Great—this is the kind of nerdy deep-dive I live for. If you mean “who voiced the main roles” across a bunch of well-known cartoon shows, here’s a broad but concrete map you can chew on. I’m breaking this into a quick explainer, then a curated list of iconic shows and their principal voices, and finally a quick how-to so you can chase down any other titles yourself.
First, voice casting is weirdly varied: some shows have a single performer doing multiple leads, others use large ensemble casts, and anime often has separate Japanese and English leads. For Western cartoons you’ll often find star names (Tom Kenny, John DiMaggio, Mark Hamill), while anime will list both original JP actors and English dub actors. Below are a number of staple series and the actors most associated with their central characters.
'SpongeBob SquarePants' — SpongeBob: Tom Kenny; Patrick Star: Bill Fagerbakke; Squidward: Rodger Bumpass; Sandy Cheeks: Carolyn Lawrence.
'The Simpsons' — Homer Simpson: Dan Castellaneta; Marge Simpson: Julie Kavner; Bart Simpson: Nancy Cartwright; Lisa Simpson: Yeardley Smith.
'Family Guy' — Peter Griffin / Stewie Griffin / Brian Griffin: Seth MacFarlane; Lois Griffin: Alex Borstein; Meg Griffin: Mila Kunis (in later seasons).
'South Park' — Stan Marsh & Eric Cartman: Trey Parker; Kyle Broflovski & Kenny McCormick: Matt Stone.
'Batman: The Animated Series' — Bruce Wayne / Batman: Kevin Conroy; The Joker: Mark Hamill.
'Avatar: The Last Airbender' — Aang: Zach Tyler Eisen; Katara: Mae Whitman; Sokka: Jack De Sena; Zuko:
dante Basco; Toph: Jessie Flower.
'Teen Titans' (original cartoon) — Robin: Scott Menville; Starfire: Hynden Walch; Raven: Tara Strong; Beast Boy: Greg Cipes.
'Dragon Ball Z' — Goku: Masako Nozawa (JP), Sean Schemmel (EN); Vegeta: Ryo Horikawa (JP), Christopher Sabat (EN).
'Naruto' — Naruto Uzumaki: Junko Takeuchi (JP), Maile Flanagan (EN); Sasuke Uchiha: Noriaki Sugiyama (JP), Yuri Lowenthal (EN).
'My Hero Academia' — Izuku Midoriya: Daiki Yamashita (JP), Justin Briner (EN); All Might: Kenta Miyake (JP), Christopher Sabat (EN).
'Pokémon' — Ash Ketchum: Rica Matsumoto (JP), Veronica Taylor and later
sarah Natochenny (EN); Pikachu: Ikue Otani.
'Rick and Morty' — Rick Sanchez & Morty Smith (originally): Justin Roiland; Jerry: Chris Parnell; Summer: Spencer Grammer.
'Adventure Time' — Finn: Jeremy Shada; Jake: John DiMaggio; Princess Bubblegum: Hynden Walch.
'Gravity Falls' — Dipper Pines: Jason Ritter; Mabel Pines: Kristen Schaal; Grunkle Stan: Alex Hirsch.
'The Powerpuff Girls' (1998) — Blossom: Cathy Cavadini; Bubbles: Tara Strong; Buttercup: Elizabeth Daily; Mojo Jojo: Roger L. Jackson.
'Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!' — Scooby-Doo: Don Messick (original); Shaggy Rogers: Casey Kasem; Fred Jones: Frank Welker.
'Looney Tunes' (classic) — Bugs
bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig (and many others) were largely performed by Mel Blanc in the golden era.
If you want names beyond this list, the trick is knowing where to look: end credits, IMDb, Wikipedia pages, and the Behind The Voice Actors database are lifesavers. Also, cast interviews and DVD extras often clarify who originated a role versus who voices it now. Personally, tracking voice actor lineages became its own hobby for me—some roles move between performers and it’s fascinating to trace why and when that happened. Hope this satisfies the curiosity spike—you can nerd out on any of these shows for hours, and I still get a kick from hearing Mark Hamill chew scenery as the Joker.