This is a list of characters in the Garfield comic strip, created by Jim Davis, organized by category and date of first appearance.
Main characters
Garfield
First Appearance: June 19, 1978
Garfield is Jon's orange cat. Among his personality traits are his laziness, his cynicism and sarcasm, his hatred of Mondays, his tendency to be annoyed by Jon's dog Odie, his love for lasagna, and his hatred of Nermal.
In February 2017, a dispute arose on the talk page of the character's Wikipedia page as to the character's gender. Although other characters have persistently referred to Garfield with male pronouns, owing to comments that the character's creator, Jim Davis, made in 2014 to Mental Floss, in which he said, "Garfield is very universal. By virtue of being a cat, really, he's not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old. It gives me a lot more latitude for the humour for the situations." Davis explained that although Garfield is neither male nor female, he does use male pronouns.
Jon Arbuckle
Jon Arbuckle is Garfield and Odie's owner. First Appearance: June 19, 1978
Lyman
First Appearance: August 7, 1978
Last Appearance:
As a regular: April 24, 1983
Cameo in the tenth anniversary strip: June 19, 1988
In The Garfield Show episode "Long Lost Lyman" (season 3), effort is made to explain what became of the character in-continuity. Lyman is said to have left Odie with Jon, before moving away to work as a wildlife photographer in a distant jungle. When Jon learns that Lyman disappeared while searching for a mythical Bigfoot-like creature, Jon, Garfield, and Odie travel to the jungle to find him. The "Long Lost Lyman" version of Lyman has round eyes resembling Jon's, rather than the dot-eyes of his traditional comics design, and is voiced by Frank Ferrante.
Odie
Odie is a dog that resides with Jon and Garfield.
First Appearance: August 8, 1978
Pooky
First Appearance: October 23, 1978'Pooky is Garfield's toy bear that was found in a drawer by Garfield. Garfield often carries Pooky around and makes him interact with Jon.
Dr. Liz Wilson
First Appearance: March 14, 1979
On Garfield and Friends, Liz was voiced by Julie Payne, occasionally appearing in the first two seasons and once in the fourth season. In the live-action/animated movies, she is played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Her first, albeit brief, television appearance was on the second TV special, Garfield on the Town.
In The Garfield Show, she is once again voiced by Julie Payne.
Nermal
First Appearance: September 3, 1979
Nermal is a small grey male tabby cat with thick eyelashes. Despite being an adult cat, he is smaller than most and prefers to call himself "the world's cutest kitten". Nermal was first introduced as Jon's parents' kitten. A recurring theme is Nermal's persistent annoyance of Garfield, which usually results in any number of retaliation by Garfield; mostly by attempting to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi, which he has done over 74 times.
In Garfield and Friends, he is played by Desirée Goyette. In Garfield: The Movie, Nermal is portrayed as a Siamese cat in the neighborhood, and is voiced by David Eigenberg. Nermal is voiced by Jason Marsden in The Garfield Show, as well as in the films Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest, and Garfield's Pet Force.
Arlene
First Appearance: December 17, 1980
Arlene is a pink cat with thick eyelashes, large lips, and a gap between her two front teeth. She is a love interest for Garfield and is often made fun of by him for her tooth gap.
In the Garfield film, she appears as a (purple shade) Russian Blue cat, voiced by Debra Messing. In Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest, Garfield’s Pet Force, and The Garfield Show, she is played by Audrey Wasilewski.
Squeak
First Appearance: October 30, 1984
On Garfield and Friends, the character was originally named Floyd and voiced by Gregg Berger, who also reprises the role in The Garfield Show. Arbuckle Family
Mom
First Appearance: February 13, 1980
Dad
First Appearance: February 13, 1980
In The Garfield Show, he is voiced by Frank Welker.
Aunt Gussie
First Appearance: August 14, 1981
Grandma
First Appearance: January 25, 1982
Jon's grandmother appears in Garfield's Thanksgiving and A Garfield Christmas Special, in which she is voiced by Pat Carroll.
Doc Boy
First Appearance: May 17, 1983
In A Garfield Christmas Special, he was voiced by David Lander.