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Eddie Valiant is a Californian private investigator and one of the main characters in Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?. He is also the only human character who appears in both books and the 1988 film adaptation.

Contents 1 Who Censored Roger Rabbit? 2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 3 Graphic Novel 4 Who Ordered Delancy Duck? 5 Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? 6 Inspiration

Eddie Valiant is a Californian private detective hired by comic-book star Roger Rabbit to investigate the workings of Rogers' corrupt employers, the DeGreasey Brothers. When Roger is found dead, and his final words having been censored out, Valiant is soon sent on the case of tracking Rogers' murderers.

This first incarnation of Eddie is a heavy smoker, has a beard and is active when the book is set (1981), rather than the later, more accepted incarnation of the character.

The 1988 film gave more insight into the character of Eddie Valiant, who was played by Bob Hoskins.

Eddie Valiant and his brother Teddy Valiant were sons of a circus clown (shown by the pictures on their desk), who joined the police force and eventually started their own private investigation service, Valiant and Valiant, working largely on Toon cases, such as the kidnapping of Donald Duck's nephews or clearing Goofy of accusations of espionnage. However, when Teddy Valiant was killed by Judge Doom, Eddie turned to the bottle, and Valiant and Valiant disappeared from the public eye.

In 1947, R.K. Maroon of Maroon Cartoons paid Valiant to photograph Jessica Rabbit, Rogers' wife, quite literally "playing pattycake" with Marvin Acme, owner of Toontown and founder of the Acme Corporation. When Acme is murdered, Valiant teams up with Roger to find the killer, and soon finds not only Acmes' murderer, but the murderer of his own brother.

In the Graphic novel of the film published in 1989 by Marvel Comics, Valiant is the narrator of the story, telling the film through his eyes and in the style of a detective story.

For a time after the films release, it was rumoured that Gary K. Wolf was to write a sequel to the first film, Who Ordered Delancy Duck?, but this story was aborted in favour of Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?. The details about the Delancy Duck story are sketchy, but it is known that Valiant was to appear in the story.

In the sub-sequel to the film, Valiant has vowed to no longer take any toon cases, but is forced to do so when Baby Herman, Roger Rabbits' co-star, is found dead.

Valiant's hard-boiled attitude seems to derive from Dick Tracy or other such detectives. In the 1988 film, Valiant was made to portray the film noir detective character usually found in Warren Beatty or Humphrey Bogart, while maintaining the Dick Tracy attitude.

Although little or nothing is heard about the methods employed by Eddies' brother Teddy Valiant, the items on Teddy's side of the desk in shots of the Valiant and Valiant office suggest Teddy was based more on Sherlock Holmes, judging by the tobacco pipe and magnifying glass on his desk.