Victorian Dad is a character in the
British comic Viz.
First appearing in Viz in the 1990s, Victorian Dad lives in the contemporary age but dresses and acts like a parody of a stereotypical gentleman of the
Victorian era. He has a large
top hat, always wears a suit, and sports a
walrus moustache and
monocle. According to Viz editor
Chris Donald, Victorian Dad is similar to his creator
Graham Dury because Dury himself is actually a
puritan.
Victorian Dad's first name is given by his wife as Lupin in one episode, and the family name is revealed to be Pooter in another, presumably taken from the name of one of the central characters in the satirical Victorian novel
Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith. He is married with a young son and daughter, and an older married daughter. The rest of his family do not share his
conservative,
prudish beliefs, which usually results in misery for them. For example, Victorian Dad once reacted with fury and horror when he realised his daughter was
left handed, based on the old belief that left handed people were somehow evil. On another occasion, he threw his grown up daughter, who was married three years previously, out of the house (calling her a "
hussy") when she announced that she was pregnant.
An early episode sees him on Christmas Day presenting his son with a stick and hoop as a Christmas gift...he tells his children that they will be attending church service for "three hours of hypocrisy in sub zero...
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