List of Home Movies characters

Brendon Small (voiced by and named after Brendon Small) is the star of the show and writer/director/lead actor in most of his movies. He is an eight-year-old boy who acts out his anxieties and problems through filmmaking. He is best friends with Melissa Robbins and Jason Penopolis. He has had his trusty Camcorder since just after toddlerhood, and has been making films incessantly ever since, perhaps because he started around the time his parents got divorced. Though well-meaning, logical, and surprisingly witty, he is consistently dogged by apathy, oversight, and occasional egotism; he is usually surprised, confused or hurt when his work is criticized. Despite his questionable wisdom and intelligence in other parts of life, he is surprisingly knowledgeable about films and filmmaking; his first film was a homage to Easy Rider called Eazy Trikers. Brendon is apathetic toward his schoolwork and consistently gets bad grades, most likely because he is preoccupied with making movies. It has also been said by a few characters that he is quite feminine, as stated in the episodes "The Wedding" and "Shore Leave", as well as accidentally placing in a tape of him dressed like a girl in "Method of Acting". He has also shown an amazing talent for set design and sewing.

Coach John McGuirk (H. Jon Benjamin) is Brendon and Melissa's incompetent, acerbic soccer coach; an overweight, alcoholic Irish-American who constantly gives Brendon bad advice. McGuirk considers Brendon, Melissa and Jason his friends and will usually help them out or stick up for them even though he is often rude to them (especially Melissa). He often attempts to portray a father figure for Brendon, as in the show's finale. Also, he frequently attempts to reach out to Lynch and Erik; however his misguided attempts often fail primarily due to his poor attitude. His actions often suggest that he is lonely and, on numerous occasions, attempts to organize group meet-ups with the other adult characters (episodes: Four's Company, Pizza Club) and acts desperate when they decline his invitations. He can also be a bully, especially to Lynch and Melissa, and also gives a very bad wedgie. He often tries to impress or court Paula, Brendon's mother. McGuirk also admits that he hates soccer and has never played soccer, despite being the elementary school's soccer coach. In episode 22 "Class Trip", due to electrocution, a metal plate can be seen on the right side of his head. In "Therapy", he states he was in therapy once, and when Brendon asks why he responds, "there are certain things you have to do to re-enter society". This implies he has served jail time, confirmed in "Time to Pay the Price". In "Class Trip" McGuirk wrote on his résumé that he was a Gulf War vet. In "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" it's implied that McGuirk has a secret life as a professional wrestler. Towards the end of the episode as Brendon and Paula talk, in the background on the TV there is a wrestling match on with a masked luchador that looks exactly like McGuirk with the Spanish translation of "the soccer coach" on his costumed chest. Whether or not this is true is still undetermined, though it is probably a joke as it is not mentioned in any other episodes.

Jason Penopolis (H. Jon Benjamin) is Brendon's friend and co-star who is noticeably more emotionally stunted, but can be much more aware of his surroundings and situations than others. Subtle irony throughout the series suggests that, while his parents are never introduced, they are wealthy, but never around or aware of Jason's pastimes, including the fact that he is always hanging out with Brendon and Melissa making films, though he himself is at least partially unaware that they tape them and while dating Brendon and Melissa, he never once told his parents about them. He has suffered dangerous and extreme attacks of sugar addiction on several occasions that Melissa usually helps him overcome. Jason also has numerous infections and diseases such as eczema. His feelings for Melissa are often very mixed—at one time, he told Brendon his view that she's a good person, but a terrible actress; at another time, he was more than eager to participate when Brendon suggested he and Melissa kiss. In "Fours Company" he tells Brendon he wants to marry her. In "Definite Possible Murder" it is revealed that he is Greek. Jason's last name has been spelled out as Panopolis (in "The Art of the Sucker Punch" within the closed captions), Penopolis (in "Time to Pay the Price"), Popodopolis (in "History"), and Penopopolis (in "Focus Grill"). He also shows an amazing talent for sewing.

Melissa Robbins (Melissa Bardin Galsky) is Brendon's girlfriend and co-star, who is often more sensible than Brendon or Jason. However, when it comes to very personal issues (such as her mother's whereabouts, family history and boyfriends), she becomes very frantic and overly sensitive. Melissa is also the daughter of a single father, Erik. At the beginning of season three she is shown to be a bit of a tomboy, but throughout season four she appears much more feminine. Melissa suffers from allergic bronchoconstriction if she eats kiwi, and carries an EpiPen as such. She was also, at one point, aquaphobic, but she overcame the fear when she rescued Coach McGuirk from drowning. She is a straight A student and often feels left out when she is not told about what her boyfriends are planning.

Paula Small (Paula Poundstone for episodes 1 to 5, Janine Ditullio for remainder of series) is Brendon's single divorced mother, a (temporarily unemployed) creative writing teacher (apparently having taught in her younger days, as mentioned in Method of Acting) and author. She is usually supportive of Brendon's filmmaking, but sometimes sees it as a nuisance or unhealthy. She talks very frankly with Brendon about life issues, and they both make age-inappropriate jokes, thereby creating much more of a friendship between them than is usual. She is highly critical of Andrew's (Brendon's father's) relationship with Linda, frequently mocking the age disparity. Paula occasionally interferes with Brendon's movies, out of boredom or thanks to manipulation by Jason or Melissa. She frequently attempts to improve Brendon's apathy towards his schoolwork, to no avail. Paula performs terribly in pressure situations, such as job interviews and parent-teacher conferences.

• List of Home Movies episodes