Women's Health September 17, 2026 0 Comments

Unleash the Power: Dungeon Crawler Carl and Princess Donut’s Most Epic Quotes That Will Crush Your Mind and Fuel Your Grind!

Ever wonder what happens when a broken apocalypse survivor teams up with a sassy, newly sentient cat destined for intergalactic stardom? Well, Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl isn’t just your average fantasy ride — it’s a wild, chaotic mix of grit, humor, and heart that’s grabbing readers by the throat and refusing to let go. Eight books deep (with a ninth on the horizon), plus graphic novels, a Peacock series, and an ever-growing empire of games and collectibles, this world is exploding onto the scene like a tornado in a teacup. At its core? Carl and Princess Donut — a duo so genuine and unpredictable, they’re impossible not to root for. He fights to keep his humanity while battling a nightmarish system; she embraces her royal kitty swagger with ruthless charm. Instead of me just telling you what’s up, let them reveal their story in their own raw, unfiltered words — from survival struggles and fierce battles to the glitz of fame and, naturally, the urgent quest to find Carl some pants. Ready to dive in? LEARN MORE

With Dungeon Crawler Carl, author Matt Dinniman has created one of the most unique—and increasingly popular—fantasy worlds to come along in years. Readers have embraced apocalypse survivor Carl and his newly sentient cat, Princess Donut, through eight books (with a ninth on the way), graphic novels, a forthcoming Peacock television series and a rapidly expanding universe of games, collectibles and more.

But as wild as Dinniman’s world can get (and wild is actually an understatement), much of its appeal comes down to Carl and Donut themselves. He’s angry, increasingly horrified by the system they’ve been forced into and determined not to let it strip away his humanity. She’s a former show cat who discovers that an intergalactic audience is exactly the one that she deserves. Together, they’re funny, surprisingly moving and almost impossible not to root for.

So rather than simply tell you what makes these two work, we thought we’d let them do it themselves. Starting with the first Dungeon Crawler Carl, here are Carl and Princess Donut in their own words—on each other, surviving the dungeon, fighting back, becoming intergalactic celebrities and, naturally, the importance of finding Carl some pants.

Carl & Donut on each other

Carl: “I never considered myself a big fan of cats. But, if we’re being truthful here, I liked Donut. That cat did not give two sh**s about anybody or anything, and I could respect that.”
Donut: “I need you. And you need me, okay? Look, I’m really scared here. I don’t want to be alone.”
Context: Early in their partnership, Donut drops the princess act long enough to admit why she and Carl really need one another.

Donut: “If we die, I want you to know that I love you, Carl. I don’t love you as much as I love Miss Beatrice, because she’s, you know, she’s my person. Or as much as I love Ferdinand. But I love you.”
Context: A drunken Donut makes a characteristically qualified declaration of affection in the middle of a disastrous fight.

Donut: “I don’t want to do this without you. Carl, I lied before. I won’t be fine on my own. I need you.”
Context: Believing Carl is about to die protecting her, Donut retracts her earlier boast that she’d be fine crawling the dungeon alone.

Who they were and who they’re becoming

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Donut: “Have you ever woken up from a long dream, one where you’re one thing, and now that you’re awake, it takes you a moment to realize that’s not who you really are?”
Context: Newly transformed and able to speak, Donut tries to explain what it feels like to reconsider her former life with human-level awareness.

Donut: “Oh, I am a princess, Carl. But I’ll try not to be too much of an a**hole.”
Context: Carl challenges Donut’s behavior and threatens to dissolve their partnership; Donut apologizes without surrendering her identity as a princess.

Carl: “For every person that ticked away, I felt I was losing a part of myself, a part of my humanity.”
Context: Watching the surviving crawler population fall below one million, Carl realizes that the numbers no longer feel abstract to him.

Carl: “Those numbers. Those goddamned numbers. I wished we didn’t have to look at them.”
Context: As the first floor collapses and the survivor count plunges, Carl is confronted again by the human cost represented by the crawler numbers.

Surviving the Dungeon

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Carl: “You will not break me. F**k you all. You will not break me.”
Context: Near the end of the floor, Carl thinks about Mordecai, the scars the dungeon has inflicted across centuries and the audiences safely watching the carnage from home.

Carl: “It was us or them.”
Context: Carl struggles with killing monsters who may themselves be pawns of the system but recognizes that he and Donut still have to become strong enough to survive.

Carl: “I’m probably about to die, but I think you’ll be okay.”
Context: Carl shields Donut immediately before deliberately triggering an explosion that he believes may kill him.

Humanity and doing the right thing

Dungeon Crawler Carl - Webtoon graphic novel — Amazon

Carl: “She deserved better. We all would’ve been stronger together.”
Context: Carl confronts Frank and Maggie over their daughter’s death and their decision to survive by killing other crawlers.

Carl: “Rebecca W hadn’t been some sort human trafficker. She’d been someone like me. Afraid, and at the end, alone.”
Context: Carl discovers that Frank’s story about Rebecca was a lie and recognizes another frightened crawler in her.

Donut: “If we don’t stop them, they’ll hurt somebody else.”
Context: Donut challenges Carl’s reluctance to confront dangerous crawlers because doing so could mark them as player killers.

Fighting back

'Dungeon Crawler Carl' alternate cover — mattdinniman.com

Carl: “We are, quite literally, fighting for our lives here. We are not willing participants, and I am getting sick of pretending we are.”
Context: Carl pushes back against the expectation that he and Donut should schedule their struggle for survival around intergalactic television appearances.

Carl: “You have already taken everything from us. Do not ask us to give more than what we have. We are not going to fight or survive on your schedule.”
Context: From the same confrontation, Carl makes it explicit that the Dungeon’s producers don’t get to dictate how he and Donut survive.

Carl: “These people aren’t our friends. Don’t forget that.”
Context: Carl warns Donut not to mistake the people managing their intergalactic television appearances for allies.

Carl: “They’re making it look like they’re the good guys, saving us from ourselves.”
Context: Carl realizes that the dungeon’s television coverage is deliberately portraying Earth and humanity at their worst.

Carl: “I needed to remember who the real enemies were. The Syndicate. Borant. The kua-tin.”
Context: Carl recognizes that the creatures he’s being forced to kill aren’t necessarily the people responsible for what is happening.

Carl: “We are not participating in this cruelty.”
Context: Carl refuses to cooperate when the Maestro’s program attempts to turn the suffering and deaths of other crawlers into entertainment.

Fame, fans & putting on a show

Dungeon Crawler Carl Deluxe Edition — Amazon

Donut: “Every cat show I have ever done is an interview. I was bred for this. Let me do my thing.”
Context: Donut explains why she, rather than Carl, should take the lead during their first intergalactic television appearance.

Donut: “We are going to kill them big. We are going to kill them with style.”
Context: Donut promises Odette’s intergalactic audience that following her and Carl will be worth their time.

Donut: “Well this is boring. How are we supposed to set the intergalactic internet on fire when the second floor is the same as the first floor?”
Context: Having discovered celebrity, Donut is already worried that the second floor isn’t sufficiently exciting for her new audience.

Donut: “You guys are going to want to follow me and Carl. You’re going to want to favorite us.”
Context: Donut directly pitches herself and Carl to Odette’s audience, immediately before promising that they’ll “kill them with style.”

Princess Donut explains the world

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Donut: “Thumbs. It’s all about the thumbs.”
Context: Asked whether she’s actually Earth royalty, Donut explains why humans constitute Earth’s ruling class.

Donut: “But amongst cats, which is what I am, we have what’s called an elective monarchy. But it’s really just a beauty contest.”
Context: Donut explains the feline political system—and conveniently establishes the legitimacy of her own royal title.

Donut: “I’m a cat. Cats don’t wear pants. Don’t be so droll.”
Context: Donut rejects Carl’s observation that she isn’t wearing pants either.

Donut: “First we need to find you some pants. I will not be presented to the universe in such a fashion.”
Context: Donut decides that Carl’s lack of pants is a public-relations problem that must be solved before their television debut.

Donut: “I’m not going to have a disgusting bug thing as a pet, Carl. You can’t even put a bow tie on a grub.”
Context: Donut explains the aesthetic deficiency in Carl’s preferred choice of pet.

Donut: “Cocker spaniels deserve to have their corpses desecrated.”
Context: Donut delivers her characteristically extreme assessment of dogs.

Donut: “He’s a little slow. Intelligence of only three. Sad, really. But he’s been with the family for a while now, and I just can’t see myself letting him go.”
Context: Newly able to speak, Donut explains Carl to Mordecai as though Carl were the family pet.

Donut: “So you have been promoted from manservant to bodyguard. Congratulations, Carl.”
Context: Donut establishes the hierarchy of their new partnership by giving Carl a promotion.

Only in ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - Ace — Ace

Carl: “Godda**it, Donut.”
Context: Carl’s habitual expression of exasperation becomes so recognizable that Odette’s program turns it into his catchphrase; the show assembles a montage demonstrating that he’s already said it at least 15 times.

Carl: “Death measles. Now that’s funny.”
Context: While impaired in the middle of a fight, Carl finds the dungeon’s terminology unexpectedly hilarious.

Carl: “Whatever happened to killing them with style?”
Context: Carl needles Donut about her sudden objection to gore-themed necromancy.

Donut: “One doesn’t have to resort to gore-themed violence in order to be stylish.”
Context: Donut’s immediate response to Carl’s challenge.

Their changing status

Carl: “There was something to be said about being anonymous. Quietly efficient. That wasn’t going to happen, not here, not when I had Donut with me.”
Context: After their first television appearance, Carl recognizes that Donut’s growing celebrity makes his preferred strategy of quietly surviving the dungeon virtually impossible.