Shadow And Act are nostalgic, as is our love for the 90s and 2000s. Who doesn’t long for the days when you wake up on a Saturday morning with a big bowl of cereal to watch your favorite cartoons? In honor of the bygone era, here’s our list of 10 of our favorite black cartoon characters.
10. Craig Williams (Craig of the Creek)
Craig Williams is one of our black cartoon characters and the main character of Craig of the Creek, a 10-year-old African-American boy who lives with his parents, brother, and sister.
He has two best friends and has impeccable math skills. He is a man with a very imaginative mind, but he makes sure to stay grounded so that reality doesn’t hurt anyone around him.
His character can be seen as narrow-minded and impatient at times, but he persists until he achieves his goal.
After he achieves his stated goal, he becomes aware of the environment and tends to apologize or make amends for his behavior. He is also cunning and can act bossy at times too. His Harry Potter home is Ravenclaw.
9. Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Sokka – The Water Tribe warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, who was like family to Aang.
In his first encounters with Aang, he dislikes him and always disagrees with Aang’s decisions to appear as a leader, but he fails when Aang comes to his aid.
He learns a lot during the journey with Aang in the aftermath, but the animated series focused on the younger versions of Sokka’s trio, Aang and Sokka’s sister Katara.
As seen in the cartoons, his character is skeptical, immature, and abrasive towards others while his sister often disciplines him despite being younger than him.
But he was a trusted friend to Aang and would always protect them from all the dangers of going dark. His sarcasm is often referred to as “Sok-casm”.
8. Valerie Gray (Danny Phantom)
Another black cartoon characters in this list is Valerie Gray. Valerie Gray is a ghost hunter and friend-enemy of Danny Phantom. She was initially a cruel and mean girl who later became a kinder version of herself and started to become less selfish towards those around her.
She is extremely stubborn and short-tempered as well as persistent which makes her dangerous and her dedication to ghost capture makes her a runaway job where no one can stop her from taking revenge on the ghosts.
He holds a grudge and it becomes clear when it is revealed that he has not forgiven Danny Phantom for ruining his life.
Danny and his friends see her as an enemy, but they say she is a hero, or rather an and-hero.
After all the hatred for each other, she and Danny grow closer after joining forces several times and dating for a while.
But before she can stabilize, Valerie breaks up to focus on ghost hunting, but always feels and cares for Danny Phantom.
She loves Danny Fenton but hates Danny Phantom, unlike Paulina who loves the latter.
7. Penny Proud (The Proud Family)
Penelope Marie “Penny” Proud is the main character in the Disney animated series The Proud Family. She is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Wizard Ville, California. Her character is that of a typical teenager who wants to fulfill her dreams, but her parents don’t let her go out with boys. He loves his family and often finds himself in situations where he is ashamed of his father’s actions.
Her grandmother Suga Mama is someone she always turns to when she feels her parents are being unreasonable.
He is a level-headed and confident person who is also courteous to his parents but also has a lot of respect for them, just peer pressure.
She is outgoing and has a gift for excellent social skills, interacting in some way with almost everyone she talks to.
In American Dragon, Jake Long mentions Penny as his good childhood friend.
6. Monique (Kim Possibly)
Monique is Kim’s best friend and confidante. She has a no-nonsense attitude and a keen eye for fashion and a good heart.
She also acts as a conversational friend of Possible on topics Ron isn’t interested in. Monique is a down-to-earth, responsible and stylish person who is very loyal to her friends Kim and Ron. She is an example of a good friend as she even helped them deal with their personality flaws. And of course, the fashionista also loves shopping.
5. Agent J (men in black)
Agent J is another black cartoon character on this list. In addition, Agent J named Jay (originally James Darrell Edwards III) is one of the two main protagonists of the animated series Men in Black.
Agent J was originally an NYPD officer who later officially joined the MIB following in his father’s footsteps.
His character is the comical balance in the duo which is the opposite of Agent K.
In the comics, Agent J was originally blond and blue-eyed, white, but later became African American in live action due to Will Smith’s ethnicity and was later adapted into the animated series as well.
4. Cyborg (Teen Titans Go!)
Victor Stone – The Cyborg is a member of the Teen Titans and one of the five main protagonists of the show.
Cyborg is a laid-back, half-robot, half-teenager who is more interested in playing video games and eating pizza than fighting crime. He and Beast Boy tend to be nonchalant, which usually annoys Robin. Though he constantly makes other members nervous, he goes along and serves as a link for the team in times of danger.
His technological intellect is invaluable to the team and he gives any kind of help on his part to support the team.
He is the main source of fun in the team, he always throws parties and lives the life of his dreams with the team members.
As annoying as he is, he is often seen as an older brother by the other four.
3. Storm (X-Men: The Animated Series)
Storm the mutant with the ability to control the weather and is a member of the X-Men.
She doesn’t get much screen time in the X-men series because the show focused more on the Wolverine story.
A brave and very capable member of the X-Men, she often uses her ability to get rid of others.
She never gives up hope and has a will that even most of the main characters in the franchise don’t have.
In her comic book version of Strom, she was worshiped as a goddess by the Kenyan tribe.
2. Frozone (The Incredibles)
Lucius Best is an important character and friend of Mr. Incredible in the Incredible franchise.
You can make ice and freeze surfaces by manipulating moisture. Frozone keeps his cool when the action heats up and freezes villains without breaking a sweat with his style.
He once tried to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics but was rejected because of his super abilities.
He often helps the Incredible family as a friend and hero in times of danger, best friend to Bob Parr, and cool and funny uncle to Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack.
She can make ice cream like Elsa from frozen.
1. Princess Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)
Princess Tiana is the first African American princess in the Disney Princess franchise and the ninth official princess.
She is a 19-year-old girl with hazel eyes, a kind, fun, and diligent woman.
Her character was originally called Maddy, but it sounded like an offensive African American cartoon and was changed.
She is so far the possible princess living in the end times compared to the timeline of the other princesses, probably in the 20th century.
She was also the first Disney princess to have her mother alive and her father dead.
Also, the latest Disney princess is made with 2D animation. Disney has made many careful changes to avoid inadvertent racial stereotyping while depicting race.
Conclusion – Black Cartoon Characters
These are the few black cartoon characters who have had an influence on their shows/series, racial inclusion is important in any topic and these are examples of people thinking about racial inclusion in shows shown to children around the world which acts as the main source of knowledge of the world.
