The Boondocks/Characters

A character sheet from Aaron McGruder's newspaper comic strip-turned-animated series The Boondocks.

The Freeman Family

General Tropes

• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: There's few of them, sure, but these show that, for all the fighting, they really mean the world to each other.
• Badass Family: They get into fights often in the cartoon. How successful they are varies between episodes.
• Beneath the Mask
• Black and Grey Morality: The only reason these guys come across as heroic is because their enemies are undeniably worse.
• Butt Monkeys: They seem to be Doom Magnets.
• Cry for the Devil: Literally. Despite their less-than-stellar opinions of Uncle Ruckus, the three break down crying when Ruckus explains his terrible upbringing.
• Dysfunctional Family
• Fish Out of Water: The cultural differences between their black backgrounds and the white neighborhood they live in often leads to laughter.
• Group Hug: They have a very sweet one in Season 3's finale.
• Jerks with Hearts of Gold: If there's anything they have in common, is this. The three are generally unpleasant people, ranging between cold (Huey), selfish (Granddad) and just plain rude (Riley); but they're capable of showing kindness to others and they do love each other deep down.
• N-Word Privileges
• Not So Different
• Reality Ensues: While they're formidable fighters, they're still two kids and an old man. Due to their ages and lack of proper training, they often get defeated by more powerful and experienced opponents (such as Luna and Bushido Brown).
• Sympathy for the Devil: In "The Color Ruckus", they're extremely sympathetic to Uncle Ruckus once they have to deal with his fucked-up family and how it had affected him.
• Weirdness Magnets

Huey

I am the stone that the builder refused
I am the visual, the inspiration that made Lady Sing the Blues

• Afro Asskicker
• Angry Black Man: Well, Angry Black Boy in his case.
• Anti-Hero: Cold and cynical he may be, but he's deep down a good person and the most heroic of the trio by far.
• Aside Glance
• Badass Bookworm
• Berserk Button: "I do not like being laughed at."
• Big Brother Instinct: He is often patient and protective of his younger brother Riley, but due to Riley's personality, he often has to resort to Tough Love.
• Birds of a Feather: Huey became best friends with Caesar because of their common political views. That said, Caesar is generally much less interested in politics and occasionally gets annoyed that it's all Huey ever seems to talk about.
• Black and Nerdy
• Blue Oni: To Riley's Red. Also to Caesar's Red in the comics.
• The Cassandra
• Cavalier Competitor: Over the kick ball game. At least until Ming makes it personal.
• The Comically Serious: A ten year old who plans a prison escape, thinks he can bring down the man and brings nunchucks to the cinema. And all with a straight face.
• Composite Character: Cartoon Huey combines Comic Huey's radical views and cynicism with Caesar's Only Sane Man attitude.
• Conspiracy Theorist: He thinks that every white man's in on it, and that you can't tame them with cheese. He's at least wrong about the cheese part. Downplayed in the cartoon, where he acknowledges that most white people are very ignorant or evil for non-racist reasons.
• Crazy Prepared: Lets just say when shit goes down, Huey is prepared.
• Cry Cute: The only time he cries, it's shown as this.
• Cute Shotaro Boy
• Deadpan Snarker
• Fascinating Eyebrow
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Undeniably the responsible one.
• Genre Savvy: Listen to the kid. It might just save your life.
• Hypocritical Humor: In the comic. Caesar is usually responsible for calling him on it.

Huey: Most people don't have the time or the energy to follow politics, and the government takes advantage of that. This country needs to keep a closer eye on Washington! We need to start holding our elected officials responsible for this mess!
Caesar: Wow... So who is our Congressman, Huey?
Huey: Who knows... Some punk...

• Innocent Prodigy
• Insufferable Genius: Particularly in the comic.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Huey has no real friends. He scares them all off except for Caesar and Jazmine, especially in the cartoon due to Caesar's absence.
• Intergenerational Friendship:
  • With Tom, at least as much as Huey's cynicism will allow.
  • Also develops this with The White Shadow to an extent.
• Issue Drift: Inverted in the final days of the comic, because Aaron McGruder put all of his good ideas into the cartoon.
• I Warned You: Writer of "I Told You So: Emegency Household Protocols For Catastophic Scenario".
• Katanas Are Just Better: He plays it straight and also subverts it when he gets in a fight with Riley.
• Little Professor Dialog
• Named After Somebody Famous: Huey P. Newton.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The (relatively) noble one to Riley.
• Only Sane Man
• Perpetual Frowner: Almost always seen with a frown to emphasize his pessimistic and cynical personality. He only smiled about 5 times in the animated series.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: This is an odd one. A few of season 3 episodes rely on the fact that Huey is a domestic terrorist although the extent of how or why he is one is ambiguous at best. The animation has him state that he runs several left wing radical groups. In the comic strip, when a teacher reads his profile, he mentions that Huey has several Socialist groups. Then, you look at his adventures, gear, abilities, and personality, it's kind of hard to pin if it was a literal title or a satirical title, as Huey has never engaged in any terrorist activities in either the strip or animation.
• Poster Gallery Bedroom: His (half of the) room is neat with a full bookshelf, a computer and posters of Che and Malcolm X.
• Power Fist: He builds one with instructions from the Internet.
• Raised by Grandparents
• Ridiculous Procrastinator: Huey gets an entire arc about how he can't get himself to just mow the grass.
• The Schizophrenia Conspiracy: In The Real he concludes that the he's either crazy or that the government is trying to make him think he's crazy.
• Serious Business: The nerd in him will quote Obi-Wan Kenobi and he's repeatedly overreacted when he's given news of bad black movies etc. by Caesar.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Riley.
• The Snark Knight: A very accurate example.
• Soapbox Sadie
• The Spock
• The Stoic
• Straight Man
• Strawman Political
• Sugar and Ice Personality
• Took a Level in Badass: In the comics, Huey's martial arts skills are an Informed Ability. In the cartoon, not so much.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour
• Ubermensch: Deconstructed. Initially, Huey is the picture perfect example or was one in progress. However, as the series progresses, he has his faith challenged that force him to accept that there are forces he can't understand and sometimes he can't make a difference. As the series progresses, Huey starts become more hopeless to eventually giving up on society and accepting that his Blue and Orange Morality is not enough.
• Unreliable Narrator: In "Attack Of The Killer Kung Fu Wolf Bitch", though he corrects himself.
• Weekend Inventor
• When He Smiles
• Wise Beyond Their Years

Riley

I'm the spark that makes your idea bright
the same spark that lights the dark
so that you can know your left from your right

• Adaptation Dye Job: Not a dye job but a hairstyle change. Riley's hair was changed from being short to having cornrows.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: To Huey.
• Book Dumb: Very much so, especially in the comics.
• Bratty Half-Pint
• Catch Phrase: Nigga, you gay.
  • Pause.
• Character Exaggeration: Becomes more of a Small Name, Big Ego type in the animated series. Somewhat justified in that Riley is supposed to represent black youth stirred in the wrong direction, imitating rappers. During the time of the strip most rappers were known for how "hard" or "gangster" they were. Currently most rappers are known for how flashy and braggadocios they are.
• Children Are Innocent: In a different way than most examples. He's the personification of ignorant youth who follow adult idols blindly, distorting how they perceive the world as a result (for example, thinking liking someone who's gay will make themselves gay).
• Cry Cute
• Cute Shotaro Boy: His attempts to look tough are undermined by being "cursed with cuteness".
• Determinator
• Even Evil Has Standards: As amoral and mischievous he is, he's appalled at how extreme Ed III and Rummy can be (not that it stops him from hanging out with them). More seriously, even he thinks Lamilton is a creepy monster.
  • A Depending on the Writer example: If he's protrayed as an Anti-Hero, he will often draw the line at directly hurting people. If he's a Villain Protagonist, he will lack those standards.
• Evil Laugh: His sadistic snicker.
• Flashback to Catchphrase: In "The Story Of Gangstalicious, Part 2".
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Undeniably the foolish one.
• Genius Ditz
• Genre Savvy: He can predict his Grandad's Catcher Freeman story.
• Good Old Fisticuffs
• Guilty Pleasures: He feels great shame when it's revealed he's a Lauryn Hill fan. This isn't because Hill is a regular guilty pleasure, as Huey explains—he doesn't see Hill's positive messages as compatible with his chosen "gangsta" lifestyle. He has an image and mindset to maintain.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?
• I Just Want to Be Badass
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Thugnificient.
• Jerkass: By far the most unpleasant of the trio, though he does have a Hidden Heart of Gold.
• Laser-Guided Karma: While Riley never learns any lessons, he doesn't always escape consequences. He usually serves to be his own downfall and often gets beaten by his grandfather if he pisses him off.
• The McCoy
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The roguish one to Huey.
• Raised by Grandparents
• Red Oni: To Huey's Blue.
• Schemer
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Huey.
• Small Name, Big Ego
• This Loser Is You
• Trash Talk
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour
• Ungrateful Bastard
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: He ties with Uncle Ruckus in this regard.
• Verbal Tic: He seems to have picked up a new one lately whenever he mentions something gay, no homo.
• Where Da White Women At?: In Robert's Daydream Surprise.
  • Although he's actually pretty asexual in both the comic and show. He sees bitches as more of a status symbol than anything.
• Wrestler in All of Us

Robert "Granddad" Freeman

I am the ballot in your box
the bullet in the gun
that inner glow that lets you know to call your brother "son"

• Abusive Grandpa: Often to Riley, though he deserves it most of the time.
• Ace Pilot: He received a medal and flew a "top secret mission to Germany to save the whole world".
• Actor Allusion: Pops, is that you?
• Angry Black Man: 'Cause he's a Grumpy Old Man.
• Awesome McCoolname: Robert "Bitches" Freeman.
• Berserk Button: Asking him to butter his own popcorn.
• Cool Old Guy
• Dirty Old Man: Pretty much the point of his character in the cartoon.
• Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off
• The Gump: An uncertain example. He definitely was a Tuskeegee Airman and present (albeit deeply unpopular) at Rosa Parks' bus protest and the Birmingham marches, definitely wasn't the UFC light-middleweight champion or a member of G-Unit, and may or may not have gotten into a knife fight with Jesse Jackson.
• Hypocritical Humor: A true master.
  • Hypocrisy Nod: Especially in the comics - a common gag is for Huey to point out how he's acting foolish or hypocritical, only for Granddad to agree, but reply that since he's in his golden years he doesn't care.
• I Just Want to Be Special
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Tom.
• I Resemble That Remark
• It's All About Me
• I Was Quite a Looker: Here.
• Kavorka Man
• The Kirk
• Man Child
• Meaningful Name: Which Ed Wuncler hangs a lantern on.
• Mentor: Of a sort to Huey in the comics, where his characterization is that he is Older and Wiser, but because he's retired he really doesn't want to have to care. Huey occasionally comes to him for deep conversation, though it's never guaranteed that Granddad will want to get into the situation.
• Naked People Are Funny: at least when they're censored.
• No Accounting for Taste: Definitely. The Freemans have been often in trouble due to his conquests.
• Parent-Fu
• Self-Serving Memory
• Shipper on Deck: Granddad seems to ship the boys with Cindy and Jazmine intentionally (Trying to get Riley to show interest in girls) or sub-consciously (Calling Jazmine Huey's "little friend" and dreaming of Jazmine instinctively hugging Huey when attacked by the swarm of Stinkmeaners.)
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In the animated series.
• Ungrateful Bastard
• When All You Have Is a Hammer: With regard to parenting.

"You ever try beatin' his ass?"

• Would Not Hit a Girl: He's perfectly fine with whipping his grandsons, but he'll never, ever, strike a woman. Being a Chivalrous Pervert, it makes sense.

Jericho Freeman

• Bald of Evil
• Con Man
• Fat Bastard
• Fat Idiot
• Fat Slob
• Forgot to Pay the Bill: Really, Robert Freeman neglected to pay the utilities and phone bills in the hopes it would send the New Orleans Freemans packing.
• Jerkass
• Lazy Bum
• The Load
• Lower Class Lout
• Ragin Cajun
• Schemer
• The Tramp
• Ungrateful Bastard
• Working Class People Are Morons

Other Characters

The story that just begun
the promise of what's to come
and imma remain a soldier
til' the war is won (won)

Uncle Ruckus (No Relation)

• Acrofatic
• Badass Grandpa
• Because You Were Nice to Me: He shows genuine kindness and appreciation for his mother and brothers because they treated him well (as opposed to his father).
  • Due to his deep desire to fit into society, he tends to join anyone who shows him the slightest bit of respect, even if its for selfish reasons (if not just because they share his contempt for black people). And while the But Not Too Black and Where Da White Women At? tropes are the main reason why he gets along with the DuBois family, the fact both Tom and Jazmine are nice people only deepened their statuses as Ruckus' Morality Pets.
• Big Bad: He often serves as the Freeman family's main antagonist.
• Boomerang Bigot
• Bring My Brown Pants: In "The Story Of Gangstalicious", while at gunpoint.

Uncle Ruckus: (Calmly) Say that again? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me shittin' myself.

• Calling the Old Man Out: Does this awesomely to his abusive dad in "The Color Ruckus".
• Canon Immigrant: He was originally created for the show, but McGruder added him to the comic in the brief period between the show starting and the comic ending.
• Characterization Marches On: Season 1 actually has moments where he seems completely aware that he's black. Refering to whites as "they" and blacks as "we" is a subtle example.
  • Other lines include "I was happy at the back of the buss" and "I would have shoot you myself but I realised the white man got better aim." Not to mention the episode "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus".
• Continuity Nod: He's a reverend again in "Stinkmeaner Strikes Back".

Uncle Ruckus: I am Reverend Father Uncle Ruckus. No relation.

• Cry Cute: As a child. He has a moment like this in the present day, and boy is it heartbreaking.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loves his mother and brothers. It's his father and grandmother that he hates.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He may be a racist, homophobic asshole; but he will draw the line at actually making fun of the disabled.
  • Related to Even Evil Has Loved Ones, his mother and brothers are completely spared from his black-hating rethoric.
• Fluffy Cloud Heaven: In the Cold Open of "The Passion Of Reverend Ruckus".
• Freudian Excuse: Was raised by an extremely abusive dad who always proclaimed his hatred of white people as well as a loving mom who idolized Caucasians. This helped warp Ruckus's mind into the self-hating oaf we know, love and hate.
• Glass Eye
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Played for both laughs and drama in "The Color Ruckus".
• I Know Karate: "You think you're the only one to master the ancient & deadly art of the Nunchaku?"
• Inferiority Superiority Complex
• Jerkass: Mostly, though he has his reasons for it.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At times, he can be decent when the plot calls for it.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: He also makes a few good points, such as calling Riley a rude troublemaker. He's also completely justified in calling out his poor excuse of a father.
• Lack of Empathy: Usually, with few exceptions.
• Leitmotif: Jabba's theme plays most of the time he's on-screen from season 2 onward.
• Mad Eye: Interestingly enough, this is the only one with color.
• N-Word Privileges: No one takes offense to his song in "The Garden Party", or anything else he says because he has these.
• Non-Standard Character Design
• Pass Fail
• Pet the Dog: In "A Huey Freeman Christmas" and "The Color Ruckus".
• Pretend Prejudice
• Selective Obliviousness: He refers to his family as adoptive family, and frequently ignores he's black himself, making up excuses for it. When his father completely shatters his delusions, he ends up in tears.
• Sitcom Arch Nemesis
• Stop or I Will Shoot: Not only was he doing nothing illegal, he was the one who called them.
• Tragic Villain: He may be a terrible, bigoted asshole, but his past is so horrible it's impossible not to pity him, at least a little. Hell, even the Freemans pitied him despite their less-than-stellar views on him.
• The Unfavorite: Not that his father really had any concern for his children, but he was his father's punching bag compared to his brothers.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Generally. Painfully subverted in "The Color Ruckus".
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He used to be a sweet, cheerful child who dreamed to become a doctor. His horrible childhood pretty much stopped that.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Robert. Despite his racist views and the verbal abuse they keep slinging at each other because of it, the two sure seem to hang out a lot.
• Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Subverted. He's holding down 47 jobs at once.

Michael Caesar

• Celeb Crush: Claimed Jennifer Lopez was the female ideal of unobtainable beauty and then dumped her off the list because of the movie Enough.
• Cute Shotaro Boy
• Deadpan Snarker
• Foil: Was introduced as a character with Huey's views and wisdom who was much more laid back about it. This quickly put him into the Only Sane Man slot.
• Fish Out of Water: Same as the Freeman kids, though he gets used to it a lot faster than either of them do.
• Last-Name Basis
• Meaningful Name: MC.
• Obligatory Joke: Often, much to Huey's annoyance.
• Only Sane Man
• Red Oni: To Huey's blue.
• So Unfunny It's Funny: Most of his jokes fall into this category.
• Where the White Women At: Oh Caesar.
• Wise Beyond Their Years
• You Need to Get Laid: To Condeleeza Rice of all people.
• Your Mom: Basically his catch phrase, with varying levels of cleverness.

Jazmine Dubois

• Accidental Pervert: Poor Jazmine. Her first penis display belonged to an 80+ year old man.
• Break the Cutie: A major reason Huey has for talking to her in the comics, though he doesn't exactly mean to be malicious - he truly thinks she would be better off if she were a cynic like him, so he makes it his mission to tear down her childlike beliefs. She's able to turn the tables, though, rendering Huey speechless.
• But Not Too Black
• Butt Monkey: In the comic, though she only tends to be treated badly by Huey and occasionally Riley. It seems like in general the world enjoys messing with her naivete.
• Cheerful Child
• Fan Girl: Of Usher.
• Fan of the Underdog: She's the only one who completely trusts Huey.
• Funny Afro: Makes her insecure. Played for laughs, naturally.
• Granola Girl
• Green Eyes
• Hikikomori: Once she returns in the comic book her two year long Chuck Cunningham Syndrome is explained as her locking herself in her room ever since 9/11 our of fear of terrorists.
• I Am Not Pretty
• Luminescent Blush: At the end of "Wingmen".
• Morality Pet: To Huey, being one of his few friends in the comics and Only Friend in the cartoon. She's also a mild one for Uncle Ruckus, as seen in "A Huey Freeman Christmas".
  • She also serves this to Granddad, mostly because she's sweet, well-behaved and innocent, things his own grandchildren lack.
• Nice Girl
• Ship Tease: With Huey.
• Vocal Evolution: Justified since her voice actress was a little girl when the series began.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist

Cindy McPhearson

• Character Exaggeration: In the original comic, she was simply a white student obsessed with black culture and oblivious to Huey's blatant dislike of her. In the show, she's an over-exaggerated whigger.
• Cheerful Child: The comic version is arguably even more cheerful than Jazmine since she doesn't have Jazmine's insecurities or Huey to depress her.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Cindy only appeared in the comic strip for the first 2 years during the comic's lifespan. The other four years? She dropped off the face of the Earth. She made her first appearance in 7 years on the show and has been shown to be becoming an Ensemble Darkhorse. Played straight in Season 4, though.
• Defeat Equals Friendship: With Riley in the cartoon.
• Genki Girl: In the comic.
• Girl Scouts Are Evil
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Hey that's Bubbles.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Parodied.
• Ship Tease: With Riley.
• Street Smart: In the cartoon, able to organize and lead girl scouts as a minor drug boss.
• Tara Strong: Who is, per usual, in EVERYTHING.
• Token White
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In the cartoon, similar to Riley, again due to "thug life" changing since she had a role in the comic.
• Trash Talk
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour

Tom Dubois

• Ass Kicks You
• Black Comedy Rape: Again, afraid of it.
• But Not Too Black: Which he hangs a lantern on.
• Butt Monkey
• Chew Toy
• Cluster F-Bomb: In "Ballin'" & "Home Alone".
• Cowardly Lion
• Double Standard Rape (Male on Male): He fears this.
• Extreme Doormat: Which pisses off Sarah to no end.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Much to his dismay.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Huey & Robert.
• Meaningful Name: Tom as in Uncle Tom, Dubois from W.E.B Dubois.
• Morality Pet: For Uncle Ruckus of all people.
• Nice Guy
• Prison Rape: He's afraid of it, though he mans up against the Booty Warrior.
• Starbucks Skin Scale: "Well, actually I'm more of a caramel complexion."
• Straight Edge
• Strawman Political: He and his wife are stereotypical clueless moderate liberals.
• Took a Level in Badass
• Where Da White Women At?: In the comics, he is stated to have only dated white women, eventually marrying Sarah.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl

Sarah Dubois

• Fan Girl: Of Usher and Barack Obama.
• Hair of Gold
• Hot Mom: Oh Yes. Especially in the cartoon.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may be condescending and nagging of her husband, but she does care for him and apologizes to him whenever she goes too far.
• Satellite Character: She's Tom's wife, Jazmine's mother, the Freeman's neighbor and every episode she's featured in deals with one of those facts.
• Token White
• Where Da Black Men At: In the comics, she only dated black men, eventually marrying Tom. She's still openly attracted to black men, notably Usher and President Obama in the show, much to Tom's dismay.

Ed Wuncler, Sr.

• The Chessmaster
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Evil Plan: Hatches a few, usually involving money.
• Faux Affably Evil
• Friendly Enemy: He's well aware that Huey is Wise Beyond His Years, and seems to genuinely like Granddad. Huey mentions that he doesn't think he's racist, just a greedy old man.
• Ink Suit Actor: Imagine Ed Asner still channeling Lou Grant, and you wouldn't be too far off.
• Jerkass: Wuncler has done multiple acts of pure malice throughout the series and he is proud of them.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Despite that, he still makes several good points, in particular calling his grandson a fuck-up.
• Karma Houdini: You know you're one when even the president personally phones the agent holding you at gunpoint to tell him to stand down.
• Meaningful Name: His name refers to the Once-Ler from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, who was just as greedy as he is.
• Money, Dear Boy: "Don't you have enough money?" "No."
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: If Ed the Third is George W. Bush, this would naturally make Ed Senior his grandfather, Prescott Bush. Though, his grandfather was Prescott Rothchild Wuncler.
• Pet the Dog: As long as he doesn't have a scheme going, he genuinely likes Robert.
• Strawman Political: Some of his rhetoric seems to be conservative/libertarian based. Since he is a satiric characterization of Prescott Bush, it is kind of expected.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money

Ed Wuncler II

• Ax Crazy: Even crazier than his son, which is saying something.
• Berserk Button: Do not owe him money. Seriously, don't.
• Big Bad: Of Season 4.
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Eviler Than Thou: He's even worse than his father. No, really.
• Faux Affably Evil
• Hate Sink: He completely lacks his father's charm and his son's hilarity, and it's just there to be despised.
• Jerkass
• Karma Houdini: He's a Wuncler, what did you expect?
• Knight of Cerebus: Unlike other antagonist in this series, his behavior is very much not Played for Laughs.
• Loan Shark
• N-Word Privileges: Gives himself these.
• The Sociopath
• Would Hurt a Child

Ed Wuncler III

• Ax Crazy: Mostly in terms of how he thinks outright sociopathic behavior is all in good fun.
• Bring My Brown Pants: His time in Iraq... good god.
  • To be precise, he soiled himself at least a dozen times, the other members of his unit called him "Stinkbomb", and he was eventually kept from joining on patrols because the enemy could smell him coming.
• Catch Phrase: (What the) Fuck y'all lookin' at?
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: In Season 4.
• Comedic Sociopathy
• Fearless Fool: He invites Riley to test his ballistic vest with live ammo while he's wearing it, wanders in full view through raging gunfights firing wildly at nothing, and seems to forget that taking both hands off the steering wheel to shoot out of a moving car is a bad idea, among other things. He's really, really lucky to be alive at this point.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Gin Rummy, although the "heterosexual" part is ambiguous.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Charlie Murphy, is that you?
• Jerkass: Hoo boy.
• Karma Houdini: Due to his grandfather's protection and being viewed as a Heroic Sociopath in-series. Possibly subverted in "It's Goin' Down".
• Laughably Evil
• Motor Mouth: Nobody does rambling anecdotes quite like Charlie Murphy.
• Name's the Same
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Meant as a parody of George W. Bush, being destined for greatness simply because his family is rich.
• Pet the Dog: There are subtle moments where he's shown to be not that of a guy.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections / Screw the Rules, I Have Money
• Seinfeldian Conversation: Which he hangs a lantern on.
• The Sociopath
• Trigger Happy
• Upper Class Twit
• VERY Morally Ambiguous Redhead
• Villainous Friendship: With Gin.
• White Gang-Bangers

Gin Rummy

• Comedic Sociopathy
• Conspiracy Theorist
• Feigning Intelligence
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Ed Wuncler III, though ambiguous in the "heterosexual" part.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Sam L. got skills.
• Karma Houdini: See Ed III's entry.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Meant as a parody of Donald Rumsfeld.
• Seinfeldian Conversation: Which he hangs a lantern on.
• Sophisticated As Hell
• Trigger Happy
• Upper Class Twit
• Villainous Friendship: With Ed III.
• White Gang-Bangers

(A Pimp Named) Slickback

• Berserk Button: Don't call him just "Slickback", he's "A Pimp Named Slickback"! He also slaps his hookers for their indiscretions.
• Bros Before Hoes: Nnnnope. In fact, he will put everything but a bro before a hoe.
• Cool Shades
• Deadpan Snarker
• Insistent Terminology: His name isn't "Slickback", it's "A Pimp Named Slickback"! SAY IT WITH ME NOW!
• Jerkass
• Jerkass Has a Point: As unconventional as his advice is, he's right in that Tom has to stand up for himself.
• Karma Houdini: He's a pimp who mistreats his prostitutes, and it's still doing well. Not that the fanbase has a problem with this.
• Pimp Duds
• Smoking Is Cool: Undeniably so.
• Straw Misogynist
• Would Hit a Girl: A standard for him, which puts him at odds with Robert and Tom.

Colonel H. Stinkmeaner

• Badass and Jerkass Crew: Stinkmeaner in his slightly younger days belonged to the Hateocracy, a group of senior citizens who hated everything and were all jerkasses. Stinkmeaner might not be that dangerous a fighter, but the rest of the Hateocracy is dangerous enough to defeat and behead Bushido Brown.
• Blind Black Guy
• Boomerang Bigot: While he hates everyone, he hates black people slightly more than everyone else.
• Came Back Strong: Initially just a hateful old man who managed to get lucky in a single fight. When he comes back from Hell, though...
• Disability Superpower: Averted, as for once the generally Genre Savvy Huey was Wrong Genre Savvy, and Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting didn't apply.
• Drives Like Crazy: In his defense, have you tried driving while blind?
• Evil Old Folks
• Fate Worse Than Death: He may be in Hell, but it's better than being in jail.
• For the Evulz: The motivation behind his very breathing.
• Jerkass: He's tied with the Wunclers in this regard.
• Like a Badass Out of Hell: "Hell ain't SHIT!"
• Took a Level in Badass: "I got 'three-stick nunchucks'!"
• Training from Hell: Literally. "This is how you break yo foot off in a mothafuckas' ass!"
• Trash Talk
• This Is For Emphasis Bitch Nyukka
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!
• The Power of Hate: He owes his long life to his "love of hatred".
• Verbal Tic: BITCH ASS NYUKKA!

Bushido Brown

• Afro Asskicker
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Very arrogant.

Robert Freeman: Did you just tell me to whipe your ass?

• Awesome McCoolname
• Expy: Of 1970s Martial Arts film star Jim Kelly
• Insistent Terminology: Grandmaster Bushido Brown.
• Jerkass
• Memetic Badass: In-universe his reputation is greatly exaggerated. He's still quite possibly the best fighter on the show.
• Occidental Otaku: Aside from the obvious, his demands in return for helping the Freemans in Season 3 include large amounts of sushi and one of those "Japanese butt-cleaning toilets".
• Off with His Head

Luna

• Abusive Parents: Her father would constantly beat her mother right in front of her, even over a piece of chicken. Unfortunately, Luna suffered the same type of abuse in her previous relationships.
• Action Girl
• Affably Evil
• ...And Show It to You: Did this to a guy back in the Kumite (WA-TA!), all completed with this line:

FINISH HIM!

• Badass
• Broken Bird: Crazy she may be, but the woman has been through absolute hell.
• Cute and Psycho
• Dark and Troubled Past: Troubled would be an understatement for this girl: beside from being Raised by Wolves, Luna has suffered every type of abuse in every relationship she's been in. It doesn't help that she grew up in a broken home with an abusive father.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Like her mother, Luna was severely abused over the slightest things, whether the cooking was cold and the laundry was done wrong.
  • Her friend Nicole doesn't help either; she suggested that Luna should just outright kill Granddad just for cutting their weekend short.

Nicole: Now remember, this is not your fault. This man took your weekend from you. Two days you'll never get back! You gotta kill him.

• Domestic Abuse:

BITCH, THIS CHICKEN IS COLD!

• Interrupted Suicide: Only most likely because Granddad and Tom were in the same room and tied up when Luna contemplated whether she should blow herself up with a grenade.
  • Driven to Suicide: Thanks a lot, Nicole.
• Large Ham: "If I could just find a man to love me-he-he-he-he *gasp* eh-he-he-he-he *gasp* eh-he- *beat* -eee."
• Raised by Wolves: She also owns fifteen of them.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil:

Luna: I will rape your grandfather with this broomstick!

• • It's also implied she's also suffered this during that summer with Jim Brown.
• She Fu: She beats the living shit out of Huey, chokes out Granddad, and tosses Tom across the room by the neck with her legs.
  • Waif Fu: Luna is also much stronger than she looks, as she is seen a flashback beating the crap of a guy three times her size in the Kumite (HIYAA!) flashback and rips his heart right out of his chest. She also laments wiping the floor with Huey by punching a hole in the wall.
• Skilled but Naive: A literal example; she's practically a trained killer, but easily fell for Granddad's Fidel Castro lie.
• Stepford Smiler: Type C.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Her friend Nicole is the epitome of this trope.
• Tragic Villain: Despite her actions, she's at heart a very mentally ill woman who has went through hell for most of her life. To make things even worse, she suffers a pretty heavy Heel Face Door Slam.
• Unusual Euphemism: Her "friendly sparring match" with Huey wasn't so friendly... for Huey, that is.
• Wham! Line:

Luna: I thought you were going to say that I was crazy and you didn't want to see me again like the others.

• Woman Scorned: She rose hell when she found out Granddad lied to her about attending Fidel Castro's birthday party.
• Yandere: And how.

Otis "Thugnificent" Jenkins

• A Bro To His Men
• Ascended Extra: Albeit slightly - having only appeared in 3 episodes in Season 2, he appeared in 5 episodes for Season 3.
• Auto-Tune: Uses it in his album "Mo' Bitches, Mo' Problems". Which fails spectacularly since he uses it in all his songs.
• Big Damn Heroes: Even after getting kicked out of Granddad's house, he still managed to come to the rescue in "Fried Chicken Flu".
• A Day in the Limelight: "Bitches to Rags".
• Drives Like Crazy
• Early-Bird Cameo: Kind of. That song "Booty Butt Cheeks" you hear throughout Season 1? He made that.
• Important Haircut: After he sells his home, he loses the "Mickey Mouse" afro.
• Incoming Ham: The Running Gag of his arrival being heralded by a glass-shatteringly loud rendition of one of his own songs.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Riley.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's an irresponsible idiot, but he's probably one of the nicest characters in the series.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Gets his buddy fired from his job, due to No Such Thing as HR.
  • And again when he visit a Asian friend for help for his failing career and instantly got it just from simply asking. The thing though he brought Ed Wuncler III with him since he thought it was a drug deal. When Ed realized he wasn't getting any money out of it...yeah.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: A good showman but due to trying to preserve his image, not the smartest when it comes to money. Ultimately derails his music career in season three.
• Riches to Rags: The episode title is a even a play off the name.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Gets off to a rocky start with Granddad, but eventually they put aside their differences. This is especially apparent after Otis gives up his "Thugnificent" persona.

Thugnificent: Old man, I know I told you to go eat dicks in the past, but you alright with me.

Gangstalicious

• Armored Closet Gay
• Broken Pedestal: Zigzagged. On one hand, Riley's perception of him as a tough rapper has been destroyed when his Jerkass Facade and homosexuality gets unveiled. However, he still likes to listen to his music, and they are very friendly to each other despite that.
• Expecting Someone Taller: His videos make him out to be a lot bigger than he actually is.

Riley: Damn nigga, you short.

• Feet of Clay
• Gayngster
• Jerkass Facade: His "tough gangsta" persona is completely an act.
• Lovable Coward
• Straight Gay: Justified, as he's a rapper who has to hide his homosexuality for the public. His real persona is much more Camp Gay.

Lamilton Taeshawn

• Abusive Parents: Apparently he had these. He inverts it with his abuse of his grandma.
• Ax Crazy
• Card-Carrying Villain: As he plainly states below.
• Creepy Child/Enfant Terrible: To the point he's been compared to the Anti-Christ.
• Disproportionate Retribution
• Evil Counterpart/Shadow Archetype: He's what Riley would be if his Delinquent tendencies would go off the rails and lacking Riley's redeeming traits.
  • He could also be considered one to Huey, as his stoic mask hides something else entirely.
• Fat Bastard: "Bastard" is an Understatement.
• For the Evulz:

Lamilton: I'm a bad kid. I like to do bad things.

• False Friend: To Riley.
• Freudian Excuse: Apparently he had Abusive Parents, but he himself doesn't bring up the subject.
• Jerkass
• Knight of Cerebus: Unlike other antagonists, his behavior is played nightmarishly straight.
• Lack of Empathy
• Obviously Evil
• The Sociopath: A chilling example of one.
• The Stoic: An incredibly creepy one.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: The series' most stand-out example.

The Ruckus Family

• Abusive Parents: Nelly "raised" her son Mister to be an asshole like herself, and Mister is this towards Uncle, even kicking him out of the house.
• Alliterative Name: The Darrell/Darryl twins.
• Always Identical Twins: Darrell and Darryl, whose only difference is their choice of clothing.
• Asshole Victim: Mister at the end.
• Berserk Button: Mister's is his son Uncle's very existence.
• Big Screwed-Up Family: Let's see: Nelly is an abusive bitch who hates everyone and everything, her son Mister is a bitter asshole who abuses Uncle for minor infractions, Bunny is a mentally ill woman who idolizes white people, and we all know who Ruckus is. The Freemans even note they're downright well-adjusted in comparison to these people.
• Death Seeker: Nelly has been waiting to die of old age, and she gets her wish in "The Color Ruckus", with her only regret being her hated son outliving her.
• Evil Old Folks: Both Nelly and Mister.
• Freudian Excuse: Deconstructed with Mister. He certainly has suffered, what with his abusive mother and his racist coworkers, but at no point this excuses his abuse of Uncle and his hateful behavior in general. Uncle himself calls him out of this, and the Darrell/Darryl twins, despite understanding the circumstances behind their dad's behavior, agree that his actions are completely inexcusable.
• Hate Sink: Both Nelly and Mister fit this trope, being designed to be so awful that Uncle looks much better than them in comparison.
• Jerkass: Again, both Nelly and Mister.
• Jerkass Has a Point: As awful as he is, Mister is correct in that his family is completely subservient of white people. He also delivers the harsh truth about Uncle.
• Karmic Death: Mister dies after he tries to hit his son, falling into his mother's grave and breaking his neck in the process.
• Knight of Cerebus: Mister Ruckus. While his abuse of Uncle is partly hilarious, it's also incredibly tragic.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Guess who.
• Morality Pet: Bunny and the Darrell/Darryl twins prove that Ruckus does indeed have a heart.
• Nice Guy: Bunny and the Darrell/Darryl twins.
• Only Sane Man/Token Good Teammate: Darrell and Darryl are the only decent, normal people in the Ruckus household.
• The Sociopath: Nelly is a Misanthrope Supreme who openly hates everything, and her son Mister is just as bad, if not worse in this regard.
• Tough Love: Darrell and Darryl argue that Mister's actions, while inexcusable, were all done to prepare them to deal with a cruel world.
• Tragic Villain: Mister, what with his mom's abuse and being the punching bag of racist white men.
• Troubled Abuser: Mister.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Bunny certainly tried to be a good mom, but her idolization of white people only made Uncle's issues worse.
• Your Cheating Heart: At the end, it's revealed Bunny had been cheating on Mister with a white man. No one bats an eye on this, though, since it's Mister.