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Main Duo
Pucca
Our girl
- Voiced by: Jeonghwa Yang (Korean, Love Recipe), Tabitha St. Germain (English, first two seasons), Ikue Otani (Japanese)
- The Ace: She's hardly ever pressed when forced to fight and usually the one to solve the episode's problems.
- Abhorrent Admirer: A frequent aspect of her in various depictions, as she's too clingy and obsessive towards Garu to the point of making him either uncomfortable or terrified of her.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the original TV series, Pucca has a short fuse, slapping aside anyone who gets in her way to Garu's heart. It's best demonstrated in "Evil Love," where she launches Cupid into a wall with his own bow — because Cupid apologized to her for having no love arrows left.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Going from the original TV series and to make her closer to her original Flash shorts characterization, Love Recipe's Pucca is a lot more levelheaded. She's less anger-prone unless she's sufficiently pushed, and she no longer lets her jealousy become violent. Additionally, she's willing to give Garu some space when it's necessary and her clinginess toward him is toned down compared to the previous series.
- Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed in Love Recipe. She doesn't have as many Deus ex Machina abilities and seems to have lost her Plot Armor since the previous series. That said, she's by no means weak, being largely equal to Garu instead of being stronger than him.
- All Cloth Unravels:
- In "Woolen Warrior" Pucca uses this on a sheep's wool, Muji's hair and a test pattern on the TV to knit a sweater for Garu.
- Subverted during Love Recipe when she wears a red dress in a beauty contest against Ring Ring. A snail pulls on a loose thread from her dress which causes it to shrink... only for it to stop at that and the judges go ecstatic when they like her new short skirt.
- All Love Is Unrequited: The original shorts and Love Recipe have more hints to him reciprocating her feelings, but in the original television series, unless under a love spell, Garu doesn't return her affections.
- Almighty Janitor: In the first show, Pucca is much stronger than Garu and Tobe, both of whom are supposed to be highly trained elite ninja who can topple entire armies with ease. She's a waitress at a restaurant. Downplayed in the shorts and in Love Recipe, where she's at the very least equal with them. Her uncles trained her in martial arts, and while not quite as extreme as Pucca, are all some of the best fighters in the show.
- Ambiguously Human: While likely just meant for humor, Pucca performs a lot of feats that seem impossible even for the skilled martial artists, as well as odd abilities like summoning aliens with her odango. Her skeleton has orbs where odango are despite that it's supposed to be hair.
- Badass Adorable: She's positively cute as a button and if you wish to see tomorrow, do NOT make her mad!
- Berserk Button:
- It's a bad idea to insult or harm Garu in any form in front of Pucca if you don't want your ass kicked.
- Also, don't undo Pucca's twin odango. You're warned.
- Likewise don't make it look like Garu has fallen in love with you. Ring Ring learned this the hard way.
- The Dog Bites Back: After Pucca spends an entire episode succumbing to her depression about Ring-Ring dating Garu, who was Dada in disguise, she finally snaps.
- Everyone Has Standards: She doesn't follow Garu into the bathroom.
- Exorcist Head: When she is (briefly) taken over by Doga's sock in "The Usual Ching".
- Eyes Always Shut: In contrast to the rest of the cast (with the exception of Ssoso and Bruce) she is the only character whose eyes are never seen open most of the time.
- Flanderization: In the series by Disney, her love for Garu and ability to outdo him are taken to extremes.
- Heroic Mime: Pucca and Garu are the only two characters in the series who never speak. While Garu's excuse is that he took a vow of silence, Pucca's reason is never said.
- Hidden Depths: The episode "Garu the Movie Star" implies she has some genuine knowledge of, and aspirations in working on film production.
- Honor Before Reason: Her love for Garu and desire to get him to kiss her or love her back is her top priority, even when it shouldn't be. Such as when Garu needed an ancient relic to save Sooga Village and Pucca was only willing to give it to him, despite the risk of her home being destroyed, if he kissed her.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Usually when she cries, it's cute, but when she gets framed for a crime she didn't commit by her best friend she resorts to blasting everyone in sight with her tears like firehoses, then running to her room and bawling facedown on her bed while kicking and flailing.
- Informed Attractiveness: She's usually said to be very pretty, with some even calling her beautiful. Because the art style is meant to look cute, she's not that different looking from any of the other girls on the show save for her eyes.
- Irony: Despite always being clingy toward Garu, Pucca eventually get annoyed when the latter become clingy like her in "Full Moon".
- It's All About Me: While Pucca is usually nice and caring, she also acts self-centered and bullheaded, such as bothering Garu and harassing him with her love and never thinks about what Garu wants, as she forces him to do what she wants when he clearly wants no part of it and will threaten him with violence if he refuses.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While she has trouble taking no for an answer, when it seems Garu has decided to court Ring Ring Pucca is obviously miserable but does not try to break them up in any way.
- Jack of All Trades: She can have a lot of occupations depending the episode.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pucca is very unpleasant that many people overlook as she moreso acts like a brat more than anything with her absurd actions. That said, her heart is in the right place most of the time.
- Leitmotif: In the first series, you can expect the "Pucca loves Garu" riff from the theme song to play every time she appears.
- Lethal Chef: She consistently gets this portrayal in Love Recipe, to a point where her uncles (who indulge her despite knowing how bad her cooking is) once advertised that Goh Rong was going to serve rice balls made by her. Sooga Village's immediate reaction was to run away!
- Loved by All: Pucca is very popular throughout Sooga Village, most likely because she's very friendly and helpful (clingy tendencies notwithstanding). Ring Ring can't understand why she's so well-liked and often tries to outdo her in various ways.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is Korean for goddess. Very fitting, considering some of the things she is capable of.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: She is perhaps the queen of this trope. Most of the time it is due to Rule of Funny.
- No Sense of Personal Space: She doesn't really seem to have much respect for boundaries when it comes to getting her hands on Garu.
- Not Good with Rejection: Whenever Garu avoids her or rejects her advances in the television series, she becomes very angry with him.
- Not So Invincible After All:
- In the episode "Soogazilla," she fought the eponymous monster and, while she did get some decent kicks in, the monster was able to effortlessly swat her off the mountaintop it called home.
- She was also upstaged under similar circumstances during the first TV show's "Sooga-Size Me." When the Lugie couple summons their mech, Pucca leads with a dropkick. The mech merely swats her aside like a fly, ending the fight prematurely and forcing Pucca to rely on her wits to defeat the couple. Thankfully, she's learned her lesson when the Lugies return in "Monster Truck Island." When faced with Enormo, the second Lugie mech, her first instinct is to escape and try luring it into a trap.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In "Feud Fight," when the chefs argue and refuse to cook together, she becomes so distraught that she outright ignores Garu.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Often does this to corner Garu, and in one episode pulls a three-way one on Tobe.
- Parental Abandonment: Raised by the chefs, her uncles. The fate of her parents is never discussed.
- The Power of Love: The explanation for all of the inhuman feats and abilities she can perform in the series is her love for Garu.
- Skewed Priorities: Kissing Garu seems to supersede everything for her, even when things are dangerous. This is dropped altogether in Love Recipe however.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Her type? Garu. If you're not Garu, she's not interested in you at all.
- Stalker with a Crush: She is the living embodiment of this trope.
- Through His Stomach: Downplayed. She doesn't cook, but uses the chefs' noodles as a means of getting Garu's interest. Sometimes, it works to bring him to the restaurant, especially when he's hungry. Other times, it doesn't; she once brought him a bowl of noodles for breakfast and Garu was too angry about her breaking into his home to even think to eat it.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pucca loves to eat the chefs' noodles. It seems to be the only thing she eats as she eats them in place of popcorn while watching a movie. And only the noodles they make are what she enjoys, as she rejects Santa's North Pole Noodles.
- Unstoppable Rage: Pucca is already ridiculously powerful by default. But when her anger is put into the mix, beware!
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: It's self-proclaimed one in this case. But nonetheless, whenever Garu gets harmed or insulted, she put everything in her power to defend him.
- Yandere: Not only she obsesses over Garu, but she will harm anyone who stands between her earning his affections. The only person who thinks of this behavior as an issue is Garu himself.
Garu
In Love Recipe
- Voiced by: Yongwoo Shin (Korean, Love Recipe), Brian Drummond (English, first two seasons)
- The Ace: He is considered this in-universe. Part of the humor comes from how easily Pucca outdoes him in everything.
- Accidental Proposal: In one episode, he's trying to save a ring case from being stolen by the vagabonds. When he finally has it, he does somersaults in the air, and when he lands, he's on one knee with the case flipped open...in front of Pucca. Pucca is thrilled at this, and the people around begins to prepare their wedding. But just as Pucca approaches him, Santa comes and takes the case away from him (because it was actually his), much to Garu's relief.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: The official website used to imply Garu's primary goal was to restore his family's lost honor and a primary motive for his ninja training though what happened was never elaborated, however, the when Vooz website updated, this backstory was seemingly removed and Love Recipe vaguely implies Garu never knew his parents.
- Adaptational Badass: Love Recipe erases his crippling fear of Pucca from the previous series, allowing him to fully live up to his heroic reputation. Also, whenever he wants some space, he's now allowed to give her the slip more often.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. In the first series, Garu has a bit of temper, which is especially apparent when he has to deal with Pucca's clinginess.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Unlike the previous TV series, Love Recipe's Garu regards Pucca much as he did in the original Flash shorts: resigned annoyance at worst, and genuine enjoyment at best. In the original TV series, he regarded her with fear and loathing, with his displays of affection originating from obligation rather than actual love.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the first series, he's either doing heroic work whenever needed, training, or hired to do seemingly random jobs by Master Soo with the vague offer of "bringing great honor". In Love Recipe, his heroism and training are still part of his daily life, but outside of that he typically volunteers to help the chefs by foraging for any ingredients they need.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: This seems to depend on the writer, but generally there's a few occasions that show Garu does love Pucca back - he just doesn't show it very often.
- Berserk Button:
- Accusing him of having no honor will instantly cause him to want to pick a fight with you.
- Pucca chasing after him is often treated as an annoyance to him and he often gets frustrated or upset when he is caught.
- Blood Knight: A subdued version of this, but Garu actually likes sparring and fighting from time to time. Although he doesn't seek battle from foes like Tobe, whom he actually views as more of a nuisance than anything, or his friend Abyo whom he typically just spars with, but occasionally enjoys a battle here and there.
- Celibate Hero: He has knowledge about marriage and romance he just doesn't care. Although he's more than willing to make good friends.
- The Comically Serious: He takes almost everything seriously in a show where everyone has some comedic quirks.
- Everyone Has Standards: In "Slam Bam Birthday Bash," he's saddened when Pucca thinks everyone forgot her birthday and almost consoled her before she ran off.
- Flanderization: In the first series, Garu treats Pucca's clinginess with contempt and full-blown fear as oppose of everywhere else where he view it as mere annoyance at best.
- Heroic Mime: He along with Pucca are the only characters on the show to never speak, aside from a few grunting noises. Supposedly, he's taken a vow of silence.
- Informed Attractiveness: The theme song for the first show calls him a "pretty boy," a sentiment Pucca shares. Because of the art style, he's not that different looking from most other characters.
- Kid Hero: According to the original website, he's 12 years old.
- Mundane Utility: After winning a lightsaber from Ring Ring's bodyguard tryouts, he tapes it to his house's ceiling as a light.
- Not So Above It All: Despite his usually aloof and serious attitude, he gets giddy with anticipation at the thought of sitting on Santa's lap.
- Only Sane Man: He's the only one who recognizes how absurd Pucca is and the one least likely to join in on the crazy shenanigans on Sooga Village.
- Parental Abandonment: He lives alone, save for his cat. It's implied his parents passed away.
- Pet the Dog:
- After finding some new fruits in Love Recipe and finding them delicious, his first instinct is to gather them for the Goh Rong restaurant, imagining the chefs thanking him for bringing the "best ingredients ever".
- Despite constantly avoiding Pucca's affections, Garu is willing to hang out with her and even play along with her lovey-dovey antics from time to time, which is more apparent in the original shorts and Love Recipe.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: In the Disney series, because of Flanderization, hints where he shows any interest in Pucca, whether friendship or romance, are near nonexistent. In the shorts, he seems to return her feelings, but not to the extremes she goes to. In the series, his vow of silence appears to be the only thing that keeps him from outright saying he's not into her.
- Silent Snarker: His vow of silence doesn't stop his facial expressions from conveying his thoughts, even the less enthusiastic ones.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: While the episode always ends with Garu being harassed by Pucca with her kisses, he actually managed to come out on top in the end of "Astral Boy and Dream Girl" where his soul was out of his body and Pucca was unable to capture him.
- Unstoppable Mailman: When gathering local ingredients for the Goh-Rong restaurant.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: This is generally his overall dynamic with Pucca. On one hand, he doesn't like Pucca's clinginess as he going out of his way to avoid her as much as possible and even occasionally messing around with her. On the other hand, he's still willing to stick around with her despite all that, acknowledge her as one of his close companions and even shown multiple times that he does care for her alongside reciprocating her feeling in his own way.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In the first series, he's so terrified of the idea of marrying Pucca that seeing her in a wedding dress caused his skeleton to jump out of his skin and run away.
- World's Best Warrior: He's considered to be one of the best fighter and martial artists in the village.
Friends
Ching
Ching (with Won)
- Voiced by: Chantal Strand (English, first two seasons), Melissa Fahn (English, Love Recipe), Fernanda Crispim (Brazilian Portuguese)
- Achilles' Heel: The chicken sitting upon her head, Won, gives Ching her energy. Without this chicken, Ching spirals into a lethargic depression. If it continues further, she becomes near-blind and delirious.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Is often distracted by "pretty" things like dresses or flowers. "Ooh, pretty X!" could almost be her catchphrase.
- Ambiguously Bi: In "Attempt of Casano", when Pucca gets a makeover, Ching admits even she is in love with her.
- Demonic Possession: In "The Usual Ching" Her and Doga's socks get mixed up in the local dry cleaner's. Doga's evil sock corrupts Ching into a cruel, manipulative person. At first, she merely indulges in mean pranks, but she soon becomes a much more serious threat after she sabotages a building under construction and frames Pucca for the act.
- Dual Wielding: Ching, noted as the best swordswoman in town, wields twin swords in combat. They're noticeably larger than the one Garu wields, though she often just uses one.
- Head Pet: Has a chicken, Won, that stays on her head. As stated above, Won likewise give her energy.
- Lady of War: She's graceful, polite, and kind, and elegantly wields a sword almost as tall as she is.
- Missing Mom: She lives with her father and he's the only confirmed family she has.
- Nice Girl: A kind-hearted individual who wants the best for everyone.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: When Pucca has her chop vegetables, she uses her sword to dice them to the point where they turn into powder.
Abyo
- Voiced by: Yongwoo Shin (Korean, first two seasons), Lee Tockar (English, first two seasons), Doug Erholtz (English, Love Recipe), Ryuzou Ishino (Japanese)
- Amazon Chaser: While an occasional Casanova Wannabe, his heart belongs to Ching, who he admires for her skill in battle.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He loves showing off his kung fu skills and thinks he's the best ninja around. Abyo's actually quite decent, but Garu consistently takes advantage of his impulsiveness in combat.
- Best Friend: He appears to be the only person Garu regularly hangs out with.
- Big Eater: Abyo tends to eat in excess when presented with a ton of food. His gluttony leads to an uncommon Running Gag where he temporarily gains weight.
- Blood Knight: Abyo loves to fight.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Abyo can be quite loud and is always eager to get into a fight. Whether he can back up his boasting depends entirely on his opponent.
- Character Tics: When excited, he rips off his shirt in two with a "Hi-YAH!" In season three, he constantly yells out his name when on the attack.
- Bruce Lee Clone: Abyo's got Lee's hairstyle, prepotency with nunchucks, and affinity for going shirtless to show off his muscles. Earlier episodes in the TV show frequently gave him a tank top beneath his shirt, much like the one Lee occasionally wore, and in one occasion he even wore a yellow jumpsuit. Meanwhile, Abyo's father even shares Lee's first name.
- Foil: He is one to Garu: Abyo is a loud, flamboyant martial artist as opposed to Garu's constant silence and subdued nature. Also, Abyo likes his love interest Ching while Garu finds Pucca an Abhorrent Admirer.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He even has a whole episode dedicated to handling his anger management issues.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: His level of competency varies, but he clearly wants to be a respected kung fu warrior, usually to show off around women. Garu, Tobe, and Pucca always outdo him.
- Missing Mom: Lives with his father, and there is no mention of his mother.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: He's been shown to actually be a pretty powerful fighter, but he usually gets taken out fairly quickly because most of the people he comes in contact with (e.g. Garu, Tobe, Pucca) are even more powerful.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Sometimes his tic of ripping his shirt backfires when he's wearing something like a swimsuit or the above-mentioned jumpsuit since he'll rip it anyway and realizes too late that now he's naked.
Ssoso
In the first two seasons
In Love Recipe
- Voiced by: Kathleen Barr (English, first two seasons), Tony Azzolino (English, Love Recipe)
- Blind Without 'Em: In season 3, he wears glasses and can't see without them as shown when he accidentally stepped on them during a basketball game.
- Butt-Monkey: Usually suffers a lot of mishaps in the first two seasons.
- Demoted to Extra: He was pretty prominent in the first two seasons, but rarely shows up in season 3.
- Eyes Always Shut: Keeps his eyes closed for the most part. He did open them once and nothing positive came out of that.
- Ice-Cream Koan: Often says what sound like wise sayings, mostly to explain ridiculous things like why he is watching for icebergs off the back of the Titanic.
- You Don't Look Like You: In the first two seasons, he wore a orange monk outfit (when not doing a theme episode) and was completely bald. In Love Recipe, his design was changed; he now has hair, wears glasses, sporting a grey outfit and his eyes sport a different design ("> <" rather then the "- -"). You'd be forgiven for not recognizing him at first.
Goh-Rong Restaurant
The Chefs
Ho (right), Dumpling (center), and Linguine (left)
Uncle Dumpling, Linguini, and Ho. Pucca's guardians and uncles who run the local noodle restaurant in their town.- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed; in Love Recipe, they're much kinder to Dada and value his place among the restaurant staff. They also don't chide him whenever he makes a mistake. However, this could also be a consequence of Dada being a bit more competent in this adaptation.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Hot and Bothered" is the only episode of the series, or franchise in general, to focus on one of the chefs. Ho spends a great deal time separated to get an ingredient to help Pucca feel better, but is distracted when a fire goddess falls in love with him.
- Ambiguously Related: Only one of them (Dumpling) is ever referred to as an uncle. They do not look like brothers and appear to be more like friends. It's like only one of them is actually Pucca's uncle and the others are just honorary. However, Love Recipe does show the chefs explicitly referring to each other as brothers, leaning toward the idea they all three of them are related (somehow).
- Chef of Iron: They use martial arts to prepare their meals.
- Edible Theme Naming: Linguini, after "Linguine", Dumpling is self-explanatory, and Ho, after "Hoe" (a fish-based dish from Korea).
- Friendly Rivalry: It's clearly one-sided, but they seem to regard their rivalry with the Don King restaurant as this.
- Good Parents: They are always kind to Pucca, even supporting her craziest actions, and when it looks like she's turned into a juvenile delinquent they blame themselves.
- Jerkass to One: They're constantly mocking and belittling Dada. While he is clumsy and cowardly, they tend to do it for no reason other than amusement.
- Like a Son to Me: Love Recipe heavily implies they have this relationship with Garu, and that Garu himself does view them as the closest he has to father figures, which may be a major reason they ship him with Pucca.
- Martial Arts and Crafts: Use epic martial arts moves to prepare and cook the noodles they serve.
- Shipper on Deck: All three of them are the most supportive Pucca's love for Garu, much to his annoyance.
- Supreme Chef: They're considered the best chefs in Sooga Village.
Dada
In the first two seasons
In Love Recipe
- Voiced by: Lee Tockar (English, first two seasons), Todd Haberkorn (English, Love Recipe)
- Butt-Monkey: Poor guy always get the short end of the stick comedy-wise if something goes wrong at the restaurant. This was especially bad in the first two seasons, season three toned it down a little.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's actually an amazing janitor. It's shown in certain episodes that the restaurant would turn into a garbage filled dump if Dada wasn't around and the one time he's had enough of the chef's abuse and does leave the restaurant ends up trashed in days.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Dada is typically this throughout the entirety of the first two seasons. While he's mainly an employee no one seems to really like him typically because he's often handed the short end of the stick at all times.
- Hopeless Suitor: He was sporting a crush for Ring Ring in first two seasons. This gets dropped in Love Recipe.
- Nervous Wreck: Considering how often danger often befalls the restaurant, it's not hard to see why.
- Potty Failure: A runnin' gag with him is that he'll pee his pants for whatever reason. This is edited out in the Disney broadcasts but it stays in the uncuts versions.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Pucca typically is the only one to give Dada any amount of sympathy during the previous tv series. Even one time kissing him at the end of one episode in the anime which Dada appreciated. She's typically the one not to join in on the bullying the other villagers give him.
Dandy
- Voiced by: Ben Pronsky (English)
- A Day in the Spotlight: Has a few episodes to himself in season 3.
- Canon Foreigner: He wa created specifically for Love Recipe.
- Mundane Utility: He uses a small lightsaber as a potato peeler.
- The Stoic: He doesn't really emote much and is usually reserved despite all the craziness that goes on around him.
- Supreme Chef: Reveals he knows how to cook and took over cooking duties when Pucca's uncles were tricked into going on vacation by Fyah.
Sooga Village Residents
Master Soo
With his maidens
- Voiced by: Lim Gyeong-Myeong (Korean), Richard Newman (English), Masashi Ebara (Japanese)
- Alter Kocker: For some reason, both the first series and Love Recipe have him speak with a Yiddish accent.
- Berserk Button: Never insult his servants in front of him. Master Loo learned this the hard way.
- He hates the sights of the undead. When he thought he saw Garu’s skeleton piecing itself back together, he thought it was an evil spirit coming up from the underworld. Moving to muscle in on being the village immortal.
- Big Brother Bully: Has a little brother who he likes to pick on. It's not like his little brother is a saint, however.
- Flying on a Cloud: Often gets around on a flying cloud.
- Kavorka Man: He looks like an elderly Buddhist monk, but the women in his company are heavily implied to be concubines.“I’ve still got it.”
- A Lady on Each Arm: Usually seen with two female servants by his side.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Among his brothers, Soo is the nice to Mel's mean and Loo's in-between. While he is sometimes harsh with the characters if they displease him (like when he banned kung fu due to his servants being more focused on Abyo and Garu than him or when he tried to hunt down Garu's skeleton), he is nonetheless one of the good guys and helps Pucca and her friends whenever they need his help.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Soo has a noticeably taller head than the other characters'. If his brother is anything to go by, it seems to be a family trait of his.
- Really 700 Years Old: He doesn't look any more then in his 50s but is revealed to be a very long lived being.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A few episodes are sometime caused by whatever mystic item, creature or person he was using or had sealed away getting let loose.
Santa Claus
- Voiced by: French Tickner (English, first two seasons), Spike Spencer (English, Love Recipe)
- Big Eater: Loves his food and usually not one to shy away from snacking on something.
- The Chew Toy: Whenever Santa appears in the 2006 Pucca cartoon, chances are that he's about to be obliterated by the show's physical comedy. It's usually Pucca's doing, with her tossing him aside whenever he obliviously impedes her attempts to catch Garu, but the show's world, in general, can and will attack him without restraint—or even provocation. One notable example is "Knock it Off"; Master Soo enacts a ban on Kung-Fu and summons storm clouds to patrol Sooga and zap those they spot practicing it and anything tangentially related to it. A montage showing Sooga's residents struggling to cope with the change ends with Santa, who's feeling optimistic about the situation. Then, he makes the mistake of squashing a fly in full view of the clouds. Compared to the embarrassing, inconvenient, but harmless curses they place on the others, the clouds opt to straight-up nuke him.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Normally a hapless Butt-Monkey who sees all sorts of misfortunes befall him, Santa knows how to throw his weight around when he gets serious. As shown in "'Tis the Season for Revenge," he turns out to be an effective martial artist, whose battle style incorporates Christmas-themed weaponry and magic.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: He's shown having different jobs in episodes and shorts. He's either working at a store, a waiter at the Goh-Rong, or anything related to the plot. Justified, as his main role as Santa Claus is once a year.
- Santa Claus: Obviously.
- You Don't Look Like You: While he has the right coloring, his red suit doesn't look like the traditional Santa Claus outfit. He also doesn't have the iconic beard, or any facial hair for that matter beyond a small white patch framing his mouth that could more than likely be his lips.
Master Chang
In Love Recipe
- Voiced by: Michael Daingerfield (English, first two seasons), Todd Haberkorn (English, Love Recipe)
- Adaptational Nice Guy: He was never an outright Jerkass, but in the first show, he was often a Stern Teacher and sometimes tended to be abrasive toward his students. In Love Recipe, he's a lot more mellow and soft-spoken.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: Like with Bruce, it ain't clear where Ching's mother is and, in one episode, it's suggested he's single but other ones aren't so clear on that, either.
- The Mentor: To Garu, Abyo, Ching and Ssoso, and sometime Pucca if she stays around for his lessons (she's rarely seen around his school).
Bruce
In the first two seasons
- Voiced by: Dale Wilson (English, first two seasons), Kirk Thorton (English, Love Recipe)
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: We know he exists but he doesn't mention a wife or girlfriend. Actually, thinkin' about it, in Love Recipe, there's an episode where he briefly dates Mija, so, clearly, he's single but it's not sure how.
- Cool Shades: Has pair on his hat through rarely wears them.
- Eyes Always Shut: He rarely opens his eyes fully.
- Good Parents: He's remarkably patient with Abyo's eccentricities, but won't hesitate to lay down the law whenever he catches Abyo doing something genuinely bad.
- Irony: His son is an expy of Bruce Lee, yet he's the one named Bruce.
- Police Are Useless: Lampshaded in "Depressed Bruce?," it's noted that due to how peaceful the village usually is and that Pucca and Garu end up fighting off the Monster of the Week, he doesn't get to do much for his job.
- Verbal Tic: Has a habit of saying "Over" when finishing a sentence. Sometimes, he structures his sentences to accommodate the tic, such as when he once told Pucca to "Scoot!... Over." It's to the point in "No Years Eve" that no one reacts to his announcement that baby New Year is missing until he says "over" as if expecting him to say more. Even less commonly, if he wants to conclude a point assertively, he ends his statement with "over, and out!"
Destiny
- Adaptational Villainy: The episode "Garu Hood" depicts his medieval counterpart as a villain, something he acknowledges.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: For some reason, his voice actor based his tone and mannerisms on Eddie Murphy. Although, since the original series was produced by Disney, it's likely he's meant to be based on Mushu from Mulan.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Destiny is his stage name. If he has a real name, it's never revealed.
- Put on a Bus: Never appears in any other media after the second season.
- Shipper on Deck: His first chronological appearance has him assist Pucca into getting Garu to come and "rescue" her from his lair.
Goblins
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The Pink Smileys are girls and the Blue Smileys are boys
- Our Goblins Are Different: Would you ever guess these adorable little pink-and-blue gingerbread-like paper people are goblins?
Antagonists
Tobe
- Voiced by: Lee Tockar (English, first two seasons), Ben Pronsky (English, Love Recipe)
- Arch-Enemy: He and Garu have an intense rivalry; exactly why is unclear. The first two seasons suggest it's got somethin' to do with their ancestors (since he keeps mentioning them) but Love Recipe suggests it has something to do with the scar on his face.
- Bad Boss: He frequently verbally and physically abuses his admittedly incompetent ninja followers. Lampshaded in "Striking Out".Ninja #1: Tobe never got mad at us when we made mistakes.Ninja #2: Actually, he did.
- The Brute: In Love Recipe, he and his ninja gang serve as the muscle for Fyah's plans. Tobe only agrees to work for the restaurant because doing so frequently pits him against Garu.
- Dirty Coward: He's not above playing dirty to beat Garu. Also, whenever a scheme turns south, Tobe frequently turns tail and runs. However, his cowardice is completely justified, considering the overprotective Pucca is a constant, nearby presence in Garu's life.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When a mascot craze hits the island in Dong King's Mascot, he and his clan fawn over a flower girl mascot. After seeing Fyah attack her and tear off her petals, they immediately chase after him and correctly points out to the villagers that he's the one behind the recent attacks on the new mascots.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even he seems to recognize how tough it is for Garu to have an obsessive stalker like Pucca.
- The Faceless: Zig-zagged. He's in his mask a majority of the time in his appearances, though has taken it off on occasion.
- Foil: Tobe serves as one for Muji from the first TV series. Both are temperamental warriors who find strength in numbers. However, Tobe is a pretty Bad Boss to his ninja gang, and he's more likely to fold from a fight if things don't go as planned. Tobe and his gang also seem to live in squalor, using a cardboard cutout of a fortress to disguise their true home: a dirty, nondescript shack. Relatedly, whenever a plan of his requires technology or some magical item, the ninja steals from other people or requires outside assistance to gain access to them.
- Revenge: He obsesses over "vengeance" on Garu, but what he wants vengeance for is never established. "Tame That Toon" implies that he swears vengeance on people purely for the sake of having a rival. When Garu is erased from existence, Tobe immediately sets his sights on Dada to fulfill that vacant niche.
- The Leader: He's the leader of his little band of ninjas which he often attacks Garu with.
- The Rival: He aims to defeat Garu and prove his superiority as a ninja.
- Vocal Evolution: In the original TV show, Tobe had quite a vocal range, speaking in a cold, snarky tone one moment to a loud, belligerent one the next. In Love Recipe, he channels straight anger most of the time.
Vagabond Ninja Clan
Chief (Jing-Jing)
Clown (Binggure)
Shaman (Jumong)
A trio of ninjas that often make trouble around the village. They sometimes work for Tobe. They are Chief, Clown and Shaman.- All There in the Manual: One source says their names are "Jing-Jing" (Chief), "Binggure" (Clown), and "Jumong" (Shaman)
- Annoying Laugh: Clown's Verbal Tic counts, but he physically can't genuinely laugh. The most he can manage is a soft wheeze. According to "Big Top Bang Bang," His inability to laugh normally is the reason he was kicked out of the local circus.
- Asian Speekee Engrish: Chief speaks like this. It's even more noticeable due to the fact that she's the only one of the predominantly-Asian characters to have any kind of accent.Chief: (as a lawyer) So, tell us what reary happened!
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: They're only in the first two seasons, and they don't show up in Love Recipe.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: They're inconsistently threatening at best. Chief is a cowardly idiot, Clown tends to joke around at inappropriate times, and Shaman can't cast a spell to save his life.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains: They tend to have the most sympathetic motives among Pucca's antagonists: when not collaborating with Tobe, they're mostly looking for food or money to scrape by. It's too bad they choose really obtuse, unsuccessful methods to obtain both.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: There are times where Shaman's spells not only fail, but they crash and burn. Take "Chop Chewie" for instance, where he reads an extermination spell backward, causing some termites to grow exponentially and threaten all of Sooga.
- Hopeless Suitor: Unless under the effect of Cupid's arrow, Chief's feelings for Tobe go unreciprocated.
- Inept Mage: Zig-zagged with Shaman depending on the episode. Either the spells he uses work, or they end up backfiring.
- The Hyena: Clown, who has a habit of laughing at most things, with what could be charitably called laughter.
- The Leader: Chief, true to her name and she's the smarter of the three
- The Smurfette Principle: Chief is the only girl among the bunch.
- Verbal Tic: "Eh" for Clown. It's the only way he can laugh.
- Would Hit a Girl: Clown randomly hits Chief over the head with an umbrella in "Chicken Spots".
- Zany Scheme: Most of their solo appearances usually involve trying to make a quick buck or getting food for free.
Doga
In the ep The Usual Ching
A witch that something causes trouble when she rolls into Sooga.- Artifact of Doom: Basically any bit of her clothing. Due to a mixup, one of Doga's socks got mixed in with Ching's clothing and stuck to one of her shirts, turning her evil as a result until it was removed. Ching's sock has the opposite effect, turning Doga good.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Doga is unabashedly evil, to the point where she treats it like an aesthetic. Some episodes show that she radiates literal evil energy.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She's only in the first two seasons and is completely absent from Love Recipe.
- Eye Beams: She normally fires out her magic through her eyes.
- Facial Markings: Has two long strips down from her eyes. When Ching was affected by the piece of sock stuck on her, she gained some of her own.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Very easy to mistake her for a male due to the design and voice.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The most common punishment for her misdeeds is being forcibly turned good, sometimes in looks, in personality, or both. When only her looks changed as punishment in "Hex Door Neighbors," she treated the transformation as A Fate Worse Than Death.
- The Pig-Pen: Lives very messily as shown with her drab clothing and grungy belongings. It's best shown with her vehicles — namely a van and a fishing trawler — both of which look barely maintained.
- Sixth Ranger: Occasionally, she's grouped in with the Vagabonds whenever Bruce needs a bigger gang of criminals to pursue.
- Wicked Witch: As a witch, she's one of the strongest magic users in the show and has an undying vendetta against all things nice and sweet.
Ring Ring
Regular
In her "Yang" state
- Voiced by: Tabitha St. Germain (English, first two seasons), Karen Strassman (English, Love Recipe)
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed as while she's still not a good person overall, in the first series, Ring Ring feigned politeness at best or treated most people with open contempt at worst. Comparing it to Love Recipe, she acts fairer toward people and sometimes makes genuine efforts to be nice. This is best pronounced in her interactions with Ayo, who she treats like a trustworthy, if sometimes annoying, little brother.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In Love Recipe, Ring Ring has a crush on Garu with her rivalry with Pucca revoles around gaining his attention, where else in the first series, she's indifferent towards him and only uses him to make Pucca jealous.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: In the first series, She could tap into her Yang mode anytime she wants and has used it frequently. In Love Recipe, it only manifests when Ring-Ring is under immense rage or stress and she seems to go out of her way to avoid using it when she can, preferring to handle most problems while riding a Dr. Wily style Flying Saucer.
- Ax-Crazy: Ring-Ring comes off as not being a very stable individual with her violent outbursts in her Yang form.
- Berserk Button: Whatever you do, do not call anyone else perfect or even insinuate that someone is better than her while she's around.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Like most villains of the show, she'll pretty much cheat her way to victory. Naturally, it'll end up backfiring in some form.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Though she was relieved it meant she wasn't pursuing a blood relative, she was utterly disgusted over how her father tricked Garu into thinking he was his long lost father. It pissed her off enough for her to turn on her father and help Sooga Village drive him out.
- Fan of the Underdog: In the first series, she's implied to have some attraction toward Dada. In He Loves Me Not, when Dada was unmasked in disguising himself as Garu, she only lightly slapped him and accused him of tricking her in a way that sounds like she was putting on an act, implying she genuinely wanted to marry him but didn't want to lose face doing so. Also in Soap Opera, when she learned Dada was dating her in disguise again, she only got pissed off when the townspeople started laughing at her about it.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Ring-Ring has very poor temperment and is prone to losing her cool more often than not.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: When she's in Yang mode, Ring Ring's Prehensile Hair proves to be a double-edged sword. It makes her a more versatile combatant, but it also gives fighters like Pucca something to grab and swing Ring Ring around with. More often than not, this cancels Ring Ring's offensive momentum almost completely.
- Glass Cannon: She can dish out some respectable damage in Yang-form, thanks to her sonic screams and hair. However, it doesn't take much to take her down.
- Jerkass: Not a pleasant person in the slightest.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be nice in some cases and even gets along with Pucca on occasions, though very rarely.
- Kick the Dog: When she pretended to date and later marry Garu just to show Pucca she was the girl who had everything. This goes so far to where she laughed at Pucca while she was sobbing in tears.
- Noodle Incident: It's never explained why she hates Don King's bodyguard Edward.
- Prehensile Hair: When she goes to "Yang" mode, she can attack with her hair.
- One-Winged Angel: Her Yang mode in which markings appear on her face, her eyes go red, her outfit changes and her hair goes wild to which she gains the ability to attack with her hair, sleeves, and screams.
- The Rival: Is that to Pucca. In Love Recipe, her rivalry with Pucca is mostly tied to Garu as she also have a crush on him. However, in the original series, Ring-Ring doesn't seem to have any actual feelings for Garu, only showing him interest to spite Pucca (and sometimes going as far as trying to harm or even kill Garu just so Pucca would be hurt), instead, being simply jealous of her popularity and beauty.
- Sadist: Ring-Ring is not above tormenting whoever she doesn't like and gets quite a kick out of it. This is mainly directed towards Pucca as she constantly made her cry in an episode where she pretended to date Garu,who was actually Dada in disguise, while cackling like a lunatic.
- Super-Scream: When in Yang mode, she has the ability to yell out sonic screams.
- Vocal Evolution: In the first TV series, Ring Ring spoke with a high-pitched, incredibly nasally voice. In Love Recipe, it's a bit deeper and the nasalness is dropped entirely.
- Spoiled Brat: Becomes this in the third season due to her father running CK King, the rival restaurant to Pucca's uncles.
Muji
- Voiced by: Dave Ward (English, first two seasons), Annset Vottage (English, Love Recipe)
- Balloon Belly: Muji suffers through some particularly brutal bloating in "Noodle to the Stars." After swallowing an entire carton of never-ending noodles, he slowly swells to planetary size, moaning in pain and regretting his decision all the while. He eventually explodes; all that's left of him is the robotic eye he donned for the episode's Space Opera theme.
- Benevolent Boss: Muji generally treats his zombie henchmen with respect and explicitly values their company; at worst, he acts firm if they ever act out of line, but he never takes out his frustration on them. In "Surf Ninjas," when one Zombie asks Muji they and the others are disallowed from the beach he usurped, Muji warmly assures them they can stay.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Neither he nor his zombies returned for Love Recipe.
- Competition Freak: In many episodes where Muji appears, he settles the score with the heroes by holding competitions for whatever he's after. As to be expected, he makes a point to rig these games in his favor.
- Establishing Character Moment: While he was technically introduced in "Ping Pong Pucca," the later episode "Surf Ninjas" sets the groundwork for Muji appearances to come. His introductory scene, heralded by his Leitmotif, shows off his zombies surfing to the beach, followed by him emerging from the wave on a shark, complete with a Badass Armfold. When he eventually makes it to land, Muji lets out an angry roar before claiming the beach is his, threatening everyone to leave. He also adopts the speech patterns that would remain throughout his tenure on the series.
- Foil: Muji serves as one for Tobe. Both are temperamental warriors who find strength in numbers. However, Muji has a healthier relationship with his henchmen and he's not one to back down from a fight if things don't go as planned. Unlike Tobe, Muji lives in a legitimate, more intimidating ornate fortress, complete with a proper throne room and multiple floors. Relatedly, Muji has access to some expensive technology and magical items of his own, using the former to store his inactive zombies and supplying others with the latter.
- Irony: He freaks out when a single grey hair appears in his mustache in "No Year's Eve", but finds he likes the look when his mustache goes completely white and grows into a large grandpa beard that goes past his feet.
- Leitmotif: Starting with "Surf Ninjas," Muji gains a menacing, creepy, string-heavy piece that represents his surly disposition and the zombies he often has in tow.
- Older Than They Look: Muji's black hair and physical prowess belie his true age — the man's in his 80's. However, his hair starts to grey during "No Years Eve," which, outside of supplemental material, is the only time his age ever comes into question.
- Prehensile Hair: Unlike Ring Ring, Muji's hair's prehensility is strictly limited to his mustache. Also unlike Ring Ring, the 'stache can shapeshift, from something as simple as a giant fist to a cherry bomb.
- Security Blanket: Losing his mustache causes him to lose his nerve completely and his greatest fear is the barber.
- Third-Person Person: "This beach MUJI'S beach," among several other examples.
Master Loo
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Granted, Soo plays a prank on him during his birthday, but Loo later reveals himself as a utter Jerkass who ruins his brother's birthday by incinerating his cake, mocking him for his age, driving his loyal servants away from him and then humiliating him in front of all the Goh-Rong Restaurant's clientele.
One can even wonder if maybe his condescending attitude is the reason why Soo pranks him to begin with. - Manchild: Despite being a centuries old being like his brothers, Loo is pretty childish and ends up leaving the scene crying for his mom in both episodes he appears in due to what Soo does to him.
- Meaningful Name: Prolly unintentional but this dude really does have a "poopy" personality.
- Momma's Boy: In both episodes he appears in, he threatens Soo that he will tell their Honorable Mother about what he did to him. Not like Soo cares, however.
- Mr. Fanservice: When Soo unleashes a stampede to ruin his visit to the beach, Loo takes off his robe and wears a blue Speedo, impressing Soo's servants.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Among his brothers, Loo is the in-between to Soo's nice and Mel's mean. While he seems to be decent toward his flying monkeys and treats his brother's servants nicely at first by cooking them sausages or taking them to the movies, he also bullies Soo without compassion during his birthday nonetheless.
- Pet the Dog: His jerkishness aside, he at least treats his flying monkeys well, giving them bananas after they bring him to the train station to receive his brother's gift.
- Really 700 Years Old: Just like his two brothers, Loo is a very long lived being, though he is likely younger than Mel and Soo.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In his first appearance, he seemed to be just the innocent victim of a childish prank by his brother during his own birthday. In his second appearance, however, he interrupts his brother's birthday, but rather than playing a joke on him and leaving, he ruins his cake, drives his servants away from him and mocks him about his age. No wonder Soo proceeds to give him such a humiliating beating. One can assume, however, that he was always like this, given how Soo says that he will teach him a lesson like back when they were little.
- Would Hit a Girl: Not harshly, but he does hit two of Soo's servants in the head when they don't pay attention to him attention while jerkishly asking them if they're there or that they are pretty but their heads are empty, prompting them to leave him out of disgust.
Dong King Restaurant
Fyah
- Voiced by: Steve Canden (English)
- Attention Whore: In "Dong King's Mascot," he unwillingly becomes the titular mascot of the restaurant, but quickly loves the attention and praise from the villagers because of it. When a mascot craze hits the town, he gets angry over his thunder being taken and begins destroying the other costumes, one of which led to him being chased by Tobe and his clan because they were fans of her.
- Butt-Monkey: Nothing ever goes right for the guy.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: He tries his best to sabotage Go-Rong, but it usually always backfires.
- The Dragon: For the most part he acts on Dong King's behalf.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Fyah's technological know-how is what sets Dong King's Restaurant apart from the Goh-Rong. His own plans always factor in a gadget of his somehow. He even has manufactured robot mooks to assist him.
- George Jetson Job Security: He's been fired by the Dong King a few times, but resumes his usual duties by the next episode.
- The Heavy: Fyah is responsible for establishing Dong King's Restaurant in Sooga and for settling the latter's rivalry with the Goh-Rong crew in his stead.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He's the butt of the joke all-around, but there are numerous times where he's successfully drive Goh-Rong Restaurant out of business with his scheme and likely would get away with it if it wasn't for Pucca's interference.
- Professional Buttkisser: Essentially this to Dong King and by extension, Ring Ring.
Ayo
- Voiced by: Ben Pronsky (English)
- Cheerful Child: He doesn't really seem to let anything get him down and more than happy to help Ring Ring with whatever she wants.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He apparently made special love bracelets which one is effectively a mind-control device while its counterpart is the controller. He sent one to his ex who unknowingly sends him love letters because of it and gives a pair to Ring Ring for her plans for Garu.
- Hopeless Suitor: It's obvious he has a crush on Ring Ring, but she just treats him like a lackey.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick Acts as one to Ring-Ring.
- Only Sane Man: Among the staff at Dong King, he seems to be the only one with any common sense.
Casano
- Voiced by: Spike Spencer (English)
- Hopeless Suitor: To Pucca who's strength he's attracted to. Naturally Pucca's not interested.
- Pretty Boy: Is very handsome (by Pucca design) and uses it to draw in ladies to the restaurant.
- Punny Name: A take on "Casanova".
Dong King
- Voiced by: Michael Sorich (English)
- Big Bad: He's the chief antagonist of Love Recipe, wishing to settle a one-sided rivalry with Uncle Dumpling and be recognized as the best chef in the world.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: Wanna know how you can tell he's evil? He's sporting a Hitler stache on his face.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: In true Vader fashion, Dong King reveals to Garu that he is his long lost son. He's willing to tell Garu about his long-lost mother if he assists the Dong King Restaurant with an upcoming cooking competition. This turns out to be a lie just so Dong King would have an advantage, leaving Garu devastated and Ring Ring relieved that she wasn't pursuing a blood relative.
- Orcus on His Throne: He spends the majority of season three at his base and contacting his minions through video chat or phones. It's not until the final episode of the season does he decide to show up personally.
- Second Place Is for Losers: The one reason he wages war on the Goh-Rong is that he lost to Uncle Dumpling in a past cooking competition.
- Shout-Out: His helmet (yes, that's his helmet) is designed like Darth Vader.
- Unknown Rival: To Pucca's Uncle Dumpling. In the past, they apparently met in a cooking competition, where King came up behind Dumpling in second place, fueling his animosity for the Goh-Rong overall. Dumpling, meanwhile, doesn't remember who he is at all.
Etc
Yuni
- Exhausted Eyebags: She looks like she has these, tho, admittedly, shih tzus in general look like they have these, so it's subverted. Then again, it's prolly played with if we remember what this dog might have to deal with as a minion.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Sorta, as she's a dog and not a kid but, otherwise, she had this response in Ring-Ring's Party Favors, when she was trying to tell Ring-Ring about the letter she got. Said letter being an invitation to Pucca's party
Yani
As she is in the original shorts
Pucca's cat, love interest to Garu's cat, Mio- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Real life cats ain't pink, unless they're dyed pink.
Mio
Mio in action
Garu's pet cat, love interest to Yani- Uncatty Resemblance: In a way, like Garu, Mio also practices ninjutsu and martial arts.
Cat Clan
Napoleon (orange one), Brutus (black and white bicolor), and Socrates (tabby)
A trio of three cats, rivals to Mio- All There in the Manual: According to the Jetix website, their names are Brutus, Socrates, and Napoleon.
Won
Won
Ching's pet chicken. She lays magical eggs.- Eyes Always Shut: Usually, with her eyes close, she looks really content, but, she will have them open wide when shocked, scared, or laying eggs.
- Head Pet: Usually, that's where she is. At one point, she and Ching used to be the trope pic.
- Living Emotional Crutch: When Won isn't with Ching, the latter gets depressed, sick, and just all around not herself.
Master Turtle (and Turtle Jr)
Master Turtle is an old turtle who prints the fortunes to fortune cookies.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: His is to an extreme: If y'all remove his glasses, he loses his wisdom and everything.
Turtle Jr.
A younger, regular turtle, who swims in things (even freshly squeezed juice). Master Soo's Maidens
In Love Recipe
Master Soo's servants. We don't know how many there are.- Eyes Always Shut: Usually, their eyes are shut or otherwise squinted.
- No Name Given: Besides Kua and Yong, none maidens seem to be have individual names.
