History Characters / DowntonAbbeyRecurringAndGuestCharacters

* BetterAsFriends: Unlike Tony Gillingham, Charles seems relaxed and perfectly happy to simply be friends when Mary finally makes it clear that he too is not the man for her towards the end of Series 5.

* NiceGuy: seems to be genuinely kind and friendly towards the other characters, and is considerate enough to break up with Rose when he comes to the conclusion that their relationship would only hurt her in the long run.

* RomanceEnsues: In Series 5, he and Lady Rose first meet when they must necessarily take shelter together, having been CaughtInTheRain. This chance encounter ignites Rose's first genuinely reciprocal romance since her Series 3 debut, and they make a very handsome couple. By episode 7, he has proposed.

* DistressedDamsel: A very mild example lacking in peril, but every time she and Branson meet, he is required to step in and help her out--her friend fails to turn up at a political chat so he steps in to accompany her. Her car breaks down, he stops to fix it. In the village, she drops her school-books and he is there to help her to pick them up.

* Nice guy: seems to be genuinely kind and friendly towards the other characters, and is considerate enough to break up with Rose when he comes to the conclusion that their relationship would only hurt her in the long run.

* NiceGuy: The WordOfGod wanted him to be likeable enough for the audience and Mrs Hughes to make his proposal a tough deliberation. He seems a simple, but nice man, who would have been a good husband for Mrs Hughes.

* TheBore: How he is viewed by Mary, when he is flung under her nose as a potential husband.

->''"How smooth you are. What a model of manners and elegance. I wonder if you’ll be quite so serene when the papers are full of your eldest daughter's exploits."''

->'''Portrayed by''': Dame Harriet Walter

* TheCharmer: Dashing and charming, he's the first person to get Mary to laugh following Matthew's death. He's also far more up-front (though still very gentlemanly) about the physical side of romantic relations than one might first expect (see below).

* RomancingTheWidow: He comes back into Mary's life 6 months after Matthew's death, and is instantly smitten.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She gives Mary and Charles a real dressing-down during a dinner at ''Simpson's-in-the-Strand'' that he has contrived to help build bridges:
-->'''Mabel''': All I know is that Tony broke off our engagement, which I have not deserved, because [[DoubleStandard Mary Crawley crooked her little finger at him]]. Now you're bored, you want someone else to play with, so to dry his tears and keep him occupied, you toss him back to me. I'm going.
-->'''Charles''': What shall we do with your food?
-->'''Mabel''': Eat it. And I hope it chokes you.

* AgeGapRomance: Viscount Lascelles is visibly over a decade older and than her.

* EntitledBastard: He's the son of one of the Turkish Sultan's ministers and therefore takes whatever he wants -- Lady Mary's virginity included.

* GoOutWithABang: It's apparent his heart gives out mid-coitus.

* PlayingAgainstType: This was Maria Doyle Kennedy's most high-profile role after her stints as the gracious and universally admired Katherine of Aragon in ''Series/TheTudors'' and the gentle-hearted nanny Sonya in ''{{Series/Dexter}}''.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He loses his only child when William dies from internal injuries sustained during the trench war-fare depicted in Series 2.
* ParentsInDistress: In the first episode of Series 6, Mr Mason's landlord, [[ImpoverishedPatrician Sir John Darnley]], sells his entire estate to a newly-rich couple, who decide to throw all of the existing tenants out, leaving him potentially homeless. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Daisy manages to make things worse]], after having a shouting match with the new owners, but luckily, mid-way through the series, the Drewes move out of Yew Tree Farm and Mr Mason takes on the tenancy.

* TheyDo: After Isobel finds out about Dickie's supposed terminal illness (pernicious anaemia) in the Series' grand finale, she realises she wants to spend what little time he has left together, and so finally accepts his proposal of marriage. Luckily it's a misdiagnosis, and their story finishes with them happily living together at Crawley House.

* TheyDo: After a bumpy start, Mary gets over her issues with his choice of career and they marry in a beautiful village church ceremony [[WeddingFinale at the close of the Series 6 finale]].

* TheyDo: Despite Bertie's initial shock at finding out about Marigold, which led him to break their engagement, he and Edith are reconciled by the Series' grand finale and marry in a beautiful winter ceremony at the village church.

!!Mr Guy Dexter (formerly Quentin Sidebottom)

* DeathBySex: Whilst shagging Lady Mary.

* TheMedic: Joins or is drafted into the Army medical corps in Series 2, and helps run the Downton infirmary. Returns to his previous occupation when he musters out.

* BlueBlood: He’s the son and heir of Viscount Branksome.

* IDubTheeSirKnight: His "Sir" title is not hereditary. Carlisle is a life-peer, bearing a non-hereditary title bestowed on him for reasons not revealed in-series, but presumably for contributions to business — as per bombastic newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook, on whom he’s likely based.

* TheyDo: Despite Bertie’s initial shock at finding out about Marigold, which led him to break their engagement, he and Edith are reconciled by the Series’ grand finale and marry in a beautiful winter ceremony at the village church.

* [[PsychoExGirlfriend Psycho Ex-Wife]]: Bates parted ways with her shortly before arriving to work at Downton--and she's mad as ''hell'' about it.

* WidowWoman
-->'''The Duchess:''' I love to dance, but these days I haven't got a partner.

* WidowWoman: Like quite a few of the older ladies in the series.

* [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice King]]: Throughout Series 5 he's stiff, cold and haughtily disapproving--until Rose saves his (highly metaphorical) bacon in the Christmas Special (as mentioned above).

* [[YoureNotMyFather You're Not My Mother]]: Like his {{Jerkass}} older brother, he too is appalled at the idea of Isobel becoming his new stepmother, as he was apparently very close to his late mother.

* WidowWoman: Her husband died during the Boer War, over thirty years before the events of the film.

!!The Dowager Lady Anstruther

!!Rowland Thomas Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer, Lord Chamberlain of the Household

* IDubTheeSirKnight: His "Sir" title is not hereditary.

[[folder: King George V & Queen Mary]]

!!”Patrick Crawley" AKA Major Peter/Patrick Gordon

* TapOnTheHead: This is the explanation he gives for his amnesia, thanks to getting hit on the head with debris.

* TheyDo: After Isobel finds out about Dickie’s supposed terminal illness (pernicious anaemia) in the Series’ grand finale, she realises she wants to spend what little time he has left together, and so finally accepts his proposal of marriage. Luckily it’s a misdiagnosis, and their story finishes with them happily living together at Crawley House.

* FrenchJerk: Unlike her charming son, she exhibits stereotypically French ''hauteur'' from the get-go, though for reason perhaps understandable.

* SupremeChef: He and fellow chef Marcel Percevault at Claridge’s, were as famous in their day as the master-chefs of today’s hit television shows.

* DeathByDespair: Matthew is convinced Lavinia "died of a broken heart" after finding out that he still loves Mary. It turns out in the third series that she wrote to her father shortly before her death, telling him of Matthew's kindness and nobility, so probably not. It was just the flu. (TruthInTelevision, by the way: UsefulNotes/TheSpanishFlu was notorious for hitting the young and healthy disproportionately hard; later research showed that unlike most forms of flu, the 1918 variety triggered cytokine storm, i.e. a dramatic immune overreaction. The effect is worse in people with strong immune systems, like healthy young adults. That's also the reason why Cora survived instead: middle-aged people were less healthy and their immune system less aggressive.)

* IHaveNoSon: He refuses to have anything to do with Ethel, or his child after he learns she is pregnant.

* [[IHaveNoSon I Have No Grandson]]: He fully refutes Ethel's claim that baby Charlie is his grandson and leaves Downton in a fury when she confronts him with the child. He soon relents, but tries to [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse buy Ethel off]] on the understanding that he and his wife will raise the child and she will have nothing to do with her baby's upbringing--she refuses (initially).

* BreakTheHaughty: Myrna thinks she can behave as rudely as she likes, as she's the star of the film and beloved by her fans. However, the shift to talkies means that she's perilously close to becoming unemployable, especially as her own speaking voice is pure barrow-boy cockney. After several humbling experiences and a pep-talk from Anna and Daisy -- who tell that she's "one of us" -- she drops the diva attitude and makes an effort to be a nicer person.