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The Foutleys

    Ginger Foutley 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/as_told_by_ginger_correct.jpg
Voiced by: Melissa Disney

Ginger Foutley wants desperately to be noticed, but doesn't like being looked at. She is both repulsed and obsessed with the social structure that dictates her life at Lucky Junior High. Ginger has always secretly wished for a shot at total and extreme popularity, but when her prayers are answered, she finds herself paralyzed with uncertainty. Still, her excellent writing skills and willingness to fight for what she believes to be right has made Ginger stand out from the crowd, as she successfully tries to balance her schoolwork and loyalty to her friends and family with her growing rise in the ranks of the Lucky Junior High social scene.


  • The Ace: When it comes to her schoolwork. She's a very bright, capable student at school and frequently excels at her academic subjects, especially English and Science.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: In "Fast Reputation", she is very briefly infatuated with Jake, a high school bad boy.
  • All Girls Like Ponies: Ginger is quite fond of them, as her room would suggest. Along with the song she sings in summer camp involving copper-colored ponies.
  • Babies Ever After: With Darren.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: She's sweet and friendly most of the time, but when pushed too far, she can be pretty nasty.
  • Big Sister Instinct: Gets pretty angry when Joann calls Carl "rotten", and she sticks up for Hoodsey on separate occasions.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Redhead to Dodie's Blonde and Macie's Brunette.
  • Book Smart: She is an excellent student, being especially good at writing.
  • Bratty Teenage Daughter: She can get like this on occasion like in "TGIF" and "Mommie Nearest".
  • Break the Cutie: It happens occasionally, notably after Wicked Game and A Lesson in Tightropes.
  • Character Development: Ginger becomes more and more confident as the series goes on and abandons her previous desire for popularity.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: With Darren in the later seasons.
  • Disappeared Dad: Her father left her family shortly after Carl was born, implying that he's divorced.
  • Dude Magnet: Surprisingly enough. Of the course of the show she manages to attract Michael in "Deja-Who?" (when she's posing as Courtney, until she shouts at him for insulting her friends), Joaquin in "In Love With a Proper Foreign Exchange Student", Jean-Pierre in "Stealing First", Camp Caprice Sasha, (although he does get back together with Clover), Jake flirts with her somewhat, Orion and, of course, Darren.
  • Emo Teen: People think she's become one in "She Was Gone", despite Ginger insisting it's a work of fiction.
  • Expository Hair Style Change: In high school she no longer wears clips or scrunchies and wears her hair longer.
  • Fatal Flaw: Pretty passive and can capitulate to the demands of others, like Miranda.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Ginger is the sensible and capable Responsible. Carl is the scheming, mischievous Foolish.
  • Friend to All Children: Ginger is very caring toward and gets along well with younger kids. In the Camp Caprice special, she befriends a younger, 8-year-old girl named Melanie and gives her a friendship bracelet. Upon returning to Camp Caprice in "Heat Lightning", she takes very quickly to being a counselor to the younger girls. She's also protective of Hoodsey.
  • Girl Next Door: To Darren in the literal sense, and she has the personality to match.
  • Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Ginger is a sensitive, somewhat gingerly, introspective girl...and also a self-proclaimed "science geek," and something of an Outdoorsy Gal (especially when it comes to Camp Caprice).
  • G-Rated Drug: The Mocha-Loco Frothinator in "Stuff'll Kill Ya." Her friends even have to pull an intervention.
  • Hairy Girl: Played with in that she is the protagonist and she isn't a Granola Girl or rebellious. The episode where she tries to get her legs shaved reveals legs with curly red hairs hidden by baggy pants, knee socks, and long shorts/skirts. This is abandoned as of the Summer Camp special.
  • Hormone-Addled Teenager: She's going through puberty and fantasizes about romance at least once per day.
  • Important Haircut: In the special "Far From Home", Ginger straightens and puts a blue streak in her hair, which signifies the personal growth she's experienced while away from home.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: Ginger's main goal is to be high on the popularity ladder, which is a shame on her part because she at the same time doesn't like being looked at.
  • Informed Judaism: Informed even from her perspective, as she finds out her mother is half-Jewish during the Christmas special. She celebrates Hannukah, but that's the last we hear of it.
  • Just Friends: With Darren in the first few seasons, before their Relationship Upgrade.
  • Kiddie Kid: Somewhat. She decides to keep her collection of toy ponies and ice cream wallpaper in her room even during her teenage years.
  • Last-Name Basis: Miranda usually refers to her as "Foutley" to emphasize that she doesn't like Ginger.
  • Leg Focus: A minor example as she isn't usually showing off her legs but Lois notes that Ginger has cute and shapely pins.
  • Loser Protagonist: She's the main character and possesses a desire to become popular but at the same time doesn't want to be looked at.
  • Loving a Shadow: Her crush on Ian Richton amounts to this. She idolizes him and daydreams about getting together with him, but in actuality she knows nothing about him as a person, and the first time they do get to interact he takes advantage of her feelings for him to trick her into doing his science classwork, which effectively ends her crush.
  • Meal Ticket: Not for money, but for being a "science whizz". Ian Richton gets paired with her in science and flirts with her so she'll do the work for him or he gets kicked off the soccer team. He does apologize when Ginger confronts him, though.
  • Meaningful Name: She's a Ginger (minus the freckles) and can be careful ("gingerly").
  • Mistaken for Suicidal: After she writes a poem about a depressed girl who (probably) killed herself, everyone around her starts worrying that she's suicidal. Ginger insists that it was just a story but she's still sent to a psychologist.
  • Naïve Everygirl: It's part of the reason that the more popular girls have it out for her.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: A bookish, science whiz who attracted her share of guys.
  • Nice Girl: Ginger is a friendly girl who likes lending a hand to those in need. In "No Hope For Courtney", she helps Hope Rogers gain self-confidence, and in "New Girl In Town", she's the first to defend Laticia Bowers, a new student, from gossip, and helps her feel welcome.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: The sensitive, caring Nice to Dodie's social climbing Mean and Macie's nice but snarky and brutally honest In-Between.
  • Not So Above It All: She's sweet but she can have a bratty streak.
  • Only Sane Woman: Among her classmates, she's one of the few characters without any weird quirks. She shares this role with Macie.
  • Precocious Crush: On her teacher Mr. Gardner and on two older high school boys, Jake and Orion.
  • Quirky Curls: Has very curly (frizzy) red hair and is very intelligent and nerdy. She only straightens her hair for special occasions (graduation) or when she's stepping outside of her normal role (straight hair in art academy and when she masquerades as Courtney for a week).
  • Redheads Are Uncool: Ginger has curly shoulder length red hair and is not considered particularly popular by her peers.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Not unattractive or unkempt by any measure but when she "becomes" Courtney for an episode, the look works well on her.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Stated her father looks like her, which he slightly does; whereas the pilot had her look more like Lois.
  • Teacher's Pet: She's a self-described "science geek" and frequent kiss up to her chemistry teacher, Mr. Celia. She's also happens to be a favorite of her high school English teacher, Ms. Zorski, due to her talent for writing.
  • Team Mom: Serves as this when her mother isn't around. She often keeps Carl and Dodie in line (not 100% successfully), comforts Macie and Courtney, and defends Hoodsey when she has to.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: On occasion, though she does have a childish streak, like keeping toy ponies in her bedroom and her ice cream wallpaper.

    Carl Foutley 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_40325_thumb.jpg
Voiced by: Jeannie Elias

Carl Foutley is Ginger's younger brother. He is in the fourth grade in the first season. He and his sidekick, Hoodsey, come up with their schemes and perform their experiments in an abandoned doghouse in the Foutleys' backyard. The doghouse once belonged to the Foutleys' dog Monster, who ran away many years prior to the beginning of the series. In the series finale, Monster returns to the Foutleys. Because of his unique, yet disturbing personality, his family sometimes act like they don't like him, and often criticize him. His mother often claim's that she is also afraid of what he is planning. However, both his mother and sister love him very much, and he loves them too and can pull through for them.


  • Annoying Younger Sibling: To Ginger sometimes. This is mostly seen when he annoys Ginger with his weird experiments.
  • Antagonist in Mourning: When Ms. Gordon retires, Carl does everything he can to get her back. When she dies, he's absolutely devastated.
  • Better as Friends: He and Noelle broke up before Middle School and when she had shown up to save Lois and Daves' wedding, she told him not to get too excited and the past is the past.
  • Bizarre Taste in Food: He's got some unusual culinary preferences, which include pizza grease, cake topped with ketchup and mustard, and orange juice rather than milk poured into cereal. In "Butterflies Are Free", Lois mentions that potatoes and green jello is his favorite food combination.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: He's incredibly well-spoken and a very gifted amateur scientist, but he's a poor student because he'd rather goof around with Hoodsey.
  • Broken Pedestal: For Buddy Baker in "Dodie's Big Break" after seeing the appalling state of a house he was conning an expectant couple into buying.
  • Character Catchphrase: "Affirmative" and "Classified".
  • Cloudcuckoolander: One Friday the 13th has him actively seeking out bad luck.
  • Creepy Child: A few adults see him as this for his weird antics.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He's pretty quippy and sarcastic. It's lampshaded by George Magrority in "Sibling Revile-ry".
    George: And when my CO commanded I drop and do fifty, I did sixty.
    Lois: Impressive. And, uh, how long were you at this military academy?
    George: Long enough to turn me into the guy you see before you.
    Carl: That long, huh?
    George: (Blows whistle) Hey, that sounded like a smart remark, little guy.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Ginger is the sensible and capable Responsible. Carl is the scheming, mischievous Foolish.
  • Freaky Is Cool: He certainly thinks so.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Loves animals and other creatures (even those that are Ugly Cute or hideous), states that he's against testing on them, and by the end of the series is a self-proclaimed vegetarian. Many episode plots involve him going to great lengths to help or protect animals of all kinds.
    • In "Piece of My Heart", he (along with Hoodsey and Blake) hatches a plan to obtain a pig's heart to use in a heart transplant to save a cow's life, and are successful.
    • In "Losing Nana Bishop", he leaves a bucket filled with acorns in the attic for squirrels to feed on during the winter.
    • In "Sibling Revile-ry", he accidentally burst the Lucky Elementary septic tank in an attempt to help feed the whales, and later admits that he got a number of details wrong with his plan
    • "Family Therapy" has he and Hoodsey trying to capture an escaped naked mole rat named Gwendolyn that Carl was initially freaked out by. When they find her, Carl discovers that she is more afraid of them than they are of her, and is very gentle and protective toward Gwendolyn upon finding her in this vulnerable state.
    • The subplot of "Fair to Cloudy" concerns he and Hoodsey trying to free a two-headed (actually one-headed) horse from a county fair.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • In "Fast Reputation", it was revealed that Carl is a great cook, much to everyone's surprise.
    • He is able to play the glockenspiel, as seen in "The 'A' Ticket".
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With both Dwayne the Garbage Man and Maude.
  • Jar of the Bizarre: His most prized possession is his petrified eyeball, which he keeps in a jar in his doghouse.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's selfish and insensitive, but when the chips are down, he's your best friend.
  • Likes Older Women: Was going to propose to Maude—complete with a worm engagement ring. He also addresses Principal Milty's date (a woman who's at least middle-aged) as "pretty Ms." in "The Summer of Camp Caprice".
  • Little Mister Snarker: A rare male example. He often speaks in a rather snide manner.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: When he drives Mrs. Gordon to retire after one too many pranks. He was in tears upon discovering that she died off screen.
  • Mouthy Kid: Carl is very direct and forthright, regardless of who he's speaking to.
  • Naughty Is Good: Carl is notorious for causing trouble and breaking rules, but he's got a good heart nonetheless, and sometimes his rulebreaking is for a good cause (e.g., in "Piece of My Heart," he steals a pig's heart to save a cow's life via a heart transplant).
  • The Nicknamer: Has nicknames for various people; "Lola" for Lois, "Hoods" for Hoodsey (which is itself a nickname), "Blakey Boy" for Blake, "Gordo" for Mrs. Gordon, and "JoJo" for Joann.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: His prized possession is his petrified eyeball.
  • The Pig-Pen: According to Lois, he doesn't bathe every day, and other characters often comment about his poor hygiene. Dumpster diving is one of his hobbies.
  • The Prankster: A huge one. His favorite targets are Blake and Mrs. Gordon.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: He's a sarcastic, mischievous boy's boy who loves anything gross, though he possesses a soft side, as shown in his nurturance towards animals. He also has a stuffed lamb called "Cousin Baba" that he keeps under the floorboard in his doghouse, and occasionally hugs.
  • Redheads Are Uncool: Usually doesn't care but states to Hoodsey that they aren't as cool as their self-made graffiti made them out to be.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Hoodsey's Sensitive Guy. Also the Manly Man to Brandon Higsby's Sensitive Guy, to a much greater extent.
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: His vocabulary is way above his grade level, and he prefers to use words with more than two syllables.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: With Ginger; Ginger is a Teacher's Pet with a slight childish streak while Carl is a notorious troublemaker who is occasionally Wise Beyond Their Years.
  • Sitcom Arch-Nemesis:
    • With Blake Gripling, to contrast Ginger's friendship with Courtney.
    • To a lesser extent with Brandon Higsby, but Brandon actually likes Carl, much to his annoyance.
  • Shameless Fanservice Guy: A variant. His nudity isn't played for Fanservice, but rather as an indication of his confidence and/or eccentricity. He states in one episode that he isn't opposed to swimming "au naturel," is referred to in another episode as a "budding exhibitionist" by Joann (and in the same episode isn't at all nervous about showering in a locker room with a bunch of other guys, unlike Hoodsey), and lounges around in the nude at home during an intense heat wave, even with Dr. Dave present.
  • Ship Tease: With Noelle Sussman.
  • The Social Expert: Carl is very well-spoken, intelligent, and shrewd—and resultantly has the ability to talk pretty much anyone into anything. Ginger refers to it as a curse, but Dodie points out that it's also a gift.

    Lois Foutley 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_72212.jpg
Voiced by: Laraine Newman

Lois Foutley, a nurse, is the mother of Ginger and Carl.


  • Affectionate Nickname: "Lola" and "Momster" by Carl.
  • The Alleged Car: She drives a classic VW Beetle that's often seen breaking down, falling apart, or billowing smog. Even the intro sequence shows her in her car being towed by a tow truck.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Subverted in that she doesn't engage in embarrassing behavior. However, sometimes her frankness and lack of pretense could be cringe-worthy.
  • Ambiguously Jewish: For most of the first season, with her pronounced New York accent, Mama Bear personality and occasional use of Yiddish slang. Confirmed in the Holiday special near the end of Season 1, when we learn that her father was a rabbi.note 
  • Amicably Divorced: To Jonas, though she doesn't have a very high opinion of him.
  • Big Beautiful Woman: In-Universe, she's considered very attractive. Her size doesn't seem to be much of a problem, and in fact is part of the reason why.
  • Big-Breast Pride: Wears clothing that makes the most of her bosomy figure.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Especially when commenting on Carl's behavior.
  • Fiery Redhead: In notable contrast to her more mellow daughter and phlegmatic son.
  • Foil: She's a tough, wise, loving, plus-sized, working class mother that has to lay down the law with her kids and often lets them learn their own lessons, this in contrast to the other leaner mothers of the show (priggish Joann, vapid and posh Claire, and Macie's workaholic parents).
  • First-Name Basis: Carl never calls her "Mom", it's always "Lois" or "Lola".
  • Formerly Fat: As of "The Butterflies Are Free" and the high school episodes.
  • Good Parents: Although she is a nurturing mother to Ginger and Carl, she is also something of a strict disciplinarian, and does not hesitate to put her foot down when she feels it is necessary.
  • Happily Married: To Dave in the future.
  • Kavorka Man: Downplayed female example. She's not ugly, just chubby. Many men have, however, been attracted to her throughout the show.
  • Like Parent, Like Spouse: An ex-wife variant. Like her late mother-in-law, she's very devoted to her children and was the strength of the family, after their husbands left.
  • Mama Bear: To both kids- she goes ballistic when she finds out one of Carl's teachers tricked him into thinking he was going to die.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: She is a lot tougher, outspoken, and hot tempered than Dr. Dave.
  • Meaningful Name: "Lois" is derived from the Greek "Loion" meaning "desirable/better" she does put most of the parents to shame and attractive.
  • Nice Girl: Among all of the parents we see, she's definitely the most kind-hearted.
  • Not So Above It All: Does join Carl and Hoodsey in their movie making.
  • Parental Hypocrisy: Bans Ginger from wearing make-up, yet she has her own bathroom full of cosmetics that she keeps locked. She also forbids Ginger from drinking coffee, although she does throw out her own coffee maker after some prompting from Dave and Carl. She also doesn't allow Ginger to shave her hairy legs, even though her daughter is hugely embarrassed by them.
  • Parental Substitute: Serves as this for Dodie and Hoodsey, Courtney (esp. in "Mommie Nearest"), Darren (slightly), and Macie.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the few truly reasonable figures among the the parents in the series.
  • Team Mom: Serves as a Mother figure to the friends of her children often a lot. Giving them rides, letting them stay over her house, giving helpful guidance and advice, affectionate, and she even told Macie and Dodie they're like her extra daughters.
  • True Blue Femininity: The dress she wears to Ginger's graduation is a pale blue, and it's presented as a real She Cleans Up Nicely moment.
  • Weight Woe: One time noted she was wider than when she was a young single woman, is seen trying to lose weight, and remembers her high school years being the last time she wore a size 12. Also for Ginger's graduation, she jokes she can't eat so much as a carrot stick or else she'll pop out of her dress.

    Jonas Foutley 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jonasfoutley.jpg
Voiced by: Tom Virtue

Jonas Foutley abandoned Lois and their children shortly after the birth of Carl. Ginger never had any fond or, for that matter, clear memories of her father, and all the photographs of him that are in her possession are of his feet.


  • Adults Are Useless: Trying to avert it, but his children can't rely on him. Though later Averted with Ginger who he becomes a good parent to and often gives good advice.
  • Amicably Divorced: To Lois, not that it stopped him from poking fun at her voice.
  • Bumbling Dad: An example how this trope can affect children in real life.
  • Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: He figured his kids would be better off without a father than with two parents that didn't get along. He also doesn't seem to think that he would have been a very good father to Ginger and Carl to begin with.
  • Disappeared Dad: Not really disappeared but the kids don't get to hear from him often.
  • Foil: To Dr. Dave in regards to being a mate to Lois and a father to Carl and Ginger and in appearance to a lesser extent.
  • The Ghost: Wasn't seen until the Holiday special.
  • Good Parents: Later in the series, Jonas becomes a good parent to Ginger, often giving her good advice and comforting her about her problems. Sadly, at the same time he has trouble being a parent to Carl, mainly because, unlike Ginger, he has trouble forgiving Jonas for leaving the family when he was born, and Carl has already found a father in his mother's second husband Dr. David Dave. During a Thanksgiving dinner, when Jonas apologizes to Carl and explains he figured his kids would be better off without a father than with two parents that didn't get along, Carl starts to forgive him, and it's implied that he would be a good parent to him, if Carl let Jonas into his life.
  • Heel Realization: He pretty much acknowledges that he isn't a reliable figure in his childrens' life
  • Like Father, Like Son: He lamented how he took after his father in being a distant parent.
  • Perma-Stubble: Always seen with stubble on his face.

    Dr. David Dave 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_72216.jpg
Voiced by: David Jeremiah

Dr. "David" Dave is the second husband of Lois Foutley, and is the step-father of Ginger and Carl. Dr. Dave works at the same hosptial as Lois.


The Bishops

    Deidre "Dodie" Hortense Bishop 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dodie.jpg
Voiced by: Aspen Miller

Deirdre Hortense "Dodie" Bishop is an ultimate chatterbox and recycled gossip authority, and has been Ginger's best friend since the day they met.


  • Acquired Situational Narcissism: She often betrays Ginger and Macie whenever she seems to be getting a taste of popularity.
  • Aesop Amnesia: How many times does she learn not to sell out her friends for popularity? How many times does she learn that its wrong to pry into other people's business? Too many times.
  • Ambition Is Evil: Usually because she hurts people trying to get what she wants.
  • Attention Whore: So much. She would do just about anything to become popular.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: To the point of being one of the least likable characters on the show, even more so than villains like Miranda.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Blonde to Macie's Brunette and Ginger's Redhead.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: She's Ginger's worst enemy just as often as her best friend. In several episodes she's even the secondary antagonist.
  • Easily Forgiven: Of all the times she has stabbed her friends in the back, both Ginger and Macie welcome her back with open arms.
  • Expository Hair Style Change: Wears her hair in a chin length bob and headband after she graduates from Middle School.
  • Fatal Flaw: Envy. She's envious of the popular clique and would do anything to impress them, even if it meant hurting others as seen in Of Lice and Friends. And when Ginger and Darren were dating, she was so jealous of the time they spent together she conspired to break them up with Miranda and Mipsy in Wicked Game that she ends up hurting Ginger and only has a My God, What Have I Done? moment when she gets caught.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Older sister and wannabe social climber Dodie is the Foolish. Hoodsey is the straight man to Carl, making him the Responsible.
  • Freudian Excuse: That she likely learned her behavior from her mother.
  • Full-Name Ultimatum: Not as often as Hoodsey but her mother tends to call her by her full name "Deidre Hortense".
  • Genki Girl: She's got way too much energy. It's to the point where even the pep squad is off-put by it.
  • Girlish Pigtails: In the early seasons. Notably whenever she's trying to impress the popular girls, she usually has her hair in a different style.
  • Gossipy Hens: To the extent that when she was asked to do morning announcements, all she did was broadcast gossip over the intercom.
  • Hypocrite:
  • Ironic Name: Her name sounds like "doting", she's anything but.
  • It's All About Me: All the time. Dodie once wanted Ginger to cancel the birthday party for Darren simply because she wasn't allowed to attend. Darren called her out on this.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: As petty and hypocritical as Dodie is, she was right when she pointed out it was unfair of Ginger to invite Darren to the County Fair without consulting her and Macie, as it was always their tradition to go together. She retaliates by inviting Courtney, who is the only person who enjoys herself the whole day.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's a terrible friend, but she's not all that bad a person deep down. Her obsession with social status is mostly to blame for her more negative traits.
  • Karma Houdini: She never faces any serious repercussions for some of her schemes. Most jarringly obvious in the episodes after Wicked Game, where she tried to sabotage her best friend's relationship. This has not endeared fans to her.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Though it is rare, she does face it at times, such as getting hit in the face by a football.
  • Like Father, Like Son: She and Joann share the same features (albeit much slimmer than her daughter), same hair color, fashion sense, and both are social climbing drama queens that that get married to schlubby mild-mannered guys.
  • Loose Lips: She absolutely cannot keep a secret. All she needs to give up the good is a shot at popularity, or just to be asked by the right person.
  • Manipulative Bitch: She feigned a broken leg in order to win a much-coveted spot on the cheerleading squad.
  • Motor Mouth: Sometimes, which is endlessly exploited by Miranda.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: The social climbing Mean to Ginger's sensitive, caring Nice and Macie's nice but snarky and brutally honest In-Between.
  • Pair the Spares: Marries Chet Zipper, of all people, in the finale.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Looks like her Mother, even stated so by Hoodsey. Though she also resembles her Grandmother (esp. with the pigtails)
  • Token Evil Teammate: Borders on this. Dodie is often times as manipulative and devious as the popular girls she aspires to be and she has no qualms about throwing people under the bus and ruining their social standings and relationships in order to achieve popularity, including her friends.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Many, many times. High school only makes things worse.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: It's small but she actually does get a little better in high school. Notably when Darren is cheating on Ginger, she persuades him to come clean and tell her rather than trying to keep his secret.
  • With Friends Like These...: To Ginger, mostly.

    Hoodsey Bishop 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_40329.jpg
Voiced by: Tress MacNeille

Robert Joseph "Hoodsey" Bishop is Dodie's younger brother, and Carl Foutley's best friend and sidekick. He is extremely gullible and believes anything someone tells him. He usually never has supplementary ideas for Carl's plots, but is typically more than happy to help. He is called "Hoodsey" due to the fact that he never wears anything but a purple hooded sweatshirt, and his closet is full of them.


  • Annoying Younger Sibling: To Dodie sometimes, though often an Inverted Trope with the two.
  • Big Eater: Loves eating and can't resist things like hot chocolate and chicken cordon bleu. Many scenes have him eating something completely random.
    Carl: I smell payback, Hoodsey. And as you may or may not know, that's my favorite smell in the whole wide world. 
    Hoodsey: Mine is ribs.
  • Character Catchphrase: "But, Carl!"
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: For Carl, though he's not immune to weird moments himself.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Older sister and wannabe social climber Dodie is the Foolish. Hoodsey is the straight man to Carl, making him the Responsible.
  • Full-Name Ultimatum: His mother is the only one who calls him "Robert Joseph".
  • In the Hood: He always wears his purple hood.
  • Likes Older Women: He likes Macie (3 years older than him) and onetime expressed how Lois "doesn't look like a mom".
  • Meaningful Name: "Robert" means "bright" which does refer to his comedic role and his sensitive outlook.
  • Momma's Boy: Very coddled and dominated by Joann.
  • Morality Pet: To Carl, often serves as the voice of reason and occasionally tries to talk him out of making bad decisions. Carl even calls him his "morality rudder" at one point.
  • Nice Guy: Much more sensitive and kind-hearted than Carl.
  • Older Than They Look: Onetime stated he looks so young that he gets carded for PG-13 movies.
  • Only Sane Man: He's Carl's voice of reason, but he's rarely listened to.
  • Precocious Crush: Has one on Macie, but too shy to tell her about it.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Carl's Manly Man.
  • Shrinking Violet: Gets embarrassed about showering in front of other guys, and he's rarely ever seen with his hood down, unless around Carl.
  • Shower Shy: As explained above at Shrinking Violet, he finally gets over it and showers.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: To his father, minus the glasses.
  • Those Two Guys: With Carl.

    Joann Bishop 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joannbishop.jpg
Voiced by: Susan Krebs

Joann Bishop is the mother of Dodie and Hoodsey Bishop and a minor character in the series. She is known for being intense. She has a love hate relationship with the Foutley family, particularly with Carl and Lois, she often gets into arguments with them often involving Carl. She believes that Carl is a bad influence on her son Robert -Joseph (Hoodsey).


  • Adults Are Useless: Dramatic, bad-tempered, and very unaware of her son's tenuous relationship with her mother in law.
  • Age-Inappropriate Dress: Her attempts to fit in the popular girls at her daughter's school have her dressing in a way that doesn't suit a mother in her late 30s.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: She serves this role for Hoodsey and Dodie, as she doesn't seem aware that her rudeness embarrasses her children.
  • Attention Whore: Probably where Dodie gets it from. One episode was dedicated to her trying to fit in with her daughter’s middle school classmates.
  • Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: Inverted. Very slender with her rotund husband.
  • Drama Queen: A physical condition of hers that she believed came from being stressed out by the Foutleys in her life, turned out to be just in her head.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: Carl calls her "Jo Jo" which she dislikes.
  • Foil: To Lois. She's blonder, leaner, smaller, more stressed out, meaner, and less tolerant than Lois.
  • Hated by All: In one episode, it was shown that she was so unpopular in middle school that she was voted as "Missed Popularity" for her old middle school yearbook.
  • Hates Being Nicknamed: She hates it when Carl calls her “Jojo.”
  • Housewife: Up until "T.G.I.F" where she took up a position as a Home Economics teacher.
  • Jerkass: Her daughter will state Joann isn't fit to be around children.
  • Lean and Mean: She's very thin and just as bad-tempered.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • Her biggest offense is probably badmouthing Carl in front of Ginger, then lashing out at Ginger when she defends her brother.
    • Has a subtle one in Deja Who? when Hoodsey has amnesia and invites Brandon over his house while Carl trying to help him remember who he is, she smugly kick Carl out.
  • Mama Bear: A negative version of this shows up in "Lunatic Lake" when she goes after Carl for "poisoning" her and Hoodsey with rancid fried clams.
  • Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: She's considered to be an "intensely crabby" woman. Her abrasive personality and her status as a middle class stay-at-home mom often clash with the Foutley family's working class values, rarely showing a side of her that isn't rude or at least passive-aggressive. She dominates her entire family, particularly her sensitive husband, David. She often tries to meddle in the affairs of her children's lives, including trying to make Hoodsey abandon Carl as a friend and living through Dodie's sudden popularity as a high school cheerleader.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She behaves a lot perkier and friendlier when trying to hang out with the popular girls.
  • Parental Favouritism: She seems to prefer Hoodsey to Dodie—ironically, Dodie is a Generation Xerox of her.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Once promised Hoodsey that she would have a word with his gym teacher about forcing him to shower for gym when he clearly felt uncomfortable about it. She also immediately brought Carl to the hospital when Ginger needed serious surgery.
    • She actually manages to remain relatively courteous and pleasant throughout most of "Ten Chairs", being outdone in the snide comments department by Mrs. Dave.
    • In the episode "Stuff'll Kill Ya", Carl apologizes to Joann and is very polite and respectful to her. Despite her dislike of Carl, she still accepts his apology, even saying it's not too late to start over.
  • Sadist Teacher: What Dodie feared she would be when she accepts a job teaching Home Economics at the Junior High.
  • Totally Radical: Her attempts to be "hip" and popular come off as this.
  • Womanchild: While she may not always act immature, one episode reveals that she has a serious high school mentality. She tried so hard to fit in with Dodie’s peers, despite her being either in her late 30s or early 40s. The popular girls tell Dodie this.
  • Younger Than They Look:
    • A downplayed example—it's revealed in "About Face" that she's still in her 30s (her late-30s), but most people (like Lois and Courtney) think that she's in her 40s.
    • It is possible that her easily stressed nature could have caused her to start aging prematurely, which could explain why some people think she's older than she really is....

    David Charles Bishop 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/davebishop.jpg
Voiced by: John Astin, later Dan Castellaneta

The father of Dodie and Hoodsey.


The Lightfoots

    Macie Lightfoot 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/macie.jpg
Voiced by: Jackie Harris

Macie Lightfoot is one of Ginger's best friends. Though highly intelligent, the lack of parental guidance (which borders on neglect) causes Macie to be shy and awkward in public.


  • Asian and Nerdy: Half Asian.
  • Beautiful All Along: At her graduation she dyed her hair and wore contacts, then later episodes shown her with her usual look albeit with longer and wavier hair.
  • Blind Without Them: As seen when she goes without her glasses at the school dance and she can't even pour herself a cup of punch without spilling.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Brunette to Dodie's Blonde and Ginger's Redhead.
  • Brainy Brunette: Played with: she fits the stereotype, but Ginger is actually the better student between the two of them.
  • Brutal Honesty: Tends to be the one to tell people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear.
  • But Not Too Foreign: She's half Asian and half Caucasian, respectively.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally, particularly toward her inner circle of friends.
  • Expository Hair Style Change: Got her hair done and dyed in a light brown Hepburn-esque pixie for graduation and later is seen with her usual color but with longer, wavier hair.
  • Give Geeks a Chance: Mostly geeky boys crush on her, not that she minds, she admires nerdier members of the opposite sex.
  • The Glasses Gotta Go: When she shows up to the dance to meet her Mystery Man Dodie promptly takes Macie's glasses off in order to make her look nicer, unfortunately she's Blind Without Them.
  • Hair Color Dissonance: Macie's hair is supposed to be brown but is actually a greenish gray.
  • Kiddie Kid: In Family Therapy, she receives a swing set for her thirteenth birthday and is ecstatic by this.
  • Likes Older Men: Liked this counselor at Camp Caprice, had a slight fascination with Mr. Cilia and his sideburns, and dated this band geek in high school
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Her parents are affluent psychologists that hardly make time for her (and are only seen two times in the show), they even forgot her 13th birthday, thankfully she isn't friendless.
  • Meaningful Name: Her last name is Lightfoot, and she's a Shrinking Violet who often has a hard time asserting herself—in other words, she has a light foot. She's also quite fragile in her sensibilities. Courtney even states, "Lightfoot's a lightweight" when discussing the latter's apprehension to watch a video about puberty.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: Attracted geekier, less Alpha Male types like an older band geek, a Casanova Wannabe crush of Dodie, and Hoodsey.
  • Nerd Glasses: She's the only semi-important character that wears them, and she's definitely the nerdiest of all of them.
  • Nerdy Nasalness: She has a strong, nasally voice due to her many allergies
  • Nervous Wreck: Macie is in a constant state of panic, as she is allergic to everything and fears change.
  • Nice Girl: Most of the time, but when she gets mean, she gets mean.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: The nice but snarky and brutally honest In-Between to Ginger's sensitive, caring Nice and Dodie's social climbing Mean.
  • Not So Above It All: Sometimes. One episode had her form an alliance with Dodie, Miranda, and Mipsy to try to sabotage Ginger's relationship with Darren! Though it may have been Dodie peer pressuring her that made her go along with the plan.
  • Older Than They Look: Looks quite undeveloped for her age, looking more like an 8 or 9 year old. and still dresses in a childish manner.
  • Only Sane Woman: Among her classmates. She shares this role with Ginger.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: See Not So Above It All above.
  • Parental Neglect: Implied in Family Therapy.
  • She Is All Grown Up: The finale has shown her with a groomed and very attractive version of her middle school bob, no buck teeth, and with a svelte figure
  • Shrinking Violet: An interesting variant. She's pretty mousy in general, especially when she's around the more popular kids, but when she's with her closest friends, she's quite the Snark Knight and Little Miss Snarker.
  • Sickly Neurotic Geek: Talks like she constantly has a sinus problem? Check. Constantly worried about unlikely ailments? Check. Allergic to just about everything? You better believe it.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Her tastes in men (often older, mostly nerdy and not necessarily handsome, intelligent, kindly) points to this trope.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: To her Mother (aside from her father's nose) and it was said, her Aunts Bridget and Brigitte.
  • Team Mom: Serves as a peacemaker to Ginger and Dodie during particular conflicts and even referred to herself as a "den mother".
  • Took a Level in Badass: Becomes bolder, less nervous and less dependent on her friends when they start transitioning from middle school to high school.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Tends to lampshade her friends' more ridiculous schemes, but she's rather immature in other areas, such as being in denial about entering puberty.

    Drs. Bobby and Bobbie Lightfoot 
Voiced by: Michael McKean and Mary Gross, respectively

Macie's father is Bobby Lightfoot, Ph.D, and her mother is Bobbie Lightfoot, Ph.D. They are both psychologists and portray the stereotypical new age parents. However, they are also both incredibly absent-minded, forgetting Macie's thirteenth birthday and making up for it by treating her ten years younger than she actually was.


The Pattersons

    Darren Patterson 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darrenp.jpg
Voiced by: Kenny Blank

Darren Patterson is one of Ginger's best friends. Darren lives next door to Ginger and has done since the two were small children. As such, Ginger trusts him just as much as she does Dodie and Macie. Darren is calm, reliable and down to earth though his popularity suffers because of the embarrassing and unwieldy orthodontia.


    Will Patterson 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_72234.jpg
Voiced by: Guy Torry

Darren's older brother, 16 years old, Junior in High School, Licensed Driver, and main tormentor Will Patterson has the opposite school status as his brother does. He is one of the most popular kids at the high school.


    Mr. and Mrs. Patterson 
Voiced by: Billy Brown and Ja Net Dubois, respectively

The parents of Darren and Will.


  • Adults Are Useless: Sent their son to a hellish Military Camp for the summer, but other than that they're harmless.
  • Happily Married: Yes, indeedy.
  • Hartman Hips: Mrs. Patterson very wide hips and a heavy bottom with a thin body.
  • Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Mr. Patterson is this with Darren, until he goes to high school and is recruited by the football team, he sends Darren to military camp for the summer for the boy to "man up".
  • Like Father, Like Son: Mr. Patterson is a lot like his older son in appearance and love for noogies.
  • Lovable Jock: Mr. Patterson is a gregarious guy who used to play football.
  • Open Minded Parents: Enough to entrust Darren to go off on a whim with Lois and to let him take a impromptu train ride to confess his love for Ginger.
  • Parental Substitute: In a minor example, they have Ginger stay over when Lois and Carl are in the hospital.
  • Top-Heavy Guy: Mr. Patterson is a heavier version of this trope.

The Griplings

    Courtney Gripling 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/as_told_by_ginger_cast_members_as_told_by_ginger_26131922_192_240.jpg
Voiced by: Liz Georges

Courtney Gripling takes her role as "The Most Popular Girl at Lucky Junior High" very seriously. Her fascination with Ginger Foutley began as an experiment to see how the other half lives and eventually blossomed into a real friendship. Courtney looks to Ginger as someone she can turn to when she needs help or advice from someone other than her mindless followers. While her other friends Mipsy and Miranda virtually worship the ground that Courtney walks on, Ginger seems to do just fine living independently from Courtney's shadow. In fact, Courtney is secretly envious of Ginger's tight bond she shares with her best friends Macie and Dodie, since Courtney is aware that they would stick by her no matter what, while Miranda and company would only be there as long as Courtney's reign of popularity endures.


  • A-Cup Angst: She is not happy about her small size...compared to older girls, that is, since she has the biggest breasts of the main characters save Lois (who is an adult). She's shown stuffing her bra in "The Right Stuff", and indicates in the episode that she's done it before.
  • Attention Whore: One of her most prominent traits, especially in the first two seasons.
    • In "No Hope for Courtney", when Hope Rogers gained a confidence boost and wound up temporarily surpassing her in popularity, Courtney became a little unhinged.
    • In "Fast Reputation", Ginger becomes the talk of the town when people think that she made out with an older guy at a party. After the rumors are put to rest, Courtney admits that it was "très annoying" being out of the limelight, even temporarily.
    • "And She Was Gone" has Courtney donning a Goth aesthetic and attitude once she sees how being perceived as depressed can draw extra attention.
  • Book Dumb: Liz Georges, Courtney's voice actress, has gone on record stating that she thinks Courtney's grades in school weren't exactly top-notch. Hope remarks in "No Hope for Courtney" that the only A grade that Courtney can get is the one her parents pay for.
  • Brainless Beauty: A popular, pretty girl who, despite being quite well-spoken, is still rather ditzy.
    Ginger: Why would my best friends wanna ruin something that makes me really happy?
    Courtney: Oh! Why do they make children's aspirin so very difficult for the small children to open?
  • Break the Haughty: High School was not kind to her...
  • Character Development: Courtney has matured as each episode aired, and was less attention seeking as the series went on. She also became a lot nicer to Macie, Dodie, and Darren as time passed.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Looks like a spoiled and ditzy junior high school girl, doesn't she? Well she's pretty fierce and can fight pretty hard, especially where Ginger is concerned.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: She's rather quick on uncovering schemes against Ginger and even points out to her that Dodie has already proven how selfish she is and shouldn't feel bad about putting Darren's birthday first.
  • Dumb Blonde: Not unintelligent, but so spoiled she can come off as ignorant.
  • Everyone Loves Blondes: She is blonde and the most popular girl in her middle school. Subverted in high school, where she becomes a target for the older popular girls.
  • Expository Hair Style Change: Her hair is slightly longer in high school.
  • The Fashionista: Decked out in the hottest tween and teen girl fashions, which lean towards couture and classic rather than simply trendy.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Courtney is more air-headed and oblivious to make her the Foolish sibling. Blake is a little more grounded, making him the Responsible.
  • Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Has a teddy bear named Princess on display in her bedroom that she's very fond of. She freaks out when Hoodsey uses it to soak up the carpet stained by his urine, and in a subsequent episode, she has a new teddy bear sitting in Princess's place, implying that Princess may have gotten ruined.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Courtney has blonde hair and is generally beautiful, sweet and naive, if a bit shallow.
  • Hartman Hips: Has a tween size version with a more realistic waistline.
  • Hates Being Nicknamed: She hated it when Macie kept on calling her “CG” in the “Summer of Camp Caprice” special.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • "Hello Stranger" reveals (off-screen) that she has a talent for painting.
    • In "Fair to Cloudy", it's shown that she's good with baby animals.
  • Jerkass Ball: Despite being friendly, she has her moments. A good example is the episode “Carl & Maude” when she takes photos of Ginger’s room & shows it to Miranda.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Courtney is a self-centered Attention Whore who sometimes acts pretty pompous, particularly when she's with the popular clique, but she's a Nice Girl underneath it all.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The sweet, ditzy Light to Miranda's snarky, cruel, conniving Dark.
  • Like Father, Like Son: Courtney is pretty much the spitting image of her mother, in terms of both appearance and personality.
  • Likes Older Men: Well, muscular teenagers like Will Patterson.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Despite having many so-called "friends", they aren't friends with Courtney for genuine friendship, but for convenience and popularity.
  • Lovable Alpha Bitch: While she isn't against gossip and some casual teasing, she's pretty nice (especially when compared to the rest of the popular clique), and she never goes out of her way to be outright mean to anyone, unlike Miranda or Mipsy.
  • Morality Pet: She is this to Miranda.
  • Naïve Everygirl: A rare Alpha Bitch (well, more like Lovable Alpha Bitch) example. She is extremely sheltered due to her wealthy upbringing and hadn't even seen a vacuum prior to "Carl and Maude". Her naïvety causes her attempts to communicate with and befriend less wealthy kids to be awkward and uncomfortable, to say the least.
  • Nice Girl: Which is a stark contrast to her popular friends.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: Nice to Miranda's mean and Mipsy's in-between; she's the Token Good Teammate of her trio and is more willing to be on Ginger's side.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Has a posh giggle.
  • Odd Friendship: With Ginger. And on occasion Macie and Dodie. (Even if she forgets their names half the time.)
  • Pet the Dog: Many times. For example, she told Ginger about Dodie and Macie's plan to split her and Darren up in "Wicked Game", and in "The A Ticket" she stopped Ginger from accidentally saying she liked Ian Richton, by butting in and asking to borrow science equipment from Ginger and Ian, making Ian not hear Ginger's confession of love to him.
  • Pink Means Feminine: Befitting a popular Girly Girl, she loves pink. Her bedroom is mostly pink, the opening line of her theme song is "Who's the girl in the pink Capris?", and in "Blizzard Conditions", after being rescued from a bad snow storm and when Ginger is about to fetch her some dry clothes, Courtney reminds her that she looks best in pink.
  • Popular Is Dumb: She's more naive than straight up stupid, but she's still kind of an airhead.
  • Proud Beauty: Very aware and proud of her good genes. In "Of Lice and Friends", she describes herself as "pretty, popular, and spotlessly clean".
  • Riches to Rags: In the series finale, her family loses their wealth due to her dad getting arrested for insider trading.
  • Rule of Symbolism: Courtney is a symbol of young girls who are growing up too fast, instead of enjoying being a kid.
  • Smitten Teenage Girl: When it comes to Will.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Courtney came off as a spoiled sweet girl from the pilot episode. Courtney is a very friendly, nice person, and can be pretty quick to include the "unpopular" girls in whatever she's doing at the time. Though she's a self-proclaimed "snob", she's actually very nice. A lot of the time she's a better friend to Ginger than her so-called "BFF" Dodie, and it was usually Courtney's friend Miranda who egged her on toward more Alpha-Bitch-like deeds. She also doesn't usually take delight in other's misfortunes, instead feeling sympathetic.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: To her Mother.
  • Token Good Teammate: In her circle of friends. The other popular girls aren't very nice.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Miranda's Tomboy. It isn't immediately apparent, but Courtney is less aggressive and much more prim than Miranda. The plot of "The Summer of Camp Caprice" is set into motion when Miranda chides Courtney about how high-maintenance the latter is.
  • Upper-Class Twit: She even describes herself as a snob in one episode.
  • What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Has a platonic (or maybe not) version with Ginger. Part of the reason Courtney so admires the latter is that she's genuinely close with her friends, knows their personalities, and is generally loving to them; Courtney knows that her own friends are often sycophants and agree with her just for the sake of popularity. As such, she sees Ginger as a kind of mentor figure in healthy relationships.
  • What You Are in the Dark: In "The Wicked Game," she was in the girls' bathroom alone when she overheard Miranda and Mipsy conspiring with Dodie and Macie to break up Ginger and Darren. Courtney was immediately shocked and disgusted on Ginger's behalf and set out to expose what Ginger's supposed friends were planning.

    Blake Gripling 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_72222_thumb.jpg
Voiced by: Kath Soucie

Blake Sophia Gripling is a boy of about seven years old, Courtney's younger brother, and Carl Foutley and Hoodsey's classmate. Blake may be the youngest but he is spoiled, devious, but a gentleman. He and Carl are enemies, but Blake often seems to wish they were friends, though he does not feel the same way about Carl's friend Hoodsey.


  • Ambiguously Gay: Blake always seemed a little too obsessed with winning Carl's friendship and hates Carl's best friend Hoodsey.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Downplayed, as Courtney only seems to be annoyed by him rarely.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He seems like a well-mannered young boy to most adults, but he doesn't fool any of the kids his age.
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: It's Sophia, but he doesn't seem to mind it so much.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Courtney is more air-headed and oblivious to make her the Foolish sibling. Blake is a little more grounded, making him the Responsible.
  • Genius Ditz: He's smart enough to have skipped several grades, but he's pretty short on common sense.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: His rivalry with Carl is the closest thing he has to a genuine friendship. Despite their animosity, he always leaps at any chance to spend time with Carl and Hoodsey.
  • Malicious Misnaming: He calls Hoodsey "Woodsey," despite being corrected countless times.
  • Momma's Boy: Not quite to the extent of Courtney. It's mostly attributable to his youth.
  • No Social Skills: He doesn't seem to be much liked by his peers, and despite how haughty and condescending he is to Carl, it's mentioned he really wants Carl to be his friend, implying he doesn't know how to make friends. He genuinely dislikes Hoodsey, however, referring to him as "Woodsey" no matter how many times he's corrected.
  • Older Than They Look: He's actually a couple of years younger than Carl and Hoodsey.
  • Parental Substitute: In Winston, whom he is implied to see as a father figure- Courtney treats him like many other members of staff, but Blake ropes Winston into many of his schemes.
  • The Pigpen: In a way.
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Just like Courtney. His speech patterns are even more posh and sophisticated, reflecting his higher intelligence.
  • Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Carl, to contrast Courtney's budding friendship with Ginger. He does however wish to become friends with him and legitimately enjoys the times in which they team up.
  • Spoiled Brat: Much moreso than his sister.
  • Upper-Class Twit: Just like his sister and mother.

    Claire Gripling 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrsgripling.jpg
Voiced by: Candi Milo

Claire Gripling is Courtney and Blake's mother. She is married to Prescott Gripling. She believes in spoiling her children.


  • Adults Are Useless: Very dramatic, posh, and slightly air-headed; also unaware her daughter needs her home and that Blake is embarrassed about that baby blanket she insists is an heirloom.
  • Bandaged Face: Receives this after a botched plastic surgery in "Mommie Nearest".
  • Doting Parent: Dotes on her son and daughter constantly.
  • Fashionista: Constantly decked out in couture.
  • Foil: To Lois Foutley, both are loving mothers, but Claire is quite out of touch with how things work in less affluent societies and families and carries off a very quiet, posh lifestyle with her children. Also matters in appearance to a lesser extent.
  • Genius Ditz: She is revealed to be a social manipulator in her bid for an elevated status in the country club.
  • Happily Married: To her husband Prescott.
  • Like Father, Like Son: Is a lot like her daughter in terms of physical appearance, style, intellect, mannerisms, and vocal skills.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Possesses this.
  • Parents as People: She is a loving and doting Mother to her children, but she tends to gallivant off to plastic surgeries and trips out of state and has to be begged to stay home more by her lonely daughter.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: A lot like her daughter.
  • Upper-Class Twit: Doesn't possess a lot of common sense.

    Winston 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_40460.jpg
Voiced by: John Kassir

Faithful butler to the Griplings and sidekick to Blake.


The Killgallens

    Miranda Killgallen 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miranda_killgallen.jpg
Voiced by: Cree Summer

Miranda Killgallen is Courtney Gripling's best friend, and her sheer meanness will make sure that no one else takes that position.


  • Beta Bitch: To Courtney—though she occasionally gets promoted to Alpha Bitch when Courtney isn't around or is preoccupied.
  • Control Freak: Miranda has a very take-charge personality, demonstrated by the way she teaches the other popular girls the dance to Courtney's song in "Come Back Little Seal Girl", and how she tries to take control of the dynamic of Ginger's friend group in "Trouble in Gal Pal Land" (after being temporarily exiled by Courtney because of a fight they had). She's also very controlling when it comes to her friendship with Courtney.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Snarks more than she breathes.
  • Death Glare: Has dished this out on occasion. In "Wicked Game", she mentions that everyone knows her dirty looks are the dirtiest.
  • Dreadful Musician: At least when it comes to playing the clarinet—Macie claims that Miranda's the one person they know who can make the clarinet sound bitter.
  • Evil Laugh: It's so disturbing that it makes children cry and their parents hurriedly rush them away.
  • Freudian Excuse: Miranda's been shown to rather insecure at time, doesn't really have a ton of friends outside of Courtney and their main Girl Possenote  and also has kind of a rough home life (her parents have been shown to rather strict).
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Among the popular clique.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Wears them briefly when she and Darren dated in middle school (after he got his braces off) and starts wearing them on a frequent basis in high school.
  • Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's into fashion, hair, and nails as much as the next popular girl, but she has absolutely no qualms about getting down and dirty, as shown in "The Summer of Camp Caprice." She also has excellent survivalist skills and enjoys driving speedboats.
  • Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She wears purple outfits quite often, and is a vain, popular Beta Bitch.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Her hatred towards Ginger stems from her jealousy of Ginger's friendship with Courtney (and her fears of Ginger replacing [Miranda] as Courtney's BFF).
  • Hate Sink: With her vindictive personality, and the fact that she mooches off of Courtney’s popularity, she is definitely someone who the audience is meant to hate. Unlike Dodie.
  • Ironic Name: "Miranda" is derived from the Latin "Mirandus" meaning "wonderful and admirable", two words that don't describe her, to say the least.
  • Jerkass: She's mean, vindictive, and manipulative.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Miranda warns Courtney that Camp Caprice probably won't be a good place for someone as high-maintanence as the latter—and Miranda's ultimately proven right when Courtney has issues adjusting and making new friends at the camp (not that Miranda was necessarily happy about being proven right).
  • Lean and Mean: Easily one of the skinniest characters in the series and she's as mean as she is thin.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The snarky, cruel, conniving Dark to Courtney's sweet, ditzy Light.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: She's actually Courtney's—the episodes where they're apart tend to be a Break the Haughty moment for Courtney.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: She's the Masculine Girl to Darren's Feminine Boy when the two of them temporarily date. Miranda has an insensitive, take-charge personality and Darren, while not effeminate, is compassionate and very laid-back. The contrast is also apparent when the two of them work together in the Camp Caprice special. Miranda even tells Darren that he could've used a summer at Spangler (a military camp that her dad runs).
  • Manipulative Bitch: Mainly to Dodie or Ginger, but is capable of doing this to others.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Killgallen. The original Gaelic which the name is taken (Cíl Giolla) from also denotes an Attendant or Follower which is fitting for her relationship with Courtney.
    • "Miranda" (as in "the Miranda warning"), considering her dad's a police officer.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: Mean to Courtney's nice and Mipsy's in-between. She is best described as the true Alpha Bitch and won't let anyone stand in her way.
  • Perpetual Frowner: Her default expression is a scowl—she rarely smiles unless it's a smug one.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Several moments in the series make it very clear that she does value her friendship with Courtney and, despite her hatred of Ginger, she did have some real affection for Darren when they briefly dated. Ironically, Miranda seems to have a more genuine friendship with Courtney than Dodie does with Ginger.
    • In "The Summer of Camp Caprice", Miranda shows genuine gratitude to Dodie and Macie because they save her life.
    • In the episode "Ginger's Solo," she shows understanding when she realizes that Ginger joined the band to see Sasha again, and she cheers Ginger up when Ginger gets upset over Sasha having a girlfriend.
    • She also is quite impressed when Ginger stands up to the nasty substitute teacher that's treating their class like a herd of animals rather than human beings.
    • Despite not being a fan of Macie, she (albeit reluctantly) attends her birthday party. While she originally made fun of the juvenile theming and location, she ends up enjoying it and admits "it's so retro, it's cutting-edge."
  • Race Lift: Word of God has it that Miranda was white in her original conception, but was changed to a black character to introduce more diversity to the cast.
  • The Rival: To Ginger.
  • Sadist: Takes great pleasure in the misfortunes of others. In one episode, Courtney flat-out states that Miranda loves misery.
  • Sassy Black Woman: Plays it straight. She says almost everything with attitude and is even prone to saying "girlfriend" in a sassy tone.
  • Shipper on Deck: Ironically, she was briefly one for Ginger/Darren before Darren got his braces removed, because it meant Miranda had Ian all to herself.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Courtney's Girly Girl. It isn't immediately apparent, but Miranda is more aggressive and much hardier than Courtney. The plot of "The Summer of Camp Caprice" is set into motion when Miranda chides Courtney about how high-maintenance the latter is.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: "Kind" is a very big stretch, but Miranda does become progressively less mean over the course of the series.
  • Toxic Friend Influence: Typically the one to push Courtney towards more jerkish behavior.
  • With Friends Like These...: Indirectly to Courtney —
    • Miranda tries multiple throughout the series to blackmail Ginger into staying away from Courtney, mostly because Miranda fears that Ginger will end up replacing her as Courtney's BFF.
    • While there have been times that show that Miranda does genuinely value her friendship with Courtney, there have also been just as many times (if not more times) that show how Miranda really only seems to stick by Courtney because of [Courtney's] status as the most popular girl in school. For example, in the episode where Hope usurps Courtney as the most popular girl in their grade, Miranda was very quick to ditch Courtney for Hope.
    • Miranda can also be rather mean to Mipsy when they aren't scheming together—Miranda made it clear in at least that she considers Mipsy to be lower on the totem pole compared to [Miranda] when it comes to their school's social scene.

    Officer Killgallen 

Miranda's strict, discipliniary father.


  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: He's like this in the military camp he leads.
  • Jerkass: Not only was he tough on his own daughter, but he was quite the asshole to Darren as well.
  • Parental Neglect: While he is physically present in his daughter's life, he seems to be emotionally neglectful towards his daughter. This is probably why Miranda has issues showing empathy towards others sometimes.
  • Pet the Dog: When he catches Ginger and her friends stealing a sign, he does let them off easy and only makes them do community service as punishment.

Classmates

    Mipsy Mipson 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1328749_1389505837096_full.jpg
Voiced by: Sandy Fox

Melissa Mipson (better known as "Mipsy") is the "third most popular girl" at school, after Courtney Gripling (the most popular) and Miranda Killgallen (the second most popular).


  • Alliterative Name: Applies when either using her given name or nickname.
  • Ascended Extra: At first she was just another one of Courtney's friends.
  • The Dragon: Often serves this role to Miranda.
  • Evil Genius: She seems to be the one who comes up with all the plans with Miranda.
  • Genius Ditz: She's (arguably) even more devious than Miranda, but that's about where her intelligence ends.
  • Informed Judaism: A brief line mentions her being Jewish about her getting Bat Mitzvah money.
  • Jerkass: Even more so than Miranda!
  • Jewish American Princess: She is part of the inner circle of popular and wealthy girls, her parents hired a sushi chef from Osaka for her 13th birthday, and in "Far From Home" she mentions Bat Mitzvah money.
  • Large Ham: Her auditioning for "Mambo in the Catskills" is really loud and over-the-top.
  • Manipulative Bitch: She even has Miranda beat in this department, as the whole plot of Far From Home was her scheme to get rid of Ginger.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: In-between to Courtney's nice and Miranda's mean. She's more assertive than Courtney, but can put on a facade of niceness if it calls for it.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is revealed to be Melissa.
  • Repetitive Name: Of a nickname sort, "Mipsy" being short for her last name.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Is willing to ask Ginger for help dealing with Josie Bishop.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: It really says something when Courtney comes off looking more saavy and worldly by comparison.
  • Satellite Character: To Courtney and Miranda, mostly.
  • Spoiled Brat: Her family is very wealthy and well-connected, and put both to good work giving her anything she wants.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: To her cousin Thea.
  • Valley Girl: Has the high, nasal, girly voice and the hyper-feminine, capitalistic interests associated with the trope.

    Ian Richton 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ian.jpg
Voiced by: Adam Wylie

The star of the school soccer team and the object of Ginger's (and Miranda's) affections in the early episodes.


  • The Artifact: He was part of the reason for Miranda's hostility towards Ginger (as well as Ginger's budding friendship with Courtney), since they both had a crush on him, but they both seem to forget about Ian when they both develop feelings for Darren.
  • Attractiveness Isolation: Is aware of this during the episode "Piece of My Heart"
  • Book Dumb: He's not stupid or anything, but he doesn't give even a minimum effort to his schoolwork.
  • Jerk Jock: Not a bad natured character but did lead Ginger for his academics and fooled her into thinking he liked her. Generally he seems like a nice guy, even being on friendly terms with Darren while the latter was still unpopular.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He uses Ginger as a meal ticket in 'The A Grade', but does apologize when called out on it.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Gifted with this.
  • Out of Focus: He becomes more of a background character after Season One. This is apparently due to his voice actor leaving the show.
  • Popular Is Dumb: Not dumb per se, but certainly isn't all that bright.
  • Romantic False Lead: For Ginger and Miranda.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Tall, built, and darkhaired.
  • Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Is the only male (apart from Brandon) who is drawn with eyelashes.

    Noelle Sussman 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_40334_thumb.jpg
Voiced by: Emily Kapnek

Always a member of Carl's class, Noelle Sussman has telekinetic powers (she can move things with her mind). In And She Was Gone, Carl thought that no one would miss her if he used her to test his disappearing powder on. It turns out he missed her. Luckily, she only transferred to an elementary school across town. In Wicked Game she lost Carl in a bet to Polly Shuster, a girl who is obsessed with birds. For an entire weekend, Carl would have to dress up like a bird and play Parrot World with her. Blake took pictures of Carl actually enjoying this game with Polly and showed them to Noelle in About Face. The two don't speak until "The Wedding Frame".


  • All of the Other Reindeer: Mainly ignored by her peers for her odd ways, not that she cares.
  • Ambiguously Jewish: The last name "Sussman", her Old World accent, and some facial features imply this.
  • Ascended Extra: Like Hope Rogers, she was often seen in the background.
  • Better as Friends: She and Carl broke up before Middle School and when she had shown up to save Lois and Daves' wedding, she told him not to get too excited and the past is the past.
  • Betty and Veronica: Not a conventional Betty but she has known Carl longer than Polly, the Veronica.
  • Blind Without Them: Once lost her glasses in a card game with Polly. Though we are never given a view of her eyesight from her perspective, she clearly has a lot of trouble seeing until she gets them back.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Even more than Carl.
  • Fiery Redhead: She can get really fierce
  • Freaky Is Cool: Like Carl she enjoys the weirder stuff in life.
  • Held Back in School: Was held back in Kindergarten for refusing to nap.
  • Like Parent, Like Spouse: A girlfriend variant. Like Lois, she has curly red hair and is pretty tough.
  • Little Miss Badass: She knows karate and has busted through a door with it.
  • Nerd Glasses: She owns an oversize pair with green rims.
  • Only Sane Woman: She is just as odd, if not odder than Carl, but she does end up attending a school suited for gifted children and is more sophisticated.
  • Psychic Powers: Can lift objects in the air without lifting a finger.
  • Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Blake Gripling (annoys her) and Polly Shuster, in regards to Carl.

    Polly Shuster 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_polly.jpg
Voiced by: Paula Tiso

Polly Shuster is Carl's classmate and was nicknamed "The Crazy Bird Girl" by many people.


    Brandon Higsby 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_40461_thumb.jpg
Voiced by: Grey DeLisle

Brandon Higsby is an annoying classmate of Carl.


  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Fools adults with his mannerisms but his peers find him annoying.
  • Character Development: Subtle and short but many times it seems that his butt kissing practices are genuine if he's a little spoiled, by season 3 he's not as foolish or Sarcasm-Blind as he was in season 1 and stands up to Carl for his own well-being rather than things not going his way.
  • In Touch with His Feminine Side: Very much so. Brandon is a flamboyantly effeminate boy who likes the Little Seal Girl, unicorns, showtunes, is opposed to mischief, and hates getting dirty.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: From an affluent family and often only has kids coming over to his house during warm weather.
  • Professional Butt-Kisser: To any adult in the vicinity like teachers, most of them can't see through it.
  • Teacher's Pet: Is obviously doted on by Mrs. Gordon.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: His brother is Stuart, who attends the Junior High along with selling false book reports and essays to kids in the boys' bathroom, playing pranks like hiding the ladder with a friend, and has an unkempt appearance to contrast with the neat and preppy Brandon.
  • Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Like Ian Richton, he is one of the few males in the show with eyelashes.
  • Took a Level in Dumbass: Is portrayed as uncharacteristically stupid in one of the last episodes, “Battle of the Bands,” where he answers his teacher’s question “Who wrote Origin of the Species? I’ll give you a hint, it rhymes with -Arles -arwin” with “Larles Carwin” and “Darles Marwin.” Then the classroom snake even calls Brandon an idiot in Carl’s fantasy. Prior to this, he was often a Cloud Cuckoo Lander but never The Ditz.

    Chet Zipper 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chet.jpg
Voiced by: Hope Levy

Chet Zipper, 14 years old is a commoner among the students at Lucky Jr. High.


Teacher and School Staff

    Ms. Zorski 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrszorski.jpg

Ms. Zorski is Ginger's English teacher. She is a constant inspiration and supporter of Ginger's natural writing talent. In And She Was Gone, Ms. Zorski let Ginger know that she loved the poem she had written before she added that it concerned her. She has a cousin, also named Ms. Zorski (voiced by Shawana Kemp), who teaches at the high school. Ginger learns that the two have completely different teaching styles. Even after Ginger graduated Jr. High she stays in touch with Ms. Zorski.


    Mrs. Elaine Gordon 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrsgordon.jpg
Voiced by: Kathleen Freeman

Carl's teacher, Elaine Gordon (voiced by Kathleen Freeman) was not the most patient woman. She never had any tolerance for Carl's behavior and often found herself sending him out into the hall. She was also the victim of some of Carl's pranks.


    Principal "Milty" Milton 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_51601.jpg
Voiced by: Jerry Houser

Headmaster Milty has swung back and forth from being principal of Lucky Elementary to being headmaster of Lucky Jr. High.


  • Adults Are Useless: Very self-absorbed and not effective as a disciplinarian.
  • Apathetic Teacher: Usually wants to go golfing and only seems to care when it's beneficial to his image.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Very snarky towards Carl and Hoodsey.
  • Dean Bitterman: Not as extreme as some examples, but he doesn't act properly in his role as Principal.
  • It's All About Me: Cares more for his image than his students.
  • Jerkass: Had Ginger take the fall for a failed program he supported and often behaves in a rude and petty manner to Carl and Hoodsey.
  • Karma Houdini: Hardly gets called out for his behavior unless you count Lois going to bawl him out for what's happening with the kids and when Carl and Hoodsey threaten a lawsuit for withholding his pay from their dog training.
  • Silver Fox: Courtney flatters him into this view of himself.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Oh so much, especially with a Senator's visit.

Other Characters

    Maude 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maude9.jpg
Voiced by: Carol Kane

An elderly prankster Carl falls in love with.


  • Cool Old Lady: Being in her 90s hasn't slowed down her zest for life and her enjoyment of pranks and befriending children.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Carl.
  • Mrs. Robinson: Is this to Carl.
  • Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Engaged in a lot of pranks and wasn't shy about speaking her mind and doing what she wanted, decorum be damned.
  • Spirits: She dies not long after her first appearance, and she shows up as a ghost soon after. She's blue, floats, and glows, and she vanishes before Mrs. Foutley's eyes after taking some candy.

    Sasha 
Voiced by: J. Evan Bonifant
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_3.jpeg

A former camp member at Camp Caprice. Also Ginger's former love interest.


  • The Bus Came Back: He returns in the episode "Ginger's Solo," and again in "Heat Lightning."
  • Freudian Excuse: His harsh attitude towards Ginger initially comes from the bitterness that Clover, who acts the same way he accuses Ginger of acting, having dumped him recently.
  • Hypocrite: Ended up dating a girl who harbored the exact same traits he accused Ginger of having in the Camp Caprice three-parter.

    Clover 
Voiced by: Tress MacNeille
Sasha's ex-girlfriend. They get back together by the time Ginger reunites with him in "Ginger's Solo"
  • Establishing Character Moment: Her dubbing the students at the event "band dorks" right to Ginger's face is probably meant to show she's not the nicest person. Even before we meet her, she is said to have left Sasha for a socialite boyfriend, although they eventually got back together.
  • Make Way for the Princess: An unseen voice announces "Oh, yeah!" when she walks down the hall.
  • Theme Naming: Ginger accidentally calls her "Heather." To those who don't get the joke, Clover, Heather, and Ginger, for that matter, are all named after herbs.

    Mrs. Dave 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrsdave.jpg
Voiced by: Patti Deutsch

Dr. Dave's controlling mother who ultimately becomes Lois's mother-in-law and Ginger and Carl's step-grandmother.


  • Cool Car: A pink 50s T-Bird type of car.
  • Establishing Character Moment: She is first seen slowing down traffic with a full awareness and is seen with a frown, then there is the accompanying song with the singer taking on the persona of a domineering mother.
  • Fashions Never Change: Dresses like it's 1954 in the 2000s.
  • Jerkass: She always makes snide remarks or fights with her son's fiancee, her kids, or even other kids. She even set up a plot to derail her son's and Lois's wedding.
  • Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: She prides herself on being a perfect mother, demanding, smothering, compared to the busy working (and non-smothering) mom Lois is, is very rude to almost everyone even children like her future step-grandchildren and their friends, and isn't considerate of people around her (either in traffic or eating with her).
  • Obnoxious In-Laws: Obnoxious doesn't even begin cover it.
  • Miniature Senior Citizens: She's as short as Hoodsey.
  • My Beloved Smother: She dominates Dave.
  • Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: She slows down traffic and behaves rudely.
  • Stay in the Kitchen: Somehow implies holding this attitude when she meets Lois and critiques the woman for being "a working mom" who can't cook nutritious food or keep her children well-behaved.
  • Would Hurt a Child: She gets into a fight with Hoodsey, who is young enough to be her grandchild.

     Dwayne Cochran 
Voiced by: Jeffrey Buehl
A local garbage man who is Carl's idol.
  • Casanova Wannabe: Hits on Ms. Zorski in "An Even Steven Christmas Special," using the pickup line "you into garbage?" and kissing her hand, much to her disgust. Despite this, he claims to have a girlfriend named Wilma who he met at the "grungefest."
  • Cool Loser: Carl idolizes Dwayne despite him being a loser by anyone else's standards.
  • The Pig-Pen: Has poor personal hygiene and generally disgusting mannerisms, such as licking his hand before shaking Carl's hand, and playing hockey using a urinal cake as a puck.
  • Put on a Bus: Does not appear in season 3 after its opener, the TV movie "Far From Home," though his carny cousin Raymo who shares several of his mannerisms appears in "Fair to Cloudy."
  • The Stoner: Strongly implied. Appears to have the munchies in "April's Fools."

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