Dora the Explorer characters

Dora

Dora enjoys sports. She was on a baseball team with her best friend Boots and her other friends and was coached by her father (his employment status was never changed after that). She loves soccer and is very good at it. Dora also speaks Spanish, teaching small words to her viewers.

The character is voiced by Kathleen Herles.

Boots

Boots the Monkey is Dora's best friend on the show, whom she met one day in the forest. Boots is a furry, five and-a-half-year old monkey who speaks english. He is sweet and caring and loves to hold Dora's hand, following her while they explore. He also loves to make Dora laugh by surprising her. Whenever Boots is feeling down he manages to bounce back with his special triple flips.

Boots is present with Dora on her adventures, and he helps Dora to solve clues and puzzles. He also loves baseball and is on a team with Dora as shown in one episode. He loves to ride Rojo the fire truck. Boots also seems to "love" many things. In one episode, he would say many times "I love riddles. Call me 'Mr. Riddles'" or "I love nuts, I love chocolate, I love my ball, and I love, love, love..."

Swiper

Swiper is a quick, sneaky fox in a blue mask and gloves who tries to swipe things that Dora needs to complete her quests. When Swiper has swiped something he then hides it and it's up to Dora, Boots and the viewer to find where it is hidden.

Swiper appears in nearly every episode. As his name implies, Swiper steals or attempts to steal key items that help Dora on her adventures. Clever as he is, Swiper never manages to take Dora completely by surprise; an ominous "whisking" sound is always audible just prior to his appearances.

To prevent Swiper from success, Dora must repeat the phrase, "Swiper, no swiping!" three times. Usually she prevails, and Swiper slinks away, snapping his fingers and saying, "Oh, mannn!"; sometimes, however, Swiper gets to the item before Dora has a chance to repeat the phrase. He then gloats, "You're too late!"

Swiper's motive for theft is patently childish; he never seems actually to want the object he takes, since he almost immediately throws it away to hide it from Dora (prompting her to ask the audience to help her find it). Until recently, it was unclear if he swipes merely for the joy of swiping, or from a desire to annoy and frustrate Dora. Compounding the confusion is the fact that, given the right reason — e.g., that the item in question is a present for Dora's puppy — he'll return items he has taken, no matter how much effort he went through to get them. It is also shown that he rarely knows the full importance of what he's taken; e.g. he had no idea the aforementioned gift was for Dora's puppy. In the episode "Dora Saves the Mermaids", he revealed that he "liked swiping." He has some kind of New York accent, and lives in a burrow on top of Blueberry Hill (no relation to the song).

Swiper is very fast and agile, and something of a master of disguise. He seems to have a great deal of technical knowledge, as he's built a variety of vehicles and gadgets (including a remote-controlled robot butterfly) to help him swipe things. Most of the time, however, he simply relies on his natural stalking abilities — sometimes with the aid of a costume — to sneak up on Dora. In the early episodes he often "hid" by curling up into a ball, which neither Dora nor Boots ever recognized as Swiper; he apparently doesn't do this anymore.

He has only been seen once without his mask, when the robot butterfly he built to swipe from Dora and Boots (in the episode "Dora's Got a Puppy") apparently malfunctioned; after they stopped it, it swiped his mask and gloves and kept them from him for a few humorous seconds.

Over the course of the series, it's shown that there's more to Swiper's character than an urge to swipe things. In one episode it was revealed that Swiper has a soft spot for puppies, and in another that he likes Cowboy cookies. In a few episodes, he expresses feelings of joy with a fox-like cry of, "Yip-yip-yippee!" In the episode "A Letter For Swiper," Dora filled in for a delivery bird whose glasses were broken; Dora delivered stickers to Swiper (which were sent by his grandmother), and he thanked her for it without trying to swipe anything. In the episode "Swiper the Explorer," Swiper helps Dora on her quest to help Baby Fox find its mommy, and Swiper carries the baby fox almost all through the episode. Also in this episode, it's revealed that Swiper doesn't speak Spanish, and wishes that he did.

The interaction between Dora and the antagonistic fox also reveals the kindness and grace of Dora's character. In one unusual episode, "Dora's Dance to the Rescue," Swiper took pity on a Dancing Elf who was caught in a magic bottle, similar to a genie. The elf tricked the sympathetic Swiper into removing the bottle's cork, thereby releasing the elf and his talking cane. Unfortunately, the wily fox was thereby entrapped in his place. Stuck and desperate, Swiper called out to Dora and Boots. The remainder of the episode chronicled an epic adventure involving most of the land's creatures, eventually ending with the release of Swiper after a dance contest. The episode was atypical as it involved many dances and songs, demonstrated a close, unconflicted relationship between Swiper and the other creatures, and had Dora refer to the elf in an uncharacteristically judgmental way ("mean Elf").

Swiper is far from being unable to feel guilty for his actions. In "A Present For Santa", Swiper returns the present that he swiped, upon discovering that it was for Santa. In "Dora's World Adventure," Swiper helps Dora return the friendship bracelets he had swiped all over the world, and was shown to feel guilty once he discovered the magnitude of what he'd done and what he had stolen. During this time Swiper gets a taste of his own medicine, so to speak, as each country they visit has its own "Swiper," only of different species, who tries to steal the bracelets: Fifi the skunk in France, Sami the hyena in Tanzania, Fomkah the bear in Russia, and Ying Yang the weasel in China. All of them act and dress nearly identically to Swiper and are stopped in the same way he is: by saying their name, followed by "no swiping" three times. Then they run off, saying Swiper's catch phrase, "Ohh, maann" (their only line) in the local language. Their entrances are also preluded by a sound, only with local music; e.g. Ying Yang has a chau gong playing.

Fiesta Trio

Whenever Dora and Boots are successful in a given portion of their quest (quests are usually divided into three portions), the Fiesta Trio appears from seemingly nowhere to congratulate Dora and celebrate for a brief few seconds with music. The Fiesta Trio is a group of three small animals: a grasshopper, a snail, and a frog.

Backpack

Given to Dora by Mamá and Papi, Backpack is great a friend who travels with Dora wherever her exploring take her. A real go-getter with a can-do attitude. Backpack always provides anything Dora might need for her quest. Backpack can also speak in both English and Spanish just like Dora. Dora's purple Backpack provides whatever Dora needs to complete her quests. The backpack is a magic satchel, which has been known to produce large items, including multiple ladders, two complete space suits and other items that simply could not fit inside it. Backpack seems to have a lot of extra space within her fabric to be held in such a small area. It was given to Dora as a present by her mother and father. To make the Backpack open up, Dora asks the viewers at home to say "Backpack". The Backpack then sings a little introduction and asks the viewers at home to choose what Dora needs from among the Backpack's contents. Afterwards, the remaining contents go back into Backpack, who says, "Yum yum yum yum yum, ¡delicioso!" ("Delicious!")

Map

Map is a funny, boucy rolled-up friend living in Backpacks side pocket. He is an incredibly useful helper because he always knows where to go and the best way to get there. 'If there's a place you need to get, I can get you there I bet' Map is always singing.

The Map provides travel guidance and advice. When not being consulted, the rolled-up Map resides in a side pocket on the Backpack; to make the Map come out, Dora asks the viewers at home to say "Map." This is the Map's cue to introduce himself to the audience with a repetitive song, which is short in some episodes and longer in others, and describe the path Dora has to take on her quest.

Usually the Map doesn't do anything more than the actions described above, but in a few episodes he plays a more active role, especially in the episode "Super Map"; the Map finds a small red cape that gives him Superman-like powers, and he uses them to help Dora on her current quest.

Diego

He's a great partner to Dora in her adventures. He helps his parents at the Animal Rescue Centre and can even make animal noises and talk to the wild animals. You can count on Diego to run, swing and jump to the rescue of any animals in trouble.