Talk:List of Doonesbury characters

Organization
This page could use some organization. Tentatively, I'd like to order the characters by first appearance, as this makes it much easier to follow. But this would interfere with the distinction between major and minor characters. There are so many minor characters that this would make the important ones difficult to pick out in a list.

I'll start by adding dates of first appearances, without re-ordering. Suggestions would be welcome for resolving the above conundrum. Why is it that there's no systematic organization of one of the richest narratives in popular culture, while a bit of fluff like Star Wars has entries for background figures who don't even have names, is beyond me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.77.74.215 (talk) 05:20, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Lacking any other criterion, I'm going to define the "main characters" as the ones given bios and called, explicitly, "the main characters", on Trudeau's own website, here:. 72.77.74.215 (talk) 20:54, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Please add something about George W. Bush being depicted as a crown. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.225.18.92 (talk) 18:03, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Elmont's last name is identified as "Doe" in the strip on 08/30/2004 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mitchmarx1 (talk • contribs) 00:20, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

The question of how to order the list of characters might best be answered by building a table, sortable by name, date of first appearance, etc. This might also address questions of separating major and minor characters (which is highly subjective, anyway). Tss22h8 (talk) 02:32, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Didi's first mention
It says that Didi was first mention on april 28th, 1971, but I don't see how said comic refers to her in any way. (comic can be viewed here: http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1971/04/28) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.61.24.6 (talk) 22:06, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Merge with individual character articles
Most Doonesbury characters are not sufficiently independently notable to warrant individual articles. As such, I recommend that the following articles be merged into this list: Toggle (Doonesbury character), Bernie (Doonesbury), Chase Talbott III, Phil Slackmeyer, President King, Sid Kibbitz, Scot Sloan, Alice (Doonesbury), Elmont (Doonesbury), Honey Huan, Jeff Redfern, Phred (Doonesbury), Zipper Harris, Boopsie, Jimmy Thudpucker, Alex Doonesbury, Kim Rosenthal, Zeke Brenner, J. J. (Doonesbury) and Rick Redfern. Neelix (talk) 21:32, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Support with reservations about Thudpucker who has after all made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine... The article is pretty poor though. Mezigue (talk) 13:22, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

Missing Character
There is a woman in the 12 April 2010 strip who has appeared for at least a year. She is the victim of a sexual assault while serving in the military in Iraq. She was assaulted by a fellow military person. She met BD in the treatment center Ellis runs. I do not know her name nor if we know who assaulted her. She re-upped and is currently serving in Iraq as a helicopter mechanic. She is harassed by a female comrade who does not know her assault history and constantly misinterprets her reactions to situations.

Does anyone know who she is?

Nick Beeson (talk) 11:42, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * This character is called Melissa Wheeler and I have added her to the page. Mezigue (talk) 11:34, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Phred
Phred has a full name – Ngyuen Van Phred. Shouldn't this be in the article? 75.201.179.164 (talk) 03:07, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, why don't you add it? Czolgolz (talk) 04:03, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Dan Quayle's feather?
Has there ever been an explanation from Trudeau himself as to why Dan Quayle was represented by a white feather?

I always thought that, since it was a white feather (a sign of cowardice), it was a reference to how Quayle got out of being sent to Vietnam. -- That Don Guy (talk) 20:18, 30 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I thought it was a play on his name: Quayle:quail. Czolgolz (talk) 20:24, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

Alphabetize the minor characters
Alphabetize the minor characters to make it easier to find them by name.

Possible to add another list in order of appearance, with each character's name there linked to an ID'ed span -- e.g., Marcia Feinbloom

WP even has sortable tables, like the |lists of Wikipedias ordered by number of articles, though the code for those may be complex.

--Thnidu (talk) 03:29, 19 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I still think this would be a good idea. I've just done this for Toggle, because I'm linking to it from my blog. --Thnidu (talk) 03:43, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

Main vs. Other
There are "Main Characters" and "Other Characters". I do not understand what qualifies a character to be "main" or "other". Phred has not been seen in the strip for many many years (twenty years?). While I just moved Toggle to main, since he has easily appeared in so many strips over the last couple of years. Nick Beeson (talk) 19:20, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

WHERE IS NIXON???????
Why is Nixon missing from the list? ManhattanSandyFurystorm (talk) 23:48, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Because he was never in Doonesbury, either as a character, an icon, or himself, but only as a disembodied voice. Czolgolz (talk) 01:39, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Jeremy?
"Lacey Davenport (5/15/74 - 8/15/98) - Republican U.S. Congresswoman, now deceased - reminiscent of New Jersey Congresswomen Millicent Fenwick. Trudeau was asked in 1976 if the similarities were deliberate, and laughed at the reporter, saying "I really don't know her that well." Fenwick was said, in the same article, to not know about Doonesbury and could not remember having met Trudeau.[1] Lacy and her husband Dick sometimes reappear to Jeremy Cavendish.

Dick Davenport (5/15/74 - 4/8/02) - Lacey's longtime friend and later husband. An avid bird watcher of endangered bird species. Died in a controversial 1986 strip asking God to let him live just long enough to take a picture of a rare bachman's warbler. He did. Lacy and her husband Dick sometimes reappear to Jeremy Cavendish."

Who is Jeremy Cavendish? These are the only two mentions of him.... 24.61.4.237 (talk) 01:55, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Jeremy was a peculiar old man, a friend of Dick's. After Dick died, Jeremy attempted to woo his widow, Congresswoman Lacy Davenport. He needs a mention. Bkatcher (talk) 02:30, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Do either of you want to create an entry for Jeremy? If not, I'll take a crack at it. Slworona (talk) 06:28, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Clinton Caucus
I do not have accurate information to correct the dates for the entry on Clinton Caucus, but the "appears" date should not predate the "heard" date. Once a character appears, hearing them is not a notable occurrence. Whateley23 (talk) 02:10, 11 June 2023 (UTC)

Real people - Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin should be added to the "Real people" section. He appears in-frame, being interviewed by Roland. Don't know the dates, but I think the strip was in the "We're Not Out of the Woods Yet" collection. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 01:23, 8 January 2024 (UTC)