They’re creepy and they’re kooky. You know the theme song by heart, but if you tried to map out the Addams Family tree on a napkin, you'd probably get a headache. It’s a mess. Honestly, it’s a beautiful, deliberate mess. Unlike most fictional universes where a "bible" dictates every birth date and second cousin, Charles Addams—the man who started it all in The New Yorker cartoons back in 1938—didn't really care about consistency. He cared about the joke. He cared about the vibe. Because of that, the family's lineage has shifted more times than a shapeshifter in a hall of mirrors.
Most people think of the 1960s TV show as the definitive version. Others swear by the 90s movies or the recent Wednesday series on Netflix. But if you look at the actual roots, the "official" connections are surprisingly fluid.
The Core Couple: Gomez and Morticia
At the heart of everything are Gomez and Morticia Addams. They are the gold standard for gothic romance. In the original cartoons, they didn't even have names. They were just nameless aristocrats living in a dilapidated mansion. When the 1964 TV show was in development, Charles Addams had to actually sit down and figure out who these people were. He almost named Gomez "Repelli." Can you imagine? Luckily, John Astin’s iconic performance cemented Gomez as the passionate, sword-wielding patriarch we love.
Morticia is the anchor. Her maiden name is often cited as Frump. This introduces us to the first major branch of the Addams Family tree: the Frump side. Morticia’s mother, Granny Frump, appeared in the original series played by Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West herself!). This is where the confusion usually starts. In the 60s show, Granny Frump is Morticia’s mother. But in many other versions, the "Grandmama" living in the house is actually Gomez’s mother.
Which is it? It depends on which decade you’re watching.
The Uncle Fester Problem
If you want to start an argument at a trivia night, ask how Uncle Fester is related to Gomez. You’ll get two different answers, and both are technically "right" depending on your era.
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In the 1964 sitcom, Fester is Morticia’s uncle. He’s a Frump. He’s her mother’s brother. He’s technically an outsider who moved in. But then the 1991 movie starring Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston changed the game entirely. In that version, Fester is Gomez’s long-lost brother. This choice added a lot of emotional weight to the plot—the idea of two brothers reuniting—but it effectively rewrote the Addams Family tree for an entire generation.
- 1960s Canon: Fester is Morticia's Uncle.
- 1990s Canon: Fester is Gomez's Brother.
- 2022 (Wednesday) Canon: Fester is definitely Gomez's brother again. Fred Armisen’s take on the character leans heavily into the sibling dynamic.
It’s weird. It’s inconsistent. But in a world where people survive being struck by lightning for fun, maybe a shifting genealogy isn't the strangest thing happening.
Wednesday and Pugsley: The Next Generation
The kids are the most stable part of the lineage. Wednesday and Pugsley are the offspring of Gomez and Morticia. Simple, right? Mostly. In the original cartoons, Pugsley was the older child. He was this devious, energetic kid. Wednesday was younger, pale, and more quiet.
The 90s movies flipped that energy. Christina Ricci’s Wednesday became the breakout star, turning the character into a dry, homicidal genius. This version of the Addams Family tree places Wednesday as the clear "heir" to the family's dark legacy. By the time we get to the Netflix series Wednesday, she is a teenager, and Pugsley is her younger, somewhat softer brother who needs her protection.
Then there’s Pubert. Remember him? The mustache-wearing baby from Addams Family Values? He’s a legitimate member of the bloodline, but he’s basically vanished from every adaptation since 1993. It's like the family just collectively decided three kids was too many and edited him out of the history books.
Grandmama: The Woman of Mystery
Grandmama is perhaps the most confusing figure in the entire Addams Family tree. Is she a witch? Yes. Does she make potions? Always. But whose mother is she?
- The 60s Series: She is Gomez’s mother. Her name is Eudora Addams.
- The 90s Movies: She is Morticia’s mother. Gomez calls her "Mama," but in a way that implies she’s his mother-in-law.
- The Musical: They actually make a joke out of this. At one point, Gomez and Morticia both admit they thought she belonged to the other person. It’s a meta-nod to the decades of continuity errors.
The truth is, Grandmama exists to be the "elder" of the house. Whether she's an Addams by blood or a Frump by birth doesn't change her role as the resident occultist.
The Extended Relatives and Oddities
The Addams Family tree doesn't just stop at the front door of the mansion. There are dozens of bizarre relatives mentioned in passing or seen in the background of graveyard parties.
Cousin Itt is the most famous outlier. He’s a cousin of Gomez, a short being composed entirely of hair who speaks in high-pitched squeaks. He’s wealthy, he’s a womanizer, and he’s somehow a fundamental part of the family despite not being human in any traditional sense.
Then you have Lurch. Lurch isn't a blood relative. He’s the butler. However, in the 2019 animated film, they imply Lurch might be a patchwork of various Addams ancestors brought back to life—sort of a Frankenstein’s monster made of family scraps. If that’s true, he’s literally the most "family" person in the house.
There’s also Thing. Is Thing a person? A pet? In the original series, Thing was a "thing" that was too macabre to see in full, so only a hand appeared. Later, he became just a sentient hand. In the Wednesday series, we see stitches on him, suggesting he might be part of the same "reanimation" branch of the tree as Lurch.
Why the Continuity Doesn't Actually Matter
In most fandoms, a retcon is a sin. If a Marvel movie changed a character's brother into their uncle, fans would riot. But the Addams Family tree survives because the family itself is an idea rather than a strict historical record.
They represent the "other." They are the outsiders who love each other unconditionally. Whether Fester is a brother or an uncle doesn't change the fact that when he shows up at the door, Gomez embraces him with open arms. The lack of a rigid structure reflects the chaotic, surrealist nature of Charles Addams’ original vision. It's a satire of the "perfect" American nuclear family. If the traditional family tree is a straight line of predictable births and marriages, the Addams tree is a gnarled, twisting briar patch where the branches loop back on themselves.
How to Map Your Own Addams Lore
If you're trying to track the Addams Family tree for a project or just out of curiosity, the best approach is to pick a "primary" source. You cannot combine them all into one single, cohesive chart. It’s impossible.
- Focus on the 1990s films if you want the most "iconic" modern dynamic (Fester as brother).
- Stick to the 1960s show if you want the classic sitcom structure (Fester as uncle).
- Look at the 2022 series if you want to see how the Addams bloodline interacts with the broader world of "Outcasts" at Nevermore Academy.
Interestingly, the Wednesday series introduced the concept of ancestors like Goody Addams. This adds a "historical" layer to the Addams Family tree that we haven't really seen before. Goody was a settler in 17th-century Jericho, establishing that the Addams' macabre genetics and psychic abilities go back hundreds of years. This suggests that the family isn't just "weird"—they are a distinct biological lineage of supernatural beings.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Researchers
If you're diving deep into the Addams lore, don't look for a single truth. Look for the themes.
- Check the legal credits: If you’re researching specific characters, look at the credits of the 1964 show. That’s where many characters were named for the first time.
- Vary your sources: Don't just rely on the movies. The Broadway musical and the 1990s animated series often pull obscure relatives from the original New Yorker cartoons that the big movies ignore.
- Watch for the maiden names: Pay attention to "Frump" and "Addams." The tension between these two houses is where most of the family's history is hidden.
- Embrace the contradictions: The fact that the tree changes is part of the fun. It makes the family feel like an urban legend that evolves every time it's retold.
The Addams Family tree is less of a biological map and more of a guest list. Everyone is welcome, provided they’re sufficiently strange. Whether you're a long-lost brother, a floating hand, or a cousin covered in hair, if you're an Addams, you're home. No matter how the branches shift, the roots remain the same: a fierce, undying loyalty to the macabre and to each other.