List of Full House characters
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This is a list of characters from the TV sitcom, Full House.
[edit] Main Characters
[edit] Daniel "Danny" Ernest Tanner
Danny Tanner (b. 1956) is left with three young daughters to raise after his wife, Pam, dies. At the beginning of the series, he works as a sportscaster for Channel 8 News. Beginning in the second season, he is chosen to be one of the co-hosts for the station's new morning talk show, Wake Up, San Francisco, with Rebecca Donaldson. Much of the humor surrounding Danny's character comes from his obsession with cleaning and cleanliness. Danny can often be found cleaning for cleaning's sake, sometimes even cleaning his cleaning products. As a matter of fact, "spring cleaning" is his Christmas. His dorkiness and generally "unhip dad" personality are also targets for humor.
[edit] Hermes "Jesse" Katsopolis
Jesse Katsopolis (b. 1963) is Danny's brother-in-law, Pam's younger brother; as well as husband to Rebecca Donaldson and father to twins Nicky and Alex. He also did not like his name 'Hermes', so when he was young he changed his name to Jesse thinking, that one had to have a 'cool name' to be in the in-crowd. With that experience, he had to rethink his twins' names so they wouldn't have to go through what he did. Jesse first moves into the house with virtually no experience in taking care of young children or babies, but starts to learn the ropes. In the first season, Jesse works for his father Nick's exterminating business before leaving to pursue work in advertising, frequently working with Joey. He later works with Joey as co-hosts of an afternoon radio show called the "Rush Hour Renegades". Further along in the series, Jesse became the new owner of the Smash Club. Jesse's main passion is music, and struggles to "hit it big" with his band Jesse and The Rippers for much of the show's early seasons. He is also obsessed with his hair and Elvis.
[edit] Joseph "Joey" Alvin Gladstone
Joey Gladstone and Danny became best friends on February 23, 1968 when they were around 11-years-old. Joey is mainly known for his love of cartoons and other childlike things. He has a pilot's license and can fly a two-seater, out of which Jesse skydives the day of his wedding. Once on "Wake Up, San Francisco" he answers a question about cartoon violence with professorial mastery. It's also later revealed that he has a teaching license; he substitutes for Michelle's class a few times. He can give quite good advice at times.
[edit] Rebecca "Becky" Donaldson-Katsopolis
Rebecca Donaldson was born in Nebraska. An elegant, well-educated woman, she found the man of her dreams in the wild Jesse. She was reluctant to admit this at first, but she found herself liking Jesse more and more. They almost eloped in Lake Tahoe at the end of season 2, then finally tied the knot in the middle of season 4. Rebecca, along with living with the Tanners, helped to transform Jesse, although she still teased him about his obsession with his hair and love of Elvis. Becky also was a mother figure to the girls at times, and as she became closer with the Tanners, the girls confided in her about life, puberty, and other topics. Her character is not quite as developed as the original cast’s, but she is still multi-dimensional. Becky gave birth to Nicky and Alex in the middle of season 5, and her role didn't really become serious until she and Jesse became boyfriend and girlfriend, most likely in the middle of season 2.
[edit] Donna Jo "D.J." Margaret Tanner
Donna Jo "D.J." Margaret Tanner (b. 1977) is Danny's oldest daughter. D.J. attends Frasier Street Elementary, Van Atta Junior High and Bayview High School through the show's whole run. She shared a room with middle-child Stephanie at the beginning of the show, later to switch with Michelle in season five for privacy reasons. D.J. has her first serious relationship with Steve, who was first introduced in season five but becomes a real fixture in her life (and an official cast member) beginning in the sixth season, when their characters return from a summer abroad in Spain. Their relationship lasts until midway through season seven, when they realize they do not have much in common anymore. During the show's final season, D.J. has on-off relationships with guitarist Viper (a new addition to Jesse's band) as well as rich-kid Nelson. In the very last episode, Steve and D.J. are reunited for her senior prom. She was once falsely accused by Uncle Jesse of drinking beer, in season three, and often said, "Oh, Mylanta!" in moments of nervous happiness.
[edit] Stephanie Judith Tanner
Stephanie Judith Tanner (b. January 1982 and played by Jodie Sweetin) is the middle daughter. She is the typical "precocious" child;far too cute for her own good, particularly in the early seasons. Her catchphrases of "How rude!", "Well, pin a rose on your nose!", and "Hot dog." were heard frequently in the show's early years. Stephanie loves spying on older sister D.J.'s life (by reading her diary and eavesdropping on her telephone calls), and is generally the nosiest and bossiest of the Tanner girls. Her best friend in junior high is Gia Mahan, who was originally her biggest enemy. Of all the Tanner children, Stephanie has dealt with the hardest issues, such as teenage smoking, "make-out" parties, joy riding, and witnessing child abuse. Stephanie is also a good dancer. She is very sentimental about Mr. Bear, a stuffed animal that was her final gift from her mother. Unfortunately, she was forced to give up her beloved Mr. Bear to younger sister Michelle, when Uncle Jesse tried to bribe Michelle into acting like a "big girl", though Michelle eventually gave it back. Stephanie once scared Michelle by threatening to call the "Hairy Scary Monster".
[edit] Michelle Elizabeth Tanner
Michelle Elizabeth Tanner (b. November 1986) is the youngest character on the show, and is played by twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who alternate unnoticeably in the role. Michelle is Danny's youngest daughter, the "little princess" whom he tends to spoil and pamper more than the other girls. Jesse and Joey's misadventures in taking care of her when she was a baby provided much of the humor in the show's early seasons. As a toddler, some of her catch phrases are: "You got it, dude!" and "No way, Jose!" Once Michelle started to grow up, she became the focus of more storylines, as well as the majority of the show's publicity, thanks to the popularity of the Olsen twins. Her best friends, Teddy and Denise, appeared frequently in later seasons, as well as other friends Derek S. Boyd, Lisa Leaper, and Aaron Baker. Michelle became an important role in the two-part series finale, in which Michelle and newfound friend Elizabeth slip out of a horse-jumping competition to do some horse jumps on their own. They decide to jump a big log, and Elizabeth succeeds. However, when Michelle tries to jump her horse over the log, the horse gets scared, and knocks her off. Danny, Joey, and Jesse arrive in time to see Elizabeth and Michelle on the ground (though Elizabeth wasn't really hurt, she was worried about her). When she awakens from the hospital, Michelle is struck with complete amnesia.
[edit] Nicky and Alex Katsopolis
Nicky and Alex Katsopolis (b. November 1991) are the twin sons of Jesse and Rebecca "Becky" Katsopolis. They share a birthday with Michelle as shown in "Happy Birthday Babies". They have blond hair and are fun-loving toddlers, with no distinctions between them. They often repeat each other, as regular twins usually do. In the episode "Happy Birthday Babies" when the twins are born, Rebecca says that Alex is named after "my high school teacher who inspired me to go into journalism" and Jesse says that Nicky is named after his father, Nick, "who gave me great hair". Jesse and Becky sometimes found it difficult to discipline the boys, and during one of their periods of "acting out", they destroyed Michelle's homework. The twins are played by Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit.
[edit] Kimberly "Kimmy" Louise Gibbler
Kimberly "Kimmy" Louise Gibbler is D.J.'s best friend. At the start of the series, Kimmy lives next door to the Tanner family, and D.J. and Kimmy met in the 6th month of kindergarten. They were even in the same class together until fifth grade, when D.J. was put in the advanced class. Kimmy has a rather outlandish personality, with quirky interests, clothes, and hobbies. She often bursts into the Tanner house unannounced, and procedes to make herself at home without being asked. The Tanner family usually found Kimmy to be a pest, except D.J., although even she sometimes got fed up with Kimmy's behavior. Kimmy was also known to have a crush on Jesse. Kimmy's very eccentric parents are never seen on the show, but often are mentioned. Kimmy had notorious foot odor.
[edit] Steven "Steve" Hale
Steve Hale (originally introduced as Steve Peters) is D.J.'s first steady boyfriend. He joins the cast as an official member in season 6, though he made an appearance in a season 5 episode. Steve is two years older than D.J. and a star member of the high school wrestling team. He leaves the cast at the end of season 7 after he and D.J. break up, but makes a cameo appearance in the series finale the following year.
[edit] Pam Katsopolis-Tanner
Pam Katsopolis-Tanner (1958 - 1987), the girls' mother, Jesse's sister and Danny's wife, who was never actually seen in the series, except in the form of a home video when she and Danny brought Michelle home from the hospital. The video was shown in the episode 'Goodbye Mr. Bear'. She was killed by a drunk driver before the series began. She has been described as always smiling, overexcitable, and awful at punctuality.
[edit] Other Characters
[edit] Vicky Larson
Vicky Larson(born 1956) is Danny's girlfriend and fiancee, played by Gail Edwards.
Vicky is the type of woman who is very focused on her career, and that proves to be the undoing of her relationship with Danny. They meet and go together while Vicky is filling in for Becky (who is on maternity leave) on Wake Up, San Francisco. Later, Danny insists that she take a job in Chicago doing the news that she’s been offered once Becky returns ("Play It Again, Jess"), and that starts a long-distance relationship that goes from early season 6 to midseason 7, and which includes their engagement at the end of season 6. However, Vicky gets her dream job—anchoring the network news in New York—so she cannot come to San Francisco to stay, nor is Danny able to pull up his family roots in California. Therefore, they break up, and she is not heard from again.
Vicky is a kind woman who gives good advice, especially when it comes to D.J.’s relationship with Steve and helping Danny to deal with it. She also acts like a mother toward Michelle at least once. When Michelle is being quite bossy during her day as Princess in Walt Disney World, Vicky reminds her that a good princess is always fair and kind, and that’s why the people love her. The audience is given the impression that she would have made a good mother, and one can even imagine that she has some of the same qualities as Pam did. However, her career came first.
[edit] Gia Mahan
Gia Mahan, played by Marla Sokoloff, is Stephanie's best friend in season 8.
Gia might be considered Stephanie’s Kimmy. Just as D.J. let Kimmy lead her astray a little at times, Stephanie got involved in a small number of wild, irresponsible things because of Gia, such as joyriding and attending Gia's makeout party when Gia's mother wasn’t around.
And yet, like Kimmy by D.J., Gia was shaped by Stephanie. During an unknown time when her parents had been through a divorce, Gia is shown as a smoking, rebellious girl with horrible grades. She is possibly one to three years older than Stephanie, as evidenced by a comment by Michelle: "Are you ready for your third year of seventh grade?" Her horrible grades the previous year indicate she might have been held back one year. And yet, as of early season 8, we learn that because of Stephanie, Gia has stopped smoking, becomes more respectful to her mother, and improves her grades.
Gia is a leader in some ways, as well. She performed in a band with Stephanie and Kimmy that failed miserably because the girls paid more attention to their appearance than to rehearsing. Despite being a relatively minor character, Gia's presence showed that Stephanie, while lacking the control of the book series, still was responsible enough and driven enough to be a great role model to a girl who was going through some problems. Gia might have led Stephanie into some temptations, but by the end of the series it was apparent that it was Gia who was changed for the better by Stephanie.
[edit] Teddy
Teddy is Michelle’s first best friend, played by Tahj Mowry.
He made his debut on the first day of kindergarten, when Joey told Michelle that the best way to make new friends was by being funny, and doing a Bullwinkle impression ("She talks with her hands on her head!"). He accompanies her when she needs a buddy to sneak out and see Danny when he goes on a date with Vicki in mid-season 5. He is also the one Michelle runs away to, later that season. He moves away to Texas in "The Long Goodbye," but when his father’s job moves him back to San Francisco, he returns. He is the typical best friend a child that age would have, and he and Michelle even consider trying to be boyfriend and girlfriend in third grade. However, they try too hard to copy what Stephanie’s magazines—and, impliedly, Stephanie herself—say is appropriate, and find that it’s no fun for children their age. So, they go back to just being best friends.
The character of Teddy is similar to T.J. from Smart Guy (also played by Mowry).
[edit] Denise Fraiser
Denise Fraiser is Michelle's other best friend, played by Jurnee Smollett.
She would eventually be the one who replaces Teddy after he moves to Texas. Though she first appeared briefly in the episode "Girls Will Be Boys", she appeared again in "The Long Goodbye" after being switched into Michelle's class and became a recurring character. Denise, like Teddy was before her, becomes Michelle's sidekick and accompanies her when Michelle has an idea. In the episode "Be Your Own Best Friend" in season 7, Teddy moves back to San Francisco, leaving Michelle to choose between him and Denise for who is her best friend. At the end of the episode, Danny makes her understand that it's possible to have more than one best friend, and she, Teddy, and Denise all become friends.
In the episode "Too Little Richard Too Late", Denise reveals that Little Richard is her uncle. When he comes to the Tanners' house to pick her up, Joey convinces him to perform at his campaign for president of the Fraiser Street Elementary School PTA.
[edit] Aaron Bailey
Aaron Bailey is a friend of Michelle, played by Miko Hughes.
He is the typical class bully, who acts quite annoying and rude at times. He pinches Michelle in one episode while they are in preschool. While that behavior doesn’t continue, his obnoxious ways to continue through the series. Indeed, Danny remarks in an early 7th season episode that they are watching Aaron for several days "until his regular sitter stops twitching".
[edit] Derek S. Boyd
Derek S. Boyd is one of Michelle's friends, played by Blake McIver Ewing.
He has appeared in several episodes throughout seasons 6-8. Michelle first meets Derek in the episode "The Play's the Thing", when he beats her out for the role of Yankee Doodle in their class's play "America The Beautiful". Though Michelle is at first jealous of Derek for winning the part over her, she helps him recover from stage fright and they become friends. Derek is very educated and well-spoken for a boy of his age, though also a bit on the wimpy side, and shows signs of being a bit obsessive-compulsive as well. As shown in several episodes, he is a very talented singer as well.
[edit] Walter Berman
Walter F. Berman is a school friend of Stephanie Tanner, played by Whitby Hertford.
At first, Stephanie disliked him and went as far as teasing and imitating his resemblance to the duck. She even nicknamed him "Duck Face". However, after following her Uncle Jesse's advice, she learned to appreciate Walter more, even if he is a nerd.
[edit] Brett Davis
Brett Davis appeared in season 4, a classmate of Stephanie who plays Little League baseball. He is the first love of Stephanie Tanner and possibly her first real boyfriend. In the previous seasons, Stephanie showed little interest in boys except as playmates (like Harry and "Duck Face"). D.J. teases Stephanie about her interest in Brett, when Steph clenches her heart and says her heart beat feels like "Brett-Brett, Brett-Brett". In the episode "Stephanie Plays the Field", Brett asks Stephanie to go easy on him with the "Tanner Twister", a method of pitching created by Stephanie. Though she struck him out, at the end of the episode, she thinks he is mad at her. Brett said he would have done the same thing. They still remained boyfriend and girlfriend.
[edit] Harry Takiyama
Harry Takiyama was the first on-screen friend of Stephanie Tanner appearing in the second season. He would call her "Chief" and she referred to him as her boyfriend without understanding its full meaning. This led to a pretend wedding in the episode "Middle Age Crazy". His last appearance was in "Nerd for a Day", in season 3.
[edit] Cindy
Cindy was Danny's girlfriend in season 4, but she only appeared in three episodes. She is first seen in the episode "Terror in Tanner Town", where it is revealed that she works as a dry-cleaner and this is how she met Danny. She has a precocious, 10-year-old son named Rusty.
[edit] Rusty
Rusty is the son of Cindy, Danny's girlfriend in season 4. Rusty has a reputation for being a troublemaker and a prankster. In the episode "Terror in Tanner Town", Rusty spends the day with the Tanners and wrecks havoc throughout the house, including putting green hair dye in Danny's shampoo, giving D.J. and Stephanie gum that turns their teeth black, and locking Jesse and Rebecca in Jesse's room. Rusty also caused a major commotion with a love letter he wrote and intended for D.J. to receive and think it came from Ricky the paper boy, on whom she had a crush. However, since Rusty did not write "Dear D.J." or address the letter to anyone, and simply signed it "Hot for You", the letter got around to everyone in the Tanner household from someone else, leading to pandemonium. Rusty appeared in only two more episodes, "Happy New Year" (in which Stephanie gets her first kiss from him, but to get him back for teasing her, she bites into an onion before they kiss), and "Stephanie Plays the Field", in which Rusty was on Danny's little league team.
[edit] Nelson Burkhard
Nelson was a recurring wealthy character during season 8, who dated D.J. on and off for a few episodes. Not much is revealed about Nelson's background or family aside from the fact that he is very rich and often throws parties on yachts. Though towards the end of season 8, he reveals he has a cousin named Regina visiting in town from England, whom he sets Joey up with on a date. He was played by Jason Marsden, known for playing recurring roles in many TGIF sitcoms.
[edit] Viper
Viper was a recurring character during season 8 as the young guitar player of Jesse's band "Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets". D.J. and Viper first meet when Jesse holds auditions for guitarists for the new band. They hit it off and begin to date, much to the chagrin of Jesse, who sees a little bit too much of himself in the young and wild Viper (he even has a cobra tattooed on his arm), and especially Danny, who is convinced that Viper is nothing more than a wild, uncontrollable, long-haired rock-and-roller. Eventually both Jesse and Danny learn to accept Viper, and he and D.J. date for a few episodes. Viper's last appearance on the show was in an episode where he breaks up with D.J., only to want her back a few days later, though he then finds out that she has started dating Nelson again. At the end of the episode, Viper and Nelson are so busy competing with each other to try to win D.J. that she decides she wants to date neither of them.
[edit] Claire Tanner
Claire Tanner is Danny's mother. She helped Danny with the girls in the few months following the death of Pam, and returned again in a future episode. She was portrayed by Alice Hirson in "Our Very First Show", and Doris Roberts in "Granny Tanny".
[edit] Wendy Tanner
Wendy Tanner is Danny's sister, an avid animal enthusiast who works at a zoo. She owned a chimpanzee and is known to have had somewhat of a rivalry between Joey in their childhood, but when she comes back to San Fransisco, she and Joey have a brief relationship. It is also revealed that she collects ridiculous souvenirs from around the world.
[edit] Nick Katsopolis
Nick Katsopolis is Jesse and Pam's father. He is a fan of Elvis Presley, just like Jesse. He owns his own business, in which he is a bug exterminator. He met his wife, Irene, the day that Elvis was drafted. He was played by John Aprea.
[edit] Irene Katsopolis
Irene Katsopolis is Jesse and Pam's mother and the wife of Nick Katsopolis. She often talked about diapering Jesse's "tushy" and touched his and other people's tushies, which made Jesse mad. She was played by Yvonne Wilder.
[edit] Mindy Gladstone
Mindy Gladstone is Joey's mother. She appears only once throughout the entire series, in the fourth episode "The Return of Grandma", but Joey talks about her often. For example, in the episode "Viva Las Joey" in season 4, Joey gets a gig opening for Wayne Newton in Las Vegas. When asked by Danny why he can't invite his mom to come see the show, he claims she is working as Goofy at Disney World.
[edit] Vanessa
Vanessa is Jesse's girlfriend in "Our Very First Show."
[edit] Roxanne
Roxanne is Jesse's old girlfriend. She is a rock star, in which Jesse aided her to success.
[edit] Caroline
Caroline is a friend of Danny's, who was first seen on "Sea Cruise."
[edit] Adrianna
Adrianna is Jesse's girlfriend in "Daddy's Home."
[edit] Corinna Spicer
Corinna Spicer is a student of Jesse's "music class," whom Jesse liked in "Jesse's Girl." At the end of the episode, she winds up with Joey instead. Jesse develops a crush on Corinna.
[edit] Robin Winslow
Robin Winslow is a reporter for "Channel 8 News" as seen in "Half a Love Story."
[edit] Jill
Jill is one of Jesse's girlfriends. She and Jesse date when there is no one else to date, according to her. Jill was loosely based on a girl that one of the writers hooked-up with from time to time.
[edit] Pets
[edit] Comet the Dog
Comet is a golden retriever and was introduced to the show in the third season. Comet was born to a dog named Minnie. In a few episodes, Comet was played by a dog named Buddy. Buddy was born in 1988 but died of cancer on February 11, 1998.
Comet's mother Minnie (who was actually male in the storyline) ran away from her home in Ohio and somehow ended up in the Tanner's backyard in San Francisco, California while pregnant. Minnie gave birth to a litter of puppies (which included Comet) on Jesse Katsopolis's bed. Minnie's owner arrived at the Tanner residence after Minnie gave birth. Once he arrived, he was so grateful that the Tanners, Jesse, and Joey had taken care of Minnie and her puppies, that he allowed them to keep one of the puppies. Michelle Tanner chose to keep the one whom they called Comet.
In the episode "Comet's Excellent Adventure", which was the season premiere of Season 8, Michelle was constantly reminding Jesse at a time where he was busy talking on the phone that it was his turn to walk Comet. In the heat of the moment, Jesse told Michelle to walk Comet herself. Michelle was only seven-years-old at the time and not very strong, so Comet ran away from Michelle. Since Michelle was not allowed to cross the street, she only followed Comet to the end of the sidewalk. Comet spent the day exploring the city of San Francisco with a female collie. Danny Tanner happened to be broadcasting at the time he was informed about Comet's disappearance, announced the news to San Francisco, and let Michelle say some words to Comet as well. When Comet saw Michelle's message on a television in the window of a local store, he ran back home.
[edit] Sparky the Dog
Sparky the dog is a Jack Russell Terrier, who is owned by Teddy and his family. He was seen only in a few episodes. In the episode, "The Volunteer", Sparky was given four out of five stars in the Tanners' dog show, which he won for his "funny walk." He was also in an episode where it's Comet's birthday and Sparky comes and Michelle doesn't want to leave him because he's so small.
[edit] Coco the Dog
Coco the dog is a poodle, who is owned by the Gibblers. She can supposedly sing along to "Polly Wolly Doodle", as Kimmy exclaims in the episode "The Volunteer" in season 5, in which the Tanners hold a dog show in their backyard for the neighborhood dogs. At the end of the episode, Comet falls in love with Coco.
| Full House |
|---|
| Episodes/Seasons |
| One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight |
| Characters |
| Danny | Jesse | Joey | D.J. | Stephanie | Michelle | Becky Nicky and Alex | Kimmy | Comet | Steve |
| Other |
| Full House books | Full House chronology |
