Philip J. Fry

Philip J. Fry is a 20th century pizza delivery boy who awakes to life in the 31st century after being cryogenically frozen since the first few seconds of 2000.

Billy West, mentioning jovially that he bases Fry on himself as a self-professed loser, also jokes that he fell in love with Katey Sagal, the voice actor of Turanga Leela, while working on the Futurama voices.

The name "Philip" was given to Fry by Matt Groening as a homage to the then recently deceased Phil Hartman.

Fry was born in 1974 in Brooklyn, New York. Named by his parents for Phillips-head screwdrivers, he was the second and youngest son of his parents and had an older sibling, Yancy Fry.

His brother, Yancy, was said to have wanted the name Philip in his adolescence, as well as wanting lots of other things which Fry had worked to achieve. During his childhood, Fry was particularly active. Taking part in dance and basketball, during which he found a seven-leaf clover which gave him the luck to beat his brother at basketball, which later he locked away in the family's bomb shelter in the cover of a Breakfast Club soundtrack, in the "Ronco Record Vault", with the combination "3".

As a child, he participated in a breakdancing troupe, in order to help them win some parachute pants, and performed a septuple headspin with the help of the clover, after his brother copied his dance moves, and his "Outer Space" dance style.

As a teenager, Fry was a typical loser, and something of a geek. During his time as a teenager, he is rumored to have spent his entire school time playing video games. He particularly liked playing Space Invaders while listening to his all Rush mix tape and drinking Shasta - so much so that his eyes bled from overexposure.

In an alternate reality shown by Prof. Farnsworth's "what-if machine" (after Fry asked what life would be like if it were more like a video game), Fry's experience became useful when he was called upon to help General Pac-Man defend Earth from actual space invaders, a group of classic video game characters (such as Donkey Kong and Mario) from the planet "Nintendu 64", who wanted quarters with which to do their laundry.

Aside from his obsession with video games, he is an accomplished college dropout, dropping out after less than 3 weeks from Coney Island College. In one episode, he admits to not attending public school - his parents deemed it a waste of taxpayers' money.

By 1999, Fry was dating a woman named Michelle and working as a delivery boy for Panucci's Pizza. On December 31, 1999, after being dumped by his cheating girlfriend, he was delivering a pizza to a cryogenics lab when he realized that it was a prank order for "I.C. Wiener". He was leaning back in a chair while eating the pizza at the lab when the clock struck midnight, and just at that moment Fry fell backwards into an open cryogenic capsule that closed upon him and froze him. He remained frozen for 1000 years, when he was defrosted on December 31, 2999. Needless to say, upon reawakening, he found himself in a world very different than the one he left at the turn of the 21st century.

Trying to adjust to the 31st century, Fry gains the friendship of a cyclops, Turanga Leela, and a bending robot named Bender. Together, they find Fry's closest living relative, the ancient Professor Hubert Farnsworth, who agrees to employ the three of them in his delivery business, Planet Express.

Fish-out-of-water Fry often tries to recapture his past. He came into a large sum of money through a millennium of interest accrued in a bank account and furnished an apartment in a style befitting his twentieth-century era. He discovered the preserved corpse of his dog Seymour in "Jurassic Bark", and was all set to bring him back to life with the Professor's help, until he realized the dog lived twelve years after his disappearance. Deciding Seymour had lived a full life without him, Fry abandoned the project. In a flashback we see Seymour, like Ulysses' dog Argos, waited all those years for his master to come home, never leaving that spot or giving up hope, until old age finally got him. Many fans consider this to be the series' most touching episode.

Although Fry seems to have aged, his personality still resembles that of a child of very low intelligence, and is often portrayed as being very slow to pick up on events that are happening, as well as common sense. However, he is very knowledgeable about certain subjects, such as video games, television, and movies.

Another great source of humor is Fry's lack of intelligence and unabashedly pathetic lifestyle. He lives like a pig with his best friend, Bender, rarely thinks more than five minutes into the future, and frequently injures himself. He enjoys watching TV shows that follow the form "the world's blankiest blank" and singing Walking on Sunshine while showering.

In the episode "Roswell That Ends Well" Fry returns to 1947 and becomes his own grandfather (he "did the nasty in the past-y"). Because of this "past nastification" he has a genetic anomaly that causes him to lack the delta brainwave. This helps him save the universe from a malicious race of disembodied brains, dubbed the "Brainspawn" (see "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid").

Fry is the deciding factor in the galactic conflict between the Nibblonians and the evil Brainspawn. In fact, the Niblonians were responsible for Fry being frozen: they knew he would be needed to defeat the Brainspawn in the 31st century, but he would naturally have died long before then.

Philip J. Fry is also the name of a character in the Futurama universe who currently lives on the planet Hovering Squid World 97a.

Fry's girlfriend from the 20th century. Michelle dumped Fry on New Year's Eve 1999.

After Fry was frozen, Michelle realized he was the man she really loved, so she froze herself in depression. When Fry was fired from Planet Express, and in a mixup involving career chips, Fry ended up with Leela's old job at the cryogenics lab, where he unfroze Michelle and they continued dating. Unfortunately, Michelle started to complain about the 31st century being too "weird", and the couple froze themselves; their tube was dumped in Los Angeles, and when they were thawed, they entered a few more arguments and then broke up conclusively.(see "The Cryonic Woman").

Fry met Turanga Leela shortly after being defrosted when she was working as a career counselor at the cryogenics lab. Afraid of getting a career chip implanted in his hand by Leela, he ran from her, but eventually befriended her after she gave up her job as career counselor and joined Planet Express with Fry. Later on, Fry turned his attentions to Leela, and in subsequent seasons began his quest to woo her.

In the episode "Parasites Lost", Fry becomes infected with worms after eating a bad truck stop sandwich. However, the worms are very beneficial to Fry, doing everything from making him more physically fit to making him smarter. Leela finds this more intelligent and more sensitive Fry to be much more attractive. Fry is even able to woo Leela by learning to play the holophoner, a musical instrument with which the operator creates both music and visuals, which is very hard to play. The holophoner piece he plays for Leela depictes the two of them dancing in an array of stars with an enchanting violin solo. But Fry realizes that it is likely that Leela only loves him for what the worms have made him, and not who he truly is. So, in order to find out for sure he confronts the worms and threatens to hurt his own body (the worms' home) in order to get the worms to leave. He succeeds in getting rid of the worms, and goes back to his old self. Unfortunately for Fry, Leela no longer seems interested in him.

Towards the end of the series there are hints that Leela and Fry were beginning to fall for each other. The clearest example of this is in the episode "The Sting", when Fry is stung by a space bee. Leela thinks that Fry is dead. However, in reality, Fry was alive and Leela was in a coma. He had stayed by her bedside the entire time.

While traveling through time, Fry was present at the time of his past self's freezing. However, Nibbler gave Fry the choice this time, and for Leela's sake, Fry froze himself. Nibbler's and Fry's shadows are visible in a view from underneath the table Fry is sitting at when he falls backward into the cryogenic tube.

In the series premiere, Nibbler's shadow is seen - the creators had planned the details of Fry's fateful night from the conceptualization of the show. On the DVD commentary for the first episode, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen noted "Secret!" when Nibbler's shadow was visible.

In the episode "Jurassic Bark" (Season 5, Episode 2), the eye of Nibbler can be briefly seen peeking out of the trash when Fry was sitting in the cryogenics lab's office. In the scene as he falls backward into the tube, two sets of extra shadows can be seen, presumably of Nibbler and Fry.

In return, Nibbler helped Fry get together with Leela by giving him a flower, which Fry then gave to Leela after she had a bad date (see "The Why of Fry").

At one time Fry actually managed to marry Leela only to be followed by a speedy annulment. (see "Time Keeps On Slippin'").

The episode "The Farnsworth Parabox" explores alternate universes, and in one such universe Fry and Leela are happily married, due to a reversed coin flip (Leela flipped a coin to decide if she would make up an excuse or go out with Fry).

Throughout the series, Fry maintains an interest in Leela, but he is frequently rejected by her. The idea of a romantic connection between Fry and Leela is explored more so in the later episodes of the series.

After having a crush on Lucy Liu for as long as he has known, Fry dates a copy of Lucy Liu which has been holographically projected onto a blank robot (despite the protests of the other characters), which he downloaded from "Nappster" on the Internet. Fry's love for the real Lucy Liu causes him to erase his Lucy Liu robot clone, just as the real Liu is falling in love with Bender (see "I Dated a Robot").

Fry and Amy Wong have a short relationship in the episode "Put Your Head on My Shoulder". After spending time together Fry and Amy recognize their commonalities that lead to a relationship. However Fry quickly feels as though Amy is not giving him enough space, and decides to break it off. Unfortunately before he can tell her Fry, Amy, and Dr. Zoidberg are in an accident in which Fry's body is damaged to the point that Fry's head must be transplanted to Amy.

Fry also fell in love with a Southern belle-type mermaid named Umbriel, but fled when he discovered the disadvantages of her piscine lower-half (see "The Deep South"). Perhaps his most distressing romantic escapade, however, was backstage at the Miss Universe pageant, when he made out with "the radiator woman from the radiator planet", only to be informed afterwards that it was actually just a radiator (see "The Lesser of Two Evils").

In a brief trip to the past, he had a one-night stand with his Grandmother in 1947.

Additionally, Fry carried on an affair with Morgan Proctor, the bureaucrat that had replaced Hermes Conrad at Planet Express for a brief time.

Fry initally meets Bender in the first episode of the series, after Bender's failed suicide attempt, and from then on the two form a strong bond (As Bender put it, "Out of all my friends, you're the first.")

After working at Planet Express together, they become close to each other when they decide to rent an apartment together, and for the sake of the friendship, Bender cuts off his antenna so the TV will get reception. However, they decide to leave that apartment, and they move into Bender's previous apartment, where the living room is the size of a closet, and vice-versa.

Bender and Fry, while being rather odd, have a strong relationship, and have sacrificed things for each other over the years of their friendship, such as fame, money, and even their own lives. Their friendship is tested when Seymour, Fry's old dog is unearthed, and Fry spends time worrying about it instead of spending time with Bender.

In the 20th century, while Fry is a pizza delivery boy, he meets a dog named Seymour Asses who eventually becomes his best friend. Seymour is able to sing "I'm Walking on Sunshine." In the 31st century Seymour is found in a museum, preserved and encased in dolomite, and Fry successfully stages a protest in order to get back his dog. After much deliberation, Fry decides not to clone Seymour as he finds out that Seymour lived a full 12 years after Fry was cryogenically frozen. Unbeknownst to Fry, Seymour spent the 12 years waiting for Fry outside Panucci's Pizza, where Fry used to work.

Fry was made an Honorary Globetrotter by Bubblegum Tate.

Fry was briefly a multi-billionaire from the 1000 years of interest accrued on bank account balance of 93 cents.

Fry still has over 8 billion dollars (pre-tax) lying out of circulation from the sale of Popplers. He made 50 cents per dozen popplers sold, with 198 billion sold, together with Bender. He may not know this (or it may have been lost or frozen and considered illegally earned when it was discovered that Popplers were the intelligent offspring of the Omicronians of Omicron Persei 8).

Fry saved the entire city of New New York from a giant ball of 20th century garbage with his 20th century garbage making skills.

Fry saved the entire planet Earth from invaders from the planet Omicron Persei 8 when he remembered enough of a 1000 year old TV show ("Single Female Lawyer," a probable spoof/satire of Ally McBeal) to write, direct and produce a believable ending to an episode that was knocked off the air (by Fry himself).

Fry won a contest (a Willy Wonka parody) to tour the Slurm factory, then discovered the secret to Slurm and decided it would be better kept a secret.

Fry discovered the location of the original 1969 moon landing site, which had been lost for centuries.

Fry was briefly an executive (Vice President) of Planet Express (PlanEx) in the episode "Future Stock".

Fry was briefly an executive (Executive Delivery Boy) of Planet Express in the episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back".

Fry performed the septuple headspin, with the help of a seven-leaf clover.

Fry is the only known person in history to be his own grandfather, and subsequently, the only person without the Delta-brainwave (he did "do the nasty in the pasty").

Fry defeated the Brainspawn twice: once by imprisoning the Master Brain in a badly-written book and again by setting off a bomb, destroying their InfoSphere which was almost ready to destroy the universe.

Fry was twice an accomplished Holophonor player, first after parasites made him super-intelligent, and second after acquiring the Robot Devil's hands.

Fry was the sole owner of the Earth's last can of anchovies before eating them on a pizza.

Fry is considered by the Nibblonians, to be the most important person in the universe as, due to his special mind, he is the only person capable of defeating the Brainspawn.

Fry was, for a short period of time, Emperor Fry the Solid of the planet Trisol, which lies in the darkest depths of the Forbidden Zone in the Galaxy of Terror ("It's only a name!").

Fry successfully dropped out from Mars University

Fry cn sort of dance like a robot

Fry has a low paying job, several friends and a bed in a robot's closet, Fry is envied no man.

Fry has had three heart attacks, largely due to his excessive consumption of soda pop.

Turanga Leela

Turanga Leela is a fit, attractive cyclops who captains the Planet Express ship. She is the love interest of the series' main character, Fry.

Leela grew up in an orphanarium, knowing nothing of her parents, origins or species. She joined human society as an apparent alien from another planet, longing to discover her heritage, though aside from her one eye she could pass as a normal human.

Her name is a simple pun on Olivier Messiaen's most famous orchestral work, the Turangalîla Symphony, famous for its use of the Ondes Martenot, an early electronic musical instrument much used in the themes and incidental music of science-fiction movie and TV shows. "Leela" is considered her given name and "Turanga" her surname.

The writers of Futurama often add minor details as coincidental references, and Leela is no exception. When she worked for the cryogenics lab, she was Officer 1BDI ("one beady eye"). Also, she lives in Apartment 1I.

Leela was born into the society of subterranean mutants who live in the sewers beneath New New York. Since her mutation was relatively minor, her parents deposited her on the steps of the Cookieville Minimum Security Orphanarium in order to spare her the degrading life of a mutant. Leela's mother (calling on her education in Exolinguistics) attached a note to Leela's blankets in an alien-like script, which convinced the head of the orphanarium that Leela was not from Earth. Her parents closely monitored her youth, periodically intervening to protect her from falling down stairs, leaving birthday presents for her, etc.

As a child, Leela often had to endure childish bullying from other orphans, mainly because of her being a cyclops, as well as for her dental braces. In the episode "Parasites Lost", Leela describes one of her happiest memories as "Double Soup Tuesday" at the Orphanarium.

As a teenager, feeling the torment of being a cyclops, Leela trained in Arcturan Kung-Fu, succeeding despite the chauvinism of her teacher, Master Phnog. She developed a lasting crush on a fellow orphanarium inmate, Adlai Atkins. They would later meet as adults, after he'd become a successful cosmetic surgeon.

As an adult, Leela could be seen as a very attractive, vixen-like woman, except that she has one eye, the apparent reason for her lack of relationship experience. Leela's first mentioned job was a Career-Chip Officer, through which she meets Fry. After Fry convinces her to break from the bounds of her job, Leela becomes a Space Captain at Planet Express.

Leela found Nibbler on the planet Vergon 6, in the episode "Love's Labors Lost In Space". Leela keeps him as a pet. In the episode "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", Nibbler saves her from the Brains and takes her to his home planet, Eternium.

During the fifth episode of the fourth season, "Leela's Homeworld", it was revealed that Leela's parents Turanga Munda and Turanga Morris were actually sewer-dwelling mutants. According to the doctor who delivered her, she is the "least mutated mutant ever born". This makes sense considering that, compared to the other mutants that have been seen in the series, Leela looks almost normal.

Leela is portrayed as the most competent and responsible character in Futurama. She captains the Planet Express spaceship, and usually saves the members of her crew when they find themselves in trouble. As a black belt in Arcturian Kung-Fu, she is valuable in a fight. She has only been defeated on two occasions, at the hands of her ex-master and against the Amazonian women. She has rescued Fry and Bender countless times.

She also always wears a computerized armband on her wrist; its function is unclear, perhaps even to Leela (as she once described it as "this thing I wear on my wrist"). She has said that she can play Tetris on it, however.

Leela periodically referenced this never-seen ex-boyfriend, describing him as uneducated, unambitious, pasty, and hunched but finding his musical ability (at saxophone) attractive.

When Leela finds herself on an Earth starship, she meets Zapp Brannigan, and in a foolish faux-pas, sleeps with him. After finding out that Brannigan seems to have developed an unhealthy fixation with her, she quickly discovers her disdain for him, as well as discovering his very surreal, Hugh Hefner style persona.

Throughout the series, Zapp tries to entice Leela into dates and choice encounters by asking her in a very "erotic" way. Leela, however, only agrees to go on half a date with him as a favour to her co-worker Amy Wong. The date turned sour, and she left.

Leela dates the Mayor's Assistant after he woos her by showing the power he wields as the Mayor's Assistant. However, after a chance encounter with children from her old orphanarium, Leela realizes that Chaz is too interested in the power of his position. She decides to finish the date after he denies the orphans the use of an ice rink.

When recollecting on her crush on him from childhood, Leela meets and dates Adlai, who is portrayed to be a normal man. As a cosmetic surgeon, he offers to give her a normal appearance with a second eye. Leela seems to date Adlai simply to appear normal and because he would be the only respectable decent man that she has had the chance to date.

After wanting to adopt a baby from Bender, she discovers that Adlai is too interested in making everything "normal," seemingly unable to accept things the way they are, so Leela forces him to undo the surgery and make her a cyclops again.

Aside from her other relationships she has also had a brief relationship, and indeed almost married a shapeshifter posing as another cyclops, Alcazar, who claimed to be the last other member of her alien species. (Their relationship and Alcazar were parodies of the TV series Married...with Children , in which Katey Sagal starred as Peg Bundy).

Though she and Fry had several intimate moments throughout the series, and he was constantly trying to convince her to date him, they never ultimately hooked up, though they came close several times and have kissed. The final few episodes produced showed a big progression in their relationship, from Leela kissing Fry after she had a bad date, to accepting Fry's offer to a date, to finally being won over by his Holo-phonor abilities in the final episode. In addition:

The What-If Machine invented by Professor Hubert Farnsworth reveals they would have slept together if Leela were more impulsive.

In the episode "Time Keeps On Slipping" they are briefly married.

When they traveled to a parallel universe, it was revealed that Fry and Leela there were married.

Indeed the final episode of the series ends with yet another intimate moment, but no explicit indication that they would ultimately get together (though it seems a likely outcome).

Bender Bending Rodriguez

Bender Bending Rodríguez is a sapient robot and was described by Turanga Leela as an "alcoholic, whore-mongering, chain smoking gambler", which largely sums up his personality. He curses, fights, argues, smokes cigars (to make himself look cool), drinks constantly (though, in his defense, alcohol is his primary fuel), reads robot pornography (in the form of circuit diagrams), and constantly demands attention and praise from everyone around him. He also has a strictly voluntary sense of morals, being a kleptomaniac who snatches wallets and other valuables at every opportunity. It is often stated that he has no emotions, though this is quite clearly not true ("As a robot, I don't have any emotions, and sometimes *sniff* that makes me feel very sad!")

Though it also refers to his occupation, the name Bender is a reference to John Bender, the rebel stoner played by Judd Nelson in the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. It may also be a pun on a drinking binge, noting his gluttonous consumption of booze.

Bender was built in the Mom's Friendly Robot Company plant in "America's heartland", Tijuana, Mexico, circa AD 2998. He is a Bender – Unit 22. As his name indicates, he was created for the task of bending metal girders. On December 31, 2999, Bender was waiting in line to use one of New New York City's public suicide booths (he claimed he couldn't go on living when he found out that the girders he bent were used for suicide booths) when he met Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from the 20th century who'd just been revived from cryogenic stasis earlier that day. After meeting Fry, Bender decided to put off killing himself until later and ended up getting a job with Fry and Leela at Planet Express, an intergalactic package delivery business.

Despite his vices and macho posturing, Bender has several tender traits, such as his semi-secret aspirations to be a cook or a folk singer as well as a soft spot for turtles and penguins. He has also shown affection towards orphans and shed a tear during the soap opera tribute to himself from Calculon. Bender desperately wants to be a part of the Harlem Globetrotters, but was turned down. He shares an apartment with his human friend Fry, who said he always wanted a robot for a best friend when he was growing up in the 20th century. If magnets are placed close to his head, they interfere with his inhibition unit, which causes him to act out his desire to be a folk singer by performing folk staples. He sometimes improvises variations on the songs' lyrics, such as "I'll be blasting all the humans in the world" in "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain."

Notable events in Bender's life include his birth (which he remembers), his previously mentioned hiring at Planet Express, and a brief stint as pharaoh of the planet Osiris IV. Bender has met an intergalactic superintelligence which may or may not have been God. He also cheated his way to five gold medals in the Earth Olympics by disguising as a fembot (female robot). He won a war medal as hero of earth. During his brief stint as a super hero, he went by the name Super King.

Bender's habit of hard drinking is a result of his design; like many robots on Futurama, he uses alcohol as fuel. Paradoxically, Bender only suffers intoxication when he stops drinking, becoming disoriented and growing a beard of rust as his systems break down. While alcohol is his primary fuel source, he is also capable of processing mineral oil and dark matter. He is also equipped with a nuclear pile, the effectiveness of which is unknown.

His eyes and "extensomatic" limbs are extendable and detachable, although the shape of his extendable eyes is inconsistent. In most cases, his eyes are shown to be cylinders with rounded ends, but in at least one episode ("Anthology of Interest I"), his eyes fall out and are shown to be spheres. He also has a cavity in his chest that seems to afford limitless space to store his beer, loot, and whatever dials or buttons he requires for a gag in a given episode (however, once he was seen overstuffed with loot). His head is detachable, can continue to function when not attached to his body, and has been seen functioning as an audio tape recorder, camera, credit card terminal, and a spray can. He also uses it as a distraction when pickpocketing, although whether this is an intended function is unknown. Bender may also be used as a film projector as shown in the episode ("Crimes of the Hot"). Bender can also perform great feats of strength, such as bending an "unbendable" girder.

He claims to have a total of eight senses, known to include vision in the human ranges, hearing and "smission", but not, much to his own dismay, taste. His eyes also function as cameras (still and video, both of which can be recorded or transmitted on demand); he has a total of three cameras on his body (the location of the third is unknown, but implied to be in the "below the waist" area). Other sensory equipment he displays in the series, such as "gaydar" and X-ray-glasses, are external devices and probably do not count against his eight senses. He also has a built-in, but unreliable, "Cheating Unit" for predicting the outcome of his own dice rolls. Bender's computational abilities are self-admittedly poor. He is quite sensitive about his antenna, which is multi-functional and can work as a radio transmitter or a toilet flusher, to pick a few. The antenna is an analog to a penis. In a scenario in "Anthology of Interest", Bender's antenna moves down to in between his legs.

According to information from various episodes, he is composed of 30% iron, 40% zinc, 40% titanium, 40% dolomite and an unknown quantity of osmium with a 0.04% nickel impurity. No explanation for the total of over 150% was offered in the series, though it is pointed out in the DVD commentary.

Bender's serial number is 2716057, which is expressible as the sum of two cube numbers ((952)³ + (-951)³). He shares this trait with another Bending Unit he meets called Flexo, whose serial number is 3370318 ((119)³ + (119)³). (This is one of several joke references to obscure mathematical facts; see Hardy-Ramanujan number.)

Bender's CPU is a MOS Technology 6502 (Fry & the Slurm Factory). It is implied that Bender's operating system is Windows 98 (The Honking).

The series provides contradictory information about Bender's origin. In several episodes he is portrayed having been assembled in a factory in his current form only a few years prior to the start of the series, as an ordinary machine would be. However, in Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles he is shown as going through growth and development like an animal and said to have "robo- or RNA", a DNA equivalent. He also claims to have been assembled in a plant in Mexico, hence his surname of "Rodriguez".

Bender has appeared in several episodes of Matt Groening's other show, The Simpsons.

Bender still has over 8 billion dollars laying out of circulation from the sale of popplers. He made 50 cents per dozen popplers sold, with 198 billion sold. He may not know this.

In both episodes featuring the What-If Machine, the outcome for Bender's what-ifs end in his own macabre death: in the first, he becomes 500 feet tall, and is impaled on a skyscraper when a giant Dr. Zoidberg snaps off his legs, and in the second, he becomes a human and dies of overeating/drinking/smoking.

There are various forms of Bender: Golden Bender from Earth 1 (since he flipped a coin to decide his final coating and the difference between Earths 1 and A is the outcome of coin tosses, Earth A Bender is Foghat Grey, while Earth 1 Bender is Gold.), Cowboy Bender, Human Bender, Mega Bender, The Gender Bender, Wooden Bender and Bobble-Head Bender. The printed comic has also featured the Momneto-constructed Planet X-press Man Benderine.

While against Human-Robot Relationships, such as Fry and his Lucy Liu-bot, Bender himself is in love with Lucy Liu's Head who frequently appears in Bender's "Chest cabinet".

Oddly enough, Bender is, in fact, his own evil twin. In other words, Bender is the Evil Bender. This was brought up in the first episode to feature Flexo, whose face has the stereotypical "evil twin" look (i.e., his beard, seeing as a common difference between a character and his evil twin is facial hair.)

In addition to his twin, Flexo, Bender has a "family" of sorts. He has two "mothers:" one is the industrial robot that assembled him, the other is "Mom" of Mom's Friendly Robot Company. Bender also has a screwy aunt named Rita, who in fact, is a screw.

Bender's apartment number is 0100100, which when translated into ASCII, is the $ symbol.

Bender has an uncanny resemblance to Fender of Robots, another 20th Century Fox cartoon.

It has been suggested that Bender has inspired the character of HK-47 of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, particularly his usage of the term "meatbag" to describe humans.

Bender's self destruct code is 1A2B3C-- a reference to the destruct code of the original starship Enterprise.

Professor Hubert Farnsworth

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth is the extremely elderly proprietor of the Planet Express delivery service and the only living relative of Philip J. Fry (he is his great-great-...-great-grand-nephew — though never stated, he is therefore logically the descendant of Philip's only sibling, his brother Yancy Fry, and also, via time paradox Philip J. Fry himself), the Professor is pushing the limits of even 31st century old age at about 160. The episode "A Clone of My Own" gives his birthday as April 9, 2841.

The Professor roughly amounts to a mad scientist, with the same last name as television inventor Philo Farnsworth. He has taught at Mars University and worked for Momcorp, but he currently spends his time inventing ridiculous devices and coming up with even more ridiculous missions for his crew. Whilst at Momcorp, he fell in love with the CEO - Mom. His favorite artist is Pablo Picasso.

The Professor is characterized by his catch-phrase "Good news everyone!" frequently followed by very bad news—often one of his semi-suicide missions. Another is his exclaimation of surprise "Sweet Zombie Jesus!", which is noted to be clumsily censored (or simply muted out) on some networks.

At 160+ years old, he is old enough to rent and purchase "ultra-porn"

Professor Farnsworth is an actual tenured professor at Mars University. Most of his professional life is spent making inventions, however. Some of his notable ahcievements include:

Afterburners -- Give 200% fuel efficiency.

Albino shouting gorilla -- To shout out his love for Mom from rooftops.

Anti-pressure pill -- a rectal suppository roughly the size of a standard pill container.

Badass Gravity Pump -- Affixed to the Planet Express Ship and used to move stars around. Co-invention with Ethan "Bubblegum" Tate of the Globetrotter University, seems to have disappeared after its application in stopping the time-skips he created. Cost all of Earth's money to build.

Clonomat -- Clones organisms. Can, in some cases, also give the clone the memories of the organism from which the DNA originated.

The Cool-O-Meter, a hand-held device which measures the coolness of whoever it is pointed at, in units of "MegaFonzies".

Dark matter engine.

The Death Clock -- A clock that tells the user how long they have to live when a finger is inserted. "Occasionally off by a few seconds, what with free will and all". Seems to be less reliable than the professor thinks.

An array of Doomsday Machines -- "I suppose I could part with one and still be feared."

Electric frankfurter.

Electronium Hat -- provides intelligence to Fry's monkey roommate at Mars University by harnessing the power of sunspots to produce cognitive radiation (as opposed to the "preposterous science-fiction mumbo-jumbo" that is genetic engineering).

F-ray -- Similar to an X-ray except it can look through anything, even metal. Uses a controlled neutrino beam in some way. It can pop balloons and blimps when pointed at them and produces harmful radiation that is known to kill sperm. "You might feel a slight stinging sensation, all of you."

The Fing-longer -- Not actually one of the Professor's own inventions. A glove with an extended index finger, allowing the wearer to operate machinery from "great" distances. In Anthology of Interests I, he didn't really invent this, but he wishes he had using the previously mentioned What-if machine. By the time of The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz he has acquired one from sources unknown.

Farnsworth's Killbots -- A range of at least one model of combat robot, which he apparently manufactures himself. His Roboticon 3003 stall claims: "Housewives prefer Farnsworth's Killbots". The neighbouring stall is "Wernstrom's Killbots", sparking an argument between the owners and causing the two killbots to show disdain for senseless aggression and go for a paddleboat ride.

Main Engines -- They move the universe around the ship instead of moving the ship through the universe. Unknown if these are the same as the dark matter engines.

The Maternifuge -- An alien cross species genetic analyser that spins at 10,000 RPM to determine a subject's mother. Dr. Zoidberg lives in it. "Even I laughed at me when I created this."

Q.T. McWhiskers -- Originally envisioned by Hubert as a cat-like children's plush toy which shot rainbows out of its eyes when being petted on the head, this robot was changed by his lover and CEO Mom into an eight feet tall war robot with neutron lasers in its eyes, causing Hubert to leave Momcorp and Mom (Farnsworth argued that things that were eight feet tall were not cute).

The first robot capable of qualifying for a boat loan.

Smell-o-scope -- Allows the users to smell odors from astronomically long distances.

Superhuman Mutant Basketball Team -- Instead of using accelerated growth, he harvested chronotons. The results nearly destroyed the space-time continuum. The Superhumans were nearly a success however, as they were leading the Harlem Globetrotters by six points at the half, and leading by thirty-five points with two minutes left. Fry volunteered to play for Arachneon (who was killed in a chest-mounted cannon related accident by Thorias), which led to their defeat, however.

Universal translator -- Translates from any language into French, which is a dead language in the year 3000.

What-if machine -- Answers any what-if question, accurate to within 1/10 of a plausibility unit. He once cursed that it wasn't "worth the gold it's made out of."

Who-ask machine -- Decides who gets to ask the what-if machine.

A device that lets anyone sound exactly like him -- used by Dwight and Cubert to send the crew on a fake delivery to Dogdoo 8.

A machine that creates glow-in-the-dark noses that can be placed on one's face. A by-product of the machine is a large amount of toxic waste. It also performs forensic analysis on pieces of paper and translates from Alien into equally incomprehensible Galactic.

A box containing the entire universe. If compressed (by say, sitting on it) it would flatten the universe.

A body slimming suit that allows Hermes to compete in the limbo competition in the Olympics.

Hermes Conrad

Hermes Conrad is a grade 36 (and later 37) bureaucrat from Jamaica (and not, as Fry thought for a while, "some kind of outer space potato man"). He manages Planet Express delivery business, and his responsibilities include paying bills, giving out legal waivers, and notifying next of kin. In direct contrast to most stereotypes of Jamaicans, he is an uptight workaholic. This was noticed already when he was 4, when a hurricane hit Kingston, leaving Hermes in despair, for it threw his alphabet blocks out of order. Hermes frequently admonishes the staff for not working hard enough. He strongly dislikes Doctor Zoidberg and his favorite food appears to be manwiches, assumed from dramatically crying whenever someone takes a Manwich from him.

He used to be on Earth's Olympic limbo team. He competed at the 2980 Olympic Games where a little boy ran onto the field. The boy wanted to be "just like Hermes," but broke his back while attempting to limbo. Hermes has a son named Dwight and a wife named LaBarbara. His nemesis and rival in limbo is Barbados Slim, to whom his wife was once married. When surprised, he usually utters a "Sweet something of someplace" exclamation. Examples include "Sweet cow of Moscow!", "Sweet green-toed sloth of ice-planet Hoth!", "Sweet giant anteater of Santa Anita!", "Sweet gorilla of Manila!", "Sweet honeybee of infinity!" and "Sweet llamas of the Bahamas!". Other exclamations are "Haile H. Selassie", "Sweet lion of Zion!", and "Sweet Bob Marley's ghost!", which indicate that he's a Rastafarian. He also tends to make analogies to current situations involving Green Snakes and Sugar Cane. Throughout the series, many of his comments implied that he smokes marijuana, though he tries to hide this from his coworkers.

In the episode How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back he suffered a breakdown, and was sent on paid vacation (considered the "ultimate penalty" in his profession). However, the spa appeared to be a forced labor camp. Hermes manages to reorganize the labor camp for efficiency (after which, all physical labor is done by a single Australian man), which cures him.

During the early development of the series, Hermes' original name was "Dexter" and he was not Jamaican. His name probably comes from the Greek god Hermes, who was the gods' assistant and delivery man/messenger.

Dr. John Zoidberg

Doctor John Zoidberg is a lobster-like alien from planet Decapod 10 in the fictional television series Futurama. He works as the doctor for Planet Express. He is very poor, always hungry and prone to referring to himself in the third person. He is often treated like an annoying pet, frequently being found in Professor Farnsworth's inventions and subsequently shooed away with a broom. Zoidberg and Hermes seem to be rivals; this seems to be more a case of Hermes disliking Zoidberg than the reverse, as the series goes on. Possibly because of this, Zoidberg is the only known person to have received a present (a pogo stick) from the Santa Claus Robot, whose moral standards are set unreasonably high. Zoidberg has very few friends, and appears to have great difficulty in making friends due to his appalling odour and tetchy personality. The staff of Planet Express constantly make jokes at Zoidberg's expense and criticise him when he is in the room, but he often does not seem to realize that he is being made fun of.

Zoidberg is the nephew of Harold Zoid, the famous silent-hologram star, whose name is a play on both Harold Lloyd and the practice during the days of silent film of Jewish actors changing their names. He appears to have three parents, named Norm, Sam, and Sadie, and he has a cousin named Zoidfarb.

Though technically a doctor of human medicine, Zoidberg's knowledge of human anatomy is very poor, including occasionally mistaking non-human creatures for humans or Fry for a woman or a robot. He is often confused by the "strange" features of humans, such as their skeletal system or having only one mouth. When he performs operations on the staff, he usually makes spectacular mistakes, such as attaching a limb in the wrong place. In one episode, it is shown that Zoidberg has gleaned more information on anatomy through television commercials than through academic study. Zoidberg is only directly questioned about his medical expertise on one occasion in the series, to which he replies unconvincingly that he lost his medical degree in a volcano.

Zoidberg has a serious desire for attention and friendship. He frequently rejoices when these desires are fulfilled to the slightest degree, but is nearly always let down. His financial troubles are perhaps the result of his belief that he is a shrewd investor. Throughout the series, Zoidberg is regularly seen spending his money on pointless purchases (such as eight copies of the same newspaper) and making bad business decisions, such as exchanging his (considerable) corporate stock for a sandwich.

In one episode, the Planet Express crew were taken through a wormhole, through space and time, to New Mexico in the year 1947. Zoidberg was captured and taken to the air force base in Roswell, New Mexico. This is a joke about the many conspiracy theories which state that aliens in a UFO landed near Roswell in 1947, and that the incident was covered up by the government. In the episode, US President Harry Truman came to the base to interrogate Zoidberg, who believed he was being propositioned when the President asked him about his plans to create a human-alien hybrid. Zoidberg was eventually rescued by the rest of the crew halfway through an attempt by government scientists to vivisect him.

Zoidberg met a blue version of himself in a parallel universe when he travelled through a box which contained said universe. The two Zoidbergs subsequently stole the box, and the blue Zoidberg crowned himself with a crown made from a Slurm cup. The two then were chased through various universes.

The Doctor pretended that he was a rare "Whooping Terrier" owned by Bender to win a petshow in Series 3. He joyfully let Bender whip him to make it seem more realistic. While pretending, he whooped, scuttled along a narrow beam, danced and sang in a Mexican style, and let himself be jabbed and weighed. However, he came second to the Hypno-Toad, who brainwashed the judges.

Despite being a murderous psychopath, the Robot Santa seems to like Zoidberg. While he had deemed all other employees of Planet Express bad, he rewarded Zoidberg's goodness with a Pogo Stick. Later, Zoidberg helped Bender when he was fulfilling Santa's duties by pretending to be his friend, Jesus.

Zoidberg is an unmissable target for jokes, a fact of which he is usually all too aware. Sometimes, however, he completely misses the point of the insult aimed at him, instead taking it as a compliment, which contributes to the comedy of the situation in no small way.

Dr. Zoidberg's eating habits are worthy of mention; throughout the series he has been known to eat nearly anything possessing at least a percentage of organic material, including a live raccoon and a bag of toenail clippings. It isn't clear whether this is caused by his alien metabolism or his crushing poverty. Zoidberg also seems to have a habit of adding salt to the water cooler in the Planet Express building.

In a twist of humor, Dr. Zoidberg speaks English with a pseudo-Yiddish accent, and has been seen wearing T-shirts with Hebrew lettering on them. These circumstances suggest that his character was designed to be reminiscent of Ashkenazi Jewish people. Additionally, surnames ending in "berg" are stereotypically Jewish (although in an issue of Futurama Comics, he states that his last name means "smarty pants" in "Squiddish"). Zoidberg is a crustacean being, and crustaceans are not deemed kosher; for those viewers who understand the religious doctrine of Judaism, this adds an extra layer of humor to Dr. Zoidberg's character. Further, the other "Decapodians" seen on the show, such as Zoidberg's Uncle Harold (voiced by Hank Azaria) and the staff at the Decapodian embassy in Washington D.C. speak with very heavy Yiddish-accents. He also makes the trademark sound of the Three Stooges ("Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop!") when running away from trouble (sometimes after squirting ink), and sometimes makes a sound like "shemp" when frustrated.

Doctor Zoidberg's race, the Decapodians, come from Decapod 10. This name is a pun on the fact that lobsters and crayfish are scientifically refered to as decapods, creatures with ten legs. The actual physiology of Decapodians appears to be a mixture of several different sea creatures. Dr. Zoidberg's anatomy is similar to that of crustacea, such as his chelae (pincers) and hard exoskeleton. However he also possess many attributes of cephalopod molluscs, such as the tentacle-like protrusions covering his mouth (reminiscent of those of cuttlefish) and his ink gland, through which he occasionally expels ink when threatened (as do all coleoids). The "apology dance" is used by the Decapodians to ask for forgiveness. Zoidberg tried to teach this dance to Fry in the episode "Xmas Story", but Fry was uninterested. The entire anchovy population disappeared from Earth around the time in which the Decapodians first came to Earth; Zoidberg admits in A Fishful of Dollars that his race ate the small number that remained after extensive overfishing, and he himself ate the last tin of anchovies in the universe.

Zoidberg at one point actually owned a major interest in the Planet Express company's stock. The company is very unsuccessful financially, and its stock was all but worthless. The way Zoidberg acquired his large stock holdings is that at some point (offscreen) he is in need of a large supply of toilet paper, so Hermes Conrad just gave him large number of stock share certificates, as they were worth less than toilet paper at the time anyway. Later in the episode, he sells all his stock for a sandwich, but later regrets it when the value of the stock skyrockets and he finds that the sandwich has gone bad. When the stock again plummets, he rejoices again and consumes his sandwich. Soon enough, Zoidberg reverts to his old sorrowful self.

Most of the above character traits for Zoidberg didn't really manifest themselves until season two. As the Futurama writers themselves have noted, his initial and sole humorous character trait in season one was a dangerous lack of knowledge concerning human anatomy.

Amy Wong

Amy Wong is studying engineering at Mars University, and to help her with her studies she works as an intern at Planet Express (supposedly kept around because she shares Professor Farnsworth's blood type). She is voiced by Lauren Tom.

Her parents, Leo and Inez Wong, are filthy rich and own half of Mars. Leo and Inez, who constantly pester her about the lack of grandchildren, came to own half the planet through colonial exploitation of gullible natives. In the DVD commentary for the episode Where the Buggalo Roam, it is implied during an exchange between writer Stewart Burns and David X. Cohen that Inez Wong's cowboy hat has a pot leaf displayed on the front. Amy is slightly embarrassed about being rich and doesn't like to talk about it that much, although in several episodes she is seen with a butler in tow, and was once glad to be "slightly richer".

On the show, Amy is known for being somewhat shallow and ditzy, and for her overuse of futuristic 31st century slang. She also tends to dress provocatively, frequently being the person on screen wearing the least clothing (not including Bender, the robot, who rarely wears clothes). In one episode, she confesses to Fry that she dresses that way to rebel against her parents. There is also a half-rivalry with Leela about their looks and love lives, although deep down Amy does respect Leela and counts her as a friend. When aggravated, Amy occasionally starts cursing in Cantonese.

Amy has dated many men, but most are only one night stands. She dated Fry for a while but the relationship fizzled out. In 3001 she started dating Kif Kroker and they have been dating ever since. Although she is not ready for total commitment, Amy is sure that one day she will be.

Zapp Brannigan

Zapp is an arrogant, idiotic, ineffectual space captain and political officer with a disturbing fascination for velour. The style of the DOOP uniform (which, unfortunately, directly reflects Zapp's questionable personal taste) begs to pose the question: "Underwear?". According to him, he suffers from a learning disability, which he calls sexlexia. His pretensions of being suave are belied by his ignorance of how to properly pronounce the words "champagne" and "guacamole." His tactics in matters of battle are always daring, generally stupid, and almost always unnecessary. He wastes no time sending his men to die in ridiculous, easily avoidable altercations.

Brannigan's personal hobbies include adjusting his blonde toupee, humiliating himself, grossly hitting on any lifeform that loosely resembles the female form, ordering his first officer to remove his body hair in the bath, taking humanity to the brink of destruction, humiliating his crew, blowing kisses to himself in the mirror, humiliating humanity, karaoke, and self preservation at any cost.

Career triumphs include conquering the pacifists of the Gandhi Nebulae, carpet bombing Eden Seven, triumphing over the senior citizens of the Assisted Living Galaxy, and repeatedly attempting to destroy the Neutral Planet because he detested their neutrality (their motto is "Live free or don't"). Perhaps his greatest military victory was the defeat of a horde of rampaging Killbots which he achieved by sending in wave after wave of his own men until the Killbots reached their preprogrammed kill-limit. He would later go on to defeat the Giant Arachnids, resulting in a silk surplus. He has also written a book on his own ridiculous military tactics, which he has titled "Zapp Brannigan's Big Book of War."

Brannigan briefly took a break from DOOP to serve as captain of the Titanic, which ended up being destroyed in a black hole after Zapp altered the simplistic tour route.

Brannigan was once dismissed from the DOOP along with Kif for his role in destroying DOOP's new $300 billion headquarters. In order to show off, Brannigan used his ship's tactical laser, set on Hyperdeath™, to cut the ribbon to inaugurate the new station, but instead managed to destroy the station by cutting it right down the middle. This dismissal forced the Zapper and Kif to temporarily enter the world of "male escorting". He served briefly with the crew of Planet Express and led a mutiny against Leela. He ordered the crew to set a crash course against the Neutral Planet (setting off a beige alert) where they would all die horribly, except for Zapp who would escape in the only space suit onboard. Leela was reinstated as captain after this, and lied about Zapp's role in the attack on the Neutral Planet so he would be reinstated in DOOP and stay away from her ship.

Brannigan later would lead the defense of Earth during the invasion of the aliens of Omicron Persei 8. Zapp's battle plan was to send all of his ships on a head-on charge on the gun-turrets of the alien mothership, until "the debris from our destroyed ships clogs their guns". His fleet managed to destroy the Hubble Space Telescope (while suffering heavy losses), but was mightless against the real alien mothership. He later attempted to end the war by sacrificing the President of Earth to the Omicron leaders; the President was killed, but this did not stop the invasion. Another career high point is when he conquered Spheron 1, home planet of a race of sentient ball-like creatures. Spheron 1 had no strategic value of any kind and no natural resources to speak of; further, first contact had never been made with the Sphereons. Nonetheless, Brannigan boldly conquered the planet, evicting its native inhabitants, and suffering high attrition rates among his men. During this campaign, it was revealed that Zapp named his warhorse—a real live horse that stands on a flying disk as he rides it—"Felicity"; it's a male horse. Zapp never purposely puts himself at equal risk, though his stupidity often lands him in life-threatening situations.

Zapp later very nearly died—by snu-snu—when he was captured on Amazonia. Zapp also doesn't understand that firing a weapon within a starship can easily rupture the hull and lead to fatal decompression, a fact he learned the hard way, despite being warned by Attila the Hun.

Brannigan managed to sleep with Turanga Leela in the fourth episode, "Love's Labor's Lost in Space", a fact he will not let her (or the rest of the universe) forget, even describing the encounter on his website. He is consistently attracted to Leela, like Philip J. Fry, but is a womanizer and pursues just about everything that moves. Also unlike Fry, Zapp's advances towards anyone never get anywhere.

Kif Kroker

Lieutenant Kif Kroker is the assistant to Captain Zapp Brannigan and first officer of the Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) starship Nimbus.

In season three, he begins dating Planet Express employee Amy Wong, whom he met aboard the starship Titanic in "A Flight to Remember." Kif's first appearance is in the episode "Love's Labours Lost in Space." Kif has three nipples.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kif is constantly annoyed by Captain Brannigan's stupidity, but lacks the self-confidence to stand up for himself. Fry briefly served as Kif's assistant during the conflict on Spheron 1 in "War is the H-Word."

Kif lacks a skeleton. Instead he is supported by a system of fluid-filled bladders. He can also stick to walls like a gecko and blend in with his surroundings like a chameleon. It is the males of Kif's species that carry their young, as Kif did in "Kif Gets Kicked Up A Notch." Kif explains that his species can exchange genetic information even through simple touch. This occurs during a "receptive phase", which happens when a member of his species is deeply in love.

Professor Farnsworth's inter-species DNA paternity testing machine ("even I laughed at me when I built it," he explains) reveals the "father" of Kif's young to be Leela, though Kif explains that the true parent, or the smizmar, is the one who inspired the original feelings of love, regardless of the DNA donor. Amy faces a deep conflict over the sudden unexpected prospect of parenthood and the end to her freedom. At the baby shower held for Kif, she leaves him suddenly, finding herself unable to make the sacrifice of her lifestyle for parenthood, only to change her mind in the end and return to him in time for the ancient birthing rite on Kif's homeworld. He gives birth to a spoor of tadpoles, and Amy and Leela together fight off predatory creatures to aid in their short journey to the swamp where they will grow up as Kif did. The closing scene is of the newborn tadpoles swimming about, several of them cycloptic, like Leela.

Nibbler

Nibbler’s full name is unrevealed, as, "in the time it would take to pronounce one letter of [his] true name, a trillion cosmoses would flare into existence and sink into eternal night". Turanga Leela took him for a pet when she found him on the soon-to-be-destroyed planet Vergon 6 in the episode Love's Labors Lost In Space and named him "Nibbler" after observing his ability to rapidly consume animals far larger than himself. For most of the series Nibbler masquerades as a rather unintelligent animal to avoid suspicion while he goes about his mission of protecting the Earth in general and Fry in particular from the evil Brainspawn, a mission he only reveals to anyone else when expecting to wipe their memory of it afterwards.

Nibbler's race, from the planet Eternium at the "Exact Center of the Universe", is referred to as the Nibblonians after Leela's name for him, but as with "Nibbler" itself, the name is only a convenience for outsiders. Nibbler's voracious appetite is shared by other members of his species, who periodically commemorate great events with "The Feast of a Thousand Hams."

Nibbler only reveals his intelligence and true origins in two episodes, The Day the Earth Stood Stupid and "The Why of Fry"; other than those episodes, there is no way of knowing that he is actually intelligent. However, a clue to his purpose is seen in the first episode of the series (see below), implying he may have always been intended to have a secret meaning.

Nibbler's feces is dark matter, which serves as rocket fuel. In one episode, when taking Nibbler for a walk, Fry is confronted with picking up Nibbler's dropping, a tiny sphere of immense mass. Fry is unable to pick it up, and is promptly fined for not "scooping".

On a rather random note, the Nibblonians seem to be a parody of the Jedi in many aspects, including a brief conversation satirizing Yoda's reverse-grammar.

Although Nibbler is not officially introduced as a character until Love's Labors Lost in Space, evidence of his existence (as well as proof of Futurama's amazing continuity) can be seen as early as Space Pilot 3000, the first episode. Just before Fry falls backwards into the freezer, we see a seemingly pointless shot of the wall. Upon further inspection, however, a mysterious shadow shaped exactly like Nibbler can be seen as well as his eyeball antenna poking out of a trash can. This supports the assertion made in "The Why of Fry" that Nibbler pushed Fry into the freezer.