Only Children in Animation

T

tiroconstruction7

New member
As we all know, many cartoon kids have a sibling or two to bounce lines/scenes/conflict off of; as such, only children in animation are somewhat rare.

However, just because a sub-group is in the minority doesn't mean that they don't exist. This thread is for acknowledging those few cartoon kids who don't have to contend with siblings.

One of the more notable animated only children is Dennis Mitchell, aka Dennis the Menace. Through a career in the comics and on TV spanning several decades, he's never had or gotten a brother or sister. Likewise for another famous animated only child: Richie Rich. Lucky for him: he's never had to fight over his million-dollar toys.

Another notable example which comes to mind is Nigel Uno, aka Numbuh One from Codename: Kids Next Door. He was the only member of his squad to not have a sibling. In his house, he truly was number one...the only one.

Then there was Marylin Piquel, the only child of Lucky and Dyl Piquel on Bonkers. Marylin loved cartoons, much to the chagrin of her dad, who was saddled with a toon for a partner.

Some more recent examples Zak Saturday from The Secret Saturdays (unless one counts his Lemurian "brother" Fiskerton) and Edd from Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy, the sole only child among the Eds.

Let's hear some other example of sibling-less cartoon kids. And which do you prefer: kids with siblings to contend with or not? Which do you think makes for better stories and characters? (And remember to explain your choices, folks: this could become a list thread very easily.)


Discuss.
 
I am assuming you mean American cartoons, and not anime, because almost every anime has no siblings.

Rugrats, Tommy has no siblings, only a cousin. Chucky gets a sister almost 10 years in.

Fairly Oddparents

many others, I really am not getting how only a "select few" have only childs.

Sibling rich cartoons make it more interesting, but an only child has more characters such as friends to fill the void (Rugrats above).
 
Have you forgotten about Dil? Angelica, however, started out as an only child and remained so for the rest of the series.

Anyway, On Recess, Gretchen Grundler, Mikey Blumberg and Gus Griswald are the only members of the main group without siblings.

Jonny Quest is an only child of sorts (though he does technically have an adopted brother, Hadji).

Bulma from Dragon Ball/DBZ/DBGT also has no siblings.
 
In Ed edd n eddy double d, Kevin, johnny, nazz, and jimmy dont have dont have any siblings. In one of the episodes of 6teen Caitlin mentions that she is the only child.
 
Unless we can confirm the identity of his actual mother, there's Eric Cartman, the only one of the four to not have siblings. And speaking of South Park, there's Butters, Tweek, Timmy, and many other characters who don't have any on-screen siblings.
 
On Tiny Toon Adventures, host Buster Bunny appeared to be an only child, although his co-star and fellow rabbit Babs Bunny had many siblings.

Plucky Duck and Hamton J. Pig likewise were only children, as was Elmyra (unless one counts the 2 episodes "Take Elmyra, Please" and "Grandma's Dead", in which she had a sister, Amanda, and 2 brothers, Duncan and an unnamed baby).
 
Ron Stoppable started out as an only child, but he was given a baby sister later on. Similarly, Jughead Jones (from Archie) was on only child for many years until he was given a baby sister, Jellybean.

Most of the protagonists on Beverly Hills Teens had no on screen siblings. One of the few exceptions was Pierce Thorndike III, who had a younger sister named Jillian.
 
A couple from The Simpsons that I can think of would be Milhouse Van Houten and Ralph Wiggum. There are others that could be contenders, like Lisa's friend Janie, but it's uncertain since the character really hasn't been explored. Also, as far as we know Nelson Muntz is, as is possibly Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney, who also has a possible only child.
 
Took the words right out of my mouth....darn you! Another person I can think of who has yet to be mentioned yet would be Princess Zelda from the Legend of Zelda cartoon, yeah I know she isn't totally a "kid" but she lives at home and is most likely in her mid to late teens and does not appear to have any siblings. How about Dan from Bakugan? I know it's an anime but still, I don't remember him ever having a brother or sister, same with Bevis & Butthead, I don't remember them ever having any brothers or sisters.
 
While Todd in the book "Sideway Stories of Wayside School" got a little brother, in the animated adaptation, Todd have no sibling.

Also, Mikey Simon in Kappa Mikey doesn't have any siblings.

Delilah, from Delilah & Julius doesn't any siblings either.

Cedric Sneer in the Raccoons doesn't have any siblings but in one episode, his father Cyril got the visit of an impostor who pretended to be his older brother Simon.

And various European cartoon characters like Asterix, Tintin, Lucky Luke, Spirou doesn't have mention of any siblings.
 
Well, Dil did show up as part of a movie, abiut 3 years into the series, but yes, I did forget about him.



If you bring up Simpsons, I'll bring up South Park. Cartman, except in the unaired pilot, where he had a sister and dad.
 
With the exception of Libby Folax, The main characters on The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius don't have siblings. There's Jimmy Neutron, Carl Wheezer, Cindy Vortex, and Sheen Estevez.
 
With Chowder and Flapjack having unknown status on there biological parents, I consume that they seem to be a(n) only child or orphan. If we ever get a glimpse of what Jimmy Two-Shoe's plus Heloise's parents, I assume there the only child as well. And Beezy is Lucius's only son with a(n) unknown mother.
 
I'll also bring up Family Guy. Neil Goldman is an only child. And Cleveland Jr. and Joe's son Kevin were previously only children.

I also thought of Arnold from Hey Arnold! There were a few others on the show as well, some I can think of were Harold, Sid, Stinky, Rhonda, Phoebe, Eugene, Curly, Torvald, Iggy, and Brainy.
 
Back
Top