Grandpa Beagle

Grandpa Beagle, also known as Blackheart Beagle, is the grandfather, founder and sometimes leader of the Beagle Boys. He first appeared in the Carl Barks stories  The fantastic river race (as Blackheart Beagle) and The Money Well (as Grandpa Beagle).

Appearance
In "The Fantastic River Race" and The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Blackheart Beagle looked very similar to his present-day grandkids, albeit with a long mustache, a black and blue uniform and sailor hat. In "The Money Well" he looks like an old Beagle Boy with the number 186-802.

Grandpa Beagle is used again in 1962 by Rodolfo Cimino, as the Beagle Boys' leader, in the story Zio Paperone caporale d'assalto. In Italian stories, Grandpa Beagle has the word "Grazia" instead of a number, indicating that he may have been pardoned. Sometimes he is portrayed in the same phisical shape as his grandkids, sometimes thinner, and sometimes he's thin when all the Beagle Boys are shown as such.

He sometimes appears smoking a corn pipe.

Portrayal
Grandpa Beagle has different portrayals depending on the writer:
 * Brazilian writers depict him as a respected semi-retired crook who sometimes gives advice to the Beagle Boys.
 * Italian writers show him directly leading the Beagle Boys, and while they tend to turn his schemes into failures, he has some patience with them because, well, they are his grandchildren.
 * Don Rosa portrays Grandpa Beagle as one of the greatest villains in Duckburg, even capable to assemble an alliance of Scrooge McDuck's enemies in "A Little Something Special".

Trivia

 * Just like John D. Rockerduck, Grandpa Beagle was used only once by his creator, Carl Barks, but became popular in Italian comics.
 * It's unknown if Barks intended or not that Blackheart Beagle from "The Great River Race" and Grandpa Beagle from "The Money Well" were one and the same or not, but Don Rosa made them the same guy in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.