List of El Chavo characters

El Chavo del Ocho, often shortened to El Chavo, is a Mexican television sitcom created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños.[1] The show was based on a series of sketches performed on Gomez's eponymous sketch show, Chespirito, which were first performed in 1972. El Chavo became its own series in 1973 and aired until 1980, becoming one of the most popular television programs in the world. Following its cancellation and the relaunch of Chespirito, the El Chavo sketches returned in 1982 and continued to be performed on Chespirito until 1992 when Gomez, by this point in his sixties, discontinued them due to his advancing age.

The show follows the life and tribulations of the title character, a poor orphan child (played by Gómez Bolaños) that lives on a Mexican housing complex, typically called a vecindad. He is accompanied by a cast of neighbors, children, and other characters. All the characters, including the children, were played by adults on El Chavo.

Summary

Character Portrayed by CH El Chavo del Ocho Chespirito No. of
episodes credited
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
El Chavo del Ocho Roberto Gómez Bolaños Main ???
Doña Florinda Florinda Meza Main ???
La Chilindrina María Antonieta de las Nieves Main Main ???
Quico Carlos Villagrán Main ???
Don Ramón Ramón Valdés Main Main ???
Señor Barriga Edgar Vivar Main ???
Profesor Jirafales Rubén Aguirre Main ???
Doña Cleotilde Angelines Fernández Main ???
Jaimito el Cartero Raúl Padilla Main Main ???
Godínez Horacio Gómez Bolaños Recurring Main Main Main ???

Main characters

El Chavo

El Chavo del Ocho is an eight-year-old orphan and the main character of the series. "Chavo" is a Mexican Spanish slang for "kid"; Chavo's real name is not known, but in some episodes he calls himself Chente, short for Vicente, after a friend who died in the orphan home in which he was abandoned. Generally Chavo is enthusiastic, creative and good-natured, but on the other hand he is also rather naïve and very gullible. He is not particularly bright (which Roberto Gómez Bolaños insinuated on the launch of the animated series may be consequence of poor nutrition) and is remarkably clumsy, often hitting Quico, Don Ramón and Señor Barriga with balls, shoes, hammers, bricks, chairs and other objects. Chavo arrived at the neighborhood at the age of four and apparently lived in apartment #8 with an elderly woman (who is never seen, but mentioned in the novel El diario de El Chavo del 8). After her death, Chavo spends most of his time inside an abandoned barrel that he calls his "secret hideout". He has a craving for ham tortas, a popular kind of sandwich in Mexico. He has a crush on Paty, along with Quico (which is their first fight over their crush, although she kisses Chavo in the animated series). Despite being a hungry 8-year-old child, he seems to have an incredible physical strength, since that his punches are able to stun or even topple a full-grown man, mostly Don Ramón.

In the English dub version of the series, he is voiced by Mona Marshall. Unlike from the original series and the Spanish version of the animated series, instead of being called "Chente" or "Chavito", he is called "Chavorino" by his friends sometimes. Also, the "El" part of his name was officially removed from his character's bios in the animated series, possibly to keep in with the show's English production on Americanizing the series. Also, instead of ham tortas, he has a craving for ham sandwiches, although the Christmas specials states that he also has cravings for jelly sandwiches for a mysterious reason, but those jelly sandwiches are actually ham tortas (ham sandwiches) in the original Spanish version dubbed as jelly sandwiches in the English version. Also, his friend "Vicente" (or Chente) is renamed as Chova (switching the A and the O around).

In Brazil, his name was changed to Chaves.

La Chilindrina

La Chilindrina is the daughter of Don Ramón. "Precocious" is probably the best way to describe Don Ramón's intelligent and mischievous daughter, who likes to take advantage of her slow-witted friends to play pranks on them and take their toys or snacks. She usually wears a short green-pattern dress and a red sweater that was always twisted on the back. She has freckles, horn-rimmed eyeglasses, a missing front tooth, and two pigtails that are always uneven, one significantly higher than the other one, just like her socks. "Chilindrina" is the name of a typical Mexican bun, with chocolate sparkles on top, reminiscent of the character's freckles. In early episodes, La Chilindrina has longer ponytails which are cut by El Chavo. In most episodes, she is seen to have a crush on Chavo, and can be jealous when he's seen by Paty.

La Chilindrina was cut from the El Chavo animated series due to disputes with Roberto Gomez Bolaños (creator of all El Chavo characters) and Maria Antonieta de las Nieves (Chilindrina's portrayer) about who owns the rights to the character and if the character's allowed to be used publicly outside of El Chavo. María Antonieta de las Nieves was able to win a legal battle over Chespirito in 2003, one that gives her permission to act as La Chilindrina in public whenever she wants to, and grants her rights over the character she played. She was replaced by Popis (Phoebe) in the English version.

In Brazil, her name was changed to Chiquinha.

Quico

Federico Matalascayando Corcuera, known as Quico, is a spoiled, overprotected 9-year-old boy, son of Doña Florinda and a late naval captain (also named Frederico) who reportedly died when his vessel was attacked and eaten by a white shark. Arrogant, manipulative, and envious, Quico always wants to draw everyone's attention to himself, either by screaming loudly or by showing off his newest toy. Also because of this, he usually gets El Chavo in trouble when he does something wrong, especially to Don Ramón, after which Don Ramón hits El Chavo angrily on the head. Partially due to his mother's influence (and former wealth and status as the wife of a naval officer), he believes that he and his mother are superior to everyone else in the neighborhood. However, he still finds time to play with -- as he and his mother call them -- chusma ("riffraff"), namely Chavo, Chilindrina, and Don Ramón. However, Quico has proved many times to be Chavo's best friend, often assisting him in Chavo's mischievous acts. They are mostly seen playing together in the front yard. Moreover, Quico is a good kid deep inside, even though there are several occasions in which he acts self-centered. Quico wears a rainbow-colored beanie cap, a dark blue naval officer's shirt with a red ascot, bright yellow socks he pulls all the way up to his knees, and white low-top shoes. He is also widely identified by his enormous cheeks, which he can puff out quite largely, and his minuscule intelligence, often responding to the Spanish words for idiot, stupid, dummy, etc. (he even displays delight about being called such things, oblivious to the fact that all these words are insults). Despite his stupidity, Quico displays more deceptive abilities and common sense than Chavo, and is the most likely to break the fourth wall (especially regarding that four of his quotes do this so). In 1979, when Carlos Villagran quit the show, Quico is said (in the episode named "Vámonos al Cinema?") to have gone off to live with his rich godmother, reportedly "unable to stand the riffraff anymore." No one in the show ever talked about him afterwards, or said anything about his absence, as if he had never existed. Villagran's character, Quico, starred in a rather short-lived spin-off series, Ay, Que Quico! in the late 1980s, which attempted to revive the series using a "Hip-hop" twist and give Villagran's character a slight wardrobe make-over.

In the English dub version of the animated series, he is voiced by Doug Erholtz. Instead of being called "Tesoro" (treasure/darling), he is called "Muffin".

Don Ramón

Don Ramón is an unemployed widower with a very lanky, nearly-emaciated build. He has black wiry hair and a moustache and is usually seen wearing a sun hat, a t-shirt, and jeans. His greatest aspiration seems to be living an uncomplicated life, but in the vecindad, this seems impossible. He is constantly hounded for the rent which he has neglected to pay for fourteen months (a figure that seems to be static since Señor Barriga forgives several months off of his rent in several episodes) - however, in one episode, he did pay at least one month of rent while on the verge of eviction from Señor Barriga. His daughter (Chilindrina) is a perennial headache and his neighbor Doña Florinda's response to any imposition on her lifestyle is a loud slap on his face, which causes him to spin in a circle. Although rather high-strung and quick-tempered, Don Ramón manages to keep a fairly upbeat attitude and to (just barely) make a living doing odd jobs. He's also a fan of all sports and pretends to be knowledgeable in them (having demonstrated boxing, bowling, American football, baseball and even bullfighting - with a dummy bull - to the kids), but due to the kids' own shortcomings, he always comes up short. Chavo often mispronounces his name as Ron Damón, that is a common way of spelling by children. One quote popularized by himself is "There is no bad work, the downside is having to work". He is a fan of Club Necaxa, which in the day was generally known as a perennial mid-table also-ran, per Don Ramón's quote "Yo le voy al Necaxa", meaning that he neither wished glory nor suffering. His personality of always been a good-hearted and (not always) noble man, made Don Ramón one of the most cherished characters in the history of the show.

In Brazil he is known as Seu Madruga and is considered to be the most popular character, with some of his quotes used under many circumstances, not only the funny ones.

In the English dub version of the animated series, he was known as Mr. Raymond or nicknamed Rister Maymond by El Chavo and was, like Quico, voiced by Doug Erholtz. To keep with the production of the animated series as Chilindrina was not included in the final production, Ramon/Raymond never mentions any spouses nor rooting for Necaxa.

Doña Florinda

Florinda Corcuera y Villalpando de Matalascayando, commonly referred to as Doña Florinda, is the mother of Quico and love interest of Professor Jirafales. She is a widow; her late husband, after which Quico was named, was a naval officer who died at sea and is often said by Quico that he descansa en pez (a pun on "rest in peace", literally meaning "rests in fish", indicating that he was swallowed by a shark). Her full name is Florinda Corcuera y Villalpando, viuda de (widow of) La Regueira. Doña Florinda has deluded herself into believing she's socially, morally and economically superior to her neighbors (and it is suggested that at one time she was well-off), and while not misanthropic, snobbish, or bully-like, she tends to give orders to the others, such as putting signs that ban animals and infants from the vecindad (much to Barriga's chagrin, because she does it without his authorization). She is so fiercely protective of Quico that whenever he is upset, she'll beat up Don Ramón without seeking explanation. In fact, a recurring gag in the series is that she unfairly accuses him of "attacking" Quico and goes to slap him, even when he is not present in the scene. When Villagran left the show - thus concluding Quico's presence in the vecindad - she slaps Don Ramón still, but less often. This is due to Don Ramón laughing loudly whenever a rude comment is directed towards her (mostly coming from El Chavo). She likes cleanliness and order and also likes to cook and for that reason becomes famous among her neighbours and one time she accepted a partnership selling churros (a type of pastry in Mexico) with Don Ramón. She is easily recognized by the fact that she always keeps her hair in curlers (except in some early episodes), even at work or on vacation in Acapulco. In later episodes, she opens a restaurant called "Restaurante Doña Florinda". Derisively, the kids call her "Vieja Chancluda" ("vieja" being "old lady", and "chancluda" as someone who uses "chanclas", sandals).

In the English dubbed version of the animated series, she is known as Mrs. Worthmore (a pun on worth more) and voiced by Kate Higgins. Her restaurant was renamed "Mrs. Worthmore's Cafe" as well. In Brazil, her name was translated to Dona Florinda.

Profesor Jirafales

Profesor Inocencio Jirafales is the school teacher. Highly educated but naïve, although he carries on a ludicrously innocent relationship with Doña Florinda and patiently teaches his way above the heads of his students. He is a teacher with lots of patience and professionally ethical. When angered, he shouts "Ta-ta-ta-taaaaa-TAH!!!". His last name is a reference to the very tall Aguirre, who stands at a height of 1.98 m or 6 ft 6 in ("jirafa" is Spanish for giraffe; the closest English equivalent would be Giraffald). The children (and sometimes adults, most notably Don Ramón) refer to him as "Maistro Longaniza" (being "maistro" a mispronounced form of "maestro", an alternative for "professor", both meaning "teacher", and "longaniza" a long kind of sausage). Although he appears throughout all the series (almost 20 years) having a romance with Dona Florinda, by the time it finished, neither one suggested the possibility of going beyond that idillic relation - there's an in-joke among the series production that statizes his full name to be "Inocencio Jirafales", being "Inocencio" both a real-life name in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries and a play on "innocence", thus adding to the "innocently" way he treats his relationship towards Doña Florinda. Even though he claims to have a strong hatered of violence, Jirafales is more than willing to beat up Don Ramón if he does something stupid or that leaves him outraged (in the episode in which Don Ramón teaches El Chavo some basic boxing classes and even lends his boxing gloves to the kid, Jirafales has beaten him so violently that even Doña Florinda displayed disgust over it).

In the English dub version of the animated series, he is known as Professor Girafalde (a pun on the word giraffe) or nicknamed Professor Sausage (Maistro Longaniza) or Professor Firehose (in the Fireman episode) by El Chavo (sometimes called "Professor Girafalges" by non-marketing teams) and is voiced by Bob Buchholz. In Brazil his name is written on a few occasions Professor Girafales.

Doña Cleotilde

Doña Cleotilde, sometimes referred to as "La bruja del 71", is a retired woman who chases after Don Ramón. Because she is old and somewhat eccentric, the kids think she is a witch, and refer to her as "The Old Witch of (Apartment) 71". Some of the adults also refer to her like that, often by mistake, due to the kids frequently calling her a "witch". She refers to herself as señorita (Miss) because she has never been married, which also she gets upset by when called señora (Mrs.), meaning that she is a married woman. She is a single woman, thirsty for love, and frequently seeks it with Don Ramón, who is a widower. Because she never wants people to know her accurate age, she is always saying the number of candles (40 candles) she had to use in her "last" birthday's cake (she never says to have more than 49) - even with that people never believe her, mostly because she also acts like a senior woman. She has always been in love with Don Ramón, her neighbor. But he is not interested in her, so Doña Cleotilde tries and does everything she can to conquer him like bringing him food from the store, buying him medicine when he can't sleep, baking cakes for him, or lending him luggage. In fact, all the times that Don Ramón is "interested" in her is when she faints in the middle of the yard and was going to bring him something from the store or just when being polite with her is his only choice. When Ramon Valdes left the show, her affections turned towards Jaimito, el cartero. She is always dressed with a blue or pink hat (50's style) with "leaves", blue gown, and black shoes. In the beginning of the series she had also a black sweater. Regarding to her income, the source is unknown. Some might suggest she receives a pension, or maybe gets her money out of an inheritance. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to pay the rent for Señor Barriga, pay her expenses and buy all the things she gives to Don Ramón.

In the English dub version of the animated series, she was renamed Miss Pinster (a pun on the word spinster) or nicknamed The Witch of 71 by the children and is voiced by Mona Marshall, like El Chavo. In Brazil her name was changed to Dona Clotilde or Bruxa do 71.

Señor Barriga

Zenón Barriga y Pesado is the landlord of the vecindad. Bolaños states that Señor Barriga prefers going personally to receive the residents's rents in order to save up his own time or a rent collector's salary. He rarely succeeds in collecting rent from Don Ramón and is greeted upon his every arrival by being (accidentally) kicked, tripped, beaten, or hit by a flying object thrown by El Chavo. His last name is a reference to his obesity ("barriga" is both Spanish and Portuguese for "belly", but the surname actually exists). In two episodes throughout the series (the first when Don Ramón buys a bowling ball while working as a buyer/salesman of home antiques; the second when Doña Florinda first sets up a restaurant) his full name is revealed to be "Zenón Barriga y Pesado" (literally "Zenón Belly and Heavy", but Pesado is a real surname too), being "Zenón" a pun on "Cenón" ("dining man" or "big dinner"). He is also well known because of his patience with Don Ramón and his unpunctual rent payments and all the kids' (mostly Chavo's) misbehavior like punching him or nicknaming him (always making fun of his body).

In one episode, he follows through on his eviction threat to Don Ramón, but it is while he is packing his belongings, Chavo and Quico come across an old scrapbook with pictures of Don Ramón as a boxer in his younger years. Barriga is overcome with emotion; as it turns out, he was heavily in debt and was about to go to jail when he desperately bet against Don Ramón in a boxing match--and wins back enough money to clear his debts.

Even though he is the victim of Chavo's various pratfalls, he cares very deeply about him, even offering to take him to Acapulco instead of his son Ňoño, who is off on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts.

In the English dub version of the series, he is renamed Mr. Beliarge (pun on the word belly and large) and is voiced by Dave Mallow. In Brazil, his name translates to Seu Barriga.

Supporting characters

Minor characters

Animated Series only

References

  1. ↑ "El Chavo del Ocho (1973) Série de TV (1973-1992)". Imdb.com. Retrieved 2008-09-03.

External links