The Alvin Show
Clyde Crashcup is a scientist, though he’s primarily an inventor rather than a researcher, whose experiments invariably fail. He typically would invent something by taking a pencil out of his lab coat's pocket and drawing a picture in midair of his conception: the picture would then become the actual object.
- Bungling Inventor. Especially given that he is always Reinventing The Wheel (no, the trope is something else)...
- The Cameo: Appears in Alvin’s dream during A Chipmunk Christmas as well as in an episode of the 80s/90s show.
- Catchphrase/Character Tic/Verbal Tic: Has the tendency to break down the name of his invention into its etonymic elements to explain his thought process.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Gag Nose
- Ink-Suit Actor: As drawn, Clyde Crashcup somewhat resembles the physical appearance of his voice actor, Shephard Menken
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine
- Large Ham
- Mad Scientist: Thinks of himself as this.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice is an impression of character actor, Richard Haydn.
- Too Dumb to Live: Has his moments like when he stood smack dab in the middle of two armies heading toward each other for battle. Fortunately, Alvin saves him.
- Verbal Tic: "I invented word. That's capital for capital and restofword for rest of word, word."
Clyde Crashcup’s short assistant, Leonardo doesn’t speak, only whispering into Clyde’s ear, informing him of his ideas. Leonardo frequently invents or perfects an invention whereas Clyde takes the credit from him, not to mention he’s usually emotionally displeased when Clyde insults his intelligence.
- Cross-Dressing Voice: Er, whispers actually.
- Cute Mute
- Eye Glasses
- Hidden Depths: Can play the harp and cello.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: He’s clearly much smarter than Clyde, but only occasionally corrects him on certain things, instead opting to let him make a fool of himself.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine
- The Napoleon
- Only One Name
- The Silent Bob
- The Unintelligible: Always whispers in Crashcup’s ear, even when across the room he STILL whispers.
As his name may suggest, Stanley’s an eagle who befriends the Chipmunks.
- Acrophobic Bird
- Nice Guy: Doesn’t mean any harm to anyone.
- No Social Skills: Tries singing with other birds in his last appearance (“Eagle Music”) but becomes an outcast.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Or at least by the name given by the Chipmunks.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In his first appearance, though the Chipmunks help him out with that.
Daisy Bell(e) is a girl who pesters the Chipmunks at times or tries to be friends with them. Appears in “Three Blind Mice,” “Sir Alvin” and “Bicycle Built for Two.”
- Bratty Half-Pint
- Disappeared Dad: Her mother’s seen onscreen toward the end of “Three Blind Mice” and is heard off screen in “Sir Alvin” but her father is never mentioned.
- Not Good with Rejection: Rides away upset from Theodore when she tries flirting with him, but the green-clad Chipmunk only notices her new bike. Upon receiving the same response with Simon, Daisy promptly destroys his erector set he was finishing up with her bike. Daisy then gets into an argument with Alvin when he comments on her bike instead of her.
- Tomboyish Ponytail
A fast talking short man in a tan trench coat, with only his nose visible in which he relies his decisions on by what smells and, combined with his carelessness, causes destruction. Sam Valiant’s quick to place blame on or con the person closest to them. Appears in “Sam Valiant, Private Nose,” “Sam Valiant: Real Estate” and “Dude Ranch.”
- Clueless Detective
- Cool Shades
- Determinator: Tries to have Dave use one of the songs he’s written when overhearing Dave’s attempting to create a western song while the latter and the Chipmunks are on vacation.
- Dreadful Musician: In "Dude Ranch", he tries to audition for Dave and the Chipmunks, singing for them whenever he sees them. The only one who seems to appreciate it is a howling coyote at the end of the cartoon.
- Gag Nose
- Motor Mouth: Whenever he's on screen, he almost never shuts up.
- The Napoleon
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Was a shady private investigator in his first appearance, a real estate agent in his next and hotel room clerk in his last appearance.
- The Nose Knows: Subverted, considering he’s always WAY off.
- Shady Real Estate Agent: Tries to sell Dave and the boys a rundown piece of property.
- Too Dumb to Live: Doesn’t realize he’s sinking in quicksand while showing the Chipmunks the "sand pile" but is pulled out by Dave in the nick of time.
A very annoying neighbor woman who’s the head of a group called ‘The Ladies of the Square’, who detests the Chipmunks’ music. Mrs. Frumpington can be seen as representing the ‘proper’ ladies and acceptable societal behavior. Appears in “Squares” and “Good Manners.”
- Accidental Misnaming: She never can get Dave or Alvin's name right, referring to them as "Mr. Sevoid" and "Calvin" respectively. She also calls Theodore "Theophilus" the first time she meets the Chipmunks.
- Large Ham
- Pretty in Mink: Wears a fur shawl when she first appears.
- Proper Lady: When Dave once complained to her about the boys' complete lack of manners, she volunteers to teach them suggesting that maybe they just need a woman's touch. It works a little too well.
- Butt-Monkey: Though not intentionally considering Dave and the Chipmunks don’t notice him until the very end.
- A Day in the Limelight: His onetime episode appearance focuses a little more on his exploits of trying to scare Dave and the Chipmunks from Chesley Estate.
- Evil Laugh: Does this before failing to scare Alvin.
- The Noseless: Well, he is a literal bed sheet ghost.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Being an actual bedsheet ghost not only qualifies but he's solid enough that Dave's able to pick him up and hold him, not to mention being able to fit into tight places like in a can.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: We do never learn what the ‘J’ and ‘P’ stand for . . .
- Third-Person Person: Refers to himself by "J. P.," sometimes adding "Lester."
A southern boy with a distinct southern accent, Chuck Wagon is Dave’s second cousin, twice removed on his father's side. Lacking self-confidence because everybody tells him he’s not good at anything, Chuck comes for a visit in hopes to find something he is good at and the Chipmunks help him. Appears in “Hillbilly Son.”
- Apologizes a Lot: Each time he fails a task given by the Chipmunks, even when he thinks his signing (which he is good at but can’t see it) is obtrusive.
- Book Dumb: Took a VERY long time just to read from a basic readers book that’s basically a brand x version of Dick and Jane.
- Clothing Damage: Though at the hem of his shirt and pants.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Tries to find something he is good at but fails to see he can sing country tunes to which he considers nothing special.
- The Eeyore: Poor guy lacks self-confidence because of everyone (minus Dave and the Chipmunks) telling him he can’t do anything.
- Genre Blindness / I Thought Everyone Could Do That: Thinks his country music and singing is nothing special, quite the contrary actually.
- Punny Name: A chuckwagon or chuck wagon is a type of wagon historically used to carry food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada.
Alvin and the Chipmunks/The Chipmunks
- Apron Matron: Because of her age, she has difficulty transitioning into a mother figure for the girls as she initially treats them as babies. Though she at first believes she isn't the best person to take care of The Chipettes, she grows to love and appreciate their company.
- The Cameo/The Faceless: Is only heard screaming “DAAAAAVVVVIIIIIID!!!” on the phone in Meet the Wolfman because Alvin scared the Chipettes to death and they ran all the way to their house in panic.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Sometimes has strong traces of this, especially in A Chipmunk Adventure. In the episode "Goin’ Down to Dixie" not only she forget the girls on the sidewalk to drive to the airport, but she also forgot to buy tickets. Though this trait considerably toned down in later seasons as she becomes established as the parental figure for the Chipettes.
- Demoted to Extra: She appears in only a handful of episodes in ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (because the Chipettes live in their home on the tree next to Dave's house).
- Drives Like Crazy: Miss Miller is shown to be dangerous in a car and the boys are usually terrified by her driving. She is seen in multiple episodes speeding, swerving across the road, and hitting objects such as fire hydrants and light poles. Her flying isn't much better.
- The Gambling Addict: In one episode, though she gets better.
- I Was Quite a Looker: A few flashbacks show that was a beauty girl in the past.
- The Klutz: She makes Jeanette look well-coordinated and graceful.
- Spanner in the Works: It's thanks to her running the Furschteins' car off the road (while on the way to pick up Dave from the airport) in The Chipmunk Adventure that Klaus and Claudia are finally apprehended at the end.
- Team Mom
A kind, good natured anthropomorphic chipmunk, Vinny is Alvin, Simon and Theodore’s biological mother who left her babies with Dave Seville because he was nice to the forest animals, because she realized that her boys wouldn't survive the journey if she brought them with her when all the animals in the forest were forced to abandon their homes due to a horrible winter storm. When spring came, Vinny finally returned to get them but she saw how happy they were with Dave, and thought they would be better off with him. Appears in “A Chipmunk Reunion” and “Vinny’s Visit.”
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: As single mother, she reveals to her sons note that she left them on Dave's doorstep because she genuinely couldn't support all four of them in a particularly snowy and cold winter. At one point, she did try to get them but after seeing how happy they were with Dave, she decides to leave them to their "new life".
- Fish out of Water: When she comes to visit the boys in the city where to brought her animal friends with her, much to Dave's chagrin, and causes trouble in the process like buying a lot of stuff.
- Granola Girl: A mild example.
- In the Hood: In her first appearance (when she first leaves her boys on Dave's doorstep in the flashback), she wears a hood which hides her face and doesn't speak.
- Missing Mom: For the Chipmunks.
- Only One Name
- Trademark Favorite Food: Her favorite soup is acorn soup.
Both
In their first two appearances, they were farmers living in fictional South Spoon Ranch. Though in their last, they lived just a couple blocks from Dave’s school whereas Grandpa Seville is an accountant and Grandma Seville is possibly a typical housewife.
- The Cameo: Both appear in “Merry Christmas, Mr. Carrol.”
- Cloudcuckoolander: In their first appearances.
- Hey, You!: They are even referred to as ‘grandpa’ and ‘grandma’ by each other!
- Nice Guy/Nice Girl Or at least subverted for Grandpa Seville in his last appearance.
- No Name Given
- Series Continuity Error: Farmers in their first two appearances, but Grandpa’s become an accountant and Grandma’s possibly a housewife in their last.
Grandma Seville
She appears as the typical grandmotherly figure with her hair in a bun in “Grandma and Grandpa Seville,” and “How You Gonna Keep ‘Em down on the Farm?,” not to mention being about a head shorter than her husband. Though, in “Back to Dave’s Future,” she appears taller, hair in a fifties fashion and her face is longer. Then in her cameo in “Merry Christmas, Mr. Carrol,” she’s back to her granny classic look but pudgier.- Apron Matron
- Granny Classic: In her first two appearances and in her “Merry Christmas Mr. Carrol” cameo anyways.
- Housewife: Possibly this in her last appearance.
Grandpa Seville
In “Grandma and Grandpa Seville,” and “How You Gonna Keep ‘Em down on the Farm?,” Grandpa Seville is a tall, lanky man with a full head of hair brushed to one side as well as a bent posture and wears a pair of blue-jean dungarees over his top. In his last appearance “Back to Dave’s Future,” however, he appears to have gained a lot of weight in his belly, seems to be losing his hair considering there’s little left on top his head and wears a business suit. Though when he appears in “Merry Christmas, Mr. Carrol,” he’s back to being to how he appears in his first two appearances.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Wanted Dave to be an accountant in his last appearance.
- Ink-Suit Actor: His first two appearances is essentially an animated Alan Young though with a bent posture.
Harry’s a charlatan anthropomorphic scruffy chipmunk who claims to be the Chipmunks’ long lost uncle in hopes to pay off a debt by convincing the boys to work with him to raise money so that they can visit their mother. Overall, Harry uses similar schemes throughout the series to try and get the Chipmunks (as well as Chipettes) to work for him so he can steal their earnings but always seems to backfire. Appears in “Uncle Harry,” “Lights, Camera, Alvin,” “Santa Harry” and “A Little Worm in the Big Apple.”
- The Antagonist: The main one for the Chipmunks during the early series.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Is doomed to fail in his schemes when he crosses the Chipmunks, although he successfully scammed the Chipettes . . . but that doesn’t mean the Chipmunks aren’t gonna do anything about it.
- Con Man: In every episode with him, he uses schemes to try and get The Chipmunks and The Chipettes to work for him so that he can steal their earnings; however, he never succeeds in actually stealing from either group in any of these episodes.
- Evil Uncle: Subverted. He initially just claim to be the Chipmunks’ long lost uncle, but is a lie for his scheme. Howewer, he is called always "Uncle" Harry despite no parental link.
- Only One Name: His surname is unknown.
Marsha was a young woman who Dave felt he had a strong connection with while dating her. She is also a single mother of three boys named Maxwell, Chucky and Eddy. Appears in “Dave’s Getting Married.”
- The Ace: Solves the Chipmunks’ problems quite easily, (Alvin hitting the bulls-eye with his baseball, Simon with some mathematical if not scientific equation and Theodore with cooking), which gains the Chipmunks liking her.
- Birds of a Feather: Feels a strong connection with Dave but the only thing holding them back is their boys constant bickering against each other.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Marsha◊ was based off Janice Karman◊.
- The Ghost: She’s mentioned in “Grounded Chipmunk” but not seen.
- Nice Girl: Very much so, compared to her boys.
- Only One Name
Light brown hair and brown eyed Maxwell is the tallest of the three, who wears glasses and seems a smidge thinner than Chucky.
Chucky’s the second tallest with blue eyes and flamboyant orange hair and little more physical build than his tallest brother.
Then there’s the obese Eddy who has a visible double chin, the brown eyes to go with his brown hair boy, and is the shortest of the brothers.
- Big Eater: Eddy, possibly more so than Theodore.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead:
- Blonde = Maxwell
- Brunette = Eddy
- Redhead = Chucky
- Captain Ersatz/Expies: Basically human versions of Simon (Maxwell), Alvin (Chucky) and Theodore (Eddy).
- Disappeared Dad: Their father’s not mentioned or is even hinted if he’s dead or divorced.
- Fat Bastard: Eddy’s a kid variant.
- Mama's Boy: Possibly Maxwell, considering he ran to Marsha after Simon accidentally got sand in his eyes.
- Nerd Glasses. Maxwell’s big, square rimmed ones.
- Only One Name
- Clothing Damage: At least while at the orphanage. Even her toes were peeping out of her right shoe!
- Cool Big Sis: For the Chipettes.
- Happily Adopted
- No Name Given: Her adopted parents.
- Only One Name: Subverted. She mentions getting her bracelet from her (birth) mother, so we assume she has one but we also don’t learn her new last name when she’s adopted.
- Parental Substitute: To the baby Chipettes.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: At least when describing America to the Chipettes:“The streets are paved with gold and telephone poles are made out of candy cane and all your dreams come true!”
A very unpleasant woman who runs the “Miss Grudge’s Orphanage” in Australia where Olivia and the Chipettes lived, Miss Grudge sought a way to make money by forcing kids to sing for her. When she finds out the Chipettes can not only talk but sing as well, Miss Grudge promptly kidnaps and locks them away in hopes to use their singing for her own needs. Fortunately, they escaped. Appears in “The Chipette Story.”
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Displays a pleasant persona in front of the couple who adopts Olivia and when the girl can’t find the Chipettes, she told her they ran away.
- Dreadful Musician: She wonders why her singing Orphans Group’s singing are off...
Eva’s a selfish, young girl who lived in the same orphanage as Olivia and knows the infant Chipettes can sing and threatens to tell Grudge. Appears in “The Chipette Story.”
- Blackmail: Threatens to tell Miss Grudge about the Chipettes’ signing ability unless Olivia gives the bracelet given by her mother to Eva. Until the Chipettes decided to steal it back, alerting Grudge to the commotion Eva and the Chipettes caused leads the woman to learn about the Chipettes. Miss Grudge wouldn’t have learned they could talk if Brittany hadn’t opened her mouth, thus leading to Eva revealing the fact they can sing.
Despite his elderly appearance, Uncle Willy, nicknamed “Uncle Adventure,” is a strong and active man who’s determined to not let anyone tell him how young he can act as a result of his age.
- One of the Kids: Despite his age, plays with the Chipmunks.
ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks
- Apathetic Teacher: Miss Smith is an unpleasant person most of the time and Alvin doesn't help. She is sometimes annoyed so badly she allows Alvin to leave detention early, just so she doesn't have to listen to him anymore.
- Dean Bitterman: She has little to no tolerance for Alvin's shenanigans.
- Expy: She seems really similar to the principal in the episode "The Brunch Club" from the 80s series.
- Stern Teacher: Eventually turns into this as Characterization Marches On. While she remains cynical and rough as in the earlier seasons, as time goes on she becomes more prone to peppering her cynicism with genuine desire to see her students - even Alvin - do well - and she can generally be counted on to go out of her way to be in the kids' corner even in their personal lives if they need her to be.
- The Bully: Derek is initially portrayed as the school bully, often to the entire Chipmunk trio.
- Demoted to Extra: His role as such decreases in latter episodes.
- Even Jerks Have Standards: He hates Bocarter like the rest of his classmates.
- Jerk Jock
- Those Two Guys: He is seen hanging around with two other boys in some episodes.
- 0% Approval Rating: Bocarter tends to be hated by everyone in school, even the bully Derek can't stand him. This is mostly because of Bocarter being extremely narcissistic and downright rotten and spoiled, which disgusts everyone greatly. He is the one person that Theodore and Jeanette truly hate and they both consider him to be cruel and greedy to the core. Not even a single kid or student in the neighbourhood would invite Bocarter to their parties because of his rotten behaviour and for being a greedy narcissist who often breaks the law and endangers animals.
- Arch-Enemy: To the Chipmunks (especially Alvin) and Chipettes as a whole.
- Big Bad: Becomes this as the CGI series goes on.
- Cruella to Animals: He tends to lock up animals (especially monkeys) in cages to make them do what he wants and never gives them any freedom and treats them more like slaves than pets.
- Evil Brit: Bocarter comes across as this, with his posh British accent, and often challenging the Chipmunks in some way to show them up (and will even do what he has to to sabotage them in the process).
- Expy: A Jerkass version of Richie Rich.
- Evil Counterpart: To Alvin Seville. While both of them are egotistical and self absorbed, Alvin always does the right thing when he goes too far and always there for his family and friends, while Bocarter is a downright narcissistic spoiled brat who cares about no one but himself and is greedy to the core, plus has no friends and likes to do whatever is necessary to get what he wants.
- Foil: To Derek. He is as mischievous as him, but rather than resorting to brute force, in order to assert his dominance, Bocarter attempts to buy influence, and resorts to unethical practices such as stealing and cheating in order to get his way. However, Bocarter is a whole lot worse as he is a complete narcissist and cares about no one but himself and his father and brother, while Derek is more of a bully than a criminal and doesn't hate the Chipmunks and Chipettes as much as Bocarter.
- Morality Pet: To a degree. Bocarter has a younger brother named Neville, and while he does routinely blow off and dismiss Neville whenever he finds his brother's presence inconvenient, he does still love Neville and has been known to get indignant on his behalf.
- Named After Somebody Famous: If he's not a weird tribute to Bogie in name, I dunno what it's supposed to mean...
- Narcissist: Bocarter is a outright egotist and lacks generosity.
- Rich Bitch: He believes he can do whatever he wants because of his large fortune.
- The Ditz: Cheesy is not especially bright, and has a lot of strange habits.
- Simple-Minded Wisdom: Cheesy is considered a loser, but he's also one of the only students who doesn't particularly care about popularity and is fine with who he is.
- The Apprentice: He turns out to be fairly gifted musically, and spends some time as Dave's student (after Alvin conned him into being a student) before Dave directs him to an internship.
- Cannot Spit It Out: In "Secret Admirer", to a girl the kids initially believe is one of the Chipettes before it turns out to be someone else.
- Depending on the Writer: Kevin is either a pretty good friend to everyone, or can be kind of a jerk sometimes.
- Stereotypical Nerd: A classic example. Nonathletic body, above-average intellect and interested in mathematics and video games.
- With Friends Like These...: Particularly in the earlier seasons. Kevin seems to be the biggest example of this, as it's not uncommon for him to tease any of his friends, such as when Cheesy believes he's got an online girlfriend, or even get them into some kind of trouble, like when he and Cheesy begin prank-calling people in the neighborhood and it comes back to bite them in the butt.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Just about the only time he isn't in over his head is when the Chipmunks do something illegal, at which point he usually shows up to complicate things.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He's not always that bright considering his advice for kids to take whatever dangerous risks necessary to be a hero.
- Cool Shades: Has large large sunglasses.
- Expy: He seems an awful lot like a modern day Barney Fife.
- Police Are Useless: Officer Dangus is shown to be less than a reasonable authority figure, usually bungling things up even moreso whenever he tries to diffuse certain situations. In "Ride Along," Alvin learns that he's on the verge of being terminated from the force for being such a lousy cop; the fact that he hadn't had any leads in a recent string of bike thefts didn't help his case much either.
- The Sheriff: Parodied. Dangus is a clueless Good Ol' Boy with a thick Southern accent, who occasionally spouts out over the top sayings from "back home," a parody of southern sheriff-type characters like Andy Griffith.
- Precocious Crush: In "Principal Interest", Alvin develops a crush for her.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: In stark contrast to Miss Smith, Principal Meadows is quite a generous and easygoing person by comparison, giving the children a fair bit of leeway before administering punishment.
- Platonic Life-Partners: She and Dave are very close, and they've even gone on a couple of apparent dates, but each time its made very clear that they're just friends and mostly just swap parenting tips.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She was a fairly recurring character in the first couple of seasons, but eventually faded away as Miss Miller began to show up as the family's friend in the neighborhood more often.
- Crazy Cat Lady: She has several cats, whom she is all-too happy to force people to help take care of them. They are just as mean as she is, and particularly enjoy chasing chimpunks - especially Theodore.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Ms. Croner is hilariously amoral, and sees no issue with taking advantage of people or outright committing crimes for a laugh or to make a point. Despite this, she seems to genuinely like the Sevilles deep down and several of her antics have been for what she believes is their own good. More than once the cast has teamed up with her to do something nasty for a good cause.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As noted, she's been known to do good things for the Sevilles and Miss Miller out of the goodness of her heart, even if her methods are typically as abrasive as she is.
- I Have Brothers: Alvin at one point tries to get into a prank war with her. She then reveals that she grew up with seven brothers and effortlessly turns all of his pranks back against him.
- Scatterbrained Senior: She routinely forgets the characters' names, though she might be faking it or simply not care to ever learn theirs.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: She's rude, abrasive, demanding and generally uncaring about the well being of others. She has her nicer points, but most of the characters try their hardest to avoid her.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She once enacted a string of burglaries in the neighborhood after Miss Miller got addicted to infomercials, intending to return all the useless things Miss Miller purchased and get her money back to keep Miller from going broke. After the Chipmunks and Chipettes find out she's the robber, they instead convince her to work together with them to convince Miss Miller to stop.