List of Rocko's Modern Life characters

This is a list of all the major and minor characters from the animated television series Rocko's Modern Life and the comic book of the same name.

Joe Murray, creator of the series, said that he matched personalities of his characters to various animals, forming a "social caricature."^[1]

Main characters

Main characters in the television show and comic

Rocko

Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui

Rocko is a wallaby who emigrated from Australia to the United States, he is the protagonist of the show. He is 18 years old. He is a sensible, moral, and somewhat timid character who enjoys the simple pleasures in life, such as doing his laundry or feeding his dog, Spunky. He is neat, compassionate, and self-conscious. He wears a blue shirt with purple triangles, sneakers and no pants. Rocko usually works at "Kind of a Lot o' Comics" (but once worked at Conglom-O where Ed Bighead attempted to make him quit) and his hobbies include recreational jackhammering and pining for the love of his life, Melba Toast. Due to Rocko's benevolence and non-confrontational personality, his kindness is often taken for weakness. He is often taken advantage of by the other characters. Rocko would prefer to live a quiet life, but his reckless friends often throw him into turbulent situations. His most common catchphrase is "______-Day is a very dangerous day", even once saying "Open mic night is a very dangerous night." He is often mistaken for a weasel, a platypus, and occasionally a beaver or even a dog. Rocko has no family name because the writers could not think of a family name that they liked.^[2]

Spunky

Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui

Spunky is Rocko's Miniature Bull Terrier. He has a very high-pitched bark and wags his tail a lot. He's not too bright and will eat anything on sight, including Mr. Bighead's salmon bushes and a moldy slime found in Rocko's refrigerator. He often repeatedly drools into his water bowl and drinks it, only to drool into it again. He is Rocko's only regular pet and Rocko loves him dearly. Rocko will go to great lengths to protect Spunky if he is in danger or about to do something stupid. Spunky is best remembered for falling in love with a mop in the episode "Clean Lovin'", much to Rocko's dismay; Spunky was noted to have used his front paws as hands as he tries to protect the mop. Spunky is also the home of two parasites, Bloaty and Squirmy. Spunky also can do a cool trick but it was not shown.

Heffer Wolfe

Voiced by Tom Kenny

Heffer Wolfe is Rocko's best friend, a happy-go-lucky and not-too-bright steer (a castrated hereford bull) whom he met in high school. His appearance is basically just a big (bigger than Rocko) yellow bull who wears red dungarees. He has two horns and a green tuft of hair on the top of his head. Heffer is an absolute glutton who loves to eat and party. His favorite food is "Pasture Puffies". Though he is normally portrayed as being jobless, he has worked as a waiter at a coffee shop, a salesman at a tree farm, a greenskeeper at a golf course, a mail carrier, a manager at a Chokey Chicken restaurant (later Chewy Chicken), a paperboy, and a security guard at Conglom-O-Corp (the last one causing him to go insane in a reference to The Shining). As his family name suggests, he was raised by a family of wolves who decided not to eat him as a child and adopted him as one of their own; his "birthmark" is actually their plotting lines of how to best divide him up into choice dishes. He is often called a "Big fat cow," a term he (and his father) objects to by saying "steer." His catchphrase, which can be heard in the series' opening theme, is "That was a hoot!"

Filburt Turtle

Voiced by Mr. Lawrence (Tom Kenny, singing)

Filburt Turtle^[3] is Rocko's other best friend, a neurotic, hypochondriac turtle wearing Woody Allen-style glasses. He started out as a different character, usually seen having many jobs, such as a supermarket cashier and a clerk at the Department of Motor Vehicles, before being written in the storyline as Rocko and Heffer's friend in the second season. He lives in a trailer and earns his money by collecting cans "here and there", and has a penchant for "sauce". Filburt has an extremely weak stomach and even the slightest wrong movements can give him nausea. He tried to be a dentist but failed in his last exam when he turned one of Rocko's teeth into a Giant Mutant Tooth. He turned 21 in the second-season episode "Born to Spawn" where he is called to his home island of Kerplopitgoes in order to become an adult. At one point, he also had a Frank Sinatra style singing voice that he nearly became a star with. He eventually started a family with Dr. Hutchison, a bubbly cat with a hook for a hand. One of their children turned out to bear a strong resemblance to Heffer, thanks to his having sat on their egg during the incubation period. Among Filburt's catchphrases are "Oh fish sticks!", "I'm nauseous... I'm nauseous.", and "Turn the page, wash your hands. Turn the page, wash your hands. And then you turn the page, and then you wash your hands..." and, "oh boy".

Ed Bighead

Voiced by Charlie Adler

Edward "Ed" Bighead is a cane toad, and the husband of Bev Bighead, he is the main antagonist of the show. He lives next door to Rocko, whom he vehemently despises and sees him and his friends as the bane of his existence. In the television show, Mr. Bighead is aggressive and crass towards most people. Ed works at the large corporation Conglom-O. His position with the company is usually in middle management, but it can be any position from assembly-line worker to an executive role, depending on the needs of the episode: according to his nameplate at Conglom-O, his job title is "Toad". As seen in the episode "Sailing the 7 Zzzs", he is a sleepwalker and has the habit of turning into a pirate while sleepwalking and views ordinary people and things as their pirate equivalents; he believed Rocko was an enemy pirate and proceeded to launch various household objects, such as toasters and bowling balls (cannonballs), at Rocko's house (an enemy pirate ship) from a dryer (a cannon). In the comic book, Mr. Bighead works for a similar company headed by Donald Frump, an elephant that serves as a parody of Donald Trump. Ed seems to have very bad luck wherever he goes and thus is very cynical. His catchphrase is "I hate my life."

Bev Bighead

Voiced by Charlie Adler

Beverly "Bev" Bighead is a cane toad and Ed's wife. Bev assumes authority in the Bighead household. Unlike her husband, she enjoys the company of Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt. She is a party animal who enjoys cooking and sunbathing nude. There is evidence that she sees Rocko as more than a neighbor and wants to have an affair with him—she has tried to seduce Rocko on more than one occasion, resulting in Rocko seeing her naked numerous times. She also is a possible masochist— she sleeps on sharp objects and has been impaled in the back with a lawn dart by Rocko, but was unaffected by it. At one point, she took over Ed's job at Conglom-O for a week when Ed took a leave of absence due to a nervous breakdown and ran the company very well. Her favorite bedroom pastime with Ed is to make him crack plates in mid-air with his tongue like clay pigeons.

Bev is also an incredibly compassionate toad, having taken Earl the vicious dog in when she forces him into a submissive posture for digging out their yard, she falls in love with him and likewise, which is strange for Earl. Earl and Ed then vie against one another for Bev's attention and approval, which Ed ultimately loses due to his underhandedness. Unfortunately Earl is gone in subsequent episodes and his adoption is for the most part retconned through the rest of the series.

Minor characters

Minor characters in the television show and comic

Bloaty the Tick and Squirmy the Ringworm

Bloaty is voiced by Tom Kenny

Squirmy is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui

Bloaty the Tick and Squirmy the Ringworm are two parasites who live on and in Spunky. Certain episodes and both stories in Issue 6 of the comic book, "Special Disgusting Parasite Issue!", revolve around their Odd Couple-like relationship. They are introduced in the first-season episode "Dirty Dog", in which their boss, Mr Ick, comes over for dinner while Rocko tries to give Spunky a bath. This episode suggests that more than one parasite is living on Spunky, proven in future episodes by huge crowds of insects and even an old-west style town on Spunky's body. One of Bloaty and Squirmy's more well known sayings is "Up, work, home, TV, bed!". In the first story of Issue 6 of the comic, "Bug Out!", the two hop between various pets, trying to find the perfect host. In the second story, "Lice on the Loose", the two again find Spunky, prompting Rocko to take Spunky to a pet store; Bloaty and Squirmy interact with local parasites at the store.

Writer Martin Olson created Bloaty and Squirmy. Olson loved Murray's character designs of Bloaty and Squirmy, and said that he and the crew "had tons of fun recording and singing my nutty "Bloaty & Squirmy Theme Song".^[4]

Chuck and Leon Chameleon

Chuck is voiced by Tom Kenny

Leon is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui

Chuck and Leon Chameleon a.k.a. The Chameleon Brothers are identical twins, have faux Scandinavian accents and snooty attitudes. They became a running gag, having several odd jobs such as being gym owners, running a client agency for clients who need help to break bad habits (in Rocko's case, nail biting), running a hair salon (Haute Coiffeur), and owning a café. Most, if not all, of these establishments are, by their own admissions, very exclusive (such as for people with "an exclusive amount of cash", as was the case in the episode "Tooth and Nail"). They say that they once worked for a tsar (who resembled Heffer) in the fictional country Balzak before immigrating to America.

Both brothers appear in the second story of Issue #1 once. They never speak and are never identified by their names.

Conglomo Lizards

Voiced by Tom Kenny, Carlos Alazraqui, Mr. Lawrence, and Charlie Adler

These are lizards that work where Ed Bighead works, Conglom-O. They appear quite often.

Mr. Dupette

Voiced by Charlie Adler

Mr. Dupette is the CEO of Conglom-O, the megacorporation whose motto is "We Own You". Prior to this he is the manager at Super Lot-O Comics in the episode Canned, where he fires Rocko. It is unknown precisely when or how he became the CEO of Conglom-O. Some episodes showing flashbacks to Conglom-O's early years, such as when Ralph Bighead turned down his father's offer of a job at the company, remain consistent with Dupette's original appearance in "Canned", while others depict him as being with Conglom-O during events set well before the events of "Canned."

Dupette is almost always shown picking his nose, although sometimes he has a personal assistant pick his nose for him (most of the time, his right-hand man, Mr. Noway). Despite his official job title of "Slimy Boss" and propensity for firing executives on a whim for the most insane reasons, Dupette is a staunch environmentalist thanks to Rocko's efforts (in the episode "Zanzibar!") and he also secretly enjoys performing as a clown at children's birthday parties (in the episode "Closet Clown"). He is also a golf pro and, as his original job suggests, a big comic book fan.

In the comic book, Dupette appears in the second story of Volume #1 and is never identified by name.^[5] In the comic, an elephant named Donald Frump (a parody of Donald Trump) serves as Mr. Bighead's boss.^[6]

Earl

Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui

Earl is a large, mean-looking, purple bulldog. He has yellow eyes, red hair and large lower teeth that protrude from his mouth and wears a spiked dog collar. He was initially homeless, and is occasionally locked up at Dr. HP Marten's Institute for Questionable Experiments, due to his viciousness. Earl enjoys mauling Rocko, Ed Bighead, the fly man, and basically anything else that is alive. He was adopted by Bev in the second season after his "fairy dogmother" frees him from Martens' lab. Ed hates him and Earl hates Ed but is loving towards Bev.

After the first season, Earl occasionally appeared.^[7]

Gladys the Hippo Lady

Voiced by Charlie Adler

Gladys the Hippo Lady is a sunglasses-wearing, stretch pants sporting hippopotamus with whom Rocko would often collide in Season 1 episodes and get in her way. She would utter her catchphrase, "How dare you!" at this juncture, which is always in a deep, manly voice, in total contrast to her unnerving high-pitched voice. In the Season 4 episode, "Dumbbells", she drags Rocko on a "ding-dong ditch" frenzy after catching Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt trying to pull the prank on her and finds it hilarious. In her first episode on the beach, she was briefly very apologetic to Rocko when she asked him to help her apply sunscreen.

Gladys appears in the comic book in "This Is A Test!", the second story of Issue #1, and "Remote Controlled", the first story of Issue #4. Gladys appears in the background in "This Is A Test!" In "Remote Controlled", an unidentified passerby bumps into her, causing Gladys to yell her trademark phrase at the man.

Melba Toast

Melba Toast is a mysterious female character who happens to be Rocko's next door neighbor in the television show and comic. Rocko falls head over heels for her but never sees her. Melba's face is never seen in the television show, nor in the comic. In the comic Melba is portrayed as a famous and high-class model for beauty products for the hands and feet.

Garbage Strike Rats

Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny

They are garbage rats who claimed they were on strike in the episode "Popcorn Pandemonium". They have made various cameo appearances throughout the series. They even appear in the pilot episode, "Trash-O-Madness", as garbage men.

Really Really Big Man

Voiced by Tom Kenny

Big Man or RRBM for short, is an extremely large and strong possibly humanoid superhero. In most episodes that revolve around him, he shows incredible but uncontrollable strength. His superpowers include flight, magic chest hairs, nipples that allow people to see their future (by attaching them to the eyeballs), and super strength. His alter-ego is a cross-gender office worker named "Lois Lame" (a parody of Superman). His catchphrase is "Gaze into my nipples of the future!".

Slippy the Slug

Voiced first by Dom Irrera, later by Carlos Alazraqui

In the television show, Slippy the Slug manages the city dump. Before that, he ran a dangerous carnival sponsored by the sewage treatment center called the "Carnival O' Knowledge." After the episode "Carnival Knowledge" Slippy rarely appeared. Murray said that Slippy did not become "fleshed out to my liking."^[8] In the television show he made occasional appearances after Season 1.^[7]

Slippy appears in the second story of Issue #1 and the first story of Issue #7; in Issue #7 he operates a "Slippy the Slug's Sales for Suckers" booth at the Humongo Comicon.

Minor characters only in the television show

Alicia

Alicia, a kangaroo, is the mail carrier in the episode "S.W.A.K." Rocko has a crush on her in the episode. She is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Ambulance Beavers

The Ambulance Beavers are a running gag. They are two beavers who appear when a character is seriously injured. However, instead of taking the character who is hurt off on a stretcher, they take the inanimate object the character was injured on. An example is when Rocko crashes his bumper car at the carnival, the Ambulance Beavers take away the car instead of Rocko. When Rocko's appendix was hurting him, he fell off his jackhammer and they took the jackhammer instead of Rocko. In the same episode, they took Heffer, after they were told to (and they actually got it right), for emergency hippo-suction (liposuction) after he rushed to the hospital with Rocko in tow. Their catchphrase is saying "Hup!" repeatedly, while carrying a stretcher, loading the object on, and driving off to the hospital. They are voiced by Tom Kenny.

Balding Eagle

A North American eagle that has an extremely large collection of wigs to conceal the fact that he is balding. This is wonderful for "bird-wig snatching" Filburt, who wanted to steal the most valuable wig in his collection. Filbert used Rocko for bait, as the Balding Eagle likes to eat wallabies, according to Filbert's bird book. Though Rocko convinced him to embrace his baldness, and he ended up throwing out all his wigs. He lives in a big birdhouse above a lake that looks a lot like a regular house. He was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

William "Buddy" Gecko

Filbert's musical gecko idol. He sings "Come Crawl with Me" with Filbert in "Lounge Singer". He makes various cameos throughout the series. He is very kind to Filburt, he provided him with a pair of record phones to help him feel less stage fright. "Come Crawl with Me" is a parody of the Frank Sinatra song "Come Fly with Me." His speaking voice was done by Tom Kenny, while his singing voice was done by Les Brown, Jr..

Karen Chicken

Karen appears in "To Heck and Back", interviewing at Chokey Chicken, only to be served there. However, the entire episode turned out to be a dream for Heffer so she comes back in the end, ironically she was on her way to a job interview at Choekey Chicken. She is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Captain Compost Heap

Also known as C.C.H., is a great big rotting pile of vegetable matter, that showed the meaning of recycle, conserve and pollute to the citizens of o'Town. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Claudette

Claudette is a wallaby who looks surprisingly like Rocko. She only appeared in the episode, "I See London, I See France". A resident of Paris, Rocko fell in love with her at first sight when he saw her as he and Heffer were on a vacation trip to Paris. Rocko had very strong feelings for her, even calling her the, "girl of his dreams." Throughout the episode Rocko chased Claudette through Paris until finally catching up to her and Heffer at the Chokey Chicken restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. At the end of the episode, Heffer stated that Claudette probably really likes Rocko, but Rocko denied his feelings for her, stating that he likes Melba Toast. She is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Crazy Aunt Gretchen

She is Filburt's crazy grumpy aunt. She never came out of her tank, so as an adult, she has her arms and legs sticking out of it and water sloshing on everyone she passes. She appears in "Sugar Frosted Frights", where it's revealed that she babysat young Filburt and told him all kinds of horror stories about Halloween, contributing to his fear of Halloween. Crazy Aunt Gretchen hates Halloween. She then later attended Filburt and Dr. Hutchison's wedding in "The Big Answer." Crazy Aunt Gretchen is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Dave

Melba Toast's boyfriend, shown in "Love Spanked". Only his feet are seen.

Dingo

Dingo, appearing in "Wimp on the Barbie", is Rocko's former bully. In the episode, Rocko explains that he fled to the United States to escape from Dingo. When Rocko's mother calls to tell him that he is coming to visit, Rocko panics, afraid Dingo will come to the United States and continue to bully him there. When Dingo arrives at Rocko's house, he reveals himself as a member of a Hare Krishna-esque cult that opposes all types of violence and that he is now at peace with everyone, and is now known as "Foofy No-No". His ears are also gone when he visits Rocko. He presents Rocko with various gifts (a 3-speed blender, Bacon-in-a-box, and $5) and asks Rocko to punch him in the nose for all the pain and suffering he put on Rocko for years. Rocko is apprehensive at first but does it anyway after Dingo said "please". Dingo thanked Rocko for doing so, and as he leaves, Heffer and Filburt ambush and attack him, unaware of his changed personality. He was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Doctor Bendova

A psychotic mental patient rat who appeared in "Flu-In-U-Enza" as a physician. His last name is a pun of "bend over". He terrifies and infuriates Rocko with his continuous "turn your head and cough" tests and bizarre behavior before signing him a prescription and giving him a prostate exam. It's only after that the hippo nurse comes in and says "I thought I strapped you to the bed!" revealing him to be a mental patient. At the end of the same episode he was the challenger at the WWWWF (Wide World of Wacky Wrestling Federation) match that Rocko couldn't make it to. He made several brief cameos following this episode. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Madam Doreeno

Madam Doreeno is a rhino fortune teller who conjures up Mortimer Khan in "Feisty Geist". She is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Elkie

Elkie is a beautiful elk who is mostly seen at the elk's club in O-Town. In the episode " An Elk For Heffer", Elkie is befriended by Heffer. Of course, they fall in love. Later in the episode, Elkie is almost eaten by Heffer's family, but Heffer would not let it happen. Elkie is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Christmas Elves

They are Rocko's neighbors and Santa's elves. They were invited to Rocko's Christmas party on "Rocko's Modern Christmas".

Filburt and Paula's children

Gilbert, Shelbert, Norbert, and Missy are the four children of Filburt and Dr. Hutchison, who all came from the same egg in the fourth and final season of the show. Gilbert and Shelbert look exactly like Filburt while Missy is a miniature version of Dr. Hutchinson. Norbert, on the other hand oddly resembles Heffer since he sat on the egg for Filburt. He also believes that Rocko is his father and constantly follows him around. For most of the series, the four are featured as babies; they appear once as teenagers in the episode "Future Schlock." Gilbert and Shellbert were voiced by Mr. Lawrence, Norbert was voiced by Tom Kenny, and Missy was voiced by Linda Wallem.

Flecko

Voiced by Tom Kenny

Flecko is a fly, who appears in the episodes "Day of the Flecko", in which he is a prolonged nuisance to Rocko as the latter tries to get to sleep, "Fly Burgers", in which he sues Rocko after feigning serious injury and "Rocko's Happy Vermin" where he saves the rest of his bug friends. He has a glass eye that always falls out. He is the creation of Timothy Björklund and writer Martin Olson.

Gib Hootsen

Gibson "Gib" Hootsen is Rocko's cowboy uncle and owner of the Lazy R Ranch in The Middle of Nowhere. He appears in "The Good, The Bad, and The Wallaby". He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Granny Rocko

Rocko's obnoxious grandmother, who never stops complaining. She always wears sunglasses and uses a walker. She even wears a long dress that matches Rocko's shirt and the same shoes he does. She appears in "Pranksters," but it was revealed that this Granny Rocko was really Filburt in a Granny Rocko suit. She was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Buff and Dick

Buff the bull and Dick the gorilla are two irritating, insulting employees at the O'Town Hospital. They first appeared together in "Tickled Pinky". They also appear occasionally in the series. Dick was one of the monster truck drivers, in "Driving Mrs. Wolfe", Buff can be seen in the crowd of costumers, "Dear, John".

Dr. Paula Hutchison Turtle

Voiced by Linda Wallem

Dr. Paula Hutchison Turtle, or Hutch for short, is a feline character on Rocko's Modern Life. Originally a dentist, Hutch has also been a cashier, surgeon, veterinarian, obstetrician, and pharmacist. She jokingly admits she left her job as a dentist because she was "Getting tired of looking down in the mouth!" and as a surgeon when she admits she "Just couldn't cut it!" She has a large smile and very upbeat outlook on life. She has a hook for her right hand which does not hinder her normal activity in any way. Her hook was also used to defeat the Giant Mutant Tooth. Hutch took a liking to Filburt and has encouraged him to do various things he's afraid of and eventually married him. Hutch's mother, the widow Hutchison, disallows the wedding between the two because of her belief that "cats and turtles don't mix" citing their status as natural enemies. While both Filburt and Hutch's families fight each other, it turns out that Hutch's father Colonel Frank Hutchison, who was thought to be dead, is actually a turtle, meaning that Widow Hutchison did not want her daughter to marry Filburt because she was trying to protect her.

Hutch's catchphrase is "'kay?", said while tilting her head. In "Sailing the Seven Zzz's", Rocko did this in the same fashion. She was the prom queen of O-Town High School. Hutch also seems to have a number of odd quirks, including the fact that she claimed to keep a baboon heart under her pillow. The team created Dr. Hutchison after Murray attended a press conference for networks to market new seasons of television shows to the press. A reporter asked Murray why the show did not have any "positive female role models." Murray responded by stating that he had no positive role models, that people do not use cartoon characters as role models, and that television shows should not teach lessons. After the conference some Nickelodeon executives told the reporter that they had plans to place female role models in the television show and asked Murray to place an unused character, Magdalane, as a female role model. Murray refused to use Magdalane.^[2] A female executive from Nickelodeon later requested "a professional woman, someone with a good hook." The executive intended for the "good hook" to be a personality trait that attracts viewers; Murray instead gave the doctor a literal hook. Murray and the directors "grew to love her."^[9][10] Martin Olson, a writer, described the decision when Nickelodeon gave the "okay" for the marriage of Filburt and Paula Hutchison as one of the most memorable moments of the production. Olson said that the executives at first did not like the marriage idea which he came up with in his outline of The Big Question; linear character development did not exist in Nicktoons. Murray convinced the executives to allow for the marriage to occur.^[4]

Frank & Widow Hutchison

Frank and Widow Hutchison are Dr. Hutchison's parents and Filburt's in-laws. The Col. Sanders-esque owner of an ice cream company, he sits in a wheelchair with a nurse, named Magnolia, accompanying him. He appears in "The Big Answer" and encounters his wife, Widow Hutchison (who has two hooks), at Filburt and Dr. Hutchinson's wedding. The Widow Hutchison exhibits anger towards him throughout the episode and in the previous "The Big Question" episode because Frank left her. At the end of "The Big Answer" the Widow Hutchison tells Frank, "Frankie, wait! I still love you!" Widow Hutchinson is voiced by Kevin Meaney, and Frank Hutchinson is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.^[11] Ironically, he is a turtle despite the Widow Hutchison's prejudice against them. Widow Hutchinson didn't want her daughter to date or marry Filburt because she was afraid that Dr. Hutchinson would get hurt.

The Hopping Hessian

A parody of the Headless Horseman, The Hopping Hessian is a one-legged ghost from the Revolutionary War who lurks beyond the old Foto-Hut. Gordon, the talking leg, is the Hessian's missing leg who sounds like Johnny Carson, and has a face on his foot. He was created by Doug Lawrence in a story by Martin Olson. The Hopping Hessian is also voiced by Lawrence, while Gordon is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui. The Hopping Hessian rarely speaks; he only says "Yes!" or "No!", agreeing with Gordon on something (initially, he only said this off-screen, until he was first revealed in "Sugar Frosted Frights.")

Meatball

Meatball appeared in "Magic Meatball" who came to life on Ed Bighead's desk. Meatball claims the cafeteria food is too greasy and prefers Chinese instead. Ed kept asking him about expanding employee parking, but couldn't come up with an answer. Ed tries many different things to help Meatball come up with an answer, but nothing works. He then bursts out in tears and finally comes up with an idea that could help him. He marries Ed, and still does not come up with an answer at 4:59. Ed becomes furious with Meatball and forces him to come up with an answer, but he wants to call it off. It's revealed that Meatball actually came to life in Ed's imagination, costing Ed his job at Conglom-O. Meatball is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Mortimer Khan

A horse parody of Genghis Khan, he is conjured up by fortune teller Madam Doreeno in "Feisty Geist". In telling Heffer's fortune, he finds that in life Heffer's Mongolian ancestor fell prey to a bribe for food and ruined his plans of conquest, literally leaving them to rake muck as "muckrakers". In swearing revenge, he possesses Spunky and nearly all the things in Rocko's house, finally being trapped in a snowglobe with Filburt's Spirit-Away paste. Mortimer Khan is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Nosey

A talk show hostess skunk from the episode "Speaking Terms" who is a parody of Rosie O'Donnell. Nosey uses anger issues for ratings increases in her show. In this episode Rocko and Heffer were in a huge fight due to Heffer forgetting Rocko's birthday and Nosey tries to mediate them (while on the commercial break telling them to act angrier toward each other). By the end of the episode, Rocko and Heffer make up which causes the audience to get up and leave, but they quickly start telling a story about aliens in Rocko's basement which lures the audience back and saves Nosey's show. She is voiced by Jill Talley.

Peaches

Voiced by Tom Kenny

A parody of Satan who is pink-skinned and clad in black robes, Peaches is in charge of "Heck", a parody of Hell (which he claims appears infernal "for the tourists") which Heffer almost pointed out before being interrupted. By taking off his hood, he reveals his head disturbingly resembling cow udders. Despite his menacing appearance and given his authority, Peaches has an "average Joe" tone and likes playing with a paddle ball. He has attempted to lure Heffer into "Heck" several times but has repeatedly failed to do so. Due to his failures, he was punished by being forced to star in his own cartoon show: Peaches' Modern Life.

When writer Martin Olson created the story for "To Heck and Back", he had "Satan" originally in charge of Heck.^[4] Director Jeff "Swampy" Marsh says Doug Lawrence named Peaches and "never explained the udders (or many other things he thought up) to anyone. It was just funny, and that was explanation enough."^[12]

Dr. Phil

He is the pink, pig, plumber that Rocko hired in the episode "Pipe Dreams". He is very dramatic and he says he never fails to do his job. He made a cameo appearance as the plumber Rocko was assisting. Dr. Phil is very handy with plungers, he used them for a grappling hook, horn, and suction cups. He speaks with a Southern accent (in reference to Dr. Phil McGraw), and is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Pinky

Rocko's cute appendix, who was removed in "Tickled Pinky". He was in Ms. Pancreas's class, in Rocko's body. He wears a blue hat and sneakers much like a real child, Despite his color, his personality and choice of bucket list things, Pinky acts like a normal, male, child. He is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Ralph Bighead Studios Tour Guide

He is a rhino, and the tour guide to Ralph Bighead Studios. He carries around a smiley face prop around. He once used it as a weapon to smack Filbert and Rocko, to make them join his tour. The only way to get into Ralph Bighead Studios is to join his tour. He lives in Holl-o-wood, and is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Ralph Bighead

Voices by Joe Murray

Ralph Bighead is Ed and Bev's son. He was disowned by Ed for not wanting to work for Conglom-O, so he went to Holl-o-Wood to become a cartoonist. He created a cartoon called The Fatheads (who are both voiced by Charlie Adler), a married couple with obese heads that constantly fight and hit each other with parking meters. The Fatheads were based loosely on Ralph's parents as a sort of retaliation for his awful childhood. Rocko and his friends are big fans of the show. Eventually, he became tired of being a cartoonist and wanted to quit to work on his true dream of the world's largest still-life fruit sculpture, but was contractually obligated to keep producing cartoons for his company. In an attempt to get around this, Ralph allowed Rocko and his friends to create the show Wacky Delly assuming that it would immediately be cancelled and he could quit his job. Instead, the show became a runaway hit, much to Ralph's dismay. He then attempted to sabotage the show, but his attempts only made the show more popular. Eventually, Rocko convinced him that he should take pride in his work, which he did. Ironically, his attempts to actually make the show good ended up getting it cancelled. Years later, Ralph finally created his art; however, it only ended up reminding people about Wacky Delly, much to his horror.

He finally made up with his parents (mainly his father) with the help of Rocko and Filburt and is welcomed back into his family. Though as a retaliation for Rocko getting into his family's business he created a new (one time) character named "Rolo" who is portrayed as the Fatheads' dumb, snotty Australian next door neighbor.

Creator Joe Murray provides the voice of Ralph. Writer Martin Olson created Ralph and based the character's personality on Joe Murray's personality; Olson also used the character to satirize Murray's experiences with Nickelodeon.^[4] When Murray created the first episode with Ralph, the directors and artists, enamored with the story, became involved in the production. Olson asked Murray to voice Ralph. On his website Murray wrote, "I don't consider myself a voice actor, but this one I did."^[10]

According to Olson, Doug Lawrence persuaded Murray into yelling "NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER!" as the voice of Ralph. Olson found this humorous as, according to him, Murray "NEVER EVER screamed." Olson describes Murray's voice as "a quiet, thoughtful murmur" and therefore found "Joe as his alter-ego screaming like a nut" to be humorous.^[4]

Rocko's Car

It is Rocko's old transportation device ever since he went to O'Town. Rocko loves his car. When his car breaks, it flies away as an angel, almost running into the Grim tow-truck. But when it gets fixed it is resurrected. In some episodes it acts and moves like a living animated object, instead of just a car. When the car talks, it is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Rocko's Parents

A family of wallaby's in Australia. They have no family name. Rocko's family can be seen on a family photo on his table. They must have had another baby, because in one episode he had read a letter from them that was signed by a silly name suited for a baby. Obviously, Rocko wasn't familiar with the name. Rocko loves his parents. They make an appearance in the pilot episode in Rocko's flashbacks and in a different photo. From the picture, Rocko's father must be strict and manly(like a real male wallaby), and his mother must be kind and confident. They are much like Heffer's parents. They did not ever speak in the series.

The Sani-Tours Bus Driver

When Rocko and Heffer go to France, their nervy, crazed, goat-like "Sani-Tours" bus driver takes them on a tour of mundane things such as a garbage can, the ugliest person the driver has ever seen, a fast food restaurant, and ultimately a woman in a red hat. When Rocko requests they visit the Eiffel Tower, the driver becomes angry and yells at him. When Rocko sneaks away from the tour to follow Claudette the bus driver becomes even angrier and borderline homicidal, threatening dire consequences for anyone who dares leave his tour, driving Heffer to escape. The driver ends up pursuing them maniacally throughout Paris with his bus, but loses them at their airport, loosing an anguished, "Noooooooooo!" as their plane takes off. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Seymour

Crazy old ram who claims he has boils on his butt that are bigger than Rocko in "Tickled Pinky". In this appearance, he was voiced by Charlie Adler. Seymour also made an appearance during the song, "Sping Cleaning", in "Zanzibar". In that appearance, he was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Sheila

Sheila is a fox who appears in "Wallaby on Wheels." Sheila, a fan of roller skating and jackhammering, is a friend of Heffer. Rocko falls in love with her on sight when she appears at the comic book store. At the end of the episode, Sheila starts to like Rocko for saving Heffer. Sheila is voiced by Alisa Wilson.

Shark Roast

A famous shark that has his own show "lucky spin" from the episode "Fortune Cookie". He wears a silver, peace sign necklace, a stylish jacket and a black wig. Every time he appears, he is in a pool with a microphone. He was the radio man in "Gutter Balls". Shark Roast appears many times in the series. He is very fond of his job and himself. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Daniel "Dan" the Flyman

He delivers flies to the Bigheads. He is always pummeled by Earl when he brings flies to their house, ever since Mrs. Bighead found him. He drives around in a big truck that he uses to get away from Earl. He is very polite and slim. He is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Mr. Smitty

Voiced by Tom Kenny

Mr. Smitty is Rocko's boss at Kind of a Lot o' Comics. He is a purple toad with obvious hair plugs and is always seen smoking a cigar. He seems to either fire Rocko or make his job difficult in almost every episode he appears in, and is even rude to his customers. In the episode "Commuted Sentence", it is revealed that his house is next door to Kind of a Lot o' Comics, and he still drives to work despite being so close. The only thing Mr. Smitty truly cares about is his car, which got towed by Rocko for a parking violation. This forces him to head to the impound lot to try and get it back. The director there had no patience for Mr. Smitty's tyrannical nature and forced him to rethink his behavior. Rocko often refers to Mr. Smitty as "a smoldering old toad", and is the only character in the series that Rocko openly dislikes. His tyrannical, aggressive nature and short temper are apparently the result of "the green button" on his office chair. In the episode "Power Trip", Rocko is temporarily appointed manager of the comic store and, after pressing "the green button" his personality changes to match Mr. Smitty's.

Nurse Tammy Mouse

Obnoxious nurse at O-Town hospital in "Tickled Pinky". She is voiced by Linda Wallem.

Tammy the Pig

Tammy is a member of the female bowling team in "Gutter Balls". She also first appears in "Popcorn Pandemonium", ordering a huge amount of junk food at the concession stand, then getting a diet soda "to watch [her] girlish figure". Later she mistakes Rocko for an usher (they all wear his shirt), and makes him hit a rude cigar-smoking patron with a flashlight. Tammy has a Southern accent, and is voiced by Linda Wallem.

The Grim Recycler

He is the parody of The Grim Reaper, and he appears during the song "Recycle", in one of the episodes. He is also one of the jury in "Dumbells", reading a book(trying to entertain himself). The Grim recycler seems to be a celebrity because in the song "Recycle", he says no autograph's please". Due to his name, he likes to recycle. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Tiger

Tiger is a muscular purple tiger with a patch over one eye, a jock and the prom king of his and prom queen Paula Hutchinson's High School, he earns Filbert's jealousy in the episode "The Big Question"^[13] in which Filbert hopes to propose to her, but he instead is looking to help Paula in proposing to Filbert. Tiger is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Turdy

Filburt's pet myna bird only appeared in Bye, Bye Birdie. While Filburt is away in hospital recovering from a bout of Hypochondriasis, Turdy is left in the care of Rocko and Heffer. Throughout the day, Turdy causes a series of problems for his caretakers, including beating up Spunky, demolishing the top floor of Rocko's house, and repeatedly flying off to cause trouble for a neighbor with a pet monkey. Rocko eventually tires of this and handcuffs Turdy to his nose, as he sits on the couch to relax. However, the oblivious Heffer leaps onto the couch, accidentally landing on top of Turdy and crushing him to death. When Filburt returns, he accepts the news very well, saying that Turdy's particular species only has a three-week life span (only for Heffer to blurt out "Did you tell him I sat on him?"). After an impromptu funeral for Turdy, the annoyed neighbor arrives and gives them a box saying that he "ain't dealing with this anymore." Filburt is overjoyed to find that the box contains baby myna bird/monkey hybrids, and he adopts them as new pets. Her squawks were provided by Carlos Alazraqui. The name "Turdy" works on two levels – it is both a play on turd (which is a slang term for feces) and a play on "turdus", which is the genus of birds that robins belong to.

Wallace

Featured as a Pizza Delivery bouncer when Rocko owes over $500.95 for pizza, Wallace is a massive, muscular reddish/pink elephant with a deceptively high pitched voice. Rocko again deals with him in the episode "S.W.A.K." when Rocko sends his crush Alicia a love letter before realizing Wallace lived with her and mistook him for her boyfriend when he was actually her brother. Wallace is dimwitted, childish and illiterate but has enough strength to pound pizza dough flat with one punch and flip it into outer space to cook it. After Heffer read Rocko's letter Wallace assumed that Rocko and Heffer were gay. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Wild Pig

Wild Pig is a wild boar and a very minor character whose catchphrase is, "I'm a wild pig!". He has made various cameos since his debut in the episode "Skid Marks". This character was voiced by Charlie Adler.

The Wolfe Family

Cindy Wolfe

Voiced by Linda Wallem

Cindy Wolfe voiced by is Peter and Heffer's sister. Usually a background character, she speaks in a voice reminiscent of a valley girl. She is a parody of female teenagers and their tendency to gravitate towards over-dramatic rebelliousness and unusual fads or phases, such as the time she took a (revealed later to be temporary) vow of silence. She also sometimes wears crazy outfits that are supposed to be "in-fashion" at the time. She goes into fits when she believes that her parents are fighting.

George Wolfe

Voiced by Charlie Adler

George Wolfe is the temperamental father of Heffer, Cindy, and Peter. He does have a rarely seen soft side, such as his secret support of Heffer's joining the Weasel Scouts. He is constantly angry even at his wife and rarely smiles, much like his father. At family dinners, he almost always ends up screaming at another family member or guest. He is also extremely protective of his car, even guarding the keys from the rest of the family with a laser grid security system.

Grandpa Wolfe

Voiced by Charlie Adler

Hiram William Wolfe is George's father and the grandfather of Heffer, Cindy, and Peter. He is very old, and though his exact age is never revealed, he was in his prime in the 1940s or 1950s, according to the second-season episode "Cruisin'". This would put him at around 80 to 90 years old. His eyesight, coordination, and bladder control are all suffering, and he cannot chew solid food. He relies on his cane or wheelchair to get around. He hates wallabies and acts hostile towards Rocko, but because of his incredibly poor eyesight he mistakenly believes that Rocko is a beaver. He was also in love with Winfred Wolfe when he attended Ozark Tech, although she rejected him because of his self-centered attitude.

Peter Wolfe

Voiced by Mr. Lawrence

Peter Wolfe is Cindy and Heffer's brother. His voice is a deeper, male version of Cindy's and, also like Cindy, parodies rebellious teenage male behavior. He was primarily used for a background character, but also became part of long-running but rarely seen gag that implies that he is a crossdresser. Peter dropped out of school two years ago and became a cheerleader.

Virginia Wolfe

Voiced by Linda Wallem

Virginia Wolfe is the compassionate mother of Heffer, Cindy, and Peter with a nervous facial tic, a thick midwestern accent, and crazed driving skills. Her trademark is to make a strange grinding noise with her teeth. Her name comes from the English novelist Virginia Woolf.

Other Members of the Family

Grandma Wolfe

Grandma Wolfe was the deceased grandmother on George's side of the family and the rude wife of Hiram Wolfe and the grandmother of Heffer, Cindy, and Peter. She appears to be very old and bitter and has no soul, as she is spending her afterlife in Heck. In the episode "Heff in a Handbasket", when Peaches tried to keep Heffer in Heck for all eternity after he sold his soul, he is stopped by Grandma Wolfe who refuses to spend her afterlife with Heffer, and she eats his contract. She is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Heffer's Real Father

Heffer's real father is seen in the episode "Who's For Dinner?" when Heffer runs away from home in search of his real family. He appears to have little patience for his son, and even screams at him that "Your mother's a car seat in Illinois!". He is voiced by Mr. Lawrence.

Proposed characters

Magdalane

Magdalane "Maggie" is Rocko's older sister. She has two children, including one boy and one girl.^[14]

Murray included her in early presentations of the Rocko's Modern Life concept. When Murray further developed the concept, he decided that the show would carry more effect if Rocko had no family in O-Town. Murray wrote an episode script, titled "Wake Up Maggie", which portrays Magdalane suffering from narcolepsy. Murray stated that Nickelodeon believed the episode to be "a bit odd" while he believed that the episode was "touching."^[2]

According to Murray, when he attended a press conference for networks to market new seasons of television shows to the press, a reporter asked him why the show did not have any "positive female role models". Murray said that he responded by stating that he had no positive role models, that people do not use cartoon characters as role models, and that television shows should not teach lessons. According to Murray, after the conference some Nickelodeon executives told the reporter that they had plans to place female role models in the television show and asked Murray to place Magdalane as a female role model. Murray said that he refused to use Magdalane and never used her in Rocko's Modern Life.^[2]

References