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Characters from both the original and animated series
Mr. Bean
Click here to see his animated counterpart.
The titular character and main protagonist. Portrayed by Rowan Atkinson
- Adaptational Heroism: In the animated series, despite still being a blissfully ignorant buffoon in the animated series, there are times where Mr. Bean will often help people and even stops crime on some occasions (e.g. stopping the thieves from stealing teddies, including his, recovering a stolen treasure chest or simply stopping an art thief). He also apologises more for his actions.
- Adaptational Intelligence: He is more competent and less bizarre in the animated series. Not to say he has no moments of clarity and ingenuity in the live-action series, though. He also speaks more, especially in later seasons.
- Ambiguously Human: His mannerisms, bizarre unexplained abilities, and the fact that the intro of the TV series shows him falling from the sky, imply that Mr. Bean may not be as human as he looks. The finale for the animated series' original run plays with this, by introducing an Identical Stranger who turns out to be a member of an alien race who look exactly like Bean and implicating that he himself may be a member of the race.
- Butt-Monkey: He receives the long end of the stick at times, but he often brings it out upon himself.
- Character Tics: Sticking out his tongue and waggling it whenever he is anticipating eating a treat.z
- Catchphrase: "Bean. Mr Bean.", "Teddy !", "I wonder..."
- Cloudcuckoolander: His main characteristic. Episode plots are based on his odd behavior and the ridiculous ways Mr. Bean goes about his life. Justified since it is heavily implied that he is not of this world.
- Crazy-Prepared: He always brings exactly what he needs for any given situation. For example, when shopping for a new frying pan he brings a dead fish to measure if the pan can cook it properly.
- The Ditz: Most of the time, his eccentricities are balanced out by his ignorance of social norms and his general incompetence.
- Drives Like Crazy: Undoubtedly a danger to others on the road, in ways no typical road rager would even fathom.
- Friend to All Living Things: In the animated series, he has sometimes proven himself to be this, photographing the wildlife in "In the Wild" and even being unable to bring himself to kill the captured titular animal in "The Mole". He even takes good care of other friendly companions, like a goldfish, a magpie, and a stork.
- Gag Nose: In the animated series, as part of Atkinson's caricature, he has quite a bulbous nose.
- Genius Ditz: Although he is undeniably a ditz, he can also be creative. The episodes focus on his "unique" ways of navigating through life, even situations he got himself in. One time, he engineered a way to drive his car from a recliner on the roof because he bought so much stuff he couldn't fit in his car.
- Gonk: He's not exactly an handsome man and even less so in the animated series where he's drawn as his actor's caricature.
- Hopeless with Tech: Electricity itself acts strangely around Bean, televisions displaying static as he passes by, and a Van de Graaff generator giving him a strange humming energy field that makes things stick to him.
- Idiot Houdini: He has gotten away with a lot of his antics without serious consequences.
- Innocently Insensitive: Mr. Bean frequently veers into this, particularly when his girlfriend is involved. Special mention to "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean", where he asks her what she wanted for Christmas and she points to an engagement ring in a store window. Unfortunately, Mr. Bean mistakes the gesture for her pointing to the portrait behind the ring and buys that instead. This leads to Irma tearfully running out on him during their Christmas evening together and Bean, who seemed quite proud of himself for getting her what he thought she asked for, commenting in a hurt tone of voice, "W... what was wrong with it?"
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's not really malicious; his selfishness and unpleasantness are more childlike, he just doesn't know any better. He's not horrible just to be so.
- Kavorka Man: Goodness knows what Irma sees in him, and in the cartoon, an attractive female celebrity finds him funny and more interesting than her handsome date, enough to give him a kiss. Same with Roxy, his crush.
- Large Ham: Manages to be this even though he rarely speaks, let alone shouts.
- Last-Name Basis: Some characters, such as Mrs. Wicket, tend to call him by his last name.
- Leitmotif: In the animated series, he's almost always accompanied by a rendition of the opening theme.
- Limited Wardrobe: The same brown suit everywhere he goes.
- Made of Iron: He's survived some pretty nasty things in the animated series that would kill a person in real life, such as being blown up near the end of "Roadworks" and even being knocked down into an elevator shaft in "Nurse!".
- Manchild: He still owns a teddy bear. In the first episode, he puts two dolls on the table when he sits down to take an examination. In general, he is of the more common, Fish out of Water type, although his strangeness goes beyond childlike and into the realm of truly bizarre.
- MacGyvering: He shows a bit of craftiness in the animated series. For example, in the episode "Camping", Mr. Bean managed to built a working crane out of old bicycles, ladders, and a stroller, along with using the wheel of his car as a winch, to steal Mrs. Wicket's shed to use it as his caravan.
- Named by the Dub: In the Polish localization of the series, he is given a first name Hansel (Jaś in polish).
- No Social Skills: He lacks knowledge of social conventions, never demonstrates normal human thought processes, and even occasionally shows a lack of natural fear (shushing people while he's on a rollercoaster). In one set of titles, he is beamed down from space, which is possibly a metaphor for his unearthliness.
- Obfuscating Disability: Has a few in the animated series:
- In "Treasure!" he snatches a passenger's lipstick and stamps it to his face to make it look like he has chickenpox, forcing the pilots to go back to the airport. All of this is just so he can go to the Australia-shaped park.
- Another is in "Nurse!" when Bean fakes an injury by making a dummy version of himself fall out of his window, just to have a luxurious stay in the hospital, much like how Mrs. Wicket has.
- Only One Name: He's only known as Mr. Bean with his first name being unknown (although polish translation gives him a name Hansel).
- Shock and Awe: "Back to School Mr Bean" seems to imply that his Walking Techbane tendencies are some sort of static electricity effect.
- The Voiceless: He rarely ever speaks. Slightly more often he will make various sounds that are vaguely ''word-esque''.
- The animated series downplays this, where he starts speaking full sentences by the fourth season, eventually averting this.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Subverted. Much of the time he seems like a borderline sociopath, but there are plenty of moments that show that there's a real heart underneath all the madness. The animated series makes this more evident.
- Walking Techbane: Or at least, when he's dressed. Unless he's naked, he completely screws up TV signals and tends to break stuff or cause unexpected effects. In one episode, he somehow absorbs electricity which causes objects to stick to him.
Teddy
Click here to see its animated counterpart.
Mr. Bean's teddy bear and apparent best friend.
- Black Bead Eyes: He is drawn with these in the animated series.
- The Chew Toy: Downplayed. Mr. Bean treats him much better than he does most humans, but this still doesn't stop moments where he was accidentally shrunk or had his head ripped off.
- Companion Cube: Bean treats Teddy as if a four-year-old would treat a teddy, and it's both hilarious and ridiculously cute.
- Stock Animal Diet: Since he resembles a bear, Mr. Bean often pretends that he prefers honey. In the pet show skit from "Hair by Mr. Bean of London", he rejects a giant bone that he received as a prize and chooses a jar of honey for Teddy instead, and in "Missing Teddy" from the animated series, he chooses a jar of honey over one filled with strawberry jam while going shopping.
- Unexplained Recovery: Teddy's been shrunk in one episode, decapitated in another and covered with paint in another, and even hammered on a chair, but is always back to his original size and shape by the next.
- Your Size May Vary: Depending on the episode, he is either regular-sized (like in the featured picture) or small enough to fit into Mr. Bean's coat.
Mr. Bean's Car
Click here to see its animated counterpart.
A lime-green Mini Cooper with a black hood that acts as Mr. Bean's personal car.
- Drives Like Crazy: Especially in the episode The Trouble with Mr. Bean where he dresses in the car while driving himself to the dentist, and Do It Yourself Mr. Bean where he drives on the roof of the car after stuffing the inside full of things he bought.
- Free Wheel: Occurs every time he drives his car and meets up with the Reliant (see below)
- Removable Steering Wheel: It's his primary security measure.
- Running Gag: Often times while driving, Mr. Bean encounters an unseen person driving a blue Reliant three-wheeler, which always winds up crashed, knocked out of its spot, or tipped over onto its roof.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: A mechanical example. In the animated series episode "Ray of Sunshine", Mr. Bean drives his car through a lake while chasing the titular ray of sunlight, twice, with none worse for wear despite the car was completely submerged during it.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Another mechanical example. The car has been damaged or even destroyed in one way or another a few times.
- In the first episode, Mr. Bean almost collides with the Reliant and accidentally turns into a one-way street, crashing his car in the process. A wheel that bounces into the scene afterwards is all that remains of the car. This was a different Mini, which was orange and permanently replaced by the green one he has today.
- In "Back to School Mr. Bean", it infamously gets crushed by a tank rolling over it.
- In 'Roadworks", it gets smashed by the rammer Mr. Bean was hanging onto for dear life while it was turned up to maximum power.
- In "Car Wars", it gets crushed into a cube by the Reliant's driver, though at the end of the episode, Mr. Bean manages to "revive" it by taking it to the scrapyard to be fixed up at a hefty price.
- In some of Bean's nightmares in the animated series, the car is usually destroyed, most often by Mrs. Wicket.
The Reliant Robin
Click here to see its animated counterpart.
A blue three-wheeled car that is widely known for its long-running feud with Mr. Bean.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The driver lets Bean go since all he wants is for the latter to have a taste of his own medicine. It eventually happens in the animated series.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Sooner or later, Bean will eventually piss the driver off...
- Butt-Monkey: Mr Bean relishes the chance to cause it some distress. In any episode where the Reliant Robin appears, it will inevitably end up on its side by the end.
- The Dog Bites Back: Finally gets the upper hand on Mr. Bean in "Car Wars", first by pursuing him, then dropping the latter's beloved green car into a car crusher.
- The Ghost: Throughout the entire live-action series, neither the audience nor Bean knows what the driver looks like. "Artful Bean" has a scene shown from the driver's point of view inside his car, where we only see his glove-wearing hands on the steering wheel. The only ever time we see him is in a flashback of Mr. Bean's childhood in "Young Bean" of the animated series, but we never see him as an adult or in live-action, only his hands.
- Leitmotif: A 9-note ditty in the animated series.
- Revenge: "Car Wars" is an example of this. After being pushed around by Bean for the last time, the driver of the Reliant Regal tries various ways to make Bean's life miserable, or at least wreck his car as Bean did to him.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: Mr. Bean hates this car for no explained reason, probably because it often unintentionally gets in his way.
Irma Gobb
Click here to see her animated counterpart.
Mr. Bean's long-suffering girlfriend. Portrayed by Matilda Ziegler.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Irma's maturity level is closer to Bean's in the cartoon, making it easier to justify their relationship.
- Amusing Injuries: After Mr. Bean frightens her, she passes out. When she comes to, she's got an X-shaped bandage on her forehead.
- Butt-Monkey: Not so much, but her 'boyfriend' rarely shows her genuine affection and she is prone to certain misfortunes.
- Gag Nose: In the animated series, her nose is rather pointy.
- Idiot Ball: Really, if she wanted someone as dense as Mr. Bean to get her an engagement ring for Christmas, she should have just said it outright rather than point at a jeweller's window and hope he'd figure it out.
- Only Sane Man: She seems to be more intelligent and less buffoonish than Mr. Bean.
- Womanchild: Many occasions have shown her to be marginally more mature than Bean; she has her own teddy bear, Lottie, who's supposed to be the girlfriend of Teddy. She only appears in the cartoon.
Characters exclusive to the animated series
Mrs. Wicket
Mr. Bean's grouchy landlady. Voiced by Sally Grace.
- Asshole Victim: She'll often find herself caught up in Bean's antics, but she'll deserve it most of the time.
- Berserk Button: Mr. Bean's shenanigans in general, especially when they end up going too far and end up impacting her.
- Canon Immigrant: Her first appearance is a mere mention or two in the "novelisation" of the first film Mr. Bean's Scrapbook. The animated series makes her a regular character, though her son Ernest is nowhere to be seen. Instead, she has an unnamed nephew who only appeared in Season 3 in 2019.
- Catchphrase:
- She often yells "BEEEEEAN!" whenever Bean's antics cause something bad to happen to her. She yells this more in later seasons.
- She also says "Right" and "Eh?" a lot, particularly in the early seasons.
- Cranky Landlord: Ms. Wicket is Mr. Bean's landlady. She's also a Jerkass who does not like Bean and is grumpy overall. She gets better in the revival though, to the point where she throws a birthday party for Bean.
- Door Slam of Rage: Does this at the end of the intro sequence, leaving Mr. Bean's eyes visible in the dark. In the episodes themselves, she does this on a regular basis, which almost always results in a nearby portrait falling down and breaking.
- Fat Bitch: A proper landlady wouldn't treat you like a slave or even hospitalize you when you do something wrong, that's for sure.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason why she's so mean to Mr Bean is because when he was young he accidentaly ruined her wedding plans.
- Given Name Reveal: The later seasons reveal that her full name is Mrs. Julia Wicket.
- Grumpy Old Woman: She's very bitter and grouchy.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Somewhat justified on her behalf as Mr. Bean often makes foolish decisions that frustrate or even impact her massively. Not so much justified when she loses it with her friend.
- Jerkass: Not a very pleasant lady to be around. Her cat's no better, either.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Sometimes, Bean does cause her trouble, such as ruining her plants and abusing her cat, giving her some right to be angry with him. She's also every right to throw Bean out of the apartment since she's the landlady.
- Jerkass to One: While she is grouchy to almost everyone, she is particularly cruel towards Mr. Bean. This is because in the past, a young Bean accidentally ruined her wedding.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However, despite what happened long ago, Wicket has some fondness towards Bean, letting him live in her apartment and tries her best to put up with his antics. This becomes more prominent in the later seasons when she even throws him a birthday party.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Dearly loves her beloved cat, Scrapper.
- Mama Bear: She's very protective of Scrapper and sometimes punishes Mr. Bean when she catches him doing something unpleasant to him.
- No Indoor Voice: Especially when she is reprimanding Mr. Bean, though it gets toned down when she gets kinder.
- Perpetual Frowner: She doesn't really smile a lot.
- Pet the Dog: She throws a Birthday party for Bean in the episode ''Brithday Party".
- The Scream: A Running Gag in the older seasons had her screaming whenever she faced a problem, often scaring the birds outside the flat. Later seasons replace this with her simply yelling Bean's name.
- Took a Level in Kindness: She's noticeably nicer in later seasons, though she's still somewhat bitter.
- Vocal Evolution: Her voice is a lot softer and less gruff in later seasons to match her kinder personality.
- With Friends Like These...: She is often hostile towards Ms. Wince.
Scrapper
Mrs. Wicket's sadistic pet cat who most of the time enjoys putting Mr. Bean into misery.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: His fur is yellow with black and brown spots.
- Butt-Monkey: He suffers quite a bit, being frightened or pushed around by Bean (intentional or not) and often failing to catch prey.
- Cats Are Mean: He despises Mr. Bean with a passion and often finds ways to inflict misfortune upon him. Even as a kitten, he's just as vicious and bad-tempered. And it's not just Bean, he's like that to everyone. The only person he is friendly to is his equally surly owner.
- Cat Up a Tree: In "Cat-Sitting", a mishap with the microwave causes him to be launched through a window and land in a tree, forcing Mr. Bean to try to get him down. It fails spectacularly, as the tree then shoots Scrapper into outer space.
- Ear Notch: Two on his right ear.
- Eye Scream: His right eye is missed.
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: When Mrs. Wicket is taken to the hospital in "Cat-Sitting", Scrapper looks genuinely upset at what happened to her and then glares at Mr. Bean for accidentally injuring her, likely thinking "This is all your fault!".
- Fat Bastard: Chubby and certainly not pleasant to be around.
- Jerkass: Even more so than his owner, and that's saying something.
- Sadist: He really loves putting Mr Bean in troubles as he's seen smiling evilly while doing it.
Ms. Wince
Mrs. Wicket's best friend. Voiced by Sally Grace.
- Butt-Monkey: She is often receiving the brunt of Wicket's wrath, and is treated rather poorly by her.
- Given Name Reveal: In "A Royal Makeover", according to a dialogue by Mrs. Wicket, it is revealed that her name is Mary.
- Nice Girl: In stark contrast to Wicket, anyway; she's generally sweet.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: She gets one when she defeated Mrs. Wicket in a game of croquette in "The Mole".
The Bruisers
Mr. Bean and Mrs. Wicket's abrasive next-door neighbours. Thomas Brodie Sangster voices Bruiser Jr.
- Beware of Vicious Dog: The Bruisers have a diabolical black Doberman pinscher named Tutai who often targets Bean (and his Teddy) and Scrapper.
- Big Eater: It's shown in "Litterbugs" that the entire Bruiser family have an absurdly huge appetite, eating and eventually littering a huge pile of food in one sitting.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Most of the time, it focuses on a big Bruiser Sr. and a little Bruiser Jr.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Bruiser Jr.
- The Bully: Bruiser Sr. is probably the animated counterpart of the bully from "Tee Off, Mr. Bean" in terms of nastiness, but played up significantly. His son's no better, either.
- Fat Bastard: The entire family are obese and mean-spirited to the core.
- Hate Sink: The Bruisers are one helluva mean-spirited family who wants to put their neighbour Bean in a lot of misery, particularly the father and the son. And none of them demonstrates any redeeming qualities besides them being a close family.
- Jerkass: Particularly Bruiser Sr. and Bruiser Jr., who often bully and abuse Bean almost more than Wicket does.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: That being said, Bruiser Sr. genuinely cares about his family and has been shown to get on with Bean on a few occasions, and helps an old lady (actually Bean in disguise) across the street in "Super Spy".
- Token Good Teammate: Bruiser Sr.'s mother is notably a far kinder person than the rest of the family.
The Burglar Duo
A large and small duo of thieves who serve as recurring antagonists.
- Annoying Laugh: The short one has a laugh not unlike SpongeBob SquarePants.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: You get not one but two antagonists in some episodes.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Size does tell between the big and small burglar.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed; many episodes have the duo get their comeuppance for their crimes, but there have been a couple of times where they don't get caught. In the episode "Wanted", the burglars snatched the key that Mr. Bean forged using a piece of broken tile to escape prison. And in "Homeless", they successfully scammed Bean for a house rental. In both episodes, they were never seen again.
Mr. Pod
A one-time character and alien who looks identical to Mr. Bean, introduced in "Double Trouble". Voiced by Rowan Atkinson.
- The Ace: Unlike Mr. Bean, Pod is an excellent cook and treats Irma better.
- Identical Stranger: He was this at first until it's revealed that they are of the same species.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: He and Mr. Bean look exactly alike, down to their undergarments, and the only way to distinguish them is from their Minis and their stuffed toys: Mr. Pod's Mini doesn't have a padlock for the driver side door and has a penguin doll whom he names Pingy. His race also owns stuffed toys of various animals to distinguish them between one another.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Near the end of the episode, despite his infatuation with Irma, Mr. Pod chose to drop Mr. Bean out from the spaceship after seeing her distraught over them leaving her, and gives her a Laser-Guided Amnesia so that she can be happy with at least one member of his race.
- Last Episode, New Character: Downplayed, since he's technically a doppelganger of Mr. Bean, but he is introduced in the finale of the show's original 2002 run.
- Nice Guy: Unlike Mr. Bean, Mr. Pod is seen as a much more amiable person, and treats Irma respectfully.
- Planet of Hats: Mr. Pod comes from a race of aliens who all act, dress, and talk like Mr. Bean, down to owning the exact same Mini Cooper Bean has.
Mime
A funny and playful mime who pesters Mr. Bean.
- Big Bad: Of "Mime Games".
- The Gadfly: He trolls Mr. Bean in such mimetic ways.
- Suddenly Voiced: The mime is almost all the time silent, but the moment Mr. Bean outsmarted the mime when he fell in the pond and the paint washing off, he lets out an "Ohhhh no no no...."
- Your Mime Makes It Real: A few examples make some sense with this trope: Like Beam miming a lasso, tying up the mime and pulling him back to the park, or Bean mimicking a Finger Gun and "shooting" directly to the mime.
The Restaurant Owner
A recurring character. The owner of "Restaurante haute cuisine des toffs", a fancy restaurant.
- French Jerk: By telling his French accent and gesture, he is one who is obsessed with Greed; this sin is best shown in the episode "The Visitor", where he initially denies Bean and Harry entry to the restaurant as they're closing up for the night until Bean shows him a wad of cash.
Characters from the 1997 film
David Langley
The meek curator of Grierson Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Assuming Bean is an academic doctor, David offers to accommodate him at his home, much to the exasperation of his wife and children. Portrayed by Peter MacNicol.
Alison Langley
David's wife. Annoyed that David offers to let Bean stay at their home, Alison leaves with their children to stay at her mother's place. Portrayed by Pamela Reed.
Jennifer Langley
David's teenage daughter. Like her mother, Jennifer hates Bean. Portrayed by Tricia Vessey.
Kevin Langley
David's youngest child and the only person in the family other than David who likes Bean. Portrayed by Andrew Lawrence.
Lieutenant Brutus
An LAPD officer. Brutus has multiple encounters with Bean and has arrested him due to his antics. Portrayed by Richard Grant.
Characters from Mr. Bean's Holiday
Sabine
An aspiring actress Bean befriended on his way to Cannes. Portrayed by Emma de Caunes.
- Cool Car: Certainly how Mr. Bean reacted upon seeing her driving a dead ringer to his own lime-green Mini Cooper.
- Nice Girl: Befriends Mr. Bean immediately upon meeting him, offering him a ride to Cannes and even going along with helping him return Stepan to his father despite him being labelled a fugitive and her an accomplice.
Stepan Duchevsky
The son of a Russian film director who is separated from his father after an accident caused by Bean. Feeling guilty, Bean takes it upon himself to help Stepan to reunite with his father, language barrier be damned. Portrayed by Maxim Baldry.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Becomes friends with the middle-aged Mr. Bean as they travel through France to reunite with his father.
Carson Clay
An American director and producer of the vanity movie, Playback Time, starring himself. Portrayed by Willem Dafoe.
- Large Ham: When you're played by the same actor as The Green Goblin, it's inevitable that you'll ham it up.
- Prima Donna Director: Displays ridiculous prima donna obnoxiousness when filming a yogurt commercial. Later, his film overuses monologue to the point that the audience of the premiere gradually falls asleep.
