‘Fuller House’ Family Tree: Who’s Who in the Tanner Clan?

Fuller House Still – H 2016

Michael Yarish/Netflix

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Tumblr

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Fuller House season one.]

When Fuller House debuted in February, it introduced viewers to a whole new generation of Tanners, or in this case, Fullers. With even more characters poised to join the streamer in its second season, THR takes an in-depth look at the ever-growing Tanner family tree.

Full House, the iconic ‘80s and ‘90s sitcom that spawned the 2016 reboot, centered around recently widowed Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) raising his three young daughters — D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle Tanner (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) — in San Francisco. The talk show host had help from his brother-in-law, Jesse Katsopolis (John Stamos), childhood best friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier), and various other friends and family members throughout the ABC show’s eight-season run.

A similar familial structure serves as the basis for Fuller House, only this time it’s D.J. who heads back to her childhood home in San Francisco to raise her three sons after her husband’s untimely death, with help from her sister, Stephanie, and longtime pal, Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber.)

Below, THR outlines how the main Fuller House characters are related to one another and examines their ties to the original show.

Danny Tanner

The Tanner family patriarch married Pamela Katsopolis when he was 20 and the pair had three daughters — D.J., Stephanie and Michelle. Pam was killed by a drunk driver when Michelle was six months old, and her tragic death set the stage for the start of Full House, which begins when Jesse, Pam’s younger brother, and Joey move in with the Tanner clan. On Fuller House, set about 20 years later, Danny lives in Los Angeles and co-hosts Wake Up, USA. He’s remarried to a woman named Teri, and ventures to San Francisco sporadically to visit his grandchildren.

Donna Jo “D.J.” Tanner-Fuller

The eldest of Danny and Pam’s three daughters, D.J., is now a widowed mother to three boys — Jackson (Michael Campion), Max (Elias Harger) and Tommy Fuller Jr. (Dashiell and Fox Messitt). Her husband, firefighter Tommy Fuller Sr., was killed on the job. Fuller House begins when D.J. moves back into her childhood home to raise her boys, with help from Stephanie and single mom Kimmy, who has a daughter of her own. In Fuller House’s debut season, veterinarian D.J. struggled with returning to the dating world. She began seeing Matt Harmon (John Brotherton), a fellow vet and partner in her Harmon-Fuller pet care practice, and her first love/former high school boyfriend, Steve Hale (Scott Weinger). Tasked with choosing between the two fellas in a Bachelorette-style spoof in the season one finale, D.J. made the empowering choice of picking herself, declaring she wasn’t ready for a serious relationship quite yet.

Stephanie Tanner

In the Fuller House pilot, middle child Stephanie puts her career as an international DJ on hold in order to help her older sister raise her sons. The single gal moves into the basement (formerly Joey’s room) and assumes the fun aunt role, while maintaining a typical sisterly relationship with D.J. In one of the more moving moments of the reboot, single and dating Steph tells D.J. she’s unable to have children of her own.

Michelle Tanner

The youngest of the Tanner girls was featured prominently on Full House (her portrayers, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, originated the role when they were nine months old and grew up on the small screen), but has yet to make an appearance on Fuller House, and likely won’t anytime soon. Though the character was (somewhat snidely) mentioned in the new series several times, Mary-Kate and Ashley have indicated they have no interest in reprising the role that helped them earn millions. Still, creator Bob Boyett has said the “door is always open” for the twins, now 30, to return.

Jesse Katsopolis

More commonly known as Uncle Jesse, the Elvis-obsessed musician helped raise D.J., Stephanie and Michelle, after their mother (Jesse’s older sister) died. He met and fell in love with Danny’s Wake Up, San Francisco co-host, Rebecca Donaldson (Lori Loughlin), and the two married in Full House season four. They moved into the attic of the Tanner household when it came time to raise their twin boys, Nicky and Alex Katsopolis (Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit). Featured in a handful of Fuller House episodes, Jesse now lives with Becky and the boys in their own home in Los Angeles, where he works as the music producer on General Hospital, but is still around to dispense valuable advice to his nieces and grandnephews.

Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis

First introduced in season two of Full House, Becky Katsopolis (née Donaldson) was Danny’s Wake Up, San Francisco co-host before marrying Jesse and giving birth to twin sons. She acted as a pseudo-mother figure to the Tanner girls, and, on Fuller House, the baby-crazed mom of two is eager to lend D.J. a helping hand whenever she can. She now resides with her family in Los Angeles, where she co-hosts Wake Up, USA with Danny.

Joey Gladstone

One of the only people not related to the Tanner or Fuller families by blood, Joey, Danny’s childhood best friend, is an honorary uncle to Danny’s daughters and a close friend of Jesse’s. His mother and father are mentioned on Full House, but his mom was only featured once. When the girls were young, the stand-up comedian entertained them with his cartoon character impressions and his puppet, Mr. Woodchuck. Now a professional comedian living in Las Vegas, Joey has a family of his own — a wife and four children — which viewers will finally meet in season two, episode six, when the gang gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Jackson Fuller

Jackson, 13, is the eldest son of D.J. Fuller (née Tanner) and firefighter Tommy Fuller Sr. The middle schooler takes after his suave great uncle Jesse and has quite a way with the ladies. In fact, in the Fuller House season one finale, Jackson and his crush Lola have their first kiss. Jackson shares D.J. and Stephanie’s old room with his younger brother, Max.

Max Fuller

A neat freak, D.J.’s middle son takes after his grandfather, Danny Tanner. The seven-year-old is whip-smart, and looks up to his older brother Jackson just like Stephanie idolized D.J. The brothers even share D.J. and Steph’s old room, before D.J. got her own room and Michelle took her place.

Tommy Fuller Jr.

The youngest son of D.J. and Tommy Fuller Sr., baby Tommy is roughly the same age Michelle was when Full House began.

Comet and Cosmo

Comet was the Tanner family Golden Retriever for the run of Full House. Cosmo, Comet’s great-grandson, is his Fuller House canine counterpart.

Kimmy Gibbler

On Full House, Kimmy was D.J.’s best friend and next-door neighbor, who longed to be part of the Tanner family. Though not a blood relative, Kimmy is one of D.J.’s closest confidants, and she doesn’t hesitate to move in with the single mom when she comes back to San Francisco to raise her family. Now a successful event planner, Kimmy lives in the attic of the Tanner house (where Becky and Jesse once resided) with her 13-year-old daughter, Ramona (Soni Bringas). At the start of Fuller House, Kimmy is trying to divorce Ramona’s father, Fernando Guerrero (Juan Pablo Di Pace), but the two eventually rekindle their romance and plan to marry in the season one finale, meaning Kimmy and Ramona would have to move out of the Tanner household. However, Kimmy gets cold feet because she doesn’t want to leave D.J. and uproot Ramona, so she and Fernando agree to stay engaged and live apart. The rest of her family (aside from a brother named Garth) is unknown.

Fernando Guerrero

Never seen on Full House, Fernando starts off on Fuller House as Kimmy’s estranged husband and the father of her daughter, Ramona. The race car driver is still in love with Kimmy and refuses to sign the divorce papers, believing they will one day get back together. Fernando gets his wish, and he and Kimmy rekindle their romance and get engaged. At their backyard wedding in the season one finale, however, Kimmy decides she can’t marry Fernando because she’s not ready to move out of D.J.’s house. The pair agree to stay engaged and work on their relationship.

Ramona Gibbler

Thirteen-year-old Ramona is the daughter of Kimmy Gibbler and Fernando Guerrero, and a classmate of Jackson’s. She lives with her mom in the Tanner house and fills the BFF role Kimmy held on Full House, though she’s decidedly less irritating and didn’t inherit Kimmy’s foul-smelling feet. Her best friend, Lola, is Jackson’s first kiss.

Any additional relatives you’d like to see in Fuller House’s second season?

Season two of Fuller House will stream on Netflix. No premiere date has been announced.

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day