His lust for money often drove him to participate in criminal activities—usually by enlisting the aid of associates—mainly his brother-in-law, who was his right-hand man and partner in crime, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
Boss is forever angry at the Duke family, particularly Bo and Luke, for continually exposing and halting his various crooked schemes.
[citation needed] Initially, the character was created as a nemesis for the Duke family to battle, but as the series evolved over its first and subsequent seasons, Hogg developed more into a comical money-grabbing villain, with more intent on performing various get-rich-quick schemes and shady plots, than ever knowingly causing anyone serious harm.
By the time of the 1997 reunion movie, Booke had died, so rather than replace him with a new actor or similar character, Hogg's death was written into the script.
Some of Hogg's favorite schemes include bank and armored car robbery, counterfeiting, fraud, and moonshine running.
Boss reasons that by framing Bo and Luke, he will more easily acquire the Duke farm—the property he most covets, and for which he held the mortgage—for little to no cost.
Though Boss's crimes should land him in prison, he usually winds up with little more than a slap on the wrist, such as donating his ill-gotten proceeds to charity, or having to personally re-sow by hand a crop that he had destroyed.
Some of the more memorable schemes involve Rosco setting up fake fire hydrants next to parked cars, using hair dryers as radar guns (to ticket people for speeding), and placing hidden stop signs or speed limit signs that mysteriously spring into view after an unsuspecting motorist drives by.
Famous singer victims include: Roy Orbison, Buck Owens, Mel Tillis, Dottie West, Tammy Wynette, Hoyt Axton, Johnny Paycheck and The Oak Ridge Boys twice, Loretta Lynn, and Mickey Gilley, whose performance he also tried to pirate.
Despite Boss Hogg's unending desire to have Bo and Luke imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, his principal rival always remained their uncle, Jesse Duke.
had a feud dating back to their ridge-running days in the 1930s, which continued to simmer after Bo and Luke were indicted for moonshine-running, and Jesse began protecting them from J.D.
held a grudging respect for one another and enjoyed a "friendship" of sorts (Jesse once claimed he and Hogg were "friends and enemies"), as both would help each other when circumstances warranted.
Despite this, they have never made any serious attempt to have him removed from his position, via any of their friends who can cross the Hazzard county line and report on his corrupt actions, indicating that they are unwilling to see Hogg truly placed in legal trouble, despite all the issues he causes for them.
In her lone first season appearance ("Repo Men"), she is played as spoiled (she is seen to be demanding that Boss buy her a Rolls-Royce for her birthday).
By the later seasons, Lulu was often seen to be on friendly terms with the family - particularly Jesse, with whom she would occasionally consort if she thought Boss was getting himself too deep into trouble.
While apprehensive to trust her, and scheming behind her back at all times, Boss seems to genuinely love Lulu, frequently calling her such pet names, as "Angel Food Cake", "Marshmallow", and "Sugarplum Puddin'."
Like their uncle, both Hughie and Jamie Lee are often up to no good: Hughie (who, like his uncle, wore an all-white three-piece suit, though he drove a Volkswagen Beetle, in stark contrast to Boss's Cadillac) is often more crooked than Boss Hogg, and is seen in some episodes blackmailing and using wise tactics, while Jamie Lee is seen in only one episode (see below).
Hogg", Boss is wrongly diagnosed with a fatal illness, and adopts a nice, kind persona, only to revert to his usual crooked, mean self when he learns that he is not really about to die.
In "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (Episode: #7.5 – original airdate: 19 October 1984), Boss Hogg suffered amnesia as a result of being hit on the head.
Unlike other vehicles in the series, Boss Hogg's Cadillac is typically handled carefully, and he was always blaming Cooter if even the smallest thing happened to it.
Although it was indicated that this Boss Hogg enjoyed fine cuisine and had a slightly enlarged belly, he was not the overweight glutton of the television series.
A drunken hallucination Boss Hogg appears to Dee Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 10, Episode 1, "The Gang Beats Boggs".
[16][17] Writing in 2017, Lexye L. Schockley saw in Boss Hogg, although fictional and "exaggerated on all fronts", the image of a flawed local leader who abuses his unchecked power, who have been and still are not uncommon in small-town politics.
[18] Boss Hogg has also been described as a stereotypical "Southerner",[19] but in contrast to the "sly Duke boys", focusing on the negative traits of bigotry and stupidity.
[20] Boss Hogg's initials "J. D." inspired part of the name of J D Wetherspoon, a pub chain with locations around the United Kingdom and Ireland.