Fantasio is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the Spirou et Fantasio

Spirou et Fantasio

Spirou et Fantasio is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like Tintin and Asterix...

comic strip. He was introduced in 1944 by Jijé

Jijé

Jijé was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the Spirou et Fantasio strip and the creator of one of the first major European western strips, Jerry Spring.-Biography:Born Joseph Gillain in Gedinne, Namur, he completed various art studies Jijé (13 January 1914 – 20...

, who was then drawing Spirou's adventures. Fantasio is Spirou's best friend and co-adventurer, a graphic reporter with an uncontrolled imagination and a mop of blond hair. In his early incarnation, he was considerably taller than Spirou, with a clown-like demeanour, and his hairstyle resembled that of Blondie

Blondie (comic strip)

Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...

 character Dagwood Bumstead

Dagwood Bumstead

Dagwood Bumstead is a main character in comic artist Chic Young's long-running comic strip Blondie. He first appeared sometime prior to 17 February 1933....

. In the Franquin era, he and Spirou became more alike. He has an evil megalomaniac cousin, Zantafio

Zantafio

Zantafio is a recurring fictional antagonist in the Spirou et Fantasio comic book series. He was created by André Franquin and first appeared in Spirou et les héritiers . Zantafio bears a strong resemblance to Fantasio, because they are cousins...

, who is his sworn enemy but bears a strong physical resemblance to him

Evil twin

The evil twin is an antagonist found in many different fictional genres. They are physical copies of protagonists, but with radically inverted moralities. In filmed entertainment, they can have obvious physical differences with the protagonist—such as facial hair, eyepatches, scars or distinctive...

.

Fantasio also appeared in the Gaston comic strip, where he was the main character's superior, often seen trying to sign contracts with Monsieur De Mesmaeker. In opposition to his role in Spirou, in Gaston Fantasio was a serious character, playing straight man to Gaston's goofy antics, who thus becomes to Fantasio what Fantasio is to Spirou. However, Fantasio left that series when André Franquin

André Franquin

André Franquin was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best known comic strip creations are Gaston and Marsupilami, created while he worked on the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip from 1947 to 1969, during a period seen by many as the series' golden age.-Franquin's beginnings:Franquin was...

 left Spirou et Fantasio after the album Panade à Champignac (taking Gaston and the Marsupilami

Marsupilami

Marsupilami is a fictional comic book species created by André Franquin, first published on 31 January 1952 in the magazine Spirou. Since then it appeared regularly in the popular Belgian comic book series Spirou et Fantasio until Franquin stopped working on the series in 1968 and the character...

 with him), being replaced in the role by Léon Prunelle.