Buster Baxter

I know one person who's always happy. He's never been upset for more than three seconds. Buster Baxter. The happiest, jolliest, most fun... Buster Baxter is a third grader at Lakewood Elementary School. He is in Mr. Ratburn's 3rd Grade class with his best friend Arthur Read, and the rest of his friends. He resides in Elwood City in a condominium with his divorced mother, Bitzi Baxter.

Past life
When Buster was a baby, he was wearing a purple shirt, disposable diapers (colored gray instead of white to avoid mixing in with his white complexion), and red and white sneakers. When he was around two years old, he wore a dark bluish-green sweater and light bluish-green shorts and sneakers. It was also revealed in "Arthur's Baby" when he was 2–3 years old he would cause his mother a lot of trouble by "stealing" foods (Basically eating them without having paid for them).

Future life
Buster Baxter is shown as a teenager at the end of the episode "The Contest". His head is more oval-shaped and he is shown wearing a black and brown coat with some yellow, a pair of blue jeans and black shoes. In another, he is wearing a blues fancy jacket white long sleeve shirt

Family and home
Buster is the only child of Bitzi and Bo Baxter. His parents are divorced; he lives with his mother in a condominium in central Elwood City. His mother is a "worrywart" who often fears for Buster's well-being throughout his daily life, but in later seasons she has learned to relax more. They are extremely close and are like best friends. Buster has gone on many travels with his dad, such as in the spin-off series, Postcards from Buster. His father, besides in Postcards from Buster, has made appearances in a few episodes. He and Buster are also very close, and Buster thoroughly enjoys the few opportunities he has to see his dad.

In recent seasons, Bitzi started dating Harry Mills, a fellow photographer and journalist at the Elwood City Times. After getting over his initial theory Harry was an alien, Buster became best friends with Harry, having shared the same interests in sports, aliens, etc. Buster was disappointed to learn that his mom broke up with Harry much later on in the show, but the three of them remain the best of friends.

In Other Media
In the Living Books computer games such as Arthur's Teacher Trouble, Arthur's Birthday and Arthur's Computer Adventure, Buster's complexions ranged from white to cream-colored. In these three games, he was voiced by Robert Bell before the cartoon show replaced him with Daniel Brochu.

Physical appearance
Buster is an anthropomorphic white rabbit who wears a cyan polo shirt with pink collar, blue jeans, orange boxer shorts with a UFO design (white briefs in the books), and red and white sneakers. He only wore suspenders on his pants during Buster's Amish Mismatch. In the books, he wears different-colored shirts. He also has buck-teeth that are visible when he opens his mouth (in the early books, his buck teeth were especially visible with his mouth closed, but the TV series and later books had his buck teeth only visible with his mouth open). His sleepwear includes a purple button-up pajama top with dark pink dinosaur designs, dark pink pajama bottoms, and aardvark slippers. His swimwear includes blue swimming trunks with periwinkle dots. In "D.W. All Wet", his mom required him to wear a bathing cap to keep his ears covered, but in many later episodes, Buster no longer wears the bathing cap. On formal occasions, Buster wears a navy-blue tuxedo jacket. He also sometimes wears a white shirt, red bow tie, matching trousers and brown shoes. When he first appeared in Arthur's Eyes in 1979, he had whiskers like a normal rabbit, but the whiskers were removed in Arthur's April Fool in 1983.

Personality
Buster is easygoing, fun-loving, and somewhat odd. He has a strong interest in space aliens, and claims to have seen flying saucers over Elwood City. His easygoing personality often takes its toll on his performance at school: he sometimes has trouble finishing reports, math assignments, and book reports. However, it is usually that the poor performance is due to lack of effort rather than low intelligence. As seen with some subjects he has an interest in, such as paleontology, he has given answers smart enough to impress Brain. Generally, Buster has a somewhat short attention span. He doesn't have the patience for reading books, unless it's a book he really likes (such as the Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club Series). He also has trouble keeping secrets.

Buster also has a strong love for food, and will eat virtually anything, and thus one of the show's running gags features him pigging out wherever he goes. Some of his eating habits are rather unhealthy, though, with him consuming food while following the "5-second rule" or ingesting foods that are beyond expiration. In one episode Buster even claims to have eaten a two year old cupcake and says that the icing was still soft. He also has a personal food collection in his room from his various travels or simply because he is fascinated with what he eats on a particular day. His mom often has the job of throwing this food out when it goes really bad. However, he is surprisingly lean. He used to eat a lot when he was young too.

Buster also is shown to have poor hygiene. He sometimes chooses not to wash his hands when he should. He occasionally is very dirty, and doesn't maintain his hair well. In fact, during an outbreak of lice in the school, Buster was the only one unaffected because his hair was simply too dirty to support the vermin. He eventually became a germaphobe, until his friends calmed him down, and after which, he became much more hygienic.

Although Buster is generally a nice person and a loyal friend, he has been shown to resort to stealing if he sees something he wants, but can't have and puts it in his best friends backpack to hide it. However, after stealing an item, Buster will feel guilty about doing so and sometimes worry about being arrested for breaking the law. In the end, however, Buster returns the item. It has also been established that if Buster gets angry about something, he'll tend to hold a grudge, and it is usually the only thing he'll talk about until he can either forget the situation, deal with the situation, or speak to the person who caused the problem with him if this is the case. Most of the time he follows a strong moral code, like insisting that Arthur give James a refund for the defective toy he bought.

Whenever something happens with no known explanation, Buster will almost always become completely convinced that the cause was aliens. The suggestion is usually put down by his friends, yet Buster will continue to suggest aliens whenever something unexplainable happens. Occasionally when something unexplainable happens, another one of the gang will suggest aliens before Buster does. Buster then genuinely believes them until the person points out that the only reason they said it was because they knew Buster would've said it if they hadn't.

Buster can sometimes be influenced in a very big way; when Mr. Ratburn's class went on a field trip to an Amish farm Buster became fascinated by their way of life for a short time and even wanted to become Amish himself.

When it comes to tests, exams, or homework Buster is usually forgetful and just carries on with watching TV and hanging out with his friends before getting started on his work at the last minute.

If Buster is insulted or something he owns is insulted he will get quite angry about it, or even cry, and doesn't talk to the person much afterwards. However when he does, although he is still generally still mad at them, he will usually forgive them after an apology is given or an explanation is made.

Family

 * Bitzi Baxter: Buster and his mother get along well, and his mother cares dearly for him (for example, in "Arthur Makes the Team", she asks Oliver Frensky if the baseball is hard, and if the cap is made of wool because he's allergic to it.
 * Bo Baxter: Even though Bitzi and Bo are divorced, Buster sees his dad often. Buster and Bo travel together throughout the world.
 * Grandmother-She is Buster's grandmother and the mother of Bitzi and Stu. She lives in the same apartment as her daughter and grandson. She loves her grandson very much.

Friends
Buster tends to stick with people in his class to be his friends, but he did make friends with Irwin and Sanjeev in Home Sweet Home while they shared a bunk at Camp Meadowcroak.
 * Arthur Read: He is the best friend of Arthur and they share some interests, like Bionic Bunny, but Arthur thinks his food collection is nasty and UFO's do not exist.
 * The Brain: He is another one of Buster's friends, despite the fact that whenever he thinks something was caused by aliens he attempts to try to prove him wrong (which has always been successful.)
 * Francine Frensky: Despite Francine being mean sometimes they have been friends for a long time and still are today.
 * George Lundgren: During George Blows His Top Buster is shown to constantly ask George to borrow something of his. After borrowing George's tape recorder Buster comes across a recording of George explaining how he feels about being taken advantage of and then Buster comes and returns George's stuff and apologizes and explains if he knew he was hurting George's feelings he wouldn't have been doing what he was doing asking to borrow his stuff all the time. Buster then explains to George to try to be more honest with him because it'll save both of them a lot of trouble.
 * Binky Barnes: Even thought there weren't friends in early episodes in later ones there are good friends. One time buster was even afraid of binky.
 * Muffy
 * Jenna

Trivia

 * In some episodes of Season 2, Buster made cameos, since he left Elwood City in "Arthur's Faraway Friend", and didn't officially return until the season 3 premiere "Buster's Back".
 * Buster says he used to have a puppy, but his mother gave the dog away while he was at school because it was too much trouble for them to look after.
 * Buster has asthma.
 * Buster is nicknamed the "Sandwich King"
 * Buster types 10 words per minute.
 * Buster first appeared in the 1979 book Arthur's Eyes.
 * Buster is a forward for the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team.
 * Buster is a fan of the Elwood City Grebes, and witnessed the historic moment when the Grebes won the World Series.
 * Buster didn't like Bionic Bunny after he watched Top Supermarket Clerk. But in the later seasons, he shown to like Bionic Bunny again.
 * He also has his own spin-off series of Arthur titled, Postcards from Buster.
 * The first three letters of Baxter's phone number are '243'.
 * His favorite flavor of jelly bean is jalapeño.
 * His favorite type of pie is either Boston cream or boysenberry.
 * His favorite citrus fruit is a clementine.
 * Even though he can get annoyed with D.W., he doesn't mind her hanging out with him and Arthur. There are sometimes that he enjoy her interests like Crazy Bus, and a Mary Moo Cow board game.
 * Buster is shown to have perfect pitch.

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 10101
 * Francine's Bad Hair Day 10102
 * Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn 10201
 * Arthur's Spelling Trubble 10202
 * D.W. All Wet 10301
 * Buster's Dino Dilemma 10302
 * D.W.'s Imaginary Friend 10401
 * Arthur's Lost Library Book 10402
 * Arthur's Pet Business 10501
 * D.W. the Copycat 10502
 * Locked in the Library! 10601
 * Arthur Accused! 10602
 * Arthur Goes to Camp 10701
 * Buster Makes the Grade 10702
 * Arthur's New Puppy 10801
 * Arthur Bounces Back 10802
 * Arthur Babysit 10901
 * Arthur's Birthday 11001
 * Francine Frensky, Superstar 11002
 * Arthur's Baby 11101
 * D.W.'s Baby 11102
 * Arthur Writes a Story 11201
 * Arthur's Lost Dog 11202
 * So Long, Spanky (mentioned) 11301
 * Buster's New Friend 11302
 * Arthur the Wrecker 11401
 * Arthur and the True Francine 11402
 * Arthur's Family Vacation 11501
 * Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest 11601
 * Meek for a Week 11701
 * Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper 11702
 * Arthur's Chicken Pox 11801
 * Sick as a Dog 11802
 * D.W. Rides Again 11901
 * Arthur Makes the Team 11902
 * Arthur's Almost Boring Day 12001
 * The Half-Baked Sale 12002
 * Sue Ellen Moves In 12101
 * The Perfect Brother 12102
 * D.W.'s Snow Mystery 12201
 * Team Trouble 12202
 * Bully for Binky 12301
 * Misfortune Teller 12302
 * Arthur's Tooth 12401
 * Arthur Cleans Up 12502
 * My Dad, the Garbage Man 12601
 * D.W.'s Blankie 12701
 * Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble 12702
 * I'm a Poet 12801
 * The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club 12802
 * My Club Rules 12901
 * Stolen Bike 12902
 * Arthur's First Sleepover 13001
 * Arthur's New Year's Eve 13002
 * Season 2
 * Arthur Meets Mister Rogers 20101
 * Draw! 20102
 * Binky Barnes, Art Expert 20201
 * Arthur's Lucky Pencil 20202
 * D.W., the Picky Eater 20301
 * Buster and the Daredevils 20302
 * Arthur Makes a Movie 20401
 * Arthur's Underwear 20501
 * Francine Frensky, Olympic Rider 20502
 * Buster Baxter, Cat Saver 20601
 * Play it Again, D.W. 20602
 * Arthur's TV-Free Week 20701
 * Night Fright 20702
 * Arthur vs. the Piano 20801
 * The Big Blow-Up 20802
 * Lost! 20901
 * The Short, Quick Summer 20902
 * D.W. Goes to Washington (dream sequence only) 21001
 * Arthur's Mystery Envelope 21002
 * Buster Hits the Books 21102
 * Arthur's Faraway Friend 21201
 * Arthur and the Square Dance 21202
 * Water and the Brain (flashback) 21301
 * Arthur the Unfunny 21302
 * Arthur the Loser 21702
 * Season 3
 * Buster's Back 30101
 * The Ballad of Buster Baxter 30102
 * I'd Rather Read It Myself (appeared in fantasy) 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
 * Revenge of the Chip 30502
 * Binky Rules 30601
 * Meet Binky 30602
 * Arthur Rides the Bandwagon 30701
 * Dad's Dessert Dilemma 30702
 * Popular Girls 30801
 * Buster's Growing Grudge 30802
 * Arthur's Treasure Hunt 30901
 * The Return of the King 30902
 * D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy 31002
 * Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival 31102
 * What Scared Sue Ellen? 31201
 * Arthur's Dummy Disaster 31301
 * Francine and the Feline 31302
 * Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight 31401
 * D.W.'s Perfect Wish (Flashback) 31402
 * Arthur and D.W. Clean Up 31501
 * The Long, Dull Winter 31502
 * Season 4
 * Arthur's Big Hit 40102
 * Hide and Snake 40201
 * Muffy's New Best Friend 40202
 * Buster's Breathless 40301
 * The Fright Stuff 40302
 * The Contest 40401
 * Prove It 40402
 * The Blizzard 40501
 * The Rat Who Came to Dinner 40502
 * D.W. Tale Spins 40601
 * Prunella Gets it Twice 40602
 * Binky Barnes, Wingman 40701
 * To Beat or Not to Beat 40702
 * 1001 Dads 40801
 * Prunella's Prediction 40802
 * What is that Thing? 40901
 * Buster's Best Behavior 40902
 * My Music Rules 41001
 * That's a Baby Show! 41002
 * Season 5
 * Arthur and the Big Riddle 50101
 * Double Dare 50102
 * Kids are from Earth, Parents are from Pluto 50201
 * Nerves of Steal 50202
 * It's a No-Brainer 50301
 * The Shore Thing 50302
 * The World Record 50401
 * The Cave 50402
 * The Lousy Week 50501
 * You Are Arthur 50502
 * The Election 50601
 * Francine Goes to War 50602
 * Sleep No More 50701
 * Pet Peeved 50702
 * The Last of Mary Moo Cow 50801
 * Bitzi's Beau 50802
 * Just Desserts 50901
 * The Big Dig 50902
 * Muffy Gets Mature 51002
 * Season 6
 * Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked 60101
 * Best of the Nest 60102
 * Arthur Plays the Blues 60201
 * Buster's Sweet Success 60202
 * Prunella's Special Edition 60301
 * Muffy's Soccer Shocker 60401
 * Brother, Can You Spare a Clarinet? 60402
 * The Boy Who Cried Comet 60501
 * Citizen Frensky 60601
 * D.W.'s Backpack Mishap 60602
 * The Boy with His Head in the Clouds 60701
 * More! 60702
 * Rhyme for Your Life 60801
 * For Whom the Bell Tolls 60802
 * The Good Sport 60901
 * Crushed 60902
 * Arthur Loses His Marbles 61001
 * Friday the 13th 61002
 * Season 7
 * Francine's Split Decision 70201
 * Muffy Goes Metropolitan 70202
 * Ants in Arthur's Pants 70301
 * Don't Ask Muffy 70302
 * To Tibble the Truth 70401
 * Waiting to Go 70402
 * Elwood City Turns 100! 70500
 * Pick a Car, Any Car 70601
 * Jenna's Bedtime Blues 70602
 * D.W.'s Time Trouble 70701
 * Buster's Amish Mismatch 70702
 * The World of Tomorrow 70801
 * Prunella Sees the Light 70901
 * April 9th 71000
 * Season 8
 * Dear Adil 80101
 * Bitzi's Break-up 80102
 * Arthur's Snow Biz 80301
 * Bugged 80302
 * Fernkenstein's Monster 80401
 * D.W., Dancing Queen 80402
 * Vomitrocious 80501
 * Sue Ellen Chickens Out 80502
 * Desk Wars 80701
 * Season 9
 * Castles in the Sky 90101
 * Tipping the Scales 90102
 * Francine's Big Top Trouble 90201
 * George Blows His Top 90202
 * Arthur Weighs In 90301
 * The Law of the Jungle Gym 90302
 * Buster's Green Thumb 90401
 * Lights, Camera... Opera! 90501
 * All Worked Up 90502
 * Arthur Makes Waves 90601
 * Three's a Crowd 90701
 * A is for Angry 90702
 * The "A" Team 90801
 * D.W. Beats All 90901
 * Buster the Myth Maker 90902
 * Binky Goes Nuts 91001
 * Breezy Listening Blues 91002
 * Season 10
 * Happy Anniversary 1001
 * The Squirrels 100201
 * Fern and Persimmony Glitchet 100202
 * Desert Island Dish 100301
 * Feeling Flush 100401
 * Family Fortune 100402
 * Flaw and Order 100502
 * The Curse of the Grebes 100601
 * Arthur Changes Gears 100602
 * Unfinished 100701
 * D.W., Bossy Boots 100702
 * Binky vs. Binky 100801
 * Do You Speak George? 100901
 * What's Cooking? 101001
 * Buster's Special Delivery 101002
 * Season 11
 * Swept Away 110101
 * Germophobia 110102
 * Arthur Sells Out 110201
 * Buenas Noches, Vicita 110301
 * Phony Fern 110401
 * Brain's Shocking Secret 110402
 * Strangers on a Train (Fantasy) 110502
 * The Making of Arthur 110601
 * Dancing Fools 110602
 * Hic or Treat 110701
 * Mr. Alwaysright 110702
 * Francine's Pilfered Paper 110801
 * Buster Gets Real 110802
 * Spoiled Rotten! 110902
 * Big Brother Binky 111000
 * Season 12
 * Is That Kosher? 120101
 * The Blackout 120801
 * Home Sweet Home 120901
 * Do You Believe in Magic? 120902
 * The Perfect Game 121001
 * Season 13
 * The Great MacGrady 1301
 * MacFrensky 130401
 * No Acting, Please 130501
 * Prunella and the Disappointing Ending 130502
 * D.W. Swims with the Fishes 130602
 * The Secret Guardians 130702
 * Fernlets by Fern 130801
 * Prunella and the Haunted Locker 130802
 * The Pride of Lakewood 130902
 * Looking for Bonnie 130101
 * The Secret Origin of Supernova 130102
 * Season 14
 * The Wheel Deal 140101
 * The Buster Report 140102
 * The Agent of Change (Cameo) 140201
 * Nicked by a Name 140301
 * The Play's the Thing 140302
 * Falafelosophy (Mentioned) 140401
 * Follow the Bouncing Ball 140601
 * Buster Baxter & the Letter from the Sea 140602
 * Muffy and the Big Bad Blog 140702
 * All the Rage 140802
 * Buster Spaces Out 141001
 * The Long Road Home 141002
 * Season 15
 * Fifteen 1501
 * Whistling in the Wind 150202
 * Buster's Secret Admirer 150301
 * Cents-less 150401
 * Buster the Lounge Lizard 150402
 * To Eat or Not to Eat 150501
 * S.W.E.A.T. 150502
 * Prunella the Packrat 150701
 * What's in a Name? (Cameo) 150702
 * Buster's Garden of Grief 150901
 * Through the Looking Glasses 150902
 * The Butler Did... What? 151001
 * The Trouble with Trophies 151002
 * Season 16
 * Based on a True Story 160100
 * Flippity Francine 160201
 * Muffy Takes the Wheel 160202
 * Blockheads 160302
 * Get Smart 160401
 * Night of the Tibble (Cameo) 160501
 * Read and Flumberghast 160502
 * The Last Tough Customer 160601
 * Brain's Chess Mess 160602
 * Baseball Blues 160701
 * Brain's Biggest Blunder 160702
 * Buster's Book Battle 160801
 * On the Buster Scale 160802
 * Fern and the Case of the Stolen Story 160901
 * Sue Ellen Vegges Out 160902
 * So Funny I Forgot to Laugh 161001
 * The Best Day Ever 161002
 * Season 17
 * Adventures in Budylon 170201
 * Molina's Mulligan (Cameo) 170301
 * Buster Bombs 170302
 * Opposites Distract 170401
 * Just the Ticket 170402
 * All Thumbs 170501
 * Kidonia 170502
 * Speak Up, Francine! 170601
 * Waiting for Snow 170602
 * The Director's Cut 170801
 * Crime and Consequences 170802
 * Caught in the Crosswires 170901
 * Framed! 170902
 * Binky's Music Madness 171001
 * Brain Freeze 171002
 * Season 18
 * The Friend Who Wasn't There 180201
 * Surprise! 180202
 * The Case of the Girl with the Long Face 180301
 * The Substitute Arthur 180302
 * Best Wishes 180401
 * The Tardy Tumbler 180402
 * Arthur Calls It 180502
 * Whip. Mix. Blend. (Cameo) 180601
 * Staycation 180602
 * Messy Dress Mess 180702
 * Arthur Read: Super Saver 180801
 * Tibbles to the Rescue 180802
 * The Pageant Pickle 180901
 * Shelter from the Storm 180100
 * Season 19
 * Brain's Brain 190101
 * Brain Sees Stars 190102
 * Sue Ellen Adds It Up (Cameo) 190201
 * Wish You Were Here (Cameo) 190202
 * Arthur's Toy Trouble 190301
 * Spar for the Course 190302
 * Carried Away 190401
 * Dueling Detectives! (Cameo) 190402
 * Buster Isn't Buying It 190501
 * One Ornery Critter 190502
 * Maria Speaks 190601
 * Postcards from Binky 190602
 * Carl's Concerto 190701
 * Too Much of a Good Thing 190702
 * Francine's Cleats of Strength (Cameo) 190801
 * Mr. Ratburn's Secret Identity 190901
 * Besties 190902
 * The Last Day 191000
 * Season 20
 * Buster's Second Chance 200101
 * Cereal 200202
 * He Said, He Said 200301
 * Bunny Trouble 200302
 * That's MY Grandma! (Cameo) 200402
 * Lend Me Your Ear 200501
 * Mutiny on the Pitch 200602
 * The Hallway Minotaur 200701
 * Ladonna's Like List 200702
 * Season 21
 * Binky's 'A' Game
 * Brain and the Time Capsule
 * The Master Builders
 * Francine & the Soccer Spy
 * Sue Ellen & the Last Page
 * Muffy Misses Out
 * Take a Hike, Molly
 * Slink's Special Talent (cameo)