List of Josie and the Pussycats characters

Josie
A short-haired redhead, Josie is the leader and co-founder of the Pussycats. She is the lead vocalist and plays guitar. Portrayed as a sweet, attractive, and level-headed teenage girl, Josie is usually the stable center in the middle of the chaos surrounding her band and her friends.

Josie's surname has been inconsistent. It was alternately "Jones" or "James" for much of the comic's run. McCoy was her surname for the 2001 movie. Archie Comics later sometimes acknowledged the surnames from the movie as canonical, though not consistently. In a few stories reprinted in the 2000s (decade), Archie Comics changed her surname to McCoy. However, the manga version used "Jones", which was her first surname to actually appear in the comics.

During the early years of her comic (1963–1969), Josie dated a guitarist named Albert. During and after the Josie and the Pussycats revamp, she dated Alan M. Mayberry. Alexander Cabot is regularly attracted to her in the comics. Though she is known to date him, she really loves Alan M.

In the cartoon series, Josie's speaking voice was performed by Janet Waldo (the voice of Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop) and her singing voice was performed by Cathy Dougher. She was played by Rachael Leigh Cook in the 2001 live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie.

Josie was ranked 77th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

Melody
The co-founder and drummer for the Pussycats (she also sang occasional lead vocals for the TV series), Melody is a cute blonde and speaks in a sing-song voice, denoted by the musical notes in her cartoon word balloons. She is an absent-minded, bubbly sort of character often taken to using silly, nonsense language, and provides much of the comic relief of the series.

Melody is almost never given a surname in a comic story. Occasionally, she is called "Melody Jones". At these times, the name "James" is used for Josie to avoid confusion. However, the manga, having settled on the name "Josie Jones", essentially nullifies this. The 2001 movie establishes her surname as Valentine, a name that Archie Comics has accepted.

Many comic stories use Melody's sex appeal as a plot device. When male characters see her, they uncontrollably fall for her and lose all sense of anything else, frequently leading to chaos; although, she is usually oblvious to this. Despite any trouble that occurs for her or her friends, Melody maintains a cheerful, optimistic attitude.

In the cartoon series, whenever the group is in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation, Melody's ears would wiggle. In the cartoon, she frequently gets brainwashed, but is already very dim-witted. Later, in the Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space series, she adopts a cute little alien named Bleep.

Melody's speaking voice is performed by Jackie Joseph, and her singing voice is performed by Cheryl Ladd (credited as Cherie Moor). She was played by Tara Reid in the live-action movie. Bleep's voice was done by Don Messick (also the voice of Scooby-Doo, Astro, Dr. Benton Quest, Boo Boo, and more).

Valerie
A headstrong young lady, Valerie performs back-up vocals (in the comics, cartoons, and the movie) and occasionally sings lead (nearly always in the TV series) for the Pussycats. In the comics and the movie, she plays the bass; in the cartoons, she plays tambourine. She is also the group's main songwriter, and is occasionally seen playing different instruments. In the comic book, she replaced Pepper, a sharp-minded spectacled brunette.

Valerie's surname may be the most definite of the three. Archie Comics have occasionally used the name "Brown" from the movie on their website and in promotional material, but in the comics, she is always called Valerie Smith.

In the comics, Valerie is more Tomboyish than her two bandmates. Besides being good at science and a skilled auto mechanic, she occasionally shows a quick temper as well as being physically stronger than she might appear. She is also less concerned about her appearance or her love life than Josie, Melody or Alexandra, and has rarely been seen in a romantic relationship, though in the cartoons she seems attracted to Alexander.

In the animated series, she is somewhat similar to Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo and they met in a 1973 episode of The New Scooby Doo Movies, The Haunted Showboat. She is the character who saves the day the most often, thanks to her street smarts and her mechanical and scientific genius. In the comics, this is downplayed, although she is still the most intelligent of the group. Valerie is the first African-American female cartoon character on a regular animated television series.

Valerie's speaking voice is performed by Barbara Pariot, and her singing voice is performed by Patrice Holloway, sister of Motown recording artist Brenda Holloway. She was played by Rosario Dawson in the live-action movie.

Alexander Cabot III
Rich, temperamental, and cowardly, Alexander is the Pussycats' shifty and not-too-dependable manager. He often gets the group in hot water because of his crazy promotional schemes. Alexander wears sunglasses often and likes to flaunt his wealth, typically dressing in flamboyant and expensive clothing.

In the comics, Alexander is reminiscent of Reggie Mantle. He has a crush on Josie and often tries to divert her attention from her boyfriend, Alan M. He is blunt and critical towards Alan M., regarding him as all brawn and no brains. Occasionally, Alexander will take an interest in Melody, particularly when Josie is unavailable. The interest seems genuine, since, unlike other boys, who fall helplessly in love with Melody at first sight, Alexander tends to remain composed around her.

Alexander's personality is markedly different in the animated series; he is much friendlier, though no more dependable and far more cowardly than his comic strip alter ego. In this context, he most often serves as a comedic foil for Alexandra's constant scheming. The animated version of Alexander also exhibits no romantic feelings towards Josie, tends to gravitate towards Melody, and is very similar to Shaggy Rogers from Scooby Doo.

The animated depiction of Alexander is voiced by Casey Kasem, who also voiced Shaggy. In a 1973 Josie-guested episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Alexander and Shaggy both appear on-screen together for quite some time. Alexander was played by Paulo Costanzo in the 2001 live-action motion picture.

Alexandra Cabot and Sebastian
Alexandra is technically a supporting character, but often overshadows the rest of the cast in both the comics and the cartoons. Whether she is older or younger than Alexander is debatable, she's called him her "baby brother" and he's called her his "baby sister". Once, however, he referred to himself as her "baby brother" when trying to get her to defend him after he screwed up getting them home.

Alexandra has black hair with a white lightning-bolt shaped stripe running through the middle of it, giving her ponytail a slight impression of a skunk's tail. In contrast to the good-natured girls in the Pussycats, Alexandra is cynical, hateful, mean, offensive, rude, envious, scheming and self-centered. She is insanely jealous of the Pussycats, especially Josie, about whom she never has a kind word. Despite having no vocal or musical talent at all, Alexandra desperately wants to be a star; her conditions for joining the Pussycats were that she be made the lead and that the band be renamed Alexandra's Cool Time Cats. Her absence of musical talent is on display at the end of the episode Swap Plot Flop, when she gets the chance to front her own act; Alexander is particularly distressed by the performance.

Alexandra has an enormous crush on Alan M., and often tries to steal him away from Josie. In the comics, although she is not particularly fond of her brother, Alexandra often joins forces with him to separate Alan M. and Josie, which would benefit both siblings, since Alexander is interested in Josie. Alexandra's personality in the cartoon is largely unchanged.

Sebastian is a Tuxedo cat, and Alexandra's sidekick. In the comics, Sebastian is the reincarnation of Sebastian Cabot, a witchcraft-practicing ancestor of the Cabot family. Alexandra finds that, by holding Sebastian in her arms, she can cast powerful magic spells (Alexandra and Sebastian's bond is represented in that they both have a matching white stripe in their middle of their hair/fur). However, this plot device was seldom used and was eventually dropped. Alexandra was later shown to be able to cast spells on her own. In the cartoon, Alexandra and Sebastian do not have magic powers.

Alexandra's voice in the cartoons is provided by former Mouseketeer Sherry Alberoni, while Don Messick supplies the meows, screams, and Muttley-esque snickers for Sebastian. Alexandra was played by Missi Pyle in the live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie, while Sebastian does not appear in the live-action film.

Alan M. Mayberry
Alan M. Mayberry (known as "Alan M." in the comics, and as simply "Alan" in the cartoon series) is a tall, blond, muscular folk singer who serves as the Pussycats' roadie. He is also Josie's on-off boyfriend, but Alexandra is constantly trying to win a date with him.

In the comics, he replaced Josie's former boyfriend and Alex's former rival Albert. In his first comic book appearance, the creators tried to give him and Alex their own band, The Jesters, but it did not last beyond one issue, and the comic took a different direction. Though Alex looks down on Alan M. and insults his intelligence, Alan M. has more common sense than Alex does. Despite being one of the six main characters, he appeared less often in the comics in the 1980s onward.

In the cartoon series, he plays the role of the self-appointed group leader, similar to that of Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo (and perhaps not coincidentally does bear some resemblance to him as well). His and Alex's characters were changed in an attempt to recapture Scooby-Doo's success.

Alan M.'s animated persona is voiced by Jerry Dexter. He was played by Gabriel Mann in the live-action film.

Other recurring characters

 * Pepper: Josie’s best friend in the original comics, and, until the 1969 renovation, one of the main five characters (along with Josie, Melody, Albert and Alex). She had short-cropped black hair, conservative spectacles, wore clothes that were less formfitting than her friends, and was noted for her sharp wit and cynical nature. She dated Sock, but to his frustration, she preferred to remain emotionally reserved when it came to boys. The original comic focused on three girls (redhead, brunette and blonde) who were frequently seen together, but Pepper was dropped from the comics and replaced by Valerie. This change has no explanation, as Albert and Pepper’s roles are similar to their replacements’. Oddly, however, Pepper made a small cameo appearance in Part 3 of 2007’s “Civil Chore” in Tales From Riverdale (Alan M. was notably absent).
 * Albert: Sometimes seen as a mischievous goofball, but at other times quite sensitive, he was Josie’s boyfriend in the original comics and one of the original male leads. He was also Alex’s rival. However, while the Pussycats-era Alex was similar to Reggie Mantle, Albert and Alex were more like a male Betty and Veronica: good friends until it came to the girl they competed for. Alexandra tried unsuccessfully to get him to date her. Albert was fond of playing the guitar and singing, and also liked to ride his motor scooter. Often portrayed as member of the 1960s counterculture, he went from being a beatnik to a folk singer to a mod and finally to a hippie (depending on the year of the issue) before he was finally dropped from the comics. Alan M. would fill his old role. Since then, he, Pepper and a few other characters would only appear in stories reprinted in digests.
 * Sock: His real name was Socrates, and he was a jock who dated Pepper and was a good friend of Albert's. Like a stereotypical jock, he was not very intelligent, but this was not exaggerated as it is with Moose Mason. Despite lasting up to and including Alan M’s first story, he, like Alexandra, remained a supporting character. Unlike Albert and Pepper, he was removed from the comics with no actual replacement character.
 * Alexander Cabot II: Alex and Alexandra’s very rich father. He is slightly heavyset, his hair is turning white, and he is often frustrated with the ideas of his children. He insists that the band his son manages earn their own fame without the help of his millions.
 * Josie’s Father: He is a slim, middle-aged man who has dark hair with a wisp of gray. His name, depending on the source, is Mr. McCoy, Mr. Jones or Mr. James. He is totally supportive of his daughter's music career.
 * Cricket O'Dell: The familiar Archie character made a few appearances in the original Josie comics.
 * Sheldon: A short, fat glutton from a few stories in the late 1960s who occasionally dated Melody. Despite his lack of importance, his final appearance was after the Pussycats makeover.
 * Clyde Didit: Best known as the star of Archie's Mad House, Clyde appeared for a few issues in Josie in the late 1960s.
 * Mr. Tuttle: The principal of Midvale High School where Josie and her friends attend. He made a number appearances in the pre-Pussycats comics.
 * Archie's Gang: The main characters often crossover with Josie and the Pussycats (and vice-versa), sometimes in stories involving the Archies.
 * The Vixens: A rival rock trio that Alexandra manages. Although they are glamorous, they have no musical talent (a fact that Alexandra somehow overlooked). Exclusive to the manga version.