Wilerunner

Wilerunner
GENERAL
Looney Tunes
Character	Wile E. Coyote
Character	Road Runner
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Rivals/Occasional Friends
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash
Also Known As	Wileroad

Wilerunner is the slash ship between Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner from the Looney Tunes fandom.

Canon

Looney Tunes Shorts

Since the very first Wile E Coyote and Road Runner short "The Fast and the Furry-ous" in 1949, Wile E. Coyote is always after Road Runner as he wants to capture and eat him. To complete this task, Wile E buys products from the company ACME in order to capture the Road Runner but the product always ends up not working and the Road Runner always gets away.

Wile E and Road Runner are a package duo; While there are shorts that feature Wile E with Bugs, he's usually seen with the Road Runner, even in merchandise and later media. Wile E is so fixated on capturing the Road Runner, he will stop at nothing to capture the Road Runner. Road Runner meanwhile is usually oblivious to the fact that Wile E is trying to capture him and see it as a fun little game.

While other rivals have since soften their relationship, Wile E is still very much obsessed with capturing the Road Runner but Road Runner over the years has since felt sympathy for Wile E and is very worried about the coyote. Such as in an episode of The Looney Tunes show where Wile E suddenly disappeared into a wall during a chase sequence and Road Runner starting looking around, wondering where he could've went. Road Runner also has never fought or tried to kill the coyote, possibly because he sees him as a friend.

Wabbit/New Looney Tunes

Wile E is portrayed as pretentious, talkative, and believes himself to be above it all based on how he was characterized by Chuck Jones when paired with Bugs. There are only a few episodes that feature Wile E and Road Runner together as the series focuses more on Wile E as an adversary to Bugs than to Road Runner as a result. However, Wile E is shown to have a bird bath that is held up by a statue of Road Runner in multiple episodes. The few episodes featuring the dynamic between Wile E and Road Runner in the flesh begin with Road Runner making a delivery to Wile E or within his vicinity only to catch his attention. Seemingly unmotivated by a potential meal, Wile E is shown to feel compelled to chase Road Runner without understanding why and otherwise has no real ulterior motive behind catching him. Road Runner is otherwise characterized as normal, evading traps and outsmarting Wile E in various ways.

Gold Key Comics' Looney Tunes Comics

The two would be featured in various comics and short stories across the Looney Tunes titles published by Dell and then later Gold Key Comics. Among the titles that featured the characters was a separate series focusing on stories featuring the two in 1966 until 1984, Beep Beep the Road Runner. The depiction of Wile E and Road Runner featured in these stories would be characterized somewhat differently from their animated counterparts. While Wile E is still an inventor and as egotistical as he is portrayed in many of Chuck Jones' shorts, he is portrayed as a lot less dignified and poised as his animated counterpart presents himself as. On the other hand the Road Runner - named Beep Beep in the series - is shown to be a proactive father of three and unlike any other appearance he's had so far, he speaks often. Beep Beep is quite verbose and almost exclusively speaks in rhyme, though there are quite a few times where Beep Beep's dialogue doesn't rhyme at all.

A majority of the comic stories focusing on the two would involve Wile E attempting to hunt Beep Beep and his family while the road runners would evade capture, much like their animated counterparts. This status quo was explicitly stated to have been established over the course of several years since the hatching of Beep Beep's children, but unlike their animated counterparts, Wile E will often come a lot closer to success, where he does often succeed in catching Beep Beep's children. It is often a result of Beep Beep's own ingenuity that they're able to get out of trouble and avoid becoming Wile E's lunch. The fact this depiction of the Road Runner is a protective and loving single father of three young children could possibly be an explanation as to why Beep Beep is more proactive, often actively seeking to sabotage or otherwise foil Wile E's schemes.

Otherwise, the exact nature of the dynamic between Wile E and Beep Beep would depend on the specific story. In some stories Beep Beep genuinely feared and disliked Wile E and was angered by the repeated attempts to capture him and/or his children. In other stories Beep Beep seems to actively crave or seek out Wile E's companionship, with Wile E sometimes willing to oblige him in friendly small-talk. There are even a few where Beep Beep and his sons all view Wile E's chase as a game, and scheduling their day around the inevitability that he would chase them at some point. There was even a story where the family becomes distressed by the pretense that Wile E wouldn't be chasing them that day.

DC Comics' Looney Tunes Comics

Wile E and Road Runner's dynamic in the comics are identical to their portrayals in the shorts for the most part. Issue #93 was dedicated to the late Chuck Jones, creator of both Wile E and Road Runner who passed away. The Issue ends with Road Runner and Wile E watching cartoons together while holding each other. After the cartoon ends, Road Runner goes "Beep Beep" and the two begin chasing each other again. They leave behind a sign that reads "Chuck Jones. 1912-2002 as long as cartoons run".

Moments

Looney Tunes Shorts

War & Pieces

• Road Runner looks through some binoculars and sees Wile E's groin. He's a little too excited about this.

The Looney Tunes Show (2001)

• At the beginning of the show, various Looney Tunes characters are seen getting ready in their changing rooms. In Wile E and Road Runner's changing room, the two are seen watching TV together (Wile E noticeably has a arm around Road Runner). When the two realize they're being filmed, they begin chasing each other.

Little Go Beep

• The ends credits show a photo of Wile E and Road Runner together wearing suits.

New Looney Tunes/Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production

Bugs in the Garden

• Wile E has a bird bath in the shape of Road Runner.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

• Upon hearing tragic news, Wile E and Road Runner hold each other.
• Road Runner uses a Zamboni to clean up the Wile E clones on the court.

Fanon

Wilerunner is a fairly popular ship within the Looney Tunes fandom. Although Wile is always seen chasing and trying to eat the Road Runner, fans of the ship sees Wile E and Road Runner as being enemies to lovers. Since it's implied that all the Looney Tunes are actors and are best friends outside of the cartoons, some believe that Wile E and Road Runner are best friends when the camera isn't on them.

Fans of this ship also tend to ship Wile E.'s and Road Runner's counterparts in Looney Tunes-adjacent fandoms, with the primary ones being CalaBeep (their primary students) for Tiny Toon Adventures and Tiny Toons Looniversity and TechRev (their descendants) for Loonatics Unleashed.

On A03, Wilerunner is the third-most written ship for Looney Tunes. It's the most written for both Wile E. and Road Runner.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Wile E/Road Runner tag on AO3

Wile E & Road Runner tag on AO3

TUMBLR

Wile E/Road Runner tag on Tumblr

Wile E/Road Runner posts on Tumblr

Trivia

• Creator Chuck Jones used to have a set a rules for how every Road Runner and Wile E Coyote short should be played out. Three notable rules are "The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going 'Beep Beep,'" "No dialogue ever except 'Beep Beep'" and "The Coyote could stop at any time if he were not a fanatic", Over the years, Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones himself would break the rules, as later shorts would have Wile E speaking.
• It is heavily implied in later media that Wile E and Road Runner are actors, such as in Looney Tunes Back in Action.

Gallery