List of Archie Comics characters

Archie series

Main characters

Archie Andrews

Main article: Archie Andrews (comics)

The character Archie Andrews was created by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana and first appeared in a humor strip in Pep Comics #22 (December, 1941).

Within the context the strip and the larger series that grew out of it, Archie is a typical teenage boy, attending high school, participating in sports, and dating. Presented as well meaning, his accident-prone nature, easy infatuation with girls, and being caught in a love triangle between Betty and Veronica are the common source of stories.^[1]

Betty Cooper

Main article: Betty Cooper

The very kind hearted, slightly tomboyish blonde girl next door. She is romantically obsessed with Archie, but usually ends up playing second fiddle to Veronica Lodge. She has a passion for writing, and is a good student, athlete, cook, and auto mechanic. She cares deeply for the well being of others, and is always ready to help people with their problems. She has two siblings, Polly and Chick.^[1]

Veronica Lodge

Main article: Veronica Lodge

The rich, sometimes nice and sometimes snobbish girl. She is Betty's best friend and rival for Archie's affections. Her wealthy life has made her rather vain, spoiled and selfish. She is known for her fiery temper, her possessiveness when dating Archie, and her tendency to endlessly spend money. She and Betty remain close friends, however, and she enjoys popularity. She and Jughead rarely get along with each other.^[1]

Jughead Jones

Main article: Jughead Jones

Archie's best friend ever since they met as children. Jughead is obsessed with eating, and is most worried about how to obtain his next meal. He is also sarcastic, lazy, and apathetic towards girls. However, he maintains loyalty to Archie, and is usually the one who has to bail him out of his trouble. He is very clever in some ways, and ignorant in others. He usually wears his trademark gray crown beanie.^[1]

Reggie Mantle

Main article: Reggie Mantle

Archie’s main rival, particularly for Veronica's affections. She regularly dates both of them, but he does not understand why girls like Archie. He is a highly vain and conceited, thinks he can date anyone he wants, and expects everyone to think the world of him. He likes playing practical jokes on people. He is also an all-round talented athlete.^[1] Sometimes when Veronica dumps him he dates Betty.

Moose Mason

Main article: Moose Mason

A muscular star athlete who is a poor student and is possessive about his girlfriend. He also is known to be dyslexic.^[2] He will often threaten to beat up anyone (particularly Reggie) who upsets him. At the same time, he is also kind, sensitive and helpful toward his closest friends.^[1]

Midge Klump

Main article: Midge Klump

Moose's girlfriend who is often frustrated with his jealousy and lack of intelligence. Boys cannot even talk to her without incurring Moose's wrath. In reality, however, she does not often show interest in other boys. Reggie is particularly attracted to her.^[1]

Dilton Doiley

Main article: Dilton Doiley

The very intelligent nerd and inventor. He gets A's in every class except physical education. He is not especially interested in dating, and when he wants to, he is shy around girls. Despite his quirks, he fits in well with the gang, who often rely on his brains. He and Moose are best friends.^[1]

Ethel Muggs

Main article: "Big" Ethel Muggs

A tall, stringy, somewhat dorky but goodhearted teenager who always tries to win over Jughead, albeit unsuccessfully. Despite her unattractiveness and few dates, she has many close friends and leads an active social life.^[1]

Chuck Clayton

Main article: Chuck Clayton

An African-American initially introduced as a token character. Initially a shy loner, he came out as one of the most popular students in school. He is a very talented athlete and enjoys cartooning for fun. He has been a close friend of Archie's since his introduction.^[1]

Nancy Woods

Main article: Nancy Woods

Chuck's African-American steady girlfriend. She does not take an interest in other boys, being devoted to Chuck alone. However, she is often annoyed with his paying more attention to his hobbies than her. Nancy enjoys sports, fashion, cheerleading and journalism, and is a close friend of the other girls.^[1]

Kevin Keller

Main article: Kevin Keller

The first openly gay character in Archie Comics. This fact earned him a great deal of attention in American comic media. He first appeared in Veronica #202.^[3] Veronica was deeply attracted to him, but was initially unaware of his sexuality, so Jughead took advantage of this situation to avenge himelf against Veronica for humiliating him. Kevin's sexuality is not presented as controversial or stereotypical in the comics, keeping with Archie Comics' image of accepting diversity and inclusion.^[4]

Pop Tate

Main article: Pop Tate

The owner of the Chocklit Shoppe (in older comics, Pop's Malt Shop) where Archie and the gang frequently hang out. He is the self-appointed philanthropist of the gang, as his restaurant is where the kids often go when they have a problem and his life is devoted to making his customers happy.^[5]

Hiram Lodge

Main article: Hiram Lodge

Veronica's father. The richest man in Riverdale, he is usually portrayed as an industrialist. He often dreads meeting Archie due to Archie's clumsiness and knack for causing him trouble. He tolerates Archie, however, because he knows of Archie's more redeeming qualities, and allows his daughter to date whom she chooses.^[1]

Mr. Waldo Weatherbee

Main article: Mr. Weatherbee

The school principal, popularly referred to as 'The Bee'. A former United States Marine known for being obese and bald, he is often a victim of Archie's clumsiness, which often puts the latter in detention. He is often, however, quite helpful and friendly to students.^[5]

Miss Geraldine Grundy

Main article: Miss Grundy

A teacher at Riverdale High. She is usually portrayed as an English teacher, though she is occasionally shown teaching other subjects. She is well-aged, slim with white hair, and her personality alternates between harsh and motherly.^[5]

Family members

Main article: Families of Archie's Gang

• Fred Andrews: Archie's middle-class businessman father. Highly conservative and old-fashioned, he is frequently bothered by his son's behavior, partly due to the generation gap. However, he and Archie have a number of common interests, and share many father/son activities. He has a pear-shaped build and is losing his hair.^[1]
• Mary Andrews: Archie's typical all-American suburban mother who works for a real estate agency. She is more tolerant of Archie's behavior than her husband, and is usually the only one who can maintain order in the house.^[5]
• Hermione Lodge: Veronica's slender, white-haired mother and a wealthy patrician. She is often involved in charity work, and is a member of a number of ladies' social groups. She appears far less frequently than her husband, however, and rarely plays a significant role.^[1]
• Hubert Smithers: The bald, portly butler to the Lodge Mansion and the most frequently seen family servant. A running gag is how Archie annoys Smithers as much as he annoys Mr. Lodge, and Smithers takes great pleasure in throwing Archie out of the house. Despite his frustration with Archie's clumsiness, he remains faithful to the Lodges.
• Hal Cooper: Betty's middle-class but hard-working and civic-minded father who works as a druggist. Often frustrated by his daughter's antics and perplexed by the female nature, he nevertheless supports Betty in whatever she does. He also introduced Betty to sports, and is proud of her.^[5]
• Alice Cooper: Betty's caring, highly supportive mother who is a close friend of Mary Andrews and Hermione Lodge. They have a close mother/daughter bond, but she hopes that Betty will outgrow her tomboy phase.^[5]
• Polly and Chic Cooper: Betty's older sister and older brother who debuted in the Little Archie, but later became part of the main continuity. Polly is a reporter in San Francisco and Chic is a secret agent for the government.
• Forsythe Pendleton Jones II: Jughead's father, who looks just like his son, only older and balding. Sometimes he is portrayed just as lazy as he is. As a teenager, he enjoyed sports, and wishes Jughead would take an interest in them too. Though he occasionally deals with money problems, he is a good provider for his family.^[5]
• Gladys Jones: Jughead's mother. While she mainly stays home to take care of her daughter, she is, in reality, the hardest working member of her family, always trying to get her son to do his chores.^[5]
• Forsythia "Jellybean" Jones: Jughead's little sister whose age varies from infant to preschooler depending on the story; she can sometimes manage simple words, and sometimes only speaks in thought bubbles. Despite her youth she knows whom to trust. Jellybean idolizes her brother, who devotes much of his time to babysitting and playing with her.^[5]
• Hot Dog: Jughead's faithful pet dog, a mutt who resembles a sheepdog, who is sometimes a mascot for the gang. Capable of conscious thought, he behaves in rather human-like ways and often doesn’t consider himself a pet. He and Jughead have much in common, namely their appetites and laziness.^[5]

Faculty of Riverdale High School

Major recurring characters

• "Professor" Elmer Benjamin Flutesnoot: A science teacher, usually chemistry, and also at times the band teacher (particularly in Little Archie) in whose face Archie’s chemistry experiments blow up. His favorite student is Dilton, due to Dilton’s high marks and passion for science, and the two frequently collaborate on projects.^[5]
• Coach Kleats: The head physical education teacher who loses his temper when things do not go his way. He first appeared in Pep Comics #24. Atypically overweight for an athletic coach, he was a fantastic athlete when he was younger, and can play well to a certain extent. He mainly teaches baseball and American football and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of both. He is known to have unstable interpersonal relationships due to his irritability. He has a constant problem in getting the athletic best out of his students and sometimes considers Archie and Jughead inadequate. He always tries his best to get Archie and Reggie's minds off girls and Jughead to stop being lazy and make an effort, but rarely succeeds for long. He often gets undesired advice from Mr. Weatherbee on how to turn his losing teams around. At one point, he gets so frustrated that he resigns to allow Weatherbee to coach the basketball team his way. Weatherbee's overconservative offense resulted in the Bulldogs losing every game, setting a record for fewest points scored and the fans demanding Kleats' rehiring. Sometimes he worries that he has grown too old for the job, particularly in contrast to his friend and fellow gym teacher, the trim Coach Clayton. In one story, it is revealed that he has arthritis in his hand. He thought that it would mean the end of his career as an athletic coach, but Archie helped him realize that his ability to teach is what really counts.^[5]
• Coach Harry (originally Floyd) Clayton: Chuck's dad, a physical education teacher who is portrayed as warm and open to his students when they have problems. He is the basketball and wrestling coach and the only major faculty member who is known to be married.^[5]
• Miss Bernice Beazley: The somewhat grouchy school cafeteria cook. Other than Jughead and Mr. Weatherbee, people often dislike her cooking, but the students always stand beside her. Close friends with Mr. Svenson, she is sometimes revealed to have a soft side underneath her attitude.^[5]
• Mr. Svenson: The Swedish school custodian who is generally good toward the students, who sometimes help him out if he has problems. He often stays at school when it is closed and cleans. Though not the most brilliant person around, he does have practical sense.^[5]
• Miss Haggly: Supposedly the eldest teacher in the school, she is overweight with white hair and a shriveled face. Despite her age, she acts surprisingly hip and is rarely troubled by the antics of teenagers. She has been featured less and less in the comics since the 1990s, though is by no means a retired character.
• Patton Howitzer: A crazed, ultra-strict former Drill Sergeant who rules the students with an iron fist. He's typically used as a war-obsessed enforcer to Mr. Weatherbee, and is the meanest of all the teachers.
• Miss Phlips: Mr. Weatherbee’s secretary, a fairly attractive woman compared to other female faculty members. She has not been around as long as many other well-known faculty members. She is portrayed as a young, attractive woman, unlike aging faculty members like Miss Grundy, Miss Beazley, Miss Haggly and other faculty members who have looked old since the early years of Archie Comics. Notably, her name is spelled "Phlips" with one "i", instead of her having the common last name "Philips". Calm, efficient and reliable, she often acts as a liaison for the students and holds together what little order is possible at the school.
• Superindentent Herkimer Hassle: The superintendent of the local school district and Mr. Weatherbee's superior. Mr. Weatherbee frequently worries when Superintendent Hassle visits the school, though Hassle is often more impressed with the students' actions than with Weatherbee's. In some older stories, he was called Superintendent Smith.

Minor characters

• Mr. Jenkins: An old man with a white beard who was the original school counselor at Riverdale High. He got replaced by Mr. Grimley because Mr. Jenkins ended up suffering from a nervous breakdown. Mr. Jenkins is currently in the hospital and seems to be responding well to treatment.
• Mr. Grimley: Mr. Jenkins's replacement. He often suffered severe ulcers after hearing the Riverdale students' outlandish career plans. He did not stay at Riverdale very long, for obvious reasons. At some point, he apparently switched to teaching Driver's Education, hoping it would be less stressful, but found it caused him the same problems.
• Ms. Burble: The most recent counselor at Riverdale High. Like her predecessors, this African-American woman is bothered by the students' silly career ideas, but always manages to keep her cool about it, and it never affects her health. Originally called Miss Burble, but in Tales of Riverdale #1, she was called Mrs. Burble, implying that she has since married.
• Mr. Malcolm Meeks: A timid substitute teacher in the 1980s. He eventually revealed that his timorous nature was the result of his frustration of being unable to save a comrade when he served in the Vietnam War. Finally Meeks found peace with himself when he saved the victims of a helicopter crash, and took a full-time teaching job at the nearby Tri-City College Preparatory High School. He was just minutes away from the local airport where he would spend his after school hours investigating the wonders of flight. Someday, he mused, he would fly with the local Blue Eagles Team and touch the sky and go beyond the limits of the clouds. Like many characters, he disappeared from view. It is revealed in a later comic that he has moved to Central High to teach.
• Mr. Elmer Fluteweed or Mr. Philo Fluteweed: The original music teacher and band instructor. He seems to have been an early version of Mr. Flutesnoot and as such has not appeared in many years - this ambiguity makes giving a definitive first appearance impossible. He has mainly appeared in the Little Archie universe.
• Miss Crouton: The school's Home Economics teacher, primarily seen in the early 1990s, and on and off in later years (including Betty and Veronica Spectacular # 71 and the cover of Archie # 565).
• Mr. Kroskut (sometimes referred to as "Mr. Wood"); A surly, sarcastic shop teacher with a perpetual scowl on his chiseled face. He has not been seen since the 1980s.
• Mr. Adams: A Humanities teacher who first appeared in Archie & Friends #117. He is an internationalist, and believes travel abroad is educational. In his first year at Riverdale High, he was able to organize a five-city European & African trip for Riverdale students (including Archie and the gang). Mr. Adams is African-American.
• Patti Pacer and Greta Grappler: Riverdale High's female coaches who specifically teach the girls' teams. Pacer, appearing in 1988, was the faculty sponsor for the cheerleading squad. She was noted for pushing the team and holding grueling practices, which led to success. Coach Kleats found her implausibly young to teach and was initially reluctant to accept her. Later stories featured Grappler, a tough, aggressive coach with a bulky, muscular build, contrasting the physically attractive Patti Pacer.
• Other, short-lived recurring teachers include Miss Simpkins (Mathematics), Ms. Shapely (substitute teacher, 1970s-1980s), Ms. Samantha Lovett (Drama teacher, 1987), Mr. Money (Art, 1980s), Ms. Kandinsky (Art, early 1990s), Mr. Flores (Computer Science, early 1990s), and Mr. Jordan (shop class).

Gaston: The French cook for the Lodge family. Gaston is often still in Archie Comics today.

Auxiliary members of Archie's gang

• Adam Chisholm: A young guy who moved to Riverdale in Betty #87. He is lanky, with brown hair, a thin face, and a medium-built frame. He is slightly taller than Archie or Reggie. He enjoys playing sports such as surfing and football. As soon as he arrived, he became one of Betty's dating partners. He is Archie’s main rival for Betty’s affections. After he was introduced, he was deeply in love with Betty. She started falling for him, which gave her a dilemma: should she stay with Archie who frequently neglected her, or leave him for Adam? Readers were asked what she should do. This was followed up in Betty #99 and #100, where Betty appeared to be leaving Archie for good, but the two-part story ended with Betty doing what readers voted for: date both. She continues to do so to this day. Like the Blossom twins, Adam has proven a successful addition to the infamous love triangle (though, with Reggie, Adam and the Blossom twins involved, it is not really a triangle anymore). Archie thinks very lowly of him, but he’s only prejudiced against Adam because he doesn’t want him to steal Betty from him. One of the few times when Archie gives Betty his undivided attentions is when there’s a chance of Adam getting a date with her. Adam shows little interest in any other girl. In Jughead & Friends #1, his date for a dance was Ginger Lopez, but that was mainly because Betty was already going to the dance with Archie.
• Fangs Fogarty: A fat, snaggle-toothed bully who tormented Archie, Jughead and Reggie in their younger years. Fangs was an unreasonable thug who brutally battered his classmates, either because they looked at his self-appointed girlfriend Penny, they insulted him behind his back, or for no reason at all. He was, however, good friends with Dilton. When, in one story, Archie and Reggie (not yet knowing this) learned that Dilton is a karate expert—surpassed, he says, only by his friend Edward—they persuaded him to confront Fangs, presuming Dilton could beat him up. In preparation for the encounter, Archie and Reggie deliberately provoked Fangs into a fit of rage. However, when Dilton arrived, he cheerfully greeted Fangs as "Edward." Presumably, Fangs moved away at around the time Moose Mason arrived in Riverdale. Fangs eventually showed up in the mainstream comics in a story titled "Blast from the Past", first printed in Archie's Double Digest #117 (August 2000). Now a tall, muscular, handsome young man nicknamed Smiley after getting his orthodontic work, he had returned to Riverdale to apologize to those he had formerly antagonized. In this story, Fangs' first name is given as Fred instead of Edward.
• Kevin Keller: An Army brat, Kevin moved to Riverdale in 2010. He is the first openly gay character in Archie Comics history. He draws the romantic interest of both Veronica and Betty but, for obvious reasons, is uninterested. He bonds with Jughead over their mutual love of food.
• Leroy: Veronica’s young cousin who is apparently in Elementary School. He is something of a troublemaker and prankster. He has been a minor but consistently recurring character since the 1940s. It is unknown whether he and Veronica share a last name.
• Ginger Lopez: A Spanish-American girl who lives in Riverdale with her parents and her younger twin sisters Eliza and Teresa. To keeps her from being confused with Maria Rodriguez, she has blonde bangs and a single mole on her cheek. Ginger works as teen editor for "Sparkle Magazine". She works with many models, and Betty and Veronica often help her create new fashion lines. "Sparkle" is located in New York City and Ginger spends half of her time there and the other half in Riverdale. She has no permanent boyfriend, and frequently dates outside of her ethnicity, unlike Maria and Nancy. Her introduction was a bit different from other characters. In the early 2000s, she was originally intended to replace Cheryl Blossom, whom the creators of Archie Comics thought was not popular enough to keep in the comics. In some story reprints, Cheryl’s hair was re-colored and the text was changed to have her be replaced by Ginger in the story. Many fans were not happy with this, so Cheryl was brought back once again, and Ginger was given stories of her own as a separate character. Initially, Ginger had Cheryl’s personality, and so appeared to be a rival of Veronica. But with Cheryl’s return, there was no need for this, so Ginger’s mean streak was dropped and she became a much nicer character.
• Jinx Malloy: A gloomy, scrawny fellow who causes horrible calamity wherever he goes, and thus has earned the scorn of Riverdale's citizens, who often take great lengths to avoid him. Archie and his friends are often victims of the misfortune he spreads. Stories featuring him tend to be about the characters trying to protect themselves from the bad luck he causes. Sometimes, Archie and the gang use his bad luck to influence their enemies. He usually appears slightly shorter than most of the gang, and has sandy hair and a prominent, angular nose. When he causes trouble, he doesn’t seem to know it’s happening, so he doesn’t know why people avoid him or call him "Jinx". This implies that Jinx is not his real first name. Although he appeared at least as early as the 1960s (possibly longer) and has continued to make appearances since, he still only appears occasionally and randomly. This makes him and Cricket O'Dell the longest-lasting minor teenaged characters in Archie Comics. Briefly, Jinx had a girlfriend known as Lucky Penny because of her constant good luck. She was the only one who could be around him without becoming victim to his because extremely good luck came to her whatever she did. Her good luck did not work on anyone else, so Jinx would cause as much bad luck as ever. However, Penny did not prove to be an interesting character, and appeared only in a couple of stories.
• Marcy McDermott: Veronica's nerdy freshman cousin who comes to visit her now and then. She is a devoted fan of science fiction who enjoys comic book conventions. Veronica is a bit indifferent towards her lifestyle, but Marcy still hangs around and sometimes works as Veronica's assistant whenever needed.
• Cricket O'Dell: A pert, friendly girl with an amazing talent: she is able to smell money or monetary values. Her nose can also determine whether treasure is genuine or not. Despite this trait, she remains humble, and her friends (most particularly Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge) swear by her ability. Her debut suggests that Mr. Lodge also has this unusual ability, and is quite disappointed in Veronica for her lack of it. In this story, she not only could smell money; she was in love with it. She would fall in love any boy who had money, and once suspected Archie to be one of them because he dated Veronica Lodge. Nowadays, she is not portrayed as so crazy about money; she simply has the ability to smell it. First introduced in the Archie #133 (1962), Cricket appeared in the mainstream stories as well as the pre-Pussycats Josie series. In one story, Alexandra Cabot used Cricket’s ability to her advantage. Cricket soon disappeared from the comics, but was later brought back into view. Like a number of other characters, her appearances proved to have extremely limited use. She has appeared sporadically since then, as she often moves in and out of the cast, but she has yet to be officially retired. Cricket shares some physical resemblance with Archie, namely red hair and freckles. This does not necessarily mean they are related, especially considering that Betty introduced them and Cricket briefly had a crush on Archie. Jason Blossom once thought of her as a novelty brought her to meet his frat brothers. His plan to impress them backfired, as the overwhelming aroma of money knocked her out cold and burned her nostrils.
• Ambrose Pipps: A small, shy boy with a large nose and an outsized baseball cap pulled over his face. Like Fangs Fogarty, most of his appearances have been in the Little Archie series. Ambrose was the tagalong of Archie's gang when they were young. Although Ambrose's loyalty was unflagging, Little Archie took pride in bullying and exploiting him, without ever letting him join the "good ol' gang." Although a teenage Archie was apprehensive when Ambrose returned to Riverdale after several years' absence, Ambrose held no grudges, and the two became good friends. In the story "The Great Quiz Whiz Contest" reprinted in Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #108, Archie pulls out his lucky double sided penny from his pocket that his pal Ambrose gave him. Both Ambrose and Fangs have very brief cameos in Tales From Riverdale #24.
• Raj Patel: Yet another new student at Riverdale High. Raj is of Indian descent and lives with his father Ravi, his mother Mona and his sister Tina. He befriended Archie after moving to town. Raj’s favorite hobby is filmmaking. He is an expert on no budget special effects, and builds his own models for science fiction movies. He is well liked at school, but sometimes his filmmaking gets on people's nerves. Ravi Patel is a doctor who wishes his son would take up more serious issues, while Mona is more supportive. Tina is a year younger than Raj, but she is such a good student that she was moved up a grade so that both she and Raj are in the same year as Archie and the gang. After Raj's introduction, he often appeared in daily newspaper strips as well.
• Brigitte Reilly: A brown haired, amply contoured girl who was introduced in the late-1990s and who is close to Betty and Veronica. She is an exchange student from Waynesboro High, Centerville. Betty was the first one to meet her and introduced to Veronica and others. Brigitte is one of the few female teenagers in the Archie Comics universe without an hourglass figure. Although she lacks the sexy appearance of most of Riverdale’s girls, she is not portrayed in a comical or unflattering way (as she might have in the early years of Archie), but has been made as attractive as possible. Briefly, Maria was actually jealous of Brigitte’s friendship with Frankie. When she was introduced, she joined the school show, and turned out to be good at singing. She’s also a guitarist, and has a record deal in Central City. In a few stories, she is in a musical duet consisting of herself and Frankie Valdez—she sings and Frankie plays the guitar—but in other stories, she is often a solo artist. When the Spice Girls were popular, she, Betty and Veronica formed a group called the Sassy Girls. However, Brigitte outshined the others, so Betty and Veronica returned to the Archies and let Brigitte go solo. Brigitte is known to date Dilton Doiley. Generally peaceful and friendly, Brigitte is on good terms with everyone in Riverdale. For a minor character, she has been featured prominently on the Archie Comics website.^[6]
• Maria Rodriguez: Frankie Valdez' girlfriend, a Hispanic girl who started out as shy but friendly, and a bit of a “plain Jane”. Despite this, she eventually evolved into a more forceful and fiery character. In the past, she was seldom seen except in conjunction with Frankie. She was introduced as the daughter of the new vice-principal Mr. Rodriguez. While Maria continued to appear, her father did not. Frankie and Maria were added for ethnic diversity, following the success of Chuck and Nancy. The four of them became good friends. For a time, she had black hair and usually wore it in a bun. This was quickly changed to brown flowing hair. Maria is well liked among Archie's gang. Initially, when Frankie and Brigitte became a musical duet, Maria got jealous. She was worried that he was going to leave her for Brigitte, but thankfully came to realize that the two are just friends. Along with Chuck and Nancy, and Moose and Midge, Frankie and Maria are one of the few definite couples in Archie Comics. She is also a friend of Betty and Veronica.
• Trula Twyst: A femme fatale introduced in a three-part miniseries in Jughead #89-91. She formed an organization of girls called J.U.S.T. (Jughead Under Surveillance Team) to help make Jughead forget about food, television, and oversleeping in favour of girls. The resulting battle of the sexes was ultimately a draw and Jughead retained his old ways. She still occasionally appears and causes trouble for him. A student of psychology, she studies the behaviour of her peers, especially Jughead’s, and is able to predict his every move. While Reggie’s schemes against Jughead tend to backfire, Jughead can’t escape Trula. Her mother is Krista Twyst, a well-known writer.
• Frankie Valdez: A student of Puerto Rican ancestry, Frankie is flamboyant, romantic, quick-witted, and a bit of a show-off, which has earned him the rivalry of Reggie Mantle. At first, many considered him to be simply another Reggie, although he is nowhere near the exaggerated narcissist/ladies man that Reggie is. However, this comparison not prevented him from joining the cast permanently. He is good friends with Archie Andrews and Chuck Clayton. Maria is his long-suffering girlfriend, although their relationship has gone through many ups and downs through the years. The two had small roles in the first issue each of Tales From Riverdale Digest and Jughead and Friends Digest. Frankie sings and plays the guitar. He once won an American Idol-style competition, singing an original song he co-wrote with Maria. The Archies and Brigitte Reilly (Riverdale’s token "chubby" girl) were among his competition. Frankie also is in a singing duet group with Brigitte. They are very popular in the Riverdale scene. Their partnership opened up the possibility of a new love triangle between Brigitte, Frankie and Maria, but it did not last. Frankie is also a great ballroom dancer.
• Wendy Weatherbee: The artistic, quirky and individualist niece of Riverdale High's principal Waldo Weatherbee. Once the boys found out that she was Mr. Weatherbee's niece, they avoided her, afraid of upsetting the principal if they dated her niece. This makes it difficult for her to find a date.
• Tomoko Yoshida: A new Japanese exchange student who hangs around with Betty. She was added in the early 2000s. She is an excellent writer and works on the school paper. Like Betty, her dream is to be a professional writer. Before her introduction, Asian people had been seen in the comics, but never as recurring characters. Other Asian teenagers may still appear, but Tomoko is the most frequently seen. She has a brother named Akira. To date, she has no steady boyfriend, although she occasionally attracts the attention of boys. She has been billed as the star of some stories, such as one where she based her fictional characters on Archie and the gang.

Other teenagers

1940s-early 1960s

• Cora: A brown-haired girl who appeared only in single-page comic strips in the 1960s. She had Josie's classic hairdo (complete with a tiny bow), and was a girlfriend of Reggie.
• Debbie and Dilly Dalton: In the early years, identical blonde twins Debbie and Dilly Dalton appeared. Both pursued Jughead, but enjoyed sharing him.
• Eye-da: A student with one enormous eye where a head should be. She appeared at least twice in the late 1950s, usually as only an unexpected visual punchline at the end of a typical story featuring Betty and Veronica. However, she became a significant character many years later in one incarnation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. When Sabrina and her aunts moved to Gravestone Heights, a city inhabited by witches, ghosts and monsters, Eye-da (who seemed less out of place there) and an invisible girl named Cleara Glass became Sabrina’s best friends.
• Ophelia Gluetenschnable: This tall stringy girl evolved into Ethel Muggs, but was even less attractive than Ethel. Her boy-chasing tendencies, particularly toward Jughead, made her seem a bit crazy. In one story, she had unattractive friends Minnie Muenster and Sophie Schlitz who were interested in Archie and Reggie.
• Lottie Little: This petite blonde girl was actually an early concept of Midge because she dated Moose, and he beat up anyone who talked to her. She showed some romantic interest in Jughead.
• Streaky Shore: In the 1940s, he was a jock at Riverdale High. His nickname came from his ability to run fast. He was apparently conceived as a friend of Reggie, but didn’t last beyond the first few years.
• Theodosius Tadpole: Theodosius (Theo for short) was an early concept of Dilton Doiley in the 1940s. After a few appearances, he was later renamed Dilbert, and finally Dilton. Interestingly, as Theodosius, he had a sister named May (a shy, bespectacled brunette, also a Riverdale High Student), but Dilton appears to be an only child.
• U.G.A.J.: United Girls Against Jughead. This group of girls is a union dedicated to making Jughead start liking girls, lest other boys follow his lead. Although Archie Comics abandoned the concept in the 1960s, Trula Twyst’s introduction brought J.U.S.T. (Jughead Under Surveillance Team), a similar group that also targets Jughead’s eating and sleeping habits as well as his dislike of girls. J.U.S.T. disappeared after Trula Twyst became a permanent character, but the saga’s popularity spawned a reintroduction of U.G.A.J. (though, unlike J.U.S.T., they still only target Jughead’s dislike of girls).

Late 1960s-1970s

• Angel Angelino: Even stronger than Moose and a bigger ladies man than Reggie, this character first appeared in the more serious "adventure" stories in Life With Archie, beginning with issue #80. In stories about him, he often seemed infallible when compared another boy...until the end when it is revealed that he’s not perfect. However, Reggie and Moose would have worked as well in his role, so he had no reason to stay in the comics.
• Aquarius: A hippie student with a laid-back outlook on life. A strict vegetarian ("I don't dig zappin' animals for food and rags, man"), he polarized the Archie gang with his views (so far as was allowed within Archie Comics, of course), but hasn't been seen since the 1970s.
• Berdie: A student from England, Berdie was a carefree character whose main humorous function was misunderstandings arising from his thick Cockney accent. (For example, Miss Grundy once thought that Berdie was transferring to a private high school, when in reality he was going to a private eye school.) Presumably Berdie eventually did change schools, as he hasn't been seen since the 1970s.
• Central High Students: Riverdale's biggest scholastic and athletic rival, Central High seems to consist of nothing but villainous types. The males are generally thuggish, conniving brutes, and the females are usually lecherous, scheming vamps. In most of their encounters, Central students seldom compete without using unsportsmanlike conduct, if not out-and-out cheating. Often the coaches and teachers are not only aware of this skullduggery, but encourage it. In most cases, Central's team colors are bright red, contrasting Riverdale's blue.
• Cheryl and Lori: Two girls who were apparently the forerunners of Debbie and Joani. After Jughead got a strange new hatpin, he began dating girls. Supposedly, the hatpin was like a love magnet: It made girls, particularly Cheryl and Lori, find him attractive. However, fans preferred the old Jughead, so his ladies-man tendencies disappeared quickly. Any later attempts to give Jughead girlfriends did not last long either. Cheryl, who was blonde, is not the same character as red-haired Cheryl Blossom, who first appeared years later.
• Geri: A girl who appeared a few times in single-page gags in the 1960s. She can be recognized by her long golden hair worn in a flip.

1980s-early 1990s

• Adam the Alien: Adam debuted in Archie #280. While he appeared to be a white-haired human teenager with angular eyes, Adam is in reality an extraterrestrial being. Raised from infancy on a prison-like orphanage asteroid, Adam escaped and now makes his way through the universe trying to discover his home planet. Among Adam's talents are shapeshifting, teleportation and levitation. Adam spent some time at Riverdale looking for clues about his past, but ultimately moved on to other planets. Not to be confused with Adam Chisholm.
• Aerobic Liz: Liz is the local Riverdale aerobics instructor who appeared in a few stories in the early 1990s. She appears occasionally in Jughead and is fascinated by Jughead's metabolism but encourages him to be healthy. She has also taught Veronica an aerobics class when Veronica panicked over gaining some weight. She threw Veronica out of her place, but later Veronica said she admired Liz for standing up to her. She had red hair and freckles, but there was nothing to suggest a connection between her and Archie.
• Bunny and Cedric: Two students at Pembrooke Academy and sometime friends and co-conspirators of Cheryl and Jason Blossom. Cedric, who sports blonde curly hair, is Jason’s best friend and occasionally accompanies him in his schemes as his sidekick, while black-haired Bunny is closer to Cheryl. As members of the Snob Hill Society, Bunny and Cedric disdain Cheryl and Jason's pursuit of Archie, Betty and Veronica (the "townies") and take steps towards sabotaging the relationships. Both Bunny and Cedric are perpetually suave and emotionally distant, and speak in very clipped and haughty tones. Bunny was renamed Priscilla in some later stories.
• Anita Chavita: A character that briefly appeared in the 1990s, who was both African-American and paraplegic. Rather than handling her disabilities naturally, Anita kept bringing them to the surface with comments like "my legs may not work, but at least my brain does". Ultimately she was jettisoned due to lack of reader interest. However, she is worthy of note because she was a love interest for both Jughead Jones and Dilton Doiley, making her the first instance, in an Archie comic, of interracial romance.
• Debbie and Joani: The two characters were introduced when the writers experimented with giving Jughead not one, but two romantic interests. This gave Jughead his own Betty-Archie-Veronica-style love triangle. Debbie was a new girl at Riverdale High whom Jughead developed a crush on, and Joani Jumpp was an old flame from Jughead's past who had moved to Riverdale and hoped to resume their relationship. While both Debbie and Joani dated Jughead for a time (Joani even got on at least one Digest cover), neither of them proved to be very long-lasting characters. After Jughead ceased dating the both of them, the two became friends and both girls faded from view. They made a cameo appearance in Tales from Riverdale # 24 in the story Civil Chores Part 3.
• Claude and Raoul Hopper: Two acquaintances of Archie and the gang who were skilled in breakdancing. They had a rather bizarre role, often showing up out of the blue to provide sage advice to Archie, based on their inner-city background. Despite their mutual last name, Claude is tall and black and Raoul (sometimes spelled Raul) is short and white. As a dancing duo, they dubbed themselves the Hip Hoppers, and have been known to work with the Archies. The Hoppers have not been seen since the 1990s, though they have made some appearances in recent comics to help Archie and his friends whenever there was a problem.
• Crystal the New Age Girl: A character briefly brought in to capitalize on the New Age movement, who endorsed transcendental meditation and the like. She ran a store of New Age products in the mall in the early 1990s. During this time, she made friends with Aerobic Liz, who ran the fitness centre next door. In her first appearance, she, Liz, and Veronica did a lively rap-style dance in her shop. Although she appears to be a hippie, she is not from the hippie era; mainstream popularity of the New Age came in the 1980s and 1990s. As the fad died out, Crystal made a quiet exit.
• Pencil Neck G.: A geeky boy at Archie's school, he has long messy hair and a floppy wool hat that covers his eyes. He also appeared in the Freshman Years miniseries.
• Jeffrey: This blind boy, constantly seen with his guide dog Spike, was a love interest for Ethel Muggs. The idea for his character was based on the fact that the blind cannot judge people by appearance, so Jeff would find Ethel attractive in ways that most boys fail to notice. He was around at the same time as Anita (see above), and was dropped for the same reason.
• Lucky Penny: Penny was Jinx Malloy’s short-lived girlfriend. Nicknamed "Lucky Penny", she had the ability to ward off Jinx's bad luck with her good luck. In her first appearance, everyone warned her about Jinx, but she still managed to find gold coins hidden under a tree and then got a job as a model for an advertising company, proving her immunity to Jinx’s bad luck. She appeared at least twice.
• The Potholes: A heavy metal band and friends of Jughead when he was infatuated with the skateboarding culture. While the four band members - Scum, Slime, Scud and Slug - differed visually, they had no real personalities to speak of. Ultimately, Jughead quit hanging out with them, and they vanished.
• Glenn Scarpelli: It is rare for Archie Comics to feature actual celebrities in their comics rather than parodies of celebrities. However, in the 1980s, actor-singer Glenn Scarpelli, the son of Archie Comics artist Henry Scarpelli, made a few appearances, when his career was at its height.
• Sundance: A transfer student from California, Sundance is similar to Aquarius in that he is a "hippie" as well as a vegetarian. His Californian way of speaking (using terms like "bummed out") captured Betty and Veronica, but they began racing back when Sundance introduced his sister Moondance, who Archie and Reggie found extremely attractive.
• Sassy Thrasher: During the late-1980s and early 1990s, Jughead got a "skater punk" makeover. At this time, Sassy, like Anita, Jeff, and the Potholes, was added as a member of the Jughead cast. She was very rebellious and fond of skateboarding, but proved no more interesting than the others. She, like the other characters in the makeover, didn’t last very long, nor did the makeover itself.

Late 1990s

• Googie Gilmore: In the late 1990s, Jughead and his family moved to a different house in Riverdale. The next-door neighbours were the Gilmores. Their daughter Googie was obsessed with health food, and always tried to get Jughead to change his eating habits and give up junk food. However, before she stopped appearing, she and Jughead ended with a truce and a compromise.

Early 2000s

• Alison Adams: A spectacled brown-haired girl who appeared a few times in the 2000s. She belonged to the same science club as Dilton. The two were very friendly, but did not seem to become more than "just friends".
• Alistair Andrews: Archie’s rich cousin who appeared in a couple of multipart stories. He looks exactly like Archie.
• Randy (Randolph): This cosmopolitan character moved to Riverdale for a while. He is built almost like Adam Chisholm, with a shoulder-length ponytail of brown hair, glasses, a black top hat with a red band, and sometimes a black cape with red lining. Randy enjoys the Japanese anime Captain Tuxedo, and wants to emulate this superhero. Randy has been known to date Veronica.
• Kim Wong: A Chinese teenager who moved to Riverdale after her father opened a branch of Wong Enterprises in Riverdale. She is good at martial arts, and is a friend of Betty and Veronica. Though she does not appear as often as Tomoko Yoshida, both are recurring characters. In this way, there are different characters to represent different regions of East Asia, rather than a single token character.

Late 2000s

• Austin, Brandon and George: Three boys matched with Cheryl Blossom when she went on the television show Lonely Hearts Club, following a break-up with Reggie. The five-part story entitled "And the Winner is..." was featured in Betty and Veronica Double Digest #161-165 in 2008. She would date three boys and the show’s audience (represented by the readers) would vote for which one she ended up with. All three dates left something to be desired. Austin, a rugged outdoorsman, took the fun out of the date for Cheryl with his health obsession. Brandon, a rich computer expert, was a much bigger klutz than Archie. And George, an aspiring master chef, attracted too many of his bothersome fans, including Jughead. In the end, according to the readers’ votes, Cheryl was matched with George, which pleased her. At some point after this, Austin and Brandon dated Betty and Veronica.
• Toño Díaz: Toño was born in Mexico, and assists his parents, Adrián and Rosa in their party planning business. Rosa handles Public Relations and the administrative part of the business, while Adrián is responsible for the creative and labor portions of the family business. They arrived in Riverdale in Pal's 'n' Gals Double Digest #123. Toño enjoys helping them with gardening and decoration, but the part he likes the most is cooking. He wants to become a great chef when he grows up.
• Kumi Tanura: A Japanese girl who moved to Riverdale in Betty and Veronica Digest #190 with her parents and her younger sister Ami. Kumi finds the English language somewhat difficult. Two issues after her introduction, it was revealed that at home, her mother keeps up Japanese traditions and etiquette. Notably, Kumi stories are written by Misako Rocks!, a Japanese artist and writer who moved to NYC in 2001. Ami is only thirteen years old, but appears to have a crush on Archie.
• The Veronicas: When Jess and Lisa Origliasso became a pop duet called The Veronicas (after a line from the movie Heathers) in real life, a lawsuit from Archie Comics followed. It was soon settled, and, as a promotion for both parties, Jess and Lisa appeared in some stories in the 2000s, often alongside either Veronica or The Archies band.

Other characters

Riverdale townspeople

• Abbey Finn: Abbey is a middle-aged woman who thinks of Archie as a pest and is very protective of her pet schnauzer.
• Mayor Glibb: The mayor of Riverdale for a time. Apparently from Texas, Glibb always spoke grandiosely and wore a ten-gallon hat. He seemed to be more interested in publicity and fame than governing Riverdale properly.
• Mr. Pansky: Mr. Pansky owns a costume shop in Riverdale. Most of the gang goes to his store whenever they need an outfit for a themed party. In some stories, Mr. Pansky has hired Archie, Jughead, or Reggie.
• Saranda Yates Jones and Harry S. Fulmonovich: The main characters of a proposed 1980s series that never got off the ground. Saranda is the daughter of yuppies Michael Jack "Mike" and Sophia Victoria "Summer" Jones (née Thomas), who both died when she was young. Raised by relatives of Jughead's family, she attended local schools and majored in secretarial studies and computer applications at Riverdale University. She briefly worked as a secretary for the elderly Judge Jack Bookum at Riverdale Court House. She later took a position at RSI. She was assigned to computer programmer Harry and fell in love with him. They now live at Fulmonovich Estates. Saranda is mellow, bubbly and wears long ladylike dresses and well-coiffed light blonde hair. Harry (born Arrishtotolo Suleymanokh Fulmonovich) is from Fosnia, where he learned immaculate English, and a member of the Fosnian Royal Family Fulmonovich. Harry acquired the designation Esq. after immigrating to America.
• Samm: A thin, bespectacled man who often appeared in crowd scenes, or on posters (most of which read "Vote for Samm"). He was a self-portrait of his creator, Samm Schwartz. He was also a good friend of Jughead Jones.
• Segarini: A pizza parlor owner and Pop Tate’s biggest rival. However, while Jughead enjoys the food of both, he and the gang stay loyal to Pop, and the Chocklit Shoppe remains their hangout.
• Lydia Wyndham: Betty's elderly neighbor. They first met when Betty discovered a love letter between her and the man she loved, and tracked her down. Betty also found out that Lydia’s lover, a World War I soldier, died in battle. Betty often asked her for advice and did favors for her. Lydia is passionate about her writing, which is one reason Betty looked up to her. Unfortunately, Lydia died (something rare for an Archie character). Betty inherited Lydia’s diaries and everything else she had written.

Other adults

• Betty’s Auto Racing Rivals: In 2006, Betty began racing cars for Mr. Lodge. Mr. Lodge had been the sponsor to driver Dale Jonas, but Dale had been bribed to join Mr. Lodge's rival C.C. Carp’s outfit. Betty became the new Lodge auto racer. A frequent theme mentioned is the sexism in auto racing. This was why Betty took a co-ed pit crew (Archie, Veronica, Jughead, Reggie, Chuck and Nancy). Besides the arrogant Dale Jonas, Betty had a friendly rival named Marty "Speedy" Spencer. C.C. Carp later replaced Dale with a female driver C.B. (Carla Bonita) Quick.
• General Pickens: An army general from the American Civil War who served on a battlefield, part of which is now Riverdale. He only appears in references to the local history. The park in Riverdale is named Pickens Park in his honor. In one "Jughead's Time Police" story, it is revealed that in the future, Jughead will clone himself, and the clone (who is an old man by the time we meet him) only comes out of hibernation when needed. He went with Jughead and January McAndrews to the Civil War and became a hero under the alias Pickens. The army assumed Pickens dead, but he simply returned to his own time and went back in hibernation. Oddly, in this story, he is a colonel. However, he was promised a promotion if he succeeded, and may have received a posthumous promotion.
• Dr. Soonpoon: Dr. Soonpoon is an importer/exporter who possesses mystical powers like time travel, and has appeared in at least two issues. He is shown wearing a turban.
• Ms. Stonewall: The head counselor at a girl's summer camp where Betty and Veronica occasionally worked in the 1980s. In her job, Ms. Stonewall dressed in Native American attire, and may have been the first recurring Native American in Archie Comics. One of her campers was a girl named Tessie.
• O. O. Wellenmellen and Bruce Baby: A rotund, pompous movie director, Wellenmellen is known for filming spectacular, if patently ridiculous, art films. His catchphrase is "Nobody but nobody says 'no' to O. O. Wellenmellen!" Bruce Baby is his overeager, effeminate, sandal-clad assistant. They mainly appeared in the early stories.

Children

• The Feebly Twins: Identical twin brothers Glenn and Benn Feebly who played the bass fiddle (it took both little guys to do it). They occasionally appeared in the 1980s, but never had any character development, and faded from view.
• Tessie McGuire: A girl with short red hair and glasses who sometimes attended the summer camp where Betty and Veronica worked as counsellors. Originally a troublemaker at camp, she was known as Terrible Tessie, but the girls helped turn her around, and she became a lot nicer. She looked up to Betty and Veronica. Ms. Stonewall was her head counselor.

Nonhumans

• Jingles: A magical elf in the employ of Santa Claus, who often shows up in Riverdale during the Christmas season. While Jingles can be a bit clumsy and hot-tempered, he often manages to use his magical powers to create a happy ending. Adults cannot see Jingles, and it is implied that Archie and the gang's interactions with Jingles will someday come to an end.
• Sugarplum: A sugarplum fairy who appears at Christmas time to help spread Christmas cheer. She thus has a similar role to Jingles (see above); however, while Jingles is a friend to all of the main teenagers, Sugarplum mainly interacts with Betty and Veronica.

Spin-offs

"Dynamic New Look" series

• Sandy Sanchez: A straight-A student and star athlete at Riverdale High. She is determined to earn college scholarships, so she chooses not to date while in high school. In Sandy's introductory story ("The Matchmakers" in Jughead's Double Digest #139-142), Betty and Veronica conspired to bring Jughead and Sandy together as a couple. However, the gang was appalled when Jughead and Sandy apparently fall so deeply in love that Jughead gives up food, his crown hat and even the nickname "Jughead", while Sandy let her grades slip and quit the school team. In the end, it turned out that they had only been pretend to be in love to teach the others a lesson about setting people up. However, at the very end of the story, there is some inconclusive evidence that Sandy and Jughead may be occasionally dating in secret. Sandy later appeared in other "Dynamic New Look" miniseries.
• Nick St. Clair: A teenaged delinquent introduced for the four-part “Bad Boy Trouble” (Betty & Veronica Double Digest #151-154) who moved to town to live with his aunt and uncle. After sneaking into a movie, he and Veronica fell in love. Betty and Midge tried hopelessly to convince her that dating him was a bad idea. Mr. Lodge forbade it, but Veronica secretly disobeyed. Nick also tried to hit on Betty, but she wanted nothing to do with him. He would pick on others, break rules and act tougher than he really was. His catchphrase was "A saint I ain't." Betty decided that the only way to make Veronica see the truth was to go on a date with Nick. This caused Veronica to break off with both of them. The gang confronted Nick together, and the next day, Nick is not seen, as he has been sent to a military school. Veronica learned why Betty went out with Nick, and forgave her immediately. Nick later appeared in Tales of Riverdale #24 and Betty & Veronica #237.

Little Archie

Main article: Little Archie

• Bubbles McBounce: Bubbles McBounce was an obese girl from Little Archie. Being heavier than the other kids, she is known for such moments as the time she saved the day by holding down an air balloon that risked taking Archie and the gang on a magical voyage.
• Mad Doctor Doom & Chester: Not to be confused with Marvel Comics' Doctor Doom, Mad Doctor Doom is a green-skinned mad scientist who has terrorized Archie and the gang since they were children, as they constantly foiled his plans of gaining great wealth and conquering the world. Doom was assisted by Chester, his nitwitted, teenaged slacker of an assistant (occasionally said to be his nephew). Chester looks and acts like a stereotypical 1950s juvenile delinquent. They both made at least one appearance in the mainstream comics.
• Evelyn Evernever: A young girl who was acquainted with Archie and friends when they were young. Evelyn was a shy girl with a bit of an inferiority complex, with tenuous relations to the rest of the gang. Her only real friend was her doll, Minerva. Evelyn Evernever likes to think of herself as a "bou'tiful" gal. After a long hiatus Evelyn Evernever reappears as a teenage girl who kidnapped Archie in a recent all-out action issue of Betty & Veronica Spectacular. It was shown in a recent issue of Veronica that Evelyn was Archie's first kiss.
• Penny Peabody: Fangs Fogarty’s girlfriend. Their relationship is exactly like Moose and Midge’s: Fangs will hurt any boy who even talks to Penny.
• The Perilous Pike: A pike that lives in Logger’s Pond, a large pond near Riverdale. No one has ever caught the Perilous Pike, though some people have almost caught him. In some stories, attempts to fish for him cause the Pike to attack a member of Archie's gang.
• The Southside Serpents: A gang of kids who were the rivals of Little Archie’s gang and lived in the southern district of Riverdale. They filled the role of Central High Students when a rival group was needed.
• Sue Stringly: Sue was a poor little girl who knew Archie and the gang when they were young. Sue's family didn't have much money, and they lived in a shack near the railway tracks. Despite this, Sue was an upbeat, cheerful girl who never complained or despaired over her predicament. While most of the school students didn't want anything to do with her, eventually Sue became good friends with Little Archie and Veronica. Her father was sometimes said to be working in a pickle plant. Sue also lived next to a coal mine. In one story, she was called a cousin of Veronica Lodge. Although her hair is blonde, she bears a resemblance to Big Ethel. After a long hiatus right after Evelyn Evernever return Sue Stringly reappears as a teenage secret agent who rescue Archie and befriends with Betty & Veronica (Agent B & Agent V) in a recent issue of Betty & Veronica Digest.
• Ambrose: Loser tag-along whom Archie felt sorry for. Had an extra large red hat that always covered his eyes.
• Fangs Fogerty: The neighborhood bully. A big fat gap-toothed kid that beat up everyone.

Alternate universes

Main article: Alternate Universes in Archie Comics

• Amani: She is Eugene’s girlfriend, and only appeared in The New Archies. She bears some resemblance to Nancy. She is a close friend of Betty and Veronica.
• Babette: The main villain in Archie’s R/C Racers. She and her bungling henchmen trailed Archie and the gang on their cross-country race to cause trouble for them. She owned a company that made radio-controlled vehicles. She was apparently a madwoman because her main motive in ruining the race was that the gang chose to endorse another company instead of her own.
• C.R.U.S.H. : A parody of T.H.R.U.S.H., this evil spy organization was the main antagonist in The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., a series of spy-themed stories appearing in the Life With Archie title in the mid to late 60s, meant to capitalize on the popularity of spy movies and TV shows at the time. It was never revealed what C.R.U.S.H. stood for. The evil agents from C.R.U.S.H. often had bizarre arsenals and abilities.
• Eugene: This character, although African-American, was really a re-imagining of Dilton. He appeared only "The New Archies" when Archie and the gang were Junior High Students. As he filled the role of both Chuck and Dilton, neither of those characters appeared in the series.
• Danni Malloy: This redhaired teenaged girl appeared only in Dilton’s Strange Science. She served as Dilton’s best friend, love interest, and partner in their science-related adventures. Her shared last name with Jinx Malloy is probably a coincidence.
• January McAndrews: She is the 29th century descendant of Archie, and is one of the characters in the short-lived Jughead's Time Police. One of the few girls that Jughead truly loves, she is also his superior in the Time Police squad.
• "Slimy" Sal Monella: Sal Monella was the villain of the short-lived Jughead's Diner comic book. He has been attempting domination on Dinersville with his fast food chain, but is unable to take over the independent restaurant that Jughead owns. His name is a pun on the disease salmonella.
• Lady Smitty: Full name Lady Winchester Huntington-Smythe Jones, but she goes by her nickname Lady Smitty. This rich woman appeared frequently in Veronica’s Passport, serving as a foil to Veronica Lodge. Veronica often ran into her on her travels. Lady Smitty had a husband named David and a teenaged son named Jared. She also has a nephew named Archie, which looks different from and not to be confused with the other character of the same first name and also lives in France.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch series

Main article: Sabrina the Teenage Witch

• Sabrina Spellman: A friend of Archie and the gang, she is secretly a witch who tries to balance her normal teenaged life with her witch life. She is steady with her boyfriend Harvey who, like everyone else, doesn’t know she's a witch. There have been several series and incarnations.
• Hilda Spellman and Zelda Spellman: Sabrina's aunts, the sisters of her late father, and her legal guardians. Originally, Hilda was tall and thin with red hair, and Zelda was short and plump with green hair. They were made more attractive in a revival of the comics. Hilda tends to be strict and short-tempered and finds Harvey annoying, but really only wants what's best for Sabrina. Zelda is calm, flexible and easy-going compared to her sister.
• Salem Saberhagen: The Spellmans' talking cat. He is really a warlock that the Witches' Council turned into a cat as punishment. He has a sarcastic, somewhat self-centered attitude, but he and the Spellmans care for each other greatly.
• Harvey Kinkle: Sabrina's boyfriend in all versions of the series. Hilda has a low opinion of him, although she would never try to break them up. He is fairly naïve and does not know that Sabrina is a witch, despite the fact that strange things happen around her. While this makes their relationship awkward, they remain as close as ever.

Josie and the Pussycats series

Main article: Josie and the Pussycats (comics)

• Josie McCoy: The main character of the series and leader of the titular music group. She plays guitar and sings in the band. She is a sweet, level headed, red-haired girl and often the stable center in the chaotic antics that her friends get into.
• Melody Valentine: The group's drummer and a stereotypical dumb blonde: naïve, absent-minded, carefree, and often misusing language. She serves as the series' comic relief, and her overwhelming sex appeal invariably drives boys crazy.
• Valerie Brown: The African-American bass guitarist and songwriter of the Pussycats. She is a scientific and mechanical genius and usually presents the solution to a problem. Somewhat of a tomboy, she will readily stand up for what she believes in.
• Alexander "Alex" Cabot III: The rich, snobby, and not very dependable manager for the band. He often comes up with schemes that are supposed to benefit him, but they always seem to fail. He is infatuated with Josie, but never manages to win her over.
• Alexandra Cabot: Alex's twin sister. She wants to take over the band, but has no talent of her own. She is conniving, hateful, and completely selfish, and wants to steal Alan M. from Josie. She also has a cat named Sebastian with a similar personality.
• Alan M. Mayberry: Josie's blond, muscular, good-hearted boyfriend. Originally a folk singer, he became the Pussycats' roadie after the group formed. Alex constantly makes fun of him, while Alexandra keeps trying to date him. However, he and Josie remain devoted only to each other.

Cheryl Blossom series

Main article: Cheryl Blossom

• Cheryl Blossom: A redheaded third love interest for Archie who is sometimes a friend of Betty and sometimes a common enemy to Betty and Veronica. Originally introduced as a vain and arrogant member of a rich yuppie family, she was later given her own series.
• Jason Blossom: Cheryl Blossom's arrogant older twin brother. Jason lives with his family in Pembrooke, the "rich" side of Riverdale, and refers to those who live on the other side as "Townies". He most often appeared during the 1990s, when the Cheryl Blossom series was published. During that time, the Blossom twins attended Pembrooke High, a private school for rich students. Despite Jason's views, he is mainly attracted to Betty Cooper rather than Veronica Lodge.
• Clifford and Penelope Blossom: Cheryl and Jason's parents. The Blossom family is well-off due to the fortune that Clifford made as a software designer. He and Penelope are generally not pleased about their children's arrogance and want them to learn a little humility.

That Wilkin Boy series

Main article: That Wilkin Boy

• Bingo Wilkin: Jughead Jones's cousin. A rambunctious teenaged boy who is as clumsy as Archie Andrews and leads his eponymous band, the Bingoes. However, unlike Archie, Bingo remains loyal to only one girl, Samantha Smythe.
• Samantha Smythe: Bingo's next-door neighbor and girlfriend. She is physically very strong, despite her appearance, which sometimes makes Bingo feel inferior. However, they remain a steady couple. She performs vocals and percussion for the Bingos.
• Samson Smythe: Samantha’s tough, militant-minded father who enjoys lifting weights and building up his physical strength. He is stern, temperamental and suspicious, thinks lowly of his neighbors the Wilkins, and does not want his daughter dating Bingo.
• Uncle Herman: Bingo and Jughead's eccentric uncle who lives with Bingo. A retired professional baseball player and aspiring inventor, his antics tend to annoy most of the main characters. Nevertheless, his friends and family love him very much.
• Tough Teddy Tambourine: Bingo's taller, physically stronger rival who plays bass guitar in the Bingos. He is arrogant, enjoys showing off his taste in fashion, and is constantly trying to get between Bingo and Samantha, but never succeeds.
• Buddy Drumhead: Bingo and Teddy's soft-spoken friend who plays drums in the Bingoes and likes to ride his motorbike. More or less content with his lot in life, he prefers not to get involved with his friends' relationship problems.
• Rebel: Bingo's dog who is capable of conscious thought. He and Teddy have a mutual hate relationship. Rebel tries to play cupid between Bingo and Samantha and is often the one who thwarts Teddy's schemes.

Li'l Jinx series

Main article: Li'l Jinx

• Li'l Jinx Holliday: A mischievous little girl who was born on Halloween. She is playful, imaginative and has many close friends. Her stories are usually more plausible to happen to elementary school age children than those of Little Archie.
• Hap and Merry Holliday: Li'l Jinx's parents. Like many parents, her father Hap is constantly bothered by his daughter's antics, but this does not change how much he loves her. While he is a major character, Jinx's mother Merry almost never appears in the comics.
• Li'l Jinx's friends: Other children appearing in the series, including the rich, somewhat snobby Gigi; Jinx's apparent childhood boyfriend Greg, the large, food-loving bully Charley Hawse; a boy with an inferiority complex named Mort; Jinx's best friend Roz, a talented artist appearing in later years; and Roz's scientifically knowledgeable brother Russ.

Katy Keene series

Main article: Katy Keene

• Katy Keene: A glamorous fashion model and movie actress. Twenty-one years old, she lives with her redheaded adolescent sister "Sis", apparently as her legal guardian. She has had a number of recurring boyfriends over the years. The focus of her stories alternates between her modeling career and her love life.
• "Sis" Keene: Katy's redheaded younger sister. Originally an elementary school student, but later portrayed as the same as Archie and the gang. Her first name, depending on the incarnation, is Melissa or Mackenzie, but she is mostly just called Sis.
• Katy's friends: Katy's close friends include her fellow models Gloria Granbilt and Lucki Lorelei. The former (called Gloria Gold in later incarnations) is her vain blonde rival for the boys' affections, while the latter is her redheaded superstitious best friend, with level headed brunette Katy Keene rounding out the group.
• Katy's boyfriends: Katy has had many recurring boyfriends over the years, including K.O. Kelly (a boxer), Randy van Ronson (K.O.'s rich rival), Ramon Ramirez (a Latino airline pilot and talented dancer), Arnold Horsenlegger (an Austrian muscleman/movie star obviously modeled on Arnold Schwarzenegger), and Click Lenz (the girls' fashion photographer).

Archie's Mad House

Main article: Archie's Mad House

• Captain Sprocket: A bungling but victorious superhero who appeared for many issues. For a time, he was the closest thing the series had to a main character; most of the stories featured one-time character.
• Clyde Didit: A hippie/musician who served as a mascot for a while until he and his friends took over the series. At this point, he was the drummer and leader of a band called the Madhouse Glads.
• Clyde's gang: Clyde has three brothers, Dan, Dick and Dippy, who each play a guitar in the Madhouse Glads. Dick is also Clyde's best friend. Fran the Fan is their obsessed groupie, and the fashion-obsessed Rod the Mod competes with Clyde for her affections.

Wilbur series

Main article: Wilbur (comics)

• Wilbur Wilkin: Despite debuting three months before Archie, this self-absorbed blond teenager is typically called an Archie clone. Wilbur has more of a tendency to play dirty to get what he wants than the more well meaning Archie, and did not share Archie's popularity.
• Laurie Lake: Wilbur's steady sweet, blonde and beautiful girlfriend. Typically a sensible girl, but can be somewhat ditzy. She is comparable to Betty Cooper, although Wilbur prefers to her rich arrogant rival, unlike Archie and his girlfriends.
• Linda Moore: A sassy, well-off brunette girl with a bit of a mean streak. She adores Wilbur and constantly schemes to get between him and Laurie. When displeased, she will not hesitate to make this known. Laurie and Linda resemble Betty and Veronica with the roles reversed.
• Red: Wilbur’s best friend and confidante, with a personality to match Jughead. Marked by his glasses and red hair, he is content to watch the dating scene from the sidelines. Near the end of the series run, he was re-imagined into the shorter, fatter Sheldon.
• Slats: The role of Wilbur's rival has varied over the years (Lester, Alec, Bolo), but most of the time, Slats filled the role. Slats is a low-down, devious schemer who is constantly trying to pull pranks of Wilbur or take the girls from him.

Suzie series

• Suzie: A cheerful, but completely ditzy blonde teenager with clumsiness to match Archie's. Unlike Archie, she is fresh out of high school, but due to her ineptness, she cannot keep a job. Boys flock to her beauty, but lose interest when they learn the trouble she unintentionally causes.
• Ferdie: Suzie's redheaded, dorky slacker for a boyfriend and closest confidante. When Suzie is at risk to do more harm than good, Ferdie is usually stuck trying to keep things under control. No matter what happens to Suzie, Ferdie is always someone she can count on.
• Angela the Angel: Suzie's small adolescent niece who acts like an angel, but is really a mischievous schemer working against Suzie and her friends, and is generally considered to be a nuisance.
• Gregory von Dripp: A rich and vain young man who does anything he can to charm women over. He is very attracted to Suzie and with her perpetual optimism, she cannot see through him. Ferdie is the one who must help her to see the light.

Ginger series

• Ginger Snapp: Yet another mischievous, fun-loving teenager who was an attempt to recapture Archie's success. Ginger falls for the opposite sex easily, although her tastes are much broader than Archie, and she even tends to fall for her male teachers. Her parents' names are Fred and Lotta.
• Dotty: One of Ginger's closest friends. She has dark hair, sometimes wears glasses, and her face is slightly chubbier than most girls in Archie comics. She fills the role of the more easy-going sidekick to Ginger.
• Ickky: A resourceful nerd who looks almost identical to Dilton Doiley, but is more confident in regards to girls. He has a constant crush on Ginger and is pleased that a girl as pretty as her is willing to date him. Though she often stands him up, he knows there will be other chances.
• Tommy Turner: Another of Ginger's boyfriends whom Ickky considers a rival. He is tall, blonde and a decent athlete, and portrayed as a good-natured all-American boy.

Super heroes

The Mighty Crusaders

Main article: Mighty Crusaders

• The Black Hood (Matthew Burland): A former police officer who is magically compelled to do good and fight for justice whenever he wears his hood, as well as gaining enhanced physical abilities.
• The Comet (Jack Dickering): A scientist who gains the power to fly and shoot disintegrating beams from his eyes after injecting himself with a gas lighter than hydrogen.
• The Fly (Tommy Troy): A boy who, with a magic ring, switches bodies with one of the few surviving Fly People from another dimension. He has all the powers of the insect kingdom, including, flight, superhuman strength and insect telepathy.
• Flygirl (Kim Brand): An actress that the Fly rescued. She quickly received similar powers from the same source and became his partner in fighting crime. She is one of MLJ Comics' very few superheroines.
• The Shield (Joe Higgins): An American Flag-themed superhero. His powers, derived from x-rays and a chemical, are all enhanced physical abilities. Other individuals would later assume Higgins' former superhero identity.
• Darkling (Darla Lang): A serious woman who is distant and secretive, but became friends with Flygirl. She uses her cloak as a weapon, trapping and teleporting her opponents with it. She is one of MLJ Comics' very few superheroines.
• The Jaguar (Ralph Hardy): A zoologist who found a magic belt in an ancient temple that gave him flight, strength, animal control and the enhanced abilities of many animals.
• The Web (John Raymond): A criminology professor who used a technologically advanced suit to have flight, enhanced strength, a GPS tracker and bulletproof armor.

Other superheroes

• Captain Flag (Tom Townsend): A wealthy playboy who, after his father was murdered, was carried by an eagle (later his sidekick Yank) to a mountain top where his new life made him physically superior.
• The Wizard (Blane Whitney): An intelligent man who used various technologies to fight crime. He eventually displayed psychic powers. He had a sidekick, Roy the Super Boy, who was trained to be super strong.
• The Terrific Three: A team formed when the Jaguar joined Steel Sterling (John Sterling), who gained flight and invulnerability after falling into molten metal, and Mr. Justice (Prince James of England), a ghost who was murdered in 1040.
• The Fox (Paul Patten): A young reporter and photographer who mainly took to dealing with crime to further his career. Like many other MLJ Comics superheroes, he technically has no superpowers.
• Inferno (Frank Verrano): A fire breather who was originally a circus-performing bad boy, but started using his power to fight crime. His fire was hot enough to burn through or melt solid metal instantly.
• The Firefly (Harley Hudson): An entomologist who taught himself to coordinate his muscles like an insect so that he can lift great amounts of weight.
• Bob Phantom (Walter Whitney): A Broadway theater columnist with strength, invulnerability and the ability to teleport wherever he wants. His origins have never been revealed in the comics.
• Thunder Bunny (Bobby Caswell): A boy who received the power to turn into an anthropomorphized rabbit with fight and superhuman strength when he touched a box containing the spirit of the last of an alien race.
• The Hangman (Robert Dickering): The Comet's brother who became the Hangman to avenge the Comet after he was killed. He relies on his natural physical and mental abilities.
• Scarlet Avenger (Jim Kendall): A scientist who began fighting crime after his family died in a plane crash of which he was the only survivor. He uses advanced technology and weaponry.
• Red Rube (Reuben Reuben): A reporter who drank a magic elixir that allows him access to the abilities of his ancestors. He has enhanced physical abilities of strength, speed and invulnerability.

Other series

• Cosmo the Merry Martian: The first Martian to visit Earth, sent out to explore the planet. Accompanying him was his smaller, less-learned traveling companion Orbi. Their adventures only lasted six issues, each ending with a cliffhanger.
• Super Duck: A duck who parodies Superman. Joined by his bratty nephew Fauntleroy and temperamental girlfriend Uwanna, Super Duck (nicknamed Supe) typically ended up in hapless situations instead of saving the day.
• Pat Smith: The star of Pat the Brat and a sarcastic, mischievous little boy. He was much smarter than other kids his age, but used those smarts to make trouble. He was not above outright taking advantage of people, including his own parents Oswald and Alice.
• Pipsqueak: Another troublemaking child starring in The Adventures of Pipsqueak. His parents were often his victims. Unlike most Archie titles, Pipsqueak's art style resembles that of a daily newspaper strip, which was the main feature that distinguished it from Pat the Brat.
• Seymour: A boy who starred in the one-offs My Son The Teenager and More Seymour. Like so many other Archie-like characters, Seymour is girl-crazy and causes havoc unintentionally. In this case, the catostrophic results of Seymour's clumsiness usually come at the expense of his beleaguered, white-haired father, who is simply referred to as "Poppa". In the one-off My Son The Teenager, the narrative is a poem written by the father entitled "A Father's Lament". The poem itself paints Seymour as a very loving and angelic boy, while the cartoon shows the complete opposite. Seymour is not only clumsy and causes havoc unintentionally, but is also a lazy, girl-crazy, class clown sort of boy. The one-off More Seymour is a two-part story. In the first part, Seymour's father tries to keep him from spending the day at the beach by giving him a long laundry list of household chores to do before he goes to enjoy the sun. However, after screwing up literally every chore assigned, Seymour's father finally relents and begs him to go to the beach. In the second part, Seymour is at the beach with his blonde girlfriend and bubble gum chewing best friend. Seymour's time at the beach is short-lived, however, as his clumsiness draws the wrath of literally everyone else that is there. These people end up forming an angry mob who chase him off the beach. This overused formula may have hindered Seymour from appearing in more issues.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} [1]^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Freshamn Year, Archie Comics
3. ^ Archie and the gang welcome first gay character The Globe and Mail 30 August 2010
4. ^ "Archie Comics Introduces Kevin Keller (Plus Archiecomics.com Exclusive Artwork)". Archie Comic Publications. 2010-04-22. http://www.archiecomics.com/blog/news/2010/04/archie-comics-introduces-first-openly-gay-character.html. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Who's Who in Riverdale?, at Archie Comics
6. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}

External links

• Official website
• Archie Universe
• Who's Who in the Archie Universe