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This Protagonist was Headlined on February 2015. | ||
Dexter is the titular main protagonist of the Dexter's Laboratory series.
He is a boy genius who has a secret laboratory and is the younger brother of Dee Dee.
He was initially voiced by the late Christine Cavanaugh, (who also voiced Gosalyn Mallard, Oblina, Chuckie Finster, and Bunnie Rabbot). He was later voiced by Candi Milo, who also voiced Nick Dean, Coco, Madame Foster, Ms. Nora Wakeman, and Lonette. In Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion, he is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voiced Bubbles, Dil Pickles, Twilight Sparkle, Timmy Turner, and Omi.
Personality[]
Dexter is an extremely intelligent boy (a self described "Boy Genius") who has been creating fantastic inventions since he was a baby. He considers Albert Einstein to be his greatest influence. He is normally in conflict with his sweet sister Dee Dee. Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. He manages to keep the lab a secret from his clueless, cheerful parents, who amusingly never notice any evidence of the laboratory, even when it was right before their eyes. Despite coming from a typical all-American family, Dexter speaks with a Russian accent (a reference to Genndy Tartakovsky's own accent that he spoke with during childhood and prank calls Rob Renzetti sent to Tartakovski while the two were at CalArts). Dexter's favorite superheroes are Major Glory, Action Hank and Monkey (not realizing that Monkey is in fact his own lab monkey).
Despite his great genius, Dexter is in fact very naive and occasionally very ignorant about certain subjects to the point where it seems like he lacks common sense; such examples of are his ignorance to the nature of girls, classic arcade machines and matters relating to nature, having not even known about famed biologist and friar Gregor Mendel the discoverer of DNA until Dee Dee told him, which clearly shows that despite his vast capabilities, Dexter is still a young and inexperienced child who lacks wisdom and experience. Dexter also has a huge ego which often clouds his judgement and has caused him to make rash and often morally questionable decisions, such as attacking Santa Claus due to his refusal to accept that he was real until the end, letting the Earth be destroyed do his inability to compromise with Mandark and even attempting to destroy Dee Dee for taking away his dream of saving the future, despite her having no malicious intent.
In spite of this negative trait as well as his arrogance in book smarts and has little tolerance for any criticism of his work, Dexter is a good person. Case in point: when he thinks he's dying, his to-do list includes doing nice things for his family, finishing his chores, and ending war and hunger.
Appearance[]
Dexter is a diminutive, nine-year-old boy who has curly red hair that was passed down to him from his mother. Likewise, he wears a pair of glasses that appear semi-circular at normal times, but when he widens his eyes, the tops of them round out. He wears a little white lab coat with black buttons on it. He also wears purple gloves, and a pair of black rubber zipper boots.
Abilities[]
Dexter possesses a genius-level intellect, scientific knowledge, and technological engineering skills, allowing him to create inventions and experiments, as well as manipulate life and even transmute things.
- Genius-Level Intellect: Dexter is renowned for his exceptional intelligence, enabling him to excel in scientific fields and invent complex technologies.
- Scientific Knowledge: He possesses a vast understanding of various scientific disciplines, allowing him to conduct experiments and create inventions.
- Technological Engineering: Dexter is a skilled inventor and engineer, capable of designing and building advanced machines and devices.
- Sentient Lifeform Creation: He has demonstrated the ability to create and manipulate sentient lifeforms, as seen in various episodes.
- Life Manipulation: Dexter has shown the ability to manipulate life, as seen with the Life Potion.
- Transmutation: Dexter has shown the ability to transmute things, as seen with the Animal Atomizer.
- Self-Augmentation: In certain episodes, Dexter has shown the ability to augment his own body with temporary enhancements.
- Superhuman Speed: Dexter has demonstrated the ability to achieve superhuman speed, though temporarily.
- Other Abilities: In certain episodes, Dexter has shown the ability to communicate with aquatic life, gain spider-like physiology, manipulate ice and fire, and become a rock-like being.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: Dexter is known to be a skilled hand-to-hand combatant.
Miscellaneous Details[]
He is in the fourth grade. The cartoon "Picture Day" definitively confirms this when showing a montage of Dexter's school pictures up to his photo from third grade, indicating that his fourth-grade photo is the next one to come. Despite creator Genndy Tartakovsky's intention of Dexter being somewhere between ages six and eight, this is what helped fans speculate his age as either nine or ten (with nine the more likely), as American children in the fourth grade are typically of that age.
Relationships[]
Dee Dee[]
Dee Dee always mysteriously gains access to his lab no matter what he does to try to keep her out. She eludes all manner of security and, once inside, delights in playing in the lab, often destroying all of his creations and often by pushing the wrong buttons on an invention (it is even hinted in one episode segment, "LABretto", that she does this on purpose). This is often preceded by Dee Dee asking "Oooooh, what does this button do?", without waiting for an answer. Despite her hyperactive personality, Dee Dee sometimes makes more logical decisions than Dexter, or even gives him helpful advice. Despite being constantly annoyed with DeeDee's interference and stupidity, Dexter still loves her and cares about her well being.
Mandark[]
Dexter has a strong rivalry with Mandark which eventually developed into a deep hatred over time and the two became arch-enemies. The reason for this animosity is due to Mandark's attempts to constantly try to shut down or destroy Dexter's lab or even steal one of his inventions to prove that he is smarter than him. Although Mandark isn't as recurring of a conflict as Dee Dee is, Mandark is even worse of an enemy than Dee Dee. They sometimes compete to see who's smarter, and while Mandark was the superior mind when they first met, Dexter eventually proved to be superior and has continued to win against Mandark since their first meeting, although sometimes the two may end up in a draw, for instance in the episode where Monkey and Quackor were both fighting and Dexter and Mandark were going to turn them into class but both ended up failing. The rivalry between them eventually turned into one of pure hate and villainy when Dexter created his greatest work, the "Neurotomic Protocore" which could change the world. When Mandark realized the tremendous power this invention could give him, he turned into an evil and megalomaniacal villain who sought only power and the total destruction of Dexter at all costs.
Monkey[]
Dexter is always trying to make Monkey do something amazing but no matter what he does to him, Monkey just stays a mere monkey, but whenever Dex isn't looking, monkey changes into an amazing superhero and that power is somehow able to elude all of Dexter's most observant and flawless of machines. Dexter is not aware of his Monkey's superhero identity, which he idolizes as much as his other heroes.
His Father[]
Dexter's father normally tends to show favoritism to Dee Dee due to her athletic prowess, but will occasionally side with Dexter when facing a challenge between the sexes. Dad is also depicted as unreasonably hostile towards Dexter when he interferes with a sports-related activity such as watching the "biggest golf match of the year" or breaking his bowling trophy. Despite all this, Dad has proven to be closest to Dexter, to the point where he was more than happy to make Dexter "destroy" Dee Dee in a snowball competition and appeal to Dexter to give him his desired muffins to the point where he could seemingly control Dexter. He has also gone to great lengths to show his love for his son, showing that he has a very close bond with Dexter.
His Mother[]
Dexter appears to be fairly close to his mother, and appears to have inherited his intellect from her side of the family (specifically from her [[Grandpa|father). He is sometimes embarrassed by her, such as when she kept causing a ruckus at a chess tournament in an effort to cheer him on and ended up getting him disqualified. However at times it has been shown that Dexter greatly fears her and she has shown to be even more hostile and harsh than Dad when it comes to punishments and may even become extremely angry over the slightest objection that Dexter may have.
Major Glory[]
Dexter is a huge fan of Major Glory. He regularly watches his show, reads his comic books, plays with his toys, and loves everything that's related to him. Major Glory is Dexter's entertainment idol. Dexter has even met Major Glory in person on certain occasions such as the episodes Star Spangled Sidekicks and Figure Not Included.
Action Hank[]
Next to Major Glory, Action Hank is an iconic character that Dexter is obsessed with and has a vast amount of respect and admiration for. Dexter loves watching Action Hank's show and desires to be just like him, a wish that eventually comes true in the far future. He has met him in person in the episodes Action Pack, A Beard to be Feared and Decode of Honor and the two became good friends that know each other well.
Trivia[]
- While Dexter has a perfect memory for everything he's read in a book, he is still capable of being fooled with lies like other kids his age.
- In an episode, Dexter says his favorite color is orange, but in the previous episode "Picture Day," he stated his favorite color was blue.
- His favorite candy is Pixy Stix.
- Dexter's Grandfather also has a secret laboratory.
- Dexter's astrological sign was first shown to be Capricorn, but since he was born around in the end of March, he is actually Aries.
- In the episode "Dexter's Lab: A Story", Dexter is seen grabbing a box of snacks with Scooby-Doo's face on it for the dog that appears in the episode. this is a reference to Scooby Snacks from the Scooby-Doo series.
- In the episode "Beard to be Feared", as Dexter walks down the sidewalk he can be seen walking past a modern day Fred Flintstone and a past version of George Jetson. Both of them are cameos.
- Dexter makes a cameo in Crossover Nexus as one of the cartoon network Ben uses in a mashup to defeat strike.
- Dexter is one of the nine main characters of the IDW comic Super Secret Crisis War.
- In the Fusion Fall universe, Dexter runs his own company with his Computress android as his right hand helper.
- He also knows the KND, PPG and FHFIF according to the prequel comic.
- He appears in a Robot Chicken sketch about being denied acceptance into Harvard due to not having an extracurricular activities on his resemé; despite inventing impressive things. In revenge he shrinks the school and puts it in a bottle. After DeeDee reveals she (a ditz) got acceptance letters from good colleges Dexter should have been qualified for, he sets out to do the same to all of them.
External Links[]
- Dexter at the Antagonists Wiki
- Dexter at the Dexter's Laboratory Wiki
[]
 Heroes
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Code Lyoko Firebreather Steven Universe Re-Animated/Out of Jimmy's Head Codename: Kids Next Door Kids Next Door We Bare Bears Ben 10 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Sym-Bionic Titan Heroes What A Cartoon! Dexter's Laboratory Cow and Chicken ¡Mucha Lucha! I Am Weasel Edgar & Ellen Krypto The Superdog The Life & Times of Juniper Lee Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi My Gym Partner's a Monkey Class of 3000 Chowder The Secret Saturdays The Mr. Men Show Hero 108 Mixels The Looney Tunes Show New Looney Tunes Mighty Magiswords Over the Garden Wall Clarence Uncle Grandpa Generator Rex Annoying Orange Apple & Onion Summer Camp Island See Also | ||
 Heroes
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Dexter's Family Other Heroes Justice Friends | ||
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