10 Minor Brooklyn Nine-Nine Characters Who Never Fail To Make Me Laugh

Brooklyn Nine-Nine includes many hilarious minor characters, like Mlepnos and Doug Judy, who make me laugh every time I rewatch the show. While The Office is typically considered the best workplace sitcoms, the 2010s were the height of this genre, bringing about great shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Behind Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is my favorite show within this subgenre due to the eccentric characters and their antics.

In addition to the lovable main characters of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the comedy TV series is known for introducing iconic and memorable recurring and minor characters. Some characters, like Teddy and the Boyles, fall flat for me, coming across as more annoying than funny. However, ten of the minor characters are so funny that they make me laugh each time I rewatch Brooklyn Nine-Nine, adding to my enjoyment of the overall show.

10 Captain Jason “CJ” Stentley

Funniest quote: “If you see something, say something, come on and party tonight”

Like many of the characters in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, CJ Stentley would be a nightmare if I had to work with him; however, I think he’s absolutely hysterical as a character. CJ is deeply unqualified, his intelligence is lacking, and he behaves with unmatched cheerfulness. He has the positivity of Chris Traeger from Parks and Recreation with the personality and intelligence of Andy Dwyer.

One of the funniest CJ moments is when he completely misunderstands the officers at the Nine-Nine, identifying Charles as a jock, Amy as a rebel, Captain Holt as “silly pants,” Rosa as “talky-talky,” Terry as a stoner, and himself as the ringleader of the group. I also find his kidnapping scene beyond ridiculous in the best way possible. He’s so moronic that he keeps saying, “Don’t forget to like and subscribe,” at the end of the kidnapping video. CJ also writes down “milk” instead of “help,” creating a fantasy of him shouting the wrong word.

9 Cheddar The Dog

Funniest quote: “You took the wrong fluffy boy!”

Despite being an animal with zero dialogue, Cheddar the Dog is a memorable character with a well-developed personality who gets into hijinks often. I find myself grinning and cheering him on every time Cheddar is involved in one of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine Halloween heists. By the last season, it’s expected that he will majestically save the day for whomever he wants. His loyalty isn’t always to Captain Raymond Holt, which seems to shock Holt every time.

Cheddar the Dog also causes chaos during Raymond and Kevin’s second wedding, getting revenge on Rosa for blaming him for breaking the vase. He’s also sneaky enough to leave the house while being babysat by Jake and Amy, going to his favorite place from his walks with Kevin. Cheddar’s show-stealing confidence, conniving personality, and flip-flopping loyalty make me laugh every time he appears onscreen in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

8 Caleb John Gosche, The Cannibal

Funniest quote: “Jake! It’s so good to see you! Come give me a hug, I’m not going to eat you! Also, don’t hug me ’cause I will try to eat you.”

While most of the humorous side characters appeal to conventional humor, Caleb John Gosche is the perfect side character for the people who enjoy morbid, dark humor like me. Though he considers himself a woodworker first and foremost, Caleb is a cannibal who eats children and happily admits it. He speaks of his crimes and cannibalism with a jaunty and absurd casualness that is laugh-out-loud funny.

The dichotomy between his cannibalistic hunger and his friendly woodworker persona is part of what makes Caleb John Gosche such a great character in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He’s a surprisingly good friend to Jake for someone with such disturbing morals. Still, every time Caleb suddenly starts trying to bite Jake and Charles, I find myself cracking up. Additionally, his moral superiority about not eating hearts makes him a perfect pick-me cannibal, which is something I can say I never thought I would write.

7 David Santiago

Funniest quote: “I don’t know. I don’t really follow pop culture.”

David Santiago is the only character on this list that I actively love and hate at the same time. I would abhor him in real life, but his dynamic with Amy is beyond hilarious. His braggadocious and “golden child” personality is so obnoxious and over the top that it’s funny to watch. Without fail, I crack up every time I see him sip soup out of a spoon while raising his eyebrows. David is one of the few people who can get under Amy’s skin, and he knows it.

His poking and prodding at Amy is entertaining to watch, leading up to the duo getting into an epic dance battle where both of them are ridiculously bad at dancing. Ultimately, David would have gotten tiring if he’d appeared in more than one episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but his single appearance is just the right amount for him to remain funny.

6 Mlepnos, AKA Mlep(clay)nos

Funniest quote: “M-L-E-P-Clay…The Clay is silent.”

Despite appearing onscreen for only approximately four minutes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Mlepnos is by far one of the most memorable minor characters. For starters, he goes by many names, including Mlepnos, Mlep(clay)nos, Jerry Barfralatistan, and Jerry Barkakanatsan. He is either from Honolulu or the made-up country of Leirkrakeegovnia. He also plays incredible violin, but his job seems to be selling horse blood, considering he offers to sell Jake some at his wedding.

Despite meeting them twice, Mlepnos denies ever having met Jake and Amy. Still, he agrees to provide music for their wedding. Then, in his last scene on the show, he randomly has a baby chick in his pocket. Absolutely everything about him is bizarre and mysterious, leading to the theory that the side character appeared in both Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl. The inconsistent backstory and his absolutely ridiculous lines are funny enough that I find myself periodically thinking about him and laughing, even when I’m not watching the show.

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5 Debbie Fogle

Funniest Quote: “I can’t do competitions. I’m anti-dexterous. It’s when neither hand is good at anything.”

While she’s relatively unremarkable and neurotic in her first episode, Debbie Fogle turns into a funny minor character during the episodes “The Jimmy Jab Games II” and “Debbie” in Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 7. Her anxiety about everything during the Jimmy Jab Games is unbelievably relatable, allowing me to laugh at myself as I laugh at her. After a single pep talk from Boyle, Debbie gains the confidence to sing in front of everyone (albeit very off-key) and steal 20 kilos of cocaine and machine guns.

In the next episode, Debbie becomes hilariously erratic, hyper, and extremely talkative after doing cocaine for the first time. Her flirting with Peralta is painful to watch in the funniest way possible. It’s even more amusing that she kidnaps her mom and Rosa but thinks Jake is on her side, showing her naivete.

4 Frederick, Holt’s Ex-Boyfriend

Funniest quote: “Well, I wish I could help, but I have a bit of a wooden duck situation.”

Captain Holt’s ex-boyfriend, Frederick, appears only in a single episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but he still makes me crack up every time without fail. Nick Offerman brings the same gruff, no-nonsense personality to this role as he did with Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation. However, Frederick brings petty to a whole new level, refusing to assist Sharon, Terry’s wife, in giving birth until after Holt apologizes for throwing away his prized antique decoy duck.

The object seems exactly on brand for someone who would date Holt, and it seems a bizarre thing to hold a grudge over until Holt reveals how much it’s worth. Still, I find his degree of pettiness after multiple years is laughable. Even after the Captain apologizes to Frederick, he continues to bring up the duck, telling the story to Sharon in the precinct.

3 Bill Hummertrout

Funniest quote: “It’s not a pyramid scheme. It’s a conical-tiered, multi-flow-through, medical marketing entity.”

Another regular participant in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine Halloween Heists is Charles Boyle’s body double, Bill Hummertrout. Very few things are known about Bill. Some of the few facts he shares are the fact that he used to do sex work, he has no belly button, and he’s in multiple throuples. Additionally, every year, Bill seems to be in a worse position than the last.

Some of the character’s funniest moments include Bill pretending to be Gina, Jake and Bill pretending to be best friends, and him extorting Jake and Boyle to join a pyramid scheme. These moments make me laugh without fail. The last moment on the list leads to a fantastic one-off episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Nutriboom,” which parodies groups like Scientology. This switches positions with Charles pretending to be Bill instead of the other way around. Luckily, he returns for the heist in the final episode because it simply would’ve felt incomplete without him.

2 Madeline Wuntch

Funniest quote: “You know what else shows how much you’ve matured? Your withered face.”

Madeline Wuntch is Raymond Holt’s perfect rival, with the two pushing each other’s buttons and engaging in quippy banter. The scathing insults between CommissionerMadeline Wuntch and Captain Raymond Holt are some of the most hilarious quotes onBrooklyn Nine-Nine. Unlike his other enemies, despite his confident demeanor, Wuntch manages to get under his skin. However, he also seems to make her mildly insecure.

I laugh when the pair are forced together for Jake’s Suicide Squad because there’s no question that the two won’t work together no matter what they say. The character even has a presence after her death, setting up revenge to get Holt fired before she dies of unrevealed causes. This leads to one of the funniest scenes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where Holt sets up a celebration of her death instead of a funeral.

1 Doug Judy, The Pontiac Bandit

Funniest quote: “Rosa, Rosa, Rosa. Rosa. I can’t think of your last name baby.”

By far, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine minor character who makes me laugh the hardest every time I watch the show is Doug Judy, the Pontiac Bandit. Judy only appears once a season (except season 4, where his appearance is a 2-part episode), but he feels just as developed and compelling as the main characters. The Doug Judy episodes may feel mildly formulaic, but it’s the perfect example of the phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Judy’s antics are absolutely ridiculous, even if they are relatively similar across different episodes. Jake and Doug Judy act like best friends in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but they end up betraying one another. It cracks me up when Jake acts shocked about Judy double-crossing him, even though it occurs every time. Ultimately, Doug Judy is one of the best minor characters in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and it’s heartwarming to see that Jake and he develop an actual bond by the end.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

4.0

Cast

Stephanie Beatriz , Melissa Fumero , Andy Samberg , Andre Braugher , Joel McKinnon Miller , Dirk Blocker , Terry Crews , Chelsea Peretti , Joe Lo Truglio

Release Date

September 17, 2013

Seasons

8

Writers

Michael Schur , Dan Goor

Showrunner

Michael Schur , Dan Goor

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