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Not to be confused with Internet meme, Maxwell

Character Gallery Relationships
Maxwell
MaxProfile2
Don't ask about the bite mark
Info
First Appearance It's a Dog Thing
Tag Cat bell (doesn't ring)
Gender Male
Species/Breed Cat/unspecific black breed
Owner(s) Jeff
Relationship Grape (girlfriend)
Sabrina (ex-girlfriend)
Friends & Family Peanut, Rufus,
Marvin, Tarot, Jasper,
The Bigglesworths
Affiliation N/a
Not-so-much
Friends
Bino (pet-brother}, What Chicken
Location Dimension Prime, Babylon Gardens

Maxwell, known simply as Max, is a main character in Housepets!. He, along with Marvin, were the second cats to be introduced to the series in Fido's Return.

He is currently Grape's boyfriend; they began dating in N-ple Date.

Original Site Biography[]

Maxwell likes to be snarky and caustic far more than is healthy for a cat, and it shows. He lives with Bino, and eggs him on often because it’s fun to torment the dogs and their idea of a social hierarchy.

Max is often known as ‘that annoying neighbor cat’ by the owners of other pets, and instead of sleeping like most cats, he gets his energy by being annoying. It’s almost like photosynthesis, only with grinding on peoples’ nerves instead of sunlight. Max isn’t the leader of anything in particular, but he’s friends with all the cats in the neighborhood for better or worse.

He is Grape’s boyfriend and gets all the snuggle benefits thereof.

Physical Appearance[]

Maxwell is a black and dark gray tuxedo cat with turquoise eyes. He is shown commonly wearing a blue collar with a big yellow bell on it, which oddly doesn't ring. One of his most defining traits is that part of his right ear has been bitten off, which he doesn't like to talk about.

Personality[]

Max tries to be suave, daring, and romantic, but what he really is is a deeply insecure, slightly desperate alley cat who, at times, gets himself locked out of his home. His attempts at displaying sophistication, wit, and poise usually end in failure, if not humiliation, although Grape does find these shallow attempts to be endearing.

Max's self-doubt issues are further compounded by Grape's constant fawning over muscular animals or truly talented individuals like Res. Deep down, he believes he is not good enough for Grape since all he does is mess up, and attempts to cover this up by trying to sculpt himself to be more "hunky" or acting heroic. However Grape tells him that everyone makes mistakes and they shouldn't hold them against one another, and Max soon comes to terms with the fact that Grape's crushes are a part of who she is. Despite all of his faults, Max is often capable of real sensitivity towards others, baring his soul and his vulnerabilities, and can be surprisingly selfless at times.

Because of his relationship with Grape, Max often unwittingly gets dragged into cosmic adventures against his own will, and often gets exasperated when they happen.

General Information[]

Maxwell is one of the few main cat characters in the comic. His owner is Jeff, and Bino is his pet-brother. The two do not get along as Bino constantly tries to push dog superiority over Max while Max purposefully annoys Bino to the point of slap-fighting. Max is also very fond of catnip, which he has a dealer for, and his owner disapproves of him using it. At some point, Max dated Sabrina, but they broke up for reasons Max refuses to disclose. Like many other cats, Max is a huge fan of the Pridelands book series.

Max was orphaned as a kitten, and while wandering the streets he ends up being chased by a coyote and a crow, and eventually ends up on Uncle Reuben's farm after being rescued by Rufus. However, while living on the farm, Max was unable to adapt to life as a barn cat, and after Rufus rescues him from a broken ankle, he escorts him to Babylon Gardens where it is assumed he was adopted by Jeff. Rufus continued to write him a letter each year, but Max was never able to come up with an adequate reply. Sometime after moving to Babylon Gardens, he was kidnapped by a creepy man trying to feed him to his pet alligator, along with Fox, but was ultimately saved by Grape.

Max was first introduced with Marvin, spying on the Good Ol' Dogs Club as they gathered to welcome Bino's brother Fido home from the academy. Later, Max invites Grape to the Yarn Ball, which she isn't sure about since she doesn't really know the other cats. Max suggests she go to find a nice girl cat, but when Grape replies she is a girl (which Max didn't know), Max is stunned and tries to ask her out, but she refuses. He also sarcastically indulges Bino's plans to "humiliate" Peanut at the Club's Secret Santa by giving him Cat Snacs™, but when Peanut gives Bino a very nice present, Bino concedes and gives Max the snacks instead for Christmas. Grape later does attend the Yarn Ball and Max introduces her to the other neighborhood cats and late dances with Max, and they end up "nipping" a little. (In a deleted comic, Max is shown smoking catnip with Grape.) Later he attends the release of the newest book of the Pridelands series, Fall of the Pridelands, with Grape, where he incites the rage of the other cats by pretending to spoil it for a bet.

While on a trip to their uncle's farm, Grape begins to feel insecure about the fact that she hangs out with dogs more than cats. Grape calls Max and asks him out on a date (unbeknownst to her, Peanut was about to admit his feelings for her.) During their date, they go to a "restaurant" called Heathcliffs, which nearly ruins the date, bur Max manages to save it by taking Grape to see Hunters of the Pridelands. After their date, Grape returns home to find Peanut with a mysterious Pomeranian with psychic powers named Tarot, who explains that she came to be Peanut's girlfriend and that she cannot leave unless Grape breaks up with Max for Peanut. Grape is about to do so, but Max arrives in the rain, having been locked out of his house, begging to stay the night; and the two couples are officially formed.

During a routine playdate with Grape, Grape invites Max over without consulting Peanut first. In retaliation, Peanut invites Tarot over, and with her psychic powers, creates a mental landscape where they play as the characters from Pridelands. However, during the game Peanut and Grape get into an argument and Peanut ends it early, Tarot explains to Grape how she made Peanut feel bad by ignoring him in favor of Max, and Tarot drags Max home so Peanut and Grape can make up.

One Halloween, Max bets Marvin to stay overnight in an abandoned mansion, hiring the Bigglesworths to dress as ghosts to scare Zach. It is also revealed that he once dated Sabrina, which Grape teases him about. Sabrina summons a spirit with an Ouija board to get Max, who sends him into a dark void, which causes the woodland critters dressed as ghosts to be able to scare Max into losing the bet. Max tries to apologize to Grape for not being cool, but Grape admits she never had much faith in his bravado to begin with. Later on Christmas while at a Pridelands book signing, Grape befriends a cat named Res, who she discovers is the true author of the series. After she mistakenly believes he was being abused by his owner, she goes to confronts her and ends up getting kicked out of the mall. Max makes a smart remark, causing Grape to threaten to shiv him with a candy cane. Despite not wanting to talk to him, Max arrives the next morning to inform Grape that Res snuck a letter to her in Max's book, which clarifies that Ms. Auburn is not abusing him and he would like to stay friends with her.

During this time Max is forced to shovel snow after a snowstorm, fights on the cat's side during a water balloon war, and becomes a regular participant in Imaginates! One winter, his dad lets him host a crawfish boil in exchange for his stash of catnip; at first he is disappointed by how little cats show up, but is happy when feral raccoons arrive to partake. He also attends King's wedding with Grape, who suggests they get married someday.

Jealous of Peanut and Tarot going on cosmic adventures, Grape forces her to take them on a double date and drags Max along. Tarot transports everyone to the "Gallifrax Dimension" where to Grape and Max's surprise, they are now quadrupedal. Grape and Max separate from Peanut and Tarot, and things go disastrously for Max; he is unable to communicate with a fish vendor and is hit in the face several times by boots. Eventually they discover Peanut and Tarot, along with Spirit Dragon, who had just been rejected by Peanut. Peanut explains everything that has happened, including Spirit Dragon's reaction to being rejected and Max snaps. He furiously asks how can a god know how pain feels, to sink to the bottom, to know you're not good enough for the one you love...and ends up in a white void. Max arrives in Spirit Dragon's celestial room, and he helps comfort Spirit Dragon before she makes him "wake up." Grape asks Max why he thinks he's not 'good' enough for her, and he sadly tells her that he thinks she's awesome and all he ever does is screw up. Grape hugs him, telling him everyone makes mistakes, and they shouldn't hold them against one another.

When a leopard prince named Jata arrives in Babylon Gardens, Grape instantly forms a crush on him. It turns out he has arrived to marry Sabrina, so Sabrina tries to ask Max to pretend to be her boyfriend to avoid this, but after Max makes too many demands, Grape steps in and does it for free. Feeling insecure, Max asks Kevin to "chisel him into a mighty stone god." However, he only does half a rep (gaining half an inch of muscle mass), and feeling confident tries to show off for Grape, but Grape replies that she'd find him pathetic if he wasn't so adorable.

Trivia[]

  • Max's signature smile resembles the Cheshire Cat's from Alice in Wonderland.
  • Max and Grape were the first characters to begin dating in the series, without having already been in an established relationship.
  • As Jeff’s last name is currently unknown, Max’s last name is also unknown.
  • The bell on Max's collar doesn't ring, as stated in Indiana Was The Dog's Name.
  • Max's profile image was a sketch by Rick Griffin then colored in by Housepets forumite Cesco


Characters
Dogs Peanut | Bino | Fox | King | Tarot | Fido | Joey | Sasha | Tiger | Bailey | Ralph | Kevin | Duchess | Rex | Lester | Dallas | Satau | Mungo | Olive | Ace | Rook
Cats Grape | Max | Sabrina | Marvin | Res | Jasper | The Bigglesworths | Fiddler and Keys | Delusional Steve | Ptah
Others Zach | Spo | Squeak | Karishad | Falstaff and Truck | Itsuki | Jessica | Custom Ink | What Chicken | Bruce and Roosevelt | Marion | Lois
Ferrets Keene Milton | Lana Milton | Duke Milton | Simon Milton | Rock Milton | Pit Milton
Wolves Miles | Lucretia | Darth Vader Sanchez | Rockstar Hawk | North Star | Daryl | Other Daryl | Lucretia's Mother | "Four Finger Discount" Jack | Poncho | Elaine | Natalie | Uncle Deadeye | Rodney | Snow | Rodney's Cubs
Humans Earl Sandwich | Jill Sandwich | Ryan Byron | Bill Lindberg | Jerry Arbelt | Jeff | Jake | Jeeves | Mr. Steward | Joel Robinson | Mr. Hartford
Fictional Spot (Superdog) | Stripe | Jim-Jim | Bat-Bat | Regular Hawk | Criminals | Pridelands Characters
Celestials Pete the Gryphon | Spirit Dragon | Great Kitsune | Cerberus | Bahamut | Denizens of Heaven
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