Dolphin Boy (Sealab 2021)

"DoLpHiN pOwWwWeErR!"

NOTE: This is a blog post based strictly on my opinion only. While Dolphin Boy is not the worst character Sealab 2021 had to offer, I still dislike him overall.

Dolphin Boy is a minor character from the Adult Swim series Sealab 2021. He is an overweight blonde boy who speaks in dolphin noises who oftens wanders around Sealab. The rest of the crew frequently make fun of his weight, and often shoot him in the head for no reason. Dolphin Boy seems to be a parody of Jamie, a minor character from Sealab 2020.

Why He Deserves To Be Called "Fat"

1. Although intentional, the idea of a fat boy that speaks in dolphin noises is just plain laughable.

2. His name is extremely lazy and uncreative, even if it was intended. He is called "Dolphin Boy" for the mere fact that he's a human boy that speaks in dolphin noises. The most ridiculous part is that "Dolphin Boy" is actually his name, as shown in the episode "All That Jazz".

3. He is pointless and incredibly boring character with no personality whatsoever. His entire character is that he's fat and a butt-monkey, and that's pretty much it.

4. As the series goes on, he gets further flanderized into an even bigger butt-monkey, as his treatment continuously gets worse, to the point of mostly getting killed by the rest of the crew. In fact, Dolphin Boy gets shot in the head by the other characters in just about every episode from the fourth season, which is child abuse.

• In the first episode of the fourth season, "Isla de Chupacabra", he is devoured by the chupacabras, leaving only his skeleton and a few ripped up pieces of his jumpsuit, which is disturbing to look at.

5. He is actually worse than the Sealab 2020 character he is based on, Jamie, who was actually likable and had more personality than everyone else.

6. His chirping gets annoying...very quickly. Especially since it's the same sound effect used over and over again.

• On that topic, the sound effect used for him wasn't even intended for dolphins. It was actually intended for squirrels.

• In addition, it was completely pointless to make him speak in dolphin noises. He could have just spoken English and his character would have not changed.

7. His current design is pretty ugly and somewhat unsettling, likely due to his uncanny facial expressions.

• If anything, his design was badly butchered since an off-model animation frame of Jamie's face was used in Dolphin Boy's current design.

• He also faces the camera multiple times in the episode "Joy of Grief" (albeit only for about a tenth of a second but it is still impossible to unsee), and his face viewed from the front is straight up hideous to look at since he does not even in the slightest look like a child and instead looks more like a teenage boy, or a male version of Pam Poovey from Archer (likely due to the fact that Adam Reed redesigned him along with the other characters).

8. He was at his absolute worst in "Moby Sick", where he was flanderized even more, to the point of becoming a villain. In this episode, he attemps to kill Alebard, a sick whale, simply because he got jealous that the whale was getting more attention than him, and legit calls the poor thing a bitch! He even goes as far as SHAVING ALL HIS HAIR OFF AND TURNING HIMSELF INTO A SKINHEAD, WHICH IS EXTREMELY DISTURBING AND OUTRIGHT HORRIFYING BECAUSE HE'S ONLY SEVEN! Not to mention, this entire moment felt like a huge middle finger to anyone who felt sorry for Dolphin Boy.

*Happy Dolphin Noises* Qualities

1. He does have some funny quotes when translated, such as "Ow! You burned my finger you ugly stupid stinking monster!" and "I have an ice cream cone. Because I was a good boy.".

2. He isn't without his memorable moments, such as his interaction with the invisible monster in "Predator" and the photo shoot hallucination that Quinn had in "Waking Quinn" that featured pictures of Dolphin Boy in various costumes.

3. His old design is downright cute and much nicer to look at, as he had adorable facial expressions and was more on-model with Jamie. Unfortunately, it was only used in the first few episodes he appears in ("Radio Free Sealab", "Chickmate", "Predator" and "Waking Quinn", and to a lesser extent, his personnel file in "All That Jazz").

4. The fat jokes aimed at him are admittedly funny.

5. The Sealab 2020 character he was based on, Jamie, is much more likable.

• First off, he's more lively than Dolphin Boy and much more funny.

• Second, his design is way cuter, including his front-viewed face when he looks at the camera, which is adorable.

• His voice provided by Gary Shapiro was also much nicer to listen to than the repetitive dolphin clicks.

• Overall, there was no reason for him to be "fixed" at all, since he was already a good and entertaining character.

6. Considering the atmosphere of Sealab 2021, it's very clear that he was made as a joke, so he was intended to be a ridiculous character.

Trivia

• He is based off of Jamie from Sealab 2020.

• In the episode "All That Jazz", it's revealed that he is seven years old, three and a half feet tall, and weighs one hundred forty-eight pounds, and his nickname is apparently "Butterchubs" (likely a portmanteau of "butterball" and "chubby").

• He seems to have a habit of poking his belly, as seen in episodes like "Radio Free Sealab", "Waking Quinn" and "Let 'Em Eat Corn".

• In the "behind the scenes" parody episodes, "Swimming in Oblivion" and "Return to Oblivion", Dolphin Boy is played by twins.

• His very last quote, "DOLPHIN POWWWWEERR!", may be a parody of Scrappy-Doo's catchphrase, "Puppy power!".

• He made his first appearance in the pilot episode, "Pitch Pilot", meaning that he may have been part of Sealab 2021's concept since Adam Reed and Matt Thompson came up with the idea for the show.

• He was re-written and re-designed by a YouTuber who goes by Momo-Chan the Gerbil ♡ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ☆ for a web series. Since she used to like the character a lot (up until he turned himself into a skinhead), she decided to flesh him out and make him a more appealing character.

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