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Dunphy Family

Phil Dunphy

Played By: Ty Burrell

Husband of Claire, father of Haley, Alex, and Luke. He's a classic Bumbling Dad, trying to be friendly with his kids despite being a big old dork. He often finds Claire's restrictions on his ideas annoying, but knows she means well, and accepts that she's what keeps him from hurting himself too much.

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• Afraid of Clowns: "Fizbo" reveals that he's deeply uncomfortable with clowns, which is caused by how he once accidentally found a dead clown in the woods as a child.
• Aging Would-Be Hipster: Phil tries to be the "cool" dad to his three kids by staying hip to modern pop culture. He doesn't do very well — he thinks WTF means "why the face" — mostly earning eye rolls from his two older daughters. His youngest son Luke, however, is more impressionable, at least at first.
• Amazon Chaser: As he stated in one of his private cams, although it seems that it's not just confidence and strength that he's attracted to:
  Phil: I'll admit it. I'm turned on by powerful women. Michelle Obama, Oprah, Condoleezza Rice, Serena Williams...Wait a minute.
• Ambiguously Bi: Played for Laughs via his numerous man-crushes (including Haley's on-off boyfriend Dylan, weatherman Rainer Shine, and various other men), his numerous 'feminine' hobbies, and this little gem of a conversation with Mitchell during a hectic drive to the airport: 
  Phil: Must be a lot easier just living with a guy. Yeah, life would be simpler if I was gay.
  Mitchell: Do you think you could get in the fast lane?
  Phil: Oh I could totally get in the fast lane.
  Mitchell: I meant the road...
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Phil gets distracted very easily. "Starry Night" all but says point-blank that he has undiagnosed ADHD, as Alex listing off the symptoms is intercut with Phil demonstrating them.
• Berserk Button: His one rule when it comes to Claire: He is the only one who makes her laugh.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Even Phil has his limits, and when he's pushed to those limits, he gets RESULTS. When he realizes that Alex and Haley are taking advantage of his pushover tendencies to get out of doing chores, he snaps so hard that Claire has to step in.
    Phil: YOU POKED THE BEAR, GIRLS!
  • Starting in later seasons, he's more apt to discipline and scold the kids when they screw up. He really lets Haley have it when she gets expelled from college.
  • In season 6, another crass comment from Gil Thorpe about Claire, combined with a near-miss in the car that morning, has Phil finally lose his patience with Thorpe and confront him head-on.
    Phil: Oh by the way, if you ever speak disrespectfully again about my wife, I'll kill you. (beat) Sorry, that sounded like a joke. I will actually kill you.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has big eyebrows.
• Bumbling Dad: He may be more of a deconstruction of the trope than a proper Bumbling Dad. In some ways, he's certainly bumbling - he's a goofy Manchild who is often mothered by his wife. But he has few other glaring flaws and is genuinely helpful and supportive. Although goofy and often somewhat stupid, he's not actually incompetent. He also does allow for Claire to be the disciplinarian and rule-maker the majority of the time, but it's acknowledged both by him and the narrative that it's an accepted role. When things get really difficult he's fully capable of being an authoritative presence. And while his daughters often behave as though they don't respect him, they've shown many times that they care a great deal what he thinks of them and want him to have a good opinion of them.
• Butt-Monkey: Very much so. His own family (including his wife and kids) constantly belittle him, take advantage of him and everyone walks all over him consistently because of his laid-back, Nice Guy demeanor. Although he does stand up for himself sometimes.
• Catchphrase: "I always/never do."
• Character Development: Later seasons have him more ready to discipline his kids when they get out of line.
• Chivalrous Pervert: He may be unable to hide his views on how attractive Gloria is or stop his occasional ogling of other women, but refuses to commit adultery because he truly loves Claire.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Phil is generally goofy and often doesn't plan things through. His more outlandish endeavors—compulsively buying a pet emu, running a miniature village for baby ducks, etc.—are constant subjects of confusion from his family.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: He seems unaware of it, but he unwittingly turns a number of people on throughout the series: horny ex-girlfriends, horny divorcees, gay men...
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Best demonstrated in "Fulgencio," which follows his efforts to help with his children's problems whilst they all believe him incapable. He manages to do so flawlessly, complete with a Godfather-esque montage.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not often because of his overly-friendly personality, but when he's annoyed, he shows the capability.
  Luke: It's called growing up and having your own interests, like the minister's daughter in your precious Footloose.
  Phil: Wow, using my own movie against me. Let's hear it for the boy.
• Drama Queen: When he gets upset, he will often go into a melodramatic funk.
• Even the Guys Want Him: A number of gay men have found him attractive, including Cam, much to his own surprise.
• Genius Ditz
  • He is shown in "Fifteen Percent" to be competent with technology to a far greater extent than his wife or father-in-law.
  • He's also very knowledgeable in property laws, as demonstrated in "Promposal". When Aunt Alice refuses to stop selling her knockoff of Gloria's hot sauce, Phil convinces her by threatening to report the illegal structures on her property.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: As far as parenting goes, the good cop to Claire's bad cop. In the one episode where they switched roles, he was terrifying as a bad cop, even commenting that he felt "shaky" afterward and wanted to go back to being the good cop.
• Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Phil rarely ever curses, instead shouting things like "Sweet and sour CHICKEN!", "Son of a MITCHELL!" and "Son of Jor-El!" when angry, frightened, or in pain.
• Happily Married: While he does find Claire nagging and controlling on occasion, Phil deeply loves her.
• Innocently Insensitive: He often accidentally insults his wife, either just by not defending her when someone else insults her, or by making comments about how she used to be hotter than she is now. Claire isn't exactly happy with it, but knows he doesn't mean anything. He only does it out of childish obliviousness rather than maliciousness.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Dylan, Haley’s on-again, off-again boyfriend.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: Phil is very needy and emotional, much to his father-in-law's annoyance. He also has several "feminine" hobbies (for instance, he was a cheerleader in college), and several scenes have shown him immediately making friends with groups of women he's never met before.
• Keet: Phil acts like a hyperactive child.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: He's nice, but he's not very bright, so he usually makes things worse trying to fix them.
• Let Her Grow Up, Dear: He has a much harder time learning that Haley isn't a virgin, while Claire is pretty relaxed. Of course, he is more upset because it means that Haley is growing up. He has a similar reaction when Alex let's slip that she isn't a virgin as well.
  * Manchild: Though he's a genuine sweetheart, Phil is also hyperactive and easily distracted. Claire generally refers to him as "the kid she's married to."
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The latter when compared to Claire. He tends to be more open-minded and even has traditional feminine hobbies (i.e. cheerleading).
• Mr. Fanservice: He certainly gets his fair share of shirtless scenes, as well as scenes where he's in his tighty-whities. "The Day We Almost Died" even features a scene of him in a sleeveless shirt, pouring water on himself to cool off—to Cam's awe.
• Nice Guy: One of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.
• Odd Friendship: With Dylan, Haley's on-again, off-again boyfriend. Odd in that he’s old enough to be Dylan’s dad.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Compared to his wife, Phil is very much a relaxed, free-spirited parent who very rarely gets upset with his kids regardless of what screwups they're responsible for. However, when Haley gets arrested at college and subsequently refuses to take any blame for her actions, Phil angrily puts his foot down, pointing out how Hayley was more than aware of what was happening at the party she was at, and expressing disgust at her decision to avoid taking her arrest and hearing before the school board seriously, as well as not considering what he and the rest of the family have had to done for her, which leaves Claire in an awed state of silence.
• Papa Wolf: As bumbling as he is, he will get serious if you hurt any of his kids.
• Phrase Catcher: In times of stress, "What's the plan, Phil?" is often exclaimed by his family members.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Jay's Manly Man. Whereas Jay is resistant to the very idea of opening up to anyone, Phil is a highly empathetic person.
• Shotgun Wedding: It's eventually revealed that he and Claire decided to get married after learning she was pregnant with Haley.
• Totally Radical: Part of Phil's "cool dad" schtick.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Not to his old man (with whom he gets along rather well), but to Jay. Since the latter was never pleased with his marriage to Claire, Phil tries desperately to impress him.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Phil suffers from coulrophobia, intense fear of clowns. This was revealed in the episode "Fizbo", when Cameron came to Luke's birthday party dressed as a clown. He has addressed this and says that his mother thinks the fear originated from him finding a dead clown in the woods one day when he was little.

Claire Dunphy (née Pritchett)

Played By: Julie Bowen

Wife of Phil, mother of Haley, Alex, and Luke. She's far more structured than her husband, and is usually the glue that holds the family together. Unless it's one of the days where their insanity has driven her crazy again.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Despite craving approval from her employees almost as desperately as she craves approval from her father, she never catches a break from her subordinates, and her attempts to bridge the gap only make things worse.
• The Alcoholic: Played for Laughs. Claire really likes her wine. When discussing the time Phil proposed, Claire's memory was being in a bad mood because she was on "day two of a St Patrick's day hangover".

• Antics-Enabling Wife: Claire rarely stands in the way of Phil's Manchild proclivities, be it his magic act, Homemade Inventions, odd collections, or his "Didn't Think This Through" large purchases/major household decisions, which tends to conflict with her otherwise Control Freak characterization. However, unlike many examples, she is perfectly willing to help fix the situation and numerous episodes have Phil's shenanigans lead to an overall positive outcome that wouldn't have happened had Claire intervened (or, sometimes, despite her intervention).
• Best Woman: She's "Best Person" for Mitch at his wedding to Cam, something she can't resist punning on throughout her speech.
• Big Sister Bully: Mitchell has said that Claire was bossy and mean growing up.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: A more rounded and sympathetic version than most. Weirdly, overlaps with Jerk with a Heart of Gold at times.
• Butt-Monkey: Considering the way everyone in her family casually fling insults at her, especially her husband, apparently without even noticing, she definitely qualifies. Also ties into The Complainer Is Always Wrong below. She is also always tripping, falling over, getting knocked into things, getting things spilled on her, etc.
• Character Development: Later seasons has her becoming less controlling, especially in regards to her children. The later seasons also has her forming a better relationship with Gloria.
• Character Tics: When she's agitated and/or stressed, she moves her hands around.
• The Complainer Is Always Wrong: You can bet that if Claire says something is going to go wrong, her kids and Phil will ignore it. When it does (and it usually does), instead of admitting it and listening to her the next time, you can bet they're just going to complain about how she always thinks she's right and ignore her like always.
• Control Freak: She takes every parent activity at her kids' school very seriously, which makes her butt heads with Gloria on a regular basis.
• Cool Big Sis: To Mitchell; they usually go to each other when one is having a problem.
• Cute and Psycho: Claire is quite overzealous when it comes to horror, specifcially on Halloween.
• Daddy's Girl: In comparison to Mitchell, Claire is closer to Jay.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Though Jay and Phil have reached some stable ground.
• Deadpan Snarker: Claire has a dry sense of humor like her dad and brother.
• Enraged by Idiocy: This is the main reason why she can’t stand Dylan.
• Former Teen Rebel: As a teen, she described herself as "out of control". One example involved a situation where she and her current boyfriend got arrested after skinny dipping in someone's pool. This is obviously the reason why she is so hard on Haley, because even though she refuses to admit it, she sees so much of herself in Haley, and doesn't want her to make the same mistakes she did.
• Guilty Pleasure: For her, it's going to the shooting range.
• Happily Married: While she does find Phil childish and slightly odd, Claire is still very much deeply in love.
• Housewife: She put any career she had at the time on hold when she became pregnant with Haley, choosing to stay at home so she can raise her children while Phil works, though she takes on a variety of community projects on the side, and is desperate for a job. She gets a job in season 5 at her dad's company
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her callousness causes a lot of problems with others. She has her moments of compassion and selflessness despite her mean streak.
• Mama Bear: Better not upset any of her kids, or she'll go after you hard.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy:
  • The former in comparison to Phil. She tends to be the stricter parent and isn't above playing rough, both literally and figuratively.
  • With Mitchell, since she was a bit of a tomboy growing up while Mitchell was fairly effeminate.
• Ms. Fanservice: Claire is in good shape and there were a couple of instances of her (almost) being shown naked.
• My Beloved Smother* Nightmare Fetishist: Absolutely. The marriage proposal ideas she pitches to Mitchell are nothing short of cruel (yet she finds them romantic).
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: On Halloween, due to her drive to have the scariest house in the neighborhood. She is usually far, far out ahead of any competition.
• Not So Above It All: She can be just as immature as her children, as insensitive as Jay, and as goofy as Phil.
• Only Sane Man: Though being around Phil makes anyone look wiser.
• Parental Fashion Veto: She is this when it comes to Haley. The first episode had her commenting on Haley's short skirt. This becomes a Running Gag in a Halloween episode, where she disapproves of every Halloween costume that Haley tries on. To her credit, she justifies this by telling Haley that she is going to save her from a night where guys will hit on her nonstop.
• Parental Neglect: Out of her kids, Claire focuses most of her concern over Haley's life, over her other two kids. One episode involved her constantly focus on Haley's laziness that she doesn't notice that a sleep-deprived Alex wandering around the house reading a textbook.
• Parenting the Husband: Claire generally refers to Phil as "the kid she's married to". She even says to this Gloria.
  Claire: You live two adults, I live with four kids.
• Shotgun Wedding: It's eventually revealed that she and Phil decided to get married after learning Claire was pregnant with Haley.
• Stacy's Mom:
  • Dylan admits directly to her if he weren't dating Haley and Phil were out of the picture, he'd totally do her.
  • It also comes up in "Chirp", where it comes up that Dylan had a wet dream involving Haley and Claire. Together. In his defense, he felt really guilty about it.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Gloria's Girly Girl.
  Claire: (pointing at Gloria) I'd like to see this one without make-up.
  Gloria: If you do, that will be the last thing you will ever see.
• The Unfavorite: To her mother Dede, who constantly talks down on her and brings up her past mistakes whenever she visits.
• Uptight Loves Wild: She's a highly controlling and serious person who married Manchild and Keet Phil.
• Walking Techbane: Claire is not good with technology.

Haley Dunphy

Played by: Sarah Hyland

The eldest child of Phil and Claire. She's less intelligent than Alex, often coasting through life on her good looks, but she has considerable cunning when she puts it to use. She often weasels out of punishment by helping her parents out of whatever new mess they've gotten themselves into.

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• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Deconstructed. At first it was downplayed, as she was romantically involved with Dylan. But after they broke up, she began dating actual jerks who didn't treat her with respect. Finally, after getting sick of it she started to invert the trope.
• Alpha Bitch: Played a realistic version of this trope while she was in high school.
• Ambiguously Bi: Although she has never had a female partner before, once while on vacation she said that whoever they find on the island, weather it was a guy or lady, she’d be kissing it. She also seemingly flirted with homeless car thief Joan. The actress who plays Haley supports the theory that Haley might be bisexual.
• Bad Influencer: Subverted. At one point, Haley becomes a social media influencer and is hired to promote nightclubs. Phil disapproves of this and tries to steer her towards a more practical career. However, she demonstrates her skill as an influencer to her dad by using social media to sell a house he was having trouble getting people to buy.
• Basement-Dweller: After getting expelled from college. Phil even warns Luke that he needs to apply himself, because they only have the one basement.
• Big-Breast Pride: Implied in "Do Not Push" where she’s shown checking out her large bust in a mirror.
• Big Sister Bully: She used to be one to Alex in the show' early days—as part of their former Sibling Rivalry—before maturing into an adult.
• Book Dumb: In contrast to her under-performance in school, Haley has proven to be quite the fast thinker.
• Brainless Beauty: Played straight most of the time, though she still manages to trick her parents into losing their family's contest in who can go the longest without using computer and phone technology so she could win. She also manages to fool her family into thinking she has a job as a waitress. She also was (briefly) able to teach Alex how to get popular. In short, Haley may be book dumb but she is also fairly creative and socially savvy.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Initially, she was this. However, as she's gotten older, she's been subverting this and developing into a mature and considerate adult.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: "Brilliant" is pushing it, but it's been pointed out that if Haley put the effort and thoughtfulness of her schemes into her schoolwork she'd have done much better in school.
• Character Development:
  • As Haley had gotten older, she's become far more appreciative of her family, especially Phil, Claire and Alex.
  • She's also become more aware of her own behaviour, and how selfish she was when she was younger, and is greatly trying to be a better person.
• Cool Big Sis:
  • Occasionally. Often in somewhat 'odd' fashion, such as when she carved "Alex Dunphy Do Me" under the bleaches at their school to try and cheer Alex up.
  • Both she and Alex are this to Lily, which is funny because they're both ten times better sister figures to their adopted cousin than they are to their own younger brother.
  • She has emerged as this to Alex, offering advice regarding college and boys, and expressing her fears that their relationship would suffer when Alex left for college.
  • She does care about her younger brother Luke. She was once shown to be able to play a game with him when he was younger and apparently she used to dress Luke for school when he was younger so he would get attention like she used to. Even though she didn’t do anything when Alex tricked him into believing their dads former girlfriend was his real mother, she does seem annoyed at Alex for it.
• Daddy's Girl: For all her brattiness, Haley truly cares for her dad and when he punishes her, it hits deeper than when her mother does, as seen in "Party Crasher". Also, like Alex, she gets upset if he makes him cry.
• Dating What Daddy Hates:
  • Inverted with Dylan, whom Phil loves, but Claire can't stand.
  • Averted with Andy, in that Phil and Claire both greatly approve.
• Disappointing Older Sibling: Neither Alex nor Luke think highly of their older sibling, and the former is often in odds of her most of the time.
• The Ditz: Although she gradually subverts this as the show goes on, there are still plenty of moments where Haley proves herself to be a bit of an airhead. She misunderstands simple concepts, has a tendency towards Comically Missing the Point, and is probably the character most frequently outwitted or tricked.
• Dude Magnet: A lot of guys are attracted to her. Dylan, David, Ethan, Andy, Charlie, Arvin, Rainer Shine, etc.
• Even the Girls Want Her: In "Express Yourself", a drunk girl calls Haley pretty and makes out with her.
• Everyone Can See It:
  • Her mutual attraction to Andy. Somewhat Subverted in that they've both got around to admitting how they feel after a fashion, but still aren't together due to various self-imposed obstacles, and continue to deny they feel anything more than friendship toward one another when asked by anyone else.
  • Also, they are the only ones who seem oblivious to the fact that they're basically a Generation Xerox of Claire and Phil.
• Everyone Has Standards: She was rather put off by Alex lying to Luke about him being adopted just because of a minor insult.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish one to Alex's Responsible
• Future Loser: Haley is the butt of a lot of jokes that involve this after she gets kicked out of college and has to move back in with her parents.
• Generation Xerox: It's brought up that Haley acts just like Claire did when she was teenager. Comes full circle in season 5 where Haley develops feelings for Andy, who is very similar to Phil.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: With Alex. Haley is the pretty one, Alex the smart one (Many viewers feel that Alex wins hands-down, because Hayley is beautiful, while Alex is smart AND beautiful. Although, In-Universe, Alex is treated by her family and herself as being less attractive than Haley and getting no dates, despite being a beautiful girl who attracts many guys, even if a lot of her admirers are nerds).
• Hidden Depths:
  • In "See You Next Fall", Haley talks Alex out of her mean-spirited middle-school graduation speech by admitting that she is actually very anxious about whether she'll graduate from high school with her own class or not.
  • Although not as clever as her younger sister, Haley does have flashes of brilliance.
  • Haley shows a talent for photography.
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Uses her good looks to get guys to do something for her.
• It's All About Me: Especially early in the show Haley tends to combine this attitude with Never My Fault. She'll disregards other people's rules, requests or wishes just so she can do whatever she wants — and when she's inevitably found out, she doesn't even fathom why they're angry, treating them as the unfair and unreasonable party when it could not be clearer that the entire fault is hers. She gets over it as the seasons pass, beginning to take more responsibility, but she'll still have moments where she just does what she wants with no thought to the cansequences or to anyone else.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the earlier seasons, where she was a stuck-up Bratty Teenage Daughter and Big Sister Bully. Despite her occasional mean streak, she has consideration for others' feelings.
• Lethal Chef: When Haley tries to make cupcakes for school they turn out impossibly inedible.
  Claire: Where's the number for poison control?
  Phil: I love you, Claire! I've always loved you!
  Luke: Mom? My mouth's asleep, like at the dentist.
• Ms. Fanservice: Moreso after her actress, Sarah Hyland, grows up. Haley is a young, beautiful woman who wears attractive clothes.
• Proud Beauty: Attractive as hell, and she knows it.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Starts to follow this after meeting Nice Guy Andy Bailey and getting sick of the "bad boys" she dated after Dylan.
• The Social Expert: Evolves into this. After high school she uses her good looks and social skills to promote clubs on social media and starts making $500 a night.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Alex's Tomboy.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to her parents, Haley was actually much sweeter and more affectionate as a child. When she was a little girl, she would always hug Phil whenever he came home from work, and was very close to her mother. When she became a teenager, however, she grew very distant from her parents, and started to act rebellious and cagey around them.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: A defining trait for Haley. So much so, that Gavin Sinclair describes her as having "the face of a cartoon lamb."
• Will They or Won't They?: With Andy. They are attracted to each other, but a major obstacle stopping them from becoming a couple is that fact that Andy has a girlfriend and they appear to be in a committed relationship. They don't, apparently as Haley ends up with Dylan.
• Women Drivers: Haley is a completely incompetent driver when she first gets her learner's permit. At one point she ends up driving through a park.

Alex Dunphy

Played by: Ariel Winter

Middle child of Phil and Claire, and smarter than the rest of the family put together. She is a shameless geek, studying hard to get into college and get a good job. Her parents are largely unaware of what she's doing at all times, since they trust she can handle everything herself.

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• Afraid of Blood: Alex Fainting at the sight of blood is a bit of a Running Gag. It gets to the point where, in the episode Heart Broken," a peeved Claire doesn't even bother to turn around when Alex faints; her only reaction is just an annoyed "Haley, revive your sister."
• Allegedly Dateless: She has many boyfriends and admirers, but often, her family acts like she's always alone and never gets any dates.
• Book Smart: Alex is academic and studious, in contrast to her Book Dumb siblings.
• Brainy Brunette: The most academically successful of her siblings.
• Character Development: Throughout the show, she has shown her vulnerable side, showing that she too has struggles and hard times, like that of her siblings. Additionally, her once rocky relationship with Haley has immensely developed, with them being able to confide in each other sincerely.
• Cool Big Sis: She and Haley are this to Lily, which is funny because they're both ten times better sister figures to their adopted cousin than they are to their own younger brother.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Under Pressure" is hers.
• Deadpan Snarker: Usually makes quips at Haley's apparent lack of intelligence.
• Determinator: In "Someone To Watch Over Lily", she reveals that she hates playing cello but continues to do so because she's never quit anything in her life.
• Disappointing Older Sibling: To a slightly lesser extent than Haley is towards Luke, who even outright tells them that neither one of them are good older sisters.
• Extracurricular Enthusiast: She plays the cello, plays lacrosse, and has participated in a bottle-collection program to help build schools in third-world countries. Note that she doesn't do all this because she loves all the activities, but rather to pad her resume for when she has to apply for colleges.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible one to Haley's Foolish.
• Geeky Turn-On: * In one episode, she let slip that she has a fantasy about being kissed in the science museum.
• Give Geeks a Chance: Subverted. She starts dating Luke's geeky friend Reuben not because she likes anything about him, but simply because she's depressed and wants an easy relationship with someone who pretty much worships the ground she walks on.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: With Haley. Alex is the smart one; Haley is the pretty one.
• Godiva Hair: A non-nude version. Since her actress has matured, her character has been limited to a single hairstyle (see character image) in an effort to hide her figure.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In some episodes such as “See You Next Fall”, she’s shown to be very jealous of Haley for being beautiful, popular, and attracting a lot of guys.
• Hidden Buxom: She has become rather well-endowed as she has matured — a fact which is much less obvious than with Haley as Alex commonly wears things like over-sized sweatshirts and the aforementioned Godiva Hair. Even when the character is trying to appear attractive, she tends to avoid anything that would highlight her chest.
• Hidden Depths:
  • "Best Men" reveals, much to Claire and Haley's surprise, that her band in which she plays cello is more alt rock rather than classical and that Alex can sing.
  • "Under Pressure" reveals that even though she loves challenging herself and being super smart, she's also under a lot of pressure. When Claire goes to Alex's school open house and finally realizes how hard Alex works every single day, Alex actually cries at hearing her mom tell her she understands.
• I Am Not Pretty: In “Come Fly With Me” and "Closet Con ‘13", Alex says she doesn’t think she’s pretty and that she thinks Haley and Gloria are far more attractive than her, despite Gloria assuring her that she’s beautiful.
• Idiot Ball: In "A Tale Of Three Cities", she and her siblings are not the least suspicious that their parents are having sex as they are too busy hiding the fact that they were still in New York.
• Insufferable Genius: Tends to believe that she's the only one who's in the right and often cracks jokes at Haley's poor grades.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Despite her great intellect, she doesn't have a great social life.
• Jerkass: Alex is by far the meanest of the Dunphy siblings, especially in the first season where she seems to take some sort of sadistic joy in seeing her siblings miserable. When Luke is in trouble she "casually" mentions that some parents think it's okay to hit their children, and later when she overhears what she thinks is Phil actually hitting Luke, she walks away with the most self-satisfied smirk ever. She is toned somewhat down later on in the show, and her attitude explained as being rooted in her insecurities, but she's still completely merciless, and sometimes crosses the line to straight up cruelty, when she insults her siblings.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being a bit of a Deadpan Snarker and Insufferable Genius, Alex has her heart in the right place at the end of the day.
• Little Miss Snarker: Gets it from her mother... her uncle... her grandfather... let's just say it's a Pritchett thing.
• Nerds Are Sexy: She gets her fair share of attention from boys. When Haley first sees her fanclub of nerdy boys, Alex smiles and tells her "You have your fans, I have mine. Someday, yours will be working for mine." Once her actress, Ariel Winter, grows up, Alex becomes a beautiful, buxom young woman.
• Nerd Glasses: Wears glasses to showcase her nerdiness.
• Not So Above It All: Case in point, she once tried to pass off as a medical student and passed out after seeing a C-section.
  • Can improvise on the fly when she needs to like the rest of her family when the situation calls for it.
  • In "Under Pressure", she reveals that she suffers from mammoth pressure at school.
• Only Sane Woman:
  • She sometimes acts like this among her siblings due to Haley's irresponsible nature and Luke's strange thinking.
  • "The Long Honeymoon" reveals her to be this for her entire family. Not only are they incapable of functioning without her, but they are one mistake away from getting killed unless she is there to guide them. That isn't an exaggeration — Phil nearly kills them all by feeding them a pie he made which he made from rhubarb and forgot to remove the leaves, which Alex points out are poisonous.
• Rule of Sexy: Some men have been attracted to her feet. A truck driver wants to see them in the season 6 premiere episode, and in "No Small Feet" Luke sells pictures of Alex's Feet online for perverted men.
• Running Gag: She faints at the sight of blood.
• Shaking Her Hair Loose: In "After the Fire", she undoes her ponytail and shakes her hair loose in front of a group of nerds who have crushes on her to seduce them before she stops them from bullying Luke and Manny.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: She's the most down to earth member of her family and wears glasses.
• Stepford Snarker: Her mother tells Cam and Mitchell that Alex may be sarcastic on the outside, but inside she's a "fragile little girl".
• Surrounded by Idiots: Frequently, and she doesn't hesitate to inform her family that she thinks of her situation as such.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Haley's Girly Girl. However, while Haley's girly girl is definitely the case, Alex's tomboy is mostly only implied, with the aspects of it, such as her being a lacrosse player, only being mentioned and not shown.
• Tomboyish Name: Everyone calls her "Alex" which is short for Alexandra.
• Troll: She has a cruel sense of humor when she puts her mind to it.
  • In several episodes she's seen tricking her siblings, making them think she's being nice by "teaching" them things like how you can recharge a cell phone by rubbing it against your hair for static electricity.
  • When Phil's ex comes to visit, Alex tells Luke that he's adopted, she's his real mom, and she's come to take him away.  A few jokes from the ex about how she wants to take him home, and he's bawling like a baby.
    Haley: Just cause he called you a dork-to-dork salesman?
  • When Haley leaves for college, not only do Alex's pranks against Luke get worse  (to the point of physical pain), she starts mocking her mother more openly.  Claire eventually realizes the problem is that they can’t snark back on an even level.  She solves the problem by setting up a video chat with Haley, then just leaving them alone while they insult and yell at each other.
    Claire: And balance... is restored.

Luke Dunphy

Played By: Nolan Gould

The youngest child of Phil and Claire, as well as the stupidest. He gets lucky sometimes, but mostly survives by sticking close to Manny.

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• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: He repeatedly becomes distracted when he has to do something important.
• Big Brother Instinct: He's Alex's younger brother, but in one episode he decides to stay with her after she has a bad break up instead of going to a party.
• Big Little Brother: In the later seasons, he becomes significantly taller than Haley and Alex.
• Character Development: While still a bit ditzy, he's gained a more prominent mischievous streak now that he's in middle school.
• CloudcuckooLander: He is thought to be a bit vacuous, because of many questionable actions, such as getting his head stuck in the banister and jumping on the trampoline wearing only underwear and a box on his head, and claiming to be ready to leave the house, while having failed to notice that he is barefoot.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has progressively become snarkier over the course of the show.
• The Ditz: He is known for being a boy with low intelligence, which has supposedly inherited from his father, who is not so many smart either. This makes him to be very innocent and not always understand the repercussions of his actions.
• Dumbass Teenage Son: He's known for being a doofus.
• Fat and Skinny: The Skinny to Manny's Fat. Luke is thin in comparison to Manny but is not necessarily a thin person. He is even slightly chubby when he is younger in the earlier seasons, and as he grows older he is quite muscular.
• Genius Ditz: Luke occasionally shows signs of this. He's also proven to be a magician prodigy in the making. Probably a mild case of Actor Allusion since Nolan Gould is a member of Mensa, skipped 6 grades, and graduated from high school at the age of 13.
• Hidden Depths: Luke has a great singing voice.
• In-Series Nickname: Phil calls him "Buddy" almost 99% of the time.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For some reason, Luke can be rude and insulting towards Lily but shows his heart of gold a lot towards his mother. In "Integrity" Luke lets Manny think a girl Manny likes isn't paying attention to him because Luke flirted with her, when in reality it's because she flirted with Luke because she likes him, not Manny. Luke lets Manny continue thinking this to spare his friends feeling, even though it means Manny stops talking to him.
• Kids Prefer Boxes: One time, his parents actually just got him a box... only for him to play with the bag that it came with instead.
• Like Father, Like Son: Luke is just as ditzy as Phil.
• Manipulative Bastard: It's startling how easily Luke can get under people's skin when he is properly motivated to do so.
• Quirky Curls: They're pretty uncontrollable, even when he gets his hair cut as he grows old.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Manny's Sensitive Guy.
• Sitcom Archnemesis: Towards Lily. Luke competes with Lily over the position of the cute one in their extended family.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In later seasons, as he grows into what Manny describes as "hipster cynicism".
• Vocal Evolution: Should be expected as the seasons elapse considering he's growing into a teenager. It's even more prominent when his voice gets even deeper at the end of the show's run.

Dylan Marshall

Played by: Reid Ewing

Haley's boyfriend for a time. A nice boy and honest to a fault, he was more than happy to treat the Dunphys as his own family. He's also slightly dumber than dirt.

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• Abusive Parents: Implied. In one episode, when he (temporarily) lives with Cam and Mitch he mentions that his mother made him leave because of her new boyfriend moving in.
• Butt-Monkey
• Cloudcuckoolander: Even surpassing Phil.
• The Ditz: Dumber than a hammer warehouse, and in the wake of Luke's mild intelligence growth, probably the flakiest recurring character on the show.
• First Guy Wins: He's Haley's first boyfriend shown on the series, and later ends up marrying her after she gets pregnant by him.
• Hidden Depths: He told Haley that he's majoring in Nursing.
• In-Series Nickname: Nicknamed "D-Money" by Phil.
• Intercourse with You: "In the Moonlight" and "Imagine Me Naked". The former starts out romantically enough, before:
  Maybe, baby
  I just wanna DO you! DO you!
  Do you wanna DO me?! DO me?!
• Nice Guy: He's one of the nicest and most sensitive guys you'll ever meet.
• Romantic False Lead: He plays this for Haley and Andy for a time on the show, and eventually gets a wife and stepchild of his own. Eventually Haley and Andy break up for good, and Dylan and Haley get back together and marry.
• Papa Wolf: "Accidentally" hits Luke with a pool cue when he makes fun of his daughter Poppy, as Senior Papa Wolves Jay and Phil watch proudly.

Pritchett-Delgado Family

Jay Pritchett

Played By: Ed O'Neill

Husband of Gloria, father of Claire, Mitchell and Joe and stepfather to Manny. He is a closet salesman who still owns the company, with a very old way of doing things. He still has a sensitive side, and loves his family deeply.

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• Amicable Exes: He and his ex-wife DeDe get along just fine. They were happily married for 35 years and even after their divorce, they remain on very friendly terms and are very comfortable together, them even dancing together at a wedding.
• Brutal Honesty: Jay is honest to a fault.
• Cool Old Guy: In his later years but still incredibly sharp, witty and charming.
• Catchphrase:
  • "Of course you did."
  • "And we're back."
  • "What the hell!"
  • Also, "Ah, jeez", usually coupled with him visibly slumping.
  • “Son of a bitch!”
• Character Development: He grows more comfortable around Manny, Cam, and Phil as the series goes along.
• Deadpan Snarker: Almost on the same level as Ed O'Neil's other prominent character, Al Bundy, except Jay isn't as sarcastic as Al was, probably because he's not married to someone as irritating as Peg Bundy, plus the fact that Jay is much more successful in life than Al was.
• Grumpy Old Man: He's a very snarky, cynical and stubborn old curmudgeon who's played by Ed O'Neill, actor of another famous TV curmudgeon.
• Happily Married: Despite the obvious assumption that Gloria is just a trophy wife, he loves her deeply, and considers her son from her previous marriage to be his son as well.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Jay loves dogs. He keeps a butler dog mannequin in his home and thinks it's hilarious. And he basically dotes on Stella.
• Hidden Depths:
  • At first he seems like your stereotypical good ol' boy - loves football and lots of macho. But over the seasons, it's revealed he's more of a pragmatic intellectual and shows interests in astronomy, history, model building, and foreign culture among other things. Though the latter one should be self-evident given who he's married to.
  • Also, while it may seem that he is with Gloria for her looks, it is very quickly revealed that while he's attracted to her physically, it is most definitely her personality that he is interested in.
  • His relationship with Cam is equally deep - he seems pretty comfortable confiding things he literally will not tell anyone else with Cam.
  • He absolutely dotes on his little French Bulldog Stella, not the kind of dog you would immediately associate with a man's-man like him. He even takes an interest in dog shows.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jay is an insensitive jerk, but he always means well and will do what's right in the end.
• Like Parent, Like Spouse: Jay turns out to have an eerie resemblance to his father-in-law and noted to be similar to him in personality.
• May–December Romance: Jay, who's in his 60's, and Gloria, who's in her 30's.
• Momma's Boy: It appears Jay was very affectionate with his mother. He had written her a poem for Mother's Day one time as a boy and one time when Jay had a Little League Coach during a football game and was laying on to him about something, she came charging out of the stands and went up to the guy face-to-face and nose-to-nose and told him "Nobody and I mean nobody yells at my little boy" which caused Jay to start crying when he told this story to his family.
• Noble Bigot: His homophobia has only slightly decreased with time, but he throws a lavish wedding for Cam and Mitch, whom he calls, in his toast, his sons. And, of course, as soon as he meets their adoptive daughter, who is crying, he fusses over her - and she instantly stops crying apparently able to tell he's a good person.
• Older Than They Look: Downplayed, but in Season Five's "A Fair to Remember", it is commented that he looks closer to later-fifties than mid-sixties.
• Only Sane Man: In his immediate and very Colombian family. Also occasionally his extended family.
• Papa Wolf: If you hurt his kids or grandkids, Jay won't hesitate to pay you back.
• Parental Substitute: For Manny, given how flaky and unsavory Manny's real father is. Sees more development in season 6 where he outright calls Manny 'his kid' and 'his son' to other people; for those who haven't seen him in a while, they assume they mean Mitchell.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: He generally means well and lacks malice, but he's an old-fashioned kind of guy and so there are plenty of gaps in his knowledge of modern political awareness. He loves Mitchell but just can't quite get his head wrapped fully around the "gay" thing, and while he's devoted to Gloria he can sometimes be a bit thoughtless with regards to her culture and language issues.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The quiet, cool tempered Savvy Guy to Gloria's Hot-Blooded, easily riled Energetic Girl.
• Second Love: To Gloria, given she divorced her Manchild ex-husband.
• Serious Business: He takes closets and the design, building and sale of them very seriously.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Phil's Sensitive Guy. Amusingly at times, the relationship between Jay and Gloria veers into Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy.
  Jay: [to Manny] She isn't sensitive like you and me. She wouldn't get it!
• Straight Man: While he can be stubborn, insensitive and rigid, he plays this role when relating his extended family members. He's especially this type of comedic person whenever he interacts with his energetic and passionate Drama Queen of a wife.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Deadpan, prefers not to handle emotional stuff, and stoic. But he has a genuine love for his family and dogs are his biggest weakness.
• The Vietnam Vet: His service during the war is alluded to, from time to time. Jay himself considers having to do DIY activities with Mitchell as a more traumatizing experience.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Becomes nicer and sensitive over time, especially in regards to Phil, Cam, and Manny.
• Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: Especially in the first few seasons, the conflict between his homophobic "good old boy" worldview and his genuine love for his gay son is a major source of drama. He gets better over the course of the show.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Jay is a close-minded, serious, and often stoic man. He ended up marrying the very Hot-Blooded and emotional Gloria.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: To be fair, Jay is in his 60's... but no denying Gloria's actress Sofía Vergara is smokin' hot.
• Uptown Guy: He and Gloria, which is deconstructed at some points. It's revealed at different times that while Jay was reasonably well off financially, Gloria struggled with making ends while raising Manny. After they married, many (including Claire, initially) presumed that the reason Gloria married Jay was because of his money. Which is not true. But, the idea caused others to talk behind her back which led to their kids to pick on Manny, both issues that Gloria is well aware of.

Gloria Ramirez Delgado Pritchett

Played By: Sofía Vergara

Wife of Jay, mother of Manny and Joe. Gloria is a Colombian national who worked hard for years to provide for her son. She can be eccentric and airheaded at times (not helped by her still-imperfect grasp of English), but she cares for her friends and family above all else.

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• Adoptive Peer Parent: To her step-children, Claire and Mitchell. She is actually younger than Claire, as a few characters love to remind Claire.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Deconstructed. She was once very attracted to the unpredictable Javier, her now ex-husband. But, after having Manny, she realized she needed someone who would be more reliable and not leave her and Manny, especially the latter, hanging on empty promises.
• Attention Whore: This flamboyant woman very much enjoys the limelight, as she makes effort to be noticeable especially when it comes to her appearance and tends to get jealous when other women get more attention than her.
• Beware the Nice Ones: One of the most kind-hearted individuals of the show... and you'd be wise not to anger her.
• Brainless Beauty: Subverted by Gloria, who initially comes across as this but is actually smart, spirited, and very sweet.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She's a brash, erratic and immature free-spirit and serves as Jay's Manic Pixie Dream Girl with her hyperactive and bubbliness contrasting his no-nonsense and snarky personality.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Gloria occasionally falls into this territory and is revealed to be much tougher than she initially appears.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: Gorgeous as she is, Gloria cannot carry a tune and a neighbor mistook her shouting for a parrot's. Once she set off a car alarm with her voice.
• Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments.
  Gloria: In my culture, it is considered very important that men do their own labor.
  Jay: I know. That's why I hire people from your culture.
  Gloria: You're too funny! I'm going to tell that one to my next husband while we're spending all of your money.
• Dude Magnet: Many men have been attracted to Gloria, reportedly to the point of proposing marriage from moving cars.
• Eloquent in My Native Tongue: She's actually very (intentionally) funny in Spanish, as well as being intelligent and well-informed, and is regarded as an excellent conversationalist by other characters who speak the language. If she comes across a bit ditzy sometimes it's purely down to the fact that she's the only member of the family speaking a second language, something that she's painfully aware of at times.
  Gloria: [to Jay] Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?
• Erotic Eating: She is at one point shown suggestively stuffing marshmallows into her mouth while getting turned on by Jay doing manly construction work.
• Expansion Pack Past: At various points in her life she has been: a model, cab driver, hair dresser, mover, philosophy professor and realtor.
• Funny Foreigner: Lots of jokes about her accent, tendency towards loudness, the crime and poverty in her hometown, etc.
• Gangsta Style: Occasionally carries like this when she thinks she needs to - she is capable of shooting a (BB) gun with alarming accuracy, and tends to make mafia-style threats when somebody has wronged someone in her family or when she wants something done.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's way girlier than Claire, but she likes guns and knows how to use one better than Claire does.
• Gold Digger:
  • Subverted with Gloria but who is actually a very nice person who genuinely loves Jay. She is assumed to be this occasionally, but in reality she is with Jay because she loves him, not for his money.
  • She says in the Valentine's Day episode that she loves him because he's sexy, and is shown eating marshmallows suggestively as she watches him be all manly and assertive and work with his hands.
    Gloria: And the drilling. [stares offscreen] So much drilling.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: She can be quite a hothead at times.
• Happily Married: To Jay; Gloria loves her husband, Jay, although the two can occasionally bicker over the life of their son, Manny.
• Hidden Depths: Is a damn good chess player, possibly even better than Manny.
• Hot-Blooded: This Drama Queen is often characterized by her loud, outspoken attitude.
• I Just Want to Be Beautiful: It's not her primary motivation, but she certainly takes a lot of pride in her appearance. A good chunk of the situations where she's in the wrong (like refusing to wear glasses or deliberately making Jay late for his birthday party) are motivated by her desire to be the most beautiful person in the room, and she's greatly distressed by the idea of aging when it comes up.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Gloria's a crack shot with a pistol.
  Manny: Hey! You could have hit me!
  Gloria: Oh please. At this distance, I could have unbuttoned your shirt if I wanted to!
  • She confirms this in The Stinger of "The Day Alex Left For College", the second episode of the seventh season. During the episode, an apparently wayward shot from an air pistol she was waving around hit Jay in the foot, sparing him from attending Lilly's soccer game. The other characters wondered if she had done that on purpose. In her Confession Cam segment, she confirms it, shooting a sippy cup off a table from behind her back while walking away, without even looking.
• Informed Attractiveness: Frequent references are made to her being a bombshell (not that many viewers would disagree).
• Innocently Insensitive: When Mitchell and Cam name her and Jay as Lily's new guardians - should something horrible happen to them - Gloria gets so excited by the prospect that she gleefully picks up "Liliana" and squeals that when something horrible happens to them, Lily is going to be all hers.
• It's All About Me: She is incessantly trying to make herself extremely noticeable in a crowd when it comes to her appearance, and is extraordinarily ferocious when other women get more attention than her - this is why she dismisses all of the young, attractive female babysitters from her house so they don't outrank her. Also, when her mother shows the slightest amount of attention to Claire than she does to Gloria, Gloria is provoked into a campaign against Claire, constantly trying to put Claire in the corner. Also, when her mother admits that she does not have a favorite between Gloria and Claire, Gloria roars "Why the Hell not!", indicating that she has always tried to be a favorite.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. She has a tendency to be hot blooded, rash, and selfish. However, Gloria is deeply committed to her family and is generally a sweet person.
• Large Ham: She is shown to be very expressive in her speech; often imitating the sounds of things when she does not know what to call it, exaggerating her facial expressions and gestures, and shouting loudly when she is upset.
• Love at First Punch: Downplayed. Manny mentions to Jay that Gloria fell in love with Jay when they had their first argument.
• Mama Bear:
  • To Manny. She can be shown to stand up to anyone who insults or hurts Manny going on long-winded rants about it.
  • To the other kids as well, given that through marriage she's the matriarch of the family, she's incredibly protective of them, like the time she threatened Haley's cruel boss with calling in some favors with some of her dangerous friends if didn't ease up on her.
• May–December Romance: With Jay, a man 30 years her senior.
• Ms. Fanservice: She wears many fashionable outfits and is considered very beautiful by almost every person she talks with.
• No Indoor Voice: She basically shouts a lullaby at Lily in one episode.
• Parental Substitute: Acts as a motherly figure to Lily. She is also this to Claire and Mitchell much more than the woman who raised them.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The Hot-Blooded, easily riled Energetic Girl to Jay's quiet, cool tempered Savvy Guy. Doubles as Red Oni, Blue Oni.
• Second Love: To Jay, since he divorced his previous wife.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: In the form of Jay. While he may have his flaws, he's also dependable, honest, and loves Gloria for more than just her looks.
• Spicy Latina: Naturally, as she's a Hot-Blooded and quick-tempered Latina woman, and herself attributes these traits to her Colombian heritage.
• Stacy's Mom: "Send Out the Clowns" made it official for Gloria, as Manny's new "friend" was only interested in her.
• Street Smart: Unmoved by things like violence and gore, she can confidently get herself out of trouble. Growing up in Latin America is largely depicted as the reason why.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Claire's Tomboy, though Gloria occasionally shows signs of being a closeted tomboy.
• Trophy Wife: Unlike the typical example however, she and Jay really do love each other. When she finds out that Jay is dragging her to a weekend with all his old friends to specifically show her off, she goes from furious to determined to get there.
• Tsundere: Normally a dere, but the tsun side is never far behind.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: To be fair, Jay is in his 60's... but no denying Gloria's actress Sofía Vergara is smokin' hot.
• The Unfavorite: To her father Fulgencio. It is revealed in "A Tale of Three Cities" that Gloria had issues with her father who loved her sister Sonia more than her. This led to a competition and a tension between the two sisters for years. It even included Gloria taking a letter from Sonia that was for her asking for a job in America. Sonia then realizes the jealousy and the two sisters apparently make up.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: A wife variant. Case in point, she punched a guy in the face when he made an insult against Jay.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Gloria is terrified of the, how do you say in English, the takatakatakataka (translation: She REALLY, SERIOUSLY hates helicopters). She can never seem to remember the English word for it, even though the Spanish word is almost identical.

Manny Delgado

Played By: Rico Rodriguez

Son of Gloria, step-son of Jay. He's an excessively serious and emotional child who Jay claims was born at least sixteen years old. He and Jay get along well in the way of two old guys, though Jay often tries to make him just act like a kid while he can.

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• Adorably Precocious Child: Though admittedly the "precocious" part does bother the adults and doesn't earn him a ton of friends.
• Berserk Button: The normally level-headed and mature Manny starts a fight with another guy when said guy insulted a particular film that Manny holds dear to his heart: Mary Poppins.
• Big Brother Instinct: Lectures his parents on not arguing will cause harm to Joe, when Gloria is still pregnant with him. After Joe is born, Manny didn't like how Claire was drinking while watching his baby brother and stated as such.
• Camp Straight: See the Dandy below. Is Mistaken for Gay in one episode.
• Casanova Wannabe: Throughout all the Modern Family seasons, Manny has not been afraid to show his affection towards his crushes.
• Character Development: At the beginning of the series he could be pretty obnoxious (but in all fairness, he WAS 10 years old at the time - acting his actual age at certain moments), but his arrogance and vanity has been toned down enough for him to gain better relationships with others.
• Creepy Uncle: Sort of. He had a crush on Haley, who is technically his niece. Of course, they're only related by marriage, close to the same age, and did not grow up together so how creepy Manny is will vary. It's also largely worn off as Manny's expressed interest in many other girls.
• The Dandy: He cares immensely about his appearance, and Claire remarks that he "dresses like a count".
• Fat and Skinny: The Fat to Luke's Skinny.
• In Love with Love: He flirts with so many girls because he wants to find true love.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: Manny is open with his feelings and is quite the sophisticated romantic. Plus, he loves baking.
• Insufferable Genius: Manny is kind but he is also very arrogant. His pride is his greatest flaw, and he has a hard time dealing with people being smarter than he is.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Many of his peers find his maturity incredibly annoying.
• Ironic Name: Perhaps unintentionally, but his last name means "skinny" or "thin" in Spanish. Although the actor has lost weight in recent years, he is still the "Fat" to Luke's "Skinny" as seen above.
• KidAnova: Seems to have a different crush every episode.
• Little Professor Dialog: His vocabulary is incredibly impressive.
• Momma's Boy: His support is mainly channeled through his mother.
• Overly Long Name: At one point he wants to take French, as he thinks it would be a "better fit" for him than Spanish.
  Gloria: Your name is Manuel Alberto Javier Alejandro Delgado. How is French a better fit for you?
  Manny: Okay, I'm pretty sure you threw in a name I've never heard before.
• Precocious Crush: He has a few in the early seasons, including several of Joe's nannies.
• Princely Young Man: Carries himself as such despite a poor upbringing.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Luke's Manly Man.
• Serial Romeo: Manny isn't afraid to take chances, leading him to ask out older girls, and develop somewhat of a crush on Haley.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He does tend to think he's more of a popular figure than he really is at school. Best summed up when he does a huge speech to his class at a dance on how he knows they look up to him...only to be told no one there has any idea who he is.
  Manny: I know you all think of me as the golden boy, the prodigy, the wunderkind...
  Classmate: Who are you?
• Smart People Play Chess: Something he's very good at and was taught by Gloria.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Many people are weirded out by how adult he acts.
• Weight Woe: Hardly, but as a preteen he's nervous about showering around other kids his age.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Snakes are to Indiana Jones as butterflies are Manny Delgado.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: He is very mature, cultured and intuitive for his age and is often shown doing adult-like things, such as having conversations with Claire about her marriage and kids, drinking coffee and handling problems like a man.
• Vocal Evolution: Not as deep as Luke's, but Manny's voice gets much deeper by the show's final season.

Fulgencio Joseph "Joe" Pritchett

Played by: Rebecca and Sierra Mark (season 4), Pierce Wallace (season 5-6), Jeremy Maguire (season 7-11)

Son of Jay and Gloria.

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• The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest of the titular family, at least until season 11 which brings in three newborns (Poppy, George and Rex).
• Creepy Child: Played for Laughs. Gloria worries that Joe might grow into this.
• Dead Guy Junior: He is named after his late maternal grandfather.
• First-Name Ultimatum: By the time he can speak, people don't usually call him "Fulgencio" unless they're scolding him.
• Generation Xerox: There are numerous instances in which Joe comes off as miniature version of Jay, and more than one subplot addresses this.
• Middle Name Basis: Joe is short for Joseph, his middle name.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Everyone calls him "Joe".
• Practically Different Generations: Comes with the territory of being the product of a May–December Romance. Joe is forty-three years younger than Claire, forty years younger than Mitchell, and fourteen years younger than Manny. He's four years younger than Lily, his half-niece and only six years older than his half-grand niece and nephew, Poppy and George.
• Precocious Crush: On his teacher, even going as far as to present her with lingerie. Later, he develops short-lived crush on Claire, his half-sister.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Lily, very passively at this point.
• Sticky Fingers: The Season 8 premiere reveals that he's discovered a disturbing love of stealing. Naturally, Played for Laughs, as he's only a toddler, though the humour's a little darker than might be expected.
  Joe: I saw Manny take shampoos from the hotel, so I took some things too. Then some bigger things. I like stealing. It makes my heart go fast!

Tucker-Pritchett Family

Mitchell Pritchett

Played By: Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Husband of Cam, brother of Claire, father of Lily. Mitchell is a serious lawyer, often exasperated with managing the eccentricities of his husband.

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• Badass Bookworm: Mitchell is a lawyer and has used it to get a boy to confess for taking credit from Manny's work.
• The Comically Serious: Mitchell quite often, as his serious, uptight personality is contrasted by Cam's more free-spirited, dramatic tendencies.
• Daddy Issues: A recurring conflict between Jay and Mitchell is that Jay was never one to be openly affectionate during Mitchell's childhood, which made Mitchell's coming-out particularly uncomfortable. Ironically, a lot of the issues came about because Mitchell was so concerned about Jay's reaction and thus was/is very defensive about his sexuality - various episodes have shown that while Jay might not have been immediately comfortable, he certainly would not have done anything more drastic than snark and squirm a little.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a dry (sometimes mean) sense of humor.
• Everyone Has Standards: Pretty much everyone in his family considers him to be something of a control freak, even he thinks Claire is too hard on her kids (ironically, Claire sees him as the more controlling one).
• Fanboy: Mitchell is a major one for Spider-Man, even dressing up as the fictional hero during one Halloween.
• Fat and Skinny: A couple example. The Skinny to Cam's Fat.
• The Finicky One: Mitchell's an uptight and fussy Nervous Wreck who needs Cameron to calm him down.
• Happily Married: Initially Averted, in that while he and Cam were as happy as the other two couples on the show they couldn't legally marry. Played Straight as of the Season 5 finale.
• Hates Being Touched: Justified. He is very germaphobic.
• Hello, Attorney!: An environmental lawyer who is often noted to be quite handsome.
• House Husband: Tries being one for a few episodes after quitting his original job to spend more time with Lily, during which time Cam goes back to work. Subverted in that it turns out they both hate this arrangement, and he gets a new job very quickly.
• The Klutz: On occasion, namely with DIY construction and once accidentally breaking a window with nunchucks. Jay regards doing DIY activities with Mitchell as a kid to be a more psychologically damaging experience than serving in Vietnam.
• Leg Focus: Invoked in Starry Night, wherein Mitchell gets sprayed by a skunk while on an outing with Jay and Manny. The only thing available for him to change into is a dress Gloria bought and left in Jay's car, which prompts Jay to compliment his son's legs and say he'd do okay as a cross-dresser if he were "that type of gay".
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Depends. Mitch is the Masculine because he's more Straight Gay and is the "stricter" father. However, he could be the Feminine due to him not being not as skilled in "manly things" like Cam is.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: With Claire when they were growing up; since she was a bit of a tomboy growing up while Mitchell was fairly effeminate.
• Momma's Boy: Tends to get along marginally better with his mom.
• Neat Freak: Exploited. Cam sometimes leaves the house a mess (not cleaning it up), and knows that Mitchell will feel like he needs to clean it and will do so.
• Nervous Wreck: Mitchell is a very neurotic and high-strung person who has his obsessive moments much like his sister.
• Papa Wolf: Mitch once took on a bird because it was keeping him from giving Lily her milk.
• Running Gag: Freaks out when near birds.
• Stepford Snarker: Mitchell often uses his witty sarcasm to hide some of his problems.
• Straight Gay: More than Cameron, at least, although he isn't particularly masculine either.
• The Unfavorite: To his father Jay.
• Uptight Loves Wild: He's a neurotic, Neat Freak, who hates being touched. And he's the partner and later husband of a flamboyant, extremely emotional Drama Queen.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: In some episodes with Mitchell wanting to earn his father's admiration and approval.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Birds scare Mitchell to the point that he has to use a baseball bat to get them away from him. Thanks to a friend's cockatoo, he gets over it.

Cameron "Cam" Tucker

Played By: Eric Stonestreet

Husband of Mitchell, father of Lily. He is far more emotional and dramatic than Mitchell, and repeatedly tries to break into stage acting. Also, he used to be a clown. As in from the circus.

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• Action Dad: Despite Cameron being overly dramatic and somewhat effeminate, when he thinks there's a stranger in Baby Lily's room he jumps out of bed, grabs a baseball bat, and charges in with a Pre Ass Kicking One Liner.
  • In one episode, when he thought there was a stranger in Lily's room, he jumped out of bed, grabbed a bat, said "It's go time" with a Serious Business look on his face, and charged in ready to KILL whoever was in there (fortunately, no one was). In another episode, when Mitch almost gets into a fight with a rude Jerkass at a gas station, Cam gets out of the car and tells the guy he will "slam [his] head into that bumper so hard the airbag will deploy" if he didn't apologize. The guy apologized with genuine fear in his eyes. (Also, Cam was dressed up as Fizbo the clown during this scene, which just makes it more awesome somehow.)
  • In one episode, he gets so pissed off over his extended family being good friends with Mitchell's ex, Teddy, that he punches a punching bag arcade game hard enough to set a record.
• All Gays Love Theater: Loves musicals and jumps at the chance to direct Luke and Manny's school play, attempting to turn it into a fabulous affair.
• Attention Whore: At his worst moments, he can come across as one, making everything about him and wanting every approval and attention he can get of anyone.
• Big Fun: Cam is corpulent, affable, jolly and proudly camp.
• Breakout Character: Cameron is the 2nd most popular character in the show after Phil. The fans just can't get enough of him.
• Camp Gay: Zig-zagged. While his mannerisms, fashion sense, and Drama Queen nature are very camp, he actually has a lot of very masculine hobbies. He coaches football, is excellent at home repair, and since he grew up on a farm, he is very comfortable wrangling animals, getting dirty, and being outdoors.
• Can't Take Criticism: Cam becomes angry and defensive, or even dissolves into a sobbing mess when he perceives the slightest bit of criticism thrown his way, particularly around his body or weight.
• Chick Magnet:
  • Before coming out, he apparently caught the attention of quite a few girls, as he likes to brag about.
  • Also attempts this on a bet with Mitchell and Crispin - though, with his extremely camp personality and mannerisms, the girl he was hitting on knew he was gay all along, despite his beliefs to the contrary. She just wanted a gay best friend.
• Deadpan Snarker: Yep. Cam has a witty putdown for just about every occasion.
• Drama Queen: Sweet Jesus, yes. He's pretty much sterotypically campy and dramatic in actions and expressions.
• Farm Boy: A Missouri boy, and proud of it.
• Fat and Skinny: A couple example. The Fat to Mitch's Skinny.
• Happily Married: Initially Averted, in that while he and Mitchell were as happy as the other two couples on the show they couldn't legally marry. Played Straight as of the Season 5 finale.
• House Husband: Has been one for most of the series' run, although he was a music teacher before adopting Lily, a job which he eventually returns to (this time at Luke and Manny's school) once she starts kindergarten. He also briefly worked in a greeting card shop while Mitchell was unemployed. Later, he becomes the high school football coach to which he takes to quite well as it's one of his other great loves.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: He acts very full of himself and he likes showing off what he thinks are amazing skills. But than and when it is shown throughout the show he might be very insecure and acts the way he does to get everyone's approval.
• It's All About Me: Cam will take any opportunity he can to make things about him, even when he's not even remotely the subject of attention. In "A Year of Birthdays", Mitchell makes clear he does not want a party for his birthday, but Cam wants to throw him one and plans a surprise party behind his back, even telling their friends that "Just as I hoped, Mitchell is miserable" as his husband spends his birthday alone. This backfires when Mitchell tells Cam that spending his birthday alone is everything he hoped it would be and genuinely thanks Cam for listening to him, causing the surprise party Cam wanted to completely fall flat.
• Jerkass Has a Point: in the "Big Game" Cam's football team is playing against a team who lost their coach the night before, and Manny thinks they should just roll over and let them have the win out of pity, and while Cam mostly said this because he wanted the win, he wasn't completely wrong when he said that they could either roll over and let them have an empty win that their coach would have hated, or they could be a team he'd be proud to lose to.
• Large Ham: Literally presents his daughter to sound of The Lion King in the show's pilot.
• Magical Queer: Played with in Cameron's urge to solve anyone's personal problem that he might stumble across (to the point of hosting a wedding).
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Depends. Cam is the Feminine because he's been described as being more camp and "momish" and he does tend to spoil Lily. However he could be the Masculine because he does have more skill in "manly" things than Mitchell.
• Momma's Boy: Among his parents, Cam is closer to his mother. He even refers to himself as a "momma's boy".
• Papa Wolf: He threatened to harm a kindergarten-age boy for pulling on Lily's hair.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Generally when Lily is in trouble. He is actually mistaken for Mitchell's panicking wife on the phone when Lily is trapped in a car.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: For all the jokes about his weight, it's acknowledged in-universe in Season 4 (by Jay, no less!) that Cam looks great after he rejoins his gym and finds the confidence to start wearing fitted suits. Though in Jay's case, he played football and knew Cam used to be a football lineman and thus actually has a better idea of what a muscular man looks like compared to someone working out for appearances.
• Significant Birth Date: His birthday being February 29 is at the center of episode 17 of season 3 Leap Day.
• Stout Strength: Can't relate to Mitchell's memories of being picked last in gym class, as a young man he once threw a dodgeball through plywood and broke it.
• Stupid Sexy Friend: In Season 6, he wonders if Phil is sexy after seeing him threaten a realtor.

Lily Tucker-Pritchett

Played By: Jaden and Ella Hiller (Seasons 1-2), Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Season 3-11)

Adopted daughter of Mitchell and Cam. For the first two seasons, Lily is a baby, and thus doesn't have much characterization. In later seasons, she shows clear signs of inheriting the craziness of the rest of the family, such as by stalking her cousin Manny, or snarking at her fathers' newest problems.

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• Asian and Nerdy: It shows up from time to time. Of course her dads can't help commenting on this:
  Mitchell: Lily, sweetheart, let's get you dressed.
  Lily: Hey, I've been dressed for an hour. Come on, I can't be late. I'll fall behind.
  Mitchell: Sometimes I forget to factor in the Asian.
  • Later, she is revealed to have a genius-level IQ.
  • In "Won't You Be Our Neighbor", she was against being transferred to a less strict teacher's class because her previous teacher taught her math.
• Berserk Button: For a while, any mention of her potential new adopted sibling. "Kill the baby!"
• Daddy's Girl:
  • Played with. It's pretty obvious that Cam is all but rearing her up to be one.
  • Potentially with Jay since it's been shown the two of them are pretty close.
• Deadpan Snarker: When she starts talking, she reveals herself as one almost immediately. Most of her dialogue consists of incredibly dry snark, and as she grows older she just grows more deadpan.
• Dreadful Musician: Despite her dads repeatedly trying to train her voice, Lily is not a good singer.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Lily's Bunny. She keeps her dads up all night crying when he gets lost on the LA Subway in "Planes, Trains and Cars".
• Hidden Depths: Despite Lily's catty attitude, she has shown to be a lot more selfless than what one may think.
• Jerkass:
  • Has become incredibly blunt and/or catty as she gets older. Though one episode suggests she gets at least some of it from Claire and likely, Jay who is particularly close to his granddaughter and vice versa. A lot of it could also be that she is still very young and may not understand what things are rude to say to someone directly.
  • She also seems to mostly snark at people older than herself. In one episode when she's at a gymnastics competition, she hugs another gymnast who just fell off the balance beam and helps her readjust her hair, which was too tight and was throwing her off.
• Karma Houdini: Although she's generally a pretty well-behaved and non-destructive kid (particularly for a 5-year-old who is obviously spoiled), Lily gets away with a lot of snark and disrespectful attitude towards adults. Part of this is that her dads are of the hyper-progressive coddling variety, and the other part is that her pinpoint snark accuracy and timing is so impressive most of the time that the adults are left speechless in her wake.
• Kids Are Cruel: After she began talking, this became a major (and for a while, the only) part of her characterization. Her dialogue consisted almost exclusively of acidic remarks, insults or selfish demands (or threats to kill the new baby whenever Cam and Mitch's second adoption came up), revealing her as self-centered, callous and downright mean. It was softened quite a bit by the fact that she's all talk and no action — Lily will say the meanest things, but hardly ever do anything against anyone.
• Like a Daughter to Me: Gloria considers Lily to be her daughter, she's even Lily's godmother and the one who Lily's dads turn to when Lily has questions about "girly things" that her fathers are a bit embarrassed to answer.
• Like Parent, Like Child: Both her dads are apparently terrified of spiders in the house. As a result, when she thinks they're about to ask her to kill a spider, she basically mimics Cam's "It's go time" moment, complete with grabbing a rolled up magazine.
• Little Miss Snarker: She had quite a bit of snark when she started talking in season 3. In the following seasons most of her dialogue became snarky comments.
• Only Sane Woman: Even though she's much younger, Lily appears to realize how insane everyone else in her adopted extended family is.
• Precocious Crush: Developed a crush on Manny, her uncle. She also developed a crush on a father of a boy whom she was play-pals with, and she even throws herself at the older man in front of the boy, his mother and her fathers^note (who thought at first it was the boy; they had to warn her about this).
• Race Lift: In the Greek adaptation of Modern Family, Lily is portrayed as a British-African girl rather than a Vietnamese girl. Although, her name remains the same.
• Silent Snarker: Though it's now headed to Little Miss Snarker territory now that she can speak.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Luke begins to see Lily as this, as does Mitch and Cam's best friend and "first child", Sal (the feeling eventually becomes mutual with Sal once she starts talking). In turn, it's implied she's beginning to feel this way about Fulgencio-Joe.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: In a way, seems to have taken this trait from Manny now that he's grown up, in the sense that she's super-mature for her age and, more often than not, more mature than her older relatives.

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