30 Cartoon Characters and the Real Jobs They'd Be Great At (Part 9)
The Psychology of Animated Characters, Part 9: the series finale
We've analyzed villains, heroes, sidekicks and henchmen. For the finale, let's ask the most important question in psychology: what would these characters put on a résumé?
Career psychologist John Holland proposed that people thrive in jobs that match their personality type. He described six types, nicknamed RIASEC: Realistic (hands-on), Investigative (curious), Artistic (creative), Social (helpers), Enterprising (persuaders) and Conventional (organizers). Let's put Holland's theory to work on 30 cartoon characters.
The doers (Realistic)
Homer Simpson: crash test dummy. He has survived more falls than any human alive. Car companies would save millions.
Wile E. Coyote: rocket engineer. Trial and error is how real engineering works. He'd get us to Mars, eventually, with a lot of smoke.
Fred Flintstone: construction foreman. He already works at a quarry. Give him a hard hat and a lunch break.
Tom (of Tom and Jerry): stunt performer. He takes every hit and gets back up. That's the job description.
Popeye: nutrition spokesperson. One can of spinach, instant results. Every vegetable company in the world wants him.
The thinkers (Investigative)
Dexter: startup founder. He has more inventions in his basement than most tech companies have in their labs.
Edd (Double D): university professor. Labels on everything. Footnotes on his footnotes.
Velma: forensic scientist. She's been solving cases since 1969. Jinkies.
Remy: food scientist. A rat with a world-class palate. Health inspectors would have questions.
Scooby-Doo: food critic. Every review: "Rummy."
The creatives (Artistic)
Bugs Bunny: actor. He has played an opera singer, a barber, a conductor and a matador. Give him an award already.
Daffy Duck: reality TV contestant. He would argue with the judges every week and get the most screen time.
Ed (of the Eds): performance artist. No one would understand his work. Everyone would watch.
The Pink Panther: museum curator. He knows exactly where every valuable thing is. Let's hope he's on the right side of the glass.
Dr. Doofenshmirtz: late-night infomercial host. "Buy the Sell-inator now, and I'll throw in a second -inator free!"
The helpers (Social)
Goofy: life coach. His advice is terrible and somehow works.
Belle: librarian. Obviously.
Baymax: school nurse. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
Batman: guidance counselor. He has a lot to say about processing feelings. He should probably take his own advice.
Olaf: summer camp counselor. Every activity is the best day of his life. He would, however, need to work indoors in July.
The persuaders (Enterprising)
SpongeBob: corporate trainer. He would make a two-hour fry-cook orientation the most inspiring day of your life.
Mr. Krabs: pawn shop owner. He would haggle you down on your own wallet.
Eddy: infomercial salesman. Every scam he ran in the cul-de-sac was basically a pitch deck.
Gaston: fitness influencer. "No one works out like Gaston." His videos would all be filmed in a mirror.
Mojo Jojo: motivational speaker. He'd say every point three times, which is technically good public speaking.
The organizers (Conventional)
Patrick Star: DMV employee. You'd wait four hours and leave with someone else's license.
The Grinch: homeowners' association president. No decorations. No fun. Fines for joy.
Perry the Platypus: secret agent. He already does the job. He just needs health insurance.
Plankton: tech CEO. Big ideas, tiny team, endless rebrands.
Mulan: logistics director. She stopped an entire army with one well-placed firework. That's planning.
The big lesson: fit matters
Holland's research found that people are happier and more successful when their job fits their personality. That's why these jokes land: we can instantly see where each character would thrive or flop. It's also a good question for you. Which type are you?
Your turn
Which job assignment did I get wrong? What job would you give your favorite character? Tell me in the comments. Thanks for spending this whole series on the couch with me.
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