Nigel Ratburn

Nigel Charles Ratburn (formerly Emil Ratburn ) is a third grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary School. In "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone," Mr. Ratburn married a chocolate shop owner named Patrick.

Past life
Both of his parents were Roman Catholics with modest family backgrounds. His father Fritz was a German factory clerk; his mother Katharina Maria was born to Dutch and German parents in the Netherlands. Ratburn had five siblings: Konrad (1893–1949), Hans (1895–1947), Maria (1896–1896), Elisabeth (1901–1915), and Maria (1910–1949), who married the Elwood filmmaker Max W. Kimmich in 1938. In 1932, Ratburn published a pamphlet of his family tree to refute the rumours that his maternal grandmother was of Jewish ancestry.

During childhood, Ratburn suffered from ill health, which included a long bout of inflammation of the lungs. He had a deformed right foot that turned inwards, due to a congenital deformity. It was thicker and shorter than his left foot. He underwent a failed operation to correct it just prior to starting grammar school. Ratburn wore a metal brace and special shoe because of his shortened leg and walked with a limp. He was rejected for military service in World War I because of this deformity.

Future life
Mr. Ratburn announces that he will become a fourth grade teacher during the upcoming school year in "The Last Day". Besides this, not much is known about Mr. Ratburn's future outside of what is depicted in dream sequences. During the futuristic scene in the episode, "Buster Makes the Grade", it is suggested that Mr. Ratburn will continue his career as a teacher at Lakewood Elementary for many years to come. In Arthur's dream in "D.W. and the Beastly Birthday", Mr. Ratburn is seen four years in the future, with a beard and glasses. He wears a black suit and turtleneck sweater.

Physical appearance
Mr. Ratburn's appearance consists of a green suit complete with a solid yellow shirt and bright red necktie (in the books, his uniform ranges to different colors). Being a rat, he has long whiskers, which he appears to keep trimmed.

He has brown clumps of hair in the books; although, in the cartoon show, his hair was restricted to thin black lines. He also wears his shirts tucked into his pants and always wears a belt buckle with his pants. He also wears blue pajamas and in one episode he wore a turquoise night shirt and another episode he also wore a tan colored sweater and black pants and wear brown or black slippers.

His casual clothing consists of a cream-colored T-shirt and faded blue jeans. For formal occasions, Mr. Ratburn wears a charcoal or black Tuxedo jacket with a white tuxedo shirt black bow tie and charcoal or black tuxedo trousers.

When outdoors for something like fossil-hunting, Mr. Ratburn wears a dark brown hat with a yellow line on the bottom of the tip of the hat going all around the tip. He also wears a very light yellow or beige shirt a dark blue scarf tucked into the shirt.

There is also a short-sleeved beige jacket with two pockets one on each side of the jacket and two shoulder straps one on each side of the jacket. He also wears blue shorts very light yellow or beige socks and light brown boots. He always carries a briefcase with him to class.

Personality
Mr. Ratburn is primarily known for being a strict teacher, but he has many other hobbies outside of the classroom, including puppetry, playing in a rock band, and bird-watching. He is also seen as a role model by several students. For instance, he encourages Arthur to be more physically active in "Arthur Weighs In," and he is able to relate to Maria's stuttering problem in "Maria Speaks."

He tends to give a lot of homework, projects and tests to the students in his class, which leads many to believe that he is the toughest teacher Lakewood Elementary School. Despite the heavy amount of school work to do, many of his students come to find out he is not as bad as they initially thought after he explains about organization, self-discipline, and how they can do their homework in time for things they like to do. Arthur, Buster, and Brain consider Mr. Ratburn their friend, and Arthur goes to greet him when he sees him in public.

Even though Mr. Ratburn is calm and cool, he cackles uncontrollably in the dream sequences that the other characters have involving him.

Mr. Ratburn is often friendly, helpful and good-natured, rarely showing any hint of malice, and has shown that he truly cares about his students time and time again. In "The Last Day" and the song "Pop Quiz from Ratburn," Mr. Ratburn explains that his schoolwork is difficult because he wants to challenge his students and knows they can handle it. Mr. Ratburn takes his role as a teacher seriously and often tries to mentor his students, occasionally in non-academic fields. When the roof of his house collapses, Mr. Ratburn stays with the Read family, and is shown to enjoy watching Spooky Poo and other fun things, to Arthur's surprise.

He frequently struggles with new, modern technology, such as using computers, the Internet and his classroom's new interactive "smart" board; for example, the first time he used the Internet, he fell for multiple scams. This may be why he often uses an old film projector during his class lessons. He does become a bit more acclimated to some technology in various situations, however. He learns to use a tablet device called the BoysenBerry, and he manages to purchase a canoe online in "Best of the Nest."

In other media
In the Living Books computer games, he came out in Arthur's Teacher Trouble, even though there's a shadow look-alike of him walking outside while Arthur and Jane are out shopping for party supplies in Arthur's Birthday. He was voiced by David Kessler before the cartoon show replaced him with Arthur Holden.

In the later computer games (such as Arthur's Thinking Games), Mr. Ratburn's appearance is the same as in the show.

Students
See Nigel Ratburn's Class.

Relationships

 * Paige Turner - They have danced together.
 * Mr. Marco - They have watched Dark Bunny together.
 * Mr. Haney - They went to college together.
 * David Read - They went to college together, he loves David's cooking, and was invited to stay with the Reads when his roof caved in.
 * Bailey - They went to college and also high school together.
 * Rodentia Ratburn - His sister
 * Patty Ratburn - His sister
 * Patrick Ratburn — His husband

Jobs
Mr. Ratburn has numerous jobs. In "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn", it's revealed that Mr. Ratburn's a teacher, a basketball coach, and works on the school newspaper. In his spare time, he administers puppet shows that are popular among young kids. In "The Short, Quick Summer," Mr. Ratburn got a summer job at Jack's Joke Shop, where he worked as a cashier and helped Sue Ellen learn a card game magic trick.

Trivia

 * The car that Mr. Ratburn drives is a red roadster convertible.
 * In "Cents-less”, Mr. Ratburn is shown feeding two goldfish, whom he calls Vladimir and Estragon. It would seem that Mr. Ratburn has named his pets in honor of two characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
 * For the first few seasons, he has brown skin then changed to orange in the next few seasons and back to brown in Season 16.
 * He may or may not be part Native American (specifically ).
 * He is named after Marc Brown's 7th grade math teacher, Mr. Gary Rathbun.

Appearances

 * Specials
 * Arthur's Perfect Christmas
 * Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
 * D.W. and the Beastly Birthday
 * Arthur and the Haunted Tree House
 * Season 1
 * Arthur's Eyes (Cameo) 10101
 * Francine's Bad Hair Day 10102
 * Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn 10201
 * Arthur's Spelling Trubble 10202
 * Buster's Dino Dilemma 10302
 * Arthur's Lost Library Book 10402
 * Locked in the Library! 10601
 * Arthur Accused! 10602
 * Buster Makes the Grade 10702
 * Francine Frensky, Superstar 11002
 * Arthur's Baby 11101
 * Arthur Writes a Story 11201
 * Buster's New Friend 11302
 * Meek for a Week 11701
 * Arthur's Almost Boring Day 12001
 * The Half-Baked Sale 12002
 * Sue Ellen Moves In 12101
 * Team Trouble 12202
 * Misfortune Teller 12302
 * Arthur's Tooth 12401
 * My Dad, the Garbage Man 12601
 * Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble 12702
 * I'm a Poet 12801
 * My Club Rules 12901
 * Stolen Bike 12902
 * Season 2
 * Arthur Meets Mister Rogers (Cameo) 20101
 * Draw! 20102
 * Arthur's Lucky Pencil 20202
 * Arthur's Underwear 20501
 * Arthur's TV-Free Week 20701
 * Night Fright 20702
 * The Big Blow-Up 20802
 * The Short, Quick Summer 20902
 * Arthur's Mystery Envelope 21002
 * Buster Hits the Books 21102
 * Fern's Slumber Party (Cameo) 21502
 * Love Notes for Muffy 21601
 * D.W. Blows the Whistle 21602
 * Arthur the Loser 21702
 * Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard 21801
 * How the Cookie Crumbles (Mentioned) 22001
 * Season 3
 * I'd Rather Read It Myself (Mentioned) 30202
 * Arthur Goes Crosswire 30301
 * Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurous 30302
 * Background Blues 30401
 * And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids 30402
 * The Chips are Down 30501
 * Binky Rules (Cameo) 30601
 * Meet Binky (Cameo) 30602
 * Arthur Rides the Bandwagon 30701
 * Dad's Dessert Dilemma 30702
 * Popular Girls 30801
 * Buster's Growing Grudge 30802
 * Arthur's Treasure Hunt (Cameo) 30901
 * The Return of the King 30902
 * Attack of the Turbo Tibbles (Mentioned) 31001
 * Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival 31102
 * Clarissa is Cracked 31202
 * Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight 31401
 * Arthur and D.W. Clean Up 31501
 * The Long, Dull Winter 31502
 * Season 4
 * D.W.'s Library Card 40101
 * Arthur's Big Hit 40102
 * Muffy's New Best Friend 40202 (Cameo)
 * The Blizzard 40501
 * The Rat Who Came to Dinner 40502
 * Prunella Gets it Twice 40602
 * Binky Barnes, Wingman 40701
 * To Beat or Not to Beat 40702
 * 1001 Dads 40801
 * Prunella's Prediction (Mentioned) 40802
 * What is that Thing? 40901
 * That's a Baby Show! 41002
 * Season 5
 * Double Dare 50102
 * Kids are from Earth, Parents are from Pluto 50201
 * Nerves of Steal ((Fantasy) 50202
 * It's a No-Brainer 50301
 * The Shore Thing 50302
 * The World Record 50401
 * The Cave 50402
 * The Lousy Week (Cameo) 50501
 * You Are Arthur 50502
 * The Election 50601
 * Sleep No More 50701
 * Bitzi's Beau 50802
 * Just Desserts (Fantasy) 50901
 * Season 6
 * Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked 60101
 * Best of the Nest 60102
 * Prunella's Special Edition 60301
 * The Boy Who Cried Comet 60501
 * Citizen Frensky 60601
 * The Boy with His Head in the Clouds 60701
 * Rhyme for Your Life (Cameo) 60801
 * The Good Sport 60901
 * Crushed (Cameo) 60902
 * Friday the 13th 61002
 * Season 7
 * Ants in Arthur's Pants 70301
 * Elwood City Turns 100! 70500
 * Jenna's Bedtime Blues 70602
 * Buster's Amish Mismatch 70702
 * The World of Tomorrow 70801
 * April 9th 71000
 * Season 8
 * Dear Adil 80101
 * Bugged 80302
 * Fernkenstein's Monster (Cameo) 80401
 * D.W., Dancing Queen 80402
 * Vomitrocious 80501
 * Desk Wars 80701
 * Muffy's Art Attack 80801
 * Season 9
 * Castles in the Sky 90101
 * Tipping the Scales (Cameo) 90102
 * George Blows His Top 90202
 * Arthur Weighs In 90301
 * The Law of the Jungle Gym (Cameo) 90302
 * Buster's Green Thumb 90401
 * All Worked Up 90502
 * A is for Angry 90702
 * The "A" Team 90801
 * D.W. Beats All (Cameo) 90901
 * Breezy Listening Blues 91002
 * Season 10
 * Happy Anniversary 100100
 * The Squirrels 100201
 * Desert Island Dish 100301
 * Family Fortune 100402
 * D.W., Bossy Boots (prologue) 100702
 * Do You Speak George? 100901
 * What's Cooking? 101001
 * Buster's Special Delivery 101002
 * Season 11
 * Germophobia 110102
 * Mind Your Manners (Cameo) 110202
 * Prunella Packs It In 110302
 * Phony Fern 110401
 * Brain's Shocking Secret 110402
 * Dancing Fools (Cameo) 110602
 * Mr. Alwaysright 110702
 * Francine's Pilfered Paper 110801
 * Season 12
 * Is That Kosher? (Cameo) 120101
 * The Frensky Family Fiasco 120202
 * D.W.'s Stray Netkitten 120301
 * For the Birds 120401
 * Ungifted 120402
 * The Chronicles of Buster 120501
 * On This Spot 120502
 * The Cherry Tree 120601
 * War of the Worms 120701
 * Do You Believe in Magic? 120902
 * The Perfect Game 121001
 * Season 13
 * The Great MacGrady 130100
 * Arthur's Number Nightmare 130301
 * Brain Gets Hooked 130302
 * MacFrensky 130401
 * The Good, the Bad, and the Binky (Cameo) 130402
 * No Acting, Please 130501
 * A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble 130701
 * Season 14
 * The Buster Report 140102
 * Muffy and the Big Bad Blog 140702
 * Arthur Unravels 140801
 * All the Rage 140802
 * D.W., Queen of the Comeback (Flashback) 140901
 * The Long Road Home 141002
 * Season 15
 * Fifteen 150100
 * I Wanna Hold Your Hand 150201
 * Cents-less 150401
 * Buster the Lounge Lizard 150402
 * S.W.E.A.T. 150502
 * Prunella the Packrat 150701
 * What's in a Name? 150702
 * Muffy's Classy Classics Club (Cameo) 150801
 * Through the Looking Glasses 150902
 * The Butler Did... What? 151001
 * The Trouble with Trophies 151002
 * Season 16
 * Flippity Francine 160201
 * Muffy Takes the Wheel 160202
 * Get Smart 160401
 * Buster's Book Battle 160801
 * So Funny I Forgot to Laugh 161001
 * The Best Day Ever (Flashback) 161002
 * Season 17
 * All Thumbs 170501
 * Pets and Pests (Mentioned) 170701
 * Framed! 170902
 * Brain Freeze (Cameo) 171002
 * Season 18
 * The Case of the Girl with the Long Face 180301
 * The Substitute Arthur 180302
 * Best Wishes 180401
 * The Tardy Tumbler (Cameo) 180402
 * Arthur Calls It 180502
 * Arthur Read: Super Saver 180801
 * Shelter from the Storm 1810
 * Season 19
 * Brain Sees Stars 190102
 * Maria Speaks 190601
 * Carl's Concerto 190701
 * Too Much of a Good Thing 190702
 * Mr. Ratburn's Secret Identity 190901
 * The Last Day 1910
 * Season 20
 * Buster's Second Chance 200101
 * That's MY Grandma! 200402
 * Lend Me Your Ear 200501
 * Prunella's Tent of Portent 200601
 * The Hallway Minotaur (Cameo) 200701
 * Ladonna's Like List 200702
 * Season 21
 * Binky's 'A' Game 210101
 * Brain and the Time Capsule 210102
 * Francine & the Soccer Spy (Cameo) 210301
 * Sue Ellen & the Last Page (Cameo) 210302
 * Muffy Misses Out (Cameo) 210401
 * Slink's Special Talent 210402
 * Season 22
 * Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone 220101
 * The Feud 220102
 * When Rivals Came to Roost 220201
 * Muffy's House Guests 220301
 * Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants 220302