List of Family Matters characters

Carlton "Carl" Otis Winslow, who originally appeared in the ''Perfect Strangers'' episode "Crimebusters" alongside his wife, Harriette, is the son of Estelle Winslow and the late Samuel Winslow, brother-in-law of Rachel Crawford, father of Eddie, Laura, and Judy Winslow, uncle of Richie Crawford and adoptive father of "3J" Jameson. He is a short-tempered, miserly man, but still has a kind and humble nature. In the Season 1 episode "The Mama Who Came to Dinner", Carl mentions having three brothers: Frank (who later appeared in the season 8 episode, "The Brother Who Came to Dinner"), Walter and Calvin; in another episode from that same season, "The Party", he mentions another brother named Darryl. His initials spell "COW" and he is often teased because of this. He holds his position as "King of the Castle" (a self-proclaimed "Big Kahuna") very seriously; however, he is typically quick to admit defeat to Harriette when involved in typical marital disputes.

Carl is constantly annoyed, irritated, and bothered by his pesky neighbor, Steve Urkel, who has great respect for Carl and affectionately calls him "Big Guy." Although Steve is relentlessly annoying and has cost the Winslow family large amounts of time and money with his own clumsiness, he has shown he is more mature than Eddie in accepting responsibility. Carl is often present to back Steve up and help him out in times of distress. Although he continues to be exasperated and irritated by Steve's antics, over the progression of the show, Carl develops a fondness for Steve that surprises even him.

Carl is an officer for the Chicago Police Department. He takes his job seriously and it is often suggested that he is very good at what he does, despite working with several incompetent bosses. In the episode "Good Cop, Bad Cop", it was revealed that Carl's own experience with racial discrimination as a Black person motivated him to become a police officer in order to make a difference in his community, sacrificed his ambition to pursue higher education. He inevitably makes enemies in criminals in the city, but most are incompetent and always fail in their revenge against him. Fitting into the cop stereotype, he has an avid love for doughnuts and other junk food. This plays into the fact that he is overweight and in several stories throughout the series, Carl's physical health plays a role (for example, in the Season 4 episode "Driving Carl Crazy", he is revealed to have high blood pressure, exacerbated by avoiding a healthy diet. Despite the stress of his job, he neither abuses alcohol or tobacco to cope with them; he depends instead on his family for comfort and support. Carl starts the series as a police sergeant; he is later promoted to lieutenant in Season 5's "That's What Friends Are For", and eventually captain in Season 9's "Who's Afraid of the Big Black Book?".

Carl is also the only character to appear in every single episode of the series. Provided by Wikipedia