Over its run,Mystery Science Theater 3000 has seen the arrival and departure of various characters. It also featured many recurring guest characters. Below is a listing of both the main characters and the recurring characters from the series.
Magic Voice - a disembodied female voice that warns the crew of upcoming commercial breaks and makes other announcements.
Jerry and Sylvia (various unpaid interns atBest Brains) - two "mole people" from the movieThe Mole People (featured much later as a season 8 episode) who occasionally assisted the Mads and stopped by for social events. They also work Deep 13's camera in the first host segment of "Lost Continent". Presumably named afterSylvia and Gerry Anderson, the creative team behindSpace: 1999 andSupermarionation shows likeThunderbirds andStingray, some of which were featured as KTMA-season episodes.
Jack Perkins (Michael J. Nelson) - in real life the host of theA&E Network'sBiography program, Perkins first appeared inMST3K simply to annoy the Mads by describing the movie with glowing praise. WhenMST3K appeared in syndication asThe Mystery Science Hour, Nelson's fake "Jack Perkins" hosted the show.
Torgo (Michael J. Nelson) - a monster/henchman (supposed to be asatyr) inManos: The Hands of Fate, Torgo was among the most frequently returning "guest characters" ofMST3K. He got his knees fixed and returned as "Torgo the White" (an obvious parody ofGandalf the White) to accompany TV's Frank to "Second Banana Heaven" and was never seen again (episode 624, "Samson vs. the Vampire Women").
Jan-in-the-Pan (Mary Jo Pehl) - a woman's severed head from the movieThe Brain That Wouldn't Die.
Pitch (Paul Chaplin) - a devil from the Mexican movieSanta Claus, Pitch was one of the few characters from the Comedy Central seasons to return in the Sci Fi Channel seasons.
TheNanites (voiced variously byKevin Murphy,Paul Chaplin,Mary Jo Pehl, andBridget Jones) - self-replicating, bio-engineered organisms that work on the ship, they are microscopic creatures that reside in the S.O.L.'s computer systems. (They are similar to the creatures inStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "Evolution", which featured "nanites" taking over theEnterprise.) The Nanites made their first appearance in season 8. Based on the concept ofnanotechnology, their comicaldeus ex machina activities included such diverse tasks as instant repair and construction, hairstyling, performing a Nanite variation of aflea circus, conducting a microscopic war, and even destroying the Observers' planet after a dangerously vague request from Mike to "take care of [a] little problem". They also ran amicrobrewery. The Nanites were largely forgotten about during the show's last season, and we are not given an explanation of their fate following the series finale.
"Krankor" (Bill Corbett),[1] who appeared in a host segment during thePrince of Space episode, and returned three episodes later in a host segment forInvasion of the Neptune Men, featuring a movie with a similar plot. He was a vain, would-be conqueror with an unfortunately chicken-like appearance and a drawn-out, braying laugh (described by BBI as "like aBuick notturning over").
The Skeleton Crew is Kinga'shouse band that plays in intro and outro segments.Har Mar Superstar leads the Skeleton Crew as their director.
