Raymond Quentin Smuckles Raymond Quentin "Ray" Smuckles is a somewhat overweight
American Curl cat. In the comic, Ray is a financially successful musician after he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for success in pop music. The character is lucky and acquires money in various ways. He tends to throw lots of parties and is generous to his friends, but he has a weakness for gambling and is occasionally rude and insensitive. Ray made his first appearance on January 10, 2002, and has since become a major character in the comic along with Roast Beef. He can be identified by his outfit – designer glasses, a thong, the occasional
fur coat, and a gold medallion. An advice column called ''Ray's Place
is written in character by Ray on the Achewood'' site.
"Roast Beef" Kazenzakis Roast Beef Kazenzakis is an intersex cat character. His
birth name was "Cassandra" and it is unknown where his nickname, "Roast Beef", came from. He serves as one of the main characters of
Achewood along with Ray. Roast Beef often serves as a
foil to Ray in the strips. He is interested in
Unix computer programming, poetry, and he has a wife named Molly Sanders whom he met in Heaven but eventually she came down to Earth to marry him. Despite a difficult childhood marked by poverty and trauma, including his mother killing his father, Beef battles his constant depression and suicidal thoughts. His relationship with Molly has improved his mental state, aided by light therapy. He has been shot four times in the comic. Roast Beef has written a number of poems, both in the strip and on his in-character blog. A recurrent theme in these involves weapons disguised as food.
Philippe Philippe is an undyingly optimistic and naïve young otter who resides in the house with Cornelius Bear, Lyle and Téodor, as well as Chris and Chris's family. His housemates collectively raised him with varied success, with Téodor acting as a nurturing motherly-type; Lyle as a neglectful big brother, and Mr. Bear as a stern but gentle father. He is separated from his mother, who lives in Ohio, but they talk on the phone frequently, and have a close relationship. His mother occasionally sends him unusual presents. Other than the fact that he is deceased, nothing is known about Philippe's father. He is implied to be of French descent, and to have fought in a war as a youth. Philippe seems to be perpetually five years old, and celebrates his fifth birthday every year. A strip which revealed the future of the
Achewood characters showed that Philippe will still be the same age, even after the other characters grow old and die. He eventually ends up moving back in with this mother, further emphasizing his young age. His character has inspired music such as a song by the synth-pop band
Freezepop titled "Here Comes a Special Boy" and the
Song Fight! Entries for "What We Need More Of Is Science" by Brody and Octothorpe are two different versions of the same song about Philippe.
Cornelius Bear Often referred to in the comic as Mr. Bear (and "Connie" by Ray), he is a bear that is a scholarly and fatherly figure to much of the cast, being much older than most of them — he was married to his first (now deceased) wife, Iris Gambol, sometime before 1967. He is characterizied by his love of alcohol, literature, his British mannerisms, and his fine taste. It has also been implied that he has been imprisoned in the past. He is well regarded for having written many different
children's books. He wears
pince-nez glasses and is usually seen in a
dressing gown. The other members of the cast hold him in high regard except for a character named Lyle. He owns a
pub named "The Dude and Catastrophe" and briefly dated a woman half his age.
Lyle Roscoe Gabriel Lyle is a belligerent stuffed tiger who enjoys playing pranks on his friends and drinking. He is a talented
calligrapher,
cosmetician, and is knowledgeable about cars. Lyle has a mysterious past which caused him to move from Gainesville, Florida, to Achewood. Lyle is often seen drunk due to being more comfortable that way, but is intelligent when sober. He is often seen wearing a T-shirt for the band
Misfits in the comic strips. He was previously employed in every position in a kitchen at one point, and as a barber, but is typically unemployed. Lyle is close friends with the character Todd T. Squirrel, who shares his love of alcohol.
Téodor Orezscu Téodor is a teddy bear. He originates from
Minsk,
Belarus, and is of Jewish descent. He is a skilled cook, musician, and
graphic designer, and is portrayed as being an all around friendly guy. His personality was originally quite crazy, exhibiting
nudist tendencies in early
Achewood strips, though he seems to have dropped those in later strips. He is also depicted using marijuana and mushrooms. While talented and intelligent, he is often portrayed as lacking motivation and direction except when exercising or cooking. He had an
online relationship with a girl named Penny, and eventually it is shown how the relationship ended up. Penny made Téodor the T-emblazoned sweater he wears in the comic, leaving it as a gift for him. While the other stuffed animals of the house treat Philippe as a roommate, Téodor instead fills the role of Philippe's guardian while the otter is separated from his mother. Téodor died in the April 28, 2005, comic strip due to choking on a bottle cap but was revived when Lyle kicked him in the gut. Onstad has said Téodor is similar to him in real life.
Patrick Reynolds Pat is one of the three original cat characters, along with Roast Beef and Ray. His role has receded into the background over the webcomic's runtime, but his is still a notable presence. He is a generally an unpleasant character with a negative attitude and is often the antagonist in many strips. He has high standards for other characters and gets angry when they do not meet them. Pat also seems to look down on various occupations such as barbers and disabled people. He seems to suffer from
OCD and anger issues, for which he attends a support group. He is into
Zen Buddhism and
veganism to look superior to his friends, but he secretly prefers to eat meat. He was put in jail for shooting the character Roast Beef, but escaped and got off the hook due to Ray's connections. He lives with a
serial killer he met in jail named Peter "Nice Pete" Cropes. Pat disowned his father, Simon Reynolds, due to Simon coming out as gay. However, Pat later came out as gay as well due to a family curse and has been dating a gay porn star named Rod Huggins.
Molly Sanders Molly, a cat character, was born in 17th-century
Wales. She died in a shipwreck in 1676 and went to
Heaven, where she was able to keep up on developments in the living world and became interested in modern technology. Roast Beef first met her in Heaven after Pat shot him. Molly now resides on Earth, living in Ray's pool shed with Roast Beef after she and Roast Beef got married. Roast Beef's lack of social skills means their relationship is often strained, but Molly's patience and tolerance often win out. Molly picked up programming in Heaven, but since she died long before computers and coding were invented she has no official qualifications and was forced to get a job in the
service industry. She has held different jobs over the course of the comic, but now works at a
Starbucks. She runs an in-universe show named the "Achewood A-List". ==Early development of the series==