Fifty Shades of Grey / Characters

Characters who appear in Fifty Shades of Grey.

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Main Characters

Anastasia Steele

Anastasia Rose 'Ana' Steele

The narrator and main protagonist. She starts out as a naïve, 21 year old college student whose life is changed forever when she meets Christian Grey.

All Girls Want Bad Boys: The one guy she's ever had any interest in is Christian, a sullen, Jerkass billionaire into BDSM who has a tendency to stalk her.
Analogy Backfire: She often compares herself to Icarus from Greek mythology or Tess from Tess of the d'Ubervilles…ignoring the part where both those characters wind up dead. And, in the latter case, that poor Tess was a victim of rape and Victim-Blaming at the hands of a wealthy and powerful man, essentially ruining her life…
Babies Ever After: By the end of the trilogy, she and Christian have two kids.
Best Friends-in-Law: With Kate. They were best friends before Kate got engaged to Elliot, Christian's brother, whilst Ana is married to Christian, making them sisters-in-law.
Bookworm: Ana loves to read, to the point where she majored in English literature in college and begins working at a publishing company, SIP, after graduating. She's possibly intended to be a Cute Bookworm, being socially awkward yet beautiful.
Brains and Bondage: She enjoys some aspects of being Christian's submissive and his "kinky fuckery", and is said to be quite intelligent and well-read.
Brainy Brunette: She has dark brown hair and a 4.0 GPA.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: She's the sweet and naïve Gentle Girl to Christian's Brooding Boy.
Can't Hold Her Liquor: In the first book, Ana gets very drunk at a bar while celebrating her graduation, drunk dials Christian, has trouble fending off the romantic advances of her equally-intoxicated friend Jose, nearly pukes on Christian's shoes and subsequently wakes up in Christian's bed with a killer hangover. When she notices she's been undressed, he has to reassure her they didn't hook up, he having simply brought her to his hotel room to recover from her hangover.
Catchphrase: "Oh, my". She also seems fond of "Holy cow" and "My inner goddess/subconscious is [X]".
Character Tic: Biting her lower lip.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Shows signs of this in regards to Christian in Fifty Shades Freed, getting very hostile towards a woman who is flirting with him. Admittedly, any woman would probably be a bit ticked off that a woman is openly flirting with her partner, but her response to this is a tad over-the-top. In Fifty Shades Darker, particularly in the film adaptation, she also expresses some jealousy over Leila, Christian's Psycho Ex-Girlfriend, even asking him if he'd rather be with her...despite the fact Leila is a clearly unstable woman who has begun stalking Christian due to having a severe mental breakdown. Even he sounds appalled by the suggestion.
Clueless Dude Magnet: Ana often gets a fair bit of attention from different men, but she's generally oblivious to her attractiveness.
Cute Clumsy Girl: The first few chapters in book one suggest she's intended to be this, though from around the middle of the book, she never really does anything overtly clumsy. This is downplayed in the films.
Daddy's Girl: Seems closer to Ray, the man she thinks of as her father, than her mother.
Devoted to You: Repeatedly proclaims that she would do anything for Christian only weeks after they first meet.
Disappeared Dad: Downplayed. Her biological father died when she was a baby, but she thinks of Ray, her first stepfather, as her dad.
Drama Queen: Though she usually keeps her angsting internal, she can be one at times; see her reaction under Not Good with Rejection.
Eating the Eye Candy: She's constantly being distracted by Christian's looks.
Embarrassing Initials: Almost certainly unintentional. As pointed out in this sporking, Ana’s initials (Anastasia Rose Steele) almost perfectly spell out 'arse'.
Expy: Of Bella Swan. A bookish brunette with divorced parents, who is insecure about her looks and is romanced by a man she thinks is way out of her league.
Extreme Doormat: Can come across as one towards Christian and several other people, though she occasionally stands up for herself. She also starts standing up to people who aren't Christian, such as Jack and Elena, in the second book.
Fanservice Pack: After she begins her relationship with Christian, she experiences a sexual awakening and starts behaving and dressing more provocatively (before, she was very naïve about sex and dressed in rather scruffy and unfashionable clothes). More noticeable in the film adaptation.
Fatal Flaw: Being an Extreme Doormat with poor self-esteem. She has a habit of letting people walk all over her and has trouble standing up for herself; subsequently, she finds herself in situations she doesn't want to be in, some of them potentially quite dangerous.
Fourth-Date Marriage: Going by the timeline provided in the books, Christian and Ana get engaged one month and eight days after their first meeting (meeting, not date). They got married around six weeks after getting engaged, so in all, they only knew each other roughly two and a half months (and weren't even dating for some of that time) before saying "I do".
Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair in pigtails early in the first book. Oddly enough, it's the morning after she has sex with Christian for the first time, so she's not quite as an 'innocent' as she was, though Christian remarks that she looks very young with the hairstyle.
Golddigger: It's implied some people view her as this and Elena outright calls her one due to her rather speedy relationship with Christian (they get engaged after only a month or so of dating). She's actually Not with Them for the Money and usually feels rather uncomfortable when Christian spends lots of money on her.
Good Angel, Bad Angel: A variation. Ana often refers to her "subconscious", who is prudish and sensible, and her "inner goddess", who's a kinky sex maniac. Considering the genre, there's no prizes for guessing which one she tends to listen to.
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Upon finding out she's pregnant, which is extremely poorly timed, she considers an abortion for about two seconds before dismissing this "dark path" (as she calls it). Subsequently, the subject never comes up again.
Grew a Spine: In Fifty Shades Darker, to an extent. She begins standing up to Christian more, kicks Jack's ass when he tries to force himself on her and gives a "Reason You Suck" Speech to Elena, culminating in her throwing her drink at her.
Happily Married: To Christian as of the third book, though it's played with as they continue to have issues around Christian continuing to be a Control Freak, Ana getting upset and arguing with him about it and both of them turning into Green Eyed Monsters if anyone else pays attention to either of them. They also hit a rough patch due to Christian freaking out when she unexpectedly gets pregnant, but by the end they're reconciled and still together a few years down the track in the epilogue.
Heroic BSoD: Goes through a week-long one after breaking up with Christian. She snaps out of it once they get back together.
Hidden Depths / Minored in Ass-Kicking: Shocking as it may sound, Ana does have some badassery within her, on account of having a former Marine for a dad. She mentions he taught her how to defend herself and use a gun...and actually demonstrates this in the second and third books, fighting off Jack when he tries to assault her and also shooting and injuring Jack whilst lying on the ground injured and pregnant. Unfortunately, these are pretty much the only times we see this side of her.
Horrible Judge of Character: In the first book, she compares Christian to a Knight in Shining Armor not long after they met, despite the fact that, by his own admission no less, he's really, really not.
I Am Not Pretty: She doesn't think she’s much to look at, but everyone else finds her quite beautiful.
I Can Change My Beloved: From the second book onwards, she becomes convinced she can help Christian start to open up and become less controlling. How successful she is depends on your interpretation, but at the least he treats her as a proper girlfriend rather than just another submissive.
I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Towards Christian.
Imperiled in Pregnancy: In the climax of the third book, she attempts to rescue Mia from Jack whilst pregnant and is beaten and knocked unconscious. Both she and the baby survive.
Improbable Age: By the age of 21/22, she's running a publishing company. The fact her boyfriend (later husband) owns said company may have something to do with it, though he denies that he was the one who put her there.
Informed Ability: Ana's supposed to be knowledgeable enough about English literature to major in it, but she never shows any deeper knowledge about the books she's read. See also Analogy Backfire.
Informed Flaw: At the start of the first book, Ana goes on a bit about how clumsy she is, but aside from tripping up a few times, she pretty much never shows any signs of exceptional clumsiness and it's never even brought up in the sequels. It's likely a leftover from the original fanfic where she was still Bella Swan, who is notoriously klutzy.
The Ingenue: Twenty-one, naive, and so virginal she never even masturbated before meeting Christian Grey.
Innocent Blue Eyes: She has large, light blue eyes to reflect her naivety.
Insecure Love Interest: To Christian, first because she doesn't know why a guy like him would even be interested in a mousy little college student like her; secondly, because she doesn’t think they're sexually compatible in that she isn’t submissive enough for him.
Instant Expert: Despite being generally clueless about sex, the first time she tries oral sex, Christian lauds her as being fantastic at it. So...she's got that going for her?
In-Universe Nickname: Ana, which she often goes by instead of her full name.
Kinky Spanking: She develops a liking for being spanked by Christian, though she draws the line at being hit with a belt, actually breaking up with Christian when he did that.
Like Brother and Sister: How she views her relationship with Jose. He, on the other hand…
Love Cannot Overcome: At the end of Fifty Shades of Grey, she confesses she's in love with Christian, but leaves him because she can't handle his more extreme sexual kinks. However, in the next book she quickly takes him back when he promises to work on himself.
Love Martyr: To Christian at times. Even when he's acting like a supreme jackass, she never stops loving him.
Lust Object: Initially to Christian, before upgrading to Love Interest.
The Maiden Name Debate: After marrying Christian, he assumes she will change her surname to his, to the point of addressing his emails to her as "Mrs Grey" and setting up a bank account for her with the name of Grey. However, Ana herself is much slower to change her surname and tells Christian she wants to use her maiden name of Steele professionally. Christian reacts rather predictably. It's also worth noting they apparently never discussed this before getting married.
Meet Cute: When she first enters Christian's office to interview him, she trips and falls through the doorway, landing at his feet.
Morality Chain: Ana appoints herself as one to Christian in the second book, believing she can use the Power of Love to make him a better person. Whether this works is a somewhat contentious matter.
Morality Pet: To Christian at times, though she unfortunately has a tendency to be on the receiving end of his Jerkass behaviour too.
Naïve Everygirl: To the point where at age 21, she has no idea what butt plugs are.
Naughty by Night: To an extent. Most of the time, she's a shy, bookish and unassuming college student-turned-publisher's secretary. In private, she's engaged in a highly secretive and complicated relationship with a billionaire, involving BDSM and Making Love in All the Wrong Places.
Never a Self-Made Woman: In the films, she expresses a justifiable concern of being seen as this. It's the reason for The Maiden Name Debate above, and according to her, there are already people seeing her as this. Christian denies involvement with her promotion, telling her that it was her own work that got her there.
The Nicknamer: She occasionally bestows nicknames on other characters, including "Fifty Shades" or just "Fifty" for Christian, "Mrs Robinson" for Elena and "ghost girl" or some variation thereof for Leila. In Fifty Shades Freed, she nicknames her unborn baby "Little Blip" or just "Blip".
No Periods, Period: Averted...though some people wish it was played straight. There's a rather infamous scene in the first book where Christian pulls her tampon out before having sex with her; this was, understandably, left out in the film version.
Not Good with Rejection: Her reaction to thinking Christian doesn't want her – a few days after they first met mind you – is as follows:
"Once underneath the dark, cold concrete of the garage with its bleak fluorescent light, I lean against the wall and put my head in my hands. What was I thinking? Unbidden and unwelcome tears pool in my eyes. Why am I crying? I sink to the ground, angry at myself for this senseless reaction. Drawing up my knees, I fold in on myself. I want to make myself as small as possible. Perhaps this nonsensical pain will be smaller the smaller I am. Placing my head on my knees, I let the irrational tears fall unrestrained. I am crying over the loss of something I never had. How ridiculous. Mourning something that never was – my dashed hopes, dashed dreams, and my soured expectations".
Oblivious to Love: She’s oblivious to Christian's extremely obvious attraction to her at the beginning of the story.
Older Than They Look: She's only twenty-one at the beginning of the series (she turns twenty-two in Fifty Shades Freed) but is often said to look even younger, especially considering her small stature and generally meek and shy demeanour. In Grey, Christian initially dismisses her as being a potential sexual partner because he thinks she's "too young" until he learns she's actually in her early twenties.
One Head Shorter: Than Christian.
Only Sane Man: Until Grace finds out and throws Elena out of her life, Ana is the only one who sees a serious problem with Christian's continued friendship with the woman who seduced him when he was just fifteen.
Rejected Marriage Proposal: Downplayed in Fifty Shades Darker. Christian spontaneously proposes to Ana, but she says she needs time to think about it because they haven't known each other that long (about a month) and she's worried he's only proposing because she was considering leaving him, believing they're incompatible. Not long after though, she tells Christian she accepts and they announce they're engaged at his birthday party. Despite this, Christian still proposes to Ana 'properly' with a ring as well.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: While at her publishing job, Ana seems to spend most of her time emailing Christian rather than actually working and even takes an extra long lunch break the same day she turned up half an hour late. It's especially egregious as she's only been working at SIP for a for a few weeks, even claiming it's her "dream job". Jack actually calls her out on this (though as he's a Bad Boss, he's apparently supposed to be overreacting). This is downplayed in Fifty Shades Freed, where there's one or two mentions of her reading over manuscripts or holding meetings, but she still spends the majority of her time at work doing something else.
Property of Love: To Christian. He's constantly referring to her as "mine" and talking about her in possessive terms. She mostly just goes along with it.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She’s described as being fair skinned with dark brown hair and quite beautiful.
"Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Gives one to Christian at the end of Fifty Shades of Grey after he hits her with a belt, calling him "fucked up". She's back to obsessing over by the next book, though.
- Gives one to Elena in Fifty Shades Darker, after she tries giving her one, calling her out as a sick sexual predator and for having the nerve to criticise her relationship with Christian. Then she chucks her drink at her.
- Gives Christian yet more of these in Fifty Shades Freed, essentially telling him he's being an utter asshole and needs to grow up after his poor reaction to her accidentally getting pregnant.
Sex Equals Love: In regards to Christian.
Shrinking Violet: Starts out as one. She becomes more confident eventually, to an extent.
Sleeping Their Way to the Top: Jack accuses her of this, believing she's mainly with Christian because he owns SIP; he then suggests she sleep with him instead to further her career. She refuses.
Sleeping with the Boss: Technically, sleeping with your boss's boss's boss, after Christian buys SIP. Subsequently, when Ana is asked to fill in Jack's old position and then gets put in charge of the company, a lot of people think she only got the job because of her relationship with Christian. He insists she got it through "hard work and talent", but it does still look kind of sus.
Surprise Pregnancy: Played for Drama. She unexpectedly gets pregnant in Fifty Shades Freed after forgetting her depo provera shot. She's not too upset about it after getting over the initial shock, though it still causes a fair bit of drama due to Christian not taking it well.
Technophobia: Ana seems to have an aversion to modern technology, not even owning a computer at the start of the series (despite being a college student) and using an outdated flip phone before Christian buys her a Blackberry.
Their First Time: She'd never had sex before meeting Christian (and only been kissed once). He only finds this out after showing her his playroom and asking her to be his sub.
Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Shows signs of this. She's fond of classical romance novels (and even seems to think Tess of the d'Ubervilles is a romance and compares herself to its titular heroine ^note). She very quickly falls for Christian and seems to view her budding relationship with him as being a bit of a modern fairytale. However, Christian is far from Prince Charming, which he actually warns her of.

Unexpected Virgin: When Christian first reveals to Ana he's into BDSM and asks her to be his sub, Ana awkwardly reveals that she's never even had sex or gotten past first base. Christian is shocked by this, believing that men must "throw themselves" at her because of her beauty. ^note Ana is largely oblivious to her looks and also notes that Christian is the first man she's ever been attracted to enough to want to act upon it.

Christian Grey

Christian Trevelyan-Grey

Portrayed by: Jamie Dornan

The secondary protagonist and Ana’s Love Interest; an aloof billionaire haunted by his dark past. He's also the main protagonist and narrator of the companion books told from his perspective.

Ace Pilot: He can pilot his own helicopter and glider. He even manages to use his skills to save himself and a passenger when his helicopter is sabotaged.
Adaptational Intelligence: In the film adaptation of Fifty Shades Freed, Christian immediately twigs that something's not right when he learns Ana is trying to withdraw $2 million in cash and won't tell him what it's for (in the book, he assumes she's leaving him and dramatically tells her to take whatever she wants).
Adaptational Nice Guy: In the film adaptations, some of Christian's more creepy and jerkish behaviour is toned down from the books. A notable example is the argument he has with Ana about her getting pregnant; while he still gets unreasonably angry, he is not nearly as hostile and verbally abusive towards her as he is in the book; he also focuses more on his concerns around being ready for parenthood than Ana being "stupid" and supposedly botching her birth control.
Adaptation Dye-Job: In the books Christian is said to have dark copper hair; in the films he has dark brown hair.
Aloof Big Brother: Inverted; he's an aloof little brother to Elliot. He softens up more around his little sister Mia, but just barely.
Amicable Exes: With Elena. Though considering this is the adult woman who took his virginity and introduced him to BDSM when he was just fifteen, this probably isn't a good thing. Their friendship cools significantly when Elena tries to interfere in his relationship with Ana, though he remains in contact with her to an extent.
Anti-Hero: With strong shades of Byronic Hero. He's a brooding, manipulative and darkly handsome jerk with a tragic past and serious emotional and psychological issues. Most of his actions are motivated not so much by altruism as by personal gratification and advancement, such as winning Ana's affections, getting revenge against people who have wronged him and protecting his own interests (which sometimes extends to include his family).
Babies Ever After: By the end of the trilogy, he and Ana have two kids. Although initially, he wasn't happy about Ana getting pregnant in Fifty Shades Freed, convinced he wasn’t ready to be a father, though he got over it by the end.
Beneath the Mask: Particularly demonstrated during his interview with Ana in the first book. Ana believes he comes across as polite, but somewhat aloof and intimidating, and that he was concerned for her when she fell over. However, as Grey reveals, Christian actually found Ana annoying - though hot - was constantly mentally complaining about everything she said and did, fantasized about either screwing her or beating her to "correct" her awkwardness and even deliberately messes with her just to "make her squirm" (for example, he is already aware she's filling in for Kate, but pretends he doesn't know and calls her Miss Kavanaugh because he thinks it'll be funny). Increasingly, he barely bothers to hide his Jerkass tendencies.
Berserk Button: Has several, due to his Hair-Trigger Temper. One that comes up a fair bit is Ana not eating much, on account of the fact he spent his early years in near-starvation. Another is other men paying attention to Ana (see Crazy Jealous Guy).
Big Brother Bully: Christian actually bullied his older brother Elliot when they were quite young; he states he found him irritating and loud and would physically hurt him, to the point where Elliot made an effort to stay away from Christian. He eventually grew out of it and gets on better with Elliot now, though he also expresses some distaste for his womanizing.
Billionaire Wristband: Christian wears two different Omegas, a $7,200 Seamaster Aqua Terra Chronograph and a $26,500 Speedmaster Moonwatch Co-Axial Chronograph. These are two of the many expensive watches kept in a special organizer in his dressing room.
"Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: When Ana asks him why he keeps explicit photos of his ex submissives, he says they're "an insurance policy [...] Against exposure".
Borrowed Catch Phrase: "Laters, baby", which he nicked off his brother Elliot.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: He's the moody, domineering Brooding Boy to Ana's Gentle Girl.
Chick Magnet: Every woman who comes into contact with him flirts with or expresses attraction to him (unless they're family members or lesbians).
Color Motif: Take a wild guess as to which color he's usually seen wearing, decorates in and is generally associated with.
Control Freak: Hoo, boy. He obsessively exercises control in all areas of his life, up to and including sex. He can be very controlling towards Ana as well. She outright calls him a control freak on several occasions.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Good grief. If another man so much as looks at Ana, he gets his panties in a twist. Of course, he turns out to be Properly Paranoid about Ana's creepy boss, but still…
Creepy Child: Young Christian comes across as this; he was selectively mute, rarely interacted with anyone of his own accord and was violent towards his adoptive brother Elliot if he "annoyed" him, with it being stated that Elliot was actually afraid of Christian and tried to avoid him.
Dark and Troubled Past: His biological mother was a drug-addicted prostitute and very neglectful, sometimes forgetting to feed him and letting her abusive pimp beat him. She eventually died of an overdose and Christian was left alone with her corpse for four days. At fifteen, he was seduced by his mother's much older friend, who introduced him to BDSM. Christian claims this actually helped him get his shit together, but considering what a lonely Jerkass he is before meeting Ana and that he was only fifteen and therefore technically a victim of statutory rape, it's certainly up for debate.
Dark Secret: His BDSM practices are treated as such in-universe. Though to be honest, his stalking tendencies would probably raise more eyebrows.
Dull Surprise: In the movie, he's got exactly one emotionless facial expression that never really changes throughout the entirety of the film.
Expy: Of Edward Cullen. He's rich, handsome, aloof and brooding, seemingly uninterested in dating, habors a 'dark secret' and justifies his condescension, stalking and controling behavior towards his less-worldly girlfriend as protecting her.
Fatal Flaw: His apparent inability to think about the thoughts, feelings and needs of anyone but himself. His life is catered solely around his own desires and whims and any deviance from this tends anger and/or distress him, sometimes resulting in him lashing out at or driving away the people closest to him.
Fetishized Abuser: He may as well be the poster boy of this trope. Christian frequently comes off as condescending, domineering, predatory or an outright Jerkass towards Ana. He stalks her (both of them actually use the word "stalking" to describe his behavior), emotionally manipulates her and is controlling of her to the point where he buys the company where she works after he sees her boss has the hots for her. He gets insanely jealous of any man who pays attention to her. On multiple occasions he threatens to beat her, gag her, tie her up or all three if she does something he doesn't like and she admits to feeling intimidated by him. Many readers have pointed out that Christian's behavior can come across as textbook emotional/verbal abuse, and there are at least a few instances where Ana's consent to BDSM practices is debatable. This is generally presented as being incredibly erotic and part of Christian's Sex God Dom persona, or is explained as a being a product of his Dark and Troubled Past which Ana believes she can fix by unconditionally loving him.
Fiction 500: Christian has a ridiculous amount of money and owns several homes, a yacht, a helicopter, a glider and can buy an entire publishing company in just a day or so, purely on a whim.
First Love: For Ana. She does mention having kissed and dated another guy in college, but Christian is the first (and only) person she genuinely fell in love with.
Fourth-Date Marriage: Going by the timeline provided in the books, Christian and Ana get engaged one month and eight days after their first meeting (meeting, not date). They got married around six weeks after getting engaged, so in all, they only knew each other roughly two and a half months (and weren't even dating for some of that time) before saying "I do".
Freudian Excuse: Most of his issues stem from his Dark and Troubled Past. He at one point outright states he likes to beat and dominate brunette women because they remind him of his neglectful birth mother, though it's not entirely clear how true this is.
Hair-Trigger Temper: The slightest of things can send him into a boiling rage.
Happily Adopted: By the Trevelyan-Grey family.
Happily Married: To Ana as of the third book, though by 'happily' we mean Christian continuing to be a Control Freak, Ana getting upset and arguing with him about it and both of them turning into Green Eyed Monsters if anyone else pays attention to either of them. They also hit a rough patch due to Christian freaking out when she unexpectedly gets pregnant, but by the end they're reconciled and still together a few years down the track in the epilogue.
Has a Type: Most of his subs are fair-skinned brunettes, often quite small in stature and in their early twenties. One sub, Leila, even bears a striking resemblance to Ana. In Fifty Shades Darker, he claims he's attracted to women with these features because they remind him of his neglectful birth mother, but Ana isn't so sure.
Hates Being Touched: On the chest at least (see Trauma Button).
Hates Their Parent: He is contemptuous of his biological mother, Ella, primarily referring to her as "the crack whore". He hates her because she was a drug addicted prostitute, who was left to raise him without support and died of an overdose. He blames her for him being "fifty shades of fucked up" because she couldn't provide for him well and her pimp terrorized them.
Hypocrite: Christian is infuriated when Jose tries to kiss Ana against her will while she's drunk, but he later has no issue dragging her into an alleyway to kiss her without her permission.
Iconic Item: He's commonly associated with a silver-gray necktie he often wears (and used to tie up Ana); it's even featured on the front cover of the first book and some of the movie posters, and is almost an unofficial 'logo' for the franchise.
Improbable Age: By 27, he's the founder and CEO of a billion-dollar company.
Incest Subtext: In the second book, he admits to Ana that he likes to beat, dominate and have rough sex with women who resemble his neglectful birth mother. Interestingly (and creepily) his first sexual relationship was with an older woman who was a friend of his adoptive mother, who he saw as a mentor of sorts, before he moved on to brown-haired submissives.
Informed Attribute: Shortly after meeting him for the first time, Ana tells Kate she found Christian to be intimidating but polite. However, he actually comes across as pretty rude and condescending towards her throughout their interview.
I Want My Beloved to Be Fashionable: Right from the moment they meet, Christian thinks Ana's fashion sense is hideous and insists on buying her expensive designer clothes that show off her figure more.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When he thinks Ana is leaving him at the end of Fifty Shades Freed, due to him not reacting well to her pregnancy, he actually willingly lets her go, telling the banker to let her take whatever money she wants. However, she's actually taking the money to pay off Jack, who is holding Christian's sister hostage.
Jealous Parent: He flips shit when Ana reveals she's pregnant, saying that he doesn't feel ready to "share" her with anyone and that she will prioritise parenting over being his wife. While drunk, he even suggests that Ana will love the baby more than him. Ana calls him out on it, saying he's being immature and needs to grow up and take responsibility, also suggesting that she will choose the baby over him if she has to because unlike him, the baby actually is a helpless child who cannot fend for itself. He seems to have mellowed out by the time their second child is on the way, likely putting him under Type Temporary, though he strongly comes off Type Selfish the first time.
Jerkass: He's generally rude, aloof, controlling, short-tempered and jealous. Given his love for his family, devotion to Ana and altruism towards the less fortunate, he may be intended to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, though for some readers this depends on personal interpretation.
Kick the Morality Pet: Christian has a tendency to do this to Ana, sometimes almost literally. He rarely apologises, or even tries to push the blame for his actions on Ana.
Love Redeems: Ana's love for him seemingly helps him finally overcome his demons and move on from his Dark and Troubled Past. To what extent is up for debate amongst readers.
Manchild: Despite being a CEO and billionaire by his late twenties, Christian at times behaves in a rather childish manner, such as his overreactions and mood swings. Dr Flynn tells Ana that emotionally-speaking, Christian is still an adolescent and Ana herself eventually observes that Christian sometimes resembles a teenager more than a grown man.
Man of Wealth and Taste: Plays his role as a billionaire CEO to the hilt: wearing the finest suits money can buy, being chauffeured from his apartment to his workplace^note in a luxury sedan, and having his Lovely Assistant usher people in and out of his office. It's worth noting that these habits would make him an anomaly in Seattle, which has no shortage of wildly successful tech billionaires; local corporate culture is famously informal, with CEOs more likely to be seen in sport shirts and khakis, driving their own cars (if they're not walking or biking), and often eschewing private offices in their own buildings.
Marital Rape License: Seemingly invoked in Fifty Shades Freed, though it's unclear if this was the author's intention. Late in the book, while Christian and Ana are going through a rough patch in their marriage, Christian attempts to put the moves on her, presumably thinking that sex will fix things. Ana angrily rebuffs him. We then get the following line: "You're my wife, he says softly, threateningly." which carries...certain unpleasant implications. Ana simply says that if he touches her, she'll scream, and he quickly insists it wasn't his intention to frighten her, implying this trope hadn't actually occurred to him and he was making a poor attempt to seduce her.
Meaningful Appearance: His "intense" gray eyes are frequently mentioned.
Misplaced Retribution: After finding out that Lincoln bailed out Jack Hyde from jail purely to get back at Christian for having a (dubiously consensual) affair with his then-wife, Christian initiates a hostile takeover of Lincoln's company and liquidates it. While Christian wanting revenge on Lincoln makes sense, his choice of revenge probably negatively affected dozens of Lincoln's employees, who had nothing to do with the drama between their boss and the Greys.
Mistaken for Gay: Before meeting Ana, his family believed he might be gay as they'd never seen him with a woman. Even Ana spontaneously asks him if he's gay during their interview.
Mood-Swinger: Ana often describes him as being "mercurial" and he sure as hell lives up to that description, switching moods within a matter of minutes with sometimes minimal cause.
Momma's Boy:
- Downplayed, with Grace. He isnt clingy or dependant, but he does "adore her" and she is one the few people who can make him speechless or make him vunerable, feeling ashamed or stupid, seeing through his lies. He is terrified when she finds out about his relationship with Elena, as he knows it will hurt her. He also names his boat "The Grace" in her honor.
- Averted with his biological mother, though; he makes it plain he despises her and rarely mentions her by name.
Mr. Fanservice: One of his most prominent traits and one of the first things we're told about him. Ana kindly reminds us how attractive he is every other page or so.
Naughty Under the Table: He tries fingering Ana under the table while having dinner with his family. He gets mad when she pushes his hand away, whilst his family remains seemingly oblivious.
Noodle Incident: When Ana asks if any of his submissives have ever been injured, he vaguely mentions an incident where he suspended a sub from the ceiling of his playroom...
Not Good with Rejection: After Ana sends him an email joking that she's not sure she wants to continue their relationship, he proceeds to break into her house in the middle of the night, tie her up, spank her and have rough sex with her (Ana claims she enjoyed it, but he didn't bother asking her permission or if she was okay with it, and she was initially quite alarmed to wake up and find him in her bedroom).
One Head Taller: Than Ana.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Fifty Shades Darker, when he believes Ana is going to leave him again, he gets down on his knees and starts acting like a submissive, before telling her he loves her and asking her to marry him.
Past Experience Nightmare: Fifty Shades Darker opens with him having nightmares about his biological mother's abusive pimp.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: We pretty much never see Christian actually being at his office managing his many businesses. The few times we do see him working, he's off doing something that's unrelated to his work, and giving orders to a subordinate over his phone.
Power is Sexy: He's very much this trope. It's implied part of the reason he's such a Chick Magnet isn't just because he's handsome, but also because he clearly has a lot of wealth and influence, and tends to exude a domineering and confident demeanour.
Preppy Name: Technically, his full name is Christian Trevelyan-Grey. His adoptive mother and father are are a very wealthy pediatrician and a lawyer/businessman, respectively. However, he typically goes by Grey, leaving out the Trevelyan part.
Protagonist Title: In regards to Grey, the first book retold from his perspective.
Rags to Riches: He started out a malnourished son of a crack addict living in a crappy apartment in Detroit. After being adopted by the Trevelyan-Grey family, he's been living the high life ever since.
Rich Jerk: Comes across as one at times. In addition to being a regular Jerkass (see above), he is very critical of Ana's banged-up old car, expressing surprise it sells for as much as it did, criticises her clothes and tries to force expensive clothing, cars, phones etc. on her.
Sadist: Zig-Zagged. When Ana asks him if he's one, he specifically calls himself a 'dominant' instead. In the next book however, he admits he likes hitting women during sex; he kind of flip-flops on it, to be honest.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He uses his vast wealth to commit some rather questionable or outright illegal acts, such as stalking Ana and finding out all kinds of very personal information on her.
Series Mascot: Of the 'Hot' variety (well, duh). He's easily the most recognisable character in the franchise and is frequently featured in advertising and merchandising.
Sex God: He's portrayed as one throughout the trilogy. Although, as he's only described from Ana's perspective and he's the only person she's ever had sex with, she may be biased.
Secondary Character Title: The first book, Fifty Shades of Grey, refers to him, but Ana is the narrator and central protagonist. The original fanfic, Master of the Universe, counts as this too.
Sharp-Dressed Man: He's always very well dressed and knows a lot more about fashion than Ana.
Sleek High Rise Apartment: Owns an insanely luxurious penthouse in Seattle, which also includes his very own private sex dungeon (though he doesn't go round showing this particular room off to guests, for obvious reasons).
Son of a Whore: He reveals his biological mother was a "crack whore".
Stalker with a Crush / Stalking is Love: Towards Ana, big time. Before they even begin properly dating, it's revealed he knows her foot size.
Took a Level in Jerkass:
- He begins acting like even more of an asshole than usual when Ana reveals she's pregnant, including going on drunken benders all night without contacting her, getting back in contact with the ex Ana despises (and for good reason) and even blaming Ana for getting pregnant.
- Also something of a retroactive example with the books told from his POV, starting with Grey. In the original trilogy, we see him entirely from Ana's viewpoint and so we generally rely on her interpretations of his actions and behavior. Grey and Darker, however, (as well as bonus chapters in Fifty Shades Freed told from Christian's POV), reveal that Ana is often very off-the-mark about Christian's inner thoughts or that he outright tries to manipulate her impressions of him. His thoughts often come across as rather churlish, judgemental, possessive and stalker-ish; while this is also present in the originals, here it's clearly written down in black-and-white that he thinks and feels this way.
Tragic Keepsake: It's revealed in the second book that he still has a small photograph of his biological mother, who was a neglectful addict and died when he was very young.
Trauma Button: Being touched on the chest, which is where his mother's pimp burnt him with cigarettes. He gets a bit better about this, at least if it's Ana doing it.
Would Hit a Girl: He's into BDSM (so it’s all consensual – in theory, at least). He also has a habit of manhandling Ana.

Ana's family and friends

Kate Kavanaugh

Katherine Agnes 'Kate' Kavanaugh

Portrayed by: Eloise Mumford

Ana's best friend and roommate. She eventually gets with Christian's brother Elliot.

Alliterative Name: Katherine (or Kate) Kavanaugh.
Babies Ever After: The epilogue of Fifty Shades Freed reveals she and Elliot have a daughter.
Best Friends-in-Law: With Ana. They were best friends before Kate got engaged to Elliot, Christian's brother, whilst Ana is married to Christian, making them sisters-in-law.
Beta Couple: With Elliot.
Composite Character: She's a combination of Jessica and Rosalie from Twilight (she was Rosalie in Master of the Universe, though she barely resembled the character). From Rosalie, she's a beautiful blonde who has a romance with Edward/Christian' brother. From Jessica, she's the heroine's more outgoing and vivacious friend.
Demoted to Extra: In Fifty Shades Darker. She had a fairly large role in the first book, while in the second she's absent for most of the story, only appearing near the end of the story (she'd been away on vacation).
Everyone Loves Blondes: Well, technically she's a strawberry blonde, though in the films she's a straight-up blonde. Either way, she's depicted as very beautiful and gets more male attention than Ana (or at least it seems that way to her).
Fiery Redhead: Well, fiery strawberry blonde, to be specific.
For Want Of A Nail: If she hadn’t gotten sick on the day she was supposed to interview Christian and sent Ana in her place, Ana and Christian would never have met.
Happily Married: To Elliot by the end of the trilogy.
In-Universe Nickname: Kate, which she usually goes by instead of her full name of Katherine.
Secret-Keeper: Becomes one for Christian and Ana in regards to their BDSM relationship.
Sex Equals Love: With Elliot (their relationship begins as a one-night stand).
Shipping Torpedo: She starts out as a Shipper on Deck for Ana and Christian, but by the middle of the story she repeatedly make it clear she doesn't like him and doesn't think he's good for Ana. She repeatedly tells Ana that she thinks he's a creep, that all he does is make her upset and that she should tell him to buzz off. She also confronts and threatens Christian himself several times, warning him he'll have to go through her if he hurts her. Kate is apparently supposed to be in the wrong here.
Tsundere: When it comes to Ana – Type 2. She gets quite fierce if she thinks Ana has been hurt in some way and actually threatens Christian when she stumbles across the submissive contract he gave Ana, attempting to defend her.

Jose Rodriguez

Jose Rodriguez Jr.

Portrayed by: Victor Rasuk

Ana’s childhood friend; a photographer who has an unrequited crush on her.

All Love Is Unrequited: Ana only likes him as a friend.
The Artifact: Jose was Jacob Black in the original fanfiction, serving as the heroine's years' long friend who has an unrequited crush on her. Unlike Jacob though, Jose doesn't go on to become a major romantic rival to Christian for Ana's affections and barely has any relevance to the plot after the first book (all he does in the second is invite Ana to his photo unveiling where she meets up with Christian again). He could be cut from the story altogether and it wouldn't make much difference to the plot and characters, but he's presumably kept around because it would be weird for Ana to stop talking to one of her closest friends.
Dogged Nice Guy: To Ana. Even after she marries Christian, he promises to always be there for her.
Expy: Of Jacob Black, to an extent (though he has a much smaller role and even less of a shot of getting with the girl – he also doesn't end up falling in love with Ana and Christian's baby…)
Forceful Kiss: Whilst they're both very drunk, he tries to kiss Ana against her will in Fifty Shades of Grey. When he sobers up, he's deeply remorseful and apologises.
Hopeless Suitor: It's called Fifty Shades of Grey, not Fifty Shades of Jose. Doesn't stop Christian from getting crazy green-eyed over him, though.
Latin Lover: He's described as good-looking and tries using Spanish on Ana when he drunkenly flirts with her. Unfortunately, Ana sees him more as a brother and he's not Christian Grey.
Race Lift: Jacob from Twilight is Native American (from the Quileute tribe). His expy Jose has a Latino background (his actor, Victor Rasuk, has Dominican parents). Presumably, his ethnicity was changed to make him less similar to Jacob when the story went from fanfiction to an original work.
Satellite Character: To Ana. His character revolves solely around his relationship and interactions with her. His only story arc that doesn't center around Ana occurs in Fifty Shades Freed, when he is involved in a car accident along with Ana's stepfather; it ultimately has very little to do with the rest of the plot and doesn't even seem to have any lasting effects on Jose (he got out with only minor injuries).
Stalker Shrine: His photography collection at the art gallery comes across as a bit of one – they're all portraits of Ana he took without her knowledge and consent. And then Christian ends up buying them all.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Ana describes him as such.
Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Ana.

Ray Steele

Portrayed by: Callum Keith Rennie

Ana's first stepfather, whom she thinks of as her real father. ^note

Amicable Exes: With Ana's mother.
Convenient Coma: Goes into one in Fifty Shades Freed following a car accident. He makes a complete recovery.
Dad the Veteran: It's stated he used to be a Marine. He doesn't seem overly strict towards Ana, but he did teach her basic self-defence and how to use a gun so she could protect herself, which later comes in handy in books two and three.
Expy: Of Charlie Swan. A reserved yet loving father to the heroine, who likes fishing, is best friends with the father of his daughter's unrequited love, had a physically-demanding career in public service (Charlie is Chief of Police, Ray is a retired Marine) and never remarried after his wife divorced him.
Like a Daughter to Me: He clearly regards Ana as being his daughter, even though they're not biologically related and he's no longer married to her mother.
Near-Death Experience: In Fifty Shades Freed, he is seriously injured in a car accident and is left in a coma. He gets better.
Parental Substitute: To Ana, he having raised her since she was a baby. She actually moved in with him at some point in her childhood, due to disliking her mother's then-husband, and in adulthood she uses his surname as her own instead of her mother's. Oddly enough, she still usually calls him by his first name rather than 'Dad', though.
Romancing the Widow: He served with Carla's first husband, who was killed in a training accident when their daughter was only a few weeks old. Ray ended up marrying Carla and raising Ana as his own child.

Carla May Wilks

Portrayed by: Jennifer Ehle

Ana's mother.

Amicable Exes: With Ray, her second husband.
Demoted to Extra: After the first book (where Ana speaks with her on the phone a couple of times and goes to visit her in Georgia), she pretty much never appears or is even mentioned.
Expy: Of Renee Dwyer. She's the heroine's loving yet scatterbrained and irresponsible mother, who lives in another state and has been married more than once.
Happily Married: Seemingly to her latest husband.
Serial Spouse: She's been married four times. Her first husband died, her next two marriages ended in divorce and now she's married again.
Shotgun Wedding: Carla was pregnant with Ana when she married her first husband; although we don't actually know the exact circumstances, the way Ana talks about it makes it sound like this trope. She herself initially assumes this is the reason Ana and Christian are getting married so soon when she initially learns of it.

Christian's family

Grace Trevelyan-Grey

Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey

Portrayed by: Marcia Gay Harden

The adoptive mother of Christian, Elliot and Mia.

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the books she has sandy-colored hair; in the films she's a brunette.
Expy: She's apparently a Gender Flip of Carlisle Cullen - although her husband has the similar name, Grace has more of an active role in the plot and is a pediatrician (Carlisle is a doctor and has a more prominent role compared to Esme).
Gold and White Are Divine: Christian says the first time he met her as a four year old, she was wearing white and he thought she was an angel.
Good Parents: Zig-Zagged. She seems to be a loving mother to her three adopted children. Although she apparently didn't think to get therapy for Christian. And didn't notice her best friend carrying on a relationship with him when he was fifteen. And he turned out rather messed up...but two of three is better than none, right?. But her children do love her and even Christian says he adores her.
Happily Married: To Carrick.
The Maiden Name Debate: she double-barrelled her surname when she got hitched, and is often referred to by both her maiden name of Trevelyan and her husband's surname of Grey.
Mama Bear: When she overhears that her friend Elena had an affair with her son at fifteen, she slaps her across the face and tells her to Get Out!.
Preppy Name: She is an affluent doctor with a double-barrelled surname.

Carrick Grey

Portrayed by: Andrew Airlie

The adoptive father of Elliot, Christian and Mia.

Bit Character / Flat Character: Out of all the Grey family members, he has the least characterization and focus, and doesn't really contribute to the plot in a particularly meaningful way.
Expy: Of Esme Cullen. Although his name sounds similar to Carlisle, his wife Grace has more in common with him (they're both doctors of some kind and have a more prominent role compared to their spouses).
Good Parents: He's a loving and supportive father to his three kids. Although he apparently didn't think to try and get Christian therapy in his childhood. And didn't notice his wife's best friend having an affair with him as a teenager...
Happily Married: To Grace.

Elliot Grey

Portrayed by: Luke Grimes

Christian's older brother. He gets with Ana's best friend Kate.

Amicable Exes: He remained good friends with his ex-fling Gia Matteo, often hiring her to design properties for him and his family.
Babies Ever After: The epilogue of Fifty Shades Freed reveals he and Kate have a daughter.
Beta Couple: With Kate.
Better as Friends: In his backstory, he briefly hooked up with an attractive architect named Gia, but they soon decided to return their relationship to a platonic status.
Catchphrase: "Laters, baby" (which Christian steals).
Expy: Of Emmett Cullen. Christian/Edward's more outgoing, easygoing brother who romances an attractive blonde.
Happily Adopted: By the Trevelyan-Grey family.
Happily Married: To Kate by the end.
Lady Killer In Love: With Kate. He's a ladies' man whose relationship with Kate begins as just another hook-up, which quickly develops into something more.
Mistaken for Cheating: In Fifty Shades Freed, Ana suspects he is cheating on Kate, as Kate mentions he's been acting somewhat weird around her lately and Ana also sees him hugging Gia, his attractive ex-fling. However, as it turns out, he and Gia are just Amicable Exes who get along well and the reason he's been acting strangely to Kate is because he's getting ready to propose to her.
Really Gets Around: Christian states he's slept with half of Seattle.

Mia Grey

Portrayed by: Rita Ora

Christian's younger sister. She begins dating Kate's brother Ethan eventually.

'20s Bob Haircut: Depicted with this hairstyle in the first film (in the books, she's said to have a bob cut). She has long hair in the sequels.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: A slight example in Fifty Shades Freed. While she was also kidnapped in the book, she was heavily drugged and didn't really know what was happening until after she's rescued. In the film she's conscious and obviously freaking out, also witnessing her sister-in-law being beaten by her kidnapper before Ana shoots him in self-defense.
Adaptational Hairstyle Change: In the first movie, Mia has short bobbed hair, matching her description in the books. However, in the sequels Mia has long wavy hair, much like how Rita Ora often wears her hair. Considering Mia's reduced significance in the films compared to the books and her hair really not being integral to her character, it probably wasn't worth making Ora cut and dye her hair into a '20s Bob Haircut or wear a wig for the sequels.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Averted in the first film, played straight in the sequels -– in the books she has black hair whilst in the sequel adaptations she's a blonde.
Beta Couple: Eventually with Ethan.
Damsel in Distress: In Fifty Shades Freed, she gets kidnapped and held for ransom by Jack and Liz.
Expy: Of Alice Cullen. She's Christian/Edward's happy-go-lucky, fashion-loving sister with short dark hair, who forms a close friendship with the heroine.
Happily Adopted: By the Trevelyan-Grey family.
Informed Ability: She's said to be fluent in French.
Morality Pet: To Christian. He's much nicer to her than anyone else and despite being notoriously impatient, he readily puts up with her antics and teasing. His family mentions that Christian was a deeply introverted and anti-social child who refused to interact with anyone, until they adopted Mia.
Statuesque Stunner: She's described as being tall and very attractive.

Ella

Ella was Christian's biological mother, whom he describes as being a "crack whore".

Addled Addict: She was a crack addict who could barely take care of herself, let alone her young son.
Broken Bird: She was clearly a troubled woman, using drugs to cope, working as a prostitute to support herself and being abused by her pimp.
Dead Guy Junior: In the epilogue of Fifty Shades Freed, Ana suggests they name her and Christian's daughter after Ella, but he vehemently refuses.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Described as such.
Parental Neglect: Drug addiction and parenting don't generally mix well. Christian specifically describes her as neglectful, rather than directly abusive to him. There wasn't always enough food in the apartment for Christian and Ella was unable to prevent her pimp from physically and verbally abusing him (who was also exposed to the pimp's abuse of Ella).
Parents as People: She apparently did love Christian, as he vaguely recalls her baking him a birthday cake, buying him a toy car and letting him braid her hair. It can be insinuated she taught him how to read too, given Christian already knew how to read by the time he was adopted. Also, as mentioned under Parental Neglect, she wasn't intentionally cruel to him, just not really in the best position to care for a young child given her dire circumstances.
Posthumous Character: She's long dead by the events of the trilogy. Christian eventually reveals to Ana that she died of an overdose when he was four years old...and he was left alone with her corpse for four days before someone finally found them.
Single Mom Stripper: She worked as a prostitute to support herself and her son; Christian's biological father was never in the picture and Christian has no idea who he is, even speculating he could've been one of Ella's johns.
Small Role, Big Impact: Her neglect of Christian in his formative years and her death had a huge impact on Christian's psyche, affecting him well into adulthood.
Teen Pregnancy: Hinted at. Given Christian's tendency to pursue relationships with women in their early twenties and specifically goes for women who remind him of his mother, it's indicated this is the age Ella was when she died. As Christian was four when Ella died, she would've been pretty young when she had Christian, potentially still in her teens.
You Remind Me of X: Christian tells Ana at one point that she resembles his biological mother (along with his previous lovers). However, upon seeing a photograph of her, Ana decides the physical similarities are merely superficial and they're not really alike at all.

Other characters

Elena Lincoln

Elena 'Mrs Robinson' Lincoln

Portrayed by: Kim Basinger

A family friend of the Greys' and Christian's ex-lover, who introduced him to BDSM.

Amicable Exes: With Christian. Though considering this is the adult woman who took his virginity and introduced to BDSM when he was just fifteen, this probably isn't a good thing. Their friendship cools significantly when Elena tries to interfere in his relationship with Ana, though he remains in contact with her to an extent.
Big Bad Ensemble: With Jack and Leila in Fifty Shades Darker.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Seemingly for Christian, even though their relationship ended years ago. She hates Ana for winning Christian's heart and states that she could never offer Christian what he needs, whilst implying she can.
Dominatrix: She's a dominant in the bedroom.
Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Played with. She's technically guilty of statutory rape of Christian and at the very least their relationship was highly inappropriate and manipulative, considering she was a family friend in a position of authority and he was a clearly emotionally-unstable teenager. Christian doesn't think of it as such, but Ana does, outright calling Elena a child molester and abuser.
Expy: Of Irina. Both are friends of the family who are set on destroying the main character’s lives. She also was Irina in the original fanfiction.
The Ghost: In the first and third books. She only appears in the second.
Morality Chain: Elena claims she was this to Christian and he acts like she's one too, saying she helped him onto the straight and narrow path. But, considering her methods and how he turned out, it's arguable she had the opposite effect.
Mrs. Robinson: Ana actually nicknames her this after the Trope Namer, on account of the fact she seduced Christian when he was just fifteen. Most of her lovers seem to be younger men, though at the least the ones we see in the trilogy are of legal age (we hope).
Only Friend: Christian describes her as being this to him, until he gets closer to Ana.
"Reason You Suck" Speech: Tries giving one to Ana after finding out she agreed to marry Christian, accusing her of being a "mousy little gold digger" who can't possibly give Christian what he 'needs'. Ana responds with a Shut Up, Hannibal! and throws her drink at her.
The Resenter: Towards Ana because of Christian's affection for her.
Villainous Breakdown: After Grace finds out about what she did to Christian and throws her out of her life, and she fails to get between Ana and Christian.
We Used to Be Friends: When Grace finds out that Elena seduced her son when he was fifteen, she slaps her and throws her out of the house, cutting her off completely.

Jack Hyde

Portrayed by: Eric Johnson (Actor)

Ana's boss at SIP, who attempts to force her into a relationship with him.

Attempted Rape: He tries to rape Ana late in Fifty Shades Darker, but she fights him off.
Bad Boss: He seems like a Benevolent Boss at first, but he turns out to be this trope really. He sexually harasses his secretaries, forces them into relationships to keep their jobs or get promotions, and films explicit videos of them to blackmail them. He outright tries to assault Ana when she rejects him.
Big Bad: Ends up being this in Fifty Shades Freed.
Big Bad Ensemble: With Elena and Leila in Fifty Shades Darker.
Connected All Along: It's revealed that he and Christian both lived together in the same foster home for a time.
Entitled to Have You: Towards Ana.
Evil Redhead: In the books (in the films he's a blond).
Expy:
- Seemingly of James. He's the Big Bad of the story who wants Bella/Ana for himself, kidnaps someone the heroine cares about to lure her to him (although in Twilight it was a fake kidnapping) and injures the heroine before he's taken out.
- He could also be seen as a Gender Flip to Victoria, another major villain in Twilight. They're both redheads and both carry out an elaborate revenge plot against the protagonists for ruining their life (even though it was their own actions that led them to their current state).
Foster Kid: He grew up in a state home in Detroit. The same one Christian was briefly in, as it turns out.
Freudian Excuse: It's mentioned he had a troubled and abusive childhood and ended up in foster care.
Jerkass: He's a sleazy, misogynistic asshole who feels entitled to sleep with his secretaries and isn't above kidnapping and attempted murder either.
Laser-Guided Karma: After trying to force himself on Ana, he gets beaten up by Christian and his bodyguards, and fired. Then Ana gets his old position.
Meaningful Name / Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name sounds a lot like Jekyll and Hyde, which resembles his character – he acts friendly and charming but is anything but on the inside.
Mirror Character: To Christian. They actually both lived in the same foster home and came from abusive backgrounds. Whilst Christian was Happily Adopted by the wealthy Grey family and became a successful businessman by his late twenties, Jack wasn't so lucky and had to work his way from the ground up to his position. They're also both controlling, aggressive, have troubled relationships with women and think their wealth makes them untouchable. And they're both obsessed with Ana. It's not much of a stretch to imagine that if their roles were reversed, Christian would've ended up like Jack and vice versa. In fact, if one compares Jack's thoughts in the epilogue of Fifty Shades Darker and Christian's narration in his POV book Grey, they sound very similar at times (especially what they think about Ana and people around her) and even use some of the same language.
The Resenter: To both Christian and Ana, though especially the former.
Would Hit a Girl: He tries to force himself on Ana (and it's implied she isn't the first woman he's done this to), kidnaps Mia and hits and kicks Ana to the point of unconsciousness. It's heavily implied he intended to kill her if she hadn't shot him.

Leila Williams

Portrayed by: Bella Heathcote

An ex-submissive of Christian's, who begins stalking Ana in Fifty Shades Darker.

All Girls Want Bad Boys: She's obsessed with Christian and more than happy to be his submissive.
All Love Is Unrequited: She's in love with Christian and wanted more from their relationship, but Christian didn't feel the same way.
Always Someone Better: Feels this way about Ana, as Christian lets her do things like sleep in his bed and clearly cares a lot more for her than he ever did about Leila. At one point, she even asks Ana outright what she has that Leila doesn't.
Amicable Exes: It's implied in Fifty Shades Freed that she wants to be this with Christian, trying repeatedly top reach out to him to apologize for stalking him. However, Christian completely shuts her down, ignoring her and actually threatening to cut off the financial support he gives her if she tries to contact him or Ana again.
Anti-Villain: Villain In Name Only. She's not truly malicious, just crazy. She gets sent to a psych ward to get the help she needs after Christian finally catches up to her.
Ax-Crazy: Threatens Ana with a gun, though it's not entirely clear if she was intending to kill her.
Big Bad Ensemble: With Elena and Jack in Fifty Shades Darker (though she's much more sympathetic than the other two).
Cartwright Curse: She really doesn't have the best luck with men. After Christian rejected her, she got married, but ending up leaving her husband for another guy…who then died in a car accident.
Earn Your Happy Ending: When she reappears briefly in Fifty Shades Freed, she is clearly doing much better and has started attending art school.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She's sickly pale with stringy dark hair and staring eyes, and is visibly unstable.
Identical Stranger: She looks very similar to Ana, to the point where even she finds similarities between them.
Love Makes You Crazy: After her lover was killed in a car accident, she had a psychotic break and began stalking Christian, her former lover whom she still had feeling for.
Murder the Hypotenuse: She possibly intended to hurt or kill Ana, but it's left somewhat ambiguous.
The Ophelia: Beautiful, but eerie and unkempt-looking, speaks in a creepy monotone and decidedly not sane. She repeatedly breaks into Ana and Christian's houses and even holds Ana at gunpoint eventually – in the film adaptation, she goes a step further and shoots the wall next to Ana.
Psycho Ex-Girlfriend / Yandere: For Christian, although she calms down a lot after getting psychological help, even apologizing to both Christian and Ana for scaring them.
Sanity Slippage: She had a complete breakdown after her lover was killed, causing her to snap and start stalking Christian, then Ana.
Self-Harm: Ana notices she had a bloody bandage on one wrist and it's later revealed she was institutionalized after attempting to slash her wrists.
Stalker without a Crush: Towards Ana. She's a Stalker with a Crush to Christian.

Elizabeth Morgan

A co-worker of Ana's, who is Head of Personnel at SIP.

Anti-Villain: Turns out to be types Woobie and Villain in Name Only in book three.
Expy: Of Victoria. Both are red headed women working for the main antagonist. She also was Victoria in the original fanfiction.
Forced into Evil: In Fifty Shades Freed, Jack threatens her into helping him kidnap Mia and stalk the Greys. She would clearly not have gone along with it otherwise. She expresses horror when Jack attacks Ana, saying he promised her he wouldn't harm anyone physically.
The Heavy: She's revealed to be this to Jack, though not exactly by choice, carrying out a lot of his dirty work as she's less conspicuous (not to mention Jack is jailed for part of the story.
Rape as Backstory: Possibly. We don't get any details, but it's strongly implied that Jack had sexually harassed her or worse while he was still at SIP, saying she's "glad he's gone" after he is kicked out for trying to assault Ana.
Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome: In the first two books, she's a pretty reasonable character who gets on okay with Ana and is implied to be afraid of Jack, so she's not exactly sorry to see him get fired. In Fifty Shades Freed, it's revealed near the end that she is working with Jack to carry out an elaborate revenge scheme against the Greys, albeit not really by choice.

Dr Flynn

Dr John Flynn

Christian's therapist.

Adapted Out: He doesn't appear in the film adaptations. Originally Hugh Dancy was cast in the role, but character was cut early in production.
Happily Married: He's shown to be in a loving marriage with his wife Rhian and they have two children.
The Shrink: He's a psychotherapist who has been treating Christian for some time. It's...debatable as to how much help he is to Christian. Flynn tells Ana that he's made a lot of progress since meeting her, which makes you wonder just how effed up Christian was before they met. Not to mention this breaks client confidentiality. And then there's the ethical issues with him encouraging Ana to stay with Christian because she's having a positive influence on him, without acknowledging any potential detriments to her.

Teddy and Phoebe Grey (contains heavy spoilers for Fifty Shades Freed)

Theodore Raymond 'Teddy' Grey

Phoebe Grey

The son and daughter, respectively, of Ana and Christian.

Affectionate Nickname: Theodore is commonly referred to as Teddy. While Ana was still pregnant with him, she referred to him as 'Little Blip' or 'Blip'.
Cheerful Child: Teddy is depicted as such in the epilogue as part of Ana and Christian's Happily Ever After.
Dead Guy Junior: Defied by Christian. Ana suggests naming their unborn daughter after his late biological mother Ella, but he's disgusted by the idea and vehemently refuses. They settle on Phoebe instead.
Improbable Infant Survival: Before he was even born, Teddy survived his pregnant mother having the crap beaten out of her by Jack Hyde.
Last Episode, New Character: Ana finds out she's pregnant with Teddy late in Fifty Shades Freed, the last book of the trilogy; we see him as a two year old in the Time Skip epilogue. Ana is depicted as being heavily pregnant with Phoebe in the final pages of Freed.
"Near and Dear" Baby Naming: It's implied that Teddy is named for Christian's maternal grandfather Theo Trevelyan.
Strong Family Resemblance: Ana says that Teddy strongly resembles his father in appearance and even demeanor despite being only two.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Poor Teddy nearly causes his parents' marriage to break just by getting conceived, due to his daddy flipping out over Ana getting pregnant unexpectedly only a few months after the wedding.
Walking Spoiler: Both characters, though especially Teddy, carry big spoilers for Fifty Shades Freed.

Characters / Fifty Shades of Grey

Main Characters

Anastasia Rose 'Ana' Steele

Christian Trevelyan-Grey

Ana's family and friends

Katherine Agnes 'Kate' Kavanaugh

Jose Rodriguez Jr.

Ray Steele

Carla May Wilks

Christian's family

Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey

Carrick Grey

Elliot Grey

Mia Grey

Ella

Other characters

Elena 'Mrs Robinson' Lincoln

Jack Hyde

Leila Williams

Elizabeth Morgan

Dr John Flynn

Theodore Raymond 'Teddy' Grey

Phoebe Grey

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Characters / Fifty Shades of Grey

Edit Locked

Main Characters

Anastasia Rose 'Ana' Steele

Christian Trevelyan-Grey

Ana's family and friends

Katherine Agnes 'Kate' Kavanaugh

Jose Rodriguez Jr.

Ray Steele

Carla May Wilks

Christian's family

Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey

Carrick Grey

Elliot Grey

Mia Grey

Ella

Other characters

Elena 'Mrs Robinson' Lincoln

Jack Hyde

Leila Williams

Elizabeth Morgan

Dr John Flynn

Theodore Raymond 'Teddy' Grey

Phoebe Grey

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Index

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