Rat was a comic strip created by Stephan Pastis in his law school years. It essentially served as an outlet for Pastis's thoughts and ideas when he was bored in class. It featured a character named Rat who was rather depressed and philosophical, often musing on life, its complexities, and its possibilities. After this, the character Rat was placed in Bradbury Road, another strip that Pastis tried to get syndicated, but was also rejected. Eventually, Pastis decided to resurrect Rat with a less depressing tone and replaced Poe with Pig, thus creating Pearls Before Swine.