Mortadelo y Filemón/Characters

Characters from Mortadelo y Filemón include:

The two main characters are Mortadelo and Filemón:

Mortadelo: Tall, thin and completely bald (which is something of a sore spot to him), usually dressed in black and always wearing glasses. He is a Master of Disguise, able to change into some unlikely disguise in an instant, which is useful in his work as a secret agent, and even more useful for making a quick getaway when someone is chasing him. The latter happens quite frequently due to his inherent clumsiness and total lack of common sense.
Filemón: Slightly less tall than Mortadelo, usually wears a white shirt and red trousers, and has two hairs on the top of his head. He is Mortadelo's chief and always sent on assignments with him, a job which he doesn't enjoy since that makes him suffer the consequences of Mortadelo's goofs more often than anyone else. Of all the characters, Filemón the only one displaying some common sense and occasionally a hint of Genre Savvy. Mortadelo calls him "Boss".

Other important characters are:

Supervisor Vicente: Superintendente Vicente in Spanish, written like that because it rhymes, although he's usually called the "Súper" for short. He's Mortadelo and Filemón's direct boss. He is usually the person who assigns them their new missions, and the one who punishes them when they inevitably fail in just about every way imaginable. (Although sometimes they strike back at him, if it turns out that their "vital mission" was not that important after all.) Short-tempered, inconsiderate of his employee's needs and incredibly cheap, he is the ur-example of the Bad Boss. In "De los ochenta p'arriba...", it's revealed his full name is Vicente Ruínez.
Doctor Bacterio: The resident Q (this one, not that one) of the T.I.A. and sometimes provides Mortadelo and Filemón with the items they need to complete their mission. His inventions almost always backfire in some improbable and spectacular way, and sometimes they drive the plot. The bearded inventor is apparently responsible for Mortadelo's baldness, and for this Mortadelo hates him with a passion.
Miss Ofelia: The blond, heavily overweight secretary of the Súper. She is in love with Mortadelo (Well, kinda), but he isn't at all interested and usually makes fun of her... which is always a bad idea, because Ofelia is extremely strong and prone to senseless violence when provoked. Sometimes, she makes passes at Filemón or even at the Súper, with the same predictable results. Ofelia is a relatively recent addition and plays no role in the older comics.
The General Director: T.I.A.'s Big Boss. His appearance varies greatly from comic to comic, but he's always a well-dressed old man, usually wearing glasses and sporting an impressive mustache. Even though he's normally portrayed on a positiver light than the Súper, he's not above being vain and tyrannical. He has very little relevance in the stories, and most of the time he's here just to get severely beat up and, subsequently, exert George Jetson Job Security on his underlings.
Miss Irma: Her role varies from story to story, but she's usually the secretary of the General Director. She always haves the same appearance, though: she's everything Miss Ofelia strives to be. Sexy, curvy and cute, and, to add insult to the injury, she dresses just like Ophelia, on a tight red dress. Mortadelo is head over heels for her: sometimes she returns her affection, while most of the time she seems oblivious. Even if Irma is usually a giggling airhead, she has been shown to be extremely smart on occasion, especially on the issue named "El Ascenso" ("The Promotion") when she acted like a real femme fatale. In the later comics, however, she hasn't appeared at all.
Agent Bestiájez: A recurring character whose appearance, like that of the General Director, changes from time to time, but he's always a hulking brute who uses brawn before brains, just as his Meaningful Name suggests (Bestiájez, in Spanish is something like "Brutesson"). When Mortadelo and Filemón want to skive off work or flee from a mission they consider too dangerous, the Súper always sends Bestiájez after them. Sometimes Mortadelo is able to fool him with his innate talents, but Bestiájez is a relentless hunter and always ends dragging the escapeés back to the T.I.A.

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