Clue is all about the characters; needing to answer who killed Mr. Boddy in Boddy Estate? Was it Mrs. Peacock with the lead pipe in the hall, or someone else entirely? After all since its release all the way back in 1949 the characters in Clue have undergone some changes, some you’d barley notice and others change everything.
Table of Contents
- How Many Characters are There in Clue?
- Who Are the Characters in Clue?
- The Changing Names and Professions of Clue Characters
- Who are the New Characters in Clue?
- Why did Clue remove Mrs. White?
- Clue Characters in Other Media
- Clue Characters in Different Versions
- So Who Did It?
How Many Characters are There in Clue?
In the Original Clue there are 6 characters, this continues to be the case in 1949, Discover the Secrets, 2012, 2016, and 2023.
However other editions have been released where there are up to 10 playable characters, for example, Clue Master Detective.
The below table shows how characters appeared in various versions of the game.
| Edition | |||||||||
| Suspects | Original | 1949 | VCR Mystery Game | Super Challenge | Master Detective | Discover the secrets | 2012 | 2016 | 2023 |
| Mr. Green | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Mrs. Peacock | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Mrs. White | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Colonel Mustard | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Professor Plum | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Miss Scarlet | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Dr. Orchid | x | ||||||||
| Miss Peach | x | x | x | ||||||
| Sergeant Gray | x | x | |||||||
| Monsieur Brunette | x | ||||||||
| Madame Rose | x | x | |||||||
| Captain Brown | x | ||||||||
| Mr Slate-Grey | x | ||||||||
Who Are the Characters in Clue?
In the original Clue the following characters appear, while their backstories have changed over time these are the clue suspects’ generally accepted biographies:
Mr. Boddy – The Victim
Mr John Boddy is the reason we’re all here. On 5 June 1954 Boddy invited his 6 friends to celebrate his 30th birthday, however he doesn’t quite make it dying at 29. To his friends he was known simply as John, but to neighbours and locals he was known as Mr Black (the name he has in the UK version – Cluedo). He was known by Black, rather than Boddy, after his adoption by his late uncle, Sir Hugh Black.
Boddy has the title of Doctor as he was awarded a doctorate in anthropology, the study of human societies and cultures and their development.
Miss Scarlet
Miss Scarlet has the unique ability of always rolling first in the game. She takes the role of a mysterious and beautiful woman. In the 2002 edition, the aspiring actress was well known by the newspapers for her seduction of old widowers. In many editions she is either the daughter or stepdaughter of Mrs Peacock.
Mrs. Peacock
Mrs Peacock has suspiciously been widowed three times which offers us a reason as to why her surname is different from her daughters. In some editions Mrs. Peacock is an ornithologist specialising in her study of birds of prey.
Colonel Mustard
Mustard was more a friend of John Boddy’s uncle, Sir Black, rather than the victim himself. While he did have a long and bright military career many of his life’s successes have been inflated by his own ego. Presenting himself as distinguished with an air of arrogance, Colonel Mustard is certainly a loose cannon.
Mrs. White
Mrs. White fulfils the role of housekeeper and cook at Boddy Mansion and began serving the household when John Boddy was only a child. In some versions of the story, Mrs. White cared for Boddy while he was being schooled in England. What is certain across all editions is that Mrs. White got no fair remuneration for all her hard years of service.
Mr. Green
Mr. Green’s common theme is his love of money and green. In many versions, especially the UK, he is known as the Reverend Green. The police have already questioned him on allegations of smuggling, money laundering and fraud. Con artist extraordinaire, this suspect should have kept eyes on him at all times, lest you loose a watch or ring!
Professor Plum
Plum’s interests often revolve around history and archaeology always the academic he has had jobs ranging from curator of the British Museum to head of school archaeology. As clever as he appears on the outside he has a tendency to copy and plagiarise his peers works.
The Changing Names and Professions of Clue Characters
Clue characters change names like the wind and their professions change just as quickly. Here’s a short table of how they change:
| Color | |||||||
| Clue Version | Type | Mr. Green | Mrs. Peacock | Mrs. White | Colonel Mustard | Professor Plum | Miss Scarlet |
| Master Detective | Name | Thallo | Henrietta | Blanche | Algernon | Edgar | x |
| Master Detective | Profession | Mob-Boss | Ornithologist | Maid | Military Officer | School Teacher | Mercenary |
| Film | Name | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Film | Profession | State Department | Wife of Senator | Widower | Military Officer | Psychiatrist | Madame |
| Game Show | Name | Jonathan | Elizabeth | Blanche | Mike | Peter | Vivienne |
| Game Show | Profession | x | x | Housekeeper | Military Officer | x | Stepdaughter of Mrs Peacock |
| Musical | Name | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Musical | Profession | Entrepreneur | Wife of Me. Boddy | Chief Domestic | x | Pianist | Lounge Singer |
| 2023 | Name | x | x | x | x | x | Cyan* |
| 2023 | Profession | Mayor | Solicitor | Chef | x | x | Columnist |
| 2002 | Name | John | Patricia | Blanche | Micheal | Peter | Vivienne |
| 2002 | Profession | Reverend | Socialite | Nanny/Cook | Military Officer | Egyptologist | Daughter of Mrs Peacock |
*Nickname
While not exhaustive this table illustrates the main changes
Who are the New Characters in Clue?
There have been attempts to increase the size of the traditional clue game from 6 to as high as 10. Over these editions we see some of the following characters:
- Miss Peach – Known for her sweet southern charm the young miss peach is a smooth manipulator.
- Sergeant Gray – a corrupt police officer.
- Monsieur Brunette – claims to be a Parisian art dealer, but is actually a shifty con artist.
- Madame Rose – a middle-aged Hungarian fortune teller.
- Captain Brown – a womaniser and a ship’s captain, Captain brown was good friends with John Boddy.
- Mr Slate-Grey – sometimes known as Inspector Grey, this character is a no nonsense lawman.
Why did Clue remove Mrs. White?
There have been suggestions that Mrs. White was replaced in this edition because the idea of a female housekeeper is too dated. The move to Dr. Orchid was in an attempt to break gender stereotypes. This view is supported by the fact that Mrs. White returned to the game in 2023, with a role change to Cook.
Dr. Orchid has a PhD in plant toxicology and was privately educated in Switzerland. She is introduced In the 2016 version of the game and replaces Mrs. White in this edition. Orchid’s backstory is that of the adoptive daughter of Samuel Black in the UK version.
Clue Characters in Other Media
The Clue characters haven’t just appeared in game form. The popularity of the franchise cannot be overstated and holds a place in many people’s hearts. It will therefore come as no surprise that the IP has been used in various different ways.
Clue (1985) Film
In the film six seemingly unrelated people are invited to a mansion for dinner, but their lives all overlap somehow. Be it a friend of a friend, a blackmailer, ex-employee, or lover. In this version of the story, Mr. Boddy actually asks the guests to kill the butler; but when the lights go off and the kill is meant to happen a gun sounds and its Mr. Boddy that is dead instead.
The film is relatively less known than others of the time, but still has a strong fan base getting 7.2/10 on IMBD based on 100k ratings.
Some well-known actors in the film include:
- Tim Curry of Rocky Horror Show fame, as Wadsworth the Butler.
- Christopher Lloyd from back to the future, as Professor Plum.
- Madeline Kahn, from Young Frankenstein, as Mrs. White.
Literature
Clue: The Novel was written shortly after the release of the film in 1986. Michael McDowell wrote this as supplementary commercial material the film and includes the film’s 3 endings, but also a 4th ending previously unseen.
Other books include:
- Cluedo Detect-It-Yourself Mysteries – in which each character must tell a mystery from their past, which the reader will unravel.
- Cluedo Armchair Detective – in this now out of print book the character have some super fun names like Cynthia as Scarlet and Beryl White, which we’ve never seen in the board games before.
- Cluedo Mysteries – In this book Mr. Boddy is murdered at some point in every chapter, only to re-appear and then be murdered again in the next. Each chapter acts as a standalone mystery that must be solved by the reader.
Paul Howls’ website includes some other book as well as his own 10 long mystery scenarios, he really is a super Cludeofan!
Cluedo the British Game Show – TV
Clue was made into a British game show under its UK brand name Cluedo. The show ran from 1990 to 1993 and had 4 seasons, with 6 episodes each. This gives us 24 episodes, plus one to make 25 when you also include the Christmas special.
The format of the show went as follows: each week a new visitor would enter the mansion and be murdered. The murderer would be one of the six original Cluedo suspects and by interrogating suspects celebrity guests would attempt to uncover who did it – the only catch being that the murder was the only character allowed to lie. Audience members also played at home by phoning in.
The show’s format was so popular that it was adopted in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden; although none of these were as popular as the British original.
Musical
The Clue musical never really gathered much steam performing off-Broadway in 1997 to mostly negative reviews. However, it does give brand new backstories to the characters.
The musical has 16 songs with a script that included feature in which audience members randomly select cards that determine who the murderer is, which weapon was used, where it happened. Doing it in this way give the musical 216 possible endings
Clue Characters in Different Versions
While not an exhaustive list here are the Clue characters in a few different media/franchises.
Clue Jr Detective Characters
- Jake Plum
- Natalie Peacock
- Jessica Scarlett
- Tom Black
- Megan White
- Spike Mustard
- Robbie Green
- Beth Peach
The Simpsons Clue Characters
- Marge
- Homer
- Krusty the Clown
- Waylon Smithers
- Bart
- Lisa
Harry Potter Clue Characters
- Harry
- Ron
- Hermione
- Ginny
- Luna
- Neville
So Who Did It?
This article is by no means exhaustive, there are hundreds of spin offs involving the Clue characters, from board games, films, musicals, and books, but we’ve tried give a succinct explanation of everything we’ve learned. As to who did it? – well, that’s up to you to decide.
