The characters of the television series The Backyardigans:
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As A Whole
- Aerith and Bob: Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin all have normal names, while Uniqua is the Odd Name Out.
- Color-Coded Characters: Pink for Uniqua, Blue for Pablo, Orange for Tyrone, Yellow for Tasha, and Purple for Austin.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble:
- Sanguine — Uniqua and Pablo
- Choleric — Tasha
- Melancholic — Austin
- Phlegmatic — Tyrone
- This isn't constant. Tyrone is choleric (the exact opposite of phlegmatic) in a lot of season 2 episodes, while Pablo is melancholic (the exact opposite of sanguine) in a lot of season 3 episodes.
- Heel–Face Turn: Whenever there's a story that has one of the kids playing the villain, they reform at the end of the episode. Justified because all the characters are friends in the real world and it's just a game they're playing.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: In-Universe, all of the Backyardigans are good kids, but if one of their games requires somebody to be a villain, whoever takes that role will milk it for all it's worth.
- Mr. Imagination: Practically a requirement to be a Backyardigan.
- Mixed Animal Species Team: The main group consists of a unique creature, a penguin, a moose, a hippo, and kangaroo.
- Nice Guy: They're all genuinely nice kids, even whenever they play the villain.
- True Companions: They all love and respect each other.
- Two Girls to a Team: Uniqua and Tasha are the only girls in this group.
- Vague Age: Their ages are not specified, though they look like they're around 5-7 years old.
Uniqua
Voiced by: LaShawn Tináh Jefferies (US English), Lizzie Waterworth (UK English), Annie Rojas (Latin American Spanish)
Singing voice: Jamia Simone Nash (seasons 1–3), Avion Baker (season 4)
Singing voice: Jamia Simone Nash (seasons 1–3), Avion Baker (season 4)
Uniqua is a one-of-a-kind, unique creature (hence her name). She is energetic and positive, but rather stubborn. She is the only character who appears in every episode, as well as the only Backyardigan who is not a real animal. She is the main protagonist of the series.
- Action Girl: She can be just as tough as the guys.
- A Dog Named "Dog": According to her official bio,
her species is called "the uniqua." - Author Avatar: Janice Burgess based Uniqua on her childhood self. She is also the only black girl in the group.
- Beta Bitch: Often plays this whenever she sides with Tasha.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The gentle girl to Austin's brooding boy.
- Cartoon Creature: Her species name is called "uniqua" and she doesn't seem to be any kind of real creature.
- Determinator: This is both her greatest strength and her biggest flaw. Uniqua has a tendency to push forward in the face of problems and she often encourages her friends to not give up, but this often leads to her being very stubborn.
- Ding-Dong-Ditch Distraction: While she never did this in the series, her page on the Nick Jr. wiki describes her as "the kid most likely to ring the doorbell and run away".
- Dub Name Change:
- Victoria in French.
- Unika in Norwegian and Russian.
- Uniki in Japanese.
- Żabusia in Polish.
- Michaela in Hebrew.
- Joana in European Portuguese.
- Čudance in Serbian.
- Genki Girl: Uniqua has a cheerful, energetic, and lovable personality, and she's often the character to come up with new ideas for The Backyardigans' adventures. Heck, this is especially common in the first season, like in "The Yeti", "Knights Are Brave and Strong", Monster Detectives" and "High Tea". This is also helped by the Japanese dub, where in a few episodes she says the word "genki" after introducing herself.
- Ghetto Name: Her name sounds a little "ghetto".
- The Leader: She is widely considered the leader of the group due to her being the only character to appear in every episode.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is Uniqua. She certainly is a unique creature that's for sure.
- Non-Ironic Clown: She, Pablo and Austin are these in "Best Clowns in Town".
- Nude-Colored Clothes: Her overalls are the exact shades of pink that are on her skin.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The Pink Girl to Pablo's Blue Boy.
- Pink Means Feminine: She's pink with darker pink spots. The feminine part is downplayed; she’s as likely to play a princess role as Tasha, though Uniqua is slightly tomboyish and usually plays as gender-neutral roles.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: She is often the excitable Red Oni to Tasha's more practical Blue Oni, though they have switched roles just as often.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The energetic girl to Tyrone's savvy guy. This is especially common in the Season 1 episode "Monster Detectives".
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Tasha's Girly Girl.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Uniqua is pink all over and is just as likely to be a princess as Tasha is.
Pablo
Voiced by: Zach Tyler Eisen (season 1), Jake Goldberg (seasons 2–4)
Singing voice: Sean Curley
Singing voice: Sean Curley
Pablo is a blue penguin. He is very energetic (even moreso than Uniqua) and easily excited. However, he is also very neurotic and tends to have panic attacks. He is the secondary protagonist of the series.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: The little guy to Tyrone's big guy.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: With Tyrone and Austin.
- Blue Is Heroic: Generally ocean/royal blue.
- Character Development: The number of panic attacks Pablo suffers decreased after the first season, going from Once an Episode to only a few times per season.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Downplayed He's sometimes practical but can be slightly eccentric and strange with his thought processes, but that's how he rolls.
- Dub Name Change:
- Pinguś in Polish.
- Ido in Hebrew.
- Paulo in European Portuguese.
- Kljuca in Serbian.
- Freak Out: He's very prone to panic attacks.
- Freudian Trio: The id to Tyrone's ego and Austin's superego.
- Iconic Outfit: His propeller beanie.
- Just Like Robin Hood: He played as Robin Hood in "Robin Hood the Clean". Though unlike the legend, Pablo just wants to help clean people.
- Keet: Has a lot of energy to spare.
- The Lancer: When not acting as the protagonist of an adventure, Pablo often is the Hero's sidekick.
- Nervous Wreck: Pablo can be described as high-strung and frenetic and he frequently has panic attacks.
- Never Bareheaded: If Pablo's not wearing his iconic beanie, he's wearing a hat that's required for his role.
- Non-Ironic Clown: He, Uniqua and Austin are these in "Best Clowns in Town".
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The Blue Boy to Uniqua's Pink Girl.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The manly man to Tyrone's sensitive guy (with Austin in the middle).
- Series Mascot: He is the first character to appear in the intro and is used in most advertisements, despite Uniqua being the true protagonist and the only character to appear in every episode.
Tyrone
Voiced by: Reginald Davis Jr. (seasons 1–2), Jordan Coleman (seasons 2–3), Christopher Grant, Jr. (season 4), Maria Darling (UK), Shirly Lilu (Hebrew)
Singing voice: Corwin C. Tuggles (season 1), Leon Thomas III (seasons 2–3), Damani Roberts (season 3), Tyrel Jackson Williams (seasons 3–4)
Singing voice: Corwin C. Tuggles (season 1), Leon Thomas III (seasons 2–3), Damani Roberts (season 3), Tyrel Jackson Williams (seasons 3–4)
Tyrone is an orange moose calf. He is snarky and relaxed. However, as proven multiple times in Season Two, he has his limits. He is the tritagonist of the series.
- "Well, that certainly is convenient."
- Berserk Button: Downplayed. Tyrone doesn't go "berserk", but episodes like "The Yeti" and "To the Center of the Earth" show that Tyrone becomes highly annoyed when his opinion is ignored.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's usually the calmest of the five, but when he's mad, he's scary.
- Big Fun: While he's typically the straight man, he does have his moments.
- The Big Guy: The biggest of the cast. Justified, as moose are quite large in real life.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: The big guy to Pablo's little guy.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: With Austin.
- Blue/Orange Contrast: Has orange skin and wears a blue (and red) sweater.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor, poor Tyrone. Shall we count the instances?
- "The Yeti": Gets roped into the girls' frozen north trek and has to play peacemaker between them the whole darn episode.
- "It's Great to Be a Ghost!": Is forced into the ghost game against his will, and gets the crap scared out of him the entire time. Did I mention that Pablo and Uniqua KNEW he was scared and yet made him do it anyway? He does get the last laugh on both them and Tasha when he disguises himself as a Bedsheet Ghost and uses it to scare all of them.
- "Monster Detectives": Has to put up with Uniqua being Too Dumb to Live, only to lose her to the Soccer Monster.
- "Special Delivery": Spends the entire episode scared out of his mind because he thinks the bikers were trying to tamper with the mail, which could very well get him fired.
- "International Super Spy": Has to put up with the Lady in Pink's bossiness.
- "Sinbad Sails Alone": Forced to put up with Pablo's antics.
- "Best Clowns in Town": Forced to put up with three clowns' antics, and just like in "It's Great to Be a Ghost!", they know they're bothering him. He ends up screaming "CLOWNS!" repeatedly throughout the episode whenever he gets really mad at them.
- "Who Goes There?": Forced to put up with the others' antics yet again, and this time he risks getting fired from the job he just got.
- "To the Center of the Earth", quite possibly the worst 'The writers hate Tyrone' episode. Loses his lucky penny, which he treasures, and forced to go on a ridiculously dragged-out mission to get it back. And each time they lose the penny again, he points out that he could have just walked over and picked it up, and everytime he gets ignored.
- "Match on Mt. Olympus": Becomes a Cosmic Plaything to the gods/goddesses.
- "Escape from Fairytale Village": Spends the entire episode running for his life because he thinks everyone wants to eat him.
- "Robot Rampage": First he gets grabbed by an out-of-control robot who's driving like a maniac. Once the robot drops him, he feels sick and dizzy. After that, he has to dress like a robot, which involves wearing roller skates. He can't skate for the life of him.
- "Attack of the 50 Foot Worman" He's a ground keeper and is obsessed with everything neat and organized, only to have it be messed up by Uniqua, Pablo, and the Worman's antics yet again.
- Captain Obvious: According to his page on the Nick Jr. wiki, being a deep thinker sometimes makes him a "master of the obvious".
- Character Catchphrase: As mentioned above, "That certainly is convenient".
- Character Development: Early episodes depict him as having a tendency to get nervous, but he gets over it pretty quickly. He also has trouble with any kind of skating, but fittingly improves in "The Magic Skateboard".
- Deadpan Snarker: Easily the snarkiest of the cast.
- Dub Name Change:
- Thèo in French.
- Anton in Norwegian.
- Łosiek in Polish.
- Yaron in Hebrew.
- Eugénio in European Portuguese.
- Telibor in Serbian.
- Tajronnote in multiple dubs.
- Freudian Trio: The ego to Pablo's id and Austin's superego.
- Hardboiled Detective: "Monster Detectives" has Tyrone as a non-nonsense detective helping Uniqua finding her soccer ball.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Tyrone only wears a red and blue striped shirt, yet somehow he always seems to put his hands in his pockets.
- Hidden Depths: Later episodes (for example, "To the Center of the Earth" and "Robot Rampage") imply he gets motion sickness. note
- Nice Guy: This (poor quality) video describes him as "the nicest little moose you ever met".
- Only Sane Man: There is a very good reason why he's the Deadpan Snarker.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The savvy guy to Uniqua's energetic girl.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive guy to Pablo's manly man (with Austin in the middle).
- Shown Their Work: Regarding his antlers. Only male moose have antlers, and they usually start growing when they're a year old. Someone did their research.
Tasha
Voiced by: Naelee Rae (US English, seasons 1–2), Gianna Bruzzese (US English, seasons 3–4), Maria Darling (UK English), Jannemien Cnossen (Dutch), Antonella Baldini (Italian), Kana Ueda (Japanese)
Singing voice: Kristin Danielle Klabunde (seasons 1–3), Gabriella Malek (seasons 3–4)
Singing voice: Kristin Danielle Klabunde (seasons 1–3), Gabriella Malek (seasons 3–4)
"Oh, for goodness' sakes!"
Tasha is a yellow hippo. She is strong-willed and a bit bossy, but she has a soft side as well. Tasha doesn't appear as often as the trio listed above.
- Alpha Bitch: Often plays this role.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: A yellow hippo.
- Character Catchphrase: As noted above, "Oh For Goodness Sakes!", usually when she's frustrated.
- Character Development: Tasha was considerably bossy in the first season, but she mellows out throughout the series.
- Dub Name Change:
- Flora in Norwegian.
- Hipcia in Polish.
- Dana in Hebrew.
- Nilka in Serbian.
- Ticha in European Portuguese.
- Girly Bruiser: She's just as much of an Action Girl as Uniqua.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: While Tasha is the most feminine of the main cast, she is willing to get dirty if a role requires it. For example, she was the head of the Do-Gooder biker gang in "Special Delivery".
- Iconic Outfit: Her red Mary Janes, to the point where she is only shown with any other footwear if it's absolutely necessary.
- Jerk Witha Heart Of Gold: Downplayed Tasha is a nice girl, but she's a my-way-or-the-highway- kind of hippo who can be pretty bossy. Still, she can also be just as giggly and playful as any of her backyard friends.
- Nice Girl: She becomes less strong-minded in the later seasons.
- The One Who Wears Shoes: She is the only Backyardigan to consistently wear shoes.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: She is typically the practical Blue Oni to Uniqua's excitable Red Oni.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Uniqua's Tomboy.
Austin
Voiced by: Jonah Bobo (US English), Lizzie Waterworth (UK English)
Singing voice: Thomas Sharkey (seasons 1–3), Nicholas Barasch (season 4)
Singing voice: Thomas Sharkey (seasons 1–3), Nicholas Barasch (season 4)
Austin is a purple joey. He is very shy (even having a song about it in "Castaways"), but finally blossoms in later seasons. Due to appearing less than the trio and Tasha, he is simply listed as a main character.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: A purple kangaroo. Interestingly, he's the only one of the group whose coloring occasionally changes for his role: red in "Who Goes There?", pale blue in "The Funnyman Bogeyman", and olive green in "Tale of the Mighty Knights" (though his character is inexplicably the usual purple in the Sequel Episode, "The Tale of the Not-So-Nice Dragon".
- Big Good: If Austin's not playing a protagonist, a supporting character, or a villain, chances are he's playing this.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: The thin to Tyrone's big and Pablo's short.
- Break the Cutie: In "Race Around the World" when he keeps coming last in the race.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The brooding boy to Uniqua's gentle girl.
- Character Development: Austin is much more open with his friends during later seasons than he was at the beginning, and becomes more prone to mischief and joking around, as seen with the Grabbing Goblin in "The Tale of the Mighty Knights" and the titular Boogeyman from "The Funnyman Boogeyman."
- Cute Mute: As Austin the Clown in "The Best Clowns in Town," he only communicates with his horn or other props (think Harpo Marx) until he breaks character at the end of the episode.
- Dub Name Change:
- August in Norwegian.
- Kanguś in Polish.
- Yoni in Hebrew.
- Afonso in European Portuguese.
- Skoča in Serbian.
- Freudian Trio: The superego to Pablo's id and Tyrone's ego.
- Non-Ironic Clown: He, Pablo and Uniqua are these in "Best Clowns in Town".
- Nonstandard Character Design: Of the three boys, he's the only one to be fully-clothed (even if barefoot), and in Season 1, his character model has smaller hands and longer fingers.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Austin moves like a ballerino, and his motion capture was performed by a woman.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He is in the middle of Pablo's manly man and Tyrone's sensitive guy (he plays either Pablo's manly man or Tyrone's sensitive guy).
- Shrinking Violet: Austin was pretty shy during the first season
since he had recently moved into the neighborhood and didn't know the other kids too well yet. He comes out of his shell during the later seasons. - The Smart Guy: Usually plays these roles, mostly as a Gadgeteer Genius or Mission Control.
