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Fern Walters
Fern Walters
Age 8[1]
Grade 3rd

4th ("First Day")

Gender Female
Animal Dog[2]
Birthday Soon after Galileo's birthday[3]
Within the Libra zodiac sign[4]
Eye color Green[5] (TV series)
Amber,[6] Light brown,[7] Blue[8] (In the books)
Favorite color Forest green[1]
Residence Fern's House, Elwood City
Family Doria Walters (mother)
Mr. Walters (father)
Fern's cousin
Book debut Arthur's Eyes
Cartoon debut "Arthur's Eyes"
Voiced by Holly Gauthier Frankel (TV Series)
Sandee Ball (Living Books)

Fern Walters[9] is a student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at Lakewood Elementary. She is in Mr. Ratburn's class again for fourth grade.[10] She is generally viewed as a quiet girl with a love of poetry and mysteries.

Because of her shy personality, her mother often signs her up for various activities to get her involved in social gatherings with peers. Fern herself sometimes thinks that she is too quiet, once referring to herself as "invisible".[11] Although Fern is shy, when something goes wrong, she will speak her mind on behalf of what she believes to be the right thing.

Fern is well known as a talented and realistic raconteur, especially when it comes to horror and mystery stories. She loves solving mysteries, and once solved a real mystery in the episode "Fern's Slumber Party." Fern is also talented musically. She is a great singer and can perform music from several genres, such as rock (as seen in Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll), or pop, which we see in Phony Fern. She plays the flute and is in the school band with Arthur and his friends. Her favorite authors are Agatha Christie, Mary Shelley, and Persimmony Glitchet. Fern's favorite books are the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and Frankenstein.

Physical appearance[]

128a Fern

Fern's appearance in season 1

Fern is an anthropomorphic dog with tannish gray fur. She is usually seen wearing a long sleeved purple blouse with yellow buttons, matching it with yellow pants and brown loafers. She always wears a bow on her head, usually bright red, but it sometimes is another color to go with a different outfit.

In some media, such as at the Arthur attraction at the Boston Children's Museum and on an Arthur puzzle by Ravensburger, she is depicted with a pale green jacket with green spots.

Alternate apparel[]

She also wears a light purple nightgown with dark purple linings and the occasional winter wear consisting of a dark pink top with a black skirt. She is also seen wearing a karate uniform. She also wears a purple one-piece swimsuit with a red collar.

Personality[]

Fern is depicted as introverted and quiet at first, worried about mixing with her peers. As Binky says in "I'm a Poet", Fern "never says anything". However, following that episode, she starts to become involved more socially with her friends, interacting with them and helping some of them with their problems. She was become worried about popularity, but now helps others socialize. (Popular Girls, Arthur's Dummy Disaster.)

One of Fern's most notable talents is her flair and aptitude for writing poetry and stories, which was first highlighted in "I'm a Poet" and strengthened in "Fernlets by Fern" and "Fern and Persimmony Glitchet". In addition, Fern also has a great deal of imagination, helping her write very good stories.

Some of Fern's major flaws stem from her stubbornness and headstrong attitude, which can be very trying to others at times and can potentially lead to arguments, including a particularly venomous altercation with Francine.

As evidenced, she has a quick wit for playing tricks, and can express herself with drawings. Her drawings are not known to be fancy paintings such as Muffy's, but are simple yet effective caricatures. On one occasion got revenge on Francine.

Another occasion she thought of an even more elaborate scheme to successfully fool Brain into believing a yarn concerning giant worms. This scheme impressed Binky Barnes. (Draw!, War of the Worms, The Rat Who Came to Dinner, Fernlets by Fern.)

In the special "Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll", it is revealed that she is a great singer.

Fern also has a small talent for acting, as seen in "No Acting, Please". In that same episode, she is also a great ad-libber, as she helps Grandma Thora overcome forgetting her lines by making a speech that fits into the theme of the play, with the audience never knowing the difference.

She is a midfielder for Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team.

Future life[]

If the intro to the episode, "The Election", really happens, she will either be President Muffy's running mate or a member of her party.

Relationships[]

Family[]

Fern has a small family, consisting of her mother and father. However, she may have a sister, Maryann who she is shown racing with in Sue Ellen's Little Sister. However, Maryann's father is different to Fern's meaning they may be step, half siblings or cousins. Her mother first appears in "Fern's Slumber Party" and her father appears in the episode "Phony Fern" but is also first mentioned in the former.

  • Doria Walters - As Fern's mother, she persistently encourages Fern to join new groups in order to make friends and become more socially active. She also worries that Fern is too quiet, and generally worries about her in this regard. She refers to Fern as "Ferny" sometimes.
  • Mr. Walters - As Fern's father, he is a very kind, caring and cautious person. He loves his family very much, but sometimes he worries about Fern's safety, so he gave her a cell phone in "Phony Fern". He is also good at computers and has even taught Fern some things about them.

Friends[]

  • Sue Ellen Armstrong - Fern and Sue Ellen are often seen together in the backgrounds of some scenes. They become better friends when they both make a pact in the episode "Popular Girls," and they are shown to be running around (in the background) in the episode "Mr. Alwaysright." They also give each other advice, as seen in "Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurous." They are most likely best friends as in most seasons they are always shown in the background together. In "All the Rage" when Muffy sees Sue Ellen's diary Fern and Sue Ellen are goofing around in a photo booth accompanied by heart, showing that they are very close friends.
  • Muffy Crosswire - Fern and Muffy become good friends when they both have the same cell phone, the Portilex-360. However, things might have changed when Fern downgrades to a simpler phone. They still seem to be portrayed as close friends in the later seasons, as they are seen watching a movie and auditioning for the same part in a play. In earlier seasons they have been shown to be friends, although not very close but close enough to be invited to Muffy's annual party several times as seen in "Jenna's Bedtime Blues," and later on in "Desk Wars" when they both made a dust ruffle.
  • Francine Frensky - They are not friends at first because Francine sees Fern as a boring person, based on her thoughts on Fern in the episodes "I'm a Poet," "Draw!" and "Fern's Slumber Party." Despite this, they seem to confide in each other and appreciate the same type of stories. Fern was partnered up Francine in "Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain." Despite their differences, they were able to work together to get to the top of the mountain. They seem to have become friends in later seasons.
  • George Lundgren - Fern and George are seen role-playing in the "Phony Fern" and "The Case of the Girl with the Long Face" and also seen with George at the episode "The Return of the King," In the earlier seasons, when they were used as background characters, they were often seen together with Jenna. In "Fern's Flights of Fancy," Fern had acknowledged George as 'the best friend a writer could have', confirming the close friendship between the two.
  • Ladonna Compson - They write stories together.[12] Fern is determined to continue their friendship even after Ladonna moves to Oregon.[13]

Fern is considered to be friends with all of the main kids in Lakewood Elementary, as she is seen with them on many occasions.

Trivia[]

  • Fern speaks for the first time in the episode "Arthur and the True Francine," when she asks Muffy, at one of her sleepovers, if she has ever lied before.
    • Her next speaking role is in "I'm a Poet," when she stands up for herself after Binky and Rattles make fun of her writing. Francine comments that it was the most she had said all year.
  • She doesn't have a visible hairstyle like the rest of the girls.
  • Fern doesn't have an uncle.[14]
  • According to Muffy in "Surprise!," Fern is a handwriting expert.
  • In "Fern and the Case of the Stolen Story", a character that Fern based on herself on ("Virgule Watteau") has a peanut allergy. It is not known for certain if Fern herself actually has a peanut allergy.

Appearances[]

Arthur[]

The Arthur Podcast[]

Gallery[]

References[]


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