List of Phineas and Ferb characters
The following is a character list of main and secondary characters on the Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb.
Main characters
Phineas Flynn
Phineas Flynn is the main character of the series. He has red hair. His age is not mentioned. Phineas, along with his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher, star in the A-Plot of every episode. The series concerns Phineas's attempts to avoid boredom by finding something new to do every day of the summer vacation. He does this with his much less-talkative stepbrother Ferb, and often with many other neighborhood children. He is known to be very selfless and energetic. Phineas has many catch phrases like "Oh, there you are, Perry." or "Hey, Ferb! I know what we're going to do today!" and "Hey, where's Perry?".Phineas comes from a blended family. The creators chose this arrangement because they considered it underused in children's programming as well as from Marsh's experiences in one. As a character, Phineas has received a positive critical response, with one reviewer describing him and his brother as a "comical pairing." Phineas appears in Phineas and Ferb merchandise, including plush toys, t-shirts, and a video game.
Ferb Fletcher
Ferb Fletcher is a boy of very few words. He is Phineas's green-haired, intelligent but laconic stepbrother from the United Kingdom. Created by Phineas and Ferb co-founders Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, he first appeared in the show's pilot episode, "Rollercoaster."Ferb and his stepbrother Phineas Flynn spend their days during their summer vacation having lots of fun. They are featured in every episode's A-Plot constructing large scale inventions or taking part in other outlandish activities. Ferb, an engineering genius, allows Phineas to do most of the talking for the pair and is described as "more of a man of action," by Phineas, which makes him more of a plot device than a developed character. Ferb is more likely to sing than speak, but most often has a one-liner in the episodes. Ferb is named after a friend of the show's creators who was an expert on tools and, at times, stayed rather silent.
Candace Flynn
Candace Gertrude Flynn is characterized as Phineas's fifteen-year-old biological sister and Ferb's stepsister. The character's personality is based on Jennifer Grey's character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Candace first appeared in the pilot episode.Candace was originally designed to antagonize her brothers. In most episodes, she appears to really disapprove of their inventions and attempt to get them in trouble by showing their mom the inventions. Her catchphrases are: "Mom! Phineas and Ferb are...!" and "You are so busted!", and while she never proves anything to her mother, Candace persists in the majority of episodes. Whenever she attempts to "bust" her brothers, Phineas and Ferb's work unintentionally disappears before their mother sees it, and the boys appear to be involved in simple activities. Usually, Candace is shown stuttering "Buh-buh-buh-but...!", while her mother is shown forcibly taking her away and disregarding Candace's actions as crazy and childish.
Dan Povenmire described Candace's character: "Candace does get frustrated. She thinks it's not fair—that if she were doing the things they're doing, she'd get in big trouble. It's not, 'I'm going to get those guys and ruin their lives.' She does bust them later in the season, but there are a couple of twists to it." There are moments in the series when Candace appears to enjoy her brother's inventions, and although she frequently seems to overlook the fact that Phineas and Ferb openly care about her, Candace is shown to care more about their well-being than busting them. In the "Traffic Cam Caper" episode, when Phineas is in peril, Candace goes out of her way to save him, allowing a disc containing footage of Phineas and Ferb's projects to be stolen by Perry. Also, when Phineas delivers a very heartfelt speech at his birthday party thanking his friends, Candace seems so touched that she destroys another disc she intended to use to bust him and Ferb.
Candace is best friends with Stacy Hirano, and is also good friends with Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, the daughter of Perry's nemesis, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, the main antagonist in the series. Candace and her family appear unaware that their pet platypus Perry, portrayed as a secret agent, fights Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Candace also appears unaware that Perry's battles with Dr. Doofenshmirtz often cause of the disappearance of Phineas and Ferb's inventions. Her character has appeared in Dr. Doofenshmirtz's lair on a number of occasions, but never seems to know where Perry goes everyday. Vanessa's character knows Perry personally, and seems unaware of the fact that Candace is part of Perry's host family. The friendship between Candace and Vanessa's characters is based on their ongoing failed attempts to prove something about a family member to their mothers.
Candace has an obvious crush on [|Jeremy Johnson], but for a long time, she is oblivious to the fact that he likes her back. The series portrays Candace as unphotogenic and self-conscious of what Jeremy would think if he saw the many photos of her posing awkwardly or with embarrassing facial expressions.
The depth of Candace has received positive critical acclaim and appears in other media such as video games. Common Sense Media rated Candace as the 10th worst TV role model, claiming that "her primary motivations are pleasing her boyfriend and getting her brothers in trouble" and she was "a very screechy, whiny stereotype of a girl", which could reinforce gender stereotypes a lot.
In "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo", it is revealed that Candace will have three children in the future: Xavier, Fred and Amanda, with Xavier and Fred behaving similarly to Phineas and Ferb, while Amanda takes after Candace.
Candace appears in the film Candace Against the Universe, when Phineas goes to great lengths to rescue her from an alien race that kidnaps her to save their planet.
Perry the Platypus
Perry the Platypus, a.k.a. Agent P, is Phineas and Ferb's pet platypus and first appeared along with a large portion of the main cast in the pilot episode "Rollercoaster." Perry is featured as the star of the B-Plot for all but one episode of the series alongside his arch-nemesis Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He is a primarily silent character, with the only noises being the occasional rattling of his bill. Toward the beginning and end of most episodes, a character, often Phineas, can be found addressing Perry's absence with "Where's Perry?" and "Oh, there you are, Perry.", respectively, which are also both titles of episodes.In Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, an alternate reality version of Perry appears. Platyborg would later return in the episode sequel, Tales from the Resistance: Back to the 2nd Dimension.
Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz
Dr. Heinz "Doof" Doofenshmirtz is an evil scientist appearing in all but one episode's B-Plots thus far. He is the father to teenage Vanessa Doofenshmirtz and is the head of his own company, Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc., which has its own jingle. Depending on the episode, Dr. Doofenshmirtz's main goal is to either destroy or rule the tri-state area, which was suggested to him as a teenager on a failed date with Linda Flynn-Fletcher as a starting point before taking over the world. Routinely bumbling, incompetent, and forgetful, almost all of Doofenshmirtz's plans—always involving various gadgets and/or inventions—have been thwarted by Perry the Platypus. However, a few of his schemes were quite successful, such as in the 2014 special Phineas and Ferb Save Summer, when Doofenshmirtz moved the Earth away from its original orbit to bring on an early autumn, much to Perry's distress. His catchphrases include "A platypus? Perry the Platypus?!", and after most defeats, "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!!"His contraptions are almost all named "-inator", and in "Unfair Science Fair" it is revealed that his first invention as a child was simply called "Inator".
Throughout the series, Doofenshmirtz's flashbacks explore his mentally abusive and lonely childhood growing up in the fictional village Gimmelshtump, Druelselstein. Before becoming an evil scientist, Doofenshmirtz was a bratwurst street vendor until being put out of business by the hot dog industry. Doofenshmirtz usually monologues and displays acts of cartoon-style physical violence towards his nemesis Perry, a skilled anthropomorphic platypus secret agent. His last name is frequently abbreviated to "Doof". Doofenshmirtz appears in several merchandise pieces, particularly the book series, and the video game. Doofenshmirtz, however much he wants to be evil, is not a bad guy at heart, and, with the help of his daughter Vanessa, comes to realize by the end of the fourth season that he can actually "do good". In "The O.W.C.A. Files", Doofenshmirtz has qualified as a member of the titular secret agency because he was briefly raised by ocelots.
In the 2011 TV film, Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, an alternate reality version of Dr. Doofenshmirtz appears, with the regular Doofenshmirtz serving as a supporting character. 2nd Doofenshmirtz later returns in the episode sequel "Tales from the Resistance: Back to the 2nd Dimension".