Garfieldis one of the most hilarious and iconic franchises of all time, and that’s not just because of the titular orange cat himself, but also all the other characters that make the series so great. From Odie and Jon to Liz and Nermal, there is no shortage of wackycharacters that stand out among the funniest in theGarfieldseries- including characters that some may not have ever heard of.
Jim Davis createdGarfieldin 1978, and the comic strip is still going strong to this day (not to mention the many adaptations, animated features, and live-action films that add to the wider lore). In other words,Garfieldhas been around for a very long time, so it makes sense that there would be a number ofcharacters for Garfield to interact with. And, within these10Garfieldcomics that just turned 40, fans are introduced to one character in particular they probably never even knew existed.
10Garfield Finally Finds People Experiencing a Worse Monday Than Him
Garfield- July 23, 2025
One Monday morning, Garfield is sitting by a window, looking out at a group of people on their way to work. He comments on how miserable they probably are before promptly mocking them. Garfield makes faces at them, relishing the fact that he doesn’t have to go to work like they do because he’s a cat. Then, Garfield - with a snide little smile on his face - admits that if he wasn’t him, he wouldn’t like him very much at all.
Usually, Garfield is the one who has unfortunate Mondays, especially since it’s been repeatedly proven that the very essence of ‘Monday’ actually has it out for him. However, on this particular Monday, Garfield didn’t suffer even a slight inconvenience. In fact,Garfield even finds people experiencing a worse Monday than him- a noteworthy moment inGarfieldcanon, indeed.
9Garfield’s Love of Food Does Not Suffer Because of His Laziness
Garfield- June 20, 2025
Jon brings Garfield a bowl of food while the fat lazy cat is still lying in his cat bed. Jon is assuredly doing this in an attempt to get Garfield out of bed, trying to use food as a motivator. However, Garfield finds a way to continue being lazy and eat the food that Jon brought him. With one mighty “SUCK”,Garfield slurps up every bit of the food that was in the bowl without moving from his bed.
While Jon is deeply saddened by Garfield’s display of laziness in this comic strip, it’s actually quite impressive that Garfield is so committed to not moving that not even food can motivate him. Garfield is famously a food-motivated cat, but it seems the only motivation food inspired within him in this comic strip is an all-new way to eat without moving.
8Jon Gets Garfield with an Adorably Juvenile Prank
Garfield- August 12, 2025
As Jon says goodnight to Garfield, the fat orange cat snuggles into his bed, ready for his person to turn the light off. However, rather than getting cozy, Garfield quickly becomes terrified - and it’s all Jon’s fault. As he turns off the light, Jon tells Garfield, “Don’t let the thing in the closet get you”, and that scares Garfield to his core. The very next panel shows Garfield standing on Jon’s chest, angrily telling him, “Don’t do that to me!”.
Jon is usually on the receiving end of the pranks between him and Garfield, but in this comic strip, Jon’s the one who gets the orange cat - and he does so with such a juvenile prank. The fact that Garfield gets scared of the dark by the mere suggestion of a monster is as hilarious as it is adorable.
7Garfield & Odie Accidentally Make Jon Look Insane
Garfield- August 12, 2025
Jon is just hanging out in his house when his two pets, Garfield and Odie, start doing tricks together right in front of him. Garfield and Odie famously do not get along, and Garfield’s laziness is matched only by Odie’s ineptitude, so the idea that either of them could do tricks - let alone together - was unthinkable. And yet, here they were. Jon is so impressed that he excitedly grabs his neighbors to come see, at which point, Odie and Garfield are just lying there, totally wiped.
The animals weren’t doing anything impressive, leadingJon’s neighbors to the conclusion that he had made the whole thing up - or worse, that he had imagined the whole thing. While they didn’t mean to, Garfield and Odie made Jon look insane, which is a pretty hilarious trick in and of itself.
6Jim Davis Offers More Evidence that ‘Monday’ Really Does Hate Garfield
Garfield- June 05, 2025
As Garfield is crawling out of bed for the first time that day, he hears on the radio that it’s going to be bright and sunny outside. The radio DJ is telling listeners to go out and enjoy their Monday morning, as it’s clear skies and a great temperature. But, as Garfield walks outside himself, he hears the last bit of the weather report, “Except over one house in the suburbs”, and Garfield just stands there on his porch, drenched in rain.
Throughout theGarfieldcomic strip, Jim Davis has dropped a number of hints that’Monday' is actually out to get Garfield specifically. Unfortunate things happen to Garfield on Mondays that sometimes defy the laws of nature, leading readers to consider that Monday is attacking Garfield. And this comic strip adds even more evidence to that theory.
5Garfield has Never Been More Food Motivated than When He Wants This Apple
Garfield- August 07, 2025
When Garfield spots an apple hanging from a tree, he becomes determined to eat it. The orange cat shakes the tree until the apple falls, but before he can grab it for himself, Odie comes out of nowhere and snags the apple. Garfield jumps on top of Odie, forcing the dog to release the apple. Then, Garfield chases the apple into the road, nearly getting hit by a car in the process, before slamming head-first into a stop sign. But,in the end, the apple is his, and Garfield doesn’t mind having gone through such hardship to get it.
Garfield is famously lazy, with even the promise of food oftentimes not being enough to even get him out of bed. However, with this particular apple, Garfield has never been more food motivated.
4Garfield Proves that He Really Does Only Love 2 Things: Food & Sleep
Garfield- July 15, 2025
When Jon brings home a special gift for Garfield for seemingly no other reason than to show his cat a bit of affection, Garfield doesn’t even open the present before throwing it away. Garfield says, “It’s too light for food, and you can’t wrap sleep”, therefore he’s totally uninterested in what Jon could have possibly gotten him, adding, “It can’t bethatspecial” as he throws the gift over his shoulder.
It’s no secret that Garfield is the laziest, most food-motivated cat in the history of fiction, and this comic strip is the perfect example of how true that really is.The only two things Garfield really loves are food and sleep, and since the present couldn’t be either of those, it isn’t worth his time - Jon’s feelings be damned.
3Garfield Never Misses an Opportunity to Insult Odie
Garfield- August 10, 2025
Jon brings home a picture frame that he just bought, and he asks Garfield what he thinks of it. When Jon asks, Odie is sticking his face through the empty frame. So, when Garfield takes a look at the picture frame to answer Jon’s question, he screams in fear before collecting himself, saying, “Thank heavens! For a moment there I thought it was a mirror”.
Garfield’s mean joke implies that Odie is so ugly and terrible, that believing he had his appearance for even a second is scary enough to inspire a blood-curdling scream. But, the thing is, Garfield didn’t actually think that was a mirror. Jon told him from the start it was a picture frame. That meansGarfield wasn’t actually scared, he just wasn’t going to miss a chance to insult Odie.
2Garfield’s Cloud Watching Takes a Hilariously Literal Turn
Garfield- July 09, 2025
Garfield is lying in a field of wild flowers, gazing up at the sky, doing a little relaxing cloud watching. With a little smile on his face, Garfield is happily imagining the clouds as familiar shapes - mostly related to food. But then, as he’s saying that one cloud looks like a piece of chicken and another looks like a hamburger, things get real literal real fast when he says, “I do believe that one’s a rain cloud”. At that moment, Garfield gets hit by a downpour of rain, totally ruining his relaxing day.
ThisGarfieldcomic strip gives the phrase ‘that cloud looks like rain’ a whole new meaning, as it relates that common saying to the imaginative activity of cloud watching, giving the whole thing a hilariously literal (and, in Garfield’s case, unfortunate) turn.
1Garfield Introduces a Character You’ve Never Heard of Before: Pizza Nightmare
Garfield- July 20, 2025
Garfield goes to bed after eating way too much pizza, and that has a strange effect on his dreams.Garfield dreams about a monster(technically a group of monsters)that’s collectively known as the ‘Pizza Nightmare’. One monster represents the pepperoni, another represents onions, and the third is the anchovies. Together, they are the ‘Pizza Nightmare’, an incredibly obscure characterGarfieldintroduced in October 1984.
While the Pizza Nightmare isn’t very scary, the idea that Garfield is haunted by the living embodiment of the food he eats is hilarious (including a non-pizza monster, the matzo ball). It’s always fun to see new characters in a familiar series, and this comic strip gives fans just that, making it one of the 10 bestGarfieldcomics that just turned 40.
Garfield
Garfield is the central character in Jim Davis’s comic strip, which officially began in 1978 under the same name. Garfield is an orange tabby cat with a love of lasagna and a disdain for Mondays. He tends to torment his owner and dog while trying to secure more food - and quiet.
