•
Douwe Dabbert: The series' protagonist. He is a small bearded man who has the appearance of a
gnome. He might be one himself, seeing that at the start of one story, "Het Bedrog van Balthasar", he is seen saying goodbye to
Paulus the woodgnome, a character from another comics series, who almost has the same size as him. Furthermore, Douwe has a magical
knapsack from which only he can conjure items that are helpful in any situation. When others try to use it to their own advantage the bag only produces water, sand or nothing at all. Dabbert is depicted as a roaming traveller. We never learn anything about his family, except that he inherited his knapsack from his grandfather. His name is
alliterative because the publishers of
Donald Duck felt this was in line with their other titles. The name "Dabbert" was thought up when thinking of the wardrobe of
Sinterklaas, which is called a "tabberd" in Dutch. •
Pief: Pief is a sorcerer's apprentice. He thinks he is quite a master in
magic, but still makes a lot of mistakes. Douwe acts like a father figure to him. Pief and his family appear in
Het flodderwerk van Pief, as well as in many subsequent books. The book
De zwarte kimono is about Pief's adventures in the East. •
Domoli: Pief's nephew. He is an obese little sorcerer's apprentice who is only interested in food. •
Kijfje: Pief's niece and Domoli's sister. She is a slender and somewhat crabby girl. •
Ludo Lafhart: A crook who wants to become rich. He is one of Douwe's most recurring
antagonists, appearing in the albums "De Verwende Prinses" ("The Spoiled Princess"), "Het Verborgen Dierenrijk" ("The Hidden Animal Kingdom") and "Het Monster van het Mistmeer" ("The Monster of the Misty Lake"). •
Knudde: Lafhart's servant. He is depicted as his slightly more stupid
sidekick. •
Wredulia: An evil
witch who appears in the stories "De Poort naar oost" ("The Gate to East") and "De Schacht naar noord" ("The Shaft to North"). •
Prinses Pauline: A spoiled princess who appears in the first story. She was originally meant as the protagonist, but after thirteen pages Dabbert makes his entry in the series and she is never seen again until the final album. •
Dodo: A
dodo whom Douwe met at the
North Pole, searching for a dodo egg. Finally, they find a dodo egg on a
desert island, so the dodo can
reproduce himself. He appears in "De Schacht naar het Noorden" en "De Weg naar het Westen". •
Berendsz en Knielsen: Two sailors who try to steal Douwe's knapsack. They appear in "De zee naar zuid" ("The Sea to South"). ==Publication history==