Here's something that might win you some points in a trivia game someday: Bill Watterson named the protagonists of Calvin and Hobbes after two European philosophers. John Calvin (1509-1564) was a controversial theologian whose ideas gave rise to the predestination-oriented Calvinist branch of Protestantism (thus mucking everything up for everyone for centuries to come). Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) wrote Leviathan, one of the foundational works of social contract theory.

In general, trying to match either Calvin or Hobbes to their namesakes' philosophies doesn't work. Calvin is generally the closer of the two; as he often notes, being a young child is a sort of predestination in itself, since little of his day-to-day life is in his direct control. Hobbes, on the other hand, is a tiger, so he's largely in favor of the "nasty, brutish, and short" state of nature that Thomas Hobbes sought to avoid. If the two have anything in common, as Watterson noted, it’s that both Hobbeses don't think much of humans.

As far as the core philosophy of Calvin and Hobbes goes, Watterson provided about as close to a mission statement as you could want in a commencement speech at his alma mater, Kenyon College, in 1990.

"To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble," Watterson said.

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