< Doonesbury

Doonesbury/Characters


The cast of the comic strip Doonesbury.

Michael "Mike" Doonesbury

The main character of the strip for most of it's run, Mike started out as a student at Walden and Casanova Wannabe and later turned into Walden Commune's voice of reason. After college he married J.J. and worked as a New York Adman, until he lost his job and J.J. left him. Mike then moved to Seattle with his daughter Alex, met and married second wife Kim Rosenthal and is currently running the website MyVulture.com with Kim.

  • Author Avatar: As Trudeau himself put it: "Yes, dammit I'm the model for Michael."
  • Bumbling Dad: To Alex.
  • Casanova Wannabe: During the strips first few months and the original Bull Tales strips.
  • Characterization Marches On: He started out as a Casanova Wannabe in Tredeau's college strip Bull Tales before becoming the strip's Only Sane Man.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Had to go though many years of unhappy marrige with J.J., a horrible job, going through unemployment and J.J. running out on him. Then he got a job with his college lab partner Bernie in Seattle and met Kim and even then he still had to fire most of Kim's friends as part of layoffs, deal with Kim moving to Paris and then breaking up with him and Alex deleting the E-Mail's saying so, and finally reconciliation with Kim, just to get to somewhere resembling a happy ending.
  • Happily Married: To Kim.
  • Hollywood Nerd
  • May-December Romance:With Kim.
  • Only Sane Man: In stark contrast to some of the strip's more outrageous characters.
  • Straight Man
  • Your Cheating Heart: He almost did this while married to J.J. but backed out when he found out J.J. was pregnant.

B.D.

The star quarterback, and hardcore conservative, at Walden and Mike's roommate in the beginning. Enlisted in the Vietnam War to get out of a term paper and has been in every war since. Has been in a relationship with Boopsie since her introduction and married her in the early nineties. Wore a helmet of some kind constantly until 2003, when he got his leg shot off in Iraq and lost the helmet at the same time. Currently works as Walden's Football coach.

Mark Slackmeyer.

Mark started off as a protestor but eventually segued into a hardcore liberal and DJ. Eventually moved on to NPR, where he works to this day. Later found out he was gay and started dating Chase, eventually marrying him until their divorce a few years ago.

  • Black Sheep: The hardcore liberal son of a conservative, and that was before he came out. His dad disowned him several times. Subverted by his Mother.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Erudite Stoner: In the 70's.
  • Invisible to Gaydar
  • Suddenly Sexuality: Was a skirt-chaser during the Walden period, and turned out to be gay in the 90's. In this case however it was sudden for him too, and he eventually adjusted quite well.

Zonker Harris

A hippie who spent his 9 years at Walden avoiding graduation, tanning and generally slacking off. After graduating he mooched off of Mike and J.J. before enrolling in Baby Doc Medical College, before becoming Mike and J.J.'s live-in nanny. They eventually fired him after Mike lost his job and Zonker moved back in with his parents before moving in with B.D. and Boopsie as their nanny, where he remains to this day, although he was forced to get a job as a waiter to bring additional income to the house. He's also a lord after buying a lordship in the 80's.

Barbra Ann "Boopsie" Boopenstein

A cheerleader and B.D.'s girlfriend. Became an actress after graduation, albeit in minor roles. Was originally incredibly ditzy but gradually matured over the years. Currenly lives at Walden with B.D., their daughter Sam and Nanny Zonker.

Joanie Caucuss

A housewife who ran away from her husband and daughter and was picked up by Mike and Mark while the duo were on a road trip. A feminist, she brought feminism to the local day care center before moving on to Berkeley and getting a law degree. During this time she met her second husband, Rick, and had another child with him. She currently worked with Congresswoman Lacey Davenport until Lacey contracted Alzheimer's. Joanie has recently come out of retirement to guide Real Life Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's campaign.

Rick Redfern

Joanie's husband who was a writer for the Washington post for most of the strip-- until he was fired a few years ago for no particular reason. He's currently a blogger and is constantly frustrated with his son.

Roland Burton Hedley III

A reporter that initially worked with Time on an article about the current campus trends. He's since switched to network tv and Channel Hopped, eventually sticking with Fox News. He currently has a Twitter account, which he plugs at every opportunity.

Joan "J.J." Caucus Jr.

Joanie's daughter, who reappeared later on as freshman college student and was engaged to Zeke Brenner before breaking it off. She later married Mike and became a performance artist in New York, giving birth to their daughter Alex on live television. J.J. later left Mike and Alex and ran away with Zeke before eventually moving to Seattle with him. She later married Zeke.

Uncle Duke

Zonker's honorary Uncle who started out as a writer at Rolling Stone before moving on to Governor of American Samoa, then Ambassador to China and… well, so many other careers that it would take most of this page just to list. Duke will do anything to make money and has absolutely no moral compass and half the time no clue. He's also a massive drug fiend to the point where they barely affect him anymore. Currently working as a lobbyist with his son Earl.

  • Badass Grandpa
  • Bald of Evil: He was completely bald for a while after a stint as a zombie slave, but still has enough of a bald spot to qualify regularly.
  • Breakout Character
  • Evil Counterpart: His son Earl says Duke is like Forrest Gump's evil twin. That's not far off.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul
  • The Gump / Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Changes jobs every few years. To date he's been: A writer at Rolling Stone, governor of American Samoa, Ambassador to China, A Latrile Farmer, Coach of the Washington Red Skins, NRA Lobyist, Industrial Spy, A Hostage in the Iran Hostage Crisis, Lecturer, Drug Smuggler, Hobo, Wannabe Film Producer, Drug Dealer, President of The Baby Doc College of Offshore Medicine, Zombified Slave, Owner of the Dr. Whoopee Condom Company, Mental Patient, Captain of The Trump Princess, Proconsul of Panama, Arms Smuggler, Owner of Club Scud, Seller of Bogus Photos to Conspiracy Theorists, owner of the "Nothin' But Orphans" Orphanage, Stolen Beanie Baby Trafficker, Body Guard for Oliver North, Presidential Candidate, Stem Cell Peddler, Mayor of the Iraqi City of Al Amok, Profiteer of Hurricane Katrina, and currently K-Street Lobbyist.
  • Honest John's Dealership: Most of his operations.
  • Jerkass
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Based on gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
  • Sitcom Arch Nemesis: John Denver.
  • Smug Snake
  • Villainous BSOD
  • Villain Protagonist
  • Xanatos Roulette: Almost every scheme he's ever hatched. Some times it works (sending a job application to the white house got him the governorship of Samoa, which eventually led to his stint as an ambassador) and sometimes it epically blows up in his face (buying cocaine to finance his John DeLorean biopic-- from an undercover FBI agent!).

Honey Huan

Duke's translator during his tenure as ambassador, Honey fell in love with Duke and followed him to America and through the rest of his schemes. Eventually left him in 2005 and stayed behind to help with the clean-up of Hurricane Katrina. Was last seen working for the Bejing Olympics Committee.

Zeke Brenner

A stoner and complete layabout who worked as Duke's caretaker and was J.J.'s fiance until he burned down Duke's house when lighting up a joint. He later ran away with J.J. and eventually married her, to everyone else's displeasure.

  • Cool Hat
  • Evil Counterpart: To Zonker. Both make an art form out of trying not to work, but while Zonker is charming, provides a service to those he's mooching off of, avoids romance like the plague and is loyal to Duke and Mike, Zeke is a douche bag who sits around and begs for money, hits on women even after he got married, stabbed Duke in the back at the first opportunity, and stole Mike's wife without a hint of regret.
  • The Load
  • Sitcom Arch Nemesis: With Duke and Alex.
  • The Slacker
  • The Stoner

Kim Rosenthal-Doonesbury

First introduced as the last baby airlifted out of Vietnam, she was adopted by the Rosenthals. She appeared again briefly in the 80's as an honor student dealing with racial issues before reappearing for good as a twenty-something tech wiz. Kim is a Gen-X programming genius and Mike's second wife.

Alex Doonesbury

Mike and J.J.'s daughter. She started out as a nameless baby but around the time J.J. left graduated into Mike's precocious computer wiz daughter, which stuck throughout her teen years. Currently a post-grad at M.I.T. and in a serious relationship with war veteran Toggle.

Zipper Harris

Zonker's nephew who goes to a much more slacker friendly Walden. Aspires to follow in his Uncle's footsteps and has so far surpassed his Uncle's staying record at Walden

Jeff Redfern

Joanie and Rick's son, he started out as a typical teenager who eventually enrolled in Walden at 17 once the college stopped requiring a High School Education. Eventually became Zipper's best friend and the two participated in zany scheme's together until graduation. Jeff didn't do much after that, after flunking out of his CIA training, and eventually got back into the CIA in a desk job. He eventually rose out of it by making a name for himself as the legendary Red Rascal while doing nothing at all, eventually landing him a mercenary job before he was fired from it.

Leo "Toggle" DeLuca

A young soldier who sold CD mixes to other soldiers, he was hit by a mortar and ended up with expressive aphasia and an eye patch. He's currently working through his disorder, is dating Alex, going to college and got a job in the music industry.

Melissa Wheeler

A mechanic in the army who was raped by her commanding officer and dealt with it in therapy. With B.D. and her therapist's help, she eventually returned to command and was promoted.

Lacey Davenport

A kindly old lady who worked as a Congresswoman. Lacey was a very nice lady who was fair and balanced and honest to a fault, if a bit out of step with the times. She eventually had to leave the office when she contracted Alzheimer's. She eventually passed away and was reunited with her husband Dick.

Dick Davenport

A conservative just like his decades long friend and later husband. Dick was always supportive of his wife and was an avid bird watcher. He died trying to get a picture of the rare Bachman's warbler, and managed to in in his final moments.

Phred

A Terrorist during the Vietnam War where he met B.D.; after being stranded together with a beer cache the two became fast friends. After the war, Phred lobbied for his people before becoming the Vietnamese U.N. Ambassador. He later opened up a club in Vietnam in the 90's and gave tours before becoming head of a Nike factory.

Bernie

Mike's college lab partner who had a habit of making transformation potions, Bernie graduated and joined Apple before splitting off on his own and starting his own software company. He hired Mike and was the reason Mike moved to Seattle, and financed Mike's first business, Mikim Inc., for a while. He was also one of the founders of Walden Commune.

Sid Kibitiz

Supposed Hollywood super agent, Sid first appeared trying to help Duke make a John Delorean Biopic before settling in as Boopsie's agent.

  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: As noted below he's full of himself, but he's actually manged to keep Boopsie's career going and even had the foresight to make a digital copy of her in her prime so she'd get likeness rights far into the future, royalites she's still pulling in today.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Thinks he's the best agent who ever lived and even once tried to get a director to rewrite Hamlet.

Earl

Duke's son, he started off as another kid in the orphanage who DNA test confirmed was Duke's son and eventually ran off with his Dad for a while before disappring. Later returned right after Duke lost Honey to bring his dad in on his Lobbying firm.

Drew

Alex's roomate at MIT and best friend. Has guys falling for her left and right.

Jimmy Thudpucker

A singer and activist who started out in the strip during the 70's retired early, and then made a comeback during the 80's. Currently a Cell Phone ring tone artist and file sharing activist.

Ray Hightower

B.D.'s war buddy since the gulf war and replacment after B.D. lost his leg. Recently sent home after taking multiple blasts. More at home on the battlefield than in civilian life.

Andy Lippincot

A man Joanie had a crush on until he revealed to her he was gay. They remained on good terms. He eventually contracted AIDS and died a few months after. Later returned as a ghost to reveal Mark's latent homosexuality to the latter.

Mister Butts

A talking cigarette created by Mike, though incredibly reluctantly, in order to sell cigarettes to the kids. Later became a tobacco lobbyist.

Phil Slackmeyer

Mark's dad. The exact opposite of his son, Phil was a cold-hearted businessman who fully embraced his greed. Eventually divorced Mark's mother and then got remarried four times. He eventually died with Mark by his side.

Alice Schwartzman

A homeless woman who befriended Rick. She later befriended Lacey, who mistook Alice for her long dead sister.

  • Happily Married: To Elmont.
  • Only Sane Woman: During her time with Lacey, as Lacey was going through Alzheimer's, Lacey's friend Jeremy was dysfunctional and Elmont was insane.

Elmont

Alice's husband and raving lunatic.

Ginnie Slade

Joanie's roomate during college. Currently married to her long term boyfriend Clyde and trying to keep him in check.

Clyde

Ginnie's freeloading boyfriend and later husband. Eventually founded his own successful cookie company and ran against Lacey and lost. Later took Lacey's position after she stepped down, but eventually lost it.

  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Jerkass: He was a bit of this in the 70's but got even worse in the 80's by playing his campaign on drug tests and trying to paint a 70 year old woman as a drug addict.
  • The Slacker: In the 70's
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