List of Arthur characters

This is a list of characters that are featured in the book series and PBS Kids GO! show Arthur which began in 1996.

The children

Children in Arthur's class

• Arthur Read is the title character of the series. He is a third grade student at Lakewood Elementary in Elwood City. He has two younger sisters, Dora Winifred (D.W.) and Baby Kate. He possesses a sincere partiality towards reading, watching television, playing sports, playing piano and spending time with his friends.

• Alan "The Brain" Powers is one of Arthur's friends and classmates. He is a mild-mannered only child, who excels in academics and athletics. He spends his free time working at his parents' ice cream parlor, while also managing a career as an amateur soccer player.

• Binky Barnes is Arthur's arch-nemesis. He is the main antagonist of the TV show He was originally written as a bully, who secretly harbors sensitive and caring feelings. He enjoys studying the fine arts, including playing the clarinet and performing ballet. He was the leader of a "bully clique", known as the Tough Customers, which in later seasons takes on more noble endeavors. He is now portrayed as once of Arthur's best friends but still acts rashly at times. Recently, his family adopted a baby sister, named Mei-Lin, from China.

• Buster Baxter is Arthur's best friend. A jolly and upbeat figure, Buster enjoys watching television, reading works of science fiction, conjuring conspiracy theories, and playing video games and playing the tuba. He is also very superstitious at times, and is obsessed with extraterrestrial life. Buster lives with his mother, Bitzi, and occasionally travels with his father. Buster also had his own spin-off series, entitled Postcards from Buster.

• Francine Alice Frensky is a tomboy who loves sports, drumming and singing. Her blunt, outspoken demeanor can sometimes have a negative effect on her relationships with friends and relatives. She is of Polish-Jewish descent and can occasionally be a bully towards her friends. Francine is best friends with Muffy Crosswire. She and Arthur sometimes fight, but make up in the end.

• Fern Walters is one of Arthur's classmates. She is one of the series' quieter characters, who enjoys reading poetry and mystery novels. Fern's mother, Doria, is constantly trying to get Fern to become more extroverted, and even Fern herself sometimes worries she is "too quiet". She is known for her realistic storytelling, especially when telling horror stories based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'. She has much talent for solving crimes, and being an amateur sleuth. One of her favorite authors is Persimmony Glitchet, a reference to famous author Lemony Snicket.

• George Lundgren is one of Arthur's classmates. He has dyslexia and is well-known in his class as a ventriloquist, performing with his dummy, Wally. He is often isolated from his classmates because of his frequent nosebleeds, which grosses out his classmates. He is of Scandinavian descent. His last name was formerly "Nordgren" until Season 11 and onwards which has now been changed to "Lundgren".

• Jenna Morgan is a minor character in Arthur's grade. She plays badminton, helps coach soccer, received an Athlete of the Year award from Michelle Kwan, and is allergic to milk (making her lactose intolerant). Jenna also suffers from bedwetting.

• Mary Alice "Muffy" Crosswire is Francine's best friend, though they are opposites in many ways. She is the wealthiest girl in school, and is the stereotypical rich/spoiled girl. She tends to be extremely self-centered, and like Francine, her behavior occasionally leads her into trouble with her friends. She also tries to impress her friends with her Dad's wealth, who is the wealthiest businessman in Elwood City, and because of this she is often labeled as a show-off by her friends.

• Sue Ellen Armstrong is a recent transfer to Arthur's school. Her father is a diplomat, and so her family has lived in various spots around the world. She is interested in world culture, and has a black-belt in the martial arts. She also practices taekwondo, and is not afraid to challenge someone much bigger than herself. She can whistle, and though she is an only child, keeps in touch with her brother-like friend on the other side of the world.

Other children

• Alberto Molina, 13, is one of Arthur's newer neighbors. He became a character in the season during season six, following the departure of Mr. Sipple. Alberto and his family hail from Ecuador. He practices kendo in his spare time, and enjoys reading "El Conejo Bionico", the Spanish version of Bionic Bunny.

• Catherine Frensky is Francine's older sister, around 16 years old. She reads teen magazines and frequently uses the phone. She is envied by Francine, since Francine believes that her parents favor her older sister and Catherine is better than Francine at many activities, particularly acrobatics and horseback riding.

• Dora Winifred "D.W." Read is Arthur's little sister and is a middle child. She attends preschool, and enjoys watching children's television shows to the displeasure of Arthur. She is also known for her many short-lived obsessions and tantrums if these obsessions are not fulfilled. Many of the series' plots revolve around tensions between D.W. and her brother, and she is naturally better than Arthur in some activities such as fishing, which causes her brother to envy her.

• Emily is one of D.W.'s classmates and friends. She first met D.W. in a gymnastics class, and later became a regular character in the series. She outshines D.W. in many activities, and D.W. often tries to outperform her, but with mixed results. She possibly has a French heritage, because she is closely associated with French culture, and even has a French nanny. Emily was at first seen as a rabbit with tall ears, short blonde hair, and a red dress. In season 5, her design changed to longer hair, and a blue dress.

• Kaitlyn "Baby Kate" Read is Arthur and D.W.'s baby sister. She's able to communicate with Pal and other animals but people who are older than her dismiss it as "baby talk" gibberish, and Kate and the animals interpret grownups' talk likewise. She enjoys playing in her sandpit and shows remarkable intelligence for her age and limited knowledge, despite not being able to communicate with people older than herself.

• Marina Dattilo is Prunella's best friend. She is blind and is obsessed with Henry Screever, the show's parody of Harry Potter. She and Prunella met when Prunella unwillingly received a Braille edition of the latest Henry Screever and let Marina borrow it, and since then they have become inseparable. Marina is notably good at yoga and joined Prunella and her mother, Wanda, in their early-morning yoga routine. In one episode, she is seen in a Mighty Mountain soccer uniform. In another, she is in a Lakewood uniform.

• Mei-Lin is Binky's little sister who was adopted from China. In her debut (at the Chinese restaurant), she was talking to Baby Kate. She and her brother are very close to each other. Mei-Lin only appears in the season 11 finale "Big Brother Binky".

• James MacDonald: The younger brother of Molly MacDonald, his fourth grade sister. He is in D.W.'s Preschool class, and is often shy.

• Molly MacDonald is close friends with Binky. She is an another antagonist She is known to be good at giving advice. Molly has short brown hair that completely covers her eyes, giving her a rebellious appearance. She has a little brother named James who is in D.W.'s preschool class.

• Mo: Arthur's cousin, whom Arthur remembers when she had been awful to him in the past reunions and tries to avoid her, until it is revealed that Mo isn't as bad as Arthur thought. Mo only appears in Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe.

• Nadine is D.W.'s imaginary friend. One episode shows D.W. with her when she's much older, while another shows that D.W. does not need Nadine as much as she used to. Both girls are aware that Nadine is imaginary, since only D.W. sees her.

• Prunella Deegan is a grade above Arthur and his friends, and as a result is somewhat snobbish and condescending towards the younger kids. She is interested in yoga, fortune telling, and paranormal phenomena.

• Rattles Ciccone is another member of the Tough Customers, and is one of the antagonists. Rattles has been a Tough Customer member since the first season of the program. He wears a backwards baseball hat, black leather jacket, white T-shirt, blue jeans and high tops.

• Rubella Deegan is Prunella's older teen sister. She is very spiritual and obsessed with psychic and paranormal phenomena. She is typically depicted as a mystical, and she often talks in a very dramatic tone. She often chides in on Prunella.

• Timmy Tibble is one brother in a set of twins who routinely exasperate Arthur, D.W., and most everyone with their mischievous antics. Timmy wears a blue scarf and is the more mischievous of the twins.

• Tommy Tibble is the other brother in a set of twins. Tommy wears a red scarf, and D.W. once taught him to be good.

• Vicita Molina is Arthur's new neighbor who moved in after Mr. Sipple moved out, introduced in season 6. She's three and seven-eighths, in her own proud words, and often plays with D.W. and the Tibbles. Her family is from Ecuador.

• Chip Crosswire is Muffy's unseen older brother who is a college student. He is only mentioned in the episode "Phony Fern." Muffy is apparently close to him because they discuss things like dating over the phone.

The adults

• Mr. Armstrong: Sue Ellen's father, a diplomat.
• Mrs. Armstrong: Sue Ellen's mother, is a homemaker with a penchant for exotic clothes.
• Bailey: Muffy's chauffeur and sometimes the Crosswire Family's butler. He also has a notable talent in creating kinetic art, and follows Muffy's orders without question, even when told to drive the Crosswire limo in quite dangerous fashion.
• Bubby: Francine's granny who was first seen in the Season 12 episode, Is that Kosher?"'
• Mr. Barnes: Binky's father.
• Mrs. Barnes: Binky's mother, a nurse.
• Bitzi Baxter: Buster's mom, the editor-in-chief of the Elwood City Times. She's overprotective of Buster and a frantic character. (In the early Arthur books, she had blonde hair, although the later books and TV show depicted her with auburn hair.)
• Bo Baxter: Buster's father, who is divorced. He is a pilot. Buster flies with him around the United States in the spin-off Postcards from Buster series. In Postcards from Buster, he is shown with short brown hair and glasses. However, during his few appearances in earlier seasons of Arthur, his face is noticeably hidden from view, for instance behind a newspaper. He looks almost exactly like Harry, Bitzi Baxter's ex-boyfriend. His physical appearance has changed several times.
• Coach Bilsters: The Lakewood Elementary School Gym Coach who was mainly seen in earlier episodes.
• Mrs Bofini: A past substitute teacher of Mr Ratburn's class. The class disliked her because she had the habit of sucking her teeth and batting her eyelids.
• Ms. Brian: The Lakewood Elementary School Art teacher.
• David L. Read: Arthur and D.W.'s father. Mr. Read runs a catering business from home and is frequently shown garnishing trays of hors d'œuvre in the family kitchen. In the episode "D.W. Aims High," Arthur's dad hinted that he was born in the early 1960s.
• Doria Walters: Fern's mother. She works for a real estate company and is very confident and encouraging in her daughter.
• Mr Elkin: A past substitute teacher of Mr Ratburn's class. He was troublesome because his large antlers would knock students out of their seats.
• Ed Crosswire: Muffy's father, the owner of a car dealership called "Crosswire Motors". It was revealed that he never attended college; rather he received an honorary degree after his donation of a library. He is also the coach of the soccer team.
• Emily's Mother: Emily's unnamed mother, who looks very different from her daughter. She makes many brief appearances, and in "The Girl who Swallowed a Horse", she is seen in a gown,adorning herself which shows that she enjoys formal events.
• Emily's Father: Emily's father who is only seen during "The Girl who Swallowed a Horse." In the episode, he is in bed, and his head is turned away, hiding his face. Emily is seen with Marie-Helene, more than her parents which shows that they do not have much time for her.
• Mrs. Fink: The third grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary School, prior to Mr. Ratburn taking over the class. Like Mrs. Sweetwater, she always did fun things with her class. She only played a major role in Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn, but has rarely been seen since.
• Dr. Frederique Fugue: Once taught Arthur piano lessons and later filled in for Ms. Krasny to take Mr. Ratburn's class to Crown City for a singing chorus field trip. He was a chorister as a child and later sung with Whiffenpoofs, implying he attended Yale University. He seems to have a perfect pitch because he was able to tell that a car horn played a C#.
• Fritz Langley: Caretaker of the Elwood City Community Garden who sometimes suffers from arthritis in his hands while working. Most likely a reference to the 1920s German film director Fritz Lang
• "Grandma" Thora Read: Grandma Thora is Arthur and D.W.'s paternal grandmother, who is quite caring, but is a bad cook. Grandma Thora is based on Brown's own grandmother Thora, who encouraged him by saving his childhood drawings in a bottom drawer.
• "Grandpa" Dave: an aardvark. Grandpa Dave is Arthur and D.W.'s maternal grandfather. He lives on the family farm which has been in the family for over 150 years.
• Harry Mills: Works at Bitzi's newspaper as a sports writer. Bitzi started dating him for a couple of seasons, but then broke off because she wanted more time to pursue other interests. Despite the break-up, he remained good friends with Buster and his mother as if nothing had happened.
• Herbert Haney: Mr. Haney is the lovable yet absentminded principal of Arthur's school. He, like George, suffers from dyslexia. He also seems to have bad luck: something goes wrong almost everywhere he goes. A running gag in the show is a random item falling on his head.
• Mr. Higgins: The Elwood City mail carrier.
• Dr. Iris: She was the eye doctor who suggested that Arthur needed glasses in the first episode "Arthur's Eyes". (In the original Arthur book "Arthur's Eyes", Dr. Iris is a fox.)
• Jane Read: Arthur and D.W.'s mother. Mrs. Read is a work-at-home tax accountant. She has short, curly, brown hair and wears a salmon pink sweater and blue jeans.
• Jessica: Jane's sister. She is married to a man named Richard and has a daughter, Cora. She appears once in the episode "D.W. Thinks Big" for her sister Lucy's wedding.
• Ms. Krasny: The Lakewood Elementary School Music teacher.
• Laverne Frensky: Francine's mother, who is never revealed to have a job, but stay home.
• Loretta Duong: Arthur's aunt from his dad's side. She is somewhat overbearing and excessively uses the word "dear" when speaking to Arthur's mother during her only appearance in Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe.
• Lucille "Lucy": Jane's younger sister. She appears in the episode "D.W. Thinks Big", where she is married, and D.W. saves her wedding ring.
• Mr. Marco: an aardvark, and Arthur's second grade teacher. He is often seen during the series, but Arthur was only in his class through flashbacks.
• Marie-Helene: Emily's French nanny, who takes care of Emily more than her parents.
• Millicent Crosswire: Muffy's aristocratic mother who enjoys opera.
• Ramon Molina: Arthur's new Ecuadorian neighbor, who moves in Mr. Sipple's old house with his family. He is revealed to own and run an Ecuadorian couisine restaraunt.
• Mrs. Molina: Ramon's wife, and mother of Vacita and Alberto. In "Dancing Fools", she taught a children's dance class.
• Mrs. Morgan: Jenna's mother who very briefly appears in "Francine's New Best Friend".
• Ms. Morgan: D.W.'s preschool teacher, and gymnastics instructor.
• John Morris: John Morris, a Lakewood Elementary School Janitor for 6 years, had recently moved to Roswell, New Mexico to live with his daughter after breaking his leg during the Lakewood Fire, and is seen in the Postcards from Buster episode "Alien Adventure" when Buster visited New Mexico.
• Nigel Emil Ratburn III: Mr. Ratburn is Arthur and his friends' teacher. His passions are homework and puppetry; in one episode, he mends D.W.'s broken doll. He also enjoys magic tricks and spent a summer working at Jack's Joke Shop. He is also knowledgeable about Japanese lutes, such as the Biwa, but is noticeably incompetent with computers.He is a fanatic of the show "Spooky Roo," the show's parody of Scooby Doo.
• Oliver Frensky: Francine's dad, who works as an sanitation engineer for the local city dump. He states he was formerly a volunteer firefighter.He coaches the baseball team.
• Paige Turner: Ms. Turner is the friendly but strict librarian at the Elwood City Library, whose rules are for everyone to be quiet in the library. Originally she had brown/brunette hair until Season 11 when she sported blonde hair.
• Mrs. Pariso: Francine's next door neighbor, who is very good at horseback riding and also won prizes at Wimbledon. She banged on Francine's wall when she first moved in to their apartment building, which made Francine think she was mean, but the two became good friends in the end.
• Patty Jones: The woman who played Mary Moo Cow, who later appeared as a newscaster for the TV show "Stock Market Today".
• Mr. Powers: Brain's father, and although he occasionly helps out in the ice cream shop, he was never shown have any other job..
• Mrs. Powers: Brain's mother, who owns and runs the ice cream shop. She was originally shown with a brown complexion and brown hair, but although she is African-American, she is now seen with a light complexion and blonde cream-colored hair.
• Rodentia Ratburn: Mr. Ratburn's sister, who once filled in for Mr. Ratburn for a day when he was sick. Her teaching methods are notably similar to those of Mrs. Sweetwater.
• Mrs. Robertson: The Lakewood Elementary School Kindergarten teacher who is now retired. Brain was a student twice in her class.
• Mr. Sanders: The tyrant landlord who works for the apartment building where the Frensky family live.
• Sarah MacGrady: Mrs. MacGrady is the lunch lady at Lakewood Elementary school, where Arthur and his friends study. She is full of unconventional wisdom, and is Grandma Thora's bingo buddy. She commonly wears a pink shirt and white pants. She, like Prunella, enjoys fortune telling.
• Susy Sipple: Arthur's next-door neighbor from Season 1 to 6, who enjoys grilling fish late at night and comes from a place where making faces on a bike means bring the biker a cabbage. He moves out in Season 6, and the Molinas move in to his home.
• Miss Sweetwater: She is also a third grade teacher for another Lakewood Elementary School class, and does fun things to her students like singing songs (such as "I Like Fudge") on her guitar.
• Mrs. Tibble: The grandmother of Tommy and Timmy Tibble. (In early Arthur books, Mrs. Tibble is a human, however many newer books and the show have her as a bear.)
• Miss Tingley: Principal Haney's secretary. One time she was afraid of Miss Sweetwater's singing and Mr. Haney's sawing-in-half magic trick.
• Mrs Tremello: A past substitute teacher of Mr Ratburn's class. Disliked by the class because she apparently mumbled everything she said.
• Mr. Walters: Fern's father who was finally first seen in the Season 11 episode Phony Fern.
• Wanda Deegan: a rat. Prunella and Rubella's mother. She enjoys yoga and granola.
• Wilbur Rabbit: The actor who plays Bionic Bunny. Wears glasses exactly like Arthur's.
• Mrs. Woods: Perky's owner. Her grouchy dog, Perky (aka Jaws), is Pal's mother.
• Mrs. Willington: the lady that Arthur raked leaves with in season one, Rake it or Leave it.

Guest Stars

• Alex Trebek (called Alex Lebek in the episode to make it not so obvious): Alex Trebek appears in the episode Arthur and the Big Riddle as the host of the Riddle Quest game show.
• Art Garfunkel: Art Garfunkel appears in two Arthur episodes. He first appears in the episode The Ballad of Buster Baxter, and then later appears in Elwood City Turns 100! as one of the guests that Muffy invites to the play.
• Arthur Ganson: Arthur Ganson appears in the episode Muffy's Art Attack.
• The Backstreet Boys (Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean, and Kevin Richardson): The Backstreet Boys appear in the episode Arthur, It's Only Rock n' Roll.
• Bill Clinton: Prior to 2001, "the President" resembled and sounded like Bill Clinton.
• Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers (Tom and Ray Magliozzi): The Car Talk hosts appear in the episode Pick a Car, Any Car, where Arthur calls them about their car when it is about to go to the junkyard.
• Matt Damon: Matt Damon appears in the episode The Making of Arthur as the host of a show "Postcards from You" (inspired by the "Postcards from You" segment that has been the mid-show feature on Arthur since Season 11 and the feature on the second season of "Postcards from Buster").
• Edgar Rentería: Edgar Rentería also appears in The Curse of the Grebes also playing a Grebe, being Bateria.
• Frank Gehry: Frank Gehry appears in the episode Castles in the Sky, and helps the gang create a new tree house, although they don't know he is Frank Gehry until he gives them a signed photo of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
• Fred Rogers: Mr. Rogers appears on the episode Arthur Meets Mr. Rogers. He visits Arthur's house and Arthur is embarrassed because he thinks that Mr. Rogers Neighborhood is a baby show. Other people think that too. But, when Mr. Rogers comes for a visit to Arthur's class, they all change their minds when Binky says "Wow, can I have your autograph too?" to Arthur.
• George W. Bush: Any time after 2001, "The President" is now a rabbit that looks and sounds much like George W. Bush.
• Henry Ford: Henry Ford appears in Elwood City Turns 100!, during a flashback to the city's dedication by President Theodore Roosevelt.
• Jack Prelutsky: Jack Prelutsky appears on the episode I'm a Poet, as the judge of a poetry contest. At the end of the contest, he can't decide who's the winner, so he says "I hate contests. You all win".

Larry King

• Johnny Damon: Johnny Damon also appears in The Curse of the Grebes, also playing a member of the Elwood City Grebes as Playmon.
• Joshua Redman: Joshua Redman also appears in the episode My Music Rules as Francine's second-cousin-twice-removed, who they call "Uncle Josh". He gets invited by Arthur and Francine.
• J. P. Morgan: J. P. Morgan appears in Elwood City Turns 100!, during a flashback to the city's dedication by President Theodore Roosevelt.
• Koko Taylor: Koko Taylor appears in the episode Big Horns George, and is Alan "The Brain"'s favorite blues musician.
• Lance Armstrong: Lance Armstrong appears in "Room to Ride".
• Larry King: Larry King appears in the "And Now a Word From Us Kids" section of the episode Elwood City Turns 100! and interviews the gang.
• Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, and Burgess Meredith: Three deceased actors who played villains in the Batman TV show. They were listed as Mr. Crosswire's employees in "Pick a car, any car".

Theodore Roosevelt

• Michelle Kwan: Michelle Kwan appears in the episode The Good Sport, as the host of the Athlete of the Year Award at Lakewood Elementary. It is also said that she graduated from Lakewood Elementary in that series.
• Mike Timlin: Mike Timlin appears in the episode The Curse of the Grebes, playing a member of the Elwood City Grebes, being Winlin.
• Ming Tsai: Ming Tsai appears in the episode What's Cooking?.
• Rodney Gilfry: Rodney Gilfry appears in the episode Lights, Camera, Opera as he has a role in the Carmen opera that Muffy and Ed Crosswire see.
• Taj Mahal: Taj Mahal also appears in the episode Big Horns George with Koko Taylor.
• Theodore Roosevelt: President Theodore Roosevelt dedicates Elwood City during a flashback in Elwood City Turns 100!
• Yo-Yo Ma: Yo-Yo Ma appears in the episode My Music Rules with Joshua Redman. He is the musician that D.W. invites (D.W. tended to call him "Yo Mama").

Animals and Pets

• Pal: Arthur's pet dog. D.W. often refers to him as "Arthur's crazy dog". He is revealed to be able to speak in some episodes, but other than Kate and most other animals, no one can understand him.
• Amigo: the Molinas' dog. He first appears in the episode "Arthur and Los Vecinos". D.W. is afraid of him at first, but she gets over it quickly. Like Pal, Amigo has been shown to speak in some episodes. Amigo is friend in Spanish.
• Toady: Toady was D.W.'s pet in the episode, "So Long, Spanky." After Spanky dies D.W. finds him and takes him in hoping he would fill Spanky's void. he is released afterwards. He also appears in "The Great Sock Mystery" revealing that he now lives in the Read's yard.
• Spanky: D.W.'s pet bird of unknown species. He dies in "So Long, Spanky". He is seen again in D.W.'s dream as a bald eagle.
• Nemo: Francine's cat, also Pal's enemy. In the first episode he is shown in, however, they are friends. His facial features changed drastically after his debut.
• Perky: Pal's mother. She appears in "Arthur's Pet Business". She was once infamous for harboring a grouchy attitude, which earned her the nickname "Jaws".
• Walter: A deer that D.W. meets in the outdoors, D.W. wants to take Walter home but her parents tell her it's not allowed. Walter is also seen in other episodes when D.W day dreams or imagines her perfect world.