History Characters / ModernFamily

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!!Dunphy Family

[[folder:Phil Dunphy]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4fc4c132ce43950ff7a748ee114e62179.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/TyBurrell

Husband of Claire, father of Haley, Alex, and Luke. He's a classic BumblingDad, trying to be friendly with his kids despite being a big old dork. He often finds Claire's restrictions on his ideas annoying, but knows she means well, and accepts that she's what keeps him from hurting himself too much.
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* {{Adorkable}}: Where to start? His attempts at being a "cool dad", his love of being a real estate agent, and knowing ''all the songs'' from High School Musical.
* AmazonChaser: As he stated in one of his private cams:
-->'''Phil:''' I'll admit it. I'm turned on by powerful women. Michelle Obama, Oprah, Condoleezza Rice, Serena Williams...Wait a minute.
* AmbiguousDisorder: In one episode, Alex suspects that Luke has [=ADD=]. As she reads off the symptoms to Claire, we watch Phil bumbling around in the garage, displaying every symptom.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Phil gets distracted very easily.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Even Phil has his limits, and when he's pushed to those limits, he gets RESULTS.
--->'''Phil:''' YOU POKED THE BEAR, GIRLS!
** Starting in later seasons, he's more apt to discipline and scold the kids when they screw up. He ''really'' lets Haley have it when she gets expelled from college.
** In season 6 after Gil makes fun of Claire.
--->'''Phil''': Oh by the way, if you ever speak disrespectfully again about my wife, I'll kill you. (beat) Sorry, that sounded like a joke. I will ''actually'' kill you.
* BigOlEyebrows: Has big eyebrows.
* BumblingDad:
** Downplayed, as he is very loving and caring towards his children and knows what's right for them, but he can be dumb and immature at times. Justified somewhat by his being allergic to many materials commonly used in home repair.
** He may be more of a deconstruction of the trope than a proper Bumbling Dad. In some ways, he's certainly bumbling. But in most ways he averts this trope - he's a goofy ManChild who is often mothered by his wife, but he has few other glaring flaws and is genuinely helpful and supportive. Although goofy and often somewhat stupid, he's not actually incompetent. He also does allow for Claire to be the disciplinarian and rule-maker the majority of the time, but it's acknowledged both by him and the narrative that it's an accepted role. When things get really difficult he's fully capable of being an authoritative presence. And while his daughters often behave as though they don't respect him, they've shown many times that they care a great deal what he thinks of them and want him to have a good opinion of them.
** It's also a rare case where, even if you do think he's an idiot, he's not an incompetent father. He does very well in the role regardless of whether he's intelligent or not.
* ButtMonkey: Very much so. His ''own family'' (including his wife and kids) constantly belittle him, take advantage of him and everyone walks all over him consistently because of his laid-back, NiceGuy demeanor. [[TheDogBitesBack Although he does stand up for himself sometimes]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Later seasons has him more ready to discipline his kids when they get out of line.
* ChivalrousPervert: He may be unable to hide his views on how attractive Gloria is or stop his occasional ogling of other women, but refuses to commit adultery because he truly loves Claire.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Phil is generally goofy and often [[DidntThinkThisThrough doesn't plan things through]].
* CluelessChickMagnet: He seems unaware of it, but he unwittingly turns a number of people on throughout the series: horny ex-girlfriends, horny divorcees, [[EvenTheGuysWantHim gay men...]]
%%* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* DeadpanSnarker: When he's annoyed.
--> '''Luke''': It's called growing up and having your own interests, like the ministers daughter in your precious ''Footloose''.
--> '''Phil''': Wow using my own movie against me. Lets hear it for the boy.
* DramaQueen: When he gets upset, he will often go into a melodramatic funk.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: A number of gay men have found him attractive.
* GeniusDitz: He is shown in "Fifteen Percent" to be competent with technology to a far greater extent than his wife or father-in-law.
* GoodCopBadCop: As far as parenting goes, the good cop to Claire's bad cop. In the one episode where they switched roles, he was ''terrifying'' as a bad cop, even commenting that he felt "shaky" afterward and wanted to go back to being the good cop.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: Phil rarely ''ever'' curses, instead shouting things like "Sweet and ''sour CHICKEN!''", "Son of a ''MITCHELL!''" and "Son of Jor-El!" when angry, frightened, or in pain.
* HappilyMarried: While he does find Claire nagging and controlling, Phil deeply loves her.
* HiddenDepths: Whilst Phil ''seems '' like a complete idiot, he is, ''' without a doubt''', one of the kindest people on the show, and is an amazing husband and father, subverting the typical [[BumblingDad 'bumbling dad' ]] role found on most sitcoms.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: He often accidentally insults his wife, either just by not defending her when someone else insults her, or by making comments about how she used to be so hot. Claire isn't exactly happy with it, but knows he doesn't mean anything. He's usually more childish than truly mean or evil.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Phil is very needy and emotional, much to his father-in-law's annoyance. He also has several "feminine" hobbies (for instance, he was a cheerleader in college.) However, he is definitely heterosexual, as his children found out when they walked in on him and his wife having sex.
* {{Keet}}: Phil acts like a hyperactive child.
* KindheartedSimpleton: He's nice, but he's not very bright, so he usually makes things worse trying to fix them.
* ManChild: And how. Claire generally refers to him as "the kid she's married to."
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: The latter when compared to Claire. He tends to be more open-minded and even has traditional feminine hobbies (i.e. cheerleading).
* MrFanservice: He certainly gets his fair share of shirtless scenes, as well as scenes where he's in his tighty whiteys. This has caused some of the female audience to realise how attractive he is, only to realise that he's old enough to be their father.
* NiceGuy: One of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.
* OddFriendship: With Dylan, Haley's on-again, off-again boyfriend. Odd in that ''he'' tends to take Haley and Dylan's breakups harder than either Haley or Dylan.
* PapaWolf: As bumbling as he is, he will get serious if you hurt any of his girls.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Jay's Manly Man.
* ShotgunWedding: It's eventually revealed that he and Claire decided to get married after learning she was pregnant with Haley.
* TotallyRadical: Part of Phil's "cool dad" schtick.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Not to his old man (with whom he gets along rather well), but to Jay.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Phil suffers from coulrophobia, intense fear of clowns. This was revealed in the episode "Fizbo", when Cameron came to Luke's birthday party dressed as a clown. He has addressed this and says that his mother thinks the fear originated from him finding a dead clown in the woods one day when he was little.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Claire Dunphy (nee Pritchett)]]
[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/julie_bowen.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/JulieBowen

Wife of Phil, mother of Haley, Alex, and Luke. She's far more structured than her husband, and is usually the glue that holds the family together. Unless it's one of the days where their insanity has driven her crazy again.
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* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Despite craving approval from her employees almost as desperately as she craves approval from her father, she ''never'' catches a break from her subordinates, and her attempts to bridge the gap only make things worse.
* TheAlcoholic: PlayedForLaughs. Claire really likes her wine. When discussing the time Phil proposed, Claire's memory was being in a bad mood because she was on "day two of a St Patrick's day hangover".
* BestWoman: She's "Best Person" for Mitch at his wedding to Cam, something she can't resist punning on throughout her speech.
* BigSisterBully: Mitchell has said that Claire was bossy and mean growing up.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: A more rounded and sympathetic version than most. Weirdly, overlaps with JerkWithAHeartOfGold at times.
* ButtMonkey: Considering the way everyone in her family casually fling insults at her, especially her husband, apparently without even noticing, she definitely qualifies. Also ties into TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong below.
* CharacterDevelopment: Later seasons has her becoming less controlling, especially in regards to her children. The later seasons also has her forming a better relationship with Gloria.
* CharacterTics: When she's agitated and/or stressed, she moves her hands around.
* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: You can bet that if Claire says something is going to go wrong, her kids and Phil will ignore it. When it does (and it usually does), instead of admitting it and listening to her the next time, you can bet they're just going to complain about how she always thinks she's right and ignore her like always.
* ControlFreak: She takes every parent activity at her kids' school very seriously, which makes her butt heads with Gloria on a regular basis.
* CoolBigSis: To Mitchell; they usually go to each other when one is having a problem.
* DaddysGirl: In comparison to [[WellDoneSonGuy Mitchell]], Claire is closer to Jay.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Though Jay and Phil have reached some stable ground.
* DeadpanSnarker: Claire has a dry sense of humor like her dad and brother.
* FormerTeenRebel: As a teen, she described herself as "out of control".
* HappilyMarried: While she does find Phil childish and slightly odd, Claire loves him deeply.
* {{Housewife}}: She takes on a variety of community projects on the side, and is desperate for a job. She gets a job in season 5.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Her callousness causes a ''lot'' of problems with others. She has her moments of compassion and selflessness despite her mean streak.
* MamaBear: Better not upset any of her kids, or she'll go after you ''hard''.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy:
** The former in comparison to Phil. She tends to be the stricter parent and isn't above playing rough, both literally and figuratively.
** With Mitchell, since she was a bit of a tomboy growing up while Mitchell was fairly effeminate.
* MsFanservice: Claire is in good shape and there were a couple of instances of her (almost) being shown naked.
* NightmareFetishist: Absolutely. The marriage proposal ideas she pitches to Mitchell are nothing short of cruel (yet she finds them romantic).
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: On Halloween, due to her drive to have the scariest house in the neighborhood. She is usually far, ''far'' out ahead of any competition.
* NotSoAboveItAll: She can be just as immature as her children, as insensitive as Jay, and as goofy as Phil.
* ParentingTheHusband: Claire generally refers to Phil as "the kid she's married to".
* ShotgunWedding: It's eventually revealed that she and Phil decided to get married after learning Claire was pregnant with Haley.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Claire is always tripping, falling over, getting knocked into things, getting things spilled on her, etc.
* StacysMom:
** Dylan admits ''directly to her'' if he weren't dating Haley and Phil were out of the picture, he'd totally do her.
** It also comes up in "Chirp", where it comes up that Dylan had a wet dream involving Haley ''and'' Claire. Together. In his defense, he felt really guilty about it.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Gloria's Girly Girl.
-->'''Claire:''' ''(pointing at Gloria)'' I'd like to see this one without make-up.\\
'''Gloria:''' If you do, that will be the last thing you will ever see.
%%* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter
* TheUnfavorite: To her mother Dede.
* UptightLovesWild: She's a highly controlling and serious person who married ManChild and {{Keet}} Phil.
* WalkingTechbane: Claire is not good with technology.
* WomenAreWiser: Though being around Phil makes anyone look wiser.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Haley Dunphy]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haleydunphys6.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/SarahHyland

The eldest child of Phil and Claire. She's less intelligent than Alex, often coasting through life on her good looks, but she has considerable cunning when she puts it to use. She often weasels out of punishment by helping her parents out of whatever new mess they've gotten themselves into.
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* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Deconstructed. At first it was downplayed, as she was romantically involved with [[NiceGuy Dylan]]. But after they broke up, she began dating actual jerks who didn't treat her with respect. Finally, after getting sick of it she started to invert the trope.
* AlphaBitch: Played a realistic version of this trope while she was in high school.
%%* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Sometimes.
* BasementDweller: After getting expelled from college. Phil even warns Luke that he needs to apply himself, because they only have the one basement.
* BigSisterBully: She used to be one to Alex in the show' early days--as part of their former SiblingRivalry--before maturing into an adult.
* BookDumb: In contrast to her under-performance in school, Haley has proven to be quite the fast thinker.
* BrainlessBeauty: Played straight most of the time, though she still manages to trick her parents into losing their family's contest in who can go the longest without using computer and phone technology so she could win. She also manages to fool her family into thinking she has a job as a waitress. She also was (briefly) able to teach Alex how to get popular. In short, Haley may be book dumb but she is also fairly creative and socially savvy.
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Initially, she was this. However, as she's gotten older, she's been subverting this and developing into a mature and considerate adult.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** As Haley had gotten older, she's become far more appreciative of her family, especially Phil, Claire and Alex.
** She's also become more aware of her own behaviour, and how selfish she was when she was younger, and is greatly trying to be a better person.
* CoolBigSis:
** Occasionally. Often in somewhat 'odd' fashion, such as when she carved "Alex Dunphy Do Me" under the bleaches at their school to try and cheer Alex up.
** Both she and Alex are this to Lily, which is funny because they're both ten times better sister figures to their adopted cousin than they are to their own younger brother.
** She has emerged as this to Alex, offering advice regarding college and boys, and expressing her fears that their relationship would suffer when Alex left for college.
* DaddysGirl: For all her brattiness, Haley truly cares for her dad and when ''he'' punishes her, it hits deeper than when her mother does.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates:
** {{Inverted}} with Dylan, whom Phil loves, but Claire can't stand.
** {{Averted}} with Andy, in that Phil and Claire [[ShipperOnDeck both greatly approve]].
%%* TheDitz: Although throughout the series, she's been gradually subverting this.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt:
** Her mutual attraction to Andy. Somewhat {{Subverted}} in that they've both got around to admitting how they feel after a fashion, but still aren't together due to various self-imposed obstacles, and continue to deny they feel anything more than friendship toward one another when asked by anyone else.
** Also, they are the only ones who seem oblivious to the fact that they're basically a GenerationXerox of Claire and Phil.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Foolish one to Alex's Responsible
* FutureLoser: Haley is the butt of a lot of jokes that involve this.
* GenerationXerox: It's brought up that Haley acts just like Claire did when she was teenager. Comes full circle in season 5 where Haley [[spoiler: develops feelings for Andy, who is very similar to Phil.]]
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: With Alex. Haley is the pretty one, Alex the smart one.
* HiddenDepths:
** In "See You Next Fall", Haley talks Alex out of her mean-spirited middle-school graduation speech by admitting that she is actually very anxious about whether she'll graduate from high school with her own class or not.
** Although not as clever as her younger sister, Haley does have flashes of brilliance.
** Haley shows a talent for photography.
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Uses her good looks to get guys to do something for her.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the earlier seasons, where she was a stuck-up BrattyTeenageDaughter and BigSisterBully. Despite her occasional mean streak, she has consideration for others' feelings.
* LethalChef: When Haley tries to make cupcakes for school they turn out impossibly inedible.
-->'''Claire''': Where's the number for poison control?\\
'''Phil''': I love you, Claire! ''[[DyingDeclarationOfLove I've always loved you!]]''\\
'''Luke''': Mom? My mouth's asleep, like at the dentist.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Starts to follow this after meeting [[{{Adorkable}} Andy]] [[NiceGuy Bailey]] and getting sick of the "bad boys" she dated after Dylan.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly Girl to Alex's Tomboy.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: A defining trait for Haley. So much so, that Gavin Sinclair describes her as having "the face of a cartoon lamb."
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Andy. They are attracted to each other, but a major obstacle stopping them from becoming a couple is that fact that Andy has a girlfriend and they appear to be in a committed relationship.
* WomenDrivers: Haley is a completely incompetent driver when she first gets her learner's permit. At one point she ends up driving through a ''park''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alex Dunphy]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e3adf2b6_7d78_49dd_852d_40df860dfafc.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/ArielWinter

Middle child of Phil and Claire, and smarter than the rest of the family put together. She is a shameless geek, studying hard to get into college and get a good job. Her parents are largely unaware of what she's doing at all times, since they trust she can handle everything herself.
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* BrainyBrunette: The most academically successful of her siblings.
* CharacterDevelopment: Throughout the show, she has shown her vulnerable side, showing that she too has struggles and hard times, like that of her siblings. Additionally, her once rocky relationship with Haley has immensely developed, with them being able to confide in each other sincerely.
* CoolBigSis: She and Haley are this to Lily, which is funny because they're both ten times better sister figures to their adopted cousin than they are to their own younger brother.
* DeadpanSnarker: Usually makes quips at Haley's apparent lack of intelligence.
* {{Determinator}}: In "Someone To Watch Over Lily", she reveals that she hates playing cello but continues to do so because she's never quit anything in her life.
* ExtracurricularEnthusiast: She plays the cello, plays lacrosse, and has participated in a bottle-collection program to help build schools in third-world countries. Note that she doesn't do all this because she loves all the activities, but rather to pad her resume for when she has to apply for colleges.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible one to Haley's Foolish.
* GiveGeeksAChance: Subverted. She starts dating [[spoiler:Luke's geeky friend Reuben]] not because she likes anything about him, but simply because she's depressed and wants an easy relationship with someone who pretty much worships the ground she walks on.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: With Haley. Alex is the smart one; Haley is the pretty one.
* GodivaHair: A non-nude version. Since her actress has matured, her character has been limited to a single hairstyle (see character image) in an effort to hide her figure.
* HiddenBuxom: She has become rather well-endowed as she has matured -- a fact which is much less obvious than with Haley as Alex commonly wears things like over-sized sweat shirts and the aforementioned GodivaHair. Even when the character is ''trying'' to appear attractive, she tends to avoid anything that would highlight her chest.
* HiddenDepths:
** "Best Men" reveals, much to Claire and Haley's surprise, that her band in which she plays cello is more alt rock rather than classical and that Alex can sing.
** "Under Pressure" reveals that even though she loves challenging herself and being super smart, she's also under a ''lot'' of pressure. When Claire goes to Alex's school open house and finally realizes how hard Alex works every single day, Alex actually ''cries'' at hearing her mom tell her she understands.
* HollywoodNerd: Of the pretty variety, obviously.
* IdiotBall: In "A Tale Of Three Cities", she and her siblings are not the least suspicious that their parents are having sex as they are too busy hiding the fact that they were still in New York.
* InsufferableGenius: Tends to believe that she's the only one who's in the right and often cracks jokes at Haley's poor grades.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Despite her great intellect, she doesn't have a great social life.
* {{Jerkass}}: DeadpanSnarker by default, like her mother, but she is completely merciless when she insults her siblings at times, bordering on cruelty.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite being a bit of a DeadpanSnarker and InsufferableGenius, Alex has her heart in the right place at the end of the day.
* LittleMissSnarker: Gets it from her mother... her uncle... her grandfather... let's just say it's a Pritchett thing.
* {{Meganekko}}: Although in the third-season finale, "Baby on Board", she makes a point of attending her first prom without her glasses.
* {{Nerd}}: She excells in all subjects and studies too hard.
* NerdsAreSexy: She gets her fair share of attention from boys. When Haley first sees her fanclub of the nerdy boys, Alex smiles and tells her "You have your fans, I have mine. Someday, yours will be working for mine."
* NerdGlasses: Wears glasses to showcase her nerd-ness.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Case in point, she once tried to pass off as a medical student and passed out after seeing a C-section.
** Can improvise on the fly when she needs to like the rest of her family when the situation calls for it.
** In "Under Pressure", she reveals that she suffers from mammoth pressure at school.
* OnlySaneWoman: She sometimes acts like this among her siblings due to Haley's irresponsible nature and Luke's [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} strange thinking]].
* RuleOfSexy: Some men have been [[{{Fetish}} attracted to her feet]]. A truck driver wants to see them in the season 6 premiere episode, and in "No Small Feet" Luke sells pictures of Alex's Feet online for perverted men.
* RunningGag: She faints at the sight of blood.
* ShakingHerHairLoose: In "After the Fire", she undoes her ponytail and shakes her hair loose in front of a group of nerds who have crushes on her before she stops them from bullying Luke and Manny.
%%* SheCleansUpNicely
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: She's the most down to earth member of her family and wears glasses.
* StepfordSnarker: Her mother tells Cam and Mitchell that Alex may be sarcastic on the outside, but inside she's a "fragile little girl".
* SurroundedByIdiots: Frequently, and she doesn't hesitate to inform her family that she thinks of her situation as such.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Haley's Girly Girl. However, while Haley's girly girl is definitely the case, Alex's tomboy is mostly only implied, with the aspects of it, such as her being a lacrosse player, only being mentioned and not shown.
* TomboyishName: Everyone calls her "Alex" which is short for Alexandra.
* {{Troll}}: She has a ''cruel'' sense of humor when she puts her mind to it.
** In several episodes she's seen tricking her siblings, making them think she's being nice by "teaching" them things like how you can recharge a cell phone by rubbing it against your hair for static electricity.
** When Phil's ex comes to visit, Alex tells Luke that he's adopted, she's his real mom, and she's come to take him away.  A few jokes from the ex about how she wants to [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe take him home]], and he's bawling like a baby.
--->'''Haley:''' [[DisproportionateRetribution All this because he called you Dorky McDorkton]]?
** When Haley leaves for college, not only do Alex's pranks against Luke get worse  (to the point of physical pain), she starts mocking her parents more openly.  Claire eventually realizes the problem is that none of them can snark back on an even level.  She solves the problem by setting up a video chat with Haley, then just leaving them alone while they yell at each other.
--->'''Claire:''' And balance... is restored.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Luke Dunphy]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lukedunphys6.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Nolan Gould

The youngest child of Phil and Claire, as well as the stupidest. He gets lucky sometimes, but mostly survives by sticking close to Manny.
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* AmbiguousDisorder: Luke shows signs of having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in that he gets distracted easily.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: He repeatedly becomes distracted when he has to do something important.
* BigLittleBrother: In the later seasons, he becomes significantly taller than Haley and Alex.
* CharacterDevelopment: While still a bit ditzy, he's gained a more prominent mischievous streak now that he's in middle school.
* {{CloudcuckooLander}}: He is thought to be a bit vacuous, because of many questionable actions, such as getting his head stuck in the banister and jumping on the trampoline wearing only underwear and a box on his head.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has progressively become snarkier over the course of the show.
* TheDitz: He is known for being a boy with low intelligence, which has supposedly inherited from his father, who is not so many smart either. This makes him to be very innocent and not always understand the repercussions of his actions.
* DumbassTeenageSon: He's known for being a doofus.
* FatAndSkinny: The Skinny to Manny's Fat.
* GeniusDitz: Luke occasionally shows signs of this. He's also proven to be a magician prodigy in the making. Probably a mild case of ActorAllusion since Nolan Gould is a member of Mensa, skipped 6 grades, and graduated from high school at the age of 13.
* HiddenDepths: Luke has a great singing voice.
* InSeriesNickname: Phil calls him "Buddy" almost 99% of the time.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For some reason, Luke can be rude and insulting towards Lily but shows his heart of gold a lot towards his mother. In "Integrity" Luke lets Manny think a girl Manny likes isn't paying attention to him because Luke flirted with her, when in reality it's because she flirted with Luke because she likes him, not Manny. Luke lets Manny continue thinking this to spare his friends feeling, even though it means Manny stops talking to him.
* KidsPreferBoxes: One time, his parents actually just got him a box... only for him to play with the bag that it came with instead.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: Luke is just as ditzy as Phil.
* ManipulativeBastard: It's startling how easily Luke can get under people's skin when he is properly motivated to do so.
%%* MommasBoy: Shows shades of this.
* OutnumberedSibling: The only son of Phil and Claire's three children.
* QuirkyCurls: They're pretty uncontrollable, even when he gets his hair cut as he grows old.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Manly Man to Manny's Sensitive Guy.
* SitcomArchnemesis: Towards Lily. Luke competes with Lily over the position of the cute one in their extended family.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In later seasons, as he grows into what Manny describes as "hipster cynicism".
[[/folder]]

!!Pritchett-Delgado Family

[[folder:Jay Pritchett]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jaypritchetts6.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/EdONeill

Husband of Gloria, father of Claire, Mitchell and Joe and stepfather to Manny. He is a closet salesman who still owns the company, with a very old way of doing things. He still has a sensitive side, and loves his family deeply.
----
* BrutalHonesty: Jay is honest to a fault.
%%* CoolOldGuy
* {{Catchphrase}}:
** "Of course you did."
** "And we're back."
** "What the hell!"
** Also, "Ah, jeez", usually coupled with him visibly slumping.
** “Son of a bitch!”
* CharacterDevelopment: He grows more comfortable around Manny, Cam, and Phil as the series goes along.
* DeadpanSnarker: Just like the first character that made Ed O'Neill famous: Al Bundy (though Jay isn't as sarcastic as Al was. Probably because he's not married to someone as irritating as Peg, and Jay is much more successful in life than Al was.)
%%* {{Determinator}}
* HappilyMarried: Despite the obvious assumption that Gloria is just a trophy wife, he loves her deeply, and considers her son from her previous marriage to be his son as well.
* HeroesLoveDogs: Jay ''loves'' dogs. He keeps a butler dog mannequin in his home and thinks it's hilarious. And he basically dotes on Stella.
* HiddenDepths:
** At first he seems like your stereotypical good ol' boy - loves football and lots of macho. But over the seasons, it's revealed he's more of a pragmatic intellectual and shows interests in astronomy, history, model building, and foreign culture among other things. Though the latter one should be self-evident given who he's married to.
** Also, while it may seem that he is with Gloria for her looks, it is very quickly revealed that while he's attracted to her physically, it is most definitely her personality that he is interested in.
** His relationship with Cam is equally deep - he seems pretty comfortable confiding things he literally will not tell anyone else with Cam.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jay is an insensitive jerk, but he always means well and will do what's right in the end.
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Jay turns out to have an eery resemblance to his father-in-law and noted to be similar to him in personality.
* MayDecemberRomance: Jay, who's in his 60's, and Gloria, who's in her 30's.
* MommasBoy: It appears Jay was very affectionate with his mother. He had written her a poem for Mother's Day one time as a boy and one time when Jay had a Little League Coach during a football game and was laying on to him about something, she came charging out of the stands and went up to the guy face-to-face and nose-to-nose and told him "Nobody and I mean nobody yells at my little boy" which caused Jay to start crying when he told this story to his family.
* NotSoDifferent: From lifelong rival and former business partner Earl Chambers - the two could be going at each other's throats, but the minute somebody trivializes closets, they've both got ''plenty'' to say about it
* OnlySaneMan: In his immediate and very Colombian family. Also occasionally his extended family.
* PapaWolf: If you hurt his kids or grandkids, Jay won't hesitate to pay you back.
* ParentalSubstitute: For Manny in some ways given how flaky and unsavory Manny's real father is. Sees more development in season 6 where he outright calls Manny 'his kid' and 'his son' to other people; for those who haven't seen him in a while, they assume they mean Mitchell.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: The quiet, cool tempered Savvy Guy to Gloria's {{hot blooded}}, easily riled Energetic Girl.
* SecondLove: To Gloria, given she divorced her ManChild ex-husband.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Deadpan, prefers not to handle emotional stuff, and stoic. But he has a genuine love for his family and dogs are his biggest weakness.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Manly Man to Phil's Sensitive Guy. Amusingly at times, the relationship between Jay and Gloria veers into MasculineGirlFeminineBoy.
-->'''Jay''': ''[to Manny]'' She isn't sensitive like you and me. She wouldn't get it!
* TookALevelInKindness: Becomes nicer and sensitive over time, especially in regards to Phil, Cam, and Manny.
* UptightLovesWild: Jay is a close-minded, serious, and often stoic man. He ended up marrying the ''very'' HotBlooded and emotional Gloria.
* UglyGuyHotWife: To be fair, Jay ''is'' in his 60's... but no denying Gloria's actress [[Creator/SofiaVergara Sofia Vergara]] is smokin' hot.
* UptownGuy: He and Gloria, which is {{deconstructed}} at some points. It's revealed at different times that while Jay was reasonably well off financially, Gloria struggled with making ends while raising Manny. After they married, many (including Claire, initially) presumed that the reason Gloria married Jay was because of his money. Which is not true. But, the idea caused others to talk behind her back which led to their kids to pick on Manny, both issues that Gloria is well aware of.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gloria Pritchett (nee Ramirez)]]
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/468x263.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/SofiaVergara

Wife of Jay, mother of Manny and Joe. Gloria is a Colombian national who worked hard for years to provide for her son. She can be airheaded at times (not helped by her still-imperfect grasp of English), but she cares for her friends and family above all else.
----
* AdoptivePeerParent: To her step-children, Claire and Mitchell. She is actually younger than Claire, as a few characters love to remind Claire.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: {{Deconstructed}}. She was once very attracted to the unpredictable Javier, her now ex-husband. But, after having Manny, she realized she needed someone who would be more reliable and not leave her and Manny, especially the latter, hanging on empty promises.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: One of the most kind-hearted individuals of the show... and you'd be wise not to anger her.
* TheBrainlessBeauty: Heavily inverted by Gloria, who initially comes across as this but is actually smart, spirited, and very sweet.
%%* CaptainObvious
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Gloria occasionally falls into this territory and is revealed to be much tougher than she initially appears.
* CuteButCacophonic: Gorgeous as she is, Gloria cannot carry a tune and a neighbor mistook her shouting for a parrot's. Once she set off a car alarm with her voice.
* DeadpanSnarker: She has her moments.
-->'''Gloria:''' In my culture, it is considered very important that men do their own labor.\\
'''Jay:''' I know. That's why I ''hire'' people from your culture.\\
'''Gloria:''' You're too funny! I'm going to tell that one to my next husband while we're spending all of your money.
* DudeMagnet: Many men have been attracted to Gloria.
* ElectraComplex: In the Season 8 premiere that this is a big reason she loves Jay and why she and her sister fight and it isn't helped by the fact he looked like Jay.
* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: She's actually very (intentionally) funny in Spanish, as well as being intelligent and well-informed, and is regarded as an excellent conversationalist by other characters who speak the language. If she comes across a bit ditzy sometimes it's purely down to the fact that she's the only member of the family speaking a second language, something that she's [[TearJerker painfully aware of]] at times.
-->'''Gloria''': ''[to Jay]'' Do you even know how ''smart'' I am in Spanish?
* EroticEating: She is at one point shown suggestively stuffing marshmallows into her mouth while getting turned on by Jay doing manly construction work.
* FunnyForeigner: Lots of jokes about her accent, tendency towards loudness, the crime and poverty in her hometown, etc.
* GangstaStyle: Occasionally carries like this when she thinks she needs to - she is capable of shooting a (BB) gun with alarming accuracy, and tends to make mafia-style threats when somebody has wronged someone in her family or when she wants something done.
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: She's way girlier than Claire, but she likes guns and knows how to use one better than Claire does.
* GoldDigger:
** Subverted with Gloria but who is actually a very nice person who genuinely loves Jay. She is assumed to be this occasionally, but in reality she is with Jay because [[NotWithThemForTheMoney she loves him, not for his money.]]
** She says in the Valentine's Day episode that she loves him because he's sexy, and is shown [[EroticEating eating marshmallows suggestively]] as she watches him be all manly and assertive and work with his hands.
--->'''Gloria:''' And the drilling. ''[stares offscreen]'' ''So'' much drilling.
* HairTriggerTemper: She can be quite a hothead at times.
* HappilyMarried: To Jay; Gloria loves her husband, Jay, although the two can occasionally bicker over the life of their son, Manny.
* HiddenDepths: Is a damn good chess player, possibly even better than Manny.
* HotBlooded: Gloria is often characterized by her loud, outspoken attitude.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Gloria's a crack shot with a pistol.
-->'''Manny''': Hey! You could have hit me!\\
'''Gloria''': Oh ''please''. At this distance, I could have unbuttoned your shirt if I wanted to!
** She confirms this in TheStinger of "The Day Alex Left For College", the second episode of the seventh season. During the episode, an apparently wayward shot from an air pistol she was waving around hit Jay in the foot, sparing him from attending Lilly's soccer game. The other characters wondered if she had done that on purpose. In her ConfessionCam segment, she confirms it, shooting a sippy cup off a table from behind her back while walking away, without even looking.
* InformedAttractiveness: Frequent references are made to her being a bombshell (not that many viewers would disagree).
* InnocentlyInsensitive: When Mitchell and Cam name her and Jay as Lily's new guardians - ''should'' something horrible happen to them - Gloria gets so excited by the prospect that she gleefully picks up "Liliana" and squeals that ''when'' something horrible happens to them, Lily is going to be all hers.
* ItsAllAboutMe: She is incessantly trying to make herself extremely noticeable in a crowd when it comes to her appearance, and is extraordinarily ferocious when other women get more attention than her - this is why she dismisses all of the young, attractive female babysitters from her house so they don't outrank her. Also, when her mother shows the slightest amount of attention to Claire than she does to Gloria, Gloria is provoked into a campaign against Claire, constantly trying to put Claire in the corner. Also, when her mother admits that she does not have a favorite between Gloria and Claire, Gloria roars ''"Why the Hell not!"'', indicating that she has always tried to be a favorite.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Downplayed. She has a tendency to be hot blooded, rash, and selfish. However, Gloria is deeply committed to her family and is generally a sweet person.
* LargeHam: She is shown to be very expressive in her speech; often imitating the sounds of things when she does not know what to call it, exaggerating her facial expressions and gestures, and shouting loudly when she is upset.
* LoveAtFirstPunch: Downplayed. Manny mentions to Jay that Gloria fell in love with Jay when they had their first argument.
* MamaBear:
** To Manny. She can be shown to stand up to anyone who insults or hurts Manny going on long-winded rants about it.
** To the other kids as well, given that through marriage she's the matriarch of the family, she's incredibly protective of them, like the time she threatened Haley's cruel boss with calling in some favors with some of her dangerous friends if didn't ease up on her.
* MayDecemberRomance: With Jay, a man 30 years her senior.
* MsFanservice: She wears many fashionable outfits and is considered very beautiful by almost every person she talks with.
* MultiEthnicName: Gains one upon her marriage to Jay, especially when she uses her former married name (Delgado) as her middle name.
* NoIndoorVoice: She basically ''shouts'' a lullaby at Lily in one episode.
* ParentalSubstitute: Acts as a motherly figure to Lily. She is also this to Claire and Mitchell much more than the woman who raised them.
* RaisedCatholic: She's the most overtly religious member of the family, often seen going to church, and crossing herself in front of Dogbert, who she sometimes believes is the actual Devil.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: The {{hot blooded}}, easily riled Energetic Girl to Jay's quiet, cool tempered Savvy Guy. Doubles as RedOniBlueOni.
* SecondLove: To Jay, since he divorced his previous wife.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: In the form of Jay. While he may have his flaws, he's also dependable, honest, and loves Gloria for more than just her looks.
%%* SpicyLatina
* StacysMom: "Send Out the Clowns" made it official for Gloria, as Manny's new "friend" was only interested in her.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly Girl to Claire's Tomboy, though Gloria occasionally shows signs of being a closeted tomboy.
* TrophyWife: Unlike the typical example however, she and Jay really do love each other. When she finds out that Jay is dragging her to a weekend with all his old friends to specifically ''show her off'', she goes from furious to determined to get there.
* {{Tsundere}}: Normally a ''dere'', but the ''tsun'' side is never far behind.
* UglyGuyHotWife: To be fair, Jay ''is'' in his 60's... but no denying Gloria's actress [[Creator/SofiaVergara Sofia Vergara]] is smokin' hot.
* TheUnfavorite: To her father Fulgencio. It is revealed in "A Tale of Three Cities" that Gloria had issues with her father who loved her sister Sonia more than her. This led to a competition and a tension between the two sisters for years. It even included Gloria taking a letter from Sonia that was for her asking for a job in America. Sonia then realizes the jealousy and the two sisters apparently make up.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: A wife variant. Case in point, she ''punched'' a guy in the face when he made an insult against Jay.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Gloria is terrified of the, how do you say in English, the takatakatakataka (translation: She REALLY, SERIOUSLY hates helicopters).
%%* WomenDrivers
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manny Delgado]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mannydelgados6.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Rico Rodriguez

Son of Gloria, step-son of Jay. He's an excessively serious child who Jay claims was born at least sixteen years old. He and Jay get along well in the way of two old guys, though Jay often tries to make him just act like a kid while he can.
----
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Though admittedly the "precocious" part does bother the adults and doesn't earn him a ton of friends.
* BerserkButton: The normally level-headed and mature Manny starts a fight with another guy when said guy insulted a particular film that Manny holds dear to his heart: Mary Poppins.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Lectures his parents on not arguing will cause harm to Joe, when Gloria is still pregnant with him. After Joe is born, Manny didn't like how Claire was drinking while watching his baby brother and stated as such.
* CampStraight: See the Dandy below. Is MistakenForGay in one episode.
* CasanovaWannabe: Throughout all the ''Modern Family'' seasons, Manny has not been afraid to show his affection towards his crushes.
* CharacterDevelopment: At the beginning of the series he could be pretty obnoxious (but in all fairness, he WAS 10 years old at the time - acting his actual age at certain moments), but his arrogance and vanity has been toned down enough for him to gain better relationships with others.
* CreepyUncle: Sort of. He had a crush on Haley, who is technically his niece. Of course, they're only related by marriage, close to the same age, and did not grow up together so how creepy Manny is will vary. It's also largely worn off as Manny's expressed interest in many other girls.
* TheDandy: He cares immensely about his appearance, and Claire remarks that he ''"dresses like a count"''.
* FatAndSkinny: The Fat to Luke's Skinny.
* HandsomeLech: More of an Average Lech, but still.
* InLoveWithLove: He flirts with so many girls because he wants to find true love.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Manny is open with his feelings and is quite the romantic. Plus, he ''loves'' baking.
* InsufferableGenius: Manny is kind but he is also very arrogant. His pride is his greatest flaw, and he has a hard time dealing with people being smarter than he is.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Many of his peers find his maturity incredibly annoying.
* IronicName: Perhaps unintentionally, but his last name means "skinny" or "thin" in Spanish. Although the actor has lost weight in recent years, he is still the "Fat" to Luke's "Skinny" as seen above.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite his eccentricity and arrogance, Manny is a surprisingly affable to people and is polite to everyone he meets.
* KidAnova: Seems to have a different crush every episode.
* MommasBoy: His support is mainly channeled through his mother.
%%* NoSocialSkills
* OverlyLongName: At one point he wants to take French, as he thinks it would be a "better fit" for him than Spanish.
-->'''Gloria:''' Your name is Manuel Alberto Javier Alejandro Delgado. How is French a better fit for you?
-->'''Manny:''' Okay, I'm pretty sure you threw in a name I've never heard before.
* PrincelyYoungMan: Carries himself as such despite a poor upbringing.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Luke's Manly Man.
* SerialRomeo: Manny isn't afraid to take chances, leading him to ask out older girls, and develop somewhat of a crush on Haley.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He does tend to think he's more of a popular figure than he really is at school. Best summed up when he does a huge speech to his class at a dance on how he knows they look up to him...only to be told no one there has any idea who he is.
-->'''Manny''': I know you all think of me as the golden boy, the prodigy, the wunderkind...
-->'''Classmate''': Who are you?
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Something he's very good at and was taught by Gloria.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: ''Many'' people are weirded out by how adult he acts.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Snakes are to Indiana Jones as butterflies are Manny Delgado.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: He is very mature and intuitive for his age and is often shown doing adult-like things, such as having conversations with Claire about her marriage and kids, drinking coffee and handling problems like a man.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fulgencio Joseph "Joe" Pritchett]]
[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joe_pritchett.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Rebecca and Sierra Mark (season 4), Pierce Wallace (season 5-6), Jeremy Maguire (season 7 and onwards)

Son of Jay and Gloria.
----
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: The youngest of the titular family.
* CreepyChild: PlayedForLaughs. Gloria worries that Joe might grow into this.
* InSeriesNickname: Everyone calls him "Joe".
* MultiEthnicName: Due to his mother being Colombian and his father an American of presumably[[note]]"Pritchett" is a Welsh surname[[/note]] British descent.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To Lily, very passively at this point.
* StickyFingers: The Season 8 premiere reveals that he's discovered a disturbing love of stealing. Naturally, PlayedForLaughs, as he's only a toddler, though the humour's a little darker than might be expected.
-->'''Joe:''' I saw Manny [[StealingFromTheHotel take shampoos from the hotel]], so I took some things too. Then some bigger things. I like stealing. It makes my heart go fast!
[[/folder]]

!!Tucker-Pritchett Family

[[folder:Mitchell Pritchett]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mitchellpritchetts6.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Husband of Cam, brother of Claire, father of Lily. Mitchell is a serious lawyer, often exasperated with managing the eccentricities of his husband.
----
%%* BadassBeard
* BadassBookworm: Mitchell is a lawyer and has used it to get a boy to confess for taking credit from Manny's work.
%%* BunnyEarsLawyer
%%* TheComicallySerious
* DaddyIssues: A recurring conflict between Jay and Mitchell is that Jay was never one to be openly affectionate during Mitchell's childhood, which made Mitchell's coming-out particularly uncomfortable. Ironically, a lot of the issues came about because Mitchell was so concerned about Jay's reaction and thus was/is very defensive about his sexuality - various episodes have shown that while Jay might not have been immediately comfortable, he certainly would not have done anything more drastic than snark and squirm a little.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has a dry (sometimes mean) sense of humor.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Pretty much everyone in his family considers him to be something of a control freak, even ''he'' thinks Claire is too hard on her kids (ironically, Claire sees ''him'' as the more controlling one).
* {{Fanboy}}: Mitchell is a major one for ''Spider-Man'', even dressing up as the fictional hero during one Halloween.
%%* FatAndSkinny: A couple example. The Skinny to Cam's Fat.
* HappilyMarried: Initially {{Averted}}, in that while he and Cam were as happy as the other two couples on the show they couldn't legally marry. PlayedStraight as of the Season 5 finale.
* HatesBeingTouched: {{Justified}}. He is very germaphobic.
%%* HatesSmallTalk
* HelloAttorney: An environmental lawyer who is often noted to be quite handsome.
* HesGotLegs: Invoked in ''Starry Night'', wherein Mitchell gets sprayed by a skunk while on an outing with Jay and Manny. The only thing available for him to change into is a dress Gloria bought and left in Jay's car, which prompts Jay to [[{{Squick}} compliment his son's legs and say he'd do okay as a cross-dresser if he were "that type of gay"]].
* HouseHusband: Tries being one for a few episodes after quitting his original job to spend more time with Lily, during which time Cam goes back to work. Subverted in that it turns out they both hate this arrangement, and he gets a new job very quickly.
* IllBoy: Mitchell was born a month premature.
* TheKlutz: On occasion, namely with DIY construction and once accidentally breaking a window with nunchucks
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: With Claire when they were growing up; since she was a bit of a tomboy growing up while Mitchell was fairly effeminate.
* MommasBoy: Tends to get along marginally better with his mom.
* NeatFreak: {{Exploited}}. Cam sometimes leaves the house a mess (not cleaning it up), and knows that Mitchell will feel like he needs to clean it and will do so.
* PapaWolf: Mitch once took on a bird because it was keeping him from giving Lily her milk.
* RunningGag: Freaks out when near birds.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Depends. Mitch is the Manly Man because he's more StraightGay and is the "stricter" father. However, he could be the Sensitive Guy due to him not being not as skilled in "manly things" like Cam is.
* SexySpectacles: Wears glasses in some scenes.
* StepfordSnarker: Mitch often uses his witty sarcasm to hide some of his problems.
* StraightGay: More than Cameron, at least, although he isn't particularly masculine either.
* TheUnfavorite: To his father Jay.
* UptightLovesWild: He's a neurotic, NeatFreak, who hates being touched. And he's the partner and later husband of a flamboyant, extremely emotional DramaQueen.
%%* WaistcoatOfStyle
* WellDoneSonGuy: In some episodes with Mitchell wanting to earn his father's admiration and approval.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Birds scare Mitchell to the point that he has to use a ''baseball bat'' to get them away from him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cameron "Cam" Tucker]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/camerontuckers6.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Eric Stonestreet

Husband of Mitchell, father of Lily. He is far more emotional and dramatic than Mitchell, and repeatedly tries to break into stage acting. Also, he used to be a clown. As in from the circus.
----
* ActionDad: Despite Cameron being overly dramatic and somewhat effeminate, when he thinks there's a stranger in Baby Lily's room he jumps out of bed, grabs a baseball bat, and charges in with a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
%%* AllGaysLoveTheater
* BadassGay: In one episode, when he thought there was a stranger in Lily's room, he jumped out of bed, grabbed a bat, said "[[PreAsskickingOneLiner It's go time]]" with a SeriousBusiness look on his face, and charged in ready to KILL whoever was in there (fortunately, no one was). In another episode, when Mitch almost gets into a fight with a rude {{Jerkass}} at a gas station, Cam gets out of the car and tells the guy he will "slam [his] head into that bumper so hard the ''airbag will deploy''" if he didn't apologize. The guy apologized with genuine fear in his eyes. (Also, Cam was dressed up as Fizbo the clown during this scene, which just makes it more awesome somehow.)
** In one episode, he gets so pissed off over his extended family being good friends with Mitchell's ex, Teddy, that he punches a punching bag arcade game hard enough to set a record.
* BreakoutCharacter: Cameron is the most popular character in the show. The fans just can't get enough of him.
* CampGay: Zig-zagged. While his mannerisms, fashion sense, and DramaQueen nature are ''very'' camp, he actually has a lot of very masculine hobbies. He coaches football, is excellent at home repair, and since he grew up on a farm, he is very comfortable wrangling animals, getting dirty, and being outdoors.
* ChickMagnet:
** Before coming out, he apparently caught the attention of quite a few girls, as he likes to brag about.
** Also attempts this on a bet with Mitchell and Crispin - though, with his extremely camp personality and mannerisms, the girl he was hitting on knew he was gay all along, despite his beliefs to the contrary. She just wanted a gay best friend.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* DeadpanSnarker
* TheDitz
* DramaQueen: Sweet Jesus, yes.
* FarmBoy: A Missouri boy, and proud of it.
* FatAndSkinny: A couple example. The Fat to Mitch's Skinny.
* HappilyMarried: Initially {{Averted}}, in that while he and Mitchell were as happy as the other two couples on the show they couldn't legally marry. PlayedStraight as of the Season 5 finale.
* HeroesWantRedheads: [[StoutStrength Physically strong]] and [[MagicalQueer made of awesome]], he is partnered and married (later) to redheaded Mitchell.
* HouseHusband: Has been one for most of the series' run, although he was a music teacher before adopting Lily, a job which he eventually returns to (this time at Luke and Manny's school) once she starts kindergarten. He also briefly worked in a greeting card shop while Mitchell was unemployed. Later, he becomes the high school football coach to which he takes to quite well as it's one of his other great loves.
* LargeHam
* MagicalQueer: Played with in Cameron's urge to solve anyone's personal problem that he might stumble across (to the point of hosting a wedding).
* MommasBoy: Among his parents, Cam is closer to his mother. He even refers to himself as a "momma's boy".
* OverprotectiveDad: Threatened to harm a ''kindergarten-age'' boy for pulling on Lily's hair.
* PapaWolf: [[LetsGetDangerous "It's go time."]]
* PerformanceArtist: To some extent.
* RealMenWearPink: He is shown to be equally adept at "manly" and "womanly" pursuits like football and flower arranging. One thing that he is most definitely bad at, however, is operating large machinery.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Generally when Lily is in trouble. He is actually mistaken for Mitchell's panicking ''wife'' on the phone when Lily is trapped in a car.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Depends. Cam is the Sensitive Guy because he's been described as being more "momish" and he does tend to spoil Lily. However he could be the Manly Man because he does have more skill in "manly" things than Mitchell.
* SheCleansUpNicely: For all the jokes about his weight, it's acknowledged in-universe in Season 4 (by Jay, no less!) that Cam looks great after he rejoins his gym and finds the confidence to start wearing fitted suits. Though in Jay's case, he played football and knew Cam use to be a football linemen and thus actually has a better idea of what a muscular man looks like compared to someone working out for appearances.
* StoutStrength: Can't relate to Mitchell's memories of being picked last in gym class, as a young man he once threw a dodgeball through plywood and broke it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lily Tucker-Pritchett]]
[[quoteright:314:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/358227b69834c028d59f2a5594790c3f.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Jaden and Ella Hiller (Seasons 1-2), Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Season 3-present)

Adopted daughter of Mitchell and Cam. For the first two seasons, Lily is a baby, and thus doesn't have much characterization. In later seasons, she shows clear signs of inheriting the craziness of the rest of the family, such as by stalking her cousin Manny, or snarking at her fathers' newest problems.
----
* BerserkButton: For a while, any mention of her potential new adopted sibling. "Kill the baby!"
* DaddysGirl:
** Played with. It's pretty obvious that Cam is all but rearing her up to be one.
** Potentially with Jay since it's been shown the two of them are pretty close.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Once she starts talking.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Lily's Bunny. She keeps her dads up all night crying when he gets lost on the LA Subway in "Planes, Trains and Cars".
* HasTwoDaddies: And loves to invoke this trope word-for-word.
* HiddenDepths: Despite Lily's catty attitude, she has shown to be a lot more selfless than what one may think.
* JerkAss:
** Has become incredibly blunt and/or catty as she gets older. Though one episode suggests she gets at least some of it from Claire and likely, Jay who is particularly close to his granddaughter and vice versa. A lot of it could also be that she is still very young and may not understand what things are rude to say to someone directly.
** She also seems to mostly snark at people older than herself. In one episode when she's at a gymnastics competition, she hugs another gymnast who just fell off the balance beam and helps her readjust her hair, which was too tight and was throwing her off.
* KarmaHoudini: Although she's generally a pretty well-behaved and non-destructive kid (particularly for a 5-year-old who is obviously spoiled), Lily gets away with a lot of snark and disrespectful attitude towards adults. Part of this is that her dads are of the hyper-progressive coddling variety, and the other part is that her pinpoint snark accuracy and timing is so impressive most of the time that the adults are left speechless in her wake.
* LikeADaughterToMe: Gloria considers Lily to be her daughter, she's even Lily's godmother and the one who Lily's dads turn to when Lily has questions about "girly things" that her fathers are a bit embarrassed to answer.
* LikeParentLikeChild: Both her dads are apparently terrified of spiders in the house. As a result, when she thinks they're about to ask her to kill a spider, she basically mimics Cam's "It's go time" moment, complete with grabbing a rolled up magazine.
* OnlySaneWoman: Even though she's much younger, Lily appears to realize how insane everyone else in her adopted extended family is.
* PrecociousCrush: Developed a crush on Manny, her uncle. She also developed a crush on a father of a boy whom she was play-pals with, and she even throws herself at the older man in front of the boy, his mother and her fathers[[note]](who thought at first it was the boy; they had to warn her about this)[[/note]].
* RaceLift: In the Greek adaptation of ''Modern Family'', Lily is portrayed as a British-African girl rather than a Vietnamese girl. Although, her name remains the same.
* SilentSnarker: Though it's now headed to LittleMissSnarker territory now that she can speak.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Luke begins to see Lily as this, as does Mitch and Cam's best friend and "first child", Sal. In turn, it's implied she's beginning to feel this way about Fulgencio-Joe.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: In a way, seems to have taken this trait from Manny now that he's grown up, in the sense that she's super-mature for her age and, more often than not, more mature than her older relatives.
[[/folder]]

!!Other family members

[[folder:Dede Pritchett]]
->'''Played By:''' Shelley Long

Claire and Mitchell's mother and Jay's ex-wife.
----
* AbusiveMom: Mostly towards Claire.
* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal: In season ten in the episode "Good Grief".]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Frank Dunphy]]
->'''Played By:''' Fred Willard

Phil's father.
----
* NiceGuy: He's very friendly and cheery to mostly everybody.
* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal: In season eleven in the episode "Legacy".]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Javier Delgado]]
Manny's father and Gloria's ex-husband
----
* VisitByDivorcedDad: Goes to visit Manny whenever he visits California.
[[/folder]]

!!Others

[[folder:Dylan Marshall]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dylan.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Reid Ewing

Haley's boyfriend for a time. A nice boy and honest to a fault, he was more than happy to treat the Dunphys as his own family. He's also slightly dumber than dirt.
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* AbusiveParents: {{Implied}}. In one episode, when he (temporarily) lives with Cam and Mitch he mentions that his mother made him leave because of her new boyfriend moving in.
* ButtMonkey
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Even surpassing Phil.
* TheDitz: Dumber than a hammer warehouse, and in the wake of Luke's [[CharacterDevelopment mild intelligence growth]], probably the flakiest recurring character on the show.
* [[FirstGirlWins First Guy Wins]]: [[spoiler:He's Haley's first boyfriend shown on the series, and later ends up marrying her after she gets pregnant by him.]]
* HiddenDepths: He told Haley that he's majoring in Nursing.
* InSeriesNickname: Nicknamed "D-Money" by Phil.
* IntercourseWithYou: "In the Moonlight" and "Imagine Me Naked". The former starts out romantically enough, before:
--> Maybe, baby\\
I just wanna DO you! DO you!\\
Do you wanna DO me?! DO me?!
* NiceGuy: He's one of the nicest and most sensitive guys you'll ever meet.
* RomanticFalseLead: He plays this for Haley and Andy for a time on the show, and eventually gets a wife and stepchild of his own. [[spoiler:Eventually Haley and Andy break up for good, and Dylan and Haley get back together and marry.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Andy Bailey]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture6_7.PNG]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/AdamDevine

The babysitter/nanny for Joe. The family quickly takes a liking to him, especially Phil, due to their similar personalities and interests. Develops feelings for and later dates Haley.
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* {{Adorkable}}: A super sweet guy who is highly excitable and goofy.
* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:With Haley.]]
* BreakoutCharacter: Adam Devine delivered such an outstanding performance in his initial 3 episodes that the writers asked him to come back for more episodes over many seasons.
* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally
* DoggedNiceGuy: To ''his own girlfriend'', Beth, who seems at best indifferent to him. Actually {{Averted}} with Haley, in that she's pretty quick to realize she'd be lucky to have him if he weren't with Beth.
** {{Cuckold}}[=/=]YourCheatingHeart: Discovers that Beth had been cheating on him with another guy... whom she was also cheating on with yet another guy during the season 7 ChristmasEpisode in which they break up... Y'know, the one where they had to hide Haley because she and Andy had been caught sleeping together.
* FemaleGaze: Haley stares at Andy quite a lot.
* GenerationXerox: Though he's not actually related to the family, he's gearing up to be Phil to Haley's Claire, to the point of becoming Phil's assistant in the hopes of becoming a real estate agent.
* GeniusDitz: He ''seems'' like a pure ditz, but he's actually very competent at most things he turns his hand to.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: Appropriately, since he works in childcare, he barely ever swears. It also helps emphasize his resemblance to Phil. One episode reveals he thinks the word "shucks" is the S-word.
* {{Hypocrite}}: In "White Christmas", he gets mad and dumps Beth upon finding out that she was cheating on him... despite the fact that he also cheated on her with Haley.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Meets the family when Gloria hires him to be Joe's nanny. He's way better at his job than any of the female candidates.
* InsistentTerminology: Prefers "manny" to "male nanny", but admits that this causes a problem in a household where his charge's older brother is ''actually'' named Manny. He finally settles on "bro-pair".
* MirthlessLaughter: Has a pretty freaked-out laugh when he discovers [[spoiler: that Haley tried to stop his proposal.]]
* MrFanservice: Very much so.
* NiceGuy: Andy is described as a gentleman, with similar interests to Phil Dunphy. Like Phil, he is one of the sweetest and nicest characters on the show.
* PerpetualSmiler: Constantly has a cheerful, dimpled grin. Haley even describes it as an "eagle-scout smile", due to the fact that it lights up the room.
* ThePollyanna: He always looks on the bright side of life, complimenting Haley's more cynical view of things.
* PromotedToOpeningCredits: {{Discussed}} but then {{Averted}} - early reports indicated that he'd be credited in the opening titles for episodes in which he appeared after the mid-season break in Season 7, however this didn't end up happening.
* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:In the Season 7 finale, he returns to his native Utah to take over his cousin's real estate business; he and Haley mutually decide to end their relationship, despite still being in love with one another. The decision was presumably done to accommodate Adam [=DeVine=]'s other acting commitments in 2016/17, and reports are conflicted as to whether he'll be back on the show later in Season 8.]]
* TemporaryBulkChange: In the Season 7 premiere, he attends the Dunphys' Fourth of July barbecue on a strict "wedding diet," only to inadvertently overhear Claire and Phil talking about how they prevented Haley from interrupting his proposal to Beth. He [[BlatantLies claims he's fine]], but grabs a few cupcakes as he leaves and [[HeartbreakAndIceCream starts stuffing his face]]. When he returns for a Labor Day party, he's packed on the pounds to the point where Haley doesn't recognize him. It [[StatusQuoIsGod didn't last, though]].
* UnfortunateNames: While Phil and Claire are definitely [[ShipperOnDeck Shippers on Deck]] for Haley and Andy, in one episode when they mistakenly believe the two have eloped one of their concerns is that their daughter's name after marriage will be "Haley Bailey".
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Haley. They are attracted to each other, but a major obstacle stopping them from becoming a couple is that fact that Andy has a girlfriend and they appear to be in a committed relationship. [[spoiler:TheyDo, but it doesn't last.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pepper Saltsman]]
[[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pepper.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Nathan Lane

A gay friend of Cam's and Mitchell's, known for his parties and his name.
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* AdamWesting: His character is basically Nathan Lane.
* CampGay: Even more than Cam.
-->'''Mitchell''': But it said 'No presents, please.'\\
'''Cam''': Say it like Pepper would say it.\\
'''Mitchell''': ''[beat]'' Oh.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Downplayed. Mitch and Cam do like Pepper, but they make up excuses to avoid his parties. It's implied they aren't the only ones, though Cam and Mitchell's reasons for not wanting to go is because it's a big hassle to dress up in costumes and whatnot.
* ObliviousToLove: Had no idea his assistant was in love with him.
* OddFriendship: Has one with Jay.
* PunnyName: ''Pepper'' ''Salt''sman.
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Even Gloria points out what a weird name "Pepper" is. (His parents named him [[spoiler: Sherman]].) Also unintentionally [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Cam:
--> '''Cam:''' ''[comforting an upset Pepper]'' You are NOT a joke! You are Pepper Saltsman!
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ben]]
[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be.PNG]]
->'''Played by:''' Joe Mande

A co-worker of Claire and Jay, has feelings for and later Alex
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* {{Adorkable}}: Possibly the poster child for it
* ButtMonkey: Very frequently at his work and with the family.
* ExtremeDoormat: Finds it extremely difficult to stand up for himself, especially to Jay.
* ManChild: oh man!
* NiceGuy: He's a genuinely nice guy, who puts others needs before his.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gil Thorpe]]
[[quoteright:178:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gil_thorpe_modern_family.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Rob Riggle

A rival real-estate agent who constantly harasses Phil.
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* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Phil in real estate.
* EvilCounterpart: Or a more jerkass version of Phil.
* HateSink: Whenever he's on screen, he's treats NiceGuy Phil like crap.
* {{Jerkass}}: He'll do anything to upstage and embarrass Phil.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He even offers Claire a job just so he can constantly call Phil and torture him with sexual innuendo about her ''in front of their son.''
* SitcomArchNemesis: A rival real estate agent to Phil. Every time someone steals a house out from under him or outsells him at work or embarrasses him, it's Gil Thorpe.
[[/folder]]

[[Characters/ModernFamilyRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]]

[[Characters/ModernFamilyMainCharacters Main Characters]]
[[Characters/ModernFamilyOtherFamilyMembers Other Family Members]]

[[Characters/ModernFamilOtherFamilyMembers Other Family Members]]

[[Characters/ModernFamilyMainCharacrers Main Characters]]

[[Characters/HarryPotterOrderOfThePhoenixMembers Order of the Phoenix Members]

!!Dunphy Family

[[folder:Phil Dunphy]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4fc4c132ce43950ff7a748ee114e62179.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/TyBurrell

Husband of Claire, father of Haley, Alex, and Luke. He's a classic BumblingDad, trying to be friendly with his kids despite being a big old dork. He often finds Claire's restrictions on his ideas annoying, but knows she means well, and accepts that she's what keeps him from hurting himself too much.