This is a list of characters from the Cartoon Network animated series, Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Main characters Courage Courage (voiced by Howard Hoffman in the pilot, Marty Grabstein in the series, "The Fog of Courage", and Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog) is the titular character and protagonist of the series. He is a kind yet easily frightened pink-furred beagle who was abandoned as a puppy after his parents were sent into outer space, but was adopted by Muriel Bagge. Her husband Eustace regularly mistreats him. Despite this, Courage is determined to protect his owners when necessary. Courage is also very clever and resourceful when the situation demands it, outsmarting the villains most of the time. Aiding him in saving the day is a self-aware, sarcastic, and seemingly omniscient computer that he keeps in the attic. He got his name when Muriel found him as a puppy alone in an alley and remarked that he must be quite brave to be there by himself.
Muriel Bagge Muriel Bagge (voiced by Howard Hoffman in the pilot, Thea White in the series, "The Fog of Courage", and Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Kath Soucie as a child) is Courage's owner and Eustace's wife. She is a kind, hardworking Scottish woman who took Courage in when he was an abandoned puppy. Muriel often carries a rolling pin that she hits Eustace with whenever he harasses Courage. She also likes tea and usually tends to her garden, as well as being an accomplished sitar player. Muriel also has a great fondness for cooking; however, her recipes tend to include an excessive amount of vinegar, much to the distaste of both her dog and husband. Most of all, she loves sitting in her rocking chair with Courage on her lap and watching television. Due to her kindness and sweet nature, Muriel is an easy (and often attractive) target for villains.
Eustace Bagge Eustace Bagge (voiced by Howard Hoffman in the pilot, Lionel Wilson from episodes 1–33, Arthur Anderson in episodes 34–52, Wallace Shawn in "The Fog of Courage", Jeff Bergman in Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog) is Muriel's husband. He is a skinny, selfish, greedy, cynical, and sarcastic elderly American man who is obsessed with his vintage truck. Eustace is the current owner of the farmhouse, which was previously owned by his now-deceased brother Horst. Eustace regularly yells at Courage and calls him a "stupid dog". He regularly dismisses Muriel as well, but he still does love his wife, as evidenced by his concern for her well-being in several episodes, like "The Demon in the Mattress".
Lionel Wilson originally voiced the character, but left midway through the third season due to illness. Wilson eventually died five months after the series ended.
Supporting characters
The Computer The Computer (voiced by Simon Prebble in the series, Paul Schoeffler in "Everyone Wants to Direct" and "The Fog of Courage", Jeff Bergman in Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog) is a computer that resides in the Bagge farm's attic and offers Courage advice on how to deal with crazy situations. It has a sarcastic personality and a habit of regularly cracking jokes in any situation. It also appears to often provide Courage with unhelpful advice, but it's nevertheless supportive of him.
Doctor Vindaloo Doctor Vindaloo (voiced by Paul Schoeffler) is an Indian doctor with a thick accent, whom Eustace and Muriel see when something is wrong. He is one of the few characters in the series who can perfectly understand what Courage is trying to say. He diagnoses his patients as not having serious problems or that there is nothing that he can do, but has, on occasion, been a great help.
Shirley the Medium Shirley the Medium (voiced by Mary Testa) is a small green Chihuahua garbed as a stereotypical Gypsy fortune-teller who resides in a dilapidated caravan. She has a strong dislike of Eustace because of his greed and selfishness. Shirley is one of Courage's three confidants, the others being the Computer and Dr. Vindaloo, and helps him occasionally by casting and reciting spells and playing the saxophone in-between verses.
General Horton and Lieutenant Gidley General Horton and Lieutenant Gidley (respectively voiced by Ron McLarty and Chuck Montgomery) are military officers who are stationed in Nowhere. They often appear in episodes involving government operations in which Courage has to solve for himself, due to the duo distracting themselves with their continuous fighting with cartoonish violence.
Villains
The Chicken from Outer Space The Chicken from Outer Space (voiced by Howard Hoffman) is the show's first villain, introduced by the pilot episode of the same name. His eggs are mutagenic and transform whoever eats them into a chicken. In his first appearance, the Chicken tries to take over the farm, but ends up being shot by his own laser gun, blowing off his head and roasting his body. The Chicken returns in "The Revenge of The Chicken from Outer Space", where he intends to rip off Courage's head to replace his own. He ends up ripping off Eustace's head and tries to destroy Courage, but is then blown up in his spaceship when a rocket blasts into it. In "Son of the Chicken from Outer Space", the Chicken's son is sent to Earth to avenge him and kill Courage. However, the Chicken fears that he will not be able to return home until Courage is dead. Feeling sympathy for the Chicken, Courage helps him by faking his own death.
Katz Katz (voiced by Paul Schoeffler) is a sadistic red tabby cat with a British accent. He is Courage's nemesis and the show's most recurring main antagonist, though Muriel and Eustace consistently fail to recognize him. He specializes in scam businesses and is extremely sadistic. Many of his businesses involve torturing or outright killing his customers. All of his businesses enforce a strict "No Dogs Allowed" policy, forcing Courage to sneak in. He often challenges Courage to ironically banal games such as wall-ball and staring contests, which Courage invariably loses.
Cajun Fox Cajun Fox (voiced by Paul Schoeffler) is an orange sunglass-wearing fox obsessed with cooking who appears in "Cajun Granny Stew" and "Ball of Revenge". He kidnaps Muriel to make a stew, using her as the final ingredient, but he ends up falling into the pot of stew himself when Courage falls on top of him and Muriel just as he is about to throw Muriel into the pot.
The Shadow The Shadow (voiced by Dennis Predovic) is a living shadow who can change his shape and appearance. In the episode "The Shadow of Courage", he terrorizes the people of Nowhere by frightening them, but is forced to retreat to the Bagge estate during a lightning storm, where he scares Courage and Eustace. Eventually, Courage decides to confront Shadow, who reveals that he wants to be a movie star. Courage then takes the Shadow to see the night sky, where he transforms into an actual star.
Le Quack Le Quack (voiced by Paul Schoeffler) is a French-accented duck con-artist who first appears early in the show's first season, in which he has a fake amnesia-specialist license; he comes to the Bagges' house when Muriel has amnesia. Since then, he frequently returns and manages to dupe Courage's owners into helping him commit crime sprees. Le Quack is also shown to be capable of escaping custody such as when he was first arrested, crashing the police car in the process, and later causing a fire at prison.
Di Lung Di Lung (voiced by Tim Chi Ly) is a Chinese inventor who first appears in the episode "Hothead". He is very inconsiderate and rude and usually gets caught in the middle of the chaos happening in Nowhere, prompting him to shout his catchphrase of "Watch where you're going, ya fool!". He is the inventor of Mecha Courage. Di Lung also has two aunts: one good and one bad, who are both the Empresses of China; thus, this could make him royalty.
Freaky Fred Freaky Fred (voiced by Paul Schoeffler) is Muriel's nephew who was sent to the "Home for Freaky Barbers", due to his obsession with cutting the hair of people or animals to the point that they are bald. He speaks in poems and rhymes often repeating the word 'naughty' when describing certain situations.
The Weremole The Weremole is a mole similar to a werewolf but much smaller, yet just as fierce. It has a taste for rabbits and people and if a person is bitten by the weremole, they become one themselves. The only way to reverse the transformation is to feed one of the weremole's hairs to the victim. In the episode "Night of the Weremole", Muriel is bitten by a weremole, causing her to transform into a weremole under a full moon. Courage drops one of the original weremole's hairs in Muriel's mouth, returning her to normal.
Ma Bagge Ma Bagge (voiced by Billie Lou Watt) is the mother of Eustace and Horst and Muriel's mother-in-law, who shares a love-hate relationship with the former, usually calling him "Stupid Boy". She lives in a trailer and is the widow of Icket Bagge (Eustace's father). Like Eustace, she is actually bald but wears a wig and looks almost identical to her son, but much shorter, along with being insecure due to being bald, but she does have her teeth. It is learned that Ma and Horst's ill treatment was part of Eustace's negative personality. She tends to treat Courage kindly whenever Eustace is around, possibly because she knows it annoys him, though she also has a love-hate relationship with Courage and calls him a "stupid dog" just like Eustace does. She's also the owner of Growth Industries, a company that produces wigs and experiments on certain people with a rare blood type, one that Muriel has.
King Ramses King Ramses (voiced by John R. Dilworth) is the ghost of a pharaoh from ancient Egypt. Two cat grave robbers steal a slab (decorated with images of King Ramses and pictures corresponding to each of his three curses) from his tomb and flee to Nowhere, but Ramses appears and demands the return of his slab. They refuse, so Ramses summons a swarm of locusts. He later attacks the farm when Courage finds the slab and Eustace refuses to return it after discovering it is worth a fortune. Ramses unleashes one final curse that imprisons Eustace in the slab as punishment.
The Clutching Foot The Clutching Foot (voiced by Paul Schoeffler (big toe) and Arnold Stang (little toe)) is a foot fungus that Eustace contracts before mutating into a sentient being. It resembles a giant purple left foot with heads for toes and acts as if it were a stereotypical criminal mob, with the big toe as the kingpin and the smaller toes as his goons. It orders Courage to carry out crimes during the episode. It is later defeated when Courage licks it after researching and finding that its main weakness is dog saliva.
The Goose God The Goose God (voiced by Paul Schoeffler) is a goose who came down from the heavens to search for the woman of his dreams, and ended up falling in love with Muriel, whom he competed with Courage and Eustace to make his wife and queen (even though Eustace is completely unaware this is happening). He later falls for Eustace's truck after hearing it honk.
The Queen of the Black Puddle The Queen of the Black Puddle (voiced by Ruth Williamson) is an otherworldly siren temptress who resides within a supernatural black puddle. Her sinister goals are to seduce men gradually until she eventually manages to guide them to her puddle, where she eats them. She appeared in the episode of the same name, where she successfully manages to charm Eustace and almost succeeds in devouring him, but Courage triumphs over her and escapes back to the surface with Eustace.
Benton Tarantella and Errol Von Volkheim