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Main Characters
Madeline
- Adaptational Nationality: A retroactive example. The posthumously-published Madeline in America revealed that Ludwig Bemelmans conceived her as an American girl and that she was studying abroad in Paris: her last name is revealed to be "Fogg" and she has a great-grandfather in Texas. But in the cartoons she has a French accent like everyone else and in the movie she has a British accent. Both adaptations predate Madeline in America's publication. The only adaptation to have portrayed her as American was the episode from Shirley Temple's Storybook and it is ambiguous as to whether this was a lucky guess or Ludwig Bemelmans actually informed Temple of the character's nationality.
- Age Lift: In the cartoons she starts out as six years old, then turns seven in "Madeline's Birthday at the Zoo." In the movie she's played by ten-year-old Hatty Jones.
- Animal Lover: While she did say, "Pooh-pooh!" to the tiger, she's otherwise proven to be an animal lover, such as her affection for Genevieve, feeling bad for the chicken in the movie, and not being afraid of mice.
- Character Catchphrase: "Pooh-pooh" to express defiance, and in the movie, "I can do anything" to reassure herself when she's scared.
- Characterization Marches On: In the first cartoon special she's portrayed as The Prankster, but after Pepito is introduced and becomes the show's chief prankster, that side of her character is toned down.
- Cheerful Child: "She loved mice and she loved tigers/She loved rain and she loved shine/Never crying, always laughing/She was happy all the time." Whenever she does get upset, we know it's serious business.
- Fiery Redhead: She's brave, sassy, and has red hair.
- Friend to All Children: She makes friends with nearly all other children she meets, even if they are younger than her and start off on the wrong foot, and in "Madeline at the Cooking School," she forfeits her cooking school diploma to give the roast chicken she cooked to two starving street children.
- Heartwarming Orphan: In the movie and in the cartoons from Lost in Paris onward. In the books and the original cartoon specials, her parents are alive and well.
- Height Angst: In the animated series, her short height is often a source of frustration for her, such as the time she was the only one rejected from a ballet production because her legs were too small, or that time Yvette told her, "Short girls don't model, ever!" This was also the subject of the episode Madeline & the Giants, where she has a nightmare that she is tom-thumb sized and her friends are giants.
- Inexplicably Awesome: In the Christmas Episode, she manages to avoid getting the cold everyone else catches, and it's unclear how.
- Kid Detective: She frequently solves mysteries in the cartoons.
- Little Miss Snarker: Sometimes she will say snide remarks to people who cross her.
- Lovable Jock: Downplayed. She has a bit of a snide mouth but is otherwise a sweet girl, and she plays winter sports and soccer, but isn't that much of a jock.
- Nightmare Fetishist: When she gets her operation, she boasts about her scar, and in the movie she graphically describes the surgery (despite being asleep at the time). In "Madeline on the Orient Express," she also sings a song about how she's not afraid of snakes and even thinks they're awesome creatures whereas other people would scream at the mere sight of one.
- Obsessive Hobby Episode: In "Madeline and the Ice Skates", she becomes obsessed with trying to be a perfect ice skater.
- The Perfectionist: Not normally, but in "Madeline and the Ice Skates", the reason for her obsessiveness around ice skating is she wants to be perfect.
- Ruptured Appendix: In the first book, the first cartoon special, and the beginning of the movie, she gets appendicitis.
- Shrinking Violet: Inverted. She says so herself. ("I'm not some shrinking violet or doormat for your feet! I'm quite the bravest toughest Little girl you'll ever meet!")
- Sick Episode: She gets chickenpox along with her friends in "Madeline and the Costume Party," and, boy, is it ever horrifying.
- Vegetarian for a Day: In the movie, she goes vegetarian but converts back by the end.
Miss Clavel
The woman who runs the house/boarding school.
- Adaptational Job Change: Per
Word of God, she is not a nun. In the movie, she is a nun. - Character Catchphrase:
- "Something is not right."
- When putting the girls to bed, she will always say: "Goodnight, little girls, I hope you sleep well."
- Cool Teacher: Kind, wise and beloved by the girls. In the movie, she also becomes a Badass Teacher when she sets out to find the missing Madeline.
- Given Name Reveal: The cartoon episode "Madeline's Winter Vacation" reveals that her first name is Clara.
- Inexplicably Awesome: Has the uncanny ability to tell ahead of time when things are "not right".
- Mama Bear: She is very protective of her girls.
- Parental Substitute: Raises the twelve girls and acts like a surrogate mother to them, especially Madeline.
- Plot Allergy: In the movie, she's allergic to dogs.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She lets the girls keep Genevieve the dog even though the school technically doesn't allow pets, and in the movie, despite her own allergy to dogs.
- Spider-Sense: She's always able to tell when "something is not right" in the middle of the night. One notable example is in the first book, first cartoon special and movie, when she wakes up with the feeling that something is wrong and finds that Madeline is suffering from appendicitis.
The other 11 little girls
Eleven girls who live with Madeline and line up with her in groups of two. In the books, they don't really have names and personalities. In the movie they are Agatha (who's closest to Madeline), Victoria (who's mouthy), Chantelle (who takes things literally), Lucinda, Sylvette, Marie Odile, Beatrice, Elizabeth, Veronica, Serena, and Lolo. In the cartoon, they are Anne (who is shy and elegant), Chloe (who sometimes acts as a leader), Danielle (who's nervy and a bit of a worrier), Ellie (who's a nerd), Janine (a neat freak), Lulu (who's sensitive), Monique (who's imaginative), Nicole (who's naive), Nona (who's athletic but quiet), Sylvie (who's bossy), and Yvette (who's arrogant).
- Adaptation Personality Change: They don't really have personalities in the books, but they have them in the movie and cartoon.
- Character Catchphrase: One of the girls in the movie is "super everything", which means she describes everything as "super X".
- Everybody Cries: They're prone to this at sad moments, especially in the cartoons.
- In-Series Nickname: In the movie, Agatha is known as "Aggie" and Victoria as "Vicky".
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Victoria in the movie. She is bossy, snobbish and rather mean towards the others at times, but she is also heartbroken when Madeline runs away, and at the end she embraces Madeline as a friend when the latter returns.
- Large Ham: They all seem to be rather dramatic, such as crying when Madeline gets taken to the hospital, lamenting in song when they catch colds in the cartoon, and saying, "We're all gonna die!" in the movie.
- Literal-Minded: Chantelle in the movie tends to take things literally, such as saying, "But we're vegetarians!" as a response to "We're dead meat" and "Shouldn't we call the fire department?" upon hearing that Madeline is "burning up".
- Little Miss Snarker: Victoria in the movie is very snide and insults people at every opportunity.
- Named by the Adaptation: In the books, they don't have names, but they do in the cartoon and the movie.
- No Name Given: In the books, they don't have names.
- Share Phrase: In the cartoons, their grace before each meal: "We love our bread, we love our butter/But most of all we love each other."
- Sick Episode:
- In "Madeline and the Costume Party", they all get chicken pox (along with Madeline).
- In "Madeline's Christmas," they all catch colds (this time, however, Madeline is spared).
Other characters
Pepito
A neighbour, who is a mischievous boy and the son of the Spanish Ambassador.
- Aesop Amnesia: In a few episodes of the cartoons he slips back into his old habit of teasing the girls, but he always learns his lesson again by the end.
- Age Lift: In the cartoons, he's no more than eight years old, since he says "I am almost old enough to be king!" when they learn that King Tut became pharaoh at age nine. In the movie, he celebrates his tenth birthday.
- Animal Lover: Inverted at first; in his debut, he has a whole menagerie of pets, which he needs to learn to treat more kindly. After his Character Development, Madeline has to stop him from freeing the animals at the zoo. He also longs for his own horse and briefly gets one in "Madeline in London."
- Freudian Excuse: In the cartoons and the movie, he misbehaves for attention because his parents are always too busy to spend time with him.
- The Gadfly: Until his Heel–Face Turn, he likes scaring the girls on purpose.
- Heel–Face Turn: He starts out as a bratty antagonist, but eventually becomes best friends with Madeline and the other girls.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Madeline, with moments of Puppy Love Ship Tease.
- Plot Allergy: In "Madeline's Detective School," he's revealed to be allergic to cats (even though he had two pet cats in the original specials). His allergy even extends to a human criminal nicknamed "Le Chat."
- The Prankster: Pre-Character Development, he loves to play pranks on the girls and other unsuspecting victims. In the movie, he's seen pranking people with firecrackers and live mice.
- The One Guy: He's the only boy in Madeline's regular group of friends.
- Sick Episode: In "Madeline and the Costume Party", he gets chickenpox. It serves as Laser-Guided Karma for when he teased the girls about their spots when they had it.
- Weaksauce Weakness: He's allergic not only to cats, but to the friggin' word cat ITSELF! This happens in Madeline's Detective School.
Spanish Ambassador and Ambassadress
Pepito's parents, and the ambassadors of Spain.
- Good Parents: Once they start spending more time with Pepito. In the cartoons, the Ambassador even takes time off to coach Pepito and the girls' kiddie soccer team.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: In the cartoons and the movie, they're initially too busy to spend much time with Pepito, which becomes the Freudian Excuse for his misbehaving. They get better after Pepito narrowly survives a dog attack (the cartoon) or is kidnapped (the movie).
Dr. Cohn
The doctor, who is seen giving people medical treatment.
- The Medic: His job is to tend to the sick and injured.
- Sick Episode: He catches a cold in "Madeline's Christmas".
Genevieve
The girls' dog, a former stray whom they adopted after she saved Madeline from drowning.
- The Ace: In the cartoons in particular, she can do just about anything. In "Madeline and the Dog Show," she wins Best of Show with flying colors and saves all the other dogs from drowning like she saved Madeline in her debut.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: Is orange in the books, brown in the cartoon, and yellow in the movie.
- Babies Ever After: At the end of Madeline's Rescue she gives birth to a litter of puppies. They're not seen again in future installments, though; presumably Miss Clavel and the girls found other homes for them.
- Big Friendly Dog: Is quite large, and very friendly and easygoing.
- Heroic Dog: Her introduction has her jumping into the River Seine to save Madeline.
- Intellectual Animal: Especially in the cartoons. She can't talk, but she can read, spell words with blocks, do arithmetic, howl music, ice skate, juggle, ride a pony, perform with hand puppets, rescue anyone from drowning, signal a truck to deliver a cargo, and ride a unicycle while carrying a cake and tossing a flaming baton.
- Plot Allergy: She's revealed in "Madeline and the Dog Who Cried Wolf" to be allergic to canary yellow paint, which causes her to break out in a rash of white spots.
- Race Lift: Or rather, breed lift. In the cartoon she's said to be a mutt, with no one knowing what type of mix she is, while in the movie, she's a golden retriever/yellow lab mix.
Lord Cucuface
The snooty landlord.
- Adaptational Name Change: In the cartoons and books, that's his real name. In the movie, however, it's just a nickname and his real name is Lord Covington.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the animated version of "Madeline's Rescue," he has a Heel–Face Turn at the end after bonding with one of Genevieve's puppies and more or less becomes a kind benefactor throughout the rest of the cartoons. In the books, on the other hand, he remains an antagonist.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In his debut appearance in "Madeline's Rescue", where he played an antagonistic role, his features looked meaner and invoking a "snobbish old aristocrat" stereotype. After turning good and joining the regular supporting cast, he was redesigned to look more goofy and odd, but also with a friendlier presence.
- Embarrassing Last Name: It's literally pronounced as "cuckoo face", making him sound oafish. He also makes mention of a friend named "Lord Poopdeck" in in the television episode Madeline and the Pirates, the animated series seeming to have tried to make it less embarrassing overall.
- Freudian Excuse: In the movie, his reason for wanting to sell the school is because it reminds him too much of his dead wife, who was a student there in her childhood.
Mrs. Murphy/Hélène
The boarding school cook.
- Adaptational Name Change: In the books and cartoons, her name is Mrs. Murphy. In the movie, she goes by her first name, Hélène.
- Adaptational Nationality: In the cartoons she's Irish, while in the movie she's French.
- Adaptation Personality Change: She's a minor character in the books and cartoons, just a generic housekeeper-cook. In the movie she becomes a more colorful Lad-ette.
- Sick Episode: In "Madeline at the Cooking School" she comes down with the flu, forcing Madeline and the girls to make lunch themselves for Lord Cucuface's visit. The results are unfortunate.
Film Characters
Fifi
This young girl is the film's deuteragonist, making her debut when Henri forces Madeline down into a secret lace factory that LaCroque owns. Fifi is part of a group of young girls that LaCroque kidnapped and enslaved to make lace for her shop.
- Boyish Short Hair: A dirty and unkempt one, though not by choice. She used to have long, flowing black hair, but after her enslavement, LaCroque had her locks forcibly cut to serve as base material for black lace, which LaCroque then sells as "priceless" luxury items to her more well-off customers. Months after being rescued, Fifi's hair grows back to its original length, now clean and tidy.
- Butt-Monkey: Oh, boy! Fifi gets hit hard! She coughs on the lace and Madame LaCroque blames her for it even though she clearly sees that Fifi is coughing. Madeline rushes to defend Fifi, but gets thrown into a jail cell for it.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: By helping Madeline thwart LaCroque and then cooperating with the Paris Police in securing the wicked woman's downfall, Fifi, along with the rest of the captured girls, is last seen living a healthier, happier life, no longer a slave and no longer ailing.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Parodied. She is actually one of Madeline's biggest allies in the film.
Heather
Madame LaCroque
This woman apparently started as a Can-can Dancer before an accident caused her dress to tear. Afterwards, she became a bitter businesswoman, forcing random innocent girls to make lace for her in a secret factory below the lace shop she owns.
- Bad Boss: A Benevolent Boss would provide proper care for his workers' needs.
- Big Bad: She is this in Madeline: Lost in Paris.
- Child Hater: She kidnaps kids just for revenge. Lampshaded by LaCroque herself.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Guess what Fifi gets for coughing, which is not her fault? She is forced to work with black lace, which would blind her. Also combined with Kick the Dog.
- Freudian Excuse: She became a miserly and exploitative person due to the public humiliation she had to go through in the past. Downplayed due to this being way too mild.
- Hate Sink: A greedy and cruel child slaver who doesn't have a single redeeming quality in her.
- Idiot Ball: She does not realize that Pepito is going to hit her with a shrunken head as she advances on Madeline. Because of this, Pepito gets his chance to strike the wig she is wearing, exposing her bald head.
- I Was Quite a Looker: She was rather pretty as a cabaret dancer, even earning the moniker La Jolie Fleur (The Pretty Flower).
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: She and Madeline see each other like this, but Madeline is the one in the right. Not only does LaCroque mock Fifi for coughing instead of helping her, but she punishes Madeline for defending Fifi.
- Kick the Dog: Combined with Disproportionate Retribution and Never My Fault. Fifi coughs on her lace when she is sick. Does LaCroque help her? Nope, she does the opposite: forcing her to work with black lace for coughing! Madeline is of course ticked at this.
- Never My Fault: See Disproportionate Retribution and Kick the Dog. Fifi's sickness was LaCroque's fault!
- Start of Darkness: Fifi tells a story that LaCroque started off as a can-can dancer but tore her dress and fell off the stage. LaCroque then started kidnapping girls and forcing them to make lace as revenge.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: She pulls this in the end.
Henri/"Uncle Horst"
A failed actor who now works for LaCroque. He posed as Madeline's long lost Uncle Horst from Vienna so as to abduct her and get her inheritance.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: As fans and viewers begin to wonder if this character is really who he says he is, Madelines's suspicions are confirmed when we soon discover that "Horst" is really "Henri", who is assigned by Madame LaCroque to kidnap sweet little innocent girls from around the world and use them for their own dirty work.
- The Dragon: Works for LaCroque.
- Long-Lost Relative: He posed as Madeline's long lost Uncle Horst from Vienna so as to kidnap her.
- Kick the Dog: More like, push Genevieve off the metro just before it departed so that no one can follow him and Madeline.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When he accidentally drops Madeline's suitcase on his foot, his Viennese accent disappears. LaCroque even says that his only talent was faking accents.
- Pet the Dog: Initially against Genevieve the dog accompanying him to Vienna, "Uncle Horst" only relents when Madeline threatens not to go. Of course, since this was a con, it doesn't last.
- Verbal Tic: As "Uncle Horst", he tacks ja at the end of his sentences.
