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| 2 | %% Admnistrivia/ZeroContextExample entries and poorly written examples have been removed. If you want to re-add an example or add a new provide contexts that fully explains how the character fits the trope. |
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| 13 | [[WMG:[[center:[-''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' '''[[Characters/TheBigBangTheory Main Character Index]]'''\ |
| 14 | [[Characters/TheBigBangTheoryTheCoreGroup The Core Group]] ([[Characters/TheBigBangTheorySheldonCooper Sheldon Cooper]], [[Characters/TheBigBangTheoryPenny Penny]]) | [[Characters/TheBigBangTheoryFamilyMembers Family Members]] | '''Secondary Characters''' | [[Characters/TheBigBangTheoryMinorCharacters Minor Characters]]-]]]]] |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Supporting Characters from ''Characters/TheBigBangTheory'' |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | !!Friends |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Stuart Bloom]] |
| 24 | !!Stuart Bloom |
| 25 | [[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Stuart_884.png]] |
| 26 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/KevinSussman |
| 27 | |
| 28 | ->''"Okay, if you are going to question the importance of [[Creator/RobertDowneyJr an actor's]] signature on a plastic helmet from [[Film/IronMan a movie]] based on [[ComicBook/IronMan a comic book]] then ''our lives'' have no meaning!"'' |
| 29 | |
| 30 | The owner of the comic book store [[LocalHangout the guys frequent]], he is one of the few geeky individuals on the show who is otherwise not a supergenius like the others. |
| 31 | ----- |
| 32 | * AgeGapRomance: [[spoiler: In real life, Sussman is fifteen years older than Lauren Lapkus who plays Denise. In a Season 5 episode, Stuart says that he is 37; Sussman was 41 at the time. Presumably Denise is the same age as her actress, meaning that there is a ten year age gap between Stuart and Denise]]. |
| 33 | * AmbiguouslyBi: In Season 6, Stuart has apparently been without a date for so long that after an awkward moment with Raj, who later asks him if he wants to hang out sometime, Stuart comments to himself that he ''could'' do worse. He also admits that Thor is "hot". |
| 34 | * AmicableExes: He and Penny briefly dated in Season 2 (and all their dates ended badly). They remain close friends. |
| 35 | * AscendedExtra: He has been hanging around the group since Season 2, showing up a couple of times a year but never really significant. Season 6 practically upgrades him to main cast, at the least supported by WordOfGod that he will have an expanded role. While he didn't stay in the main cast listings for long, unlike Leslie Winkle he still shows up more often than before and usually with a significant role involved. He was eventually put back in the main cast listings in Season 8, and has remained there since. |
| 36 | * ButtMonkey: A very overplayed gag, where every second sentence is him stating how [[TheEeyore depressing]] and unfortunate his life is. His idea of being "cocky" is to claim that he's "unobjectionable." He can be stood up by a stray cat. |
| 37 | * CharacterizationMarchesOn: In earlier episodes, he was was able to successfully flirt with and ask Penny out, and in his first appearance even ''Sheldon'' thought Stuart was cooler than Leonard ("Stuart is taller, artistic, self-employed and, most significantly, he gets 45 percent off comic books"). Over time he becomes a StrawLoser who is even more pathetic and helpless than the main guys, to point he lives in the store due to financial problems and his poverty and depression becoming a RunningGag. At least some of this could be described as a falling out over how his relationship with Penny ended and a series of soul-crushing problems that killed his self-esteem. His social skills fluctuate depending on the episode, [[OvershadowedByAwesome among the main characters]] he's fairly pathetic but in the real world he's slightly better. |
| 38 | * TheChewToy: His life is essentially one misfortune after another. |
| 39 | * {{Determinator}}: Despite how he was losing money and couldn't make a living off his comic book store, he did genuinely love his store enough to the point he didn't sell the property for a profit. His patience did pay off eventually when the store boomed in business because of increased publicity. |
| 40 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: While still a ButtMonkey, his life has gradually improved by the end of the series. His store starts earning more money, and he gets a girlfriend with similar nerdy interests. |
| 41 | * TheEeyore: Often comments on how pathetic his life is. |
| 42 | * {{Expy}}: From a narrative standpoint Stuart has many similarities with Gunther from ''Series/{{Friends}}'', being someone who the main characters interact with often but is usually stuck simply watching the group's lives from the outside. The difference is that after Howard went into space there was an opening that allowed Stuart a chance to befriend Raj and the others which stuck even after Howard returned, and while he never becomes an official part of the group he does become a dear friend and in many ways a member of the Wolowitz family, while Gunther never truly became more than a friendly acquaintance. |
| 43 | * {{Flanderization}}: He was originally just a very normal guy who successfully asked Penny out. It was a key plot point that in terms of being a decent, normal guy he was virtually identical to Leonard. While he remained a friendly guy he later gained some neurotic ticks, low self-esteem and has a lot more trouble talking to women than before. From a writing standpoint, the original characterization doesn't stand apart from Leonard. In the show itself it's implied he hit a string of bad relationships (including getting crushed by Penny) in addition to financial problems ''and'' health issues. The season nine episode "The Perspiration Implementation" has him admit that as he goes on longer without a relationship (and can't hold on to pets [[BlackComedy due to them committing suicide]]), makes him become more desperate. |
| 44 | * TheGenericGuy: A possible reason why he never gets to become a potential eighth main character. In comparison to the eccentric geniuses that are the main four, Stuart is a relatively unassuming and normal guy who just wants to run a semi-successful business. His main trait is being unlucky and destitute, and he doesn't behave abnormally or chaotic. |
| 45 | * GrewASpine: In "The Fetal Kick Catalyst," perennial doormat Stuart finally tells Sheldon that he's tired of being treated like a second-class friend. A hilarious (and very drunken) exchange of compliments follows. |
| 46 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: Interesting in that one of the goals of Season 6 was to have him develop this relationship with Raj, after Howard getting married he could no longer be Raj's "wingman." They are almost never seen separate from each other and there is plenty of HomoeroticSubtext going around. |
| 47 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 48 | ** He is a pretty talented artist. |
| 49 | ** Season 2's episode "The Hofstader Isotope" has him come out on top in a discussion with Sheldon over logistics: |
| 50 | --->'''Sheldon:''' "Wrong is an absolute state and not subject to gradiation." |
| 51 | --->'''Stuart:''' "Of course it is; it's a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable, it's very wrong to say it's a suspension bridge." |
| 52 | ** More than once, he shows the ability to manipulate Sheldon into paying quite a lot of money for memorabilia (In "The Russian Rocket Reaction," he would've had Sheldon wrapped around his little finger if not for Leonard being savvier). |
| 53 | * IronicName: "Bloom" is not the surname you'd expect from a perpetually unlucky and depressed guy. |
| 54 | * MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Given the treatment he gets in later series, the trope might as well be called "My friends... and Stuart". |
| 55 | * NiceGuy: Despite his oddities, Stuart is a very friendly guy and is always willing to help someone out, be it with selecting a comic book or needing a little bit of an emotional boost. He also feeds stray cats, which is quite heartwarming when you consider his financial situation. |
| 56 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: He actually went to the Rhode Island School of Design, a fairly prestigious school and he thus has some genuine skills in art (the average of students accepted into RSID is a B+). But he hangs around Sheldon, who dismisses it as equally ridiculous as Howard's Masters degree from MIT. |
| 57 | * PerpetualPoverty: How little profit the comic book store makes has become Stuart's RunningGag. Among other things, he's mentioned having to sleep in the store, going without meat, and having to shower at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. It's also been stated that online retailers such as Amazon are killing Stuart's business, as even Leonard prefers buying collector figurines from Amazon instead of Stuart's store. |
| 58 | * PromotionToOpeningTitles: Not so much "opening titles" as "list of names", but Kevin Sussman, who plays Stuart, is given this treatment over the series' run, as detailed below under... |
| 59 | * RecurringCharacter: Stuart is of the most frequent across Seasons 2-5. For Season 6, he was promoted to series regular, only to be "demoted" back to a frequently recurring character for Season 7. He would then finally end up re-promoted to series regular for Season 8, and has stayed as part of the main cast since -- more often than not in any given episode. |
| 60 | * ReplacementGoldfish: Raj basically befriends him to fill the void left by Howard being in space. See SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. |
| 61 | * RomanticFalseLead: Dates Penny and Amy for one episode each, both of which force Leonard and Sheldon to reconsider their relationship with those girls. |
| 62 | * ShipperOnDeck: In "The Mother Observation", he admits to shipping Leonard and Penny, saying that each has made the other a better person, and calling them "the best couple I know." (To which Amy and Bernadette react indignantly.) |
| 63 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Serves to fill Howard's spot while he's in space. Sheldon even ''calls'' him, "Fake Wolowitz" at one point. |
| 64 | * StarvingArtist: Stuart is a graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and is a talented illustrator, considering the quite stunning sketch of Penny he did back in season one. However, he does not make any money from his artwork, the comic book store being his primary source of income (even if the store is losing money rather than gaining it). |
| 65 | * ThrowTheDogABone: |
| 66 | ** Kind of a meta-example, ever since Season 3 most of his humor comes from his low self-esteem, poverty, neurosis, medical issues, and even feeling a little lonely despite seeing him with anonymous, nameless friends. While most of that is still his main comedic thrust, as he has become a more prominent character in Season 6, this results in the audience seeing him as having a tight group of friends (the main characters) that invite him to activities and treat him well, Sheldon's {{Jerkass}} nature notwithstanding. |
| 67 | ** At the end of Season 7, after his comic shop is burned down, Howard offers him a job at taking care of his mother. To everyone's surprise, Stuart likes it. He also manages to get his comic shop reopened during Season 8, due to the combination of the money he saved up from his caretaker job and furniture donated by Howard's mother. |
| 68 | ** Near the end of Season 11, after ''Creator/NeilGaiman'' drops by his store and tweets about it, more people visit his store, resulting in his business revenue picking up so much that he feels financially secure enough to hire an assistant. His expressions also become more cheerful and upbeat, something the guys notice fairly quickly. |
| 69 | ** As it turns out, his assistant is just as nerdy as he is, and considers his knowledge of ''Star Wars'' trivia to be a GeekyTurnOn, and they end up dating and eventually moving in together. |
| 70 | ** In Season 12, Stuart illustrates Bernadette's recounting of Howard's travel to space and the story gets picked up for publication as a children's book titled "The Frightened Little Astronaut" opening up the possibility that his artistic career may finally be taking off. |
| 71 | * UnluckyEverydude: Compared to the other characters, Stuart seems to have ''very'' bad luck. As noted above, his financial situation is almost always precarious at best and the burning down of his beloved comic book store nearly breaks the poor guy. It isn't until he starts caring for Mrs. Wolowitz, a fairly well-paying job Stuart actually enjoys, that his luck finally appears to be turning around. |
| 72 | * WhenSheSmiles: Seeing him genuinely cheerful is absolutely lovely (Howard and Raj think it's weird, though). |
| 73 | * WithFriendsLikeThese: Stuart laments that the scientists would rather buy from Amazon than from him. |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Zack Johnson]] |
| 77 | !!Zack Johnson |
| 78 | [[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Zack-Johnson_2685.png]] |
| 79 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BrianSmith |
| 80 | |
| 81 | ->''"I was watching the Creator/DiscoveryChannel and they said if you cut a Starfish in half it will just come back to life."'' |
| 82 | |
| 83 | A brief boyfriend of Penny's who becomes friends with the guys. Hopelessly stupid, thinking that bouncing a laser off the moon would be a danger ''to the moon'', he is otherwise a decent guy. |
| 84 | ----- |
| 85 | * AmicableExes: He has no ill will towards Penny, and is still friendly towards her and Leonard. |
| 86 | * AscendedExtra: He had a minor role in the third season finale as Penny's first boyfriend after breaking up with Leonard, mostly a RomanticFalseLead to instigate awkwardness between her and Leonard. His enthusiasm, coupled with his KindheartedSimpleton personality, endeared him to fans and brought him back for several episodes, as he became friends with the guys beyond just dating Penny. |
| 87 | * BrainlessBeauty: Male version, he's outright described as being very handsome by everyone, and is as thick as two short planks. |
| 88 | * CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his first episode, he was kind of an obnoxious jerk and an idiot, although offset by his genuine interest in the guys' laser experiment. In later appearances, he's a total sweetie... [[KindheartedSimpleton and an idiot]]. |
| 89 | * ChickMagnet: Played with. Besides Penny, even Amy was attracted to him in one episode and Bernadette described him as "sweet, tall, and handsome" but his stupidity is too much of a turnoff for them to actually date him, even for Penny. |
| 90 | * CommonalityConnection: Raj bonds with him after realizing that Zack is a comic book aficionado (''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', but still). |
| 91 | * DumbassHasAPoint: |
| 92 | ** Asks Leonard and Howard if they should be worried about the military applications of their project. They were, but had brushed aside the complaints until he reminded them. |
| 93 | ** When Penny and Zack got married while under the influence in Las Vegas, with the former thinking it was all made-up, Penny called him over during Howard's Thanksgiving dinner to make it null and void, to which he remarks that it's going to be bad for the kids. Penny denies the claim, yet Zack points out that she didn't even know they were married until that morning. Even Leonard didn't rebut and looked at her. |
| 94 | * DumbIsGood: Incredibly dense, but is very open and friendly with the guys. |
| 95 | * EvenTheGuysWantHim: Both Raj and Leonard commented on how good looking he is. |
| 96 | * {{Foil}}: |
| 97 | ** He's sometimes compared to Leonard, as Penny's love interests that are opposites. Zack is a dimwitted but confident and TallDarkAndHandsome guy, while Leonard is smart, short, and awkward. |
| 98 | ** Aside from being Leonard's opposite (dumb, tall, and muscular), their interaction is also somewhat ironic, as Zack loves Leonard while Leonard hates Zack. |
| 99 | ** He's sort of a GoodCounterpart to Kurt, Penny's ex-boyfriend. Both are tall and muscular but not very bright jock-boyfriends, but Kurt is an aggressive bully and a jerk to Leonard while Zack is a friendly NiceGuy who genuinely likes Leonard and his friends. |
| 100 | * GentleGiant: He's tall and kindhearted. |
| 101 | * HiddenDepths: While he is hopelessly unable to grasp the actual science, he still shows an interest in what the guys are doing and apparently watches the Creator/DiscoveryChannel from time to time. He is also very knowledgeable about the designing and creation of restaurant menus. |
| 102 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: Due to being so stupid, he often says things that unintentionally irritate or offend other people. Of course, being so kind, he doesn't mean it to be malicious. |
| 103 | * KindheartedSimpleton: Simple-minded in nearly every regard, Zack is arguably the nicest person in the series and never once acts malicious or rude towards Penny or the guys. Even ''Sheldon'' starts to restrain himself when Zack makes dense comments, simply because the guy is just too nice and friendly to be mean or blatantly condescending to. |
| 104 | * LiteralMinded: When having gotten in a fight, he knocks on her door... |
| 105 | -->'''Zack:''' Come on babe, open up.\ |
| 106 | '''Penny:''' I'm not talking to you!\ |
| 107 | '''Zack:''' ''[genuinely confused]'' [[LogicBomb Then who are you talking to?]]…babe? |
| 108 | * NiceGuy: Got upset when he realized the others were mocking him, but [[EasilyForgiven quickly forgave them]] when [[TastesLikeFriendship offered some Milk Duds]]. It's one of the main reasons the guys don't mind having Zack around, and he's incredibly earnest when it comes to their similar nerdy interests. |
| 109 | * NoSparks: While Penny thinks Zack is hot, she doesn't really click with him, despite him being an incredibly nice guy. This is mostly due to the fact that he's a moron. |
| 110 | * OddFriendship: |
| 111 | ** While the guys initially made fun of his stupidity, they quickly ended up befriending him due to their love of comic books. They continued to hang out even ''after'' Penny had broken up with him. |
| 112 | ** With Kripke, of all people. Zack is dumb and friendly while Kripke is smart and dickish. They get along surprisingly well. |
| 113 | * PairTheDumbOnes: When Zack returns in Season 12, he's married to a woman who is just as much an airhead as him. |
| 114 | * RomanticFalseLead: A rather triumphant example, as he slowly bonded with the rest of the main characters despite largely being there to provoke some awkwardness between Leonard and Penny. He avoids the traps of being either too obnoxious (wondering why Penny is bothering with him) or being too decent of a guy (making him seem too appealing) by making it so that he and Penny did not have a whole lot of chemistry, so the focus was on the awkwardness and not worrying about hurting his feelings. Unlike many other examples of this trope, he still shows up in later seasons as a recurring character and friend of the group. |
| 115 | * SarcasmBlind: To the point that Sheldon seems like an expert. |
| 116 | * ShipperOnDeck: He has admitted several times that he actually liked Leonard and Penny together, despite [[RomanticFalseLead the fact he is the other guy]]. It goes back to just how nice and genuine he is. |
| 117 | * TallDarkAndHandsome: He's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, played by the tall, dark-haired Brian Smith and considered very good-looking in-universe. |
| 118 | * WastedBeauty: Penny finds him incredibly attractive and very kindhearted, but unfortunately his brainlessness is way too much of a turn-off for her to actually develop a genuine romantic interest in him. Tellingly, the woman he ends up with by the end of the series is somebody who's both good-looking and really stupid like him. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | !!Love Interests |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Stephanie Barnette]] |
| 124 | !!Stephanie Barnette |
| 125 | [[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b344489474c426cc930558faf0746668.jpg]] |
| 126 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SaraRue |
| 127 | |
| 128 | A witty, sweet doctor (surgical resident) Howard managed to pick up at a bar in Season 2 by saying she could drive the Mars Land Rover when his eyepatch tactic failed. She ends up dating Leonard instead almost immediately afterwards and the two seem to have a really stable relationship (even Sheldon likes her).[[WhatHappenedToTheMouse She disappears from the series after only three episodes with no resolution.]] |
| 129 | ----- |
| 130 | * BigBeautifulWoman: Slight example, compared to Penny, Priya, and the other women Leonard has dated, she's a bit shorter and stouter, but both Leonard and Howard found her attractive. |
| 131 | * {{Deconstruction}}: The few episodes she's in are one to most relationship tropes. She doesn't break up with Leonard over a reasonable issue he was having with her moving in, for example. |
| 132 | * DeadpanSnarker: Very witty, when Sheldon insists there is something wrong with himself medically, and she cannot find anything, she gives him a schoolyard cootie shot before moving on to get to work. |
| 133 | * HiddenDepths: Through her dialog, she reveals she has some low self-esteem issues because of previous break-ups, similar to Leonard. |
| 134 | * ManipulativeBitch: Subverted, When Leonard tries to bring up her moving out and taking their relationship slower, she begins to start crying, which makes him veer off the subject and have sex with her. It looks like she's just manipulating him into complacency at a glance, ''especially'' when it stated to have been happening repeatedly. But then he texts her what he thinks should happen for their relationship to stay healthy, and she continues to date him. |
| 135 | * NiceGirl: She's pretty understanding and knows how to handle Sheldon, which is no mean feat; and is more [[StraightMan understanding and reasonable]] when it comes to NotWhatItLooksLike situations (Penny walking into the apartment looking for coffee and in her underpants) as well as critiques to the relationship she's in (like taking things more slowly). |
| 136 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She leaves just as quickly as she came in, with the next episode returning Leonard pining for Penny and being ignored for David Underhill. |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Lucy]] |
| 140 | !!Lucy |
| 141 | [[quoteright:196:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images76_4705.jpg]] |
| 142 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/KateMicucci |
| 143 | |
| 144 | A timid girl Raj met at a [[{{Irony}} "Lonely Hearts"]] valentine's party. She is painfully awkward and shy but tries to get through her neurosis by going outside her comfort zone. |
| 145 | ---- |
| 146 | * BrokenBird: After some prodding she confessed she was broken and simply not comfortable around people. |
| 147 | * TheBusCameBack: In a season 10 episode ("The Emotion Detection Automation") where Raj has a reunion with all his ex-girlfriends. |
| 148 | * EndearinglyDorky: In a way only Kate Micucci can pull off. She's extremely shy and awkward, but Raj genuinely likes her looks and personality. They spend one date night just texting while sitting in a library, and both love it. |
| 149 | * KickTheDog: One of the first things she does is bail out of her first coffee date with Raj, which sends him into depression. [[TheAtoner She later tracks him down to apologize]] and explains that she has trouble talking with people. In the Season 6 finale, [[spoiler:she breaks up with him via a text message.]] |
| 150 | * NoSocialSkills: Due to having anxiety, she's really shy and apprehensive around people. |
| 151 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: |
| 152 | ** She receives a brutal one from Penny, who calls out her habit of bailing too quickly [[spoiler:in her relationship with Raj.]] Penny even flat-out calls her "a bad person." |
| 153 | ** She gives one to Raj, along with other from his other exes, about how she resented him for pushing her to socialize when she already made it clear it made her uncomfortable. |
| 154 | * ShrinkingViolet: To the point where it destroys her relationship with Raj. Her anxiety is so terrible that she literally can't handle being around more than one person at a time and panics ''every'' time Raj attempts something outside of her comfort zone. |
| 155 | * WhamEpisode: The Season 6 finale, when [[spoiler:she breaks up with Raj, shocking him so badly it cures his selective mutism.]] |
| 156 | [[/folder]] |
| 157 | |
| 158 | [[folder:Emily Sweeney]] |
| 159 | !!Emily Sweeney |
| 160 | [[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_721.png]] |
| 161 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/LauraSpencer |
| 162 | |
| 163 | Raj's longest lasting love interest, in Season 7, 8, and 9. |
| 164 | ---- |
| 165 | * BettyAndVeronica: In season 9 she becomes the Betty in a LoveTriangle with Raj and his new potential girlfriend, Claire. |
| 166 | * TheBusCameBack: In a season 10 episode ("The Emotion Detection Automation") where Raj has a reunion with all his ex-girlfriends. |
| 167 | * CuteButPsycho: She's very lovely, but has a rather disturbing side as well. She once remarked she became a dermatologist because it's a line of work where she's allowed to cut people. It could have been a morbid sense of humour, but it's a bit scary. She has a tattoo of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas on her shoulder blade because she likes the fact she's covered in scars and can pull her own limbs off and sew them back on. |
| 168 | * ForgottenFirstMeeting: She and Howard first met on a blind date. Apparently, Howard had a stomach problem that ended in her toilet being clogged, and him sneaking out the bathroom window in embarrassment. Thus, he was nicknamed "[[EmbarrassingNickname Clogzilla]]". |
| 169 | * FreakyIsCool: She likes watching horror movies because watching people get cut up turns her on. It's also the reason why she's a dermatologist, as that's the only job which she can legally cut people up. |
| 170 | * HospitalHottie: She's a Dermatologist and very attractive, though we mostly see her outside of the workforce so her primped appearance is justified. |
| 171 | * IvyLeagueForEveryone: She went to Harvard. |
| 172 | * LoveInterest: She contacted Raj over online dating site and he immediately developed a crush on her. |
| 173 | * MeaningfulName: Let's see. She likes to cut people up, and her name is [[Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet Sweeney]]. |
| 174 | * NiceGirl: She appears to be a nice lady, acting very friendly and accepting towards Raj and the others. |
| 175 | * NightmareFetishist: Has confessed that gory movies turn her on. |
| 176 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: |
| 177 | ** Is the tomboy to Bernadette's girly girl in one episode. Emily has a morbid sense of humour. In fact that she became a dermatologist because it's a line of work where she's allowed to cut people. Needless to say, Bernadette was a little creeped out when Emily shared this with her. |
| 178 | ** On the flip side, Emily is the girly girl to Penny's tomboy. In one episode after she and Raj break up, Raj receives a call from Emily while the other three girls listen. Emily drops Raj some sad and heart-breaking if mushy lines in the phone call. While her words reach the hearts of Bernadette and Amy, Penny is visibly disgusted by her sappy lines, and finds it too mushy and cheesy for her liking. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder:Claire]] |
| 182 | !!Claire |
| 183 | [[quoteright:327:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tt66.png]] |
| 184 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/AlessandraTorresani |
| 185 | |
| 186 | Another potential love interest for Raj, introduced in season 9. |
| 187 | ---- |
| 188 | * TheBartender: She works as a bartender, but she's also a screenwriter. |
| 189 | * BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica to Emily's Betty for Raj's Archie. |
| 190 | * TheBusCameBack: In a season 10 episode ("The Emotion Detection Automation") where Raj has a reunion with all his ex-girlfriends. |
| 191 | * CelebrityParadox: Alessandra Torresani previously starred in Series/{{Caprica}}, which the show established the gang as being fans of. |
| 192 | * EveryoneLovesBlondes: Raj is immediately attracted to her. He even describes her as "the strong, sexy angel I can’t stop thinking about". Also Zack's reaction the first time he meets her is "You’re hot. You seeing anybody?" |
| 193 | * TakeThat: She thinks ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' sucks and gets more credit than it deserves. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Emily]] |
| 197 | !!Emily |
| 198 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/KatieLeclerc |
| 199 | |
| 200 | A deaf girl who dates Raj in season 5, but only for his money. When he tells her that he has to stop buying her expensive stuff, she breaks up with him. |
| 201 | ---- |
| 202 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: She first appears to be a nice girlfriend before Raj's friends make him realize that she's a GoldDigger who is taking advantage of him. |
| 203 | * TheBusCameBack: In a season 10 episode ("The Emotion Detection Automation") where Raj has a reunion with all his ex-girlfriends. |
| 204 | * CuteMute: She is a deaf and mute girl who is also very pretty. On the outside, anyway. |
| 205 | * GoldDigger: She proves to be this when Raj buys her stuff and she knows he has a lot of money. |
| 206 | * TwoferTokenMinority: A deaf and mute woman. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | [[folder:Dave]] |
| 210 | !!David Gibbs |
| 211 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/StephenMerchant |
| 212 | |
| 213 | The British man Amy had three dates with in season nine after she broke up with Sheldon. He's a math teacher but dreams of being a theoretical physicist. |
| 214 | ---- |
| 215 | * ConnectedAllAlong: During his second date, discovers that Amy and his favourite scientist Sheldon dated once, and that she and Leonard know each other. |
| 216 | * EmasculatedCuckold: He's insecure about his ex-wife cheating on him with a French pastry chef (even after he divorced her); it keeps coming up as a RunningGag. In his last scene on the show, he also claims that Sheldon kissing Amy was "a great evening". |
| 217 | * ExtremeDoormat: Gives us the idea that his wife dumped him because of this, and this also shows in his third date, after Sheldon shows up (granted, Dave's a fan of him, but...). |
| 218 | * {{Fanboy}}: Sadly for poor Amy, of Sheldon and his job. |
| 219 | -->'''Dave:''' So, you've never been married? |
| 220 | -->'''Amy:''' No. To be completely honest, I've only been in one long-term relationship. |
| 221 | -->'''Dave:''' What happened with that? |
| 222 | -->'''Amy:''' That's a good question. ''(Gives a strong gulp in her wine glass.)'' After five years, I was just feeling it was more work than should be. |
| 223 | -->'''Dave:''' That's too had. Was he a neurobiologist like you? |
| 224 | -->'''Amy:''' No, he's a theoretical physicist at Caltech. ''(Amy looks down, while Dave looks sideways.)'' |
| 225 | -->'''Dave:''' I love teaching math, but that would be my dream job. What's his focus? |
| 226 | -->'''Amy:''' It used to be string theory, now it's dark matter. But let's not discuss Sheldon, let's get back to you. |
| 227 | -->'''Dave:''' ''(Surprised.)'' Wait, you're not talking about Dr. Sheldon Cooper? |
| 228 | -->'''Amy:''' ''(Disappointed.)'' I'm trying not to. Do you know him? |
| 229 | -->'''Dave:''' No, but I followed his work for years. He's a rock star! You've got to tell me about him. ''(Criss-crosses fingers, puts his hands below his chin, bends forward towards Amy and looks happily in anticipation.)'' What's he like? |
| 230 | ** And people who do things with Sheldon, such as Leonard, who once gave a lecture at Stanford with him that Dave went to see. |
| 231 | -->'''Leonard:''' ''(Fresh from the toilet, looking at Bernie's and Dave's cars after they crashed.)'' What happened? |
| 232 | -->'''Dave:''' ''(Looking surprised at Leonard.)'' OMG! ''(Pointing at him.)'' Aren't you Leonard Hofstadter? |
| 233 | -->'''Leonard:''' ''(Surprised.)'' Yeah... |
| 234 | -->'''Dave:''' I saw you speak in Stanford with Sheldon Cooper. ''(Leonard nods with mouth open, while Dave points at him, looking to Amy.)'' Amy, can you believe it? It's Dr. Leonard Hofstadter! |
| 235 | -->'''Amy:''' ''(Sarcastically.)'' No, pinch me... |
| 236 | -->'''Dave:''' It's an absolute pleasure to meet you. May I shake your hand? |
| 237 | -->'''Leonard:''' If don't know if you wanna do that. I was just... OK, never mind. ''(Bernie looks, disgusted.)'' |
| 238 | -->'''Dave:''' ''(Looking to Amy while still shaking hands with Leonard.)'' Amy, I'm never washing this hand again. |
| 239 | -->'''Leonard:''' ''(Sarcastically.)'' You really should... |
| 240 | * GentleGiant: By far the tallest character in the series, rivaled only by Bernadette's ex Glenn, and also a pretty affable guy, if a bit weird. |
| 241 | %%* IAmVeryBritish |
| 242 | * TheMatchmaker: Ends up pushing Sheldon and Amy together again... at his third date with her. |
| 243 | -->'''Dave:''' Kiss her, you brilliant fool! |
| 244 | * NiceGuy: Is actually very kind and friendly, and is genuinely ''thrilled'' when Amy and Sheldon get back together. |
| 245 | * NoSocialSkills: On his dates with Amy, talks a lot either about Sheldon or his ex-wife having cheated on him. |
| 246 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Left England because it reminded him too much of his ex. |
| 247 | -->'''Dave:''' That's why I left England, it reminded me too much of her. Cold, gloomy and [[IncrediblyLamePun easily accessed by a Frenchman through a tunnel]]. |
| 248 | * ShipperOnDeck: For Sheldon and Amy. Even when he was dating her. |
| 249 | [[/folder]] |
| 250 | |
| 251 | [[folder:Denise]] |
| 252 | !!Denise |
| 253 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/LaurenLapkus |
| 254 | |
| 255 | The new employee at Stuart's comic book store. Introduced in Season 11. |
| 256 | ---- |
| 257 | * AgeGapRomance: [[spoiler: In real life Lapkus is fifteen years younger than Kevin Sussman who plays Stuart, and in Season 5 he says that he is 37 when Sussman was 41. Presumably Denise is the same age as her actress meaning that there is a ten year age gap between Stuard and Denise]]. |
| 258 | * DistaffCounterpart: To Stuart. Her knowledge of comics is on par with his. |
| 259 | * GeekyTurnOn: She was quite awed with Stuart's knowledge of Star Wars lore, even calling him sexy for it. [[spoiler:The two begin dating in Season 12.]] |
| 260 | * ProudToBeAGeek: She understands geek pop culture possibly more than any character on the show, and handles it with the same finesse as the other characters do about science and math. |
| 261 | * SherlockScan: Was able to deduce Sheldon's preferences just from seeing his T-shirt, and recommended a lesser-known comic based on that. Sheldon is suitably impressed, and they spent hours talking about comic books. |
| 262 | * StatuesqueStunner: Visibly taller than Stuart and most of the main cast sans Sheldon. She's played by the 5'10"/180cm Lauren Lapkus. |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | [[folder:Anu]] |
| 266 | !!Anu |
| 267 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/RatiGupta |
| 268 | |
| 269 | Introduced in Season 12, Anu is Raj's fiancee due to an ArrangedMarriage set up by Raj's father. |
| 270 | ---- |
| 271 | * FourthDateMarriage: She and Raj get engaged on the second date, and the wedding planning doubles as their courtship. Justified, as it's an ArrangedMarriage, and they both understood the purpose of the date was to see if they could work as spouses. |
| 272 | * GrandRomanticGesture: Downplayed. She views marriage mostly as a practical arrangement, and love as nothing more than a series of chemical reactions. Raj, being a hopeless romantic, is put off by this, and almost calls off the engagement altogether because he doesn't want the story he tells their kids to be so clinical. Anu responds by getting down on one knee and publicly asking for his hand, showing she's willing to meet him in the middle. |
| 273 | * MarriageOfConvenience: She wants to get married mostly for practical reasons, though she does genuinely like Raj. |
| 274 | * MarriedToTheJob: She moves to London for her dream job when she's offered it at the conference she attends in London. |
| 275 | * PutOnABus: While it's never explicitly confirmed, Raj's deciding against going to London to be with her apparently ends their relationship, as she isn't seen or mentioned in the final two episodes, and the dialogue in said episodes indicates that Raj is single again. |
| 276 | * SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She wants to marry Raj because he's a nice, affectionate guy who wants to settle down and have kids. Even if she isn't madly in love with him, she figures he'll be a good husband. |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
| 278 | |
| 279 | !!Cal Tech Co-Workers |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Leslie Winkle]] |
| 282 | !!Leslie Winkle |
| 283 | [[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leslie_4234.jpg]] |
| 284 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SaraGilbert |
| 285 | |
| 286 | ->''"You put electrodes in a rat's brain and give him an orgasm button he will press that thing until he starves to death."'' |
| 287 | |
| 288 | A fellow physicist at the university, she has brief romantic relationships with Leonard and Howard, and an intellect and attitude to rival Sheldon. She never passes up a chance to insult him. |
| 289 | ---- |
| 290 | * AscendedExtra: Began to become a more prominent character and was even briefly promoted to main credits, but faded away again when her character proved uninteresting outside of her rivalry with Sheldon. She's eventually PutOnABus after season 2. |
| 291 | * BerserkButton: She will do anything to show up Sheldon if he's mentioned. |
| 292 | * BrainyBrunette: Leslie is the first major female example of this until Amy and Alex come along in later seasons. |
| 293 | * TheBusCameBack: Reappears for Sheldon's birthday in "The Celebration Experimentation". |
| 294 | * CatchPhrase: "Dumbass..." |
| 295 | %% * TheComicallySerious |
| 296 | * DeadpanSnarker: Most of her lines consist of her snarking at Sheldon. |
| 297 | * {{Jerkass}}: Generally has an unpleasant attitude, especially when she is around Sheldon. |
| 298 | * PutOnABus: Her appearances decrease rapidly once Amy and Bernadette join the cast as regulars. When Leonard turns up at her apartment in Season 3 he mentions that they hadn't spoken in a while, possibly [[JustifiedTrope justifying]] her absence, as it implies that she might have left the university for a new job (since they were lab-mates in the first couple of seasons and would have seen each other at work even if they didn't socialise any more). |
| 299 | * ReallyGetsAround: Leonard describes her as "using sex as a stress release" and she at one point mentions "waking up on a futon with a bunch of guys I don't know". |
| 300 | * ShipTease: |
| 301 | ** She and Leonard have hooked up twice, though the first time was purely for the sex, and there have been other hints when they're separated. |
| 302 | ** Later she dated Howard for a while, making her the fifth woman to sleep with Howard without being paid. |
| 303 | * SitcomArchnemesis: She strongly dislikes Sheldon and considers him an "arrogant, misogynistic East-Texas doorknob". When she insulted his intelligence, he came to hate her, considering her his "archenemy". |
| 304 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: While her stint was short-lived, her relationship with Howard played a huge role in him wanting a serious relationship with a woman outside of sex. |
| 305 | * TheSmartGirl: While most of the characters on the show are very brilliant, Leslie is possibly the only one (along with Amy) who can be considered Sheldon's intellectual equal. |
| 306 | * TheStoic: She keeps a very straight face most of the time when she isn't being seductive or trying to humiliate someone. |
| 307 | * TookALevelInKindness: By the ninth season she is shown to have matured so that she does not feel a need to insult Sheldon. |
| 308 | * WorthyOpponent: She's as intelligent as Sheldon and their mutual dislike for one another matches them very well in some competitive situations. |
| 309 | [[/folder]] |
| 310 | |
| 311 | [[folder:Eric Gablehauser]] |
| 312 | !!Eric Gablehauser |
| 313 | [[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_bang_therory_gablehouser_3.jpg]] |
| 314 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/MarkHarelik |
| 315 | |
| 316 | The Physics Chairman at Caltech and Leonard, Leslie, Sheldon and Raj's boss. |
| 317 | ---- |
| 318 | * {{Greed}}: States that the main purpose of the university is to make money. He has no qualms over allowing a 15-year old boy (Dennis Kim) take up graduate work and a paying job at the university, because to him Dennis is a goldmine. |
| 319 | * JerkassToOne: He's very condescending and sarcastic towards [[MeanBoss towards Howard]] for not having a Ph.D. |
| 320 | * PutOnABus: He disappears from Season 2 and doesn't return, with President Siebert largely taking up his role in latter seasons. |
| 321 | [[/folder]] |
| 322 | |
| 323 | [[folder:President Siebert]] |
| 324 | !!President Siebert |
| 325 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/JoshuaMalina |
| 326 | |
| 327 | The president of Caltech. |
| 328 | ---- |
| 329 | * DeadpanSnarker: Mostly around Sheldon, even once suggesting that he go vacation in Afghanistan. |
| 330 | * LastNameBasis: His first name is never revealed. |
| 331 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite his frustrations with Sheldon and, on occasion, the others, he typically extends to them the professional courtesy of listening to their complaints and suggestions. For example, in one episode, he fully hears Sheldon out on an exorbitant funding request for new experimental equipment, and only turns him down when Sheldon finishes his presentation in a particularly obnoxious manner. |
| 332 | [[/folder]] |
| 333 | |
| 334 | [[folder:Barry Kripke]] |
| 335 | !!Barry Kripke |
| 336 | [[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Barry_Kripke_6708.jpg]] |
| 337 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/JohnRossBowie |
| 338 | |
| 339 | ->''"We'we '''all''' pathetic and cweepy and can't get girls. That's why we battle wobots."'' |
| 340 | |
| 341 | Another rival at the university, he and Sheldon do not get along well at all. Kripke is defined by a speech impediment in being unable to pronounce R's, substituting the sound of a W, making him unable to say his own name properly. |
| 342 | ---- |
| 343 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: If he's featured in an episode, by the time it ends, he'll have faced at least one of the guys and come out the winner. Most prominent when they face him in a ''Series/BattleBots'' fight, as their robot did well destroying a toaster oven while Kripke's robot "Had angry sex with a Camry!" It could be argued that Barry is the "smartest" character in the series, being the academic equal of Sheldon and a capable engineer (demonstrated with the robot battle); in a sixth season episode, when both have similar proposals for a reactor, Sheldon admitted without any pressure that the Kripke's work was a lot better. |
| 344 | * AthleticallyChallenged: In "The Rothman Disintegration", he and Sheldon compete over a newly vacated office with a one-on-one game of basketball, on the reasoning that both being equally bad at sports gave them an even playing field. 45 minutes in, neither of them has sunk a single basket. They move on to a free throw contest, but that too is a bust. Sheldon finally wins when they resort to seeing who can bounce the ball highest. ("Who's 'unsatisfactory in PE' now?") |
| 345 | ** Subverted in another episode, in which we learn he is a skilled fencer and rock-climber. He also is shown to be a regular at the university's gym. |
| 346 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Has something of a fratboy personality and often crude and obnoxious but is every bit a genius as the rest of the cast. When competing for tenure he also turns up the charm and is apparently great with kids (he doesn't know why, but he makes them "waugh and waugh and waugh!"). |
| 347 | * CasanovaWannabe: He tries hitting on Penny in the most obnoxious way, prompting Howard to quip "I'm looking pretty good right now, aren't I?." He also makes advances towards Amy and Leonard's mom, only to be met with revulsion. |
| 348 | * ElmuhFuddSyndwome: He doesn't pwonounce his R's w-ight. And just look at his name. He has problems with L-s, too. |
| 349 | * EveryoneHasStandards: While Kripke isn't the world's nicest guy, even he is disgusted by Pemberton's thesis plagiarism in "[[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS12E21ThePlagiarismSchism The Plagiarism Schism]]". |
| 350 | * FriendlyEnemy: DependingOnTheWriter he is on decent terms with the group as a whole but often ends up as the villain of an episode. Played with when Sheldon believed he held power over the use of the University's supercomputer, thus spent time developing a Friendship Algorithm to become friends with him. He is also an invited guest at Amy and Sheldon's wedding. |
| 351 | * TheGamblingAddict: Implied, given he willingly went to Sheldon's party only because there's going to be a raffle. |
| 352 | * {{Jerkass}}: Not always (see TookALevelInJerkass), but he certainly qualifies at times and when he does he becomes the most despicable person in the whole show. He regularly goes out of his way to act as obnoxious as possible towards others including rubbing his success and their failures in their face. He never misses a chance to mock, insult or humiliate Sheldon. He's also very perverted and misogynist, to the point he makes pre-CharacterDevelopment Howard look like a perfect gentleman. He's even able to sometimes surpass Sheldon in this regard. |
| 353 | * LastNameBasis: Nearly always referred to by his last name. |
| 354 | * NerdyBully: In addition to being incredibly nerdy, he also checks off most typical high school bully tropes: he's crude, obnoxious, and routinely pranks the guys and foils their projects. Hell, he usually makes his appearances in the cafeteria like a high school bully. |
| 355 | %%* OohMeAccentsSlipping: He's been slipping up quite a bit. |
| 356 | * PetTheDog: One episode begins with him presenting Amy with a bottle of wine for assisting him with a hypothesis on String Theory. [[spoiler: He also sings at Sheldon and Amy's wedding.]] |
| 357 | * ProfessionalButtKisser: Not often demonstrated but comes out whenever a promotion of some sort is available at the university. |
| 358 | -->'''Kripke:''' If any of you need my nose, you will find it firmwy wodged in the collwective wectums of the tenure committee. |
| 359 | * RecurringCharacter: He's one of the series' longest running regulars and usually appears at least once or twice per season, although some feature him much more than that. |
| 360 | * TheRival: To Sheldon, being that they both have massive egos and typically get into prank wars or competitions with each other. In his introductory episode, he seemed to be rivals with Howard, given they were both engineers. But in general he is more often a co-worker the group only ''sometimes'' doesn't get along with rather than anything malicious involved, he doesn't quite fit the role of a SitcomArchNemesis. |
| 361 | * TookALevelInJerkass: {{Zigzagged}}. When he first appeared, Barry, although arrogant and jerkish, didn't seem to be a particularly bad guy, just another scientist on an opposing team. Since then however he's gone back and forth from being a FriendlyEnemy, and a very unpleasant man who seems to exist just to bully Sheldon and rub his failures in his face. One episode took this to whole new level by revealing he regularly embezzled the university, by applying for grants to investigate things he knew he couldn't prove, meaning he is free to spend the money on things for himself. |
| 362 | [[/folder]] |
| 363 | |
| 364 | [[folder:Alex Jensen]] |
| 365 | !!Alex Jensen |
| 366 | [[quoteright:211:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/download_3_1737.jpg]] |
| 367 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/MargoHarshman |
| 368 | |
| 369 | ->''"All I know is that corduroy makes too much noise. If you'll excuse me I have to go find 'quieter' pants."'' |
| 370 | |
| 371 | A grad student Sheldon hires as an assistant. Friendly with the group, she is at least somewhat capable of dealing with her boss' many eccentricities. Which gets harder to do as time goes on. |
| 372 | ---- |
| 373 | * BeleagueredAssistant: To Sheldon, especially since she's not allowed to participate in his research on physics. She becomes underemployed in the process (after she graduated ''cum laude'' from Stanford majoring in physics) and has to do menial tasks for Sheldon. |
| 374 | * BrainyBrunette: Smart enough to earn Sheldon's regard. |
| 375 | * ButtMonkey: Only natural since she has to be Sheldon's assistant. |
| 376 | * LoveAtFirstSight: Raj immediately gets a crush on her, though as usual he is incapable of talking to her. |
| 377 | * NiceGirl: She's a nice girl, especially compared to Amy and Penny. Leonard is appealed to her as he normally doesn't get such pleasant attitude from Penny. |
| 378 | * PuppyDogEyes: Which make Sheldon's abominable treatment of her more annoying. |
| 379 | * ShipTease: Between her and Leonard. Alex obviously has a crush on him and keeps hitting on him, which he didn't realize at first. |
| 380 | * TomboyishName: Along with the requisite gender confusion when Amy learns Sheldon's new assistant Alex is female. Penny laughs hysterically when Amy gets worried about the implications: "He didn't tell me Alex was a girl." "Maybe he didn't notice." |
| 381 | * UnknownRival: To Penny. Alex obviously likes Penny's boyfriend. |
| 382 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After the Valentine's Day episode "The Tangible Affection Proof", she makes no more appearances. It's possible that after taking so much of Sheldon's crap that she quit. It is unknown if she has found a worthy job in physics after leaving Sheldon. |
| 383 | [[/folder]] |
| 384 | |
| 385 | [[folder:Bertram "Bert" Kibbler]] |
| 386 | !!Bert |
| 387 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BrianPosehn |
| 388 | |
| 389 | A geologist at [=CalTech=] who became interested in Amy. |
| 390 | ---- |
| 391 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He is actually a brilliant geologist, he published a paper that got him a lot of prestige and a monetary award. It was enough that even Sheldon got jealous, and despite his own dislike of geology once he read the paper he had to admit it was inspired. |
| 392 | * AscendedExtra: After his EarlyBirdCameo as a library patron who almost interrupted Raj and Lucy's date, he made multiple appearances as a central character to the episode's plot. |
| 393 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: An odd guy with NoSocialSkills but he is apparently good at his job and has won a prize for a research paper he wrote. |
| 394 | * GentleGiant: He's huge. Really huge. But he's a genuinely nice guy if a bit awkward socially. |
| 395 | * HopelessSuitor: With Amy, who rejected him due to her relationship with Sheldon, though they seem to have settled comfortably into BetterAsFriends. |
| 396 | * ICallItVera: Has a saw named “Terry Bradsaw” |
| 397 | * NiceGuy: He's a kindhearted and polite fellow. |
| 398 | * NoSell: Sheldon attempts a karate chop on his neck when angered. He injured his hand and Bert was apparently unaware he even did it. |
| 399 | * NoSocialSkills: He's very socially awkward and by his standards ''Amy'' is the coolest girl he knows. |
| 400 | * SarcasmBlind: To the point that he didn't notice when Sheldon, [[LiteralMinded of all people,]] congratulates him with sarcasm. |
| 401 | * SmarterThanYouLook: He comes off as odd and awkward, to the point of being oblivious. But he's smart enough to be issued a genius grant for his geology work, much to Sheldon's chargin. |
| 402 | * ThrowTheDogABone: He eventually finds a girlfriend although she turns out to be a GoldDigger. |
| 403 | * UglyGuyHotWife: He started dating a very attractive girl named Rebecca, which is eventually confirmed that she is a GoldDigger because he was so wealthy after receiving an academic award. It ends up being reconstructed in a unique way, the main cast encourage him to break up with her over this but after doing so he found himself to be miserable without her. Even if it was superficial they were happier together than apart. |
| 404 | [[/folder]] |
| 405 | |
| 406 | [[folder:Janine Davis]] |
| 407 | !!Janine Davis |
| 408 | [[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/janine-davis_466.jpg]] |
| 409 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/ReginaKing |
| 410 | |
| 411 | The Human Resources director at [=CalTech=] and on the tenure committee. Given the quirks of the main characters, she finds herself having to counsel them often on what is and is not appropriate behavior in the workplace. She was very familiar with Howard before he got married. |
| 412 | ---- |
| 413 | * FacePalm: Especially when having to deal with [[NoSocialSkills Sheldon]]. |
| 414 | * INeedAFreakingDrink: In Season Twelve, she reveals she keeps a big bottle of Scotch hidden in her office. Given what she has to put up with, it's hard to blame her. |
| 415 | * NotSoStoic: She usually responds to the guys' shenanigans with unflappable professionalism (mixed with very understandable annoyance), but in "The Reaction Retraction," [[ActuallyPrettyFunny she's visibly about to burst out laughing when she reads the email Leonard (drunkenly) sent her]]. |
| 416 | * ShipTease: Raj has expressed some attraction to her (thus also making it somewhat TokenShipping), although it is greatly one sided. |
| 417 | * SurroundedByIdiots: Has frequent run-ins with the guys, in particular Sheldon, who somehow manages to stumble blindly into incredibly racist comments without meaning to. |
| 418 | -->'''Janine''': Oh God, they're everywhere... |
| 419 | * TokenMinority: Certainly notable among the recurring characters (the show has had plenty of minority characters but besides Raj they haven't been more than one episode). Sheldon also tends to single her being black as a character trait, not understanding why ''Series/{{Roots|1977}}'' may not be an appropriate or insightful gift to give her. |
| 420 | [[/folder]] |
| 421 | |
| 422 | [[folder:Ramona Nowitzki]] |
| 423 | !!Ramona Nowitzki |
| 424 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/RikiLindhome |
| 425 | |
| 426 | Former graduate at Caltech who has a crush on Sheldon. |
| 427 | ---- |
| 428 | * AcademicAthlete: She eventually gets her Ph.D and also used to be an Olympic swimmer. |
| 429 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Amy, especially when Sheldon points out that Ramona is as brilliant as Amy, but also tall, blonde, and athletic. Amy starts being worried about it but it doesn't last long, obviously. |
| 430 | * TheBusCameBack: Originally a OneShotCharacter from season 2, she returns in the season 10 finale, still infatuated with Sheldon. |
| 431 | * RomanticFalseLead: Her return in season 10 as a HopelessSuitor to Sheldon only has the purpose of prompting Sheldon to propose to his real love, Amy. |
| 432 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Ironically, she's the reason why Sheldon and Amy are engaged. Amy thanks her for that. |
| 433 | * StalkerWithACrush: Has an obsessive crush on Sheldon, to the point of stalking him in his apartment. |
| 434 | [[/folder]] |
| 435 | |
| 436 | !!Scientists |
| 437 | |
| 438 | [[folder:"Professor Proton"]] |
| 439 | !!Arthur Jefferies/"Professor Proton" |
| 440 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BobNewhart |
| 441 | |
| 442 | ->''"If I had known people would be calling me "Professor Proton" into my 80's, I wouldn't have quit smoking."'' |
| 443 | |
| 444 | A children's [[EdutainmentShow science show]] host 30 years ago, he was invited by Sheldon to perform a "birthday party" science demonstration for the group. He is bitter that despite being a degree'd professional with a Ph'D in physics, none of his later work was taken seriously because he was a kids show host. He appreciates the attention and respect Sheldon and Leonard give him, though is easily annoyed with Sheldon's hero worship. He passed away after several appearances in the show, but continued to manifest as a SpiritAdvisor to Sheldon. |
| 445 | ---- |
| 446 | * AlliterativeName: '''Pro'''fessor '''Pro'''ton. |
| 447 | * CoolOldGuy: Once you get past the grumpiness, he is very friendly and he's shown to have a lot of patience with Sheldon and, to a lesser extent, Leonard even when he's clearly annoyed at how they only know him as Professor Proton. |
| 448 | * {{Cuckold}}: The puppeteer who controlled his sidekick Gino the Neutrino slept with his (later) ex-wife, so he now hates the puppet. |
| 449 | -->'''Professor Proton:''' The puppeteer who did, who did Gino, well, he also did my wife. |
| 450 | * DeadpanSnarker: Amazingly not affected by his slow speech pattern. |
| 451 | * DirtyOldMan: Downplayed. He obviously enjoys hanging around Penny more than the guys, but he isn't quite creepy about it. |
| 452 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite being a fully accredited scientist, with a [=PhD=] from the prestigious Cornell University, nobody in the scientific community will take him or his work seriously on account of him having hosted a science show for kids. To add insult to injury, after the show was cancelled, the only way he could make ends meet was by continuing to play Professor Proton to entertain children at birthday parties and the like because that's all people remember about him. |
| 453 | * GrumpyOldMan: Although he's not a jerk about it, he's overall rather bitter about life and his age, not helped by Sheldon's clinginess towards him. |
| 454 | %%* JadedWashout |
| 455 | * MetaGuy: Any time Sheldon meets him in his dreams, Professor Proton's Force Ghost points out that he isn't real but a manifestation of Sheldon's mind. |
| 456 | * NotSoAboveItAll: He has a grumpy and bitter disposition, but whenever he meets Penny or thinks she's around, even he can't resist flirting with her a little and acts a lot more spry to the point where he can ''run'' despite struggling to do so otherwise. |
| 457 | * RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: As per being played by Bob Newhart. |
| 458 | * OldShame: [[invoked]] Has regrets over his career path after doing the show, while Leonard and Sheldon help him see many modern scientists were inspired by his work as kids. |
| 459 | * ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Generally good-natured, he can get grumpy. |
| 460 | * SitcomArchNemesis: With Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy. Ironically, Bill himself seems to have nothing but respect and admiration for Arthur, even crediting him as the inspiration for his own show. |
| 461 | -->'''Bill Nye:''' Wow, Arthur Jeffries. It's an honor to meet you. My show never would have happened without yours.\ |
| 462 | '''Arthur Jeffries:''' That's what I told my lawyers! |
| 463 | * SpiritAdvisor: After he died, he showed up in Sheldon's dream. Both he and the manifestation of Arthur are trying to figure out what he must be coming back to help Sheldon with. |
| 464 | * StylisticSuck: His show was pretty silly, but it seemed a lot of its charm was [[WhoWritesThisCrap how annoyed he was with the writing]]. |
| 465 | * ThrowTheDogABone: After spending his entire career being considered a joke by his fellow scientists, during his second appearance, Arthur publishes a paper on nano-vaccuum tubes that ''[[InsufferableGenius Sheldon]]'' describes as inspired. And to top it off, he did it with the help of one of the very children who had grown up inspired by his science show. |
| 466 | -->'''Arthur Jeffries:''' This is so exciting! I- I feel... like I'm... seventy-five again! ''(laughs)'' |
| 467 | [[/folder]] |
| 468 | |
| 469 | [[folder:Stephen Hawking]] |
| 470 | !!Stephen Hawking |
| 471 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Stephen_Hawking_StarChild_8470.jpg]] |
| 472 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/StephenHawking |
| 473 | |
| 474 | The world famous physicist himself. First featured when Howard was assigned to help maintain his communication and life support systems when he visited the university, he has since made irregular cameo appearances. |
| 475 | ---- |
| 476 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: He finds the idea of a remote-control car based off of him hilarious. The gang agrees to never tell Howard this. |
| 477 | * AsHimself: It's the real Stephen Hawking. |
| 478 | * DeadpanSnarker: He has a ''mean'' wit. |
| 479 | --> '''Sheldon:''' Buh-buh-but there has to be a mistake! I don't make mathematical errors!\ |
| 480 | '''Hawking''': Are you saying that ''I'' do? |
| 481 | * LivingLegend: The guys, being scientists themselves, naturally admire his genius and absolutely squee over him when he appears at Caltech for the first time. Even Sheldon craves his approval. |
| 482 | * PetTheDog: His last action in the series is to send Sheldon and Amy a wedding present, and it arrives a couple weeks after his death. |
| 483 | * ShipperOnDeck: His response to Sheldon and Amy getting married? "It's about time." |
| 484 | * SitcomArchnemesis: To an extent, he does antagonise Sheldon, but it seems mostly out of good-humor and Sheldon idolises him so it's solely one sided. |
| 485 | * {{Troll}}: He loves antagonizing and mocking Sheldon. In "The Troll Manipulation" he justifies it as "if you were sitting in a chair for forty years, you'd get bored, too." |
| 486 | -->'''Hawking:''' What do Sheldon Cooper and a black hole have in common?…They both suck…''[{{beat}}]''…neener, neener." |
| 487 | [[/folder]] |
| 488 | |
| 489 | !!Other |
| 490 | |
| 491 | [[folder:Althea]] |
| 492 | !!Althea |
| 493 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/VerneWatson |
| 494 | |
| 495 | ->''"I'm sorry, we don't have a code for 'robot hand grasping a man's penis.'"'' |
| 496 | |
| 497 | Desk nurse at the local hospital, who has to deal with/knock sense into the guys whenever their [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]] land them there. Also appears in the very first scene of the pilot as the receptionist at the sperm bank Leonard and Sheldon go to. |
| 498 | ---- |
| 499 | * ComicallySmallBribe: She turns one down offered by Howard: |
| 500 | -->'''Howard:''' What if I were to introduce you to ''[holds up five-dollar bill]'' the man who freed your people?[[note]]Abraham Lincoln, whose likeness is portrayed in thew five-dollar bill, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, officially abolishing slavery of the black people[[/note]]\ |
| 501 | '''Althea:''' Unless my people were freed by Benjamin Franklin[[note]]100 dollar bill[[/note]] and his five twin brothers, you are wasting your time! |
| 502 | * DeadpanSnarker: ''Everything'' she says is snarky. It's what makes her so memorable as a character, despite having only four appearances (so far). |
| 503 | * NotSoStoic: She is immediately aghast and startled into action upon seeing [[spoiler:Howard having an allergic reaction to peanuts]]. |
| 504 | * RecurringExtra: Nearly every time the cast end up at a hospital she is the one to deal with them. This is never acknowledged and her name is only known from a freeze frame of her work badge. In fact she was in the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen unaired original pilot]] playing the same role she does in the official pilot, making her the only character besides Leonard and Sheldon to transfer over. |
| 505 | * SassyBlackWoman: Oh so much. She's 100% willing to call the guys out on their stupidity and loads on the sass while doing it. |
| 506 | * WomenAreWiser: When Howard comes in with the robot hand stuck on his privates, Althea immediately finds the solution that could have saved him a lot of embarrassment: simply turning the robot off and then on again. |
| 507 | [[/folder]] |
| 508 | |
| 509 | [[folder:Wil Wheaton]] |
| 510 | !!Wil Wheaton |
| 511 | [[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wil_4222.jpg]] |
| 512 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/WilWheaton |
| 513 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ClaudioSerrano (European Spanish dub) |
| 514 | |
| 515 | ->''"Don't worry, it [being Sheldon's mortal enemy] doesn't take up too much of your time."'' |
| 516 | |
| 517 | A local celebrity and perpetual rival to Sheldon, after an incident where he bailed out on a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' convention Sheldon suffered great things to attend. |
| 518 | ---- |
| 519 | * AdamWesting: Takes it to a new art form. |
| 520 | * ArchEnemy: Sheldon considers him this in his earlier appearances, owing to his failure to attend a Comic-Con convention a number of years previous, which Sheldon attended in hopes of an autograph. They eventually become friends though. |
| 521 | * AsHimself: A {{Jerkass}} version of himself a few times, serving as Sheldon's nemesis and eventual friend. |
| 522 | * TheAtoner: Shows signs. He invited Sheldon and his friends to a party -- and when Sheldon actually shows up, Wheaton gave Sheldon a signed action figure to make up for not showing up at the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' convention Sheldon went to as a child. [[spoiler: Of course, Creator/BrentSpiner ended up inadvertently ruining the gesture by opening said action figure]], but at least Wheaton is off Sheldon's ArchEnemy list. He later seemed to be on good terms with him at Howard's bachelor party. He later appears on Sheldon's "Fun with Flags" webshow, unintentionally causing trouble with Sheldon's relationship to Amy, ending with Sheldon [[ItMakesSenseInContext throwing up in his rosebush]]. He's still friends with Sheldon in later seasons. |
| 523 | * BeardOfEvil: Has stubble, but still keeps it after he stops being evil. |
| 524 | * CelebrityParadox: Indirectly so. Wil Wheaton stars AsHimself in the ''The Big Bang Theory'' and as Wesley Crusher in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Creator/WallaceShawn stars as Dr. John Sturgis on ''Series/YoungSheldon'' and is Grand Nagus Zek on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', which was ''Next Generation'''s SpinOff. |
| 525 | * EveryoneHasStandards: When he finds out that Sheldon was planning to propose to Amy before they broke up, he genuinely feels bad for him and refuses to make any jokes after Sheldon loses his composure. |
| 526 | * EvilGloating: Gloats that being Sheldon's archnemesis means he lives in Sheldon's head ''rent free''. |
| 527 | * HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He eventually goes back on his original jerkish behaviour and forms a friendship with not just Sheldon, but all the others. In season 11 he's briefly back on Sheldon's enemies list and he straight up tells Sheldon that he can't tell the difference between being his friend or enemy. In "The Novelization Correlation" Sheldon apologizes to him and takes him off his enemies list. He's later seen at Sheldon's wedding. |
| 528 | * HeelFaceTurn: As a peace offering, he finally gave Sheldon the action figure he wanted. |
| 529 | * ItAmusedMe: It's hinted that he found Sheldon's unbridled hatred of him to be amusing, and so decided to play up being a {{jerkass}} for that purpose, and he didn't harbor any ill feelings towards Sheldon personally. When Brent Spiner got on to Sheldon's "mortal enemy" list (shortly after Wheaton was removed from that list and became his friend), he notes that his life doesn't really change with that distinction. After years of being on good terms with each other, Sheldon decides to return Wheaton to being enemies (after he accepts a role as the new Professor Proton in a {{revival}} of the show) and he again says that there isn't much of a difference. |
| 530 | * {{Jerkass}}: Originally he was a very big jerk being willing to lie through his teeth and break up Leonard and Penny to win contests against Sheldon, and exploit his celebrity status just to spite him, but he grew out of it in Season 5. |
| 531 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: From season 5 onwards he TookALevelInKindness and becomes a genuinely good friend to Sheldon and the others. |
| 532 | * JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In his early appearances, he lied about his grandmother dying to win a card game, cheated the gang out of their movie seats (after literally hours of waiting in line) and managed to convince Penny to break up with Leonard so he could win a bowling match. However he stopped being this after his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 533 | * KarmaHoudini: Regardless of the episode and what he does specifically, Wheaton typically causes trouble for the group and specifically Sheldon and never gets any retribution. He breaks up Leonard and Penny to win a bowling match and wins. There's a certain part of the fandom that wants Penny to figure out he did it on purpose and get her revenge. |
| 534 | * KarmaHoudiniWarranty: On the other hand, he eventually suffered this at Sheldon's wedding. Sheldon had asked him to officiate, and Wil stayed up all night to memorize the ceremony. Howard then rescued Mark Hamill's dog and asked him to officiate instead when the guy said he had to return the favor. Wil could only glower at his Star Wars rival especially when the latter took his notes and (sincerely) thanked him for preparing them. |
| 535 | * ManipulativeBastard: In his early appearances. He deliberately starts an argument between Penny and Leonard so that his bowling team can beat Sheldon's. |
| 536 | * SitcomArchNemesis: |
| 537 | ** Sheldon considers him to be his , nursing a grudge ever since he was a child because Wil never appeared at a convention he went through great pains to attend. Wil himself is mostly amused by Sheldon's hatred and doesn't really take him seriously. They ultimately bury the hatchet when he gifts Sheldon his last Wesley Crusher action figure, mint in box, signed with an apology for not showing up at the original convention. |
| 538 | ** [[NotSoAboveItAll Ironically, Wil himself has one in the form of]] [[Creator/MarkHamill Mark Hamill]]. He's visibly furious when Mark takes his place as Sheldon and Amy's wedding officiant and even declares "so, we finally meet" when he goes to confront him before the ceremony. Funnily enough, Mark doesn't even know who he is and is oblivious to his hatred. |
| 539 | * NiceCharacterMeanActor: In the show's universe (his early appearances), Wheaton is a selfish, scheming mastermind SitcomArchnemesis who orchestrated the first break-up between Penny and Leonard just to beat Sheldon's team at bowling -- a far cry from his character on ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek]]'' (which is how Sheldon initially knew of him). Later on, he becomes Nice Character Nice Actor. |
| 540 | * TookALevelInKindness: He's not as antagonistic as he was in earlier seasons. He seems to have dropped his feud with Sheldon as well. |
| 541 | * {{Troll}}: Partakes in this with glee. In a particularly glorious moment, he struts into the theater for the Star Wars premiere in full Star TREK attire, complete with Vulcan ears.[[note]]In a hilarious case of {{Defictionalization}}, Wheaton later did this at the ''actual'' premiere of ''Film/TheLastJedi.''[[/note]] |
| 542 | -->'''Star Wars fan:''' Star Trek stinks! |
| 543 | -->'''Wil Wheaton:''' Yeah, live long and suck it! |
| 544 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He recorded Raj's drunken speech about Howard's numerous sexual encounters at the latter's bachelor party and posted it online. This almost wrecks Howard's marriage. |
| 545 | |
| 546 | [[/folder]] |
| 547 | |
| 548 | [[folder:Colonel Richard Williams]] |
| 549 | !!Colonel Richard Williams |
| 550 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/DeanNorris |
| 551 | |
| 552 | An Army colonel who commissions the guys to build a guidance system in Season 10. |
| 553 | ---- |
| 554 | * HiddenDepths: He turns out to be an MIT-educated engineer by training and knows enough about science to follow the guys' work. He even immediately recognizes Sheldon's approach to miniaturize the gyroscope even further by seeing his equations containing a derivative (derivatives indicate shrinking). |
| 555 | * PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Refers to "the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]] from ''Franchise/StarTrek''". |
| 556 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: |
| 557 | ** When told that they can't make the deadline, Colonel Williams is very understanding. |
| 558 | --->'''Colonel Williams:''' Well, you think you're the first contractor who isn't going to deliver on time? Still waiting for a big space laser Reagan ordered to beat the Commies. |
| 559 | ** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the long run. When the guys actually finish the prototype he immediately confiscates it alongside all their research, kicks them off the project and doesn't even pretend to be apologetic when they confront him about it. |
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