Some Initial thoughts on the character

Ok so, my initial reaction to the brief was one of interest but also, uneasiness. This was because I've got this massive long leash of artistic license so I can run around and do whatever I want to the character BUT, I'm concerned that the character is far too random and has nothing currently which defines him as a character that I think an audience who watch regular cartoon series' would be able to identify with.
Yeah, he's got the same hair, same shirt, same appearance each time we see him but I'm having a hard time picking out a discernable character within all this. This isn't my client's fault, I know that this character isn't fully fleshed out so its my job to fill in this gap. That is, after I iron out the character and exactly what it can do when we say he's 'Random'.

Instantly to me, the idea of a random character suggests anarchiac chaos; a complete lack of stability in a personality and that's what's worrying me. I think this could be played right, it's just when I'm mulling this over, I keep getting that it will be really difficult for someone watching to find something they can attach themselves to. Like, a guy pulling a frog out of his ass and then sticking a sausage through a china vase might be funny for the first couple of 'random' times it happens but I can see it getting tiresome.
Maybe it won't though. Maybe, there is a right kind of 'Random'.

When I say there are different kinds of random, I mean a character could be random completely; none of their actions are influenced by the previous and their personality fluctuates constantly or, as in the case of shows like 'Ren and Stimpy', the character could have a set form of personality, such as psychotic or naive or loving as Ren and Stimpy do, and then each episode sees them in completely new surroundings, new context, new roles/jobs/positions etc. The difference there is is that you've got all the mad cap unpredictability you could ever want, but this is then combined with these set character types who will typically act in a particular way. This means that each episode is a great new chance to explore who the characters are, as you're always asking yourself 'How would the character react to this?', so every time, your audience see more and more of the different aspects of the character from new angles and (hopefully) start to identify with them. This is the kind of direction at the moment I would like to see from this project as I've seen it work many times. However, a completely random character may work and I won't say it won't so early on I just don't want to spend alot of time finding out because it seems like a very shaky premise.

The look of the character is very basic at this point; either with just a hat and a t-shirt or some duo tone shirt and trousers combo. The two concepts are both quite old feeling, the version with a hat like a drawing from a saucy greeting's card and the red-headed version like something out of a cartoon for kids. This is the kind of work that my client has been involved with in the past though so that's not really surprising and again, I'm not trying to fault him here, it's just his style.
Anyway, as I mentioned the two looks have distinctly different feels to them and due to the audience Tony has fitted the brief with, I'd be instantly more inclined to follow in developing the look of the more 'adult' style of the character. However, I will probably take inspiration from both versions and then end up making a character that might not resemble either of them.

Before I go any further, I need to start showing you some ideas of the kind of stuff I think Tony is aiming this brief at. I warn you and I'll probably do so again but, the research is going to be quite wide because it is a HUGE area of animation to aim at. I get the feeling it's going to be testing to please too but, I've seen alot of online cartoons so.. at least I'm not going into this totally blindfolded (-.-)