Cockney Wanker is a character created by Graham Dury and Simon Thorpe in '' Viz'' based on a

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

d male

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

. Wanker speaks in

rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...

(often slang invented by the writers) and spends his days drinking and selling stolen or unworkable goods to passers-by from an East End market stall. Another of Wanker's specialities is trading used cars. Playing upon the stereotype of the indigenous population of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

being fantasists, Wanker often buys a car, sells it back to the same person for the same amount of money, then declares the transaction to have been "A nice little earner!" He wears cheap

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

jewellery or Argos bling and 'Laahndan' gangster dark glasses, and is often seen smoking a

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

. He is a wife-beater and lifelong

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

who complains about " Sooties", yet respects Frank Bruno. He is established as a

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

, especially supportive of the Queen Mother, spouting received wisdom such as "Ninety Free she is. Ninety Free. Wahn the bladdy war for us she did!" Wanker's appearance is based on a combination of a stereotypical London taxi driver and Mike Reid's character

Frank Butcher Frank Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mike Reid (actor), Mike Reid. Frank makes his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987, but due to a positive viewer reception, he is reintr ...

from ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. Maconie, Stuart. "Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North". Random House, 2008. p. 23. His characterisation also draws elements from

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally as David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the drama series '' A Touch ...

's " Del Trotter" in ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

''. Other characters in the strip closely resemble ''EastEnders'' characters, e.g. Shirl, his long suffering and battered wife ( Kathy Beale) and Lou, Shirl's fearsome old-school East End mother ( Lou Beale).

References

Bibliography

*Donald, Chris. ''Rude Kids: The Unfeasible Story of Viz''. HarperCollins, 2004. *Trilling, Daniel. ''Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain's Far Right''. Verso Books, 2012. Viz characters Fictional people from London Fictional con artists Culture in London {{UK-comics-stub

See also

References

Bibliography