Phineas Flynn
This article is about Phineas Flynn. For his 2nd dimension counterpart, see Phineas Flynn (2nd Dimension).
- “Hey Ferb! I know what we're gonna do today!”
- ―Phineas Flynn
Phineas Flynn is one of the two titular protagonists of the Disney Channel Original Series Phineas and Ferb. He is one of three children of the Flynn-Fletcher family, with his disapproving older sister, Candace, and his English stepbrother, Ferb. He shares a strong bond with the family pet, a platypus named Perry, but remains unaware of his vague double life as a covert agent and is usually the one who realizes he is missing and wonders where he is.
An incurable optimist, Phineas constantly looks on the brighter side of things. He is also extremely smart, creative, and persistent, allowing him to be able to endeavor in immensely large projects and activities with the help of his less-talkative stepbrother Ferb, and usually with many other neighborhood children. His hospitality is a driving force behind many of his plans. The series concerns Phineas' attempts to avoid constant boredom by finding something new to do every day during summer vacation. The activities they devise usually involve outlandish contraptions, including roller coasters, haunted houses, and roller rinks, which Phineas designs and Ferb builds. He is also one of the five titular characters of the Phineas and Ferb/Milo Murphy's Law/Hamster & Gretel universe, the other four being his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher, their friend Milo Murphy, Hamster, & Gretel Grant-Gomez.
Phineas is part of a blended family, a decision creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh made to reflect his own experiences growing up. Born in America, Phineas lives in the town of Danville. When he was an infant, his mother, Linda Flynn who was a single parent at the time met and fell in love with a British archaeologist, Lawrence Fletcher at a Love Handel concert. When Linda and Lawrence were eventually married, Phineas and Candace gained Lawrence as a stepfather and his son, Ferb as a stepbrother.
For his entire life, Phineas was raised in a reconstituted family but is fully accustomed to it as if it were an average American family. Linda herself often mistakes him for being Lawrence's biological son.
Phineas and his stepbrother, Ferb have shared an enduring relationship, not only as step-siblings but as best friends. They possess a common overactive imagination which has become the driving force behind their technical ability. He cherishes the memories he has shared with Ferb from their early childhood but feels he had over-romanticized some of them.
Every year from Phineas' birth, his family, often inviting some friends with them, would visit and stay at Clyde and Betty Jo Flynn's home in the mountains. Recently, Phineas would call the place Camp Phineas and Ferb.
Phineas is always thinking up ways to squeeze more fun out of every summer day to stay entertained.
My Disney Experience official description
Phineas always knows what to do! He has a million ideas and school's out for summer. Time to rock!
Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh had conceived the idea of the Phineas and Ferb series while working as layout artists on The Simpsons. After planning the basics of the show, the two began laying out characters. Povenmire, eating dinner with his family at a Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, California, drew a quick sketch of a "triangle kid." Povenmire named the triangle doodle "Phineas," saying he "look[ed]like [one]", and with reference to the character Phileas Fogg (often mis-referenced as "Phineas Fogg") from Around the World in 80 Days (1873), Povenmire tore the paper out and called Marsh that night, telling him "Hey, I think we have our show."
Phineas was originally drawn on a piece of butcher paper in a restaurant by Dan Povenmire. He was the first character of the show created.
As shown in the Original Story Pitch, Phineas was intended to be slightly feistier, having a little obnoxious attitude, like an annoying little brother. This can be shown in the title song for the pitch, where he responds to "Driving our sister insane!" with "(It's a short drive...)". He appeared to act slightly more annoyed with Isabella's crush on him, which is another difference (him knowing of the crush).
Phineas was named when co-creator Dan Povenmire looked at the first drawing of him (which he referred to as "this triangle kid") and decided that he looked like the final name. Thus Phineas was born. After designing the show, the two had significant difficulties getting the series greenlit. It was not picked up for fifteen years. In their final pitch to The Walt Disney Company, the creators designed a recorded storyboard, featuring a very rough outline of characters. The prototype Phineas was ruder to others than the version in the eventual show. Citing comedy's "big duos", including Wallace and Gromit and Jay and Silent Bob, the creators chose to give Phineas most of the dialogue while Ferb remains almost silent.
Phineas' voice actor, Vincent Martella, makes his voice high pitched to do Phineas. His actual voice is slightly different and deeper. Martella is most famously known for by his work on the show Everybody Hates Chris.
Dan Povenmire stated in an interview about Phineas:
“ | His confidence makes people think, "He must be a prodigy." Nobody ever asks him if he's too young. He'd never lie to an adult or try to get away with anything. He's just motivated by fun. If he thought mom would actually dislike the things they're doing, he would probably stop, but since he's never gotten in trouble for it, he doesn't think of it as getting into trouble. | ” |
Young actor Vincent Martella, previously known for The CW series Everybody Hates Chris, Martella originally auditioned for the role five months before his initial pickup, but was left without feedback for the time. When Dan Povenmire was given a tape of Martella in Everybody Hates Chris, he called him to do Phineas for the pilot. He designed a different voice than his own which he describes as "wacky [and] crazy." The creators were afraid of him losing it when his voice changed, though he was still able to retain it for the most part even afterward, though the tone is now slightly different than the original sound.
While in recording sessions, Martella has a large amount of enthusiasm and describes it as humorous to watch him while doing a take. In interviews, Martella has said that he enjoys working on the series and voicing Phineas, and appreciates the opportunity to work alongside guest stars, especially Malcolm McDowell.
Martella once wrote an article for Popstar! Magazine his thoughts on the role and of the show itself:
“ | The greatest thing about being on Phineas so far is that I can get my parents to laugh! We all sat down to see the beach episode on New Year's Eve! Once I saw all the adults laughing along with me and my 10-year-old brother, that was the greatest thing in the world to me! | ” |
— Martella[2] |
- “I like to keep moving forward.”
- ―Phineas
Phineas is portrayed as a selfless, optimistic, intelligent, friendly, and creative child. As a means to beat boredom, he and his brother devise outrageous activities throughout their summer vacation, often participating in activities like toy design, piracy, engineering, restaurant management, and other things usually inaccessible to children. The most notable trait is his enduring optimism, along with his ever-cheerful demeanor he always strives to uphold. Even in the face of the most difficult challenges that confront him, he manages to maintain his composure and keep his outlook on the situation positive. Phineas often uses his ability to boost the morale of those around him during phases of depression.

Phineas on a scooter.
As a child, Phineas has a large amount of optimism. He pushes forward every time he makes a daily plan. This is what lets his plans succeed, as most children would simply give up once the plan calls for challenging tactics. Usually, Phineas will see the bright side of life, and when faced with a challenge, Phineas will simply find a way to get through it.
Phineas attempts to inspire others with his optimism. Mostly, he does this with his sister Candace. Others he tried to inspire were the members of Love Handel, who wouldn't believe him that they truly did still have fans.
He has many friends, almost all of whom have participated in his nearly impossible plans. For example: going on an adventure to find a buried treasure, riding on a roller-coaster, and having fun at a beach; all of which his friends have done with him. Even someone like Buford, who might otherwise be an adversary, regularly participates in the plans and also attends their family's "camp".
Phineas has shown his kindness several times. Many of his summer plans are because he wants to help someone. For example, he built a haunted house in order to scare the hiccups out of Isabella. Another time, he carved Candace's head onto Mount Rushmore for her birthday. Then, for Isabella's birthday, he turned her pool into a butterfly show. Finally, he helped Buford find his goldfish, Biff.
Other things he has done to help others that show his kindness are helping Django Brown paint the Unpainted Desert for his dad, creating a "Rainbow-Inator" for Isabella so she can finally see a real rainbow, and going on a chase after a disc that Candace needs to bust them.

Phineas acts confused when Isabella shows a sign of her affections for him.
Phineas, most likely because he is a child, can be oblivious at times. Phineas has shown to be oblivious to the emotions and intentions of those around him. It's for this shortcoming of his that he fails to notice Isabella's love interest for him as obvious as she tries to make it, along with Candace's intention to get him grounded. The greatest example is the fact that Isabella has a crush on him and is sometimes obvious about it. Phineas, however, still has no idea. Once, Isabella cut a paper string while standing next to Phineas that featured his face and hearts, and he just seemed confused. Another time, she tells him "You had me at our grandchildren", and Phineas falls for it when she corrects herself to "steaks." His concept of romance is especially simplistic, missing the subtle complexities and figures it could be plugged into a formula. It is possible that Phineas inherited this weakness from his mother considering how she ignores Candace's often completely justifiable rants of the impossible endeavors he and Ferb would engage in and neglect to acknowledge the frustration Candace would feel when she on one occasion found herself in her daughter's position.
Phineas has a very perky attitude, not very easily annoyed, and in only rare cases has shown any sign of exasperation was when Candace ignored his warnings and put herself in danger. So far, the only times Phineas has shown to be dismayed or exasperated is when Santa proclaims Danville naughty, when Baljeet's distraught wailing interrupted his morning, and when Candace dismissed his X-ray glasses. He was agitated to a particularly high extent when on what came close to turning out as a pivotal event in his family's history when he finally learned of his pet platypus Perry's secret double-life as an agent.
Being a rational and calm individual, Phineas isn't angered or irked easily. However, he is innovative to a fault; when Phineas is unable to express his creativity he may build up high amounts of stress. All Phineas wishes for Christmas is to be like Santa Claus, revealing his very loving and caring personality. Phineas also openly showed his intolerance when Santa apparently dismissed the entire population of his hometown as "naughty".
Phineas also seems to have problems lying, he scratches/rubs his ear nervously. Since he never aimed for mischief, he has no reason to lie. However, in "The Beak", Phineas lies to Isabella in order to protect her from Khaka Peü Peü.
Though a handful of instances Phineas has openly shown exasperation can be listed, there has only been two times Phineas was well and truly enraged. The first time was on the day of the Summer Solstice when Candace refused to cooperate with him during a critical moment when he needed her to swallow her pride and settle with the tricycle that was the only means of transportation available for her to make it back to their house. Under the circumstances of a dwindling time frame, Phineas eventually resorted to yelling at her in a startling outburst of rage to force her to comply to get back. The second time was when Candace tried to help the boys restore Spider-Man's, Iron Man's The Hulk's, and Thor's superpowers, (which she had messed up in the first place), and only made matters worse. Having enough, Phineas yelled at her, then kicked her out of the project, to which Buford responds "I always told her, 'Don't ever make Phineas angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry'."
Phineas has short, spiky red hair, a triangle-shaped head with a pointy nose, and large, dark blue eyes. He has three freckles near his temple. Phineas also has a slight but noticeable slouch. It is uncertain whether this is a medical condition (possibly pertaining to the size of his head), or formed of simple habit. As a toddler, Phineas wore a white t-shirt, blue overalls, and black shoes.
Currently, Phineas wears an orange and light yellow striped t-shirt, blue cargo shorts with large pockets, and blue high-top sneakers with no visible socks. Phineas' swimsuit consists of an orange pair of swimming trunks with a white cloud pattern, with dark blue sandals to match. For winter, he wears a dark blue jacket over a white turtleneck sweater, dark gray snow pants, gray gloves, and a red snow hat in the snow. He has gray boots with this outfit; he wears a light blue turtleneck sweater with a snowman on the front in place of his regular. His indoor winter clothes are a variant of his summer clothes; a long-sleeved orange-and-white striped shirt and blue cargo pants. For bedtime, his PJs are solid orange with a white neckline and cuffs, and later on, is orange with white stripes with an off-white turnover collar with buttons.
Phineas has proven himself to possess numerous talents and skills. Like his brother, he possesses an overactive imagination that is the driving force behind his endeavors. He can work very well with tools and has exceptional knowledge and prowess with construction. What distinguishes him from others of his age group is his ability to engage in feats largely amplifying that of others his age, he is also had potential in combat, demonstrated by his brief scuffle with 2nd-Dimension Doofenshmirtz, landing enough harm with plates and a wok, also durable by tanking rocket exploding during test drives, agile, and acrobatic to run or climb through mazes, towers, mountains, traps, etc. Adding his training from Evander Holyfield, despite its childish, yet fundamental practice in boxing, which include his athletic ability through sports with advanced upgrades.
He also has been shown to be a good singer. When given the opportunity to sing, he seizes it and delivers with remarkable vocal proficiency and smoothness. Along with this, he can play a number of musical instruments, including and possibly not limited to the stand-up bass, the guitar, the bass guitar, the organ, the piano, the tambourine, and the drums.
Phineas appears to be able to work well as an investigator, having been able to track and find Candace's Mary McGuffin doll based on eyewitness testimony after it was mistakenly sold in their garage sale, His most unique feature with Ferb is the "Phineas and Ferb effect," which means all their inventions work by an extreme luck, which is crucial after discovering the positive probability ions in Milo Murphy's Law.
On the first day of one summer, Phineas built an extremely large rollercoaster, dubbing it the Coolest Coaster Ever. After this, he built a beach in their backyard and remodeled Mount Rushmore for Candace's birthday.

Phineas and Ferb performing "Gitchee Gitchee Goo".
Phineas was famous for a day due to his formation of the band Phineas and the Ferb-Tones, a mega one-hit-wonder band. His band included Ferb Fletcher, and Fireside Girls Troop 46231. The band was offered by mega record company Huge-O-Records to be a client but passed it down a la diva-tantrum. The band performed for the last time at Googolplex Mall, performing "Gitchee Gitchee Goo" with Phineas' sister, Candace.
Phineas was one of the first successful time travelers, reconstructing a time machine in the local museum. Traveling to 300 million B.C., Phineas and Ferb were accidentally accompanied by Candace. The time machine was destroyed by a T-Rex, and while Candace completely lost it, the boys took the time to practice patience and waited for a message Phineas sent to get to the present. After a while, Isabella and her Fireside Girls troop showed up and rescued them. A lightning bolt struck the power cord on the machine, providing enough power for them to return back home.
Phineas is responsible for reuniting the band Love Handel for one night in honor of his parents' wedding anniversary. Phineas had no trouble convincing Danny but needed to convince Bobbi Fabulous and Swampy through song. Eventually, the band finally performed, and it seems they have stayed together, as they were featured in several episodes afterward as well.

Phineas in his space suit.
Phineas and his stepbrother went into space, in order for them to see a star that their father named after them. Their sister accidentally tagged along, and the three went on a perilous journey through the galaxy. Surviving an asteroid field and other dangers, they ran out of fuel and stopped at an asteroid where a milkshake bar stood. There, Phineas and Ferb found out that it was really a star and that they owned it. After a while, they returned home, where Phineas was asked to go to a dance by Isabella. He accepted stating that he and Ferb will see her there, because he didn't realize she meant a date with just the two of them.
As the middle months approached, Phineas and his friends formed Aglet Aid to raise awareness for Phineas' newfound joy, aglets. The aid proved successful and raised awareness all through Danville. A concert raised bigger awareness, but all memory of the day was erased thanks to Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
He and his brother's interest in the creature "Nosey" caused them to go searching for it at Lake Nose on their trip there. Riding the boat Nosebud, they eventually found the beast and learned he was a kind and gentle creature, but allowed him to live his life in peace away from the eye of the media.
They also helped their friend, Baljeet, with building a portal to Mars for his science fair project.
A few days later, Baljeet asked them for their help with winning a giant watermelon contest. During this time, Heinz Doofenshmirtz caused the entire universe to grow large, but everything seemed normal to Phineas and everyone else, as it did not look different.
Phineas received a new pet, Goldie. He and Ferb built a backyard aquarium for her, complete with whales, dolphins, and octopi to keep her company. Dr. Doofenshmirtz's creation froze the aquarium, and it was released into the wild after being accidentally (and unknowingly) pushed by Candace.
Phineas and Ferb discovered an alien named Meap in their backyard one day. Phineas states that Meap is one of the most adorable things in the world. When Meap ran off, Phineas went out to search for him with a tracker while Ferb repaired his spaceship. He later revealed to Isabella that he thought she was very cute. They discovered that Meap was really an intergalactic security agent, and helped him defeat his nemesis, Mitch.
One night, while Phineas and Ferb are sleeping, Perry disappears into his lair and is told by Major Monogram that he will be assigned to a new villain, and also, a new family. Perry then leaves the following morning, leaving Phineas in a state of depression and sadness. Phineas decides to host an awareness campaign (much like he did for the aglets) and sings a song about Perry. Perry then arrives, cheering Phineas up automatically.
Phineas, Ferb, Candace, their parents, and Isabella get shipwrecked on a deserted island after a storm. Lawrence asks Phineas and Ferb to help build a shelter where they can stay inside, and Phineas and Ferb do so. However, they overdo it and instead make some sort of vacation home. Despite that they were only doing what their dad said, Candace tries to bust them (the only reason being that she's angry they didn't build something that would reach the mainland).
On a visit to the beach, Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Baljeet, Buford, and their uninvited "friend", Irving goes out to look for the lost city of Atlantis.
On Tri-State Area Unification Day, Phineas and his friends decide to hijack the parade to show what Tri-State unification is all about, making giant floats of themselves, and even have Love Handel preform. Buford makes several attempts to interrupt the parade, but Phineas took precautions and managed to escape his traps. After the floats had literally floated away, Phineas and his friends continue the parade by simply pulling wagons.
Adult life

Phineas and Isabella together as young adults.
During high school, Phineas developed romantic feelings toward Isabella, but fearing that his feelings for her would be unrequited, he never admitted them to her. Phineas did very well for himself in his older teen years, as evidenced by a shin-deep pile of acceptance letters he received from colleges and universities around the world. After a period of indecisiveness regarding which of these schools he should attend, he eventually found himself torn between two choices: Danville University or Tri-State State College. Near the end of that summer, he learned that Isabella had been harboring a crush on him for many years, and after finding out that she was leaving for college two weeks earlier than most because of the many extracurricular activities she was involved in at the school, he attempted to track her down so he could admit his feelings to her before she left. He eventually found her in front of his house, where she had been waiting to say good-bye to him before leaving. Here, the two finally admitted their feelings for each other. After learning that the school Isabella will be attending will be Tri-State State, Phineas decided that he would go to that school too so he could begin a romantic relationship with her. They happily embraced, with the promise that they would see each other again in two weeks, at the start of the semester.
The following events may or may not have been rewritten due to time travel intervention: In the 2020's, twenty years after they built the Coolest Coaster Ever, Phineas had earned an award that was presented to him in Switzerland. Prior to that, either he or Ferb married Isabella, as she was introduced to Candace's future children as "Aunt Isabella". Which of the two married her was not specifically stated, though with the existence of "Act Your Age", it would have most likely been Phineas.

Phineas hosting Take Two with Phineas and Ferb.
Phineas appeared in all 20 episodes of the talk show spin-off of the series, talking with celebrities about various things. In the episode with Regis Philbin, he talked about who he likes best, but when it was revealed that it was his mom, Isabella got mad.

Phineas in Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension.
He starts his day in his bed and when the clock goes off, he and Ferb dance to "Everything's Better with Perry". They build a platypult to go to Buford, but it hits Perry's car, sending it to Heinz Doofenshmirtz's building and destroying his Other-Dimension-Inator. He then fixes it and all they go to another dimension see the 2nd Dimension Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He later found out about Perry's secret agent life, resulting in Phineas becoming angry. They (except Heinz) go to Phineas-2 and Ferb-2's house, where they wear Dooferalls. Both Phineases sing "Summer (Where Do We Begin?)" in the house as well as both Ferbs. Later, Phineas goes to the Resistance to meet Isabella-2 and her Firestorm Girls troop. Phineas makes what he calls his best hit ever, striking a baseball at the device Doof-2 was using. Before Phineas-1 gets his memory erased, he gets a kiss from Isabella-1. He also sings the song "Kick It Up a Notch" during the end credits of the movie.

Phineas and Ferb meeting Milo Murphy in "The Phineas and Ferb Effect".
Phineas makes an appearance alongside Ferb in the episode "The Phineas and Ferb Effect". He is first seen with Ferb in the episode when they use their giant robot to save Candace, Buford, Baljeet, Melissa Chase, and Zack Underwood from the Pistachions and later meets Milo Murphy and his dog, Diogee.
Phineas makes a brief cameo in Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, as one of the bootlegged victims. He is seen fleeing from a shipping container with the other toons after being freed by the FBI, having been mixed with Gogo Dodo from Tiny Toon Adventures.
He is a playable character in both games.
He returns as a playable character in all the versions of the game (Wii, PS3, and DS). In the Wii/PS3 version, his special move is recovering faster than other characters from taking hits, he likes the baseball launcher the best, and along with Ferb Fletcher, is playable from the first level of the game.
Disney Universe
Phineas doesn't physically appear in the game, but he has a costume that resembles him.
Disney Infinity
He is a playable character in the first game, along with Perry from the show. He has a tuck and roll move, and comes with a baseball launcher.

Phineas poses for a photo at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Phineas and Ferb made their theme park debuts at Disneyland for a taping of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade in 2009. They then appeared at Walt Disney World for an appearance in a Disney 365 spot. Afterward, they, along with Perry, appeared at Disney's pavilion of the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas on June 7, 2010. The three later appeared as meetable characters at the newly designed Disney Store at The Shops in Montebello, California. They also appeared for the grand opening ceremony for the new flagship Disney Store in Times Square, New York.
In 2011 Phineas and Ferb started making regular appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure in the Phineas and Ferb's Rockin' Rollin' Dance Party. Phineas, along with his stepbrother, Ferb, also appeared in the Summer edition of the nighttime show Celebrate the Magic. Phineas also appears during random portions of Agent P's World Showcase Adventure in-between parts of the mission. The boys also made special appearances with Perry during the D23 Expo in 2011 to promote Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, and with Thor, Iron Man, and Spider-Man for the 2013 expo to promote Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel. Phineas and Ferb also showed up on Disney Cruise Line ships around 2012 to 2015. They also appear during the Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It! Street Party in the Magic Kingdom.
As of 2016 however, their meet and greet in Disney's Hollywood Studios has been closed.The Rockin' Rolling Dance Party had its final performance on November 2, 2014, and Agent P's World Showcase Adventure closed on February 16, 2020. The two brothers now only appear sporadically for special events.
In 2024, Phineas and Ferb made appearances with Perry in Tomorrowland for the after-hours event Disney Channel Nite. The three of them participated in the Phineas and Ferb Dance Party on the Tomorrowland stage.
In 2025 from May 16, Phineas, Ferb, and Perry appeared in Hollywood Land at California Adventure for a limited time to celebrate the release of the show's fifth season.
Rob and Phineas.