For tropes related specifically to the characters' portrayals in the 2001 film adaptation, go here.
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Josie
Josie
Voiced by: Janet Waldo, Cathy Dougher (singing)
A short-haired redhead, Josie is the leader and co-founder of the Pussycats. She is the lead vocalist and plays guitar. Portrayed as a sweet, attractive, and level-headed teenage girl, Josie is usually the stable center in the middle of the chaos surrounding her band and her friends.
- Adaptational Personality Change: The comics depicted her as a Nice Girl albeit with her own flaws and vulnerabilities, not above having a temper, a Deadpan Snarker, and being boy-crazy. The cartoon series sort of made her more of a Straight Man.
- Alliterative Name: Sometimes, though the comics are inconsistent about whether her surname is Jones or James (or whether it's McCoy as in the cartoon and 2001 film).
- Continuity Snarl: Josie's surname has been inconsistent. It was alternately "Jones" or "James" for much of the comic's run. McCoy was her surname for the 1970 cartoon and the 2001 movie. Archie Comics later sometimes acknowledged the surnames from the movie as canonical, though not consistently. In a few stories reprinted in the 2000s, Archie Comics changed her surname to McCoy. However, the manga version used "Jones", which was her first surname to actually appear in the comics.
- Deadpan Snarker: Shows up in the comics a lot, especially in the premier cover
. - Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Josie originally wore her hair in a bouffant instead of a bob.
- Expy: Josie is a Distaff Counterpart for Archie.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: She started out with a elaborate poufy and flipped bouffant in the 1963-1964 comics, 1965 gave her the signature bouffant/bob hairstyle associated with her, only for it vary in styles throughout the decades (poufy bangs in The '80s and a blunt bob or shag in The '90s and The Aughts).
- Lead Singer Plays Lead Guitar: She is the trio's lead vocalist and lead guitarist.
- Race Lift: Is African-American in Riverdale.
- Standardized Leader: Josie suffers from this at times. Alexandra is the main plot driver, and Valerie is the main problem solver, leaving Josie not much to do.
Melody
Melody Valentine
Voiced by: Jackie Joseph, Cheryl Ladd (singing)
Played by: Tara Reid (2001 movie), Ashanti Bromfield (Riverdale)
The co-founder and drummer for the Pussycats (she also sang occasional lead vocals for the TV series), Melody is a cute blonde and usually speaks in a sing-song voice, denoted by the musical notes in her cartoon word balloons. She is an absent-minded, bubbly sort of character often taken to using silly, nonsense language, and provides much of the comic relief of the series.
- Brainless Beauty: Beautiful and ditzy.
- Beware the Nice Ones: In the modern comics. When she finds out Alan is cheating on Josie her first reaction is I WILL MURDER HIM IN PUBLIC.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Melody is the poster girl for this trope in comic. When male characters see her, they uncontrollably fall for her and lose all sense of anything else, frequently leading to chaos; although, she is usually oblvious to this.
- The Ditz: She is an absent-minded, bubbly sort of character often taken to using silly, nonsense language, and provides much of the comic relief of the series.
- Dude Magnet: The first issue even had her getting a large portion of the boys at her school into the physical education program by letting them chase her around the track.
- Dumb Blonde: Classic example. There was a story in which she was certain that nylons were an endangered animal and that Josie and Alexandra's fake fur coats were made from "cute, cuddly orlons".
- Femme Fatale: Melody becomes this on the rare occasions when she stops being the Innocent Fanservice Girl and deliberately tries to seduce men.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Running Gag is that Melody causes this reaction wherever she goes, and is too naive/dumb to notice.
- Inexplicably Speaks Fluent Alien: In Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, Melody could understand the speech of the gang's new alien Team Pet Bleep, and some other creatures.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: One comic has Melody try to undress in front of men, only to be shielded from view by "spoilsport" Josie.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Melody may not have a very big brain, but she certainly has a very big heart, making her one the nicest Archie characters, especially in the animated series.
- Malaproper: Melody does this frequently. One story has Josie and Valerie shocked that "she finally got one right!" In another story, Melody's 'mixed-up maxims' are mistaken for Spy Speak, and she's handed something from another agent, because she inexplicably rattled off a code-phrase!
- To give some idea, just one page in the comic saw her say, "A fool and his mother are soon parted" and "You can't burn your bridges and have them, too". In one comics story, her response to Alexandra calling her an eternal optimist was, "I can't be an internal octopus! I don't even know how to make glasses!"
- Meaningful Name: Melody certainly lives up to her name, because she usually speaks in a sing-song voice, denoted by the musical notes in her word balloons in the comics. She does not have this habit in the modern comics or short-lived manga adaptation, however.
- Mind Manipulation: In the cartoon, she frequently gets brainwashed.
- Ms. Fanservice: She wears the skimpiest outfits and draws all the male attention.
- N-Word Privileges: With "ditzy", in the modern comics.
- Obliviously Beautiful: Often she misinterprets the reason why men are interested in her.
- Say It with Hearts: A variant: rather than hearts, Melody's dialogue is usually punctuated with music notes.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Melody is so beautiful that almost any man who sees her gets Distracted by the Sexy and suffers Amusing Injuries.
- A story before the Retool involved her trying to lose this, as Alexander had entered her in a beauty contest but her parents threatened to disown her if she came home with another trophy. Josie and Pepper's attempts to hide their friend's allure from men but it results in her capturing the hearts of little boys, senior citizens and at one point, male dogs instead. So it's not just limited to men.
- In one story, the Pussycats can't get any work at a club because the female customers are so infuriated at losing all their boyfriends to Melody.
- In another, Melody visits a museum with the rest of the Pussycats, and inadvertently causes the tour groups to abandon the tour to follow her instead. When the museum curator tries to counter this by hiring Melody as a tour guide herself, a new problem arises: an exhibit is robbed while she and a tour group are in there, with the theft succeeding because the tour group is so focused on Melody, while she's too busy sounding out the signs on the exhibit.
- Zig-zagged in a story where a little boy is seen stalking Melody. When Alexander uncovers him, the kid tearfully confesses that he was stalking Melody because he was in love with her. Melody is so flattered she kisses the boy right on the lips, which sends him rocketing into the sky.
Valerie
Valerie Brown
Voiced by: Barbara Pariot, Patrice Holloway (singing)
Played by: Rosario Dawson (2001 movie), Hayley Law (Riverdale)
Valerie performs back-up vocals (in the comics, cartoons, and the movie) and occasionally sings lead (nearly always in the TV series) for the Pussycats. In the comics and the movie, she plays the bass; in the cartoons, she plays tambourine. She is also the group's main songwriter, and is occasionally seen playing different instruments.
- Deadpan Snarker: She is developed into this after her first few appearances.
- MacGyvering: Valerie was the champion of this in the cartoon, making solutions and springing traps with guitar strings, bubble gum, and hairspray.
- The Smart Guy: In the comics, this is downplayed, although she is still the most intelligent of the group.
- Third-Option Love Interest: For Archie Andrews in the comic. She was featured as his love interest in a crossover supplement story, and the idea became popular enough that she returned several times as his permanent girlfriend. She even received her own Married storyline alongside Betty and Veronica, wherein Archie chose to go into music rather than go into business. He and Valerie become a husband-wife singing duo, and even have a dark-skinned redhead baby who follows in their footsteps.
- She's Archie's ex in the live-action Riverdale series.
- Token Minority: Valerie is the first African-American female cartoon character on a regular animated television series. Naturally, she become this also in the comic.
- Tomboy: In the comics, Valerie is more tomboyish than her two bandmates. She is less concerned about her appearance or her love life than Josie, Melody or Alexandra, and had rarely been seen in a romantic relationship.
- TV Genius: She is the character who saves the day the most often, thanks to her street smarts and her mechanical and scientific genius. In the modern comics, she was studying veterinary medicine before she joined the Pussycats on tour.
- Wrench Wench: She is a skilled auto mechanic.
Alan M.
Alan M.
Voiced by: Jerry Dexter
Played by: Gabriel Mann (2001 movie), Chris McNally (Riverdale)
Alan M. Mayberry (known as "Alan M." in the comics and live-action film, and as simply "Alan" in the cartoon series) is a tall, blond, muscular folk singer who serves as the Pussycats' roadie. He is also Josie's on-off boyfriend, but Alexandra is constantly trying to win a date with him.
- Adaptational Intelligence: In the comic strip, Alan was portrayed to be, at best, an average guy with muscles or, at worst, a bit of Dumb Muscle, but in the cartoon, he is made out to be a Genius Bruiser who's just as intelligent as Valerie.
- Expy: Almost identical to Fred Jones.
- Replacement Goldfish: During the early years of her comic (1963–1969), Josie dated a guitarist named Albert. After the Josie and the Pussycats revamp, she dated Alan.
Alexander Cabot III
Alexander Cabot III
Voiced by: Casey Kasem
Played by: Paulo Costanzo (2001 movie), Lucien Laviscount (Katy Keene)
Rich, temperamental, and cowardly, Alexander is the Pussycats' shifty and not-too-dependable manager. He often gets the group in hot water because of his crazy promotional schemes. Alexander wears sunglasses often and likes to flaunt his wealth, typically dressing in flamboyant and expensive clothing.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: He's much more conventionally good looking in the modern comics, especially compared to his cartoon counterpart
- Adaptational Heroism:
- Alexander's personality is markedly different in the animated series. He is much friendlier, though no more dependable and far more cowardly than his comic strip alter ego.
- He's also a lot friendlier in the live-action film, and much less of a jerk (since the film already had other antagonists).
- Adaptational Wimp: In the comics, though Alexander is far from being a heroic and noble character, but he isn't nearly as cowardly as his animated version.
- Expy: In the comic, he is just a much richer Reggie Mantle. The cartoon turned him into more of an expy of Shaggy — which made the crossover episode with Scooby-Doo a little weird, since they were
both voiced by Casey Kasem. - Green-Eyed Monster: He has a crush on Josie and often tries to divert her attention from her boyfriend, Alan M.
- The animated version of Alexander is friendly to Josie, but shows no romantic interest in her.
- Jerkass: Alexander can slip between this and Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Large Ham: While this fell to Alexandra in the cartoon, Alexander often exemplified this trope in the comics.
- Lovable Coward: in the cartoon he talks a big game, but has no spine to back up his boasting.
Alexandra Cabot
Alexandra Cabot
Voiced by: Sherry Alberoni
Played by: Missi Pyle (2001 movie), Camille Hyde (Katy Keene, 'Riverdale'')
Alexander's sister. Alexandra is cynical, hateful, mean, offensive, rude, envious, scheming and self-centered. She is insanely jealous of the Pussycats, especially Josie, about whom she never has a kind word.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Isn't as much of a jerk in the live-action film (since there were already antagonists), and ultimately helps Josie uncover the Subliminal Seduction MegaRecords was using on them.
- Adaptational Wimp: Her magic powers are nowhere to be found in either the cartoons and the film; probably for the best since, in the latter, she could've resolved the problems involving the record company's subliminal messaging far sooner.
- Attempted Homewrecker: Josie and Alan have been dating steadily pretty much since Alan's introduction. This doesn't stop Alexandra from trying to sabotage Josie, and take Alan for herself. However, much of the series comedy lies in Alexandra suffering repeated Backstab Backfires while trying to sunder the Josie + Alan couple. This dynamic extends into the Animated Adaptation in 1970 by Hanna-Barbera.
- The Bus Came Back: Alexandra having magical powers, along with Sebastian, had been missing since the '80s. A 2014 issue brought them back.
- Dispel Magic: Alexandra can cast witchcraft spells, but these are fragile spells whose effects are ended by as little as Melody snapping her fingers, which Melody is wont to do.
- Expy: Of Veronica Lodge. Same attitude (though Alexandra almost never gets a Pet the Dog moment), same dark hair (with a white streak in it), same role towards the Nice Girl Josie. The only difference is that Alan M, her romantic target, scarcely reciprocates her feelings at all - that, and the fact that she had magic powers for a time.
- Driven by Envy: She is insanely jealous of the Pussycats, especially Josie, who she especially dislikes because Josie is the leader of the band and the one that Alan M. has eyes for.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Alexandra didn't have her signature skunk stripe early on.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: She does nothing to help out the gang and deliberately tries to sabotage anything they do when she gets the chance.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Alexandra has an enormous crush on Alan M. and often tries to steal him away from Josie. This occurs primarily in the animated version but also occurs in a few comic book stories as well.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Cannot sing to save her life but believes she should be lead singer of the Pussycats.
- Hot Witch: Alexandra, in a number of stories, was secretly a witch with Sebastian as her familiar and would often use her magic or mischief or to get back at Josie for perceived wrongs — though it would almost always backfire on her in some way. The original concept was that she was descended from a warlock named Sebastian Cabot, who had reincarnated as her black-and-white cat — and so, whenever she held Sebastian in her arms she could cast all kinds of spells. It would vary from story to story whether she needed Sebastian or not; in some stories, her powers wouldn't work without him, while in others she was fine working magic even if he wasn't around. It also varied wildly whether Alexander knew about her magic or not.
- Inept Mage: In the issues where she had magical powers. "I seem to be some sort of an inaccurate witch."
- Iron Butt Monkey: In the cartoon for all of her Amusing Injuries. As she points out in "Never Mind a Master Mind":"I get all the lumps and Josie gets Alan."
- It's All About Me: Despite having no vocal or musical talent at all, Alexandra desperately wants to be a star; her conditions for joining the Pussycats were that she be made the lead and that the band be renamed Alexandra's Cool Time Cats.
- Jerkass: Alexandra's arrogance, impatience, and pomposity make her very difficult to like.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Especially in the cartoon - her declaring that she can do something better than anyone else (double points if it's someone obviously more qualified), only to immediately foul it up, is one of the show's biggest running gags. Ironically, she can actually be quite competent and helpful when she's not trying to showboat - some episodes like "X Marks the Spot" even put her in a larger heroic role.
- Large Ham: In the cartoon.
- The Load:
- In the cartoon, Alexandra stoops to subversion to undermine Josie, and insists upon being the designated hero, which often sunders the effort to thwart the villain, though there were times when she actually managed to thwart the villain of the episode, mainly by accident.
- Also in the movie, where she doesn't actually have a clear role (the opening credits list her as supplying "attitude") and even her brother wonders why she's there (she replies it's because she was in the comic book).
- Magic Is Feminine: In the comics written by Archie Comics Alexandra Cabot is the only female roadie and the only one with magic powers. However, her magic rarely succeeds, either because her spells are fragile (one snap of Melody's fingers will negate them) or the effect goes wildly off target. "I seem to be some sort of inaccurate witch," she laments.
- The Millstone: Very often, the gang's plans would probably go off without a hitch if Alexandra wasn't around to muck things up.
- Personal Hate Before Common Goals: She is seething jealous of Josie's musical talent, and that Josie has Alan's affections. Alexandra will routinely jeopardize the Pussycats' efforts to escape from the villain or to thwart the Evil Plan just to humiliate Josie or to grandstand for Alan's attention. Naturally, this results in Laser-Guided Karma biting Alexandra on her butt, because in this animated series, slapstick is for everyone.
- Pet the Dog: In a story from the very last issue of the original comic, Alexandra secretly uses her witchcraft powers to save Josie and Valerie from a couple of bullies.Alexandra: Priorities, Sebastian! Josie and Valerie are our people! If anybody's going to clobber them, it's us!
- Small Name, Big Ego: She thinks she's the star of the Pussycats, and has on occasion introduced herself as "The most important member of the band."
- Token Evil Teammate: She only tags along with the group because her brother Alexander is the manager. Every episode usually features her either trying to steal Alan away from Josie or sabotage the band in some way.
- Uncatty Resemblance: Alexandra and Sebastian both have black hair with a white streak.
Sebastian
Sebastian
Voiced by: Don Messick
Alexandra's familiar.
- Adaptational Wimp: Has no magical powers in the cartoon and seems to be a normal if hyper competent cat.
- Adapted Out: He's not present in the live-action film, though several normal cats are seen early on (none of them look like him, though).
- Ascended Extra: Similar to Hot Dog in The Archie Show, Sebastian has a much larger role in the cartoon than he did in the comics.
- Cats Are Mean: Sebastian was a nasty prankster in the cartoon.
- Expy: He is essentially, Muttley in a cat suit. They even share similar snickering laughs, both provided by Messick.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the cartoon. He's an often mean-spirited prankster who finds other people's pain and humiliation hilariously funny, but he does care about his humans, particularly Alexandra, and will provide aid and support when needed.
- Reincarnation In the comics, Sebastian is the reincarnation of Sebastian Cabot, a witchcraft-practicing ancestor of the Cabot family.
- Uncatty Resemblance: Alexandra and Sebastian both have black hair with a white streak.
Pepper
Pepper
Played by: Julia Chan (Riverdale)
Josie's best friend in the original comics, and, until the 1969 renovation, one of the main five characters (along with Josie, Melody, Albert, and Alex).
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She vanished from the feature in the 1969 Retool, though she returned for a brief cameo in a 2007 story and later become a supporting character in Katy Keene.
- Deadpan Snarker: Often makes snarky remarks about other characters, especially Melody.
- Expy: Pepper has a similar role to Jughead, both being the snarky, yet extremely loyal friend of the main character. while also being more emotionally reserved than the others when it came to the opposite sex. The only difference is that Pepper lacks Jughead's love for food.
- Informed Deformity: Several early issues imply Pepper is supposed to be unattractive, but as drawn, she's just a typical Dan De Carlo pretty girl with freckles and glasses.
