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aka: Bojack Horseman Tesuque NM

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Boston, Massachusetts

    Hobo ("Leo") 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2019_03_03_at_32027_pm.png

A homeless man whom Diane's brothers found and paid to impersonate Diane's (fake) pen pal Leo in a prom date. Only shown in a video the brothers took of the moment.


  • Bribing the Homeless: Diane's brothers paid him some money to go along with their sick joke. Judging by the look on his face as the prank unfurls, he took no pride in it.
  • Everyone Has Standards: He barely seems to know Diane, but judging by his awkward reaction, it's clear that he's not comfortable with what's happening and just accepted to get some money. He looks downright ashamed.
  • Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: Wants no part of humiliating Diane like the brothers and looks away in shame while the poor gal is getting her hopes crushed.
  • Invented Individual: A variation on this trope. In this case, "Leo" is basically a Nom De Plume from Diane's brothers' part to play with her emotions of finding a soulmate. It works so well that she agrees to go out with "Leo" to her high school prom despite never having seen him. "Leo" then shows up as a homeless man, while Diane's brothers tape the whole thing.
  • Masquerading As the Unseen: A different, non-superhero and really despicable take. Diane's brothers basically make a hobo play the part of her pen pal Leo as a mean spirited prank.
  • Only in It for the Money: Judging by the looks of it, the hobo may have only agreed to do this by getting paid. Not that he enjoyed it.
  • Prank Date: A horrifying take on it; in "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", it's revealed that when Diane was young, she had a pen-pal named Leo, created by her brothers to mess with her. Then, when they were supposed to meet for prom night, Diane's brothers hired a homeless man to pose as Leo. Diane was devastated, to say the least, as shown by the video her brothers took of the moment.
  • The Real Remington Steele: Horrifyingly invoked. Part of the cruel punchline towards Diane is that she has never seen "Leo" and as such, would let her hopes and imagination fly and raise her spirits. Then, when the right time would come, "Leo" would present himself as a homeless person and then revealed as an Invented Individual. Talk about Big Brother Bully.

Cordovia

    Sebastian St. Clair 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bj_sebastian_150x150.jpg

A Gentleman Adventurer who is doing philanthropist work in Cordovia. Diane becomes interested in doing an autobiography about him and later, in season 2, briefly becomes his autobiographer.


  • All-Loving Hero: Subverted. At first glance, he appears to be doing charity work out of concern for the people in the country and empathizing with the plight of their rough day-to-day life. As Diane later finds out, he's closer to a Sociopathic Hero.
  • Anti-Hero: He's a clear cut heroic person at least as far as intentions go, but his actions are driven much more by the recognition and his need to alliviate his own guilt than by truly altruistic motives. He's using Diane's book to bring potential investors into the mix and provide tons of donations to his foundations, which admittedly would be used for reconstructing the wasteland the country has become.
  • Bad Samaritan: Zigzagged Trope. Sebastian is an egotistical, deeply troubled man whose primary concern is to alleviate his wracking feelings of white guilt and First World Problems by providing medical and economic help to the country, which is used for hospitals and foods for refugees, something that actually helps the country and improves the situation. However, his detachment ensures that no matter what, he's always self conscious and never loses his cool staying calm even in situations where he should be panicking or grieving about the lost lives, which only add to the true despair and miscommunication between the low-class Cordovians and the wealthy St. Clair, who has never cared or understood completely such problems.
  • Bait the Dog: His first appearance in "Later" characterizes him as an athletic philanthropist with a knack for spectacle, a flair for the dramatic, and deep bravery, who travels to desolated areas and helping necessitated people while looking cool. When Diane talks to him, he sounds too good to be true. He is. During Diane's first day, Sebastian introduces her to the people at the refugee camp and even shares a tender moment with one of the orphans, his personal assistant Kinko. The next day, he advises Diane that maybe she shouldn't spend so much time with Kinko. It all goes downhill from there.
  • Big Good: ZigZagged. He's this to Cordovia's people, at least to a certain extent. There's no doubt his actions have helped the country. He's building hospitals, restoring culture by staging plays and musicals, and spearheading a soup kitchen serving everyone in a straight line. However, his indifference to the actual people he's helping and his self-centered attitude glorifying himself at the expense of others does hinder whatever good traits he has. Arguably though, his indifference might actually make him more effective than the empathetic people like Diane.
  • Broken Pedestal: The more time Diane spends with him, the more she becomes disillusioned due to his grand ego and his selfish reasons to do good actions, which she's seen enough of back at home. The fact that he's an Evil Counterpart to the flawed, yet good-natured people in her life just makes her displeasure clearer.
  • Cats Are Mean: Full of himself, convinced of his own greatness and ignorant of the true suffering of the survivors in Cordovia, Sebastian makes BoJack look humble.
  • Cats Are Superior: He's a darker take, but he's very much The Ace and a Wealthy Philanthropist, and is a snow leopard.
  • Conditioned to Accept Horror: Sebastian treats the constant war-ravaged environment of Cordovia as normal.
  • Conscience Makes You Go Back: The reason why he does charity: His imagining of the pain and suffering less fortunate people were enduring while he was enjoying the luxuries of the high life would often haunt him due to his free time and complete lack of achievements that helped others. Deconstructed, since this is portrayed as a selfish motivation that doesn't actually help people.
  • Dissonant Serenity: Eerily calm through a bomb attack.
  • Evil Counterpart/Foil: Sebastian contrasts with many other figures in Diane's life.
  • Excuse Me While I Multitask: In his first scene, he goes all around the savaged country on foot, doing backflips, bandaging wounded people, delivering supplies and jumping off a helicopter, all while talking with Diane on the phone.
  • Gentleman Adventurer: A pretty brutal Deconstruction. He's certainly affable, but as Diane finds out, just because he's charming or personable doesn't mean he does this for good reasons.
  • Glory Seeker: He's very concerned about his image, and persuades Diane to write about his exploits. There's also the press coverage he demands using photos of himself and starving citizens.
  • Hearing Voices: Started his humanitarian work to silence the cries of dying people he heard in his sleep
  • Idle Rich: Before going into humanitarian worn, he used to be a wealthy businessman, owner of a chain of high-end department stores. The screams in his head didn't allow him to enjoy this lifestyle, though.
    Sebastian: At night I heard the cries of children sick and dying. And I would scream into the night. Shut up! Shut up, children! But the phantom cries would not abate.
  • It's All About Me: Diane notes that he seriously enjoys talking about himself.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: While he is a textbook example of narcissism, he does make a solid point to Diane that grieving over the dead won't help them or the living, and his detachment ensures that he's always operational despite whatever horrors come his way. Diane proves his point further by quitting on the book and flying home with bad PTSD.
  • Large Ham: Very theatrical, like a stereotypical old-timey adventurer. Considering he's essentially "playing a part", it makes sense.
  • Non-Idle Rich: What he is now. Of course, given what made him decide to go this way was a bad reason, it's a more twisted example. His Lack of Empathy and superiority complex when it comes to helping the third world inhabitants of Cordovia doesn't help.
  • Photo Op with the Dog: During his very first appearance, Sebastian takes a selfie hugging a barely conscious civilian as a sign of solidarity. He even ignores the fact that the person isn't dead yet and needs medical care.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Yes he's a jerk, a Narcissist and a Glory Hound, but he reacted better to Diane quitting on him than BoJack did when he read the first draft of One Trick Pony. The whole time that they talk in Cordovia, he is quite honest about the fact that he detaches himself and doesn't befriend the refugees because he sees them die every day, and hardening his heart allows him to stay and build the hospitals they need. What's more, he tells Diane that he understands if she can't handle what's going on because he can tell that Kinko's death traumatized her, and won't hold it against her if she needs to go home. She does try to tough it out but returns back to Los Angeles.
  • Shameless Self-Promoter: Basically the whole reason why he persuaded Diane to write a biography about him was to use her writings as a Propaganda Machine that would inspire people to donate to his charities. Diane also notes that every three sentences or so he says something about himself.
  • Sociopathic Hero: He incredibly self-centred, who is in Cordovia mostly for the attention and to alleviate his own White Guilt, and has a severe Lack of Empathy for the war-torn country's people, but there's little doubt his funds and actions are helping, and his detachment actually helps him because it means he won't waste time grieving or panicking under stress.
  • Strolling Through the Chaos: He keeps a calm demeanor during attacks, and acts surprised and disappointed when Diane instead crouches in fear.
  • Wealthy Philanthropist: Taken to its logical conclusion.
  • White Man's Burden: He's dedicated to improving Cordovia's hospitals and homes, but dislikes interacting with its inhabitants and tries to care little as possible.

    Kinko 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sebastian_stclaire.jpg

An orphan child that becomes friends with Diane during her time in Cordovia.


    Prince Gustav 
Played by: Aaron Paul

The autocratic leader of Cordovia. He bears a very strong resemblance to Todd Chavez, with whom he briefly switched places with.


  • Aristocrats Are Evil: He runs Cordovia's tyrannical monarchy, and is known to have committed many war crimes against humanity.
  • Evil Overlord: He is responsible for overseeing genocidal atrocities during his country's civil war.
  • Identical Stranger: He looks and sounds a lot like Todd, save for a few differences (such as his thick Eastern European accent).
  • Prince and Pauper: He somehow tricked Todd into briefly switching places with him.

Tesuque, New Mexico

    Pete "Repeat" Pocket 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/g25.jpg

Played by: Jermaine Fowler

One of Penny's friends, who accompanies BoJack, Penny and Maddie for prom night. Once Maddy suffers intoxication and is in need of serious medical attention, BoJack coerces him into staying with her in the hospital. Re-appears in Season 6.


  • All There in the Script: His surname, Pocket, is only revealed in his character sheet and in a Freeze-Frame Bonus when looking through the yearbook.
  • Alliterative Name: Pete Pocket, as shown in the yearbook. Maybe his nickname is meaningful, after all.
  • Beta Couple: He and Maddie are this to BoJack and Penny, since they're carpooling together to the school dance.
  • Broken Pedestal: After admiring BoJack because of his openness towards teenage drinking and disregard for rules, he's crushed and horrified when he tries to coerce him into dumping Maddie into a hospital entrance after she suffers alcohol intoxication.
  • Character Development: He started as an impressionable teen that underwent a traumatic incident with an authority figure. Come Season Six, Pete goes to help a girl having a panic attack and coaches her through a mental exercise to calm her down. He attributes this growth to him seeing a psychiatrist. Pete also acknowledges that BoJack was more at fault for Maddy's alcohol poisoning and that it was the wrong thing for the horse to ditch her and Pete.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Unexpectedly reappears in Season Six to tell Hollyhock what happened in New Mexico.
  • Corruption of a Minor: First, there's the drinking part where Penny, Maddy and Pete are involved. Then, after Maddie collapses, Pete is persuaded by BoJack to stay with her at the hospital while he returns home with Penny.
  • Dub Name Change: The French dub changes his name to Brett. This is most likely because it rhymes with the French form of "repeat".
  • Everyone Has Standards: Underage drinking is one thing. Leaving someone who has probably poisoned herself with alcohol barely close to a hospital just because you're afraid of getting into trouble is something completely different.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: In “A Quick One, While He’s Away”, Pete grew out his hair a bit on the top, and has a beard now.
  • Fat and Skinny: The Skinny to Maddy's Fat.
  • Forced Meme: He seems to be forcing his Verbal Tic, considering he has to do it consciously and doesn't actually remember to repeat himself. He's dropped attempting to do this by the time Season 6 rolls around.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: His real name is Pete Pocket, as shown in the annuary.
  • Informed Ability: He boasts about his tendency to repeat everything twice, yet he never once does it in prom night. He constantly lampshades it:
    Pete: Hey, BoJack, I'm Pete. But they call me Pete Repeat because I always say everything twice.
    Bojack: Everything?
    Pete: Yeah, it's kind of my thing.
    Bojack: Okay.
    Pete: Ah, damn. I forgot to say that twice, didn't I? Usually I do it.
  • Innocent Bystander: Just one of the many people that BoJack ends up hurting during "Escape From L.A."
  • Ironic Nickname: Despite his nickname being "Repeat", he never once reiterates anything he says during Prom Night.
  • In-Series Nickname: Pete "Repeat".
  • Nice Guy: He's a perfectly friendly kid who has the severe misfortune of attending prom in the company of BoJack.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: He's the only source of light in the 2nd half of the episode, and even, it's subverted when he's the one freaking out about what happened to Maddy.
  • Self-Serving Memory: A slight example. He tells Hollyhock that Bojack "pratically forced" alcohol onto Maddy and him. However, in the actual episode Pete and Maddy were quite eager to accept drinks from the horse (Penny was the only one who actually declined and appointed herself as the designated driver) Slight because this detail doesn't actually shift blame away from Bojack who was the adult in the situation and should've acted like it.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Pete only shows up twice in the 76 episodes of the series, but him being a witness to Maddy's alcohol poisoning and telling Hollyhock all about it is one of the reasons why Hollyhock eventually made the hard decision to completely cut BoJack out of her life forever.
  • Time-Passage Beard: When Pete meets Hollyhock in the Season 6 Part 1 finale, he now sports a beard.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: While what happened to Maddy was an accident, he doesn't take well that he has to lie just to cover BoJack's back and responsibility in the incident. He hesitates until BoJack convinces him.
  • Unreliable Expositor: When recalling to Hollyhock about the incident involving him and BoJack, he explains to her that he "practically forced" him and Maddy to drink alcohol. That is, despite the fact that he was actually all in on him buying him and Maddie the booze for them to drink. Though it's possible that this is how he actually remembers it.
  • Verbal Tic: Supposedly, he says everything two times, but never does so while onscreen.
  • Worst Aid: Forced to do this to Maddy by BoJack, much to his chagrin.

    Maddy Ginsberg 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2015_07_17_at_95759_am.jpg

Played by: Ali Wong

Penny's second friend, after Alison Flierl, who along with Penny, BoJack and Pete, carpools to the prom. Spoiler Information 


  • Beta Couple: She and Pete are this to BoJack and Penny, since they're carpooling together to the school dance.
  • Big Fun: A bit overweight, and quite a party girl on her own.
  • Corruption of a Minor: For starters, there's the drinking part where Penny, Maddie and Pete are involved. Then, as she goes overboard with the drink, she ends up intoxicating herself and in need of medical attention.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Her: Her collapse comes out with little build-up.
  • Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Deconstructed. This is what happens when a no-holds-barred drinker with no limits and a irresponsible flaw enabler with no concept of responsibility meet and how bad things get when both of them enable each other in some capacity.
  • Innocent Bystander: Less so than Pete, since she also brought it on herself; but she's, like him, just one of the many people that BoJack ends up hurting during "Escape From L.A."
  • Left Hanging: Whether she managed to recover or died is left up in the air, since we don't see what happens afterwards. “A Quick One, While He’s Away” reveals that Maddy did survive the alcohol poisoning.
  • Remember the New Guy?: She's Penny's new best friend. Apparently, Alison F. just wasn't up to the task anymore.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Her fate is the first of many disasters caused by BoJack in "Escape From L.A."
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Maddy only shows up once in the 76 episodes of the series, but Hollyhock learning about her alcohol poisoning (and that it was mostly caused by BoJack) is one of the reasons why Hollyhock eventually made the hard decision to completely cut her half-brother out of her life forever.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: While what happened to Maddy was an accident, Pete doesn't take well that he is forced to lie just to cover BoJack's back and responsibility in the incident, as well as stay to see if she'll be okay. Even worse, the first option was leaving her at the entrance.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: What happens to her afterwards is never revealed. Until season 6, where we learn that she survived.
  • Worst Aid: Poor Maddy ends up getting intoxicated on the alcohol brought by BoJack and when deciding what to do, BoJack decides to leave Pete in the hospital to accompany her while he takes Penny home.

New York City, New York

    Jill Pill 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/characterjillpill.png
Played by: Mara Wilson

A rising playwright spider in New York theatre who was involved in "The BoJack Horseman Show".


  • Artsy Beret: An avante-garde playwright and lover of True Art who always wears a red beret.
  • Crew of One: Her "one act, one man, one night only" shows involve her running the whole thing, without backup. In the "Greg Kinglear" presentation BoJack sees, for example, Jill handles the puppet's strings, lighting, and scenery through her spider web and eight arms. Being a spider makes this easy for her.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: At first, she seems like just a one-off character who can offer BoJack a job after filming Secretariat, but then, it's revealed that Jill knows BoJack because she worked with him on his show... which is not Horsin' Around.
  • Drama Queen: Not in the traditional sense, but her Establishing Character Moment involved asking the waitress to have the cook whisper their dreams into her omelette while preparing it.
  • Extra Eyes: Eight eyes to be precise. Justified due to being a spider.
  • Establishing Character Moment: The first time we see her in person is during a live representation of "Greg Kinglear", her latest play. It has little equipment and no budget, which shows her valuing the message over aesthetic regarding what she wants to tell. The play itself and the way she approaches it also show a quirk of hers: consummate professionalism even in the most ridiculous circumstances, especially in the way she responds with stoicism to all the over-the-top tragicomedy surrounding her.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: BoJack doesn't remember her at all, until Princess Carolyn reminds him of his other show.
  • Given Name Reveal: Her real name, as stated and presented in "The BoJack Horseman Show" by Cuddlywhiskers, is Jill Filipowicz. "Jill Pill" is just her Stage Name.
  • The Mistress: To Cuddlywhiskers, the co-writer of The BoJack Horseman Show.
  • Old Flame: Again, to Cuddlywhiskers. Why did they broke up is never stated, although his reclusive attitude since the show's failure and her interests shifting may have something to do.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: She's only known by the name "Jill Pill" in New York rather than her actual name. This is partly the reason why BoJack has a hard time recognizing her, since he remembers her as Jill Filipowicz.
  • Power Dynamics Kink: In a flashback, she has a sexual relationship with the acclaimed television writer Cuddlywhiskers. Jill disobeys his orders by as throwing his bottled water on the floor, Cuddlywhiskers yells at her, and Jill boasts about how she's a "dirty girl" and implores Cuddlywhiskers to come to the bedroom and "punish" her.
  • Red Herring: What initially appears to be a grand opportunity for BoJack to participate in a play ends the moment Jill presents her idea and he rejects it because of how ludicrous it sounds.
  • Seductive Spider: Very flirtatious around her lover Cuddlywhiskers.
  • True Art: In-Universe, what she's doing nowadays. Of course, this being a Satire, it has to do with a puppet of Greg Kinnear playing a loose representation of King Lear as well as naked old men being reborn with milk.
  • Walking Spoiler: Her character reveals that BoJack had another show, less known than Horsin' Around, in which he worked with Jill.
  • Wham Line: Near the end of "Out to Sea", Princess Carolyn again mentions Jill Pill's desire to speak to BoJack about the play she's putting together.
    BoJack: Jill Pill?
    Carolyn: Ring any bells? Apparently she worked on your TV show.
    BoJack: Horsin' Around?
    Carolyn: No actually. The other TV show.
    BoJack: Other TV show...? Oh, shit! Jill...

    Cuddlywhiskers 
Played by: Jeffrey Wright

The hamster producer of The BoJack Horseman Show.


  • Broken Ace: Cuddlywhiskers won numerous awards and accolades for his work, but they never made him happy.
  • Ivy League for Everyone: He attended Harvard and was president of the Lampoon, which he often mentions.
  • Reclusive Artist: In-Universe. After succumbing to depression, he finally managed to heal himself by living a secluded peaceful lifestyle.

Manatee Fair

    Amanda Hannity 
Played by:Christine Baranski
The manatee Editor-in-Chief of the Manatee Fair magazine.
  • Bad Boss: While cordial to others in the field, she isn't a good woman to work under, as she fires an employee and sends another one home just because their dresses are ugly.
  • Brutal Honesty: Her bread and butter. She fires assistants because they dress ugly, she tells Diane the expose won't sell any magazines, she tells Princess Carolyn that having a child might not be beneficial to her career, etc.
  • Conflicting Loyalty: She sides with Diane that Hank needs to be taken down, but changes her mind once she learns that the story will not make much revenue.
  • Da Editor: Deconstructed. As Editor-in-Chief, she has last say on what gets printed, but she still needs to submit to the powers above her, as Manatee Fair is just a magazine owned by a much larger company.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments.
  • Fat Bastard: An aggressive editor who is very overweight. Justified due to her species.
  • Going for the Big Scoop: She encourages Diane to get Nicole, Hank's current assistant, on the record discussing what it was like to work under him.
  • Grande Dame: An editor-in-chief, poised, assertive, high end and polished.
  • Hypocrite: She tells Diane women shouldn't have to fear talking out of turn and not being pretty little housewives, and yet she fires her staff for their less than flattering attire.
  • Iron Lady: Deconstructed. Amanda truly is a force to be reckoned with and she earns much respect from other females in the industry. Despite being a feminist with noble intentions, she is still just a cog in the machine and must hold her tongue if the story won't generate much revenue for her bosses.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Diane has a hard time refuting the fact that Amanda was willing to publish the expose if they had a source and evidence. When they find out that Hank used Nicole to threaten Diane into dropping the story, Amanda says that without any evidence, publishing the story would be hearsay and invite lawsuits. Diane is forced to agree almost immediately, even while noting that Hank's parent-company owns the Manatee Fair.
  • Kick the Dog: She harshly breaks it to Diane that she can't publish the latter's expose on Hank Hippopopalous because it won't sell magazines and Manatee Fair and MBN are sister companies, despite previously wanting to work alongside her. To a lesser extent, it's that Diane doesn't have proof.
  • Lady Drunk: Informed Flaw. Princess Carolyn mentions she "can knock a drink back like a Kennedy at a wake for one of the other Kennedys" and still be a superb editor, but she is never shown drinking any alcohol on-screen.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Averted. She will fire somebody for so much as their ugly attire.
  • Powers That Be: Deconstructed, as it is an unfortunate consequence of her position. While Manatee Fair has the power to influence people, it's still just a subsidiary of a much larger conglomerate - AOL-Time-Warner-Pepsico-Viacom-Halliburton-Skynet-Toyota-Trader-Joe's to be specific. While she might want to take down Hank, the megacorporation owns the MBN Network, which profits off of Hank's dance show, so it would be bad for business to talk smack about him.

    Heather 
Played by: Natasha Leggero
A journalist working for Manatee Fair, who interviews BoJack in "Start Spreading the News."
  • Chekhov's Gun: The tape recording she has of BoJack confessing that she nearly slept with Penny is never shown for the rest of Season 3. In "Bojack the Feminist" Ana realizes Vance and BoJack are just pretending to be feminists for the publicity and don't really care about women, she gives the tape to Diane, which leads to their relationship souring.
  • Innocently Insensitive: She tells BoJack when they're about to sleep together to "get up on her boat." Too bad it triggered his feelings about Penny Carson.
  • Intrepid Reporter: She compromises her integrity by sleeping with BoJack. After an unfortunate remark, she triggers BoJack, who confesses that he nearly slept with a teenaged girl in New Mexico and the version of him in Secretariat is just computer generated. Would've made for such a scoop, but thankfully, BoJack had Ana Spanakopita as his publicist.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Heather only appears in one episode, but the tape she records leads to the fracturing of BoJack and Diane's relationship in Season 5.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never really stated what Ana meant by "took care of everything" beyond the fact Ana somehow took possession of the tape. She can be heard talking on the phone to Heather in "It's You" when BoJack gets nominated for an Oscar.

Pacific Ocean City

    General 
  • Apocalypse How: Class 0. In "That Went Well", the crash between the Escape from L.A. and the Cargo Cartindale transporting food, combined with the sun heat, causes several tons of pasta to boil, threatening Pacific Ocean City's existence. As it's explained, if nothing is done, it could lead to the entirety of its population being boiled alive. Then again, considering we're talking about sea creatures here, this could lead to a Class 4 scenario.
  • Awesome Underwater World: The entirety of "Fish Out Of Water" takes place in Pacific Ocean City and it's one of the most beautifully animated episodes of the series.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Barely avoided after the major incident in "That Went Well". Boiled alive by pasta and probably rising to the surface to be eaten by either people or predators is not a good way to go.
  • No Name Given: Other than "Skinny Gina" and Nadia, none of POC's citizens are named.
  • Underwater City: A real, functional Atlantis without any fantastic technology and just a different culture. This of course presents several problems during season 3.
    • "Fish Out Of Water": BoJack's visit for the Pacific Ocean Film Festival is made difficult by the Culture Clash, especially not knowing how to operate his helmet, how to eat while underwater, which signs not to do in public, what's the bus schedule, how to pay for things, the list goes on. This is shown to demonstrate the issues BJ has with communication and the problems that come with an actual Underwater City.
    • "That Went Well" shows also what would happen if a catastrophe were to occur nearby: in this case, a shipwreck containing a lot of food. The citizens are lucky someone was impulsive enough to buy several strainers.
  • Water Is Air: Zigzagged mercilessly, mostly for the sake of jokes. Land-dwellers need special helmets to breathe in the underwater city. However, we see walruses and other such sea animals that actually need air doing totally fine without them. In the spirit of this trope, citizens walk and drive along the sea floor instead of swimming or floating (they also walk normally without any extra effort), yet, BoJack realizes soon enough that he actually can swim, something he takes advantage of to escape safely through a window several stories above the floor. Made even more hilarious by the fact that his pursuers, actual fish, make no effort to swim after him, instead standing there shaking their fists. Printed media and pens seem to be a thing down there as well, but the moment BoJack tries to communicate with Kelsey through a heartfelt, hand-written letter, the ink washes away. This trope seems to be averted and played straight as the story demands, and it's perfect.
  • Weird Currency: The underwater dwellers use multicolored shells as currency.

    Seahorse Father 
  • Explosive Breeder: Yeah, the whole giving birth to 6 infants thing...
  • Fish People: A humanoid seahorse.
  • Mister Seahorse: His role in the episode, as he gives birth.
  • No Name Given: "Hippocampus Father" or "Mr. Seahorse", your pick.
  • Non-Verbal Miscommunication: The reason behind the whole shebang: Mr. Seahorse starts going into labor on his way to work and because of the no-delivery policy of the bus driver, he’s forced to ask a “surface” stranger for help...except the stranger doesn’t understand, can’t talk due to ignorance of how his helmet works and doesn’t know the first thing about being a midwife. After a disastrous, yet clean birth, he leaves with his 5 children...leaving the 6th behind, which the stranger tries to tell him about to no avail, since he still can’t talk.
  • Obligatory Joke: He's an anthropomorphic male seahorse. Of course he was going to give birth.
  • Obvious Pregnancy: Symptoms include panicking, bloated belly, the nature of real seahorses, going into contractions, asking a stranger for “assistance”. If only he had a T-shirt saying “Giving birth over here!”, there could be a definite diagnosis.
  • One-Shot Character: Only appears in "Fish Out Of Water".
  • Panicky Expectant Father: Well, wouldn't you panic if you're about to give birth in a bus, the drivers have a explicit clause that keeps them from delivering and you're forced to ask a stranger for assistance?
  • Parental Neglect: Downplayed. He doesn’t realize he has a sixth offspring until BJ comes knocking at his door, leaving him dismayed. However, the brief scene of him interacting with his children shows him coming home tired and passive enough to be yanked by them is gonna happen often.
  • Parents as People: Due to his long shifts at the Taffywater Factory, he often arrives home tired. Having 5 (later 6) kids waiting for you back home hoping to play with you doesn't help.
  • Satellite Character: Mixed with Living MacGuffin. His role is basically being the father of the lost baby hippocampus BoJack has to reach to return his baby.
  • The Unintelligible: Due to most Pacific Ocean citizens having an indecipherable language due to being underwater, BJ has a hard time understanding why he's panicking in the bus until he sees his belly and then can't call him to get his forgotten baby.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Played With. When BJ finally returns his baby, the hippocampus father is confused by the situation, then resigned to feeding another mouth. However, he still offers BoJack some forms of compensation: giving him money or inviting him to dine with them.
  • You Are Number 6: The only thing he changes when he gets his baby back is the congratulatory mantle, crossing "5" and putting "6".

Sacramento, California

    Woodcharles "Woodchuck" Coodchuck-Berkowitz 
Played by: Andre Braugher

The incumbent woodchuck Governor of California, whom Peanutbutter runs against during Season 4.


  • Ambiguously Jewish: His surname seems like it's stereotypically Ashkenazi-Jewish, however his voice actor is obviously African-American.
  • An Arm and a Leg: His hands are crushed while trying to rescue Mr. Peanutbutter from his sunken mansion in Underground, and are later replaced with a series of transplants.
  • Boring, but Practical: His overall approach to politics. Unfortunately, the public doesn't much care for boring policy talk, preferring Bread and Circuses instead.
  • Butt-Monkey: Mr. Peanutbutter's ridiculous gubernatorial campaign to oust Woodchuck puts the latter through a lot of misery; from almost losing his political office to an obviously unqualified buffoon, to getting his hands amputated and (repeatedly) replaced.
  • The Comically Serious: He presents a very dignified public face and is almost completely humourless; the writers love shoving him into the most ridiculous premises they can come up with.
  • Cumbersome Claws: After he severely injures his hands, he can only get them replaced with lobster claws (after an unsuccessful attempt with gorilla feet), which makes life more difficult and lowers his approval ratings.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: After being ridiculed, slandered, having both of his hands broken and going through various humiliating arm surgeries, he ultimately gets reelected as Governor of California with the help of Peanutbutter by the end of the season.
  • Foil: To Mr. Peanutbutter. Both are running for California Governor, but couldn't be more different. Mr. Peanutbutter is an excitable celebrity who only decided to go into politics because he thought he'd be good at it and win because everyone likes him, his main method is Bread and Circuses, but he is ignorant over how to be a politician. Chuck is a stoic current Governor who has been one for many years and wants to still be one because he understands the current issues of the state, his main method is Boring, but Practical, and unlike Mr. Peanutbutter, Chuck is very smart when it comes to politics.
  • Nice Guy: He tries to use his position to genuinely benefit people and when Mr.Penutbutter and others are trapped underground he goes out of his way to save them despite the political rivalry, shame none of these are rewarded or acknowledged.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: His vocal cadence is heavily reminiscent of Barack Obama.
  • Only Sane Man: He treats his job with all the competency and seriousness it deserves while everything else goes mad around him.
  • Punny Name: His full name is a pun on the "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck" Tongue Twister.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: He's the Governor of California who shows no signs of corruption and uses his position of power for the benefit of the people. Mr. Peanutbutter even admits he's doing a good job as governor and there's no reason to try to oust him.
  • Sarcasm Failure: When the whole ski-race thing came up he sarcastically agrees to it if somebody decides to waste a whole lot of time and money to get a bill to legitimise it passed. Naturally that's exactly what happens (along with a load of riders including a bridge to Hawaii).
  • Surrounded by Idiots: He's pretty exasperated by the Peanutbutter campaign. This comes to a head when he gets trapped underground with them after a botched (by the rescuees!) attempt to rescue them.
  • Tempting Fate: Sick of dealing with reporters bringing up the issue, he accepts that he would be willing to ski race Mr. Peanutbutter for the Governorship but only if there were a State Constitution Amendment made to allow it, which he believes would never happen. One montage later...

Harper's Landing, Michigan

    Eddie 
Played by: Colman Domingo

A lonely old dragonfly who lives in a rural Michigan town, right next-door to the former Sugarman summer cabin. When BoJack moves into his family's old cabin, he becomes Eddie's neighbor and acquaintance.


  • Acrophobic Bird: Acrophobic Bug, in this case; he's a flying insect, but stubbornly refuses to fly. This is because it reminds him too much of how his late wife died in a tragic flying accident, which he feels is his fault.
  • Death Seeker: Subtle, but he's rarely seen to do much of his time nowadays, just wallowing in his house before the Sugarman home fixing takes his time. Once his widower status and role in his wife's death is revealed, Eddie's actions are clearer: he's just bidding his time until both are reunited again. Anything else is irrelevant.
  • Die or Fly: Invoked on him, as BoJack slips off the roof on purpose to get him to fly. It backfires when the realization he's doing it and BJ tricked him causes a massive Freak Out which leads to Eddie almost killing them both.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: At first, Eddie finds BoJack to be an annoying neighbor, but they soon start bonding as Eddie helps BoJack repair and renovate the old Sugarman house. But after Eddie tried to kill himself and BoJack, the latter destroys his own ancestral home and abandons their broken friendship.
  • Foil:
    • To Honey Sugarman. Both characters have a mental breakdown (and even a simultaneous musical number) due to the loss of a loved one, but they react to their grief in different ways. While Honey caused her car to crash with her (and Beatrice) in it in an attempt to "feel alive again" after her son's death, Eddie attempted to kill himself (and BoJack) specifically because he didn't want to live after his wife's death.
    • Also to BoJack himself. Like the horse, Eddie is struggling day to day to keep going even when he's reluctant to let go of the past; this made complicated by both guilty parties' roles in their own personal hell: encouraging others to partake in their excesses only for their loved ones to die because of it. An interesting example, since it's Eddie's exposure to BoJack makes the latter realize how meaningless and self-destructive it is to wallow in pity longer than it's needed, but it never does the same for Eddie who remains somewhat the same from beginning to end.
  • Freudian Excuse: He stopped flying and fell into a deep depression, because of how he accidentally got his wife killed while they were soaring through the sky on one fateful day.
  • Hope Spot: Eddie's entire story arc. He's a depressed, guilt-ridden widower who's decided to live the rest of his life waiting for death to reunite with his wife (that is, if he believes in the afterlife at all) and one of the last inhabitants of Harper's Landing... before Joseph Sugarman's grandson, "Hambone Fakenamington" (BJ) shows up, looking for answers. Together, they rebuild the derelict summer home and become friends, upon which BJ learns more about Eddie's issues with flying. Once the work is finished, the clueless horse tries to help by tricking him into flying. Eddie promptly explodes in madness and grief and tries to end it all with BJ as collateral. When that fails and BJ rescues him, Eddie finally admits his despair....only for BJ to be horrified and disgusted with this funhouse version of himself and decides to high-tail it out of there, leaving Eddie the same as before.
  • Interrupted Suicide: An attempted Murder-Suicide; he grabs BoJack, flies high up in the sky, and then falls into a lake. BoJack saves both himself and Eddie from drowning, but then leaves as Eddie cries about not wanting to live anymore.
  • Kick the Dog: Granted, BoJack didn't help him at all by gaslighting him, but he did it with good intentions. Eddie, for his part, got crazy and tries to kill both of them. Little wonder BoJack leaves him to his own devices afterwards.
  • Kill the Ones You Love: By proxy. Eddie wanted to see how far up they could reach while Lorraine didn't. Prodding further made her relent, which resulted in her death by get sucked by an airplane engine.
  • The Lost Lenore: He lost his wife Lorraine due to him recklessly flying higher with her than they should have, causing her to be sucked into a jet engine. The rest of his days have been filled with regret, and he still keeps all of her belongings intact.
  • Nice Guy: While he appears to be depressed and emotionally damaged, and occasionally (playfully) insulted BoJack and acted like a lonely grump, he is still likable and sympathetic. When he realizes BoJack cannot fix his grandparents' house, he is more than willing to spend almost a year fixing their place out of just wanting to help. When BoJack says he wants to repay him back for all his help, all he does is close his tool box and says "don't sweat it".

Eden, North Carolina

    Cooper Thomas Rogers Wallace Sr. 
Played by: Daveed Diggs

Cutie Cutie Cupcake's employer, a businessman who made his fortune off of answering machines.


  • Preppy Name: "Cooper Thomas Rogers Wallace", as he's rich. He passed it on to his son.
  • Riches to Rags: Implied. His riches come from answering machine tapes, and when Princess Carolyn visits the old Cooper mansion, it's run down and for sale. He likely lost all his money when answering machines went out of style.
  • Shotgun Wedding: While he's miffed that his son "knocked up the help", he does intend to do right by Princess Carolyn — he plans to have his son marry her and turn her into a high-society woman.

Chicago, Illinois

    Jeremiah Whitewhale 
Played by: Stephen Root

The corrupt billionaire CEO of the Whitewhale megacorporation.


  • Bad Boss: He personally murdered a certain factory worker under his employ, who dared to attempt to unionize his fellow coworkers and demand better working conditions (like reducing their 17-hour shifts to 8 hours, or even being allowed to take more frequent bathroom breaks).
  • Card-Carrying Villain: He's completely aware of his infamous reputation and openly brags about it with pride.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: As the eponymous leader of the Whitewhale company, he has gleefully acquired and consolidated countless other corporations to form a gigantic monopoly, and he isn't above resorting to outright murder to get rid of anyone who inconveniences him.
  • Evil Old Folks: He apparently started his business empire sometime in the early 20th century, and has grown increasingly more super-rich over the decades. As for how he's been able to live so long, it's implied to be due to his habit of buying organ transplants in hopes of being able to live forever.
  • Hate Sink: He exists as a biting satire of MegaCorp monopolies. Having a hand in every industry he can think of, Jeremiah forces other companies to sell themselves to him by driving them out of the market when they refuse. After dominating a market, he works his employees to the bone, having them murdered for things like taking too many bathroom breaks and leaving their bodies on the floor to scare the employees. This is all a plan to be as openly evil as possible so his fellow billionaires will buy into his company to maximize his power, which he uses to do things like getting murder legalized for billionaires.
  • Immortality Seeker: He buys organ transplants so he can live longer.
  • Karma Houdini: He is able to get away with killing that aforementioned factory worker, due to the US Congress passing a law that allows billionaires the right to commit murder.
  • Large and in Charge: He's a whale who's the CEO of a MegaCorp. Though his body is human-sized, his head is nearly as large as the rest of his body.
  • Laughably Evil: He's definitely one of the most despicable minor antagonists to appear in a single episode, but there's something rather amusing about just how over-the-top and brutally honest he is about his actions.
  • Moby Schtick: He's a white sperm whale. Diane and Guy meet a one-eyed reporter named Isabel, sitting in front of a painting of a ship, who is obsessed with taking down his company the same way Captain Ahab is obsessed with killing Moby-Dick.
  • Monster Whale: Metaphorically speaking. Instead of a literal Sea Monster, he's a "monster" as in an evil person, a "giant" as in extremely rich and powerful, and he "swallows" small companies by buying them out.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed:
    • He gives off some Walt Disney vibes in his glittery instructional video, and the mustache doesn't hurt. Unlike most other examples however, it's not the creative part of Disney that's parodied, but the sugarcoated monopolism for which the modern corporation is infamous.
    • He also seems to be specifically based on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, especially with the terrible working conditions in his warehouses.
  • The Sociopath: Despite what little screentime he's given, Jeremiah Whitewhale may be the most truly evil character in the entire show, being portrayed as a ruthlessly greedy and heartless man who casually murders people just for the sake of money and power.
  • Species Surname: He's a white whale whose last name is Whitewhale. It doesn't get much more on-the-nose than that.

Past Characters

Secretariat's Backstory

    Secretariat 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/secretariat.png
Played by: John Krasinski

A former race horse from The '70s (based on the actual race horse) and BoJack's personal hero. After being banned from ever racing again for betting on his races, he commits suicide by jumping off a bridge.


  • All for Nothing: After everything he sacrificed - making a deal with Nixon and selling out his brother - just to continue his career, he's banned from doing so for life after illegally betting in his favor in races. Having nothing left, he ends his life by jumping off a bridge.
  • Alternate Character Interpretation: In-universe, BoJack isn't sure if Secretariat regretted his suicide or not. In BoJack's Dying Dream, Secretariat gets defensive when asked and says jumping off the bridge was the best decision he made. When he recites "The View From Halfway Down," however, Secretariat becomes anxious and shouts that he regretted jumping.
  • Alternate History: See Fictional Counterpart for how the character contrasts with the Real Life Secretariat. As for his long overdue biopic…Where do we begin?
  • Ambiguous Situation: Secretariat may or may not have been suspected of Knee-capping a Pinto competitor during one of his races. Whether it was true or not is never clarified.
  • Anti-Role Model: To BoJack and others. While he was an admired figure to his fans, Secretariat's upbringing made it impossible for him to diverge from the damage his past had on him. Instead, he would imprint the bad answers to those issues onto others, such as little BoJack.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A tragic example. Despite not getting on with the former and selling out the latter, it's implied that when both his father and brother died, Secretariat went through a Despair Event Horizon.
  • Beneath the Mask: Underneath the smooth-talking, well-groomed and successful racer lies a fragile and depressed horse with deep-rooted issues and a desperate need to be relevant and at the top of his game.
  • Broken Ace: He’s implied to have several issues, such as childhood trauma and depression and was constantly running away from his problems. Once that option was forced away from him, he committed suicide at a young age.
  • Broken Pedestal: To the rest of the world once his illegal betting was discovered, and eventually to BoJack as well. As much as he admires him, even the horse starts to realize what an utter train wreck his hero was. That being said, he still looks up to him while acknowledging him as flawed, with the Lighter and Softer approach of his story in the Biopic being one of BoJack's major complaints about it.
  • Broken Win/Loss Streak: The race against "Giant Hearted" Sham, as presented in the biopic, was the first race of many that Secretariat lost and is considered the beginning of his downfall.
  • Cain and Abel: Sold out his brother, Jeffretariat, as a replacement recruit to be drafted to Vietnam, where he was killed.
  • The Charmer: In public appearances, he always had a winning smile and a witty retort ready. His private life was another matter...
  • Cigarette of Anxiety: During an interview after making the deal with Nixon and winning another trophy, Secretariat takes a big puff of a cigarette while talking about how big of a hero his brother Jeffretariat is for "fighting the reds" and how much of a groovy dude is President Nixon. Notably, the Exhausted Eyebags return briefly.
  • Close to Home: Why he ends up answering BoJack's letter: he identifies with him because of their similar backgrounds and insecurities. Unfortunately, the advice he gives him is not exactly helpful in the long run.
  • The Dandy: Always dressed with the best suits for every occasion. The one time he didn’t was on the day of his suicide, where he looks noticeably dishevelled.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Implied with his commentary of "not having had a happy childhood" in response to a fan letter sent by BoJack in 1973.
  • Darkest Hour: His first loss against "Giant Hearted" Sham is implied to have been this in the biopic. His being banned for life from racing most definitely was this, and it led to his suicide.
  • Deal with the Devil: Well, with Richard Nixon anyway: he traded good PR (and his brother's life) to avoid army drafting and the collapse of his career.
  • Death by Despair: Losing everything you have will do that to you.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of what it means to be The Paragon, sun-kissed and naturally talented, especially the enormous emotional toll of appearing flawless to the public when the entirety of your career and image might be a coping mechanism to escape your troubled past (as well your success based on the public's love) and how far would anyone go to ensure they would remain someone for people to look up to. His fate just proves how bad things can get for such a character.
  • Despair Event Horizon: If the expression on his face before his sucide is any indication, he had definitively crossed this.
  • Dirty Coward: His advice to BoJack boiled down to "run away from your problems and your mistakes instead of facing them". He also sent his brother to Vietnam instead of going himself, because he cared more about himself than his brother's life.
  • Draft Dodging: He was originally destined to be conscripted to fight in Vietnam in The '70s, but out of fear of falling out of public attention and losing the one talent he had, Secretariat broke out an agreement with Richard Nixon for his brother to take his place in the army in exchange of using his image as a way to propel Nixon's abysmal popularity.
  • Driven to Suicide: Banned for life from racing after illegally betting on his own races, Secretariat jumped off the Robert F. Kennedy bridge in 1973.
  • Exhausted Eyebags: During the pep talk he gives BoJack during a Q&A in The Dick Cavett Show, he starts sporting this despite not having them before, implying that the colt's letter hit him quite hard.
  • Fallen Hero: Everyone's faith and love for him was shattered the moment they caught him betting in his favor in the races.
  • Famed In-Story: He's still remembered as a tragic figure in horse racing, with books being written about him and multiple (un)successful attempts to make a motion picture out of his life.
  • Fictional Counterpart: To Real Life racing horse Secretariat. While there's obviously quite a few changes, the show's Secretariat actually mirrors the real one's career fairly well, including his Thoroughbred Racing Triple Crown win in 1973, which is mentioned when Secretariat appears on The Dick Cavett Show. Just like his real life counterpart, Secretariat's career ended in 1973, but due to him being banned for betting on his own races, and comitting suicide shortly after. The real one was retired by his owners and became a successfull breeding stud, fathering several champion racehorses.
  • Foil: To his spiritual successor, BoJack. Both came from really shitty conditions to become famous superstars in horse racing and acting, respectively. Like BoJack, Secretariat has done a lot of sacrifices for his career, including leaving a loved one out to dry: in Secretariat's case, getting his brother Jeff drafted to 'Nam in his place; BoJack's, selling out his mentor Herb for a chance at playing Secretariat, ironically and both are constantly haunted and feeling incomplete about their lives. Both have also made extremely horrible mistakes that ultimately led to their downfall, with Bojack allowing Sarah Lynn to die to save his own skin, while Secretariat was eventually caught betting on his own races. The only difference is that while Secretariat allowed his fears and failures to consume him to the point of committing suicide, BoJack has constantly bounced and learned from his while continuing walking in an uncertain road, and even in the aftermath of his failed suicide attempt, he eventually manages to pull himself together and move forward to try to truly live life as a better man, even if he also lost many of his friends and loved ones as a result of his colossal mistake.
  • Greater-Scope Paragon: An odd mixture with Greater-Scope Villain, Secretariat is a grand figure in Hollywoo history and within horse racing, the protagonist of a modern Greek tragedy and one of the best equine athletes within the game. Fame, recognition, women, awards, standing at the top with every mortal looking up to him for inspiration; even today, when his disgraces and backstabs are well known and documented, Secretariat is still considered a living landmark and fondly remembered by a lot of people and believed to have had an untimely passing. Still, his story and glorification as a figure of veneration has influenced several people to follow in his footsteps, flaws and all. His actions while still living may have costed a Pinto his career and his own brother Jeffretariat his life. Not to say, his horrible, horrible advice was a key part in the construction of the emotional trainwreck of BoJack Horseman.
  • Harmful to Minors: While he meant well on doing so, Secretariat's advice to BoJack is one of the reasons why he's so screwed up.
  • Heroic BSoD: According to history and Kelsey Jannings, he "stopped running" after hearing from Jeffretariat's death.
  • Historical In-Joke: Secretariat's first racing loss against "Giant Hearted" Sham, which is one of the iconic scenes in the biopic, is a reference to the real Secretariat's "rival" Sham, who beat him in the 1973 Wood Memorial (though only coming in second, the actual winner being a stallion named Angle Light). This was seen as a huge upset at the time. Ironically, despite the impact the loss had on the fictional Secretariat, in real life Sham would go on to become Always Second Best to Secretariat.
  • History Repeats: Hmmm, a seemingly collected celebrity who has it all and deep down is a Broken Bird with Parental Issues, a Dark and Troubled Past and a pretty bad case of Narcissism. Are we talking about Secretariat or BoJack?
  • Iconic Sequel Character: Talked about in season 1 and briefly appearing in the final episode, it was in season 2 when his long-awaited biopic was shot and life was (partly) shown in flashbacks and Second-Hand Storytelling.
  • Knee-capping: May or may not have done this to a Pinto during one of his most difficult races.
  • Lonely at the Top: Despite his claims and his public face, Secretariat was a pretty lonely man who lost the few good things he had during his career, leading up to his suicide.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Secretariat, in the prime of his game as he appeared in The Dick Cavett Show, has a long, smooth red mane flowing down with thin yet muscular build and impeccable suits when out of his normal racing attire.
  • Narcissist: A rare compensatory example. Secretariat found his worth when he discovered himself good at racing and as such, tried to maintain the perception that he was happy with the way his life turned out, those superficial feelings being the result of improving himself. Once that ability to run away from everything was taken out, he committed suicide.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted. Both Secretariat and his brother Jeff have similar sounding names, with only the first half being different.
  • Only One Name: Just Secretariat.
  • Patriotic Fervor: Invoked from his part as in accordance to his agreement with Richard Nixon: Any mention of him must be in the highest of praises and any public appearance from Secretariat must give the image of a devoted, die-hard American citizen.
  • Propaganda Machine: For Richard Nixon in tandem with a backstage deal for Draft Dodging. He...wasn't very good at hiding his uneasiness.
  • Posthumous Character: Long dead before the series began.
  • Rags to Riches: One of the few known things about Secretariat’s past is that he wasn't born into money and had to work hard to gain his wealth and reputation, with his status as a Scholarship Student helping quite a bit.
  • Rousing Speech: Well, he tried putting it as a rousing speech towards his young fan, but it's seriously up for debate whether it is a hopeful or a cynical, unhealthy one. For better or worse, it's what Secretariat believes and BoJack took such words to heart.
    BoJack, when I was your age, I got sad. A lot. I didn't come from such a great home, but one day, I started running, and that seemed to make sense, so then I just kept running. BoJack, when you get sad, you run straight ahead and you keep running forward, no matter what. There are people in your life who are gonna try to hold you back, slow you down, but you don't let them. Don't you stop running and don't you ever look behind you. There's nothing for you behind you. All that exists is what's ahead.
  • Scholarship Student: Secretariat got his start in racing by earning a scholarship. It's implied one of the reasons why the famed loss against "Giant Hearted" Sham affected him as much as it did was because it put his scholarship in jeopardy.
  • Second-Hand Storytelling: Most of his backstory, reasoning for his actions and influence within the story is thrown out during flashbacks, dramatizations through the making of his biopic or small background references peppered throughout seasons 1 & 2.
  • The Scottish Trope: A biopic about his life had been in production since the mid-80s with any attempts to make it often resulting in delays, turnarounds or just sheer Development Hell. The curse believed to be bestowed upon the movie was legend among Hollywoo. It was only in 2014 when the movie finally got underway with Kelsey Jannings as director, Lenny Turtletaub as producer and BoJack Horseman (one of Secretariat's biggest fans) playing the lead. Even then, the misfortunes occurred during filming certainly reek of this trope: frequent clashes between director, producer and main actor; another actor’s off-set death; delays resulting in a total rewrite of the movie with shift of crew halfway through filming; a repeated face-burning incident; and most notably BoJack disappearing mid-film and a resulting massive Tone Shift of a kind not seen before in Hollywoo. Worse, people bought the bullshit version instead of the reality.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: All of his hard work ultimately lead to nothing, and he ended up alone, broke, ruined and much more depressed than before. And then he killed himself.
  • Sound-Only Death: Inverted. He’s shown jumping off the John F. Kennedy Bridge and hitting the water, but the only sound heard is the wind and the traffic on the bridge.
  • Spiritual Predecessor: To BoJack. They've got the same issues and darkness, all right. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're alike in every way, diverging in small but important matters: Secretariat, while receiving blowback from every corner, gave up by comparison much quicker than BoJack, who still seems determined to achieve happiness even if life piles up its case of why he should just give up.
  • Stepford Smiler: He's generally very good at hiding it, though it’s especially noticeable when he’s giving an interview after selling out his brother Jeffretariat.
  • Tragic Hero: Either this or a Tragic Villain. BoJack and many others see him as this; a good guy driven to villainous at worst or morally grey at best actions that ultimately lead to his demise. Then, again...
  • Tragic Villain: Either this or a Tragic Hero, depending on how one interprets his actions.
  • Trapped in Villainy: Comes with the territory of becoming a living Propaganda Machine for one of the most unpopular presidents of your country.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His response to BoJack's letter ends shaping much of his worldview and his problems.
  • What You Are in the Dark: When he's faced with the possibility of losing his reputation or sending his brother on a suicide mission, he chooses the latter. The biopic implies the decision tore him up later.

    Jeffretariat 
Mentioned in: "The Shot"

Secretariat's brother, who ended up going to 'Nam in his place and was killed there.


  • Cain and Abel: The Abel to Secretariat's Cain. His brother ends up sending him in his place to serve in the US Army during the Vietnam War, where Jeffretariat is killed.
  • Cannon Fodder: Jeffretariat was enrolled in the army in place of his brother to fight in Vietnam, and got killed for it.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: Implied to be this for Secretariat. As Kelsey points out, Jeffretariat's death was the moment Secretariat "stopped running".
  • The Ghost: He's only mentioned by name, never appearing personally at any point.
  • Killed Offscreen: In Vietnam. Not that he was ever on screen, mind you.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted. Both Jeff and his brother have similar sounding names, with only the first half being different.
  • Posthumous Character: He's long dead by the time of the series, although not because of old age.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He's only mentioned, yet his drafting by the army plays a role in Secretariat's corruption, and it’s implied his death played an even bigger one in breaking his brother.

    Dick Cavett 

An announcer in The '70s whose interview with Secretariat indirectly lead to BoJack getting bad advice to live by and Secretariat to have a brief moment of depressing clarity.


  • The '70s: The decade in which Dick's show aired. The only show that appears onscreen aired in 1973, to be exact.
  • Alternate History: In this reality, Dick Cavett apparently interviewed Secretariat in 1973.
  • The Announcer: In a similar fashion to Charlie Rose, he is the host of The Dick Cavett Show and the one who interviews Secretariat about the present charges against him for betting on races and some fan letters that have been received, specifically one from a little boy named BoJack Horseman...
  • Characters as Device: His main purpose is to give some insight into the situation Secretariat finds himself in (and would end up leading to his death) and to read BoJack's letter to the racer for him to give some really bad advice to the young colt.
  • Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: In this case, a version which involved an In-Universe audience rather than real-life people. Dick organized for this to be part of the interview with Secretariat. Needless to say, the first letter being read was BoJack's.
  • Leno Device: It is through Dick Cavett's show that some information about Secretariat is revealed: namely, the alleged accusations of him betting on his own races and his thoughts about what to do when feeling sad per little BoJack's request.
  • Mr. Exposition: His main purpose in the Flashback Cold Open of "Later".

    Richard Nixon 
Played by: Brian Huskey

Ehmm...is it really necessary to explain this one? Ok, Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States of America, governing from 1969 to 1974, year in which he resigned from office. As it turns out, he had another shady dealing, this time with Secretariat, about a certain drafting...


  • Animal Companion: Just like his Real Life counterpart, he still has his dog Checkers on his side. Although as his bodyguard rather than a pet.
  • Alternate History: Obviously, Richard Nixon didn't make an illegal pact with Secretariat. Even the fact that Checkers was his bodyguard is meant to be taken with a grain of salt.
  • Badass Boast: While arguing with Secretariat about letting him skip army recruitment and Secretariat tells him he can't send him to Vietnam:
    I can do whatever I want. I'm president of the goddamn United States of America.
  • Deal with the Devil: He arranges a "quid-pro-quo" with Secretariat inside closed doors when he tries to bargain his way out of being drafted: Secretariat would spouse praise for Nixon, and in exchange, he would send someone else to be recruited in Secretariat's place, a.k.a. his brother, Jeffretariat.
  • Friend-or-Idol Decision: The shady deal Secretariat had with Nixon was out of concern of falling out of public conscience. When drafting time came, Secretariat chose not to go at the cost of losing his brother, Jeff.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Well, it's Richard Nixon, but in this case, it's his influence in Secretariat and his actions that lead to Jeffretariat's death, and eventually to Secretariat himself committing suicide.
  • Historical Domain Character: Yep, Nixon, the archetype for a Sleazy Politician, makes an appearance here. And true to his nature, he makes a pretty amoral action that has major consequences for a major character in the series.
  • Large Ham: Nixon turns entitled speeches with extra ego into an art form here.
  • My Card: He has one with a pretty badass statement, with all is said and done. During his Badass Boast above, he asks a second opinion to Checkers about what he just said and he confirms it, pointing out at what's written in his cards.
  • Overly Narrow Superlative: "The president of the goddamn United States of America", according to his card.
  • Product Placement: What Nixon asks in exchange for Secretariat's Draft Dodging: he has to stand in favor of Nixon, considering his abysmal popularity.
  • Right-Hand Cat: The function of his dog-bodyguard Checkers.
  • Sleazy Politician: He's all too willing to make deals on his favor.
  • What You Are in the Dark: His proposition to Secretariat poses a difficult Moral Dilemma for him, one which he loses by accepting, setting off a chain of events leading to his demise.

    Checkers 

Nixon's right hand dog, turned into an anthropomorphic bodyguard here and present during Secretariat's Start of Darkness.


  • Alternate History: In Real Life, Checkers was the Nixon family's dog during his years as Vice President. Because of this, there was no way he could be Nixon's personal bodyguard.
  • Artistic License – History: The real Checkers died in 1964; Nixon's dog while President was an Irish setter named King Timahoe. Of course, your average viewer is much more likely to recognize the former than the latter.
  • Amplified Animal Aptitude: In this universe, Checkers is not only full blown anthropomorphic, but he's fully clothed, is guarding Nixon in person and actually has a voice. He doesn't use the last one frequently in the one scene he's in.
  • Animal Companion: Towards Richard Nixon.
  • Cool Shades: Uses them during Secretariat's encounter with Nixon. Doubles as Sunglasses at Night since it's clearly dark outside.
  • The Dragon: From their interactions, it's implied that he's this to ol' Tricky Dick.
  • Enigmatic Minion: It's hard to completely tell how much does he know about Nixon's deals or even if he has a saying on the things his boss does. Checkers just stands there and observes in silence the scene unfold. He only speaks when spoken to and backs up his boss when he needs it, but otherwise, his face is unreadable.
  • Fluffy the Terrible: An intimidating, quiet bodyguard named Checkers.
  • Historical Badass Upgrade: Needless to say, he's much tougher than the real Checkers.
  • Historical Domain Character: Well, he was the Oval Office's pet during Richard Nixon's presidency.
  • Minor Major Character: The right hand of Tricky Dick and probably his most trusted advisor who probably participated in more than one of his boss's schemes; yet, as far as the story is concerned, he only matters because of his presence during Secretariat's moral compromise.
  • Right-Hand Attack Dog: He's this to Richard Nixon.
  • The Stoic: Doesn't change facial expressions at all during his one scene.

Beatrice's Flashbacks

    Clemelia Bloodsworth 
Played by: Natasha Rothwellnote 

A goose, Beatrice's old schoolmate and pretentious bully.


  • Arch-Enemy: To Beatrice Sugarman. From an early age, Clemelia frequently antagonized Beatrice during playground hours. Beatrice started responding in kind as grown-ups. She represents everything Beatrice is not and hates about her peers (and what she eventually becomes). And, boy, do they hate each other with a passion.
    Clemelia: Oh, my Beatrice Sugarman? Doth my eye belie me?
    Beatrice: Oh, Clemelia Bloodsworth. (between teeth) Why are you here?
    Clemelia: I must say, it's tremendous you're finally debuting.
    (...)
    Beatrice: In truth, I find these parties to be garish, self-serving wastes of money. Oh, and I'm sure yours was particularly horrendous, Clemelia.
    Clemelia: (Spit Take) Oh, my! How repugnant!
  • Alpha Bitch: She's the classic female bully, belittling other girls who do not fit into her society's best values. Those who submit become her lackeys. Those who don't like Beatrice, her favorite target, are demeaned at every turn, pushed from the slide or called "fat".
  • Always Someone Better: How she tries to show herself to other people, Beatrice especially. Beatrice herself hates her for this attitude, but overall doesn't care.
  • Bigger Stick: Clemelia's M.O. Obsessed with peacocking, she overcompensated by having better things than others and showing them off. Case in point: During Beatrice's debutante ball, Clemelia's method of getting under Beatrice's skin is to mention how much more expensive her debutante ball was. Not to say, it happened long before Beatrice's.
  • The Bully: In addition to being the Alpha Bitch, she'd often browbeat softer, passive girls in the playground, especially if they wanted to use "her" slide.
  • Bully Brutality: She stomped Beatrice's fingers (with help from her clique) and pushed her off the slide stairs while laughing at her pain. This was only because she wanted to use the playground's slide, which Clemelia and her group had claimed as their own. It's implied this got so bad Beatrice often tried to skip school to avoid her.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Clemelia's introduced by keeping a young Beatrice from climbing the slide's ladder by proclaiming it's owned by "members of an elite society of extremely young women" led by her. When Beatrice insists on climbing further, Clemelia calls her fat and kicks her off the ladder while she laughs at her pain.
  • Faux Affably Evil: She'd put on a formal tone and use courtesy when talking. Her words, however, were filled with contempt, fury and sweet poison, which her smug smile often betrays.
  • Flowery Elizabethan English: Used often as a way of showcasing her high status and snotty, elitist attitude. Interestingly, Clemelia seemed unable to use anything other than high vocabulary to talk, implying she couldn't even conceive talking with anyone other than those of high class, unlike Beatrice.
  • Foul Waterfowl: An Alpha Bitch goose that bullied Beatrice when they were young. When Beatrice tries to climb up to a slide, Clemelia stomps on and bites her fingers so she falls off. She's still extremely condescending to Beatrice as an adult.
  • Girl Posse: She is accompanied as a child by identical twin human girls.
  • Gentleman Snarker: Subverted. While her insults, as detailed below in Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, are quite witty and well-versed, her condescending attitude and smug elitism pretty much drains any class from her quips.
  • Hate Sink: The Bully to Beatrice, a smug rich doll with a vain perception of herself and certainly one of the reasons for Beatrice's hatred of the affluent lifestyle, Clemelia doesn't have any redeeming qualities.
  • Irrational Hatred: Clemelia hated Beatrice over anybody else and enjoyed humiliating her at any opportunity, be it at school or at her debutante party, in spite of Beatrice never doing anything to her.
  • Jerkass: Pompous, elitist, smug, cruel and still enough of a hypocrite to put a paper-thin classy image.
  • Kick the Dog: Her treatment of Beatrice when they were both little girls. She still tries when they're both grown women, but Beatrice has since learned a few tricks and doesn't care as much anymore.
  • Narcissist: A classic example. Clemelia's selfish and concerned primarily with herself. Any relationships she has are based on people who admire her (sycophants), people who can get her the things she wants (pretenders) or people she hates (Beatrice). Anything not related to those three categories (or her
self, for that matter) doesn't blip in her radar.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Being (apparently) in the same level of wealth as Beatrice, Clemelia's laugh, done with the classic pose and obnoxious haughtiness, was often heard when she had the upper hand in a conversation. Nothing more proper for a wealthy, stuck-up heiress.
  • Preppy Name: More so than the Sugarmans and the Creamermans. Per naming standard in Southern wealth, her name was given as Clemelia Bloodsworth, highlighting her family name, her aristocratic heritage and her family's bragging nature. Surely enough, her attitude grew to fit the name (and the ego).
  • Psychopathic Womanchild: Downplayed. While Beatrice matured by the time of her debutante ball, Clemelia stayed the same spiteful, childish bully she was all those years, even if she learned how to keep it under wraps by etiquette and wit. Once enraged enough, she'll show these traits by throwing a temper tantrum and over exaggerate.
  • Rich Bitch: Unlike Beatrice, a classic take on the trope.
  • Sadist: She enjoyed making other girls cry and laughed at them. Beatrice was her favorite target.
  • Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: She hasn't changed at all by the years, judging by her more complex passive-aggressive sparring between the two heiresses when they encounter during Beatrice's debutante ball. Of course, Clemelia seems to be more emphatic and vicious when it comes to the insults, trying to instill Beatrice into cowering or attacking, while Beatrice isn't as concerned about their rivalry and sees her as a nuisance.
  • Serious Business: As a child, she wouldn't let anyone, but her and the twins to even use the slide at all.
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Even as a child she used very eloquent language.
    Clemelia: Even your lungs expostulate as they struggle to expel your ample corpulence.
    Clemelia's friend: She's saying your lungs think you're fat too.
  • Smug Smiler: Her default expression. Frequently, a sign of her perceived superiority and joy over others' private shame.
  • Smug Snake: She thinks herself as charming, classy and superior than any other woman. This seems to be her own opinion.
  • Unknown Rival: Part of what pisses her off about Beatrice is how what she thinks are accomplishments in her favor, all the better to rub on Beatrice's face, don't matter to her that much...or Clemelia for that matter.
  • Wealth's in a Name: Her surname, "Bloodsworth", references both her family's mighty wealth and the selective virtues she favors above money and status.
  • Wicked Pretentious: Played with; she's clearly overconfident in her abilities and too much of a bragger to be the perfect socialite she claims to be. This, coupled with her total disinterest of anything beyond ideal rich life unlike Beatrice or Corbin, makes come off as an ignorant know-it-all with no real class whatsoever. However, Clemelia has qualities, as clouded as they are: she is witty, refined and on par with Beatrice in terms of intellect. Her personality is so horrible, obnoxious and materialistic, however, that those virtues matter very little.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: Invoked against Beatrice when she tries to climb up the slide's stairs.

    Corbin Creamerman 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captura_de_pantalla_2018_05_17_a_las_234229.png
"I feel I never get to be anything other than what he expects me to be."
Played by: David Walton

The heir of the Creamerman dairy company, and one of Beatrice Sugarman's suitors. Both of their fathers wanted them to have an arranged business marriage, which never panned out due to Beatrice eloping with Butterscotch Horseman instead.


  • Abhorrent Admirer: An awkward, nervous, homely and boring dweeb of a goat, Corbin was obviously smitten with Beatrice but clearly didn't represent Beatrice's idea of someone who would make pleasant small talk, much less someone she'd consider marrying. It didn't help that their possible engagement was endorsed and expected by her father Joseph, who never took her happiness in consideration and saw it more as a strategic union with Creamerman Cream-based Commodities. All of this was part of what drew her to the more rugged, studly Butterscotch Horseman. After realizing their Commonality Connection and their similar situations, Beatrice was just starting to come around to Corbin when she learned she was pregnant with BoJack, ruining any chance she had of marrying him.
  • Allegorical Character: Corbin was the heir of Creamerman Cream-based Commodities, makers of daily products including ice-cream, a dessert Beatrice was never allowed to have. During their short courtship, Corbin struggled with getting through to Beatrice, who remained ambivalent toward him until the end where she discovered his Hidden Depths, which did attract and interest her. After getting pregnant and losing her wealth, one of Beatrice's bigger regrets, not marrying Corbin, is linked to ice-cream: one of the many sweet things in life she was never allowed to taste.
  • Alliterative Name: Corbin C. Creamerman.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Corbin is an outcast in a similar way to Beatrice: he's not particularly strong or interesting, his intelligence dwarfs that of his willingly ignorant peers who ignore and despise him, he has a bad relationship with Mort and constantly has to fight him on any decision, he had no saying in his possible engagement to Beatrice and followed through as duty. He's far from being the only weirdo in the room. Beatrice is probably one of the only who could understand him about what's like to feel trapped in a intellectually-dead environment without any chance of escape....if she was willing to open up and if he was willing to be upfront and assertive.
  • Altar Diplomacy: Corbin is subtly aware that Mort is arranging events along with Joseph to pair off their two offspring (something Beatrice deduces as well) and ensure they'll eventually marry since it would provide a valuable alliance between Sugarman Sugar and Creamerman Ice Cream that would make both more powerful. The marriage would be more of a transaction than anything else for the families. As the two seems to be forming a heartfelt basis for an actual relationship, Beatrice is knocked up and marries Butterscotch, calling off the deal.
  • Amazon Chaser: Downplayed. Corbin liked Beatrice for being strong-minded and independent, virtues he thought he lacked and had nothing to do with her body.
  • Apologizes a Lot: He can't let one screw-up go without apologizing many times. And he can't keep himself from screwing up either. Beatrice often pretends not to notice but she's kind of amused and irritated by his enforced politeness.
  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Corbin is the next in line to lead Creamerman dairy to the next era; he is a goat. Besides the Meaningful Name, it's fitting the Creamerman family line is made entirely out of goats.
  • Beautiful All Along: Beatrice's reaction to seeing him without his glasses.
  • Betty and Veronica: The friendly, nervous "Betty" to Butterscotch's rogue, bad boyish "Veronica" for Beatrice's "Archie". She chooses Butterscotch because he got her pregnant and regrets it dearly.
  • Birds of a Feather: With Beatrice, once both drop their façades about their similar childhoods and dreams. Unusual variation, since this character trait is used in contrast with his romantic rival, Butterscotch - while Butterscotch shared Beatrice's interests, high-branded idealism and admiration of middle class, Corbin shared Beatrice's ambitions, traumas and skill in their fields. More over, while Butterscotch's solution for all of life's trouble was to move to San Francisco and start over, sure success to come from hope and pure talent, Corbin's solution was to pull through life as it was, use any skills to do what he knows and loves and hopefully this hard work would be worth it in the end. Butterscotch's plan fell through, Corbin's fate was never revealed but is implied to have worked.
  • Bonding over Missing Parents: Abusive to be exact, but the result is the same between Corbin and Beatrice.
  • The Bore: To Beatrice. Besides being meek and clumsy, Corbin often talks about pasteurization of dairy products or cream-based reactions, which are the only times where he expresses interest on something. Unfortunately, her crush isn't as keen on those things as he is, which makes their afternoon strolls plain torture. Zigzagged eventually when they have a heart-to-heart conversation: turns out, Corbin is quite aware his interests can be boring, but his ideals and genuine backing of those attracts Beatrice, which of course are the things he rarely talked about in much detail, hence his seemed dullness.
  • Boring, but Practical: How Corbin sees his interests: while the technical knowledge can be excruciating, it may be worth it since it could lead Creamerman Cream-based Commodities into a bigger, modern enterprise. In-Universe, Corbin himself qualifies as this for Beatrice, as he has genuine ideas and direction in life unlike Butterscotch, even if he seems uninteresting by comparison. Overlaps with Simple, yet Awesome, as Corbin proves he could be interesting if given a shot, as Beatrice bitterly remembers.
  • Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage: Paired with Beatrice Horseman since her early days as a debutante and his early days as a pretender by Joseph and his father Mort themselves since it would join them in a strategically powerful conglomerate of Sugarman Cubes and Creamerman Ice Cream. In due time, it would have turned into a Perfectly Arranged Marriage; alas, things didn't pan out that way.
    Corbin: I'm sorry. I'm not always good at these things. But sometimes I am. I can be. I—I really try to be. I'm, well, I—I'm not. I'm really not. I don't know why.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: It's as thin-veiled as far as confessions go, but Corbin has trouble openly flirting with Beatrice, let alone admitting his love for her. Beyond his insecurity and lack of affection back home, it's implied he's not used to this kind of feeling, to any kind of close connection and like Beatrice, he's blocking it in a different way.
  • Character Catchphrase: "Aw, geez."
  • Commonality Connection: Neither Corbin nor Beatrice could find ways to connect: Beatrice, being a desired debutante, wanted to escape her brain-dead life and saw Corbin as too weak-willed to make her dreams come true; Corbin saw Beatrice as the kind of woman he would like to be with, but recognized his odd interests and poor manners. Once Corbin and Beatrice shared their insecurities and dreams, did they found out they were very similar.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the classical romantic underdog: wimpy yet witty, lovable yet a pushover and the less overtly masculine in a Love Triangle, Corbin seems to qualify for the dark horse who eventually wins the girl. The fact that he would have had things gone just slightly differently is played for tragedy.
  • Did Not Get the Girl: A Foregone Conclusion, since chronologically Beatrice married Butterscotch and had BoJack, but a poignant example nonetheless, since it's played for tragedy considering how much Beatrice regretted her life choices and how close were both her and Corbin in making a genuine connection.
  • Distaff Counterpart: To Charlotte Moore of all people. Let's see: both were once possible Love Interests to different members of the Horseman family, both ended up going separate ways after certain incidents and each one (BoJack for Charlotte and Beatrice for Corbin) regret not having done anything to keep the relationship alive.
  • The Dutiful Son: He'll do things he doesn't want to if his father says so. This connects him with Beatrice.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Being announced as a possible pretender for Beatrice, only for a Smash Cut to show him dropping glasses of champagne on someone's dress while ashamedly saying "Sorry".
  • Extreme Doormat: Played with; Corbin is not a complete pushover, but with such harsh expectations heaped upon him and lacking a strong personality or build, Corbin can't help but be swayed by people's opinion of him, be it negative or indifferent (mostly the second type). His awkward demeanor also makes people ignore or insult him, which only seems to feed his insecurity.
  • Foil: To Butterscotch. Butterscotch was a smooth talking, roguish type who clearly saw Beatrice as just another one-night stand but married her because he got her pregnant, ending up in a miserable marriage; Corbin was a stammering, awkward type who seemed to genuinely care about Beatrice, but did not marry her, something Beatrice regretted.
  • Freudian Excuse: Subtle, but Corbin's opinion of his father Mort is that of a dream-crushing tyrant who sees his idealism over new horizons for the company as stupid. His spineless appearance, shyness and lack of social skills implies this not only to be the case, but to be the reason why the son is who he is.
  • The Glasses Gotta Go: He has distinctive, pretty blue eyes without his glasses. Beatrice experiences a Love Epiphany as she sees them - seconds before she discovers she's pregnant with Butterscotch's baby.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Part of what makes Beatrice (initially) have some sympathy for Corbin is him knowing when he's boring someone. Of course, it's a double-edged sword, switching back to annoying since he constantly calls attention to how bad he's screwing everything up when he only should change the topic or be more assertive, implying he's so self-conscious about how little people find him someone interesting he has just kind of accepted it.
  • Hidden Depths: Corbin's better qualities are entirely this: he looks at first glance like a Sheltered Aristocrat with No Social Skills. He is, but he's also Weak, but Skilled and smarter than he looks. He is very passionate about food chemistry and wants to push the boundaries on what his family can do producing cream, rather than just being Only in It for the Money like his father. Like Beatrice, he also wants to do more with his life than just settle into the safe, comfortable role his dad chose for him. He can be assertive if given the chance, as shown when Beatrice gave him time to express himself about the company and what he wanted to do with it. He's also one of the only men to constantly be nice to Beatrice, even respecting her as a woman and person, which for the time was very progressive. It's implied he genuinely loves Beatrice, even if he also thinks he's too "vanilla" for her tastes.
  • Hope Bringer: "Time's Arrow" reveals through flashbacks that Corbin (or rather Beatrice's memory of him) produces a brief flicker of light in Beatrice's life: his Hidden Depths revelation during their afternoon stroll is treated more seriously and poignantly while his blue eyes are emphasized and his presence synchronizes with the Empathic Environment to brighten the memory with more lively colors rather than the diluted tones shown previously.
  • Inadequate Inheritor: As far as Mort is concerned, Corbin hasn't really toughen up in a way that makes him a good successor in the Creamerman family line; nor qualified to have a say in company procedures and handling, either. Corbin could be able to prove him otherwise if he could only muster up the courage to call him out.
  • Insecure Love Interest: To Beatrice. Sadly, this is what leads Bea to label him as a bore and hook up with Butterscotch.
  • Keet: When talking about something he finds exciting: food changes, for example.
  • The Klutz: Very accident-prone, to say the least.
  • Meaningful Name: Creamerman, considering the family's dairy business and the fact that all of them are goats. Likewise, Corbin, as remembered by Beatrice, was one of the sweetest people in Beatrice's life, in the same way of one of the company's products and Beatrice's Forbidden Fruit, ice-cream.
  • Merchant Prince: A modern turn. While not royalty per se, Corbin was part of the circle of food socialites, in this case here to the empire of Creamerman Cream-based Commodities, along Sugarman Sugar's heiress Beatrice. This, along with a tentative powerful merger between corporations, inspired patriarchs of both clans to pair them up.
  • Nice Guy: He was shown to be quite friendly, if shy.
  • The One That Got Away: For Beatrice, as she states how she should have married Corbin instead of Butterscotch, because the former had more positive qualities.
  • Pitbull Dates Puppy: His tentative courtship of Beatrice Horseman initially fails because Corbin is way too meek and shy for the spirited, strong-willed and stubborn Beatrice. Only when he starts showing some initiative and vision for Creamerman Ice Cream does Beatrice starts seeing him differently.
  • Prophetic Name: Beatrice never tasted ice-cream, so it stands someone named Corbin Creamerman tragically will never be part of her life.
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes: Very much. Just look at his big eyes.
  • Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: Played With. Normally with the theme of generation and progress through time, Corbin would represent the much advanced, progressive mind while his father Mort is the embodiment of old time work and they do fulfill the roles. His father is very much on the Romantic side, with his adherence to old values and systems on how to run Creamerman Ice Cream...but he's not only dismissive of its sentimental value, he just sees it as business as usual without any need of change fitting his attitude with Enlightenment. Corbin on the other hand is more passionate about it but seeks a proper way to lead the company to the new era, having obviously learned the true logistics behind the curtain and the finances without losing sight of his goal belonging more to the Enlightened camp with a Romantic attitude.
  • The Scream: When Beatrice vomits on him. *Cue* the "goat scream" and the flying birds.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to his father Mort and Butterscotch's Manly Man.
  • Simple, yet Awesome: While Beatrice initially disagrees, this is how Corbin sees food chemistry: a natural change. This applies to his methods and Corbin himself underneath the neuroses and insecurities, with a dose of Boring, but Practical, since the methods themselves can be tedious and difficult.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With Beatrice Sugarman. With Corbin hailing from a famous ice cream fabricator and she being from a renowned sugarcube company, both of their parents were quite amiable with the possibility of marriage between the two, whether they'd wanted or not, since it meant a strong alliance that would strengthen both into a MegaCorp. While Corbin was smitten with Beatrice from the start, she didn't exactly reciprocated due to being essentially forced to do so without truly knowing or caring for the young goat, instead preferring the fleeting company of "scoundrel" like Butterscotch: dazzling, bold, charming and cool, not to say well-read. After attempting to dodge another meeting with Corbin and reluctantly agreeing just for the sake of responsibility, Beatrice is genuinely smitten with him after seeing their similarities and desire to become more than just what their parents expect of them....which makes it all the more heartbreaking in retrospect that her impulsiveness to rebel led her to start a family with a stranger she barely knew and grew to resent instead of getting together with Corbin.
  • Technician Versus Performer: The Technician to his father's Performer. This is where all of the bad blood comes from.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: He's a pip-squeak compared to Beatrice's tall, slim figure.
  • Weak, but Skilled: He may seem weak, but knows his business and genuinely knows how to make it move ahead into the new era.
  • What Beautiful Eyes!: When he removes his glasses, his eyes are shown to be quite big-eyed and adorable.

    Mort Creamerman 

Powerful businessman and possible partner for Sugarman Sugar Cubes, Mort is the top dog of Creamerman Ice Cream and father of Corbin Creamerman, who is implied to seek a possible alliance by marrying his son to Joseph's daughter, Beatrice. Judging by his son's meek attitude and dislike of his father personally, Mort is implied to just as image-obsessed and bull headed about everything as Joseph is, making both Corbin and Beatrice find a bigger connection than initially believed.


  • Abusive Parents: Abusive might be too much, but there's little doubt that Corbin isn't exactly an assertive individual or that he has his dreams crushed up by his father. Telling your son that something he values like the company's pasteurization process boils down to "squeezing tit milk" just to make a buck isn't exemplary paternal behavior, at least.
  • Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Dismissed much of his son's ideas for the company's future as nothing more than bogus and thinks of the company he loves so much as nothing more than a means to an end rather than something to be nurtured.
  • Foil:
    • He and Joseph have different, if still oppressive, parenting skills: Joseph has no problem raising Beatrice as a more refined version of a breeding mare to be sold to the highest bidder which is in tune with high society at the time, even if he still gives her the best things money can buy without thinking of giving her any respect; Mort is implied to be upfront and far more brutally honest with Corbin with any particular idea or sense of individualism his son presents dashed immediately. Both are designed to toughen their children for the harsh world, but all it does is make them emotionally distant and resentful.
    • By a generation division, Butterscotch and Mort are connected by their personalities: harsh, spiteful, conservative and dismissive of their sons' ideas. One hails from a high-class background and industrialized wealth, the other comes from skid rows and working-class parents.
  • The Ghost: Never appears on screen and is only mentioned by Joseph Sugarman and Corbin, his son. Considering the time setting in which he's mentioned is around The '60s, it's most likely he'll never appear.
  • Good Old Ways: How he likes to spin keeping to what they know instead of trying his son's "risky" idea, which considering how the next decades panned out, could mean ruin or late success for the Family Business. While it's ambiguous whether the changing production spelled either fate for Creamermans everywhere, it's safe to say Corbin's vision was vindicated.
  • It Will Never Catch On: Is uninterested in Corbin's suggestion using vegetable oil instead of milk fat in the 60's, even though that is now the industry standard today.
  • Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Implied. Corbin is nerdy, unassuming, well-groomed and not good with events, people, let alone women. Mort is someone who all things considered is able to exert his will on his only heir and is more visceral and less intellectual about the company.
  • Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: Played With. Normally with the theme of generation and progress through time, Mort is very much on the Romantic side, with his adherence to old values and systems on how to run Creamerman Ice Cream...but he's not only dismissive of its sentimental value, he just sees it as business as usual without any need of change fitting his attitude with Enlightenment. His son on the other hand is more passionate about it but seeks a proper way to lead the company to the new era, having obviously learned the true logistics behind the curtain belonging more to the Enlightened camp with a Romantic attitude.
  • Technician Versus Performer: The Performer to his son's Technician. This is where all of the bad blood comes from.

Squeakivus Figures

    St. Squeaky 
Folk Hero of rodents everywhere. A knight on a mission to face against King Puss Puss, oppressor of his people, to free the persecuted and end his reign of terror. "Squeakivus", a festival in his honor, is held every year to commemorate his victory. Felines, however, may see the festival as "anti-cat".
  • Ambiguously Christian: Judging the parallelism between the Stiltons and Euro-Protestants, Squeaky is subjected to this trope as well, with shades of Messianic Archetype. Considering King Puss Puss's image has a likeness to Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, Squeaky (and the Stiltons) may be Saxon Protestants, which were often victimized by the voivode of Wallachia.
  • Anti-Hero: If the live representation at Stilton Manor is taken at face value, Squeaky's sole action was to stab King Puss Puss during a vulnerable moment. This, in itself, casts doubt on Squeaky's moral compass, since his actions'd only be viewed as "heroic" by mice because of the King's death, not because it was the right thing to do or because Squeaky himself was a morally righteous mouse.
  • Bragging Theme Tune: Per tradition, "Squeakivus" has a song which detail his battle against King Puss Puss. It does so by dissing the tyrant...and insulting cats as a race.
    I'm positively evil
    I'm nasty and smelly
    So I'll take my sword
    And stab you in the belly
  • Custom Uniform: A traditional gilded suit of plate, courtesy of being knight. His picture, most likely due to invoking his image at its prime, has him solely using this.
  • David Versus Goliath: Squeaky fought King Puss Puss, one of the most dreaded monsters in history, and won by stabbing him in the gut.
  • Eyes Always Shut: The only picture of him, shown when Ralph explains "Squeakivus" to Princess Carolyn, has him kneeling with his eyes closed.
  • Greater-Scope Paragon: From the same branch as Secretariat, Squeaky's actions seemed to have marked a "before" and "after" for persecuted European mice everywhere, with his killing of King Puss Puss coming at a time where most Saxon Protestant rodents were fleeing for their lives across the sea with nothing more than swiss cheese for food. Unlike the race horse, Squeaky has been canonized as a saint with a festivity named and centered around him for all descendants of those horrific times to celebrate. However, this much talked history and its implications in modern society has done little to help the rarity of interspecies prey-predator dating, with the over-blown "anti-cat" message being accepted even by mice who know this Cats Are Mean ideology to be wrong, yet still expecting the tradition to be respected.
  • The Kingslayer: Much like its forebearer, Squeaky killed Puss Puss with his own sword. Whether he did it by stabbing him in the gut when turning around isn't explained, but it was by his hand, that's for sure.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: He's portrayed as righteous, kind and noble, ideals a knight should aspire to have.
  • One-Hit Kill: One thrust of the pointy end and King Puss Puss was no more. At least, that's how the story goes and how it's represented every year in "Squeakivus".
    Oh, right in the cat gut!
  • Only One Name: May have had a surname, but legend has him pegged as "Squeaky". Just "Squeaky".
  • The Paragon: To the Euro-rodent race. Felines don't quite disagree, but find the glorification of Squeaky at the cost of demonizing the entire cat race insulting.
  • Patron Saint: Canonized as a saint after death and revered by Protestant rodents as such ever since for his heroic actions.
  • Prepare to Die: The last verse of his traditional song, sung to the King himself.
  • Shrouded in Myth: It's possible Squeaky did kill King Puss Puss with one stroke of his sword, but the over-the-top nature of the song and obvious bias as mice "pride" makes it doubtful it was as quick as the story says. Whatever Squeaky's fighting prowess was, he'll always be remembered as the one who killed the maniac cat with no effort.
  • Tyrannicide: Part of his importance within the story (In-Universe and out), he put an end to the omnicidal ambitions of a mad cat king by stabbing him in the gut. This led to both the sparing of unmeasurable innocent lives of mice whose only crime was probably having a different religion, proper escape for immigrant rodents to other countries and the end of a long reign of terror. In a way, his whole story could be read as that of the weakling beating the large giant and saving the kingdom. Squeaky's legacy has been a mixed bag: true, his tale is revered and gives hope to the descendants of those persecuted as that of reliance and bravery, without which the land would have bled; however, such fanaticism has expanded beyond ascending Squeaky to "saint" status, focusing on the demonization of cats of all kind, with King Puss Puss becoming nothing more than a figure of hatred, a stand-in for all felines, good or otherwise. This is the main reason why "Squeakivus" isn't viewed as progressive as it should be: when it reduces people to stereotypes for the sake of a good story, the caste system isn't destroyed, just turned on its head.

    King Puss Puss 
  • Asshole Victim: Deconstructed. Whatever people's opinion of Squeaky may be, there's no doubt he made the world a favor by wasting this monarch. Problem is, by putting Squeaky on a pedestal (somewhat reasonable) and painting Puss Puss as a bastard that had to be killed (correct), descendants of the original survivors have developed a more overarching fanaticism (read:hating on all cats instead of just one) without admitting their Innocent Bigot tendencies.
  • Cats Are Mean: Huge understatement but considering his peers in the series, played as straight as an arrow.
  • Fictional Counterpart: His picture is a point-by-point replica of Vlad Tepes of Wallachia and his story is similar to the persecution led by Tepes of Saxon Protestants due to religious fanaticism.
  • Guilt by Association: Puss Puss's actions have eternally cast a shadow on felines in the eyes of Protestant mice.
  • Hate Sink: An Omnicidal Maniac with blood lust, cruel to the core and responsible for major massacres of mice in Europe, whose legacy has made cats hated by the survivors' descendants. Unless it's Alucard, a Fictional Counterpart of Vlad Tepes isn't going to be sympathetic.
  • The Sociopath: Being the Fictional Counterpart of a well-known psycho and organizing the massacre of millions of lives, this king doesn't hide his Lack of Empathy and insanity.
  • "The Villain Sucks" Song: "Squeakivus"'s traditional song extorts the virtues of St. Squeaky....by deriding and calling King Puss Puss all but a bastard. The song is still fearfully respectful of how much of a monster he was, however.
    Look at me
    I'm a dumb cat king
    I'm an ugly, mean, fat thing
    Innocent mice will feel my wrath
    I'm a stinky cat
    Who never takes a bath

Imaginary Characters

    Ruthie 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_09_10_at_111829_pm.png
"My mom told me that I come from a long line of strong female cats."

Played by: Kristen Bell

A young girl that is a distant, direct descendant of Princess Carolyn. Many years into the future, she makes her "Ancestry Day" class presentation about a day in Princess Carolyn's life.


  • Adorably Precocious Child: She's far more mature than she seems: she isn't bothered when talking about Princess Carolyn's past sexual history and even acknowledges to her teacher's face that PC was a fluid sexual being, acts with posture and dignity despite her small size and can pinpoint the difference between "agent" and "manager". She also gets flustered and annoyed when interrupted or contradicted.
  • Cute Kitten: Looking like a miniature, more optimistic version of Princess Carolyn does the trick.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Ruthie states that PC's necklace is an antique, priceless family heirloom passed down through generations. This becomes suspicious when Princess Carolyn finds out it's actually a cheap piece of fantasy jewelry made in the '60s. Ruthie didn't seem to be aware of this, even though she was supposedly telling the story. She also does not narrate when this happens. This is a major hint to the fact that Princess Carolyn was imagining her.
    • She shares her name with the baby porcupine that Princess Carolyn adopts a while later.
  • Hope Spot: Although Princess Carolyn stresses out over having trouble getting pregnant throughout the story, Ruthie, her great great great granddaughter, is telling it, so we know everything will work out in the end. Except it doesn't. It's revealed PC may never be able to have any kids, and Ruthie was just a fantasy she was having.
  • Identical Granddaughter: She looks a lot like Princess Carolyn, just much younger and with paler fur.
  • Redhead In Green: Downplayed. She has pink hair and only wears green hairbands.

Alternative Title(s): Bojack Horseman Historical Characters, Bojack Horseman One Shot And Bit Characters, Bojack Horseman Tesuque NM

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