The Muppet Show/Characters

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For Muppets that showed up after The Muppet Show ended, go here.

Characters from The Muppet Show include:

Kermit the Frog

Jim Henson (1955–1990; deceased) Steve Whitmire (1990–present)

Banjo-playing amphibian from the Deep South and eternal Straight Man. Upon being discovered in a swamp by a talent agent, he headed to Hollywood, collecting the other Muppets along the way like so many hangers-on. Regularly depicted as the long-suffering boyfriend of Miss Piggy and the equally long-suffering pal to Fozzie.

• Author Avatar: Often seen as this for Henson, who was once quoted saying, "He can say things I hold back."
• Beware the Nice Ones: Usually takes the antics of his co stars with mild frustration at worst, there are rare occasions he completely snaps however. Miss Piggy (whose temper Kermit is usually at constant brunt of) almost lost her job as a result.
• Butt Monkey: He occasionally is this, often being eaten by monsters (and in one instance, a piano).
• Chaste Puppets: Has a nephew, but no children.
• Deadpan Snarker: This was Kermit's original shtick to go along with his Only Sane Man persona. Later on his snarkiness was downplayed to highlight his sweetness but he still gets in on this once in awhile.
  • Reinstated in the 2011 film, however.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Originally appeared on Sam and Friends (before he was a frog) and Sesame Street as a regular, though he's far more well-known for his Muppet Show role.
• The Everyman
• Experienced Protagonist: Kermit has a lot of experience running The Muppet Show. He's been a newscaster on Sesame Street, an MC for decades, and a charismatic personality The problem is that nothing ever goes to plan and no sufficient wisdom will fix that: whether it's Gonzo's stunts going awry, Wayne and Wanda's special effects messing up their numbers or a guest deciding to be a troll, you can expect chaos. Nevertheless, Kermit pushes forward, in the original Muppet Show and its subsequent spinoffs.
• Freudian Trio: The Superego to Gonzo's Id and Fozzie's Ego.
• The Heart/Team Dad: No Kermit, no Muppets. It's been established again and again, the new movie especially.
• The Hero: In most Muppet productions.
• Interspecies Romance: See below.
• Official Couple: Eventually with Miss Piggy.
• Only Sane Man and Only Sane Employee: Well, kind of.

Kermit: Me not crazy? I hired the others.

• The Other Darrin: After Jim Henson's passing, Steve Whitmire took over the role. Reportedly, Henson himself was grooming Whitmire to take over, so that he could better handle his producing duties. Steve was a puppeteer all the way back since The Muppet Show when he would perform background characters.
  • Whitmire initially didn't want to have any lines for his puppetry, since he didn't think he was a good actor, but eventually broke out with Rizzo late in the show. When Whitmire was told he would voice Kermit for A Muppet Christmas Carol, he was apprehensive. He said he had a dream where he met up with Henson and Henson stated that he'd do fine. Whitmire then did the voice for Kermit, and the rest was history.
  • At one point, Whitmire was unavailable to make an appearance, so they used a mostly unknown puppeteer (Artie Esposito). The reaction wasn't very positive.
• Southern-Fried Genius
• Species Surname: In the 2011 Movie, it's stated that his last name is "The Frog".
• Straight Man
• Supporting Leader: Even if he's not the focus of the story, he'll often be this. Muppets from Space being a good example.
• Wild Take: With much amusing arm-waving.

Miss Piggy

Frank Oz (1976-2002) Eric Jacobson (2001-present)

The unholy spawn of Barbra Streisand and rack of pork. Hailing from the Midwest, she was living off of Beauty Pageants before meeting Kermit. Has a chronic need for stardom, and will steal the spotlight from anyone, with violence if necessary.

• Acting for Two: Played all four Witches in The Muppets Wizard of Oz.
• Armor-Piercing Slap: More like Karate Chop!
• Badass
• Breakout Character: She was a fairly minor bit character early on in the first season, but swiftly became one of the most important stars of the show. In real life, Miss Piggy was one of the most popular fictional celebrities in the entire world during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• Catch Phrase: Hi-ya! and Moi.
• Cross-Dressing Voices
• A Dog Named "Dog"
• Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): Pummels her co stars (usually Kermit) on a regular basis. Granted Miss Piggy isn't designed to be the most sympathetic character of the bunch though.
  • Female guest stars weren't safe either, its just they couldn't be sent flying as easily as the male Muppets.
• Gratuitous French
• Hair of Gold: Recently revealed to be a wig (to avoid being mistaken for Angelina Jolie), at least out-of-universe.
• I Know Karate: The other muppets fear her anger because of this. Although Chef's blocking technique is excellent.
  • The only people to survive a direct hit from Piggy are Charlie McCarthy (Solid oak!) and Christopher Reeve (He really is the Man of Steel!). And even Reeve doubled over in pain once Piggy stormed off.
• Interspecies Romance
• It's All About Me
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Vain and violent tempered prima donna. Don't ever imply she doesn't love her Kermy however.
• Large Ham: Both literally and figuratively.
• Mister Muffykins: Her dog Foo-Foo.
• Official Couple: With Kermit.
• Small Name, Big Ego
• Stalker with a Crush: Her initial relationship towards Kermit.
• Tsundere
• White Dwarf Starlet: Hasn't really made it enough to be washed-up, but has the personality.

Fozzie Bear

Frank Oz (1976-1999) Eric Jacobson (2002-present)

Hopelessly corny, porkpie hat-wearing showman, and a magnet for tomatoes. Originally a failed comedian working out of the El Sleazo Cafe, he is the first to join Kermit's troupe. His personality is a send-up of the stereotypical Borscht Belt comic. Wocka wocka.

• Ambiguously Jewish
• Beary Funny
• The Big Guy: Being a bear frimly wedges him as this.
• Butt Monkey: To Statler and Waldorf.
• Catch Phrase: Wocka Wocka!
  • Gannon Banned: And just for the record, it's spelled "Wocka Wocka", not "Wokka Wokka" or "Wakka Wakka".
• Characterization Marches On: In the first season, he was intended to be the primary foil of Kermit and everyone else backstage. As a result, in the earliest episodes he tends to come off as abrasive, pushy, and obnoxious. They soon found a different, more neurotic, sweet, and vulnerable vibe for him, allowing the previous personality to be quietly discarded.
• Couch Gag: First season.
• Cower Power: Whenever in a threatening situation, he tends to hide behind the much-smaller Kermit.which leads to ...
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He actually does have his share of awesome when matters have fallen into his own hands.
• Everything's Worse with Bears: Averted, despite what Statler and Waldorf might think.
• Freudian Trio: The Ego to Gonzo's Id and Kermit's Superego.
• Funny Animal
• The Lancer: Often content acting as Kermit's sidekick, especially in The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets.
• Let's See You Do Better: Often does this to Statler and Waldorf. Usually backfires.
  • And in one case, they actually did perform on stage with Fozzie intent on heckling them.
• Nice Hat
• Produce Pelting: In Muppet Babies
• Pungeon Master
• So Unfunny It's Funny: He was (in theory) the show's stand-up comedian. Most of the humor of these skits came from how terrible he was at his job.
• Too Dumb to Live: In some of the early post-Henson productions such as Muppets from Space. He later returned to his regular level of intelligence.
• Verbal Tic: Frank Oz gave Fozzie a series of weird noises (the closest you could come to writing them out would be something along the lines of "Daaaaaaaagh" and "Agghaahaahaa") that he uses to convey certain emotions.

Gonzo the Great

Dave Goelz (1974-present)

The ugly, disgusting little one who catches cannonballs. The only non-recognizable animal in Kermit's band (later revealed to be an alien), and the stuntman of the Muppets. He doubles as a Vaudevillian singer.

• Amusing Injuries: Perhaps most notably, getting his arms and legs stretched out to ten feet long in a stunt gone wrong.
• Ascended Extra: Both in becoming a character in the show and becoming Those Two Guys/Narrator with Rizzo in the movies.
• Badass: Given the often death-defying nature of his art.
  • Badass Adorable
• Characterization Marches On: In early appearances, his craziness was more subtle, and was depicted as a more slightly more neurotic, pathetic star akin to Fozzie. He gradually became more happy go lucky and his torture became harder to imply, given how much he enjoyed most of it.
• Cloudcuckoolander
• Couch Gag: His trumpet.
• Early Installment Weirdness: The first season Gonzo puppet was recycled from a TV special, was a bit ratty-looking, and had a permanent frown on his face. It was rebuilt for the second season, and his base appearance was in place.
• Freudian Trio: The Id to Fozzie's Ego and Kermit's Superego.
• Gag Nose
• Interspecies Romance: While his species isn't known, he has a fetish for chickens, on another occasion a cow and on yet another, Big Bird.
  • The movie Muppets from Space revealed that he's an alien. Unfortunately, this is also why that movie is essentially Canon Discontinuity.
• The Lancer: Well, kind of.
• Mad Artist: He's supposed to be a partial Expy of Salvador Dali.
• Nightmare Fetishist: If it sounds like something no sane person would subject themself to, Gonzo is up for it.
• Noodle Implements: He gets booed off the stage before we can see what he was going to do with a flaming torch, a tyre swing and a cow. The act was originally going to use a typewriter instead of a cow, but he couldn't get one in time.
• Official Couple: With Camilla the Chicken.
• Sad Clown: If Gonzo isn't making you laugh, he's making you wipe away tears.
• Stage Magician: Usually not magic, but is a showman called Gonzo "the Great".
• Too Kinky to Torture: Implied in his stage acts in the show, directly invoked in Muppet Treasure Island.
• True Art Is Incomprehensible: On The Muppet Show, his shtick was performing bizarre performance art acts, like demolishing an antique car to the tune of "The Anvil Chorus".
• Ugly Cute

Scooter

Richard Hunt David Rudman

The Muppets' stage manager. Originally portrayed as a Jerkass, he grew to be a dependable assistant of Kermit and co.

• Adorkable
• Author Avatar: Richard Hunt reportedly based his performance on how he acted when he was younger.
• Catch Phrase/Once an Episode: "Fifteen seconds to curtain!"
• Demoted to Extra: Following Richard Hunt's death, Scooter was used far less often - not appearing in most productions and having minimal screentime in others. The 2011 movie appears likely to reverse this.
  • During the 1990s, Scooter was damn near unpersoned. Other characters without performers, like Rowlf and Dr. Teeth, at least made token unspeaking cameos, but Scooter was nowhere to be seen for just shy of a full decade. When the official Muppets website was launched, minor characters like Julius Strangepork got their own bios, but Scooter was only added after mass e-mails from angered fans.
• Half-Identical Twins: With Skeeter in Muppet Babies
• The Intern: During the first season.
• Nepotism: His uncle owns the theater and got him his job. Before developing a solid friendship with him, Scooter was quick to remind Kermit of this whenever he wanted something.
• Nerd Glasses
• Nice Guy
• Only Sane Man: All the chaos around him is what makes him funny.
• Sidekick: To Kermit, sort of.
• The Smart Guy: Well, he is a nerd. He even did a lecture at 2012's TED conference.

Rowlf

Jim Henson, then Bill Barretta

Originally a mascot for Purina Dog Chow, later rising to prominence as a TV sidekick to Jimmy Dean (yes, that Jimmy Dean). A cameo on Sesame Street blossomed into a full-time gig for the character.

The in-universe Rowlf is a bluesy musician whom Kermit discovers in a piano bar. Since The Nineties, it's been a popular gag to pair Rowlf up with famous musicians, leading him to branch out into rock.

• Author Avatar: A number commented that aside from his piano skills, Rowlf was very much like Jim - arguably even more than Kermit.
• Back-Alley Doctor: His role of Dr. Bob on Veterinarian's Hospital was "a quack who's gone to the dogs".
• Cool Old Guy
• Early-Bird Cameo: Rowlf first appeared in Purina Dog Chow commercials in 1962. A year later, he began making regular appearances on The Jimmy Dean Show and proved to be quite popular.

"I used to be a big star then."

• Hurricane of Puns: Especially the Veterinarian's Hospital sketches.
• The Piano Player
• Straight Man: On Muppet Babies.
• The Voiceless: After Jim Henson's death, Rowlf quickly became this until a new performer (Bill Baretta) was found. Many people mistakenly thought that his silence was permanent due to him commonly being attributed as the closest to Jim's actual personality.

Sam The Eagle

Frank Oz (1975-1999) Eric Jacobson (2005-present)

True to his name, Sam is an uber-patriotic milquetoast who acts as the Muppets' censor. He strives to crack down on "lowbrow humor" and bring dignity to the proceedings, without much success.

• The Comically Serious: "Why are they laughing?"
• Eagle Land: Although he isn't coarse in the way type 2 examples usually are, he still is one.
• The Eeyore
• Fantastic Racism: Hinted, in one episode, he mentions that is displeased with his daughter for dating an owl.
• Feigning Intelligence: He's probably smart academically (even hosting a "Muppet University" segment), but is a complete nutcase in terms of morals and values and refuses to believe that he is.
• Flanderization: On The Muppet Show, he started out as a general, pro-American detractor of the show's non-cultural content and a Stop Having Fun Guy with strong, exaggeratedly right-wing strawman views on various issues. In recent media, such as the Muppet Viral Videos, he's been depicted as generally obsessed with Americana itself and not much else. (For instance, he starts singing "American Woman" by The Guess Who just because it has "American" in the title, something that the old Sam would never do.)
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All
• Large Ham
• Moral Guardian
• Only Sane Man: How he views himself. He isn't.
• Perpetual Frowner
• Strawman Political: Of conservatism (especially Nixon-era) and the sentiments of Moral Guardians.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

Dave Goelz

Addled-brained scientist with a head like a melon. Invariably, his experiments result in nearly immolating his assistant Beaker.

• Ambiguously Gay
• Absent-Minded Professor.
• Eyeless Face: His glasses give the appearance of eyes, but his melon-like head is basically The Blank.
• For Science!
• Jerkass: Towards poor Beaker, though not intentionally. He's just really inconsiderate.
• Mad Scientist

Beaker

Richard Hunt, then Steve Whitmire

Lab assistant to Bunsen Honeydew, whose face sports a perpetual look of shock. Only Honeydew can understand his "meep meeps."

• Butt Monkey: Recently died. Still doesn't get any respect.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: This trope should almost be renamed "The Beaker".
• Catch Phrase: Meep! Meep!
• Characterization Marches On: In his first appearance he was a nervous wreck. This was gone by his third.
• The Chew Toy: People feel sorry for him, but at the same time, getting hurt is the point of his character.
• The Dog Bites Back: After accidentally cloning himself in one episode, Beaker spends most of the episode finally getting back at Bunsen.
• The Unintelligible

The Swedish Chef

Jim Henson (1976 - 1990) Bill Barretta (1996 - present)

A parody of TV chefs. Like to gesticulate with his hands a lot.

• Animals Hate Him: ...because he wants to cook them.
• Badass Mustache
• Butt Monkey: If he wasn't successful in making dishes, the ingredients would attack him or something.
• Catch Phrase: Bork! Bork Bork!
• Chef of Iron: It's not so much that he uses cooking utensils as weapons (although he does)- he actually "cooks" with weapons including a blunderbuss, an ax, and most recently, a chainsaw and a bazooka.
• Carnivore Confusion: His sketches often deal with this trope. Half the time, he's trying to cook members of the cast.

Robin: Uncle Kermit, help!

• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
• Eyeless Face: He has no visible eyes, only bushy eyebrows where eyes should be.
• Fauxreigner: Is sometimes acknowledged to not really speak Swedish.
• Foreign Sounding Gibberish: The language he speaks is explicitly referred to at least once as "mock Swedish"; it was once claimed that his actual native language is "mock Japanese".
• Funny Foreigner
• Lethal Chef: The very few times he does actually manage to complete a dish, it usually ends up something the non-suicidal would not want to put in their mouths.
• Once an Episode: Doing a little song and dance, then throwing some cooking utensils over his shoulder. Frank Oz had a Self-Imposed Challenge to try to knock over every single item on the back wall. He only ever managed it once.
• Non-Standard Character Design: The only Muppet to be designed to use the puppeteer's exposed hands. It takes a lot of dexterity to be that clumsy.
• Norse by Norsewest
• Team Chef
• The Unintelligible

Statler and Waldorf

Richard Hunt and Jim Henson Steve Whitmire & Dave Goelz

Two-man peanut gallery, and patron saints of Caustic Critics everywhere. They've never sat through a show that they didn't hate.

• Audience Participation: This trope was technically in play anytime the two appeared onstage on the Muppet Show. Considering how they aren't actually part of the Muppet Show's staff, they are just part of the audience.
• Catch Phrase: Doh-ho-ho-ho-Hoh!
• Caustic Critics
• Deadpan Snarkers
• Greek Chorus
• Guilty Pleasures

Statler: This show is awful. Waldorf: Terrible! Statler: Disgusting! Waldorf: See you next week? Statler: Of course.

• Heterosexual Life Partners.
• Jerks With Hearts of Gold
• Screw Politeness, We're Seniors!
• Self-Deprecation
• Sour Supporters
• The Stinger
• Those Two Guys
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Constantly heckle each other too. "You old fool" is practically a pet name between them.

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

A rock band consisting of Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboards, Animal on drums (which he sometimes eats), Sgt. Floyd Pepper on bass guitar, Janice on guitar, and Zoot on saxophone. Lips later joined the band on trumpet.

• Demoted to Extra: Throughout the '90s - with only Animal maintaining a steady presence and involvement in stories. Likely a result of Jim Henson and Richard Hunt's passings.
• Fake Band
• Five-Man Band: Literally!
  • The Hero: Dr. Teeth.
  • The Lancer: Sgt. Floyd Pepper
  • The Smart Guy: Zoot
  • The Big Guy: Animal
  • The Chick: Janice
  • Sixth Ranger: Lips
• Musical Theme Naming: Most of them are named after famous musicians.
• Only One Name: Only Floyd’s full name is given.

Dr. Teeth (keyboard)

Jim Henson, then Bill Barretta

• Delusions of Eloquence
• Gold Tooth
• Guttural Growler: I'm gonna 'splode an atom bomb... drill a hole to your sooooouuuuulllll...
• Pimp Duds
  • Nice Hat

Sgt. Floyd Pepper (bass guitar)

Jerry Nelson Matt Vogel

• Deadpan Snarker
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Kid with the Leash: He's the only one with any sort of control over Animal.
• New Age Retro Hippie
• Official Couple: With Janice.
• Second Love: In the first season, Janice was often seen with Zoot.
• Shout-Out: Guess what color Floyd is...
  • There's also the Sgt. Pepper reference.
• The Stoner: He even smokes a hookah in the Alice in Wonderland parody episode.
• Sunglasses at Night: First season only.

Zoot (saxophone)

Dave Goelz

• Cloudcuckoolander: At times.
• Cool Shades
• Divergent Character Evolution / Early Installment Weirdness: Something of an odd example. In the first season, Floyd Pepper made few appearances, due to the availability of his performer. During this time, Zoot essentially played Floyd's role on the show outside of musical numbers, which is why he is much more verbal during this period, as well as dating Janice. When Floyd became a full-time cast member, Zoot rescinded his duties and became the silent, low-key character we know today.
• Heavy Sleeper
• Informed Judaism: Revealed in A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
• Nice Hat
• Shy Blue Haired Guy
• Starving Artist: Recently revealed that he's been sleeping in a phone booth for three months. This isn't quite an example, though, Zoot seems to imply that he's been sleeping for the entirety of those three months.
• The Quiet One
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: And blue skin too.

Animal (drums)

Frank Oz Eric Jacobson

• All Drummers Are Animals: Possibly the Trope Namer.
• Breakout Character: From Muppet Babies onwards, he's a part of the main Muppet cast, gets more merchandise than Kermit, and is the member of the Electric Mayhem seen most often without his bandmates (he's probably the second-biggest example of this next to Miss Piggy). He was even the mascot of the U.S. snowboarding team for the 1998 Winter Olympics!
• Cartoon Creature: Is he a human? An animal? A whatever? The most plausible explanation is that he's a monster like the ones on Sesame Street.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He behaves like a complete psycho and tends to destroy things around him (hence his being kept in chains), but seems to be fairly close friends with his bandmates and the other Muppets. He even gets a major Big Damn Heroes moment in The Muppet Movie.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: In the recent-ish Muppet rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, he only gets as far as "Mama..." Then he starts rushing around the stage shouting, "Mama," overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his dearest mother. Poor guy never does find her.
• Extreme Omnivore
• Fiery Redhead
• The Unfettered
• Hulk Speak

Janice (guitar)

Richard Hunt David Rudman

• Cross-Dressing Voices
• Eyes Always Shut
• Granola Girl
• Official Couple: With Floyd. Though she was paired with Zoot in the first season.
• Valley Girl

Lips (trumpet)

Steve Whitmire

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared after The Muppet Christmas Carol.
  • The Bus Came Back: Reappears in The Muppets, although completely divorced from the rest of the band.
• Eyes Always Shut
• Living Prop: They only made him so Steve Whitmire would have his own character in the band. He got no Character Development, and the band still works just as well with the original five.
• Remember the New Guy?: They never bothered to explain why the band had a new member.

Rizzo the Rat

Steve Whitmire

Self-interested, sarcastic and snide, Rizzo basically hangs around with the Muppets, making a pest of himself and shoehorning himself into every act he can just for the attention. Even when Muppets Tonight gave him a job, he didn't change much. He likes eating, wooing female rodents, and having laughs at his castmates' expense, although a softer side of him does come out, especially when with his best pal Gonzo.

• Ascended Extra: Rizzo started out as an anonymous member of a group of rats, but thanks to Steve Whitmire's performance soon emerged as the central rat character, started getting solo appearances and in the final season of the Muppet Show began popping up everywhere, usually as a background character and often in skits he had no place in. He was a pivotal supporting character in The Muppets Take Manhattan. Then, in The Muppet Christmas Carol he made the jump to main star when writer Jerry Juhl discovered just how well the Gonzo/Rizzo team worked, and since then has either been among the main characters or at least had a notable appearance in every major Muppet production. He also got what was pretty much Scooter's role on Muppets Tonight.
  • Demoted to Extra: In The Muppets, Rizzo doesn't have a single line, only appearing in crowd scenes. He's come full circle.
• Big Eater: Despite his small size.
• Butt Monkey
• Deadpan Snarker: With a Brooklyn accent, no less.
• Lovable Coward: Usually played up whenever he's with Gonzo, to better contrast Gonzo's Fearless Fool tendencies.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Nowhere near as bad as Beaker, but he's suffered a lot, sometimes alongside Gonzo, who isn't fazed in the slightest.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Those Two Guys: Most often with Gonzo, but sometimes with Pepe.

Crazy Harry

Jerry Nelson Matt Vogel

A wacko even by the Muppets' standards, Harry doesn't do much other than detonate random explosion, laughing all the while. Needless to say, he's something of a fan favourite. His personality was based on Muppet builder Don Sahlin, who had a similar fondness for wacky pranks that, yes, involved explosions.

• Crazy Prepared: Harry's is constantly seen detonating explosives... Explosives that logically would need to be set up ahead of time.
• Even Psychotic Has Standards: During the song "Comedy Tonight", some monsters are seen chasing and terrorizing a little girl. Harry looks at the scene for a few seconds before blowing the monster up.
• Laughing Mad: In spades.
• Mad Bomber
• Speak of the Devil: Words like boom or dynamite would often prompt him to appear pull his plunger.
• Trigger Happy

Beauregard

Dave Goelz

A dopey, hard-toiling fellow, Beauregard is the loyal janitor of the Muppet Theater. He's generally agreeable and obliging, although his bumbling has spelled disaster for more than a few sketches.

• Almighty Janitor: He can carry pianos around by himself!
• Barefoot Cartoon Animal
• Cartoon Creature: He's some sort of brown...lump.
• Demoted to Extra: Used to be a prominent character on the show, movies and TV specials, but fell out of use because the scriptwriters, while liking him as a character, had problems with finding material for him. (The problem, according to one of them, was that Beuregard "has no desires; he doesn't want anything.") Nowadays, you're lucky to find someone who remembers him.
  • The Bus Came Back: He shows up again in the 2011 film. Apparently he had been cleaning the Muppet theater for somewhere around 30 years without having noticed everyone was gone.
• The Ditz
• Drives Like Crazy: As seen in The Great Muppet Caper.
• Expy: Based off of Wendell the porcupine, whom Goelz also performed.
• Hidden Depths: He seldom takes the stage himself, but he has been shown to be a surprisingly gifted harmonica player.

Link Hogthrob

Jim Henson Steve Whitmire

Imagine William Shatner with double the ego, half the brains, and a pig's snout. Link, star of the Pigs In Space sketches, considers himself a gifted actor, a brave action star, and irresistable to the lady pigs. Needless to say, he falls short in all of those categories.

• Brainless Beauty
• The Captain: In Pigs In Space
• The Danza: Either that or he's evidently playing himself on Pigs in Space.
• Demoted to Extra: If your familiarity with the Muppets is only with the movies, it comes as a surprise to see what a major character this guy was on the Muppet Show proper. After Jim Henson died, however, Link has pretty much disappeared.
• Dodgy Toupee
• Fake Ultimate Hero
• Fantastic Racism: He's a little too proud to be a pig.
• General Failure
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: With a cleft you could lose spare change in.
• Miles Gloriosus
• Small Name, Big Ego

Lew Zealand

Jerry Nelson Matt Vogel

A goofy clown who throws fish all over the place. Only on the Muppets would this act be considered boring. His act hasn't changed at all over the decades, but he's still trying relentlessly for the chance to show the world his comedic genius.

• Ascended Extra: Originally created as a one-shot character, he appeared multiple times on The Muppet Show and in the movies.
• Catch Phrase: I throw the fish away! And they come BACK to me!
• Flat Character: 99% of his appearances consist of variants on his boomerang fish act or talking about fish. He's still really funny.
• I Call It Vera: But with boomerang fish.
• Simpleton Voice

Annie Sue

Louise Gold

A child prodigy, Annie Sue was introduced as Miss Piggy's understudy, known as the most hazardous position in the industry. Despite Piggy's scarcely-veiled animosity towards her, Annie Sue remained cheery and never failed to please the crowd. This, of course, only enraged Piggy even more.

• Ascended Extra: Had turned up as a generic female pig used in various production numbers, but didn't get featured as a named character until season 3.
• The Cutie: She's cute as a button, much to Piggy's chagrin.
• Fake American: Louise Gold's British accent would slip through occasionally.
• The Ingenue: Oh, so very much.
• Recurring Character: Whenever the writers felt like tweaking Piggy.
• Sitcom Arch Nemesis: As Miss Piggy's younger, prettier, and very talented understudy, this is how Miss Piggy saw her. It didn't help that Kermit found her to be quite charming and the theater audience adored her.
• The Character Retired With Her: Ironically this makes her less likely to reappear than the characters whose performers have died.

Robin the Frog

Jerry Nelson Matt Vogel

Kermit's adorable little nephew, Robin's role on the Muppet Show fit his status as the youngest of the cast members. Sometimes he would cutely win the crowd over, and other times he would ask embarrassing questions, make impolite comments, and pout when he didn't get his way. Robin also seems to be the Muppet character designed to appeal best to small children.

• A Day in the Limelight: Robin may be a relatively minor character, but he's had two opportunities to take the spotlight all for himself: his performance of "Halfway Down The Stairs" (which became a Top 40 hit), and starring in his own action game for the Playstation.
• Artifact Title: Why is he named Robin? In his first appearance, he was a human prince named Sir Robin the Brave who had... well, we all know this story. After this, he was retooled as Kermit's nephew (the whole Frog Prince thing could probably fall under the Animated Actors clause), but he kept his medieval-era name.
• Cheerful Child
• Innocent Prodigy
• Kid Appeal Character
• Little Mister Snarker: Sometimes.
• Lovable Coward: Has some elements of this, being a kid and all. You may think "Sir Robin the Brave" is a reference to something, but The Frog Prince predates that movie by a few years.
• Morality Pet: If the Muppets ever need to dial down the chaos and get a little sentimental, Robin is usually front and centre.
• Nephewism: The second season firmly established Robin as Kermit's nephew. His parents are never seen, but his father was mentioned once on this show. Muppet Babies later referred to his mother being Kermit's older sister. This trope is so evident that Robin played the Tiny Tim role to Kermit's Bob Cratchit in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
• Odd Couple: He and Sweetums are the best of friends.
• Odd Friendship: With Sweetums. Really odd considering The Frog Prince story cast them as enemies.
  • If Animated Actors applies to The Frog Prince maybe Sweetums is a case of Mean Character, Nice Actor ?
• Tagalong Kid

Sweetums

Richard Hunt John Henson Matt Vogel

Sweetums first appeared as one of the main villains in Jim Henson's The Frog Prince special, but deep down inside, he's actually quite sweet despite his intimidating looks. He's a large, full-bodied ogre who's often paired with Robin.

• The Big Guy
• Butt Monkey: He gets picked on a lot for such a nice guy.
• Extreme Omnivore
• Fluffy the Terrible: This was played straight in his first appearance, but nowadays "Sweetums" is a Meaningful Name.
• Gentle Giant: He looks big and mean, but it's just bluster 90% of the time. Just watch out for that remaining 10%...
  • Except in "The Frog Prince", which was also his first appearance. He repeatedly tried to eat or smash Robin. Speaking of...
• Huge Ogre Tiny Frog: Often paired with Robin.
• Larynx Dissonance: His voice is deep, but he sounds more "big-city truck driver" than "man-eating monster".
• Lightning Bruiser: He is a fantastic dancer.
• Odd Friendship: With Robin. Really odd considering The Frog Prince story cast them as enemies.

Camilla

Jerry Nelson Matt Vogel

A chicken, and a non-anthropomorphic one at that. Despite this handicap, Camilla hasn't let that stop her from being a singer and an actress in many acts on the show. It's also won her the love of the Great Gonzo, although her boyfriend's roving eye for all manner of fowl has often put a strain on their relationship.

• Ascended Extra: She only appeared a few times on the show, but is well-known to fans of the movies.
• Cross-Dressing Voices
• Interspecies Romance: With Gonzo.
• Official Couple: With Gonzo.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Those glamourous eyes of hers.
• The Unintelligible

Pops

Jerry Nelson

The Muppet Theater's crotchety, semi-senile old doorman. In the show's final season, guest stars had to get through him to get on the show - hilarity often ensues.

• Senior Sleep Cycle: I'd have added more tropes about Pops here, but... Zzzzzz....

Uncle Deadly

Jerry Nelson Matt Vogel

The "Phantom of the Muppet Theater", Uncle Deadly is some sort of refined, British dragon-ghost-thing known for performing Shakespeare. He was murdered by the critics and spent his time afterwards scaring the theater's crew just for fun. He became more well-known after The Muppets, where he served as The Dragon to the Corrupt Corporate Executive Big Bad.

• Ascended Extra: Became a major character in The Muppets.
• Badass: In the 2011 movie, where he (a Muppet) pushes his boss (a human) off a building!
• Classically-Trained Extra
• Our Dragons Are Different: Resembles a dragon, and was referred to as one in the 2011 movie's junior novelization.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: The ghost of a Shakespearean actor who was murdered... by the critics!
  • Dracolich: A non-malicious example.
• The Phantom of the Muppet Theater
• Recurring Character: In the second and third season, would periodically star in on-stage skits, usually (and bizarrely) paired with Wayne after Wanda was dropped.
• Token Evil Teammate
• What Could Have Been: He was considered for a Muppet comedy-horror anthology called "Uncle Deadly's House of Badness" that, sadly, never got off the ground.

Dr. Julius Strangepork

Jerry Nelson

Pigs in Space's German-accented science officer, forever the bearer of bad news, and the only crewman on the Swinetrek who takes his job seriously. Outside of this role, Julius' performances are few and far between.

• Demoted to Extra: Didn't appear much on the show outside of PIGS ... IN ... SPAAAACE! anyway but has made a few background cameos here and there.
• Herr Doktor: The science officer in Pigs In Space.
• Only Sane Man: Trapped on a spaceship, facing constant hazards and hostile aliens, with no company other than two self-absorbed twits for years... poor Strangepork.
• Satellite Character: For Link. The official Muppets website even spelled this out in his bio.
• Shout-Out: To Dr. Strangelove.
• You Keep Using That Word / Delusions of Eloquence: Not used by himself, but the narrator always introduces him in this way ("And the ubiquitous / inexplicable Dr Julius Strangepork!"

Marvin Suggs

Frank Oz Eric Jacobson

One of the show's stranger recurring characters, Marvin Suggs is a crazy little blue man with a silly accent who enjoys making music by beating on an instrument made up of sentient furballs (the Muppaphones). Despite his unusually cruel act, he rarely got any sort of comeuppance.

• Black Comedy
• Catch Phrase: "SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UP!" (to his Muppaphones, whenever they started complaining or getting restless)
• Comically Missing the Point: When a horrified guest star upbraids Suggs for hitting living creatures, he exasperatedly responds, "Of course they're alive. You can't make music by hitting DEAD creatures!"
• Expy: A somewhat less psychotic version of the Monty Python "Mouse Organ" sketch.
• Jerkass
• Karma Houdini: Except once, when a witch doctor gave him a well-deserved Karmic Transformation.
• Kick the Dog: His poor Muppaphones...
• Large Ham
• Mad Artist
• Mustache Of Failed Heterosexuality: It's fake, too.
• Small Name, Big Ego
• What the Hell Is That Accent? (According to Frank Oz, he based Marvin's accent on an exaggerated version of a French friend's voice.)
  • French Jerk
• You Do NOT Want to Know: Marvin once told Kermit that the Muppaphones have to be replaced after a while because they go flat (literally). When Kermit asks him what happens to the old Muppaphones Marvin replies, "I don't think you want to know."

The Newsman

Jim Henson

A bespectacled, stone-serious journalist, the Newsman never hesitates to break the latest news story... and the subject of the latest story never fails to break him. One of the Muppet's most slapstick characters.

• Butt Monkey
• Catch Phrase: "This is a Muppet news flash!"
• Dead Line News: Or at least injured line news.
• Doom Magnet
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
• Genre Blind: He never learns.
• I Have Many Names: The Newsman, the Newscaster, the Reporter...
• Once an Episode
• One-Scene Wonder
• Running Gag
• Speak Of The Falling Cow
• This Just In
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In the 2011 movie, the Muppets allow the Newsman to participate in their telethon, running the phone lines. Not only does nothing bad happen to the Newsman for once, but at the end of the film he is able to report a news story in full suffering no injuries!
• We Interrupt This Program

Wayne and Wanda

Richard Hunt Erin Ozker

A pair of snobby singers who would frequently take the stage to sing tired old ballads - only to abruptly have some strange fate befall them, always foretold by the song's lyrics. None of the Muppets seemed to like them much, except Sam the Eagle, who was forever trumpeting them as the only respectable act on the show. If only they could finish a number...

• Flat Character: What happened to them was funnier than the characters themselves actually were.
• Hollywood Tone Deaf: A nice aversion. Richard Hunt and Erin Ozker were both talented singers, and they gave Wayne and Wanda voices like those of modestly talented performers overconfidently pushing their vocals harder than they could handle.
• The Moral Substitute: "They're also church people."
• Platonic Life Partners: Given their limited personalities, it was hard to pin down their relationship in their old days; they seemed pretty chaste for a pair known for singing love songs to each other.
  • They were caught getting pretty un-platonic in the 2011 movie.
• Public Domain Soundtrack
• Put on a Bus: While Wanda's disappearance after the first season was unremarked at the time, she and Wayne reunited reappeared a couple years later as part of a This Is Your Life show for Kermit's birthday. They revealed that Kermit had fired them, and they were now scraping by on minimum-wage jobs. Kermit, appalled that he could have done such a thing, re-hired them. When they sang out of joy, Kermit re-fired them. Amusingly, this successfully kept the pair out of the Muppets for the next three decades.
  • The Bus Came Back: The pair finally rejoined the Muppets in the 2011 movie. While their return was a mild surprise in and of itself, nobody expected them to get one of the biggest laughs in the film!
• Running Gag: The first season of the show had more running gags than character pieces. When the writing staff changed, Wanda was dumped, as running gags were all she had. Wayne, however, sporadically appeared in skits during the second and third seasons, oddly paired now with Uncle Deadly!
• Small Name, Big Ego: One of the few times they were given any non-musical dialogue, they made rude remarks about Kermit until they realized that he was listening the whole time.
• Speak of the Devil

Mahna Mahna

Jim Henson

A scruffy, hyperactive little guy who joins in musical numbers unannounced and uninvited. He pops all over the place, either yammering in incoherent scat or playing an obnoxiously loud instrument. There's no stopping him, and it's foolish to try.

• Divergent Character Evolution: A Muppet on Sesame Street sang "Mahna Mahna" on its first season, and was retained for future musical numbers. This character is not Mahna Mahna, but a different Muppet named Bip Bipadotta; although one could be forgiven for confusing them, as the two characters look very similar, and are both played by Jim Henson using the same voice. This distinction is Serious Business amongst the fandom.
• Non Sequitur: His act basically makes no sense whatsoever, but it's extremely catchy to most people. In Muppets Tonight, the song was presented as a mental disorder wherein the Snouths would appear from nowhere and sing whenever someone would say the name of the song. In The Muppets, it's played during the end credits. Some people say it to break the ice in a conversation when they don't know what else to say, in the same vain as "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"!
• Offscreen Teleportation
• One-Scene Wonder: That one sole skit on the first episode of The Muppet Show became so popular, all three characters made appearances on Muppets Tonight, and all the way into The Muppets!
• Pokémon-Speak
• Screwy Squirrel
• Sitcom Arch Nemesis: For the Snowths especially, but potentially anybody.
• Trickster Archetype
• Troll
• The Unfettered: Let's put it this way; he once made Zoot angry.
• The Unintelligible

Hugga Wugga

Frank Oz

One of the best-remembered "one-sketch" characters (possibly second to Mahna Mahna), Hugga Wugga is some sort of purple alien who wanders around an alien swamp chanting his name. He gets angry at creatures who try to sing anything else and tries to "assimilate" them, but is ultimately given his just desserts by a happy yellow creature that sings "You Are My Sunshine".

• Berserk Button: Creatures that sing anything other than "Hugga Wugga".
• Blow You Away: Shoots jets of air out of his nose whenever he gets angry.
• One-Scene Wonder
• Plant People: He looks rather like a Pikmin enemy.
• Pokémon-Speak
• The Unintelligible

Angus McGonagle

Jerry Nelson

The original planned "guest star" for the Star Wars episode, Angus McGonagle is an ugly purple Scotsman whose main (and possibly only) talent is gargling George Gershwin compositions "gorgeously". For some reason, his act is widely hated among the Muppets and their intergalactic guests.

• Badass Beard
• Brown Note: Gonzo (as Dearth Nadir) uses Angus' act to torture Luke Skywalker. Only a Gainax Ending is able to rescue him.
• Fiery Redhead
• Man in a Kilt
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: His description reads like a Mad Libs game: he's a purple kilted Scottish gargoyle who gargles George Gershwin compositions for his act.
• Non-Singing Voice: One of the series' few examples, though you could hardly classify it as "singing"; his gargling is provided by Richard Hunt.
• One-Scene Wonder: It helps that his episode has the Star Wars cast.
• Overly Long Tongue
• Trrrilling Rrrs: "Yes sirrrrree, Scoo'er lil' buddy, I'm rrrrready t'gae!"
• Violent Glaswegian

J. P. Grosse

Jerry Nelson

Scooter's uncle, the owner of the Muppet Theater, and the man who Kermit has to keep happy at all costs. He was an unseen presence in the early seasons of the show, but finally appeared in person for the final season.

• Cigar Chomper
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• The Dreaded
• Evil Uncle: Although his nephew was the only one he was nice to.
• Executive Meddling
• The Ghost: As noted, at first the mere mention of him was usually enough to cow Kermit into giving in to Scooter or Muppy's demands. After four seasons of this, they finally brought him out as a regular character.
  • However, the writers and performers eventually degreed that while Grosse was fun as an offscreen presence, in person he was too abrasive and threatening to be funny. Grosse was quickly Demoted to Extra. To see how they ultimately dealt with him, see below.
• Grumpy Old Man
• Killed Off for Real: If you take a deleted scene from It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie as official word, Kermit inherited the theater after Grosse's death. Either way, he hasn't been seen since. It says something about how unsuccessful the character was that he was the only Muppet to be killed off.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money
• The Scrooge

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