History Characters / Yellowstone

* OnlySaneMan: Many times Walker is the lone voice of reason, and quickly understands that the ranch is not a place ran by morally upstanding people. Though he is brought back to work on the ranch, he is more or less a slave to the ranch, forced to work there.

[[folder:The Beck Brothers]]

!State of Montana officials

[[folder: Governor Lynelle Perry]]

[[folder:Sarah Nguyen]]
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/MichaelaConlin

A freelance reporter who is dispatched by her employer in New York to write a story on corruption in Montana, eventually liaising with Jamie in an attempt to root out the Dutton clan's stranglehold on Montana.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: She initially presents herself as a mild-mannered campaign staffer (albeit pretending to be one, as she's actually a freelance journalist) who convinces Jamie and Christina to let her write a story about his campaign for Attorney General by framing it as being part of a larger story on "the new Montana". When she realizes she hasn't got the scoop she wants and Jamie wants to retract his statements, she drops the act and delivers a MotiveRant where she threatens to cause enough noise for authorities to swoop in and claim the ranch under eminent domain laws, citing that his family shouldn't have that much land in the first place.
* ChekhovsGunman: Starts out as a seemingly-unimportant tourist with her girlfriend, who are visiting Montana to enjoy some downtime in the state. Her appearance as an apparently-random campaign staffer at Jamie's office spoils that there's more to her than she lets on, and she eventually reveals herself to be a reporter doing a story that involves the Duttons.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Under the guise of requesting more information for her story, Sarah meets Jamie on a backroad that's devoid of people, located right near the river, and shows up in a vehicle that has all her canoeing gear conveniently mounted on it. She then decides that it would be a great idea to antagonize a guy who she believes to be spineless (up to and including threatening his family and the safety of his ranch) by claiming she's going to ruin his reputation, even delivering a MotiveRant in the process. No points for what happens next.
* DistractedByTheSexy: She convinces her girlfriend to let her stay in Montana longer than she planned (after the latter decides to head back to New York on her own) by dramatically dropping her towel after she'd just stepped out of the shower, before stalking off and threatening to withhold intimacy from the latter.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Rip and Jamie stage her death as a boating accident, via loading her into the canoe still strapped to her car and setting it down the Yellowstone river with her phone on her.
[[/folder]]

!Market Equities

[[folder:Willa Hayes]]
!!Willa Hayes
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Karen Pittman

The CEO of Market Equities, a large consortium intent on buying out several properties in Montana, including Yellowstone Ranch, to fund a major airport and housing project. One of the primary antagonists of Season 3.

* AffablyEvil: Like several of the ME executives, she is initially cordial to her enemies, even complimenting them at several points -- but this masks a ruthless streak that leads her to go on the warpath against the Duttons.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: As a result of her machinations, Market Equities gobbles up Schwartz & Meyer's controlling interest, leading Willa to coldly fire Beth while antagonizing her at several points. She [[LaserGuidedKarma clearly didn't expect]] to have Beth hit back by instigating a false sexual harassment claim from a former employee, which publicly smears her reputation and forces her to flee the state in shame. As a result of this, her successor (Caroline) has to completely change gears in order to ingratiate herself with Beth.
* PutOnABus: Flees for parts unknown at the end of the third season, but not before Beth screws up her career via a false sexual harassment claim.
* VillainRespect: The audacity of Beth's plan to short Market Equities' stock is so brazen that Willa outright compliments her at several points, noting that "[[{{Foreshadowing}} once we get her fired (from Schwartz & Meyer), we should have her come work for us!]]"
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After the "Jane Doe" story leaks and Willa is forced to flee from the summit at the end of the third season, she's never seen again, nor is the subject brought up afterwards.

[[folder:Ellis Steele]]
!!Ellis Pearce
-> '''Portrayed By:''' John Emmet Tracey

A high-ranking executive in Market Equities who initially serves as a go-between between the state of Montana and the Paradise Valley development, and functionally serves as the right-hand to the CEO.

* TheDragon: Functionally serves as this within Market Equities' CEO, first to Willa and then to Caroline.
* HairTriggerTemper: Subverted in Season 5 -- he seemingly loses his cool during a meeting with Jamie regarding John's decision to 86 the corporation's leases in Montana, with Ellis getting splashed by hot coffee and ranting at Jamie's secretary. It isn't until he appears after the meeting that he deliberately played up his aggression so that Sarah Atwood could ingratiate herself with Jamie as part of her FemmeFatale plot.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: When he realizes the extent to which the Duttons are willing to go to protect their ranch in Season 5, he's the first to suggest to Caroline that she drop her personal vendetta and stop the mounting losses the corporation is facing.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: His EstablishingCharacterMoment has him show up as a seemingly-clueless executive who's wandered past the Dutton ranch property line with a group of investors, prompting a confrontation with members of the ranch and his assurance that he has no idea where he is or what's going on. It isn't until later that he reveals to Willa that the move was deliberate to see what kind response the ranch would bring down on them.
* OnlySaneMan: Unlike the majority of the executives (who are shown to be either clueless or distractingly lustful), and compared to his bosses (who tend to lose their cool when confronted with a significant threat in the form of the Duttons), he's the only one in the corporation who retains his calm, measured demeanor, and suggests alternate solutions when everyone else fails to come up with a solution.

[[folder:Roarke]]
!!Roarke
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/JoshHolloway

An executive at Market Equities, Roarke soon runs into conflict with the Dutton family after he initially tries to suggest a major property development on their land.

* AffablyEvil: He's repeatedly cordial with Beth and other representatives of the Dutton family... though it becomes clear soon enough that he's in league with some ''very'' bad people.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Gets offed fairly early on so that Caroline (the CEO of Market Equities and the true power behind the company) can start making moves to destabilize all her opponents.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Makes a point of meeting with Beth on "neutral ground" several times in an attempt to get her to sell the ranch, both during a fishing excursion at his farm and during a casual drink at a local bar.
* HairTriggerTemper: Interested parties shorting his company's stocks is a surefire way to get him to swear repeatedly and TrashTheSet, as shown several times in Season 3.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Shown to have been spearheading Wade and Clint Morrow's vendetta against the Duttons, as revealed late in Season 3 and the Season 4 premiere.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Gets offed (courtesy of a rattlesnake thrown at him by Rip) in the Season 4 premiere, during the Duttons' RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the Morrows and the Montana Free Militia.

[[folder:Caroline Warner]]
!!Caroline Warner
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Jacki Weaver

The successor to Willa Hayes as CEO of Market Equities, and a leader who's willing to take a more pragmatic approach with the Duttons in order to get what she wants.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: With the arrival of her firm, all of Jenkins' machinations to open a few golf courses in the state (to say nothing of Roarke's machinations) become small-scale compared with her plan to build an entire city right on the site of the ranch. Even Rainwater's casino development is functionally swept under the rug just a few days after she comes into town -- especially after she makes it clear that she's playing to win.
* 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 realizes that Beth is actually going through with her plan to destabilize Market Equities from within.
* EnemyMine: The whole reason why she hires Beth -- despite considering her to be a "monster", Caroline recognizes that setting Beth against Market Equities' enemies is far more lucrative in the short-term, and it will help her get rid of a potential thorn in the company's side (Schwartz & Meyer) in the process.
* ItsPersonal: Once it becomes clear to her that Beth did everything she said she would do (screw over Market Equities in an attempt to stall out their plan to buyout the ranch), Caroline has her fired and drops the mother of all [[MotiveRant motive rants]]:
--> '''Caroline:''' You’ve made it personal for me. [[{{Determinator}} I don’t care how much we spend or how long it takes]]. I’m going to put a public restroom where your fucking house is. I’m going to chop down every tree and dam every creek. I’m going to rape your fucking ranch to death.
* NotSoStoic: The first few episodes of Season 5 have her get increasingly frazzled and angry (a far cry from her normally-stoic demeanor) as Beth's plans come to fruition, via putting the Dutton ranch into a conservation easement, selling her controlling interest of Schwartz & Meyer to an ME rival and getting her father (now the Governor) to sign an executive order killing the leases ME had set up for their planned development.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Like Willa, she ends up underestimating Beth, particularly when the latter leads her into an extended HumiliationConga in Season 5, via ruining nearly all her plans to establish a development in Cook County.

[[folder:Sarah Atwood]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Dawn Oliveri

An enigmatic woman called in by Market Equities in an attempt to destabilize the Dutton family after John passes an executive order canceling the corporation's leases in Season 5.

* FemmeFatale: She makes no bones about the fact that she uses her sexuality as a weapon, particularly when she decides to go after Jamie Dutton (via seducing him) as a way to destabilize the Duttons.
* TheFixer: Much like each major faction on the show, she appears to fulfill this role for Market Equities, only being called in when the circumstances are truly dire.
* LadyMacbeth: She enters into a relationship with Jaime Dutton, ostensibly to destabilize the Duttons, by convincing him to pursue his ultimate political aspirations and have John deposed as Governor so that he can take the job for himself.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: She admits in her first scene that the only reason why she's in Montana in the first place is because ME is paying her a lot of money.
* ReallyGetsAround: Implied -- in tandem with being a FemmeFatale, her EstablishingCharacterMoment has her ordering a junior subordinate at Market Equities (who is [[MaleGaze sneaking glances at her backside]]) to stare at it if he really means it, and implying that she would be fine jumping into bed with him if he asked her.

!Antagonists

[[folder:Dan Jenkins]]
!!Dan Jenkins
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/DannyHuston

Appears in Seasons 1 and 2 as the head of the Paradise Valley capital developments firm, based in California. As the series begins, Jenkins intends to build a condo development on Yellowstone, using every trick he can think of to destabilize the family's interests in the region.

* ArchEnemy: Outside of Rainwater, he's one of the key overarching threats to the Dutton family's ranch and livelihood, serving as a key antagonist over the first two seasons.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: His entire plan to build Paradise Valley revolves around repeated instances of this. He shows up in Montana deadset on building a few golf courses and a couple properties, but is confronted with a force that uses all manner of tricks, including area denial, subterfuge and physical intimidation to get him to back down. (Though trying to run John Dutton off the road with a tractor-trailer that subsequently caused a pileup didn't help his case.) When this doesn't work, he decides to bury them in lawsuits with the help of TheFixer -- but this immediately goes south when he's kidnapped and slowly hanged by Rip and the rest of the wranglers, only escaping death because they showed mercy and cut him down. Even after all this, he refuses to back down, even getting weapons training at one point (and nearly being shot when Ryan mistakes him for a genuine threat) in an attempt to protect himself.
* EmasculatedCuckold: 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.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: During his sit-down with John and Rainwater in Season 2 (where they form an EnemyMine against the Becks), he comments on this, noting that while he's tried to go after John's interests, he's never threatened a member of the latter's family (nor Rainwater's) directly, nor tried to kill any of them.
* LastStand: Against a group of militia hitmen at the end of Season 2 who raid his compound. [[spoiler:He doesn't make it]].
* SoreLoser: By the end of the second season, he's been reduced to a blubbering wreck who alternates between trying to protect himself and inelegantly trying to get the Duttons off his back, either by ineffectually threatening them or trying to get them to buy his remaining properties. The fact that he's more-or-less shoved out of Rainwater's casino development deal before [[spoiler:his death in the Season 2 finale]] doesn't help matters, either.
* VillainDecay: Starts out in the pilot episode who is a hyper-competent businessman who represents the most clear and present threat to the Dutton's way of life. From the second episode onwards, his motives and personality degrade, often causing him to be viewed as weak and ineffectual in the face of an overwhelming force (to the point that he's made to be an EmasculatedCuckold).

[[folder:Garrett Randall]]
!!Garrett Randall
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/WillPatton

A machinist (and former inmate) who is revealed to have a surprising connection to Jamie Dutton. Introduced in the latter half of Season 3.

* 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.
* ItsPersonal: It's suggested repeatedly that he has an irrational hatred of John due to the latter having done something in the past that caused them to have a schism. [[spoiler:Season 4 suggests that John's adoption of Jamie, and Garrett's criminal past being due to John not defending him in court, led him to hire the Montana Free Militia to begin a campaign of war against the Duttons]].
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The entirety of the Montana Free Militia's campaign against the Duttons in Season 2 is revealed to be a result of his machinations]], due to [[ItsPersonal the matter being a personal vendetta]].
* SoProudOfYou: He repeatedly tells [[spoiler:his son, Jamie]] that he's immensely proud of how much he's accomplished as a politician [[spoiler:and as a father with his new child]].
* SuicideByCop: He functionally allows [[spoiler:Jamie to shoot him in the head at the end of Season 4, having realized that the Duttons have manipulated the latter into {{Blackmail}}. His dialogue during this scene (where he has packed his bags, is sitting by a river at Jamie's new property, and makes multiple comments about "going somewhere" and telling his son he loves him, suggests that he was fully aware he was going to die]].
* WalkingSpoiler: Many of his character moments are tied to revelations in the fourth season involving one of the main characters.
* WellDoneSonGuy: [[spoiler:Jamie is his biological son (having been adopted by John as a child after Garrett was imprisoned for killing his wife), and is immensely proud to see how much his son has accomplished, particularly within his political career. Their final conversation at the end of Season 4 is full of this behavior]].

!Others

[[folder:Bob Schwartz]]
!!Bob Schwartz
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Michael Nouri

The co-founder of Schwartz & Meyer, an investment consortium located in Salt Lake City, and Beth's boss, who he works closely alongside to increase the firm's land holdings in Montana.

* AddingInsultToInjury: He gets called out by Beth in Season 4 for not giving any sympathy to her when she was in the hospital, after she was nearly killed when a bomb was detonated in the firm's Montana office, with it being suggested that he'd all but given up on her at that point.
* 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.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: It's implied that his strategy of securing land holdings around the Dutton ranch was a long-term play for himself, assuming that he believed the ranch would end up being sold to Market Equities. It isn't until Beth finally drops the news on him that his plan didn't work (she's listed as a co-owner on all the leases) that he finally shows the first signs of confusion and fear in the series.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: He coldly fires Beth, who was about as loyal as an employee could get (he even condoned her LadyDrunk tendencies), despite the fact that she made hundreds of millions in profit for the firm and was a ruthless corporate raider, of whom he was only one of a select few people she implicitly would do anything for. For this, he is outplayed when Beth reveals that ([[XanatosGambit thinking ahead]]) she made herself co-owner of all the land holdings, she takes a job as Market Equities' corporate raider, and has both Bob and his nosy assistant fired (and the firm's holdings moved to Montana) once she starts in her new role.
* FaceHeelTurn: Due to Beth's strategy of shorting Market Equities' stock backfiring on her, Schwartz unceremoniously fires near the beginning of Season 4, leading to a LaserGuidedKarma moment (listed below).
* LaserGuidedKarma: Once he fires Beth, she accepts a job offer from Market Equities and leverages it to take hold of the consortium's controlling interest in Schwartz & Meyer, before driving to their offices in Utah and personally firing Bob and his nosy assistant.
* ShipTease: Beth tells him more than once that if he was twenty years younger, she'd have no problem jumping into bed with him.

[[folder:Sheriff Donnie Haskell]]
!!Sheriff Donnie Haskell
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/HughDillon

The Sheriff of Park County, who maintains a cordial (if sometimes frosty) connection to John Dutton based on their mutual pasts.

* CorruptCop: To note -- he's full of this, but he's firmly on the Dutton's side. That is, when he's not [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor allying with other forces working against them]].
* ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler:He dies towards the end of Season 4, during a diner robbery gone wrong, and his final moments are shown talking to Rip and John and trying to call his daughter in a panic -- revealing a side of him that was never seen before this moment]].
* TheGamblingAddict: Season 2 reveals that he's in debt to the Beck brothers, because they've paid off his gambling debts -- but are holding it over his head in order to keep local law enfocement compliant with their wishes.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: At times, he's either actively stymieing the Duttons (as seen when he pockets evidence that could exonerate Rip after the latter shot a grizzly bear) or liaising with other forces he's in league with (the Becks in Season 2, after he becomes beholden to them due to bad gambling debts).

[[folder:Victoria Jenkins]]
!!Victoria Jenkins
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Barret Swatek

The wife of developer Dan Jenkins, who moves with him (and their daughter) to Yellowstone to oversee the development of his planned concept, Paradise Heights.

* MsFanservice: Spends a good portion of her screentime aggressively flirting with others or (as her key scene in Season 1 suggests) disrobes in front of her husband in an attempt to get him to have sex with her.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She's sent away with her daughter back to Los Angeles late in the first season and never reappears, not even to find out what happened [[spoiler:to Dan as a result of his death]].

[[folder:Sarah Nguyen]]
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/MichaelaConlin

A freelance reporter who is dispatched by her employer in New York to write a story on corruption in Montana, eventually liaising with Jamie in an attempt to root out the Dutton clan's stranglehold on Montana.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: She initially presents herself as a mild-mannered campaign staffer (albeit pretending to be one, as she's actually a freelance journalist) who convinces Jamie and Christina to let her write a story about his campaign for Attorney General by framing it as being part of a larger story on "the new Montana". When she realizes she hasn't got the scoop she wants and Jamie wants to retract his statements, she drops the act and delivers a MotiveRant where she threatens to cause enough noise for authorities to swoop in and claim the ranch under eminent domain laws, citing that his family shouldn't have that much land in the first place.
* ChekhovsGunman: Starts out as a seemingly-unimportant tourist with her girlfriend, who are visiting Montana to enjoy some downtime in the state. Her appearance as an apparently-random campaign staffer at Jamie's office spoils that there's more to her than she lets on, and she eventually reveals herself to be a reporter doing a story that involves the Duttons.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Under the guise of requesting more information for her story, Sarah meets Jamie on a backroad that's devoid of people, located right near the river, and shows up in a vehicle that has all her canoeing gear conveniently mounted on it. She then decides that it would be a great idea to antagonize a guy who she believes to be spineless (up to and including threatening his family and the safety of his ranch) by claiming she's going to ruin his reputation, even delivering a MotiveRant in the process. No points for what happens next.
* DistractedByTheSexy: She convinces her girlfriend to let her stay in Montana longer than she planned (after the latter decides to head back to New York on her own) by dramatically dropping her towel after she'd just stepped out of the shower, before stalking off and threatening to withhold intimacy from the latter.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Rip and Jamie stage her death as a boating accident, via loading her into the canoe still strapped to her car and setting it down the Yellowstone river with her phone on her.

[[folder:Mia]]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/EdenBrolin

A barrel-racer who meets Jimmy during a rodeo contest and strikes up a relationship with him -- and, in the process, is hired on at the Dutton ranch as a wrangler.

* TheArtifact: Invoked in-universe, where she continues to hang around the bunkhouse for weeks (if not months) after Jimmy's departure, despite not being employed by the ranch and having no other purpose other than showing up to hang out with Laramie and eat[=/=]drink at the bunkhouse (''after'' she was expressly fired after the Lloyd[=/=]Walker fight), prompting this reaction from the ranchers.
--> '''Mia:''' (to Jimmy, after the CatFight with Emily) How fucking dare you bring her here!
--> '''Jimmy:''' How am I supposed to know you were gonna be here? [[SuddenlyShouting YOU DON'T FUCKING WORK HERE!]]
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: In Season 4, she functionally abandons him in his hour of need (when he's sent to apprentice at the Four-Sixes), refusing to commit to wait for him and all but treating him as a pariah. When he comes back several months later, now with a renewed focus in life and a fiancee in Emily, she snaps, instigating a CatFight and attempting to sway Jimmy back before he coldly tells her he isn't in love with her anymore. The last time she's seen, she's awkwardly standing by her vehicle by the entrance to the ranch to watch Jimmy leave with Emily.
* {{Hypocrite}}: The reason why her relationship with Jimmy fizzles out in the first place (early on in Season 4) is due to her forcing him into a no-win situation, as she tells him he'll have to choose between his loyalty to the ranch (which is shipping him off to the Four-Sixes for "one last shot" to make something of himself) or her, with no possibility of waiting for him until he returns. When he returns to the ranch at the end of Season 4, she tries to cajole him into choosing between her or Emily, expecting that Jimmy will be willing to throw away all the maturity he'd gained in the interim, only to have it thrown back in her face when he unambiguously chooses to stay with Emily.
* LoveAtFirstSight: With Jimmy, after meeting him at a rodeo. She immediately starts referring to herself as his girlfriend, and goes out of her way to help with his physical therapy after he's injured for the first time in a bronco-riding contest.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: A core part of her character is that she repeatedly tries to inspire Jimmy to pursue a life of rodeo contest work, being that she tells him straight out that the only way he can be with her is if he lives up to the initial perception she had of him (as a successful winner) and run the rodeo circuit throughout the country. When this doesn't work (and it causes him to be seriously-injured, and later sent to the Four-Sixes), she dumps him and treats him as a pariah.

[[folder:Laramie]]
!!Laramie
-> '''Portrayed By:''' Hassie Harrison

A barrel racer, and Mia's best friend, Laramie is swayed to work at the Yellowstone as a ranch hand.

* TheArtifact: Like Mia, she sticks around the property long after she'd been expressly fired by John and is no longer performing ranchhand duties. As of Season 5, she still seems to be living at the ranch with Walker, though it appears she works more in a supportive role with other members of the ranch to cook and clean for the rest of the wranglers.
* LoveTriangle: Season 4 mines a large amount of drama over the developing tension between Lloyd and Walker over her affections.
* TheLadette: She has no problem drinking and playing cards with the rest of the wranglers, as is befitting her reputation as a barrel-racer who has toured the state.
* MayDecemberRomance: Initially becomes attracted to Lloyd, the senior-most ranchhand at the Dutton property, though nothing actually comes of it, as she eventually becomes drawn to (and enters a relationship with) Walker, fueling the LoveTriangle noted above.
* WorstAid: In response to Walker being stabbed by Lloyd (and despite the on-site doctor telling her otherwise), she swiftly yanks the blade out of Walker's shoulder, prompting the rest of the wranglers to freak out.
--> '''Laramie:''' [[ExactWords You said 'pull it', baby!]]

* MadeofIron: Rip is the toughest person on the ranch and has never lost a fight. He even accidentally kills someone in a fight in a flashback, which binds him to the ranch.

* 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.

* HiddenDepths: 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.

* MadeofIron: Rip is the toughest person on the ranch and has never lost a fight. He even accidentally kills someone in a fight which binds him to the ranch.

* 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.

* 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.

* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Jamie's Abel. Beth is extremely cruel and abusive to Jamie, going to such lengths as to [[spoiler: force him to kill his own father at the end of Season 4 and then use it as blackmail]]. When she finds out [[spoiler: Jamie has a son]], she threatens to take him away from Jamie. When [[spoiler: Jamie makes his move against John and let's Beth in on the "train station", Beth has a VillainousBreakdown and asks her father to outright murder Jamie.]]

* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Jamie's Abel. Beth is extremely cruel and abusive to Jamie, going to such lengths as to [[spoiler: force him to kill his own father at the end of Season 4 and then use it as blackmail]]. When she finds out [[spoiler: Jamie has a son]], she threatens to take him away from Jamie.

* AntiVillain: Becomes practically a textbook example halfway through Season 5. The constant abuse from the Duttons, the snub by John in the governor race, the cruelty from Beth, [[spoiler: being forced to kill his father, and the threats from Beth against his son]] drive him to become an antagonist to the ranch. His antagonism is completely justified and he should have major sympathy points with the audience. He's practically a villain only narratively. He even has the foresight to understand that [[spoiler: his unhinged sister will attempt to have him killed, and makes plans to counter her.]]

* AntiVillain: Becomes practically a textbook example halfway through Season 5. The constant abuse from the Duttons, the snub by John in the governor race, the cruelty from Beth, [[spoiler: being forced to kill his father, and the threats from Beth against his son]] drive him to become an antagonist to the ranch. His antagonism is completely justified and he should have major sympathy points with the audience. He's practically a villain in all but in name. He even has the foresight to understand that [[spoiler: his unhinged sister will attempt to have him killed, and makes plans to counter her.]]

* AntiVillain: Becomes this halfway through Season 5. The constant abuse from the Duttons, the snub by John in the governor race, the cruelty from Beth, [[spoiler: being forced to kill his father, and the threats from Beth against his son]] drive him to become an antagonist to the ranch. His antagonism is completely justified.

* DesignatedVillain: Becomes practically a textbook example midway through Season 5. The constant abuse from the Duttons, especially Beth makes him turn against the ranch and it's completely justified. Yet through the structure of the show and the story he is an antagonist to the ranch.

* LadyDrunk: Her establishing character moment has her partaking in this, as she browbeats a business associate (while slightly tipsy) 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.

** Beth is ''allowed'' to physically abuse Jamie. If Jamie fights back, he's the one in the wrong. The most John does is ask at one point for Beth to "take ot easy on him", but he doesn't push it when she refuses.

* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Jamie's Abel. Beth is extremely cruel and abusive to Jamie, going to such lengths as to [[spoiler: force him to kill his own father at the end of Season 4 and then use it as blackmail]].

* BrokenBird: The [[spoiler:hysterectomy]] performed on her turns her into a cynical, callous and sadistic individual, barely able to hold herself together, and forms the core of her character. Beth is a mess.

* BrokenBird: The hysterectomy performed on her turns her into a cynical, callous and sadistic individual, barely able to hold herself together, and forms the core of her character. Beth is a mess.