Recess/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters from Recess include:

The Main Six

T.J. Detweiler

Voiced by: Ross Malinger (Season one and first two episodes of season two), Andrew Lawrence (Season two to the end of the series), Myles Jeffrey (Direct-to-video movies), Axel Alba (Lilo & Stitch crossover), Randy Crenshaw (Singing (Credits of movie only))

  • Accidental Hero: In the episode "The Shiner", T.J. gets a black eye and everyone thinks he did a heroic act to get it. However, he told everyone at the end of the episode why he got it, and that he was too embarrassed to tell: His parents put him in a youth group, and they had a square-dancing class, and during that, a girl accidentally punched him in the eye
  • Acrofatic: He's a more subtle example. While he's not "huge", he's definitely chubby, yet can pull off some awesome stunts.
  • Adorkable: While not as much as Gretchen or Gus, his optimistic nature mixed with his ditzy moments and sweetness comes out as this. And in kindergarten, he was a Shrinking Violet.
  • Ambiguously Jewish: TJ has a nebbishy father and an overprotective mother, and once played "Harvey Hanukkah" in the school holiday pageant.
  • Arch Enemy: He's this to Principal Prickly. He doesn't actually hate him, he just likes making fun of him.
  • Art Evolution: In season one, he was a lot chubbier (and moreso in the more Off-Model episodes of the season) and had highlights in his eyes, which were gone by season two for unknown reasons (either because he was the only character that had them and it looked weird, or because the artists forgot to draw them 50% of the time anyway so they were removed)
  • Badass Adorable
  • Badass Normal
  • Badbutt
  • Berserk Button: Four words: Don't. Mess. With. Recess.
  • Big Cute Boy: He's more heavy-set than the other main six (not to Mikey's levels), and he has the most fangirls within the fandom.
  • Big Eater: While it isn't shown on-screen, "The Great State Fair" and "Omega Kids" hints that he can be one, and this was also hinted in some print material.
  • Big Fun: He's not "huge", but he's a bit plump. As for "fun", you'd best believe it
  • Big Man on Campus: Oh, yes. He's cool, street-smart, somewhat athletic, and rather cute.
  • Blue Eyes: He has bright baby-blue eyes according to Word of God.
  • Book Dumb: He got a C- on a book report because he used the book's cover blurb, thinks "spy" is spelled S-P-I, gets a 10.1% on a test, however, on the playground, he can pull of elaborate schemes (literally) under his hat.
  • Break the Cutie: Happens after seeing one of his plans go wrong, hurting Gus in the process.
  • Brilliant but Lazy
  • Catch Phrase: "Ten-der!", as well as any use of the word "whomp" (meaning, "to be unfair" [used in the context of ""This stinks" or "This sucks"])
  • The Charmer
  • Cheerful Child
  • Cute Shotaro Boy
  • The Danza: His first name is changed to Tobias in the Swedish dub, and his voice actor is Tobias Sward.
  • Deadpan Snarker: At times. This is more evident in the earlier episodes.
  • Determinator: He doesn't give up that easy when on a mission.
  • The Ditz: A subtle example at times in some of the later episodes. He gets a 10.1% on a test (out of 100%), and says that it's one of his better grades.
  • Dub Name Change: His first name is changed to "Tobias" in the Swedish dub.
    • His named is shortened to "Jay" in the Greek dub.
  • Dumb Is Good
  • Embarrassing First Name: His first name is Theodore.
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: His middle name is Jasper. No wonder he goes by his initials "T.J."
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: While unintentional, he apparently has more fangirls than any other male character.
  • Fat Idiot: He's pudgy, though his dumb side comes out of laziness instead of actual stupidity. He's very street smart, just not book smart.
  • Flanderization: At least his Book Dumb side. He starts off being a "C" student in school, but drops down to a "D" and even "F" student later on. "The Secret Life of Grotke" was an offender of this.
  • Fun Personified
  • Green Eyes: In the pilot
  • Green Eyed Red Head: In the pilot
  • The Hero
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death: In "Lost Leader" (the final episode aired before the DTV movies)
  • Elementary School Hustler
  • Idiot Hero: Though again, his idiocy comes out of laziness instead of actual stupidity.
  • Ink Suit Actor: Subverted, as it wasn't intended, but he does look a lot like his second voice actor, Andy Lawrence. Ashley Johnson lampshades this in the bonus features on the DVD of The Movie.
  • It's Personal: He decides it's personal when he discovers that Dr. Phillium Benedict wishes to abolish recess. Even more so when he discovers that Benedict plans to destroy summer vacation.
  • Keet: He has some shades of this.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton: He may be a bit ditzy, but he's got a huge heart
  • Kouki Uchiyama: In the Japanese dub, though Wasabi Mizuta voiced him in the first few episodes.
  • The Leader
  • The Messiah
  • Moe Stare: He's able to give this to Gretchen to urge her to help him with his plan in "A Great State Fair".
  • Nice Hat: He's hardly ever seen without it.
  • Nice Jewish Boy: While slightly ambiguous given the events of the Christmas Episode, he's a sweetie
  • Only Known by Initials
  • The Other Darrin: He was replaced a number of times in the series. Ross Malinger played him in season one, Andrew Lawrence (who's considered the best of all the kids who did his voice) played him for the rest of the series and movie, and Myles Jeffrey played him in the direct-to-video movies released after the show ended. Axel Alba played him in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series crossover episode.
  • The Pete Best: There aren't many fans who remember that Ross Malinger was the voice of T.J. in season one, and only remember him being voiced by Andrew Lawrence from the second season until the end of the series.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Arguably his default set of eyes in season one.
  • Rousing Speech
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Vince's blue.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Mikey and Gus' Sensitive Guy. (One of two)
  • Shrinking Violet: When he was in kindergarten (until Gus came).
  • The Slacker
  • Snooping Little Kid: In The Movie
  • Sweet Tooth: He enjoys candy.
  • Tareme Eyes
  • Took a Level In Dumbass: He went from being slightly Book Dumb to ditzy in the later episodes.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist
  • Youthful Freckles

Vince LaSalle

Voiced by: Ricky D'Shon Colins

Ashley Spinelli

Voiced by: Pamela Segall-Aldon

  • Action Girl: She's very strong.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Spinelli's ethnic background has been called into question. Since she has almond-shaped eyes found on Asian girls in cartoons and light brown skin, many viewers have assumed that Spinelli was originally from somewhere in South Asia and was adopted by Caucasian parents. On the other hand, Spinelli's skin tone is also found on Southern Italians (Sicilians, specifically) and That Other Wiki has established that Spinelli's family (possibly her father's side, as he has really dark hair and almost the same skin tone as his daughter, and her mother looks like she could be white European) is Italian (right down to Spinelli's penchant for fighting, which comes from the stereotype of the hot-blooded Italian) so either Spinelli's mom isn't really her mom, Spinelli's mom being a redhead is an Actor Allusion to Katey Sagal [who played Peggy Bundy -- a redheaded housewife who wore tacky 1960s housewife clothes and has a big bouffant, like Spinelli's mom does -- on Married... with Children], Spinelli's mom dyes her hair, or Spinelli takes after her father more than her mother (which further reinforces Spinelli's aversion to all things she thinks are for girly-girls).
  • Badass Adorable: She may look cute...but she shouldn't be underestimated because of that.
  • Badass Normal
  • Berserk Button: Don't ever refer to her by her first name.
    • Don't do what Prickly did and mess with her hat, even if you was temporary hypnotizes into the mind of a child. Prickly got lucky because he’s the principal and Gretchen happened to be there.
  • The Big Chick : Not in terms of size, but in terms of character, yes.
  • Brown Eyes: According to Word of God
  • Bruiser with a Soft Center
  • Brutal Honesty: This is why she wins at a beauty pageant...while she follows what Vince tells at her at first (and actually agrees with what the things he says), she eventually reveals what a tomboy she is.
  • Cute Bruiser: She may be cute, but she's far from weak.
  • The Cutie: Rather redundant to point out, but it's true!
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Do Not Call Me Ashley: She refers to herself by her last name, as her first name is Ashley...like the mean girls at school.
  • Dub Name Change: "Patricia" in the Portuguese dub.
  • Hair Decorations: She wears two red bands (sometimes bows for special occasions) in her hair to keep her pigtails up.
  • Hidden Depths: Occasionally, such as the episode that reveals her first name is Ashley.
    • Though she's not the most feminine girl in the world, she's actually a good artist.
    • Her personality traits (as well as the boots that she wears, since they protect her feet) make her an ideal partner for Mikey in ballet. For example, she enjoys spinning.
  • Gasshole: At times.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Subverted, as when it comes to "girlish", she's anything but.
  • Grumpy Bear
  • Hollywood Tone Deaf: According to the other kids.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Miss Grotke
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being quick tempered and violent, she's always rooting for the underdog and protecting her friends.
  • Last-Name Basis: Justified in that her first name carries a stigma on the playground.
  • Little Miss Badass: The toughest kid at her school.
  • Little Miss Snarker
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Definitely more masculine than Mikey. She's also manlier than TJ, though TTJ himself isn't terribly girly.
  • Older Than They Look: In the pilot, as she looked like she never left kindergarten...which is ironic considering that she does act a bit like the kindergartners do in this series.
  • One of the Boys: One of her friends IS a girl though.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Gretchen's blue.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: As seen in "The Beauty Contest".
  • Star-Making Role: Along with Bobby Hill, Spinelli was this for Pamela Segall-Aldon (in terms of voice acting).
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Gretchen's (relative) Girly Girl.
  • Tsundere
  • Tsurime Eyes
  • Waif Fu

Gretchen Grundler

Voiced by: Ashley Johnson, Anndi McAffee (Singing (Credits of movie only))

Mikey Blumberg

Voiced by: Jason Davis (Speaking), Robert Goulet (Singing), Zach Shada (Lilo & Stitch crossover)

Gus Griswald

Voiced by: Ryan O'Donohue (First episode), Courtland Mead, Zach Ewing (Lilo & Stitch crossover), Blake Ewing (Singing (Credits of movie only))


Other Students

Randall Weems

Voiced by: Ryan O'Donohue

Menlo

Voiced by: Blake Ewing

King Bob

Voiced by: Toran Caudell

Erwin Lawson

Voiced by: Erik von Detten

The Kindergartners

Voiced by: E.G. Daily (Captain Sticky, Spencer, and Hector (In "Dodgeball City" and "Call Me Guy")), Kath Soucie (Hector ("Wild Child" and direct-to-video movies, Cindy, and Gilbert), Jason Davis (Tubby), Francesca Smith (Emma), Pamela Segall-Aldon, and Christine Cavanaugh

  • Acrofatic: Tubby
  • Blinding Bangs: Zedd
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Almost all of them, though Tubby and Hector aren't as much
  • Competence Zone: They usually act like wild savages.
  • Cute Shotaro Boy: Hector
  • Expy: In-universe, Captain Sticky is the kindergartners' Expy of King Bob
  • Fan of Underdog: Hector looks up to Gus like a big brother, even calling him "Safety Man"
  • Friendly Enemy: Captain Sticky, Spencer, Emma, Zedd, Jake, Tubby, Hector, and Cindy are all on good terms with the other kids (for a good 75% of the time)
  • Hair of Gold: Brittany A. and Cindy
  • Kath Soucie: The voice of Cindy, Hector, and Gilbert, among others.
  • Kawaiiko: Cindy
  • Keet: Spencer and Hector
  • Motor Mouth: Gilbert
  • The Other Darrin: A few cases:
    • Captain Sticky was voiced by Ryan O`Donahue in "To Finster with Love" (his first speaking appearance), and then E.G. Daily for the rest of the series.
    • Emma was voiced by E.G. Daily in "Wild Child" and then by Franchesca Smith in Recess: All Growed Down
    • Hector was voiced by Kath Soucie in "Wild Child", then he was played by E.G. Daily after that, until Recess: All Growed Down, when he was played by Kath Soucie again.
  • Talking to Himself: Tubby with Mikey in "Kindergarten Derby", as both were voiced by Jason Davis.
    • All of the other kindergartners are voiced by E.G. Daily, Pamela Segal-Aldon, Ashley Johnson (sometimes), Francesca Smith (sometimes), and Kath Soucie, which leads to this trope.
  • Tribal Face Paint
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Gilbert has blue hair while Zedd has pink hair.
  • You No Take Candle: Often speak like this

The Diggers (Sam and Dave)

Voiced by: Klee Bragger (Sam) and Ryan O'Donohue (Dave)

The Ashleys

Voiced by: Anndi McAffee (Ashley A.), Francesca Smith (Ashley B.), Rachel Crane (Ashley Q. and Ashley T. (First few episodes)), and Ashley Johnson (Ashley T.)

Hustler Kid

Voiced by: Michael Shulman

Cornchip Girl

Voiced by: Francesca Smith (First few appearances), Ashley Johnson ("Weekend at Muriel's"), Aria Noel Curzon

Butch

Voiced by: Kath Soucie

Gelman

Voiced by: Justin Shenkarow

Kristen Kurst (Kurst The Worst)

Voiced by: Mayim Bialik

The Pale Kids

Voiced by: Eddie Deezen (Knarf), Pamela Hayden (Rodney), Kenny Blank (Steve), and Kath Soucie (Carl)

Swinger Girl

Voiced by: Francesca Smith

Upside-Down Girl

Voiced by: Francesca Smith

Guru Kid

Voiced by: Klee Bragger, Ryan O'Donohue (Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade)

  • Does Not Like Shoes: In "Don't Ask Me", the kids find it unusual that he IS wearing shoes.
  • Hermit Guru: Parodied.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: Lampshaded in "Don't Ask Me" when the kids realize how unusual it is for him to be wearing a shirt...much like he doesn't normally wear shoes.

Gordy

Voiced by: Malachi Pearson ("The New Kid"), Erik von Detten ("I Will Kick No More Forever"), Klee Bragger ("Bad Hair Day"), Sam Gifaldi (Most episodes)

Phil

Voiced by: Klee Bragger

Facuilty members

Miss Finster

Voiced by: April Winchell

Principal Prickly

Voiced by: Dabney Coleman

Miss Grotke

Voiced by: Allyce Beasley

Miss Lemon

Voiced By: Tress MacNeille


Other Characters

Aaron Kelso

Voiced by: Sam MacMurray

Becky Detweiler

Voiced by: Melissa Joan Hart (Recess: School's Out), Tara Strong (Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade)

Chad LaSalle

Voiced by: Kenny Blank

Dr. Slicer

  • Knight of Cerebus: His episode is one of the darkest episodes of the series and every scene he appears in takes a darker turn. Not to mention, that unlike all other antagonists, his actions are played seriously and he is downright cruel (calling TJ sappy boy, just because he showed emotion and humiliated him in front of the school) and every other characters fear him, even TJ, who normally stands up to evils of adults.
  • A Nazi by Any Other Name
  • One-Scene Wonder: Despite appearing in one episode, he is the cruelest character in the entire series and is one of few antagonists of the series that can be called truly evil.
  • Sadist Teacher: Put emphasis on sadist part.

Dr. Phillium Benedict

The Big Bad of the movie.

  • Arch-Enemy: To Principal Prickly.
  • Bad Boss: When he finds that his head scientist keeps failing to move the moon out of orbit, he decides to give him detention...which is implied to be solitary confinement.
  • Big Bad: He's the main villain of Recess: School's Out.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He mentions that he dislikes violence, though he seems to get a kick out of humiliating Principal Prickly and hires the violent Kojak to do his dirty work.
  • Evil Teacher: He gives his lackeys detention when they make him angry, as one particular scientist does.
  • From Bad to Worse: He attempted to abolish recess and was fired for it. He then became secretary of education and attempted to abolish it nation-wide, but the president found out what he was up to and put a stop to it - you guessed it, by firing him. Then he decided that instead of just getting rid of recess, he would get rid of summer vacation instead, because it's basically the biggest recess there is.
  • The Fundamentalist: His motivation for destroying summer vacation is to prove Principal Prickly wrong.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: He's not a fighter, that would be his lackey Kojak. He manipulates others to do his dirty work instead. He DOES arm himself with a gun that sedates his victims, however.
  • Never My Fault: The plot of the movie (which was started by his animosity towards Principal Prickly) could be avoided if Dr. Phillium Benedict would face responsibility for his own actions.
  • Talking the Monster to Death: Gretchen attempts to do this, but he's too far gone to be reasoned with.
  • Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: It's jarring that there's a villain in this series that wants to put Earth in perpetual winter.
  • We used to be Friends: He used to be friends with Principal Prickly. This all changed when Prickly discovered that he planned to get rid of Recess.

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