Jon Arbuckle is the bumbling, exasperated owner of Garfield and (after Lyman left in 1983) Odie. Decent but dull, with fatally flawed sense, Jon is a geek with a heart of gold. Jon has little success with women, especially Dr. Liz, Garfield's vet. Consequently, Jon spends many wild evenings sorting his socks.Jon was born to Mr. and Mrs. Arbuckle and raised on a farm. Jon had one brother named Doc Boy and a cousin named Judy. He went to college for a few years. He bought Garfield in 1978. It was between Garfield or a lizard.
In the early strips, Jon was a cartoonist. But playing straight man to Garfield and Odie has become his full-time job. After a few strips with Jon being a cartoonist, the idea was abandoned. I guess that just leaves more time for him to be put down by Garfield, with his constant name-calling, and put-downs.
Jon is the #1 dateless loser. In fact, if you looked up the word "geek" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Jon. If he isn't being hunted down by the Geek Police, he's completing his classes at Thumbsuckers Anonymous or cleaning his bunny slippers, he still manages to embarrass himself or try to get a date. Yes, if there was ever meant to be a loser, Jon is it.
Many of Garfield's funniest moments have come at Jon's expense. Over the years, Garfield has battered Jon with an endless string of verbal jabs; but he's also subjected Jon to a lot of funny physical abuse. These practical jokes include everything from greasing the bottoms of Jon's shoes, or shaving Jon's head while he slept, to tying Jon's shoestrings to a jet about to take off for Italy!
Although Garfield usually has the upper paw in their relationship, occasionally Jon puts his foot down. This retaliation can take many forms. Sometimes Jon gets fed up with Garfield's piggishness, and puts the fat cat on a diet; other times, he might rouse an alarmed Garfield from his sleep. Whatever Jon does, he had better enjoy these little victories while he can. For one thing is certain: while Jon may win a battle, Garfield will always win the war.
Jon should, and I do mean should, own Garfield, but Garfield has complete control over him. If Jon tries to give him "shock horror" cat food instead of lasagna or some equally fattening food, Garfield reacts in a number of ways:
1) throws it in Jon's face
2) scratches Jon's face to bits
3) all of the above plus raids the fridge.
Garfleid frequently steals Jon's blankets, chair, slippers, etc., and Jon can't do anything about it.
Clearly, nerd is the word for Jon. His life -- if you can call it that -- is so boring he looks forward to dental appointments. His idea of excitement is chess by mail. His wardrobe is right out of GQ - Geek's Quarterly. He's such a loser, he can't even get a goodnight kiss from his mom. If he were a car, he'd be a beige station wagon. On a scale of one to ten, he's a minus two. Other than that, he's a pretty cool guy.
According to Jim Davis, The name Jon Arbuckle came from an old coffee commercial he remembered hearing. He would also use the name as an "expert source" to add "credibility" to his speeches during his college debates. When he was creating Garfield, the name Jon Arbuckle just seemed to fit the kind of poor guy who would get stuck with a cranky cat with an overactive appetite.