Maria Pappas

Maria is a third grader who attends Mr. Ratburn's class at Lakewood Elementary School.

Pre-Lakewood years
Maria was not seen in the kindergarten picture in "Brain's Shocking Secret," meaning that she came to Lakewood at a later year than the majority of her current classmates did.

Second grade
Maria was present at Lakewood Elementary in second grade, but was not in Mr. Marco's class, unlike most of her third grade classmates. Her most noteworthy event during this year was walking into the girls' bathroom when Arthur had accidentally entered moments earlier.

Third grade
Maria was part of the screaming crowd when Arthur announced that they were going to be in Ratburn's class. She, along with the other third graders, eventually got used to Ratburn and now likes being in his class.

Future Life
We get a brief glimpse into her future in "The Election" when she is seen in a crowd behind President Muffy, if this is actually a vision of the future.

Physical appearance
Maria is a rabbit with a cream complexion. She wears a light blue skirt and a dark blue and pink striped shirt, along with brown shoes. She has orange-brown hair in the form of a Bow cut.

Alternate apparel
In the fall, she wears a magenta jacket, a magenta jacket with buttons, or a blue jacket, as seen in "Buster's Amish Mismatch", "I Owe You One", and "Arthur Accused!", respectively.

In the winter, she wears a green-blue jacket, a pink scarf, pink mittens, purple leggings, and snow boots. For cold weather, she sometimes instead wears a pink sweater, teal sweatpants, and green-blue sneakers.

In the summer, she wears a pink T-shirt with light blue stripes and a white collar. In the summertime she wears a pink T-shirt with light blue stripes and a white collar, a light blue dress, and her usual brown shoes. For hot weather, she will also wear a light blue T-shirt and dark blue shorts. In "Desk Wars" she wears a light blue and pink swimsuit while swimming at Muffy's mansion.

She has had two different types of formal clothes. In the episode "Bugged" she was seen wearing a white shirt, a blue dress, long white socks, and brown shoes. Her other outfit was worn in the Arthur's Perfect Christmas special, when she wore a green dress with some red on it, long red socks, and black Mary Jane shoes. In "Prunella Gets It Twice", she wore a pink sweater with a dark blue collar and her usual light blue skirt.

For sleeping, Maria wears pink pajamas, as seen in "The World of Tomorrow".

Her gym clothes are a light blue T-shirt, dark blue shorts, white socks, and red and white sneakers. When she participates in track and field, she wears the new green and yellow uniform. She also wore a karate uniform in "Popular Girls".

Her costume for the school play in "Francine Frensky, Superstar" was a dark blue top hat, a burgundy coat, olive green trousers, a white collared shirt, and a magenta necktie. Her costume for the school play in "Elwood City Turns 100!" was a white long-sleeved shirt, a pink vest, jeans, dark blue sneakers, and a pink baseball cap.

Maria wore a surgical mask, hairnet, and medical scrubs when she and the class were making ice cream in "My Dad, the Garbage Man". She wore a surgical mask again in Francine's imagination sequence in "Vomitrocious".

In "Arthur's Eyes", she is briefly seen wearing glasses. This is either an animation error or she was originally supposed to wear glasses. It is even possible that she still does, but just wears contact lenses instead.

In the future seen in "The Election", Maria wears a brown trench coat.

Quietness
Maria is normally quiet in class, although not necessarily from shyness; she does often participate in class lessons. She is currently the only student in Mr. Ratburn's class to not have a solo speaking role. In the beginning of "Francine Goes to War," she says something that upsets Francine, although she said it before the scene opened. She also got a 'B' for her oral report in "Brain Gets Hooked".

Interests
Maria is a fan of the Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club Series, the Finnish band BINKY, and several sports, for example basketball and soccer.

Club activities
Despite never talking, Maria is a member of the Lakewood Elementary Choir. She also participates in the Track and Field Team and was a member of the Lakewood Pride Committee during its short existence. She also often visits the community center and the library.

Family

 * Mother - Maria's mother took Maria to the Sugar Bowl in "The Perfect Game" and to Toys in "Cents-less".
 * Steve - Maria's older brother Steve also goes to Lakewood. They often talk with each other between classes. The two were confirmed to be related by the brother-and-sister race at the Annual Picnic in "Sue Ellen's Little Sister".

Friends

 * Alex - Maria and Alex are the most recurring of the subtle characters. She and Alex are also friends and are often seen together in many episodes. These two are also the last characters in Mr. Ratburn's class that have not been focused on in the series.
 * Buster - In "Buster Makes the Grade", Buster bounced a crumbled piece of paper off her head, which annoyed her. Maria danced with Buster at Prunella's party in "Prunella Gets it Twice" and they talked at Jenna's party in "The Good Sport".
 * Fern - She and Fern went to get ice cream together in "Buster the Myth Maker".
 * Jenna - Maria walked to class with Jenna in Arthur's Perfect Christmas and "Muffy and the Big Bad Blog".
 * John - Maria was seen talking with John in "Arthur's Eyes" and "Sue Ellen Moves In".
 * Prunella - Prunella must know Maria somehow because she invited her as one of her six guests to her birthday party in "Prunella Gets it Twice".

Trivia

 * Maria was seen with Jenna in a house next door to Grandma Thora in "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon". This may be her house, or Jenna's.
 * The inside of her house was seen in "Sue Ellen Moves In" when she talks on the phone about Sue Ellen. The room seen had light pink walls.
 * Maria has three lookalikes:
 * 3rd Grade Female Bear (Number 2) - a Glenbrook Academy student.
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 2) - a recolored version of Maria used as an extra character.
 * Last Year's Maria - one of Binky's former classmates, only seen in a flashback in "The World of Tomorrow".

Appearances
Maria has made many appearances throughout the series. Her significant roles are in bold.

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Arthur

 * Season 1
 * 10101 "Arthur's Eyes"
 * 10201 "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn"
 * 10202 "Arthur's Spelling Trubble"
 * 10302 "Buster's Dino Dilemma"
 * 10702 "Buster Makes the Grade"
 * 11001 "Arthur's Birthday"
 * 11002 "Francine Frensky, Superstar"
 * 12101 "Sue Ellen Moves In"
 * 12301 "Bully for Binky"
 * 12302 "Misfortune Teller"
 * 12702 "Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble"
 * 12802 "The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club"
 * Season 2
 * 20102 "Draw!"
 * 20501 "Arthur's Underwear"
 * 22002 "Sue Ellen's Little Sister"
 * Season 3
 * 30402 "And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids"
 * 30602 "Meet Binky"
 * 30701 "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon"
 * 30702 "Dad's Dessert Dilemma"
 * 31102 "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival"
 * 31301 "Arthur's Dummy Disaster"
 * 31502 "The Long, Dull Winter"
 * Season 4
 * 40101 "D.W.'s Library Card"
 * 40102 "Arthur's Big Hit"
 * 40902 "Buster's Best Behavior"
 * Season 5
 * 50601 "The Election"
 * 50602 "Francine Goes to War"
 * 50802 "Bitzi's Beau"
 * Season 6
 * 60301 "Prunella's Special Edition"
 * Season 7
 * 705 "Elwood City Turns 100!"
 * 70702 "Buster's Amish Mismatch"
 * 70801 "The World of Tomorrow"
 * 710 "April 9th"
 * Season 8
 * 80501 "Vomitrocious"
 * 80701 "Desk Wars"
 * Season 9
 * 90101 "Castles in the Sky"
 * '''90102 "Tipping the Scales"
 * 90201 "Francine's Big Top Trouble"
 * 90202 "George Blows His Top"
 * 90902 "Buster the Myth Maker"
 * 91001 "Binky Goes Nuts"
 * Season 10
 * 100201 "The Squirrels"
 * 100301 "Desert Island Dish"
 * 100801 "Binky vs. Binky"
 * 101001 "What's Cooking?"
 * 101002 "Buster's Special Delivery"
 * Season 11
 * 110102 "Germophobia"
 * Season 12
 * 120902 "Do You Believe in Magic?"
 * 121001 "The Perfect Game"
 * Season 13
 * 1301 "The Great MacGrady"
 * 130201 "The Silent Treatment"
 * 130301 "Arthur's Number Nightmare"
 * 130401 "MacFrensky"
 * 130601 "George and the Missing Puzzle Piece"
 * 130902 "The Pride of Lakewood"
 * Season 14
 * 141002 "The Long Road Home"
 * Season 15
 * 1501 "Fifteen"
 * 150201 "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
 * 150401 "Cents-less"
 * '''150402 "Buster the Lounge Lizard"
 * 150601 "Prunella the Packrat"
 * 150602 "What's in a Name?"
 * Season 16
 * 1601 "Based on a True Story"
 * 160201 "Flippity Francine"
 * 160202 "Muffy Takes the Wheel"
 * 160401 "Get Smart"
 * 160601 "The Last Tough Customer"
 * 160702 "Brain's Biggest Blunder"
 * 160801 "Buster's Book Battle"
 * 161001 "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh"
 * 161002 "The Best Day Ever" (in a flashback)

Postcards from Buster

 * Season 1
 * 105 "Among the Hmong"

Books
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 * Arthur's Teacher Trouble (1986)
 * Arthur Lost and Found (1998)
 * Arthur's Off to School (2004)