The Ren & Stimpy Show - Characters

Characters

Ren Höek is a hot-tempered, "asthma-hound" Chihuahua. Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled as a demented Peter Lorre. When Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi, Billy West, already the voice of Stimpy, took the role using a combination of Burl Ives, Kirk Douglas and a slight "south of the border accent" for the rest of the Nickelodeon run.

Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat is a three-year-old dim-witted and happy-go-lucky cat. West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine.

The show features a host of supporting characters; some only appear in a single episode, while others are recurring characters, who occasionally appear in different roles. Ren and Stimpy play various roles themselves, from outer-space explorers to Old West horse thieves to nature-show hosts. While the characters are sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes that reference current events. Some of the supporting characters factor directly into the storyline, while others make brief cameos. Other characters, such as Mr. Horse, are exclusively cameo-based, appearing in many episodes in scenes that have little bearing on the plot, as a running gag. Some notable artists and performers who voiced incidental characters on the show are Frank Zappa, Randy Quaid, Gilbert Gottfried, Rosie O'Donnell, Dom DeLuise, Phil Hartman, Mark Hamill, Frank Gorshin and Tommy Davidson.