The American animated television series Craig of the Creek features a cast created by Matt Burnett and Ben Levin.
The series focuses on a trio of kids, collectively referred to as the "Stump Kids," led by Craig (voiced by Philip Solomon), a young boy who wants to explore and map the wide and mysterious creek located in the fictional suburban town of Herkleton, Maryland.
His companions include Kelsey (voiced by Georgie Kidder in the pilot and the first 3 episodes and Noël Wells in episode 4-onwards), a young "warrior" girl with an active imagination and a lust for adventure, and J.P. (voiced by H. Michael Croner), a goofy and kind-hearted boy who likes to take things easy.
Craig is never without his turquoise bag filled with "important" items, and carries a staff, made from a stair banister pole that he once got his head stuck in.
In "Escape from Family Dinner," it is implied that Craig is smart to some degree as he takes advanced math and admits that he likes the class.
He is also self-conscious about the shape of his head; becoming embarrassed when commented on its odd appearance, but amused when given an endearing compliment such as when Sparkle Cadet said it was "cute."
As seen in "Bring Out Your Beast" however, deep down it is implied that he simply wants to connect with him as his brother had a tendency to push him away when he was younger.
Craig has been viewed as something of an adviser and aide to the various factions of the Creek and has managed to enter the good graces of many, such as the Sewer Queen.
After helping to rescue her dog, Cheesesticks, in "Puppy Love", they reveal their mutual feelings for each other and Craig starts calling her by her real name Vanessa.
In "Alternate Creekiverse", Craig is shown to be a dutiful forest scout who is still obsessed with exploring and takes his job as a protector much more seriously.
Though she apparently won't admit it, Kelsey seems to slightly suffer from loneliness due to always being home alone without any parents to watch her for a long time.
It is implied that her obsession with fantasy came from her mother, who died some time ago, and has been inspired to write her book called Robyn and the Snow Sword.
She carries a sword made from PVC pipe that was "bestowed" on her by a warehouse worker ironically named Piper.
Despite it being a harmless blunt toy, it is shown to be very effective in combat, though it gets destroyed in "The Other Side" and rebuilt by "Camper on the Run".
In "Kelsey Quest", it is shown that whenever she is intimidated or put down, she can become self-degrading and her internal monologues begin to stall.
Kelsey is very close to Craig and J.P. She views the former as her equal in terms of adventuring and the latter as a simple, naive sidekick of sorts.
Besides them, she appears to be close friends with Maney of the Horse Girls, who acts as her steed in "battle", Stacks, who provides interesting talks over various books of fantasy and sci-fi origin and has shown strong admiration towards Wildernessa and her animal conservationist efforts.
[4][5] This culminated in the episode "Fire and Ice" where she realizes that she has feelings for Stacks and, following a supportive conversation with Kat, chooses to pursue a relationship with her.
Due to having a simple mind set, J.P. is at times shown to be incapable of taking care of himself and sometimes needs to rely on his friends for support.
He has a much more practical mindset and occasionally shows more discipline as he once berated Craig for getting angry and will at least attempt to take initiative whenever he or Kelsey are not up to the task.
What started as admiration has since evolved into genuine romantic feelings, as the two of them act shy when they are around one another and the two of them become a couple in "The Tea Timers Ball".
In "The Evolution of Craig", J.P. reveals that he wants to be just like his sister because of how well adjusted she is since graduating high school.
However, Craig soon learned that the mysterious Green Poncho was, in fact, an ally and trying to protect them from the totalitarian regime from his side.
Ironically, the only person who seems capable of putting a smile on his face is J.P. whose jokes are enough to make him laugh really hard.
He officially joins the Stump Kids in "Beyond the Overpass", though he is mostly relegated to adventures that involve collecting pieces of the cube.
In "Chrono Moss", he revealed to be nostalgic for his life as the Green Poncho, as it reminds him of his love of JRPGs, and does not know what to do with himself, though Craig helps him through.
The characters originated from Burnett and Levin's online series Ronin Dojo Community College DX.
The Alliance of Science are a trio of nerdy kids who conduct scientific experiments in the Creek, usually with Craig and his friends in attendance.
They live in a hierarchy-type society, similar to a caste system, and are led by a king who labels his subjects as "Best Friend", "Buddy" and "Pal" in decreasing order.
In "Fan or Foe", it is revealed that the entire Other Side kingdom was inspired by an old anime show Haru King of the Forest where the elders of the Creek used to hang out with the original king of the Other Side, Kenneth, who enjoyed cosplaying as Haru, the main character of the show.