Characters / Captain Underpants — Main Characters

George and Harold

Two usually responsible kids. If something goes wrong, they're usually responsible.

George is the kid on the right with the tie and the flat-top. Harold is the one on the left with the T-shirt and the bad haircut. Remember that now.

Voiced in English by: Kevin Hart (George in the movie)/Ramone Hamilton (George in the animated series), Thomas Middleditch (Harold in the movie)/Jay Gragnani (Harold in the animated series)
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Bruno Coronel (George), Arturo Castañeda (Harold)
Voiced in Japanese by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (George/movie), Tomoe Hanba (George/TV series), Makoto Naruse (Harold/movie), Shizuka Ishigami (Harold/TV series)
Voiced in Norwegian by: Hasse Hope (George), Jan Gunnar Røise (Harold)

Two fourth-grade pranksters, who are best friends and next-door neighbors and the main protagonists of the series. They started a comic book company called "Treehouse Comix, Inc.", and make copies of their latest comic book and sell them on the playground. They are the class clowns in 4th grade at Jerome Horwitz Elementary and often get into trouble of epic proportions.

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Tropes applying to both

• Adaptational Backstory Change: In the books, they met in kindergarten when George beat up a bunch of sixth-graders who were bullying Harold. In the movie, their first moment of bonding is when they both laugh as the kindergarten teacher is talking about Uranus.
• Adaptational Heroism: While both versions of the duo are portrayed as mischievous pranksters, the movie portrays them as nobler; pulling pranks on the teachers and faculty to make school-life more tolerable for them and their classmates. Their book counterparts pull pranks and make jokes at everyone's expense, and are usually the only ones laughing at the end.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • They are still pranksters in the animated movie adaptation, but are given more heroic moments compared to their book counterparts. While they were still heroic and likable in the books, they are more creating humor to brighten others' days rather than using it for their own amusement. This leads to the plot point in the movie that is nearly absent in the books, George and Harold deciding to be nicer to Mr. Krupp because he doesn't have anyone who cares about him. This never happens in the books, where Krupp stays a fairly two-dimensional villain.
  • This also extends to the animated series where not only are they kind and cooperative with their friends and classmates. Not to mention, they willingly go into Krupp's office, knowing that doing so would result in their expulsion from Jerome Horwitz, to return his rule book. The reason being that they know his job is the only thing that makes him happy in life and taking that away would make them just like him.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the books, their classmates' opinion of them tends to go up and down depending on how irritating their pranks are at the moment (although everyone loves their Captain Underpants comic books). In the animated series, they have a better relationship with their classmates as a result of their efforts to make the school a more fun place for everyone, not just themselves.
• And I Must Scream: In the film, Poopypants manages to find a way to erase an individual's ability to laugh...by using Melvin's brain. When he successfully mind controls every student in Jerome Horwitz Elementary, the boys dread the thought of being subjected to the ray because, as Harold puts it; "if he destroys our sense of humour, he destroys us." During the Ghost in the Machine sequence, both of the boys' brains' hahaguffawchucklotamuses start to shrink and (by the way their hahaguffawchucklotamuses appear to be sentient and very aware of what's happening to them) if Poopypants kept the process going, the boys' hahaguffawchucklotamuses would shrink and disappear entirely and the George and Harold would not only lose their sense of humour, but their personalities too. It's only lucky that the brainwashing was brief.
• And the Adventure Continues: Two roads are taken at the end of Book 12. The present versions of George and Harold decide to use Melvin's time machine to look for their pets who went missing during the battle with Professor Poopypants (who has now changed his name to Tippy Tinkletrousers). As for the Yesterday duo, they remain in the present timeline and decide to work on a new comic series featuring Dog Man.
• Animal Motif: In The Movie, Harold constantly inserts dolphins into his and George's comics. Dolphins in general are playful, witty, mischievous, playful and friendly, just like him and George's personalities in general. But dolphins are also really sociable (like George in the movie), they value friendship, (same as the boys) they hate being alone and are highly sensitive (like with Harold in the movie).
• Arch-Enemy: These fun-loving pranksters are always finding themselves at odds with their cruel child-hating principal, Mr. Krupp, and the school snitch and teacher's pet, Melvin.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: The two have been diagnosed with it by second grade, but they don't mind, even treating it as a badge of honor thanks to them being one of the more creative ones diagnosed with it.
  "All of the 'experts' at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School had their opinions about George and Harold. Their guidance counselor, Mr. Rected, thought the boys suffered from A.D.D. The school psychologist, Miss Labler, diagnosed them with A.D.H.D. And their mean old principal, Mr. Krupp, thought they were just plain old B.A.D.!"
• Author Avatar: Their love of pranks, writing comic books and generally rebellious attitudes make them similar to Dav Pilkey himself as a child.
• Badass Adorable: George and Harold are pretty adorable and both are pretty badass too. They, along with Captain Underpants manage to save the day in the book series, the film and the animated series. But they do have their individual moments as shown by George who manages to beat a gang of sixth-grade bullies when he was in kindergarten, and as shown by Harold who briefly takes on a giant Poopypants with his enlarged hand and use that same hand to save George from a shrink blast.
• Badass Normal: They don't have any powers, but they do help Captain Underpants save the day.
• Batman Gambit: In book 5, they defeat Wedgie Woman by running by with a big box of hair remover spray and yelling that they hope she doesn't get her hands on their giant box of "Extra Strength Spray Starch" (Captain Underpants' one weakness). She falls for it, steals the cans, and sprays them everywhere, which renders her completely bald and powerless, as her powers come from her Prehensile Hair.
  • In the season 3 premiere, they both end up separated by Krupp in the hopes of pitting them against each other to set them up as life long enemies. The boys decide to play along by becoming the worst of enemies to the point that the entire camp ends up in flames and ruins. Not wanting to put up with their destructive "conflict" anymore, Krupp decides to place them in the same camp.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Gender-Inverted.
  • Among the main characters in the CU Universe:
    • Harold - Beauty. Has Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold, is the more empathetic one of the duo and Hates Being Alone.
    • George - Brains. Is the more levelheaded one of the duo, is the one to come up with the pranks, and can use his wits to get out of any situation.
    • Captain Underpants - Brawn. Is the Idiot Hero who is really strong and mainly uses his fists to defeat any villain.
  • Or with Melvin:
    • George - Beauty. He is The Social Expert and is more charismatic.
    • Melvin - Brains. He is the Insufferable Genius who can invent anything.
    • Harold - Brawn. He is slightly more bolder than George when it comes to fighting villains or monsters.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: In book 10, after realizing all the disasters that happened because of their pranks and time-traveling antics, they decide to start being more responsible and give up fun things like comic books and jokes. Immediately after, they get transported by Tippy Tinkletrousers to a Bad Future where their older selves are evil, fun-hating Sadist Teachers working for an elderly Mr. Krupp.
• Befriending the Bullied: In Book 9, it's revealed that George and Harold first met in kindergarten, as Harold was being bullied by Kipper Krupp and his Gang of Bullies, before George came in with the necktie he was forced to wear by his parents and using it as a whip to ward them off.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Both are known to be the Class Clowns of Jerome Horwitz Elementary. But believe it or not, their pranks can cross into Deadly Prank territory that would put Luan's pranks to shame. For example, in the film, one of their pranks was putting a live tiger in a classroom (a wild tiger loose on school grounds would've killed a few staff and students) and rigging a water fountain to blast a large stream of water at Krupp (said blast would've also flooded the school too).
• Big Brother Instinct: George inverts this trope, while Harold plays it straight. In George's case, he's more levelheaded and is always quick to calm Harold down whenever the latter is distressed in some way, as seen in the movie, where the two dread the thought of being in separate classes and since he's also affected of that thought as well, he has to keep hold of his composure to keep Harold grounded too. In Harold's case, he's three months older than George and is seen protecting him, albeit with brute force, like in the movie's climax, when Poopypants (who became a giant) tries to take the Shrinking/Enlarging Ray from George's feet, Harold's reaction is to immediately slap his hand, and saves the latter from a shrink blast by jumping in front of the blast and using his enlarged hand to let it take the hit. And during the Invention Convention, he even lets George use his lap as a pillow. This makes sense when you remember that Harold has a younger sibling.^note  At least in the book series.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Gender-inverted. Harold is the blonde, George is the brunette and Melvin is the redhead.
• Body Motifs: The brain. Despite not being as smart as Melvin, both boys represent the left and right hemispheres of a brain. At the beginning of every book, George and Harold are often described as "the one on the left with the tie and flat top" (George) and "the one on the right with the T-shirt and bad haircut" (Harold). The left side of the brain is more verbal and analytical than the right side and helps you with logic, reading and writing, true to George's personality since he's the more logical one of the duo, is the writer of the comics, and is the one who does most of the talking in every appearance. The right side of the brain is more visual and emotional than the left side and helps you with art (specifically drawing), emotion and imagination, true to Harold's personality since he's the more emotional one of the duo (if him dreading about being in separate classrooms in the movie has any indication), is the illustrator of the comics and can a bit imaginative, as seen with him having an Imagine Spot of him and George's friendship ending with a Robot War, because apparently, this imagine spot takes place in the future and there should be robots. The brain motif plays a more prominent role in the movie, where Poopypants is set on eradicating laughter by using Melvin's brain (which lacked a Haha-Guffaw-Chucklotamus) to brainwash all of Jerome Horwitz Elementary (George and Harold included) into humourless, glum Empty Shells. This is something both boys dread happening because Poopypants destroying their sense of humour (and by extension their creativity, imagination and individualities) would pretty much result in a Death of Personality.
• Book Dumb: They don't get good grades and don't particularly care about doing well in school, although they at least put in the effort to keep their grades at Bs and Cs.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: They sometimes use the word "bub" towards other characters, like Melvin and Captain Underpants.
• Bury Your Disabled: Narrowly averted. The creators reveal that George and Harold both have ADHD and Dyslexia and the two had a few Near Death Experiences in the book series. Special mentions to the times they narrowingly escaped a UFO ship that was set on fire in Book 3, nearly got shredded by a woodchipper and crushed by a steamroller in Book 4 and nearly got chopped up by an axe when they were held captive by their teacher-turned-supervillain in Book 5.
• Character Catchphrase:
  Harold: Oh, No!
  George: Here We Go Again!
  • Also in the books, whenever something bad is about to happen.
    George: I have an idea.
    Harold: What?
    George: RUN!
  • In the animated series, Harold tends to say "So good!" a lot.
  • In the film, whenever they're tempted to do something mischievous they would say "We probably should/shouldn't [insert action]. Yeah, maybe we should/shouldn't."
• Class Clown: They are known for disrupting classes and pranking others.
• Classical Anti-Hero: They are genuinely good kids; they just happen to go to a school where most of the staff are terrible, lousy people, and their pranks are meant to act out against the terrible establishment. When something goes too far or it results in a supervillain, they go clean up their mess. Of worthy note is that they actually learn their lesson when they do something bad, such as when they realize that it's not nice to make fun of people at the end of book 4. They consider their (admittedly cruel-hearted) teachers and Insufferable Genius Melvin acceptable targets of mockery, however.
• Colour Motif: Red, yellow, white and black for George; green, blue, grey and brown for Harold.
  • In the film, George sports a necktie that's red and yellow, a white collared shirt and black shorts and sneakers. Red is the colour of passion and energy and yellow is the colour of cheerfulness and fun, but also mind and intellect, true to George's personality because he's the resident Brainy Brunette and Keet. White symbolizes cleanliness and hygiene as seen towards the end of the film when the boys try to reaffirm their friendship despite being in different classes, Harold opts to do a spit shake and George doesn't want to because it's unsanitary. Black symbolizes ominous forces and magic as seen with George using the Hypno-Ring on Krupp in the film, where it turns out the ring might be a magic Hypno Trinket.
  • Harold sports a green and light grey shirt, brown shorts and pale blue slip-on shoes. Green symbolizes friendship and freedom and blue symbolizes caution, compassion, isolation, maturity and tranquillity and true to Harold's personality, he and George value friendship and the freedom to be creative, is a bit more cautious, empathetic and calm, Hates Being Alone, is Wise Beyond His Years and the Older Sidekick. Brown symbolizes strength and Harold is slightly bolder than George when it comes to fighting monsters or villains. Grey symbolizes quietness which makes sense since Harold doesn't talk as much as George.
• Complexity Addiction:
  • In Book 9, when it comes to neutralizing resident school bully Kipper Krupp. In the beginning, he is already afraid of George due to a previous incident. Instead of using this fact to scare Kipper into giving up his bullying ways, George and Harold devise a complicated plan that involves playing a series of elaborate pranks on Kipper to make him think he's being cursed by "The Haunted Pants of Wedgie Magee".
  • They retain this trait in the animated series. After having their memories erased by Murdsley, the boys discover that they set up an elaborate quest for them to regain their memories. This involves travelling around the globe, switching around the letters to a sign which would activate their locker on voice command which produced a comic that explains everything to them.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: In the film, Mr. Krupp decides to punish George and Harold by placing them in separate classes, hoping that doing so will annihilate their friendship. Despite the two living right next door to each other, they deeply dread this punishment and react as if doing so will genuinely ruin their friendship as Krupp intended.
• Corrupt the Cutie: Narrowingly averted. Both boys are pranksters and they create funny comics in order to spread fun and joy to Jerome Horwitz Elementary, but in the movie, Poopypants briefly succeeds in brainwashing both George and Harold into humourless Empty Shells. Though thanks to him mentioning the planet Uranus, they manage to snap out of it.
• Cute Bruiser: Both are pretty adorable, but for George's case, in book 9, he beats up Kipper and his gang using his necktie "Indiana Jones style". For Harold's case, he's a bit bolder than George when it comes to fighting villains and monsters, as seen in the film's climax, he takes on a giant Poopypants in a brief tug-of-war match.
• Deadpan Snarker: Both are Nice Guys, but even they can get pretty snarky. For example:
  Krupp: (referring to the boys' most recent sign gag) I know you two are responsible.
  George: How? How do you know? Do you have any proof? I mean this is a country of laws.
  Krupp: (points to his stomach) Proof is here. Inside my gut.
  Harold: (whispering to George) He must have a lot of proof in there.
  • And who can forget:
    George: (to Professor P.) What does the "P" stand for?
    Professor P.: Excuse me?
    George: The "P". In your name. What does it stand for?
    Professor P.: Oh, it's private.
    George: So...that means your name is "Professor Privates"?
• Disability Immunity: In Book 12, Mr. Meaner brainwashed all of the kids at school using Rid-O-Kid spray. When George and Harold's Yesterday duplicates (who are also brainwashed) give them tons of homework for them to do, the present duo gets sick due to staying up all night to finish up the assignments they've been given. George and Harold catching colds cause their noses to clog up, which means that they can't smell anything and therefore making them immune to the spray. But here's the thing; common colds don't last long, so they have to hurry and use the time to investigate what happened to the brainwashed kids before their colds are gone and their sense of smell returns.
• Disabled Snarker: Both have ADHD & Dyslexia and are both Deadpan Snarkers.
• The Dividual: They really don't have any distinct personality traits that differentiate them from each other, and, whether it be pulling pranks or having fun after school or making comics, are almost always seen doing things exclusively together.
  • The ninth book gave them individual characterizations when they were shown as kindergartners. Little Harold was shy and lonely and spent time coming up with and drawing various superheroes to cope with the stress of being bullied and having a Disappeared Dad. Little George was outgoing, quick-thinking, a prolific writer of silly stories, and curb-stomped four sixth graders who were bullying Harold without breaking a sweat.
  • The movie additionally elaborated on emphasizing George being bolder and more outgoing, with Harold as more reserved and more emotionally sensitive.
  • Overall in the books, Harold is shown to be more Cloudcuckoo Lander and sentimental (prominently when the boys disagree on whether to keep their new pterodactyl as a pet and names it Crackers, or take it back to its own time period), whereas George is more pragmatic and tends to take the lead (such as speaking first or controlling the science device on hand). Concerning their Evil Counterparts, Evil!Harold seems to be the one to take the lead in general.
  • This is lampshaded in Episode 7 of Season 3 when a scene depicts the two of them sharing the same mindscape and are in instant agreement with each other.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: While training in Ratrick for an assignment in season 2 episode 4 of the series, the latter draws a comic of the loss of his love before the episode. The duo, however, doesn't even realize what he's trying to portray and simply think he finally learned how to make comics, resulting in the rat running away.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • At the end of book 4, they felt remorse for making fun of Professor Poopypants.
  • In an episode of the animated series, even they thought a certain idea for a prank was just crossing the line, said prank being giving all the teachers diarrhea and locking all the bathroom doors so they couldn't get in.
• Facepalm: In the film, both of them have a habit of doing this whenever Captain Underpants says or does something stupid.
• Final Speech: Before they simultaneously succumb to the beam's effects in the movie's climax:
  Harold: George! I can't...smile anymore...!
  ...
  George: (very weakly) Harold...
• Foil:
  • To each other. Both are fourth-graders who love to play pranks and make comics for the entire school, but in the movie, George is bolder, more outgoing, optimistic, energetic and is slightly smarter and level-headed and is the writer of their comics, while Harold is slightly more reserved, emotionally sensitive, a bit socially-awkward and imaginative and is the artist of their comics.
  • Their kindergartener selves also serve as a foil. Little George started out as The Social Expert after making lots of silly stories for the other kindergarteners to enjoy, much to his teachers' dismay. Little Harold was a Shrinking Violet, who was still processing his parents' divorce (by drawing lots of cartoons) and had no friends. Also, if their interactions with Kipper's gang have any indication, George was a Bully Hunter while Harold was the Bully Magnet.
• For Halloween Im Going As Myself: For a past Halloween, the boys dressed up as each other while trick-o-treating.
• Friendless Background: In the books, Harold had no friends when he was in kindergarten as he was still processing his father leaving and was a frequent victim to Kipper and his trio of stooges. Although he gains a best friend in George, the rest of the series indicates that the pair only have each other to rely on for support as the rest of their peers are either common fans or unfortunate pranking victims.
  • Subverted in the animated series as the cast includes a variety of child characters whom the boys can count on as genuine friends.
• Future Me Scares Me: In Book 10, after realizing all the trouble they caused with their pranks and time-travelling shenanigans, they swear off comic books and all fun things, deciding to be more responsible and act like grown-ups. They immediately renege on that vow after going 30 years into the future and seeing their adult selves as mean, overweight, fun-hating Sadist Teachers working for an elderly Mr. Krupp.
• Gone Horribly Right: In Book 5, they prank Mr. Krupp by tricking him into giving a card to Ms. Ribble that says "Will you marry me?", but the other teachers think it's for real and set up an entire wedding ceremony and reception for them.
• Handicapped Badass: Both have ADHD and Dyslexia and are quite competent when it comes to fighting villains.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Believe it or not: Laughter. In the film's climax, When George and Harold are captured by Poopypants and are subjected to his Anti-Humour Ray, both of them are shown to be resistant and still laughing. When Poopypants does manage to brainwash them, he makes the mistake of mentioning Uranus, a joke that kickstarted the duo's friendship and is what frees them from his mind control. They both start laughing so hard, this causes them to deflect and destroy the Anti-Humour ray and causes the Turbo Toilet 2000 to malfunction.
  George: Never underestimate the power of laughter, Poopypants!
• Heroic Willpower: In the movie, when George and Harold get captured by Poopypants after the latter drops Captain Underpants into the Turbo Toilet's toxic pool, both are subjected to his Anti-Humour Ray but manage to resist its effects with ease (at the first and second notch that is). It takes Poopypants cranking it up to the third notch for Harold to lose his sense of humour and has the ray to be at full power for George to lose his too. Luckily it doesn't last long.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: They always do everything together. In the movie, Mr. Krupp plans to break up their friendship by putting them in "SEPARATE CLASSES!!" It's revealed in the last book that Harold actually isn't heterosexual, but the trope still stands because he never pursues a romantic relationship with George.
• Hypnotize the Captive: In the film's climax, George and Harold are held captive by Poopypants and are subjected to his brainwashing ray, although they manage to snap out of it.
• Iconic Outfit:
  • In the (now-coloured) books, George always wears a white collared shirt and a striped or solid-coloured tie, and for Harold, a striped or solid-coloured T-shirt. Both boys also happen to have the same shorts and shoes.
  • In the movie, George wears a red and yellow striped tie, blackish-gray shorts, and black converse-like sneakers. Harold wears a green and light gray striped T-shirt, brown shorts, and blue-gray slip-on shoes.
  • In the animated series, George wears a plain red tie, black shorts, and dark blue sneakers. Harold wears a light and dark green striped T-shirt, dark blue shorts, and black sneakers.
• Image Song: The song A Friend Like You perfectly illustrates the friendship between the boys and how much they love and care about each other.
• Informed Kindness: Each book's opening maintains that regardless of their constant pranking, George and Harold are genuinely good kids. This can be hard to believe in the first five books, especially with how vicious some of their pranks can be, and the fact that more often than not, they're the cause of the current conflict:
  • In the first book, they cause enough disruption at a school football game to get the school to forfeit it, subsequently ruin everyone else's day, and Captain Underpants is later created as a result of their attempt to avoid being punished for this.
  • In the second book, Mr. Krupp legitimately bans them from the Invention Convention because the previous year, they played a prank on the teachers and every other student by secretly gluing them to their chairs. George and Harold refuse any responsibility and sabotage the other kids' inventions out of spite.
  • In the third book, they make animal noises in their science teacher Mr. Fyde's (who's actually not a jerk as the others), making him think he's hearing things. Later, they send a bogus recipe (including baking soda and vinegar) to the lunch ladies just for fun, which greatly backfires when they want to do something nice for the students and bake cupcakes for everyone. However, while Mr. Krupp is surprisingly reasonable throughout the whole thing, the boys don't see their punishment (eating in Mr. Krupp's office with their own lunches) as a proper punishment, therefore basically getting away scot-free.
  • In the fourth book, they're caught changing the letters on a sign on the day they were supposed to go on a school trip, spelling out a message that is admittedly offensive to the teachers. After being punished by being forced into cleaning the teachers lounge, George and Harold pull another prank which causes the teachers to look like evil snowmen, making Mr. Fyde think he's gone crazy and leading to him resigning. Then, when Professor Poopypants joins the school faculty as a substitute science teacher, they repeatedly make fun of his name and cause everyone else to laugh at him, to the point where their latest comic about him drives him to villainy.
• Innocently Insensitive: In the season 3 premiere, they both poke fun at how ridiculous it was for George to make a comic book with Melvin of all people. To their dismay, Melvin took their insults to heart and decided to tattle on them to Mr. Krupp.
  • Throughout the Halloween Special, George and Harold openly talk about how much Melvin loves the holiday despite the nerd making multiple attempts to get the holiday canceled. It isn't later on that they realize that Melvin never got to hang out with them in any past Halloweens like they initially believed. He would always stay at home to give away candy to the other kids. It also doesn't help that the boys would scare Melvin with their costumes each year. Once they make this revelation, they attempt to amend bridges by inviting Melvin to go sneak-or-snacking with them.
• Irony: They manage to brainwash Krupp into thinking he's a comic book hero. During the film's climax, they themselves wound up on the receiving end of getting brainwashed, courtesy of Poopypants. Luckily, they snap out of it though.
• It Was with You All Along: In the Epic Choice-O-Rama special, Krupp and Melvin planned to destroy the boys' treehouse citing it as the source of their creative imagination. Even George and Harold are afraid of this as they cherish their ability to create fantastical comic books. In one of the endings where the treehouse is destroyed, the boys realize that their creativity was always with them after they instantly make a comic of how they'd become miserable robots who would be enslaved by bug aliens.
• It's All My Fault: In book 4, they take responsibility for the role they played in Professor Poopypants' Sanity Slippage. They admit that Professor Poopypants probably wouldn't have become evil if they just didn't make fun of him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Specifically in the books, where their pranks are more focused on entertaining themselves even at the expense of their fellow students. Despite this, they are still good kids at heart who always try to fix their mistakes and go out of their way to save people.
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed. While karma does sometimes bite them in the butt, they often get off easily for their actions. Hell, one of the reasons why they created Captain Underpants in general was just so that they won't get punished.
• Kid Hero: Not every pair of fourth-grade best friends gets to save the world with Captain Underpants.
• Large Ham: Not as much as Captain Underpants, but the two can get quite hammy sometimes as seen in the movie, like with Harold using sock puppets to visualize what would happen if he and George weren’t friends anymore (with the Imagine Spot ending with a Robot War and a giant Tattle Turtle robot using eye beams to destroy everything) or with George when he describes the Hypno-ring's origin (it was made from molten plastic forged in Shandong, China), or when the two comically describe the horrors that might be in Krupp's house when they had to wheel him home.
• Laser-Guided Karma: George and Harold get hit by this a few times in the series.
  • In the first book, they pull pranks that ruin everybody's day, so Mr. Krupp punishes them by blackmailing them (even though said punishment was disproportionate, though).
  • In book 2, after ruining their peers' inventions for the Invention Convention out of spite due to Mr. Krupp justifiably banning them from participating, Mr. Krupp puts them in detention for the rest of the school year (this is reversed in the end, though).
  • In book 3, their pranks influence the lunch ladies (who aren't actually jerks to the children) to resign. So Mr. Krupp punishes them by not allowing them to eat school lunch and making them sit in his office. (Although it's Played With in that they don't really see the first half of the punishment as a punishment, and considering that one of the lunch ladies stated during their resignation that she once ate their own cafeteria food and barely got sick at all, they clearly are about as good as their jobs as everyone else at the school.)
• The Leader: In the animated series, the two share this role as they guide their friends the M.I.S.F.A.R.T.S. into helping them overcome whatever obstacles that Krupp and/or Melvin throw at them.
• Leitmotif: Instrumental versions of Andy Grammer's song "A Friend like You" can be heard throughout the film.
• Limited Wardrobe: In the book series, George always wears a white collared shirt and tie while Harold always wears a striped T-shirt. It's Downplayed in the coloured versions of the books. While they do still wear those clothes, the colours of the tie and T-shirt respectively change every day. Played straight in the movie and the animated series, where the colours of their respective clothing stay the same.
• Lovable Rogue: They are good-natured kids with a fondness for tricks, tricks that, in the movie at least, are meant to brighten their classmates' days.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: At the beginning of every introductory comic that starts each book, George always says some variation of "We are cool!" and Harold always says "Me, too!"
• Meaningful Name: George and Harold got their first names from two of Dav Pilkey's favorite childhood books; Curious George and Harold and the Purple Crayon. As for their last names, he got those from the actors who played his two favorite characters on The Little Rascals; Stymie (Matthew Beard) and Wheezer (Bobby Hutchins). "George" and "Harold" are also the names of the brothers from It's a Wonderful Life. Their middle names could also be a reference to their personalities. George's middle name is "Robert", a reference to the author Robert Munsch and George is the writer of the comics. Harold's middle name is "Michael", a reference to the Italian artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Harold is the illustrator of the comics.
• Mr. Imagination: They conceived many in-universe fictional superheroes such as Dog Man, Super Diaper Baby, and Diaper Dog, The Amazing Cow Lady and of course, Captain Underpants. Unfortunately for them, they go to Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, where imagination is not only forbidden but discouraged...
• Mr. Vice Guy: Their vices are their Innocently Insensitive behaviour towards staff and selfishness. In the film, they claim that their pranks on the staff of Jerome Horwitz Elementary are a way to revolt against their ban on creativity. In actuality, the boys' pranks would just make their jobs even hard than they are. That said, they decide to cut Principal Krupp a little bit of slack when they learn that he has no one in his life that cares about him. So by the end of the film they set up Krupp and Edith on a real date just to make him happy.
• Naughty Is Good: They're consistently mischievous and show active disdain for the authority figures around Jerome Horwitz Elementary. However, they're also consistently portrayed in much better lights than the school's Sadist Teachers, the authoritarian Principal Krupp, or smug nerd Melvin; and most of their antagonism seems to stem from the fact that the school lives to stamp out the creativity and imagination that they value above all else.
• The Needs of the Many: They decide to stop Mr. Krupp from being rehired as a future camp director not only to secure their own summer fun but for the sake of all other children.
• Never My Fault: In book 2, Mr. Krupp (rightfully) bans George & Harold for participating in the Invention Convention due to a prank the duo pulled on all the staff and students when they participated in the previous Invention Convention. Rather than admitting they were wrong for pulling such a stunt, the boys just play the victim, get angry, and sabotage the other kids’ inventions out of spite.
• Nice Guys: Specifically in the movie adaptation and animated series, they are genuinely good kids despite constantly pulling pranks. They are shown to be popular amongst their peers (except Melvin Sneedly, of course).
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In some form or another, all of their pranks have resulted in the mayhem that unfolds in each book. They were responsible for the majority of chaos in books 1-5.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between:
  • Of the main cast in the film.
    • Captain Underpants and Edith are the nice ones due to the former being the Idiot Hero and having a nice relationship with the main characters and the latter due to being the Token Good Teammate in Jerome Horwitz Elementary.
    • Krupp, Melvin and Poopypants are the mean ones due to Krupp enforcing rules on every student to the point where he takes the fun out of everything, Melvin is a snitch and the Insufferable Genius and Poopypants because of the fact that his Berserk Button is laughter, as shown in the film when he imprisons two girls for laughing and his crazy plan to brainwash everyone in the world into not laughing by using Melvin's brain.
    • And George and Harold themselves are the in-between ones because while they are Nice Guys and popular among their peers for their comics and pranks, they can be selfish at times like with their pranks they pull make the staff's job at school even harder than they already are.
  • Out of the main three kids of the CU series; Harold (nice), Melvin (mean), and George (in-between).
• Not Me This Time: In Book 6, Mr. Krupp blames them for him and the other students (except the 4th graders) getting their pants messed up with ketchup packets. While the boys were responsible for the fads, they weren't the ones who took the time to put those ketchup packets under a lot of toilets.
• Oh, Crap!: Any time someone snaps their fingers within hearing range of Mr. Krupp, turning him into Captain Underpants.
• Only Sane Man: Both boys share this role due to George being the more levelheaded one of the duo, and even Harold can be a bit more sensible than the former due to the fact that he's three months older than him.
• The Prankster: They pretty much do this for a living. However, in the book series, they target staff and students for their own amusement, but in the film and the animated series, they only target the staff and Melvin in order to brighten the students' days.
• Plot Hole: In the Epic Choice-O-Rama special, George is shown with his afro while he and Harold are in 1st Grade. Manga readers can verify that this shouldn't be possible since Harold shaved off his afro when they were still in kindergarten.
• Red/Green Contrast: In the film and the animated series, George's main colour is red, while Harold's is green.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: They're both pretty rambunctious, but in general, George is the bold, leader-ly Red to Harold's calmer, more sensitive Blue.
  • In the animated series, they're both the eccentric Red to Erica Wang's mellow Blue.
• Ridiculously Successful Future Self: After Ret-Gone-ing their evil future Sadist Teacher selves, they travel to a different and much happier future where they've successfully published the Dog Man comic books together, and are Happily Married to their partners, with two children each.
• Self Made Men: The opening pages of most Dog Man novels showcase how the boys have been working hard with their comics to achieve their "Happily Ever Afters" from Book 12. The shining example is from Dog Man: Grime and Punishment where the local cops take a strong liking to their Dog Man comics and provide them a kiosk in the local mall to officially sell them. They became so popular that they even saved the mall from financial distress and make it in the local news.
• Sequential Artist: George is in charge of writing the stories of the comics, while Harold draws the pictures of the comics.
• Shipper on Deck: At the end of the movie, they set up Mr. Krupp with Edith the lunch lady.
• Signs of Disrepair: Their favorite prank is rearranging the letters on signs to spell something silly. Even when running for their lives from giant booger monsters.
• Stating the Simple Solution: In book 4, Professor Poopypants is Driven to Madness over people constantly making fun of his name and uses Shrink Rays and Humongous Mecha to hold the world hostage, threatening to shrink everyone in the world unless they change their names to ones just as silly as his. When Captain Underpants defeats him and he's being taken away by the police, George and Harold point out that he could have simply changed his own name instead, to which the Professor confesses that such a solution had never occurred to him. Sadly, the name he chooses to change to, Tippy Tinkletrousers, is just as unfortunate.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: George is the more reasonable one at times when it comes to certain choices the duo makes.
• Super-Scream: A variation of it. In the movie, the boys managed to destroy Poopypants' Anti-Humour Ray just by laughing at it.
• Teacher's Unfavorite Student: Ms. Tara Ribble doesn't like George and Harold for playing pranks and being imaginative, which are forbidden at the Sucky School that is Jerome Horwitz Elementary. In The Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman, she sends them to the principal's office for drawing a comic book about her as the Wicked Wedgie Woman and later changes all their grades to F's and G's for pulling a prank that involves giving her a card from Mr. Krupp that says, "You're one hot mama! Will you marry me?", which nearly leads to them getting unwillingly married.
• Those Two Guys: Rare examples of the protagonists being this trope. The two have almost identical personalities.
• Totem Pole Trench: They did this twice in the book series. In the seventh book, they disguise themselves as a man (Harold on top, George at the bottom) who claim that they have an award for Mr. Sneedly but in actuality, they were going to switch the Combine-O-Tron 3000 with a decoy version of it. Book Twelve has the same thing happen again (only this time, George is on top and Harold is at the bottom) to investigate why all of the kids at their school are suddenly robotic slaves to all of the staff.
• Trademark Favorite Food: George's is chocolate chip cookies and Harold's is gum, implying that they have a mutual Sweet Tooth.
• True Companions: They're best friends and always do everything together, so much that a driving plot point in the movie is their fear of being placed in separate classes.
• Vocal Dissonance: In the film, George and Harold are voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch respectively, but they sound more like teenagers or young adults. Averted in the animated series, where they are voiced by actual kids.
• Weirdness Magnet: Whatever comic book they create, the character (mainly the Villain of the Week) always comes to life.
• Who Writes This Crap?!: Being self-aware they are in a fictional story, George and Harold constantly take jabs at the author whenever the plot gets weird or stupid.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: In episode 5 of season 3, the boys and their friends are transported to a dream dimension where George and Harold hold infinite imaginative power since the dimension was based on their dreams.

George Beard

• The Ace: He's proficient in reading and writing, gets pretty good grades despite not caring so much about school and when was in kindergarten, he manages to outwit an auto-mechanic who was mocking a bullying victim, intimates his bullies into submission with his tie and manages to mastermind a prank to scare and humiliate Kipper and his stooges into reforming. He also had to adapt to his plans due to some lucky guesswork from Kipper.
• Afraid of Blood: He's implied to be this near the end of the movie.
  George: You know what? Let's do a blood oath! But minus the blood! I don't wanna see the blood, no blood!
• Afro Asskicker: He used to sport an afro in kindergarten and he beat up some sixth-grade bullies with his necktie.
• Amusingly Awful Aim: George attempts to use Poopypants' size-altering ray gun to restore Captain Underpants back to normal size, but ends up shooting and enlarging Harold's hand instead. This happens in both Book 4 and in The Movie.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Downplayed. He only wears a collared shirt and tie, but boy can he kick ass, as shown in Book 9, where he takes on Kipper Krupp and his gang by attacking them with his tie just to get them to leave Harold alone.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Hypnotism or brainwashing is normally a power a villain would use. George only hypnotizes Krupp to make him think he's Captain Underpants. Or in a more heroic sense in the film, he hypnotizes Krupp as a way to save his and Harold's friendship.
• Big Brother Mentor: Inverted and implied. When he was little, he can skateboard with ease. ^note  Kindergartener Harold wasn't seen riding, let alone owning one. In the present, both boys are shown to skateboard, which would imply that after pranking Kipper and his gang, George might have taught Harold how to ride one, even if he's three months younger than the latter.
• Black and Nerdy: Downplayed. George is pretty skilled at writing stories but is shown to be Brilliant, but Lazy.
• Brainwashing for the Greater Good: In the film, George hypnotizes Krupp to prevent him from signing the papers meant to separate the duo.
• Brainy Brunette: George is shown to be slightly smarter of the two and knows how to use his wits to get out of dangerous situations.
• Break the Cutie: Is Forced to Watch Harold succumb to Poopypants' brainwashing right before he gives in too. And when he does succumb to its effects, all George could do is call out to his now-brainwashed friend. And judging by his tone and expression, it seems that he's crossed the Despair Event Horizon.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: George has been stated to be smarter than kids twice his age, but he clearly doesn't see himself as a role model student.
• Broken Smile: In the climax of the movie, while trying to resist the effects of Poopypants Anti-Humour Ray, George gets this while frantically trying to find a way to counteract the effects. Then his smile quickly fades when he sees Harold fully succumb to the ray.
• Bully Hunter: Kindergartener George in Book 9, when he witnessed Kindergartner Harold being bullied by Kipper and his goons. This prompts Kindergartner George to beat up the bullies "Indiana Jones" style.
• Child Prodigy: Before entering Kindergarten, he was described as a brilliant student who excelled at social interactions along with writing captivating stories.
• Close-Range Combatant: Is implied to be this as seen in book 9 when George beats up Kipper and his gang using his necktie as a close-range melee weapon. However, he's terrible at aiming with a long-range weapon as seen in Book 4 and in the film's climax, where he inadvertently enlarges Harold's right hand when trying to restore Captain Underpants to normal size.
• Cloth Fu: When he was in kindergarten, George uses his tie as a whip against Kipper and his gang.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Subverted. While George tends to be the more level-headed one of the duo, even he can get carried away with the wacky ideas they think about. Such as in the movie where after Harold describes a Bad Future that results in robots attacking each other because they're not friends anymore, George easily accepts the scenario as a possibility.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: George sported an afro in kindergarten. After meeting Harold and working on a prank to get Kipper and his goons to stop bullying them and the other kindergarten children, he lets Harold stylize his Funny Afro into a neater crew cut in order to pull the prank without raising any suspicion. Before his afro was shaved off, he would cause mischief because It Amused Him even though he is a Child Prodigy, but after befriending Harold, he shaved his off as a sign of maturity because while he does cause mischief, he now only causes trouble for the people he hates such as bullies and the staff at school.
• Finger-Tenting: In the books, he tends to do this whenever he comes up with a prank or a plan to stop the Villain of the Week. Even his Evil Counterpart does this.
• Forced to Watch: During the climax of the film both boys have been subjected to Poopypants' brainwashing ray. Both were doing okay for the first two notches but at the third notch, Harold starts to succumb to the effects of the ray and since the duo are both restrained, George can only watch helplessly as the former gets brainwashed.
• Funny Afro: He has a huuuge afro when he was little. But he lost it in order to pull off a prank against Kipper Krupp.
• Genius Bruiser: George is both a Guile Hero and a Cute Bruiser. Just ask Billy Bill and Kipper's gang, the former got beat up by a few ladies who were offended by the sign which says Free Bra Inspection, thanks to George tampering with it and the latter was beaten senseless by George who's in kindergarten.
• Genius Ditz: Despite not caring about school so much, he does get good grades (slightly better grades than Harold actually). But specifically, he's good at language arts (reading and writing).
• Guile Hero: One of George's greatest strengths is his quick thinking ability as a means of saving himself or Harold from imminent danger. (Ex. In Book 9, he came up with a strategy to not only scare Kipper and his stooges using his tie and force them into a dumpster but also to get an adult mechanic (who was watching the bullies beat up Harold and did nothing to help him) into trouble with the townswomen by modifying his shop sign to offend them. All of this was done in a manner of minutes).
• Hypno Ray: In all versions of the CU story, George has always been the one to wield the Hypno-Ring to hypnotize Krupp and anyone else.
• Keet: In The Movie, George is shown to be more energetic and optimistic of the two.
• Pacing a Trench: In the second act of the movie, when both boys are spazzing out on sugar, George runs laps around Harold so fast that he created a mini tench around him.
• Person as Verb: Kindergartener George threatens Kipper and his gang to leave Kindergartener Harold alone, or else he'll "Indiana Jones" them (as in beat them up with his tie).
• Red Is Heroic: George's tie is mainly red (in the film, animated series and occasionally in the coloured versions of the books) and is one of the main heroes.
• Rousing Speech: How he manages to convince Harold to hijack Melvin's Turbo Toilet to make the convention a little more fun.
• Sassy Black Woman: Gender-inverted. George is African-American and has his moments of being a Deadpan Snarker.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: George in the animated series. He has a high-pitched shriek that could rival Darwin Watterson.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Is always seen wearing a collared shirt and tie.
• The Social Expert: In the books, prior to meeting Harold, he quickly developed social skills and was well-liked by his classmates.
• Throat-Slitting Gesture: Of the non-threatening type. In the film, when the boys were promoting their latest comic on school grounds, George is seen doing this gesture as a way to tell Harold to stop talking when the former spots Prof. Poopypants. Unfortunately, the latter was Late to the Realization the minute he spots the Mad Scientist.
• Token Black: In the movie, George is the only black person out of the main cast.
• Twofer Token Minority: African-American, dyslexic and has ADHD.
• Verbal Tic: George often refers to the word kindergarten as "kindygarten" in the movie.

Harold Hutchins

• Abusive Parents: If co-writing "Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls" has any indication, ^note  Specifically the scene where Petey's dad comes home, treats him and his son like trash and then "pretending to accidentally" break all the dinnerware while his son and grandson cower in terror. it implies that the reason for his parents' divorce was the fact that Harold's biological father was physically abusive.
• Actor Allusion: In The Movie, Harold is voiced by Thomas Middleditch, who also voiced another Kid Hero with Quirky Curls.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Downplayed. While he still retains his puffy hairstyle in the film, Harold now has a cowlick sticking out from the back of his head.
• Alliterative Name: Harold Hutchins.
• The Aloner: Before befriending George, Harold had a Friendless Background due to dealing with his parents' divorce and trying to avoid Kipper and his gang.
• Badass Driver: In the film, Harold manages to drive a crane with ease.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: When he was ganged up by Kipper and his cronies, George saved him by attacking them with his tie. It's no wonder why Harold really hates the thought of being separated from George.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While both boys are Nice Guys, Harold is more empathetic and appears to be protective of George. Poopypants learned that the hard way when he tries to take the Sizerator from George's feet. Harold slaps him as a result.
• Body Horror: Though it's Played for Laughs, he gets his entire right hand enlarged by George, both in Book 4 and the climax of the movie.
• Broken Bird: Downplayed. He had his parents divorced at a young age, was bullied on a daily basis and has very severe separation anxiety and yet, he's easygoing and a bit quirky.
• Bully Magnet: When he was 6, Harold was a frequent victim of Kipper Krupp and his stooges.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Both of them to a certain extent, but in The Movie, Harold constantly inserts dolphins into their comics and when he thinks about the Bad Future where he and George aren't friends anymore, it ends with a robot apocalypse, just because "it's the future, there have to be robots".
• Compressed Hair: In the animated series, any time when Harold wears some sort of headgear, he manages to contain his puffy hair in it (although some of it does stick out). The most notable example is in the second episode, where he and George are the DJs for the school dance, they don Daft Punk-esque helmets and Harold had to tuck his hair all the way in.
• Cool Big Bro: Though it's not shown in the books, it's implied that he has a good relationship with Heidi and he never speaks negatively of her.
• Cope by Creating: 6-year-old-Harold's method of dealing with the stress of his father walking out on the family recently and his status as a Bully Magnet of Kipper and his gang.
• Dark and Troubled Past: In the ninth book, prior to meeting George, Harold's parents divorced when he was 6, which affected him deeply and would always draw Captain Underpants and other cartoons as a coping mechanism. To rub salt to the wound, he was also the main victim of Kipper and his gang (Kipper also happens to be the nephew of Principal Krupp so he and his friends could naturally get away with the bullying), and going to school would often be hell for him.
• Disappeared Dad: Harold. In the ninth book, it's revealed that his parents divorced and his dad moved to Nevada when he was 6.
• Dumb Blonde: Downplayed by Harold. He's a little more foolish and odd than George, but he's not dumb. He is, after all, one half of the creative force behind Treehouse Comix, Inc., and he and George are on about equal footing when it comes to dealing with the mayhem of Captain Underpants.
• Eccentric Artist: Harold illustrates the comic books he and George make together and is a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander. A prime example would be him shoehorning dolphins into the comics, even when it didn't make sense.
  George: Why are you always sneaking dolphins into the movie?
  Harold: What do you have against dolphins anyway?
  George: I don't got nothing against dolphins! It just didn't happen!
• The Empath: After the boys revert Captain Underpants into Krupp permanently, George wonders why CU is so upbeat and happy while Krupp is so angry and bitter. Then Harold thinks that the reason for that is that CU had him and George, not just as sidekicks but as friends, and thinks that Krupp would be a little nicer if he had a friend. This prompts the boys to set him up with Edith. Also if him having separation anxiety is any indication, Harold must know how lonely Krupp felt since he hates to be separated from George.
• Green and Mean: Inverted. Harold mainly wears green (in the film, animated series and occasionally in the coloured versions of the books) but is far from being mean or villainous.
• Gut Feeling: During the Invention Convention scene in the movie, George is determined to do something to stop it so everyone at the school can actually enjoy Saturday for once. But Harold, remembering Mr. Krupp's warning about how he will catch them in the act sooner rather than later, has a bad feeling about it. While they do wind up pranking it anyway, he ultimately turns out to be right, as Mr. Krupp conspired with Melvin to create the Tattle Turtle in order to catch them hacking the Turbo Toilet 2000 on video.
  George: (hushed) We have to do something about this!
  Harold: (nervously) I don't know. Krupp looks serious this time, George. Maybe we should just lay low for a while…
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Harold has blonde hair and is one of the most heroic characters (if constantly mischievous).
• Hairstyle Inertia: Even as a kindergartener, Harold's hair was always puffy and curly.
• Hates Being Alone: While both boys dread the thought of being separated from each other, Harold does not take the thought of it so well, as seen in Book 11 when the two get their final marks, George got a 62% (a bad but is still a passing grade) and Harold got a 59%, which means that George would move on to the fifth grade without Harold. In fact, the book even states that Harold was Trying Not to Cry not only because he flunked the fourth grade but that he was going to have to go an entire school year without George. And in The Movie, when Krupp decides to put the boys in separate classes, Harold has two Imagine Spots of him and George drifting apart (The first one had sock puppets and the other one had the boys literally drift apart from each other), he almost gets a panic attack when Krupp is about to finalize the separation papers and was the most hesitant to head to his new class without glancing at George for one last time.
• Held Back in School: Harold came very close to this. In Book 11, after getting grounded by their parents and having to do a bunch of chores for skipping school in Book 10, both boys forgot about a test that was crucial for moving onto the fifth grade, and tried to study as best as they could, only for the two to fall asleep, missing the day of the test. When they get called by Krupp, he gleefully tells them that George will be moving on to the next grade and Harold would have to repeat the fourth grade. This prompts the boys to go back in time to take the test, which results in the two not only passing, but also creating their Yesterday Doubles.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In book 9, he is the one to cut George's afro when the two were in kindergarten. Turns out Harold is a good hairstylist.
  • If the reviews from the 1812 O-farture from the movie have any indication, it's implied that Harold takes (or at least used to take) piano classes, as one of the reviewers is his unnamed piano teacher.
  • Aside from drawing, Harold appears to be good at making flipbook animations as seen in the movie, where he and George were introducing the audience to their greatest comic book creation, Captain Underpants. In particular, he was showing off a flipbook animation of Captain Underpants flying.
• Idiot Hair: In The Movie, Harold can be seen with a cowlick whenever he's seen from some certain angles, most notably, from the side.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Harold is shown to have good marksmanship in The Movie.
• In a Single Bound: In the climax of the film, Harold jumps at least several feet high when he slaps Poopypants' hand.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Downplayed. In the animated series, a puppet segment reveals that Harold has one blue eye (the other one is green), but he is a nice kid, albeit mischievous.
• Instant Expert: In the movie, he manages to drive, then later parallel park, a crane with ease. And he's only ten!
  George: You are so good at operating a crane, Harold!
  Harold: I know! It's really not that hard!
• Ironic Name:
  • His name means "commander" in Old German and "army ruler" in Scandinavian, but he's the Older Sidekick of the main duo. Zig-zagged in the animated series, where (depending on the situation) he and George share the role of The Leader of the M.I.S.F.A.R.T.S.
  • In the Christmas Special, both Harold and George celebrate Christmas, a Christian holiday. The former's middle name is Michael, which is Hebraic.
• Messy Hair: Harold has poofy hair. The first chapter of every book always introduces him as "the one with the T-shirt and the bad haircut".
• Older Sidekick: Harold is the older one by three months, but George is the leader of the two.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: In the movie's climax, Harold uses his enlarged right hand to fight Poopypants (who becomes a giant, thanks to Captain Underpants tinkering with the size-altering gun). Keep in mind, Poopypants became the size of Melvin's giant Turbo Toilet 2000, compared to George and Harold's size. Not to mention, Harold could barely move his enlarged hand after George accidentally blasts it. When fighting Poopypants, he manages to slap his hand and use it in a small tug-of-war match.
• Prone to Tears: Zig-Zagged. In the movie, Harold is shown to be slightly more sensitive as seen in how very put out he was in response to Krupp tearing up the boys' "Origin Issue" comic book at the beginning (way more than George was) and also having two Imagine Spots of how the two's friendship is destroyed by being separated are both shown coming from his perspective.
• Quirky Curls: Harold has curly blonde hair and is the resident Cloudcuckoolander in the movie.
• Red Filter of Doom: Harold succumbing to Poopypants' brainwashing ray is shown with one, though it's justified since the ray itself is glowing red.
• Shrinking Violet: As a kindergartener in the books, he was shy, quiet and lonely due to his parents' divorce. Downplayed in The Movie were in an interview, Thomas Middleditch notes that Harold is slightly more introverted of the two.
• Significant Birth Date: His birthday is March 6th, just 2 days after that of his creator, Dav Pilkey.
• Smart Ball: Downplayed. He's not an idiot per se, but Harold tends to be slightly more foolish than George. But in Book 8, he manages to trick his and George's Evil Counterparts into shrinking themselves using reverse psychology.
• Stout Strength: Despite his size, Harold is capable of lifting George with ease, and is able to lift his enlarged hand when fighting a giant Poopypants.
  • In an episode of the cartoon, he's shown picking up a gold bar (which weighs roughly 27 pounds, or 12.4 kilograms) effortlessly with one hand.
• Straight Gay: Future Harold. Apart from having a husband, he shows absolutely no stereotypical gay traits.
• Traumatic Haircut: In Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman, they set up a Batman Gambit to de-power Wedgie Woman (whose powers come from her Prehensile Hair) by tricking her into spraying hair remover everywhere. It works, but they get caught in the blast too.
  Harold: (screams) My mom's gonna lay hard-boiled eggs when she sees me!
  George: Relax. Our hair will grow back.
  Harold: That's easy for you to say. Your hair was only half an inch long!
• Wise Beyond His Years: In the scene where the duo witness Krupp and Edith's interactions with each other, Harold apparently knows that marriage supposedly ruins romance in adult relationships. This is justified because he is the Older Sidekick of the two and his parents divorced when he was only six.
• The Worf Effect: Is the first to fall at the literal hands of Poopypants' Anti-Humour Ray.

Mr. Benjamin "Benny" Krupp / Captain Underpants

The worst principal in the world.

The Waistband Warrior himself.

Voiced in English by: Ed Helms (movie), Nat Faxon (animated series)
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Arturo Mercado Jr.
Voiced in Japanese by: Yasunori Matsumoto
Voiced in Norwegian by: Jonas Rønning

Mr. Krupp is the principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School and the antihero of the series (usually when no real dangers are happening). He is usually depicted as an overweight man with a toupee and a sour expression. Mr. Krupp has a deep hatred of children and also tries to protect Jerome Horwitz Elementary from George and Harold's antics.

When hypnotized by George and Harold, he is made to believe he is their comic book character "Captain Underpants," who only wears white briefs and a red cape with black polka-dots. Whenever Mr. Krupp hears the sound of fingers snapping, he turns into Captain Underpants, and he turns back into Mr. Krupp when he is soaked with water. Captain Underpants is considered to be the "light side" of Mr. Krupp himself, as he is nice and kind to everyone, especially children.

---

As Mr. Benjamin "Benny" Krupp

• Abusive Parents: He has this in the animated series in the form of his mother, Bernice. She calls him a "major disappointment", had a hand in publicly humiliating him at his 4th-grade talent show, and even hung up pictures of the aforementioned public humiliation in her living room! Then in Season 3, during a rare vulnerable moment, he even outright acknowledges that she never really loved him at all. She just wanted his free labor on the family cattle farm. Ouch…
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • The Movie gives him some sympathetic qualities whereas he had virtually none in the original books, such as giving him a crush on Edith the lunch lady and suggesting that he's only a Jerkass because he's secretly lonely at heart. He also (secretly) likes George and Harold's comics, which was long speculated by fans (after all, how else would his hypnotized self know how to act as Captain Underpants, and about various comic plot points?).
  • His plan for getting back at George and Harold is less evil in the movie. In the first book, he blackmails them into essentially being his slaves, complete with forced personality alterations. In the movie, he makes a much more reasonable decision to try to put them in separate classes. That said, his ultimate hope is that putting them in separate classes will also cripple them emotionally due to how close the two are, thus breaking them into the miserable drones he tries to make of all his students.
• Adults Are Useless: While competent as a principal, Mr. Krupp refused to punish Kipper and his friends in book 9 for bullying the kindergartners.
• Alternate Identity Amnesia: Neither he nor Captain Underpants can remember the other.
• Arch-Enemy: Nobody in the entire school is a bigger pain in his child-hating arse than the prank-playing duo of George and Harold.
• Arc Villain: He arguably takes on this role in season 3 as a majority of the conflicts and suffering can be traced back to him.
• Asshole Victim: Is a frequent target of George and Harold's pranks. More often than not, he deserves it.
• Bad "Bad Acting": In episode 5 of season 2, he disguises himself as a kid to spy on George and Harold. It's thanks to his lack of fashion sense and his low-par acting that the boys are quick to figure him out.
• Bald of Evil: Which he hides under a Dodgy Toupee. Subverted in that his baldness only comes out when he becomes Captain Underpants.
• Big Eater: He's one in the animated series. He impulsively eats guacamole whenever it's placed in front of him (even if it's clearly spoiled), and loves to eat salami as big as his face by shoving it down his throat (which results in it getting violently ejected out of him).
• Big "NO!": A rare heartwarming example in the Season 1 finale of the animated series. After George and Harold give him back his rule book (after originally planning to give it to the Superintendent to get him fired before he can expel them), apologize and are willing to accept their fate, he lets out one of these as he has a minor Heel Realization that he can’t bring himself to expel them now.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The brooding boy to Edith's gentle girl.
• The Bully: Him, along with the staff members of Jerome Horwitz, have tendencies to pick on the students. His favorite targets, however, are George and Harold.
• Burning with Anger: You see him quite literally become "steaming mad" a few times in the books, and at least once in the movie.
• By "No", I Mean "Yes": When asked by George and Harold if he has plans in the evening (that they set up, unbeknownst to Mr. Krupp), he tells them it's none of their business... except that he does.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He takes great pleasure in crushing the hopes and dreams of his students. In the movie and animated series, his desk is decorated with a gold plaque that reads "Hope Dies Here."
• Character Catchphrase: "Hey, bubs!"
  • In the animated series, he tends to say "Where are my pants?!" after he detransforms at the end of a fight/episode.
• Child Hater: Stated in the first book, but it seems he hates George and Harold more than anybody else.
• Companion Cube: In season 3, after being locked in a bathroom, he refers to his toupee as "Harry" and treats him like a best friend.
• Dean Bitterman: He's an incredibly cruel and sadistic principal who hates his students. He also serves as the current page image for this very trope.
• Didn't Think This Through: In the movie, Krupp's (initially) convinced that having George and Harold put in separate classes will destroy their friendship—he doesn't seem to take into consideration that the boys can still see each other outside of school, especially since they're next-door neighbors (he actually gets angry whenever he sees them together when they're outside of class).
• Dirty Coward: In the books, he scares easily when faced with a given villain and has no issue with selling out George and Harold to save his own hide.
• Dodgy Toupee: A dark one that utterly fails to hide that he's completely bald due to only covering the top of his head.
• Embarrassing First Name: In Book 4, the kids giggled when he admitted his first name (Benny) to Professor Poopypants.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may hate kids, but there is no denying that he does care about his nephew Kipper, to the point that he won't even punish him or his friends for bullying the kindergarteners.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • In the books, while he takes great delight in punishing George and Harold for their pranks, he knows he can't punish them unless they're proven to be the culprits and always makes sure he gets proof first.
  • As much as he hates kids, he seems genuinely disgusted by the "squishes" spree George and Harold pulled off in book 6.
  • Yes, he asked Melvin to find a way to keep the other kids afraid of Bo Hweemuth in the Claylossus episode, but even he thought Melvin turning Bo into an actual monster was going too far. He only wanted to ruin Bo's reputation, not make him destroy the city.
    Mr. Krupp: When I said "make him a monster", I didn't mean make him a monster!
• Fangs Are Evil: In the books, he's frequently and randomly drawn with sharp teeth when he gets mad. This happens at least once in the movie during his introduction scene, and several times throughout the cartoon series.
• Farm Boy: In the animated series, it's revealed that he grew up on a cattle farm, which was owned by his mom.
• Fat Bastard: Overweight and cruel.
• Fat Idiot: As cruel as he is, he's also shown to be unbelievably idiotic in the animated series. The boys are aware of this and often use his stupidity to their advantage.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • In the movie, it's shown that he lives alone, and has no-one who cares about him, which is implied to be the reason for his bad attitude.
  • The animated series adds a bit more to this. He has a less-than-supportive mother, who had a hand in publicly humiliating him after he did poorly at his 4th-grade talent show.
• Fun-Hating Confiscating Adult: In the movie, he has a drawer full of things he confiscated from George and Harold, including several of their comics. He gives the comics back at the end of the movie after admitting that they were Actually Pretty Funny.
• Greedy Jew: Mr. Krupp isn't exactly greedy, but he's an evil principal responsible for turning Jerome Horwitz into a living hellhole, and as revealed by Book 5, he happens to come from a Jewish background.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Mr. Krupp is shown to get angry a lot in the books, usually at George and Harold. Apparently, it's also in the movie.
• Helpless Good Side: Inverted. Mr. Krupp is a complete Jerkass while Captain Underpants is a good guy.
• Hey, You!: He calls George and Harold "bubs". In the animated series, he refers to their friends by their archetypes and appearances. (Ex. Gooch as "kid with the glasses" and Jessica as "the mean girl with the hair").
• Hidden Depths: In Season 2 of the cartoon, he used to have an interest in ventriloquy and would practice with a disturbingly creepy dummy modeled after himself.
• Humiliation Conga: In the animated series, after Melvinborg takes over the school in Season 2, Krupp ends up becoming the new vice principal and is subjected to a series of difficult and humiliating chores to keep his job. This ranges from trivial things like mowing the lawn despite his allergies to messed up territory like performing on stage while dressed as a rabbit in front of his former peers to be laughed at.
• Hypno Fool: How he gained the Captain Underpants persona in the first place. He reverts every time he hears someone snapping their fingers, due to George and Harold improperly undoing the hypnosis.
• Hypocrite: He hates George and Harold for misbehaving, but he would enable his nephew’s bullying behavior towards the kindergartners. This just shows that he only has issues with "bad kids" if their bad behavior inconveniences him.
• Informed Judaism: Judging from the fifth book where he nearly gets married and there's a rabbi at the almost-wedding, Mr. Krupp is Jewish. Of course, this might just have been an excuse to have Harold tell the rabbi "Silly rabbi, tricks are for kids!"
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: In the animated series, it's shown that he has a love of ballet and has willingly worn a dress more than once. Most notably it's shown in a flashback in the fourth season that he not only wore a dress to the prom but wanted to be voted Prom Queen.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Zigzagged. His regular personality is a jerk, while the Captain is sunny and cheerful.
• Jerkass: He's unreasonable, disagreeable, and mean in every way.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While Mr. Krupp is a major jerkass and Child Hater, he has every right to be angry at George and Harold for pulling pointless (and even dangerous) pranks on staff members and their fellow students. For example, merely having the boys pack their own lunch to school and eat in his office for influencing the lunch ladies to resign in book 3 comes off as a lenient punishment (considering how there would have been no lunch ladies to prepare school lunch for the students on the day after the lunch ladies resigned, and also because it would be difficult to find a replacement on such short notice).
  • He also justifiably banned George & Harold from participating in the Invention Convention competition in Book 2. This is due to their prank from the previous year: they invented a type of glue that was activated by warmth & applied it on the chairs, getting the whole student body and staff members stuck on them when they sat down. He was also later justified in giving George & Harold permanent detention for the rest of that school year due to them sabotaging everybody else's inventions and ruining the Invention Convention competition.
• Jerkass to One: Mr. Krupp hates all the kids at Jerome Horwitz Elementary school, but he seems to hate George and Harold the most.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He becomes this at the end of the movie.
• Karma Houdini: By Book 12, he receives no karmic punishment for his horrible behavior throughout the book series.
  • In the season 3 finale, the boys pardon him for all the horrible, messed up things he did to them during the summer under the justification that he gave them a fun and memorable summer with his antics.
• Kick the Dog: He loves to pull this trope whenever he's administering his general cruelty. But the worst example has to be in Book 11 where he publicly celebrates the fact that George and Harold will end up in separate grade levels because of their absence during Test Day.
• Large Ham: Especially in the movie, courtesy of Ed Helms.
  • Nat Faxon actually manages to take it to another level in the animated series.
• Love Redeems: Movie only. When George and Harold snoop around in his house, they find out that he lives alone and correctly deduce that he's so bitter all the time because he's lonely. At the end of the movie, they set him up on a date with Edith the lunch lady to make him happier. And it works—he's in such a good mood that he gives them back their confiscated comics and admits that they were Actually Pretty Funny. Awww.
• Made of Iron: As a result of him drinking Super Power Juice as Captain Underpants, Mr. Krupp has displayed, particularly in the later books, superhuman endurance, such as being able to fall from a large tree without injury.
  • In the movie, he's capable of taking a beating, such as getting hit by a car, getting bounced around by a giant purple gorilla balloon, and falling at least three to five stories without taking a scratch (and that's before getting powers!)
• Manchurian Agent: His encounter with the Hypno-Ring (and then getting splashed with water) has left him like this.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: In the movie, he succeeds in separating George and Harold just like he wanted. But his expression and body language afterward state that it's not as satisfying as he'd imagined it to be.
• Never My Fault: He gets in on this in book 5, by blaming George & Harold for tricking them into (almost) getting married. While George & Harold did play a role in this, neither he nor Ms. Ribble speak up & say that they did not want to marry each other.
• Not So Above It All: The fact that Captain Underpants, when hypnotized, knows all about his backstory and the relevant Villain of the Week implies that, at the end of the day, Mr. Krupp actually reads George and Harold's comic books. In The Movie, he says it outright.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he smiles at George and Harold in the first book, the boys are immediately unnerved, having never seen him do so and realizing he's on to them. In the film, the sight of him smiling actually freaks them out and gives them chills. Then in Book 11, he happily greets George and Harold the day after they take an important test, and even hugs them. They immediately know something's up.
• Opposites Attract: In the movie, he becomes the love interest of Edith.
• Perpetual Frowner: In sharp contrast to his Captain Underpants form, who is a Perpetual Smiler. If he does smile, it's usually a smug smile or a Slasher Smile.
• Pet the Dog: Mostly in the movie. After being set up for a date with Edith the Lunch lady, Krupp bumps into George and Harold who remark about his good mood. Krupp then decides to return their comics and admits that he finds them pretty funny.
• Prematurely Bald: In the animated series. If what Captain Underpants says in episode 4 is true, Krupp started going bald in his teens.
• Punny Name: His real name— Benny Krupp— is a pun on the word "bankrupt." Additionally, if you say his last name slowly, it sounds a lot like "corrupt".
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Subverted in the third book when, despite his hatred for George and Harold, tells the lunch ladies he can't punish them for the cupcake prank without any concrete proof they were behind it... then decides to punish them anyway after they quit.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Captain Underpants’s Red (even though they’re technically the same person).
• Sadist Teacher: A sadist principal, rather.
• Scary Teeth: Tends to spawn fangs on occasion.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After getting caught in a rainstorm during the battle in Book 8.
• Significant Birth Date: Doubles as an Ironic Birthday, as he was born on April Fools' Day (April 1), and he hates pranks, jokes, and mischief.
• Significant Double Casting: In the movie, Ed Helms voices both him and Captain Underpants, his superhero alter-ego. He separates the two characters by giving Mr. Krupp a deeper, more gravelly voice while Captain Underpants is higher pitched and smoother.
• Slouch of Villainy: A subtle one in the movie, to differentiate his body language from Captain Underpants, who stands up tall and straight with a confident posture.
• Social Services Does Not Exist: Apparently not in the CU universe since Mr. Krupp has been able to get away with harming the children he's charged with. From yelling at them, insulting them, setting them up for public humiliation, using them for child labor, abandoning them in deserted locations without sufficient provision, etc. Long story short, this guy would have been doing serious jail time if he did any of this in the real world.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: He may be a mean, bullying principal, but the movie reveals that he lives by himself in a lonely house, with nobody who cares about him. George and Harold fix his problem by hooking him up with Edith the lunch lady.
• Stout Strength: Despite his chubby frame, he's surprisingly strong. In the second book, he kicked open a door so hard, he ripped it right off its hinges. And this was before Captain Underpants got superpowers!
• Token Evil Teammate: Of the few times he has been forced to team up with George and Harold.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the end of the movie, when he returns the comics he confiscated from George and Harold. And while he lightly criticizes the comics at first, he then remarks that he found them Actually Pretty Funny. It's not much, but it's a start.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Episode 6 of the animated series gave him a rather... bizarre one; guacamole.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It’s implied that he was this in the animated series, but that changed due to having a mother like Bernice.
• Villain Protagonist: He's the evil civilian alter-ego of The Hero.
• Villain Team-Up: He often joins forces with Melvin to either take revenge on George and Harold or to fulfill their own wicked agendas.
• We Want Our Jerk Back!: Downplayed. It's not that George and Harold like (or even miss) having him around — it's just that Captain Underpants is too dumb to be useful, and often causes more problems than he solves. Lampshaded in the movie, where the boys comments that the Captain is a bigger problem than Krupp ever was. At the end of the books, the boys always turn the Captain back into Krupp once the Captain's done his thing.
• When He Smiles: At the end of the movie, when he gets hooked up with Edith the Lunch Lady (no thanks to George & Harold), he's shown to be smiling and genuinely happy.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In season 3, he has a huge fear of possums after being mauled by one when he was a boy. The boys would hire their own possum to scare Krupp into allowing them to be together for the summer.

As Captain Underpants

• Acrofatic: Even before he gains superpowers, he does pretty well despite being out of shape.
• Amusing Injuries: In the movie, when he attempts (and fails) at being a superhero.
• Badass Cape: Usually improvised from a nearby red curtain with black polka dots. And there will always be one nearby when he transforms.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: He can breathe in space as seen in season 4 of the TV series which takes place in, well, space
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's a good-natured sweetie but still incredibly badass.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He's a goofy and jubilant hero who faces all threats with a smile; he'll also give you a good thrashing with his super strength.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In the season 2 finale, the Captain's brain and body get hijacked by Melvin's nanobots who intend to use him for their world domination scheme.
• Brought Down to Normal: In Book 12, Sir Stinks-A-Lot drains the Super-Power Juice out of his DNA and wipes the brainwashing that turns him into Captain Underpants, causing him to revert to Mr. Krupp for good and get conceptually Killed Off for Real.
• Captain Superhero: Has "Captain" in his title.
• Character Catchphrase: "Tra-la-laaaaaaaa!"
  • To a lesser extent in the movie: "Now it is time to FLY AGAIN!"
• The Charmer: He shows shades of this in the movie if the scene where he flirts with Edith the Lunch Lady is any indication.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Captain Underpants loses his powers by putting on clothes because that's how he believes his powers work.
• Dub Name Change: In the Japanese translation, his name is changed to "Pantsman."
• Empowered Badass Normal: In books, he still managed to have moments of competence and badassery before gaining powers in the third novel.
• Extreme Omnivore: In the animated series. We've seen him eat dirt, tires (which he mistakes for a big, chewy donut) and aluminum siding.
• Failure Is the Only Option: As lampshaded by Harold in the animated series, Captain Underpants always loses when it comes to the "O-Rama" portions of the episodic battles due to Rule of Funny. Though, sometimes, he does actually win.
• Flying Brick: In the third book, he gains flight and super strength after drinking Super-Power Juice. It seems it only applies to the Captain Underpants identity since Mr. Krupp never demonstrates superpowers outside of superhuman durability.
• For Great Justice: Parodied with his motto of "Truth, justice, and all that is pre-shrunk and cottony!"
• Friend to All Children: In comparison to Mr. Krupp the Child Hater. In The Movie, he goes as far as opening a carnival for the whole school.
• Friend to All Living Things: In the animated show, he's more inclined to befriend the monster/villain he's fighting or at the very least show common courtesy.
• Fun Personified: Especially in the movie. He is almost always in a good mood.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: The boys can determine that the nanobots have made him their new host in the season 2 finale by the fact that his eyes were glowing green.
  George: Yeah. Even though you can't see the nanobots, you can tell because his eyes are glowing green!
  Narrator: A helpful, cheap visual cue, ka-ching!
• Godzilla Threshold: Several books have George and Harold bring out Captain Underpants as a last resort, preferring to deal with the threat themselves before having to change him.
• Good Is Dumb: Mr. Krupp isn't too bright but at least some degree of common sense. Captain Underpants on the other hand is a full-blown moron but has a heart of gold.
• Hero Protagonist: The main hero of the books, though he gets sidelined a bit in Book 8 and onwards.
• Horrible Judge of Character: In the film. While posing as Mr. Krupp, he hires Professor Poopypants as a science teacher, having a good feeling about him even as the Professor makes no effort to hide being evil.
• Human Alien: Only in the origin issue that George and Harold wrote for his backstory, where he was born on the planet Underpantyworld and raised on Earth as a human. Biologically, he is 100% human, due to being the alter-ego of the human Mr. Krupp.
• Idiot Hero: He is a sweet-natured and determined hero but has a mind the size of a pebble.
• Image Song: In the movie portrays his heroic and goofy personality in song form as The Captain Underpants Theme, which is appropriately sung and written by Weird Al himself!.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With George & Harold.
• Interspecies Adoption: In the movie, his adoptive parents are a pair of anthropomorphic dolphins.
• Killed Off for Real: a conceptual version happens to him in the final book of the series where Sir Stinks-A-Lot drains the Super-Power Juice out of his DNA and wipes the brainwashing that turns him into Captain Underpants, causing him to revert to Mr. Krupp for good and erasing the Captain Underpants personality in the process.
• Large Ham: You can be sure that Ed Helms was enjoying himself a lot while voicing him.
• Last of His Kind: In the comics, he was the last surviving member of his home planet Underpanty World after it was blown up. No surprise, considering he's partially inspired by Superman himself.
• Magic Feather: Thanks to the Placebo Effect, he believes he loses his powers when attacked with extra-strength spray starch. George and Harold retcon his backstory so that by saying "I summon the power of Underpantyworld," spray starch does not affect him.
• Manchild: He's a grown man, running around in his underwear, and acts very childish and immature. In the movie, George and Harold have to constantly keep an eye on him as if he is a child.
• Muggle Foster Parents: In his backstory written by George and Harold, he was raised by a human couple after being sent away from Underpantyworld by his parents shortly before it was destroyed. His movie backstory is almost identical, except for the fact that his foster parents are now dolphins. For some reason (presumably, because Harold likes dolphins and George saw no reason to tell him no since, hey, it's hilarious).
• Nice Guy: He likes to help out others and is protective of George and Harold.
• Non Sequitur, *Thud*: When he (temporarily) loses all of his superpowers and falls three stories in Book 7.
  "Mommy, my train went swimming in the piano."
• Noodle Incident: At some point in the animated series, CU tried to paint all of Piqua red and was shortly arrested for it, getting banned from using paint as a result.
• Papa Wolf: If George and Harold are in danger, he will do everything he can to get them out safely. Highlighted in the movie; his superpowers don't kick in until he swallows some of the radioactive cafeteria leftovers after hearing George and Harold crying for help.
• Red Is Heroic: His red cape.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Mr. Krupp’s Blue (even though they’re technically the same person).
• Rubber Man: In one episode of the animated series. In the alternate timeline in episode 11, he gets these powers after getting thrown into a vat of radioactive molten plastic.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In season 3, he tries to leave the fight after realizing that his opponent is not only a ghost but a ghost dentist.
• Secret Identity: As noted in the first book, "His true identity is so secret, even HE doesn't know who he is!" In The Movie however, George and Harold convince him to take the identity of Mr. Krupp.
• Significant Double Casting: In the movie, Ed Helms voices both him and Mr. Krupp, his civilian alter-ego.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • He'll absolutely refuse to go fight crime without a cape; to the point where he ran out on George and Harold to go buy a cape once.
  • He also very much values his look; he's reluctant to put clothes on at all.
  • He was also extremely hesitant to give up his cape in book 6 even though it meant saving the life of Ms. Anthrope.
    Ms. Anthrope: FORGET ABOUT YOUR STUPID CAPE!!
• Superhero Sobriquets: The Waistband Warrior.
• Superman Substitute: In the in-universe comic, he is a Flying Brick who was sent to Earth as a baby from his doomed home planet.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills:In the movie, he survives being submerged in liquid radioactive cafeteria leftovers for an extended length of time with no ill effects.
• Super-Powered Alter Ego: He get superpowers in book 3 that Principal Krupp doesn't realize he has.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Inverted. The alter ego is actually good, as opposed to the civilian personality which is evil.
• Temporary Bulk Change: In the film, when he gains superpowers, he briefly gains a Heroic Build before reverting to his normal, rotund physique.
• Took a Level in Badass: From the Halloween Special onwards, the Captain is shown to get better at defeating a designated monster or villain.
• Underwear of Power: Takes it a step further being it all that he wears.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: The only thing he wears is a cape and his underwear.
• Water-Triggered Change: Splashing water on Captain Underpants will cause him to revert back to Mr. Krupp.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Believes that he loses his powers when in contact with starch until George and Harold retcon his origin story in book 5 to make him immune to it. His true weakness however is getting splashed in the face with water, which makes him revert to Mr. Krupp. Yes, this does mean that his only weakness is a substance that covers roughly seventy-one percent of the Earth's surface.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Near the end of the movie, he's implied to be slightly afraid of bees when he fearfully swats away one that a shrunken Professor Poopypants is riding, inadvertently letting him escape. The cartoon justifies this fear, however, by revealing he's allergic to them.

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