Pinky

Pinky is one of the two major protagonists in the Pinky and the Brain segments seen in both Animaniacs shows, as well as its spinoff shows. Pinky is an open-minded, often nonsensical lab mouse and the assistant and roommate of The Brain, who often blames Pinky for the failure of his plans. Pinky is a tall, anthropomorphic white-furred mouse; in the Animaniacs reboot, his fur is more off-white. He has large ears, a red nose, and pink skin on his paws and straight tail. He has two protruding front teeth, and blue eyes. He also has three tufts of fur atop his head as a distinguishing feature. Described in the intro as "insane," Pinky is both eagerly optimistic and entirely oblivious to most everything happening around him. He is often very unfocused, naive, and forgetful, as well as friendly, open-minded and loyal. He is almost always happy and hyperactive, and seems to live in his own little world inside his head. He has a huge but unconventional imagination, often leading those around him to not understand what he's talking about; his lack of focus also prevents him from realizing how many of the things he says and does would seem random. His scatter-brained personality often helps him stay optimistic in times of trouble, though it can also get him into worse situations– for instance, he often finds himself chewing electrical wires or unable to remember to breathe. Despite Brain's belief that Pinky is a complete idiot, Pinky does excel in his own unique forms of intelligence; he can name all the world's cheeses, including which country produces each type, and has a large knowledge of popular culture (being television in the original shows and internet sensations and webseries in the reboot). While his social skills are lacking, he often finds himself the more popular one of the duo, very quickly making friends or allies who are intrigued by his strange way of thinking. In "The Pink Candidate," he also showed himself to be a fair and honest leader, and "Welcome to the Jungle" showcased that Pinky is very quick to adapt and improvise in unusual circumstances. There have also been cases where Pinky has used his unique ideas to almost overtake the world faster than Brain, such as "Pinky's Plan" and "Pinky's Turn," only for Brain to accidentally ruin the attempt. Pinky enjoys sensations that others would find painful, such as when Brain bops him on the head, or running into glass, though he also has other, less dangerous repetitive movements he enjoys, such as bouncing, running on their hamster wheel, and dancing. Most notably, there are several "nonsense" words that he often repeats or throws into conversations; in "The Pinky P.O.V.", it is shown that he visualizes these words appearing in thin air as he speaks them. His most prominent word is "Narf," though he also often uses "Poit," "Zort," "Troz" ("Zort" spelled backwards) and "Fiddlely-posh," uses "Egad" as an exclamation, and will sometimes say "Zort" as a giveaway for when he is lying. He also has pica, which means he often eats items generally considered inedible. Pinky tends to fall in love easily, and usually with someone unexpected as regarded by society, such as Phar Fignewton (a horse, and his recurring girlfriend), a sea lion named Winnie, a pig named Penny, Brain's monster creation Drusilla, an octopus, or a sock puppet. Quite often, he dresses and acts in a gender non-comforming way, often dressing in drag either for one of his and Brain's plans or simply because he wants to. He also enjoys playing with makeup and wearing fancy dresses. He shows no dislike for being referred to by "she/her" pronouns and in fact at one point says he has dreamed of being "the most beautiful human woman on the planet." Pinky also may have some form of psychic powers; in the episode "Fly," a distracted Pinky makes several pieces of fruit float with his mind. When asked how he does this, Pinky simply responds that it "comes and goes." He may also have regenerative abilities, as in another episode he suggests that he grew his leg back. His established character has changed a few times; in "That Smarts," Pinky temporarily became a genius like Brain, only for Pinky's new intelligence to cause a strain on their friendship after Pinky began pointing out all of the problems in his roommate's plans. He is also noted to be considerably ruder in Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, with Brain referring to him as a "hindrance with an attitude." Pinky has a strong bond with his cagemate Brain, and thinks of him as his best friend. He is often very excited to help Brain with his ideas, even though he doesn't have an emotional stake in the idea of world domination, and does his best to help. Series creator Tom Ruegger has said, "Pinky's plans are really to hang out with Brain, have some fun, do something silly tonight about taking over the world and then get another food pellet." Though his assistance often causes disaster, in other times he notices a plan's problem before Brain does, only to not be listened to. Pinky's excessive joy and distracted consciousness often annoy Brain, who constantly berates him or uses him for slapstick gags; while Pinky admits he's bothered by the insults, he actually enjoys the physical pain, which is shown to be true as he seems impervious to any kind of torture and sometimes actively seeks out activities that could prove harmful to others. For his part, Brain is also very attached to Pinky, though his dislike of showing emotions prevents this side of him from being seen often. He has, however, been in great distress when Pinky is in danger, and literally went to hell and back for him. They are very loyal to each other despite their odd dynamic, and Pinky often functions as a moral compass for Brain, whether Brain likes it or not. While not directly stated in as many words, is also heavily implied that he harbors romantic feelings for Brain, as he often says vaguely flirtatious things towards his roommate, and several times has been portrayed as his spouse/partner during one of their plans or, in some cases, a full sketch. In "Brain's Night Off," the two of them go out to dinner on what seems to be a date, and Pinky has often fantasized about or paralleled acting as a housewife. The pair have also stood in for love interests in multiple parodies, such as North by Northwest, Run Lola Run, and The Graduate. The two of them had a genetically-cloned child together, Romy, and an episode entitled after their relationship name, "Brinky," in which Romy refers to him and Brain as his "two dads." In one of the Pinky and the Brain comics, Pinky became upset and jealous when Brain wouldn't let him play as Romy's mother. Pinky seems to have been born in a pet shop called Totally Pets. He had two parents, as well as a sister named Sis, who was an empty spool of thread. He was later sold to Acme Labs to be used as a lab mouse. He was relatively young when this happened, as he has been seen as an infant in the lab, the Animaniacs reboot shows him as a child being used for a cheese test, and he mentions the scientists using a hand-puppet to imitate his father, a practice usually used for baby animals. Whether in reference to these fake lab parents, a poor relationship with his biological parents, issue of him being separated from them too early, or some other unknown reason, Pinky seems to have familial issues, often remarking on how he would like to make a parental figure proud or how something rude being said reminded him of his mother or father. Supposedly around September 9, 1995, Pinky was then selected for Project BRAIN (Biological Recombinant Algorithmic Intelligence Nexus), in which he was put through the gene splicer with fellow lab mouse Brain; he was chosen for the experiment due to his unusually energetic behavior and "lower-than-average performance" in intelligence tests. Pinky was the first of the two to (accidentally) name himself, causing Brain to realize his new mental capacity. After Pinky accidentally electrocuted Brain, the scientists presumed that Pinky had become smarter (due to his ability to say "Narf") and Brain dumber, but left Brain with Pinky to keep him company. The project was cancelled after Brain bit a manager, but the two were kept together, and Pinky accidentally gave him the idea to take over the world, saying that then he could make everyone "wear very shiny pants."