< It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Characters


You are the worst group of people who have ever lived.
—Bruce Mathis[1]

The Gang

Dennis Reynolds (Glenn Howerton)

  • Alliterative Name: Uses the pseudonym "Hugh Honey" in "The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis".
  • Ambiguously Gay:
    • There is an episode called "Mac and Dennis Break Up." The title of the episode is only the beginning of the pseudo-romantic relationship antics.
    • In "The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty Magoo" Dennis dresses up in a tight silver dress to "properly model it", using basketballs as "breasts" and wearing bright red lipstick. He does this while listening to Rick Astley. He considers this the highest point in his life. Or, as he calls it, his "peak."
    • In "America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Model Contest" he competes to be the male model on the nonexistent Paddy's billboard. His outfits get gayer and gayer each scene -- going from a polo to a tight grey v-neck with a black cropped vest.
    • Dennis knows absolutely everything there is to know about gay sex. As seen in "The Gang Sells Out." And he considers himself to be a power-bottom.
    • In the first episode of the entire series, Dennis has a drunken threesome with two men that wasn't part of the plan to get revenge on Dennis for his comments on gay men.
    • In "Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens", Dennis shows up wearing a thong and shows it off to Mac. The following quote is only slightly better in context:

Dennis: I'm not wearin' these because I'm comfortable, I'm wearin' 'em because I wanna turn you on!

    • In "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry", he tells Frank that back in college, he would stick the tip of his penis in his frat brothers' mouths.
    • Mac makes a plan to "plow some ass." Dennis' reaction is to smile and nod his head, seemingly totally on-board with the plan. When Mac clarifies "not gay sex" Dennis looks upset, and says he thought that's what Mac meant.
    • (Not so ambiguous, eh?)
  • Berserk Button: Do not ever question his vanity. The results are not pretty.
  • Camp Straight
  • Control Freak: To the point of ordering dishes for the other members of the gang at restaurants.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Tends to snark on the others' idiocy with callous indifference.
  • Fetish: Anonymous sex, particularly glory holes. Major plot point of "Mac & Charlie Die Part 2."
  • Future Loser: Frequently states that he was the Big Man on Campus (and peaked) while in High School. The Season 7 finale reveals that this was all a lie; Dennis was no more popular than Mac and Charlie.
  • Incest Subtext: Has a weird habit of calling his sister "baby", "babe" and "babygirl." They also slow-dance in "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off".
    • Though he also is the loudest of all the gang when it comes to insulting Dee and pointing out every physical flaw, and in the episode where it was implied Dennis might have unknowingly slept with her, he literally would not stop vomiting.
    • "Dammit, Frank, I am NOT banging my sister!"
  • Lolicon: Has an obsession with younger girls. Only dated freshman in High School.
    • Competes with Charlie for the affection of a 12 year old.
    • Even when he's now in his mid thirties, he likes to go for 18 year old girls still. Charlie points out that's kind of weird.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Mistaken for Gay: In "The Gang Gets Racist" Terrell, Dee's friend from acting class, is quite interested in Dennis. When they turn the pub into a gay bar, his greed and vanity is perfectly comfortable with letting all the guys flirt with him as long as he was making cash and feeling good about himself.
  • Mistaken for Murderer: In "Mac is a Serial Killer" Dee and Dennis pretend to be serial killers and stalk The Waitress.
  • Neat Freak
  • Schemer: The D.E.N.N.I.S. system for seducing women. Demonstrate value, Engage physically, Nurture dependence, Neglect emotionally, Inspire Hope, Separate entirely
  • Shirtless Scene: In nearly every episode of Season 3, Dennis "pops his shirt off."
  • Sissy Villain: A rare Villain Protagonist version.
  • Small Name, Big Ego
  • The Sociopath: Frequently implied.

Dennis: I am having--this is crazy--but I'm having feelings again, like some kind of 14 year-old kid or something. I mean, you remember feelings, right?
Mac: Yeah. I have feelings every single day of my life.
Dennis: Do you?
Mac: Are you saying you don't have feelings?

    • It gets really creepy in "The Gang Buys a Boat", where Dennis tells Mac the reason they bought the boat would be so he could bring women on it and have guaranteed sex with them. By his logic, a woman would never say no to sex on a boat because of "the implication."
  • Villainous Breakdown: I AM A GOLDEN GOD!!!

Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson)

  • Abusive Parents: Her mother thought she was completely worthless.
  • Back from the Dead: After Mac, Charlie and Dee fake their own deaths, they hide in the office of Paddy's. When Frank and Dennis come in, they run out -- carrying sparklers -- and Sweet Dee yells "Surprise, bitches! We're alive and it's blowing your MINDS right now!"
  • Butt Monkey: Watch any episode of this show. Any episode. If not her, then Charlie. Usually both of them.
  • Character Tics: Kicks in the air when she's angry. Stems from Frank asking to be a part of The Gang, and Dee threatening to "kick the pillars [of Paddy's] in" while kicking at Frank.
  • The Chick: Sweet Dee's character was originally written to be the "voice of reason" or the "useless chick." Kaitlin Olson described the dialogue as "Rob says something funny, Charlie says something funny, Glenn says something funny, and I say 'You guys!'" This is mainly an example of Characterization Marches On; Dee is just as depraved as the guys by the end of the first season.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Literally in "Dennis & Dee's Mom is Dead"
  • Eats Babies: Or, at least claims to in "Hundred Dollar Baby."
  • Fag Hag: In "The Gang Gets Racist" the man she is interested in is gay. In turn, he is very interested in Dennis.
  • Faking the Dead: In "Mac and Charlie Die Part 2" Dee leads Dennis to believe she has been murdered.
  • Freak-Out: Over poop in "Who Pooped the Bed?".
  • Hollywood Homely: In-Universe. The gang constantly insults her looks in the most vicious way though she doesn't look significantly different from other female characters.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Although Dee considers herself to be a compassionate liberal, in truth she is greedy and manipulative (at least from season 2 onward).
  • Incest Subtext: Dennis frequently calls her "baby", "babe" or "babygirl." They also slow-dance in "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off".
    • Though he also is the loudest of all the gang when it comes to insulting Dee and pointing out every physical flaw, and in the episode where it was implied Dennis might have unknowingly slept with her, he literally would not stop vomiting.
  • Is That Cute Kid Yours: After finding a baby in the Dumpster behind Paddy's, she and Mac decide to raise it and put it into showbiz.
    • When a passerby asks his name, Mac replies with D.B. -- which is short for Dumpster Baby.
  • The Ladette: She chugs beer and swears like a sailor like the rest of the boys, though she still pretends she is a glamorous starlet like the girls in Sex and the City
  • Manipulative Bitch: We find out in "Dee Gives Birth" that she emotionally abuses men into sleeping with her.
  • Mistaken for Murderer: In "Mac is a Serial Killer" Dee and Dennis pretend to be serial killers and stalk The Waitress.
  • Only Sane Man: In the first season. Though they eventually made her just as depraved as everyone else, because otherwise there would be no reason why she would even associate with these people.
  • Parental Incest: She and Frank pose as an engaged couple, and even go as far as getting married. Although Frank isn't Sweet Dee's biological father, it's still creepy.
  • Shirtless Scene: "The Gang Solves The North Korea Situation."
  • Show Some Leg: On more than one occasion, Dee dresses as a prostitute.
  • Slapstick Knows No Gender: Body humor, pratfalls, and Amusing Injuries are Sweet Dee's signatures.
  • The Unfavorite: Her mother thought Dennis could do nothing wrong and she could do nothing right.
  • Who's Your Daddy?: The boys spend most of a season trying to figure out who got her pregnant. Turns out she was the surrogate for Carmen the transsexual and her husband Nick.

Ronald "Mac" McDonald (Rob McElhenney)

  • Abusive Parents: Mother was emotionally vacant and his father went to prison when he was 8 or 9 for dealing meth and heroin.
  • Alliterative Name: Uses the pseudonym "Vick Vinegar" in "The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis".
  • Ambiguously Gay:
    • There is an episode called "Mac and Dennis Break Up." The title of the episode is only the beginning of the pseudo-romantic relationship antics.
    • He dated a pre-op transsexual named Carmen, and was incredibly sexually active with her.
      • Notably, in "Mac Fights Gay Marriage", he meets Carmen again post-op to discover that she's gotten married. He declares this a gay marriage to the gang. Even Charlie can see the implications of this statement concerning Mac.
    • Upon finding out that Charlie was molested as a child by the school's gym teacher, he wonders why he wasn't, and flirts with the man who allegedly did it.
    • Insists that The Waitress dress up like Dennis before they attempt to have sex. Also, Mac insists on being the bottom.
    • He's obsessed with the male physique, and chooses action films to watch purely on the muscularity of their stars.
    • He's obsessed with Chase Utley. He admits, "In many ways I do love him," but insists not in a romantic way.
  • Back from the Dead
    • After Mac, Charlie and Dee fake their own deaths, they hide in the office of Paddy's. When Frank and Dennis come in, they run out -- carrying sparklers -- and Sweet Dee yells "Surprise, bitches! We're alive and it's blowing your MINDS right now!"
  • Badass Longcoat: "It's not a jacket, it's a duster. It's like a jacket, only it's longer, thicker, and far more badass. I look like Lorenzo Lamas, and women find it irresistible."
  • The Danza: Mac is played by Rob McElhenney, making him this until we found out his full name.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Mistreatment of mothers is one of the many things that set him off.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He is typically the only one to protest the scheme that the gang cooks up if it's too morally reprehensible. He also once told off Dennis and Dee for their plan to go on welfare after their unemployment runs out.
    • When he wants out of the Gang's schemes he sometimes just leaves and says "I'm washing my hands of the whole situation!" He has gone back to their schemes after leaving, though.
  • Fake Band: Chemical Toilet.
  • Faking the Dead: "Mac and Charlie Die" Parts 1 and 2. He and Charlie fake their death in order to escape from Mac's father, who they believe is trying to kill them.
  • Global Ignorance: Apparently thinks Philadelphia and Detroit are states.
  • Ho Yay: Many things Mac says can be implied to be metaphors for gay sex. He clarifies once by following a speech about "plowing some ass" with "...not gay sex."
  • Incredibly Obvious Bug: When he and Charlie fake their own deaths, they hide in the air-vent during their joint funeral at Paddy's, talking at full volume. This alerts Dennis that they aren't actually dead.
  • Is That Cute Kid Yours: After finding a baby in the Dumpster behind Paddy's, Dee and Mac decide to raise it and put it into showbiz.
    • When a passerby asks his name, Mac replies with D.B. -- which is short for Dumpster Baby.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Mac is a very devout Catholic. Except when he's flirting with his old gym teacher, a 50-something year old man. And when he suggests that a girl he got pregnant get an abortion.
  • Instant Expert: Often believes Himself to be this but he really, really isn't.
  • Man Child: While Dennis, Charlie, and Dee show shades of this as well, Mac is by FAR the biggest example. He's constantly doing childish stunts for his "Project Badass" videos, and notice how he acts anytime he shares the screen with his parents.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He was a drug dealer in high school and ratted on all the other dealers to free up the market.
  • Miles Gloriosus
  • Mistaken for Gay: Seen in the original pilot that was pitched to FX.
  • Mistaken for Murderer: The episode "Mac is a Serial Killer." He's actually banging Carmen the Transexual. Again.
  • Mistaken for Racist: "The Gang Gets Racist." Need I say more?
  • Only One Name: Mac. Just Mac. It was believed to be his last name, because his parents are referred to as Mrs. Mac and Luther Mac to keep the gag going. But in "The Gang Cracks The Liberty Bell", in which Mac, Dennis and Charlie tell the story of The Gang's 1776 counterparts cracking the Liberty Bell, he is referred to as "MacDonald." "The High School Reunion" gives us the whole thing: Ronald McDonald.
  • Schemer: The M.A.C. system for seducing Dennis' castoffs. Move-in After Completion
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps
  • Small Name, Big Ego
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Frequently greets walks into Paddy's and yells "What's up, bitches?"
  • Too Dumb to Live: He tells a mob boss's wife that he won't sleep with her because she's gross in "The Gang Gets Whacked".
  • Unfortunate Name: Ronald McDonald
    • And his nickname was Ronnie the Rat for narcing on drug dealers in high school.

Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day)

  • Back from the Dead: After Mac, Charlie and Dee fake their own deaths, they hide in the office of Paddy's. When Frank and Dennis come in, they run out -- carrying sparklers -- and Sweet Dee yells "Surprise, bitches! We're alive and it's blowing your MINDS right now!"
  • Butt Monkey: Watch any episode of this show. Any episode. If not him, then Sweet Dee. Usually both of them.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Often has some sort of crazy idea, scheme or object that's meaning isn't clear until the very end. Ex: "The Nightman Cometh"
  • The Chessmaster: Mostly in "Mac bangs Dennis' Mom," but, it's still present.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: His favorite food? "Milk steak". Hobby? Magnets. Likes? Ghouls. ("You know, funny little green ghouls?") Dislikes? People's knees.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: In "A Very Sunny Christmas" Charlie repeatedly screams "DID YOU FUCK MY MOM?!" at a mall Santa, and then takes a bite out of his neck.
    • In "Mac & Dennis: Manhunters" Charlie drops the F-bomb. It was (obviously) censored when it aired on TV, and disappointingly censored on the Season 4 DVDs.
  • The Danza: Charlie Kelly is played by Charlie Day.
  • Dumb Is Good: Charlie is the least intelligent member of the Gang but is also the least morally bankrupt.
  • Extreme Omnivore: He doesn't deny the possibility of newspaper, credit card fragments, and wolf hair being in his stool in "Who Pooped the Bed?". In "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore", he drinks sunscreen.
  • Faking the Dead: "Mac and Charlie Die" Parts 1 and 2. He and Mac fake their death in order to escape from Mac's father, who they believe is trying to kill them.
  • Genius Ditz: Charlie has natural piano talent and can pull off some very Machiavellian plots when properly motivated.
  • Hidden Depths: Despite being functionally illiterate, he was able to compose and direct a musical in "The Nightman Cometh". He can play piano quite well and is skilled at sewing.
  • Incredibly Obvious Bug: When he and Mac fake their own deaths, they hide in the air-vent during their joint funeral at Paddy's, talking at full volume. This alerts Dennis that they aren't actually dead.
  • L Is for Dyslexia and Never Learned to Read: Charlie is illiterate (or at least very dyslexic), and gets more and more illiterate as the series progresses.

"Illiterate? What does that word even mean, dude?"

    • Lampshaded by Mac in "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off" after Charlie mistakes "Prize" for "Pride" ("Your illiteracy has screwed us again, Charlie!")
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: In the finale of Season 2, it is revealed that Frank is Charlie's real father.
  • Lolicon: He gets engaged to a 12 year old in "The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation."
    • It should be noted that the girl didn't look twelve, drank A LOT of alcohol and Charlie was engaged to her before finding out. He immediately broke it off when he did find out.
      • AND her first appearance is of her smoking in public. Easily misleading
  • Made of Iron: Charlie's mom had an abortion while pregnant with him, but he still managed to survive it, along with living through that hilariously revolting life style of his.
    • He's also been electrocuted, like, 500 times according to Mac.
    • Charlie ate a brownie filled with drugs, even though Mac claimed it had enough drugs in it to kill a gorilla. Charlie replied by saying "Bro, I can handle my sedatives."
    • He can also take a really good beating, according to Mac and Dennis. They punched him and hit him with objects to train him for a fight.
  • Nice Guy: The only one of the gang.
  • No Indoor Voice: After the first season, CHARLIE SCREAMS ALL THE TIME.
  • Psychopathic Manchild
  • Rape as Backstory: Very strongly implied to have been molested by his uncle.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Has been obsessed with The Waitress for years, to the point where he often has to live off of dog food because he spends all of his money paying spies to follow her. Even wrote a musical to propose to her. She has multiple restraining orders against him.
    • And the actress who plays The Waitress is Charlie Day's wife.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: Dennis, Mac, and Dee spend an entire episode trying to do this to Charlie when Frank tells them it's his birthday and he seems pretty depressed. Though things like taking him to a movie and a spa backfire horribly due to his insanity, they eventually find a book where he catalogs his dreams in pictographs and recreate some of the items in it. Charlie feels pretty happy.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: He was only "allowed" to hang out with Dennis and his "cool" friends in High School because they liked to make fun of him, and they knew he couldn't sleep with their girlfriends.
  • Wild Card: Given the title of by Mac and Dennis in "The Gang Solves The Gas Crisis."

Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito)

  • Ambiguously Gay: Tons of teasing occurs in "American's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Model".
  • Ax Crazy
  • Bald of Evil
  • Catch Phrase: Repeatedly says "What's the action?" in season 2.
    • Repeatedly says "Bigtime!" in season 5.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Despite his ludicrous levels of depravity and cruelty, he's absolutely opposed to Dennis and Mac hunting Rickety Cricket in "Mac and Dennis: Manhunters." Why this specific sociopathic scheme bothers him isn't particularly clear, unless he really can't tell the difference between his life and John Rambo's.
    • He also opposes dousing a 12 year old in a wet T-shirt contest, and jumps in the way so he gets soaked instead.
    • Although he has no problem using virtually any illicit substance that crosses his path, he thinks that only the true bottom of the barrel sells drugs, according to "The Gang Gets Whacked."
  • Extreme Omnivore: He doesn't deny the possibility of newspaper, credit card fragments, and wolf hair being in his stool in "Who Pooped the Bed?".
  • Fetish: Food fetish. Has a fling with Artemis in "The Waitress is Getting Married." They put Bacon Bits in her hair to "make her feel like a Cobb Salad."
    • This is also hinted at in "Mac & Charlie Die Part 2." Frank and Dennis go to an orgy, and all Frank does is eat.
    • In "Who Got Dee Pregnant" Artemis and Frank experimented with food while having crazy loud sex in a dumpster.
  • Hypocrite: Buys Dee's and Dennis's dream gifts for himself for Christmas every year in a twisted attempt to teach them that you have to earn what you get, a principle Frank claims made him a millionaire. As Dee immediately throws in his face, what made him a millionaire was embezzling from his partner.
  • I Love the Dead: Revealed in "Frank's Little Beauties". He may not actively love the dead, but he sees no problem with it. Since they're dead.
  • Incredibly Obvious Bug: Plants a baby monitor in a man's apartment in "The Gang Solves The Gas Crisis."
  • Kavorka Man
  • Kissing Cousins: Frank hooks up with his ex-wife's sister's daughter. Yes, that would be his niece.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: In the finale of Season 2, it is revealed that Frank is Charlie's real father.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Noble Demon: Initially, then not-so-much.
  • Parental Incest: He and Dee pose as an engaged couple, and even go as far as getting married. Although Dee isn't Frank's biological daughter, it's still creepy.
    • Shares a bed with Charlie, his biological son. They sleep ass-to-ass.
    • After Charlie fakes his death, Frank dresses up a mannequin as Charlie and Mac claims he saw him "banging that thing".
      • Additionally, In "Mac Fights Gay Marrige" him and Charlie try to get a civil union for the benefits.
  • Pet the Dog: Assures a humiliated Charlie that his musical was very good after the waitress refused his marriage proposal in front of the audience. Note that Mac, Dennis, and Dee were unconcerned as usual. This fits well with how far over the deep end he went when he thought Charlie was dead, going to the point of carrying around a dummy of him.
  • Schemer: Became a millionaire by screwing over his old business partner.
  • Shirtless Scene: Emerges fully nude from a couch in "A Very Sunny Christmas"
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Very frequently uses an emphatic "bitch."
  • Verbal Tic: Pronounces the word "whore" as "HOO-rr".
    • That's been a Danny DeVito Running Gag since the early 90's.

Other characters

The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis)

Matthew "Rickety Cricket" Mara (David Hornsby)


The McPoyles

Artemis (Artemis Pebdani)

  • The Alcoholic: Usually can't remember how she spends her nights.
  • The Danza
  • Large Ham
  • Really Gets Around: She introduces herself to men by telling them she has a bleached asshole, arguing that they're "going to find out anyway."
  • Sixth Ranger: She's basically the only recurring character to have any sort of positive relationship with the gang, and occasionally joins in on their schemes in some capacity

The Lawyer (Brian Unger)

Back to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  1. ↑ Dennis and Dee's biological father. Ouch.
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