| Dad | |
| Profile | |
| Aliases | Mr. Dexter's Dad, Mr. Father, Dear, Honey, The Muffin King, Honeycakes |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Human |
| Family | Mom (wife) Dexter (son) Dee Dee (daughter) Dextamina (aunt-in-law) Grandpa (father-in-law) Fergle O'Reilly (brother-in-law) |
| Occupation | Office workman Stuntman |
| Interests | Golf, Bowling, Fishing, Snowball Fights, Soapbox Karts |
| First Appearance | "Changes" (Pictured) "Old Man Dexter" (Official) |
| Voiced By | Jeff Bennett |
Dad is Dexter and Dee Dee's unnamed blond-haired father. He is voiced by Jeff Bennett.
Appearance
Dad is tall, hairy, and somewhat muscular, with a bit of a gut. He wears glasses and has blonde hair. He is usually seen in a white polo shirt, a striped tie, and brown dress pants. As a baby, he still has blond hair and wears glasses, but wears a striped shirt, wears a diaper and is a troublemaker.
When "Dexter's Laboratory" production was converted from Hanna-Barbera to Cartoon Network Studios, Dexter's Dad's appearance changed the most drastically out of any other character. In Season 3 and 4, Mr. Dad's head is big on the top, but shrinks into a small body, rendering his head in the shape of an isosceles triangle, depending on the direction he's facing. It is possible that he lost weight.
Personality
Dad loves bowling, golf, fishing, and has an unnatural affinity for his wife's muffins, of which she can expertly create (according to him, the muffins are the reason he married Mom, though this may have been a spur-of-the-moment remark, since he desperately wanted the muffins at the time). Dee Dee's traits inherited from Dad include his cluelessness, naivete, high agility in sports, and blonde hair, though Dexter has inherited his need for glasses and obsession over petty things from him as well. In order to impress Dexter's classmates during "Bring Your Dad to School" day, he pretended that his career was that of an Evel Knievel-esque motorcycle stuntman, mentioning in passing that they wouldn't be too impressed if they found out he was a "boring old scientist." Like his wife, his real name has not been revealed and he is referred to as "dear," "honey," etc. As a baby, he was always a spoiled and rotten child, causing mischief and troublesome. Dee Dee definitely inherited his clueless curiosity- in The Muffin King, Dad runs around the kitchen pushing buttons and creating a mess while mom tries to make her muffins spurring her to yell at him very much like Dexter does to Dee Dee. Also in Sports A Poppin' Dexter mistakes Dad for Dee Dee as Dad yelled 'HI DEXTER' out of the blue exactly like Dee Dee does.
As shown in several episodes, such as "Better off Wet," Dexter's dad can be a bully, embarrassing and pulling childish pranks on his family for his own enjoyment. These often include pushing his family in the pool, and very manipulative behavior. He shows little attention towards the words that exit Dexter's mouth, such as in "Dexter's Lab: A Story," where he completely disregards Dexter's statement of taking care of a dog being too much responsibility by assuming that Dexter wants the dog, all the while completely ignoring Dexter's open lab located directly behind him.
According to the episode "The Muffin King", Dad's workplace may also be in an office as when Dee Dee takes pictures of him dressed as Mom, she says; "Wait til' the boys at the office see these."
His first name came close to being named was in the episode "Bad Cable Manners" where everyone refers to him as "Mr. Dexter's Dad."
Once, Dad tried to get Dexter into sports, as shown in the episode "Sports a Poppin", but by the end of the episode, it didn't work. He was once seen smoking a pipe in one episode. While his intelligence is far below that of Dexter's he sometimes gives good advice such as advising Dexter to get his glasses fixed after they were regarded as "cool." Dexter's father normally tends to show favoritism to Dee Dee for her athletic prowess, but will occasionally side with Dexter when facing a challenge between the sexes (such as the snowball war between Dee Dee and Dexter, which he treats as a life-and-death matter in which Dexter must avenge his father being hit with a snowball thrown by Dexter's mother back in college). Dad is also depicted as unreasonably hostile towards everybody when they interfere with a sports-related activity such as watching the "biggest golf match of the year" or breaking his bowling trophy.
Episode Appearances
Pilot
- Changes (Pictured)
- Old Man Dexter
Season 1
- Maternal Combat
- Dexter Dodgeball (name cameo)
- Double Trouble (cameo)
- Game Over
- Babysitter Blues (no lines)
- Dexter's Debt (also one of the rare episodes where Dad is seen without his glasses)
Season 2
- Chubby Cheese
- Hamhocks and Armlocks
- Backfire
- Hunger Strikes
- Labels
- Fantastic Boyage
- Ewww That's Growth
- Nuclear Confusion
- Germ Warfare
- A Hard Day's Day
- Road Rash
- Ocean Commotion
- Surprise!
- Unfortunate Cookie
- The Muffin King
- Picture Day
- Now That's a Stretch
- Topped Off
- No Power Trip
- Don't Be A Baby
- Sports A Poppin
- Koosalagoopagoop (episode) (non-speaking cameo)
- You Vegetabelieve It!
- Dexter's Lab: A Story
- Coupon for Craziness
- Better Off Wet
- Critical Gas
- Average Joe
- Sister Mom
- The Laughing
- Gooey Aliens That Control Your Mind
- Misplaced in Space
- Don't Be a Hero
- Paper Route Bout
- The Old Switcharooms
- Trick or Treehouse
- Catch of the Day
- Dad is Disturbed
- Framed
- That's Using Your Head
- Just an Old Fashioned Lab Song...
- Dexter vs. Santa's Claws
- Dee Dee's Rival
- Pslyghtly Psycho
- Sdrawkcab
- The Parrot Trap
- Dyno-Might
- LABretto
- Last But Not Beast
- Ego Trip
Season 3
- Mind Over Chatter
- Momdark
- Streaky Clean
- A Dad Cartoon
- Sole Brother
- Poppa Wheely
- Copping an Attitude
- A Failed Lab Experiment
- If Memory Serves
- A Mandark Cartoon (non-speaking cameo)
- Tele Trauma
- That Magic Moment
- Opposites Attract (cameo)
- Oh, Brother
- Another Dad Cartoon
- Bar Exam
- A Third Dad Cartoon
- Glove at First Sight
- A Mom and Dad Cartoon
- Scare Tactics
- My Dad vs Your Dad
- Go, Dexter Family! Go!
Season 4
- Bad Cable Manners
- Beau Tie
- Dexter's Little Dilemma
- D²
- Head Band
- Stuffed Animal House
- The Scrying Game
- Monstrosi-Dee Dee
- Dad Man Walking
- Dexter the Barbarian (non-speaking cameo)
- Tuber Time
- Sore Eyes
- Father Knows Least
- Height Unseen (pictured)
- Folly Calls
- Tee Party
- Dexter's Wacky Races
- The Lab of Tomorrow (non-speaking cameo)
- Garage Sale
- They Got Chops
- Poetic Injustice (non-speaking cameo)
- Comedy of Feathers (offscreen)
Quotes
- "So, what are we going to have for dinner dear?" - Hunger Strikes
- "Hello Honey, Hello Dexter, Hello Dee Dee, Hello Honey, ... Hello Honey" - Maternal Combat
- "Iv'e got the remote." - Old Man Dexter
- "Dexter, how long have you been keeping this lab a secret from me?" - Dexter's Lab-A-Story
- "Hold out your hands and close your eyes, and when you open them you'll get a big surprise." - Game Over
- "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but iv'e got this sweet love track for your mother." - Game Over
- "How many times have I told you? Early morning is daddy's special bathroom privacy time. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" - Filet of Soul
- "The boy's right dear I think we need to leave this guy alone." - Streaky Clean
- "Honey, I can't reach the remote." - D2
- "That's what I wanna know mister." - Father Knows Least
- "Nonsense Honey, of course it'll fit" - Ego Trip
- "Ahhh, there you see that dear? The old man's still got it." - Ego Trip
- "Honey, this trophy is the greatest trophy cheap in my tile life. Wait until the kids see this." - The Old Switcharooms
- "You know. I don't want the glue to melt. I'll better cool things down." - The Old Switcharooms
- "A secret? All right, Mr. Bird, you got some explaining to do? Out with it right now!" - The Parrot Trap
- "Ah yes! Saturdays are made for dads! And dad’s car." -A Dad Cartoon
Gallery
Dad's gallery can be viewed here
Trivia
- Neither his first or last names were revealed during the series' run and the show's staff simply dubbed him "Dexter's Dad".
- Dick Hardly from The Powerpuff Girls episode Knock It Off is similar to Dad, as both of them are blondes, have the same skin tone and are voiced by Jeff Bennett.
- Out of all the characters in the show, Dad's newer design changes for seasons 3 and 4 were the most drastic of them all.
- Dad is addicted to his wife's muffins, claiming that's why he married her in "The Muffin King".
- He has a rivalry with Windbear the same way Dexter does with Mandark.
- In the episode "Folly Calls", it was revealed that he was bald and that his hair was really a wig.
- His stupidity may have been passed down to Dee Dee.
- Despite having a better relationship with Dee Dee, he seems to have acknowledge her idiocy and Dexter's intellect in Stuffed Animal House.
- He is older than his wife, possibly by a year, as seen in "Don't Be A Baby".
- Although it's never stated how old he is on the show,he's most likely either in his mid-to-late 30s or in his early-to-mid 40s.