Characters / The Three Investigators The Investigators

The Three Investigators Main Character Index
The Three Investigators | Original Series | The Trio's Family | Crimebusters | German Extended Release

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The Three Investigators

"We Investigate Anything"

^{Click here to see their business card} 

A trio of juvenile detectives and the main characters of the The Three Investigators and Die Drei ??? book series.

Originally just a puzzle club, the Three Investigators is now an amateur detective agency based in Rocky Beach, a coastal town in California. They make it their mission to solve all sorts of mysteries and crime armed with their infallible deduction skills and teamwork.

In General

• Action Survivor: Depending on the circumstance, they absolutely become survivors, especially if they end up tangling with some very dangerous people and situations.
• Amateur Sleuth: Despite sticking their nose into crime, they are not part of a police force. Eventually, Chief Reynolds ends up giving them a badge that certifies them as Junior Volunteer Detectives, which allows them to taken more seriously.
• Best Friends: They are each other's best friends.
• Childhood Friends: It's unclear when the three boys exactly met (likely between the ages of five and ten), but they have been hanging out together at least since they were ten years old or younger.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: As decided amongst themselves, Jupiter is symbolized by a white question mark, Pete is symbolized by a blue one, and Bob uses green (red in the German version).
• Dub Name Change: The name of the group depends on which country the series has been released in. Most notably, they are known as 'Die Drei ???' or 'Die Drei Fragezeichen' (The Three Question Marks) in German.
• Everyone Knows Morse: All three boys know morse code and are fluent enough to be able to communicate through flashlights, smoke signals, and knocking.
• Free-Range Children: The investigators are free to explore the whole area of Rocky Beach, as long as they come home to dinner at time. Their parents are also pretty liberal with giving them permission to go camping or out of town (as long as they have an adult tagalong). When they got older, their parents are usually okay with letting them go around without too much permission and frequently go on trips, errands, and vacations on their own.
• Good Samaritans: All of the boys will go out of their way to help others in need. In fact, it's often their principle of the agency: they don't turn down anyone who asks for their help and never take any payment or reward.
• Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Despite the actual crime they've stopped, the Investigators are rarely, if ever, paid or even rewarded for their work. In fact, they legally can't be retained as licensed investigators because they're too young. The boys often have to work part-time jobs or help around and do chores at home to get enough funds they use to help them solve mysteries (ex. like a working phone line).
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: A trio of them, to be exact.
• Home Base: Their main base of operations is an old home trailer in the Jones' Scrapyard buried beneath a pile of junk. The trailer is equipped with its own dark room, a working phone, a laboratory, a periscope, and more. There are secret entrances like an old fridge or a loose board for the boys to enter unseen. It is an open secret to other kids, but completely secret tot he adults.
  • Starting in Crimebusters, the junk has been cleared away and the adults are now aware of the headquarters' existence. The boys even have to do chores around the junkyard in exchange for permission to keep their base there. The equipment inside has also been modernized with things like a computer, fax machine, a fridge and more. The boys now normally use the front entrance, but will use the secret entrances occasionally. However, in Feurmond the trailer gets buried in junk and is now hidden from plain sight again.
• I Know Karate: By Crimebusters, all three investigators know some form of martial arts. Both Pete and Bob know Karate (with Pete being a confirmed black belt) and Jupe knows some Judo. They are all three proficient enough that they can hold their own.
• I Will Find You: If one of them is missing or captured, you can bet the others will do everything they can to find them (even if there's only one left).
• In Harm's Way: The boys will eventually get restless if they don't have any mysteries to solve and will often seek them out if they can (especially Jupe). They have been in some outright traumatizing and dangerous situations during their cases, but by the end, they will are ready for another case. They literally can't ignore a mystery.
• Just a Kid: They were roughly 12-13 years old when they started their detective work, though age up to around 16-17 in Crimebusters and beyond. They're even younger in the 'Die Drei ??? Kids' spinoff, which pegs them at ten years old instead.
• Kid Detective: All of them are.
• Kid Hero: Being kids or teenagers does not stop them from solving dangerous crime and saving the day.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: They do this often, especially during the field work portion of their investigations, they are only three people after all. Usually, Jupiter and Peter are the ones doing the field work while Bob goes to research, but they may occasionally rotate roles and completely split up.
• Mystery Magnet: These guys literally can't go anywhere without running into one somehow. It probably helps that they are natural snoopers. They borderline being a Doom Magnet.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: While being kids (or teenagers) often hamper their investigations, they have their plus sides too. Because they're so young, adults often underestimate them as Just a Kid, but because they do, they let their guard down and the boys can siphon more information that adults would not otherwise tell another adult. Their favorite excuse is that they're doing research and interviewing for a school project and most adults won't think twice about it. Sometimes to really sell it, they play the role of Constantly Curious naïve kid.
• Ordinary High-School Student: Middle school students in the original series and High School students starting in Crimebusters, but they are just a trio of teenagers that play detective for fun.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: They were roughly between 12-13 years old in the original series and were aged up to 16-17 for Crimebusters and beyond to appeal to an older audience.
• Power Trio: Jupiter is the The Leader, Pete is The Lancer, and Bob is The Heart.
  • Big, Thin, Short Trio: Jupiter is big, Pete is thin, and Bob is short.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Jupiter has dark brown hair, Pete has auburn hair, and Bob is blonde. In the 2007 series, it's Bob who is the redhead while Pete is the Blonde and doesn't apply at all to the Erbe des Drachen, as they are all blonde.
  • Freudian Trio: With Jupiter being the Superego, Pete being the Id, and Bob being the one to balance them both with Ego.
• Public Secret Message: They have a lot of ways to communicate with each other without anyone else figuring out what they're saying. In the original series, as their headquarters is a secret, Jupiter will communicate to his colleagues with segmented phrases so much so that the adults are completely perplexed, but are still able to relay messages to each other.
  • In extended German release, they learned how to mimic a bird cry, specifically the rare red-bellied flycatcher, a bird that's not native to the States. The call is mundane enough that most people would not recognize the call, but distinct enough for the Investigators to regcognize it. This is used as sort of Covert Emergency Call, a way to signal to the others that something has gone wrong. However, if it's done twice in a row, it's a false alarm.
  • In in-person situations, making eye contact and rubbing the nose with a finger signals to whoever witnesses it that they 'want to get out of here'.
• Slogans: Their slogan is "We Investigate Anything".
  • In German it's "Wir übernehmen jeden Fall", which roughly translates to "We take on any case".
  • In Im Bann des Drachen, their slogan was translated to "我们援手一切家件", which means "We help everyone".
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The Investigators, while friendly with the police, are not officially affiliated with them. They are much more willing to bend some rules a little to get the job done.
• Sneaking Out at Night: They frequently do this to do their stakeouts.
• Took a Level in Badass: All of them got a badass upgrade starting in Crimebusters (with all of them learning how to drive and learning martial arts) and periodically get new skills as the series continued in the German release.
• True Companions: Comes with being both childhood and best friends with each other. They are all basically family and spend almost all their free time together.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Although they teased each other a lot as kids, it becomes more prominent after the time skip: Jupe about his weight or his strange dieting plans, Bob and penchant for 'collecting girls', and Pete for being a superstitious coward, and being a bit Book Dumb. But despite this, these guys will literally do anything for each other.

Jupiter Jones

"Nothing makes sense. Excellent."

^{Click here to see Jupiter as he appears in The Three Investigators Original series}  

^{Click here to see Jupiter as he appears in Crimebusters} 

^{Click here to see Jupiter as he appears in the 2007 Film Series} 

^{Click here to see Jupiter in Erbe des Drachen} 

^{Click here to see Jupiter as a child as he appears in Die Drei ??? Kids} 

Portrayed by: Chancellor Miller (2007 Film Series), Julius Weckauf (Erbe des Drachen)
Voiced by: Jannik Schümann (2007 Film Series German Voice over) Die Drei ??? Kids), Oliver Rohrbeck (Die Drei ??? Radio Plays)

A 'stocky' former child actor who acts as the leader and the First Investigator and one of the main protagonists of the series.

His parents died at a young age and hew as adopted by his Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus. He lives and works at his aunt and uncle's scrapyard in Rocky Beach, California. He used to be a child actor in a TV Show, playing a character name 'Baby Fatso', a time he wishes not to think about. An extremely intelligent individual, he will stop at nothing to solve a mystery.

• Action Survivor: As of now, Jupiter is the only one among his collegues to survive two gunshots: one time a book in his breastpocket blocked the bullet and the other time, the bullet had richochet off a rock and snagged his leg.
• Affectionate Nickname: Known as just 'Jupe' by his two best friends (in German, he is called 'Just' instead). He is also called 'First', referring to his role as the First Investigator. Bob and Pete will also call him 'boss' or 'cheif' from time to time. Rubbish-George calls him 'Chief Detective' and Cotta often dubs him 'Sherlock Holmes'.
  • In German, Peter sometimes calls Jupiter 'Pummel' (an affectionate word for 'chubby') or 'Pummelchen' (which is a cuter variant of the aforementioned word).
• Agent Scully: He (and Bob) is the Scully to Pete's Mulder. While Jupe doesn't deny that the paranormal or magic exist and never discounts those as theories, he usually has a more rational and logical explanation to strange happenings as opposed to Pete, who believes in most anything.
• Alliterative Name: Jupiter Jones. Also applies to his full German name: Justus Jupiter Jonas (yes, his middle name is Jupiter in the German version).
• Appearance Angst: Despite all the confidence and bravado he exudes, Jupiter can be quite sensitive about his appearance. It really begins in Crimebusters, where Jupiter attributes the way he looks to the reason why he can't get a girlfriend and he feels ashamed every time he does meet a pretty girl. One of the reasons he apparently broke up with Lys de Kirk is that he was 'too young and fat'. He has gotten much healthier as the series goes on, some stories saying that he had lost weight, but it's still a sore spot for him sometimes.
• Best Friend: Jupiter is best friends with Bob and Pete.
• Bat Deduction: Jupiter comes up with outlandish theories with little to no evidence, yet most of the time, he's completely right.
• Beneath the Mask: Jupiter likes to present himself as someone extremely confident and assured at what they do, but in reality he gets just as nervous and scared as his two friends. The reason he keeps up the façade is to give confidence to his friends in dire situations. If things really go bad, he can freeze up and not be able to do anything at all (like when he realized Pete didn't have a pulse after he was electrocuted). He mentions that Pete and Bob would kill him if they found out how unsure he really was with some of his deductions and decisions. Being a talented actor probably makes it easier to pretend.
• Big Eater: The main reason for his 'stocky' size.
• Bookworm: Apparently the reason why Jupiter loves speaking like a dictionary, he just loves reading books. Not only that, but he actually retains everything he reads.
• Celibate Eccentric Genius: At least, he tries to have this mindset. For most of Crimebusters, he insists that girls are only a distraction and gets annoyed at Peter and Bob for having events around them. He did get his own girlfriend and this mindset was relaxed a little, but after they broke up, he re-adopted this mindset. Despite Jupiter's efforts, he is still a teenage boy, so he still can't help but get crushes sometimes.
• Character Tic: Jupiter tends to pinch and knead his lip when he's deep in thought.
• Cool Bike: He doesn't have a car like Bob or Pete, but he does have a motorcycle. He doesn't use it often though, because Aunt Mathilda thinks it's too dangerous.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Although not usually brought up unless it's the focus of the book, Jupiter's parents died in a plane crash and he is known to have some hang ups about their deaths sometimes.
  • Amplified in the 2007 film series, where Jupiter has shown to have personal angst regarding his parents' death as they were supposedly murdered by Victor Hugenay.
• Delighting in Riddles: One of his favorite pastimes is to speak in the most cryptic way possible for no other reason than to show that he knows more than everyone or to tease his friends.
• Determinator: While all of them are determined to solve mysteries, Jupiter is definitely the most determined when it becomes to solving mysteries.
  "When there was a mystery to solve, Jupiter Jones was unstoppable. There was no point in arguing with him any further."

  - Feuerteufel
• Doppelgänger: He looks exactly like Ian Carow, a son of a political head.
• Dub Name Change: His name is 'Justus Jonas' in the German release.
• Distressed Dude: Quite a bit of times, but notably in "Mystery of the Deadly Double" he was mistaken for someone else and kidnapped. He also gets kidnapped in Feuriges Auge for a portion of the story.
• Embarrassing Nickname: 'Baby Fatso', which is the character he played during his short acting career as a child.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Basically happens once or twice a story, sometimes he comes to a realization on his own or something that Pete says; he is the brains of the group after all
• The Face: As the leader of the trio, Jupiter is often the one who does the most talking and is very good at it. His acting skills makes him great at bluffing and getting as much information as possible without the other party even knowing.
• Fearless Fool: Shows shades of this, especially when it comes to solving mysteries. Sometimes Jupiter will just go too far in attempt to attain information to solve the mystery, which often puts himself and his friends in trouble, whether legally or physically. Notably, he goes way too far during Der schwarze Madonna, despite even Bob telling him it's too dangerous, and gets arrested for breaking and entering.
• Figure It Out Yourself: He does this to his fellow detectives, though mostly to Peter, who could use some work on his deduction skills. He trusts Bob to be able to make observations and deductions, though will call him out on it occasionally if he doesn't.
• Gadgeteer Genius: He is the one making the many gadgets that the investigators use during their mysteries. From walkie-talkies to a working television, it's clear that Jupe is very skilled at putting things together. Helps that he lives in a Scrapyard.
• Guile Hero: As Jupiter put it himself, the only weapons he uses is his intellect and tends to sit back and let Pete (and sometimes Bob) do the physical work.
• Happily Adopted: By his Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus when he was young.
  When he told other people that his parents had died many years ago, they often reacted with a strange dismay that he himself could not really understand. Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus were his parents.
• Hyper-Awareness: Jupiter has trained himself to be highly aware of his surroundings, even mundane thing such as soft music playing in the background of a phone call.
• I Am Big Boned: Prefers to refer to himself as 'stocky' or 'husky' instead of being fat. He also gets annoyed when Pete and Bob poke fun at his weight.
• In Harm's Way: Out of the three, Jupe is the one prone to getting bored without mysteries. He arguably loves a good mystery more than anyone and if there's a lull in cases, he will often latch himself onto random suspicious happenings and turning them into a case. In fact, Jupiter gets disappointed if a mystery solves itself or gets solved too fast.
• Insufferable Genius: Jupiter is smart. He knows he's really smart. And he isn't afraid to let everyone around him know that. Peter and Bob are a frequent victim of his, especially when he decides to withhold information because he is still 'theorizing'.
• It Has Been an Honor: He says this word for word in Der Schatz im Bergsee to Bob and Pete when he thinks they might die from a plane crash.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: While sometimes he's bit to stoically logical for his own good, Jupiter is ultimately a nice person at heart and is always willing to help if he can. He also does like cats quite a bit and they seem to like him too.
• The Leader: He's unspoken the leader of the investigators. Apparently he chose himself for that role and while both Bob and Pete complain about it sometimes, they don't really want to be the leader either.
• Loves Secrecy: He likes to keep all his theories and conclusion to himself until the The Reveal at the end of the story, even to his fellow detectives. This annoys Peter and Bob to no end, but he explains that it's because he often isn't sure of his conclusion and would rather wait until he has all the pieces to share them.
• Master Actor: Being a former child actor (named 'Baby Fatso'), he is great at doing impressions and is inarguably the best actor among the trio. If there is some kind of undercover work, Jupe is your guy.
• Meaningful Name: While most people think of the planet Jupiter, which also coincides with Jupe being the "stockiest" of the three, Jupiter is also the chief Roman god which lines up with Jupe's status as the leader of the three.
• Mirror Character: He is the Sherlock Holmes to Victor Hugenay's Professor Moriaty. Both are very similar in a lot of ways: intelligent, great at mysteries, both are strategists, and would rather fight with words than violence; the only difference is that Hugenay is master thief and is like almost four times as old as him.
• Nerves of Steel: Jupiter is definitely the most courageous of the three and Pete says he has this word-for-word. It doesn't mean that he isn't afraid, but he isn't easily intimidated and pretty good at keeping his nerve despite how scared he is. The only times he really lets his fear show is if he believes that Bob or Pete are in genuine mortal danger.
• Mission Control: Jupiter prefers to be the mastermind behind something than doing the something himself. As a result, he often supervises or has this role while Peter and Bob do the more physical stuff.
• No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Jupiter enjoys a good hard mystery and becomes dissatisfied if it is solved too easily.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He and his fellow kid detectives are not afraid to use their youth to their advantage by playing the 'dumb naïve kid', but Jupiter tends to play this role the most often. His appearance often compliments this role.
• Official Couple: At the end of Crimebusters, Jupe gained a girlfriend named Lys and they dated for a while, but they canonically separated after she moved away to New York.
• Parental Abandonment: His parents died in either a car accident or plane crash when he was 3-5 years old (depending on the version).
• Photographic Memory: One of Jupiter's notable talents. He can recall anything he's seen or read despite seeing it only once. It had helped his short acting career and pays dividends in solving mysteries.
• Pride: Jupiter's Fatal Flaw. He confident and self assured, but that sometimes often or not trickled into pride. He likes to tease his friends by withholding information from them as he likes knowing more than anyone, which sometimes even causes fights between them. Both Peter and Bob have stated that they had gotten used to tolerating when Jupiter goes on his 'sermons' about his knowledge of a certain subject. Jupiter will know when to reign it in, especially if he's trying to siphon more information, but he really enjoys monologuing The Reveal at the end of the story.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the blue to Pete's red, though they sometimes swap colors when a mystery is involved and Peter get spooked. Jupiter becomes far more determined and more willing to break the rules than Peter is, who only likes to stay by the rules or out of the mystery entirely.
• Sadistic Choice: Mr. Grey proposes a scenario where both Pete and Bob was in danger and he could only save one of them. Jupiter initially refuses to decide that, but he ultimately decides to save Peter because he believed that Bob could save himself and that he wrongly assumed he needed Peter's skills when he saw the cliff.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The reason why the Investigators risk so much sometimes is because Jupiter is willing to disregard the rules or even the law to get the mystery solved and convict the criminal. This backfired on him in Der schwarze Madonna, where he did actually get caught for breaking-in and entering.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: It's a known fact that Jupiter Jones talks like a dictionary, to the point where adults barely understand him sometimes and strangers will ask if he always talks like that.
• Sherlock Scan: Practically part of his character, Jupiter can't help but analyze random people and coming up with theories of who they are and what they're doing, even on just passerbys.
• The Strategist: Jupiter is the one coming up with the incredible ways to catch their perpetrator red-handed. He is always three steps ahead of everyone else with a backup plan to boot. In fact, his plans are so intricate that he sometimes doesn't even tell Bob or Peter about it, trusting his judgement in their characters and reactions to react accordingly.
• The Smart Guy: Out of the three. Jupe's intelligence seems to outpace not only those his age, but adults too.
• Teen Genius: Most definitely one.
• We Need to Get Proof: Part of the reason why the boys get into trouble so often is that Jupiter decides that they need to get proof before contacting the police and casting guilt. He's usually right, but they land in some pretty hot water a lot of the time.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Seems to have deduction skills that would rival Sherlock Holmes himself, he is able to figure out things that adults couldn't even deduce.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets a brief one from Bob during 'Shoot the Works' when he was more worried about his totaled car than Pete (who driving it when it happened).

Peter Crenshaw

"I'm only ambitious. My ambition is to live until I am very, very old."

^{Click here to see Pete as he appears in The Three Investigators Original series}  

^{Click here to see Pete as he appears in Crimebusters} 

^{Click here to see Pete as he appears in the 2007 Film Series} 

^{Click here to see Pete in Erbe des Drachen} 

^{Click here to see Pete as a child as he appears in Die Drei ??? Kids} 

Portrayed by: Nick Price (2007 Film Series), Nevio Wendt (Erbe des Drachen)
Voiced by: Jens Wawrczeck (Die Drei ??? Radio Plays)

The Second Investigator and one of the main protagonists of the series.

An athlete who happens to have a desire for wanting to avoid danger, which never works out in their line of work. He is an active athlete at his school and loves to do all sorts of sports. He lives in Rocky Beach along with his father and mother. His full name is Peter Dustan Crenshaw.

• Action Survivor: While all the boys survive harrowing moments, Pete has arguably survived some really rough stuff. Not only did he survive two distinct plane crashes (and one involved him getting thrown from the plane upon the crash), he also survived several hostage situations, been kidnapped for an extended period of time on several different occasions. He has been left to bake alive in a car trunk, has been hit by a car, was shoved off a hotel balcony into a pool, fell off high places various times (with the result being hanging on or actually taking heavy fall damage), had his arm sliced open from loose wiring while falling down an elevator shaft, and ultimately, had to he resuscitated after he went into cardiac arrest via electrocution. On a meta level, he actually died from a gunshot wound in one of the drafts (which he avoided when the author reversed it).
  Pete: Sometimes, I'm like a cat. I have seven lives.
  Bob: Of which you have used at least four times now.

  - Pete literally after being resuscitated (Der Meister des Todes)
• Adaptation Deviation: A slight one. Peter in the radio plays generally tends to be more good natured, friendlier, and more hysterical than his novel counterpart, who comes off as more short tempered and self-centered. Radio play Pete still does argue with Jupe but it seems comes more from a place of genuine fear than anger. He also does not show any interest in pretty girls like he does in the books.
• Affectionate Nickname: Mostly known by his nickname 'Pete' (in the German version, however, he is just called 'Peter'). He is also called 'Second' by Jupiter and Bob, which refers to his status as the Second Investigator.
  • In German, Bob sometimes calls Peter, 'Peterchen' which is a more affectionate and 'cuter' way to say his name.
• Agent Mulder: Pete's the Mulder to both Jupe and Bob's Scully, both of whom tend to have more rational theories about strange happenings. Pete is always prone to believing in the supernatural, magic, aliens, and other mystical happenings over this two more logical friends.
• Ambiguously Gay: His radioplay interpretation. While novel Pete is firmly attracted to girls, in the radio play this attraction to girls is nonexistent. His girlfriend, Kelly, had been written out at some point, he instead shares more romantic interactions with Bob instead, even sharing a kiss in Der verschwundene Pilot (which did not happen in the novel). His dates with Kelly are instead hangouts with his very good friend, Jeffery, who is confirmed to be gay.
• Animal Lover: Peter loves animals and is quite good with them too. If there is an animal involved in the mystery, Pete is usually the one handling them.
• Audience Surrogate: Shares this role with Bob, though for him it's usually to explain Jupiter's Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness to the audience who may not understand.
• Best Friend: With both Jupiter and Bob.
• Berserk Button: Do not hurt his friends. Especially if your name happens to be Skinny Norris.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Pete is generally pretty polite and kind (though sometimes unintentionally insensitive), but if you wrong him or his friends, he can get notably vengeful. When the adrenaline really gets going, he can be notoriously reckless and aggressive, sometimes even violent.
• Big Brother Instinct: Pete seems to be really friendly and caring to very young kids. Shown best in Das Auge des Drachen where Pete bonds with Emily, a young six year old. Although slightly annoyed at her first (novel only), he becomes attached and even stares down a gun by putting himself in front of her. He also rescues and comforts a young Fiona in Das Phantom aus dem Meer.
  • On a meta note, author André Marx has always wanted Pete to have a younger sister (though unfortunately wouldn't work due to the timeline), which isn't surprisingly considering how he treats Emily and Fiona.
• Big Eater: He is the most likely to complain about being hungry, even though Jupiter is the real big eater out of the three. He does expend a lot of energy, so he eats a lot.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: He often pairs up with Bob in certain tasks or just hanging out, who is notably shorter than him.
• The Big Guy: At 190cm tall, he is the tallest out of the three and is decently muscular. If something physical needs to be done, it's usually Pete's job. He's strong enough that he was able to pedal a bike while Bob was sitting in the front and Jupiter hanged in the back.
• Book Dumb: He's not as academically intelligent as his two peers and has a tendency to suggest ghosts, magical happenings, or something dumb and silly as causes for a mystery. As Bob puts it: "Pete brings more muscle power than brain power to the group", but at he's pretty good at more outdoorsy type stuff.
• Brainless Beauty: Downplayed. Pete is said to be canonically quite handsome and has been mentioned that he could star as a model in magazines, but he doesn't have the smarts his two peers have. He's not completely brainless and was able to correctly make deductions and observations on his own, but compared to Jupe and Bob he does seem like he's more like one.
• The Charmer: Pops up from time to time. He's not as much of a ladies man as Bob, but he is shown to be pretty good at charming girls, Cotta has even stated he is a bit of a 'heart throb'.
• Clear My Name: Sometimes with a bit of Clear Their Name, Pete has had several plotlines about him surrounding this. In Der rote Rächer, he, Juptier, and Bob were accused of arson, in Skateboardfieber he was confused for an international spy and was even arrested by the secret service, and in Teufelsklippe, he was accused of murder. He also falsely confessed to robbing a jewelry store after he had gotten hypnotized in Im Haus des Henkers.
• Cool Car: Peter has a secondhand MG, a sports car. In Crimebusters, he has also owned several other cars, which he had fixed up and sold.
• Deadpan Snarker: He snarks almost as much as Bob, usually to Jupiter's comments.
• Determinator: Maybe he's not as strong-willed as Jupiter or Bob is, but when it comes to physical things, he is known to be incredibly resilient and disciplined in his physicals fitness. Pete is also pretty tolerant of physical pain and is known to withstand some pretty graphic injuries .
• Disney Death: He's appeared dead quite a number of times in the series, but most notably:
  • In Fußball-Teufel, he falls into an abyss after the floor beneath him collapses. Jupiter and Bob think he's dead until he signals with a bird cry a short while later.
  • In Der Meister Des Todes, he gets electrocuted in the pool when coming into contact with loose wiring in the pool lights. He goes into cardiac arrest, his heart having stopped beating and was no longer breathing. For a moment, it seemed like it was too late, but was able to be successfully resuscitated via CPR.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Really only prevalent in the novels, where Pete often finds himself liking pretty girls and sometimes even lets himself get distracted. This trait is completely absent in the radio plays.
• Distressed Dude: He's had his fair share of getting kidnapped and held hostage. The entire story of 'Die späte Rache' is centered around a man trying to exact revenge on him and imprisoning him for several days, Totensinel has him assaulted and accidentally sent to an island needing Jupiter and Bob to rescue him, and he is kidnapped again in Im Bann des Drachen prompting rescue. He needed to be resuscitated after going into cardiac arrest in Der Meister des Todes was also legitimately tortured by the Colorphonic in Phonophobia, which effectively Mind Rape-d him (though his memories of the incident also got wiped).
• Dub Name Change: His last name is 'Shaw' in the German release.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Most of his suggestions involve the supernatural, magic, or are straight up silly suggestions (much to Jupiter and Bob's chagrin), but occasionally he says things that allow Jupiter to have an epiphany.
• The Driver: Pete is usually the designated driver of the three, being the most skilled at it and has saved them from crashes multiple times.
• Extracurricular Enthusiast: Peter dips his toes in almost every single type of sport or physical activity he can. At his school, he is known as the ace for the basketball team, football team, track team, volleyball team, and more. In addition to the more classical sports, he also knows how to scuba dive, go sailing, free climb, rock climb, skateboard, and more. He also knows some essential things like wilderness survival and knows how to navigate just by looking at the sun. There's not a lot that Pete doesn't know how to do.
• Genre Savvy: Specifically: when things get spooky and there seems to be something related to supernatural, he will often describe or quote a horror movie.
• Face Your Fears: He is often goaded by Jupiter into doing things that absolutely terrify him.
• Freak Out: He tends to have one at least one per episode because of something dangerous, scary, or paranormal. Sometimes he needs Jupiter and Bob to calm him down. His worst freak out was during Die flüsternden Puppen when he encounters a large spider in the sink, which is honestly very warranted.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Despite his generally nice demeanor, Pete has a pretty quick temper, especially when you insult him or his friends, and once he's really mad, then even a gun won't faze him.
• Heroic Bystander: All the boys will jump in and help when someone calls for it, but Peter is the one usually running after a perpetrator, or his other favorite heroic move: jumping into shark-infested waters.
• Hidden Depths: On the surface he appears to be just a very cowardly Dumb Jock who comes off as irritatingly superstitious and prone to freaking out. He pushes back on cases so much it's a wonder that he even indulges in detective work at all, even claiming he had chosen the wrong hobby. But despite his complaining, he has never left the agency and was genuinely upset when he had to "leave" the trio during Die dreiTag. At times, he is shown to be just as invested as Jupiter and Bob in riddles and mysteries, after all he had been part of the puzzle club, the origin of their detective agency. He is known to have some of his own Eureka Moments and has been able to solve mysteries without the help of his smarter friends. Peter is also the most proficient out of the three with lockpicking, which is technically a form of puzzle solving. So actually, Peter is a pretty smart, he just seems "dumb" in comparison to his two friends who are bone fide smart guys, who often tease him for being a little Book Dumb.
  • Peter has wondered whether or not there was secretly a part of him who is a dare devil and actually enjoys the thrill of danger, which explains why he always lets himself easily get convinced by Jupiter to stay on cases and do dangerous tasks. It may also explain why Peter sometimes has sudden moments of bravery even without prompting.
• Hopeless with Tech: He is clueless about technology, has no idea how the internet works, and types with two fingers. He at least, knows how to play video games and use a phone.
• In the Blood: Mrs. Crenshaw, his mother, is a noted worrier, which is something Peter seems to have inherited. He also seemed to have inherited his paternal grandmother's superstition.
• I Thought Everyone Could Do That: It's revealed in 'Phonophobia - Sinfonie der Angst' that he has Synesthesia and can perceive sound, music, words, and numbers as colors. For all of his life he had assumed that everyone associated colors with sounds and was surprised to find out that not everyone could.
  Pete: For me, every number has a color, and somehow music does too. I thought everyone was like that!
• Jack of All Trades: And a Master of None, in regards to sports. Peter knows how to play all sorts of conventional and unconventional sports, but he isn't great at any of them. He's good enough that he's practically the ace at his high school in most sports, but Peter still pales in comparison to anyone who specializes in a singular sport. Peter's favored sport, however, is Basketball and has stated that he wants to focus more on that than any other sport.
• The Lancer: To Jupe's leadership. While Jupe is intelligent, logical, but not physically active, Pete is sporty, fit, and superstitious, but isn't as smart as him. He is also the main one to oppose Jupe's plans, especially if they involve danger and as a result, they quarrel a lot, leaving Bob to mediate. Despite this, Pete will ultimately have his friends back.
• Lovable Jock: Pete has often been described as a jock or a hunk, but he is very gentle and generally always very kind to the people he meets.
• Made of Iron: When Pete does get roughed up, he is pretty good at withstanding it. Notably, he has been thrown from a plane crash and survived with just some bruises and a case of shock, was able to lead his friends to safety and drive despite needing stitches after the fight with an amnesiac Bob in Der namenlose Gegner, and climb up a cave wall after surviving a long and hard fall in Verbrechen im Nichts, even able to walk on his own. In fact, he has several times opted not to go to the doctor despite the injuries because he rather deal with the pain than get in trouble with his parents.
  Aunt Mathilda: Good heavens! You look bad! Goodness gracious, you're even bleeding! This needs to be addressed immediately! Do you want Titus to drive you to the hospital?
  Peter: (one half of his body completely shredded in a biking accident) No, no, it's not that bad, Mrs. Jonas. I'm doing well!
• Master of Unlocking: Sometime after Crimebusters, Pete became very proficient at lockpicking and always carries around a set of tools to help him unlock most doors. He is skilled enough to be able to use all sorts of improvised tools too.
• Meaningful Name: "Peter" means "rock" or "stone", which suits Pete's role as the big, tough guy of the group. Fittingly, his middle name 'Dustan' also means 'rock'.
• Mind Rape: Has happened twice: once during the live show, Phonophobia, where it the result of being strapped to the Colorphonic and was tortured to complete the piece and another during Im Haus des Henker where Peter was psychologically broken so he could be mentally programmed to confess for a crime he didn't do.
• The Navigator: Pete is said to have a very good sense of direction, mainly because of his wilderness survival skills. He can tell the directions just by looking at the moon or sun.
• Nervous Wreck: Anytime something is remotely spooky or supernatural, you can bet Peter's nerves will go through the roof. He's a lot braver when it comes to physical feats, but any mention of a ghost and in Jupiter's words, he's useless for the rest of the day. He quite often gives in to his anxiety and fears, sometimes having a panic attack, but he can work through them most of the time, especially if it's to help out his friends, but is still a huge worrier he always needs some convincing to stay on the case.
• Official Couple: In the Crimebusters novels and beyond, he has a girlfriend named Kelly Madigan, though she was eventually written out of all German radio plays. Apparently though, they suffer from break ups and make ups often, as Kelly feels he spends too much time solving mysteries and doing sports.
  • In the radio plays, Kelly has been written out, leaving the relationship either ambiguous or completely non-existent.
• Parental Issues: He has some hang ups with his father in film, Erbe des Drachen, his father being so busy that he didn't show up for his track race and dismissing his concerns when he, Jupe, and Bob try bringing it up with him. He is also at odds with his father during Teufelsklippe, where he was accused of murder.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the red to Jupiter's blue, though Jupe is often more determined and more willing to break the rules than Peter, who likes to say safe and in accordance with the law.
• Revenge Before Reason: Only very occasionally. He sometimes gets extremely worked up, especially when others wrong him or his friends. As he put it, when the adrenaline gets going, he loses all sense of reason and becomes really reckless.
• Scars Are Forever: The four-inch gash he got in Spur ins Nicht is revealed to have scarred in Der Biss der Bestie.
• Ship Tease: With his girlfriend being nonexistent in the radio plays after being written out, he has had ship teases with both Bob and Jeffery. He straight up shares a kiss with Bob in Der verschollene Pilot and his previous dates with Kelly are instead hangouts with Jeffery instead.
• The So-Called Coward: Despite being the muscle and brawn of the group, Pete is arguably the most cautious and is the most likely to get caught up in his anxiety. He innately wants to avoid all types of danger and will openly complain when Jupe and Bob make him do the dangerous tasks and is notoriously superstitious. Despite his apparent cowardly nature, Pete is actually noticeably braver than he appears in face value. When things get dangerous, he is the first to react and will face them head on, even becoming dangerously reckless himself and can be notably vengeful. Even though his friends tease him for being a coward, Pete does not call himself one at all. In fact, both Jupe and Bob believes the reason why he so openly voices his fears and complains is because he is just trying to relieve tension.
  "But we won't it scare us off, will we, Jupe?" Bob said stoutly.
  "I will!" Pete decided. "Far off!"
  Jupiter and Bob smiled in the dark. They both knew such talk was just Pete's way of relieving tension. When it came time for action, it was usually Pete who was in the front.
• Stealth Expert: Out of these three kids anyway. Being the fastest and most athletic of them, Pete is simply the best suited of the investigators for sneaky tasks.
  "The Second Investigator was by far the most athletic of the three. He could run faster than Jupe or Bob; he could move stealthily, silently, on the balls of his feet."

  - The Mystery of Rogue's Reunion
• Tastes Like Purple: Phonophobia - Sinfonie der Angst reveals that Pete has Synesthesia, a fairly rare neurological condition where one sense triggers other senses. He perceives sounds, words, and numbers as colors.
• Undying Loyalty: One of his most notable traits. No matter how scared he gets and no matter how much he complains, he will always come through for his friends.
• The Watson: Shares this role with Bob, though Bob tends to ask the better questions than he does.
• Weak-Willed: Probably Pete's Fatal Flaw. He believes in anything he perceives as supernatural or magic and is easily influenced by things like curses or myths. Peter can get quite panicky and frets a lot over danger, needing Jupiter or Bob to calm him down. The only time this doesn't really apply is when things are seriously dangerous, which then he comes to the front to protect his friends.
  Jupiter: You know how Peter reacts to things like that. If [the Fortune Teller] prophesizes his impending doom, he's useless for the rest of the evening. He's pretty vulnerable when it comes to supernatural things.

  -Das scwartze Monster
  • In Im House des Henkers, it's played straight where his sensitive nature is exploited and he is hypnotized to making a False Confession to cover the real thieves.

Bob Andrews

"Play the field, that's the only way, right, Jupe?"

^{Click here to see Bob as he appears in The Three Investigators Original series}  

^{Click here to see Bob as he appears in Crimebusters} 

^{Click here to see Bob as he appears in the 2007 Film Series} 

^{Click here to see Bob in Erbe des Drachen} 

^{Click here to see Bob as a child as he appears in Die Drei ??? Kids} 

Portrayed by: Cameron Monaghan (2007 Film Series), Levi Brandl (Erbe des Drachen)
Voiced by: Andreas Fröhlich (Die Drei ??? Radio Plays)

The Third Investigator, a bookish fellow turned Casanova charmer who is in charge of taking notes and researching and one of the main protagonist of the series.

In the original series, he was a quiet boy who started out with a broken knee and was put into Records and Research as a result. He worked at the library. As he got older, he became a casanova who liked going on dates with girls and became much more involved in the arts, working at a rock talent agency. He lives with his mother and father in Rocky Beach, California. His real name is Robert Andrews.

• Affectionate Nickname: His first name is actually 'Robert', but he mostly goes by Bob. He was nicknamed 'Records' in the original series, but started being called 'Third' by the Extended German release.
  • Peter sometimes jokes and has called him 'Bobelle' or 'Babara'.
• Agent Scully: With Jupe to Pete's Mulder. He tends to have a more balanced point of view compared to the two, but tends to believe the more logical and mundane than the mystical and paranormal.
• Ambiguously Bi: His radio play interpretation comes off as this. His Casanova tendencies are downplayed and while he has shown attraction to girls, he also seems to have an interest in Pete. He adopts many of Kelly's lines after she had been written out and even shares a kiss with Peter in Der verschollene Pilot.
• Audience Surrogate: He's the one always asking the questions that needs to be asked. He is also the most 'generic' of the three boys without hyper-specific skills (Jupe has Sherlock Holmes level deduction skills and Pete is good at every sport imaginable). It probably helps that Robert Arthur based Bob off himself and a lot of the early works he favored writing in his perspective. As the series went on, Bob moved away from this, but still was the one who Jupe bounces ideas off of.
• Berserk Button: Bob often doesn't get mad, he's quite good at keeping his cool, but he does not like it when Pete teases him about Clarissa Franklin to him. After what she's done to him, it's not surprising at all.
• Best Friends: With both Pete and Jupiter.
  • When he lost his identity and became Stan Silver in Der namenlose Gegner, he was told that Skinny is his best friend instead.
• Bookworm: Comes with the role of being involved in research, Bob enjoys reading books. He also worked part-time at the library in the original series. He loses some of his bookworm-ish tendencies in Crimebusters, growing more outgoing and confident, but he still has a penchant for reading. He goes right back to being more bookworm-ish in the German extended release.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: He often hangs out with just Pete, who is significantly taller than him.
• The Casanova: His Crimebusters attitude is this. He dates as many girls as he hits on, though they never really develop into long-lasting relationships, but he likes it that way.
  Bob: (referring to Pete and Kelly) That, is why I don't let any girl make me go steady, no sir! Play the field, that's the only way, right, Jupe?
  • His casanova tendencies are downplayed in the German Extended release. Although he still shows some interest in girls, he isn't as gung ho about 'collecting' them in the modern German interpretations. In fact, it's usually Pete who shows more interest in girls than he does nowadays.
• Characterization Marches On: In the original series, he was a perceptive, shy, and quiet bookish boy who liked to read and worked part-time in a library. While just as daring as the other investigators, he sort of melted into the background. In the Crimebusters and beyond, he becomes a very popular, handsome heartthrob that every girl on Rocky Beach wants to hang out with and works for a Rock talent agency more than he works on cases these days. He still retains some of his bookish qualities, but gone is the shy, quiet kid and hello ladies.
• The Charmer: Has become quite the one in Crimebusters, especially to girls. He is also just pretty good at talking to people.
• Chick Magnet: Even when he's not really trying, Bob apparently just attracts girls to him.
• Constantly Curious: Part of the reason why he makes such a good researcher. He is naturally inquisitive and even without Jupiter asking him to research stuff, he will just research about things because he just likes to do it. His dream is apparently to become a journalist just like his father.
• Deadpan Snarker: Probably the one with the best snarks to combat Jupiter's smugness.
• Distressed Dude: Out of all the three, he definitely tends to fall into the hostage, kidnapped, or injured position often enough that it is even mentioned by Bob himself. In fact, there have been many books so far that have the line "...and then Bob disappears".
• Demoted to Extra: For much of the Crimebusters novels. He is extremely busy with his new job at the rock talent agency, which takes priority over detective work. Sometimes, he'll really only show up in a handful of scenes, often being subbed by characters like Kelly, Ty, or the guest character of that story. He becomes more relevant again in the German extended release because he wanted to focus on solving mysteries again.
• Genre Savvy: Similar to Pete, but he tends to have a more realistic interpretation and not just horror movie tropes.
• The Heart: He is the most emotionally perceptive and logically balanced of the three. Bob is usually the one trying to be optimistic and provides a calmer outlook when things go bad, doing his best to cheer up his friends. When Jupe and Pete fight, Bob is the one holding them together. He doesn't always like it, but if he didn't do it, no one would.
• In the Blood: His father is a journalist and Bob ended up inheriting a lot of his interest in research and curiosity. He also got his father's charm, which he uses as a reporter.
• Doing Research: His main role in the Three Investigators in the original series. He stops doing it for a bit in Crimebusters, as he is too often busy with his job and wanted to step away from research, he eventually returns to this role in the German extended release, though Jupiter also shares this role sometimes. Bob is known to be pretty good at it, if anything needs to be found, it will be found.
• Loss of Identity: Bob completely loses his identity in Der namenlose Gegner and was fed a false one by Skinny Norris under the name 'Stan Silver'. He even beat Peter up before he retained after another hit on the head.
• Made of Iron: You'd think with how many head injuries he gets, there would be some lasting damage. But Bob usually gets out of it with a little dizziness and bump on the head, ready to continue the investigation.
• Mission Control: At the beginning of the original series, he will often be relegated to this role because he had to wear a brace after badly breaking his leg. Once he heals from it however, he joins up with the Jupiter and Pete on the physical stuff.
• Mr. Exposition: Oftentimes, Jupe will ask him to read into stuff and then he'll come back with several pages worth of history and whatnot to give background to a case.
• Official Couple: Originally with Elizabeth, but then they broke up. Now he has had romantic interactions with Jelena and Lesley.
• Only Sane Man: Depending on the situation, he becomes this for different reasons. Jupiter has a tendency to dip his toes into being a Fearless Fool who will is absolutely determined to solve a mystery at all costs despite breaking the law or the danger and Peter is weak hearted and superstitious who is unwilling to put himself in any time of danger, sometimes at the pretense of ghosts. Between these two, Bob has the most balanced outlook and will call both Jupiter and Peter out if they lean too far into their extremes.
• Ridiculously Average Guy: Out of his two peers (Jupiter is 'stocky' while Pete is noticeably tall), Bob doesn't particularly stand out from your average American kid. In fact, it comes in handy once in a while for some undercover work. He grows out of this by Crimebusters, where he's noted to be quite lean and handsome and quite the ladies' man. Despite his evolved appearance, his name is still painfully average.
• Ship Tease: With Pete in the radio plays. Bob taking on some of Kelly's lines, it does feel this way. Especially since they have officially kissed in the radio play version of Der verschollene Pilot.
• The Short Guy with Glasses: In the original series, he is the shortest and smallest of the trio. And he is usually portrayed wearing glasses too. He ages out of the glasses out of this in Crimebusters, having swapped to using contact lenses, but is still the shortest of the three and will occasionally use his glasses if his contacts aren't working out.
• The Smart Guy: While Jupiter is the brains, Bob is pretty intelligent on his own. In fact, he's probably the only other person in the world who can keep up with what Jupiter says without needing things broken down to him. While Jupiter expects that Peter may not understand, he has confidence that Bob will.
• Tap on the Head: You can say it's not a real Three Investigators story if Bob Andrews doesn't get ambushed by the perpetrator and hit in the head. While his injuries aren't as graphic as Peter's usually are, he does get bonked way more often.
• Throwing Off the Disability: For an early portion of the original series, Bob had to sit out of most physical work due badly breaking his leg in an accident, having to wear a leg brace for several books. Eventually, his leg fully heals and he is able to participate in the physical fun.
• Troll: All the boys love to engage in banter, but Bob especially loves to really troll his friends. Notably, he likes to scare Peter with spooks and ghosts when the situation matches up.
• Ventriloquism: Bob had picked up the skill during a variety class at school. He's not perfect, but is quite decent at it. Becomes quite relevant during Geheimnis des Bauchredners.
• The Watson: Technically shares this role with Pete to Jupe's Sherlock Holmes, but he tends to ask the better and more thoughtful questions than he does.