Wade/Unique Adams

A transgender student from Carmel High, and former member of Vocal Adrenaline. While normally shy and introverted, she's created a female alter-ego for herself named Unique who represents everything she wants to be. Transferred to McKinley for a less pressuring atmosphere and naturally joined New Directions. Played by Alex Newell.

• Ascended Extra: In Season Four.
• Attractive Bent Gender: Before Principal Figgins finds out Unique is transgender, he says, "Unique is a buxom young woman who has it going on in all the right places!"
• Becoming the Mask: Invoked. Unique is currently just Wade's alter-ego, but as a trans person she would like that to become her true persona (or at least the female portion of it).
• Black Best Friend: To Marley.
• Defector from Decadence
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Figgins initially believes that she is cisgender.
• Expy: Of both Kurt and Mercedes.
  Unique: Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, Unique worships the red carpet you walk on. If you two had a love child, it would be Unique.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: After she performs spectacularly at her Regionals competition, she's made into a role model for basically every transgender, queer, or just plain different teenager in America. The stress of it gets to her and she almost leaves in the middle of Nationals.
• Large Ham: As Unique.
• Promoted Fanboy: Alex was one of the runners-up on ''The Glee Project".
• Reality Is Unrealistic: Some viewers take issue with the name "Unique," thinking it more fitting of a Drag Queen than a transgender woman. It might not be a common name but it's not unheard of for a black girl.
• Satellite Character: You could argue that Unique is the "new Tina."
• Sassy Black Woman: As Unique.
• Secret Identity: Katie.
• Shrinking Violet: When not Unique, Wade is so timid that not even Jesse channeling Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is enough to make her raise her voice from a whisper.
• Sixth Ranger
• Third-Person Person: Unique does not have time to refer to her gloriousness in the first person, fools!
• Token Good Teammate: She was the only member of Vocal Adrenaline who was kind and civil towards New Directions (except Sunshine, but we all know what happened there).
• Token Minority
• Transsexual
• Twofer Token Minority
• What Could Have Been: She did not appear in "Dynamic Duets." It would have been interesting to see what Unique's superheroine persona would have been.
  • Fridge Brilliance: She didn't appear in the other episode because Unique IS her superheroine persona.
• Wholesome Crossdresser
• X Meets Y: Describes herself (or rather, Unique) as the lovechild of Kurt and Mercedes. Ryan Murphy described Alex in exactly the same words during his time on The Glee Project .

Marley Rose

A new student at McKinley in season 4. She wants to be a singer and has tremendous talent, but struggles with insecurity based on being the poor daughter of the lunch lady. Played by Melissa Benoist

• Adorkable: Invoked by Kitty.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She goes after Jake in spite of being explicitly warned of his womanizing ways literally seconds prior.
• Alphabetical Theme Naming: Her mother's name is Millie.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Inverted. It's Marley's mother who goes out of her way to distance herself from her daughter in public, so that Marley can have a chance to make friends.
• Badass: Not in the traditional sense of the term, but you really have to give points to a girl who doesn't show a single hint of fear or nervousness while effectively committing social suicide in the middle of a crowded high school cafeteria.
• Berserk Button: Making fun of her mom.
• Break the Cutie
• Compressed Vice: Averted. In "Glease", Kitty manipulates Marley into making herself vomit in order to maintain a healthy weight. Even though Ryder talks her out of it at the end of the episode, a conversation with Kitty in "Dynamic Duets" reveals that she's still doing it and by "Thanksgiving", she's apparently begun using laxatives as well.
• Everybody Knew Already Sam soon catches on that Marley's clothes just have name brand tags sewn on, since his mom did the same thing.
• Expy: Of Rachel.
• I Just Want to Have Friends
• Innocent Blue Eyes
• Irony/Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: She puts so much pressure on herself not to let down the club that she ends up doing exactly that.
• Meaningful Name: Is pretty much as close to an English Rose as a 21st century American girl can get.
• Nice Cap
• Nice Girl
• Plucky Girl
• Power Strain Blackout: At the end of Gangnam Style. High energy dancing and Bulimia are not a good combination.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
• Skewed Priorities: "I'm so hungry, but at least I fit into my dress." And yes, it's every bit as disturbing as it sounds.
• Shadow Archetype: She could have been Rachel's Expy due to her role being very similar to the latter's. They even shared a duet with in her first episode - albeit she's in Ohio, while Rachel's in New York. However, she doesn't hog the spotlight as much and is more interested in being a pop singer than a Broadway actress.
• Taking the Heat: She confesses to Ryder that she's the one who pretended to be Katie so he won't find out it's really Unique. It's not a "crime" per se, but the spirit of the trope is there.
• Tempting Fate: During "Thanksgiving", a famished and sleep-deprived Marley says during her inner monologue that she isn't going to let down the team. Guess what happens during the sectionals...
• Too Dumb to Live: Believes she is getting fat because she's having trouble fitting into her Grease costumes (because Kitty is altering them without anyone knowing) but the fact that she could fit into her normal clothes, or hasn't bothered to weigh herself didn't set off any bells.
• The Ingenue: She fits this trope more than any other female member seen so far.
  • She's so pure that Sue can't even make fun of her; she praises her to hell and back.
  • She herself lampshades it in "Sadie Hawkins" by saying that she always tries to see the best in people.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Her mother is the obese and homely lunch lady. Lampshaded by Sue.

Jake Puckerman

Noah Puckerman's long-lost half-brother who comes to McKinley in the fourth season. Like his brother he has a wonderful voice but also an extremely troubled upbringing and bad attitude. Played by Jacob Artist

• Ambiguously Brown: Even more so than Puck. It is later established that he is half-Black.
• Anti-Hero
• But Not Too Black
• Chivalrous Pervert: In "Britney 2.0", it is shown that he cuts class to watch the girls during gym.
• Combat Pragmatist
• Composite Character: Aside from his brother, he's also an Expy of Finn. Will trying to convince him to join New directions is very reminiscent of the former goading Finn in season 1 (minus the planted drug, of course). His Love Triangle involving Marley and Kitty also mirrors the Finn-Rachel-Quinn*
  Fittingly, Marley and Kitty are Rachel and Quinn's respective Expys
  triangle in the inaugural season.
• Cool Shades: On "Glee, Actually".
• Cute but Troubled
• The Danza: Jake is played by Jacob Artist.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!
• Expy: At first glance he's very similar to Puck, even though he says otherwise.
  • As noted above, he's also similar to Finn. Composite Character indeed.
• Hair-Trigger Temper
• Half Breed Discrimination: Being mixed, he deals with prejudice for being too white for the black kids and too black for the whites.
• Heroic Bastard
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Ryder. They initially fight and are not in good terms due to both liking Marley, but thanks to Finn's assignment in "Dynamic Duets" they start getting along better and become good friends.
• Hidden Depths: Takes dance lessons. But don't tell anybody.
• Hot Blooded
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Defends Marley's mother from bullies.
• Long Lost Relative: Puck's half-brother whom Puck does not know about, though Jake comments that their dad got around so much there's probably 50 more Puckermans out there.
• Mood Swinger: Goes from adorable crooner to stage-trashing jerk in the blink of an eye.
• Rebellious Spirit
• Twofer Token Minority: He's half-Black half-Jewish.

Ryder Lynn

A football player who's struggling with his grades due to dyslexia. When looking for the perfect Danny Zuko, Finn scouts him out and encourages him to join the school musical. Played by Blake Jenner.

• All Love Is Unrequited: Marley chooses Jake over him.
• Always Second Best: He feels this way because while he does have his talents he's not particularly good at any one thing, be it football, dancing, or schoolwork. In "Thanksgiving", Jake lets him win the Gangnam Style dance solo just so he can feel like he won something.
• A Man Is Not a Virgin: He tells Jake that he lost his virginity earlier that year.
• Book Dumb: Though not for lack of trying. He studies twice as hard as everybody else but still only pulls a C-. This is because he is dyslexic.
• Dogged Nice Guy
• Double Standard Rape Female On Male: He was molested by his teenage babysitter when he was eleven. Though the show treats his and Kitty's later confessions as tragic, Sam and Artie consider his to be "any teenage boy's dream".
• Establishing Character Moment: Beiste comments that Ryder's a sweet kid, but isn't the best football player. Cut to him breakdancing in the end-zone.
• Expy: Of Finn. Fitting, then, that Finn is the one who recruits him into the musical.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Jake. They initially fight and are not in good terms due to both liking Marley, but thanks to Finn's assignment in "Dynamic Duets" they start getting along better and become good friends.
• Ironic Name: "Ryder" and "writer" are oronyms... and he's dyslexic.
• L Is For Dyslexia: Actually portrayed very realistically.
• Meaningful Name
• Nice Guy: The first thing he tells Marley after introducing himself is how awesome her mom is.
• Promoted Fanboy: Blake Jenner was the winner of the second season of The Glee Project.
• Ridiculously Average Guy: He feels this way.

Kitty Wilde

Sue's new head bitch in season 4, and she certainly lives up to the title. She is initially bitter towards the Glee Club, yet she joins after the performance of Grease. Played by Becca Tobin.

• Actor-Shared Background: Becca Tobin has real-life cheerleading experience, cheering in middle school.
• Alpha Bitch: Her official title from Sue.
  • Lovable Alpha Bitch: She's gradually growing into one...or at least trying to.
• A Woman Is Not a Virgin: If the end of "Sadie Hawkins" is anything to go by, she lost her virginity to Puck.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She pretends to be Marley's friend, all the while playing on her anxieties about getting fat like her mother, secretly altering her costumes for the school play to make her think she's gaining weight and leading her to use laxatives and skip lunches in order to stay thin. By the end of "Thanksgiving", Marley collapses at the end of her performance.
• Blondes are Evil
• Card-Carrying Villain: In "Guilty Pleasures".
  Brittany: So, Kitty, everyone at school hates you because you're a two-faced lying slut who no-one can trust.
  Kitty: True.
• The Cheerleader: She's part of the Cheerios.
• Composite Character: Despite Sue Lampshading her being an expy for Quinn, she's more like a composite character for the Unholy Trinity. She fullfils Quinn's role as the blonde mean girl and Sue's Dragon, her insults more closely resemble Santana's, and she has dance skills to match Brittany's.
  • Further, she is a distillation of the Unholy Trinity's worst attributes. Quinn's manipulative nature, Santana's caustic personality and Britney's airheadedness.
  • She actually is kind of a teenage Sue.
• Disproportionate Retribution: She manipulates Marley into developing an eating disorder all because she believes Marley is responsible for Jake breaking up with her. (Something that is, in truth, entirely her own fault.)
• The Dragon: To Sue.
• Evil Is Petty
• Expy: Blonde, bitchy cheerio - just like Quinn, particularly from Season 1.
  Sue: She's like a young Quinn Fabray except she's not pregnant, manic-depressive, or in and out of a wheelchair.
• Fan: In-universe, she claims to be one of Quinn.
• The Fundamentalist: Remember Quinn's religious fervor from Season 1? Well, Kitty makes that look tame. The girl clearly dove head first off the religious deep end some time before her introduction. The worst part is she seems to regard religion as just another way to get what she wants.
  Kitty: Who the hell is Patty Simcox? I don't understand, I prayed really hard about this!
• Green-Eyed Monster: Is visibly jealous that Marley gets a lot of attention from both Jake and Ryder, and seems convinced that Marley is doing it to hurt her.
• Heel Face Turn: Towards the end of season 4, she's changed a lot from what we see early in the season.
• Heel Realization: As soon as Marley passes out on the stage and Santana tells her that it's her fault, she has a slight nonverbal one.
  • She finally reveals everything to Marley and apologizes during the episode "Shooting Stars". Having your life put in danger because of a potential shooter at school really put things into perspective.
• It's All About Me
• Jerkass: Was one of the most despicable character of the show for a while, until Character Development hits her, making her more a...
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Don't be mistaken: she's still a bitch most of the time. But she realized that what she did to Marley was wrong, confessed and apologized to her, and showed that she cares about the other members of New Directions (such as the time she decided to escort Unique home because she was bullied, and when she went behind Artie's back in order to make sure he would pursue his dream).
• Karma Houdini: She cons Marley into developing an eating disorder, causing her to collapse on stage from severe hunger. She suffers no comeuppance for this whatsoever. In fact, Santana is the only one to even have a vague suspicion that Kitty did anything wrong and no one believes her. This is rather striking considering that both Quinn and Santana, the previous alpha bitches, both suffered bouts of Laser-Guided Karma ^note  Quinn's pregnancy and Santana being outed to the public for decidedly less serious offenses.
• Kick the Dog: With Marley being the dog she kicks with passion. Although, she mellowed out of this halfway the 4th season.
• Lonely at the Top / I Just Want to Have Friends: Claims this when inviting the New Directions to a sleepover, but it's pretty clear that it's just part of a plan to manipulate Marley.
• Lying Finger Cross: She does this in "Girls (and Boys) on Film" when Marley asks her to swear to keep what she's about to tell her a secret.
• Meaningful Name: Obviously, she's the picture of chastity and wholesomeness.
• Never My Fault: Completely fails to recognize her own role in ruining her relationship with Jake, choosing instead to blame Marley.
• The Nicknamer: Sue taught her that well.
• Only One Name: For various episodes, she was just Kitty, until it was casually mentioned at the end of "The role you were born to play".
• Pet the Dog:
  • In "Sadie Hawkins", she shamelessly praises Puck's screenplay. Granted, she probably just did it because she wanted Puck to like her, but it's still the only scene that makes her seem like a human being rather than the mean girl she's supposed to be.
  • Her apology to Marley in "Girls (and Boys) on Film" sort of qualifies. In her own unique Alpha Bitch style, she did appear to be expressing genuine regret.
  • After Unique has a frightening experience with a group of female bullies, Kitty joins Ryder, Marley and Jake in offering to walk her between classes, and calls her a "friend".
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Unlike Quinn, she seems rather racist and transphobic at first glance.
• Rape As Backstory: "Lights Out" reveals that she was abused by an old friend's older brother at a sleepover.
• She's Got Legs: And in "Sadie Hawkins", Puck can't help but notice.
• The Sociopath: Arguably. She seems to be capable of empathy and regret, just never seems to actually show any. Has had maybe one or two sympathetic moments throughout the entire season. Has been truly nice to someone (as in, without ulterior motives) exactly twice (the first two Pet the Dog moments listed above) in the first 75% of the season. Finally began being more sympathetic later though.
• Strawman Political: Anviliciously so.
• Token Evil Teammate: Her reason for joining New Directions in the first place? To keep a close eye on Jake, and screwing with Marley. Character Development kicks in after a while.
• Took a Level in Kindness: She's certainly not as extremely evil as she was at first. At one point, she defends Unique and classes her as a "friend" when learning of how she was harassed by a group of girls, while earlier in the season she herself was very dismissive of Unique and her identity.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Villanous example: Her need to spite Marley ultimately results in The New Directions being disqualified from Sectionals. Note that she's only "unwitting" in the sense that she neither predicted nor intended that particular outcome. She knew fully well what she was doing.
• What Would X Do?: Her motto is "What would Quinn Fabray do?", though she seems to have a limited grasp of the answer to that question.