The Ren and Stimpy Show/Characters

Main Characters

Ren Hoek

Not Ren's natural state, but fitting nonetheless.

Voiced by: John Kricfalusi (seasons 1-2), Billy West (seasons 3-5), and Kricfalusi again in Adult Party Cartoon

"They think I’m crazy. But I know better. It is not I who am crazy - it is I who am MAD!"

An asthma-hound Chihuahua prone to psychotic breakdowns and acts of violence. Whatever he does, expect for it to be somehow materially motivated. Has a voice suspiciously similar to Peter Lorre's.

Anti-Hero: Somewhere between type IV and V, but Your Mileage May Vary.
Ambiguously Gay: Word of God says Ren likes human women, but "when you look like Ren, you take what you can get".
Anti Role Model: Stimpy thinks otherwise, though.
Ax Crazy
Catch Phrase: "YOU EEDIOT!"
- "YOU SICK LITTLE MONKEY!"
- "Five bucks!"
- "WHAT EEEZ IT, MAN?!"
- "YOU FAT, BLOATED EEDIOT!"
- "YOU WOOORM!"
Chew Toy: In the original series.
Civilized Animal
Collector of the Strange: Opera records, incurable diseases, dinosaur droppings, and celebrity wigs.
Comedic Sociopathy
Cry Cute
Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes.

"What's so secret about that spot?"

Dogs Are Dumb: Averted. Ren is rather intelligent and most definitely very cunning.
Enfant Terrible: He was extremely abusive to small animals he was a kid.
Face Palm: Does this frequently. Best example is in "To Salve And Salve Not" when he does the after going insane for about five seconds and his face cracking and turning blue.
Freudian Excuse: He explains his tendency to be violent with "the first sensation I felt in my life was unspeakable pain. From then on, I wanted to inflict the pain on others!". He was referring to a doctor who slapped him on the buttocks right after the carriage.
- That and the lye.
Genius Bruiser
Gonk: As John Kricfalusi himself once said, "when you look like Ren, you'll take whatever/whoever you can get".
Hair-Trigger Temper
The Hedonist
Heterosexual Life Partners: Word of God confirmed that the "heterosexual" part varies depending on what is funnier for a specific episode.
Humanlike Foot Anatomy
I Am Not Weasel: he was mistaken for a number of other animals, like a rat, cat and even a mosquito.
Insane Equals Violent: Sort of averted here. Ren is both insane and violent, but almost never at the same time. It's very scarce for him to perform acts of violence when he's having his psychotic Freak Outs. To the Pain monologues, on the other hand...
Intelligence Equals Isolation: Something he complains about in "Sven Hoek" and "Stimpy's Fan Club". Also, Stimpy seems to be his only friend and admirer.
Iron Butt Monkey
Jerkass
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the original series. More of a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk in the Games episodes, but returns to his old personality in Adult Party Cartoon!
Kick the Morality Pet
Large Ham
Laughing Mad: frequent - John Kricfalusi admitted Billy West did the most extreme laughs, seeing as John isn't a professional voice actor and was unable to laugh madly enough.
Lean and Mean
Man Hug: Not very manly in some instances, like "Stimpy's Fan Club".
The Mentally Disturbed
Nakama: Stimpy.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Ren is one of a long line of cartoon characters who have a voice based on Peter Lorre.
"No Respect" Guy
Odd Couple
Raised Catholic: Revealed in "Ren Seeks Help".
The Scrooge
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Stimpy's Sensitive Guy.
Shorter Means Smarter: this varies, of course, due to the Off-Modelness of the show - sometimes, Ren would be Stimpy's height, others, he would be noticeably smaller.
Small Name, Big Ego
Strong Family Resemblance: Averted with Sven. He has some typical canine traits, but in general resembles Stimpy much more than Ren, both in terms of appearance and personality.
- Ren's father would either resemble Ren physically, albeit taller (Ren Seeks Help), or look more like Sven (Hermit Ren).
  - His mother looks like him more.
Talking Animal
Took a Level in Jerkass: In the Games episodes.
Tsundere: Borderline type A.
Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist
Villain Protagonist: In The Games episodes and the occasional episodes of Adult Party Cartoon.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Type A with Stimpy.

Stimpson J. Cat

Voiced by: Billy West (original series), Eric Bauza (Adult Party Cartoon)

"I'm hiding in the closet...like an idiot."

Steeimpy is an overweight manx cat with little brains (not as extremely little as, say, Ralph Wiggum) and a big heart. Despite having to deal with Ren's insanity and violence, he manages to put up with everything.

Ambiguously Gay: Prominent in the original series (unlike Ren, he was never portrayed as attracted to any female character), obvious in Adult Party Cartoon.
Big Eater
Butt Monkey
The Caretaker
Catch Phrase: "Oh joy!"
Cats Are Mean: Subverted. Stimpy is the nicest character on the show.
Cloudcuckoolander
Collector of the Strange: Magic nose goblins.
Dumb Is Good
Extreme Doormat
Fat Best Friend
Fat Bloated EEDIOT
Fat Cat
Genius Ditz: Well, he thinks of and creates his own inventions. Some of which actually work, although their level of usefulness to humanity is unimpressive.
Gonk
Heterosexual Life Partners: On Stimpy's side, however, this is highly debatable. He may be either asexual, Bi the Way with no proof, or just down-straight gay. Adult Party Cartoon supports the last implication.
Humanlike Foot Anatomy: Subverted, as he's toeless.
I Am Not Weasel: George Liquor has mistaken him for a dog, but didn't change his stance in this matter even after being corrected by Stimpy.
Iron Butt Monkey
Kindhearted Simpleton
Mad Scientist: In his spare time, when he's not hanging around with Ren.
Morality Chain: To Ren, to an extent - we can't be sure due to cases of Depending on the Writer.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice is based on Larry Fine.
Odd Couple
The Pollyanna: Except for "Ren Seeks Help", when he finally loses it.
Reed Richards Is Useless: If Stimpy has the money and genius to make inventions like the Happy Helmet, why doesn't he sell some of them so that he and Ren won't have to keep changing jobs?
- Because they could be used for evil.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Ren's Manly Man.
Simpleton Voice: Modeled after another famous Cloudcuckoolander, Larry Fine.
Species Surname: Stimpson J. Cat.
Stupid Good
Talking Animal
White Gloves: Don't ask why he has fingernails over them, though.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Type A with Ren.

Other Recurring Characters

Mr. Horse

Voiced by: John Kricfalusi (seasons 1-2), Billy West (seasons 3-5), and Kricfalusi again in Adult Party Cartoon

"No, sir. I don't like it."

Mr. Horse is perhaps the Only Sane Man. But he might be the Ax Crazy one, too. He was a doctor, a psychologist, a psychically unbalanced creep, a war hero, a spokesman for the United Nations, an airplane pilot and many, many more. Who knows what he really is?

George Liquor

Doesn't the grin alone make you want to slap him?

Voiced by: Michael Pataki

"It's discipline that begets love!"

George Liquor is an American so conservative, he thinks Republicans are communists. However, that part of his character was expanded in his own cartoon, The Goddamn George Liquor Program - in The Ren and Stimpy Show, he's portrayed as a man with a strong faith in rules and discipline. He's only made two appearances on the show, due to the Nickelodeon execs' absolute condemnation for the character.

Catch Phrase: "What's this crap?!" and "HELLO! I'M GEORGE LIQOUR! AMERICAN!"
Did Not Do the Research: He insists that Stimpy is a dog, even when Stimpy corrects him.
Fat Bastard
Gonk
Jerkass: Probably unintentionally.
Large Ham
Stepford Smiler: Even when Ren was beating him up.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A strange example of a fictional character being one in real life. The episode with him getting brutally beaten up by Ren was one of the reasons for John Kricfalusi's firing.

Powdered Toastman

Voiced by: Gary Owens

Adam Westing: It's Gary Owens using his Space Ghost voice.
Breakout Character: He started out as a segment.
Catch Phrase: "Leave everythinng to me!" and "POWDEEEEEEEEEEERED TOOOOOOOAAAAST MAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Distress Call: He gets these frequently.
Gasshole
Large Ham
Something Person
Super Zeroes
Ten-Minute Retirement: In "Waffle Woman Vs. Powdered Toastman" after failing Little Johnny.

Muddy Mudskipper

Mr. Pipe

The Fire Chief

It's That Man Again

A smarmy, overly-enthusiastic travelling salesman who occasionally crosses paths with Ren and Stimpy. He also serves as the announcer for the Captain Hoek cartoons.

Captain Ersatz: He looks a bit like The Genie from Aladdin
Honest John's Dealership
Large Ham

Abner Dimwitt and Ewalt Nitwitt

Kowalski

Wilbur Cobb

A former cartoon producer, first introduced in the episode "Stimpy's Cartoon", to whom the years have not been kind. He showed up in a few other shorts as a stock "rambling, crazy old man" character.

Body Horror: He's so old, his body parts often fall off.
Cloudcuckoolander
Malaproper
Sitcom Arch Nemesis: "Walter Lantz! No-account son of a bus driver..."

The Shaven Yak

Mrs. Buttloaves

Old Man Hunger

Cloudcuckoolander
Dirty Old Man
Mad Libs Catchphrase: "I just LOVE skinny (verb)!"
Naked People Are Funny

Haggis McHaggis

Ax Crazy
Berserk Button: Overcooking his eggs.
Cloudcuckoolander: In "Scotsman In Space".
Hair-Trigger Temper
Large Ham
Nice Hat

One-Shot Characters

Svën Höek

Collector of the Strange: Band-Aids and spit.
The Ditz
Dogs Are Dumb
Fat Idiot: Just like Stimpy.
Nice Hat

Jerry The Bellybutton Elf

Ax Crazy
Berserk Button: LINTFOAF!?
Disney Acid Sequence / Word Salad Lyrics: "Climb Inside My World".
Does Not Like Spam: LINTLOAF?!?!?!?!
Eldritch Abomination: As Contorno
Hey, It's That Voice!: Gilbert Godfried.
Hulking Out: He turns into a giant bacon monster.
Large Ham

Sarge

Brainchild

Yes, that Ralph Bakshi. He appears solely in Fire Dogs II, with Ren and Stimpy hanging out with him.

Adam Westing: Yes, that really is Ralph Bakshi playing himself.
Fan Disservice: The scene where he's on the toilet.

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