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| “ | You're too late! You'll never find it now! | „ |
| ~ Swiper's first catchphrase, said whenever he succeeds in swiping an object. |
| “ | Oh, man! | „ |
| ~ Swiper's second catchphrase, said when he fails to swipe an object. |
Swiper the Fox is the main antagonist of the Nick Jr. cartoon kids show Dora the Explorer, and the secondary antagonist of its 2019 live-action film adaptation Dora and the Lost City of Gold. He is a fox and Dora and Boots' arch-nemesis (and sometimes friend). He will always try to steal an object from Dora and Boots (sometimes another character), either succeeding in the scheme or failing.
However, there have been a few occasions where he served as an anti-hero for the protagonists.
In the original series, he was voiced by Marc Weiner. In the 2019 film, he was voiced by Benicio Del Toro, who also played Dario in License to Kill, Jack Rafferty in Sin City, The Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Biography
Swiper is a fox with orange and yellow fur and wears a blue mask and gloves. He is always an obstacle in Dora and Boots' adventures and he will try to steal anything from them (such as Dora's backpack). Whenever he shows up, Dora, Boots, and the viewer must chant, "Swiper, no swiping!" three times to get him to stop. Once this is done, he will snap his fingers in defeat and disappear (though there was one time when he couldn't even get up due to being inside a hollow tree). However, there have been a few attempts where this pesky fox was successful in stealing. No matter, he does not necessarily keep the item he steals; instead, he throws it away somewhere for Dora and Boots to look for it.
Appearances
Swiper's pelt is primarily an orange burgundy creme, with highlights on his eyebrows, the top of his snout, undercarriage, and the end of his tail. His white eyes and black pupils are concealed behind a blue do-rag/mask, matching his gloves. Swiper appears in almost every episode. His first appearance was in "The Legend of the Big Red Chicken". The very first episode that Swiper didn't appear on was "Te Amo".
Personality
Swiper is best described as a sneaky thief who in many of his appearances, bullies Dora and Boots by stealing one of their key items and tossing it among the said items' lookalikes to make their adventures difficult. Much like Robbie Rotten from Lazy Town, his presence in a children's show restricts his success and cruelty as a villain to the point of being mischievous trouble makers. Nonetheless, he is a truly nasty thief who capable of successfully stole key items should the viewer, Dora, and Boots lowered their guard and their quest will abruptly come into a halt if he succeeds, so it's worth to keep an eye on him.
It's not explained when and why he started his career as a pesky thief, as the writers didn't want to give Swiper a detailed backstory on his stealing because they thought the show would be cleaner that way. One Christmas movie reveals that he became a thief in his childhood, stealing toys from others which he finally realizes that he does not want to be a thief all his life.
Trivia
- Due to the show's restrictions and mechanics that limit his villainy to stealing key items so he can hide them among their lookalikes as an additional challenge for Dora, Boots, and the viewer in their quests, Swiper is not considered a true villain, as he is not completely evil since he sometimes reveals his good side in some episodes.
- Due to Dora and the Lost City of Gold being aimed at older kids, Swiper is shown to be more villainous, in the manner that he is part of a team of mercenaries led by treasure hunter Alejandro Gutierrez.
- The way he portrayed as a challenge for protagonists is similar to the Bobo Brothers the mischievous monkey antagonists from "Go, Diego, Go!" and Robbie Rotten from Lazy Town (though Robbie is more challenging than Swiper).
- Swiper has interacted with various characters to show his good side.
- When Swiper appeared on "Dora In Wonderland", his role was the Knave of Hearts.
- Swiper makes his return on the Dora and Friends episode "Return to the Rainforest", where he manages to swipe Backpack and Map from Boots as he is taking them to visit Dora and her friends in Playa Verde, only to end up to have them blown away by a strong wind before he can hide them. After being confronted by Dora over his theft and explaining what happened, he joins Dora and her friends (past & present) in helping find Map and Backpack.
- Swiper doesn't want anyone else swiping from Dora but him.
- Swiper may have been raised by his grandmother.
