The show's title character, Moesha Mitchell was played by Brandy Norwood. Moesha's backstory is that she is used to caring for her father and brother following the death of her mother, but when her father remarries she comes into conflict with her stepmother.
William Allen Young plays Frank Mitchell, Moesha's father on the show. He can be strict and overbearing, which causes some conflict between the two characters. Cast as an upstanding character in early episodes it is later revealed he had an extramarital affair and fathered a child with another woman.
Moesha's younger brother, Myles Mitchell is played by Marcus T. Paulk. Myles is a goofy, somewhat annoying, younger brother in early episodes, but in later episodes becomes more of a troublemaker. In the final episode, Myles is kidnapped in a cliffhanger that was never resolved due to the show's cancellation.
Moesha's friend, neighbor and sometimes love interest, Hakeem Campbell is played by Lamont Bentley. Moesha's female friends, Niecy Jackson and Kimberly Ann Parker, are played by Shar Jackson and Countess Vaughn respectively. The Kimberly character is not in later episodes as Countess Vaughn left the show to star in another series.
The character of Dee Mitchell is played by Sheryl Lee Ralph. Dee is a teacher at Moesha's school who then marries Frank and becomes Moesha's stepmother. Though Dee and Moesha clash at first, they bond in later episodes.
Yvette Wilson plays the character of Andell Wilkerson. Andell owns a smoothie shop, and serves as a role model and confidante for Moesha.
The character of Q is played by Fredro Starr. Q is Moesha's boyfriend on certain episodes of the show. Frank did not approve of Q and this led to clashes between Frank and Q as well as Frank and Moesha.
Dorian "D-Money" Long is played by Ray J. Introduced later in the series, Dorian is Frank's illegitimate son. Dorian gets into some tangles with the law in later episodes of the show.