Wile E. Coyote

A fanatic who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim, doomed to gravity and faulty Acme products.

Wile E. Coyote is a fictional character from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, first appearing in the 1949 theatrical short Fast and Furry-ous. Created for Warner Bros. Cartoons by Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese in 1948, he serves as the cunning but constantly hungry antagonist to the Road Runner. Unlike traditional animal predators relying on instinct, Wile E. deploys absurdly complex schemes and devices, often mail-ordered from the Acme Corporation, to catch his prey. These contrivances comically backfire, leaving him injured in slapstick fashion while he remains more humiliated than harmed. TV Guide recognized this persistence by including him in its 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".

Quick Facts

Series: Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies
First: Fast and Furry-ous (17 September 1949)
Creator: Chuck Jones; Michael Maltese
Species: Wile E. Coyote: Coyote; The Road Runner: Greater roadrunner
Gender: Males (both)
Relatives: Wile E. Coyote: Tech E. Coyote (descendant); The Road Runner: Rev Runner (descendant)

Lore & Background

Wile E. Coyote was conceived by Chuck Jones based on Mark Twain's description in Roughing It as a "living, breathing allegory of Want" who is always hungry. Originally named "Don Coyote" on early model sheets as a pun on Don Quixote, his name Wile E. is a pun on "wily," with the "E" standing for "Ethelbert" in one comic book issue. While he is typically mute, communicating via signs, he speaks in several shorts like Zip Zip Hooray! (1965), but not in Road Runner a Go-Go (1965), as well as when pitted against Bugs Bunny. In these instances, he uses an upper-class American accent and refers to himself as a genius or super-genius. His appearance was modeled on animator Ken Harris, and his pursuit of the Road Runner is often framed by running gags where he paints lifelike tunnels to deceive the bird or attempts futilely to shield himself from falling boulders.

Reader's Guide

Fans can distinguish between different eras of Wile E. Coyote cartoons by their production styles and adherence to specific rules. The first three shorts—Fast and Furry-ous (1949), Beep, Beep (1952), and Going! Going! Gosh! (1952)—feature realistic desert scenery designed by Robert Gribbroek.

Later cartoons, designed by Maurice Noble after 1955, utilize a more abstract style. The original Jones era (ending in 1963 with War and Pieces) often introduced characters with fake Dog Latin names like "Carnivorous Vulgaris" for the Coyote. In contrast, the "Larriva Eleven" produced by Format Films between 1965 and 1966 are noted for poorer quality, reused animation falls, and a lack of adherence to Jones' rules or Latin phrases. The Road Runner's iconic "beep, beep" sound was voiced by background artist Paul Julian, who preferred the spellings "hmeep hmeep" or "mweep, mweep," though he received no on-screen credit.

Did You Know?

In 'Rabbit's Feat' (1960), Wile E. Coyote does not say his own name with a diphthong; in 'The Wild Chase' (1965), he says 'Coyote' with a standard long 'e' sound, not 'ky-OH-tay'.
The famous 'Wile E. Coyote v. Acme' mock legal document was published in the New Yorker in 1990 by Ian Frazier, not in National Lampoon in 1980.
The "Larriva Eleven" shorts are distinguished by reusing a single clip of the Coyote's fall repeatedly, except for one scene in Highway Runnery (1965).