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This list will contain spoilers both marked and unmarked.

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[[folder: Main Characters]]

!!Nathaniel Fisher Sr.
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nathaniel_4.png]]
-->''"Life is wasted on the living."''

--> Played by: Creator/RichardJenkins

* CoolOldGuy: Becomes evident he was one of these as his children discover more about him after his death.
%% * HiddenDepths: His sons get to discover several traits.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Of the FamilyBusiness variety.
* {{Mentor}}: To Rico. He was the one who saw his talent and sponsored his education as a funeral director.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: His fatal car accident is what drives the Fisher family together again and gets his older son into the family business.
* PosthumousCharacter: He dies in the pilot, but he keeps appearing throughout the series and speaking to several characters.
* ShotgunWedding: He married Ruth because she got pregnant with Nate.
* ToughLove: He often appears this way in the visions his children have, and it is implied that he was a frank and honest person in life, too, giving a callous impression.
* WellDoneSonGuy: The Fisher boys try to live up to his real or imagined standards and opinions, but his death makes him ultimately unpleasable as he is no longer there to acknowledge them.

!!'''Nathaniel "Nate" Fisher, Jr. '''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NateFisher_8447.jpg]]
-->''"I'm a funeral director. Well, I was born into it... like being born into the mafia."''

-->Played by: Creator/PeterKrause¨

* AimlesslySeekingHappiness: He's repeatedly called out for this. In general, Nate's whole [=MO=] is that he'll do something impulsive (like marrying Lisa just because she's pregnant) and expect it to change his whole life. When it doesn't, he immediately starts seeking excuses to get out of it.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:He dies near the end of season 5. He was struggling with his brain condition but seemed to be ok. His collapse and subsequent death came out of the blue.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Mentions in the beginning that, before their father died, he barely knew Claire, but he's always looking out for her.
* BlitheSpirit: Deconstructed. Nate likes to think he's one of these, but Ruth and Brenda especially both call him out on it, pointing out that it's actually just irresponsible and difficult.
* BreakTheHaughty: While they were extremely badly suited in general, [[spoiler:Lisa's death]] serves as this for him after months of their relationship deteriorating and him pulling further away from her.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Generally riddled with personal issues and often has existential crises relating to his home life and job, but by all accounts Nate is a very competent funeral director. In addition he's a very loving and doting father to Maya.
* CarpetOfVirility: He's in good shape. His hairy chest is manly and attractive.
* TheCasanova : His backstory.
* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: Nate learns at the end of Season 1 that he has a brain condition which means he could have a seizure or stroke at any time. The first couple of seasons build up to Nate having the risky surgery that will repair his condition, which he eventually does, and he is cured and appears to live a normal and much happier life. Then he has a second brain haemorrhage that has built up since he had it repaired, but he's expected to make a full recovery. [[spoiler:Then he actually has another haemorrhage that results in his death.]]
* ChekhovsBoomerang: [[spoiler: His arteriovenous malformation almost killed him in season 2. In season 5 it comes back, this time fatally.]]
* CoolBigBro: A rare example where this also crosses over with "disappointing", but Claire and David clearly admire his lothario status even as they struggle to accept him.
* DisappointingOlderSibling: Both Claire and David admire him greatly, and both have to deal with BrokenPedestal when they realize that Nate borders on being a selfish dick.
* DisneylandDad: Played with in a type 2. He genuinely loves his kids, but also resents being tied down by them, which means that he frequently overcompensates.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:He dies very suddenly in Season 5.]]
* FallenHero: He gradualy becomes less sympathetic throughout the series.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Nate and his Lisa from Seattle have a casual relationship. Lampshaded by his sister Claire: "So you're like, what, Fuck Buddies?" Cue unfomfortable looks from both Lisa and Nate.
* GenerationXerox: He shares more than his name with his father.[[spoiler: They both married women they barely knew after knocking them up, they both got into the funeral business rather against their will but showed a great talent for dealing with grieving people and they both die rather early.]]
* [[GranolaGirl Granola Guy]]: Spent many years playing this part in Seattle, but is mostly abandoned when he comes home and reconnects with his roots.
* HenpeckedHusband: [[spoiler:To Lisa.]]
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Of an aneurysm in Season 5.]]
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Lisa's death really hit Nate hard. Mostly because he felt guilty, he wanted Lisa out of his life (but didn't want to lose his daughter in the process) and he got what he wanted in the worst way possible. Arguably he never really recovered.]]
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Doesn't put the customer before the human being.
* IAmNotMyFather: The two things he never wanted to be as a teenager were 1. a funeral director and 2. married. By the beginning of season 3 he is both.
* InTheBlood: His deep compassion and innate ability to comfort people is said to be something his father also possessed. It's also implied that his father shared his rebellious spirit, which Claire clearly shows as well.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Discussed. He tries to avoid falling into this, recognizing his own selfishness, but can never fully overcome the selfish edge to his personality.
* LawOfInverseFertility: He sleeps with his ex exactly once and she gets pregnant. However, it's later implied that Maya might not be his biological daughter.
* {{Manchild}}: Nate slips more and more into this after having previously improved when he inherited the mortuary, as he struggled continuously with his fear of getting older.
* NiceGuy: A flawed one, but he tries to be amiable and to avoid conflicts.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: He's got no luck in that field.
** Brenda's brother is heavily unstable and initially tries his best to sabotage their relationship whenever he can. And her parents never fail to make him uncomfortable.
** We only get to know Lisa's family after [[spoiler: her death]], but they're a handful: [[spoiler: Denying Lisa's wishes about her burial, trying to take Maya away from Nate, not to mention her sister's husband turned out to be her killer...]]
* OutWithABang: [[spoiler: A little delayed, but Maggie literally fucked his brains out]].
* PermaStubble: Except when he deals with clients.
* RebelPrince: Would have been the heir to his family business if he hadn't 'run away' to find a new life in Seattle.
* ReluctantRuler: Would have inherited the position as the boss of the family business, but he 'ran away' because he was afraid of death and didn't want to be responsible for helping people through it. Turns out that he is highly gifted at handling people and has a unique ability to help them understand why their lives have been shattered by loss.
* SecretlySelfish: Partly. He tends to make grand pronouncements that suit him, but he pretends they're all about his partner, whether romantically or platonically.
* SiblingRivalry: With David, initially. The two eventually work out their problems and become very close. [[spoiler: David is the only one with Nate when he unexpectedly dies]].
* ShotgunWedding: He marries Lisa briefly after she gave birth to his first daughter.
* SiblingYinYang: With David. David is a responsible, buttoned-up, repressed gay man, while Nate is a [[StylisticSuck intentional]] TotallyRadical type of "reformed" hippie.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season Five[[note]]understandable, given all the tragedies he's dealt with by then[[/note]]. Also when Lisa goes missing.
* UnexpectedInheritance: The 50% of the mortuary.
* WellDoneSonGuy: While investigating some strange notations in their company's financial ledger, Nate finds out from some former customers that his father was exceptionally proud that he refused to go into the family business and instead went to find his own life in Seattle.

!!David Fisher
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DavidFisher2_599.jpg]]
-->''"Yeah, I'll be the strong one, the stable one, the dependable one, because that's what I do. And everyone around me will fall apart. 'Cause that's what they do."''

-->Played by: Creator/MichaelCHall

* BigBrotherInstinct: Like Nate, he's very protective of Claire. Also an inversion. Younger David ultimately looks out for Nate as if he were the older brother.
* BreakTheCutie: David is a very kind, optimistic person, whose kindness gets taken advantage of in Season 4 as [[spoiler:he gets abducted and psychologically and physically tortured, threatened with death.]]
* ControlFreak: He's very anxious and tries to make everything perfect and professional. Keith sometimes makes fun of it.
* TheDutifulSon: As a child he always wanted to become a lawyer, but chose the family business instead.
* ExtremeDoormat: David struggles to stand up for what he wants with everyone.
* FamilyMan: He deeply struggles with the fact that he longs for a family and Keith doesn't, and feels a deep attachment to the other Fishers.
* FriendToAllChildren: He's great with kids, for instance Lisa's sister's children immediately take a liking to him. Michaela is clearly troubled and tells him she's glad to have him in her family, and he replies to have her in his family as well. He's distressed when an insensitive woman scolds her daughter who cries for her deceased alcoholic father. He ''longs'' to have kids of his own because he's a family man.
* {{Gayngst}}: Initially. He had troubles coming out to his family and felt horrible about himself. He was also envious of gays who were comfortable with their sexuality.
* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:With Keith, eventually.]]
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Very much like his father, he isn't going for the biggest profit and often recommends grieving families the cheaper options.
* KickTheDog: Done to him in the fourth season, when he is [[spoiler: carjacked, robbed, forced to smoke crack, beaten up, has a gun put in his mouth and gasoline poured on him]] by a young hitchhiker. Handled fairly well in that this horrifying and arbitrary experience leaves long-lasting emotional scars. This is given even more gravity when [[spoiler: he goes to confront the criminal in jail, and the guy doesn't even remember him. Then tries to manipulate him into feeling sorry for him again.]]
** In general, David tends to respond to being wronged by [[PetTheDog being nice]]. But his anger is still there and he sometimes ends up exploding at an innocent bystander instead.
* PassedOverInheritance: At first he's surprised and not pleased about having to share the family business with Nate.
* ThePollyanna: Despite his intense grief over his father's death, David insists upon being optimistic and clear-headed at all times, which only falters after his deeply traumatic experience in Season 4.
* RedOniBlueOni: The "blue oni" to Keith's "red", a kind and gentle funeral director who ends up married to a cop who struggles to keep his temper in check.
* SiblingRivalry: With Nate, initially. They eventually work out their problems and become very close. David becomes very tearful when Nate first undergoes surgery for his AVM. They eventually become so close that [[spoiler: David is with Nate when he suddenly dies]].
* SiblingYinYang: With Nate. Nate is an immature hippie, David is a repressed and traditional family man.
* TraumaCongaLine: Season four, mainly, with the definition of this being what happens to him at the hands of a psychopathic hitchhiker.
* UptightLovesWild: Played with between David and Keith. David loves that Keith is much more hot blooded and confrontational than he is, but David also struggles with the more repressive aspects of Keith's attitude and reigning in his temper at times - though they still end up [[spoiler:happily married.]]
* WellDoneSonGuy: Implied that he entered the family business just to please his father and was therefore very resentful not only that Nate got the respect that David deserved but he got to live his life the way he wanted in the process.


!!Claire Fisher
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ClaireFisher_3770.jpg]]
--> Played by: Creator/LaurenAmbrose

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Lampshaded in dialogue a number of times, when her brothers or friends talk to her about her taste in men. She even discusses it with her school counselor at one point and later with Nate, saying she is attracted to relationships where she feels needed.
* BeneathTheMask: Has repressed a lot of her emotions, a common trait in the Fisher family.
** This is also explored with her school therapist, and seems to be a result of growing up in a funeral home, where 'you have to be careful' about people because they're always in the home on the worst day of their lives. She learns to handle her emotions better, but occasionally has explosive emotional outbursts.
** A notable one being when she is being interviewed for a place in art school, and is asked about the sudden dramatic drop in her grades. She bursts into tears when she finally explains that it happened when her father died.
** She often redirects her feelings, too. Nate once points this out to her when she is crying about being abandoned by her boyfriend, and he identifies her emotions as really being about their father's death. With her usual humor, she responds, "God, can't I just get upset without having to focus on what's really making me upset?"
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Had her moments in the first couple seasons, mostly when Ruth tried to become closer to her through mutual activities like spinning.
* CoolCar: A bright green Cadillac hearse!
* DudeMagnet: ''Everybody'' wants Claire.
* FatalAttractor: Many of her boyfriends have severe problems with the law (Gabe) or their own mental health (Russel, Billy).
* FieryRedhead: Claire is a very determined and fierce person with bright red hair.
* FunctionalAddict: She tried out all kinds of light and hard drugs over the course of the series, but except for the time after [[spoiler: Nate's death]] we never see her crash.
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: [[spoiler: Averted. She decides to get an abortion when she gets pregnant with her boyfriend Russell who cheated on her with a male professor. She found out about her pregnancy when they were broken up.]]
* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:While never stated outright, she seems to be this with Ted Fairwell in the end of the last episode's flash forward.]]
* HeadTurningBeauty: Despite considering herself to be rather awkward and average, she's always had several suitors and rarely has a hard time getting the guy (or girl) she wants.
* IAmNotMyFather: Claire tries to fight the fear that she might eventually burn out artistically and turn out to be just like her mother Ruth. Ruth, for her part, says that she sees herself in her daughter and gets very angry when Claire drops out of college because she doesn't want her to waste her life as she did.
* ItsAllAboutMe: A realistic version that is frequently told to get over herself, Claire struggles to comprehend that her family makes sacrifices for her, too.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite how blunt and borderline rude she can sometimes be, she does genuinely care about her friends and family. And she tries to be as supportive as possible during difficult times.
* LongLived: [[spoiler: In the ending. While most of the main cast survives into old age, Claire outlives all of the other adult characters by a wide margin, finally passing on in 2085 at the impressive age of about ''102.'']]
* OppositesAttract: She typically dates men that are cynical, dark, and troubled (like she is). Then she dates [[spoiler: Ted, and apparently marries him]], who is the opposite of her in almost every ideological way and has a much brighter and encouraging outlook on life, which is exactly what she needs.
* ReallyGetsAround: Claire is deeply attractive to every single person in the series, and she never has breaks between her relationships.
* RebelliousSpirit: She longs to break out of her family's...um, box, although she frequently has straight up terrible ideas how to do this.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: She becomes womanlier every season.
* TheSnarkKnight: She's very snarky, but she also has a good heart and is nearly always there when a member of her family needs her.
* SoapboxSadie: Realistically for a teenage, then young adult, girl, Claire has strong political and artistic opinions and is not shy about expressing them. Her eventual husband, [[spoiler:Ted]], appreciates this about her.
* TrueLoveIsExceptional: Throughout the series most of her partners were artistic types with various degrees of mental instability. Then she meets Ted, a serene, conservative lawyer and eventually marries him.
* WaitingForABreak: Claire struggles with how to do this throughout her career.

!!Ruth Fisher
--> Played by: Creator/FrancesConroy
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ruth_6.png]]
* ApronMatron: Downplayed. Ruth isn't that loud or domineering, but she also runs her household closely and the Fishers ultimately know not to mess with her.
* CloudCuckooLander: She has her moments when she's downright weird.
* ComingOfAgeStory: A subversion, in that she is around 50 years old when it happens but has been emotionally stunted for most of her life. She gets married at 19, has a family, and lives in a repressive household where no personal growth seems to happen for many years. After Nathaniel's death, she is on her own for the first time. She goes to a floral arrangement class, gets a job, has flings and boyfriends, makes new friends who introduce her to new experiences (like gambling, shoplifting, and a road trip to Mexico). She makes a lot of mistakes, but her emotional and personal growth is very noticeable and when she returns to being a strong pillar of support in her family, she is much more accessible and is able to relate with her children as an adult who understands they are also adults.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Because Ruth has been married for so long, she really hasn't had to judge people too much so, when Nathaniel dies, she's prone to ''extreme'' poor boyfriends or even friends.
* ICouldaBeenAContender: As an artist. It's part of the reason she fears Claire quitting so much.
* IWantGrandkids: In the first two seasons she is shown to be quite frustrated about neither of her adult sons being anywhere close to founding a family. When Maya is born, she's overjoyed.
* MayDecemberRomance: Her relationship with Arthur (though it was never sexual).
* MyBelovedSmother: Deconstructed. Ruth can be downright smothering of her kids at times, but they eventually recognize that this is because she doesn't know who she is outside of domestic life, and the finale shows her [[spoiler:letting go of Claire]] as she moves on to adult life.
* ParentalSexualitySquick: Her children sometimes have this reaction to her boyfriends, though usually they only show outright disgust when they can actually hear her having sex. Treated more realistically, in that her children are aware of her relationships and often candidly talk with her about them.
* ParentsAsPeople: She genuinely loves and wants to help her kids...but that doesn't stop her from finding them deeply annoying at times and making poor decisions.
* StayInTheKitchen: Ruth at least partially imposed this on herself, but also viewed it as her duty, as she tells Claire when Claire quits school.

!!Brenda Chenowith
--> Played by: Creator/RachelGriffiths
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brenda_4.png]]
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:The flashforward in the series finale shows her pregnant and happily remarried.]]
* BigSisterInstinct: A very dark example to Billy, due to him being a borderline-abusive drug addict. It's the whole reason why she gave up her career.
* BrainyBrunette: A famous child genius with distinct dark hair.
* CharacterDevelopment: In five seasons, she goes from a self-destructive, self-centered genius who never met her potential and pushes everyone away except her brother to a more well-rounded person and caregiver.
* ChildProdigy: As a kid, she aced a standardized test and had been a top-achiever ever since, until her brother's condition forced her to pass on her Ivy League acceptance. Her witty conversations with her therapist became a best-selling book.
* DeadpanSnarker: The quickest-witted character on the show. Cynical humor seems to be a coping mechanism for her.
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Nate leaving her after finding out about her many affairs really broke her up. Then Nate asking for a divorce right before he died, leaving her with an unborn baby, hurt her much, much more.]]
* HollywoodAtheist: She is deeply scornful of all religions and tells people so.
* JadedWashout: She could've gone to a highly prestigious university and planned to be a psychologist, but the requirements of Billy's care meant she turned it down, something which she still struggles to get over, and she has never lived up to her true potential.
* {{Jerkass}}: Downplayed; a bit self-centered, uppity and lacking empathy at times, due to emotional instability. That said, she clearly has a nurturing side from the beginning, especially toward her brother and later toward the Fishers, so she becomes more and more a JerkWithAHeartOfGold in later seasons.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Billy, a role she starts to pull away from more and more as time passes.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Deconstructed. Nate wants her to be one, but her actual manic behavior actually makes them both miserable, and she calls him out on not supporting her once she matured.
* ObfuscatingInsanity: In her childhood she studied and emulated the symptoms of various mental diseases to mock her psychiatrists.
* ParentalSexualitySquick: Casually averted. She certainly doesn't like walking in on her mother having sex, but it is discussed several times that her parents used to have sex in front of her and her brother, as well as hosting sex parties in their homes growing up. This explains the cavalier attitude she has about it and may even have been a factor in why [[BrotherSisterIncest Billy's relationship]] with her is so unusual.
* ReallyGetsAround: In the first two seasons Brenda had a very wild sex drive, leading her to cheat on Nate and become a sex addict in season two. Following this she receives treatment for sex addiction and as a result matures.
* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler: According to Alan Ball, Brenda actually had two husbands after Nate. Clearly the interim husband was just to fill the void]].
* SecondLove: [[spoiler: Has found one as of 2008.]]
* TattooAsCharacterType: She and her brother have the names of their childbook heroes tattoed on their lower backs. [[spoiler: Billy cut his off and tried to do the same to Brenda]]
* TookALevelInKindness: She goes from an impulsive, selfish sex and drug addict to a stable [[spoiler:adoptive mother to Maya.]]
%%* TheMissusAndTheEx
* TropaholicsAnonymous: When she decides to do something about her sex addiction.


!!Keith Dwayne Charles
--> Played by: Creator/MatthewStPatrick
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keith_57.png]]
* AbusiveParents: His father (who is also very unsupportive of his homosexuality). Their relationship is very complicated, as while Keith's father would beat him and his sister and seems to show nothing but hostility towards him face-to-face, a conversation with Taylor reveals that his father really does love him.
* BodyGuardCrush: An apparent one turns out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter.
* ButNotTooBi: While he does have sex with a woman, he never has a relationship with one, even during times when he and his OneTrueLove, David, are broken up.
* CallingTheOldManOut: He doesn't take it well when David is the one who does it on Keith's behalf.
* FairCop: Many characters, particularly his fellow gays, note how handsome he is in his police uniform. He himself hates getting shoehorned into the "tall gay black cop" sexual fantasy.
* {{Gayngst}}: He largely accepts his sexuality, but his real fear is coming out publicly, over which he and David clash.
* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:To David, eventually.]]
* {{Hunk}}: This is acknowledged and commented upon repeatedly in-universe; a lot of people are ''very'' attracted to Keith.
* IAmNotMyFather: Keith often tries to fight his abusive tendencies because he doesn't want to be his father. Unlike practically everybody else with parental similarity issues, Keith manages to overcome his problems and we can see Keith adjusting to the idea of being a father to his two adopted sons.
* ParentalSubstitute: To his niece.
* ScaryBlackMan: A rare heroic example who still can be very scary when times call for it.
* SourOutsideSadInside: While Keith can be aggressive, this is covered by a FreudianExcuse of domestic violence in his childhood and his father's own homophobia.
* StraightGay: To the point where he is uncomfortable around David's CampGay choir friends.
* {{Tsundere}}: A naturally "harsh" example due to his environment, but he has a very soft side that he shows to David, it's just hard to get it out of him.
* TwoferTokenMinority: He is black and gay.
* WifeBasherBasher: [[spoiler:The reason he was kicked off the police force]]

!!Hector Federico "Rico" Díaz
--> Played by: Creator/FreddyRodriguez
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hector_1.png]]
* TheAce: He is really talented at his job.
* BeleagueredAssistant: Throughout the entire series he has always shown resentment to David and Nate for treating him as their lackey because he was not born into the family business. It was only their father that he truly respected and introduced him to the craft. Rico and Vanessa invariably dread spending time with the Fishers outside of work and compare each other to them as an insult.
* CharacterDevelopment: Small example but see his entry under HeteronormativeCrusader. Note that when David reveals his sexuality to Rico in season one, Rico tells him emphatically not to talk about it. In season four, he can be seen listening to David talk about problems with Keith, and his remarks are InnocentlyInsensitive at worst.
* ChallengeSeeker: He enjoys demanding restorations the most and prefers to leave the easier ones to David. One particulary smashed head was the initial reason he briefly left for Kroehner.
* FootDraggingDivorcee: It pays off eventually, though.
* HenpeckedHusband: Vanessa does have her moments, especially when she gets backed up by her sister.
* HeteronormativeCrusader: Due to his Latin American Catholic upbringing he often shows homophobic tendencies, which leads to some trouble with his boss. Downplayed or averted in later seasons; see above.
* HypercompetentSidekick: He is a brilliant funeral director, and generally starts to really struggle with working "under" David and Nate for a long period of time.
* MistakenForCheating: Zigzagged with a weird and costly affair.
* NightmareFetishist: As part of his ChallengeSeeker persona, he often downright gushes over the disfigured corpses he gets to fix up.
* NonPromotion: Becomes a partner at the end of season two thanks to bailing the Fishers out of debt. At least for a while, this does not do much alleviate him getting stuck with David and Nate's dirty work.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Does not like his wife's sister. It's mutual.
* StartMyOwn: [[spoiler: After Nate's death]] he ultimately sells his share of Fisher & Diaz to start his own funeral home.
* UnexpectedInheritance: He gets over a hundred grand from his elderly neighbour, which improves his social situation drastically.

[[/folder]]
[[folder: Their Families]]
!!Sarah O'Connor
--> Played by: Creator/PatriciaClarkson
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarah_70.png]]
Ruth's bohemian younger sister.
* CoolAunt: She's well-liked by her sister's children, especially Claire, whom she inspired to go into the arts.
* FieryRedhead: Like Ruth and Claire, Sarah has intense red hair, which seems to be a visual connection all three have as passionate and creative souls.
* IWasQuiteALooker: In her own words, she turned to prescription drug abuse to cope with no longer being the prettiest or most interesting woman in the room.
* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: As revealed in her tearjerking speech to Ruth, the only man she ever loved died in her twenties.]]
* TheMuse: Implied to have been one when she was younger. She claims she is terrible at art but surrounds herself with artists to make up for it.
* NewAgeRetroHippie: She hosts lavish esoteric parties at her house and likes to talk about "the goddess".
* SiblingYinYang: Sarah is extroverted and vivacious, she was incapable of having children and she never married as her one love died young. To compare with Ruth's withdrawn shyness, who had several children and a marriage that seemed to have been unsatisfying at the best of times.

!!Vanessa Diaz
--> Played by: Creator/JustinaMachado
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vanessa_9.png]]
* ADayInTheLimelight: At least, a scene. In the first season, one death scene begins with her and a coworker doing their rounds at a nursery home to find one old woman dead. [[spoiler: Seeing as how that woman turned out to be a surprise death by choking and neither Vanessa nor her coworker could have seen the evidence, they both get fired for negligence offscreen in the same episode.]]
** Gets another spotlight scene in season four, [[spoiler: when she and her sister go to confront the woman, Rico had an affair with. With baseball bats. DesignatedGirlFight and vandalism ensue.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Definitely has her moments, usually at Rico or the Fishers' expense.
* FriendToAllChildren: Implied trope. Despite Vanessa not caring for the Fishers, Rico knows she'd be willing to take care of[[spoiler: Nate's daughter]] for a day, and she apparently has had success in childcare.
* HighSchoolSweethearts: Her and Rico's relationship; they sometimes allude to their high school classmates in their conversations. [[spoiler: Might also qualify as MarriedTooYoung to some, especially in the period after Rico's affair.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Often short and abrasive with Rico and encourages him to pick a fight with the Fishers more than once. But she favors jobs in caregiving, is a devoted mother, and her advice to Rico generally has his best interests at heart.
* MarriedTooYoung: Zigzagged for her and Rico. They argue often, and [[spoiler: she namedrops the trope almost verbatim when she suggests divorce in season four.]] Since later on she [[spoiler: takes him back,]] it's ultimately both played straight and subverted with their relationship.
* MovingBeyondBereavement: After her mother dies, part of her and Rico's arc in season three is helping her get past the resulting depression.
* SatelliteCharacter: Heavily downplayed and zig-zagged, but arguably an unintended case for Rico. While Vanessa is considered a major character in her own right--she's present throughout the show's run, has a clear-cut personality and relationship dynamics, and works multiple jobs of her own--story-wise, she's mostly there to spur her husband's actions in a given plot or complicate his story arcs. Her main relationship beyond Rico is with her sister, who dislikes him, but the sisters almost never appear in scenes together without him being present. That's not to say they ''never'' do, but in all five seasons, the number of scenes Vanessa appears in without Rico can be counted on one hand.
* SpicyLatina: When in her emotional highs, she is a very confident and bossy matriarch. Her prodding and nagging are the primary motivations behind most of Federico's decisions.

!!Billy Chenowith
--> Played by: Creator/JeremySisto
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/billy_710.png]]
Brenda's younger brother. He plays an important role in Claire's life as he was the one who introduced her to photography. After teaching her photography class, the two have a short relationship.

* CrazyJealousGuy: Towards Brenda, his own sister. He doesn't respond well to her getting a boyfriend.
* DepravedBisexual: Billy's bisexuality (detailed above) is played as more proof of his violent, dangerous side.
%%* DomesticAbuser: He treats all of his girlfriends (and Brenda) terribly.
* IncestantAdmirer: To Brenda. He worshipped her, was repeatedly violent towards her and her boyfriends, was deeply possessive of her. Eventually, in season four, he proclaims his love for her to her face. She is understandably horrified and cuts him out of her life for almost a year.
* InsaneEqualsViolent: He regularly refuses to medicate his BPD, with dire consequences. No less than three main characters (Nate, Claire, Brenda) had to fear for their lives around him on several occasions and was essentially one of the main antagonists of the first season.
* MadArtist: He's an accomplished photographer with a severe case of Bipolar Disorder.
* NoMedicationForMe: Slips sometimes.
* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: He carves out his [[ItMakesSenseInContext Isabel]]-tattoo with a knife.
* StalkerWithACrush: A bizarre and very scary example; he follows [[BrotherSisterIncest Brenda]] and Nate to Las Vegas, breaks into their hotel room while they're sleeping, and takes photos of them in bed. Afterward, Brenda demands he return his key to her house, and he has a complete mental and emotional breakdown, begs her not to take his keys, then makes threatening comments such as, "Do you know how easy it would be to break in here?" After she takes his key, he sets Nate up to walk into [[RoomFullOfCrazy his staged suicide]] with photos of Nate's sister in intimate situations, and then rants at Nate about his love for Brenda while holding a knife.

!!Bernard & Margaret Chenowith
--> Played by: Creator/RobertFoxworth & Creator/JoannaCassidy

* AbusiveParents: Downplayed. They were never intentionally cruel to their kids. Still, their approach to parenting was far from optimal.
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:In his first season-3-appearance Bernard succumbs to stomach cancer.]]
* DivorceIsTemporary: After getting divorced when Bernard oversteps their open relationship agreement, they get back together rather quickly.
* HollywoodAtheist: Both of them. According to Margaret, Bernard's brother (who is a rabbi) never forgave him for being successful...and for giving up Hanukkah. Bernard in turn thought his brother was a complete asshole.
* InformedJudaism: Bernard's brother is a rabbi. He seems to be the only one in his family who isn't a practicing Jew.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Margaret often gives Brenda some pretty good advice but in such a Jerkass way that Brenda ignores it on principle.
* LadyDrunk: Especially after Bernard's death, Margaret is often shown with a drink in her hand.
* TheShrink: Their jobs, which they are very enthusiastic about.

!!Lisa Kimmel-Fisher
--> Played by: Creator/LiliTaylor

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:She gets lost when she was travelling to visit her sister and family. After a rather long time her body is found. And even later, it's revealed that she had an affair with her brother-in-law who probably killed her because she was gonna say it to her sister.]]
* ClingyJealousGirl: When married to Nate. Granted, she had a reason to be as Nate really loved Brenda and only married Lisa because that was what was expected of him.
** Before their marriage, Lisa had this crazy notion that she was the one for Nate and that he was finally going to come to his senses and see it. When he finds out she's pregnant, this is exactly what she says.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Originally her arrangement with Nate -- casual friendly sex. Though she seemed to have been more emotionally invested in him than he realized and tells her friends they've been together for years.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Tries to ''talk'' the ants in her kitchen into leaving.
* GranolaGirl: Part of her straw vegan persona. Back in Seattle she even ran an organic supermarket.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Despite being extremely clingy towards Nate, [[spoiler:she was actually cheating on him with her brother-in-law.]]
* MeatVersusVeggies: She unsuccessfully tries to get Nate and Claire into tofu meatloaf.
* SoapboxSadie: Especially about her ecological values, which nobody in the Fisher family appreciates.
* StrawVegetarian: She was a staunch vegan until her pregnancy.
* WetBlanketWife: An unusually manipulative example. Lisa's whole life was about passive-aggressively "fixing" Nate.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Lisa really thought she was Nate's true love...which really backfired on her.
* {{Yandere}}: Anonymously making a massage appointment with your husband's ex-fiancée to see what she's like does qualify.

!!Maya Fisher
Nate and Lisa's baby daughter. When [[spoiler: Lisa dies]] Brenda eventually takes over as Maya's mother and [[spoiler: continues to raise her after Nate dies]].
* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: In the season 4 finale it's revealed that [[spoiler:Lisa had an affair with her sister's husband. Though, Nate is never shown to visibly care about the resulting possibilities.]]

!!George Sibley
--> Played by: Creator/JamesCromwell

* AbsentMindedProfessor: Shown at times more concerned with geology than with social situations.
* CloudCuckoolander: For a very good reason, as we later learn: [[spoiler:he's severely mentally ill]] and it manifests like this.
* FourthDateMarriage: Ruth and him get married a few episodes after he is introduced.
* {{Hikikomori}}: Finding the bunker under the Fisher house triggered something in him. When he eventually ''moved into'' said bunker, men in white coats had to drag him out again.
* IAmNotMyFather: Mother, specifically. George is haunted by the possibility that he's like his mother, who also had [[spoiler:schizophrenia]] and greatly traumatized him.
* MommasBoy: Part of the reason why he was so traumatized by
* SanitySlippage: In season 4 he becomes more and more obsessed with apocalyptic scenarios, which even caused him to relocate into a bomb shelter. [[spoiler: Thus between seasons 4 and 5, he underwent treatment at a mental hospital.]]
* SerialSpouse: Ruth is number [[spoiler:seven!]]

!!Anthony & Durrell Charles-Fisher
--> Played by: C. J. Sanders & Kendre Berry
* TheCutie: Anthony was younger and less bitter during the initial period.
* FosterKid: Having been through several families before, they've become cynical and treat Keith and David not unlike mischevious students treat a substitute teacher, convinced this is another temporary living situation.
* HappilyAdopted: It was not a smooth transition, and got ugly at times, pushing Keith to the brink of giving up on them. Eventually it worked out in the end.
* ParentalAbandonment: The kids have become jaded by the prospect of parenthood after so many people have handed them off.
* SiblingYinYang: [[spoiler: Subverted. Actually they just have different ways of coping with the stress of adoption, especially since all the foster parents before David and Keith ultimately returned them. In fact they're both really nice guys.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Durrell. He gets better eventually.

[[/folder]]


[[folder: Other Characters]]

!!Gabriel Dimas
--> Played by: Creator/EricBalfour
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: What actually happened to him after he shot that motorist was never explained. Claire sees him in a vision in Season 3 but that is no real indication of what happened to him. Somewhat justified in that this incident was the final straw for Claire, and afterwards, she vowed to never hang out with him again (a vow she clearly kept).
* TroubledButCute: He's very thuggish but also quite traumatized and unnerved by many of the things he does.

!!Parker [=McKenna=]
--> Played by: Creator/MarinaBlack
* BrilliantButLazy: She's actually quite intelligent and occasionally gives Claire some pretty thoughtful advice. She's also a slacker who earns mediocre grades and scores high on her SAT's by paying an Asian student to take it under her name.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Justified, as high school was over and her and Claire's friendship was rather superficial. Claire also hated her ideologically for cheating on her UsefulNotes/SATs.
* MushroomSamba: In her most memorable scene, she takes shrooms with Claire. HilarityEnsues.
* ReallyGetsAround: Her rather wild and promiscuous nature is part of the reason why Claire is so drawn to her.

!!Kroehner Services International
* BigBad: Of seasons 1 and 2. They keep trying to buy "Fisher And Sons" and vehemently refuse to take "No" for an answer... even if it means resorting to the most unethical measures possible. They have their eventual come-uppance not by the Fishers, but [[LaserGuidedKarma by the federal government for their unlawful business practices.]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: It's their thing. Their attempts to buy the Fishers is in flagrant violation of anti-trust laws (although no one mentions this).
* TheDragon: Matthew Gilardi to Mitzi Dalton Huntley
* FauxAffablyEvil: They're smugly cordial and polite but are also extremely pushy and resort to some ''very'' unethical business practices.
* {{Foil}}: To Fisher&Sons. Kroehner's shady methods and mass processing philosophy only makes the Fishers' way seem more noble.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Gilardi (arguably the BigBad of Season 1) is revealed to be this to Mitzi in Season 2.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Downplayed. In the penultimate episode of Season Two, the company's unethical business practices finally catch up to them, as they have a federal investigation done on their assets and are forced to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy as a result. However, Mitzi has a small bit of revenge in the season's finale by covertly hiring a health inspector to inspect the Fisher And Sons Funeral Home, resulting in Fisher And Sons being charged a $38,000 fine (which they can't afford to pay until [[spoiler: Rico and Vanessa chip in with part of their $100,000 settlement in exchange for Rico becoming a business partner]]) for a backed up sewage system.
* RichBitch: Mitzi. She likes to display her wealth by throwing parties for her Kroehner lackeys.
* SmallNameBigEgo: They were a pretty large funeral directing firm but clearly overestimated both their power and their financial assets, leading to their eventual bankruptcy (as detailed above).
* SmugSmiler: Both Mitzi and Gilardi.
* SleepingWithTheBoss: Apparently Gilardi and Mitzi had a brief sexual encounter once.
* {{Slimeball}}: During one of his pitches, Gilardi gets so far up Nate's butt even his Nate Sr. ImagineSpot starts making fun of it.
* YouHaveFailedMe: A non-lethal example. Gilardi eventually gets fired for repeatedly failing to buy out the Fishers.

!!Nikolai
--> Played by: Creator/EdORoss
* FakeRussian: Ed O'Ross is from Pennsylvania. Even if going by ancestry, he’s Czech, not Russian.
* FunnyForeigner: Often serves as a comic relief in the midst of the show's otherwise serious plots.
* KavorkaMan: He's not really conventionally attractive, but still has more than one middle-aged woman swooning over him.


!!Arthur Martin
--> Played by: Creator/RainnWilson
* TheApprentice: Hired to give an extra hand around after Federico refuses to be their lackey anymore.
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: While entering the Fisher home with optimistic enthusiasm and an appreciation for Ruth's kindness, he quickly grows uncomfortable by the bleakness surrounding the house, not to mention Ruth's abrupt abandonment of their friendship after he refuses her sexual advances.
* PutOnABus: Makes his way out of the show not long after George enters the scene.
* YouLookFamiliar: Creator/RainnWilson appeared in the series finale of ''Series/{{Transparent}}'', playing Arthur as a fully-certified and successful funeral director.

!!Olivier Castro-Staal
--> Played by: Creator/PeterMacdissi
* DepravedBisexual: He preaches for his students to expand their horizons and fight their pious reservations to become a better artist. And it just so happens that doing so happens to involve sleeping with him, and anyone who rejects him is then loudly cast out as a childish naive fool who will never be a real artist.
* CoolTeacher: Arguably a deconstruction. He encourages his students to think and to open their minds but the way he does it is rarely if ever totally positive.
** Claire calls him out that if he were really as good of an artist as he claims to be, he wouldn't be a freshman teacher at a local school who is so emotionally invested in what teenagers half his age think of him.
* HotForStudent: [[spoiler: Slept with Russell, as well as with several of his former assistants including Billy, but notably ''not'' with Claire.]]
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: It’s not clear what his accent ''should'' be, based on his name, but it’s almost certainly not be Peter Macdissi's natural Arabic (specifically Lebanese) accent.

!! Anita Miller, Russell Corwin, Jimmy & Edie
--> Played by: Creator/SpragueGrayden, Creator/BenFoster, Creator/PeterFacinelli & Creator/MenaSuvari
Claire's fellow students at LAC Arts.
* ArtisticStimulation: All of them are fond of getting creative while on drugs.
* LipstickLesbian: Edie is a very attractive lesbian—a sensual blue-eyed blonde. She dresses sexy, too.
* PerformanceArtist: Edie puts on a performance on an open mike night, featuring recordings of her mother saying things to her.
* PutOnABus: [[spoiler: After Claire quits, we only see them once.]]

!!Bettina
--> Played by: Creator/KathyBates
* ApronMatron: She's a tough and no-nonsense housewife
* BeneathNotice: She notes how women of her age are practically invisible to society, which she makes use of in regular shoplifting trips.
* FiveFingerDiscount: She enjoys shoplifting and tries to get Ruth into it.
* SerialSpouse: Has been married four times.

!!Ted Fairwell
--> Played by: Creator/ChrisMessina
* HelloAttorney: He's quite a handsome lawyer, as noted by his female colleagues.
* LastGuyWins: He is Claire's last boyfriend on the show, and the one she eventually marries.
* UptightLovesWild: Uptight to Claire's wild. Fun-loving, free-spirited, liberal photographer Claire Fisher falls in love with Ted, who is a conservative lawyer.

[[/folder]]
----