< One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill/Characters


The character sheet for One Tree Hill. Currently under going a massive overhaul.

Main Characters (Seasons 1 to 4)

Lucas Scott (Portrayed by Chad Michael Murray)

You know, I shoot the ball, and it goes in. I don't ask questions. I don't think about it. That's just the way it is.


Lucas Scott is the son of Karen Roe and Dan Scott. He was abandoned by his father for his other son, Nathan Scott and raised by his paternal uncle Keith Scott. Lucas had a passion for basketball and played at the River Court with friends such as Marvin "Mouth" McFadden and Antwon "Skills" Taylor. It was this passion for basketball that saw Lucas be recruited to the Tree Hill Ravens, and be forced to interact with Nathan on a daily basis.

  • All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Peyton and Brooke.
  • Bash Brothers: With Nathan.
  • Betty and Veronica: The Archie to Peyton's Betty and Brooke's Veronica; later the Archie to Lindsey's Betty and Peyton's Veronica.
  • The Bus Came Back: In Episode 9x07, "Last Known Surroundings"
  • Cain and Abel: He and Nathan start out this way. They grow out of it by the end of the first season, and in a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, Nathan defends Lucas from Dan. The season ends with them acknowledging each other as brothers and friends.
  • Chick Magnet
  • Cool Loser: He gets popularity soon enough, however.
  • Cultured Badass: Luke starts off and finishes virtually every episode of his run on the show with a literary reference.
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: Eugene.
  • First Girl Wins: Peyton.
  • Generation Xerox: Post-Time Skip, Lucas has pretty much become Keith.
  • The Hero
  • Hot Dad: As of Episode 6x24, "Remember Me as a Time of Day".
  • Parental Abandonment: His Father Dan.
  • Platonic Life Partners: With Haley.
  • Put on a Bus: Episode 6x24, "Remember Me as a Time of Day".
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: During Season 1. He gets better after several What the Hell, Hero? speeches from Keith, Nathan, Peyton, Haley & Karen.
  • Your Cheating Heart:
    • With Peyton when he was with Brooke in Season 1.
    • With Peyton (Again) when he was with Brooke (Again) in Season 3, after Peyton was shot & loosing blood during the school shooting, and whilst Peyton realises she's still in love with Lucas soon after this, nothing else happens between them until Brooke admits she's not in love with Lucas anymore. Not that it stops Brooke from being convinced that they were sneaking around.
    • With Peyton (Yes, again) when he was with Lindsey in Season 5. They kiss once, before Lucas proposes to Lindsey (That very night) but then nothing happens until after Lindsey leaves him at the altar after realising he was still in love with Peyton.

Nathan Scott (Portrayed by James Lafferty)

Sometimes what you call "everything," I call "nothing."


Nathan Scott is the son of Deb Lee & Dan Scott. Under the watchful eye of his father, Nathan was raised with a basketball in his hands from the moment he could walk & eventually became the star player of the Tree Hill Ravens. However, Nathan is threatened when his half-brother Lucas joins the team & with an eye for Nathan's girlfriend Peyton Sawyer.

  • Bash Brothers: With Lucas.
  • Broken Streak: Was the only cast member to appear in every episode, until episode 9x03.
  • Cain and Abel: He and Lucas start out this way. They grow out of it by the end of the first season, and in a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, Nathan defends Lucas from Dan. The season ends with them acknowledging each other as brothers and friends.
  • Casanova: pre-Haley.
  • Defrosting Ice King: In Season One, he starts off being very icy indeed. Thankfully, Haley and Lucas activate the metaphorical radiators and Nathan gradually realizes that he wants to be a better person than he's been.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Specifically Tim, his best friend in season 1. There were signs, also lampshaded by Brooke, that he had more than just admiration for Nathan.
  • Generation Xerox: Much like Lucas takes after Keith, Nathan takes after Dan... Sort of. Whilst he starts out similar to Dan, he becomes a better person than Dan ever was during his Junior year, and whilst his life follows a similar path to Dan's, Nathan frequently does the opposite of what Dan would have done (Or actually did) in that spot.
  • Happily Married: The Naley ship has been the most enduring ship on the show.
  • Hot Dad: As of Episode 4x21, "All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone"
  • Jerk Jock: Nathan's initial personality. Gradually, he sheds the "Jerk" part with help from Haley and Lucas.
  • Ladykiller in Love
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: Though Nathan was only mean during the first season, by the end of which he Took a Level In Kindness. Actor James Lafferty, by all accounts, seems to have been a very nice person right from the start.
  • The Nicknamer: It's revealed in Season 8 that Nathan is the one who coined Mouth's nickname, after getting fed-up of Mouth's wannabe sports anouncer tendancies at the River Court, declaring "You have a big mouth" & promptly punching him in it. When it's brought up, Nathan admits he doesn't remember doing that, but apologises for it.
  • Old Shame: Nathan hates the person he was before he met Haley.
  • Papa Wolf
  • Shirtless Scene: He gets quite a few of these.
  • Take a Third Option: Towards the end of Season 1, Dan and Deb demand that he live with one of them, as they separate. Nathan eventually decides to live with neither, and emancipates himself.
  • Took a Level In Kindness: During Season 1.

Peyton Sawyer Scott (Portrayed by Hilarie Burton)

I guess I'm just a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside a bitch.


Peyton Sawyer is a rebellious cheerleader who shows her emotions through her art and love for music. With a deceased mother & father away for work most of the time, Peyton spends most of her time alone, or with her best friend Brooke Davis.

Haley James Scott (Portrayed by Bethany Joy Lenz/Galeotti)

The point is, at the end of the day all your bluster and BS don't mean anything to math, because math don't care, and neither do I.


  • Action Girl: Haley, interestingly, started out as the gentlest character of the three main female characters but she most probably embodies this trope the best over the course of 9 years. Haley’s toughness and her tendency to fight has been referenced in the show by various characters. Also, Haley has been mentioned as being the character who’s been in jail the most as evidenced by her nickname “Jailey.” Among her highlights, she beat down a woman who alleged that she was pregnant with Nathan’s child (and she went to jail for it). got into a fight with the mom of the boy who was bullying Jamie, she attacked her sister Taylor in two separate seasons, and she bitch-slapped Rachel in her Crowning Moment of Awesome.

Jamie: You don't wanna mess with Mom.

Rachel: You're lucky you're pregnant...
Haley: No, honey, you're lucky I'm pregnant.

Brooke Davis Baker (Portrayed by Sophia Bush)

Relationships are just too hard. Hooking up with boys is so much easier.


Marvin "Mouth" McFadden (Portrayed by Lee Norris)

Rachel Gatina (Portrayed by Daneel Harris)

  • Alpha Bitch
  • The Cheerleader
  • Fiery Redhead
  • Jerkass Has a Point: During Season 4, Rachel frequently has to point out how unreasonable Brooke is being in her treatment of Peyton. Brooke doesn't really have an argument when this happens.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After revealing to Dan that the only reason she's with him is his money, Dan gives everything away to charities & various people who need it more than he does, and hands Rachel divorce papers. When she says she'll sue him for half of everything he's worth, her lawyer points out that half of nothing is still nothing.
  • Manipulative Bitch
  • May-December Romance: With Nathan's uncle Cooper and Dan Scott.
  • Pet the Dog: She has her good moments with Mouth and Brooke.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: In season 4.
  • Put on a Bus
  • Really Gets Around: Described in-universe as "friendly".
  • The Rival: To Brooke, initially. Later they became friends.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Brooke.
  • We Used to Be Friends: With Brooke & Mouth - In Episode 5x11, Rachel destroyed her friendship with Brooke by stealing Brooke's money and leaving. When she came back in Season 7 as Dan's wife, Mouth told her he wouldn't speak with her until she mended bridges with Brooke & paid her back, whilst Brooke threw Rachel's money back in her face & asserted that they weren't friends anymore, nor would they ever be again.

Antwon "Skills" Taylor (Portrayed by Antwon Tanner)


Main Characters (Seasons 5 to 9)

James "Jamie" Lucas Scott (Portrayed by Jackson Brundage)

Millicent "Millie" Huxtable (Portrayed by Lisa Goldstein)

Julian Baker (Portrayed by Austin Nichols)

"And just because I referenced Dirty Dancing doesn't mean I'm not serious!"

Clayton "Clay" Evans (Portrayed by Robert Buckley)

Quinn James Evans (Portrayed by Shantel VanSanten)

Alex Dupre (Portrayed by Jana Kramer)

Chase Adams (Portrayed by Stephen Colletti)

Chris Keller (Portrayed by Tyler Hilton)


Scott Family

Dan Scott (Portrayed by Paul Johansson)

  • Abusive Parents: Throughout the entire first season, it's made very clear that Dan is more concerned about his legacy as basketball player than Nathan's well being, with him practically bullying Nathan to play basketball "his" way. In episode 1x21, "The Leaving Song," Dan takes over as coach of the Ravens due to Whitey needing surgery, and the viewer sees how bad Nathan had it growing up. Dan's father, Royal Scott, is stated to have been just as bad as Dan was, treating Dan the same way he was treating Nathan.
  • And Starring: In Seasons 7 and 9.
  • Archnemesis Dad: This. Dan is this trope personified a thousand times over, both to Lucas (Dan initially alternates between pretending Lucas doesn't exist one minute, and then treating him like a smelly pile of dog poop the next minute) and Nathan (who he uses as a mere vessel for his own self-loathing). In one early episode, Nathan is about to score the winning shot at the annual Father-Son Basketball Game at the high school, when Dan aggressively moves in to stop him, despite the game being for laughs, growling "I couldn't let you beat me, son!". Yeah, that pretty much says it all. Honestly, along with Lionel Luthor from Smallville, Dan is probably the best example of this trope on TV (appropriately enough, Dan and Nathan's relationship in the first few seasons is A LOT like Lionel's and Lex's in the first few seasons of Smallville).
  • The Atoner: Complete with his own talk show and book deal. Yeah, he's one of those "atoners." That being said, he genuinely does regret killing Keith, and he does try to be a good grandfather to Jamie.
  • Back for the Dead
  • Cain and Abel: With Keith. It doesn't end well.
  • Destructive Romance: With Deb.
  • Grandpa, What Massive Hotness You Have: Goes hand-on-hand with becoming a Grandfather in his mid-thirties. Plays the trope straighter by the final Season, roughly 9 years later.
  • Jerk Jock: Was one, and still acts like one years later.
  • Karma Houdini: At least, until season 4...
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • May-December Romance: With Rachel in season 7. Very odd, since back in high school she tried to seduce both his sons.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Dan's reaction after Deb tells him it was her, not Keith, who had tried to kill him in a fire; the revelation coming 7 episodes after Dan had killed Keith in retaliation.
  • Papa Wolf: Whilst he may be a bad father, Dan is very protective of his sons and grandchildren.
  • Parental Abandonment: He abandoned Karen and their son, Lucas.
  • Pet the Dog: Again, with Jamie. Dan's most unambiguously likeable moments are usually when he's with Jamie.
  • Redemption Equals Death

Karen Roe (Portrayed by Moira Kelly)

Keith Scott (Portrayed by Craig Sheffer)

It's funny, but I feel like I'm about to start the life that I always wanted.


Deb Scott (Portrayed by Barbara Alyn Woods)

Cooper Lee (Portrayed by Michael Trucco)

Other Characters (Seasons 1 to 4)

Coach Brian "Whitey" Durham (Portrayed by Barry Corbin)

Jake Jagielski (Portayed by Brian Greenberg)

  • Good Parents: For his baby daughter Jenny.
  • Hot Dad
  • Nice Guy: He's the only one in the team who didn't steal a school bus in the pilot, or go along with Nathan's "hazing" of Lucas after he joined the Ravens.
  • Put on a Bus: At the end of Season 1.
    • The Bus Came Back: Halfway through Season 2, before getting back on the bus at the end of the season. He made another return during Season 3 for 3 episodes.
  • Second Love: For Peyton, with Lucas being first (Nathan doesn't really count).


Ferguson "Fergie" Thompson (Portrayed by Vaughn Wilson)

"Junk" Moretti (Portrayed by Cullen Moss)

Tim Smith (Portrayed by Brett Claywell)

Jimmy Edwards (Portrayed by Colin Fickes)

Larry Sawyer (Portrayed by Thomas Ian Grffin & Kevin Kilner)

  • Disappeared Dad: Due to his work as a fisherman, Larry spends a large chunk of his time at sea & away from Peyton.
  • Hot Dad: "Brooke - Now that you are living here, let's just assume you're going to find a new Hot Dad fantasy."
  • The Other Darrin: The only one in the show. Kevin Kilner took over the role of Larry in Season 3, after the character wasn't seen in Season 2.
  • Papa Wolf: To Peyton, largely due to work meaning he's away for large periods of time & the death of his wife when Peyton was a little girl.

Bevin Mirskey (Portayed by Bevin Prince)

Felix Tagarro (Portrayed by Michael Copon)

Anna Tagarro (Portrayed by Daniella Alonso)

Andy Hargrove (Portrayed by Kieren Hutchinson)


Other Characters (Seasons 5 to 9)

Lindsey Strauss (Portrayed by Michaela McManus)

Carrie (Portayed by Torrey DeVitto)

Victoria Davis (Portrayed by Daphne Zuniga)

Owen Morello (Portrayed by Joe Manganiello)

  • The Alcoholic: A recovered one, before suffering a relapse.
  • Badass Beard: Pre-Relapse.
  • The Bartender: A bartending alcoholic. It ends well.
  • The Big Guy: Plays alongside Nathan in the "Slashers" Slamball team, and basically spends his time making sure no-one lays a finger on Nathan, due to his back issues.
  • Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: The Owen/Brooke ship doesn't really have any resolution during Season 5, largely due to the Writers Strike costing the season 4 episodes & Manganiello not being available for the last six episodes, which were produced after the strike. He returns midway through Season 6 as a member of Nathan's Slamball team, before suffering a relapse & sleeping with Millie in the very same episode which started the Brooke/Julian ship. He was Put on a Bus the following episode.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Put on a Bus
  • Shallow Love Interest
  • Troubled but Cute

Quentin "Q" Fields (Portrayed by Robbie Jones)

  • Empty Chair Memorial: In Haley's classroom after his death.
  • Jerk Jock: When first introduced in Season 5. Haley, Lucas, Skills & Nathan eventually force him to grow out of it.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Most people just call him Q. Lucas, Skills & Nathan calling him that instead of "Mr. Fields" or Quentin is a subtle indicator of their relationships with him improving.
  • Pet the Dog: Before growing out of being a Jerk Jock, Q's most likable moments involved Jamie.

Mia Catalano (Portrayed by Kate Voegele)

Samantha "Sam" Walker (Portrayed by Ashley Rickards)

Charles "Chuck" Scolnik (Portrayed by Michael May)

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