Central Park / Characters

The character sheet for Central Park.

open/close all folders

The Tillermans

Owen Tillerman

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centralpark_owen.png

Voiced by: Leslie Odom Jr., Eisuke Tsuda (Japanese), Pascal Nowak (European French), Gustavo Pereira (Brazilian Portuguese), Valentin Stilu (German), Gianluca Crisafi (Italian), Pep Papell (European Spanish), José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American Spanish)

"I'm gonna own it
And my name is-
Yeah, my name is Owen and I own it
And I like my-
And I like my flowers when they bloom in the moon like the fruit of the loom
You can say I'm a loon but I'll celebrate my turtleheads and own it"

—Own It

The park manager of Central Park.

Badass Bureaucrat: The man can weaponize rules and laws better than anyone, to the point of finding a law that can give him greater authority than the mayor in park matters.
Black and Nerdy: Everything about him just oozes nerdiness, from his fascination with the turtlehead flowers to enjoying getting the graffiti removed.
Character Tic: Owen has a habit of rubbing his hands on his shorts when he's anxious.
The Determinator: For all his anxiety, he proves to be willing to pursue extreme lengths for the park, from personally driving all of the park's trash to the garbage dump to staking out at night to catch a tagger.
Incredibly Lame Fun: He's the only person in his family and the park who's excited about the Hot Lips Turtlehead flower blooming in Central Park.
Lethal Chef: He's terrible at making pizza, failing at making the oven hot enough to cook it at all.
Nature Lover: He really enjoys the blooming of Hot Lip Turtlehead flowers.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Birdie points out Owen doesn't really leave the park if he can help it, but he will make an exception if it benefits the park. Bitsy's actions, minus the Skater's Circle problem, to ruin the park is forcing him to do these things.
- In "Dog Spray Afternoon", Shart tagging a tree causes Owen, who usually never raises his voice, to yell out in anger.
- Owen is absolutely furious when a racist woman accosts Cole in the park, accurately pointing out that the only reason she did so was because Cole was Black.
The Perfectionist: He is constantly on the alert for every single issue at the park he owns, wanting it all to go according to how he sees it.
Tranquil Fury: Whenever he gets angry, Owen never raises his voice, at most his voice gets really high.

Paige Hunter

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centralpark_paige.png

Voiced by: Kathryn Hahn, Shomi Taiki (Japanese), Barbara Beretta (European French), Marcia Coutinho (Brazilian Portuguese), Marion Musiol (German), Mattea Serpelloni (Italian), Lourdes Fabres (European Spanish), Irina Indigo (Latin American Spanish)

"C'mon kids here we go, there's a lead to pursue
And your momma needs a comment and she's gonna come through
I'll get the truth 'cause I'm a sleuth
C'mon and see 'cause
Momma's got this
Momma's got this"

—Momma's Got This

Owen's wife and a journalist who wants to cover serious news.

Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Her mother seems to have been a nice woman, but she was not at all equipped to educate her daughter or guide her through her periods, because her own mother wasn't either. Paige then decided she would not let Molly go through the same thing and does as much as she can so that the experience isn't as traumatic as her own and that she has all she needs to go through it smoothly. While she ends up overcorrecting and being overbearing instead, Molly still ends up thankful for the care she has put and has a much better experience than Paige.
"Grandma didn’t know better
No, grandma never knew
Her mama never taught her, so she missed a step or two
I realized she just did her best and as I grew
I gathered tools she never had so that I could teach you"
Eek, a Mouse!!: She's shown to not like rats as shown in "Garbage Ballet". She gets worse when she drinks too much cough syrup.
Paige: If it's a sock then why is it a rat?
Intrepid Reporter: Paige dreams of being this, but is generally tasked with bland jobs. Also, she works for a small local newspaper.
Happily Married: Mutually supportive and complimentary.
Meaningful Name: Her full name is most likely related to her being a newspaper reporter. In other words, she is "hunting for pages."
The Pig-Pen: Downplayed. She looks fine, but sometimes she'll get so involved in her journalism that she can be oblivious to how messy she can be, and there are times when she'll forget to clean up her appearance, as demonstrated in her song "Momma's Got This".
Yiddish as a Second Language: She uses "shvitz" quite a bit.

Molly Tillerman

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centralpark_molly.png

Voiced by: Kristen Bell (Season 1), Emmy Raver-Lampman (Season 2), Mayu Minami (Japanese), Emmylou Homs (European French), Priscila Keller (Brazilian Portuguese), Magdalena Turba (German), Margherita De Risi (Italian), Isabel Valls (European Spanish), Edurne Keel (Latin American Spanish)

"I wanna be a superhero
Watch me fly
Anyway that I want to go
And you can give me all your problems
'Cause you know I'll solve them
It's a secret everybody already knows
Weirdos make great superheroes"

—Weirdoes Make Great Superheroes

Owen and Paige's 13-year-old daughter who likes to draw comics.

Brainy Brunette: Has brown hair, and is shown to be very creative and imaginative when it comes to making comics. Also, she is able to deduce where the graffiti artist will be after simply looking at a map.
Deadpan Snarker: She can be incredibly snarky and sarcastic around her family and some adults. Around kids her own age, she stumbles into shyness far more frequently.
First Kiss: She kisses Brendan in "Hat Luncheon". Unfortunately, Brendan has a peanut allergy and she ate a peanut butter parfait, so he suffers an allergic reaction and his face swells up.
Girlish Pigtails: She has a puffier version of this.
Graceful Loser: She's capable of taking her chess loss in "Squirrel, Interrupted" in stride. She says she knew she was going to lose, but wanted to learn how Constantine would defeat her for the next match. This is in stark contrast to Paige, who believed she would lose interest in chess if she ever suffered any loss.
Heroic Bastard: If what Paige said as part of her compilation of lies in the Season 2 premiere is really false, then she and Owen made Molly first and then married.
Hidden Depths: "Squirrel, Interrupted" reveals her skills at chess. Paige is amazed by these, telling Molly she's better at it than herself when she was her age.
Malicious Slander: After her kiss with Brendan goes poorly, a rumor starts going around her school that she actually killed him with a kiss. But lucky for her, they don't know it was her.
Motor Mouth: Downplayed. She normally talks at a regular speed, but when she's around kids her own age, she acts awkwardly around them and ends up talking too much and a little fast.
Stalker with a Crush: She would stalk her crush, Brendan, in the park while he flies his kite and while she draws her comic. He's aware of her presence, but he doesn't seem to mind.
Tough Room: Whenever Molly tries to tell a joke, no one laughs at it.
Vocal Dissonance: When Emmy Raver-Lampman took over voicing Molly, her singing voice became a little bit too mature to come out of a 13-year-old girl. Possibly justified, as this could be passed off as a sign of puberty.

Fista-Puffs

Molly's superhero persona in her comics.

Chickification: In-Universe. In "Garbage Ballet", when Molly's friend Hazel reads her comic, she realizes that Fista-Puffs used to be a badass that was saving the city, but ever since Kite Boy showed up, the comic derailed into nothing but her swooning over him.
Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue": She's Molly's superhero persona and despite doing amazing things, she's not afraid to call out her awkwardness in her own comic.
Prehensile Hair: She can control using puffy pigtails and use them like arms.
Punny Name: Her name is a pun on "fisticuffs".
Time Master: She has the power to rewind time by five seconds. Although this could represent how Molly wants a redo in real-life whenever she makes an embarrassing mistake.

Cole Tillerman

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centralpark_cole.png

Voiced by: Tituss Burgess, Mineo Kiuchi (Japanese), Jean-Michel Vaubien (European French), Raphael Rossatto (Brazilian Portuguese), Dirk Stollberg (German), Gabriele Patriarca (Italian), Marc Gomez (European Spanish), Marc Winslow (Latin American Spanish)

"I know it looks like dog-napping behavior
But trust me dad, I'm this furry guy's savior
Trapped up in the tower with only Bitsy to nuzzle
Shampagne is like — a way better Rapunzel
And it's not like I took him, if anything he took me
He took my breath away when he was taking a pee"

—Poops I'll Pick It Up

Owen and Paige's 11-year-old son who loves animals.

Animal Lover: When Birdie introduces him, he mentions he loves animals. And this is shown throughout the show, especially with his relationship with Bitsy's dog, Shampagne.
Everyone Has Standards: As much as he loves animals, he freaks out when faced with a huge pack of rats.
Paige: We're calling an exterminator.
Cole: (rapidly) Yep. Yep, yep, yep. Yep. Yeeeep.
Paige: A... gentle exterminator.
Cole: I don't care anymore.
Fanboy: He's a big fan of a series of fantasy books about magical squirrels in Central Park. Though his father can't stand the books, he tags along with him for a scavenger hunt themed after the books.
Friend to All Living Things: He is caring and kind to all animals, especially Shampagne. He tries to do the same for even rats, such as trying to convince his mother to call off an exterminator, but he eventually decides to give up.
Kiddie Kid: His favorite things to do that don't involve animals are playing pretend and vigorous outdoor play such as somersaulting and hula-hooping. Also, his concept of "Spin the Bottle" is humorously literal (spinning the bottle and watching it), and it's implied he hasn't undergone puberty yet.
Romantic Wingman: He encourages his sister in her nervousness to interact with her crush.
Stalker with a Crush: Cole has a rather... obsessive interest in Bitsy's dog, Shampagne.

Family Members and Friends of the Tillermans and the Hunters

Family Members

Celeste Tillerman

Voiced by: Jenifer Lewis

Owen's mother.

Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She usually gets distracted by other activities around her and Owen really hates this because her unfocused attitude costed him to buy a toy street sweeper when he was a kid and she caused him to miss the blooming of the corpse flower.
Good Is Not Dumb: She may be a fun and cheerful person, but in "Lunar Palaver", she once told Paige that Molly and Cole would eventually face discrimination based on their skin color, clearly showing she's not naive. This makes sense, since given her age, Celeste has likely faced a great deal of racism.
Wacky Parent, Serious Child: She likes having fun and going with the flow even if she forgets what she's doing, while Owen likes to make plans for things and stays focus on his goals.

Abby Hunter

Voiced by: Kristen Bell

Paige's younger sister who moved from Oshkosh, Wisconsin to live in New York City to become an actress on Broadway.

Big Sister Worship: She loves her sister Paige and it was her that inspired her chase her dream to become an actress and move to New York City.
Cool Aunt: Molly and Cole both adore her and enjoy spending time with her.
Naïve Newcomer: Now that she's living in New York, she still has a lot to learn when living in the city as it's a major shift from Oshkosh.
The Pollyanna: She always tries to keep a positive attitude and tries to see the positive side of everything regardless of how bad it is, especially when it comes to working for Bitsy.
Remember the New Guy?: It was never mentioned that Paige has a younger sister in the past seasons as she makes her debut in Season 3. Although this is due to Kristen Bell stepping down from her role as Molly after Season 1, so Abby was created so Kristen can still have a role on the show.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: She always sees the good in everything, even if she's living in a place like New York City. It becomes discussed in "A Matter of Life and Boeuf", Paige spends the entire episode trying to talk Abby out of working at the Brandenham, believing that her sister's status as this is making her blind to the kind of person Bitsy is. However, Abby later admits that she knows Bitsy is the worst sometimes, but is willingly choosing to try and find the good in her and the Brandenham anyway- not just because of her experience with playing villains in her past plays by questioning what their reasons would be for being "evil", but because she knows she'll never make it in New York if she just goes around believing everything is the worst all the time instead of trying to find the good in something, impossible as it may seem.

Friends

Brendan

Brendan Brandenham

Voiced by: Eugene Cordero, Yasuaki Takumi (Japanese)

A boy who flies his kite in Central Park and Molly secretly has a crush on him and they would later become a couple. He is Bitsy's great-nephew.

Connected All Along: He turns out to be a member of the Brandenham family.
First Kiss: He's kissed by Molly in "Hat Luncheon". Unfortunately, he has a peanut allergy and Molly ate a peanut butter parfait, so he suffers an allergic reaction and his face swells up. Their subsequent attempts in "Hot Oven" don't really work out that well, but they're less deadly and more awkward.
Generic Guy: Brendan is usually portrayed as a simple Nice Guy who happens to be Molly's crush. The only other thing that makes Brendan stand out is that he's member of the Brandenham family.
Nice Guy: Brendan is a polite and pleasant boy who gets along with everyone. Even when Molly gave him an allergic reaction by accident, he doesn't hold it against Molly and continues to be friendly with her. It makes the fact that he's related to Bitsy Brandenham all the more surprising.
Oh, No... Not Again!: In "Squirrel, Interrupted", when Bitsy tells him that Anton was accidentally locked inside the broom closet downstairs and he needs to be set free, Brendan opens the door and sees Anton Bound and Gagged and he's not even surprised.
Brendan: I feel like this happens every year. I wished I'd gone to Jacob's bowling party.
Plot Allergy: He's revealed to have a peanut allergy when his face starts swelling up after Molly kisses him having just eaten peanut butter parfait.
Secretly Wealthy: When we first meet him, he looks like a regular kid at the park just flying his kite. Then we get the reveal that he's a member of the Brandenham family, who's rich, and he keeps his family name a secret because he feels embarrassed when he tells people his last name and they get weirded out by him.
Spanner in the Works: After Bitsy reveals her plan to buy Central Park to her brother's family, none of them take her seriously, except for Brendan. Thanks to him, the Tillermans are now aware of Bitsy's plan to buy the park.
Walking Spoiler: After learning about his last name, it's hard not to bring up his relationship with Bitsy.

Hazel

Voiced by: Ester Dean

Molly's friend at school.

Enrique

Voiced by: Stephanie Beatriz

Cole's best friend.

Daddy Didn't Show: Downplayed. His dad did come with him to the Squirrel Quarrels Squavenger hunt, but sat on the sidelines reading a book. It's clear from Enrique's interactions toward Owen that he wished his father were more active in his life.
Kiddie Kid: The main thing he has in common with Cole. They love playing Pirates and Squirrel Quarrels.

Brandenham Hotel

Bitsy Brandenham

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centralpark_bitsy.png

Voiced by: Stanley Tucci (Adult Bitsy), Keala Settle (Young Bitsy); Tsuyoshi Hirabayashi (Japanese), Bernard Alane (European French), Marcio Simoes (Brazilian Portuguese), Michael Iwannek (German), Gerolamo Alchieri (Italian), Xavi Fernandez (European Spanish), Beto Castillo (Latin American Spanish)

"I'll make 'em pay
Tell their bankers to wire, pay
To build my empire, pay
My desire to raise every rent, and squeeze every cent
They'll pay
Oh, they'll pay!"

—Make 'Em Pay

A business entrepreneur and the heiress of the Brandenham Hotel. She has a plan of destroying Central Park by making a huge business deal to own the property and sell it to multiple business and condos.

0% Approval Rating: In "A Fish Called Snakehead", she's revealed to be unlikable in New York in a poll created by the mayor. How unlikable? A Serial Killer did better than her in the poll. Another poll asked what's New York's most hated thing, with the options being slow walkers, New Jersey, Bitsy, rats, and tourists, Bitsy is the highest. If some dialogue is to be believed, she doesn't really care about it.
The Alcoholic: She's always drinking constantly and in large doses.
Beneath Notice: How she was treated her entire life. This allowed her to operate as "The Shadow", as no one ever paid attention to her or knew she was there.
Big Bad: Bitsy is the central antagonist of the series' first season, as she has a long plan to destroy the park slowly in order to force the city to sell it to her, and subsequently for her to sell the area to multiple companies. Among her actions are to make it harder for the park to be able to take the garbage out and pushing the city to block the money inflow of the park. She's also targeting Owen and tries to tarnish his reputation as park manager so that he can be fired and replaced with somebody who won't get in her way. Her antagonism takes a backseat during season two in favor of expanding her character and slightly humanizing her.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Bitsy is the rich owner of a luxurious hotel, but she has connections with the mob and the government with which she intends to force the city to sell her the property of the park. Thanks to Birdie, Paige figures out in "Dog Spray Afternoon" that she is involved in a real state scheme buying cheap properties from the mayor for millions in order to send money to him under the table and push him to start screwing over the park.
The Dog Bites Back: During the 70s she operated as The Shadow and robbed a litany of hotels of their valuables just to get back at her abusive father, tarnishing his reputation.
Evil Cripple: She isn't in a wheelchair but it's implied she has dwarfism, which is considered a disability.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She loves her dog Shampagne just a, well, bit too much, to the point where she spoils Shampagne in ways he doesn't like.
Even Evil Has Standards: While she may be a rich and terrible person who's trying to buy Central Park, she hates her stuck-up, privileged relatives because while she worked hard to get where she is, her relatives just coast through life with the money they were given or inherited. She hates how they only came to her birthday party just to brag and compare their riches and calls their behavior an embarrassment.
Fiery Redhead: Before her hair started turning grey, she used to be a redhead.
Foil: While she and her brother, Ambrose, are short, cranky, rich old people, they have their differences. She has no family of her own, while her brother has a lot of family members. She inherited her family's hotel and worked hard to turn it into a multi-million dollar business without any help, while Ambrose inherited their father's money and hasn't earned money himself that wasn't interest.
Freudian Excuse: In the song "Make 'Em Pay", Bitsy expresses how she came from an abusive family, as well as not being popular with the other children in her youth.
- As the Shadow, Bitsy left crumpled up wrappers in the shape of a penis. This was in defiance of her father, who wanted another son instead of Bitsy.
Hates Rich People: Despite being rich and greedy herself, Bitsy seems to have only contempt for other rich people, due to growing up ignored and belittled by her rich family and her fellow rich classmates. She prides herself on having built up the Brandenham from nothing while others use her own birthday party to mooch off her success. Her whole drive to buy Central Park is in part to make them notice her.
Hey, You!: Even though she has heard of Owen and Paige's name, she never calls them by their name. She usually refers to Owen as "park guy" or "park person" and she admits she refuses to learn Paige's name.
I Need a Freaking Drink: When in the presence of her family, she is so thoroughly annoyed by having to interact with them, she asks for an entire jar of beverage, and asks Helen to keep her having access to drinks all day.
Informed Ability: Bitsy claims to have built her hotel from the bottom up, but she is hardly ever shown to have any business sense that doesn't involve underhanded dealings. In addition, her employees all hate her and she has no idea how laundry works (she pronounces it "laundy").
Jerkass Has a Point: She may be a grump, but she's right about how her brother Ambrose is an Upper-Class Twit.
The Load: Whenever she and Helen are in danger, Helen is the one who usually does all the work while Bitsy does nothing and complains or makes things worse for them as demonstrated in "Live it Up Tonight" and "Central Dark".
Lonely at the Top: Downplayed. She's hated by everyone, talked over and ignored by fellow businessmen, her constant companion can barely stand her, and even her precious dog likes Cole more than her. But she's also a misanthrope, so she barely seems to notice that she's miserable.
Luxurious Liquor: She's constantly drinking different alcohol beverages with martinis being her favorite drink.
Miniature Senior Citizens: She's so short that even Cole is taller than her.
- Then again, as Make 'Em Pay shows her as being about the same height she was as a child and she mentions in her song being smaller than the other kids, and, given we see her being about the same size as a young adult in both The Shadow and Where There's Smoke, it's heavily implied she has dwarfism or a similar growth disorder.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Evokes the dog-loving hotel magnate and "Queen of Mean" herself, Leona Hemsley.
Pet the Dog:
- A literal since with her pet dog Shampagne whom she constantly showers him with affection.
- Bitsy also compliments Molly on her drawings despite Molly being the daughter of the park manager Bitsy wants to get rid of.
- She realizes that she genuinely loves the Brandenham hotel and would rather keep owning it than giving it up for the park (even if the park is worth a whole lot more money).
Self-Made Woman: Downplayed. Bitsy prides herself on the fact that unlike her brother, she actually did make something out of herself by turning into a rich owner of a prosperous hotel. However, while the hotel was already her family's and she inherited it from her father, the hotel was in a really bad state, with the implication it was a consolation prize because her father wanted to give everything he owned to his son, and the only reason why it's the profitable business it is now is because of her management.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: She is not afraid to express how she feels about certain people at her age.
The Un-Favourite: In her words, her brother was "the golden child" and she was never liked or respected by her father. A comment in "Squirrel Interrupted" implies that her brother got all the fortune of the family, while she got the Brandenham Hotel in pretty bad shape and had to make it the profitable business it is now herself.
Villain Ball: In an attempt to be taken seriously by her brother's family, she reveals to them her plan to buy Central Park, a plan that's supposed to be a secret to the public because of the illegal actions she taking to make it possible. While none of them take her seriously, Brendan is the only one who does and he later reveals this to the Tillermans, making Owen, the park manager, and Paige, a newspaper journalist, aware of her plan.
Villain Song:
- "Make 'Em Pay". A musical number she sings when other entrepreneurs start talking over her, the song talks about her bitterness over how mistreated she was when young and how she'll make everyone that disrespected her pay for the insolence.
- "Big Deal". A musical number about how she despises her brother and his extended family, and her plan to take over Central Park.
- " That Was All Me". A musical number where she reveals why and how she operated as the Shadow.
Womanchild: She may be old, but she acts childish and sometimes blow raspberries.

Helen

Voiced by: Daveed Diggs, Mitsuru Miyamoto (Japanese), Guillaume Beaujolais (European French), Luiz Carlos Persy (Brazilian Portuguese), Felix Isenbugel (German) , Andrea Mete (Italian), David Jenner (European Spanish), Merlussa (Latin American Spanish)

"If there's a will
there's a willy-nilly way
To be livin' like I'm top-notch
filthy stinking rich, watch!
Just gotta be smart like so
Keep playin’ my part like so
Don't step on my toes
Nobody knows what really goes on
In Bitsy's rich'n'famous lifestyle penthouse in the tower
Gonna have my hour with the willpower..."

—If There's A Will

Bitsy's assistant. Beleaguered and disrespected, she plans to some day inherit all of Bitsy's money and get rid of Shampagne.

Beleaguered Assistant: She's clearly very exasperated at having to serve Bitsy. She's only doing so in the hopes of inheriting Bitsy's fortune.
Dragon with an Agenda: She's Bitsy's right-hand woman who constantly serves her, but only so that she may inherit Bitsy's fortune.
Hidden Depths:
- Despite her serious personality, she loves monkeys and even has a monkey bank.
- She's from Weehawken, New Jersey and despite wanting to be rich she still loves her hometown and gets frustrated when Bitsy keep talking down on it.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: She's very competent at being Bitsy's assistant and usually does all the legwork for Bitsy when dealing with her hotel staff and rescuing her.
Intergenerational Friendship: She ends up becoming as close to friendly as she can get with Cole when he offers to walk Shampagne for her.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Helen seriously contemplates offing Shampagne to get the dog out of Bitsy's will, but ultimately can't go through with it due to Cole's influence. Then, she ends up saving Shampagne and Cole when they race into traffic anyway.
Long Game: Helen has been working for an unknown amount of years for Bitsy in order to make sure she is in her will and will get everything she can from Helen. Believing that she is in the home stretch, her main goal now is to make sure that Shampagne isn't in front of her.
My Master, Right or Wrong: In "Celeste We Forget", she admits to Paige that she hates Bitsy for the way she treats her and would gladly hurt her, but she put in a lot of effort to gain Bitsy's trust, sacrificed all her happiness, and tries to make sure she's in her will to betray her trust now.
Servile Snarker: She'll make snarky comments at Bitsy without her knowing about it.
Vague Age: While she looks old, she isn't old like Bitsy and her exact age is unknown. In "The Shadow" Bitsy lampshades this and thinks her age is between 40 and 90.
Workaholic: She realizes she's this in "Mother's Daze". When she's finally given a day off and goes to a spa resort to relax, she grows bored and ends her day off because she didn't know how to relax and she would rather continue to try to get into Bitsy's will.

Shampagne

Bitsy's pet dog.

Ambiguously Gay: He is referred to with male pronouns and has a romance with a great dane that is also referred to with male pronouns. This is not really brought up, as Animals Lack Attributes.
Morality Pet: Literally. He's probably one of the few living things Bitsy shows any affections and kindness towards.
My Nayme Is: He's named "Shampagne", but it is pronounced like the drink of the same name.
Spoiled Sweet: A dog variant. Despite Bitsy constantly spoiling Shampagne with gifts and affection, he remains a rather well-adjusted and friendly dog.

Central Park

People who work or are normally seen at Central Park.

Park Workers

Elwood

Voiced by: Rory O'Malley

"Don't sweat the small stuff
and isn't it all stuff?
You can just let go
Because you know
It won't make it better
It'll just make you feel worse today
And in this life, today's all we got
So when I have a problem, I just say:
'Oh well', 'moving on', 'anyway'!"

—Small Stuff

A park ranger and Owen's partner at Central Park.

Blithe Spirit: Deconstructed in his character song in the Season 3 finale. His philosophy is to coast through life without worrying about anything, which includes the consequences of his own actions. During the song he innocently reveals that—among other things—he doesn't pay taxes, eats raw chicken, witnessed a crime committed by the Russian mob, and isn't even qualified to be a park ranger.
The Ditz: He means well, but he's not the brightest worker at the park. In "Live It Up Tonight", he almost got Owen in trouble with an auditor who almost got him fired because he used the worm receipt to make a temporary home for his pet worm and then threw the receipt away and never told Owen about it. And in "Central Dark", he throws away all his electronics because he thinks that they don't work anymore due to the blackout.
The Fool: No matter what stupid thing he does, things will turn out more or less okay. Judging by his comment on how he "ate asbestos as a kid", this isn't a recent aspect of his life.
Hidden Depths: For how much of an airhead he is, he seems to be musically gifted. "You Are The Music", his duet with Birdie, shows that he is quite amazed by Elwood's skills with music even in-universe, and Owen even mentions he is probably the most skilled person in music he knows, even considering Birdie who plays music for a living. He's not particularly skilled as a teacher for it, though.
Karma Houdini: In the Season 3 finale, he sings about how he doesn't pay taxes, lied on his resume, and only sold three tote bags at the park fair. Luckily, Owen only seems bothered by one of these.
Number Two: He appears to be this to Owen, since he's the only park worker to update Owen on the status of the park.

Fran

Voiced by: Janelle James, Yvette Nicole Brown (singing voice)

Another park ranger at Central Park who usually works with Owen and Elwood.

Deadpan Snarker: She's usually this to Owen because of the way he take certain things seriously.
Taking You with Me: A non-lethal example. In "Of Course You Realize This Means Ward", when the other workers think Owen is going to fire them, thanks to Elwood misunderstanding Owen's words, she tells Owen she quits and she's going to take this place down with her. After Owen clears things up, he's shocked that she had that ready to go.

Parkgoers

Birdie

Voiced by: Josh Gad, Shunsuke Takeuchi (Japanese), Thierry Wermuth (European French), Olivier Podesta (singing, European French), Alexandre Moreno (Brazilian Portuguese), Manuel Straube (German), Gabriele Lopez (Italian), Miguel Antelo (European Spanish), Luis Leonardo Suarez (Latin American Spanish)

"They call me Birdie, cause I sing like a bird, and I bathed on that fountain."

A busker at Central Park and the show's narrator.

The Ageless: In "Castle Sweet Castle", when Birdie first meets the Tillerman many years ago, back when Molly was a toddler and Cole was a baby, he looks exactly the same as he does in the present, even wearing the same clothes.
All-Knowing Singing Narrator: He knows what's going to happen in the story and points out a small detail that will be important later on. Although, he has to stalk the Tillermans so he can explain to the audience what's going on.
Ambiguously Gay: Birdie shows hints that he has a crush on Owen. Sometimes calling him "cute", calling Owen his best friend, and loving it when he thinks Owen called him "baby".
Beneath Notice: How he explains to Paige how he knew about Bitsy's money-laundering scam with the Mayor — people say all kinds of sensitive things in front of him without much concern that he's listening.
Continue Your Mission, Dammit!: In numerous episodes, he has scenes where he tries to nudge the characters in the direction they need to take for the story to progress, such as singing loudly in order to get Molly to notice that Brendan is flying his kite in "Hat Luncheon".
Family of Choice: Birdie admits in "Rival Busker" that he sees the Tillermans as his own family.
Ink-Suit Actor: Closely resembles his voice actor, Josh Gad.
Meaningful Name: He's called Birdie because he sings like a bird... and because he bathes in the Park's bird fountain.
Pungeon Master: Birdie loves to make puns!
Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: When narrating, Birdie has a tendency to say sound effects out loud, such as making whooshing sounds when the camera moves or text flies in, or a whirring noise when a list is scrolling up the screen.
Saying Too Much: In "Dog Spray Afternoon", Birdie reveals there are rules he needs to follow as the narrator, the biggest one being that he can't give spoilers to the characters in the story. He later blurts out to Paige that Bitsy is the one money laundering for Mayor Whitebottom, which in turn leads to a new narrator stepping in, with Birdie unaware of this.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Despite the fact that Narrators aren’t supposed to interfere with the story, Birdie can’t bear to see the Tillermans in trouble and rushes in to help them, despite the threat of being removed from the story completely if he does.
Stalker without a Crush: Justified since he's the narrator, but he knows it's bad if he gets caught.
Street Performer: It's how he makes a living at Central Park and he plays the violin. It seems that being a narrator is also a job to him, though.

Glorious Gary

Voiced by: Christopher Jackson

"We gotta do it while we can
We gotta do it while we can
We gotta do it while we can
There's no time to waste, so take my hand..."

— Do It While We Can

A local skater in Central Park who usually skates around Skater's Circle.

Rhyme Theme Naming: His name is Gary and his best friend is named Larry, which is lampshaded by Owen.

Griffin

Voiced by: Andrew Rannells, KENN (Japanese)

"You've been distracted by a dude
Who's been uprooting the whole plot
I'm not trying to be rude
But there's no way in hell he's got
A pair of First Class Hands
Don't you wanna be in
First Class Hands?"

—First Class Hands

Another busker in Central Park, who becomes the new narrator at the end of "Dog Spray Afternoon" after Birdie breaks the rule of revealing spoilers to a character in the story.

Alien Non-Interference Clause: Griffin explains to Birdie that narrators aren't supposed to insert themselves in the story or meddle in the lives of its characters — in his own words, "they gotta make their own decisions, we just get to watch".
Bystander Syndrome: He will do anything to keep himself from being involved in the story, even letting Owen and Cole die.
Evil Counterpart: He's one to Birdie as both are street musicians that also serve as narrators to the story, but while Birdie is friendly to the main characters willing to help them on occasion at the risk of loosing his role of narrating, Griffin is apathetic to them even willing to let them die to maintain his occupation.
Freudian Excuse: It's possibly hinted he's the pig farmer's kid in the song "Too Close". In which case yes, he does have a personal reason why to not get too attached, even if the powers that be ultimately got tired of him.
Hate Sink: He manages to be this in the one episode he appears in, if only because he's such a egotistical and smug hypocrite who annoys everybody with his constant bragging. Then he allows an owl to attack a father and son (who also just so happen to be the people his job depends on being alive) just adding the final little bit of salt to his status as this before his bosses kick him out of the show.
Hypocrite: He claims to be a much better narrator than Birdie, but most of "First Class Hands" is him bragging about it, quite clearly breaking the established "don't make [the story] about you" rule. Not only that, his insistence on narrating the "right" way and never getting "too close" (physically or emotionally) to the people he's narrating almost gets Owen and Cole killed, which would've ruined the story way worse than Birdie's one spoiler did.
Lack of Empathy: Because of his instance on following the rules and being a detached, objective, "perfect" narrator, Griffin lacks Birdie's attachment to the Tillerman family. He's so detached, in fact, that he doesn't do anything to help get Owen and Cole — who are stuck in a tree and getting attacked by an angry mother owl — down, even when he knows that he's the only one around to do something about it.
Love Hurts: Griffin's life philosophy, and why he refuses to get emotionally attached to anything.
Love Makes You Dumb: Feels it's why Birdie got "fired", because getting 'too close' to the Tillermans is what led to him accidentally blurting out a spoiler.
Narcissist: Almost every scene he's in is just him bragging how awesome he is.
Put on a Bus: After Birdie gets his role as narrator back, Griffin leaves the story completely, with no explanation to where he is going.
Safety in Indifference: Griffin's main point in "Too Close", believing it's better to avoid attachments completely than to set yourself up for inevitable heartbreak.
The Sociopath: Shows signs of being one such as having a huge ego and showing no remorse in letting a father and child die if it meant he wasn't breaking the narrator rules.
Taking Up the Mantle: He becomes the narrator because Birdie accidentally broke the narrator rules by revealing a spoiler to Paige.
Villain Song: "First Class Hands". The song is one big brag of how much better he is at narrating than Birdie and subsequently trashing Birdie for messing up and losing his job.
Would Hurt a Child: Downplayed in that Griffin himself doesn't directly hurt children, but he does allows an owl to attack an 11-year old boy and was willing to let said boy potentially fall to his death.
You Can't Fight Fate: Constantly preaches this to Birdie, as he believes narrators shouldn't try to mess with the consequences of character's actions.

Louie

Voiced by: Kevin Corrigan

"Louie's Hot Dogs! Easy to eat, hard to forget!"

A local hot dog vendor in Central Park.

Loved by All: His customers love him not just because his hot dogs are the best in the city, but because he's friendly to everyone and he helps them out. "He Touched Us (With His Hot Dogs)" is a testament to how beloved he is in New York City and why they help him break the park record for longest running vendor in Central Park.
Remember the New Guy?: He's been selling hot dogs for 30 years in Central Park, but he's introduced in Season 3 "A Hot Dog to Remember" and this is the first time we have ever heard of him since there are other hot dog carts in the park.
Supreme Chef: His hot dogs are some of the best there was.

Family Members of the Brandenham

Ambrose Brandenham

Voiced by: Ed Asner

"What's soft and white and has a family crest?
Sitting on his fortune like a viper on his nest.
Big Deal."

—Big Deal

Bitsy's older brother and the inheritor of the family fortune. He lives off of it and is quite nasty to his sister.

Big Brother Bully: Raised as the favorite, Ambrose would bully Bitsy just like his own father and nanny would do to her. Even in their old age, he is still mean to her.
Foil: While he and Bitsy are short, cranky, rich old people, they have their differences. He has a lot of family members who mooches off of him while she has no family of her own. He inherited their father's money and hasn't earned money himself that wasn't interest, while she inherited her family's hotel and worked hard to turn it into a multi-million dollar business without any help.
Idle Rich: Bitsy accuses him of being one, as all the money he made for himself was out of loans with the family money, while Bitsy took their rundown hotel and turned into a multi-million dollar business. Both of them also see his extended family as this, as they live by mooching off of him.
Miniature Senior Citizen: He's only slightly taller than Bitsy.

Leopold Brandenham

Voiced by: Dan Stevens

"Driving is like negotiating. You should do it fast, tipsy, and make everyone feel like they're gonna die."

Bitsy and Ambrose's father.

All There in the Manual: His name was revealed to be "Leopold" in the closed captions of the song "Clean Money".
The Alcoholic: He's shown drinking a lot, even while he's teaching Bitsy how to drive.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Considering everything Bitsy learned from business came from her father, it's safe to say this is how he was in past. In "Where There's Smoke", he sung "Clean Money", which is about having clean money mixed in with dirty money to ensure that no one can find out about the dirty money.
Drives Like Crazy: He thought Bitsy how to drive and gave her terrible advice that he stands firmly on.
"Seat beats are for cowards. Everything is a parking spot if you park there. Never go under 40 miles an hour. (later on) Driving is like negotiating. You should do it fast, tipsy, and make everyone feel like they're gonna die."
Posthumous Character: He's been long dead since Bitsy and Ambrose inherited his assets, but his influence on Bitsy is what made her the woman she is today.
Wanted a Son Instead: He was not shy about how much he would have rather had a second son instead of Bitsy.
Bitsy: He never missed an opportunity to tell me that he wished I'd been a boy. With a penis. He never said the penis part but it was implied.

What's New, New York?

Marvin

Voiced by: Tony Shalhoub

The editor-of-chief of What's New, New York? and Paige's boss.

Benevolent Boss: He originally had Paige write fluffy news and Paige is trying to convince him to let her write real news stories. But after she wrote a story about the turtlehead flowers getting destroyed thanks to the people trying to find Bitsy's dog, he printed her story online and gave her the chance to write real news.
Da Editor: He's a calmer version of this, but he still demands Paige to get him a story for the papers.

Doug

Voiced by: Brian Huskey

A co-worker of Paige

Others

Mayor Whitney Whitebottom

Voiced by: H. Jon Benjamin

The mayor of New York City.

Alliterative Name: Whitney Whitebottom.
Butt-Monkey: He may be the mayor, but Bitsy doesn't treat him like an equal and is not afraid to hurt him or throw stuff at him.
Corrupt Politician: He's in league with Bitsy, who wants the Central Park defunded so she can buy the park when it starts to deteriorate.
Dirty Coward: When a fight between the politicians and socialites breaks out during the Hat Luncheon, he hides under the table and doesn't try to pacify the fighting. He even abandons his people and has Paige help him escape in exchange he provides a quote to her.
Extreme Doormat: To put it simply, he is a pushover.

Anya

Voiced by: Jessica Lowe

"Your husband-
Will love me despite my oligarch daddy"

—Show Up

The daughter of a Russian mobster working with Bitsy. Molly and Paige befriend her when they find her running away from her wedding.

Pep-Talk Song: "Show Up", a song meant to encourage her to show up at her own wedding, which she sings together with Paige and Molly.
Post-Stress Overeating: She's so nervous about marrying her fiancé that she starts stress eating. Eventually, she gets cold-feet and runs from the wedding, but not before grabbing some meat from the hotel's kitchen. Molly found her and hides her in her room, where she eats all the expensive snacks in her room.
Runaway Bride: She flees her own wedding out of fear that, by marrying Zack, she will permanently tangle him with her family's shady business.

Interim Mayor Leeds (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Interim Mayor Quincey Leeds

Voiced by: Sam Richardson

The temporary mayor of New York City after Mayor Whitebottom resigned after Paige exposed his corruption.

Horrible Judge of Character: He trusts Bitsy and believes her claims that she loves the park, with her very blatant attempt to cover up her firing an employee for giving a veteran a free upgrade for their honeymoon flying right over Quincey's head.
Innocently Insensitive: He accidentally riles up Owen's anxiety about his "We Heart the Park" campaign by talking about how the park commissioner might fire him if it goes wrong.
Mundane Made Awesome: His family ran a laundry, so he's ecstatic at being in the Brandenham's laundry room and performs a musical number about it. Bitsy finds it annoying.
Nice Guy: Unlike Mayor Whitebottom, he's a pleasant individual who is friendly with everyone.
Unwitting Pawn: Bitsy's goal is to get him to become permanent mayor and manipulate him into helping her buy Central Park.