- "HUG ME, BROTHA!"
- ―Josh's line throughout the series
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| Character Statistics | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age Group: | 13 (Unaired Pilot 2002) 15 (season 1) 15-16 (season 2) 16-17 (season 3 and 4) 18-20 (Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh) |
| Birthday: | November 10, 1988 |
| Height: | 6'0" |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Alias: | Albert Einstein (costume for his students) Alvin Yakitori (fake ID) Antoine (Hippie disguise) Boob (by Megan) Boober (by Megan) Chives (as Drake's driver) Hobo (by Megan and her classmates) Dr. Vichyssoise (doctor disguise) Juice (by Lulu) Mr. Boob (by Megan) Pontiac (Jewish disguise) Theatre Thug (acting role) Josh Nachos (by Miss Hunter) Twitchy |
| Interests: | Getting good grades at school Hanging out with Drake Watching The Oprah Winfrey Show Playing video games |
| Talents: | Education Able to do magic tricks Cooking |
| Lives In: | Los Angeles, California |
| Employment: | Worker at The Premiere Assistant Manager at The Premiere |
| Education: | Bellview High School, 9th Grade(Season 1) 10th Grade(Season 2) 11th Grade(Season 3) 12th Grade(Season 4) College, freshman(Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh) |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Relationships | |
| Brothers: | Drake Parker (older stepbrother) |
| Sisters: | Megan Parker (younger stepsister) |
| Mother: | Jonnah Nichols (mother) Audrey Parker-Nichols (stepmother) |
| Father: | Walter Nichols |
| Girlfriend: | Mindy Crenshaw (girlfriend) |
| Ex-Girlfriend: | Kathy Many (ex-crushes) |
| Grandparents: | Grammy Nichols (grandmother) Papa Nichols (great-grandfather) |
| Aunts: | Catherine Parker (stepgreat-aunt) Unnamed aunt |
| Pets: | Ronaldo (goldfish) Sheldon (turtle; deceased) Julio (Lizard) Jerry (poodle; deceased) |
| Friends: | Trevor Craig Ramirez Eric Blonowitz Drake Parker Drew Yooka Helen Dubois Megan Parker (sometimes) Crazy Steve Mindy Crenshaw (girlfriend) |
| Nemesis: | Helen Dubois (sometimes) Mindy Crenshaw (formerly) Ashley Blake Megan Parker Drake Parker (sometimes) Thornton Locke (hates him after being uninvited to his birthday party) Tiberius Paolo (mentioned in Number One Fan) Susan Buck Baaahhb (Sheep Thrills) Tyler Sergeant Doty Vince Robbie |
| Production Info | |
| Portrayed by: | Josh Peck (current) Matthew Gumley (young) |
| First Appearance: | Pilot |
| Last Appearance: | Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh |
Joshua Michael "Josh" Nichols is one of the two main protagonists in the show, Drake & Josh. He is portrayed to be a fun and caring stepbrother to Drake and is often Drake's scapegoat when it comes to getting into trouble. Although he’s often known as the 'responsible' part of the relationship, Drake unintentionally pulls Josh into trouble, which Josh does not like.
Personality
Josh is also portrayed to be smart, often getting straight "A"s in his class, and is often competition with his worst rival, but later girlfriend, Mindy Crenshaw. Their constant rivalry during the first season fuels Drake's scapegoat when it comes to getting out of trouble. During the middle of season 2, Josh finds a job working at The Premiere, making a reasonable amount of money, while Drake temporarily worked there.
As a stereotypical 'nerd' of the school, Josh finds his social life awkward. He is unable to fluently and smoothly talk to girls around the school, and as Drake's stepbrother, Drake fears his humiliation being involved with Josh. However, he later overcomes this fear when he went out with Mindy, even if he is still unable to fluently talk to girls. Josh is also constantly reminding Drake to be more responsible, rather than to go out with another girl, and this is shown to be extremely impacting to his grades.
Josh is in constant war with his stepsister Megan, often being the victim of her childish pranks. Especially pivotal in the second season, Josh also has a dark side. His constant victimization is influential to how he responds to Megan, and he is often oblivious to her surroundings, which allows Megan to pick off Josh easily. One such prank included the superglue chair prank, which was one of Megan's signature pranks throughout season 2.
However, Josh has grown accustomed to how Megan behaves, and his attitude towards Megan has significantly changed by season 4. An example of this is the episode, Megan's Revenge. After stunning Megan's hamster, Josh fears the snap might have killed the hamster, rather than merely stun it. As a result of this, Josh fears that she might seek revenge as she "has a reason" to, and as a result of this fear, is on constant unrest and alert. In the end, however, Megan's revenge was to watch Josh suffer through endless stress and anxiety.
Josh has a knack for dancing and music, although he doesn't tend to embrace it. His rendition of Soul Man for the Belleview Talent Show at the Premiere, along with Drake and his band, won the Talent Show, highlights his talent for dancing, shown in the episode, Blues Brothers. Another key moment in his embrace for dance and music comes in season 4, Dance Contest. Josh's initial dancing performance comes when he shows off his dance moves in the Premiere Theater, which then his co-workers suggest that he try out the local dance contest. However, the key performance comes in his final dance with Drake, in a desperation to perform, where his talented dance moves come into play, eventually winning first prize.
In the end, Josh lives in a pretty ordinary world with a cool stepbrother and an 'evil' stepsister. He has grown to love the family, including Megan.
Usually when Josh gets into trouble, and he has trouble explaining things when he usually whimpers.
History
Early life
Josh is born November 10th, 1988, to Walter and Jonnah Nichols, Josh comes in a well-educated family, and this is reflected in the upbringing of Josh as a person. His attitude towards studies and family are reflective of a normal person. He enjoys the company of his family.
Pilot
After Josh's father and Drake's mother got engaged, Josh moves in with Drake in order to start one big family. Drake, reluctant about Josh moving in, decides to let Josh stay in his room, and by sharing one big room with Josh, the relationship the two have had during the moving phase slowly dissipate. An example of this is Drake's reluctance to Josh hugging him during Pilot. However, it is shown that Drake begins to grow accustomed to Josh's temperament, and his reluctance becomes voluntary.
Relationships with Other Characters
Drake Parker
Before they became stepbrothers, Drake thought Josh was weird however Josh said Drake was OK and decided to give him a chance. At first, he was excited because he was going to have a stepbrother but then he decided Drake was just selfish when he used his Ms. Nancy clique to get Tiffany to himself. At the end of the pilot, they make up and grow a strong, trusting brother ship. Later on, the series they've seen cause trouble and pain to each other and in "Josh is Done", Drake's selfishness finally pushes Josh to considered him a roommate and nothing more. However, after Drake confessed remorse for being a terrible brother and how much he needed him in his life following a chemical accident in science class, Josh reconciles with him and Drake. Though how much trouble they cause each other, they always make up at the end, usually by saying "Hug me, brother!".
Megan Parker
Megan is usually seen insulting, pranking or harassing her stepbrother. Josh usually calls Megan evil and acts like he dislikes her but the two were shown to care about each other, seen in the episodes (and movies) like: The Gary Grill, Megan's First Kiss and Drake & Josh Go Hollywood. Even though it's not often they sometimes say they love each other.
Mindy Crenshaw
Mindy was Drake and Josh's rival and enemy when she appeared on Honor Council. Then on Mindy's Back, Mindy says she likes Josh, and they get together however he needs tell Drake that he and Mindy are a couple, or Mindy would break up with him. But this moment caused Drake's head to explode on Josh's dream. At the end they get back together and kiss. In Mindy Loves Josh, Mindy tells Josh that she loves him. Josh panics and can’t decide what to do. They break up but get back together in Really Big Shrimp.
Audrey Parker-Nichols
Audrey and Josh have an ordinary stepmother-stepson relationship. They care about each other, but he also usually gets scolded and grounded by her. He is also comfortable calling her "Mom" rather than her first name.
Walter Nichols
Walter and Josh have an ordinary father-son relationship. But sometimes it's clear that Josh likes Walter better than Audrey. They are both goofy and kind of awkward. They care about each other but when Audrey decides to ground Josh, Walter is usually on her side.
Oprah
Josh idolizes Oprah and believes she can do anything. He says he used to have a crush on her but it's noticeable that he still does. When someone trash talks or says something about Oprah, Josh usually loses his temper. He always watches her show.
Trivia
- The only episode where Josh had a minor role was in "The Storm", as he only appears in the opening sequence as well as the cold open. After that, he didn't appear for the rest of the episode.
- He only had one girlfriend, Mindy, but he said that he had many crushes. although he made a bet with Drake who can date the most girls.
- It is a recurring gag that many people say he has a big head, or it's "bigger than average".
- Though Drake is much more liked by others, Grammy, Mrs. Hayfer, Mindy and Sammy are the ones who like Josh more.
- He is smarter than Drake and does well in the Regent Park Community.
- He is constantly tortured and harassed by his little stepsister, Megan and formerly Mindy.
- He is a good student.
- Like Drake, Josh's hairstyles changed every season. In season 1, he had a low short hairstyle, in season 2, his hair grew a bit, resembling a short afro, in season 3, he had long and curly hair and in season 4, he went back to his short afro type hair.
- He is friends with Trevor, Craig Ramirez, Drew, Leah and Eric Blonowitz
- He's a terrible liar, as shown on many occasions, and almost always gets caught when lying.
- He worked at The Premiere from seasons 2-4. He started working there during the season 2 episode, "Movie Job".
- He has a crush on Oprah Winfrey.
- His actor, Josh Peck shares the same first name and middle name with him. They're both born on November 10.
- He's Drake's band manager.
- He has lumbar problems.
- It is revealed that he is allergic to cheese balls in "The Bet".
- He got arrested seven times in the episode "Theater Thug".
- He has allergies as shown in the episode "Steered Straight".
- Around Season 3, he lost some weight, but it wasn't until season 4 that he was now as skinny as Drake. but no one noticed his incredible weight loss until Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh.
- Josh is always referring to Megan as Little Girl in almost every episode.
- As mentioned, many times, Josh is a magician, though an amateur one as stated by him in The Great Doheny.
- Josh is also known to be a pretty good cook, as he has made chili, brownies, ravioli and a lot more throughout the show.
- Every time Josh gets in trouble, he always has trouble explaining things that lands him in hot water with people.
- To Walter and Audrey, he is the oldest child and first son.
- He’s a Scorpio.
- He loves magic.
- Josh's favorite color is blue.
- Josh's favorite food is nachos.
- Josh's favorite drink is milk.
- His full name is Joshua Michael Nichols.
- He’s a few months younger than Drake Parker and Craig Ramirez.
- His ears are pierced as seen in First Crush when he’s wearing earrings.
- Josh has his name in four episode titles which are The Drake & Josh Inn, Josh Runs Into Oprah, Mindy Loves Josh and Josh Is Done.
- Drake and Josh's relationship and personalities can draw great parallels to cousins Will Smith and Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
- Drake/Will are the immature, cool, and popular kids who date plenty of girls while Josh/Carlton are the well-mannered and dorky achievers and are considered unusual by their peers.
- Both Drake and Will do not have their biological fathers present in their lives while Josh and Carlton do.
- Both Drake and Josh learn and influence from each other like Will and Carlton learn things from each other.
- Drake/Will become more mature and treating others better due to Josh/Carlton's influence while they learn about bending the rules once in a while from Drake/Will.
- Josh and Carlton are considered pretty great dancers.
- Josh and Carlton have been made fun of for the shape of their heads.
- Drake and Josh had an episode with them being in a dance contest as partners (Dance Contest) just like Will and Carlton did in the episode Viva Lost Wages. Both pairs won the contest.
- It is Josh/Carlton that make the attempt to bond with Drake/Will while Drake/Will are very uninterested and does not respect them initially.
- Drake and Josh also have notable opposite traits of Will and Carlton.
- Will and Carlton are biologically related, as they are cousins, while Drake and Josh are not and only become brothers through their parents' marriage.
- Drake and Josh share a room while Will and Carlton are only seen sharing a room in the first episode but in later episodes, Will gets his own room.
- Josh moves into Drake's life as his father marries Drake's mother having father and son move into the Parker's family home while it is Will that moves into Carlton's life as Will is sent by his mother to live with Carlton's family the Bank's house to stay out of trouble and to be invested in a brighter future.
- Josh's biological mother is not known while Carlton still has his mother in his life.
- Josh's father, Walter, is also not very respected by others just like Josh. Carlton's father, Philip, however, is very respected and at times intimidating to others.