There are many famous fictional characters that most of us know by first name basis or by nicknames, with Scooby-Doo, Casper, The Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons and Barbie just to name a few. But not many of us know their real/full names.
It amazes me that we never questioned the full names of some of these fictional characters when a lot of us grew up with them! We all would just accept names such as “Arnold” and “Casper ” as full names. But now we are all older it’s quite surprising to find out that these fictional characters indeed had full names. You might want to memorize this lot as you never know when one of the following may make an appearance onto a pub quiz…
10 – Barbie aka Barbara Millicent Roberts
If you are female (or some males) then the chances are you will be well aware of the Barbie name and brand; after all, Barbies are every young girls dream. Then again, even most males know of these plastic, over-priced dolls – some more than others! While it is still going today the original doll goes back to March 1959 and had the full name of Barbara Millicent Roberts. Her name was revealed in a series of novels that were published in the ’60s. Oh, if you are wondering what Kens’ real name is (Barbie’s boyfriend), it’s Ken Carson.
9 – Casper aka Casper McFadden
Casper — the friendly ghost — is the only ghost you would like in your home. The ghost-child initially started off as a storybook back in 1945 and later in 1950 made it on to TV – the character even had a comic book series. But none of these revealed his real name. It wasn’t until the 1995 film Casper that we finally found out that Casper’s real name is in fact Casper McFadden and prior to his death he was, in fact, a 12-year-old boy. Oh, and if you want to know how Casper died. You will be pleased to know he died of Hypothermia after going sledging and staying out even though his father told him to come inside.
8 – Comic Book Guy aka Jeff Albertson
The name “Comic Book Guy” was initially used by the writers of The Simpsons until they could decide on an official name for the guy. The story goes that they intended to name him on his first appearance on the American animated sitcom but after delays on deciding on a name the name Comic Book Guy stuck.
On February 6, 2005, Simpsons fans had an eagerly awaited surprise while watching the episode named: “Homer and Ned’s Hail Mary Pass” when in a conversation between Ned Flanders and the Comic Book Guy, the Comic Book Guy says to Ned Flanders, “My name is Jeff Albertson, but everyone calls me ‘Comic Book Guy’”. Created Matt Groening actually wanted to name him Louis Lane but he simply wasn’t there the day the writers came up with his name.
7 – Malcolm aka Malcolm Wilkerson
Malcolm in the Middle was first broadcast on January 9, 2000 and ended in 2006. Although Malcolm is the main protagonist in the series, the series is based around a family of six.
Malcolm is a genius and because of this he is placed in a class for gifted students. As the name of the show suggests, he is also the middle child. And due to his awkwardness of not fitting in at school and at home — as well as his ego — it makes for an interesting show. For those of you who are wondering, the writers decided to reveal the family’s last name in the very first episode. In the Pilot the name was on Francis’ name tag: Wilkerson. His name Malcolm Wilkerson is also written on an exam paper in an episode.
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6 – Tails aka Miles Powers
Come on, everyone has played at least one of the games from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. So with that being said, you should be familiar with a Sega character called Tails who is just as big as Sonic himself in the franchise. The young fox with two tails has a real name: it is, in fact, Miles Powers and is a pun on “miles per hour”. The character who’s fur started off being orange and then strangely changed to light yellow is Sonic’s best friend and sidekick.
5 – Winnie-the-Pooh aka Edward Bear
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, started life as a series of books. Milne, the author, named Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son and the character Christopher Robin after his son who shares the same name. Edward Bear is Winnie-the-Pooh’s real name and the real Christopher Robin simply renamed his bear from Edward Bear to Winnie-the-Pooh.
4 – Scooby-Doo aka Scoobert Doo
Believe it or not but Scooby Doo, the animated series, has been around for almost 50 years – yes, the program first premiered in 1969 with the series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! We are all familiar with the cartoon: Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo going around solving mysteries.
Scooby-Doo, the talking brown Great Dane, on the other hand, isn’t his full name; his full name is in fact Scoobert Doo. Many of you will know that Scooby-Doo is known for his addition of the letter “r”s before words and his friendship towards Shaggy, but not many know his real name. Oh, Shaggy’s real name is in fact Norville Rogers.
3 – Monopoly Mascot aka Milburn Pennybags
The chances are you have played a game of Monopoly in some form – in fact more than likely you will own this classic board game! But have you ever wondered what the little guy with the top hat, suit and white moustache is called? After all, the Monopoly mascot is the main guy in the popular board game.
For anyone who knows their Monopoly trivia you may know the mascot as Rich Uncle Pennybags who first made an appearance on the Chance and Community Chest cards in the U.S. editions of the game back in 1936. But, a book published in 1988 called The Monopoly Companion named each character that was mentioned in the board game – Milburn Pennybags was given to Rich Uncle Pennybags. Other Monopoly characters’ full names include: Officer Edgar Mallory who is the police officer on the “Go to Jail” square and Jake the Jailbird who is the guy on the “In Jail” square.
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2 – Arnold aka Arnold Phil Shortman
If you were a ’90 kid the chances are Hey Arnold! was one of your favourite cartoons as a kid. 1996 was the year the series came to TV and the animated television series was solely based around fourth-grader, Arnold, who lives in a large city with his grandparents. Arnold’s last name was a running gag on the show where his last name was almost revealed, then something happening at the last moment to stop it from being said.
But you will be pleased to know his full name is, in fact, Arnold Phil Shortman. Shortman has been mentioned in a few episodes and in an online chat between fans and Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett. As much as I should be amazed that I now know Arnold’s real name, what I was even more amazed at the fact that his so called “kilt” is in fact an untucked plaid shirt. Talk about destroying childhoods!
1 – Woody aka Woody Pride
If like me you are a fan of the Toy Story series, you will be well aware of Andy’s favourite toy Woody. But unknowingly to many of us, the Sheriff has a last name and a few years ago Lee Unkrich, Director of Toy Story 3, took to Twitter and baffled fans with the following tweet: “Woody’s actual full name, never before mentioned, is… “Woody Pride”, and has been since the earliest days of developing the original Toy Story.“
Unless you were fortunate to have worked at Pixar then you wouldn’t have been aware that Woody’s real name and the guys at Pixar decided to keep the little piece of trivia to themselves as there were no references to Woody’s last name in Toy Story 3 – just like in the previous instalments. I guess it is because they felt his character wouldn’t have worked with a full name and “Woody” worked just fine.
