Who Is Cerebus? Origin, Powers and Key Facts

Cerebus is a Aardvark comic book character, with over 420 comic issue appearances. Cerebus the Aardvark (or simply Cerebus) is an independent comic book series that was written and illustrated by Canadian artist Dave Sim, with backgrounds by fellow Canadian Gerhard.

Who is Cerebus?

The title character is a misanthropic, three-foot tall, bipedal, gray aardvark. Cerebus is intricately tied to the religious and political fate of the fictional world of Estarcion and becomes, at various points in the storyline, a mercenary, a Prime Minister, a Pope, a house guest, a bartender and a messiah. Cerebus refers to himself by name, in the third person, with occasional exceptions in the early issues. The name was originally an accidental misspelling of Cerberus. Always refers to himself by name in the third person. Cerebus is a morally ambiguous character, at times sympathetic and at others unpalatably callous. He is often foul-mouthed and uncouth, has a vicious temper and loves getting drunk, to the point where he could be considered an alcoholic. In the "Guys" story arc, Cerebus is described as having "a self-absorption that borders on the pathological." In the story arc known as "Church and State", there are two notorious scenes where Cerebus, after becoming Pope, uses brutal methods to teach twisted morality lessons.

Key facts

Cerebus is of animal origin and first appeared in "Cerebus the Aardvark". The character is published by Aardvark. With 420 recorded issue appearances, Cerebus ranks among the most featured characters in comics.