History Characters / FatherTed

* InformedAbility: One of his lapel badges is a ''Fáinne'', which is worn by people who are fluent in the Irish language (Gaelic). On no occasion does Ted use this skill. He could be lying, though, as the other badge is that of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (a Roman Catholic teetotaler organisation), and Ted is seen drinking alcohol on several occasions.

* StayInTheKitchen: His general attitude towards women is old fashioned. [[HelloAttorney Laura Sweeney]] is implied to have beaten him up offscreen for suggesting that she's not a solicitor despite being the senior partner at her firm and he clashes with [[StrawFeminist Niamh Connolly]] when she moves to Craggy Island over his attitude towards Mrs Doyle's duties in the parochial house and his treatment of the contestants in The Lovely Girls competition.

* TheUnfavorite: Says a lot of families send their favourite son to become a doctor and the idiot son to be a priest. Dougal then points out that Ted's brother is a doctor.

* CasualSportsJersey: He wears an Ireland soccer jersey to bed. Dougal even provides the trope image.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Can apparently drink Toilet Duck with very few ill effects (aside from the hallucinations, and even those aren't so serious that he can't pass Ted's tests), and while he may have been in a ''very'' deep sleep in the episode where everyone thought he'd died from imbibing shoe polish, he got better. There is also the implication at the end of that same episode that the other priests will now try to poison him deliberately, and he survives that too.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: He is not a smart man in general, but he is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to alcohol. He can recognize brand ''and VINTAGE'' just by the sound of the clinking bottles.

* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Inverted. Father Jack is a francophile. He ''always'' stands for "La Marseillaise" and insists, in his usual way, that those around him do the same. The wines he is able to recognise just by listening to the sound of them clinking are also French (there's a fan theory that this is a result of him being in the French Foreign Legion in his younger days).

* ForTheEvulz: As Ted put it, whenever he would hurt or assault anyone it wasn't out of anger (except on occasions it was) it was cause "he found it funny."

* {{Gonk}}: His appearance gets more dishevelled and downright frightening as the series goes on. A group of people encounter him naked out in the woods and are genuinely freaked out by his appearance.

** It is also implied (on the rare occasion he actually sobers up) that he turned to drink in part because he was stuck on the “fecking island!”
** Jack is also an avid Francophile and, according to Ted, an exceptionally skilled football player, at least in his youth.

* MadeOfIron: Has survived ''years'' of chronic alcoholism and ingested floor polish and toilet duck with little lasting damage.

* RacistGrandpa: "The Plague" suggests that he has something against Japanese people.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Technically, it's semi retirement for him, but his boozing and skirt chasing is what gets him sent to Craggy Island to be kept out of the way.

* {{Jerkass}} / JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he's the most sympathetic character in some respects, in others, he's actually worse than Dougal and Jack, having stolen funds from [[NoodleIncident "that Lourdes thing"]].
** JerkassWoobie: Though he also has to put up with Dougal's stupidity, Jack's own jerkassery, and the fact that [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption nothing ever seems to go right for him]].

* BlatantLies: Tells them by the dozen, such as claiming to have fought in the Vietnam War, is a life guard and former Mr. Universe, and that he taught Music/ElvisPresley to play the Keytar.

[[folder: Father Ted]]

[[folder: Father Dougal]]

[[folder: Father Jack]]

[[folder: Mrs. Doyle]]

[[folder: Bishop Brennan]]

[[folder: Father Byrne]]

[[folder: Father Noel Furlong]]

[[folder: Father Larry Duff]]

[[folder: Father Stone]]

[[folder: Father Stack]]

[[folder: Father Todd Unctious]]

[[folder: Father Fintan Fay]]

[[folder: Tom]]

[[folder: Pat Mustard]]

* BlatantLies: Tells them by the dozen, such as claiming to have fought in the Vietnam War, is a life guard and former Mr. Universe, and that he taught UsefulNotes/ElvisPresley to play the Keytar.

* DirtyOldMan: Is getting on a bit, yet he is a sex crazed maniac.

[[folder: Henry Sellers]]

[[folder: Niamh Connolly]]

[[folder: The O'Learys]]

* SpotOfTea: Absolutely ''obsessed'' with making tea (amongst other things). When being demonstrated a Tea Master, she is told that it takes the misery out of making tea. She states that maybe she likes the misery.

[[folder:Clergy ]]

!!Bishop Len Brennan

--> Played by Jim Norton

A corrupt bishop and perpetual thorn in Ted's side.

* WhenSheSmiles

[[folder:Non-Clergy]]

!!Mrs. Joan Doyle
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/father_ted_doyle.jpg]]
--> Played by Pauline [=McLynn=]

The housekeeper. Takes her tea making very seriously.
----
* AllThereInTheScript: Her first name.
* AllWomenArePrudes: She's very critical of Polly's romantic novels.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Usually quite sweet, but she's got a few SuddenlyShouting and LaughingMad moments hinting at a not-so-nice side. And there was that time she got into a knock-down fistfight with a good friend when they both wanted to pay the check at a tea house.
* BlindWithoutEm: "Tentacles Of Doom" reveals that she wears contact lenses, which were stolen by a dog. Her hilariously awful glasses are woefully inadequate substitutes, as she still can't see the three ''purple-clad'' bishops who are visiting the house.
* ButtMonkey: She frequently suffers accidents while attending to her chores, such as falling off the roof, falling down the stairs and especially plummeting head-first out of the large window frame in the front room.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Has an obsession with tea and housework to the point where she waits up all night with a cup of tea in case anybody wants one in the middle of the night. She even burns the furniture when Ted is going to leave for America.
* CrazyPrepared: On all matters related to tea at least. She keeps special "Sheep tea" in the house in case any sheep needs a cup and will often wait up all night with a fresh cup of tea in hand just in case anybody needs one in the middle of the night.
* FemaleMisogynist: She's noticeably colder and less welcoming to women (who aren't nuns, at least.)
* {{Gonk}}: Not nearly to the same degree as Jack, but her actress is intentionally done up to look as dowdy and unappealing as possible, to the point where some might mistake her for a man in drag until she speaks in her naturally high-pitched voice.
* LastNameBasis: Everybody addresses her as Mrs. Doyle.
* NiceGirl: Generally very friendly, though her often passive-aggressive attitude can make her pretty obnoxious.
* NoFullNameGiven: Her first name is only revealed in the original scripts, and never used onscreen.
* PassiveAggressiveCombat: A master of this. Her defining character trait is passive-aggressively forcing Ted to have some of her tea and biscuits whether he wants them or not. The one time Ted was immediately willing to comply, she acts as though he's simply doing so to humour her.
* SarcasmBlind: Has trouble understanding sarcasm.
* SpotOfTea: Absolutely ''obsessed'' with making tea (amongst other things). When being demonstrated a Tea Master, she is told that it takes the misery out of making tea. She states that maybe she likes the misery.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: She certainly does ''not'' like the idea of having rough sex with a man. No sir.
* TeamMom: Cooks, cleans and serves tea for the three priests, and occasionally acts like a doting mother towards Dougal.

* CelibateHero: Well, he tries to be one. It's played with though, as he was tempted by a novelist [[spoiler: who later decides to become a nun]], makes comments about the bottoms of contestants in the Lovely Girls Competition and has dreams about [[Series/{{Ballykissangel}} Assumpta]].

* SinisterMinister: A milder example. While Dougal and Jack are both simply crazy idiots, Ted is legitimately corrupt-- being a known embezzler ([[CatchPhrase "the money was just resting in my account!"]]) and gambling addict. He's not generally malicious in his tendencies, and does have sympathetic values, but is not remotely virtuous enough for priesthood, having many vices and zero will-power.

** In another episode, when the roof is leaking and he ends up drinking from one of the buckets by mistake-
-->'''Ted''': Don't drink that, father! That's-
-->'''Jack''': ''[Spits it out]'' '''FECKING ''WATER!'''''

** Inverted, though, if Ted gets drunk enough - then Jack gives ''him'' a wide berth.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Gets infected with hairy hands after sitting in Jack's chair too many times and is sent to the old priests' home for treatment. Despite the constant shouting of the residents, he still tries playing his jungle music over them.]]

* NiceGuy: Despite his behavior, which could most charitably be described as unusual, he seems to get on very well with other priests who all seem to like and respect him, and Ted seems to enjoy his company whenever they meet.

[[folder:Non Clergy]]

* EvilGloating: Even long after Ted has left the phone on the floor and there's nobody there to listen, Pat is still mocking Ted over the phone. He only decides to end the call [[spoiler: as the milk float is about to collide with the phone box.]] He must have brought a ''lot'' of change or callcards with him.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Is killed by the same bomb he planted on the milk float.]]

!!John And Mary O'Leary

* SinisterMinister: A milder example. While Dougal and Jack are both simply crazy idiots, Ted is legitimately corrupt-- being a known embezzler ([[CatchPhrase "the money was just resting in my account!"]]) and gambling addict. He does have sympathetic values, but is not remotely virtuous enough for priesthood.

* FirstNameBasis: Always called Bishop Brennan "Len" rather than his proper title, no matter how many times he's instructed to do so.

* BaldOfAwesome: He's mostly bald. The awesomeness comes from his IronButtMonkey status.

!!Mrs. Joan Doyle
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/father_ted_doyle.jpg]]
--> Played by Pauline [=McLynn=]

The housekeeper. Takes her tea making very seriously.

* AllThereInTheScript: Her first name.
* AllWomenArePrudes: She's very critical of Polly's romantic novels.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Usually quite sweet, but she's got a few SuddenlyShouting and LaughingMad moments hinting at a not-so-nice side. And there was that time she got into a knock-down fistfight with a good friend when they both wanted to pay the check at a tea house.
* BlindWithoutEm: "Tentacles Of Doom" reveals that she wears contact lenses, which were stolen by a dog. Her hilariously awful glasses are woefully inadequate substitutes, as she still can't see the three ''purple-clad'' bishops who are visiting the house.
* ButtMonkey: She frequently suffers accidents while attending to her chores, such as falling off the roof, falling down the stairs and especially plummeting head-first out of the large window frame in the front room.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Has an obsession with tea and housework to the point where she waits up all night with a cup of tea in case anybody wants one in the middle of the night. She even burns the furniture when Ted is going to leave for America.
* CrazyPrepared: On all matters related to tea at least. She keeps special "Sheep tea" in the house in case any sheep needs a cup and will often wait up all night with a fresh cup of tea in hand just in case anybody needs one in the middle of the night.
* FemaleMisogynist: She's noticeably colder and less welcoming to women (who aren't nuns, at least.)
* {{Gonk}}: Not nearly to the same degree as Jack, but her actress is intentionally done up to look as dowdy and unappealing as possible, to the point where some might mistake her for a man in drag until she speaks in her naturally high-pitched voice.
* LastNameBasis: Everybody addresses her as Mrs. Doyle.
* NiceGirl: Generally very friendly, though her often passive-aggressive attitude can make her pretty obnoxious.
* NoFullNameGiven: Her first name is only revealed in the original scripts, and never used onscreen.
* PassiveAggressiveCombat: A master of this. Her defining character trait is passive-aggressively forcing Ted to have some of her tea and biscuits whether he wants them or not. The one time Ted was immediately willing to comply, she acts as though he's simply doing so to humour her.
* SarcasmBlind: Has trouble understanding sarcasm.
* SpotOfTea: Absolutely ''obsessed'' with making tea (amongst other things). When being demonstrated a Tea Master, she is told that it takes the misery out of making tea. She states that maybe she likes the misery.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: She certainly does ''not'' like the idea of having rough sex with a man. No sir.
* TeamMom: Cooks, cleans and serves tea for the three priests, and occasionally acts like a doting mother towards Dougal.

!!Bishop Len Brennan

--> Played by Jim Norton

A corrupt bishop and perpetual thorn in Ted's side.
----

* ThoseTwoGuys: They could have their own trope called "That Couple" for what it's worth.

* JerkassHasAPoint: He doesn't hold the main characters to high standards, but he has legitimate reasons of disliking them with Ted stealing money from the church, Dougal being LethallyStupid and Jack being a perpetual drunk and a skirt chaser.

* AndIMustScream: Left static after being struck by lighting while holding a golf club. Although it's not as if he talks that much anyway. [[spoiler:It doesn't seem to last long though.]]

* AndIMustScream: Left static after being struck by lighting while holding a golf club. [[spoiler:It doesn't seem to last long though.]]

* Hypocrite: He hates the three for their various misdemeanors but he is occasionally shown with women, breaking his vow of celibacy, and even has a son in America.

* BadassMustache: His moustache is so badass that his children inherit it.

** He also really does not like rabbits.

* TheDreaded: Especially against Ted (simply cause Ted is the only one smart enough to understand how intimidating he is). Ted even takes advantage of this, and is almost successful when he "kicks his arse", because he is supposedly too afraid of Brennan to actually do it, so the Bishop assumes that he can only have imagined it. It nearly works.

* CampStraight: His mannerism are rather... [[AmbiguouslyGay flamboyant]] for a Catholic priest, though [[WordOfSaintPaul Graham Norton]] has described him as asexual while the [[WordOfGod creators say]] that Father Noel is someone who was driven to become a priest because he couldn't comprehend his homosexuality and his overenthusastic personality is a result of him channeling those urges into something that he considers to be socially acceptable.

* BlatantLies: Tells them by the dozen, such as claiming to have fought in the Vietnam War, is a life guard and former Mr. Universe, and that he taught Elvis to play the Keytar.

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: He's normal, sure, but that normalness actually makes him come off worse compared to the rest of the cast since he has no excuse for his actions.

* BewareTheSillyOnes: After driving one of his associates, Tony, crazy with his antics, the latter finally rants at him to shut up. Noel, in a suddenly controlled and sinister tone, vows to write him on his list of enemies....[[SubvertedTrope only to then laugh and reveal he was joking]] (revealing he just wrote "I really like Tony").

* LargeHam: He is very loud. So much so that he causes an avalanche inside the caves.

* AndIMustScream: Left static after being struck by lighting while holding a golf club. [[spoiler: It doesn't seem to last long though.]]

* AffablyEvil

* [[spoiler: AbusiveParents: His father actively hates him, stating he wishes that Paul had died from being struck by lightning.]]

* [[spoiler: [[WhenSheSmiles When He Smiles]]]]

* [[spoiler: KarmicDeath: [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Gets blown up by his own milkfloat bomb.]]]]

** [[DirtyOldMonk Dirty Old Priest]]: Being a priest never stopped him from chasing sex.

* [[DirtyOldMonk Dirty Old Bishop]]: Has a secret son in America and has been carrying on affairs in secret

* [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs They Call Me Bishop Brennan]]: Dougal makes the mistake of thinking he's on a FirstNameBasis with him.

* [[CampStraight Camp]] [[{{Asexuality}} Asexual]]: His mannerism are rather... [[AmbiguouslyGay flamboyant]] for a Catholic priest, though [[WordOfSaintPaul Graham Norton]] has described him as asexual while the [[WordOfGod creators say]] that Father Noel is someone who was driven to become a priest because he couldn't comprehend his homosexuality and his overenthusastic personality is a result of him channeling those urges into something that he considers to be socially acceptable.