Rodney Trotter

Rodney Trotter
Left to right: Rodney Trotter, Del Boy, Grandad.
Only Fools and Horses character
Portrayed by	Nicholas Lyndhurst
Duration	1981–2003, 2014
First appearance	"Big Brother"
Last appearance	"Beckham in Peckham"
Created by	John Sullivan
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Home	Peckham
Father Frederick Robdal Mother Joan Trotter Stepfather Reg Trotter Half-brothers Derek Trotter Wife Cassandra Parry (1989—) Daughters Joan Trotter II Aunts Rose Nephews Damien Trotter Other relatives Norman (first cousin once removed) Albert Trotter (step great-uncle) Ted Trotter (step-grandfather) Audrey Trotter (step first cousin once removed) Stanley Trotter (step first cousin once removed), George Trotter (step great uncle)

Rodney Charlton "Rodders" Trotter is a fictional character in the long running BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst. He was named after Rod Taylor and Charlton Athletic.

Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and claimed to have been, like Rodney, a dreamer and an idealist in his youth.

The nickname 'Dave' is bestowed upon him by the character Trigger, the only character to refer to him as such, and was born from a one line joke in the very first episode, Big Brother. This became a long-standing joke throughout the entire series.

It is revealed in numerous episodes such as "Big Brother", "The Long Legs of the Law", and "A Royal Flush" that Rodney is embarrassed about Del's antics, including lying to girls they want to date. In "Yuppy Love", he lied to a new girlfriend, Cassandra, that he lived in the posh street 'Kings Avenue', in order to impress her; however, she later found out where he lived when she phoned Nelson Mandela House. Del often asks Rodney questions, saying 'You're the one with GCEs!'. It is implied in "The Frog's Legacy", that Freddie Robdal is Rodney's real dad, when rumours start to emerge about the likeness between him and Rodney.

Del claimed in "Mother Nature's Son" that Rodney was still being breast fed until he was three and a half years old. As a child, Rodney was "all snot and Marmite" with a "funny haircut". Unlike Del, Rodney went to grammar school, where he passed GCEs in Art and Mathematics. He was subsequently expelled from an Art College in Basingstoke for smoking cannabis. In the early episodes, Rodney was troubled by this, and also by the fact that he had a very poor job and lived in a very grotty flat. He was worried that he would never find independence, which he really did long for. When he met Cassandra, it gave him a chance to move on in life, which resulted in his leaving Del behind. (This was conveyed in "Little Problems", at the end, when everyone had left the wedding reception and Del was standing all on his own, holding the groom from the wedding cake).