| 1 | This is a list of the characters in ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | |
| 4 | [[index]] |
| 5 | * [[Characters/CheersFrasierCrane Frasier Crane]] |
| 6 | [[/index]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | !Main Characters |
| 11 | |
| 12 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 13 | ->''I have never met a family that worked so hard at being uncomfortable with each other!'' |
| 14 | -->--'''Daphne''', "Duke's, We Hardly Knew Ye" |
| 15 | !Tropes that apply to all of the core group |
| 16 | |
| 17 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Especially at the beginning there are portions of the core group who are either more prone to snarking at each other or getting on the other's nerves, particlarly Frasier/Martin, Niles/Roz, and Frasier/Roz. Even very early on before they start to legitimately like each other, it's entirely likely they ''will'' come to the other's defense when it comes down to it. |
| 18 | ** The biggest case of this is Niles' breakdown where he strips naked in Cafe Nervosa... and Roz, who detests Niles, is the one to make everyone back off until Frasier comes around to revive him. |
| 19 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: All of them are quirky individuals with various dysfunctions (including the dog). Despite this, they all are great at their jobs: Frasier and Niles are successful psychiatrists, Roz is a great producer (and later, the General Manager of KACL), Martin was a career cop with a great track record, and Daphne is a successful physical therapist. |
| 20 | * CloudCuckoolander: All of them have shades of this to varying degrees. Frasier tends toward LargeHam monologues, Niles can act almost oblivious to the dysfunction happening around him (especially involving Maris), and Daphne fancies herself a psychic [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane (and may very well be)]]. Even Roz and Martin, the two more grounded of the group, have their own quirks. |
| 21 | * TheComicallySerious: Mainly Frasier and Niles as they are both sophisticated intellectuals who manage to be quirky and comedic because of their over-the-top snootiness. |
| 22 | * DeadpanSnarker: All of them thrive on sarcasm to varying degrees. Even Daphne, who's probably the sweetest of the five, isn't immune, especially as she gets more comfortable with the Cranes (and later becomes one). Hell, even Eddie could be a SilentSnarker at points. |
| 23 | * MistakenForGay: They've ''all'' been mistaken for gay or lesbian during the series, Frasier and Niles more than once. Martin has pretended to be gay, which bit him in the ass. Daphne was presumed to be gay by a ski instructor who was going after Niles, because she was trying to stop her friend seducing him. Roz once went on a date with a woman because the alternative was Noel being ''exceptionally'' stalker-y. |
| 24 | * ObnoxiousInLaws: Despite all their scrapes with the likes of Maris and Lillith, Frasier lampshades that ''they'' are probably this trope more than anyone, as their differing tastes in partners leads them to be disapproving or contemptuous at worst, or driving them away with their eccentricities at best. Daphne and Hester, Frasier and Niles' mother, are among the few women all the Crane family had a positive opinion of (and even the latter was an extreme case of this trope from what little we see of her). |
| 25 | * RagtagBunchOfMisfits: They consist of two pompous, high class psychiatrists, their blue collar cop father, a spacey British physical therapist, a snarky, sex-crazed radio producer, and a Jack Russell Terrier. |
| 26 | * TrueCompanions: Make no mistake about it: These five consider themselves family (and by the end, ''are'' all related except for Roz) and are very closely devoted to each other. |
| 27 | * TwoGirlsToATeam: Roz and Daphne to Frasier, Niles, and Martin (and Eddie). |
| 28 | * VitriolicBestBuds: The group all enjoys poking and prodding at one another, but they don't hide the fact that they all care about each other all the same. |
| 29 | [[/folder]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder: Frasier Crane]] |
| 32 | !Frasier Winslow Crane, M.D. |
| 33 | See [[Characters/CheersFrasierCrane here]] for his list of tropes. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder: Niles Crane]] |
| 37 | !Niles Crane, M.D. |
| 38 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/niles_crane.jpg]] |
| 39 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"All my life I have dreamed of one thing: the day I could go into a library and go to the card catalog and see my name under 'mental illness'."'']] |
| 40 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/DavidHydePierce |
| 41 | ->''"I've got my compulsive spending seminar, and I'm hoping to unload the rest of these raffle tickets."'' |
| 42 | |
| 43 | Frasier's brother, even more uptight and snooty than he is. Initially married to a ManipulativeBitch named Maris and an extreme doormat, he falls in love with Daphne at first sight. His CharacterDevelopment over the series has him grow a backbone as he tries to escape his increasingly unhealthy marriage and some day confess his feelings to Daphne. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | ---- |
| 46 | * AbortedDeclarationOfLove: The few times he finally works up the courage to tell Daphne how he feels, something happens that makes it inappropriate or otherwise scares him off. |
| 47 | * AlwaysSecondBest: Early on, it's established Niles feels this way about Frasier, even though on paper Niles is the more successful of the two - still married, an eminent psychiatrist with his own practice and high esteem among his peers - simply because of Frasier being the first-born. |
| 48 | * AwfulWeddedLife: While initially it seems like he and Maris are largely content, there are a few hints right from the off it's not as perfect as Niles claims (he already had brochures for a retirement home ready to go). As the seasons go by, it's made clear Niles was treated shabbily through the whole thing, capitulating to Maris's every demand or whim, never once being allowed any leeway or consideration, having to buy her expensive gifts as apologies for any gaffe, such as [[FelonyMisdemeanor trying to grow a mustache]] (though Frasier snarks he owed ''everyone'' an apology for that). |
| 49 | * {{Beat}}: One of Niles' trademarks, usually followed by a [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan snark]]. |
| 50 | * BerserkButton: Stay away from Daphne when he's around. Hitting on her makes him angry and hurting her feelings just makes it worse. Though Frasier and Martin hold him back and talk him down when he gets tempted to use violence in these situations, he won't hesitate to throw out an articulate TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. |
| 51 | %%* BreakoutCharacter |
| 52 | * BreakTheCutie: As much comedy as they mine from his AwfulWeddedLife with Maris, it also can be PlayedForDrama when they show just how badly her emotional abuse has affected him. More than once Frasier has to reassure him that the marriage failing wasn't actually his fault. He gets better when he's with Daphne, as she's still [[HasAType dominating]] but they're HappilyMarried. |
| 53 | * BreakTheHaughty: As with Frasier, a major theme is that one or both of them get broken over the course of an episode. Niles's breaking however takes place over several seasons as his divorce costs him his home, his lifestyle, and his reputation. |
| 54 | * BullyMagnet: In an episode, Niles confronts his former Junior High school bully, Danny Kreasel. Danny expresses regret over his past actions, but points out in his defense that Niles showed up to school in a tweed blazer with elbow patches carrying a valise. |
| 55 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Niles suffers from multiple neuroses of his own, ranging from eccentric, like his germaphobia, to serious, for example the many scars that his marital problems have caused. Nevertheless he is an accomplished and quite capable psychiatrist. |
| 56 | * CampStraight: Like his brother, often MistakenForGay due to his refined tastes. |
| 57 | * CannotSpitItOut: It takes him ''seven years'' to confess to Daphne he has a thing for her. And even then [[spoiler:it's only because Frasier has already accidentally spit it out to her.]] Lampshaded in the second episode of Season Eight, "The Bad Son", when Niles encourages Frasier to be bold and pursue a woman he was attracted to: |
| 58 | -->'''Niles''': Take a chapter from ''my'' book!\ |
| 59 | '''Frasier''': Exactly which chapter would that be?\ |
| 60 | '''Niles''': ...The last chapter. |
| 61 | * CarpetOfVirility: It's not as impressive as Frasier's, but he also happens to have one, surprisingly enough. |
| 62 | * CatchPhrase: |
| 63 | ** In response to an insulting description of him or something he does--"{{GASP}} ''I''--''am/do''--''not!''" |
| 64 | ** In a similar vein: "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis HOW!]] ''[[DramaQueen DARE YOU!!!]]''" |
| 65 | ** Also ''Well I hope you're happy!'' and ''the poor thing'' (the latter generally referring to Maris). |
| 66 | ** Referring to Maris as "my Maris". |
| 67 | * CharacterTics: He has a particular stagger he breaks out whenever he's emotionally distressed. |
| 68 | * ChickMagnet: Not to quite the same extent as Frasier, though with the obvious justification that he spends a lot of the series married, but Niles has several women drawn to him over the series. |
| 69 | * CompressedVice: Is subject to this. For example, in one two-part episode, he becomes an ardent nudist. He cures himself of that kink by the end. |
| 70 | * ConspicuousConsumption: Even when dumped by Maris and suffering severe cash-flow problems with the lawyers, Niles finds it insanely difficult to restrict his budget. In fact, he finds it difficult to operate on a budget in the first place, requiring Frasier to step in and tell him to start downsizing. |
| 71 | * CovertPervert: Checking out Daphne's behind--constantly... |
| 72 | ** Gets lampshaded when Daphne looks at old photos and notices how many show him staring at her bum. Though she laughs it off because they're now married. |
| 73 | ** When Frasier describes a flirtation with a policewoman he'd met, Niles suddenly begins projecting in a rather startling way: |
| 74 | ---> '''Niles:''' It's obvious what attracted you to her. The gleam of her badge; the swing of her nightstick... |
| 75 | * DamnedByFaintPraise: Niles is often on both the receiving and giving end of this. |
| 76 | -->'''Bulldog:''' Hey, Dr. Doolittle! I heard your show. It didn't suck!\ |
| 77 | '''Niles:''' Ah. "[[SarcasmMode Dear Diary...]]" |
| 78 | * TheDandy: His suits tend to be even trendier than Frasier's. |
| 79 | * DeadpanSnarker: Frasier's wit tends to be more dry, Niles' tends to be more politely facetious. |
| 80 | * DespairEventHorizon: Comes pretty close to this after [[spoiler: Daphne gets engaged to Donny]]. |
| 81 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: While earlier seasons focused mostly on Frasier, the focus gradually shifted until Niles was easily as important to the series as his brother. |
| 82 | * DoggedNiceGuy: Towards Daphne. |
| 83 | * DoubleTake: Niles is a master at this. In "The Matchmaker", Niles thinks Tom, the new station manager, is chasing Daphne, who has a thing for him. |
| 84 | -->'''Tom:''' Oh. It must be all in my head, but I sensed that you had a problem with me dating Frasier.\ |
| 85 | '''Niles:''' ''[haughty]'' Well, if you must know... ''[double take, pause]'' I'm sorry, what was the question?\ |
| 86 | '''Tom:''' Do you have some problem with me dating your brother?\ |
| 87 | '''Niles:''' ''[serene and smug]'' No. |
| 88 | * DramaQueen: For the same reasons as Frasier. |
| 89 | * DrinkBasedCharacterization: Same as Fras, the man likes his sherry. It's a sign of just how rattled he is when things with Maris go into meltdown that he's swigging beer. ''From a can'', no less. |
| 90 | * DropInCharacter: Usually to apparently return something of Frasier's, to pick him up for something, or just to get away from Maris, but usually there's the underlying desire just to see Daphne. Lampshaded once he and Daphne finally get together. |
| 91 | -->'''Niles:''' ''[to Daphne]'' A patient canceled, so I thought I'd... drop by and see you. Oh my god, you have no idea how good it feels to say that. I'm here to see you! No more flimsy pretenses. No more making tedious small talk with Dad!\ |
| 92 | '''Martin:''' Hey Niles, it's 82 in Florida!\ |
| 93 | '''Niles:''' Here to see Daphne, Dad! |
| 94 | * EmbarrassingNickname: Piles, as a kid. The Coyote, when he moves into the Shangri-La. |
| 95 | * {{Fainting}}: Especially at the sight of blood. |
| 96 | * FlatWhat: Does this quite a lot, whenever he's serving as the StraightMan. |
| 97 | * {{Foil}}: Played with; Niles often highlights and underscores a lot of Frasier's own character traits, but less by direct contrast and more because he's even ''more'' like Frasier than Frasier is. |
| 98 | -->'''Frasier:''' I'm a teamster compared to you! |
| 99 | * FreudianSlip: On occasion will let these out, especially about his true feelings regarding his wife and Daphne. |
| 100 | --> '''Niles:''' It is possible to move a relationship along too fast, and ultimately marry too hastily. You could find a few years down the line that the person isn't really right for you, and then what happens if you meet the right person? Someone who really excites you and makes you feel alive, but you can't act upon it, because you're trapped in a stale, albeit comfortable, Maris!'' [pauses while everyone stares] '' Marriage. I have to go now. |
| 101 | * GentlemanAndAScholar: Just like his brother, while Niles can be arrogant and elitist, he is both highly educated and well-read, but also very caring and compassionate towards his patients. |
| 102 | * GentlemanSnarker: He can be ''viciously'' sarcastic while still speaking in an extremely polite fashion. |
| 103 | * GoldDigger: Eventually answered in one episode, in which Niles addresses the big unspoken question: did he marry Maris for her money? He says no, but it was a delightful bonus. While it's made clear that he does love Maris, it's also pretty clear that he wouldn't have tolerated her crap for so long if he didn't also love being rich. |
| 104 | * GreenEyedMonster: |
| 105 | ** He ''seethes'' at the thought of someone taking Daphne's attention, even when that someone is his pre-teen nephew (thought it's suggested Frederick can see it and knows full well what he's doing). The same with Maris. He gets frustrated when Frasier mentions having accidentally seen her naked in the shower. That's more than Niles tends to see even when they were married. |
| 106 | ** He constantly mocks Frasier being a call-in radio host, but he just ''loves'' being in the spotlight, such as subbing in for Frasier or being on a televised court case. |
| 107 | * HappilyMarried: In the first season the audience was led to believe this of him and Maris, despite her selfish moments--although it's subverted by the time of their divorce. [[spoiler:After breaking up with Mel, another wife he didn't love, he plays it straight with Daphne.]] |
| 108 | * HenpeckedHusband: An ExtremeDoormat for Maris, though he's quick to stand on his dignity with anyone else. This ends up being deconstructed as the series goes on--how easily he's controlled in his romantic relationships ends up being the source of a great deal of self-esteem issues and unhappiness in his life, and part of his development is learning to stand up for himself. |
| 109 | * HeroicBSOD: He has many of these throughout the series, probably more than any other character, but most notably when [[spoiler: Daphne gets engaged to Donny.]] Being forced to sit through their [[spoiler: engagement breakfast]] in the next episode ''certainly'' didn't help. |
| 110 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Frasier. |
| 111 | * HonoraryUncle: To Roz's daughter Alice. |
| 112 | * HumiliationConga: Especially in season 6. |
| 113 | * InsufferableGenius: He's this to Frasier, much to his older brother's consternation. |
| 114 | * {{Hypocrite}}: |
| 115 | ** In the show's early seasons, Niles had a tendency to make bald jokes aimed at Frasier, even though Niles' hair is also noticeably thinning. He still has more hair than Frasier, however. |
| 116 | ** His many jibes at Frasier's radio show are clearly driven by envy over the attention it subsequently gains Frasier, for all that he tries to dress it up as being about the sanctity of the psychiatric profession. |
| 117 | * ICantDance: Due to Maris' refusal to dance in public he never had to learn how, which leaves him in an awkward position when he arranges to attend a charity ball with another woman. He turns to Daphne for lessons which he [[DanceOfRomance thoroughly enjoys]]. |
| 118 | * IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Despite how much it hurts him, Niles steps aside when [[spoiler: when Daphne gets engaged to Donny]]. However, Niles [[spoiler:ultimately ends up with Daphne in the end]]. |
| 119 | * IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Just as prone as Frasier to suffer BrainBleach, but he'll express it with this trope instead. |
| 120 | -->''[Bebe opens the door to Niles in a bathrobe, after having sex with Frasier the night before]''\ |
| 121 | '''Bebe:''' Good morning, Niles! What a lovely surprise! We were just about to sit down to a big family breakfast. Won't you join us?\ |
| 122 | ''[Niles gives a ''very'' frozen smile, and rings the doorbell '''again'''.]'' |
| 123 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be snooty to people he thinks lesser than him in taste, but he's really a kind man even to people who aren't his friends--looking at how he treats his patients is an example of this. |
| 124 | * TheKlutz: On occasion, Niles can turn something as simple as catching a penny ''he tossed'' into a cringe-inducing disaster, ending with him lying on the floor surrounded by debris. |
| 125 | -->'''Martin:''' Makes you wonder what goes on at that squash court. |
| 126 | * LethalKlutz: Shows shades of this on a couple of occasions when he repeatedly accidentally hurts Frederick and keeps almost accidentally injuring his father. |
| 127 | * LongingLook: He sent so many of these at Daphne that they provide the trope image. Frasier, and occasionally Martin, frequently had to tell him off for staring at her so much when he was "happily" married to Maris. |
| 128 | * LoveAtFirstSight: Claims as much about Maris, having apparently first seen her trying desperately to get back into her mansion when the gate wasn't working, though later comments suggest desperation on Niles's part played a role as well. He's also instantly smitten with Daphne when he meets her for the first time in the third episode. |
| 129 | * MissingMom: His mother is deceased by the time of the show. |
| 130 | * NeatFreak: Incapable of sitting down on a seat without wiping it down first. A flashback in season 3 has Frasier mention he's been like this since they were four, at the very least. |
| 131 | * NervousWreck: As the show goes on, and his problems with Maris get worse, he becomes more and more prone to panic attacks. |
| 132 | * NiceToTheWaiter: He's mentioned as giving very generous tips to the staff at Cafe Nervosa, which becomes a plot point when he has a HeroicBSOD at one point, strips his clothes off, and one of said waiters threatens to call the cops: |
| 133 | -->'''Roz:''' The hell you are! This man’s tips alone have probably paid for all the pot you’ll ever smoke! |
| 134 | ** He also appears to have treated his and Maris's servants much better than Maris did, if this little exchange when he's bidding farewell to them is an indication: |
| 135 | --->'''Marta:''' The staff, they have a question: can we come with you?\ |
| 136 | ''[Everyone assembled steps forward hopefully]'' |
| 137 | ** That said, he can be just as pompous as Frasier, it's just behind their backs rather than in their face like Frasier tends to be. At one point, Fras even accuses him of putting this on as a pretense around Daphne, citing a time he made a scene at the grocery store simply because the bag boy put [[FelonyMisdemeanor ice cream on top of his veggies]]. |
| 138 | --->'''Niles:''' That young man was on drugs and everyone knew it! |
| 139 | * NitpickyAboutLivingArrangements: Maybe even more so than Frasier as he is drawn to the lap of luxury like a drug addiction. One episode showed that Niles is forced to lower his standards when his ex-wife Maris freezes all of his financial accounts and he spends a small portion of the 6th season living in a low-class yet sustainable studio apartment called The Shangri-La until his divorce is resolved and he can afford to live in his apartment, the luxurious Montana, once more. Notably, when their dad Martin calls The Shangri-La "his kind of place", Niles begins wailing and demands they get him "out of this hell hole!" |
| 140 | * ObliviousToLove: After moving on from Daphne in season 7, it's Niles' turn to be clueless to [[spoiler: ''her'' [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo feelings for him]]]]. |
| 141 | * PungeonMaster: Especially when he's delivered a silly pun and can barely keep from giggling. |
| 142 | * RememberTheNewGuy: Despite being Frasier's brother, at no point during Fras's time on ''Cheers'' did he ever mention or hint that he had a brother. Gets a LampshadeHanging in "The One Where Sam Shows Up", and Niles is miffed to learn Frasier never told the gang about him. |
| 143 | -->'''Niles:''' Frasier, I don't mind telling you I'm a little offended that in all the time you spent swapping ''[[GratuitousFrench bon mots]]'' with the beer-nut set, you never once mentioned you had a brother?!\ |
| 144 | '''Sam:''' Well, you know, the truth is, I bet he said something, it's just that when Frasier gets going you kind of have to tune him out.\ |
| 145 | '''Niles:''' ''[almost giggling]'' That's a good slogan for his radio show -- "Dr. Frasier Crane: When he gets going, you have to tune him out." |
| 146 | * ReplacementFlatCharacter: The former Trope namer -- Niles is essentially what Frasier was on ''Cheers'' with Frasier developing into a more rounded character. Niles then goes on to develop into his own distinct character separate from both the current Frasier and his original ''Cheers'' persona. |
| 147 | -->'''Frasier:''' ''[snarking]'' I'm a ''teamster'' compared to you! |
| 148 | ** {{Lampshaded}} by [[Series/{{Cheers}} Sam Malone]] when he first meets Niles: |
| 149 | --->'''Sam:''' Wow... man, this is freaky. He looks just like you did when I met you. ''[nudges Frasier]'' What happened, huh?\ |
| 150 | '''Frasier:''' ''[smiling]'' Wasn't exactly a health club you were running there, Sam. |
| 151 | ** According to the writers, much of the humor comes from them being so ''similar'', when most sitcoms would have them being diametrically opposite. (Of course, Martin provides that conflict - with ''both'' of them.) |
| 152 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Like Frasier, he's very verbose and has an extensive vocabulary. |
| 153 | * SexGod: After he and Daphne finally have sex, she tells Roz that "he's spoiled me for any other man". This surprises Roy who assumed he was [[LousyLoversAreLosers the opposite]]. |
| 154 | * SexlessMarriage: Even in the first season it's made clear Niles and Maris do not sleep together often. Not least because Niles has to sleep in a separate bed. In another room. [[spoiler:Obviously less so with Daphne.]] |
| 155 | -->'''Niles:''' We pushed our beds together that night, which takes some doing. As you know, Maris's room is across the hall. |
| 156 | * ShadowArchetype: According to David Hyde Pierce, he's what Frasier would be if he never met the cast of ''Cheers''. |
| 157 | * SharpDressedMan: He wears suits even more often than Frasier does. Usually, if he isn't, it's a sign something is terribly wrong, like when Frasier and Martin find him lounging around in a Hawaiian shirt. Once he marries Daphne he starts dressing more casually, although more tastefully than the aforementioned Hawaiian shirt, when not at work implying she's finally helped him to loosen up. |
| 158 | * TheShrink: Niles is a well-respected psychiatrist and even Frasier once acknowledges he might be the better of the two. |
| 159 | * SiblingRivalry: With his brother, Frasier, which particularly smarts with him as the younger child. It's this rivalry that drove him to become such a success in his practice. |
| 160 | * SiblingTeam: Occasionally with Frasier, as the two sometimes collaborate on issues of psychiatry or personal projects (like owning a restaurant.) It invariably ends in disaster. |
| 161 | * SophisticatedAsHell: While eloquent and well-spoken, he won't hesitate to use profanity or slang when the situation calls for it. |
| 162 | -->'''Niles:''' Look, I know I don't have your total support in this, but — how shall I put this?\ |
| 163 | '''Frasier:''' You don't care?\ |
| 164 | '''Niles:''' If you could work the phrase "rat's ass" into there, you'd have it. |
| 165 | * StepfordSmiler: |
| 166 | ** As his marriage with Maris becomes more and more strained, it becomes clear Niles is repressing more than a little anger over his treatment, until he finally lets it all out. Cue many, many smashed vases. |
| 167 | ** [[spoiler:After going in for heart surgery, he spends several weeks afterwards rhapsodizing about how wonderful everything feels, even though it's clear to everyone else he's right here. Eventually, Martin manages to call him on it.]] |
| 168 | * SympatheticAdulterer: [[spoiler:He tells Daphne on what's supposed to be her wedding day that he'd dump Mel, who he's just married himself, in a heartbeat to be with her. Of course, by this stage the audience has seen Niles's feelings for Daphne are genuine, and he's be heartbroken over previous failures to say as much to her, while Mel is controlling, clingy, and only slightly nicer than Maris. Just to make things easier for gaining sympathy, Mel takes several levels in jerkass afterwards.]] |
| 169 | * TheTell: Niles' nose bleeds when he's broken his ethical code, and occasionally he can be seen sniffing to check for it when doing something dubious. |
| 170 | * TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Very briefly for his brother after moving out of his fancy apartment, due to his strange quirks and habits, and his refusal to try and find another apartment (not because of proximity to Daphne, just his own refusal to admit how bad things have gotten). |
| 171 | * TooImportantToRememberYou: A RunningGag in the early seasons is he can't remember who Roz is or what she does, no matter how often she (re)introduces herself to him. |
| 172 | -->'''Niles:''' Well, I'm too successful to feel awkward. |
| 173 | * {{Troll}}: While he may be a DeadpanSnarker towards people like Roz and his father, he out and out loves to troll his brother due to SiblingRivalry. For example, when he became a culture critic and had access to the most exclusive cultural events and theatre, he ''rubbed'' his brother's face in it to no end. |
| 174 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: Sherry. |
| 175 | * UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: He finally moves on from Daphne and [[RomanticFalseLead enters into a new relationship]] around the same time that she ''finally'' [[ObliviousToLove finds out about his feelings for her]], afterwards she proceeds to develop feelings for ''him'' in return. |
| 176 | * VitriolicBestBuds: With Frasier, and eventually Roz after the two get over their initial dislike of each other. By the end of the series, they're close friends, even if they do make friendly snipes at one another. |
| 177 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He's deathly afraid of insects, though he insists it's perfectly rational fear. |
| 178 | * YouNeedToGetLaid: When he goes without sex for too long, he starts to mentally unravel, and may well become attracted to any woman that walks past. Something of a problem when married to Maris, who Niles compares to a "sexual camel" (i.e., capable of sustaining herself for long periods on a mere ten minutes lovemaking), and who can and does withhold sex as punishment. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder: Martin Crane]] |
| 182 | !Martin Crane |
| 183 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/martinc.jpg]] |
| 184 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"I used to think there was some sort of mix-up at the hospital when Frasier was born. Of course, when Niles came along, it shot that theory all to hell."'']] |
| 185 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/JohnMahoney |
| 186 | ->''"The world would be a happier place if everybody would remember two little words: 'people stink'."'' |
| 187 | |
| 188 | Frasier and Niles's father who moves in with Frasier, he's an ex-cop who was forced to retire when he took a bullet to the hip. Has little patience for his sons' antics and tries (usually with them not listening) to give them valuable advice to make them realize how things are much simpler than they perceive. |
| 189 | |
| 190 | ---- |
| 191 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: |
| 192 | ** Though he is sometimes exasperated with how snootish they can be, Martin truly does love his sons. In "A Room Full of Heroes", Niles dresses like Martin for Halloween and in character begins to say Frasier and Niles were disappointments to him, only for Martin to sharply cut him off and tell him he has always been proud of them. |
| 193 | ** Similarly, with Daphne. The two often bicker and argue with one another, and Martin's always up for insulting her cooking, but Martin makes it clear he likes having her around. |
| 194 | * BookDumb: He's not as book smart as Frasier or Niles, but has far more common sense and can outsmart them by catching things they overlook in their arrogance. And, as he never hesitates to remind them, he ''was'' a detective for several years, and he occasionally demonstrates he's picked up a bit of psychiatry from listening to them and their mother. |
| 195 | * BrutalHonesty: Martin is often pretty blunt in his opinion about Frasier and Niles's antics, helped by his feeling that psychiatry is overrated. Of course, Martin's assessments, such as Frasier over-analyzing everything, often tend to be pretty accurate, and Frasier doesn't have any good counterargument to them. |
| 196 | * ByTheBookCop: When he was younger, and is often referenced by his sons as the source of their own rigid sense of ethics and integrity. [[InformedAttribute Although, sometimes comments pop up to suggest he wasn't quite that straight-laced,]] with the most notable instance being admitting to Frasier that he lied under oath about reading the Miranda Rights to a multiple offender that shot someone, and whose had his rights read many times before, so he wouldn't get off on a hyper-technicality. |
| 197 | * CanNotSpitItOut: One episode focused Martin's inability to verbally say "I love you" to his sons. While his sons assure him that they know he does really love them, Martin retorts that he's disturbed by his inability to openly express it to them, and manages to with some effort. |
| 198 | -->'''Frasier:''' Dad, listen, you know you can say it. I mean, I heard you say it to Duke.\ |
| 199 | '''Martin:''' Oh, that's different, I said, "I love '''''[[InsistentTerminology ya!]]'''''" ''Ya!''\ |
| 200 | '''Frasier:''' We'd take "ya."\ |
| 201 | '''Niles:''' Ya. |
| 202 | * CareerEndingInjury: Martin's bullet to the hip, which ended his career as a cop. |
| 203 | * CatchPhrase: "Oh, jeez." |
| 204 | * CompanionCube: His tatty-but-beloved easy chair, which is his oldest piece of furniture and which holds many happy memories for him. |
| 205 | * CoolOldGuy: He's quite affable, wise to the ways of the world, and has more empathy than his psychiatrist sons. |
| 206 | * DadTheVeteran: He sometimes refers to his service in Korea. |
| 207 | * DeadpanSnarker: He's not averse to snappy remarks. Must be where his children got it from. |
| 208 | * DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery: His characterization in the earliest episodes are of a tremendous jerk. Flashbacks show Martin pre-retirement are more like he is later on in the show. The loss of his job, and the humiliation of not being able to look after himself any more cause him to become much crustier, resulting in the Martin we're first introduced to. |
| 209 | * {{Fanboy}}: Older than the usual examples, but being a sports fan, he's a big admirer of ex-Red Sox player Sam Malone when he comes to visit Frasier. Making it funnier is that ''Cheers'' made repeatedly clear over the years that even in his heyday, Sam was not the cream of the Sox crop. |
| 210 | * FatalFlaw: As has been pointed out to him quite a few times, and as he even acknowledges himself, Martin has trouble acknowledging and honestly expressing his emotions. |
| 211 | * FauxYay: In the episode "Out With Dad", he [[SorryImGay tells a woman he's gay, so as not to offend her by turning her down]], and subsequently offers to "gay it up a little" so her daughter doesn't suspect he's straight when she sets him up with a friend. |
| 212 | * {{Foil}}: Martin is a study in contrasts from his sons, Frasier and Niles; Martin is a retired cop and war veteran who enjoys beer, sports, and action movies, and he can be gruff and emotionally distant, but at the end of the day is a down-to-earth and friendly fellow. Unlike their father, Frasier and Niles are Oxford-certified psychiatrists and high-society elites who enjoy opera, fine wine, and classic literature and music; they are also very kind and caring despite sometimes coming across as stuffy and pretentious. |
| 213 | * FriendOnTheForce: Martin still has plenty of connections and friends in the Seattle PD. He often calls on these connections to get quicker or preferential treatment. |
| 214 | * TheGadfly: When somebody in the household has succumbed to ComplexityAddiction, he'll gleefully make things worse. In "The Two Mrs. Cranes" when Daphne has convinced everybody to lie to her AbhorrentAdmirer Clive, Frasier and Niles accidentally suggest he might not be able to maintain the lie as "it involves quick thinking and improvisational skills, and a knack for remembering details", which Martin (an ex-police detective) finds offensive. So he piles on an extra lie just to see their reactions |
| 215 | -->'''Clive:''' Are you a psychiatrist too, Mr. Crane?\ |
| 216 | '''Martin:''' Oh, no. I'm retired... ''[big grin]'' I was an astronaut.\ |
| 217 | ''[Frasier, Niles and Daphne give him a DeathGlare. In response, he just smirks.]'' |
| 218 | * HappilyMarried: To Ronee, and otherwise to Hester with a few bumps in their marriage. |
| 219 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: What information we get about his time on the force makes for a fascinating saga, particularly his romance with Hester, which has all the makings of a [[WunzaPlot Buddy Cop]]-love story about a cultured and bookish lady [[TheProfiler forensic psychiatrist]] and a gruff, streetwise detective. |
| 220 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: He's very close with his bar buddy Duke; they even once got married by accident. |
| 221 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 222 | ** He reveals he's a huge Frank Sinatra fan, and he'd write songs during stake-outs and breaks at the station in the hopes Sinatra would sing one. Both his sons spend a whole night to help him work out the only one he really liked. |
| 223 | ** He's also capable of outplaying Frasier at chess, repeatedly. Eventually he has to point out to Fras that all those years as a detective ''might'' just be a help in that arena. |
| 224 | * HonoraryUncle: To Roz's daughter Alice. |
| 225 | * {{Hypocrite}}: In "Dad Loves Sherry, The Boys Just Whine", Martin rips into Frasier and Niles for not making a woman he cares for feel welcome after they admit that they're not fond of his new girlfriend Sherry. Frasier and Niles are humbled and ashamed... for about five seconds, until they remember a very important point that Martin is conveniently leaving out here: |
| 226 | -->'''Frasier:''' '''''Wait a minute!''''' When did you ever make any of the women ''we'' were involved with feel welcome?!\ |
| 227 | '''Niles:''' Ooh, Frasier, you're right! He almost got away with that! |
| 228 | * HypocriticalHumor: Is extremely defensive about any perceived insult to Eddie's dignity, but he's got no problem sticking the little guy in humiliating outfits when ''he's'' the one doing it. |
| 229 | * IconicItem: |
| 230 | ** His ancient easy chair is the one thing that stands out in the apartment's living room, and it's uniquely his. |
| 231 | ** He's also (by necessity) never seen without his signature four-pronged metal cane; in the final season, he trades it in for a much more elegant black cane. |
| 232 | * InformedAttribute: Both Frasier and Niles frequently cite him as the person that inspired their own rigid sense of ethics and morality. However, throughout the show he’s often the one advising them to ignore any ethical dilemmas if it benefits them, is shameless in how he uses his status as a retired cop to take advantage of perks, and frequently makes comments on past incidents while he was on the force to suggest he was never as ethical as his sons claim. |
| 233 | * IToldYouSo: He's not shy about pointing out when he's right about something, usually with some variation on "Well, maybe next time you'll listen to your old man," when Frasier and/or Niles get into strife after disregarding his advice. |
| 234 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In a very different way than his sons. While Frasier and Niles are stuck-up and haughty on the surface but have sweeter sides that become apparent later, Martin is cordial and friendly at first with some jerkiness that becomes apparent when you live with him. He's still a good man underneath it all. |
| 235 | * {{Malaproper}}: Constantly mangling the names of various "classy" things his sons are into, such as the time he thought "''An Evening With Creator/NoelCoward''" was about ''Film/TheThreeStooges''. And then there was the time he tried singing along to Creator/GilbertAndSullivan with the boys and mistook "''Many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse''" for "''The many-dimpled backside of a scary hippopotamus''". |
| 236 | * MayDecemberRomance: With Ronee. |
| 237 | ** And Maureen before that, albeit mostly offscreen. |
| 238 | * NotSoAboveItAll: |
| 239 | ** For all his grumbling at Frasier's romantic woes, several episodes have Marty doing much the same, such as trying to pull some two-timing date action, while claiming he's better at it than his sons. Which he ain't. |
| 240 | ** For all his "easygoing salt-of-the-earth everyman" persona, he can be just as stubborn, uptight about things, convinced he's always correct and set in his ways as Frasier and Niles can be; it's just that the things he gets uptight and stubborn about are less refined and based on snobbery, which tends to mask it. |
| 241 | * ObnoxiousInLaws: |
| 242 | ** It's made clear he doesn't like Maris or Lilith very much. With Maris, he at least acts civil to her face, but wasn't above using his connections to have her car booted just to mess with her. With Lilith, the two can't stand one another, and make no secret of hiding it. He also wasn't terribly fond of Frasier's first wife Nanette either, still holding a grievance over two decades on over the wedding. Obviously averted with [[spoiler:Daphne, once she marries Niles.]] |
| 243 | ** This is played for drama regarding the point above under {{Hypocrisy}}, in which his attempts to guilt his sons over their dislike of his girlfriend is thrown back in his face when they point out his complete unwillingness to mask his own dislike of any of the women they were involved with. After a fight, Martin grudgingly concedes the point that he has no right to expect either of his sons to make accommodations for the women he gets involved with when he's no better. |
| 244 | * OddFriendship: Initially, he and Roz get along far better than he does with his own children, due to her more blue collar mindset. |
| 245 | * OnlySaneMan: Not always, but often enough. Especially when both [[SiblingRivalry Frasier and Niles]] are in the same room. |
| 246 | * OldSoldier: Tells constant stories about Korea. |
| 247 | * PapaWolf: Ironically, is at times this to Daphne, who is not his actual child. Often subverted with his own sons, however, as he is frequently inclined to take the side of the people they get into conflict with over theirs (such as in "Radio Wars", where he points out that Frasier and Niles tended to make themselves targets for bullies) although he can also be defensive towards them at times as well. Plus, it should be noted that Frasier and Niles can often bring these conflicts on themselves and he's often right to point out their responsibility in doing so. |
| 248 | * ParentsAsPeople: While he clearly loves his sons, he's not exactly father of the year material; it's made clear at several points that there's plenty of responsibility on his part for the difficult relationship he has with Frasier and Niles, having rarely made much of an effort to connect with them before the series started and spending more time at his favourite bar than with his sons while they were growing up. |
| 249 | * PlatonicLifePartners: His relationship with Daphne has shades of this in the earlier seasons, until her serious relationships with Donny, then Niles. |
| 250 | * RaceFetish: In the episode "The Seal Who Came to Dinner," it's revealed he has a secret fondness for Asian women (thanks to his tour of duty during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar), which Daphne calls him out on when he tries to flirt with her friend. |
| 251 | -->'''Daphne:''' Mistake my fanny. You ordered ''Literature/TheJoyLuckClub''. |
| 252 | * RealMenHateAffection: Martin often reacts to emotional expressions from others with an "Aw, jeez". However, in "Breaking the Ice", he deconstructs the trope, and admits it bothers him he can't just out and out tell his kids he loves them, and it's something Hester pestered him about. He manages to do it sincerely, and after that episode, he slowly gets more and more emotional towards his kids, such as "Our Father Whose Art Ain't Heaven", when he cries because he can't please Frasier. |
| 253 | * RealMenWearPink: One of his deepest secrets is that he'll cry, ''properly'' cry, watching ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic''. |
| 254 | * RetiredBadass: He's only retired in the first place because he got shot in the hip. |
| 255 | * ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: He's not above using his old contacts in the force for favors should the need arise, or trying to get Niles to write him a prescription. |
| 256 | * TheStoic: He can't express his feelings so easily. At least he has problems getting moved and saying "I love you". |
| 257 | --> '''Frasier:''' You said it to the ''dog!'' |
| 258 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: He only drinks Ballantine beer, and even then only in cans (he used to also drink it in bottles, but not since getting shot in the hip). When meeting [[Series/{{Cheers}} Norm Peterson]], Martin compliments his "mug callous" while shaking his hand, while Norm similarly identifies Martin as a "can man". |
| 259 | * UngratefulBastard: Especially in the early seasons, his gruff, [[TheStoic stoic]] and reserved nature, coupled with tension with his sons and bitterness at how his life has worked out can see him end up as this. In the first episode, for example, he reacts to almost everything Frasier does to try and make him feel comfortable with unconcealed hostility and disdain, and pretty much has to be guilted into saying "thank you" to Frasier for giving up his space and freedom to accommodate Martin. However, this is due to him being angry and panicked about losing his independence. In the final episode, Martin tells Frasier, "Thank you... for ''everything''."[[note]]RealitySubtext: John Mahoney was thanking Kelsey Grammer for a great role that lasted 11 years."[[/note]] |
| 260 | [[/folder]] |
| 261 | |
| 262 | [[folder: Roz Doyle]] |
| 263 | !Rosalinda "Roz" Doyle |
| 264 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roz_doyle_frasier_41269386_426_612.jpg]] |
| 265 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Women need to see the men they make love to as exciting, romantic figures. So I say, if you want to keep this woman interested, try creating a fantasy for an evening."'']] |
| 266 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/PeriGilpin |
| 267 | ->''"The whole point of gossip is to talk behind the person's back, not in front of them! I didn't realize you were unclear on the concept!"'' |
| 268 | |
| 269 | Frasier's producer and close friend. Her ''very'' active sex life is the butt of many jokes, but it does also make her a primary source of dating advice. |
| 270 | |
| 271 | ---- |
| 272 | * ArchEnemy: Initially she's a mild example of this toward Niles. While the two didn't exactly go out of their way to cause trouble for each other, they did ''not'' get on well at all, and insults would often fly whenever they met. About halfway through the show's run the two start getting along much better however, in no small part due to her introducing Niles to Donny, who helps him get a healthy divorce settlement. |
| 273 | * BetterAsFriends: With Frasier--even when [[spoiler:they slept together]] it resolved in them remaining friends. |
| 274 | * BigOMG: "Oh my '''''God'''''!" is practically her CatchPhrase. |
| 275 | * BrutalHonesty: She does not hold back with her opinions. Case in point, when letting Frasier know about her feelings re: [[spoiler:their having sex]]. |
| 276 | -->'''Frasier:''' So... you're not [[spoiler:in love with me?]]\ |
| 277 | '''Roz:''' God, no! Weren't you there? |
| 278 | * TheButcher: Roz gets the nickname of "The Angel of Death" from a convalescent home by the retirees, because her charges almost immediately die after she's assigned to them. |
| 279 | -->'''[[Creator/JamesEarlJones Norman]]:''' Ah, the Angel of Death! Nice girl. |
| 280 | * TheCasanova: Roz was always played as a female version of this trope in particular, rather than just ReallyGetsAround. While the characters often cracked jokes about her promiscuity, they nearly always implied a predatory and perpetually lustful person who loved the chase and would jump through ridiculous hoops (including construct elaborate lies and hook her friends into facilitating hook-ups) in order to get laid, rather than misogynistic jokes indicative of a cheap slut, as would be expected in a comedy featuring a promiscuous woman. Also, Roz was always portrayed in a far better light than Bulldog because while Roz would sleep with loads of guys, she also had very clear standards that she rarely compromised (which is perhaps the reason her dates were so often men who required her to come up with hilarious schemes in order to get them to put out). |
| 281 | * DeadpanSnarker: According to the writers, she's the only one who can really put Frasier in his place, and does it with great delight. |
| 282 | * DoubleEntendre: If she meets an attractive man, at least one will be dropped before the scene ends. |
| 283 | ** One of the best examples: when she meets Sam Malone of ''Series/{{Cheers}}''--and gives him her card. |
| 284 | ---> '''Frasier:''' Yes. It ''glows'' in the dark.\ |
| 285 | '''Roz:''' ''[grinning to Sam]'' So do I. |
| 286 | * EthicalSlut: Roz has a very promiscuous sex life, but is always responsible and takes a dim view of cheating. An excellent example is with the father of her child, a young college student. Rather than press him for child support or accept his obligatory marriage proposal, she tells him to take full advantage of the opportunities ahead of him and live a good life. |
| 287 | * FallingIntoTheCockpit: "You Can't Go Home Again" shows she wasn't Frasier's first choice for producer. That guy quit after just one day of dealing with Frasier's excessively long list of demands. And that was before he actually started recording. |
| 288 | * FieryRedhead: She's got a strong backbone and isn't afraid to take Frasier down a peg when he's being too elitist. |
| 289 | * GirlFriday: Essentially is this to Frasier, as the snarky producer to a popular call-in radio show he hosts. |
| 290 | * GoodBadGirl: She's as friendly as she is promiscuous. |
| 291 | * {{Hypocrite}}: PlayedForLaughs. One episode has her convince Frasier to fire Bebe as his agent after she torpedoes Roz’s interview for her own radio show for Frasier’s sake, and just for all the other unscrupulous things Bebe does in Frasier’s name. By the end of the episode Frasier does indeed fire Bebe, but Roz hires her after being persuaded with the potential for Bebe to get her other gigs. An episode in the following season shows her still as Bebe’s client, and trying to convince Frasier to rehire her when facing a tough renegotiation to his contract. |
| 292 | * TheILoveYouStigma: Discussed in "Breaking the Ice" when Roz talks about a guy she was having casual sex with: |
| 293 | -->'''Roz:''' We've been dating a couple of weeks, and last night he started licking me behind my ear. See, I have this sweet little spot there...\ |
| 294 | '''Frasier:''' Uh, Roz, is this -—?\ |
| 295 | '''Roz:''' Yes, you do need to know this. So anyway, what I meant to say was, "Oh, I love ''that''!" But I got so caught up that I yelled out, "Oh, I love ''you''!" and then all of a sudden he got this look on his face like [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk Indiana Jones running from the big ball]]!\ |
| 296 | '''Frasier:''' Well, uh, Roz, ''do'' you love him?\ |
| 297 | '''Roz:''' No! But I said it, so he should have said it back, it's just ''polite''. |
| 298 | * TheLadette: While certainly not un-feminine, Roz has a strong masculine side. It’s revealed in one story that she is not only one of Martin’s poker buddies, but she apparently knows more dirty jokes than the rest of them. |
| 299 | * LawOfInverseFertility: Gets smacked with it due to ExecutiveMeddling, though she acknowledges that with her lifestyle, it was fairly inevitable. |
| 300 | -->"Even the best birth control is only effective ninety-nine out of a hundred times. I can't beat those odds." |
| 301 | * LikeBrotherAndSister: With Frasier [[spoiler: DESPITE the fact that they slept together!]] and by extension the whole Crane clan. She is a permanent fixture at "family only" events and by the end of the series is as close to Daphne, Martin and to a lesser extent even Niles as she is with Frasier. |
| 302 | * LooseLips: She fully engages in office gossip, and will almost never keep any secret when Frasier tells her something embarrassing about himself. One notable instance had her trying to get him to reveal the woman he slept with accidentally on the air; swearing not to tell anyone. She then picks up a ringing phone and implies she’ll reveal everything to the caller as soon as she learns the secret. Right in front of Frasier. |
| 303 | * LovableSexManiac: Rare female version. |
| 304 | * MaamShock: Invoked in "Roz's Krantz & Gouldenstein Are Dead", when Moira talks about getting older and being called "ma'am" for the first time, and Roz sympathizes. |
| 305 | * MsFanservice: While dressed as O, or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ld0rdMry18 Wonder Woman]]. |
| 306 | * MustHaveCaffeine: She gets pretty upset when breastfeeding means she can't have any. The minute she's allowed to get back on the bean... [[{{Motormouth}} the predictable happens]]. |
| 307 | * OohMeAccentsSlipping: Peri Gilpin is from Texas. Roz is supposed to be from Wisconsin, and generally doesn't have much of an accent. Once in a while, though, the Texan slips out, or is called upon for the sake of the plot. |
| 308 | * ReallyGetsAround: ''Loves'' reminiscing on her past and present experiences with men. Her active sex life is one of her RunningGags, particularly how she seeks out men younger than she is and "never says no". When she gets pregnant she remarks that even the best birth control is "only" 99% effective, so it was pretty much inevitable. |
| 309 | * RefugeInAudacity: How she gets her job at KACL back in season 11. Having previously quit to work for a rival company, she just marches back into the office and acts like she never left, even quite literally shoving her replacement out of the booth. |
| 310 | * SassySecretary: Not actually one, but fits the character type. |
| 311 | * {{Troll}}: She enjoys having some good-natured fun at her friends' expense, even on the job. |
| 312 | -->''[Frasier is furious that Roz let a call from Lilith get on the air]''\ |
| 313 | '''Frasier:''' Roz, what exactly does "call screening" mean?!\ |
| 314 | '''Roz:''' It means I get to put on the air the calls '''I''' want to hear. |
| 315 | * UltimateJobSecurity: Related to the above trope, later in the same conversation, she gleefully suggests, on air, that Frasier take Lilith out to dinner. Frasier, while maintaining an air of civility on air, immediately writes down on a note, "You're fired" and shows it to Roz. Roz responds with a pre-prepared "I'm union" sign, infuriating Frasier. It's also shown several times through the series that Roz is probably the ''only'' competent producer KACL has who can also put up with Frasier. |
| 316 | * VetinariJobSecurity: Any time she gets replaced as Frasier's producer, they're invariably a disaster. |
| 317 | * VitriolicBestBuds: With Frasier and Niles. |
| 318 | * WomenAreWiser: Played with; while she may be more reasonable and socially clued-up than Frasier or Niles, so are Martin and several other of the male characters. Played straight when it comes to her job however, as all the male producers and radio personalities seen at the station (with the possible exception of Gil) are completely inept at their jobs and/or have major personality issues. It's only natural, then, that [[spoiler:she becomes the station manager at the end of the series.]] WordOfGod stated the other purpose of Roz is to be the one person more experienced than Frasier in his professional life. |
| 319 | [[/folder]] |
| 320 | |
| 321 | [[folder: Daphne Moon]] |
| 322 | !Daphne Moon |
| 323 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6daphne.jpg]] |
| 324 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane. I'm forced to do the laundry downstairs, and I guess your socks are just too tempting to the neighbors. Of course, you're welcome to go down there yourself and stand guard."'']] |
| 325 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/JaneLeeves |
| 326 | ->''"I must confess I'm a bit psychic. It's nothing big. Just little things I sense about people. I mean, it's not like I could pick the lottery. If I could, I wouldn't be talking to the likes of [Frasier and Martin] now, would I?"'' |
| 327 | |
| 328 | Martin's physical therapist who lives with him and Frasier, she's from England and serves as a working-class presence in a sitcom of mostly high-class characters. Is the subject of affection for Niles, thought she has no idea for the first six seasons. |
| 329 | |
| 330 | ---- |
| 331 | * AmbiguouslyBi: Seen eyeing Frasier's half-naked agent's [[LegFocus legs]] with an apparent look of satisfaction, despite not having an amiable relationship with her. In another episode, describes a concupiscent dream about a female gymnast who used to live next to her. Once mistaken for a lesbian by a gay ski instructor to whom she was attracted. |
| 332 | -->'''Daphne:''' I better go cook for him. I know how the Crane men like their [[FreudianSlip legs]]... eggs! |
| 333 | * BerserkButton: |
| 334 | ** The phrase "you'll thank me for this later", after years of hearing it from her mother. |
| 335 | ** For all the shenanigans she puts up with from the Crane family, it was snooping in her personal belongings that has caused her to furiously snap at Frasier and threaten to quit on the spot. The first instance was only resolved with bribery. The second instance was resolved after she unwittingly revealed [[HypocriticalHumor she herself had been snooping through Frasier's property]]. She quickly decided to temper this button after this. |
| 336 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Daphne's easily the nicest of the main characters, but when she does get angry, she often lashes out in ways that would give even the Cranes a run for their money. Especially when her mother or Simon are around, or when Frasier or Niles' snootiness gets out of control. In one episode, she seems to be seriously considering premeditated murder of the tyrannical head of the condo board. |
| 337 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: A relatively tame example. While perfectly nice when she gets her way, she has also proven to be selfish, manipulative, petty, and [[HypocriticalHumor a huge hypocrite]] who is [[NeverMyFault quick to blame others for most of the problems she causes]]. This is actually lampshaded shortly after she gets together with Niles, when she believes that her overeating binge was caused partly by anxiety over the fact that she knows she's not as sweet as she acts and doesn't think she can live up to Niles's expectations of her after he has built her up and worshipped the ground beneath her feet during seven years of [[AllLoveIsUnrequited Unrequited Love]]. [[HiddenDepths It turns out that Niles is perfectly capable of coming up with a long list of things he hates about Daphne, but loves her all the same.]] |
| 338 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: She's a good physical therapist, but she also thinks she's psychic and has a lot of eccentricities, especially in earlier seasons. |
| 339 | * CloudCuckoolander: Her introduction had her admitting right out "I'm a bit ''psychic''", and she often goes on long tangents about crazy things. She comes down to earth a bit over the show run, however. |
| 340 | %%* TheCutie |
| 341 | * DeadpanSnarker: Not as much as the others, but even she has her moments, particularly toward her mother Gertrude. |
| 342 | -->'''Martin:''' Well, she was flirting right back. I saw her giving me the once-over.\ |
| 343 | '''Daphne:''' Yeah, she looked once and it was over. |
| 344 | * DontYouDarePityMe: She gets incredibly angry when she thinks Niles is condescending at her. |
| 345 | * FirstNameBasis: Shifts to this with the Cranes when she gets together with Niles. Lampshaded. |
| 346 | -->'''Daphne:''' Oh, for heaven's sake Dr. Crane!\ |
| 347 | ''[she kisses him]''\ |
| 348 | '''Niles:''' I think you can call me Niles now. |
| 349 | ** Subverted with Martin, when he's now her father-in-law. |
| 350 | --->'''Daphne:''' Thank you...\ |
| 351 | '''Martin / Daphne:''' *''Simultaneously''* Dad. / Martin.\ |
| 352 | '''Daphne:''' Uh, Dad.\ |
| 353 | '''Martin:''' Or Martin. Whatever makes you feel comfortable.\ |
| 354 | '''Daphne:''' ''[hugging him]'' Oh, thank you, Mr. Crane! |
| 355 | *** She does call him "Martin" after this though. |
| 356 | * {{Flanderization}}: Subverted with Daphne. She starts off as a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, but develops into a much less eccentric character. |
| 357 | * ForeignQueasine: Her inability to cook complex meals is exacerbated by her insistence on cooking English food, which not a single character (outside of her immediate family) can stand even when cooked correctly. She seems to weaponize it when she wants the apartment to herself, such as claiming she was going to make sheep's head stew for dinner, with the main ingredient allegedly in a paper bag. (It's her clean laundry.) |
| 358 | * HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:With Niles, eventually.]] |
| 359 | * HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Not only was her mother emotionally abusive and there being mention of her father beating her brothers (but not her, "as long as she behaved ''perfectly''"), but her family was so ''bizarre'' it's amazing she only ended up an eccentric CloudCuckoolander and not an outright lunatic. |
| 360 | * IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn: Almost everything she does in Niles' presence. |
| 361 | * IHaveBrothers: She occasionally claims that she picked up random skills, such as first aid or engine maintenance, from growing up with eight brothers. They also taught her the importance of [[BreadEggsMilkSquick being first in the shower]]. |
| 362 | * {{Ladette}}: Downplayed, but it's definitely there. She's a WrenchWench, a carpenter, a champion billiards player, and often does physical labor. It's justified by having to grow up with a bevy of rowdy OopNorth brothers. (It's no wonder she had fondness for her CampGay brother.) |
| 363 | * LethalChef: While she's apparently okay at putting together simple meals and snacks, her culinary ability sharply drops as the meals get more complex. It doesn't help that she cooks lots of [[ForeignQueasine British dishes]]. |
| 364 | * LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Momentarily dips into this on occasion with Martin, such as in "Secret Admirer". |
| 365 | -->'''Martin:''' ''[as they're preparing to leave]'' I wanna listen to my radio.\ |
| 366 | '''Daphne:''' Fine, if it means I don't have to listen to you talkin'! |
| 367 | * LoveEpiphany: Toward Niles in season 7. |
| 368 | * LoveRevelationEpiphany: After hearing that he loved her, anyway. |
| 369 | * MaleGaze: Niles has quite an affection for her rear end. {{Lampshaded}} in one of the last episodes "Coots and Ladders" while looking at photos of them early in the series. |
| 370 | -->'''Daphne:''' Why are you all hunched over in this one?\ |
| 371 | '''Niles:''' ''[uncomfortably]'' Uh...\ |
| 372 | '''Daphne:''' You were looking at my bum, weren't you?\ |
| 373 | '''Niles:''' Oh, heavens, no!\ |
| 374 | '''Daphne:''' Oh, it's all right, Niles, we're married now.\ |
| 375 | '''Niles:''' All right, yes. I might once in a moment of weakness have permitted myself a fleeting glance. ''[Daphne shows him another photo]'' Or twice. ''[yet another photo]'' Many, many times.\ |
| 376 | '''Daphne:''' It's all about the rear with you, isn't it?\ |
| 377 | '''Niles:''' Oh, no, darling...\ |
| 378 | '''Daphne:''' No, seriously... ''[she stands up and turns away from him]'' What color are my eyes?\ |
| 379 | '''Niles:''' Um...\ |
| 380 | '''Daphne:''' ''[almost laughing]'' You're looking at it again, aren't you? |
| 381 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The question of whether she's ''really'' psychic or it's just a belief instilled by her grandmother as a coping mechanism that she has "the female Moon gift" is never answered. When given a chance to find out if she's really psychic, Niles decides to throw away her test results. |
| 382 | -->'''Daphne:''' I ''knew'' you'd do that! |
| 383 | * MsFanservice: A few times--much to Niles's delight. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhXbAVD7u94 Observe.]] |
| 384 | * NiceGirl: Daphne's the friendliest of the core cast. |
| 385 | * ObliviousToLove: Didn't seem to notice Niles' crush on her at all despite Niles not being at all subtle about it. Jane Leeves claimed Daphne knew all along, but that's just her interpretation. |
| 386 | * OopNorth: Manchester, although it seems to be a RunningGag that despite supposedly all coming from Manchester, the rest of her family have [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent accents]] spanning the width and breadth of the entire UK. |
| 387 | * PlatonicLifePartners: With Martin, at least until she gets together with Niles. |
| 388 | * PsychicPowers: She claims to be "a little bit psychic" in the pilot. This is phased out after a few seasons--though it's eventually brought back after [[spoiler: she and Niles get together.]] |
| 389 | ** How well her supposed powers work [[DependingOnTheWriter varies]]. Sometimes she misinterprets her visions, as when divining [[TheDon Jerome Belasco's]] line of work in "A Word to the Wiseguy". |
| 390 | --->'''Daphne:''' You're...a doctor. An osteopath, perhaps?\ |
| 391 | '''Jerome:''' No, sorry.\ |
| 392 | '''Daphne:''' That's funny...I see you [[ProphecyTwist hovering over people with broken bones]]. |
| 393 | ** It comes to a head with this exchange: |
| 394 | --->'''Niles:''' I can't read minds, you know. And by the way, neither can you!\ |
| 395 | '''Daphne:''' ''[shocked]'' Are you saying you don't think I'm psychic?!\ |
| 396 | '''Niles:''' Not if you thought I loved your cooking! |
| 397 | * ResentfulOutnumberedSibling: The only girl in a house of boys. She admits several times that while she loves her brothers they weren't always easy to get along with and had little respect for her privacy. It's implied that Grammy Moon told her that Moon women were "psychic" to make her feel better about being the only girl. |
| 398 | * RunawayBride: [[spoiler: She abandons Donny and exits with Niles in a Winnebago during the second part of the two-part episode "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue". They do go back to the wedding properly, however, and she breaks up with Donny face to face rather than leaving him cold.]] |
| 399 | * ScreamingBirth: [[spoiler: In "Goodnight Seattle"]] |
| 400 | * ServileSnarker: She's Martin's live-in therapist, and has a wicked sense of humour. |
| 401 | * StatuesqueStunner: Daphne is 5'10" and quite beautiful (as [[StalkerWithACrush Niles]] often points out). |
| 402 | * TalkativeLoon: In spades, often about her HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood. In fact, the Cranes eventually start fearing some of her stories. |
| 403 | -->'''Daphne:''' ''[about her brothers' competitiveness]'' Who could the run the fastest, jump the highest. They even this strange one where they'd take little brother Michael, put him in a potato sack and see who could roll him the farthest over the frozen lake out back. They loved that game! Until that year the spring thaw set in early and poor Michael went right through the ice. Ooh, they caught hell for that one, they did. Caught it worse a week later when Michael's toe finally fell off. Michael cried and cried until they told him to put it under his pillow for the toe fairy! And then when he got five quid for it, why it was all they could do to stop him from sawing off the rest of them! ''[laughs]''\ |
| 404 | '''Martin:''' ''[on edge, shouting to the Crane boys]'' ''What's keeping you guys with that box?!'' |
| 405 | * TheUnfavourite: Definitely this to her mother. Rarely did her mother offer anything but criticisms, insults, and put-downs to Daphne even before her first on-screen appearance. Though it's implied she had a much warmer relationship with her father than compared to her brothers. |
| 406 | * UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: She finally finds out that [[CannotSpitItOut Niles is in love with her]] around the same time that he finally gets over her, not long afterwards [[spoiler: she starts falling in love with ''him'']]. |
| 407 | [[/folder]] |
| 408 | |
| 409 | [[folder: Eddie]] |
| 410 | !Eddie |
| 411 | [[quoteright:334:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qsytfnis5ful.jpg]] |
| 412 | --> '''Played by:''' Moose (Seasons 1-7); Enzo (Seasons 8-11) |
| 413 | |
| 414 | Martin's faithful Jack Russell Terrier, Frasier and Niles can't stand him and he seems to know it, as one of his favorite pastimes is staring at them to annoy them. Is more a character than a pet, because he's incredibly expressive and intelligent. |
| 415 | |
| 416 | ---- |
| 417 | * AmplifiedAnimalAptitude: Eddie's actor, Moose, and his son Enzo who took over the part in later seasons, were incredibly well-trained. John Mahoney has stated that he considered them animal actors rather than token pets. |
| 418 | * AnimalReactionShot: He's ''very'' emotive. |
| 419 | * CharacterTic: Sitting with his tongue sticking out. |
| 420 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: As Frasier sums up the first time we ever hear about him, he's ''weird''. And that definitely is true. Like the staring... |
| 421 | * DependingOnTheWriter: ''How'' intelligent he is can depend on what's funniest. Despite being shown to be very smart for a dog, one episode shows his P.O.V., and it's everyone speaking gibberish with "Eddie" being the only intelligible word. |
| 422 | * EvenTheDogIsAshamed: Eddie burying his head under the sofa cushions was a popular pose, though sometimes it's because he's essentially saying, "Please shut up now." |
| 423 | -->'''Frasier:''' There are subtler ways to tell the patient their time is up! |
| 424 | * EvilDetectingDog: When Frasier invites Lilith to Thanksgiving dinner Eddie knows about it even though he's not in the apartment at the time. Daphne has to drag him back inside by his leash. |
| 425 | -->'''Daphne:''' He started whining and trembling, like he senses an earthquake or a dark force or- hello, Lilith - a vortex of evil. |
| 426 | * HeroicBSOD: Spends much of "Death and the Dog" in a funk. [[spoiler:Turns out it's because he lost his favorite toy. Once he finds it, he perks back up again.]] |
| 427 | * KleptomaniacHero: It's a running gag that Eddie, being a dog, will steal any food left lying around. That includes left on the table. |
| 428 | * NearlyNormalAnimal: Overall a normal dog, but sometimes he shows levels of intelligence and understanding that no real world dog would possess. Also displays a few humanlike personality traits. Both largely a result of RuleOfFunny. |
| 429 | * SilentSnarker: He's a Crane boy all right. |
| 430 | * SitcomArchnemesis: One-side. Frasier hates him, but it seems Eddie adores him. Or is well aware Frasier hates him and is just getting his own back. Frasier has a few moments of AwwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther when he helps Martin find Eddie when he's lost and lets him use his fancy sweater to warm up a wet and shivering Eddie. |
| 431 | * StaringContest: In the early seasons especially, he used to just stared fixedly at Frasier, much to Frasier's irritation. On at least one occasion, Frasier tried staring back in order to break Eddie, only to end up broken himself: |
| 432 | -->'''Frasier:''' It's like his eyes turned into sorcerer's pinwheels and started spinning! |
| 433 | [[/folder]] |
| 434 | |
| 435 | !Supporting Characters |
| 436 | |
| 437 | [[folder: Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe]] |
| 438 | !Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe |
| 439 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bulldog.jpg]] |
| 440 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/DanButler |
| 441 | |
| 442 | The host of the Gonzo Sports Show at Frasier's radio station, his show usually comes on after Frasier's. Has an on and off relationship with Roz due to the fact she's physically attracted to him but otherwise finds him a disgusting pig (and he is). |
| 443 | |
| 444 | ---- |
| 445 | * ArmouredClosetGay: He's not, but the idea was suggested to Frasier by a psychology student he was interested in, and Frasier said dryly that he'd like to run the idea by Bulldog. In reality his actor is openly gay, making it even funnier. |
| 446 | * AscendedExtra: Weirdly inverted. After he got promoted to the main cast for Seasons 4 through 6 he started appearing less than before. |
| 447 | * CannotSpitItOut: By the time he's actually in love with Roz he can't tell her and so settles for scaring off her dates and playing babysitter to Alice to spend time with her. He does spit it out once she catches on though. |
| 448 | * CatchPhrase: Whenever he thinks he's lost something (and really hasn't)--''(POUND!)'' "THIS ''STINKS''!!! THIS IS ''TOTAL B.S.''!!! THIS IS--oh, here it is...." Given an IronicEcho occasionally where he delivers it in tears when utterly crushed. |
| 449 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Kinda [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] as his last appearance ''is'' in the final season ("Frasier-Lite"). Still, he is conspicuously absent in the series finale, even though his buddy Gil and Noel show up, due to Dan Butler touring his one man show, ''[[https://variety.com/1994/legit/reviews/the-only-thing-worse-you-could-have-told-me-1200437334/ The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me...]]'' at the time. He does get a passing mention in the first episode of the Frasier revival series, where it's said he attended Martin's funeral. |
| 450 | * DirtyCoward: In "Bad Dog," upon seeing a man with a gun at the cafe, he tried to use a pregnant Roz as a human-shield. Thing is, it actually appeared as if he was trying to pull her to safety, so he is dubbed a hero by all - except Frasier, who knows the truth and spends the rest of the episode obsessing over it. |
| 451 | * FridgeLogic: Two in-universe examples occur when Frasier's son visits the station and asks Bulldog why he's nicknamed "Bulldog", and why he uses so many sound effects on his show. Bulldog realizes he doesn't know the reason for either. |
| 452 | ** The reason he's nicknamed "Bulldog" is answered quickly when he literally barks at a sexy woman walking by. |
| 453 | * FriendToAllChildren: While he's a sleazy jerk 90% of the time, Bulldog does seem to have a genuine soft spot for young kids. He got along great with Alice when he was babysitting her (though he did try and drive off Roz's potential boyfriends while doing so) and he once lied to Frederick about Frasier's athletic abilites to help him maintain an idealized image of his Dad (this one ended up backfiring, but his intentions were sincere). |
| 454 | * HeroicBSOD: He has a brief one in ''Love Bites Dog'' when he is dumped on the phone by someone he [[LadykillerInLove genuinely falls in love with]]. |
| 455 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 456 | ** He genuinely falls in love with Roz, and was once so passionate about a relationship that when she dumped him he was reduced to tears. |
| 457 | ** In the revival, Frasier mentions that he [[spoiler: sang a beautiful rendition of "Ave Maria" at Martin's funeral]]. |
| 458 | * JerkJock: A sports show host and a massively egotistical jerk. |
| 459 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Has his moments. Most notably that he's respectful around kids, such as talking up Frasier once when Freddie visited or taking care of Alice for Roz. He also does offer to Roz to be there for her if she needs him when she's turned down for a promotion. |
| 460 | * JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Somehow he has this and JerkWithAHeartOfGold; there are occasions where he does something nice just for his own profit, such as giving Roz a gift for her not-yet-born baby and hugging her so he can feel her pregnancy-enlarged breasts. After he admits he's in love with Roz, Roz invokes this as a way of letting him down easy by letting him play it off as just a way to get her into bed. |
| 461 | * KavorkaMan: He's short, bald, rude and annoyingly loud-mouthed. The first two could probably be excused if not for the last two. He's not physically repulsive, but his personality is repellant. And yet, he sleeps with a lot of women. (It doesn't hurt, however, that he had a rock-hard muscular body that he showed off once or twice.) |
| 462 | * LadykillerInLove: Happens twice, first with Roz's friend Shannon and later on Roz. |
| 463 | * NoIndoorVoice: Shouts, uses loud noises, and barks in nearly all his appearances. |
| 464 | * NotStayingForBreakfast: In the first episode of Season 3, he says this is his usual practice. |
| 465 | * OutOfFocus: In later seasons, especially once he's fired. |
| 466 | * PervertedSniffing: One of his [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Establishing Character Moments]] early in the show has him suddenly freezing, and sniffing the air--and in this case, his sniffing sounds very convincingly like...a dog. The fact that he follows it up with his characteristic barking when he sees the "chick" in question takes the darned trope up to eleven. |
| 467 | %%zce* SixthRanger: To the main cast. |
| 468 | %%* TheSociopath: At least in "Bad Dog", he admits he probably doesn't have a conscience, and while Frasier finds that hard to believe, he's certainly unable to prove otherwise. |
| 469 | * TestosteronePoisoning: A subtle in-joke, as actor Dan Butler is gay in real life. |
| 470 | [[/folder]] |
| 471 | |
| 472 | |
| 473 | [[folder: Maris Crane]] |
| 474 | !Maris Crane |
| 475 | --> '''Played by:''' [[TheGhost N/A]] |
| 476 | |
| 477 | Niles's initial wife, she's an incredibly bizarre and eccentric RichBitch who is impossible to please, and yet Niles bends over backwards for her anyway. Their marriage dissolves over the course of the show, and Maris makes it as painful for him as she can. |
| 478 | |
| 479 | ---- |
| 480 | * AnnoyingPatient: In one episode when she's in the hospital for a cosmetic procedure, Niles in seen on the phone assuring her that the IV fluid is "low-calorie". He's later seen buying gifts for the hospital staff as an apology for having to deal with her--when one nurse tells him "I worked the night shift", he immediately complements the small box he gave her with a much larger one. |
| 481 | * BabyDontGotBack: According to Niles, certain dances are impossible for her to do because "she has no booty to shake". |
| 482 | * BadBoss: She's often mentioned as nagging, haranguing and outright bullying her household staff. When Niles gathers them together to bid them farewell when he separates from Maris, their immediate response is to beg to go with him. |
| 483 | * BigEater: Normally barely capable of eating ''anything'', but when she's stressed out, Maris eats... and eats... and eats. Such as when she found out Niles was dating Mel. |
| 484 | -->'''Roz:''' Well, she moved next door to the Italian deli. The guy just took the two-foot salami out the window. |
| 485 | ** In the same episode: |
| 486 | --->'''Martin:''' My God, have you seen Maris?\ |
| 487 | '''Frasier:''' Yes, Dad, I know. Did Niles calm her down?\ |
| 488 | '''Martin:''' Yeah, he took her to your room but he had to butter her up a little.\ |
| 489 | '''Frasier:''' I was afraid that narrow doorway might pose a problem. |
| 490 | * CantTakeCriticism: As a result of her selfishness, Maris is very defensive against anyone who reads her the riot act. She fires her marriage counselors whenever they point out her flaws or for simply asking her not to catalog shop and she once locked herself in her basement to sulk when Frasier merely questions her serving veal's sensitivity. As Frasier states, she doesn't deal with confrontation well. |
| 491 | * ChildHater: Given she apparently had a look of joy on her face when the neighborhood children discovered her electric fence, Maris isn't fond of kids. |
| 492 | * ClingyJealousGirl: Even after she and Niles have divorced, she still tries to sabotage Mel's career out of spite when she finds out they're dating. |
| 493 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Even without her disorders and spoiled upbringing, the picture painted of Maris is someone who is highly eccentric to begin with. When pegged as a flight risk by police because she's carrying thousands in cash, and a wig in her purse, Niles just shrugs this off because Maris ''always'' has those in her purse. |
| 494 | * DaddysGirl: Is apparently used to having her father just buy her way out of any trouble she gets into. A bit of problem given he's dead before the series begins. |
| 495 | * DarkSecret: Played for laughs in the episode when Niles finally divorces her, as Donny's dirt-digging reveals that her family fortune comes from urinal cakes, not timber as she supposedly claimed. To most people this wouldn't be a big deal, but knowing that she moves in very snobby social circles, Niles and Donny leverage this info to make her agree not to leave Niles financially destitute. |
| 496 | * DomesticAbuse: Her treatment of Niles. Occasionally she engages in physical abuse, like throwing things at him, but her abuse is primarily of the emotional and financial kind (especially as their relationship begins to break down). |
| 497 | * DramaQueen: As one of her eccentricities, even a casual inquiry or display of emotion in her direction has Maris running off either for her pills or the plastic surgeons. |
| 498 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In Lilith's first guest appearance on ''Frasier'', Martin claims Lilith is weirder than Maris. That proves to be laughably so untrue, it's probable Martin was just trying to get under Frasier's skin. |
| 499 | * EntitledBitch: She just does whatever she wants as if she believes she has a right to. Not even the long-arm of the law is exempt from this. She once parked in a handicapped zone using her chocolate allergy as an excuse, blew off a court summons for parking violations, had an affair with one of her marriage counselors and also planned on wedding him, tried to bribe Niles with gifts so that he may take her back despite the aforementioned affair and willingness to commit polygamy caused him to be driven away. |
| 500 | * EpicFail: Many is the story Niles recounts of Maris trying to engage in some sort of physical activity and failing miserably, such as getting stuck in a revolving door. |
| 501 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: Despite claiming to be an animal lover, Maris never adopted a pet because, according to Niles, she doesn't trust unconditional love. Which, come to think of it, explains a lot of her relationship with Niles... |
| 502 | * EvilCounterpart: To Vera from ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', both were [[TheGhost unseen women]] only known by how their husbands talked about them. However Vera was a middle-class woman who Norm liked to tell stories about [[AwfulWeddedLife how terrible she is to be around]] but this was mostly for show and the two were actually HappilyMarried in their own way. Maris is a RichBitch who Niles frequently tried to portray in a positive light when talking about her but her negative qualities where impossible to sugar coat. Norm and Vera remained married throughout the whole series while Niles and Maris eventually went through a bitter divorce. |
| 503 | * TheFaceless: The writing team did toy with the idea of revealing her, but by that time they had created so many bizarre descriptions of her that they eventually decided no human actress would be able to portray her adequately. |
| 504 | -->'''Roz:''' I don't see her, maybe she went back out. Oh, wait. I see her coat on a hat rack.\ |
| 505 | '''Frasier:''' Look closer. Is the hat rack moving?\ |
| 506 | '''Roz:''' ... '''''Oh my GOD!''''' |
| 507 | ** Played with when we do actually get to see her on-screen in a flash-back... but her face is covered in bandages from her latest surgery. |
| 508 | * FootDraggingDivorcee: She makes it extremely difficult for Niles to get away from her. When begging him to take her back doesn't work she decides to ruin him financially by dragging things out for over a year. If Roz hadn't gotten Niles Donny for a lawyer the process would have gone on even longer. |
| 509 | * TheGhost: She's never seen, although occasionally the creators trolled the viewers with the possibility[[note]]the ''closest'' we get is the shadow of her hair seen through the shower curtain in Season 5's "Voyage of the Damned"[[/note]]. Ultimately, however, they decided no human being could adequately portray her. For example, she was so thin that she was genuinely mistaken for a coat rack and she was so light she could sit on a whoopie cushion without setting it off. |
| 510 | * GrandeDame: Niles refers to her as the ''[[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doyen doyen]]'' of the Seattle elite. Her dates even make the Seattle newspaper after she and Niles are separated. |
| 511 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 512 | ** Related to the BigEater post. She was FormerlyFat as a child and is terrified of being so again, thus explaining her obsession with staying thin. In fact, the descriptions of her body, her dietary habits, and her plastic surgery addiction indicate that she's been struggling with eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder most of her life, making her just a teeny bit sympathetic despite all the awful things she does. |
| 513 | ** While throughout the series she's portrayed as lacking common sense or having much wit due to her ultra spoiled and elitist life, in the final season she shows herself to be quite clever [[spoiler:when she places a police tracker in an embarrassing self-portrait of Niles [[BatmanGambit that she knew he would retake when selling off her personal possessions]] and uses him to lead the police away so that she could flee to a non-extradition private island she owns in order to avoid prison after she accidentally kills her abusive boyfriend]]. |
| 514 | * HypocriteHasAPoint: She accused Niles of being wasteful with money during their separation. No one in the world is more wasteful with money than Maris, but even Frasier had to admit that Niles really was wasteful with money. Frasier and Martin both tried to get Niles to live within his means after he left Maris and he resisted it pretty hard. |
| 515 | * ICantDance: Can't and won't. Public displays of rhythm make her uncomfortable, and due to certain quirks of her anatomy, she's incapable of doing most forms of dancing anyhow. |
| 516 | * IceQueen: Niles even compares her with said substance a few times. |
| 517 | -->'''Niles:''' It was pitch dark, I thought he was Maris. \ |
| 518 | '''Frasier:''' It's a natural mistake. What tipped you off? \ |
| 519 | '''Niles:''' ...the heat from her side of the bed! ''[bursts out laughing]'' |
| 520 | ** When Niles was still married to Maris, he and Frasier would argue which woman was the bigger ice queen between her and Lilith. See for example this hilarious exchange when Lilith's new husband, a seismologist, won't be with them at Thanksgiving because he is studying a volcano: |
| 521 | --->'''Martin:''' Why couldn't she ''[Lilith]'' go with him?\ |
| 522 | '''Niles:''' Well, because if she accidentally fell in, the shock wave from the hottest thing in nature meeting the coldest would actually crack the Earth in two.\ |
| 523 | '''Frasier:''' As if a smile from Maris couldn't freeze Mercury.\ |
| 524 | '''Martin:''' Guys, let it go. Nobody's going to win this one. |
| 525 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Ultimately the reason that her marriage with Niles didn't work, she only cared about herself. It even applies after they've long divorced - she ''still'' expects Niles to attend to her every need. |
| 526 | ** A particularly egregious example: Frasier is afraid of a stalker and thinks he might need a bodyguard to be safe. Niles explains the situation to Maris, likely expecting sympathy or advice, and Maris is questioning why aren't ''they'' important enough to have stalkers or need bodyguards. |
| 527 | * {{Jerkass}}: Is cruel, selfish, and treated Niles like a personal slave as much as a husband. |
| 528 | * KarmaHoudini: Her ultimate fate. In the final season, it seems that all her emotionally abusive and generally unpleasant attitude will finally catch up to her [[spoiler:when she's arrested and charged for murdering her boyfriend; though it's emphasized that it was a highly circumstantial accident, and the man was both abusive and largely culpable by his own deeds]]. However, she manages to perform a successful BatmanGambit with Niles leading the police away in order to flee to a private island with no extradition. A letter to Niles explains that living in exile, albeit still in luxury, will be her fate for the rest of her life. Niles, Frasier and Martin all give one last toast to her and her RefugeInAudacity. |
| 529 | * KavorkaMan: A rare female example. Maris is oft mentioned to be emotionally distant at best, generally unpleasant to be around, and not what would be considered conventionally attractive, and yet Niles and later Dr. Schenkman gush about her apparent beauty. With the latter case, Niles is actually dumbfounded (since Schenkman is their ''marriage counsellor'', and yet he's talking about her being "warm and caring", two traits that could never be ascribed to her). |
| 530 | * LackOfEmpathy: First pointed out in the beginning of Niles' marriage meltdown, where she goes on a shopping spree in New York without so much as a phone call. When Niles calls her out on it, she immediately demands a divorce. |
| 531 | * LeanAndMean: She's a pretty terrible person who treats everyone around her with sneering contempt, and she's so light and thin that she doesn't leave footprints in the snow. |
| 532 | * LysistrataGambit: How she controls Niles at times, even when they are separated, as seen in "Look Before You Leap". |
| 533 | -->'''Niles:''' ''[excited]'' When Maris says "get together," she means, "[[EroticEating You wear the creme fraiche. I'll lick it off,]]" sense. |
| 534 | * ManipulativeBitch: Her relationship with Niles consisted of almost nothing but this. When it wasn't outright DomesticAbuse. |
| 535 | * TheNapoleon: Often mentioned to be on the tiny size, both weight and height wise. Niles finds horse jockeys alarming because tiny, well-dressed people carrying riding crops remind him a little too much of Maris. |
| 536 | * NervousWreck: She's very easily startled and alarmed, along with a possible case of paranoia. While they're married, Niles is often shown having phone calls trying to reassure her about something ludicrous (like being convinced one of her servants got walled in during a remodelling). |
| 537 | * NeverMyFault: She ended up firing every couple's therapist that acknowledged her part in the marriage's self-destruction. During the culmination of their divorce, Maris made clear she'd only take Niles back if he accepted ''everything'' that went wrong was his fault. |
| 538 | * NoSocialSkills: Despite being one of Seattle's top socialites, Maris isn't much for socializing because, to quote Niles, "she exhausts easily under the pressure to be interesting." |
| 539 | * NothingButSkinAndBones: She's often described as being unhealthily or even impossibly skinny. Frasier even remarked upon learning of her weight that no human could weigh that little and live. |
| 540 | * TheParanoiac: Paranoia is just another of her charming quirks... she initially refused to get a pet, despite an apparent fondness for animals in general, because she fears unconditional love. Another instance has Niles mentioning she once had one of her topiary bushes burnt because she thought it was laughing at her latest attempt at weight loss. Yeah... |
| 541 | * PatheticallyWeak: As a result of her obsession with staying thin, she's extremely frail; Frasier claims she once sprained her wrist from putting too much dip on a cracker, and Niles claims she can't wear earrings because they weigh too much for her head to support. |
| 542 | * PetTheDog: |
| 543 | ** It may have been an example of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, but Niles mentions in a Season 1 episode that she donates her old party dresses to the homeless. |
| 544 | ** Later in the series, she calls Niles to check on him before his heart surgery. While the call itself turns into a mild squabble, it's still the one time Maris shows genuine concern for Niles' well-being. |
| 545 | * PlasticBitch: She's said to have had many cosmetic procedures done and is a thoroughly unpleasant person. |
| 546 | * RedRightHand: According to Niles, Maris had a slight webbing between her fingers that made her self-conscious enough to refuse to hold hands with anyone. |
| 547 | * RichBitch: She's enormously wealthy but a ''horrible'' person. |
| 548 | * RunForTheBorder: Her fate in the final season. After accidentally (or so she claims) killing her boyfriend, she decides she won't get a fair trial if she remains in the States. She slips off her ankle monitor and has Marta attach it to a painting Niles is reclaiming. While the police follow Niles, assuming Maris is with him, she slips out of the mansion and flees to her family's private island which she can't be extradited from. |
| 549 | * ShadowArchetype: She combines all the worst qualities of Lilith (cold, unemotional, emotionally abusive, cheating, frequent use of the LysistrataGambit, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and being comically skinny and pale]]) with the worst qualities of [[Characters/{{Cheers}} Diane Chambers]] (neurotic, snobby, UpperClassTwit) without any of their humanizing qualities or people in their lives willing to take them down a peg, and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney enough money]] to be immune to consequences. Notably while Frasier makes peace with both Lillith and Diane in their return appearances and they leave on a sympathetic note, Maris' involvement and attempts to get what she wants become more and more deranged and overblown, with Niles ultimately wanting nothing more to do with her. |
| 550 | * SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: |
| 551 | ** Non-verbal variant, when Niles is able to recognize Maris was in Café Nervosa when a barista tells him a thin woman came in, ordered a coffee and merely sniffed it before sending it away. He'd been uncertain beforehand, but this confirms it's her. |
| 552 | ** Also happens in "The Last Time I Saw Maris." Maris has gone missing, and Niles is worried sick as Martin's police buddies tell him that Maris' credit card has been used at several businesses in New York. It's not until Martin reports that the card had only been used at upscale clothing boutiques and not a single restaurant that Niles realizes that Maris is safe and sound. |
| 553 | * SpoiledBrat: Maris comes from a very rich family. She likewise displays multiple signs of arrogance, selfishness and entitlement throughout the series. |
| 554 | * ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: After her appalling treatment of Niles, she lands herself in an abusive relationship with another man. Granted the man ultimately ''dies'' for it, giving it an air of BullyingTheDragon. |
| 555 | * TranquilFury: Instead of her usual melodrama, when Niles confronts her over her trying to bribe him back in "Secret Admirer", she apparently just stared at him while stroking her [[RightHandCat ocelot]] ("I think they've got a cream for that.") Then when Niles gets back to his apartment, he finds another gift from Maris - a nickel, a poem declaring she's going to financially destroy him, and the shredded remains of their divorce settlement. |
| 556 | * UncattyResemblance: The closest the audience gets to seeing Maris is when Niles gets a new dog, a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whippet whippet]] named Girl, who everyone else sees as the canine image of her. Niles is in deep denial about this, until Frasier forces the comparison. |
| 557 | -->'''Frasier:''' She's high-strung, cold to the touch, ''and ignores you!'' My god, stand her upright, take ten pounds off her, put her in a Chanel suit, what ya got? |
| 558 | * TheVoiceless: In addition to never having a face. She is ''quite'' vocal, but we only hear it from secondary source. |
| 559 | * WeightWoe: She viciously exercises if she gains so much as a ''pound'', so desperate is she to remain thin. This, despite being incredibly thin to begin with. According to Niles she was much heavier as a child, and after he starts dating Mel she relapses and gains a ''lot'' of weight. |
| 560 | * WomanChild: Despite being hailed as the creme de la creme of Seattle's upper crust, she's ultimately nothing more than an overgrown child in the body of an adult; she is [[EvilIsPetty petty]], [[SmallNameBigEgo vain]], [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]], impulsive, unforgiving, [[HairTriggerTemper quick to anger]], [[ConspicuousConsumption ludicrously self-indulgent]], [[NeverMyFault incapable of admitting when she's at fault]], [[LackOfEmpathy has no empathy for anyone but herself]], and [[TantrumThrowing is known to throw things when angry]]. |
| 561 | * WomanScorned: |
| 562 | ** When Niles rejects her attempts to reconcile she arranges for her lawyers to completely ruin him financially out of spite for his rebuffing her. |
| 563 | ** When Niles is romantically involved with Mel, her former plastic surgeon, she starts making up lies on Mel's incompetence that people believe. |
| 564 | [[/folder]] |
| 565 | |
| 566 | |
| 567 | [[folder: Lilith Sternin]] |
| 568 | ! Lilith Sternin, M.D. |
| 569 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lilith_39.jpg]] |
| 570 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/BebeNeuwirth |
| 571 | |
| 572 | Frasier's ex-wife, she shows up visiting on occasion as they have a son together (Frederick) and still maintain a friendship. The rest of the family is terrified of her. [[Characters/{{Cheers}} Tropes from ''Cheers'']] still apply to her. |
| 573 | |
| 574 | ---- |
| 575 | |
| 576 | * ActorAllusion: Bebe Neuwirth is an accomplished Broadway musical actress, so if the writers can find an excuse to utilize her talents, they will. |
| 577 | * AmicableExes: |
| 578 | ** She and Frasier, most of the time. |
| 579 | ** [[spoiler:After she and Niles sleep together, they try to act amicable toward one another. Frasier finds this too disturbing, and asks they go back to vicious sniping.]] |
| 580 | * BrainyBrunette: Lilith is an accomplished researcher and psychiatrist, as well as being a very well read woman, who has long dark brown hair. |
| 581 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: Particularly in later seasons, Lilith often responds with a wry resigned smile and a quick gracious nod of recognition to the often-unintentional insults made by the Cranes to her in their terror of her, such as when people insensitively react to her pale complexion as though she might be a vampire or when Martin falls over himself in his eagerness to congratulate on her second marriage ONLY after making sure she is not re-marrying Frasier. |
| 582 | * DefrostingIceQueen: Easier to notice when compared to her first appearance in {{Series/Cheers}}, but becomes much more relaxed and sociable by the end of ''Frasier''. |
| 583 | * DemotedToExtra: Evolved into a main character in ''Cheers''. In the show she's a DropInCharacter, usually making an appearance OnceASeason, though is still by far the most prominent character from the former show besides Frasier himself. |
| 584 | * DivorceIsTemporary: Teased several times but ultimately averted. She and Frasier have tried to get back together, even sleeping with each other a couple of times, but they are just too different to make a functional couple and are thus BetterAsFriends. |
| 585 | * TheDreaded: None of the Cranes like her. Martin and Daphne (and Eddie!) will run away and hide in their rooms if they think she's around, and that's if they haven't been forewarned of her presence. |
| 586 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the first season, Martin says Lilith is weirder than Maris. That proves to be a hilarious lie. |
| 587 | * EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Supernatural references tend to pop up when she hits town, and not only from Niles and Martin. Prior to Lilith's first appearance on the show, Daphne uttered the phrase, "I sense a great evil," and was sick with a migraine for the rest of the episode until Lilith left. |
| 588 | * GoodParents: To Frederick; he grows up pretty well, even if bratty at times, under her care. |
| 589 | * IceQueen: Although she later evolves into a DefrostingIceQueen as the series progresses. |
| 590 | * MsFanservice: Shows off her legs on more than one occasion. Once shows up at Frasier's door in a short-cut dress with cleavage: |
| 591 | -->'''Frasier:''' Oh, ''baby''!\ |
| 592 | '''Lilith:''' Thanks, Frasier, I needed that.... |
| 593 | * ObnoxiousInLaws: Or Obnoxious ''Ex'' In-Laws, with Niles, who at the beginning of the series is still holding a grudge against Lilith snickering during his wedding when Maris read out her own vows (which involved such statements as "sailing the transplendent river of [our] love"). It lasts until Lilith, genuinely confused as to ''how'' Niles could've taken offense, apologizes. |
| 594 | * RavenHairIvorySkin: Her skin being pale is a RunningGag for the series, to a point that when aiding the victim of an accident the paramedics tried to give ''her'' a blood transfusion. |
| 595 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: With Niles. [[spoiler:Which might also edge into BelligerentSexualTension.]] |
| 596 | * SophisticatedAsHell: Her rebuttal to Frasier's hypothesis as to the motivation for her and [[spoiler:Niles]] sleeping together being a transparent attempt to get back at him. |
| 597 | -->'''Lilith:''' Allow me to rebut: ''WHAT A CROCK!'' |
| 598 | * TheSpock: Her emotions come out clearly in moments where she lets her hair down, but otherwise she's a very calculating and efficient woman, whose idea of an emotional rollercoaster is getting choked up for two seconds. |
| 599 | * SugarAndIcePersonality: She's frosty, but she has her kind side, especially as the seasons progress. |
| 600 | [[/folder]] |
| 601 | |
| 602 | [[folder: Frederick Crane]] |
| 603 | ! Frederick 'Freddie' Gaylord Crane |
| 604 | [[quoteright:279:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/freddythrutheyears.jpg]] |
| 605 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/LukeTarsitano (Season 3); Creator/TrevorEinhorn (Seasons 4-11) |
| 606 | |
| 607 | Frasier's son with Lilith who was born towards the end of ''Series/{{Cheers}}''. Tropes about his portrayal in ''Series/Frasier2023'' can be found [[Characters/Frasier2023 here]]. |
| 608 | |
| 609 | ---- |
| 610 | * CharacterDevelopment: Initially a ChildProdigy, he develops into a normal kid as he grows up, frustrating Frasier as they grow apart. |
| 611 | * EmbarrassingMiddleName: ''Gaylord'', which is revealed in front of everyone at his bar mitzvah, much to his embarrassment. |
| 612 | * FromTheMouthsOfBabes: In season 4, he manages to do this several times to Fraiser and Martin. |
| 613 | * {{Goth}}: As a teen, he had a stereotypical goth period. It's implied he did it for a girl. |
| 614 | * HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: His regular childhood is fine, but he's implied to have had an infancy that was like this in "The Apparent Trap." |
| 615 | -->'''Lilith:''' If he wants something badly enough, he will figure out a way to get it. Remember when he was a baby, the bottle at the end of the maze? \ |
| 616 | '''Frasier:''' You know, I kinda regret doing that. |
| 617 | * HypocriticalHumor: After a candid conversation where he and Frasier talk about Frasier letting him down, he then gets outraged at the idea that Martin, whom he previously been getting on with, can't do mental arithmetic. |
| 618 | * LikeParentLikeSpouse: There's something oddly oedipal about him being into goth girls as a teenager. |
| 619 | * ManipulativeBastard: Is this in a Thanksgiving episode where he manipulates Frasier and Lilith into thinking he wants them to get back together, planning to act emotionally crushed so they buy him a minibike. The two surmise this means he's a typical growing kid. |
| 620 | * PrecociousCrush: He had a crush on Daphne when he was younger, but soon grew out of it. It was PlayedForLaughs... as was Niles' rampant jealousy. |
| 621 | * SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: Averted. The transition from Luke Tarsitano to Trevor Einhorn was a believable one, and the latter owned the role the rest of the series. |
| 622 | [[/folder]] |
| 623 | |
| 624 | [[folder: Bebe Glazer]] |
| 625 | ! Bebe Glazer |
| 626 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bebe_8.jpg]] |
| 627 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/HarrietSansomHarris |
| 628 | |
| 629 | Frasier's agent who will resort to ''anything'' to get her clients fame and fortune, largely because she likes basking in it herself. |
| 630 | |
| 631 | ---- |
| 632 | |
| 633 | * {{Blackmail}}: She blackmails Dr. Phil into pretending he's one of her clients to get Frasier to re-sign with her. |
| 634 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: She's an over the top drama queen, and quite possibly insane given the lengths she goes to, but she consistently gets Frasier significant raises when it's time to renegotiate his contract and even gets him a syndication deal in San Francisco, which is one of the reasons Frasier never fires her (the other being he's scared to death she might kill him). |
| 635 | * CatchPhrase: |
| 636 | ** "''I'' could make you a STAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Or some such variant. Usually said with bulging eyes... |
| 637 | ** "Wink!" |
| 638 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: As soon as she introduces herself to Frasier (and the audience), Bebe immediately goes full ham as she tries to get Frasier to sign in with her agency, complete with her signature bulgy-eyed predatory glare, deranged smile, and blatant use of flattery and reverse psychology to get Fraisier to do exactly what she wants, all the while making it clear--without directly admitting it--that she's never gonna take "no" for an answer. |
| 639 | * EvilCanNotComprehendGood: When Roz interviews for her own radio show, and Frasier offhandedly expresses his hopes in her being turned down, Bebe immediately interprets this as a signal for her to sabotage Roz, rather than just venting mixed emotions. After Frasier becomes genuinely outraged on discovering this, she thinks it’s just him being coy. Several times. |
| 640 | * GloryHound: When she becomes a morning talk show host with Frasier, she becomes this, having become addicted to fame. |
| 641 | * GoldDigger: Attempted to marry "Big Willy" Boone, one of the many station owners of KACL, but he died before they could make it to the end of the aisle. She was clearly only in it for his money but had him convinced she genuinely loved him. |
| 642 | -->'''Bebe:''' Isn't it wonderful? We met last month and it was love at first sight!\ |
| 643 | '''Roz:''' First sight of what? His bankbook and a cardiogram!?\ |
| 644 | ''[Bebe grins broadly.]'' |
| 645 | * GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: She's both utterly ruthless and utterly addicted to cigarettes. The one episode where she tried to quit led to the most magnificently over the top MustHaveNicotine scene imaginable. |
| 646 | * HamToHamCombat: With Frasier, most often when she tries to win him back. |
| 647 | * IDidWhatIHadToDo: Her excuse for the unethical things she does as an agent. |
| 648 | * ItsAllAboutMe: As dedicated, hardworking and charismatic as she is, she admits that the main reason she pushes her clients to succeed is so she can bask in their residual glory. |
| 649 | * LargeHam: Easily the most over-the-top character in the entire show, prone to the most theatrical gestures and vocabulary that one can imagine. If anyone on the show could out-ham Frasier, it's her. |
| 650 | * ManipulativeBitch: One of her establishing episodes has her lying to Frasier about how hot a product he is in radio so he'll negotiate for more money and then, after forcing the station to renegotiate his contract from scratch, she increases his value by faking a suicide attempt for him to talk her down from. |
| 651 | * MilkingTheGiantCow: Whenever she ''really'' gets going, she tends to pepper her speeches with flailing hand gestures just to emphasize how "big" of a deal whatever it is she's trying to coax Frasier to sign up to next. |
| 652 | * OlderThanTheyLook: The finale of the show suggests that she's got a middle-aged son and that she looks so young because of a cosmetic surgeon she relies on. Although, since it's Bebe being her usual manipulative self to convince Frasier to use the surgeon, [[AmbiguousSituation the truth of this is a little muddied]]. |
| 653 | * OnceASeason: Justified, as she shows up when it's time for Frasier to negotiate his contract. |
| 654 | * SatanicArchetype: Played for laughs. Most jabs about her from Niles are on-par with his attitude towards ''Lilith'', and Frasier tends to ascribe a combination of straight sociopathic and supernatural traits to her whenever he's trying to dissuade someone else from making a deal with her. Then there was that one time she tried to sleep with Frasier with the room glowing red, steam coming in from off-screen, and a demonic choir chanting in the background, with her room eventually revealed as room 666. |
| 655 | -->'''Frasier:''' I must admit [Bebe's] rather hard to get a hold of these days.\ |
| 656 | '''Niles''': Oh really? I thought one just drew a pentagram on the floor and chanted "I summon thee" three times.\ |
| 657 | \ |
| 658 | '''Roz:''' What!? It's not like she worships the devil...\ |
| 659 | '''Frasier:''' Well, she doesn't have to, he worships her! [...] Roz, listen to me, for God's sake, if you've got the tiniest shred of dignity or sense in you, you have to remember what this woman did to you this afternoon and renounce her! She has no scruples, no ethics, and '''''no reflection!''''' |
| 660 | * SexForServices: Sleeps with Frasier once just as a tool to keep him as a client, knowing Frasier's guilt complexes. |
| 661 | * SmoothTalkingTalentAgent: Bebe may as well be [[SatanicArchetype the patron devil]] of this trope, with her unfathomably absurd ruthlessness (which, by the time of the GrandFinale, included outright ([[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial although unproven]]) murder). |
| 662 | * SociopathicHero: Bebe likes to portray herself as this. The self-portrayal is up for debate, however, when she feeds Frasier the Crane a jawbreaker and it chokes to death. |
| 663 | -->'''Bebe:''' ''[after Frasier fires her]'' Next time you need a deal made, call the Dalai Lama. A long time ago, I had to make a choice between being a good agent and a good person, because trust me, you can't be both! So forgive me if I don't have time to make everybody warm and fuzzy. I am just too busy spending every waking minute pouring any drink, pulling any shameless tricks I can to make my clients' dreams come true! '''''I am a starmaker!''''' |
| 664 | ** It's heavily implied in the last episode that she may have ''killed'' the person Frasier was replacing in San Francisco. |
| 665 | --->''[After Frasier initially turns down the job...]''\ |
| 666 | '''Bebe:''' Well, that's gratitude for you. Do you have any idea the lengths I went to to make this happen?\ |
| 667 | '''Frasier:''' ''[horrified]'' Wait a minute... you were in San Francisco last week! Don't tell me!\ |
| 668 | '''Bebe:''' I was nowhere near that air conditioner. ''[laughs]'' You're worse than the police! |
| 669 | * TheUnfettered: Treats helping her clients as SeriousBusiness - but moral and legal issues are irrelevant. She once faked a suicidal 'standing on a ledge' moment just to get Frasier on the evening news as a hero (to ensure he got a better contract.) |
| 670 | -->'''Frasier:''' My God, woman! You've shamelessly manipulated me - my employers - everyone at KACL and the ''entire city of Seattle!'' What could you ''possibly'' have to say for yourself!?\ |
| 671 | '''Bebe:''' ''[after a moment's thought]'' [[GladHesOnOurSide Aren't you glad I'm on your side?]]\ |
| 672 | '''Frasier:''' Yes, I... suppose I am. |
| 673 | [[/folder]] |
| 674 | |
| 675 | [[folder: Gil Chesterton]] |
| 676 | ! Gil Chesterton |
| 677 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/EdwardHibbert |
| 678 | |
| 679 | Another radio personality at KACL, who acts as a food critic. |
| 680 | |
| 681 | ----- |
| 682 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Fulfills all of the stereotypes and occasionally makes suggestive statements about male coworkers. It's never confirmed, though everyone in the station appears to think so. More confusingly, he's married...to what sounds like a ButchLesbian who never appears onscreen. Notably, his coworkers are surprised he didn't notice how good looking a new male employee is, he instantly realizes what they're insinuating and gets very defensive very fast. This is also when his possibly-lesbian wife gets brought up for the first time. |
| 683 | * CampGay: Everyone in the station at least assumes he's gay because of the way he acts; some episodes also have him pretty much admitting that he is. |
| 684 | * CampStraight: Assuming he ''isn't'' lying about being married to a woman and being straight, he sure acts the stereotypical gay man. |
| 685 | * CoolCar: Owns a red Ferrari with a ''red interior''. |
| 686 | * DeadpanSnarker: Particularly when criticizing food. |
| 687 | * HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Gil hits on women and claims to be married to a woman named Deb, but in context it looks more like overcompensating than anything. |
| 688 | * MistakenForGay: He insists this is the case if anyone brings it up. |
| 689 | * OddFriendship: Appears to have one of these with the testosterone fueled Bulldog, usually entering or leaving the scene alongside him and exchanging quips between themselves. |
| 690 | -->''[Bulldog and Gil are reading passages from a romance novel, "Slow Tango in South Seattle".]''\ |
| 691 | '''Bulldog:''' ''[laughing]'' "I wept as our bodies made the music of love."\ |
| 692 | '''Gil:''' ''[laughing]'' "I'm your rhapsody, play me!"\ |
| 693 | '''Bulldog:''' ''(laughing)'' "Crescendo, my young maestro, crescendo!"\ |
| 694 | '''Gil:''' ''[to Bulldog]'' [[HoYay My vessel yearns to dock in the magnificence of your harbor.]]\ |
| 695 | '''Bulldog:''' ''[begins to laugh, then stops, puzzled]'' Hey, that's not in the book! |
| 696 | ** In ''The One Where Woody Shows Up'', he starts one with Noel as well. |
| 697 | * RealitySubtext: [[invoked]] In ''The Show Where Woody Shows Up'', Edward Hibbert is still very tan from doing the pilot to the ''Series/FantasyIsland'' reboot. |
| 698 | * TheRival: In his first appearance only, where he tries to steal Frasier's timeslot. After that the two are depicted as being reasonably friendly towards each other. |
| 699 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Employs flowery and complex language as he describes food and restaurants. |
| 700 | * SharpDressedMan: Is never seen not wearing a suit. |
| 701 | * ShoutOut: His name is one to British author Creator/GKChesterton. |
| 702 | * SmugSnake: How Gil comes off in his first appearance. |
| 703 | [[/folder]] |
| 704 | |
| 705 | [[folder: Noel Shempsky]] |
| 706 | !Noel Shempsky |
| 707 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/PatrickKerr |
| 708 | |
| 709 | A worker at the KACL studio who is a stereotypical ''Franchise/StarTrek'' nerd (sans glasses). Has an insistent crush on Roz and refuses to realizes the feeling isn't mutual. |
| 710 | |
| 711 | ---- |
| 712 | * ADayInTheLimelight: "Star Mitzvah", to some extent. |
| 713 | * ButtMonkey: He doesn't get very much respect from others. |
| 714 | * CasanovaWannabe: Has no idea how ridiculous he looks whenever he tries.... |
| 715 | * TheDogBitesBack: In "Star Mitzvah", he gets revenge on Frasier because of a percieved slight. In "Frasier-Lite", he returns a DopeSlap to Bulldog. |
| 716 | * JewishAndNerdy: Just make sure he's teaching you Hebrew, and not...[[spoiler: ''Klingon''!]] |
| 717 | * {{Multiboobage}}: One of his apparent fetishes. Once, he made up a character named "Rozalinda", who is Roz with two rows of breasts. It doubles as a ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' MythologyGag, as that was how Deanna Troi was initially concieved (and Kelsey Grammer learned about, which is how it got incorporated into one gag in the series.) |
| 718 | * OddFriendship: Develops one with Gil. |
| 719 | * StalkerWithACrush: So obsessed with Roz, he'll literally do ''anything'' to proposition her. |
| 720 | ** Apparently, Creator/WilliamShatner has a court order filed against him. Noel's not allowed to be within 100 feet of him. |
| 721 | --->'''Noel:''' It's so stupid. It wasn't even a ''real'' phaser! |
| 722 | ** Can't attend a sci-fi convention due to a restraining order from Scott Bakula ([[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Captain Archer]]) as well. |
| 723 | * {{Trekkie}}: [[NerdsSpeakKlingon Fluent in Klingon]], among other things... Kerr and Grammer were both on ''Trek'' shows, adding to the RealitySubtext. |
| 724 | [[/folder]] |
| 725 | |
| 726 | [[folder: Kenny Daly]] |
| 727 | ! Kenny Daly |
| 728 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kennydaly.jpg]] |
| 729 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/TomMcGowan |
| 730 | |
| 731 | The station manager at KACL, he's a very friendly guy unable to make the hard decisions and is easily swayed. |
| 732 | |
| 733 | ---- |
| 734 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: "Kenny on the Couch", "Hungry Heart" and "Kissing Cousin". |
| 735 | * BigFun: Somewhat overweight and generally a good-natured guy. |
| 736 | * BreakoutCharacter: Sort of. After an endless series of managers who are introduced with an episode devoted to how the station (and Frasier in particular) deals with this new personality running things, show up in a few episodes more, and then leave...Kenny shows up--and charmed viewers enough so that he stayed for the rest of the show. |
| 737 | * ButtMonkey: Often enough. |
| 738 | * FromBadToWorse: In his first appearance, Frasier manages to get him fired, which would be bad enough, except he also notes his wife is pregnant. Then he finds out she's had ''twins'', just twist the knife on Frasier even further. |
| 739 | * GoshDangItToHeck: Actually enjoys swearing but was forced to use this language in older jobs, and is annoyed at the sexual harassment suit Frasier incurred meaning he'd have to go back to saying "patootie". |
| 740 | * LargeHamRadio: When he sits in for Frasier in the series finale he snaps into a stereotypical hammy DJ voice the second the On Air light goes on. |
| 741 | * NiceGuy: Generally sweet and well meaning, but this gets him pushed around by the on-air talent. |
| 742 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: After a cycle of predecessors with the creative purpose of giving Frasier a hard time, Kenny shows up to break the pattern. |
| 743 | * WillNotTellALie: He gets very upset if he has to lie, usually apologizing moments later. |
| 744 | [[/folder]] |
| 745 | |
| 746 | [[folder:Hester Crane]] |
| 747 | !Hester Crane, M.D. |
| 748 | -->'''Played by:''' Creator/RitaWilson ("Momma Mia", "Don Juan In Hell, Part 2") |
| 749 | |
| 750 | Martin's wife, and Frasier and Niles's mother, a psychiatrist herself who died several years before the series began. |
| 751 | ---- |
| 752 | * DatingWhatDaddyHates: In the ''Cheers'' episode "Diane Meets Mom", Hester was quite clear she despised Diane, even threatening to kill her rather than let her marry Frasier. Many years later, in "Don Juan in Hell", Frasier is convinced she didn't or wouldn't approve of any of his relationships. |
| 753 | * DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: It's clear that Frasier and Niles are remembering their mother through rose-colored glasses, because the one time we as the audience ever encountered the ''real'' Hester Crane (as played by Creator/NancyMarchand, on ''Series/{{Cheers}}''), she was a hostile and unpleasant crone of a woman who threatened to kill Diane for dating Frasier. (Diane points this out in "Don Juan in Hell", but to no avail.) |
| 754 | * HappilyMarried: To Martin. [[spoiler:Barring one incident when Frasier and Niles were children, when she cheated on him.]] |
| 755 | * TheHeart: Kept the Crane household together through discipline, encouragement, and sheer force of will. When she died, the three drifted apart quite quickly, and it took Martin getting shot to get them to begrudgingly start spending time together without her to mediate. |
| 756 | * JerkassHasAPoint: She was viciously hostile to Diane in their one meeting in ''Cheers'' and desperately tries to break her and Frasier up. As her ImagineSpot self in "Don Juan In Hell" gloats however, [[IWarnedYou she rightfully analysed that Diane was a bad match and wouldn't be faithful to Frasier]], though as Diane retorts, she's hardly one to talk about unfaithfulness, doubling her as HypocriteHasAPoint as well. |
| 757 | * NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: The Cranes all remember her fondly, but it's made clear a few times she had her flaws the same as anyone else. Martin in particular [[spoiler:refuses to speak of her affair.]] |
| 758 | * NotSoAboveItAll: |
| 759 | ** Martin fondly remembers her as a classy woman, but notes she'd be just as able to let her hair down when the situation called for it, and with more grace than Fras or Niles usually show when forced to endure less highbrow situations themselves. |
| 760 | ** She and Martin would commemorate the anniversary of their first meeting with ginger-bread men... made in the shape of the chalk outline they met over. Niles is pretty aghast at this, having always assumed they were meant to be dancing. |
| 761 | ** Frasier and Niles are pretty put out to find out where she got their names from - her two favorite lab rats. |
| 762 | ** Frasier's ImagineSpot of her in "Don Juan In Hell" suggests he is deep down aware she is very much this. In particular, her turbulent past with Diane leads him to hallucinate them as petty SitcomArchNemesis, with Hester being just as snooty and hypocritical to Diane as vice versa, and treating Diane's grudge over her past threats [[NeverMyFault as some non-existant squirmish]] [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten she won't let go,]] their dialogue implying this was their offscreen relationship in real life. |
| 763 | * OnceDoneNeverForgotten: In her one living appearance in ''Cheers'', she attempted to break up Frasier and Diane, to the extent of threatening to murder Diane, which she later insists was an empty threat. Her ImagineSpot self in "Don Juan In Hell" implies she never lived this down. |
| 764 | -->'''Hester:''' Oh, not this paranoia ''again''! |
| 765 | -->'''Diane:''' You had a ''gun''! |
| 766 | * PosthumousCharacter: Died sometime in 1987 from cancer. Many times through the show it's established the Crane men are still, in a lot of ways, not over the suddenness of her death. |
| 767 | * TimeshiftedActor: Rita Wilson plays Hester as a midway point between her younger self and the older self played by the deceased Creator/NancyMarchand. |
| 768 | * WartsAndAll: Though the Cranes have very idealised memories of her, "Don Juan In Hell" makes apparent that her one living appearance in ''Cheers'' was ''not'' EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, and that Frasier at the very least deep down remembers her as a very flawed and ornery person. Though it acknowledges she meant well and he continues to have loving memories of her, he is aware that he can't let her possessiveness define him anymore than the other woman in his life that he lost. |
| 769 | |
| 770 | [[/folder]] |
| 771 | |
| 772 | [[folder: Sherry Dempsey]] |
| 773 | ! Sherry Dempsey |
| 774 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sherrydempsey.jpg]] |
| 775 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/MarshaMason |
| 776 | |
| 777 | A girlfriend of Martin's in seasons 4 and 5, a cocktail waitress who plays the banjo. Of course, Frasier and Niles can't stand her. |
| 778 | |
| 779 | ---- |
| 780 | * BigFun: Not "obese" at all, but certainly full-bodied. And boisterous as ''heck''. |
| 781 | * CommitmentIssues: She's been married multiple times and says she learned the hard way she isn't looking for forever. It's because of this that she and Martin break up. |
| 782 | * DreadfulMusician: Admittedly, Frasier might be biased on the subject of her music, what with playing "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on the banjo in the middle of the night. |
| 783 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: Is completely oblivious to how uncomfortable her lack of inhibitions makes Frasier and Niles, and butted heads with Daphne on one occasion due to her unwanted attempts at playing matchmaker. Other comments suggest she unknowingly tends to rub most people the wrong way due to her unfiltered opinions and behavior. |
| 784 | * TheMatchmaker: Tries to be this for Daphne who doesn't appreciate having a bunch of strange men calling her. |
| 785 | * SerialSpouse: She was married and divorced six times, and turns down Martin's proposal as she isn't interested in getting married again. The two break up over it. |
| 786 | * UnwantedAssistance: To Frasier. Her seeming inability to censor what she (thinks she) knows about things leads to a LOT of trouble for poor Frasier in a two-parter where he's struggling with dating a series of women. Each date attempt basically goes awry at least indirectly because of Sherry popping up and blurting something out. |
| 787 | [[/folder]] |
| 788 | |
| 789 | [[folder: Gertrude Moon]] |
| 790 | ! Gertrude Moon |
| 791 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/MillicentMartin |
| 792 | |
| 793 | Daphne's mother who makes no secret she is deeply disappointed in how her daughter turned out. Ridiculously dependent--and ends up living with Niles and Daphne for a while...much to their chagrin. |
| 794 | |
| 795 | ---- |
| 796 | * AbusiveParents: Made clear right from the first time Daphne ever mentions her, Gertrude is a horrific mother. |
| 797 | * AscendedExtra: After appearing in the Season 7 finale, she came back midway through Season 9 and then appeared in numerous episodes of Season 10. |
| 798 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After appearing frequently in Seasons 9 and 10, she only makes one appearance in Season 11 ([[spoiler:at Daphne's baby shower]]) where she has just two lines, and is then never seen again despite [[spoiler:her daughter being pregnant and her grandson being born in the series finale]]. |
| 799 | * ClingyJealousGirl: Towards Martin; even when he makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her, she scares away the other women he's interested in. |
| 800 | * DeadpanSnarker: Has her moments of wit. When Niles's and Daphne's "argument" in "Tales From The Crypt" doesn't get any further than tired smirks--and ends in flirting and kisses--Gertrude snarks, "If this is your idea of a fight, you two aren't fit for marriage." |
| 801 | * DemotedToExtra: A change in writing staff in Season 11 saw her only make one appearance and only get the occasional mention during that season. |
| 802 | * TheDreaded: When she gets a job at Nervosa, she's so obnoxious everyone there ''flees'' the minute she shows up. |
| 803 | * HatedByAll: Inspires animosity in all the major characters. Daphne tries her best to give her mother the benefit of the doubt, but even she has her limits on that. |
| 804 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Self-centered to the extreme, and has no shame about her dependence issues. When Niles and Daphne get her to take a job, she tries her best to guilt-trip them for it. |
| 805 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She treats her daughter and husband like complete crap, and this is made apparent long before her actual appearance. The "Heart of Gold" is buried somewhere deep under all the bitterness and passive aggression/outright aggression, but it's there. Most apparent when she briefly softens up in Niles's and Daphne's wedding episode. |
| 806 | * {{Manchild}}: Complete with getting into a pissing match with an actual kid. |
| 807 | * ManipulativeBitch: Is pretty shameless in her guilt tripping her daughter, and taking advantage of the Crane's hospitality to get her way. When even Daphne has had enough and tries to kick her out, she fakes an injury so that they let her stay. |
| 808 | * MyBelovedSmother: Is this way to her daughter and sons. |
| 809 | * NeverMyFault: Will never--''ever''--apologize for ''anything'' she does or says, unless when in SarcasmMode, or under duress. Usually the two are connected. The ''only'' exception is in Niles's and Daphne's wedding episode and when she apologizes for scaring away Martin's love interests. |
| 810 | * ObfuscatingDisability: Niles and Daphne quickly figure out she's playing up her "injury" to stick around, but can't be bothered trying to get rid of her. |
| 811 | * ObnoxiousInLaws: Practically a walking archetype of it. |
| 812 | * ParentalFavoritism: She shows a lot more favor to Simon than any of her other children, [[TheUnfavourite especially Daphne.]] Even when Simon abandons her after her husband leaves her, she makes excuses for him. |
| 813 | [[/folder]] |
| 814 | |
| 815 | [[folder: Simon Moon]] |
| 816 | ! Simon Moon |
| 817 | -->'''Played by:''' Creator/AnthonyLaPaglia |
| 818 | |
| 819 | Daphne's obnoxious, boorish brother. |
| 820 | |
| 821 | ---- |
| 822 | * TheAlcoholic: Pretty much never seen sober or without a beer in his hand. |
| 823 | * BackForTheFinale: Shows up in the first half of the final episode. |
| 824 | * BrilliantButLazy: Daphne's appraisal of him. Frasier denies Simon is the former, but Simon is pretty wily and when asked to pretend to be a rich software mogul, he talks convincingly about data encryption and security software. |
| 825 | * ItsAllAboutMe: He's a bum that only looks out for his own needs. Best seen when both his and Daphne's mother has been left by their father, and he only sticks around long enough to dump her on Daphne, then hits the road. |
| 826 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Obnoxious, uncouth and selfish, though doesn't appear to be actively malicious and gets on well with Martin. |
| 827 | * KavorkaMan: He ReallyGetsAround for a slovenly, drunken boor. |
| 828 | * LazyBum: He'll never do anything for himself if he can't get someone else to do it. Part of the reason Daphne hates him is he honestly expects her to wait on him hand and foot. |
| 829 | * MisplacedAccent: He sounds more Cockney than Mancunian. |
| 830 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: He has surprisingly eloquent and sophisticated speech patterns, either naturally or possibly in a StealthParody of Frasier. Normally such a character would have DelusionsOfEloquence, but he's perfectly capable of the real thing. |
| 831 | * TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Accidentally invited to Seattle just before Daphne's wedding by Donny, he sticks around and refuses to leave, no matter how much of a nuisance he is to Daphne or Frasier. |
| 832 | -->'''Frasier:''' Daphne, your brother is in my bed, '''nude!''' |
| 833 | [[/folder]] |
| 834 | |
| 835 | [[folder: Duke]] |
| 836 | ! Duke |
| 837 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/JohnLaMotta |
| 838 | |
| 839 | A good friend of Martin's who used to own a bar early on in the show, but had a bigger presence as Martin's [[TheUnseen mostly unseen]] buddy for the rest of the show's run. |
| 840 | |
| 841 | ---- |
| 842 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Martin. |
| 843 | ** Becomes ''literal'' when he and Martin accidentally get ''married'' in San Francisco. |
| 844 | * OneNameOnly: We only know him as "Duke". |
| 845 | * TheUnseen: Averted, though it's easy to miss. He does show up in a handful of episodes, but not enough to be recognizable on sight, and plays a much larger role in the series through Martin's [[{{RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear}} conversations with him on the phone]] than he does in any on-screen appearance. |
| 846 | [[/folder]] |
| 847 | |
| 848 | |
| 849 | [[folder:Cassandra Stone and Faye Moskowitz]] |
| 850 | !! Cassandra Stone and Faye Moskowitz |
| 851 | -->'''Played by''': Virginia Madsen and Amy Brenneman |
| 852 | Cassandra is a promotions director at [=KACL=] and Faye is a lawyer turned pastry chef. They are both love interests of Frasier in season 6 and are in a LoveTriangle with him at the end of the season without realizing it. |
| 853 | ---- |
| 854 | * AmbiguouslyBi: Roz mentions that Cassandra flirts with almost everyone, even her, but that it is hard to tell if she is serious with anyone or is just a flatterer. |
| 855 | * AmicableExes: Cassandra remains on good terms with Frasier after they break up. |
| 856 | * CantHoldHisLiquor: Cassandra calls herself a lightweight drinker who needs help getting home after a few glasses of wine, although this is more of an InformedFlaw. |
| 857 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Despite their chemistry with Frasier, and Cassandra being AmicableExes with Frasier and working with him, neither woman is seen or mentioned (except once when Niles lists Frasier's failed relationships) after the season six finale. |
| 858 | * DeadpanSnarker: Faye isn’t prone to excessive seriousness and enjoys making casual, humorous quips. |
| 859 | * {{Foil}}: The two women are widely different from each other, something that causes Frasier a lot of stress as he tries to figure out which one of them to break up with and which one to commit to. Cassandra is a confident career woman while Faye quit a white-collar job to follow humbler passions. Cassandra is unconsciously dismissive of Daphne while Faye quickly befriends her. Cassandra often wears skirt suits and Faye dresses more casually and colorfully (her wardrobe includes tie-dyed t-shirts). Faye is cultured, artistic, and practical, while Cassandra is more spontaneous, outgoing, and focused on the moment. |
| 860 | * GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Faye is a very polite and mature woman who has some purple clothing on in many of her scenes. |
| 861 | * JewsLoveToArgue: Faye and her mother are Jewish and can get into heated arguments that quickly turn into wishing each other well. |
| 862 | * JewishMother: Faye's mother is responsible for setting her up with Frasier, having mistaken him for Jewish because he was buying a menorah for Freddie. During their argument, Faye admits she's frustrated by her mother's constant attempts to meddle in her life. |
| 863 | * MasterOfTheMixedMessage: Cassandra spends her debut alternating between comments that make Frasier think she wants to have sex and ones that make him think he is just being a generous host after the weather makes him spend the night at her house. It gets to the point where they get into the same bed together (she quickly falls asleep) and Frasier is still unsure if she invited him to sleep with her because she wanted sex or because she only has one bed. Later episodes confirm that nothing happened between them on that occasion. |
| 864 | * PoorCommunicationKills: Frasier and Faye might have gotten into a stable relationship before Frasier met Cassandra if not for Roz forgetting to give Frasier a message from Faye that she was going to Paris for a few months. |
| 865 | * PursueTheDreamJob: Faye used to be a lawyer but gave it up to pursue her dream of becoming a pastry chef. Frasier is delighted to learn she's the dessert chef at one of his favourite bistros. |
| 866 | * SexyShirtSwitch: Both of them get at least one scene wearing Frasier's bathrobes after having sex with Frasier. |
| 867 | * SupremeChef: Frasier is in awe of some of Faye's meals. |
| 868 | [[/folder]] |
| 869 | |
| 870 | [[folder: Donny Douglas]] |
| 871 | !Donny Douglas |
| 872 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/SaulRubinek |
| 873 | |
| 874 | An old boyfriend of Roz who ends up becoming Niles's divorce lawyer later in the series. |
| 875 | |
| 876 | ---- |
| 877 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: He's sweet, friendly, charming, affectionate, and ''ruthless'', which is a very positive trait in a lawyer, as long as he's ''your'' lawyer. |
| 878 | * BrokenBird: [[spoiler: After Daphne dumps him, he goes through a couple of relationships and actually ruins his own wedding because he admits that she's always been the one he loves in front of his new fiancee.]] |
| 879 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: One of the best lawyers in Seattle, despite his unorthodox methods. |
| 880 | * DiggingYourselfDeeper: When marrying his ''third'' crush (after Daphne and another woman), he tells Niles when it ''looks'' like Daphne is leaving ''him'' at the altar too, he crows, "You'll never find anyone better!" -- then awkwardly realizes he just said that in front of ''his'' fiancee. |
| 881 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: His first meeting with Niles and Frasier. He initially appears as a slob who changes out of his gym clothes in front of potential clients but is actually listening closely to Niles' story. He then picks up the phone and immediately gets Maris' divorce lawyers to move up the hearing by seven months. Niles immediately hires him. |
| 882 | * IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Eventually drops the lawsuit against Niles and Daphne]] after realizing it was just a knee-jerk reaction, before wishing them the best. |
| 883 | * NiceGuy: A little less so after [[spoiler: Daphne leaves him]], but he tries. |
| 884 | [[/folder]] |
| 885 | |
| 886 | [[folder: Mel Karnofsky]] |
| 887 | !Mel Karnofsky |
| 888 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/JaneAdams |
| 889 | |
| 890 | Maris's former plastic surgeon, who becomes Niles's girlfriend for much of Season 7. |
| 891 | |
| 892 | ---- |
| 893 | * FemaleMisogynist: Any woman she takes a dislike to (real or imagined) is referred to with liberal usage of YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive and the word "whore". |
| 894 | * GenderBlenderName: Niles and Frasier initially think Dr. Mel Karnofsky is a man. Niles is mildly surprised to see that she's a woman, though he adjusts quickly -- and falls for her. |
| 895 | * ICantDance: She suffers from vertigo when she dances. |
| 896 | * EvilIsPetty: It's implied that a lot of her actions in season 8 are as much making ''Daphne'' miserable as they are Niles. |
| 897 | * JerkassHasAPoint: She's horrible to Niles after he dumps her, but it's pretty understandable considering he did so within ''days'' of their wedding. Niles even acknowledges she does have a ''bit'' of a point (at the worst possible time). |
| 898 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: How she starts off. Pushy, demanding, rude, neurotic in a slightly eerie fashion, ''extremely'' and unthinkingly rude toward Daphne but also capable of being polite and sociable, and her affection for Niles is genuine. |
| 899 | * LadyMacbeth: In the episode where Frasier runs for Grand Winemaster of the wine club; Mel...''encourages'' Niles into running, himself. |
| 900 | ** Sans the villainy part she outright admits that she wants to be a gentler version of this trope, the "one safe person" that can help Niles become all the things he's too soft to do on his own. |
| 901 | * ManipulativeBitch: Gradually develops into this in Season 7 and 8, in the latter series especially as a result of heartbreak--and milks her remaining hold over Niles for all it's worth. |
| 902 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Despite her appearance, it's strongly hinted in her first episode that she's actually several years older than Niles, and has a son who's in college. |
| 903 | * TheParanoiac: Very jumpy about the possibility of Niles going back to Maris, and refuses to listen during a miscommunication because she honestly believes he'd want to go back to her. |
| 904 | * SpoiledBrat: Her major KickTheDog moment involves her feeling entitled to order Daphne around, seemingly oblivious to the fact that ''Daphne is obviously sick''. |
| 905 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She’s essentially a more plausible version of Maris. |
| 906 | * TookALevelInJerkass: In the Season 7 finale it's hinted that her personality's finally starting to soften somewhat. Which of course goes out the window as soon as [[spoiler:Niles ditches her two days after their wedding]], and leads to her jerkassery being turned up to eleven for the remainder of her time on the show. Justified, in that she's had her heart broken. |
| 907 | * WomanScorned: Once Niles [[spoiler:leaves her without a second thought for Daphne]], all her genuine love for him becomes malice and she puts him through a torturous ordeal of pretending they're happily married to preserve her reputation. |
| 908 | [[/folder]] |
| 909 | |
| 910 | [[folder: Lana Gardner]] |
| 911 | !Lana Gardner (formerly Lynley) |
| 912 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/JeanSmart |
| 913 | |
| 914 | A real estate agent who was Frasier's old high school crush. They briefly date in season 7, but it doesn't last long due to Lana's short temper and smoking habits being turnoffs. Despite this, the two remain friends afterwards, even though Frasier still has some lingering feelings for her. |
| 915 | |
| 916 | ---- |
| 917 | * AlliterativeName: Lorna/Lana Lynley. |
| 918 | * AlphaBitch: What she was in high school, and remains rather unpleasant in adulthood. |
| 919 | * DefrostingIceQueen: While she never loses her HairTriggerTemper, and she has always liked Frasier, she grows softer and softer in Season 9 as Frasier gets to know her better. |
| 920 | * DivorceIsTemporary: In her last appearance, she reconciles with her ex-husband, with begrudging help from Frasier. |
| 921 | * HairTriggerTemper: It doesn't take a lot to get her screaming and ranting. |
| 922 | * SuddenNameChange: Her name was originally "Lorna Lynley", but in her next appearance, her first name was changed to Lana because she was named after a real person who decided they no longer wanted their name used. |
| 923 | * SuddenlyShouting: She alternates between talking normally and shouting at the top of her lungs without warning. |
| 924 | [[/folder]] |
| 925 | |
| 926 | [[folder: Kirby Gardner]] |
| 927 | !Kirby Gardener |
| 928 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/BrianKlugman |
| 929 | |
| 930 | Lana's eldest son, a high school slacker who Frasier tutors in exchange for Lana setting Frasier up with her friend, Claire. Kirby also has a crush on Roz, who ends up going to the prom with him (in exchange for a day off to see a Music/BruceSpringsteen concert by Frasier). |
| 931 | |
| 932 | ---- |
| 933 | * BrilliantButLazy: Implied to be the case, as he is surprisingly crafty for someone who barely squeaked by in school, such as how he gets back at the ''Teen Scene'' hosts for exposing Frasier's dirty secrets on air. |
| 934 | * DumbassTeenageSon: Hence why he needs Frasier to tutor him, or else he'll fail his class and won't graduate. |
| 935 | * LikesOlderWomen: He has a crush on Roz, despite her being almost old enough to be his mother. |
| 936 | [[/folder]] |
| 937 | |
| 938 | [[folder: Julia Wilcox]] |
| 939 | !Julia Wilcox |
| 940 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/FelicityHuffman |
| 941 | |
| 942 | A lawyer and business analyst who begins working at KACL during Season 10. Has a reputation for suing her own employers and being virtually impossible to work with, though that doesn't stop her getting into a brief relationship with Frasier near the end of Season 10. |
| 943 | |
| 944 | ---- |
| 945 | * BelligerentSexualTension: Frasier insists this is what they have, but it generally seems to be more belligerence than actual sexual tension. |
| 946 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Disappears after Frasier dumps her the second episode of Season 11, and is never mentioned again, not even to imply that she quit or was fired from KACL. |
| 947 | * DesignatedLoveInterest: In-universe, no less. Once she and Frasier start dating, he starts getting increasingly insistent that ''this time'' she's the one for him, and they're very much in love. Niles eventually calls him on it, stating Frasier's only doing so to prove he's not got a habit of MinorFlawMajorBreakup. And he's right. |
| 948 | * DisproportionateRetribution: She dates Frasier's accountant, and then he takes a program from her. So she breaks into his office to steal it back. Then she erases everything off his hard-drive while she's there, and throws everything off his desk for good measure. |
| 949 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Even she thinks suing KACL for Frasier mistakenly assuming they were flirting would be pathetic. She also takes part in KACL's charity events, on the grounds she'd have to be a heartless bastard to openly scorn charity work (like a certain radio psychiatrist had just done). |
| 950 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: Her two appearances in Season 11 ''slightly'' toned down her personality, and had her just not realizing how offensive she tended to be, rather than actively going out of her way to be a bitch. Not that it saved her from being dumped by Frasier. |
| 951 | * {{Jerkass}}: To the point where if she were actually evil, she'd be a CardCarryingVillain. Not only does she constantly act like a bitch, she openly ridicules Frasier when he attempts to understand why she behaves the way she does, and pretty much revels in her unpleasant attitude. |
| 952 | * JerkassHasAPoint: In her first appearance, she cuts off Frasier when he tries to introduce her, and points out he was going on. While she is pretty rude about it, Frasier ''was'' being long-winded and eating into her time. |
| 953 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Subverted. While her falling for Frasier makes Julia less stand-offish, she’s still a jerk through and through. |
| 954 | * PetTheDog: It's almost a running gag throughout the "Julia-arc" in Season 10 that an episode will end with her either doing something nice (like when she gives the somewhat out-of-place folk singer a job so he won't keep alienating Frasier and Niles from Cafe Nervosa) or seemingly beginning to reconcile with Frasier or Roz...only to have it [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] by the next episode so that she's back to bickering with the two, as if the moment never happened. |
| 955 | * ShutUpKirk: When Frasier tries to give her a talking-to about her constantly acting like a total {{Jerkass}}, she tries to give him a ShutUpKiss, though Frasier states he knows what that feels like. |
| 956 | * {{Troll}}: During the KACL charity bikeathon, she draws Frasier's attention to a nearby mailbox, knowing Frasier's inability to ride bikes will draw him to it and make him crash. Which he does. |
| 957 | * WomanChild: She is not a mature person at all; despite occasionally putting on airs of professionalism, she is boorish, tactless, uncouth, self-serving, and has a juvenile sense of humor. |
| 958 | [[/folder]] |
| 959 | |
| 960 | [[folder: Cam Winston]] |
| 961 | !Cam Winston |
| 962 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/BrianStokesMitchell |
| 963 | |
| 964 | ''Charming'' fellow who moves into the apartment above Frasier's late in the show. The two immediately engage in a rivalry that soon escalates into all-out warfare. Ironically, he and Frasier have a ''lot'' in common.... |
| 965 | |
| 966 | ---- |
| 967 | * ArchNemesis: To Frasier--until his mom, teaming up with Martin, force the two to make peace. |
| 968 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After he and Frasier reconcile, he never appears again. He's only referred to a couple of times after that--and then, only briefly. Before that, he was... |
| 969 | * TheGhost: For the first few seasons, Cam was only mentioned, but never seen. To the point where he was almost to Frasier what Maris was to Niles! |
| 970 | * HummerDinger: Drives a Humvee that's clearly never been off-road in its life. Its purpose seems to be so he can park it next to Frasier's spot and force him to crawl out of his BMW. |
| 971 | * InsufferableGenius: Very similar to Frasier in that way. |
| 972 | * ManipulativeBastard: Plays the condo board like a flute when his rivalry with Frasier reaches a boiling point. |
| 973 | * MirrorCharacter: The recurring gag was that Cam was almost exactly like Frasier, just slightly more successful at it. He and Frasier are so similar, their bickering is actually quite ''cute''. |
| 974 | ** When writing up a peace treaty, they get so into it the apartment becomes littered with proposals, making their burying the hatchet as complicated as the Treaty of Versailles (and almost as important to them.) |
| 975 | * PhraseCatcher: |
| 976 | -->'''Frasier:''' ''[{{Angrish}}]'' '''CAM ''WINSTON''!''' |
| 977 | * SharpDressedMan: His wardrobe consists of an array of expensive suits. |
| 978 | * SophisticatedAsHell: For all his cultured stuffiness...Mr. Winston's vehicle of choice is a ''[[BiggerIsBetter Hummer]]''! Frasier is both irritated and highly amused by it--even going so far as to suggest Cam may be CompensatingForSomething. Cam actually agrees with this, but points out his "substitute for masculinity" is still bigger than Frasier's. |
| 979 | [[/folder]] |
| 980 | |
| 981 | [[folder: Ronee Lawrence]] |
| 982 | !Ronee Lawrence |
| 983 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/WendieMalick |
| 984 | |
| 985 | The former childhood babysitter of Frasier and Niles, who meets up with them again in Season 11, and ends up getting into a relationship with Martin, ultimately marrying him in the series finale. |
| 986 | |
| 987 | ---- |
| 988 | * {{Expy}}: Her personality, mannerisms and interests are very similar to those of Martin's mid-series girlfriend, Sherry. However, they're also toned down enough that Frasier and Niles are able to actually get along with her. Also, unlike Sherry, Ronee is not a DreadfulMusician, and Frasier was never attracted to Sherry in any way. It also doesn't hurt that she was one of the boys' babysitters. Niles still hasn't forgiven her for her "earwig" practical jokes, however. |
| 989 | * TheGadfly: Likes teasing Frasier in a good-natured way. She also is responsible for Niles' germaphobia, thanks to many bedtime stories about earwigs crawling into his brain. |
| 990 | * HollywoodHeartAttack: She's dismissive of Martin's because he didn't even need CPR. |
| 991 | -->'''Martin:''' You had the paddles?\ |
| 992 | '''Ronee:''' Let's just say I didn't have the best lipo guy. |
| 993 | * JustFriends: Not that she ever had any real interest in Frasier to begin with, but she says that even if she did, it'd just be too weird to date him seeing how she mostly remembers him as a prepubescent child. |
| 994 | * MaamShock: In the final episode, she begins to tell newborn David, "And I'm your Grandma!", then states immediately, "No, I can't get used to that." |
| 995 | * MyBelovedSmother: |
| 996 | ** Her mother appears in one episode, and she's more prudish than a librarian, and believes Ronee is one, too. (However, Ronee ReallyGetsAround, since she was a teen.) |
| 997 | ** In the same episode, Frasier is caught covered in whip cream with Kim by Martin, Ronee and her mother. After her mother and Martin leave in shock, Ronee grins and pretends the trope. |
| 998 | --->''' Ronee:''' You may get away with this now, young man, but once I'm your mother...\ |
| 999 | '''Frasier:''' ''[rolling his eyes]'' Oh, GetOut! |
| 1000 | * OlderThanTheyLook: It's implied that she likes to lie about her age, even though the Cranes know full well how old she actually is. |
| 1001 | ** However, all of her fans at the cabaret know she's older than she looks, chiefly because she has had a lot of plastic surgery. |
| 1002 | * RomanticFalseLead: At first it looks like she's going to be another one or two-episode love interest for Frasier. Midway through the episode where she's introduced however, we find out that she never had the slightest bit of interest in Frasier, and that it's actually ''Martin'' she wants. Then marries Martin. |
| 1003 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Sherry Dempsey, Martin's previous most major love interest. Both are crass and more lowbrow than the Crane boys would like but for some reason (partly CharacterDevelopment on their part, partly the fact that Ronee is less boisterous and in-your-face than Sherry was) they get along MUCH better with Ronee. They never are passive aggressive towards her as they were with Sherry and when she and Martin get engaged they are both genuinely happy. |
| 1004 | [[/folder]] |
| 1005 | |
| 1006 | [[folder: Charlotte Connor]] |
| 1007 | !Charlotte Connor |
| 1008 | --> '''Played by:''' Creator/LauraLinney |
| 1009 | |
| 1010 | Professional matchmaker with an office near Frasier's, when he sets up a private practice again in the final season. She tries to take him on as a client...and ends up becoming his last love interest on the show. |
| 1011 | |
| 1012 | ---- |
| 1013 | * DistaffCounterpart: Of Frasier, really. She has a job that involves helping people psychologically (although in this case it's with their love lives,) had a divorce and was forced to move because of it, is living with her mother, and also fudges the truth to hide her inadequacies and plans-gone-awry (in this case, the fact that her business was a disaster and she was matching Frasier with women she found in a bar.) |
| 1014 | * MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler: Frasier delays beginning his new job in San Francisco to reunite with her,]] in the series finale. |
| 1015 | * OneTrueLove: Strongly implied, [[spoiler: with Frasier]]--especially considering how they ultimately agree to throw caution to the wind after acknowledging such issues as [[spoiler: her returning to Chicago.]] |
| 1016 | * WeddingRingDefense: She's wearing a ring when Frasier meets her but eventually admits that she's divorced and kept wearing the ring to project an air of confidence to her clients. According to her, people don't want to be set up by "a matchmaker whose life's a mess". |
| 1017 | |
| 1018 | [[/folder]] |
| 1019 |
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