This is a list of characters in the Garfield series, created by Jim Davis. It includes notable characters from the comic strip, cartoons, and movies centered around the Garfield character, and is organized by what medium they appeared in first.
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First Appearance: June 19, 1978 Garfield is the strip's title character. He is a lazy, fat orange tabby. He is usually depicted eating or sleeping. His favorite food is lasagna. Hates Mondays, spiders and raisins. Loves bullying Odie and mailing Nermal to Abu Dhabi.
First Appearance: June 19, 1978 Jonathan Q. "Jon" Arbuckle is the owner of Garfield and Odie.
First Appearance: August 8, 1978 Odie is a yellow dog, also owned by Jon. He was initially owned by Jon's roommate, Lyman (see below), but later became Jon's dog.
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 an extended story arc from June 20 to July 26, 2006, Liz finally admitted she was in love with him. The two have been portrayed as a couple since. In the film Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties Jon asks Liz to marry him 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. But in that episode she doesn't like Jon or Garfield. Her last was on Arrivederci, Odie!. In a few of the July 2007 strips, Garfield became jealous of Liz,[2] until they became friends July 24.[3] In a May 2, 2010 comic, it is revealed that her mother's name is Betty, like that of Jim Davis, Betty Davis.
First Appearance: December 17, 1980
Garfield's girlfriend. She is pink, skinny, elegant and has a gap between her two front teeth which Garfield often makes fun of. In Garfield Gets Real, she seems to love Garfield more than anyone, but Garfield didn't 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.
She was absent from the television series, and was replaced by Garfield's other love interest Penelope, who appeared in the last three seasons. She finally appeared in animated form in the three CGI Garfield films and television show. 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.[4]
Though Arlene is always shown in the intro of The Garfield Show, she only appeared in 5 episodes.
She appeared in the film Garfield: The Movie as well, where she was voiced by Debra Messing. In the film, she is not Garfield's girlfriend; just a female cat who lives in his neighborhood and seems to dislike him because he's selfish. Near the end of the film, when she discovers that Garfield was a hero, she feels guilty for the things she said about him and it is implied that she'll start being nicer to him.
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. When Pooky lost an eye, Garfield requested a new eye for Pooky as his Christmas present. Garfield isn't shy to show his love for Pooky, often grabbing it in hugs. This causes Jon to be a bit envious that the teddy bear is more loved than him and he occasionally asks for hugs from Garfield but Garfield would refuse, particularly when in one comic strip Jon asks "Can I have a hug like that?" but instead Garfield sighed and gave Pooky to Jon and left without saying a word. Certain strips have shown Pooky as sentient. In one instance we see Pooky rollerblade past Jon, who assumes Garfield is playing a prank. However, we then see Garfield at the other end of the room, implying that Pooky is skating under his own power. Either that or Garfield pushed Pooky on the skates, then ran to the other end of the room. Another instance is when Garfield got amnesia, Jon showed him Pooky in an attempt to jog his memory, only for Garfield to scoff at a cat owning a teddy bear. Pooky, along with Jon and Odie, was shown shedding a tear, something that would be impossible for an inanimate object.
First Appearance: September 3, 1979
Nermal stereotypical narcissistic small Grey Tabby cat, whom Jon first called "the world's cutest kitten" and of whom Garfield was jealous. Nermal called himself this from then on, revealing he is self centered.[5][6] He frequently made unannounced visits into Garfield's home, where he flaunted his cuteness and became the focus of Jon's attention for the entire duration of his visit, much to Garfield's exasperation. In frustration, Garfield frequently expressed his desire to send Nermal to Abu Dhabi. He also frequently hurled Nermal through the door, leaving a hole in the shape of his body (sometimes repeatedly). This was never shown in either show, most likely because it was considered inappropriate for a children's show, but in one episode of the Garfield show he thew Nermal out the dog door. Nermal especially did this on Garfield's birthdays to remind him of his advancing age. Although Nermal was introduced as belonging to Jon's parents, the connection was later dropped.
Although Garfield once ceased attacking Nermal after having a nightmare where a hulking cat introduces himself as a full-grown Nermal and proceeds to brutalize Garfield, this has not actually happened. Nermal once mentioned that he is going to stay cute and small forever because he is a midget;[7] "I think small," he once quipped, "and the coffee and cigarettes don't hurt." Another time Garfield caught Nermal "in the act" was when he sneaked up on a mortified Nermal wearing a facial mask and said "I thought so."[8] His first television appearance was on the Garfield and Friends episode School Daze, and his last was on The Feline Philosopher; on the show, he became a recurring cast member. Desirée Goyette regularly provided Nermal's voice on the series, which confused viewers to think that he was a female due to the feminine voice. A running gag on the show featured Garfield mailing (or trying to mail) Nermal to Abu Dhabi, which once resulted in himself getting mailed instead. Garfield even had his own song called "Abu Dhabi", which he uses to tell Nermal all about the United Arab Emirates and how he will love it there (or rather, Garfield will love it for having Nermal on the other side of the world). When Garfield is spared a trip to Abu Dhabi himself (a stuffed cat was sent to the UAE instead) Jon demands Garfield stop threatening to send Nermal to Abu Dhabi. Garfield promises this, then makes attempts to mail Nermal to the North Pole after that. In Garfield: The Movie, Nermal is portrayed by an adult Siamese cat in the neighborhood, and is voiced by David Eigenberg. Nermal is voiced by Jason Marsden in The Garfield Show, and the movies Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest, and Garfield's Pet Force.
First Appearance: August 7, 1978
Last Appearance: As a regular: April 24, 1983 (A re-used panel from 1980, in which Lyman is seen, appears in a photo album in the 10th anniversary strip of June 19, 1988)
Lyman was Jon's friend, and the original owner of Odie, and lived in Jon's house. Lyman first appeared on August 7, 1978. His last appearance on the comic strip was on Garfield's 10th Birthday, though he had stopped appearing in it regularly by the end of 1981. He was removed from the Sunday splash panel in March, 1982.[9] He still appears on the Scary Scavenger Hunts I and II games at Garfield's website, in which he both helps and scares you throughout the game, and is also seen behind the front desk at the Book Nook at the same website. According to Davis, Lyman's original purpose was to be someone who Jon could talk to and express other ideas, since Garfield and Odie couldn't speak for themselves. However, Davis later discovered ways for Garfield and Odie to communicate with Jon non-verbally, and Lyman was no longer needed. When asked about Lyman's disappearance, Jim Davis jokingly replied, "Don't look in Jon's basement."
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. Garfield seems to both love and hate her, enjoying the vast amounts of food she cooks but despising the homemade sweaters and winter clothes she sends him at Christmas. 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, who now voices Liz in The Garfield Show.
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. He is based on Jim Davis' father, James William Davis. Also, every Christmas he reads the Christmas story "Binky, the Clown Who Saved Christmas" to everyone. In "The Garfield Show", he is voiced by Frank Welker.
First Appearance: May 17, 1983
Jon's brother who lives on a farm with his mother and father, nicknamed to "Doc Boy" and often fights with Jon, calling him a "cappuccino sipping city slicker" and "A geek in bunny pajamas", and worse. One example of his name calling to Jon is when he sends Christmas cards and gifts to Jon that read the word "Sissy" on them. But he is seen to sometimes get along with Jon well, since he plays games with Jon such as "Touch the Udder" and even sometimes helps out with Jon's projects, remodeling, and surprises for Garfield. He hates being called "Doc Boy" but puts up with it although he is sometimes seen being angered when his parents even call him "Doc Boy". Like Garfield, Jon, and Odie, Doc Boy believes in Santa Claus and is seen to either call Jon during Christmas or even stay up to see Santa Claus in excitement. He and Jon are known for competing with each other over who is more ugly in their family memory photos to which they compete whenever they look at memory books with their mother. Although he is about the same age as Jon, he is already starting to go bald. He is very immature and has a bad sense of fashion. This character is based on Jim Davis' real-life brother, David "Doc" Davis. In A Garfield Christmas Special, he was voiced by David Lander. Doc Boy also appears in The Garfield Show but only in six episodes.
First Appearance: January 25, 1982
Jon and Doc Boy's grandmother. She loves Jon, Garfield, and Odie, and occasionally makes appearances throughout the series. She clearly adores Garfield and loves it when he is in her lap and she is stroking him. Grandma is one of the few people that Garfield liked from the outset. 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.
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."
Garfield's grandpa first appeared in the strip on November 10, 1980. Garfield was excited to see him, but Grandpa showed similar characteristics to Garfield, immediately asking "Where's the refrigerator?" Grandpa tells stories to Garfield, including how he weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces at birth. Grandpa was not there for Garfield's birth, but "heard the scream." Grandpa has a very sarcastic personality which is very similar to Garfield's.
First Appearance: June 9, 1979 (first mention by name 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!!" Irma is not particularly intelligent either, for instance, in one strip, Jon is deciding what to eat and decides to have the same thing the man next to him is eating, "I'll have what he's having", Irma replies by sliding the man's meal directly in front of Jon. Another example is Jon tells Irma that his potato is bad and she begins "Spanking" it. In another strip, Jon asked Irma why there was a hair in his soup. Irma replies by asking him how he knows that it is not one of his. Jon pulls out the rest of the hair and it turns out that there is a red roller stuck to the hair. He says to Irma that he uses smaller rollers. Jim Davis revealed in Garfield at 25 that he borrowed Irma's name, but not her personality, from his aunt.
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!".[10] Another, time in which the mail man succeeded was in a Splash screen which had him in a gi and a black belt and Garfield in a defeated position[11] He also wore a knight's armor to discourage Garfield.[12] He can be seen with either yellow, white, or brown colored hair. He was on Garfield and friends for the first four seasons.
In The Garfield Show episode "Mailman Blues", he goes on vacation in Hawaii while his replacement Stu does the job for him, but before Herman Post goes on vacation, he warns Stu about Garfield, describing him as a "monster". While Herman Post is on his vacation, Garfield torments Stu. However, Stu quits, and Herman is rehired only after receiving a "extra hundred bucks in cash".
Jon usually refuses to acknowledge Garfield in tormenting Herman, excluding one instance. In one strip, Jon was the one who startled him, reasoning that a sick Garfield asked him to fill in for him in his place[13]
In Garfield and Friends, the mailman was voiced by Gregg Berger.
First Appearance: September 17, 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. In Garfield's Halloween Adventure, the character made his first appearance as well as animated appearance and was given a voice. He was first mentioned on March 13, 1985 in the comic strips, previously, other different clown characters were seen.[14] Binky was first seen in the comics on September 15, 1986, then appeared in person on September 17, 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. Binky apparently owns a small restaurant that Jon and Garfield occasionally eat at called "Binky Burger".
Squeak is a mouse and is a friend of Garfield also he had a family of other mice. He first was in the comic strips in the late 80's. He first appeared in The Garfield Show cartoon in the episode "A Game Of Cat and Mouse", and is the equivalent to the mouse character Floyd in the Garfield and Friends cartoon. He is voiced by Gregg Berger in both cartoons.
Mrs. Feeny is an unseen character in the comic strip, tormented by Garfield. For this reason she regularly calls Jon to complain about Garfield. She also tends to get revenge on Jon for Garfield's pranks. She also owns a small pet dog, a regular victim of Garfield's abuse.
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 strips 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.[15] She was persuaded to go on a date with him, and on July 20, 2006, the strip finally showed her as a blond woman with a striped dress.[15]
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 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. One of Garfield's goals and main way of defeating them when they interfered in his life was to make them disagree, thereby introducing strife into their affected harmony. One notable effort involved making them decide on which two toppings to put on pizza, for, as Garfield stated as the episode ended, "No two people can agree on which two toppings a pizza should have." Garfield disliked their mindless agreement, stressing that their love of harmony and cooperation above everything else was worse than expressing their honest opinions and thinking independently and critically.
Floyd is Garfield's best friend. A mouse who shows up at least once every season. A common running gag with the character is his continuous complaints over not appearing often. Voiced by Gregg Berger
Mr. Irving Burnside is Jon's next-door neighbor, who is constantly annoyed by Garfield stealing his food and would take it out on Jon. 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 Alice were getting overweight, so they agreed to move back. He is voiced by Gregg Berger.
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 labeled by their titles as "Penelope episodes". She lives in an Italian restaurant, which is no doubt one of the main reason that Garfield goes out with her, since this wasn't revealed till the second "Penelope episode". 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, "I don't care what we do as long as we do it together." She is voiced by Victoria Jackson.
A chef who's usually seen in televised cooking show. His show nearly got canceled because most people find it tedious, though it ratings improved when a cake monster invaded the studio. He opened a theme park made of cheese which wasn't well-liked. He once became violent and used a rolling pin in an attempt to strike a leopard that tasted one of his dishes. He was fired from his job once by Mr. Station Manager Sir for showing the viewers what unhealthy foods to eat, but he was rehired after Mr. Station Manager Sir's new show got the least ratings. The reason for his morbid obesity comes from his horrible childhood years. He is voiced by Frank Welker.
A Chihuahua who lives in Garfield's neighborhood. Though usually an antagonist, he, along with some other dogs, helped saved Vito and the pizzeria from a blaze. He is voiced by Jason Marsden.
Catzilla was the last Machairodus in the world. He is at The Zoo and he first appeared in "Orange and Black" and made a cameo appearance in High Scale.
A large black Rottweiler. He used to bully Odie to giving him treats until Odie became a weredog. He also helped Odie in saving Vito from the fire. He's occasionally seen with an unnamed slender Doberman Pinscher which could be Luca.
A scatterbrained man residing in Garfield's suburbs. He, along with a Nermal, got tied up for disrupting Garfield, Jon and Odie's attempt to get a family photo. Harvey also has a wife named Sheila who shares the same birthday as Odie.
Harry is a black cat that lived in Garfield's neighborhood. He is very thin and has two different coloured eyes. He is voiced by Gregg Berger.
Vito is the manager of Vito's Pizza and he serves pizza and other Italian foods, which is loved by Jon and Odie, and especially Garfield. In certain episodes, Vito's Pizza is sometimes in trouble, for example in "Love and Lasagna", where Brent Mogul tries to tear it down for a tanning salon. Garfield and Odie commonly help in saving it. While in other episodes, Garfield's love of Vito's food, causes trouble. He is voiced by Jason Marsden.
Al and Pete are stout members of the animal control. Al's eyes are never seen because they're always hidden behind his hat.
An egotistical businessman who has the tendency to sue everybody for no reason and buy many companies to become a multi-billionaire. He has a son who he rarely spends time with until Jon convinced him. He served as the main villain in the second full-length episode, "Unfair Weather".
A mad scientist who loves to do experiments. His first appearance was in "Virtualodeon", where by watching Virtualodeon, Garfield gets sucked into the TV. He Returns in "Night of the Bunny Slippers", and "Me, Garfield and I".
Jon's crazy twin girl cousins, or nieces, who love to dress and give makeovers to animals. Garfield and Odie once used the outfits they provided in order to track down thieves who took spareribs. When Nermal kidnaps Pooky to blackmail the orange tabby into becoming a servant, Garfield summons Drusilla and Minerva to mess with Nermal. In their most recent appearance, it is revealed that they can't tell each other apart. Voiced by Laura Summer.
Jonah is a black cat who appeared in the episode "Black Cat Blues". He constantly crosses character's paths, giving them bad luck, because he's upset about breaking up with his girlfriend. This stops when Garfield gets them back together.
He also appears in "Garfield's Party in The Big Sleep" as one of the characters who was kicked out of Garfield's "Eating and Sleeping for Hibernation" party.
Garfield Gets Real is a direct-to-video Garfield movie released in 2007 and produced by Paws Inc. The characters were made via CGI. It was written by Jim Davis and chronicles Garfield's adventure into the "real world" out of the comic strip. The first one was Garfield Gets Real and was followed up by Garfield's Fun Fest and Garfield's Pet Force. Among the characters in these films are: