History Characters / Parksandrecreation

* [[Characters/ParksAndRecreationMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Leslie Knope, Ann Perkins, Tom Haverford, Ron Swanson, April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer, Ben Wyatt, Chris Traeger, Jerry Gergich, Donna Meagle, Mark Brandanawicz, Craig Middlebrooks.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/ParksAndRecreationOtherCharacters Other Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]The Langmans, Greg Pikitis, Ken Hotate, Dr. Harris, Li'l Sebastian, Burly Burlinson, Brandi Maxxxx, Orin, Dennis Feinstein, Barney Varmn, Trevor Nelsson, Kathryn Pinewood, Jennifer Barkley, Justin Anderson, "Sewage Joe" Fantringham.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/ParksAndRecreationGovernmentAndMedia Government and Media]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Ethel Beavers, Jeremy Jamm, Bill Dexhart, Fielding Milton, Douglass Howser, Ingrid de Forest, Dave Sanderson, Ron Dunn, Brett & Harris, Mayor Gunderson, Kyle, Shauna Mulwae-Tweep, Perd Hapley, Derry Mubles, Crazy Ira & The Douche.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/ParksAndRecreationMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Leslie Knope, Ann Perkins, Tom Haverford, Ron Swanson, April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer, Ben Wyattt, Chris Traeger, Jerry Gergich, Donna Meagle, Mark Brandanawicz, Craig Middlebrooks.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/ParksAndRecreationOtherCharacters Other Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]The Langmans, Greg Pikitis, Ken Hotate, Dr. Harris, Li'l Sebastian, Burly Burlinson, Brandi Maxxxx, Orin, Dennis Feinstein, Barney Varmn, Trevor Nelsson, Kathryn Pinewood, Jennifer Barkley, Justin Anderson.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/ParksAndRecreationOtherCharacters Other Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]The Langmans, Greg Pikitis, Ken Hotate, Dr. Harris, Li'l Sebastian, Burly Burlinson, Brandi Maxxxx, Orin, Dennis Feinstein, Barney Varnmn, Trevor Nelsson, Kathryn Pinewood, Jennifer Barkley, Justin Anderson.[[/labelnote]]

[[Characters/ParksAndRecreationMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Leslie Knope, Ann Perkins, Tom Haverford, Ron Swanson, April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer, Ben Wyattt, Chris Traeger, Jerry Gergich, Donna Meagle, Mark Brandanawicz, Craig Middlebrooks.[[/labelnote]]

[[Characters/ParksAndRecreationRelatives Relatives]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Marlene Griggs-Knope, Tammy Zero, Tammy One, Tammy Two, Diane Lewis, Wendy Haverford, Gayle Gergich, Millicent Gergich, Joe, Lucy, The Ludgates, The Meagles.[[/labelnote]]

[[Characters/ParksAndRecreationGovernmentAndMedia Government and Media]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Ethel Beavers, Jeremy Jamm, Bill Dexhart, Fielding Milton, Douglass Howser, Ingrid de Forest, Dave Sanderson, Ron Dunn, Brett & Harris, Mayor Gunderson, Kyle, Shauna Mulwae-Tweep, Perd Hapley, Derry Mubles, Crazy Ira & The Douche.[[/labelnote]]

[[Characters/ParksAndRecreationTheSapersteinsAndTheNewports The Sapersteins and Newports]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Jean-Ralphio Saperstein, Mona Lisa Saperstein, Dr. Saperstein, Nick Newport Sr., Jessica Wicks, Bobby Newport, Nick Newport Jr.[[/labelnote]]

[[Characters/ParksAndRecreationOtherCharacters Other Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]The Langmans, Greg Pikitis, Ken Hotate, Dr. Harris, Li'l Sebastian, Burly Burlinson, Brandi Maxxxx, Orin, Dennis Feinstein, Barney Varnmn, Trevor Nelsson, Kathryn Pinewood, Jennifer Barkley, Justin Anderson.[[/labelnote]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Other Pawnee Residents]]
!!Marcia and Marshall Langman [-(Darlene Hunt and Todd Sherry)-]
-->''"There are girls quivering. There are boys staring deeply into girls' eyes as they quiver and so forth. There really is a tremendous amount of quivering. It is anti-Christian. It is pro-quivering."''
-->—Marcia, on ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. Which was written by [[Creator/StephenieMeyer a]] ''[[Creator/StephenieMeyer Mormon]]''.

Marcia is the first of the two to be introduced, and is an uptight and humorless right-wing Christian activist offended by everything. Often uses InsaneTrollLogic. The episode "Sex Education" introduces her husband Marshall Langman, who shares her views. ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed They're probably based on Michelle and Marcus Bachmann.]])

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: They're the founding members of the Society for Family Stability Foundation.
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Marshall concurs with Marcia that women should [[StayInTheKitchen stay home with the kids]].
* FemaleMisogynist: Marcia thinks women should StayInTheKitchen.
* TheFundamentalist: Very uptight and conservative Christian moral guardians.
* HateSink: Marcia is an uptight and hostile woman who's against gay marriage, actively hinders anything she disagrees with regardless of being in the moral wrong, and is in general not very plesant to be around. Add in that she's a KarmaHoudini, and she's quite possibly one of the most despicable characters in the series.
* {{Heteronormative Crusader}}s: Both of them are very conservative when it comes to sex, relationships and family values.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Marcia has very conservative, heteronormative views on gender roles and believes women should stay home and care for their children, but she works outside the home advocating her political and social views and causes, similar to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_LaHaye Beverly LaHaye]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Schlafly Phyllis Schlafly]].
* InsaneTrollLogic: Marcia's forte.
* {{Jerkass}}: Whenever we see Marcia, she's rarely portrayed in the most positive light.
* MoralGuardians: To the extreme.
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: A more right-wing version of this where they rail against anything that seems "improper".
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Leslie's.
* StayInTheKitchen: Believe in this.
* TransparentCloset: While it's only hinted at, Marshall does act very stereotypically camp. Serves as something of a potshot against Marcus Bachmann, who is often accused of being a [[ArmoredClosetGay huge closet case]].

!!Greg Pikitis [-(Cody Klop)-]

A teenager who tee-pees parks every Halloween who Leslie has been trying to catch for years. When she confronts him at his school to warn him that this time will be different, he manages to tee-pee the office and drives Leslie nuts by trying to figure out how and when he got in. He enjoys tormenting her and is implied to continue doing so even after the show ends.

* AbortedArc: Makes a cameo appearance at the end of a season 6 episode as the boyfriend of Leslie's protege, seemingly setting him up for a future story, but he never appears again.
* ArchEnemy: To Leslie. While she has other SitcomArchNemesis, most of them are indifferent to her and she only crosses swords with them due to a clash of policies or politics (or in the case of Tammy 2, because she gets in the way of her and Ron). Greg, however, actually goes out of his way to torment her personally just to amuse himself, and further he targets parks which directly encroaches on her job.
* ForTheEvulz: Pretty much why he commits his acts of vandalism and why he later goes after Leslie.
* MasterOfDisguise: How he got into the office- [[spoiler: they were putting up decorations for Halloween, so he disguised himself as a decorator, stole Leslies' keys and hid in a trash bin until everybody left, Leslie thinking he was at school the whole time]].
* StandInParents: He hires a woman from Craigslist to pretend to be his mother when he is held on suspicion for the office incident, even getting her to threaten to sue them all to scare them off. His ''actual'' mother claims he always does this whenever he is in danger of getting in trouble.
* TooCleverByHalf: His antics are extremely well thought-out and he is probably motivated in part by sheer boredom.

!!Ken Hotate [-(Jonathan Joss)-]
-->''"There are two things I know about white people: they love'' Matchbox Twenty, ''and they are'' terrified ''of curses."''

The Chief of the local Wamapoke tribe. He enjoys inducing WhiteGuilt at every possible opportunity. Leslie was at one point his favorite target, but eventually they jointly figure out ways to weaponize that against some of the nastier people in Pawnee.

* TheBarnum: Considers his casino the best way to get back everything Pawneeans stole from the Wamapoke, one quarter at a time.
* DeadpanSnarker: Usually at Leslie, but other people have been on the receiving end of his snark, too.
* EverythingIsRacist: He frequently declares random things offensive, likely just to make others uncomfortable.
* TheGadfly: Milks every possible ounce of enjoyment out of watching white Pawneeans squirm and messing with their heads.
-->'''Ann''': Mr. Hotate, thanks for coming. Would you like some water?\\
'''Ken''': Water? Like fire water? That's racist, and I do not appreciate it.\\
'''Ann''': No-no-no-no-no, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, you know--\\
'''Ken''': I'm just messing with you.\\
'''Ann''': Oh my God.\\
'''Leslie''': He's funny. This guy's funny. He does that sometimes.\\
'''Ken''': But seriously, I'll have a whiskey.
* InkSuitActor: Inverted, in this case - Ken Hotate is basically John Redcorn from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' without the womanizer angle. Both are played by Jonathan Joss.
* ItAmusedMe: When he's not trolling white people to get his way, he's just doing it for his own amusement.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's definitely a {{Troll}} and is fully willing to exploit WhiteGuilt to get what he wants, but Ken's not a bad guy, and is more than happy to team up with Leslie to take down genuinely nasty characters (i.e., Jamm and Pinewood).
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Exploited and parodied. He'll play the part of a Native American with mystical powers to freak out white people. When asked to remove a curse, he just utters nonsense and insults.
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: {{Exploited}} and {{parodied}}. He knows white people are awkward around Native Americans and uses their WhiteGuilt to get his way.
* WhiteGuilt: For both fun and profit, he milks the guilt of most other characters.

!!Dr. Harris [-(Cooper Thornton)-]
A doctor and a coworker of Ann's at the local hospital. An incredibly DeadpanSnarker with a [[DrJerk terrible bedside manner]].

* ComicallyIneptHealing: Normally quite competent, but every now and then can be shockingly negligent, such as when he fails to check Jerry for mumps.
* ComicallySerious
* DeadpanSnarker
* DistractedByTheSexy: While not finding it sexy or arousing, he is fascinated by [[spoiler:the size of Jerry's penis.]]
* DrJerk: His bedside manner is pretty awful and he doesn't like it when patients ask too many questions. [[BirdsOfAFeather He gets along quite well with Ron as a result.]]

!!Li'l Sebastian
A miniature horse that did... [[NoodleIncident something]] that has endeared him to the residents of Pawnee.

* BackFromTheDead: He appears to Leslie and Ben as a sign they should get married. It's actually a licensed impersonator (imhorseinator?), and his handler tries to tell that to Leslie, but she doesn't care.
* GagPenis: Even when pixilated out, it's played for laughs.
* KilledOffForReal: Dies at the end of the third season, and is given a city-funded hero's funeral. Ron takes his death particularly hard:
-->'''Ron''': When I walked in this morning and saw the flag was at half-mast, I thought 'all right — another bureaucrat ate it.' But then, I found out it was Li'l Sebastian. Half-mast is too high. ''Show some damned respect.''
* NoodleIncident: Precisely what Li'l Sebastian did to earn the undying love of the residents of Pawnee (other than being adorable) is lost to history. And as Ben finds out, asking for reasons is considered a major ''faux pas''.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Naturally, being a miniature horse (not a pony, they're different things). "The Trial of Leslie Knope" shows he has a line of [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plushies]] for sale.
* SeriousBusiness: Everyone in Pawnee adores him. Outsiders don't really get it, which is a BerserkButton for Pawneeans.

!!Wyatt "Burly" Burlinson [-(Andrew Burlinson)-]
Guitarist and backing vocalist (later co-lead) for Mouse Rat.

* AllThereInTheManual: His full name is never mentioned on the show, with Andy only ever calling him by his nickname. It is, however, on Mouse Rat's website.
* NeatFreak: According to Andy, though given what a slob Andy is, that may not be the case.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Just known as Burly.
* SatelliteCharacter: To Andy. Justified as he's part of his band.
* StraightMan: To Andy in Mouse Rat-centric plots.

!!Brandi Maxxxx [-(Mara Marini)-]
Local Pawnee Porn star who also ran for City Council against Leslie Knope and Bobby Newport. Admires Leslie and played her in ''Too Big to Nail'', an adult movie about Leslie saving the Pawnee Videodome.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: For Leslie. She also, at one point during a political debate, said she'd sleep with every one of her opponents.
* BiTheWay: She has no problem casually talking about how she's slept with many men and women. She's either this or gay-for-pay.
* HiddenDepths: She does run for political office at one point. In the DistantFinale, [[spoiler: she actually does become city council president]]. Her run is possibly a nod to porn star Mary Carey's publicity stunt campaign for governor of California in the 2003 recall election.
* NiceGirl: She actually seems to be pretty nice and friendly, [[AbhorrentAdmirer if a little overly so]].
* NotSoDifferent: How she sees herself and Leslie, though the latter very much disagreed.
** Considering the insane number of adult films Brandi has starred in, she may very well have a work ethic to rival Leslie's.
* PornNames: The excessive number of X's in her name for starters.
* RunningGag: Repeatedly compares Leslie's work in the Parks Department to her work as a porn star, much to Leslie's disagreement and horror.
* TooMuchInformation: Her comments about her career are usually irrelevant to the discussion, and unwanted by Leslie.
* UnwantedAssistance: Every time she tries to help out Leslie, Leslie wants no part of it.

!!Orin [-(Eric Isenhower)-]
Orin is April's very quiet, very creepy friend. He seldom speaks and often stares at people and makes them feel uncomfortable. Everybody except April dislikes him, with Leslie even outwardly insulting him. He once had a performance art show, where he was an animal living on a human farm.

* {{Anvilicious}}: {{Invoked}}. He's not especially subtle. At the previously mentioned farm art show:
-->'''Orin:''' (''in a sheep costume'') Moo... moo...\\
'''Leslie:''' Shut up, Orin. Aren't you supposed to be a sheep?\\
'''Orin:''' No. You are.
* ButtMonkey: He's an even bigger one than Jerry. He creeps everyone out so much that they all talk bad about him. Leslie especially, who will yell at him and insult him directly, and advises April to stay away from him.
* CreepyCrossdresser: When he dresses up as April's mother in "Prom".
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette
* {{Goth}}
* TheStoic: The only times Orin showed any emotion was when he's scared by Chris' brand of intense positivity and smiling at Chris' depressing music mix.

!!Dennis Feinstein [-(Creator/JasonMantzoukas)-]
A perfume mogul who lives in Pawnee.

* AtrociousAlias: Ben doesn't get why he chose the name Dennis Feinstein, and thinks it was a bad change.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: His real name is Dante Fiero, but he changed it to Dennis Feinstein because sounding Jewish is more exotic in Pawnee. Tom approves.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: He just wants to earn as much money as possible, anything else is completely inconsequential.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: Alludes to having done this on a vacation and tries to hire Tom to be his next target.
* {{Jerkass}}: Makes every other jerk on this show look like a sweet pussycat.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: He brags about paying $25,000 to hunt a man on a vacation.

!!Barney Varmn [-(John Balma)-]
An accountant who is employed at the Tilton & Radomski firm, he is first introduced when Leslie hires him for an accounting presentation to lighten up her party. [[IncrediblyLameFun It doesn't work]].

* AbhorrentAdmirer: A male, non-romantic example for Ben.
* ButtMonkey: Is never able to get Ben to stick around at the jobs he hires him for and treated as weird and/or a bore by other characters.
* HeroWorshipper: Seems to view Ben of all people as one of the coolest men alive. Of course, compared to Barney and most of his other colleagues and friends, Ben's a rock star, but still.
* IncrediblyLameFun: Often needlessly excited by his accounting job, bursts into fits at Ben's admittedly mediocre accounting puns and enjoys Cones of Dunshire.
* RunningGag: Hires Ben for various jobs, only to be crushed when he quits a few days later.

!!Trevor Nelsson [-(Creator/MarcEvanJackson)-]
A high-priced Pawnee lawyer who works for many of Pawnee's wealthier families, namely the Newports and the Sapersteins.

* AmoralAttorney
* TheComicallySerious: Never seen without a stony glare and does not care for Ben's puns.
* StraightMan: Often plays off much zanier characters like Ron, the Sapersteins and Jessica Wicks.

!!Kathryn Pinewood [-(Mary Faber)-]
Head of the Pawnee Restaurant Association, she fights for "consumer rights" in generally the worst ways possible. She heads the fight to get Leslie recalled from office.

* AlphaBitch: Never misses an opportunity to put Leslie (or any of her friends) down.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Puts profits over the public's health.
* {{Jerkass}}: A very [[SmugSnake smug one]] at that.
* SitcomArchNemesis: For much of Leslie's tenure in city council, she shares the role with Councilman Jamm.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other Characters]]

!!Jennifer Barkley [-(Kathryn Hahn)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_51458_pm.png]]

A straight-forward, fierce Washington political strategist who is first introduced in Season 4 to run Bobby Newport's campaign for City Council.

* TheAce: Intelligent, confident, reads international newspapers, is a big political muckety-muck in Washington. She ran two Republican congressional campaigns, a Senate race and gave Leslie and Ben a real run for their money when she opposed them in the City Council election.
* CareerVersusFamily: Not a problem with her. The trope is {{defied}} because she is completely satisfied she doesn't have kids, especially since she'd have to wear a plastic poncho to cover her clothing.
* TheChessmaster: Makes this comparison in her very first episode.
* ChildHater: Blatantly states she's very happy with her life choices whenever Leslie and Ben's kids come up and she freaks out when she sees one of the triplets run past her.
--> '''Jennifer''': Whoa! What was that? That thing was huge!
* DeadpanSnarker: Common topics she mocks include life in Pawnee and Leslie and Ben's children.
* {{Foil}}: To Leslie. A hypercompetent and incredibly dedicated career woman who is nonetheless the sidekick to someone with absolutely no interest in doing their work. While Leslie has her sights set on one day becoming president and genuinely wants to help the world, Jennifer is content with pulling the strings from behind the scenes and is OnlyInItForTheMoney.
* FriendlyEnemy: Her loudness and willingness to admit she's just in it for the money aside, she's friendly to Leslie and Ben, and even admits Leslie will be a better Councillor than Bobby Newport.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Well, heart of bronze, maybe. She runs campaigns for people she admits are horrible, and is rather blunt and abrasive, but she never makes her rivalry with Leslie personal and does genuinely think Ben and Leslie have what it takes to succeed.
* MeaningfulName: Jennifer ''Bark''ley makes sense for someone who's as [[NoIndoorVoice loud]] and intimidating as a Rottweiler.
* NeatFreak: Puts plastic covering on herself and several things in the Knope-Wyatt household to keep the kids from spilling something on her.
* NonIdleRich: She's got enough money to have a condo on every Virgin Island, but the reason she ''has'' that money is because she works incredibly hard at her job, and is the best at what she does.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: While it's debatable that she's doing good, this is her motivation.
* PunchClockVillain: For the City Council arc. She's mostly on [[AffablyEvil friendly terms]] with Leslie and Ben and the entire reason she took the Newport campaign was because they paid her a butt-load of money. After that, she offers Ben a job as a campaign manager at her firm, and subsequently [[spoiler: a position as a congressman in the House of Representatives and then Governor of Indiana]].
* TheRival: To both Leslie and Ben at various times. She's generally friendly with both of them, but is easily one of their greatest obstacles in accomplishing their goals.
* SarcasticDevotee: Loyal and hardworking for the Newport campaign, no qualms about mocking him in private.
* SpiritedCompetitor: She gives Leslie campaign advice a few times because, to use her chess metaphor, she doesn't have anyone to play against, so she has to play against herself.
* WorthyOpponent: She steadily grows to respect both Leslie and Ben as political adversaries.

!!Justin Anderson [-(Justin Theroux)-]
Ann's lawyer friend introduced in season 2. He dates Leslie for a short time.

* TheAce: He's well-traveled and cultured, always has an interesting story to tell, and is an intelligent lawyer.
* DerailingLoveInterests: His biggest problem for most of his time on the show was that he couldn't be around all the time. It isn't until the episode where he and Leslie break up that his being a "tourist" in other people's stories is established.
** Though in "Leslie’s House", we do see that he has a tendency to [[TheProudElite unnecessarily one-up other people's stories]] and to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections latch on to the people he deems interesting.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's basically a genuinely nice and helpful guy, but whether he realizes it or not, he tends to see people as objects of interest rather than as actual people, and he can put his nose into other peoples' business because he sees a chance to spice their lives up without thinking about the possible negative consequences.
* TheOneThatGotAway: For Ann, in a way. She used to hope that maybe she could start something with him, much to Andy and later Mark's annoyance. She does get over it.
* TemporaryLoveInterest: For Leslie in the second season, after she broke up with Dave. They later break up after Leslie realizes he's an "emotional tourist".

[[/folder]]

!Supporting Characters


[[folder:The Sapersteins]]
!!Jean-Ralphio Saperstein [-(Ben Schwartz)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50908_pm.png]]

Tom's partner-in-crime who is (even more) slimy and obnoxious. He's hilarious just from his hairstyle. Outright hated by Ron and Donna.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Towards Leslie, though in the most benign and PlayedForLaughs fashion possible, and he's generally pretty respectful about it.
* AnythingThatMoves: Or, in his words, "I guess you could say I'm ♫''open-minded as helllll!''♫"
* BreakoutCharacter: A fan favorite from his debut, which led to him making several more appearances as well as the introduction of his sister and father.
* CasanovaWannabe: Even more so than Tom.
* ConspicuousConsumption: In his own words, the only thing better than having money is making sure people know you have it.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He's the first person to admit how horrible Mona-Lisa is. And he's her brother.
* FakingTheDead: At some point in the future, he fakes his death and plans to use the insurance payout to open a casino in Tajikistan.
* FlatCharacter: Openly admits to the point of pride that he is exactly as vapid and shallow as he seems, and has no sort of HiddenDepths to speak of. Tom's development becomes more pronounced when put next to him as a result.
* GracefulLoser: Whenever he loses a job or gets rejected in an interview, Jean-Ralphio simply acknowledges that it's the right decision.
-->'''Employer:''' ''(after Jean-Ralphio's been employed for about thirty seconds)'' You're fired!\\
'''Jean-Ralphio:''' Makes sense. So I just go out the same way I came in?
* IdleRich: Though he does try to get a job, he's not good at it. He's okay with it though.
* IncomingHam: Someone making an indirect comment about him without using his name directly will inevitably summon Jean-Ralphio.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's definitely a slimeball, very self-centered, and ''incredibly'' obnoxious, but he's not really a bad guy. He actually does care about Tom and admits his own shortcomings freely. He's just very spoiled, very overconfident, and comes on ''way'' too strong.
* LargeHam: Constantly loud, if not outright yelling (or singing).
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: He embodies all of the negative traits Tom had before he got character development.
* TheScrappy: In-universe. Nobody but Tom likes him, and even Tom starts to get annoyed with him later on.
* SpoiledBrat: Calls his father "Daddy" and asks for money. Which he gets.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: To call him a bad influence on Tom would be an understatement.
* VerbalTic: Will occasionally rand-om-ly sing woorrrrds in his sen-ten-ceeees!
** He's also weirdly incapable of making rhyming couplets, wherein he'll hit the intended rhyme, but ruin it by adding another word after it.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Generally sees Tom as little more than an extra source of cash, though he does genuinely seem to like him.

!!Mona Lisa Saperstein [-(Creator/JennySlate)-]
Jean-Ralphio's "twin sister from the same mister" who he describes as (singing) "the worst person in the wooooorld" and also a "total klepto, nympho, and pyro". Tom hires her at his clothing rental business and ends up starting a relationship with her after attempting to discipline her results in a sexual encounter.

* AxCrazy: Frequently breaks things and sets fires when she doesn't get her way, picks fights with people and is an all-around unstable person.
* AnythingThatMoves: Is ''perfectly'' open to having a foursome with Tom, Craig (a total stranger), and [[{{Twincest}} her own brother]]. The one exception to this is Garry (unsurprisingly), whom she gives a "hard pass" to.
* CuteAndPsycho: She's cute, but along with being intolerable, she's a complete psychopath.
* DaddysGirl: Like her brother, she blatantly lies to their father's face and whines to get money at the drop of a hat.
* DistaffCounterpart: Is essentially a female Jean-Ralphio, except somehow even more obnoxious.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Tom dates her. Jean-Ralphio is her brother. Both of them admit that Mona Lisa is a horrible person.
* IdleRich: Gets her money from her father, and just fools around all day. For a time she was employed by Tom, but she was awful at it.
* {{Jerkass}}: She is, in fact, ''the wooooooooooorst''.
* JewishAmericanPrincess: She is very spoiled and AmbiguouslyJewish, although she is not the least bit sexually repressed.
* KissingCousins: She French-kissed her cousin once... and may still be in love with him. Tom is understandably disgusted.
* NeverMyFault: To quote her directly, "I have done nothing wrong, ever, in my life."
* PsychopathicManchild: Whereas Jean-Ralphio is a slimeball but otherwise harmless, Mona Lisa is a few paintings short of a Louvre. Case in point, her childishly asking for money while smashing up Ben's office is a hilarious and terrifying thing to watch.
* ReallyGetsAround: She'll agree to anything with anyone. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Jerry]].
* TheScrappy: She's this InUniverse. While Jean-Ralphio is at least liked by Tom, ''everyone'' hates Mona Lisa, including her brother, her father, and her boyfriend.
* SpoiledBrat: Even more so than her brother.
* {{Yandere}}: A clingy MoodSwinger who will beat you up and trash your car (if not outright light it on fire) if you show any sign of not being into her.

!!Dr. Saperstein [-(Creator/HenryWinkler)-]
Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa's father. He finds his layabout offspring to be a huge disappointment.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Even while he's destroying their friend's life, Chris and Ann go to him for their pregnancy because he's that good.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The last of the Sapersteins introduced is the patriarch of the family. Naturally, you'd assume he'd somehow top Mona Lisa in obnoxiousness, but he actually reveals himself to be a halfway decent and relatively normal guy who is as annoyed by his kids as the rest of the cast is.
* MeaningfulName: His name is almost identical to the Satanist OB-GYN, Dr. Sapirstein, in ''Film/RosemarysBaby.''
* MyGirlIsNotASlut: Is convinced Mona Lisa was a virgin before dating Tom; when he accuses Tom of stealing her virginity, everyone else in the room bursts into laughter at the idea.
* NiceGuy: Zig-zagged. He's got fantastic rapport with his patients and complains about being interrupted while watching Saturday morning cartoons with his son; but he ''loathes'' Tom over his perceived mistreatment of Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa to the point that he doesn't even care when he finds out that his kids were lying, and he makes it very clear that he considers his children to be complete and utter disappointments that he wants to offload at the earliest opportunity (although let's face it, the latter is entirely justified).
* PapaWolf: Sets about destroying Tom's business because he believes Tom wronged Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: After finding out that his kids lied about Tom's actions, he decides to continue with the business because it's making money.
* PushoverParents: He has spoiled his kids utterly rotten and just throws money at them whenever they ask for it.
* SerialNumbersFiledOff: In-universe, he opens a 'clothing rental store for teens' business just to run Tom's "Rent-a-Swag" out of business. It's so transparent that he even calls it "Tommy's Closet".
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Tom in Season 6.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Inverted. He's the Serious Parent (a normal, composed obstetrician/gynecologist) to his sleazy, irresponsible Wacky Children, and is all the more frustrated for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Newports]]
!!Nick Newport, Sr. [-(Christopher Murray)-]
Former CEO of Sweetums, a candy corporation which owns half the town. Dies at the end of Season 4.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive
* InformedFlaw: While he may well have been a scheming evil businessman earlier in life, characters act as though he is still this way in the show despite the fact that he is a disabled elderly vegetable as early as season 2. He is particularly painted as the mastermind behind his son Bobbys' bid for City Council in season 4 even though he doesn't even show up in that season and is likely far too senile by that point to mastermind anything, and it is more likely his wife Jessica is the true brains by this point.
* KilledOffForReal: Dies towards the end of the fourth season.
* {{Jerkass}}
* LivingProp: Despite being featured in several plots, he never actually does or says anything. Justified to a certain extent, as he's little more than a decrepit vegetable by the time the series rolls around.
* MealTicket: For Jessica Wicks.

!!Jessica Wicks [-(Susan Yeagley)-]
Nick Newport Sr.'s GoldDigger wife. Also a RichBitch. Current CEO.

* ConspicuousConsumption: A hallmark of her homes and offices.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: When she takes over for her husband. Her company does awful things, even resulting in deaths, and she [[spoiler:fires Ben]] when Leslie criticizes them.
* GoldDigger: Marries the richest guy in town for his cash, although the amount of nude portraits of his old, frail body that she must have had commissioned suggests that she might have been physically attracted to him as well.
* EveryManHasHisPrice: "Leslie doesn't pay for my lifestyle, money does."
* MoneyFetish: When she announced the sale of the Newport land to Gryzzl in season 7, she repeated how much it was worth because "it makes me ''very'' horny."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She acts like a very vapid BrainlessBeauty in her first appearance, but later seasons show that there is in fact a scheming businesswoman underneath that smile. Her dimwitted Beauty Queen persona from her past might well have been just that, a persona, as it was made perfectly clear that this is what usually wins at such events. While she is certainly shallow and amoral, she is more savvy and convincing than she first appears.
* RichBitch: Once she gets married she uses her wealth to seize historical buildings and get her dimwitted step-son Bobby elected as a puppet councilman [[note]]although everyone claims that Nick is the brains behind this, the fact that he was crippled and senile the last time we saw him makes it implicitly obvious that Jessica was the true brains behind this scheme[[/note]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney
* TrophyWife: For Nick Newport, Sr., although given that he was almost a vegetable at the time of their marriage this might be a {{Subversion}}.
* WickedPretentious: Vandalizes a historical building to remodel it to her tastes for a birthday party for her husband (who is barely even aware of what is going on), and garishly redecorates her home and offices with nude portraits of herself and her elderly husband.

!!Bobby Newport [-(Creator/PaulRudd)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_51111_pm.png]]

Leslie's opponent in the City Council race. A ManChild and UpperClassTwit to the extreme, he's really only running to do something to make his father proud of him.

* BrainlessBeauty: Very attractive, despite his utter lack of intelligence.
* FriendlyEnemy: He's Leslie's opponent in the council race, but he's incredibly pleasant and friendly towards her regardless - if only because he's apparently [[GoodIsDumb too dim to be otherwise]]. Towards the end of the campaign, he publicly endorses her, although he doesn't seem to realize the implications of that.
* IdleRich: Runs for City Council to cast off these accusations... which are incredibly true.
* LowestCommonDenominator: InUniverse, he gets a lot of mileage in the campaign by spouting vaguely positive gibberish. It doesn't offend anybody because it doesn't mean anything.
* ManChild: Unlike most examples where the character is just incredibly immature, Bobby has so little understanding of how the world works that he often reacts like a child would.
* NiceGuy: He's actually very kind and generous, if only because [[GoodIsDumb he's too dumb to have a mean bone in his body]].
* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Ends up married to Shauna Mulwae-Tweep in the distant finale]].
* PuppetKing: He does little in the way to actually oppose Leslie, leaving all of his campaign decisions up to [[HypercompetentSidekick Jennifer]]. He even offers Leslie the chance to do the City Council work for him if she lets him win the seat.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Throws money at any problem he comes across.
* ShelteredAristocrat: He's had so little exposure to the world that he generally acts more like a curious four year old than he does a man pushing forty.
* SpoiledSweet: Raised in wealth, and an incredibly nice guy.
* UpperClassTwit
* WellDoneSonGuy: The whole reason he ran for city council.

!!Nick Newport, Jr. [-(Gary Weeks)-]
Current CEO of Sweetums in season two (until Jessica Wicks replaced him). Father of Denver [-(Ryan Hartwig)-] and Dakota [-(Harley Graham)-]. As of season four, he seems to have been {{Retcon}}ned out of existence.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Apparently quietly retconned out of existence.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Government Employees]]
!!Ethel Beavers [-(Helen Slayton-Hughes)-]
A very old woman who works in the dreaded fourth floor of City Hall and is also court stenographer. In "Two Funerals" we find out [[spoiler: she had an affair with the late Mayor Gunderson who had an open marriage with his wife.]]

* CoolOldLady: April even wants to adopt Ethel as her grandmother.
* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally plays this role.
* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: A milder example.
* SecretRelationship: [[spoiler:With the late Mayor Gunderson]].

!!Jeremy Jamm [-(Jon Glaser)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50039_pm.png]]
City councilman, orthodontist and {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire who generally opposes everything Leslie does on principle. As time goes on, it becomes clear that he's also a lonely and pathetic man who desperately needs a friend.

* AlliterativeName: '''J'''eremy '''J'''amm.
* BreakTheHaughty: While dating Tammy Two. Her attempts to turn him into a clone of Ron turns him into a hollow shell of a man.
* CardCarryingVillain: Practically brags that he uses underhanded tactics like fear-mongering and demonisation and takes positions for purely self-serving reasons. In "Gin It Up!" he calls a hearing over a tweet in order to undermine the Parks and Rec department and waste Leslies' time; he freely and publicly admits that he is blowing things out of proportion, conducting a witch hunt and looking to score political points. In "Flouride" he admits that he opposes putting fluoride in the Pawnee water supply because he is a dentist and he doesn't want peoples teeth to get better. And in "The Cones of Dunshire", he says Leslie is the Superman to his Lex Luthor, preferring to be the supervillain because Lex is rich.
* CatchPhrase: "You just got Jammed!"
* CoolCar: He's very proud of his red Corvette.
-->'''Jamm''': I once got an Asian girl to sit in it!
* DemotedToExtra: A prominent antagonist in season 5 and 6, he only gets a couple of appearances in season 7, one of which is just a cameo in the finale.
* EmptyShell: Tammy 2 turned him into this while they were dating. Jamm ends up so depressed and broken that Leslie and Ron, who ''hate'' Jamm, felt morally obligated to put their vendetta at the time aside and help him get out of the relationship.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He's introduced by having Leslie walking in on him in the private bathroom attached to her councilman office. He then refuses to take "no" for an answer when she tries to prevent this from continuing into the future.
* EvilerThanThou: On the receiving end of this when he starts dating Tammy 2.
* ForeignCultureFetish: In "The Cones of Dunshire" he is shown to have a fetish for East Asian culture.
* HateSink: He exists largely so Leslie can have an annoying enemy on the council.
* HazyFeelTurn: He never explicitly renounces his selfish ways, but he becomes far more sympathetic after abused by Tammy 2 and he grows to have genuine fondness for Ron and Leslie and no longer undermines their efforts.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: It's very telling that, when Leslie needed his support on an issue, the hoops he forced her to jump through were having breakfast with him and singing karaoke with him. He also calls Leslie and Ron his two best friends in the world, even though neither of them can stand him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Especially to Leslie, even though he considers her [[VitriolicBestBuds a friend]].
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Tries to obstruct anything Leslie does on principle.
* OccidentalOtaku: His collection of Japanese memorabilia suggests this. He even owns a teppanyaki grill.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: One of the most regular antagonists and he makes no attempts to be politically correct. Ever.
** However, even he squirms under Ken Hotate.
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Leslie's many, and her most prominent in Seasons 5 and 6.
* SmugSnake: He clearly sees himself as some sort of devious mastermind but he usually gets outplayed by the main characters or shoots himself in the foot, such as when he has to drop his lawsuit against Ron for punching him in the face when the team find out that he lied 11 times in his affidavit.
* StealingTheCredit: Whenever he hears an idea that he likes he openly announces that he is going to tell people that it was his, and if this happens in a meeting he says he wants ''the record'' to show that, even in cases where he was arguing the opposing view for his own benefit.
* TookALevelInKindness: In the series finale, while he's still a bit of jerk, he does do some kind gestures for Leslie, including giving her a painting of them posing like John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a parting gift.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Oddly, he genuinely considers Leslie to be his best friend, and presumably sees their relationship as friendly sniping. Leslie doesn't return the sentiment, at ''all''.
* WickedPretentious: Despite his Asian culture interests he mispronounces words and cooks regular American breakfasts as if they were Japanese dishes (although the DistantFinale implies that he does genuinely go on to become a successful Japanese chef); he also tries to lure people to his own rock concert by singing generic rock words that don't belong to any particular song and doesn't see the issue.

!!Bill Dexhart [-(Kevin Symons)-]
City councilman. An incredibly SleazyPolitician who is usually involved in some kind of sex scandal.

* AnythingThatMoves: Whenever a sex scandal comes up, expect it to involve multiple people of any gender identification, age, profession, etc.
* CorruptPolitician: A sexual deviant who will do anything to win and stays in office due to a combination of living in the worst district in town and playing incredibly dirty.
* DoubleStandard: Enjoys the benefits of this. Whenever a sex scandal crops up, it's the women around him who get lambasted rather than Dexhart himself, such as his wife for [[WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack staying with him despite his many infidelities]], or suspected mistress Leslie Knope for [[SlutShaming "throwing herself at him."]]
* {{Jerkass}}: He stays in office despite his many sex scandals only because he runs scorched-earth negative campaigns to make his opponents look even worse than he.
* KavorkaMan: His sexual exploits are genuinely impressive, if only because he's not notably attractive but manages to bed a ridiculous number of women.
* RunningGag: Whenever Dexhart is mentioned, he's usually at the center of another sex scandal.
* TheBusCameBack: While he never actually went anywhere, he first showed up in season 2 where he drags Leslie into his sordid sex scandals, then largely disappears until season 5 once Leslie joins the City Council.

!!Fielding Milton [-(James Greene)-]
City councilman since 1948. Mostly a source of [[RacistGrandma Racist Grandpa]] jokes.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Not necessarily an out-and-out villain, but he's a noted racist and sexist who regularly tries to down-talk Leslie.
* [[RacistGrandma Racist Grandpa]]: As noted above. He originally ran for office on a promise to re-segregate baseball.
* SeniorSleepCycle: Often dozes during meetings. In fact, many jokes are made about him being older than dirt.

!!Douglass Howser [-(Yvans Jourdain)-]
City councilman. Seems to be a StraightMan. A RunningGag involves Leslie running into him in awkward situations and her using the opportunity to try and talk about some issue.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: He seems to be the City Council's president/chairman/whatever (he sits in the middle and his chair is on a raised platform). He is also bald and black.
* OnlySaneMan: On the city council. You've got overzealous Leslie, sleazy Jamm, sex-scandal-prone Dexhart, [[RacistGrandma Racist Grandpa]] Milton, and then Howser, whose only quirk is a propensity to keep running into Leslie at inconvenient times.
* ShoutOut: One wonders if [[Series/DoogieHowserMD he's a doctor]].

!!Ingrid de Forest [-(Creator/KristenBell)-]
A resident of the former Eagleton and Leslie's replacement on the city council.

* AntiVillain: Runs against Leslie purely in her hometown's interest.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Quite mean at first, but later shows herself to be a great politician who honestly cares about the former Eagletonians.
* WorthyOpponent: Considers Leslie as this after running against her.

!!Dave Sanderson [-(Creator/LouisCK)-]
Leslie's boyfriend in Season 2. A bumbling cop. Their relationship is cut short due to Dave joining the Army Reserve and moving to San Diego, but he comes back in Season 4's "Dave Returns" and [[TheMissusAndTheEx awkwardly interacts with Ben]].

* {{Malaproper}}: Frequently.
* NiceGuy: He's a pleasant if bumbling man.
* PutOnABus: Has to move to San Diego in Season 2 to fulfill his obligation to the Army Reserve.
** TheBusCameBack: For the Season 4 episode aptly named "Dave Returns."
* TookALevelInJerkass: When he's seen again in season 4, he's a good deal more unhinged than when he departed in season 2, still hung up over his feelings for Leslie, expecting her to return them, and even going so far as to handcuff Ben to a urinal in the restaurant they were all in.
** JerkassRealization: When he realizes what he's done, he lets Ben go and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wishes the best for Leslie]].
* VerbalTic: Speaks in very blunt, straightforward sentences.

!!Ron Dunn [-(Creator/SamElliott)-]
Rons' Eagleton counterpart in their Parks and Recs department. He is superficially identical to Ron Swanson, until it transpires he is a hippie, pacifist, vegan and generally his political and philosophical opposite in every way. Although he is not kept on in the combined Parks Department, he shows up past his introductory episode.

* ActualPacifist: Says that if Ron attacks him, he won't fight back.
* CoolOldGuy: He is a calm, chilled, easygoing guy who gives out positive advice and wishes everyone well. Naturally, Ron hates him.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: He believes in spirit animals and is seemingly able to summon his own (a falcon) at will. He also believes in astrology and guesses that Ron Swanson is a Taurus - Ron never tells anyone his birthday, but he alluded in a later episode that it was in the springtime, meaning that Taurus is a possibility.
* ShadowArchetype: He is basically Ron if he was a vegan hippie instead of a carnivorous hunter.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Ron Swanson seems to regard him as one, though Dunn naturally doesn't consider anyone his enemy.

!!Brett Hull and Harris Wittels [-(Colton Dunn and Harris Wittels)-]
Two stoned morons who work at Pawnee Animal Control and are the major reason for its massive incompetence in catching animals. They are fired in Season 5 and later end up squatting in the basement of City Hall.

* CloudCuckooLander: Due to being high in all of their appearances.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: They join the "Recall Leslie Knope" rally, thinking it's a rally to legalize marijuana.
* InsultBackfire: When Leslie describes the animal control department as being run by two moronic stoners, Harris thinks it's a compliment.
* LethallyStupid: When Leslie ordered Brett to pretend to kill every bird in Pawnee for the avian flue crisis simulation, Brett doesn't get the "pretend" part, and keeps asking Leslie how she wants the birds killed.
* RunningGag: Harris keeps declaring that he's "down to clown" with April and either attempting to flirt with or asking another character if she's available. One time, it's right in front of Andy (who is naturally less than impressed) and the other time it's at the party ''immediately after her wedding''.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: When Ron, April and Andy find them in the City Hall basement they say they certainly aren't living there.
* {{The Stoner}}s[-/-]StonersAreFunny: They're high all the time.
* ThoseTwoGuys[-/-]HeterosexualLifePartners: Even (accidentally) show up to a job interview together.
* TooDumbToLive: They got fired because they left a coyote trap around since they had a huge pest problem, and tried to reach Animal Control about it but no one would pick it up. As Leslie pointed out, they were the people they'd call about it.

!!Mayor Walter Gunderson [-([[spoiler:Creator/BillMurray]])-]
The [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen invisible]] mayor of Pawnee. Ends up dying two months before his term is up in the seventh season episode appropriately titled "Two Funerals".

* TheCameo: In "Two Funerals", he appears as a corpse.
* TheGhost: Mentioned frequently before "Two Funerals," but never shown. Of course, by the time we see him, he's dead, so this entry works on two levels.
* SecretRelationship: [[spoiler:With Ethel Beavers. Apparently, Gunderson's wife knew and was completely okay with it]].

!!Kyle [-(Andy Forrest)-]
A regular at Andy's shoe shine stand and an attorney for City Hall, he is the lowest on the City Hall pecking chain. Even Jerry treats him like garbage.

* ButtMonkey: Only Chris is actually nice to him.
* TheChewToy: Unlike Jerry, there is no good nature to the ribbing and no silver linings in his life.
* ExtremeDoormat
* OccidentalOtaku: Subverted: he is characterized as this once by the others, even though all he was doing was eating rice.
* OldWindbag: His stories inspire either this or inappropriate laughter.

[[folder:Pawnee Media]]
!!Joan Callamezzo [-(Mo Collins)-]
The vapid host of ''Pawnee Today'', a talk show frequented by the main characters. She likes Tom due to his flattery, but seemingly has a vendetta against Leslie. She’s [[SmallNameBigEgo oddly arrogant for a local media personality]].

* TheAlcoholic: Has a poorly-concealed drinking problem that she tends to try and excuse with {{Lame Excuse}}s like eating too much shellfish.
* CloudCuckoolander: While never a paragon of stability during the series, she entirely lost her mind [[spoiler:during the TimeSkip between Seasons 6 and 7]]. Highlights include calling all her ex-boyfriends while sitting on a washing machine on-air, having her audience fight over a car, and believing she's in [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]] in the middle of a speech.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rarely kind to anyone, as she thinks she's above most people.
* KentBrockmanNews: She's an insufferable {{Jerkass}} and has no shame in hiding it whenever she's on air.
* LadyDrunk: She's almost always inebriated, even on air.
* {{Narcissist}}: To an absurd degree - she has huge oil paintings of herself in the nude in her house, for example. The only people she doesn't constantly belittle are suck ups who praise everything she does.
* NotSoAboveItAll: As snobby and superficial as she is, she still goes just as crazy as everyone else in Pawnee does over Li'l Sebastian.
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Leslie's first. She seems to relish taking her down.
* SmallNameBigEgo: A local talk show host who seems to think she's Oprah.

!!Shauna Mulwae-Tweep [-(Alison Becker)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50535_pm.png]]
->''"I can't even land the shoeshine guy."''

IntrepidReporter for the local paper. Usually, the Parks Department gives her access in the hope that she'll report something positively for them, but hijinks ensue and her story ends up with a negative, sensationalistic slant. In Season 5, Chris has a short-lived and ambiguously romantic relationship with her.

* AntiVillain: Yes, she causes problems for the department, but she's simply doing her job.
* BrosBeforeHoes: Variation. Her relationship with Chris hits a snag because she insists on bringing her family and friends onto every date she has with him. She considers this entirely natural and doesn't see the problem with it. Chris doesn't exactly conflict with them per say, but he isn't really thrilled about this behaviour either.
* IntrepidReporter: Well, about as intrepid as one can be in Pawnee. If there's a story, Shauna's on it.
* NiceGirl: She's a sweet, well-meaning lady that doesn't seem to have any contempt for anybody.
* RomanticFalseLead: Her usual role involves her becoming friendly with a male character, making the girl he eventually winds up with jealous by accident. This happened with Andy, Ben, and Chris in that order.
* RomanticRunnerUp: As a perpetual RomanticFalseLead, she winds up as this frequently. She even {{lampshades}} this ("I can't even land the shoeshine boy!").
** It gets deconstructed later on, as it's shown she's pretty miserable because of this.
* NoSocialSkills: {{Downplayed}}. On the surface she seems entirely normal socially, but a pattern emerges of her being blind to the way she says or does things affects those around her or acts inappropriately, such as bringing friends and family with her on dates (although this implies that she might also have been raised this way if they are like this as well).
* StepfordSmiler: Revealed to be this in "Galentine's Day 2", where she tries to stay positive to ignore the painful parts of her personal life. Leslie can't help but pity her a little.
* ThrowTheDogABone: In the distant finale, where [[spoiler:after she's left at the alter by her fiancee, she later crosses paths with Bobby Newport and ends up marrying him]].

!!Perderick "Perd" Hapley [-(Jay Jackson)-]
Host of ''Ya' Heard? with Perd''. [[VerbalTic Tends to speak]] [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundantly]], in sentences, which repeat their meaning.

* {{Acrofatic}}: Can do the Worm.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: In his more competent moments, he can show some skill at hosting a show, and is clearly likable enough to cultivate a local following.
* CaptainObvious: Because of his redundant nature, most of his statements are quite obvious in addition to being redundant in nature.
-->"Issue number one is the first issue we're going to talk about."
* CloudCuckoolander: Even if he isn't sure if there are real cuckoos living in the clouds, his offbeat behavior would fit right in if there were. He has to ask if centaurs are real.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: His standout trait, which is quite notable.
* TheDitz: While Pawnee is filled with them, he stands out as the most naive and idiotic media representative.
* FanCommunityNickName: He refers to his fans as Perd-verts.
* TheFool: Has done quite well despite not being the smartest tool in Pawnee.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Loves making these with his name.
* KentBrockmanNews: Of the spacey, cuckoolander kind.
* LiteralMinded: Is so tunnel-visioned with his questions and answers, jokes and sarcasm tend to escape his tunnel vision.
-->'''Perd''': "The lewd photo, how big of a deal is it?"\\
'''Leslie''': "Well, Perd, it's not that big a deal, if you know what I mean."\\
'''Perd''': "I don't know what you mean, but it had the cadence of a joke!"
* NiceGuy: The nicest person in the Pawnee media. Any time he's caused trouble for Leslie, it hasn't been on purpose.
* PungeonMaster: Always related to his name.
* SarcasmBlind: Occasionally, due to being so literal-minded.
* SpinOff: In-universe, he gets a new show, called ''Judge Perd'', [[BetterThanABareBulb which often reminds the viewer,]] that Judge Perd is not a real judge.
* VerbalTic: Speaks in sentences that are somewhat redundant and repeat themselves, because of the redundancy of rephrasing everything he says in the sentences that he speaks.

!!Derry Murbles [-(Creator/DanCastellaneta)-]
Host of a public radio show which plays terrible music. Leslie has been a guest on the show a couple of times.

* BitingTheHandHumor: At one point, his announcer talks about one of the underwriters for the station, a new film called ''The Shadows of Seven Heads'', "the dramatic tale of an Israeli soldier who falls in love with conjoined Palestinian sextuplets"-- it's noted to be released by Creator/FocusFeatures, another branch of [=NBCUniversal=].
* CloudCuckooLander: Upon finding out that his target audience likes jazz music, he plays two jazz records simultaneously.
* DullSurprise: Even when he's angry he still keeps a very even tone.
* MeaningfulName: "Murbles" sounds vaguely like "mumbles", and is also only one letter away from "marbles" -- as in, "mouth full of marbles." Fitting name for a host who never raises his voice or inflicts any emotion into it.
* SitcomArchNemesis: After the Pawnee-Eagleton merger, he finds himself saddled with an Eagletonian co-host, August Clementine (Creator/JohnHodgman), who he doesn't get along with.
* TheStoic: He shows very little emotion, even when he's furious.
* TakeThat: He and his show seem to be a lighthearted jab at NPR and its soft-spoken hosts.

!!Crazy Ira and the Douche [-(Matt Besser and Creator/NickKroll)-]
Crazy Ira and Howard "The Douche" Tuttleman are two shock jocks of a morning zoo-style Pawnee radio program. They serve primarily as a parody of those types of radio shows, especially in a small-town market like Pawnee. The show prominently features fart jokes and YourMom insults, as well as constant sound effects from their sound man "China Joe", who hates his job. Crazy Ira and The Douche are widely admired in Pawnee.

* AlterEgoActing: Howard occasionally points out when he's speaking in character. "That's the Douche talking."
* BecomingTheMask: Howard states that he mainly made up "The Douche" for the radio show, but it ended up becoming part of his personality for real.
* {{Dumbass DJ}}s: Played up for all its worth. Despite this, both are also shown to be very intelligent, even courteous.
* HiddenDepths: ZigZaggedTrope. Will occasionally provide moments that show they are more mature than their on-air behavior suggests, only to follow it up by acting like they would on air.
** The Douche, in particular, has a degree in communications from an [[IvyLeagueForEveryone Ivy League college]] and can be eloquent and smart when he wants to be.
* {{Jerkass}}: The two are NOT the least bit likable.
* NoSell: In the companion book ''Pawnee: The Best Town in America'', Jerry transcribed the two trying to prank Ron. Ron stonewalls them since their choice of disguises to bug him with are random citizens and other members of the government, both of which Ron avoids like the plague.
* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: Crazy Ira.
* PetTheDog: Surprisingly, The Douche genuinely adored his grandmother, considering her to be a strong, inspirational woman, and intends to name his first daughter after her.
* ShockJock: They're quite filthy on-air, and their sound guy is incredibly good at pulling up perfect perverted soundbites.
* SitcomArchNemesis: They are two among many citizens in Pawnee who ruin things for Leslie on a regular basis.
* SmarterThanYouLook: Ironically, despite being Pawnee's resident DumbassDJ duo, they regularly show themselves to be the most well-spoken and intelligent Pawnee media personalities.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Prone to suddenly slipping out of their ShockJock personas in order to eloquently and effectively challenge their guest (generally Leslie), only to slip right back into it just as quickly.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Rarely seen apart, other than a brief stint where The Douche was considered to be a sperm donor for Ann.

[[folder:The Sapersteins]]
!!Jean-Ralphio Saperstein [-(Ben Schwartz)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50908_pm.png]]

Tom's partner-in-crime who is (even more) slimy and obnoxious. He's hilarious just from his hairstyle. Outright hated by Ron and Donna.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Towards Leslie, though in the most benign and PlayedForLaughs fashion possible, and he's generally pretty respectful about it.
* AnythingThatMoves: Or, in his words, "I guess you could say I'm ♫''open-minded as helllll!''♫"
* BreakoutCharacter: A fan favorite from his debut, which led to him making several more appearances as well as the introduction of his sister and father.
* CasanovaWannabe: Even more so than Tom.
* ConspicuousConsumption: In his own words, the only thing better than having money is making sure people know you have it.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He's the first person to admit how horrible Mona-Lisa is. And he's her brother.
* FakingTheDead: At some point in the future, he fakes his death and plans to use the insurance payout to open a casino in Tajikistan.
* FlatCharacter: Openly admits to the point of pride that he is exactly as vapid and shallow as he seems, and has no sort of HiddenDepths to speak of. Tom's development becomes more pronounced when put next to him as a result.
* GracefulLoser: Whenever he loses a job or gets rejected in an interview, Jean-Ralphio simply acknowledges that it's the right decision.
-->'''Employer:''' ''(after Jean-Ralphio's been employed for about thirty seconds)'' You're fired!\\
'''Jean-Ralphio:''' Makes sense. So I just go out the same way I came in?
* IdleRich: Though he does try to get a job, he's not good at it. He's okay with it though.
* IncomingHam: Someone making an indirect comment about him without using his name directly will inevitably summon Jean-Ralphio.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's definitely a slimeball, very self-centered, and ''incredibly'' obnoxious, but he's not really a bad guy. He actually does care about Tom and admits his own shortcomings freely. He's just very spoiled, very overconfident, and comes on ''way'' too strong.
* LargeHam: Constantly loud, if not outright yelling (or singing).
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: He embodies all of the negative traits Tom had before he got character development.
* TheScrappy: In-universe. Nobody but Tom likes him, and even Tom starts to get annoyed with him later on.
* SpoiledBrat: Calls his father "Daddy" and asks for money. Which he gets.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: To call him a bad influence on Tom would be an understatement.
* VerbalTic: Will occasionally rand-om-ly sing woorrrrds in his sen-ten-ceeees!
** He's also weirdly incapable of making rhyming couplets, wherein he'll hit the intended rhyme, but ruin it by adding another word after it.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Generally sees Tom as little more than an extra source of cash, though he does genuinely seem to like him.

!!Mona Lisa Saperstein [-(Creator/JennySlate)-]
Jean-Ralphio's "twin sister from the same mister" who he describes as (singing) "the worst person in the wooooorld" and also a "total klepto, nympho, and pyro". Tom hires her at his clothing rental business and ends up starting a relationship with her after attempting to discipline her results in a sexual encounter.

* AxCrazy: Frequently breaks things and sets fires when she doesn't get her way, picks fights with people and is an all-around unstable person.
* AnythingThatMoves: Is ''perfectly'' open to having a foursome with Tom, Craig (a total stranger), and [[{{Twincest}} her own brother]]. The one exception to this is Garry (unsurprisingly), whom she gives a "hard pass" to.
* CuteAndPsycho: She's cute, but along with being intolerable, she's a complete psychopath.
* DaddysGirl: Like her brother, she blatantly lies to their father's face and whines to get money at the drop of a hat.
* DistaffCounterpart: Is essentially a female Jean-Ralphio, except somehow even more obnoxious.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Tom dates her. Jean-Ralphio is her brother. Both of them admit that Mona Lisa is a horrible person.
* IdleRich: Gets her money from her father, and just fools around all day. For a time she was employed by Tom, but she was awful at it.
* {{Jerkass}}: She is, in fact, ''the wooooooooooorst''.
* JewishAmericanPrincess: She is very spoiled and AmbiguouslyJewish, although she is not the least bit sexually repressed.
* KissingCousins: She French-kissed her cousin once... and may still be in love with him. Tom is understandably disgusted.
* NeverMyFault: To quote her directly, "I have done nothing wrong, ever, in my life."
* PsychopathicManchild: Whereas Jean-Ralphio is a slimeball but otherwise harmless, Mona Lisa is a few paintings short of a Louvre. Case in point, her childishly asking for money while smashing up Ben's office is a hilarious and terrifying thing to watch.
* ReallyGetsAround: She'll agree to anything with anyone. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Jerry]].
* TheScrappy: She's this InUniverse. While Jean-Ralphio is at least liked by Tom, ''everyone'' hates Mona Lisa, including her brother, her father, and her boyfriend.
* SpoiledBrat: Even more so than her brother.
* {{Yandere}}: A clingy MoodSwinger who will beat you up and trash your car (if not outright light it on fire) if you show any sign of not being into her.

!!Dr. Saperstein [-(Creator/HenryWinkler)-]
Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa's father. He finds his layabout offspring to be a huge disappointment.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Even while he's destroying their friend's life, Chris and Ann go to him for their pregnancy because he's that good.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The last of the Sapersteins introduced is the patriarch of the family. Naturally, you'd assume he'd somehow top Mona Lisa in obnoxiousness, but he actually reveals himself to be a halfway decent and relatively normal guy who is as annoyed by his kids as the rest of the cast is.
* MeaningfulName: His name is almost identical to the Satanist OB-GYN, Dr. Sapirstein, in ''Film/RosemarysBaby.''
* MyGirlIsNotASlut: Is convinced Mona Lisa was a virgin before dating Tom; when he accuses Tom of stealing her virginity, everyone else in the room bursts into laughter at the idea.
* NiceGuy: Zig-zagged. He's got fantastic rapport with his patients and complains about being interrupted while watching Saturday morning cartoons with his son; but he ''loathes'' Tom over his perceived mistreatment of Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa to the point that he doesn't even care when he finds out that his kids were lying, and he makes it very clear that he considers his children to be complete and utter disappointments that he wants to offload at the earliest opportunity (although let's face it, the latter is entirely justified).
* PapaWolf: Sets about destroying Tom's business because he believes Tom wronged Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: After finding out that his kids lied about Tom's actions, he decides to continue with the business because it's making money.
* PushoverParents: He has spoiled his kids utterly rotten and just throws money at them whenever they ask for it.
* SerialNumbersFiledOff: In-universe, he opens a 'clothing rental store for teens' business just to run Tom's "Rent-a-Swag" out of business. It's so transparent that he even calls it "Tommy's Closet".
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Tom in Season 6.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Inverted. He's the Serious Parent (a normal, composed obstetrician/gynecologist) to his sleazy, irresponsible Wacky Children, and is all the more frustrated for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Newports]]
!!Nick Newport, Sr. [-(Christopher Murray)-]
Former CEO of Sweetums, a candy corporation which owns half the town. Dies at the end of Season 4.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive
* InformedFlaw: While he may well have been a scheming evil businessman earlier in life, characters act as though he is still this way in the show despite the fact that he is a disabled elderly vegetable as early as season 2. He is particularly painted as the mastermind behind his son Bobbys' bid for City Council in season 4 even though he doesn't even show up in that season and is likely far too senile by that point to mastermind anything, and it is more likely his wife Jessica is the true brains by this point.
* KilledOffForReal: Dies towards the end of the fourth season.
* {{Jerkass}}
* LivingProp: Despite being featured in several plots, he never actually does or says anything. Justified to a certain extent, as he's little more than a decrepit vegetable by the time the series rolls around.
* MealTicket: For Jessica Wicks.

!!Jessica Wicks [-(Susan Yeagley)-]
Nick Newport Sr.'s GoldDigger wife. Also a RichBitch. Current CEO.

* ConspicuousConsumption: A hallmark of her homes and offices.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: When she takes over for her husband. Her company does awful things, even resulting in deaths, and she [[spoiler:fires Ben]] when Leslie criticizes them.
* GoldDigger: Marries the richest guy in town for his cash, although the amount of nude portraits of his old, frail body that she must have had commissioned suggests that she might have been physically attracted to him as well.
* EveryManHasHisPrice: "Leslie doesn't pay for my lifestyle, money does."
* MoneyFetish: When she announced the sale of the Newport land to Gryzzl in season 7, she repeated how much it was worth because "it makes me ''very'' horny."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She acts like a very vapid BrainlessBeauty in her first appearance, but later seasons show that there is in fact a scheming businesswoman underneath that smile. Her dimwitted Beauty Queen persona from her past might well have been just that, a persona, as it was made perfectly clear that this is what usually wins at such events. While she is certainly shallow and amoral, she is more savvy and convincing than she first appears.
* RichBitch: Once she gets married she uses her wealth to seize historical buildings and get her dimwitted step-son Bobby elected as a puppet councilman [[note]]although everyone claims that Nick is the brains behind this, the fact that he was crippled and senile the last time we saw him makes it implicitly obvious that Jessica was the true brains behind this scheme[[/note]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney
* TrophyWife: For Nick Newport, Sr., although given that he was almost a vegetable at the time of their marriage this might be a {{Subversion}}.
* WickedPretentious: Vandalizes a historical building to remodel it to her tastes for a birthday party for her husband (who is barely even aware of what is going on), and garishly redecorates her home and offices with nude portraits of herself and her elderly husband.

!!Bobby Newport [-(Creator/PaulRudd)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_51111_pm.png]]

Leslie's opponent in the City Council race. A ManChild and UpperClassTwit to the extreme, he's really only running to do something to make his father proud of him.

* BrainlessBeauty: Very attractive, despite his utter lack of intelligence.
* FriendlyEnemy: He's Leslie's opponent in the council race, but he's incredibly pleasant and friendly towards her regardless - if only because he's apparently [[GoodIsDumb too dim to be otherwise]]. Towards the end of the campaign, he publicly endorses her, although he doesn't seem to realize the implications of that.
* IdleRich: Runs for City Council to cast off these accusations... which are incredibly true.
* LowestCommonDenominator: InUniverse, he gets a lot of mileage in the campaign by spouting vaguely positive gibberish. It doesn't offend anybody because it doesn't mean anything.
* ManChild: Unlike most examples where the character is just incredibly immature, Bobby has so little understanding of how the world works that he often reacts like a child would.
* NiceGuy: He's actually very kind and generous, if only because [[GoodIsDumb he's too dumb to have a mean bone in his body]].
* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Ends up married to Shauna Mulwae-Tweep in the distant finale]].
* PuppetKing: He does little in the way to actually oppose Leslie, leaving all of his campaign decisions up to [[HypercompetentSidekick Jennifer]]. He even offers Leslie the chance to do the City Council work for him if she lets him win the seat.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Throws money at any problem he comes across.
* ShelteredAristocrat: He's had so little exposure to the world that he generally acts more like a curious four year old than he does a man pushing forty.
* SpoiledSweet: Raised in wealth, and an incredibly nice guy.
* UpperClassTwit
* WellDoneSonGuy: The whole reason he ran for city council.

!!Nick Newport, Jr. [-(Gary Weeks)-]
Current CEO of Sweetums in season two (until Jessica Wicks replaced him). Father of Denver [-(Ryan Hartwig)-] and Dakota [-(Harley Graham)-]. As of season four, he seems to have been {{Retcon}}ned out of existence.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Apparently quietly retconned out of existence.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Related/Married to Main Characters]]
!!Marlene Griggs-Knope [-(Pamela Reed)-]
Leslie's mother and "a big mucky-muck in the county school system". Has shades of {{Meddling Parent|s}} and [[WellDoneSonGuy 'Well Done, Daughter' Girl]]. Leslie's father has been [[DisappearedDad dead]] since she was ten years old, which was first implied in a throwaway line explaining that 'he lives in Florida, in a cemetery' and later made explicit in the fifth season. "Galentine's Day" states she was born on March 5, 1953, the same day that Joseph Stalin died.

* IronLady: She's a big deal in Pawnee politics, and wheels and deals with the best of them. Her daughter even compares her to UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher. Ron Swanson says her affectionate nickname around town (started by him) is "The Iron Cock-Shredder of Pawnee" (bleeped in broadcast and script, but [[ThrowItIn improvised on the spot by Nick Offerman]]).
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Later on, once she was retooled more into a HypercompetentSidekick, it's clear Leslie's inherited Marlene's savvy and intelligence.
* {{Nepotism}}: [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Early on]], it seemed like a large part of Leslie's success was because of her mother. She specifically mentions getting the job at Parks because of Marlene.
* OutOfFocus: After Season 3, she gets a cameo at best.

!!Tamara "Tammy" Swanson [-(Paula Pell)-]
Ron's mother, aka "Tammy Zero". Even more reclusive than her son, and a gun nut.

* ApronMatron: To an extent.
* TheDreaded: Prompts an OhCrap reaction from Tammy One, who is herself TheDreaded for Ron and Tammy Two.
* GunNut: Has a whole room filled with nothing but guns.
* GodzillaThreshold: Leslie recruits Tamara to save Ron from Tammy One, after he becomes a HenpeckedHusband due to her influence.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Seeing her, it's easy to see where Ron and the other Swanson men get their badassery from.

!!Tammy Swanson "One" [-(Creator/PatriciaClarkson)-]
Ron's first wife. Makes her first appearance as the back of a head in the Season 3 finale, [[TheDreaded which is enough for Tammy Two and Ron to drop everything and head for the hills]]. She works for the [[IntimidatingRevenueService IRS]]. Her influence can turn Ron into a dorky, pro-government HenpeckedHusband.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Tammy Two barely qualifies as a pest when compared to her.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Ron treats her as if she is a literal demon from Hell and she has a supernatural-like intimidating aura about her. She is at least 20 years older than Ron yet fully intends to outlive him and be present at the minute of his death. She also has no trouble drinking the Swanson family alcohol (so strong its only legal application is stripping marine varnish) and dismisses it as "watered down baby formula".
* ControlFreak: Her defining characteristic. She shows up at the office and immediately orders everyone around (and is obeyed almost instantly). Her EvilPlan involves a fake audit against Ron which becomes an excuse to take control of his finances and move back in with him, taking complete control of his entire life including deciding whether or not he can go to ''lunch'', and in the past when Tammy Two stole Ron from her, she responded by ''pouring acid on her foot''.
* TheDreaded: Her mere presence is enough to provoke Tammy Two and Ron to drop everything and flee.
* EvilerThanThou: Tammy Two knows better than to even bother ''trying'' to compete with her, and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere immediately flees Pawnee upon learning that she's around]].
* GoldDigger: A literal example - she's trying to find Ron's hidden stash of gold.
* TheGhost: She doesn't appear until long after she was first mentioned, but [[TheDreaded her presence can be felt throughout the series nonetheless]].
* GreaterScopeVillain: Considering she basically ''raised'' Ron, she's responsible for shaping most of his character, flaws and all.
* IntimidatingRevenueService: Her employers, although she admits that the audit is actually fake and jus an excuse to get close to Ron again.
* IronLady: An unflappable, unstoppable and emotionless woman who is feared by everyone, and the only person capable of truly breaking Ron Swanson.
* KnightOfCerebus: Seen as genuinely terrifying by every character, and has very few jokes of her own.
* MayDecemberRomance: She was Ron's nurse when he was born.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Doesn't play any games, and is incredibly efficient and thorough about getting what she wants out of others.
* SkipToTheEnd: {{Inverted}}. It took Ron ''two hours'' to get through his wedding vows at the altar with her, although the reason had nothing do with her - Ron just disliked being told what to do so much that after the priest said "repeat after me" he fell silent and kept everyone waiting.
* TeacherStudentRomance: She was also Ron's (and Tammy Two's) Sunday school teacher.
* TheStoic: Very cold and emotionless. As a result, April comes to admire her.
* WifeHusbandry: Strongly implied. No one in town tried to stop her because they were all scared of her.

!!Tammy Swanson "Two" [-(Megan Mullally)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_45801_pm.png]]
The second of Ron's evil ex-wives. Not only is she also named Tammy, [[LikeParentLikeSpouse so is Ron's mother]]. This Tammy is a [[TheVamp Vampy]] ManipulativeBitch and the deputy director of the Library Department, the SitcomArchNemesis of the Parks Department. Her influence can turn Ron into a pliable sex freak.

* DepravedBisexual: At one point, she gets into a wrestling match with Leslie and gets incredibly turned on.
* EvilCounterpart: To Leslie.
* EvilLaugh: The character gets a lot of mileage out of Mullally's signature cackle.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: She does wear glasses, and she is evil.
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Employs this frequently.
* {{Jerkass}}: A horrible person all around.
* MsFanservice: Has no problem showing off her body, though her personality is so horrible that it borders on FanDisservice despite her good looks.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: She strips naked in public often.
* OfficialCouple: Ron sets her up with Jeremy Jamm to get her off his back. [[spoiler:In "Ron and Jammy", they break up after Leslie sees what Tammy has done to Jamm, namely tried to turn him into Ron.]]
* PhraseCatcher: Ron usually reacts to her (off-screen) presence in this almost primordially-instinctive fashion:
-->'''Ron:''' ''[Stands up, an alarmed and hunted expression on his face]'' She's here, isn't she.
* {{Sadist}}: She enjoys giving (and receiving) pain during sex, but she is also just a straight up bully who cackles while picking on those weaker than herself, best exemplified when she brutally beats up Tom in the library, reminding Ron again of why he broke up with her in the first place.
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Ron, Leslie and Diane.
* TheVamp: Uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants.
* VillainDecay: Once Ron falls for Diane, he is completely immune to Tammy's charms and views her with annoyed contempt.

!!Diane Elizabeth Lewis [-(Creator/LucyLawless)-]
Ron's girlfriend in season five. She is a middle-school vice principal with two young daughters named Ivy [-(Rylan Lee)-] and Zoey [-(Sadie Salazar)-]. According to Leslie and Ron himself, she is perfect for Ron. They are married at the start of Season 6.

* AbsenteeActor: Doesn't appear in season 7 at all. There's plenty of dialogue reminding viewers that she exists and is still HappilyMarried to Ron, however.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Ron.
* HappilyMarried: To Ron as of Season 6.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Lucy Lawless does a decent American accent, but sometimes those Kiwi vowels sneak in.
* {{Troll}}: When she married Ron, she stated her middle name was Tammy just to screw with him, before revealing it's actually Elizabeth.
* OutOfFocus: While it's confirmed by some dialogue that she and Ron are still married, Diane doesn't show up in the final season. Especially noticeable because Ron makes some important life decisions and their relationship was always portrayed as healthy enough for them to make those sorts of choices together.
* TheStoic: She's not emotionless, but is overall cool-headed and reasonable, which makes her deal well with Ron's quirks.
* WhatTheHellHero: Twice towards Ron.
** When Ron misguidedly breaks one of her daughters' tiaras in two so they can share.
** When Ron tries to get off the grid, she gives him a gentle one of these, pointing out that while she's okay with his privacy, he needs to be available to his family.

!!Wendy Haverford [-(Jama Williamson)-]
Tom's wife at the start of the series. She is Canadian and married him to stay in the country, resulting in the {{Irony}} of an interracial CitizenshipMarriage where it's the white partner who is trying to avoid being deported from America. They split up during the second season, in an episode appropriately titled "Tom's Divorce". Ron dated her for a while before she moved back to Canada near the start of the third season.

* BrainyBrunette: Is a surgeon.
* ObliviousToLove: Was entirely unaware Tom had feelings for her at first.
* PutOnABus: In "Ron and Tammy 2", she goes back to Canada, specifically her hometown of Ottawa, to help her parents out.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Not that Tom is genuinely ugly, but this is the reaction of most people when they see them together.

!!Gayle Gergich [-(Christie Brinkley)-]
Garry's loving and unreasonably hot wife.

* AlliterativeName: '''G'''ayle '''G'''ergich.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In earlier episodes [[TheGhost before she appeared]], "Jerry" often implied that he felt his masculinity smothered by his wife and enjoyed time away from her. Once she appears, she's shown to be an impossibly gorgeous, kind, loving, and doting wife.
* GoshDangItToHeck: If she gets ''very'' angry with Garry, she'll call him the B-word: [[spoiler: Bozo.]]
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Implied, given how HappilyMarried she and Garry are, and how... well-endowed he is.
* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Played for laughs in the DistantFinale, when she looks exactly as she does in the present day, despite the fact she should be in her nineties.
* HappilyMarried: No one understands why, but she's incredibly happy with Garry.
* NiceGirl: Much like her husband, Gayle doesn't appear to have a mean bone in her body.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Justified example, as Christie Brinkley really is in her 60s. This is taken to absurd lengths in the DistantFinale, where, in a scene where she would have to be in her mid-90s at least, she looks exactly the same.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Possibly the basis of her and Garry's marriage.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Ben is especially flabbergasted by the Gergich's relationship, but no one can understand it.
-->'''Chris:''' I've thought a lot about it, there is no logical explanation.

!!Millicent Gergich [-(Sarah Wright)-]
Garry's oldest daughter. She's an athletic sort and dates Chris for some time.

* BirdsOfAFeather: She likes guys who share similar interests as her.
* DaddysGirl: Other than her seeming obliviousness to her father's discomfort with her dating Chris (who is technically his boss, and had a bad tendency to go into TooMuchInformation territory regarding their relationship), she's close to Garry and adores him very much.
* HasAType: Chris and her later fiance Carl are both handsome and chiseled athletic types.
* PassionateSportsGirl: Can outrun Chris in a jog, and served as a camp counselor at a teen sport camp (where she met her fiance).
* UglyGuysHotDaughter: She and her two sisters are incredibly beautiful.

!!Joe [-(Creator/KeeganMichaelKey)-]
A teacher whom Donna begins dating in the sixth season. [[spoiler:They get married in season 7's aptly-titled "Donna & Joe"]].

* FriendToAllChildren: Appears to be this.
* NiceGuy: To the point that Donna originally broke up with him because she's used to messed up guys.
* OnlyOneName: His last name isn't given, even at his wedding.
* TokenMinorityCouple: With Donna (both black...ish).

!!Lucy [-(Natalie Morales)-]
A bartender Tom dates Season 2. [[spoiler:They reconnect in season 7, getting engaged in the penultimate episode and are implied to be married in the DistantFinale]].

* BirdsOfAFeather: With Tom.
* DeadpanSnarker: It's how she puts up with Tom.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When she first appears, it's as a bartender at the Snakehole Lounge while Tom is settling his bill, showing how snarky she is and how well she can read Tom, but also why they click so well:
-->'''Lucy:''' Ten Cosmos, eight Smirnoff Ices, and everything else starts with the word "pomegranate". Aw, was it your bachelorette party?
-->'''Tom:''' No, I invited a bunch of girls here last night, and they all put drinks on my tab. And then I went home alone. I'm not sure what happened.
-->'''Lucy:''' You invited a bunch of girls here and tried to hit on all of 'em.
-->'''Tom:''' Fair enough.
-->'''Lucy:''' I mean, what were you expecting was going to happen, a 43-way?
-->'''Tom''': (chuckling) That would have been a little out of control.
-->'''Lucy:''' But awesome.
-->'''Tom:''' Yeah. The problem is I only have fifteen penises, so there would have been twenty-eight girls that were really upset with me. (both laugh)
* NiceGirl: She's a sweet and friendly person.
* OnlyOneName: Her last name is never revealed [[spoiler:although given the events of the finale, it might be Haverford now.]]
* TokenMinorityCouple: With Indian Tom.
* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: She states that she enjoys how easy it is to throw Tom around.

!!The Ludgates
April's family, consisting of father Larry, mother Rita, and sister Natalie.

* AlliterativeName: '''L'''arry '''L'''udgate.
* EmotionlessGirl: Natalie is just as snarky as April and as much of a {{troll}}.
* {{Fangirl}}: Rita owns all of Duke Silver's albums (although curiously, while her daughter recognized Ron was Duke as soon as she met him, Rita herself didn't see it).
* GoodParents: While we don't see much of them, Larry and Rita do come across as loving and sweet.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: April and Natalie frequently pull pranks on each other.
* {{Open Minded Parent}}s: A deleted scene from "April and Andy's Fancy Party" shows that Larry and Rita are completely okay with April marrying Andy so soon after she began dating him. Apparently, it helps that Andy's actually straight unlike Derek, and isn't a weirdo like Orin.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Larry and Rita are very peppy compared to their sarcastic daughters.

!!The Meagles
Donna's family, the most passive-aggressive group of people that ever lived. Includes Donna's brothers, George and [=LeVondrias=], and her cousin, the singer Ginuwine.

* DysfunctionalFamily: To the point that no more than three Meagles are allowed on an international flight together. During Donna's wedding, April's job is to stop the family from causing any trouble. She ends up rounding up all the "troublemakers" in the kitchen and putting the fear of God into them. (And making Ginuwine cry in the process.)
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: ''All the time''.

[[/folder]]

!Main Characters
[[folder:Leslie Knope]]
!!Leslie Barbara Knope [-(Creator/AmyPoehler)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leslie_knope_2903.jpg]]
->''"It is my dream to build a park that I one day visit with my White House staff on my birthday. And they say, 'President Knope, this park is awesome. Now we understand why you're the first female president of the United States.'"''

Leslie is the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana. An [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of the ObstructiveBureaucrat, Leslie is a cheerful bureaucrat full of can-do spirit. This makes her ThePollyanna in an occupation where almost everyone else is cynical and jaded to one degree or another. She is also a {{Determinator}}.

* TheAce: When it comes to being a civil servant, Leslie is virtually unmatched. Her hyper-competence at organizing, leading and working on large scale and complicated projects on extremely short notice is more or less the only thing that allows anything to be accomplished at all in Pawnee. At one point Leslie has to take time off and the entire rest of the department is unable to pick up her slack. Outside of her profession, while much less flawless, she is still generally a smart, charismatic and capable person.
* {{Adorkable}}: In spades! She fangirls over prominent female politicians as well as Joe Biden, has binders for her types of binders, and is obsessed with waffles, news, work, and caring for her friends.
* AfraidOfNeedles: To the point of making a PrecisionFStrike against ''Ann''.
* AllLovingHero: Edging closer to this trope as her {{Determinator}} qualities make her more and more effective.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Defied. Leslie is extremely ambitious (just read the above quotation), but she is also very moral. In some episodes, she is presented with an immoral way to achieve one of her goals and considers using it, but ultimately she ends up feeling guilty and doesn't go through with it.
* AnimalMotifs: It's never pointed out, but Leslie has a number of owl-themed knick-knacks around her office.
* BadassBureaucrat: Not immediately obvious, but her ability to consistently go up against impossible odds and succeed almost every time is jaw-dropping. The primary reason Ron respects her despite their conflicting worldviews is her absolute refusal to compromise her ideals regardless of how much adversity she faces.
* BadLiar: Honest to a fault, Leslie's rare attempts at subterfuge invariably fall flat. In many cases, she ends up ratting ''herself'' out.
* BeleagueredBureaucrat:
** This becomes especially apparent in "Christmas Scandal", where it's shown that her duties are so numerous that the combined efforts of all six of her coworkers can't get the job done.
** Her overextension is given attention again in "Sweet Sixteen", where Ron states that she's been pulling 100 hours a week trying to give equal attention to her job and her city council campaign. Throughout the episode, she keeps making minor blunders due to neglecting something from either side of her professional life. At the end of the episode, she decides to reduce her time at her day job to ten hours per week.
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' feed J.J.'s waffles to your dog around Leslie.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Despite her overall positive and cheerful demeanor, she is not a pushover and she can get extremely angry when people push her too far. When this happens it usually falls upon Ron or Ann to calm her down.
-->'''Ron''': Leslie, what do we do when we get this angry?\\
'''Leslie''': [''deep sigh''] We count backward from a thousand by sevens and think of warm brownies.
* BigEater: When it comes to waffles, whipped cream, sugar, or all of the above, Leslie's essentially a bottomless pit.
* BigGood: It takes her a few seasons to grow into it, but towards the end of the series, even the more cynical of her friends and coworkers tend to regard Leslie as a powerful force for positive change in the world.
* BigStupidDoodooHead:
** She'll resort to childish insults like this when she's really frustrated.
** She subverts it rather nicely in "Meet 'n' Greet":
--->'''Leslie''': I don't like to throw around the word "butthead", because it loses its impact when you say "butthead" too much. But I can say without hesitation that Tom is being a real [[PrecisionFStrike dick]].
* BunnyEarsLawyer: She's ''very'' good at her job, and probably should have Ron's. On the other hand, she is also an extremely eccentric [[ManChild Woman Child]].
* CatchPhrase:
-->'''Leslie''': It's every girl's dream to [''something incredibly wonky, obscure and/or over-specific'']!\\
'''Leslie''': Ann, you [''insert strangely condescending comment that compliments her beauty but points out her naïveté'']!
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: It can mostly be chalked up to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, but first season Leslie was something of a PointyHairedBoss in the vein of [[Series/TheOfficeUS Michael Scott]]. In Season 2, she became much less obnoxious, and more of a hyper-competent, upbeat Pollyanna.
* CloudCuckoolander: She is a bit... quirky, to say the least.
* CoolBigSis: To Andy and April. She seems to view April as a surrogate little sister, and frequently encourages her and tries to keep her out of trouble (and continually overestimates how innocent April actually is), and she helps Andy get his life back on track after finding out he was living in the pit. April makes fun of her but eventually softens up enough to admit she does love Leslie, while Andy openly thinks Leslie is awesome and acknowledges that he owes her a lot.
* TheCutie: She expresses her love of cute things in a variety of ways. One episode's plot was based around her officiating the marriage of two penguins because "it was cute".
* {{Determinator}}: If there's something that needs doing, Leslie will find a way to do it, no matter what.
** Best exemplified by her ''masterful'' oration of her speech intended to attract sponsors for the Harvest Festival in "Flu Season". All while she was near delirious with the flu, and quickly reverted to sickness-induced delirium during a short Q&A session.
** This is Leslie's great weakness as well as her strength. In ''many'' episodes the conflict can be summarized as 'Leslie's friends have to convince her that she can't change a situation she considers unacceptable.' Of course, she is so {{hypercompetent|Sidekick}} that she frequently finds ways to improve the situation ''anyway''. Summarized nicely in "Smallest Park" when Ann interrupts Leslie's complaints about how unfair it is to call her a steamroller:
--->'''Ann''': You're a steamroller! You're a massive, enormous, runaway steamroller with no brakes and a cement brick on the gas pedal!
* DistaffCounterpart: Back in the first season, she might as well have been "[[Series/TheOfficeUS Michael Scott]] in a skirt", but she became more her own character later on. Unlike Michael Scott, she is not only good at her job but totally deserved to have been promoted into it.
* DoesNotLikeSpam: Hates salad with a passion. Or other disgusting things.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: While government work is often thankless, Leslie often laments that Pawnee never gives her the respect she's due, instead often treating her with scorn or derision.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Starts out the show as incompetent and delusional. In the second season, she becomes a hyper-competent {{determinator}} [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]].
* EmotionalRegression: Leslie becomes proportionately more irrational the more estranged she is from her emotional anchors, Ann and Ron. Nowhere is this more apparent than when Ann moves away in Season 6, and Leslie backslides almost to season one Leslie before snapping out of it.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange:
** Wears a small, very tight French braid in her hair curving around the top of her head in "Jerry's Painting", apparently because she takes very well to being compared to a Greek goddess.
** She gains another new hairstyle later on to emphasize the Season 6 finale/Season 7 TimeSkip, but she quickly reverts to her original hairdo a few episodes into Season 7.
* FanGirl:
** When it comes to ''Literature/HarryPotter''. She made her best friend Ann watch all eight movies even though Ann doesn't like ''Harry Potter''.
** She's also a huge fangirl for UsefulNotes/JoeBiden and most prominent American women in politics, to the point of covering the walls of her office with their pictures. She's also a type of geek rarely portrayed in the media, the government-policy wonk.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Choleric.
* GlurgeAddict: Mildly. She really likes cute things, but not to an annoying degree.
-->'''Leslie''': Scientifically, hummingbirds are the world's cutest animals. I mean, they're so small, they have tiny beaks and they only eat sugar water. I mean, what beats that? Come on. Baby monkeys in diapers? Yeah... they do. Baby monkeys in diapers are the cutest.
* GenkiGirl: Endlessly upbeat and cheerful, to the point that it tires people like Ron and April out.
* GoGetterGirl: Has the ambitious, driven personality down pat.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Despite her very ambitious nature, Leslie is extremely nice and many of her goals are motivated by caring for her friends and the citizens of Pawnee.
* HappilyMarried: To Ben as of mid-Season 5.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Ann. The two are best friends and are always supporting each other. They're also occasionally mistaken for a lesbian couple.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Leslie can and will accomplish great things in the name of Pawnee, but the townspeople rarely give her the acknowledgement or recognition she deserves, and criticize her more often than not.
* HypercompetentSidekick: A rare example of the lead character fitting this trope. This suits her boss just fine.
* TheIdealist: She rarely considers consequences and realistic probability before jumping into action.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: During her campaign, Leslie is stunned to learn that she was actually born in Eagleton, not Pawnee, partly because she hates Eagleton and partly because most of the voters hate Eagleton. As she thinks about it further, though, she realizes that it's the ''choice'' to continue living in and trying to improve Pawnee that really matters, and manages to communicate that to the voters. (Also, you know, the reason she was born in Eagleton was that although her parents lived in Pawnee, Pawnee's hospital was overrun with raccoons at the time, and Eagleton's hospital was the only one nearby that was in a reasonably good state.)
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Many times, she is so passionate about projects and helping her friends that she ignores other people's feelings or desires such as when she plans out April's entire parks career path even though the latter has decided she wants to try something else.
* IronicName: "Knope" is the perfect name for an ObstructiveBureaucrat... except that Leslie is as far from an ObstructiveBureaucrat as you can get.
* JerkassBall: Related to her ImmigrantPatriotism above, she tends to act like a jerk when it comes to dealing with Eagleton, even if the Eagletonians she's dealing with are actually nice people like Wreston St. James the park architect.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: To Michelle Obama, among others.
* NiceGirl: Despite her faults, Leslie is overall a very kindhearted person who constantly does nice things for her friends and goes out of her way to help others. Ron puts it best when he says, "Leslie has a lot of qualities I find horrifying, but the worst one by far is how thoughtful she can be." This very trope is also one of the reasons ''why'' she is so successful and accomplishes so much. Time and again, it is shown that everyone who knows her is willing to do anything to help her out, ''because she is always so kind.'' The Chief of Police will happily agree to assign his officers to work extra shifts for the Harvest Festival (describing Leslie as someone who uses favors to help others), airport baggage handlers will cheerfully destroy a bag containing embarrassing footage of Leslie being interviewed while drunk, businesses will stay open late or open early or ''even open on days when they're supposed to be closed,'' Ron will commit assault and battery without a second thought on anyone who insults her, Tom will stay up all night making a genuinely touching and heartfelt campaign film for her, etc. Hell, even Ken Hotate, who usually just sees dollar signs when he looks at a white person, will always have Leslie's back, although he can't resist some good-natured teasing of her while he's at it. The great thing is, most of the time these things are done without Leslie asking, people just do it because they care about her.
* NumberTwo: Officially, she is this to Ron, but she actually does all the work.
* OddFriendship: She's probably Ron's closest friend, despite being his total opposite.
* ObliviousToLove: Initially, regarding Ben's interest in her.
* OfficialCouple: With Ben in Season 3.
* TheParagon: Leslie lives to help other people, and is incredibly kind and caring. Her influence also encourages the other characters to be better -- Ron becomes more willing to let people into his life, April becomes more driven, Tom becomes more mature, Ben loosens up a bit, and Ann learns to stand up for herself. Hell, she's ''so'' nice that some people in Pawnee will bend or outright ''break'' the rules to help her out and do the right thing.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Ron. She knows more about Ron than ''anyone'', at least pre-Diane.
* PluckyGirl: The absolute poster girl for the trope. She expects the best and always goes the extra mile.
* ThePollyanna: Relentlessly positive, sunny, and full of can-do spirit.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: She appears to be under the impression that ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is a SpaceOpera.
* PungeonMaster: Most definitely this. Notable examples include her top soil brochure "Mulch Ado About Nothing" and the rules she instated at the Farmer's Market (like "''Peas'' be kind to others" and "In case of fire, ''romaine'' calm"). In her words, she hates vegetables but is really good at vegetable puns.
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: Leslie is a competent golfer and hunter, and she almost always dresses in a masculine manner, but considering that appearing to be 'too feminine' is a concern for women in the real world for business and politics, this is very much a JustifiedTrope.
* RunningGag: She has a ghastly dating record of meeting the most awful guys and being put in the most embarrassing situations by past partners. She often brings it up as a joke.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Energetic girl to Ben's savvy guy.
* ShipperOnDeck:
** She {{Zigzagged|Trope}} this when she found out Andy and April were going to get married, stating that while she wanted them to be together forever, she worried that them getting married after being together for such a short amount of time was a mistake and tried to stop the wedding. It failed, but Andy and April stayed together for the rest of the series and beyond.
** In the finale when she sees [[spoiler:her daughter Sonia and Ann's son Oliver getting close, she flashes Sonia a double "thumbs up".]]
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She ends up married to the kind and intelligent Ben.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Downplayed. She's not full of herself, but she's convinced that her municipal government job is much more important than it really is. She also has no doubt that she will one day be president of the United States. In a flash-forward to 2048, she and Ben are depicted as having a Secret Service detail, implying that she apparently did indeed become President (although the episode does leave open the possibility it was Ben, it's more likely to be her). She ''definitely'' became Governor of Indiana--and apparently the first female one too (she's apparently elected in 2020--IN elects in the same year as the President--and the only somewhat likely circumstance in which Indiana's governor is a woman before then is if the winner of the 2016 race dies, resigns, or is removed before 2020 (both major parties nominated women for Lieutenant Governor).
* SweetTooth: She puts ''sugar'' on ''pasta''.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Time after time, Leslie will encounter situations where the problem at hand could be easily solved if she just broke the laws that she so values.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: She piles whipped cream onto ''everything'' (during "Pie-mary", Ben specifically gets her two canisters of whipped cream: one to put on the pies, one to spray directly into her mouth). She also loves Belgian waffles, specifically the ones from JJ's Diner.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Somewhat. She's seldom had a 'normal' date — something extremely outlandish happens, or the date himself is outlandish. Incidents include a blazing dress, an Ambien overdose, a date sticking his hand in her mouth as she slept, and a free MRI.[[note]]The latter was from a guest character played by Creator/WillArnett, to whom Amy Poehler was married at the time.[[/note]] As far as we've seen, [[Creator/LouisCK Dave]] and Ben are the only men she's dated without some kind of off-putting quirk or glaring character flaw.
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Happens whenever she tries to do an accent or an imitation.
* WhiteGuilt: Shows occasional signs of this, especially when dealing with Ken Hotate, the local Native American leader, who likes to invoke EverythingIsRacist cheerfully to provoke this reaction and get his way. She largely outgrows it in later interactions with him.
* WideEyedIdealist: Much to Ron's endless annoyance, and failed attempts to beat it out of her.
* WomanChild: Leslie is cheerful, hyperactive, and a little naïve. Not to mention her fondness for candy and dislike of vegetables (though she did happily eat the cucumber rose garnish Chris made because it was cute). She is competent, however — indeed, ''very'' competent.
-->'''Ann''' (in a deleted scene): Leslie is incredible. She has the energy of a ten-year-old. [[SweetTooth And the same taste in snacks.]]
* {{Workaholic}}: At one point Ron has to lock her in a room so she can actually sleep because she's working herself so hard. The next morning, she excitedly says that she slept seven hours, which is about twice as long as she normally does. Hell, in "Citizen Knope" she attempts to steal some work from the office to do at home during her ''paid'' suspension.

[[folder:Ann Perkins]]
!!Ann Meredith Perkins [-(Creator/RashidaJones)-]
[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ann_perkins_846.png]]
->''"The Parks Department has done so much for me that if I can help them out in any way, I will. [[TerribleArtist Oh, God.]] Maybe I should just give them all free flu shots."''

Leslie's {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}}. They first meet in the pilot episode, when Ann attended a town hall meeting to bring an abandoned construction pit to the government's attention. For the first three seasons, Ann was a nurse at the local hospital, making it somewhat baffling that she seemed to spend so much time with the other characters at City Hall. Eventually, she was given a part-time job at City Hall to solve this problem. She is generally a [[StraightMan Straight Woman]].

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Obviously applies to any character played by Rashida Jones, who is black and Jewish. Semi-frequently lampshaded by Leslie.
-->'''Leslie''': "I've said this to you before and I know it makes you uncomfortable, but you're thoughtful and you're brilliant. And your ambiguous ethnic blend perfectly represents the dream of the American melting pot."
%%*BackForTheFinale
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Ann's very nice, but she has her limits. Best exemplified in a season three episode when April's in the hospital, and is, well... [[AnnoyingPatient April]]. Ann manages to be sweet and polite the whole time, until...
-->'''Ann:''' ''(looking at her watch)'' Three... two... one. Aaaand my shift's over. ''(deep breath)'' '''''WHAT THE [[SoundEffectBleep [BLEEP] ]] IS YOUR PROBLEM?!'''''
* BigEater: She apparently once consumed an entire cheesecake at Leslie's request, commenting only that it was delicious and that she would have eaten ten if asked.
* TheBore: Her lack of any interesting hobbies or quirks, especially in comparison to Leslie, is frequently played for laughs, to the point of becoming a quirk in and of itself.
* CannotTellAJoke: She notably fails when she attempts to be funny, often saying an awkward joke and then immediately regretting it and kicking herself under her breath.
-->'''Leslie:''' Oh Ann, you're too beautiful to be funny. It's not your fault. You've never had to compensate for anything.
* DeadpanSnarker: From time to time.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Colors a few locks of her hair bright red in an attempt to impress Chris in "Camping".
* ExtremeDoormat: Definitely has elements of this. She's very passive compared to Leslie and is always pulled into Leslie's plans. Also, due to the FlorenceNightingaleEffect and WeaknessTurnsHerOn, she's very inclined to allow boyfriends to take advantage of her.
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Phlegmatic
* FireForgedFriends: Their shared ambition to fill the lot 48 pit quickly turns Leslie and her into the best of friends.
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Ann is clearly shown to be attracted to vulnerable and sickly men. She waited on Andy hand and foot when his legs broke, and tries to coddle and protect him like a child, and kisses him when he ends up in the hospital again. She was also incredibly threatened and uncomfortable by Chris being almost completely perfect until he got a nasty case of the flu, which made her ecstatic.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Leslie.
* HospitalHottie: She's a nurse, and comments about her attractiveness are frequently bandied about by Leslie and Tom. Not that she actually spends much time working there (at least on-screen).
* MistakenForGay: As a RunningGag, she and Leslie are repeatedly mistaken for a lesbian couple.
* NiceGirl: She's generally a friendly, amiable sort of person who wants to help people and sincerely loves her friends.
* OfficialCouple: After going through a RelationshipRevolvingDoor, she and [[spoiler:Chris]] become this in Season 6.
* OneHourWorkWeek: Her nursing job. The show is a WorkCom, it's just not dedicated to ''her'' work. Occasionally we see her at her work, usually whenever a main character ends up in the hospital. Ann getting a part-time job at the city's health department as of the end of Season 3 is most likely an attempt to avert this trope. Possibly justified: since this is a {{Mockumentary}}, we can assume it is all done off-screen and has been edited out.
* OnlySaneWoman: She is the only member of the cast lacking any clear quirk that would realistically get them fired from their profession.
* PutOnABus: In mid-Season 6, when she and Chris move to Michigan to raise their family.
* ReallyGetsAround: She finally learns how to put her looks to good use in season three, and is shown with at least one new paramour every episode of that season.
* RedOniBlueOni: The calm, practical blue to Leslie's energetic, eccentric red.
* ShipperOnDeck: Ann really, really wants Leslie and Ben to get together (and even sneaks an Al Green song onto their road trip mix, which is designed to be as un-sexy as possible).
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: A mild case. Being so beautiful, she's never been dumped before. When Chris breaks up with her, his positive personality and strange wording plus her inexperience make her not realize it until a week later and she is blindsided by it. As Leslie put it in an earlier episode:
-->'''Leslie''': Ann, I always forget you're so pretty you're not used to rejection!
* StraightMan: Primarily acts as Leslie's comic foil, but will occasionally react with confusion or exasperation to the rest of the cast as well.
* TrueLoveIsBoring: While it's debatable just how much their relationship can be called "true love", this trope describes why she broke up with Mark. Sure the relationship is a healthy and stable one, but Ann also admits that it's kind of bland and her previous relationship with Andy, while terribly unhealthy, at least was interesting. Averted with the guy she ''actually'' ends up with, [[spoiler:Chris]]. After a bumpy start, the two find that their differences both balance each other and help keep the relationship interesting, but the two are also incredibly supportive of one another, thu
s allowing the relationship to actually work.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Maybe "best buds" is a bit of a stretch, but eventually, she and April become friends (though April won't admit it), though they still snark at each other constantly.
* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: As indicated by her finding Chris more attractive when she was caring for him than when he was a perfect human specimen. This also explains her relationship with Andy and why it didn't work out with Mark. But even she has her limits, as exemplified with Tom.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim:
** This was the crux of her relationship with Andy in Season 1, who at that point was such a lazy {{Jerkass}} that he intentionally delayed getting his cast removed for two weeks just to have her keep waiting on him.
** Ann goes through as many lame, unattractive boyfriends as attractive ones in season three. Leslie has to call her out on it in "The Fight" when her current guy happens to be [[DumbassDJ The Douche]].

[[folder:Tom Haverford]]
!!Thomas Montgomery Haverford né Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani [-(Creator/AzizAnsari)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_25725_pm.png]]
->''"I had to call in a few favors, but if you don't call in favors to look at women in bikinis and assign them numerical grades, what the hell do you call in favors for?"''

Tom is Leslie's immediate subordinate, in charge of scheduling parks activities and an aspiring media mogul. Networking, hot women, expensive suits, hot women, slacking off, and [[RuleOfThree hot women]] are just a few of his favorite things. As of the end of Season 6, he runs an Italian restaurant, Tom's Bistro.

* AlwaysSecondBest: He has a sort of inferiority complex for Ron, which came to a boiling point in "Go Big or Go Home".
* BetaCouple: With his former ex, Lucy, in Season 7. [[spoiler: While it's not confirmed, it's implied they get married in the future after he proposed the episode before.]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: After the Entertainment 720 arc, he evolves into this. He's still immature, superficial and goofy, but when it comes to marketing, style, PR, and advertising techniques, he ''knows'' what he's talking about.
* ButtMonkey: Defaults into this after Jerry's retirement, before revealing to Ron that he was the Jerry at his old job before moving to Pawnee and reinventing himself.
* CampStraight: Despite his HandsomeLech personality, he invests in a [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame gay bar]], [[RealMenWearPink wears pink shirts]], and drinks stereotypical 'girly' drinks. Leslie lampshades this in "Pawnee Zoo":
-->'''Leslie''': Okay, so I know you're not gay.\\
'''Tom''': No, I'm not.\\
'''Leslie''': But you're very effeminate.\\
'''Tom''': What?\\
'''Leslie''': Well, you're wearing a shirt with a coiled snake on it.
* CantHoldHisLiquor:
** Tom is a lightweight, which is a point of contrast between him and the much larger Ron, who can hold his liquor excellently.
--->'''Detlef Schrempf''': He had two beers. ''Light'' beers.
** Oddly, in what may be an OutOfCharacterMoment, he isn't shown to be terribly intoxicated by his invention Snakejuice, which has terrible aftereffects for the rest of the cast (especially Ron). Though he still ends up drunk.
* CasanovaWannabe: Sometimes to the point of real pathos.
* CharacterDevelopment: Over the seasons, he becomes more mature, confident, and self-reliant.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Season 1 Tom is far more straitlaced, with only a few of the quirks he'd have later on, with most of the humor around him being focused on his South Asian heritage and being Leslie's NumberTwo. Season 2 added in the love of style, ramped up the perverted aspects and gave him far more screen time with other characters.
* ChivalrousPervert: Is actually the one to tell Ben they should make sure a drunken Joan Callamezzo gets safely home from lunch with them.
* CitizenshipMarriage: [[spoiler:His first wife Wendy. Despite him being brown-skinned and her being white, she was the one who needed the green card. She's Canadian.]]
* TheDandy: He has a full-sized room for a closet and explicitly states that he wears pink for the sake of "peacocking".
* DeadpanSnarker: With a much greater emphasis on 'snarker'; there is little 'deadpan' about Tom.
* EasilyForgiven: Especially in earlier seasons, no matter what Tom would do, he would always get off with a slap on the wrist ''at most''. The worst offender would have to be what he does in "Hunting Trip." Unlike his other antics, which are mostly harmless, if hurtful, here, Tom is extremely reckless with loaded firearms: he goes on a hunting trip without a license, accidentally shoots Ron in the back of the head because he didn't bother checking his field of fire, and then, in an attempt distract everyone from the question of who shot Ron, opens fire on someone else and almost kills them. Then he lets Leslie take the fall for him. He gets off with Ron calling him a moron a couple of times when he could have killed someone, and should have gotten a hefty fine at least, and probably jail time.
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Sanguine
* {{Hypocrite}}: In "Jerry's Retirement," Tom spins a sympathetic story about how before he moved to the Parks and Rec. department, he was the Jerry of his old office, which is why he reinvented himself. The only problem is, instead of making him more sympathetic, it only makes his treatment of Jerry, which is by far the cruelest, that much more horrible because he should know how it feels to be on the receiving end.
* HypocriticalHumor: Despite his obsession with being trendy and stylish, he is repeatedly shown to be woefully out of touch with what is actually trendy and stylish.
* InformedAttribute: His good-heartedness. He has shown lots of selfish and unethical behavior throughout the series, with very little improvement, and his efforts to fix the damage always seem a bit self-serving. He does get better when his CharacterDevelopment kicks in.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Has a big, big problem with this. It's on full display in "Meet 'N' Greet", where he turns an event for Leslie to get to know local business owners into an investment pitch for his company Entertainment 720. While he did it because [[spoiler:E720 was bankrupt and he was desperate for funds]], it also wasn't particularly out of character.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As Leslie puts it, "Tom Haverford is a selfish, sleazy, self-promoting, good-hearted, secretly kind and wonderful tiny, little person."
* LovableCoward: He's more of a wimp than a coward (Ron once equated hurting Tom with hurting a defenseless child), but the lovable part holds true both ways.
* ManChild: Seems to have the mentality of a fifteen-year-old boy.
* MockMillionaire: Comes up often but particularly emphasized during the Entertainment 720 arc, when he and Jean-Ralphio carelessly spent money on buying excessive props and hiring attractive women as surplus employees while not doing any actual work or generating revenue for their company.
* NaturalizedName: His birth name is Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani, but he changed it since he thought "brown people with funny-sounding Muslim names" didn't have a chance in politics. He admits this reason is HilariousInHindsight after UsefulNotes/BarackObama.[[invoked]]
%%* TheNicknamer
* OddFriendship: Andy and Ben are both about as far from him personality-wise as possible, each for very different reasons, but he hangs out with both of them a lot. A later episode even shows that he considers them more of his true friends than the almost identical Jean-Ralphio.
* PetTheDog: After Leslie tears up the Venezuelans' check in "Sister City", Tom secretly takes all the tips he earned making himself the Venezuelans' errand boy and donates it all toward the park fund.
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Indian variation. At one point, Tom mentions having carefully cultivating a Jay-Z vibe and once dressed up as the rapper T-Pain for Halloween. He's also fond of using the slang term "boo" to refer to a significant other.
* PopularityPolynomial: InUniverse: Finds himself the victim of this compared to Ben in the episode "Prom". His taste in music is out of touch with high school students, while Ben just played classic rock.
* {{Schemer}}: He's always involved in some [[GetRichQuickScheme plan or invention to get fabulously wealthy]], but none of them works, [[spoiler:until the bistro, which lasts for several years until it goes under. Then he writes a massively successful self help book by drawing on his past experiences]].
* SelfDeprecation: Will not deny that he rides others' coattails.
-->'''Tom''': Behind every successful man is me: smiling and taking partial credit.
* SeriousBusiness: You will ''never'' acquire his thinking [=PJs=]. Or his [=YouTube=] blazer. ''Non-negotiable''.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Full force.
* SpearCounterpart: As a young, South Asian-American with a large ego and an obsession with celebrity culture, Tom is a more sympathetic male version of [[Series/TheOfficeUS Kelly Kapoor]].
* TookALevelInBadass: After his failure with Entertainment 720, he successfully manages to run a small suit-rental business before being bought out by a competitor. After returning to work in the City Government, he creates the position of Business Liaison to help bring outside businesses to Pawnee, impressing Ron and Leslie. It's particularly noticeable in "Flouride", where he successfully used his own talent for marketing to [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame beat Councilman Jamm at his own game]].
* TookALevelInKindness: It takes a while and isn't always obvious, but he becomes way nicer as time goes on.

[[folder:Ron Swanson]]
!!Ronald Ulysses Swanson [-(Creator/NickOfferman)-]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ron_swanson_2743.jpg]]
->''"My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke. The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test, and maybe also a physical tournament, like a decathlon. And women are brought to him, maybe... when he desires them."''

Leslie's manly, mustachioed, unapologetic libertarian boss who, engaged in a continuous attempt to sabotage the Pawnee government, secretly (or not-so-secretly) tries to stop anything from getting done. Leslie does his job for him, allowing him to devote his time to being a MemeticBadass.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: His family has their own brand of moonshine that can only be legally used to strip varnish off speedboats. This and his greasy diet are the only plausible reasons why he can knock back so much alcohol yet never get hung over. (Tom's Snakejuice got him drunk, but he suffered no ill effects the morning after.)
* {{Acrofatic}}: He's a little stockier in build, but is still rather agile and athletic.
* {{Adorkable}}: Surprisingly enough, he can slip pretty hard into this when he's enthusiastic about something. Best exemplified when he becomes extremely giddy at the prospect of meeting renowned woodworkers, or solving scavenger hunt puzzles.
* AffluentAscetic: Ron owns so much gold that the five percent he plans to leave to each of his kids is considered a lot of money. His spending habits are quite modest, and he builds as many of his possessions as he can.
* AllAmazonsWantHercules: When handsome, cheerful, politically correct, environmentally aware Chris Traeger tries to hit on Andy's vegetarian Women's Studies professor, she rejects him in favor of gruff, mustachio'd, unapologetically carnivorous Ron. The fact that Ron was NiceToTheWaiter and Chris was not also contributed.
* AmazonChaser: Ron often expresses his admiration for strong women, and he's got the dating history to back it up. This trait is so pronounced that it's been a problem for him in the past, leading him to acquire no less than two abusive ex-wives who both took great glee in [[HenpeckedHusband completely dominating every facet of his life and personality.]] [[spoiler: In the end, he finds [[HappilyMarried lasting happiness]] with the tough and no-nonsense but still fundamentally good-hearted Diane, who can put the fear of God into Tammy 2 with a simple DeathGlare.]]
* AmbiguousDisorder:
** He struggles with social interaction and emotional expression, dislikes physical contact, has stated his difficulty with and distaste for jokes, and is quietly hostile towards most changes in his life.
** At least some of this could be from taking masculine tropes like RealMenHateAffection and MenAreTough UpToEleven. [[spoiler: After marrying Diane in Season 6 and becoming stepfather to her daughters (and father to his own son John), he admits to her that being a husband and father has helped him to be better at having fun and showing affection]].
* AnnoyingLaugh: Despite his unabashed masculinity, he titters like a schoolgirl on the few occasions where he does laugh.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: While he is still well-respected by his subordinates and will occasionally exert his absolute authority when he strongly disagrees with something, for all intents and purposes, Leslie is the real head of the Parks Department, with Ron simply kicking back and leaving everything to her most of the time.
* BadassBaritone: He has the deepest voice of everyone in the cast, and one of the central aspects of his character is how incredibly badass he is. To put into perspective just how insane he is, every onscreen fight he's been involved in has ended in ''a single punch''.
* BadassMustache: He's incredibly badass, and his impressive mustache shows it.
* BetaCouple: With [[spoiler:Diane]] as of Season 5.
* BigEater: Especially in regards to red meat and breakfast meals; all other foodstuffs are treated with suspicion, or outright derision. The only thing that interests him in a strip club is the breakfast buffet. He says that if he does not have at least three breakfast meals a day, he acts like a tired whiny child. He has an enormous picture of bacon and eggs framed in his office.
-->'''Ron''': Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have... Wait, wait. I worry what you just heard was, "Give me a lot of bacon and eggs." What I said was, "Give me ''all'' the bacon and eggs you have." Do you understand?
** He can eat a party platter meant to feed 12 people in four minutes.
** He also holds a number of records around Pawnee for eating large amounts of food very quickly.
--->'''Ron''': Why is everyone else so bad at eating?
** He tends to shy away from "ethnic food", but greatly enjoyed eating from a burrito place when Andy mentions the "Meat Tornado", which has apparently killed someone in the past. Ron thought of it as "revolutionary", and was effusive in his gratitude for Andy introducing him to ”... an entirely new meat delivery system”.
* BirthdayHater: He hates birthdays so much that he has gone to great lengths to keep anyone from finding out his own, including having it redacted from all government documents. Needless to say, he is not pleased when Leslie discovers his.
-->'''Ron''': I don't like loud noises. And people making a fuss. And I especially don't like people celebrating because they know a piece of ''private information'' about me. Plus the whole thing is a scam — birthdays were invented by Hallmark to sell cards.
* BreakoutCharacter: He's by far the most popular character among fans, and some TV critics have called him the best sitcom character since [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Cosmo Kramer]].
* BrilliantButLazy: As shown by his excellent handling of Very Good Construction, Ron is an extremely competent entrepreneur and manager, and it was only his hatred of government that kept him from doing anything in the Parks Department.
* CatchPhrase: "Bully" and "Please and thank you".
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: We get very little of Ron's personality in Season 1, but early Ron Swanson doesn't share Season 2-onwards Ron's RatedMForManly aspects or begrudging respect for Leslie. Even his costume-based characterization is absent--season 1 Ron wears a suit instead of rugby shirts and flannels and keeps his hair in a more office-friendly coif ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness him exclusively wearing his Season 2 haircut for years is explicitly noted in a later season]]).
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The reason his favorite book is ''Literature/MobyDick''?
-->'''Ron''': No frou-frou symbolism. Just a good, simple tale about a man who hates an animal.
* TheComicallySerious: He rarely cracks actual jokes, as most of the humor that comes from Ron stems from the situations he's put in and the interactions he has with the other characters.
* CrazyPrepared: Keeps a survival backpack hidden in a ventilation grate down the hall. Also keeps a small supply of ground chuck in his desk drawer, and a large packet of bacon above the ceiling tiles of his office.
** Taken UpToEleven when Ron retrieves the bag after his first ex-wife shows up. It's labeled, indicating that Ron prepared it ''specifically'' to escape from Tammy One.
** All that gold he has buried? Most of it is ''fake'' gold just in case someone manages to figure out where they're hidden.
** A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK1arAw9r9U deleted scene]] from "Ron and Leslie" reveals he had a secret stash of whiskey in the wall of his original office that he made on the first day he'd gotten the job just in case he ever got trapped there somehow.
** Another [[https://youtu.be/IVQ3wWWYqRk deleted scene]] reveals that he had bacon caches in 37 other places in the office, including inside the photocopier and underneath Tom, because of an anticipated worldwide bacon shortage, or as Ron describes it, "total ''[bleep]'' global ''[bleep]''."
* DeadpanSnarker: He is often sarcastic toward his coworkers and people in general, it is actually one of the many things he has in common with April.
* DrinkOrder: Scotch. Specifically Lagavulin 16-year, neat.
* TheEngineer: Builds lots of things himself. Including a crib that he tested by hitting with his car. [[spoiler:The grill is loose, the chrome molding is bent, and the right headlight is missing]] as a result.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Inverted. While he doesn't hate them, after his relationship with Tammy One, he only dates dark-haired women because she ruined blondes for him.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Ron, his brothers (Don, Lon, and Vaughn), and [[spoiler:his son (John)]] all have first names that rhyme with "on".
* {{Flanderization}}: His RatedMForManly traits ramp up as the series continues as the writers begin to embrace his badassery. He also goes from someone who greatly values his privacy to being almost completely disconnected from human society.
* {{Foil}}: His disdain for government work and cynical view of social and political systems directly clashes with Leslie's more ambitious and naively idealistic endeavors.
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Melancholic
* GrumpyBear: A generally cantankerous and serious guy among a cast of lovably quirky goofballs. Of course, he manages to be ''so'' cantankerous and serious that it ends up making him as lovable and quirky as everyone else.
* HappilyMarried: To [[spoiler:Diane]] as of the beginning of Season 6.
* HatesBeingTouched: As shown by his tendency to awkwardly just stand there whenever someone (usually Andy) hugs him. Ron really dislikes hugs.
* HatesSmallTalk: You're at best going to get a curt dismissal and at worst a DeathGlare if you attempt to instigate pointless small talk with him.
* HealingFactor: Specifically, his ''hair''. No matter what happens to Ron's hair, it always grows back by the next couple of episodes, especially his mustache. At one point, he accidentally burnt his facial hair and eyebrows off and then ran off to hide in the woods when finding out his first ex-wife was coming, and three weeks later when Leslie comes looking for him, he's sprouted a massive mountain-man beard that would take a lesser mortal years to grow.
* HenpeckedHusband: Around Tammy One.
* HiddenDepths:
** Ron moonlights as jazz saxophonist "Duke Silver" and plays in clubs outside Pawnee. He's really good in general with woodwind instruments and is very good at crafting flutes and recorders (which he then sells to a loony doomsday cult because they always play them at their end-of-the-world vigils).
** Ron is shown to absolutely LOVE solving scavenger hunt puzzles, and becomes uncharacteristically giddy at the prospect of completing them.
** Despite his obsession with being as stereotypically masculine as humanly possible, he's also a staunch feminist.[[note]]Although perhaps uncommon, this is in keeping with Ron's principled libertarianism: he believes that people should not have the right to infringe the freedom of others, so it's only consistent of him to extend this to women as well as men. Though it's perhaps more appropriate to call him egalitarian, as he clearly does not care about most feminist talking-points. If he is a feminist, he's of the old-school variety.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** "When I buried gold in my backyard, I promised myself I would not be miserly with it."
** Ron's a libertarian who believes in freedom from undue influence and that everyone should have the ability to run their lives however they want. However, he also possesses a very forceful, imposing personality which can frequently lead him towards trying to dominate everyone around him and get them to run their lives the way ''he'' thinks they should be run, inadvertently or otherwise.
* IconicOutfit: Red shirt and black pants after he's had sex. According to Tom, the same as Tiger Woods wears when he feels invincible.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He may act like he hates all his coworkers, the government, and human society in general, but he's shown on more than one occasion that if any of them is seriously hurting or in trouble, he'll be there for them.
* KavorkaMan: Not considered especially attractive, but still manages to attract many women with his gruff personality. When he drops by the local gay bar to find one of the clues Leslie left for Ben's gift, many of the patrons are clearly checking him out. Ron definitely does have the looks of a {{Bear}}.
* LikesOlderWomen: Both of his ex-wives are distinctly older than him.
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Has ''two'' ex-wives and a ''mother'' named Tammy.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Hanging around Tammy One turns him into a complete wuss. Tammy Two turns him into a raging sex fiend.
* MadeOfIron: In "Hunting Trip", he takes a shotgun blast to the back of the head, and spends the rest of the episode more angry than debilitated. He also survived getting hit by a school bus when he was seven years old.
* ManlyTears: He's cried very few times in his life. The first time was when a bus ran into him as a child. The second was when he first learned of Li'l Sebastian's death. He ''very nearly'' cries a third time in "Citizen Knope" in reaction to Leslie's Christmas gift — remote-controlled closing doors for his office. He comes close to crying once again in "London, Part 2" after reading Robert Burns' "O were my Love yon Lilack fair" during his time in Scotland. Finally, his eyes can be seen welling up in "Leslie and Ron" as he recounts what happened to estrange him from Leslie (as well as in the flashback, following April's departure from the department).
* MentorArchetype: He essentially mentors the entire cast to varying degrees.
* MoralityPet: Andy has slowly been softening him up.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Ron has a goofier, nicer side, just like everyone else. And he loves Li'l Sebastian quite possibly more than anyone.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: He acts as one on purpose in a (thanks to Leslie's hyper-competence) questionably effective attempt to make the government as useless as possible.
* OddFriendship:
** With Leslie. Leslie is perky, optimistic, pro-government, and very personable and touchy-feely. Ron is ''none'' of those things. Despite this, Leslie is probably Ron's best friend, whether he admits it or not.
** In Season 7, Ron actually becomes good friends with Typhoon, a flamboyantly effeminate hairdresser. They bond over a shared hatred of Eurotrash and faddish bicycle (though it's implied that Ron just finds it easy to talk to his barbers). [[spoiler: In the finale, Ron is the best man at Typhoon and Craig's wedding.]]
* OneManArmy: Nothing can keep him down.
* OnlySaneMan: He doesn't get involved in his coworkers' hijinks.
* PapaWolf: While initially unconcerned with Gryzzl's datamining (considering it rather silly to voluntarily give them your personal information and then complain that they have your personal information), the moment [[spoiler:his son's privacy (an infant obviously not using the service)]] becomes an issue, he goes on the offensive.
* ParentalSubstitute: To April and Andy, although April's parents are still around -- ''especially'' Andy. He helps put Andy through college, offers advice to the young couple, and is their go-to guy (aside from Ben) when they need an "adult's advice". When Ron is unsure of his parenting skills, spending the day with Andy (including taking him to the dentist) is what reassures him.
* PatrioticFervor:
** Of course. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0HyebF6O0w Here's what he thinks of Canada.]] Ron especially hates anything resembling CommieLand.
** He does, however, actually come to like the Inner Hebrides of Scotland after [[spoiler:Leslie sends him there to visit the Lagavulin distillery. He later ''buys'' the distillery (or a share in it, anyway).]].
* PerpetualFrowner: Even when he's being nice, he's still quite stern. The only thing that makes him smile is the collapse of the Pawnee government.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Leslie, to the point that Diane worries that Ron's so close to Leslie that there'll never be room for another woman in his life, despite Leslie and Ron having no romantic attraction whatsoever.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: "Is ''Franchise/StarWars'' the one with [[Literature/HarryPotter the little wizard boy]]?"
* ProfessionalSlacker: He lets Leslie run the department, which she is only too happy to do. Ron, as a fierce super-libertarian, is actually ideologically opposed to the government accomplishing things; the one time he is seen actually working with enthusiasm is when the city needs ideas on how to slash its budget.
* RatedMForManly: An interesting version of this. Ron is gruff, loves working with his hands, eats a lot of meat, drinks a lot of whiskey, and is a strong fighter. But this doesn't translate into racism, sexism, or homophobia like over examples might. Combined with his distrust of the government and big business, Ron could be considered the true libertarian ideal.
* RealMenEatMeat: To the point that he thinks fish are acceptable to catch, but not to eat since "fish meat is practically a vegetable".
** Ron is also the inventor of the "Turf and Turf" - a 16-ounce T-bone steak lightly garnished with a 24-ounce Porterhouse.
** In one episode, he is seen eating a deep fried turkey leg wrapped in bacon and guess what's it called? The Swanson.
* RealMenWearPink: Like the rest of Pawnee, he adores [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Li'l Sebastian]].
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: {{Subverted}}. He tries to pull this while throwing a barbecue in a public park and planning to actually slaughter a pig as part of it, arguing that he is allowed to do this because he is in charge of the Park and Recs department. Unfortunately for his plan, slaughterting and serving a pig also fell under the jurisdiction of other departments such as Health, so he actually didn't make the rules in this case. Notable for being one of the few times he actually tried to exercise his government authority as well, and it turns out to be authority he didn't really have.
* SecretlyWealthy: Apparently owns a massive amount of gold and cash. So much so that, according to his attorney, the 5% he plans to leave to his step-daughters and biological son is considered a huge inheritance.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The manly man to Chris' sensitive guy.
* ShipperOnDeck: He denies it, but in Seasons 2 and 3, he clearly wants April and Andy to get together, to the point of being the one that tells April to either get with Andy or cut him loose, just stop leading him on. (He's quick to assure us that [[BlatantLies he doesn't care whether they get together, though]].)
* SlidingScaleOfLibertarianismAndAuthoritarianism: As indicated by the above quote, Ron's political philosophy falls quite far on the libertarian side. He has explicitly referred to himself as a libertarian a number of times and sees no value in government-run institutions to the point of wanting ''everything'' privatized. Unfortunately for him, Leslie always has ambitious plans to expand the Parks Department. HilarityEnsues. Of course he also easily changes attitude when people don't comply with his personal philosophies. At a barbecue he leaves when people complain that he didn't even prepare beverages for children.
* StarterVillain: [[spoiler: He was initially the BigBad of Season 7, until he and Leslie reconciled in "[[WhamEpisode Leslie & Ron]]". Now Gryzzl itself is the BigBad.]]
* StoutStrength: For one thing, he took Jamm down with only one punch to the mouth.
* TeamDad: Begrudgingly. Ron is undeniably a paternal figure to the rest of the office, and often acts stern and uninvolved.
* ThemeNaming: He and his brothers all have names that rhyme: Ron, Don, Lon, Vaughn.
* TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain: In "Hunting Trip", one of the characters shoots him in the head, but he gets better.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Red meat (especially steaks and burgers), breakfast food, and Scotch whisky.
%%* {{Tsundere}}: Clearly towards Diane in Season 5.
* WhamLine: In "Leslie and Ron", Ron reveals just how miserable time away from his friends made him.
-->'''Ron''': I was going to ask you for a job. (''beat'') In the federal government.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: He intends to leave the bulk of his money to the person or animal that kills him.

[[folder:April Ludgate]]
!!April Roberta Ludgate [-(Creator/AubreyPlaza)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_30248_pm.png]]
->''"No, I didn't win, but at least I didn't make any new friendships."''

April is TheSnarkKnight. Originally, she was an apathetic college intern who constantly slacked off and seemed like she would rather be anywhere else. In the second season, she was hired as Ron's assistant specifically to stonewall anyone wishing to meet with him. Near the end of the fourth season, it's revealed that, while she generally hates people, April loves animals and realizes that this might be her calling. In Season 5, the incompetent Animal Control Department is absorbed by the Parks Department and April is appointed director of the new sub-department.

* {{Adorkable}}: Not nearly as much as Andy, Leslie or Ben, but when she's happy about something or jokes around with someone (like making fun of Congressman Murray with Ben), it shines through.
** Also in Season 2 when she's pining away after Andy and hinting her feelings towards him (which, being [[TheDitz Andy]], he initially fails to pick up on). When they finally get together she's clearly happy about it but tries (and fails) to blow it off as nothing big, ultimately running away from the camera as she tries to hide a smile:
---> '''April:''' I guess we're dating. It's new. Whatever. I don't like labels. Go away...
* AmbiguouslyBi: Briefly mentions finding Jerry's painting of the topless centaur that resembles Leslie to be hot.
* AscendedExtra: In season 1, April's relevant to the plot all of twice and even then tangentially, even though Aubrey Plaza got regular-cast credit from the beginning. Mid-Season 2 onwards she becomes one of the most focused-on characters in the main cast.
* AsideGlance: Due to the format, all the characters do it from time to time, but the aside glance appears to be April's primary form of communication. Subverted earlier in the show, in that whenever April has been especially obnoxious to somebody else, she will sometimes give a resentful Aside Glance to show that she knows the camera has caught her obnoxiousness, and she isn't happy about it. Later in the show's run, when she becomes less cynical, less apathetic and less self-conscious, she gives fewer Aside Glances.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:After some resistance, she and Andy eventually have a son named Jack in the DistantFinale, with another on the way]].
* BetaCouple: With Andy after they become a couple. She is the youngest, most [[TheCynic cynical]], and apathetic of the main female characters and is ironically the first of them to get married.
* BeYourself: In Season 5 she gets put into the public spotlight more and more as a representative for the parks department. At first she imitates Leslie as a way to get through her presentations since Leslie has always been good at that sort of thing and it helps her deal with her nerves, but April realizes that Leslie's methods don't work for her and simply starts acting like herself. While this gets complaints for excessive rudeness, she is much more successful than she ever was imitating Leslie.
* BreakoutCharacter: The most popular female character. Her relationship and appearances have grown in future seasons.
* BrilliantButLazy: She is actually rather smart, but would prefer not to bother with things like responsibility and hard work.
--> '''April:''' I don't want to do things. I want to not do things.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** In the second season, she becomes progressively nicer and more open the more she hangs out with Andy. It culminates in "Galentine's Day", where, after getting fed up with her gay boyfriends being jerks, she asks, "God, why does everything we do have to be cloaked in, like, 15 layers of irony?"
** Her character arc starts in earnest in Season 4 and continues into Season 5 as she realizes that she can't be a complete jerk to everyone and attempts earnestly to forge a career. Besides that, April becomes more outgoing and eccentric as the show goes on, most prominently after marrying Andy. {{Lampshaded}} in "Miss Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington".
--->'''April:''' ''(to Leslie)'' When I started working for you, I was aimless and just thought everything was stupid and lame. You turned me into someone with goals and ambition. Which is the reason why I'm even thinking about what I really want.
* CreepyMonotone: Her tone of voice barely ever wavers from a steady monotone, suiting her EmotionlessGirl personality, as well as helping with her generally creepy aura.
* TheCynic: Starts off as the most cynical character in the show. However she eventually grows to be more encouraging and optimistic occasionally towards those she cares about at least.
* DareToBeBadass: She encourages Andy to pursue his dreams.
* DeadpanSnarker: Easily the best example on the show. April can be counted on to respond to things with dripping sarcasm.
* DeathGlare: Easily the best example on the show, too. When she can't be bothered to snark, she'll usually just glare.
* DefrostingIceQueen: April starts to open up in season two, mostly thanks to Andy's influence.
* {{Dismotivation}}: She and Ron get along well.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Roberta.
* EmbarrassingNickName: Her parents call her "Zuzu".
* EmotionlessGirl: UpToEleven. Getting her to express any emotion besides scathing sarcasm is quite rare.
* FagHag: Until midway into Season 2, she constantly hangs out with her "gay boyfriend" and his boyfriend. She breaks up with him because it turns out that Derek and Ben are actually [[BitchInSheepsClothing rather mean, despite initial impressions to the contrary]].
-->'''April''': Derek is gay but he's straight for me, but he's gay for Ben and Ben's really gay for Derek. And I hate Ben.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic
* FourthDateMarriage: Married Andy after dating a month.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: In sharp contrast with her general hatred towards humans, April loves animals, particularly her and Andy's pet dog Champion. Managing an animal adoption show while Leslie was busy elsewhere was the first time she didn't utterly hate government work, and many of her later story arcs also revolve around animals.
* TheGadfly: Loves messing with people in various ways, such as tricking her doppelgänger into breaking into Dwayne Wade's house or putting question mark stickers on stop signs.
* GrowingUpSucks: Firmly believes so, as demonstrated in "Jerry's Painting". Andy manages to convince her by the end that they can be responsible adults while still staying true to themselves.
* HappilyMarried: To Andy. For a given definition of 'happy' in her case, anyway.
* {{Hipster}}: Of course, with her [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] [[SugarAndIcePersonality attitude]]. Her favorite band is Music/NeutralMilkHotel, and aside from that, she only listens to [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly German Death Reggae]] or [[PostModernism Halloween sound effects records from the 1950s]]. (And Creator/BetteMidler, obviously.)
* JerkassFacade: She may talk tough and keep up a snarky exterior, but most of April's EmotionlessGirl persona is really just a front to avoid openly demonstrating her emotions around others. Dating Andy and learning to embrace her career cracks that façade more and more, and by Season 6 it's almot entirely gone.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: April's a pretty big jerk, she enjoys mocking Jerry, openly dislikes Ann, has little respect for the rules and claims to hate everyone and everything. However she does have a softer side, particularly towards Ron, Andy and later Leslie. As the show goes on, the "jerk" aspect fades -- though she's always pretty creepy and abrasive, and even then she only ever uses it to destroy anything she genuinely despises, instead of just everybody around her.
* LargeHam: Whenever she acts in-show, like when she adopts her "Janet Snakehole" character.
* TheMatchmaker: Though not a very good one. April is the one who pairs up Tom and Ann, much to her regret as they annoy her later with their relationship problems. She also tries to set up Chris, still sad from breaking up with Jerry's daughter Millicent, with Andy's Women's Studies professor. Said professor ends up sleeping with Ron instead.
* MixedAncestry: She has a Latina mother and a white father.
* MoralityPet: Andy becomes one for her in Season 2. Notably, her time with him leads her to reject her two gay boyfriends due to being annoyed by how artificial their hipster ways were, plus their unpleasant attitude towards Andy.
* NightmareFetishist: To an incredible degree. Examples include being happy at having fake blood splattered all over her, wanting to live in a house that used to house the insane, and being more interested in the horrible and disgusting effects pregnancy would have on her body than actually having a child. Donna even calls her "Satan's niece." When Andy went in for his police exam, she made him a good luck charm: she found a dead rabbit at the side of the road, cut off its feet, and stuffed it before giving it to him. [[SincerityMode Andy loved it.]]
* NotGoodWithPeople: Starts up a pet adoption to avoid having to fill in for Leslie at government meetings.
--> '''April:''' I think I may have found a project I'd actually enjoy doing. Helping these cats and dogs. They should be rewarded for not being people. ''I hate people''.
* OddFriendship: She becomes quite close with Leslie despite them having completely opposite personalities. Her no-nonsense attitude gets on the good side of Donna as well, to the point of being Donna's maid of honor at her wedding. Her initial friendship with Andy in Season 2 could also count, however, after [[FourthDateMarriage they get married]], they become more of the OddCouple.
* OppositesAttract: With peppy, dorky jock and rock singer Andy.
* PetTheDog: As befitting her being a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, April is capable of acts of true kindness here and there.
** Literally in Season 3 when she and Andy adopt a three-legged dog named Champion. She adores him, states he's one of the few things she cares about, and eventually admits that helping homeless animals get adopted is one of the few things that could get her passionate about a boring, administrative job.
** In "Meet and Greet", after seeing how uncomfortable and disgusted Jerry is over his daughter Millicent getting hot and heavy with Chris during the Halloween party, April swipes Chris' car keys so he won't be able to take Millicent back to his place to have sex with her.
** After Leslie and Ben's argument in "The Treaty", she goes to console Leslie and encourages her to talk to Ben.
** Guilty over [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor successfully wishing misfortune upon Chris]] in "Bowling for Votes", she offers to take him to the movies with her and Andy with the tickets she won in the donation phone pool.
** In Season 4, she sets Ann up with Tom because she genuinely thinks Tom makes her happy. She even tries to keep it a secret from Leslie because she knows about Ann's probable embarrassment.
** Attempts to set Chris up with Andy's college professor. Though it's partially to get Chris off their backs, it ''was'' April who approached Chris first and invited him to dinner with them.
** In Season 6, when she believes Jerry to be very ill, she tries hard to be nice to him, to the point of actually ''reaching into his shirt and scratching his back for him''.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: April is snarky, mischievous, and claims to hate everyone, while Andy is goofy, upbeat and full of energy.
* ProfessionalSlacker: It's the whole reason Ron hired her.
-->'''Ron:''' I don't care that you text all day and sleep at your desk. In fact, I encourage it.
* PutOnABus: The possibility is toyed with in Season 3, when Chris offers to take her back to Indianapolis with him to be his assistant.
* SarcasticConfession: In her words: "The truth is stupid. I only tell the truth when it makes me sound like I'm lying."
* SassySecretary: And Ron likes it that way.
* SecretSecretKeeper: Reveals to Ron that she's aware of his double life as Duke Silver, as her mother has all of his albums and she recognized him the second they met.
* SheCleansUpNicely: April, being played by Aubrey Plaza, always looks pretty, but usually gives the impression that she doesn't fuss much about her personal appearance. As her character development goes on and she becomes more involved with her work, she starts looking a lot more polished.
* ShouldntWeBeInSchoolRightNow: Similar to Ann's OneHourWorkWeek, April is a college student, but this isn't mentioned very often and she never seems to have to be in class, which implies that whatever college she's attending is close enough for her to be at the office so often during the day. In the tie-in book ''[[AllThereInTheManual Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America]]'', April says she only takes one course a semester at Pawnee Community College.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Dumps her cynical, moody boyfriend (and his boyfriend) because she likes the good-natured Andy.
* SpicyLatina:
** She acknowledges the trope while she normally inverts it with extreme prejudice -- she's the only major Latinx character, but is the most asocial and emotionless.
--->'''April''': [''utterly deadpan''] My mom's Puerto Rican. [[BlatantLies That's why I'm so lively and colorful.]]
** When she gets drunk, though, she can get ''reeeeaaaalllllllly'' spicy.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: April's cold, aloof and sometimes quite callous and anti-social. However she also has a sweeter side, which she occasionally shows to those she cares about.
* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: She has a tendency to blurt out her feelings: "I'm bored!" or "I'm cranky!" [[DullSurprise Her facial expression barely changes, however.]]
* TookALevelInKindness:
** Starting from around season 3, but especially in season 4, April becomes a kinder, more considerate person to those she considers friends. But she's still a {{Troll}}.
** Season 4 has her even list off the things she cares about (Andy, her dog Champion, Leslie, and the animal shelter), which the old April wouldn't have. She also starts giving relationship advice to Tom, Ann, and in season 5, [[spoiler: Ron]]. She even admits (''very'' begrudgingly) that she cares for Ann when saying goodbye to her in "Ann and Chris".
* TricksterArchetype: Enjoys being pointlessly contradictory and playing pranks. Might have something to do with a particularly ruthless [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry]].
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Do not embarrass Andy, hurt Andy's feelings, or be anything other than nice to Andy when she's around. Is usually more bark than bite but she's clearly furious when it happens so the potential is there. And if you are a woman, do not show any romantic interest in Andy whatsoever. ''He belongs to April.''
* VocalEvolution: Her voice is softer and less expressive in the first two seasons than it is in later episodes.
* WhenSheSmiles: Especially in the early seasons; her few smiles are really pretty. After she [[TookALevelInKindness loosens up a bit]] they start to become far more frequent and directed at people other than her MoralityPet Andy.
* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have to Be Spiders?]]: She has that [[BuffySpeak arachnocornucopia thing]].
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Andy during the second season. TheyDo.
* WomanChild: Starts out as a college student, but continues acting like a moody high schooler well into her twenties.
* YaoiFangirl:
-->'''April''': I passed up a gay Halloween party to be here. Do you know how much fun gay Halloween parties are? Last year I saw three Music/JonasBrothers make out with three Creator/{{Robert Pattinson}}s. It was amazing.

[[folder:Andy Dwyer]]
!!Andrew Maxwell Dwyer [-(Creator/ChrisPratt)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_31236_pm.png]]
->''"I just wrote a new song, okay? Bottom line, it's called 'Sex Hair'. It's about how you can tell when someone just had sex 'cause of how their hair gets matted up in the back. It's awesome."''

Andy was introduced as Ann's idiotic musician boyfriend in the first season and originally intended as a temporary character. He was retained in the second season after Ann broke up with him and landed a job as a shoe-shiner at City Hall. He had a WillTheyOrWontThey relationship with April in the second season. In the third season, he and April married after having dated for less than a month, much to Leslie's horror. Since then, their marriage has proved [[HappilyMarried surprisingly stable]]. At the start of Season 4, Andy leaves his shoe-shiner job and joins the Parks Department.

* {{Acrofatic}}: While he's a bit on the heftier side, he's still pretty athletic.
* {{Adorkable}}: Despite being a stereotypical jock, Andy shows elements of this from time to time, especially when he morphs into his [[ClarkKenting alter ego]], FBI agent Burt Macklin, whenever a situation requires the presence of law enforcement. He also likes to reenact scenes from action movies and it is discovered in one episode that he made a ''bucket list'' of all of the things he would like to do once in his life before he dies.
* AgeGapRomance: Downplayed as the age gap between them is much less than is usual for the trope, and none of the other characters seem to take issue with it, but Andy is initially rather uncomfortable with the eight-and-a-half-year age difference between him and April. He gets over it.
* AmusingInjuries: Andy gets hurt. A lot. And it is almost always ''hilarious''.
* AnimalMotif: A fairly subtle one, but Andy behaves a lot like a big, dumb dog. He's friendly, a little slow to pick up on things, and has somewhat unrefined manners. He even dries himself by shaking. When his legs were still broken, he even bathed himself outside in a kiddie pool and specifically mentioned that he got the idea from seeing his parents wash their dog.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: He has a strong case of this. He almost always misses important information because he gets distracted by things like a bird flying past.
* AuthorCatchphrase: He mentions that he uses the lines 'spread your wings and fly' and 'you deserve to be a champion' in all of his songs. The first lyric at least can actually be heard in the [[http://www.scarecrowboat.com/downloads.shtml studio versions]] of most of his songs.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:With April in the DistantFinale]].
* BetaCouple: With April after they become a couple.
* BrainlessBeauty:
-> Donna: “Andy, you’re fine, but you’re simple.”
* BreakoutCharacter: Started out as the least important character on the show (being the boyfriend of someone not even in the Parks Department), but gradually becomes one of the most beloved characters in the series.
* BuffySpeak: Largely due to stupidity and not really knowing any technical terms.
* CaptainObvious: Because he's often LateToThePunchline, he'll usually restate something everyone always figured out.
* CharacterDevelopment: Started off as a LazyBum {{jerkass}} in Season 1 to a becoming a lot more [[TookALevelInKindness considerate]] in Season 2. He also becomes a lot more responsible as time goes on.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mostly in Season 4 and after, comes with being TheDitz. It's not normal for someone to dedicate a whole episode's investigation just to find who threw the pie at Jerry in "Bus Tour". That's just one of many examples.
* CrazyJealousGuy: He is jealous of both Mark and Eduardo when trying to win back Ann and April, respectively. Fortunately, the latter was merely an attempt at OperationJealousy.
* TheDitz:
-->'''Andy''': Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here and it says that you might have... Network Connectivity Problems.
** GeniusDitz: He's got a pretty sharp memory and can do well when he applied himself. He was also [[spoiler:the first applicant ever to get a 100 on the written part of the Police Academy exam, but [[EpicFail completely fails]] the personality test]]. And despite the often silly or simplistic lyrical content, he's also a very talented musician. He also gets so bored he starts to think about existentialism after [[spoiler:Chris gives him a job as a City Hall security guard.]]
* DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm:
** Due to being a ManChild.
--->'''April''': I'll go too.\\
'''Tom''': Really? 'Cause an hour ago you told me you'd rather watch a sex tape of your grandparents.\\
'''April''': Shut up! I don't have anything else to do. Do you want help or not?\\
'''Tom''': All right, see you guys later. [''Leaves'']\\
'''Andy''': I think that it's really, really sweet that your grandparents still make love.
** In another episode, Andy and Tom are escorted to the archiving room by the extremely old Ethel Beavers. As soon as she leaves, Tom jokingly tells Andy to remind him to ask her where she was when [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln]] got shot. Andy makes sure to write it down.
** This becomes rather ironic when he gets together with [[OppositesAttract April]], who is absolutely the [[DeadpanSnarker most sarcastic and snarky]] character on the show.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His entire character becomes entirely different after Season 1, where he goes from a {{Jerkass}} who is taking advantage of Ann to a lovable idiot who is among the nicest characters on the show.
* FakeGuestStar: In the first season, Chris Pratt was credited as a guest star despite appearing in every episode. They did shuffle back and forth on putting him in the opening titles during the first season, but nevertheless he was consistently referred to as a guest star. From the second season onward, he was credited as a normal regular.
* FeigningIntelligence: Andy has tried to sound smart on several occasions, and failed spectacularly every time. And, somehow, simultaneously ObfuscatingStupidity. For all of his idiocy, there are occasional hints that he's actually much more intelligent than he seems at first glance.
* FormerlyFat: In the sixth and seventh seasons, he slims down quite a lot, owing it to having cut down on beer consumption. In real life, it was because Chris Pratt had toned up for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine
* FriendToAllChildren: He gets along great with young kids, due in part to him being an overgrown kid himself.
* GlobalIgnorance:
** In the same episode, he says Venezuela is both "across the pond" and a city in Mexico.
** He thinks that the states that form the Four Corners are Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon.
* HappilyMarried: To April after the third season.
* {{Jerkass}}: In Season 1. He grows out of it.
* LikeASonToMe: Ron is generally at his most fatherly when interacting with him. To a lesser extent, Chris as well.
* LiteralMinded: Leslie commissions him to write a song for Li'l Sebastian's funeral that's "five thousand times better than '[[Music/EltonJohn Candle in the Wind]]'". Andy writes a song titled "Five Thousand Candles in the Wind".
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Andy tends to try to downplay serious injuries. Other times he completely forgets about them, such as when he broke his thumb while on the way to visit the doctor's office to get his concussion checked.
* {{Manchild}}: He's extremely immature and childlike, acting like a hyperactive, easily excitable kid most of the time.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: A Male version, to April.
* MoralityPet: The only person April is consistently kind to, at least before she TookALevelInKindness. He also brings out a softer side of Ron, who treats him like a surrogate son. (Not that Ron would ever admit it, of course.)
* NiceGuy: While his stupidity can still lead to awkward situations at times, Andy overall becomes a very likable and well-meaning person after his CharacterDevelopment, and is generally friendly to everyone except [[ButtMonkey Jerry and Kyle]].
* ObliviousToLove: Towards the end of Season 2, it becomes clear that this is [[ObfuscatingStupidity at least partially an act]] due to the age difference between him and April making Andy a bit uncomfortable.
* OddFriendship: He spends a lot of time with Ben and Tom in later seasons. He's also quite close to Ron, bonding over their love of sports and food.
* OppositesAttract: With April.
* ParentalSubstitute: Ron is a straight example, while Leslie is a mix of this and a CoolBigSis to him.
* PutOnABus: Due to Chris Pratt landing the starring role in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Andy is given a temporary job in London that keeps him away from Pawnee in the first part of Season 6.
* ShipperOnDeck:
** In Season 5, Andy does more to get Ron and Diane together than either Ron or Diane.
** In "Jerry's Painting", he can also tell immediately that Ben likes Leslie and states his approval for them to get together.
* StalkerWithACrush:
** In the first part of Season 2, Andy keeps trying to win Ann's affections back, and even ''lives in a ravine'' near Ann's house to 'protect' her.
** To a lesser extent in the first few episodes of Season 3, when he tries to redeem himself in April's eyes after admitting to having kissed Ann in the second season finale.
* TheStoner: Andy certainly ''seems'' like he'd be a stoner, but nothing is confirmed until "Correspondents' Lunch", where Leslie realizes the "fertility tea" she bought for Ann is probably actually weed and throws it away. The camera immediately pans over to Andy and April, who seem to be silently discussing stealing the baggie once no one's watching.
* StoutStrength: He's a bit chubby, but also very strong.
* TooDumbToFool: April's attempts at OperationJealousy both fail because he's too dumb or naïve to be tricked.
* TookALevelInDumbass: While never particularly bright, he was originally more lazy and immature than stupid, and seemed a reasonably functional adult who just got way too co-dependent on Ann and was having trouble landing on his feet.
* TookALevelInKindness: His evolution into a more likable person during the second season. There was some of this in the first season too, particularly in one episode where he goes out of the way to clean the house (and himself!) as a surprise for Ann while impaired by his cast.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: In Season 2, April develops a crush on Andy, who at the time is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend Ann and [[ObliviousToLove is unaware of April's feelings]] throughout most of the season. However, he eventually catches on and begins to reciprocate her affection despite having been previously weirded out by their eight-year age difference. In the season finale, Andy asks April out, but she turns him down because she believes he still has feelings for Ann. Ann, meanwhile, is going through a romantic mess of her own and, in a moment of confusion, kisses Andy. Andy breaks his arm, causing April to realize that life is short and to agree to go out with Andy. Andy ruins his chances when he decides to tell her about his kiss with Ann. In the third season premiere, April returns from vacation with a new boyfriend, and Andy spends the next few episodes trying to win her back. [[spoiler:He eventually succeeds, and despite a few more minor bumps in the road, they are married within 3 episodes of coming together.]]
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With April during the second season and first half of the third. TheyDo.

[[folder:Ben Wyatt]]
!!Benjamin Wyatt [-(Creator/AdamScott)-]
[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ben_wyatt_4761.jpg]]
->''"Well, you have to be able to make decisions like this, Leslie. You have to be harsh, you know. No one's going to elect you to do anything if you don't show that you're a responsible grown-up."''

A state auditor who comes to Pawnee with Chris to evaluate the town's funds at the end of the second season. Promoted to series regular in the third season. He is blunt and cynical but has a FreudianExcuse.

* {{Adorkable}}: Is deep into geek culture, enough that he creates his own tabletop game and Leslie once gave him his own [[Series/GameOfThrones Iron Throne]]. He’s so enthusiastic about his favorite properties that he cannot resist correcting his coworkers when they show their naïveté about a subject, even though they’re usually being facetious to needle him and don’t really care.
-->'''Donna''': What is wrong with you today? Did they cancel ''Game of Thrones''?\\
'''Ben''': Nothing is wrong, just do your job! [''{{Beat}}''] They would never cancel ''Game of Thrones''. It's a crossover hit! It's not just for fantasy enthusiasts! They're telling human stories in a fantasy world! [''Beat, calms down''] Fill out the forms, please.
* AmbiguouslyBi: When going off on a talk show host, he can be heard saying, "Everyone has gay thoughts!" He also wrote ''Franchise/StarTrek'' {{slash|Fic}} at one point.
* AsideGlance: Ben is the king of this.
* BadassBureaucrat: Ben is incredibly good and efficient at his job. He's managed to save six towns (including Pawnee) from bankruptcy. Upon taking on a new job in Pawnee, he takes to it like a duck to water. Other accountants in the series call him brilliant and he potentially ends up [[spoiler: president of the United States]]. He's so good, even Leslie considers him "a genius." The fact they're both so competent and good at their jobs is [[BirdsOfAFeather one of the reasons they work so well together]].
* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Served this role in his initial appearance, wherein his cynicism and designation by Chris as the BearerOfBadNews made Leslie consider him the 'bad guy'. This very quickly changes though.
* BearerOfBadNews: Chris often forces him into this position. In Season 6, it's revealed that Ben actually loved getting to play this role whilst working with Chris.
* BerserkButton: Any mention of him as a mayor when he was 18 years old is bound to set him off.
* BreakoutCharacter: Steadily became the {{Deuteragonist}} due to overwhelmingly positive feedback for his character.
* BrutalHonesty: Ben is a master of delivering frank but accurate assessments of the current situation. He admits that it's what he loves most about his job.
* TheComicallySerious: Generally always deadpan when faced with his co-workers' antics, though he does have a breaking point.
* TheCynic: Though he gets better, thanks to Leslie and Pawnee in general.
* DeadpanSnarker: While subtler than other examples on this show, he ''definitely'' has his moments, though most of the time he is more 'deadpan' than 'snarky'.
-->'''Leslie''': Well, but Chris said you just had to tinker with things.\\
'''Ben''': Yeah, he said that because that sounds a lot better than "we're going to gut it with a machete".
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Very quickly begins to share the center stage with Leslie, to the point of practically being the co-lead in later seasons.
* ExtremeDoormat: Although he's capable and authoritative in a professional setting, it's revealed he's easily walked over in his personal life. He struggles to confront April and Andy about issues when rooming with them and a big milestone for him and Leslie is her realizing she can't just steamroll him and his feelings.
-->'''Ben:''' My family is very non-confrontational. My parents' method of problem-solving is to kind of keep everything bottled up and just subtly hint at what's bothering them.
* FacePalm: Ben's typical reaction to Pawnee, its citizens, and his own personal disasters.
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Melancholic
* HappilyMarried: To Leslie as of mid-Season 5.
* HollywoodNerd: Definite Type II. He likes geeky genre fiction and will often mouth off about them (''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and ''Series/GameOfThrones'' among others), but is still played by Adam Scott and is seen as relatively attractive in-universe.
* ImprobableAge: Was mayor of a town at 18. A caller to the ''Crazy Ira and the Douche'' radio show lampshades this in the most offensively unintelligent way possible:
-->'''Caller''': Seems like eighteen is pretty young for a mayor. What were you, like, twelve?
* InSeriesNickname: Ben accumulates a lot of these in his short time in the series ("Mean Ben", "Turd Boy", "Human Disaster", "Calzone Boy", "Nerd", etc). In fandom, "Human Disaster" especially has grown to almost {{memetic|Mutation}} proportions.
* IResembleThatRemark: A RunningGag with Tom is Tom will make some kind of geek insult about Ben, with Ben to respond indignantly at being called a geek with an even geekier answer. For example, Tom insulting that Ben wants to take a [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Hobbit]] tour of New Zealand, and Ben responding that he did not care for Creator/PeterJackson's [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings adaptation]].
* JerkassFacade: Puts one up when acting as state auditor and he has to be ruthless in order to make budget cuts and play bad cop to Chris' good cop. Years of being hated everywhere he goes also seems to have made him more brusque and closed off. However, it's quickly revealed that he's a lot sweeter than he appears and develops into one of the nicest characters on the show. He also softens up a lot socially thanks to Leslie and making friends with the rest of the Parks Department.
* TheLancer: Both Leslie's closest ally and immediate foil following his introduction.
* MyGreatestFailure: Bankrupting his hometown of Partridge when he was 18. It's why he's so cynical in the present day, as he still carries a lot of guilt and shame over it and admits to Leslie that he works as a state auditor to make up for his past mistakes. Although Leslie eventually helps him move on, Season 5 establishes the Partridge citizens aren't so forgiving and the media brings it up to drag his name through the mud on several occasions.
* NerdsSpeakKlingon: He speaks [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Dothraki]].
* NiceGuy: Once you get past the BrutalHonesty and [[TheCynic pessimism]], Ben is easily one of the nicest and most reliable characters on the show, not to mention being the OnlySaneMan most of the time. Notably, he's also one of the few, if not the only character, to have never made fun of Jerry. Even other "nice" characters like Chris, Andy, and Leslie can't say that. Though even he never refers to Jerry by his real name.
* NoSocialSkills: Initially he's pretty awkward, tactless and doesn't try to make friends because he moves around so much. Leslie and the rest of the Parks department help him get more comfortable.
* NotSoStoic: When some wise guy pushes his BerserkButton.
* OddFriendship:
** Ben seems to have a supreme talent for forming these with other men. Tom, Andy and Chris couldn't be more dissimilar to him, but over time his friendships with each of them begin to border on HeterosexualLifePartners levels of closeness.
** He also [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything 'came out']] that Jerry is his friend and the others shouldn't be so mean to him.
* OfficialCouple: With Leslie.
* OldShame: InUniverse: Bankrupting his hometown during his stint as teen mayor when he built an expensive winter sports center. When Crazy Ira and the Douche bring it up in "Media Blitz", it absolutely ruins his composure.
* OneSteveLimit: Is an aversion. Ben was previously the name of April's boyfriend's boyfriend.
* OnlySaneEmployee: He's about on par with Leslie in terms hypercompetency at his job, but is both more grounded and less obsessive than she is.
* OnlySaneMan: The most normal and rational character on the show, as well as one of the most serious. Despite this, he's a shining example of how the straight man can be just as funny and interesting as their wackier associates.
* OppositesAttract: Subverted with Leslie, as after their rocky first impression they're actually shown to have [[{{BirdsOfAFeather}} incredibly similar qualities]] and the ShipTease ultimately results in a seasons-spanning romance arc and marriage.
* PersonaNonGrata: "Partridge" shows that his eponymous hometown still holds a ''very'' intense grudge over the Ice Town debacle. His sister runs as soon as a crowd points her out as a relative, and Leslie and Ben even get chased out of a local park when a ranger recognizes him.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In Season 3, along with Chris.
* RedOniBlueOni: The Blue to Chris' Red. Later Blue to Leslie's Red as well.
* TheReliableOne: To almost every character - he's Leslie's biggest supporter in her career, Chris' right-hand man, Tom's go-to guy for business advice (even if Tom doesn't take it all the time) and kicks Andy and April into high gear to become more responsible while living with them.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Savvy guy to Leslie's energetic girl. Leslie is a hyperactive do-gooder; Ben is her straightforward, down-to-earth love interest.
* TheScapegoat: The debacle that was "Ice Town" caused him to be this for his hometown of Partridge, even though being voted into office at 18 years old and most likely having to have his ideas approved by the city council means the blame wasn't his alone. Continues into the present day, as Partridge's politicians still bring him up to deflect from their own failings.
* SharpDressedMan: In a sleepy Midwestern town, he definitely stands out.
* TheStoic: He is usually the calm and sensible guy, compared to the other employees. He rarely laughs, cries or loses his temper.
* StraightMan: He is easily one of the most sensible characters on the show.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For Mark. He doesn't have the same job, but he acts as a StraightMan to the rest of the cast and a foil/possible love interest to Leslie in a similar way. By the end of the third season, however, Ben is definitely his own character. [[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/03/parks-and-recreation-mike-schur-talks-about-why-paul-schneider-is-exiting-the-show-plus-more-details.html Also, according to creator Michael Schur]], even though Ben was brought in with the idea that he might be a love interest/foil for Leslie, he was hesitant to label Ben that, reasoning that they hadn't shot a single scene with the two of them yet, and implying that, like Andy/April, there needed to be chemistry for it to work.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Calzones, which earns him no end of derision from everyone he knows. Although he is temporarily disillusioned from beloved calzones after he incurs a ''devastating'' case of food poisoning in "Ann's Decision"; it proves not to last for long. He is also in denial about it as every time he does have a calzone, he calls it something else and won't listen to people when they insist to him that it is just a calzone.
* TrueLoveIsExceptional: Chris comments that in the past, Ben has exclusively dated only tall brunettes, while the love of his life ends up being the short blonde Leslie.
* UptightLovesWild: An arguably more {{Downplayed}} example than most. He's a stuffy, [[TheCynic cynical]], [[OnlySaneMan rational]], rule-abiding state auditor and he falls for the [[GenkiGirl energetic]], [[WideEyedIdealist incredibly optimistic]], [[CloudcuckooLander quirky]], impulsive, and occasional rule-bending Parks director Leslie. They are eventually [[HappilyMarried married]] and he loosens up considerably over the course of the series because of both her and Pawnee's influence.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He's afraid of cops, and in "Dave Returns" has to interact with a lot of them.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Has so much of this with Leslie in Seasons 3 and 4, though ultimately TheyDo.
* TheWoobie:
** Becomes this in-universe when Donna takes him on her and Tom's annual "Treat Yo'self Day" after seeing him outside at lunch:
--->'''Donna''': Oh, Lord. Is he eating soup on a bench? Alone?
** His Woobieness increases later that day when he buys himself a Franchise/{{Batman}} costume to wear as his version of treating himself and begins to weep, his sadness over the breakup of his secret relationship with Leslie finally coming out.
--->'''Donna''': Uh oh. Batman's crying.
** He's pretty sympathetic throughout his and Leslie's break up. She at least has her campaign for city council to distract her, while Ben genuinely doesn't have much else in his life - much like before he arrived in Pawnee - and even asks her if they can stay away from each other because it's just too painful for him.
** He also slips into this role whenever his past as an impeached mayor is brought up.
* {{Workaholic}}: While not to the same extent as Leslie, he gets ''weird'' when he's left idle for too long.

[[folder:Chris Traeger]]
!!Christopher Traeger [-(Creator/RobLowe)-]
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chris_traeger_8893.jpg]]
->''"I take care of my body above all else; diet, exercise, supplements, positive thinking. Scientists believe that the first human being who will live a hundred and fifty years has already been born. I believe I am that human being."''

Ben's partner, opposite and {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}}. He is cheerful and optimistic, but, in an effort to be liked, he always forces Ben to be the messenger for any bad news. Chris is also a health nut. In Season 3 the mayor of Pawnee asks him to fill in for the city manager who's recovering from a heart attack.

* TheAce: Attractive, physically impressive, and a respected government employee. Donna even calls him the Bionic Man.
%%* BackForTheFinale
* BecomingTheMask: As a baby, Chris was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and was not expected to live longer than three weeks, but miraculously survived. As a result, he sees every day he is alive as a gift, which results in his intensely cheerful and enthusiastic personality. Which explains why we will now see Chris as a health-conscious neurotic who obsesses about everything, highly perfectionist to the point that he gets really upset when his rules aren't followed and things don't go his way and believes things like exposure to germs and red meat (and fatty foods) could LITERALLY kill him. He even freaks out when he finds out he has tendinitis.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: There is a considerable amount of steel and determination underneath the peppy niceness. In "The Trial Of Leslie Knope", Tammy Two left in a hurry without giving any testimony when Chris made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to put up with any of her bullshit and she'd pay dearly for lying under oath. When Jamm interrupted Leslie and Ben's wedding, he and Andy looked equally furious when Jamm insulted Leslie, both of them jumping to their feet simultaneously. The only reason he didn't join Andy in beating the shit out of Jamm is because Ron beat them to it.
* BirdsOfAFeather: When he was dating Jerry's oldest daughter Millicent.
* BreakoutCharacter: He was originally only intended to appear in the last two episodes of Season 2 and the first six episodes of Season 3. However, after the positive critical reception of the character, Rob Lowe signed a multi-year contract and became a main cast member for several seasons.
* BrokenAce: He's a hypochondriac, is shown to be unable to cope with the idea of being unhappy and his ultra-positivity often makes him unintentionally a jerk to others (i.e. his behavior toward Ann and Jerry, as well as designating Ben the BearerOfBadNews).
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his relentless optimism, his emotional troubles, and his many eccentricities, he is consistently shown to be a clear-eyed, cunning and capable administrator. He does make a handful of bad decisions right after becoming city manager, but if Ron is to be believed, this is par for the course every time the position changes hands, and Chris is insightful enough to know that [[spoiler:rolling over on all of his decisions will undermine his credibility]].
* CatchPhrase:
** One of his strategies for making Ben seem like the bad guy instead of him involves variations of this. Turns into a SubvertedCatchPhrase when he tries to use it and Ben isn't in the room.
--->[''Character complains about X'']\\
'''Chris''': Well, that's terrible! Is there anything we can do about that, Ben?\\
'''Ben''': Uh, no.\\
'''Chris''': Damn! [''Hastens off the scene'']
** He tends to address characters by their full names, particularly characters he likes, [[UpToEleven particularly]] Ann, to the point where "Ann Perkins!" becomes a catchphrase. He does it to Leslie as well, but less so.
** He frequently uses the word "literally" in hyperbole, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis punctuating it for emphasis]]. "That is. ''Literally''. The best news I've heard all day."
** "I would like an X. I would like it to be Y. And I would like it to be Z." After he orders a drink this way at a restaurant, Ann riffs on it for her own drink order: "I would like some white wine. I would like it to be cold. And I would like it with one ice cube."
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: He ''has'' to help everyone he meets if they have a problem. Even if he has no idea what the problem is, he jumps straight in and tries to help them in any way he can. This eventually drives Ann to a breaking point during [[spoiler:her pregnancy]], wherein he learns that the best advice is just to sometimes say, "That sucks" and let her complain.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The worst moment of this is probably when he breaks up with Ann through a feng shui metaphor so vague that she doesn't actually realize she's been dumped for a week.
* ChosenConceptionPartner: When Ann goes looking for a sperm donor to father her child, she eventually chooses Chris. But after they get back together, they wind up making a baby the old-fashioned way.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Andy states that Chris is the guy he would pick if "[he] had to pick a dude". Chris is rather flattered by this.
* {{Foil}}: In many ways, he's the exact opposite of Ron Swanson. Chris is an upbeat, optimistic, health nut who sticks to the rules. Ron is a grumpy, pessimistic guy who primarily subsists on red meat; however, he does have a soft spot for the department and is more lenient with them.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine
* FullNameBasis: He greets everyone by pointing at them and saying their name.
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: It's part of his usual greeting, but it's also what he does when he meets someone for the first time. It can be off-putting.
-->'''Ron''': Hello, gents! Ron Swanson. [''Reaches for a handshake)'']\\
'''Chris''': [''Point''] Ron... Swanson.\\
[''Beat'']\\
'''Ron''': Okay.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Chris is a morally upstanding, friendly, incredibly nice man who will lay down the law like ''no one's'' business. He takes his job seriously, and forces everyone to stick to the rules he sets down, even Ben, his best friend. (Though he makes it clear he doesn't enjoy enforcing the "no office relationships" rule on Ben and Leslie, and would love to be doing ''anything'' else -- but he can't play favorites.)
* GranolaGuy: Due to his health nut tendencies.
* HollywoodToneDeaf: Revealed to be this in "Dave Returns". He doesn't know the words for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", either.
* {{Hypochondria}}: An extension of being born with a blood disease.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: His pink shower cap (from a breast cancer awareness triathlon), and he even has a leg razor. Chris sees none of this anything to be ashamed of. He also doesn't see kissing Ron on his birthday as anything strange.
* TheMatchmaker: He expresses a fondness for this in "Jerry’s Painting" and endeavors to set Ben up with someone. Played for irony given his new rules are actually keeping Ben from the one person he's actually interested in.
* MomentKiller: In "Road Trip" where (1) Ben confesses to Leslie at dinner; Leslie leaves for a moment to consult Ann and steels herself to go back and kiss Ben only to find that Chris has appeared and has seated himself at their table, and (2) Ben and Leslie get increasingly cute while watching TV together on the couch in Chris' hotel room and Chris keeps interrupting with his frequent bathroom trips.
* MrFanservice: He is regularly described as being superhumanly attractive by other characters, and constantly wears tight-fitting clothing or goes shirtless.
* NiceGuy: While his overly cheerful personality sometimes leads to [[InnocentlyInsensitive unintentional]] {{Jerkass}} moments, Chris is overall a very well-meaning man who implements a health initiative out of a genuine desire to improve the health of the citizens of Pawnee. He is also friendly and polite to almost everyone. An excellent example of his niceness occurs during Ben's bachelor party when he finds out none of the other guys got to have their own bachelor parties for various reasons. His response? [[spoiler:He gives everyone the perfect bachelor party they never got to have.]]
* NoSocialSkills: An odd case. While he's incredibly outgoing and charismatic, he manages to be ''so'' outgoing and charismatic that it wraps around to making everything he says come off as stilted and strange. He basically operates on a level beyond the average person socially.
* OfficialCouple: With [[spoiler:Ann]] as of Season 6.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's forty-four. The most common in-universe estimate is twenty-five.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. In "The Set-Up" before he was introduced, Ann set Leslie up with a colleague named Chris (see Leslie's profile — he's the guy who gave her the MRI).
* ThePollyanna:
** So positive, he scares off Orin, the creepy and morbid Goth at April and Andy's wedding. When he was born with a deadly, rare blood disease, the doctors told his parents he would only live for a few months. That's why he is so positive!
** Deconstructed towards seasons 3 and 4. When it becomes inevitable for him to feel bad things, his constant positive attitude becomes a problem because he is just not ready mentally to deal with that properly.
* PrinciplesZealot: He will not budge or bend the rules, even if he would personally like to. He hates the fact that he has to [[spoiler:investigate Ben and Leslie's relationship in "The Trial of Leslie Knope" and genuinely wants them to get off scot-free, but he refuses to half-ass the investigation and does it to the best of his ability]].
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In season 3, along with Ben.
* PureIsNotGood: His exceedingly healthy body, which he compares to a finely-tuned microchip, is more than once played as a weakness. When he catches the flu, it hits him like a truck.
-->'''Chris''': Stop... pooping...
* PutOnABus: After Ann gives birth in the middle of Season 6.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He becomes this, pointing out to Ron after the debacle of the family barbecue that the point of the barbecue was to thank the employees for their hard work (the implication being that Ron's determination to show off his meat-cooking skills, and his hissy fit when everyone kept complaining that it was taking too long, were inappropriate).
* RedOniBlueOni: The Red to Ben's Blue.
* SarcasmBlind:
-->'''Chris''': It is exactly because of that lewd photo that I am here. [...] If I could go back in time and cut your eyeballs out, I would.\\
'''April''': Wow, that is so sweet.\\
'''Chris''': Thank you.
:: Although in a later episode he seems to understand that Ann is using sarcasm, but not that it's meant as a jab at him.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The sensitive guy to Ron's manly man.
* StealthHiBye: Does this periodically, usually with his trademark happy smile.
* StepfordSmiler:
** In "The Trial of Leslie Knope", he's so anxious and depressed about Leslie's trial that he loads up on herbal remedies in a way that is creepily reminiscent of a drug addict. Leslie notes he looks like he's radiating pure joy, but that's because he's trying to stay his upbeat self.
** Other episodes show that he has ''crippling'' issues about his mortality that he barely manages to cover up. It's really the only reason he's such a health nut. He begins spiraling into depression when his break-up with Millicent and Ann's (apparent) moving on with Tom make him wonder if he'll just end up alone.
* StrawVegetarian: While he does eat meat, his health nut tendencies are usually focused on getting away from red meat and he's treated the same as a StrawVegetarian. On multiple occasions he's shown thinking various plants are reasonable alternatives to meat. Most telling is when he wanted to remove hamburgers from the commissary. He bet Ron he could make a turkey burger better than a hamburger. When they had the cook-off, Chris slaved over his burgers with the finest ingredients. Ron slapped ground beef on a grill. Ron won in a landslide because beef is just better. Even Chris was 100 percent convinced.
* TerrifiedOfGerms: During flu season:
-->'''Chris''': [''Increasingly frantically''] I have to get out of here. I have 2.8 percent body fat. My body's like a microchip. A grain of sand could destroy it. My body's a microchip. [''Leaves'']
* TooMuchInformation: Chris has a habit of being very direct and honest with people. This sometimes results in him saying things that would probably be better left unsaid, like telling female colleagues when they've done something he finds arousing. For example, while dating Milly, Chris insisted on including Jerry in his courtship out of respect for him as her father. This includes telling Jerry whenever Milly slept over at Chris' house.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: When Chris first appears in Season 2, he quickly falls for Ann, who had just broken up with Mark (and had lingering feelings toward her other ex-boyfriend Andy) and is not interested. After pursuing her for some time, she eventually reciprocates and they date for a while in Season 3. When they break up, Ann spends the next several episodes trying to get over Chris while he has already moved on. Later on around the middle of Season 4, Chris begins to have feelings for Ann again and spends the rest of the season depressed over her on and off relationship with [[spoiler:Tom]]. Then in Season 5, Chris starts dating news reporter [[RomanticFalseLead Shauna Malwae-Tweep]] and Ann [[spoiler:(who has broken up with Tom for good by that point)]] becomes jealous.
* WeaksauceWeakness: He's built his body to perfection. Unfortunately, that also means that his body is sensitive to things that most people aren't too worried about. Flu hits him ''hard'', and he has to constantly replenish electrolytes. And his body's tolerances are so tight that he has to go to the bathroom twelve times a night.
* VillainBall:
** Unfortunately picks it up by [[PrinciplesZealot his own principles]] in "The Trial of Leslie Knope". [[spoiler: He refuses to back down on his own rule of "no office relationships" to investigate and punish Leslie and Ben to the full extent of his ability]]. However, he also fully admits to not enjoying having to, is noticeably stressed out by it and openly happy it didn't uncover anything worse.
** He also holds his own witnesses to the same standards, even if they are willing to perjure themselves to win him the case. In the case of Tammy 2, he reminds her that she will be under oath, and that if she lies, he will find out, have her charged, and then fire her. She quickly recants that she has evidence that will prove Leslie and Ben did things that were unethical, and leaves the courthouse immediately.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jerry Gergich]]
!!Garry "Jerry/Larry/Terry" Gergich "Gengurch" [-(Jim O’Heir)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JerryParks_7024.png]]
->''"Well, you know it's like I always say, 'It ain't government work if you don't have to do it twice.'"''

An older ButtMonkey who has worked in the Parks Department since the 1970s. He's picked on by everyone, particularly "mean" characters like Tom and April, but also by "nice" characters like Leslie. He is regarded as a boring, out-of-touch loser, but actually seems to have his personal life squared away better than anyone else.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Retires at the end of the fifth season, but is brought back part-time of the end of the same episode. He returns to the Parks Department full-time in the sixth season. And just when he's set to retire ''again'' towards the end of season 7, [[spoiler:he is appointed the interim mayor of Pawnee, is elected to the post, and remains mayor until his death at the age of 100]]. Jerry/Larry/Terry/Garry just can't get a break, can he?
* AccidentalMisnaming: His name is actually Garry.
-->'''Jerry''': "On my first day here, the old director, he called me "Jerry" and I just didn't think I should correct him."
* AlliterativeName: His real name, Garry Gergich. Not that anyone ever gets his name right.
* BeneathTheMask: Later episodes have shown that it's actually difficult to maintain his upbeat attitude at the office in light of all the abuse he takes, which may lead to some of his clumsiness.
* BiggusDickus: Apparently.
-->'''Dr. Harris''': That man has the largest penis I have ever seen. I actually don't even know if he has mumps, forgot to look. I was distracted... by ''the largest penis I have ever seen''.
** And in a deleted scene from season 5 Tom mentions ''Boogie Nights'' and Jerry tells the gang that Gayle always said that he reminds her of the main character. Jerry looks nothing like Mark Wahlberg, but his wife does know him a little bit more ''intimately'' than we do. [[LampshadedDoubleEntendre If you know what I mean.]]
* BosssUnfavoriteEmployee: Jerry is the Parks Department's resident ButtMonkey, with everyone except [[OnlySaneMan Ben]] always ragging on him. Even hyper-kind do-gooders Leslie (who outranks everyone except the apathetic Ron) and Chris (who outranks ''everyone'') put him down constantly.
* ButtMonkey:
** He gets yelled at and demeaned by ''everyone'' in the office, to the point where he's this show's version of [[Series/TheOfficeUS Toby]].
** {{Inverted|Trope}} when he's with his family, when he inexplicably morphs into TheAce.
* CatchPhrase: "Oh jeez..." whenever someone yells at him for doing something wrong. Which happens all the time.
* TheChewToy: The show never misses an opportunity to put him down.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Not in any traditional sense, but when Leslie finally sees Jerry's home life, it's very clear that he's a completely different person around his family; and even though they can be completely over-the-top with how sickeningly sweet they are, he's probably the most content and self-assured person in the entire series. Contrasted with how he's shown around his co-workers throughout most of the series, this is a pretty huge contrast.
* DeceptiveLegacy: When Mark accuses Jerry of hiding how he was adopted, a stunned Jerry reveals he never knew he was.
* DotingParent: He has three daughters, all of whom he dotes on. In turn, they positively ''adore'' him.
* ExtremeDoormat: He's a bit weak-willed and takes the abuse without a word of protest. However, it really doesn't get to him much.
* {{Flanderization}}: Thanks to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, Jerry in Season 1 is depicted as competent and responsible enough to lead a group of kids on a field trip in plant identification; it's ''Leslie'' who's so incompetent that without waiting for Jerry's say-so, she eats a weed which makes her tongue swell up. By Season 6, Jerry can't even bend over without trashing a room.
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Phlegmatic
%%* {{Gasshole}}
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Dies peacefully on his 100th birthday, happily holding hands with Gayle and surrounded by his large and beautiful family.]]
* HappilyMarried: To his wife Gayle. Ben even says that Gayle and Jerry are the most stable marriage he knows.
* HiddenDepths: He's a very good and impossibly fast artist. In "The Camel", he's the only member of the Parks Department (other than Tom, who simply purchased his from an art student) to produce a decent entry for the mural replacement - a pointillism photo collage of City Hall composed of pictures of Pawnee residents. However, a slip of the tongue causes everyone to just write it off as crap.
* IHaveManyNames: He's actually named Garry Gergich, but on his first day on the job, the department director mistakenly called him "Jerry" and he didn't have the nerve to correct him, so it stuck until his retirement. When he returned to the Department a few months later, April declared his real name was Larry Gengurch after he requested they started using his real name instead of Jerry. [[spoiler:At some point during the TimeSkip in "Moving Up," the office began calling him Terry instead; on the ''Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show'', he also plays Mailman Barry]]. Noted when the guys burnt their initials into a "Buddy Box" for Chris as a going-away present.
--> '''Chris''': (''Confused'') Who's GJLGG?"\\
'''Larry''': Garry Jerry Larry Gergich Gengurch.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Before Gayle's first pregnancy, he supposedly had a similar figure to Chris.
* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: He actually dresses in completely unremarkable business casual the majority of the time, it's just that he has no interest whatsoever in what's trendy. Tom naturally picks on him endlessly for this.
* IncrediblyLameFun: The reason he keeps coming out of retirement; he just really likes doing tedious paperwork nobody else can stand. When he gets his Notary Public License, he's giddy about it for months.
** He mentions taking a vacation to Muncie, Indiana, which is basically the municipal equivalent of RidiculouslyAverageGuy. He and his wife have a ''timeshare'' there.
* KavorkaMan: Sort of. His wife is absolutely stunning and completely adores him, despite him being old, overweight and unattractive, but otherwise all other women are just as openly disgusted by him as men are. He's even the one person who [[AnythingThatMoves Mona Lisa Saperstein]] ''wouldn't'' have sex with, giving him a "hard pass".
* TheKlutz: At the office and in public, but not in his home. His favorite ice cream place always scoops him a second cone for when he drops the first one.
* LeapDay: His birthday, naturally.
* MaliciousMisnaming:
** At the start of the sixth season, April effectively changes his name to "Larry Gengurch." He's been known exclusively as "Larry" ever since. Even Creator/{{NBC}}'s website for the show now recognizes him as Larry Gengurch!
** During the TimeSkip at the end of "Moving Up", people began calling him "Terry" due to there being [[OneSteveLimit another Larry]]. In Season 7, he uses that name until Donna uses "Garry" on his banquet placecard, at which point everyone starts calling him that.
** In the series finale, [[spoiler:even his headstone winds up getting his name wrong.]]
* NiceGuy: Despite being constantly dumped on by his coworkers and by the universe in general, Jerry doesn't have a mean-spirited bone in his body. The only exception is Kyle, whom even Jerry can't help but be a jerk to.
* ObliviousAdoption: Had no idea he was adopted until Mark looked up his background and mentioned that his adoptive mother had been arrested for marijuana possession. Jerry just said he didn't know he was adopted.
* OddFriendship: With Donna. They know each other well enough to win Tom's "Know Your Boo" game show attempt, and she cares about him enough to make sure that [[spoiler: at her wedding, he'll be known by his ''real'' name, Garry.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook[=/=]YoungerThanTheyLook: Oddly combined in that Jerry is supposed to be sixty-four as of the fourth season (the episode "Sweet Sixteen" discusses his LeapDay birthday), and of course has a lot of InformedFlaw in terms of his appearance, but when that episode aired, Jim O'Heir was only fifty. In fact, he's eight years younger than Christie Brinkley, who was cast as Jerry's [[UglyGuyHotWife wife]].
* PhraseCatcher: "Dammit, Jerry!"
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Along with Donna, after Chris and Ann left.
* TheScapegoat: Everything is ''always'' Jerry's fault, whether it actually is or not.
* SelfDeprecation:
** In "Jerry's Painting", he tells Leslie that allowing the painting to be destroyed is something ''he'' would do, and that he didn't expect her to give in.
** A comedic example in "The Bubble": Chris says he believes Jerry is capable of so much more. Jerry's immediate reply is a flat "I'm not."
* TechnologicallyBlindElders: His way of getting to his Yahoo email is to go on Altavista and type "please take me to Yahoo.com" and has no clue what bookmarks are.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Gets three pretty significant ones in season 7:
** In "Donna & Joe" [[spoiler: Donna labels Garry's dining place with his real name, thereby ensuring his co-workers will now address him by that name, albeit in a mocking way. He's thrilled about this development]].
** And then in "Two Funerals" [[spoiler: Ben appoints Garry Interim Mayor of Pawnee after the incumbent Mayor dies two months before his term is up, complete with a completely over the top inauguration ceremony, where Garry is carried to a hot-air balloon by a Roman legion and then flies away]].
** In "One Last Ride", [[spoiler: Garry is then elected mayor of Pawnee for real, and then proceeds to fill the office for the rest of his life, adored by his large family and [[OneHundredPercentAdorationRating loved by the people of Pawnee]]. Even his death is unbelievably heartwarming: He dies peacefully in his sleep, holding the hand of his beloved Gayle ([[RunningGag who looks AMAZING]])]].
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Jerry is the only person [[ReallyGetsAround Mona-Lisa]] [[AnythingThatMoves Saperstein]] showed no interest in sleeping with.
* TrueLoveIsExceptional: PlayedForLaughs when he reveals that his utterly gorgeous wife Gayle didn't physically appeal to him at first.
-->'''Garry:''' I met Gayle right here at Sherm's [ice cream shop]. She was slim, blonde hair, big breasts, long legs. Ugh, not my type at all.
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: His three girls are stunners, despite him not being portrayed as particularly good-looking. When Chris meets his daughter Millicent, he congratulates Jerry.
* UglyGuyHotWife: His wife Gayle is played by [[https://cageboy.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/christie_brinkley.jpg Christie Brinkley]], and is considered an absolutely beauty in-universe. Ben consistently questions how they got together.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Donna Meagle]]
!!Donna Meagle [-(Retta Sirleaf)-]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Donna_8063.png]]
->''"We're not big on hospitality. The Meagles are a cold people."''

A SassyBlackWoman who is office manager for the Parks Department. Donna has expensive tastes as she apparently comes from a wealthy family (R&B singer Ginuwine is her cousin, as revealed in "Sweet Sixteen"). Her most prized possession is her [[RunningGag Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV]], which [[BerserkButton you better not mess with if you know what's good for you]]. She ReallyGetsAround and has had a variety of weird sexual exploits, which we mostly hear about in NoodleIncident format. She eventually settles down and gets married in the final season.

* AerithAndBob: Her brothers [=LeVondrias=] and George.
* AscendedExtra: While she's been present in the show from the very beginning, she doesn't get much actual focus or character development until season 3, and no actual story arc (her relationship with Joe) until season 6.
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' touch her Mercedes.
* BigBeautifulWoman: Donna is the most rotund character (next to Jerry) and it doesn't do any harm to her ability to attract men, as she regularly hints at an active and very varied sex life. Andy's "codename" for her is [[spoiler: [[EroticDream "It Happened Once In a Dream"]]]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Her relationships with members of the main cast grow deeper as the show goes on, particularly after Chris and Ann leave and Donna is given a bit more focus.
* CoolCar: She's ''very'' proud of her 2006-2011 W164 Mercedes M-Class SUV, which she has named "Michael Fassbender".
* DeadpanSnarker: Donna is always on hand to sarcastically comment on hijinks and roll her eyes.
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: She tells Ron that her love interest Joe is her "Tammy", which Ron takes to mean that Joe is an abusive BitchInSheepsClothing until he realises that he's [[SheepInSheepsClothing actually a genuinely nice guy]]; Donna tells Ron that she meant that she changes when he's around him (i.e. becomes more introverted as he is), and didn't consider that as Ron might not appreciate comparing her loving if slightly boring relationship with his two abusive relationships.
* DysfunctionalFamily: Comes from the passive-aggressive grudge holder variety. Donna lists off several [[NoodleIncident examples]]; the last few Meagle family Pictionary tournaments all ended at the hospital and apparently no more than 3 Meagles are allowed on an international plane together. Donna is herself estranged from her younger brother [=LeVondrias=] due to [[spoiler:an incident involving microwaved popcorn]] and he was not invited to her wedding. [[spoiler: Until April brought him anyway]].
* EthicalSlut: Heavily implied to sleep around a lot, but is no less valuable to the team for it.
* TheFashionista: She and Tom get along well.
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Choleric
* HappilyMarried: With former boyfriend Joe in the final season.
* HiddenDepths:
** Although she looks like an average office worker, Donna is very cultured, well-traveled, and sophisticated, and a trained opera singer, as is Retta.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted for laughs]] in the episode "The Camel." Leslie assumes that Donna has a secret artistic streak because of her beautiful and elaborate manicures. Donna is quick to correct Leslie: she gets her nails done ''professionally.''
* HistoryWithCelebrity: R&B singer Ginuwine is her cousin. In "Moving Up" she pushes him to perform at the Unity Concert by threatening to spill embarrassing childhood stories.
* ICallItVera: One episode reveals that she has named her Mercedes "Creator/MichaelFassbender" because "they're both German and they're both sexy as hell".
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Not jerky to the same extent as April, but she does come across as aloof and selfish. However, when she sees that someone needs help or the group is acting mean (usually to Jerry), she'll immediately do the right thing.
* OddFriendship: With Jerry. They know each other well enough to win Tom's "Know Your Boo" game show attempt, and she cares about him enough to make sure that [[spoiler: at her wedding, he'll be known by his ''real'' name, Garry]]. She also develops one with April in the later seasons, to the point of appointing April as her [[spoiler:Maid of Honor]].
* PetTheDog: She brings Ben to her annual "Treat Yo' Self" day with Tom, when she sees him eating soup by himself on a park bench. And at [[spoiler:her wedding, she marks Jerry's spot on the table with his actual name Garry]].
* PhoneaholicTeenager: A decidedly adult version of this, Donna is frequently seen on her phone during office hours and plots about her are often about social media (e.g. live-tweeting a Death Canoe movie in "Halloween Surprise" and her account being the subject of a political witch-hunt in "Gin It Up!").
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Along with Jerry, after Chris and Ann left.
* ReallyGetsAround: Until she settles down with Joe.
* SassyBlackWoman: A black woman who is sarcastic, flamboyant, and easily annoyed.
* SecretlyWealthy: It's never made clear exactly how rich she is (until the last season when she gets much richer through real estate), but she definitely has a lot more money than anyone else in the main cast save Ron. Her spending habits are similar to Tom's, but while he's explicitly crippled with debt from it she has cash on hand to drop 15 grand on club shares with no notice.
* SherlockScan: She's actually pretty observant, as she could tell Ann was pregnant just from knowing her mannerisms, even accurately figuring out how far along she is. Then she asks Chris when he changed his underwear.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: After some resistance due to difference in lifestyle, she gets together with Joe, an almost inhumanly-nice music teacher.
* WatchThePaintJob: Her precious Mercedes is constantly in danger because of her coworkers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mark Brendanawicz]]
!!Mark Brendanawicz [-(Paul Schneider)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mark_brendanawicz_8975.jpg]]
->''"I hit rock bottom that night. I mean I literally fell to the bottom of a pit and hit a rock. I remember laying there thinking, 'There’s probably a good reason why I'm down here.' And then I remember thinking, 'I need morphine.'"''

A city planner. StraightMan caught in a LoveTriangle between Leslie and Ann. He started off the series as a HandsomeLech, but this was quickly dropped and he spent most of his time on the show being a LadykillerInLove. He was PutOnABus when he joins a private company at the end of Season 2.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Non-villainous example. Some years prior to the first season, Mark and Leslie slept together once. This was a ''very'' important event in Leslie's life and she imagines their working relationship has been filled with UnresolvedSexualTension since. Mark sleeps with so many women that he barely even remembers it.
* TheCasanova: In the first season. He later dropped this when he and Ann began dating in the second season, and actually was a faithful boyfriend.
* CharacterDevelopment: In the second season, he began a steady relationship with Ann and remained faithful to her. At Valentine's Day, he (admittedly) gives her every clichéd Valentine's Day gift he can think of because it's the first time he's been able to give someone such a gift. In the first episode of season 2 Ann notes that his personality seems to have shifted overnight after he suffered a head injury at the end of season 1.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Leukine
* TheGenericGuy: For two seasons, he stood in the middle of a cast of more interesting characters and acted sane. Obviously, a StraightMan is supposed to do that, but unlike other characters who have fulfilled this role on the show (such as Ben), Mark lacked any quirks that allowed the character to take part in the shenanigans. It's Lampshaded when Ann admits that while Mark is very stable and "safe", he's also rather bland, and states that her relationship with Andy may have been unhealthy but at least it was interesting.
* LadykillerInLove: How his CharacterDevelopment happened -- he was something of a lothario in season 1, but settles into a relationship with Ann in season 2.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Hit on Ann before she actually broke up with Andy, and then fell into the Pit behind Ann's house later that night, just as Andy had done to inaugurate the series.
* LongBusTrip: Mark was intended to be an occasional DropInCharacter in the subsequent seasons, but due to Paul Schneider's lack of desire to return and the writers focusing on other stories, this was the result.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In "Practice Date", he eagerly joins in with a game in which the department go dig up dirt on one another, but accidentally reveals to Jerry that he was adopted. At this point, he feels he's gone too far and backs out entirely.
* PermaStubble: He doesn't grow out a beard.
* PutOnABus: At the end of Season 2, Ann breaks up with him and he leaves the government to work for a construction company after Pawnee is declared bankrupt.
* {{Unperson}}: Despite his prominence early on, later seasons avoid all references to him. It becomes very notable when he is the ''only'' ex-boyfriend of Ann's to not be referenced when she assembles her "ex-boyfriend boxes".
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Mark was never mentioned following his change in employment, even when it would make sense for him to be mentioned. For example, Leslie and Ben struggle to find an architect for the Lot 48 park in "Pawnee Commons", apparently forgetting that Mark had already drawn up plans for the park and given them to Leslie in his last episode. Even more notably, in "Halloween Surprise", Ann assembles several boxes full of items, clothes, and hobbies she picked up while dating various characters in the show to be sold for charity. She has boxes for every romantic interest she's had ''except'' for Mark[[note]]Although this actually does kind of make sense; he had no personality quirks for her to pick up.[[/note]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Craig Middlebrooks]]
!!Craig Middlebrooks [-(Creator/BillyEichner)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50231_pm.png]]
The CampGay former office manager of Eagleton's Parks Department who transferred to the Pawnee department when the two towns merged. Has NoIndoorVoice and prone to ComicalOverreacting.

* AmbiguouslyGay: For his first season on the show. He acts incredibly camp, and has stereotypically gay interests and mannerisms, but never shows interest in men until the seventh season.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's prone to overreacting to everything, acts campy and his intensity manages to even unnerve Leslie for a bit. However, he's also very competent at his job, eventually taking over Ron's position in the Parks Department.
* CampGay: Confirmed to be at least interested in men in Season 7, getting married to [[spoiler:Typhoon]] in the DistantFinale.
* ComicalOverreacting: He will do this over ''anything''.
* HairTriggerTemper: Even when he's not in stressful situations, he's still easily set off. In the final season, he learns to get a better handle on it thanks to going through some therapy.
* HappilyMarried: Ties the knot with [[spoiler:Typhoon]] in the series finale and a flash forward shows them growing old together.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Reacted to the news of [[spoiler:Leslie's pregnancy]] by ranting about how every time he accomplishes something, someone else always upstages him, like when his cousin died on the opening night of his one-man show.
* NoIndoorVoice: Craig has a seeming inability to use an indoor voice.
** After the TimeSkip between Season 6 and 7, he's learned to control it. His therapist (Dr. Richard Nygard) advised him to "take a deep breath and say three great things about being alive" whenever he feels the need to yell.
* SixthRanger: The only member of the Eagleton Parks and Rec department to become a full-fledged member of the combined Parks Department. Eventually, he even takes over as director.
[[/folder]]

!Supporting Characters
[[folder:Related/Married to Main Characters]]
!!Marlene Griggs-Knope [-(Pamela Reed)-]
Leslie's mother and "a big mucky-muck in the county school system". Has shades of {{Meddling Parent|s}} and [[WellDoneSonGuy 'Well Done, Daughter' Girl]]. Leslie's father has been [[DisappearedDad dead]] since she was ten years old, which was first implied in a throwaway line explaining that 'he lives in Florida, in a cemetery' and later made explicit in the fifth season. "Galentine's Day" states she was born on March 5, 1953, the same day that Joseph Stalin died.

* IronLady: She's a big deal in Pawnee politics, and wheels and deals with the best of them. Her daughter even compares her to UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher. Ron Swanson says her affectionate nickname around town (started by him) is "The Iron Cock-Shredder of Pawnee" (bleeped in broadcast and script, but [[ThrowItIn improvised on the spot by Nick Offerman]]).
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Later on, once she was retooled more into a HypercompetentSidekick, it's clear Leslie's inherited Marlene's savvy and intelligence.
* {{Nepotism}}: [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Early on]], it seemed like a large part of Leslie's success was because of her mother. She specifically mentions getting the job at Parks because of Marlene.
* OutOfFocus: After Season 3, she gets a cameo at best.

!!Tamara "Tammy" Swanson [-(Paula Pell)-]
Ron's mother, aka "Tammy Zero". Even more reclusive than her son, and a gun nut.

* ApronMatron: To an extent.
* TheDreaded: Prompts an OhCrap reaction from Tammy One, who is herself TheDreaded for Ron and Tammy Two.
* GunNut: Has a whole room filled with nothing but guns.
* GodzillaThreshold: Leslie recruits Tamara to save Ron from Tammy One, after he becomes a HenpeckedHusband due to her influence.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Seeing her, it's easy to see where Ron and the other Swanson men get their badassery from.

!!Tammy Swanson "One" [-(Creator/PatriciaClarkson)-]
Ron's first wife. Makes her first appearance as the back of a head in the Season 3 finale, [[TheDreaded which is enough for Tammy Two and Ron to drop everything and head for the hills]]. She works for the [[IntimidatingRevenueService IRS]]. Her influence can turn Ron into a dorky, pro-government HenpeckedHusband.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Tammy Two barely qualifies as a pest when compared to her.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Ron treats her as if she is a literal demon from Hell and she has a supernatural-like intimidating aura about her. She is at least 20 years older than Ron yet fully intends to outlive him and be present at the minute of his death. She also has no trouble drinking the Swanson family alcohol (so strong its only legal application is stripping marine varnish) and dismisses it as "watered down baby formula".
* ControlFreak: Her defining characteristic. She shows up at the office and immediately orders everyone around (and is obeyed almost instantly). Her EvilPlan involves a fake audit against Ron which becomes an excuse to take control of his finances and move back in with him, taking complete control of his entire life including deciding whether or not he can go to ''lunch'', and in the past when Tammy Two stole Ron from her, she responded by ''pouring acid on her foot''.
* TheDreaded: Her mere presence is enough to provoke Tammy Two and Ron to drop everything and flee.
* EvilerThanThou: Tammy Two knows better than to even bother ''trying'' to compete with her, and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere immediately flees Pawnee upon learning that she's around]].
* GoldDigger: A literal example - she's trying to find Ron's hidden stash of gold.
* TheGhost: She doesn't appear until long after she was first mentioned, but [[TheDreaded her presence can be felt throughout the series nonetheless]].
* GreaterScopeVillain: Considering she basically ''raised'' Ron, she's responsible for shaping most of his character, flaws and all.
* IntimidatingRevenueService: Her employers, although she admits that the audit is actually fake and jus an excuse to get close to Ron again.
* IronLady: An unflappable, unstoppable and emotionless woman who is feared by everyone, and the only person capable of truly breaking Ron Swanson.
* KnightOfCerebus: Seen as genuinely terrifying by every character, and has very few jokes of her own.
* MayDecemberRomance: She was Ron's nurse when he was born.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Doesn't play any games, and is incredibly efficient and thorough about getting what she wants out of others.
* SkipToTheEnd: {{Inverted}}. It took Ron ''two hours'' to get through his wedding vows at the altar with her, although the reason had nothing do with her - Ron just disliked being told what to do so much that after the priest said "repeat after me" he fell silent and kept everyone waiting.
* TeacherStudentRomance: She was also Ron's (and Tammy Two's) Sunday school teacher.
* TheStoic: Very cold and emotionless. As a result, April comes to admire her.
* WifeHusbandry: Strongly implied. No one in town tried to stop her because they were all scared of her.

!!Tammy Swanson "Two" [-(Megan Mullally)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_45801_pm.png]]
The second of Ron's evil ex-wives. Not only is she also named Tammy, [[LikeParentLikeSpouse so is Ron's mother]]. This Tammy is a [[TheVamp Vampy]] ManipulativeBitch and the deputy director of the Library Department, the SitcomArchNemesis of the Parks Department. Her influence can turn Ron into a pliable sex freak.

* DepravedBisexual: At one point, she gets into a wrestling match with Leslie and gets incredibly turned on.
* EvilCounterpart: To Leslie.
* EvilLaugh: The character gets a lot of mileage out of Mullally's signature cackle.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: She does wear glasses, and she is evil.
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Employs this frequently.
* {{Jerkass}}: A horrible person all around.
* MsFanservice: Has no problem showing off her body, though her personality is so horrible that it borders on FanDisservice despite her good looks.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: She strips naked in public often.
* OfficialCouple: Ron sets her up with Jeremy Jamm to get her off his back. [[spoiler:In "Ron and Jammy", they break up after Leslie sees what Tammy has done to Jamm, namely tried to turn him into Ron.]]
* PhraseCatcher: Ron usually reacts to her (off-screen) presence in this almost primordially-instinctive fashion:
-->'''Ron:''' ''[Stands up, an alarmed and hunted expression on his face]'' She's here, isn't she.
* {{Sadist}}: She enjoys giving (and receiving) pain during sex, but she is also just a straight up bully who cackles while picking on those weaker than herself, best exemplified when she brutally beats up Tom in the library, reminding Ron again of why he broke up with her in the first place.
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Ron, Leslie and Diane.
* TheVamp: Uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants.
* VillainDecay: Once Ron falls for Diane, he is completely immune to Tammy's charms and views her with annoyed contempt.

!!Diane Elizabeth Lewis [-(Creator/LucyLawless)-]
Ron's girlfriend in season five. She is a middle-school vice principal with two young daughters named Ivy [-(Rylan Lee)-] and Zoey [-(Sadie Salazar)-]. According to Leslie and Ron himself, she is perfect for Ron. They are married at the start of Season 6.

* AbsenteeActor: Doesn't appear in season 7 at all. There's plenty of dialogue reminding viewers that she exists and is still HappilyMarried to Ron, however.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Ron.
* HappilyMarried: To Ron as of Season 6.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Lucy Lawless does a decent American accent, but sometimes those Kiwi vowels sneak in.
* {{Troll}}: When she married Ron, she stated her middle name was Tammy just to screw with him, before revealing it's actually Elizabeth.
* OutOfFocus: While it's confirmed by some dialogue that she and Ron are still married, Diane doesn't show up in the final season. Especially noticeable because Ron makes some important life decisions and their relationship was always portrayed as healthy enough for them to make those sorts of choices together.
* TheStoic: She's not emotionless, but is overall cool-headed and reasonable, which makes her deal well with Ron's quirks.
* WhatTheHellHero: Twice towards Ron.
** When Ron misguidedly breaks one of her daughters' tiaras in two so they can share.
** When Ron tries to get off the grid, she gives him a gentle one of these, pointing out that while she's okay with his privacy, he needs to be available to his family.

!!Wendy Haverford [-(Jama Williamson)-]
Tom's wife at the start of the series. She is Canadian and married him to stay in the country, resulting in the {{Irony}} of an interracial CitizenshipMarriage where it's the white partner who is trying to avoid being deported from America. They split up during the second season, in an episode appropriately titled "Tom's Divorce". Ron dated her for a while before she moved back to Canada near the start of the third season.

* BrainyBrunette: Is a surgeon.
* ObliviousToLove: Was entirely unaware Tom had feelings for her at first.
* PutOnABus: In "Ron and Tammy 2", she goes back to Canada, specifically her hometown of Ottawa, to help her parents out.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Not that Tom is genuinely ugly, but this is the reaction of most people when they see them together.

!!Gayle Gergich [-(Christie Brinkley)-]
Garry's loving and unreasonably hot wife.

* AlliterativeName: '''G'''ayle '''G'''ergich.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In earlier episodes [[TheGhost before she appeared]], "Jerry" often implied that he felt his masculinity smothered by his wife and enjoyed time away from her. Once she appears, she's shown to be an impossibly gorgeous, kind, loving, and doting wife.
* GoshDangItToHeck: If she gets ''very'' angry with Garry, she'll call him the B-word: [[spoiler: Bozo.]]
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Implied, given how HappilyMarried she and Garry are, and how... well-endowed he is.
* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Played for laughs in the DistantFinale, when she looks exactly as she does in the present day, despite the fact she should be in her nineties.
* HappilyMarried: No one understands why, but she's incredibly happy with Garry.
* NiceGirl: Much like her husband, Gayle doesn't appear to have a mean bone in her body.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Justified example, as Christie Brinkley really is in her 60s. This is taken to absurd lengths in the DistantFinale, where, in a scene where she would have to be in her mid-90s at least, she looks exactly the same.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Possibly the basis of her and Garry's marriage.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Ben is especially flabbergasted by the Gergich's relationship, but no one can understand it.
-->'''Chris:''' I've thought a lot about it, there is no logical explanation.

!!Millicent Gergich [-(Sarah Wright)-]
Garry's oldest daughter. She's an athletic sort and dates Chris for some time.

* BirdsOfAFeather: She likes guys who share similar interests as her.
* DaddysGirl: Other than her seeming obliviousness to her father's discomfort with her dating Chris (who is technically his boss, and had a bad tendency to go into TooMuchInformation territory regarding their relationship), she's close to Garry and adores him very much.
* HasAType: Chris and her later fiance Carl are both handsome and chiseled athletic types.
* PassionateSportsGirl: Can outrun Chris in a jog, and served as a camp counselor at a teen sport camp (where she met her fiance).
* UglyGuysHotDaughter: She and her two sisters are incredibly beautiful.

!!Joe [-(Creator/KeeganMichaelKey)-]
A teacher whom Donna begins dating in the sixth season. [[spoiler:They get married in season 7's aptly-titled "Donna & Joe"]].

* FriendToAllChildren: Appears to be this.
* NiceGuy: To the point that Donna originally broke up with him because she's used to messed up guys.
* OnlyOneName: His last name isn't given, even at his wedding.
* TokenMinorityCouple: With Donna (both black...ish).

!!Lucy [-(Natalie Morales)-]
A bartender Tom dates Season 2. [[spoiler:They reconnect in season 7, getting engaged in the penultimate episode and are implied to be married in the DistantFinale]].

* BirdsOfAFeather: With Tom.
* DeadpanSnarker: It's how she puts up with Tom.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When she first appears, it's as a bartender at the Snakehole Lounge while Tom is settling his bill, showing how snarky she is and how well she can read Tom, but also why they click so well:
-->'''Lucy:''' Ten Cosmos, eight Smirnoff Ices, and everything else starts with the word "pomegranate". Aw, was it your bachelorette party?
-->'''Tom:''' No, I invited a bunch of girls here last night, and they all put drinks on my tab. And then I went home alone. I'm not sure what happened.
-->'''Lucy:''' You invited a bunch of girls here and tried to hit on all of 'em.
-->'''Tom:''' Fair enough.
-->'''Lucy:''' I mean, what were you expecting was going to happen, a 43-way?
-->'''Tom''': (chuckling) That would have been a little out of control.
-->'''Lucy:''' But awesome.
-->'''Tom:''' Yeah. The problem is I only have fifteen penises, so there would have been twenty-eight girls that were really upset with me. (both laugh)
* NiceGirl: She's a sweet and friendly person.
* OnlyOneName: Her last name is never revealed [[spoiler:although given the events of the finale, it might be Haverford now.]]
* TokenMinorityCouple: With Indian Tom.
* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: She states that she enjoys how easy it is to throw Tom around.

!!The Ludgates
April's family, consisting of father Larry, mother Rita, and sister Natalie.

* AlliterativeName: '''L'''arry '''L'''udgate.
* EmotionlessGirl: Natalie is just as snarky as April and as much of a {{troll}}.
* {{Fangirl}}: Rita owns all of Duke Silver's albums (although curiously, while her daughter recognized Ron was Duke as soon as she met him, Rita herself didn't see it).
* GoodParents: While we don't see much of them, Larry and Rita do come across as loving and sweet.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: April and Natalie frequently pull pranks on each other.
* {{Open Minded Parent}}s: A deleted scene from "April and Andy's Fancy Party" shows that Larry and Rita are completely okay with April marrying Andy so soon after she began dating him. Apparently, it helps that Andy's actually straight unlike Derek, and isn't a weirdo like Orin.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Larry and Rita are very peppy compared to their sarcastic daughters.

!!The Meagles
Donna's family, the most passive-aggressive group of people that ever lived. Includes Donna's brothers, George and [=LeVondrias=], and her cousin, the singer Ginuwine.

* DysfunctionalFamily: To the point that no more than three Meagles are allowed on an international flight together. During Donna's wedding, April's job is to stop the family from causing any trouble. She ends up rounding up all the "troublemakers" in the kitchen and putting the fear of God into them. (And making Ginuwine cry in the process.)
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: ''All the time''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Government Employees]]
!!Ethel Beavers [-(Helen Slayton-Hughes)-]
A very old woman who works in the dreaded fourth floor of City Hall and is also court stenographer. In "Two Funerals" we find out [[spoiler: she had an affair with the late Mayor Gunderson who had an open marriage with his wife.]]

* CoolOldLady: April even wants to adopt Ethel as her grandmother.
* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally plays this role.
* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: A milder example.
* SecretRelationship: [[spoiler:With the late Mayor Gunderson]].

!!Jeremy Jamm [-(Jon Glaser)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50039_pm.png]]
City councilman, orthodontist and {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire who generally opposes everything Leslie does on principle. As time goes on, it becomes clear that he's also a lonely and pathetic man who desperately needs a friend.

* AlliterativeName: '''J'''eremy '''J'''amm.
* BreakTheHaughty: While dating Tammy Two. Her attempts to turn him into a clone of Ron turns him into a hollow shell of a man.
* CardCarryingVillain: Practically brags that he uses underhanded tactics like fear-mongering and demonisation and takes positions for purely self-serving reasons. In "Gin It Up!" he calls a hearing over a tweet in order to undermine the Parks and Rec department and waste Leslies' time; he freely and publicly admits that he is blowing things out of proportion, conducting a witch hunt and looking to score political points. In "Flouride" he admits that he opposes putting fluoride in the Pawnee water supply because he is a dentist and he doesn't want peoples teeth to get better. And in "The Cones of Dunshire", he says Leslie is the Superman to his Lex Luthor, preferring to be the supervillain because Lex is rich.
* CatchPhrase: "You just got Jammed!"
* CoolCar: He's very proud of his red Corvette.
-->'''Jamm''': I once got an Asian girl to sit in it!
* DemotedToExtra: A prominent antagonist in season 5 and 6, he only gets a couple of appearances in season 7, one of which is just a cameo in the finale.
* EmptyShell: Tammy 2 turned him into this while they were dating. Jamm ends up so depressed and broken that Leslie and Ron, who ''hate'' Jamm, felt morally obligated to put their vendetta at the time aside and help him get out of the relationship.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He's introduced by having Leslie walking in on him in the private bathroom attached to her councilman office. He then refuses to take "no" for an answer when she tries to prevent this from continuing into the future.
* EvilerThanThou: On the receiving end of this when he starts dating Tammy 2.
* ForeignCultureFetish: In "The Cones of Dunshire" he is shown to have a fetish for East Asian culture.
* HateSink: He exists largely so Leslie can have an annoying enemy on the council.
* HazyFeelTurn: He never explicitly renounces his selfish ways, but he becomes far more sympathetic after abused by Tammy 2 and he grows to have genuine fondness for Ron and Leslie and no longer undermines their efforts.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: It's very telling that, when Leslie needed his support on an issue, the hoops he forced her to jump through were having breakfast with him and singing karaoke with him. He also calls Leslie and Ron his two best friends in the world, even though neither of them can stand him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Especially to Leslie, even though he considers her [[VitriolicBestBuds a friend]].
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Tries to obstruct anything Leslie does on principle.
* OccidentalOtaku: His collection of Japanese memorabilia suggests this. He even owns a teppanyaki grill.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: One of the most regular antagonists and he makes no attempts to be politically correct. Ever.
** However, even he squirms under Ken Hotate.
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Leslie's many, and her most prominent in Seasons 5 and 6.
* SmugSnake: He clearly sees himself as some sort of devious mastermind but he usually gets outplayed by the main characters or shoots himself in the foot, such as when he has to drop his lawsuit against Ron for punching him in the face when the team find out that he lied 11 times in his affidavit.
* StealingTheCredit: Whenever he hears an idea that he likes he openly announces that he is going to tell people that it was his, and if this happens in a meeting he says he wants ''the record'' to show that, even in cases where he was arguing the opposing view for his own benefit.
* TookALevelInKindness: In the series finale, while he's still a bit of jerk, he does do some kind gestures for Leslie, including giving her a painting of them posing like John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a parting gift.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Oddly, he genuinely considers Leslie to be his best friend, and presumably sees their relationship as friendly sniping. Leslie doesn't return the sentiment, at ''all''.
* WickedPretentious: Despite his Asian culture interests he mispronounces words and cooks regular American breakfasts as if they were Japanese dishes (although the DistantFinale implies that he does genuinely go on to become a successful Japanese chef); he also tries to lure people to his own rock concert by singing generic rock words that don't belong to any particular song and doesn't see the issue.

!!Bill Dexhart [-(Kevin Symons)-]
City councilman. An incredibly SleazyPolitician who is usually involved in some kind of sex scandal.

* AnythingThatMoves: Whenever a sex scandal comes up, expect it to involve multiple people of any gender identification, age, profession, etc.
* CorruptPolitician: A sexual deviant who will do anything to win and stays in office due to a combination of living in the worst district in town and playing incredibly dirty.
* DoubleStandard: Enjoys the benefits of this. Whenever a sex scandal crops up, it's the women around him who get lambasted rather than Dexhart himself, such as his wife for [[WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack staying with him despite his many infidelities]], or suspected mistress Leslie Knope for [[SlutShaming "throwing herself at him."]]
* {{Jerkass}}: He stays in office despite his many sex scandals only because he runs scorched-earth negative campaigns to make his opponents look even worse than he.
* KavorkaMan: His sexual exploits are genuinely impressive, if only because he's not notably attractive but manages to bed a ridiculous number of women.
* RunningGag: Whenever Dexhart is mentioned, he's usually at the center of another sex scandal.
* TheBusCameBack: While he never actually went anywhere, he first showed up in season 2 where he drags Leslie into his sordid sex scandals, then largely disappears until season 5 once Leslie joins the City Council.

!!Fielding Milton [-(James Greene)-]
City councilman since 1948. Mostly a source of [[RacistGrandma Racist Grandpa]] jokes.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Not necessarily an out-and-out villain, but he's a noted racist and sexist who regularly tries to down-talk Leslie.
* [[RacistGrandma Racist Grandpa]]: As noted above. He originally ran for office on a promise to re-segregate baseball.
* SeniorSleepCycle: Often dozes during meetings. In fact, many jokes are made about him being older than dirt.

!!Douglass Howser [-(Yvans Jourdain)-]
City councilman. Seems to be a StraightMan. A RunningGag involves Leslie running into him in awkward situations and her using the opportunity to try and talk about some issue.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: He seems to be the City Council's president/chairman/whatever (he sits in the middle and his chair is on a raised platform). He is also bald and black.
* OnlySaneMan: On the city council. You've got overzealous Leslie, sleazy Jamm, sex-scandal-prone Dexhart, [[RacistGrandma Racist Grandpa]] Milton, and then Howser, whose only quirk is a propensity to keep running into Leslie at inconvenient times.
* ShoutOut: One wonders if [[Series/DoogieHowserMD he's a doctor]].

!!Ingrid de Forest [-(Creator/KristenBell)-]
A resident of the former Eagleton and Leslie's replacement on the city council.

* AntiVillain: Runs against Leslie purely in her hometown's interest.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Quite mean at first, but later shows herself to be a great politician who honestly cares about the former Eagletonians.
* WorthyOpponent: Considers Leslie as this after running against her.

!!Dave Sanderson [-(Creator/LouisCK)-]
Leslie's boyfriend in Season 2. A bumbling cop. Their relationship is cut short due to Dave joining the Army Reserve and moving to San Diego, but he comes back in Season 4's "Dave Returns" and [[TheMissusAndTheEx awkwardly interacts with Ben]].

* {{Malaproper}}: Frequently.
* NiceGuy: He's a pleasant if bumbling man.
* PutOnABus: Has to move to San Diego in Season 2 to fulfill his obligation to the Army Reserve.
** TheBusCameBack: For the Season 4 episode aptly named "Dave Returns."
* TookALevelInJerkass: When he's seen again in season 4, he's a good deal more unhinged than when he departed in season 2, still hung up over his feelings for Leslie, expecting her to return them, and even going so far as to handcuff Ben to a urinal in the restaurant they were all in.
** JerkassRealization: When he realizes what he's done, he lets Ben go and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wishes the best for Leslie]].
* VerbalTic: Speaks in very blunt, straightforward sentences.

!!Ron Dunn [-(Creator/SamElliott)-]
Rons' Eagleton counterpart in their Parks and Recs department. He is superficially identical to Ron Swanson, until it transpires he is a hippie, pacifist, vegan and generally his political and philosophical opposite in every way. Although he is not kept on in the combined Parks Department, he shows up past his introductory episode.

* ActualPacifist: Says that if Ron attacks him, he won't fight back.
* CoolOldGuy: He is a calm, chilled, easygoing guy who gives out positive advice and wishes everyone well. Naturally, Ron hates him.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: He believes in spirit animals and is seemingly able to summon his own (a falcon) at will. He also believes in astrology and guesses that Ron Swanson is a Taurus - Ron never tells anyone his birthday, but he alluded in a later episode that it was in the springtime, meaning that Taurus is a possibility.
* ShadowArchetype: He is basically Ron if he was a vegan hippie instead of a carnivorous hunter.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Ron Swanson seems to regard him as one, though Dunn naturally doesn't consider anyone his enemy.

!!Brett Hull and Harris Wittels [-(Colton Dunn and Harris Wittels)-]
Two stoned morons who work at Pawnee Animal Control and are the major reason for its massive incompetence in catching animals. They are fired in Season 5 and later end up squatting in the basement of City Hall.

* CloudCuckooLander: Due to being high in all of their appearances.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: They join the "Recall Leslie Knope" rally, thinking it's a rally to legalize marijuana.
* InsultBackfire: When Leslie describes the animal control department as being run by two moronic stoners, Harris thinks it's a compliment.
* LethallyStupid: When Leslie ordered Brett to pretend to kill every bird in Pawnee for the avian flue crisis simulation, Brett doesn't get the "pretend" part, and keeps asking Leslie how she wants the birds killed.
* RunningGag: Harris keeps declaring that he's "down to clown" with April and either attempting to flirt with or asking another character if she's available. One time, it's right in front of Andy (who is naturally less than impressed) and the other time it's at the party ''immediately after her wedding''.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: When Ron, April and Andy find them in the City Hall basement they say they certainly aren't living there.
* {{The Stoner}}s[-/-]StonersAreFunny: They're high all the time.
* ThoseTwoGuys[-/-]HeterosexualLifePartners: Even (accidentally) show up to a job interview together.
* TooDumbToLive: They got fired because they left a coyote trap around since they had a huge pest problem, and tried to reach Animal Control about it but no one would pick it up. As Leslie pointed out, they were the people they'd call about it.

!!Mayor Walter Gunderson [-([[spoiler:Creator/BillMurray]])-]
The [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen invisible]] mayor of Pawnee. Ends up dying two months before his term is up in the seventh season episode appropriately titled "Two Funerals".

* TheCameo: In "Two Funerals", he appears as a corpse.
* TheGhost: Mentioned frequently before "Two Funerals," but never shown. Of course, by the time we see him, he's dead, so this entry works on two levels.
* SecretRelationship: [[spoiler:With Ethel Beavers. Apparently, Gunderson's wife knew and was completely okay with it]].

!!Kyle [-(Andy Forrest)-]
A regular at Andy's shoe shine stand and an attorney for City Hall, he is the lowest on the City Hall pecking chain. Even Jerry treats him like garbage.

* ButtMonkey: Only Chris is actually nice to him.
* TheChewToy: Unlike Jerry, there is no good nature to the ribbing and no silver linings in his life.
* ExtremeDoormat
* OccidentalOtaku: Subverted: he is characterized as this once by the others, even though all he was doing was eating rice.
* OldWindbag: His stories inspire either this or inappropriate laughter.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pawnee Media]]
!!Joan Callamezzo [-(Mo Collins)-]
The vapid host of ''Pawnee Today'', a talk show frequented by the main characters. She likes Tom due to his flattery, but seemingly has a vendetta against Leslie. She’s [[SmallNameBigEgo oddly arrogant for a local media personality]].

* TheAlcoholic: Has a poorly-concealed drinking problem that she tends to try and excuse with {{Lame Excuse}}s like eating too much shellfish.
* CloudCuckoolander: While never a paragon of stability during the series, she entirely lost her mind [[spoiler:during the TimeSkip between Seasons 6 and 7]]. Highlights include calling all her ex-boyfriends while sitting on a washing machine on-air, having her audience fight over a car, and believing she's in [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]] in the middle of a speech.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rarely kind to anyone, as she thinks she's above most people.
* KentBrockmanNews: She's an insufferable {{Jerkass}} and has no shame in hiding it whenever she's on air.
* LadyDrunk: She's almost always inebriated, even on air.
* {{Narcissist}}: To an absurd degree - she has huge oil paintings of herself in the nude in her house, for example. The only people she doesn't constantly belittle are suck ups who praise everything she does.
* NotSoAboveItAll: As snobby and superficial as she is, she still goes just as crazy as everyone else in Pawnee does over Li'l Sebastian.
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Leslie's first. She seems to relish taking her down.
* SmallNameBigEgo: A local talk show host who seems to think she's Oprah.

!!Shauna Mulwae-Tweep [-(Alison Becker)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50535_pm.png]]
->''"I can't even land the shoeshine guy."''

IntrepidReporter for the local paper. Usually, the Parks Department gives her access in the hope that she'll report something positively for them, but hijinks ensue and her story ends up with a negative, sensationalistic slant. In Season 5, Chris has a short-lived and ambiguously romantic relationship with her.

* AntiVillain: Yes, she causes problems for the department, but she's simply doing her job.
* BrosBeforeHoes: Variation. Her relationship with Chris hits a snag because she insists on bringing her family and friends onto every date she has with him. She considers this entirely natural and doesn't see the problem with it. Chris doesn't exactly conflict with them per say, but he isn't really thrilled about this behaviour either.
* IntrepidReporter: Well, about as intrepid as one can be in Pawnee. If there's a story, Shauna's on it.
* NiceGirl: She's a sweet, well-meaning lady that doesn't seem to have any contempt for anybody.
* RomanticFalseLead: Her usual role involves her becoming friendly with a male character, making the girl he eventually winds up with jealous by accident. This happened with Andy, Ben, and Chris in that order.
* RomanticRunnerUp: As a perpetual RomanticFalseLead, she winds up as this frequently. She even {{lampshades}} this ("I can't even land the shoeshine boy!").
** It gets deconstructed later on, as it's shown she's pretty miserable because of this.
* NoSocialSkills: {{Downplayed}}. On the surface she seems entirely normal socially, but a pattern emerges of her being blind to the way she says or does things affects those around her or acts inappropriately, such as bringing friends and family with her on dates (although this implies that she might also have been raised this way if they are like this as well).
* StepfordSmiler: Revealed to be this in "Galentine's Day 2", where she tries to stay positive to ignore the painful parts of her personal life. Leslie can't help but pity her a little.
* ThrowTheDogABone: In the distant finale, where [[spoiler:after she's left at the alter by her fiancee, she later crosses paths with Bobby Newport and ends up marrying him]].

!!Perderick "Perd" Hapley [-(Jay Jackson)-]
Host of ''Ya' Heard? with Perd''. [[VerbalTic Tends to speak]] [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundantly]], in sentences, which repeat their meaning.

* {{Acrofatic}}: Can do the Worm.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: In his more competent moments, he can show some skill at hosting a show, and is clearly likable enough to cultivate a local following.
* CaptainObvious: Because of his redundant nature, most of his statements are quite obvious in addition to being redundant in nature.
-->"Issue number one is the first issue we're going to talk about."
* CloudCuckoolander: Even if he isn't sure if there are real cuckoos living in the clouds, his offbeat behavior would fit right in if there were. He has to ask if centaurs are real.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: His standout trait, which is quite notable.
* TheDitz: While Pawnee is filled with them, he stands out as the most naive and idiotic media representative.
* FanCommunityNickName: He refers to his fans as Perd-verts.
* TheFool: Has done quite well despite not being the smartest tool in Pawnee.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Loves making these with his name.
* KentBrockmanNews: Of the spacey, cuckoolander kind.
* LiteralMinded: Is so tunnel-visioned with his questions and answers, jokes and sarcasm tend to escape his tunnel vision.
-->'''Perd''': "The lewd photo, how big of a deal is it?"\\
'''Leslie''': "Well, Perd, it's not that big a deal, if you know what I mean."\\
'''Perd''': "I don't know what you mean, but it had the cadence of a joke!"
* NiceGuy: The nicest person in the Pawnee media. Any time he's caused trouble for Leslie, it hasn't been on purpose.
* PungeonMaster: Always related to his name.
* SarcasmBlind: Occasionally, due to being so literal-minded.
* SpinOff: In-universe, he gets a new show, called ''Judge Perd'', [[BetterThanABareBulb which often reminds the viewer,]] that Judge Perd is not a real judge.
* VerbalTic: Speaks in sentences that are somewhat redundant and repeat themselves, because of the redundancy of rephrasing everything he says in the sentences that he speaks.

!!Derry Murbles [-(Creator/DanCastellaneta)-]
Host of a public radio show which plays terrible music. Leslie has been a guest on the show a couple of times.

* BitingTheHandHumor: At one point, his announcer talks about one of the underwriters for the station, a new film called ''The Shadows of Seven Heads'', "the dramatic tale of an Israeli soldier who falls in love with conjoined Palestinian sextuplets"-- it's noted to be released by Creator/FocusFeatures, another branch of [=NBCUniversal=].
* CloudCuckooLander: Upon finding out that his target audience likes jazz music, he plays two jazz records simultaneously.
* DullSurprise: Even when he's angry he still keeps a very even tone.
* MeaningfulName: "Murbles" sounds vaguely like "mumbles", and is also only one letter away from "marbles" -- as in, "mouth full of marbles." Fitting name for a host who never raises his voice or inflicts any emotion into it.
* SitcomArchNemesis: After the Pawnee-Eagleton merger, he finds himself saddled with an Eagletonian co-host, August Clementine (Creator/JohnHodgman), who he doesn't get along with.
* TheStoic: He shows very little emotion, even when he's furious.
* TakeThat: He and his show seem to be a lighthearted jab at NPR and its soft-spoken hosts.

!!Crazy Ira and the Douche [-(Matt Besser and Creator/NickKroll)-]
Crazy Ira and Howard "The Douche" Tuttleman are two shock jocks of a morning zoo-style Pawnee radio program. They serve primarily as a parody of those types of radio shows, especially in a small-town market like Pawnee. The show prominently features fart jokes and YourMom insults, as well as constant sound effects from their sound man "China Joe", who hates his job. Crazy Ira and The Douche are widely admired in Pawnee.

* AlterEgoActing: Howard occasionally points out when he's speaking in character. "That's the Douche talking."
* BecomingTheMask: Howard states that he mainly made up "The Douche" for the radio show, but it ended up becoming part of his personality for real.
* {{Dumbass DJ}}s: Played up for all its worth. Despite this, both are also shown to be very intelligent, even courteous.
* HiddenDepths: ZigZaggedTrope. Will occasionally provide moments that show they are more mature than their on-air behavior suggests, only to follow it up by acting like they would on air.
** The Douche, in particular, has a degree in communications from an [[IvyLeagueForEveryone Ivy League college]] and can be eloquent and smart when he wants to be.
* {{Jerkass}}: The two are NOT the least bit likable.
* NoSell: In the companion book ''Pawnee: The Best Town in America'', Jerry transcribed the two trying to prank Ron. Ron stonewalls them since their choice of disguises to bug him with are random citizens and other members of the government, both of which Ron avoids like the plague.
* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: Crazy Ira.
* PetTheDog: Surprisingly, The Douche genuinely adored his grandmother, considering her to be a strong, inspirational woman, and intends to name his first daughter after her.
* ShockJock: They're quite filthy on-air, and their sound guy is incredibly good at pulling up perfect perverted soundbites.
* SitcomArchNemesis: They are two among many citizens in Pawnee who ruin things for Leslie on a regular basis.
* SmarterThanYouLook: Ironically, despite being Pawnee's resident DumbassDJ duo, they regularly show themselves to be the most well-spoken and intelligent Pawnee media personalities.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Prone to suddenly slipping out of their ShockJock personas in order to eloquently and effectively challenge their guest (generally Leslie), only to slip right back into it just as quickly.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Rarely seen apart, other than a brief stint where The Douche was considered to be a sperm donor for Ann.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Sapersteins]]
!!Jean-Ralphio Saperstein [-(Ben Schwartz)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50908_pm.png]]

Tom's partner-in-crime who is (even more) slimy and obnoxious. He's hilarious just from his hairstyle. Outright hated by Ron and Donna.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Towards Leslie, though in the most benign and PlayedForLaughs fashion possible, and he's generally pretty respectful about it.
* AnythingThatMoves: Or, in his words, "I guess you could say I'm ♫''open-minded as helllll!''♫"
* BreakoutCharacter: A fan favorite from his debut, which led to him making several more appearances as well as the introduction of his sister and father.
* CasanovaWannabe: Even more so than Tom.
* ConspicuousConsumption: In his own words, the only thing better than having money is making sure people know you have it.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He's the first person to admit how horrible Mona-Lisa is. And he's her brother.
* FakingTheDead: At some point in the future, he fakes his death and plans to use the insurance payout to open a casino in Tajikistan.
* FlatCharacter: Openly admits to the point of pride that he is exactly as vapid and shallow as he seems, and has no sort of HiddenDepths to speak of. Tom's development becomes more pronounced when put next to him as a result.
* GracefulLoser: Whenever he loses a job or gets rejected in an interview, Jean-Ralphio simply acknowledges that it's the right decision.
-->'''Employer:''' ''(after Jean-Ralphio's been employed for about thirty seconds)'' You're fired!\\
'''Jean-Ralphio:''' Makes sense. So I just go out the same way I came in?
* IdleRich: Though he does try to get a job, he's not good at it. He's okay with it though.
* IncomingHam: Someone making an indirect comment about him without using his name directly will inevitably summon Jean-Ralphio.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's definitely a slimeball, very self-centered, and ''incredibly'' obnoxious, but he's not really a bad guy. He actually does care about Tom and admits his own shortcomings freely. He's just very spoiled, very overconfident, and comes on ''way'' too strong.
* LargeHam: Constantly loud, if not outright yelling (or singing).
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: He embodies all of the negative traits Tom had before he got character development.
* TheScrappy: In-universe. Nobody but Tom likes him, and even Tom starts to get annoyed with him later on.
* SpoiledBrat: Calls his father "Daddy" and asks for money. Which he gets.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: To call him a bad influence on Tom would be an understatement.
* VerbalTic: Will occasionally rand-om-ly sing woorrrrds in his sen-ten-ceeees!
** He's also weirdly incapable of making rhyming couplets, wherein he'll hit the intended rhyme, but ruin it by adding another word after it.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Generally sees Tom as little more than an extra source of cash, though he does genuinely seem to like him.

!!Mona Lisa Saperstein [-(Creator/JennySlate)-]
Jean-Ralphio's "twin sister from the same mister" who he describes as (singing) "the worst person in the wooooorld" and also a "total klepto, nympho, and pyro". Tom hires her at his clothing rental business and ends up starting a relationship with her after attempting to discipline her results in a sexual encounter.

* AxCrazy: Frequently breaks things and sets fires when she doesn't get her way, picks fights with people and is an all-around unstable person.
* AnythingThatMoves: Is ''perfectly'' open to having a foursome with Tom, Craig (a total stranger), and [[{{Twincest}} her own brother]]. The one exception to this is Garry (unsurprisingly), whom she gives a "hard pass" to.
* CuteAndPsycho: She's cute, but along with being intolerable, she's a complete psychopath.
* DaddysGirl: Like her brother, she blatantly lies to their father's face and whines to get money at the drop of a hat.
* DistaffCounterpart: Is essentially a female Jean-Ralphio, except somehow even more obnoxious.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Tom dates her. Jean-Ralphio is her brother. Both of them admit that Mona Lisa is a horrible person.
* IdleRich: Gets her money from her father, and just fools around all day. For a time she was employed by Tom, but she was awful at it.
* {{Jerkass}}: She is, in fact, ''the wooooooooooorst''.
* JewishAmericanPrincess: She is very spoiled and AmbiguouslyJewish, although she is not the least bit sexually repressed.
* KissingCousins: She French-kissed her cousin once... and may still be in love with him. Tom is understandably disgusted.
* NeverMyFault: To quote her directly, "I have done nothing wrong, ever, in my life."
* PsychopathicManchild: Whereas Jean-Ralphio is a slimeball but otherwise harmless, Mona Lisa is a few paintings short of a Louvre. Case in point, her childishly asking for money while smashing up Ben's office is a hilarious and terrifying thing to watch.
* ReallyGetsAround: She'll agree to anything with anyone. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Jerry]].
* TheScrappy: She's this InUniverse. While Jean-Ralphio is at least liked by Tom, ''everyone'' hates Mona Lisa, including her brother, her father, and her boyfriend.
* SpoiledBrat: Even more so than her brother.
* {{Yandere}}: A clingy MoodSwinger who will beat you up and trash your car (if not outright light it on fire) if you show any sign of not being into her.

!!Dr. Saperstein [-(Creator/HenryWinkler)-]
Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa's father. He finds his layabout offspring to be a huge disappointment.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Even while he's destroying their friend's life, Chris and Ann go to him for their pregnancy because he's that good.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The last of the Sapersteins introduced is the patriarch of the family. Naturally, you'd assume he'd somehow top Mona Lisa in obnoxiousness, but he actually reveals himself to be a halfway decent and relatively normal guy who is as annoyed by his kids as the rest of the cast is.
* MeaningfulName: His name is almost identical to the Satanist OB-GYN, Dr. Sapirstein, in ''Film/RosemarysBaby.''
* MyGirlIsNotASlut: Is convinced Mona Lisa was a virgin before dating Tom; when he accuses Tom of stealing her virginity, everyone else in the room bursts into laughter at the idea.
* NiceGuy: Zig-zagged. He's got fantastic rapport with his patients and complains about being interrupted while watching Saturday morning cartoons with his son; but he ''loathes'' Tom over his perceived mistreatment of Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa to the point that he doesn't even care when he finds out that his kids were lying, and he makes it very clear that he considers his children to be complete and utter disappointments that he wants to offload at the earliest opportunity (although let's face it, the latter is entirely justified).
* PapaWolf: Sets about destroying Tom's business because he believes Tom wronged Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: After finding out that his kids lied about Tom's actions, he decides to continue with the business because it's making money.
* PushoverParents: He has spoiled his kids utterly rotten and just throws money at them whenever they ask for it.
* SerialNumbersFiledOff: In-universe, he opens a 'clothing rental store for teens' business just to run Tom's "Rent-a-Swag" out of business. It's so transparent that he even calls it "Tommy's Closet".
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Tom in Season 6.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Inverted. He's the Serious Parent (a normal, composed obstetrician/gynecologist) to his sleazy, irresponsible Wacky Children, and is all the more frustrated for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Newports]]
!!Nick Newport, Sr. [-(Christopher Murray)-]
Former CEO of Sweetums, a candy corporation which owns half the town. Dies at the end of Season 4.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive
* InformedFlaw: While he may well have been a scheming evil businessman earlier in life, characters act as though he is still this way in the show despite the fact that he is a disabled elderly vegetable as early as season 2. He is particularly painted as the mastermind behind his son Bobbys' bid for City Council in season 4 even though he doesn't even show up in that season and is likely far too senile by that point to mastermind anything, and it is more likely his wife Jessica is the true brains by this point.
* KilledOffForReal: Dies towards the end of the fourth season.
* {{Jerkass}}
* LivingProp: Despite being featured in several plots, he never actually does or says anything. Justified to a certain extent, as he's little more than a decrepit vegetable by the time the series rolls around.
* MealTicket: For Jessica Wicks.

!!Jessica Wicks [-(Susan Yeagley)-]
Nick Newport Sr.'s GoldDigger wife. Also a RichBitch. Current CEO.

* ConspicuousConsumption: A hallmark of her homes and offices.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: When she takes over for her husband. Her company does awful things, even resulting in deaths, and she [[spoiler:fires Ben]] when Leslie criticizes them.
* GoldDigger: Marries the richest guy in town for his cash, although the amount of nude portraits of his old, frail body that she must have had commissioned suggests that she might have been physically attracted to him as well.
* EveryManHasHisPrice: "Leslie doesn't pay for my lifestyle, money does."
* MoneyFetish: When she announced the sale of the Newport land to Gryzzl in season 7, she repeated how much it was worth because "it makes me ''very'' horny."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She acts like a very vapid BrainlessBeauty in her first appearance, but later seasons show that there is in fact a scheming businesswoman underneath that smile. Her dimwitted Beauty Queen persona from her past might well have been just that, a persona, as it was made perfectly clear that this is what usually wins at such events. While she is certainly shallow and amoral, she is more savvy and convincing than she first appears.
* RichBitch: Once she gets married she uses her wealth to seize historical buildings and get her dimwitted step-son Bobby elected as a puppet councilman [[note]]although everyone claims that Nick is the brains behind this, the fact that he was crippled and senile the last time we saw him makes it implicitly obvious that Jessica was the true brains behind this scheme[[/note]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney
* TrophyWife: For Nick Newport, Sr., although given that he was almost a vegetable at the time of their marriage this might be a {{Subversion}}.
* WickedPretentious: Vandalizes a historical building to remodel it to her tastes for a birthday party for her husband (who is barely even aware of what is going on), and garishly redecorates her home and offices with nude portraits of herself and her elderly husband.

!!Bobby Newport [-(Creator/PaulRudd)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_51111_pm.png]]

Leslie's opponent in the City Council race. A ManChild and UpperClassTwit to the extreme, he's really only running to do something to make his father proud of him.

* BrainlessBeauty: Very attractive, despite his utter lack of intelligence.
* FriendlyEnemy: He's Leslie's opponent in the council race, but he's incredibly pleasant and friendly towards her regardless - if only because he's apparently [[GoodIsDumb too dim to be otherwise]]. Towards the end of the campaign, he publicly endorses her, although he doesn't seem to realize the implications of that.
* IdleRich: Runs for City Council to cast off these accusations... which are incredibly true.
* LowestCommonDenominator: InUniverse, he gets a lot of mileage in the campaign by spouting vaguely positive gibberish. It doesn't offend anybody because it doesn't mean anything.
* ManChild: Unlike most examples where the character is just incredibly immature, Bobby has so little understanding of how the world works that he often reacts like a child would.
* NiceGuy: He's actually very kind and generous, if only because [[GoodIsDumb he's too dumb to have a mean bone in his body]].
* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Ends up married to Shauna Mulwae-Tweep in the distant finale]].
* PuppetKing: He does little in the way to actually oppose Leslie, leaving all of his campaign decisions up to [[HypercompetentSidekick Jennifer]]. He even offers Leslie the chance to do the City Council work for him if she lets him win the seat.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Throws money at any problem he comes across.
* ShelteredAristocrat: He's had so little exposure to the world that he generally acts more like a curious four year old than he does a man pushing forty.
* SpoiledSweet: Raised in wealth, and an incredibly nice guy.
* UpperClassTwit
* WellDoneSonGuy: The whole reason he ran for city council.

!!Nick Newport, Jr. [-(Gary Weeks)-]
Current CEO of Sweetums in season two (until Jessica Wicks replaced him). Father of Denver [-(Ryan Hartwig)-] and Dakota [-(Harley Graham)-]. As of season four, he seems to have been {{Retcon}}ned out of existence.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Apparently quietly retconned out of existence.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other Pawnee Residents]]
!!Marcia and Marshall Langman [-(Darlene Hunt and Todd Sherry)-]
-->''"There are girls quivering. There are boys staring deeply into girls' eyes as they quiver and so forth. There really is a tremendous amount of quivering. It is anti-Christian. It is pro-quivering."''
-->—Marcia, on ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. Which was written by [[Creator/StephenieMeyer a]] ''[[Creator/StephenieMeyer Mormon]]''.

Marcia is the first of the two to be introduced, and is an uptight and humorless right-wing Christian activist offended by everything. Often uses InsaneTrollLogic. The episode "Sex Education" introduces her husband Marshall Langman, who shares her views. ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed They're probably based on Michelle and Marcus Bachmann.]])

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: They're the founding members of the Society for Family Stability Foundation.
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Marshall concurs with Marcia that women should [[StayInTheKitchen stay home with the kids]].
* FemaleMisogynist: Marcia thinks women should StayInTheKitchen.
* TheFundamentalist: Very uptight and conservative Christian moral guardians.
* HateSink: Marcia is an uptight and hostile woman who's against gay marriage, actively hinders anything she disagrees with regardless of being in the moral wrong, and is in general not very plesant to be around. Add in that she's a KarmaHoudini, and she's quite possibly one of the most despicable characters in the series.
* {{Heteronormative Crusader}}s: Both of them are very conservative when it comes to sex, relationships and family values.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Marcia has very conservative, heteronormative views on gender roles and believes women should stay home and care for their children, but she works outside the home advocating her political and social views and causes, similar to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_LaHaye Beverly LaHaye]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Schlafly Phyllis Schlafly]].
* InsaneTrollLogic: Marcia's forte.
* {{Jerkass}}: Whenever we see Marcia, she's rarely portrayed in the most positive light.
* MoralGuardians: To the extreme.
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: A more right-wing version of this where they rail against anything that seems "improper".
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Leslie's.
* StayInTheKitchen: Believe in this.
* TransparentCloset: While it's only hinted at, Marshall does act very stereotypically camp. Serves as something of a potshot against Marcus Bachmann, who is often accused of being a [[ArmoredClosetGay huge closet case]].

!!Greg Pikitis [-(Cody Klop)-]

A teenager who tee-pees parks every Halloween who Leslie has been trying to catch for years. When she confronts him at his school to warn him that this time will be different, he manages to tee-pee the office and drives Leslie nuts by trying to figure out how and when he got in. He enjoys tormenting her and is implied to continue doing so even after the show ends.

* AbortedArc: Makes a cameo appearance at the end of a season 6 episode as the boyfriend of Leslie's protege, seemingly setting him up for a future story, but he never appears again.
* ArchEnemy: To Leslie. While she has other SitcomArchNemesis, most of them are indifferent to her and she only crosses swords with them due to a clash of policies or politics (or in the case of Tammy 2, because she gets in the way of her and Ron). Greg, however, actually goes out of his way to torment her personally just to amuse himself, and further he targets parks which directly encroaches on her job.
* ForTheEvulz: Pretty much why he commits his acts of vandalism and why he later goes after Leslie.
* MasterOfDisguise: How he got into the office- [[spoiler: they were putting up decorations for Halloween, so he disguised himself as a decorator, stole Leslies' keys and hid in a trash bin until everybody left, Leslie thinking he was at school the whole time]].
* StandInParents: He hires a woman from Craigslist to pretend to be his mother when he is held on suspicion for the office incident, even getting her to threaten to sue them all to scare them off. His ''actual'' mother claims he always does this whenever he is in danger of getting in trouble.
* TooCleverByHalf: His antics are extremely well thought-out and he is probably motivated in part by sheer boredom.

!!Ken Hotate [-(Jonathan Joss)-]
-->''"There are two things I know about white people: they love'' Matchbox Twenty, ''and they are'' terrified ''of curses."''

The Chief of the local Wamapoke tribe. He enjoys inducing WhiteGuilt at every possible opportunity. Leslie was at one point his favorite target, but eventually they jointly figure out ways to weaponize that against some of the nastier people in Pawnee.

* TheBarnum: Considers his casino the best way to get back everything Pawneeans stole from the Wamapoke, one quarter at a time.
* DeadpanSnarker: Usually at Leslie, but other people have been on the receiving end of his snark, too.
* EverythingIsRacist: He frequently declares random things offensive, likely just to make others uncomfortable.
* TheGadfly: Milks every possible ounce of enjoyment out of watching white Pawneeans squirm and messing with their heads.
-->'''Ann''': Mr. Hotate, thanks for coming. Would you like some water?\\
'''Ken''': Water? Like fire water? That's racist, and I do not appreciate it.\\
'''Ann''': No-no-no-no-no, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, you know--\\
'''Ken''': I'm just messing with you.\\
'''Ann''': Oh my God.\\
'''Leslie''': He's funny. This guy's funny. He does that sometimes.\\
'''Ken''': But seriously, I'll have a whiskey.
* InkSuitActor: Inverted, in this case - Ken Hotate is basically John Redcorn from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' without the womanizer angle. Both are played by Jonathan Joss.
* ItAmusedMe: When he's not trolling white people to get his way, he's just doing it for his own amusement.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's definitely a {{Troll}} and is fully willing to exploit WhiteGuilt to get what he wants, but Ken's not a bad guy, and is more than happy to team up with Leslie to take down genuinely nasty characters (i.e., Jamm and Pinewood).
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Exploited and parodied. He'll play the part of a Native American with mystical powers to freak out white people. When asked to remove a curse, he just utters nonsense and insults.
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: {{Exploited}} and {{parodied}}. He knows white people are awkward around Native Americans and uses their WhiteGuilt to get his way.
* WhiteGuilt: For both fun and profit, he milks the guilt of most other characters.

!!Dr. Harris [-(Cooper Thornton)-]
A doctor and a coworker of Ann's at the local hospital. An incredibly DeadpanSnarker with a [[DrJerk terrible bedside manner]].

* ComicallyIneptHealing: Normally quite competent, but every now and then can be shockingly negligent, such as when he fails to check Jerry for mumps.
* ComicallySerious
* DeadpanSnarker
* DistractedByTheSexy: While not finding it sexy or arousing, he is fascinated by [[spoiler:the size of Jerry's penis.]]
* DrJerk: His bedside manner is pretty awful and he doesn't like it when patients ask too many questions. [[BirdsOfAFeather He gets along quite well with Ron as a result.]]

!!Li'l Sebastian
A miniature horse that did... [[NoodleIncident something]] that has endeared him to the residents of Pawnee.

* BackFromTheDead: He appears to Leslie and Ben as a sign they should get married. It's actually a licensed impersonator (imhorseinator?), and his handler tries to tell that to Leslie, but she doesn't care.
* GagPenis: Even when pixilated out, it's played for laughs.
* KilledOffForReal: Dies at the end of the third season, and is given a city-funded hero's funeral. Ron takes his death particularly hard:
-->'''Ron''': When I walked in this morning and saw the flag was at half-mast, I thought 'all right — another bureaucrat ate it.' But then, I found out it was Li'l Sebastian. Half-mast is too high. ''Show some damned respect.''
* NoodleIncident: Precisely what Li'l Sebastian did to earn the undying love of the residents of Pawnee (other than being adorable) is lost to history. And as Ben finds out, asking for reasons is considered a major ''faux pas''.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Naturally, being a miniature horse (not a pony, they're different things). "The Trial of Leslie Knope" shows he has a line of [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plushies]] for sale.
* SeriousBusiness: Everyone in Pawnee adores him. Outsiders don't really get it, which is a BerserkButton for Pawneeans.

!!Wyatt "Burly" Burlinson [-(Andrew Burlinson)-]
Guitarist and backing vocalist (later co-lead) for Mouse Rat.

* AllThereInTheManual: His full name is never mentioned on the show, with Andy only ever calling him by his nickname. It is, however, on Mouse Rat's website.
* NeatFreak: According to Andy, though given what a slob Andy is, that may not be the case.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Just known as Burly.
* SatelliteCharacter: To Andy. Justified as he's part of his band.
* StraightMan: To Andy in Mouse Rat-centric plots.

!!Brandi Maxxxx [-(Mara Marini)-]
Local Pawnee Porn star who also ran for City Council against Leslie Knope and Bobby Newport. Admires Leslie and played her in ''Too Big to Nail'', an adult movie about Leslie saving the Pawnee Videodome.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: For Leslie. She also, at one point during a political debate, said she'd sleep with every one of her opponents.
* BiTheWay: She has no problem casually talking about how she's slept with many men and women. She's either this or gay-for-pay.
* HiddenDepths: She does run for political office at one point. In the DistantFinale, [[spoiler: she actually does become city council president]]. Her run is possibly a nod to porn star Mary Carey's publicity stunt campaign for governor of California in the 2003 recall election.
* NiceGirl: She actually seems to be pretty nice and friendly, [[AbhorrentAdmirer if a little overly so]].
* NotSoDifferent: How she sees herself and Leslie, though the latter very much disagreed.
** Considering the insane number of adult films Brandi has starred in, she may very well have a work ethic to rival Leslie's.
* PornNames: The excessive number of X's in her name for starters.
* RunningGag: Repeatedly compares Leslie's work in the Parks Department to her work as a porn star, much to Leslie's disagreement and horror.
* TooMuchInformation: Her comments about her career are usually irrelevant to the discussion, and unwanted by Leslie.
* UnwantedAssistance: Every time she tries to help out Leslie, Leslie wants no part of it.

!!Orin [-(Eric Isenhower)-]
Orin is April's very quiet, very creepy friend. He seldom speaks and often stares at people and makes them feel uncomfortable. Everybody except April dislikes him, with Leslie even outwardly insulting him. He once had a performance art show, where he was an animal living on a human farm.

* {{Anvilicious}}: {{Invoked}}. He's not especially subtle. At the previously mentioned farm art show:
-->'''Orin:''' (''in a sheep costume'') Moo... moo...\\
'''Leslie:''' Shut up, Orin. Aren't you supposed to be a sheep?\\
'''Orin:''' No. You are.
* ButtMonkey: He's an even bigger one than Jerry. He creeps everyone out so much that they all talk bad about him. Leslie especially, who will yell at him and insult him directly, and advises April to stay away from him.
* CreepyCrossdresser: When he dresses up as April's mother in "Prom".
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette
* {{Goth}}
* TheStoic: The only times Orin showed any emotion was when he's scared by Chris' brand of intense positivity and smiling at Chris' depressing music mix.

!!Dennis Feinstein [-(Creator/JasonMantzoukas)-]
A perfume mogul who lives in Pawnee.

* AtrociousAlias: Ben doesn't get why he chose the name Dennis Feinstein, and thinks it was a bad change.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: His real name is Dante Fiero, but he changed it to Dennis Feinstein because sounding Jewish is more exotic in Pawnee. Tom approves.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: He just wants to earn as much money as possible, anything else is completely inconsequential.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: Alludes to having done this on a vacation and tries to hire Tom to be his next target.
* {{Jerkass}}: Makes every other jerk on this show look like a sweet pussycat.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: He brags about paying $25,000 to hunt a man on a vacation.

!!Barney Varmn [-(John Balma)-]
An accountant who is employed at the Tilton & Radomski firm, he is first introduced when Leslie hires him for an accounting presentation to lighten up her party. [[IncrediblyLameFun It doesn't work]].

* AbhorrentAdmirer: A male, non-romantic example for Ben.
* ButtMonkey: Is never able to get Ben to stick around at the jobs he hires him for and treated as weird and/or a bore by other characters.
* HeroWorshipper: Seems to view Ben of all people as one of the coolest men alive. Of course, compared to Barney and most of his other colleagues and friends, Ben's a rock star, but still.
* IncrediblyLameFun: Often needlessly excited by his accounting job, bursts into fits at Ben's admittedly mediocre accounting puns and enjoys Cones of Dunshire.
* RunningGag: Hires Ben for various jobs, only to be crushed when he quits a few days later.

!!Trevor Nelsson [-(Creator/MarcEvanJackson)-]
A high-priced Pawnee lawyer who works for many of Pawnee's wealthier families, namely the Newports and the Sapersteins.

* AmoralAttorney
* TheComicallySerious: Never seen without a stony glare and does not care for Ben's puns.
* StraightMan: Often plays off much zanier characters like Ron, the Sapersteins and Jessica Wicks.

!!Kathryn Pinewood [-(Mary Faber)-]
Head of the Pawnee Restaurant Association, she fights for "consumer rights" in generally the worst ways possible. She heads the fight to get Leslie recalled from office.

* AlphaBitch: Never misses an opportunity to put Leslie (or any of her friends) down.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Puts profits over the public's health.
* {{Jerkass}}: A very [[SmugSnake smug one]] at that.
* SitcomArchNemesis: For much of Leslie's tenure in city council, she shares the role with Councilman Jamm.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other Characters]]

!!Jennifer Barkley [-(Kathryn Hahn)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_51458_pm.png]]

A straight-forward, fierce Washington political strategist who is first introduced in Season 4 to run Bobby Newport's campaign for City Council.

* TheAce: Intelligent, confident, reads international newspapers, is a big political muckety-muck in Washington. She ran two Republican congressional campaigns, a Senate race and gave Leslie and Ben a real run for their money when she opposed them in the City Council election.
* CareerVersusFamily: Not a problem with her. The trope is {{defied}} because she is completely satisfied she doesn't have kids, especially since she'd have to wear a plastic poncho to cover her clothing.
* TheChessmaster: Makes this comparison in her very first episode.
* ChildHater: Blatantly states she's very happy with her life choices whenever Leslie and Ben's kids come up and she freaks out when she sees one of the triplets run past her.
--> '''Jennifer''': Whoa! What was that? That thing was huge!
* DeadpanSnarker: Common topics she mocks include life in Pawnee and Leslie and Ben's children.
* {{Foil}}: To Leslie. A hypercompetent and incredibly dedicated career woman who is nonetheless the sidekick to someone with absolutely no interest in doing their work. While Leslie has her sights set on one day becoming president and genuinely wants to help the world, Jennifer is content with pulling the strings from behind the scenes and is OnlyInItForTheMoney.
* FriendlyEnemy: Her loudness and willingness to admit she's just in it for the money aside, she's friendly to Leslie and Ben, and even admits Leslie will be a better Councillor than Bobby Newport.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Well, heart of bronze, maybe. She runs campaigns for people she admits are horrible, and is rather blunt and abrasive, but she never makes her rivalry with Leslie personal and does genuinely think Ben and Leslie have what it takes to succeed.
* MeaningfulName: Jennifer ''Bark''ley makes sense for someone who's as [[NoIndoorVoice loud]] and intimidating as a Rottweiler.
* NeatFreak: Puts plastic covering on herself and several things in the Knope-Wyatt household to keep the kids from spilling something on her.
* NonIdleRich: She's got enough money to have a condo on every Virgin Island, but the reason she ''has'' that money is because she works incredibly hard at her job, and is the best at what she does.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: While it's debatable that she's doing good, this is her motivation.
* PunchClockVillain: For the City Council arc. She's mostly on [[AffablyEvil friendly terms]] with Leslie and Ben and the entire reason she took the Newport campaign was because they paid her a butt-load of money. After that, she offers Ben a job as a campaign manager at her firm, and subsequently [[spoiler: a position as a congressman in the House of Representatives and then Governor of Indiana]].
* TheRival: To both Leslie and Ben at various times. She's generally friendly with both of them, but is easily one of their greatest obstacles in accomplishing their goals.
* SarcasticDevotee: Loyal and hardworking for the Newport campaign, no qualms about mocking him in private.
* SpiritedCompetitor: She gives Leslie campaign advice a few times because, to use her chess metaphor, she doesn't have anyone to play against, so she has to play against herself.
* WorthyOpponent: She steadily grows to respect both Leslie and Ben as political adversaries.

!!Justin Anderson [-(Justin Theroux)-]
Ann's lawyer friend introduced in season 2. He dates Leslie for a short time.

* TheAce: He's well-traveled and cultured, always has an interesting story to tell, and is an intelligent lawyer.
* DerailingLoveInterests: His biggest problem for most of his time on the show was that he couldn't be around all the time. It isn't until the episode where he and Leslie break up that his being a "tourist" in other people's stories is established.
** Though in "Leslie’s House", we do see that he has a tendency to [[TheProudElite unnecessarily one-up other people's stories]] and to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections latch on to the people he deems interesting.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's basically a genuinely nice and helpful guy, but whether he realizes it or not, he tends to see people as objects of interest rather than as actual people, and he can put his nose into other peoples' business because he sees a chance to spice their lives up without thinking about the possible negative consequences.
* TheOneThatGotAway: For Ann, in a way. She used to hope that maybe she could start something with him, much to Andy and later Mark's annoyance. She does get over it.
* TemporaryLoveInterest: For Leslie in the second season, after she broke up with Dave. They later break up after Leslie realizes he's an "emotional tourist".

[[/folder]]

!!Crazy Ira and the Douche [-(Matt Besser and Nick Kroll)-]

* ActorSharedBackground: There were a few instances that imply that Tom is an Indian Muslim just like Aziz.

** He tends to shy away from "ethnic food", but greatly enjoyed eating from a burrito place when Andy mentions the "Meat Tornado", which has apparently killed someone in the past. Ron thought of it as "revolutionary".

* BrilliantButLazy: She is actually rather smart, but would rather not bother with things like responsibility and hard work.

* HiddenDepths: He's a very good and impossibly fast artist. In "The Camel" he's the only member of the Parks Department to produce a decent entry for the catalog cover, (other than Tom, who simply purchased his from an art student) an photo-collage of City Hall composed of pictures of Pawnee residents. [[ButtMonkey Naturally, everybody else thinks it's crap]].
* IHaveManyNames: He's actually named Garry Gergich, but on his first day in the department the Parks director mistakenly called him "Jerry" and he didn't have the nerve to correct him, so it stuck until his retirement. When he returned to the Department a few months later, April declared his real name was Larry Gengurch after he requested they started using his real name instead of Jerry. [[spoiler:At some point during the TimeSkip in "Moving Up," the office began calling him Terry instead; on the ''Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show'', he also plays Mailman Barry]]. Noted when the guys burnt their initials into a "Buddy Box" for Chris as a going-away present.

* IncrediblyLameFun: The reason he keeps coming out of retirement; he just really likes doing tedious paperwork nobody else can stand. When he gets his Notary Public license he's giddy about it for months.

* TechnologicallyBlindElders: His way of getting to his Yahoo email is to go on Altavista and type “please take me to Yahoo.com” and has no clue what bookmarks are.

* CampGay: Confirmed to be at least interested in men in season seven, getting married to [[spoiler:Typhoon]] in the DistantFinale.

* SkipToTheEnd: {{Inverted}}. It took Ron ''two hours'' to get through his wedding vows at the altar with her, although the reason had nothing do with her- Ron just disliked being told what to do so much that after the priest said "repeat after me" he fell silent and kept everyone waiting.

-->'''Tom''' [chuckling]: That would have been a little out of control.

-->'''Tom:''' Yeah. The problem is I only have fifteen penises, so there would have been twenty-eight girls that were really upset with me. [both laugh]

!!Ron Dun [-(Creator/SamElliott)-]

* ActualPacifist: Says that if Ron attacks him he won't fight back.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: He believes in spirit animals and is seemingly able to summon his own (a falcon) at will. He also believes in astrology and guesses that Ron Swanson is a Taurus- Ron never tells anyone his birthday, but he alluded in a later episode that it was in the springtime, meaning that Taurus is a possibility.
* ShadowArchetype: He is basically Ron if he was a Left-Wing Libertarian instead of a Right-Wing Libertarian.

* WickedPretentious: Vandalises a historical building to remodel it to her tastes for a birthday party for her husband (who is barely even aware of what is going on), and garishly redecorates her home and offices with nude portraits of herself and her elderly husband.

** Though in ‘Leslie’s House,’ we do see that he has a tendency to [[TheProudElite unnecessarily one-up other people’s stories]] and to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections latch on to the people he deems interesting.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's basically a genuinely nice and helpful guy, but whether he realises it or not he tends to see people as objects of interest rather than as actual people, and he can put his nose into other peoples' business because he sees a chance to spice their lives up without thinking about the possible negative consequences.

* AdultChild: The best way to describe Andy would be "a ten year old in an adult's body".

* HiddenDepths: He's a very good and impossibly fast artist.

* DrJerk: His bedside manner is pretty awful and he doesn't like it when patients ask too many questions. He gets along quite well with Ron as a result.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Marcia has very conservative, heteronormative views on gender roles and believes women should stay home and care for their children, but she works outside the home advocating her political and social views and causes.

!!Craig Middlebrooks [-(Creator/BillyEichner)-]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_01_12_at_50231_pm.png]]
The CampGay former office manager of Eagleton's Parks Department who transferred to the Pawnee department when the two towns merged. Has NoIndoorVoice and prone to ComicalOverreacting.

* AmbiguouslyGay: For his first season on the show. He acts incredibly camp, and has stereotypically gay interests and mannerisms, but never shows interest in men until the seventh season.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's prone to overreacting to everything, acts campy and his intensity manages to even unnerve Leslie for a bit. However, he's also very competent at his job, eventually taking over Ron's position in the Parks Department.
* CampGay: Confirmed to be at least interested in men in season seven, getting married to [[spoiler:Typhoon]] in the DistantFinale.
* ComicalOverreacting: He will do this over ''anything''.
* HairTriggerTemper: Even when he's not in stressful situations, he's still easily set off. In the final season, he learns to get a better handle on it thanks to going through some therapy.
* HappilyMarried: Ties the knot with [[spoiler:Typhoon]] in the series finale and a flash forward shows them growing old together.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Reacted to the news of [[spoiler:Leslie's pregnancy]] by ranting about how every time he accomplishes something, someone else always upstages him, like when his cousin died on the opening night of his one-man show.
* NoIndoorVoice: Craig has a seeming inability to use an indoor voice.
** After the TimeSkip between Season 6 and 7, he's learned to control it. His therapist (Dr. Richard Nygard) advised him to "take a deep breath and say three great things about being alive" whenever he feels the need to yell.
* SixthRanger: The only member of the Eagleton Parks and Rec department to become a full-fledged member of the combined Parks Department. Eventually, he even takes over as director.

* OnlyOneName: Her last name is never revealed [[spoiler:although given the events of the finale, it might be Haverford now...]]

* TrueLoveIsBoring: While it's debatable just how much their relationship can be called "true love", this trope describes why she broke up with Mark. Sure the relationship is a healthy and stable one, but Ann also admits that it's kind of bland and her previous relationship with Andy, while terribly unhealthy, at least was interesting. Averted with the guy she ''actually'' ends up with, [[spoiler:Chris]]. After a bumpy start, the two find that their differences both balance each other and help keep the relationship interesting, but the two are also incredibly supportive of one another, thus allowing the relationship to actually work.

* PerpetualFrowner: Even when he's being nice, he's stern. The only thing that makes him smile is the collapse of the Pawnee government.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Ann's very nice, but she has her limits. Best exemplified in a season two episode when April's in the hospital, and is, well... [[AnnoyingPatient April]]. Ann manages to be sweet and polite the whole time, until...

** In one episode, he is seen eating a turkey leg wrapped in bacon and guess what's it called? The Swanson.