When Dungeon Crawler Carl author Matt Dinniman and audiobook narrator Jeff Hays were recently asked about the secret to keeping a certain feline character from the series from being a joke, my first impulse was to express Donut-level outrage -- MONGO IS APPALLED! How could Princess Donut possibly ever be a joke?... And yet, as someone who's had to describe the series to people who haven't read the series, ok, I get it. "So this guy and his ex-girlfriend's cat are trying to survive this alien-run intergalactic game show, but he's barefoot and in boxers, and the cat can talk..." It's a fair question. During the ScreenRant interview, Dinniman encouraged Hays to answer the question, and I absolutely adore his answer. Hays voices Princess Donut (along with countless other characters) for the DCC audiobooks. In addition to explaining why people don't see Princess Donut The Queen Anne Chonk as a joke, he also managed to sum up what I love so much about her. I think on the surface, people think of her as a joke. But it doesn't take long for you to hear what she has to say, in both the way that she can be caustic, and in the way that she can actually be quite vulnerable in the story. She learns a lot, and I think the arc is probably the key there.I love the care Hays takes in answering the question, and how succinct he is in the way he sums up what makes Donut such a great character. Yes, she's a cat, but she's a fully developed character within the story, with thoughts, opinions, choices to make and lessons to learn. There are moments in the series you would absolutely not want to mess with her, and moments when she's so sweet and vulnerable -- as Hays pointed out. I talked about my love for Carl and Donut's relationship a bit when we shared the comments Matt Dinniman made at Comic-Con about originally planning to separate Carl and Donut early on in the series. (Thank goodness that didn't happen.) One of the best things about the series is seeing Donut and Carl's characters evolve as they experience new things and develop trust with each other. I love the approach Dinniman has taken with Donut in particular, because she can be so funny at times, but she's always lovable and fiercely protective of the ones she loves. Dinniman has said he was inspired to create a cat character after attending cat shows, and there's undoubtedly humor in the way Donut is portrayed. It's easy to see why people might assume she's there for laughs, but readers of the series know better, and clearly so does Hays. It's an understatement to say that Jeff Hays does an amazing job of bringing the story to life with his voice for the audiobooks. Hearing him describe Donut the way he does shows what a solid grasp he has on one of the best characters he gets to portray. It's one more reason I'm really glad he'll be voicing donut for the planned Dungeon Crawler Carl TV show. So far, he's the only person cast in the book-to-screen adaptation of the series, which will eventually be available to those with a Peacock description. Between the show and the anticipated Book 9 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, we have a lot to look forward to!