History Characters / Yellowstone

* LadyDrunk: Her establishing character moment has her partaking in this, as she (slightly tipsy) browbeats a business associate into surrendering his company to her. Further episodes posit that she's a functional drunk, and that she does so to mask her depression and trauma from past events. She is eventually swayed by her father to lessen her reliance on drinking (particularly after she gets married) and more-or-less steps away from this role by Season 3.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Gets one of the most pronounced changes out of any character in the series. After he's nearly killed during the rodeo-riding accident, John sends him to Texas to apprentice at the Four-Sixes Ranch, telling him it's the last change he'll give him. Once there, Jimmy starts to seriously take his life choices into consideration (helped by the considerate wranglers at the ranch), works hard to become a cowboy and meets Emily (who loves him for who he is and not for who he might become), even getting engaged to her in the process. When he returns to Yellowstone, his new confidence and competence quickly earn him the respect of the other ranch hands. He impresses John so much that the latter forgives any obligations that Jimmy still has toward the Duttons and tells him to go back to Texas where he can be happy in his new life.

* 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 Ryan and Colby 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.

-> '''Portrayed by:''' Jacki Weaver

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: She initially seems intent on courting Beth as an ally (despite her plan to destabilize and buy out the ranch), even offering her a job at Market Equities after the latter is ousted from Schwartz & Meyer and letting her loose as a corporate raider. This ends once she figures out that Beth is hell-bent on destabilizing Market Equities from within.

* {{Hypocrite}}: When she gets arrested towards the end of Season 4, she seems to be under the impression that shoving a cop off a protester (to say nothing of her scheming with Beth to make the protest a much bigger deal on the national stage) won't cause any consequences... only to be surprised when it results in her landing a lengthy prison sentence for the crime (which is only lessened when John [[{{Nepotism}} functionally convinces the authorities to knock it down from 15 years to one]]).

* NaiveNewcomer: She shows up in Montana being completely naive of the political infighting that's going on between the Duttons and other groups in the area, and goes on a tear protesting at multiple sites (up to and including stripping, assaulting officers and damaging property) under the belief that she can get away with it because her cause is just. It isn't until she gets nabbed for shoving a cop at a clothing store and facing 15 years for the crime that she finally realizes how badly she screwed up. To note, Beth even calls her out on her behavior repeatedly.

* BerserkButton: If anyone on this show has learned one consistent lesson, it's that it's a bad, '''bad''' idea to threaten any member of his family, as [[spoiler:the Montana Free Coalition learns (with fatal consequences during Season 3 and the opening of Season 4)]].

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: After {{Foreshadowing}} a dream he had about stopping to help a woman and her son who were stuck at the side of a road with a flat tire, he faces that exact same scenario at the end of Season 3 -- and for his efforts, he's (non-fatally) shot by a member of the Montana Free Coalition, who were stalking him as part of an assassination contract, while the woman he was trying to help is shot in the back.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Tate gets kidnapped by the Montana Free Coalition, she drops any pretenses of being moral or level-headed, and outright tells her husband to kill the men responsible.

A rancher who, as the show begins, heads the Yellowstone ranch -- one of the largest in the United States -- as well as the Livestock Commissioner for the State of Montana. Fiercely loyal to a fault, he is hell-bent on protecting the ranch from outside interests and ensuring it stays within his family.

* ParentWithNewParamour: After years of pining for [[TheLostLenore his deceased wife]], Evelyn, he eventually begins a relationship with Montana Governor Lynette Perry in Season 4.

* ChekhovsGunman: In Season 4, [[spoiler:he appears as an apparition to Kayce during the latter's vision quest given to him by the Broken Rock Tribe]].

* ButtMonkey: Starts out as the "low man" at the ranch, being forced to take on the most menial and humiliating jobs and being treated as a pariah by the rest of the wranglers. As the seasons continue, though, he starts to gain more maturity and experience, leading to his EarnYourHappyEnding moment below.

* ICouldaBeenAContender: Played with. In Seasons 3 and 4, he expresses interest in rodeo-riding, and even has Lloyd spot him the cash (and Mia support him behind-the-scenes) to enter a riding contest. The resulting experience causes a near-fatal neck injury, his reputation to be left in tatters and Mia to functionally abandon him in his hour of need. John later tells him to give up the sport, and despite his efforts to continue, he finally realizes his efforts were for naught Rip brings him to a professional rodeo contest where he sees just how big the difference is with professional riders, and elects to pursue a different path.

* {{Cuckold}}: One of the key scenes involving his character involves him showing up at home to find Beth waiting outside, who coolly informs him that she doesn't want to smoke in the living room. When he walks inside, he finds his wife stripping and dancing with another man on the terrace -- and looks on dispassionately before walking back out, causing Beth to comment on this trope.

* PetTheDog: She initially seems intent on courting Beth as an ally (despite her plan to destabilize and buy out the ranch), even offering her a job at Market Equities after the latter is ousted from Schwartz & Meyer and letting her loose as a corporate raider. This ends once she figures out that Beth is hell-bent on destabilizing Market Equities from within.

!Others

!Main Characters

[[folder:Rip Wheeler]]
!!Rip Wheeler
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ColeHauser

The lead ranch-hand at Yellowstone, Rip functionally keeps the other wranglers in line, and deals with ever-present threats in the area.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: 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.
* BigDamnHeroes: Shows up to rescue Beth in the nick of time from a hitsquad sent by the Beck brothers (even getting shot twice in the process) in the first season.
* CannotSpitItOut: How his connection with Beth is shown at the beginning of the series; they dated as teens, but he's refrained from getting close to her, even though he's completely smitten with her and initially taken aback at her dating other men. It takes him rescuing her from Beck's men before he can finally admit how he feels about her.
* TheDeterminator: His character in a nutshell -- he is utterly ruthless in his pursuit of protecting the ranch from thieves, intruders and other threats, up to and including shrugging off serious injuries sustained in the line of work.
* 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.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: As [[TestosteronePoisoning invoked]] when he comments on the bullet wounds he sustained saving Beth from Beck's men -- "Like hell... but I was built to go through hell."
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: His relationship with Beth, which is [[EveryoneCanSeeIt an open secret]] around the ranch. Their courtship and wedding is full of this, as he's completely uneasy about the situation, even admitting his fears to Lloyd (who serves as best man).
* StartOfDarkness: His ruthless tendencies were motivated by a childhood trauma he suffered, where he killed his father after the latter killed the rest of his family. This, combined with his respect for John (who took him in and treated him like a son) has effectively made him TheDragon for the ranch's operations, keeping the other wranglers in line.
* UndyingLoyalty: His key character trait -- he's willing to do anything to protect both John (who considers him to be LikeASonToMe) and the ranch -- and as later episodes show, he extends the same ideal to Beth, who he marries and promises to protect for the rest of her life.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Colby]]
!!Colby
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/DenimRichards
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[[folder:Lloyd Pierce]]
!!Lloyd Pierce
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ForrieJSmith
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!Antagonists

!Yellowstone Ranch workers

* BerserkButton: If anyone on this show has learned one consistent lesson, it's that it's a bad, '''bad''' idea to threaten any member of his family, as [[spoiler:Montana Free Coalition learns (with fatal consequences during Season 3 and the opening of Season 4]].

** Puts aside his differences with Rainwater and Jenkins (even hosting a sit-down meeting where they all comment that "EvenEvilHasStandards") to ally and go after the Beck clan as a united front.
** Also puts aside his differences with Rainwater so they can go after Market Equities together in Season 3.

* JerkAssHasAPoint: Beth loves tearing into Jamie at every opportunity, calling him a spineless asshole who is only loyal to himself. She has a point, though her abuse seems to turn her accusations into a SelfFulfillingProphecy, driving Jaime to think of himself rather than the family who abuse him.

->'''Portrayed by:'''

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Dies in the first episode, "Daybreak."

* SacrificalLion: His death during the shootout over the Duttons' stolen cattle serves to show just how brutal life at the Yellowstone Ranch can be.

Kayce: Trying to remember what I was wearing the day I met you.
Monica: All I remember is, you weren’t wearing it for long.

->'''Portrayed by:''' Cole Hauser

->'''Portrayed by:''' Brecken Merrill

->'''Portrayed by:''' Jefferson White

->'''Portrayed by:''' Denim Richards

->'''Portrayed by:''' Forrie J. Smith

->'''Portrayed by:''' Kelsey Asbille

* JerkAssHasAPoint: Beth, in just about every interaction with Jamie. She's a ruthless asshole, but she's right that Jamie is a spineless, selfish person who cares only about himself and what people think of him.

!Ranch crew

->'''Portrayed by:''' Luke Grimes

!Antagonists

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