List of Moomin characters
A large number of characters appear in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson.
The original Swedish names are given with the etymologies and word associations suggested by Yvonne Bertills in her 2003 dissertation.
The Moomin family
Moomintroll
Moomintroll is the protagonist of most of the books.Many people believe that Moomin is in love with Snorkmaiden, as they have a very sweet and romantic relationship in the early books. However, later on he and Snorkmaiden are not seen together as often and after ‘Moominland Midwinter’ Moomin refers to Snorkmaiden as simply just a friend.
His best friend is Snufkin. Snufkin is inspired by Atos Wirtanen, Tove Jansson’s close-friend and at one point, fiancé. Moomintroll is also an author avatar for Jansson, meaning the two characters were based off real-life lovers.
In the cartoon strip he finds himself beset by endless problems. He is a "moomin" – a little white troll with a hippopotamus-like big round snout.
Moomintroll was initially called "snork". Jansson described him as her alter ego. The character has a mostly positive reception from critics.
The asteroid 58345 Moomintroll was named in his honor.
Moominmamma
Moominmamma – the mother of Moomintroll. She is almost never without her handbag, which contains essentials like woolly socks, tummy powder, and bark. She makes bark boats every summer, and the first one goes to her favorite.Moominpappa
Moominpappa – orphaned in his younger years, he is a somewhat restless soul who left the orphanage to venture out into the world in his youth but has now settled down. He usually wears a black top-hat.Close friends
Sniff">Sniff (Moomin character)">Sniff
– Moomintroll's immature friend. He is one of the few characters who is interested in money, and is always on the lookout for another way to get rich quick.[Snufkin]
– Moomintroll's best friend, the son of the elder Mymble and the Joxter, and half-brother to the Mymble's daughter and Little My. Snufkin wears old green clothes and a wide-brimmed hat that he has had since birth. He lives in a tent, smokes a pipe, and plays the harmonica. He is based on Tove Jansson's close friend Atos Wirtanen.He lives a nomadic lifestyle, only staying in Moominvalley in the spring and summer, but leaving for warmer climates down south every winter.
The character has a mostly positive reception.
[Little My]
– She is a small, determined and fiercely independent Mymble. When she wants something done, she does it straight away. She is very aggressive and totally disrespectful, but can be a good friend. She is Snufkin's half-sister.Snork Maiden
– Moomintroll's fair lady friend and admirer. She does fall in love with others sometimes, but returns to Moomintroll before things get too serious. She has blonde hair and sports a golden anklet. She changes color according to her mood, with her baseline color in the books described as pale yellow. Snorks are almost identical to Moomins except that Snorks come in different colors and have hair on their heads, and their fur changes color depending on their mood. Snorkmaiden is known as Floren in the Japanese dub of the 1990s animated series.Snork
– The Snork Maiden's older brother, also friends with Moomintroll. He and his sister first meet Moomintroll in Comet in Moominland. After that he appears only in Finn Family Moomintroll. He is described as mauve in colour, though changes to a pale green when frightened. His character is obsessive over details, rules, and protocol in the books. In the Japanese TV series, he is described as an avid inventor who has strong belief in the power of science and an obsession with building a flying vehicle.Other characters
[The Groke]
– She is cold and ghostlike, and represents loneliness and all that is scary in the world of Moomin. She seeks warmth and fire, but is unable to do anything but to put them out. She has a scary appearance and is dangerous to approach due to the cold that she radiates, and yet, she is not truly evil, just very lonely. Makes first appearance in Finn Family Moomintroll and returns in Moominland Midwinter and Moominpappa at Sea. The Groke is used for an exclamation, often like the word 'Lord'. She is the only character whom Little My is genuinely afraid of. In the Japanese dub of the Japanese TV series, she is referred to as Morran.Hemulens
, entitled – Hemulens feature frequently in the books. One of them is an avid stamp collector, and another is an avid skier. A female Hemulen raised Moominpappa in an orphanage, and later Moominpappa met her aunt, who looked confusingly like her. Other characters frequently find the Hemulens annoying or overwhelming, as they can be somewhat loud, bossy, abrasive and insensitive, but they are well-intentioned and usually have other redeeming qualities. In the beginning of Finn Family Moomintroll, a hemulen who is a keen stamp collector is depressed, as he has every stamp on the face of earth and has lost his purpose in life. Later on, he finds a new purpose: to collect plants. In Finn Family Moomintroll, "un-Hemulenish" contains a sense of "unwarranted, unjustified".Hattifatteners
– Small white ghost-like creatures that resemble worn socks. Hattifatteners are always on the move and travel the sea in large groups, such as boat convoys. They meet every year on a lonely island. Their only goal in life is to reach the horizon. They may communicate using telepathy. The Hattifatteners cannot see very well, but their sense of touch is very strong, and they can feel ground vibrations and electricity. Hattifatteners assemble once a year when they "recharge" in a thunderstorm, when they can cause electrical burns. Hattifatteners grow from seeds, but only if this seed is sown on Midsummer Eve.Too-Ticky
– A friend of the family, craftsman and practical philosopher. Has her first appearance in the novel Moominland Midwinter and returns in the short stories of Tales from Moominvalley and in comics. The character and the name are modelled after Tuulikki Pietilä, Tove Jansson's life partner.The Mymbles
– "The Mymble" is a description given to two different characters. In The Exploits of Moominpappa there is a matriarchal character known as "The Mymble". She is the mother of a very large and unspecified number of children, including Little My, Snufkin, and a girl referred to simply as "the Mymble's Daughter", who appears to be the eldest of the Mymble's children, and helps her mother with child care for her younger brothers and sisters. In later books and in the comic strips the Mymble's Daughter comes to be known as just "The Mymble". She appears again as a relatively minor character in Moominsummer Madness, Moominland Midwinter and the comic strips, and is a significant character in Moominvalley in November and in The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My.The Mymble's Daughter
– later known as simply The Mymble, she is the oldest of Mymble's many children. Every bit as independent as her youngest sibling, little My, Mymble's daughter is very proud of being the oldest sibling, and considers it her duty to raise Little My.The Police Inspector
a by-the-book Hemulen in charge of law enforcement in the valley. He has a crush on Mymble.Fillyjonk
– Known as The Fillyjonk in some English translations, the first we hear of is the late theatre director in Moominsummer Madness and the young Fillyjonk who joins the Snork Maiden in the late night jaunt to the wishing well. Later we meet the wonderful psychological study of the "Fillyjonk Who Believed In Disasters" in Tales from Moominvalley. Not a single moment of fantasy or joy, only duties and discipline; she is an extremely methodical person tied down with principles and has a deep rooted belief in prestige and tradition. Nevertheless, after a catastrophe, The Fillyjonk can be freed from the trammels of social expectation and can discover the joys of freedom, irrationality and self-expression. Deep inside she has had a wish to live freely as the Moomin family does, without any worries. Fillyjonks resemble humanoid rodents; they are tall and thin, with long muzzles and raccoon-like rings around their eyes.Ninny
– Ninny first appears in Tales from Moominvalley in the story "The Invisible Child". She turned invisible by being frightened too much by her former caretaker. This caretaker gave Ninny to Too-ticky, who then brought her to Moominmama to help make Ninny visible again. Moominmamma succeeds with one of her granny's 'Infallible Household Remedies' and lots of love. Ninny at first is a bore and doesn't know how to play games or have fun. She becomes completely visible during a day on the beach. Moominpappa plans on sneaking up and scaring Moominmamma, but Ninny rushes up behind and shoves Moominpappa into the sea. In the end, the family realizes Ninny is very similar to Little My.Toffle
term of endearment for infants, 'little mite'; – Toffles are small creatures, shy, scared and confused. A toffle called Salome is featured in Moominland Midwinter and a toffle only named as "Toffle" is the main character in Who Will Comfort Toffle?.Miffle
, trash or core, which in turn also suggests something quite insignificant and worthless, about to be thrown away. When referring to persons, it is slightly depreciatory, used especially for inferior, sick, incompetent or weak persons. But the noun is also used for small beings with supernatural characteristics, particularly in fairy tales. Toffle's love-object in Who Will Comfort Toffle?The Hobgoblin
– Appearing in Finn Family Moomintroll, he is a powerful magician who travels the Universe with his flying panther, looking for the King's Ruby. His top hat is found in the Lonely Mountains by Moomintroll, Snufkin and Sniff, who take it back to Moominhouse. Chaos ensues, as anything you put inside the hat is transformed. Moomintroll himself is changed into a strange creature by the hat when he uses it to hide in during a game. The hat also changes the Moominhouse into a sort of jungle. The Hobgoblin has a quite intimidating appearance, but is friendly.Thingumy and Bob
– Two little creatures who turn up in Moominvalley with a large suitcase, which contains the King's Ruby. They speak a strange language and are pursued by the Groke who wants the contents. They upset Moominmamma by stealing her handbag. They eventually return it and the whole family throws a party to celebrate. The Hobgoblin arrives when Thingumy and Bob open the suitcase, exposing the King's Ruby for all to see. They didn't give him the ruby, but when the Hobgoblin gave everyone there a wish, then they wished for the Hobgoblin to have a ruby as beautiful as theirs; the Queen's Ruby.Stinky
– A criminal by profession, trickster, and a dangerous influence who tempts the Moomin family to do things that are against the law. He has a code of conduct of his own, and is offended when the Moomins want to give him a large sum of money which has been causing them much trouble. Physically, Stinky looks like some sort of furry mammal, whose most characteristic attribute is his constant, unbearable stench. He appears in one book but mainly in comics and cartoons.Niblings
hurry up when working; dance"; also called by the variant name klibbtassar, explained as klibba/klibbig, "to stick/sticky" + tass, "paw" – small aquatic creatures, which chew off people's noses if they are too long for their taste. They enjoy doing the multiplication contests devised by the rather bossy Hemulen's Aunt.The Muskrat
– a philosopher who believes in the pointlessness of things and reads Spengler, appears in Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll. The Moomin children annoy him by putting hairbrushes in his bed and such like. He eventually takes to living in the cave Sniff discovers in order to get some peace. There is an unfortunate accident, however: in Finn Family Moomintroll, Moomintroll has hidden the Hobgoblin's hat there; anything you put in the Hobgoblin's hat becomes transformed, and the Muskrat gets a nasty shock when he puts his false teeth in it to keep the sand out of them.He enjoys reading a book entitled "the uselessness of everything" which is later changed by the Hobgoblin to "the usefulness of everything".Hodgkins
- an inventor and childhood friend of Moominpappa. He is Muddler's uncle. He builds the Oshun Oxtra, a boat in which Moominpappa and his friends travel on their adventures.Joxter
The Joxter is Moominpapa's old friend and father of Snufkin. He is described as worry free, cat like and so lazy that he described his perfect life as: “sitting in a fruit tree, eating fruit as it grows.” He appears beige in colour and has water-clear eyes. He has forebodings throughout the book telling his friends of danger. Joxter also shares his son’s dislike of authority figures stating that their family was at war with a park keeper in “The Exploits of Moominpapa”.Joxter is the lover of The Mymble.Finnish: Juksu
Swedish: Joxaren