Catbert

Catbert is a fictional cat, and the "evil director of human resources" in the "Dilbert" comic strip. As with Ratbert, he was not a planned regular. After his introduction, readers of "Dilbert" enjoyed the character so much that they spontaneously named him "Catbert", encouraging creator Scott Adams to bring him back. He was reintroduced as the "evil director" of human resources, and in a parody of typical cat behavior he "plays" with his "prey". With the help of his "random policy generator", he comes up with sadistic, illogical and often evil policies to enforce on the employees, such as permanently branding employees, banning coffee drinking in the office, requiring employees to schedule sick time before they actually get sick, and making time spent in the bathroom count as "vacation." He often works in tandem with the Pointy-Haired Boss. Catbert typically celebrates the creation of a new evil policy by purring loudly or by doing the "evil dance". In one strip, Dilbert and Wally knew that an evil policy would be put into practice when the PHB passed by with a bandaged hand ("Uh-oh. He's been high-fiving Catbert again").

Catbert officially entered the strip on March 20, 1995, when Dogbert hired him to the company to handle "the downsizing". Indeed, downsizing is Catbert's greatest joy, and he has numerous binders on this subject (and one that says, "hire losers").

He often abuses workers by doing things like sending Wally home for wearing shorts, even though Wally's pants reach his ankles.

The look for Catbert apparently came from a strip earlier in 1994, where a hairless cat friend of Dogbert showed up at the house. After the cat thanked Dogbert for inviting him over (because hairless cats are usually shunned, he said), Dogbert promptly sprayed him with Hair in a Can, giving him a look that was similar to the eventual look for Catbert.

External links

* [http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/the_characters/index.html Dilbert.com - The Characters]