Bluto is a big, nasty sailor who loves to pester Popeye and try to win the heart of his crush Olyve Oyl. He varies between being a big strong brute of a man and very bold and smart - he is always depicted as extremely strong (often superhumanly so). However, after he usually beats up Popeye, Popeye finds a can of spinach, eats it, gets stronger, and beats Bluto into unconsciousness.
Despite Bluto and Popeye's legendary rivalry it is often shown that Bluto was once a friend of Popeye but the two became bitter enemies due to the fact that both were in love with Olyve Oyl - while Popeye was a gruff but well-meaning sailor Bluto was always rough and mean, so naturally he began to pester Popeye and even when Olyve Oyl clearly made her choice he wouldn't let them be: going as far as regularly kidnapping Olyve Oyl, expressing his affection as only the big brute can.
From time to time this friendship is rekindled, though it seldom lasts long, although Bluto is widely seen as Popeye's nemesis he is not actually the offical archenemy of the sailor - that honor belongs to The Sea Hag: who Bluto has occassionally worked for both willingly and as a mind-washed slave.
thumb|300px|right|Bluto on the rampage (and singing)
Live Action Movie
Bluto was the main antagonist of the live-action Popeye movie were he was not only his traditional bullying self but also a shameless criminal who terrorised the fishing community Popeye came too, this movie was rather unique in that Popeye hated spinach and near the end Bluto's own stupidity got the best of him when he force-fed Popeye spinach out of spite: the resulting transformation scared Bluto so badly the big bully literally turned yellow and swam out into sea.