History Characters / TheBigBangTheoryTheCoreGroup

--->'''Raj:''' Please don't send me back to India! It's so crowded. It's like the whole country is one endless Comic-Con, except everyone's wearing the same costume -- Indian Guy!

* {{Trekkie}}: Like his friends, he loves ''Star Trek'', especially ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'. He once dressed as Captain Picard for a convention.

** Also forms friendships with Amy and Bernadette, although he instantly befriends Bernadette, it takes longer for him and Amy to become good friends but they eventually do in Season 11.

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JohnnyGalecki
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GabrielCobayassi (Latin-American Spanish dub), Jesús Alberto Pinillos (European Spanish dub)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JimParsons (''Series/TheBigBangTheory''), Creator/IainArmitage (''Series/YoungSheldon'')
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LuisAlfonsoMendoza (Latin-American Spanish dub)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/KaleyCuoco
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MireyaMendoza (Latin-American Spanish dub)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/SimonHelberg
->'''Voiced by:''' [[Creator/IrwinDaayan Irwin Daayán]] [speaking voice] and Luis Leonardo Suárez [singing voice] (Latin-American Spanish dub), Iván Jara (European Spanish dub)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/KunalNayyar
->'''Voiced by:''' Alfredo Leal (Latin-American Spanish dub, seasons 1-4) Miguel Ángel Ruiz (Latin-American Spanish dub, seasons 5-12), Álvaro Navarro (European Spanish dub)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/MayimBialik
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GabyUgarte (Latin-American Spanish dub, seasons 3-5), Jessica Ángeles (Latin-American Spanish dub, seasons 6-10), Cynthia Chong (Latin-American Spanish dub, seasons 10-12), Marta García (European Spanish dub, seasons 3-6), Isabel Fernández Avanthay (European Spanish dub, seasons 6-12)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/MelissaRauch
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GwendolynFlores (Latin-American Spanish dub), Cristina Yuste (European Spanish dub)

* HeroesWantRedheads: At different times he dated two redheaded girls, coincidentally both named Emily. Lampshaded in the episode where the two girls meet.
-->'''Raj:''' Uh, heads up, both of you are named Emily, so we'll call you "red-headed Emily" and you, "red-headed Emily, Junior."

* {{Irony}}: The biggest sleeve and perv of the group is the first to settle down. Despite not having a [=Ph.D=], he has probably done the most in terms of accomplishments.

** Sheldon: The modernized reconstruction on the classic trope, theoretical physicist Sheldon swaps the overly formal bland clothes for fandom t-shirts, but otherwise is the embodiment of the trope. He has NoSocialSkills but doesn't care as he believes most people to be [[InsufferableGenius intellectually inferior]] anyways and will [[BrutalHonesty tell them this to their faces]]. Among a group of doctors, he is still TheSmartGuy. He's frequently the ButtMonkey and had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood filled with [[BullyMagnet bullies]].

* CoolLoser: Attractive and gregarious enough as a person, his previous problems with women were due more to his awkward personality.

** Bernadette is a glasses-wearing microbiologist with a penchant for [[SweaterGirl cardigans]] and other more conservative clothing. When she was first introduced, she exhibited some DitzyGenius tendencies, not understanding most of the jokes the guys made, but this seems to be more because she doesn't share their interest in nerdy hobbies rather than because she has NoSocialSkills; her kindness and friendliness (pre-{{Flanderization}}) were her defining character traits. However, she has been selected as one of the fifty most beautiful female scientists in California, and she has discussed her rather extensive dating experience in the past.

* SweaterGirl: Wears formfitting cardigan sweaters as part of her regular wardrobe.

** Howard: A JewishAndNerdy aeronautical engineer with a bowl cut, often wearing plaid button down shirts tucked into unflatteringly tight and belted pants a la DiscoDan. He's also a pervy ExtravertedNerd and CasanovaWannabe, becoming an AbhorrentAdmirer for Penny early on.

Of the four male leads, the only one without a doctorate (for which he gets made fun of a lot despite that he has a master's degree from [=MIT=] and is an aeronautical engineer). Some group of geeks have BasementDweller, others do not, as he lives at home with his mother, despite being in his late 20's at the start of the show. In addition, he is Jewish and practices the faith but [[CulturalRebel enjoys not eating kosher from time to time.]] Also, among the group, he was a mixture of the CasanovaWannabe and ExtravertedNerd until he met and started dating Bernadette.

* ExtravertedNerd: Howard actually knows he's a nerd, but chooses to ignore this and act like he's cool in the hopes that people (especially women) will be fooled. He fits this trope so well he could perfectly be the TropeCodifier for anyone else who is this.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Two-fold. Her first few episodes she was almost [[DistaffCounterpart an exact, if female, copy of Sheldon]], complete with having similar character tics and vocabulary. She eventually grew to be some combination of ExtravertedNerd ''and'' ShrinkingViolet, one who was ecstatic to be friends with Penny, [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders a cheerleader type]]. It's been explained as rapid character growth because of her friendship with Penny, but still causes a strange contrast with her earlier portrayal. In a second example, throughout Season 4 and nearly every episode of Season 5, she would make some sort of [[QueerPeopleAreFunny flirtatious remark in Penny's direction]], with Penny switching off between being flattered and disturbed. It hasn't shown up since the start of Season 6.

** Raj: The resident BollywoodNerd astrophyscist with a fondness for [[DorkInASweater sweater vests]] over khakis. While he can talk to his friends just fine, he CannotTalkToWomen, Sheldon's psychologist mom even diagnosing him with selective mutism, leading to him to be the only one of the group in later seasons to [[NerdsAreVirgins not have a partner]] and he becomes HollywoodDateless for a while.

* HollywoodDateless: At times, though it has been made pretty clear that interacting with Penny has greatly improved his dating life (even outside of Penny herself).

* HollywoodDateless: He started to become this once the Leonard/Penny, Howard/Bernadette and Sheldon/Amy pairings became more prominent, as that left him as the single guy of the group, and became even more pronounced when he overcomes his mutism. Although plenty of times it is shown that he is genuinely weird and creepy on first dates, and if he can get through that he has a better chance at longer relationships. But in the eleventh season he ended up with multiple women he managed to sleep with after first dates, making it unclear if it is this trope or CharacterDevelopment as he became more self-reliant and confident. [[spoiler: In the twelfth season, he dealt with his frustration over being unable to form a true commitment with any woman and after witnessing all his male friends find love and get married, by asking his dad to find him a wife through an arranged marriage.]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: He gets angry at Raj for sleeping with Penny in his own bedroom despite the fact that he got involved with Raj’s sister Priya, even after Raj made it clear to him that he was uncomfortable with their relationship.

!!Penny Hofstader

* ContraltoOfDanger: Bernadette usually has an adorably squeaky voice... until she gets pissed off. Then her voice drops low and the other characters know she means business.

* ActOfTrueLove: Leonard buys Penny a car (which is obviously pretty expensive) to help her get to auditions and to allow her to continue to pursue acting after she quite her job. Penny is left so overwhelmed with joy at Leonard's act of kindness that she is left in tears and tightly hugs and kisses him in gratitude.

** Sheldon: The modernized reconstruction on the classic trope, theoretical physicist Sheldon swaps the overly formal bland clothes for fandom t-shirts, but otherwise is the embodiment of the trope. He has NoSocialSkills and is NotGoodWithPeople but doesn't care as he believes most people to be [[InsufferableGenius intellectually inferior]] anyways and will [[BrutalHonesty tell them this to their faces]]. Among a group of doctors, he is still TheSmartGuy. He's frequently the ButtMonkey and had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood filled with [[BullyMagnet bullies]].

* TheyDo: With Bernadette. They married in the episode "The Countdown Reflection", the Season 5 finale.

* TheyDo: With Howard. They married in the episode "The Countdown Reflection", season finale of 5.

* FiveManBand: During the seasons before Bernadette and Amy become main characters: [[StraightMan Leonard]] is TheLeader, [[AntiHero Howard]] is TheLancer, [[InsufferableGenius Sheldon]] is TheSmartGuy, [[GirlyBruiser Penny]] is TheBigGirl and [[CampStraight Raj]] is TheChick. Though Howard and Sheldon can trading places as Howard is TheEngineer and Sheldon has a {{Foil}} dynamic with Leonard.

* NiceJewishBoy: At the beginning of the series, NiceGuy was probably the last thing you'd use to describe him. Though by the end of the second season, he had learned at least some manners, he was still way too oversexed. With the introduction of Bernadette, he's become a NiceGuy. Granted, he can get mean, but he's at least not dropping {{DoubleEntendre}}s in every single one of his lines.