List of Fudge series characters

The following is a list of characters in the Fudge series of books by Judy Blume about Peter Hatcher and his notorious younger brother, known by the nickname "Fudge". The books include Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Superfudge, Fudge-a-Mania and Double Fudge.

Characters

Peter Warren Hatcher - A smart, assertive, but seemingly naive boy who lives in New York City. (Also he lives in Princeton NJ for a year in Superfudge) At times, he feels unappreciated and uncared-for by his parents, mainly due to the amount of attention his brother requires. In the first book, he is nine years old and in the fourth grade, and in Double Fudge he is twelve and in seventh grade. He has a habit of imagining things being advertised on television, probably because that is his father's job. He likes collecting baseball cards at one point. Peter often makes the fact that he despises his brother very clear, but it is obvious he cares for him, like in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing gets angry at Sheila for being incompetent about Fudge's teeth.

Farley Drexel "Fudge" Hatcher - Peter's brother, who is seven years younger. Disaster follows him everywhere he goes, often making a spectacle of himself and setting a bad image to his family. Some of his best-known escapades in the series include throwing temper tantrums (most notably at the shoe store), fingerpainting with mashed potatoes at a diner, scribbling all over Peter's transportation committee poster, and ultimately, swallowing Peter's pet turtle. Although Fudge can often throw tantrums and act very immature, he is actually very intelligent for his age (as first revealed in Superfudge). When Fudge decides to fly off a set of monkey bars, he jumps off, swallowing his front teeth by accident in the first book, and later he becomes obsessed with money and birds.

Tamara Roxanne "Tootsie" Hatcher - Peter and Fudge's new baby sister, born in the second book. Fudge hates her in the beginning and attempts to exchange her for a two-wheeled bicycle. Later he hides her in a closet. Tootsie is rather playful, curious and likeable. Her first word that she ever spoke was "Yuck" when she hears Peter say it. Then she says it as "Nu Yuck," when they decide to go back to New York City. She eventually learns more words, and likes to repeat what some people say. In the third book, the toddler walks across Frank Fargo's paintings before they dry, leading Fargo to create a whole series of paintings featuring Tootsie's footprints on canvas.

Anne Hatcher - mother of Peter, Fudge, and later, Tootsie. She is a stay-at-home mom and then becomes a professional dental assistant.

Warren Hatcher - Father to Peter, Fudge and Tootsie. He is in the advertising business and he writes commercials. His agency has/had accounts with Juicy-O and the Toddle Bike company (for whom Fudge appears in a commercial), as well as with X-Plode Cereal (only mentioned by Fudge, though). In the first book, he dumps a bowl of cereal over Fudge's head when Fudge refuses to eat at the table like a normal person. In the second book, he takes a leave of absence from the ad agency to attempt to write a book. He also grows a beard in Superfudge, but later shaves it off in Fudge-a-Mania.

Turtle - Peter's pet dog, which he received after Fudge swallowed Dribble, for whom he was named. He is feared and hated by Sheila Tubman. It is unknown what breed of dog it is, though he is a large one. In the TV series, Turtle is a St. Bernard.

[Uncle Feather] - Fudge's new myna bird. They got it when Fudge wanted a bird for a pet in "Superfudge". His parents want him to get something else like a canary or parakeet, but Peter suggests a myna bird, much to everyone else's regret. Fudge wants one so he gets Uncle Feather, whose favorite thing to say is "Bonjour, stupid." In Double Fudge, Turtle likes to "sing" with him to Fudge's theme song about money. Later in the book, he goes "on strike," according to Henry, and will not talk at all, but all that changes when he has a near-death incident (thanks to Mini-Farley) which causes him to start talking again. In the books, the family got Uncle Feather when they were living in Princeton, NJ, back in Superfudge, but in the TV series, they get him while they are in New York City.

Grandma Muriel - Anne's mother. She is known for using classic phrases and various tricks to help the kids. She originally was a gymnastics teacher. In the third book, she marries Sheila Tubman's grandfather, Buzzy Senior.

Cousin Howard "Howie" Hatcher - Warren's long-lost cousin, both of whom were great friends. Howie seems to have some slightly rude behavior, as he calls Warren "Tubby" even though he's lost some weight since, and a rather crazy driver when it comes to golf carts, and easily gets frustrated. Howie works as a park ranger in Hawaii and plans to move his family to the Everglades.

Cousin Eudora Hatcher - Howie's wife. Like her husband, she also calls Warren "Tubby." She is also pregnant, and she isn't as rude as her husband, and is often the mediator between Howie and their daughters.

Flora and Fauna Hatcher - Howie's two perfect, identical twelve-year-old twin daughters. They are known for both finishing each others' sentences, and breaking into song (and sometimes dance) in public, which impresses others but embarrasses Peter. They do seem somewhat spoiled, and usually beg and plead to get their way, while Eudora manages to present the case carefully to Howie. They are usually nicknamed the "Natural Beauties" and the "Heavenly Hatchers."

"Mini" Farley Drexel Hatcher - Flora and Fauna's younger 3-and-1/2-year-old brother, whom acts similar to Fudge's 2-year-old Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing behavior in many ways. Usually he will just growl and act like an animal, due to his older sisters trying to say everything for him, but all that changed by the end when he finally made the point to the twins he can talk on his own. Fudge grows to dislike him, due to him nearly receiving the same nickname as Fudge, and being the cause of Uncle Feather's broken wing, and ultimately swallowing Fudge's first loose tooth at their farewell dinner.

Friends and their Families

Jimmy Fargo - Peter's best friend. He is mentioned as younger than Peter, though older than Sheila (assuming that because he's taller than her). Jimmy and his family originally lived a few buildings down from Peter and Sheila, and then moved into Peter and Sheila's building, before eventually moving down to SoHo. In the TV series, Jimmy and his father are African-American.

Frank Fargo - Jimmy's father. He used to be an actor but became an abstract artist, judging from Peter's descriptions of some of his paintings. He also divorced his wife, which became very unsettling for Jimmy. Later, Tootsie accidentally walks across one of Frank's paintings, which inspires him for a new artwork series entitled "Baby Feet."

Anita Fargo - Jimmy Fargo's mother and the first wife of Frank Fargo. She is first seen in the first Fudge book at Jimmy's birthday party giving Peter his pet turtle, Dribble. She later divorced Frank Fargo after an argument where she threw red paint at one of his paintings, to which Mr. Fargo took advantage of to display, calling the painting Anita's Anger. Jimmy said that his mother loves kissing, so she moved from New York to Vermont, where Jimmy and Peter believe people engage in much kissing. Mrs. Fargo moved to a very rural community in Vermont, as Peter says at one point he is unable to contact Jimmy as he is visiting his mother in Vermont, and they had no telephone service there.

Sheila Tubman - Peter's rival (though Peter sees her as a "sworn enemy"). She lives in Peter's apartment building on a different floor. Peter believes Sheila is a real know-it-all. She was the Queen Of Cooties even when she was in 4th grade. She gives up cooties sometime between the fourth and seventh chapters of the first book. She is incredibly bossy and tries to run the report committee by herself. She has an older sister named Libby. In the second book, she exhibits a fear of dogs, especially Peter's dog, Turtle. There may be some chances of Sheila and Peter showing slight affections towards each other throughout the series, and it is obvious she has a slight crush on him.

Libby Tubman - Sheila's older sister, who often is seen exercising in a leotard. She fancies herself as being very sophisticated and glamorous, addressing her parents as "Mother" and "Father." She is very interested in boys, and it is also shown she is not a great singer, when she does not get the part of Wendy in a production of Peter Pan. Mrs. Hatcher hires Libby to help watch after Tootsie when the demands of a baby and other parenting responsibilities get to be too much for her to handle at once. Her friend in Tarrytown is Maryanne Markman. She is often annoyed by Sheila and her attention-getting, much like Peter is with Fudge, and so is often willing to try to get along with Peter.

Jean and Bertram "Buzz" Tubman - Sheila and Libby's parents. Mr. Tubman is a college professor at Marymont College.

Mrs. Reese The Tubmans next door neighbor. She owns a small dog named Baby.

Buzzy Senior - Sheila's grandfather, who ends up marrying Muriel at the end of Fudge-A-Mania.

Jake - Sheila's pet dog, whom she adores only because she isn't big and smelly. Peter doesn't learn about Jake until arriving at the cottage in Maine. Jake eventually befriends Turtle.

Henry Bevelheimer - The elevator operator, whom seems to know everybody in the apartment well. Henry and Peter get along well, although on one occasion (in Superfudge), he scolded Peter for siccing Turtle on Sheila after she and Peter got into an argument. In Double Fudge, he helps out with Uncle Feather's brief period of being unable to talk, and is then later promoted to superintendent of the building and converts the elevator to self-service. In the TV series, Henry is the janitor and handyman of the building.

Betsy Ellis - Merle's little sister at age 4. She is a champion swimmer known to do perfect dives. She is allergic to dogs and carries around her "make-believe dog" (which is an empty candy box) Ootch.

Merle 'Mouse' Ellis - Sheila's same age friend from Tarrytown that has noticeably lots of scabs. They are best buds until a game of slam book where they start fighting with Bobby Egran's models with the Van Arden twins, Sondra and Jane. Despite it all, Mouse and Sheila repair their friendship afterward. She is the grand champion of Tarrytown in yoyo and is an expert swimmer.

Ralph, Jennie and Sam - Fudge's original friends who live in the same apartment building. Ralph loves to eat and is very fat to the point where his own mother cannot lift him. Jennie is described by Peter as a mini-vampire since likes to bite people and is also quite rude, for she annoys Anne Hatcher and she even urinates on the rug, and she dislikes it when she can't have it her way. Sam suffers nearly every phobia possible and also winds up getting chicken pox and having a new baby sibling. In the TV series, Ralph does not appear, but Jennie and Sam do. Jennie and her family are from Chinese descent in the TV series.

Daniel Manheim - Fudge's new friend, introduced in Superfudge, as pudgy, Jewish, with a lot of reddish hair, and ears that stick out more than Peter's. Daniel is a bird expert, as seen in the beginning of Chapter 9 as he is lecturing Fudge on myna birds. He also delivers his tough-guy line: "Ya wanna make somethin' of it?" whenever asked of something. Once, though, after delivering his "tough-guy" line, some person agreed to "make something of it". Daniel then proceeded to chicken out. According to himself, he's 6 and lives at 432 Vine Street. He is also somewhat of a fussy eater; he constantly mentions that he does not like onions, lima beans, peas and Oreo cookies, and he also hates bread crusts and only drinks chocolate milk. Daniel lives in Princeton in the books, but in the TV series, Daniel lives in New York City (presumably in the same building as the Hatchers) and replaces Ralph in Fudge's group of friends invited to his birthday party. Also in the TV series, Daniel wears glasses and is 5 years old, but still retains his tough-guy attitude.

Mrs. Manheim - Daniel's mother, who is heavily concerned about her son and drives a red sports car.

Alex Santo - Peters new friend, introduced in Superfudge, as very small, with hair that hangs into his eyes, and is always wearing a T-shirt that says "Princeton, Class of '91". He is a Boy Scout and was away at Scout camp when Peter first moved to Princeton. He collects worms for Mrs. Muldour, an elderly neighbor.

Mrs. Muldour - One of Peter's new acquaintances. She is an elderly woman who lives near Peter also is to be believed that she eats worms as Peter and Alex dig them up for her.

Beverly Muldour - A pretty young woman Peter calls "Giraffe Neck" when he sees her at the art gallery and later seen as Mrs. Muldour's daughter. She eventually becomes Frank Fargo's second wife.

Joanne McFadden- A girl who sits behind Peter and becomes the object of his affection. She wipes his back off after Fudge pours ice down him as Lois Lane is kissing Superman at the movies. They hold hands in the movies. When they stand under the mistletoe hung in the classroom, she kisses Peter near his ear, and Peter does the same, except that she turns her head at the last second, with Peter ending up with a mouthful of hair.

Martha and Harvey- These are the only other of Peter's classmates in Princeton that aren't native to New Jersey. Martha wants to research her home state, Minnesota, instead of New Jersey, but Mr. Bogner decides to discuss it later. Harvey is from Pennsylvania.

Sharon and Elaine - Two other girls in Peter's class while he was in Princeton. Sharon is known for looking down at the ground or up at the sky; and Elaine is known for hitting guys her own age in the stomach. (Neither Sharon or Elaine's last names are revealed) They are friends with Joanne, and also socialize with Peter and Alex. Although Peter and Elaine are the same age, he was never socked in the stomach by her and they got along just fine. It is hinted for Jimmy to possibly develop a crush on Sharon. Elaine is also the only person to agree to take Daniel up on his offer of 'making something of it' (where he proceeds to chicken out), but it is implied she was joking anyway.

Melissa Beth Miller - Fudge's new friend that moves into their apartment. She is Fudge's age and attends his special mixed group class at school. She has a cat named Fuzzball.

Richie Potter - Fudge's best friend from school. He is a very wealthy boy with allergies, and likes to brag a lot, usually about what he does in the bathroom. Fudge originally thought he was a cousin of the famous boy wizard Harry Potter (as they have the same last name).

Mitzi - Friend of Fudge's whom he met on holiday in Maine. She is obsessed with Fudge, and develops a crush on him. According to Fudge, she keeps monster spray and has a brother called Jacob. She is also the granddaughter of famous baseball player Big Apfel.

Mrs A - Mitzi's grandmother and Big Apfel's wife. She makes Mitzi's monster spray for her and makes really tasty cocoa. Peter and Fudge first meet her when they go round the neighbor's houses asking if the neighbors have seen Uncle Feather. Mrs A originally thinks Uncle Feather is Peter and Fudge's uncle. It is never mentioned if she is ever corrected.

Big Apfel - Famous baseball player who Peter is astounded to find is his new neighbor in Maine. Peter seriously looks forward to playing a game with him, but gets angry when he discovers that Big Apfel doesn't take the game seriously.

Olivia Osterman - She is a well-known, elderly neighbor to the Hatchers. She is almost 90 years old and used to be a Broadway actress. She also doesn't understand why Peter named his dog "Turtle" (although how Turtle got his name, in Peter's words, "makes perfect sense to" everyone else).

Other adults

"Olivia Osterman" -and old lady who lived in the apartment longer than anybody else. Use to be Broadway star

Mr. and Mrs. Yarby - The Juicy-O company president and wife, from Chicago - Warren's former employer. They stayed at the Hatchers' apartment at one point, which resulted in Fudge unknowingly causing trouble with them. This leads to the Yarbys becoming furious with the family and taking away Warren's Juicy-O account. Although Mrs. Hatcher is worried that Fudge cost her husband a big account, Mr. Hatcher is not concerned as Juicy-O had poor sales in stores.

Mr. George Vincent - The president of the Toddle Bike company. He chooses Fudge to star in the new commercial for his product, but gets furious when Fudge does not act on cue. Mr. Vincent is almost always seen smoking a big cigar.

Janet - Warren's gorgeous secretary. She usually carries around a purse with beauty supplies, Goldfish crackers and Oreo cookies. She kisses Peter for convincing Fudge to complete the commercial, but Peter secretly feels her kisses are too wet.

Marty - Marty is Sheila's swim teacher in Tarrytown. At first he has a bit of trouble working with Sheila due to her fear of water, and Sheila seems to grow a grudge against him, but all that changes once she is finally honest with him, and eventually when Sheila manages to perfectly pass her swimming test. Because Sheila is so used to seeing him in a bathing suit, she initially didn't recognize him wearing regular clothes when he was invited to the Tubman's "Farewell to Tarrytown" party.

Mr. Bogner- Peter and Alex's sixth-grade teacher. Peter is quick to learn that Mr. Bogner isn't dumb as some of his past teachers were.

Mr. Green - The moustached school principal. During an assembly with author Brian Tumkin illustrating a picture of a person Fudge knows, Fudge chooses Mr. Green who appreciates the drawling and hangs it in his office.

Mrs. Hildebrandt - Fudge's first kindergarten teacher, who he calls "Rat Face" (with which Peter apparently doesn't disagree). According to Fudge, she is mean, wouldn't let him play with the round blocks, and wouldn't call him Fudge, so he had to kick her and climb on top of the cabinets. After he moves to the other kindergarten, Mrs. Hildebrandt frequently calls him Farley at every opportunity. When he leaves her kindergarten, she says to him "Goodbye, Farley Drexel", and when she meets Uncle Feather she says "What a beautiful bird Farley has". When Fudge tells her that Uncle Feather speaks French, Mrs. Hildebrandt who also speaks French says to him, "Parlez-vous Francais?" Uncle Feather replies, "Bonjour, stupid!" Fudge does not kick her in the TV series.

Ms. Ziff - Fudge's second kindergarten teacher. She is very nice and is reading "An Anteater Named Arthur" when Fudge arrives and he is impressed, since he is a fan of the book.

Brian Tumkin - A famous author that Fudge likes and gets to meet him at a school assembly. When Fudge gets called up Brian tells Fudge to tell him how to draw a person which he calls Chalk Talk. The person ends up being Mr. Green, whom is pleased by the results.

Isobel - Gorgeous teenage library assistant that Peter meets on holiday in Maine, and develops a serious crush on. Her nickname is Izzy. When Fudge asks Peter what's wrong, Peter admits that Isobel makes him feel dizzy. Fudge later tells that to Jimmy and Sheila. Jimmy doesn't share Peter's affection for Isobel, and Peter loses his spark for her when she doesn't pick him for her team at the ball game. Isobel also persuades Fudge to write an autobiography of himself, entitled "Tell Me A Fudge", after he discovers his friend Mitzi has a book about herself, "Tell Me A Mitzi". Fudge, however, only writes the chapter titles.

Bicycle Bob - Bicycle repair salesman who acts as mentor to the children. When Peter accidentally swallows a fly, Bicycle Bob welcomes him to the ISAF club (I Swallowed a Fly) and recommends vanilla ice cream. According to Judy Blume, he is a real person who she met one summer and he did own a bike shop.

"When in Rome" -A woman who Peter meets and calls "When in Rome" at Big's Baseball Game because she had quoted the old "When in Rome" phrase. She also appears at Muriel and Buzzy Senior's wedding, as the Justice of the Peace. She calls Peter "Junior."