The character was originally inspired by Brian Dowling, the captain of Yale's football team in 1968. A running gag involves his name never being revealed when his future wife's agent, Sid, queried him on his surname, he replied 'D.' The only hint as to his full name came in the Doonesbury musical, in which he is referred to as 'B. Known for his conservative views and (until April 21, 2004) wearing a series of helmets (originally football helmets, and later desert camouflage, riot gear, and California Highway Patrol).

A reservist and veteran of Vietnam and both Gulf Wars, he lost a leg in Iraq. Mike Doonesbury (October 26, 1970) – Former Walden College student, former roommate of B.D., and former Walden commune member, ex-advertising man and then co-founder of a software start-up ex-husband of J.J., husband of Kim, and father of Alex.Kim Rosenthal, for example, first appeared as a recurring child character in the 1970s, then as a teenager in the 1980s, and was reintroduced as an adult in the 1990s. The comic strip Doonesbury, by Garry Trudeau, features an extensive cast of characters with complex interpersonal relationships as of 2018, the strip's official website lists twenty-four primary characters, with dozens more having been featured over the years, including some who were phased out of the strip only to be reintroduced years later.

Brother’s Best Enemy by Alexa Riley