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. He mentioned in the season one episode "The Mama Who Came to Dinner" as having three brothers: Frank (who later appeared in the season 8 episode, "The Brother Who Came to Dinner"), Walter and Calvin; and in another episode from that same season, "The Party", a 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 easy 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 from his own clumsy demeanor, he has shown he's more mature than Eddie is in accepting responsibility. Carl is often there to back Steve up and help him out in times of distress. Although he continues to be exasperated and irritated by his antics, over the progression of the show, Carl develops a fondness for Steve that surprises even himself.

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 of being racially discriminated due to him being an African American descent was what motivated him to become a police officer to make differences in his community. 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 (in the Season 4 episode "Driving Carl Crazy", he is revealed to have high blood pressure, which got dangerous because he tried to dodge dieting). Despite the stress of his job, he neither abuses alcohol or tobacco to cope with them; he rather depends 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