Editing Dexter's Laboratory (section)

=== Characters ===
[[File:Dexter and Dee Dee.png|thumb|left|Dee Dee (left) walks through the laboratory with her brother, Dexter (right).]]

Dexter (voiced by [[Christine Cavanaugh]] in seasons 1–3; [[Candi Milo]] in seasons 3–4) is a bespectacled boy-genius who, behind a bookcase in his bedroom, conceals a secret [[laboratory]], which can be accessed by spoken passwords or hidden switches on his bookshelf. Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails to achieve his goals when he becomes overexcited and careless. Tartakovsky described Dexter as "a good kid. He's very ambitious. And he's very frustrated that everyone isn't as smart as him."<ref name="Woulfe" /> Although he comes from a typical American family, Dexter speaks with an accent of indeterminate origin. Christine Cavanaugh described it as "an affectation, [a] kind of accent, we're not quite sure. A small [[Peter Lorre]], but not. Perhaps he's Latino, perhaps he's French. He's a scientist; he knows he needs [a] kind of accent."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Scott |date=July 20, 1996 |title=Out of the Mouth of 'Babe' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1996/07/21/out-of-the-mouth-of-babe/de4c5788-1184-422c-a172-78e30c9b811d/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623163609/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1996/07/21/out-of-the-mouth-of-babe/de4c5788-1184-422c-a172-78e30c9b811d/ |archive-date=June 23, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |department=TV Week |page=Y06}}</ref> [[Genndy Tartakovsky]] explained, "he's a scientist. All scientists are foreign and have accents...It's not really a German accent. It's just Eastern European."<ref name="Woulfe">{{Cite web |last=Woulfe |first=Molly |date=June 24, 2003 |title=Meet 'Dexter's' Dad: Chicago-Bred Animator Draws from His Imagination |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/meet-dexter-s-dad/article_962576aa-a2ab-5e76-9a16-444b5c4813d0.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128210722/https://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/meet-dexter-s-dad/article_962576aa-a2ab-5e76-9a16-444b5c4813d0.html |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |access-date=November 28, 2018 |website=[[The Times of Northwest Indiana]] |publisher=[[Lee Enterprises]]}}</ref> Tartakovsky later declared Cavanaugh's input for Dexter to be irreplaceable as he acknowledged her legacy.<ref name="CBR" />

Dexter conceals his lab from his clueless parents, addressed only as Mom (voiced by [[Kath Soucie]]) and Dad (voiced by [[Jeff Bennett]]), who Tartakovsky described as simplified stereotypes of "ideal parents".<ref name="Woulfe" /> His hyperactive, carefree, older sister Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore in seasons 1 and 3 and by [[Kat Cressida]] in seasons 2 and 4) delights in playing haphazardly in the laboratory, wreaking havoc with Dexter's inventions. Though seemingly dim-witted, Dee Dee, a talented ballet dancer, often outsmarts her brother and even provides him helpful advice. According to Tartakovsky, "Dee Dee is the life, she's the spirit, everything is fun. There's no hardship in life."<ref name="Woulfe" /> When Tartakovsky was asked whether he and his brother Alex had a similar sibling relationship, he stated, "There's a little bit of Dee Dee and Dexter in that. He has science and he doesn't want Dee Dee in his lab. My brother is Dexter. I'm Dee Dee."<ref name="Woulfe" />

Dexter's nemesis is rival classmate Mandark Astronomonov{{efn|Mandark's first name is revealed to be Susan in "A Boy Named Sue", but he is otherwise referred to as Mandark.<ref name="Sue">{{Cite episode |title=A Boy Named Sue |series=Dexter's Laboratory |network=[[Cartoon Network]] |date=March 29, 2002 |season=3 |number=6a}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Dexter's Rival |series=Dexter's Laboratory |network=[[Cartoon Network]] |date=May 12, 1996 |season=1 |number=3a}}</ref><ref name="Sue" /> (voiced by [[Eddie Deezen]]). Like Dexter, Mandark is a boy genius with his own laboratory, but his schemes are generally evil and designed to gain power or downplay or destroy Dexter's accomplishments. In revival seasons, Mandark becomes significantly more evil, becoming Dexter's enemy rather than his rival, and Mandark's laboratory changes from brightly lit with rounded features to gothic-looking, industrial, and angular. Mandark's [[unrequited love]] for Dee Dee is shown as a pivotal weakness, notably near the end of the ''[[Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip|Ego Trip]]'' television film.