friends, and The Garfield Show.
- On December 3rd, 1999, Jon attempted to chat under the name Stephano. As Stephano, he claims to be "very rich and macho." However, no one else on chat falls for this, as they all leave the chat room quickly.
- Jon's favorite coffee is decaffeinated.
- Jon has occasionally shown religious aspects of his life, e.g., when shown praying in the April 29, 1987 strip and with his family at dinner in A Garfield Christmas.
- In the earlier years of the comic strip, Jon could occasionally be seen with a pipe.
- Jon took his mother to his high school prom. Another year he went with his friend Wheezer.
- Jon owns a daisy costume, which he wears on the first day of spring each year to sing his "Dance To Spring". (sometimes referred to as the "Ode To Spring") One year, Garfield and Liz buried it to stop Jon from performing his song and dance, only for Jon to reveal that he has a bee costume, as a "Plan B".
- In the DTV films and The Garfield Movie, Jon is shown to have freckles.
- In "The Big Sneeze", tests diagnosed Jon with allergies to antelope, goldenrod, and grilled asparagus.
- In "The Big Catnap", Jon's favorite cookies are pistachio and almond with chocolate sprinkles.
- Jon was stuck in a tree on his eighth birthday.
- In Garfield on the Town, Jon's phone number is 555-7722.
- In "The Horror Hostess Part 1", Jon reveals that he graduated from "Obscure Cartoons College".
- In "Delicious Donut Day", it is revealed that Jon shares his birthday with Herman Post.