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1[[foldercontrol]]
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4[[folder:Sheriff Andy Taylor]]
5!!Sheriff Andrew Jackson "Andy" Taylor (Creator/AndyGriffith)
6%% * TheAllAmericanBoy
7* BewareTheNiceOnes: Seriously, do ''not'' get into a fight with this guy.
8* ByTheBookCop: Serves as this particular "voice of reason" for Barney.
9* CharacterizationMarchesOn: He and Barney are cousins in the first two episodes, something that isn't brought up again; also, for much of the first season, Griffith played Andy as more of a country bumpkin than the straight man role he played in later episodes.
10%% * ChildhoodFriends: With Barney.
11* TheConfidant: Several characters often entrust Andy to keep secrets for them.
12%% * DaChief
13* DoesNotLikeGuns: While he's very handy with them and will use them if absolutely necessary, Andy dislikes guns and doesn't carry one regularly, preferring to reason with people and get them to listen to him out of respect and through reason rather than intimidation.
14* TheFace: If you're in trouble and need someone to help you find the words to get out of it, Andy's the guy you want doing the talking.
15%% * FairCop
16* {{Flanderization}}: Andy being the OnlySaneMan in Mayberry becomes more and more obvious, especially in the last three seasons, almost to the point where it seems he harbors some contempt for the Eccentric Townsfolk around him.
17%% * {{Foil}}: To Barney.
18%% ** BigGuyLittleGuy: The Big to Barney's Little.
19%% ** RedOniBlueOni: The Blue to Barney's Red.
20%% ** SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Manly Man to Barney's Sensitive Guy.
21%% ** StraightManAndWiseGuy: The Straight Man to Barney's Wise Guy.
22%% *** This was originally planned to be reversed, with Barney being the Straight Man to Andy's Wise Guy. However, the creators (and Griffith himself) was quick to realize that the show was funnier with Andy as the Straight Man.
23* HappilyMarried: Andy gets married to Helen in the pilot of ''Mayberry R.F.D.''
24%%* TheHeart
25%%* TheHero
26%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Barney.
27* HiddenBadass: Andy isn't one to pick a fight over a meaningless argument, but he will put you down if absolutely necessary.
28* ImprobableAimingSkills: Andy is a very skill sharpshooter. He was able to blow a tire off a moving car with just a pistol and was able to shoot every target of a shooting gallery with a bent rifle.
29* TheMatchmaker: There are numerous episodes where he plays this role, mostly for Barney or a one-time character searching for love.
30* MeaningfulName: The apostle Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen, which makes the opening sequence so much better.
31* MoralityChain: For Barney and Opie.
32* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: President UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson, the seventh president of the United States.
33** Oddly enough, the "Jackson" part of his name is in question, as his newborn son in ''Series/MayberryRFD'' is named Andrew Samuel Taylor, Jr.
34* NiceGuy: He's a kind, compassionate and caring man who makes an effort to treat everyone around him with respect and dignity.
35* OfficialCouple: According to ''Mayberry R.F.D.'', he and Helen Crump have gotten married, which is carried over to the 1986 TV movie ''Film/ReturnToMayberry''.
36* OnlySaneMan: He acts as one to the whole town, being a stabilizing influence for all their eccentricity.
37* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He's a cop and a fair one. He always tries to reason with people rather than resort to brute force right away but also makes clear he isn't to be underestimated or trifled with.
38%% * TheSheriff
39%% * SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Sage.
40* SmokingIsCool: On a few notable occasions he'll smoke a cigar.
41%% * StraightMan
42* TechnicalPacifist: Hates carrying guns unless the situation calls for as such and he needs to borrow Barney's (one-bullet) gun, preferring instead to outwit criminals rather than rough them up.
43* TokenGoodCop: He's a diligent and intelligent peacekeeper and crime-solver, while [[CluelessDeputy Barney Fife]] is very far from the brightest bulb, and the various townspeople who are occasionally deputized for emergencies (Otis, Floyd, Gomer, Goober, Howard, etc.) have more enthusiasm than skill.
44* VocalEvolution: Early episodes had Andy speaking with a southern simpleton like voice before it evolved into a more normal authoritive southern voice.
45
46[[/folder]]
47
48[[folder:Opie Taylor]]
49!! Opie Taylor (Creator/RonHoward)
50
51%% * AdorablyPrecociousChild
52%% * TheAllAmericanBoy
53* CheerfulChild: He's quite the playful and curious little boy who lives up to the old saying of kids being kids, usually venturing around town with his friends as they come across mysterious sights.
54* GreenEyedMonster: He becomes this way when Andy starts a relationship with Peggy, to the point of purposefully ruining their relationship to try and keep Andy all to himself.
55%% * HeIsAllGrownUp: More or less, at the end of the series.
56* ImaginaryFriend: "Mr. [=McBeevee=]." [[NotSoImaginaryFriend Or maybe not.]]
57%% * IntergenerationalFriendship: With most characters, notably Barney and Aunt Bee.
58%% * KidAppealCharacter
59%% * MissingMom
60* ThePrankster: At times, but usually it's because one of his friends turns out to be a bad influence.
61* PrecociousCrush: On Thelma Lou in one episode. On [[StudentTeacherRomance his teacher]] Helen Crump in another. Even more ridiculous that they are Barney's and Andy's girlfriends, respectively.
62%% * SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Precocious.
63
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Deputy Barney Fife]]
67!!Deputy Bernard Milton "Barney" Fife (Creator/DonKnotts)
68* AndStarring: "Also Starring Don Knotts."
69* BerserkButton: Whenever people don't take him seriously and fix whatever mistakes he insists they have made, which often leads to DisproportionateRetribution.
70** And don't let him catch you chasing after his girl Thelma Lou, neither.
71%% * BetaCouple: With Thelma Lou.
72* BoundAndGagged: In a few episodes where a scheme to catch a nesting criminal goes awry; he is the one that always gets captured.
73%% * BreakoutCharacter
74%% * BumblingSidekick: To Andy.
75* BunnyEarsLawyer: In spite of his mistakes, clumsiness, and accidental gunfire, he manages to come through as Sheriff Taylor's deputy, sticking to his gut feelings when giving the governor's car a parking ticket which results in a citation for faithfully doing his duty, and catching the crooks by taking them and their trailer with the hostage inside to the Mayberry jail.
76%% * ButtMonkey
77* CharacterCatchphrase:
78** "Nip it in the bud!"
79** "Heartaches! Nothing but heartaches!"
80** "What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a man (performed action) before?"
81* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the first two episodes, he and Andy were cousins, not referred to again later on.
82%% * ChildhoodFriends: With Andy.
83* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: At times, whenever he thinks there is an overblown explanation for the situation at hand.
84* CluelessDeputy: Probably the most prominent example, which paves the way for a lot of the show's biggest laughs.
85* TheComicallySerious: Whenever he's trying to be intimidating to someone and treat the situation like official police business, they'll automatically assume he's leading them on.
86%% * {{Determinator}}
87%% * TheDitz
88* {{Foil}}:
89** BigGuyLittleGuy: The Little to Andy's Big.
90** RedOniBlueOni: The Red to Andy's Blue.
91** SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Andy's Manly Man.
92** StraightManAndWiseGuy: The Wise Guy to Andy's Straight Man.
93* TheGhost: His waitress girlfriend, Juanita, who never appeared on the show but talked to him over the phone.
94%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Andy.
95* HollywoodToneDeaf: Several episodes dealt with Barney hoping to join the town or church choir, only to sing horribly off-key and the characters trying to find some way to dismiss him with grace. (Averted in real life; Don Knotts was a reasonably talented singer and had a fine baritone voice.)
96* IdiotBall: Carries this ''a lot'', usually to misinterpreting a situation that seems to be a hard-core federal crime, but later turns out to be something much less than that.
97* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Opie.
98* TheKlutz: Why he had to keep his single rationed bullet in his pocket instead of his gun.
99%% * TheLancer: To Andy.
100%% * LovableCoward
101%% * MilesGloriosus
102* MomentKiller: There are whole episodes built around his tendency to interrupt Andy's dates with Helen.
103%% * MotorMouth
104* NonActionGuy: In WWII, at least, in contrast to Andy. Barney was never allowed to leave his post in office as a file clerk, while Andy was stationed in France.
105* OfficialCouple: With Thelma Lou at first, but the two call it quits when he leaves Mayberry. In Season 6's "The Return of Barney Fife", Barney discovers Thelma Lou has married Gerald Whitfield. But, in 1986's TV movie ''Return to Mayberry'', the couple end up getting officially married.
106%% * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname
107%% * PluckyComicRelief
108* PutOnABus: At the end of Season 5 so that Knotts could work on a movie career, although he [[CommutingOnABus returns for an episode or two each season]] until the show's end.
109* RecklessSidekick: Regardless of the situation and no matter how dangerous it may be, Barney is always ready to nip the problem in the bud.
110* SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Goofball.
111* SmallNameBigEgo: Ignoring all that happens under his nose, Barney considers himself an expert lawman, as well as a specialist on women, singing, history, etc. Andy regularly lets Barney carry on as he pleases, although he only allows him a single bullet in his gun for prime safety reasons.
112* SuddenlyShouting: Happens when he expresses discomfort, anger, or surprise.
113
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Aunt Bee]]
117!!'''Beatrice "Aunt Bee" Taylor (Creator/FrancesBavier)'''
118
119* [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys All Women Want Bad Boys]]: In the early seasons, Aunt Bee has romances with several men that turn out to be complete jerks. Averted in the color era, when she finds happiness with respectable gentlemen such as a professor and a congressman.
120* BestFriend: With Clara Edwards Johnson.
121* TheBusCameBack: In-universe, when Aunt Bee returns to Mayberry in the show's first episode after living in West Virginia for 5 years.
122%% * CoolOldLady
123%% * IntergenerationalFriendship: With Opie.
124* LethalChef: She's a good cook in general, but don't let her make pickles, whatever you do.
125%% * MamaBear: To Opie. Andy as well.
126%% * MoralityChain: For Opie and Andy.
127%% * [[NiceGirl Nice Lady]]
128* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Though she is the aunt of Andy, everybody in Mayberry calls her "Aunt Bee."
129* ParentalSubstitute: For Opie's mother. In the first episode, Opie was originally not too happy with accepting another mother figure into the household, but he warmed up to Aunt Bee by the end of the episode and they became instant friends.
130* SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Sage.
131* SupremeChef: Is an excellent cook in pretty much all regards except for when it comes to pickles, which somehow manage to taste like kerosene.
132%% * TeamChef / TeamMom
133%% * TheTeetotaler
134%% * WomenAreWiser
135
136[[/folder]]
137
138[[folder:Gomer Pyle ]]
139!!'''Gomer Pyle (Creator/JimNabors)'''
140
141%% * BreakoutCharacter
142* TheCastShowoff: Like Griffith, Nabors was able to showcase his singing talents in some episodes, although these were more reserved for the spin-off, ''Series/GomerPyleUSMC''.
143* CharacterCatchphrase: "Well, golll-leeee!" and "Shazam!" And later, "[[RuleOfThree Surprise, surprise, surprise!]]"
144* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}
145* CluelessDeputy: Whenever the situation called for it, Andy and Barney would usually get someone inept like Gomer to become one of their sworn-in deputies.
146* CountryMouse: In ''Series/GomerPyleUSMC''.
147* TheDitz
148** GeniusDitz: His astounding singing talents, something that amazes Andy and Barney's choir in one episode.
149* HollywoodToneDeaf: Averted, as first seen in "The Song Festers." Anyone who previously thought that, given Gomer's goofball voice, he'd be comically off-key as a singer would soon realize otherwise.
150%% * IncorruptiblePurePureness
151%% * PluckyComicRelief
152* PutOnABus: For his own spin-off show, the aforementioned ''Series/GomerPyleUSMC''.
153%% * SouthernFriedPrivate: The quintessential example.
154* SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Goofball.
155
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Goober Pyle]]
159!!'''Goober Pyle (Creator/GeorgeLindsey)'''
160
161* AscendedExtra: He becomes one after Gomer joins the Marines and Barney takes a police job in Raleigh.
162%% * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}
163* CluelessDeputy: Like Gomer, Goober was often made a temporary deputy, whether it be for better or for worse.
164%% * TheDitz
165* GeniusDitz: He can take apart a police car, reassemble it, and take it apart all over again, as evidenced in one episode.
166%% * TheGhost / HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Originally.
167%% * PluckyComicRelief
168* SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Goofball.
169* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For his cousin, Gomer.
170
171[[/folder]]
172
173[[folder:Otis Campbell]]
174!!'''Otis Campbell (Creator/HalSmith)'''
175
176* TheAlcoholic: He's notorious as the town drunk, to the point where he lets himself into the jail to sleep off his latest binge.
177%% * AlcoholHic
178%% * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}
179* CluelessDeputy: Whenever Andy or Barney enlisted him as one of their deputies, Otis would be entirely off the case.
180* DropInCharacter: To the jail; every week, he drunkenly lets himself in using the keys that hang on the wall and spends the night in one of the cells.
181%% * FatComicRelief
182%% * FatSlob
183* TheTeetotaler: By ''Return to Mayberry'', he's become this, giving up drinking and driving an ice cream truck.
184
185[[/folder]]
186
187[[folder:Floyd Lawson]]
188!!'''Floyd Lawson (Walter Baldwin, Howard [=McNear=])'''
189
190%% * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}
191* TheOtherDarrin: Walter Baldwin portrayed Floyd in his debut appearance, with Howard [=McNear=] taking over the role from then on.
192* RealLifeWritesThePlot: [=McNear=] died less than a year after the final episode of Season 7, so that he was not able to return for Season 8.
193* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Emmett Clark, a fix-it man, was added to fill in the character's absence. In-universe, Floyd was announced as having retired because he had earned enough money.
194* WrittenInInfirmity: After [=McNear=] suffered a major stroke during Season 3 which left him unable to walk, Floyd was always shown either seated or leaning against a stand.
195
196[[/folder]]
197[[folder:Thelma Lou]]
198!!'''Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn)'''
199
200%% * BetaCouple: With Barney.
201%% * LoveInterest: To Barney.
202%% * NiceGirl
203%% * NoLastNameGiven
204* OfficialCouple: After Barney leaves Mayberry, she ends up marrying Gerald Whitfield, and the episode "The Return of Barney Fife" in Season 6 serves as her last appearance on the show. However, she does return for the 1986 TV movie ''Return to Mayberry'', where she and Barney end up getting married.
205* YoureJustJealous: In the episode where Andy and Barney help a friend of theirs find a bride and he selects Thelma Lou as the girl he wants to marry, Thelma Lou claims this is the reason Barney is so jealous, although she never wanted to marry anyone else in the first place, and she and Barney get back together at the end of the episode.
206
207[[/folder]]
208
209[[folder:Helen Crump]]
210!!'''Helen Crump (Aneta Corsaut)'''
211
212%% * HotTeacher
213* LittleBoySeeksBigGirl: Opie had a crush on Helen in the opening episode of Season 5.
214* OfficialCouple: In the pilot episode of ''Series/MayberryRFD'', she and Andy officially get married.
215%% * {{Tsundere}}
216
217[[/folder]]
218
219[[folder:Ernest T. Bass]]
220!!'''Ernest T. Bass (Creator/HowardMorris)'''
221
222* EscapeArtist: In "Ernest T. Joins the Army", it becomes apparent that Ernest T. can escape from jail at will. As a result, in all of his subsequent appearances, Andy has to compromise with Ernest T. or trick him, as locking him up is not an option.
223* ExactWords: In "Malcom at the Crossroads", Ernest T. who is working as a crossing guard, is told by Andy not to throw rocks at cars. Ernest T. promptly switches to throwing bricks at cars.
224* GoodLookingPrivates: Ernest T. tries to invoke this in "Ernest T. Joins the Army", enlisting in the Army with the intention to leave upon receiving his uniform. After the Army rejects Ernest T., Andy ends up giving him Barney's uniform to put an end to his RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
225* NeverLearnedToRead: As of "The Education of Ernest T. Bass", he can only read a few words off of signs, such as "Beware of Dog" and "No Hunting". Oddly enough, in his earlier appearances in "Mountain Wedding" and "Ernest T. Bass Joins the Army", Ernest T. attached notes to rocks that he throws through windows.
226* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: His mother taught him to hate Englishmen.
227* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Upon discovering that Andy advised the Army to reject him, Ernest T. vows to break every window in Mayberry.
228* RunningGag: He likes throwing bricks through windows to get people's attention.
229* StalkerWithACrush:
230** To Charlene Darling in "Mountain Wedding", to the point of refusing to recognize her ''actual'' marriage as official because the ceremony wasn't performed by a preacher. The fact that Charlene is ''already'' an AbhorrentAdmirer to Andy (though when Ernest was courting her, she was already married and loyal to Dud) should tell you how unsavory he is.
231** Also to Helen when she became his teacher in "The Education of Ernest T. Bass", which Helen finds very annoying to the point of "graduating" him simply to get him away from her.
232
233[[/folder]]
234
235[[folder:Deputy Warren Ferguson]]
236!!'''Warren Ferguson (Jack Burns)'''
237
238* CharacterCatchphrase: Not catch ''phrase'', per se, but he did have a habit of asking "Huh?" after a long succession of questions.
239* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: He disappeared without a trace after eleven appearances in Season 6. In the 1986 TV movie ''Return to Mayberry'', it is mentioned that he became Sheriff of Mayberry after Andy left, and remained at that post until his death.
240* CluelessDeputy: Like Barney, but not to the same hilarious effect.
241* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For Barney.
242
243[[/folder]]
244
245[[folder:Howard Sprague]]
246!!'''Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson)'''
247The county clerk who officially debuts in Season 6's "The County Clerk" episode.
248
249* FifteenMinutesOfFame: He bowls a perfect 300 game at the bowling alley, only to be overlooked by his teammates who are more upset about Andy calling off the bet.
250* MamasBoy: He has a close relationship with his mother.
251* MyBelovedSmother: His domineering mother, who objects to Howard joining the local lodge for fear that he might become a gambler, when the "card games" that take place are just gin rummy and cribbage-type games instead of the "big games" such as poker and blackjack.
252

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