List of Beetle Bailey characters

The following is a list from Beetle Bailey

Main characters

• Private Carl James "Beetle" Bailey—the main character and strip's namesake, a feckless, shirking, perpetual goof-off and straggler known for his chronic laziness and generally insubordinate attitude. Slack, hapless, lanky and freckled, Beetle's eyes are always concealed, whether by headgear or, in the rare instance of not wearing any (e.g., in the shower), by his hair.Template:EfnTemplate:Efn He is an expert in camouflage as he is often hiding from Sarge. In early strips, it was revealed that he is the brother of Lois Flagston (from the Hi and Lois comic strip, which Mort Walker wrote, and Dik Browne drew). Beetle is a member of "Kilo Company" 3rd Battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment (United States), 13th Division {fictional}. Beetle's and Lois's grandmother came from Dublin, Ireland. He has an enforced chef's palate from being forced to taste Cookie's questionable preparations.
• Sergeant 1st Class Orville P. Snorkel—Beetle's platoon sergeant and nemesis, introduced in 1951. Sarge is known to frequently beat up Beetle for any excuse he can think of, leaving Beetle a shapeless pulp. Once, in the February 2, 1971 strip, he even shoved Beetle through a knothole in the floorboard. Sarge is too lovable to be a villain, however. Obese, snaggle-toothed and volatile, Sarge can be alternately short-tempered and sentimental. He and Beetle seem to have a mutual love/hate relationship; much of the time there is an implied truce between them. They share an uneasy alliance that sometimes borders on genuine (albeit unequal) friendship. Sarge is also a helpless foodie, loves food like crazy and does not miss even a single chance where he can lay his hands on food. He is seen gobbling up cookies and cakes that Beetle's mother lovingly sends him. In some early strips Sarge was married, but he was later retconned into an unmarried Army lifer, who knows next to nothing about civilian life. Despite his grouchiness and bossiness, Sarge does have a soft side, which he usually keeps concealed. He is from Pork Corners, Kansas. He was also known to be very foul-mouthed, even compared to the rest of the cast. Sarge's mother's maiden name is "Papadopoulos", suggesting that he is of Greek heritage.
• Otto—Sgt. Snorkel's anthropomorphic, look-alike bulldog whom Sarge dresses up the same as himself, in an army uniform. Otto is fiercely protective of Sarge and seems to have a particular antipathy towards Beetle. His first appearance was July 17, 1956; originally he was a regular dog who walked on all fours, but Mort Walker finally decided to make him more humanlike. As Walker put it, "I guess he's funnier that way." Otto got his army uniform in the June 6, 1958 strip.
• Brigadier General Amos T. Halftrack—the inept, frustrated, semi-alcoholic commander of Camp Swampy, introduced in 1951. He loves to golf, much to his wife Martha's dismay. He sometimes harasses his secretary, Miss Buxley. He is 78 years old, from Kenner, Louisiana — though according to Capt. Scabbard he was born in China (April 28, 1971).
• Miss Buxley—Halftrack's beautiful, blonde, buxom civilian secretary—and occasional soldier's date (as well as a constant distraction for Halftrack). She used to live in Amarillo, Texas. Miss Buxley has an apparent interest in Beetle and later becomes his girlfriend, but is constantly pursued by Killer.
• Lieutenant Sonny Fuzz—very young (with noticeably pointy eyebrows and very little facial hair), overly earnest, anal-retentive and "by the book" and highly susceptible to squeaky furniture. The apple-polishing Fuzz is always trying to impress uninterested superiors (especially Halftrack), and "rub it in the noses" of his subordinates. He was introduced March 7, 1956. Mort Walker said he modeled the character and personality of Lt. Fuzz on himself, having taken himself too seriously after completing Officer Training. Lt. Fuzz has also managed to get on Sarge's bad side, albeit not as much as the enlisted men. A strip had Lt. Fuzz discussing with Sarge about the fact that Beetle Bailey has been a private for a long time and recommends he be sent before a promotion board. Sarge is given flashbacks of all of Beetle's errors, then yells in anger at Lt. Fuzz, who has no idea what he did to anger Sgt. Snorkel (the flashbacks being thought balloons).
• Lieutenant Jackson Flap—the strip's first black character, often touchy and suspicious—but effortlessly cool, introduced in 1970. Originally wore an afro hairstyle, but later shaved it off as later regulations disallowed many hairdos. Has often been seen with a beard.
• Cookie Jowls—the mess sergeant, who smokes cigarettes while preparing the mess hall's questionable menu (infamous for rubbery meatballs and tough-as-rawhide steaks). He practices no sanitary food preparation measures aside from wearing a chef hat, and is almost always seen wearing a tank top. Walker once described him as "the sum of all Army cooks I've met in my life." He bears a striking resemblance to SFC Snorkel and has also been known to occasionally beat up on Beetle. Like Sarge, he also loves food, though he is not above using Beetle as a guinea pig (which Beetle loathes). Although similar to Sarge, Cookie has had the most tension with Snorkel, particularly when Sarge raided the mess hall after Cookie stopped working and the kitchen was off-limits.
• Private "Killer" Diller—the notorious ladies' man and Beetle's frequent crony—introduced in 1951.
• Private Zero—the buck-toothed, naïve farm boy who takes commands literally and misunderstands practically everything. Sometimes Zero serves to enrage Sarge even more than Beetle. Was briefly promoted from Private to Lieutenant during a military exercise (September 29, 2013). Following the exercise, he was returned to his normal rank of E-1 Private (shown in his next strip appearance on Saturday, October 12, 2013). He was raised in Cornpone, Nebraska.
• Private Plato—the Camp's resident intellectual; bespectacled, given to scrawling long-winded, analytical, often philosophical graffiti. Named after Plato but based on Walker's pal, fellow cartoonist Dik Browne. Plato is the only character other than Beetle to evolve from the early "college" months of the strip. Asked his full name, he tells Beetle "Aristotle Anaximenes Heraclitus Papagelis".

Supporting characters

• Private Blips—Gen. Halftrack's competent, jaded, not-at-all-buxom secretary ("blips" are small points of light on a radar screen). She resents Halftrack's constant ogling of Miss Buxley, and though envious of the latter's beauty maintains a polite working relationship with her.
• Chaplain Stainglass —"He's praying... he's looking at the food... he's praying again!" According to Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook, Walker based the chaplain on Irish actor Barry Fitzgerald's priest character from Going My Way (1944). He often tries to get Sarge to not beat up Beetle or the men but his efforts are either futile or backfire.
• Martha [Knips] Halftrack—the General's formidable, domineering wife. She is 70 years old and is from Morganfield, Kentucky. Her brother Sgt Knips is the senior NCO at Camp Swampy
• Private Rocky—Camp Swampy's long-haired, disgruntled social dissident, a former biker gang member and rebel-without-a-clue, introduced in 1958. Is the editor of the "Camp Swampy Muckateer".
• Private Cosmo—Camp Swampy's sunglass-wearing, resident "shady entrepreneur" and huckster. Loosely based on William Holden's Sefton character from Stalag 17; almost forgotten in the 1980s.
• Captain Sam Scabbard—hard-nosed, flat-top wearing officer, commander of A Company and usually depicted as competent. Can be firm with Sarge, but also trusts him.
• Major Greenbrass—staff officer, golf partner, and brother-in-law of Gen. Halftrack. He is most often simply a sounding-board for the general, reacting to his superior's shenanigans instead of causing his own.
• Private Julius Plewer—fastidious fussbudget, who eventually became Halftrack's chauffeur.
• Corporal Yo—the strip's first and only Asian character, introduced in 1990. Like Major Greenbrass' relationship to General Halftrack, Cpl. Yo is most often simply a conversation partner for Sarge or one of the lieutenants. He is rarely, if ever, shown to be goofing off like the rest of the enlisted men.
• Dr. Bonkus—Camp Swampy's loopy staff psychiatrist, whose own sanity is questionable.
• Sergeant 1st Class Louise Lugg—a tough soldier who hopes to be Sarge's girlfriend, introduced in 1986. Lt. Flap wondered why Lugg was sent to the camp; Halftrack commented that she showed up after he called the Pentagon to request an overseas assignment — "I asked them to send me abroad." Although more competent than the male enlisted personnel, she has shown moments of stupidity herself. When attempting to try to get Sarge's attention, Beetle advised Sgt. Lugg "to soften him up, then whammo, nail him!" Sarge is then seen getting gifts of beer and comic books "from Louise Lugg", then says to himself he had her figured out all wrong and how sensitive she was. As Sarge is walking, Lugg is seen around a corner with a baseball bat and chains, having taken Beetle's advice too literally.
• Bella—Sgt. Louise Lugg's female cat.
• Specialist Chip Gizmo— Camp Swampy's resident computer geek, was named by a write-in contest in 2002. The contest, sponsored by Dell Computer Corp., received more than 84,000 entries. It raised more than $100,000 for the Fisher House Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides housing for families of patients at military and veterans hospitals. Due to his expertise in information technology, he was often seen working near General Halftrack's office aiding him and Miss Buxley.

File:GizmoNamingContest20020506.png

The contest to name the new character Gizmo first appeared in this May 6, 2002, strip when Gen. Halftrack walks into Mort Walker's studio demanding a new character to help him with computer related stuff. In the July 4, 2002, strip, the entry sent in by Earl Hemminger of Springfield, Virginia, was announced as the winner from 84,725 entries.

Retired characters

• Bunny Piper—Was Beetle's seldom-seen girlfriend (from 1959), before he started dating Miss Buxley.
• Buzz—Was Beetle's girlfriend before 1959.
• Canteen (early 1950s) —always eating.
• Snake Eyes (early 1950s) —the barracks gambler, replaced by Cosmo, Rocky and others.
• Big Blush (early 1950s) —tall, innocent, and a great attraction to the girls; many of his characteristics incorporated into both Sarge and Zero.
• Fireball (early 1950s) —neophyte who always seems to be in the way, forerunner of both Zero and Lt. Fuzz.
• Bammy (early 1950s) —the southern patriot from Alabama who is still fighting the Civil War.
• Dawg (early 1950s) —the guy in every barracks who creates his own pollution.
• Ozone (late 1950s) —Zero's bigger, even more naïve friend.
• Moocher (early 1960s) —stingy and always borrowing things.
• Pop (1960s)—married private: gets yelled at by Sarge all day and goes home at night for more abuse from his wife.
• Sergeant Webbing—variously described as being from either B Company or D Company. He somewhat resembles Snorkel, except that he lacks the trademark wrinkles in Snorkel's garrison cap and has wavy hair and thick eyebrows. He has pointy teeth. On at least two separate occasions, Webbing engaged Sgt. Snorkel in a cussing duel. He also attempted to one-up Snorkel in anthropomorphizing dogs, leading to Otto's first appearance in uniform, and was most recently seen (recognizably, but not mentioned by name) in 1983.
• Rolf (early 1980s) —civilian tennis instructor, very popular with the female cast (including both Mrs. Halftrack and Miss Buxley, much to General Halftrack's consternation). Originally introduced in response to complaints about the constant ogling of Miss Buxley by the male characters. First appearance was in the September 9, 1982 strip, disappeared completely by the mid-1980s.

The early strip was set at Rockview University. When Beetle joined the Army, all of the other characters were dropped (although both incarnations of the strip include a spectacled intellectual named Plato). Four characters from the original cast (Bitter Bill, Diamond Jim, Freshman, and Sweatsock) made at least one appearance, in the January 5, 1963 strip.

Extras, one-shots and walk-ons

Beetle's family, etc.:

• Mr. and Mrs. Bailey, parents of Beetle, Lois, and Chigger. (The 2/7/52 strip names Beetle's father as Gurney.)
• Lois Flagston (née Bailey), Beetle's sister; she and her husband are the title characters of the Hi and Lois comic strips. Beetle was shown in a crossover where he is first telling Zero and Plato he has taken leave to visit his sister and brother-in-law. He then appears the next day in Hi & Lois, wearing civilian clothes.
• Chigger, the younger brother of Beetle and Lois
• Hiram "Hi" Flagston, Beetle's brother-in-law and Lois's husband
• Chip, Dot, Ditto, and Trixie Flagston, Hi and Lois's children, Beetle's nephews and nieces
• Mr. and Mrs. Piper, Bunny's parents

Camp Swampy:

• A camp doctor whose appearance is consistent, but who is apparently unnamed
• An unnamed officers' club bartender, frequent intermediary between the Halftracks
• An unnamed Secretary of Defense who has made numerous appearances
• Popeye the Sailor once made an indirect appearance in the form of a Halloween mask worn by Zero. He made a one-time appearance in a strip dated July 16, 2012.
• 2012 NCS Cartoonist of the Year Tom Richmond made an appearance in a Sunday page.

Numerous one-shot characters have appeared over the years, mostly unnamed, including an inspector general who looks like Alfred E. Neuman, and various officers and civilians. Among the few to be given names is Julian, a nondescript chauffeur eventually replaced by Julius.