Gilmore Family | Stars Hollow | Yale | Chilton | Other Characters
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Lorelai Victoria Gilmore
Played by: Lauren Graham
A single mother, avid eater and caffeine addict, and manager of the Independence Inn in the small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. At the age of 16, her entire life was changed when she became pregnant, and two years later, she ran away from the home of her controlling parents with her baby to make a life of her own.
- The Ace: Lorelai is charming, funny, beautiful, fit, a great leader, a decent mom, and a smart businesswoman. She was the brightest in her class before she got pregnant and worked her way up to part-owner of the Independence Inn off of sheer reliability and street smarts.
- Aesop Amnesia: Lorelai has a tendency to go back to Christopher at the most inappropriate times. Rory calls her out on it, but she doesn't learn.
- Affectionate Nickname: Christopher sometimes calls her "Lore".
- Amicable Exes: With Christopher, most of the time. While it's clear that Christopher still has feelings for Lorelai and they do try to make an adult attempt at their relationship, the disastrous marriage that followed became an indication for both of them that it was never going to work out. At the end of the series, they managed to be civil at Rory's graduation.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite her rocky relationship with her parents, she has a few bonding moments with them. Her father has some nice words for her in the finale, and she says to her parents that she wants to keep the Friday Night Dinner with them, even after Rory's departure.
- Big Eater: It's implied Lorelai eats a lot, and yet remains extremely slender. Other characters occasionally comment on this.
- Black Sheep: Of the Gilmore family; getting pregnant young and running away from home will do that.
- Broken Ace: She's almost as much as The Ace as her daughter, but still has hang-ups about dating and her parents that lead to a lot of the series' conflicts, as well as her insecurities for being considered the Black Sheep of the Gilmore family.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite her eccentricities, she does a good job running first the Independence Inn and later The Dragonfly Inn.
- Character Catchphrase: "Dirty", as her own version of That's What She Said.
- Chronic Pet Killer: All of Lorelai's pets, at least until she adopts the dog Paul Anka in season 6, have died. It's a Running Gag, to the point where Miss Patty even attempted to stop the dog shelter worker from allowing Lorelai to take Paul Anka.
- Cloudcuckoolander: A mild case compared to her neighbors, but many find her to be eccentric.
- Cool Big Sis: To Rory, despite actually being her mother, not her sister. They are extremely close. At one point, Lorelai regrets she hadn't taught her how to drink and handle alcohol when Rory is going for her first spring break at college. She is also this towards Lane, who feels more comfortable confiding in Lorelai than her actual mother.
- Cursed with Awesome: This is what led her to breaking away from her family and upbringing. She was smart and brave enough to realize that she could raise her kid on her own and that her parents were wrong to insist on the Shotgun Wedding and on controlling her life so closely. But of course, this led to her living in squalor for years and untold amounts of grief in the present.
- Deadpan Snarker: She's very quick-witted, and easily the snarkiest character on the show, even more than Luke.
- Domestic Abuse: Her parents were never physically abusive, but Emily's treatment of her comes across as emotional abuse in modern times, pathologically dismissing her wishes and insisting she do things her way. When your daughter would rather live in a converted storage shed with a one-year-old rather than live another moment with you, there's something wrong. Even in the present day, Emily - and often Richard - seem fundamentally incapable of acknowledging Lorelai's growth and happiness, which of course, only fuels it.
- Doting Parent: Definitely. She thinks her daughter is a paragon of perfection, and reacts very strongly when forced to realize that is not always the case.
- Dude Magnet: Besides her two most important Love Interest (Luke and Christopher), she also dates Max, Alex, and Jason. Kirk had a crush on her for a while and asks her out in one episode. She's also considered a Stacy's Mom to Rory who once said "I hate having hot parents!". When Zack (who is much younger) meets the Gilmore girls for the first time, he was more interested in Lorelai rather than in her young beautiful daughter.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Umlauts", which involved Lorelai as a teen, a particularly cold summer day when she fell out of a canoe at summer camp wearing a t-shirt with no bra; the nickname comes from how a certain part of her body resembled said diacritic after coming out of the water.
- Fat and Skinny: Lorelai, who is tall and thin, is best friends with Sookie, who is short and chubby.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Lorelai is a career woman and sure as hell can't cook, but she can at least brew up coffee and she's a damn impressive seamstress. She's paired with Luke, a bistro owner who is an excellent cook, and her close friend Sookie is a master chef who occasionally cooks her something.
- The Gadfly: It's her main coping mechanism when it comes to her parents, and a mainstay of the series. In season 3, she even admits this to her mother, and "teaches" her the trick so she could cope with Trix, her mother in law. As Lorelai later tells Rory, Emily has done it beautifully.
- Genki Girl: Lorelai is perhaps one of the most chipper characters on the show.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With both Rory and Sookie. Rory is her daughter, her only close family for a really long time when she was not on good terms with her parents. Sookie is her best friend with whom she starts a business.
- Hidden Depths: Going by some of the books she reads and some of the people she references, she takes an interest in serial killers. For instance, in a dream she wants to name her twins Leopold and Loeb, and when she sees a creepy-looking bridesmaid at Liz's wedding her first thought is Leslie van Houten.
- Mama Bear: Lorelai's laid back for the greater part of the time, but if you hurt Rory...
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Her quirky and upbeat personality appears to be part of what attracts guys to Lorelai besides her looks. Discussed in the early episode, "Cinnamon's Wake".
- Meaningful Name: Lorelai means "alluring", and to be sure, she has no problem attracting men.
- Motor Mouth: A Gilmore trait. She talks and talks and talks in rapid-fire pace.
- Ms. Fanservice: The show rarely passed up opportunities to have Lorelai in sexy outfits and lingerie.
- Must Have Caffeine: Lorelai can't function before her morning coffee, and drinks unhealthy amounts of it during the day.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Occasionally with Emily. Though if someone points it out, expect the horrified Lorelai to quickly drop off her ways.
- Oblivious to Love: Luke has a crush on her since the first season, but she doesn't realize it until much later. Even Emily notices it the first time she meets Luke.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: She plays up being air-headed and ditzy, usually part and parcel of her being The Gadfly. However, she attend private school and her parents had planned to send her to Vassar. In Rory's Chilton valedictorian speech, she mentions that Lorelai filled their home with books and music featuring strong female role models, such as Jane Austen, Eudora Welty, and Patti Smith. She earns a business degree while managing the Independence Inn, and later successfully co-owns and runs the Firefly Inn with Sookie.
- Open-Minded Parent: Very much so, though she had a hard time with all of Rory's relationships throughout the series at one point or another. She mentions at one point that she plays the "Mom" card as infrequently as possible. Deconstructed in season 4, however, when Rory cracks under the pressure of Yale and wants to take time off, and she responds much more like her own mother would, not that she would ever admit that.
- Only Sane Woman: She is the most level-headed between her, Sookie, and Michel. She's also the most well-balanced Gilmore woman, lacking Rory's later neuroses or Emily's lack of social grace.
- Parental Substitute: For Lane. Lane is Rory's best friend with an extremely strict mother and she must hide her true self from her. Lorelai can offer her advice on stuff she couldn't admit to her mom. And also Paris, as mentioned explicitly in the revival.
- Rebellious Princess: Lorelai became pregnant with Rory at sixteen but chose not to marry the father, Christopher Hayden. Instead, she left her privileged world and moved to Stars Hollow where she became employed at the Independence Inn. There Lorelai progressed from maid to executive manager.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: To Rory's Blue. She's a humorous and talkative Genki Girl, while Rory is studious and shy.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Luke, even when they weren't a couple. He's usually the grumpy Only Sane Man, and she's quirky and talkative.
- Self-Made Woman: Even though she comes from money she ran away from home as an unwed mother, got her first job basically because the inn's owner took pity on her, lived in a tool shed and less than twenty years later owned her own house and was part owner of her own inn.
- Shipper on Deck: To Rory and Dean in seasons 2 and 3. Dean was the only one of Rory's boyfriends whom Lorelai really liked, but she only truly embraced this trope when Jess entered the scene.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Played with. She gets drawn back to Christopher each time because she thinks he gets his act together.
- Smarter Than You Look: She may be a rebellious Cloudcuckoolander, but it's mentioned in "Christopher Returns" that she was "the brightest in her class" before getting pregnant and leaving school. She is Rory's mother, after all.
- Statuesque Stunner: Stands at 5'9", and several characters habitually comment on her beauty. The only one who would disagree is Jackson's cousin Roon, who finds Lorelai unattractive because she's too tall.
- Talks Like a Simile: Has a tendency to compare things to things they're usually not compared to. Memorably, she once compared not knowing whether your ex wants to get back together to ordering steak and lobster.
- Teasing Parent: This is kind of the show's whole shtick: Lorelai and Rory are "best friends first, mother/daughter second," which means that Lorelai, who is The Gadfly, plays the wacky, teasing parent to Rory's serious, down-to-earth teenager.Lorelai: [flopping on Rory's bed while she's sleeping] Am I more beautiful today than I was yesterday?
Rory: Oh, boy.
Lorelai: I'm just not sure. I mean at first I looked in the mirror and I thought, well yes, definitely, huge improvement.
Rory: Can I have my pillow back?
Lorelai: But then I thought maybe its not that I'm more beautiful today. Maybe I was just as beautiful yesterday, only I lacked the self-esteem to recognize it.
Rory: I'm gonna go take a shower. - Teen Pregnancy: Got pregnant at 16 with Rory.
- The Unfavorite: To both Emily and Richard, but especially Richard. She feels they prefer her daughter Rory over her. However, they prove multiple times that they do love her as well.Lorelai: [to Rory] You are the Great White Hope of the Gilmore Clan. You are their angel, sent from up above. You are the daughter they didn't have.
- Uptown Girl: Even though Lorelai has run away from her wealthy background, her parents' mistreatment of working class, blue-collar Luke is enough to break them up for a while. They work through it and agree to avoid her parents as much as possible.
- Verbal Tic: Inverted with her dislike of the word "cahoots".
- Vocal Evolution: Her voice was very high as a teenager. Over the next sixteen years it dropped considerably as she aged.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Wacky Parent to Rory's Serious Child.
- Womanchild: Her daughter is much more mature than she is.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Once her mother agrees with her in something, Lorelai usually begins to self-doubt. One example would be Emily's approval of Lorelai's desire to terminate Rory's friendship with Bad Boy Jess. Lorelai immediately comes to conclusion that she must've crossed a line and decides to give Rory more freedom.
Lorelai Leigh "Rory" Gilmore
Played by: Alexis Bledel
Lorelai's teenaged daughter and best friend. A shy and socially awkward bookworm with aspirations to become a journalist. She slowly comes out of her shell and finds herself drawn to the upper-class world her mother left behind.
- The Ace: She's an Ivy League academic genius to the point of being Always Someone Better than the other students, extremely witty, sweet, kind, a beautiful Dude Magnet, universally adored and considered perfect by nearly everyone, and doted on by her mom and her rich grandparents. This is downplayed in the revival, where she arguably becomes more of a Broken Ace (see Future Loser).
- Aesop Amnesia: In the revival, taken directly from her mother: repeatedly coming back to her "man she cannot quit", even when it's a glaringly bad idea as he's engaged. She also apparently forgets that cheating and treating her boyfriends badly are bad things, treating your work seriously and prepare for it. At least she doesn't steal anything this time.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Over the course of the series, seems determined to date the baddest boy in the series (so long as he's book smart). First, she dumps wholesome Dean for Jess; after Jess leaves town, she ends up back with Dean, who is a significantly darker character, given that he's cheating on his wife with Rory; later, she chooses Logan, who is a member of a secret society and a rebel against the wealthy society of his upbringing, over Nice Guy Marty.
- All-Loving Heroine:
- In early seasons, while people do annoy her on occasion, she's still pleasant to everyone she deals with, even if they're antagonizing her and is remarkably kind to school bullies like Paris and Tristan. Downplayed in later seasons as she becomes more spoiled and self-centered.
- Averted in the revival, as while she still cares about her family and friends she's rather condescending towards others, including the people who could help further her journalism career, and has no problems cheating on her boyfriend repeatedly just because he's "boring" and she can't be bothered to break up with him.
- Alone Among the Couples: Both her best friends, as well as her mom, and her mom's best friend start off as single but end up in a relationship by the end. Despite being a Dude Magnet, she ends up single in both the original series and the revival, although it was her own choice.
- Always Someone Better:
- Unintentionally to Paris. She's very smart and does extremely well in academic stuff, so Paris feels she might overshadow her, which later happens to a degree. Also, Paris's personality drive most people away (except her Girl Posse in high school) and she envies Rory for being popular with guys, especially since Rory manages to attract Tristan, Paris's long-time crush.
- Rory's best friend Lane is also sometimes jealous of her life, because everything seems to be going swimmingly for Rory: she's at a great school, heads to Ivy League, has a loving boyfriend, has a close relationship with her mom and her rich grandparents adore her while Lane is stuck at uninspiring high school, her mother is incredibly strict and she can't follow her true passion without being sneaky about it.
- Amicable Exes:
- She finally parts with Jess on friendly terms (not so much with the two other boyfriends). She also was this with Dean in Seasons 3 and 4.
- A Year in the Life shows that her and Dean on good terms now, despite their disastrous third breakup in season 5.
- Ancestral Name: She shares her name with her mother, Lorelai, who deliberately named her such to defy the traditional notion that it's socially acceptable for sons to be named after their fathers, but not for girls to be named after their mothers.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She has a very long fuse, but you don't want to be around on the rare occasions she goes off.
- Big Eater: Like her mother, Rory is able to consume huge amounts of food, rich food like fries or pizza including. It never shows on her body. Often lampshaded by other characters, including her boyfriends Dean and Jess.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Bitch is definitely pushing it, but while Rory attracts guys with her cuteness and wit, she's not a particularly nice person in a relationship; more likely to make someone's problems about herself rather than actually listening. That she cheats on most of her boyfriends is proof of this.
- Book Smart: A hard-working and excellent student who gets accepted to three Ivy League colleges.
- Brainy Brunette: She's a brilliant, studious Teen Genius and has brown hair.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: She's the Gentle Girl Next Door to Jess' Troubled, but Cute Brooding Boy.
- Can't Take Criticism:
- In Season 5, she responds poorly to Mitchum Huntzberger telling her she doesn't have what it takes to be a journalist. Her Heroic BSoD is understandable, given that this is coming from a major figure in her desired profession, but stealing a yacht was a decidedly poor way of handling the situation.
- Also the reason behind her summer-long fight with Lorelai in Season 6, and their falling out right before Rory and Emily's trip to Europe in Season 5. In both of these cases, Rory's reason for leaving is wanting to avoid Lorelai's opinions on Rory's life choices (especially in her romantic life).
- In A Year in the Life, she reacts badly during her interview with Sandee Says for being unprepared and unoriginal.
- Honestly, Rory has two ways of responding to criticism: if she believes it’s unfounded (such as the incident with the deer, the Puffs initiation, or any time she and Lorelai fight), she throws a fit and yells until whoever dared criticize her either takes it back, gives her an out, or walks away from the conversation. If she perceives the criticism as in any way valid (such as when she’s told to drop a course or when Mitchum tells her he doesn’t think she’s ‘got it’), she shuts down entirely, usually sobbing into someone’s arms and declaring that “Everything’s falling apart.”
- Character Development:
- Starts the series as a shy, awkward bookworm who struggles to string two sentences together around boys and generally prefers her own company. Come Season 5, she's actively pursuing Logan.
- Shockingly inverted in A Year of the Life, when we find out she's actively regressed and borders on Future Loser: she makes very poor professional decisions, is drifting through life without goals, treats yet another boyfriend like dirt and has gone back to the man "she cannot quit" - much like Lorelai with Christopher - and is having an affair with him to boot, as they are both in relationships. It results of her storyline consisting of getting out of the rut, very similarly to season six.
- Cute Bookworm: She's a cute girl and she's never without a book (until she drops out of Yale). Her relationship with Jess stems from a mutual passion for reading.
- Deadpan Snarker: Although more subtle than her mother or Luke.
- Dude Magnet: Manages to attract a large number of men throughout the course of the show. Five boys fall in love with her, sometimes to obsessive levels, and others also show attraction to her (she even manages to attract Paris's cousin). In season 2, Dean, Tristan, and Jess are all interested in her.
- Endearingly Dorky: She's initially portrayed as a shy and naïve bookworm who is uncomfortable in social situations (especially at school), but her sweetness makes her instantly loved by almost everyone she meets, including boys. A popular boy named Tristan thinks some of Rory's nerdy traits are odd (like reading a book at a school party) but this makes him even more attracted to her.
- Future Loser: In the original series, she's Valedictorian and Vice Student Body President at high school, gets accepted into multiple Ivy League schools, editor of the Yale paper and ends the show covering Obama's campaign tour. Come A Year In The Life, she's perpetually unemployed, seemingly published a handful of articles in ten years, unprofessional regarding any job opportunities she does get and sleeping with her ex-boyfriend while he's engaged and she's dating someone else. And then ends up returning to her small-town home pregnant.
- Generation Xerox: Her three main love interests greatly resemble her mother's three main love interest in the course of the show. Also in the revival , albeit not at sixteen, she gets pregnant, most likely with the guy paralleling Christopher in her mother's life. Additionally, the first half of A Year in the Life depicts her resembling her father in similar age, being aimless and unable to get herself together.
- Genius Book Club: Rory reads everything, from contemporary literature to criticism to biographies to classics. Nearly every episode has reference to at least one book that she has read, is reading, or is planning on reading.
- Girl Next Door: A cute and feminine girl, and a big part of her appeal is how approachable and down to earth she is.
- Go-Getter Girl: Ambitious, hard-working straight A student and Extracurricular Enthusiast.
- Heroic BSoD:
- Being told "You don't got it." causes Rory to give up her dreams and drop out of school.
- She has a minor one when she doesn't get the Reston Fellowship in the New York Times. As Lorelai tells her, she's used to working hard and getting what she wants, so it's difficult for her to deal with disappointment.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With both Lorelai and Lane. Later with Paris, too.
- Hypocrite:
- Has her moments. For example, she's absolutely horrified when she learns that Dean's dropping out of college, and tries to persuade him that no reason is good enough for such an act. Any of those reflections come back to her when she does exactly the same a season later?
- In the revival, Rory also tells the CEO of Sandee Says that her actions are unprofessional, while Rory was the one who showed up unprepared, without any ideas or pieces of writing to show her; she doesn't even appear to have a resume or portfolio with her.
- I Can Change My Beloved: Despite her other tendencies, it's there. She dumps Dean for the 'bad boy' Jess... only to start complaining over time that he doesn't treat her the way Dean used to. The next is Logan, a self-claimed womanizer who tries to persuade Rory that he's not a boyfriend material. She goes for him anyway and is hurt when he turns out to be, well, a womanizer and not quite a boyfriend material. Essentially, she goes for the bad of wrong men while still expecting the 'Good Man' scenario.
- I Want My Mommy!: Said verbatim when accompanying Sherry during Gigi's birth and again on Rory's first night at Yale. Whenever Rory needs help or emotional support, Lorelai is typically her preferred port of call.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Her mother has blue eyes too, but Rory fits this more due to her sweet, naïve personality.
- It's All About Me: Has a tendency to fall into this, especially in the later seasons. When she hears a boy she asked out is telling everyone about a crazy girl stalking him, she confronts him and yells at him for dragging her reputation through the mud and is then embarrassed to find out he actually was being stalked by a different girl. She also bitches out Mitchum for sending Logan away to try to break them up, and Mitchum flatly tells her he doesn't waste much time worrying about Logan's love life and he has different motives for sending him away.
- Karma Houdini:
- Her sleeping with Dean despite his being married is pretty much glossed over in Season 5. She gets a chewing out by Lorelai for it (which admittedly is a rarity) and she does show some initial signs of feeling guilty, but Lorelai eventually forgives her and whatever guilt she may feel isn't strong enough to prevent her from continuing to see him (though he did leave his wife as a result). Stars Hollow also continues to adore and idolise her, even though they're normally pretty gossipy and judgmental, and know the circumstances of Dean and Lindsay's divorce.
- Neither Paul nor Logan find out (as far as we know) that she's cheating on/with them. Not to mention, all of the behavior, including at Chilton that she gets away with.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Also has a few moments of this, especially in college.
- Lack of Empathy: In A Year In The Life, it's shown that she is fine with sleeping with someone in a relationship while cheating on her boyfriend of over a year because he's "boring".
- Lady And A Scholar: Especially in the first few seasons, this was part of her appeal in-universe, being intellectual but charming, humble, and polite at the same time. This also makes her a foil to her classmate Paris who is equally intellectual but more of an Insufferable Genius.
- Left Hanging: Remember during the season 6 finale where Rory begged for a job at her internship? Yeah, it's forgotten during the first episode of the seventh season.
- Loved by All: Everyone in Stars Hollow absolutely adores Rory. That said, this trope gets deconstructed whenever someone doesn't immediately worship the ground Rory walks on and points out her flaws, Rory has a complete meltdown.
- Meaningful Name: Her middle name means "delicate". Between her refusal to step on wet grass, aversion to sports, and inability to take criticism without looking deeply wounded, you can say she lives up to that name.
- Morality Pet:
- Both her boyfriends Jess and Logan are introduced as jerks who eventually learn to show their Hidden Heart of Gold to her.
- To Paris in later seasons. She's still abrasive to most people, but a good friend to Rory most of the time.
- Motor Mouth: Even faster than her mother.
- Must Have Caffeine: Rory's need for caffeine isn't as extreme as her mother's, but it's there all the same. note
- Nerds Are Sexy: Her opinion, as there's an episode where Rory is seen sitting in the college cafeteria wearing a t-shirt with the logo, "Reading is Sexy." Considering she wears it while thinking about Logan, the third guy in the series she's attracted to for his intellect, it is a reflection of what she honestly feels.
- Never a Self-Made Woman: Defied, with her refusing to take advantage of Logan's connections to advance her career.
- New Transfer Student: Rory transfer to Chilton about a month into the school year. A more realistic example, in that it takes a lot of time and work for her to catch up on her assignments and start getting good grades.
- Nice Girl: A genuinely good, pleasant Girl Next Door, and considered the biggest sweetheart in Stars Hollow.
- Nice to the Waiter: When she borrows Logan's personal driver, Frank, for a day, she learns his name, brings him food, and is generally very polite and pleasant to him. This shows up again while she's staying with her grandparents in season six, where she remembers the maid's name, chats with her in Spanish, and helps her polish silver - unfortunately, in this case it backfires, as Emily immediately fires Esperanza in retribution.
- Only Friend:
- In "New and Improved Lorelai", Paris admits that she considers Rory this. This mostly applies in college, as Paris used to have a Girl Posse in high school.
- To Jess, during season 2 and 3 of the series. In part due to him leaving Stars Hollow and in part due to Character Development, Jess outgrows this by season 6, and is seen to have a least a few friends at Truncheon.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Her full name is Lorelai, named after her mother and later revealed to be a traditional family name, but she's always referred to as Rory.
- Parental Favoritism: Emily and Richard have no qualms about spoiling and praising Rory while looking down on Lorelai.Lorelai: [to Rory] I'm not sure my father has ever loved anything in the world more than he loves you.
- Princess Phase: Rory doesn't want her grandmother to make her into a princess as she thinks of it being something for small children. She honestly did imagine herself as a princess when she was young. At least she has a crush on the prince from the Sleeping Beauty cartoon. She specifically says that it was a long time ago.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue Oni to both Paris and Lorelai's Red.
- Replacement Goldfish: A sore point throughout the series is Emily trying to bring Rory up to be the daughter that Lorelai never turned out to be. This comes to a head when Rory is living with her grandparents and Emily accidentally refers to Richard as Rory's father.
- Ridiculously Successful Future Self: Subverted. Rory is so confident that she'll get an extremely competitive New York Times internship that she turns down a full-time job at a newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island. She ends up missing out on both.note
- Schedule Fanatic: Gets this way every season approaching exams. Keeps detailed to-do lists and gets mad if Lorelai tries to schedule off-time for her.
- Scholarship Student: Rory has a middle-class working single mom and her Chilton and Yale tuition are paid by her old-money grandparents. In some episodes, she's shown trying to get scholarship.
- Shrinking Violet: She starts as a quiet, shy, socially awkward bookworm who is uncomfortable around other students, especially boys. She grows out of it in college.
- Spoiled Sweet: She was raised by her Closer to Earth single mother in relative poverty, but when she's a teen, she definitely benefits from her grandparents' wealth, upper-class status and influence. Her mom, neighbors and her grandparents dote on her and she's constantly showered with love and attention. Usually they buy her whatever she needs and wants and she's always taken care of. She's considered the biggest sweetheart in Stars Hollow and perhaps in the whole of New England. On the other hand, she's so used to being constantly praised that any other kind of feedback, especially valid criticism, sends her into existential free-fall.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Lane's Tomboy. Rory is a sweet, soft-spoken goody two-shoes who is often well-dressed to attend fancy dinners with her rich grandparents. Lane is a funky, rebellious Genki Girl who eventually becomes a drummer in an all boy rock band.
- Tomboyish Name: She's named after her mother and great-grandmother, but everyone calls her Rory.
- Took a Level in Jerkass:
- In college. Particularly after she slept with a married man, stole a boat, dropped out of school, moved in with her grandparents, joined the DAR, and didn't speak to her mother for months.
- In A Year In the Life, where she again sleeps with a guy in a relationship, cheats on her own boyfriend and acts horribly bratty regarding her career. And unlike in the original series no one calls her out on any of it.
- The Unfair Sex: Played with. Lindsay and Dean's moms certainly bear hatred towards her and consider her a homewrecker, and Lorelai chewed her out for simply disregarding Dean's marital status and sleeping with him, as if Lindsay's feelings didn't matter. Luke, on the other hand, goes on and on about how Dean is not worthy of her and was 'unstable' because he got married despite pining for his former girlfriend (this last is particularly unfair because it simply wasn't true... at least, about Dean).
- Uptown Girl: To her first two boyfriends. Rory herself was pretty down to earth, but both Dean and Jess were considered 'not good enough' by her grandparents. Dean worshiped the ground Rory stepped on, as well as her intellect and ambitions, but it became increasingly obvious that she wanted more of life than he did and he couldn't catch up. Jess, in turn, had trouble grasping the concept of a proper socialization in civilized world, like getting along with his girlfriend's family or basically communicating with other people. This even led Luke to try to lay out for his nephew what it means 'to be with a girl like Rory', making it a Discussed Trope.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Paris started out as Rory's academic rival but slowly grew to be her close friend and confidant when Rory couldn't confide in her mother or Lane. They still bicker a lot, though. Even in early seasons, Paris often ran to Rory for help when she had a problem.
- Will They or Won't They?: She has some unresolved romantic feelings and sexual tension for Jess — and he for her — in Seasons 2 and 3.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Played with. She can often be very mature and act as the responsible one in her relationship with Lorelai. On the other hand, she can (and often does) act in a very immature manner, as befitting a teenager/young adult (like when she almost didn't change schools to Chilton because of Dean in the first episode). A large part of her character arc is learning to be more than just book smart and becoming "life smart" as well. Inverted in the relaunch; her personal development apparently stalled out entirely and she's incredibly immature and selfish for a woman in her thirties.
Emily Gilmore
Played by: Kelly Bishop
Lorelai's wealthy and controlling mother with whom she has been estranged with most of her adult life. Emily insists on being involved in her daughter and granddaughter's lives after allowing her to borrow money for Rory's tuition, much to Lorelai's dismay.
- Abusive Parents: She comes close to being abusive in the way she treats Lorelai. She was way too controlling when Lorelai was a teenager to the extent that Lorelai ended up taking baby Rory and running away to Stars Hollow, and Emily continues to meddle in her daughter's life when she's an adult. She has a right to care, but never seems to understand or learn that her actions hurt Lorelai.
- Aesop Amnesia: Emily just never learns that she has a tendency to drive away Lorelai and even Rory at times by seeking to control everything.
- And Starring: "and Kelly Bishop".
- Character Catchphrase: Any time she tries to have a serious conversation with Lorelai, she will at some point let out an exasperated: "Eeeeverything's a joke to you".
- Character Development: Of all the characters, Emily has progressed the most character-wise in A Year in the Life. She learns how to live her life without Richard, manages to reconcile and bond with Lorelai, and even manages to keep a long-term maid.
- Deadpan Snarker: When she's displeased (particularly with Lorelai), she tends to shoot long, sarcasm-heavy monologues, but every now and then displays the classic, deadpan form of the art of snarking.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She usually seems icy, especially to people who don't come from upper classes, but she can show her warm side. For example, she has a nice scene when she talks about her wedding in the club at Lorelai's bachelorette party or when she got carried away planning Sookie's wedding, revealing she's hopelessly romantic. She's also much softer and more vulnerable following Richard's death.
- Evil Matriarch: Her desire to control the lives of everyone around sometimes make her cross the morality line. The best example is manipulating Christopher into breaking up Luke and Lorelai in Season 5.
- Grandparent Favoritism: Emily and Richard adore Rory and put her on a higher pedestal than they do Lorelai.
- Happily Married: No matter what else you can say about her, you can't deny that she and Richard are truly, deeply in love. Even when they're on the rocks, they always come back to each other in the end. A lot of Emily's storyline in A Year in the Life is about her trying to cope with his death.
- Helicopter Parents: Emily tends to have strong opinions about how Lorelai should lead her life and is not shy to constantly try to preach/force/manipulate her visions into reality, often over her daughter's will.
- Hidden Depths: Emily likes Russian styles, especially Romanov-style.
- Lawful Stupid: Though it's more a case of Emily only seeing things in black and white.
- Limited Wardrobe: For a woman of wealth and taste, Emily sure does repeat wearing the same outfits, although maybe that's just for Friday Night Dinner or she's simply fashion conservative and sees no need to flaunt her wealth.
- Mama Bear: It's rarely shown, but the times she goes into this mode are the most awesome. When Emily and Richard find out that the reason Rory engaged in reckless behavior that landed her community service, was all because of Mitchum rejecting her internship and Shira criticizing her background and relationship with their son Logan, Emily destroys Shira, in public, in such a sugary sweet tone and using such harsh jabs that Shira can't even respond.Emily: Now let's talk about your money. You were a two-bit gold digger fresh off the bus from Hicksville when you met Mitchum at whatever bar you happened to stumble into. And what made Mitchum decide to choose you to marry amongst the pack of women he was bedding at the time I'll never know, but hat's off to you for bagging him. He's still a playboy, you know. Well, of course you know! That would explain why your weight goes up and down 30 pounds every other month, but that's your cross to bear. But these are ugly realities, no one needs to talk about them. Those kids are staying together for as long as they like. You won't stop them. Now, enjoy the event!
- Manipulative Bitch: Lorelai regards her as a master manipulator, and it's not unfounded. She seems especially fond of using verbal traps to get her way.
- Meaningful Name: Emily means "wily" or "persuasive", which describes her perfectly.
- Moral Myopia: She feels entitled in Lorelai's (who disagrees completely) name to have Christopher in a relationship with her daughter no matter what, because they have a child together. To his second daughter, however, Emily refers as 'it' and simply cannot understand what claim Georgia or her mother may have to Christopher.
- Mrs Degree: She met Richard while he was a student at Yale, and she studied history at Smith.Emily: I went to Smith, and I was a history major, but I never had any plans to be an historian. I was always going to be a wife. I mean, the way I saw it, a woman's job was to run a home, organize the social life of a family, and bolster her husband while he earned a living. It was a good system, and it was working very well all these years.
- My Beloved Smother: Emily doesn't seem to understand that Rory is her own person, and constantly pushes her own ideals onto her; unlike her mother under similar treatment, Rory doesn't push back much.
- Never My Fault: To the point that in season five, after she instigates Luke and Lorelai's breakup, she thinks it's acceptable to show up at Luke's place of business and verbally berate him with no evidence whatsoever, simply because the idea that Lorelai is justifiably pissed with her and refuses to forgive her for what she did is beyond her comprehension.
- Rich Bitch: Not the worst out there, but she can be controlling and has a manipulative streak. She often looks down on people from working or middle class.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Emily is very involved in the family's social life and will often be the active (or pushy) one when it comes to orchestrating the events, while Richard is often the one to be dragged from function to function with a resigned look on his face, wishing he would be working. It fits their roles as Socialite and Workaholic respectively, but also their tempers.
- Shipper on Deck:
- For Christopher/Lorelai, even when it's clear the pair aren't going to work.
- Strongly supportive of Rory/Logan, especially since the Huntzbergers were in a higher social tier than the Gilmores and could elevate them to a more desirable social status.
- Silver Vixen: Emily's good looks are sometimes commented on, she attracts an admirer in a bar which is apparently a picking-up area oriented at women about 20 years younger than her, and is mentioned to have several suitors within her social circles.
- Socialite: Her main role as a society wife. [See above quote under Mrs Degree]. She admits in the original series hints that she sometimes wishes she'd pursued a proper career and struggled with revolving around Richard. The revival sees her ditching the role altogether, moving to Nantucket with her maid's family and becoming an enthusiastic tour guide at the whaling museum.
- Surrounded by Idiots: She holds this view of the endless maids she fires on a weekly basis. Some are genuinely incompetent, others just annoy her or fail to meet her standards.
- Took a Level in Kindness: By the end of the revival, she's mellowed out considerably, is much softer towards Lorelai, ditches her snobby DAR friends and - in contrast to her weekly firing of maids in the original series - not only keeps one, but takes in her entire family and is last seen making soup when the maid is sick.
Richard Gilmore
Played by: Edward Herrmann
Lorelai's father. A normally reserved and no-nonsense insurance man, he begins to form a close bond with Rory after coming back into their lives.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He seems (and is) much more genial than Emily, but does have sneaky moments and can be quite protective of his family.
- Character Death: He dies somewhere in between the original series finale and the beginning of "A Year in the Life" (due to the real life death of Edward Hermann).
- Cool Old Guy:
- He finds a lot of common ground with Rory, especially through their taste in books.
- When Mitchum Huntzberger mistreats Rory, he goes medieval on his arse and gives him a Shut Up, Hannibal! speech.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mostly to Emily, as a sort of a coping mechanism. He makes sarcastic remarks with deadpan expression and tone, apparently without any hope of making an impact and she almost never notices.
- Doting Grandparent: He adores Rory and has a far more amicable relationship with her than most his friends do with their grandchildren. Lorelei thinks this is likely because Rory was all her parents wanted for a daughter.
- Fake Guest Star: Each season opening lists Edward Herrmann as making a Special Appearance.
- Grandparent Favoritism: Rory is his only grandchild, but he is a lot more lenient with her than he is with Lorelai or Emily.
- Happily Married: With Emily, a few bumps notwithstanding. They're still in love and remain married all the way up until he dies.
- Manipulative Bastard: While no-where near as bad as Emily, Richard does have his moments, especially when he tries to coax Rory into going to Yale.
- Momma's Boy: Will even ignore his wife for his mother's needs, and became depressed after she died.
- Narcissist: Richard shows an inflated sense of his own importance and hates to be questioned. He regularly assumes anyone below him at work is an incompetent child, frequently explodes at the slightest hint of perceived criticism towards himself or his family, manipulates Rory into interviewing at Yale because he believes it's a better option than the school she actually wants to go to, and has no compunctions about ruining the career of his business partner (and daughter’s boyfriend) when it will benefit himself. Additionally, in "Richard in Stars Hollow" he DARVOs note like a pro when Lorelai attempts to set a boundary with him about the level of respect she expects him to treat her with in her workplace and home.
- Papa Wolf:
- It's rarely shown, but the times he goes into this mode are the most awesome. When Emily and Richard find out that the reason Rory engaged in reckless behavior that landed her community service was all because of Mitchum rejecting her internship, Emily and Richard team up to take down both spouses, with Emily making jabs at Shira's weight and Richard telling Mitchum off.
- He also viciously defends Lorelai when Christopher's father accuses her of seducing Christopher and mocks her job.
- The Quiet One: Often has the least to say at family dinners. Of course, with THIS family...
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Emily is very involved in the family's social life and will often be the active (or pushy) one when it comes to orchestrating the events, while Richard is often the one to be dragged from function to function with a resigned look on his face, wishing he would be working. It fits their roles as Socialite and Workaholic respectively, but also their tempers.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: You'll be hard-pressed to see this man in anything but a suit and tie.
- Shipper on Deck:
- For Christopher/Lorelai, even when it's clear the pair aren't going to work.
- Strongly supportive of Rory/Logan, especially since the Huntzbergers were in a higher social tier than the Gilmores and could elevate them to a more desirable social status.
- The Patriarch: Very much the head of the Gilmore family.
Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore
Played by: Marion Ross
Lorelai's paternal grandmother whom she inherited her name from. She is very close with her son, but completely disapproves of Emily.
- Actually Pretty Funny: She had this attitude towards Lorelai, she at least acknowledged that she was an amusing person and seemed to appreciate that to some extent, even though she did have her limits.
- Character Death: Trix dies of old age.
- Evil Matriarch: Worse than Emily. Has been bullying her daughter-in-law to no end for over thirty years, tried to convince her son to leave his bride-to-be at the altar, and leaves a copy of the letter with that for Emily to find, to hurt her beyond the grave.
- Jerkass: Rude and condescending towards Emily, for no apparent reason. She's adoring towards her son and likes Rory and Lorelai, but Emily? Forget it.
- Kissing Cousins: Her maiden name was Gilmore... Rory and Lorelai are squicked by the fact and immediately try to find any genetic faults on their bodies.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: Pleaded with Richard not to marry Emily. On their wedding day, no less.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: When she visits she puts even more energy into bullying her daughter in-law than into pampering her son.
- Pet the Dog: For all of her faults, Trix had a genuinely loving relationship with her son and contributed a lot to charities.
- Rich Bitch: Very rich, and more of a bitch than Emily.
