Teddy

From Candypedia
Teddy
GenderMale
SpeciesCat
BreedSelkirk Rex
Family
DebutMoments Apart, page 2
October 4, 2017 (2017-10-04)

Teddy is Daisy’s father, a small, curly-coated cat married to the very large and very cheerful Daisy’s mom. He is first heard driving Daisy and Abbey to a date in At Loose Ends, years before he finally appears on-panel at her sixteenth birthday cookout in Moments Apart. Mild, doting and easily embarrassed, he is also a father who can turn a platter of hotdogs into a full-body pratfall.

Personality

Teddy is a soft, mild fellow who dotes on Daisy out loud and in front of company. When Abbey thanks him for a ride in At Loose Ends, Teddy waves it off with a hearty “Nonsense! It’s my pleasure!” and sends him off with instructions to treat his “li’l pumpkin” right.[1] Daisy’s answer is a mortified “Daaaaad!!”[1] At her birthday cookout he greets Mike by name at the grill,[2] calls the tableful of teenagers “kids”, and reacts to a spectacular fall with nothing stronger than “oh fiddlesticks”.[3] Years before that on-panel debut, Veronica described him as “meek and timid” beside his happy, boisterous wife.[4]

A turtle, a platter and Teddy’s dignity collide in Moments Apart.

Teddy also has a knack for ending up on the ground. The Turtle takes him down at Daisy’s party, platter and all,[3] while Family Comix introduces his college self flat on the pavement with his papers blowing away.[5] The side stories lean into the embarrassing-dad side of him too. In Essential Worker, Daisy has to insist that he treat her as a serious employee rather than coo over how cute she looks in a suit.[6] In Family Comix he turns away blushing when she works out why her mother calls him Teddy.[5]

BCI gives the otherwise easygoing Teddy a little more range. Ships Ahoy, Season Four has him come home exhausted after an awful day and immediately melt into his wife’s hug,[7] while Essential Worker lets him turn unexpectedly stern when Daisy recoils at the idea that he might be a janitor: “For shame, Daisy. I thought I raised you better than that.”[8]

Appearance

Teddy is a Selkirk Rex, and Veronica describes him as “a walking pincushion” next to his Ragamuffin wife.[9] He is consistently the small half of the couple: Family Comix explicitly calls him short beside Daisy’s very tall mother,[5] and Veronica’s early sketch likewise places a small, timid-looking Teddy beside his much larger wife.[4] His wife calls him Teddy because, according to Veronica, he looks like a little teddy bear to her.[10]

That 2015 sketch gives him a bushy mustache and glasses with a striped shirt and tie.[4] When he finally appears in full in Moments Apart, the mustache remains but the glasses are gone; for the cookout he wears a bright Hawaiian shirt.[2] Accidents Will Happen also draws the mustache hanging over his morning paper.[11]

Significant events

Teddy is first heard in At Loose Ends, behind the wheel of the car taking Abbey and Daisy to Tess’s Christmas party. He never appears in the frame, but he cheerfully brushes off Abbey’s thanks for the ride and tells him to treat Daisy well.[1]

His first visible appearance comes five years later in Moments Apart, at Daisy’s sixteenth birthday cookout in Roseville Park. Teddy spends the afternoon at the grill in a Hawaiian shirt, greeting Mike and promising his wife a couple of burnt hotdogs.[2] His one trip from the grill to the table with a heaped platter goes badly when the Turtle crosses his path. Teddy goes over it and the hotdogs go everywhere, bringing Jasmine, David, Mike and his wife rushing over to help.[3] He is soon back on his feet with the platter and a sheepish smile,[12] and later sits with his wife while the teenagers mingle over cake.[13]

Most of Teddy’s page time comes from BCI side stories. Essential Worker gives him the largest role: what starts as Take Your Child To Work Day turns into a magical-girl parody when the supposed janitor sprouts wings, produces a wand and takes Daisy along to fight the Plague Master.[14] Teddy is knocked down during the fight, leaving Daisy to pick up his wand and carry on without him.[15][16] Family Comix gives his marriage a college meet-cute, Ships Ahoy, Season Four gives the couple a strip of their own, and Accidents Will Happen has him checking on Daisy through her closed bedroom door.[5][7][11]

Major relationships

Daisy

In At Loose Ends, Teddy’s blessing leaves Daisy wishing he had kept quiet.

Daisy would like her father to be a little less openly delighted with her, and he has never managed it. He calls her his “pumpkin”,[1][6][11] while she still calls him “Daddy” at sixteen.[2] In At Loose Ends, his unseen debut is pure embarrassing-father material: he tells the nervous Abbey, “Treat my li’l pumpkin right and that’ll be all the thanks I need!” and Daisy squeals at him from the back seat.[1]

In Moments Apart, being Daisy’s dad mostly means feeding her friends. He runs the grill for her party and keeps the platters coming, Turtle permitting.[2][3][12] Veronica has said Daisy’s parents were more than content with just the one child.[17] The BCI stories keep the same protective, doting streak. Accidents Will Happen has him ask whether anything is wrong through Daisy’s bedroom door,[11] while Essential Worker builds its joke around Daisy wanting him to take her seriously before she ends up taking up his wand herself.[6][16]

Daisy’s mom

Daisy’s mom still has a request for Teddy, even while kissing him at the grill in Moments Apart.

Teddy and Daisy’s mom are an unabashedly affectionate mismatch in size and temperament. Veronica described them in 2015 as very affectionate, with Teddy “pretty meek and timid” beside his “happy boisterous big wife”.[4] Moments Apart bears that out: she kisses the top of his head at the grill and asks for burnt hotdogs, and he answers “Of course, dear.”[2] When he trips over the Turtle, she cries “Teddy!!” and is quickly on her knees propping him up.[3] Once the cake is out, the two sit together talking while the party carries on around them.[13]

The nickname is her doing: Veronica says she calls him Teddy because he looks like a little teddy bear to her.[10] Family Comix turns their size difference into a meet-cute, with Teddy falling on the pavement and his future wife lifting him bodily back up as they blush at each other.[5] Ships Ahoy, Season Four uses much the same dynamic for comfort, with her folding an exhausted Teddy into a hug until he feels better.[7]

Minor relationships

Abbey

Abbey’s only exchange with Teddy is the thank-you in the car in At Loose Ends. Teddy responds warmly and tells him to treat Daisy right; the scene then immediately gives way to Abbey remembering his own father, Abraham, embracing another woman.[1] The two later attend Daisy’s cookout in Moments Apart without speaking to each other.[3]

Quotes

Treat my li’l pumpkin right and that’ll be all the thanks I need! Teddy, sending Abbey off on his date with Daisy in At Loose Ends

Nonsense! It’s my pleasure! Teddy, brushing off Abbey’s thanks for the ride in At Loose Ends

Of course, dear. Just a couple minutes ‘till they’re ready. Teddy, promising his wife the burnt hotdogs in Moments Apart

Plenty more where that came from, kids! Teddy, seconds before meeting the turtle in Moments Apart

oh fiddlesticks Teddy, as the platter takes flight in Moments Apart

Trivia

  • “Teddy” is not his real name, and it isn’t short for Theodore either. Veronica considers Daisy’s parents canonically nameless, so his name could be anything.[10]
  • The name is spoken exactly once in the main comic, by his wife as he falls in Moments Apart.[3]
  • Veronica’s entire commentary under his first visible scene reads “I love Daisy’s father.”[2]
  • For the 2011 April Fools skits, a patron’s request cast him as Sesame Street’s Mr. Johnson opposite David’s Grover. Veronica says the requests stopped when the source skits became too mean-spirited towards Mr. Johnson; she also notes that, canonically, Teddy would barely know David outside occasions such as Daisy’s birthday parties.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Chapter 69: At Loose Ends, page 12
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Chapter 98: Moments Apart, page 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Chapter 98: Moments Apart, page 12
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 “Sketch and description of Daisy’s parents”. 2015-01-22.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Family Comix, page 2 🔒 (members only)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Essential Worker, page 1 🔒 (members only)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Ships Ahoy, Season Four, page 1 🔒 (members only)
  8. ↑ Essential Worker, page 3 🔒 (members only)
  9. ↑ “Ask response on Daisy’s parents’ breeds”. 2018-07-26.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 “Ask response on where the name Teddy comes from”. 2026-03-31.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Accidents Will Happen, page 12 🔒 (members only)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 98: Moments Apart, page 15
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 98: Moments Apart, page 16
  14. ↑ Essential Worker, page 8 🔒 (members only)
  15. ↑ Essential Worker, page 10 🔒 (members only)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Essential Worker, page 11 🔒 (members only)
  17. ↑ “Ask response on why Daisy is an only child”. 2026-05-31.
  18. ↑ “Ask response on the 2011 April Fools Sesame Street art”. 2026-04-30.
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