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While New Directions started out with only six members, many other students have since joined its ranks. Please note that everybody on this page can be considered a Sixth Ranger.

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Quinn Fabray

Lucy Quinn Fabray

Status is like currency. When your bank account is full, you can get away with doing just about anything. But right now, we're like toxic assets!

Head of the Cheerios and formerly the Celibacy Club, and Finn's ex-girlfriend. She joined New Directions in order to spy for Sue, but grew to like it since they were the only ones not to ostracize her for being pregnant. She gave birth to Puck's baby (later put up for adoption) after having claimed it was Finn's. Played by Dianna Agron.

Quinn: People think you're gay now, Finn. And do you know what that makes me? Your big gay beard!

  • Beta Couple: Her and Sam in the first half of Season 2.
  • Betty and Veronica: An even more complicated case than Rachel as she has two potential love interests; Puck and Finn. In Finn’s case, she could be seen as both the Veronica (as she is the Alpha Bitch in comparison to Rachel’s girl next door) or as the Betty (her Christian upbringing in comparison to Rachel’s control freak and overbearing personality). In Puck’s case, she is firmly the Betty to Santana’s Veronica (although this is complicated in Season 2 by adding Lauren into the mix as the Official Couple with Puck).
  • Break the Haughty
  • Broken Bird: Almost certainly as of Season 3.
  • Byronic Hero
  • The Cheerleader: Initially of the "bitchy" variety. Later of the "outgrows cheerleading" side of the trope.
  • Christianity Is Catholic: In-show, averted, as Quinn is clearly an evangelical Protestant. However, many fanfic writers don't understand this and depict her as attending what is clearly a Catholic church.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Far from the worst, but some of her motivations are... interesting. Notably pursuing a relationship with Finn because she wants to be prom queen, as she believes prom queens live 5 years longer than normal people
  • The Confidant: Becomes this for Sam in "Rumours" after Sam's family loses their house and has to live out of a motel room and a car. She helps Sam out by babysitting his younger siblings and keeps the secret even under considerable duress when the WMHS rumor mill starts churning.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen
  • Depending on the Writer: Especially at the beginning of Season 2 where a lot of her Character Development disappeared for awhile.
  • Disabled Hottie: After her accident in Season 3. Apparently, it's only temporary, but let's see.
  • Distaff Counterpart: To Artie after her accident.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Has this reaction after being in a car accident and getting confined to a wheelchair.
  • Dumb Blonde: Averted; not only is she rather cunning, but apparently she is on the Honor Roll. Kurt even lampshades this in "Hairography".
  • Dynamic Character
  • Easily Forgiven: She completely torments Rachel in early episodes who extends the olive branch only a few episodes later. Finn averts this by dumping her once he finds out she's been lying to him. It's revealed in "Throwdown" that at least some of Rachel's "sympathy" toward Quinn is faked, as a ploy to get closer to Finn.
    • Again in "Prom Queen" when Rachel comforts Quinn after the latter failed to be voted Queen even though Quinn had just slapped Rachel in the face. This time, the forgiveness and sympathy seem to be genuine.
  • Embarrassing First Name: "Quinn" is her middle name. Her first name is "Lucy", which she dropped when she moved to McKinley after she got rid of her Formerly Fat self.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: Lucy Caboosey.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Dons pink hair, leather, an upside-down cross, and an "ironic" tattoo of Ryan Seacrest in Season 3.
  • Fallen Princess: However, contrary to the the usual course the trope implies, Quinn actually seems to have ended up so far as a risen Princess (or upgraded to High Queen) due the dramatic changes in character.
    • Subverted as of the Season Three premier.
  • Formerly Fat
  • Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Once she finds out she's pregnant, the religious Quinn doesn't even consider abortion. Possibly a Double Subversion in that her character is set up to be evil, then becomes more sympathetic.
  • Hair Decorations
  • Heel Face Turn: Quinn initially joins the glee club to spy for Sue in hopes that the demise of Glee will be the end of Finn's interest in Rachel. But as the school learns of her pregnancy, only her fellow glee clubbers support her, while the popular kids diss her and she gets kicked off the Cheerios. By Episode 12, Quinn is threatening to bring down the Cheerios unless Sue donates one of their yearbook pages to the Glee club, and even tells Sue that she'd rather be in Glee club.
  • Heel Realization: Even though her insanity has long since passed, Quinn still has the passionate drive to reclaim what made her so popular before, like her spot back on the Cheerios or the Prom Queen crown, during her senior year despite going through terrible things that year that would leave anyone humbled. Finn in particular calls her out on this after discovering that she plans on using her recent disability to get the sympathy vote for Prom Queen, and is upset enough that he yells at her to stand up and show everyone how much of a bitch she is before attempting to pull her out of her wheelchair. Quinn even makes a comment about how mighty have fallen when Rachel tells her that she saw her as a beautiful and popular girl when they first met, but as soon as Rachel tells her that she still sees her that way but also sees that she now carries a humbled dignity, that's when Quinn starts to see her Prom Queen victory as an empty one.
  • Hot Mom: Quinn becomes this in the Season 1 finale.
  • Ignored Epiphany: Quinn spends a year being ostracized by the entire school for being pregnant, and learns what it's like to be bullied. She befriends Mercedes, stays at her house, and even asks Mercedes to be there at the birth of her child. Then Season 2 hits, and she's right back to being the bitchy cheerleader she was in the beginning, and her friendship with Mercedes disappeared.
    • Then when Will calls out on her total disregard for everything the club gave her (including the kind aid Mercedes gave her), she resumes her rebellious attitude.
    • Then a subversion, she rejoins the club only to put up a temporary changed-person facade to get Beth back.
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: Said almost verbatim in "New York".
  • I Just Want to Be Special: Quinn's main motivation in Season 2 is climbing out of the unpopularity hole that was dug when she got pregnant last year, which means rejoining the Cheerios, getting Santana off her back, and not dating someone who could hurt her again.
  • Important Haircut
  • Inspirationally Disadvantaged: She tries to pull this during the run for senior prom queen, even though she can walk again by then.
  • Instant Birth, Just Add Water: In "Journey", Quinn seems to give birth within a five or six minute time frame.
  • Ivy League for Everyone: She gets into Yale.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Up to Eleven.
  • Karma Houdini: Her spying for Sue. Subverted in that her pregnancy and lying about the father of the baby DO have consequences.
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch: Backstabbing Santana to become Head Cheerio again, after Santana had not done the same when possessed of similar information about Quinn's pregnancy in the previous year. Santana's not exactly a nice person, either, of course.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: She herself notes that she has cheated on her boyfriend twice: the first time, she got pregnant; the second time, she got mono (granted, that second time was thanks to Santana, but still drove the point home).
  • Limited Wardrobe: Quinn wears her cheerleading uniform in every scene. Even when hot-tubbing at home she wears the official bikini top variation. The only other outfits we've seen her in are Glee costumes. ...Until she gets kicked out in Episode 8.
  • Meaningful Name: Not only does her name rhyme with her boyfriend Finn's but it's also only a few letters away from Queen.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: With Sam in "Rumours". It turned out, however, that she was merely being a good friend and helping him babysit his younger siblings.
  • Morality Pet: Quinn's unborn child humanizes her and helps the audience sympathize with her.
  • Odd Friendship: With Mercedes.
  • The Perfectionist: More or less inferred from the way she's been acting.
  • Pimped-Out Dress: Quinn's costume in the Lady Gaga episode is widely considered the most elegant out of the group; makes sense since it's based on a dress Gaga wore to the Grammys.
  • Screaming Birth: Set to Bohemian Rhapsody, no less.
  • Smoking Is Cool: In the Season 3 premiere, although she drops the habit later on.
  • Stepford Smiler: Quinn tries to be one of these when she first discovers her pregnancy, but ultimately fails when Sue forces Jacob to disclose the story. It's implied that Quinn's mom is a grown-up version of this, as she figures out that Quinn is pregnant but refuses to acknowledge that she knew anything even after Finn tells the Fabrays at the dinner table.
  • Strawman Political: The idea of the Celibacy club president getting pregnant is a pretty obvious send-up of abstinence-only sex education. Quinn's parents extend this to right-wing Christianity in general. And Quinn's ploy to get back on to the cheerleading squad at the beginning of Season 2 is a pretty obvious send-up of Bristol Palin.
  • Teen Pregnancy
  • That Woman Is Dead: She desperately tries to forget that she was ever "Lucy Caboosey". Happens again in Season 3, when she becomes a pink-haired, smoking rebel and quits both the Cheerios and New Directions, explaining in a voice-over that she's "never going back." She does.
  • The Three Faces of Eve and The Hecate Sisters: Arguable, but she could be considered a combination of the of the Wife and the Mother with the sharp–witted aspect of the Crone.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Don't text while driving, especially not when you're in a hurry.
  • Tsundere: ESPECIALLY when she's drunk! (which is almost similar to Police Stop! footage of women undergoing the drink-drive DUI test, in a way).
  • We Used to Be Friends: Had a serious spat with friend Santana in Season 2, though they seem to be on better terms in Season 3.
  • Your Cheating Heart: Has a bit of a problem with this. Becomes quite the rut in her relationship with Finn when he suspects her of cheating on him with Sam because he reveals he doesn't fully trust her because of her track record.

Noah "Puck" Puckerman

Noah "Puck" Puckerman

Hey ankle grabber. I had sex with your mom. No, seriously. I cleaned your pool, and then I had sex with her - in your bed. Nice Star Wars sheets.

Finn's best friend and fellow football player. He is the true father of Quinn's baby. Although initially disdainful, he later joins Glee. Played by Mark Salling.

  • All for Nothing: After learning that Sue would be one of the judges at Regionals, Puck says this word for word.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: The second-half of Season 1 has subverted this though.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Subverted. Lauren is initially attracted to him when she thinks he's this, but was disappointed to learn that he's just a plain old white guy with a tan.
  • Artistic License: Biology: He has to look it up before he realizes women don't have prostates.
  • Badass: Describes himself as one.
  • Bad Bad Acting: For the mattress commercial and "Run Joey Run".
  • Bash Brothers: With Finn.
  • The Beard: One fan theory is that Santana's extreme jealousy whenever Puck is with anyone else is because she believes that her relationship with him is what keeps people from figuring out she likes girls.
  • Betty and Veronica: He is the Veronica twice-over to Finn in their triangles with Quinn and Rachel.
  • Book Dumb: While hardly stupid, he clearly doesn't know very much about any academic subjects. The show really took this to town during Quinn's pregnancy, with Puck frequently displaying his ignorance of basic reproductive health.
  • Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: For all his womanizing attitude, Puck is actually mostly respectful to both Quinn and Rachel when they were dating. Only if you forget the "sexting" and the "We were never friends" bits. Now that he and Lauren are dating, he's become quite the gentleman... sometimes.
  • Casanova
  • Charm Point: His mohawk, as evidenced by what happens when he loses it.
  • Chick Magnet
  • Closet Geek: Mild version. He's still a jock and a self-style "badass" but has some nerdish tendencies, such as some very atypical musical tastes for your standard football-playing bully. He's also something of a Momma's Boy, and has a deep love for Super Mario Bros.. Also he plays the accordion.
  • Disappeared Dad
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Vocal Adrenaline covers New Directions' choir room in toilet paper. Puck's Response? Slice the tires of their cars.
  • Easily Forgiven: His first appearance was him slushying Rachel. A few episodes later, she's dating him. Averted that Finn flat out does not forgive him.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: This appears to be Puck’s modus operandi to seduce the older women in Lima and he causes this constantly to them, going as far as to spice it up with a nipple ring.
  • Fascinating Eyebrow: Puck at least indulges this once, as seen in "Ballads" during his inner monologue.
  • Freudian Excuse
  • Heel Face Turn: In the first season, he's a bully and remains a jackass even after joining the Glee club (impregnating his best friends' girlfriend and all). However, his maturity grows over the course of the second season and he becomes one of the most dedicated members of the New Directions. In the third season, he is even attempting to be in his daughter's life.
  • Heroic BSOD: happens to him in "Special Education" after the football team locks him in a porta-potty.
  • Hot Dad: Puck becomes this in the Season 1 finale.
  • Hot for Teacher: He covers this song in "Mash-Off", inspired by his feelings for Shelby Corcoran.
  • Ho Yay: With Sam:

Puck: Dude, your mouth is huge. How many tennis balls can you fit in there?
Sam: I...don't know, I've never put any balls in my mouth. Have you?

  • Hypocritical Heartwarming: Puck mocks Kurt endlessly - but when Karofsky drives Kurt to Dalton, Puck's reaction is approximately, "You made my boy Kurt leave. You are therefore on the top of my hit list."
  • I'm A Man I Can't Help It: Puck’s personal mantra; this is not amusing to Quinn in the least.
  • Important Haircut: Has one in the back nine that leads to him dropping most of his Jerkass behavior
  • Informed Judaism: Subverted.
  • I Take Offense to That Last One: In "Bad Reputation", he freely admits to 'owning' the activities of beating up people and such... but takes offense at even being asked if he's lied.
  • Jerk Jock
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Underneath it all, Puck seems genuinely upset about Quinn keeping him away from their baby in favor of Finn as the father. Taken even further in Season 3: Puck mentions in voice over that he's willing to put his Jerkass and womanizing behavior to bed permanently in order to be with Shelby and to be a good father for Beth.
  • Karma Houdini: Subverted, while he rarely faces consequences for his antagonism towards fellow Glee members and general bullying, his relationships with Finn and Quinn has suffered due to his actions.
  • Ladykiller in Love: When he falls for Lauren Zizes.
    • Also Quinn in season 1 but that got dropped out of nowhere by Season 2
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: In-universe no less. So far, he's been linked to every female in the club except for Tina.
  • Likes Older Women: He didn't get a job as a pool boy just for the money.

Puck: I had sex with your mom. No, seriously: I cleaned your pool, and then I had sex with her... on your bed. Nice Star Wars sheets.

  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: Puck is the living embodiment of this Trope.
  • Matzo Fever: The reason he dates Rachel.
  • Misfit Mobilization Moment: Although the confrontation never actually goes down, after New Directions learns about Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline egging Rachel, a furious Puck calls out to Matt and Mike to help him get revenge. He's soon joined by all the boys, even Kurt and Artie.
  • Mr. Fanservice: An in-series one no less.
  • Noble Demon: Especially in Season 2, where his more noble aspects are shown.
  • Odd Friendship: With Artie, even though it starts due to Puck using Artie to fulfill his community service requirement. It gets noted in "Rumours" and "Prom Queen" where at the start of Artie's solo number [1], it's Puck that appears as the backup.
  • Pizza Boy Special Delivery: Puck uses his pool cleaning job as an opportunity to service bored housewives.
  • Popular Is Dumb: While Puck is notably more savvy and articulate than Finn and Brittany, he lacks quite a lot in the common sense department and is quite Book Dumb.
  • Put on a Bus: Puck spent time in juvenile detention for stealing an ATM and was absent from a few episodes. However, this was only a temporary case unlike Matt; actor Mark Salling wanted some time off to promote his original music.
  • Really Gets Around: Puck is this par excellence, as he’s had countless sexual and romantic partners including Santana, Rachel, Mercedes, Quinn, and countless housewives among Lima.
  • Rousing Speech / "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Puck somehow manages to combine these in "Sue Sylvester Shuffle".
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Puck’s the Manly Man to Finn’s Sensitive Guy.
  • Shipper on Deck: As of "New York", he and the rest of New Directions' guys (Kurt included!) seem to be actively shipping Finn and Rachel.
  • Suddenly Ethnicity: Being Jewish. It was mentioned in passing in the seventh episode. By the next episode, he's dating Rachel out of Matzo Fever.
  • Token Minority Couple: Invoked. Puck uses his and Rachel's shared Judaism to get in her pants more than once after his mother told him to go date a nice Jewish girl.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Puck relationship and friendship with the members of Glee borders of this.
  • You Need to Get Laid: He himself notes that after he started sexing up older women, he didn't feel the need to beat up people nearly as much.


Santana Lopez

Santana Lopez

The only straight I am is straight-up bitch.

Quinn's catty cheerleader flunky who joins Glee Club with her to help spy for Sue. She later struggles to come to terms with her sexuality in the latter half of Season 2. Played by Naya Rivera.

Finn::Hey Santana, why don't you just come out of the closet

?

  • Armored Closet Gay: Though the show plays with this trope: Santana doesn't exactly try to hide the fact that she and Brittany mess around behind closed doors. But it's a horse of a different color to come out as gay, admit she has feelings for Brittany and start dating her - and thereby by expose herself to the homophobic bullying Kurt received. Even after Brittany breaks up with Artie in "Rumours" and offers to ask Santana to prom, she still chooses to go with Karofsky instead and pretend to be straight.
  • Badass Boast: Against Karofsky.

Santana: First of all, anything you do became my business when you decided to toss that slushie up in my grill.
Karofsky: I think I can take a couple of queers and a girl.
Santana: Ha. See, here's what's gonna go down. Two choices: you stay here and I crack one of your nuts - right or left, that's your choice - or you walk away and live to be a douchebag another day. Oh, and also? I have razor blades hidden in my hair. Mm-hm. Tons, just all up in there.

  • The Beard: She and Karofsky are each others beards.
  • Becoming the Mask
  • Betty and Veronica: Santana is firmly the Veronica in the five romantic triangles she was been part of as of this time (between her and Rachel for Finn, between her and Rachel for Puck, between her and Quinn for Puck, between her and Mercedes for Puck, and between her and Artie for Brittany).
  • Brutal Honesty
    • Goes even further in "Silly Love Songs".

"I just try to be really, really, honest with people when I think...that they suck!"

  • Bullying a Dragon: Picked a fight with Lauren over Puck. Lauren's about three times her size, and is the only girl on the wrestling team. It didn't end well.
  • But Not Too Gay: Became especially obvious when they title an episode "I Kissed A Girl" and Santana had not, in fact, ever kissed her girlfriend. Became such an issue that there was a massive Internet Backdraft, compelling the writers to finally let them (complete with what was either a Take That Us or a really hypocritical aesop about double standards of gay PDA).
  • Cat Fight: One with Mercedes over Puck, one with Quinn when she's allowed back in the Cheerios and takes Santana's spot as captain. The second one is especially vicious. *Slap* She also has to be restrained by about three people to stop her from taking Rachel out. Against Lauren, though, her luck runs out.
  • Characterization Marches On: In the very early episodes, Santana was little more than Quinn's sidekick and was perfectly content with just being at her side.
  • The Cheerleader: "Bitchy and slutty" type.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: She's very much against anyone dating Puck, even though she isn't actually with him anymore. Brittany/Artie doesn't go over well with her either. As of "Pot o' Gold", she's not too happy about Rory's interest in Brittany either, even though so far there's no sign of it being returned.
  • Coming Out Story
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: Sue revoking her tanning privileges causes her to cry and flee the room.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Exquisitely slowly, but definitely by the first season finale - though she she's still a bitch, just somewhat more willing to show enthusiasm for the club.
    • "Sexy" goes a long way in terms of melting her down.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Claims to have gotten the manager of Breadstix fired for trying to stop her from taking a wheelbarrow of breadsticks away from the restaurant.
  • The Dragon: Originally to Quinn as the Alpha Bitch, and then to Sue.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Succeeds Quinn as the Alpha Bitch; this has the odd effect of simultaneously making her the top dog among the school's girls, while also making her Sue's new Dragon (having previously just been a member of Sue's Quirky Miniboss Squad).
  • Fake Guest Star: In Season One.
  • Foreign Language Tirade: "New York": Convinced that Finn and Rachel's Concert Kiss cost them Nationals, she screams at Rachel in Spanish. She's so irritated about it that it takes Sam, Mike, and Quinn to keep her from ripping Rachel to pieces.
  • Freudian Slip: "Born This Way":

Santana: I've gotta gay. Go. I've gotta go.

  • Gag Boobs: She gets a boob job in between Season 1 and 2.
  • Gayngst: "Sexy" reveals that Santana is indeed gay and has only been in denial about it and her feelings for Brittany. Seeing what happened to Kurt only pushed her further into the closet. Finn outing her in "Mash-Off", though, just adds more of this.
  • Girl Posse: For Quinn, initially; after Quinn is dethroned as head cheerleader, she and Brittany become more of a double-act.
  • Hammerspace Hair: She keeps a phone in her hair, and also apparently razorblades. Then again, it was a RAZR phone.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: "Your loss. Cause now I get the chance to write an awesome heterosexual song about Sam."
    • Kind of amusing considering how her standard answer whenever someone notices her closeness to Brittany is "I am not a fan of labels."
      • Fridge Brilliance really since the personality she shows when she's with Brittany and the personality she shows when with others is dramatically different. Thus when those two parts occasionally collide, she has to balance out the two without weakening either side.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door: Her level of attachment to the Glee club is in constant flux.
  • Heel Realization: Her Anguished Declaration of Love to Brittany in "Sexy", where she admits that her cruelty is at least partly due to her turmoil over her feelings for her.
  • Hidden Depths: As of "Sexy".
  • Homoerotic Dream: Santana bitches Dr. Carl into giving her totally unnecessary anesthesia so that she and Brittany can hallucinate "Me Against The Music" together.
  • Hypocrite: Just keeping it real...ly into the closet.
    • Also calling Quinn a slut in "Audition".
  • Hysterical Woman: When she's drunk.
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: Throughout Season Two, there have been more and more indications that she's extremely lonely and jealous of other people's relationships.
    • Becomes something of a Harsher in Hindsight when, as of "Sexy", we realize this is because she feels afraid and lonely for being gay. Lonely because either people will bully her as they did Kurt or dismiss it as something being done to get a rise out of the guys. Jealous because the isolation makes it that much harder to have a serious relationship.
  • Informed Attribute: Her breasts really don't look any different most of the time post-surgery.
  • Intertwined Fingers: Santana and Brittany's signature pinky-link.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Uses her sass to help Kurt and Blaine stand up to Karofsky.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Antagonism towards the rest of Glee club.
    • Despite being a huge Jerkass to Rachel in "Special Education", not only is she not called on it by Will, he makes her the team's soloist at Sectionals.
    • She finally gets her comeuppance in "Silly Love Songs", when the entire Glee Club gives her a Reason You Suck Speech, then she later gets her ass handed to her by Lauren.
    • Subverted again in the first episode of Season 3. When she leads the Cheerios in a sabotage of Glee club recruitment, Will kicks her out of Glee club.
    • Subverted most brutally in "Mash-Off", when her constant harassment of Finn and Rory leads to Finn outing her in a crowded hallway.
  • Kick the Dog: She's regularly a bitch to everyone, but her spurning Brittany in "Duets" has often been called her worst moment; also, being especially nasty to Rachel in "Special Education".
  • Lady in Red: Her prom dress.
  • Ladykiller in Love: A female version. After a lot of sleeping around with both boys and at least one girl, she realizes that Brittany is all she really wants. Just compare her reaction when Brittany touches her hand in "Pot o' Gold" with her flippant attitude toward sex with boys.
  • Letting Her Hair Down: After she quits the Cheerios.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Her cheerleading uniform. The only times we see her out of it is when she performs "Like a Virgin" in the Madonna episode and sleeps with Finn and whenever the kids do a group number in matching outfits.After leaving the Cheerios, she starts dressing in normal clothes beginning with "Silly Love Songs".
  • Lipstick Lesbian: Her character arc during the later part of the second season clearly makes her this.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Convinced Brittany into having an affair with her behind Artie's back by telling her that it's not cheating since "the plumbing's different." There's also the incident were she literally borrows the germs of a student sick with mono (her promiscuity making her immune to "the kissing disease"), then kisses Finn because she knows he'll be kissing Quinn, thus making them both sick and making everybody realize that Quinn's been fooling around behind Sam's back. In the next episode, she convinces Sam to dump Quinn for her. But that's just prelude to her campaign for Prom Queen: she convinces Karofsky to date her and be each others' beards, and they start an anti-bullying patrol (not that hard since they alone probably account for half the school's bullying problems) to boost their popularity, getting Karofsky to convince Kurt to come back in the process. Even Kurt--the Glee club's original schemer--had to give her props on this one.
    • Let's not forget her stated reason for wanting to be Prom Queen in the first place: She thinks that if she becomes Queen, she can convince Brittany that by royal decree, the two of them have to date.
  • Meaningful Name: Or meaningful misspelling; it's relatively common for discussion posts, and even an article in Entertainment Weekly to miss the first 'n' and spell her name as "Satana". In "Duets", Mercedes cast her ballot for herself and "Satan". Then there's this Australian promo.
  • The Mistress: She calls herself one.
  • The Mole: For Sue in Season 1.
  • Morality Pet: Brittany is Santana's.
    • Kurt and Blaine also seem to have become something like this to her, seeing how she stands up for them to Karofsky and Sebastian, in "Night of Neglect" and "Michael", respectively.
  • Ms. Fanservice: In her inaugural episode wearing normal clothes, she shows great promise in this regard: apart from an array of very pretty ordinary outfits, she wears a very fetishy candystriper uniform.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: Not confirmed, but it's frequently speculated that her name is a reference to famous guitarist Carlos Santana, especially since "Santana" is not commonly used as a first name (many fanfics give her a brother named Carlos, to further the joke).
  • Naughty Nurse Outfit: Dresses in one in "Silly Love Songs".
  • Odd Friendship/Pitbull Dates Puppy: Santana, a self-identified "bitch" with a perpetually sour outlook, would on the surface seem to be the least likely companion for the generally sweet, goofy Brittany, but the two are virtually inseparable.
  • Pet the Dog: Most of her more positive moments come from her friendship with Brittany.
  • Reaction Shot: To paraphrase Television Without Pity, if there was an Emmy award for "Best Background Side-eye/Bitchface/Disgusted Eye-roll", Naya Rivera would win hands-down, both for quantity and quality.
  • Really Gets Around: She's been involved with three of the five straight guys in New Directions (Puck, Finn, and Sam), and has slept with Brittany as well. Remarked at one point that she found you had to have sex at least twenty times "before the feeling of accomplishment really kicks in."
  • Relationship Reveal: "Brittana" went from being a non-canon ship to a sly joke to something we actually see onscreen. And as of "Sexy", it evolved into one of the more serious relationships on the show.
  • Relationship Upgrade: With Brittany as of "Pot o' Gold."
  • Rich Bitch: Despite some posturing at being from "the wrong side of the tracks", we see she is clearly this in "Brittany/Britney" when she brags about the "great insurance" she gets from her doctor dad.
  • The Rival / Worthy Opponent: With Mercedes. They don't exactly get along, but they both admit that they respect one another's singing talents. Mercedes was even able to convince Santana to join her in Shelby's Glee club on the basis of this.
  • Schoolgirl Lesbians: With Brittany.
  • Serious Business:
    • Don't come between her and Breadstix.
    • When Sue takes away her tanning privileges in Season 1, Santana breaks down in tears.
  • The Snark Knight: Brittany is the only one safe from her vicious, vicious words.
  • Spicy Latina
  • Stepford Snarker
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: "I'm not making out with you because I'm in love with you and want to sing about making lady-babies."
  • Ted Baxter: "You guys love me. I keep it real and I'm hilarious!" Yeah, in-universe, no one actually likes her. Except Brittany. Also shown with her talking up her supposed ghetto-ness and badassery. Due to the nature of the show no one is actually sure what her background is, but it's clear that at least half the things she says about her awesomeness are Blatant Lies.
  • Those Two Girls: Was this with Brittany, originally, but they've both subsequently Darkhorsed their way to the big time.
  • The Three Faces of Eve and The Hecate Sisters: The easiest to classify among the three Cheerios, Santana falls under a combination of the Seductress and the Crone.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Can verge on this - she likes singing and dancing, and will admit to liking the club grudgingly, but she still takes great enjoyment in being mean to everyone in the group other than Brittany.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Originally just a regular one-type minority later upgraded to twofer status due to her lesbianism. What's interesting is that she's the only ethnic minority on the show whose race is incidental to her character (save for a couple of throwaway lines in Spanish).
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: When she isn't being the Token Evil Teammate, she's being vitriolic to the rest of Glee. As seen in one episode, though, its not because she hates them (she quit Cheerios for them after all), it's just because she's trying not to be fake and to be honest. Tends to be more vitriolic with the plot-relevant members like Quinn, Finn, Rachel while more friendly and amicable with secondary characters like Brittany, Puck, Artie, and Mercedes. Sorta.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Season 2 threw some serious turmoil into her friendship with Quinn and her relationship with Brittany, though both seem on much better terms in Season 3.

Brittany Pierce

Brittany Susan Pierce

I think my cat's been reading my diary.

Santana's friend, later girlfriend, then wife, and fellow cheerleader. Sweet and outgoing, apparently quick to make friends even with unpopular kids, but is even dumber than Finn, to The Ditz levels. Brittany may be a true mezzo-soprano singer but can comfortably access the whole alto range, which she could sustain as she aged. Portrayed by Heather Morris.

  • Ambiguously Gay: Brittany is definitely bi, but she breaks up with Sam in "All or Nothing" for reasons that appear to be that she just prefers women and that she'd rather be single than with a boy, and she thought his lips were like a girls' which is why she lasted this long. The show's ongoing history with the No Bisexuals trope further reinforces this.
  • Adult Child: She still believes in Santa Claus, she has a dollhouse, and at Christmas she wears her hair like Cindy Lou Who.
  • Anatomically-Impossible Sex: Claimed she must be pregnant because a stork was building a nest near her home.
  • Anything That Moves: Brittany stated that she's kissed everyone in the school. Girls, guys, even the Janitor.

“I made it up. Coach Beiste didn’t touch my boobs. Actually, I really wanted to touch her boobs.”

  • The Beard: Kurt dated her in his attempt to appear more straight. She didn't seem to mind.
  • Berserk Button: Subverted. She will react being called stupid very graciously, but do not expect to be on her good side afterwards (as Artie and Finn find out).
  • Betty and Veronica: YMMV, but she could be considered the Betty to Puck's Veronica in their triangle with Santana.
    • She's become the Veronica to Tina's Betty in their triangle with Artie.
    • To bring things full circle, she seems to be the Archie in a triangle with Artie and Santana.
  • Biker Babe:
    • She mentions in "Special Education" that she practices motocross. Though, on the other hand, being Brittany what she says and what she means may be two different things.
    • She is dressed kind of like one in the "Do You Wanna Touch Me" number.
  • Bi the Way: Brittany and Santana are... close.

Santana: Sex isn't dating.
Brittany: Yeah, if it was Santana and I would be dating.
Beat

    • Also, while some fans have speculated based on the events of "Sexy" that Santana is lesbian, rather than bisexual (and this theory was later confirmed by Word of Gay), Brittany's admission that she has feelings for both Artie and Santana does make it clear she goes both ways.
    • The fall 2011 GLAAD report listed her as bisexual as well.
  • Book Dumb: She's not very intelligent, but is fairly savant with social and emotional situations. She can usually interpret what a person is really feeling and can easily make friends.
  • Brainless Beauty: Exceedingly so.

Mr. Schue: Can anyone tell me what a ballad is?
Brittany: A male duck.

    • In her defense, few people know what a mallard even is. She was close, at least.
  • Bunny Ears Dancer: She may be dumber than a jar of mayonnaise, but Brittany is one of the two best dancers in the group (the other being Mike), performing complex moves you wouldn't expect from a girl who sometimes forgets her middle name. The real reason is because Heather Morris is a professional dancer in real life who has toured with Beyoncé. She was brought on the show to teach the "Single Ladies" choreography, but was kept on since a third cheerleader was wanted.
  • But Not Too Bi: She's bisexual, but the show went a long time before her to kiss her girlfriend, even though she's made out frequently with the boys she's dated. Became especially obvious when they title an episode "I Kissed A Girl" and Brittany had not, in fact, ever kissed her girlfriend. Became such an issue that there was a massive Internet Backdraft, compelling the writers to finally let them (complete with what was either a Take That Us or a really hypocritical aesop about double standards of gay PDA).
  • Can't Catch Up: Because of her name, she feels like she has always lived in Britney Spears' shadow, stating that she will never be as talented as she.
  • Characterization Marches On: In her first few appearances, her handful of lines and her facial expressions don't suggest she's any different from Quinn and Santana. Gradually, her famously stupid persona emerged.
  • The Cheerleader: The "cute but brainless" type.
  • Closet Key: To Santana.
  • Cloudcuckoolander
  • The Cutie
  • Dancing Stilettos: Can YOU do back-flips in high heels?
  • The Ditz: Brittany can out-ditz anyone on this show.
Kurt: Everyone raise your right hand. (Brittany raises her left hand) Your right hand, Brittany.
—Santana: ...That's this one, Brittany.
    • After the "male duck" line:

Mr. Shue: Now everyone puts their hand in this hat and pick a partner.
Brittany: I bet the duck is in the hat.

    • Also:

Coach Sylvester: Anything else you want to tell me?
Brittany: Sometimes I forget my middle name.

      • Which becomes more meaningful in hindsight since she may very well want to forget her middle name sometimes.
    • Though, in "Sexy", her reaction to Santana's confession makes her arguably, a deconstruction of this trope.
  • Dumb Blonde: In one of Kurt's voice-overs in Episode 10, he tells us that Brittany thinks the square root of 4 is "rainbows".
    • It's revealed in the Christmas special that she still believes in Santa Claus and, when taken to a Mall Santa wishes for Artie to be able to walk [2]
  • Dumb Is Good: Brittany's extreme stupidity isn't idealized or generally presented positively, but her ability to quickly befriend just about anyone (in contrast to fellow Cheerios Quinn and Santana) is because she's too stupid to be mean most of the time.
  • Expy: Heather Morris has said she always imagined the character as being akin to Amanda Seyfried's Karen in Mean Girls.
  • Face Heel Turn: In "Pot o' Gold", she leaves New Directions for the Trouble-tones.
  • Fake Guest Star: In Season One.
  • Fat Cat: Brittany's pet cat Lord Tubbington.
  • Fetish: Apparently, the taste of her own armpits turns her on.
  • Food as Bribe: Artie, Mike, and Tina got Brittany to join the Brainiacs because they bribed her with Dots. They didn't regret it.
  • Genius Ditz: She knows a lot about cat diseases, surprisingly. And politics.
  • Girl Posse: For Quinn, initially; after Quinn is dethroned as head cheerleader, she and Santana become more of a double-act.
  • Hidden Depths: A brainless cheerleader... who is friends with people far less popular than her.
    • In the third season, she begins to show more independence and common sense.
  • Hollywood Tone Deaf: When she tries to do runs in "Duets".
  • Homoerotic Dream: Brittany and Santana jointly hallucinate themselves as Britney Spears and Madonna in a new version of "Me Against The Music".
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: She seems genuinely depressed after she is rebuffed by both Santana and Artie.
  • Incompatible Orientation: Brittany and Kurt.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Brittany seems to be that special combination of sweet and dumb, and she does mean well, if anything.
  • Informed Flaw: In "Britney/Brittany", they reveal that she doesn't brush her teeth and washes her mouth with soda, having the cavities to match. Of course, her teeth appear as perfect as everyone else's in the show.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: When she tries to secretly tape Glee club rehearsals for Sue.

Mr.Schue: What are you doing?
Brittany: Coach Sylvester...didn't tell me to do this.

  • Ignorance Is Bliss: Brittany gives Sue the set list for New Directions, but Brittany has no clue about what she's going to do with it.
  • Intertwined Fingers: Brittany and Santana's signature pinky-link.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: She's typically very sweet, she has a vast knowledge of all things cat-related, and at least two cats.
  • Ladykiller in Love: In "Duets", Artie breaks off his pairing with Brittany when he thinks she seduced him just so he would sing with her. Turns out her affection was genuine after all.
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: In-universe. She once stated she has made out with everyone in school... which means she's probably at least kissed every member of the Glee club.
  • Letting Her Hair Down: After she quits the Cheerios, her hair is perpetually down.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Her cheerleading uniform. Apart from when everyone is wearing performance costumes, the only time we've seen her out of her cheerleading uniform is once on a date with Kurt. Until she quits in "The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle".
    • She appears in Artie's "Safety Dance" flash mob wearing a tank top, shorts, and tights. But seeing as this is a fantasy it may not count.
    • She gets a number of Britney Spears outfits in "Britney/Brittany".
  • Lipstick Bisexual
  • May-December Romance: Or maybe "January-May Romance"; when told by Sue to date a younger man, she claims to have found a "super cute" seven-year-old who plays soccer with her sister.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: With Mike in "Special Education". Ironically, she actually was cheating on Artie around that time, but not with Mike.
  • The Mole: But not a very good one.

Brittany: Coach Sylvester didn't tell me to do this.

  • Morality Pet: For Santana.
  • No Last Name Given: In the first season, her lack of a last name was a Running Gag, to the point that she is only referred by her first name in the yearbook. However, it was finally revealed in Season 2 Episode 2, and it's Pierce, which she is embarrassed by. Her middle name is Susan. Which makes her Brittany S. Pierce. She thus goes from the only member not have their last name to the first to have her middle name mentioned.
  • Odd Friendship / Pitbull Dates Puppy: Santana, a self-identified "bitch" with a perpetually sour outlook, would on the surface seem to be the least likely companion for the generally sweet, goofy Brittany, but the two are virtually inseparable.
  • Operation: Jealousy: She initially dates Artie to try and make Santana jealous.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: When the kids get a substitute teacher and switch names to mess with her, Brittany claims to be Mike Chang. There are at least two problems with that.
  • Pet the Dog: Her friendship with Becky.
  • Popular Is Dumb
  • Really Gets Around: Not as much as, say, Santana, but she hasn't made out with nearly everybody in school for nothing. The Oh Crap face when Holly tells the kids that when they have sex with somebody, they have sex with everybody they've had sex with is hilarious.
  • Relationship Reveal: "Brittana" went from being a non-canon ship to a sly joke to something we actually see onscreen and an essential part of Santana's coming-out storyline.
  • Schoolgirl Bisexuals: With Santana.
  • Shotacon: In "The Power of Madonna", when Sue tells the Cheerios to find boyfriends younger than themselves, she dates a seven-year old friend of her sister's who she describes as "cute".
  • Student Council President
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: In "Hairography", when caught filming the rehearsal:

Britanny: Coach Sylvester didn't tell me to do this.

  • Ted Baxter: After deciding that she was a better performer than Britney Spears in her hallucinations, she demands every solo in the club. This is taken with a grain of salt.
  • Those Two Girls / Those Two Bad Guys: Was this with Santana, originally, but they've both subsequently Darkhorsed their way to the big time.
  • The Three Faces of Eve and The Hecate Sisters: YMMV, but she could fall in the combination of the Child and the Maiden.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Gave herself temporary brain damage/memory loss from taking "all [her] antibiotics at the same time."

Brittany: I don't remember how to leave.

    • She also washes her mouth with soda instead of brushing her teeth, although it doesn't show.
    • She's also apparently gone skiing without skis.
  • You Are the New Trend: As of episode "Comeback", where her popularity leads to her style being mass copied by most if not almost all the girls at school. Rachel attempts to utilize this for her own advantage, but it backfires.
  • Your Cheating Heart: Has apparently been cheating on Artie with Santana through the entire length of their relationship, though they rationalize this as not-cheating since "the plumbing is different." When Artie finally confronted her and she admitted it, Artie didn't take it too well.

Mike Chang, Jr.

Michael Chang, Jr.

I can pop and lock.

A football player who joins with Puck. He is an exceptional dancer. In Season 2, he begins a relationship with fellow Asian Tina Cohen-Chang. Played by Harry Shum.

  • Adorkable: In "Duet", just see his performance of "Sing" alongside Tina.
  • Beta Couple: Him and Tina could be considered this to, well everyone, considering they have, hands-down, the most stable relationship in the show and have been together for the entire second season, and halfway into the third, still show no signs of breaking up
  • Billy Elliot Plot: His father wants him to give up performing to be a doctor.
  • Character Development: It helps that he's actually getting lines (and songs) now.
  • Everyone Calls Him Other Asian. In the first season, fans generally referred to him as "Other Asian" after Sue (and later Tina) referred to him by that name. After his Shirtless Scene (or shirt-open scene) in "Audition", The SituAsian became an alternative suggestion. However, as his screentime increased, fans now mostly just refer to him as Mike.
  • Fake Guest Star: For the first two seasons. He became a series regular in the third season.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: A possible, and quite more realistic, explanation for Mike and Matt’s friendship and close bond.
  • Hidden Depths: Possibly the one with the biggest Hidden Depths next to Artie, Mike is initially seen only as a football player, but as the series progresses, it’s revealed he is one hell of a dancer, possibly the best dancer in the group, and if "Sectionals" and "Asian F" are anything to go by, he is also a skilled choreographer. Another showing of his Hidden Depths is his apparent easy friendship with the losers of the group (Tina, Artie, Kurt and Mercedes) as seen in both "Throwdown" and "Dream On". He's one of the most enthusiastic members of of New Directions, even if he isn't the most vocal. As soon as the music starts Mike starts moving. "A Night of Neglect" reveals that he's also on the academic decathlon team.
  • Hollywood Tone Deaf: "Sing!" Justified as the song is supposed to sound like that. Subverted by "Asian F".
  • Ho Yay: Fan-inferred with Matt, often apparently based on their lack of lines.
  • I Have No Son: His father disowns him for pursuing his dancing career. He comes around eventually.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: With Brittany in "Special Education".
  • Mr. Fanservice: Just watch this video.
  • Nice Guy
  • One Steve Limit: Averted. He and Tina both have the last name "Chang" (hyphenated, in her case), with no indication they're related.
  • The Quiet One
  • Relationship Reveal: Dating Tina as of Season 2, despite previously being a popular Crack Pairing by the Fandom.
  • Satellite Character: Season 1.
  • Shirtless Scene: At Asian camp.
  • Those Two Guys: With Matt, until the latter left.
  • Token Minority Couple: With Tina. The show even lampshades it by having the word "Asian" come up nearly every time the two of them are together.
  • Un Reveal: In "Duets", for the people who were hoping to finally hear Mike sing. He finally gets a brief singing role alongside Tina in "Marry You" from "Furt".
    • Mike finally has his own song as of "Asian F", in which he sings "Cool" from West Side Story.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy

Matt Rutherford

Matt Rutherford

At the beginning of the year, I was just another football player.

Another football player who joins at the same time who seems to be close with Santana. Has had two lines (one in Episode 20 and the other in Episode 22). Was Put on a Bus in Season 2. Played by Dijon Talton.

  • Heterosexual Life Partners: A possible, and quite more realistic, explanation for Matt and Mike’s friendship and close bond
  • Hidden Depths: Less so than Mike purely due to a lack of lines, but he's also regarded as one of the club's best dancers and seems to get along easily with the "losers' of New Directions. It seems Mike and Matt were the ones who usually carried Artie into the auditorium for practice.
  • Ho Yay: Fan-inferred with Mike, often apparently based on their lack of lines.
  • Lampshade Hanging: "I used to be just another football player..."
  • Put on a Bus: Matt did not return in Season 2, with his exit being explained as transferring to a different school.
  • Satellite Character
  • Those Two Guys: With Mike.

Sam Evans

Sam Evans

I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham.

A new student who joined the football team and became fast friends with Finn. He joined the Glee club after getting injured on the field (though he eventually becomes well enough to do both). Has a quirky sense of humor and has shown surprising maturity. Introduced in Season 2. Played by Chord Overstreet.

  • Adorkable: Speaks in Na'vi to hit on Quinn, and studies astronomy. Also loves doing impressions of Matthew Mc Conaughey, James Earl Jones, and Sean Connery, among others.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Debate rages on about Sam's sexual orientation, in-universe and out. In "Rumours", when he appears to be close to both Kurt and Quinn, the Glee kids are far more shocked by Kurt and Quinn's possible infidelity than the idea of Sam swinging both ways. It turns out to not be what they thought; Quinn and Kurt were just being good friends to Sam rather than having an affair with him.
  • The Beard: To Santana, during their brief relationship.]
  • Berserk Button: Do not accuse him of cheating or selling himself. And don't attack anyone in New Directions.
  • Bishonen:

Sue: I gotta get that girl on my Cheerios...

  • Camp Straight
  • Chekhov's Gag: When Sam first introduces himself to New Directions, Artie makes a crack at his "Bieber cut". Guess whose songs Sam is singing in "Comeback"?
  • Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Will.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: When making out with Quinn in "Duets", he imagines Coach Bieste in compromising positions to "cool down". And then he accidentally moans out "Bieste."
  • Dogged Nice Guy: He declares in the middle of a crowded hallway that, boyfriend aside, he's going to fight to get Mercedes back, stealth proposes twice, joins the swimming team to impress her, puts her name in lights, and when she rejects him even after breaking up with her boyfriend, he refuses to accept the Valentine gift he gave her back. Later episodes have him looking at her in such a way that makes it clear he still has it bad for her despite him stopping his advances.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: The mean jocks call him Lady Lips in "Duets" and Sue mistakes him for a girl in "Comeback".
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: His early episodes included at least one Shirtless Scene each time. Not that we're complaining.
  • Expy: To Finn. Lampshaded with Finn finding him in the locker room showers, just as Will found out about Finn's singing talent in the pilot.
  • Fake Guest Star
  • Foil: To Finn. He is Finn, with bouts of low self-esteem, desire to fit in, and devotion toward others, but his actions in "Furt" proves him to be more active in protecting his friends, rather than Finn submitting to passiveness.
  • Foregone Conclusion: It was always a question of when Sam would join Glee club, not if.
  • Ho Yay:
    • This exchange with Puck:

Puck: Dude, your mouth is huge. How many tennis balls can you fit in there?
Sam: I don't know... I've never had balls in my mouth before. Have you?

    • Not to mention the loving looks he was giving towards Finn in "Silly Love Songs".
    • And, of course, his exchange with Artie in "Sexy":

Britanny and Santana have just finished singing a song exploring their romantic feelings for each other
Sam (to Artie): Isn't it awesome our girlfriends are such good friends? I wish we could be as close as they are.

    • Don't forget his reaction to Santana's snide comment about Finn's "pyramid nipples" in "Born This Way".
  • I Gave My Word: Sam gave one to Finn during "Duets". When Finn tells him that he shouldn't sing a duet with Kurt because that will make him a target for bullies and "we live in their world", Sam replies that he gave Kurt his word and in his world, that's that.
  • Love Martyr: Was willing to hide away his inner dork and put up with quite a lot of insults in order to keep Quinn and later Santana as his girlfriend.
  • Manly Tears: After Rachel and Finn show him that every member of the glee club pitched in to buy his guitar back.
  • Mistaken For Bi: He has so far dated Quinn and Santana (as well as Mercedes as of the end of Season Two), but fans are still holding out for Bi the Way. In "Rumours", he was rumored to be meeting with both Kurt and Quinn at a motel.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: With Quinn and Kurt in "Rumours".
  • Mr. Fanservice: His early episodes included at least one Shirtless Scene each time. Not that we're complaining.
  • New Transfer Student: Another reason he was initially afraid of joining Glee, since he's already an outsider.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: On Karofsky in "Furt" in defense of Kurt and both Mike and Artie.
  • The Not-Secret: When Sam transferred to McKinley, he was worried that someone would discover his deep secret. When Kurt pieces together the truth, Sam fesses up to Quinn: he bleaches his hair!
  • Put on a Bus: Written out between Season Two and Season Three, with the explanation being that his dad got a job out of state. In real life, Chord Overstreet chose not to return when he wasn't upgraded to a series regular. It most likely would've been permanent, but negotiations were made and Sam returned in "Hold On To Sixteen".
  • Relationship Reveal: And a side order of Pair the Spares with Mercedes as of the end of Season 2 ("New York").
  • Running Gag: Okay, guys. We get it, he's got a pretty big mouth.
  • Ship Sinking: Fans were hoping he'd be Kurt's boyfriend, but this was Jossed.
  • Shirtless Scene: A reasonable portion of his screentime so far includes him either in the shower or coming out of it.
  • Signature Move: Ever since he came back from being a stripper, Sam has been doing a lot of body rolls. They seem to have worn off on the other club guys.
  • Single Mom Stripper: After he moved. As ways to help his parents go, it does pay better than delivering pizzas or working at Dairy Queen.
  • Stupid Sexy Flanders: So says Santana.
  • Theme Naming: Sam's little siblings are named Stacey and Stevie.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Those who don't see his "Isn't it great our girlfriends are such good friends?" comment as Ho Yay saw it as this.

Lauren Zizes

Lauren Zizes

I want to be like a Kardashian. I want a TV show, and a fragrance. It'll be called Zizes, and the slogan will be: You just got Zized.

President of the McKinley High AV club and member of the wrestling team, who is recruited to join New Directions as a replacement for Kurt. Played by Ashley Fink.

  • Ascended Extra: She's been a minor character since the first season.
  • Badass: Puck admits that she's a bigger one than he is.
  • Big Beautiful Woman: She doesn't show this side of her as much as Mercedes, but her performance of "I Know What Boys Like" shows that she can when she wants to. The real irony? This was done for the part specifically.
  • Big Eater
  • Brawn Hilda: All she needs is the accent.
  • Cat Fight: Averted. She doesn't bother with the slapping or scratching, she goes straight for the body slams. Santana found that out the hard way.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Appears in several bit-parts in the earlier episodes before she does anything of importance.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Lauren pulls of a particularly awesome one against Santana.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Eleventh-Hour Ranger: Joins New Directions just before Sectionals in year two to ensure they have the required twelve people to compete.
  • Food as Bribe: Her services must be bought with candy.
  • Hidden Depths: The Glee club was about as surprised as the audience when she walked in ready to join.
  • Hoist By Her Own Petard: Lauren tries to sabotage Quinn's chances at becoming prom queen by posting photos of her all over school from back when she was fat and had a larger nose. But this causes people to see Lauren as a Jerkass, and Quinn actually shoots up in the prom queen rankings.
  • Jerkass Facade: Says Glee club is "stupid" yet in the final scene of the episode, she's clearly enjoying herself.
  • Nonuniform Uniform: When the girls wear matching dresses, Lauren always wears hers with ballet flats and short sleeves while the others wears high heels and no sleeves.
  • Odd Friendship: With Puck, of all people, combined with Crack Pairing. She rescued him from a port-a-potty, he invited her to become a member of New Directions, she agreed, but only if he'd make out with her. Apparently, she "rocked his world."
  • Punny Name / Ironic Name: Zizes sounds quite a bit like "size S", at least the way Mr. Schuester pronounces it in "Special Education".
  • Put on a Bus: Quits the Glee Club and dumps Puck out of nowhere at the beginning of Season 3. The actress has confirmed that she's not coming back.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: She leaves New Directions at the beginning of Season 3 because it just isn't cool enough for her any more.
  • Sour Supporter: She's only in the club to fulfill their 12-member minimum to compete, per an agreement with Puck.
  • The Stoic: Her default expression looks something like a grimace that almost never changes.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: In "Born This Way", when she discovers pictures of Quinn pre-weight loss and nose job, and spreads them all over school as a part of her prom queen campaign.
    • YMMV - some people would definitely consider Quinn a hypocrite for bullying girls like Rachel at the start of the series when she used to be picked on herself.
  • Tsundere: Not so much with the dere-dere, but at first she joins New Directions because she wants Puck to love her. Once he actually falls for her, she enters hardcore tsun-tsun mode.
  • Unaccustomed As I Am To Singing And Dancing: For someone who thinks show choir is stupid, she was surprisingly good at keeping up with the choreography and harmonies despite learning everything at the last minute in "Special Education".


Blaine Anderson

Blaine Devon Anderson-Hummel

Portrayed By: Darren Criss.

Courage.

Lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers from an all-boys school, and also gay. He transferred schools because bullies at his old school were too much for him, and becomes a mentor, later boyfriend , and eventual husband for Kurt. Transfers to McKinley in season 3. Blaine may have more vocal training than Rachel, as his vocal range can span nearly four octaves when he uses his throat and falsetto. He is a tenor singer who has sung at the far bottom range of low tenor and at the top end of alto (sustained) and even mezzo-soprano with a (albeit, short) falsetto; though he can sing lower and Quinn can sing higher, they have a very similar range for singing strong and comfortable, despite Blaine's voice being pop and Quinn's jazz.

Kurt: For your audition, let's try to avoid shocking patterns and anything that says "Look at me, I'm the center of attention and this primary color proves it!"

  • Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: Tells us in "Sexy" that rebuilding an old car with his dad was this, and seems to imply that his father is something of a Heteronormative Crusader.
  • Badass Gay: Being bullied led to him taking up boxing.
  • Big Brother Mentor: To Kurt in the beginning, though eventually it came out that he was just as clueless about love as Kurt was. Though many fans hoped for him to become a Sexy Mentor - and were made very happy in "Original Song". Ironically, Blaine is a year younger than Kurt, though some theorize he was held back after having a rough year.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: With Kurt.
  • Big Man on Campus: Played to the trope. He's "the New Rachel," senior class president and in 23 different clubs.
  • Breakout Character: And his reveal that he's actually a year younger than Kurt has pretty much guaranteed that he will be one of the main stars of the 4th season after most of the cast leaves.
  • Does Not Like Socks: After transferring to McKinley, we see him wear his own clothes, and he seems to have an aversion to socks.
  • Expy: Of Blane McDonnagh from Pretty in Pink.
  • Eye Scream: During a show-down with the Warblers under Sebastian's leadership, Sebastian throws slushie filled with rock salt in Blaine's face and it cuts his eye, causing him to be out of action for a couple episodes.
  • Fan Service: Once you get him out of his Dalton uniform, he's prone to very tight trousers in bright colors.
  • Hypocrite:
    • In "Sexy", he is completely okay with using sex appeal during a performance. Then, in the third season's "Hold on to Sixteen", he describes it as "selling themselves" and tears down Sam for suggesting to do so.
    • In "The Break Up", Kurt inadvertently pulls away from Blaine and keeps dismissing his calls due to his Vogue.com internship, and the one call he does puck up is a brief and flippant one. Blaine's "I love you" to Kurt is even met with a dial tone after Kurt gets a call from a good gossip source and tells Blaine he will call him later. He is later seen messaging some guy on Facebook and is asked to go over to his house, before surprising Kurt in New York two weeks early, presumably to talk about what's been bothering him. However, it turns out that Blaine did indeed have sex with the guy from Facebook and instead came to New York so he could confess, forgetting that he called Kurt out last season for cheating on him instead of talking to him about why he was unhappy. Kurt tearfully breaks up with him for this and severs all ties, and when Finn asks why he would do such a thing to his little step-brother, Blaine even admits that there was no excuse for him to have done what he did.
    • This also comes back to bite him in the ass in "Tested"; Blaine starts making dinner designed to make Kurt gain weight and visits pornographic websites, which has the end result of them not being intimate for a week, because he doesn't like the way he feels about himself anymore after having witnessed a more self-confident Kurt rapidly rising at NYADA. He watches porn behind Kurt's back since he feels that there he won't be judged, and he likes how good that makes him feel... this just so happens to be the exact same reason Kurt confided in the boy he met at the local music store and received flirty texts from him. He too did this because he felt like he and Blaine were becoming like an old married couple and didn't have an unscheduled make out session in a month, and because he felt that it was difficult having an alpha gay boyfriend who gets all of the performances. Granted, Blaine does offer to talk about the pornographic page he left open with Kurt, but Kurt angrily storms out and replies later that sometimes he feels like they talk too much.
  • Hypocrite Has a Point: In "Dance With Somebody", Blaine is extremely hurt after finding out that Kurt had been flirting with a guy he met in a music store through texting and accuses him of cheating on him, but Kurt points out that he used to text and even call Sebastian numerous times. Blaine dismisses it by saying that their communication was always "family-friendly" and he also told Kurt that Sebastian is harmless when they go to the local gay bar in "The First Time", despite Sebastian outright attempting to seduce him into dating him even after Blaine told him that he already had a boyfriend. It seems really hard to believe that their texts and phone calls would be any different from their usual dialog that occurred right in front of Kurt, since Sebastian kept making flirtatious comments about Blaine even during those instances. However, Blaine was still right about Kurt cheating on him since he didn't tell Blaine about his unhappiness and just hoped that he wouldn't notice all the flirty texts he was receiving.
  • In-Series Nickname: Both Rachel and Kurt have called him "Blaine Warbler".
    • Brittany and the writers as well; in fact, he has only ever been referred to by his real last name twice outside of print.
  • Incompatible Orientation: Let's face it, his and Rachel's relationship was doomed from the beginning.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Pulls a variation of it in "I Am Unicorn" when we find out that, despite having originally planned on trying out for Tony in the school musical, he ends up trying out for Bernardo or Officer Krupke because he knows how much Kurt wants the part. Leading to a really angsty cliffhanger when Artie asks him if he wants to read for Tony...
  • Kick the Dog:
    • Not intentionally, but Blaine's somewhat oblivious nature often caused Kurt some squirming about their relationship status in the second season. Blaine's actions since "Silly Love Songs" have been rather insensitive towards Kurt's feelings considering he knows that Kurt has a crush on him - he tells Kurt his sexy faces are not attractive and lets Rachel date him even though it's hurting Kurt's self-esteem - and he comes clean during that episode that he considered Kurt a friend until his Love Epiphany in "Original Song", where he acknowledges his feeling's for Kurt and has always demonstrated to pay close attention to Kurt's feelings and to care a lot about him and his well being since then.
    • Played straight when he cheats on Kurt. They don't even show the guy he has sex with, which doesn't exactly paint Blaine in a positive light.
  • Limited Wardrobe: During Season 2, where he was rarely seen wearing something other than his Dalton uniform.
  • Love Epiphany: In "Original Song" as Kurt sings "Blackbird".
  • Magical Queer: An unusual case, since the person he's guiding is also gay, which makes him more like Kurt's Sexy Mentor.
    • Possible subversion, as it was Kurt's taking his advice that caused Karofsky's bullying to worsen to the point that Kurt was forced to transfer to Dalton.
    • Also attempts to be one for Karofsky, although it doesn't quite work because a public space filled with people who know said person is probably the last place you should be giving advice on coming out to an Armored Closet Gay. Though to be fair, it's also probably safer than the alternative if you know about said Armored Closet Gay's violent tendencies...
  • Mr. Fanservice: Ohhhh yes. So much so that his cover of "Teenage Dream" became the fastest-selling song in Glee history, with the highest-recorded first week sales of any song from the show.
  • New Transfer Student: As of Season 3, due to Darren Criss being made a series regular. Almost refreshingly, he remembered to show up in street clothes for his first day at McKinley.
  • Oblivious to Love: He had no idea his close friendship with Kurt could have been interpreted as something more.
    • He does it again in Season 3, by being unaware that he has a Stalker with a Crush in the form of Sebastian.
  • One Head Taller: Zig Zagged. Though scenes are often shot in a way so that the camera portrays Blaine as the "bigger" man in order to play up his mentor aspects, in standing group shots it's clear that Kurt is taller than him by several inches, and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in particular is shot with an emphasis on the two characters' equality. However, in later episodes, they resume with this trope, especially for the kiss and on the Warbler album is edited so that Kurt is noticeably shorter than Blaine. It appears that they use this trope whenever possible, and don't bother when they can't.
    • Making for two hilarious scenes in "Night of Neglect" and "Prom Queen"--the former is when Blaine tries to shove Karofsky, who is a head taller and far more muscular, and "Prom Queen" is when he dances with Kurt.
  • Only Sane Man: Shows signs of this, especially in season three.
  • Pastimes Prove Personality: Blaine hasn't really gotten much character development since joining the cast full-time, but CSI Tumblr is pretty good at figuring out his hobbies based on the decor in his room. Apparently, he fences, boxes, plays Polo, collects model cars and adorable little robots, has a substantial amount of old cameras as well as a wall of photographs, and reads books meant for teenage girls. Only time will tell if this is just the set designers having fun, or signs of Blaine's Hidden Depths.
  • Quirky Curls: When his hair is un-gelled. Apparently, they're terrifying.
  • Relationship Upgrade: With Kurt as of "Original Song". And the Fandom Rejoiced, and Squeed.
  • Seme: The aesthetics of the trope are definitely invoked to contrast him with the more overtly Uke-ish Kurt. Whereas Kurt is comparatively a rather youthful, emotional, and Bishonen-looking Keet, Blaine is a mature, stoic, and more conventionally handsome Knight in Shining Armor type. In addition, after he and Kurt get together, he is taking on shades of the protector and guardian figure role in contrast to the more Damsel in Distress-esque Kurt.
  • Serenade Your Lover: Doubles as Epic Fail. In "Silly Love Songs", when he brought the Warblers with him to serenade a guy he liked while he was working. What went wrong? 1. Poor Jeremiah got fired since it seemed like the disturbance was his fault, 2. he wasn't fully out of the closet yet, and 3. the reason he never pursued a relationship with Blaine in the first place is because Blaine is underage.
  • Shallow Love Interest: The greater majority of Blaine's story and characterizations revolved around being Kurt's crush and later boyfriend, although this seems to get deconstructed in the fourth season, particularly after his and Kurt's breakup. He pretty much says in "Dynamic Duets" he feels like he's floating and doesn't know who he is since the breakup - doesn't really know who he is without Kurt. It's then done again with Blaine's main character arcs being about the fallout of his cheating on Kurt and his crush on Sam, and he never quite breaks out from his 'patron saint of gayness, sent here specifically for Kurt' role despite rounding up his character and giving him much, much screen-time. Even in "2009", despite the fact he had nothing to do in the story then, what does this all-around talented guy with supposedly vast interests talk about in his everyday before-Kurt life? Yes, he's mentoring some lad in a Transparent Closet about being gay and coming out.
  • Socially Awkward Hero: If you can consider being a singer this shows version of "heroic". He's a great performer and has sung onstage loads of times, but has had difficulty confronting bullies and can never tell when somebody is flirting with him.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: His Ascended Extra status from a Warbler to the male lead doesn't help, especially when you consider that he gets far more screentime and solos than even the original characters. Taken Up to Eleven when you consider that the episode after Karofsky's attempted suicide and Quinn's near death doesn't even mention that and instead focuses on Blaine's relationship with his brother. Who has never been seen, or even mentioned before this episode. Or after, for that matter. It has reached the point where even his own actor Darren Criss thought Blaine had a little too much focus on him.
  • Stereotype Gay: Averted. Blaine doesn't neatly fit many gay stereotypes, in either direction. He isn't fully Camp Gay, but isn't quite Invisible to Gaydar. He loves theater and fashion, but also watches football and is a trained boxer.
  • Taking the Bullet: Well, the slushie, really, but the reasoning remains the same.
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome: Well, dark and handsome. Tall, not so much.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Apparently, after he transferred to Dalton due to being bullied so much he took up boxing and started a Dalton branch of Fight Club, which he obviously can't talk about.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Shows hints of this, though nothing explicit so far. All we know is that his Dad "built a car with him because he thought it [might] make him straight."

Rory Flanagan

Rory Flanagan

I love everything about America, including NASCAR, your half-black president, and Victoria's Secret Catalogues.

An exchange student from Ireland living with Brittany. He was also in love with her, going to such lengths as convincing her that he was a leprechaun in order to get her "pot of gold". He befriends Finn and joins the Glee Club at the end of "Pot o' Gold". He and Artie had a competition for the affections of Sugar Motta during the episode "Heart" which Rory won by claiming he could not get his Visa extended. Played by Damian McGinty.


Sugar Motta

Sugar Motta

I have self-diagnosed Aspergers, which means I can pretty much say whatever I want.

A rich girl who tries out for New Directions and fails terribly - she can't sing to save her life. Is apparently in a casual dating relationship with Rory Flanagan since the episode "Heart' but it is played mostly in the background. Played by Vanessa Lengies.

  • Adorkable: Lately she's been doing a lot of spacey things in the background.
  • Attention Whore: "I love the sound of applause."
  • Brutal Honesty: Due to her "self-diagnosed Aspergers", which is clearly just an excuse to be a complete bitch.
  • Catch Phrase: "Aspergers" or a variant thereof, after blatantly insulting someone. Subverted after Will refuses to let her in to New Directions: She reams him out for not recognizing her perceived talent and then yells "Not Aspergers!" to demonstrate that she seriously meant it.
  • Character Development: Seems to have gotten some as of "I Kissed A Girl", as we see her dancing in her seat when the New Directions perform their songs (recall how her first appearance involved her telling them how much they sucked). Perhaps The Troubletones have actually taught her some humility.
  • Daddy's Girl
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Disability as an Excuse For Jerkassery
  • The Ditz: After she stopped being a Jerkass.
  • Dreadful Musician
  • Expy: As mentioned below, she's a talentless Rachel. Also, she has more than a few similarities to Trina Vega.
  • Fandom: Sugar has been so popular within the fandom that part of it thought up "Sugar of the Future". It has become so popular that Vanessa and He Mo have picked up on it. It basically comes down to the idea that Sugar is Brittana's daughter from the future back in the past to get her moms together.
  • Foil: Remember every time someone has remarked that Rachel is annoying beyond belief, but her talent makes it worth keeping her around? Sugar is Rachel without the talent. Even their auditions parallel each other: like Rachel, Sugar automatically asked for rehearsal details when she finished singing, as if the idea that she didn't get in was unfathomable.
  • Hoist By Her Own Petard: Creates a new Glee Club because she wants to be the main star and get all the solos. Once the far more talented Mercedes, Santana and Brittany transfer, she's forcefully relegated to back-up dancing and singing.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: Hinted at in "Pot o' Gold".

Sugar: I just wanted to be on the winning team for once.

  • Jerkass: Due to saying whatever's on her mind.
  • Rich Bitch: Comes from a very wealthy family.
  • Spoiled Brat: This seems to be the case, though she seems to have mellowed somewhat.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Once she joins New Directions and starts helping them financially.
  • Start My Own: Since Will didn't let her in to New Directions, she had her father fund her own Glee club within McKinley, with the only rules being that she is in it and Shelby is the coach.
    • Joins New Directions after the Troubletones lose at Sectionals and takes Mercedes, Santana and Brittany with her, effectively ending the Troubletones.
  • Vocal Range Exceeded: Constantly.

Joe Hart

Joseph "Joe" Hart

A home-schooled student who transferred to McKinley after realizing his best friend was his mom. Described as a "teenage Jesus", he wants to let people know that Christians can be cool and aren't all door-to-door Bible salesmen like his dad. Played by The Glee Project winner Samuel Larsen.

Sam (while wearing a welding helmet): I am your father.

Joe: Is that a movie or something...?

  • Foot Focus: He's not used to wearing shoes, and the camera focuses on his sandals a lot (though that might be because he was wearing them in the middle of February). Recent episodes show him wandering about completely barefoot, which has to be in violation of the dress code.
  • Heteronormative Crusader: Completely averted. Originally he was conflicted about Santana's request for him to sing a love song to her girlfriend, but eventually he took the very Jesus-like attitude of "love is love" and did it wholeheartedly.
  • Hippie: Dreadlocks and keffiyeh. He's neither Rastafarian nor Palestinian or Arab.
  • Jesus Was Way Cool: Would like to spread this attitude to some of his classmates.
  • Looks Like Jesus: Acts like him too.
  • Promoted Fanboy: Samuel was one of the contestants in The Glee Project.
  • Raging Stiffie: Gets one while helping Quinn with her physical therapy. Lifting her leg, pressed all up against her thigh... While this would be embarrassing for any guy, Joe has been particularly conflicted due to his attraction to Quinn despite wanting to abstain from sex until marriage.
  1. ↑ "Never Going Back Again" and "Isn't She Lovely" respectively
  2. ↑ Artie himself will be happy if his parents stop friend-requesting him on Facebook.
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