History Characters / OneTreeHillMainCharacters

* KavorkaMan: He's insecure, awkward, plain-looking, and considers himself unlucky in love, but gets many hot girlfriends (probably more than anyone else) from season 2 onwards.

* CulturedBadass: Luke starts off and finishes virtually every episode of his run on the show with a literary reference.

* CulturedBadass: Luke starts off and finishes virtually every episode of his run on the show with a literary reference. He shares a love of literature with his father Dan.

* BigFancyHouse: After he earns a salary as a basketball player, he, Haley and Jaime live in a big mansion.

* BrattyTeenageSon: In season one, he was very cocky, arrogant, bratty, and self-centred. He grew out of this behavior rather quickly due to CharacterDevelopment.
* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: Nathan actively avoids making the same parenting mistakes with his son Jamie that his father Dan did with him. Nathan is a much better father to his son Jamie than Dan was to him growing up.

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Both Dan and Deb didn't approve of Nathan being with Haley at the beginning of their relationship. Deb and Dan strongly disapproved of Nathan marrying Haley and they plotted to break up their marriage. It's eventually subverted as Dan and Deb accept Nathan and Haley's marriage and support them being together.

* HairTriggerTemper: Nathan has quite an explosive and volatile temper when he is provoked into anger. He inherited this trait from his father Dan. Many of the complicated situations that he has found himself in stem from him lashing out in anger or impulsiveness. Fortunately, he manages to become more calm, practical and level headed due to CharacterDevelopment. Even after this, he still lets his temper get the best of him sometimes.

* TheLancer: Nathan is this to Lucas' TheHero from season one to six. After Lucas' departure from the series, Nathan becomes TheHero and Clay and Julian become TheLancer to him.
* LonelyRichKid: Downplayed. Nathan comes from wealth and a privileged background. but he's very popular and has plenty of friends. However, his home life is very miserable, lonely and unhappy, which is why he chooses to emancipate himself from his parents and move out of his large mansion to live by himself.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Nathan tried very hard to earn his father's respect, love and approval, primarily when it came to basketball. He was desperate to make Dan proud that he resorted to self-destructive behaviors, such as taking drugs to increase his performance on the basketball court. Nathan realized how hard Dan pushed him and how being desperate for his father's love and approval was causing negative effects, so he chose to emancipate himself from his father.

* SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy: Haley, a nerdy bookworm, falls in love with Nathan, the BigManOnCampus and most popular boy at Tree Hill High.

* StudentCouncilPresident: She's voted as this in season two. She defeats Erica Marsh for the title.

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Dan and Karen were in a romantic relationship throughout their high school years and they were very much in love. However, after they graduated high school, Karen told Dan that she was pregnant with his child. Dan decided to leave Karen and his unborn son Lucas to attend university. While Dan was attending university, he met and fell in love with Deb, who also became pregnant with his child. Dan seemingly wrote off Karen and chose to marry Deb and raise a family with her, leaving Karen heartbroken. Despite this, Dan admitted that he always loved Karen and that on the night of his wedding rehearsal dinner with Deb, he knew he was in the process of making a big mistake by choosing Deb over Karen.

* TheAloner: He becomes a loner after he leaves Tree Hill in season seven. He is isolated from everyone that he knows, including his family, but he tells Quinn in season eight that he chose to isolate himself.

* BigEgoHiddenDepths: On the surface, Dan appears arrogant and egotistical. However, as the series goes on, his egotistical bravado is revealed to be nothing more than a mask he wears to cover up his serious insecurities, inadequacies, failures, and self-esteem issues due to the immense pressure he felt to be perfect at everything growing up because of his strict, authoritative and perfectionist father, Royal.

* BondOneLiner: He delivers one to Nanny Carrie in season six before he shoots her.
-->'''Nanny Carrie:''' "I'm not dead."
-->'''Dan:''' "Sure you are." *shoots her with a gun*

* BreakTheHaughty: Dan starts out as the most arrogant and seemingly invincible character in Tree Hill. By season four, he loses all of his power, money and influence after it was found out that he killed his brother. He is also sent to prison and his family shuns him.

* CulturedBadass: Dan loves literature, reading books and using many literary quotes as metaphors. He's also someone who will kick the tar out of anyone who crosses him or tries to outclass him. He shares the love of literature in common with his son, Lucas.

* HairTriggerTemper: Dan has a volatile temper when he is provoked into anger. His temper has gotten the best of him and it is a FatalFlaw of his. A few examples of his temper getting the best of him is when he physically attacked Nathan in the locker room after a basketball game or when he almost choked Lucas to death.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Dan went from being the most popular boy and star athlete in high school with a bright future, to someone who was married to his wife Deb with a son (Nathan) and living a wealthy, lavish and comfortable lifestyle, to becoming the Mayor of Tree Hill and the most powerful man in the town, to losing all of his power, influence, and family after it was found out that he killed his brother, to being sent to prison to serve time, to being shunned by everyone he knows and loves and living in isolation by himself. How the mighty have fallen indeed.

* JealousRomanticWitness: In season three, there were plenty of moments where Dan was seen jealously looking at Keith and Karen together. It fuelled his resentment towards Keith even more.

* LargeAndInCharge: Dan is one of the taller characters of the series, being 6'2". He was the CEO of Dan Scott Motors car dealership in season one and two. He became the most powerful and influential man in Tree Hill after being elected the mayor of the town in season three.

* MeanBoss: Averted. Dan is never shown to be particular cruel or mean to his employees and subordinates at his dealership.

* TheNicknamer: Dan coins many nicknames for other characters on the show such as "Boozy" for Keith and Deb, "Anna Nicole" and "Garden Gnome" for Deb, "Hot Stuff" for Karen, and "Old Man" for Whitey, for example.

* RagsToRiches: Dan was born into a working class family in Tree Hill. He married Deb, who came from money and wealth. He then became one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Tree Hill.

* RedemptionQuest: He goes on one from season four to nine. He becomes TheAtoner and tries to make up for his misdeeds, particularly for killing Keith in season three. He makes a HeroicSacrifice in season nine by sacrificing himself to save Nathan, resulting him in having a RedemptionEqualsDeath arc.

* RichesToRags: Dan was one of the most wealthy and powerful men in Tree Hill and he had a lot of influence in the first four seasons. After he is sent to prison, he appears to have lost his money and assets, as well as his position as Mayor of Tree Hill. After he is released from prison, he manages to become wealthy again after he gets his own talk show and writes his own book. After he ends his show, he gives the rest of his wealth away to charities and organizations and leaves Tree Hill pretty much penniless.

* SpoiledBrat: Even though he's one of the adult characters on the show, he displayed entitled and spoiled tendencies. It's probably because since he was young, he got everything that he wanted.

* TogetherInDeath: After Dan dies in season nine, Keith reunites with Dan in spirit form where the two tell each other that they love one another and Keith forgives Dan for his misdeeds. The two brothers go into the afterlife together.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Dan always tried very hard to be perfect at everything to earn his father Royal's respect, love and approval. This immense pressure to live up to his father's expectations would emotionally damage him well into his adulthood.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Keith had been in love with Karen since she was in high school, but Karen was in love with his brother Dan and only saw Keith as a friend. Even after Dan broke her heart, Karen still had feelings for him but eventually grew resentful towards him for abandoning her. Karen's feelings for Keith were eventually reciprocated.

* TheConscience: Keith is always trying to make sure that people do the right thing.

* RejectedMarriageProposal: In season one, Karen rejected Keith's marriage proposal because she didn't return his feelings at the time.

* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Karen admitted that it took her a long time to get over Dan. It took her nearly seventeen years for her to start dating and wanting to have a romantic relationship again because she was so heartbroken over Dan leaving her.
* FirstGirlWins: Dan admits to Deb in both season one and four that Karen was the love of his life and that he was going to leave Deb for her. Dan said that he loved Karen more than Deb and that the night of his wedding rehearsal to Deb, he knew that he was making a mistake by marrying her and choosing her over Karen.

* FullNameBasis: His mother Karen will sometimes refer to him by his full name, Lucas Eugene Scott, wherever she is angry or frustrated with him. An example of her calling him by his full name was when she confronted him about not taking his HCM test.

* YoungestChildWins: Haley is the youngest child in her family and she's the most famous and successful out of all of them.

* BadassBureaucrat: He's the Mayor of Tree Hill in season three and four. He's seen signing many documents and paperwork as a result of his position. That doesn't mean that he won't kick the tar out of anyone who stands in his way.

* BadassLongcoat: When he's not wearing a suit, he can be seen wearing a long coat instead, particularly in Season 3.

* ChickMagnet: Dan was the most popular boy during high school and he was a star athlete. As a result of being handsome, athletic and popular, he attracted many girls back in the day. He got the affections of his FirstLove and high school sweetheart Karen and his SecondLove and college sweetheart Deb.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Karen. They grew up together in Tree Hill and they began a romantic relationship during high school. Karen became an UnluckyChildhoodFriend when Dan left Karen and their unborn child Lucas to attend school. During college, Dan met Deb and they eventually got married and had Nathan.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Dan grew up in a troubled family background with a stern, authoritative AbusiveDad and a [[MyBelovedSmother smothering, overbearing, and overprotective mother]]. He made plenty of mistakes which led him to go down a dark path of regret, including abandoning Karen and Lucas, turning his back on his brother Keith, and betraying Whitey by sitting out of the State Championship.

* DoNotGoGentle: Dan goes on a dangerous rescue mission to save his son Nathan. He knows there's a huge possibility that he may die but he chooses to go on the mission anyways. He ends up getting fatally shot by one of Nathan's kidnappers and taking the bullet that was meant to be aimed at Nathan. By doing this, he sacrifices himself to save his son.
* TheDreaded: Dan was very intimidating and feared because he always had a plan up his sleeve and nobody knew what he was going to do next.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: During his time as Mayor of Tree Hill, he had many connections and he used those to his advantage when he wanted something. He pretty much had the town at his mercy since he was the most powerful and influential man in Tree Hill.

* TakingTheBullet: In season nine, Dan is fatally shot by one of Nathan's kidnappers. He takes the bullet that was meant for Nathan, ultimately sacrificing himself to save his son.

* VillainDecay: By season four, Dan starts to became less menacing and intimidating and makes attempts to change his life. He becomes TheAtoner after Keith's death due to feeling intense guilt and remorse over his actions. Not to mention that his health starts deteriorating due to his heart condition (HCM) which makes him physically weaker than he was before.
* VillainProtagonist: Even though the show centres on his sons, Lucas and Nathan, Dan is actually the epicentre of the entire show and the storylines. It was his choices and decisions which helped shaped the entire show. Many of the major characters are connected to Dan in some way. Lucas and Nathan are Dan's children, one with whom was TheUnfavorite (Lucas) and the other whom he showed ParentalFavoritsm towards (Nathan). Jamie, Lydia, and Sawyer are his grandchildren. Lily is his niece. Karen was his FirstLove, his high school sweetheart and the mother of his older son Lucas. Deb was his SecondLove, his college sweetheart turned wife and the mother of his younger son Nathan. He is the youngest son and child of Royal and May Scott. He is the younger brother of Keith with whom he had a SiblingRivalry with. Coach Whitey Durham was his former coach during his high school basketball days. Haley and Peyton are his daughters-in-law. Rachel is his second wife. In addition to many of the characters centring around him, he was the BigBad of the series from season one to three.

* YoungestChildWins: He's the younger child of his parents and is much more successful than his elder brother, Keith. He seemed to get everything that he wanted since childhood. He was [[ParentalFavoritism strongly favoured by his parents]] growing up. He was the BigManOnCampus and the most popular boy at Tree Hill High during his high school years. He was good-looking and handsome and was a ChickMagnet since high school. He was a star athlete and the greatest talent on the Ravens basketball team back in the day. He earned a basketball scholarship to attend Duke University. He met and married a wealthy girl (Deb) and lived a lavish and rich lifestyle with a big mansion. He had a successful business (a car dealership) which made a lot of money. He has two very handsome and talented sons, Lucas and Nathan. He also became the most powerful and influential man in Tree Hill after he was elected Mayor of the town. Everything seemed to come easy for Dan.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Keith is a nice guy most of the time but that doesn't mean he tolerates nonsense.

* BlackSheep: Keith seems to be the odd man out, especially in relation to his father Royal and his brother Dan. While Royal and Dan are very athletic and have a strong passion for sports, Keith is not as athletic and is more into cars and mechanics. Keith was also TheUnfavourite son to Royal and Royal showed ParentalFavoritism towards Dan.

* HonorBeforeReason: Keith is extremely noble and honorable and all about doing the right thing as much as possible.
* HopelessSuitor: He was one to Karen for many years. Keith had feelings for Karen but she only saw him as a friend and a good substitute parent for Lucas. In season three, she reciprocates his feelings.