The Main Eight formerly known as The Main Four are the main anti-heroic protagonists of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. The group contains Rat, Pig, Goat, Zebra, Larry, Guard Duck, Snuffles and Stephan Pastis.
Dynamic[]
One of the group's recurring jokes is how horrible the characters act towards each other and all have an equal amount of flaws. This phenomenon is usually due to Rat's anti-social personality disorder and how he treats everyone close to him like garbage.
History[]
Early Years[]
In the early years of Pearls Before Swine the only members of The Group was Rat, Pig, Goat and Zebra. The friends would usually just meet up at the local diner and make fun of each other.
Later Years[]
Throughout the years of Pearls, "The Main 4" turned into "The Main 8" as Pig adopted Guard Duck as a bodyguard, Zebra adopted Snuffles, Larry and his crocodile fraternity becoming protagonists and the comic's author Stephan Pastis turned himself into a main character.
Individual Relationships[]
Rat and Pig[]
Main Article: Rat and Pig
Despite being "best friends" Rat treats Pig horribly and regularly assaults and tortures him. Not only that but Rat also manipulates Pig so much that it's one of the main reasons why Pig is so dunce.
Rat and Goat[]
Main Article: Rat and Goat
While Pig is hard for Rat to annoy, Goat is constantly irritated by Rat's idiocy and selfishness. Goat could be simply doing nothing, Rat will just irk Goat for his own appeal and sometimes makes little to sense while making his points. Despite this, Rat and Goat do agree sometimes, mostly when they talk about how horrible society is.
Rat and Zebra[]
Main Article: Rat and Zebra
When Zebra first moved into the neighborhood, Rat didn't care about donating to his charity and his horrible former life and only sees him as another person he can annoy. Not only that, but Rat has also affiliated himself with Zebra's mortal enemy, The Crocs, and sometimes even tries to let them murder Zebra.
Goat and Pig[]
Main Article: Goat and Pig
Despite Goat's intolerance for Pig's stupidity, he never lets it bother himself that much as he realizes that Pig is not that right in the head. They have also bonded with each other when both of them feel depressed. And if Goat had to be honest he most likely likes Pig as a friend more than he likes Rat.
Goat and Zebra[]
Main Article: Goat and Zebra
Out of all The Main Eight's individual relationships, Goat and Zebra's has to be the most normal. In many strips it is shown that Goat and Zebra usually comment on current events involving either Rat, Pig or The Crocs and seem to genuinely like each other's company.
Pig and Zebra[]
Main Article: Pig and Zebra
Pig is normally unaware of Zebra's background and trauma and is so stupid that when Zebra grieves, he doesn't even notice. But besides this, Zebra and Pig do care for each other and Zebra is usually not as annoyed at Pig as say Goat or Rat.
Pig and Guard Duck[]
Main Article: Pig and Guard Duck
Guard Duck acts like Pig's bodyguard and would do anything to save him and his friends from danger. However, Guard Duck is also known for going rogue and becoming corrupt, usually by being affiliated by crime organization or killing innocent people.
Pig and Stephan[]
Main Article: Pig and Stephan
Despite the other 6 hating Stephan, Pig and Stephan are actually great friends, with Pig comforting Stpehan after his father-in-law Rick dies and Stephan comforting Pig when ever he feels stressed.
Guard Duck and Snuffles[]
Main Article: Guard Duck and Snuffles
When ever Guard Duck gets in a predicament, Snuffles is usually there to help him. This usually ends with the two creating chaos, which caused Snuffles to be clingy to Guard Duck when he moved to Paris with his (now ex) girlfriend, Maura.
Snuffles and Zebra[]
Main Article: Snuffles and Zebra
Even if Snuffles is a sociopath, he is shown to deeply care about Zebra. He hurts anyone how messes with Zebra, especially when Eet-a-Zeeb inc. tired to bomb Zebra or when Zebra owned another cat.
Larry and Zebra[]
Main Article: Larry and Zebra
Larry and Zebra are archenemies and absolutely hate each other ever since The Crocs moved into the neighborhood. The only time the others haven't hated each other was when they were on a deserted island and had to survive.
Other Relationships[]
Larry's Family[]
One of Larry's only redeeming qualities is his relationship with his son, Junior, who he constantly wants to spend time with until he grows up and moves out of their house. However, at the same time, Larry has a horrible relationship with his wife, Patty who he constantly antagonizes, but deep inside he still loves her deeply.
The Crocodiles[]
To Larry, the crocs are his fraternity brothers who all hate him due to his disrespect and stupidity while to the other characters, the crocs are the main antagonists who constantly try to eat Zebra.
The Lemmings[]
The Lemmings are recurring characters that jump of cliffs based on the jokes of lemmings committing suicide.
The Neighbors[]
Neighbor Bob, Ed, Jim, Floyd, Fred, Emilio, Chuck, Alan, John, Bill, Ron, Willy and Rachel are minor characters that are neighbors with Rat & Pig who are all usually abused by Rat and Guard Duck.
Pigita[]
Pigita is Pig's on and off girlfriend who has mood swings and constantly abuses him.
The Killer Whale and The Seals[]
The Killer Whale is an orca that was on Rat's softball team, was blown up by Pig's sea anemone enemies, brought back to life to eat The Killer Dolphins and also tried to eat John & Jeniffer Seal.
Danny Donkey and Elly Elephant[]
Danny Donkey is a drunk blue donkey that is very mean, Elly Elephant is an elephant that has a boyfriend named Henry Hippo, they are both comic strip characters by Rat.
Andy[]
Andy was a dog that was chained up in the backyard of Pig & Rat's neighbor, John. In newer comics he is in the hospital visiting his dad.
Jef the Cyclist[]
Jeff the Cyclist is a cyclist that is friends with Pig and Goat. He is enemies with Rat, Victor the Vegan and The Comic Strip Censors.