Ren and Stimpy, created by John Kricfalusi, are the titular characters in the Canadian/American co-produced animated television series The Ren and Stimpy Show and first appeared in the pilot episode, titled Big House Blues. Kricfalusi described the characters as homosexual in a January 28, 1997 interview with the San Francisco Examiner. Ren is a scrawny "Asthma-Hound" Chihuahua with a fairly long, rat-like, pink tail.

Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of Animation World Magazine described Ren as "scrawny," "dyspeptic," and "violently psychotic." On some occasions Ren "lost his mind" in a "cumulative process," resulting in Ren becoming, in Goodman's words, a "screaming klaxon, neon-pink eyes dilating into twin novae inches above his jagged, monolithic teeth." Andy Meisler of The New York Times described Ren as "adventurous," "intelligent," and "emotionally brittle." Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren in a manner that he describes as "a bad imitation of Peter Lorre." Billy West said that he auditioned to play Ren; the creators of the series believed that having West voice Ren and Stimpy would give him too large of a workload. West voiced Ren after Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi; Kricfalusi would return for the Spike TV episodes and unaired episodes of The Ren and Stimpy Show.

In the pilot, Pierre Decelles provided Ren's signature diabolical laughter, while West performed Ren's laugh in the series. But despite his violent behavior and psychotic wrath against Stimpy, Ren is shown to care a lot for Stimpy, and, in some episodes, Ren claims that Stimpy is his best friend.

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