Four brothers and outlaws acting as the most recurring enemies to protagonist Lucky Luke, they were created by artist Morris and writer René Goscinny.

Historically, Bob and Grat were killed there, but Emmett survived severe wounds and was imprisoned for 14 years, while Bill did not take part at all.

Each is taller than the previous one, though they vary in personality: from Joe the hot-tempered leader to the goofy, dim-witted, childlike Averell who thinks chiefly about food.

The shortest, oldest, angriest, evilest, and least stupid of the brothers, Joseph "Joe" Dalton, is the leader of the gang who frequently masterminds their prison breaks and various schemes.

Perpetually furious and motivated chiefly by a consuming hatred of Lucky Luke and Rantanplan, Joe frequently beats up his youngest brother Averell for his dim-wittedness.

When the brothers split up in "Cavalier seul", Joe is the only one who continues robbing banks, stagecoaches and trains; he settled in a ghost town to revel in his new wealth.

In both cases when Lucky Luke arrives with warrants for their arrest, he finds that each brother has made use of his new status to gain legal impunity.

In the Xilam Animated Series, Jack is Joe's right-hand brother, often questioning and agreeing with Joe's schemes while William becomes the Bookworm of the gang, being knowledgeable about topics that the gang usually ignores and sometimes breaking the fourth wall to explain some facts to the viewer (The Diving Bell Concept, Women's rights in the 19th century, etc.).

Obsessed chiefly with food, Averell is sometimes prone to eating various non-edible items such as soap bars and candles, which he finds delicious.

In "La corde au cou" Averell is shown to be quite content with married life, much unlike his brothers (although the personal traits of their respective Indian wives could also be a contributing factor).

The Daltons appeared also in the first Italian live action movie Lucky Luke (1991) and the follow-up TV series, in which they were portrayed by Ron Carey, Dominic Barto, Bo Greigh and Fritz Sperberg.

A Lucky Luke Adventure produced by Xilam stars the Daltons as the main characters, even though the comic The caravan that served as inspiration to the film does not.