History Characters / MalcolmintheMiddle

* OnlySaneByComparison: While he's usually more reasonable and down-to-earth than the rest of his family and his friends, Malcolm is still a cynical, neurotic and self-centered individual and always put the blame on others for everything wrong in his life. He also often joins in his brothers' antics and pranks, bullies Dewey like Reese, and does many stupid and self-harming actions all by himself. As the series goes on he becomes less of an OnlySaneMan as he TakesALevelInJerkass and fails to mature and learn from his mistakes, while other members of his family, especially Dewey and Francis, go hrough CharacterDevelopment and become more mature persons.

* PositiveFriendInfluence: Even with [[VitriolicBestBuds the kind of friendship they have]], Abe notes that Stevie became more confident and outgoing from hanging out with Malcolm.

* PositiveFriendInfluence: His niceness, fairness and reasonability towards Francis allows the latter to finally grow as a person and become a truly responsible adult.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even during his academy days he does some genuinely nice things despite his delinquent nature (such as sticking up for another student when Spangler comes down too hard on him for a minor dress code infraction, trying to win back the TV through an organized hunger strike, and even cheering up Spangler himself when he got too drunk to meet Oliver North). He eventually emancipated himself and became a generally nice person (although he seemed to go back on being a {{Jerkass}} after he got fired from the dude ranch).

* AesopAmnesia: In season 6, after being fired from the Grotto, he's back to the way he was during the first few seasons. On the other hand, considering he eventually gets a legitimate job, which he admits to enjoying, it's likely enough of the lessons he learned stuck with him enough to make an honest life for himself.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: A trouble-making antagonist to his mother, Spangler, and Lavernia; it's understandable because they were all asses to him. As Otto and Gretchen are sweet and well-meaning, Francis not only shapes up, but defends them from those who wish to take advantage.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Frequently rebels against and insults Lois, and it is heavily implied that it is for no other reason than just to spite her.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: After all his mistakes and antics, he ends up with a stable office job that he loves, remains happily married to Piama and overall has a comfortable suburban life that he is very content with.

* FourthDateMarriage: He and Piama knew each other a very short time before getting married. Slightly deconstructed when there are several moments where they wonder whether their relationship can work out, but ultimately they remain together.

** As a CallBack from the episode "Cheerleader", Hal explains to Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey that the men in their family do crazy stuff because the men in their family [[NotGoodWithRejection take rejection really badly]]. Hal says he didn't go through such a destructive phase in his life because [[ControlFreak Lois has an unknown quality that saved him]], and at the end, it's heavily implied that the reason why Francis doesn't engage in the same shenanigans he did when he he lived at home and finds a stable job [[LikeParentLikeSpouse is because Piama has the same kind of tough, no-nonsense attitude that Lois has]].

* HatesTheirParent: To say that Francis resents [[ControlFreak Lois]] would be a vast understatement. Any comment that's even remotely kind to her will get you chewed out, and he'll often [[InsaneTrollLogic bend logic]] to "prove" that she's responsible for anything and everything wrong in his life.

* HypocriticalHeartwarming: He may pick on his brothers, but he makes it clear that no one else, not even Lois, has the right to do so. In "Red Dress," he gives them advice on how to withstand their mother's torture and defuses the situation by pointing out that Lois is spending her anniversary obsessing over a dress.

* BenevolentBoss: Otto is extremely accommodating to his workers. Francis once refers to him as "the best boss he's ever had."

* NiceGuy: They're both very helpful to Francis, and Otto is a BenevolentBoss.

* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Makes this the focus for the earlier seasons, before getting past it.

* OnlySaneByComparison: While he's usually more reasonable and down-to-earth than the rest of his family and his friends, Malcolm is still a cynical, neurotic and self-centered individual and always put the blame on others for everything wrong in his life. He also often joins in his brothers' antics and pranks, bullies Dewey like Reese, and does many stupid and self-harming actions all by himself.

* SmugSnake: Especially in the later seasons as his egotism gets worse and worse.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterRivalry: Lois and Susan have a bitter relationship because Ida favors Susan and has always compared her favorably against Lois. Much later it's revealed that Lois also did things against Susan, like stealing her boyfriend... who happens to be Hal. They finally solve their differences when Lois finds out that Susan is dying from kidney failure, and she donates her kidney to save her life.

!Other Adults
[[folder:Craig Feldspar]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/craig.jpg]]
->'''Played by''': Creator/DavidAnthonyHiggins

%%* FeudEpisode: "Cliques"

* ArchEnemy: While most of the family hates her in the way one would a difficult relative, she and Francis are comic-book-level rivals; in the finale, Francis nearly kills her and she [[BringItOn goads him into the fight]]. It's implied this happens often.

%%* TheSociopath

%%* ScrewPolitenessImASenior

%%* TheSociopath

* PsychopathicWomanchild: While she thinks of herself as the [[WomenAreWiser moral center]] of the family, her melodramatic behavior, pathological need for control, and tendency to throw tantrums paint a picture of a person whose mental age lags far behind their physical age. She even implies after having her revenge on the girls that humiliated Reese that he likely gets his own psychotic tendencies from her.

* BumblingDad: Very much so, but it's made much more palatable by averting WomenAreWiser, as his wife Lois is considerably flawed in her own right.

* Flanderization: Reese at the start of the show was below average in intelligence when it came to his studies and had quite a few friends as he has been shown to play and get along with the neighborhood kids quite well (at least outside of school). His later appearances when he goes into high school depicts Reese as someone whose schoolwork is so poor that his writing was confused for something his toddler brother ''Jamie'' wrote. Reese's social circle went from being a feared but respected bully in school and an ordinary kid others played with out of it to being [[FriendlessBackground someone with no friends]] where it could be counted on one hand to name the people around Reese's age who does like him.

* VitriolicBestBuds: With Malcolm, eventually. As much as they treat each other like crap very often, they can genuinely loving towards each other.

* DumbassNoMore: While never really ''dumb'', in early seasons he was a naive {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and never implied to be a genius. In later seasons, he's as smart as Malcolm.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Always appear together and are usually minor characters who hang out with Malcolm from time to time.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: They disappear without trace or explanation in Season 8. "Malcolm Defends Reese" features the appearance of a girl in Dewey's class who is clearly not a Busey, implying he simply moved to a different class.

* DemotedOfExtra: Goes from being a main character and showing up in every episode of the first five seasons to only making a handful of appearances in the last two.

%%* ButtMonkey: Somewhat, but not nearly as much as [[TheChewToy Francis]].

* OnlySaneMan: Much more level-headed than Francis, and he often has to put up with his antics and irrational behavior.