Disney's Lilo & Stitch is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films, three animated television series, a live-action adaptation, and several other spin-offs, is noted for its unusual and eclectic cast of fictional characters, both human and alien.
Characters introduced in Lilo & Stitch (2002) Stitch (X-626)
Stitch (Experiment 626) is one of the two title characters of the Lilo & Stitch franchise. Originally an illegal genetic experiment created by mad alien scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba to cause chaos across the galaxy, he is marked by his short temper and mischievous behavior (traits that endear him to his friend Lilo, who adopted him as her "dog"). He is voiced by his creator and the film's co-writer and co-director, Chris Sanders, in all official media, except the Stitch! anime and Stitch & Ai, where he is voiced by Ben Diskin.
Lilo Pelekai
Lilo Pelekai ( ; literally in Hawaiian) is one of the two title characters of the franchise. She is a young Native Hawaiian girl who lives on the island of Kauai with her older sister Nani and her extended family of alien visitors marooned on Earth. She was voiced by Daveigh Chase in all the animated films and Lilo & Stitch: The Series, except Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch where she was voiced by Dakota Fanning due to scheduling conflicts on Chase's part. In the 2025 live-action film, Lilo is portrayed by newcomer Maia Kealoha.
Lilo is a young girl with long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She is most often seen wearing a muumuu and sandals, but also wears other warm-weather clothing as well as traditional hula costumes. In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch; her reflection in a mirror is compared to a picture of her young mother, suggesting that they look similar. In the episode "Skip" where an experiment (Experiment 089) is used to skip time ten then another ten years, it is mentioned that older Lilo looks a lot like her sister Nani.
Her spirited and highly eccentric personality, especially in light of her parents' death, has alienated her from her fellow children, yet Lilo makes the perfect best friend for Stitch, an alien experiment whom she adopts as her dog. Lilo attends hula school and her hobbies include the photography of tourists (especially obese people), talking about creatures from horror/sci-fi movies, and rehabilitating Jumba's experiments. In "Swapper", she meets Victoria, who turns out to have similar personalities to her and she becomes Lilo's only human friend.
Lilo is also known for being a passionate fan of Elvis Presley; this trait of hers is based on Lilo & Stitch director/writer Chris Sanders being a fan of Presley himself.
Lilo's parents died in a car accident some time before Lilo & Stitch (it is suggested that rain made road conditions treacherous), and they have not appeared in the series apart from three photographs: one of Lilo, Nani, and their parents having a picnic on the beach, a photograph of Lilo's mother winning the Hula contest at her school's May Day celebration, and a photo of Nani with her parents when she graduated to intermediate Hula.
Lilo's mother is depicted as kind and loving (and perhaps eccentric like her younger daughter), as well as an excellent hula dancer. She would placate her children by holding a family night, singing lullabies, and making up funny constellations. Lilo's father played the ukulele and was the one who coined the phrase Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. Lilo loves and misses her parents very much; she keeps a picture of them under her pillow and initially would not allow Stitch to touch it.
The development of Lilo's ohana (extended family) begins with the adoption of Stitch in Lilo & Stitch. Though Lilo technically owns Stitch by Hawaiian state law, the relationship between the two is more like siblings and best friends. By the end of the series, Lilo's extended ohana includes Nani, Jumba and Pleakley, David, Cobra Bubbles, the Grand Councilwoman, Victoria, Jumba's experiments, and Mertle.
Lilo does not return as a main character in the Asian series Stitch! and Stitch & Ai. However, she appears as an adult in the third season of Stitch!. Lilo had gone to college and planned to meet Stitch on the beach when she returned, but when that day came, Nani was heavily pregnant and caused Lilo to be late. Stitch, for unknown reasons, was never aware of Nani's condition; when Lilo did not arrive at the time they planned, he thought she had forgotten about him. Before Lilo and her daughter leave Okinawa, Stitch arrives in time to see her again. They both have a happy reunion, she hugs him, promises to visit him again, and asks Stitch to take good care of his new family. She then gives Stitch his tiki necklace back before leaving.
Lilo is one of the several Disney Animation characters who appear in the short film Once Upon a Studio gathering for a group photo.
In the live-action film, Lilo is portrayed similarly to her animated counterpart, albeit with some notable changes. She gets expelled from her hālau hula after shoving Mertle Edmonds off the stage during a recital, is familiar with the animal shelter where she adopts Stitch (whereas she had not went there before in the original film), has a near-drowning experience after surfing with Nani and Stitch that leads to a hospital visit, saves Stitch from Jumba, and gets taken in by her next-door neighbors David Kawena and Tūtū after Nani relinquishes guardianship of her to pay for the hospital visit.
Scrump
Scrump is Lilo's personal rag doll that she made herself. "She" (as Lilo treats the doll) is a green doll with a large head (which Lilo passes off by pretending that an insect laid eggs in it), mismatching button eyes and navel, an unevenly stitched mouth, and straw "hair" tied together with a pink bow. The doll is seen throughout the franchise, with Lilo often seen holding it for comfort. Stitch interacts with it on occasion, usually passively, although various merchandise and marketing material portray him as loving the doll and interacting with it frequently. Being an inanimate object, "she" does not speak, although Nancy Cartwright voiced the doll in an episode of Lilo & Stitch: The Series when Phantasmo possessed the doll.
In the Stitch! anime series, it is revealed that the now-adult Lilo gave Scrump to her daughter Ani as a hand-me-down.
Nani Pelekai
Nani Pelekai is Lilo Pelekai's older sister and legal guardian. She carries the burden of supporting herself and her younger sister both financially and parentally. Naturally, she is usually very busy and under a great deal of stress. Her age is not made clear, but the fact that she was made her sister's guardian suggests that she is at least eighteen years old by the time of the first film. She loves Lilo devotedly but does not always understand her. Nani often serves as a gentle voice of reason and advice in the films and show—and occasionally, not so gentle. It was Nani, in the original film, who allowed Lilo to adopt Stitch from the pound, where he had been mistaken for a dog. She is voiced by Tia Carrere in the animated films and Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and portrayed by Sydney Elizebeth Agudong in the live-action film.
As a result of her stress, Nani is easily aggravated by Lilo and Stitch's antics, which often interfere with her ability to find and hold a stable job. In the original film, she loses her job as a waitress at a tourist-attracting lūʻau due to Stitch attacking a disguised Pleakley (who, along with Jumba, tried to capture Stitch there with an extraterrestrial chicken drumstick). She seemingly gets a new job at a store near her house after Jumba and Stitch's fight that ends with her house's destruction, although she is never seen working there afterward. In early season one of Lilo & Stitch: The Series and in Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, she works as a clerk at a surfboard rental hut on Lahui Beach. However, partway through the season, she gets a new job for a similar position at the Birds of Paradise Hotel.
Nani appears as a playable character to unlock for a limited time in the video game Disney Magic Kingdoms.
Nani is one of the several Disney Animation characters who appear in the short film Once Upon a Studio gathering for a group photo.
In the live-action film, Nani is portrayed as a Type A person under considerable more stress than her animated counterpart. She is explicitly shown to have been a young professional surfer in the past (a detail which was only implied in the original film via trophies in her bedroom) and is shown to have graduated summa cum laude in high school. She was accepted into the marine biology program at the University of California, San Diego with a full scholarship, but put it aside to take care of Lilo. She struggles to keep the house clean and stocked with food, has overdue bills, and lacks health insurance for both herself and Lilo, and is ordered by her social worker Mrs. Kekoa to correct these issues. She also initially wasn't as accepting to have Lilo adopt a pet due to their ongoing issues, but her neighbor Tūtū convinces her to have Lilo keep Stitch. As with the original film, she loses her waitress job (this time due to Stitch accidentally causing a table fire), but is eventually able to find new employment as a surfing instructor. However, when she, Lilo, and Stitch go surfing after her first shift, Jumba and Pleakley try to capture Stitch, causing the three to wipe out and Lilo to have a near-drowning experience that leads to a hospital visit. Because Nani failed to enroll health insurance for Lilo beforehand, she is forced to make a deal with Mrs. Kekoa to relinquish guardianship in order to pay for the visit. However, Mrs. Kekoa later allows David and Tūtū to adopt Lilo to prevent the sisters' separation from being a major ordeal. Lilo also gives Nani her blessing to attend UCSD, which she does after rebuilding their damaged house. She continues to visit Lilo and Stitch whenever possible by using Jumba's portal-generating gun that they took from him to go from her dorm room in San Diego to Lilo's bedroom back at her family's house on Kauaʻi instantly.
Jumba Jookiba
Dr. Jumba Jookiba ( , misspelled as Jumba Jukiba in some media) is the creator of Stitch and his "cousins." He is an overweight, purple-and-pink-skinned alien from the planet Kweltikwan/Quelte Quan speaking in a vaguely Russian accent (changed to an American accent in the live-action film), with dark pink skin and an ovalish head with four yellow eyes. He has been called an "idiot scientist", but he prefers to be known as an evil genius and is in fact very outgoing and kind-hearted outside of his work. He was voiced by David Ogden Stiers in the films, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, The Series Jess Winfield in the Stitch! anime and Stitch & Ai, Piotr Michael in Disney Speedstorm and the audiobook Agent Stitch: The M-Files: Rise of the Mansquito, and Zach Galifianakis in the 2025 live-action film. Galifianakis also portrays Jumba in his human guise.
Jumba's greatest asset is his abnormally high IQ, hindered only by a few small and occasional lapses in memory. His penchant for creating numerous destructive, complex experiments and machinery is nearly unrivaled, and his creation 626 is proof of his genius, being nearly unbeatable, as well as one of the most formidable fighters in the galaxy. He has also completely memorized the number and technical info on every one of Stitch's "cousins" he created.