List of Arthur characters


This is a list of characters featured in the PBS Kids television show Arthur, which is based on the book series by Marc Brown.
Arthur, the titular character, is the main character of the series. The main supporting characters are D.W., Buster, Francine, Muffy, Binky, Sue Ellen, the Brain, Mr. Ratburn, and Arthur's parents. Over the years, the roles of each character have changed and expanded as more episodes have focused on characters besides Arthur or D.W., most notably Buster, Francine, Muffy, Binky, Sue Ellen, and the Brain. Other supporting characters such as Fern, George, and Prunella have also gradually had expanded roles in the series, including Jenna.

Children

Arthur Read

Arthur Timothy Read is an aardvark who attends third grade at Lakewood Elementary in Elwood City. He has two younger sisters, D.W. and Kate, and a dog named Pal. He plays the piano. He wears a yellow cotton sweater, white dress shirt, blue jeans, and round brown glasses.

D.W. Read

Dora Winifred Read, usually known as D.W. (voiced by Michael Caloz 1996–1999; Oliver Grainger 1999–2001; Jason Szwimmer 2002–2006; Luciano Rauso 2006, Robert Naylor 2007–2012; Jake Beale 2012–2014; Andrew Dayton 2014–2016; Christian Distefano 2016–2018; Ethan Pugiotto 2019; Grey DeLisle 2020-present; is a 4-5-year-old brown-haired middle child of the Read family who usually wears a white long-sleeved blouse and a pink sleeveless knee-length dress. She attends preschool and enjoys watching Mary Moo Cow and listening to Crazy Bus, much to Arthur's annoyance. In the special episode "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur," it is revealed that D.W. was named for Grandma Thora's aunt Dora Winifred, who died before she was born.

Kate Read

Kate Read is Arthur and D.W.'s baby sister. Although she can't talk to older people yet, she can communicate with Pal, Mei-Lin Barnes, Killer, Toady and Mr. Toad, Amigo, Nemo, and Pepe the Flea. She has started to become more mature, and is starting to lose communication with Pal and some of her friends, but is also starting to understand Arthur, D.W., and Mr. and Mrs. Read's speech more.

Buster Baxter

Buster Baxter is Arthur's best friend. He is a white rabbit who wears a turquoise long-sleeve shirt and dark jeans. He has asthma, is obsessed with aliens, is interested in comedy, is an amateur detective, and plays the tuba. He loves eating, practices gardening, and keeps expired food in his room and school desk. He is an only child whose parents divorced when he was younger. He created and celebrates a no-frills holiday called "Baxter Day" with his mother. His father travels the world due to his work as a pilot, and as a result they were given a spin-off series, Postcards from Buster. Buster is also a procrastinator, often preferring to have fun rather than study; one such instance nearly lead to him flunking third grade before cramming at the last minute.

Francine Frensky

Francine Alice Frensky is a tomboyish and sporty monkey who has short brown hair tied with a barrette and usually wears blue jeans and a maroon sweater. She enjoys soccer, playing the drums, and horseback riding. Her family is Jewish, and are seen observing Yom Kippur and Hanukkah and attending a cousin's Bar Mitzvah in some episodes. Francine's best friend is Muffy, who happens to have the same middle name. While in earlier seasons she did pick on Arthur such as when he got glasses and when his baby tooth would not come out. She has an older sister named Catherine.

Muffy Crosswire

Mary Alice "Muffy" Crosswire is a monkey who usually has long red hair, which she usually wears in two braids adorned with purple bows that usually match her purple and white dress. She is one of two children born to Ed Crosswire, the owner of the used car dealership Crosswire Motors, and his wife, Millicent Crosswire, the other being her older brother, Chip. Muffy is the quintessential daddy's girl, with Ed believing his daughter can do no wrong and constantly buying her expensive, trendy items such as cell phones and designer clothing. Because of her upbringing, Muffy sometimes shows herself to be rude and haughty, and having lived in a mansion and waited on by servants her entire life, she has no sense of what it means to be lower or middle class. She is best friends with Francine Frensky, despite the two both having similar strong-willed personalities, and oftentimes, it's Francine who will rein Muffy in when her rudeness reaches an unacceptable level.

Alan the Brain Powers

Alan "Brain" Powers (voiced by Luke Reid 1996–1999; Steven Crowder 2000–2001; Alex Hood 2002–2005; Paul-Stuart Brown 2004–2007; James Buckholder 2006; Lyle O'Donohue 2008–2012; Siam Yu 2012–2014; Max Friedman Cole 2014–2018; Evan Blaylock 2019-present; is a bear of Senegalese descent, and celebrates Kwanzaa. He usually wears a grey sweater. Highly academic, holding an A average and well-educated on a multitude of subjects, especially science and math, his classmates call him "Brain." He was called "The Brain" before Season 7. His family owns an ice cream parlor, where his classmates frequently visit after school and on weekends. He was also held back in kindergarten for crying, he’s afraid of swimming but can be seen swimming in other episodes.

Binky Barnes

Shelley "Binky" Barnes is a yellow bulldog who usually wears an orange shirt, blue jeans, and brown shoes. He is in the third grade for a second time after failing third grade and having to retake it. He is a member of the Tough Customers, which are a group of bullies, but has a soft side and is one of Arthur’s friends. He plays the clarinet, catches butterflies, and enjoys ballet. In "Binky Goes Nuts," it is revealed that he has a severe allergy to peanuts. Binky has an adopted baby sister from China named Mei-Lin. Despite being a bully, he’s really close with Arthur and his friends, he loves art and in the episode “Binky Barnes, Art Expert” he takes the effort to help Arthur and Buster. Also in the episode “Big Horns George” he compliments George’s guitar by saying “Woah, nice guitar! Can I see?” After giving the guitar back to George, he likes the chord George plays. Despite not being good at school in “Binky’s A Game” he actually reads his assigned book and receives an A on the test.

Sue Ellen Armstrong

Sue Ellen Armstrong is a third-grader cat at Arthur's school, Lakewood Elementary. She officially moved to Elwood City in the winter of her third grade school year. Her father is a diplomat, so her family has lived in various spots around the world. Unlike Emily, Timmy and Tommy, she traveled with her parents. She is very close to nature, and becomes a vegetarian in Season 16. She also has a deep interest in World culture, and is skilled in the martial arts. She practices karate, and plays the saxophone. Sue Ellen was born as an only child, and keeps in touch with her brother-like pen pal, Tenzin Wangdu, in Tibet. She is usually depicted wearing a teal "T-shirt dress", a cream vest with red buttons, red high-top shoes with lime green "slouch" socks and curly orange hair bound up in pigtails by lime green scrunchies.

Fern Walters

Fern Walters is a light brown dog and one of Arthur's classmates. She enjoys reading poetry and novels, and is particularly interested in gothic and horror themes. She has written many poems and stories of her own, holds group poetry readings at the library, and is an amateur detective. Fern is usually a very shy and nervous person. She usually wears a purple long-sleeved blouse with yellow collars and cuffs, yellow pants, and a red ribbon on her head. She is also close friends with George, as they both have similar personalities and sometimes act like detectives.

George Lundgren

George Lundgren is a moose of Norwegian and Swedish descent, and wears an orange shirt with khaki pants. It is revealed in season 6 that he has dyslexia. He is very clumsy, but is capable of building items such as marionettes and constantly wins the school's contests. He is also very shy and introverted, but as the series goes on, it shows that George is generally accepted by the others. In Season 20, he is appointed as Lakewood Elementary's hall monitor.

Prunella Deegan

Prunella Deegan is a poodle. In 2011, PBS said that she was a rat, but in 2013, Marc Brown confirmed that she is a poodle. She is interested in yoga, fortune telling, and paranormal phenomena. She loves Henry Skreever and has studied Braille. One issue Prunella struggled with is hoarding, outlined in the episode Prunella the Packrat. She is a 4th grader who usually wears a blue dress with a white collar and a purple bow in her hair.

The Tibble Twins

Timmy Tibble and Tommy Tibble are identical twin bear brothers who are four years old and routinely exasperate others with their destructive antics. Tommy wears a red scarf and Timmy wears a blue scarf. They stay with their grandmother. Their parents work overseas and travel the world, giving them souvenirs and gifts. The Twins torment D.W. Occasionally, they manipulate her into doing silly and unusual things that only gets her into trouble even though D.W. had acknowledged many times that they always lie.
Emily is a white rabbit with blonde hair, wearing a pink dress before season 6, and a blue dress since season 6. She is D.W.'s best friend in preschool. She is an expert in gymnastics and is knowledgeable in French culture. She has a French nanny named Marie Hélène.

Maria Pappas

Maria Pappas is a rabbit in Mr. Ratburn's class. Her clothing usually consists of a striped shirt with blue dress. Her hair is brown. Maria's original character design included glasses. Maria is a participant in many clubs and activities but was never the center of attention. She appears in many episodes in the background, except for "Francine Goes To War," in which Francine insulted her, and her breakout episode, "Maria Speaks," which reveals that she talks with a stutter. Her best friend is Jenna Morgan.

Alex Sakelerk

Alex Sakelerk Alex is normally seen wearing a tan collared sweater, long brown jeans, and blue and white sneakers. In the episode Buster's Dino Dilemma Alex wore a white shirt that had purple on it, purple shorts with green on it, long green socks, and red and white sneakers.

Jenna Morgan

Jenna Morgan is one of Arthur's classmates. She is a grey cat that wears a pink dress with yellow buttons. She is lactose intolerant, plays badminton, helps coach soccer, and received an "Athlete of the Year" award from Michelle Kwan. Jenna is rather shy, and in "Jenna's Bedtime Blues", it is reveled that she dislikes being the center of attention and dreaded an invitation to Muffy's slumber party because she feared kids discovering that she suffered from Nocturnal enuresis.

Ladonna Compson

Ladonna Compson is Bud's sister who first appeared in season 16, in the episode "Based on a True Story." She is a new student at Lakewood Elementary. Ladonna is a rabbit with brownish-tan complexion who speaks with a dominant southern accent, and is native to New Orleans, Louisiana. Ladonna and her family end up moving to Oregon when her father Rufus is transferred there with the Corps of Engineers in "When Duty Calls".

Other recurring child characters

Adil Akyuz

Adil Akyuz is a brown bear and Arthur's Turkish pen pal, who was introduced in "Dear Adil."

Alberto Molina

Alberto Molina is a teenage boy who is one of a family of four, who are Arthur's neighbors. He is a dark brown cat. He became a character during season six, following the departure of Mr. Sipple. Alberto and his family hail from Ecuador. He practices kendo in his spare time, and is very good at golf. In a continuous storyline spanning throughout the entire Season 14, his soccer ball, lost by Francine, makes a prolonged journey around the world, and can be spotted as it appears in every episode. He was voiced by Johnny Griffin in "Follow the Bouncing Ball," Benjamen Israel in "The Long Road Home," and is currently voiced by Daniel DeSanto.

Alouysious Zimmerplotz

Alouysious Zimmerplotz is a kid in D.W.'s preschool class who has trouble writing his long name. He is a cat with yellow square glasses and a white shirt with red jacket.

Bittles Twins

Billy Bittles and Bobby Bittles are two vegetarian fraternal twins designed as bear cubs in the preschool class with D.W. Read. They have not appeared since Season 3.

Bud Compson

Bud Tucker Compson is Ladonna's younger brother, who also first appeared in "Based on a True Story." He usually wears black rain boots, blue jeans, lime T-shirt, blue vest, and red hat. He has an imaginary friend named Rapty, who everyone else sees as his beloved stuffed T-Rex. Bud is assertive, tough, and not afraid of the Tibble Twins. He attends the same preschool as D.W. Read.

Carl Gould

Carl Gould is a cream rabbit with brown hair and blue glasses. His favorite color is blue. He has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and his best friend is George Lundgren. He plays the accordion, flies kites and is highly knowledgeable in locomotives, lions and space. He prefers to drink "apple juice from a box, not a bottle", to quote him.

Catherine Frensky

Catherine Frensky is Francine's older sister. She is in high school. Catherine is outgoing and skilled at horseback riding. She occasionally babysits for the Reads. She is embarrassed to tell people her father is a garbage man and likes to read teen magazines. She usually wears a white sleeved jean jacket with a white undershirt with black leggings, red socks, black and white shoes, and always wears her hair in a ponytail.

Cheikh

Cheikh, is Brain's cousin from Senegal who moves to Elwood City in the episode "In My Africa" and begins attending D.W.'s preschool. He is around D.W.'s age.

Chip Crosswire

Chip Crosswire is Muffy's older brother who is a college student at Tallahassee Tech, a fictional school. He was first shown in Muffy's family portrait in the book Arthur Goes to Camp that was published in 1982, and his name was first subtly revealed on "Arthur's Perfect Christmas", but was later directly mentioned in the episode "Phony Fern." He wears a blue v-neck college sweater and a white turtleneck underneath. His first appearance was in "Matchmaker, Matchbreaker," where he comes home from college, where Muffy and Francine introduce him to Francine's sister Catherine.

James MacDonald

James MacDonald is a white rabbit that wears glasses. He is usually shy and quiet. He is in Ms. Morgan's class at preschool. He has an older sister named Molly MacDonald.

Lydia Fox

Lydia Fox is a physically disabled fox who helps Brain get over his temporary confinement to a wheelchair in "The Wheel Deal." Through her tutoring, he learns how to play basketball in a wheelchair, and almost wins a charity game of free-throws. Lydia was the winning entry of a children's contest to design a new character, sent in by Connor Gordon from Savage, Minnesota. In season 14, the voice actor credits gave Lydia the last name Gordon, but season 19 reverted her name to Lydia Fox. Lydia reappears in the season 19 episode "Little Miss Meanie" and the Season 21 episode "The Princess Problem."

Marina Datillo

Marina Datillo is a white rabbit in the 4th grade who attends Mighty Mountain Elementary School. She is blind, and she befriends Prunella after she inadvertently ordered a Braille copy of a Henry Skreever book and let her borrow it. Like Prunella, she is a big fan of Henry Skreever.

Mei Lin Barnes

Mei Lin Barnes is Binky's baby sister, a bear, who was adopted from China. She is also Baby Kate's friend.

Molly MacDonald

Molly MacDonald is close friends with Binky. She is a white rabbit, and a senior member of the Tough Customers. Due to being bullied at preschool, she became a bully herself, which she later avoided after she discovered she was imitated by her younger brother James. She is good at giving advice, but dislikes the fact that everybody comes to her for it. She became friends with Arthur and D.W., and is an effective babysitter for the Tibble Twins. Molly has long maroon hair that almost always covers her eyes and she often wears sleeveless shirts.

Rattles

Rattles is another member of the Tough Customers. Rattles has been a Tough Customer member since the first season. His species is somewhat of a mystery; he appeared as a grey cat in the earliest seasons, then was made a dog in Season 8, and then was given rounded ears, like a bear, in Season 18. He wears a backwards baseball hat, black leather jacket, green T-shirt, blue jeans and high tops. He speaks with a Northern New Jersey accent. It was revealed in "Arthur Unravels" that he has an affinity for knitting. He is also skilled at playing chess.

Rubella Deegan

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

Sally MacGill

Sally MacGill is Arthur's babysitter in "Crushed". She is a 16 year old bear and was hired by Arthur's parents. Arthur developed a crush on her because of her skill in video games. Arthur was heartbroken when he found out she had a boyfriend.

Tenzin Wangdu

Tenzin was originally a child in poverty living in Tibet that Sue Ellen sent letters to for a while. He helped fill a void that Sue Ellen felt because Sue Ellen is an only child and doesn't have much in common with her friends. Sue Ellen mistakenly called him her "Little Brother". Later, he moved to Dharamsala, India where he started to email Sue Ellen. They eventually met which revealed that Sue Ellen and Tenzin are both the same age. He is a panda, and originally had black fur. This was later retconned.

Slink

Slink is a 4th grader rabbit. He is part of the Tough Customers. In his first episode in 1997, he convinced Arthur and Buster to be cool by doing bad things. Decades later, in 2018's "Slink's Special Talent," he was revealed to be a good paper delivery boy.

Vicita Molina

Vicita Molina is the Read family's new neighbor. Her age is "three and seven eighths" and, as a result, D.W. believes herself to be a role model. Vicita and her family are from Ecuador, and moved to Elwood City in Season 6, replacing Mr. Sipple.

W.D.

W.D., full name is Wilhelmina Dagmar Merkles is a tomboy counterpart to D.W. She is a bear. She has an imaginary friend Maxine. Her parents, Herman and Ursa, are great friends with The Reads; Meanwhile, W.D. and D.W. do not get along as much. Later, they develop a friendship despite their clashing personalities.

[|Cousin Cora]

Cousin Cora is Arthur, D.W., and Kate's bratty cousin who appears in "D.W. Thinks Big". She acts like a brat when she's alone with D.W. but acts like a nice girl when adults are around. Her bratty nature is later exposed at their Aunt Lucy's wedding.

Cousin Mo

[|Monique] "Mo" is Arthur, D.W., and Kate's oldest cousin, whom Arthur remembers when she had apparently 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. She, like Arthur, plays the piano, and says that Arthur is her favorite relative. Mo is the daughter of Loretta and has a younger athletic brother close to Arthur's age, and an even younger sister close to D.W.'s age.

Cousin Ricky

Cousin Ricky is Mo's brother and Bud and Loretta's son. He is very athletic and somewhat bossy. His skin color changes in each episode he appears in.

Cousins Ryder, Laurie, and Miles

Cousin Ryder is Arthur's age and lives on the family farm in Ohio. While he and Arthur used to be close, they discover in "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur" that they are actually quite different and come to terms with their differences. Laurie is Ryder's baby sister. Cousin Miles grew up in Cleveland but he has spent so many years living and working on the Read family farm that he has become a part of the family. He is the chief llama breeder on the farm.

Adults

Arthur's Family

Guest stars

Maxine

Maxine is W.D.'s imaginary friend. She has an exotic purple hair style. She appears as an elephant.

Nadine Flumberghast

Nadine Flumberghast is D.W.'s imaginary friend. She portrays D.W.'s conscience, and usually appears when D.W. feels guilty, scared, or angry. Both D.W. and Nadine are aware that Nadine is imaginary. However, Kate, Mei-Lin, animals, and other characters' imaginary friends can see and communicate with her. 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. She appears as a brownish-yellow squirrel. She has long platinum white blonde hair styled exotically in three pigtails and small buck teeth. She can create imaginary items and they can appear/disappear with magic. Her last name was revealed to be "Flumberghast" in the episode, "Read and Flumberghast".

Rapty

Rapty is Bud's imaginary friend. He is a big green dinosaur. He is actually a toy, although Bud imagines him as real. In "D.W. & Bud's Higher Purpose," it is shown that he can communicate and talk to Nadine.

Trini

Trini is Vicita’s imaginary friend. She is a very intelligent and truthful fairy, and, in one episode, where the imaginary friends team up, she is the unelected leader of the group.

Ghosts