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Return to the main character page [[Characters/KingOfTheHill here]].
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[[Characters/KingOfTheHillTheHillsFamilyAndOtherRelatives The Hills (and other relatives)]] | '''The Hills' Neighbors''' | [[Characters/KingOfTheHillStricklandPropane Strickland Propane]] | [[Characters/KingOfTheHillOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]
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* InformedAttribute: He is often stated to be around six feet tall, yet he is still about a head shorter than the other adults, including Dale, who is stated to be 5'10".
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* MoralityPet: To [[PsychopathicManchild Dale]]. With most people, Dale is paranoid, suspicious, and really pretty selfish. However, he's an incredibly loving and devoted husband and father (even though his son is not biologically his). Despite all his craziness, he's actually a better family man than Hank in some ways: unlike Hank, Dale has no problem showing affection toward his family or saying "I love you."
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* MoralityPet: To [[PsychopathicManchild Dale]]. With most people, Dale is paranoid, suspicious, and really pretty selfish. However, he's an incredibly loving and devoted husband and father (even though his son is not biologically his).his, though Dale is unaware of this). Despite all his craziness, he's actually a better family man than Hank in some ways: unlike Hank, Dale has no problem showing affection toward his family or saying "I love you."
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* FirstNameBasis: Due to how difficult his surname is to spell and pronounce, most people usually refer to him as just "Kahn" or "Mr. Kahn".
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: His Jerkass attitude and superiority complex over his "redneck" neighbors has understandably caused some issues. However, it is shown that when push comes to shove, Kahn really does care about them (Hank at least).
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* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes mistakenly spelled "Khan".
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* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes mistakenly spelled "Khan"."Khan" (which is actually the correct way to spell it).
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* SelfDeprecation: During his story in the RashomonStyle episode, he is fatter than he usually is and completely bald. However, since the episode was a ShoutOut of sorts to ''Film/TheThreeStooges'', he might have been seeing himself as Curly.
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* SelfDeprecation: During his version of the story in the RashomonStyle episode, he is fatter than he usually is twice as fat and completely bald. However, since the episode was a ShoutOut of sorts to ''Film/TheThreeStooges'', he might have been seeing himself as Curly.
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dewicking
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* HotScoop: When she shifts careers from weather-girl to investigative reporter.
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* KavorkaMan: He's not bad-looking, but he is damn near incomprehensible to anyone he isn't friends with, which makes his excellent skills with the ladies somewhat improbable. It was shown in one episode he just does the shotgun approach (ask any women he is interested in until one say yes).
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* KavorkaMan: He's not bad-looking, considered to be good-looking, but he is damn near incomprehensible to anyone he isn't friends with, which makes his excellent skills with the ladies somewhat improbable. It was shown in one One episode reveals that he just does the shotgun approach (ask any women simply asks out every woman he is interested in sees until one say yes).of them says yes.
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* TheQuietOne: Generally keeps quiet during conversations, but when he speaks, [[MotorMouth he ''speaks'']]. Notably, during Hank's friend group's signature "Yep" circle, he always simply grunts "Mmhm" instead of actually saying yep.
* TheReveal: On the last episode, the one where Hank finds out that Bobby knows how to find flaws in cuts of meat, not the fauxnale where Luanne gets married, it's revealed that Boomhauer ''does'' have a job, [[spoiler:as a member of the Texas Rangers. Of course, this creates continuity problems in terms of how Boomhauer could avoid everyone knowing this about him, let alone how he could keep his job without being fired for some of the run-ins he had with Hank and the gang.]]
* TheReveal: On the last episode, the one where Hank finds out that Bobby knows how to find flaws in cuts of meat, not the fauxnale where Luanne gets married, it's revealed that Boomhauer ''does'' have a job, [[spoiler:as a member of the Texas Rangers. Of course, this creates continuity problems in terms of how Boomhauer could avoid everyone knowing this about him, let alone how he could keep his job without being fired for some of the run-ins he had with Hank and the gang.]]
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* TheQuietOne: Generally keeps quiet during conversations, but when he speaks, [[MotorMouth he ''speaks'']].doesn't hold back]]. Notably, during Hank's friend group's signature "Yep" circle, he always simply grunts "Mmhm" instead of actually saying yep.
* TheReveal:On the The last episode, the one where Hank finds out that Bobby knows how to find flaws in cuts of meat, not the fauxnale where Luanne gets married, it's revealed that Boomhauer ''does'' have a job, [[spoiler:as a member of the Texas Rangers. Of course, this creates continuity problems in terms of how Boomhauer could avoid everyone knowing this about him, let alone how he could keep episode finally reveals what his job without being fired for some of the run-ins he had with Hank and the gang.]]is: [[spoiler: he's a Texas Ranger]].
* TheReveal:
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* GoodParents: For all of his numerous flaws, he's a devoted father and husband.
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* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes mistakenly spelled "Khan".
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* WomenAreWiser: Mostly averted; she's greedy, ambitious and kind of a jerkass just like her husband, but she is ''slightly'' more willing to interact with her neighbors than Kahn is. She's much more accepting of Bobby and Connie's relationship than Khan, though; in "Father of the Bribe", when it looks like they might break up, Minh [[LetMeTellYouAStory tells Connie how she and Khan met]] and that, despite their differences, she knew he was right for her, and that the only person who knows if Bobby is right for Connie is Connie herself.
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* WomenAreWiser: Mostly averted; she's greedy, ambitious and kind of a jerkass just like her husband, but she is ''slightly'' more willing to interact with her neighbors than Kahn is. She's much more accepting of Bobby and Connie's relationship than Khan, Kahn, though; in "Father of the Bribe", when it looks like they might break up, Minh [[LetMeTellYouAStory tells Connie how she and Khan Kahn met]] and that, despite their differences, she knew he was right for her, and that the only person who knows if Bobby is right for Connie is Connie herself.
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* SelfDeprecation: During his story in the RashomonStyle episode, he is fatter and balder than he usually is. However, since the episode was a ShoutOut of sorts to ''Film/TheThreeStooges'', he might have been seeing himself as Curly.
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* SelfDeprecation: During his story in the RashomonStyle episode, he is fatter and balder than he usually is.is and completely bald. However, since the episode was a ShoutOut of sorts to ''Film/TheThreeStooges'', he might have been seeing himself as Curly.
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*** He has been known to make fun of Bill's baldness even though he's bald too.
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* UglyGuyHotWife: While Dale isn't exactly ugly, he's still a scrawny weirdo who is nowhere near as attractive as his bombshell of a wife is.
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* UglyGuyHotWife: While Dale isn't exactly ugly, he's still a scrawny scrawny, balding weirdo who is nowhere near as attractive as his bombshell of a wife is.
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* SignificantAnagram: "Khan" is an anagram of "Hank".
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* SignificantAnagram: "Khan" "Kahn" is an anagram of "Hank".
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* FullNameBasis: Calls Peggy, Hank and other characters by their full name.
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* FullNameBasis: Calls Peggy, Hank and other characters by their full name.name most of the time.
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* StacysMom: Joseph developed a short-lived crush on her. This was mainly due to him having ''just'' hit puberty and experiencing the onslaught of confusion and distress that comes with it. Bobby is also attracted of her as he admitted to Peggy that he considers Minh to be a very beautiful woman.
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* StacysMom: Joseph developed a short-lived crush on her. This was mainly due to him having ''just'' hit puberty and experiencing the onslaught of confusion and distress that comes with it. it (she was also wearing tight jeans and a cleavage-bearing shirt at the time). Bobby is also attracted of to her as he admitted to Peggy that he considers Minh to be a very beautiful woman.
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* StraightMan" Mostly to Bobby, though she occasionally plays one to her parents and other members of the cast.
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* StraightMan" StraightMan: Mostly to Bobby, though she occasionally plays one to her parents and other members of the cast.
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* AsianRudeness: Very openly hostile towards his "redneck" neighbors. Hank even referred to Kahn as "rude and nasty" upon meeting him.
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* GrumpyBear
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* GrumpyBearGrumpyBear: The majority of his screen time is spent scorning over his redneck neighbors.
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* AsianRudeness: Like Kahn, she is quite often rude to the other Rainey Street residents.
* BareYourMidriff: Wears a midriff-baring top in "The Redneck on Rainey Street" as part of their new "redneck" lifestyle.
* BareYourMidriff: Wears a midriff-baring top in "The Redneck on Rainey Street" as part of their new "redneck" lifestyle.
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*** He has been known to make fun of Bill's baldness even though he's bald too.
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: It's not subtle he has the hots for Peggy, though many of his flirtatious comments fly over Hank's head.
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: It's not subtle he has the hots for Peggy, though many of his flirtatious comments fly over Hank's head. He has no shame in watching Hank and Peggy having romantic moments...while they are supposed to be intimate inside their own house.
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* NiceGirl: Despite Nancy's long period affair with John Redcorn, she is very nice towards others. She calls everyone "sug"(short for "sugar" a really nice, sweet, friendly nickname)
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* AmbiguousDisorder: The episode 'Naked Ambition' implies that his ConspiracyTheorist tendencies and many of his stranger quirks are a result of a mental illness (See TheSchizophreniaConspiracy below), and they noticeably wane after he is put on medication. And several episodes suggest that he has an eating disorder of some kind, either anorexia or bulimia.
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* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Dale lives in a world of his own creation; to call him delusional is a gross understatement. The episode 'Naked Ambition' implies that many of his stranger quirks are a result of a mental illness (See TheSchizophreniaConspiracy below), and they noticeably wane after he is put on medication.
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* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Dale lives in a complete fantasy world of his own creation; to call him delusional is a gross understatement. The episode 'Naked Ambition' implies that creation. It's one of the many of his stranger quirks are a result of a mental illness (See TheSchizophreniaConspiracy below), and they noticeably wane after he is put reasons why Nancy was able to get away with cheating on medication.him for 20 years.
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* CoolShades
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* CoolShadesCoolShades: A classic example. Although in Dale's case, it's more that he really wants to ''look'' cool.
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* {{Expy}}: His appearance is modeled after Creator/RobertPatrick and his speech, personality, and beliefs are all modeled after Creator/WilliamSBurroughs.
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* LargeHam
* TheLoad: Attempt depending on Dale in any way at your own risk.
* MustHaveCaffeine: He loves his Mountain Dew to the point that he tried to stockpile several 55-gallon drums of the stuff to prepare for Y2K, and when he donates a kidney to an IllBoy, he instructs the kid to be sure and give the organ one can of Dew per week ("He likes it").
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
* TheLoad: Attempt depending on Dale in any way at your own risk.
* MustHaveCaffeine: He loves his Mountain Dew to the point that he tried to stockpile several 55-gallon drums of the stuff to prepare for Y2K, and when he donates a kidney to an IllBoy, he instructs the kid to be sure and give the organ one can of Dew per week ("He likes it").
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
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* LargeHam
LargeHam: When he gets excited, he jumps straight into this territory.
* TheLoad:Attempt depending Depend on Dale in any way at your own risk.
*MustHaveCaffeine: He loves his Mountain Dew NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dale bears more than passing resemblance to Creator/HunterSThompson, and Mike Judge modeled the point that he tried character after Creator/RobertPatrick, who was initially supposed to stockpile several 55-gallon drums of the stuff to prepare for Y2K, voice Dale. Dale's voice, political beliefs, and when he donates a kidney to an IllBoy, he instructs the kid to be sure and give the organ one can day job are all caricatures of Dew per week ("He likes it").
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.Creator/WilliamSBorroughs.
* TheLoad:
*
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
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* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He loves his Mountain Dew to the point that he tried to stockpile several 55-gallon drums of the stuff to prepare for Y2K, and when he donates a kidney to an IllBoy, he instructs the kid to be sure and give the organ one can of Dew per week ("He likes it").
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
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** In "Untitled Black [=McCormick=] Project", Dale had some suspicions about the daughter of Bill's new girlfriend and despite Hank telling him not to ruin it for Bill, Dale managed to get a hair sample from the girl to run a DNA test. As it turned out, [[spoiler: the girl was Joseph's half sister.]] There's also Operation Infinite Walrus. In that instance, even Dale seems surprised that his theory is correct. [[spoiler: Subverted, when it turns out Bill was just given a placebo]].
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** In "Untitled Black Blake [=McCormick=] Project", Dale had some suspicions about the daughter of Bill's new girlfriend and despite Hank telling him not to ruin it for Bill, Dale managed to get a hair sample from the girl to run a DNA test. As it turned out, [[spoiler: the girl was Joseph's half sister.]] There's also Operation Infinite Walrus. In that instance, even Dale seems surprised that his theory is correct. [[spoiler: Subverted, when it turns out Bill was just given a placebo]].
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* {{Expy}}: His appearance is modeled after Creator/HunterSThompson. His speech, personality, and beliefs are all modeled after Creator/WilliamSBurroughs.
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* {{Expy}}: His appearance is modeled after Creator/HunterSThompson. His Creator/RobertPatrick and his speech, personality, and beliefs are all modeled after Creator/WilliamSBurroughs.
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* KavorkaMan: He's not bad-looking, but he is damn near incomprehensible to anyone he isn't friends with, which makes his excellent skills with the ladies somewhat improbable.
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* KavorkaMan: He's not bad-looking, but he is damn near incomprehensible to anyone he isn't friends with, which makes his excellent skills with the ladies somewhat improbable. It was shown in one episode he just does the shotgun approach (ask any women he is interested in until one say yes).
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* HeroWorshipper: Like the rest of the guys, Dale deifies Hank. When Dale prints his own currency he puts Hank on the $100 bill.
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* HeroWorshipper: Like the rest of the guys, Dale deifies Hank. When Dale prints his own currency he puts Hank on the $100 bill. The list of people he trusts includes Hank ut not Dale himself.
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* CrankyNeighbor
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* CrankyNeighborCrankyNeighbor: Really obnoxious towards the other neighbors and like to gloat in Hank's face.
** He used to be a delinquent in his youth, the reason why Minh fell for him, and can actually defends himself in a fight.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Usually openly rude and dismissive of others for no good reason.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Usually openly rude and dismissive of others for no good reason. Sometime she is just really tactless such as when she accidentally makes fun of Peggy's shoes in their first encounter.
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: It's not subtle he has the hots for Peggy, though many of his flirtatious comments fly over Hank's head.
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Gonk is a trope for someone who is just unnaturally, inhumanly ugly, whereas Bill is slovenly and homely in a familiar, next-door neighbor kind of way.
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* {{Gonk}}
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* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
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* HoistByHisOwnPetard:HoistByTheirOwnPetard:
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* InformedAttribute: Boomhauer is often said to be the most mature, best put together of Hank's friends to the point that out of them he's the only one of them Hank respects, but the thing is Boomhauer often goes along and willing participates in many of the zany harebrained schemes, his friends will come up with, and gets in as much trouble as they do.
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* InformedAttribute: Boomhauer is often said to be the most mature, best put together of Hank's friends to the point that out of them he's the only one of them Hank respects, but the thing is Boomhauer often goes along and willing participates in many of the zany harebrained schemes, schemes his friends will come up with, and gets in shows himself to be just as much trouble as irresponsible and stupid at they do.are at times.
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* FutureLoser: He was really in his prime during his high school years. Now? Everyone but him has moved on to do better.
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* {{Irony}}: Loves guns, owns a plethora of them and is president of a local gun club. Despite having all the firing accuracy of Helen Keller.
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** Boomhauer is possibly the most philosophical and intellectual character on the show. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88V9IcwtIeM Just listen to him explain the meaning of life.]]
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** Boomhauer is possibly the most philosophical and intellectual character on the show. [[http://www.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88V9IcwtIeM com/watch?v=MHjnuWkYT68 Just listen to him explain the meaning of life.]]
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** Indeed, Boomhauer's HiddenDepths are a major component of nearly every Boomhauer-centric episode.
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* InformedAttribute: Boomhauer is often said to be the most mature, best put together of Hank's friends to the point that out of them he's the only one of them Hank respects, but the thing is Boomhauer often goes along and willing participates in many of the zany harebrained schemes, his friends will come up with, and gets in as much trouble as they do.
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* YourCheatingHeart: Peggy implies in the episode "The Accidental Terrorist" that Minh had an affair and blackmails her so she doesn't reveal a secret to Hank.
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* KavorkaMan: He's not really ugly, but he's pasty, pencil-thin, and rapidly going bald. He still managed to attract Nancy and a beautiful female exterminator (voiced by Jennifer Coolidge).
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* KavorkaMan: He's not really ugly, but he's pasty, pencil-thin, and rapidly going bald. He still managed to attract Nancy and a beautiful female exterminator (voiced by Jennifer Coolidge).Creator/JaneaneGarofalo).
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Return to the main character page [[Characters/KingOfTheHill here]].
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Guillaume Fontaine de la Tour "Bill" Dauterive]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_6992_2382.jpg]]
Bill, one of Hank's closest friends, was a promising high school football player who later joined the Army with big hopes and dreams. He married someone he thought was the perfect woman, but that relationship soon went south and never looked back, and Bill found a new companion in the throes of laziness, regressed to a washed up and rotund balding man. Now middle aged, broke, and divorced, Bill's constantly depressed and full of self-loathing. The guys try to put up with him as best they can. Voiced by Creator/StephenRoot.
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* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Occasionally when things actually go well for him.
* AloneAmongTheCouples: Happens to Bill several times. Several of the episodes that revolve around him focus on his misery at being alone while Hank and Dale are married and Boomhauer always has a new girl.
* AnimalsHateHim: Dale acquired a falcon in one episode, and every time he took its hood off, it would start attacking Bill for no apparent reason. Then, after Dale states he set the falcon free in the woods, Bill starts a conversation about sausages and the falcon appears out of nowhere and starts attacking him again. He's also been attacked by emus and a rottweiler. It should be noted the rottweiler was just mean in general, as he's been shown to be friendly with other dogs. It's just birds that hate him.
* AttentionWhore: Almost anytime Bill finds himself successful or liked for doing something, he'll continue to put all of his time and effort into whatever it is he is doing until it eventually ruins him. Notable examples include when he dressed as Santa and entertained children, continuing this until well into February, or after finding out Peggy, Dale and Minh were secretly using him as an everyman to base their stock purchases on, he wastes away all of his money and ownings just to get their attention again.
* AwesomeMccoolname: His full name is Guillaume Fontaine de la Tour D'Haute-Rive which is French for "Strong-Willed Warrior Fountain of the Tower of the Upper Bank."
* BadassDecay: In-universe example. He was exceptionally strong in his youth, able to hold off three big angry punks at a bar without getting a scratch. Depression ruined him but flashes of the old Bill do emerge from time to time.
* BeadyEyedLoser: Is drawn with sad-looking circular eyes unlike most other characters.
* BigEater:
** Once entered a Competitive Eating Contest and was a marked favorite to win. In the same episode, he ate an entire platter of hot dogs Hank had cooked for the whole neighborhood. This is met with disgust by those in attendance, although Hank is awed at Bill's ability to do such a thing.
** It bites him in ass in "Dia-BILL-ic Shock'', when he finds that his eating habits have given him diabetes.
* [[BunnyEarsLawyer Bunny Ears Barber]]: The man is a mess in practically every aspect of life. But he's a ''damn'' good barber.
* ButtMonkey: Always.
* [[CallingTheOldManOut Calling the Ex-Wife Out]]: In "Pretty, Pretty Dresses", when Hank forces him to admit that she won't come back, he snaps and starts dressing as and pretending to be Lenore. Hank resolves the situation by doing the same, telling Bill "I'm the real Lenore, and I don't love you", which finally gives him the chance to get closure by venting at "Lenore" and telling "her" off the way he was never brave enough to do in the past.
* CharacterDevelopment: Possibly the show's shining example. Bill starts the show obsessed with his ex-wife Lenore (and Peggy to an extent), self-loathing and suicidally depressed. While retaining many of his flaws throughout the series, Bill does shed most of these traits, gains healthier relations with his friends and certainly recoups most of his self-esteem.
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: A couple of episodes show him to be a skilled chef when he's cooking for other people. When eating alone, it's usually a frozen dinner or eating straight out of a can. His low self-esteem and desire to please other people might have a hand in it.
* ChekhovsSkill: His "Billdozer" abilities still come in handy sometimes.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: If sufficiently riled, he's a force to be reckoned with. Out of the four man band, he's second only to Hank in terms of fighting capability and it's always a good idea to remember that while he is a barber, he's an Army-trained barber. Even Boomhauer, who's [[spoiler:a Texas Ranger]], is wary of tangling with a pissed off Bill.
* {{Crossdresser}}: During his insane spell at Christmas time, he dresses like a woman and pretends to be Lenore.
* TheDitz
* DrunkWithPower: Anytime Bill gets put into a position of authority, expect it to go straight to his head.
* EloquentInTheirNativeTongue: He sounds much less oafish when he speaks Creole.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Eats garbage on a semi-regular basis, not to mention his fondness for dog-hormone biscuits.
* FatAndSkinny: Frequently pairs off into a classic example of this with Dale, where he naturally plays the fat one.
* FatBestFriend: Noticeably heavier than Hank, who's not exactly trim and fit himself.
* FatIdiot: His issues blind his better judgement at times.
* FatSlob: He's a testament to bad hygiene.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Sanguine.
* FreudianExcuse: It's strongly implied that he had an abusive relationship with his father. In perhaps unintentional foreshadowing for "Pretty, Pretty Dresses," it's mentioned in a Season 2 episode that Bill's dad made him dress up in girl's clothing to humiliate him. There is also his ex-wife leaving him.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: While Dale and Peggy are the most openly contemptuous of him, pretty much everyone casually insults him on a regular basis. It's often implied that he's kept around because Hank feels obligated to.
* {{Gonk}}
* GroinAttack: Would constantly receive one to the point where it became a RunningGag.
* HairTodayGoneTomorrow: Had hair akin to [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]] when he was younger. Then he got it buzzed in the Army. Then he went bald.
* HeroicBSOD:
** A particularly sad case. After his wife, Lenore, leaves him, Bill spends a long time convincing himself that she'll be back. This mentality eventually cultivates in him breaking down into depression and suicidal impulses during a ChristmasEpisode. He gets over it in the same episode.
** Another example is when he finds out that he's been unknowingly used as a guinea pig to test a super soldier formula that would give him attributes of a walrus, which explains his current appearance. This is even worse when you see flashbacks of him where he was physically fit and a borderline example of TheAce, leaving him in depression which leads to him stealing a tank. It's later revealed that he only received a placebo, meaning everything wrong with his life really ''is'' his fault.
* HiddenDepths:
** Hidden behind his failures, Bill is shown to be an ''excellent'' barber and professional caregiver.
** He also speaks French (Creole, not European) and can play a zydeco-style accordion.
* HollywoodDateless: Despite being pudgy, homely, and so desperate to please that he comes off as a creep, nearly every episode centered around Bill involves him getting involved with a smart, attractive, successful, kind-hearted woman who genuinely likes him. [[StatusQuoIsGod He usually manages to mess it up by the end of the episode]].
* IWasQuiteALooker: In his youth, he was in excellent shape and was a star football player for Arlen High, and he had "hair like Roger Daltrey".
* {{Jerkass}}: He may consider Hank his best friend, but this man never stops for a single vulnerable moment whenever there is tension between Hank and Peggy just to get closer to her, or whenever there are moments when Hank and Peggy are enjoying their time together in front of him. Hank always brushes him off, though.
* JerkassBall: Has his moments, like in "Après Hank, le Deluge", where he has Hank locked up in a cage after the town blames the latter for negligence.
* TheJuggernaut: On the football field, where fans dubbed him "[[InSeriesNickname The Billdozer]]".
* KavorkaMan: For all his unattractiveness, he has dated Reverend Stroup, Charlene, Ann Richards, and Kahn's mother.
* LazyBum
* ObliviousToLove: In "It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Neighbor Sings", Bill fails to pick up on the not so subtle hints that Reverend Stroup gave him.
* ThePigPen: He's not visibly dirty, but his awful breath and body odor are often commented on.
* RaginCajun: It's well-hidden most of the time, but it's there. For the most part he's a depressed sad-sack who's been beaten down by life and a total ButtMonkey, but if anyone manages to really piss him off, it ''ain't'' gonna be pretty.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: As if the poor guy didn't have enough things working against him, he also shrieks in a decidedly un-manly way in response to danger.
* SelfDeprecation: During his story in the RashomonStyle episode, he is fatter and balder than he usually is. However, since the episode was a ShoutOut of sorts to ''Film/TheThreeStooges'', he might have been seeing himself as Curly.
* StalkerWithACrush:
** He is obsessed with Peggy. In "The Texas Skilsaw Massacre", he tells Hank "I once made a vest out of your wife's underpants". In another episode, he steals Peggy's used body cast from the garbage, takes it to his house, puts a picture of Peggy where the head would be and plays Boggle with it.
** He's also uncomfortably fond of Hank, hanging on every word he says and being freakishly attached to their friendship, to the point of idolizing him.
** His stalker tendencies are referred to by Peggy in "The Nut Before Christmas" where upon hearing that Bill has a date, Peggy is happy to hear that Bill "will be spending time with a woman who knows he's there."
** In "Escape from Party Island", he tries to unsuccessfully win Peggy over while Hank is watching over his mom and her friends. This episode dialed Bill's stalker tendencies UpToEleven from the way he told Bobby "you know how your mother and I worry about you" to revealing he held on to a spare key the Hills gave him when they went on vacation. ''Six years ago''. This leads to a moment of FridgeHorror when you stop to consider Bill could've gone into their house whenever he wanted and they probably never knew.
* StatusQuoIsGod: The plot of most Bill-focused episodes is as follows: Bill finds something he's really good at, or someone who actually likes him, and starts turning his life around; something turns out to be wrong with the situation, so his friends convince him to give up his new activity; Bill returns to being a sad sack and no one even suggests that he just try finding a new way to pursue his passion. While his reconciliation with his ex-wife was dropped in the same episode, his dating Kahn's mom was referenced vaguely the following episode, with it implied that Bobby accidentally jinxed the relationship with a tarot card reading.
* {{Tuckerization}}: He shares a last name with the co-producer.
* ThrowTheDogABone:
** In "A Beer Can Named Desire", he visits family in New Orleans and gets the attention of three attractive cousins (one by blood, two by marriage). While the Hills are at the Cowboys-Saints game, Bill finds out which cousin is blood-related and sleeps with the two who aren't.
** There is also his relationship with ''Ann Richards'', and finally getting back at his ex-wife.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: "Après Hank, le Deluge" is a triumphant example.
* WorthIt: Claims to have made most of his life decisions at a Foghat concert. He stands by them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jeff Boomhauer]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_6993.jpg]]
A ''very'' fast-talking ladies man and one of Hank's childhood friends. His dialect can be hard to keep up with, but none of his friends seem to have any trouble talking to him. His full name is [[spoiler:Jeffrey Dexter]] Boomhauer. Voiced by Mike Judge.
----
* TheAce: Initially portrayed as this, but his flaws become clearer later on. Even with his flaws more apparent, though, he's still an attractive, intelligent and modestly wealthy man who seems to enjoy himself on a day to day basis much more than any of his friends do.
* BlackBeadEyes: Notably the only main character to possess these.
* TheCasanova: For the first six seasons. See CharacterizationMarchesOn.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Boomhauer's womanizing was considerably toned down after getting his heart broken in season 6 ("Dang Ol' Love"). Might be straight CharacterDevelopment, as it's implied that he learned from that experience and he's even seen in an apparently serious relationship in "Uh-Oh Canada".
* ChickMagnet: He's very popular with the ladies.
* CoolCar: His classic Dodge Charger.
* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: A grown up example with both Dale and Bill. He's a handsome, confident and levelheaded playboy while Dale is a weirdo ConspiracyTheorist and Bill is a FatIdiot with cripplingly low self-esteem. Despite this, he constantly hangs out with both of them and even frequently willingly participates in their [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]].
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: Justified, in that he spends a lot of time outdoors and has a tanning bed in his house.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Depending on the episode he's in, Boomhauer is either standing aside (on account of being the OnlySaneMan or [[LockedOutOfTheLoop not even a part of whatever kind of zany things Bill and Dale are doing]]), or he's going along with them.
* EverybodyHasStandards: He may be a chronic womanizer, but even he takes exception to cheating on one's fiance/wife. When Luanne briefly moves in with him, he's quick to assure Hank that nothing amorous is going on.
* {{Foil}}: To Bill. Where Bill is a fat, slovenly, self-hating cuckold, Boomhauer is a lean, relaxed, introspective ladies man.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Phlegmatic.
* GenerationXerox: Apparently, Boomhauer's unintelligible way of speaking was passed down from his mother, who also talks like that. And his Meemaw, for that matter. Patch as well.
* HiddenDepths:
** Boomhauer is possibly the most philosophical and intellectual character on the show. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88V9IcwtIeM Just listen to him explain the meaning of life.]]
** In "Four Wave Intersection", we learn he was a talented surfer in his youth.
** He turns out to have an excellent singing voice that is free from his usual MotorMouth and [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]] and perfect for singing bluegrass.
** At the end of "To Sirloin with Love," it's revealed that he somehow has a job with [[spoiler:the Texas Rangers.]]
** He seems well-versed in governmental legalese, in "The Arrowhead".[[note]]This overlaps with EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, as this would become more of a Dale trait later on.[[/note]]
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: To the people that know him well, including the viewer, if they've heard him speak enough times.
* KavorkaMan: He's not bad-looking, but he is damn near incomprehensible to anyone he isn't friends with, which makes his excellent skills with the ladies somewhat improbable.
* LadykillerInLove: In one episode, which showed his HiddenDepths.
* LastNameBasis: Though his first name was revealed to be [[spoiler:Jeff.]]
* MotorMouth: [[SelfDemonstratingArticle YeahmanyaknowdatdangolBoomhauermantalksofastcantunnerstandawordhesdangolsayinman]].
** This was actually averted one time where he, Hank, Dale and Bill were telling a RashomonStyle story, and in Boomhauer's recounting of the events, everybody ''except'' him is a motormouth, and he actually [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyGfiIirD8 talks normal.]]
* MultipleChoicePast: His job/source of income on the show was given multiple explanations: one was that he was a former electric lineman on worker's comp, another was that he doesn't work because he lives off the money he won in a lottery, and a third explanation was that Boomhauer came from a moderately wealthy family and lived off a trust fund set up for him. The last episode "To Sirloin with Love" reveals that Boomhauer actually ''does'' have a job: [[spoiler:he's a member of the Texas Rangers.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's the same age as the rest of his friends, but while Hank, Bill and Dale have all gone to seed to varying degrees, Boomhauer doesn't look all that much different from when he was in high school.
* TheOneThatGotAway: His ex-girlfriend Catherine, for whom he has unresolved feelings. Boomhauer's none too happy when Catherine gets engaged to his brother Patch.
* OnlySaneMan: Will usually play this role if Hank is absent, or if Hank has been unable to get Dale and/or Bill to stop acting like idiots. Generally speaking, Boomhauer has better judgement than Dale and Bill but frequently goes along with the zany schemes they concoct regardless. Notably, he is the only one of Hank's friends who Hank genuinely seems to respect.
* OutOfFocus: The number of episodes focusing on him can be counted on one hand. Now, compare that to the amount that focus on Hank, Dale, and Bill.
* ThePhilosopher: Seems to enjoy introspection, and occasionally voices his beliefs on the human condition to his friends. Due to him being borderline-unintelligible, however, this is entirely played for laughs.
* ThePornomancer: Always seems to have a rotating series of women over at his house. One episode lightly deconstructs this by revealing that his primary method of picking up women is to simply ask out every single one he sees until one eventually says yes.
* TheQuietOne: Generally keeps quiet during conversations, but when he speaks, [[MotorMouth he ''speaks'']]. Notably, during Hank's friend group's signature "Yep" circle, he always simply grunts "Mmhm" instead of actually saying yep.
* TheReveal: On the last episode, the one where Hank finds out that Bobby knows how to find flaws in cuts of meat, not the fauxnale where Luanne gets married, it's revealed that Boomhauer ''does'' have a job, [[spoiler:as a member of the Texas Rangers. Of course, this creates continuity problems in terms of how Boomhauer could avoid everyone knowing this about him, let alone how he could keep his job without being fired for some of the run-ins he had with Hank and the gang.]]
* SingingVoiceDissonance: Unlike when he speaks, Boomhauer's singing voice is clear and actually quite nice to listen to.
* SkintoneSclerae : The lack of whites in his eyes gives him an impressive poker face.
* TheStoic: Generally about as unflappable as Hank, though he's much more willing to emote.
* TheUnintelligible: Except in TheRashomon episode, where ''everyone else'' is unintelligible when he tells his side of the story.
* VerbalTic: Intelligible parts of his speech tend to include "yeah man", "Talkin' 'bout", and "dang ol'."
* YoureJustJealous: Everyone's reaction when he tries to warn them, and his ex-girlfriend Catherine, that his brother Patch has not given up his womanizing ways. While Boomhauer is jealous that Catherine chose his brother over him, he is genuinely trying to keep her from marrying a creep who'll inevitably break her heart. Thankfully, Patch accidentally confesses to his infidelity at the end, vindicating Boomhauer.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dale Alvin Gribble]]
[[quoteright:197:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_tumblr_liu3zeh6lz1qzdypz_3534.png]]
Dale rounds out Hank's circle of friends. Dale, an exterminator by trade, is a paranoid conspiracy theorist who has prepared for just about any unlikely situation you can think of. And yet, he can't seem to figure out that his lovely wife Nancy is having an affair right under his nose. Voiced by Johnny Hardwick.
----
* AfraidOfNeedles: To the point where he has a fit over getting his blood type test.
* AgentMulder:
** Dale exemplifies this. Amusingly, the [[ChocolateBaby most obvious deception]] in his life is right in front of him, the fact that Joseph isn't biologically his, and he brushes it off as having a Jamaican grandmother whose dark skin and features skipped him and ended up with his alleged son.
** In one episode, it is revealed that he has a hugely convoluted conspiracy theory to explain this, which acts in many ways as the foundation for his other conspiracy theories.
* AnArmAndALeg/ {{Fingore}}: Hank accidentally severs his good index finger (namely, the one that holds his cigarette butts) with a circular saw when Dale sits it down right in the path of the blades in "The Texas Skillsaw Massacre". Dale takes a second to register what happened, then appropriately freaks out. Luckily, he's rushed to the hospital with the digit on ice and has it surgically reattached.
* BadLiar: In "Junkie Business", Dale applies for a job at Strickland Propane claiming to have owned and operated "Gribble & Sons Propane" out of Yuma, Arizona since 1984. He's being interviewed by Hank, who has known Dale since they were in first grade. He denies it.
* BasementDweller: Probably one of the few examples in which the character isn't a stereotypical video game/anime/role-playing game/comic book-obsessed nerd and actually is married with a child. He pretty much lived down there before Nancy stops cheating on him.
* BerserkButton: Dale loathes the idea of his privacy being invaded or being fooled. Case in point: when he thinks his lawnmower is stolen, it pushes him into a full-blown psychotic break.
* BigEater: It was revealed that Dale can actually put away more food than Bill or Bobby, in spite of his pencil-thin build. He keeps this a secret because he thinks it makes him a freak.
* BumblingDad: He loves his wife and son dearly, but his being the way that he is frequently impedes his ability to be a good patriarch.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Surprisingly good at his job as an exterminator (and his temporary job as an office worker in charge of terminating workers); in fact, it may be the ''only'' thing he's good at.
* CatchPhrase: Has been known to say "Wingo!" and "Sh-sh-sha!"
* ComedicSociopathy: He gets a lot of pleasure out of watching Peggy suffer, particularly on her birthday (and if he can lend a hand in ruining it, all the better). In "Strangeness on a Train," he finally starts to experience some degree of remorse over this.
* CallingYourAttacks: "Pocket sand!" and "ELECTRIC TOASTER!"
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Dale lives in a world of his own creation; to call him delusional is a gross understatement. The episode 'Naked Ambition' implies that many of his stranger quirks are a result of a mental illness (See TheSchizophreniaConspiracy below), and they noticeably wane after he is put on medication.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Dale thinks the fact that Joseph doesn't look like him is either from (a) a Jamaican grandmother whose dark features skipped a generation, or (b) an extraterrestrial who impregnated Nancy.
* ConspiracyTheorist: He really has only one theory, but it is a convoluted web involving the JFK assassination, time travel, aliens, UN global domination, and a worldwide computer information network conspiracy called "The Beast".
* CoolShades
* CrazySurvivalist: Parodied in episode where he imitates ''Survivor Guy'' and lives in the backyard.
* DependingOnTheWriter: In some episodes, Dale's an excellent exterminator. In others, he appears completely incompetent. Dale's general level of intelligence also seems to fluctuate between episodes. In some episodes, he's erudite enough to quote Langston Hughes or discuss the Observer Effect; other times, he thinks F-I-A-T spells Ford or that digging tunnels under the alley is a good idea. Mostly governed by RuleOfFunny.
* DirtyCoward: And he knows it. He's rather proud of it too.
* DoubleThink: Many of his [[ConspiracyTheorist conspiracy theories]] contradict each other. Hank calls him out on this more than once.
* DrunkWithPower: Dale becomes this in "The Exterminator" when he becomes the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources of Stik-Tek. The position allowed him to fire people anytime he wanted.
* EgomaniacHunter: He likes to think of himself as a badass bounty hunter, but is too cowardly to really do the job. It's probable that he became an exterminator because this allows him to hunt and kill creatures he needn't fear (though even then, he occasionally gets scared of them).
* EvilCounterpart: Mad Dog in "Soldier of Misfortune" is Dale without the incompetence, cowardice or moral compass. Dale is able to outwit Mad Dog by playing on his paranoia and HairTriggerTemper.
* {{Expy}}: His appearance is modeled after Creator/HunterSThompson. His speech, personality, and beliefs are all modeled after Creator/WilliamSBurroughs.
* FatAndSkinny: Frequently pairs off into a classic example of this with Bill, where he is naturally the skinny one.
* {{Foil}}: To Hank, who is his complete opposite. Hank is handy, athletic, incredibly straight-laced, reliable, and extremely competent at his job, but is emotionally stunted and naive. Dale is paranoid, libertarian, scrawny, and incompetent at just about anything that doesn't have to do with killing bugs, conspiracy theories, or government loopholes, but is a loving family man with a broader perspective on life.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Choleric.
* GeniusDitz: He's a delusional idiot, no question about it, but he also shows rare flashes of genuine cunning.
** Dale seems to have genuine skill in foreign languages, as he's seen speaking Russian, Spanish and Tagalog on various occasions.
** His conspiracy theories have given him enough understanding of the government that, with no formal legal training, he is able to get John Redcorn a [=FOIA=] request processed quickly (such requests often take months, if they are answered at all) and also has the government return 12 acres of land stolen from the latter's tribe (but is still unable to comprehend that John Redcorn was sleeping with his wife.)
** "Dale to the Chief" shows that he has an intimate knowledge of government officials and their relations, and uses that to force an ObstructiveBureaucrat to fix an error in Hank's license.
* GoKartingWithBowser: As much as he dislikes Peggy, they join forces a number of times: "A Bill Full of Dollars," "Peggy's Gone to Pots" (though that was because they both realized that the trouble they were in is so great that it would take a murder-suicide to make it go away, and since they hate each other, they do legitimately consider it) and "Full Metal Dust Jacket" come to mind.
* GunNut: Goes hand in hand with being a Crazy Survivalist, and he is also quite the MilesGloriosus about his exploits.
* HeroWorshipper: Like the rest of the guys, Dale deifies Hank. When Dale prints his own currency he puts Hank on the $100 bill.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** When it comes to an episode that in some way deals with Nancy's affair with John Redcorn and their child that came from it, just about all of Dale's dialogue will be heavily laced with hypocritical statements. Not because he knows about the affair, but solely for RuleOfFunny.
** He's paranoid about federal interference in his personal life, but a lot episodes highlight his invasion of his friends and neighbors' privacy on a whim.
* {{Jerkass}}: Pesters Hank on multiple occasions, and is even likely to [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yes, he's shallow, selfish, tactless, cowardly, unethical and quick to blame everybody and anybody else for whatever problem he caused. However, to say he ''loves'' his wife and son is a huge understatement. He dotes on his son Joseph, even though he isn't even Dale's biological son, putting him before everything else in the universe and defending him with his life despite his cowardly nature. He worships the ground his wife walks on and treats her like royalty, which she does not even deserve, having cheated on him for fourteen years (and when another woman comes on to him, his only reaction is confusion; he can't understand why she's even trying, because ''he's married'' and that's all there is to it). Also, on numerous occasions, he risks his life and/or sacrifices himself for Hank. For example, secretly switching Hank's low-running oxygen tank for his own full one before going to put out a fire. He was also willing to help John Redcorn get his tribe's land back from the federal government to make up for accidentally hitting him over the head with a lamp.
* KavorkaMan: He's not really ugly, but he's pasty, pencil-thin, and rapidly going bald. He still managed to attract Nancy and a beautiful female exterminator (voiced by Jennifer Coolidge).
* LargeHam
* TheLoad: Attempt depending on Dale in any way at your own risk.
* MustHaveCaffeine: He loves his Mountain Dew to the point that he tried to stockpile several 55-gallon drums of the stuff to prepare for Y2K, and when he donates a kidney to an IllBoy, he instructs the kid to be sure and give the organ one can of Dew per week ("He likes it").
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
* ObstructiveZealot: Dale's fanatical anti-government views cause Hank no end of grief. When his beliefs are inverted into blind patriotism, he gets even worse.
* OddFriendship: With Minh. His friendship with Hank is also an example, as, in spite of their closeness, they couldn't be more different people.
* PapaWolf: In "Dale to the Chief," when he hears Joseph suddenly cry out in his room (because he's having a bad dream), Dale bursts in there with a loaded gun in each hand ready to kick the ass of whoever is bothering Joseph. For someone as cowardly as Dale, that's pretty ballsy.
* PetTheDog: On ''very'' rare occasions, he actually does manage to be a really good friend.
** An example of this is when he kept trying to convince Bill that people really viewed him as a freak when he started participating in hot dog eating contests. Dale wasn't doing it to be malicious, but because he had a similar experience when he was a kid.
--->'''Dale:''' Remember, Bill. Just because you have their attention, doesn't mean you have their respect.
** A more consistent example would be his relationship with his family. He's a loving (if incredibly eccentric) husband and father who is extremely open-minded about both his wife and son's life choices.
** Also he was perfectly fine with his dad turning out to be gay. However, he was ready to disown him when he thought his dad was a federal agent.
** At the end of "King of the Ant Hill," he risks his life saving Bobby from a swarm of fire ants. (That he had intentionally infested Hank's yard with himself in the first place, but still...)
* PrecisionFStrike: Drops the one use of the f-word in the entire show (bleeped, naturally), after spending 60 hours straight behind a microphone for his pirate radio station.
* ProperlyParanoid:
** In "Untitled Black [=McCormick=] Project", Dale had some suspicions about the daughter of Bill's new girlfriend and despite Hank telling him not to ruin it for Bill, Dale managed to get a hair sample from the girl to run a DNA test. As it turned out, [[spoiler: the girl was Joseph's half sister.]] There's also Operation Infinite Walrus. In that instance, even Dale seems surprised that his theory is correct. [[spoiler: Subverted, when it turns out Bill was just given a placebo]].
** In "Megalo-Dale," Dale becomes convinced that Chuck Mangione is living inside the Megalo-Mart judging by the excrement left by the supposed rat infestation and by examining the bite marks seen around the store. [[spoiler: He was right on all accounts. Chuck was living in the store to hide out from the contract he got sucked into by the Megalo-Mart corporation.]]
* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: A relatively harmless and comedic example; Dale has all of the ideological requirements, but is a lousy shot and a feeble coward to boot. He's mostly content to avoid the government rather than oppose it outright.
* {{Schemer}}: His various schemes frequently make up the episodes' b-plots.
* SitcomArchnemesis: He really hates Peggy, often being the only person InUniverse to call her out for stupid behavior. Though some episodes take this UpToEleven, like Dale gloating over Peggy's disastrous birthday party.
* SunglassesAtNight: More like, "Sunglasses 24/7/365."
* TheSchizophreniaConspiracy: In one episode, he gets sent to a mental institution because he lectures a clinic administrator on why more people are getting allergic to peanuts, because apparently they are tired of being eaten and have begun emitting a poison as a defense; when Hank sorts everything out and explains that Dale was never admitted to the hospital, he mentions the psychiatrist wants Dale to continue taking his medication. After this episode, Dale seems to become more aware of his own odder tendencies, and is, along with Bill, eager to convince Hank that Kahn, a manic-depressive, needs his medication to function.
* ThousandYardStare: On the rare occasions he ''doesn't'' wear his sunglasses.
* UglyGuyHotWife: While Dale isn't exactly ugly, he's still a scrawny weirdo who is nowhere near as attractive as his bombshell of a wife is.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Dale has suggested killing (or attempted to kill) his friends on many occasions. A main reason Hank puts up with him is that he's too incompetent to really pull it off.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Nancy Hicks-Gribble]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nancy_2_4808.jpg]]
Dale's wife is a reporter for a local Arlen TV station. Smarter and more responsible than Dale, she nonetheless has a 14 year affair with John Redcorn which Dale never learns about. She eventually breaks it off, but not before she gives birth to a child whom Dale is convinced is his own flesh and blood. Voiced by Ashley Gardner.
----
* BitchInSheepsClothing: A less extreme example than most, but she is one of the most beautiful female characters on the show, has a charming personality, and a great public image. But even once you get past the decade plus affair, she can come off as the most vindictive and two-faced person on the block. In episodes like "Gone with the Windstorm" and "Nancy Does Dallas", she makes no bones about her willingness to destroy her coworkers' careers for personal advancement. This is lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs in "Gone with the Windstorm."
-->'''Peggy:''' You may look like a Southern Bell, but instead you're as vicious as a bull dog. Why, I've seen you ruin whole wedding showers with one catty remark.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** She cheated on Dale with John Redcorn, and [[spoiler: John Redcorn cheated on her with some "isolated incidents."]]
** This is acknowledged when she realized Dale was being hit on by a very attractive female exterminator shortly after she broke off her affair. Nancy feels too guilty to tell him not to see her, so she has to watch them grow ever closer. [[spoiler: Dale never has an affair, though.]]
* HotScoop: When she shifts careers from weather-girl to investigative reporter.
* HypocriticalHumor: The earlier seasons would have a lot of gags of her passing serious judgment on the other characters, blind to the fact that she was an adulteress. One quick scene had her shake her head disapprovingly when she saw Hank walk (horrified) out of the porno section of a video store, ignoring that she was walking through that same store with her lover.
* InTheBlood: [[spoiler: Nancy cheated on Dale, just like her mother cheated on her father, and is now going bald after breaking off the affair.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** She cheated on her husband for fourteen years, and had her son Joseph by John Redcorn. The only two people who aren't aware of Nancy's affair are Dale and Joseph. She also only slept with Dale on Christmas and his birthdays until she broke it off with John Redcorn. It seemed that Nancy managed to get away with her fourteen years of unfaithfulness, until [[spoiler: her hair started to fall out as a result of breaking it off with John Redcorn, according to her mother.]]
** [[spoiler: She gets it earlier when we learn that John Redcorn had actually been seeing other women while he was seeing her, and there's the highly probable chance that he conceived his daughter Kate on the same day he conceived Joseph.]]
** This was once averted when she sees clearly that an attractive exterminator has a crush on Dale, and sees the potential for Dale to start doing to her what she did to him for years. Fortunately for her, Dale is a devoted husband who would never cheat on her and stopped hanging out with the other exterminator when he found out.
* MoralityPet: To [[PsychopathicManchild Dale]]. With most people, Dale is paranoid, suspicious, and really pretty selfish. However, he's an incredibly loving and devoted husband and father (even though his son is not biologically his). Despite all his craziness, he's actually a better family man than Hank in some ways: unlike Hank, Dale has no problem showing affection toward his family or saying "I love you."
* NoodleIncident: "Do you ever wonder what happened to the weather caster before me?"
* StacysMom: Bobby admitted to Peggy that he considers Nancy to be a very beautiful woman.
* SympatheticAdulterer: She's never given a really sympathetic reason for cheating on Dale (Dale ''is'' legitimately hard to live with, but that doesn't actually seem to be her motivation). However, she becomes fairly sympathetic once she realizes how badly she abused his trust and makes a painful decision to break off her relationship with John Redcorn. Even before that, the fact that her affair with John Redcorn is far more complicated than a cheap side fling -- they've been carrying it on for thirteen years and are actually quite devoted to each other -- arguably makes it harder to judge her.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Blonde, pouty lipped, in shape woman. Married to a bald, unhinged, skinny nutjob.
* VerbalTic: She calls everyone "Shug" -- even {{God}}.
-->'''Nancy''': [[ItMakesSenseInContext Why is God ruining my special day?!]] (''Skyward'') Why, Shug?!
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Deconstructed: it's implied that Nancy fell for Dale, largely because he legitimately loved her and that she didn't start sleeping around on him until they were already married for two years. Furthermore, it's implied that Nancy was driven to John Redcorn, originally for legitimate headache treatment, due to Dale's antics, which ironically keeps Nancy's bitchiness in check since she is too busy cleaning up Dale's messes to scheme anymore.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Joseph John Gribble]]
[[quoteright:179:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_koths1e10015_3042.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:179:Before puberty.]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_11493_6406.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:210:And after.]]
Nancy and John Redcorn's son. Joseph is an awkward, dim, and horny young man who spends most of his time hanging out with Bobby. Like Dale, he has no idea that John Redcorn is his biological father. Creator/BrittanyMurphy voiced him from 1997-2000; from 2000 to the show's end in 2009, Joseph was voiced by Breckin Meyer.
----
* BrainlessBeauty: When he hits puberty, he becomes taller and more muscular, and is noted to be quite handsome in-universe. In exchange, however, he seems to have lost a few brain cells.
* ChocolateBaby: Is half Caucasian and Native American, being raised by his (both) Caucasian parents Nancy and Dale.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He was a tad off to start with, but he becomes a crackpot akin to his dad when he hits puberty.
* CoolLoser: Actually a completely justified example. He's tall, athletic and quite attractive, but he's just ''so'' awkward that he tends to act like a complete creep when talking to pretty much anyone. This is in contrast to Bobby, who is short, fat and pretty ugly-looking but manages to be pretty popular through sheer charisma.
* CrossdressingVoices: Until his growth spurt, Joseph was voiced by a woman (Brittany Murphy).
* TheDitz: When he hit puberty, though some of it might be from having Dale for a father.
* DumbJock: His growth spurt seemed to simultaneously make him athletically stronger and intellectually dumber. He eventually joins the football team in high school.
* {{Flanderization}}: He was always mildly awkward and a bit dim, but it ''really'' got ratcheted up in the later seasons. Somewhat justified, as he's going through puberty, which is an awkward time for a lot of kids and it does screw with their behavior.[[note]]However, it doesn't explain how Joseph went from Bobby's more streetwise friend to practically a [[TheDitz ditz]] who needs Bobby to tell him how to function basically. This is even evident in Breckin Meyer's voicing of the character. In Joseph's early post-puberty episodes, his voice is mellow and slightly accented; later on, it becomes positively manic.[[/note]] Then there's the fact that a conspiracy nut like Dale mostly raised him and John Redcorn didn't...
* HesAllGrownUp: Played with. After he hits puberty, he becomes taller and more muscular, and is generally seen as being fairly handsome. Despite this, however, he becomes, much, ''much'' more awkward and hormonal, which makes him substantially more off-putting than he ever was as a kid. This is visually signified by his perpetual skeezy-looking peach fuzz, which completely counteracts his otherwise attractive face.
* InTheBlood: Seems to have inherited John Redcorn's libido ''and'' some of Dale's delusional tendencies. This is also an example of NatureVersusNurture. John Redcorn's genes make Joseph tall and athletic, but he is awkward and has poor social skills thanks to Dale's influence.
* JerkJock: Averted. Despite being a star football player in the later seasons, he's more a DumbJock than a jerk and he's still friends with Bobby (who would normally get bullied by jerk jocks).
* MoralityPet: To [[PsychopathicManchild Dale]]. With most people, Dale is paranoid, suspicious, and really pretty selfish. However, he's an incredibly loving and devoted husband and father (even though his son is not biologically his). Despite all his craziness, he's actually a better family man than Hank in some ways: unlike Hank, Dale has no problem showing affection toward his family or saying "I love you."
* PermaStubble: His permanent peach fuzz mustache.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: He'd be the spitting image of his biological father as a teenager were it not for his [[PermaStubble Perma Peach Fuzz]]. Despite this, neither he nor Dale seem to notice the resemblance at all.
* TookALevelInDumbass: It seems as if some of his brain cells apparently died off when he hit puberty.
* VisualDevelopment: When he starts puberty. Not only does he get taller and grow a crappy moustache, his clothing changes to reflect his shift in personality from confident jock to awkward ditz. When he was younger he wore a green shirt and white shorts, the same colors as John Redcorn's clothes, while after puberty he switched to blue and brown clothes, the same colors Dale wears.
* YoungerThanHeLooks: At 13, he resembles more a high schooler or even a young 20-something man after hitting puberty. He was even offered the wine menu by a waitress.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kahn Souphanousinphone]]
[[quoteright:209:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kahn-002_5071.jpg]]
This irritable Laotian businessman moved onto Rainey Street with his wife and daughter in series's first season. In a twist on the time-tested PositiveDiscrimination trope, Kahn is regularly rude towards his neighbors and dismisses them as dumb rednecks. Nobody really listens to him, however, especially not his daughter, Connie. Voiced by Toby Huss.
----
* ActionDad: In "The Redneck on Rainey Street," Kahn displays significant skill as a martial artist when he gets into a fight with another redneck. This is notably the only time in the series that he actually gets into a fistfight.
* AnnoyingLaugh: Can be describes as a combination of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} The Penguin]] and that annoying purple surfing fish from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants''.
* AmbiguousDisorder: For a while, but in "Just Another Manic Kahn-Day," it's revealed he has manic depressive mood swings and needs to take medication for it (and the medication does make him act like a jerk sometimes, but it's better that than having boundless energy one day and being utterly depressed and listless the next).
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: A parental version. After the children are lost in the caves and he and Hank get lost looking for her, they all get rescued and rather than be stern with her, he's so relieved that he takes her out for ice cream. And tetanus shots. This is the case in the finale when Kahn tells Connie to take a night off from studying.
* BoomerangBigot: He has even less respect for Laotian culture than Hank, his friends, and even Cotton.
* CrankyNeighbor
* EducationMama: A male example. Drills Connie to be uber smart and successful.
* {{Foil}}: Acts as one of the many towards Hank. Their names are even anagrams of each others to reinforce this idea.
* FreudianExcuse: In "Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men", he admits to having "father issues." His [[ObnoxiousInLaws jerk father-in-law]] probably doesn't help either.
* FunnyForeigner: Averted; most of the humor comes from Kahn trying to be as non-foreign as possible.
* GrumpyBear
* HiddenDepths:
** He seems like a pretty stereotypical depiction of an Asian-American at first, but you eventually find out his tightly wound personality has nothing to do with his ethnicity or culture, and everything to do with his family life and brain chemistry.
** His manic depression revealed that he's very good at robotics, even though his official job is systems analyst.
* HollywoodToneDeaf: A RunningGag. It was even made the subject of an episode where Kahn sings karaoke. Made doubly annoying/funny by Kahn's affection for '80s pop music.
-->'''Hank''': Pretty good job, Kahn. I never heard [[Music/ThomasDolby that song]] with only one note before.\\
'''Kahn''': Yeah, it all about rhythm.
* HotBloodedSideburns: Grows a pair in "The Redneck of Rainey Street", and becomes more short-tempered along with it.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: Acts this way after returning to America from Mexico in "Three Days of the Kahn-Do", but mostly just to rub into Hank that he legally got his citizenship while Hank technically [[ItMakesSenseInContext sneaked into the country illegally.]]
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Averted, with several episodes focusing on Kahn and Minh's Laotian background. It takes Hank and company awhile to catch on, though.
-->'''Hank:''' So, are you Chinese or Japanese?\\
'''Kahn:''' I live in California last twenty year, but uh, first come from Laos.\\
'''Hank:''' Huh?\\
'''Kahn:''' Laos. We Laotian.\\
'''Bill:''' [[{{Mondegreen}} The ocean?]] What ocean?\\
'''Kahn:''' We are Laotian, from Laos, stupid! It's a landlocked country in southeast Asia, it's between Vietnam and Thailand! Population 4.7 million!\\
'''Hank:''' ''(after a moment of pondering)'' ...So, are you Chinese or Japanese?
* JerkAss: Generally presented as a rude and short-tempered showboat who intentionally does things to anger and annoy other people.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Kahn gives two of these in "Maid in Arlen". The first is when the other neighbors take advantage of his mother, pointing out that Hank would have been furious if he did the same thing with the latter's mother. The second is after it's discovered that he sabotaged the relationship between his mother and Bill. While receiving accusatory glares from everyone, Kahn unapologetically demanded to know if any of them wouldn't have done the same thing if they were in his situation. No one says anything.
** In "Death of a Propane Salesman," he's the one who calls Luanne out for her bizarre, misguided attempts at becoming socially aware after Buckley's death, forcing her to confront her feelings about him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a pretty terrible person most of the time, but he does genuinely love Connie and Minh, and if pressed, really, ''really'' pressed, he'll even admit that he considers Hank a friend.
* {{Narcissist}}: Quite full of himself, and goes to great lengths to display his accomplishments to his neighbors as loudly as he possibly can.
* NotSoDifferent: With Hank, to the point where they become VitriolicBestBuds in later seasons. This is the explicit moral of his early episodes, though [[AesopAmnesia he tends to forget it]].
* OddFriendship: With Buckley. Though he implies he liked Buckley mainly because he annoyed Hank.
* PetTheDog:
** Saving Hank from the border guards in "Three Days of the Kahn-Do." Singing "Blue Moon Over Kentucky" with Bobby and Connie in "The Bluegrass Is Always Greener" for another.
** His last scene in "To Sirloin with Love." He tells Connie that she can stop studying (she's three grades ahead anyway) and come to the barbecue next door. Also in the last aired episode "Just Another Manic Kahn-Day," he and Hank have a burger from the high-tech grill and realize that they're not so different (their names are even anagrams of each others').
** In the episode where the kids get lost in the caves, Kahn tells Hank he's afraid Joseph might [[ThisAndThat try something]] with Connie, but says "Bobby's a good kid" so he knows Bobby would never do anything like that.
* {{Pride}}: Frequently motivated entirely by his desire to show others up.
* PoirotSpeak: Does this to a degree, but not to the same extent as Minh does.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: When it comes to Ted Wassonasong, to the point of HoYay, but even he's got limits.
* SignificantAnagram: "Khan" is an anagram of "Hank".
* SixthRanger: Occasionally acts as a fifth member of Hank's friend group.
* SmugSnake: Very full of himself, but frequently lacks the skills necessary to back his boasts up.
* VitriolicBestBuds: By the later episodes, it's hard to deny that he and Hank have genuinely become friends. Despite this, their relationship is still incredibly antagonistic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Minh Souphanousinphone]]
[[quoteright:249:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minh.jpg]]
Kahn's wife. Just as materialistic and spiteful as him, but a smidgen more down to earth. Voiced by Creator/LaurenTom.
----
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She chose Kahn, a rebel from a working-class background, over the boring "corporate boy" her father pushed on her.
* BoomerangBigot: Not quite as much as Kahn, but she's definitely close.
* CrankyNeighbor: She's generally more pleasant and tolerant than Kahn is, though.
* DeadpanSnarker: At least, her insults are usually more clever and better thought-out than Kahn's.
* GoodParents: Really loving and protective of Connie.
* GrumpyBear: Her neutral mood seems to be "angry".
* FullNameBasis: Calls Peggy, Hank and other characters by their full name.
* {{Jerkass}}: Usually openly rude and dismissive of others for no good reason.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Like Kahn, you really gotta dig deep to see it. But it's there. Unlike her husband, who is often deliberately hostile and condescending to his neighbors, Minh seems to honestly be nice, but often thoughtlessly says arrogant or dismissive things.
* {{Narcissist}}: Like her husband, she values posturing above all other things.
* OddFriendship: With Dale in "The Minh Who Knew Too Much". There's also "Bill Full of Dollars" when she joins Dale and Peggy in their stock investment schemes.
* {{Pride}}: Seemingly driven entirely by her desire to be the best at everything.
* PoirotSpeak: Out of all the Souphanousinphones, she speaks the least fluent English.
* SmugSnake: Acts like she's above almost everyone that she interacts with, despite not having much to back up her boasts.
* StacysMom: Joseph developed a short-lived crush on her. This was mainly due to him having ''just'' hit puberty and experiencing the onslaught of confusion and distress that comes with it. Bobby is also attracted of her as he admitted to Peggy that he considers Minh to be a very beautiful woman.
* WomenAreWiser: Mostly averted; she's greedy, ambitious and kind of a jerkass just like her husband, but she is ''slightly'' more willing to interact with her neighbors than Kahn is. She's much more accepting of Bobby and Connie's relationship than Khan, though; in "Father of the Bribe", when it looks like they might break up, Minh [[LetMeTellYouAStory tells Connie how she and Khan met]] and that, despite their differences, she knew he was right for her, and that the only person who knows if Bobby is right for Connie is Connie herself.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kahn "Connie" Souphanousinphone, Jr.]]
[[quoteright:241:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/conniec_8200.jpg]]
The overachieving daughter of Kahn and Mihn. Voiced by Creator/LaurenTom.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: A sweet, slightly nerdy girl who finds Bobby genuinely charming.
* AsianAndNerdy: Subverted in that while she's very smart, [[IJustWantToBeNormal she would prefer to be herself instead of pursue what her father wants.]]
* BrainyBrunette: She has black hair and is an intelligent academic.
* ButNotTooForeign: Unlike her parents, she does not speak broken English and has an American accent.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Bobby.
* ChubbyChaser: She's genuinely physically attracted to Bobby, though she does show affection for slimmer guys on a few occasions.
* DemotedToExtra: She becomes less important after she and Bobby break up, but they still remain friends.
* GenderBlenderName: Justified as Kahn wanted a son.
* GirlNextDoor: She fills this role for Bobby, and fits the profile perfectly.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Frequently annoyed by her parents constantly pushing her into being an overachiever.
* NiceGirl: Generally a friendly and pleasant girl who gets along with everyone she meets.
* OnlySaneMan: Arguably the truest one in the whole series, as she lacks any of the character flaws prominent in most of the other characters, such as Hank's unwillingness to show emotion.
* OutOfFocus: See DemotedToExtra above.
* PluckyGirl: In "The Redneck on Rainey Street", Hank mentions to Kahn how hard Connie has been working while her parents gave up. In his words, "you couldn't bring that girl down with you if you tried."
* TheSmartGirl: She's very intelligent and does excellently in school.
* StraightMan" Mostly to Bobby, though she occasionally plays one to her parents and other members of the cast.
[[/folder]]
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Guillaume Fontaine de la Tour "Bill" Dauterive]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_6992_2382.jpg]]
Bill, one of Hank's closest friends, was a promising high school football player who later joined the Army with big hopes and dreams. He married someone he thought was the perfect woman, but that relationship soon went south and never looked back, and Bill found a new companion in the throes of laziness, regressed to a washed up and rotund balding man. Now middle aged, broke, and divorced, Bill's constantly depressed and full of self-loathing. The guys try to put up with him as best they can. Voiced by Creator/StephenRoot.
----
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Occasionally when things actually go well for him.
* AloneAmongTheCouples: Happens to Bill several times. Several of the episodes that revolve around him focus on his misery at being alone while Hank and Dale are married and Boomhauer always has a new girl.
* AnimalsHateHim: Dale acquired a falcon in one episode, and every time he took its hood off, it would start attacking Bill for no apparent reason. Then, after Dale states he set the falcon free in the woods, Bill starts a conversation about sausages and the falcon appears out of nowhere and starts attacking him again. He's also been attacked by emus and a rottweiler. It should be noted the rottweiler was just mean in general, as he's been shown to be friendly with other dogs. It's just birds that hate him.
* AttentionWhore: Almost anytime Bill finds himself successful or liked for doing something, he'll continue to put all of his time and effort into whatever it is he is doing until it eventually ruins him. Notable examples include when he dressed as Santa and entertained children, continuing this until well into February, or after finding out Peggy, Dale and Minh were secretly using him as an everyman to base their stock purchases on, he wastes away all of his money and ownings just to get their attention again.
* AwesomeMccoolname: His full name is Guillaume Fontaine de la Tour D'Haute-Rive which is French for "Strong-Willed Warrior Fountain of the Tower of the Upper Bank."
* BadassDecay: In-universe example. He was exceptionally strong in his youth, able to hold off three big angry punks at a bar without getting a scratch. Depression ruined him but flashes of the old Bill do emerge from time to time.
* BeadyEyedLoser: Is drawn with sad-looking circular eyes unlike most other characters.
* BigEater:
** Once entered a Competitive Eating Contest and was a marked favorite to win. In the same episode, he ate an entire platter of hot dogs Hank had cooked for the whole neighborhood. This is met with disgust by those in attendance, although Hank is awed at Bill's ability to do such a thing.
** It bites him in ass in "Dia-BILL-ic Shock'', when he finds that his eating habits have given him diabetes.
* [[BunnyEarsLawyer Bunny Ears Barber]]: The man is a mess in practically every aspect of life. But he's a ''damn'' good barber.
* ButtMonkey: Always.
* [[CallingTheOldManOut Calling the Ex-Wife Out]]: In "Pretty, Pretty Dresses", when Hank forces him to admit that she won't come back, he snaps and starts dressing as and pretending to be Lenore. Hank resolves the situation by doing the same, telling Bill "I'm the real Lenore, and I don't love you", which finally gives him the chance to get closure by venting at "Lenore" and telling "her" off the way he was never brave enough to do in the past.
* CharacterDevelopment: Possibly the show's shining example. Bill starts the show obsessed with his ex-wife Lenore (and Peggy to an extent), self-loathing and suicidally depressed. While retaining many of his flaws throughout the series, Bill does shed most of these traits, gains healthier relations with his friends and certainly recoups most of his self-esteem.
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: A couple of episodes show him to be a skilled chef when he's cooking for other people. When eating alone, it's usually a frozen dinner or eating straight out of a can. His low self-esteem and desire to please other people might have a hand in it.
* ChekhovsSkill: His "Billdozer" abilities still come in handy sometimes.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: If sufficiently riled, he's a force to be reckoned with. Out of the four man band, he's second only to Hank in terms of fighting capability and it's always a good idea to remember that while he is a barber, he's an Army-trained barber. Even Boomhauer, who's [[spoiler:a Texas Ranger]], is wary of tangling with a pissed off Bill.
* {{Crossdresser}}: During his insane spell at Christmas time, he dresses like a woman and pretends to be Lenore.
* TheDitz
* DrunkWithPower: Anytime Bill gets put into a position of authority, expect it to go straight to his head.
* EloquentInTheirNativeTongue: He sounds much less oafish when he speaks Creole.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Eats garbage on a semi-regular basis, not to mention his fondness for dog-hormone biscuits.
* FatAndSkinny: Frequently pairs off into a classic example of this with Dale, where he naturally plays the fat one.
* FatBestFriend: Noticeably heavier than Hank, who's not exactly trim and fit himself.
* FatIdiot: His issues blind his better judgement at times.
* FatSlob: He's a testament to bad hygiene.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Sanguine.
* FreudianExcuse: It's strongly implied that he had an abusive relationship with his father. In perhaps unintentional foreshadowing for "Pretty, Pretty Dresses," it's mentioned in a Season 2 episode that Bill's dad made him dress up in girl's clothing to humiliate him. There is also his ex-wife leaving him.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: While Dale and Peggy are the most openly contemptuous of him, pretty much everyone casually insults him on a regular basis. It's often implied that he's kept around because Hank feels obligated to.
* {{Gonk}}
* GroinAttack: Would constantly receive one to the point where it became a RunningGag.
* HairTodayGoneTomorrow: Had hair akin to [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]] when he was younger. Then he got it buzzed in the Army. Then he went bald.
* HeroicBSOD:
** A particularly sad case. After his wife, Lenore, leaves him, Bill spends a long time convincing himself that she'll be back. This mentality eventually cultivates in him breaking down into depression and suicidal impulses during a ChristmasEpisode. He gets over it in the same episode.
** Another example is when he finds out that he's been unknowingly used as a guinea pig to test a super soldier formula that would give him attributes of a walrus, which explains his current appearance. This is even worse when you see flashbacks of him where he was physically fit and a borderline example of TheAce, leaving him in depression which leads to him stealing a tank. It's later revealed that he only received a placebo, meaning everything wrong with his life really ''is'' his fault.
* HiddenDepths:
** Hidden behind his failures, Bill is shown to be an ''excellent'' barber and professional caregiver.
** He also speaks French (Creole, not European) and can play a zydeco-style accordion.
* HollywoodDateless: Despite being pudgy, homely, and so desperate to please that he comes off as a creep, nearly every episode centered around Bill involves him getting involved with a smart, attractive, successful, kind-hearted woman who genuinely likes him. [[StatusQuoIsGod He usually manages to mess it up by the end of the episode]].
* IWasQuiteALooker: In his youth, he was in excellent shape and was a star football player for Arlen High, and he had "hair like Roger Daltrey".
* {{Jerkass}}: He may consider Hank his best friend, but this man never stops for a single vulnerable moment whenever there is tension between Hank and Peggy just to get closer to her, or whenever there are moments when Hank and Peggy are enjoying their time together in front of him. Hank always brushes him off, though.
* JerkassBall: Has his moments, like in "Après Hank, le Deluge", where he has Hank locked up in a cage after the town blames the latter for negligence.
* TheJuggernaut: On the football field, where fans dubbed him "[[InSeriesNickname The Billdozer]]".
* KavorkaMan: For all his unattractiveness, he has dated Reverend Stroup, Charlene, Ann Richards, and Kahn's mother.
* LazyBum
* ObliviousToLove: In "It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Neighbor Sings", Bill fails to pick up on the not so subtle hints that Reverend Stroup gave him.
* ThePigPen: He's not visibly dirty, but his awful breath and body odor are often commented on.
* RaginCajun: It's well-hidden most of the time, but it's there. For the most part he's a depressed sad-sack who's been beaten down by life and a total ButtMonkey, but if anyone manages to really piss him off, it ''ain't'' gonna be pretty.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: As if the poor guy didn't have enough things working against him, he also shrieks in a decidedly un-manly way in response to danger.
* SelfDeprecation: During his story in the RashomonStyle episode, he is fatter and balder than he usually is. However, since the episode was a ShoutOut of sorts to ''Film/TheThreeStooges'', he might have been seeing himself as Curly.
* StalkerWithACrush:
** He is obsessed with Peggy. In "The Texas Skilsaw Massacre", he tells Hank "I once made a vest out of your wife's underpants". In another episode, he steals Peggy's used body cast from the garbage, takes it to his house, puts a picture of Peggy where the head would be and plays Boggle with it.
** He's also uncomfortably fond of Hank, hanging on every word he says and being freakishly attached to their friendship, to the point of idolizing him.
** His stalker tendencies are referred to by Peggy in "The Nut Before Christmas" where upon hearing that Bill has a date, Peggy is happy to hear that Bill "will be spending time with a woman who knows he's there."
** In "Escape from Party Island", he tries to unsuccessfully win Peggy over while Hank is watching over his mom and her friends. This episode dialed Bill's stalker tendencies UpToEleven from the way he told Bobby "you know how your mother and I worry about you" to revealing he held on to a spare key the Hills gave him when they went on vacation. ''Six years ago''. This leads to a moment of FridgeHorror when you stop to consider Bill could've gone into their house whenever he wanted and they probably never knew.
* StatusQuoIsGod: The plot of most Bill-focused episodes is as follows: Bill finds something he's really good at, or someone who actually likes him, and starts turning his life around; something turns out to be wrong with the situation, so his friends convince him to give up his new activity; Bill returns to being a sad sack and no one even suggests that he just try finding a new way to pursue his passion. While his reconciliation with his ex-wife was dropped in the same episode, his dating Kahn's mom was referenced vaguely the following episode, with it implied that Bobby accidentally jinxed the relationship with a tarot card reading.
* {{Tuckerization}}: He shares a last name with the co-producer.
* ThrowTheDogABone:
** In "A Beer Can Named Desire", he visits family in New Orleans and gets the attention of three attractive cousins (one by blood, two by marriage). While the Hills are at the Cowboys-Saints game, Bill finds out which cousin is blood-related and sleeps with the two who aren't.
** There is also his relationship with ''Ann Richards'', and finally getting back at his ex-wife.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: "Après Hank, le Deluge" is a triumphant example.
* WorthIt: Claims to have made most of his life decisions at a Foghat concert. He stands by them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jeff Boomhauer]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_6993.jpg]]
A ''very'' fast-talking ladies man and one of Hank's childhood friends. His dialect can be hard to keep up with, but none of his friends seem to have any trouble talking to him. His full name is [[spoiler:Jeffrey Dexter]] Boomhauer. Voiced by Mike Judge.
----
* TheAce: Initially portrayed as this, but his flaws become clearer later on. Even with his flaws more apparent, though, he's still an attractive, intelligent and modestly wealthy man who seems to enjoy himself on a day to day basis much more than any of his friends do.
* BlackBeadEyes: Notably the only main character to possess these.
* TheCasanova: For the first six seasons. See CharacterizationMarchesOn.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Boomhauer's womanizing was considerably toned down after getting his heart broken in season 6 ("Dang Ol' Love"). Might be straight CharacterDevelopment, as it's implied that he learned from that experience and he's even seen in an apparently serious relationship in "Uh-Oh Canada".
* ChickMagnet: He's very popular with the ladies.
* CoolCar: His classic Dodge Charger.
* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: A grown up example with both Dale and Bill. He's a handsome, confident and levelheaded playboy while Dale is a weirdo ConspiracyTheorist and Bill is a FatIdiot with cripplingly low self-esteem. Despite this, he constantly hangs out with both of them and even frequently willingly participates in their [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]].
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: Justified, in that he spends a lot of time outdoors and has a tanning bed in his house.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Depending on the episode he's in, Boomhauer is either standing aside (on account of being the OnlySaneMan or [[LockedOutOfTheLoop not even a part of whatever kind of zany things Bill and Dale are doing]]), or he's going along with them.
* EverybodyHasStandards: He may be a chronic womanizer, but even he takes exception to cheating on one's fiance/wife. When Luanne briefly moves in with him, he's quick to assure Hank that nothing amorous is going on.
* {{Foil}}: To Bill. Where Bill is a fat, slovenly, self-hating cuckold, Boomhauer is a lean, relaxed, introspective ladies man.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Phlegmatic.
* GenerationXerox: Apparently, Boomhauer's unintelligible way of speaking was passed down from his mother, who also talks like that. And his Meemaw, for that matter. Patch as well.
* HiddenDepths:
** Boomhauer is possibly the most philosophical and intellectual character on the show. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88V9IcwtIeM Just listen to him explain the meaning of life.]]
** In "Four Wave Intersection", we learn he was a talented surfer in his youth.
** He turns out to have an excellent singing voice that is free from his usual MotorMouth and [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]] and perfect for singing bluegrass.
** At the end of "To Sirloin with Love," it's revealed that he somehow has a job with [[spoiler:the Texas Rangers.]]
** He seems well-versed in governmental legalese, in "The Arrowhead".[[note]]This overlaps with EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, as this would become more of a Dale trait later on.[[/note]]
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: To the people that know him well, including the viewer, if they've heard him speak enough times.
* KavorkaMan: He's not bad-looking, but he is damn near incomprehensible to anyone he isn't friends with, which makes his excellent skills with the ladies somewhat improbable.
* LadykillerInLove: In one episode, which showed his HiddenDepths.
* LastNameBasis: Though his first name was revealed to be [[spoiler:Jeff.]]
* MotorMouth: [[SelfDemonstratingArticle YeahmanyaknowdatdangolBoomhauermantalksofastcantunnerstandawordhesdangolsayinman]].
** This was actually averted one time where he, Hank, Dale and Bill were telling a RashomonStyle story, and in Boomhauer's recounting of the events, everybody ''except'' him is a motormouth, and he actually [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyGfiIirD8 talks normal.]]
* MultipleChoicePast: His job/source of income on the show was given multiple explanations: one was that he was a former electric lineman on worker's comp, another was that he doesn't work because he lives off the money he won in a lottery, and a third explanation was that Boomhauer came from a moderately wealthy family and lived off a trust fund set up for him. The last episode "To Sirloin with Love" reveals that Boomhauer actually ''does'' have a job: [[spoiler:he's a member of the Texas Rangers.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's the same age as the rest of his friends, but while Hank, Bill and Dale have all gone to seed to varying degrees, Boomhauer doesn't look all that much different from when he was in high school.
* TheOneThatGotAway: His ex-girlfriend Catherine, for whom he has unresolved feelings. Boomhauer's none too happy when Catherine gets engaged to his brother Patch.
* OnlySaneMan: Will usually play this role if Hank is absent, or if Hank has been unable to get Dale and/or Bill to stop acting like idiots. Generally speaking, Boomhauer has better judgement than Dale and Bill but frequently goes along with the zany schemes they concoct regardless. Notably, he is the only one of Hank's friends who Hank genuinely seems to respect.
* OutOfFocus: The number of episodes focusing on him can be counted on one hand. Now, compare that to the amount that focus on Hank, Dale, and Bill.
* ThePhilosopher: Seems to enjoy introspection, and occasionally voices his beliefs on the human condition to his friends. Due to him being borderline-unintelligible, however, this is entirely played for laughs.
* ThePornomancer: Always seems to have a rotating series of women over at his house. One episode lightly deconstructs this by revealing that his primary method of picking up women is to simply ask out every single one he sees until one eventually says yes.
* TheQuietOne: Generally keeps quiet during conversations, but when he speaks, [[MotorMouth he ''speaks'']]. Notably, during Hank's friend group's signature "Yep" circle, he always simply grunts "Mmhm" instead of actually saying yep.
* TheReveal: On the last episode, the one where Hank finds out that Bobby knows how to find flaws in cuts of meat, not the fauxnale where Luanne gets married, it's revealed that Boomhauer ''does'' have a job, [[spoiler:as a member of the Texas Rangers. Of course, this creates continuity problems in terms of how Boomhauer could avoid everyone knowing this about him, let alone how he could keep his job without being fired for some of the run-ins he had with Hank and the gang.]]
* SingingVoiceDissonance: Unlike when he speaks, Boomhauer's singing voice is clear and actually quite nice to listen to.
* SkintoneSclerae : The lack of whites in his eyes gives him an impressive poker face.
* TheStoic: Generally about as unflappable as Hank, though he's much more willing to emote.
* TheUnintelligible: Except in TheRashomon episode, where ''everyone else'' is unintelligible when he tells his side of the story.
* VerbalTic: Intelligible parts of his speech tend to include "yeah man", "Talkin' 'bout", and "dang ol'."
* YoureJustJealous: Everyone's reaction when he tries to warn them, and his ex-girlfriend Catherine, that his brother Patch has not given up his womanizing ways. While Boomhauer is jealous that Catherine chose his brother over him, he is genuinely trying to keep her from marrying a creep who'll inevitably break her heart. Thankfully, Patch accidentally confesses to his infidelity at the end, vindicating Boomhauer.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dale Alvin Gribble]]
[[quoteright:197:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_tumblr_liu3zeh6lz1qzdypz_3534.png]]
Dale rounds out Hank's circle of friends. Dale, an exterminator by trade, is a paranoid conspiracy theorist who has prepared for just about any unlikely situation you can think of. And yet, he can't seem to figure out that his lovely wife Nancy is having an affair right under his nose. Voiced by Johnny Hardwick.
----
* AfraidOfNeedles: To the point where he has a fit over getting his blood type test.
* AgentMulder:
** Dale exemplifies this. Amusingly, the [[ChocolateBaby most obvious deception]] in his life is right in front of him, the fact that Joseph isn't biologically his, and he brushes it off as having a Jamaican grandmother whose dark skin and features skipped him and ended up with his alleged son.
** In one episode, it is revealed that he has a hugely convoluted conspiracy theory to explain this, which acts in many ways as the foundation for his other conspiracy theories.
* AnArmAndALeg/ {{Fingore}}: Hank accidentally severs his good index finger (namely, the one that holds his cigarette butts) with a circular saw when Dale sits it down right in the path of the blades in "The Texas Skillsaw Massacre". Dale takes a second to register what happened, then appropriately freaks out. Luckily, he's rushed to the hospital with the digit on ice and has it surgically reattached.
* BadLiar: In "Junkie Business", Dale applies for a job at Strickland Propane claiming to have owned and operated "Gribble & Sons Propane" out of Yuma, Arizona since 1984. He's being interviewed by Hank, who has known Dale since they were in first grade. He denies it.
* BasementDweller: Probably one of the few examples in which the character isn't a stereotypical video game/anime/role-playing game/comic book-obsessed nerd and actually is married with a child. He pretty much lived down there before Nancy stops cheating on him.
* BerserkButton: Dale loathes the idea of his privacy being invaded or being fooled. Case in point: when he thinks his lawnmower is stolen, it pushes him into a full-blown psychotic break.
* BigEater: It was revealed that Dale can actually put away more food than Bill or Bobby, in spite of his pencil-thin build. He keeps this a secret because he thinks it makes him a freak.
* BumblingDad: He loves his wife and son dearly, but his being the way that he is frequently impedes his ability to be a good patriarch.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Surprisingly good at his job as an exterminator (and his temporary job as an office worker in charge of terminating workers); in fact, it may be the ''only'' thing he's good at.
* CatchPhrase: Has been known to say "Wingo!" and "Sh-sh-sha!"
* ComedicSociopathy: He gets a lot of pleasure out of watching Peggy suffer, particularly on her birthday (and if he can lend a hand in ruining it, all the better). In "Strangeness on a Train," he finally starts to experience some degree of remorse over this.
* CallingYourAttacks: "Pocket sand!" and "ELECTRIC TOASTER!"
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Dale lives in a world of his own creation; to call him delusional is a gross understatement. The episode 'Naked Ambition' implies that many of his stranger quirks are a result of a mental illness (See TheSchizophreniaConspiracy below), and they noticeably wane after he is put on medication.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Dale thinks the fact that Joseph doesn't look like him is either from (a) a Jamaican grandmother whose dark features skipped a generation, or (b) an extraterrestrial who impregnated Nancy.
* ConspiracyTheorist: He really has only one theory, but it is a convoluted web involving the JFK assassination, time travel, aliens, UN global domination, and a worldwide computer information network conspiracy called "The Beast".
* CoolShades
* CrazySurvivalist: Parodied in episode where he imitates ''Survivor Guy'' and lives in the backyard.
* DependingOnTheWriter: In some episodes, Dale's an excellent exterminator. In others, he appears completely incompetent. Dale's general level of intelligence also seems to fluctuate between episodes. In some episodes, he's erudite enough to quote Langston Hughes or discuss the Observer Effect; other times, he thinks F-I-A-T spells Ford or that digging tunnels under the alley is a good idea. Mostly governed by RuleOfFunny.
* DirtyCoward: And he knows it. He's rather proud of it too.
* DoubleThink: Many of his [[ConspiracyTheorist conspiracy theories]] contradict each other. Hank calls him out on this more than once.
* DrunkWithPower: Dale becomes this in "The Exterminator" when he becomes the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources of Stik-Tek. The position allowed him to fire people anytime he wanted.
* EgomaniacHunter: He likes to think of himself as a badass bounty hunter, but is too cowardly to really do the job. It's probable that he became an exterminator because this allows him to hunt and kill creatures he needn't fear (though even then, he occasionally gets scared of them).
* EvilCounterpart: Mad Dog in "Soldier of Misfortune" is Dale without the incompetence, cowardice or moral compass. Dale is able to outwit Mad Dog by playing on his paranoia and HairTriggerTemper.
* {{Expy}}: His appearance is modeled after Creator/HunterSThompson. His speech, personality, and beliefs are all modeled after Creator/WilliamSBurroughs.
* FatAndSkinny: Frequently pairs off into a classic example of this with Bill, where he is naturally the skinny one.
* {{Foil}}: To Hank, who is his complete opposite. Hank is handy, athletic, incredibly straight-laced, reliable, and extremely competent at his job, but is emotionally stunted and naive. Dale is paranoid, libertarian, scrawny, and incompetent at just about anything that doesn't have to do with killing bugs, conspiracy theories, or government loopholes, but is a loving family man with a broader perspective on life.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Choleric.
* GeniusDitz: He's a delusional idiot, no question about it, but he also shows rare flashes of genuine cunning.
** Dale seems to have genuine skill in foreign languages, as he's seen speaking Russian, Spanish and Tagalog on various occasions.
** His conspiracy theories have given him enough understanding of the government that, with no formal legal training, he is able to get John Redcorn a [=FOIA=] request processed quickly (such requests often take months, if they are answered at all) and also has the government return 12 acres of land stolen from the latter's tribe (but is still unable to comprehend that John Redcorn was sleeping with his wife.)
** "Dale to the Chief" shows that he has an intimate knowledge of government officials and their relations, and uses that to force an ObstructiveBureaucrat to fix an error in Hank's license.
* GoKartingWithBowser: As much as he dislikes Peggy, they join forces a number of times: "A Bill Full of Dollars," "Peggy's Gone to Pots" (though that was because they both realized that the trouble they were in is so great that it would take a murder-suicide to make it go away, and since they hate each other, they do legitimately consider it) and "Full Metal Dust Jacket" come to mind.
* GunNut: Goes hand in hand with being a Crazy Survivalist, and he is also quite the MilesGloriosus about his exploits.
* HeroWorshipper: Like the rest of the guys, Dale deifies Hank. When Dale prints his own currency he puts Hank on the $100 bill.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** When it comes to an episode that in some way deals with Nancy's affair with John Redcorn and their child that came from it, just about all of Dale's dialogue will be heavily laced with hypocritical statements. Not because he knows about the affair, but solely for RuleOfFunny.
** He's paranoid about federal interference in his personal life, but a lot episodes highlight his invasion of his friends and neighbors' privacy on a whim.
* {{Jerkass}}: Pesters Hank on multiple occasions, and is even likely to [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yes, he's shallow, selfish, tactless, cowardly, unethical and quick to blame everybody and anybody else for whatever problem he caused. However, to say he ''loves'' his wife and son is a huge understatement. He dotes on his son Joseph, even though he isn't even Dale's biological son, putting him before everything else in the universe and defending him with his life despite his cowardly nature. He worships the ground his wife walks on and treats her like royalty, which she does not even deserve, having cheated on him for fourteen years (and when another woman comes on to him, his only reaction is confusion; he can't understand why she's even trying, because ''he's married'' and that's all there is to it). Also, on numerous occasions, he risks his life and/or sacrifices himself for Hank. For example, secretly switching Hank's low-running oxygen tank for his own full one before going to put out a fire. He was also willing to help John Redcorn get his tribe's land back from the federal government to make up for accidentally hitting him over the head with a lamp.
* KavorkaMan: He's not really ugly, but he's pasty, pencil-thin, and rapidly going bald. He still managed to attract Nancy and a beautiful female exterminator (voiced by Jennifer Coolidge).
* LargeHam
* TheLoad: Attempt depending on Dale in any way at your own risk.
* MustHaveCaffeine: He loves his Mountain Dew to the point that he tried to stockpile several 55-gallon drums of the stuff to prepare for Y2K, and when he donates a kidney to an IllBoy, he instructs the kid to be sure and give the organ one can of Dew per week ("He likes it").
* NiceHat: His standard orange Mack hat.
* ObstructiveZealot: Dale's fanatical anti-government views cause Hank no end of grief. When his beliefs are inverted into blind patriotism, he gets even worse.
* OddFriendship: With Minh. His friendship with Hank is also an example, as, in spite of their closeness, they couldn't be more different people.
* PapaWolf: In "Dale to the Chief," when he hears Joseph suddenly cry out in his room (because he's having a bad dream), Dale bursts in there with a loaded gun in each hand ready to kick the ass of whoever is bothering Joseph. For someone as cowardly as Dale, that's pretty ballsy.
* PetTheDog: On ''very'' rare occasions, he actually does manage to be a really good friend.
** An example of this is when he kept trying to convince Bill that people really viewed him as a freak when he started participating in hot dog eating contests. Dale wasn't doing it to be malicious, but because he had a similar experience when he was a kid.
--->'''Dale:''' Remember, Bill. Just because you have their attention, doesn't mean you have their respect.
** A more consistent example would be his relationship with his family. He's a loving (if incredibly eccentric) husband and father who is extremely open-minded about both his wife and son's life choices.
** Also he was perfectly fine with his dad turning out to be gay. However, he was ready to disown him when he thought his dad was a federal agent.
** At the end of "King of the Ant Hill," he risks his life saving Bobby from a swarm of fire ants. (That he had intentionally infested Hank's yard with himself in the first place, but still...)
* PrecisionFStrike: Drops the one use of the f-word in the entire show (bleeped, naturally), after spending 60 hours straight behind a microphone for his pirate radio station.
* ProperlyParanoid:
** In "Untitled Black [=McCormick=] Project", Dale had some suspicions about the daughter of Bill's new girlfriend and despite Hank telling him not to ruin it for Bill, Dale managed to get a hair sample from the girl to run a DNA test. As it turned out, [[spoiler: the girl was Joseph's half sister.]] There's also Operation Infinite Walrus. In that instance, even Dale seems surprised that his theory is correct. [[spoiler: Subverted, when it turns out Bill was just given a placebo]].
** In "Megalo-Dale," Dale becomes convinced that Chuck Mangione is living inside the Megalo-Mart judging by the excrement left by the supposed rat infestation and by examining the bite marks seen around the store. [[spoiler: He was right on all accounts. Chuck was living in the store to hide out from the contract he got sucked into by the Megalo-Mart corporation.]]
* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: A relatively harmless and comedic example; Dale has all of the ideological requirements, but is a lousy shot and a feeble coward to boot. He's mostly content to avoid the government rather than oppose it outright.
* {{Schemer}}: His various schemes frequently make up the episodes' b-plots.
* SitcomArchnemesis: He really hates Peggy, often being the only person InUniverse to call her out for stupid behavior. Though some episodes take this UpToEleven, like Dale gloating over Peggy's disastrous birthday party.
* SunglassesAtNight: More like, "Sunglasses 24/7/365."
* TheSchizophreniaConspiracy: In one episode, he gets sent to a mental institution because he lectures a clinic administrator on why more people are getting allergic to peanuts, because apparently they are tired of being eaten and have begun emitting a poison as a defense; when Hank sorts everything out and explains that Dale was never admitted to the hospital, he mentions the psychiatrist wants Dale to continue taking his medication. After this episode, Dale seems to become more aware of his own odder tendencies, and is, along with Bill, eager to convince Hank that Kahn, a manic-depressive, needs his medication to function.
* ThousandYardStare: On the rare occasions he ''doesn't'' wear his sunglasses.
* UglyGuyHotWife: While Dale isn't exactly ugly, he's still a scrawny weirdo who is nowhere near as attractive as his bombshell of a wife is.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Dale has suggested killing (or attempted to kill) his friends on many occasions. A main reason Hank puts up with him is that he's too incompetent to really pull it off.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Nancy Hicks-Gribble]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nancy_2_4808.jpg]]
Dale's wife is a reporter for a local Arlen TV station. Smarter and more responsible than Dale, she nonetheless has a 14 year affair with John Redcorn which Dale never learns about. She eventually breaks it off, but not before she gives birth to a child whom Dale is convinced is his own flesh and blood. Voiced by Ashley Gardner.
----
* BitchInSheepsClothing: A less extreme example than most, but she is one of the most beautiful female characters on the show, has a charming personality, and a great public image. But even once you get past the decade plus affair, she can come off as the most vindictive and two-faced person on the block. In episodes like "Gone with the Windstorm" and "Nancy Does Dallas", she makes no bones about her willingness to destroy her coworkers' careers for personal advancement. This is lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs in "Gone with the Windstorm."
-->'''Peggy:''' You may look like a Southern Bell, but instead you're as vicious as a bull dog. Why, I've seen you ruin whole wedding showers with one catty remark.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** She cheated on Dale with John Redcorn, and [[spoiler: John Redcorn cheated on her with some "isolated incidents."]]
** This is acknowledged when she realized Dale was being hit on by a very attractive female exterminator shortly after she broke off her affair. Nancy feels too guilty to tell him not to see her, so she has to watch them grow ever closer. [[spoiler: Dale never has an affair, though.]]
* HotScoop: When she shifts careers from weather-girl to investigative reporter.
* HypocriticalHumor: The earlier seasons would have a lot of gags of her passing serious judgment on the other characters, blind to the fact that she was an adulteress. One quick scene had her shake her head disapprovingly when she saw Hank walk (horrified) out of the porno section of a video store, ignoring that she was walking through that same store with her lover.
* InTheBlood: [[spoiler: Nancy cheated on Dale, just like her mother cheated on her father, and is now going bald after breaking off the affair.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** She cheated on her husband for fourteen years, and had her son Joseph by John Redcorn. The only two people who aren't aware of Nancy's affair are Dale and Joseph. She also only slept with Dale on Christmas and his birthdays until she broke it off with John Redcorn. It seemed that Nancy managed to get away with her fourteen years of unfaithfulness, until [[spoiler: her hair started to fall out as a result of breaking it off with John Redcorn, according to her mother.]]
** [[spoiler: She gets it earlier when we learn that John Redcorn had actually been seeing other women while he was seeing her, and there's the highly probable chance that he conceived his daughter Kate on the same day he conceived Joseph.]]
** This was once averted when she sees clearly that an attractive exterminator has a crush on Dale, and sees the potential for Dale to start doing to her what she did to him for years. Fortunately for her, Dale is a devoted husband who would never cheat on her and stopped hanging out with the other exterminator when he found out.
* MoralityPet: To [[PsychopathicManchild Dale]]. With most people, Dale is paranoid, suspicious, and really pretty selfish. However, he's an incredibly loving and devoted husband and father (even though his son is not biologically his). Despite all his craziness, he's actually a better family man than Hank in some ways: unlike Hank, Dale has no problem showing affection toward his family or saying "I love you."
* NoodleIncident: "Do you ever wonder what happened to the weather caster before me?"
* StacysMom: Bobby admitted to Peggy that he considers Nancy to be a very beautiful woman.
* SympatheticAdulterer: She's never given a really sympathetic reason for cheating on Dale (Dale ''is'' legitimately hard to live with, but that doesn't actually seem to be her motivation). However, she becomes fairly sympathetic once she realizes how badly she abused his trust and makes a painful decision to break off her relationship with John Redcorn. Even before that, the fact that her affair with John Redcorn is far more complicated than a cheap side fling -- they've been carrying it on for thirteen years and are actually quite devoted to each other -- arguably makes it harder to judge her.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Blonde, pouty lipped, in shape woman. Married to a bald, unhinged, skinny nutjob.
* VerbalTic: She calls everyone "Shug" -- even {{God}}.
-->'''Nancy''': [[ItMakesSenseInContext Why is God ruining my special day?!]] (''Skyward'') Why, Shug?!
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Deconstructed: it's implied that Nancy fell for Dale, largely because he legitimately loved her and that she didn't start sleeping around on him until they were already married for two years. Furthermore, it's implied that Nancy was driven to John Redcorn, originally for legitimate headache treatment, due to Dale's antics, which ironically keeps Nancy's bitchiness in check since she is too busy cleaning up Dale's messes to scheme anymore.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Joseph John Gribble]]
[[quoteright:179:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_koths1e10015_3042.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:179:Before puberty.]]
[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_11493_6406.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:210:And after.]]
Nancy and John Redcorn's son. Joseph is an awkward, dim, and horny young man who spends most of his time hanging out with Bobby. Like Dale, he has no idea that John Redcorn is his biological father. Creator/BrittanyMurphy voiced him from 1997-2000; from 2000 to the show's end in 2009, Joseph was voiced by Breckin Meyer.
----
* BrainlessBeauty: When he hits puberty, he becomes taller and more muscular, and is noted to be quite handsome in-universe. In exchange, however, he seems to have lost a few brain cells.
* ChocolateBaby: Is half Caucasian and Native American, being raised by his (both) Caucasian parents Nancy and Dale.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He was a tad off to start with, but he becomes a crackpot akin to his dad when he hits puberty.
* CoolLoser: Actually a completely justified example. He's tall, athletic and quite attractive, but he's just ''so'' awkward that he tends to act like a complete creep when talking to pretty much anyone. This is in contrast to Bobby, who is short, fat and pretty ugly-looking but manages to be pretty popular through sheer charisma.
* CrossdressingVoices: Until his growth spurt, Joseph was voiced by a woman (Brittany Murphy).
* TheDitz: When he hit puberty, though some of it might be from having Dale for a father.
* DumbJock: His growth spurt seemed to simultaneously make him athletically stronger and intellectually dumber. He eventually joins the football team in high school.
* {{Flanderization}}: He was always mildly awkward and a bit dim, but it ''really'' got ratcheted up in the later seasons. Somewhat justified, as he's going through puberty, which is an awkward time for a lot of kids and it does screw with their behavior.[[note]]However, it doesn't explain how Joseph went from Bobby's more streetwise friend to practically a [[TheDitz ditz]] who needs Bobby to tell him how to function basically. This is even evident in Breckin Meyer's voicing of the character. In Joseph's early post-puberty episodes, his voice is mellow and slightly accented; later on, it becomes positively manic.[[/note]] Then there's the fact that a conspiracy nut like Dale mostly raised him and John Redcorn didn't...
* HesAllGrownUp: Played with. After he hits puberty, he becomes taller and more muscular, and is generally seen as being fairly handsome. Despite this, however, he becomes, much, ''much'' more awkward and hormonal, which makes him substantially more off-putting than he ever was as a kid. This is visually signified by his perpetual skeezy-looking peach fuzz, which completely counteracts his otherwise attractive face.
* InTheBlood: Seems to have inherited John Redcorn's libido ''and'' some of Dale's delusional tendencies. This is also an example of NatureVersusNurture. John Redcorn's genes make Joseph tall and athletic, but he is awkward and has poor social skills thanks to Dale's influence.
* JerkJock: Averted. Despite being a star football player in the later seasons, he's more a DumbJock than a jerk and he's still friends with Bobby (who would normally get bullied by jerk jocks).
* MoralityPet: To [[PsychopathicManchild Dale]]. With most people, Dale is paranoid, suspicious, and really pretty selfish. However, he's an incredibly loving and devoted husband and father (even though his son is not biologically his). Despite all his craziness, he's actually a better family man than Hank in some ways: unlike Hank, Dale has no problem showing affection toward his family or saying "I love you."
* PermaStubble: His permanent peach fuzz mustache.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: He'd be the spitting image of his biological father as a teenager were it not for his [[PermaStubble Perma Peach Fuzz]]. Despite this, neither he nor Dale seem to notice the resemblance at all.
* TookALevelInDumbass: It seems as if some of his brain cells apparently died off when he hit puberty.
* VisualDevelopment: When he starts puberty. Not only does he get taller and grow a crappy moustache, his clothing changes to reflect his shift in personality from confident jock to awkward ditz. When he was younger he wore a green shirt and white shorts, the same colors as John Redcorn's clothes, while after puberty he switched to blue and brown clothes, the same colors Dale wears.
* YoungerThanHeLooks: At 13, he resembles more a high schooler or even a young 20-something man after hitting puberty. He was even offered the wine menu by a waitress.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kahn Souphanousinphone]]
[[quoteright:209:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kahn-002_5071.jpg]]
This irritable Laotian businessman moved onto Rainey Street with his wife and daughter in series's first season. In a twist on the time-tested PositiveDiscrimination trope, Kahn is regularly rude towards his neighbors and dismisses them as dumb rednecks. Nobody really listens to him, however, especially not his daughter, Connie. Voiced by Toby Huss.
----
* ActionDad: In "The Redneck on Rainey Street," Kahn displays significant skill as a martial artist when he gets into a fight with another redneck. This is notably the only time in the series that he actually gets into a fistfight.
* AnnoyingLaugh: Can be describes as a combination of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} The Penguin]] and that annoying purple surfing fish from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants''.
* AmbiguousDisorder: For a while, but in "Just Another Manic Kahn-Day," it's revealed he has manic depressive mood swings and needs to take medication for it (and the medication does make him act like a jerk sometimes, but it's better that than having boundless energy one day and being utterly depressed and listless the next).
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: A parental version. After the children are lost in the caves and he and Hank get lost looking for her, they all get rescued and rather than be stern with her, he's so relieved that he takes her out for ice cream. And tetanus shots. This is the case in the finale when Kahn tells Connie to take a night off from studying.
* BoomerangBigot: He has even less respect for Laotian culture than Hank, his friends, and even Cotton.
* CrankyNeighbor
* EducationMama: A male example. Drills Connie to be uber smart and successful.
* {{Foil}}: Acts as one of the many towards Hank. Their names are even anagrams of each others to reinforce this idea.
* FreudianExcuse: In "Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men", he admits to having "father issues." His [[ObnoxiousInLaws jerk father-in-law]] probably doesn't help either.
* FunnyForeigner: Averted; most of the humor comes from Kahn trying to be as non-foreign as possible.
* GrumpyBear
* HiddenDepths:
** He seems like a pretty stereotypical depiction of an Asian-American at first, but you eventually find out his tightly wound personality has nothing to do with his ethnicity or culture, and everything to do with his family life and brain chemistry.
** His manic depression revealed that he's very good at robotics, even though his official job is systems analyst.
* HollywoodToneDeaf: A RunningGag. It was even made the subject of an episode where Kahn sings karaoke. Made doubly annoying/funny by Kahn's affection for '80s pop music.
-->'''Hank''': Pretty good job, Kahn. I never heard [[Music/ThomasDolby that song]] with only one note before.\\
'''Kahn''': Yeah, it all about rhythm.
* HotBloodedSideburns: Grows a pair in "The Redneck of Rainey Street", and becomes more short-tempered along with it.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: Acts this way after returning to America from Mexico in "Three Days of the Kahn-Do", but mostly just to rub into Hank that he legally got his citizenship while Hank technically [[ItMakesSenseInContext sneaked into the country illegally.]]
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Averted, with several episodes focusing on Kahn and Minh's Laotian background. It takes Hank and company awhile to catch on, though.
-->'''Hank:''' So, are you Chinese or Japanese?\\
'''Kahn:''' I live in California last twenty year, but uh, first come from Laos.\\
'''Hank:''' Huh?\\
'''Kahn:''' Laos. We Laotian.\\
'''Bill:''' [[{{Mondegreen}} The ocean?]] What ocean?\\
'''Kahn:''' We are Laotian, from Laos, stupid! It's a landlocked country in southeast Asia, it's between Vietnam and Thailand! Population 4.7 million!\\
'''Hank:''' ''(after a moment of pondering)'' ...So, are you Chinese or Japanese?
* JerkAss: Generally presented as a rude and short-tempered showboat who intentionally does things to anger and annoy other people.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Kahn gives two of these in "Maid in Arlen". The first is when the other neighbors take advantage of his mother, pointing out that Hank would have been furious if he did the same thing with the latter's mother. The second is after it's discovered that he sabotaged the relationship between his mother and Bill. While receiving accusatory glares from everyone, Kahn unapologetically demanded to know if any of them wouldn't have done the same thing if they were in his situation. No one says anything.
** In "Death of a Propane Salesman," he's the one who calls Luanne out for her bizarre, misguided attempts at becoming socially aware after Buckley's death, forcing her to confront her feelings about him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a pretty terrible person most of the time, but he does genuinely love Connie and Minh, and if pressed, really, ''really'' pressed, he'll even admit that he considers Hank a friend.
* {{Narcissist}}: Quite full of himself, and goes to great lengths to display his accomplishments to his neighbors as loudly as he possibly can.
* NotSoDifferent: With Hank, to the point where they become VitriolicBestBuds in later seasons. This is the explicit moral of his early episodes, though [[AesopAmnesia he tends to forget it]].
* OddFriendship: With Buckley. Though he implies he liked Buckley mainly because he annoyed Hank.
* PetTheDog:
** Saving Hank from the border guards in "Three Days of the Kahn-Do." Singing "Blue Moon Over Kentucky" with Bobby and Connie in "The Bluegrass Is Always Greener" for another.
** His last scene in "To Sirloin with Love." He tells Connie that she can stop studying (she's three grades ahead anyway) and come to the barbecue next door. Also in the last aired episode "Just Another Manic Kahn-Day," he and Hank have a burger from the high-tech grill and realize that they're not so different (their names are even anagrams of each others').
** In the episode where the kids get lost in the caves, Kahn tells Hank he's afraid Joseph might [[ThisAndThat try something]] with Connie, but says "Bobby's a good kid" so he knows Bobby would never do anything like that.
* {{Pride}}: Frequently motivated entirely by his desire to show others up.
* PoirotSpeak: Does this to a degree, but not to the same extent as Minh does.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: When it comes to Ted Wassonasong, to the point of HoYay, but even he's got limits.
* SignificantAnagram: "Khan" is an anagram of "Hank".
* SixthRanger: Occasionally acts as a fifth member of Hank's friend group.
* SmugSnake: Very full of himself, but frequently lacks the skills necessary to back his boasts up.
* VitriolicBestBuds: By the later episodes, it's hard to deny that he and Hank have genuinely become friends. Despite this, their relationship is still incredibly antagonistic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Minh Souphanousinphone]]
[[quoteright:249:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minh.jpg]]
Kahn's wife. Just as materialistic and spiteful as him, but a smidgen more down to earth. Voiced by Creator/LaurenTom.
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* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She chose Kahn, a rebel from a working-class background, over the boring "corporate boy" her father pushed on her.
* BoomerangBigot: Not quite as much as Kahn, but she's definitely close.
* CrankyNeighbor: She's generally more pleasant and tolerant than Kahn is, though.
* DeadpanSnarker: At least, her insults are usually more clever and better thought-out than Kahn's.
* GoodParents: Really loving and protective of Connie.
* GrumpyBear: Her neutral mood seems to be "angry".
* FullNameBasis: Calls Peggy, Hank and other characters by their full name.
* {{Jerkass}}: Usually openly rude and dismissive of others for no good reason.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Like Kahn, you really gotta dig deep to see it. But it's there. Unlike her husband, who is often deliberately hostile and condescending to his neighbors, Minh seems to honestly be nice, but often thoughtlessly says arrogant or dismissive things.
* {{Narcissist}}: Like her husband, she values posturing above all other things.
* OddFriendship: With Dale in "The Minh Who Knew Too Much". There's also "Bill Full of Dollars" when she joins Dale and Peggy in their stock investment schemes.
* {{Pride}}: Seemingly driven entirely by her desire to be the best at everything.
* PoirotSpeak: Out of all the Souphanousinphones, she speaks the least fluent English.
* SmugSnake: Acts like she's above almost everyone that she interacts with, despite not having much to back up her boasts.
* StacysMom: Joseph developed a short-lived crush on her. This was mainly due to him having ''just'' hit puberty and experiencing the onslaught of confusion and distress that comes with it. Bobby is also attracted of her as he admitted to Peggy that he considers Minh to be a very beautiful woman.
* WomenAreWiser: Mostly averted; she's greedy, ambitious and kind of a jerkass just like her husband, but she is ''slightly'' more willing to interact with her neighbors than Kahn is. She's much more accepting of Bobby and Connie's relationship than Khan, though; in "Father of the Bribe", when it looks like they might break up, Minh [[LetMeTellYouAStory tells Connie how she and Khan met]] and that, despite their differences, she knew he was right for her, and that the only person who knows if Bobby is right for Connie is Connie herself.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kahn "Connie" Souphanousinphone, Jr.]]
[[quoteright:241:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/conniec_8200.jpg]]
The overachieving daughter of Kahn and Mihn. Voiced by Creator/LaurenTom.
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* {{Adorkable}}: A sweet, slightly nerdy girl who finds Bobby genuinely charming.
* AsianAndNerdy: Subverted in that while she's very smart, [[IJustWantToBeNormal she would prefer to be herself instead of pursue what her father wants.]]
* BrainyBrunette: She has black hair and is an intelligent academic.
* ButNotTooForeign: Unlike her parents, she does not speak broken English and has an American accent.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Bobby.
* ChubbyChaser: She's genuinely physically attracted to Bobby, though she does show affection for slimmer guys on a few occasions.
* DemotedToExtra: She becomes less important after she and Bobby break up, but they still remain friends.
* GenderBlenderName: Justified as Kahn wanted a son.
* GirlNextDoor: She fills this role for Bobby, and fits the profile perfectly.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Frequently annoyed by her parents constantly pushing her into being an overachiever.
* NiceGirl: Generally a friendly and pleasant girl who gets along with everyone she meets.
* OnlySaneMan: Arguably the truest one in the whole series, as she lacks any of the character flaws prominent in most of the other characters, such as Hank's unwillingness to show emotion.
* OutOfFocus: See DemotedToExtra above.
* PluckyGirl: In "The Redneck on Rainey Street", Hank mentions to Kahn how hard Connie has been working while her parents gave up. In his words, "you couldn't bring that girl down with you if you tried."
* TheSmartGirl: She's very intelligent and does excellently in school.
* StraightMan" Mostly to Bobby, though she occasionally plays one to her parents and other members of the cast.
[[/folder]]
