Il Dottore

Dottore is high on the social scale, at par with Pantelone and Capitano. He is officially a doctor, but generally has no idea what he is talking about. To make himself sound important, he will babble on forever, and eventually take the focus off of his diagnosis. Although he speaks with a lisp, Dottore is loath to stop talking. He speaks in non sequiturs (topics that have nothing to do with each other): "That is a lovely hat, I love the feathers, you know birds have feathers, I had the most wonderful chicken dinner last night..." and so on. If one were to go to Dottore, the diagnosis they are most likely to get is that they are pregnant, regardless of their gender. If they are not pregnant, they are dead (it doesn't matter that they are up and walking around). The other characters, surprisingly, hardly ever question what Dottore is talking about; since he is a doctor and throws in big impressive words every now and then, he must be right.

Il Dottore's costume consists of a long jacket or tunic with a black coat that reaches all the way to his ankles. A pillow is often stuffed into the actor's torso area, since Dottore is very fat. He also wears a black skullcap, and lack shoes. Occasionally, Dottore will wear a mortarboard over the skullcap. These black clothes were a signal to the audience that Dottore was smart--they are the traditional clothes of an academy man.

This character's mask, as you can see in the picture above, covers only the forehead and nose. The cheeks are exposed. The round nose compliments Dottore's round body shape. The actor's cheeks are often highlighted and reddened with makeup to show the effects of Dottore's drinking too much.

Dottore finds it hard to move very fast because of his large size. He puts most of his weight on his heels and tilts his stomach forward in its great weight. While talking, Dottore moves in figure eights with small steps, and he continually gestures with his hands. He never stops moving. Dottore loves to eat and will do so whenever possible, but he is not preoccupied with food, like Zanni.