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Samson
Samson
Played by: Danny Verbiest (1989-2005), Peter Thyssen (2005-2013), Dirk Bosschaert (2013-present)
The show's lead character. He is a dog who can talk, although he still mispronounces more difficult words.
- Anthropomorphic Shift: It's very subtle in Samson's case, but it can be noticed that in the early years of the franchise, Samson's character had more typically dog-like traits that would later be less prominent. The lyrics of Het Samsonlied, the first theme song of the series, refer to him having an irrational dislike for cats and liking food items like bones and dog biscuits, while in later installments, Samson mostly eats human food with his favourite dish being spaghetti. The song also has Samson bark, something he never does in later episodes.note
- Characterization Marches On: In the earliest seasons, he had a much more mischievous personality and he was even prone to sarcastic remarks sometimes, but after a few years he became a more naive, innocent and morally almost incorruptible character.
- Hand Puppet: Samson is brought to life by one.
- In-Series Nickname: Because of his constant misprononciation of certain words, he uses a nickname for almost every other character exept for Gert (who he calls by the diminutive Gertje), the mayor and Marlène:
- Joop Mengelmoes: Meneer Chocomousse
- Alberto: Meneer Spaghetti
- Octaaf: Meneer De Raaf
- Jeannine: Mevrouw Praline
- Van Leemhuyzen: Meneer Van Veel Luizen
- Frieda Kroket: Mevrouw Frietje
- De Afgevaardigde van de Minister: De Vervaarlijke van de Verkwister or De Gevaarlijke van de Sinister
- Literal-Minded: His understanding of the world is evocative of that of a young child and therefore he has difficulties understanding proverbs and non-literal statements.
- Partially Civilized Animal: Samson is capable of most things that a human child would be able to do, but he still looks and behaves like a normal dog.
- Talking Animal: He is a talking dog.
- Vocal Evolution: Originally, he had a more deep and more mature-sounding voice that became higher-pitched and somewhat more childlike through the years. And that was before the role was taken over by other puppeteers.
Gert
Gert
Played by: Gert Verhulst (1989-2020, 2022)
Samson's owner and best friend. He is an unmarried houseman who lives in a house at number 101. He is hopelessly in love with a girl called Marlène, although he has to compete for her with the rich Jean-Louis Michel.
- As Himself: Gert originated as this. As the show originated out of Gert Verhulst's desire to spice up the announcing of children's programming on television with a talking dog, Verhulst was originally just playing himself. Only when the show started to phase out the annoucing segments, Verhulst started to distinguish himself from his fictional counterpart, the latter becoming thus a case of
The Danza. - Costume Evolution: Gert originally had an Unlimited Wardrobe in the series, but from 1997 and afterwards he started consistently wearing a red blouse and blue jeans. This change can be seen as a consequence of Gert Verhulst evolving from playing himself on the show to just playing a character called Gert.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He can't stand it when other people say bad things about Marlène or talk about her relationship with Jean-Louis Michel.
- Berserk Button: Saying bad things about Marlène or talking about Jean-Louis Michel.
- Dub Name Change: In the Walloon version, he's called "Fred".
- Henpecked Husband: Although they aren't husband and wife, Marlène frequently exploits Gert's love for her to let him do several unpleasant tasks that she doesn't want to do herself.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Despite being The Smart Guy, he is so blindly in love with Marlène that he is completely oblivious for the fact that she merely uses his unconditional love to her advantage.
- Only Sane Man: He seems to be this compared to most other characters.
- Passing the Torch: Since Gert decided to leave the series in November 2019 during the franchise' 30th Anniversary. He chose Marie to take over his role and became Samson's new human companion.
- The Smart Guy: Compared to the other characters.
- Surrounded by Idiots: With the possible exception of Jeannine, he seems to be the most intelligent character in the series.
Marlène
Marlène
Played by: Els Duponchelle (2008), Jana Geurts (2010)
Gert's girlfriend. She is never seen during the series, but she gets mentioned nearly every episode. Although Gert is deeply in love with her, she merely takes advantage of his willingness to do almost everything for her by alternating between dating Gert and rich guy Jean-Louis Michel.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems not to be always as nice to Gert as he would want himself to believe.
- Gold Digger: It's very much implied that her main reason for dating Jean-Louis Michel and Gert are the advantages she gets from it.
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: From her two suitors, Jean-Louis Michel is a rich guy who treats her with fancy presents, while Gert is willing to do everything for her, but hasn't always enough money to buy her stuff.
- The Faceless: Marlène has visually been seen on two occasions (the 2008 film Hotel op Stelten and the 2010 special episode Het Verrassingsfeest). On both occasions, her face was obscured from the frame, thus perpetuating the mystery surrounding her appearance.
- The Voice: Her voice has been heard in the 1998 episode E.H.B.O, but she did not appear on screen.
- Worse with Context: Gert has a habit of sugarcoating almost everything that involves her. Samson however, is always quick to remind him of the often much less pleasant reality behind it, which makes it clear that Marlène isn't always as adorable as Gert claims.
Joop Mengelmoes
Joop Mengelmoes
Played by: Stef Bos (1990-1992)
The Dutch neighbour of Samson and Gert who was only seen in the first two seasons. He is quite famous for being the person who damaged Samson and Gert's doorbell in the very first episode, after which the bell stayed unrepaired for the rest of the series.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He disappeared after the second season with no given explantion and his existance was almost ignored.
- In the 2017 summer spinoff series, his brother Jaap turned up, which was one of the first times Joop was ever mentioned again since 1992!
- Funny Foreigner: Just like Stef Bos was at the time, Joop is explicitly acknowledged to be an immigrant from the Netherlands who happens to live in Belgium.
Meneer de Burgemeester
Meneer de Burgemeester (Modest)
Played by: Walter De Donder (1990-present)
The mayor of the town. He is a well-meaning, but clumsy man who spends most of his working hours playing with model aeroplanes.
- Bad Boss: To his secretary Van Leemhuyzen. They get on well most of the time, but there are moments on which he tends to be quite of a Jerkass to him, even to the point of physically harming him.
- Blatant Lies: He frequently insists that he is busy with some very important dossier while he is really spending his working hours building and playing with model aeroplanes.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite his antics, he stays respected as mayor and his position is rarely questioned.
- Catchphrase: His speeches have always the same formula: Aan allen die gekomen zijn, proficiat. Aan allen die niet gekomen zijn, ook proficiat.note
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Almost everyone refers to him as 'de burgemeester'note . His real name, Modest, is rarely mentioned, and his last name isn't even known.
- Hat of Authority: His iconic top hat, which he rarely takes off. Further accentuated by the fact that when Van Leemhuyzen or someone else has to temporarily replace him as mayor, they also start wearing the same hat.
- Manchild: Although his most childish traits have decreased through the years, he still has shades of this.
- Mayor Pain: Generally downplayed, due to him being a well-meaning mayor who is respected by his citizens. Still, he frequently relies on the help of others (mainly Gert) to keep the town running, and he has had moments when he tried to push plans forward that nobody really wanted, such as closing Frieda Kroket's snack bar and putting totally useless traffic lights on the town square.
- Permanent Elected Official: It seems that the town has never witnessed any mayor election since at least 1990.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He always wears a white tie with gloves and a top hat.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: The mayor started out as a clumsy and often childish man, but through the years he became a bit more of a bossy mayor doesn't always listen to the opinion of his citizens and has frequently quarrels with his secretary Van Leemhuyzen.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Van Leemhuyzen.
Alberto Vermicelli
Albert Vermeersch, also known as Alberto Vermicelli
Played by: Koen Crucke (1990-2006, 2008-present)
The town's local barber. He enjoys eating a lot, but because his resident mother often forbids him to eat sweets, he regularly visits Samson en Gert to plunder the content of their pantry. He is also a singer in a local opera company, which is the reason why he wants to be addressed by the more Italian-sounding name 'Alberto Vermicelli', and he can become very angry to people who call him by his actual name.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: He lives together with his mother, but no one has ever said a word about his father in the series.
- Berserk Button: Addressing him by his real name 'Albert' instead of 'Alberto' can make him quite mad.
- Also: Calling him fat, to which he usually responds that he's muscular instead.
- Big Eater: His greed is one of his most obvious character traits. He can eat many packages of cookies in a very short amount of time and he is often only willing to help others in turn for cakes or chocolate.
- Catchphrase: Ten eerste is 't Alberto! En ten tweede...note
- Iconic Outfit: The authentic pink barber's coats he appears in.
- Fat Idiot: He is quite prone to stupid remarks.
- Flaw Exploitation: When someone needs his help, it mostly matters to promising him something to eat in return.
- Informed Deformity: His fatness became this when his actor Koen Crucke, who was originally reasonably fat, lost much of his weight around the year 2000. In the series, everyone kept referring to Alberto as fat though.
- Insufferable Imbecile: Although he isn't that of a smart personality, he is still prone to arrogant behaviour.
- Invisible Parents: He lives together with his mother, but she is -like many other characters in the series- never seen in person.
- Large Ham: His boisterous way of speaking and his loud rants when he is angry make him a perfect example of this trope.
- Manchild: He still lives with his mother and is often prone to infantile behaviour.
- No Indoor Voice: When he is called by his real name Albert, he bursts into reciting his Catchphrase (see above) with a very theatral and loud way of speaking.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He is only a singer at a local opera club, but still insists on being called by the name of 'Alberto Vermicelli' instead of of his real name Albert Vermeersch.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Octaaf.
- You Are Fat: He is regularly the victim of fat jokes.
- You Don't Look Like You: Actor Koen Crucke lost most of his weigt during the 1999-2000 season, which made him appear so different that Alberto's gluttony became less believable. To solve this problem, a fat suit and prosthetic make-up was used for the 2008 movie and subsequent specials to make the character artificially fat again. Koen Crucke had gained some more weight by the time the 2014 christmas series came along, but lost it again before the 2017 summer series. This time, the incredible emaciation of the character was explained by telling Alberto had been lost in the jungle for many weeks without any food while on vacation.
Octaaf De Bolle
Octaaf De Bolle
Played by: Walter Van de Velde (1992-2002, 2005, 2008, 2017, 2019)
The proprietor of the town's grocery store. He is a straight boaster who claims to be good at almost everything, although his claims often turn out to be incorrect. Nevertheless, it is true that he is probably the most handy character in the series and the most sporty too, as he is the chairman of the town's local gymnastics club.
- Aborted Arc: Originally, it was told that he couldn't read with his normal glasses, so he constantly had to change his glasses for reading glasses. This trait was aborted after only a few episodes.
- Back for the Finale: Returned in the video clip of Samson en Gert's last song after having been absent for 17 years with only three exceptions.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He has made a few inventions throughout the series, such as a machine to create foam and a machine that can move doors and windows automaticly.
- Catchphrase: Dat is toevallig één van mijn specialiteiten. Mijn Miranda zegt dat ook altijd: "Pa", zegt ze, "zoals jij kunt (...)", ja, zo (...) ik hè.note
- Costume Evolution: Octaaf has always worn sweater vests in the series, but the colours and patterns of the vests have changed over the years until he settled on his iconic sweater vests with red and green squares (of which actually two versions existed).
- Disappeared Dad: Not much is known about his father, apart from the fact that -according to his mother Jeannine- Octaaf has inherited many of his more negative character traits from him.
- Handy Man: The most handy character in the series.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: His most prominent character trait. He constantly boasts that all kinds of actions are coincidentally amongst his 'specialties', but in most cases the opposite is true.
- Lethal Chef: Although he claims otherwise, his cooking skills have caused several disasters. For example, he once managed to cause a fire in his shop while flambéing pancakes, his attempts at cooking a Christmas dinner completely failed, and at one point he made a cocktail with mustard in it.
- Momma's Boy: While he's constantly boasting when he is among others, he immedeately becomes a Manchild when his mother Jeannine is around.
- Out of Focus: Octaaf hasn't been seen that much anymore since 2002, due to actor Walter Van de Velde's retiring from the franchise that year (he has returned on a few special occasions though). As the writers didn't really bother with giving the character a send-off, Octaaf is still regularly mentioned by the other characters as if he were still around.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Alberto.
Miranda De Bolle
Miranda De Bolle
Played by: Liesbet Verstraeten (1992-1993)
The sixteen-year-old daughter of Octaaf De Bolle. She only appeared in the series during one season and became an unseen character from the next season onwards. Afterwards, she was almost only ever mentioned again in her father's Catchphrase.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: Her mother has never been seen or even mentioned throughout the whole series.
- Ms. Fanservice: There are a few episodes in which she appears in a bikini, much to her father's dismay.
- Put on a Bus: She left the series after one series and initially became a unseen character afterwards. In later episodes, it was said that she had moved to England to study there.
Jeannine De Bolle
Jeannine De Bolle
Played by: Ann Petersen (1994-1999)
Octaaf's mother and co-owner the local grocery store. She is also the chairwoman of the local woman's guild.
- Accentuate the Negative: Whenever Octaaf does something wrong, she claims he got that from his father's side. Whenever he does something right she claims he got it from her.
- Apron Matron: She manages to be a caring motherly figure and a dominant bossy mom that everyone is afraid of at the same time.
- Consistent Clothing Style: She consistently dresses in old-fashioned bungalow aprons with floral patterns.
- Cool Old Lady: She has as much fun in schemes and jokes as the other characters do.
- Character Outlives Actor: She became demoted to an unseen character after actress Ann Petersen left the series in 1999 because her health no longer allowed to play the role. After she passed away in 2003, Jeannine was still implied to be alive in-universe, although the series payed a tribute to her at the time. She also kept on appearing in the credits until the end of the series.
- Motor Mouth: She's prone to elaborate, not always very interesting stories larded with a lot of gossiping.
- My Beloved Smother: Octaaf probably thinks of her like this.
- Never Mess with Granny: She sometimes tends to behave herself very dominantly to others and she can even become quite venomous when she is angry. She sometimes threatens other characters with her rolling pin, and has even been able to knock Gert unconscious in one episode.
- Team Mom: Often fulfilled this role, as she was both the only female and the oldest member of the main cast.
- The Smurfette Principle: Was the only female member of the leading cast and is still the only one featured in the intro of the programme.
Eugène Van Leemhuyzen
Eugène Van Leemhuyzen
Played by: Walter Baele (1998-present)
The secretary of the mayor. He tends to be very hyperactive, which annoys the other characters sometimes.
- Characterization Marches On: When he was still an unseen character, Van Leemhuyzen was described by the mayor as some sort of pedantic bureaucrat. When he was introduced as a real character, he was established as a slightly hyperactive and excentric man who was otherwise competent and smart enough to be the mayor's secretary. His hyperactiveness later became flanderised into his main trait and his character evolved into a much more childish, annoying and less intelligent personality.
- On a similar note, the background of the character has been rewritten quite drastically over the course of the franchise. Initially, he was said to be married to a wife called Célestine and to have two to six children. Later series paint him as single and childless.
- Character Signature Song: He is the only character from the franchise to have an original song that is all sung by himself: the Leemhouse, which is a parody on House Music.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: He often displays very odd behaviour and activities.
- Ditzy Secretary: A rare male example of this trope.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In his first appeareances, he spoke with a slight Limburgish accent and had the catchphrase Niewaar?, which would later become the catchphrase of the Afgevaardigde van de Minister.
- Flanderization: He was originally portrayed as a slightly hyperactive, but mostly competent secretary who could work well together with the mayor. In later seasons, his hyperactiveness became more accentuated and his behaviour became more childlike and annoying to others.
- Last-Name Basis: He is almost always referred to by his last name and his first name is rarely adressed.
- Manchild: Became this increasingly when the series progressed.
- Keet: Known for displaying very hyperactive behaviour, including him enthousiastically jumping around while pulling at his suspenders.
- The Prankster: He likes to fool his friends quite often.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: In his first seasons he tended to be reasonably smart, but by the last seasons of the series his intelligence seems to have decreased to the level of an infant.
- Unseen No More: He was originally an unseen character, but was introduced as a regular cast member in eight season.
De Afgevaardigde van de Minister
De afgevaardigde van de ministernote (Roger De Zeeper)
Played by: Hans Royaards (1999-2012)
A delegate of the minister who regularly visits the town, mostly to give instructions to the mayor and riff on him.
- Ascended Extra: He was originally an occasional guest character, but he got more and more screentime as the series progressed until he became one of the lead characters in the 2004-2005 season, appearing in most of the episodes of said period. It got even to the point that he started to appear in the live shows for a few following years. He has never been credited as a regular though.
- Catchphrase: Niewaar?note
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He is always referred to by his function. His real name, Roger De Zeeper, has only been mentioned once.
- The Comically Serious: He is much more serious than the other characters in the series.
- The Other Darrin: May be the case In-Universe, depending on interpretation. The delegate of the minister had already been played by a bunch of other actors before Hans Royaards started appearing more regularly in the role. It isn't clear though whether the previous actors playing the delegate were supposed to be portraying the same character as Royaards, or just other delegates of other ministers.
Frieda Kroket
Frieda Kroket
Played by: Barbara De Jonge (2000-2003)
The proprietress of the town's local snack bar which was previously owned by her uncle Fred Kroket. She is secretly in love with Alberto.
- Abhorrent Admirer: She has a crush on Alberto, but he does not really seem to like this.
- Catchphrase: We vliegen erin! Patat!note
- Fake Guest Star: Although she was part of the main cast for a while, she has always been credited as a guest star.
- Meaningful Name: Her backname Kroket is Dutch for Croquette.
- The Smurfette Principle: The main reason for her introduction was that the show needed a new female leading character after the departure of Jeannine in 1999.
Marie
Marie
Played by: Marie Verhulst (2019-present)
The new owner of Samson after Gert Verhulst ended his work on the franchise in 2020. In real-life, she is Verhulst's daughter.
- One-Steve Limit: The mayor's housekeeper (who is an unseen character) is also called Marie.
- Passing the Torch: Her father Gert passed the torch to his own daughter to take his place as owner of Samson, by which this is an example of this trope that is both in-universe and out-of-universe at the same time.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: As she is the real-life daughter of Gert Verhulst, it is made clear that her role is similar to her father's.
