History Characters / TheOfficeUS

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[HolierThanThou Angela Martin]], [[FatIdiot Kevin Malone]], [[InsufferableGenius Oscar Martinez]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing Phyllis Vance]], [[DeadpanSnarker Stanley Hudson]], [[TheAlcoholic Meredith Palmer]], [[CloudCuckooLander Creed Bratton]], [[ButtMonkey Toby Flenderson]], [[MotorMouth Kelly Kapoor]], [[GenkiGirl Erin Hannon]], [[TheMentor Darryl Philbin]], [[EndearinglyDorky Holly Flax]], [[TheChewToy Gabe Lewis]], [[JerkJock Roy Anderson]], [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen Jan Levinson]], Nellie Bertram, [[ThoseTwoGuys Pete Miller, Clark Green]].[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSThreatLevelMidnightCharacters Threat Level Midnight Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[BrokenAce Michael Scarn]], [[RobotMaid Samuel L. Chang]], [[BigBad Goldenface]], [[TheBartender Billy the Bartender]], [[MentorOccupationalHazard Cherokee Jack]], Jasmine Windsong, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor President Jackson]].[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSThreatLevelMidnightCharacters Threat Level Midnight Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Michael Scarn, Samuel L. Chang, Goldenface, Billy the Bartender, Cherokee Jack, Jasmine Windsong, President Jackson.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[StraightMan Hank Tate]], [[JerkAss Todd Packer]], [[ChaoticStupid Mose Schrute]], [[InsistentTerminology Bob Vance]], [[RomanticFalseLead Karen Filippelli]], [[TheComicallySerious Charles Miner]], [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure David Wallace]], Jo Bennett, [[PointyHairedBoss Deangelo Vickers]], Jordan Garfield, Cathy Simms, [[DoggedNiceGuy Brian]].[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[StraightMan Hank Tate]], [[JerkAss Todd Packer]], [[ChaoticStupid Mose Schrute]], [[InsistentTerminology Bob Vance]], [[RomanticFalseLead Karen Filippelli]], [[TheComicallySerious Charles Miner]], [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure David Wallace]], Jo Bennett, [[PointyHairedBoss Deangelo Vickers]], Jordan Garfield, Cathy Simms, Brian.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[StraightMan Hank Tate]], [[JerkAss Todd Packer]], [[ChaoticStupid Mose Schrute]], Bob Vance, [[RomanticFalseLead Karen Filippelli]], [[TheComicallySerious Charles Miner]], [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure David Wallace]], Jo Bennett, [[PointyHairedBoss Deangelo Vickers]], Jordan Garfield, Cathy Simms, Brian.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[StraightMan Hank Tate]], [[JerkAss Todd Packer]], [[ChaoticStupid Mose Schrute]], Bob Vance, [[RomanticFalseLead Karen Filippelli]], Charles Miner, [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure David Wallace]], Jo Bennett, [[PointyHairedBoss Deangelo Vickers]], Jordan Garfield, Cathy Simms, Brian.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Hank Tate, Todd Packer, Mose Schrute, Bob Vance, Karen Filippelli, Charles Miner, David Wallace, Jo Bennett, Deangelo Vickers, Jordan Garfield, Cathy Simms, Brian.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[HolierThanThou Angela Martin]], [[FatIdiot Kevin Malone]], [[InsufferableGenius Oscar Martinez]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing Phyllis Vance]], [[DeadpanSnarker Stanley Hudson]], [[TheAlcoholic Meredith Palmer]], [[CloudCuckooLander Creed Bratton]], [[ButtMonkey Toby Flenderson]], [[MotorMouth Kelly Kapoor]], [[GenkiGirl Erin Hannon]], [[TheMentor Darryl Philbin]], [[EndearinglyDorky Holly Flax]], [[TheChewToy Gabe Lewis]], [[JerkJock Roy Anderson]], [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen Jan Levinson]], Nellie Bertram, Pete Miller, Clark Green.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[HolierThanThou Angela Martin]], [[FatIdiot Kevin Malone]], [[InsufferableGenius Oscar Martinez]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing Phyllis Vance]], [[DeadpanSnarker Stanley Hudson]], [[TheAlcoholic Meredith Palmer]], [[CloudCuckooLander Creed Bratton]], [[ButtMonkey Toby Flenderson]], [[MotorMouth Kelly Kapoor]], [[GenkiGirl Erin Hannon]], [[TheMentor Darryl Philbin]], [[EndearinglyDorky Holly Flax]], [[TheChewToy Gabe Lewis]], [[JerkJock Roy Anderson]], Jan Levinson, Nellie Bertram, Pete Miller, Clark Green.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[HolierThanThou Angela Martin]], [[FatIdiot Kevin Malone]], [[InsufferableGenius Oscar Martinez]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing Phyllis Vance]], [[DeadpanSnarker Stanley Hudson]], [[TheAlcoholic Meredith Palmer]], [[CloudCuckooLander Creed Bratton]], [[ButtMonkey Toby Flenderson]], [[MotorMouth Kelly Kapoor]], [[GenkiGirl Erin Hannon]], [[TheMentor Darryl Philbin]], [[EndearinglyDorky Holly Flax]], [[TheChewToy Gabe Lewis]], Roy Anderson, Jan Levinson, Nellie Bertram, Pete Miller, Clark Green.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]] [[HolierThanThou Angela Martin]], [[FatIdiot Kevin Malone]], [[InsufferableGenius Oscar Martinez]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing Phyllis Vance]], [[DeadpanSnarker Stanley Hudson]], [[TheAlcoholic Meredith Palmer]], [[CloudCuckooLander Creed Bratton]], [[ButtMonkey Toby Flenderson]], [[MotorMouth Kelly Kapoor]], [[GenkiGirl Erin Hannon]], Darryl Philbin, Holly Flax, Gabe Lewis, Roy Anderson, Jan Levinson, Nellie Bertram, Pete Miller, Clark Green.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Angela Martin, Kevin Malone, Oscar Martinez, Phyllis Vance, Stanley Hudson, Meredith Palmer, Creed Bratton, Toby Flenderson, Kelly Kapoor, Erin Hannon, Darryl Philbin, Holly Flax, Gabe Lewis, Roy Anderson, Jan Levinson, Nellie Bertram, Pete Miller, Clark Green.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Andy Bernard, Robert California.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute,Jim Halpert,Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Andy Bernard, Robert California.[[/labelnote]]

** [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMichaelScarn Michael Scarn]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]][[{{Manchild}} Michael Scott]],
[[TheComicallySerious Dwight Schrute]], Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Andy Bernard, Robert California.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]][[{{Manchild}} Michael Scott]], Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Andy Bernard, Robert California.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]][[{{Manchild]] Michael Scott]], Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Andy Bernard, Robert California.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Andy Bernard, Robert California.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSThreatLevelMidnightCharacters Threat Level Midnight Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Michael Scarn, Samuel L. Chang, Goldenface, Billy the Bartender, Cherokee Jack, Jasmine Windsong, President Jackson

* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSMainCharacters Main Characters]]
* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]]
* [[Characters/TheOfficeUSRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]]

[[index]]

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[[foldercontrol]]

!Main Characters
[[folder:Michael Gary Scott]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MichaelScott_6980.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me."'']]
->Played by: Creator/SteveCarell
->Seasons: 1-7, 9[[note]]"Finale"[[/note]]

Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: David Brent.

* FourOneNineScam: Michael has a habit of falling for these, to the point where Pam jokes he is "sponsoring twenty Nigerian princesses."
--> '''Michael''':" ... when the son of the deposed king of Nigeria emails you directly, asking for help, you help! His father ran the freaking country!"
* AesopAmnesia: Has a mind-boggling ability to completely forget practically every lesson he ever learns almost immediately. This finally starts to turn around when Creator/SteveCarell made his decision to leave ''The Office''.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Given [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} his personality]], [[CampStraight mannerisms]] and propensity to bumble into impossibly awkward situations, it's been theorized that he has anything from being on the Autism Spectrum to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LLfLTsiDAo Histrionic Personality Disorder]].
* AttentionWhore: Michael will even try to make someone else's wedding about him.
* BabiesEverAfter: When he shows up in the finale, it's mentioned that he has two cell phones because he takes so many pictures of his kids.
* BackForTheFinale: To be the best man (or: "bestest mensch") at Dwight's wedding.
* BenevolentBoss: He likes to think of himself as one of these (and, in all fairness, he does genuinely try), but he's so bad at it that he ends up being a StupidBoss instead. Though he comes close occasionally, even having moments where he actually is helpful. (Supporting Pam after her failed art gallery show, for instance.) Also, almost every boss that replaces him when he leaves prove themselves to be incompetent, stupid, AxCrazy or downright evil, so at the very least he is the nicest by comparison if nothing else.
* BigNo: When Toby returns, Michael loses his shit.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Holly. Both are dorky individuals who love making jokes and doing impressions. They also can be InnocentlyInsensitive.
* BunnyEarsLawyer:
** He's the single most successful salesman in Dunder-Mifflin history, and every time we see him make a sale, he is incredibly good at pitching and selling the company's service and has a great rapport with almost all of his clients. This is why corporate had him promoted to Regional Manager, a position which he seemed to have been a perfect fit [[IncrediblyLamePun on paper]], but is largely [[ThePeterPrinciple incapable of doing properly.]]
** Due to (or despite) his strange and distracting managerial style, the Scranton branch goes from being the worst performing branch in the company at the beginning of the series, to the ''most'' successful branch by season 5.
** He is genuinely able to act as a man in his position should (as Roy's attempted attack on Jim and the watermark incident prove), it's just a matter of untangling him from his skewed beliefs enough to get him to do so.
* ButNowIMustGo: He gets engaged with Holly and he moves to Boulder, Colorado to live with her.
* BuxomIsBetter: Michael rarely misses a chance to remind people he likes big boobs, and one of his "cons" about Jan was that her chest was "nothing to write home about".
* CampStraight: He's slim and almost always wears suits, which an old video shows to have been true since he was a child. In high school, the majority of his peers assumed that he was gay due to his mannerisms and unusual interest in his appearance.
* CannotTellAJoke: Well, he can tell them reasonably well in the right conditions (as seen in "The Client"), he just can't come up with good ones himself or reliably tell one when put on the spot.
* CatchPhrase: "ThatsWhatSheSaid!"
* ChandlersLaw: He repeatedly misuses this at improv classes, on the grounds that you can't top pulling out a gun for drama.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** The later seasons have steered him back in the right direction, especially season 7, it being his last season and everything.
** He is a very calm and collected person at Dwight's wedding, showing how much his kids have matured him.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He completely lives in his own world, where things work a bit differently than they do in real life. It's what makes his attempts at being a BenevolentBoss backfire most of the time.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Often, for example when Oscar is outed as gay and Michael wonders if Gil, Oscar's "roommate" knew.
* TheCon: He mentions not being able to attend college because he lost his savings in a pyramid scheme.
* ContemplateOurNavels: Prone to this, especially in talking head segments at the end of episodes.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Experience in sales done with a few repeat clients in a highly personal manner doesn't translate into telemarketing very well, as Michael finds out in "Money". Also a key part of his character, considering he was promoted to Regional Manager because of his sales skills, which didn't exactly convert to managerial skill in his new position.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: There are a couple of times when he is genuinely angry, and dear Lord, he can be terrifying when that happens. The shift is big enough to get a just as angry Stanley to back down. He also shows an outright awesome level of negotiating skills when his fledgling paper company comes at odds with the new Dunder Mifflin management. Up until this point, he'd bumbled his way through every negotiation attempt, but then he suddenly demonstrates enough business acumen to completely rock David Wallace's resolve.
-->'''David:''' Here's the situation. Your company is four weeks old. I know this business. I know what suppliers are charging. I know you can't be making very much money. I don't know how your prices are so low, but I know it can't keep up that way. I'm sure you're scared. Probably in debt. This is the best offer you're gonna get.
-->'''Michael:''' I'll see your situation and I'll raise you a situation. Your company is losing clients left and right. You have a stockholder meeting coming up and you're going to have to explain to them why your most profitable branch is bleeding. So they may be looking for a little change in the CFO. So [[MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever I don't think I need to wait out Dunder Mifflin]], I think I just need to wait out ''you.''
** When Sabre's "sales is king" policy makes the sales staff [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism act like a bunch of cocky jerks only concerned with money]] (Phyllis even called Michael "numb-nuts"), he decided to not reward them, and instead gave the leads to the other employees, who proceeded to hide them around the office.
* DependingOnTheWriter: How much he is sympathetic or an unlikable jerk. The episodes "Dinner Party" and "Chair Model" are great examples: in the first, he is portrayed as a sympathetic man suffering from a BastardGirlfriend, while in the latter, which is the next episode, he completely ignores his employees problems, demands that they find a date for him and then insults said dates when they do not live up to his high standards.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: This is what drives Michael to his antics in the office and why he simply can't be a boss.
* DirtyCoward: Whenever there's a fire in the office, Michael is always the first to run out, not caring how his employees are doing.
* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery: Falls into this when he suffers from a ''very'' mild burn on his foot and ends up using a wheelchair. Throughout the episode, he acts as if it was ten times worse than Dwight getting a concussion from a car accident earlier.
* DontExplainTheJoke: He loves to subvert this trope.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Some of his more lucid moments have Michael realizing that he doesn't receive the respect that is due to him by merit of his position if nothing else. Such moments are typically staggering enough to his normal behavior that he tends to act like a man with his job would normally, and as such, have a few [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome moments of awesome]].
* EveryoneHasStandards: Noted by Jim in reaction to Josh Porter abandoning the Stamford branch by accepting a better job at staples: not even Michael would ever do that.
* EverythingIsRacist: Especially when trying to approach Stanley, Darryl, or Oscar.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine.
* FourthDateMarriage: He's a major believer in "love at first sight" and tries to rush many of his relationships. He proposes to Carol on only their ninth date, and is soundly rejected. He eventually averts this by taking Jim's advice to slowly court Holly, whom he does have an instant connection with, and allows their friendship to slowly turn into a relationship.
* FreudianExcuse: He never experienced love or friendship growing up and attempts to have the office act as a surrogate family to compensate.
-->'''Young Michael''': When I grow up, I want to have 100 kids, so I can have 100 friends and nobody can say no to being my friend.
* FriendToAllChildren: He is very fond of children and wants to have his own kids.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Not as much as Dwight or Andy but he does fit the criteria for Proximity, Pity, Supervision, and the rare Caring. The other workers hold an ''immense'' dislike for his antics and somewhat dread any social involvement with him. This does diminish throughout the series, partly because they become aware of why he is like this and his HiddenDepths, and partly because other managers tend to show them Michael is certainly not the worst person to work with.
* FriendlessBackground: Much to his chagrin. He even states the lunch lady was his only friend in the fourth grade at school.
* GeniusDitz: For all of his incompetence, when Michael is good at something, he's ''really'' good at it. Particularly sales, ice skating, and being great with kids.
* TheGlovesComeOff: When he isn't trying to impress everyone, he's a good worker and boss. This confused Jim as he made a pie chart analysing his work schedule and shows that Michael spends more time avoiding work than actually doing it. When he does work, it's enough to keep his job. In "Did I Stutter" he lays down the law on Stanley by telling him that he finally accepts Stanley's hatred of him but regardless of the animosity, Stanley cannot speak to him in such an aggressive manner under any circumstances.
* HasAType: All his most important love interests (Jan, Carol, Holly) are blondes. He also briefly dated Pam's mom who was blonde as well.
* HiddenDepths: "Moroccan Christmas" shows he's great at making drinks.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: One example is Kevin, who originally applied for warehouse worker. Michael hired him as an accountant because he saw something in him. He saw wrong. Another example is Todd Packer, who Michael was the only one who saw him as a friend. [[spoiler: Subverted in the episode of the same name, where Michael decides that Todd has gone far enough]].
* IdiotBall: Even for Michael, driving his car straight into a lake in ''Dunder Mifflin Infinity'' just to prove a point about technology (specifically, that the GPS that led him into the lake was unreliable) was unbelievably stupid.
* IdiotHoudini: If it was real life, he would be fired within the year, ''at most''. Or better, not be promoted at all. In ''The Office'', he manages to stay regional manager at least seven years.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: With Ryan.
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Is fond of doing this when it's grossly inappropriate. He finally gets it right when he delivers it to Gabe in regards to Erin in "Viewing Party".
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: His stated reason for becoming a salesman, and the reason why he acts the way he does.
* TheIllegible: Michael has terrible handwriting. In "Company Picnic," he reads his love note to Holly and refers to them as "soup snakes."
--> That can't be right. We're ''soul mates''.
* InnocentBigot: He says the most insulting things to minorities such as Stanley and Oscar (the only black and Hispanic/gay persons in the office, respectively) but he constantly gets away with it because he really does mean well.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: A large component of his sense of humor. Made worse by the fact that his underlings (constantly) point how much his jokes offend them, he refuses to change his choices of joke-worthy material.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Early on, Michael is actually unsure of what "open-mindedness" means.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's always cruel to Toby for no reason and, in general, he's selfish, shallow, and obnoxious whether he realizes it or not.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Depends on the story. Sometimes it is zig-zagged within that - for instance, in ''Goodbye Toby'', he breaks down weeping when he finds out about Ryan defrauding the company and thus shafting his entire life, but the episode revolves around him celebrating Toby's leaving the office and culminates with him getting security to escort Toby from the building as a final insult. In the same episode he shows compassion for a fraudster, but can't even swallow his hatred to let Toby leave the company with dignity.
* KarmaHoudini: Also depends on the story. Really only in the legal sense is he a Houdini, as the show makes it rather clear that most of the people he knows try to avoid being around him if they have a choice in the matter, so he suffers in that regard.
* KickTheDog: Whenever Toby is around, mostly in regard to his divorce.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Michael invading Stanley's privacy and telling the office that he cheated on his wife. Despite the fact that Michael is portrayed as being in the wrong for invading his privacy, it's hard to feel too bad for Stanley when Michael tells everyone that he cheated on his wife. Because, after all, ''he's'' the one who cheated on his wife to begin with.
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: This might be one of his defining character traits: he's remarkably ignorant of most things to the point of delusion (one shining example shows him claiming to be a regular in all of New York's fineries, and then promptly listing all of the tourist trap restaurants in Times Square as his favourite locales), but it doesn't stop him feigning brilliance on whatever subject he's talking about.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: His relationship with Pam is sort of like a crazy big brother. Protective and loving, but she has most of the responsibility. Best seen when he shows up at her art show when no one else does, and tells her how proud he is of her.
%%* LordErrorProne
* {{Malaproper}}: Occasionally he uses the wrong word - for example in one episode he opens a casino for charity in the Warehouse; stating that he considers himself "a great [[YouKeepUsingThatWord philanderer]]". [[note]]He means "philanthropist".[[/note]]
* ManChild: He often comes across as a clueless teenager in an adult's body. Lampshaded by Pam, who notes that Jan basically has to treat him like a 10 year old.
* TheMatchMaker:
** Subverted in that Michael believes he's the one who first put Jim and Pam together. After they have their first child and attempts to do the same to the rest of the office.
** He tried to be this for Erin and ''Kevin'' in one episode, even after Erin tells him that she likes Andy. As usual he was [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter completely wrong.]]
* MeanBoss: An interesting example where he ''tries'' to be a BenevolentBoss (and at times is), but his giant ego and immaturity make him greatly disliked by his workers.
* {{Metaphorgotten}}: When he tries to describe Dwight's betrayal in "The Coup":
-->'''Michael:''' Business is like a jungle, I am like a tiger, and Dwight is like the monkey that stabs the tiger in the back with a stick. Does the tiger fire the monkey? Does he transfer the monkey to a different branch? (eyes light up) Pun! There is no way of knowing what is going on inside the tiger's head. We don't have that kind of technology.
* MistakenForGay: According to Phyllis: She and Michael's classmates in high school thought he was gay due to the outfits he wore.
* MistakenForPedophile: The former TropeNamer; he picks "Little Kid Lover" as his dating username to show that he's good with children, and the poor guy doesn't realize what it ''really'' implies until it's too late.
* NeverMyFault: When someone (usually Pam) explain that a problem happened because of him, he'll quickly deny it and/or turn the blame on the person in question.
* NoSocialSkills: He does not think before he speaks. When in a counseling session with Toby, he even [[BlatantLies claimed to have been raised by wolves at one point.]] It would have certainly explained a lot.
* OneHourWorkWeek: Michael manages to pull this trope off despite the show taking place at his job. He seemingly has no administrative duties and has all the time he wants to spend on his frivolous hobbies, activities and meetings. "The Fight" explains that his main responsibility is to simply sign a few papers at the end of every week, which he always childishly puts off to the last minute.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Erin, who doesn't have parents.
* ThePeterPrinciple: A textbook example. He was and still is a great salesman, which is how he got promoted to management, a job for which he has absolutely no aptitude.
* PointyHairedBoss: A perfect example of ThePeterPrinciple in action. He was a very good salesman who got promoted to regional manager, a job in which he is completely in over his head. He does have his moments of clarity, in which he's actually the BenevolentBoss he so desperately wants to be, but those moments are few and far in between.
* PutOnABus: Towards the end of season 7. But he returns BackForTheFinale to be Dwight's best man at his wedding.
* ShipperOnDeck: He has been a huge Jim and Pam fanboy since the day Jim told him about his feelings for Pam.
* SleepingWithTheBoss: His rather rocky extended relationship with his boss Jan.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He vastly overestimates the amount of impact he has on his employees.
* StepfordSmiler: He likes to act as the funny guy who's always joking around but he's actually a deeply lonely man who DesperatelyCravesAffection.
* TookALevelInKindness: In Season 2 he starts doing things for his office like taking them out to Chilli's for the Dundies, and hosting a casino night. Michael also shows his sensitive side around kids in this season. By the end of the series, he is a very different character.
* TwoFirstNames: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
* UnfortunateImplications: In-universe. He does not stop and think that some of the well-intentioned things he's saying could be potentially offensive. Like choosing "Little Kid Lover" as a username.
* UngratefulBastard: On various occasions. Even when his workers go along with his crazy ideas, he'll often wind up complaining, yelling, and acting like a SpoiledBrat.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Varies throughout episodes.
* VerbalTic: "That's what she said" veers into this on occasion, especially in "The Deposition", where he does it in response to something he said himself and doesn't even seem to realize he's doing it.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Generally, what is GenreSavvy in Michael's head is actually WrongGenreSavvy in the real world, and vice versa.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dwight Kurt Schrute III]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dwight_2755.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''“Nothing stresses me out. Except having to seek the approval of my inferiors.”'']]
->Played by: Creator/RainnWilson
->Seasons: 1-9

Sales Representative/Assistant to the Regional Manager/Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Gareth Keenan.
----
* AmbiguousDisorder: Easily distracted on random topics and turns minor issues into SeriousBusiness, he is TheParanoiac and a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} displaying symptoms of many disorders, likely being anywhere on the Autism spectrum.
%%* AmbitionIsEvil
* BadLiar: Dwight has many impressive skills. Deception is not one of them.
* BearsAreBadNews: A firm believer in this trope.
* BigEater: In "The Coup", he orders a meal large enough to feed an entire family.
* BrutalHonesty: In "Pam's Replacement", Pam even starts taking advice from Dwight because he's the only one she knows for ''sure'' is being honest with her.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's the most-successful ''active'' salesman at Dunder-Mifflin, and yet his quirks are far more pronounced than Michael's.
* ButtMonkey: Exemplified in the penultimate episode of season four, when Michael leaves the office. Dwight (accurately) announces that he is in charge of the office for the day. Stanley simply stands up and leaves. Over the course of the episode, so does every other employee except Angela.
* CatchPhrase: "Idiot." Also begins countless sentences with "Question...", "Fact..." or "False..."
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: He used to be an almost blind worshiper of Michael, eagerly doing all his requests, but in later seasons [[TheStarscream he grew increasingly dedicated to surpassing and taking the Regional Manager job for himself.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: In Seasons 8 and 9 he learns to appreciate his coworkers more. Examples:
** When he's putting together a team to go to Tallahassee and gets saddled with his least favorite people in the office, but soon recognizes that even they have traits that he can appreciate.
** When he tries to hire one of his personal friends to pick up Jim's slack (as he is busy starting another business), and when he finds out that none of them would be even remotely competent, he realizes that he holds his coworkers to a far higher standard than his friends.
** By the time he is appointed Regional Manager again near Season 9's end, everyone in the office is actually happy for him, and among his final words in the series is him admitting that he does get along with his [[InsistentTerminology subordinates]].
** By the second half of the final season, Dwight actually considers Pam and Jim his close friends, and they are both happy to admit the same (even if they are still prone to pranking him). Dwight, without pause, tells Pam he thinks Jim would be best choice for Regional Manager, and Jim says this of Dwight to David Wallace. After Dwight's promotion, [[FireForgedFriends he immediately asks Jim to be his number two]].
* ChronicPetKiller: Euthanized Angela's cat Sprinkles because it was weak. He really thought he was doing both the cat and Angela a favor, though. He also shot a "werewolf" that turned back into the neighbour's dog. And, while volunteering at the animal hospital, euthanized over 150 pets by himself.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Dwight is someone who, while his behavior is mostly predictable, seems to have motivations and an internal monologue that indicate that he is one of these.
* TheComicallySerious: Everything is SeriousBusiness for him and this is often, if not always, PlayedForLaughs.
* CompetitionFreak: He went as far as taking on a computer (which he thought was sentient, by the way) on a contest who could get the most sales before the end of the day. He won. Near the end of the series, Dwight becomes Regional Manager, and Jim becomes the Assistant to the Regional Manager. When Jim decides to take on his own assistant and hold a competition to determine who it would be, Dwight eventually can't help but compete and win.
* ControlFreak: He greatly dislikes letting anyone share his status or have more authority than him, not even letting his girlfriend Angela share it when they plan for Dwight to take over the branch.
* CrazyPrepared: he has a large amount of weapons hidden around the office in case of attack.
* {{Determinator}}: In "Tallahasee" he tries to make it through a Sabre seminar even though he's in pain from an appendicitis. Later in the day he still tries to give a presentation just a few hours after having an emergency appendectomy.
* EnemyMine: Prior to befriending Jim, there were a few things that would make him enter into this with Jim - the opportunity for a major sale (when Robert California closed the Binghamton Branch while drunk, for example) or Todd Packer being the most notable.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Choleric.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Fits the bill for Proximity and Supervision. Dwight is easily the least liked person in the office, with even friend hungry Michael trying to avoid him if he can help it. Most of Jim's pranks work largely due to ''nobody'' in the office being willing to support Dwight if he catches on or keeping quiet so he doesn't figure it out. Ironically Jim seems to be about the only person in the office willing to treat Dwight as a friend.
* AGodAmI: Dwight calls himself "the King of Kings" of sales because thinks of himself as UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, something reinforced when he does a {{Tableau}} of ''Art/TheLastSupper'' so he can play Christ in the center.
* HappilyMarried: With Angela as of The Finale.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Subverted in that everyone knows this is how he acts, but he's often so poor at it they just brush it off.
* HiddenDepths:
** He is an able entrepreneur. His antics aside, his farm and motel are actually well-managed.
** To say nothing of adding becoming owner of the office complex to the mix. He juggles this, the above two jobs, ''and'' being the most effective salesman in Dunder-Mifflin with seemingly no trouble at all.
** He's pretty good at basketball, yet not so good in martial arts (despite his boasts). He does obtain a black belt near the end of the series, so he may well have improved, or is better than his onscreen attempts to show off his skills make him seem.
** Despite turning the office into a near living hell for his "subordinates" whenever he's Regional Manager, it's pointed out that the office as a whole runs ''very'' well under Dwight's watch. When he becomes Regional Manager at the end of the series after learning to respect his coworkers, he manages to bring that efficiency without sacrificing morale (he even brings back Devon!)
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Some of the things he says about his childhood are pretty horrifying, including years of being shunned and performing his own circumcision.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: With Angela who stands 5'1 next to Dwight who is 6'3.
* IdiotHoudini: There's honestly no logical explanation for why corporate didn't fire him in "Stress Relief" (other than StatusQuoIsGod, of course). First, he intentionally started a fire in the office that not ''only'' led to people damaging corporate property in the panic, but almost ''killed'' Stanley, who has a heart attack from the stress. Then, after inexplicably not being fired, he costs corporate 3,500 dollars a day or two later when he deliberately destroys a CPR dummy. And he's still not fired. Top salesman or not, you've got to expect that he'd be fired and sued immediately in RealLife.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Showing off a family heirloom holster and an antique revolver he hopes will impress Jo, Dwight displays staggering incompetence with a gun for a man with CrazySurvivalist tendencies. He accidentally discharges the firearm ''in the office''; thankfully, the damage is limited to bursting Andy's eardrum and putting a small hole in the floor.
* InsistentTerminology: Frequently insists that his coworkers be referred to as his subordinates, even when that's not really the case and this fact is pointed out to him.
* InsufferableGenius: He's a great salesman with a ''gigantic'' ego.
* {{Jerkass}}: Not exactly a friendly person. Due to his BrutalHonesty and lack of social skills, he comes across as rude.
* JerkassHasAPoint: His fire drill, while insanely dangerous, proved that he was right about how ill-prepared his coworkers were for an actual fire.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Occasionally. Though his compassion isn't seen by any characters (just the audience), its effects are obvious. Almost the entirety of his relationship with Angela shows this, especially getting fired (temporarily, though he didn't know it) due to respecting her wish to keep their love a secret.
* KarmaHoudini: See his entry on the main page under this trope.
* KavorkaMan: Despite his rather questionable fashion sense, behavior and general ethics, he easily scores a one-night-stand with one of Pam's attractive friends. Said friend even came back for more, only to find Dwight talking with another woman the following day, again quite successfully from the looks of it. And then there was that entire women's basketball team in "Night Out"...
* LawfulStupid: Treats even the most trivial rules with the utmost importance. A joint at the parking lot is enough to have him don his (voluntary) sheriff uniform and subject the entire office to interrogations and drug tests. Another time, Jim tells Dwight that wasting valuable office time is against the rules and Dwight goes as far as pee in a coke bottle at his desk and ''sneeze with his eyes open'', simply not to waste time. {{Justified}} since he is actually a [[CompetitionFreak Competition]] and ControlFreak and his extreme emphasis on the rules is as much about intentionally undermining or irritating others to advance his own agenda as it is any actual Uber-respect for the rules.
* ManipulativeBastard: On occasion.
* {{Munchkin}}: In the episode "Murder," he and everyone else in the office play a murder mystery dinner party game set in Savannah, Georgia. He draws the Butler character but immediately abandons it to play a hardass detective.
* NaziGrandpa: Repeatedly hinted that his grandfather was a German war criminal, to the point that the Shoah Foundation protested Dwight's visa to visit him in [[ArgentinaIsNaziLand Argentina]].
* NerdGlasses: Has both the glasses and the look.
* NerdInEvilsHelmet: If he has a chance to perform for the camera or make a pop culture reference it will often be something villainous, and he will invariably take it ''way'' too far- case in point, his homage to ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs'' when he pretends to be Hannibal Lecter by ''skinning the face off a resuscitation dummy and wearing it as his own!''
* NoSenseOfHumor: ''Everything'' is SeriousBusiness for him.
* NoSocialSkills: Comes with being raised on a beet farm, far away from society with a family that shunned him for two years (starting when he was ''four'' years old) for not saving excess oil from a can of tuna, just to name something. This is what he has to say about Angela:
-->'''Dwight:''' She introduced me to so many things. Pasteurized milk. Sheets. Monotheism. Presents on your birthday. Preventative medicine.
* NumberTwo: To Michael, but noticeably refused to be Deangelo's number two by season seven.
* NotSoAboveItAll: As much as he tries to avoid doing so, he does occasionally find himself involved in the antics of his fellow employees - among other things, he was a part of the Lip Dub of "Nepotism", he was one of the many people trying to see what Stanley would notice, and he was willing to help Jim and Pam trick Michael into believing he'd slept the entire day after the latter had eaten an entire chicken pot pie (mostly because he had to bring one of his horses to the vet and needed to leave early).
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Occasionally. In "Office Olympics," when Michael offers to rent his spare room to Dwight, Dwight intentionally annoys Michael into withdrawing the offer because he doesn't want to have to say no.
* TheParanoiac: Dwight tends to believe that everyone else in the office has (or even, ''should have'') just as much of a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder as he does and acts accordingly, plotting against others in the workplace and assuming that they are plotting against him; he is a security freak to the point that he doesn't let anyone walk behind him for fear of being attacked from behind, and hides numerous weapons around the office in case someone actually does; he is a ProfessionalButtKisser of the highest order yet mostly so he can abuse his power and further his own career, and ultimately plots to replace his own boss; he entertains numerous crazy fantasies and conspiracy theories whilst simultaneously pointing out the (perceived) stupidity of other peoples' more mundane ideas; and, like many paranoids, his behaviour and attitude becomes a SelfFulfillingProphecy as it just leads to almost everyone in the company disliking, undermining and pulling pranks on ''him''.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Was this until "The Coup", and then it was on and off until the Michael Scott Paper Company arc, where it seems he lost all of the respect he had for Michael.
* ProperlyParanoid: As mentioned above, Dwight keeps numerous weapons hidden around the office in the even of an assault. In "The Negotiation" when an enraged Roy enters the office and attacks Jim, Dwight stops him with the spray; saving Jim. This was lampshaded in Dwight's talking head that he's brought pepper spray to work with him every day for eight years and everyone laughed at him for it. He responds with "Who's laughing now?"
%%* PsychoForHire
* RefugeInAudacity: Oh God, yes! For example, sending the entire office into a panic by tricking them into thinking there was a fire for the sole purpose of running a realistic fire drill.
* TheRival: Jim. Andy, initially, but they become good friends in season 5.
* SeriousBusiness: Dwight treats everything in his life with absolute seriousness, especially his job.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Even more than Michael.
%%* SmugSnake
* StayInTheKitchen: Dwight feels this way about anything that "elevates" women to the status of men.
* TheStarscream: Starting from "The Coup", when Angela demands that he take over.
* {{Tsundere}}: To Angela.
* UglyGuyHotWife: He's quite average and a bit dorky-looking compared to his later wife the petite, pretty blonde Angela.
* UltimateJobSecurity: He even ''fired a gun in the office'', and the worst punishment he got was being barred from the Regional Manager position, and Jo even lifted ''that'' when she saw [[{{Determinator}} how dedicated he was to getting the job]]. The fact that he owns the building the office is located in adds into the situation. Even earlier, in season 5, he deliberately started a fire and blocked all the exits (except for one) and all he had as punishment was to get everyone to sign a piece of paper (which he tricks everybody into doing).
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: Back and forth with Angela.
* WorthyOpponent: With Jim.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Dwight treats real life as if it were a different genre of fiction. He treats the threat of layoffs as if he were participating in a competitive reality TV show like Survivor, keeps a variety of weapons in strategic hiding places throughout the office as though violent attacks were imminent, and at one point describes a detailed robbery plan that would be Genre Savvy if he existed in a crime thriller.
* YesMan: To Michael in the first seasons. This stems from a mix of [[HeroWorshipper Hero Worship]] and a desire for authority, which he thinks being Michael's YesMan gives him.
* YouAreInCommandNow: He's been given command of the office a few times (though none of them have stuck), such as when Michael left for the New York job and when Michael leaves for good but is almost immediately removed because of the aforementioned gun incident and two years later the new CEO David Wallace gave him another chance by promoting him after Andy's departure, and this time Dwight didn't screw it up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:James Duncan "Jim" Halpert]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/08d2pfa35tzx3at2_6911.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Right now this is just a job. If I advance any higher in this company, then this would be my career. And well, if this were my career I'd have to throw myself in front of a train."'']]
->Played by: Creator/JohnKrasinski
->Seasons: 1-9

Sales Representative/Co-Regional Manager/Assistant to the Regional Manager/Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Tim Canterbury.
----
* TheAce: One of the best salesmen in the company, a ChickMagnet to the point that he's arguably the most handsome man in the office, gets away with ''every'' prank he pulls, and gets the girl of his dreams. Jim is likely the most conventionally successful person in the office.
* {{Adorkable}}: More outgoing and charismatic than Pam, but still shown to be lacking in a real social life.
* AudienceSurrogate: Jim is the one who most frequently reacts to the insanity around him, mostly by throwing {{Aside Glance}}s as the camera.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: He loves messing with Dwight for his own amusement but he ultimately sees Dwight as a friend and will look out for Dwight's best interests. Like when he physically fought Dwight to prevent him from going into a meeting where he'd be scapegoated and fired and putting together the ultimate bachelor party so that Dwight can make peace with Kevin and stepping aside so that [[spoiler: Dwight can have Michael as his best man]].
* BrilliantButLazy: As noted by Pam in "Office Olympics", when Jim gets excited by something, he really gets into it and does an amazing job. Sadly, he works at Dunder Mifflin Scranton, so that doesn't happen often.
-->'''Jim:''' Right now, this is my job. If I advance any higher, this becomes my career. And if this is my career...I would have to throw myself in front of a train.
* ButtMonkey: After getting with Pam, Jim's awkward moments are played up. He's forced to confront Karen after getting suckered into a prank that backfired. He makes a fool of himself while trying to discuss "Angela's Ashes" with Pam's "Finer Things Club". His attempts at leadership expose his similarities to Michael and make his co-workers turn against him. He makes a bad first impression on Michael's new boss. He accidentally reveals that Pam got pregnant out of wedlock in front of her conservative grandmother. Then there's the snowball fight...
* ChickMagnet: There's Pam, of course, but he also dated with [[Creator/AmyAdams Katy]], Brenda, and Karen, who even went from "what's up with that guy?" to crushing on him in one episode. There's also Cathy, who unsuccessfully tries to steal him from Pam, and all the other women in the office admitted that, if they had to do it with someone, they would pick Jim.
* CoolLoser: Despite his charismatic personality, he doesn't seem to have too much of a social life outside of the office and Pam. Probably Justified though because it's clear Jim spends a lot of time working.
* DeadpanSnarker: Mostly directed towards Michael and Dwight, especially during conference room meetings.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Michael once commented on how good looking Jim is.
* TheEveryman: An easily relatable average guy.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: With Pam.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** As much as he pranks and mocks Dwight, he strongly disapproves of Michael's treatment of him, notably in "Drug Testing" and "Golden Ticket". Probably at least in part because, whereas Jim's actions are in response to Dwight's JerkAss behavior towards him, Dwight practically worships the ground Michael walks on (most of the time).
** Jim tends to avoid doing anything that involves putting Dwight in serious physical danger, causing him genuine distress, or threatening his job, and is usually among the first to step in if Dwight is in danger of any of those from another source.
** He looks after Michael in the same vein and in the end, tells him how much he actually appreciates him as his boss.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Phlegmatic.
* TheGadfly: Loves playing pranks, preferably on Dwight. It's partly to keep Dwight's ego in check, partly to alleviate the boredom of the office.
* HappilyMarried: With Pam as of early season 6. They go to a couple of rough spots, especially in season 9, but the marriage survives.
* InSeriesNickName: Andy calls him "Big Tuna" or sometimes just "Tuna" ever since he saw him eat a tuna sandwich for lunch.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Most of his pranks on Dwight are genuinely mean-spirited, but most would agree he's a nice guy.
* KarmaHoudini: Most of his pranks should have gotten him reprimanded. More than a few of them should have gotten him fired. And a small handful of them should have ended in his immediate arrest.
* LonelyAtTheTop: When he briefly became co-manager alongside Michael.
* MistakenForGay:
** Mentioned by a few characters. It doesn't help that during a game of Who Would You Do, Jim jokingly said Kevin.
** In season 3 Roy admits that he only tolerated Jim's friendship with his fiancée because he thought Jim was gay.
** Todd Packer asked Jim if he is "still queer", though that's a pretty standard remark for Packer to make towards any guy.
** Creed also seemed to think Jim was gay, despite knowing of his relationship with Pam and trying to hook Jim up with his daughter just a few seconds before.
* MyOwnPrivateIDo: On Maid of the Mist. Apparently, he got the tickets as soon as he saw the YouTube video of the wedding dance routine.
* NotSoDifferent: The occasions where he's allowed to take charge show him to be just as incompetent as Michael.
* {{Noob}}: At VideoGame/CallOfDuty. He accidentally kills his own team members, gets stuck in corners and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wants to snipe in Carentan]].
* OhCrap: Due to being the closest embodiment of NoFourthWall on the show, his tend to be most visible.
* OnlySaneMan: While Jim is probably the most likely out of the entire Dunder Mifflin staff to point out his coworker's foibles and snark about them, he is more than willing to indulge them for his own amusement whenever he's bored, which is often. In later episodes, though, Jim has shown that he's not immune from picking up the IdiotBall, especially when he's put in charge of anything, and he and Pam go through a good deal of drama in the final season due to their inability to communicate.
* ThePrankster: Though he usually limits himself to Dwight (or occasionally Andy).
* TheRival: To Dwight, though there are occasional moments where they get along.
* ScrewySquirrel: He tends to play pranks on Dwight and Andy out of boredom, but occasionally because they're driving him crazy and pranking them allows him to turn their insanity into comedy. How sympathetic Jim is depends a lot on how funny his pranks are and how much the victims did to deserve them that episode.
* SecondLove: To Pam -- she was originally engaged to Roy, but after spending time with Jim more and more, getting tired of Roy's selfishness, and having a GreenEyedEpiphany, she eventually became an OfficialCouple with Jim.
* SiblingYinYang: When his two brothers make a first appearance in "Employee Transfer", it's clear that Jim is sweet, thoughtful, and encouraging in contrast to his brothers' mean (with a minor PetTheDog moment), thoughtlessness, and discouraging attitudes.
* StraightMan: Jim in particular serves to balance the insanity that is Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Pam in early seasons. A lot of critical speculation said that its resolution would destroy the show. Its continuing strength even after dealing with the UST is a testament to the writing team. TheyDo.
* WorthyOpponent: With Dwight.
* WrongGenreSavvy: When Jim gets tranfered he starts pulling his pranks Andy, clearly expecting to start up the same dynamic that he had with Dwight. Unfortunately for Jim he didn't count on Andy having genuine anger issues.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Avoided. When Jo offers him the Regional Manager position sometime after Deangelo was incapacitated, Jim turns her down, reasoning that the Office was running smoothly enough without anyone needing to be in charge. It's also possible that he remembers the last time he had that position.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pamela Morgan "Pam" Beesly-Halpert]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pam-Beesly-pam-halpert-11437436-710-959_2777.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I just... I don't think it's many little girls' dream to be a receptionist."'']]
->Played by: Jenna Fischer
->Seasons: 1-9

Receptionist/Sales Representative/Office Administrator of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Dawn Tinsley.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: Especially in early seasons with her meek, shy personality, and the way she smiles when Jim is around.
* AmbitionIsEvil: An interesting case. Averted in the first four and a half seasons in which her artistic aspiration is treated as one of her more positive qualities but played painfully straight after that. [[spoiler: She quits her job to help Michael poach clients from her former co-workers in order to get promoted to sales. Also, see KickTheDog]]
* BerserkButton: Do not call her "Pammy". And definitely don't date her mother if your name is [[spoiler:Michael Scott]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Especially in later seasons, when she has learned to stand up for herself.
* CharacterDevelopment: She learns to gain a backbone and more honest.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder:
** Tries to be this to Michael, sometimes, but has a hard time keeping him on the ground.
** When she's not antagonizing Dwight, she is also sometimes this to him, particularly when he gets a concussion.
* DeadpanSnarker: Steadily became more of one over time.
* DudeMagnet:
** Was engaged to Roy; Jim spent three years in love with her before hooking up; Brian the boom mic guy has a crush on her and so does Toby; Andy and Ryan tried to ask her out; Kevin considers her the hottest woman in the office. Michael has also expressed his attraction to her a few times. Creed has stated his desire to see her topless. The Ben Franklin impersonator hit on her after only one hour.
** She also dated Danny Cordray (Creator/TimothyOlyphant) and Kelly's cartoonist friend. Subverted with the former who ends up dumping Pam after their second date because she is too "dorky". Also subverted with Dwight who apparently thinks she is "plain"; when he stands up for her, he tells Danny that Pam is "One of the plain hearty women of Scranton that make this city great. And so what if she doesn't wear makeup? We like her better that way!"
** Subverted when Ryan moves up to corporate and tries to be a slick New Yorker. He describes her as a seven for Scranton but maybe a six for New York.
** She is aware of this and in one episode she gets jealous when an attractive woman named Katy comes into the office and becomes the new DudeMagnet among the male co-workers, including Jim. It doesn't help that Kevin outright tells Pam "She's much prettier than you".
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: With Jim.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic
* FragileFlower: Initially.
* GirlNextDoor: A big part of her appeal is how approachable she is, combined with her obvious but understated good looks.
* TheGlassesGottaGo: A variation occurs in Season 2. When Pam lets her hair down she goes from being quietly pretty to breathtakingly gorgeous. Michael notices, which causes Pam to quickly tie her hair up again. Invoked in a Season 4 episode where Pam loses her contact lenses and comes to work wearing thick glasses. Everyone comments on how ugly she looks, except for Kevin who has a librarian fetish.
* GreenEyedEpiphany: Pam first noticed her feelings for Jim when he began a relationship with Katy, a purse saleswoman.
* HappilyMarried: With Jim as of early season 6. They go to a couple of rough spots, especially in season 9, but the marriage survives.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: For all the touting of her [[TookALevelInJerkass taking a level in jerkass]], most of the people she mistreats are those who spent the first few seasons(and often continue right up to the present) [[BlackAndGreyMorality treating her like dirt, so it's hard to feel too much sympathy for them.]]
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Her relationship with Michael. She often behaves a lot like a little sister who has to take care of her stupid big brother. Best seen when she races to the airport to hug him goodbye.
* MyOwnPrivateIDo: Breaks down shortly before the wedding as their friends and family are driving her crazy. Luckily, Jim had tickets for the boat ready.
* OddFriendship: With Michael, Dwight and Angela, though all three friendships are off-again, on-again. She is notably one of the few who will ever play along with Michael and Dwight's odder moments, such as Dwight's Recyclops act. She cheered him on while everyone else was just resignedly annoyed.
* OnlySaneWoman: Oscar labels himself, Toby, Jim, and Pam as Dunder Mifflin's 'Coalition of Reason'.
* PluckyOfficeGirl: Her dream was always to be an HappilyMarried artist, but at the start of the series, she's a receptionist who has to put up with an insane boss and co-workers that treat her like dirt, and a fiancé that hardly shows interest in her at all. A confidence boost and a new relationship at the start of season 4 turn things around for her, though. The artist thing doesn't work out, but she does end up HappilyMarried and with a job she likes.
* {{Retcon}}: Her name has been changed in canon ''three times'' without even counting going from a maiden name to taking Jim's. Her last name has been spelled differently multiple times in the first two seasons, and her middle name inexplicably changes from Jean to Morgan.
* SexySecretary: Her male co-workers regard her as one.
* ShipperOnDeck: For Andy and Erin. She also ships Oscar with Matt from the warehouse: "Yes, they're the only two gay guys I know. But they should be together."
* ShrinkingViolet: In early years.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: The reason she likes Jim is because he's funny, it's easy to talk to him, and he encourages her aspirations.
* StraightMan: Along with Jim she is this to the wackiness that emanates from various corners of the office.
* SweaterGirl: As a receptionist. Mostly cardigans (check out the photo) but starts to wear more form-fitting turtlenecks as she gains confidence. She switches to suits when she starts working in Sales. Roy also says that as part of her "artsy-fartsy" identity in high school, she wore turtlenecks.
* TeamMom: Occasionally.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Downplayed. After she learns to stand up for herself and gains more confidence, she sometimes takes it too far and starts acting smug.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: With Jim in season 3. She turned him down in favor of her marriage with Roy in season's 2 finale, but realizes this was a mistake when Jim transfers to Stamford and comes back with a girlfriend.
* {{UST}}: With Jim. [[spoiler:TheyDo]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ryan Bailey Howard]]
[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ryan-the-office--28us-29-34536_1024_878_3624.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:''"Yeah, I'm not a temp anymore. I got Jim's old job. Which means at my 10-year high school reunion, it will not say 'Ryan Howard is a temp.' It will say 'Ryan Howard is a junior sales associate at a mid-range paper supply firm.' That'll show 'em."'']]
->Played by: B.J. Novak
->Seasons: 1-8, 9[[note]]"New Guys" and "Finale"[[/note]]

Temporary Worker/Sales Representative/Vice President of Sales (Corporate) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterparts: Ricky Howard, Neil Godwin (in season 4).
----
* AdvertisedExtra: Why he is even in the opening credits along with the main characters (Michael, Dwight, Jim, Pam, and later Andy) is never made clear.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Ryan was known to be a very ambitious temp who dreams of running his own business but his laziness, arrogance, selfishness and drug addiction kept him from from succeeding and the fact that he can't commit to anything clearly doesn't help matters and while he's not completely evil, his morals constantly shifts which doesn't make him a reliable person either.
* TheArtifact: He has been part of the opening credits since the first season despite being an ultimately minor character with shifts in role and personality to justify his place there. There has been some LampshadeHanging in the seventh season about how Ryan does not even have a real position in the office anymore nor does he bother to do any work. He has been removed from the opening as of season 9, but this is because BJ Novak has left the show rather than acknowledging that Ryan's role had diminished.
* BackForTheFinale: Ryan is absent in season 9, save for returning in "Finale" when Ryan attends Dwight and Angela's wedding.
* BrilliantButLazy: Ryan started out as a man with ambition and intelligence but ends up being the laziest coworker in Dunder Mifflin.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: He started out as a generic, mild mannered rookie working his way through college but after being hired as a full time salesman, he becomes more snippy and sarcastic and is shown to be an insensitive and aloof boyfriend to Kelly since he has a hard time mastering commitment. After being promoted to VP of company sales, he became incredibly pretentious, rude, selfish and egotistical. After being fired from his VP position and forced to become a temp again, he remained pretentious, sarcastic, selfish and rude while also becoming openly uncaring about his job.
* CompositeCharacter: Although he is originally based on Ricky Howard from the UK show, when he takes Jan's place in corporate in season 4, his role and behavior become similar to that of Neil Godwin.
* CoolHat: His trilby. Where'd he get it? He'd rather not say.
* DeadpanSnarker: Often in early seasons. When Phyllis introduces her boyfriend Bob to the others:
--> '''Kevin:''' Kevin Malone.
--> '''Bob Vance:''' Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
--> '''Stanley:''' Stanley Hudson.
--> '''Bob Vance:''' Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
--> '''Ryan:''' Ryan Howard.
--> '''Bob Vance:''' Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
--> '''Ryan:''' What line of work you in, Bob?
* DidntThinkThisThrough: He was clearly desperate to make the website work, both because it was his brainchild and because if it failed, his job would have been on the line. But telling everyone to take the sales they made through their clients personally and credit them to the website as well (to make it look like the website was working) wouldn't have fooled anyone for more than a month at most. As soon as an accountant tried to reconcile sales figures with accounts receivable, the jig would have been up.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: {{Lampshaded}}. Ryan confirms Angela's boyfriend is gay because he liked Ryan's pictures on facebook. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny At three in the morning.]] Not to mention Michael's man crush on him.
* EveryoneHasStandards: At one point, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Creed]] asked for his help in setting up a blog. He instead set up a Word document disguised as a blog, to "[[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow protect the world from being exposed to Creed's brain]]". He describes the contents as being "[[YouDoNotWantToKnow pretty shocking]], [[TooSpicyForYogSogoth even for the Internet]]."
%%* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor
* FeigningIntelligence: As Regional VP, he turns out not so competent or confident in his position, and the use of "business buzzwords" doesn't hide it.
* {{Foil}}: To Michael. Both were put in management positions they were completely unsuited for. But while the dimwitted Michael attempted to make up for his shortcomings by being overly friendly towards his employees, the brainy Ryan became an complete jerk who was willing to break the law to hide his failures.
%%* FreakOut
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: A DownplayedTrope for him since not much focus is put on his placement in the social dynamics of the office but its pretty clear that pretty much no one in the office cares at all for him. Only Michael and Kelly want to spend time with him and even they get fed up with how much of a {{Jerkass}} he is.
* TheGenericGuy: During the first two seasons his defining characteristic was being TheNewGuy. He finally got more focus starting in Season 3.
* GoingNative: Ryan was one of the most sane people in the beginning of the show; As of season 6, he has his own "quirks" like everyone else, probably from just accepting being stuck in the office for his life. His quirks mostly involves him being inconsistent with his morals, interests, fashion and personality which makes him a bit of a erratic person.
* GoodHairEvilHair: He grows a BeardOfEvil after being promoted.
* HeyYou: In the early seasons, a lot of his co-workers just called him "Temp" or "the Temp".
* HiddenDepths: Apparently he is quite the poet. In "Angry Andy" when Kelly gets a new boyfriend, he is jealous and writes a poem about her. He refuses to read it when Pam asks him to, however she and Jim dig it out of the trash and upon reading it start crying.
* {{Hipster}}: He has settled into this characterization starting in the sixth season.
* InformedAttractiveness: Ryan as "hottest in the office." It's mostly Michael and Kelly's crushes on him that inform this, and Ryan himself.
* InsufferableGenius: Ryan is undeniably very smart and can be a little arrogant and pretentious about it.
* ItsNotPornItsArt: Ryan's photography.
%%* ItsAllAboutMe
* {{Jerkass}}: Simply keeping to himself and avoiding attention from his co-workers, he stops coming off as shy by season 3. Turned into a complete douchebag the next season. Now he doesn't hold back and is openly sarcastic. He goes from a contemptuous, disdainful and condescending human being to a complete amoral monster who poisons his own son Drake with strawberries (which Drake is allergic to) and abandons him to continue his unhealthy relationship with Kelly.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** He's not wrong on how Michael's behavior is wildly inappropriate.
** Ryan had every right to be mad at Kelly for lying about being pregnant just to go on a date with him.
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Throughout the first two seasons he would talk about the things he had learned in business school, suggesting that he was knowledgeable in the field than his older co-workers. However, it soon becomes exceedingly clear despite his smarts, he has no idea what he's doing as he is a failure as a salesman and his website fails to attract any customers.
* LonersAreFreaks: Ryan is generally aloof and antisocial and he's not the most popular coworker due to his smugness, shadiness and pretentious attitude.
* ManipulativeBastard: On occasion when he finds the opportunity that benefits him.
* ManChild: Not as blatant as Michael, but Ryan's temperament and personality is comparable to that of a teenager's.
%%* {{Narcissist}}
* NerdGlasses: Ryan starts wearing big thick rimmed glasses after they started becoming trendy.
* OnlySaneMan: In early seasons.
* PointyHairedBoss: In season 4. He tries to cover it up with excessive use of office buzz words and hip terminology, but he obviously has no idea what he is doing.
* PutOnABus: Left the office to pursue Kelly in season 9.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Ryan and Kelly. He was an aloof and snarky temp who is one of the smartest characters, she was a ditzy and bubbly chatterbox.
* SmallNameBigEgo: One attribute he's picked up from Michael.
%%* SmugSnake
* TookALevelInJerkass: In season 4. Ryan's morality gets more and more questionable as the show develops.
* TwoFirstNames: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
* WhatExactlyIsHisJob: His positions at the office were clearly shown throughout the first five seasons, but in the sixth season he phased into having no clearly indicated position in the office. The seventh season episode 'The Inner Circle' lampshades this and has him temporarily pretend to be Kelly's supervisor for Deangelo to give the appearance that he actually does work at the office. What's more, Jim eventually exiles him to the supply closet and that's where he stays for the rest of his run on the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Andrew Baines "Andy" Bernard]]
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/andy-bernard1_7828.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:''"I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them."'']]
->Played by: Creator/EdHelms
->Seasons: 3-9

Sales Representative/Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: After getting some positive online comments in regard to his banjo playing in the documentary promos, he decides to quit and become a performer.
* {{Adorkable}}: After he TookALevelInKindness he becomes more endearing and well-meaning, while still being very eccentric and naive.
* AmbiguouslyBi: In "Gossip", he's shown to be quite unsure about being straight, to the point of being conflicted on believing or not the false rumor that he was gay, and genuinely unsure about whether he would reject Brad Pitt.
* AmusingInjuries: He rips his scrotum while trying to do a split at the night before [[spoiler:Jim and Pam's]] wedding. This is PlayedForLaughs, of course.
* BerserkButton: In the earlier seasons he ''really'' doesn't like pranks.
--> "I need to know who put my calculator in Jell-O, or I'm gonna lose my ''freaking mind!''"
--> "A lot of people here for some reason think it's funny to steal someone's personal property and hide it from them. ''Here's a little newsflash!'' ''It's not funny!'' In fact, it's pretty ''freakin' unfunny!'' [[BigOMG Oh, my GOD!]] ''[punches a hole in the wall]''"
* BreakoutCharacter: His role gets bigger and bigger as the series progresses, even resulting in a PromotionToOpeningTitles in mid-Season 6.
* ButtMonkey: Jim's cell phone prank, getting marooned on Lake Scranton, [[InstantSoprano tearing his scrotum while dancing]], falling neatly into an open box while [[LeParkour parkour]]-ing, getting sunburnt while sailing to the Bahamas his second day on the water, and finally, being made into a meme.
* CannotSpitItOut: With Erin. [[spoiler: Though lately, it seems that he's gotten over her.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: After going through Anger Management, he faces some pretty big VillainDecay and is now one the nicest people in the office.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Even for an Ivy League graduate selling paper in a small Rust Belt city right behind the Poconos.
* CompetitionFreak: Both him and Dwight have this as one of their defining traits.
* DerailingLoveInterests: Bizarrely, despite having earlier put Gabe through this so Andy could end up with Erin, Season 9 pulls this with ''Andy'' so that Erin could be paired up with new character Pete instead.
* TheDilbertPrinciple: Was promoted to Regional Manager between Seasons 7 and 8 despite being repeatedly shown to be the worst salesman among the cast. A rare positive example in that he seems to be much more competent as a manager than a salesman (pre-Season 9, anyway).
%%* FailureKnight
* {{Fratbro}}: Andy was a former Frat Bro at Cornell and was in an a capella group. He often gives his co-workers silly nick names and even has several of his own ("Nard Dog" being the most common). It seems he was pretty popular at college but not so much in the workplace.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: There are points where he's even less liked than Dwight. Fitting considering that he's just as annoying and bizarre but lacks Dwight's business acumen.
* HollywoodToneDeaf: Throughout the series Andy sings songs clearly not meant for his vocal range, including "Zombie" by the Cranberries, "Stayin' Alive" by The Beegees and "Closing Time" by Semisonic. His singing of "Zombie" is especially notable as it ultimately led Jim to play the prank on him that caused him to have an angry outburst, putting him in anger management and ultimately contributing to his VillainDecay.
* HotBlooded: Until he goes to anger management. Though, once he gets pushed over the edge, his anger issues resurface.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Pre-anger management and much of Season 9.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: By a little girl no less in "Test The Store". He attempts to obscure the detail about his black eye...until the mother comes by forcing her daughter to apologize. He later gets another black eye after Kelly accidentally punches him. Toby is sympathetic, heavily implying he was abused by his ex wife.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He was initially a ManipulativeBastard, but after going to Anger Management he TookALevelInKindness. Come Season 9, with Andy getting accustomed to being the new boss, Andy TookALevelInJerkass again.
* ManipulativeBastard: Initially. At least successfully around Michael, maybe Josh from the Stanford branch.
* MemeticMutation: Becomes a rather unflattering one in-universe. By the events of "Finale", he's made peace with it, and even managed to make it work for him a bit.
* TheNicknamer: Consistently calls Jim "Big Tuna" (or simply "Tuna") after seeing him eat a tuna sandwich on his first day at Stamford. He likes to refer to himself as "Nard Dog") and calls Pam "Pama-lama-ding-dong" when he flirts with her. He also called Ryan "Big Turkey", presumably for the same reason. In season 9, he also calls Pete "Plop", because he supposedly defecates a lot.
* NotAsYouKnowThem:
** Changed quite radically between the 8th and 9th seasons, into a more confident and assertive [[TookALevelInJerkass but much less sensitive and likable]] figure. Notably he became ''much'' more hostile to Nellie in part to make her more sympathetic.
** A lesser, but still notable, example is that, in early Season 8, Andy proved that, while he was still naive as a boss, he was willing to learn and fully capable of handling completely unreasonable circumstances (like being demanded to double profits at the drop of a hat, or having the entire warehouse staff quit at once and having to deal with Darryl being completely uncooperative about resolving the situation). In Season 9, everyone seems to start treating Andy like a complete imbecile near the level of Michael Scott.
* OddFriendship: With Darryl.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In mid-Season 6, thanks to the trope below and Ed Helms having a starring role in a [[Film/TheHangover blockbuster comedy.]]
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: With Erin. They ultimately break up permanently in the final season.
* SmallNameBigEgo: At first. After going to anger management, his confidence drops to practically nil.
* TeenyWeenie: According to Meredith in "Sex Ed" and "Search Committee".
* TookALevelInJerkass: In the final season. [[spoiler:Managed to get his Kindness back by the time "Finale" rolls around.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: Post-anger management. He's keeping his temper under control.
* TwoFirstNames: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
* TheUnfavorite: Especially evident when Andy's parents and little brother attend his garden party. Foreshadowed way before that when he explains that he was originally named Walter Jr. but was renamed Andrew because his younger brother "fit the name better".
* WellDoneSonGuy: Really wanted to impress his family with being new manager of Dunder-Mifflin in a garden party. He doesn't get it from his father. He seems to get over this when his father single-handedly ruined the Bernard family in a single night and left him to pick up the pieces, leaving Andy with zero concern with his father or what he thinks. Unfortunately, this also added to Andy's season-wide descent into a JerkAss, making it debatable as to whether this really was good for him.
* WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant: Is a trust-fund baby from a wealthy New England family.
* YesMan: At first. After anger management, his friendliness with Michael becomes more due to being a genuine nice guy than this trope.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Andy's the new official manager of Dunder-Mifflin at the start of s8, though this doesn't last for long.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bob "Robert California" Kazamakis]]
[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robert_california.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:150:''"I'm the [bleep] lizard king."'']]
->Played by: Creator/JamesSpader
->Seasons: 7[[note]]"Search Committee"[[/note]]-8

Chief Executive Officer of Sabre and Dunder Mifflin, replacing Jo.
----
* AboveTheInfluence: In "Christmas Wishes", it seemed for awhile that he would try to take advantage of Erin's drunkenness when he offered to take her home, considering the divorce he was going through, a few comments he made to her, and the fact that he convinced her to drink in the first place. But no, he drops her off, gives her some advice, and leaves, much to the relief of Andy, who followed them suspecting the same thing.
* TheAlcoholic: Somewhat. It isn't a normal part of his personality, but he definitely has his episodes. The primary one was in "Turf War", where he comes into the office hungover, and it is explicitly mentioned that he got drunk the night before out of depression about his divorce, and among other things, shut down another branch and tried to hit on Nellie.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Especially played up in the 8th season finale, Spader's last episode as a regular. He hijacks Oscar's "It gets better" video, drinks a coconut and penis-flavored energy drink (lamenting the fact that they added coconut), and kisses Andy on the lips.
* AndStarring: Spader gets an "And James Spader" credit as of Season 8.
* CharmPerson: See ManipulativeBastard
* CloudCuckoolander: In a different way from other characters on the show. He seems to genuinely know what he's doing most of the time, but he has a tendency to go off on weird tangents during any conversations he has with other characters.
%%* CreepyMonotone
* FanOfTheUnderdog: Not so much one himself, but he does invoke this trope in his making Andy Regional Manager, claiming that it works on the "unexceptional".
* {{Foil}}: To both Michael and Andy. While Michael was [[BunnyEarsLawyer a secretly-brilliant yet socially awkward boss]] and Andy is emotional and submissive, Robert is a genius who makes bad decisions and maintains a stoic yet dominant demeanour.
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: He managed to talk Jo - previously established as far from stupid herself - into giving him ''her'' job.]] Jim is both amazed and quietly terrified by this.
* PointyHairedBoss: Seemed to ping-pong in and out of this trope for awhile, DependingOnTheWriter. After his divorce with his wife, however, he dove headlong into this trope, making a series of bizarre decisions that drove Sabre into the ground, Dunder-Mifflin only surviving due to the intervention of Andy and David Wallace.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In season 8.
* PutOnABus: In the season 8 finale, he convinces David Wallace to give him a new job, "helping" undereducated Eastern European high school gymnasts. We won't be seeing him again, but dear, oh dear, those poor gymnasts...
* SlaveToPR: It doesn't come up much, but some of his decisions are apparently tied to Jo's legacy. Notably, despite not believing that the retail store idea would work, he had to go along with it anyway since Jo endorsed it (though he got around that by claiming that one of the employees in charge of the project botched the execution).
* {{Slimeball}}: While he oscillates between being a PointyHairedBoss and ManipulativeBastard, he regards almost everything in terms of sex. Whenever he talks to his staff one-on-one, they usually go away with a vague feeling that they've somehow been sexually harassed regardless of the topic of discussion. He even tries to start a naked pool orgy at a party he hosts at his house, much to the extreme discomfort of the guests who all work for him.
--> ''Robert California: There is only sex. Everything is sex. Do you understand that what I'm telling you is a universal truth?''
[[/folder]]

!Secondary Characters

[[folder:Angela Noelle Martin-Schrute]]
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Angela_Kinsey_8684.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:''"I actually look forward to performance reviews. I did the youth beauty pageant circuit, and I enjoyed that quite a bit. I really enjoy being judged. I believe I hold up very well to even severe scrutiny."'']]
->Played by: Angela Kinsey
->Seasons: 1-9

Senior Accountant of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Emma.
----
* AffectionateNickname: Called "monkey" by Dwight.
* TheBeard: Angela is unknowingly this to the state senator she married.
* BerserkButton: Hurting her cats, making fun of her height, or calling Dwight a freak.
* BreakTheHaughty: Much of season nine has been this for her, from finding out about Oscar and her husband to moving into a squalid studio apartment and losing her cats. Things end happily for a noticeably sweeter Angela with her [[spoiler: marriage to Dwight]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Greatly accelerated in the final season. Between the season HumiliationConga and the TimeSkip of the last episode, Angela goes from a bitchy, bigoted, arrogant shrew incapable of maintaining any sort of healthy relationship through most of the show to a much more tolerant and open minded HappilyMarried woman.
* ControlFreak: Particularly when it involves the Party Planning Committee.
* CrazyCatLady: It's heartbreaking to learn she loses most of her cats when you remember how much love she's expressed towards them. Unusually for this type of character, her marriage actually ''contributes'' to this, since a lot of the wedding gifts she receives are cats.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Big time in the finale, to the point where she seems to have become a completely different character.
* DramaticIrony: After all her open despising of homosexuals, she ends up unwittingly marrying one, and after the divorce and subsequent disgrace she ends up living with Oscar, for a LiteralMetaphor bonus, she lives in his closet, which he lampshades. This is a huge part of the reason she [[CharacterDevelopment breaks out of her]] [[DefrostingIceQueen ice queen]] [[TheFundamentalist bigot]] personality.
* EvilIsPetty: She hasn't spoken to her sister, whom she says was her best friend, in sixteen years over an arguement she can't even remember. And She's extremely proud of that. This is gone by the finale, where we find out she chose a Latino homosexual with whom her husband slept with as godfather of her child.
* TheFundamentalist: She seems to be something of a conservative, although hypocritical, Christian.
* HappilyMarried: With Dwight at the end.
* HeightAngst: She's a little insecure about her height.
* HiddenDepths: Her extreme bitchiness and high-maintenance-ness nothwistanding, she does have an understanding about the class a ProperLady needs to have. When Dwight demands that she just hose his dirty aunt (said aunt also wants that) for her bath, she silences both of them, promising that she would treat the aunt like a lady she is. Later it is shown that she carefully braids Dwight's aunt, who is now properly bathed and dressed.
* HolierThanThou: Believes herself to be morally superior than the others.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Dwight is 6"3" and she is 5"1".
* HumiliationConga: In the final season, Angela learns her husband is not just gay, but cheating on her with her co-worker and frenemy, Oscar, and they separate. Without the Senator's money, she is forced to move into a studio apartment with her young son. Then, after a neighbor complains, two "sackfuls" of cats are taken from her, she is evicted from her studio apartment, and she has roughly $25 in her bank account.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Practically her defining trait. She's capable being incredibly judgmental towards anyone ''but'' herself, it seems.
** In many talking head interviews, she refers to Jan and even Pam as "whores", often for no other reason than wearing clothing that Angela has decided is inappropriate. Clothing that is often less revealing than attire that Angela herself has worn.
** She put out a hit on her husband's lover. Despite the fact that she repeatedly cheated on ''both'' her fiancés with little to no hesitation, and even had some indiscretions during her marriage. This, from a {{Fundamentalist}}.
* IntrovertedCatPerson: She isn't a very sociable person, but clearly loves cats.
* IronicName: In spite of her name, Angela is one of the most abrasive and unpleasant people in the office.
* {{Jerkass}}: She's cold, condescending, and judgmental.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Pettiness aside, she is often right about stuff Michael does, like how Movie Monday might get them into trouble with Jan (it does) and how inappropriate Kama Sutra was for the workplace, or her frustration with Phyllis failing to complete simple tasks for one of the Christmas parties.
* LadyMacbeth: Towards Dwight during "The Coup"
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Compare close-minded and bigoted Angela Martin with pleasant and worldly Angela Kinsey who lived in Indonesia for 12 years.
* TheNapoleon: She is quite insecure about being short. Michael's jokes don't help.
* NoSenseOfHumour: Has little sense of humour and almost never smiles or expresses happiness.
* PerpetualFrowner: Though on occasion she does smile - mostly when it involves Dwight.
* PetTheDog: She has her moments that show she's not completely heartless.
** Her relationships with her cats is a literal one.
** She comforts Kevin when he is undergoing testing for skin cancer and bluntly tells Michael that Kevin's test is more important that his birthday.
** Asking Oscar to be part of the Party Planning Committee, and telling him it's not because he's gay.
** Reassuring Kelly with a pat on the hand and rare smile when Ryan was taken under Dwight's wing.
** Invites Pam to go out for coffee with her after Dwight hand-delivered her forgotten tax forms to Corporate.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: With Dwight.
* SheCleansUpNicely: She looks ''very'' nice in her HelloNurse costume in one Halloween episode.
%%* SmugSnake
* SourPrudes: Despite being self-righteous, she has an affair with Dwight while engaged to Andy, making her a full-fledged StrawHypocrite.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: She and Dwight.
* TookALevelInKindness: From Season 2 and after she slowly develops into a more open-minded, nicer person, but it really hits after her TraumaCongaLine.
* {{Tsundere}}: To Dwight, though he's arguably more of one to her.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: Back and forth with Dwight.
* YourCheatingHeart: She has an affair with Dwight while engaged to Andy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kevin Jaye Malone]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kevin-office_6939.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:''"I just want to lie on the beach and eat hot dogs. That's all I've ever wanted."'']]
->Played by: Brian Baumgartner
->Seasons: 1-9

Accountant of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Keith Bishop.
----
* AdaptationalHeroism: He is far kinder and more caring than his UK counterpart Keith.
* BigEater: When Pam was pregnant, they start eating together because they get hungry at the same times. But not all meals. Just second breakfast, lunch, second lunch, and first dinner.
* BrutalHonesty: In the 9th season, Kevin's social skills lessen and he noticeably becomes more blunt with his observations such as telling Senator Lipton that he's a terrible person for using Oscar and Angela and telling Andy that he isn't cut out to be a famous actor.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Occasionally.
%%* DullSurprise
* DumbAndDrummer: Inverted. Keven's stupidity is shown mostly through his incompetence at his day job, and the fact that he's also a drummer is an indication that he does at least have some skills.
* DumbassHasAPoint: Despite the TookALevelInDumbass described below, Kevin regularly drops insightful and astute comments on what's happening in the office. Happens frequently in seasons 8 and 9.
* FatIdiot: Occasionally.
* TheGamblingAddict: He's been in financial trouble because of his compulsive gambling and seeks to save himself by gambling even more.
* GeniusDitz: While he's not all that bright and a terrible accountant, he's a talented singer, musician, cook, and basketball player. And he can do relatively impressive math in his head... so long as pies are involved. [[spoiler: He also ends up being very successful as a bar owner after he gets fired. Maybe Dwight firing him was better for him in the long run]].
* HasAType: While he lusts after any woman he considers "hot", he especially thinks women wearing glasses are hot.
* IdiotSavant: Everyone openly acknowledges that he is a poor accountant and is terrible with numbers. Yet, he can do fairly complex math if the final answer involves pies. He is also a gifted athlete and poker player.
-->'''Jim:''' Let's go, driver! Laverne packs up the pie wagon at five...so...''[makes a "let's roll" gesture]''\\
'''Kevin:''' At five? That's only 20 minutes from now! The pie shop is 13 miles away. So at 55 miles an hour, that just gives us five minutes to spare!\\
'''Angela:''' So wait, when ''pies'' are involved you can ''suddenly'' do math in your head?\\
'''Oscar:''' Hold on, Kevin. How much is 19,154 pies divided by 61 pies?\\
'''Kevin:''' 314 pies!\\
'''Oscar:''' What if it were salads?\\
'''Kevin:''' Well...it's the...carry the four...and the...it doesn't work!
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Surprisingly, one of the few aversions to the KarmaHoudini status most of the employees at Dunder Mifflin have; in the finale, [[spoiler: when Dwight takes over, he fires Kevin; downplayed because the reason Dwight fires him isn't because of the insider trading Kevin has admitted to, the below mentioned PornStash, or the sexual remarks he's made about his female coworkers; it was simply because Kevin was an inefficient worker[[note]]although it's worth noting that Dwight would've been a {{Hypocrite}} had he fired Kevin for any of the aforementioned reasons, considering that Dwight is ''worse'' than Kevin, only escaping punishment because of how good of a salesman he was[[/note]]]].
* TheLoad: To the accounting department. In his defense, he had originally planned on working in ''the warehouse'', not the accounting department, but [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Michael]] apparently saw potential in him.
* ManChild: He's immature and has a childish sense of humor.
* PornStash: Keeps one in the office. A minor running gag is him having an OhCrap moment whenever he realizes that someone might be able to see what's on his computer.
* SecretKeeper: Of the relationship between Oscar and Senator Lipton. Even he himself doesn't think he can actually keep the secret, but he somehow does.
%%* SweetTooth
* TookALevelInDumbass: The longer the show's on the air, the dumber he gets. It's hard to reconcile the Kevin of recent seasons as being the same character revealed to have won a World Series of Poker bracelet in season two.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Cup Noodles and M&M's.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oscar Juan Paul Martinez]]
[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oscar_9541.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:333:''"I love a good quitting story. It makes me feel like I have control over my own life. Gives me hope. Maybe I will have one of my own someday."'']]
->Played by: Oscar Nunez
->Seasons: 1-9

Accountant/Chief Accountant of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* DeadpanSnarker: Best example on the show next to Stanley.
* {{Hipster}}: Not as blatant about it as Ryan, but it's there.
* IdiotBall: Grabs it pretty hard in "Doomsday." First of all, he thinks it's a good idea to test to see if Dwight's accountability booster is a real threat by making a mistake on purpose. Purposely making a mistake to see if something bad will happen is never a smart idea, especially since he should have figured the device would work considering how thorough Dwight is. After that, during the course of the day, he refuses to use a calculator in his work, saying that when the stakes are high, the only computer he trusts is his brain. This is the exact opposite of what a smart person should do in a professional context, and it ultimately leads to him making the final mistake that sets off Dwight's device.
* InsufferableGenius: He can get ''really'' obnoxious when he has something he wants to get across, notably in "China", "Costume Contest", and any time Angela's talking about her boyfriend. Hence his...
* InSeriesNickName: Called "Mr. Actually" by the office because of know-it-all tendencies and correcting people by starting with "Actually..."
* InsistentTerminology: Seems oddly obsessed with correcting Angela when she refers to her boyfriend as a Senator, as he's always quick to chime in with a "State Senator", to the point that he seemed conflicted when Angela gets it right on her own. He notably stops doing it once he starts an affair with him
* {{Irony}}: Since the introduction of State Senator Lipton as a character, Oscar consistently mocked the position whenever it came up. In "Finale", Oscar is running for State Senator himself.
* ManipulativeBastard: In The Surplus.
* NotSoAboveItAll:
** While it is crass and insensitive of Michael to single him out for being gay, this in no way excuses the fact that Oscar is a real asshole sometimes to his officemates (in particular when he and his partner publicly savage Pam's art)
** He broke open a car window when he thought it would help free a dog, only to patch it back up and walk away when he realized that he [[DidntThinkThisThrough hadn't thought of what he was actually going to do with the dog]].
* OnlySaneMan: Every character but Michael is this to some degree, but while other characters have some degree of hysteria, Oscar remains a representative of the levelheaded average guy.
* SecretRelationship: In season 9, he begins one of these with Senator Lipton.
* SmallNameBigEgo: While he is smart, Oscar has a tendency to overestimate himself sometimes, such as in "China", where he loudly decries the figures Michael cites on cities in China and the US, only to be proven wrong, and in "Doomsday", where he tries to cut down on mistakes by doing the math in his head, and screws it up almost immediately.
* StraightGay: Although some of his interests and comments subvert this, such as, according to Oscar himself, his membership in the Finer Things Club.
* StraightMan: Refers to himself as part of the "Coalition for Reason", alongside Toby, Pam, and Jim.
* TwoferTokenMinority: Occasionally pointed out by Michael or Dwight.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Phyllis Margaret Lapin-Vance]]
[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phyllis_1_7152.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:275:''"Oh, I don't think it's blackmail. Angela just does what I ask her to do so I won't tell everyone that she's cheating on Andy with Dwight. I think for it to be blackmail, there would have to be a formal letter."'']]
->Played by: Phyllis Smith
->Seasons: 1-9

Sales Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AscendedExtra: She was originally a casting assistant who was rewarded with a part after making a good impression at a read-through.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She's a nice enough lady, but she's not above blackmailing people like Angela when she's annoyed enough. Granted, it's [[HolierThanThou Ang]][[{{Jerkass}} ela]], so it's not entirely undeserved either.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: When she's off the clock, she averts this for the most part. However, she is a cunning stone cold bitch when it comes to staking a claim. After all, she works in sales.
* ButtMonkey: In the early seasons.
%%* TheDogBitesBack
* FemaleMisogynist: Does '''not''' want the new manager to be a woman. This is TruthInTelevision, as many studies show that women would generally rather not work for a female boss.
* IWasQuiteALooker: She used to be a professional cheerleader.
* HappilyMarried: To Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
* NiceGirl: Generally speaking, she's a sweet lady who's happily married, and is overall one of the most magnanimous people at Dunder Mifflin to her colleagues unless she's pushed: it's telling that a gift she makes for Michael is an oven mitt she lovingly knitted for him by hand. She does have her limits though: See BewareTheNiceOnes and BitchInSheepsClothing.
* OddFriendship: With Dwight, particularly in several Season 5 episodes.
* ShrinkingViolet: In early years.
* WeddingDay: Season 3.
* YoungerThanSheLooks: Michael refers to her as being the "Office Grandma" despite the fact that [[HypocriticalHumor they're the same age,]] and went to high school together.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stanley James Hudson]]
[[quoteright:174:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OFFICE_SUPERLATIVES_7_7849.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:174:''"It's true. Around this office in the past I have been a little abrupt with people. But the doctor said, if I can't find a new way to relate more positively to my surroundings, I'm going to die." [...] I'm going to die."'']]
->Played by: Leslie David Baker
->Seasons: 1-9

Sales Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Malcolm.
----
* BlackBestFriend: This is what ''Michael'' sees him as. But no. Not at all.
* BerserkButton:
** Do not pretend to fire him.
** Michael in general. Especially when it's revealed that Stanley's stress level goes up just by Michael coming near him.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Have you lost your mind?"
* TheComicallySerious: Part of his character is his reactions to the wacky hijinx around them.
* DeadpanSnarker: Stanley's primary role in the office, especially towards Michael.
* EnemyMine: He doesn't make it a secret that he doesn't like Michael but the moment someone cuts in line on Pretzel Day, they team up and jeer at them until they go away.
* FormerTeenRebel: Was a civil rights activist in his youth.
* GrumpyBear: Oh yes, he’s quite the grouch.
* HiddenDepths: He actually knows how to have fun, as we see in the Florida story arc.
* {{Jerkass}}: His grumpiness and abruptness with people makes him this. There's also the fact that he's cheated on his wife several times.
* JerkassHasAPoint: His [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech brutal teardown]] of Michael in "Did I Stutter?' is understanding given the fact that Michael is inappropriate with the staff and acts extremely childish.
* ManipulativeEditing: In "Finale", Phyllis claims that Stanley is a much nicer guy than the documentary made him look, suggesting this took place. The fact that he was much nicer and more tolerant in earlier seasons lends some credence to this.
* NotSoStoic: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], as he isn’t so much a {{Stoic}} as he was a man who just did not give a shit, but there were some times where he most certainly did give a shit.
** As mentioned below, he flipped out at Ryan when he thought the latter was flirting with his daughter.
** He was not happy when Michael pretended to fire him in ‘Did I Stutter’.
** Stanley lit up real good when Michael spread the word that the former was having an affair. Just look at how enraged he is while smashing Michael’s car.
* PapaWolf: He goes ''ballistic'' when he thinks Ryan is having some funny business with his daughter.
* PerpetualFrowner: He ''very'' rarely ever smiles.
* RaceLift: Malcolm, his counterpart in the British version, is a white man.
* SeriousBusiness: Pretzel Day. It's the only time he's happy to go to work.
* ScaryBlackMan: When his temper gets pushed to its limits. Also notable when he thought Ryan was making advances on his [[PapaWolf daughter.]]
* SparedByTheAdaptation: A nonlethal example. His UK counterpart Malcolm is made redundant, whereas Devon White, instead of Stanley, is the one who gets downsized.
%%* StraightMan
* TokenMinority: He’s the token African-American in the workplace until Darryl is promoted to Warehouser Supervisor and thus gets Jim’s old office.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He loves Pretzel Day.
* YourCheatingHeart: It's revealed in season 6 that he's been having an affair with his nurse for some time, a fact that Michael ends up spreading around the office. Stanley smashes up Michael's car for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meredith Elizabeth Palmer]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kate-flannery_115.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:''"Tell ya one thing, I'm not gonna be a good mom tonight."'']]
->Played by: Kate Flannery
->Seasons: 1-9

Supplier Relations Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AbhorrentAdmirer: To Jim a couple times, and to Andy at least once.
* AbsurdPhobia: One HalloweenEpisode has her reveal she's afraid of Jim.
* TheAlcoholic: Obviously.
* BaldWomen: Shaves her hair off in "Lice". Pam says she can pull it off surprisingly well.
* TheChewToy: Has a bat trapped against her head, hit by a car (resulting in a broken pelvis), sets her hair on fire, gets rabies and gets hit in the face with a football. Also, when lice is brought in to the office, everyone thinks Meredith brought them in and she shaves her hair off. [[spoiler:Pam was actually to blame.]]
%%* DrivesLikeCrazy
* EveryoneHasStandards: She won't sleep with anyone who's in a relationship.
%%* FieryRedhead
* HiddenDepths: In the finale, she reveals that she had been working on her [=PhD=] in school psychology which was never shown in the documentary.
* LadyDrunk: She can knock back a lot of booze. When Michael makes a GargleBlaster of scotch, rum, absinthe, gin, vermouth, triple sec, and two packs of Splenda during an office Christmas party, Meredith loves it. The others do try to get her to go to rehab, but she refuses, stating she's [[FunctionalAddict able to function well in spite of it]].
* ReallyGetsAround: Somehow.
* STDImmunity: Averted. She has herpes and isn't too bothered by it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Creed Rowland Bratton AKA "William Charles Schneider"]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Creed-in-The-Chair-Model-creed-bratton-1144616_1212_682_6487.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"The only difference between me and a homeless man is this job. I will do whatever it takes to survive…like I did when I was a homeless man."'']]
->Played by: Creed Bratton
->Seasons: 1-9

Quality Assurance Representative/Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AdamWesting: Creed Bratton is an exaggerated, weird version of the real Creed Bratton. Creed Bratton is a former member of the popular 1960's folk group The Grass Roots, as is his character.
* AffablyEvil: He's a very quiet, lovable, friendly and easygoing person but he's also very mysterious, duplicitous and amoral deviant/criminal.
* BiTheWay: A kinda version mentioned in the "Gay Witch Hunt" episode: "I'm not offended by homosexuality. In the 60's, I made love to many, many women. Often outdoors. In the mud, in the rain. And it's possible a man slipped in. There would be no way of knowing."
* CardCarryingVillain: more subtle, but his Halloween costumes have been {{Dracula}} and [[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker the Heath Ledger Joker]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: As shown by everything he does while on-camera. His blog (see {{Defictionalization}} below) serves to emphasize this. He's a deviant homeless man who was once a hippie and he tends to say the most disturbing things on a regular basis. His senility and ignorance of the modern world certainly doesn't help.
* CoolOldGuy: When he's not acting evil, he's actually a pretty chill guy, hanging out and playing chess with Jim while the salesmen are preparing a mutiny against a recently-returned Michael. He's also quite resourceful and a good musician.
%%* TheCorrupter
* DirtyOldMan: When one of the employees from the merger with Stamford uses a breast milking machine (in public), Creed takes a picture of her assets and sets it as his wallpaper.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Like the rest of the office[[note]]with the possible exception of Michael[[/note]], he does not like Pizza By Alfredo[[note]]whose pizza, according to Kevin, is like "eating a hot circle of garbage"[[/note]].
** A man who is normally unfazed by vulgar acts and has no problem disturbing his coworkers, is creeped out by Dwight pretending to give birth to a watermelon.
* EvilOldFolks:
** It's implied he had killed a person at some point in his life. In 'Murder', he runs away when Michael tells him that a murder was committed, unaware of the murder being just a game.
** It is implied from various clues (and a talking head in 'Crime Aid') that he made a man who stole from him disappear, and has been assuming his identity ever since.
** In 'Secret Santa', he describes himself to Phyllis-as-Santa as "really, really bad, more... ''evil'' than strictly wrong".
** In the last Halloween episode of the series, he has blood all over his clothes... and it's not a disguise.
* ForgetfulJones: Because he has a phenomenally poor memory, he seems to have a lot of trouble telling his coworkers apart and remembering their names. In one episode in Season 3, he thinks Meredith is new to the office, despite having worked with her for years.
* HiddenDepths:
** In "The Lover", when Jim plays the aria "M'appari" at volume in his office, Creed is moved to tears.
** Literally in "Gossip". One of the false rumours Michael spreads is that Creed is asthmatic.
--> '''Creed''':"Did one of you tell Stanley I had asthma? 'Cause I don't. If it gets out, they won't let me scuba. If I can't scuba, then what's this all been about? What am I working toward?"
** In the Season 7 episode "Andy's Play" Creed is seen in the theatre lobby, halfway through the second act, 'phoning in a very cogent but negative review from a reporter's notebook.
** He is very knowledgeable about Indian culture, notably Hinduism and Kama Sutra.
** In "Search Committee," he says that he likes real estate and ceramics.
** Turns out he's very good at chess.
* KarmaHoudini: He gets away with the bad things he does every time, such as taking a picture of Hannah's exposed breast while she pumped milk and used it for a screensaver.
* NoodleIncident: Tells a lot of stories that involve this.
* UltimateJobSecurity: Oh, he's come close, and rightly so, several times, it's just that he's such a crafty MagnificentBastard that he manages to worm his way out of it (often getting far more competent people fired in his place) every time.
* TheUnsmile: In "Get the Girl", when Nellie Bertram arrives in Scranton to seize control of the manager's office while Andy's gone, she tells the staff she's giving them performance reviews, and that since she doesn't know anyone they'll be evaluated "on first impressions, so I recommend smiling. It goes a long way with me." The camera pans across a dejected-looking Kevin and Phyllis...and stops on Creed, who's donning a hilarious [=UnSmile=].
* VillainTeamUp: Dwight is reluctant to ally himself with Creed in one episode, but Creed agrees before even listening to the entire proposal.
* YouAreInCommandNow: With Michael gone, Deangelo in coma, and Dwight...being Dwight, Creed - due to seniority - is appointed Acting Manager while a replacement is found. Thankfully, Pam prevented Creed from actually contacting the clients.
* WhatExactlyIsHisJob: Lampshading this is almost a running gag, and Creed himself forgets what his job is when meeting Holly. However, his job is actually Quality Assurance, and one episode ('Product Recall') has him actually dealing with the ramifications of doing his job poorly (read: not doing his job at all for an entire year).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toby Wyatt Flenderson]]
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s-THE-OFFICE-DRAMA-TOBY-large300_3879.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:260:Michael: ''"Toby is in HR which technically means he works for Corporate. So he’s really not a part of our family. Also he’s divorced so he’s really not a part of his family."'']]
->Played by: Paul Lieberstein
->Seasons: 1-9

Human Resources Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AbhorrentAdmirer: To Nellie in season 9.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Toby flips out and drops a PrecisionFStrike when he and Dwight find Darryl playing hooky. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for Toby when it turns out to be Darryl's sister.]]
* ButtMonkey: Micheal treats him like absolute dirt whenever possible. The rest of the office isn't much better.
* CannotSpitItOut: His attraction towards Pam.
* CanonForeigner: He has no UK counterpart.
* DoggedNiceGuy: Towards Pam.
* ExtremeDoormat: A complete pushover who never stands up for himself when he's insulted by Michael.
* {{Foil}}: Toby is very mature, intelligent, introverted, rational and more competent at his job as the Human Resources Representative despite the fact that he hates his job and Michael is very immature, dimwitted, extroverted, impulsive and inept at his job as the Branch Manager. The very fact that these coworkers are so different is the definite source of why they can't get along with each other.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Nellie.
* HiddenDepths:
** He is the author of a series of novels about a Gary Sue detective Chad Flenderman. No one in the office cares.
** He is also surprisingly athletic, winning the 5K in "Fun Run" with little difficulty.
** "Conflict Resolutions" shows that things in the office would be far ''worse'' if not for Toby.
** "Counseling" also shows Toby's chops at [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin counseling]].
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Becomes wracked with guilt after George Howard Skub is convicted and devotes himself to preaching his innocence. [[spoiler: He visits him in prison and is promptly strangled so hard, his vocal cords are crushed.]]
* NiceGuy: Provided that he isn't trying to sabotage Jim and Pam's relationship. He seems to have accepted that fact and moved on with his life.
* NoRespectGuy: Concerning Michael, at least. He's generally well respected by the others. Later, Jim, Andy, and Nellie get in on it.
* OnlySaneMan: Albeit an excessively hapless one.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: On occasion, he is shown to be completely apathetic towards his own job. In an episode which aired in October, Oscar mentioned that "Toby has mentally checked out since June", and Toby didn't deny it. More recently, he explicitly stated his job was a joke and he could not do anything about an inappropriate meeting.
* TheQuietOne: One of the most reserved people in the office.
* ShrinkingViolet: He's easily the most shyest and most mild-mannered person in the office. Even Pam has gotten more extroverted.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Michael sees him as this. Toby really isn't.
%%* TheStoic
* StraightMan: The straightest of all straight men. It doesn't last, but he manages it far longer than most.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tous4kk001_3111.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I don't talk trash, I talk smack. They're totally different. Trash talk is hypothetical, like: Your mom is so fat she could eat the Internet. But smack talk is happening right now. Like: You're ugly and I know it for a fact 'cause I got the evidence right here."'']]
->Played by: Creator/MindyKaling
-> Seasons: 1-9[[note]]"New Guys" and "Finale"[[/note]]

Customer Service Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''K'''elly '''K'''apoor
* AscendedExtra: Originally a member of the show's writing staff, she was pressed into service in her first appearance because the script called for Michael to be slapped by a minority.
* AsianAirhead: One of the few South Asian examples of this trope.
* AttentionWhore: As her [[http://gifthetv.tumblr.com/post/136368501044 New Year's resolution]] puts it: "Get more attention by any means necessary."
%%* BackForTheFinale
%%* BitchInSheepsClothing
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Her character changes completely after the first season, initially a very modestly dressed, quiet professional, she then was retconned into a squeeky voiced bratty child obsessed with teenage culture. [[EpilepticTrees Possibly explainable]] that in her first episode she was a new hire eager to make a good first impression, but by the time she got comfortable in the office just let her real self come out.
* ClingyJealousGirl: When it comes to Ryan.
%%* TheCutie
* DisproportionateRetribution: Sabotages Jim and Dwight's customer reviews, which affect their bonuses, because they no-showed one of her parties.
* TheDitz: A ditzy, pop-culture-obsessed chatterbox.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Rajnigandha. She apparently hates it.
* FeigningIntelligence: After attending a Minority Executive Training course she returns trying to dress and sound "smarter".
-->'''Kelly:''' ''"You could ask me, 'Kelly, what's the biggest company in the world?' and I'd be like, 'blah blah blah, blah blah blah, giving you the exact right answer."''
* GenkiGirl: Very bubbly and fast-talking.
* GossipyHens: Obsessed with celebrity gossip.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Acts "righteously" upset at Darryl when he chooses to spend time with his daughter over her, constantly lies to her boyfriends that she's pregnant, seeming to genuinely not understand why this might upset them, and let's not forget her defining moment of DisproportionateRetribution mentioned above.
* KarmaHoudini: Because it's Michael she has to answer to, he sympathizes with her side of the story and lets her off scot-free.
* MotorMouth: To the point that she admits that she doesn't even to listen to ''herself'' anymore.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted with the new receptionist Kelly in season 5. To get around this, receptionist Kelly is always referred to by her middle name, Erin.
* PutOnABus: She left the office to be with her fiancé in order to go to Miami University in Ohio.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Ryan and Kelly. He was an aloof and snarky temp who is one of the smartest characters, she was a ditzy and bubbly chatterbox.
%%* TokenMinority
* [[ManChild Woman Child]]: Downplayed. She's in her twenties but sometimes acts like she's still a teenager.
* WrongGenreSavvy: She often quotes and acts out romantic movie tropes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kelly Erin Hannon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ErinHannon_3654.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Disposable cameras are fun although it does seem wasteful and you don't ever get to see your pictures. If it's an important event that you want to remember, I recommend using a real camera. But, I don't care if I forget today."'']]
->Played by: Creator/EllieKemper
->Seasons: 5-9

Receptionist (starting in season 5) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: So lovable that the writers made her a regular.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Upon realizing Andy was engaged to Angela she goes nuts and ends up chucking a cake at him!
* BrainlessBeauty: A mild version mixed with ThePollyanna - she's very pretty and probably the nicest person in the show but she can be completely clueless, gullible and naive.
* BreakTheCutie: In "Secretary's Day." So apparently you can pretend to fire her, make fun of her behind her back, and smuggle a flock of geese into her car, but tell her that her boyfriend used to date another co-worker and you're Deader Than Dead.
* CannotSpitItOut: [[spoiler: Until recently]].
* TheChewToy: Sometimes, having her Twelve Days of Christmas "presents" pluck out her hair, scratching her face and attacking her in other ways. Also, while riding in a shopping cart, being pushed by Kelly, she falls out and hurts her leg while Kelly and Ryan make out.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: She grew up in various orphanages and hospitals before getting her receptionist job. For example, she throws away disposable cameras after using up the film roll lamenting that she will never get to see the pictures she took.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Takes over from Pam in watching over Michael. Erin actually does a better job of it sometimes because rather than trying to outright stop Michael's zaniness or encouraging it for her own amusement (like Pam did), Erin would let Michael have his eccentricities (because she's not too far removed from them herself) and only worked to guide Michael to do the right thing according to her own moral compass.
* ClingyJealousGirl: For Michael in the "Father/Daughter" way.
* TheCutie: She's not just cute but also extremely naive and innocent.
* TheDitz: Perhaps to a greater extent than Kelly as she lacks the occasional flashes of manipulative cunning Kelly shows.
* DudeMagnet: Erin attracts Andy, Dwight, Gabe, Pete, Clark, Ryan, Kevin, and her own foster brother.
* GenkiGirl: She's very cheerful.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Sometimes it's played straight, but for the most part it's just sad.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Reacted immaturely when Andy got a new girlfriend in Season 8. In Season 9 when she has a new boyfriend, she tells Andy to accept it and move on.
** In "The Boat", she at one point mentions to Pete that Andy is 'seriously juvenile', after several seasons of fitting that description to a tee herself.
%%* TheIngenue
* MoralityPet: For Michael.
* NaiveNewcomer: In season 5.
* NiceGirl: Cheerful, friendly, and probably the kindest character on the show.
* ObliviousToLove: To her foster brother Reed.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Her first name is Kelly. But since they [[OneSteveLimit already had a Kelly]], they call her Erin instead. She explained in the episode she was introduced that everyone calls her Erin anyways.
%% * OrphansOrdeal
* ThePollyanna: She actually seems to like working for Michael!
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Ellie Kemper was originally signed on to do one or two episodes as Erin Hannon. However, as the popularity of her character increased, she was (thankfully) worked into the script as Andy's love interest.
* PsychoExGirlfriend: She veers dangerously close to this in Season 8, especially in her attitude towards Andy's new girlfriend Jessica.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: With Andy. They ultimately break up permanently in the final season.
%% * SexySecretary
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: With Andy.
* UnwantedAssistance: Has a serious problem with this in-universe. In one cold opening, Andy asks Erin to claim that he has an important phone call so he can ignore it to make himself look better to a client. Erin takes this to mean that she should make up a story about his mother dying, while ignoring all of Andy's attempts to get her to stop. At the end of Season 8, when Andy is trying to make himself look pathetic to make his return to the Regional Manager position more dramatic, Erin "contributes" by claiming that Andy is ''abusing her''.
* WideEyedIdealist: Always has a positive and optimistic attitude in contrast to the other characters.
%% * WomanChild
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Darryl Mathias Philbin]]
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darryl-philbin_3291.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:180:''"I taught Mike some, uh... some phrases to help with his interracial conversation. You know, stuff like, "fleece it out," "going mach 5," "dinkin' flicka." You know, things us Negroes say."'']]
->Played by: Creator/CraigRobinson
->Seasons: 1-9

Warehouse Foreman/Warehouse Supervisor of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Glynn.
----
* AdaptationalHeroism: Darryl is a decent person, but his UK counterpart, Glynn, is a virulent homophobe and misogynist.
* AscendedExtra: Most of the cast started off as being like extras, although Darryl took longer to "ascend". Originally he primarily appeared in the occasional warehouse scenes, and he did not gain prominence until after Roy left when he became the face of the warehouse. Finally, in the fifth season he begins appearing more until becoming part of the actual office and thus part of the regular cast.
%%* BadassBookworm
* BlackBestFriend:
** Much like Stanley, Michael sees him as this. Unlike Stanley, Darryl at least tolerates Michael and even humors him to an extent (albeit mostly for his amusement in teaching him nonsensical "black man phrases").
** He did start off as Roy's Black Best Friend until Roy was put on a bus.
** After a while, he seems to have become Andy's.
** To Jim. Their first major interaction on the show involves a pingpong rivalry, although it's revealed that it's something their girlfriends blew out of proportion. The guys were just having fun. Later, Jim helps Darryl get a job at Athlead/Athleap and they become OddCouple roommates whenever they're in Philadelphia. In the series finale, Darryl is overjoyed when Jim reveals that he will be rejoining the company after leaving to work on his marriage.
* OddFriendship: With Andy, much to his horror.
* OnlySaneMan: Is probably the most down-to-earth person in the company.
* RaceLift: His UK counterpart, Glynn, is a white man.
%%* TokenMinority
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hollis Partridge "Holly" Flax]]
[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Holly2_633.jpg]]
->Played by: Amy Ryan
->Seasons: 4-5, 7

Human Resources Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: This is the reason why Michael falls for her despite his notable hatred of all HR people.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Michael. Both are dorky individuals who love making jokes and doing impressions. They also can be InnocentlyInsensitive.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: She's spacey and dorky like Michael but at least she seems to be able to do her job.
* TheBusCameBack: Her appearance in "Company Picnic" as well as several Season Seven episodes.
* DistaffCounterpart: To Michael.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Even Jim notice how she and Michael get along well because of their similarities.
* HollywoodAtheist: Mostly averted. Holly just mentions that she's an atheist and that she doesn't believe you "need a god to be happy." She doesn't rub it in people's faces or make fun of her theistic peers.
* MoralityPet: To [[ItsAllAboutMe Michael.]] Even with some insensitive moments, Michael is at his nicest and happiest when around her.
* PutOnABus: Back to Nashua. [[spoiler: And then again to Colorado, although this time with Michael]].
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Shares the same sense of "humor" as Michael. Taken to an extreme in "The Search", when Dwight and Erin use her to track Michael across Scranton because she thinks exactly like he does.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gabriel Susan "Gabe" Lewis]]
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Zach-Woods-S6-E22_2883.jpg]]
->Played by: Zach Woods
->Seasons: 6-9

Coordinating Director of Emerging Regions (Sabre) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* TheBusCameBack: He's back in Scranton by the start of the 8th season though.
* ButtMonkey: Even more so than Toby because while Toby mostly gets abused by Michael, the entire office just seems to love messing with Gabe.
%%* ControlFreak
* CrazyJealousGuy: He was really uncomfortable about Erin being around Andy. Justifiably, as it turns out.
* DemotedToExtra: In season 8.
* DependingOnTheAuthor: Oddly, "Viewing Party" portrays him as being a worldly, sophisticated AlwaysSomeoneBetter to Michael who people see as boss over him, despite virtually every other one of his appearances depict him as weak, pathetic, and kind of a creep who everyone sees as a joke.
* DerailingLoveInterests: His relationship with Erin was accompanied by some episodes which show them as being like a normal couple, but also several episodes which exaggerated Gabe as being distant or insensitive in order to show Andy as the better man.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Although he actually doesn't seem to be all that embarrassed by it.
* TheGenericGuy: Completely unremarkable in every way. Even his quirks (Playing the keyboard, being interested in Japanese culture and liking Horror Movies) are incredibly tame and generic in comparison to everyone else. This is of course very intentional and constantly PlayedForLaughs.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: His attempts to exert authority frequently backfire on him:
** In "Secretary's Day", he tries to punish Jim and Pam by suspending them from work. However, he only finds out afterwards that he doesn't have the authority to withhold their pay, meaning he really just [[{{Unishment}} gave them free time off]]. Which they learned just as he was about to try and backpedal out of it, and the rest of the office found out just afterward.
** In "The Search", he attempts to take over the impromptu caption contest the office holds with Pam's artwork, resulting in them shifting the target of their insults from Sabre to him.
** In "Trivia", his attempt to gloat over how he was getting rid of Dwight so upper management wouldn't have to deal with him, Dwight takes the opportunity to put him in a hammer lock and forces him to reveal where Robert California lived.
* HollywoodAtheist: He mentions not believing in God once, though he backpedals immediately afterwards, presumably due to being too weak-willed to take much of a stance one way or the other.
* TheMovieBuff: He's quite the horror-film devotee.
* PsychoExBoyfriend: Has become this after Erin breaks up with him. He follows Andy, (whom Erin really likes) to the men's room and threatens him and follows Erin into the ladies room and pleads for her to take him back.
* PutOnABus: Jo finds about him and Erin and takes him back to Tallahasse.
* {{Retcon}}: His middle name changed from "Stuart" to "Susan" in season 8. Although his original middle name was only listed in promotional materials and never stated on the show itself.
* TwoFirstNames: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
* WhatExactlyIsHisJob: Initially he's just there to oversee the transition between Dundler-Mifflin and Sabre. After the merge is complete, however, Jo leaves him in Scranton ostensibly in a supervisory role, but he has absolutely no authority and no official job title.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: No mention to what has happened to him after the eighth season but he returns in "Moving On" when Andy hires him in an attempt to make Erin uncomfortable after she breaks up with him for Pete.
* YesMan: To Jo, and later, the new Sabre CEO, Robert California.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Royson Allan "Roy" Anderson]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghszoy9.png]]
->Played by: David Denman
->Seasons: 1-3, 5, 7, 9

Warehouse Dock Worker of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton and Pam's ex-fiance.

UK counterpart: Lee.
----
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: At least compared to his UK counterpart Lee.
* BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica of the Pam/Jim/Roy triangle, but shows shades of The Betty (as he grew up with Pam).
* DisposableFiance: Again, just like Lee, he and Pam were never going to actually work out.
* HiddenDepths: In "Roy's Wedding", it's revealed that Roy started his own successful gravel business after being fired, and took up piano lessons to surprise his new wife.
* JerkJock: He was jock in high school and showed some traces of bullying in his treatment of Jim sometimes.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[spoiler: After he was fired, Roy encouraged Pam to pursue Jim and even had a casual chat with Jim (but at the same time, made a backhanded comment about Pam's new friends[[note]]Suggesting that Pam may not be loyal because Roy thought Jim was "just a friend" back then.[[/note]]) years after he was fired.]]
* MenAreUncultured Averted in "Roy's Wedding", in which he comes across as much more formal. Also, see HiddenDepths above.
* PutOnABus: Is fired from Dunder-Mifflin for attacking Jim after Pam admitted he kissed her at casino night almost a year earlier.
%%* RomanticFalseLead
%%* SarcasmBlind
* TookALevelInKindness: In the third season, he actually becomes much nicer after being dumped by Pam. And when they do get back together, he shows some traces of his old self but ultimately seems committed to being a better guy until it's all violently subverted when he finds out about Pam's kiss with Jim, which causes him to temporarily become more violent than ever. He is more cordial again in his few post-firing appearances though. Up until the last part, his positive character development in this season could be seen as a prototype for that of Andy Dwyer in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Janet "Jan" Levinson (formerly Levinson-Gould)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jan.PNG]]
->Played by: Melora Hardin
->Seasons: 1-7, 9

Vice President of Sales (Corporate) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.

UK counterpart: Jennifer Taylor-Clarke.
----
* AdaptationalVillainy: Her UK counterpart, Jennifer Taylor-Clarke, is a consummate professional and little else, but Jan is an alcoholic domestic abuser with mental problems.
* TheBusCameBack: In season 9.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Was at first a very professional, over worked and impatient superior who was forced to put up with Michael's advances, but soon transformed into a shrill, abusive nightmare, and then finally going ''completely insane'', going hippie and singing sexually provocative songs to her infant in the office.
* ClingyJealousGirl: She accussed Pam of having eyes for Michael ''three seperate times''. Furthermore, even after breaking up with Michael once and for all, she still tried to tell him not to date Holly after taking an immediate dislike to her.
* CloserToEarth: ''Originally.''
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: In her last appearances.
%%* DerailingLoveInterests
* DidTheyOrDidntThey: With Michael in "The Client".
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: When the abusive nature of the relationship first brought up in "Women Appreciation Day", the women present notice how disturbing it is and try to motivate Michael into breaking up. "Dinner Party" also has a bit of a deconstruction-y feel with this trope, as Michael himself is the only one who seems to be okay with her behavior.
* DropInCharacter: A downplayed version in the first three seasons, because she was very stern and caused Michael to go off the rails trying to impress her. Odd how often she showed up in Scranton, with New York a two and a half hour drive away.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: She went from the Vice President of Dunder Mifflin's Sales Division to being a borderline alcoholic squatting jobless in Michael's condo before starting up a failing candle business.
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Got implants to get Michael to get back together with her. Michael is obvious about how effective this trope is on him.
* MrsRobinson: It's implied that she had an affair with her teenage assistant Hunter and when she returns in season 9 as a client Dwight brings in Clark, the new 23 year old Dunder Mifflin employee as a bribe for her in exchange for her business.
* NeverMyFault: She drained Michael's bank account to set up her failed candle business and to make pointless renovations to his condo. After Michael went into debt because of her, she accused him of being unable to manage his finances.
%%* PutOnABus
* SanitySlippage: She was originally a very professional woman but starting in Season 4 she started to become more and more paranoid and unstable and she completely went off the deep end after David Wallace fired her. Her relationship with Michael also deteriorated as she became abusive and possessive towards him awfully until they broke up.
* StraightMan: Until she seemingly had a complete mental breakdown and became ''worse'' than Michael.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Double subverted. She has a therapist she mentions seeing often, however, it's not working and it's implied said therapist is not very good, having told Jan to embrace her self destruc tive tendencies and watches the videos she makes of herself having sex with Michael with her.
* WomanScorned: It's hinted that her behavior in early Season 3, culminating in the (brief) closing of the Scranton branch, is revenge for Michael rejecting her in "Casino Night."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Eleanour Donna "Nellie" Bertram]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tate_6419.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I just sent his girlfriend into the arms of a younger man. 'Our social media presence should be hot, hot, hot. Go at it vigorously.' I did everything but unzip their pants for them. Oh, God, Nellie."'']]
->Played by: Creator/CatherineTate
->Seasons: 7[[note]]"Search Committee]][[/note]], 8-9

Special Projects Manager (Sabre) / Regional Manager / Special Projects Manager (Dunder Mifflin) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* AmbitionIsEvil: Mostly because her lack of education, intelligence, worthwhile skills, or even any trace of work ethic means that she is in no way suited toward any job she vies for.
* BavarianFireDrill: Her apparent main method of obtaining a job: walk into somewhere, plop herself down at whatever position doesn't have someone on it at that exact moment, and act like she's supposed to be there. She has no concern as to whether she'd actually be competent at the role, and based on a talking head about her [[NoodleIncident trying this at Formula One]], she evidently doesn't care whether her incompetence [[TooDumbToLive can be a hazard to herself]] [[TheSociopath and the people around her.]]
* BookDumb: By her own admission.
* TheBusCameBack: Originally one of a slew of cameos in the Season 7 finale, she came back for a plot arc later in season 8, where she's the head of Sabre's retail division.
* ButtMonkey: To Andy.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In her first appearance at the end of Season 7 she came across as totally moronic. In Season 8 she was still eccentric but with flashes of manipulative cunning even if she was bad at her job. In Season 9 she's actually one of the saner, smarter and even more sensitive characters on the show with only a few flickers of oddness or unpleasantness.
* CloudCuckooLander: Big time.
* EasilyForgiven: Pretty blatant in Season 9, as the only one in the office who even seems to remember what she pulled in Season 8 is Andy himself. Even ''Erin'' only acknowledges that Andy hates her, having apparently forgotten he has a ''very good reason'' for it.
%%* FieryRedhead
* KarmaHoudini: She gets away with [[spoiler:stealing another person's job while being very ill-suited for it (which she herself admitted), raising and lowering her employees' salaries at a whim as bribes to get them to support her (despite the fact that not even the job she ''claimed'' to have had that authority), and being openly insubordinate and talking down to the CEO]]. Being Jo's friend and [[spoiler:Robert's object of affection]] helps.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Gradually becoming averted in Season 9, in which Andy has resolved to pay her back for what she did to him. Andy later abandoning both his job and his girlfriend to sail to the Bahamas for a few months helped turn the office against him.
* PointyHairedBoss: She's utterly incompetent and, by her own admission, has absolutely no redeeming professional traits whatsoever, but gets by on being an old personal friend of Jo Bennett.
%%* RagsToRiches
* SamusIsAGirl: Tries to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this in "Tallahassee".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Peter Zachary "Pete" Miller]]
->Played by: Jake Lacy
->Seasons: 9

Customer Service Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* DemotedToExtra: A fairly important character in the first half of the final season but after [[spoiler: he and Erin openly start dating]] he recedes into the background with only a handful of lines in the last episodes.
* TheGenericGuy: He's smart and nice but otherwise has very few quirks beyond being Erin's potential romantic partner.
* HistoryRepeats: Clearly and openly meant to be similar to Jim when he started working for Dunder-Mifflin. Especially considering they utterly [[DerailingLoveInterests derailed Andy's character]] for no apparent reason other than so they could recreate the [[WillTheyOrWontThey Jim/Pam romance]] one more time.
* InSeriesNickname: "Plop."
%%* OnlySaneMan
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Erin in season 9. [[spoiler: They do.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clark Green]]
->Played by: Clark Duke
->Seasons: 9

Customer Service Representative/Junior Sales Representative of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
----
* CrazyPrepared: For the sales interview with Dwight, in order to make it impossible for Dwight to not hire him.
%%* DeadpanSnarker
* HistoryRepeats: He's a more rational version of Dwight.
* InSeriesNickname: "Dwight Jr."
[[/folder]]

!Recurring Characters

[[folder:Hank Tate]]
->'''Played by:''' Hugh Dane

The security guard of the office building that the show is set at.
----

* CanonForeigner: Has no direct counterpart on the UK version of the show.
* GoodCounterpart: Arguably to Creed. Both work at the same office complex who at one point, Michael tries to fire. However, Creed is able to avoid getting fired by convincing Michael to fire Devon instead, while Michael ''can't'' fire Hank because Hank doesn't work for Dunder Mifflin.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Todd Finch Packer]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/todd_packer.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' David Koechner

The boorish, alcoholic and sexually promiscuous Outside Sales Representative, who tells obscene, disrespectful jokes, which tend to offend everyone except Michael for the most part.

UK counterpart: Chris Finch.
----
%%* TheAlcoholic
%%* AllMenArePerverts
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Disappeared for several seasons (excepting a cameo or two), and then returned for the seventh season episode "Todd Packer". Jim and Dwight team up to get rid of him [[spoiler: by impersonating as Sabre representatives over the phone who tell Packer he's been promoted to a job at Sabre HQ in Florida]]. We likely won't be seeing him again.
-->''Yeah, Dwight and Jim tried to get me fired, but I landed on my feet in Florida. You see this cat's got nine lives. And a nine inch--!''(CurseCutShort)
:: : [[spoiler: Except he's fired now]]
* CannotTellAJoke: Even ''less'' so than Michael.
%%* CasanovaWannabe
* EvilCounterpart: Er, Eviler-counterpart - to Dwight. Both are [[KavorkaMan Kavorka Men]] salesmen who have committed many things that would likely have gotten them fired were it not for their sales records that are close to Michael. However, whereas Dwight is willing to put aside his differences with Jim temporarily if it's for the greater good of Dunder Mifflin (and [[spoiler: later permanently]]) and grows to appreciate his fellow coworkers, Packer never stops antagonizing anyone. Also, [[spoiler: Dwight eventually takes over branch manager, whereas Packer eventually gets fired]].
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Of all the employees at the office, the only one who seems to like him as a friend is Michael Scott...up until he insults Holly in Todd Packer, which turns out to be too much for Michael.
* HiddenDepths: He admits in his self titled episode that he would love to move to Florida because he's a huge alligator nerd. He can "name every genus, every subspecies".
%%* {{Jerkass}}
%%* KavorkaMan
* LovableSexManiac: Though you can easily remove the "lovable" part.
* PromotedToScapegoat: His ultimate undoing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mose Schrute]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20090403_mose_250x250.jpg]]
->''"Bye Ryan...He seemed nice."''
->'''Played by:''' Michael Schur

Mose is Dwight's cousin and assistant (to the) farmhand.
----
* AmbiguousDisorder: ''Something's'' clearly wrong with him. Dwight mentioned one time that Mose has been having nightmares "ever since [[NoodleIncident the storm]]."
%%* BumblingSidekick
* CannotTalkToWomen: We don't see Mose interact with the other characters that often, but Dwight implies as such on a few occasions.
* ChaoticStupid: Things seldom go right whenever Mose gets involved.
* CompanionCube: His scarecrow in a dress.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In one episode, Dwight offered Mose a job in the office. He questions Mose about some blatant lies on his resume and Mose has no alibi, so he runs.
%%* TheFool
* GullibleLemmings: Dwight seems to like Mose because he has no will of his own.
%%* ImprobablyLowIQ
* KindheartedSimpleton: Despite his flaws, he seems much less hostile than Dwight.
%%* ManChild
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Robert "Bob" Vance]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bobvance_3.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Robert Ray Shafer

Phyllis Lapin-Vance's husband and the owner of Vance Refrigeration, a neighboring tenant in the office park.
----
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Generally affable and accommodating, he quickly has enough with Michael's [[AttentionWhore attempted hijacking]] of his wedding. He unceremoniously manhandles him away from the mic, away from the table, and then out the ''building'', ordering Dwight not to allow him back in.
-->"That's it, you're outta here!"
* InsistentTerminology: Refers to himself as Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
** He's first shown introducing himself to four people in a row with that exact phrasing, and it's never stopped.
-->'''Ryan:''' (after the above has happened) So, what line of work are you in, Bob?
** Even at his WEDDING. "And do you, Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration..."
** His '''delivery van''' is even the vehicle they leave the wedding in. it's not just InsistentTerminology, it's Insistent Visual Reinforcement!
* NiceGuy: He is a friendly guy, genuinely loves his girlfriend (eventually wife), and showers her with gifts whenever he can.
* OnlySaneMan: Seriously, he's one of the few characters in the series to react how any of us would to the cringe-worthy, insulting, agonizing hi-jinks of Michael Scott: he shuts him down, kicks him out, and doesn't let him back in. Likely because, unlike the "captive audience" Michael usually has, he does ''not'' work for him, and so doesn't ''have'' to tolerate any of his nonsense.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Karen Filippelli]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karen_the_office_28us_29_41049_624_352.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/RashidaJones

A former sales representative at the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper and office-supply company.

UK counterpart: Rachel.
----
* AmbiguouslyBrown: To Michael, at least. She later confirms to be Italian.
* BettyAndVeronica: Veronica to Pam's Betty.
* {{Foil}}: To Jan. Like Jan Levinson, Karen is portrayed as an ambitious career woman – having gunned for a corporate vice president position and now serving as the regional manager of the Utica branch – though considerably more personable than Jan.
* GamerChick: She's a ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' enthusiast, although the extent to which she is a gaming fan is not explored.
* HappilyMarried: She was able to find someone else, being married and pregnant when we catch up with her in Season 5. This eases Pam's guilt.
* PutOnABus: Left Dunder Mifflin Scranton after getting dumped by Jim at the end of Season 3. It's later revealed that she'd accepted the Regional Manager position at the Utica branch.
* RomanticFalseLead: She was introduced to set off Season 3's UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fate of her career after the Sabre buyout (and all the subsequent corporate transactions involving Dunder-Mifflin) is never revealed. She is briefly seen in a talking head segment in "Threat Level Midnight" (her final appearance in the series) but the setting of the interview appears to be outside a supermarket, not in her office at Utica. Karen is also one of the more prominent characters to ''not'' return for the finale season.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Charles Miner]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_lfcv8lelkj1qedp50o1_500.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/IdrisElba

Michael's replacement as Branch Manager during the end of season five.
----
* ChickMagnet: Kelly and Angela are immediately attracted to him. He's aware of this, but seems to find it annoying.
* HateSink: All he wants to is increase the productivity of the Scranton Branch, but he is so no-nonsense, unlikable, and even downright rude that it's almost impossible to genuinely like him. His cancelling Michael's 15th anniversary and driving him away from the company is what cemented him in this trope for many fans.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Ignored Jim's talents and made Stanley the "Productivity Czar", Kevin the temporary receptionist (after Pam left to join The Michael Scott Paper company), and Dwight his number two. Dwight had been among the company's top salesman and Michael's right hand man, but was also, well, Dwight; favoring him eventually backfired during the buyout meeting.
* {{Jerkass}}: He is not a particularly friendly person and his cancellation of Michael's anniversary party was completely uncalled for even if Dunder Mifflin was having money troubles.
* JerkassHasAPoint: He's not the most likable or charismatic person but he is correct that the Scranton Branch does waste a lot of company time and resources, a habit that's should be curbed due to Dunder Mifflin's financial troubles.
* PointyHairedBoss: A [[IncrediblyLamePun Miner]] case. While he performed every other managerial duty as any competent manager would (and thus better than Michael), his assignment of duties wasn't one of them.
* PutOnABus: When Michael gets his job back. [[spoiler: Is also later fired when Sabre cleaned house after they acquired Dunder-Mifflin]].
* ScaryBlackMan: Well, he's intimidating to Jim and he once physically threatened Michael when he attempted to take a list of customers when he left to start his own company.
* SelectiveObliviousness: When it comes to Dwight. Wallace's visibly shocked reaction when Miner tells him that he doesn't think much of Jim, but regards Dwight very highly, should have clued him in right away that Wallace completely disagreed with him. He misses it completely, which is surprising in light of his obvious kissing up to Wallace. It's not until he's in the meeting with Wallace, Dwight, and Jim and sees Dwight's manic behavior as well as his obviously illegal suggestions to sabotage Michael, that he realizes how badly he'd misjudged Dwight. Wallace's obvious disgust and disbelief at Dwight's suggestions really drove the message home.
%%* SmugSnake
* YesMan: To David Wallace. Lampshaded by Jim, to his embarrassment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:David Wallace]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/david_wallace_the_office.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Andy Buckley

The Chief Financial Officer of Dunder Mifflin, Corporate.
----
* BitchInSheepsClothing: A DoubleSubversion with some [[JustifiedTrope Justification]]. David certainly ''seems'' like a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but performs some of the most malicious acts in the series. For example, he has Michael steal customers from a small family company that poses no real threat to Dunder-Mifflin and reassigns Holly after he discovers her relationship with Michael. However, most of his malicious actions have reasonable justifications:
** The Prince Family Paper Company may not have been a direct threat to Dunder-Mifflin, but it had potential clients that Dunder-Mifflin needed as it's been established since the beginning of the series that the company was not doing well with downsizing being a recurring issue and branches closing left and right. It seemed to be a move born out of self-preservation rather than pointed animosity towards the Prince Family Paper Company. Essentially, it wasn't personal and David was just doing what was best for the company - acquiring more clients.
** Holly's transfer is justified in a number of ways. Michael was just coming off of a disastrous relationship with a former co-worker in Jan. It's entirely reasonable for David Wallace to not want another potential situation like that. Additionally, Holly was the Scranton branch HR rep. Toby, her predecessor, was able to at least occasionally control and limit Michael's shenanigans. However, with an HR rep that's actively dating the manager, David may have feared that Holly wouldn't able to be objective when it comes to handling Michael.
* BrokenPedestal: For Michael in Season 5, after sending Holly away and putting [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Charles]] in charge of the branch's operations while ignoring Michael's calls, pushing him to quitting the company altogether.
* DespairEventHorizon: Went a little off the deep end after Sabre fired him.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He chose Ryan Howard to replace Jan as VP of Sales, despite the fact that he was an inexperienced employee who had never successfully completed a sale. Ryan's poor management skills and illegal sales tactics end up accelerating the collapse of Dunder Mifflin.
* KickTheDog: A potentially justified case with reassigning Holly. She and Michael didn't declare their relationship to the company and Michael was coming off of a disastrous inter-office relationship with Jan. Perhaps the biggest factor was that Holly was the HR rep, a position which requires some measure of objectivity, and a relationship with the branch manager would have made it difficult to be objective.
* LaserGuidedKarma: For all of the malevolent actions he does, David eventually gets fired and goes into a downward spiral that only ends when he comes up with a one-in-a-million invention that ultimately lets him buy the company back.
* PointyHairedBoss: Subverted. You'll find no usual ''Office'' higher-up incompetence here.
* PutOnABus: After Dunder-Mifflin goes under and is acquired by Sabre. He and all of the other DM executives are fired. It [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] in the final season when he uses his "Suck It" money to buy Dunder-Mifflin back from the failing Sabre.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: One of the most reasonable in the series. Even his more malicious actions are justified as being good for the company.
* StraightMan: More or less inherited this from Jan once she went off the deep end.
* TwoFirstNames: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Joleen MaryAnn "Jo" Bennett]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jobennettheoffice.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Kathy Bates

The CEO of the company Sabre, who buys Dunder Mifflin.
----
%%* BenevolentBoss
* BrutalHonesty: When she learns that Gabe had become irrational and creepy over Erin, she pads nothing about her opinion: Gabe was picked, perhaps because of his gaunt, bony appearance, to be a "ghost" to keep the DM staff on their toes, and since he had gotten involved in their lives and therefore showed them that he was a week reed and kind of a creep he was useless to her in Scranton, and his being moved back to Florida was not a promotion.
* CanineCompanion: Her great danes...although when we see her again in "Dwight K. Schrute (Acting) Manager", they've been [[TheOtherDarrin replaced]], by two much smaller dogs.
** The next time we see her, she's got one of the smaller dogs and one great dane. Woman loves her dogs.
%%* CoolOldLady
%%* TheDeterminator
* DisproportionateReward: Made Deangelo a Regional Manager, a job that he was in ''no way'' qualified for, because he rescued one of her dogs.
* GroinAttack: She's often accompanied by her two enormous Great Danes, who really seem to love Andy's crotch.
* PeaceAndLoveIncorporated: Sabre seems to come off as one.
* PointyHairedBoss: Subverted. Actually seems to be rather competent, and her straight-shooting style is actually a honest kick in the pants that the office needs when facing problematic situations such as finding full-time managers.
** Though she does make her share of boneheaded moves as well:
*** Not recognizing that the reason Dunder-Mifflin Scranton had two co-managers was because Scranton had absorbed the full workload of two other branches prior to that point, making the arrangement more or less necessary. Though this seems to be more FridgeLogic than in-universe stupidity on Jo's part, as it comes across as though the writers forgot this themselves.
*** Appointing Deangelo Vickers, a complete incompetent, to a Regional Manager position solely because he rescued one of her dogs.
*** Appointing Dwight to be Acting Manager when Deangelo is incapacitated, despite it being very obvious that he has zero concern for his fellow employees.
*** When Dwight doesn't work out, she puts ''Creed'' in charge solely based on his senority, despite every member of the Search Committee warning her not to. It's only thanks to Pam keeping him in check that he didn't cause irreparable damage to the client base.
*** Giving Dwight a second chance at becoming regional manager ''after he fired a gun in the office'' simply because she liked his determination.]]
*** Greenlighting Nellie's retail store initiative. Robert California, of all people, points out that Saber's electronics are the cheap kind that are better off being sold online or over the phone than in person.
%%* SouthernFriedGenius
* TwoFirstNames: Her first name can be used for a female's given name and her last name can be used as a given name for a male.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Deangelo Jeremitrius Vickers]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ferrellx_large.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/WillFerrell

Michael's replacement as Branch Manager during the end of season seven.
----
* CloudCuckoolander: Shows his stripes after Michael leaves, right from the point where he starts screaming at a cake. Highlights include performing an "inspirational juggling routine" with nothing to juggle and his attempt to prove that he wasn't a sexist.
%%* FakeGuestStar
* FormerlyFat: Part of his SmallNameBigEgo tendencies seem to stem from the fact that he overcame obesity, to the point that he claims that "If someone shot me in the head, I'm pretty sure everything would be fine. [[TooDumbToLive I almost welcome it.]]"
* TheMillstone: When Andy takes him along to help with hanging on to a client, Deangelo nearly wrecks the entire pitch instead.
* PointyHairedBoss: The only reason he has a job at Sabre was that he stopped a guy trying to steal one of Jo Bennett's dogs, and not because of any skills in sales or management.
* PutOnABus: Ultimately winds up becoming comatose after being the official boss for just one episode after a freak accident with a basketball hoop. His fate is later clarified in "Lotto":
--->'''Andy''': [=DeAngelo=] didn't die, his brain died.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: His character was written after Will Ferell requested to see Steve Carell off.
%%* SmallNameBigEgo
* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: His attempt to convince everyone that he's not a sexist boils down to this. And... apparently claiming that [[BlatantLies he's a woman himself.]]
* StrawMisogynist: He only allows males into his inner circle despite the office having high-ranking females such as Pam and Angela. When Jim meekly tries calling him out on it, he tries to cover this by hiring a woman as his executive assistant, except that he hires a BrainlessBeauty with no corporate background. On the other hand, the woman in question is named Jordan, so it's possible he didn't even know that she was female when he hired her.
* StupidBoss: Michael is a savant at selling paper. Deangelo is completely incompetent and antagonistic with clients. During a sales call to one of the company's most important clients, he ''intentionally'' angers and alienates the client, believing that this is some sort of brilliant reverse psychology sales tactic. [[spoiler: Deangelo fails so spectacularly that Andy, who is a mediocre salesman, has to step in to save the contract]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jordan Garfield]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_nc7ucdsuzs1s6205uo1_500.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Cody Horn

The new executive assistant hired by Deangelo Vickers in "The Inner Circle", mainly to prove to the staff that he was not sexist.
----
* AbortedArc: One of her deleted scenes implied she had a crush on Jim.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Vanished without trace between Season 7 & 8.
* DummiedOut: So far, most scenes where Jordan actually does something (and appears in Talking Heads) were cut from the episodes she appeared in.
%%* ExtremeDoormat
* TwoFirstNames: Her first name can be used as a given name for either a man or a woman and her last name can be used as a given name for a male.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Was teased to be a future regular character, but was ultimately removed from the show after three episodes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cathy Simms]]
->'''Played by:''' Lindsey Broad

A temp meant to fill in for Pam while she was on maternity leave with her and Jim's second child, she stays for a bit, even getting picked for the Tallahassee meeting for Sabre's new retail branch.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Seems to be nice, but quickly shows a conniving side.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: She doesn't return from Tallahassee. It's never revealed if she stayed there, or like Todd Packer, [[spoiler:was fired]].
* ManipulativeBitch: When Jim rejects her advances, she [[{{Gaslighting}} tries to play innocent]] so he won't kick her out. He doesn't believe her and has Dwight scare her off.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Jordan.
* TheVamp: Tries to seduce Jim while they're in Tallahassee.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Brian]]
->'''Played by:''' Chris Diamontopoulos

A member of the documentary crew.

* DoggedNiceGuy: His marriage fell apart around the same time as he lost his job. Despite this, he still tries to be there for Pam.
%%* OnlyOneName
* StalkerWithACrush: Over the course of several years on the documentary crew, he's picked up a torch for Pam. However, he seems to understand quickly that it's not going to happen between them.
[[/folder]]