The following is a list of
characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
in the ''
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.[Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...]
and
Mega Man
''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...
are not included in this list.
''Archie'' series
Main characters
Archie Andrews
The character Archie Andrews was created by
John L. Goldwater
John Leonard Goldwater (born Max Leonard Goldwasser;Saunders, David ''Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists''. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018. February 14, 1916 – February 26, 1999) co-founded (with Maurice Coyne (publisher), Maurice Coyne and Loui ...
,
Bob Montana
Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip '' Archie''.
Early life
He was born in Sto ...
and Vic Bloom first appeared in a humor strip in ''
Pep Comics
''Pep Comics'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The titl ...
'' #22 (December, 1941).
Within the context of the strip and the larger series that grew out of it, Archie is a typical teenage boy, attending high school, participating in sports, and dating. He is extremely kind, caring, brave and accident-prone and many of his actions, however well-intentioned, inadvertently harm the people he tries to help. He is not that academically inclined and brings home average grades. He is athletic and loves sports. He also has a love of cars and fixing them. He is also known for being easily infatuated by the many girls he meets. His never ending love triangle between
Betty
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...
, the girl next door, and
Veronica, the wealthy socialite, form the most common Archie stories. Archie’s other love interests include
Cheryl Blossom
Cheryl Marjorie Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a businessman. The live action version of Cheryl is portrayed by Madelaine Petsch in '' Riverdale''.
Histor ...
and Valerie Smith of Josie and the Pussycats.
Betty Cooper
Betty is the kind-hearted, caring, talented, athletic, and intelligent girl next door. She is romantically obsessed with Archie but usually ends up playing second fiddle to her best friend and romantic rival
Veronica Lodge
Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies.
She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale (Archie Com ...
. In some stories, Archie seems to prefer Betty over Veronica. She has a passion for writing and is a good student, detective and auto mechanic. She cares deeply for the well-being of others and is always ready to help people with their problems. She is the youngest child with two older siblings, an older sister named Polly and an older brother named Chic.
Veronica Lodge
Veronica (sometimes called Ronnie or Ron by her close friends) is a very rich girl, the daughter of the super wealthy multi-billionaire and business tycoon and industrialist Hiram Lodge. She is known to be the richest girl in Riverdale. She is a spendthrift, quite spoiled and vain, but is friendly, compassionate, caring, selfless, and generous. She gets along well with most of her classmates no matter their financial status. Like her best friend Betty, she is romantically obsessed with Archie and constantly competes for his affection, usually winning over Archie’s affections. She rarely gets along with Jughead Jones due to his lazy demeanor, though occasionally they set aside their differences, albeit usually to get Archie out of trouble.
Jughead Jones
Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III, is Archie's best friend since childhood. A slim boy with a huge appetite. Sarcastic, snarky and smart, Jughead is uninterested in girls. Despite this, he’s able to form friendships with girls, such as Betty. Jughead often bails Archie out of trouble when he acts impulsively and rashly. He almost always wears his trademark
whoopee cap
A whoopee cap is a style of headwear popular among youths in the mid 20th century in the United States. It was often made from a man's felt fedora hat with the brim trimmed with a scalloped cut and turned up. In the 1920s and 1930s, such caps ...
. He has a younger sister named Jellybean.
Reggie Mantle
Archie's main rival, particularly for Veronica's affections. Though they are ultimately good friends, he often taunts Archie and does not understand why girls prefer to date him. He is highly vain and conceited, thinks he can date anyone he wants, and expects everyone to think the world of him. He likes to pick on others, especially Jughead and Archie.
He is always trying to get a date with Veronica but when they did date Veronica cheated on Reggie with Archie and he then dumps Veronica.
Moose Mason
Marmaduke "Moose" Mason is a muscular, handsome star athlete but is a poor student. He often says "duh" at the beginning of sentences, and is possessive about his girlfriend Midge. He also is known to be dyslexic. He is dimwitted and can be easily manipulated by others, particularly Reggie. He will beat up anyone (particularly Reggie) who upsets him or even talks to Midge, the latter being a point of friction between the couple. At the same time, he is also kind, sensitive and helpful toward his closest friends.
Dilton Doiley
A highly intelligent
nerd
A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...
and inventor. He gets A's in every class except physical education and is the favorite student of most of his teachers, especially Professor Flutesnoot and Mr. Weatherbee. He is not especially interested in dating and is shy around girls, though he has shown interest in a few girls in the series, specially Betty Cooper whom he has a huge crush on. Despite his quirks, he fits in well with the gang, who often rely on his brains. He and Moose are best friends, despite their contrasting personalities.
Midge Klump
Moose's girlfriend who is often frustrated with his jealousy and lack of intelligence but still loves him dearly. Boys cannot even talk to her without incurring Moose's wrath. In reality however, she does not often show interest in other boys. Reggie is particularly attracted to her.
Ethel Muggs
A tall, stringy, somewhat dorky but goodhearted teenager who always tries to win over Jughead, albeit unsuccessfully. Portrayed as plain and gawky in appearance, she has many close friends and leads an active social life.
Chuck Clayton
Initially a shy loner, he came out as one of the most popular students in school. He is a very talented athlete and enjoys cartooning for fun. He has been a close friend of Archie's since his introduction.
Nancy Woods
Chuck's steady girlfriend. She does not take an interest in other boys, being devoted to Chuck alone. However, she is often annoyed with his paying more attention to his hobbies than her. Nancy enjoys sports, fashion, cheerleading and journalism, and is a close friend of the other girls.
Hiram Lodge
Veronica's father, and the richest man in all of Riverdale. He's a multi-billionaire and is one of the richest men in the world. Hiram is usually portrayed as being an industrialist and he's the CEO of his multi-billionaire dollar company Lodge Industries. Hiram is a good, caring yet strict father towards Veronica. He often spoils her despite his attempts at trying to prevent Veronica from letting her wealth and privilege turn her into a typical spoiled rich kid. He always dreads meeting Archie due to Archie's clumsiness and knack for causing him trouble. He tolerates Archie, however, because he knows of Archie's more redeeming qualities, and allows his daughter to date whom she chooses.
Mr. Waldo Weatherbee
The school principal, popularly referred to as 'The Bee'. A former United States Marine known for being obese and bald, he is often a victim of Archie's clumsiness, which often puts the latter in detention. He is often, however, quite helpful and friendly to students.
[Who's Who in Riverdale?]
, at Archie Comics
Miss Geraldine Grundy
A teacher at Riverdale High. She is usually portrayed as an English teacher, though she is occasionally shown teaching other subjects. She is well-aged, slim with white hair, and her personality alternates between harsh and motherly.
Pop Tate
Terry "Pop" Tate is the owner and manager of the Chok'lit Shoppe, an
ice cream parlor
Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard s ...
and frequent hangout of
Archie's Gang
The following is a list of Character (arts), characters in the ''Archie Comics'' universe. Licensed characters like Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man are not included in this list.
''Archie'' series
Main charac ...
. Pop Tate is the self-designated
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
for the Archie gang, hearing about their problems while serving
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...
and a variety of other goodies. He is a portly, thinning-haired, mustachioed gentleman who can seem gruff but is basically good-hearted. He is friends with Archie's gang. He is proud of his culinary talent.
Jughead is Pop Tate's best customer. Tate constantly talks about how Jughead's appetite will provide for his retirement. Many stories reflect the fact that his customers, particularly Jughead, don't always pay their
tab. Jughead has been known to run his tab as long as possible, and put off paying it until Pop refuses any more
credit
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...
.
In a comic centered on Pop, it was shown that he has a cousin named Russell, who runs a similar soda shop in the mountains. In the 2000s, his main rival was Segarini, the pizza parlor owner, a minor but recurring character.
Like many things in the
Archie
Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands
* Archie Blake (mathematici ...
continuity, Pop Tate's history has inconsistencies. In one installment of the series, it was revealed that Pop's dad was the original "Pops," while as a child he served at his side under the moniker "Junior." But some stories say that Pop opened the business himself. In still another comic, he purchased it as a young man from the retiring owner McGurk. Some stories have given Pop's real first name as Bob, Harold, Leo or Thomas, and in one story, it was given as Clark, but the official Archie Comics website gives his name as Terry. In the TV show “Riverdale,” the jolly dessertmaker’s proper name is given as Terence.
Pop's shop has changed little over the years, and it still boasts a
jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...
and old-time soda fountain. Attempts at times for Pop to "modernize" the shop have all failed; and Pop's has retained its old-fashioned ice cream parlor atmosphere. This has allowed him to capitalize on
nostalgia
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek language, Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", ...
.
A fairly common plot is Pop Tate closing his shop and trying to sell it, which results in Archie and his friends scrambling to save it, generally by reminding everyone about the memories they have of the store, and telling them that losing the store would be horrible. One particular comic had the owner of the block giving an eviction notice to Pop to vacate the store in a week so he could build a 12-screen movie theater. As he and the gang go through stuff in the basement of the shop, they find enough evidence that the building is a historical landmark, which saves the shop and forces the land owner to build only a 6-screen theater.
The character of Pop Tate was inspired by the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
immigrant owners of the three
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...
soda fountains frequented by Haverhill teenagers during the 1930s. These were the Crown Confectionery and the Chocolate Shop on Merrimack Street and the Tuscarora on Winter Street.
In the late 1930s, ''Archie'' creator
Bob Montana
Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip '' Archie''.
Early life
He was born in Sto ...
joined other teens at the Chocolate Shop counter where he made sketches on napkins or in the diary-sketchbook he kept of Haverhill happenings. This material served as a source for Montana when he launched ''Archie''.
Pop Tate has a recurring role in
The CW's ''
Riverdale'', played by
Alvin Sanders
Alvin Sanders is an American-Canadian voice actor and voice director. He currently sits on the Union of BC Performers executive board.
Filmography Animated Anime roles
*''Dragon Ball Z'' – Mr Popo, Additional Voices (1996–1997)
* '' Dragon B ...
.
Kevin Keller
The first openly gay character in Archie Comics. This fact earned him a great deal of attention in American comic media. He first appeared in Veronica #202. Veronica was deeply attracted to him, but was initially unaware of his sexuality, so Jughead took advantage of this situation to avenge himself against Veronica for humiliating him. Kevin's sexuality is not presented as controversial or stereotypical in the comics, keeping with Archie Comics' image of accepting diversity and inclusion. Kevin is an aspiring journalist, with many hobbies including collecting comics and competitive eating. He has two younger sisters, his father is a retired Army Colonel and his mother is a housewife. Kevin's closest friends in Riverdale are Veronica and Jughead, along with Wendy and William, friends from a previous school.
Family members
*Fred Andrews: Archie's middle-class businessman father. Highly conservative and old-fashioned, he is frequently bothered by his son's behavior, partly due to the
generation gap
A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In today's usage, ''generation gap'' often refers to a perceived gap between younger people and their paren ...
. However, he and Archie have a number of common interests, and share many father/son activities. He has a pear-shaped build and is losing his hair.
*Mary Andrews: Archie's typical all-American suburban mother who works for a real estate agency. She is more tolerant of Archie's behavior than her husband, and is usually the only one who can maintain order in the house.
*Hermione Lodge: Veronica's slender, white-haired mother and a wealthy patrician. She is often involved in charity work, and is a member of a number of ladies' social groups. She appears far less frequently than her husband, however, and rarely plays a significant role.
*Hubert Smithers: The bald, portly butler to the Lodge Mansion and the most frequently seen family servant. A
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
is how Archie annoys Smithers as much as he annoys Mr. Lodge, and Smithers takes great pleasure in throwing Archie out of the house. Despite his frustration with Archie's clumsiness, he remains faithful to the Lodges.
*Gaston: The French cook for the Lodge family. Gaston is often still in Archie Comics today. He is often frustrated when Veronica tries to cook in "his" kitchen.
*Hal Cooper: Betty's middle-class but hard-working and civic-minded father who works as a druggist. Often frustrated by his daughter's antics and perplexed by the female nature, he nevertheless supports Betty in whatever she does. He also introduced Betty to sports, and is proud of her.
*Alice Cooper: Betty's caring, highly supportive mother who is a close friend of Mary Andrews and Hermione Lodge. They have a close mother/daughter bond, but she hopes that Betty will outgrow her tomboy phase.
*Polly and Charles Cooper: Betty's older sister and older brother who debuted in the ''Little Archie'', but later became part of the main continuity. Polly is a reporter in San Francisco and Chic is a secret agent for the government.
*Forsythe Pendleton Jones II: Jughead's father, who looks just like his son, only older and balding. Sometimes he is portrayed just as lazy as he is. As a teenager, he enjoyed sports, and wishes Jughead would take an interest in them too. Though he occasionally deals with money problems, he is a good provider for his family.
*Gladys Jones: Jughead's mother. While she mainly stays home to take care of her daughter, she is, in reality, the hardest working member of her family, always trying to get her son to do his chores.
*Forsythia "Jellybean" Jones: Jughead's little sister whose age varies from infant to preschooler depending on the story; she can sometimes manage simple words, and sometimes only speaks in thought bubbles. Despite her youth she knows whom to trust. Jellybean idolizes her brother, who devotes much of his time to babysitting and playing with her.
*Hot Dog: Jughead's faithful pet dog, a
mutt who resembles a
sheepdog
A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and co ...
, who is sometimes a mascot for the gang. Capable of conscious thought, he behaves in rather human-like ways and often doesn’t consider himself a pet. He and Jughead have much in common, namely their appetites and laziness.
*Uncle Herman: Jughead’s Uncle Herman who always creates trouble for Jughead (and himself) when visiting.
*Souphead: Jughead’s cousin Souphead who looks like a mini version of Jughead.
Faculty of Riverdale High School
Major recurring characters
*Mr. Flutesnoot (Professor Elmer Benjamin Flutesnoot): A science teacher, usually chemistry, and also at times the band teacher (particularly in
Little Archie
''Little Archie'' is a comic book published by Archie Comics from 1956 to 1983, lasting 180 issues. ''Little Archie'' #1 is considered to be "scarce" by the ''Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'' (only 20-100 copies exist).
Beginnings
According t ...
) in whose face Archie's chemistry experiments blow up. His favorite student is Dilton, due to Dilton's high marks and passion for science, and the two frequently collaborate on projects.
*Coach Kleats: The head
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
teacher who loses his temper when things do not go his way. He first appeared in ''Pep Comics'' #24. Atypically overweight for an athletic coach, he was a fantastic athlete when he was younger, and can play well to a certain extent. He mainly teaches baseball and American football and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of both. He is known to have unstable interpersonal relationships due to his irritability. He has a constant problem in getting the athletic best out of his students and sometimes considers Archie and Jughead inadequate. He always tries his best to get Archie and Reggie's minds off girls and Jughead to stop being lazy and make an effort, but rarely succeeds for long. He often gets undesired advice from Mr. Weatherbee on how to turn his losing teams around. At one point, he gets so frustrated that he resigns to allow Weatherbee to coach the basketball team his way. Weatherbee's overly conservative offense resulted in the Bulldogs losing every game, setting a record for fewest points scored and the fans demanding Kleats' rehiring. Sometimes he worries that he has grown too old for the job, particularly in contrast to his friend and fellow gym teacher, the trim Coach Clayton. In one story, it is revealed that he has arthritis in his hand. He thought that it would mean the end of his career as an athletic coach, but Archie helped him realize that his ability to teach is what really counts.
*Coach Harry (originally Floyd) Clayton: Chuck's dad, a physical education teacher who is portrayed as warm and open to his students when they have problems. He is the basketball and wrestling coach and the only major faculty member who is known to be married.
Coach Clayton is a
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
at
Riverdale High School who believes in practicing and experimenting with various methods for teaching students. He is also very open and warm, which has led many in the student body to seek out his advice as well as tell him about their problems. Unlike his fellow phys-ed teacher
Coach Kleats, he is in excellent physical condition—although both men are very good athletes. He coaches the school's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
and
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
teams. In the late-1990s, he began to work beyond physical education, and also taught a
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
class. Coach Clayton's first name is either Floyd or Harry, as he's been called Floyd many times by faculty in regular digest stories. The name was created in his early appearances, and used for some time afterwards. However, in some later comics, such as the Faculty Funnies mini-series where
Mr. Weatherbee
Waldo Weatherbee is a fictional character in the Archie Comics universe. Mr. Weatherbee is the principal of Riverdale High School, where Archie Andrews is a student. To Riverdale students and (most) staff, he is commonly called Mr. Weatherbee, du ...
, Mr.
Flutesnoot,
Miss Grundy
Miss Geraldine Grundy is a fictional character of the Archie Comics series. A younger version of Miss Grundy was portrayed by Sarah Habel in '' Riverdale''.
Fictional history and character
An early version of Miss Grundy appears in ''Jackpot Co ...
and Coach Clayton were secretly
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
es who all possessed super powers, Clayton was referred to as Harry. In still more recent appearances, such as ''Tales from Riverdale'' #1, his name is still Harry. During one story, shown in Archie's Pals 'n' Gals Double Digest #120, Harry was recuperating from a fever; and at first, Coach Kleats, who was more a football coach, was leading the basketball team, and were getting defeated. Then Alice, his wife, decided to take over the coaching duties, which in the second half brought Riverdale to tie score and to overtime. With Archie scoring the winning basket and bringing the team to victory, they led Mrs. Clayton out on their shoulders. Harry recuperated well and returned to work, more out of fear that Alice would permanently take over his coaching duties than anything.
*Miss Bernice Beazley: The somewhat grouchy school cafeteria cook. Other than Jughead and Mr. Weatherbee, people often dislike her cooking, but the students always stand beside her. Close friends with Mr. Svenson, she is sometimes revealed to have a soft caring side underneath her attitude. Having originally been trained as a military mess chef, she is also the only faculty member in the entire school who is not afraid to speak her mind or otherwise stand up to Patton Howitzer; when he first appears in the school as a substitute principal for Mr. Weatherbee during his absence due to a football-game-related injury, Miss Beazley temporarily quits in an enraged huff when she finds Mr. Howitzer's heavy-handed manner and verbal abuse intolerable.
*Mr. Svenson: The Swedish bus driver and school custodian who is generally good toward the students, who sometimes help him out if he has problems. He often stays at school when it is closed and cleans. Though not the most brilliant person around, he does have practical sense.
*Miss Haggly: Supposedly the eldest teacher in the school, she is overweight with white hair and a shriveled face. Despite her age, she acts surprisingly hip and is rarely troubled by the antics of teenagers. She has been featured less and less in the comics since the 1990s, though is by no means a retired character.
*Patton Howitzer: A crazed, ultra-strict former Drill Sergeant who rules the students with an iron fist. He's typically used as a war-obsessed enforcer to Mr. Weatherbee, and is the meanest of all the teachers.
*Miss Phlips: Mr. Weatherbee's secretary, a fairly attractive woman compared to other female faculty members. She has not been around as long as many other well-known faculty members. She is portrayed as a young, attractive woman, unlike aging faculty members like Miss Grundy, Miss Beazley, Miss Haggly and other faculty members who have looked old since the early years of Archie Comics. Notably, her name is spelled "Phlips" with one "i", instead of her having the common last name "Philips". Calm, efficient and reliable, she often acts as a liaison for the students and holds together what little order is possible at the school.
*Superintendent Herkimer Hassle: The superintendent of the local school district and Mr. Weatherbee's superior. Mr. Weatherbee frequently worries when Superintendent Hassle visits the school, though Hassle is often more impressed with the students' actions than with Weatherbee's. In some older stories, he was called Superintendent Smith.
Minor characters
*Mr. Jenkins: An old man with a white beard who was the original
school counselor
A school counselor is a professional who works in primary (elementary and middle) schools or secondary schools to provide academic, career, college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional competencies to all students through a school ...
at Riverdale High. He got replaced by Mr. Grimley because Mr. Jenkins ended up suffering from a nervous breakdown. Mr. Jenkins is currently in the hospital and seems to be responding well to treatment.
*Mr. Grimley: Mr. Jenkins's replacement. He often suffered severe
ulcers
An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...
after hearing the Riverdale students' outlandish career plans. He did not stay at Riverdale very long, for obvious reasons. At some point, he apparently switched to teaching Driver's Education, hoping it would be less stressful, but found it caused him the same problems.
*Ms. Burble: The most recent counselor at Riverdale High. Like her predecessors, this African-American woman is bothered by the students' silly career ideas, but always manages to keep her cool about it, and it never affects her health. Originally called ''Miss'' Burble, but in ''Tales of Riverdale'' #1, she was called ''Mrs.'' Burble, implying that she has since married.
*Mr. Malcolm Meeks: A timid substitute teacher in the 1980s. He eventually revealed that his timorous nature was the result of his frustration of being unable to save a comrade when he served in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. Finally Meeks found peace with himself when he saved the victims of a helicopter crash, and took a full-time teaching job at the nearby Tri-City College Preparatory High School. He was just minutes away from the local airport where he would spend his after school hours investigating the wonders of flight. Someday, he mused, he would fly with the local
Blue Eagles
The Blue Eagles were the helicopter aerobatic team of the British Army Air Corps. It was one of only eight professional helicopter teams in the world, along with the Royal Navy Black Cats, Sarang of the Indian Air Force, the Scorpion aeroba ...
Team and touch the sky and go beyond the limits of the clouds. Like many characters, he disappeared from view. It is revealed in a later comic that he has moved to Central High to teach.
*Mr. Elmer Fluteweed or Mr. Philo Fluteweed: The original music teacher and band instructor. He seems to have been an early version of Mr. Flutesnoot and as such has not appeared in many years - this ambiguity makes giving a definitive first appearance impossible. He has mainly appeared in the ''
Little Archie
''Little Archie'' is a comic book published by Archie Comics from 1956 to 1983, lasting 180 issues. ''Little Archie'' #1 is considered to be "scarce" by the ''Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'' (only 20-100 copies exist).
Beginnings
According t ...
'' universe.
*Miss Crouton: The school's
Home Economics
Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...
teacher, primarily seen in the early 1990s, and on and off in later years (including Betty and Veronica Spectacular # 71 and the cover of Archie # 565).
*Mr. Kroskut (sometimes referred to as "''Mr. Wood''"); A surly, sarcastic shop teacher with a perpetual scowl on his chiseled face. He has not been seen since the 1980s.
*Mr. Adams: A
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
teacher who first appeared in ''Archie & Friends'' #117. He is an
internationalist
Internationalist may refer to:
* Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders
* Liberal internationalism, a doctrine in international relations
* Internationalist/Defencist Schism, socialists opposed to ...
, and believes travel abroad is educational. In his first year at Riverdale High, he was able to organize a five-city European & African trip for Riverdale students (including Archie and the gang). Mr. Adams is African-American.
*Patti Pacer and Greta Grappler: Riverdale High's female coaches who specifically teach the girls' teams. Pacer, appearing in 1988, was the faculty sponsor for the cheerleading squad. She was noted for pushing the team and holding grueling practices, which led to success. Coach Kleats found her implausibly young to teach and was initially reluctant to accept her. Later stories featured Grappler, a tough, aggressive coach with a bulky, muscular build, contrasting the physically attractive Patti Pacer.
*Mr. Stanger: The new principal of Riverdale High following Mr. Weatherbee's forced early retirement. He is hired due to the school board deciding to update Riverdale High with a more modern curriculum which includes new teaching staff. He first appears in ''
Jughead'' (vol. 3) #1.
*Other, short-lived recurring teachers include Miss Simpkins (Mathematics), Ms. Shapely (substitute teacher, 1970s-1980s), Ms. Samantha Lovett (
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
teacher, 1987), Mr. Money (
Art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, 1980s), Ms. Kandinsky (Art, early 1990s), Mr. Flores (
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
, early 1990s), and Mr. Jordan (shop class).
Auxiliary members of Archie's gang
*Adam Chisholm: A young guy who moved to Riverdale in ''Betty'' #87. He is lanky, with brown hair, a thin face, and a medium-built frame. He is slightly taller than Archie or Reggie. He enjoys playing sports such as surfing and football. As soon as he arrived, he became one of Betty's dating partners. He is Archie's main rival for Betty's affections. After he was introduced, he was deeply in love with Betty. She started falling for him, which gave her a dilemma: should she stay with Archie who frequently neglected her, or leave him for Adam? Readers were asked what she should do. This was followed up in ''Betty'' #99 and #100, where Betty appeared to be leaving Archie for good, but the two-part story ended with Betty doing what readers voted for: date both. She continues to do so to this day. Like
the Blossom twins
Lucy Knott and Kelly Sharpe (née Knott) (born on 18 February 1988), are a retired twin Professional wrestling tag team, better known by their ring names Hannah Blossom and Holly Blossom.
Early lives
The twins grew up in Stockport, Greater Man ...
, Adam has proven a successful addition to the infamous love triangle (though, with Reggie, Adam and the Blossom twins involved, it is not really a triangle anymore). Archie thinks very poorly of him, but he's only prejudiced against Adam because he doesn’t want him to steal Betty from him. One of the few times when Archie gives Betty his undivided attention is when there's a chance of Adam getting a date with her. Adam shows little interest in any other girl. In ''Jughead & Friends'' #1, his date for a dance was Ginger Lopez, but that was mainly because Betty was already going to the dance with Archie.
*Fangs Fogarty: A fat, snaggle-toothed
bully
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by ot ...
who tormented Archie, Jughead and Reggie in their younger years, principally in the pages of ''Little Archie,'' and who prominently appeared on the cover of its thirtieth issue. Fangs was an unreasonable thug who brutally battered his classmates, either because they looked at his self-appointed girlfriend Penny, they insulted him behind his back, or for no reason at all. He was, however, good friends with Dilton. When, in one story, Archie and Reggie (not yet knowing this) learned that Dilton is a karate expert—surpassed, he says, only by his friend Edward—they persuaded him to confront Fangs, presuming Dilton could beat him up. In preparation for the encounter, Archie and Reggie deliberately provoked Fangs into a fit of rage. However, when Dilton arrived, he cheerfully greeted Fangs as "Edward." Presumably, Fangs moved away at around the time
Moose Mason
Marmaduke "Moose" Mason (often referred to as Big Moose) is a fictional character in the Archie Comics universe. He attends Riverdale High School where he is typically depicted as the best athlete but the poorest student. His difficulties with sch ...
arrived in Riverdale. Fangs eventually showed up in the mainstream comics in a story titled "Blast from the Past", first printed in ''Archie's Double Digest'' #117 (August 2000). Now a tall, muscular, handsome young man nicknamed Smiley after getting his orthodontic work, he had returned to Riverdale to apologize to those he had formerly antagonized. In this story, Fangs' first name is given as Fred instead of Edward.
*Leroy Lodge: Veronica's young cousin who is apparently in Elementary School. He is something of a troublemaker and prankster. He has been a minor but consistently recurring character since the 1940s.
*Ginger Lopez: A Latina-American girl who lives in Riverdale with her parents and her younger twin sisters Eliza and Teresa. To keep her from being confused with Maria Rodriguez, she has blonde bangs and a single mole on her cheek. Ginger works as teen editor for "Sparkle Magazine". She works with many models, and Betty and Veronica often help her create new fashion lines. "Sparkle" is located in New York City and Ginger spends half of her time there and the other half in Riverdale. She has no permanent boyfriend, and frequently dates outside of her ethnicity, unlike Maria and Nancy. Her introduction, starting with her first appearance in ''Betty and Veronica Spectacular'' #50, was a bit different from other characters. In the early 2000s, she was originally intended to replace
Cheryl Blossom
Cheryl Marjorie Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a businessman. The live action version of Cheryl is portrayed by Madelaine Petsch in '' Riverdale''.
Histor ...
, whom the creators of Archie Comics thought was not popular enough to keep in the comics. In some story reprints, Cheryl's hair was re-colored and the text was changed to have her be replaced by Ginger in the story. Many fans were not happy with this, so Cheryl was brought back once again, and Ginger was given stories of her own as a separate character. Initially, Ginger had Cheryl's personality, and so appeared to be a rival of Veronica. But with Cheryl's return, there was no need for this, so Ginger's mean streak was dropped and she became a much nicer character.
*Jinx Malloy: A gloomy, scrawny fellow who causes horrible calamity wherever he goes, and thus has earned the scorn of Riverdale's citizens, who often take great lengths to avoid him. Archie and his friends are often victims of the misfortune he spreads. Stories featuring him tend to be about the characters trying to protect themselves from the bad luck he causes. Sometimes, Archie and the gang use his bad luck to influence their enemies. He usually appears slightly shorter than most of the gang, and has sandy hair and a prominent, angular nose. When he causes trouble, he doesn’t seem to know it's happening, so he doesn’t know why people avoid him or call him "Jinx". This implies that Jinx is not his real first name. Although he appeared at least as early as the 1960s (''Archie's Pal Jughead'' #135) and has continued to make appearances since, he still only appears occasionally and randomly. This makes him and Cricket O'Dell the longest-lasting minor adolescent characters in Archie Comics. Briefly, Jinx had a girlfriend known as Lucky Penny because of her constant good luck. She was the only one who could be around him without becoming victim to his because extremely good luck came to her whatever she did. Her good luck did not work on anyone else, so Jinx would cause as much bad luck as ever. However, Penny was not a long-lasting character, and appeared only in a couple of stories.
*
Marcy McDermott: Veronica's nerdy freshman cousin who first came to visit in ''Veronica'' #181 and continues to visit her now and then. She is a devoted fan of science fiction who enjoys comic book conventions. Veronica is a bit indifferent towards her lifestyle, but Marcy still hangs around and sometimes works as Veronica's assistant whenever needed.
*Cricket O'Dell: A pert, friendly girl with an amazing talent: she is able to smell
money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
or monetary values. Her nose can also determine whether treasure is genuine or not. Despite this trait, she remains humble, and her friends (most particularly
Archie Andrews
Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom, ,
Betty Cooper
Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper is one of the main characters appearing in American comic books published by Archie Comics. She is the lead guitarist, percussionist and one of the three singers of The Archies. The character was created by Bob Montana an ...
and
Veronica Lodge
Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies.
She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale (Archie Com ...
) swear by her ability. Her debut suggests that Mr. Lodge also has this unusual ability, and is quite disappointed in Veronica for her lack of it. In this story, she not only could smell money; she was in love with it. She would fall in love any boy who had money, and once suspected Archie to be one of them because he dated Veronica Lodge. Nowadays, she is not portrayed as so crazy about money; she simply has the ability to smell it. First introduced in the ''Archie'' #133 (1962), Cricket appeared in the mainstream stories as well as the pre-Pussycats ''Josie'' series. In one story, Alexandra Cabot used Cricket's ability to her advantage. Cricket soon disappeared from the comics, but was later brought back into view. Like a number of other characters, her appearances proved to have extremely limited use. She has appeared sporadically since then, as she often moves in and out of the cast, but she has yet to be officially retired. Cricket shares some physical resemblance with Archie, namely
red hair
Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...
and
freckles
Freckles are clusters of concentrated melaninized cells which are most easily visible on people with a fair complexion. Freckles do not have an increased number of the melanin-producing cells, or melanocytes, but instead have melanocytes that ...
. This does not necessarily mean they are related, especially considering that Betty introduced them and Cricket briefly had a crush on Archie. Jason Blossom once thought of her as a novelty brought her to meet his frat brothers. His plan to impress them backfired, as the overwhelming aroma of money knocked her out cold and burned her nostrils.
*Ambrose Pipps: A small, shy boy with a large nose and an outsized baseball cap pulled over his face. Like Fangs Fogarty, most of his appearances have been in the ''Little Archie'' series, although for one issue in 1958 he had his own comic, ''Little Ambrose.'' Ambrose was the
tagalong
A trailer bike (also known as a trailer cycle, and trademarked names such as Trailerbike, Trail-a-bike, Half wheeler or Tagalong) is a one-wheeled, or sometimes two-wheeled, bicycle trailer designed to carry one or more children in positions tha ...
of Archie's gang when they were young. Although Ambrose's loyalty was unflagging, Little Archie took pride in bullying and exploiting him, without ever letting him join the "good ol' gang." Although a teenage Archie was apprehensive when Ambrose returned to Riverdale after several years' absence, Ambrose held no grudges, and the two became good friends. In the story "The Great Quiz Whiz Contest" reprinted in ''Archie's Pals 'n' Gals'' #108, Archie pulls out his lucky double sided penny from his pocket that his pal Ambrose gave him. Both Ambrose and Fangs have very brief cameos in ''Tales From Riverdale Digest'' #24.
*Raj Patel: Yet another new student at Riverdale High. Raj is of
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
descent and lives with his father Ravi, his mother Mona and his sister Tina. He befriended Archie after moving to town and first arrived in ''Tales From Riverdale Digest'' #21. Raj's favorite hobby is
filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
. He is an expert on
no budget special effects, and builds his own models for science fiction movies. He is well liked at school, but sometimes his filmmaking gets on people's nerves. Ravi Patel is a doctor who wishes his son would take up more serious issues, while Mona is more supportive. Tina is a year younger than Raj, but she is such a good student that she was moved up a grade so that both she and Raj are in the same year as Archie and the gang. After Raj's introduction, he often appeared in daily newspaper strips as well.
*Brigitte Reilly: A brown haired, amply contoured girl who was introduced in the late-1990s and who is close to Betty and Veronica. She is an exchange student from Waynesboro High, Centerville. Betty was the first one to meet her and introduced to Veronica and others. Brigitte is one of the few female teenagers in the Archie Comics universe without an hourglass figure. Although she lacks the sexy appearance of most of Riverdale's girls, she is not portrayed in a comical or unflattering way (as she might have in the early years of ''Archie''), but has been made as attractive as possible. Briefly, Maria was actually jealous of Brigitte's friendship with Frankie. When she was introduced in ''Betty and Veronica Spectacular'' #27, she joined the school show, and turned out to be good at singing. She's also a guitarist, and has a record deal in Central City. In a few stories, she is in a musical duet consisting of herself and Frankie Valdez—she sings and Frankie plays the guitar—but in other stories, she is often a solo artist. When the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
were popular, she, Betty and Veronica formed a group called the Sassy Girls. However, Brigitte outshone the others, so Betty and Veronica returned to the Archies and let Brigitte go solo. Brigitte is known to date
Dilton Doiley
Dilton Donald Doiley is a fictional character in the Archie Comics universe, where he is considered the smartest teenager in Riverdale High School.
History
Characters resembling Dilton (in appearance and personality) appeared quite early in A ...
. Generally peaceful and friendly, Brigitte is on good terms with everyone in Riverdale. For a minor character, she has been featured prominently on the Archie Comics website.
*Maria Rodriguez: Frankie Valdez' girlfriend, a
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
girl who started out as shy but friendly, and a bit of a “plain Jane,” as in her first appearance in ''Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica'' #257. Despite this, she eventually evolved into a more forceful and fiery character. In the past, she was seldom seen except in conjunction with Frankie. She was introduced as the daughter of the new vice-principal Mr. Rodriguez. While Maria continued to appear, her father did not. Frankie and Maria were added for ethnic diversity, following the success of Chuck and Nancy. The four of them became good friends. For a time, she had black hair and usually wore it in a bun. This was quickly changed to brown flowing hair. Maria is well liked among Archie's gang. Initially, when Frankie and Brigitte became a musical duet, Maria got jealous. She was worried that he was going to leave her for Brigitte, and came to realize that the two are just friends. Along with Chuck and Nancy, and Moose and Midge, Frankie and Maria are one of the few definite couples in Archie Comics. She is also a friend of Betty and Veronica.
*Trula Twyst: A
femme fatale
A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
introduced in a three-part miniseries in ''Jughead'' #89-91. She formed an organization of girls called J.U.S.T. (Jughead Under Surveillance Team) to help make Jughead forget about food, television, and oversleeping in favour of girls. The resulting battle of the sexes was ultimately a draw and Jughead retained his old ways. She still occasionally appears and causes trouble for him. A student of psychology, she studies the behaviour of her peers, especially Jughead's, and is able to predict his every move. While Reggie's schemes against Jughead tend to backfire, Jughead can’t escape Trula. Her mother is Krista Twyst, a well-known writer.
*Frankie Valdez: A student of
Puerto Rican ancestry, Frankie is flamboyant, romantic, quick-witted, and a bit of a show-off, which has earned him the rivalry of
Reggie Mantle
Reginald "Reggie" Mantle is a fictional teenager in stories published by Archie Comics; he is introduced by writer-artist Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in ''Jackpot Comics'' #5 (cover-dated Spring 1942). He also appears in CW's '' Riverdale' ...
. After his first appearance in ''Archie Comics'' #265, many considered him to be simply another Reggie, although he is nowhere near the exaggerated
narcissist
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
Narcissism exists on a co ...
/ladies man that Reggie is. However, this comparison didn't prevent him from joining the cast permanently. He is good friends with
Archie Andrews
Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom, and
Chuck Clayton
Charles Clayton is a teenage fictional character published by Archie Comics. Chuck lives in the fictional town of Riverdale, and is the friend of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, and other students at Riverdale High School. Chuck fir ...
. Maria is his long-suffering girlfriend, although their relationship has gone through many ups and downs through the years. The two had small roles in the first issue each of ''Tales From Riverdale Digest'' and ''Jughead and Friends Digest''. Frankie sings and plays the guitar. He once won an ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''-style competition, singing an original song he co-wrote with Maria.
The Archies
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
and Brigitte Reilly (Riverdale's token "chubby" girl) were among his competition. Frankie also is in a singing duet group with Brigitte. They are very popular in the Riverdale scene. Their partnership opened up the possibility of a new love triangle between Brigitte, Frankie and Maria, but it did not last. Frankie is also a great ballroom dancer.
*
Wendy Weatherbee
The following is a list of members of the families of Archie's Gang appearing in Archie Comics. Primarily featured are the parents of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones.
The Andrews family
Fred Andrews
Frederick "F ...
: The artistic, quirky and individualist niece of Riverdale High's principal Waldo Weatherbee. When she first arrived in ''Tales From Riverdale Digest'' #10, once the boys found out that she was Mr. Weatherbee's niece, they avoided her, afraid of upsetting the principal if they dated his niece. This makes it difficult for her to find a date.
*Tomoko Yoshida: A new Japanese exchange student who hangs around with Betty, starting after she is first seen in ''Betty'' #150. She was added in the early 2000s. She is an excellent writer and works on the school paper. Like Betty, her dream is to be a professional writer. Before her introduction, Asian people had been seen in the comics, but never as recurring characters. Other Asian teenagers may still appear, but Tomoko is the most frequently seen. She has a brother named Akira. Her relatives include the Morizawas: her Aunt Grace, Uncle Roy and their two young sons Shigeki (preteen) and Royce (toddler). To date, Tomoko has no steady boyfriend, although she occasionally attracts the attention of boys. She has been billed as the star of some stories, such as one where she based her fictional characters on Archie and the gang. Tomoko and her relatives particularly enjoy Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
.
Other teenagers
1940s-early 1960s
*Cora: A brown-haired girl who appeared only in single-page comic strips in the 1960s. She had
Josie's classic hairdo (complete with a tiny bow), and was a girlfriend of Reggie.
*Debbie and Dilly Dalton: In the early years, identical blonde twins Debbie and Dilly Dalton appeared. Both pursued Jughead, but enjoyed sharing him.
*Eye-da: A student with one enormous eye where a head should be. She appeared at least twice in the late 1950s, usually as only an unexpected visual punchline at the end of a typical story featuring Betty and Veronica. However, she became a significant character many years later in one incarnation of
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional character, fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo ...
. When Sabrina and her aunts moved to Gravestone Heights, a city inhabited by witches, ghosts and monsters, Eye-da (who seemed less out of place there) and an invisible girl named Cleara Glass became Sabrina's best friends.
*Ophelia Gluetenschnable: This tall stringy girl evolved into Ethel Muggs, but was even less attractive than Ethel. Her boy-chasing tendencies, particularly toward Jughead, made her seem a bit crazy. In one story, she had unattractive friends Minnie Muenster and Sophie Schlitz who were interested in Archie and Reggie.
*: This petite blonde girl was actually an early concept of Midge because she dated Moose, and he beat up anyone who talked to her. She showed some romantic interest in Jughead.
*Streaky Shore: In the 1940s, he was a jock at Riverdale High. His nickname came from his ability to run fast. He was apparently conceived as a friend of Reggie, but didn’t last beyond the first few years.
*Theodosius Tadpole: Theodosius (Theo for short) was an early concept of
Dilton Doiley
Dilton Donald Doiley is a fictional character in the Archie Comics universe, where he is considered the smartest teenager in Riverdale High School.
History
Characters resembling Dilton (in appearance and personality) appeared quite early in A ...
in the 1940s. After a few appearances, he was later renamed Dilbert, and finally Dilton. As Theodosius, he had a sister named May (a shy, bespectacled brunette, also a Riverdale High Student), but Dilton appears to be an only child.
*U.G.A.J.: United Girls Against Jughead. This group of girls is a union dedicated to making Jughead start liking girls, lest other boys follow his lead. Although Archie Comics abandoned this organization first formed in ''Archie's Pal Jughead'' #79 in the 1960s, Trula Twyst's introduction brought J.U.S.T. (Jughead Under Surveillance Team), a similar group that also targets Jughead's eating and sleeping habits as well as his dislike of girls. J.U.S.T. disappeared after Trula Twyst became a permanent character, but the saga's popularity spawned a reintroduction of U.G.A.J. (though, unlike J.U.S.T., they still only target Jughead's dislike of girls).
Late 1960s-1970s
*Angel Angelino: Even stronger than Moose and a bigger ladies man than Reggie, this character first appeared in the more serious "adventure" stories in ''Life With Archie'', beginning with issue #80. In stories about him, he often seemed infallible when compared another boy...until the end when it is revealed that he's not perfect. However, Reggie and Moose would have worked as well in his role, so he had no reason to stay in the comics.
*Aquarius: A
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
student with a laid-back outlook on life. A strict
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
("I don't dig zappin' animals for food and rags, man"), he polarized the Archie gang with his views (so far as was allowed within Archie Comics, of course), but hasn't been seen since the 1970s.
*Berdie: A student from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Berdie was a carefree character whose main humorous function was misunderstandings arising from his thick
Cockney
Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...
accent. (For example, Miss Grundy once thought that Berdie was transferring to a private high school, when in reality he was going to a
private eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
school.) Presumably Berdie eventually did change schools, as he hasn't been seen since the 1970s.
*Central High Students: Riverdale's biggest scholastic and athletic rival, Central High seems to consist of nothing but
villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
ous types. The males are generally thuggish, conniving brutes, and the females are usually lecherous, scheming
vamps. In most of their encounters, Central students seldom compete without using
unsportsmanlike conduct
Unsportsmanlike conduct (also called untrustworthy behaviour or ungentlemanly fraudulent or bad sportsmanship or poor sportsmanship or anti fair-play) is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sport ...
, if not out-and-out
cheating
Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate cr ...
. Often the coaches and teachers are not only aware of this skullduggery, but encourage it. In most cases, Central's team colors are bright red, contrasting Riverdale's blue.
*Cheryl and Lori: Two girls who were apparently the forerunners of Debbie and Joani. After Jughead got a strange new hatpin, he began dating girls. Supposedly, the hatpin was like a love magnet: It made girls, particularly Cheryl and Lori, find him attractive. However, fans preferred the old Jughead, so his ladies-man tendencies disappeared quickly. Any later attempts to give Jughead girlfriends did not last long either. Cheryl, who was blonde, is not the same character as red-haired
Cheryl Blossom
Cheryl Marjorie Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a businessman. The live action version of Cheryl is portrayed by Madelaine Petsch in '' Riverdale''.
Histor ...
, who first appeared years later.
*Geri: A girl who appeared a few times in single-page gags in the 1960s. She can be recognized by her long golden hair worn in a flip.
1980s-early 1990s
*Adam the Alien: Adam debuted in ''Archie'' #280. While he appeared to be a white-haired human teenager with angular eyes, Adam is in reality an
extraterrestrial being. Raised from infancy on a prison-like orphanage asteroid, Adam escaped and now makes his way through the universe trying to discover his home planet. Among Adam's talents are
shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, Magic (paranormal), sorcery, Incantation, ...
,
teleportation
Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...
and
levitation
Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact.
Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...
. Adam spent some time at Riverdale looking for clues about his past, but ultimately moved on to other planets. Not to be confused with Adam Chisholm.
*Aerobic Liz: Liz is the local Riverdale
aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (flexibility, muscular strength, and cardio-vascular fitness). It ...
instructor who appeared in a few stories in the early 1990s. She appears occasionally in ''Jughead'' and is fascinated by Jughead's metabolism but encourages him to be healthy. She has also taught Veronica an aerobics class when Veronica panicked over gaining some weight. She threw Veronica out of her place, but later Veronica said she admired Liz for standing up to her. She had red hair and freckles, but there was nothing to suggest a connection between her and Archie.
*: Two students at Pembrooke Academy and sometime friends and co-conspirators of Cheryl and Jason Blossom. Cedric, who sports blonde curly hair, is Jason's best friend and occasionally accompanies him in his schemes as his sidekick, while black-haired Bunny is closer to Cheryl. As members of the Snob Hill Society, Bunny and Cedric disdain Cheryl and Jason's pursuit of Archie, Betty and Veronica (the "townies") and take steps towards sabotaging the relationships. Both Bunny and Cedric are perpetually suave and emotionally distant, and speak in very clipped and haughty tones. Bunny was renamed Priscilla in some later stories.
*: A character that briefly appeared in the 1990s, who was both
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
and
paraplegic
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
. Rather than handling her disabilities naturally, Anita kept bringing them to the surface with comments like "my legs may not work, but at least my brain does". Ultimately she was jettisoned due to lack of reader interest. However, she is worthy of note because she was a love interest for both Jughead Jones and Dilton Doiley, making her the first instance, in an Archie comic, of interracial romance.
*Crystal the New Age Girl: A character briefly brought in to capitalize on the
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
movement, who endorsed
transcendental meditation
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...
and the like. She ran a store of New Age products in the mall in the early 1990s. During this time, she made friends with Aerobic Liz, who ran the fitness centre next door. In her first appearance, she, Liz, and Veronica did a lively rap-style dance in her shop. Although she appears to be a hippie, she is not from the hippie era; mainstream popularity of the New Age came in the 1980s and 1990s. As the fad died out, Crystal made a quiet exit.
*: The two characters were introduced when the writers experimented with giving Jughead not one, but two romantic interests. This gave Jughead his own Betty-Archie-Veronica-style love triangle. Debbie was a new girl at Riverdale High whom Jughead developed a crush on, and Joani Jumpp was an old flame from Jughead's past who had moved to Riverdale and hoped to resume their relationship. While both Debbie and Joani dated Jughead for a time, and even became friends (Joani even got on at least one Digest cover), neither of them proved to be very long-lasting characters. After Jughead ceased dating the both of them (Debbie broke up with him, and Joani had to move away), both girls faded from view. They made a cameo appearance in ''Tales from Riverdale'' # 24 in the story Civil Chores Part 3.
*Claude and Raoul Hopper: Two acquaintances of Archie and the gang who were skilled in
breakdancing
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...
. They had a rather bizarre role, often showing up out of the blue to provide sage advice to Archie, based on their inner-city background. Despite their mutual last name, Claude is tall and black and Raoul (sometimes spelled Raul) is short and white. As a dancing duo, they dubbed themselves the Hip Hoppers, and have been known to work with the Archies. The Hoppers have not been seen since the 1990s, though they have made some appearances in recent comics to help Archie and his friends whenever there was a problem.
*Dexter Howard: A college-age freshman that was introduced as a potential love interest for Betty, that would be introduced in order to create a love triangle between Betty, Archie, and Dexter. The character was originally conceived and drawn as African-American; however, the editor of ''Betty and Me'' objected to an interracial romance between Betty and an African-American male and had Dexter re-colored as a Caucasian male before the character's debut issue was printed. After a few appearances, Dexter was written out of Betty and Me and never reappeared in an Archie comic.
*: This blind boy, constantly seen with his guide dog Spike, was a love interest for Ethel Muggs. The idea for his character was based on the fact that the blind cannot judge people by appearance, so Jeff would find Ethel attractive in ways that most boys fail to notice. He was around at the same time as Anita (see above), and was dropped for the same reason.
*Lucky Penny: Penny was Jinx Malloy's short-lived girlfriend. Nicknamed "Lucky Penny", she had the ability to ward off Jinx's bad luck with her good luck. In her first appearance, everyone warned her about Jinx, but she still managed to find gold coins hidden under a tree and then got a job as a model for an advertising company, proving her immunity to Jinx's bad luck. She appeared at least twice.
*Pencil Neck G.: A geeky boy at Archie's school, he has long messy hair and a floppy wool hat that covers his eyes. He also appeared in the ''Freshman Years'' miniseries.
*: A
heavy metal band and friends of Jughead when he was infatuated with the
skateboard
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks.
The skateboarde ...
ing culture. While the four band members - Scum, Slime, Scud and Slug - differed visually, they had no real personalities to speak of. Ultimately, Jughead quit hanging out with them, and they vanished.
*
Glenn Scarpelli
Glenn Christopher Scarpelli (born July 6, 1966) is an American actor and singer. He played Alex Handris from 1980 to 1983 on the sitcom '' One Day at a Time''.
Early life
Born in Staten Island, New York City, New York, he is the son of long tim ...
: It is rare for Archie Comics to feature actual celebrities in their comics rather than parodies of celebrities. However, in the 1980s, actor-singer Glenn Scarpelli, the son of Archie Comics artist
Henry Scarpelli
Henry Scarpelli (July 30, 1930 – April 4, 2010) was an American comic book artist. His work won him recognition from the industry, including the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Humor Division) in 1970, for his work on '' Date With Debbi'', '' ...
, made a few appearances, when his career was at its height.
*Sundance: A transfer student from California, Sundance is similar to Aquarius in that he is a "hippie" as well as a vegetarian. His Californian way of speaking (using terms like "bummed out") captured Betty and Veronica, but they began racing back when Sundance introduced his sister Moondance, who Archie and Reggie found extremely attractive.
*Sassy Thrasher: During the late-1980s and early 1990s, Jughead got a "skater punk" makeover. At this time, Sassy, like Anita, Jeff, and the Potholes, was added as a member of the ''Jughead'' cast. She was very rebellious and fond of skateboarding, but like the other characters in the makeover, didn’t last very long, nor did the makeover itself.
Late 1990s
*Googie Gilmore: In the late 1990s, Jughead and his family moved to a different house in Riverdale. The next-door neighbours were the Gilmores. Their daughter Googie was obsessed with health food, and always tried to get Jughead to change his eating habits and give up junk food. However, before she stopped appearing, she and Jughead ended with a truce and a compromise.
Early 2000s
*Alison Adams: A spectacled brown-haired girl who appeared a few times in the 2000s. She belonged to the same science club as Dilton. The two were very friendly, but did not seem to become more than "just friends".
*Alistair Andrews: Archie's rich cousin who appeared in a couple of multipart stories. He looks exactly like Archie.
* Fletcher Foley: A member of the science club along with Dilton (his rival) and Alison. Has a crush on Alison, but she doesn't reciprocate. Always out to come out on top of Dilton, but more often as not, fails.
*Randy (Randolph): This cosmopolitan character moved to Riverdale for a while. He is built almost like Adam Chisholm, with a shoulder-length ponytail of brown hair, glasses, a black top hat with a red band, and sometimes a black cape with red lining. Randy enjoys the Japanese
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
''
Captain Tuxedo'', and wants to emulate this superhero. Randy has been known to date Veronica.
*Kim Wong: A Chinese teenager who moved to Riverdale after her father opened a branch of Wong Enterprises in Riverdale. She is good at
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
, and is a friend of Betty and Veronica. Though she does not appear as often as Tomoko Yoshida, both are recurring characters. In this way, there are different characters to represent different regions of
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
, rather than a single token character.
Late 2000s
*Austin, Brandon and George: Three boys matched with Cheryl Blossom when she went on the television show ''Lonely Hearts Club,'' following a break-up with Reggie. The five-part story entitled "And the Winner is..." was featured in ''Betty and Veronica Double Digest'' #161-165 in 2008. She would date three boys and the show's audience (represented by the readers) would vote for which one she ended up with. All three dates left something to be desired. Austin, a rugged outdoorsman, took the fun out of the date for Cheryl with his health obsession. Brandon, a rich computer expert, was a much bigger klutz than Archie and was originally depicted as African-American in the solicitation for the comic but had a much lighter skin tone in the actual comic.
[ George, an aspiring master chef, attracted too many of his bothersome fans, including Jughead. In the end, according to the readers’ votes, Cheryl was matched with George, which pleased her. At some point after this, Austin and Brandon dated Betty and Veronica.
*Toño Díaz: Toño was born in Mexico, and assists his parents, Adrián and Rosa in their party planning business. Rosa handles Public Relations and the administrative part of the business, while Adrián is responsible for the creative and labor portions of the family business. They arrived in Riverdale in ''Pal's 'n' Gals Double Digest'' #123. Toño enjoys helping them with gardening and decoration, but the part he likes the most is cooking. He wants to become a great chef when he grows up.
*Kumi Tanura: A Japanese girl who moved to Riverdale in ''Betty and Veronica Digest'' #190 with her parents and her younger sister Ami. Kumi finds the English language somewhat difficult. Two issues after her introduction, it was revealed that at home, her mother keeps up Japanese traditions and etiquette. Notably, Kumi stories are written by Misako Rocks!, a Japanese artist and writer who moved to NYC in 2001. Ami is only thirteen years old, but appears to have a crush on Archie.
*]The Veronicas
The Veronicas is an Australian pop duo from Brisbane. The group was formed in 2004 by identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso.
In 2005, the Veronicas released their debut studio album, titled '' The Secret Life of...'', which peak ...
: When Australian twins Jess
Jess is a unisex given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Jessica, Jesse, Jessie, etc., and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
* Jess Atkinson (born 1961), American football player
* Jess Cain (1926–2008), American radio host
* Jes ...
and Lisa Origliasso
Lisa Marie Huffman (née Origliasso; born 25 December 1984) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Albany Creek, Queensland, Lisa and her identical twin sister, Jessica Origliasso, performed in show business at a young age. Ori ...
became a pop duo called The Veronicas
The Veronicas is an Australian pop duo from Brisbane. The group was formed in 2004 by identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso.
In 2005, the Veronicas released their debut studio album, titled '' The Secret Life of...'', which peak ...
(after a line from the movie ''Heathers
''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and ...
'') in real life, a lawsuit from Archie Comics followed. It was soon settled, and, as a promotion for both parties, Jess and Lisa appeared in some stories in the 2000s, often alongside either Veronica or The Archies band.
Early 2010s
*Antoinette "Toni" Topaz: A girl appearing in the Jughead stories. Toni has pink hair and wears hoop earrings. Nicknamed "Two-Fisted Toni", she debuted in '' Jughead Double Digest'' #176 as one of Jughead's opponents in a cupcake eating contest.
** Vanessa Morgan
Vanessa Morgan Mziray (born March 23, 1992), known professionally as Vanessa Morgan, is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Beatrix "Bird" Castro in the MTV teen drama series ''Finding Carter'', as Amanda Pierce in the Family teen ...
portrays Antoinette "Toni" Topaz in '' Riverdale''. In this version, Toni is initially introduced as a love interest for her fellow Southside Serpent, Jughead Jones, but enters into a relationship with Cheryl Blossom instead.
*Trevor "Trev" Brown: First appeared in ''Archie
Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands
* Archie Blake (mathematici ...
'' #631 (May 2012), is the African-American younger brother of Valerie Brown
Valerie may refer to:
People
*Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie
*Valerie (given name), a feminine given name
Songs
*"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from Quarterflash (album), ''Quarterflash''
* ...
, who is a member of the Pussycats. He serves as a romantic love interest for Betty Cooper
Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper is one of the main characters appearing in American comic books published by Archie Comics. She is the lead guitarist, percussionist and one of the three singers of The Archies. The character was created by Bob Montana an ...
.
** Adain Bradley portrays Trev Brown in '' Riverdale''.
*The Riverdale Gang: A group of friendly vampires who appear in ''Betty and Veronica'' #261-262.
*The Lucificius Gang: A group of evil vampires who appear in ''Betty and Veronica'' #261-#262.
*Dr. Maddy: A mad scientist evil vampire who appears in ''Betty and Veronica'' #261-262.
*The Evil Vampire Clones: Evil vampire clones of Riverdale citizens Nancy Woods, Chuck Clayton, Reggie Mantle, and Moose Mason, created by Damien and Dr. Maddy, and led by Veronica Lodge's clone Vampironica. They appear in ''Betty and Veronica'' #261-262.
Other characters
Riverdale townspeople
*Dr. Sara Bellum: Sara is an attractive young psychiatrist who counseled Jughead and eventually wrote a self-help book that was based on her sessions with him. She appeared during Jughead's "new look" period in the early 1990s when he was a skateboarder.
*Mayor Glibb: The mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Riverdale for a time. Apparently from Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, Glibb always spoke grandiosely and wore a ten-gallon hat. He seemed to be more interested in publicity and fame than governing Riverdale properly.
*Mr. Pansky: Mr. Pansky owns a costume shop in Riverdale. Most of the gang goes to his store whenever they need an outfit for a themed party. In some stories, Mr. Pansky has hired Archie, Jughead, or Reggie.
*Samm: A thin, bespectacled man who often appeared in crowd scenes, or on posters (most of which read "Vote for Samm"). He was a self-portrait of his creator, Samm Schwartz
Samm Schwartz (October 15, 1920 – November 13, 1997)Social Security Death Index, for SS# 073-14-0718. was an American comic artist best known for his work in MLJ and Archie Comics, specifically on the character Jughead Jones.
Biography
Schwa ...
. He was also a good friend of Jughead Jones.
*Segarini: A pizza parlor owner and Pop Tate's biggest rival. However, while Jughead enjoys the food of both, he and the gang stay loyal to Pop, and the Chocklit Shoppe remains their hangout.
*Lydia Wyndham: Betty's elderly neighbor. They first met when Betty discovered a love letter between her and the man she loved, and tracked her down. Betty also found out that Lydia's lover, a World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
soldier, died in battle. Betty often asked her for advice and did favors for her. Lydia is passionate about her writing, which is one reason Betty looked up to her. Unfortunately, Lydia died (something rare for an Archie character). Betty inherited Lydia's diaries and everything else she had written.
Other adults
*Betty's Auto Racing Rivals: In 2006, Betty began racing cars for Mr. Lodge. Mr. Lodge had been the sponsor to driver Dale Jonas, but Dale had been bribed to join Mr. Lodge's rival C.C. Carp's outfit. Betty became the new Lodge auto racer. A frequent theme mentioned is the sexism in auto racing. This was why Betty took a co-ed pit crew (Archie, Veronica, Jughead, Reggie, Chuck and Nancy). Besides the arrogant Dale Jonas, Betty had a friendly rival named Marty "Speedy" Spencer. C.C. Carp later replaced Dale with a female driver C.B. (Carla Bonita) Quick.
*General Pickens: An army general from the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
who served on a battlefield, part of which is now Riverdale. He only appears in references to the local history. The park in Riverdale is named Pickens Park in his honor. In one "Jughead's Time Police" story, it is revealed that in the future, Jughead will clone himself, and the clone (who is an old man by the time we meet him) only comes out of hibernation when needed. He went with Jughead and January McAndrews to the Civil War and became a hero under the alias Pickens. The army assumed Pickens dead, but he simply returned to his own time and went back in hibernation. Oddly, in this story, he is a colonel. However, he was promised a promotion if he succeeded, and may have received a posthumous promotion.
*Dr. Soonpoon: Dr. Soonpoon is an importer/exporter who possesses mystical powers like time travel, and has appeared in at least two issues. He is shown wearing a turban.
*Ms. Stonewall: The head counselor at a girl's summer camp where Betty and Veronica occasionally worked in the 1980s. In her job, Ms. Stonewall dressed in Native American attire, and may have been the first recurring Native American in Archie Comics. One of her campers was a girl named Tessie.
*O. O. Wellenmellen and Bruce Baby: A rotund, pompous movie director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...
, Wellenmellen is known for filming spectacular, if patently ridiculous, art film
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
s. His catchphrase is "Nobody but nobody says 'no' to O. O. Wellenmellen!" Bruce Baby is his overeager, effeminate, sandal-clad assistant. They mainly appeared in the early stories.
Children
*The Feebly Twins: Identical twin brothers Glenn and Benn Feebly who played the bass fiddle (it took both little guys to do it). They occasionally appeared in the 1980s, but never had any character development, and faded from view.
*Tessie McGuire: A girl with short red hair and glasses who sometimes attended the summer camp where Betty and Veronica worked as counsellors. Originally a troublemaker at camp, she was known as Terrible Tessie, but the girls helped turn her around, and she became a lot nicer. She looked up to Betty and Veronica. Ms. Stonewall was her head counselor.
Nonhumans
*Jingles: A magical elf
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
in the employ of Santa Claus
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...
, who often shows up in Riverdale during the Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
season. While Jingles can be a bit clumsy and hot-tempered, he often manages to use his magical powers to create a happy ending. Adults cannot see Jingles, and it is implied that Archie and the gang's interactions with Jingles will someday come to an end.
*Sugarplum: A sugarplum fairy who appears at Christmas time to help spread Christmas cheer. She thus has a similar role to Jingles (see above); however, while Jingles is a friend to all of the main teenagers, Sugarplum mainly interacts with Betty and Veronica.
Spin-offs
"Dynamic New Look" series
*Sandy Sanchez: A straight-A student and star athlete at Riverdale High. She is determined to earn college scholarships, so she chooses not to date while in high school. In Sandy's introductory story ("The Matchmakers" in ''Jughead's Double Digest
''Jughead's Double Digest'' is an American comic digest magazine published by Archie Comics. It began as a companion publication to the '' Jughead'' 32-page comic book and ''Jughead With Archie Digest'' magazine.
Publication history
The Double ...
'' #139-142), Betty and Veronica conspired to bring Jughead and Sandy together as a couple. However, the gang was appalled when Jughead and Sandy apparently fall so deeply in love that Jughead gives up food, his crown hat and even the nickname "Jughead", while Sandy let her grades slip and quit the school team. In the end, it turned out that they had only been pretend to be in love to teach the others a lesson about setting people up. However, at the very end of the story, there is some inconclusive evidence that Sandy and Jughead may be occasionally dating in secret. Sandy later appeared in other "Dynamic New Look" miniseries.
*: A teenaged delinquent introduced for the four-part “ Bad Boy Trouble” (''Betty & Veronica Double Digest'' #151-154) who moved to town to live with his aunt and uncle. After sneaking into a movie, he and Veronica fell in love. Betty and Midge tried hopelessly to convince her that dating him was a bad idea. Mr. Lodge forbade it, but Veronica secretly disobeyed. Nick also tried to hit on Betty, but she wanted nothing to do with him. He would pick on others, break rules and act tougher than he really was. His catchphrase was "A saint I ain't." Betty decided that the only way to make Veronica see the truth was to go on a date with Nick. This caused Veronica to break off with both of them. The gang confronted Nick together, and the next day, Nick is not seen, as he has been sent to a military school. Veronica learned why Betty went out with Nick, and forgave her immediately. Nick later appeared in ''Tales of Riverdale'' #24 and ''Betty & Veronica'' #237.
* Eddie and Freddie Turner: Identical twins who appear as background characters in ''Moose and Midge: Breakup Blues''.
* Judy Johnson: A romantic rival for Midge Klump, who appears in ''Moose and Midge: Breakup Blues'', when she breaks up with Moose Mason and he starts dating Judy Johnson. She comes off as popular and sociable, mainly with the boys, but Betty and Veronica don't seem to take too kindly to her, nor does Midge, since she seems to drive a wedge between them and the boys.
* Rocco: Student from Southside High School, also appearing in ''Moose and Midge: Breakup Blues''. Part of the conflict between Moose and Midge stems from Rocco's staring at Midge while she and Moose are at Pop Tate's. He also goes after Archie for his clumsiness both at Pop Tate's and later at the Teen Machine Dance Club. His tough, bullying, nasty side shows at the dance contest when he confronts and throws Reggie in an attempt to get Midge to dance with him, then going after Archie when he confronts him.
* Diss Dress: A rock band appearing at the end of ''Moose and Midge: Breakup Blues''. They are the live band playing at the Teen Machine Dance Club.
''Little Archie''
*Mad Doctor Doom & Chester: Not to be confused with Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' Doctor Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
, Mad Doctor Doom is a green-skinned mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...
who has terrorized Archie and the gang since they were children, as they constantly foiled his plans of gaining great wealth and conquering the world. Doom was assisted by Chester, his nitwitted, teenaged slacker of an assistant (occasionally said to be his nephew). Chester looks and acts like a stereotypical 1950s juvenile delinquent
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
. They both made at least one appearance in the mainstream comics.
*Evelyn Evernever: A young girl who was acquainted with Archie and friends when they were young. Evelyn was a shy girl with a bit of an inferiority complex
In psychology, an inferiority complex is an intense personal feeling of inadequacy, often resulting in the belief that one is in some way deficient, or inferior, to others.
According to Alfred Adler, a feeling of inferiority may be brought ab ...
, with tenuous relations to the rest of the gang. Her only real friend was her doll, Minerva. Evelyn Evernever likes to think of herself as a "bou'tiful" gal. After a long hiatus Evelyn Evernever reappears as a teenage girl who kidnapped Archie in a recent all-out action issue of ''Betty & Veronica Spectacular''. It was shown in a recent issue of ''Veronica'' that Evelyn was Archie's first kiss.
*Bubbles McBounce: Bubbles McBounce was an obese girl from ''Little Archie''. Being heavier than the other kids, she is known for such moments as the time she saved the day by holding down an air balloon that risked taking Archie and the gang on a magical voyage.
*Penny Peabody: Fangs Fogarty's girlfriend. Their relationship is exactly like Moose and Midge's: Fangs will hurt any boy who even talks to Penny.
*The Perilous Pike: A pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
that lives in Logger's Pond, a large pond near Riverdale. No one has ever caught the Perilous Pike, though some people have ''almost'' caught him. In some stories, attempts to fish for him cause the Pike to attack a member of Archie's gang.
*The Southside Serpents: A gang of kids who were the rivals of Little Archie's gang and lived in the southern district of Riverdale. They filled the role of Central High Students when a rival group was needed.
*Sue Stringly: Sue was a poor little girl who knew Archie and the gang when they were young. Sue's family didn't have much money, and they lived in a shack near the railway tracks. Despite this, Sue was an upbeat, cheerful girl who never complained or despaired over her predicament. While most of the school students didn't want anything to do with her, eventually Sue became good friends with Little Archie and Veronica. Her father was sometimes said to be working in a pickle plant. Sue also lived next to a coal mine. In one story, she was called a cousin of Veronica Lodge. Although her hair is blonde, she bears a resemblance to Big Ethel
Ethel Muggs is a character frequently featured in Archie Comics. She is a student of Riverdale High School, sometimes known to her schoolmates by the nickname Big Ethel, though this nickname has largely fallen out of use since the 1980s.
She ...
. After a long hiatus right after Evelyn Evernever returns, Sue Stringly reappears as a teenage secret agent who rescues Archie and befriends Betty and Veronica (Agent B & Agent V) in a recent issue of ''Betty & Veronica Digest''. She also appears as a teenager when she tries to get a date with Reggie. He, thinking of the skinny girl from his childhood, fakes sickness. Archie, the kind teen he is, takes Reggie's place with his childhood friend. Little do they know, Sue has grown into an attractive women who they both swoon over.
*Little Ambrose: A shy boy that Little Archie and his gang would tease.
Alternate universes
*: She is Eugene's girlfriend, and only appeared in ''The New Archies.'' She bears some resemblance to Nancy. She is a close friend of Betty and Veronica.
*Babette: The main villain in ''Archie’s R/C Racers.'' She and her bungling henchmen trailed Archie and the gang on their cross-country race to cause trouble for them. She owned a company that made radio-controlled vehicles. She was apparently a madwoman because her main motive in ruining the race was that the gang chose to endorse another company instead of her own.
*C.R.U.S.H. : A parody of T.H.R.U.S.H.
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...
, this evil spy organization was the main antagonist in ''The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.,'' a series of spy-themed stories appearing in the ''Life With Archie'' title in the mid to late 60s, meant to capitalize on the popularity of spy movies and TV shows at the time. It was never revealed what C.R.U.S.H. stood for. The evil agents from C.R.U.S.H. often had bizarre arsenals and abilities.
*: This character, although African-American, was really a re-imagining of Dilton. He appeared only "The New Archies" when Archie and the gang were Junior High Students. As he filled the role of both Chuck and Dilton, neither of those characters appeared in the series.
*Danni Malloy: This redhaired teenaged girl appeared only in ''Dilton’s Strange Science.'' She served as Dilton's best friend, love interest, and partner in their science-related adventures. Her shared last name with Jinx Malloy is probably a coincidence.
*: She is the 29th century descendant of Archie, and is one of the characters in the short-lived ''Jughead's Time Police''. One of the few girls that Jughead truly loves, she is also his superior in the Time Police squad. She also appears in the 2019 reboot of the series.
*"Slimy" Sal Monella: Sal Monella was the villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
of the short-lived ''Jughead's Diner'' comic book. He has been attempting domination on Dinersville with his fast food chain, but is unable to take over the independent restaurant that Jughead owns. His name is a pun on the disease salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...
.
*Lady Smitty: Full name Lady Winchester Huntington-Smythe Jones, but she goes by her nickname Lady Smitty. This rich woman appeared frequently in ''Veronica’s Passport'', serving as a foil to Veronica Lodge
Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies.
She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale (Archie Com ...
. Veronica often ran into her on her travels. Lady Smitty had a husband named David and a teenaged son named Jared. She also has a nephew named Archie, which looks different from and not to be confused with the other character of the same first name and also lives in France.
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' series
*Sabrina Spellman
Sabrina Victoria Spellman is the eponymous character of the Archie Comics series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch.'' Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and she first appeared in ''Archie's Mad House'' #22 in October 19 ...
: A friend of Archie and the gang, she is secretly a witch who tries to balance her normal teenaged life with her witch life. She is steady with her boyfriend Harvey who, like everyone else, doesn’t know she's a witch. There have been several series and incarnations.
*Hilda Spellman
Hildegarde Antoinette "Hilda" Spellman is a character featured in the Archie comic book ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. Hilda is a full witch (as opposed to half or fully mortal) who lives in the fictional town of Greendale (in the 1990s live-ac ...
and Zelda Spellman
Zelda Phiona Spellman is a character featured in the Archie comic book ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. Zelda is a full witch (as opposed to half or fully mortal) who lives in the fictional town of Greendale (in the 1990s live-action sitcom, Zeld ...
: Sabrina's aunts, the sisters of her late father, and her legal guardians. Originally, Hilda was tall and thin with red hair, and Zelda was short and plump with green hair. They were made more attractive in a revival of the comics. Hilda tends to be strict and short-tempered and finds Harvey annoying, but really only wants what's best for Sabrina. Zelda is calm, flexible and easy-going compared to her sister.
*Salem Saberhagen
Salem Saberhagen is a fictional character from the American Archie Comics comic series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. Salem is an American Shorthair cat who lives with Sabrina Spellman, Hilda Spellman and Zelda Spellman in the fictional town of G ...
: The Spellmans' talking cat. He is really a witch that the Witches' Council turned into a cat as punishment. He has a sarcastic, somewhat self-centered attitude, but he and the Spellmans care for each other greatly.
*Harvey Kinkle
Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit
* Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
: Sabrina's boyfriend in all versions of the series. He first appears in ''Archie's TV Laugh-Out'' #1, as does Cousin Ambrose. Hilda has a low opinion of him, although she would never try to break them up. He is fairly naïve and does not know that Sabrina is a witch, despite the fact that strange things happen around her. While this makes their relationship awkward, they remain as close as ever.
* Della the Head Witch: The witch who is the boss, and would drop in occasionally to check up on their evil deeds.
*Cousin Ambrose
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...
: Cousin Ambrose is a male witch that always tries to give advice to Sabrina. He also tries to find love but fails.
''Josie and the Pussycats'' series
*Josie McCoy
''Josie and the Pussycats'' (initially published as ''She's Josie'' and ''Josie'') is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. It was published from 1963 until 1982; since then, ...
(originally Josie Jones) is the main character of the series and leader and songwriter of the titular music group. She plays guitar and sings in the band. She is a sweet, level headed, red-haired girl and often the stable center in the chaotic antics that her friends get into.
* Melody Valentine, the group's drummer, is a stereotypical dumb blonde
Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes are stereotyped as more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blo ...
: naïve, absent-minded, carefree, and often misusing language. She serves as the series's comic relief, and her overwhelming sex appeal invariably drives boys crazy.
*Valerie Brown
Valerie may refer to:
People
*Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie
*Valerie (given name), a feminine given name
Songs
*"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from Quarterflash (album), ''Quarterflash''
* ...
is the African-American bassist of the Pussycats. She is a scientific and mechanical genius and usually presents the solution to a problem. Somewhat of a tomboy, she will readily stand up for what she believes in.
* Alexander "Alex" Cabot III is the rich, snobby, and not very dependable manager for the band. He often comes up with schemes that are supposed to benefit him, but they always seem to fail. He is infatuated with Josie, but never manages to win her over.
*Alexandra Cabot
Alexandra "Alex" Cabot is a fictional character within the ''Law & Order'' universe portrayed by Stephanie March. She is a primary character in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and '' Conviction''.
Character overview
Cabot first appears i ...
, Alex's twin sister, is also the series's evillest character and indeed its main villain. She wants to take over the band, but has no talent of her own. She is conniving, hateful, and completely selfish, and wants to steal Alan M. from Josie. She also has a cat named Sebastian with a similar personality.
* Alan M. Mayberry is Josie's blond, muscular, good-hearted boyfriend. Originally a folk singer in his own right, he became the Pussycats's primary road crew captain after the group formed. Alex constantly makes fun of him, while Alexandra keeps trying to date him. However, he and Josie remain devoted only to each other.
* Pepper Smith was Josie's original best friend and the third member of the lead trio. Sarcastic and level-headed, she regularly dated dumb jock Socrates. She was essentially replaced by Valerie with the "Pussycats" revamp.
*Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Alber ...
was Josie's original steady boyfriend and rival of Alexander.
''Cheryl Blossom'' series
*Cheryl Blossom
Cheryl Marjorie Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a businessman. The live action version of Cheryl is portrayed by Madelaine Petsch in '' Riverdale''.
Histor ...
: A redheaded third love interest for Archie who is sometimes a friend of Betty and sometimes a common enemy to Betty and Veronica. Originally introduced as a vain and arrogant member of a rich yuppie family, she was later given her own series.
*Jason Blossom
The following is a list of members of the families of Archie's Gang appearing in Archie Comics. Primarily featured are the parents of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones.
The Andrews family
Fred Andrews
Frederick "Fr ...
: Cheryl Blossom's arrogant older twin brother. Jason lives with his family in Pembrooke, the "rich" side of Riverdale, and refers to those who live on the other side as "Townies". He most often appeared during the 1990s, when the ''Cheryl Blossom'' series was published. During that time, the Blossom twins attended Pembrooke High, a private school for rich students. Despite Jason's views, he is mainly attracted to Betty Cooper
Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper is one of the main characters appearing in American comic books published by Archie Comics. She is the lead guitarist, percussionist and one of the three singers of The Archies. The character was created by Bob Montana an ...
rather than Veronica Lodge
Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies.
She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale (Archie Com ...
.
* Clifford and Penelope Blossom: Cheryl and Jason's parents. The Blossom family is well-off due to the fortune that Clifford made as a software designer. He and Penelope are generally not pleased about their children's arrogance and want them to learn a little humility.
* Sugar Blossom: Cheryl's beloved Pomeranian dog.
''That Wilkin Boy'' series
*Bingo Wilkin: Jughead Jones's cousin. A rambunctious teenaged boy who is as clumsy as Archie Andrews and leads his eponymous band, the Bingoes. However, unlike Archie, Bingo remains loyal to only one girl, Samantha Smythe.
*Samantha Smythe: Bingo's next-door neighbor and girlfriend. She is physically very strong, despite her appearance, which sometimes makes Bingo feel inferior. However, they remain a steady couple. She performs vocals and percussion for the Bingos.
*Samson Smythe: Samantha's tough, militant-minded father who enjoys lifting weights and building up his physical strength. He is stern, temperamental and suspicious, thinks lowly of his neighbors the Wilkins, and does not want his daughter dating Bingo.
*Uncle Herman: Bingo and Jughead's eccentric uncle who lives with Bingo. A retired professional baseball player and aspiring inventor, his antics tend to annoy most of the main characters. Nevertheless, his friends and family love him very much.
*Tough Teddy Tambourine: Bingo's taller, physically stronger rival who plays bass guitar in the Bingos. He is arrogant, enjoys showing off his taste in fashion, and is constantly trying to get between Bingo and Samantha, but never succeeds.
*Buddy Drumhead: Bingo and Teddy's soft-spoken friend who plays drums in the Bingoes and likes to ride his motorbike. More or less content with his lot in life, he prefers not to get involved with his friends' relationship problems. He has been shown to drum on almost everything in sight, and will lose his mind if he doesn't.
*Rebel: Bingo's dog who is capable of conscious thought. He and Teddy have a mutual hate relationship. Rebel tries to play cupid between Bingo and Samantha and is often the one who thwarts Teddy's schemes.
''Li'l Jinx'' series
*Li'l Jinx Holliday: A mischievous little girl who was born on Halloween. She is playful, imaginative and has many close friends. Her stories are usually more plausible to happen to elementary school age children than those of ''Little Archie''.
*Hap and Merry Holliday: Li'l Jinx's parents. Like many parents, her father Hap is constantly bothered by his daughter's antics, but this does not change how much he loves her. While he is a major character, Jinx's mother Merry almost never appears in the comics.
*Li'l Jinx's friends: Other children appearing in the series, including the rich, somewhat snobby Gigi (originally named Gaga); Jinx's apparent childhood boyfriend Greg, the large, food-loving bully Charley Hawse; a boy with an inferiority complex named Mort; Jinx's best friend Roz, a talented artist appearing in later years; and Roz's scientifically knowledgeable brother Ross.
''Katy Keene'' series
*Katy Keene: A glamorous fashion model and movie actress. Twenty-one years old, she lives with her redheaded adolescent sister "Sis", apparently as her legal guardian. She has had a number of recurring boyfriends over the years. The focus of her stories alternates between her modeling career and her love life.
*"Sis" Keene: Katy's redheaded younger sister. Originally an elementary school student, but later portrayed as the same age as Archie and the gang. Her first name, depending on the incarnation, is Melissa, Mackenzie or Sissy, but she is mostly just called Sis.
*Katy's friends: Katy's close friends include her fellow models Gloria Grandbilt and Lucki Lorelei. The former (called Gloria Gold in later incarnations) is her vain blonde rival for the boys' affections, while the latter is her redheaded superstitious best friend, with level headed brunette Katy Keene rounding out the group.
*Katy's boyfriends: Katy has had many recurring boyfriends over the years, including K.O. Kelly (a boxer), Randy van Ronson (K.O.'s rich rival), Ramon Ramirez (a Latino airline pilot and talented dancer), Arnold Horsenlegger (an Austrian muscleman/movie star obviously modeled on Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
), and Click Lenz (the girls' fashion photographer).
''Archie's Mad House''
*Captain Sprocket: A bungling but victorious superhero who appeared for many issues. For a time, he was the closest thing the series had to a main character; most of the stories featured one-time character.
*Clyde Didit: A hippie/musician who served as a mascot for a while until he and his friends took over the series. At this point, he was the drummer and leader of a band called the Madhouse Glads.
*Clyde's gang: Clyde has three brothers, Dan, Dick and Dippy, who each play a guitar (Dan has bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, Dick has lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
, and Dippy has rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...
) in the Madhouse Glads. Dick is also Clyde's best friend. Fran the Fan is their obsessed groupie, and the fashion-obsessed Rod the Mod competes with Clyde for her affections.
''Wilbur'' series
*Wilbur Wilkin: Despite debuting three months before Archie, this self-absorbed blond teenager is typically called an Archie clone. Wilbur has more of a tendency to play dirty to get what he wants than the more well-meaning Archie, and did not share Archie's popularity.
*Laurie Lake: Wilbur's steady sweet, blonde and beautiful girlfriend. Typically a sensible girl, but can be somewhat ditzy. She is comparable to Betty Cooper, although Wilbur prefers her to her rich arrogant rival, unlike Archie and his girlfriends.
*Linda Moore: A sassy, well-off brunette girl with a bit of a mean streak. She adores Wilbur and constantly schemes to get between him and Laurie. When displeased, she will not hesitate to make this known. Laurie and Linda resemble Betty and Veronica with the roles reversed.
*Red: Wilbur's best friend and confidante, with a personality to match Jughead. Marked by his glasses and red hair, he is content to watch the dating scene from the sidelines. Near the end of the series run, he was re-imagined into the shorter, fatter Sheldon.
*Slats: The role of Wilbur's rival has varied over the years (Lester, Alec, Bolo), but most of the time, Slats filled the role. Slats is a low-down, devious schemer who is constantly trying to pull pranks on Wilbur or take the girls from him.
''Suzie'' series
*Suzie: A cheerful, but completely ditzy blonde teenager with clumsiness to match Archie's. Unlike Archie, she is fresh out of high school, but due to her ineptness, she cannot keep a job. Boys flock to her beauty, but lose interest when they learn the trouble she unintentionally causes.
*Ferdie: Suzie's redheaded, dorky slacker for a boyfriend and closest confidante. When Suzie is at risk to do more harm than good, Ferdie is usually stuck trying to keep things under control. No matter what happens to Suzie, Ferdie is always someone she can count on.
*Angela the Angel: Suzie's small adolescent niece who acts like an angel, but is really a mischievous schemer working against Suzie and her friends, and is generally considered to be a nuisance.
*Gregory von Dripp: A rich and vain young man who does anything he can to charm women over. He is very attracted to Suzie and with her perpetual optimism, she cannot see through him. Ferdie is the one who must help her to see the light.
''Ginger'' series
*: Yet another mischievous, fun-loving teenager who was an attempt to recapture Archie's success. Ginger falls for the opposite sex easily, although her tastes are much broader than Archie, and she even tends to fall for her male teachers. Her parents' names are Fred and Lotta.
*Dottie/Dotty, later Patsy: One of Ginger's closest friends. She has dark hair, sometimes wears glasses, sometimes has freckles and sometimes her face is somewhat chubbier than most girls in Archie comics. She fills the role of the more easy-going sidekick to Ginger.
*Iccky (or Ickky): A resourceful nerd, similar to Dilton Doiley, but is more confident in regards to girls. He has a constant crush on Ginger and is pleased that a girl as beautiful as her is willing to date him. Though she often stands him up, he knows there will be other chances.
*Tommy Turner: Another of Ginger's boyfriends whom Iccky considers a rival. He is tall, blonde and a decent athlete, and portrayed as a good-natured all-American boy.
Super heroes
The Mighty Crusaders
*The Black Hood
The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...
(Matthew Burland): A former police officer who is magically compelled to do good and fight for justice whenever he wears his hood, as well as gaining enhanced physical abilities.
* The Comet (Jack Dickering): A scientist who gains the power to fly and shoot disintegrating beams from his eyes after injecting himself with a gas lighter than hydrogen.
* The Fly (Tommy Troy): A boy who, with a magic ring, switches bodies with one of the few surviving Fly People from another dimension. He has all the powers of the insect kingdom, including, flight, superhuman strength and insect telepathy.
*Flygirl (Kim Brand): An actress that the Fly rescued. She quickly received similar powers from the same source and became his partner in fighting crime. She is one of MLJ Comics' very few superheroines.
*The Shield
''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...
(Joe Higgins): An American Flag-themed superhero. His powers, derived from x-rays and a chemical, are all enhanced physical abilities. Other individuals would later assume Higgins' former superhero identity.
*Darkling (Darla Lang): A serious woman who is distant and secretive, but became friends with Flygirl. She uses her cloak as a weapon, trapping and teleporting her opponents with it. She is one of MLJ Comics' very few superheroines.
*The Jaguar (Ralph Hardy): A zoologist who found a magic belt in an ancient temple that gave him flight, strength, animal control and the enhanced abilities of many animals.
*The Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
(John Raymond): A criminology professor who used a technologically advanced suit to have flight, enhanced strength, a GPS tracker and bulletproof armor.
*Pure-heart* : A character seen occasionally in comics as Archie in superhero form, starting with ''Life With Archie'' #42. He saves Betty and Veronica from peril from *Evil-heart*. This is Reggie but in superhero form. He kidnaps Betty and Veronica in trying to cause Archie trouble. He usually fails in his plans.
Other superheroes
*Captain Flag
Captain Flag is a superhero created by MLJ Comics' writer Joe Blair and artist Lin Streeter. He first appeared in September 1941, in issue #16 of '' Blue Ribbon Comics''. He continued until the last issue, ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' #22 (March 1942). ...
(Tom Townsend): A wealthy playboy who, after his father was murdered, was carried away by an eagle (later his sidekick Yank) to a mountain top where his new life made him physically superior.
*The Wizard
Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to:
* Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic
* Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic
Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters
* Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book supe ...
(Blane Whitney): An intelligent man who used various technologies to fight crime. He eventually displayed psychic powers. He had a sidekick, Roy the Super Boy, who was trained to be super strong
*Steel Sterling was the alter ego of John Sterling, who, after his father’s fortune was swindled by criminals, plunged his body into a cauldron of molten metal, giving him the powers of super strength, ferrokinesis (the psychic generation and manipulation of magnetic currents), invulnerability and flight. Steel Sterling’s nemeses included the Black Knight and Baron Gestapo (a World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
-era foe, as his name indicates), as well as Twisto, the Puppet Master, the Rattler, and the Hyena. He first appeared in ''Zip Comics'' #1 (Feb. 1940), and was created by writer Abner Sundell and artist Charles Biro
Charles Biro (May 12, 1911 – March 4, 1972) was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He is today chiefly known for creating the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and for his work at Lev Gleason Publications on '' Dared ...
. Steel Sterling, the Jaguar and Mr. Justice also teamed up as the Terrific
*Mr. Justice, also known as “The Royal Wraith,” was the superhero moniker of Prince James of England, who was murdered by rebels in the 18th century. His spirit remained trapped in the castle where the murder took place until 1940. The dismantled castle was to be shipped to the United States until a Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
submarine sunk the ship on which it was carried, thereby releasing the spirit of Prince James. He assumed corporeal form as “Mr. Justice,” and his main nemesis was Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
himself. He first appeared in ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' #9 (Feb. 1941), and was created by writer Joe Blair and artist Sam Cooper.Mr. Justice
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archived
from the original on March 10, 2016.
*
The Fox (Paul Patten): A young reporter and photographer who mainly took to dealing with crime to further his career. Like many other MLJ Comics superheroes, he technically has no superpowers.
*Inferno (Frank Verrano): A fire breather who was originally a circus-performing bad boy, but started using his power to fight crime. His fire was hot enough to burn through or melt solid metal instantly.
*
The Firefly (Harley Hudson): An entomologist who taught himself to coordinate his muscles like an insect so that he can lift great amounts of weight.
*Bob Phantom (Walter Whitney): A Broadway theater columnist with strength, invulnerability, and the ability to teleport. The character debuted in ''
Blue Ribbon Comics
''Blue Ribbon Comics'' is the name of two American comic book anthology series, the first published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc., commonly known as MLJ Comics, from 1939 to 1942, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The rev ...
'' # 2 (December 1939) in a story written by
Harry Shorten
Harry Shorten (1914–1991) was an American writer, editor, and book publisher best known for the Comic strip syndication, syndicated gag cartoon ''There Oughta Be a Law!'', as well as his work with Archie Comics, and his long association with Arch ...
and illustrated by
Irv Novick
Irving Novick (; April 11, 1916 – October 15, 2004) was an American comics artist who worked almost continuously from 1939 until the 1990s.
Career
A graduate of the National Academy of Design, Irv Novick got his start in the workshop of Harry " ...
before making other appearances in issue of ''
Top Notch Comics'' published from 1940 to 1942. The character was briefly revived in the 1964 comic ''
Mighty Crusaders
The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry ...
''.
*
Thunder Bunny
Thunderbunny is a comic book about a boy who transforms into a superhero resembling a large pink humanoid rabbit. It was created by Martin Greim.
Publication history
Thunderbunny's first appearance published by a major company was '' Charlton Bull ...
(Bobby Caswell): A boy who received the power to turn into an anthropomorphized rabbit with flight and superhuman strength when he touched a box containing the spirit of the last of an alien race.
*The Hangman (Robert Dickering): The Comet's brother who became the Hangman to avenge the Comet after he was killed. He relies on his natural physical and mental abilities.
*Scarlet Avenger (Jim Kendall): A scientist who began fighting crime after his family died in a plane crash of which he was the only survivor. He uses advanced technology and weaponry.
*Red Rube (Reuben Reuben): A reporter who drank a magic elixir that allows him access to the abilities of his ancestors. He has enhanced physical abilities of strength, speed and invulnerability.
*Fireball (Ted Tyler): A fireman who was attacked by an arsonist then doused in a mix of chemicals, that gave him the power to absorb heat and control flames.
Other series
*
Cosmo the Merry Martian
''Cosmo the Merry Martian'' was a comic book published by Archie Comics in the late 1950s. The comic was created by Bob White as a way to provide a family-appropriate comic for children with an interest in the then-current space race. The title ...
: The first Martian to visit Earth, sent out to explore the planet. Accompanying him was his smaller, less-learned traveling companion Orbi. Their adventures only lasted six issues, each ending with a cliffhanger.
*
Super Duck: A duck who parodies
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
. Joined by his bratty nephew Fauntleroy and temperamental girlfriend Uwanna, Super Duck (nicknamed Supe) typically ended up in hapless situations instead of saving the day.
*Pat Smith: The star of ''Pat the Brat'' and a sarcastic, mischievous little boy. He was much smarter than other kids his age, but used those smarts to make trouble. He was not above outright taking advantage of people, including his own parents Oswald and Alice.
*Pipsqueak: Another troublemaking child starring in ''The Adventures of Pipsqueak''. His parents were often his victims. Unlike most Archie titles, Pipsqueak's art style resembles that of a daily newspaper strip, which was the main feature that distinguished it from ''Pat the Brat''.
*Seymour: A boy who starred in the one-offs ''My Son The Teenager'' and ''More Seymour''. Like so many other Archie-like characters, Seymour is girl-crazy and causes havoc unintentionally. In this case, the catastrophic results of Seymour's clumsiness usually come at the expense of his beleaguered, white-haired father, who is simply referred to as "Poppa". In the one-off ''My Son The Teenager'', the narrative is a poem written by the father entitled "A Father's Lament". The poem itself paints Seymour as a very loving and angelic boy, while the cartoon shows the complete opposite. Seymour is not only clumsy and causes havoc unintentionally, but is also a lazy, girl-crazy, class clown sort of boy. The one-off ''More Seymour'' is a two-part story. In the first part, Seymour's father tries to keep him from spending the day at the beach by giving him a long laundry list of household chores to do before he goes to enjoy the sun. However, after screwing up literally every chore assigned, Seymour's father finally relents and begs him to go to the beach. In the second part, Seymour is at the beach with his blonde girlfriend and bubble gum chewing best friend. Seymour's time at the beach is short-lived, however, as his clumsiness draws the wrath of literally everyone else that is there. These people end up forming an angry mob who chase him off the beach. This overused formula may have hindered Seymour from appearing in more issues.
References
External links
*
{{Archie Comics characters
Archie
Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands
* Archie Blake (mathematici ...