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Xavier: Renegade Angel

Xavier: Renegade Angel is an American adult animated black comedy television series created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. It was produced by PFFR Productions, producers of Wonder Showzen, with computer animation provided by Cinematico. It premiered on November 1, 2007, on the Adult Swim website and November 4, 2007, on Adult Swim.

Characters
Xavier (voiced by Vernon Chatman) is a well-meaning yet naïve and oblivious faun-like shaman wanderer with delusions of grandeur. Xavier often brings destruction to his environment and those around him in his attempts to right what he sees as wrong or help others with their problems. Xavier's left hand is a snake from the elbow downwards; it usually acts like an ordinary hand, but in the episodes "The 6th Teat of Good Intentions" and "El Tornadador", it appears to possess its own consciousness and speaks to Xavier directly. Xavier also has brown fur, a bird-like beak in place of a nose, and ocular heterochromia, having one brown eye and one blue. Xavier's purpose seems to change slightly with each episode, with the initial plot setting him as a wandering philosopher, aspiring "wise man" or sage of sorts whose intent on hermitism seems to give references to Native American vision quests. Of initial importance seems to be Xavier's search for an answer to the abstract question, "What doth life?". Much of the first season focuses on his search for the person who killed his father, while the second season puts focus on his search for his mother, whom he believes to be alive after digging up her grave. In the series finale, Xavier finds his mother in a lunatic asylum and has sex with her, which causes Xavier to see himself as the human he apparently always was. • Chief Master Guru (voiced by Jim Tozzi) – This supposedly Indigenous shaman took Xavier in after he was orphaned, and taught him mystical and spiritual practices (one such teaching being the power to heal others with the use of a fictional instrument called a "shakashuri"). The Shaman features frequently in flashbacks, and—despite Xavier's adulation—is shown to be abusive, sadistic, bullying and cruel. • '''Xavier's father''' (voiced by Jim Tozzi) – Being dead, Xavier's father only appears in flashbacks and visions. Xavier says he wants to avenge his father's death, but in one such flashback his father insists that Xavier himself killed him. In a flashback, however, (one which Xavier later denies as being true), Xavier's father takes Xavier to a remote location and abandons him as a child, only leaving him with a bicycle as a means of compensation, before crashing into a truck and exploding. • '''Xavier's mother''' (voiced by Alyson Levy) is generally seen in flashbacks as constantly either drunk, drug-addled, or having sex with men or animals. Xavier's mother seems to have hated him for his appearances, calling him a "demon child", among other names. In "Braingeas Final Cranny", it is revealed that Xavier's mother tried to abort Xavier, though she found out that she was too far along into the pregnancy to do so. She instead allowed the doctor to torture Xavier with a cattle prod. • Computer (portrayed by John Flansburgh) is a sentient computer used by Xavier for analysis and information. He appears as a jerkily edited live-action actor set in front of a black and white background. ==Creation and contents==
Creation and contents
The series features ribald wordplay, nonchalant violence and transgressive sexuality, in deeply nested, often recursive plots. These plots are often nonlinear in their chronology; however, each episode seems to contain similar themes and motifs, as well as a single opening scene that has recurred in every episode of Xavier: a depiction of the titular character wandering through a desert (likely a satirical take on the "wandering in the desert" archetype as a search for wisdom) as he narrates a semi-spontaneous, often nonsensical philosophical thought that many times connects with the episode at hand, whilst the title card of the show itself flies overhead, usually varying in action or position. An opening theme presumed to be played by Xavier on his "shakashuri" is present during these. Co-creator Vernon Chatman humorously called the show "a warning to children and adults about the dangers of spirituality". The show has been known to show insensitivity and caricatures of Catholicism, Islam, Middle America, redneck stereotypes, and anarcho-punk subcultures. Xavier often incorporates underlying themes and concepts based outside of, though interconnected with, the plot of each episode. Philosophical or political concepts are often juxtaposed with the surrealistic and aleatory nature of the show. Society and cultural psychology and phenomena, the meaning of life, the existence of sentience and the nature of reality have been examined in one form or another throughout the program's 2 seasons. Jokes and humor tend to be oriented towards Xavier's own philosophical inquiry and the "deep," "zen-like" diction of wisdom quotes from various spiritual systems (particularly Native American and Hindu or Eastern spirituality) that Xavier seemingly attempts to mimic. These are many times lightly mocked with Xavier's misuse of the phrases, reflecting on contemporary humor and taking the often circular logic of such statements far out of context. Taboo topics — such as necrophilia, bestiality, homophobia, abortion, irreligion, pedophilia, incest, self-injury, transphobia, and racism — are used as sources for humor. In this respect, the program can be seen as containing a substantial amount of black comedy. ==Episodes==
Episodes
Season 1 (2007–2008) Season 2 (2009) ==International broadcast==
International broadcast
In Canada, Xavier: Renegade Angel previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4's Adult Digital Distraction block. The series currently airs in Canada on the Canadian version of Adult Swim. ==Home media==
Home media
Adult Swim released the series on DVD in America on November 10, 2009, shortly after the series finale originally aired. Madman Entertainment released the series on DVD on Region 4 in Australia on February 10, 2010. In addition to being available on DVD, the entire series is also available on iTunes. A high-definition release of the show was available on the Max streaming service, until December 31, 2023. == Reception ==
Reception
In 2009, DVD Talk's Casey Burchby gave the show three and half stars out of five, noting "Xavier: Renegade Angel is intelligent, entertaining, and very funny. It is also consistent to a fault. The show never develops much beyond its original concept and falls into a repetitious rut. [...] Much like Flight of the Conchords, its small triumphs are better appreciated over time; a concentrated dose of the show reveals its flaws." Xavier: Renegade Angel was largely ignored on initial release. Nonetheless, it garnered a cult following; by 2017, it was highly regarded for its originality, absurd imagery and smart, intricate humor. In that year, Inverse.com placed Xavier 15th on a list of "The 25 Most Iconic Adult Swim Characters of All Time". Also in 2017, Max Carpenter of Vulture said that it "stands out as a puzzlement of form with its Second Life graphical environs and sphinxlike protagonist [...] Even in the context of PFFR’s twisted endeavors, the show's blend of form and content is a brilliant anomaly. [...] Xavier is on one level a comedy-by-assault, an explosion of wordplay, and a ridiculousness of images that the average viewer can only take in piecemeal." Lionel Boyce, co-creator of The Jellies!, listed it among his favorite cartoons. ==2020 short==
2020 short
In 2020, Xavier returned to give a virtual commencement speech, as part of Adult Swim's Commencement Speaker Series 2020, a response to the cancellation of commencement ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vernon Chatman returned to voice Xavier as part of a six-minute video that was released on YouTube and the Adult Swim app. ==References==
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