"You mere device," he gnarled. "You platitude! You Golux ex machina!"
In service to the plot, characters are given these generic, cliche roles, sometimes making them just plot devices with a few lines (although, like devices, characters can and do get upgrades).
These devices can also be viewed as component parts from which more complex, realistic characters can be built. Television production usually means churning out episodes as quickly as possible to meet looming deadlines, so we see a goodly number of these on television shows.
Contrast Characterization Tropes, where the plot serves the establishment of the character.
Tropes
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Categories and Indexes
- Allegorical Character: Characters who represent ideas or concepts.
- Brain Chain
- Cast Filler Tropes
- Comedic Relief Characters: Common characters used for jokes in comedy.
- Cops and Detectives
- Elders: Older people.
- Fanservice Characters
- Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes
- Gender Dynamics Index
- Indexed and Nerdy
- Love Interests: Characters whose role it is to be a romantic option to the protagonist.
- Mascots: Characters that officially symbolize a fictional media franchise or commercial product brand.
- No Sympathy For This Index
- Occupation Tropes: Character types sorted by their careers.
- One-Shot Character: Minor characters who only serve to appear in a single episode or story within a series.
- Organization Index
- The Parent Trope
- Parental Issues
- A Pretty Boy Index
- Queer as Tropes
- Race Tropes
- Stock Characters: Classic character archetypes you've seen everywhere.
- This Index Is Expendable
- This Index Knows What It's Talking About
- The Wannabe Index
- Youngsters: Younger people.
A
- Abandoned Mascot
- Abandoned War Child
- Abhorrent Admirer: A character who serves as an unattractive and unrequited love interest to another character.
- Absent-Minded Professor
- Absentee Club Member: A character that is a member of a club or organization, but rarely, if never, attends its meetings.
- Abusive Parents: Parents who aren't very nice to their children.
- Academic Alpha Bitch
- The Ace: A character who is highly skilled at what they do and is highly respected.
- Acquainted with Emergency Services: A character is well-known by emergency services due to how often they see each other.
- Action Dad
- Action Duo
- Action Girl
- Action Girlfriend
- Action Hero
- Action Mom
- Action Pet
- Action Survivor
- Actual Pacifist
- Agent Mulder
- Agent Peacock
- Agent Scully
- The Aggressive Drug Dealer
- Aggressive Submissive
- The Alcoholic: A character who is always drinking alcohol.
- Alice and Bob
- The Alleged Boss
- The All-American Boy
- All-Loving Hero: A heroic character who has no malice for anyone who comes their way.
- Almighty Janitor: Someone with a menial job is actually very competent.
- Almost Dead Guy: A dying person who gives vital information to the heroes just before kicking the bucket.
- The Aloner
- Aloof Ally
- Aloof Big Brother
- Alpha Bitch: A popular girl in high school whose purpose is to be a spiteful bitch to the main characters.
- Always Chaotic Evil: An entire race consists of bad guys.
- Always Lawful Good: An entire race consists of good guys.
- Always Second Best: A character is always one-upped by their rival no matter how hard they try to beat them in competitions.
- Always Someone Better: No matter how good a person is in their field, there's always one person who is better at it than they are.
- Amazon Chaser: A man who is attracted to large and strong women.
- Ambulance Chaser: A lawyer who eagerly goes after clients who have been injured.
- Amnesiac Hero
- Amnesiac Lover
- Amoral Attorney: An evil lawyer.
- Ancient Keeper
- "Angry Black Man" Stereotype: A black man who is eternally angry at The Man.
- Angry Chef
- Annoying Younger Sibling: A character has a younger sibling who often gets on their nerves.
- Anonymous Benefactor
- Anonymous Ringer
- Antagonistic Offspring: Someone has children who hate their parent.
- The Antichrist: The spawn of a powerful and evil being who is supposed to bring about the end of the world.
- Anti Anti Christ: The evil being's spawn has no interest in ending the world or being evil.
- The Anticipator
- The Anti-Nihilist: A person who believes that life has no meaning or purpose, but that shouldn't stop people from enjoying life while they still can.
- Anti-Role Model: A character whose purpose is to show the audience how they shouldn't behave.
- Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better
- Apathetic Clerk
- Apathetic Teacher: A teacher who doesn't give a crap about how well their students do.
- Apocalypse Maiden
- The Apprentice
- Apron Matron
- Arc Hero
- The Archmage
- Archnemesis Dad
- Arc Villain: A villain who is only the central antagonist for a few episodes rather than for the entire series.
- The Artifact: A character who remains on the show even though the series has gone through changes rendering their original role obsolete.
- The Armorer
- As Himself: A celebrity played by the actual person as opposed to an impersonator.
- Asian Airhead: An Asian person who isn't very bright.
- Asian and Nerdy: An Asian nerd.
- Asian Rudeness
- Asshole Victim: Audience sympathy for characters that get killed or otherwise victimized are ruled out by making the character so unsympathetic and unpleasant that their death/victimization comes off as deserved, even when it's not their own fault.
- Audience Surrogate: A character who represents the feelings of the audience.
- Authority in Name Only: Someone identifies as being some kind of authority figure, but doesn't really have the power to make anyone do as they say.
- Automated Automobiles
B
- Babies Make Everything Better: A baby solves everyone's problems.
- Babysitter from Hell: A babysitter who is mean to the children they're hired to look after.
- Back-Alley Doctor
- Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch
- Bad Boss: A boss who is cruel to their employees, often to the extent of having no problems with outright murdering them for displeasing them.
- Bad Samaritan
- Badass Adorable: A cute character capable of impressive feats.
- Badass Bookworm
- Badass Bystander
- Badass Normal: A normal person who can kick serious butt and survive dangerous events in spite of having no powers.
- Badass Pacifist: A character who detests violence but can still defend themselves from their enemies in impressive ways.
- Badass Preacher: A priest capable of kicking ass.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: A babysitter who gets injured while trying to protect their charges from harm.
- Bait-and-Switch Tyrant
- Baker Street Regular
- Balkan Bastard
- Barbarian Tribe
- Barbaric Bully
- The Baroness
- Barrier Maiden
- Barrier Warrior
- Basement-Dweller: A grown man who still lives with his parents.
- Bastard Bastard: A person who is a bastard in both senses of the word (i.e.: they were born out of wedlock and they're a jerk).
- Battle Butler: A butler who is willing to fight on his boss's orders.
- Battleaxe Nurse
- The Beard: Someone who pretends to be another person's significant other to prevent people from learning that they're gay.
- Bearer of Bad News
- Beast Man
- Beleaguered Assistant
- Beleaguered Childhood Friend
- Benevolent Boss: A boss who is nice and reasonable to their employees.
- Best Her to Bed Her: A woman will only marry or sleep with whoever can beat her in a fight.
- Beta Bitch
- Beta Couple
- Better with Non-Human Company
- Big Bad: The main villain of the story.
- Big Beautiful Man
- Big Beautiful Woman
- Big Brother Bully: An older brother who picks on his younger siblings.
- Big Brother Mentor: An older brother who teaches his younger siblings what he feels they need to know to prepare them for life.
- Big Eater: A character with a voracious appetite.
- Big Good: The highest-ranking authority figure on the heroes' side.
- The Big Guy: The member of the team who is the strongest and handles the physical labor.
- Big Jerk on Campus: A popular and arrogant guy in High School whose purpose is to bully the main characters.
- Big Man on Campus
- Bit-Part Bad Guys
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: A mean person who pretends to be nicer than they actually are.
- Black and Nerdy: A black nerd.
- Black Magician Girl
- Black Republican
- Black Sheep: A member of a group who doesn't fit in with the rest of the group.
- Black Shirt
- Blank Slate
- Blind Justice
- Blind Seer: A blind person with psychic powers.
- Blonde Republican Sex Kitten
- Blue-Collar Warlock
- Bob from Accounting
- Body Double
- Body of the Week
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Boisterous Weakling: A person who isn't afraid to take on people who are clearly much stronger than they are.
- Bollywood Nerd: A nerd of Indian descent.
- Bomb-Throwing Anarchists
- Bond Breaker
- Book Dumb: A person who doesn't do well in school, but is still capable of social intelligence.
- Boomerang Bigot: Someone is bigoted toward a group they actually belong to.
- The Bore: A person who is so boring to others.
- Born Detective
- Born Lucky
- Boss's Unfavorite Employee
- Bouncer
- Bourgeois Bohemian
- Boxed Crook
- Boyfriend Bluff
- Braggart Boss: A villain who can't stop making boastful claims.
- Brainless Beauty: A person is attractive, but very dumb.
- Brainy Brunette: A dark-haired person who is very intelligent.
- Bratty Half-Pint: A little kid who is mean and insufferable to everyone else.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: A teenage girl who acts ungrateful and spiteful toward her parents.
- The Brigadier
- Brilliant, but Lazy: A person who is actually quite smart, it's just that they'd rather not put in much effort in their assignments.
- Broken Ace: A person who used to be successful and cool, but has now become a jaded has-been.
- Broken Angel
- Broken Bird: A woman with a tragic backstory.
- Bromantic Foil
- Brooklyn Rage
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: A tough and strong person who's a softie deep down.
- The Brute: The strongest member of the team of bad guys.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: A dad who cares so much about his daughter that he'll threaten anyone who he has even the slightest suspicion of hurting his girl.
- Bubble Boy
- The Bully: A character who picks on other people.
- Bully Hunter
- Bully Magnet
- Bumbling Dad: A father who is a moron.
- Bumbling Sidekick: A sidekick who is stupid.
- Bungling Inventor
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: A person who is good at their job in spite of their bizarre habits and attributes.
- Butch Lesbian: A masculine woman who is stereotyped as being attracted to women exclusively..
- Butt-Monkey: The character's purpose is to constantly suffer misfortunes as a form of comic relief.
C
- Cain and Abel and Seth
- The Caligula: An insane leader.
- Camera Fiend
- Camp Gay: A feminine male who is stereotyped as being attracted to men exclusively.
- Camp Straight: A man who is feminine and heterosexual.
- Canary in a Coal Mine
- Canon Character All Along: The adaptation has a character who appears to be a Canon Foreigner initially, but is actually the alias of or the adaptations' interpretation of a pre-existing character.
- Canon Foreigner: A new character created for the adaptation who didn't exist in the original work.
- Canon Immigrant: A character created for the adaptation ends up added to the continuity of the original work.
- Caper Crew
- Captain Oblivious: Someone never notices something they should be aware of.
- Captain Obvious: A character who tends to point out the obvious.
- Card-Carrying Villain: A villain who is proud of being evil to the point of constantly bragging about how rotten they are.
- The Caretaker
- Caring Gardener
- The Cassandra: A character who always warns about disaster coming, but is never listened to.
- Casanova Wannabe: A man who wants to score with a lot of women, but never succeeds in charming any of them.
- Cavalier Competitor
- Celebrity Impersonator
- Celibate Eccentric Genius
- Celibate Hero: A hero who willingly abstains from sex and relationships.
- The Champion
- Chaotic Stupid: A dumb character who lacks any rhyme or reason to their actions.
- Character Overlap
- Character Witness
- Charles Atlas Superpower: A normal that does things that only superhuman are capable of after lots of training.
- The Charmer
- Chaste Hero: A hero who is oblivious of another person's attraction to them no matter how obvious it is that the other person has a thing for them.
- Cheerful Child: A child who is perpetually happy.
- Chekhov's Gunman
- Chessmaster Sidekick
- Chest of Medals
- The Chew Toy
- Child Eater: A person who eats children specifically.
- Child Hater: A person who despises children, often to ridiculous levels.
- Child Mage
- Child Prodigy : A child who is very smart for their age.
- Child Soldiers: Children are sent to fight in the war.
- Children Are a Waste: People who believe that it's wasteful to have children.
- Chivalrous Pervert: A pervert who is a decent person in spite of their filthy interests and has lines they refuse to cross in regards to placating their urges.
- The Chooser of the One
- Church Going Villain
- Circus Brat
- City Mouse
- Classical Anti-Hero
- Clingy Child
- Clingy Jealous Girl: A girlfriend or wife who will go berserk if they catch another woman flirting with their significant other.
- Clock King: Someone has a ludicrously uncanny ability to keep track of time down to the very second.
- Closet Key
- Cloudcuckoolander: A character with eccentric beliefs and habits.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: The associate of a dumb or weird character whose job is to keep the other person from causing too much trouble with their idiocy or eccentricity.
- Club Kid
- Clueless Detective
- The Confidant
- Coincidence Magnet
- Collateral Angst
- College Widow
- Combat Medic
- Combat Commentator
- Combat Pragmatist: A character who will do whatever dirty tactic is necessary to defeat their opponent in a fight.
- Combat Referee
- Combat Sadomasochist
- The Comically Serious: A character who provides comedy simply by being stern and emotionless.
- Commander Contrarian
- Commie Nazis
- The Commissioner Gordon
- Communications Officer
- Companion Cube: An inanimate object is treated as if it were a living person.
- Compassionate Critic: Criticizing someone because you want them to do better.
- Compressed Abstinence
- Compressed Vice: A character demonstrates a flaw they were not indicated to possess before.
- Conflict Killer
- The Conscience
- The Consigliere
- Conspiracy Theorist: A person who has off-the-wall and insane theories claiming that what we know is a lie and that there's some secret organization hiding the truth from everyone.
- Constantly Curious: A child who can't stop asking questions.
- Consummate Liar
- Consummate Professional
- Continuity Rebooter: An in-universe character who causes a work to undergo a Continuity Reboot.
- Cool Old Guy
- Cool Old Lady
- Cool Teacher
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: A chef who makes good food, but has a bad habit of preparing unappetizing combinations.
- Country Cousin
- Country Mouse
- Courier
- Court Jester
- Cousin Oliver: A younger character is added to keep the cast from looking too old.
- Cowardly Lion: A character is constantly afraid of everything, but will still stick to their friends and loved ones when they need them.
- Cowboy Cop
- Crazy Cat Lady: An old woman who looks after way too many cats.
- Crazy Homeless People: Homeless people who act insane.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: A boyfriend or husband who will get very furious when they see another man try to make a move on their girlfriend or wife.
- Creator's Pet: A character the creator likes and overexposes while the fans dislike them.
- Creepy Child: A child who has something odd or disturbing about them.
- Creepy Crossdresser
- Creepy Gas-Station Attendant
- Creepy Housekeeper
- Creepy Mortician: Morticians portrayed as being disturbing or strange.
- Creepy Old-Fashioned Diving Suit
- Creepy Twins: Identical twins who are creepy or disturbing in some way.
- The Creon
- Crime Magnet
- Criminal Amnesiac
- Cross Player
- Cruel Cheerleader
- Crusading Widow
- Crusty Caretaker
- Cunning Linguist
- Curious as a Monkey
- Cute Bruiser
- The Cutie
- The Cynic
- Cynical Mentor
D
- Da Chief
- Da Editor
- Daddy's Girl
- Daddy's Little Villain
- Damsel Errant
- Damsel in Distress: A female character's purpose is to be imperiled so the hero can rescue them.
- Damsel out of Distress: A female character who is able to save herself when she's in danger.
- Damsel Scrappy: A character is disliked for constantly needing to be rescued.
- Dancing Royalty
- Dangerous Deserter
- Dark and Troubled Past
- Dark Lord on Life Support
- Dark Magical Girl
- Dark Messiah
- Dark Mistress
- Dark Shepherd
- Dead All Along: A character turns out to have died since the story's beginning.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Someone uses the identity of a dead person as an alias.
- Dead Star Walking
- Deadpan Snarker
- Deaf Composer
- Dean Bitterman: The head of a school who has it in for all the students.
- Deceptive Disciple
- Deconstructed Character Archetype
- Decoy Damsel
- Deadly Doctor
- Decoy Protagonist: A character is set up as the main character when it's really someone else who is the star.
- Defrosting Ice Queen
- Deep Cover Agent
- Defends Against Their Own Kind
- Deliberately Bad Example
- Delicate and Sickly
- Demolitions Expert
- Depraved Bisexual: A bisexual character who is unsavory.
- Depraved Dentist: A dentist who gets off on hurting their patients.
- Depraved Homosexual: A gay man who is willing to rape men.
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: A children's show is hosted by a person who in real life is a worse person than the character they play on TV.
- Designated Hero: The character is supposed to be seen as a good guy, but because of his actions, the audience instead sees him as an unlikable jerk at best and an outright villain at worst.
- Designated Victim: A character who will always get in trouble for the benefit of the plot.
- Design Preservation Villain
- Destined Bystander
- Deuteragonist: The first character most important aside from the main protagonist.
- Devil's Advocate
- Diabolus ex Nihilo: An enemy or threat that shows up out of nowhere with no context.
- Dimensional Traveler
- Dirty Old Man: An elderly man who likes younger women.
- Dirty Old Monk
- Dirty Old Woman: An elderly woman who likes younger men.
- Disabled Love Interest
- Disability as an Excuse for Jerkassery: A disabled character uses the excuse that being disabled means they can get away with being an asshole.
- Disappeared Dad: A character's father is never seen or mentioned.
- Disaster Scavengers
- Discount Lesbians
- Disposable Intern
- Disposable Vagrant: It's considered okay to kidnap or kill homeless people because no one would notice or care about them missing.
- Disposable Woman
- Distressed Dude: A male character who gets imperiled so the hero can rescue them.
- The Ditherer: A character who has trouble making decisions.
- The Ditz: The character's defining trait is that they are a total moron.
- Ditzy Genius: A character who is intelligent in regards to numbers and science, but is somehow oblivious of stuff that even complete idiots are aware of.
- Ditzy Secretary
- Does Not Like Men
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!
- Doomed Appointment
- Doomed Defeatist
- Doomed Fellow Prisoner
- Doomed Hurt Guy
- Doomed Protagonist
- A Doormat to His Men
- Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest
- Dork Knight
- Dr. Feelgood
- Dr. Jerk: A physician who isn't very nice to the people they are treating.
- The Dragon: The main underling of the Big Bad.
- Dragon Rider
- The Dragonslayer
- The Dreaded: A character who has a reputation of being feared by everyone who knows them.
- Dreadful Musician
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: A military officer who is very demanding toward his soldiers.
- The Driver
- Drop-In Character
- Dry Crusader
- Dueling Messiahs
- Dumb Blonde: A dumb character with blonde hair.
- Dumb Jock
- Dumb Muscle: A strong character who isn't very smart.
- Dumbass DJ
- Dumbass Teenage Son
- The Dutiful Son
E
- The Eeyore: A character who is constantly depressed and pessimistic.
- Effeminate Misogynistic Guy
- Egocentrically Religious
- Egomaniac Hunter
- Elvis Impersonator: An impersonator of Elvis Presley.
- The Empath
- Empathic Healer
- Emperor Scientist
- Empowered Badass Normal: A character who started out as a Badass Normal gains super powers, making them even more dangerous to their enemies than when they didn't have powers.
- Empty Shell
- Enemy to All Living Things
- Enfant Terrible: An evil child.
- The Engineer
- Enigmatic Empowering Entity
- Erudite Stoner: A person who does drugs and is highly intelligent.
- Escape Artist
- Eternal Employee
- Ethical Slut
- Ethnic Magician
- Ethnic Scrappy: A character is disliked for being a politically incorrect portrayal of a specific minority.
- Etiquette Nazi
- The Everyman: A character who lacks distinguishing traits.
- Everyone's Baby Sister
- Evil Brit: A villain with a British accent.
- Evil Chef: A villain who happens to be a chef.
- Evil Cripple: A villain who is disabled.
- Evil Debt Collector
- Evil Diva
- Evil Doppelgänger
- Evil Former Friend: A villain who used to be a friend of the hero.
- The Evil Genius
- Evil Jesuit
- Evil Luddite
- Evil Matriarch
- Evil Minions
- Evil Old Folks: An elderly villain.
- Evil Orphan
- Evil Orphanage Lady
- The Evil Prince
- Evil Reactionary
- Evil Redhead
- Evil Twin
- Evil Brunette Twin
- Evil Vegetarian: A villain who abstains from eating meat.
- Excited Kids' Show Host
- Expert in Underwater Basket Weaving
- Extreme Doormat: A character is so submissive that they'll do anything people tell them to and allow them to do anything that would prove detrimental for them.
- The Extremist Was Right
F
- The Faceless: A character who always has their face obscured.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon
- Face of a Thug: A good or neutral character has a menacing appearance.
- Fag Hag: A woman who hangs around with gay men.
- Fainting Seer
- Fair Cop
- The Fair Folk
- Fairy Companion
- Fairy Godmother
- Fake Faith Healer
- False Prophet: A religious figure lying for selfish reasons.
- Family-Values Villain: A villain who cares about setting a good example for children.
- Fantasy Character Classes
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father
- Farmer's Daughter
- Fat Bastard: An overweight character who is mean or evil.
- Fat Best Friend
- Fat Comic Relief
- A Father to His Men: The leader is a benevolent father figure to the rest of the group.
- Female Misogynist: A woman who hates other women.
- Femme Fatale
- The Ferry Man
- Fetishized Abuser
- The Fettered
- Fiery Redhead
- Fighting for a Homeland
- Fighting Irish
- The Fighting Narcissist
- Fille Fatale
- Final Girl: A female character who survives while the others get killed.
- Fixer Sue
- Flat-Earth Atheist: A character who refuses to believe in something proven to exist.
- Flying Dutchman
- Foreign Correspondent
- Forgetful Jones: A character who is incapable of remembering anything.
- Former Child Star
- Former Teen Rebel: A character was rebellious toward their parents and elders when they were an adolescent.
- Fortune Teller
- Founder of the Kingdom
- Four-Star Badass
- Fourth-Wall Observer: A character acknowledges the fourth wall, but is the only one who does so.
- Fox News Liberal
- Fragile Speedster
- Fratbro
- French Jerk: A mean character with a French accent.
- Friend in the Black Market
- The Friend Nobody Likes: A character who hangs out with the rest of the cast, but isn't exactly liked by the others.
- Friend on the Force
- Friend to All Children: A character who adores children and enjoys helping and interacting with them.
- Friend to All Living Things: When animals are attracted to a certain character.
- Friendly Enemy: Enemies who are nice to each other to the point that you'd assume they were friends if they weren't on opposing sides.
- Friendly Rivalry
- From Camouflage to Criminal
- Frontline General
- Fully-Embraced Fiend
- Funny Foreigner: A character from another country who provides comic relief with their unusual customs and obliviousness of how things are in the country they currently live in.
- Future Loser
G
- The Gadfly
- Gadgeteer Genius: A character who can invent a lot of useful devices.
- The Gambling Addict
- Gate Guardian
- Gay Best Friend
- Gay Conservative
- Gay Cowboy
- Gay Option
- Gayngster: A gay criminal.
- Genie in a Bottle
- Genius Bruiser: A character who is both very strong and highly intelligent.
- Genius Cripple
- Genius Ditz: A character who is mostly stupid, but very intelligent in a specific field of knowledge.
- Genius Loci: A sentient location.
- Gentle Giant: A tall character who is nice.
- Gentleman Adventurer
- Gentleman and a Scholar
- Gentleman Snarker
- Gentleman Thief
- The Ghost: A character who is mentioned, but never physically seen or heard from.
- Ghost Butler
- Ghost Extras
- The Gift
- Giftedly Bad: A character who has the "talent" of being completely horrible.
- The Gimmick
- Girl Friday
- Girl Next Door
- Girl Next Door Turned Superstar
- Girl of the Week: A one-shot character who serves as a love interest to one of the main characters.
- Girl Posse
- Girly Bruiser
- Glacier Waif
- Glorious Leader
- Glurge Addict
- God-Emperor
- God in Human Form
- God of Evil
- God of Good
- God Save Us from the Queen!
- Good Bad Girl
- Good Parents: Parents who love their children and do what they can to give their kids decent lives.
- Good Samaritan
- Good Shepherd
- Good Stepmother
- Good with Numbers
- Gossipy Hens
- Grande Dame
- Grandparental Obliviousness
- Granola Girl
- The Great Exterminator
- Grease Monkey
- Greek Chorus
- Groupie Brigade
- Grumpy Old Man: An elderly character who is a complete sourpuss.
- Guardian Entity
- Guardian of the Multiverse
- Guile Hero: A hero who relies on their wits to save the day.
- Gullible Lemmings
- Gushing About Guest Stars
- Gym Bunny
H
- Hair-Trigger Temper: A character who constantly gets angry at the slightest provocation.
- Handicapped Badass: A disabled character who is still very powerful and formidable.
- Handsome Lech: A character who is attractive but due to their obnoxious or awkward personality struggles to date women.
- Hanging Judge
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl
- Hate Sink
- Haunted Heroine
- Haunted House Historian
- He Who Fights Monsters: A character who ends up becoming just as bad or even worse than the enemies they fight.
- He Who Must Not Be Heard
- He Who Must Not Be Seen
- Head-in-the-Sand Management
- Head-Turning Beauty
- The Heart
- Heartbroken Badass: The hero has lost their love interest.
- Heartwarming Orphan
- The Hedonist
- He-Man Woman Hater: A childish misogynist.
- Henpecked Husband: A husband who is always ordered around by their wife and lacks the nerve to give their two cents on the matter.
- Herald
- The Hermit
- Hermit Guru
- Hero of Another Story: An ally of the hero has had heroic adventures of their own that aren't seen by the audience.
- Hero Killer: A villain who has successfully killed at least one hero who tried to stop them.
- Hero Secret Service
- Hero-Worshipper: The hero has a fan who can't stop showering them with praise.
- Heroic Bastard: An illegitimate child who is a nice person.
- Heroic Bystander
- Heroic Mime: A good character who doesn't talk.
- Heroic Neutral
- Heroic Wannabe
- Heteronormative Crusader: An activist who is homophobic and out to put an end to what they view as sexual deviancy.
- Hidden Depths: A character is revealed to have attributes and skills that one wouldn't have known them to possess at first glance.
- High-Powered Career Woman
- The High Queen
- High-School Hustler
- High-School Rejects
- Hikikomori: A character who hates going outdoors.
- Hobbits
- Holier Than Thou: An arrogant character who acts like they're better than everyone else.
- Homeless Pigeon Person
- Homegrown Hero
- Homeschooled Kids
- Honey Trap
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold
- Hope Bringer
- The Hopeless Replacement
- Horny Scientist
- Horror Host: A character common in works of the horror genre whose purpose is to serve as a narrator in the story or collection of stories' framing device.
- Hospital Hottie
- Hostage MacGuffin
- Hostile Hitchhiker
- Hot God
- Hot as Hell
- Hot Librarian
- Hot Teacher
- Hotel Hellion
- Housewife
- Human Hard Drive
- Human Jungle Gym
- Human Pack Mule
- Hunter of Monsters
- The Hyena: A character who constantly laughs.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: The hero's sidekick is leagues more competent than the hero.
- Hypocrite: A character who doesn't practice what they preach.
I
- I Just Want to Be Badass
- I Just Want to Be Beautiful
- I Just Want to Be Loved
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- I Just Want to Be Special
- I Just Want to Be You
- I Just Want to Have Friends
- Ice Queen
- Identity Amnesia
- Idiot Hero
- Idiot Houdini: A dumb character avoids punishment for their actions simply because they don't know any better.
- Ignorant of the Call
- Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: A character is oblivious of how much knowledge they truly lack.
- Ignored Expert
- The Igor: The hunchbacked assistant of the mad scientist.
- The Illegal
- The Immune
- The Imp
- Impeded Messenger
- Impoverished Patrician: A ruler who is destitute.
- Improperly Paranoid
- Inappropriate Role Model
- In Harm's Way
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: A character who is so nice and good-natured it is impossible for them to go bad.
- Indian Maiden
- Indispensable Scoundrel
- Indubitably Uninteresting Individual
- Inept Mage
- Inexplicably Awesome
- Inexplicably Identical Individuals: What initially appears to be the same character appearing everywhere is actually a whole bunch of different characters who all look alike.
- The Informant
- Informed Loner
- The Ingenue
- Inhuman Resources
- Innocent Bigot: A person who acts bigoted without realizing that what they're saying or doing is considered bigotry.
- Innocent Bystander
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: A character who goes naked or dresses provocatively because of ignorance of the nudity taboo.
- Innocent Flower Girl
- The Insomniac
- Inspector Javert: An enforcer of the law who is obsessed with capturing someone accused of a crime, regardless of whether the person is truly guilty.
- Inspector Lestrade
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: A disabled character is given special treatment by the others.
- Insufferable Genius: An intelligent character who acts condescending and rude to those who have lower I.Q.s than them.
- Insufferable Imbecile: A stupid character who is also very rude.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: A character who isn't able to speak in anything other than gibberish, yet is understood by the other characters.
- Interactive Narrator: The narrator interacts directly with the characters.
- Interdisciplinary Sleuth
- Interrupted Suicide
- Intro-Only Point of View
- Invincible Hero: A hero who can't be defeated.
- Invincible Incompetent: A character who can't mess up in spite of being incompetent.
- Invincible Villain
- Invisible Jerkass: An invisible character who uses their invisibility to do dickish things.
- Invisible President
- Iron Butt-Monkey: A character undergoes a lot of injuries, but manages to endure them completely intact.
- Iron Woobie
J
- Jaded Washout
- The Jailer
- The Jeeves
- Jerk Jock
- Jerkass: The character's main purpose is to be an asshole to the other characters.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A character who acts mean, but occasionally shows that they're not completely heartless and can be very sweet to those they care about..
- Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk: A mean character appears to do something nice, but their supposed good deed only results in proving that they were a much worse asshole than previously thought.
- Jerkass Woobie: A mean character whom some fans see as deserving sympathy for undergoing misfortune that seems unfair in spite of the bad things they did.
- Jewish and Nerdy
- Jewish Mother
- Joggers Find Death
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner
- Jumped at the Call: When asked to become the hero, the character is very excited about the opportunity.
- Jungle Princess
- Just a Gangster
K
- Kavorka Man: A man who gets a lot of dates in spite of being ugly or unpleasant.
- Kicked Upstairs: An employee is prevented from causing too much damage to the company by promoting them to a position where they can't do anything directly to the company's projects.
- Kids Are Cruel: Children who are mean.
- Kid from the Future
- KidAnova: A child who has lots of dates.
- Kid Hero
- Kid Sidekick
- Kiddie Kid: A child who acts more immature than the other child characters.
- Kidnapped Scientist
- Kind Hearted Cat Lover
- Kindhearted Simpleton: A dim character who makes up for their idiocy by being very nice.
- King of the Homeless
- King Incognito
- The Kirk
- Knight in Shining Armor
- Knight in Sour Armor
- Knight of Cerebus: An antagonist whose introduction or rise in prominence causes the work to at least temporarily become Darker and Edgier.
- Knight Templar: A character who believes that their just cause justifies using extreme and questionable methods.
- Knight Templar Big Brother
- Knight Templar Parent
- Knowledge Broker
- Kung-Fu Kid
L
- The Lab Rat
- The Lad-ette
- Lady of Black Magic
- Lady Drunk
- Lady in Red
- Lady-In-Waiting
- Lady Macbeth
- Lady of War
- The Lancer
- Large and in Charge: The leader or boss is also the biggest.
- The Last DJ
- Last of His Kind: A character is the last surviving member of their species.
- Lawful Stupid: An authority figure who causes problems by obeying the rules too literally.
- Lazy Bum
- Leader Wannabe
- Lead You Can Relate To
- Least Is First
- Lemony Narrator
- Lesser Star
- Lethally Stupid: A dumb character whose stupidity causes others to get killed.
- Lesbian Jock
- Lesbian Vampire
- Lethal Chef: A chef who is terrible at cooking.
- The Lightfooted
- Like a Duck Takes to Water
- Liminal Being
- Lipstick Lesbian
- Little Jimmy
- Littlest Cancer Patient
- Live-Action Escort Mission
- Living Aphrodisiac
- Living Emotional Crutch
- Living Lie Detector
- Living MacGuffin
- Living Prop
- The Load
- Logical Latecomer
- London Gangster
- Lonely Doll Girl
- Long-Lost Uncle Aesop: A one-shot character appears solely to provide the episode's moral.
- Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
- Loony Fan
- Loony Librarian
- Loon with a Heart of Gold
- Loser Has Your Back
- Loser Protagonist
- Lovable Alpha Bitch
- Lovable Coward
- Lovable Jock
- Lovable Nerd
- Lovable Rogue
- Lovable Sex Maniac
- Love Confessor
- Love Martyr
- Lover, Not a Fighter
- Loves My Alter Ego
- Loving Bully
- Loyal to the Position
- Lust Object
M
- MacGuffin-Person Reveal
- MacGuffin Turned Human
- MacGuffin Super-Person
- Mad Artist
- Mad Bomber
- The Mad Hatter: An insane character who doesn't care that they are crazy.
- Mad Mathematician
- Mad Oracle
- Mad Scientist: An insane scientist who conducts bizarre experiments.
- Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter
- Mafia Princess
- Mage Species
- Magical Girl
- Magical Girlfriend
- Magical Jew
- Magical Nanny
- Magical Native American
- Magical Negro
- Magical Queer
- Magical Seventh Son
- Magically Inept Fighter
- Maiden Aunt
- Majored in Western Hypocrisy
- Makeover Fairy
- Malaproper: A character who tends to confuse words with similar ones.
- Malcolm Xerox
- Mama Bear: A mother who will defend their children from anyone or anything endangering them.
- The Man They Couldn't Hang
- Manchild: An adult who acts immature.
- Manchurian Agent
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl
- Manly Gay
- Martial Pacifist
- Martyr Without a Cause
- Master of Delusion
- Master of the Mixed Message
- Master of Unlocking
- The Matchmaker
- Mauve Shirt
- Mayor of a Ghost Town
- The McCoy
- Mean Boss
- The Medic
- Meddlesome Patrolman
- Men Can't Keep House
- The Men in Black
- Men of Sherwood
- Merlin and Nimue
- Meta Guy
- Mighty Glacier
- Miles Gloriosus: A character boasts about being a good fighter, but becomes a coward when they're outnumbered.
- Milholland Relationship Moment
- Military Brat
- Military Maverick
- The Millstone
- Minnesota Nice
- Minor Major Character
- Minority Police Officer
- Miser Advisor
- Missed the Call
- Missing Mom: A character's mother is never seen or mentioned.
- Mission Control: A character who stays behind while keeping contact with the heroes to give them advice and instructions.
- Mister Big
- Mister Seahorse
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: A person thought to be a bad person turns out to actually be nicer than everyone has assumed.
- Momma's Boy
- Monster Clown
- Monster Fangirl: A fangirl of a depraved criminal.
- Monster Munch
- Monster Roommate
- Mooching Master
- Morality Chain
- Morality Chain Beyond the Grave
- Morality Pet
- Morally Bankrupt Banker
- Most Writers Are Writers
- Mother Nature
- Mother Russia Makes You Strong
- Motherly Scientist: A scientist regards their creations as their children.
- Mouthy Kid
- Mr. Imagination: A character with an active imagination.
- Mr. Vice Guy: A hero who has not-so-noble interests and pastimes.
- Mrs. Robinson
- Muggle Best Friend
- Muggle Foster Parents
- Muggles
- The Münchausen
- Mundane MacGuffin Person
- The Muse
- The Music Meister
- My Beloved Smother
- Mysterious Backer
- Mysterious Employer
- Mysterious Informant
- Mysterious Past: The characters' backstory is unknown.
- Mysterious Stranger
- Mysterious Waif
- Mysterious Watcher
N
- Naïve Everygirl
- Naïve Newcomer
- The Napoleon
- Narrator: The character who describes the story's events as they happen.
- Native Guide
- Nature-Loving Robot
- Nature Spirit
- Naughty Nuns
- The Navigator
- Nay-Theist: A character who is aware that deities exist, but denies their existence to spite them.
- Nazi Grandpa: A grandfather who served the Axis powers during World War II.
- Nazi Nobleman
- Necromancer: Someone who has the power to raise the dead.
- Neet
- Nerds Are Sexy
- Neuro-Vault
- Never a Self-Made Woman: A woman is never given recognition unless they owed their success to their husband.
- Never Live It Down: A character does one bad or embarrassing thing and the fandom never forgives them for it.
- Never Mess with Granny
- New-Age Retro Hippie
- New Job as the Plot Demands: The characters' job changes depending on what is appropriate for the plot.
- New Old Flame
- Nice Guy: A character whose defining trait is being nice and friendly to everyone.
- Nice Jewish Boy
- No Badge? No Problem!
- No Listening Skills
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: The villain always takes their fights against the heroes seriously and doesn't allow any room for the heroes to gain an edge over them.
- No-Respect Guy
- No Sense of Direction
- No Sense of Humor
- No Social Skills
- Noble Bigot: A character is prejudiced against a specific group, but still values their lives.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge
- Noble Fugitive
- Noble Profession
- Noble Savage
- Nobody's That Dumb: A dumb character points out that while they're an idiot, they're not that stupid.
- Non-Action Guy
- Non-Human Sidekick
- Non-Ironic Clown: A clown who isn't evil or seedy and represents everything friendly and humorous, the way a clown is supposed to be.
- Non-Linear Character
- Non-Protagonist Resolver
- Non-Promotion
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: A character who only seems competent and powerful in comparison to a group of people who are considerably less so than they are.
- Northern Irish And Nasty
- Nosy Neighbor
- Not Brainwashed
- Not So Omniscient After All
- Number Two
- Number Two for Brains: The second-in-command is an absolute dunderhead.
- Nuns Are Funny
- Nuns Are Spooky
- Nun Too Holy
- Nurse with Good Intentions
O
- The Oath-Breaker
- Obsolete Mentor
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: A bureaucrat is such a stickler for regulations that they prevent the heroes from solving their problems immediately by making them file assloads of paperwork.
- The Obstructive Love Interest
- Obstructive Zealot
- Obnoxious Entitled Housewife
- Occult Detective: A detective who specializes in supernatural cases.
- Officer and a Gentleman
- Officer O'Hara: A stereotypical Irish police officer.
- Offstage Villainy
- Ojou
- The Old Convict
- Old Flame
- Old Friend
- Old Master
- Old Soldier
- Old Superhero: An elderly superhero.
- Older Sidekick: The Sidekick is older than The Hero.
- Omnidisciplinary Lawyer
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: A scientist whose knowledge and skill covers all forms of science that the plot requires.
- The Omniscient
- Omniscient Hero
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: A character has done something that the other characters won't let them forget, be it goofy or grave.
- One Character, Multiple Lives
- One-Man Band
- One of the Kids: A childish adult who hangs out with children.
- The Only Believer
- Only Sane Employee
- Only Sane Man: The single character who isn't crazy or stupid.
- Open-Minded Parent: A parent who's completely fine with their child being different.
- Opposed Mentors
- Orc Raised by Elves
- Organ Grinder
- Original Character: A fanon character created to appear in a work of Fan Fiction.
- Our Liches Are Different
- Our Presidents Are Different
- Overlord Jr.
- Overshadowed by Awesome
- Overt Operative
P
- Papa Wolf: A father who is very protective of his children.
- Paper Tiger: A villain who is all bark and no bite.
- The Paragon
- Parent ex Machina
- Parental Abandonment: Neither of the characters' parents are seen or mentioned.
- Parental Substitute: A character who acts as a parental figure for a character whose real parents are absent or out of focus.
- Parents as People
- The Pawn
- Pedophile Priest: A priest who has an inappropriate interest in children.
- The Peeping Tom
- The Perfectionist
- Perilous Old Fool
- Perky Goth
- Permanent Elected Official: An elected official who never leaves office.
- Perpetual Frowner: A character who always frowns.
- Perpetual Smiler: A character who always smiles.
- Pervert Dad: A father who has an incestuous interest in his daughter.
- The Philosopher
- Phony Veteran
- Physical God
- The Piano Player
- Picky Eater
- The Pig-Pen: A character who tends to be messy and unhygienic.
- Pinball Protagonist
- Ping Pong Naïveté
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late
- Pirate Girl
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A character who is said to have a specific kind of job, but is never seen or otherwise indicated to do anything related to their profession.
- Plant Person
- Playing Cyrano
- Plot Magnet
- Plot-Sensitive Snooping Skills
- Plucky Comic Relief
- Plucky Girl
- Plucky Office Girl
- Plug 'n' Play Friends
- Pointy-Haired Boss: The one in charge is an outright dimwit.
- Poisonous Captive
- Poisonous Person
- Politically-Active Princess
- Politically Incorrect Hero: A heroic character who is bigoted.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: A villain who happens to be bigoted.
- The Pollyanna: A character who remains optimistic in spite of the misfortune they endure.
- Pompous Political Pundit
- The Pornomancer
- The Prankster
- Preacher's Kid
- Pregnant Badass: A pregnant women who manages to kick some butt.
- Pregnant Hostage: A pregnant women who is held hostage.
- Present Absence
- The Presents Were Never from Santa (In the form of a Faux Empowering Entity or a Faux Empowered Person)
- Pretty Boy
- Previously Overlooked Paramour: The Love Interest is someone previously not noticed.
- Pride Before a Fall
- The Prima Donna
- Prima Donna Director: A director who is demanding and rude to the other people involved in the production.
- Prince Charming
- Prince Charming Wannabe
- Prince Charmless
- Principles Zealot
- Pro-Human Transhuman
- Professional Butt-Kisser
- Professional Slacker
- The Professor
- Prone to Tears
- Properly Paranoid: A paranoid individual turns out to be right to some extent about the supposedly non-existent threats they were worrying about.
- A Protagonist Shall Lead Them
- Proud Beauty
- Proud Merchant Race
- Proud Scholar Race
- Proud Warrior Race Guy
- Psychic Children
- Psychologist Teacher
- Psycho Lesbian
- Psycho Sidekick
- Psychopathic Manchild: A villain or lunatic who acts immature.
- Pungeon Master: A character has a tendency to make puns.
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil
- Pushover Parents: Parents who are easily manipulated into letting their children have their way.
- Putting the "Pal" in Principal: A principal who wants to be seen as a friend by the students.
Q
- The Quarterback
- Quickly-Demoted Leader
- Quickly-Demoted Woman
- The Quiet One: A character who doesn't talk as often as the other characters.
- The Quincy Punk
- Quirky Doctor
R
- Racist Grandma: An elderly character with outdated views on minorities.
- Raised by Grandparents: A character whose parents are missing is raised by their grandparents.
- Raised by Natives
- Raised by Orcs
- Ranger
- The Real Heroes
- The Reliable One
- The Real Spoofbusters
- The Real Remington Steele: An alias the character made up turns out later to coincidentally be a real person.
- Real Women Have Curves
- Really Was Born Yesterday
- Reasonable Authority Figure: An authority figure who makes fair and unbiased decisions.
- Rebel Leader
- Rebel Prince
- Rebellious Princess
- Reckless Sidekick
- Reclusive Artist
- Recovered Addict
- Recurring Extra: A minor character who makes appearances throughout the series.
- Redheaded Stepchild
- Redheads Are Uncool
- Red Shirt: A character who exists solely to get killed off so there can be casualties without wasting any of the main cast.
- Redshirt Army
- Reformed Criminal
- Religious Bruiser
- Reluctant Mad Scientist
- Renaissance Man
- Replacement Flat Character
- The Resenter
- La Résistance: A group of people uniting to overthrow their oppressive rulers.
- Retired Badass
- Retired Monster: The villain has retired from villainy, but hasn't reformed.
- Returning War Vet
- Rich Bitch: A wealthy character who is mean.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter
- Right Man in the Wrong Place
- Right Way/Wrong Way Pair
- The Rival
- Rival Final Boss
- Rival Turned Evil
- Robot Buddy
- Robot Me: A robotic duplicate of the hero.
- Romantic False Lead
- Romantic Runner-Up
- Rookie Red Ranger
- Royal Brat
- Royalties Heir
- Ruler Protagonist
- Run or Die
S
- Sacrificial Lamb: The seriousness of death is demonstrated by killing off a minor character.
- Sacrificial Lion: The story kills off an important character to show how serious the stakes are.
- Sad Clown: A jokester who's only acting humorous to mask their depression.
- Sadist Teacher: A teacher who enjoys tormenting their students and making them suffer.
- Sarcastic Devotee
- Sassy Black Woman
- Sassy Secretary
- Satellite Character
- Satellite Family Member
- Satellite Love Interest
- Satisfied Street Rat
- Save This Person, Save the World
- The Scapegoat
- Scarily Competent Tracker
- Scary Black Man
- Scary Librarian
- Scary Minority Suspect
- Schemer
- School Nurse
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: A character's childhood bully has grown up and is still a mean person.
- Screaming Woman
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: A character shows their integrity by refusing to accept a bribe.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: A character bribes people to avoid punishment for their misdeeds.
- The Scrooge: A character who will do anything to spend as little money as possible.
- The Scrounger
- Secret Chaser
- Secret-Keeper: A character whom the hero has allowed to know their secret identity.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: A character knows another person's secret, but doesn't let the other person know that they are aware of the secret.
- Secretary of Evil: The character that runs logistics for the villains.
- Secretly Wealthy: A character is rich, but doesn't let other people know it.
- Seemingly Profound Fool
- Seen It All: A character has been through enough experiences that there is no circumstance too weird for them.
- Self-Made Man: A wealthy person started out dirt-poor and achieved their wealth through a lifetime of hard work.
- Sensor Character
- Serial Killer
- Serial-Killer Killer: A character who murders only people who have killed others.
- Serial Rapist
- Series Mascot
- Service Sector Stereotypes
- Sex God
- Sex Slave: A person is enslaved for the purpose of having sex with them against their will.
- Sexy Mentor
- Sexy Priest
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: A character who goes naked because they don't care at all about the nudity taboo or anyone who'd be offended by seeing them nude.
- Shapeshifter
- A Shared Suffering
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: A war veteran who is deeply traumatized by the horrors they witnessed in the war.
- Sheltered Aristocrat
- Shipper on Deck: A character who so desperately wants two people they know to become a couple.
- Shipper with an Agenda
- Shipping Torpedo
- Shock Jock
- The Short Guy with Glasses
- The Shrink
- Shrinking Violet
- Shrouded in Myth
- Sibling Yin-Yang
- Sidekick
- Silent Bob: A character who doesn't speak and yet has no difficulty making their points clear.
- Silent Partner
- Silent Scapegoat
- Silver Spoon Troublemaker
- Simple Country Lawyer
- Sinister Minister: An evil priest.
- Sissy Villain
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis
- The Slacker
- Slogan-Yelling Megaphone Guy
- Sidekick Creature Nuisance
- Small Name, Big Ego: A character thinks they're the best at what they do when they actually aren't.
- Small-Town Tyrant
- The Smart Guy
- Smooth-Talking Talent Agent
- Smug Snake
- Snake Oil Salesman
- The Snark Knight
- Soapbox Sadie
- Social Circle Filler
- The Social Darwinist
- Socially Awkward Hero
- The Sociopath: A character who has no empathy for other people and is willing to do anything amoral.
- Sole Surviving Scientist
- Sole Survivor
- Soul Brotha: A cool black guy.
- The Soulless
- Sour Prudes
- Sour Supporter
- Spanner in the Works: A character who ends up thwarting the bad guy's plan by complete accident or because the villain failed to anticipate their involvement.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: A character who can communicate with animals.
- Spear Carrier
- Special Guest
- The Speechless: A character who never talks because they are unable to.
- Spicy Latina
- The Spock
- Spoiled Brat
- Spoiled Sweet: A wealthy person who gets everything they want and is amiable toward everyone they meet.
- The Sponsor
- The Spook
- Spree Killer
- The Spymaster
- The Squire
- Squishy Wizard
- Stacy's Mom
- Stage Magician
- The Starscream: An underling of the main villain who wishes to overthrow them.
- Deck of Wild Cards: All of the villain's underlings want to overthrow him.
- Stepford Smiler: A character pretends to be happy to hide their pain.
- Stepford Snarker
- Stereotypical Nerd
- Stern Nun
- Stern Teacher: A teacher who can be harsh at times, but ultimately does care about their students.
- Stoic Woobie
- The Stoner
- The Stool Pigeon
- The Storyteller
- Straight Gay: A gay man who doesn't demonstrate any gay stereotypes.
- The Strategist
- Straw Character: A character exists solely to be a strawman for the story's politics to attack.
- Straw Critic: A critic portrayed as being unpleasable and perfectionist.
- Straw Fan: An unflattering portrayal of the work's fans.
- Straw Feminist: A feminist who follows the stereotype of feminists being misandrists.
- Straw Hypocrite
- Straw Misogynist
- Straw Nihilist: A nihilist is stereotyped as a person who believes that life is bleak, therefore doing anything good is a waste.
- Straw Vegetarian: Vegetarians and vegans are stereotyped as being antagonistic to anyone who eats meat or uses animal products.
- Straw Vulcan
- Strawman Ball
- Straying Baby
- Street Musician
- Street Performer
- Street Samurai
- Struggling Single Mother
- Stupid Boss
- Stupid Scientist
- Succubi and Incubi: Demons who frequently seduce humans.
- Sucksessor
- Suddenly Speaking: A silent character suddenly starts speaking.
- Suit with Vested Interests
- Summon Everyman Hero
- Super Doc
- Super Gullible
- Super-Stoic Shopkeeper
- Super-Strength: A character is incredibly strong.
- Supernatural-Proof Father
- Superpower Silly Putty
- Support Party Member
- Supporting Leader
- Supporting Protagonist
- Supreme Chef: A chef who is skilled enough to make all sorts of delicious food.
- Surfer Dude: A character whose lingo, accent, and/or dress sense is based off a stereotypical Californian surfer.
- Surveillance Station Slacker
- Sycophantic Servant
- Sympathetic Adulterer
- Sympathetic Murderer
T
- TV Genius
- Taking Advantage of Generosity
- Talking Appliance Sidekick
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky
- Tank-Top Tomboy
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: A character who is hurt or killed off to torment another character who cares about them.
- Tarzan Boy
- Team Chef
- Team Dad
- Team Killer
- Team Mom
- The Team Normal
- Team Prima Donna
- Team Switzerland
- The Team Wannabe: A character who wants to be a member of the group, but is only ignored by the team because they find him annoying.
- Teaser-Only Character
- Technical Pacifist
- Techno Wizard
- Teen Genius: An adolescent who is incredibly smart.
- Teen Hater: A character who despises teenagers to extensive degrees.
- Teens Are Monsters: Teenagers who are bad people.
- The Teetotaler: A character who never drinks alcohol.
- Telepathic Spacemen
- Temporary Love Interest
- Temporary Scrappy: A character whose purpose is to annoy the audience before they're eventually eliminated.
- Territorial Smurfette: The sole female character will get antagonistic toward any new female who tries to join the group.
- There Is Another
- They Killed Kenny Again: A character repeatedly dies and comes back to life to ludicrous levels.
- Third-Option Love Interest
- Third-Party Deal Breaker
- Third-Person Person: A character who tends to address themselves in third person.
- This Loser Is You: The unsuccessful character is supposed to represent the audience.
- Tin Man
- Tiny-Headed Behemoth: A large brute with a disproportionately small head.
- Token Black Friend: The white main character's best friend is a black Satellite Character who seems to exist mainly to make the show seem more inclusive.
- Token Enemy Minority: A member of the group who belongs to a species the group is usually against.
- Token Evil Teammate: The one member of a hero team who is evil.
- Token Good Teammate: The one member of a villain team who is good or at least less evil than the other villains.
- Token Heroic Orc: The sole member of a villainous race who isn't evil.
- Token Human
- Token Mini-Moe
- Token Minority
- Token Nonhuman
- Token Religious Teammate
- Token Rich Student
- Token White
- Token Wholesome
- Tomboy Princess
- Too Broken to Break
- Too Clever by Half
- Too Dumb to Fool: A character is so dumb that they can't be deceived due to being too stupid to understand the lies being told to them.
- Too Dumb to Live: A dumb character who ends up endangering or killing themselves because of their stupidity.
- Toxic Friend Influence
- Tragic Monster
- Translator Buddy: An associate of a character who serves to explain what that person was saying.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts
- Traveling Salesman
- Trickster Mentor
- Trickster Twins
- Triple Shifter
- Trophy Wife
- Troubled, but Cute
- Tsundere
- Tunnel King
- Turn Coat
- Troubled Teen
- Twofer Token Minority
- Typhoid Mary
- Tyrant Takes the Helm
U
- Übermensch
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter
- Ultimate Authority Mayor: A mayor has more power than a mayor would have in real life.
- Ultimate Blacksmith
- UltimateGamer386
- Ultimate Job Security: A character who slacks off their duties and/or violates protocol enough times that they realistically would've been fired a long time ago.
- Umpteenth Customer
- Unbalanced By Rival's Kid
- Uncle Pennybags: A rich character who uses their wealth to give the middle-class and the poor a good time.
- Uncle Tomfoolery
- Unconvincingly Unpopular Character
- Underground Railroad
- The Un-Favourite: A child who is liked less by their parents than their siblings.
- Unfazed Everyman
- The Unfettered: A character who will stoop to any low to get what they want.
- The Unintelligible: A character who is only capable of speaking in gibberish.
- Unknown Character
- Unreliable Expositor
- Unreliable Narrator: The narrator is hinted to be lying about what happened in their story.
- Unrequited Tragic Maiden
- Unsatisfiable Customer
- Unseen No More
- Unstoppable Mailman
- The Usual Adversaries
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: The main character of a comedy is a jerk.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A single character's actions end up unintentionally causing the conflict.
- Unwitting Pawn: A character is unaware they're helping their enemies further their goal.
- Up Through the Ranks
- Useless Boyfriend
- Useless Protagonist
V
- Vain Sorceress
- Valley Girl
- The Vamp: A woman who acts seductive to manipulate men into doing what they want them to.
- Vampire Refugee
- Vanilla Protagonist
- Venturous Smuggler
- Very Punchable Man
- The Vicar
- Victim of the Week
- Victimized Bystander
- The Vietnam Vet
- Villain by Default
- Villain of Another Story
- Villain of the Detour
- Villainous Glutton: A villain who tends to overeat.
- Violent Glaswegian
- Violently Protective Girlfriend
- The Voice: A character who is heard, but never physically seen.
- The Voiceless: A character who never speaks but might be able to talk.
- Voice with an Internet Connection
W
- Waif Prophet
- Waiting for a Break
- Walking Disaster Area
- Walking Techbane
- Walking Techfix
- War Hawk
- War Reenactors
- Warrior Monk
- Warrior Prince
- Warrior Therapist
- Wasteland Elder
- Wasteland Warlord
- The Watchmaker
- The Watson
- We Just Need to Wait for Rescue
- Weirdness Magnet: A character who ends up encountering all kinds of strange phenomenon no matter where they are.
- Weirdness Search and Rescue
- "Well Done, Dad!" Guy
- "Well Done, Son" Guy
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: A character resorts to extreme methods to ensure a noble goal.
- Weasel Co-Worker
- Wet Blanket Wife
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?
- While Rome Burns
- White-Dwarf Starlet
- White Magician Girl
- White Man's Burden
- White Sheep
- Wholesome Crossdresser
- Wicked Stepmother
- Wide-Eyed Idealist
- Wild Child
- Windmill Crusader
- Wisdom from the Gutter
- Wise Tree
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
- Woman Scorned
- The Wonka
- The Woobie: A character who suffers so much that the audience can't help but feel sorry for them.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: A character who causes mass destruction has a sympathetic backstory.
- The Worf Effect: It's established how powerful a character is by having them easily defeat a strong character as if they were a weakling.
- Workaholic
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed)
- The Worm Guy
- Worthless Foreign Degree
- Wrestling Managers Are Heels
- Wrench Wench
Y
Z
