Cody Martin

Cody Martin
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck character
Cody in Bon Voyage
First appearance	"Hotel Hangout"
Last appearance	Cole & Dylan Sprouse (So Random!)
Created by	Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan
Portrayed by	Cole Sprouse
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Student Towel Boy (in The Suite Life on Deck)
Family	Kurt Martin (father) Carey Martin (mother) Zack Martin (identical twin brother)
Significant other(s)	Bailey Pickett (girlfriend)
Nationality	American

Cody Martin (played by Cole Sprouse) is a main character created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan for The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and its sequel/spin-off The Suite Life on Deck. Cody also appeared on cross-over episodes of other Disney Channel series, such as That's So Raven, Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, I'm in the Band, So Random! and the special, Studio DC: Almost Live.

Concept and creation

Dylan Sprouse stated that the idea of twins living in a hotel was something he and his brother came up with when they were shooting Big Daddy and stayed in a hotel for four months.^[1] Sprouse said of Zack and Cody, "The characters were originally based off our personalities. In fact, they were originally named Dylan and Cole."^[2]

Character information

Cody was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Seattle, Washington at 6:40 on a Saturday.^[3] The year of his birth is not clear. In The Suite Life on Deck episode, "Das Boots", it is said to be 1993.^[4] However, in the episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody titled "Poor Little Rich Girl", a baby video of he and his brother is date-stamped September 23, 1992.^[5]

Cody is more erudite, mature and intelligent than Zack. Cody tends to be more sensitive, caring and better behaved than his brother, but he is not perfect; he shows acts of meanness and greed. He generally receives good grades in school, and according to Zack, Cody has a 5.0 grade point average.^[6] He is often referred to as a nerd, though he prefers "educationally gifted". London Tipton, daughter of the man who owns the Tipton Hotel in which he resides for the duration of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, uses him on various occasions to complete her school work. In one episode of The Suite Life on Deck, Cody and Zack fight over the fact that Zack stole an old term paper from Cody rather than writing his own, and Zack admits that he knows he'll never match Cody academically and feels inferior to his brother; in response, Cody admits that he works hard to get grades because Zack is better at sports, better with girls, and more popular, while the only thing Cody has going for him is his intelligence.^[7] He is shown to have a strong, almost obsessive, fear of germs.^[8][9] Despite his exceptional intelligence and relative maturity when compared to Zack, Cody does exhibit some comically regressive behaviors, such as calling his mother "Mommy", screaming girlishly when frightened, and carrying a "blankey" as late as age 12. This becomes a running joke throughout the series. In "Big Hair & Baseball," it is revealed that he has astigmatism. Cody is proven to have a Swedish background in the Suite Life on Deck episode "The Swede Life". He originally intended to attend Harvard University; however, he has a bad encounter with a Dean there, as he helped to lie when Zack dated the Dean's daughter.^[6] Later on, he decides to attend Yale. Cody says that his biggest dream is to win a Nobel Prize.

While he shows the same interest in girls as his brother, he prefers long-term relationships with one girl, rather than dating many girls at once.

Appearances

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

After traveling around the nation, the twins and their mother Carey arrive in Boston, which becomes their home until The Suite Life on Deck. He and Zack become friends with Maddie Fitzpatrick, and he keeps a picture of her in his room when he moves to the SS Tipton.^[10] He has a passion for cooking, cleanliness, mime artistry, dance, and stamp collecting. Cody does well in school and is interested in several intellectual activities. This results in him attending math camp, winning a spelling bee, etc.

Like Zack, he inherits musical talents from his parents. He has singing talents like his mother, as seen in Lip-Syncing in the Rain and Sleepover Suite, and can act. In addition to singing, Cody plays the French horn^[11] and the violin. Cody is closer than Zack to their mother and heeds her advice.

In the first season, Cody is as much of a troublemaker as Zack. As the show progresses, his character develops into a type who generally only gets in trouble by mistake or (more often) due to Zack's influence. Cody is often the victim of various sight gags (which range from humorous to traumatic). Examples include being pushed in horse feces,^[12] getting trampled,^[13] and being frozen in ice (which he does not remember).^[14]

During the third season, Cody works part-time as a bag boy at the Paul Revere minimart over the summer holidays. It becomes a setting and theme for some episodes, most notably Summer of Our Discontent, Who's the Boss? and Baggage. Cody acted as producer of London Tipton's "Yay Me! Starring London Tipton" webcast, although he quits or rejoins the show based on his relationship with London.

The Suite Life on Deck

Cody shares a room with Woody Fink, a messy, overweight student. While at school on board the SS Tipton, Cody becomes the ship's towel boy to earn money after Zack maxes out both of their student cash cards on non-essential items, particularly food and gifts for girls Zack is interested in.^[15]

He develops a competitor in school, Bailey Pickett.^[16] He develops a crush on Bailey after finding out that she, who initially masqueraded as a boy, is a girl.

Cody pursues Bailey several times throughout the first season, most notably in the episode "International Dateline" when he plans on telling her how he feels at a school dance but is thwarted by Zack, London, Woody, Mrs. Pepperman (a woman looking for the senior citizens' karate class), and, repeatedly, by a supernatural event upon the ship's crossing the International Dateline which causes Cody to relive the previous several hours a la Groundhog Day; and, as revealed in the episode "It's All Greek to Me", devising a six-month plan to win her heart. She is oblivious. In the season one finale "Double Crossed" (part of the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" crossover special), after Hannah Montana gives Cody tickets to the concert in Hawaii, Bailey kisses him, starting their relationship.

In "Lost at Sea", in the second season, Cody goes behind Bailey's back while the group is sailing in a lifeboat. Bailey gets angry with him and treats him badly. After advice from Zack, they reconcile and becomes the hero by figuring out a way off the island. Cody becomes friends with Zack's roommate Marcus Little, a former singing sensation. In the second season finale "Breakup in Paris," Cody and Bailey have a major argument that concludes a breakup. However, Cody still has feelings for Bailey.^[17][18][19] In "A London Carol," an alternate future shows that Cody and Bailey are married, although the present Cody and Bailey are still separated.

In the third season, Zack begins a romantic relationship with Maya Bennett, and Cody has a friendly relationship with her. In the episode "Computer Date," Arwin builds a supercomputer that displays affectionate feelings for Cody, who feels the same way. However, when Callie starts endangering Cody's friends, he shuts her down. In the episode "The Play's The Thing", Cody writes a play that covers the breakup, which causes Bailey to quit the play. Haley is killed at the end of the play, and Bailey runs off crying. Cody admits that the play is based on their breakup, and Zack convinces his brother to try to reconcile with Bailey. When he attempts to do so, she slams the door in his face. In the "Twister" three-part special, Bailey decides that she still loves Cody, and they resume their relationship.

In "Graduation on Deck", the series finale, Cody is rejected by Yale University. He is so sad that he refuses to speak as the valedictorian with Bailey, although he finally relents. Near the end of the episode, Cody promises to visit her at Yale.

The Suite Life Movie

Cody and Bailey originally plan to spend spring break together, but Cody decides instead to intern for Dr. Spaulding for the opportunity to earn a Yale scholarship. He writes a long letter to Bailey explaining his decision, but he starts to quarrel with Zack and loses the letter. She becomes upset with him.

Cody goes to the marine biology lab where he will intern, but Zack gets him into a quarrel and they damage the lab's property, costing Cody his spot. Cody becomes more furious with Zack. Zack attempts to make it up to him, and helps Cody to get an internship with Dr. Olsen in the Gemini Project.

There they eat a fruit that connects them telepathically: first through tactile sensation, then through empathy or emotions, and finally through a process called "the merge." The first stages bring the brothers closer, but after discovering that the merge will combine them into a single personality, they try to escape.

References