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, the Ori, the Androids, and the Ten Terrors of the Underworld.
Creation and inception[]
Main Characters[]
PuffPuff Humbert[]
- Main article: PuffPuff Humbert
PuffPuff Humbert (voiced by Sean Astin), is one of the show's four central characters (and the main protagonist), 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...".
Lance Patrick[]
- Main article: Lance Patrick
Lance Patrick (voiced by Tom Kenny) is one of the show's characters who is also based on the series creator Conrad Vernon, He is portayed as the team member of Jewish and the poorest family ever in Pencaster, He is often noted for this, as well as his intelligence and brains of the family. He is the regular co-pilot of the Artillery Transportation Vehicle alongside Zowie, as well as being the main pilot of the Sub-Striker. In the series final episode "The End Game", when Unicron succeeded in his goal to wipe out half of all life in the universe, Lance was among one of the victims.
Zowie Hosker[]
- Main article: Zowie Hosker
Zowie Hosker (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman from Season 1-3, Eliza Scheneider from Season 3-5, Lindsey Warner from Season 7-9, Michelle Knotz until the finale) is the smartest and has generally high moral standards, and has romantic feelings for Lance, Based on co-creator Lee Eisenhower's wife, Zowie has had a very complicated past, and as a result, she was found by Lance, and currently resides with him and his family, She is the pilot of A.T.V. (Artillery Transportation Vehicle), along with Lance.
Rob Broflovski[]
- Main article: Rob Broflovski
Roberto "Rob" Broflovski, (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman from Season 1 to 3, Nika Futterman-Frost from Season 3 to 5 and Season 7 to 12, Nicky Jones from Season 13 to 20 and Grant Palmer from Season 21 onwards), has been portrayed as aggressive, prejudiced and emotionally unstable since his character's inception. These traits are significantly augmented in later seasons as his character evolves, and he begins to exhibit psychopathic and extremely manipulative behavior. He is depicted as highly intelligent, able to execute morally appalling plans and business ideas with success. Among the show's main child characters, Rob is distinguished as "the fat kid", for which he is continuously insulted and ridiculed. Rob is frequently portrayed as a villain whose actions set in motion the events serving as the main plot of an episode. Other children and classmates are alienated by Rob's insensitive, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, misogynistic, lazy, self-righteous, and wildly insecure behavior. Rob often makes anti-semitic insults towards Lance, in addition to teasing him for being poor, particularly manipulates and mistreats Melvin Sneedly, assists Toad Sanderson with meth deals and displays an extreme disdain for hippies. Though he is considered the main antagonist of the series, he has been portrayed as a protagonist or antihero on several occasions. In the Season 5 episode "Meridian", Rob pulls a prank at a Langaran research facility involving a Naquadria Gauntlet, which results in him being exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in the process. His comrades' best efforts to save him fail, and he subsequently ascends to a higher plain of existence. Following this, he is absent for a large part of the sixth season, with his position being taken over by the likes of Melvin and Tweek Tweak. Nevertheless, Rob returned from the year-long absence in the season six finale "Full Circle", and aids the student body in a mass offensive on Anubis's forces on Abydos. At the beginning of Season 7, Rob de-ascends, for showing apparent disregard of authority for other ascended beings, with no memory of his previous life whatsoever. He is saved by his friends and rejoins the group, and has remained in place ever since.
Secondary Characters[]
Melvin Sneedly[]
- Main article: Melvin Sneedly
Melvin Sneedly, voiced by Tara Strong, 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.
Toad Sanderson[]
- Main article: Toad Sanderson
Recurring Characters[]
Significant Characters[]
- Main article: List of students at the Langham Institute
- Main article: List of The Jumping Ground families
- Main article: List of The Jumping Ground villains
| Character | Voiced by | Role | First appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clyde Donovan | Mary Kay Bergman, Lisa Ortiz | One of the kids' classmates and a highly-skilled warrior. He once considered himself as the cutest of the class, and caused the death of his mother by leaving the toilet seat up. | "Rob Gets an Anal Probe" |
| Tobias Wilson | Chris Williams, Joey Camen | One of the kids' classmates who is the brawling specialist, preferring close quarter combat. He is portrayed as African-American. | "Rob Gets an Anal Probe" |
| Tweek Tweak | Mary Kay Bergman, Tara Strong, Nika Futterman | The kids' hyperactive and paranoid classmate due to an excessive intake of coffee, although his parents believe it to be because of ADD. He temporarily replaced Rob as the fourth member of the "main" group during the time period in which Rob had ascended to a higher plane of existence. | "Gnomes" |
Other Characters[]
- Main article: List of Stamford Gate GCC staff
- Main article: List of recurring The Jumping Ground characters
Former Characters[]
A few characters have had a major recurring role in the past episodes in the show before their deaths.
| Character | Voiced by | Role | First appearance | Last appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chef | Gabriel Iglesias, Peter Serafinowicz (Darth Chef) | The school's chef and good friend of the kids, who was killed at the beginning of the eighteenth season | "Rob Gets an Anal Probe" | "Town in the Dumps" |
| Douglas Alexander | Dee Bradley Baker | The kids' former classmate who died during the eighteenth season | "Cold Lazarus" | "Heroes, Part 2" |
| Ms. Crabtree | Mary Kay Bergman, Eliza Schneider | The former school bus driver before her death during the eighth season | "Rob Gets an Anal Probe" | "Graveyard Shift" |
| Thor | Michael Shanks | The Kids' Asgard client and the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, who commited mass suicide along with his entire race during the fourteenth season | "Thor's Hammer" | "200" |
Reception and Impact[]
Merchandise[]
|