Looney Tunesfirst aired for children in the 1930s and 1940s, and yet, 80 years later, the cartoon is stillpopular among children. From Mel Blanc’s boundless voice talent and Treg Brown’s soundscape, to the visuals of animators such as Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett, among others,Looney Tuneshas provided the blueprint for modern-day comedy. Many of the characters from the cartoon have become pop culture icons; their existence goes beyond the context of the show. TheLooney Tunesuniverse is filled with a variety of characters, including heroes, villains, and sidekicks.
Despite being so popular and known the world over, Warner Bros. has had trouble in recent years with theLooney Tunes. 2023 has been a rough year for the animated property, as the studio scrapped the completedCoyote vs. Acmefilm after it was finished. Then it was reported Warner Bros. would remove the various shorts from Max on June 20, 2025. WhileCoyote vs. Acmeis now being shopped around to other streamersand they reversed their decision to remove the shorts from Max, it is odd to see the studio mishandle a franchise that has some of the most famous characters in the world. Here are some of the most popular characters fromLooney Tunes, ranked.
Update July 26, 2025: This article has been updated following the recent developments behindCoyote vs. Acme.
13Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Samis a gun-slinging, mean-spirited, angry Wild West outlaw who hates rabbits with a passion, especially Bugs. Often considered to be Bugs' other arch-nemesis alongside Fudd, Yosemite Sam is very far from being an animal lover. In fact, most of the time we see him abusing them. Nonetheless, his failed attempts to bag Bugs and ultimately landing himself in terrible situations are hilarious for the audience.
He is also a versatile character because, even though his spirit remains the same throughout, he takes up the role of many other things besides an outlaw, including a crooked politician, and a pirate. This makes Yosemite Sam one of the most recognizable and funny characters in the series.
12Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fuddis considered to be one of the best antagonists of theLooney Tunesfranchise, mostly because he is Bugs Bunny’s arch-nemesis, whose sole goal in life is to hunt the ‘wascawwy wabbit’ as he puts it. Not only does Fudd have a problem pronouncing his L’s and R’s, replacing them with W’s instead, he is also not as clever as he thinks he is, and thus is always outsmarted by our favorite rabbit.
His failed missions end up injuring not only himself but the other antagonists who help him and follow his plan as well. Nonetheless, he is one of the funniest characters of theLooney Tunesshow with his trademark line “Be vewy vewy quiet, I’s hunting wabbits”, which he often says to the audience before trying to ambush the bunny.
11Wile E. Coyote
In terms of intellect, Wile E. Coyote isdefinitely one of the smarter charactersin the franchise. The coyote is often seen using his intellect to put together his mail-order weapons to catch the Road Runner. However, it seems that the coyote is constantly outsmarted and outrun by the Road Runner. As the villain to Road Runner’s hero, Wile E. Coyote is often seen laying down traps for the bird behind every boulder.
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The coyote always fails to catch the Road Runner, but never fails to make the audience laugh at his antics, which often result in the coyote falling to the desert floor with a smack. Now that he is finally getting the spotlight withCoyote vs. Acmewhich will hopefully find a distributor soon.
The other end of the dynamic,Road Runneris one of the most famous Looney Tunes in the world. Known for his incredible speed and only speaking with “Mep Mep”, the Road Runner is proof of how far you can go with a little. While Willie E. Coyotoe is certainly the main star of the shorts, they are nothing without the Road Runner as he provides the perfect foil for the character.
9Porky Pig
Even those who aren’t familiar with theLooney Tunesuniverse would be able to recognize Porky Pig from the closing line, “That’s all folks!”, that he stutters at the end of each episode. Often portrayed as a side character, Porky is perhaps one of the most relatable characters inLooney Tunes. While most of the other characters are getting into some adventure or the other, Porky is content with staying at home and napping with his cat.
It’s rather interesting to see how Porky’s calmer nature kind of balances out the wild nature of the other characters. However, this does not mean that he hasn’t been the source of some rather hilarious situations. He’s often partnered up with Daffy, being the more competent and level-headed of the duo.
7Sylvester
As with many on-screen cats,Sylvester’s main occupation is to antagonize small creatures that could possibly serve as his afternoon snack. Tweety Bird is thetuxedo cat’smain target.Despite the numerous tactics that the cat has used over time, he has yet to snack on the yellow bird. Each one of Sylvester’s failures is marked by his signature catchphrase: “sufferin’ succotash”. Sylvester is easily annoyed and runs on low levels of patience. His attitude when paired with miserable attempts to capture Tweety, often leaves him in hilarious situations that have the audience laughing with tears running down their faces.
If we are talking about Sylvester, we have to also includeTweetyin the conversation. One of the most famous and recognizable birds in cartoon history, Tweety is a yellow canary (although sometimes referred to as ‘one of a kind’) bird that Sylvester always tries to hunt, and fails, miserably. Tweety’s appearance, as well as nature, has changed a lot throughout the years. In the beginning, he appeared as a baby bird, who was really malicious towards Sylvester and took immense pleasure in foiling his plans.
But later, he was presented as a little more grown up as well as just a cute bird trying to get about his day, while Sylvester tried and failed on his own to capture him. With the introduction of Granny, the character was made into an even more docile and cutesy bird. But however he looks and behaves, Tweety is one of the most iconic cartoon characters to have appeared on-screen.
5Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian Devil, or more commonly referred to as Taz, is based on a real-life native Australian animal. However the only similarity between the actual animal andLooney Tunes’Tasmanian Devil is their ravenous appetite. Taz’s food diet has no bounds; the Devil will devour anything and everything in sight, from trees to shrubs and even boulders. Taz is often seen devouring and destroying everything, as he whirls on screen in the form of a miniature cyclone.
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As with mostLooney Tunesantagonists, Taz is dim-witted and has a short fuse. Taz is often seen trying to chase Bugs, and at times, even Daffy, so he can turn them into his afternoon snack. The chase between Taz and whatever poor creature that he’s chasing often leads to comical situations that have the audience trying to hold back their laughs.
4Marvin the Martian
One of the fan-favorite characters from theLooney TunesandMerry MelodiesisMarvin the Martian, a little alien with huge eyes and the fashion sense of a Roman soldier. Even though Marvin sports a killer helmet and skirt combo, he is literally a killer in the sense that he wants to destroy planet Earth so that he can get a view of Venus. Thankfully for us, he never succeeds, but his scenes are some of the funniest of the series. Despite his lack of vocals, his mannerisms and his devious plans make him really endearing, even when he constantly wants to blow up our planet.
