In a typical Popeye the Sailor cartoon, a villain (usually Bluto) makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie," Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, Popeye the sailor makes short work of the villain. In 1934, a statistic was released noting that spinach sales had increased 33% since the creation of the Popeye cartoons, and the spinach-growing community of Crystal City, Texas, even erected a statue of the character in recognition of Popeye's positive effects on the spinach industry.

Hamburgers are Wimpy's all-time favorite food, and he is often seen eating several at a time, but he is usually too cheap to pay for them himself. A recurring joke involves Wimpy's attempts to con other characters into buying his meal. Wimpy's best-known catchphrase started in 1931 as, "Cook me up a hamburger. I'll pay you Tuesday." By 1932, it had become the famous "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today".

The 1981 Nintendo videogame Donkey Kong, which introduced its eponymous character and Nintendo's unofficial company mascot Mario to the world, was originally supposed to feature Popeye instead of Mario (then known as Jumpman). Donkey Kong was supposed to be Bluto, and the character Pauline was originally Olive Oyl, but when Nintendo was unable to acquire the rights to use the actual franchise characters, it decided to create original characters instead.

In 1941, with World War II becoming a greater concern in the United States, Popeye was enlisted into the U.S. Navy, as depicted in the 1941 short The Mighty Navy. His regular costume was changed from the dark blue shirt, red neckerchief and light blue jeans he wore in the original comics to an official white Navy sailor uniform, which he retained until the 1970s. In these wartime shorts, Popeye becomes an ordinary, downtrodden, Naval seaman, usually getting the blame for mishaps.

Popeye made his film debut in Popeye the Sailor, a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon. Although Betty Boop has a small cameo appearance, the cartoon mostly introduces Popeye, who comes to the rescue of Olive Oyl after she is kidnapped by Bluto. The love triangle between Popeye, Olive, and Bluto quickly became the template for most Popeye productions that would follow.

The Sea Hag is the last witch on earth, and a pirate who sails the Seven Seas in her ship "The Black Barnacle." Because she is a woman, Popeye cannot physically attack her. His honor forbids him to hit a woman, even one as evil as the Sea Hag. In such cases, it is Olive Oyl herself who steps in and does physical damage. One notable exception is in the 1960s cartoon, "Old Salt Tale" where Popeye grabs the Sea Hag's whip and uses it to fling her into the sea.

Popeye has a magical a pet called Eugene the Jeep. Eugene lives in a 3 dimensional world but is really a 4 dimensional creature. He answers yes/no questions by bowing down for yes and not bowing down for no. Eugene subsists on a diet of orchids.

The film features Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor Man and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing that director Robert Altman had proved "it is possible to take the broad strokes of a comic strip and turn them into sophisticated entertainment."

She has a headquarters on Plunder Island, where she keeps a pride of lions that she uses to dispatch her enemies.

Popeye's comic strip was responsible for popularizing, although not inventing, the word "goon" (meaning a thug or lackey). Goons in Popeye's world were large humanoids with indistinctly drawn faces that were particularly known for being used as muscle and slave labor by the Sea Hag. One particular goon, a female named Alice, is a recurring character in the animated shorts, but she is usually a fairly nice character.