[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Heathcliff]]
!!Heathcliff
* AbusiveParents: To Linton and Hareton.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: See ChangelingTale below. Isabella's letter to Nelly perfectly encapsulates this sentiment: "Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? If not, is he a devil?"
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Heathcliff's race is never clear; he is referred to as "dark" and a "gipsy." He might be literally {{UsefulNotes/Romani}}, but it could equally be that people just don't know what else to call him. At one point Nelly fancifully speculates that he could be the son of the Emperor of China and an Indian queen. Mr. Earnshaw returned with Heathcliff after a trip to {{UsefulNotes/Liverpool}}, which at the time (the 1760s) was a huge port city and the slave-trading capital of Britain. While Heathcliff's not, in Nelly's words, "a regular black", he might be black-biracial. The idea that he's some sort of biracial is also aided by the popular theory that he's actually Mr. Earnshaw's bastard son. Heathcliff simultaneously dips into tropes like RoguishRomani, ScaryBlackMan, and MixedAncestryIsAttractive.
* BastardBastard: Whether or not Mr. Earnshaw is his actual father, he has the status of a bastard; note that he has no surname. On top of that, Heathcliff's an absolute asshole.
* BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica to Edgar Linton's Betty.
* ByronicHero: Heathcliff is perhaps one of the most famous examples of Byronic hero: he starts out as a dark, outsider antihero, lonely and demonic. He may very well be one of the earliest {{deconstruction}}s, as he increasingly lacks the sympathetic side of the classical Byronic hero as he indulges in further depravity for the sake of {{revenge}} and {{greed}}, becoming an outright VillainProtagonist.
* ChangelingTale: The story toys from time to time with whether or not Heathcliff is a supernatural being, a possibility supported by the fact that he is named after an Earnshaw son who died before the start of the story. Heathcliff's mysterious origins, his tendency to cause mischief, and the fact that he's a replacement for a deceased child draw a lot of parallels to traditional changeling folklore.
* TheChessmaster: To his credit, he manages to fool everyone to his own advantage, making him the richest man of the region while being neither a Linton nor an Earnshaw.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Cathy, which may or may not be a case of SurpriseIncest. It's safe to say that, in either case, said love is unhealthily passionate and [[DarkerAndEdgier lacks the heartwarming side usually provided by a childhood romance]].
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He lost his mother at a young age under some unclear circumstances, then was bullied by his adoptive brother (and later legal guardian) Hindley for most of his childhood. Later in his life, he makes a point of proving that anyone in his shoes would turn out as bad as him. [[spoiler: And it spectacularly fails]].
* DarkIsEvil: His dark skin, hair, and eyes are often portrayed by the book as a RedRightHand reflecting his darkness of his soul.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has a sardonic sense of humour that fits a Byronic hero like him.
* DeathByDespair: According to Nellie Dean, [[spoiler: he basically lost interest in life and wanted to join Cathy as soon as possible]].
* DidNotGetTheGirl: And boy, everyone ''[[LoveMakesYouEvil will pay]]'' for this.
* DomesticAbuse: He's emotionally and sexually abusive to Isabella during their marriage. Poor Isabella is the shadow of her former self after her marriage, and leaves him as soon as she can.
* DrivenToSuicide: He basically let himself die, as he lost interest in his revenge and generally in life. [[TogetherInDeath He wanted to be reunited with Cathy]].
* EvilGloating: He occasionally does this to Nellie, gloating about how well his revenge is going and knowing there's nothing she can do.
* EvilOrphan: He was abandoned as a small child, and he's ''very'' evil.
* EvilUncle: He's technically Cathy's uncle by marriage, as Cathy herself notes before finding out his true colours. Also, he's again technically this to Hareton, either if he was Hindley's foster brother or his bastard brother.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Through a combination of forced marriages, alcohol, and bribery, Heathcliff becomes the master of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange despite not being a blood member of the Earnshaw or Linton families.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Played with; while his attitude towards Lockwood can hardly be described as pleasant, there are some hints that Heathcliff is tired of his life of hatred and bitterness and, having finally met someone who doesn't know his past and who doesn't hate him on sight (or vice versa), is for once reaching out to try and form some kind of connection with someone else, however ineptly.
* ItsAllAboutMe: It's debatable whether he is an example of this or not, since he doesn't really care if most others are happy, but still very much gravitates around people. When he cannot center his life around being with Cathy, he starts obsessing over getting revenge on everyone.
* JerkAss: Prone to sadistically hurting people who have nothing to do with his vengeance and enjoying it.
* KickTheDog: Literally. He hangs Isabella's dog for no reason.
* LackOfEmpathy: He very often expresses his bewilderment at people who imagine that he will adopt a perfectly understandable and legitimate behavior towards them.
%%* LoveMakesYouCrazy
* LoveMakesYouEvil: His all-consuming obsession with Catherine drives him to commit evil acts.
* ManipulativeBastard: He easily exploits Hindley's alcoholism, Isabella's infatuation for him, and Catherine (II)'s ingenuity to make his elaborate plan of revenge on the Earnshaws and the Lintons.
* MaritalRapeLicense: He is strongly implied to have raped Isabella during their short marriage.
* MasochismTango: He and Catherine delight in emotionally hurting each other out of jealousy. In their last scene together before her death, in which they passionately embrace, they also physically hurt each other. Heathcliff grips Catherine's arm so tightly that he leaves bruises, while Catherine tightly clasps his hair.
* MeaningfulName: "Heathcliff", which brings to mind the wild and unrestrained natural setting of the moors.
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: He ruins the lives of the Earnshaws and Lintons, but draws no joy from his victories and dies a bitter, empty man.
* MoralityPet: Heathcliff has one in Cathy (I). Downplayed, as she is no paragon of virtue, and their relationship amounts to TheMasochismTango. But he is tamer with her around, shows empathy to her alone, and becomes a truly terrible person after he loses her for good.
* MosesInTheBulrushes: Found on the streets of Liverpool at age seven by Mr. Earnshaw and the man brought him home. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation At least this is what he told]]. Some critics have argued that Heathcliff could have very well been Mr. Earnshaw's illegitimate son, as he ''casually'' happens to find him in the streets and ''casually'' names him with a typical Earnshaw name and his wife ''casually'' takes an instant dislike for the boy.
* MysteriousPast: For all of Heathcliff's life that we do know, he's still made of this trope. We don't know anything about his early years, to age seven or so, or why he couldn't speak English when he first came to the Heights, or what his name might have been before that time. The mystery only deepens in the three years he spends away from the Heights and somehow has made himself so rich in that time that he's bought the house from under Hindley's nose.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: To respectively Edgar and Catherine (II). Saying "obnoxious" is an {{understatement}}.
* OnlyOneName: His name is Heathcliff Heathcliff, since his parentage and surname are unknown.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:He outlives his son Linton, who passes away from illness]].
* ParentalFavoritism: Heathcliff is Mr Earnshaw's favourite, above his own biological children.
-->''This endurance [of bullying by Hindley] made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor fatherless child, as he called him. He took to Heathcliff strangely, believing all he said (for that matter, he said precious little, and generally the truth), and petting him up far above Cathy, who was too mischievous and wayward for a favourite. [...] [Hindley] had learned to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent’s affections and his privileges; and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries.''
* ParentalSubstitute: Weirdly enough, he's one for Hareton. He has basically robbed him of his inheritance but [[StockholmSyndrome Hareton looks at him as a father figure]] since he's the only one he ever had.
* PerpetualFrowner: He's unlikely to ever smile.
* PlayingCyrano: Linton's love letters to Catherine (II) are so beautifully written that it's implied they were most likely written by Heathcliff, since it's unlikely SpoiledBrat Linton would have such fantasy.
* PsychopathicManchild: Can come across as this due to his tendencies for RevengeByProxy, LackOfEmpathy, and general sadism, even towards those who have [[LackOfEmpathy nothing to do with his revenge]]. Just ask Isabella's dog.
* ReplacementGoldfish: A possible interpretation as to why Mr. Earnshaw decided to adopt Heathcliff. When asked what name the boy should be given, he settles on Heathcliff. Mrs. Earnshaw remarks that Heathcliff is the name of a son of theirs who died before the start of the story.
* RevengeByProxy: His plan of revenge on Hindley and Edgar includes degrading their children.
** His manipulation and abuse of Isabella and Linton could also apply as they were part of his ploy to take Edgar's property for himself.
%%* {{Sadist}}: Oh, [[SarcasmMode only a little bit...]]
* SelfMadeMan: During the three years he was missing, he somehow managed to make a fortune on his own. Given [[TheUnfettered his personality]] and the short time he made it, it's heavily implied that said fortune is legally and morally ambiguous.
%%* ShadowArchetype: To Edgar Linton.
%%* TheRival: To both Edgar Linton and Hindley Earnshaw.
* StalkerWithACrush: The reason he catches the first part of Cathy's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove was because he had been eavesdropping and later after she’s married Edgar he spends many nights at Thrushcross Grange watching Cathy through the windows. There’s also that little matter of [[spoiler: [[{{Squick}} digging up her dead body]]]]! Though Cathy being [[{{Tsundere}} Cathy]], [[StalkingIsLove she doesn’t seem to mind]] all that much…
* StartOfDarkness: Cathy's apparent rejection of him is what finally makes him wanting to get revenge on everyone.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: As he grows up, he gets TallDarkAndHandsome but with a dry humor and sharp tongue.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: When Catherine said her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Nelly, Heathcliff, who had been eavesdropping, only heard the part where Catherine says that Heathcliff would "degrade her." This prompts the embittered Heathcliff, who believed he had been rejected by the person he cared about most, to leave Wuthering Heights and disappear for three years, returning wealthy and hell-bent on ruling both the Earnshaw and Linton families.
* TragicVillain: While Heathcliff is a sociopathic monster, parts of his story are tragic. He was abandoned as a small child, adopted into a family with several members who were ambivalent about his presence, constantly treated as inferior due to his skin color and ancestry, and unable to marry the woman he longed for.
* TroubledAbuser: Heathcliff was an abused child who grew into an abusive man. His early life appears to have been rocky, he lost his mother at a young age, and he came to Wuthering Heights and was subjected to racist and classist scorn and abuse by Hindley for the rest of his adolescence. Then as an adult, he abuses Isabella, abuses his son Linton, abuses animals, disenfranchises Hareton, and is cruel to his tenants.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: He starts planning his RoaringRampageOfRevenge at age 13.
-->'''Heathcliff:''' I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don't care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do!\\
'''Nelly:''' For shame, Heathcliff! It is for God to punish wicked people; we should learn to forgive.\\
'''Heathcliff:''' No, God won't have the satisfaction that I shall.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:With Catherine. Some people can see them walking together as ghosts.]]
* UnbalancedByRivalsKid: The source of his dislike for Catherine (II). Being his beloved Cathy's daughter doesn't spare her, since she is most of all ''Edgar's'' daughter and takes strongly after him. Also, [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild Cathy died by giving birth to said daughter]].
* TheUnfettered: There's no action he won't stoop to ruin the Earnshaws and Lintons.
%%* VillainousBreakdown: When he sees [[spoiler:Catherine (II) and Hareton falling in love]].
* VillainProtagonist: His life ambition is to wreak vengeance on all who have (in his opinion) stood between him and his would-be lover Catherine Earnshaw. He achieves this by mentally and physically abusing them and embezzling their property. He extends his revenge [[SinsOfOurFathers to the children of his enemies]].
* WhosYourDaddy: Nobody knows who actually were his parents. [[spoiler: Some fans think he may have been Mr. Earnshaw's illegitimate son.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: After experiencing abandonment and discrimination throughout his childhood, Heathcliff proceeds to ruin the Earnshaws and Lintons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Cathy]]
!!Catherine Earnshaw-Linton
* AdaptationalHeroism: She comes off as a lot less of a JerkAss in the 1939 film and the 2009 miniseries.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}--the love between Catherine and Heathcliff is passionate, but it is also clearly unhealthy and intensely destructive, leading to nothing but the ruin of the lovers and almost everyone around them.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Her famous "I ''am'' Heathcliff!" speech to Nellie Dean. [[spoiler: Too bad Heathcliff leaves before he can hear it.]]
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Heathcliff bribes the sexton [[spoiler:(who is burying Edgar)]] to open up Cathy's coffin, and remarks that her face is still the same, and has not decayed (despite Cathy having been dead for seventeen years at that point). However, it's left open to the reader's interpretation whether her beauty was truly untarnished, or if it was just Heathcliff's obsession that altered his perception of her rotting corpse.
* BrainFever: She's also a victim of her own contradictory passions, which accelerate her downfall.
* BrutalHonesty: One of her more decent actions is to (unsuccessfully) warn Isabella off loving/romanticizing Healthcliff.
-->'''Cathy:''' Pray, don't imagine that he conceals depths of benevolence and affection beneath a stern exterior! He's not a rough diamond--a pearl-containing oyster of a rustic: he's a fierce, pitiless, wolfish man.
* DeathByDespair: [[spoiler:As she is dying, she claims that both Edgar and he have broken her heart.]]
* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler:She's given roughly equal focus to Heathcliff early on, but dies halfway into the book, with the remainder focusing on her daughter instead.]]
* DeathByChildbirth: [[spoiler: She may have survived her mental agony had she not been heavily pregnant.]]
* DramaQueen: She goes into hysterics at the drop of a hat and [[NeverMyFault never sees anything wrong with that]]. Her overreacting eventually [[spoiler: causes her insanity and death.]]
* CloudCuckoolander: Moreso as her unhealthy and contradictory love for Heathcliff leads to SanitySlippage.
* FreudianExcuse: She fell gravely ill at a very young age, and developed a persistent health problem where getting too angry could lead to seizures. Thus, to avoid exacerbating her health issues, her parents decided to just spoil her absolutely rotten.
* GoldDigger: Not that she didn't like Edgar, but blatantly states that she wants to socially elevate herself by marrying Edgar and even believes that with Edgar's money she can help Heathcliff get out from under Hindley.
* HystericalWoman: Driven to this towards the middle of the novel, going as far as searching for Heathcliff across the moors during a storm, which causes her to catch a fever and almost die. Later, her anguish leads her to starve herself for days and then fall victim to BrainFever, [[spoiler: leading to her DeathByChildbirth.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Well, since Heathcliff is the only one she has any deep-seated interest in, and she basically says she is him (and probably wants to identify entirely with him; see below), she may be a literal example. She is initially as abusive as her brother is towards Heathcliff, then manipulates Linton, doesn't care about the health of her brother, her sister-in-law, or poor Nelly, to whom she is very much a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk.
* JerkAss: Her selfish desire to try and have everything destroys two families across several generations. Worse, she knows both what Heathcliff is capable of and what her actions are bringing about, but refuses to change.
* JerkassHasAPoint: While her reasons for doing so are hardly altruistic, she isn’t the least bit wrong when she points out to [[TheIngenue Isabella]] what a profoundly ''bad'' idea it is to pursue a relationship with someone as unstable as [[BastardBoyfriend Heathcliff]]!
* TheLostLenore: To both Edgar and Heathcliff. Obviously, Heathcliff is the one who handles her loss [[LoveMakesYouEvil far less well]].
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Her love for Heathcliff is passionate but incredibly unhealthy and twisted, and eventually consumes her with insanity. Pauline Nestor's introduction to the novel argues that her desire for total identification with the object of her love ('I ''am'' Heathcliff!' rather than 'I love Heathcliff') represents a regression to childlike lack of identity, also shown by her failing to recognise her own reflection in a mirror just before she dies. Catherine's love is so insane that it basically destroys her entire identity and personality.
* TheMasochismTango: The love between her and Heathcliff is violently passionate (even if most probably never consummated) so much that is intoxicating.
* MoralityPet: For Heathcliff. Downplayed, as she is no paragon of virtue, and their relationship amounts to TheMasochismTango. But he is tamer with her around, he shows empathy to her alone, and becomes a truly terrible person after he loses her for good.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her desire to have her cake and eat it (marrying Edgar for money and status while keeping Heathcliff on the side) ultimately leads to [[spoiler: her own death]] and Heathcliff's descent into madness and need for revenge.
* TheOphelia: As her mental health degenerates, she detaches from reality.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: In contrast with the blonde and delicate Lintons, the Earnshaws are described as being dark haired and robust.
* ShesAllGrownUp: Her weeks at Thrushcross Grange, Catherine is made into a groomed and refined young lady.
* SpoiledBrat: With doctor's orders, nonetheless: we're told that from her first serious illness onward, she was allowed to run free and do as she pleased because she came dangerously close to a fit (seizure) whenever she was especially angry. Sure enough, after Heathcliff and Edgar finally do make her overwhelmingly angry, she develops a full-blown BrainFever.
* StarCrossedLovers: She and Heathcliff are haunted by each other, separated by social convention but impossible to emotionally separate.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The tomboy to Isabella's girly girl.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hindley]]
!! Hindley Earnshaw
Catherine's older brother and after his father's death, the owner of Wuthering Heights.
* AbusiveParents: Nellie hides Hindley's young son whenever Hindley is drunk, due to the man's violent and unpredictable behavior.
* TheAlcoholic: He becomes an alcoholic after his wife's death.
* AlcoholicParent: Due to his drinking, he barely notices his son [[spoiler: and comes close to accidentally killing him.]]
* AloofOlderBrother: He is this at his ''best'' (he and Catherine are not particularly close) but he's a BigBrotherBully at his worst, especially to Heathcliff.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: If you subscribe to the theory that Hindley is murdered by Heathcliff]].
* BigBrotherBully: To his foster brother Heathcliff he's this since the beginning, and to a lesser extent to Catherine when she sticks to hanging out with Heathcliff.
* TheBully: He bullied Heathcliff when Heathcliff was a child.
* DramaticIrony: [[spoiler: Heathcliff's later treatment of his son Hareton mirrors the way Hindley himself treats Heathcliff when his father dies and he inherits the estate]].
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Hindley's death occurs off-page but is assumed to be a result of his drunkenness. Only [[spoiler: Heathcliff]] is said to be with him when he dies and it is implied that he gambles away ownership of Wuthering Heights to the latter during this period. Whether or not [[spoiler: Heathcliff]] had any hand in his death is ambiguous.
* DrowningMySorrows: After his wife's death in childbirth. It's also strongly implied that [[spoiler: Heathcliff]] encourages this.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He refrains from drinking on the day of Catherine's funeral, out of respect for his sister. He's also genuinely HappilyMarried to Frances and spirals into alcoholism due to grief at her death.
%%* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: For some readers, the manner of his death]].
%%* InadequateInheritor: A ''very'' inadequate heir to the Earnshaw estate.
* {{Jerkass}}: His treatment of Heathcliff is largely what [[StartOfDarkness shapes]] the latter into the cruel and bitter person of the second half of the novel.
* MySisterIsOffLimits: An element of his resentment towards Heathcliff is his inappropriate (in his opinion) affection for his sister.
* SiblingRivalry: Hindley hates Heathcliff because his father preferred Heathcliff to him.
* TheUnfavorite: Another reason for his hatred is that Mr. Earnshaw favoured Heathcliff over his own son. This goes straight to fuel [[EpilepticTrees Heathcliff's dubious parentage]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Edgar]]
!!Edgar Linton
* BadassBookworm: Despite coming across as a nerd and a weakling, thrashes Heathcliff the one time they actually fight. Forever after, Heathcliff won't risk confronting him unarmed, even during the many long, solitary walks Edgar takes out on moors.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Heathcliff found this out the hard way. Edgar packs a nasty punch.
* BettyAndVeronica: The Betty to Heathcliff's Veronica.
* DoggedNiceGuy: He extremely dotes on his wife and even lets [[TheRival Heathcliff]] hanging around his house because it'd make Cathy happy.
* GoodParents: He's the only major character that isn't [[AbusiveParents abusive]], and raises Cathy to be a good if not a little spoiled young lady.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: He's a blond-haired man with a noble, loving heart.
* LetThemDieHappy: [[spoiler:He dies thinking that his daughter will be happy with Linton.]]
* LoveAtFirstPunch: He falls in love with Catherine after she acts like a huge brat to the servants and even ''hits him''.
* MySisterIsOffLimits: With good reasons, actually. He knows very well how Heathcliff is a terrible match for his sister, but sadly she won't listen, and ''boy'' does she pay.
* NiceGuy: Compared to everyone else, since everyone else is mostly a {{Jerkass}}. He's not a jerk to anyone without good reason. Sadly, this also leads him to believe the best in Linton, and think that Cathy II will be happy with him.
** It also leads to him not explaining what exactly Heathcliff has done to Cathy II (he can't bring himself to). As a result, she can't put herself on guard against him until it's much too late. And even when he does try to explain his history with Heathcliff, he finds himself unable to explain it in detail.
* OnlySaneMan: The only character who isn't a dick, an alcoholic, or abusive, the one who sees through Heathcliff's plotting. He's sadly not sane enough to actively prevent most of the madness that ensues.
* TheRival: To Heathcliff. It borders on {{Archenemy}} as the second part of the novel revolves around Heathcliff's plotting for Edgar's downfall, but Heathcliff never openly risks confronting him and waits for his death to take possession of his home.
* RomanticFalseLead: Catherine marries him even though her passion is for Heathcliff.
* ShelteredAristocrat: He lives a pampered life which has made him considerably softer than his neighbours the Earnshaws. Though, as previously noted, not quite as soft as you'd think, as Heathcliff finds out to his dismay.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Isabella]]
!!Isabella Linton-Heathcliff
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Deconstructed. She wants Heathcliff at first but lives to thoroughly regret it.
* BreakTheCutie: The proto-LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek about marrying a man seemingly a PrinceCharming that turns out to be an abusive hell. Only it's made better.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Her brother was damn right, although, unfortunately, he decides to disown her for her elopement.
* DomesticAbuse: Heathcliff is emotionally and sexually abusive to her during their marriage.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: She dies off-page, twelve years after she left Wuthering Heights.
* FallenPrincess: She was the princess of her house until she had the bad idea of marrying Heathcliff against her family's will. She ended up disowned by her brother and trapped in an abusive marriage.
* {{Elopement}}: She's so love-struck that she agrees to run away with Heathcliff. ''She regrets that choice''.
* GrewASpine: Gains the courage to stand up to Heathcliff after he brutally beats Hindley, after which she flees Wuthering Heights for good.
* ICanChangeMyBeloved: With Heathcliff. It works as you'd expect.
* InnocentBlueEyes: They match her pampered and naïve personality.
* KilledOffscreen: She dies "offscreen" from an illness when her son Linton is 12 years old, thus facilitating his appearance in the main plot and allowing Heathcliff's revenge scheme to kick off.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Married Heathcliff, and... it ends up as realistic as expected.
* RevengeByProxy: Is on the receiving end of this courtesy of Heathcliff. He outright admits that he manipulated her into the marriage by playing a nice guy so that he could make her his personal chew toy until her brother suffers his wrath. DomesticAbuse and (undoubtedbly) MaritalRapeLicense ensues until she books it.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: Between Cathy (I)'s and Hindley's deaths.
* SmittenTeenageGirl: She projects her PrinceCharming reverie on resident bad boy Heathcliff.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The girly-girl to Catherine's tomboy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Nelly]]
!!Ellen "Nelly" Dean
* BeleagueredAssistant: She can barely tolerate Catherine's attitude, but is forced to if she wants to keep her job.
* CollateralAngst: She's only a servant, but she feels for all the tragedy she witnesses, especially when it comes to affect Catherine (II), whom she sees as her surrogate daughter.
* CharacterNarrator: UnreliableNarrator from certain angles.
* FatalFlaw: [[BystanderSyndrome Complacency]]. Nelly has a comfortable life as a live-in maid for a wealthy household, but it's ''because'' she knows how good she has it that she refuses to do anything that could jeapordize her position. She thus indirectly causes most of the plot to happen due to constantly enabling Heathcliff and Catherine's worst habits.
* MamaBear: Say what you will about Ellen Dean but you ''will not'' mess with Cathy (II) or Hareton if she’s got anything to say about it! She takes her role as a ParentalSubstitute very seriously and will stand up to a drunken Hindley for the latter and a vengeful Heathcliff for the former, in fact the whole reason she tells the story to Lockwood is because she was [[ShipperWithAnAgenda hoping]] he would become Cathy’s KnightInShiningArmour
* NeverMyFault: Her [[PoorCommunicationKills fatal flaw]] of sorts, as her not wanting to get herself into trouble ends up unintentionally enabling some of Heathcliff's manipulations; for example, electing to burn Cathy (II)'s love letters to Linton rather than tell Edgar about them.
* OnlySaneWoman: She presents herself as one of the few level-headed people in a cast of broken, vicious, and deranged characters. Upon closer inspection, she herself willingly does many of the things that she abhors in other people--such as lying to Cathy, punishing her cruelly, and keeping her captive and ignorant.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Catherine (both of them, but especially the younger one). She was briefly one for Hareton until Heathcliff came to reclaim him.
* ServileSnarker: Being the OnlySaneWoman does this to you.
* ShallowCannotComprehendTrueLove: The complacent, slightly classist Nelly reacts to the love-fueled insanity unfolding around her with bemusement as to why someone would choose passion over stability. [[spoiler:It takes Hareton and Cathy hooking up [[CharacterDevelopment for her to finally understand.]]]]
* ShipperOnDeck: She ships Cathy/Lockwood hoping he rescues her from her terrible life. [[spoiler: Later, she's all for Cathy/Hareton.]]
* SurroundedByIdiots: She thinks this of all the mess she witnesses, but she also could be an UnreliableNarrator who doesn't understand Cathy and Heathcliff's sentiments and how to handle them.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Shows shades of this towards the end and tries to have Heathcliff redeem himself, but he's having none of this.
* UnreliableNarrator: Sadly, we'll never have a different point of view of all this drama and we have to rely on her witness, which is partially contaminated by her dislike of Heathcliff and Catherine.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: She realizes that Heathcliff was eavesdropping on her conversation with Cathy and about how it would dishonor her to marry him, but decides not to alert her when he leaves. ''Big'' mistake, Nelly...
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mr. Lockwood]]
!!Mr. Lockwood
* ButtMonkey: The first pages establish him as such in his less-than-idyllic sojourn at Wuthering Heights.
* CharacterDevelopment: He's pretty much the only character in the book to actually learn something from the events of the past.
* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Mr. Lockwood acts as the narrator for the first part of the book, even though he is not the main character.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Played with; he's inclined to think of Heathcliff as a "capital fellow" because he ''wants'' his landlord to be antisocial and reclusive. Heathcliff's less-than-gentlemanly conduct during their early meetings doesn't exactly escape his notice, but he seems willing to wave it off due to the above and, well, Heathcliff being his landlord. After hearing Nelly's full story, he seems to have a highly critical opinion of Heathcliff, but he doesn't do anything about it, as he owes Heathcliff six months' rent.
** Tellingly, he also has a very high (and accurate) opinion of Hareton Earnshaw when everyone else considers him an uncultured lout because he notices Hareton being torn between loyalty to Heathcliff and Cathy. He's still prone to judging Cathy's rudeness a bit harshly even after learning what a BrokenBird she is, though.
* NaiveNewcomer: Combined with an early HorribleJudgeOfCharacter--he thinks Heathcliff is a "capital fellow" at first!
* OnlyOneName: His first name is never mentioned.
* OnlySaneMan: To an extent. Though he seems to be very much an intended meta-ButtMonkey.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Nelly tries to set him up as young Cathy's savior, but he's smart enough to know a romance between the two of them wouldn't work, although he is tempted by the idea.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Upon learning the full extent of Heathcliff's amorality, he curtly decides to leave.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: He claims to be such a man but finds out quickly that compared to Heathcliff, he's a softy.
* UnreliableNarrator: His judgment of character varies between good and bad and he's prone to misinterpreting the situations around him.
[[/folder]]
----
[[WMG: GenerationXerox]]

[[folder: Cathy]]
!! Catherine Heathcliff [[spoiler: Earnshaw]], née Linton
* BreakTheHaughty: She starts as a slightly haughty but kind-hearted girl, but the second part of the novel is about Heathcliff breaking her. Under Heathcliff's tyrannical rule over her new husband's home, she withers and becomes [[BrokenBird embittered and cold]].
* BrokenBird: She's introduced as cold and bitchy, but she has damn good reasons to be like that.
* DaddysGirl: Her father is a widowed man with a single daughter, so she was obviously the princess of the house.
* DeadGuyJunior: She's named after ([[SarcasmMode surprise!]]) her mother.
* DefrostingIceQueen: [[spoiler: And a thing quite [[FairForItsDay forward-thinking]], she defrosts by herself taking things into her own hands and making her life less empty.]]
* FamilyEyeResemblance: The only resemblance she has to her mother is her dark "Earnshaw" eyes.
* HairOfGold: Double subverted. She appears cold, cynical, apathetic, and rude at the start of the story, subverting the image Lockwood assumes when he observes her beauty and blond hair. However, it's ultimately revealed that Cathy is a good person at heart.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Unlike her mother, who is this ''at her best'', she is this ''at her worst'', at the beginning of her storyline and during her BrokenBird phase. Even at her most bitter, she still asks for Lockwood to be led back home, instead of let out to get lost in the swamps under the tempest.
* KissingCousins: With Linton, [[spoiler: as Heathcliff set up, but later falls for Hareton]].
* InnocentBigot: Towards servants and social inferiors. Given her [[spoiler: treatment of Hareton]], we suppose she got better.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: She's this to Hareton initially, but Hareton doesn't take the insult well.
* SlapSlapKiss: [[spoiler: With Hareton. They form a strong bond after years of dislike from Cathy's side and dissimulated feelings on Hareton's]].
* SpiritedYoungLady: She inherited a wild streak from her mother's side, but it's mostly tamed by Nelly and Edgar's efforts, making her a refined if lively young lady.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Nelly notes that although she looks nothing like Catherine except for having the same dark eyes, they are very similar in personality, particularly in their spirited and stubborn natures, although the younger Catherine's upbringing by Nelly and Edgar seems to temper her wilder impulses.
* WellExcuseMePrincess: [[spoiler:With Hareton Earnshaw. Their BelligerentSexualTension evolves into KissingCousins at the end.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Linton]]
!!Linton Heathcliff
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: It's never quite stated, [[spoiler: but he seems to have decided to JumpOffTheSlipperySlope and has gone from jerk to sociopath during his stay at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is strongly implied to have brutalized him]].
* ChildByRape: This was strongly implied to be how he was conceived since Isabella grew to hate Heathcliff, and it's implied he abused her both physically and sexually.
* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler: This is how he manages to mimic his parents' worst traits and his apparent motivation for obeying Heathcliff, but there is actually more to it. His behavior seems to be partly motivated by a genuine pleasure taken in hurting others or seeing Heathcliff hurt them. ]]
* DomesticAbuse: [[spoiler: His plans for Cathy, as he drops the meek guy façade.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first we hear of his birth in a letter from Isabella, he's described as "an ailing, peevish creature."
* HairOfGold: Subverted. Despite having the fair complexion and blond hair associated with the more "civilised" Lintons, Linton is a complete jerk.
* IllBoy: He is perpetually sickly and ailing, and dies while still in his teens. It comes from his mother's side, as Isabella and Edgar both also pass away from a wasting illness a few years apart.
%%* {{Jerkass}}: From the moment we meet him, although Nelly quickly wonders if he isn't simply a traumatized child, which is a good point given his story.
%%* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: [[spoiler: Eventually, this is how he turns out...]]
* KissingCousins: With Cathy [[spoiler: as his father did set up.]]
* MommasBoy: But who can blame him?
* PrettyBoy: The description seems to present him as this at first, as he inherits the blond hair and fine figure of the Lintons.
* SpoiledBrat: He has been spoiled rotten by his mother, which has made him weak-willed and cowardly, a thing his father ''loathes''.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: He looks just like his uncle Edgar, another reason his father doesn't like him.
* TwoFirstNames: Heathcliff isn't actually a surname since his father is a foundling, but he has adopted this as his last name anyway.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: How he secures Catherine's loyalty early on--he provokes her with jeers about her mother, and when she lightly pushes him, he acts so injured that she's forced to tend to him out of guilt.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hareton]]
!!Hareton Earnshaw
* AntiVillain: He seems to be a type II-III, constantly undergoing trauma, first because of his father, and later Heathcliff, and believing the latter to have at least some right to do things as he does... [[spoiler: He later pulls a HeelFaceTurn for Cathy. ]]
* BerserkButton: Don't insult Heathcliff in front of him. Cathy eventually learns it's a lost cause trying to change his perception of Heathcliff.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Arguably, Heathcliff tries this on him as a way to prove that, in the same conditions, ''anyone'' would have been as bad as he. [[spoiler: It fails miserably, as weirdly enough, Hareton developed positive feelings for him and most of all has the gentle nature he has never had.]]
* CrushBlush: He blushes and strongly denies that he is Cathy's husband.
* HeCleansUpNicely: Despite Heathcliff's best efforts to make him dirty and unrefined, it's evident he's good {{hunk}} material with his strong build, broad shoulders, dark hair, and dark eyes.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Due to his crush on Cathy. ]]
* HotBlooded: Whatever he does always sounds extreme, whether it's extremely tear-jerking or annoying, but he never seems to put much thought into what he does.
* {{Hunk}}: When he's cleaned up, [[MrFanservice he shines]].
* {{Foil}}: For Linton Heathcliff and to a lesser extent Heathcliff himself.
* HiddenDepths: He seems to carry Heathcliff's spirit, as becomes an ignorant, dirty, and uneducated man, but he has the gentle heart Heathcliff will never have [[spoiler: a thing that makes Heathcliff's plan for him fail miserably]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As rude as he may seem, he never dreams of hurting everyone like his ParentalSubstitute Heathcliff does and has a gentle side which goes mostly unnoticed.
* KissingCousins: [[spoiler: Unexpectedly to everyone, he forms an unlikely romance with Catherine (II) which brings an HappilyEverAfter in an otherwise dark story]].
* LikeASonToMe: Heathcliff grudgingly admits to liking Hareton more than his own sickly, spoiled son. Had the boy not been Hindley's son, he'd like to have a son like Hareton. This doesn't quite stop Heathcliff from mistreating Hareton as his {{revenge}} contemplates.
* LoveAtFirstSight: [[spoiler: He's instantly smitten with Cathy (II) but it takes years for her to notice and like him back]].
* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler: Cathy's love helps him rise above his circumstances.]]
* MadeASlave: Heathcliff raises him as a crude, illiterate servant-boy.
* MeaningfulName: He's named after the Hareton on the main door, which is obviously the ancestor of the Earnshaws. [[spoiler: He's the one who starts a new beginning for the family.]]
* NeverLearnedToRead: [[spoiler: Until Cathy starts to teach him, leading to the two bonding and Heathcliff eventually losing the will to continue his vendetta.]]
* ParentalAbandonment: Is largely left to his own devices by Hindley Earnshaw after his mother dies; Hindley himself dies when Hareton is six years old. Nelly cares for him for a while, but then Heathcliff decided the boy was [[MadeASlave his business]]...
* PetTheDog:
** ''Any'' of the times he tries to be nice to Cathy. [[ObliviousToLove Though she's]] [[WellExcuseMePrincess a bit of a bitch to him]]. [[spoiler: Until she changes her mind, befriends and eventually falls for him.]]
** Also he tried to be nice to Linton, but the latter treated him with contempt.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: He [[AllLoveIsUnrequited strongly denies]] he has anything to do with Cathy (II) when Mr. Lockwood mistakes her for his wife.
* SirSwearsALot: Heathcliff allowed him to develop crude habits. All to further disadvantage him, of course.
* SlapSlapKiss: Almost literally with [[spoiler: Cathy (II). Their bickering becomes more and more benevolent as they grow fond of each other]].
* StockholmSyndrome: Heathcliff manages to make Hareton look at himself as his only friend and father figure, and when Cathy shows defiance towards Heathcliff by calling him out on his shit, Hareton wastes no time in striking her down. ''Wow.''
* {{Tsundere}}: Rare male example. ''Especially'' [[AllLoveIsUnrequited towards Cathy]]. Because of his disadvantaged childhood and an abusive ParentalSubstitute, he has not learned how to properly express his feelings, so he could be a sweetheart one moment and then send you to hell if he feels threatened.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Heathcliff. See below.
* WealthyEverAfter: [[spoiler: At the end of the novel, with Heathcliff gone (and no will demanding otherwise), he and Cathy, [[{{Irony}} his only relatives]] inherit both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.]]
* WellExcuseMePrincess: [[spoiler: With Catherine Linton... but love will find a way anyway]]
* WildChild: Alternated with CreepyChild. [[LoveRedeems He gets better.]]
[[/folder]]
----
[[WMG: Others]]

[[folder: Joseph]]
* FunetikAksent: Joseph speaks with an impenetrable Yorkshire accent. One example:
-->'''Joseph:''' There's nobbut t' missis; and shoo'll not oppen 't an ye mak' yer flaysome dins till neeght.
* HolierThanThou: Joseph is an abrasive, Bible-thumping Calvinist.
-->'''Nelly:''' He was, and is yet most likely, the wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Frances Earnshaw]]
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: When Frances first arrives at Wuthering Heights, Nelly remarks that she has a "troublesome" cough in addition to getting out of breath when simply ascending the stairs.
* DefinitelyJustACold: Persists, along with Hindley, in insisting that her worsening consumption is just a fever. In fact, she dies immediately after telling Hindley that she'll be well enough to get up from bed the next day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mr. Earnshaw]]
* ParentalFavoritism: His obvious favouritism towards Heathcliff inadvertently sets the story's events into motion. Mr. Earnshaw grows to dislike Hindley due to his mistreatment of Heathcliff, which he perceives as a personal affront, while Catherine is too mischievous and vexing to be a favourite.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mrs. Earnshaw]]
* KilledOffScreen: She's only present in the novel long enough to admonish Mr. Earnshaw for bringing Heathcliff home. There's a two-year TimeSkip in Nelly's narration, in which she mentions that Mrs. Earnshaw died. It's never mentioned how she died, and she isn't mentioned again afterwards.
[[/folder]]