The comic strip Pearls Before Swine debuted on the last day of 2001 and has remained a part of newspaper comics history ever since. The endearingly popular strip includes such characters as the cynical, egotistical Rat, the optimistic, dimwitted Pig, and the level-headed, intelligent Goat. Creator Stephan Pastis has infused the strip with memorable characters and hilarious gags across its more-than-two-decade run.
As one of the central characters of the strip, Rat has been the focus of numerous jokes. His negativity contrasts well with Pig’s positivity; his brash nature allows him to generate outlandish gags. Throughout Pearls Before Swine‘s run, Rat’s antics have been unforgettable.
10 Rat Made His Own Take on the Obama “Hope” Poster
Publication Date: March 1, 2016
In the run-up to the 2016 United States Presidential election, Rat ran his own campaign for the position, as he had done in years past. This time, he concocted a campaign poster, riffing on Obama’s famous “Hope” poster but with a more dramatic edge. Rat’s “Despair” poster looked professional and even got Goat to give it a point for honesty, but that’s all it had going for it.
This strip served as an appropriate summation of Rat’s character and commentary on the fatalist tone some people took in 2016 concerning the political environment. Indeed, Pearls Before Swine often contains satirical material for adults. Even removing the satire, the strategy of promising despair in exchange for power was in character for Rat, who easily falls into pessimism. His lust for power is also a common thread through the strips, contrasting humorously with the elegant-looking poster.
9 Rat Learned Yiddish So He Could Insult People
Publication Date: February 23, 2009
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Rat consistently finds new ways to be a jerk to people, as is his comedic nature. While many other people would take the opportunity to learn a new language to expand their mind or sense of culture, Rat picked up Yiddish to better insult people. The sequence was very true to Rat’s character and unfortunate for Pig.
Pig can switch back and forth between being a voice of reason to Rat’s gargantuan ego and petty nature and being an unintelligent foil. Here, he managed to poke a hole in Rat’s plan, which went unheeded and merely served as a setup for Rat’s cruelty. Even without the ability to speak Yiddish, the joke still lands, as it’s clear from the context that Rat was being insulting.
8 Rat Compared Goat’s Stories to Watching Paint Dry
Publication Date: November 5, 2010
The trio of Rat, Pig and Goat—the jerk, the simpleton, and the straight man—provides a comedic engine for many strips. In this comic, Goat’s attempt to share a fun fact and educate his friends was immediately met with an absurd level of dismissal from Rat. Rat took the common saying about events being more boring than watching paint dry and applied it literally.
The drawing in the second panel of Goat and Rat having a silent, bug-eyed staredown only enhanced the comedic energy of the strip. As the length of time Rat spent staring at both Goat and the wall remained ambiguous, owing to the frozen-in-time nature of perusing a comic strip, the reader can make their own determination as to how long Rat chose to engage in this exercise of mockery, providing more ammunition to the joke.
7 Rat’s Giant Ego Crushed Pig’s Fragile Ego
Publication Date: May 26, 2006
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While Rat is known for having a large ego, which drives many Pearls strips, rarely is a character’s ego established as a physical presence. Pig’s gentle nature contrasted well with Rat’s uncaring, unempathetic personality. Continuing from the previous day’s strip, which introduced the characters’ egos of varying sizes, this strip underscored Rat’s casual cruelty, as his ego crushed Pig’s ego, without so much as a single surprised reaction from either version of Rat.
Rat’s ego literally crushing Pig’s ego also showcased the edgier side of Pearls Before Swine, as not many newspaper comic strips show characters getting casually killed off. Rat, being a cynical, jerky protagonist, is often afforded the opportunity to be responsible for darker jokes than one might see in a relatively family-friendly work. Meanwhile, his kind-hearted friends looked on in wide-eyed shock.
6 Rat’s Egotistical Nature Prevented Him From Being Lonely
Publication Date: March 24, 2023
Often, Rat’s ego takes a more understated approach to manifesting, merely appearing as Rat’s dialogue rather than an exaggerated action. In the case of this strip, Rat managed to baffle Goat with his egotistical rambling. When Goat responded with a snide comment, Rat proceeded to insult him. The snippiness between the two highlights their differing views towards each other.
A microcosm of Rat’s attitude concerning himself, he considered his own company a treat, the perfect reward for being Rat. One wonders why Goat even bothers to hang out with Rat at all, considering their vastly different approaches to life and philosophy. At the same time, Rat and Goat’s blunt remarks towards one another make the strip much funnier, and their friendship survives despite the constant turbulence.
5 Rat’s Clones Showed Up to Darken Goat’s Day
Publication Date: March 15, 2007
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In this strip, the two least wacky characters in Pearls Before Swine, Goat and Zebra, take a moment of genuine reflection before Rat’s cartoonish antics interrupt them. Following a series of strips where Rat partook in stem cell research, leading to him cloning himself, this strip plays the absurdity of the situation against a down-to-earth moment for comedic effect. Even Goat’s over-the-top reaction contrasted against his realistic sadness in the previous panel.
As Pastis noted in his commentary on this comic in its collected edition, this strip required the reader to already be familiar with Rat as a character. Otherwise, the punchline of seeing numerous Rats came across as a non sequitur. Simultaneously, Pastis allowed the reader to use their imagination to make the joke funnier—the strip concluded before whatever mischief the clone Rats could get into was revealed.
4 Rat Worked as a Telemarketer to Harass People
Publication Date: April 15, 2003
Even early in Pearls Before Swine‘s lifetime, Rat was established as an extremely petty individual. The strip immediately before this one showed Rat getting a telemarketing job solely because he wanted to annoy people and “get paid for it.” In the understated gag in this sequence, Rat waited an unspecified amount of time before harassing his victim again, implying that he took the shortest amount of time possible to pause his antics.
In a quintessential move befitting his personality, Rat reveled in how much he could bother the people he called. The two silent panels in the middle of the strip allowed the joke to land with minimal dialogue. At first, one might assume that Rat was taken aback and tried to call a different client, only to reveal he was intentionally torturing the same person.
3 Rat Gained Weight to Get Rich
Publication Date: September 28, 2011
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In an immediate departure from his usual appearance, Rat showed up in this strip after having gained a large amount of weight, thanks to his friend Guard Duck. An amusing change from his default design, Rat’s bulging eyes here implied that not even he could comprehend how much weight he had put on. This comic showcased Rat’s typical selfish motives, putting himself in a difficult position solely for wealth.
Rat approached the situation with such a lack of seriousness that he coined new words just to lecture Goat. In addition, Rat’s scheme satirized how society elevates people who have lost a significant amount of weight to the point of paying to read that person’s experience. The exchange in the last panel also highlighted the difference between Rat and Goat, with Rat’s selfish desire for fame being his primary concern, while Goat has more academic nitpicks.
2 Rat “Poked” Goat With a Log
Publication Date: September 16, 2012
In addition to his violent temper, Rat is frequently used to express dissatisfaction with elements of modern society. This strip featured Rat silently reacting to a Facebook “poke” from Goat with physical violence. Rat otherwise remained calm throughout the events of this comic, providing a humorous contrast between his two emotional states.
As is common for Rat-focused strips, the first four silent panels gave the reader no insight into Rat’s state of mind, allowing his outrageous behavior to hit harder. His over-the-top act of smashing a log into Goat’s midsection summed up his attitude towards modern societal trends well, and it differentiated the punchline from the rest of the panels, which had little action or dialogue. Pastis used Rat here to make fun of how useless “poking” a friend can be on Facebook, a Pearls Before Swine tradition of making fun of society.
1 Rat Hated the Idea of Video Calls
Publication Date: April 18, 2010
Another instance where Rat expressed his hatred towards modern trends and technology occurred in this strip. Rat demonstrated that his misanthropic nature led to disgust at the sight of Goat’s face. He also showed how little he cared for Pig’s valuables, jumping to smash Pig’s computer with little provocation. His deadpan reaction to his error, where he lies to Pig’s face, underscores his apathy towards his friends.
Many aspects of Rat’s personality were in this comic: his pessimism, grouchiness, selfishness, and tendency towards violence. These traits of Rat blend together to create a comedic character with a high potential for laughs, even if those same traits make him unpleasant to be around. The fact that Goat and Pig continue to be friends with Rat after all of his antics proves that the three value each other deeply.
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