History Characters / HowToGetAwayWithMurder

* RefugeInAudacity: Despite Annalise forbidding [=2Ls=] from being part of her legal clinic sole, Gabriel makes it in for being ballsy enough to stay despite her warnings

* BetterAsFriends: Has been very close to Bonnie for over ten years. Following his attempts to redeem himself they meet up and end up sleeping together in "It's About Frank". However, due to the unstable nature of events and Frank's own demons, he abandons her immediately afterwards, deeply hurting Bonnie. The two do manage to patch up their relationship, with Bonnie talking him down from killing himself. But despite living together in season four, it's clear their relationship remains platonic.

* DarkSecret: [[spoiler:In 2005, Frank got seduced by a woman working for Wallace Mahoney and got talked into planting a bug in Annalise's hotel room to get a mistrial. However, Annalise decided to go to the police, resulting in Wallace instigating the car crash that claimed her unborn baby's life. Frank confessed to Sam, who later used this knowledge to force Frank to kill Lila.]]

* ProfessionalKiller: [[spoiler: He's actually a hitman who takes care of threats deemed too big to accomplish via deceit]].

!!Family Members and Love Interests

[[folder:Professor Sam Keating]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sam_keating.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"You want the truth? You're nothing but a piece of ass. That's what I saw when I first talked to you in the office that day. 'Cause I knew you'd put out. That's all you're really good for: dirty, rough sex that I'm too ashamed to tell anyone about. That's how foul you are, you disgusting slut."]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/TomVerica

Annalise's husband, also a professor at Middleton. Revealed to be the corpse the students are trying to cover up in the first episode, and the identity and motivations of his killer is one of the {{Driving Question}}s of the first season of the series.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: When Annalise calls him out for never being there for her while she's in prison, he admits he failed as a father, but assumed the problems were over after her molester, her uncle, died. Annalise states it's not over and asks if her being in prison now has nothing to do with it. At this point, he admits he understands that the trauma of her childhood will never be over and he deserves to be blamed for it, but her being in prison now is on her. When she tries to claim all she has is pain, he points out that everyone has that, and she needs to fix her problems like everyone else.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Annalise accuses her of this, as she's been "obsessing her entire life" over Sam.

[[caption-width-right:250:"There’s no such thing as common sense."]]

* SharpDressedMan: In contrast to the other members of the K5’s normally more laidback attire, Asher’s wardrobe is formal, smart and expensive; he commonly wears a suit even when not at work or in class.

Todd Denver's replacement in the Philadelphia D.A.'s office on a temporary basis and the leading candidate for the permanent job, he falls for Bonnie. She's initially suspicious of him, but eventually comes to love him back. Things don't stay rosy for him, however.

* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler:Rumored to be in an faux-incest relationship with each other]], which is being used by investigators and the prosecution against their case. [[spoiler:Confirmed in the second season finale.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:Shares the role with District Attorney Todd Denver for season two. While Denver is the one who targets Annalise and K5, it’s his crimes which bring about the events of the season.]]

* WolfInSheepsClothing: Calem comes across as charming, easy going and kind-hearted young man and a caring brother, who simply got caught up in a horrible crime happening to his family. [[spoiler:In truth, he’s a greedy, murderous sociopath.]]

* GuileHero: In "Two Birds, One Millstone", Catherine intentionally leaves her tablet on the table where the Keating Five are sitting before Laurel realizes [[spoiler: Catherine had not only left it on to record their conversation, but placed a passcode so that they couldn't delete the recording.]]

* AssholeVictim: Throughout her time in Season 2 she makes a point to intentionally antagonize members of the Keating 5 and others, including Nate, hoping to trip them up. This makes it harder to [[spoiler:quess who exactly murdered her in the mid-season finale.]] She's ultimately done in by [[spoiler:being an asshole to Asher about his father committing suicide, although contrary to what Asher believed she was actually innocent of leaking his corruption.]]

* HateSink: Any of her positive qualities gets brought down by how self-righteous and smug she is. From resorting to blackmail (and not as a last resort), to planting illegal bugs in a suspect's home, to eagerly baiting people by pushing their berserk buttons (especially Asher's), and her consistent self-satisfied smirk, she's the easiest character to hate on the show.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: She's mislead by the very same device she placed in Annalise's home when the gang spout fraudulent information into the mic, motivating her to initiate a search warrant at the Hapstall mansion the same day she gave them the plea deal. However, she realizes that the time duration to confirm the deal had ran out, thus nullifying the arrangement altogether. Subverted at first when Catherine meets her to take the deal, but evidence arriving to the courtroom made her reconsider, knocking down Sinclair once again when the case is immediately dropped.]]

* ManipulativeBitch: Called Annalise to the stand in "She's Dying" and antagonized her enough to eventually (and coolly) receive a rather abrasive verbal lashing from Annalise, thus proving to the courtroom that Annalise ''does'' have anger issues which incriminates her further in the investigation of Sam's murder.
* {{Pride}}: Her FatalFlaw. Basically, she is a ManipulativeBitch that thinks that she is a MagnificentBastard. She believes herself to be way above everybody else and most of the time, doesn't even consider the possibility that the Keating 5 are actually very intelligent and capable of plotting against her. She also tends to get her pride on the way of her plans, tending to sometimes forget her plan to attack Annalise or Nate, this is what will often break her plan apart, such as, during Nate's trial, attacking Annalise so much, the judge is forced to assume she doesn't really have a case, nor is sure whether Nate or Annalise were the culprit.

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: In "Hi, I'm Phillip", once she's knocked down by Annalise one too many times and the Hapstall case is finally dropped, she begins to crack a little.]] Annalise gleefully takes the pleasure in mocking her for it.

* AmoralAttorney: Denver goes from being ruthless and immoral in season two to outright being corrupt in season three when he [[spoiler: interferes with the investigation into Wes’s death to further make Annalise look guilty. He more or less kidnaps Connor, and threatens to have him arrested and sentenced on trumped-up charges unless he incriminates Annalise.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: In season two he shares the role of main antagonist with the Hapstall murderer. While the killer’s crimes are severe crimes which kick off the events of the season off, it is Denver who targets Annalise and the K5.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Denver initially seems a charming and a friendly boss. Truthfully, he’s a self-serving, ruthless and corrupt man who couldn’t care less about anyone else.
* EvilCounterpart: To Annalise. They’re both accomplished and hardworking legal experts with a win at all costs mentality and aren’t above breaking the law to get results. The difference is that while Annalise does care more about her career than what is right she is jaded rather than uncaring and does have lines she won’t cross. Denver is only in it for himself.
* ManipulativeBastard: Downplayed. Denver tries using manipulation to get what he wants several times throughout the season; however his success rate isn’t that high and he normally has to resort other tactics. His attempts to use it on K5 in “There's My Baby” utterly failed.

* SlaveToPR: William invests a lot of his time and effort into cultivating the appearance of a respected and reasonable figure; as such his first priority is protecting his image. He decided to cover up [[spoiler:the gang rape that happened at Asher’s party]], despite the fact that Asher himself had nothing to do with it or even knew that it actually happened to afterwards, and it being a clear open and shut case, simply to avoid any negative publicity affecting his family, and thus himself. This ends up backfiring on him, as he’s forced to continue pressuring his son into more deals throughout season two, to keep what he’s covered up secret until [[spoiler:Annalise reveals all of his illegal deals to the media. His reputation destroyed, he kills himself, knowing it’s over.]]

* TheBeard: [[spoiler: What Aiden's mother intended for her to become to Aiden, which is why she's so willing to play nice with Michaela in the first season finale]].