Pinky and the Brain

Pinky and the Brain were two mice characters from Animaniacs who later spun off into their own show also called Pinky and the Brain and later an unsuccessful second spin-off, Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain.

Overview
The two characters are white laboratory mice intent on taking over the world, although this is more the ambition of The Brain rather than his associate Pinky.

The running joke of the series was that their plans would almost succeed, but a slight flaw or mistake would suddenly cause the plans to backfire, and so the duo would return home to devise another plan. This plot was used for both Animaniacs and the spinoff series, but Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain relocated the characters to the home of Elmyra Duff, where they were forced to take over the world whilst dealing with the heavy-handed Elmyra and a stalker who was attempting to kidnap them.

Characters

 * Pinky - A tall, slim mouse with limited intelligence. Pinky occasionally has some good ideas, but his concentration is slim, and he seems to prefer entertaining himself. He still follows Brain loyally, even if he is a bit of a klutz.


 * The Brain - A super-intelligent mouse voiced in an Orson Welles-type voice by Maurice LaMarche. The Brain concocts all of the plans to take over the world, but claims to do so for benevolent reasons rather than simply trying to benefit only himself.


 * Billie - A female mouse voiced by Tress MacNeille. Billie first appeared in the Animaniacs episode The World Can Wait, when Brain developed a crush on her. Billie's attention was quickly caught by Pinky, who Billie adored. After becoming super-intelligent herself, Brain dumped her, hoping to take over the world before Billie could. Billie returned for only two more episodes of Pinky and the Brain, both of which she is trying to separate Pinky from the Brain and claim Pinky for herself.


 * Snowball the Hamster - A super-intelligent hamster and rival of Brain. His ties to Brain are highly reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Prof. Moriarty, with Snowball attempting to conquer the world purely so he will remain the most powerful being on Earth. He was also a rival for Billie's affections, but she quickly turned him down in Brain Noir.


 * Phar Fig Newton - A female racehorse who is incredibly stupid. She is also Pinky's girlfriend, and first appeared in the Animaniacs episode Jockey for Position. She had limited appearances on the spinoff show, usually just as a photograph in Pinky's cage. Her name is a pun on Fahrvergnügen, as well as the racehorse Phar Lap, who sponsored Fig Newtons.