History Characters / BoyMeetsworld

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Cory remarkably doesn't know whether his name is spelled ''Sean'' or ''Shawn''.

* TheAlcoholic: This is touched on a couple of times during the series, most obviously in the episode Cory and him first drink at a party in high school. Where drinking made Cory slightly less neurotic and self-conscious, it unlocked a mean streak and dependence in Shawn that culminates in Cory's father stepping in to help Shawn get it together. TruthInTelevision as Shawn's father and (heavily implied) his mother were alcoholics, and a predisposition to alcoholism is inheritable. Some other things drunk Shawn does: shoves Angela against a door, berates his surrogate family and friends, ruins his surrogate father's 46th birthday.

* BetaCouple: With Angela.

* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: The Cool to Cory's Loser. Shawn eventually becomes popular in high school, but maintains his close friendship with the less popular Cory.
* TheDitz: To a degree in earlier seasons, especially with stuff that's common knowledge. He once thought the Rocky Mountains were a description and not a name. Subverted however after his CharacterDevelopment, by season 5 he's pretty much strictly BookDumb, or even BrilliantButLazy.

* {{Flanderization}}: Shawn got dumber and wackier throughout seasons two and three. This was later reverted in the college years through a combination of HiddenDepths and BreakTheCutie.
** There's also EarlyInstallmentWeirdness from Season 1 where it's pretty clear at the outset Shawn's socioeconomic status isn't all that different from Cory's, only for references to Shawn being less privileged than Cory and envious of his parents' circumstances to keep piling up until we got the full-on PovertyForComedy backstory of Shawn's HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood in the trailer park starting in Season 2.

* HonoraryUncle: Shawn becomes this to Riley and Auggie in ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld''.
* KidAnova: Till he grew up and became TheCharmer.

** In season 3, Shawn falls for a "nice girl" who doesn't want to spend all their time kissing and doesn't see him as boyfriend material. He spends the episode angsting about it until he realizes all he needed to do was listen and be honest about his feelings with her.

* TheMatchmaker: Especially during Cory and Topanga's second breakup.

* StreetSmart: Especially compared to Cory.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Played with. She initially dates Shawn because his 2-week rule fits in with her own aversion to long-term romantic commitments, but notably, Shawn calms down because of their relationship, to the point that during one of their break ups, he can barely put up with a random blind date.
* AmicableExes: What she is with Shawn each time they go on a break with one another, partially because their best friends are dating/married.
* BetaCouple: With Shawn.

* EmotionSuppression: One of her defining character traits in a show in which the main characters are neurotic, emoters; an empathetic if slightly high-strung overachiever; and an emotionally turbulent, self-destructive, troubled youth. Her learning to be more honest about her feelings to her friends and Shawn is part of her character development.

* DumbassHasAPoint: Even post-{{Flanderization}}, Eric had moments of being profoundly insightful. This may be BECAUSE his thought processes were...different, rather than despite it.

* TookALevelInKindness: While it would take a while for him to shed his stupidity and laziness, Shawn became consistently nicer toward the end of season one; going from TheBully to more of a "bad boy rebel" who respected hus dorky best friend was too busy macking on girls to make fun of geeks.

* CluelessChickMagnet: Zigzagged between this and CoolLoser in Season 2. Often happened when he wasn't trying to get a date and make a name for himself. His NiceGuy status is largely responsible for this. Happens most notably in "The Beard" where Cory manages to unintentionally charm two girls that Shawn was interested in, and in "Sister Teresa" where he attracts the attention of Harley's younger sister. Could be considered part of his ButtMonkey characterization as these situations tend to not go so well for him and put him in awkward situations.

* CoolLoser: This was prevalent in Season 2 where it seemed every other episode consisted of him trying to make a name for himself at school and no longer be a nobody. Given the kind of {{Zany Scheme}}s he pulled off, it seems like he'd be a legend around the school, but his popularity [[ResetButton never seemed to stick]]. This was given less emphasis as the show went on.

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/TrinaMcGeeDavis

* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Josh is much younger than Eric, Corey and Morgan and closer in age to his niece Riley, who is only three years younger than he is.

In ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'', Josh is a {{recurrer}} played by Uriah Shelton. He is now a teenager and still lives in Philadelphia with his parents, but visits his brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew in New York on a few occasions.

* SelfDuplication: Morgan has apparently achieved this sometime between the end of ''Boy Meets World'' and her only appearance in ''Girl Meets World'' (in the series finale), where both Morgan actresses appear simultaneously, which goes without comment from everyone present in the room with her.

* SelfDuplication: Morgan has apparently achieved this sometime between the series finale of ''Boy Meets World'' and her only appearance in the series finale of ''Girl Meets World'', which goes without comment from everyone present in the room with her.

* ACtuallyPrettyFunny: When Cory and Shawn pranked Rachel and Angela but parking Rachel's VW Beetle ''in their dorm room'', he doesn't punish them for it. Partly because [[LoopholeAbuse there's no actual rule against parking a car inside a room]], and partly because he actually finds it rather hilarious, and is genuinely interested in ''how'' Cory and Shawn pulled it off, much to Rachel's frustration.

Cory's older brother, who turns from a fun, charismatic ladies' man and a lovable (but seriously deranged) CloudCuckoolander. Though Eric struggled academically, he was usually portrayed as being immensely intelligent deep down and filled with hidden potential and complexity, causing him to be frequently underestimated by friends and family.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: PlayedForLaughs. In an early episode when her GranolaGirl aspects were in full force, Topanga protested that she wanted to stop wearing shoes and come to school barefoot ([[HilariousInHindsight something her daughter accidentally does later on]]), but Shawn drolly replied, "[[SmellyFeetGag We who sit behind you would rather you didn't.]]" She's actually [[AllWomenLoveShoes quite fond of her shoes.]]

In ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'', he is the father of Farkle Minkus, who attends the same school that Cory teaches at and is both a classmate and friend of Cory's daughter. Minkus himself is now a millionaire and CEO of Minkus International.

* FireForgedFriends: Their worries about Farkle potentially having Asperger's leads to Cory and Topanga reassuring and comforting them, bringing the four much closer together than they were as kids.

* Ambiguously Jewish: His character is supposed to be WASP but Ben Savage (who is Jewish in real life) did use stereotypically Jewish idioms and mannerisms especially when He got older.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Eric shows this toward Cory intermittently. He stands up to a bully bigger than him for COry's sake. He also was fairly protective of Morgan back in the early seasons.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He was serious (as serious as a HormoneAdledTeenager can be) originally but became sillier as time went on. In one of the later seasons, he had a dream about becoming a hermit named "Plays with Squirrels" that [[BestialityIsDepraved marries a moose]].