New Orlean's Ignatius O'Reilly, inflated character in many senses of the word. 
 almost an idiot savant 
 an intellectual whose life revolves around making as little effort as possible, decrying all of modern life and culture (anything post medieval), who sees others as existing to support him in his sloth, to be exploited in his ill though out fantastical revolutions or to be lectured at on the travesty of modern life and middle class striving. 
 his only motivating obsession is in showing up his erstwhile girlfriend Myrna Minkoff by fomenting a greater social upheaval than those she claims in New York 
 any resistance to his needs or ideas are seen as intellectual failings 
 any setback is overblown as a conspiracy of fate or others against our hero 
 almost entirely unlikable character, but plenty of laughs 
 very good review from Jeffrey Keeten here