List of minor characters in Dilbert and Kinky hair: Difference between pages

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{{redirect|Nappy hair|other users|Nappy (disambiguation)}}
This is a '''list of minor characters from the ''[[Dilbert]]''''' comic strip.
{{Refimprove|date=June 2008}}
[[Image:Afro by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Young woman with parted afro curls.]]


'''Natural hair''', '''black hair''', and '''afro-textured hair''' are terms used to refer to the texture of [[Black people|Black African]] [[hair]] that has not been altered chemically (by [[perm (hairstyle)|perm]]ing, [[relaxer|relaxing]], [[hair straightening|straightening]], bleaching or [[hair coloring|coloring]]). Not all people of Black African descent have naturally [[afro]]-textured hair, although the overwhelming majority do. In particular, certain groups such as the [[Fulani]] of West Africa have a few members with hair that ranges from straight to loosely coiled, due to admixture with non-Black African populations. Nonetheless, among non-admixed Black Africans, tightly coiled, Afro-hair is a ubiquitous trait. Adjectives such as “hard”, “kinky”, “nappy”, or “woolly” are also used to describe natural Afro-textured hair. This hair is typically tightly coiled and soft to the touch. [[Andaman Islands|Andamanese]] [[Negrito]]s and most [[Melanesia]]n people also have tightly coiled hair.
==Accounting trolls==
[[Image:icon_accountingtrolls.gif||right]]Sadistic [[troll]]s from the [[Accountancy|accounting]] department whose bodies are 95% [[saliva]]. As Dogbert shows, their brains are so hard-wired that seeing someone wearing a baseball cap backwards causes their heads to explode, which he referred to as a "[[paradigm shift]]ing without a clutch." The trolls' accounting offices resemble a [[cave]]rnous [[Hell]]. They were originally ruled by a witch who turned Dilbert into an accounting troll but was destroyed when Dilbert, assigned to budget erasing, erased the accounting department's budget. The company apparently employs human accountants to interact with other people since most accountants who appear outside the department are human.


== Adaptation ==
In the television series one of the trolls was voiced by [[Gilbert Gottfried]].


Tightly coiled hair is typically described as being an evolutionary adaptation to the warm, tropical climates of sub-Saharan Africa
==Anne==
and Melanesia (although it does not exist in tropical regions such as India or indigenous South America and thus likely evolved for a different original purpose). Some hold that tightly coiled hair may allow for greater cooling because sweat is able to remain on the scalp.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/cavalli-sforza-genes.html Cavalli-Sforza on human adaptations]</ref> Furthermore it has been asserted that, when the sun is directly overhead, the top surface of the hair heats up while leaving a barrier of cooler air between the scalp and the top surface of the hair. This barrier of cooler air assists in cooling the brain. This effect is most prominent in people with 'frizzy' (Afro-textured) hair.<ref name="jablonski">{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L6oMocBcaO0C |title=Skin: A Natural History|last=Jablonski|First=Nina|isbn=0520242815|year=2006|pages= }}</ref>
[[Image:icon_anne.gif|right]]She gave up [[exercise]], [[sleep]] and [[nutrition]] for intravenous [[coffee]]. Appeared on [[October 4th]] [[1994]].


===The context in which Afro hair texture arose===


Evolutionary biologists suggest that the [[genus Homo]] arose in [[East Africa]] approximately 2.5 million years ago.<ref name="jablonski" /> During this time new hunting techniques were innovated.<ref name="jablonski" /> The higher protein diet led to the evolution of larger body and brain sizes.<ref name="jablonski" /> In ''Skin: A Natural History'', Nina Jablonski postulates that increasing body size, in conjunction with intensified hunting during the day at the equator, gave rise to a greater need to rapidly expel heat. As a result, humans developed the ability to sweat and thus lost body hair to facilitate this process.<ref name="jablonski" /> Notably, Pagel et al (2003) argue against this hypothesis, stating that hominids without fur would not have been able to warm themselves as efficiently at night, nor protect themselves well enough from the sun during the day. However, it is likely that increased intelligence, combined with sophisticated hunting techniques, enabled humans to warm themselves at night using animal skins. Furthermore, as the furless condition slowly developed, genetic evidence suggests that dark [[skin color]] gradually evolved to protect the body from UV during the day (and thus compensate for the sparse hair coverage). Thus, it is likely that pre-humans lost fur mostly for the purpose of facilitating the evaporation of sweat and the corresponding cooling of the body.


===The evolution of Afro hair texture===


Jablonski agrees that it was evolutionarily advantageous for pre-humans ([[Homo erectus]] of ~2 million years ago) to retain the hair on their heads in order to protect the skin there as they walked upright in the intense African (equatorial) UV light (auxiliary hair (in the groin and underarms) was likely retained as a sign of sexual maturity). During the process of going from fur to naked skin, hair texture putatively changed gradually from being straight (the condition of most mammals, including humanity's closest cousin--the chimpanzee), to Afro-like or 'kinky' (ie tightly coiled). This is made clear in a study by Iyengar (1998) which has provided evidence that the roots of straight human hair may act as optic fibers that allow UV light to pass into the skin. In this sense, during the period in which pre-humans were gradually losing most of their straight body hair (fur) and thereby exposing the probably pale skin underneath their fur to the sun (Rogers et al, 2004), straight hair would have been an evolutionary liability. 'Kinks' in fiber optic tubes are known to prevent UV from passing through. Hence, tightly coiled or 'kinky' hair may have evolved to prevent the entry of UV light during the gradual transition period towards the evolution of dark skin and the simultaneous transition from hairiness to virtual nudity. Later, after a group of modern humans left Africa approximately 60,000 years ago, straight hair re-evolved among those members who migrated to northern Eurasia (see [[hair texture]]).
==Baby==
[[Image:icon_baby.gif||right]]Appeared in four strips in 2006 from [[January 25]] – [[January 28|28th]]. He can hypnotise people with his cuteness. He is a baby in the [[time-zone]] that Dilbert stays in because he has jet lag. He was an engineer, but was transferred to sales by [[Catbert]] because "no-one wants to hurt a baby".


===The global distribution of Afro hair texture===
==Bank of Ethel==
At the beginning of the series, Dilbert kept his money at the [[Bank]] of Ethel, a place that has [[lewd]] acts, steals money, charges a lot, and is evil. Bit bankers appear as a middle-aged woman with glasses who never cares about people, like the bank itself. After Dogbert became a [[millionaire]] as a [[used car]] [[salesman]], he lost all his money by keeping it at the Bank of Ethel (in that strip, it was called "Ethel's [[Savings and Loan]]"). Dilbert realized the Bank was evil and stopped keeping his money there.


Afro hair is a predominant characteristic of Black Africans, Andaman Islanders, and Melanesians. It is often posited that this hair texture (which is unique among all mammals--and most humans) is an adaptation to tropical climates. However, as mentioned, many (dark skinned) straight haired people have also been found to thrive in similar types of warm equatorial environments. Thus the distribution of the trait likely has more to do with the migration and admixture patterns of those who left Africa to populate the rest of the world within ~60,000 years ago (Quintana-Murci et al, 2004). It also has to do with the retention of that which was adaptively essential at the equator (ie dark skin) and the loss of that which was no longer essential (ie Afro hair) following admixture. Specifically, after the migration of a group of modern humans out of Africa, those who settled in warm sunny regions similar to sub-Saharan Africa, like the Andaman Islands and Melanesia (and, in addition, remained isolated from straight haired northern migrants) did not experience adaptive (nor admixture) pressure for their hair to straighten. Thus it remained Afro-like.
==Bill Gates==
[[Image:icon_billgates.gif||right]][[Bill Gates]], founder of [[Microsoft]], has appeared several times in ''Dilbert''. He once forced Dilbert to take a job as his towel boy after Dilbert buys an unnamed Microsoft product (his house shows up to "assimilate" Dilbert, in a manner similar to a [[Borg (Star Trek)|Borg]] cube). Gates is normally seen in a [[Star Trek]]-like setting where he issues orders such as "Launch the competition keeper missiles" from a Captain's chair. Luckily, Dogbert is always ready with interception missiles (unnamed businessmen having a meeting on a giant catapult).


Nonetheless, in places like India, South America, Australia, and Polynesia, hair is straight despite warm, UV-rich climates. This is explainable given the context in which Afro-hair likely arose, which is described above. To reiterate, this unique texture likely evolved 1-2 million years ago, just before the time that dark skin (Harding et al, 2000) is estimated to have arisen (as indicated by human MC1R genetic demographic patterns--see Harding 2000). The trait may have reached high frequency in order to compensate for the gradual process in which relatively pale hominid (pre-human) skin was being exposed to the African equatorial sun as it lost its protective fur (see Rogers et al 2004). This feature may have been advantageous in this context because, in light of the Iyengar (1998) finding that straight human hair may act as fiber optic tubes, it is likely that coiled hair slows and/or prevents the entry of UV radiation (and possibly other forms of radiation such as heat/ultra red) into the skin in a way analogous to how "kinks" attenuate (scatter) light moving through actual fiber optic tubes. Once dark skin evolved ~1 million years ago however (Harding, 2000), Afro-hair texture was less crucial in terms of protection from UV rays, but it was likely sustained in the population because, as mentioned, it had the ability to prevent UV (and possibly heat) from entering the body (or in this case, head) and thus cool and protect the brain. Alternatively, the trait may have sustained high frequencies in the founding/original (African) human population simply due to the fact that, over the 1-2 million years of its existence, most of the various genes that determine it likely retained phenotypic monomorphism in the population due to the genetotypic dominance of coiled/curled hair genes over straight hair genes. In other words, an ancient selective sweep likely occurred for these genes while skin was darkening 1-2 million years ago which hasn't reversed itself due to sustained levels of inter-African admixture, and/or the genetic dominance of the factors determining the phenotype. Notably, sexual selection is another possible factor that cannot be completely ruled out (although it seems unlikely that the distinct populations occupying the entire sub-Saharan region of Africa would have the same taste with regards to hair form).
==Bingo==
Dogbert's former friend, current arch-rival. In the early days of the strip, Scott Adams was told that Dogbert had to have a nemesis if the strip were ever going to be animated. Adams drew nine strips about Bingo, but never released them; the strip went in a different direction, turning into the work-oriented comic it is today.


In addition, because, as mentioned, intermixture within the large sub-Saharan African population remained relatively high for a significant portion of its pre-history (compared to those who migrated outside of this region), severe, sustained isolation and its associated intensive inbreeding (ie bottlenecks) did not occur there (Tishkoff, 1996). Thus, straight hair did not arise by way of random mutation and isolation (ie [[genetic drift]]) among any of the subgroups of the sub-Saharan region. In fact, it is very likely, given the basically ubiquitous distribution of the Afro-hair trait among contemporary sub-Saharan Africans (the most genetically diverse macroethnicgroup on earth whose direct ancestors comprised the original population from which all of humanity derived), that at one time the Afro-hair trait characterized the entire human population (i.e. before the exodus from Africa and the settlement of some of the migrants in northern Eurasia).
In the first strip, Ratbert asks Dogbert about when he and Dilbert met. Dogbert recalls being at the pound, where a teenaged Dilbert adopted him (apparently because he looked "pretty"). Bingo was later adopted by a dairy [[farmer]].


After the re-evolution of straight hair among those who migrated from Africa to northern Eurasia ~50-60,000 years ago (see [[hair texture]]--adaptive significance section), there is evidence suggesting that continual (or episodic) small scale migrations occurred from Central Europe into India (Kivisild et al, 2003). It is therefore likely that the slow but continual accumulation of the genes determining straight hair texture (and certain facial features) from the north over the past ~30-40,000 years eventually resulted its expression throughout India in conjunction with dark skin (which was sustained due to natural selection for protection against UV). Polynesian, Australian, and South American populations are also known to have been influenced (either slightly or entirely) by Northern migrants. For example, in the case of Australia (and likely India), when northerners arrived, they intermixed with the dark skinned, Afro-haired inhabitants of the region (Redd & Stoneking, 1999; Windshuttle & Gillin, 2003) giving rise to a (possibly sexual) selective sweep for straight hair and dark skin. In the case of Polynesians and South American Indians, archaeological and genetic evidence suggest that (straight haired) migrants of Northern East Asian descent were the first to populate these regions (Diamond, 2005); making them the predominant inhabitants of this region until modern times. Straight hair (combined with dark skin) thus came to dominate among these groups, likely due to pre-Holocene waves of migration into these areas from the north and, in the case of India and Australia, subsequent admixture with (or replacement of) the dark skinned, Afro-haired inhabitants.
At the farm, Bingo created an army of ''very'' stupid cows, and used it to kidnap Dogbert. Using [[caller ID]] and Ruebert the robot, Dilbert tracked down and rescued Dogbert. Although Dilbert described the endeavor as a "certain-death rescue mission", all got out safely.


In this sense, Afro hair texture is most likely a reminder/remnant of a crucial time in hominid evolutionary history (ie when humans became hairless to enable perspiration). The trait ceased to be essential to survival at the equator upon the evolution of hairless dark skin. This explains why dark skinned straight haired (ie northern admixed) groups are able to survive in UV-rich regions (such as India, Australia, Polynesia, and South America) without tightly coiled (Afro) hair texture.
The strips are wordy and exposition-heavy, and Adams remarks that "if you hate them you're in good company with the other six billion inhabitants of Earth."


==Bob, Dawn, and Rex, the Dinosaurs==
== History in the United States==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Bob icon.gif|right]] -->
Not extinct, just (usually) hiding. Bob issues [[wedgie]]s to the deserving, and is often a lackey in Dogbert's schemes. He told Dilbert he was a [[thesaurus]], although later admitted it was a joke. Dawn claims to be a "nobodysaurus" (a [[pun]] on "nobody saw us"). Since Bob and Dawn appear to be different [[species]], Rex is presumably a [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]]. Bob cannot tell the difference between [[Tom Brokaw]] and [[Peter Jennings]], as he revealed in one strip when he told Dilbert that dinosaurs are incapable of lying. Dawn and Rex are seldom seen, while Bob is a semi-regular member of the cast. It is possible that Bob is just more outgoing.


Black Americans have been experimenting with ways to style their hair before the nineteenth century. Between the late 1890s and the early 1900s, [[Annie Malone]], [[Madam C. J. Walker]] and [[Garrett Augustus Morgan]] revolutionized Black American hair care by inventing and marketing chemical applications to alter the natural tightly curled texture. During the 1930s, [[conk]]ing (vividly described in the [[Autobiography of Malcolm X]]) became an innovative method in the U.S. for Black men to straighten kinky hair.
Bob makes a cameo appearance in the teaser of one of the TV episodes, and can also be seen amongst several other prehistoric creatures in the opening title sequence.


It has been debated whether these practices arose out of a desire to make the hair more manageable or instead to conform to a [[Eurocentric]] standard of beauty.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Supporters of the second theory believe that the same prejudice that viewed lighter skin as preferable to darker, held that straight or wavy hair was preferable to tightly curled hair; that this prejudice comes not from African diasporic peoples but from European slaveholders and colonizers as part of the rhetoric used to support slavery and racially-based social class stratifications. Some claim that the dominant prejudice for Eurocentric ideas of beauty pervades the western world.<ref name="Hair-Story"> {{cite book | last = Byrd | first= Ayana D. | coauthors = Tharps, Lori L. | title = Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America | publisher = [[St. Martin's Press]] | date = 2001 | isbn = 0-312-28322-9 }} </ref>
==Bottleneck Bill==
[[Image:icon_bottleneckbill.gif||right]]Shaped like a bottle and, true to his namesake, believes that "anything worth doing is worth delaying". His neck is made of [[titanium]], as he reveals when Alice tries to strangle him. Bill wears a hat in the shape of a [[bottle cap]] on his head, and he appears twice the size of his co-workers when sitting down.


The [[civil rights movement]] and [[black power]] and pride movements of the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. created an impetus for African Americans to express their political commitments and self love through the wearing of natural hair. This contributed to the emergence of the [[Afro]] hairstyle into American mainstream culture, as an affirmation of Black African heritage, that "black is beautiful," and a rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. It has been used in songs, as a symbol of Black African heritage, notably in [[I Wish (Stevie Wonder song)|I Wish]] by [[Stevie Wonder]]. By the 1970s natural hair had evolved into a popular hairstyle.


Over the years, the popularity of natural hair has waxed and waned, but a significant percentage, approximately 75% of African American women still elect to straighten their hair with relaxers of some kind. Prolonged application of such chemicals can result in overprocessing, breakage and thinning of the hair.


In the past decade or so, natural hair has once again increased in popularity with the emergence of styles such as [[cornrows]], [[dreadlocks|locks]], [[braiding]], twists and cropped hair, most of which originated in Ancient Africa{{Fact|date=May 2007}}. With the emergence of hip-hop culture and Caribbean influences like reggae music, more non-blacks have begun to wear these hairstyles as well. There has been a boom in marketing hair products such as "Out of Africa" shampoo to African American consumers. Slogans that promote a pan-Black African appreciation of Afro-textured hair include "Happy to be nappy," "Don't worry, be nappy," as well as "Love, peace and nappiness."
==Captain Bob==
Captain Bob is an [[airline pilot]] and [[cannibal]] who eats people after crashing into a mountain repeatedly. Bob tricks people into being whacked by a tenderizer and pouring [[Worcestershire sauce]] all over their bodies, claiming that this is the best way to avoid [[frostbite]]. He is ultimately stopped when Dogbert hits his face with a snowball, causing his ovoid body to roll down the mountain.


Most black women in the West, however, continue to relax their hair.<ref name="Hair-Story" /> Even today, people are sometimes discouraged in the workplace from wearing their hair in a natural style.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Notably, the American marketing strategies that have inspired Black women throughout the diaspora to straighten their hair are now being directed at Black Africans. Thus in many urban areas of the continent, and increasingly in some rural areas, straightened hair is common among adult females.
==Cyrus the Virus==
Cyrus is a man who attacks and replaces members of a company with old goons. He demotes the [[Pointy Haired Boss]] to engineer for a week, until he is eliminated and the old boss is promoted back.


== Controversy over natural hair in the United States ==
==Dates==
Although there has been a reemergence of natural hair, there is still the underlying tone that straightened hair is a more acceptable or professional hairstyle. This is evidenced by the fact that high-profile black women in professions such as journalism and politics still wear straight hair.
Dilbert has many dating problems so he goes on blind dates. Among those he dated:


A 1998 incident became national news when a teacher in [[Bushwick, Brooklyn]], introduced her students to the book ''Nappy Hair'' by African American author [[Carolivia Herron]]. The teacher, who is white, was criticized by parents of black children, who thought that the book presented a negative stereotype.<ref>{{cite news |first=Liz |last=Leyden |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=N.Y. Teacher Runs Into a Racial Divide |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/frompost/dec98/hair3.htm |work=Washington Post |publisher= |date=1998-12-03|accessdate=2008-06-05 }}</ref>
*A [[dog]]
*A two-headed telepath
*A woman with "puppetitis"
*A large woman, who Dogbert referred to as [[Jabba the Hutt|Jabba the Date]]
*A [[skeleton|skeletal]] [[supermodel]].
*A [[witch]]
*The lady at the library reference desk
*The wife of a [[Mafia]] boss
*[[List_of_minor_characters_in_Dilbert#Tina.2C_the_Brittle_Tech_Writer|Tina the Tech Writer]]


His failure is similar to [[Jon Arbuckle]] in [[Garfield]], and he has also been seen in [[Stephen Pastis]]' strip ''[[Pearls Before Swine (comic strip)|Pearls Before Swine]]'' on a date with [[Pig (Pearls Before Swine)|Pig]]'s germophobic sister Farina.


On Wednesday, [[April 4]], [[2007]] radio talk-show host [[Don Imus]] referred to the [[Rutgers University]] women's basketball team playing in the Women's NCAA Championship game as a group of "nappy-headed hos" during his ''[[Imus in the Morning]]'' show. [[Bernard McGuirk]] then compared the game to "the jigaboos versus the wannabes," alluding to [[Spike Lee]]'s film ''[[School Daze]].'' Imus apologized two days later, after receiving criticism. CBS Radio canceled Don Imus' morning show on Thursday, April 12, 2007.
==Demon of Demos==
The demon of demos appears when Dilbert is giving a technical presentation. The demon prevents the demo from working and displays for the audience "some files that 'the boys' keep on the file server".


During August 2007, American Lawyer Magazine reported that an unnamed junior Glamour Magazine staffer did a presentation on the "Do's and Don't's of Corporate Fashion" for Cleary Gottlieb, a New York City law firm. There was a slide show where the woman made negative remarks about black women's natural hairstyles in the workplace, calling them "shocking," "inappropriate," and "political." Both the law firm and Glamour Magazine issued apologies to the staff.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://jezebel.com/gossip/your-roots-are-showing/glamour-editor-to-lady-lawyers-being-black-is-kinda-a-corporate-dont-289268.php |title= 'Glamour' Editor To Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda A Corporate "Don't" |accessdate=2008-06-05 |author= Moe |date= 2007-08-14|work= Jezebel |publisher= Gawker Media}}
==Dilbert's Dad==
</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://askthisblackwoman.com/2007/09/07/glamour-apologizes.aspx |title= Glamour Apologizes |accessdate=2008-06-05 |author= Kym Platt |date= 2007-09-07|work= Ask This Black Woman |publisher=}}
Also known as '''Dadbert'''. An [[unseen character]] in the comic strip, although he does appear in the animated series, in which his appearance is like that of [[Mammy Two Shoes]] from [[Tom and Jerry (MGM)|Tom and Jerry]] or Wilson from [[Home Improvement]]. He lives at the [[buffet|all-you-can-eat]] [[restaurant]] in the [[Shopping mall|mall]] because he has not eaten ''all'' he can eat.
</ref>


==Dilbert's Mom==
==See also==
{{wiktionarypar|nappy}}
[[Image:Dilbert's mom icon.gif|right]]
*[[Afro]]
Also known as '''Dilmom''', she is homely and intelligent. She used to think Dilbert worked at a [[railroad]] because he is an engineer. She's often selfish and openly uncaring towards her son; in the TV series she states that, although she loved him, she did not actually like him. She has nearly the same level of technical knowledge as Dilbert, although she has him do technical work for her. She is obsessed with [[Scrabble]], and has been accused of cheating with "counterfeit vowels". (This is a reference to Scott Adams' own mother.) She also is on an unnamed department store's "bad customer list", because she returned over a thousand items to the store, one scarf in particular 17 times.
*[[Cornrows]]
*[[Dreadlocks]]
*[[Conk]]
*[[Jheri curl]]


==Hammerhead Bob==
==External Links==
[[Image:icon_hammerheadbob.gif||right]]Summoner and buttinski of long, boring conversations. He has a spring-loaded [[buttocks]], handy for inserting himself into other people's discussions. He also uses [[Extra-sensory perception|ESP]] to read people's thoughts. Has appeared in six strips as of [[December 3]], [[2005]].


==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* Bundles, A., 2001. ''On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker'' . Scribner: New York.
* Craig, M., 2002. ''Ain't I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty and the Politics of Race''. Oxford University Press: New York.


<cite id=Diamond1997> * Diamond, J. (2005). Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies. Norton: New York.


<cite id=Harding2000> * Harding, R.M., et al (2000). Evidence for variable selective pressures at MC1R. [[American Journal of Human Genetics]], 66(4), 1351-61. p1355</cite>
==Ishan==
Attempts to take over Dilbert's office and use it as a base to recreate the [[Ottoman empire]].


<cite id=Iyengar1998> * Iyengar, B. (1998). The hair follicle is a specialized UV receptor in human skin? Bio Signals Recep, 7(3), 188-194.</cite>
==Liz==
[[Image:icon_liz.gif||right]]Dilbert's girlfriend from 1994 to 1996. He met her at a [[soccer]] game, where she rebounded a ball off his head to score a goal. Adams eventually had her break up with him, after she started dating other men. She is Dilbert's longest ever relationship; in a series of rather ambiguous strips, it is suggested that Dilbert almost [[sexual intercourse|lost his virginity]] with her (''Seven Years of Highly Defective People''). Scott Adams clarified in a user interview that Dilbert is still a virgin and will remain so for a while. She appears to be religious, as she says she doesn't believe in "getting physical" prior to marriage. She is an engineer for another company. She also got along well with Dogbert.


<cite id=Kivisild2002> * Kivisild, T (2002). The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations. American Journal of Human Genetics. 72(2) 313-332.</cite>
==Lola==
[[Image:icon_lola.gif||right]]Seems to be the perfect mate for Dilbert: beautiful and loves [[Star Trek]].
The only problem is she is high maintenance, mean spirited, and has [[Profanity|the mouth of a sailor]]. Nevertheless, Dilbert believes he cannot do better so he puts up with her.


<cite id=Pagel2003> * Pagel, M. & Bodmer, W. (2003). [http://www.anthro.utah.edu/~rogers/pubs/Pagel-BL-270-S117.pdf A naked ape would have fewer parasites]. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London</cite>
Appeared between [[May 2|2nd]] and [[May 7|7th May]], [[2005]], she shared a cubicle with Dilbert and was very close to him, but ended up dividing and stripping his belongings (down to his eyebrow) when a new cubicle was available to her. A strip one year later ([[10th May]], [[2006]]) shows a woman resembling her dating Dogbert, possibly proving Dogbert's point of "taking your women" to Dilbert.


<cite id=Quintana-Murci2004> * Quintana-Murci, L., et. al. (2004). Where west meets east: the complex mtDNA landscape of the southwest and Central Asian corridor. [[American Journal of Human Genetics]], 74(5), 827-45. p841</cite>
==Loud Howard==
[[Image:icon_loudhoward.gif||right]]
Another coworker who, despite appearing in just a few comic strips (on [[21 April]] [[1995]] and [[17 March]] [[2006]], and again by popular request on [[11 October]] [[2006]]), became a regular character in the TV series.


<cite id=Redd1999> * Redd, A.J., & Stoneking, M. (1999). Peopling of Sahul: mtDNA variation in aboriginal Australian and Papua New Guinean populations. [[American Journal of Human Genetics]], 65(3), 808-28 p824.</cite>
Loud Howard is incapable of speaking quietly, and in the TV series his overpowering voice often breaks anything and everything around him, including people's eardrums. It has also shattered glass and slammed people against the wall. When he sneezes, it is highly advisable to take cover, as the resulting blast has blown the flesh off of people, leaving only a [[skeleton]] (at least among the folks in Marketing). In "The Merger", he mentions they "should merge with a company that keeps your [[filling]]s from vibrating when you talk", as his fillings fly out of his mouth, later putting them back in.


<cite id=Rogers2004> * Rogers, Alan R.; Iltis, David & Wooding, Stephen (2004), “Genetic variation at the MC1R locus and the time since loss of human body hair”, Current Anthropology 45 (1): 105-108</cite>
In the strips his loud voice is represented by huge lettering and his comically huge mouth (when talking), which takes up most of the available panel space and is therefore difficult to sustain as a [[running joke]]. Howard as a recurring character is better-suited to the animated series, where his voice actor can speak as loudly as necessary.


<cite id=Tishkoff1996> * Tishkoff, S.A. (1996). Global patterns of linkage disequilibrium at the CD4 locus and modern human origins. Science. 271(5254), 1380-1387.</cite>
A strip on [[14 April]] [[2008]] sees Alice, Asok and Dilbert complaining to PHB about Loud Howard insisting on using his speakerphone in his cubicle. The PHB made swift response by moving Loud Howard to a newly-available private office, much to the three employees' dismay.
{{clear}}


<cite id=Windshuttle & Gillin2002> * Windshuttle & Gillin (2002): http://www.sydneyline.com/Pygmies%20Extinction.htm </cite>
==The Marketing People==
[[Image:icon_marketing2.gif||right]]In one brief series of strips, Dilbert is transferred to marketing, where everyone dresses in [[toga]]s, drinks [[wine]], and hardly do any work. Every Tuesday they [[barbecue]] a [[unicorn]], which, according to ''Seven Years of Highly Defective People'', resulted in complaints from "Unicorn lovers".


{{refend}}
==Ming==
[[Image:icon_ming.gif||right]]Ming is the [[Webmaster|Webmistress]]. She once dated Mordac and Dilbert. Like most people at Dilbert's company who control one of the tools he needs to do his job, Ming is [[sadistic]] and often creates regulations and procedures just to complicate things.


[[Category:African American culture]]
[[Category:Hairdressing]]
[[Category:Hairstyles]]
[[Category:Hair]]


[[nl:Kroeshaar]]
==Mordac==
[[Image:Mordac icon.gif|right]]
Preventer of information services who announces his title whenever he appears. His job is to refuse all requests for new computer hardware and the like; at one time ([[September 3]], [[1999]]), he had a policy to replace damaged equipment, causing a rain of technology from the roof of the building; he may or may not have rethought that policy. Mordac once dated Ming. Once, he changed Dilbert's password to the entire text of ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'', excluding the parts he did not believe (jokingly implying his [[Roman Catholicism]]). He also configured Alice's screensaver to [[Log out|log her out]] after two seconds of inactivity, which she then avoided by using a bobbing bird toy. Note that he now has a different hairstyle and no longer has his trademark glasses.

In one strip, [[Catbert]] jumped over a cubicle wall and attacked Mordac for making his personal printer a shared device.

It may or may not be intentional that Mordac's name is almost a reversal of [[CD-ROM]].

Mordac introduced himself on [[September 15]], [[1997]] as "Mordac the Refuser". The following day, his name became "Mordac the Preventer".

==Mother Nature==
[[Image:icon_mothernature.gif||right]]Mother Nature killed Dilbert in [[1990]] by having three [[deer]] shoot him with an arrow (she allegedly got the idea from a ''[[The Far Side|Gary Larson cartoon]]'') as an unorthodox example as punishment for [[littering]]. Dilbert was revived a month later when his garbageman cloned him from [[DNA]] samples in his [[garbage]]. She also appeared in several other strips, including one where she demonstrated to Dogbert "the beauty of nature" by killing a [[bird]] that she claimed was [[singing]] off-key. Dogbert saw Mother Nature smiling after doing so, and he accused her of enjoying being cruel, after which she promptly zapped Dogbert as well.

==Ruebert==
[[Image:icon_ruebert.gif||right]]Ruebert was a robot Dilbert threw away, but which his garbageman rebooted. It taunted and irritated Dilbert because it did not have the Robot's Code (loosely based on [[Isaac Asimov]]'s [[Three Laws of Robotics]]).

Ruebert's name came from Dilbert's comment that he "rued the day" he created him.

Dogbert put a shame module into his system and turned him into a worrying, guilt-ridden machine.

He then created a female robot that dumped him immediately. Ruebert would return in the strips never printed that were meant to bring in an arch-nemesis for Dogbert named Bingo, also a dog.

==Scott Adams==
[[Image:icon_scottadams.gif||right]]From [[January 2]] to [[January 7|7]], [[2006]], a series of strips featured ''[[Dilbert]]'' [[cartoonist]] [[Scott Adams]] trapped in Dilbert's world where he had to escape by going through the Yellow [[Post-it note|Sticky Note]] Road and meet the wizard of [[landfill]](Wally), parodying [[The Wizard of Oz]]. Scott also was anonymously portrayed in these earlier strips:
* Page 112, Dogbert's Clues for the Clueless: Dogbert comments on Scott's new humor book.
* [[23 April|23]]–[[24 April]] [[1998]]: as a cartoonist at a trade show Dilbert attended.
* In a series of strips printed on the first week of May 2007, he appears anonymously as an employee who writes comic strips satirizing the workplace as a side job (this character later quits because his comic writing job was going so well. his resignation letter to the pointy haired boss was "not so much a letter, but more of a drawing of your body with a manure head").
* [[8 June]] [[2007]]: Dilbert wishes happy birthday to a withered, skeletal looking man who has turned 50. 8 June 2007 is also [[Scott Adams]]' 50th birthday.

==Sourpuss==
[[Image:icon_sourpuss.gif||right]]The Office Sourpuss hired by the [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] because "every office has one" — as the name suggests, he is very [[pessimist]]ic. Appeared from [[December 7]] – [[December 10]] [[2005]] as an engineer. True to his name, he resembles an anthropomorphic cat with pursed lips, as if he had just eaten something very sour. One of his better quotes was "when life gives you [[lemon]]s, choke on 'em and die, you stupid lemon eater"

==Specter of Unpaid Overtime==
Visits Dilbert at the office, saying he is there to rake up the [[Post-it note|sticky notes]], due to the fact that he had a rake instead of a scythe; aspires to the role of a [[Grim Reaper]], so he hits Dilbert with this rake. When Dilbert tells Dogbert, Dogbert says that "I only enjoy stories when it involves you getting hit by a rake." Dilbert replies that that is the only time when he has been hit by a rake. Dogbert then plans to tell the gardener (unseen character) that Dilbert insulted his wife. First appeared [[25 October]] [[2005]].

==Stan==
The all-too-slick marketer. Temporarily turned into a [[weasel]] ([[4 July]] [[1995]]) by the power of suggestion when Dilbert told him he could alter his [[DNA]] through his [[LAN]]. Dilbert eventually changed him back into a human via the [[Placebo effect]] by telling him about a rumour of a [[focus group]], who might have said something which, taken out of context, could imply that he wasn't becoming a weasel.

==Steve==
Steve is a decorated [[United States Army]] combat veteran. He first appeared on [[September 5]], [[2006]]. Steve has a hard time adjusting to office life, the joke being that the office is a more miserable work environment than a war zone. He recently appeared in a strip with [[List of minor characters in Dilbert#Topper|Topper]]; during a meeting, Steve talks about a mission where he took [[Rocket propelled grenade|RPG]] fire from the roof and Topper tops it off by saying he killed 900 [[Insurgency|insurgents]] with his bare hands.

==Techno Bill==
[[Image:icon_tecno-bill.gif||right]]One of the most popular bit characters, Techno Bill was shown briefly in [[1992]]. Techno Bill wears a belt of electronic tools, and uses auto-dialing to defeat Dilbert's lesser assortment of personal electronic devices. He was voiced by [[Phil Hartman]] in the Desktop Diversions game "Techno Raiders."

==Ted, the Generic Guy==
[[Image:Ted icon.gif|right]]
At first was meant to be a main character, as he is seen in most comics in the early years of the strip, but didn't turn out as interesting as Adams had hoped, so he became the Generic guy. Never the focus of events himself, but appears wherever an otherwise-insignificant employee character is required. People who have known him for years still cannot describe him. He has taken on various roles, and often does not speak. There is certainly more than one Ted roaming around since he is fired (or killed) again and again in various strips, or perhaps security just can't remember his face. He has a brief appearance in the animated series.

==Tina, the Brittle Tech Writer==
[[Image:Tina icon.gif|right]]
A radical [[Feminism|feminist]], but less inclined to react than [[Alice (Dilbert character)|Alice]]. She once had a crush on [[Dilbert (character)|Dilbert]], but it ended when she was "darned to Heck" by [[Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light|Phil]]. Tina feels that her job (writing and editing product instructions) is not appreciated by anyone in the company. However, it is implied that Tina is merely blaming [[gender]] discrimination for her work problems instead of her own incompetence (she once thought of blaming [[immigration|immigrants]] when she learned that Alice is the highest paid person). She asked Alice, once, to teach her to be an engineer after tech writers were downsized. In more recent strips, however, the feminist aspect of her character has been comparatively played down.

In response to allegations that Scott Adams portrayed Tina in a [[sexism|sexist]] fashion, Adams also created the character of '''Antina''' (according to ''Seven Years of Highly Defective People'', the name stands for '''an'''tidote to '''Tina'''), who did not act or look like a woman (with the exception of a rather large pair of breasts), for one strip. According to ''Seven Years'', a large number of readers thought he was referring to [[lesbian]]s with the character.

==Topper==
A male character who constantly tries to "win" conversations. He cannot start a conversation, as it "ruins his system". He has appeared several times, in 2001 on the 1st of January to the 4th. He then reappeared on [[24 August]] [[2004]], in 2005 from the 16-19 of August and [[12 December]], in 2006 on [[22 April]] and from [[13 November|13]]-[[15 November]], and in 2008 on [[6 January]]. Topper has been known to pick on everyone in the office, including Alice and the Boss, and his [[one-upmanship]] ensures that he is unbeatable in a conversation. He has even gone so far as to repeatedly slam his head on a table because one of his co-workers had a headache. It has never been made clear whether or not any of his ridiculous claims are factual, and he tends to cover his tracks when people ask for proof of his supposed feats of greatness. For example, he once claimed to have caught and captured a dinosaur, then when someone wanted to see it, he said "Too late, I also make the world's best barbecue sauce."

==The Useless Guy==
A person who never works at all. He would rather take up the space of other coworkers and eat their [[doughnut|donuts]]. Sometimes he will clip out articles and publications and leave them on other people's chairs. He makes an appearance in the TV series in [[Y2K (Dilbert episode)|Y2K]], where he attempts to do research on "history" upon hearing the word.

== Vijay ==
[[Image:icon_vijay2.gif||right]]Proclaimed as "the world's most desperate [[venture capitalist]]", he funds a garage-based start-up of Dilbert, a [[garbage]]-based city of Dogbert and stalks people so that he can fund any idea they may have. "Vijay" is a common Indian name.



==Wally Lookalikes==
Adams in the beginning used people that looked like Wally. According to Adams, once Wally became a main character, the Wally clones were replaced with Ted the Generic Guy. Many of them are:

*Les: A stunted man with a short-temper from [[New York City]]. Name is pronounced ''Lez''. he gets annoyed when someone pronounces it "less" because he is very self conscious about his height
*Norman: A victim to a woman with a large nose by being "snorted"
*Bud: A worker who acted like he had been with the company for many years. Actually was only there a week before he changed into an angry, balding, cynical lowlife
*Johnson: told by the Pointy-Haired Boss that a drug test proved he "live(d) on [[Cheetos]] and [[Diet Pepsi]], and. . . dress(ing) in grass skirts and making fun of the lawnmower."
*Bruce: Accused (correctly, it appears) of having an affair with the wife of his obnoxious co-worker, Brad (9/29/1991).

Also, Dilbert was called "Wally" for a company TV commercial in the 9/20/1991 strip.

==The World's Smartest Garbageman==
[[Image:Garbageman icon.gif|right]]
[[Philosophy|Philosopher]] and [[scientist]]. Sometimes solves extremely complex problems for Dilbert. When Mother Nature had a [[deer]] shoot Dilbert with a bow and arrow, he saved Dilbert's life by repairing a cloning device that Dilbert had thrown out. In the TV show, it was revealed that he was the only [[waste collector|garbageman]] in the entire city, and was able to accomplish this by traveling from house to house instantaneously with [[wormhole]]s. The World's Smartest Garbageman owns a working [[Phaser (fictional weapon)|phaser]], a "chaos driven weather control device", and an "anti-stupidity gun" which destroys the stupid part of a person while leaving the rest intact. Dilbert borrows the anti-stupidity gun in one strip, and uses it on the pointy haired boss. However, the result of this was that the PHB was reduced to an empty suit and a couple of points of hair. Dogbert borrows the phaser in another strip because Dilbert refuses to make one for him. Dogbert uses it to zap stupid people for a couple of strips, then returns it. After the Garbageman asks him if he used it in anger, Dogbert replies that he was wagging the entire time and probably wouldn't stop for a couple days. In one particular strip, the Garbageman completes an almost-fully operational robot Dilbert throws out, and sends it to harass him. Adams claims that the irony of a genius working as a garbage man is that we really have no right to question his choice of careers as we are not as smart as he is. In fact, when asked by Dilbert about why is he a garbageman, he replies by saying the most adequate question would be why is Dilbert an [[engineer]]. Further displaying his electronic talents he and Dogbert invented dial-up [[Internet]], to see "how long people would sit in front of a screen waiting for a barely recognizable blotch", taking no credit for the feat, "blaming it on a drunken college student", who was seen later with people bringing him baskets full of money.

==Zimbu==
A [[monkey]] who humiliates Dilbert and Wally by constantly outperforming them. He uses his tail to operate the computer mouse while using both hands to type and is therefore the fastest programmer at the company. Not unlike Dogbert, he appears to be superior to humans as a species. This could be yet another indicator that Scott Adams does not think much of the human race. This is also supported by some of his comments in the ''Seven Years of Highly Defective People'': "I support equal rights for pets" (80) and "Imagine an advanced race of aliens who talk to the average human; do you think they'll be impressed?" (112). Zimbu also appeared in the TV show, helping Wally prevent the company's computers from crashing on Y2K, and also represented the CEO when the CEO visit was canceled.

==Miscellaneous/One-off==
There are many others that were created and are known, such as:

*Alan the Sycophant: Also had a [[remora]]-like mouth as he was a "suck-up" to the Boss.
*Albert Einstein: Dogbert puts forth a hypothetical situation in which [[Albert Einstein]] works in [[marketing]]. Einstein comes up with a great idea for increasing sales, but the Pointy-Haired Boss rejects it. Dismissing the possibility that he may have not understood Einstein's idea, the PHB tells Albert (who he calls "Allan") to "work smarter, not harder." As a frustrated Einstein storms off, the PHB thinks to himself: "I worry that a guy like that will go off and build a huge bomb."
*Alien PHB [[Impostor]]: A highly-intelligent [[Extraterrestrial life in popular culture|alien]] who posed as the Pointy-Haired Boss after his race kidnapped the real PHB in order to learn the secrets of human management. The Impostor PHB's competence and kindness while on the job aroused the suspicions of Dilbert and the others. The real PHB accidentally foiled the aliens' plans by giving them some bad managing advice which resulted in the aliens crashing their ship into a snow-covered alp.
*Ann, the woman who likes to swear at work: The title says it all. When Ann goes on a swearing rampage, her tongue appears forked and the vulgarity of her swearing causes all manner of destruction, such as setting Ted's hair on fire, scorching Wally's [[genitals]], knocking an office door off its hinges and making Asok's ears fall off.
*Big Stubborn Dumb Guy: a guy placed on Dilbert's project for no apparent reason other than to disrupt it. He at one point tells Dilbert "I will fight you to the end of the Earth!" (a phrase Adams claims was said to him by a co-worker at Pacific Bell) and delegates his son, "Little Stubborn Dumb Guy", to help him impede Dilbert's efforts. However the BSDG and LSDG soon start impeding each other's efforts to impede Dilbert, and he leaves it at that
*Brett: a [[homicide|homicidal]] young boy and friend of Dogbert's who appeared in several strips in [[1991]]. He went on a three-week [[killing spree]] and somehow acquired a [[hydrogen bomb]].
*Bob, the Unluckiest [[Insurance]] Agent: An insurance salesman who has terrible luck; whenever he sells insurance to someone, a disaster promptly occurs. These disasters include an insurance buyer dying and the Pointy-Haired Boss buying insurance and then discovering that the room is filling with toxic gas.
*Bullysaurus: The [[bullying|bully]] to Bob. Once, after Bob tried to cultivate a [[zit]] as a third eye, used a zit cream. This is his only appearance in the strip.
*Bungee Boss: A manager who was dropped into the department to change everything but was pulled back out of it before he could do anything. the phrase "bungee boss" actually became a workplace term
*Camping Carl: A coworker of Dilbert, who spends the day carrying around his coffee cup and complaining about all the work he has to do.
*Cold [[Turkey]]: A turkey wearing a coat that jumps on Asok's back when he went "cold turkey" on his [[email]] addiction.
*The Consultick: A [[business consultant]] that actually attaches himself to the PHB, draining his wallet of cash.
*Cubicle Cockroach: an anamorphic [[cockroach]] who annoys his co-workers. He could not be destroyed, as Alice tore off his head, but died when the Boss assigned him to a morale-boosting project.
*Dennis the Sadistic Nut: Hired by the PHB because "Every office has a sadistic nut." His constant expression is one of clenched-teeth rage. He shouts twisted epithets to his coworkers, such as, "You'll all die in your own vomit!" and "Why does your body lotion smell like the rotting flesh of a thousand dead camels?" Wally and Dilbert enjoy watching Dennis tell Asok why he'll never have a date. Alice eventually killed him by rigging the shredder to do so.
*Elmer Oakley: An activist for trees in the episode "The Off-Site Meeting" of the animated series (he was suing Dilbert's company for harming trees), and president and only [seen] member of the Tree Lover's Society. He dropped the charges after he killed the neighbors' elephant in the off-site meeting.
*[[E-mail]] Monkey: A monkey that jumps on Asok's back during his email addiction.
*Ernie the Unpackageable: Tried to retire when the company offered a generous [[severance package]], but too many people volunteered and he had to keep his job. "Now he's nothing but an organic vessel for transporting self-pity," says Dilbert. Asok makes eye contact with Ernie and is left utterly horrified.
*The "Exactly" Man: Shouts out "EXACTLY!!" whenever people correct or challenge him.
*The Feature Creep: An ugly adviser who always insists on adding unnecessary features to products. He walks with a cane and cape. He likes topper because whenever the Creep suggests an unnecessary feature, Topper immediately suggests one or more features which are even more unnecessary then the Creeps suggested features. Feature Creep once said to Topper, "I like your style," to which Topper replied, "That's nothing! I want to marry you in a civil union!"
*Floyd [[Remora]]: A man with a trumpet-like mouth who lives by claiming partial credit for the success of others while contributing nothing. He apparently died from Dilbert’s lack of success. Similar to a [[leech]].
*Another Floyd: A man who takes his anger out on everyone. He becomes one of Dilbert's many accidental victims when he chokes to death on his own bile while Dilbert was in the room.
*Harry Middlepart: Exchanged for Peri Noid at a store; parts his hair in the middle, causing Carol the secretary to ban his presence near her.
*Incredulous Ed: Acts incredulous at anything that anyone says to him. For example, when asked if he has a family, he replies "Do I have a ''WHAT''?!"
*Juan Delegator: a co-worker who avoids work by delegating away all tasks to other workers, in the name of Teamwork.
*Karl The Habitual Liar: a man who simply could not tell the truth. Even when he died and was cremated by Alice, he continued to insist that he was alive, and taking salsa dance lessons in his urn. He appears in strips between March 30th and April 2nd 2005.
*Lulu: A woman who has no sense of proportionality for problems. She won the "Employee of the week" award after her name was randomly picked.
*Man-Hating Supervisor: a large, short-tempered, male-hating woman who was hired as Dilbert's supervisor because the Pointy-Haired Boss was "kinda turned on by angry women in pantsuits." The Man-Hater tried to make life miserable for all the male engineers. She quit after discovering that she couldn't make their lives any worse than before.
*Meeting Moth: attracted to all meetings. Like all [[moth]]s, has an appetite for clothing. Asok held him off with a [[cedar]]-flavored donut, and hasn't been seen since.
*Mike the Vegan: appeared in several strips. In his first appearance, he prevented Dilbert, Alice, and Wally from eating at various restaurants because he was a [[vegan]]. In the next strip, Dilbert turned the table on him by saying that his clothes are made on machines that used oil products, "and those come from dead dinosaurs". Mike subsequently took off his clothes, claiming that he would now make exceptions to his rule.
*Noriko: A young girl that looked like one of Adams' girlfriends when she was in kindergarten. She appeared in several strips complaining that Dilbert and other adults are to blame for all of the world's problems. She also has a karate black belt.
*One-Dimensional Ed: A coworker of Dilbert, who tends to shout everything he says, and does not listen to anyone.
*Patty: A new co-worker of Dilbert's who constantly criticized everyone. She was fired after two muinnets (which Dilbert said was "longer that Timmy the "Facilitator").
*Paul Tergeist (a wordplay on "[[Poltergeist]]"): A man who is channeling the angry energy of a thousand dead souls, Paul's presence causes inexplicable computer failures and other various phenomena, such a CRT monitor launching itself into the air, and onto Dilbert's head.
*Paul Ooshen (a wordplay on "[[pollution]]"): A man who gets what he wants by any means necessary (I.e. bad cologne, putting oil on Alice's Computer, having his breath smelling like [[onion]]s, etc.)
*Peri Noid (a wordplay on "[[Paranoid]]"): One of Dilbert's defective co-workers who constantly accuses others of plotting to exclude her from meetings. Dilbert eventually "exchanges" her for a guy whose hair is parted in the middle.
*[[Pig]]: A recurring pig in Elbonia. At one point, Elbonia's [[Secretary of State]].
*Rasputin: a parody of the historical [[Rasputin]], he is hired because he healed the Boss's paper cut. His "charisma" causes Asok to pass out, but Wally's "anti-charisma" has the same effect on him.
*Rex Tangle (a wordplay on "[[rectangle]]"): a [[polygon]]-shaped coworker. He was specifically bred to work in a cubicle. He thinks that having a social life is the same as stealing from the company and he enjoys a square meal. Wally refers to Rex as "the future".
*[[Robot|Robo]]boss: A pointy-haired robot programmed to give employees very shallow compliments, such as "You're giving 110[[Percentage|%]]" or "You are a valuable asset." Alice dated him because his shallow compliments made her feel good. He delegates even more trivial tasks to his assistant "[[Plywood]]boss."
*ROFL: this is another name for the e-mail monkey that jumps on Asok's back when he got addicted to e-mail. After Asok's email addiction, when he started chatting, the e-mail monkey said, "I'm [[ROFL]] (rolling on the floor laughing)" which may have been misinterpreted as an introduction.
*Ron the Sociopath: A sociopath. Alice dated him because she liked everything about him. He doesn't tip, he rifles through Alice's purse, and he only rings once when he makes telephone calls. He met Alice when she complained to him about his using of his speakerphone to do voice mail.
*Scapegoat: A goat briefly employed at the company that everyone blamed for their problems (he once gets shot, and is blamed for being in the way, because the real target was "the messenger," a [[pun]] on the phrase "Don't Kill the Messanger"). He was transfered to sales so they could "make bad products and blame you for the low sales." He mentions having stumbled across the [[National Rifle Association]]'s annual [[Chili]] cook-off.
*Several members of the [[Mass media|media]], such as [[Geraldo Rivera]], have appeared at some point.
*Single-Task Bob: Appeared in a Sunday strip singing a song proclaiming that "I can't multi-task, I only do one job!" Adams apparently feels an affinity towards him; in the collection ''[[It's Not Funny If I Have To Explain It]]'', he writes that "Us single-taskers should have our own theme song."
*Skunk: Sneaked into Dilbert's house and threatened to spray him (saying he "couldn't control [his] fear response") unless he made him a big bowl of [[strawberry]] [[ice cream]] and sang the songs from ''[[Cats (musical)|Cats]]'' while he ate.
*Technology Prima Donna: A character who boasts that he is "the best" without producing anything. He lives outside the rules because he is supposedly irreplaceable, and signifies this by declaring the office a personal "pants optional" zone, and struts around in his [[underwear]]. he always has his nose turned up.
*Turnaround CEO: A [[demon]]-like figure hired to turn around the poor performance of Dilbert's company; he uses Dilbert as a mole in order to find out what the company's problems really are.
*Toby: A man who sent his resume to the Department of Human Resources. [[Catbert]] makes him change his name to "Tubby".
*Uncle Ned: A relative that shoots everything, even his neighbors, and posts their heads as trophies.
*The Weasel of Layoffs: A [[weasel]] dressed in [[Grim Reaper]] attire who delivers notices of layoffs to unfortunate employees.

==External links==
*[http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/the_characters/index.html Dilbert.com - The Characters]
*[http://www.triviaasylum.com/dilbert/diltriv.html Full List Of Dilbert Characters]
{{Dilbert}}

[[Category:Dilbert characters| ]]

Revision as of 04:23, 12 October 2008

"Nappy hair" redirects here. For other users, see Nappy (disambiguation).
Young woman with parted afro curls.

Natural hair, black hair, and afro-textured hair are terms used to refer to the texture of Black African hair that has not been altered chemically (by perming, relaxing, straightening, bleaching or coloring). Not all people of Black African descent have naturally afro-textured hair, although the overwhelming majority do. In particular, certain groups such as the Fulani of West Africa have a few members with hair that ranges from straight to loosely coiled, due to admixture with non-Black African populations. Nonetheless, among non-admixed Black Africans, tightly coiled, Afro-hair is a ubiquitous trait. Adjectives such as “hard”, “kinky”, “nappy”, or “woolly” are also used to describe natural Afro-textured hair. This hair is typically tightly coiled and soft to the touch. Andamanese Negritos and most Melanesian people also have tightly coiled hair.

Adaptation

Tightly coiled hair is typically described as being an evolutionary adaptation to the warm, tropical climates of sub-Saharan Africa and Melanesia (although it does not exist in tropical regions such as India or indigenous South America and thus likely evolved for a different original purpose). Some hold that tightly coiled hair may allow for greater cooling because sweat is able to remain on the scalp.[1] Furthermore it has been asserted that, when the sun is directly overhead, the top surface of the hair heats up while leaving a barrier of cooler air between the scalp and the top surface of the hair. This barrier of cooler air assists in cooling the brain. This effect is most prominent in people with 'frizzy' (Afro-textured) hair.[2]

The context in which Afro hair texture arose

Evolutionary biologists suggest that the genus Homo arose in East Africa approximately 2.5 million years ago.[2] During this time new hunting techniques were innovated.[2] The higher protein diet led to the evolution of larger body and brain sizes.[2] In Skin: A Natural History, Nina Jablonski postulates that increasing body size, in conjunction with intensified hunting during the day at the equator, gave rise to a greater need to rapidly expel heat. As a result, humans developed the ability to sweat and thus lost body hair to facilitate this process.[2] Notably, Pagel et al (2003) argue against this hypothesis, stating that hominids without fur would not have been able to warm themselves as efficiently at night, nor protect themselves well enough from the sun during the day. However, it is likely that increased intelligence, combined with sophisticated hunting techniques, enabled humans to warm themselves at night using animal skins. Furthermore, as the furless condition slowly developed, genetic evidence suggests that dark skin color gradually evolved to protect the body from UV during the day (and thus compensate for the sparse hair coverage). Thus, it is likely that pre-humans lost fur mostly for the purpose of facilitating the evaporation of sweat and the corresponding cooling of the body.

The evolution of Afro hair texture

Jablonski agrees that it was evolutionarily advantageous for pre-humans (Homo erectus of ~2 million years ago) to retain the hair on their heads in order to protect the skin there as they walked upright in the intense African (equatorial) UV light (auxiliary hair (in the groin and underarms) was likely retained as a sign of sexual maturity). During the process of going from fur to naked skin, hair texture putatively changed gradually from being straight (the condition of most mammals, including humanity's closest cousin--the chimpanzee), to Afro-like or 'kinky' (ie tightly coiled). This is made clear in a study by Iyengar (1998) which has provided evidence that the roots of straight human hair may act as optic fibers that allow UV light to pass into the skin. In this sense, during the period in which pre-humans were gradually losing most of their straight body hair (fur) and thereby exposing the probably pale skin underneath their fur to the sun (Rogers et al, 2004), straight hair would have been an evolutionary liability. 'Kinks' in fiber optic tubes are known to prevent UV from passing through. Hence, tightly coiled or 'kinky' hair may have evolved to prevent the entry of UV light during the gradual transition period towards the evolution of dark skin and the simultaneous transition from hairiness to virtual nudity. Later, after a group of modern humans left Africa approximately 60,000 years ago, straight hair re-evolved among those members who migrated to northern Eurasia (see hair texture).

The global distribution of Afro hair texture

Afro hair is a predominant characteristic of Black Africans, Andaman Islanders, and Melanesians. It is often posited that this hair texture (which is unique among all mammals--and most humans) is an adaptation to tropical climates. However, as mentioned, many (dark skinned) straight haired people have also been found to thrive in similar types of warm equatorial environments. Thus the distribution of the trait likely has more to do with the migration and admixture patterns of those who left Africa to populate the rest of the world within ~60,000 years ago (Quintana-Murci et al, 2004). It also has to do with the retention of that which was adaptively essential at the equator (ie dark skin) and the loss of that which was no longer essential (ie Afro hair) following admixture. Specifically, after the migration of a group of modern humans out of Africa, those who settled in warm sunny regions similar to sub-Saharan Africa, like the Andaman Islands and Melanesia (and, in addition, remained isolated from straight haired northern migrants) did not experience adaptive (nor admixture) pressure for their hair to straighten. Thus it remained Afro-like.

Nonetheless, in places like India, South America, Australia, and Polynesia, hair is straight despite warm, UV-rich climates. This is explainable given the context in which Afro-hair likely arose, which is described above. To reiterate, this unique texture likely evolved 1-2 million years ago, just before the time that dark skin (Harding et al, 2000) is estimated to have arisen (as indicated by human MC1R genetic demographic patterns--see Harding 2000). The trait may have reached high frequency in order to compensate for the gradual process in which relatively pale hominid (pre-human) skin was being exposed to the African equatorial sun as it lost its protective fur (see Rogers et al 2004). This feature may have been advantageous in this context because, in light of the Iyengar (1998) finding that straight human hair may act as fiber optic tubes, it is likely that coiled hair slows and/or prevents the entry of UV radiation (and possibly other forms of radiation such as heat/ultra red) into the skin in a way analogous to how "kinks" attenuate (scatter) light moving through actual fiber optic tubes. Once dark skin evolved ~1 million years ago however (Harding, 2000), Afro-hair texture was less crucial in terms of protection from UV rays, but it was likely sustained in the population because, as mentioned, it had the ability to prevent UV (and possibly heat) from entering the body (or in this case, head) and thus cool and protect the brain. Alternatively, the trait may have sustained high frequencies in the founding/original (African) human population simply due to the fact that, over the 1-2 million years of its existence, most of the various genes that determine it likely retained phenotypic monomorphism in the population due to the genetotypic dominance of coiled/curled hair genes over straight hair genes. In other words, an ancient selective sweep likely occurred for these genes while skin was darkening 1-2 million years ago which hasn't reversed itself due to sustained levels of inter-African admixture, and/or the genetic dominance of the factors determining the phenotype. Notably, sexual selection is another possible factor that cannot be completely ruled out (although it seems unlikely that the distinct populations occupying the entire sub-Saharan region of Africa would have the same taste with regards to hair form).

In addition, because, as mentioned, intermixture within the large sub-Saharan African population remained relatively high for a significant portion of its pre-history (compared to those who migrated outside of this region), severe, sustained isolation and its associated intensive inbreeding (ie bottlenecks) did not occur there (Tishkoff, 1996). Thus, straight hair did not arise by way of random mutation and isolation (ie genetic drift) among any of the subgroups of the sub-Saharan region. In fact, it is very likely, given the basically ubiquitous distribution of the Afro-hair trait among contemporary sub-Saharan Africans (the most genetically diverse macroethnicgroup on earth whose direct ancestors comprised the original population from which all of humanity derived), that at one time the Afro-hair trait characterized the entire human population (i.e. before the exodus from Africa and the settlement of some of the migrants in northern Eurasia).

After the re-evolution of straight hair among those who migrated from Africa to northern Eurasia ~50-60,000 years ago (see hair texture--adaptive significance section), there is evidence suggesting that continual (or episodic) small scale migrations occurred from Central Europe into India (Kivisild et al, 2003). It is therefore likely that the slow but continual accumulation of the genes determining straight hair texture (and certain facial features) from the north over the past ~30-40,000 years eventually resulted its expression throughout India in conjunction with dark skin (which was sustained due to natural selection for protection against UV). Polynesian, Australian, and South American populations are also known to have been influenced (either slightly or entirely) by Northern migrants. For example, in the case of Australia (and likely India), when northerners arrived, they intermixed with the dark skinned, Afro-haired inhabitants of the region (Redd & Stoneking, 1999; Windshuttle & Gillin, 2003) giving rise to a (possibly sexual) selective sweep for straight hair and dark skin. In the case of Polynesians and South American Indians, archaeological and genetic evidence suggest that (straight haired) migrants of Northern East Asian descent were the first to populate these regions (Diamond, 2005); making them the predominant inhabitants of this region until modern times. Straight hair (combined with dark skin) thus came to dominate among these groups, likely due to pre-Holocene waves of migration into these areas from the north and, in the case of India and Australia, subsequent admixture with (or replacement of) the dark skinned, Afro-haired inhabitants.

In this sense, Afro hair texture is most likely a reminder/remnant of a crucial time in hominid evolutionary history (ie when humans became hairless to enable perspiration). The trait ceased to be essential to survival at the equator upon the evolution of hairless dark skin. This explains why dark skinned straight haired (ie northern admixed) groups are able to survive in UV-rich regions (such as India, Australia, Polynesia, and South America) without tightly coiled (Afro) hair texture.

History in the United States

Black Americans have been experimenting with ways to style their hair before the nineteenth century. Between the late 1890s and the early 1900s, Annie Malone, Madam C. J. Walker and Garrett Augustus Morgan revolutionized Black American hair care by inventing and marketing chemical applications to alter the natural tightly curled texture. During the 1930s, conking (vividly described in the Autobiography of Malcolm X) became an innovative method in the U.S. for Black men to straighten kinky hair.

It has been debated whether these practices arose out of a desire to make the hair more manageable or instead to conform to a Eurocentric standard of beauty.[citation needed] Supporters of the second theory believe that the same prejudice that viewed lighter skin as preferable to darker, held that straight or wavy hair was preferable to tightly curled hair; that this prejudice comes not from African diasporic peoples but from European slaveholders and colonizers as part of the rhetoric used to support slavery and racially-based social class stratifications. Some claim that the dominant prejudice for Eurocentric ideas of beauty pervades the western world.[3]

The civil rights movement and black power and pride movements of the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. created an impetus for African Americans to express their political commitments and self love through the wearing of natural hair. This contributed to the emergence of the Afro hairstyle into American mainstream culture, as an affirmation of Black African heritage, that "black is beautiful," and a rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. It has been used in songs, as a symbol of Black African heritage, notably in I Wish by Stevie Wonder. By the 1970s natural hair had evolved into a popular hairstyle.

Over the years, the popularity of natural hair has waxed and waned, but a significant percentage, approximately 75% of African American women still elect to straighten their hair with relaxers of some kind. Prolonged application of such chemicals can result in overprocessing, breakage and thinning of the hair.

In the past decade or so, natural hair has once again increased in popularity with the emergence of styles such as cornrows, locks, braiding, twists and cropped hair, most of which originated in Ancient Africa[citation needed]. With the emergence of hip-hop culture and Caribbean influences like reggae music, more non-blacks have begun to wear these hairstyles as well. There has been a boom in marketing hair products such as "Out of Africa" shampoo to African American consumers. Slogans that promote a pan-Black African appreciation of Afro-textured hair include "Happy to be nappy," "Don't worry, be nappy," as well as "Love, peace and nappiness."

Most black women in the West, however, continue to relax their hair.[3] Even today, people are sometimes discouraged in the workplace from wearing their hair in a natural style.[citation needed] Notably, the American marketing strategies that have inspired Black women throughout the diaspora to straighten their hair are now being directed at Black Africans. Thus in many urban areas of the continent, and increasingly in some rural areas, straightened hair is common among adult females.

Controversy over natural hair in the United States

Although there has been a reemergence of natural hair, there is still the underlying tone that straightened hair is a more acceptable or professional hairstyle. This is evidenced by the fact that high-profile black women in professions such as journalism and politics still wear straight hair.

A 1998 incident became national news when a teacher in Bushwick, Brooklyn, introduced her students to the book Nappy Hair by African American author Carolivia Herron. The teacher, who is white, was criticized by parents of black children, who thought that the book presented a negative stereotype.[4]


On Wednesday, April 4, 2007 radio talk-show host Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team playing in the Women's NCAA Championship game as a group of "nappy-headed hos" during his Imus in the Morning show. Bernard McGuirk then compared the game to "the jigaboos versus the wannabes," alluding to Spike Lee's film School Daze. Imus apologized two days later, after receiving criticism. CBS Radio canceled Don Imus' morning show on Thursday, April 12, 2007.

During August 2007, American Lawyer Magazine reported that an unnamed junior Glamour Magazine staffer did a presentation on the "Do's and Don't's of Corporate Fashion" for Cleary Gottlieb, a New York City law firm. There was a slide show where the woman made negative remarks about black women's natural hairstyles in the workplace, calling them "shocking," "inappropriate," and "political." Both the law firm and Glamour Magazine issued apologies to the staff.[5][6]

See also

Look up nappy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

External Links

References

  1. ^ Cavalli-Sforza on human adaptations
  2. ^ a b c d e Jablonski (2006). Skin: A Natural History. ISBN 0520242815. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |First= ignored (|first= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Byrd, Ayana D. (2001). Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-28322-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Leyden, Liz (1998-12-03). "N.Y. Teacher Runs Into a Racial Divide". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-05. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Moe (2007-08-14). "'Glamour' Editor To Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda A Corporate "Don't"". Jezebel. Gawker Media. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  6. ^ Kym Platt (2007-09-07). "Glamour Apologizes". Ask This Black Woman. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  • Bundles, A., 2001. On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker . Scribner: New York.
  • Craig, M., 2002. Ain't I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty and the Politics of Race. Oxford University Press: New York.

* Diamond, J. (2005). Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies. Norton: New York.

* Harding, R.M., et al (2000). Evidence for variable selective pressures at MC1R. American Journal of Human Genetics, 66(4), 1351-61. p1355

* Iyengar, B. (1998). The hair follicle is a specialized UV receptor in human skin? Bio Signals Recep, 7(3), 188-194.

* Kivisild, T (2002). The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations. American Journal of Human Genetics. 72(2) 313-332.

* Pagel, M. & Bodmer, W. (2003). A naked ape would have fewer parasites. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London

* Quintana-Murci, L., et. al. (2004). Where west meets east: the complex mtDNA landscape of the southwest and Central Asian corridor. American Journal of Human Genetics, 74(5), 827-45. p841

* Redd, A.J., & Stoneking, M. (1999). Peopling of Sahul: mtDNA variation in aboriginal Australian and Papua New Guinean populations. American Journal of Human Genetics, 65(3), 808-28 p824.

* Rogers, Alan R.; Iltis, David & Wooding, Stephen (2004), “Genetic variation at the MC1R locus and the time since loss of human body hair”, Current Anthropology 45 (1): 105-108

* Tishkoff, S.A. (1996). Global patterns of linkage disequilibrium at the CD4 locus and modern human origins. Science. 271(5254), 1380-1387.

* Windshuttle & Gillin (2002): http://www.sydneyline.com/Pygmies%20Extinction.htm

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