Kilgore Trout is a character created by author Kurt Vonnegut. Originally created as a fictionalized version of author Theodore Sturgeon (Vonnegut's colleague), Trout's consistent presence in Vonnegut's works such as the novel Breakfats of Champions has also led critics to view him as the author's own alter ego. Trout is also the titular author of the novel Venus on the Half-Shell, pseudonymously written by Philip José Farmer.