Ned Bigby

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Ned Bigby

Ned Bigby, portrayed by Devon Werkheiser, is the protagonist of Nickelodeon's sitcom Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Ned's principle role is to give tips, which cover a diverse number of subjects, to the viewing audience at home by breaking the fourth wall. These tips are contained in his eponymous notebook.

Ned is portrayed as an average but upbeat Californian eighth grader attending James K. Polk Middle School. Despite not being very popular, Ned enjoys the company of his best friends Jennifer "Moze" Mosely and Simon "Cookie" Nelson-Cook. Ned also shares a unique rivalrous relationship with resident school bully Billy Loomer.

Character History

Season 1

In the first season, much has been found out about Ned's life. He has a crush on one of the most popular girls at school, Suzie"the Spazz" Crabgrass. Ned wanted to ask Suzie to a school dance, but Seth Powers asked her -right in front of him, although it was an accident. Ned did eventually get to dance with Suzie a few songs later, though, after her date for the night left her to chase the basketball he had spinning on his right fingertips. The only people who have a known romantic interest in Ned are The Huge Crew, a trio of female bullies named Doris, Mandy, and Sandy. Ned is rather creeped out by this, and doesn't return the favor.

Ned likes to take charge when he doesn't like something. When he, Moze and Cookie aspired to sit at the cool table in the lunchroom, he created his own cool table, complete with cool lights, a band, and cool furniture. It even had a bouncer. However, his table became too cool, simply because everyone was invited to sit there. Also, when he and Moze's ancient history teacher, Mr. Wright, got a little out of hand in how he picked talent for his talent show, allowing only the classics to perform, Ned set up a rival talent show that wasn't boring and instead was a big success, even with Mr. Wright, who decided to relax his "only-the-classics-are-allowed-in-my-show" stance, and let Ned, Moze, and Cookie pick some of the talent for his next talent show (within reason).

The only thing Ned never wanted to do was run for 7th grade class president. He was nominated by The Huge Crew without knowing in advance, and quickly sought every way to get out of it because he saw the election as nothing but a popularity contest because, as he said, "Suzie and Doug," the most popular guy or girl in school, "always wins." But when he found out that Moze's woodshop teacher, Mr. Chopsaw, scored an upset win in the 1978 7th grade class presidential election, he decided to go ahead and run. He got tons of votes, but he, Suzie, and Doug all lost by one vote-to the weasel that runs around the school.

Season 2

Ned eventually went on his first date in season two's "Guide to: Dares," but it wasn't with Suzie. Ned was dared by Cookie to ask out Missy Meany , a cheerleader and the most popular girl in school, whom, in previous shorts, belittled Ned, and, at one point, even stole his "Survival Guide" idea. Ned didn't hesitate, and prepared himself for rejection, but, to his surprise, Missy not only said yes, but she appeared genuinely excited about their date. She even told Ned what she is going to wear and what he has to wear on the date: "I'm really looking forward to the date. Make sure you wear red shirt and black pants." According to Ned, the date went well. "We laughed at the same jokes, we like the same music," he said. But any potential for his first real relationship was killed when, with Missy standing nearby, he remarked to Moze that he never would've asked Missy out if he hadn't been dared. Upon hearing this, Missy said "What! You asked me because you were dared? You stink Ned Bigby!" and then threw Ned into an inflatable pool filled with water and a swimming nurse shark (Cookie and Loomer had dared each other to jump the shark on a bicycle. Cookie then backed out, while Loomer missed the first ramp, and wheeled right into the back of an ambulance).

Though Suzie dates Loomer, two instances in season two may indicate that the door is still open for Suzie and Ned to have a relationship, and, that perhaps, Suzie may have feelings for Ned, too. After their kiss, Suzie told Ned she was still dating Loomer, and that, "our love can never be...for now, anyways." The second instance can be found in the "Guide to: Gross Biology Dissection." While Ned and Moze are thrilled about dissecting a frog, Suzie protests. Not surprisingly, Ned joins in on her campaign, just to get her to like him. While passing out fliers in the hall, Ned is approached by Loomer, who takes a flier, crumples it up, and puts it in his mouth. As he walks away, Suzie, sitting at a stand you'd normally see on a roadside, says, "Loomer can't wait to dissect. He's not sweet and sensitive like you," smiling at the end of the statement.

In the episode's second short, the "Guide to: Bad Habits," Ned learned how to say "no," since his bad habit was saying "yes" to everything. At the end of the short, Ned (rather excitedly) said "no" to everything, from helping Martin Qwerly help build a new cement sidewalk, to a study date with Suzie. When Moze and Cookie approached him, Moze said, "Congratulations, you've learned how to say 'no.' But you just said 'no' to a date with Suzie Crabgrass."

Ned's personal life has been the subject of rumors in the past. Once, when he said he liked Moze's nickname (Quote:"'Moze' is a cool nickname. I like Moze."), another girl overheard the last part of that statement, and thought he was referring to Moze herself. A rumor then spread that Ned was secretly in love with Moze and wanted to ask her out. He eventually caught Moze off-guard and told her the rumors weren't true. However, they had to kill the rumor by faking a break-up in front of everyone, which everyone believed.

In the season finale, "Guide to: Double Dating & The Last Day" Ned finally goes on a date with Suzie, and decides to double date with Moze. Surprisingly, Suzie tells Moze (both of whom are best friends at this point) that she decides that she wants Ned to kiss her (Suzie). Moze quickly runs to tell Ned, but learns that Ned has a bad case of the runs due to some spicy food he ate earlier at the dance. After taking an emergency medicine from the school nurse (who came to the school in her night robes), Ned is fine. He runs off to find and kiss Suzie, but accidentally kisses Moze, who is wearing the same outfit and has the same hair style as Suzie. Interestingly, their psychic lunch lady had recently told Ned that he would kiss his true love at a dance soon. In "The Last Day", Moze and Ned decide that the kiss meant nothing and try to figure out a way to tell Suzie without losing a best friend and a potential girlfriend. In the end, however, Suzie tells them that she already knew because Moze's date told her. She understands that it was just an accident and assures Ned that she'll call him and see Moze later. When Moze and Ned sit down on the bus, though, they kiss again to prove that it meant nothing. In an earlier episode he remarked about how Moze was "a beautiful girl- I-I-I mean, beautiful smile for the camera.". In the new semester episode, Ned reveals that he and Moze kissed at his birthday party. Then, Moze replies that it was his fifth birthday party and her mom made her do it, so it doesn't count.

Season 3

There has been one love episode in Season 3. In the short "School Play", Ned tries to prevent another teen (Corbin Bleu) from stealing Suzie because of the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. In the end, Ned has to kiss Cookie when he injures Suzie and the teen who plays Romeo in the play. When Ned tried to tell Suzie about the incident, she says angrily, "You are really lucky you're cute". In "New Grade", Suzie is mad because Ned keeps beating up people as the new class bully (These are all accidents). Ned becomes captain of his Dodgeball team and beats Loomer's team. He also skips reading assignments. In the guide to "Principals", Ned tries to find good candidates to take Principal Pal's job. He finds none until he finds Mr. Wright who he convinces to try out for Principal. Mr. Wright then gets the job.

In the episode "Popularity" Ned and Suzie begin a relationship after Missy (who has developed a crush on Ned) tries to sabotage them getting together in hopes that Ned will turn his attention to her by making Ned wear body jewelery and writing "You Stink" on his forehead and face. The plan backfires when Suzie walks up to Ned and Missy wearing the same body jewelery and with the words "You Stink 2" when Missy storms off Suzie asks Ned out. Also, in the episode "Friends Moving" when Ned has a problem with doors, he carries a cushion protector but everyone else in the episode thought it was a pillow. During the episode while still using the cusion protector Suzie comes up to him about to tell him something, but Ned interrupts and starts talking about his cushion protector. But later, he found out that Suzie said that she was moving closer to her father because of his job and that was the end of the episode. The continuing episode was that after Suzie moved Ned became depressed and stopped writing tips for the guide. So Cookie, Gordy, and Sweeney decide to make a plan to make Ned start writing tips for the guide. The trio made a parody of "A Christmas Carol," by having Gordy be the "Ghost of Tip-less Past," showing Ned's past convincing Ned at the end of the episode to start writing tips again.

Ned is starting to realize that he has a crush on Moze. There has been a time in the episode 'Girls' that Ned indicates that he would recognize his perfect girl if she is "glowing" and he could hear the voices of the singing angels every time he sees that certain girl. Ned later experienced these symptoms. Only, these "symptoms" were really Gordy, turning on his spotlight, and the choir, practicing out all over the school because Gordy hadn't fixed their classroom's lights yet. Finally, though, when Ned saw Moze again, he found the "symptoms", as usual. He then thought that the choir and Gordy were there again, and therefore said "Gordy, cut it out," but to his surprise, Gordy responded that he wasn't doing anything, and that he had in fact finally fixed the choir's lights.

Also in the short "Woodshop", Ned thinks Moze likes him after the woodshop teacher tells them that Moze and him make a good couple and that Moze talks about him a lot. Moze was working on a secret project and won't tell Ned about it. When the woodshop teacher and Moze are talking about her project Ned over hears Moze say "I like him" but doesn't know that she is referring to the project (which is a chair). Now Ned was weirded out and later in the day he hears them talking again and hears Moze say "I want him to love me" and the woodshop teacher says "He'll love you' then Moze says but they are really talking about the judge. So Ned goes and tell Gordy that Moze likes him and Gordy thinks it was about time they go out. Gordy (whom also loves the phsycic lunchlady) goes and talks to Moze (thinking she likes Ned) and now Gordy tells Ned that she does like him and he is gonna tell him at 3:00. Then Gordy tells him to ask her out. Ned is all nervous and he gives the flowers to Moze quickly and says something along the line of "This is really hard to say so here it goes.." but then Moze stops him and shows him her chair and he thinks its for him. Then she tells him it's for a contest so Ned feels pretty stupid. Then Moze asks what were the flowers for and he says to cheer her up. Then the judge walks up and says Moze's chair is great but when he sits in it, it breaks. Then Moze thinks Ned was the reason her chair broke (really it was Cookie). Then Moze says something like "Oh, so you just got me flowers to tell me you like me. The Ned says "On second thought, I broke your chair, sorry". Then Moze chases Ned down the hall.

In the episode Positives & Negatives and Parties, Moze finds out that she does not feel a spark when Faymen kisses her. She then realizes that the only time she felt a spark was when she kissed Ned. She tries to plant one on Ned during a game of spin the bottle to compare the kisses, but every time she pulls Ned next to her, he leaves too early and Coconut Head (who has just eaten anchovies, garlic, and other snack that gives bad breath ) comes, so, she is forced to kiss him. The next time she tries to bring Ned, Faymen's dog appears instead. Ned goes to the party with Missy, but Suzie arrives so Ned tries to ditch Missy. Apparently, he misses Suzie very much and wants to talk to her almost as much, but Missy can't see Ned with Suzie and Suzie can't see Ned with Missy. Ned fakes being trapped in a closet, so Missy gets help. Missy breaks down the door to the closet, finding out he isn't in there. She gets banned from the house. Ned then tells Suzie and Missy the truth and everything is back to normal. Faymen then comes to sit down in the Spin the Bottle seating area (much to Moze's frustration). The fast song "Party Animal" comes on and Cookie dances like crazy. His wig falls onto the stove, starting a fire (almost like last year, except Cookie toppled over a lamp). The music stops and everyone is silent, recognizing Cookie and staring at him in shock. Cookie flees, knocking Ned into the seat the magnetic paper clip is in front of. The bottle spins due to the impact and it points to the paper clip (and Ned) Moze and Ned kiss, and there are not only sparks but fireworks. After they kiss, everyone in the party is evacuating because of the fire (which is actually quite small) but they take no notice. They are bewildered and Moze asks, in shock, "Is it me or is it hot in here?" (a clever pun, due to the fire that is around them) Ned, equally in shock, with a trembling voice, responds "Maybe?" The episode ends with Moze and Ned staring at each other, with everyone else screaming and leaving the party up the stairs.

In the next episode entitled "Spring Fever" the entire school is in chaos as kids - especially Ned - try to escape to the outdoors after the winter chill has finally faded. Ned spends the episode running away from Missy who's determined to get a kiss from him, and he's always trying to find his way outside to enjoy the spring weather. Moze spends the episode cleaning everything in sight to avoide Faymen who keeps trying to kiss her. Cookie finally gets his chance to spend the day with Lisa Zemo. Unfortunately, due to the new spring weather, Lisa's allergies come back full force returning her to her fashionably challenged, glasses wearing, runny nosed self from previous years. At one point early on, Ned runs to Cooke and Moze to get help in finding his way outside to see the sun - V.P. Crubbs has the school in lock down due to nine kids having not returned for entire week the year before when Spring Fever hit. When Ned asks what's with the calendar, Cookie tells how it's his turn to spend the day with Lisa and leaves. Ned asks Moze for help but she's staring at him. He asks what she's so deep in thought about and she remembers their three kisses from Double Dating, The Last Day, and Parties. Faymen shows up and asks her to walk him to class. She can't decide between Ned and Faymen and ends up running off talking about how she needs to clean. Later in the cafeteria, Ned is dressed up as a cafeteria worker and tells Moze he's trying to get outside and hide from Missy. He then asks Moze if she wants to go out with him. Moze is caught off guard thinking he means dating and starts cleaning her lunch tray to avoid answering. Ned gives up and heads for the door where he runs into Missy. With the help of Mr. Chopsaw, Moze decides she needs to tell Ned and Faymen - but mostly Ned - her feelings for Ned. She runs outside to find him in Missy's clutches being kissed by her. Faymen shows up and finally kisses Moze and she says his kisses are getting better. The episode ends with everyone enjoying the spring sun which suddenly turns to rain and sleet.

Next on Ned's Declassified in "Health" Ned deals with an embarrassing itch. Moze deals with an aversion to giving CPR to the old Resesu-Larry. And Cookie deals with mood swings. Due to misunderstandings, Cookie believe Moze, Mr. Monroe and Gordy got rid of Faymen because he was a bad kisser.

In "Jealousy" Ned's having trouble when - after their "Spring Fever" kiss - Missy won't let any other girl near him. Cookie thinks jealousy is just the thing to finally get Lisa to like him again. In the hopes of putting a stop to Missy's terrorizing the school, Ned - realizing Moze is immune to Missy and her antics - asks Moze to be his pretend girlfriend. He hangs the picture of them from "Yearbooks" in her locker over Faymen's picture, has Moze wear his jacket and has them put on matching friendship rings, all in the hopes of convincing Missy they're going out. Moze isn't convinced until Ned says "We just hold hands, cuddle a little, peck on the cheek" and when he demonstrates the last one on her Moze, feels sparks and sees fireworks again. Moze - and eventually Ned - get into the role, especially when Missy dares them to kiss. Missy leaves angrily while Moze and Ned are still both affected by the kiss. Ned asks not so casually how things are between Moze and Faymen - one could assume he's trying to see if maybe he's got a shot with Moze instead. Both appear disappointed when their plan works, Missy backs off, and they decide to "break-up" again. Overhearing this, Missy declares Ned is hers again. She makes Ned wear a shirt proclaiming this and Moze becomes jealous. Missy finally conceeds that Moze and Ned belong together. Ned is thrilled thinking his problems are over until Seth, Faymen and Billy (who have spent the episode fighting for Moze's honor) see the pair hugging "romantically". The three dressed as sumo wrestlers chase after Ned.In the most recent Gordy finds out a way to tell each other they like each other. They are about to hook up when Suzie Crabgrass returns because her dad had found a new job in town. Ned and Moze finally begin to date in the series finale.

Relationships

• Moze - Moze is Ned's other best friend, his new girlfriend, and the two have known each other since pre-k. She often gives Ned advice, occasionally providing a tip for the Guide, although Ned usually ignores this and carries out with his own plan with the school janitor, Gordy, and with his other best friend Cookie, eventually seeing that she was right. A relationship between the two is often implied, and they have actually kissed six times and a half times (once at Ned's fifth birthday party, accidentally at the school dance in 'Double Dating', again at the back of the bus in 'The Last Day' episode, once at Seth's house in "Parties" due to a game of rigged Spin The Bottle, 1 and a half in the jealousy episode (Ned kisses Moze on the cheek then they kiss in front of Missy to get her to back off Ned) where they actually look like they want to be together, and finally in "Field Trip" when they finally decide to date each other). They were also mistakenly named the class couple after Ned and Cookie came up with a plan to keep Jock Goldman away from Moze in 'Yearbooks'. There were many hints of a relationship between the two before they finally hooked up. Ned has, indeed, liked Moze, particularly in the episode 'Girls', although his then relationship with Suzie Crabgrass temporarily overpowered some of his feelings for Moze. He and Moze begin to date in the series finale, "the big feild trip."
• Cookie - Cookie and Ned are best friends who do many things together, particularly in Life Science, in which the two are always paired to care for the baby. The friendship is put on the line a fair few times, occasionally resulting in a fight, although the two make amends later in the episode. They always like to go to Gordy for advice and his advice is normally wrong and Moze's is right.
• Vice Principal Crubbs - Ned's results from a career test suggested a teaching or counseling job, as well as a job as vice principal. Crubbs was teaching his own 'Careers in Education' class and tried to get Ned to come. Ned, wanting a more exciting career, avoided the class, although he always wound up in the class after a series of misadventures (i.e. getting beat up by the professional wrestler in the 'Careers in Professional Wrestling Class' and getting thrown into Crubbs's class).
• Suzie Crabgrass - Ned had a crush on Suzie for much of seasons 1 and 2, although she showed no interest in him, going out with Billy Loomer and Seth Powers over him. Later in the third season, Ned and Suzie begin dating, leading to several relationship-related situations (i.e. Ned thinks Suzie is cheating on him). Perhaps the largest of these issues, Suzie informed Ned in "Moving" that she was moving out of the state. After moving, Suzie and Ned begin to talk on the phone on a particular schedule during the day. This causes problems between the two, as Ned accidentally says no to meeting up with her when she is going to be back in state for a day, and sometimes accidentally hanging up on her. Many more accidents occur, causing Suzie to think that Ned is breaking up with her. This conflict is resolved when Ned calls at the end of the day. But, Suzie says that if he ever hangs up on her again, she will dump him. Ned is about to respond when the battery dies on the cell phone he is using, and she last says to herself, "That's it, we're through!" They both met again at Seth's party and Suzie kissed him on the cheek, to Missy's dislike. In the second to last episode of the series, Suzie returns just as Moze and Ned are about to tell each other they like each other. Ned and Moze both take her sudden return to mean they should just stay friends. In the series finale "Field Trip...", Ned spends most of the entire episode fighting thoughts of Moze while trying to get together with Suzie again. In the end he realizes he wants Moze over Suzie. Ned and Moze get together and they kiss :) while Suzie asks Loomer if he wants to go out again.

But She and ned remain Friends.

• Billy Loomer - The typical school bully, Loomer and his cronies see Ned as an easy target, particularly after Ned was caught running out of the girl's restroom. Ned and Loomer have, however, worked together on a few occasions throughout the series, most notably in 'New Grade', when Ned, trying to be tougher, was seen as a bully and wanted to change back to his 'sweet and sensitive' self.
• Mr. Gibson - Ned decided to take Music Instruction for his music class, choosing the guitar with dreams of being a rock star. Mr. Gibson "confined" him to playing scales as apposed to teaching him how to "rock". Frustrated, Ned quits Music Instruction and joins Music Appreciation briefly, until Mr. Gibson reveals himself to be a rocker himself, insisting that in order to rock, Ned had to learn the basics first. Ned rejoins his class and continues playing the guitar, although his skill with the instrument is never brought up again.
• Gordy - Ned goes to Gordy for advice, usually involving his relationship with Suzie. Gordy gives Ned what he thinks is good advice, usually coupled with some hair-brained plan of action that makes the situation worse. Gordy has also shown to care for Ned, once putting his desire to capture the weasel behind Ned's needs.
• Missy Meanie - Ned had a very brief relationship with Missy after being dared by Cookie to ask her out in 'Dares'. Ned did so, and enjoyed dating Missy until she found out he asked her out on a dare and broke up with him. Later, Missy gave Ned a makeover to "make him popular" and "impress" Suzie while actually making him look like a freak, giving him several piercings and painting the words 'You Stink' on his forehead. Suzie, who liked Ned, realized what Missy was doing and took on Ned's look to try and impress him, writing 'You Stink 2' on her forehead. Missy has had feelings for Ned ever since he picked up her pencil for her in one of their classes. Missy seems to be very interested in Ned as the mere mention of him gets her excited and if it involves him, she'll usually go along with it.
• Mr. Sweeney - Ned has stated that Mr. Sweeney is his least favorite teacher, though in the episode "Field Trips", Sweeney says Ned will always be remembered as one of his worst students, but also one of his favorites. Ned typically daydreams in his class and goofs off instead of focusing on the lesson (i.e. making a snowman out of styrofoam balls and toothpicks instead of a molecule). Sweeney, however, has helped Ned pass his class in a few instances (giving him the 'Golden Notebook' to study from and becoming his science tutor).

Trivia

• Ned has not only kissed Moze (six times), but has been kissed by Missy (thrice), The Huge Crew, and Suzie.
• A running gag in the series is Ned finding himself in the girls bathroom. Because of this, he is targeted by Loomer, his followers Crony and Buzz and his friends. Ned has been caught in the girl's room at least 5 times throughout the course of the series. This is also used as an explanation why Ned created the guide in the first place.
• As a result of an encounter with one of Cookie's study devices (the Crammaster), Ned occasionally sees the imaginary figures of Abraham Lincoln and Benedict Arnold, who engage him in moral debates, acting as his conscience.
• Ned dressed as a vampire in the Halloween special. He tried to learn how to turn into a bat and fly, with limited success, although this occurred in a dream.
• In Guide to: Notebooks, one of Ned's doodles is of the Crimson Chin, a comic book superhero in The Fairly Oddparents.
• Ned spends every Friday night with his best friend and neighbor Jennifer Mosely eating pizza, playing video games, and watching movies.
• Ned held the largest Permanent Records record until it was shredded in Guide to: School Records.
• In the short "Nicknames", he goes through a series of nicknames, including 'Wedge-Picker', 'Spazz', and 'Big Bee'.
• When Ned gets hit or hurt, he usually continues what he is doing then a split second later, will rub the place he was hurt and say, "Owwwwww!"
• In "Woodshop", Ned is about to tell Moze he likes her because he thinks she's planning to tell him she likes him but when he finds out she wasn't going to, he chickens out.
• Ned is almost always wearing Converse All-Stars.
• After Ned and Moze kiss in "Parties", it is somewhat like the graduation episode of Boy Meets World where Topanga proposes to Cory, where everyone around them is celebrating (or in Ned and Moze's case, screaming and running in panic) and the two of them are just staring at each other in shock.
• Den Ybgib is his alter-ego in the episode "Tests" in an attempt to channel his complete opposite in order to ace his three tests which are all scheduled on the same day.
• Ned and Moze Finally "Made Out" in the rose Garden in the Guide to: Field Trips and are now going out.
• Ned, Moze, and Cookie walk out of the School in step in "Field Trip" for the last time just as Ned and Cookie did the first time they entered the school in "The First Day."
• The only time Ned appears shirtless in the show is in the final episode "Field Trip". Ned gives Coconut Head his clothes to wear, making him into a decoy. Moze then buys Ned a grass skirt and t-shirt to wear (it was all they had at the gift shop) and while falling out of a tree, the shirt gets ripped off. Ned appears wearing only the grass skirt for several scenes including when he asks out Moze.
• Even in the beginning of the show, (Seasons 1&2) Ned seemed to be somewhat jealous when Moze was going out with Seth Powers. This may be an indication that he liked her since the show began.
• Devon Werkheiser also plays Nolan Byrd in Shredderman Rules. Ned Bigby and Nolan Byrd have the same initials.

External links

• Nick Profile of Ned