History Characters / Yellowstone

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/KevinCostner

* TheOtherDarrin: A younger version of John is played by Josh Lucas in several flashbacks.

* BadAssDriver: Kayce goes full kamikaze on a bad guy's fleeing van, ramming it into a spin right off the road when it crosses an intersection. He's able to maintain enough control to keep his truck going fairly straight and come safely to a stop.
* CrazyPrepared: Kasey keeps a flash bang in his office and a fully automatic rifle in his truck. He uses the former to dazzle the men sent to kill him and kill them instead. He then uses the latter to go full-on Terminator mode against his father's hitmen.

* HoneyTrap: She dresses up in suggestive clothing to lure out a man suspected by the Duttons as having murdered a Native girl.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: In Season 5. [[spoiler:Her unborn child suffers fatal injuries after she is injured in a car wreck while in labor and rushing to the hospital. The resulting trauma and grief motivates much of the subsequent episodes]].
* ParentWithNewParamour: Briefly separates from Kayce and starts dating her physical therapist, Martin, in Season 2. This doesn't last long, and the duo get back together soon after.

* TrainingFromHell: Being the "low-man" at the ranch, he gets roped into a number of humiliating tasks, including planting dynamite with Rip and an associate in the pilot to deny Jenkins area advantage against the ranch, being duct-taped to a wild stallion for hours (and being harassed by Fred when he's too tired to take a shower) and getting mocked by other wranglers when his own horse flips him off during a task to herd numerous bulls back to the ranch. With the exception of Lloyd, nearly ''everyone'' mocks and insults him for his first few weeks on the ranch, and still bully him long afterwards.

* ShipTease: Despite him acting aloof and dismissive of the situation, Teeter is instantly attracted to him and makes it known from the get-go, often flirting with him in front of the other wranglers (much to his chagrin). The third season hints that they may become a couple, as he is shown having to [[IntimateHealing rescue her]] after their encoutner with Wade Morrow at a river near the ranch.

* GreenEyedMonster: To say that Monica is jealous of her is putting it VERY lightly. This is not without reason, as it is VERY obvious Avery is in love with Kacey.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She disappears from the bunkhouse midway through Season 2 with no explanation, as none of the ranchers seem to know where she went and her reason for leaving is never explained. Season 4 [[TheBusCameBack brings her back into the fold]] when Kayce runs into her while searching for a herd of missing cattle, and she finally reveals the reason for her departure.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: His treatment of Jimmy in season 4 is a rude at times, but at worst he's short when Jimmy asks a stupid question and ultimately congratulates Jimmy on his growth and reminisces with by the end of the season.

* IGotBigger: He gets at least a foot taller between the fourth and fifth seasons (via TimeSkip) and becomes much skinner, leading John to reference this trope after they see each other for the first time after the successful Governor campaign.

* FromACertainPointOfView: Compared to John's view of the situation (where he looks at Garrett as an unrepentant criminal who has no redeeming qualities), Garrett claims that [[spoiler:his murder of Phyllis Randall was necessary, as he discovered her ignoring her child while "servicing" a client, having fallen into rampant drug use and prostitution, while the infant Jamie was crying out for food and attempting to use a methpipe]]. When confronted by a character about the situation, he claims IDidWhatIHadToDo.

-> '''Portrayed By:''' Karen Pittman

* AllTakeNoGive: John’s relationship with Jamie is this. Despite Jamie doing everything John wanted him to, including becoming a lawyer, John himself never does anything for Jamie, and always considers Jamie his biggest disappointment despite Jamie never having done anything to warrant such disapproval. The lack of respect results in Jamie going against him, declaring John’s impeachment from being Governor.

* VillainProtagonist: Zig-zagged. A good argument could be made that John Dutton is a classic example of a Villain Protagonist, complete with a SympatheticPOV to rope the audience in to rooting for him. After all, being the patriarch of a cowboy mafia doesn't help. But this isn't completely the case, as the show is more about a GreyAndGrayMorality conflict.

* ButtMonkey: A key part of his relationships, both personal and professional. He repeatedly gets talked down to, insulted and even hit by members of his family, including Beth (who outright tells him to kill himself more than once and harbors a seemingly-irrational hatred for him) and John (who kicks him out of the ranch when he doesn't drop his bid to be Attorney General).

* TheDogBitesBack: In Season 5, after Beth gets arrested after instigating a bar brawl in Bozeman, Jamie gets the other instigator (an out-of-towner who goaded Beth into attacking her) to drop the charges... but agrees to have Beth charged with Disorderly Conduct and sentenced to community service. He has to [[ActuallyPrettyFunny stop himself from laughing]] when she walks out of the police station complaining about having to pick up "garbage on the freeway in my spare time".

* ExtremeDoormat: Jamie is pretty much a doormat in every sense of the word for the Dutton clan and those around him. Jamie acts like a spineless coward and almost never stands up for himself. People repeatedly walk all over him and take advantage, with Jamie always on the receiving end of another beatdown, physical or emotional.

* EnemyCivilWar: Initiates this against Rainwater in Season 5 after realizing that the latter's waffling on various development projects (and the controversy and drama it's caused within TheRez) has left the tribe no better off than when it started.

* HiddenHeartOfGold: Though sometimes its simply ProtagonistCenteredMorality, sometimes Beth isn't a complete monster. Unfortunately, these moments are relatively rare and she usually let's her sociopathic side get the best of her.

* PsychopathicWomanchild: She's been described as having never grew out as a 14-year old BrattyTeenageDaughter even when she became an adult with her moments of childishness and petulance cultivating in bullying and humiliate people, especially Jamie.

* TheSociopath: Beth has major sociopathic tendencies, in fact there's too much to list and she provides examples in nearly every episode.

* XanatosGambit:
** Season 4 has a long-form version of this, where (after being fired from Schwartz and Meyer), she is poached by Market Equities, led by Caroline Warner, and puts a plan into motion to functionally destroy the latter, even ''telling Caroline to her face'' about what she's going to do to her. The fact that her plan also lets her destabilize Schwartz and Meyer is seen as an unintended bonus for her.

-->'''Portrayed By:''' Tanaya Beatty

* ExtremeDoormat: Jamie is pretty much a doormat in every sense of the word for the Dutton clan and those around him. Jamie acts like a spineless coward and almost never stands up for himself. People repeatedly walk all over him and take advantage, with Jamie always on the receiving end of another beatdown, physical or emotional.

* EvilIsPetty: Practically defines Beth's character.

* {{Sadist}}: She genuinely enjoys bullying and threatening people beneath her, and takes sick pleasure out of being cruel to her enemies. This goes double for Jamie.

* MayDecemberRomance: Invoked -- she strikes up a romance with John after the latter functionally rescues her from the Free Earth protest, with several members of the family (including Beth) heaping scorn on her in the process. For his part, John claims he's "too old" for any of the relationship drama that comes attached with dating a younger woman.

* StrawVegetarian: Invoked during a key scene during breakfast with John and Beth -- she refuses to eat eggs, milk or anything that was "born" and had a soul, forcing Beth to suggest having the ranch's chef pluck some wheatgrass from outside the main building and whip up a smoothie for her.

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: As part of the RatedMForManly mindset, anyone who crosses a line at the ranch gets a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from him to set an example for the other wranglers. This is even invoked in Season 3, where Rip has to intentionally "lose" a fight against Kayce so that the wranglers will accept the latter as their new boss.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once she realizes that the Duttons had Sarah Nguyen's death [[MadeItLookLikeAnAccident made to look like a boating accident]], and fearing for her own safety because of what she knows, she tells Jamie that she's immediately fleeing the state for parts unknown to raise his child.

* FieldPromotion: She's upped to the role of a Senator by Season 5, with John taking over her former role as Attorney General.

* BadAssDriver: Kasey goes full kamikaze on a bad guy's fleeing van, ramming it into a spin right off the road when it crosses an intersection. He's able to maintain enough control to keep his truck going fairly straight and come safely to a stop.

* TheBusCameBack: She appears for nearly the entirety of Season 3, then disappears for no clear reason once the "summit" to decide the fate of the ranch is held at the end of Season 3. She is then absent for the entirety of Season 4 before reappearing at the start of the following season, with the plot acting like she'd been there all along.

* BigGood: During the first three seasons, he's unambiguously on Beth's side, giving her all the resources she needs to set up a branch office in Park County, flying to the county multiple times to glean status updates from her (and help initiate her mass land purchase to stop Jenkins and Providence) and is ''by fare'' the most unambiguously positive investor in the series, as he's extremely pleased with Beth's actions. This all goes out the window when he performs a FaceHeelTurn in Season 4.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: From the moment she arrives at the bunkhouse, everyone (except Mia) absolutely ''loves'' her. They even root for her when she attacks Mia for hitting Jimmy, and are so impressed that they are willing to play "whatever card game she wants".

* Hypocrite: One of the things she likes to call out Jamie for is acting like a WellDoneSonGuy, ignoring that she is just as much, if not more. Although she often argues with her father about his decisions, she has shown time and time again how her obsession to never disappoint him prevents her to go further than that.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He may be utterly ruthless (up to and including murdering people at John's request)... but put him in a room with either Beth or other children, and he completely melts.