History Characters / TheQueensGambit

[[folder: Elizabeth "Beth" Harmon]]

The main character and a chess prodigy. Orphaned at a young age and scarred from Methuen Home's mistreatment, she is depicted as someone with immense anger and passion, which fuels her chess proficiency--and her susceptibility to substance addiction.

* TheAlcoholic: Beth starts drinking in her late teens, courtesy of Alma allowing her to indulge. After losing to Borgov for the first time, she starts going down the slippery slope of alcoholism and takes quite some time--and [[spoiler: Jolene's reappearance in her life]]--for her to abstain completely.

* BadassBookworm: Beth can be seen with a book in nearly every episode, especially towards the end. Granted, they're all about chess, but it's this--paired with her innate talent and her closest friends' advice--that finally allows her to defeat [[spoiler: Borgov]] in the finale.

-->'''Beth''' (''holding out her hand''): Beth Harmon.
-->'''Man:''' ... Shit. ''(starts rearranging the pieces with a ThisIsGonnaSuck expression on his face)''

** After attending [[spoiler: Mr. Shaibel's funeral.]] Jolene takes her to the orphanage, and when Beth goes into the basement, she finds a board covered with newspaper clippings and magazine articles where he followed her career. Central to this is the snapshot of them together in episode 1, which leads her to break down after realizing that she's lost her mentor and that she never kept in touch with him.

[[folder: Alice Harmon]]

[[folder: Mr. Shaibel]]

[[folder: Alma Wheatley]]

[[folder: Jolene]]

* LadySwearsalot: Her [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first appearance]] has her calling everyone "fucking cocksuckers".

* TokenBlackFriend: The African-American Jolene's role in the first part of the story is to be Beth's older and supportive friend at the orphanage. Her race is pointed out; as a "colored" girl she is unlikely to be adopted and will be expected to work. She comes back in the end [[spoiler:and is the one who ultimately does the most to shake Beth out of her funk and get her to Moscow.]]

[[folder: D.L. Townes]]

* StraightGay: [[spoiler: Revealed to be this in Episode 3, with his boyfriend showing up during his photography session with Beth, much to her surprise and heartbreak.]]

[[folder: Harry Beltik]]

* BetterAsFriends: Harry [[spoiler: harbors feelings for Beth]], but realizes it's not going to work out. They remain friends, though mostly through his efforts.

[[folder: Benny Watts]]

[[folder: Vasily Borgov]]

[[folder: Helen Deardorff]]

[[folder: Cleo]]

[[folder: Margaret]]

* RichBitch: Comes from a wealthy family that lives in a mansion.

[[/folder]]

* InsufferableGenius: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Beth can be quite haughty and dismissive of others who aren't as gifted as she is, but she's almost never openly condescending. The few times she is, the target is usually [[KickTheSonOfABitch very deserving]].

* DudeMagnet: She doesn't start out as one, but once she starts rising to the top of the chess scene, a group of boys from her school actually stop her in the hallway to ask for her signature. She also has brief, yet meaningful flings with both [[spoiler: Beltik and Benny,]] and Georgi Girev tries to ask her out on a date after she kicks his little butt at chess.

* MeaningfulName: Borgov’s first name is Vasily, the Russian form of the Greek name Basil, meaning “king”. As the final obstacle Beth must face, Borgov can be seen as Beth’s [[ChessMotif metaphorical opposing King]].

* AmbiguouslyBi: It’s unclear whether her fascination with FashionModel Cleo is platonic or something more. As Beth is leaving her hotel room in Paris, we see Cleo sleeping under the covers. And the previous night, they had been drinking... However, as Beth woke up in the tub, fully clothed, it is unclear if anything happened at all or if Cleo simply crashed at Beth's after the night of drinking.

* FashionModel: She's a model. Beth is envious of her clothes and she gets to jetset around the world, which is how she shows up in both Paris and New York.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Implied. She married her high school boyfriend and had a baby shortly after graduation. When Beth runs into her years later, she has a bag with several bottles of alcohol under her daughter's baby carriage, implying that she is a LadyDrunk. She also appears to be envious of Beth's success and her exciting life traveling as a chess player. Even though only a few years have passed by, she wistfully says her high school days "seem like a million years ago." Could be a victim of MarriedTooYoung.