Snidely Whiplash

{{short description|Character from Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties}}

{{Infobox character

| name = Snidely Whiplash

| image = Snidely Whiplash (Rocky Bullwinkle).png

| caption =

| series = The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends

| first = Dudley Do-Right, segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

| last =

| voice = Hans Conried (1959-1982)
Corey Burton (1983–present)

| portrayer = Alfred Molina

| creator = Jay Ward

| nationality = Canadian

}}

Snidely Whiplash is a fictional character who originally appeared as the main antagonist in the Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties segments of the animated television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. He is the archenemy of Dudley Do-Right. He was listed among the 100 greatest characters in television animation.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8BIDwAAQBAJ&dq=snidely+whiplash+100+greatest+villains&pg=PA279 |first1=Martin |last1=Gitlin |first2=Joseph |last2=Wos |title=A Celebration of Animation; The 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters in Television History |publisher=Lyons Press |date=March 15, 2018 |isbn=9781630762797 |pages=277–279}}

The character was voiced by Hans Conried in the original cartoon series. Alfred Molina played Whiplash in the 1999 live-action film version Dudley Do-Right.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/27/movies/film-review-he-s-still-backward-but-nell-s-got-moxie.html|title=Film Review – He's Still Backward, But Nell's Got Moxie |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110404053125/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/27/movies/film-review-he-s-still-backward-but-nell-s-got-moxie.html |archive-date=April 4, 2011 |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=August 27, 1999 |access-date=January 4, 2024}}{{cbignore}}

Whiplash is the stereotypical villain in the style of stock characters found in silent films and earlier stage melodrama, wearing black clothing and a top hat and with a handlebar moustache. Whiplash's henchman, Homer, usually wears a tuque.

In the cartoon's opening segments, Whiplash is seen tying Nell Fenwick to a railroad track. Whiplash is obsessed with tying young women to railroad tracks; he has no reason to do so and realizes no gain, profit or advantage, but is simply compelled to do it.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8L_jAwAAQBAJ&dq=snidely+whiplash+compulsion&pg=PA11 |first=Chuck |last=Klosterman |author-link=Chuck Klosterman |title=I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) |publisher=Scribner |date=July 9, 2013 |isbn=9781439184516 |page=11}}

He is the antithesis of Do-Right, who is the archetype of goodness and a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman (RCMP). On one occasion, typical of producer Jay Ward's sense of humor, Whiplash and Do-Right changed hats; Do-Right became the criminal supervillain who actually succeeds at crime and Whiplash became the RCMP hero for capturing the evil Do-Right. This role reversal is repeated in the 1999 film adaptation.{{cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/1999/8/27/20089276/dudley-do-right |first=Robert |last=Derenstein |title=Dudley Do-Right |date=August 27, 1999 |access-date=May 25, 2022 |newspaper=Deseret News}}