History Characters / HighSchoolMusicalTheMusicalTheSeries

[[folder:East High Students]]

** She chooses to change schools for her final year of high school at the end of the season, confident the East High Drama department has plenty of talent without her.

* WrongGirlFirst: [[spoiler:There was a LoveTriangle with him, Nini, and Gina in the second half of season 1 and the first half of season 2. He and Nini get back together in Season 1, but they ultimately broke up partway through season 2. And in the season 3 finale, he and Gina finally confirmed their feelings for each other and had their TheBigDamnKiss.]]

** Part of his character arc in season three is trying to get his father's approval by doing a good job directing the ''Frozen'' production to prove he's serious about his theatre work. On the night of the show [[spoiler: his father doesn't show, and when E.J. calls him to tell him he's only ever wanted to hear that he's proud of him, his dad hangs up without saying anything more.]]

* WrongGirlFirst: [[spoiler:There was a LoveTriangle with him, Nini, and Gina. He and Nini get back together in Season 1, but they ultimately broke up partway through season 2. And he and Gina finally confirmed their feelings for each other and had TheBigDamnKiss in the season 3 finale.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Gina is introduced to the audience as this "mean girl" who is good at everything. She has a cold exterior and ca be quite mean at times, particularly to Nini. But after she gets closer to Ricky, she breaks out of her shell and makes meaningful relationships with the other members of the drama club. In season 2, she lost some of her edge, but that was because she was living in a house she didn't own, her mom was living in another state, and the guy she was crushing on got back with his ex. Season 2 Gina wanted to be accepted by the other people in the drama club, so she catered to their needs. An example is her auditioning with Kourtney and Ashlyn even though she wanted to audition alone. In season 3, Gina found balance between her seasons one and two personas—she's still ambitious, but with a soft side and no more schemes.

** Sort of. [[spoiler:When Ricky performs "Kristoff Lullaby" on stage, he looks at Gina as he sings the line "Everything I thought I did, you've gone and changed it, kid."]]

* AlphaBitch: Relatively speaking, she's the meanest girl in the main cast in season one.

* FirstKiss: In "Spring Break", Gina tells Jack that she hasn't had her first kiss yet because she's waiting for the right guy. In "Second Chances", [[spoiler: she asks E.J. to be hers, and they share one (offscreen) in the [arking lot at Salt Lake Slices]].

**

->'''[[spoiler]]Jet:]]''' [[spoiler:You mean Gina?]]

* WhamLine: ->'''Ricky:''' [[spoiler:It's possible I wasn't ''completely'' acting today. When I was "pretending" to crush on Gina.]]

->'''[[spoiler:Channing]] (pointing camera at Ricky and Gina):''' [[spoiler:The ex shows up to swing his sword. Yes!]]

->'''[[spoiler:Channing (pointing camera at Ricky and Gina):''' [[spoiler:The ex shows up to swing his sword. Yes!]]

** ->'''[[spoiler:Channing (pointing camera at Ricky and Gina):''' [[spoiler:The ex shows up to swing his sword. Yes!]]

**
->'''[[spoiler:Channing (""pointing camera at Ricky and Gina""]]:''' [[spoiler:The ex shows up to swing his sword.]]

** ->'''[[spoiler:Channing (''pointing camera at Ricky and Gina]]:''' [[spoiler:The ex shows up to swing his sword.]]
->'''[[Ricky]]:''' [[spoiler:Dude. She and I were just faking it in rehearsal. Okay? We're friends. So get lost.]]

* ObliviousToLove: It completely flies over his head that [[spoiler: Gina]] gave him a love confession after their performance of High School Musical.

* SerenadeYourLover: In season 1, Ricky serenades Gina with an acoustic rendition of "When There Was Me and You" at her request.

* TroubledButCute: Ricky's parents were splitting up in season 1 and he got dumped by his longtime girlfriend who also happened to be his childhood friend. This all caused him to be a wreck in the first season, but he still shows other people that he cares.

* CharacterDevelopment: At the start of the series, the one thing Ricky was afraid of was change. His parents were splitting up, the childhood friend he's known his whole life broke up with him because he couldn't say "I love you," and his mom was moving to Chicago permanently with a new boyfriend. [[spoiler:When he got back with Nini, he was finally able to say "I love you," and that's a big thing coming from the guy who wasn't able to say it a few months ago. But there's a catch—him clinging onto his relationship with Nini still wasn't able to stop his surroundings from changing, and the two of them were growing apart. But as the series goes on, Ricky slowly began to embrace change and accept it. He let Nini go for the better. He learned to accept the fact that his parents were divorced. And he learns to let himself have feelings for someone who wasn't his first love: Gina]]

* LovingAShadow: Has a few shades of this in season 2 in regards to his feelings for Nini, as pointed out in "The Rose Song".

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Went by his birth name of Richard until first grade, when Nini started calling him "Ricky", insisting that nobody under the age of 50 goes by "Richard". By the time of the present, even the teachers and his own parents always call him "Ricky".

* RookieRedRanger: He has no theatre experience whatsoever, and isn't even interested in watching it when the show starts. But when his scheme to win Nini back lands him the lead role, he soon finds he needs to step it up.

* SecondLove: [[spoiler: While Nini may be his first love, Ricky develops feelings for Gina after they share a moment in his car in episode 5 of season 1. And after multiple trials, tribulations, and will-they-won't-they moments throughout the show, Ricky and Gina finally kiss in the season 3 finale.]]

* OppositesAttract: At least on the surface, Ricky and Gina couldn't be more different. Ricky's a skater who's lived in Salt Lake City his whole life, while Gina's an ambitious theatre kid who never stays in one place for too long. He hates change; she has never known stability. And yet, they share this connection, which is, as Tim Federle puts it, outsiders.

* Protagonist: While it could be argued that Nini is the protagonist in seasons 1 and 2 since in those seasons her actress was first-billed, most of the show is centered around Ricky.

* SavvyGirlEnergeticGuy

->'''Ricky:''' [[spoiler:It's possible I wasn't ''completely'' acting today. When I was pretending to crush on Gina.]]

->'''Ricky:''' ''[deadpan]'' [[spoiler:It's possible I wasn't ''completely'' acting today. When I was pretending to crush on Gina.]]

* LoveConfessor: [[spoiler:Ricky admitted to Carlos that he had a crush on Gina in episode 5 of season three.
->'''Ricky:''' ''[deadpan]'' It's possible I wasn't ''completely'' acting today. When I was pretending to crush on Gina.]]

* LoveConfessor: [[spoiler:Ricky admitted to Carlos that he had a crush on Gina in episode 5 of season three.]]
[[spoiler:->'''Ricky:''' ''[deadpan]'' It's possible I wasn't ''completely'' acting today. When I was pretending to crush on Gina.]]

* FirstLove: She and Ricky were this to each other.

* Aborted Declaration of Love: [[spoiler:Channing had caught him admitting he has a crush on Gina on camera. Ricky didn't want Gina to find out through the documentary and prepared himself to confess during the night of camp prom. But upon hearing from her that she and E.J. had broken up that night, he decided not to tell her.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: At the start of the series, the one thing Ricky was afraid of was change. His parents were splitting up, the childhood friend he's known his whole life broke up with him, and his mom was moving to Chicago permanently with a new boyfriend. [[spoiler:When he got back with Nini, he was finally able to say "I love you," and that's a big thing coming from the guy who wasn't able to say it a few months ago. But there's a catch—him clinging onto his relationship with Nini still wasn't able to stop his surroundings from changing, and the two of them were growing apart. But as the series goes on, Ricky slowly began to embrace change and accept it. He let Nini go for the better. He learned to accept the fact that his parents were divorced. And he learns to let himself have feelings for someone who wasn't his first love: Gina]]

* Aborted Declaration of Love: [[spoiler:Channing had caught him admitting he has a crush on Gina on camera. Ricky didn't want Gina to find out through the documentary and prepared himself to do so during the night of camp prom. But upon hearing from her that she and E.J. had broken up that night, he decided not to tell her.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Jet]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Maddox]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Val]]

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