Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

Characters

Heroes

In this show Chip wears a fedora[?] and a flight jacket[?]. He serves as the leader of the Rescue Rangers and spends his free time reading detective fiction (his favorite character being Surelack Jones, apparently a play on the name of Sherlock Holmes). He is presented as very dedicated to his duty, and usually somewhat serious and responsible.

Dale wears a Hawaiian shirt[?]. Though also dedicated to duty, he is presented as a fun-loving, mischievous prankster and somewhat irresponsible. He spends his free time reading comic books and watching Sci-fi and horror movies, mostly B-movies.

Monterey Jack is an Australian muscle mouse who has a constant craving for cheese and a pesky fear of cats. Jack first met Chip and Dale on their first case as Rescue Rangers. He joined them along with his companion Zipper and Gadget Hackwrench.

Gadget Hackwrench is a young female mouse and the mechanic and inventor of the team. She is the daughter of deceased inventor and aviator Geegaw Hackwrench, an old friend of Monterey Jack. She first met Chip and Dale on their first case as Rescue Rangers and has joined them along with Monterey Jack and his companion Zipper, since she had nowhere else to go after her father's death. Both Chip and Dale are very attracted to Gadget, but she does not notice because she is working on her inventions most of the time. The character is arguably the most popular introduced in the series and has a steady fanbase in the Internet.

Zipper the Fly appears as Monterey Jack's sidekick and the mascot of the Rescue Rangers. Zipper often handles the little jobs that the rest of the Rescue Rangers cannot handle.

Villains

Fat Cat is a cat crime boss[?]. He has four sidekicks who include an alley cat[?] named Mepps, a lizard named Wart, a mole named Mole, and a rat named Snout. Fat Cat is one of the Rescue Rangers' most frequent enemies. Although he belonged to the human criminal Aldren Klordane in the pilot episode, he is shown as a more independent animal in the rest of the series.

Professor Norton Nimnul is a mad scientist and also one of the Rescue Rangers' most frequent enemies. Sometimes Professor Nimnul has help from his nephew Normie.

Notable One-Shot Characters

Tammy the Squirrel. A teen-aged, red-haired, female squirrel who appeared in episode #7: Adventures in Squirrelsitting, first airing on April 9, 1989. She lives with her mother and baby sister Bink in a park tree, near to that of the Rangers. The Rangers agreed to act as babysitters for the two girls, while their mother was away for a while. Tammy quickly formed an attraction towards Chip, but soon realised that the chipmunk, older than her, was attracted to Gadget instead. To prove she was as useful as Gadget, she took it upon herself to fulfil the Rangers' next mission on her own. To retrieve a stolen statue, named the Maltese Mouse (a play on the name of The Maltese Falcon), from the clutches of Fat Cat. Though the mission proved almost fatal to her, she helped the Rangers to retrieve the Mouse. She also formed a quick but close friendship with Gadget, and got to express her attraction to Chip more clearly. The Ranger invited her to join the team, once she reached adulthood. The episode is considered memorable for strong characterisation for Chip, Gadget, Tammy, and Fat Cat. The character is popular among fans of the series and has a number of Internet sites dedicated to her. Fan fiction writers often use her as a supporting character for their stories. A number of stories focuse on her and her career as a Ranger, either as a reserve or as a full-time member. Some stories further develop her romantic relationship with Chip, while others, of the Slash fiction kind, feature her as developing a romantic relationship with Gadget. Her mother and an older version of her sister are also subjects of interest for a small number of series fans and fan fiction writers.

Bubbles the Rat. He first appeared in episode #27: The Case of the Cola Cult, first airing on October 17, 1989. He apparently infiltrated a cult whose teachings were of acceptance, forgiveness, joy within a religious community. He managed to became the right-hand man of Pop Top, the cult's leader. Under his nose he used the cult for personal gain, as a front for illegal activities. He gained control of its members and exploited them to achieve his own goals, and even formed a personal army, serving only him. He did not show hesitation in silencing any voice of doubt or criticism, notably by attempting murder. Although the Rangers managed to expose his activities, this only led to the dissolution of the cult, leaving its true believers dissapointed and shaken at best. Bubbles was still free to continue elsewhere. The episode is usually considered as one of the series' most memorable, as well as one of the moodiest in tone and darkest in themes. Bubbles is depicted in a more negative light than other enemies of the Rangers and he considered as one of the Rangers's most ruthless and dangerous enemies. A number of fanfic writers have written on his subsequent activities. The character as it stands serves to represent the people who use religion, even in a cult form, to pursue goals and use methods very different than the teachings they claim to uphold.

Louwhiney/Lawainee/Lawhiney or Lahwhinie (both the pronunciation and the spelling of the name are a matter of debate among the series' fans, those four are the most frequently used forms). A young female mouse from Hawaii who appeared in episode #46: Gadget Goes Hawaiian, first airing on December 21, 1989. She is an exact look-alike of Gadget. Ambitious and charismatic, she was a candidate for becoming the queen of her tribe. But to do so she had to pass a number of trials, set by the current leader. She quickly understood that those trials could prove fatal to her. Trying to find a solution to her problem, the solution presented itself in the form of Gadget. The Rangers had taken a leave from their duties and were spending their vacation in the island. Noticing the inventiveness of her look-alike she set up a ruthless plan to achieve her goals. She manipulated her new "sister", as she called her, into replacing her during the trials. Then she replaced Gadget among the Rangers. She was openly seductive towards Chip and Dale and finaly led the team to a trap. By holding them captive she could then blackmail Gadget into not quitting the trials. Though she almost lost her life, Gadget managed to pass the trials, rescue her team-mates, expose her look-alike's plans, putting an end to her ambitions, prevent her from taking revenge and finally ridiculing her. The episode is often considered Gadget's finest moment. Though not as popular as her look-alike, Lawainee is considered a charismatic character by a number of fans of the series who usualy describe her as amoralistic, manipulating and cunning. Fanfic writers have often attempted to further develop the character. The circumstances of this episode has led to speculation that Gadget and Louwhiney would both feel betrayed by the other and hold a personal grudge to each other. Also that Chip and Dale would also feel used and humiliated, thus forming a personal grudge against the girl responsible for it. A number of fanfics proceede in exploring the transformation of Louwhiney to an enemy who takes things personally, unlike Fat Cat and Nimnul. Others see the character in a more sympathetic light. They try to depict how her life circumstances hardened her and that her dedication to her cause led her to use means she didn't approve of or enjoy. Others depict her as seeking redemption and reconciliation with Gadget, to the point of her joining the Rangers herself. A number of those fics explain the resemblance between the two characters, as the result of a familiar connection. Usually by depicting her as an illegitimate daughter of Geegaw Hackwrench.

Foxglove the Bat. A female bat who appeared in #52: Good Times, Bat Times, first airing on February 21, 1990. She originally served as a witch's familiar and helped her master steal magical objects from museums. She fell in love with Dale after rescuing his life and changed allegiances to the Rangers. Dale seemed to feel awkward around her during the episode, but has somewhat accepted her by the end of it. It was one of a rare number of episodes to focus on the Ranger's love life. The character has her own fanbase in the Internet and is the subject of a growing number of fan fiction stories further developing her romantic relationship with Dale and her friendly relationship with the other Rangers. She is occasionally depicted as recruited in the Rangers and becoming a witch in her own right, while other stories choose to take a darker tone and present her as a vampire.

External Links

• Internet Movie Database's profile of the series (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0096557)
• A list of sites devoted to Gadget (http://2dmonkey.net/gadget/links.htm)
• A site devoted to Foxglove (http://toon.eu.org/foxglove/foxmain.php3)