List of Barney characters

Barney is a children's educational musical adventure media franchise that originated with the 1988 direct-to-video series Barney and the Backyard Gang by Sheryl Stamps-Leach and Kathy O'Rourke-Parker. Barney consists of three series—Barney & the Backyard Gang (1988–1991), which consists of only eight episodes, Barney & Friends (1992–2010), a television series that ran on PBS Kids, and Barney's World (2024), a fully animated series set to air on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito, and which is currently streaming on Max—and is currently distributed by 9 Story Media Group, under license from Mattel Television.

The Barney franchise follows the titular character Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude,

Overview

Characters	Main television series															Animated television series	Film
	Barney & the Backyard Gang	Barney & Friends														Barney's World	Barney's Great Adventure
		Season
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Barney (costume)	David Voss (Episodes 1–6) David Joyner (Episodes 7, 8)	David Joyner			David Joyner Josh Martin (Episodes 14–16, 18–20) Maurice Scott (Episode 17)	David Joyner		Carey Stinson Maurice Scott (Episode 4 (one scene))	Carey Stinson	Carey Stinson Maurice Scott (Episodes 3–4 (white screen scenes))	Carey Stinson						David Joyner
Barney (voice)	Bob West							Dean Wendt								Jonathan Langdon	Bob West
Baby Bop (costume)	Dao Knight	Jenny Dempsey	Jeff Ayers				Jeff Ayers Jennifer Romano (Episode 1) Jeff Brooks (Episode 9)	Jeff Ayers Jennifer Romano (Episode 20)	Jeff Ayers				Jennifer Barlean Jeff Ayers (Episode 2)	Lauren Mayeux	Lauren Mayeux (New material) Jeff Ayers		Jeff Ayers
Baby Bop (voice)	Julie Johnson															Bryn McAuley	Julie Johnson
BJ (costume)			Jenny Dempsey	Jeff Brooks	Jeff Brooks Adam Brown (Episode 20 (some scene))	Jeff Brooks		Kyle Nelson									Jeff Brooks
BJ / Billy (voice)			Patty Wirtz													Jonathan Tan	Patty Wirtz
Riff (costume)											Adam Brown		Jerad Harris Jeff Ayers (Episodes 6, 7, 10)	Jerad Harris	Jerad Harris (New material) Adam Brown
Riff (voice)											Michaela Dietz
Jason	Salim Grant
Michael	Brian Eppes
Kim					Danielle Vega
Angela								Demi Lovato
Gianna								Selena Gomez
Jamal								Peyton Alex Smith			Peyton Alex Smith
Debby											Debby Ryan
Bridget											Madison Pettis
Joshua													Jaren Lewison
Jill													Mikayla Abdalla

Main characters

Dinosaurs

Barney

Barney
Barney character
Barney, as seen in Barney's World
First appearance	"The Backyard Show" Barney & the Backyard Gang 1988
Voiced by	Bob West (1988–2000) Dean Wendt (2002–2010) Jonathan Langdon (2024–present)
Motion capture	David Voss (1998–1990) David Joyner (1991–2001) Josh Martin (1997) Maurice Scott (1997–2004) Carey Stinson (2002–2010)
In-universe information
Species	Tyrannosaurus rex
Gender	Male

Barney is the main character of the Barney franchise. He is a purple Tyrannosaurus with a green stomach in stuffed animal likeness, who comes to life through a child's imagination. His theme song is "Barney is a Dinosaur", whose tune is based on "Yankee Doodle". Barney often quotes things as being "Super dee-duper". Episodes frequently end with the song "I Love You", sung to the tune of "This Old Man". Despite being a carnivorous type dinosaur, Barney does not have a carnivore's fearsome teeth. He likes many different foods such as fruits and vegetables, but his main favorite is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk.

Baby Bop

Baby Bop
Barney character
First appearance	"Barney in Concert" Barney & the Backyard Gang 1991
Created by	Sheryl Stamps-Leach Kathy O'Rourke-Parker
Voiced by	Julie Johnson (1991–2010) Bryn McAuley (2024–present)
Motion capture	Dao Knight (1991) Jenny Dempsey (1992) Jeff Ayers (1993–2008; 2010) Jennifer Romano (1999; 2002) Jeff Brooks (1999) Lauren Mayeux (2009–2010)
In-universe information
Alias	Sissy
Species	Triceratops
Gender	Female

Baby Bop is a green Triceratops wearing a pink bow and pink ballet slippers and carrying a yellow security blanket. First appearing in the Barney & the Backyard Gang episode "Barney in Concert", she was originally two years old; however, in the Barney & Friends episode "Look at Me, I'm 3!", she turned three. She sings the song "My Yellow Blankey" to show how much her security blanket means to her. She likes to eat macaroni and cheese and pizza. She is the younger sister of Billy.

Billy

Billy
Barney character
First appearance	"Look at Me, I'm 3!" Barney & Friends 1993
Voiced by	Patty Wirtz (1993–2010) Jonathan Tan (2024–present)
Motion capture	Jenny Dempsey (1993) Jeff Brooks (1995–2000) Adam Brown (2000) Kyle Nelson (2002–2010)
In-universe information
Nickname	BJ
Species	Protoceratops
Gender	Male

Billy, originally known as BJ, is a seven-year-old yellow Protoceratops who wears a red baseball cap and red sneakers. First appearing in the Barney & Friends episode "Look at Me, I'm 3!", he is the older brother of Baby Bop, whom he frequently calls "Sissy" and occasionally calls by her name. He sings "BJ's Song", a song about himself. He lost his hat in the Barney & Friends episode "Hats Off to BJ!". Pickles are his favorite food, and he has tried them in various ways, such as on pizza.

Riff

Riff
Barney character
First appearance	"Welcome, Cousin Riff" Barney & Friends 2006
Last appearance	"The Princess and the Frog" Barney & Friends 2010
Voiced by	Michaela Dietz
Motion capture	Adam Brown (2006–2007; 2010) Jerad Harris (2008–2010) Jeff Ayers (2008)
In-universe information
Species	Hadrosaur
Gender	Male

Riff is a character who has only appeared in Barney & Friends from Seasons 10 through 14 and in some Barney home videos. First appearing in "Welcome, Cousin Riff", he is an orange six-year-old Hadrosaur who wears green sneakers, and he is Baby Bop and BJ's cousin. His theme music is "I Hear Music Everywhere". Riff loves music and it is in almost everything he does. In the episode "Barney: Let's Go to the Firehouse", it was revealed that Riff also likes to invent things; he created a four-sound smoke detector (the first three were different alarm sounds and the final one his voice). He is shown to have an interest in marching bands and parades. His most recent appearance is in "The Princess and the Frog", a Barney & Friends episode from Season 14.

Children

Jason

Jason
Barney & the Backyard Gang character
First appearance	"The Backyard Show" Barney & the Backyard Gang 1988
Last appearance	"A Day at the Beach" Barney & the Backyard Gang 1989
Portrayed by	Salim Grant
In-universe information
Gender	Male

Jason is a character who appeared in the first three episodes of Barney & the Backyard Gang. He is able to tap dance and likes animals. However, he can also make waves with his arms, which he likes to do as well.

Michael

Jason
Barney character
First appearance	"The Backyard Show" Barney & the Backyard Gang 1988
Last appearance	Sing & Dance with Barney (1999)
Portrayed by	Brian Eppes
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Family	Michael and Amy's Mom (mother) Michael and Amy's Dad (father) Amy (sister)

Michael is a character from the Barney franchise. First appearing in the Barney & the Backyard Gang episode "The Backyard Show", he also appeared in Barney & Friends, with his first appearance being "The Queen of Make-Believe". Michael lives with his sister named Amy, his parents, and their dogs, Buster and Sparky. He likes to search for rocks when camping, meaning that he has a rock collection at home in a box. Michael is also a school crossing guard. In addition to his favorite food being cold watermelons, Michael is able to play the cello because he likes music; he is also known for playing soccer, however.

Kim

Kim
Barney character
First appearance	Barney's Sense-Sational Day (1997)
Last appearance	Barney's Beach Party (2002)
Portrayed by	Danielle Vega
In-universe information
Gender	Female

Kim is a character who appeared in various Barney episodes like with Barney & Friends episodes from Seasons 4 through 6. She lives with her parents, an older sister, and an adopted baby brother, and she has a friend named Kristen. Kim perfers to dance and sing. However, she also knows how to play the flute. Her favorite bear is the giant panda. In "A Picture of Health" it was revealed that Kim once damaged her foot and needed to head to the hospital for an X-ray.

Recurring characters

Mother Goose

Mother Goose
Barney character
First appearance	"Let's Help Mother Goose!" Barney & Friends 1992
Last appearance	"Mother Goose" Barney & Friends 2010
Portrayed by	Sandy Walper (1992–1993) Michelle McCarel (1998) Barbara Lowin (2000) Julie Johnson (2006–2010)
In-universe information
Gender	Female

Mother Goose is a character from Barney & Friends. Based on the fictional storyteller of the same name, she is an imaginary author who lives in the "Land of Mother Goose" (a land featuring her house, her garden, other characters from nursery rhymes, etc.) and perfers to speak in "rhyme". Mother Goose has been around for a large number of years for a quite long time and has a pet goose named Clarence (who appeared in "Honk! Honk! A Goose on the Loose!" and Barney's Big Surprise). Frequently, she already knows Barney's friends, as she knows the name of everyone who has ever read her rhymes.