List of Garfield characters

This is a list of characters in the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis, as well as the animated cartoon series Garfield and Friends.

Primary characters

Garfield

Main article: Garfield (character)

First Appearance: June 19, 1978

Garfield is Jon Arbuckle's cat.

Jon Arbuckle

Main article: Jon Arbuckle

First Appearance: June 19, 1978

Jon is the owner of Garfield and Odie. He is the primary fodder and conversation partner to Garfield and is often the butt of his jokes. His birthday is July 28, 1951 (the same month and day as that of Jim Davis), which had not been confirmed in the strips until 2001. In the strip's early years, Jon was portrayed as a cartoonist, although no references have been made to his job since the early 1980s.

He is played by Breckin Meyer in the Garfield films. His first television appearance was on Here Comes Garfield, and his last was on The Ocean Blue.

Odie

Main article: Odie

First Appearance: August 8, 1978

When Lyman moved in, he brought his dog with him. Once he disappeared from the strip, Odie became Jon's dog like Lyman never existed. In the film, He is a stray puppy and Liz gives him away to Jon because she felt bad for him to be living in a shelter all alone. Garfield strongly dislikes him at first and they have a dance-off. But Garfield later reconciles his feelings and goes to rescue the pup when he "dognapped".

Major Characters

Dr. Liz Wilson

First Appearance: June 26, 1979

Dr. Liz Wilson is Garfield's veterinarian and a long-time crush of Jon Arbuckle. Although she has somewhat of a deadpan, sardonic persona, she never reacts negatively to Jon's outlandish and goofball behavior, even finding it endearing on occasion. Jon often attempts to ask her out on a date, but rarely succeeds; however, in a series of strips from summer 2006, Liz finally admitted she had feelings for him. The two have been portrayed as a couple since. In the film Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties Jon proposes marriage to Liz and she accepts. They become engaged. However, this is not mentioned in or connected to the strips. [1].

On Garfield and Friends, she was voiced by Julie Payne, occasionally appearing in the first two seasons. In the live-action movies, she is played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Her first albeit brief television appearance was on the second TV special Garfield on the Town. Her last was on Arrivederci, Odie!. In a few of the July 2007 strips, Garfield became jealous of Liz, until they became friends July 24.

Arlene

First Appearance: December 17, 1980

Garfield's girlfriend. She is a pink-furred cat with a long neck and a hole between her two frontal teeth Garfield often makes fun of. She once wished their relationship would take a few steps, but Garfield does not seem to notice. Garfield once quipped in the early strips that he and Arlene have an apparent love-hate relationship: Garfield loves himself, and Arlene hates that. Once, while Garfield was waiting for Arlene to come to a date, another beautiful cat walks up to Garfield and greets him. At the same time, Arlene appeared, and quickly got enraged. In the next strip, Arlene called Garfield a "cad", but Garfield clears up the misunderstanding, and Arlene forgives him.

Although she never appeared on the animated series (with the exception of a cameo appearance in the fourth season), she appeared in the film version as well, where she was voiced by Debra Messing. In the Garfield and Friends Episode "The Legend of the Lake", there is a prehistoric female cat in the story who bears a striking resemblance to Arlene, and is also the same color.

In the book Garfield's Judgment Day, it was revealed that she was a stray cat, which wasn't known by Garfield until emergency situations brought it to light.

Pooky

First Appearance: October 23, 1978

Pooky is Garfield's teddy bear and best friend that Garfield discovered stuffed in a drawer. Garfield sometimes communicates with Pooky as if he were a living animal; he can also be over-protective of Pooky. On rare occasions, Pooky has been shown performing simple tasks such as walking (Please show strips involving this). These actions have never been explained, hinting that Pooky might have a mind of his own. When Pooky lost an eye, Garfield got a new one for his birthday. He first appeared in a chest in the first Garfield comic. He decided to name him Pooky.

Nermal

First Appearance: September 3, 1979

Nermal is a small gray kitten, self-proclaimed "The world's cutest kitten." He frequently makes unannounced visits into Garfield's home, where he flaunts his cuteness and becomes the focus of Jon's attention for the entire duration of his visit, much to Garfield's dismay. Nermal especially does this on Garfield's birthdays to remind him of how he is getting older. Although Nermal was introduced as belonging to Jon's parents (an assumed cousin of Garfield), this connection was dropped from the strip.

He once mentioned that he is going to stay cute and small forever because he is a midget; "I think small," he once quipped, "and the coffee and cigarettes don't hurt." Nermal also recently admitted to having undergone extensive cosmetic surgery, claiming that a single eyelash is all that is still real. [2]

His first television appearance was on School Daze,and his last was on Change of Mind; Desirée Goyette provided his voice. In Garfield: The Movie, Nermal is portrayed as an adult Siamese cat in the neighborhood rather than a small gray kitten, and is voiced by David Eigenberg. In this movie, Nermal is somewhat "imbetween smart and dimwitted".

A common misconception about Nermal is that he is actually a girl, but this is not true as Garfield refers to him using male pronouns.

Secondary Characters

Mom

First Appearance: February 13, 1980

Jon’s mother lives on a farm and is known to be a great cook, offering a wide variety of food for Jon to eat when he visits, especially her ability to create dozens of potato-based dishes. Based on Jim Davis' mother, Jon's mother is also known for sending him and Garfield cooked meals in packages. In the Garfield and Friends episode Feeling Feline, she appears in a speaking line along with Jon's dad (no speaking parts) in Jon's dream. In A Garfield Christmas Special, she was voiced by Julie Payne.

Dad

First Appearance: February 13, 1980

Jon's father tends the family farm. In his sole animated appearance, A Garfield Christmas Special, he was voiced by Pat Harrington Jr. and as proved in one strip, has only very rarely been off the farm. Based on Jim Davis' father, James William Davis. Also, every Christmas he reads the Christmas story 'Binky, the clown who saved Christmas' to everyone.

Doc Boy

First Appearance: May 17, 1983

Jon's brother who lives on a farm with his mother and father, and often fights with Jon, calling him a "city slicker". Hates being called "Doc Boy". This character is based on Jim Davis's real-life brother, David "Doc" Davis, while the "boy" is likely a reference to John Boy from The Waltons.

In A Garfield Christmas Special, he was voiced by David Lander.

Retired Major Characters

Lyman

First Appearance: August 7, 1978
Last Appearance: April 24, 1983
Lyman was Jon's friend, and the original owner of Odie; he originally lived in Jon's house. Lyman first appeared on August 7, 1978. He disappeared from the comic strip after April 24, 1983, with no explanation given. He made a cameo appearance in the strip on Garfield's 10th birthday June 19, 1988, appearing in the strip's splash panel and on the Scary Scavenger Hunts I and II games at Garfield's website, in which he both helps and scares you throughout the game. According to Davis, Lyman's original purpose was to be someone who Jon could talk to and express other ideas—a role which was increasingly taken over by Garfield himself.

Clive

First Appearance: April 22, 1996
Last Appearance: July 16, 2003
Clive was Garfield's invisible friend Garfield made up, who debuted on April 22, 1996, in a week of strips. Later on, he would "appear" again.

Supporting characters

Grandma

First Appearance: January 25, 1982

Jon and Doc Boy's grandmother. She loves Jon, Garfield, and Odie, and occasionally makes appearances throughout the series. The most is revealed about her in Garfield's Christmas special, where it is revealed that her husband has died and she talks about her life with him. In the strip, Grandma was originally depicted as an elderly woman, wearing a plain dark dress and her hair in a tight bun; her animated appearances outfit her as an energetic elderly lady in a sweater and jeans; sometimes, she is also seen riding a motorcycle. In A Garfield Christmas Special and Garfield's Thanksgiving, she was voiced by Pat Carroll.

Irma

First Appearance: June 9, 1979 (though not by name until October 19, 1979)

Irma is the waitress and owner of "Irma's Diner", a diner occasionally visited by Jon and Garfield. Irma is a model waitress, when she isn't abusing her customers or shaving her legs at the counter. But then the food isn't much either. Irma is often shown to be behaving oddly, for instance, her idea of a "Chicken Surprise" is putting on a chicken mask and yelling "SURPRISE!!".

Herman Post

First Appearance: July 19, 1978

Jon Arbuckle's mailman. Garfield constantly torments him by ripping off his pants and leaving him shredded and scratched, and he perpetually tries to find a way to deliver the mail safely, but rarely succeeds. He did, however, succeed in delivering the mail safely by folding the mail into paper airplanes and throwing them at the house, to which Garfield replied "NO FAIR!". In Garfield and Friends, the mailman was voiced by Gregg Berger.

Binky the Clown

First Appearance: September 15, 1986

A television personality noted for his extremely loud and piercing greetings, most notably "HEEEEEEEY, KIDS!". He appears to be a parody of Bozo the Clown. He was first mentioned on March, 13, 1985 in the comic strips.In Garfield's Halloween Adventure, the character made his first animated appearance and was given a voice. Binky was first seen in the comics on September 15, 1986. On Garfield and Friends, Binky became more of a regular, and would modify his greeting to suit who it was he was greeting, such as "HEEEEEEEY, CAT!" He also had his own segment on the show during the second and third seasons, called Screaming With Binky, in which he showed up in the midst of a certain activity and performed his trademark greeting, ruining said activity. Most of these segments were cut in syndication, but have been restored for the DVD releases. Like Jon, Binky was voiced by Thom Huge. His first television appearance was on Peace & Quiet. His last was on The Feline Philosopher.

Minor characters

• Spiders often appear in the comic strip. Garfield, who despises spiders, whacks them with newspaper.

• Birds occasionally appear as Garfield hunts them, usually by lying in ambush near the birdbath.

• Mice: Jon's house is also inhabited by mice, many of whom make cameo appearances in the strip. They are often portrayed as living their own social lives in their mouse holes. Although Jon wants Garfield to get rid of the mice, this never happens. On at least two occasions, the mice have been given names: one named Squeak appeared in the mid-1980s, and one named Herman Vermin in the late 1990s. There is also one mouse named Stretch, similar to Garfield's rubber chicken, though only appeared in one strip.

• Rip, Bob, and Juanita: The rats living with Garfield. They are often unseen but in a week of strips garfield met them and tried to lure them out like the pied piper.

Neighbors

• Hubert and Reba are an elderly couple who live near Jon. Hubert is often portrayed as an older man, while Reba is often either unseen or tending to household chores. The couple made an appearance in Here Comes Garfield.

• Mrs. Feeny is an unseen character in the comic strip, tormented by Garfield. She is regularly calling Jon to tell him what Garfield has done. She tends to get revenge on Jon for Garfield's deeds.

Inanimate characters

• RX-2, the talking bathroom scale, makes fun of Garfield's weight, causing Garfield to either destroy it or threaten to.

• Garfield's alarm clock often "speaks" by means of thought bubbles. Garfield often destroys his alarm clock by smashing it.

• The Splut Pies are flying pies which strike Garfield in the face on random occasions, making the sound "SPLUT!" on impact. Spluts are used for shock humor or as a running gag (their first appearance included Garfield checking the calendar to discover that it was "Splut Week").

• Stretch is Garfield's rubber chicken, given to him as a present for his 6th birthday and appearing for a week after that. Stretch is not seen often, mostly making cameo appearances leading up to new years.

Other characters

• Ellen (first mentioned November 9, 1990) is a local woman whom Jon often tried to go out with. Originally, she was also an unseen character in the strip as well; most Ellen gags originally centered around Jon speaking to Ellen on the telephone, attempting to ask her out on a date. In a 2006 story, Ellen appeared in the strip after Jon convinced her to go on a date because she had amnesia and couldn't remember how much she despised him. She was persuaded to go on a date with him, and on July 20th, 2006, the strip finally showed her as a blond woman with a striped dress.

• Garfield's Mother first made appearances in the animated specials Garfield on the Town and Garfield: His 9 Lives, as well as a few cameos in the comic strip (including a December 1984 story which was a loose adaptation of Garfield on the Town). Sandi Huge provided her voice in the specials. She also appeared once on Garfield and Friends in an episode called "The Garfield Rap."

• Bertha was a overweight lady which Jon had called by accident, and had agreed to go on a date. Several years later she had lost 200 pounds and, in a comic strip, had talked to Jon, who

couldn't recognize her.

• Biff first appeared on the Garfield comic strip in May 4, 1998 and appeared on the comic strip for a week.He was Garfield's College Intern.He was a blue cat with a flat ear and always smiled.He addressed everybody as "sir".Garfield was teaching him how to be a cat.

Movies

Garfield: The Movie

• Happy Chapman a television host who features house pets on his show, he kidnaps Odie. He may be a parody of Soupy Sales. He is played by Stephen Tobolowsky.
• Luca is a very sensitive dog who guards a house next door. But Garfield always tricks him. Garfield attempts to steal a pie at his house and tangles Luca up in garden gnomes. He is voiced by Brad Garrett.
• Persnickity (real name: Sir Roland) is a cat that releases the pets from the animal shelter. He was originally on Happy Chapman's show. He was voiced by Alan Cumming.
• Louis is a friendly mouse voiced by Nick Cannon. He often helps Garfield and is rewarded with Macadamia Nut cookies.

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties

• Prince XII is a cat owned by a member of the British royal family. He looks exactly like Garfield except that he has a British accent. He received all of his owner's inheritance after she passed. He was voiced by Tim Curry

• Winston the princes Bulldog servant. Voiced by Bob Hoskins

• Lord Dargis a man who wants to get ride of the prince. Played by Billy Connolly

• Rommel the Rottweiler guard dog. Voiced by Vinnie Jones.

Garfield Gets Real

A new Garfield Movie. The characters were made via computer generation. In this movie it is shown that Garfield and co. live in a comic world where comics are made by taking photos. But Garfield becomes tired of making comics every day, so he travels into the real world.

Television series

Main article: Garfield and Friends

Cactus Jake

Cactus Jake is the foreman of the Polecat Flats ranch, and a friend of Jon. He was seen only in the TV series and had a habit of saying Garfield's name wrong. Whenever Garfield wore a cowboy outfit, Jake always believed that he really was a cowboy named "Shorty" (Jon would always recognize "Shorty" as Garfield, however). Jake's voice was provided by Pat Buttram. First appeared: Polecat Flats. Last appeared: The Multiple Choice Cartoon. Last appearance (mentioned): Stairway to Stardom.

The Buddy Bears

The Buddy Bears are a trio of singing bear cubs who encourage viewers to "always agree with the group" (similar to The Get Along Gang). Their names are Bobby (tallest), Billy, and Bertie (shortest). They were voiced by Lorenzo Music, Thom Huge, and Gregg Berger with sped up voices.

Mr. Burnside

Mr. Burnside is Jon's next-door neighbor, who is constantly annoyed by Garfield stealing his food. Early on in the sixth season, he was pushed so far as to rent his house out. Shortly after moving, Burnside found out that without Garfield stealing his food, he and his wife were getting overweight, so they agreed to move back. He is voiced by Gregg Berger.

Penelope Pussycat

Penelope Pussycat served as another love interest for Garfield, appearing only in the show's last three seasons, quickly becoming a regular even with only three episodes being labelled by their titles as "Penelope episodes". She lives in an Italian restaurant, which is no doubt the main reason that Garfield goes out with her. The fact that Garfield enjoys eating more than being with her annoys Penelope, but she willingly goes out with him anyway, because as she says, "It doesn't matter what we do so long as we do it together." She is voiced by Victoria Jackson. Penelope was not a character creation by Jim Davis or 'Garfield & Friends' writer, Mark Evanier. Penelope was a conception of Dallas, TX resident and Garfield fanatic by the name of Chris Miller. Penelope was included as part of a spoof newspaper submission to Paws Inc in 1989. The character Penelope was supposedly used in place of Arlene in the animated series due to Jim Davis wanting greater control over the Arlene character, and Evanier found himself unable to incorporate Davis's view of Arlene into the series, thus substituting Miller's Penelope character instead.