This is a list of characters appearing in the "Winnie-the-Pooh" books and other adaptations, including Disney's adaptations of the series.

Characters from the original books

Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh, Pooh Bear or Pooh for short (voiced by Sterling Holloway in 1966–1977, Hal Smith in 1979–1989 and Jim Cummings in 1988–present), is an anthropomorphic, soft-voiced teddy bear. Despite being naïve and slow-witted, he is a friendly, thoughtful and sometimes insightful character who is always willing to help his friends and try his best. A prime motivation is his love for honey, which quite often leads to trouble.

In the books, Winnie the Pooh is a talented poet, and the stories are frequently punctuated by his poems and "hums".

He is humble about his slow-wittedness, but comfortable with his gifts.

In the Disney adaptations, in which the character's name lacks hyphens, Pooh has a soft voice, wears a red shirt and his catchphrases are "Oh, bother!" and "Think, think, think". Cummings reprised his role for the Christopher Robin film.

Piglet

Piglet (voiced by John Fiedler in 1968–2005, Robie Lester in Disneyland Records, Phil Baron in 1983–1986, Travis Oates in 2005–present, and Nick Mohamed in Christopher Robin) is a domestic pig and Pooh's best friend besides Christopher Robin. In the books, he often takes his lead from Pooh unless overcome by fear which occurs more often than not. But increasingly through the stories he shows himself to be very brave when faced with a crisis and given sufficient encouragement (usually by Pooh). He is fond of "haycorns". Piglet moves in with Pooh after giving his house to Owl.

In the Disney series he is kind, gentle and ordinarily quite shy, but with Pooh by his side, he often overcomes his fears.

Tigger

Tigger (voiced by Paul Winchell in 1968–1999, Sam Edwards in Disneyland Records, Will Ryan in 1983–1986, and Jim Cummings in 1989–present) is Pooh and Piglet's happy, annoying, crazy, less-than-responsible and sometimes troublemaking bengal tiger friend. He bounces around and will often bounce on others. He is full of energy, outgoing, and likes to have fun. Tigger moves in with Kanga and Roo in the books, but lives on his own in Disney adaptations.

In the Disney films Tigger has a tendency to commonly mispronounces words, like "ridickerus" (ridiculous) and usually he causes chaos rather than good. However, Tigger is also shown to be tough, fearless, optimistic and resourceful; he is shown to be protective of Roo when Kanga isn't literally around. Tigger prides himself on being the only one and bouncing as exhibited in the song "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers". Cummings reprised his role for the Christopher Robin film.

Eeyore

Eeyore (voiced by Ralph Wright in 1966–1983, Thurl Ravenscroft in Disneyland Records, Ron Feinberg in 1981, Ron Gans in 1983–1986, Peter Cullen in 1988–2017), Bud Luckey in the 2011 film, Brad Garrett in 2018 and Jim Meskimen in 2023) is Pooh's ever-glum, pessimistic and sarcastic domestic donkey friend who is a supporting character. Eeyore has trouble keeping his tail attached to his bottom since the nail keeps falling out. Eeyore has a house made of sticks in the gloomy part of the forest. Eeyore enjoys eating thistles.

In the Disney cartoons, Eeyore is slow-talking and more cautious than some of the other animals and is often reluctant to go along with their actions, but usually does not bother trying to oppose anyone. Generally, Eeyore is more positive and happier in the Disney versions compared to the books. His catchphrase is "Thanks for noticing" as indicated to himself. Eeyore's house often falls apart or gets knocked down in the Disney works.

Kanga

Kanga (voiced by Barbara Luddy in 1966–1977, Robie Lester in Disneyland Records, Julie McWhirter in 1983, Patricia Parris in 1988–1997, Tress MacNeille in 1994–2006, Kath Soucie in 2000–2010, Kristen Anderson-Lopez in the 2011 film, and Sophie Okonedo in Christopher Robin) is a female red kangaroo and the mother of Roo. The two live in a house near the Sandy Pit in the northwestern part of the forest. Kanga is the only female character to appear in the books and in most Winnie-the-Pooh media. She was based on a stuffed toy that belonged to Christopher Robin Milne.

Kanga is kindhearted, calm, patient and docile. She likes to keep things clean and organised and offers motherly advice and food to anyone who asks her. She is protective over Roo, almost obsessively, and treats him with kind words and gentle discipline. She also has a sense of humour, as revealed in chapter seven of Winnie-the-Pooh when Rabbit connives to kidnap Roo, leaving Piglet in his place; Kanga pretends not to notice that Piglet is not Roo and proceeds to give him Roo's usual bath, much to Piglet's dismay. These events were adapted into animated form in a scene from Piglet's Big Movie (2003).

In the Disney adaptations, Kanga's personality is unchanged (though she is much more sensible and down to earth, and gives Roo some level of independence), but she plays a slightly lesser role and does not appear nearly as often as Roo does. Additionally, Tigger lives in his own house instead of with Kanga (although he is seen frequently visiting her house).

Roo

Roo (voiced by Clint Howard in 1966–1977, Robie Lester in Disneyland Records, Dori Whitaker in 1974, Dick Billingsley in 1983, Kim Christianson in 1983–1986, Nicholas Melody in 1988–1990, Nikita Hopkins in 1998–2005, Jimmy Bennett in 2004–2006, Max Burkholder in 2007–2010, Wyatt Hall in 2011, Aidan McGraw in 2019, and Sara Sheen in Christopher Robin) is Kanga's cheerful, playful, energetic son, who moved to the Forest with her. In the books, Roo is depicted a tiny animal full of energy and is the youngest character of the main group.

When Kanga and Roo first come to the forest in chapter seven of Winnie-the-Pooh, everyone thinks Kanga is a fierce animal but discover this to be untrue and become friends with her. In the books, when Tigger comes to the forest, she welcomes him into her home, attempts to find him food he likes and allows him to live with her and Roo. After this, Kanga treats him much the way she does her own son.

In the Disney works, Roo is depicted as a young child who often wants to be independent. He has a close bond with Tigger, and he later becomes close with Lumpy, a young Heffalump.

Rabbit

Rabbit (voiced by Junius Matthews in 1965–1977, Robie Lester in A Happy Birthday Party with Winnie the Pooh, Dallas McKennon in Disneyland Records, Ray Erlenborn in 1981, Will Ryan in 1983–1986, Ken Sansom in 1988–2010, Tom Kenny in 2011–present, and Peter Capaldi in Christopher Robin) is one of the characters not based on a toy once owned by Christopher Robin Milne. He was said to be based on a real rabbit where they lived. He is friendly, yet capable of being impatient and irritable. He considers himself the smartest animal in the Forest. He insists on doing things his way and is obsessed with rules, planning and order. He often bosses others around, but deep down, he cares a lot about his friends. Rabbit is able to read, unlike the other animals.

In the Disney films, he takes pride in his garden and hates it when the other characters disrupt it.

Owl

Owl (voiced by Hal Smith in 1966–1991, Junius Matthews in A Happy Birthday Party for Winnie the Pooh, Sam Edwards in Disneyland Records, Andre Stojka in 1997–2007, Craig Ferguson in 2011–present, and Toby Jones in Christopher Robin) is the stuffy and talkative eldest main character who presents himself as a mentor and a school teacher to the others. He was not based on a stuffed toy, so in the illustrations he looks more like a live creature.

In the books, Owl has a superior but kindly manner towards the others. He often gets quite cross and easily annoyed, especially when his friends ignore or interrupt his long-winded speeches. He sometimes wears reading glasses, and uses his talons for hands, as opposed to his wings in the Disney version. He lives in a tree known as The Chestnuts, described as an "old world residence of great charm". The house is blown down by a storm in the eighth chapter of The House at Pooh Corner. Eeyore eventually discovers a new house for Owl, but it turns out to actually be Piglet's house. Nonetheless, Piglet offers the house to Owl, who calls his new home "The Wolery". Owl likes to present himself as very knowledgeable, and is perceived by the other animals as such, but like most of the other characters, he does not spell very well; he even spells his own name "Wol". When Rabbit (who is quite literate) comes to Owl to discuss a notice that Christopher Robin has left, Owl cannot even read the notice. But rather than admit this, Owl anxiously bluffs his way through the conversation until he finally tricks Rabbit into reading the notice out loud, at which point Owl resumes his wise demeanor as if he had known all along what it had said.

In the Disney adaptations, Owl is much more jovial and friendly. He enjoys telling stories about his relatives whenever something reminds him of one, but many of his stories are pointless or absurd. In Welcome to Pooh Corner, Owl always wears glasses (and often a cap and goggles when flying) and loves to cook. He is absent in My Friends Tigger & Pooh completely.

Christopher Robin

The primary human character in the books, he has a "cheerful" and compassionate personality and is someone whom Pooh and the others look up to. Despite being a child, he is much wiser and more mature than many of the other characters. Pooh considers both Christopher Robin and Piglet to be his best friends.

Christopher Robin matures considerably over the course of the books. Some chapters in The House at Pooh Corner cover Christopher Robin beginning to go to school and his increasing book-learning. In the final chapter, Christopher Robin leaves his stuffed animals behind and asks Pooh to understand and to always remember him.

In the Disney adaptations, he goes to day school. As in the books, he is best friends with both Piglet and Pooh, and he and Pooh always do nothing together. Christopher Robin has had many voice actors over the years including Bruce Reitherman (1965–1966), Robie Lester (A Happy Birthday Party with Winnie the Pooh),Hollis, Tim; Ehrbar, Greg (2006). Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records. . Retrieved 2018-10-18. Jon Walmsley (1967–1968), Ginny Tyler (Disneyland Records),Character Voice Work or Looping by Sam Edwards . Retrieved 2018-10-18. Timothy Turner (1974), Kim Christianson (1981–1983), Tim Hoskins (1988–1991), Edan Gross (1991), Brady Bluhm (1997–2000), Tom Attenborough (2000), Tom Wheatley (2003–2005), William Green (2002), Paul Tiesler (2001–2003), Struan Erlenborn (2007–2010), Jack Boulter (2011), and Oliver Bell (2017). Christopher Robin starred in his own film, portrayed by Ewan McGregor as an adult and Orton O'Brien a child (2018).

Minor characters in the books

Bees A swarm of honeybees makes their debut in the very first chapter. They live in the hive where Pooh tries to get his honey.

They frequently appear in virtually every version of the Disney adaptations, including the debut short, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Whenever Pooh and his friends encounter the bees, trouble usually occurs with the bees going after them.

Rabbit's friends and relations

Many small mammals and insects in the books are collectively known as Rabbit's Friends and Relations. They do not generally do much or have much character development, and only a few of them are named. Alexander Beetle is briefly mentioned on page 119 of Winnie-the-Pooh, and he appears to have become upset and hidden himself in a crack for two days, then went to live with his aunt. He is also the subject of a poem in Now We Are Six.