List of Archie Comics characters

The following is a list of characters in the Archie Comics universe. Licensed characters like Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man are not included in this list.

Archie series

Main characters

Archie Andrews

The character Archie Andrews was created by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana and first appeared in a humor strip in Pep Comics #22 (December, 1941).

Within the context of the strip and the larger series that grew out of it, Archie is a typical teenage boy, attending high school, participating in sports, and dating. He is extremely accident-prone and many of his actions, however well-intentioned, inadvertently harm the people he tries to help, especially Mr. Weatherbee and Mr. Lodge. He is also easily infatuated by many girls he meets. His love triangle between Betty and Veronica form the most common Archie stories.[1]

Betty Cooper

Main article: Betty Cooper

The very kind hearted, though temperamental girl next door. She is romantically obsessed with Archie, but previously used to always end up playing second fiddle to Veronica Lodge. Recently Archie has shown to like Betty and Veronica equally. She has a passion for writing and is a good student, athlete, cook, and auto mechanic. She cares deeply for the well being of others and is always ready to help people with their problems. She has two siblings, Polly and Chick.[1]

Veronica Lodge

Main article: Veronica Lodge

Veronica (sometimes called Ronnie or Ron by her close friends) is a very rich girl, the daughter of the billionaire Hiram Lodge. She is a spendthrift, quite spoiled and very vain, but gets along well with most of her classmates. She competes with her best friend Betty for Archie's affections, though she is quick to fall in love with the next hunk around the corner, and occasionally dates Reggie. She rarely gets along with Jughead due to his sloppiness.

Jughead Jones

Main article: Jughead Jones

Archie's best friend ever since they met as children is named Forsythe. Jughead is obsessed with food, and is a moocher, constantly asking his friends, especially Archie, for money and food. He is also sarcastic, lazy and apathetic towards girls, especially Big Ethel, who has a crush on him. However he maintains loyalty to Archie, and is usually the one who has to bail him out of trouble. He is very clever in some ways, and ignorant in others. He usually wears his trademark gray crown beanie. He has a baby sister, Jellybean. In the comic series Life with Archie he gets married to Midge Klump.[1]

Reggie Mantle

Main article: Reggie Mantle

Archie’s main rival, particularly for Veronica's affections. Though they are ultimately good friends, he often taunts Archie and does not understand why girls prefer to date him. He is highly vain and conceited, thinks he can date anyone he wants, and expects everyone to think the world of him. He likes playing practical jokes on others, especially Archie and Moose.[1] Sometimes when Veronica dumps him he dates Betty, and is always trying to get a date with Midge without Moose knowing.

Cheryl Blossom

Main article: Cheryl Blossom

A buxom redhead often catching the eyes of the Riverdale boys, most well known for being the third love interest for Archie Andrews. Reoccurring character, before beginning her own title series and Cheryl is known for being the biggest sex symbol in the gang. She has a twin brother named Jason.

Jason Blossom

Main article: Jason Blossom

A sinister trickster who has a similar personality as his sister Cheryl.

Moose Mason

Main article: Moose Mason

Marmaduke Mason is a muscular star athlete who is a poor student, often says "duh" at the beginning of sentences, and is possessive about his girlfriend Midge. He also is known to be dyslexic.[2] He is dimwitted and can be easily manipulated by others, particularly Reggie. He will beat up anyone (particularly Reggie) who upsets him or even talks to Midge, the latter being a point of friction between the couple. At the same time, he is also kind, sensitive and helpful toward his closest friends.[1]

Midge Klump

Main article: Midge Klump

Moose's girlfriend who is often frustrated with his jealousy and lack of intelligence but still loves him dearly. Boys cannot even talk to her without incurring Moose's wrath. In reality however, she does not often show interest in other boys. Reggie is particularly attracted to her.[1]

Dilton Doiley

Main article: Dilton Doiley

A highly intelligent nerd and inventor. He gets As in every class except physical education and is the favorite student of most of his teachers, especially Professor Flutesnoot and Mr. Weatherbee. He is not especially interested in dating and is shy around girls, though he has shown interest in a few girls in the series. Despite his quirks, he fits in well with the gang, who often rely on his brains. He and Moose are best friends, despite their contrasting personalities.[1]

Ethel Muggs

Main article: "Big" Ethel Muggs

A tall, stringy, somewhat dorky but goodhearted teenager who always tries to win over Jughead, albeit unsuccessfully. Despite her unattractiveness and few dates, she has many close friends and leads an active social life.[1]

Chuck Clayton

Main article: Chuck Clayton

An African-American initially introduced as a token character. Initially a shy loner, he came out as one of the most popular students in school. He is a very talented athlete and enjoys cartooning for fun. He has been a close friend of Archie's since his introduction.[1]

Nancy Woods

Main article: Nancy Woods

Chuck's African-American steady girlfriend. She does not take an interest in other boys, being devoted to Chuck alone. However, she is often annoyed with his paying more attention to his hobbies than her. Nancy enjoys sports, fashion, cheerleading and journalism, and is a close friend of the other girls.[1]

Kevin Keller

Main article: Kevin Keller (comics)

The first openly gay character in Archie Comics. This fact earned him a great deal of attention in American comic media. He first appeared in Veronica #202.[3] Veronica was deeply attracted to him, but was initially unaware of his sexuality, so Jughead took advantage of this situation to avenge himself against Veronica for humiliating him. Kevin's sexuality is not presented as controversial or stereotypical in the comics, keeping with Archie Comics' image of accepting diversity and inclusion.[4] Kevin is an aspiring journalist, with many hobbies including collecting comics and competitive eating. He has two younger sisters, his father is a retired Army Colonel and his mother is a housewife. Kevin's closest friends in Riverdale are Veronica and Jughead, along with Wendy and William, friends from a previous school.

Hiram Lodge

Main article: Hiram Lodge

Veronica's father, and the richest man in all of Riverdale. Hiram Lodge is usually portrayed as being an industrialist. He always dreads meeting Archie due to Archie's clumsiness and knack for causing him trouble. He tolerates Archie, however, because he knows of Archie's more redeeming qualities, and allows his daughter to date whom she chooses.[1]

Mr. Waldo Weatherbee

Main article: Mr. Weatherbee

The school principal, popularly referred to as 'The Bee'. A former United States Marine known for being obese and bald, he is often a victim of Archie's clumsiness and also his elementary school principal which often puts the latter in detention. He is often, however, quite helpful and friendly to students.[5]

Miss Geraldine Grundy

Main article: Miss Grundy

A teacher at Riverdale High. She is usually portrayed as an English teacher, though she is occasionally shown teaching other subjects. She is well-aged, slim with white hair, and her personality alternates between harsh and motherly.[5]

Pop Tate

"Pop" Tate
Archie character
First appearance Pep Comics #46
Created by Bob Montana
Portrayed by Mike Nussbaum (Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again)
Voiced by Dallas McKennon (The Archie Show)
Ryle Smith (Archie's Weird Mysteries, The Archies in Jugman)
Hometown Riverdale
Information
Occupation Owner of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe

Terry "Pop" Tate is the owner and manager of the Chok'lit Shoppe, an ice cream parlor and frequent hangout of Archie's Gang. Pop Tate is the self-designated philanthropist for the Archie gang, hearing about their problems while serving ice cream and a variety of other goodies.

Jughead is Pop Tate's best customer. Tate constantly talks about how Jughead's appetite will provide for his retirement. Many stories reflect the fact that his customers, particularly Jughead, don't always pay their tab. Jughead has been known to run his tab as long as possible, and put off paying it until Pop refuses any more credit.

In a comic centered on Pop, it was shown that he has a cousin named Russell, who runs a similar soda shop in the mountains. In the 2000s, his main rival was Segarini, the pizza parlor owner, a minor but recurring character.

Like many things in the Archie continuity, Pop Tate's history has inconsistencies. In one installment of the series, it was revealed that Pop's dad was the original "Pops," while as a child he served at his side under the moniker "Junior." But some stories say that Pop opened the business himself. In still another comic, he purchased it as a young man from the retiring owner McGurk. Some stories have given Pop's real first name as Bob, Harold, or Thomas, but the official Archie Comics website gives his name as Terry.[6]

Pop's shop has changed little over the years, and it still boasts a jukebox and old-time soda fountain. Attempts at times for Pop to "modernize" the shop have all failed, and Pop's retains its old-fashioned ice cream parlor atmosphere. This has allowed him to capitalize on nostalgia.

A fairly common plot is Pop Tate closing his shop and trying to sell it, which results in Archie and his friends scrambling to save it, generally by reminding everyone about the memories they have of the store, and telling them that losing the store would be horrible. One particular comic had the owner of the block giving an eviction notice to Pop to vacate the store in a week so he could build a 12-screen movie theater. As he and the gang go through stuff in the basement of the shop, they find enough evidence that the building is a historical landmark, which saves the shop and forces the land owner to build only a 6-screen theater.

The character of Pop Tate was inspired by the Greek immigrant owners of the three Haverhill, Massachusetts soda fountains frequented by Haverhill teenagers during the 1930s. These were the Crown Confectionery and the Chocolate Shop on Merrimack Street and the Tuscarora on Winter Street.

In the late 1930s, Archie creator Bob Montana joined other teens at the Chocolate Shop counter where he made sketches on napkins or in the diary-sketchbook he kept of Haverhill happenings. This material served as a source for Montana when he launched Archie.

Family members

Faculty of Riverdale High School

Major recurring characters

Minor characters

Auxiliary members of Archie's gang

Other teenagers

1940s-early 1960s

Late 1960s-1970s

1980s-early 1990s

Late 1990s

Early 2000s

Late 2000s

Early 2010s

Other characters

Riverdale townspeople

Other adults

Children

Nonhumans

Spin-offs

"Dynamic New Look" series

Diss Dress: A rock band appearing at the end of Moose and Midge: Breakup Blues. They are the live band playing at the Teen Machine Dance Club.

Little Archie

Main article: Little Archie

Alternate universes

Sabrina the Teenage Witch series

Josie and the Pussycats series

Cheryl Blossom series

Main article: Cheryl Blossom

That Wilkin Boy series

Main article: That Wilkin Boy

Li'l Jinx series

Main article: Li'l Jinx

Katy Keene series

Main article: Katy Keene

Archie's Mad House

Main article: Archie's Mad House

Wilbur series

Main article: Wilbur (comics)

Suzie series

Ginger series

Super heroes

The Mighty Crusaders

Main article: Mighty Crusaders

Other superheroes

Other series

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Archived August 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. Freshamn Year, Archie Comics
  3. Archie and the gang welcome first gay character The Globe and Mail 30 August 2010
  4. "Archie Comics Introduces Kevin Keller (Plus Archiecomics.com Exclusive Artwork)". Archie Comic Publications. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Who's Who in Riverdale?, at Archie Comics
  6. Archived November 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. Jughead (vol. 3) #1 (October 2015)
  8. Archived November 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. "Guess Who's Coming To Riverdale?". Dwayne McDuffie. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  10. 1 2 "The Racial Politics of Riverdale: Why an Interracial Kiss Is Still a Big Deal". Black Voices. Retrieved 2011-11-26.

External links

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