Snowball (The Simpsons)

Snowball is the Simpson family cat in the long-running animated series The Simpsons, and the subject of one of the show's most enduring running gags. Despite the name, the family's current cat is jet black — a joke that unfolds across the series' history.

The original Snowball, a white cat, died before the events of most episodes. Her successor, Snowball II, a black cat, became the family's long-standing pet and appears in the opening credits. Over the years the show has cheerfully killed off and replaced the cat several times, cycling through Snowball III and IV before landing, in a memorable episode, on a new black cat that Lisa simply renames Snowball II — reasoning it will save money on a new food dish.

That gag captures the series' knowing, self-referential humour: rather than pretend the pets never change, the writers turned the revolving door of cats into a joke about continuity itself. Snowball is mostly a background presence, but she is a fixture of the Simpson household and a favourite detail for eagle-eyed fans.

As one of the longest-running pets in television animation, Snowball — in all her incarnations — is a small but permanent part of one of the most famous fictional families in the world.