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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | All I know about being good I learned from TV. And in TV, flawed characters are constantly showing people they care with these surprising grand gestures. And I think that part of me still believes that's what love is. But in real life, the big gesture isn't enough. You need to be consistent, you need to be dependably good. You can't just screw everything up, and then take a boat out into the ocean to save your best friend, or solve a mystery and fly to Kansas. You need to do it every day, which is so... hard. | „ |
| ~ BoJack during his mother's eulogy. |
BoJack Horseman is the titular main protagonist of the animated adult comedy series BoJack Horseman.
He's an anthropomorphic horse and a former sitcom star who gained fame in the 1990s for his role in a popular family sitcom called "Horsin' Around." However, his career has since declined, and he's become a washed-up actor. The series follows his everyday life as he struggles with bouts of depression, self-destructive tendencies, and addiction.
He was voiced by Will Arnett.
His Evil Ranking[]
In General[]
- He's an alcoholic and drug addict whose reckless behavior often endangers the people around him, and himself.
- He's neglectful of his relationships and emotionally abusive towards his friends.
- He often uses his status as a celebrity to blackmail and manipulate the people around him, or to gain special privileges.
- His general disregard for others' well-being and emotions makes him very unlikable and hard to emphasize with.
- While the later seasons focus on BoJack's efforts for rehabilitation, in the earlier seasons BoJack often ignores his emotional and mental issues through unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs and alcohol, or just denying he has any issues in the first place.
- While he makes constant efforts to change and grow as a person, BoJack never truly succeeds and continues making mistakes and ruining the lives of the people around him. Even if he feels remorse for his actions, it doesn't excuse any of them.
His Villainous Deeds[]
- When his best friend Herb was fired from "Horsin' Around" by network executives due to his sexuality, BoJack initially stood up for him, but quickly submitted out of fear of getting kicked off the show and losing his stardom. He then cut all ties with Herb for several decades, only getting back into contact with him when Herb was diagnosed with cancer many years later. BoJack visited Herb at his home to (insincerely) apologize for being a bad friend, then assaulted a cancer-stricken Herb when he didn’t accept his apology.
- Due to his insecurities and fear of abandonment, BoJack sabotaged Todd's rock opera so he'd be forced to live on his couch forever.
- He abandoned Maddy, a teenage girl whom he supplied alcohol to, at the hospital after she suffered alcohol poisoning, and threatened her teenage friends into taking the blame for him.
- After getting rejected by his former love interest Charlotte while visiting her in New Mexico, BoJack attempted to sleep with her 17-year-old daughter. At this point, BoJack was pushing 50.
- BoJack once crashed his car into a crowd of innocent bystanders during a desperate attempt to get opioids.
- After Sarah Lynn managed to become sober for 9 months, he convinced her to join him on his drug binge. This ultimately led to her death when she overdosed.
- When Sarah Lynn overdosed, he waited 17 minutes to call 911. This led to her being pronounced dead on arrival when there was a chance BoJack could have saved her.
- While at rehab, BoJack accidentally got his therapist (a former alcoholic) drunk.
Why Doesn't He Stand Out?[]
- He stands out due to his actions of abuse and endangerment. However, he fails the heinous standards almost all of his heinous actions are committed through negligence as opposed to genuine malice. The times where he is genuinely malicious are either played for laughs or fall under Generic Abuser behavior, like pushing a nearby baby stroller over when Princess Carolyn suggested they have a baby together or sabotaging Todd's rock opera out of fear Todd would become successful and no longer need his support. This causes him to fail the in-story heinous standards to several side characters like Character Actress Margo Martindale, who committed mass murder.
- With the exception of assaulting his co-star Gina during a drug-infused episode, he never directly physically harms anyone.
- His fist fight with Herb was nothing more than a scuffle over a telescope where neither was trying to seriously harm the other, and Herb was the one trying to attack first. Also all they did was try to get the other person off of them.
- And the only other time he could have hurt people was when he crashed into bystanders while in a rush to acquire opioids, but since it was off-screen and relies solely on Fringe Horror, it doesn't stand out since we don't know the severity of the situation and who exactly was harmed.
- He's a tragic character, since he's a victim of generational trauma, having been raised by an emotionally distant and abusive mother who too was emotionally neglected as a child. His dad was also harsh on him and neglectful, being an alcoholic and prioritizing his failed pursuit as an author over caring for and engaging with BoJack.
- Despite his crimes, the series plays him for sympathy on several occasions. The audience is meant to empathize with him when something goes wrong in his life that's not a direct result of his actions. One notable example, however, is when his half-sister, Hollyhock, learned about BoJack's past offenses and cut all ties with him, even though, at that point, BoJack had grown as a person. This resulted in BoJack having to distance himself from her and eventually quit his dream job as a drama professor at her college.
- More times than not, BoJack feels remorse for his actions and goes to great lengths to make up for them (sometimes causing bigger problems in the process).
- He commits a few heroic acts that weren't self-serving, such as saving Todd from a cult and tracking down a lost seahorse's father and bringing him home.
- In the series finale, BoJack comes clean about all his past wrongdoings to news outlets, revealing the many crimes he's committed, specifically his involvement in Sarah Lynn's death. He does this, directly going against his friends' advice, and being aware of the consequences that would occur. As a result, he spent 2 years in prison, and he effectively retired upon release, wanting to avoid the spotlight moving further. The series ends on a bittersweet note, showing BoJack willing to be a better person and friend. He's also no longer toxic or abusive toward his close loved ones, and managed to maintain/fix most of his relationships.
External Links[]
- BoJack Horseman on the Bojack Horseman Wiki
- BoJack Horseman on the Villains Wiki
- BoJack Horseman on the Heroes Wiki
- BoJack Horseman on the Heroic Benchmark Wiki