This is the character page list for Theodore Tugboat.
open/close all folders
Great Ocean Tug and Salvage Company
The Whole Team
- Kid-Appeal Character: Theodore and Hank.
- The Magnificent: The older and more experienced tugs have a "V" word, to show that they are ready go out on the ocean.
Theodore
- Expecting Someone Taller: The Dispatcher expected him bigger when he first came in the harbor.
- Kid Hero: He's the second-youngest tug of the cast and is the main protagonist of the show.
- Rookie Red Ranger: The series starts with his arrival to the Big Harbor, and he's associated with his red baseball cap.
- To Be a Master: Dreams of getting his V word and becoming an oceangoing tug.
Emily the Vigorous
- Cool Big Sis: She fulfills this role for the younger tugs, especially Theodore.
- Determinator: Her V-Word and title is Emily The Vigorous.
- Meaningful Name: Her middle name is Annapolis which is a reference to Annapolis County in Nova Scotia or Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Carla's red.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only female out of the tugboats
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Some of the smiles she wears makes it appear she is wearing lipstick.
- Tsundere: Though she leans more towards a Type B
Foduck the Vigilant
- Creature of Habit: "Foduck and the Rainbow" reveals that he has this. He likes doing certain things exactly the same way, and when little surprises change his routine, he feels all mixed up inside.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: In the Bumper Buddies episode.
- The Magnificent: Foduck The Vigilant.
- Odd Name Out: He is the only tugboat with a two-syllable name; both Hank and George only have one syllable, while Emily and Theodore both have three. He's also the only one whose name isn't a relatively common human name.
- OOC Is Serious Business: In "Foduck in Reverse", Foduck doesn't like moving Brunswick due to Brunswick's adventurous nature contrasting with his meticulousness. When Foduck has fun going backward, he decides to try doing it all the time. When the Dispatcher needs a tugboat to take Brunswick to Ceilidh's Cove, Foduck eagerly volunteers, which sparks a shocked reaction from everyone.
- Red Is Heroic: Foduck The Vigilant is the official Safety Inspector of The Big Harbour, with fire fighting equipment and recognizable by his red Fire Fighter's Helmet. He's also the only Tug to have a Red Lifeboat.
- The Smart Guy: He's very knowledgeable regarding safety and other oceanic tidbits. His intelligence is marked by a penchant for using bigger words.
Hank
- Achilles in His Tent:
- In "Hank and the Hug", he decides not to be a tugboat anymore because no one wants to play with him. This changes after his friends give him a hug.
- In "Hank's New Name", Hank changes his name to Henry, feeling that no one respects him because of his short name. After a big mix-up, a large barge goes out of control and speeds through the harbor. Hank is the only one fast enough to catch the barge, but he ignores his friends' pleas for help until Theodore addresses him as Henry.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Hank is quite the goofy boat, particularly how he describes everything as "fresh!"
- Hidden Depths: He's actually much more sensitive than he lets on, but often has trouble expressing himself, so the others rarely take him seriously. Theodore sometimes dismisses Hank's attempts to express himself as just him "acting strangely".
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Most of his Plucky Comic Relief antics are just attempts to be liked by others. In "Hanks Makes a Friend", he learns that he doesn't need to do anything more than be himself to reach out to others.
- Innocently Insensitive: Often speaks or acts without thinking, and it can sometimes get him in trouble.
- The Lancer: He's much more excitable and impulsive than Theodore, who often has to speak his mind to keep Hank in line.
- Super-Speed: The fastest tug in the big harbor!
George the Valiant
- The Big Guy: George proudly does the heavy lifting among the five tugs, often leading the team as they pull in larger ships to their docks.
- Big Brother Mentor: Sometimes fills this role to Theodore.
- Big Brother Instinct: He scared Oliver away from bullying Theodore and made it clear that such rotten behavior was not welcome in the Big Harbor.
- Boisterous Bruiser: He's a very loud tug who is proud of his strength.
- Gentle Giant: When not engulfed by his ego, he has quite a warm presence around the other tugs.
- Hero Worship: Towards Nautilus to the point he wants to be just like him,
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: George can be rather rough around the edges, due to letting his status as the biggest and strongest tug get to his head. However, he does have a good side that shows itself best when he's brought down to earth.
- Kick the Dog: He can be quite mean without intending to be.
- The Magnificent: George The Valiant.
The Harbour Master
- The Captain: He is the one in charge of the harbour.
-
Celebrity Voice Actor: He is played by the late Denny Doherty of The Mamas & the Papas. - Medium Blending: He is the only human character in a show where the characters are all figurines.
- Narrator: He serves as the narrator of the whole series.
- Not So Above It All: He may be in charge of the harbour, but even he makes mistakes.
The Dispatcher
- A Father to His Men: The Dispatcher cares deeply about the tugs' well-being, and he is willing to offer whatever assistance he can in their times of need. Theodore and the Boat Bully shows his fatherly side very strongly; he reassures Theodore that he will support him no matter what and arranges for his bully's prompt departure from the Big Harbor. Additionally, durring said scene, Denny Doherty voiced The Dispatcher with a much gentler tone than the usual deeper, authoritative voice that he usually gives the character.
- The Captain: While he is technically second to the Harbormaster, the tugs report directly to the Dispatcher. It is he who assigns their jobs for the day, and he updates them on any sudden changes of plans.
- Parents as People: Well, Parental figure. Several episodes show him as being no less fallable than the Tugboats, and whenever he's in the wrong he's quick to apologize.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Though not infallible, he proves to be someone the tugs can turn to whenever they're facing a problem they can't fix themselves.
Ocean Institute
Rebecca
- Art Evolution: Rebecca underwent the most drastic design changes across the series. Namely, her face (when she gained one) shrunk a bit over time to accommodate some Big Ol' Eyebrows.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Prior to being an actual character, she was faceless. Her second model look similar to her latest one, though it's painted different, her pupils are larger, and there's a lack of eyebrows. Rebecca also lacked moving eyes until her second appearance in the fourth season.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: In "Theodore's Ocean Adventure", her curiosity towards an iceberg made her go too close to it and get herself trapped.
- Not So Above It All: This happens in "Rebecca and the Big Snore", when she realizes that she isn't all that perfect after Theodore told her that was shouting at Shelburne.
- The Smart Girl: Rebecca is very smart at ocean reseach
Recurring Characters
Benjamin Bridge
- Alliterative Name: His first and last names begin with B.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In "Theodore & the Big Harbor", he's kind of a jerk who looks down on Theodore, both literally and figuratively. Nearly every episode onwards, he's perfectly amiable to everyone.
- Innocently Insensitive: On occasion, he can speak without thinking, such as in "George and the Flags" when he points out the visiting ship, Chester, is the only one who has no flags to the whole harbor, embarrassing him.
Carla
- Affectionate Nickname: She has one for each of Emily's friends; "Be-a-Bore" for Theodore, "Honk" for Hank, "Georgie-Porgie" for George, "Four Ducks" for Foduck, and "Mr. Dishwasher" for the Dispatcher. They don't see these nicknames as such.
- Fearless Fool: In her debut episode, she cuts directly in front of a container ship that Theodore, George, and Hank are pulling, despite Emily's warnings that it isn't safe.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Emily's blue.
Sigrid
- Nice Girl: She is very kind, polite, and eager to please, and often acts as a sisterly figure, especially towards Emily and Dorothy.
- Reused Character Design: Her model was recycled from Oliver's.
Constance
A coast guard ship who takes almost everything seriously.- Ambiguous Situation: Prior to her introduction in the third season, there was another coast guard ship just like Constance but the face is different as it's flat and has eyes placed above it. While the prop itself for both characters the same, it's never stated if that ship was Constance (as the other tugs said they knew her before), or another character entirely.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Whenever her name is mentioned, you know the situation is serious.
- Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness: The tugs used to think that Constance was mean and unfriendly, and Constance used to think that she was too busy to be nice or friendly, but that all changed when Emily soon showed her how easy it was to be friendly, and became Constance's best friend.
- Reused Character Design: Her prop was originally from another coast guard ship, but it's unknown if that was her or another character.
Digby
- Butt-Monkey: The poor ship frequently runs aground or finds other ways to get himself stuck on things. He takes it all in good humor, however.
- Catchphrase: He uses catchphrases such as "Oh flibberty jibberty!" and "Oh my starfish and little oysters".
- Reused Character Design: His prop was originally Kamel (the corpse ship) from the first season.
- Running Gag: He is always getting stuck somewhere. When Emily gets stuck in "Emily Goes Overboard", she exclaims, "Things like this only happen to Digby!".
Guysborough
When George was tasked to collect a large ship into the harbour, the Dispatcher tells Theodore to do George's original task to collect the garbage barge, which is Guysborough. Theodore not only disliked towing the smelly garbage around him, but also Guysborough's grumpy attitude. But Theodore became a laughing stock after everyone teased him for smelling really bad, which Theodore later realized that this was how Rebecca felt like after he joked about her being smelly after being covered in seaweed. Despite Theodore's "rotten" first day towing Guysborough, he gotten used to taking the garbage barge in the later stories.
- Achilles in His Tent: In "Guysborough's Garbage", he refused to clean up the garbage when he felt unappreciated by Theodore and his friends.
- Ambiguously Related: Both he and Bonnavista share similar designs of their wheelhouses (where the faces are), but it's never stated if they're related or not as they are never seen onscreen together (they don't share the same body).
- The Friends Who Never Hang: Due to him being the garbage barge and his grumpy personality, there are some characters Guysborough never interacted with.
- Out of the tugboats, he never had proper interactions with George (whom he was suppose to take in Guysborough's debut story) and Hank.
- Hate Plague: He had this effect on Theodore and his friends in the episode that introduces his character.
- Hates Baths: When Foduck tried to clean him in "Foduck and the Shy Ship", he thought he was melting.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Guysborough was added in the second season, but is a popular character in the cast.
- Jerkass: He is constantly in a bad mood and is rude to everyone he meets.
- Jerkass Has a Point: In "Guysborough's Garbage", Guysborough overhears the tugboats tell Canso, a visiting ship, that they're lucky to have a clean harbor. Guysborough is incensed, pointing out to Jasper that luck has nothing to do with it; he is responsible for keeping the Big Harbor clean and free of garbage, and without him, the garbage will pile up. Sure enough, that's exactly what happens when Guysborough stops working the next day, to the point some of it spills into the water, and Canso threatens to leave the harbor upon spotting it. All is resolved once the tugs and Canso acknowledge Guysborough's efforts, motivating him to get back to work.
- Location Theme Naming: Like most of the characters, he is named after a location in Nova Scotia.
- The Pig-Pen: He loves garbage.
- Reused Character Design: Despite his body and hull were never used for other barges, Guysborough share a similar design to Bonnavista.
- Verbal Tic: He uses the word "rotten" a lot. He also has a habit of stretching out one or multiple syllables when addressing Theodore by his name, like this: "Theodooore" or "Theeeodore".
Owan
- Catchphrase: "Yes sireee, Bob!"
- NO INDOOR VOICE: Though, being an oil rig, he's already outside.
- OOC Is Serious Business: In "Theodore and the Boat Bully", he becomes very quiet and unenthusiastic when he finds out that Oliver the Vast, a visiting Jerk Jock tug, is coming to the Big Harbor to take him to the ocean to work.
Donald Dock
- Pokémon Speak: All he can say is "Uh-huh".
- Shout-Out: His name is a reference to the Disney character, Donald Duck.
Jasper the Junk Dock
- Pokémon Speak: All he can say is "Nope".
Queen Stephanie
- Cool Crown: Wears a tiara. Notably, she is one of the few non-tugboat characters to wear headgear.
- Gentle Giant: She is, by far, the largest ship in the series shown. She is also one of the nicest visitors of the Big Harbor.
- The High Queen: Her beauty and magnificence are always alluded to whenever she appears.
Minor Characters
Oliver the Vast
- The Bully: He sees Theodore as someone to pick on right from their first meeting, and shows it by bumping him hard and saying the young tug is too small and inadequate for his kind of work.
- Dirty Coward: He has no problem with bumping Theodore, but runs away when George shows up to protect him. And he's actually slightly bigger than George.
- The Dreaded: Only Theodore comes to fear Oliver, but those who speak of him before they meet aren't keen on his presence in the Big Harbor. Owen falls into a brief depression after hearing the news, and George outright warns Theodore that Oliver isn't friendly, while also fuming about Oliver taking a job he's fully capable of doing himself.
- Hate Sink: As far as anthropomorphic boats go, Oliver's bullying is portrayed realistically. There's no "sympathetic" explanation for his behavior, no back story and no moment of redemption. Nothing. Not even when he's sent back home for his behavior. He bullies Theodore simply for the sake of it and his presence on the show is meant to illustrate the point that you can't expect to satisfy everyone in your life because no matter how nice you are, some people are just jerks.
- Jerkass: A terrible bully who steals Theodore's barge and violently bumps him every chance he gets. Why? Because he thinks it's fun and that he can get away with it.
- Odd Name Out: The other ocean-going tugs' V-Words come from altruistic qualities they posses, whereas Oliver's V-word is for a physical characteristic. Emily is "The Vigorous" because she's a good worker, George is "The Valiant" because he's brave and true, Foduck is "The Vigilant" because he's always looking out for others. Oliver's V-Word, "The Vast" simply means "Big", indicating that he truly is devoid of redeeming qualities and that his strength is the only thing he has going for him.
- One-Shot Character: He has not been seen outside his debut episode.
- Reused Character Design: His model was later modified and used for Sigrid.
- Super-Strength: He's even bigger and stronger than George.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Oliver, being a fairly realistic portrayal of a bully, is one of the few malicious characters in the entire series. After a couple encounters with Theodore, he's got the poor tug cowering and hiding in fear, and rather than learning a lesson in some fashion, he's forced to leave the Big Harbor in disgrace.
Cabot
- Heel–Face Turn: After the story ends, The Harbor Master mentions that Cabot does visit the Big Harbor from time to time, but he's much better behaved now than he was before.
- Jerkass: Not only was he incredibly careless with his cargo and disobeyed Theodore, but he recklessly sailed around the Big Harbor and endangered the other ships. It took Theodore tricking him into beaching himself and forcibly towing him from behind to get Cabot to learn his lesson.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Cabot claimed that he could go into harbors by himself, despite Theodore telling him that he can't dock himself. He also believed that he really was safe despite how messy his cargo deck was.
- Laser-Guided Karma: His refusal to listen to Theodore is what eventually strands him on Sandy Beach.
- Leitmotif: Cabot gets an aggressive, percussion-heavy track that gets revisited all throughout his debut episode. It reflects both his carelessness and the danger his facetiousness poses to the other ships.
- One-Shot Character: He has not been seen outside his debut episode.
- Reused Character Design: His superstructure was recycled from Freda's model. He was the last ship to use this model base.