My man, I've been watching, reading and generally taking in Garfield media since I was a toddler. I know all about Garfield, and it is WEIRD.
Sure the comic strip has been about as invigorating as dry paste since the 90's and the Garfield and Friends cartoon show was genuinely great with no real catch, but then there's everything after. Everything this character has touched since Garfield and Friends ended is soaked in seven layers of sheer what the ****.
There's everything chronicled in the Defunctland video, which not only involves Garfield's tumultuous history in trying to get into theme parks, but when he finally did, they made, of all things, a Garfield themed horror boat ride that was too scary for the target audience of kids and that adult riders would go into to have sex, and was left to rot for 16 years until Viacom ordered them to destroy it and film themselves doing so.
Then there's Garfield: His 9 Lives, in which Garfield is portrayed as a mutated lab experiment, a detective who has relations with human women, and a terrifyingly realistic cat who goes feral and kills his elderly owner. In the end, Garfield dies and meets God.
The Garfield movies, in which Bill Murray only joined on because he didn't realize it was being directed by the other Cohen Brothers, where Garfield is the only bulgy eyed CGI cat amongst real animals, including Odie, who is just a dog. In it, Garfield almost causes a four way train crash.
Garfield Minus Garfield, which is about showcasing how depressing and pathetic Jon looks when he doesn't have Garfield to take his frustrations out on, getting official acknowledgement through a legitimate PAWS Inc published book release, complete with Garfield Minus Garfield comics edited by Jim Davis himself.
A Garfield direct to video animated movie including an edited version of a Garfield strip where Jon graphically cusses out Garfield as a foreground element, in which the word "Motherf*cker" is clearly visible.
Garfield Kart. I own and have played Garfield Kart and it is the most unexplainable experience of a game I think I've ever played. It then went on to get a sequel that is actually just a remake of the first game that's even worse.
The otherwise beautifully animated Garfield and Friends opening sequence was reanimated for Streaming in truly awful flash animation for no reason.
They've recently discovered that the McDonalds Garfield mugs from the 80's have a lethal amount of lead paint in them. I have a few of those and am now concerned for my long term health prospects.
One of the artists for the Garfield strip has drawn multiple pieces of Garfield and the gang fighting Sans and Papyrus.
That's not even getting into all the insane abstract post modernism that is Garfield's internet presence, some of which has gotten actual acknowledgement in official Garfield media.
And finally, of course, Garfield being playable in a Super Smash Bros clone.
To deny that Garfield has the most ****ing bonkers history, the craziest goddamn legacy, the most insane track record, I don't think you can even call yourself a fan at that point!