This is a list of characters that appear in Rocko's Modern Life.
Main characters[]
The show's main characters.
- Rocko Rama (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui): a wallaby who has emigrated to the United States from Australia who works at Kind of a Lot O' Comics. He has unreasonable bad luck and treatment from others in most episodes. Though he is a kind hearted person.
- Spunky (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui): Rocko's pet dog who is white with a black spot. He willingly eats almost anything he sees, which has repeatedly gotten him and Rocko into trouble. Spunky is also known to sit with his legs up in a 240 degree position.
- Heffer Wolfe (voiced by Tom Kenny): Rocko's best friend, a happy-go-lucky and not-too-bright steer whom he met in high school. Heffer loves to eat and party. Strangely, even though Heffer is male, he has been shown on a number of occasions to have udders. As his last name suggests, he was raised by a family of wolves who decided not to eat him as a child and adopted him instead. When Filburt was having children, some of his children had the appearance of Heffer, which everyone seemed stunned and suspicious.
- Filburt Shellbach (voiced by Mr. Lawrence): Rocko's other best friend, a neurotic turtle who started out as a supporting character and became a main character in the second season. He lives in a trailer and has had a myriad of jobs including as a jazz crooner and science fiction writer. Filburt has an extremely weak stomach and even the slightest wrong movements can give him indigestion. Filburt's catchphrases are "I'm nauseous, I'm nauseous" and "oh, fishsticks!". He was married to Dr. Hutchison in the show's third season, with whom he has four children.
- The Bigheads: Rocko's neighbors, the Bigheads are known to be odd. They have been shown to be very sexually active, albeit in a way that children watching would likely not understand (usually with wacky allegories such as throwing plates)
- Edward Bighead (voiced by Charlie Adler): A grumpy old toad who is Rocko's neighbor. He hates Rocko despite Rocko normally acting nice to him. Ed works at the large corporation Conglom-O. Ed seems to have very bad luck wherever he goes and thus is very cynical. He hates his life, leading to his catchphrase "I hate my life."
- Beverly Bighead (voiced by Charlie Adler): Ed's much kinder wife (whose voices sounds close to that of Harvey Fierstein) who enjoys flirting with other men, particularly Rocko. In the controversial episode "Leap Frogs", she unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Rocko.
- Rachel Bighead (voiced by Joe Murray): Ed and Bev Bighead's formerly-estranged transgender daughter. She was disowned by Ed when she revealed that she wished to move to Holl-o-Wood and become a cartoonist, rather than follow in her father's footsteps and work for Conglom-O. Rachel's career found success with the creation of her hit cartoon The Fatheads which starred a married couple that appeared to be a highly unflattering parody of her parents. She and Ed finally reunited at Ed and Bev's anniversary party with the help of Rocko and his friends, ending the long-standing rift. She is now travelling the world with her parents.
- Paula Hutchison: (voiced by Linda Wallem): Dr. Hutchison is a cat. She married Filburt in the third season of the show, much to their respective families' annoyances. She soon gave birth to four children: three sons and one daughter. She has a variety of jobs, including being a dentist, a surgeon, and a canine nutritionist. She has a hook for one of her hands, it is unknown whether she lost her hand in an accident or had a birth defect. Despite that handicap, Dr. Hutchison is surprisingly level-headed and is prone to chuckling hysterically.
Supporting characters[]
- Chuck & Leon (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny): Two twin chameleons who, like their species, adapt very well to many situations usually to make money. They run a variety of businesses throughout the show. Both have Scandinavian accents but use American accents in their scams.
- Widow Hutchison (Voiced by Kevin Meany): is Dr. Hutchison's mother. She has two hook hands which she inherited to her daughter.
- Mr. Smitty (voiced by Tom Kenny): is Rocko's boss. He is a smoldering old toad who owns Kind of a Lot o' Comics. He detests his employees even be a second late, and fires them for repeating this act. He apparently lives next door to the comic shop, but drives there anyway to take the parking space in front of the store. When his employees ask for a raise, he convinces them to accept Employee of the Month instead.
- George Wolfe: George is Heffer's father, he is often temperamental and angry all the time.
- Virginia Wolfe: Virginia is Heffer's mother, she is known to treat Heffer like an adolescent. Virginia twitches when she is in a stressful moment such as a fight.
- Peter Wolfe: Peter Wolfe is Heffer's brother who enjoys crossdressing. In a particular episode he is dressed as a cheerleader and a car horn honks. It is a cliche used in TV shows during the 70's such as The Brady Bunch. Another episode it shows peter Wolfe in female clothes and George Wolfe screams. Then Peter says "Oh sure, judge".
- Cindy Wolfe: Cindy Wolfe is Heffer's sister, the stereotypical 90's teenage girl. She has adopted the Gothic punk culture.
- Hiram Wolfe: (voiced by Chuck Adler) Hiram Wolfe is Heffer's grandfather who hates wallabies (Rocko's species), and pretty much any other species outside of wolves. Hiram is blind as a bat. Hiram always calls Rocko a beaver.
- Grandma Wolfe (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) Their grandmother is deceased and spending eternity in Heck. In the episode Heff in a Handbasket, she refused to spend her afterlife with Heffer saying that he would ruin her peace and quiet.
- Mr. Dupette (voiced by Charlie Adler): The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Conglom-O, he is the self-described "slimy boss" of Ed Bighead and enjoys picking his nose. He is almost never seen without his assistant, Noway Jose. He was also once the owner of the Super Lot o' Comics store where Rocko worked before moving to "Kind of a Lot o' Comics."
- Conglom-O Lizards: are Mr. Dupette's employees/henchmen. They are often seen picking their noses like their chief.
- Bloaty the Tick (voiced by Tom Kenny) and Squirmy the Ringworm: (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) Two parasites who live on and in Spunky. Sometimes, entire episodes revolve around their odd couple relationship. It is often done as a parody of The Honeymooners.
- Really Really Big Man (voiced by Tom Kenny): an insectoid superhero who lives in O-Town. He is very big and depicted as a parody of super heroes such as Superman and Batman. He has the power to extend his nipples into people's faces to show them the future.
- Wallace (voiced by Tom Kenny): a large elephant who works at the Pizza Face restaurant. He once almost got into a brawl with Heffer but was stopped at the last moment by his boss. Seemingly aggressive, he has a meek voice.
- Peaches (voiced by Tom Kenny): Works for Satan; he's in charge of "Heck." He has attempted to lure Heffer into "Heck" several times but has repeatedly failed to do so. Due to his failure at letting Heffer be released, he was punished by being forced to star in his own cartoon show: Peaches' Modern Life.
- Gladys Hippo (voiced by Charlie Adler): a large female hippo. Rocko apparently has a bad habit of accidentally crashing into her at public places upon which she screams "How dare you!" and proceeds to physically retaliate.
- Flecko (voiced by Tom Kenny): a fly with a glass eye who lives in Rocko's property.
- Earl: a mutt, initially homeless, who enjoys mauling Rocko, Ed Bighead, the mailman, and basically anything else that is alive. He was adopted by Bev Bighead in the second season. He was first used as a drawing for a MTV ad in 1989, just like Heffer.
- Wild Pig (voiced by Charlie Adler): Makes various cameos during the series and his catchphrase is "I'm a wild pig!".
- Buddy Gecko: is a gecko who is a lounge singer who is admired by Filburt. He sells motivational cassette tapes for emerging lounge singers. When he accidentally sits on and crushes Filburt's tapes it is implied they don't really work. He sings a duet with Filburt in the episode "The Lounge Singer". He also makes a cameo appearance in "Zanzibar!".
- Yukon Sheldon: is a renowned outdoors man who scaled the algae rich Flemm Rock. He is actually diminutive in size when he meets Rocko and Heffer.
- The Dad Elf: is the father of Mitch and Little Elf. He lives across the street from Rocko. He first appeared in "Rocko's Modern Christmas!: Can't Squeeze Cheer From a Cheese Log!". He also appears in "Turkey Time".
- Mitch: is a member of the Elf family. He has 3 legs and can make it snow. He went into seclusion when Christmas cheer disappeared.
- Little Elf: is a major character in "Rocko's Modern Christmas!: Can't Squeeze Cheer From a Cheese Log!". He followed Rocko and Spunky to the O-Town Mall. Rocko saves him from being harassed by alligators and brings him back to his family. He is the youngest and smallest member of the Elf family. He is not known to speak.