Clay Puppington

Clay M. Puppington
Clay in his study
Gender	Male
Age	40 (65 as of 2020)
Birthday	January 5, 1955
Hair	Brown
Religion	Protestant
Job	Mayor of Moralton
First Appearance	The Lord's Greatest Gift
Last Appearance	Honor
Voiced by	Scott Adsit
Family & Relationships	Angela Puppington (mother; deceased) Arthur Puppington (father; deceased) Bloberta Puppington (wife) Coach Stopframe (Ex-Lover) Orel Puppington (son) Shapey Puppington (Illegitimate step-son) Block Posabule (Unofficially adopted son)

Clayton 'Clay' Middleinitial Puppington is the main antagonist of the series. He is the son of Arthur Puppington and Angela Puppington, the husband of Bloberta Puppington and the strict, abusive, and alcoholic father of Orel Puppington and Shapey Puppington who tries to keep his home in line with a 1950's style of living. He hates his job as mayor of Moralton, as well as his children, marriage, and father.

History

As a child, Clay was the only surviving offspring of his parents as his mother's drinking, smoking, and fun-loving lifestyle caused her to miscarry 10 of Clay's unborn siblings years before he was born (largely because Clay's mother spent all of her pregnancy with Clay praying for his safety). Clay's mother was a religious zealot, who spoiled him rotten. During his childhood, he started on with the "Lost Commandments" idea. His father at first didn't mind it and found the idea cute when he was 6. But, as he got older and Angela only encouraged the idea, it became annoying. This created tension with Clay's father, who was outright neglected by his wife in favor of her own son.

Clay's life collapsed, however, when he faked his own death as a prank on Angela, causing her to have a fatal heart attack. Clay's father never forgave him for his part in Angela's death and emotionally shunned his son, ultimately telling Clay that he's "not even worth it" upon an initial refrain from slapping him. This deeply affected Clay, causing him to seek out his father's abuse as a means to gain any sort of emotional response and validation. Later, his father saw through Clay's abuse seeking and stopped hitting him when he gave the gun away. The two formed a casual hatred towards one another and blamed each other for the death of Clay's mother, Angela. The love for his mother would develop into an Oedipus Complex many years later, as shown in the episode "Nesting".

His father gives his gun to Clay saying he's ending the male Puppington tradition of passing along the gun to one's first born son, because it's tainted with blood. Clay decided to continue the tradition with Orel. The trips were centered more upon father-son bonding than hunting. Because his father never did the camping trip with him and Clay had no real experience himself, the event was doomed from the start.

When Clay was in his mid-twenties, he was much similar to Orel, shown to be a rather mild figure who wanted to spend his days studying the Bible and drinking apple juice. While accidentally attending a wedding thinking it was Sunday hearing, Clay met Bloberta Hymentact. Bloberta asked about his family, Clay said "my parents are dead", not telling her the truth about his father being alive. The two went to the wedding reception together, where Bloberta introduced Clay to liquor. She believed that alcohol relaxed people for the better, and even used a religious justification in order to get him to drink.

Alcohol caused a massive change in Clay's personality, turning him into a womanizer and drunken party-goer before ultimately causing Bloberta to punch Clay unconscious in order to keep him from flirting with the other women. Afterwords, Bloberta lied to Clay, telling him that he passed out and that she looked after him while he was unconscious. She then pressed him to marry her, citing that he needs someone like her to "help" him. Clay agreed, but by this point the damage was done as Clay was now a full-blown alcoholic who spent most of his wedding flirting with other women, getting drunk, and ultimately getting arrested after the wedding for driving under the influence.

Clay largely hates his family, not remembering his children's names or caring when one of his children is briefly switched with another child. This is taken to an extreme in the episode "Numb" when he assumes Shapey and Block are a liquor-induced hallucination. He's rather misogynistic, believing that women differ from men in the ability to fulfill themselves solely through tending to their husbands. It's later revealed that it sexually arouses him to watch Bloberta do such chores, ultimately leading Clay to partake in voyeuristic swinging housekeeping. He's close friends with Coach Daniel Stopframe, who secretly lusts after Clay. It has been shown that Stopframe is Clay's chief enabler as far as feeding his dependency on liquor, while going as far as to seduce and impregnate Bloberta in order to be near him. Ironically, Clay seems very unaware that Stopframe is Shapey's father and has held no grudges against him.

He will often bring Orel into his study to discuss various misdeeds Orel often does, after dealing out "a good belting" to the boy. The lessons usually have little to do with the actual damage he caused, usually focusing on "the lesser of two evils". For example, when confronting Orel for raising the dead, Clay is more concerned with the fact that Orel created naked zombies (by removing their clothes prior to resurrecting them) than actually creating zombies. Also, when Orel develops an unintentional addiction to crack-cocaine, he's punished by Clay for speaking slang rather than smoking it. He also often punishes Orel for something that was his fault in the first place, such as giving the boy bad advice or not explaining thoroughly what is actually right to him which later had serious consequences, like when Orel started masturbating and putting his semen in the women of Moralton and impregnating them because Clay told him not to waste his seed, but didn't tell to not put them in the women. It's unclear what happened to Orel's unborn children. But, given how Moralton wants to protect its reputation as a religious community and the fact the women were baring a twelve year old boy's child, the women might have aborted the fetuses in secret.

He also has a collection of firearms in his study, including a Heckler & Koch PSG1 sniper rifle and what is revealed in "Nature Pt.1" to be an extensive arsenal. In "Nature Part 1", the event becomes a disaster before they even depart. Clay immediately gets drunk and decides to throw everything he can out of Orel's kit, even though it could have been useful. Clay further shows his bad side by belittling Orel for not wanting to kill animals. He then cruelly shoots a deer, as well as someone's dog, just to be hurtful and superior.

During the trip, he rants violently about how awful his life is and accidentally shoots Orel, but denies any responsibility. He sinks even lower when, in "Honor", it's revealed that he continues to blame Orel for the injury. That experience made Orel see his father's true nature and he lost all of his respect for him, seeing him as the cruel, miserable, hypocritical, and hateful human being he really was.

In "Sacrifice", he was rude to everyone at the bar while trying to prove life is horrible by getting everyone to hit him by making harsh remarks to people, but everyone walks away causing Clay to collapse in defeat and seeing that he's not worth it. He also blames the townspeople for making Orel sensitive.

In "Honor", Clay finally (though indirectly) admits his feelings for Coach Stopframe, in front of his wife and children. By then however, Stopframe has become aware of Clay's true personality and ultimately rebukes him. Years later into Orel's adulthood, a picture of him and Bloberta together can be seen on a wall in the final scene, both appearing openly unhappy. Orel and Christina live happily and have better lives than Clay or Bloberta. Clay failed to make Orel be like him as an unhappy adult using religion as an excuse for irresponsible actions

Beforel Orel

Clay is seen in the special Beforel Orel. He's shown to be in shock that Bloberta is pregnant and begins to sob. He's shown to be in great denial that he neglects Orel. Bloberta begins to berate him for not teaching Orel anything and accuses him of going to his study to hide from him. He's shown to still be haunted by his father's emotional rejection. To avoid answering Orel's questions about the baby, he decides to "send" him to his father in Sinville.

He basically abandons Orel at his grandfather's farm, though eventually, Clay brings him back early due to warnings from Miss Censordoll that he needed to teach him about God. He picks an unfortunate time, as Bloberta goes into labor. He basically ignores Bloberta when Orel begins asking questions about the baby. He tries getting Dr. Potterswheel to talk to Orel for him, but he leaves. With no one else, Bloberta delivers Shapey  Clay is still unable to teach him anything and decides to make God the answer to Orel's questions.

However, Orel begins asking about proof. Clay gets angered and annoyed when he realizes that Orel learned some of those things from Arthur. He then decides to make Reverend Putty drag the congregation to a late-night sermon for Orel to learn about God. When that doesn't work, Clay lets him go to Miss Censordoll. It does work, to a point, but Clay still refuses to teach him anything.

He quickly tries to get Orel to not pray out of thankfulness for his grandfather and demands he wipes out everything he learned from Arthur. Unknown to him, Orel has taken their advice too much to heart and believed he had to show his faith like Abraham with Isaac. While Arthur went to stop his grandson, Clay was at the bar getting drunk.

While Officer Papermouth lectured Orel and Bloberta left with Shapey, Clay and his father are alone. For the first time in years, the two speak. Arthur is willing to take the blame for how Clay has raised Orel. Clay, not wanting to accept responsibility, states that Orel is fine. Arthur admits that he's surprised that Orel knew nothing about God, given how Moralton was a deeply religious town and how Clay had been raised by Angela. He then asks Clay why Orel hadn't been taught about God.

For the rarest moment, Clay shows real emotion, telling him that he had no confidence to answer Orel's questions; let alone talk about God because he felt worthless. An even rarer moment is when he cries genuinely, as he remembers how his father stated: "you're not even worth it". Something that Arthur still remembered. For a brief moment, there's a silence between father and son. Arthur shows a small sign of concern and regrets how he treated Clay. But Clay pulls back, not wanting to reconcile. He then states that he sees now that God was the answer to all of Orel's problems.

He then states that he never wants Arthur to see Orel again. When Orel is let go by Officer Papermouth, he's overjoyed to see Arthur. Clay, most likely wanting to hurt his father, reminds Orel what he taught him. Orel, seemingly obedient, recites what Clay told him that "grandpa is a bad man and shouldn't be trusted". Clay takes pride seeing Arthur hurt by this. Clay's left totally oblivious that Orel was only acting for Clay and Orel winks at his grandfather; showing he still trusts his grandfather.

To show up Arthur, Clay states he's going to take Orel to his office (mostly to discipline him). But Orel is just overjoyed to see his study. Arthur leaves happily, knowing Orel still loves him. As he leaves, Clay watches his father's truck leave, regretfully sad. But he quickly shakes it off, still refusing to reconcile with his father.

The episode ends with Orel and Clay in his study, with his belt in his hand, hoping that he's learned his lesson and that they can avoid more problems in the future. Which will fail because his form of discipline became abuse and it was just to get back at his father to show he is the better parent and in the future Orel will unknowingly cause damage by accident because of his father's poor parenting and the townspeople's bad advice to Orel.

Personality

Clay is a man with a painful childhood, an unpleasant past, and a lot of regrets. He is a deeply depressed, frustrated cynic. He is ill-equipped to deal with life's problems and takes out his anger and frustration on his family, friends, and the whole of Moralton. He despises or fears the reality of his life and himself. He also hates being ignored, brushed off, and feelings of worthlessness. He's irresponsible, and mocks or ignores anyone who tells him he is wrong, including Orel and Bloberta. His adult life bears the fruits of his spoiled and unbalanced childhood. His marriage is a lie, and everyone but Orel knows it. When he makes a mistake, he blames it on other people to mask the fact that he is not perfect. He began to blame other people for his mistakes ever since he accidentally killed his mother, resulting in his father despising Clay. When he was in his twenties, he was a calm, friendly, and mild-mannered man until he met his future wife, Bloberta, who introduced him to alcohol. Drinking alcohol caused a massive change in his personality.

His qualities began to fade as he continued to drink, and he devolved into a very selfish, bitter, miserable, racist, and misogynistic person. The scars of Clay's childhood are evident in the way he acts as an adult, where he bounced from the extreme of being his mother's overindulged darling to a solitary, neglected boy who confused his emotionally withdrawn father's physical abuse as a sign of validation and that he was "worth it". Internalising both of these styles of parenting, Clay grew up into an utterly narcissistic man who only cared about himself and others in relation to how they affect him and his reputation. He despised his father for witholding his affection and making him feel worthless and yet has recreated his father's pattern of abuse in the way he teaches Orel, as Clay has confused physical abuse with validating his son or letting him know that he does care. However, even this gesture is emotionally hollow, as Clay is too internally desolate to feel real love for his son. Instead he only cares about Orel as a reflection of himself as a father and places more emphasis on his son obeying and not embarrassing him than his emotional wellbeing. As is shown throughout the series and in the prequel, Clay avoids his family due to his repressed lack of confidence and hatred for them and himself, and spends a lot time in his study brooding over his misery and drinking. Clay's obsession with his study could be seen as symbolic, as it was the place his father handed Ol' Gunny to him and fully solidified his disowning of Clay, suggesting how Clay is still very rooted in the traumas of his childhood and the damage they have caused him.

Family and Relationships

• Angela Puppington
  • She is Clay's mother. The two spent a lot of time together, and Clay was basically a spoiled "mama's boy" because of her love and devotion to him. When Clay was 12, he pretended to be dead and gave Angela a heart attack that killed her. Before she died, Angela would call Clay her "precious only ever". Angela's death still affects him to this day and he blames his father for her death.

• Bloberta Puppington
  • Bloberta is Clay's wife, who is in an unhappy and unloving marriage as Clay would constantly drink and often reminds himself that he still hates his wife. There are very rare moments when they are civil to one another. One moment in "Numb" when he overhears Orel asking her why she married him, Bloberta simply answers "Why not?". When Orel mentions his father drinking, Bloberta states that his drinking only shows his true nature. Later, she breaks down after leaving her son with an empty answer. She then goes cold seeing Clay because he caused Orel to begin realizing the harsh truth about his family. The two lay in their beds, looking as if they're awaiting death or accepting they are indeed stuck to be with one another, miserably. In Beforel Orel, its shown that the two are very much aware they don't care for another. As their wedding photo of them frowning is seen on the wall. When Orel asks if he should pray for his mother (out of thankfulness),  Clay replies "eh" meaning he has semi feelings for her. Ironically, although he and Bloberta hate one another, they are deeply possessive of one another. As he was angry by the thought of her sleeping with Dr. Potterswheel and Bloberta was frantic to hide the handkerchief she took from Clay.

• Coach Daniel Stopframe
  • They are close friends and drinking buddies, although Coach Stopframe would like something more from their relationship. Clay is unaware of Stopframe's affair with Bloberta, despite the fact the affair occurerd simply as a means of Stopframe getting close to Clay. He encourages Clay's alcoholism in the hopes that it will lower his inhibitions, unaware of the destructive effects it causes within Clay. Clay is seemingly aware of the infatuation and sometimes flirts with him publicly. In "Honor", Clay finally admits his feelings for Stopframe, but is rejected as Stopframe has realized Clay is a terrible person.
• Miss Francis Clara Censordoll
  • In "Nesting", Censordoll embarked upon a scheme to seduce Clay Puppington, offering to be his mistress, using the fact that she was unable to produce children and manipulating his Oedipal feelings towards his dead mother, to convince Clay of her potential as his mistress. They begin to passionately make out as they fondle a chicken egg.

• Orel Puppington
  • He is Clay's only biological son. Because of his selfishness, Clay shows no real love for Orel and instead treats him like work. The closest he's really shown to love was when he defended Orel from a zombie. When it comes to love, he never really says it to him. He once said "I love you enough". Clay even said, "I'm glad that I shot you". He chose not to reconcile with his son even when he had plenty of chances to do it. In "Honor", it shows how more selfish he is when he becomes jealous over the time Coach Stopframe spent with him. He felt no guilt that Orel basically stated he didn't feel relaxed at his own home. He was more jealous that Stopframe wanted to be nice to Orel. In Beforel Orel, Clay is shown to be in very deep denial that he's a neglectful parent. He wanted Orel to turn on Arthur to hurt him, not knowing that Orel was pretending to turn on Arthur. It's revealed that he didn't want to teach young Orel anything (including God) because he had no confidence he could. He attempts to get Orel to hate Arthur, but Orel is pretending to hate him and thus Clay's attempt failed and a few years later Clay caused Orel to hate him instead and made Orel lose his respect for Clay and Orel grew up to be a much happier adult after he stopped listening to his father's poor advice and had a better life. It is uncertain if Orel still talks to his father as an adult even though he has a portrait of him and Bloberta in his home left by his grandfather.

• Shapey and Block
  • It's implied that Clay can tell them apart and appears to be the only one who noticed they were switched but simply doesn't care since neither of them are his real son, however they are so similar that when he saw them both at the same time in "Numb" he assumed that it was double vision. He dislikes Shapey because he's not his real son and sometimes sits in his study looking at pictures of possible fathers. He usually just pushes them away from him or gives them something to play with so they'll leave him alone.

• Arthur Puppington
  • Clay hates his father, because he blames him for the death of his mother. However, Clay killed his mother and he's blaming his father for it instead of blaming himself. Arthur ended the male Puppington tradition, but Clay says he'll keep the tradition going only to go back on that promise with Orel. He chose not to reconcile with his father even when he had plenty of chances to do it. In Beforel Orel, it explores more about their relationship, it shows the hatred between them was still ever strong as Arthur threatened to shoot his car if he came on his property. The two don't interact near the end when Arthur admits he's surprised Orel didn't know about God and asked his son why. Clay, emotionally, answers he didn't have enough confidence to answer Orel's questions or talk to him about God. He then states because he felt worthless and cries in front of his father. The two realize it's because of how Arthur state:d "you're not even worth it". And for a brief moment,t there's silence between father and son. Arthur shows to express concern and regrets how he treated Clay. But Clay goes back to himself and angrily states that he sees that God is the answer to all of Orel's questions and states he never wants to see him around Orel. To hurt his father, he gets Orel to say that "grandpa is bad and shouldn't be trusted". Unknown to him, Orel was only pretending and winks at Arthur who knows the truth. As Arthur leaves, Clay watches him drive off sadly and regretfully. This could hint that he does miss his father and probably (even for a moment) wished to reconcile. But he quickly shakes it off and goes back to "normal" as he refuses to ever forgive Arthur. If the series continued, Arthur would live with Clay. After Arthur died, Arthur left the money and house to Orel and Christina which causes Clay to be infuriated. Arthur would have the last laugh on Clay.

Appearances

Season One

• All episodes

Season Two

• All episodes

Season Three

• All episodes except Alone

Likes & dislikes

Likes:

• Drinking
• Alcoholic beverages
• Smoking
• His study
• Coach Stopframe (secret lover; formerly)
• Hunting animals
• Fishing
• Fresh air
• The outdoors
• Going to church
• Praying
• God
• Jesus
• The Bible
• Orel (son)
• Disciplining Orel
• Orel obeying him
• Sleeping
• Ms. Censordoll (current lover)
• His mother, Angela (deceased)
• Being loved and spoiled by his mother
• The Lost Commandments
• Doughy
• His father's death (only in the lost episodes)
• Being a homo
• Gay
• Making out with men
• Sucking big gay balls

Dislikes:

• His marriage
• His wife, Bloberta
• His father, Arthur
• His job as mayor
• Orel getting in trouble
• Orel disobeying him
• Orel loving his grandfather (Arthur)
• Women
• Living an unhappy and unfulfilling life
• Being sad
• His childhood
• Regrets
• His father calling him "worthless" (caused an impact on his life)
• Animals
• Nature
• Other religions
• Chinese people (shown in the episode God's Image)
• Mr. and Mrs. Posabule

• His mother's death
• His mother lying to him
• Being lonely
• Coach Stopframe ending their relationship
• Beer
• Women

Trivia

• Clay would’ve been a good father and husband if he was never introduced to alcoholic beverages.
• Clay never drinks beer.

• Clay serves as a reflection of what Orel could have turned out if he allowed his bitterness and hatred to consume him, and did not acknowledge his mistakes nor try to learn from them.
• The name "Puppington" obviously refers to stop motion, much like many other names such as Stopframe and Armiture. The name "Clay" also refers to the clay used to produce the clay motion in the show. Clay's full name, Clayton Middleinitial Puppington, can be seen as a meta joke.

Gallery

Clay takes Orel while Bloberta goes into labor

A quiet Clay with Bloberta after seeing her sob

Doomed to stay married miserably

Young Clay and Bloberta

Young Clay, when he was sober

Clay talking to Orel about Christina

Protecting Orel from zombies

Young Clay in "Passing"

Clay the unhappy groom in "Help"

"Not worth it?"

Making fun of Putty with Bloberta

Being the little bastard he is.