History Characters / HouseOfCardsUSCapitol

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/MollyParker

->'''Portrayed By:''' Larry Pine

->'''Portrayed By:''' Curtiss Cook

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/CoreyStoll

-->Work'''s''' hard... p'''la'''ys e'''v'''en hard'''e'''r.

->'''Portrayed By:''' John Scurti

->'''Portrayed By:''' David Clennon

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/PatriciaClarkson

->'''Portrayed by:''' James Martinez

->'''Portrayed By:''' Benito Martinez

->'''Portrayed By:''' Michael Park

->'''Portrayed By:''' Marc Kudisch

* BunnyEarsLawyer: She’s explicitly noted to be outwardly silly but extremely effective by Mark Usher.

[[/folder]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He bears a resemblance to Mitch [=McConnell=], being a Southern Republican who serves as Senate Majority Leader. The major difference is that while Mitchell is shown to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure put the needs of the country as the priority]], [=McConnell=] is rather infamous for his obstructionist nature and tendency to put the advancement of his party above all else.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without expanding them to explain how they apply here.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He bears a resemblance to Mitch [=McConnell=], being a Southern Republican who serves as Senate Majority Leader. The major difference is that while Mitchell is shown to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure put the needs of the country as the priority]], [=McConnell=] (and his Democratic counterpart, Chuck Schumer) are both rather infamous for their obstructionist nature and tendency to put the advancement of their parties above all else.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Subverted, kind of. She believes Remy Danton is this because of his pursuit of money, thinking he's a playboy. Turns out he's really a one woman type of man and doesn't like one night stands, which he makes clear after having one with her.]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He bears a resemblance to Mitch [=McConnell=], being a Southern Republican who serves as Senate Majority Leader. The major difference is that while Mitchell is shown to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure put the needs of the country as the priority]], [=McConnell=] is rather infamous for his obstructionist nature and tendency to put the advancement of his party above all else.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He bears a resemblance to Mitch McConnell, being a Southern Republican who serves as Senate Majority Leader. The major difference is that while Mitchell is shown to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure put the needs of the country as priority]], McConnell is rather infamous for his obstructionist nature and tendency to put the needs of his party above all else.

A Republican Senator from Arizona and the Senate Majority Leader.

A Republican Senator and member of the Tea Party movement.

A Republican Senator from Tennessee who becomes Senate Majority Leader after Mendoza was PutOnABus.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He's basically a younger version of Mitch [=McConnell=].

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/russo_peter_6448.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'll keep your secret if you keep mine."'']]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sharp_jacqueline_9.jpg]]

!Democrats

[[folder:Jackie Sharp]]
!!Jacqueline "Jackie" Sharp

->'''Played By:''' Creator/MollyParker

[[folder:Bob Birch]]

->'''Played By:''' Larry Pine

[[folder:Terry Womack]]

->'''Played By:''' Curtiss Cook

[[folder:Peter Russo]]

->'''Played By:''' Creator/CoreyStoll

!Republicans

[[folder:Hector Mendoza]]
!!Hector Mendoza
->'''Played By:''' Benito Martinez

A Republican Senator from Arizona and the Senate Majority Leader.
----
* FriendlyEnemy: He's on the opposing side to Frank, but they're quite civil and get along relatively well. Of course, their relationship gets strained from time to time.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He's an older Marco Rubio.
* PutOnABus: Mendoza disappears halfway Season 3 despite his increasing appearances; it's rather abrupt and Frank explains in a single line that he's lost leadership of the opposition due to a scandal, but he also emphasizes that Mendoza will likely be back. It's pretty likely due to Benito Martinez getting a more solid regular role on a show elsewhere.

[[folder:Curtis Haas]]
!!Curtis Haas
->'''Played By:''' Michael Park

A Republican Senator and member of the Tea Party movement.
----
* [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkass]]: Even if he is a true believer in Tea Party conservatism, he's more than willing to let the government shut down just to spit in the face of Underwood and the Democrats after they offer him everything he could ask for.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: His leadership position and Tea Party membership are reminiscent of Ted Cruz.

[[folder:Henry Mitchell]]
!!Henry Mitchell
->'''Played By:''' Marc Kudisch

A Republican Senator from Tennessee who becomes Senate Majority Leader after Mendoza was PutOnABus.

[[folder:Heather Dunbar]]
!!Heather Dunbar
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dunbar_heather.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Frank Underwood is a dangerous man, because power in the hands of those who lack honesty, lacks a moral compass. And without a moral compass, power runs amok."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Elizabeth Marvel

An uncompromising lawyer who is appointed Special Prosecutor in the investigation into money laundering of foreign money via [=PACs=].

* AmbitionIsEvil: Her campaign for the presidency in season 3 slowly turns her from the cold impartial prosecutor in season 2 into a regular sleazy politician who's willing to fight dirty.
* TheAtoner: She admits to Tom Hammerschmidt that she allowed herself to be corrupted in her race for the nomination and does her best to put him on the right track in his search for the truth surrounding Frank's rise to the presidency.
* CrusadingLawyer: Worked to expose the corruption of the Walker administration in season 2.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: She plays the moral woman against the corrupt man Frank (she actually really is more moral than Frank - not that this means much). When she finally gets her hands dirty, Franks alludes to this trope, calling Dunbar "one of the men".
* HeelRealization: After Lucas Goodwin [[spoiler:dies trying to assassinate Frank]] she realizes that he was telling the truth and that her ambition to get elected president has overridden her sense of ethics. Unfortunately by that point it's too late and her campaign falls apart shortly thereafter.
* IdiotBall: Grabs one in Season 4 when she gets investigated by the special prosecutors about [[spoiler:Lucas Goodwin's assassination attempt on Frank]]. After her attempts to lie about meeting him fail, she not only admits to meeting with him, but proceeds to completely trash Frank and his administration. And she knows everything she said is going to be made public. The result is she not only comes off looking like she had something to do with it, but she looks bad for badmouthing Frank while [[spoiler:he's on the cusp of death]]. Frank's advisers immediately lampshade she just ruined her own campaign.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: She puts on that face to the public.
* IronLady: As special prosecutor, she's an unemotional hardass.
* ItsPersonal: She was already angry that Frank managed to avoid prosecution for his crimes while serving as Vice President, but his attempts at forcing her mentor out of the Supreme Court is what really sets her off. Once that happened, her campaign for the Democratic nomination became more focused on crushing Frank than anything else.
* KickedUpstairs: Frank offers her a position as a Supreme Court justice in order to keep her from becoming a presidential candidate. {{Subverted}} when she accepts in private and then goes behind Frank's back and announces her candidacy.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Dunbar finds herself on the opposite side of the table when special prosecutors question her on meeting Lucas Goodwin, who later shoots Frank after Dunbar refuses to listen to him about Frank's murder of Zoe and Russo. Dunbar tries to flip-flop and lie about meeting Lucas until her conscience compels her to admit the truth.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
** On the outer edges of this, with the pol in question being Elizabeth Warren--another sharp legal thinker (albeit as professor at Harvard Law rather than Solicitor General) with a populist economic message who runs for high office as an outsider (although Dunbar goes straight for the Presidency, while Warren simply ran for Senate and refuses to oppose Hillary Clinton in '16). Both also have a reputation for being incorruptible (although as noted Dunbar isn't what she seems. We won't speak to Warren.)
** Dunbar's stand against corrupt government, and desire to fight off corruption, and position as one who cannot be bought, makes her akin to Bernie Sanders.
* NotSoAboveItAll: For the most of Season 3 she more or less lives up to the image she puts up for the presidential campaign, refusing to play dirty [[spoiler:like using the information about Claire's abortions]] or sell political favors for support [[spoiler:to Jackie]], but when she starts getting desperate, she rethinks the first one.
* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: She started out in Season 2 a moral prosecutor looking to expose Frank. [[spoiler: By the end of Season 3, she becomes almost as ruthless as him. Almost meaning she didn't kill anyone yet.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: By the end of season 3, she's willing to do some very nasty things to prevent Frank from winning the Democratic nomination and return some semblance of honor to the Office of the President. Considering the things the audience has seen him do over the course of the show, it's hard to disagree with her motives, if not her methods.
* WorthyOpponent: In Season 3, where she becomes Frank's primary election rival. In a nice twist, Frank is actually unwilling to admit this.

[[folder:Bob Birch]]
!!Congressman Robert "Bob" Birch
->'''Played By:''' Larry Pine

A Democratic Congressman from Michigan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Becomes the House Minority Leader after the Republicans take control of the House in 2014.
----
* DirtyCoward: "What is the face of a coward? The back of his head as he runs from the battle."
* EnemyMine: Teams up with Republican Senators Hector Mendoza and later Henry Mitchell to oppose the America Works program.
[[/folder]]

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Oh yes. Right after Frank proposes to nominate her for Supreme Court, she announces her candidacy for the primary election, knowing too well that Frank only wants to sideline her. And that's just the beginning.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: She is as stone-cold and ruthless as Frank, but it's obvious which one of them is less evil. At the very least, unlike Frank, she has actually never ''murdered'' anyone.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Like Frank Underwood in Seasons 1 and 2, Dunbar got most of the people fooled into believing that she is a stand up politician for justice and the complete opposite to Frank. [[spoiler: By the end of Season 3, Dunbar is willing to get just as corrupt and dirty as Frank to win. Lampshaded by Frank. "Oh, you're one of us now."]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Dunbar finds herself on the opposite side of the table when special prosecutors question her on meeting Lucas, who later shoots Frank after Dunbar refuses to listen to him about Frank's murder of Zoe and Russo. Dunbar tries to flip-flop and lie about meeting Lucas until her conscience compels her to admit the truth.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: On the outer edges of this, with the pol in question being Elizabeth Warren--another sharp legal thinker (albeit as professor at Harvard Law rather than Solicitor General) with a populist economic message who runs for high office as an outsider (although Dunbar goes straight for the Presidency, while Warren simply ran for Senate and refuses to oppose Hillary Clinton in '16). Both also have a reputation for being incorruptible (although as noted Dunbar isn't what she seems. We won't speak to Warren.)