Captain Underpants is an American illustrated children's novel series and multimedia franchise created by author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, living in Piqua, Ohio, and Captain Underpants, an aptly named superhero from one of the boys' homemade comic books, who accidentally becomes real when George and Harold hypnotize their cruel, bossy, and ill-tempered principal, Mr. Krupp.
As of 2026, the series includes 12 main novels, two activity books, colored versions, and 15 spin-offs. The series has been translated into more than 37 languages,GuruFocus. "Scholastic to Publish Dav Pilkey's 'Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga.'" Newstex Finance & Accounting Blogs, 31 July 2025, with more than 90 million books sold worldwide, including over 50 million in the United States.
In 2015, the original novel series concluded with a 12th book, Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot. The finale was followed by a spin-off series titled Dog Man, released the following year in 2016.
Since its debut in 1997, Captain Underpants has been among the most frequently challenged books in American schools and libraries, as educators hold varied opinions regarding the series. Despite the controversy, the series has continued to have success, and released a manga adaptation in July 2025.
DreamWorks Animation acquired the rights to the series to make an animated feature film adaptation, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, which was released on June 2, 2017, followed by a television series, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, which aired on Netflix from July 13, 2018 to December 4, 2020.
Novels Captain Underpants novels The Adventures of Captain Underpants (1997) Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (1999) Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) (1999) Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2000) Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (2001) Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets (2003) Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers (2003) Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2006) Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers (2012) Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers (2013) Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 (2014) Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot (2015)
Captain Underpants activity books The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun (2001) The All-New Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun 2 (2002) The Captain Underpants Super Silly Sticker Studio (2005) The Extra Big 'N' Extra Crunchy Captain Underpants Book o' Fun (2008) The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Let's Roll! Sticker Activity Book (2020) Full Color The Captain Underpants Double Crunchy Book o' Fun (2022)
Captain Underpants spin-offs
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (2002) The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future (2010) (discontinued in 2021) Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers (2011)
Captain Underpants collectors' editions The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Collectors' Edition (2005) Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets: Collectors' Edition (2007) Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally-Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds): Collectors' Edition (2008)
Captain Underpants collections The Tra-La-La Riffic Captain Underpants Collection/The First Captain Underpants Collection (Books 1–4; 1997–2000) Three More Wedgie-Powered Adventures in One (Books 4–6; 2006) The Second Captain Underpants Collection/The Tra-La-Larious Captain Underpants (Books 5–7 & Super Diaper Baby; 2001–2003) Captain Underpants: Three Pantastic Novels in One (Books 1–3; 1997–99) The New Captain Underpants Collection (Books 1–5; 1997–2000) The Tra-La-La Tremendous Captain Underpants Collection (Books 5–8; 2001–2006) The Complete Captain Underpants Collection (Books 1–8; 1997–2006) The Captain Underpants Collectors' Edition Collection (Books 1–3 + 3 CD-ROMs; 1997–1999, 2005–2008)
Captain Underpants in Full Color The Adventures of Captain Underpants (2013; 25 1/2th Anniversary Edition, 2023) Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (2014) Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) (2014) Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2015) Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (2017) Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets (2018) Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 2: the Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers (2018) Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2019) Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-Turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers (2019) Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers (2020) Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 (2021) Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot (2022)
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga On July 31, 2025, it was announced by People magazine that a manga adaptation of the first book, titled Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga, would be written and adapted by Dav Pilkey with new illustrations by manga artist Motojiro. The manga was officially released on April 7, 2026.GuruFocus. "Scholastic to Publish Dav Pilkey's 'Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga.'" Newstex Finance & Accounting Blogs, 31 July 2025, According to the publisher, the book was scheduled to debut simultaneously in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through Scholastic's Graphix imprint and to retain the series' signature Flip-O-Rama pages while adopting the visual conventions of manga.
Characters
Overview List indicators: A dark gray cell indicates that the character was not in the property or that the character's presence in the property has yet to be announced. A Main indicates a character had a starring role in the property. A Supporting indicates the character appeared in two or more times within the property. A Guest indicates the character appeared once in the property. Character Book series Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie The Epic Tales 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 Special Main characters George Beard colspan="18" Harold Hutchins colspan="18" Benjamin Krupp colspan="18" Sulu colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="2" rowspan="2" colspan="6" Crackers colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="6" Yesterday George Beard colspan="10" colspan="2" colspan="6" Yesterday Harold Hutchins colspan="10" colspan="2" colspan="6" Tony colspan="10" colspan="6" Dawn colspan="10" colspan="6" Orlando colspan="10" colspan="6" Lunchlady Edith colspan="12" colspan="5" Erica Wang colspan="13" colspan="5" Dressy Killman colspan="13" colspan="5" Villains Doctor Diaper colspan="2" colspan="3" rowspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="8" Melvin Sneedly colspan="2" colspan="6" Turbo Toilet 2000 colspan="5" Zorx colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="5" Klax colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="5" Jennifer colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="5" The Deliriously, Dangerous, Death-Defying Dandelion of Doom colspan="2" colspan="15" Tippy Tinkletrousers colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Tara Ribble colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="5" Carl colspan="5" rowspan="3" colspan="10" Trixie colspan="5" colspan="10" Frankenbooger colspan="5" colspan="10" Evil George Beard colspan="7" colspan="10" Evil Harold Hutchins colspan="7" colspan="10" Captain Blunderpants colspan="7" colspan="10" Giant Evil Sulu colspan="7" colspan="10" Kipper Krupp and his Goons colspan="8" colspan="8" Zombie Nerd George Beard and Zombie Nerd Harold Hutchins colspan="8" colspan="8" Kenny Brian Meaner colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Teachers Miss Edith Anthrope colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="5" Mr. Morty Fyde colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="4" Miss Singerbrains colspan="6" colspan="10" Mr. Riles Rected colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="5" Ms. Dayken colspan="4" colspan="7" colspan="5" Students Jessica Gordon colspan="5" colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="5" Gooch Yamaguchi colspan="12" colspan="5" Sophie One colspan="13" colspan="5" Other Sophie colspan="13" colspan="5" Bo Hweemuth colspan="13" colspan="5" Stanley Peet colspan="13" colspan="5"
Main characters George Beard and Harold Hutchins – George Beard and Harold Hutchins are two fourth-grade pranksters who serve as the main protagonists of the series. Together, they start a comic book company called "Treehouse Comix, Inc.", and create the Captain Underpants comics at the center of the novels. They both attend Jerome Horwitz Elementary School in Piqua, Ohio, named for Curly of the Three Stooges. In Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, they are voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch respectively; in the animated series The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, they are respectively voiced by Ramone Hamilton and Jay Gragnani.
Mr. Benjamin "Benny" Krupp / Captain Underpants – Mr. Benjamin Krupp is the principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School and is the antagonist to George and Harold in the earlier books. Whenever he hears the sound of fingers snapping, he transforms into Captain Underpants, a superhero wearing white briefs and a red cape with black polka dots, reverting to his original self when water is poured on his head. From the third book, Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space, onward, Captain Underpants acquires superhuman strength, durability, and flight after consuming "Extra-Strength Super Power Juice”, belonging to the evil aliens Zorx, Klax, and Jennifer. In the movie, he is voiced by Ed Helms, and in the animated series, by Nat Faxon. Melvin Richard Sneedly – Melvin Sneedly is a classmate of George and Harold who is characterized as a highly intelligent student and a frequent inventor. He functions as a recurring rival to George and Harold across the series and, in the eleventh book, Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000, briefly becomes a superhero known as Big Melvin. In the film, he is voiced by Jordan Peele and in the series by Jorge Diaz. Sulu and Crackers – Sulu is a bionic hamster adopted by George and Harold, and Crackers is a Quetzalcoatlus the boys bring back from a time-travel adventure; the pair later have children together, named Tony, Orlando, and Dawn.
Recurring Mr. Kenny Brian Meaner – Mr. Meaner is Jerome Horwitz Elementary School's gym teacher. He is depicted as being an overweight man and with a personality similar to Mr. Krupp's - cruel to students and often yelling at them. He appeared in the Netflix series, where he is voiced by David Koechner. In the TV series, he has an alternate ego by the name of Sargeant Boxers, which was made as a replacement for Captain Underpants in the first episode of the second season.