Cartoon Network launched in October 1992 as a channel for old cartoons. Within a few years it was making its own, and those originals gave a whole generation its idea of what TV animation looked like: sharp angular designs, fast comic timing and creators who were allowed to be strange. Later decades swapped some of the slapstick for long-running stories, but the channel kept its habit of trusting individual artists with their own shows.
This guide is organised by era and then by show. Each section introduces the main characters and links to our dedicated cast page where we have one, including Adventure Time, Steven Universe and Teen Titans. For the rival network's characters, see our Nickelodeon guide.
- Launched
- October 1, 1992
- Owner
- Warner Bros. Discovery
- Original-series era
- From 1996 (Dexter's Laboratory)
- Night-time block
- Adult Swim
- Best-known studios
- Cartoon Network Studios, Hanna-Barbera
The 1990s Cartoon Cartoons
The channel's first originals mostly grew out of What a Cartoon!, a mid-90s showcase of shorts from young animators. The best-received shorts became series, branded as Cartoon Cartoons. They share a look, flat, graphic and highly stylised, and a sense of humour aimed at kids and adults at once.
Dexter
Dexter's Laboratory (1996) · Boy genius
Dexter is a tiny scientist with a thick, unplaceable accent and a vast secret laboratory hidden behind his bedroom bookcase. Every episode, his ambitious plans are wrecked by his sister. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, the show was the first of the Cartoon Cartoons to go to series and set the channel's visual style for years.
- Voice
- Christine Cavanaugh, later Candi Milo
Dee Dee
Dexter's Laboratory · Big sister
Dee Dee is Dexter's tall, ballet-dancing older sister, who wanders into his lab, presses the one button she shouldn't and leaves him in ruins. She seems airheaded, but she has a knack for getting her way, and the show is quietly on her side as often as Dexter's.
Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup
The Powerpuff Girls (1998) · Superheroes
Professor Utonium meant to make the perfect little girls out of sugar, spice and everything nice, but he spilled Chemical X into the mix. The result: three kindergarten-age superheroes who protect the city of Townsville before bedtime. Blossom is the bossy, clever leader, Bubbles the sweet one with a dangerous temper, and Buttercup the tough one who just wants to fight. Craig McCracken's show is one of the most influential girl-hero cartoons ever made.
- Voice
- Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, E.G. Daily
Mojo Jojo and HIM
The Powerpuff Girls · Villains
Mojo Jojo is a chimpanzee super-genius with an oversized brain and a habit of saying everything three times over. HIM is a much creepier figure, a red, lobster-clawed devil with an echoing falsetto. Between them they show the show's range, from silly to genuinely unsettling.
- Voice
- Roger L. Jackson (Mojo Jojo), Tom Kane (HIM)
Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo (1997) · Would-be ladies' man
Johnny is a muscle-bound man with a towering pompadour, an Elvis-style voice and complete confidence in his own appeal. Women reject him in every episode, usually violently. Created by Van Partible, it's a one-joke show that turns that joke into an endless series of variations.
- Voice
- Jeff Bennett
Cow and Chicken
Cow and Chicken (1997) · Siblings
A cow and a chicken who are somehow brother and sister, born to human parents seen only from the waist down. Cow is innocent and sweet, Chicken a cynical schemer, and the devilish Red Guy turns up in a new disguise each episode to torment them. It's one of the channel's most surreal early shows.
Ed, Edd and Eddy
Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999) · Neighbourhood scammers
Three boys with nearly the same name, spending every summer day trying to con the other kids in their cul-de-sac out of quarters for jawbreakers. Eddy is the greedy ringleader, Edd (known as Double D) the polite brain in a sock hat, and Ed the cheerful, gravy-loving strongman. Danny Antonucci's show ran for a decade and ended with a TV film that finally explained Eddy's bluster.
- Voice
- Matt Hill (Ed), Samuel Vincent (Edd), Tony Sampson (Eddy)
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999) · Reluctant hero
Courage is a small pink dog living with an elderly farm couple in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, where monsters, ghosts and alien visitors turn up constantly. He's terrified of all of them and saves his owners every time anyway. John R. Dilworth's show mixes slapstick with real horror imagery, and it's one of the channel's most memorable and most unsettling.
- Voice
- Marty Grabstein
Muriel and Eustace Bagge
Courage the Cowardly Dog · Courage's owners
Muriel is a kind Scottish woman who loves Courage and never notices the danger she's in. Eustace is her grouchy husband, who calls Courage a "stupid dog" and loves scaring him with a mask. Courage's devotion to Muriel is what makes him brave.
The 2000s: action, adventure and imaginary friends
In the 2000s Cartoon Network leaned into action. Genndy Tartakovsky returned with Samurai Jack, DC's young heroes came to the channel, and Ben 10 became one of its biggest franchises. Comedy continued with new creators and odder premises.
Samurai Jack
Samurai Jack (2001) · Wandering samurai
Jack is a samurai prince who was about to defeat the shape-shifting demon Aku when Aku flung him into a distant future ruled by evil. He spends the series looking for a way back to the past. The show is famous for its near-silent, cinematic action. A darker, more mature final season aired in 2017 on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
- Voice
- Phil LaMarr
Aku
Samurai Jack · Shape-shifting demon
Aku is a vast, flaming-browed demon who can become anything. He's a genuinely menacing tyrant who's also very funny, prone to tantrums and terrible jokes. His booming voice was originally provided by Mako, and later by Greg Baldwin.
Ben Tennyson
Ben 10 (2005) · Hero of the Omnitrix
Ben is a ten-year-old on a summer road trip with his grandfather Max and cousin Gwen when he finds the Omnitrix, a wristwatch that lets him turn into alien heroes. He's cocky and immature at first, and the franchise's sequels follow him growing up. Ben 10 became one of Cartoon Network's longest-running brands, with several sequel series and a reboot.
- Voice
- Tara Strong (original series)
Gwen and Grandpa Max
Ben 10 · Family and allies
Gwen is Ben's smart, sharp-tongued cousin, who turns out to have magical abilities of her own. Grandpa Max seems like an ordinary retiree with an RV and strange taste in food, but he's a former agent of a secret organisation that deals with aliens.
Billy, Mandy and Grim
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy · Unlikely trio
Billy and Mandy win the Grim Reaper as their permanent best friend after beating him in a game of limbo. Billy is cheerfully, catastrophically stupid; Mandy never smiles and is scarier than Death himself; Grim is a put-upon Jamaican-accented skeleton who just wants his old job back.
- Voice
- Richard Steven Horvitz, Grey DeLisle, Greg Eagles
Numbuh 1 and the Kids Next Door
Codename: Kids Next Door (2002) · Secret operatives
Nigel Uno, known as Numbuh 1, leads a treehouse cell of a worldwide children's organisation fighting adult tyranny like homework, broccoli and bedtimes. The team's homemade gadgets and deadly serious tone about trivial things are the joke.
Mac and Bloo
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004)
In a world where children's imaginary friends become real, eight-year-old Mac has to give up his friend Bloo, a blue blob with a big ego, to a group home for abandoned imaginary friends. Mac visits every day. Craig McCracken's second hit is full of strange, inventive character designs.
Robin and the Teen Titans
Teen Titans (2003) · Young superheroes
Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy live together in a giant T-shaped tower and fight crime in Jump City. The original anime-influenced series mixed comedy with surprisingly serious arcs. Our Teen Titans characters page covers the full cast.
Chowder
Chowder (2007) · Apprentice chef
A round, always-hungry apprentice to the great chef Mung Daal, in a city where every name is a food pun.
Flapjack
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (2008)
A sweet, gullible boy raised by a whale, following a con-man pirate in search of Candied Island.
The 2010s: story-driven shows
From 2010, Cartoon Network's biggest hits were shows that looked like simple comedies and gradually revealed whole mythologies. Several came from former storyboard artists on Adventure Time, and the channel gave them room to tell long, serialised stories.
Finn and Jake
Adventure Time (2010) · Heroes of Ooo
Finn is a sword-swinging boy who believes he's the last human in the Land of Ooo. Jake is his stretchy, laid-back adoptive brother, a dog. Their adventures look like cheerful nonsense at first, and gradually reveal a post-apocalyptic world full of grief, history and growing up. Pendleton Ward's show reshaped what a Cartoon Network series could be. See our Adventure Time characters guide for the full cast.
- Voice
- Jeremy Shada (Finn), John DiMaggio (Jake)
Princess Bubblegum, Marceline and the Ice King
Adventure Time · Rulers and outsiders
Princess Bubblegum is the brilliant, controlling ruler of the Candy Kingdom. Marceline is a thousand-year-old vampire rock musician. The Ice King is a lonely, ridiculous wizard who kidnaps princesses, and has one of the saddest backstories in children's animation.
- Voice
- Hynden Walch, Olivia Olson, Tom Kenny
Mordecai and Rigby
Regular Show (2010) · Park groundskeepers
A blue jay and a raccoon who work at a park and will do almost anything to avoid work. Their slacking always escalates into something supernatural, from deadly video games to cosmic battles. J.G. Quintel's show is about being in your twenties without much direction, and its finale took the pair to space.
- Voice
- J.G. Quintel (Mordecai), William Salyers (Rigby)
Benson, Skips, Pops, Muscle Man and High Five Ghost
Regular Show · Park staff
Benson is the gumball-machine boss who explodes with rage, Skips an immortal yeti, Pops a gentle lollipop-headed gentleman, and Muscle Man and High Five Ghost a pair of pranksters whose jokes are all about "my mom."
Gumball and Darwin Watterson
The Amazing World of Gumball (2011) · Brothers
Gumball is a twelve-year-old blue cat with endless confidence and no sense, and Darwin is his goldfish brother, who grew legs and joined the family. They live in Elmore, a town where 2D, 3D, puppet and live-action characters all share the same streets. Created by Ben Bocquelet, it's one of the channel's sharpest, most self-aware comedies.
Anais, Nicole and Richard
The Amazing World of Gumball · The Wattersons
Anais is Gumball's four-year-old sister and the smartest person in the family. Nicole is the overworked, terrifying-when-angry mother who holds everything together, and Richard the cheerfully lazy father.
Steven Universe
Steven Universe (2013) · Half-Gem boy
Steven is the son of a human musician and Rose Quartz, the leader of a band of alien rebels called the Crystal Gems. He inherited his mother's gem and lives with her old comrades. Rebecca Sugar's show follows him as he learns his powers, discovers the truth about his mother's war and tries to solve problems by understanding people. Our Steven Universe characters page covers the full cast.
- Voice
- Zach Callison
Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl
Steven Universe · The Crystal Gems
Garnet is the calm, all-seeing leader, and turns out to be a fusion of two Gems in love. Amethyst is the chaotic one who feels like she doesn't belong, and Pearl the precise, anxious one, still devoted to Steven's mother.
- Voice
- Estelle (Garnet), Michaela Dietz (Amethyst), Deedee Magno Hall (Pearl)
Wirt and Greg
Over the Garden Wall (2014) · Lost brothers
Two half-brothers lost in a strange autumn forest called the Unknown. Wirt is a nervous, poetic teenager; Greg his cheerful little brother with a pet frog. Patrick McHale's ten-episode miniseries is a favourite to rewatch every autumn.
- Voice
- Elijah Wood (Wirt), Collin Dean (Greg)
Grizzly, Panda and Ice Bear
We Bare Bears (2015) · Bear brothers
Three bear brothers trying to fit in with humans around San Francisco. Grizzly is the eager leader, Panda the sensitive one glued to his phone, and Ice Bear a stone-faced polar bear who speaks about himself in the third person and can do almost anything.
- Voice
- Eric Edelstein, Bobby Moynihan, Demetri Martin
Craig Williams
Craig of the Creek (2018)
A kid who explores the creek behind his suburban home with his friends Kelsey and J.P., where children run their own kingdoms.
Tulip Olsen
Infinity Train (2019)
A girl who wakes up on an endless train of strange worlds and has to work through her own problems to get home.
Clarence
Clarence (2014)
A relentlessly optimistic boy who sees joy in everything, with best friends Jeff and Sumo.
Voice cast highlights
A small group of voice actors turns up again and again across the channel's history. Tara Strong, Tom Kenny and Grey DeLisle in particular have voiced characters on both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
| Character | Show | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Dexter | Dexter's Laboratory | Christine Cavanaugh, Candi Milo |
| Bubbles | The Powerpuff Girls | Tara Strong |
| Buttercup | The Powerpuff Girls | E.G. Daily |
| Mojo Jojo | The Powerpuff Girls | Roger L. Jackson |
| Johnny Bravo | Johnny Bravo | Jeff Bennett |
| Courage | Courage the Cowardly Dog | Marty Grabstein |
| Samurai Jack | Samurai Jack | Phil LaMarr |
| Mandy | Billy & Mandy | Grey DeLisle |
| Ben Tennyson | Ben 10 (2005) | Tara Strong |
| Jake the Dog | Adventure Time | John DiMaggio |
| Ice King | Adventure Time | Tom Kenny |
| Mordecai | Regular Show | J.G. Quintel |
| Steven | Steven Universe | Zach Callison |
| Wirt | Over the Garden Wall | Elijah Wood |
For more on how these performers build characters, see our voice actors guide.
How Cartoon Network's characters changed over time
- 1992 The channel launches with classic Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons: Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, Tom and Jerry.
- 1996–2004 The Cartoon Cartoons era. Single-premise comedies with bold graphic designs: Dexter, the Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Courage, the Eds.
- 2001–2009 Action and adventure: Samurai Jack, Teen Titans, Ben 10, alongside comedies like Foster's and Billy & Mandy.
- 2010–2019 Serialised storytelling: Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, Infinity Train.
- 2020s Fewer new originals, more revivals and spin-offs, some released on streaming services rather than the channel itself.
The 2010s shows in particular share a lot with Disney's The Owl House and Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender: young heroes, found families and slowly revealed worlds. The cartoon characters hub collects all of our animated series pages.
Cartoon Network character names A–Z
A–B
- Aku — Samurai Jack
- Amethyst — Steven Universe
- Anais Watterson — Gumball
- Ben Tennyson — Ben 10
- Benson — Regular Show
- Billy — Billy & Mandy
- Bloo — Foster's
- Blossom — Powerpuff Girls
- Bubbles — Powerpuff Girls
- Buttercup — Powerpuff Girls
C–E
- Chicken — Cow and Chicken
- Chowder — Chowder
- Clarence — Clarence
- Courage — Courage the Cowardly Dog
- Cow — Cow and Chicken
- Craig Williams — Craig of the Creek
- Darwin Watterson — Gumball
- Dee Dee — Dexter's Laboratory
- Dexter — Dexter's Laboratory
- Ed, Edd and Eddy — Ed, Edd n Eddy
- Eustace Bagge — Courage
F–J
- Finn the Human — Adventure Time
- Flapjack — Flapjack
- Garnet — Steven Universe
- Greg — Over the Garden Wall
- Grim — Billy & Mandy
- Grizzly — We Bare Bears
- Gumball Watterson — Gumball
- Gwen Tennyson — Ben 10
- HIM — Powerpuff Girls
- Ice Bear — We Bare Bears
- Ice King — Adventure Time
- Jake the Dog — Adventure Time
- Johnny Bravo — Johnny Bravo
M–P
- Mac — Foster's
- Mandy — Billy & Mandy
- Marceline — Adventure Time
- Max Tennyson — Ben 10
- Mojo Jojo — Powerpuff Girls
- Mordecai — Regular Show
- Muriel Bagge — Courage
- Nicole Watterson — Gumball
- Numbuh 1 — Kids Next Door
- Panda — We Bare Bears
- Pearl — Steven Universe
- Pops — Regular Show
- Princess Bubblegum — Adventure Time
R–W
- Richard Watterson — Gumball
- Rigby — Regular Show
- Robin — Teen Titans
- Samurai Jack — Samurai Jack
- Skips — Regular Show
- Steven Universe — Steven Universe
- Tulip Olsen — Infinity Train
- Wirt — Over the Garden Wall
Frequently asked questions
What are the most iconic Cartoon Network characters?
The characters most closely tied to the channel are Dexter, the Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed, Edd and Eddy, Samurai Jack, Ben Tennyson, Finn and Jake from Adventure Time, Mordecai and Rigby, Gumball and Darwin, and Steven Universe.
What was Cartoon Network's first original show?
Cartoon Network launched in 1992 showing mostly older Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons. Its first original series was the talk-show parody Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 1994. The first major original cartoons came out of the What a Cartoon! shorts showcase, and Dexter's Laboratory became the first of those to be turned into a full series, in 1996.
What were the Cartoon Cartoons?
Cartoon Cartoons was the label Cartoon Network used for its original series from the late 1990s into the early 2000s, including Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Who are the main Cartoon Network girl characters?
Well-known female leads and co-leads include Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls, Dee Dee from Dexter's Laboratory, Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Gwen Tennyson from Ben 10, Marceline and Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time, and Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Connie from Steven Universe.
Is Teen Titans a Cartoon Network show?
Yes. The original Teen Titans aired on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2006, and the comedy spin-off Teen Titans Go! started on the channel in 2013. Both are adaptations of DC comics characters rather than Cartoon Network creations.
Is Rick and Morty on Cartoon Network?
It airs on Adult Swim, the adult programming block that shares Cartoon Network's channel at night. It's an adult show and is covered on our separate Rick and Morty page.