List of Fudge series characters

The following is a list of characters in the Fudge series of books by Judy Blume about Peter Hatcher and his notorious younger brother, known by the nickname "Fudge". The books include Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Superfudge, Fudge-a-Mania and Double Fudge.

Characters

The Hatcher Family

Peter Warren Hatcher

A smart, conventional, sarcastic, and seemingly naive boy who lives in New York City. He is a kind and sensitive boy, but will reveal a quick temper when provoked or impassioned. He often feels unappreciated and uncared for by his parents, mainly due to the amount of attention his brother requires. In the first book, he is nine years old and in the fourth grade, and in Double Fudge he is twelve and in seventh grade. He has a habit of imagining things being advertised on television, probably because that is his father's job. He likes to collect things, such as baseball cards. Peter tries to make it very clear that he despises his brother, but it is obvious that he truly cares for him. An example of this is shown in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing when Peter gets angry at Sheila for not watching Fudge, which results in Fudge's accidental knocking out of his own front teeth. Peter often defends Fudge when people say anything negative about him, even if he says exactly the same thing himself - such as in Superfudge when Fudge's teacher suggests there must be something wrong with him for wanting to be called "Fudge", Peter is furious and rants a bit, despite that he wondered about this himself in other books.

Farley Drexel "Fudge" Hatcher

Fudge is Peter's little brother. Disaster follows him everywhere he goes, often making a spectacle of himself and setting a bad image to his family. Some of his best-known escapades in the series include throwing temper tantrums (most notably at the shoe store), fingerpainting with mashed potatoes at a diner, scribbling all over Peter's transportation committee poster, and ultimately, swallowing Peter's small pet turtle. Although Fudge is spoiled, will often throw tantrums, and act very immature, he later becomes very intelligent for his age (as first revealed in Superfudge). Later still, he becomes very imaginative like his brother Peter. Thus, he eventually develops from a spoiled and demanding toddler into a less spoiled and much kinder boy with a vivid imagination and a strong desire to learn things.

Tamara Roxanne "Tootsie" Hatcher

Peter and Fudge's baby sister, born in the second book, Super Fudge. Fudge is jealous and hates her in the beginning, even attempting to exchange her for things such as money or a two-wheeled bicycle. At one point in the book, Fudge hides her in a closet. Tootsie is rather playful, curious and likeable. Her first word that she ever spoke was "Yuck" when she hears Peter say it. Then she says "Nu Yuck," when the family decides to go back to New York City. She eventually learns more words, and likes to repeat what some people say. In the third book, the toddler walks across Frank Fargo's paintings before they dry, leading Fargo to create a whole series of paintings featuring Tootsie's footprints on canvas.

Anne Hatcher

Mother of Peter, Fudge, and later, Tootsie. She is a stay-at-home mom and then becomes a professional dental assistant. She always does her best to be a mother to her children, although she often tends to be more partial towards Fudge. She becomes related to the Tubman family when her mother, Muriel, marries Bertram "Buzzy Senior" Tubman.

Warren Hatcher

Father to Peter, Fudge and Tootsie. (Peter's middle name comes from his father) He is in the advertising business and he writes commercials. His agency has/had accounts with Juicy-O and the Toddle Bike company (for whom Fudge appears in a commercial), as well as with X-Plode Cereal (only mentioned by Fudge, though). In the first book, he dumps a bowl of cereal over Fudge's head when Fudge refuses to eat his meals and then wants to be fed like a dog. In the second book, he takes a leave of absence from the ad agency to attempt to write a book. He also grows a beard in Superfudge, but later shaves it off in Fudge-a-Mania.

Grandma Muriel

Anne's mother. She is known for using classic phrases and various tricks to help the kids. She originally was a gymnastics teacher. In the third book, she marries Sheila Tubman's grandfather, Buzzy Senior, thereby uniting both the Hatcher and Tubman families.

Cousin Howard "Howie" Hatcher

Warren's long-lost cousin, both of whom were great friends. Howie seems to have some slightly rude behavior, as he calls Warren "Tubby" even though he's lost some weight since, and a rather crazy driver when it comes to golf carts, and easily gets frustrated. Howie works as a park ranger in Hawaii and plans to move his family to the Everglades. According to Peter, Howie says "no" to everything such as pop music, romance series books, TV, junk food, school, fashion magazines with advice to the lovelorn, etc..

Cousin Eudora Hatcher

Howie's wife. Like her husband, she also calls Warren "Tubby." She is also pregnant, and she isn't as rude and as strict as her husband, and is often the mediator between Howie and their daughters.

Flora and Fauna Hatcher

Howie's two perfect, identical twelve-year-old twin daughters. They are known for both finishing each other's sentences, and breaking it into song (and sometimes dance) in public, which impresses others but embarrasses Peter. They do seem somewhat spoiled, and usually beg and plead to get their way, while Eudora manages to present the case carefully to Howie. They are usually nicknamed the "Natural Beauties" and the "Heavenly Hatchers."

"Mini" Farley Drexel Hatcher

Flora and Fauna's younger 3-and-1/2-year-old brother, whom acts similar to Fudge's 2-year-old Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing behavior in many ways. Usually he will just growl and act like an animal, due to his older sisters trying to always comment on him, but all that changed by the end when he finally made the point to the twins he can speak for himself. Fudge grows to dislike him, due to him nearly receiving the same nickname as Fudge, and being the cause of Uncle Feather's broken wing, and ultimately swallowing Fudge's first loose tooth at their farewell dinner.

Friends and their Families

The Fargo Family

Jimmy Fargo

Peter's best friend. He is in the same grade as Peter and probably a bit older than he is, assuming that he celebrated his tenth birthday in the first book, and taller than Sheila. Jimmy and his family originally lived a few buildings down from Peter and Sheila, and then moved into Peter and Sheila's building, before eventually moving down to SoHo. In the TV series, Jimmy and his father are African-American.

Frank Fargo

Jimmy's father. He used to be an actor but became an abstract artist, judging from Peter's descriptions of some of his paintings. He also divorced his wife, which was very unsettling for Jimmy. Later, Tootsie accidentally toddles across one of Frank's paintings, which inspires him for a new artwork series entitled "Baby Feet." Frank gets remarried to Beverly Muldour, a family friend of the Hatchers from their time in Princeton, New Jersey.

Anita Fargo

Jimmy Fargo's mother and the first wife of Frank Fargo. She is first seen in the first Fudge book at Jimmy's birthday party giving Peter his pet turtle, Dribble. She later divorced Frank Fargo after an argument where she threw red paint at one of his paintings, to which Mr. Fargo took advantage of to display, calling the painting Anita's Anger. Jimmy said that his mother loves kissing, so she moved from New York to Vermont, where Jimmy and Peter believe people engage in much kissing. Mrs. Fargo moved to a very rural community in Vermont, as Peter says at one point he is unable to contact Jimmy as he is visiting his mother in Vermont, and they had no telephone service there.

The Tubman Family

Sheila Tubman

Peter's rival (though Peter sees her as a "sworn enemy"). She lives in Peter's apartment building two floors below his own. Peter believes Sheila is a real know-it-all. She was the Queen Of Cooties even when she was in 4th grade. She gives up cooties sometime between the fourth and seventh chapters of the first book. She is incredibly bossy, which is especially evidenced when she tries to run a report committee (which Peter and Jimmy were also in) by herself. She has an older sister named Libby. In the second book, she exhibits a fear of dogs, especially Peter's dog, Turtle. There may be some chances of Sheila and Peter showing slight affections towards each other throughout the series, and it is obvious she has a slight crush on him. Sheila becomes Peter's stepcousin when her grandfather, Buzzy and Peter's grandmother, Muriel marry.

Libby Tubman

Sheila's older sister, who often is seen dancing in a leotard. She fancies herself as being very sophisticated and glamorous, addressing her parents as "Mother" and "Father." She is very interested in boys, and it is also shown she is not a great singer, when she does not get the part of Wendy in a production of Peter Pan. Mrs. Hatcher hires Libby to help watch after Tootsie when the demands of a baby and other parenting responsibilities get to be too much for her to handle at once. Her friend, when the Tubmans lived in Tarrytown, is Maryanne Markman. Libby is often annoyed by Sheila and her attention-getting, much like Peter could be with Fudge, and so, because of their shared situations, is often willing to try to get along with Peter. Libby becomes Peter's stepcousin when her grandfather marries Peter's grandmother.

Jean and Bertram "Buzz" Tubman

Sheila and Libby's parents. Mr. Tubman is a college professor at Marymount College. They become related to the Hatchers when Mr. Tubman's father marries Anne Hatcher's mother.

Buzzy Senior

Sheila's grandfather, who ends up marrying Muriel at the end of Fudge-A-Mania, thereby uniting the Hatcher and Tubman families.

The Ellis Family

Merle 'Mouse' Ellis

Sheila's same age friend from Tarrytown that has noticeably lots of scabs on her legs. They are best buds until a game of slam book where they start fighting with Bobby Egran's models with the Van Arden twins, Sondra and Jane. Despite it all, Mouse and Sheila repair their friendship afterwards. She is the grand champion of Tarrytown in yoyo and is an expert swimmer. She was going to visit Sheila in Maine in Fudge-a-Mania, but was struck down with chicken pox and couldn't make it, much to the dismay of Sheila.

Betsy Ellis

Merle's little sister at age 4. She is a champion swimmer known to do perfect dives. She is allergic to dogs and carries around her "make-believe dog" (which is an empty candy box) Ootch.

The Manheim Family

Daniel Manheim

Fudge's new friend, introduced in Superfudge. He is described as pudgy, Jewish, with a lot of reddish hair, and ears that stick out more than Peter's. Daniel is a bird expert, as seen in the beginning of Chapter 9 as he is lecturing Fudge on myna birds. He also delivers his tough-guy line: "Ya wanna make somethin' of it?" whenever asked of something. Once, though, after delivering his "tough-guy" line, some person agreed to "make something of it". Daniel then proceeded to chicken out. According to himself, he's 6 and lives at 432 Vine Street. He is also somewhat of a fussy eater; he constantly mentions that he does not like onions, lima beans, peas, Oreo cookies and bread crusts and only drinks chocolate milk. Daniel lives in Princeton in the books, but in the TV series, Daniel lives in New York City (presumably in the same building as the Hatchers) and replaces Ralph in Fudge's group of friends invited to his birthday party. Also in the TV series, Daniel wears glasses and is 5 years old, but still retains his tough-guy attitude.

Mrs. Manheim

Daniel's mother, who is heavily concerned about her son and drives a red sports car.

The Muldour Family

Mrs. Muldour

One of Peter's new acquaintances. She is an elderly woman who lives near Peter also is to be believed that she eats worms as Peter and Alex dig them up for her.

Beverly Muldour

A pretty young woman Peter calls "Giraffe Neck" when he sees her at the art gallery and later seen as Mrs. Muldour's daughter. She eventually becomes Frank Fargo's second wife and Jimmy's stepmom.

Mitzi and her family

Mitzi

Friend of Fudge's whom he met on vacation in Maine. She is obsessed with Fudge, and develops a crush on him. According to Fudge, she keeps monster spray and has a baby brother called Jacob. She is also the granddaughter of famous baseball player Big Apfel.

Mrs A

Mitzi's grandmother and Big Apfel's wife. She makes Mitzi's monster spray for her and makes really tasty cocoa. Peter and Fudge first meet her when they go round the neighbor's houses asking if the neighbors have seen Uncle Feather. Mrs A originally thinks Uncle Feather is Peter and Fudge's uncle. It is never mentioned if she is ever corrected.

Big Apfel

Famous baseball player who Peter is astounded to find is his new neighbor in Maine. Peter seriously looks forward to playing a game with him. However, Peter gets angry when he discovers that Big Apfel doesn't take the game seriously.

Others

Mrs. Reese

The Tubmans' next door neighbor.

Henry Bevelheimer

The elevator operator, whom seems to know everybody in the apartment well. Henry and Peter get along well, although on one occasion (in Superfudge), he scolded Peter for siccing Turtle on Sheila after she and Peter got into an argument. In Double Fudge, he helps out with Uncle Feather's brief period of being unable to talk, and is then later promoted to superintendent of the building and converts the elevator to self-service. In the TV series, Henry is the janitor and handyman of the building.

Jane and Sondra Van Arden

A set of twin sisters that also live in Tarrytown that are friends with Sheila and Mouse. Sondra is amply contoured, sensitive and shy, is a great swimmer despite her size, and usually comes up with good ideas. Jane is more aggressive than her sister, and is also more rude, and much thinner than Sondra. During their slam book game, Sondra is deeply offended by her friends calling her a "fat slob" and "crybaby," and Jane is equally offended because she got some negative criticism as well.

Ralph, Jennie and Sam

Fudge's original friends who live in the same apartment building. In the TV series, Ralph does not appear, but Jennie and Sam do. Jennie and her family are from Chinese descent in the TV series.

Alex Santo

Peter's new friend, introduced in Superfudge, as very small, with hair that hangs into his eyes, and is always wearing a T-shirt that says "Princeton, Class of '91". He is a Boy Scout and was away at Scout camp when Peter first moved to Princeton. He collects worms for Mrs. Muldour, an elderly neighbor.

Joanne McFadden

A girl who sits behind Peter and becomes the object of his affection. She wipes his back off after Fudge pours ice down him just as Lois Lane is kissing Superman in the film Superman (which Peter has already seen once) while they're at the movies. They hold hands in the movies. When they stand under the mistletoe hung in the classroom, she kisses Peter near his ear, and Peter does the same, except that she turns her head at the last second, with Peter ending up with a mouthful of hair.

Martha and Harvey

These are the only other of Peter's classmates in Princeton that aren't native to New Jersey. Martha wants to research her home state, Minnesota, instead of New Jersey, but Mr. Bogner decides to discuss it later. Harvey is from Pennsylvania.

Sharon and Elaine

Two other girls in Peter's class while he was in Princeton. Sharon is known for looking down at the ground or up at the sky, and Elaine is known for hitting guys her own age in the stomach. (Neither Sharon or Elaine's last names are revealed, though.) They are friends with Joanne, and also socialize with Peter and Alex. Although Peter and Elaine are the same age, he was never socked in the stomach by her and they got along just fine. It is hinted for Jimmy to possibly develop a crush on Sharon. Elaine is also the only person to agree to take Daniel up on his offer of 'making something of it' (where he proceeds to chicken out), but it is implied she was joking anyway.

Melissa Beth Miller

Fudge's new friend that moves into their apartment. She is Fudge's age and attends his special mixed group class at school. She has a cat named Fuzzball.

Richie Potter

Fudge's best friend from school. He is a very wealthy boy with allergies, and likes to brag a lot, usually about what he does in the bathroom. Fudge originally thought he was a cousin of the famous boy wizard Harry Potter (as they have the same last name).

Other adults

Mr. George Vincent

The president of the Toddle Bike company. He chooses Fudge to star in the new commercial for his product, but gets furious when Fudge does not act on cue. Mr. Vincent is almost always seen smoking a big cigar.

Janet

Warren's gorgeous secretary. She usually carries around a purse stuffed to bursting with snacks and beauty supplies. She kisses Peter for convincing Fudge to complete the commercial, but Peter secretly feels her kisses are too wet.

Mr. Bogner

Peter and Alex's sixth-grade teacher. Peter is quick to learn that Mr. Bogner isn't dumb as some of his past teachers were.

Mr. Green

The mustached school principal. During an assembly with author Brian Tumkin illustrating a picture of a person Fudge knows, Fudge chooses Mr. Green, who appreciates the drawing and hangs it in his office.

Mrs. Hildebrandt

Fudge's first kindergarten teacher, who he calls "Rat Face" with which Peter apparently doesn't disagree. According to Fudge, she is mean, wouldn't let him play with the round blocks (she never lets her students play with the round blocks on the first day of school), and wouldn't call him Fudge, so he had to kick her and climb on top of the cabinets. After he moves to the other kindergarten, Mrs. Hildebrandt frequently calls him Farley at every opportunity. When he leaves her kindergarten, she says to him "Goodbye, Farley Drexel", and when she meets Uncle Feather she says "What a beautiful bird Farley has". When Fudge tells her that Uncle Feather speaks French, Mrs. Hildebrandt who also speaks French says to him, "Parlez-vous Francais?" Uncle Feather replies, "Bonjour, stupid!" Fudge does not kick her in the TV series.

Ms. Ziff

Fudge's second kindergarten teacher. She is very nice and is reading "An Anteater Named Arthur" when Fudge arrives and he is impressed, since he is a fan of the book.

Brian Tumkin

A famous author that Fudge likes and gets to meet him at a school assembly. When Fudge gets called up Brian tells Fudge to tell him how to draw a person which he calls Chalk Talk. The person ends up being Mr. Green, who is pleased by the results.

Bicycle Bob

Bicycle-shop owner who acts as mentor to the children. When Peter accidentally swallows a fly, Bicycle Bob welcomes him to the ISAF club (I Swallowed a Fly) and recommends vanilla ice cream. According to Judy Blume, he is based directly on a real person whom she met one summer when she was growing up, who did indeed own a bike shop.

"When in Rome"

A woman who Peter meets and calls "When in Rome" at Big's Baseball Game because she had quoted the old "When in Rome" phrase. She also appears at Muriel and Buzzy Senior's wedding, as the Justice of the Peace. She calls Peter "Junior."

Olivia Osterman

An older woman who lives in the same apartment building as the Hatchers.

Teens

Isobel

Gorgeous teenage library assistant that Peter meets on holiday in Maine, and develops a serious crush on. Her nickname is Izzy. When Fudge asks Peter what's wrong, Peter admits that Isobel makes him feel dizzy. Fudge later tells that to Jimmy and Sheila. Jimmy doesn't share Peter's affection for Isobel, and Peter loses his spark for her when she doesn't pick him for her team at the ball game. Isobel also persuades Fudge to write an autobiography of himself, entitled "Tell Me A Fudge", after he discovers his friend Mitzi has a book about herself, "Tell Me A Mitzi". Fudge, however, only writes the chapter titles.

Marty

Marty is Sheila's swim teacher in Tarrytown. Boy-crazy Libby thinks he's gorgeous. At first he has a bit of trouble working with Sheila due to her fear of water, and Sheila seems to grow a grudge against him, but all that changes once she is finally honest with him, and eventually when Sheila manages to perfectly pass her swimming test. Because Sheila is so used to seeing him in swimwear, she initially didn't recognize him in street attire when he was invited to the Tubman's "Farewell to Tarrytown" party.

Freddie

A seventeen-year-old lifeguard at the Tarrytown community pool and yet another young gentleman Libby Tubman finds appealing. She hangs around his guard stand every day, flirts with him and brings him beverages. Upon learning he has a girlfriend, however, she ignores him and sticks to friends and company in her own age group.

Pets

Dribble

Peter's first pet that he won at his best friend Jimmy Fargo's birthday party. Peter always looked after him, but Fudge was always finding ways to harm Dribble and in the end finally swallowed him. The turtle died after Fudge was given special medicine to remove Dribble from inside him. Peter was distraught. In the book "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" it seems that no one seems to make a big deal of Dribble's death, but in the TV series episode his parents show more affection and apologize for helping to cause it.

Turtle

Peter's pet dog, named after Dribble. Peter received him after Fudge swallowed his first pet. He is feared and hated by Sheila Tubman.

Mumford

A male dog who sires Jennifer's puppies, one of whom is Sheila's dog Jake.

Uncle Feather

Fudge's myna bird. They got it when Fudge wanted a bird for a pet in "Superfudge". His parents want him to get something else like a canary or parakeet, but Peter suggests a myna bird, much to everyone else's regret. Fudge wants one so he gets Uncle Feather, whose favorite thing to say is "Bonjour, stupid." In Double Fudge, Turtle likes to "sing" with him to Fudge's theme song about money. Later in the book, he goes "on strike," according to Henry, and will not talk at all, but all that changes when he has a near-death incident (thanks to Mini-Farley) which causes him to start talking again. In the books, the family got Uncle Feather when they were living in Princeton, NJ, back in Superfudge

Baby

A small dog belonging to neighbor Mrs. Reese.

Vinny

A Yorkie belonging to Jimmy's stepmother Beverly.