Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged is one of the universe's very few
immortal beings from
Douglas Adams'
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Unfortunately, Wowbagger does not have the
instinctual ability to cope with
immortality, as it was an unfortunate accident involving an
irrational particle accelerator, a
liquid lunch, and
a pair of rubber bands that caused his immortality, the details of which have never been made entirely clear, which has resulted in a number of people looking
very silly, or
dead, or
both, in attempts to replicate the event.
Eventually tiring of immortality, Wowbagger conceived his purpose: he would
insult the universe and
everybody in it. As a testament to his true immortality, he chose that in addition to insulting every last person, one by one, he would do so in
alphabetical order.
Several million years ago (two by
Ford Prefect's guess), Wowbagger landed on
prehistoric earth and insulted
Arthur Dent, calling him a
jerk. Arthur's incredulity at seeing another being (after having been stranded on prehistoric earth for several years) led Wowbagger to confirm Dent's identity before repeating "
You're a jerk, a complete kneebiter," before stranding him again.
Wowbagger was first featured in
Life, the Universe and Everything, not
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.