List of The Big Bang Theory franchise characters
The American television sitcom franchise The Big Bang Theory, began with the multi-cam laugh track sitcom of the same name created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, which premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007, and ended on May 16, 2019, followed by the single-camera spin-off prequel television series Young Sheldon, created and executive produced by Lorre alongside Jim Parsons and Steven Molaro, which premiered on CBS on September 25, 2017, and concluded on May 16, 2024, with the third series in the franchise, a multi-cam spin-off sequel to Young Sheldon entitled Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, premiering on October 17, 2024.
A fourth series, a multi-cam spin-off sequel to The Big Bang Theory entitled Stuart, Denise & Bert, is slated to premiere in 2025.
Jim Parsons, who portrays the adult Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, narrates the series and serves as an executive producer.
This section includes characters who have appeared in The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage series with main role.
Although he has the tendency to take things literally, he is fond of occasionally telling a joke or playing a prank, which he typically punctuates with his trademark exclamation, "Bazinga!"
As portrayed in Young Sheldon, he is a child prodigy who finishes primary school before his twin sister, Missy, and joins the same high-school class as his older brother, Georgie, at the age of nine.
Originally from a small town outside Omaha, Nebraska, she was a waitress and occasional bartender at the local Cheesecake Factory until season seven, and is an aspiring actress.
Initially, not much is known about Penny's family, but it is mentioned in the series that her father, Wyatt (portrayed by Keith Carradine,[3]) raised her like a boy, her mother smoked marijuana while she was pregnant with her, her sister shot her husband while they were intoxicated, and her brother is a meth dealer.
He defends this by pointing out that he has a master's degree in engineering from MIT and that the equipment he designs is launched into space, unlike the theoretical work of his friends.
In the pilot episode, he speaks English, French, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, and Persian, along with fictional languages like Klingon and Sindarin.
Howard suffers from asthma, transient idiopathic arrhythmia, allergies to peanuts, almonds, and walnuts, and is prone to canker sores and pink eye.
Unlike his male friends, Raj has many feminine interests, such as reading Archie comics and Twilight and watching chick flicks such as Bridget Jones's Diary.
The character is based on Gilda, a coworker to Leonard and Sheldon envisioned by creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady in the unaired original pilot.
A recurring joke in the series references Bernadette and her lab team handling dangerous or infectious specimens, leading to accidental byproducts.
During production of season 9, she was promoted to a "fractional" starring role; the upgraded status ensured her availability on an as-needed basis, without requiring her in every episode.
Melissa "Missy" Cooper (Courtney Henggeler as an adult; guest: seasons 1 & 7 & 11 and Raegan Revord as a child, main: Young Sheldon) is not as academically accomplished as her twin brother but displays better social skills.
As an adult in The Big Bang Theory, Missy is a tall, attractive woman who promptly catches the attention of Leonard, Howard, and Raj.
In Season 10, she appears in "The Birthday Synchronicity", serving as the delivery room nurse when Bernadette was having her baby, and is confused by the presence of Stuart and Raj alongside Howard, wondering if it is a "Mamma Mia!"
Arthur Jeffries, or Professor Proton (Bob Newhart), is the star of a fictional in-universe science show that Sheldon and Leonard watched as children.
Barry Kripke, PhD (John Ross Bowie) is a colleague working in plasma physics who frequently clashes with Sheldon.
Kripke has a case of rhotacism in which he pronounces the letters "R" and "L" as "W" in much the same way as Elmer Fudd from Looney Tunes, Jimmy Five from Monica's Gang and Gilda Radner in her "Baba Wawa" sketches.
Professor Bertram Kibbler (Brian Posehn) is a geologist at Caltech, who meets Amy while she was working there in her own lab in the episode "The Occupation Recalibration"—where he attempts to ask her on a date, but is disheartened to learn that she is already in a relationship.
He joins Raj and Howard in their band, and sings a song from the point of view of the boulder seen near the beginning of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
She is Sheldon's female equivalent regarding neurotically strict speech patterns, disregard for social conventions, and compulsive attention to detail.
For her role as Beverly, in both 2009 and 2010, Baranski was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.Claire (Alessandra Torresani) is a writer for a children's science fiction series whom Raj and Howard meet in the comic book store in season 9.
He is not too fond of Sheldon after he accuses the restaurant of passing off Orange Chicken as Mandarin and refers to Howard as the guy who thinks he can speak Chinese.
Dr. Greg Pemberton (Sean Astin) is part of a team of physicists at Fermilab who accidentally confirmed the Super-Asymmetry paper published by Sheldon and Amy.
After dating, Leonard at first is fine with the relationship, but starts worrying they're moving too fast, but is afraid of what will happen if he asks to slow things down.
Mrs Debbie[27] Melvina[28] Wolowitz (voiced by Carol Ann Susi) is Howard's over-protective, controlling, belittling, but loving and caring stereotypical Jewish mother.
Tam laments his difficult childhood in war-torn Vietnam, which included his father being incarcerated in a re-education camp to "become a good communist", and his encounter with the Ku Klux Klan when he first arrived in America.
