History Characters / Arresteddevelopment

The cast and crew of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. Beware of potential spoilers in folders below.

[[foldercontrol]]

!The Bluth Family
[[folder:In General]]
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* BigScrewedUpFamily: Um, ''yes''.
* ConsummateLiar: The narrator implies that this skill is basically in InTheBlood amongst the Bluths.
* CatchPhrase: “I’ve made a huge mistake”, alternatively: “I need a favor!”
** “Well, that was a freebie.”
* DysfunctionalFamily: It’s a JustifiedTitle.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Michael and his siblings were subjected to cruel lessons courtesy of J. Walter Weatherman.
** Also George videotaping and selling ''Boy Fights'' between GOB and Michael.
** And Michael being forced to work in the banana stand during heatwaves.
* FamilyBusiness: The Bluth Corporation
** IncompetenceInc: What Michael tries to prevent, in spite of the rest of his family altogether.
%%* ItsAllAboutMe
* NotBloodSiblings: So many of the show’s pairings, mostly one-sided, involve this trope. There’s [[spoiler:George Michael/Maeby, Steve Holt/Maeby, Annyong/Maeby, Michael/Lindsay, and GOB/Lindsay. There’s even a brief tease of George Michael/Lindsay due to a wacky misunderstanding.]]
* ParentalIncest: One-sided; Buster seems to have a heavy fixation on his mother, Lucille. As a child, he even appeared on a magazine cover with her under the headline “Why I Want to Marry My Mother”, which [[TheRival Stan]] [[SitcomArchNemesis Sitwell]] will [[NeverLiveItDown never let them live down]].
** ClingyJealousGirl: A recurring problem as a result. Also Michael with George Michael (in a nonsexual way), he seems to be particularly jealous of George Michael’s girlfriend, Ann Veal, for taking his son away from him.
*** [[RunningGag Her?]]
* {{Pride}}: Most Bluths suffer from this FatalFlaw to some degree.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Michael Bluth]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_s3_copy_4041.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_s4_2844.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Michael in Season 4.]]
!!Michael Bluth
!!!Played by: Creator/JasonBateman
->''[To Marta[[labelnote:*]]His brother's girlfriend and his secret crush[[/labelnote]]] "[[HeartwarmingMoments You've gotta put family first. That's the stupid thing that I believe.]]"''

The main protagonist of the series, Michael Bluth is a NiceGuy and the [[OnlySaneMan only adult in the family to seem to have any morals]].

* {{Adorkable}}: He shows shades off this, especially when flirting with Jessie in "Public Relations".
* BeingGoodSucks: Especially when everyone else is so immoral.
* BenevolentBoss: He’s an honest and reasonable boss, though it has been mentioned that he works his employees too hard and doesn't know how to delegate authority.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler:Season 4 implies that, after a series of injuries and degradation, he murdered Lucille Austero. Knowing the series, there may be more to it than that, but at the very least he does threaten her.]]
* CantBelieveISaidThat: He often does this before the other party has even left the room, mouthing “What is wrong with me?” while the other person’s eyes are diverted for some reason.
%%* ControlFreak: As the series progresses.
* DatingCatwoman: His relationship with AmoralAttorney Maggie Lizer.
* DeadpanSnarker: It would be impossible to suffer his family without a sense of humor.
* DrivenToMurder: [[spoiler:He has a motive for the murder of Lucille Austero - getting out of a $700,000 debt.]]
* DudeNotFunny: In-Universe, when Tobias jokes about Michael's wife being dead.
%%* TheDutifulSon
* GenreBlind: He keeps wanting to think the best of his family.
* GenreSavvy: But he always learns his lesson. And he always starts out knowing better.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Very often the case for Michael.
* HolierThanThou: Sometimes comes across as this, and, given his family, completely Justified.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: For the most part, although he occasionally slips up. It’s especially admirable in contrast to how his (now imprisoned) father handled the position.
* HonorBeforeReason: He really should have left years ago and let his family suffer.
%%* HopelessWithTech: In Season 4.
* {{Hypocrite}}: His own actions often don’t line up with the things he judges the rest of his family for doing.
* {{Narcissist}}: He might want to save the Bluth company and his family, but he wants to rub it in his family's face even more. This is a large part of why he never moves out (until Season 4, when the family and company are both beyond saving).
* NotSoAboveItAll: The stress of being in a family like the Bluths can make even a GoodGuy like Michael slip up. Once he hits a rough patch in season four, combined with a increasingly strained relationship with his son, the similarities with the rest of his family are all the more glaring.
** Whenever his son mentions his girlfriend Ann, his reactions are always either unawareness or apprehensiveness, and he makes constant hints and suggestions that he’d rather George Michael spent time with himself and drop her altogether.
** After seeing his son take a break, he assures him that he doesn't mind, but that he should probably work an extra hour to compensate.
** Deconstructed further in season 4, where the lack of the rest of his family constantly surrounding him makes his own flaws much clearer.
%%* OnlySaneEmployee
* OnlySaneMan: Michael is the only Bluth without any immediate glaring character flaws. Even after his own issues start manifesting, he remains the most rational Bluth (with the exception of his son), and is clearly still a good guy.
** Until the end of Season 4. Assuming he [[spoiler:murdered Lucille 2]], he's one of the worst in the family.
* OverprotectiveDad: After hints of it in the Fox episodes, it balloons in season 4 when he tries to monopolize all of George Michael’s time and attention while the latter is in college.
* PapaWolf
* SelectiveEnforcement: Almost everyone else can be horrible but the moment he does anything immoral, they condemn him for it. To add to it, these ‘immoral’ actions include not letting Gob have free frozen bananas, trying to seduce Gob’s girlfriend whom he frequently neglected and cheated on, and firing an incompetent assistant who was openly disrespectful of him.
* StraightMan: Michael is the king of this trope; he’s more reasonable than the rest of his family, and not naive like his son.
%%* SurroundedByIdiots
%%* TokenGoodTeammate
* TookALevelInJerkass: Throughout the whole series, as a result of dealing with his dysfunctional and highly amoral family.
** Ramped up a considerable amount in Season 4.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Alternately played straight and averted. He has little to no respect for his father and doesn’t particularly care if he gets any from him. On the other hand, he does seek validation from the rest of his family as a whole for being the sanest and most competent of them, and never ever gets it.
* WhiteSheep: Pretty much explicitly designated in that role by his family.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Lindsay Fünke]]
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[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lindsay_s4_4175.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Lindsay in Season 4.]]
!!Lindsay Bluth Fünke[[spoiler:/Nellie Sitwell]]
!!!Played by: Creator/PortiaDeRossi
->''"'Lindsay’s a combative, entitled princess'?! [[HypocriticalHumor I should hire someone to kick your ass for that!]]"''

Lindsay, Michael's twin sister, is a materialistic charity worker whose relationship with her husband is rocky at best. She can act like a {{Jerkass}} at times, especially when neglecting her teenage daughter Maeby, but she has a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]]. [[spoiler:She was actually adopted by the Bluths as an infant to stick it to their long-time rival Stan Sitwell, who was planning on adopting her first.]]

* BerserkButton: Don’t call Lindsay old.
* BlondeRepublicanSexKitten: [[spoiler:Ends up becoming this in season 4 after abandoning her liberal ideals.]]
* BourgeoisBohemian
* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler:Has a crush on Michael, though we only find out after they are revealed to be NotBloodSiblings.]]
* CrocodileTears: Parodied in the pilot episode where she attempts this a couple times but is unable to do it.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Lindsay is often seen barefoot when lounging around the model home.
%%* DumbBlonde
* EvilCostumeSwitch[=/=]EvilMakeover: [[spoiler:In Season 4's "Red Hairing". See GenerationXerox.]]
* GenerationXerox: At the end of her Season 4 storyline, [[spoiler: Lindsay’s abandoned her liberal ideals to become the Republican candidate for Congress in place of the now-comatose Herbert Love. After she makes this decision, she changes her appearance and even her mannerisms to resemble Lucille after she points out, “You’re a blonde, [=WASPy=], Orange County princess”.]]
* EightiesHair: In flashbacks. She even won "Best Hair" at school.
* HandsOffParenting: Taken to its logical conclusion. In season 4, she repeatedly forgets that she even HAS a daughter.
* HypocriticalHumor: Makes up a good chunk of her jokes, her page-quote in particular.
* ImportantHaircut: In season 4, she haphazardly chops off her locks in an attempt to say goodbye to her glamorous former lifestyle when she moves in with a new hippie boyfriend. To her consternation, the bob she ends up with is even cuter than her long hair.
%%* ItsAllAboutMe
* JerkassHasAPoint[=/=]DumbassHasAPoint: Some of her comments about Michael’s behavior (namely that he isn't as much of a WhiteSheep as he thinks he is) aren’t entirely that far off.
%%* LazyBum
* LethalChef: ''Literally'' lethal: Lindsay manages to make chicken without cooking it, and then dips it in the defrost water. ''Soup''!
%%* ObliviousAdoption: [[spoiler:She's actually Stan Sitwell's child, and was adopted by the Bluths at a young age.]]
* OutnumberedSibling: The only female Bluth child. [[spoiler:And she isn't even a blood-related Bluth when it comes down to it.]]
* ParentalNeglect: Is extremely neglectful towards Maeby.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: As a result of her Season 4 storyline, she ends up demanding [[spoiler:“PUT! UP! THIS! WALL!”]]
* ReallyGetsAround: She tries to, but only seems successful at bedding Tobias, and that’s saying something. [[spoiler:As of Season 4, she finally succeeds with Marky Bark and Herbert Love.]]
* RevengeRomance: She dated Tobias to make an ex-boyfriend jealous, and married him because she knew it’d drive her parents crazy.
* SexlessMarriage: Due to Tobias being a Never Nude.
%%* TheSlacker
* SoapboxSadie: Parodied. She is in the habit of espousing about causes only to feel superior.
%%* TheSociopath
* SpoiledBrat: Though often transparently posing as a GranolaGirl.
* StrawmanPolitical: Left-wing version. More specifically, she’s what some would call a ‘limousine liberal’, an upper-class liberal who doesn’t practice what she preaches. For instance, in one episode she claims to be an animal rights activist, and when Michael points out that her boots are made of ostrich, she basically replies that she’s only interested in saving 'cute' animals. Of course, the main reason she advocates all these causes is to thumb her nose at and feel superior to her family. [[spoiler:Subverted in season 4, where she ends up as an ultraconservative Republican candidate, not out of a change in ideology, but because she embraces her selfishness and realizes that she never cared about those causes.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:GOB Bluth]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gob_s3_8008.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gob_s4_2035.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see GOB in Season 4.]]
!!George Oscar Bluth II/GOB
!!!Played by: Will Arnett
->''"[[RunningGag ...I've made a huge mistake.]]"''

Michael's older brother, "GOB", short for '''G'''eorge '''O'''scar '''B'''luth, is a terrible magician, and the founding member of [[RunningGag the Alliance of Magicians]]. [[spoiler:In Season 2, he becomes President of the Bluth Company, although hands the position back over to Michael after a brief stint working for Sitwell. He also has a son, Steve Holt, whom he often neglects.]]

* AccidentalMarriage: To a woman who sells trained seals during a drunken one-night stand and an escalating series of dares.
** ActorAllusion: …and was portrayed by Amy Poehler, to whom Will Arnett was in fact married at the time. Gob even lampshades it when admitting he doesn’t know her name and announcing a desire to make a pun on it when he learns what it is.
--->“Bad example: if her name is Amy, I’ll call her ‘Blamy.’”
* AmbiguouslyBi: [[spoiler:Develops romantic and sexual feelings for rival magician Tony Wonder in Season Four. Although the entire situation begins as a revenge scheme with both men believing themselves to be straight, they end up genuinely falling for each other and even spend a night together after a [[GambitPileup succession of increasingly elaborate misunderstandings]] leads to confusion about their respective identities. Although their first sexual encounter occurs under false pretenses, Gob seems to be genuinely in love with Tony afterward, and the end of the season suggests that their relationship might continue.]]
* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: Or "Answers to the Name of Job". In “Colony Collapse”, Gob refers to the Biblical figure Job...and pronounces the name [[FunetikAksent wrong]]. When someone tries to correct him, he thinks he’s being addressed.
* BlasphemousBoast: “I am the Amazing Jesus!”
* BlackSheep: Really, since it’s the Bluths, everyone who doesn’t have “Michael” in their name counts as one, but Gob is the only one considered as such by the entire family, especially as Gob and Michael are often in competition with each other, while Lindsay and Buster don’t really factor in to the larger scheme of the Bluth empire.
* ButtMonkey: He’s been beaten up, tazered, stabbed multiple times, thrown into the ocean, and had two of his fingers cut off at one point. Not to mention he’s TheUnfavorite of the family and practically everything he tries to do ends in complete failure.
* {{Catchphrase}}: “I’ve made a huge mistake” and “Come on!”.
* TheCharmer: According to Lindsay, when summing up the children, George Sr. says that Michael has the brains, Lindsay the looks, and Gob the charm—both struggle to think of a positive attribute of Buster’s. It does seem to be largely true, as Gob is, by far, the most successful in the family with the opposite sex, at least in short-term relationships.
* ChewingTheScenery: To be expected when he’s doing illusions. Less so when he’s just hanging around the house.
* TheDandy: Memorably, in “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS2E6AfternoonDelight Afternoon Delight]],” he continually launches onto rants about his expensive suits.
* DudeHesLikeInAComa: In "Righteous Brothers", he kisses his father while the latter was under the effects of the ether he had laced Franklin's lips with.
-->'''GOB''': And guess what else. Dad kissed me!\\
'''Michael''': How? He looked pretty unconscious in that picture.\\
'''GOB''': ...I didn't say he was totally into it!
* EpicFail: His illusions. The more spectacular they're supposed to be, the worse they end up going. At least he managed to make the yacht disappear [[spoiler:by sinking it]] in "Missing Kitty".
* {{Fingone}}: [[spoiler:In "Sword of Destiny", Buster ends up slicing off his fingers with the titular sword. He gets them replaced, but with the index and middle fingers swapped.]]
%%* GutturalGrowler
* HandsomeLech: Of the {{Jerkass}} variety.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He founded the Alliance of Magicians, a guild whose members blackball any illusionist who reveals their secrets. In the ''first episode'', he gets blackballed because the local Fox affiliate reveals the secret behind the Aztec Tomb trick, in which he had hidden George Sr.
** GOB falls prey to this quite often, notably again in Season 4 [[spoiler:when his plan to make Tony Wonder fall in love with him (and subsequently break his heart) instead results in GOB falling in love with Tony Wonder.]]
* InsistentTerminology: GOB does not do “tricks,” as he [[EstablishingCharacterMoment sets out in the first words he says on the show]].
-->“''Illusions'', Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money. [''sees children standing behind him''] Or ''candy''!”
** The line was “Or ''cocaine''!” in the original, unaired pilot (found on the DVD set).
** It is also how Michael figures out [[spoiler:that the pimp who has been threatening him over the phone was GOB (well, technically Franklin), due to a slip of his tongue that causes him to say that the prostitute he is working with "turns illusions for money." GOB quickly corrects it to "tricks", but does so too late.]]
%%* {{Jerkass}}
* KickTheDog: To [[spoiler:his son Steve Holt]] in Seasons 3 and 4.
%%* LargeHam
* LeitMotif:
** It’s the ''Fi-nal Count-doowwwwn'' …
** [[spoiler:''[[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel The Sound of Silence]]'']] in Season 4.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:It transpires that he fathered Steve Holt in high school.]]
* {{Malaproper}}: He is quite prone to this.
-->'''Gob:''' But I’m the oldest. The matriarch if you will!\\
'''Michael:''' Sure, I will.
* ManChild: Not to the same degree as his brother Buster, but he’s extremely childish and emotionally immature.
* ManipulativeBastard: Not that he’s very good at it.
* MeaningfulName: While he, to some degree, deserves it, his constant suffering draws parallels between him and his namesake [[Literature/TheBible Job]]. Lampshaded in season 4.
* {{Narcissist}}:
** In Season 1, Marta implies that he prefers to have sex while listening to a recording of himself.
** Made more explicit in “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS2E13MotherboyXXX Motherboy XXX]]”, when GOB is trying to remember his wife:
--->'''Michael:''' You don't remember her at all, do you?\\
'''GOB:''' Hey, it was one night of wild passion!\\
'''Michael:''' And yet, you didn't notice her body.\\
'''GOB:''' I like to look in the mirror...
** In Season 4, when he hooks up with [[spoiler:Tony Wonder]], he rationalizes it as [[spoiler:not gay]] by having [[spoiler:Tony]] wear a GOB mask.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Many times, including:
** In “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS1E2TopBanana Top Banana]],” he was tasked by Michael to mail a letter; in an act of defiance, he dramatically threw it into the sea (after many attempts). It turns out that the letter was [[spoiler:an insurance claim for the frozen banana stand, which Michael and George Michael ignited towards the end of the episode]].
** In "Queen for a Day", notably because [[spoiler:Michael had already solved all of the problems and Lucille 2 had agreed to relinquish ownership of her shares in the company stock. Unfortunately, GOB then managed to convince her otherwise, completely nullifying all of Michael's efforts.]]
** In "[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS2E17SpringBreakout Spring Breakout]]" [[spoiler:when he accidentally drops a cooler full of vital evidence into a swimming pool]].
** In Season 4: [[spoiler:Filling Sudden Valley with sex offenders]].
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: {{Justified|Trope}}, to differentiate him from his father.
* SadClown: He’s usually one the most brash and humorous members of the family, but as the series goes on it becomes increasingly evident how insecure and emotionally unstable he really is.
* SeriousBusiness: He takes being a magician very seriously. His group “The Alliance of Magicians” even has the slogan: “We demand to be taken seriously”. It’s just too bad he’s not very good at it.
** Speaking of the Alliance, heaven help anyone who reveals the secrets of their illusions: they’re good at keeping non-Alliance magicians from finding work.
%%* SmallNameBigEgo
%%* SmugSnake
* StageMagician: A hilariously incompetent one, but nonetheless.
* TheUnfavorite: George Sr. and Lucille treat all their kids like crap, but Gob gets the worst of it by ''far''. While Lindsay and Buster are their respective favorites, both are well aware of how much they count on Michael and are even, occasionally, proud of him and express genuine love for him. They both just consider Gob a nightmare. It probably puts it into perspective how badly he’s treated when Lucille claims she treats Lindsay better—the one she calls fat at least twice an episode.
-->'''Lucille:''' If you’re saying I play favorites, you’re wrong. I love all my children equally!\\
(''flashback to earlier that day'') I don’t care for Gob.
** In another instance:
--->'''Lucille:''' (to Michael) You’re my third-least favorite child.\\
(''later'') '''Narrator:''' (as Gob enters the scene) ''And then Lucille’s [[LogicBomb fourth-least favorite child]] showed up.''
** At George Sr.'s court meeting:
--->'''George Sr.:''' Where the hell is everybody?\\
'''Gob:''' I'm here, dad.\\
'''George Sr.:''' I can't believe no one showed up.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Increasingly desperate for this from his dad as the series progressed.
* WhatIsThisFeeling: He is confused when [[spoiler:the realization that Steve Holt is his son]] makes him experience an emotion that he can’t identify as “envy” or “hungry”.
-->'''Michael:''' Could it be love?
-->'''Gob:''' I know what an erection feels like, Michael! No, it’s the opposite. It’s … it’s like my heart is getting hard.
* YourCheatingHeart: Cheated on Marta multiple times throughout their relationship.

!!Franklin Delano Bluth

->''"I don't want no part of your tight-ass country club, ya freak bitch!"''

GOB's politcally incorrect puppet.

* DemonicDummy: A comically racist variation of this.
* JiveTurkey
* LeitMotif: "Franklin's Brown Sugar", a little funk-esque track.
* NoIndoorVoice
[[/folder]]

[[folder:George Michael Bluth]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s3_8789.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s4_5722.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see him in Season 4.]]
!!George Michael Bluth[[spoiler:/George Maharis]]
!!!Played by: Creator/MichaelCera

Michael's beloved son, George Michael is an {{Adorkable}} child who follows in his father's footsteps. He spends most of Season 1 with a hopeless crush on his cousin, Maeby. He starts a relationship with Ann in Season 1's final episode, which continues into Season 2. [[spoiler:However, the relationship starts to falter when he rekindles his love for Maeby.]]

* AccidentalMarriage: [[spoiler:With Maeby in the Season 3 episode "Fakin' It". They didn’t know the priest was real (and the priest wasn’t told it was a mock wedding)]].
* {{Adorkable}}: This is the role that made Michael Cera’s career. [[TypeCasting If only he would be able to play other characters…]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** In "Development Arrested", [[spoiler:he punches GOB in the face upon realising that he has been dating Ann behind his back.]]
** In "Blockheads", [[spoiler:he punches his father for the same reason what he realises that he was aware that the two were both dating Rebel.]]
* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:With Maeby at the end of Season 2.]]
* ButtMonkey: He’s put through a hell of a lot of trauma.
%%* TheComicallySerious
%%* TheDanza: Sort of.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: He turns it into an ''art form'' in season 4. [[SubvertedTrope In the sense that, he does it as a performance (to come off as a risk-taker) and he continuously gets away with it by digging even]] ''[[SubvertedTrope deeper]]''. [[spoiler:The season finale implies that it will indeed catch up to him.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Towards Maeby. This is part of why he can't stop her from [[spoiler:promoting Fakeblock and getting investors on board]] until it's too late.
* GoodIsNotDumb: He’s probably the most likable character and he is an excellent student in school.
** [[spoiler:Until season four, when he finally breaks out of his shell, and in the process becomes lying, cunning, and starts sleeping with his father’s girlfriend.]]
%%* HollywoodNerd
* KissingCousins: With Maeby, whom he develops a crush on.
* MissingMom: Died of cancer two years before the series began.
* NiceGuy: The only Bluth not to do anything horrible over the series. [[spoiler:Until Season 4.....]]
* NotSoAboveItAll: [[spoiler:His Bluth traits start to show during his storyline in Season 4, most notably the power of lying.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 4. He's rude and entitled around his friends, and isn't much nicer to his father. Then there's the [[spoiler:Fakeblock]] storyline, which ends with him [[spoiler:committing massive fraud]].
* WhiteSheep: Unless you count crushing on his cousin against him (and trying to start a relationship with her), he’s by far the nicest, most decent, and most normal of the Bluths. [[spoiler: Subverted in Season 4, where after a lot of pushing, his natural Bluth dishonesty comes out.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Maeby Fünke]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maeby_s3_4469.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maeby_s4_9776.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Maeby in Season 4.]]
!!Mae "Maeby" Fünke/Surely Fünke
!!!Played by: Creator/AliaShawkat

Michael's niece, Maeby is the daughter of Lindsay and Tobias. A BookDumb and materialistic girl as a result of her upbringing and neglect as a child. At one point she pretends to be a wheelchair-bound IllGirl named Surely Fünke (the supposed twin sister of Maeby herself) as a way to [[BatmanGambit cheat on tests and better her grades]]. [[spoiler:In Season 2, she eventually cons her way into a job as a movie producer, despite still being a teenager at the time.]]

* BavarianFireDrill: A frequent perpetrator of these.
* BookDumb: In her twenties, she doesn’t understand what “solve for X” is even '''''asking''''', let alone how to do it.
-->'''Maeby:''' C minus! ''C-M-I-N-E-S!''
* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler:Her job as a movie producer comes to a close when George Michael sends her colleagues invitations to her 16th birthday party]].
* CatchPhrase: “Marry me!” as a standard deflection, particularly when she illicitly becomes a film executive, or “That was a freebie …” for unusual luck.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In earlier episodes, Maeby seemed more childish; the second episode showing her jumping on the bed and singing “Oops I Did It Again” in the shower. This aspect was quietly dropped to focus on how much more ‘adult’ she was than George Michael.
* ClusterFBomb: In Season 4, she curses repeatedly in an awards acceptance speech.
%%* DeadpanSnarker
* DeconstructorFleet: Every aspect of her character is taken apart and examined in the fourth season, and she goes from one of the more successful and well-adjusted Bluth relatives to one of the more pathetic and stranded members.
* FatalFlaw: For all her independence and intelligence, her need for her parents’ attention cripples her severely. This gets ''really'' bad in Season 4: [[spoiler:She repeats senior year multiple times and even follows Lindsay to India because she's so desperate for her parents to notice her.]]
* HiddenBuxom: She typically wears non-revealing clothing, but whenever she doesn’t, it’s shown that she has large breasts. Now that Alia Shawkat is a grown woman rather than a teenager in season 4, there’s not much she can do to hide it anymore.
%%* HighSchoolHustler
%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold
* KilledOffForReal: Invoked by Maeby, who plans to kill off Surely near the end of high school so the other students will be depressed at the school prom.
* KissingCousins: With George Michael.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:In season 4, tries to seduce a man who she thinks is an undercover cop into sleeping with her so she can blackmail him for statutory rape. However, it turns out that he’s really only 17 (his bracelet indicated his membership in an anti-bullying organization) and since she’s 23 is arrested and taken to jail by a real undercover cop for being a sexual predator.]]
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Maeby shows shades of this, especially in early episodes. Season 4 then heavily deconstructs it; she tries so hard to draw George Michael out of a shell that no longer exists that [[spoiler:he decides to part ways with her because all she accomplishes is putting a ridiculously unwarranted amount of pressure on him. Her ‘manic pixie’-dom makes it impossible for her to listen to George Michael’s objections until he has to forcibly fire her from his ‘company’.]]
%%* ManipulativeBastard
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Her actual name, Mae, has never been said on-camera, and is only mentioned in her introductory scene.
* OnlySaneMan: Compared to her parents. Compared to most of her extended family, really: She and Michael are the only ones to hold steady jobs, and she is smart enough to not get involved with the family's general craziness.
* PunnyName: You could make a drinking game out of it, but then it would be medically unsound to marathon the whole series.
* QuirkyCurls
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In Season 4. [[spoiler:Her insistence on breaking George Michael out of his shell and promoting Fakeblock, which she only did because she wanted to help, will probably get him, and possibly her, indicted for fraud]].
** She only leased the model home to [[spoiler:"To Entrap A Local Predator"]] because she needed the money, and it seemed harmless at the time since she assumed it'd be empty, but [[spoiler:Tobias ends up as a registered sex offender when he comes to visit]].
%%* WiseBeyondTheirYears
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Managed to land a job as a producer by acting older than she was.
** OlderThanTheyLook: In Season 4 [[spoiler:she managed to redo senior year in high school for five years by posing as 17. Not that anyone isn't suspicious. Rumor around the school is there is an undercover cop among them. Of course Maeby is suspected by a couple of girls because at 23, its getting harder for her to pass as 17.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Buster Bluth]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster_s3_3997.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster_s4_4009.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Buster in Season 4.]]
!!Byron "Buster" Bluth
!!!Played by: Tony Hale

Michael's brother, Buster is an adult man who often acts like a child. He has severe MommyIssues, and has a relationship with his mother's best friend Lucille Austero. [[spoiler:In Season 2, Lucille enlists him in the army to make herself look good to a Michael Moore lookalike. He escapes Army duty when his hand is bitten off by a loose seal in "Out on a Limb"/"Hand to God" and he gets a {{hook|hand}} replacement. His real father is Oscar, not George.]]

* AlliterativeName
* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Loses his hand when a [[IncrediblyLamePun loose seal]] bites it off.]]
* ADegreeInUseless: Instead of getting a real job, Buster has spent most his adulthood bouncing between graduate degrees in fields like Archeology, Cartography, Native American Tribal Ceremonies and 18th Century Agrarian Business.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: How GOB, Michael and Lindsay see Buster. While the other three, for all their faults, are capable of at least having adult conversations with each other, Buster’s arrival is like that of a helpless child showing up.
* ArtificialLimbs: [[spoiler:Wears a HookHand after losing his real one to a seal. The army later gives him a freakishly large bionic hand in Season 4.]]
* BerserkButton: Calling him a monster in Season 4.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler:He puts Herbert Love in a coma at the Cinco de Cuatro party after being continually treated like dirt by him.]]
%%* ButtMonkey
* CatchPhrase: “Hey, brother/hermano/nephew/etc. …”
** After he [[spoiler:loses his hand and requires a {{hook|Hand}} prosthetic]]: '''“I’m a monster!”'''
* ClusterFBomb: Several in "Bringing Up Buster", when he's letting his siblings know how he really feels about Lucille.
* CreepyUncle: To George Michael occasionally.
* HookHand: [[spoiler: He gets one after a seal bites off his hand in Season 2.]]
** [[spoiler:[[IAmAMonster I’M A]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tiv1UP-oHvs&feature=related MONSTEEEER!]]]]
* HiddenDepths: Despite his childish, and rather innocent behavior, his attempts to be funny and witty often comes across as ''highly'' disturbing. The narrator also implies that he is actually more intelligent than both Gob and Lindsay.
* IncestSubtext: With his mother. His relationships with Lucille 2 and [[spoiler:Ophelia Love]] fall apart because he wants them to mother him, rather than be his girlfriend.
* JustAStupidAccent: Buster thinks that Spanish is English with a Mexican accent.
* LukeIMightBeYourFather: [[spoiler:Note the {{Leitmotif}} whenever Buster talks to Oscar in season two.]]
* ManChild: Slightly subverted in that it's heavily implied he hates being stuck with Lucille and wants to escape her controlling tendencies.
** Zig-zagged: Part of him might want to get away from Lucille, but he's so desperate for a mother figure that he'd rather stay with her than be alone.
* MayDecemberRomance: With Lucille “Lucille Two” Austero.
* MommasBoy: With a vengeance.
* NiceGuy: He really is, but it only shows when he isn't a nervous wreck.
* OddNameOut: He’s the only male Bluth we meet not named Michael, Oscar, George or some combination thereof.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: People who have only seen a few episodes probably had no idea that Buster wasn’t his actual name.
* OutOfFocus: In season four; [[RealLifeWritesThePlot reality interfered to make it so]]. Tony Hale’s [[Series/{{Veep}} cumbersome]] [[Series/SanjayAndCraig schedule]] during the filming of season 4 is the reason for his character arc being mostly divorced from the rest of the family members’.
* ParentalIncest: Played with.
-->'''Lucille Bluth:''' You know, [Buster’s] damaged goods. He was born with a hole in his heart.
-->'''Lucille Austero:''' Well listen, Lucille, I’m gonna fill that hole, ’cause we’re in love!
-->'''Lucille Bluth:''' Oh, please! You’re no more in love with him than I am!
-->'''Buster:''' (''quickly'') Okay, we’re all saying some things we’re going to regret.
** When he's dating Lucille 2, he describes it as "[she's] replacing [his] mother".
** And later:
--->'''Buster:''' Sister’s my new mother, Mother! And is it just me or is she looking hotter?
* PsychopathicManchild: [[spoiler:Downplayed, then subverted. In his Season 4 focus episode, “Off the Hook,” Buster gets a job as a drone pilot for the army, and takes great glee as he gets to fly out and shoot people and places up, including weddings and hospitals. But then he finds out [[HeelRealization that the drone-controls are not a video game and that he has been shooting at real people the whole time]]. He reacts to this new knowledge with shock and disgust before going all out in a violent panic attack.]]
* SanitySlippage: After Lucille is [[spoiler:sent to prison]] in Season 4.
* WhiteSheep: For all his flaws, Buster is the only Bluth who is never actively malevolent, exploitive, or manipulative, and he is notably less selfish than the rest of the family. For instance he is the only family member who follows Michael's order to not sell their stock, and he is shocked when he finds out [[spoiler:that the drone has been controlling was not a video game]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tobias Fünke]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobias_s3_8656.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobias_s4_4924.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Tobias in Season 4.]]
!!Tobias Onyango Fünke/Mrs. Featherbottom
!!!Played by: Creator/DavidCross
->''"...I didn’t get into this business to please "sophomore Tracy Schwartzman", so... onward and upward! On-... ''(cut to Tobias crying in the shower)'' Why, Tracy?! WHY?!"''

Michael's brother-in-law, Tobias is Lindsay's husband. He has trouble bonding with his daughter, and constantly makes homosexual innuendos in his speech, even though he insists he isn't gay. He is also a "Never Nude", a condition that prevents him from ever being fully naked. [[spoiler:While he gets temporarily cured from this in "Marta Complex", he turns back to his cutoffs when a picture of his scrotum, taken by accident on GOB's phone and uploaded to the Bluths email servers, is mistaken for a Iraq landscape and a crucial piece of evidence in the ongoing trial against George Sr, and is broadcast on international television.]] He and Lindsay are in an open marriage as of Season 2.

* ActorAllusion: While researching his would-be first role as “Frightened Inmate #2,” Tobias is accosted by Orange County prisoner [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast White Power Bill]], who uses the anti-Semitic slur [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kike “kike”]] against him. David Cross is ethnically half-Jewish, but identifies as an atheist.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: For Maeby.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: As white as he appears, there are repeated hints that he is actually a very pale African American.
** “Afternoon Delight” has two big ones: when he enters Lucille’s penthouse while [[ItMakesSenseInContext painted blue]], and she explains the situation to Michael thus: “There is a colored man in my kitchen.” And when Lindsay says that the name Tobias makes everyone think of a “big, black guy”, and Tobias admits that he is “not a big guy.”
** In “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS2E4GoodGrief Good Grief]],” Tobias expresses surprise that Lindsay is chasing a black bounty hunter named Ice, “somebody [his] own type.”
** "Red Hairing" has Lindsay falling in love with Herbert Love, a black politician, specifically because he reminds her of Tobias back when they started dating.
** His middle name, Onyango, is a Kenyan surname.
* AmbiguouslyBi: WordOfGod says Tobias thinks he's straight, and he did elope with Kitty, but it's hard to ignore his constant gay innuendos and detailed knowledge of gay culture.
** In late Season 3, he's adamant that "Girl Michael", his date, is in fact, a woman, even though he's very obviously a man.
** Season 4 has him involved with a drug addicted former actress named [=DeBrie Bardeaux=]. A subtle hint is thrown out that she may really be a man.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Tobias, to everybody else. Everybody else, to Tobias.
* BadBadActing: Any of his attempts at acting.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In season 4. [[spoiler: As the narrator notices, Tobias does finally get a starring role in a TV show like he always wanted. [[MistakenForPedophile Unfortunately]], this is John Beard’s ''To Entrap a Local Predator''.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In one episode, Tobias (best known for homosexual innuendo), enters the same prison as George Sr. Tobias uses his therapist training and counselling skills to unintentionally convince the most powerful inmate to kill himself, and then heads a new prison gang centered around ''Wizard of Oz'' imagery, whose members were called “Friends of Dorothy”.
* BrilliantButLazy: He’s at least somewhat skilled as a psychiatrist and a physician but is too obsessed with the delusion that he was meant to be an actor.
* ButtMonkey
** Turned UpToEleven in season 4. Season 4 is not kind to him.
* CampStraight: Whatever his sexual orientation, Tobias has a taste for fashion and theater, things typically associated with CampGay men.
* CloudCuckooLander: Arguably the most divorced from reality of the whole family, which is saying a ''lot''. (Of course, he has no Bluth blood—[[spoiler:and neither do his wife and daughter]]—but even so …)
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: He often gives out psychiatric advice to other characters while failing to realize that same advice is applicable to him.
* CreepyUncle: To George Michael occasionally.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: In "¡Amigos!":
-->'''Tobias''': And second-of-ly, I know you're the big marriage expert! Oh, I'm sorry - I forgot, ''your wife is dead!'' ''(long pause)'' ...I'm sorry. That was 100% inappropriate, and I do apologize profusely... I'm... Ohhh...
* EveryoneKnewAlready: Mrs. Featherbottom. He's the only one who doesn't realize this.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: He’s a Never-Nude, which is just what it sounds like.
* GeniusDitz: He is clueless about anything other than psychology.
* GiftedlyBad: Despite the fact that he could make a very decent living for himself and his family as a doctor, he continues to desperately try to fulfill his dream of being an actor, a field he has absolutely no talent in. It gets a deconstructive twist that shows just how deep his delusion is in Season 4 as he utterly ruins the recovering drug addict [=DeBrie=]’s life by dragging her along in his pursuit of his hopeless fantasy.
* HandsOffParenting
* InnocentInnuendo: Practically every other line of his is this.
* {{Irony}}: David Cross, a very talented actor, portrays a man who cannot act for his life.
* KavorkaMan
* {{Keet}}
* LargeHam
* MistakenForPedophile: [[spoiler:Tobias, in his usual bumbling fashion, manages to accidentally get involved in John Beard’s ''To Catch a Predator'' ripoff. And, not realizing what he has gotten himself into and bumbling further along, [[DiggingYourselfDeeper he inadvertently digs himself deeper]] by saying things like “Is there a little girl alone here?” and, equally incriminating, “Daddy needs to get his rocks off.” (ItMakesSenseInContext.) As a result he is arrested and registered as a sex offender.]]
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: After being cured as a Never Nude in "Marta Complex", he overcompensates by coming down to the kitchen table at breakfast completely naked.
* NoodleIncident: How on Earth did Tobias mistake ''a lemon'' as a cell phone?!
* ParentalNeglect: Is extremely neglectful towards Maeby.
* PhraseCatcher: In season 4, “anus tart”, due in part to his VanityLicensePlate (“A NU START” … ''without'' spaces).
* TheProblemWithPenIsland:
** He is an analyst and a therapist; therefore, his business cards say “analrapist”. For which he was almost arrested. He admits that the cards were a mistake and even adjusts the portmanteau to “theralyst” when his credentials are brought up in season 4.
** [[spoiler:In season 4 as he decides to try for a new start, he celebrates the occasion by having a VanityLicensePlate with the words “A NU START” made. It doesn’t look too good without the spaces either.]]
* ShowerOfAngst: A RunningGag has Tobias weeping loudly in the shower whenever something upsets him.
* SmallNameBigEgo
* ThatCameOutWrong: Subverted in that he is seemingly oblivious and the other characters rarely acknowledge it. Lindsay usually reacts by rolling her eyes in resignation, while Michael attempts to point this out a few times but even when taking his advice and recording himself, Tobias is unsurprisingly unable to see what’s wrong.
-->“We need to talk. Man on man.”
** They might not explain what he’s saying, just for the rule of DontExplainTheJoke. Or because they’re happy to laugh about him behind his back.
* TransparentCloset: Even the family in-universe snickers behind his back about it. Lindsay actually has to tell him this straight to his face in season 4.
* UglyGuyHotWife
* WholesomeCrossdresser: His stint as Mrs. Featherbottom, and a later attempt to impersonate Lucille, were done to reconnect with Maeby and help Buster, respectively.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:George Bluth Sr.]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_s3_8188.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_s4_7805.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see George in Season 4.]]
!!George Oscar Bluth, Sr.
!!!Played by: Jeffrey Tambor

Michael's father, George Sr. is an abusive father and the initial head of the Bluth company. While he is sent to prison for embezzling investors in the first episode, he continues to run the company from prison. [[spoiler:He escapes from prison at the end of Season 1, and after a death scare and funeral in Mexico, is a harboured fugitive and remains in the model home's attic. He sends his twin brother to prison in Season 3 in his place, and remains under house arrest. It comes to light that Lucille was behind most of his actions, and in Season 4, she demands a real divorce.]]

* AbusiveParents: Is emotionally abusive to all his children.
* AndStarring: With Jeffrey Tambor.
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:At the end of Season 2. Just after he "turns himself in", it's revealed that he sent Oscar to prison in his place, and the real George Sr has escaped and become part of the Music/BlueManGroup.]]
* BadBoss: He treated many employees poorly and fired one for roasting him. He also cruelly shot down every idea Michael had to keep him looking for approval, even when he admits the idea was good, making him incompetent to boot.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive
* DecoyLeader: George might have been the acting CEO of the Bluth Company, [[spoiler:but Lucille was the one who pulled his strings.]]
* DirtyOldMan: His adultery is an open secret within the family, and he even had money stored away for his prostitute habit.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Briefly at the end of Season 1, when the Bluth family is led to believe that he died of his heart attack, when in fact he escaped through the window.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:After his escape to Mexico, he bribes the local authorities to stage his funeral.]]
* {{Jerkass}}
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: At times, he shows he does care about his kids and grandchildren, like bribing the prisoners to not catcall at Lindsay when she enters the prison in "My Mother, the Car".
%%* ManipulativeBastard
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Poisoned two of his children’s teachers when they received failing grades.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[spoiler:Just when it seems like he's doing something to benefit the family and help them out by turning himself in and showing genuine kindness for his brother in "Righteous Brothers", it's revealed that it was all part of a plan to send Oscar to prison in his place.]]
* PapaWolf: Or Pop-Pop Wolf, as one does not mess with George Michael.
* ParentalFavoritism: He favours Lindsay, Michael and even GOB over Buster. [[spoiler:Of course, it turns out that Buster isn't actually his son, but Oscar's, so this makes perfect sense.]] Best seen in a flashback to the morning of the boat party in "Justice is Blind", when he actually strangles Buster with his tie.
-->'''George''': Hey, enjoy yourself tonight because you are ''out'' of here. I’m not going to spend my retirement watching you wipe your nose on your sleeve.\\
'''Buster''': ''(choking)'' I can’t breathe, Dad!\\
'''George''': ''Neither can I.''
* SanitySlippage: During season two, [[spoiler:he gets pretty stir crazy from being trapped in Michael’s attic for too long.]]
* SmugSnake: Is quite corrupt but not at all smart about it (case in point—he chooses an appropriately AmoralAttorney who is a complete incompetent).
* TimeShiftedActor: In Season 4, Young George is played by Creator/SethRogen in flashbacks.
* WellDoneSonGuy: {{Exploited|Trope}}. He deliberately keeps shooting down both GOB and Michael’s ideas and play them out against each others because it motivates them to work harder and cheaper to get his approval. Michael grows out of it, GOB not so much.
* YourCheatingHeart: Was commonly cheating on Lucille with, among many others, his secretary Kitty Sanchez.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lucille Bluth]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucille_s3_4705.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucille_s4_6481.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Lucille in Season 4.]]
!!Lucille Bluth
!!!Played by: Creator/JessicaWalter
-> ''"If that's a thinly-veiled criticism of me, I won't hear it, and I won't respond to it."''

Michael's mother, Lucille is the EvilMatriarch of the family. She manipulates all of her children and grandchildren, and is having marital trouble with George Sr. [[spoiler:She had an affair with his brother Oscar, which resulted in Buster's conception, and is behind all of the corruption in the Bluth family.]]

* AbusiveParents: Is emotionally abusive to all her children.
* AndStarring: And Jessica Walter.
* BigBad: She is the main antagonist of most of the episodes (most notably "My Mother, The Car"), and [[spoiler:is revealed in "Development Arrested" to be behind all of the corruption in the Bluth Company.]]
%%* TheChessmaster
%%* ControlFreak
* DisproportionateRetribution: When he was in school, Michael once came home crying that a teacher had failed him, and now his life was ruined. His mother promised to take care of it. The teacher was never heard from again.
%%* EvilMatriarch
%%* EvilOldFolks
* FurAndLoathing: Promotional photos show her with a mink coat draped over her shoulders (which might seem like PrettyInMink out of context), and in addition to her attitude, one episode she wears a fox scarf and says that PETA complained because her dog needed some air.
* GlamorousWartimeSinger: In [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]].
* LadyDrunk: Though, according to Michael in “Spring Breakout,” Lucille is still verbally abusive to her children when she’s sober.
%%* LadyMacbeth
* MamaBear: She may not be nurturing, but when Michael was wrongfully suspended, his algebra teacher (who got him in trouble) mysteriously disappeared.
%%* ManipulativeBastard
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Lucille seems to be stronger than she looks; she can break through a barricaded door with little difficulty.
* MyBelovedSmother: Mainly to Buster.
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The majority of George Sr.’s truly despicable business actions were at her insistence.]]
* RacistGrandma: Especially toward the hired help.
%%* RichBitch
%%* SmugSnake
%%* TheSociopath
* TimeShiftedActor: In season 4, Young Lucille is played by Kristin Wiig in flashbacks.
* UnknownRival: Towards her friend and neighbor Lucille Austero, who seems to be completely oblivious towards their rivalry.
* WellDoneSonGuy: She treats her daughter horribly and looking for approval.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oscar Bluth]]
!!Oscar George Bluth
!!!Played by: Jeffrey Tambor

Michael's uncle, Oscar is George's brother and [[spoiler:Buster's real father. He has an affair with Lucille while George Sr. is a fugitive, but is eventually tricked by his brother into being sent to prison in his place at the end of Season 2.]]

* ActingForTwo: Is played by Jeffrey Tambor along with George Sr.
* ButtMonkey: Constantly gets mistaken for George Sr. by the cops, and is the victim of [[spoiler:two [[TwinSwitch Twin Switches]] by George Sr. so the latter can avoid prison.]]
* LukeIMightBeYourFather: [[spoiler:Believes he is Buster’s father and anvilizes this idea through the show.]]
* PolarOppositeTwins: With his twin brother, George.
%%* TheSixthRanger
%%* TheStoner
* TookALevelInBadass: Becomes much more assertive and commanding in Season 4, to the point that he fools everyone when he pretends to be George Sr.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In season 4, [[spoiler:where he gets fed up with George Sr.’s TwinSwitch act, and exploits it for his own ends instead. He also rekindles his affair with Lucille, but starts one with Lucille 2 at the same time.]]
* TwinSwitch: [[spoiler:George Sr. cons him into taking his place in prison.]]
** [[spoiler:George Sr. later pulls it again as a part of his Sweat and Squeeze scheme, but as Oscar’s self-confidence grows he ends up turning the tables on George Sr. and exploits this for all it is worth.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Annyong]]
!![[spoiler:Hel-loh]] "Annyong" Bluth
!!!Played by: Justin Lee
->''"[[RunningGag Annyong!]]"''

Michael's adopted brother, Annyong is a Korean boy adopted by Lucille late into Season 1 to teach Buster a lesson. "Annyong" is actually the Korean word for "hello", which Lucille (and subsequently, the rest of the family) assume is his name. He is PutOnABus in Season 2, when Lucille sends him to boarding school. [[spoiler:He is eventually found as a SEC [[TheMole mole]] hiding inside the walls of Lucille's apartment to gather intel on the Bluths.]]

* BestServedCold:
** [[spoiler:Spends months living with the Bluths, and later hiding in the walls, waiting for his chance to get revenge on the Bluths for destroying his grandfather's business.]]
** [[spoiler:Gets a piece of this himself on Season 4 when he’s footed with a $700 bill for using the Bluths’ membership card. "Goodbye, Annyong."]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:He eventually brings about Lucille's downfall.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:In Season 2 he can be seen wearing a mole t-shirt.]]
%%* FunnyForeigner
* KilroyWasHere: [[spoiler:In a clever bit of {{foreshadowing}} in Season 2, when the banana stand is retrieved from the ocean, a message can be seen on it, which reads: "I'll get u Bluths - Hello". It's not until Season 3 that we discover that he's actually a mole for the SEC and his real name really is Hel-loh.]]
* OlderThanHeLooks: He's actually 18 in Season 1, a fact which is only known by Lupe and makes him eligible to take the money from his trust fund.
* PokemonSpeak: Inverted. Everybody assumes that he's continually saying his name, but "annyong" is actually just the Korean word for "hello". His real name is [[spoiler:Hel-loh, which loosely translates to "one day".]] This is illustrated when Michael takes a date to a Korean restaurant, and when he walks in the door, everyone says “Annyong!” Presumably he understands them, because he waves back to them. Why he never explained this to the rest of the family is a mystery, but perhaps he was just snickering behind their backs.
* PutOnABus: Lucille mentions she sent him off to a boarding school. [[spoiler: He was actually hiding in the walls to gather evidence to exact {{revenge}} on the Bluth family.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Due to ‘Annyeong’ being the most common spelling of the Korean word. Also applies to his real name, which is usually Romanized [[spoiler: ‘Haru’]].
[[/folder]]

!Recurring and Side Characters
!!Introduced in Season 1
[[folder: Steve Holt]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1x14_shock_and_awww_66_copy_7057.png]]
!!Steve Holt
!!!Played by: Justin Grant Wade
->''"[[SayMyName STEVE HOLT]]!"''

Steve Holt is a student at George Michael and Maeby's high school. Introduced first in "Bringing Up Buster", he is initially Maeby's crush, and is a BookDumb high school jock. [[spoiler:He is actually GOB's son, born to Eve Holt, a woman GOB impregnated at high school, making him Michael's nephew. Despite numerous attempts to reconnect with GOB, it never works out for him. By Season 4, he's working as pest control.]]

* CatchPhrase[=/=]SayMyName: STEVE HOLT!
* DumbJock
* FutureLoser: [[spoiler:In Season 4, Steve has finally gotten out of high school, works as a pest exterminator, has gained some weight, and his hairline is starting to recede just like he feared it would. Arguably a subversion, since he's still cheerful, energetic, self-employed and successful. Which is altogether more what the rest of his biological family can say.]]
* GenerationXerox: His mother, EVE HOLT!
* IWasQuiteALooker: [[spoiler:Season 4 reveals he’s the very picture of someone who peaked in high school.]]
* LargeHam
* LovableJock: He’s dumb as a box of hair but still quite likeable and friendly, as well as surprisingly tolerant when he thought [[ItMakesSenseInContext Lindsay was transgender]].
* LukeYouAreMyFather: It turns out [[spoiler:he's actually GOB's son. However, it's not him who tells his father this, but Michael, who easily puts two and two together upon seeing them.]]
* {{Malaproper}}:
** “There’s no ''me'' in ''team''!”
** "There’s no “i” in “win”!"
* PopularIsDumb
* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler:In Season 4. For a moment it looks like GOB is going to make a serious attempt to reconnect with him, but he eventually bails out on Steve and even berates him later for not sending him any birthday cards through the years. Then Maeby doesn’t recognize him despite him doing his trademark pose.]]
-->'''Steve''': [[spoiler:Heck of a birthday this is shaping up to be...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Marta Estrella]]
!!Marta Estrella
!!!Played by: Leonor Varela[[note]]In "Bringing Up Buster" and "Key Decisions"[[/note]], Patricia Velásquez

Marta is a Spanish soap opera actress. While she is dating GOB, Michael quickly falls in love with her upon getting to know her in "Key Decisions". She has two sons.

* TheCameo: Albeit played by a different actress, in a montage in "Forget-Me-Now".
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter:
** Thinking GOB, of all people, was a great (and [[YourCheatingHeart faithful]]) guy.
** She eventually comes to view her judgement of [[spoiler:Michael as a caring family-driven person]] as this when she finds him [[spoiler:fighting GOB and Buster outside their father's hearing]] in "Marta Complex".
* NoodleIncident: ''Anything'' involving the plot of her ShowWithinAShow "El Amor Prohibido".
* TheOtherDarrin: Portrayed by two different actresses across Season 1, with a third given a brief appearance in [[spoiler:a montage of Michael’s former girlfriends]] in "Forget-Me-Now".
* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:She doesn't appear after "Marta Complex".]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Near the end of their relationship, [[spoiler:she cheated on GOB with Michael.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lucille 2]]
!!Lucille Austero/Lucille 2/"Standpoor"
!!!Played by: Liza Minnelli

Lucille Austero, known by the Bluths as "Lucille 2", is Lucille's next-door-neighbour, best friend and rival. She also suffers from chronic vertigo. She begins a relationship with Buster in the first season after unknowingly flirting with him in "Key Decisions". In Season 2, we see that she is a major investor in the Bluth company stocks, which she has registered under the named "Standpoor" as a nod to her vertigo, to the point of her taking ownership of the company away from the Bluths themselves. She becomes an AscendedExtra as the series goes on, especially in Season 4. [[spoiler:She goes missing on the night of Cinco de Cuatro, her bloodied outline viewed against the staircar, with the identity of her possible murderer being the main {{cliffhanger}} of Season 4, since every main character has a motive. Buster is arrested for her murder, although his guilt remains unknown.]]

* AscendedExtra: In Season 4, after becoming the major shareholder in the company. In fact, most of the season's storyline revolves around her.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** She refuses to sell her Bluth shares when she finds out Lucille took advantage of her.
** [[spoiler: She delivers a withering TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Lucille in Season 4, while being deposed as a defense witness]].
* SitcomArchnemesis: With Lucille Bluth as social friends and passive-aggressive rivals.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Lucille. She begins to give as good as she gets in the later seasons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kitty Sanchez]]
!!Kitty Sanchez
!!!Played by: Creator/JudyGreer
->''"And say goodbye... ''(flashes breasts)'' to these."''

Kitty Sanchez is George's, and later Michael's personal secretary. She's still loyal to George despite his imprisonment. George was actually having an affair with her, and continues to throughout the series. After getting breast implants in Season 1, she becomes fond of flashing her breasts to people. [[spoiler:When George escaped from prison, she helped him flee the country. She was seen attending his fake funeral, but returns to the plot properly in the last two episodes of Season 2, when she kidnaps George Sr, and comes across a sample of his sperm.]]

* TheAlcoholic
* BeautifulAllAlong: Averted, as much as GOB tries (even though she is played by an attractive actress). When he gets her to take off the glasses and let down her hair, he finds out that she is crossed-eyed and her hair is a puffy, unruly mess. While putting off having sex with her, he keeps trying different combinations in the hopes that she'll look better.
-->'''GOB''': Glasses off. Glasses on. Hair up. Glasses off. Down, on. Have we done up, off?
** However, she does look much better upon her return in the last two episodes of Season 2.
* BigBreastPride: After getting (botched) breast implants she refuses to stop flashing Michael anytime he doesn’t give into her demands to show him “what [he’s] missing” and [[MyEyesAreUpHere then get angry at him for staring at her breasts.]]
* BreastExpansion: She decided to get breast implants when the makers of ''Girls With Low Self-Esteem'' refused to use footage of her taking her top off.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Take a good look at these! Because it's the last time you're ever going to see them!", or "And say goodbye... to ''these''!"
** In Season 4, she becomes fond of ending sentences with “you pig,” generally when she’s disgusted by (perceived) sexist behavior.
* CloudCuckooLander
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:For a few minutes in "Missing Kitty", where we see a flashback of her boarding the yacht, just after hearing that GOB ''sunk'' the yacht for his illusion.]]
* TheDitz: Displayed several times that she's not exactly bright. Quite possibly her biggest blunder was challenging Lucille to a drinking contest of all things.
* FieryRedhead
* GenkiGirl
* ManChild: She still acts like an extremely immature teenager (taking time off for spring break and partying excessively).
* PluckyOfficeGirl: A quite crazy version of this.
* PutOnABus: For the first half of Season 2, where she is only seen [[spoiler:attending George's Mexican funeral]].
** TheBusCameBack: In "Spring Breakout", where she plays a major part in the plot when she [[spoiler:kidnaps George Sr.]]
* SanitySlippage: Inverted. She is much less crazy upon her return in the Season 2 finale.
* SmugSnake
* StalkerWithATestTube: [[spoiler:In "Spring Breakout", she challenges Lucille to a drinking contest over an amount of George Sr's sperm after he denies her a child. She eventually gets what she's after too, when GOB uses a cooler from the banana stand that happened to contain the sperm sample to replace the one full of evidence which would have proved George Sr's innocence.]]
* {{Yandere}}: In her initial appearance, to George Sr.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Barry Zuckerkorn]]
!!Barry Zuckerkorn
!!!Played by: Henry Winkler

The Bluth family's incompetent lawyer, whom Michael desperately tries to replace with rival Wayne Jarvis. He is homophobic[[note]]Which caused his (gay) paralegal to sue him with a rival lawyer[[/note]] and homosexual himself. Like most of the Bluth family, he is lazy and selfish. He makes many appearances throughout the series.

* ActorAllusion[=/=]CastingGag: In a couple of scenes he briefly slips into [[Series/HappyDays Fonzie]]’s trademark poses and mannerisms. The most overt reference has him literally [[JumpTheShark jumping over a shark]].
* AmbiguouslyJewish
* AmoralAttorney
* ArmoredClosetGay
* CasanovaWannabe: He often makes uncomfortable passes at other men in the form of {{Freudian Slip}}s, and has a reputation as a bit of creep as a result.
* FreudianSlip: Commonly after he's revealed to be gay. In fact, the reveal itself also comes in the form of a FreudianSlip at the end of "In God We Trust":
-->'''Barry''': Are all of the guys in here, you know...\\
'''George''': Oh, no, no, no. Not all of them.\\
'''Barry''': Yeah. It's never the ones you hope.\\
'''George''': ...Hope?\\
'''Barry''': Think.
* {{Jerkass}}: To James, especially considering he's gay himself.
* LazyBum: At one point he’s so lazy that he won’t even read the settlement George Sr. has been given.
* ThePeepingTom: Season 4 has him facing charges of sneaking into the grounds of the local high school to spy on the football team's dressing room, and it is heavily implied that he in fact did so.
* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Michael fires him in the Season 3 premiere.]]
** TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Lucille has rehired him in Season 4, following her being arrested for hijacking the ''Queen Mary''.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo
* TimeShiftedActor: [[spoiler:In Season 4, Young Barry is played by Max Winkler, Henry Winkler’s son, in flashbacks.]]
* TransparentCloset
[[/folder]]

[[folder:James Spangler]]
!!James Alan Spangler
!!!Played by: Sam Pancake, Antony Desantis

Barry Zuckerkorn's gay paralegal. He filed a lawsuit against Barry, ironically with Barry's rival Wayne Jarvis.

* ButtMonkey: It certainly appears so. In fact, Barry's homophobic comments against him are implied to be all too common.
-->'''Barry''': I am not a ''girl'', you bow-tied...\\
'''James''': ''(holds up tape recorder, presses record)'' Go on, call me something. I'm redoing my kitchen.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: J. Walter Weatherman]]
!!J. Walter Weatherman
!!!Played by: Steve Ryan

J. Walter Weatherman is an ex-Bluth company employee who lost his arm in a company accident. Ever since the accident, George has been using him and his ArtificialLimb to teach his children "valuable" life lessons, like why you should always leave a note.

* ArtificialLimb: His prosthetic arm.
* FakeArmDisarm: His prosthetic right arm detaches, and as such the lessons always end with it being ripped off somehow.
* HypocriticalHumor: At the end of "Pier Pressure", [[spoiler:he teaches Michael and GOB why you should never teach lessons to your son.]]
* MadLibsCatchphrase: “And ''that’s'' why you _________.”
* ScareEmStraight: His whole purpose in George's parenting.
* SpaceWhaleAesop: Every single bad thing you do will somehow lead to a man losing his arm, apparently. Or, in the case of leaving the front door open while the air conditioner is on, ''kill'' him.
* UncattyResemblance: In his introductory flashback, he is seen with a three-legged dog.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Carl Weathers]]
!!Carl Weathers
!!!Played by: [[AsHimself Carl Weathers]]
->''"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there’s still plenty of meat on that bone! Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato... Baby, you’ve got a stew going!"''

Carl Weathers is Tobias' idol and acting coach, whose training his purchases with his last $1100 given to him by Michael to regain his medical license under Jessie's suggestion. After [[spoiler:being fired by Tobias]] he starts spending time with Lucille 2.

* AdamWesting
* CoolOldGuy
* TheDanza
* EatDirtCheap: The famous stew line. His love of Burger King also stems from this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Maggie Lizer]]
!!Maggie Lizer
!!!Played by: Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus
->''"I'm Maggie Lizer. As in, Maggie Lies-her ass off! ''(laughs awkwardly)'' ...One person laughed at that once, I don't know why I keep trying it."''

Maggie Lizer is a blind prosecutor whom Michael starts going out with after an unsuccessful one-night-stand. She turns out to be the prosecutor in the case against his father, and asks him to look over the list of evidence they have against him in the case. [[spoiler:It's a bluff, and the evidence list is fake, but her [[BatmanGambit gambit]] goes even further than that - not only was she lying about the evidence, she was also lying about her blindness, and has been faking the condition for years since it helped her cheat on the exam.]]

She returns in Season 2, pregnant with a child Michael believes could be his. [[spoiler:Due to her track record, though, he also believes that she could be lying about the whole thing. Eventually he discovers that the baby isn't his, but the child of Officers Carter and Taylor, using Maggie as a surrogate mother. And ''then'' he discovers that Maggie isn't the mother at all, but her client Loretta is. In TheStinger of her final appearance, she is implied to be pregnant for real this time, and with Michael's child at that.]]

* AmoralAttorney: Well, [[spoiler:she has been using her blindness to gain sympathy from the judge, jury and even the defendants themselves, and sometimes even to falsify evidence.]]
* BatterUp: Against [[spoiler:Tobias]] during their game of cat-and-mouse.
* FakePregnancy: [[spoiler:Zig-Zagged and Deconstructed]] in Season 2. While she appears to be pregnant, due to [[spoiler:her faking her blindness]], Michael believes that she could be faking it. [[spoiler:He sends Lindsay and Tobias to her house to investigate, and they find a fat suit. He confronts her about it, only for her to show her stomach, revealing that she really is blind. Then in the next episode, it turns out that it's not Michael's child, but the surrogate child of Officers Carter and Taylor. ''Then'' it turns out that it's not Maggie's child either - her client Loretta was the pregnant one all along, and Maggie ''had'' been wearing the fat suit (a latex model which led Michael to believe her).]]
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: When Tobias [[spoiler:infiltrates her house to steal evidence, it's her fake blindness that prevents her from letting on that she can tell he's there.]]
* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler:Her "ocular retinoblastoma", which she has been faking for years.]]
* PutOnABus: After her two-parter, "Altar Egos"/"Justice is Blind".
** TheBusCameBack: For Season 2's "Out on a Limb"/"Hand to God".
* ThrowTheBookAtThem: In "Justice is Blind", Michael throws a copy of the Bible at her in court to [[spoiler:prove that she's not blind. Unfortunately, she actually ''was'' temporarily blind at that point, thanks to Tobias spraying her in the face.]]

!!Justice
Maggie's seeing-eye dog, although [[spoiler:it turns out that he's the blind one, not Maggie]].[[note]]Not to be confused with Little Justice, one of George Sr.'s fellow inmates who appears in "Missing Kitty".[[/note]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: He doesn't appear in Season 2 even though Maggie does. [[spoiler:She presumably had no use for him once her blind act was up.]]
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Justice causing havoc in the park when Michael and Maggie go for a walk.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ann Veal]]
!!Ann Paul Veal
!!!Played by: Alessandra Torresani; Creator/MaeWhitman
->'''George Michael''': She’s not my girlfriend. And she’s not bland.\\
'''Maeby''': Really? Because, I mean, under her school picture it said “not pictured”.

...''[[RunningGag her?]]'' George Michael's bland girlfriend as of the end of Season 1. Although George Michael is infatuated with her, Michael cannot bring himself to like her, due to her lack of any personality beyond her Christianity. [[spoiler:In Season 3, she ends up sleeping with GOB behind George Michael's back.]]

* ButtMonkey
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Tricks GOB and Tony Wonder into sleeping with each other when both attempt to use her against each other as revenge for GOB leaving her at the altar and Tony getting her pregnant.]]
* {{Embarrassing|MiddleName}} {{Tomboyish|Name}} [[EmbarrassingMiddleName Middle Name]]: Paul.
* TheFundamentalist
* TheNondescript: According to Maeby, you couldn't pick her from a lineup of ''one''.
* TheOtherDarrin: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Apparently the plan was]] to give her a new actress for ''every episode'' she appeared in, to make her status as the TheNondescript work on a meta level too, but in practice her second actress is used for the rest of the series.
* PhraseCatcher: “Who?”, “Her?”, “Egg?” “Bland?”
** “Who?”
* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Ann and her mother have a decidedly unique interpretation of the word “secularity”.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:'''Spoiler Character''']]
!!Saddam Hussein/H. Maddas
->'''GOB''': We've got the proof, Michael. Dad's signed contract with Saddam.\\
'''Buster''': ''(whispering)'' ...Hussein.

An Iraqi dictator, and the long-time business partner of George, Sr. His involvement in the plot was first hinted when George Sr revealed that he ''may'' have committed some "light treason", but it was confirmed at the end of Season 1 that George had been making model homes in Iraq to aid Hussein. Evidence relating to the business ventures of the two was stored in the [[SdrawkcabName H. Maddas]] cooler, [[spoiler:until it was destroyed by GOB at the end of "Spring Breakout"]]. George Sr claims that Hussein set him up, and used him as a pawn in his plans.

* TheChessmaster: According to George Sr.
* SdrawkcabName: "H. Maddas".
* WalkingSpoiler: His involvement in the plot is ''the'' major reveal of Season 1.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Doctor Fishman]]
!!Doctor Fishman/Doctor Wordsmith
!!!Played by: Ian Roberts
->''"Excuse me, Mr. Bluth. [[spoiler:We lost him]]. He just, uh... [[spoiler:got away from us]]. I’m sorry."''

A very literal doctor who often gets assigned to the Bluths whenever they visit the hospital. His strange way of speaking often results in miscommunication between him and his patients.

* LiteralMinded: His defining character trait, which leads to some of the most hilarious moments on the show.
[[/folder]]

!!Introduced in Season 2
[[folder:Starla]]
!!Starla
!!!Played by: Mo Collins
->''"Solid as a rock!"''

Introduced early in Season 2, Starla is GOB's business [[LiteralMinded model]], and later the Bluth's secretary to replace Kitty, who [[spoiler:helped George escape to Mexico]]. She ignores GOB's sexual advances, and later [[spoiler:becomes a love interest for Buster]]. She also develops rabies from a rabid dog later on in the season.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: If she is a whore, as Lucille vehemently suggests.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gene Parmesan]]
!!Gene Parmesan
!!!Played by: Martin Mull

Lucille's Private Investigator.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: His disguises are comically bad, but he did manage to track down George Sr. before GOB's bounty hunter did.
* MasterOfDisguise: Parodied. He constantly turns up in various disguises and faked accents. They are all blatantly obvious, and the narration {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this, with the narrator saying, “Gene was far from the best.” Despite this, they invariably fool Lucille, eliciting a scream of delight from her each time. However, he gets pretty much anywhere instantly, which is surprisingly so given his standard—
* PaperThinDisguise: As bad as his fake accents and his detective skills.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stan Sitwell]]
!!Stan Sitwell
!!!Played by: Ed Begley Jr.

George's long-time rival, although he's a genuinely nice guy.

* BaldOfAwesome: {{Exaggerated|Trope}}. He has alopecia, rendering him completely hairless, and regularly donates large sums to charities.
** CastingGag: Ed Begley Jr. has a very full blond head in real life.
* NiceGuy
** BewareTheNiceOnes:[[spoiler: After the events of “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS3E13DevelopmentArrested Development Arrested]],” Stan buys up the Bluth Co. stock Michael’s family had sold, and then sells it to Lucille Austero at a loss. To recover his money, he signs a contract with the U.S. government to build a wall along the Mexican border.]]
* SitcomArchnemesis: To everyone except Michael, who regards him as a [[WorthyOpponent Worthy Competitor]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sally Sitwell]]
!!Sally Sitwell
!!!Played by: Christine Taylor

Stan Sitwell's daughter, and Michael's childhood crush. Michael never acted on his intentions due to their parents' feud. Their relationship eventually reaches a halt when Maggie returns and Michael believes she is pregnant with his baby.

* ActorAllusion: In Season 4 [[spoiler: she is both partner and partner-in-crime to Tony Wonder, who is played by Taylor’s husband, Ben Stiller.]]
** She's also implied to be going bald. Christine Taylor previously played a bald woman in ''{{Friends}}''.
* AscendedExtra: Despite only appearing in two episodes throughout the first three seasons, she is given a much bigger part in Season 4, where she [[spoiler: becomes Lucille 2's campaign advisor, and then is revealed to be behind Tony Wonder's grand plan]].
* BaldWomen: [[spoiler: It’s strongly hinted in Season 4 that she’s inherited her father’s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_universalis alopecia universalis]] and is starting to wear hairpieces, just like Stan]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tony Wonder]]
!!Tony Wonder
!!!Played by: Creator/BenStiller
->''"Did somebody say... "wonder"?"''

A professional magician, and GOB's idol. He shows up in "Sword of Destiny", allowing Buster (and by extension, GOB) to be on his DVD, "Use Your Illusion", although for copyright reasons he is considering changing the title to "[[Music/GunsNRoses Use Your Illusion II]]"[[note]]Since both are Music/GunsNRoses albums, it ends up being "Use Your Allusion"[[/note]]. He plays a bigger part in Season 4.

* ActorAllusion: In Season 4 [[spoiler: he is both partner and partner-in-crime to Sally Sitwell, who is played by Stiller’s wife, Christine Taylor.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Gob.
* InadvertentEntranceCue: {{Exploited|Trope}}. He loves to hide in hidden compartments just so he can make a grandiose entrance when someone says the word “Wonder.”
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler: From Gob]] in Season 4. [[spoiler: They both have an interest in magic and they both have never felt genuine friendship. They even share a {{leitmotif}}.]]
* SuddenlySexuality: [[spoiler: ZigZagged.]] He publicly comes out of the closet in Season Four; [[spoiler: and although this is revealed to be a publicity stunt, he and Gob develop genuine romantic feelings for each other, leaving Tony’s actual sexuality somewhat ambiguous.]]
* UnknownRival: Even before their shenanigans in Season 4, Gob keeps track of Tony’s career exploits and is highly jealous of him. But while the Narrator refers to their relationship as a “longtime rivalry”, when Gob auditions to be part of his magic DVD in Season 2 he mainly acts like an awestruck fanboy. Tony, by contrast, seems to barely know who Gob is but is intrigued by his act and not adverse to his success.
* WhatIsThisFeeling: [[spoiler: His reciprocated feelings for Gob]] in Season 4 [[spoiler: take them both by surprise.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Unsorted
[[folder: John Beard, his Hometown’s Leading News Anchor]]
-->'''Played By:''' [[AsHimself John Beard]]

* AdamWesting
* AscendedExtra: John Beard AsHimself ties Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn for most frequently credited SpecialGuest, yet he probably has a cumulative minute of screentime.
** He more properly fits the trope in season 4, as he has an actual role in the Tobias plot.
* AsHimself: John Beard was a real newscaster for the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles area’s local FOX affiliate and was active during ''Arrested Development''’s run. He relocated to Buffalo in the seven-year break between the show’s FOX cancellation and its Netflix resumption, but he still filmed all his parts.
* CoincidentalBroadcast
* KentBrockmanNews
* ManipulativeEditing: Used by the news crew to make GOB sound like he's confessing to killing [[spoiler:Earl Milford]].
-->'''GOB''': I didn’t kill him, alright? And don’t edit this for your broadcast so it looks like I’m screaming-\\
'''GOB''' ''(on broadcast)'': "I killed [[spoiler:Earl Milford]]!"\\
'''John Beard''': Startling confession tonight at 11:00.
* PungeonMaster: Justified, since most of the plot-relevant things that wind up on the news are featured in ‘lighter side’-type segments.
* RecurringExtra
* SmugSnake
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bob Loblaw, his ''Decent'' Lawyer]]
-->'''Played By:''' Scott Baio

* ActorAllusion: This isn’t the first time he’s been brought in [[Series/HappyDays to replace Barry Zuckerkorn]].
* AmoralAttorney: “Why should you go to jail for a crime somebody else … ''[[BaitAndSwitch noticed]]''?”
* DemotedToExtra: He only makes a brief appearance in season 4 thanks to the family rehiring Barry.
* ObliviousToLove: Lindsay prefaces her flirtations with him with that she’s looking into getting a divorce. He carries on with the rest of their interactions as if she’s consulting him as her divorce lawyer.
* PunnyName: Taken UpToEleven when we discover he has a law blog.
** If you don’t see what’s funny about his name, [[BlahBlahBlah try saying it out loud]]. Or view [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwWAsNZTnug this]] clip.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Stefan Gentles, his Father’s Prison Warden]]
-->'''Played By:''' James Lipton

* HopelessWithTech: Has a lot of trouble working with his Tablet.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He considers himself a brilliant scriptwriter and constantly tries to promote his work, mostly with little success.
* TrueArt: InUniverse. He is an aspiring scriptwriter, and considers his scripts to be this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rita Leeds, his Ex-Fiancée]]
-->'''Played By:''' Charlize Theron

* CloudCuckoolander
* OneOfTheKids
* RummageSaleReject: How she dresses is pretty questionable, but Michael finds it charming.
* SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish: Subverted.[[spoiler: This is how the Bluths can’t recognize her as mentally retarded: her British accent.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Richter Quintuplets - his Son's Former Counselor's Siblings]]
-->'''Played By:''' Andy Richter

Andy Richter and his four lookalike brothers.

'''Tropes Applying to the Richters in General'''

* ActingForTwo: All four are played by Andy Richter.
* CastingGag: Not the first time that Andy’s had something to do with Quintuplets.
* AscendedExtra: Somewhat, they make an appearance in “S.O.B.s” in season 3 but have multiple appearances in season 4.
%%* SelfDeprecation
* SiblingRivalry: Between some of them, Rocky seems particularly bitter about Andy’s success.
%%* SpecialGuest

'''Andy Richter:''' The man himself.
-->'''Played By:''' Andy Richter

* AdamWesting
* AsHimself

'''Rocky Richter:''' Andy’s stunt double and a cop.
-->'''Played By:''' Andy Richter

* TheBigGuy
* HiddenInPlainSight: [[spoiler:Goes undercover at the high school as his brother Donny.]]
* SelfDeprecation: Complains about Andy looking like a “pig” which means he has to look like a pig too.

'''Donny Richter:''' A teacher at Openings, an alternative high school that George Michael and Maeby attend in season 3 [[spoiler:and in Maeby’s case, season 4]].
-->'''Played By:''' Andy Richter

* GranolaGirl
* TheSmartGuy

'''Emmett Richter:''' The quintuplet who refused to be shown on the show. A compulsive hoarder.
-->'''Played By:''' Andy Richter

* AscendedExtra: Turns up in season 4 to play the Human Torch in Tobias’ Franchise/FantasticFour musical, though his face is still blurred.
* IdiotBall: It never seems to occur to him that even if he never lets anyone show his image specifically, he has four identical brothers with no such qualms.
* TheUnseen

'''Chareth Richter:''' Only appears in the family photograph with the other quintuplets.
-->'''Played By:''' Andy Richter

* OutOfFocus

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Dr. Norman, his Uncle's Friend]]
-->'''Played By:''' John Slattery

* BlackComedyRape: He doesn't think women should be awake for sex.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: He's a disgraced former anesthesiologist.
* NoodleIncident: An incident with a patient that cost him his practice. It's implied that this patient either nearly died and/or was unnecessarily sedated.
* TheStoner: He is a frequent abuser of all kinds of prescription medicine.
[[/folder]]

!One-Shot Characters
!!Season 1
[[folder:Jessie Bowers]]
[[quoteright:271:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1x11_public_relations_28_1960.png]]
!!Jessie Bowers
!!!Played by: Jill Ritchie
->''"Race you to the top of the hill!"''

A publicist whom Michael hires to work for the Bluth company, and starts dating at the same time. When Michael asks her to take their relationship slowly to protect George Michael, [[spoiler:she quits and goes on to [[BitchInSheepsClothing manipulate George Michael]] and criticised Lindsay and Lucille in her newspaper article.]]

* BerserkButton: She doesn't take [[spoiler:Michael suggesting taking their relationship slower]] well at all.
* BestServedCold: After [[spoiler:Michael inadvertently breaks up with her, she enacts revenge by telling George Michael that he's preventing his father's happiness and portraying Lindsay and Lucille negatively in her article.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Of "Public Relations", after she reveals herself to be a BitchInSheepsClothing.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing[=/=]ManipulativeBitch: [[spoiler:She tries to get revenge on the Bluth family [[DisproportionateRetribution just because Michael suggested taking things slowly]]. This involved telling George Michael that he was getting in the way of his father's life, and writing Lindsay off as a "combative, entitled princess" in the newspaper.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Lindsay and Lucille attempt to do this to her after [[spoiler:reading her article]], but Michael stops them. [[spoiler:That is, until he hears what she did to George Michael, upon which he tells her that [[PapaWolf she's on]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome her own]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Earl Milford]]
!!Earl Milford
!!!Played by: Don Perry
->''"Children should be neither seen, nor heard."''

The founder of the prestigious Milford school. [[spoiler:He appears in person later in "Public Relations", when he goes missing after participating in GOB's Aztec Tomb illusion, which leads to GOB being suspected for his possible kidnapping and/or murder. He later shows up in GOB's trunk, and promises GOB that he will be known as a hero for freeing him from the violent nursing home. However, TheStinger implies that he died before GOB could hold the press conference.]]

* BigSleep: [[spoiler:According to GOB, "He's resting."]]
* ChekhovsGunman: He's mentioned early on in the episode, only to becomes important later on.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:He used GOB's magic trick as an opportunity to escape the retirement home.]]
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:TheStinger implies that he passed away while in GOB's trunk.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Season 2
[[folder:Michael Moore]]
!!Michael Moore [[spoiler:Lookalike]]
!!!Played by: [[spoiler:Mike Randalman]]
->''"Oh yeah. Would you enlist your son or daughter in the army?"''

Showing up in the first episode of Season 2, Creator/MichaelMoore sets in motion a major Season 2 storyline when his comment inspires Lucille to [[spoiler:enlist Buster for the army]]. In "Out on a Limb", it is revealed that [[spoiler:it wasn't even Michael Moore at all, but a lookalike filming a sketch for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'']]

* IdenticalStranger: [[spoiler:To Michael Moore, as it turns out.]]
-->'''Michael''': First of all, [[spoiler:it wasn't Michael Moore, it was a Michael Moore lookalike, and it wasn't in front of the whole country, it was for a bit... on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'']]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Doctor Stein]]
!!Doctor Frank Stein
!!!Played by: Creator/DanCastellaneta
->'''GOB''': My [[spoiler:middle finger and index finger]] are...\\
'''Dr. Stein''': ''Switched!'' For the first time ever!

An overambitious doctor who is assigned to Michael's case when he lands himself in hospital in "Sword of Destiny". He also operates on [[spoiler:GOB's fingers, which he reattaches, but not without switching them around]].

* ActorAllusion: He is played by the voice actor for [[Franchise/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]], resulting in his character repeating his famous line.
-->'''Dr. Stein''': Well, the operation went pretty smoothly. But once I got in there, the appendix wasn’t so inflamed. D’oh.
* MeaningfulName: One of his trainees calls him Frank in TheStinger, revealing his full name to be [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frank Stein]].
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_s1_6903.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_s2_1603.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see Michael in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_s3_copy_4041.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Michael in Season 3.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lindsay_s1_9090.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lindsay_s2_6812.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see Lindsay in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lindsay_s3_395.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Lindsay in Season 3.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gob_s1_2969.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gob_s2_9679.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see GOB in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gob_s3_8008.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see GOB in Season 3.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s1_1914.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s2_8296.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see him in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s3_8789.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see him in Season 3.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maeby_s1_8988.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maeby_s2_2738.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see Maeby in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maeby_s3_4469.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Maeby in Season 3.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster_s1_8923.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster_s2_647.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see Buster in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster_s3_3997.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Buster in Season 3.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobias_s1_2414.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobias_s2_1925.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see Tobias in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobias_s3_8656.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Tobias in Season 3.]]

Michael's brother-in-law, Tobias is Lindsay's husband. He has trouble bonding with his daughter, and constantly makes homosexual innuendos in his speech, even though he insists he isn't gay. He is also a "Never Nude", a condition that prevents him from ever being fully naked. He and Lindsay are in an open marriage in Season 2.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_s1_9584.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_s2_8537.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see George in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_s3_8188.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see George in Season 3.]]

* WellDoneSonGuy: {{Exploited|Trope}}. He deliberately keeps shooting down both Gob and Michael’s ideas and play them out against each others because it motivates them to work harder and cheaper to get his approval. Michael grows out of it, Gob not so much.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucille_s1_4450.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucille_s2_8784.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see Lucille in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucille_s3_4705.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Lucille in Season 3.]]

Michael's brother-in-law, Tobias is Lindsay's husband. He has trouble bonding with his daughter, and constantly makes homosexual innuendos in his speech, even though he insists he isn't gay. He and Lindsay are in an open marriage in Season 2.

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: After being [[spoiler:temporarily]] cured as a Never Nude in "Marta Complex", he overcompensates by coming down to the kitchen table at breakfast completely naked.

->'''GOB''': My [[spoiler:middle finger and index fingers]] are...\\

** [[spoiler:Gets a piece of this himself on Season 4 when he’s footed with a $700 bill for using the Bluths’ membership card. "Goodbye, Annyong."]]

Michael's brother-in-law, Tobias is Lindsay's husband. He has trouble bonding with his daughter, and constantly makes homosexual innuendos in his speech, even though he insists he isn't gay.

The Bluth family's incompetent lawyer, whom Michael desperately tries to replace with rival Wayne Jarvis. He is homophobic[[note]]Which caused his (gay) paralegal to sue him with a rival lawyer[[/note]] and homosexual himself. Like most of the Bluth family, he is lazy and selfish.

** The line was “Or ''cocaine''!” in the original, unaired pilot (found on the DVD set).

* LeitMotif: It’s the ''Fi-nal Count-doowwwwn'' …

* {{Narcissist}}: In Season 1, Marta implies that he prefers to have sex while listening to a recording of himself.

--->'''Michael:''' You don't remember her at all, do you?
--->'''GOB:''' Hey, it was one night of wild passion!
--->'''Michael:''' And yet, you didn't notice her body.
--->'''GOB:''' I like to look in the mirror …

Michael's beloved son, George Michael is an {{Adorkable}} child who follows in his father's footsteps.

Michael's niece, Maeby is the daughter of Lindsay and Tobias. A BookDumb and materialistic girl as a result of her upbringing and neglect as a child. At one point she pretends to be a wheelchair-bound IllGirl named Surely Fünke (the supposed twin sister of Maeby herself) as a way to [[BatmanGambit cheat on tests and better her grades]]. In Season 2, she eventually cons her way into a job as a movie producer, despite still being a child at the time.

Michael's brother, Buster is an adult man who often acts like a child. He has severe MommyIssues, and has a relationship with his mother's best friend Lucille Austero. [[spoiler:In Season 2, Lucille enlists him in the army to make herself look good. His hand is bitten off by a loose seal in "Out on a Limb"/"Hand to God" and he gets a {{hook|hand}} replacement. His real father is Oscar, not George.]]

* TheChassmaster: According to George Sr.

[[folder: Tony Wonder, his Older Brother’s Rival]]
-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BenStiller

* ActorAllusion: In Season 4 [[spoiler: he is both partner and partner-in-crime to Sally Sitwell, who is played by Stiller’s wife, Christine Taylor.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Gob.
* InadvertentEntranceCue: {{Exploited|Trope}}. He loves to hide in hidden compartments just so he can make a grandiose entrance when someone says the word “Wonder.”
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler: From Gob]] in Season 4. [[spoiler: They both have an interest in magic and they both have never felt genuine friendship. They even share a {{leitmotif}}.]]
* SuddenlySexuality: [[spoiler: ZigZagged.]] He publicly comes out of the closet in Season Four; [[spoiler: and although this is revealed to be a publicity stunt, he and Gob develop genuine romantic feelings for each other, leaving Tony’s actual sexuality somewhat ambiguous.]]
* UnknownRival: Even before their shenanigans in Season 4, Gob keeps track of Tony’s career exploits and is highly jealous of him. But while the Narrator refers to their relationship as a “longtime rivalry”, when Gob auditions to be part of his magic DVD in Season 2 he mainly acts like an awestruck fanboy. Tony, by contrast, seems to barely know who Gob is but is intrigued by his act and not adverse to his success.
* WhatIsThisFeeling: [[spoiler: His reciprocated feelings for Gob]] in Season 4 [[spoiler: take them both by surprise.]]
[[/folder]]

Michael's uncle, Oscar is George's brother and [[spoiler:Buster's father. He is sent to prison in Season 3 in George's place.]]

Kitty Sanchez is George's, and later Michael's personal secretary. She's still loyal to George despite his imprisonment. George was actually having an affair with her, and continues to throughout the series. After getting breast implants in Season 1, she becomes fond of flashing her breasts to people. [[spoiler:When George escaped from prison, she helped him flee the country. She was seen attending his fake funeral.]]

* StalkerWithATestTube: [[spoiler:And she eventually gets what she’s after, albeit, by accident, when she gets a test tube full of George's sperm.]]

Introduced early in Season 2, Starla is GOB's business [[LiteralMinded model]], and later the Bluth's secretary to replace Kitty, who [[spoiler:helped George escape to Mexico]]. She ignores GOB's sexual advances, and later [[spoiler:becomes a love interest for Buster.]]

Stan Sitwell's daughter, and Michael's childhood crush. Michael never acted on his intentions due to their parents' feud.

** “Afternoon Delight” has two big ones: when he enters Lucille’s penthouse while [[ItMakesSenseInContext painted blue]], and she explains the situation to Michael thus: “There is a colored man in my kitchen.” And when Lindsay says that the name Tobias makes everyone think of a “big, black guy”, and Tobias admits that he is “not a big guy.”

Kitty Sanchez is George's, and later Michael's personal secretary. She's still loyal to George despite his imprisonment. George was actually having an affair with her, and continues to throughout the series. After getting breast implants in Season 1, she becomes fond of flashing her breasts to people.

!!Ann Veal

...''[[RunningGag her?]]''

* TheDogBitesBack: Tricks GOB and Tony Wonder into [[spoiler:sleeping with each other]] when both attempt to use her against each other as revenge for GOB [[spoiler:leaving her at the altar]] and Tony [[spoiler:getting her pregnant]].

* TheNondescript: "... who?"

George's long-time rival.

!!Unsorted
[[folder: Sally Sitwell, his Childhood Crush]]
-->'''Played By:''' Christine Taylor

* BigBad: By the end of Season 4, it appears that [[spoiler: she will become this in Season 5]].

* MayDecemberRomance: With [[spoiler:GOB '''''and''''' Tony Wonder.]]

!!Played by: Ed Begley Jr.

!!Lucille Austero/Lucille 2

Lucille Austero, known by the Bluths as "Lucille 2", is Lucille's next-door-neighbour, best friend and rival. She also suffers from chronic vertigo. She begins a relationship with Buster in the first season after unknowingly flirting with him in "Key Decisions". She becomes an AscendedExtra as the series goes on, especially in Season 4. [[spoiler:She goes missing on the night of Cinco de Cuatro, her bloodied outline viewed against the staircar, with the identity of her possible murderer being the main {{cliffhanger}} of Season 4, since every main character has a motive. Buster is arrested for her murder, although his guilt remains unknown.]]

[[folder: Gene Parmesan, his Mother’s Private Investigator]]
-->'''Played By:''' Martin Mull
* BunnyEarsLawyer: His disguises are comically bad, but he did manage to track down George Sr. before GOB's bounty hunter did.
* MasterOfDisguise: Parodied. He constantly turns up in various disguises and faked accents. They are all blatantly obvious, and the narration {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this, with the narrator saying, “Gene was far from the best.” Despite this, they invariably fool Lucille, eliciting a scream of delight from her each time. However, he gets pretty much anywhere instantly, which is surprisingly so given his standard—
* PaperThinDisguise: As bad as his fake accents and his detective skills.

[[folder: Sally Sitwell, his Childhood Crush]]
-->'''Played By:''' Christine Taylor

* ActorAllusion: In Season 4 [[spoiler: she is both partner and partner-in-crime to Tony Wonder, who is played by Taylor’s husband, Ben Stiller.]]
** She's also implied to be going bald. Christine Taylor previously played a bald woman in ''{{Friends}}''.
* AscendedExtra: Despite only appearing in two episodes throughout the first three seasons, she is given a much bigger part in Season 4, where she [[spoiler: becomes Lucille 2's campaign advisor, and then is revealed to be behind Tony Wonder's grand plan]].
* BaldWomen: [[spoiler: It’s strongly hinted in Season 4 that she’s inherited her father’s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_universalis alopecia universalis]] and is starting to wear hairpieces, just like Stan]].
* BigBad: By the end of Season 4, it appears that [[spoiler: she will become this in Season 5]].

[[folder: Tony Wonder, his Older Brother’s Rival]]
-->'''Played By:''' Creator/BenStiller

* ActorAllusion: In Season 4 [[spoiler: he is both partner and partner-in-crime to Sally Sitwell, who is played by Stiller’s wife, Christine Taylor.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Gob.
* InadvertentEntranceCue: {{Exploited|Trope}}. He loves to hide in hidden compartments just so he can make a grandiose entrance when someone says the word “Wonder.”
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler: From Gob]] in Season 4. [[spoiler: They both have an interest in magic and they both have never felt genuine friendship. They even share a {{leitmotif}}.]]
* SuddenlySexuality: [[spoiler: ZigZagged.]] He publicly comes out of the closet in Season Four; [[spoiler: and although this is revealed to be a publicity stunt, he and Gob develop genuine romantic feelings for each other, leaving Tony’s actual sexuality somewhat ambiguous.]]
* UnknownRival: Even before their shenanigans in Season 4, Gob keeps track of Tony’s career exploits and is highly jealous of him. But while the Narrator refers to their relationship as a “longtime rivalry”, when Gob auditions to be part of his magic DVD in Season 2 he mainly acts like an awestruck fanboy. Tony, by contrast, seems to barely know who Gob is but is intrigued by his act and not adverse to his success.
* WhatIsThisFeeling: [[spoiler: His reciprocated feelings for Gob]] in Season 4 [[spoiler: take them both by surprise.]]

[[folder: Stefan Gentles, his Father’s Prison Warden]]
-->'''Played By:''' James Lipton

* HopelessWithTech: Has a lot of trouble working with his Tablet.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He considers himself a brilliant scriptwriter and constantly tries to promote his work, mostly with little success.
* TrueArt: InUniverse. He is an aspiring scriptwriter, and considers his scripts to be this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rita Leeds, his Ex-Fiancée]]
-->'''Played By:''' Charlize Theron

* CloudCuckoolander
* OneOfTheKids
* RummageSaleReject: How she dresses is pretty questionable, but Michael finds it charming.
* SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish: Subverted.[[spoiler: This is how the Bluths can’t recognize her as mentally retarded: her British accent.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Stan Sitwell, his Father’s Rival]]
-->'''Played By:''' Ed Begley Jr.

* BaldOfAwesome: {{Exaggerated|Trope}}. He has alopecia, rendering him completely hairless, and regularly donates large sums to charities.
** CastingGag: Ed Begley Jr. has a very full blond head in real life.
* NiceGuy
** BewareTheNiceOnes:[[spoiler: After the events of “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS3E13DevelopmentArrested Development Arrested]],” Stan buys up the Bluth Co. stock Michael’s family had sold, and then sells it to Lucille Austero at a loss. To recover his money, he signs a contract with the U.S. government to build a wall along the Mexican border.]]
* SitcomArchnemesis: To everyone except Michael, who regards him as a [[WorthyOpponent Worthy Competitor]].
[[/folder]]

Michael's older brother, "GOB", short for '''G'''eorge '''O'''scar '''B'''luth, is a magician, and the founding member of [[RunningGag the Alliance of Magicians]]. [[spoiler:He has a son, Steve Holt, whom he often neglects.]]

Michael's niece, Maeby is the daughter of Lindsay and Tobias. A BookDumb and materialistic girl as a result of her upbringing and neglect as a child. At one point she pretends to be a wheelchair-bound IllGirl named Surely Fünke (the supposed twin sister of Maeby herself) as a way to [[BatmanGambit cheat on tests and better her grades]]. She eventually cons her way into a job as a movie producer, despite still being a child at the time.

Michael's brother, Buster is an adult man who often acts like a child. He has severe MommyIssues, and has a relationship with his mother's best friend Lucille Austero. [[spoiler:His hand is bitten off by a loose seal in "Out on a Limb"/"Hand to God" and he gets a {{hook|hand}} replacement. His real father is Oscar, not George.]]

!!Unsorted
[[folder: Ann Veal … ''her?'']]
-->'''Played By:''' Alessandra Torresani; Creator/MaeWhitman

[[folder: Carl Weathers, his Brother-in-law’s Acting Coach]]
-->'''Played By:''' Carl Weathers

* AdamWesting
* CoolOldGuy
* TheDanza
* EatDirtCheap: The famous stew line. His love of Burger King also stems from this.
[[/folder]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Many times, but most noticeably in “[[Recap/ArrestedDevelopmentS2E17SpringBreakout Spring Breakout]]”[[spoiler: when he accidentally drops a cooler full of vital evidence into a swimming pool]].

[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s2_8296.jpeg[[/labelnote]] to see George Michael in Season 2.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s3_8789.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see George Michael in Season 3.]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_s4_5722.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see George Michael in Season 4.]]

[[quoteright:207:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maeby_funke_88_4759.png]]

[[quoteright:206:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster_bluth_88_9010.png]]

[[quoteright:206:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobias_funke_88_5575.png]]

[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_bluth88_2605.png]]

[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucy_bluth88_3301.png]]

[[quoteright:206:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mike_bluth88_1172.png]]

[[quoteright:204:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lindsay_bluth88_6954.png]]

->''"“Lindsay’s a combative, entitled princess”?! [[HypocriticalHumor I should hire someone to kick your ass for that!]]"''

[[folder:GOB]]
[[quoteright:232:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gob_bluth88_1219.png]]

[[folder: George Michael Bluth]]
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gm_bluth_88_1935.png]]

[[folder: George Oscar Bluth Sr.]]

[[folder:Oscar George Bluth]]

Maggie's seeing-eye dog, although [[spoiler:it turns out that he's the blind one, not Maggie]].