T.J. Detweiler

'''Theodore Jasper "T.J." Detweiler' is the leader of the main characters in the TV show Recess''.

Personality
T.J. is the leader of the main six kids in the show, and has been best friends with them since kindergarten (except Gus, who moved to town in the first episode, however he has also been shown in kindergarten with the rest of the kids). He is outgoing, kindhearted, and friendly, and takes having fun very seriously. While he is somewhat ditzy and lazy, he's a genius when it comes to pulling schemes on the playground. Despite being more heavy-set than the other five members of the gang (save for Mikey), he is capable of pulling a few stunts, such as escaping detention by climbing either out the window or from the roof of the school a few times. In second grade, he invented the word "whomp", which is what the kids of the playground use instead of "stinks" or "sucks" to describe an unpleasant situation or person. Aside from "whomp", he also uses the word "frooping" a number of times (to replace the "f word"), though it's unknown whether he created the word or not. TJ often roots for the underdog and cares about every kid on the playground, including his enemies. Thus causing most of the school to like him, with the exception of Gordy, as seen in the episode, "Nobody Doesn't Like TJ". He is hardly ever seen without his red baseball cap.

One of his friends, Ashley Spinelli, has a crush on him, as revealed in the episode "Parents Night". In the episode "The Experiment", they kiss each other to experiment on the effects kissing has on the opposite genders, with them seeming to not enjoy it. However, when they are left by themselves afterwards, they both seem to act a little shy about it, hinting that T.J. has a crush on her as well. He is often seen wrapping his arm around her shoulders for no apparent reason, which also hints this.

He was very shy as a kindergarten student, and was not the brave leader that has been seen in the fourth grade. Gus was the first one to really become his friend, and he was also the one who gave him his nickname. After Gus proves to the other students that Mikey wasn't a bully, the other kindergarteners start to become more outgoing, and show their first displays of their usual personalities, When Randall tattles on Gus and is put in the principal's office, T.J. assumes his position as the leader when they have to save Gus, and puts his trademark baseball cap on backwards as he wears it in the series proper.

Trivia

 * T.J. has had the most voice actors out of any characters in the series. All the kids in the show (with the exception of a few) were played by real kids, so once his voice actor's voice broke, he was replaced. Ross Malinger played him in season one and the first few episodes of season two (1997-1998), Andrew Lawrence played him in the rest of season two until the end of the series (1998-2002), Myles Jeffrey played him in the direct-to-video movies released after the show ended, and Axel Alba played him in the Lilo & Stitch crossover episode.
 * T.J.'s early concept design was drastically different from his final appearance. His original design (as seen on a promotion for ABC Saturday Mornings (which would become One Saturday Morning a few months later) on the 1997 VHS of 101 Dalmatians) featured him with a different outfit without his trademark baseball cap, had messier, darker, hair, was taller, and was thinner. His eyes were also green originally, however they would only be sclera-and-pupil only eyes like the other characters (except Gus, who only had pupils) (same as the original design without the iris) by the time the series premiered.
 * During the first season, his eyes had a highlight to them, which none of the other characters had. This was removed for the second season, for unknown reasons.
 * As seen in flashbacks, he has worn the same outfit since kindergarten, however he didn't start wearing his green jacket until third grade. In kindergarten, he also used to wear his baseball hat with the visor sticking out, until he assumes leader postion, in which he turns it backwards for the first time.
 * He mentioned having an older brother in the episode, "The Great Jungle Gym Standoff", however he never appeared in the show itself. It is guessed that he became his older sister (who didn't appear until the movie), was dropped when the show was still airing, or went to college and no longer lives in his house.
 * In "All Growed Down", Gus was the first one to refer to him as T.J., and later on, Vince was the first one to refer to him by his other nickname, "Teej".
 * In the show's Swedish dub, his first name is changed to Toby.