Characters / The Electric Company (2009)

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Main characters

The Electric Company

As a whole

^{Click here} for the team's members and Shock

The titular company are the main characters of the series. They're a group of teenagers from a New York neighborhood bound by a love for language and sworn to do the right thing. They often hang out in the Electric Diner which serves as their headquarters, where they hang out at a regular booth, tease one another, and hatch plans.

Each individual member has a unique special skill.

• Brother–Sister Team: Hector and Jessica Ruiz, being siblings, are incredibly loyal and protective over each other being very dynamic with their strengths and differences. Being two of the original members of the company, they've got tons of experience with their powers and the Pranksters.
• Catchphrase: "HEY YOU GUYS!"
• Free-Range Children: With the exception of Keith with his father and Lisa with her mother, none of the Electric Company's parents are ever shown in the series, which gives the members a lot of space to roam around town whenever they feel like it.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: In the show's first two seasons, the titular crew contains an equal number of boys (Hector and Keith) and girls (Jessica and Lisa). They lose this trope in the third season where Lisa gets written off the show and Jessica becomes the only girl on the team.
• Guile Hero: The Electric Company relies on more than just their powers to protect their neighborhood and face the Pranksters, although they definitely prove to be very useful and essential — especially when you consider one's got a Photographic Memory, one's essentially a living tape recorder, and one's a master at solving anagrams. Each of the members has been shown to be clever, observant, and often very creative in how they deal with their problems. You've got to be this when facing off with the appropriately-named Pranksters.
• Hero Does Public Service: "A Whole New Francine" has the Electric Company take part in a fundraiser event appropriately-titled "The Big Show For Kids" where they'd try to create the biggest pyramid of words ever, and volunteer to help out with the show's preparation.
• Ideal Hero: Although they may constantly be annoyed by the Pranksters' antics, they always stand by their code of honor, will help out anyone in need, seldom ever lie, and never stoop down to the Pranksters' tactics even at their lowest.
• Kid Hero: All of the company's members are shown to be in their teenage years (aside from Keith, who was a pre-teen when he was first inducted, and later Marcus), yet they're all shown to be the protectors of their neighborhood, who keep the town safe from the Pranksters and other major threats.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Keith's the sensitive guy with Hector being the manly man of the pack.
• Sibling Team: Hector and Jessica are this to the point where they are on Bash Brothers level.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Jessica's the tomboy with Lisa being the girly girl of the pack.
• True Companions: It's clear the team's members truly care about and love each other and if one of the members ends up in some kind of peril, you can bet the rest of the team will come to their aid.
• Two Girls to a Team: At least in the first 2 seasons with Jessica and Lisa as the only female members of the team.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: The Electric Company has a code of conduct which forbids the misuse of the power of words, so, on principle, its members try not to lie.

Hector Ruiz

Played by: Josh Segarra

Hector Ruiz is the leader of The Electric Company. He is an excellent basketball player, singer, and dancer. He runs Keith's father (Leo)'s diner and goes to college.

His special skill is the ability to play back anything that has happened and then zoom in on the details for an extra-close look.

• Almighty Janitor: He remains useful to the Electric Company, even after he starts running the diner at the beginning of Season 3.
• Benevolent Boss: Despite being the overall leader of the eponymous team, his relationship with the others is that of a friend rather than a boss. Ocassional arrogance aside, he's mostly a Nice Guy and he's more than willing to let one of the other members take charge when the time comes, and even goes along with their plans. He'll also come to the other members' aid if they happen to have an issue.
• Chick Magnet: He's had a fair number of female fans who have been into him, especially shown in episodes like "Out To Launch"
• The Hero: He's the leader of The Electric Company and tends to get a lot of focus on the show.
• Heroes Love Dogs: He and Jessica are shown to have a pet dog in "Pies and Puppies.
• Improbable Use of a Weapon: In one episode, Hector is chasing Sigmund Scrambler around the neighborhood. He creates a detour sign using a wordball which Sigmund follows, leading him into a dead end.
• My Greatest Failure: "The Limerick Slam" has Hector reveal explains to the rest of the company that he used to be the champion of an annual limerick contest, but was (unfairly) defeated by Manny on one year. He has never entered said contest since.
• Out of Focus: Is absent in many episodes of Season 2.
• Photographic Memory: His unique superpower is that he can call up any image he remembers, then manipulate it and examine the image's details.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Mentioned on the show's page.

Jessica Ruiz

Played by: Priscilla Star Diaz

Jessica Ruiz is Hector's younger sister. She's a great problem solver who has tons of energy. She is always ready to face a challenge head-on.

Her special skill is that she remembers everything people say. She can replay and display whatshe has heard (word for word)

• Competition Freak: A handful of a episodes have Jessica take games and competition far more seriously than she should. "A Fistful of Confetti" and "Pies for Puppies" are prime examples of this. There's literally no reason Jessica had to beat Francine for filming the most records in the former episode, other than to show her off. And in the latter episode, where she and Danny were selling pies, she told Danny that the pie-selling thing was for raising money for puppies rather than being the puppy hero, but she herself isn't that much better in that department, considering she exposed Danny's scam which lead to people getting her pies. In fact in, "The Skeleckian Hiccups", right after beating Danny in a chess match, she literally says, "I love to win, especially against Danny!"
• Heroes Love Dogs: She and Hector aree shown to have a pet dog in "Pies and Puppies, and the episode's main plot is about creating and selling pies to raise money for puppies.
• Series Mascot: She is the favorite character of the fandom. She also has preformed live with Hector, Manny and Shock, sings the end-of-show rap 90 percent of the time and even interviewed an actor from the original version.
• Shout-Out: Was seen wearing a "Zoom" T-shirt at the beginning of Season 2.
• The Smurfette Principle: With Lisa being Put on a Bus late in the show's run, Jessica's the only girl left in the company.

Lisa Heffenbacher

Played by: Jenni Barber

Lisa Heffenbacher is upbeat and quirky. She often finds herself in sticky situations, though her enthusiasm and optimism help her and The Electric Company succeed.

Her special skill is that she's a word-puzzle master who can unscramble words at amazing speed.

• Cute Clumsy Girl: She's not exactly the most graceful girl in the hood, as she tends to trip over herself and is often later.
• Ditzy Genius: Lisa may be a bit of a kitz and prone to messing up, but she's as much a Guile Hero as the rest of the team, especially since her ability to unscramble words makes her a master at solving anagrams which comes in handy very often. Even when not using her powers, she's still shown to be smart in various areas.
• Good Is Not Dumb: She is probably the smartest member of the Electric Company.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She had blonde hair, and is probably the most cheerful, upbeat and friendly member of the Electric Company.
• Nice Girl: Definitely. Even among the standards of the Electric Company, she's incredibly warm and friendly. She often serves as a team's Voice of Reason, being willing to give the Pranksters the benefit of the doubt, even if none of her teammates do, and she's beloved by nearly everyone in the neighborhood, due to her helpfulness.
• Put on a Bus: In season three when she goes to a science camp out of town.
• Token White: She's the only member of the team to be white, considering Hector and Jessica are Hispanic and Keith and Marcus are African-American.
• Women Are Wiser: She's one of the only female members of the company (there's also Jessica, but she's got her own set of issues) and she's not only one of the smartest members of the team, she's also one of the most down-to-earth members (compare this to her male partner Hector who tends to be pretty arrogant at times, and allowed himself to fall victim to Prankster attacks because of this), serving as the team's Voice of Reason and the heart. She's also the most willing to help out/forgive one of the Pranksters if they have an issue or want to change their ways, but she'll still catch on if it's all a trick.

Keith Watson

Played by: Ricky Smith

Keith Watson is a natural leader with a lot of confidence. He first discovered his word-making power in the series premiere while playing a game of H-O-R-S-E with Hector. He has a lot of knowledge about many different things and is good at explaining things to his friends.

His special skill is that he can make words come alive by turning them into pictures. He helps everyone visualize vocabulary.

• Audience Surrogate: We learn the premise of the show along with him.
• Out of Focus: Compared to the rest of the company, who have each gotten the chance to be the hero individually, Keith tends to get sidelined quite a bit, and doesn't get as much to do.
• Token Black: To the Electric Company, before Marcus showed up.

Marcus Barnes

Played by: Coy Stewart

Marcus Barnes is the most recent, and youngest member of the company.

His special is that in addition to throwing Word Balls like the rest of the team, he can also throw number balls.

• Accidental Misnaming: Francine calls him Marty Farms quite a bit.
• Cousin Oliver: The Electric Company (2009) is meant for grade-schoolers. Because the original Audience Surrogate hit puberty, the show needed a new one.
• Sixth Ranger
• How Do I Shot Web?: A nice way to sum up his debut. He spends the episode learning to aim word balls properly.
• Jumped at the Call
• Promotion to Opening Titles
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad

The Pranksters

In General

The main antagonists to the Electric Company, a group of teenagers with similar powers to the Company, who cause chaos in the neighborhood.

• Affably Evil: Despite essentially being the Electric Company's enemies, most of their heinous acts, amount to sheer mischief at worst (with a couple of genuinely evil acts). Although when they're not trying to cause trouble, they're often on surprisingly good terms with the company, and they'll even hang out with them from time-to-time, or go to them for help with their own problems. This trope especially applies to Danny and possibly Annie who are notably less evil and troublesome than Manny and Francine.
• Art Shift: A number of animated shorts from Season 3 depict them as cartoon characters.
• Card Carrying Villains: They're all perfectly aware of their status as troublemakers among the neighborhood, and they're completely unashamed about it. And half the time, they aren't very subtle about it either.
  • Special mention goes to Danny, a literal card-carrying baddie who loves playing mind games with the titular company involving rebuses.
• Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: You often see them cheat in attempts to get away with it.
• Small Name, Big Ego: They see themselves as the neighborhood's most powerful threats when in reality, they're nuisances at best.
• Teens Are Monsters: Just like the Electric Company, the Pranksters are all teenagers, except they use their powers for mischief and chaos.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Francine's Tomboy and Annie's Girly Girl.
• Two Girls to a Team: Similar to the Electric Company, the Pranksters have two girls on the team, namely, Francine and Annie.
• Vague Age: Downplayed, according to the Season 3 character bios, in Season 3, all the Pranksters are of varying ages between 17 and 20, but it's never specified or stated which exact ages each of them are.

Francine Carruthers

Played by: Ashley Austin Morris

Francine is a self-obsessed, bratty girl who is the leader of the Pranksters and daughter of the wealthy Antigone Carruthers. She has the ability to throw wordballs like the members of the Electric Company, but hers are purple instead of blue.

• Alpha Bitch: Largely plays this role as the leader of the Pranksters.
• Big Bad: Appears to be the leader of the Pranksters and therefore overall the main antagonist of the show.
• Bitch Alert: She will do anything to boss people around and make life too hard for others.
• Manipulative Editing: Frequently uses this in her videos, such as in "Lights, Camera, Beetles" using out of context footage from the Electric Company and "Oh, Danny Boy" switching around Hector’s words about Danny. She ends up on the receiving end in "A Whole New Francine", and initially doesn’t understand how she’s guilty of the same crime.
• Odd Name Out: She's the only (official) member of the Pranksters whose name doesn't end in or rhyme with -anny (she could use "Franny" as a nickname, but no one ever calls her that). On top of that, she's the only member whose name has more than 5 letters.
• Rich Bitch: Very wealthy and very mean.
• Toxic Friend Influence: She's often toxic to Danny. Take "Lights, Camera, Beatles" and "Oh Danny Boy" for example.
• Villainous Crush: According to the Season 3 bios, Francine has a "secret crush on Hector".

Annie Scrambler

Played by: Sandie Rosa

Annie is a frequently envious, spiteful girl with a stubborn streak in the same class as Lisa. She has the ability to "scramble" words into anagrams with a stomp of her foot, usually as a form of sabotage, but also sometimes relies on the help of her hypnotist uncle Sigmund.

• Big Sister Bully: Doesn't get much worse than being perfectly willing to use a gadget to freeze your little sister on the permanent setting, despite the inventor of said gadget clearly stating the setting wasn't ready. (Granted, Amy was a Bratty Half-Pint, but not even she deserved that)
• Driven by Envy: Many of her episodes are motivated by her want to get a role that one of the Electric Company members has, such as a major role in a play ("The Wordball is My Oyster"), a part in a music video ("Scent of a Human") or being the Junior Ambassador to the Skeleckians ("The Potato Custom").
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Genuinely cares about her uncle Sigmund Scrambler. In "Electric Accompany", her hypnotism of Keith was motivated by her want to help Sigmund advertise, and in "Bananas", she puts aside her dislike of the Company to ask help from them in getting Sigmund to confess his feelings to his crush.
• Evil Counterpart: Annie is supposedly this in comparison to Lisa. They have opposite powers (scrambling vs unscrambling), share the same class, and maintain a consistent rivalry.
• The Napoleon: She's significantly shorter than the other pranksters.
• Pet the Dog: Sometimes is genuinely helpful ("Bananas"), and quite literally likes dogs ("Pies For Puppies").
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Lisa's blue.
• Tsundere
• Shockwave Stomp: Her main ability is to scramble words with a stomp, but in "War of the Words", she also has the ability to stomp hard enough to rumble Hector’s images, and in Mission 4 of Prankster Planet, her powers are boosted enough for her to cause fissures in the ground (which leads to her trapping herself by destroying the ground around her).
• Spoiled Brat: When she wants something, she makes sure she gets it no matter what, or else she'll throw a horrible tantrum.

Manuel 'Manny' Spamboni

Played by: Dominic Colon

Manny is an arrogant, immature boy who is extremely intelligent but also extremely selfish and rude. Unlike the other Pranksters, he has no powers, but often invents elaborate robots and gadgets to aid in his mischief.

• Acrofatic: Averted so very much.
• Big Brother Bully: Considering he regularly zaps his younger brother Sammy with a gadget that temporarily freezes him, just because he was tired of being pestered by him, and was working on a setting that would freeze him permanently, it's safe to say, he's this.
• Child Prodigy: A flashback showcases was a skilled inventor even as a child, as he had already created a functional remote-controlled bug.
• Evil Genius
• Evil Is Hammy: While each of the pranksters can fit this trope one way or another, Manny especially stands out with his many scene-chewing moments and constant gloating and cackling. Domonic Colon was clearly having fun with his character.
• Gadgeteer Genius
• Hidden Depths: Much to Hector’s bewilderment, "He Ain’t Frozen, Just Immobile" reveals that he takes piano lessons.
• Mad Scientist: A teenage version.
• Mecha-Mooks: The robots he builds for small tasks. Most notably, Count Vacula.
• Momma's Boy: He's terrified of his mother, following her every order and is completely unable to stand up to her.
• Robot Buddy: Has one that assists him.
• Signature Laugh: His cackle.
• The Team Normal: He's the only member of the Pranksters to not have any kind of powers.

Danny Rebus

Played by: William Jackson Harper

Danny is a sensitive, touchy boy who tends to try to enact "revenge" against people for the most minor issue. He has the ability to create rebus puzzles on any surface, which turn into proper words when they are read correctly.

• Berserk Button: Never break a promise to Danny Rebus. It's just not a good idea.
• The Brute: Known for being the most destructive member of the Pranksters.
• Criminal Mind Games: He's a huge fan of this trope. Most of the time after he causes trouble, or steals something, he leaves a clue (or several) for the Electric Company in the form of a rebus puzzle.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He seems to genuinely care about his dog, Sandy, as evidenced in "Pies For Puppies".
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Very touchy and petty over the slightest of mishaps that he goes through.
• Large Ham
• Pet the Dog: Sometimes is genuinely helpful ("Oh, Danny Boy"), and quite literally likes dogs ("Pies For Puppies").
• Rebus Bubble: His special ability is that he can generate rebus puzzles simply by waving his hand on a surface.
• Token Minority: He's the only member of the Pranksters to be black.

Others

Shock

Played by: Chris Sullivan

Shock provides a steady beat in the neighborhood. He's a cook who helps out Leo in the Electric Diner and he often shows up when The Electric Company needs help. He may not say much, but The Electric Company has learned to watch and listen whenever Shock is around.

• A Day in the Limelight: Shock usually plays a supporting role and almost never gets directly involved in the storylines. He does however get the occasional starring role in an episode, namely in "Gravity Groove" and "Wiki Wiki Walter"
• Honorary True Companion: Due to not having any of his own wordball or vocabulary powers, Shock tends to not get actively involved when The Electric Company has to battle one of the Pranksters. However, he's still considered by the others to be one of them and they keep him around for support, and help around the Electric Diner. Not to mention being an incredible beat-boxer.
• Only Known By His Nickname: He's only ever referred to as "Shock", possibly due to his beatboxing skills. We never find out what Shock's real name is. Even the promotional material doesn't provide any intel on Shock's true name.
• The Quiet One: He rarely speaks, only beatboxes.

Paul the Gorilla

Paul the Gorilla is an intelligent anthropomorphic gorilla. He only speaks in grunts, but everyone understands him just fine.

Gilda Flip

Played by: Carly Rose Sonenclar

Gilda is a young girl who appears in Season 3. She lives in the same apartment complex as Francine, and is taken under her wing.

• Ambiguously Evil: While she'll aid Francine in some of her various schemes in trying to cause trouble in the neighborhood, most of what she's seen doing isn't nearly as harmful as what Francine had done over the course of the show, and she never shows any outright glee or pleasure in beating the company like Francine does. She never turns into an Enfant Terrible and it's unclear whether Gilda even knows about most of Francine's shady actions or would turn on her if she ever found out. She's also suspiciously absent in the "Prankster Planet" segments, thus implying that she wanted no part in Pranksters' schemes to suck up words or reverse the words.
• Ascended Fangirl: Towards Francine.
• Child Prodigy: She's 10-12 years old, and yet she's proven to be insanely smart and gifted for her age, as she manages to break 11 records within a single day, often serves as the brains behind Francine's schemes in the third season with her lists and ideas to assist her (not that she's willing to listen to her most of the time), and is shown to be far more mature and collected than Francine is. Marcus points out that she was exceptionally talented even within his class in school.
• The Dragon: And how!
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Is fond of making lists and being organized. Plus, she often comes up with ideas that Francine commandeers with a Glad I Thought of It.
  • Also, if the "Go Gilda" song is any indication, then Gilda is actually kind of awesome.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Is quite fond of them.
• The Stool Pigeon: This kid tells Francine everything.

Minor Characters

Electric Company's Family Members

Leo Watson

Keith's father, and the (now former) owner of the Electric Diner. He leaves to start up his own place in Season 3.

P.J. Watson

Keith's eccentric cousin.

Benny

Benny is Hector and Jessica's dog, appearing in the episode "Pies for Puppies".

Caroline Heffenbacher

Lisa's mother.

Mildred Heffenbacher

Lisa's maternal aunt.

Cordelia Heffenbacher

An ancestor of Lisa's, serving as her great(10x)-aunt from back in the Revolutionary War.

Pranksters' Family Members

Antigone Carruthers

Francine's mother and the self-titled CEO of The Antigone Carruthers Corporation

Bebe Spamboni

Bebe is Manny's mother, who believes her son is an innocent angel.

Sammy Spamboni

Sammy is Manny's younger brother, appearing in the episode "He Ain’t Frozen, He’s Immobile".

Sigmund Scrambler

Sigmund is Annie's hypnotist uncle. He often helps Annie in her schemes, although he can also be on the Company's side when the time comes.

Sandy Scrambler

Sandy is Annie's aunt, a hypnotist just like Sigmund.

Mrs. Scrambler

Annie's mother, who is mentioned in "He Ain’t Frozen, He’s Immobile", but never shown or named.

Amy Scrambler

Amy is Annie's younger sister, appearing in the episode "He Ain’t Frozen, He’s Immobile".

Skeleckians

In General

Skeleckians are benevolent, humanoid aliens who are a part of the population alongside humans. They are very intelligent but socially awkward, frequently have long last names, and are differentiated from humans by the necklace they all wear at all times.

• Amusing Alien: They have several unusual norms, such as sending cheese into space and celebrating a holiday dedicated to socks.
• Higher-Tech Species: As unusual as they may be, they are intelligent, have technology powered by meteorites, have shrinking devices, and put someone on the moon 740 thousand billion years before humans did.
• Humanoid Aliens: They look near-identical to humans, but with an unusual necklace that they wear at all times.
• Nice Guys: The Skeleckians are an entire race of Nice Guys, as despite being socially awkward and having advanced technology, they're very humble about it, and tend to blend right in with normal humans, even sharing various interests.

Daxter "Dax" Bluster Blooperment

Dax is the most frequently recurring Skeleckian character, who works with Lisa on scientific projects.

Mr. Bamboosnirklet

Dr. Pinklepurpy Goozibindanansky

Todd

Lottie

Other Live-Action Characters

The Great Calvero

Marlon

Bandini

Cartoon Segment Characters

Jack Bowser

Voiced by: H.D. Quinn

A bipedal blue dog, and a special agent, inspired by Jack Bauer from 24. He was always seen trapped in a factory of some sort (usually an Auto-Kitchen food factory), asking the viewer for help cracking the code to get out before the factory exploded (which would always happen in twenty-four seconds). The code consisted of a sentence or two, and reading it aloud twice opened the door.

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• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: He wore a striped sweater but no pants.
• Locked Up and Left Behind: Every episode started with him locked in some kind of factory, though it was never shown he got trapped in the first place.
• Never Learned to Read: Played with. He would say in every episode, "I can't crack the code to get out. Help me read this!" Right afterward, though, he would always manage to read the code aloud, albeit sometimes stumbling over the words a bit.
• Race Against the Clock: He would have twenty-four seconds to crack the code, always making it out Just in Time.

Music Man

Voiced by: Reggie Watts

A deep-voiced singer who appeared in many segments about phonetic sounds.

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• Limited Wardrobe: Always wears the same all-black outfit.
• Mellow Fellow: He tends to sing in a friendly, laid-back tone of voice.
• Soul Brotha: He's black, sings smoothly, dances more smoothly, and uses expressions like "Right on, brother."

Orangutans

Voiced by: Dominic Colón, Jenni Barber, and Josh Segarra

Three orangutans who demonstrated phonetic sounds.

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• Medium Awareness: When they were trying to think of "oo" words, one of them mentioned the word "cartoon".
  Orangutan #1: Oh, I love cartoons!
  Orangutan #2: Me, too!
  Orangutan #1: Wouldn't it be cool to be in a cartoon?
  Orangutan #3: Uh, guys? We are in a cartoon!
• Share Phrase: One of them would always start by asking, "What's the game today?"
• Silly Simians: In addition to thinking of words with certain phonetic sounds, they like to laugh and joke. They can even change colors, as one of them did when showing that "green" is a "gr" word.

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