The Fairly OddParents holds the silver as the second longest-running show on Nickelodeon, right after SpongeBob SquarePants. Similar to SpongeBob, Fairly OddParents had a number of memorable characters with distinct designs and personalities that drew viewers to the ever-popular series.
Unfortunately, The Fairly OddParents wound up misusing most of its characters, either neglecting them or reducing characters' personalities to a single trait. So many characters in The Fairly OddParents could have had more storylines that expanded on their lives, fleshing out their personalities and relationships through a mix of comedy and character progression.
10 Chip Skylark Surely Had More Songs To Sing
Chip Skylark had some of the best episodes and songs in The Fairly OddParents. To this day, fans still jam to his songs like "Icky Vicky" and "My Shiny Teeth and Me." In contrast to Timmy Turner's initial impressions of him, Chip had hidden depth and became a good friend.
Chip Skylark didn't have many episodes with him as a central character, which is very disappointing because he could've had more songs for fans to enjoy. In addition, he could've acted as a mentor to Timmy, preparing him for life as a teenager.
9 Trixie Tang's Popularity Got In The Way Of A Great Character
Trixie Tang was a great subversion on the "popular girl that the geeky guy has a crush on" trope. Trixie's character development explored her opening her friendship with Timmy Turner. Despite her often rude attitude, she was capable of being nice to others who weren't popular, especially Timmy.
The Fairly OddParents explored Trixie's hidden depth and secret interests, showing that she was a lot like Timmy, despite their different popularity levels. Sadly, Trixie's development was eroded in favor of pushing her "popular girl" personality, exaggerating her shallowness and need for external validation.
8 Dr. Bender And His Son Wendell Were Unique Antagonists Who Vanished
Dr. Bender was an evil dentist, and his son Wendell Bender was his evil assistant. They were funny but formidable antagonists, causing a lot of trouble for Timmy. Surprisingly, Dr. Bender and Wendell haven't made any appearances after Season 5, despite being noteworthy villains.
More episodes of The Fairly OddParents could have dealt with the villainous plots of Dr. Bender and Wendell, playing into the idea of childhood fears of the dentist. At the very least, it would've been nice for the fans to have the father-son duo appear in the Wishology trilogy with the other villains.
7 Gary Was An Interesting Villain And Former Friend Of Timmy's
Gary was Timmy's imaginary friend when the latter was younger, but Gary became resentful of Timmy because he stored Gary in his mind for years. Gary and Timmy eventually made peace, but never formally became friends again. Gary made two appearances in The Fairly OddParents before disappearing forever.
More stories could've been written that explored Gary and Timmy's past, and the audience could have also seen Gary and Timmy slowly build their friendship back up. Gary could have had an interesting arc from friend to enemy to friend again. Unfortunately, this arc didn't happen.
6 Tootie Started Off As More Than Just A Stalker, But The Fairly OddParents Never Explored That Aspect Of Her
Tootie had an unhealthy crush on Timmy, somehow having a ton of memorabilia of him in her room. However, the earlier episodes also showed that Tootie was a very nice person and genuinely wanted friends.
Tootie had to constantly deal with her older sister Vicky's abuse, even more than the other kids Vicky babysat. Vicky also scared other kids away from befriending Tootie, increasing Tootie's loneliness. Tootie's life was a sad, but interesting story to explore. More episodes could have expanded on Tootie's life and her interest in Timmy, instead of devolving her into another stalker with a crush.
5 The Pixies Were Great Antagonists To Fairies Who Faded Away
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The pixies are magical creatures that were major antagonists early in the days of The Fairly OddParents. However, the show stopped using them, with the pixies almost disappearing from the series completely.
The pixies were a counterpart to fairies, with the pixies treating magic like a business and seeking to control Fairy World and Earth. The pixies were very good opponents, almost succeeding in their missions. It's really disappointing that such noteworthy characters had been phased out instead of the show exploring more of the pixies' world and species.
4 Big Daddy Had A Lot To Teach Wanda, Poof, And Timmy
Wanda's father, known professionally as "Big Daddy" is the owner of a garbage company and acted like a mafia boss. People feared him, but Big Daddy had a real soft side for Wanda and grew to like Timmy. The series could have explored Big Daddy's relationships with them further.
Big Daddy stopped showing up on The Fairly OddParents after Season 5. He wasn't even there to see the birth of Wanda's son Poof. Big Daddy could've adapted to being a grandfather to both Poof and Timmy, comically teaching them about responsibility and how to run a business like a mafia boss.
3 Trixie's Friend Veronica Never Got To Grow As A Character
Veronica is another one of the popular students at Timmy's school and Trixie's best friend. In The Fairly OddParents, Veronica was basically the less popular girl who hangs out with the most popular one. Trixie and the other popular kids often treated Veronica like cannon fodder, and Veronica had an unhealthy, pathological desire to be as popular as Trixie.
The Fairly OddParents could have had episodes that had a gradual character arc for Veronica. The show could've had her slowly develop her own identity and self-confidence, finally emerging out of Trixie's shadow.
2 Cosmo Is The Most Flanderized Character On The Fairly OddParents
A trope based around Ned Flanders from The Simpsons, "flanderization" is the gradual process of exaggerating a character's single trait or set of traits until it basically becomes the character's entire personality. Out of all the characters in The Fairly OddParents, Cosmo became the most flanderized.
In Season 1 and the Oh Yeah! cartoons, Cosmo had more to his mind and was a great father figure to Timmy. With each succeeding season, Cosmo's intelligence decreased further, to the point that he became baby-like and unable to function properly without someone else in the room. Many fans dislike how Cosmo was degraded to the "dumb dad" trope similar to other characters like Homer Simpson.
1 Sanjay Never Had His Own Episode
Timmy's friends Chester and AJ had episodes devoted to them, and even Timmy's "backup" friend Elmer had more focus in the episode "A Wish Too Far!" However, Timmy's other "backup" friend Sanjay never got an episode of his own.
Sanjay had great comedic moments, but the creators seemingly never thought of interesting plot lines to put him in. Sanjay could have had episodes that fleshed him out as a character, delving into his unseen family life and his relationships with Timmy and their other friends. As it stands, he ended up just being a "backup" friend to Timmy.