The Jumping Ground/Characters

The Jumping Ground is an animated science-fiction action sitcom created by Lee Eisenhower and Conrad Vernon for the Cartoon Network television network. The ongoing narrative revolves around four kids—PuffPuff Humbert, Lance Patrick, Zowie Hosker, and Rob Broflovski — and their bizarre adventures in and around the fictional town of Pencaster, Ohio, exploring the galaxy and defending it against alien threats such as the Goa'uld, Replicators, and the Ori.

PuffPuff Humbert
PuffPuff is one of the show's four central characters (and the main protagonist) and is voiced by Sean Astin from Season 1 to The Jumping Ground Movie and Matthew Mercer from Season 20 onwards, and is loosely based on series co-creator Lee Eisenhower. He is portrayed (in words of the show's official website) as "a normal, average, American, mixed-up kid". Puff is a student-soldier who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town life in his hometown of Pencaster. In many episodes, Puff contemplates ethics in beliefs, moral dilemmas, and contentious issues, and will often reflect on the lessons he has attained with a speech that often begins with "You know, I learned something today...".

Melvin Sneedly
Melvin Sneedly is cheerful, nerdy, naive, optimistic, gullible and more passive relative to the show's other child characters, and can become increasingly anxious, especially when faced with the likelihood of his parents' punishments, which is usually being grounded, usually for no good reason, such as when Butters threatened to "kill" himself as part of a scheme by Puff, Lance, Rob and Zowie, and his parents said they would "only" ground him for two weeks if he came down. Melvin usually doesn't indulge in foul-mouthed language like the other children and speaks with a mild stutter and tends to fidget with his hands.The other characters perceive him as "nerdy" and he obliviously maintains a very wholesome attitude and mild disposition despite the tragedy and abuse that he frequently encounters from both his classmates and parents. His happy-go-lucky persona has been described as resembling that of a typical 1950s sitcom child character and is usually presented in stark contrast to the harsh treatment he receives at the hands of his friends and strict parents, Since his debut in "The Serpent's Lair", he had become a mainstay in the list of the show's recurring cast, and due to this, Eisenhower and Vernon controversially wrote Rob out at the end of season five to allow an opportunity to provide a major role for Melvin, as his following episode, revolves entirely around him. Puff, Lance, and Zowie allow him into their group as the "fourth friend", but eventually gets ousted and vengefully adopts his super-villain alter ego of Professor Chaos, whom, in spite of his name, only seems to be able to screw things up that either nobody takes notice of, or can be easily resolved. Despite this, Melvin has continued to be a major character in recent seasons and continues to be a frequent source of help to Rob, while also being the main victim of Rob's constant pranking and manipulation. He is voiced by Tara Strong.

Former Characters
A few characters have had a major recurring role in the past episodes in the show before their deaths.