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Main Characters
The Arnold Family
Kevin
Kevin Arnold
Portrayed by: Fred Savage | Daniel Stern (Voice of Adult Kevin)
The show's protagonist, who spends the entire show reminiscing about his time in high school in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
- The All-American Boy: He is a hearty preteen/teen boy whose interests and lifestyle are pretty typical for any American kid growing up during the late sixties/early seventies—he loves baseball, wants to be a professional ball player or astronaut, collects baseball cards, rides a bicycle, wants a treehouse at one point, etc.
- Amicable Exes:
- Kevin and Winnie are a couple on-and-off throughout the show's run, but during periods when they are exes, they are usually this. And it's mentioned that, although Kevin ended up married to somebody else, they wrote once a week for eight years.
- Kevin and Becky put aside their feud and become this while Becky dates Kevin's friend Craig Hobson.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Kevin's jealousy would often get the better of him whenever Winnie was in a relationship with anyone else.
- Did Not Get the Girl: In the show's closing epilogue, we learn that Kevin and Winnie parted ways and he married someone else.
- The Everyman: Kevin is supposed to represent the life of an average teenage boy growing up in the 1960's.
- Informed Deformity: Occasionally, it's said that Kevin is ugly, though most of those are the narrator saying it (so he could just be subconscious). He says that Paul's sister Debbie is the only girl who saw him as the perfect man and in the last episode, says that Karen's first child would look like him, and feels sorry for him.
- In "Summer Song", while Kevin is focused on pictures of himself and Teri, Teri tells him that the stuffed frog she won was "ugly, like you", though in this case she was probably trying to get his attention.
- It's All About Me: Kevin seemed to believe the world revolved around him, and would initially take it badly when someone like Paul took away the spotlight.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: All flaws aside, Kevin mostly comes across as a well-intentioned young boy.
- Karma Houdini: Several times over the course of the show Kevin managed to completely avoid any comeuppance for messes he was responsible for. Some examples include:
- In "Back to the Lake" while driving himself and Paul to work, he decides to skip work and go to the lake to see Cara, against Paul's will. While we never see what happens when they return to work, Kevin continues to be employed at Mr. Chong's Chinese restaurant while Paul is never seen or mentioned to be working there again.
- In "Ladies and Gentlemen... The Rolling Stones", Kevin gets grounded. When the parents go out for the night, Jack tells Kevin not to drive his car, so Kevin drives Jack's car. He ends up wrecking the back of the car, and fears his parents finding out when they get back... only for the person who had driven them to accidentally bump into the car before Jack could see that it was already wrecked... and then Kevin learns Norma had already wrecked it.
- Large Ham: The more worked up Kevin would get about something, the more histrionic and loud he would get, until he started chewing down the entire scenery.
- Nostalgic Narrator: The adult Kevin, voiced by Daniel Stern. Not the Trope Maker, but almost certainly the Trope Codifier, and thus the most parodied.
Jack
John "Jack" Arnold
Portrayed by: Dan Lauria
Kevin's father, a man of few words and short temper.
- Dad the Veteran: He is a veteran of the Korean war. His experiences there are why he's adamant that neither Wayne or Kevin join the military and get sent to Vietnam.
- Directionless Driver: Jack would rather die than ask for directions. His justification was that he had navigated a half-track halfway across Korea, so he certainly didn't need to ask for directions in his home state.
- Jerkass: Jack could be a complete asshole to his family when he was in a bad mood, to the point that sometimes his kids walked on eggshells around him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: What he really was.
- Obliquely Obfuscated Occupation: Played with. An entire episode revolves around the fact that nobody in the family really knows what Jack's job is, exactly. By the end of the episode Kevin and the audience have a pretty good idea of what Jack's job at NORCOM is, but what product the company manufactures remains a mystery for the rest of the show.
- Pursue the Dream Job: Jack eventually has enough and quits his job at NORCOM to open a furniture factory, which makes him a much happier individual.
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job: It is all but outright stated that a lot of Jack's anger and short temper is the result of the stress of his job at NORCOM, which he comes to hate.
Norma
Norma Arnold (née Gustafson)
Portrayed by: Alley Mills
Kevin's mother, a friendly and upbeat woman.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Norma and Karen, respectively. Norma is a maternal housewife with traditional views, whereas Karen, while a caring Granola Girl, is a bull-headed rebel who hates dresses and has very (by the standards of the time) untraditional views. Their contrasting views were often a source of drama.
- Housewife: Starts the show as the prototypical American housewife, but as the show progresses, she gets an education and eventually gets a job.
- Parenting the Husband: Spends a lot of energy managing her husband's temper outbursts.
Karen
Karen Arnold
Portrayed by: Olivia d'Abo
Kevin's eldest sister, an opinionated, rebellious hippie.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Norma and Karen, respectively. Norma is a maternal housewife with traditional views, whereas Karen, while a caring Granola Girl, is a bull-headed rebel who hates dresses and has very (by the standards of the time) untraditional views. Their contrasting views were often a source of drama.
- Granola Girl: Karen Arnold is a caring, passionate flower child who likes organic foods, yoga, and anything and everything non-traditionalist. She's rather outspoken as well.
- Like Parent, Like Child: Despite their differences in politics and opinions, Karen was the most like Jack of all Arnold children, being massively stubborn, opinionated, and prone to yelling.
- Not So Above It All: She constantly decries the capitalist and materialistic society she lives in, but when it comes time to buy a new family car, she is as excited as her brother about getting the shiny new convertible, and the one who calls her father cheap for not buying it.
- Out of Focus: During her last two seasons as a regular, Karen appears very scarcely (she's in five episodes of season 4 - including a clip show where she's only in past clips - and three of season 5), yet is still in the opening credits. Justified a bit in her moving away for college and then for part of season 5 her and Jack having a falling-out after Jack finds out she was living with a man.
- Soapbox Sadie: Karen never had an opinion that she didn't feel the need to share with everyone around her, often as loudly and as confrontationally as possible.
Wayne
Wayne Arnold
Portrayed by: Jason Hervey
Kevin's older brother, an insufferable bullying jerk.
- Big Brother Bully: Kevin's older brother Wayne frequently abuses him, beats him up or argues with him. He's really a jerk, but later got some slightly redeeming moments.
- Big Eater: Wayne is seen indulging in food more than any other character in the series, and remains preoccupied with food even during very tense familial situations. This is lampshaded by Kevin in the episode "Dinner Out" where he tells Wayne, "It's all you can eat, butthead, not all you can carry!" upon him absolutely stacking his plate with food from a buffet.
- Book Dumb: He's implied in all seasons to not do so well in school. In "Math Class", Adult Kevin narrates that his parents didn't expect much from Wayne academically, and in the same episode, Jack flat-out tells Wayne that until he starts making grades as high as Kevin's, he has to stay home and do homework on school nights.
- Hidden Depths: For a while, when Wayne is dating a nice girl, he starts doing well at school, even outdoing Kevin in typing class. Jack also tells Kevin that Wayne is a smart kid who'd do well if he stopped acting so dumb.
- Jerkass: He who apparently enjoys torturing his younger brother. He is also so disliked at his school (by faculty and students alike) that a poster of him that read "I am Kevin Arnold's brother" qualified as a negative campaign add when Kevin ran for student council president.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Wayne never quite grew out of being the obnoxious older brother, but he eventually showed a Big Brother Instinct and genuine concern for Kevin as the show went on. The episode "The Lost Weekend" is a good case in point, where Wayne takes the heat for the mess caused by a huge party that Kevin threw over the weekend.
Kevin's Neighbours
Winnie
Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper
Portrayed by: Danica McKellar
Kevin's neighbor and main love interest throughout the show.
- Brainy Brunette: It's sort of implied that she's academically conscious throughout the series, as evidenced in "White Lies" where she's very concerned about studying for the SATs. "The Little Women" confirms her braininess when she scores higher on her SATs than Kevin.
- Embarrassing First Name: On the first day of junior high in the pilot, Winnie tells Kevin and Paul to start calling her by her proper name, Gwendolyn, since Winnie sounds so immature. They never do and it's never mentioned again.
- Girl Next Door: She is a wholesome, pretty American girl. She has been Kevin's friend and literal next door neighbor since childhood.
- Hidden Depths: Winnie has a conversation with Kevin in "The Unnatural" that suggests that she knows quite a bit about baseball swing mechanics.
- Out of Focus: Winnie only appeared in around half of season 2. The writers broke her up with Kevin because of McKellar's growth spurt to give Savage time to get taller. Her appearances also dropped a lot in seasons 4 and 5 because McKellar wanted more money. She appears in just three episodes in season 5. She returned to being a prominent cast member in season 6.
Paul
Paul Pfeiffer
Portrayed by: Josh Saviano
Kevin's neighbor and best friend.
- Brainy Brunette: He cares a lot about school, and a few episodes highlight his academic finesse. In "Math Class Square", he's very upset about getting a B on a math test in a challenging new class. He also chooses to go to prep school instead of the regular senior high school that Kevin goes to, and in the last episode chooses to take summer school classes.
- Jewish and Nerdy: He is canonically Jewish and as nerdy as they come.
- Out of Focus: In the later seasons, after Kevin gets a bigger social circle. In the last season, Jeff and Chuck get many more episodes, and much more screen time, than Paul. This is acknowledged in "Poker" as Kevin and Paul are forced to confront the fact that after seventeen years as best friends, they are starting to grow apart.
Recurring characters
Robert F. Kennedy Junior High School
Faculty
Mr. Diperna
Mr. Diperna
Portrayed by: Raye Birk
The Vice-Principal of Robert F. Kennedy Junior High. Kevin doesn’t like him at all.
- Dean Bitterman: His entire existence seemed to revolve around making his subordinates and students as miserable as possible.
- Pet the Dog: Say what you will about him but he did his best to be gentle when breaking the news to Kevin about Mr. Collins' passing.
Coach Cutlip
Coach Ed Cutlip
Portrayed by: Robert Picardo
Kevin's gym teacher
- Adults Are Useless: Whether it was giving sex education classes or acting as student counselor, Cutlip was always the exact opposite of helpful.
- Hidden Depths: Cutlip is strict as a gym coach, but shows a softer side as he also works as Santa Claus to make kids happy.
- Put on a Bus: Unlike all of Kevin's junior high teachers, who are implied to have simply remained at the school after Kevin graduates, Cutlip reveals in his last appearance that he has accepted a coaching job at another school in Indianapolis.
Miss White/Mrs. Heimer
Mrs. Diane Heimer (née White)
Portrayed by: Wendel Meldrum
Kevin's English teacher who he has a crush on.
- Hot Teacher: So hot that Kevin develops a crush on her that never entirely went away.
Mr. Cantwell
Mr. Cantwell
Portrayed by: Ben Stein
Kevin's junior high school science teacher.
- Expy: Ben Stein uses the exact same mannerisms and teaching style while playing Cantwell that he did as the economics teacher i Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Mr. Collins
Mr. Arthur Collins
Portrayed by: Steven Gilborn
Kevin's math teacher.
- Stern Teacher: Mr. Collins only ever wanted was was best for Kevin, and Kevin recognized it, even while bemoaning the extra work the attention implied.
Students
Randy Mitchell
Randy Mitchell
Portrayed by: Michael Tricario
Kevin's friend throughout both junior and senior high.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: Despite being one of the few recurring characters to appear for the entire run of the show, Randy was so generic that he hardly had any distinguishing characteristics.
Doug Porter
Doug Porter
Portrayed by: Brandon Crane
Kevin's overweight friend.
- Big Eater: Second only to Wayne in the amount of food he is seen eating
- Fat Comic Relief: The other character would often make fun of his weight.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears from the show without mention after Kevin graduates junior high.
Becky Slater
Rebecca "Becky" Slater
Portrayed by: Crystal McKellar
Kevin's first girlfriend and eventual nemesis.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Becky Slater laughed her ass off at Kevin's mean comments and imitation of their friends while they were dating, but after they broke up she told everyone what he said just to hurt Kevin, oblivious to how much it could hurt said friends. She also claims she would never hurt her friend Winnie by telling her what Kevin said about her, but that doesn't stop her from telling Kirk and Paul and Carla and half the school, knowing full well that it will eventually get back to Winnie.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears from the show without mention after Kevin graduates junior high.
- Does Not Like Men: After Craig dumps her to go to military school, Becky starts hating all men.
- The Dreaded: By season 4 Becky has such a reputation that Randy Mitchell claims nobody at the school would be stupid enough to try to run against her for student council president.
- Gossipy Hens: Becky is first introduced as the school's resident gossip-monger, seeking people out and volunteering information about who likes them.
- Insane Troll Logic: Becky's reasoning for blaming Kevin for Craig Hobson dumping her is a double helping, as it presupposes a) that introducing a couple makes you responsible for the outcome of their relationship, and b) that the definition of "introducing" covers "you were trying to run me over and hit him instead".
- Karma Houdini: She never gets in trouble for any of the mean things she does to Kevin after their break-up, which include:
- giving him a beating severe enough to knock him out,
- telling most of the school about the mean things Kevin said about them behind their backs when they were a couple,
- trying to run over Kevin with her bike (which results in her getting a new boyfriend),
- pouring Kevin's milk on his lap, and
- punching Kevin hard enough to lay him out after he beats her in a race on the track field. This one is particularly egregious because the girls' PE teacher was right there when it happened, and did nothing.
- Misplaced Retribution: Blames Kevin for the failure of her relationship with Craig, even though Kevin wasn't responsible in any way.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Despite not being particularly muscular, she never had any trouble punching Kevin's lights out whenever she felt particularly angry at him. She does it twice over the course of the show, and Kevin is explicitly shown to be afraid that she'll do it again if he pisses her off.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Her breakup with Kevin was particularly nasty and she became his bitter enemy afterwards, with Kevin expressly calling her "my nemesis". They had somewhat of a détente when she started dating Craig, but Becky held unto her grudge towards Kevin for years.
- Woman Scorned: After getting dumped by Kevin and him admitting he was only using her, Becky reacts by beating the shit out of him. She then holds unto her grudge against him for years afterwards, using Insane Troll Logic to blame him for things he had nothing whatsoever to do with.
Craig Hobson
Craig Hobson
Portrayed by: Sean Baca
Kevin's obnoxiuous classmate and Becky's eventual boyfriend.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He was consistently a part of Kevin's social circle, despite the fact that none of its members seemed to particularly like him.
- Jerkass: He is condescending to everybody, and always acted more like a bully than a friend towards Kevin and Paul.
- Love at First Sight: He is immediately smitten with Becky the second the meet.
- Put on a Bus: His parents send him to military school during the summer between 8th and 9th grade, much to Becky's chagrin.
Carla Healey
Carla Healey
Portrayed by: Krista Murphy
Kevin's junior high school classmate and Paul's girlfriend.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears from the show without any explanation around season 3.
- The Generic Guy: She doesn't have much personality beyond being as nerdy as Paul.
- Satellite Love Interest: She only featured in the show inasmuch as she was Paul's on-again/off-again girlfriend.
Madeline Adams
Madeline Adams
Portrayed by: Julie Condra
A new, very attractive girl who transfers to Kennedy Junior High at the start of Kevin's ninth grade.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Madeleine's interest in Kevin spawns from the fact that he was the nicest person to her on her first day in a new school.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Whenever she is around Kevin is immediately Distracted by the Sexy.
- Ms. Fanservice: Almost universally acknowledged by viewers as the hottest of Kevin's love interests on the show.
- Younger Than They Look: She was noticeably taller and more developed than all the other ninth graders note .
McKinley High School
Chuck Coleman
Chuck Coleman
Portrayed by: Andy Berman
Kevin's senior high school friend, he has a "nervous tic".
- Twitchy Eye: Whenever he gets nervous his eye starts twitching uncontrolably.
Alice Pedermeir
Alice Pedermeir
Portrayed by: Lindsay Sloane
Kevin's classmate and Chuck's girlfriend.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Alice is fairly cute, but everybody in-universe says she has an annoying voice.
- Pregnancy Scare: At one point she fears she has become pregnant and this terrifies Chuck.
Jeff Billings
Jeff Billings
Portrayed by: Giovanni Ribisi
Kevin's classmate close friend.
- Deadpan Snarker: While most characters have their moments, Jeff is the most consistently sarcastic character.
Wart
David "Wart" Wirtshafter
Portrayed by: Scott Menville
Wayne's best friend who enlists in the Army.
- Book Dumb: He makes Wayne look smart.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: as Kevin says, Wayne and Wart are "two peas in a pod," as they are both prone to being bullies and display questionable academic capabilities. On the other hand, they're really there for each other, as Wayne demonstrates when he tries to comfort a shaken, tearful Wart after a heckler calls him a "murderer" during the homecoming game.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: On impulse and with few other options that they can see, Wayne and Wart sign up to join the Army. Although Wayne fails his physical, Wart passes and enlists. He is sent to Vietnam immediately after completing basic training. When he comes back, his friends are envious of his experiences in Vietnam and see him as a hero, but right away it's evident that Wart is having trouble dealing with being home, as he states he doesn't want to talk about it when his friends ask if he killed anyone in combat. His likely PTSD is exacerbated when Wart is heckled as a "murderer" at the homecoming game. Kevin and Wayne find him, broken down in tears behind the bleachers and stripped to his boxers and his dog tags, where Wayne comforts him by letting him wear his shirt.
Relatives
Grandpa Arnold
"Grandpa" Albert Arnold
Portrayed by: David Huddleston
Kevin's paternal grandfather, a jovial man who constantly annoys his son Jack.
- Big Fun: Grandpa is a very well fed individual, and he spends almost his entire time on screen with a massive grin and trying to make others happy.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Albert is almost never seen without a smile on his face, is very talkative and is extremely easygoing, in stark contrast with his son Jack, who is almost always taciturn, and has anger issues.
Michael
Michael
Portrayed by: David Schwimmer
Karen's boyfriend and eventual husband.
- Extreme Doormat: He is extremely passive in his relationship with Karen, almost always deferring to her even when he thinks she is wrong.
