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Archibald "Archie" Andrews

The star of the series, introduced in December, 1941. Known as the "Typical Teenager", Archie is clumsy, girl-crazy, dopey but occasionally bright, and constantly forced to juggle between Betty and Veronica in an epic Love Triangle. He's the centerpoint of everything, having the most Giant-Size series and digests of all the characters, and most everyone in the series is important to him in some way.

  • A Boy and His X: Little Archie and his puppy, Spotty.
  • The Alleged Car: His famous jalopy, "Ol' Betsy". Even in modern stories (where the jalopy- way too old to even be a realistic "lemon" anymore- has been replaced by a model merely four decades old) it's a heap, frequently breaking down, exploding or leaking oil.
  • Alliterative Name
  • Art Evolution: His bow-tie and yellow-checkered pants are long gone; the same goes for the ancient-looking school sweater (most of the time, anyway). Also, his 40s buck teeth and really ugly appearance have vanished.
  • Character Development: His first demand in his very first panel? "Call me Chick!" Not so much even a few months later.
  • Depending on the Writer: Is Archie one of the best players on a sports team? Or does his klutziness apply there, making him a benchwarmer who can barely play? It totally depends on what story the writers want to tell. His success with girls tends to vary based on the kind of story as well—he'll either have an easy time getting any girl's number, or he'll be nervous about asking someone out.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Sanguine.
  • The Hero
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Jughead, though Arch ditches him for tail at a moment's notice.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Most of his schemes will backfire in one way or another.
  • Ho Yay: With Jughead the woman-avoider, though this is usually more on Jughead's side.
  • Kavorka Man: He's not ugly by any means, but even in-universe he's described as being nowhere near as attractive as he should be considering the types of girls he pulls.
  • Loser Gets the Girl: If he's supposed to be so average at everything, and is known for being clumsy, then why does he not only have two (sometimes three) beautiful girls chasing after him, but also have the ability to get a date with any girl in Riverdale?
    • Some comics show him as being very sweet and respectful to the ladies, which would probably help.
  • Love Triangle: Among fiction's most iconic and famous. Will he choose Betty or Veronica?
  • Redheaded Hero
  • They Fight Crime: His frequent adventures fighting spies, or his stint as "Pureheart the Powerful", usually pulling a Follow the Leader act at a current crime-fighting fad (The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Superhero stuff).
  • Two-Timer Date: Arguably the most famous example. How many times has he accidentally set up dates with Betty and Veronica for the same time again?
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: in one story, Archie gets a part-time job helping put up traffic signs. He decides to drop by the Lodge Mansion before putting a couple of sings up ("Stop" and "Detour - Turn Right") in their designated places just to visit Veronica. ALL passing vehicles saw the signs outside the estate, and go into the driveway, causing a serious traffic jam. And Archie thinks Mr. Lodge is placing the blame on him the second Lodge saw him, and runs away angrily, completely unaware that he really is the cause of the whole mess! One of the few times Mr. Lodge had good reason for prohibiting Archie from entering the estate.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Draws this a lot from Jughead (usually) over his shabby treatment of Betty.

Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper

The pretty, popular, all-around Nice Girl, introduced in December 1941, during the very first story. Initially portrayed as a good cook who was a bit flighty, Betty was modified post-Women's Lib into a feminist with many masculine habits to add to her feminine ones, becoming a Jack of All Trades. Portrayed as the "Nice One" in the eternal Love Triangle.

  • Art Evolution: Her hair changed a bit from the jump in styles during the 1950s, going from standard long, flowing, curled locks to her signature ponytail. Only the occasional new hairstyle has ever been used since (usually the "long hair plus ponytail" look).
  • Betty and Veronica: Herself as Betty.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: In the story "A Woman Scorned" in Archie #156.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Blonde.
  • Blue Eyes: According to more "realistic" styles.
  • Character Development: A lot of it- initially, she was very flighty and kind of a "Dumb Blonde", and usually entirely focused on domestic pursuits. By the 1960s, she'd morphed into an all-around tomboy mechanic/athlete who still cooked and cleaned with the best of them. She also used to be much more desperate to pick up Archie, and was nearly always a definite loser for his heart. Only later did Archie actually seem to want to date her most of the time.
  • Depending on the Writer: Whether or not Betty is a sore loser or a sad loser depends on who's writing. Her obsessiveness over Archie varies as well.
  • Dumb Blonde: Her early characterization, a lot of the time.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Melancholic.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover
  • Love Triangle: The nicest of the trio.
  • Only Six Faces: Famously identical to Veronica except the hair.
  • Satellite Character: Many would be surprised to know that Betty has two adult siblings- Chic the government spy, and Polly the successful reporter. Neither appear very often.
  • Team Mom: To the point where she can be nurturing towards strangers.
  • The Smart Girl
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Veronica's Girly Girl.[1]
  • Tomboyish Ponytail
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: How she appears in many stories (especially the first half of "Will You Marry Me?").
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: When Archie marries her in "Will You Marry Me?"
  • Wrench Wench: Women's Lib led to Betty taking on many tomboyish traits, including being the best mechanic in Riverdale. The boys either see this as a turn-on, or just use her to get their cars fixed, depending on the story.
  • Yandere: Back in the old days, she could be seen as this. In one notable issue, she actively tried to MURDER Archie, after he broke one last date.

Veronica "Ronnie" Lodge

Debuting in April, 1942 (only a few months after the series started), Veronica is a snooty rich girl and the primary winner in the eternal Love Triangle, Veronica has Archie wrapped around her little finger. Spoiled and often vain, she gets several moments to show that she's got a heart of gold underneath everything. Her father, Hiram, was a major character (arguably the most important of the parental characters), but mother Hermione was at-best a Satellite Character. "Cousin Leroy" was a fixture of the comics for a long time, hanging out at the Lodge house as a bratty prankster-type of young kid.

  • Alpha Bitch: If Cheryl Blossom isn't around, she can often lean towards this, especially when she and Betty fight over Archie.
  • Betty and Veronica: Herself as Veronica.
  • Brats with Slingshots: Her rarely-seen-anymore Cousin Leroy was this, in a strictly 1950s-60s bent.
  • Character Development: Used to be an awful, truly heinous bitch, and was vastly controlling, selfish and egotistical. She's been on a steady decline since then, gaining the heart of gold and becoming Betty's actual friend to go along with their romantic rivalry.
  • Characterization Marches On: her usual Alpha Bitch personality was rarely seen throughout "Veronica's Passport".
  • Depending on the Writer: Is she an evil Rich Bitch or is she a really Nice Girl who's a bit spoiled?
  • The Face: She's The Chick and her skills are mostly social instead of practical, but she contributes by being the only one with unlimited wealth and resources.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Choleric.
  • Fridge Logic: Just why was "Cousin Leroy" always there without any other members of his immediate family, anyways?
  • Friendly Enemy: With Betty, although this depends on the writer.
  • Hypocritical Heartwarming: No matter how mean she can be to her friends, she's always the first to come to their defense—even Jughead's.
  • Idle Rich
  • Informed Attractiveness: With the same face and body as every other girl in Riverdale, Veronica is nonetheless sometimes described as the most attractive. One story even has Archie saying that "Betty is beautiful on the inside, but Ronnie is beautiful on the outside!", and it only takes a tiny effort to get her to pry him away from Betty.
  • It's Fake Fur, It's Fine: One Digest had an old strip about her fur clumsily edited to say "Fake Fur" every time she mentioned what she was wearing.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Being mean most of the time, Veronica gets many Pet the Dog moments to offset this, often revealing her good side deep-down.
  • Lethal Chef: Her Jell-O is tough and chewy. In one strip, news of Archie's impending feast of Veronica's cooking results in a line of boys saying their heartfelt goodbyes- even Reggie!

Archie: Are you getting hitched to Jughead, Ron? The way you bake, he's the only one who'd survive that pie!

  • Ms. Fanservice: It's pretty much a given that she'll be wearing the most-revealing outfit of any given strip, especially the beach-themed ones. Sometimes she's even been arrested for wearing "indecent" bikinis on public beaches- and the artists show it! Later on, Cheryl Blossom takes her crown.
  • Only Six Faces: Famously identical to Betty except the hair.
  • Pet the Dog: Often quite mean, and almost always very demanding, Ronnie will usually come to Betty's aide if she's in need, and can generally be counted on to feed some poor people or take care of some orphans.
  • Pretty in Mink: Still wears furs occasionally.
  • Rich Bitch: Often shows tendencies towards this, especially to Jughead. Her superheroine code-name was "Miss Vanity" for a reason.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: Oh yeah. Her spending habits are legendary, as well as her father's frequent blow-ups over her rampant Credit Card use.
  • The Rival: To Betty and Jughead.
  • Satellite Character: Cousin Leroy was one to her. A bratty little kid, he was seemingly there more for childish pranks and someone to be younger than the main characters than anything else- it rarely even came up that he was from a rich family.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money / Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Rarely invokes these to cheat, but her ability to schmooze and get what she wants from rich and powerful people has helped the gang out on many an occasion.
  • Shiny Midnight Black
  • Spoiled Brat: To poor Mr. Lodge's exasperation.
  • Sweater Girl
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Betty's Tomboy.
  • Tsundere: Most likely to snap at Archie if he steps out of line.
  • Uncle Pennybags: Veronica is a female version in many stories, happily letting her friends enjoy her mansion. She's also been depicted in a couple of stories as pawning off clothes that she doesn't want anymore on Betty...which actually leads to Betty having a pretty fancy wardrobe herself.
    • Veronica's father Hiram Lodge is also depicted as this in some stories, namely on those occasions when he isn't throwing a fit over Veronica's spending sprees or Archie destroying yet another expensive possession.
  • Unlimited Wardrobe: Lampshaded many times, including on one occasion that she had a shop that sells her hand-me-downs.
  • Walking the Earth: technically speaking, her mini-series "Veronica's Passport".

Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III

Archie's best pal, debuting in December 1941 alongside Archie and Betty, Jughead was a noted woman-hater at first, famous for being the Big Eater of Big Eaters. An overall weirdo, he tended to follow his own path, avoiding the girl-crazy antics of his male co-stars. Initially a misogynist, he recieved Character Development and eventually became more disinterested in romance as much as anything, and actually made friends with girls like Betty. Some stories in the early 90s played with romance for Jug, but were ultimately short-lived. He became an older brother in the 1990s, gaining a sister in Jellybean (aka "Forsythia").

  • A Boy and His X: Jughead and Hot Dog (who actually appears in teen-era stories, unlike Archie's dog Spotty).
  • Aborted Arc: Jughead's Love Triangle with Joani and Debbie didn't last more than a year, despite how well-known it is amongst adult Archie fans. The fans at the time obviously didn't take to it. His "Punk" phase with the mohawk was even shorter.
  • Alliterative Name
  • Aluminum Christmas Trees: Surprisingly, his trademark beanie was once a real fashion accessory of 1940s teenagers. They would cut their father's work caps into the jagged-edge shape and wear them. Nowadays, it just makes him look like a kook.
  • Art Evolution: His mother underwent a shift in the mid-90s (around her pregnancy), changing from basically "Jughead in a wig" to a normal-looking woman. Lately, she seems to have shifted back a bit.
  • Berserk Button: Any time food is threatened, Jughead gains superhuman strength. Reggie and assorted minor bullies and robbers have all fallen victim to this.
  • Big Eater: Among the most iconic examples in all of fiction, especially in the West. Often eats things that are literally impossible in real-life, such as burgers over ten feet in diameter, or fifty burgers in one sitting.
  • Brilliant but Lazy
  • Celibate Hero: Jughead was initially misogynistic, but is now usually uninterested in pursuing romance, preferring the simpler (and less painful) world of food. Many stories have played with this, trying to figure him out. The answer reached in the 1990s was that he liked some girls, but love was so complicated (his first crush broke his heart by moving away when they were kids) that he ultimately returned to the simple joys of eating.
  • Character Development: Jug was normally a cynical woman-hater at first (even going to near-impossible lengths by today's standards), slowly warming to Betty over the years as a friend, but by the 1990s, writers frequently toyed with giving him girlfriends (he even had his own Love Triangle for a while!). He's still a non-dater, but he clearly has female friends now, and no longer freaks out and runs if they touch him accidentally.
    • One story in the 70s featured him going bowling with Betty and having an epiphany that he could just be friends with a girl without any of that mushy romantic stuff.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Depending on the Writer: Jughead's woman-hating can vary, as some arcs actually show him with an interest in some girls. Also, he's either one of the a lazy, poor student, or one of the smartest kids in school in spite of his laziness.
  • All Drummers Are Animals: He's not exactly a wild child, but he's certainly the weirdest member of The Archies.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Forsythe. Even his parents call him Jughead, as do the teachers.
    • He was so much used to this, that, in one story, when Mr. Weatherbee decreed that Jughead be addressed by his first name, Juggie couldn't even respond to anyone calling him.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Famously his default expression. He'll open them if shocked or surprised, and spent a good deal of the 1990s with them consistently as open as everyone else's, but usually it's his trademark along with the hat and sweater. Other characters often point this trait out, and it's usually seen as him being too lazy to open them all the way.
  • Flat Character: His girlfriend Joani was a case of this- having few characteristics besides an obsessive love for Jughead. The other half of the Love Triangle, Debbie, was more of a rocker chick with her own attitude, but often fell into this as well.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Phlegmatic.
  • Gag Nose
  • Guile Hero
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Archie, though ol' Arch tends to ditch Jug at the nearest possible moment, in search of tail, so this is more from Jughead's end.
    • In Little Archie, this extends to their pets Spotty and Hot Dog.
  • Ho Yay: Frequently with Archie, as Jughead's famously not interesting in girls. Him dating a future descendant of Arch's doesn't help matters.
  • Iconic Item: it wouldn't be Jughead without his beanie.
  • Intellectual Animal: Hot Dog's a lot smarter than he lets on, much like his owner.
  • The Lancer
  • Love Triangle: Jughead developed a crush on a new girl named Debbie in the early 90s, and right then, Joanie Jummp (a childhood girlfriend) came back into his life. The resulting mess followed many similar Archie storylines, including the girls being best friends with each other (often hanging off of Jug simultaneously).
  • No Guy Wants to Be Chased
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Always goes by Jughead (he despises "Forsythe", his real name). Trula Twyst calls him "Juggers" as a mock-name.
  • The Rival: Trula Twyst, a psychiatry-obsessed student who frequently butts heads with Jug, manipulating him and trying to figure out what makes him tick. She founded the "J.U.S.T. Cause", devoted to curing his girl-hating. Also Veronica, who steals Archie away from his best friend. And then Reggie, who is locked in an eternal prank war with Jug.
  • Smarter Than You Look: He may appear to be slow and uninterested, but Jug is actually pretty intellectually gifted and astute.
  • They Fight Crime: Aside from his adventures alongside Archie's spy-fighting and superhero antics, Jughead was a member of the Time Police for a brief period. Teaming with Archie's descendent January Mcandrews, they sought to fix time anomalies.
  • Through His Stomach: A frequent victim, this trick nearly always works.
  • Two-Timer Date: Once accidentally did this with Joani and Debbie, thanks to a magic genie. The irony was not lost on him.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: has a cousin that looks exactly like him, Nathan. Problems arose for Jug when Nathan shows up in Riverdale, and starts unintentionally ruining Jughead's reputation; for the unaware, Nathan is a Casanova. Yeah. There's also Jug's other, more recurring cousin, Souphead, who's basically a Mini-Jughead.
  • We're Still Relevant, Dammit!: Originally put up as "Emo Jughead", ol' Juggs, despite being generally portrayed as a free spirit who follows the beat of his own drum, has been depicted as joining every big fad known to man. He's been an Emo Teen, a Goth, a skateboarder, a punk, etc. over the years, generally hopping on as a sign of his own counter-culture compared to the more milquetoast cast.
  • What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: Jughead's Diner was a bizarre story even by Archie standards. He was the owner of a restaurant in Dinersville, which inhabited a parallel universe.

Reginald "Reggie" Mantle

A jerk and prankster, Reggie is a romantic rival with Archie for Veronica's affections, and has an even less pleasant rivalry with "Spindle-snoot", aka Jughead. Usually, Veronica is not that interested in him, but if he has the money and the car to get where Archie can't, it's "see you, Archiekins!" Occasionally delves into being a good person deep-down, depending on the story. Reggie debuted in the summer of 1942, completing the five-man ensemble at the heart of the series.

  • The Big Guy
  • Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes. At other times he's a "Hyuk! Hyuk!" type of over-acting Ham. Either way, he's the first one with a derogatory gag.
  • Depending on the Writer: How much of a jerk is Reggie, anyways? He's either a conniving, scheming prankster who actively hates Archie and Jughead, or he's actually just their sarcastic friend.
  • Jerk Jock
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: How close he is to one or the other depends on the story- he's often an enormous prick to everybody, playing pranks all the time, but some stories either have him temporarily warm up Grinch-like, or establish him as someone who hangs out with the gang regularly. Some stories have the rest of the gang defend him as "our jerk!", and often times he's seen palling around with Jughead, his arch-enemy in other stories.
  • Large Ham
  • Pair the Spares: According to Life With Archie: The Married Life, he ends up with whichever girl Archie doesn't choose.
  • The Rival: A romantic one for Archie (Reggie likewise chases Veronica), a prank-based one for Jughead.
  • Shiny Midnight Black
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Thinks really highly of himself, despite evidence on the contrary.
  • Too Dumb to Live: infamously the one in the comics to actively pursue Midge on an alarming basis. How many times has he tried flirting with the girl, even when her boyfriend was nearby?
    • Sees an article about sharks while at the beach, and he decided to catch one to be a hero? We get this exchange:

Archie: What do you know about catching sharks?
Reggie: Plenty. I watch all those shark movies on TV, don't I?

  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Archie. Sometimes with Jughead too. One story that involved Reggie getting Stage Fright during his first attempt at stand-up comedy led to Jughead heckling him, which got Reggie mad enough to reply and then go into the rest of his routine.

"Big" Ethel Muggs

A large, skinny, buck-toothed ugly girl, primarily shown as psychotically chasing after Jughead to play off of his girl-hating nature for cheap gags. It was played so cruelly at first that Jughead even made fun of her appearance on a frequent basis! By later decades, she was developed into a Nice Girl with a crush, and even had other male interests for a while. She debuted in May, 1962, and underwent a visual evolution in the early 2000s, become more homely than hideous.

  • Ascended Extra: Ethel got a major boost in the Christian-themed Spire-produced comics of the 1960s, being featured as a main character alongside Archie, learning about the Christian faith.
  • Character Development: She was originally stupid (complete with Moose-ish "d-uh"s) in addition to ugly.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Jeffrey, a blind boy, was introduced into the strip in the mid-90s as a love interest for Ethel. It didn't pan out (largely because it screwed with the popular dynamic, and because Ethel herself was virtually the tenth-most-necessary character, so there was no room for a Satellite Character of her very own).
  • Demoted to Extra: This was her fate when Jughead had his own Love Triangle with Joani and Debbie. Years of chasing Jughead, and now he hooks up with two new hotties? Poor Ethel had a couple strips dealing with this (once helping Jug out when he accidentally offended Joani), but it was too depressing to really focus on, so it was mostly dropped until that storyline was done.
  • Depending on the Artist: Just how gawky and ugly she is can change between artists, not to mention her current case of...
  • Gonk: In an aversion to Only Six Faces, Ethel was given a horrifically skinny body, no breasts, a single buck tooth and a hairstyle that was absurdly old-fashioned even for the 1960s.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: Her height earned her nickname.
  • Love Triangle: With Jughead and Jeffrey (a blind boy) for a brief period in the 1990s. Jeffrey was nice to her and liked her, and Jughead even seemed to be jealous and wanted some attention. It didn't last.
  • Only Six Faces: An exception, much to her chagrin. She is literally the only unattractive teenage girl in Riverdale.
  • Progressively Prettier: Ethel's Gonkishness has faded a bit over time, giving her a more normal-looking face, to the point where some issues make her look honest-to-God attractive. Most of the time, though, she's still gawky and a bit too thin.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: when Archie goes out with her in a Not a Date story, he was actually stunned by her change in appearance.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Almost entirely focused on Jughead, to the point of insanity. A few stories have shown her with interests in other boys, who even returned the favour (Dilton, Jeffrey, even Archie), but most of these were either one-shot stories or short-lived escapades.
  • Through His Stomach: A common way for her to con Jughead into dates. Either by cooking food herself, or promising to pay for his meals, she'll get him one way or another.

Dilton Doiley

The pint-sized, bespectacled super-genius of the Archie Universe, Dilton features heavily in nearly any story requiring genius, robots, science fiction or wacky inventions. If a story with him doesn't involve his smarts, it's usually his shyness around girls. Dilton—named as such—debuted in the Archie daily comic strip in 1948 and moved to the comic books in 1950. Interestingly, various "bookworm" characters shown before him in the comic books had many of his traits, and even his visual appearance.

  • Alliterative Name
  • Brains and Brawn: Brains to Moose's Brawn.
  • Breakout Character: A background character just beneath the main cast, he's had a starring role in several stories, and even had his own series once- Dilton's Strange Science, featuring his sci-fi adventures with girlfriend Danni.
  • Canon Discontinuity: Poor Dilton has hooked up with Danni Malloy and blazing hottie Cheryl Blossom in continuity, but both were ignored alarmingly quickly—Cheryl went right into a fan-voting contest to see who her next boyfriend was going to be. Who knows where his relationship with Brigitte will go?
    • He even got to date Veronica in one story, after she became so fed up with Archie and Reggie fighting over her that she resolved to go to the dance with the next boy who came by...who just happened to be Dilton.
  • Expy: He was replaced in cartoon spin-off The New Archies for Eugene, a black kid with most of the same personality traits, to add a Token Minority to the cast that wasn't Chuck.
  • Gadgeteer Genius
  • Informed Attribute: He and Moose were often said to be the best of friends in some stories (The Other Wiki even mentions it) -- this was rarely reflected in the actual events of the series.
  • Pair the Spares: With Brigitte, as both were background characters (her more so than him) with no one else in their lives.
  • Shorter Means Smarter
  • The Short Guy with Glasses
  • Smart People Play Chess
  • Slobs Versus Snobs: When he debuted in the daily strip, Dilton had the vaguely effeminate dress and snooty manners of a stereotypical early 1900s snob—thus his surname Doiley (i. e. a lace doily, cliched effeminate-snob gear).
  • Teen Genius: Leads to the most out-there stories in Archie comics, frequently defying reality beyond mere "cartoonish" conventions. Robots, aliens, super-computers and the like are mundane things to him.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: His relationships with Danni and Cheryl Blossom vanished without a trace.

Chuck Clayton and Nancy Woods

During the 1970s, Archie Comics added a black friend to the main cast. Chuck was initially a jock, and shown equally as friendly as the rest of the cast, but later years morphed him into the official "Artist" of the group, and many stories involved him and girlfriend Nancy (added a few years after him, in order to give him a girl), and her frequent annoyance with him ignoring her in favor of art. Chuck debuted in 1971, Nancy in 1976.

  • The Ace: name a sport, any sport. Chuck will always be one of the best athletes.
  • Alliterative Name: Chuck.
  • Black and Nerdy: Chuck, from the 1990s onward. Less nerdy in terms of being a loser than simply an over-committed comics geek and artist.
  • Black Best Friend: Both of them, for Archie and Betty, respectively. Neither are actually the best friends of the pair, but it still fits.
  • Character Development: Chuck was initially a pretty generic guy until they started focusing on his artistic career. A bit egotistical and snarky, even, but he eventually just became obsessive and dorky.
  • Flat Character: Nancy has very few unique character traits, being one of the least-used recurring female characters (the teachers and mothers of the cast, plus Betty, Ron, Midge and Ethel). She's pretty much "Generic Nice Girl" unless she's getting angry at Chuck for ignoring her for his art career.
  • The Nineties: Chuck starts to sport a fade or a flat-top.
  • Official Couple: One of the very few in the comics.
  • Satellite Character: Nancy was originally one for Chuck, and later became one for Betty (in scenes where Ronnie wasn't necessary to be a talking post).
  • School Newspaper Newshound: Nancy was often this in later years to give her something more to do than being Chuck's girlfriend.
  • Sequential Artist
  • The Seventies: Chuck's decade of origin can be pretty obvious in stories from that era, thanks to his big afro.
  • Token Minority: One of the first in Archie Comics, coming in a bit later than Valerie of the Pussycats.
  • Token Trio: Chuck was often grouped with Archie and Betty this way in the 1970s.
  • Why Don't You Marry It?: Nancy sometimes feels like she's playing second-fiddle to Chuck's artist pasttime, and she calls him out on it like this.

Marmaduke "Big Moose" Mason and Midge Klump

A hulk of a man, Moose is dumb to the point of mental retardation at times, and has a good heart, but God help you if you mess with "My Gurl". Midge is basically a Flat Character and either someone for boys (usually Reggie) to covet, or as a token "third friend" to Betty and Ronnie.

  • Alliterative Name: Moose.
  • Berserk Button: Do not hit on Midge. Do not talk to Midge. Do not accidentally bump into Midge. Do not breathe near Midge. If you do, then Moose will kill you. Even Jughead isn't immune to this, and he's the last guy who would hit on Midge (except for a certain fantasy-future storyline).
    • Ironically, this is Gender Flipped with Midge herself, who goes crazy whenever another girl hits on Moose.
    • Despite Word of God as his "close friend," Dilton isn't immune to this, either. One story (featuring the gang as summer camp counselors and a magic-powered younger camper playing magical pranks on the gang; oddly, Sabrina isn't involved in this story) has Moose tricked into thinking that Dilton left flowers and a note to Midge. Moose angrily tells Dilton to "prepare to fly back to Riverdale!" Cue Dilton sent flying into the air (with a "POW!" sound effect) in the next panel.
    • With Jughead it's more of a Depending on the Writer. He sometimes "trusts" Jughead, but sometimes he still goes berserk all the same.
  • Brains and Brawn: Brawn to Dilton's Brains.
  • Bruiser with a Soft Center: Moose, despite being prone to anger and violence, is kind and gentle deep down, especially with children.
  • Bully Hunter: while often depicted as a bully himself, the gang can always count on him to take care of other, less benevolent giants in the district.
  • But Not Too Foreign: revealed to have Russian ancestry.
  • Depending on the Artist: Moose can either be ripped like a comic book superhero (with six-pack abs and everything), or a giant gorilla of a man. Either way, he's still huge.
  • Depending on the Writer: Midge is either the unwilling victim of Reggie's come-ons, or actually excited to steal away with him while Moose is distracted (it leans more towards the former in older stories).
  • Dumb Muscle: REALLY dumb. As in, does not know where the Leaning Tower is located, or what 2 + 2 is.
    • Heart Is an Awesome Power: but it later proves key to stopping a "super"-salesman. The salesman sells his wares by putting ideas in people's heads, and Moose just happens to grasp ideas at a slow rate.
  • Ear Worm: in-universe, Dilton once composed a rap song with lyrics containing historical facts to help Moose in the subject; because the song was so catchy, Moose managed to memorize it and pass his oral History test.
  • Fridge Logic: If he's too dumb to tell what 2 + 2 is, or where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is, then how the heck did he make it all the way to being a Junior in High School?
  • Flat Character: Midge is either annoyed at Moose' protectiveness, or a token female friend to the other girls. Then again, there's the fact that she gets just as insanely jealous whenever another girl shows interest in Moose.
  • High School Sweethearts: After university she realizes she doesn't actually like Moose's insane jealousy and breaks up with him in both Archie marries Betty and Archie marries Veronica timelines.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Even more so in early years, when Midge had a more petite build than Betty or Veronica.
  • Informed Attractiveness: Midge looks the same as all the other girls in town, but is seen as particularly attractive to boys, likely due to the "forbidden fruit" aspect.
  • L Is for Dyslexia: This was given as the explanation for Moose's near mental-retardation in one story- it hasn't really been followed up on (as "stupid jock" jokes are much easier to come by than "legitimate learning disability" jokes), but it explains how he's still actually in the same classes as everybody else after all these years.
  • Literal-Minded: Moose. One time he was asked to put a can of tomatoes in soup (guess what he did put in).[2]
    • Moose occasionally did this to the point of excluding reason or logic. Told to put peat moss in Veronica's garden, Moose promptly went out and found someone named "Pete Morse". Hilarity ensued.
    • One infamous strip had the gang propose a "carpool" to save up on gas whenever they go to the beach, and they all voted on Moose's car. What does he do to his car? Fill it up with water.
    • Selected to run for office? He shows up to the meeting in a track outfit.
  • Verbal Tic: "D-uh..."
  • Official Couple: One of the very few in the comics.
  • Only Six Faces: Like most women, Midge looks just like Betty and Ronnie, but with short black hair.

Cheryl Blossom

The Pembrooke-born snob who debuted in 1982 as kind of a "third choice" seductress that took Riverdale by storm. She was short-lived, but made a surprise return at the end of "The Love Showdown", becoming a major recurring character. She spent most of the 1990s in various Limited Series and her own book, but eventually most of that was dropped and she became a minor supporting character.

  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Redhead.
  • Character Development: She became nicer as her own series moved forward, replacing her Rich Bitch persona with that of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She disappeared twice before ending up a permanent, though sporadic, character.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Some of her sexier antics seem extremely bizarre for a children's comic book series, and even rival the Fan Service in Image Comics.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The personality settled upon in her own series. She became much less conniving, but still a glory-hound.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Took the crown from Ronnie right away. Dan DeCarlo gave her a Pamela Anderson clone body, with even larger breasts and buttocks than was normal for Riverdale girls, and was frequently seen in skimpier clothes than all the others. In one beach storyline, she tried to go topless.
  • Only Six Faces: A notable aversion, as her body type was different than the famously-similar other Archieverse girls, but her face was as well- she had thicker lips and lashes than everybody else.
  • Put on a Bus: She was actually written out in the late 90s as actually moving away for a while. This lasted a few years, and she returned (without her own series this time) as a minor character.
  • Replacement Flat Character: Was this to Veronica, being a hotter, sluttier, snobbier, richer girl who won Archie over with sex appeal, once Veronica had become a nicer individual. Cheryl actually needed her own Niles once her own series moved forward and revealed her nicer side as well.
  • Third Option Love Interest: The former Trope Namer. Famously came in as a "third choice", and temporarily had a legit shot at taking over.
  • Wolverine Publicity: Cheryl exploded onto the Archie scene on her 1990s return, quickly getting one limited series after another. Finally, she got her own series and was a constant feature. Eventually, backlash set in, and she was actually written out of the books again before the decade was over, and is now a mere extra.

Kevin Keller

One of the newest characters added into the series. Kevin's the new kid in town who's quickly become good friends with Jughead and Betty. Veronica had quite the crush on him, that is until he told her that he was gay. He's also interested in becoming a journalist, and the local news paper publishes his articles now and then. He was introduced in 2010 as one of the first positive portayals of an openly gay character in a series aimed for children. A 4 part spin-off is being planned to show his life before moving into town.

Trula Twyst

A psychiatrist's daughter, Trula becomes obsessed with manipulating the emotions of people, especially one Jughead Jones. It's never quite clear if she has romantic feelings towards "Juggers" or if she's just doing it for the sheer fun of it, but she's become a fairly important fixture of the Jughead books since her debut in the late 1990s.

  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Depending on the Writer: Usually it's a question whether or not she likes Jughead, but a few times she's outright stated it (and one writer had her kiss him!).
  • Femme Fatale: More or less. Doesn't use sex as much as her brainpower and manipulation, though.
  • Manipulative Bastard: A supreme one. She once convinced Jughead to not like hamburgers.
  • More Than Mind Control: Her unique powers of persuasion.
  • Only Six Faces: Slightly averted. Resembles the other girls, but her nose is usually depicted as a bit more triangular in shape.
  • The Rival: To Jughead.
  • Smug Snake: Nearly everything she says is done with an evil smirk.

The Riverdale High Faculty

A rather large cast of characters, though only a handful are fairly prominent. Major castmembers include Mr. waldo Weatherbee (the obese school principal), Miss Geraldine Grundy (a token crabby teacher), Coach Kleats (an obese old-school football coach), Coach Floyd Harry Clayton (Chuck's father, a more in-shape coach), Prof. Elmer Benjamin Flutesnoot (the Chem & Sciences teacher), Miss Bernice Beazley (a crabby cafeteria worker) and Mr. Svenson (the gag-foreigner Swedish janitor). Less characters include Miss Haggly (another crone of a teacher), Miss Phlips (The Bee's secretary), Mr. Grimley (a long-suffering guidance counsellor prone to ulcers) and Vice Principal Patton Howitzer (a nasty drill sergeant).

Betty: Hi, Jughead, how's detention?
Jughead: Really weird. Superintendent Hassle gave detentions to me, Archie, Professor Flutesnoot and Mr. Weatherbee.

  • Punny Name: Professor Flutesnoot (his nose is big), Coach Kleats, Patton Howitzer (the drill sergeant), and a few of the background teachers like Greta Grappler (the female gym teacher) and Miss Hammly (the drama teacher).
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: most of them, Depending on the Writer. But, if we're going to list one consistent example...if ever there's to be an argument between student and faculty, you can bet that Ms. Grundy would be neutral to the whole thing, willing to listen to the students side of the argument.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: one story has Weatherbee on leave, and he puts Howitzer in charge. The students have once compared his reign to boot camp.
  • Two-Teacher School: Hugely averted, though even with a full cast of teachers generally available, they'll still use Miss Grundy for all after-school activities, plays, etc., rather than someone like an actual Drama teacher (Miss Hammly, a rarely-seen background character).
    • And yet most of them were also the gang's faculty in elementary...

Josie James And the Pussycats

See the Josie and the Pussy Cats page for more in-depth tropage.

  • Alliterative Name: Josie.
  • Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Melody, Josie and Valerie. Although Valerie could be both Brains and Brawn.
  • Black Best Friend: Valerie.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Josie's friend Pepper, and their boyfriends Albert and Socrates vanished shortly before the Retool.
  • Distaff Counterpart: See "Expy" below. Many cast members are reverse-gender variants of Archie characters.
  • The Ditz: Melody
  • Dumb Blonde: Melody.
  • Expy: Alexandra, of Veronica Lodge. Same attitude (made 100% negative- she almost never Pets the Dog), same dark hair (with a white streak in it), basically the same role towards the "Nice Girl" (Josie). Only difference is that Alan M, her target, scarcely reciprocates her feelings at all. Other characters are near-Expies for Archie (Josie) and Jughead (Pepper).
  • Follow the Leader: A story about a redheaded hero being fought over by a blonde and a brunette, while having a brunette rival and a quirkie, dark-haired best friend? How was this not an Archie copy, with genders reversed?
  • Fur Bikini: They occasionally wear them.
  • Love Triangle: A minor one between Josie, Albert and Alexander at first, though Alexander was clearly somewhat-unwanted. With the "Pussycats" retool came Alan M., and then it became purely unrequited on Alex's part.
  • Malaproper: Melody.
  • Freudian Trio: Melody the Id, Josie the Ego and Valerie the Superego.
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Retool: It used to be just a standard teenage series, with different boyfriends (Albert and Socrates for Josie and Pepper, respectively). Suddenly, Filmation came calling, and the strip was altered permanently into a "band on tour" one, dropping the boyfriends and bringing in Alan M.
  • Standardized Leader: Josie suffers from this at times.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: Josie the child (sweet, lovable, innocent), Melody the seductress (Hello, Nurse!, Ms. Fanservice), and Valerie the wife figure (smartest, looks out for the others)
  • Tomboy: Valerie is frequently a Wrench Wench or Tsundere. She Cleans Up Nicely, though.

Sabrina Spellman, the Teenage Witch

Originally introduced as a one-off character in the 1960s, Sabrina became one of Archie's major secondary characters over the years, often having her own comic book, several Animated Series and, most famously, her own Sitcom in the 90s. Her shtick is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, a teenager who's secretly a witch and is being raised by her two spinster aunts (also witches, natch) to learn the use of her powers. Supporting characters include her (mortal) boyfriend Harvey, and Salem (a human turned into a cat as punishment for trying to conquer the world). Sabrina's stories, by their nature of involving magic, tend to be quite fanciful or outlandish. While Sabrina's stories are usually set in her own hometown, she'll also occasionally appear in stories set in Riverdale (as a visiting friend of Archie, Jughead, and the gang).

For more on Sabrina, see her own page.

  1. ↑ Though she does wear dresses- she just also likes masculine pursuits like sports, mechanics, etc.
  2. ↑ the can
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