Wobbly-Headed Bob

Wobbly-Headed Bob is a character from the comic book series Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. Even though he appears in his own page in each book of series, Wobbly-Headed Bob lives in a different fictional universe.

Bob's Basic Personality

Wobbly-Headed Bob is a depressed, conceited outcast with rodent-like features and a huge "freakishly overdeveloped" head. Bob believes himself to be the "ultimate being" as he is very smart, but is tortured by his own dark intelligence. He appears to live in a world comprised of rather dumb cute animals and constantly wanders it, attempting to find someone who is willing to try to learn what he is trying to teach. He refers to his world as a "spinning ball of waste," where "all places are the same" and reality is "a boorish omnipresent thing".

Bob's Effect on Others

Bob has an amazing knack for causing misery in everyone he meets -- characters often portrayed as cutesy, happy, ignorant, carefree whom he considers "machines preprogrammed to play their little games and fondle their little privates." He feels he can "teach them so much," and must enlighten them. By showing them the horrifying reality which he perceives to be their life, Bob makes them miserable, often causing them to commit suicide, which he barely seems to notice. A typical example showed an enraged pig telling Bob that it's ridiculous to tell people they're miserable when they're actually happy. After all, isn't it better to be stupid and happy rather than smart and miserable? Bob eventually talks the pig into committing suicide.

Although he often causes other characters to kill themselves, despite his tortured existence, he cannot end his own life: it is impossible even if he jumps off a cliff.

Meaning

The implication of the comic seems to be that ignorance can indeed be bliss, and that intelligence (represented by his oversized head) can be a curse, especially if the bearer communicates it irresponsibly. Bob bears some resemblance to the protagonist in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

ee also

* Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
* Jhonen Vasquez
* Characters of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac