Barnaby B. Beagle

"A goofy layabout with a love for jokes, Barnaby B. Beagle is Welcome Home’s funniest neighbor. Always ready with a joke on hand or even a silly observation, this big blue beagle always knows how to have fun, much to the dismay of some of the grumpier residents."
- from Barnaby's character card.
"What do you call a beagle with no ears? Nothin’! He can’t hear ya anyways!"
- one of Barnaby's many one-liners.

Barnaby B. Beagle is one of Home’s nine residents, and a member of Welcome Home’s central cast. Back when Welcome Home was still airing, Barnaby was best known as Wally’s best friend, as well as the show’s main source of comedy. His segments on the show are described as having been akin to stand-up comedy, with other neighbors’ reactions ranging anywhere from applause to booing and throwing various objects at him. Other talents of his included balancing on a circus ball, balancing large objects on his nose, and juggling. Although it is difficult to determine his exact status, several items imply that he is still active.

To see a full image gallery of this character, please click here.

Profile

Background

According to the show, Barnaby’s desire to become an entertainer is explained by his being the adopted son of Ms. Beagle, better known as “The Chicken that Crossed the Road.” At some point, he left his life on Ms. Beagle’s farm behind to move into Home, which he jokingly refers to as the big city. It is unclear what the “B.” in his name actually stands for, as the answer changed frequently between episodes, and it was generally assumed that Barnaby was joking whenever he would answer.

Barnaby’s puppet was often rotated between a live-hand model and a walk-around model, in order to keep him in frame with his shorter neighbors. It is believed that his puppet(s) required two puppeteers to operate.

Appearance

Barnaby is a large anthropomorphic dog puppet with a black nose, dark blue ears, orange eyelids, and light blue fur with spots in various shades of yellow, dark blue, orange, and red. His paw pads have a similar pattern, with the ones on the palms of his "hands" and the soles of his feet being red and heart-shaped, in order to match with Wally. His standard outfit consists of a small red bowler hat tipped to one side, a red tie with a pattern of bones and polka dots, and a vest with stripes of red, orange, yellow, and blue.

Personality

A literal sly dog, Barnaby takes a lot of pride in his position as Home’s resident jokester, to the point where every other line that comes out of his mouth is a pun or some other witty remark. Barnaby’s brand of comedy may be met with mixed reviews from his neighbors, but this rarely gets him down, since he knows how to go with the flow better than anyone. Although his character card describes him as a layabout, Barnaby is shown to be quite spirited when it comes to making more mischief around Home. While he’s rarely outright malicious in his endeavors, a good joke coming at the expense of his neighbors is rarely enough to deter him, with Wally appearing to be the sole exception. He is, after all, a very loyal dog.

Plot

Initially, Barnaby is never seen directly in the prologue outside of illustrations, although there are several implications that Wally is still in contact with him. We see (and hear) more of him after the July 27th 2023 update, in both publicly available audio and hidden pages such as the bug videos. Like his fellow neighbors, he expresses confusion at the caller's apparent silence in his Talking Telephone Toy audio, suggesting that the call was received in real time. In the bug videos, he is heard interacting primarily with Howdy, Frank, Julie, Eddie, Home, and of course, Wally. He also shows some concern over Wally’s wellbeing in 14-14-bh, but he has yet to become aware or directly interact with you. Although he attends both the Macabre Menagerie of Monstrous Mischief-Making and Homewarming parties in the following updates, his presence is of relatively little note. Curiously, it was his comment about building Poppy's confidence up "brick-by-brick" that kickstarted the events that led to Poppy's predicament in the October 18th 2024 update, though it is unknown if this was intentional on his part.

Relationships

Wally Darling

As both of their character cards state, Wally and Barnaby are best friends within the show Welcome Home. Although the fact that this relationship is emphasized repeatedly in illustrations raises some suspicion, both characters seem to consider the relationship legitimate. Where Wally is dreamy and earnest, Barnaby is more sly and down-to-earth, and although he isn’t above teasing Wally, he does encourage and look out for him in his own way. Activities the two often do together include morning walks, grabbing a bite to eat at Howdy’s bodega, and Wally painting Barnaby in various comical positions. Wally seems to view Barnaby as a reliable source of information, as he often turned to him during skits that involved Wally (and the viewer) learning something new. Wherever Wally goes, Barnaby is sure to follow close behind with a snappy one-liner on hand.

In 14-14-bh, Barnaby is the only other neighbor besides Home to notice when Wally has become unresponsive, and is shown to be audibly concerned over it before the video cuts out.

Ms. Beagle

Little is known of Barnaby's relationship with Ms. Beagle outside of his backstory, save for the fact that he regards her as being quite famous due to her title as The Chicken who Crossed the Road, and holds her in high enough favor to cite her as an inspiration for pursuing stand-up comedy. From her brief appearance in the commercial for Mama Beagle's Barnyard Eggnog, the two appear to have a genuinely loving familial relationship.

Home

Barnaby hangs out with Home just as much as he does with Wally, likely by nature of Wally and Home being a package deal. The two banter more frequently than one would expect with Home being one of the few neighbors able to get in a few jabs at Barnaby’s expense. Barnaby, meanwhile, is apparently able to discern Home's emotional state with startling accuracy, sometimes even moreso than Wally.

Howdy Pillar

Barnaby seems to be Howdy’s favorite customer, given that jokes and other such witticisms are the only form of currency that Howdy accepts. This is further cemented by the "Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours!" storybook record, in which Howdy all but literally shoves Sally aside to go talk to Barnaby once he spots him among the guests. Howdy considers Barnaby a good friend, and is confident that he can always talk to Barnaby about anything that troubles him. It’s unknown if Barnaby feels quite so strongly about Howdy, but the two get along well regardless, with Barnaby even admitting that Howdy is “a pretty funny fella,” despite the pride he himself takes in being Home’s top comedian.

Frank Frankly

Frank has both a rather dry sense of humor and a love for order - something that frequently clashes with Barnaby’s more free-spirited comedic stylings. Frank’s frustration only seems to encourage Barnaby to rile him up further, much to the former’s chagrin. It is all but outright stated that Frank considers his and Barnaby's relationship to be a rivalry, albeit one that Barnaby takes much less seriously than Frank.

Julie Joyful

Much like with Frank, Barnaby seems to enjoy getting a rise out of Julie. In 11-14-jb, he laments her lack of pun-making prowess, much to her indignation. Curiously, this lamentation seems to be genuine on Barnaby’s part, as he later remarks to Home that he should teach her a thing or two. Unlike Frank, however, Julie does not seem to consider Barnaby a legitimate rival.

Eddie Dear

If there is anything Barnaby takes seriously, it is the oath that all cartoon dogs must follow: to chase the local mailman. Whether or not Eddie agrees to this is irrelevant, as much as Eddie himself wishes otherwise.

Sally Starlet

Barnaby’s desire to entertain through comedy is said to come into conflict with Sally’s passion for more serious stories, as he is apparently the most frequent culprit for her plays going awry. However, this is only according to the WHRP themselves so far.

Trivia

Note: In order to ensure that this wiki has the most accurate information it can, this list does not cite any posts prior to January 2021.

  • Barnaby is roughly 7-8 feet tall. [Sources: 1]
  • Like every other neighbor, Barnaby is an adult. [Sources: 1, 2]
  • Barnaby’s favorite food is his signature hot dog order: a standard ballpark hot dog topped with ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, condensed milk, whipped cream, strawberry drizzle, rainbow sprinkles, and a cherry on top. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby snores. To quiet Wally when they’re sleeping under a tree together and Wally begins his usual routine of announcing that he is sleeping, Barnaby puts his hand over Wally’s face. [Sources: 1]
  • In a band or other musical arrangement, Barnaby would either play the trumpet or the trombone. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby would also enjoy instruments such as the slide whistle or the vuvuzela. [Sources: 1, 2]
  • Barnaby was the second thing Wally learned to paint. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby often tells Home jokes. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby is Wally's favorite animal. [Sources: 1]
  • In an Alice In Wonderland adaptation/AU, Barnaby would be the Cheshire Cat. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby was the one who taught Wally how to laugh, after Wally failed to laugh at the first joke Barnaby ever told him. Even though Wally can only smile, the two are close enough that Barnaby knows when Wally is feeling differently. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby’s voice was inspired by American comedian Rodney Dangerfield, as well as Jerma985’s impression of Sans from Undertale. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby bites Wally to show affection. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby bites Frank's arms like corn cobs as a joke. [Source: 1]
  • Barnaby is a good hugger. [Sources: 1]
  • In general, Barnaby is a very physically affectionate person. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby prefers his ice cream floats drenched in syrup. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby walks on all fours most of the time in order to be at eye-level with his shorter neighbors. [Sources: 1, 2]
  • Barnaby wears his hat lopsided specifically to annoy people (mainly Frank.) [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby was first created in 2018. [Sources: 1]
  • Sally would never pick Barnaby to play the role of a dog in any of her plays, because he deliberately goes out of his way to act as un-doglike as possible. Asking him to act as other animals does not solve this problem. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby would prefer black coffee with condensed milk, or simply milk and sugar if that is unavailable. [Sources: 1]
  • Out of all of the neighbors, Barnaby would be able to eat the most marshmallows. He prefers his s'mores with peanut butter instead of chocolate. [Sources: 1]
  • If there is such a thing as a joke that Barnaby doesn't like, it would probably be a joke at either his or Wally's expense. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby has two favorite games: fetch (with Wally), and poker. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby is the only neighbor who owns anything resembling a vehicle: a unicycle. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby would enjoy the movie The Swiss Family Robinson. [Sources: 1]
  • Although Clown himself associates Barnaby with circus music, Barnaby himself would enjoy folk music such as The Byrds. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby knows how to do the Charleston. [Sources: 1]
  • Barnaby's favorite Muppet would be Miss Piggy. [Sources: 1, 2]
  • In a game of Among Us, if Wally ended up being an impostor, Barnaby would take it upon himself to do all the dirty work for him. [Source: 1]
  • Barnaby is the type of dog to put ketchup on his steak. [Source: 1]
  • In a Splatoon AU, Barnaby would be an idol. [Source: 1]
  • Barnaby’s favorite kind of cheesecake is celebration cheesecake. [Source: 1]
  • According to Clown, Barnaby meeting Wally for the first time felt like "business as usual," and a fond childhood memory of his might be sleeping in the sun. [Source: 1]
  • Barnaby is the easiest character for lead illustrator Huck Bedsole to draw. [Source: 1]
  • Barnaby's paw pads are very soft. [Source: 1]