Phoebe Grizelda Howell
An imaginative nine year-old girl, and one of the main characters of the strip.
- Childish Tooth Gap: She has a noticeable missing tooth that is most visible when she smiles.
- Creepy Child: Every now and then, and always Played for Laughs. A good example is when she accidentally cuts off a paper Santa Claus' head during an arts and crafts project, then says the reason she did it is because "he asked too many questions".
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Grizelda.
- Gamer Chick: A Downplayed example, as she enjoys video games, but it's never treated as especially remarkable as it often is in other examples of the trope.
- Little Professor Dialogue: Has been known to use words as big as "appalling" or "semi-autobiographical".
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: She remained nine years old until the strip's tenth anniversary in 2022, when she turned ten.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Downplayed. She goes barefoot more often than most (human) cartoon characters, but not excessively often.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: Lampshaded when a girl doesn't recognize her with her hair down. "I'm not a cartoon character."
- Youthful Freckles: To the extent that they are one of her defining features, at least according to Marigold (the others being weird hooves and a lack of horn). When Marigold bestows an official unicorn name on Phoebe
, it is Speckleface Spiderhooves, which she reluctantly prefers to the alternative, Hornless Ape Child.
Marigold Heavenly Nostrils
A narcissistic but kind-hearted unicorn, and Phoebe's best friend. The other main character of the strip.
- All Animals Are Dogs: Played with in that she often displays catlike traits, including purring.
- Bad Liar: Like all unicorns, as she explains to Phoebe. She also says this is the reason for her frequent self-praise: "For unicorns, bragging is the highest form of truth."
- Blunt Metaphors Trauma: Often misunderstands human expressions. Overlaps with Literal-Minded.
- Can't Argue with Elves: Usually right, for no reason other than being a unicorn.
- Catchphrase: "Unicorn!" Usually said as an explanation for how/why she does the various magical or impressive feats she pulls off.
- Creepy Child: As a little filly she used to sell minor curses to other unicorns for 5 uni-cents.
- Disapproving Look: She claims that "Unicorns can scare away clouds with a very stern look", but doesn't use that power often because she doesn't want her face to get stuck like that.
- Goth: For her, it was a phase she went through decades ago, and she's embarrassed when a rival unicorn brings up a web page she made during that era.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Marigold thinks a Triceratops with its three horns is — ostentatious.
- I Dub Thee Sir Knight: Gives her best friend Phoebe an honorific unicorn name she made up personally to suit her: "Speckleface Spiderhooves".
- Informed Attractiveness: When she lowers the Shield Of Boringness, the rapt fascination of humans is the sign of her good looks.
- It's All About Me: She's very self-centered and convinced she's the most important thing in the universe. It's not that she doesn't care about others, it's more that she usually cares about them in relation to herself. However, this is starting to change because of her relationship with Phoebe.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may be narcissistic, but she does appreciate Phoebe's friendship.
- Large Ham: Often talks using Bold Inflation.
- Light Is Good: She is a pure white unicorn, and self-centeredness aside, a good person at heart and a true friend to Phoebe.
- Narcissist: A huge part of her character, to the extent that looking at her reflection causes her to get trapped watching her elegance.
- Proud Beauty: Very much so. Expect a daily lecture from her on how beautiful she is.
- Really 700 Years Old: Claims to have seen "oceans become deserts become forests".
- Self-Deprecation: She's aware enough of her own narcissism to make fun of it, as shown by this strip, in which she happily admits to having a "massive ego".
- Spock Speak: She has a semi-formal speaking style with an utter lack of contractions. When called on it, she admits she likes to talk fancy.
- Weirdness Censor: Uses a "Shield of Boringness" to prevent people from noticing her.
Ethan and Emily Howell
Phoebe's laid-back, somewhat geeky parents. Ethan is a systems administrator, Emily is a painter, and they both enjoy video games.
- Deadpan Snarker: Ethan is good-natured kind. Usually his snarky side shows up when Phoebe is being unreasonable or wants to do something she's not allowed to.
- Good Parents: They are very kind and understanding with their daughter, never raising their voices to her and allowing her to be her quirky self — but they're not afraid of setting limits either. The creator has stated she deliberately wrote them as an aversion of the type of parents you see in many other comic strips:Dana Simpson: Comic strip parents seemed like they stepped out of the '50s. I don't have kids. But I try to think what it would be like if people like me, the band geeks, had kids. I don't want the parents to be like those in Calvin and Hobbes, where they fight all the time.
- Happily Married: They tease each other from time to time, but they love each other very much.
- Parental Obliviousness: Completely averted. They're fairly involved in their daughter's life and are fully aware that she has a unicorn best friend from the start. It helps that they get eased into it by Marigold gradually lowering her Shield of Boringness around them.
Dakota Reed
A classmate of Pheobe's. She's introduced as an arrogant Jerkass who becomes Phoebe's enemy, but they eventually learn to get along... more or less.
- Alpha Bitch: And frequently made use of it to make Phoebe's life miserable.
- Evil Redhead: Downplayed in that she's not outright evil, but she is an Alpha Bitch and has noticeably long and curly red hair.
- Frenemy: How Phoebe describes their relationship after it evolves.
- It's All About Me: She starts out as relentlessly self-centered, believing herself to be the coolest kid around. She gradually evolves into a Jerk with a Heart of Gold as the strip progresses.
- Lack of Empathy: At least until she reads an autobiographical novel written by Engleblart the goblin and comes to identify with his Author Avatar. This leads to more Character Development, but the process is not pretty.Dakota: If goblins have, like, complicated inner lives, then everybody does. Do you know what that means?
Phoebe: You have to be nice to everyone?
Dakota: This is the worst day of my life. - Large Ham: When auditioning for the play.
- Odd Friendship: She makes friends with Blartholomew the goblin, causing a little bit of Character Development.
- Prehensile Hair: Once she gets the magical kind. For a while her hair actually becomes sentient, to the point of being able to make threats — at one point it writes Dakota a note, telling her to buy more expensive shampoo, or else. (Marigold assures her that "magic hair is always making empty threats.")
Max
A nerdy male classmate of Phoebe's who is not only her closest friend outside of Marigold, but also her closest human friend.- Deadpan Snarker: Lampshaded here. Word of God is that he's based on the same person as Ozy.
- Smart People Play Chess: In a september 2019 arc, he was able to beat Phoebe at chess even when Marigold allowed Phoebe to use "unicorn rules" and thus give herself a mayor advantage.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: He's a brainy kid who wears glasses. The trope is Lampshaded by Phoebe when she borrows his glasses and ask if they make her look smart.Max: (looking at her without his glasses) Are smart people blurry?
Phoebe: (deadpan) A smart person would have said "yes".
Florence Unfortunate Nostrils
Marigold's sister- Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: As a filly, in a moment of wrath, she told Marigold that she looked "silly and non-regal" in her costume. Marigold, being Marigold, was cut to the quick, and Florence wasn't proud of herself either.Florence: I was more beast than unicorn.
- Meaningful Name: Spiders come out of her nose when she sneezes.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: She has a pink mane and is generally kinder, more perceptive, and less egotistical than her sister.
Sue
Phoebe's crazy bunkmate at music camp.
- Creepy Child: Like Phoebe, always played for laughs.
- Cute and Psycho: Casually tells Phoebe that she's glad she's not a clarinet player because then she doesn't have to kill her in a jealous rage if she was better than her.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: "I should warn you, I'm sorta weird."
Ringo
The camp's lake monster.
- Oblivious to Love: Doesn't grasp Marigold's crush on him.
- Stock Ness Monster: He gives off a Nessie-like vibe.
Queen Prunella von Blaart
Goblin queen.
Blartholomew
Dakota's goblin friend.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Responds to ill treatment by Dakota by eating her socks.
- Our Goblins Are Different: Like all goblins in this universe, he communicates by saying only "BLAART!"
Todd the Candy Dragon
A friend of Marigold's.
- Hidden Depths: When Phoebe and Marigold try to get Halloween candy from him, he insists that he's "a complex individual", not just "a candy dispenser".
- One-Word Vocabulary: Just like the goblins; in his case, all he ever says is "Rar". And as with the goblins, Marigold translates for him.
- Our Dragons Are Different: He breathes candy (with wrappers!) and can hork up ice-cream.
- Pooping Food: A variation, in that he vomits (or rather, breathes) candy.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted. His sclerae are red, but he's harmless.
- Shoulder-Sized Dragon: He's only the size of a macaw.
- Summoning Ritual: Played for Laughs. Marigold contacts him by using his "magical summoning words", which turn out to be "Get out here, stupid!!!"
Lord Splendid Humility
A unicorn that Marigold admires greatly because of his humility. He is in fact so humble that he never shows himself and spends most of his time hiding in bushes.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: The only part of him we ever see is his horn, poking out of whatever bush he's currently hiding in.
- Nice Guy: He's very friendly and thoughtful.
Voltina
A lightning dragon who first appears in The Magic Storm. She's friends with Max.- Canon Foreigner: Originally appeared in a graphic novel before becoming a recurring character in the comic strip.
- Drowning My Sorrows: She inadvertently causes a power outage in The Magic Storm by snacking on the town's electricity in a bout of depression.
- Non-Standard Character Design: While the other characters are drawn in normal color with black outlines, she is light blue with white outlines.
- Our Dragons Are Different: A dragon made of magical lightning.
- Shock and Awe: She has power over electricity.
Aurora and Fawn
Dakota's sunbathing companions.
Infernus, the Unicorn of Death
A young cousin of Marigold. Neigh go by "Ferny" as a nickname.
- Deathbringer the Adorable: "Infernus, the Unicorn of Death," screams Names To Run Away From Very Fast, yet neigh're a cute foal whose name is often substituted by the much less threatening "Ferny."
- Interspecies Romance: Neigh has a crush on Phoebe, according to Marigold.
- Pronoun Trouble: Subverted, as neigh go by the standard Unicornese pronoun.
- Puppy Love: Ferny is interested in Phoebe, which she does not seem to mind. Marigold finds it cute.
- Really 700 Years Old: Described as "younger than the forest's median-aged tree," which makes neigh about the same age as Phoebe in unicorn terms.
