Characters

Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy: A five-time (local) Emmy Award-winning journalist, he is the main anchor for the KVWN Channel 4 News Team from 1964 to 1977. Always confident and well-dressed, he is nevertheless ignorant, egotistical, misogynistic, and narcissistic, stating that he believes "diversity" to be some type of "old, old wooden ship used in the civil war era." Despite this he remains the rock for the entire group. He develops an infatuation with newcomer Veronica Corningstone, initially having trouble wooing her with tried and true measures that allegedly won him many bimbo-type women in the past. He has a great fondness for a good glass of scotch whisky, poetry, and his best friend/pet dog Baxter, and plays a mean jazz flute. He refers to his fists as Jack Johnson and Tom O'Leary, calls his arms "guns", and is most definitely not afraid to resort to fisticuffs. It eventually is revealed that he knows almost nothing of the news or what makes it work, and is a success because he "reads the news very well."
Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone: From Asheville, North Carolina, she is hired to comply with newly instituted "diversity standards". In a voice-over, Corningstone implies she has previously been in this position at several other news stations. Corningstone has a strong ambition to become a network anchor and desires to be taken seriously in the male-dominated newsroom culture. Burgundy develops an infatuation for her, culminating in a love affair, which provides most of the conflict in the movie. At the end of the movie she becomes co-anchor with Ron for the first worldwide news network. Amy Poehler (of Saturday Night Live fame) was originally cast as Veronica before Applegate showed interest.
Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana: Fantana is the stylish one of the group and is a lustful field reporter for the Channel Four News Team. He is arrogant and narcissistic and absurdly overestimates his personal qualities. He has a nickname for his penis, "the Octagon" and he also nicknamed his testes, "James Westfall" and "Dr. Kenneth Noisewater". At the end of the film, it is explained that he goes on to host the Fox Network's Intercourse Island. Adam McKay comments on the DVD that though Fantana fancies himself as something of a ladies' man, he has in fact never slept with a woman. This is confirmed to be true in the alternate film, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie.
David Koechner as Champion 'Champ' Kind: The sportscaster for the Channel Four News Team who seems to have hidden feelings for Ron Burgundy (despite stating that Burgundy "sounds like a gay" in a demeaning fashion when talking about Corningstone's feelings). These feelings and his homosexuality are more overt in the alternate film, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie. He is the most chauvinistic member of the news team. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Kind, whose signature catchphrase is "Whammy!", ends up becoming an NFL commentator, but gets fired after being accused of sexual harassment by Terry Bradshaw. John C. Reilly was originally slated to play Champ but had to drop out due to work on The Aviator.
Steve Carell as Brick Tamland: The mentally-challenged weatherman for Channel Four News. He has a habit of stating unrequested or irrelevant information. Tamland is not bright, but good hearted and loyal. At one point in the movie, Brick wonders what love is and upon questioning he admits to loving several objects in the room such as the carpet, a desk and a lamp. During the battle scene, Brick starts with a hand grenade (when asked where he got it, he replies "I don't know") and eventually ends up killing a man with a trident. After the battle, Ron advises Brick that he is "probably wanted for murder" and to "find a safe house or a relative close by" where he can "lay low for a while". He is polite and rarely late (which are the main reasons he is employed and well-liked), and enjoys a nice pair of slacks and eating ice cream. He says that later a doctor will tell him his I.Q. is 48, technically making him mentally retarded. Brick is quite the innocent (though badly influenced by the others). Co-star Paul Rudd commented in rehearsals found on the DVD that he thought that Brick may be mentally retarded would "never faze them", and that the other members of the news team would never berate or become annoyed with Brick because of his stupidity, but they would merely correct him if he made a mistake. He once held a celebrity golf tournament, but when asked whether he would hold it again, he remarked "No, too many people died last year."
Fred Willard as Ed Harken: The news director of the Channel Four News station. His youngest son, Chris, who does not appear in this film but does appear in Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, is apparently very ill-behaved. It is revealed that Chris (played by Justin Long) goes to a Catholic school and has shot a bow and arrow into a crowd while on LSD, was caught reading German pornography in school, and took the marching band hostage with a gun.
Chris Parnell as Garth Holladay: Ed's assistant at the Channel Four News station. Ron Burgundy was his hero, before he used foul language during a news broadcast. He is frequently ignored by the news team, even though his main job at the station appears to be keeping them out of trouble.
Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth (Uncredited): The lead anchor of the competing KQHS Channel 9 Evening News Team is Burgundy's chief rival. It is revealed early on that Mantooth is extremely sensitive about insults directed towards his mother, Dorothy Mantooth, whom he regards as a "saint." Mantooth is consistently irritated by his being second in the ratings, causing him to ultimately initiate an anchorman battle against Burgundy and three other news teams. He ultimately pulls Burgundy from a ladder out of the bear pit, explaining that while he hates him he nonetheless respects him as a journalist. The character is loosely based on the CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge.
Luke Wilson as Frank Vitchard: A competing news anchor whose station, Channel 2, is third in the ratings. During the movie, he gets one arm chopped off in the anchorman battle by the lead anchor of the Public news team, and his other arm ripped off by a Kodiak Bear near the end of the film (which he deems "ri-goddamn-diculous"). During the climactic scene, he is seen (in an apparent goof) reporting for Channel 9.
Baxter: Ron's beloved dog. Burgundy's relationship with Baxter is almost one of equality, despite one party being a dog. Ron even calls him his 'little gentleman.' He has the uncanny ability to communicate with his master in English; in a scene Baxter barks at Ron, and Ron replies, "you know I don't speak Spanish, in English please." Later in the movie, Baxter is punted off the towering San Diego-Coronado Bridge during an encounter between Ron and a biker (Jack Black) whom Ron hit with a burrito. Eventually, Baxter comes back at the end of the movie and saves Ron and Veronica from the bears at the zoo by speaking to them about their cousin, Katow-jo, who he met in his time in the wilderness. He doesn't like Veronica, telling Ron that if she moves in he is 'not cool with that.'