Secondary Characters in Calvin and Hobbes - Moe

Moe is the stereotypical bully character, and one of the primary villains, along with Rosalyn and the Monsters under the Bed. He is a "six-year-old who shaves" who is always shoving Calvin against walls or onto the ground, demanding his lunch money and calling him "Twinky", or occasionally "Twinkie". Moe is the only regular character who speaks in an unusual font: his (frequently monosyllabic) dialogue is shown in crude, lower-case letters (probably the most intellectual words Moe has ever used are "asphalt" "spatula", and "skin grafts"). Watterson describes Moe as "every jerk I've ever met ".

While Rosalyn is frequently a match for Calvin's plans, and serves as, perhaps, his "match" on a more strategic and psychological front, Moe seems to be the only character capable of frustrating Calvin to the point of absolute resignation, and operates merely through brute force and physical coercion. Calvin's rare attempts to retaliate have mainly consisted of mocking Moe with words the bully can't understand:

Moe: Gimme a quarter, Twinky.

Calvin: Your simian countenance suggests a heritage unusually rich in species diversity.

Moe: What?

Calvin: Here you go. (flips a quarter to him; to audience) That was worth 25 cents.

or another incident:

Calvin: I want to ask you, Moe; are your maladjusted antisocial tendencies the product of your berserk pituitary gland?

Moe: (thinks) Uh... (says) "What?"

Calvin: Isn't he great, folks? Let's give him a big hand!

Or a third, based more on Moe's inability to react to unexpected situations:

Moe: Hey! You took my favourite swing!

Calvin: That's true, Moe. How about that?

Moe: Uh... (pauses to think)

Calvin: His train of thought is still at the station.

In another strip, Moe threatens to pound Calvin in gym class. With that Calvin responds, "Get your kicks now, you glandular freak! Because once you've grown up, you can't be going around beating up people for no reason!" Moe responds, "Yeah. I guess you're right." The last panel featuring Calvin with his head thrust through a locker uttering, "That really wasn't what I meant at all." Another episode had Moe once again harming Calvin; where Calvin reassures himself by saying "Many years from now, when I am successful and he is in prison, I hope I'm not too mature to gloat." Although Calvin's adult self was, while regularly referenced, alluded to and/or speculated on, never shown in the strip, Moe's rotten attitude strongly suggests he is headed for serious trouble, and possible imprisonment.

Calvin's mother is once shown calling the school to notify them of Moe's bullying, although it only made Moe return 25 cents to Calvin because some person had squealed on him and that "it'll be a dark day if ever out who!" Calvin then says, "I think I'll use the quarter to call my insurance agent." Another time in the strip, Hobbes is brought to school and Calvin successfully psychs Moe out by daring him to touch Hobbes (Calvin thinks Hobbes is scaring him; Moe thinks that the dare is some sort of trap).

Moe is the only minor character in the strip who hurts Calvin without being provoked. He is also the only significant character who is never portrayed as having his own bursts of imagination, or at least being treated with some sympathy, as has sometimes been the case with Miss Wormwood or Principal Spittle.

Stephan Pastis of the 2000s comic Pearls Before Swine has cited Watterson and Calvin and Hobbes as among his many influences; in particular, the Zeeba Zeeba Eata fraternity of crocodiles is alluded to as Moe, even speaking in his similar typeface: Unlike Moe, however, the crocs actions' consequences are depicted in the strip, often resulting in the deaths of newer ones, as opposed to speculated on.