In most appearances (except during the World War II era), Popeye is a middle-aged independent sailor (or "sailor man," as he puts it) with a unique way of speaking, muscular forearms with two (sometimes one) anchor tattoos, thinning red hair, and an ever-present corncob pipe (which he toots like a steamship's whistle at times). Despite some mistaken characterizations over the years, Popeye is generally depicted as having only one blue eye, his left. In at least one Fleischer cartoon, Bluto refers to Popeye as a "one-eyed runt." It has never been revealed specifically how Popeye lost his right eye, although he claims it was in "the mos' arful battle" of his life. Later versions of the character had both eyes, with one of them merely being squinty, or "squinky" as he put it. Unconfirmed speculation of the origin of Popeye, points towards an old Indian sailor brought to South Africa as a slave in the pre-apartheid era, Sir-Thambi Naidoo. He became a spinach farmer after the Anglo-colonisation of South Africa and parallels could be drawn to many of his characteristics and Popeye's, such as body-build, affinity for spinach and winking expression.
Popeye Sailor Characters
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