Creation

Peabody was created by Scott McCloud for the first color volume of Zot!, in issue 1.

Major Story Arcs

The Sirius IV Conspiracy

Peabody was made by RodneyTech. He is a popular "Blue Butler" model.

Peabody lived with the Paleozogt family. When Zot's mom and dad were killed (unknown to Zot; all he knew was that they never returned from a trip), Peabody continued to raise him, along with some help from Zot's uncle Max.

Peabody caught Jenny when she first appeared in Zot's world and fell off a building. He often drives Zot and his friends around. He also provides advice and helps in combat as well as standard butler duties. He is usually by Zot, Max, or Jenny's side during their adventures.

For instance, he was present when Zot talked to the council about to return the Golden Key to Sirius IV. It was Peabody's idea to try to track the Key by its energy signature.

Jenny's brother, Butch, became closely attached to Peabody after Butch was turned into a monkey. He would often ride around on Peabody's shoulders, acting as the wacky guy to Peabody's straight man.

Peabody was also present when Dekko attacked Max's house in search of the Key, and when Zot and his friends snuck into Dekko's own fortress. He accompanied the friends to Sirius IV to find Zot's friend Vic, who ended up taking the Key.

When Weevis Swimbler, one of the members of a conspiracy who want to use the Key to start a war with Earth, tries to bug the friends, it is Peabody who spots and destroys it.

The members of the conspiracy later arrest Max and some of Zot's other friends. Peabody tries to protect them from the police and is shot multiple times, causing him significant damage and temporarily taking him out of the action. Zot is distraught when he hears about it.

Peabody is then inactive, or at least not around, for a time while Zot and the others continue their fight against the conspiracy.

Eventually, Peabody shows back up to help Zot, Jenny, and the others. Unfortunately, he ends up putting them in danger--they hole up in a cathedral where electronics are forbidden. That keeps 9-Jack-9, an electric spirit who works for the conspiracy, from finding them. However, when they bring Peabody into the cathedral with them, Jack is able to possess him. Using Peabody's body, 9-Jack-9 shoots Vic in the back, hurting him badly. The rest of the conspiracy's forces then enter the cathedral.

Peabody is once again repaired and is present when Zot takes the head of the conspiracy, General Schrapp, into custody.

Heroes and Villains

Peabody flies the aircar around the area, providing advice, while Zot fights Bellows.

When Zot, Hacker, and Digger visit Jenny in her world, Peabody comes along, dressed in a trenchcoat and fedora. He complains that they shouldn’t use their technology on her world. Hacker shuts him off so he doesn’t interfere. They leave him by the side of the road and have an adventure in the city. They pick him up later and bring him back to Max.

Peabody brings the kids to an augmented reality game where Vic and Zot compete. Later, he is present when the villain Zybox shows up at Max’s house. Zybox goes to Jenny’s Earth. The kids try to stop him, but are captured. Max, Butch, and Peabody travel to Jenny’s Earth as well, to track Zybox down. Peabody is the first to identify the source of Zybox’s power to control people: he sees and shoots off a small chip that emits ultrasonic waves.

Peabody and Butch break into Zybox and help rescue the kids.

When Max hosts a birthday party for Zot, Peabody serves drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Zot signs up for Bingo Pop soda as a spokesman. Peabody plays a small role in Zot’s commercial. When Jenny comes to visit soon after, Peabody flies them around. He discovers over the radio that some criminals just robbed the Comet Cola offices. Comet Cola is Bingo Pop’s main rival. They go to the address where the criminals escaped to and find out that it belongs to the Blotch. Peabody helps set a bug into the Blotch’s office and records him making statements showing that he’s guilty of manipulating Zot and Comet Cola.

Later, they all prepare for a New Year’s party at Max’s. Once again Peabody drives them around as they do errands, like buying a pie. Peabody does not seem to enjoy the annual party and talks about it sarcastically. At the party, Zot asks him to hold the pie, which he does. However, there is a glitch and he starts making nonsense noises. Hacker fixes him and Peabody reflexively throws the pie in front of him. It flies through 9-Jack-9’s hologram and hits Zot in the face. (This was the culmination of a many-year contest from the letters pages.) After the New Year is welcomed in, the natives of Zot’s world, including Peabody, all believe that it was 1964 and that it is now 1965. However, Zot previously told Jenny that it was already 1965. They realize that Zot’s dimension is eternally 1965.

The Earth Stories

For a long time Zot gets stuck in Jenny’s dimension and they can’t travel back to his. Eventually they are able to travel between dimensions again. Peabody and Max accompany Zot, Jenny, and Jenny’s Earth friends to Zot’s world so their friends can see what it’s like.

Hearts and Minds

Jenny, Zot, and Peabody hear that Dekko has a new fortress off the coast of Cape Cod and prepare to go investigate. Zot is also excited about a new Ice Cream Apocalypse location. However, after the police call him and ask for his help, Zot agrees to stop Dekko first.

When they arrive, the fortress fires on them, hitting Zot’s jet car. Peabody is ripped in half and Jenny and Zot fall a long way before Jenny is able to wake Zot up. He manages to use his antigrav boots to save them right before they hit the ground.

Zot is concerned about Peabody because he costs a lot of money. Jenny is surprised he isn’t more personally hurt but they have his personality backed up at home.

They equip Peabody with a jetpack and he helps invade the fortress along with Zot and the police. However, he is stuck on his original butler programming and is not much help.

They defeat Dekko but eventually discover that he is still alive and that he has replaced the bodies of Zot and the hostages with robot bodies.

While Max repairs Zot’s robot body, which was damaged by some Devoes, Zot has a dream about Dekko. Dekko explains that he has given the gift of eternal life to Zot and the hostages. Now that they’re robots, they’ll never die, just like Dekko.

Dekko explains that he now understands that he can’t destroy reality. But he can create order. He sees humanity as the best chance to help bring order to the universe. But to do so, they need to be improved—by, for instance, having eternal robotic life.

Zot points out that they may not all want this gift, but Dekko is sure they will come to like it.

Zot wakes up and explains the dream to Max and Butch. Max has fixed Peabody and repaired his personality as well.

Jenny, Butch, Zot, Max, and Peabody fly to find Dekko.

They find him and Zot demands to have his body back. They show Dekko a video call where the hostages all want their bodies too. Dekko is shocked that they are turning down his gift.

Dekko blasts them, then runs off. He stuns Zot’s robot body. In return, Peabody blasts Dekko’s hand and remote. He sends more giant robots after Zot. Meanwhile, a horde of Devoes invades the beach. The robots and Devoes fight.

Zot tracks the hostages on infrared. When they arrive, Dekko flips a switch and says death is all that’s left. Zot assumes that means he did something to kill them, but in reality Dekko just let them go without his robotic gift of life.

Dekko seems to be killed by the Devoes but once again survives unknown to the others.

Alternate Versions

Within the world of "Dimension 10 1/2," the stick-figure alternate universe created by Matt Feazell and running in the back of the black-and-white issues of Zot!, Peabody uses a blaster pistol to blast Dr. Pweent and Dekko when they are harassing Jenny, Zot, and Max. Pweent then blasts Peabody with a rust gun invented by Dekko, freezing him in place. The kids defeat the villains.

Peabody is around when the Devoes attack and Zot gets Cynicalman to help.

Zot turns antisocial due to Antisocialman’s formula. Peabody briefly tries to help him stay normal by enforcing his bedtime, but fails.

Vic fixes Peabody (this seems like a continuity quirk; this happens in issue 14 ½, and he seems to be fixing the rust issue from issue 10 ½, but there were other issues in between them [including one that directly references the fact that 14 ½ comes next] where Peabody was fine). Peabody then flies the kids to try to defeat the antisocialed Zot. More villains join the battle and Butch at once point saves Peabody from Bellows by making Bellows slip on a banana peel. The kids revert Zot to normal and again defeat the villains.

Zot and Cynicalman change minds so their own mind is in the other’s body. Zot’s body/Cynicalman’s mind walks into Peabody and hurts his head. People think knocked himself out of sense in this accident but they are wrong. They eventually switch back.

Peabody flies Zot and Jenny around on a farm tour. It crashes and they have farm adventures. Then the car is fixed and they fly home.

Zot’s grades in school drop. Peabody reveals to him that his parents pre-recorded a message saying that if that happened, Peabody was supposed to keep him from doing anything else til he raised his grades. Various friends start to call in to Zot telling him about emergencies but Zot can’t help because Peabody won’t let him out. Zot tries to trick him but it doesn’t work. Finally Zot improves his grades and is allowed to leave.

Jenny muses on how it would be great to have a robot chauffeur like Peabody. They take it out for a spin on their own after Max modifies it for them, but get into various scrapes. Max and Peabody are later unable to fix the toaster that they took apart to make the car “safer.”

Zot takes a shower and asks for a luffa sponge, thinking he’s talking to Peabody. However he is really talking to Stupidboy, who gives him a plunger instead. Zot thus thinks Peabody might need some fixing.

When a movie is made about Zot, all his friends go to see it. Peabody drives them there in a limo instead of the standard aircar.

Powers and Abilities

Peabody has the strength of ten men and is an excellent marksman.