Characters / Handy Manny

Main and Major Characters

Manuel "Manny" Esteves Garcia III

Voiced by: Wilmer Valderrama

A Hispanic handyman who lives in Sheet Rock Hills and does odd jobs around town with the help of his seven (later eight) talking tools.

• All-Loving Hero: He’s probably one of the nicest people ever to grace a television screen, and seemingly never gets mad or even frustrated with anyone, regardless of what problems they (with “they” usually being Mr. Lopart and/or Pat) might’ve just caused.
• Ancestral Name: He’s the third “Manuel Esteves Garcia” in his family, with the first being Abuelito.
• Handy Man: His being one is the main focus of the show.
• Good Samaritan: He always stops and helps people when they need it. This became a major plot point in the first Christmas Episode, as Manny’s insistence on stopping and helping people he comes across nearly prevents him from making it to Kelly’s Christmas party.
• Gratuitous Spanish: His bilinguality is the source of much of it in the show.
• Mr. Fixit: He is a handyman after all.
• Never Bareheaded: He’s never seen without his cap, except in "Wedding Day".
• Nice Guy: He’s incredibly kind, caring, and patient; this is of course so he can serve as a role model for his show’s impressionable young viewers.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Everyone just calls him Manny.
• Parental Substitute: He is like a father to the tools.
• Signature Headgear: His trademark orange and white repairman hat, which he is never seen without.
• Super-Deformed: He’s very chibi.
• Title Character: That’s his name in the show’s title, all right.
• Workaholic: He never stops working. Even taking a vacation is a challenge for him.

Manny's Tools

In General:

• Animate Inanimate Object: They’re tools.
• Color-Coded Characters:
  • Dusty - Red
  • Rusty - Orange
  • Felipe - Yellow (with a bit of green)
  • Squeeze - Green
  • Pat - Light Blue
  • Turner - Dark Blue (with a bit of purple)
  • Stretch - Purplish Pink
  • Flicker - Orange/Blue Contrast
• Disembodied Eyebrows: Most of their eyebrows float above their "heads", and even for the ones (namely, Stretch, Dusty, and Flicker) where the eyebrows stay in front of their body it's clear that their eyebrows still aren't actually attached to their body.
• Family of Choice: It’s repeatedly shown that they consider Manny and each other family; this was a major plot point in “Handy Manny’s Motorcycle Adventure”.
• Invisible Anatomy: They’re all (except for Stretch, who uses his tape as an “arm”) inexplicably able to hold and manipulate objects despite lacking any sort of limbs or appendages.
• An Odd Place to Sleep: Apparently, they normally sleep in the toolbox; in the few episodes where they’re seen sleeping somewhere else, it’s on Manny’s stuffed chair.
• Only One Name: Being tools, none of them have surnames.
• Two Girls to a Team: Dusty and Squeeze are the only two female tools.
• Vague Age: Despite what Cowboy BeBop at His Computer may tell you, the tools’ ages aren’t known. The only concrete information we have about them is that Flicker is very young, Stretch might be a Child Prodigy, and Squeeze was the youngest member of the team before Flicker joined.

Dusty

Voiced by: Kath Soucie

A handsaw who’s a big fan of singer Danny Starr.

• Fangirl: Dusty is a Danny Starr fangirl and goes into complete fangirl mode whenever she sees him. She even fangasimed in the episode "Danny Starr", and fainted when Danny Starr knew her name.
• Gender-Blender Name: “Dusty” is normally a male name.
• Kid Detective: She tries her hand at being one (Vague Age aside) in “Detective Dusty”, where she manages to expose a Thieving Pet. Her mystery-solving skills additionally come up in at least one other episode (which also, coincidentally, involved a pet problem) afterwards.
• Punny Name: She’s a saw named Dusty. (Sawdust, geddit?)
• Squee: Spent most of the episode “Danny Starr” producing one squee after another, as she’s a massive Fangirl of the titular singer.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Unlike the show’s other female tools, she averts this, except in the Halloween Episode, when she somehow spontaneously manifested eyelashes while dressed as a ballerina.

Felipe

Voiced by: Carlos Alazraqui

A bilingual Phillips screwdriver who’s rivals with Turner.

• Aesop Amnesia: There have been many, many episodes where he learned to get along with Turner. Somehow the lesson never sticks.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Most of the time.
• Driven to Suicide: This never actually happened, but it’s such a bad case of Cowboy Be Bop At His Computer that it’s worth addressing here. In the episode “Felipe’s New Job”, when Felipe is feeling useless, he does not actually try to end his life. He does, however, say these two lines, which appear to be where the rumor comes from:
  Felipe: I'll just find a nice quiet place to rust.
  Felipe: Maybe Manny should just melt me down and use me for scrap metal.
• Dub Name Change: In the Latin American dub, Felipe is called Phillip.
• Gratuitous Spanish: He’s bilingual, and is probably the second biggest source of “random Spanish words inserted in an otherwise English sentence” in the show (with the first biggest, obviously, being Manny.)
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Felipe loves to sing but has a terrible voice.
• Keep It Foreign: His name went from Felipe to Phillip in the Latin American dub, while the Gratuitous Spanish he produces was changed to Gratuitous English.
• Meaningful Name: Felipe is a Phillips screwdriver and is bilingual in English and Spanish ("Felipe" is Spanish for "Phillip").
• Trying Not to Cry: Has to resist crying, not for emotional reasons, but because the water from his tears could make his metal parts rust.
  Felipe (Trying hard not to cry): I don't want to cry. It will make me rust.

Pat

Voiced by: Tom Kenny

A dimwitted and clumsy hammer.

• Aesop Amnesia: He’s learned not to be so clumsy in at least two episodes (“Tool In A China Shop” and “Pat Lightly”), but it failed to stick both times.
• Character Catchphrase: Pat would like you to know that
  Pat: I’m a hammer.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: In “Pat’s Big Idea”, his stupid-sounding plan to free a forklift that had become vertically wedged in a doorway (It Makes Sense in Context) by letting air out of the forklift’s tires actually works, much to his pride and the other tools’ shock.
• The Ditz: He’s not very bright, to put it mildly.
• Halloween Costume Characterization: In the show’s first Halloween Episode he dresses as a clown, fitting his status as clumsy, dimwitted comic relief.
• Identity Amnesia: In one episode, he hits his head (never mind that, as a hammer, he really should be immune to that) and becomes convinced that he’s a screwdriver. This has the unique distinction of being quite possibly the only case of amnesia in all of television that has an excuse for why him hitting his head again cures it.
• Image Song: “I’m A Hammer”, from the official soundtrack.
• I'm Okay!: Being The Klutz, he says this a lot. It’s usually followed by his stock “explanation” for why he’s okay.
  Pat (many, many times): I’m okay! (beat) I’m a hammer.
• I've Heard of That — What Is It?: Is prone to doing this.
  Pat (in “Haunted Clock Tower”): Yes, of course there’s a logical reason. (beat) What’s logical?
  Pat (in “A Very Handy Holiday”): You’re right, we need a miracle! (beat) What’s a miracle?
• The Klutz: Very much so. His tendency to fall and break important things has pushed many an episode up to full runtime.

Rusty

Voiced by: Fred Stoller

A nervous monkey wrench.

• Aesop Amnesia: There have been a fair few times where he learned to face his fears or gained more confidence, only to go back to his normal scaredy-cat behavior in the very next episode.
• Cowardly Lion: He’s very nervous and anxious, but in a few episodes (notably, “Rusty To The Rescue”) he’s managed to overcome his fears in order to save the day.
• Faint in Shock: Has a tendency to faint when startled.
• Fear of Thunder: Is revealed to have this “Rusty’s Second Wind”.
• Image Song: “Rusty The Wrench”, from the official Handy Manny soundtrack.
• Lovable Coward: Cowardice is his main character trait, but he’s still devoted to helping Manny and the other tools.
• Magic Feather: In “Fearless Rusty”, Magic Marty casts a spell on Rusty to make him brave. Surprise surprise, it turns out that Magic Marty never did any actual magic and Rusty had the capability to be brave inside him all along.
• Quaking with Fear: Very prone to doing this. If he runs and hides somewhere due to his fear, there’s a very good chance he can be found under whatever object is “inexplicably” shaking.

Squeeze

Voiced by: Nika Futterman

A cheerful and childish pair of pliers.

• Animal Lover: Is shown to adore small, cute critters a few times, most notably in “Pet Problem”.
• Ascended Fangirl: Becomes this in “The Wing And Nut Challenge” when she gets to participate in Wing and Nut’s live game show.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Is occasionally referenced as being the newest (both in terms of age and in terms of when she joined) tool in Manny’s team, at least before Flicker supercedes her in this role.
• Cheerful Child: Very happy and cheerful.
• Fangirl: Of The Wing and Nut Show.
• Height Angst: Spends most of “Tight Squeeze” bemoaning being the smallest of Manny’s tools, until the problem of the episode (a rubber ring needed to attach the washing machine’s hose slipping down in a crevice where no one else can reach it) makes her realize that her small size can actually be a useful asset.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Has long eyelashes to mark her as female.

Stretch

Voiced by: Nika Futterman

An intelligent tape measure.

• Encyclopaedic Knowledge: Stretch knows just about everything.
• Good with Numbers: Is supposedly really good at math; however, as Handy Manny is a Preschool Show, the only math he actually gets to do is just counting.
• Image Song: “Made To Measure”, from the show’s official soundtrack.
• Multipurpose Tongue: His “tongue” is actually his measuring tape, and he uses it both to take measurements and as an “arm” of sorts to hold and manipulate objects.
• Overly-Long Tongue: His measuring tape functions as a tongue (among other things), and can extend to an unspecified but very great length. (Judging by how long real tape measures can get, his tape should have a maximum reach of twenty to thirty feet.)
• The Smart Guy: The most knowledgeable and mathematically capable of Manny’s tools.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Is able to speak even while his tape (which normally serves as his tongue) is extended.

Turner

Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker

A grumpy slotted screwdriver who has a rivalry with Felipe.

• Aesop Amnesia: No matter how many times he learns to get along with Felipe, he’s always back to fighting with him by the very next episode.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: At the end of "Valentine's Day Party."
• Deadpan Snarker: In spades. Take this scene from “Wonder Tool” (for context, the titular device is a rather bizarre-looking multitool):
  Wonder Tool Salesman: You want to know WHY it’s called the Wonder Tool?
  Turner: Because you wonder what it is.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rather cynical and quick to point out faults, but ultimately means well. Oh, and he actually loves cute animals (except when other people are around), and shed a few tears (while vehemently denying that he was crying) during the death scene in the play from “Handy Manny And The Seven Tools”.
• Luminescent Blush: This was his reaction when Leela kissed him in “Tools For Toys”. (Never mind how a screwdriver would blush…)
• Not a Morning Person: Various episodes such as “Shoe Biz” and “The Tools’ New Team” show that he dislikes getting up early.
• Only Sane Man: Considers himself to be this, and while he’s not quite exempt from the wackiness that the tools demonstrate, this presumption is still right more often than it is wrong.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Tuna and Blue Cheese sandwich.

Flicker

Voiced by: Grey DeLisle
Debut: Season 2, “Flicker”

A young, Spanish-speaking flashlight who becomes the newest member of Manny’s tool team in Season 2.

• Alliterative Name: Flicker the Flashlight.
• The Baby of the Bunch: He’s the youngest tool in Manny’s team.
• Big Eater: Flicker loves food. Normally, he shouts out the names of different foods in Spanish and is eager to get some.
• Cheerful Child: He is this in spades.
• Cousin Oliver: Entered the show long after the rest of the main cast had already been established? Check. Much younger than any other members of said main cast? You bet. He’s significantly less annoying than most examples of the trope, however.
• Fantastic Light Source: Flicker is not just used for Manny when it's dark, he was also used as a spotlight once too.◊
• Language Barrier: Starts off only being able to speak Spanish, and while he does eventually pick up English his initial inability to understand or be understood by anyone except for Manny or Felipe is still a major point of his character for quite a while following his introduction.
• Meaningful Name: He’s a flashlight named after something that fictional flashlights have a tendency to do.
• No Indoor Voice: Flicker has a tendency to get loud when he gets excited.
  Flicker: Pelicula! Pelicula!
• Orange/Blue Contrast: His main body is orange, while the cylindrical piece surrounding his lens and the cap at his bottom that holds his batteries in are both blue.
• Sixth Ranger: He becomes the newest tool in Manny’s team partway through Season 2.
• Youthful Freckles: Has these.

Other Major Characters

Fixit

Debut: Season 1, “Julieta’s Monster”

A robotic dog constructed by Manny out of spare parts.

• Disney Death: Was rendered nonfunctional due to short-circuiting from rain in “Fixit’s Repair”, but Manny and the tools manage to restore her by the end of the episode.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Properly debuted in “Julieta’s Monster”, but appeared in the credits sequences of episodes going back to the series premiere.
• Robot Dog: Well, a robotic dog head on a set of treads.
• Team Pet: A robotic one for Manny and the tools.

Mr. Leonard Francis Lopart

Voiced by: Tom Kenny (Adult), Zachary Gordon (Child)

The owner of a local candy store, with a penchant for trying to repair things and failing miserably at it.

• Alliterative Name: Leonard Lopart.
• Ambiguously Gay: Yeah. he speaks in an effeminate voice, and has only his cat for company, both at work and at home.
• Blind Without 'Em: Has this problem, as shown when he loses his glasses in “Detective Dusty”.
• Butt-Monkey: Suffers Amusing Injuries Once per Episode due to his refusal to allow Manny to help him with whatever he’s trying to (poorly) fix.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: At one point in “Firefighter Manny” he accidentally rips his pants and jacket, revealing his Goofy Print Underwear for all the world to see.
• Doom It Yourself: He creates about one failed DIY project per episode, due to a combination of general incompetence and refusing to accept Manny’s help.
• Goofy Print Underwear: In one episode, some Comedic Underwear Exposure reveals that he wears white boxers with a pink lollipop pattern on them.
• The Klutz: About as clumsy as Pat.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: Most of his (false) explanations as to why he doesn’t need Manny’s help are formatted as “We Loparts [something]”, and usually as the more specific “We Loparts are experts in [subject related to what he’s trying to do]”.
• Momma's Boy: He loves his mother.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Has a very overinflated image of himself which, despite obviously running counter to reality, still leads him to refuse to ever accept Manny’s help (with disastrous results).

Kelly Crenshaw

Voiced by: Nancy Truman

The owner of Kelly’s Hardware Store, which Manny frequently needs to visit in order to pick up parts for his repairs.

• Crazy-Prepared: She always knows what Manny needs.
• Implied Love Interest: Strongly implied to be in love with Manny, which he is also implied to reciprocate.
• Deus ex Machina: Has everything Manny and the tools need. Sometimes, she even shows up with the thing needed as if on cue.
• We Sell Everything: No matter what Manny needs, her store has it. This includes various improbable items such as sleigh runners, baby rattles, and potted cacti.

Abuelito (Manuel Esteves Garcia Sr.)

Voiced by: Carlos Alazraqui
Debut: Season 1, “Tool In A China Shop”

Manny’s grandfather.

• Ancestral Name: The originator of the name “Manuel Esteves Garcia”, which was passed down to his son and then to Manny.
• Dad the Veteran: Mentions having been a solider at one point in “Pat The Screwdriver”.
• December–December Romance: Develops one with Mrs. Portillo. They end up marrying in the episode “Wedding Day”.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Everyone just refers to him as “Abuelito” even though, as “abuelito” is just Spanish for “grandfather”, only Manny should actually be calling him that.
• Unnamed Parent: Until the "Wedding Day" episode where it's revealed to be "Manuel Estevez Garcia" (A name he passed down to his son, then to Manny).

Other Characters

Mrs. Portillo

• The Chessmaster: Mrs. Portillo manipulates Manny into taking a needed day off in one episode.
• Supreme Chef: Makes the best food in town, she even owns a bakery.

Mrs. Lopart

• Doting Parent: Dotes on her son, Mr. Lopart.

Pepe and Chico

• Disappeared Dad: Pepe and Chico don't seem to have a father; all they have is Lola (their mother) and Manny (their uncle).
• Strong Family Resemblance: Look at Manny, then look at them. Don't they look exactly like Manny, despite only being his nephews?

Gary

• Nerd Glasses: Gary does seem like a nerd complete with glasses.
• Nice Guy: Helps out and takes in the Automotive Team.
• Older Than They Look: Gary may seem like a teenager, but he's really a young adult, or why else would he be a mechanic?

Hank

• Good Parents: He loves his tools and maybe loves them more than how much Manny loves his.

Manny's School for Tools and Other tools

Beamer

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Beamer may look totally innocent and nice in Manny's School for Tools, but in Art Show Beamer is something else.
• Happily Adopted: Beamer is implied to have no owner in the picture until "Art Show," when he got adopted by Carmella. She wanted to have her own tool.
• Suddenly Bilingual: Beamer only spoke Spanish in "Manny's School for Tools: Squaring Off".

Zip

• Motor Mouth: Talks very fast.
• Super-Speed: Along with his Motor Mouth, he zips around.

Pinzas

• Cheerful Child: He is this and finds the fun in anything.
• Marquee Alter Ego: He's a pair of pliers; now he's a screwdriver.

Roland

• Early-Bird Cameo: During the episode "Picture Perfect" there are a set of books in the background. One of the books had something that resembled him on the cover.
• Forgetful Jones: Roland can't remember what he stores in his drawers.
• Hammerspace: Roland can store many tools.

Jack

• Punny Name: He's a Jackhammer, and his name is Jack.
• Super-Speed: He can moves fast as he is a power tool.

Lefty

• Continue Your Mission, Dammit!: Lefty did this when he heard the plane was late.
  Lefty: But we don't have any time to spare!
• Happily Adopted: Shortly after Hank retired he was given to Gary.
  Lefty: [chuckles] That's my son.
• Like Father, Like Son: Junior is much like his father; he even looks like his father too.

Lily

• Mama Bear: Lily is overprotective to her son, Junior. This often annoys him when she tells him the most ridiculous things about his health or safety. You can even see her checking Junior at the end of "Handy Manny's School for Tools: The Right Wrench".
  Lily: Be Careful Junior, You'll Scratch your metal!
• Teen Pregnancy: Lily herself is 22 years old, and her son, Junior, is 4 years old. So that made her 18 years old when she gave "birth" to her son Junior.

Junior

• Shrinking Violet: When he first met Rusty and Turner, even hiding behind Turner. But later he opened up to them after learning Rusty's a monkey wrench.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Junior looks like a miniature version of his own parents. Felipe noticed it in Manny's School for Tools.
  Felipe: Oh I can see now! He looks like you. (Felipe referring to the fact Lefty is Junior's father)
• Turn Out Like His Father: Lefty wants Junior to be like him.