!!Jack Tripper

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JohnRitter

* AttractiveBentGender: When dressed in drag in the Season 4 episode "Jack on the Lam." Chrissy's date found him especially hot.
* CampStraight: Which certainly helps when pretending to be gay.
* CasanovaWannabe
* CatchPhrase: "Oh lordy, lordy, lordy..."
* ChivalrousPervert
* CureYourGays: Mr. Furley thinks his friendship with Jack did the trick when he moves in with a woman in the series finale.
* FauxYay: Jack must pretend to be gay in front of the landlords so that he can live with two females.
* TheKlutz
* MeaningfulName: Jack ''Tripper'' refers to the fact that Jack is a [[TheKlutz klutz]].
* MistakenForGay
* NiceGuy
* ThePratfall:
* PunnyName: Just repeat his name slowly until you get the joke.
* StarvingStudent: The reason why he moves in with the girls.
* SupremeChef: Jack attends cooking school for the first few seasons and later opens a French restaurant.
* {{Troll}}: Quite often when Mr. Roper makes a crack about him being gay (or sometimes just to get rid of him), Jack gets his own back by pretending to flirt with him.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Multiple episodes suggest that he and Janet might have a thing for each other, but nothing ever comes of it, and in the series finale, [[spoiler: Janet marries someone else, and Jack has a live-in girlfriend.]]

!!Janet Wood

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JoyceDeWitt

* BrainyBrunette
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Although she's CloserToEarth than Chrissy, she often overhears things and HilarityEnsues.
* JerkassBall: In the episode where she gets a blonde wig and starts to act increasingly ruder to everyone because she enjoys all the attention it gives her.
* LegFocus: Joyce [=DeWitt=] had a ''gorgeous'' set of gams and always wore pantyhose on the show, refusing to appear bare-legged even when her character was supposedly [[ModestyTowel naked under a towel]]. She even appeared in several [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhGPELYfXgM commercials]] for L'eggs.
* MaleGaze: There tends to be countless of shots of her curvy behind, more often than Chrissy, even.
* MsFanservice: Frequently seen in short skirts and nighties, although more conservative than Chrissy. On rare occasions (such as "Larry Loves Janet", where she wore a bustier dress), she made it clear that she could be every bit as attractive as Chrissy.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Janet was initially somewhat of a tomboy to Chrissy's girly girl, although this became less pronounced after the first season.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Jack.

!!Christmas Noelle "Chrissy" Snow

->'''Played by:''' Creator/SuzanneSomers (Seasons 1-5)

* BrainlessBeauty
* TheDitz
* DumbBlonde
* DumbIsGood
* {{Flanderization}}: In the first season, Chrissy was somewhat naïve but not really stupid; from Season 2 onwards, she TookALevelInDumbass.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She may not be too bright, but she compensates for that by being very nice.
* MsFanservice: The most of the show, frequently shown in bathing suits and short shorts.
* PreachersKid: Her father is a conservative Methodist minister, leading to the inevitable conflict over his daughter's decidedly non-traditional lifestyle. Amusingly, the actor who played Reverend Snow, Peter Mark Richman, is actually Jewish in real life.
* PutOnABus: Following Suzanne Somers' departure.
* PunnyName: Which, she explains, is a result of her father [[Music/MerryChristmas being a big Bing Crosby fan]].
* TookALevelInDumbass: Early on, she wasn't particularly bright, but she was somewhat ditzy and naïve at worst. By the end, she was so dumb it was a wonder she could get dressed in the morning.

!!Stanley and Helen Roper

->'''Played by:''' Creator/NormanFell and Creator/AudraLindley (Seasons 1-3)

* AndStarring: During their time on the show, Fell and Lindley got an "And Starring as the Ropers" credit.
* AsideGlance: Mr. Roper's specialty, after getting in a really good dig at his wife.
** Many times, this flirts with BreakingTheFourthWall, as Mr. Roper looks straight at the camera (and thus the viewer) and smiles broadly.
* AwfulWeddedLife: Albeit with occasional AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther moments.
* CaptainObvious: Mr. Roper occasionally, prompting Mrs. Roper to reply, "[[SarcasmMode Very good, Stanley]]."
* CrankyLandlord: Mr. Roper
* IconicOutfit: Mr. Roper's cardigan sweaters, and Mrs. Roper's caftan dresses.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mr. Roper. He's grouchy, greedy, and often makes insulting comments about his wife and Jack. But deep down, he loves his wife, and cares about Jack, Janet and Chrissy.
* PutOnABus: They move across town (and to their own spinoff show) at the end of season 3.
** TheBusCameBack: They make a one-shot return in the season 5 episode "Night of the Ropers".
* SecretKeeper: Mrs. Roper finds out Jack isn't really gay in the second episode, but goes along with the charade in her husband's presence for the rest of their time on the show.
* SexlessMarriage: The Ropers appear to have one of these for the most part, much to Mrs. Roper's chagrin.
* SingleIssueLandlord: Mr. Roper will not stand for a single man sharing an apartment with two women. Hence Jack's need for FauxYay.

!!Larry Dallas

->'''Played by:''' Creator/RichardKline (Seasons 2-8)

* AscendedExtra: He made a one-shot appearance in the first season before being brought back as a RecurringCharacter in Season 2.
* CasanovaWannabe: Could be considered one of the defining examples for the disco era.
* HollywoodToneDeaf: Larry's singing is terrible, as Jack and crew discover when he inadvertently hires Larry to sing at his restaurant.
** Inverted in Season 6's "Strangers in the Night," when [[PlayingCyrano he sings while Jack pretends]] to serenade his GirlOfTheWeek.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even if he makes a sleazy first impression, and occasionally schemes, Larry actually is a pretty nice guy, and he genuinely cares about his friends.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In Season 4.
* SmallNameBigEgo

!!Ralph Furley

->'''Played by:''' Creator/DonKnotts (Seasons 4-8)

* AbhorrentAdmirer: To Lana, and many of the women he tries to hit on.
* AlwaysCamp: His loud Seventies clothes seem to make sense only in his mind.
* AscendedExtra: Furley was originally supposed to be a one-time character, but Knotts fit in so efficiently with the rest of the cast that he became a series regular.
* CasanovaWannabe
* CatchPhrase: "Now hear this!"
* DirtyOldMan
* DropInLandlord: Eccentric, frequently around, and frequently roped into whatever wacky hijinx the main characters got up to.
* {{Expy}}: He's basically [[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Barney Fife]] in a leisure suit.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Like Mr. Roper, he is the only member of the cast who does not know that Jack is really straight.
** Unlike Mr. Roper, it's implied that Furley himself would not have a problem with the trio's living situation, especially given his own "swinger" lifestyle. It's just that his brother Bart, the building's true owner, would never stand for it.

!!Lana Shields

->'''Played by:''' Creator/AnnWedgeworth (Season 4)

* AbhorrentAdmirer: To Jack, and she never takes the hint.
* AllWomenAreLustful: Often considered to be TV's first "cougar".
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Appeared in only 9 episodes and was last seen in "A Black Letter Day", given very little explanation on her disappearance, and was not mentioned after the episode.
* MrsRobinson: Part of the reason the character was quietly dropped was due to John Ritter's complaints about the implausibility of Jack spurning her attentions.
* StalkingIsFunnyIfItIsFemaleAfterMale: Basically the whole idea behind her character. She was obsessed with Jack and refused to leave him alone, even moving into his apartment building to be near him. He, on the other hand, was not interested in her and would go to great lengths to avoid her. If it was one of the girls who had an older man chasing them, the situation likely would not have been seen as funny.

!!Cindy Snow

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JenileeHarrison (Seasons 5-6)

* CuteClumsyGirl: Her primary attribute.
* CommutingOnABus: In Season 6 she moves out of the apartment to attend UCLA, but continues to make regular appearances before eventually [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome vanishing without explanation]].
* NiceGirl
* TheCutie: A very sweet, bubbly, naive and approachable young girl.
* TheDitz: Albeit a milder example than Chrissy.
* TheKlutz: Even more so than Jack.
* LegFocus: While not as notable as Janet, Chrissy or Terri, Cindy did showed off her fine set of legs in short shorts quite a few times, a [[MaleGaze more notable example]] would be in the episode "Jack's Other Mother".
* StatuesqueStunner: 5'8" Jenilee Harrison actually stood taller than John Ritter in heels, and absolutely towered over petite Joyce [=DeWitt=].
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: {{Justified}}, as she's Chrissy's cousin.

!!Terri Alden

->'''Played by:''' Creator/PriscillaBarnes (Seasons 6-8)

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: To Chrissy and Cindy. She may be an attractive blonde but she's neither ditzy nor klutzy like her predecessors.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Often.
* HospitalHottie: Terri is a Registered Nurse.
* MeetCute: A non-romantic example. She first meets Jack as a hostile, uncooperative patient at the hospital where she works as a nurse.

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