Dick Dastardly

Dick Dastardly is the main antagonist from the Wacky Races animated franchise. He is one of the central characters of the series, and is known for his old-fashioned, theatrical villain traits and for being an infamous cheater. Dastardly is a racer who competes in the Wacky Races, along with his dog sidekick Muttley. His usual plans involve planting all kinds traps for the other racers to trip on, but they often backfire on both him and Muttley at a disadvantage. His voice was originated by Paul Winchell.

In the races, Dastardly's vehicle is the rocket-powered Mean Machine (designated #00).

Character description
"Sometimes I'm so sneaky, I don't even trust myself!"

- Dick Dastardly

Dastardly is a man with a slim figure, a large pointy nose, a protuding chin, and a thin, handlebar mustache. He wears an old-fashined racing outfit, which consists of a purplish-blue duster overcoat worn by early motorists, along with long red gloves, and large striped hat with driving goggles attached.

In his appearance in Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, he instead wears a purple aviator uniform styled after pilots from World War I, along with a red aviator cap with goggles.

TV series

 * Wacky Races (1968)
 * Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines
 * Yogi's Treasure Hunt
 * Yo, Yogi!
 * Uncle Grandpa
 * 2.21 "Uncle Grandpa Retires"
 * Wacky Races (2017)

Movies

 * Scoob!

Specials

 * Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration (no lines)

Shorts

 * Wacky Races Forever

Comics

 * Wacky Races
 * Laff-A-Lympics
 * #13 No Laff-A-Lympics Today!"
 * Hanna-Barbera Presents
 * #2A "Madcap Manhattan Motoring"
 * #2B "Trekking to Tanzania"
 * #7A "Desert Victory"
 * #7B "The Jaded Japanese Jaunt!"
 * Cartoon Network Presents
 * #7A "Drag Racing"
 * #7B "Out of the Blue and Into the Red"
 * #11A "Fair Play"
 * #15A "Drive and Driveability"
 * #15B "Media Madness"
 * #18A "The Murgatroid Asteroid"
 * #18B "Oil's Well That Ends Well"
 * Wacky Raceland
 * Dastardly & Muttley
 * Scooby-Doo! Team-Up
 * #44 Just Plane Scared"

Books

 * The Official Guide: Penelope Pitstop

Video games

 * Wacky Races

Stop the Pigeon, Stop the Pigeon, Stop the Pigeon
In his spin-off show, Dick Dastardly continued his villainy by being the head of the Vulture Squadron. He and Muttley are joined up by Zilly, a coward who would hide in his own clothing when ordered to deploy; and Klunk, a mechanic who speaks in unintelligible sounds that only Zilly can understand. Dastardly and his team use World War I-style airplanes in an attempt to stop a messenger pigeon called Yankee Doodle Pigeon from delivering messages to an opposing army.

Yo, Dickie!
In Yo, Yogi!, Dastardly was nicknamed Dickie, and was an adolescent bully at Jellystone Mall. He and Muttley pick on Yogi and his gang with their usual antics, but often fail as always. He rides a motorcycle modeled after the Mean Machine.

Dick Sells Out
In the Uncle Grandpa episode "Uncle Grandpa Retires," Dastardly and Muttley are watching the race go by. Dastardly is rooting for Evil Wizard.

Development
As the general premise of Wacky Races was based on the 1965 period comedy film The Great Race, Dick Dastardly was based on Professor Fate, a villainous trickster played by Jack Lemmon. Like Dastardly, Fate is a farcical caricature of a villain seen in silent melodrama films — a card-carrying rogue who perpetuates on elaborate schemes in an attempt to win. Both characters follow an Edwardian style of fashion, and both see themselves failing as a result of their plans not working as intended. Dastardly is also based on English actor Terry-Thomas, who played a similar role in the comedy film, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.

In popular culture

 * In the South Park episode "Handicar," Dastardly, alongside Muttley, attempts to cheat the race by cutting down trees to block the other racers. It doesn't work and their car ended up being hijacked by Nathan and Mimsy. The duo later appears in "South ParQ Vaccination Special" celebrating the end of the pandemic.
 * In the Japanese manga "Super Mario 4 Koma Manga Theater", Dastardly and Muttley are seen in the background of a panel.

Behind the scenes

 * In the movie Scoob!, his full name is revealed to be Richard.