Bandit Custard Heeler[1] (born 25 October 1978) is a main character in the Australian preschool animated television series Bluey, created by Joe Brumm.

Eventually, Bandit, coming to the realisation that his family did not want to move and having been told the buyers pulled out, changed his mind and withdrew the house from sale.

The character's occupation was partly influenced by one of his brothers, Adam, who was an archeologist in his own right,[26] and had been involved in the discovery of fossilised remains of Homo floresiensis,[27] which he nicknamed "The Hobbit" at a Queensland university.

The Heelers, including Bandit, are presented as a nuclear family, with him serving as one of the show's two working parents (his wife Chilli is employed as an airport security guard).

[40] Philippa Chandler of The Guardian described the character as "laconic, playful and certainly more emotionally intelligent than, say, Peppa Pig’s hapless dad".

[41] Amanda Hess, writing for The New York Times, opined that Bandit is "not only a good father — he is a fantasy, one crafted to appeal to adults as much as to children.

"[42] Writing for The Conversation, Kate Cantrell and David Burton criticized the character for occasionally bullying the children and acting like a larrikin.