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Introduced in Season 1
Sal
Played by: Elizabeth Banks
- Struggling Single Mother: Is this for a while in Season 6 until Mitchell, Cam, Pepper and Ronaldo all promise to be around be father figures to her son.
- The Teetotaler: Beocmes this in Season 6 after having her baby.
- Womanchild: She's very immature and attempts to cling to her youth as much as possible, frequently acting like an obnoxious teenage party girl despite that fact that her friends — and she — are gradually getting older. Most obviously established in her frequently petty rivalry with Lily, a literal child.
Introduced in Season 2
Pepper Saltzman
Played by: Nathan Lane
A gay friend of Cam's and Mitchell's, known for his parties and his name.
- Adam Westing: His character is basically Nathan Lane, and an Expy of Albert Goldman from The Birdcage.
- Age-Gap Romance: His love story with Funny Foreigner Ronaldo.
- Camp Gay: Even more than Cam.Mitchell: But it said 'No presents, please.'
Cam: Say it like Pepper would say it.
Mitchell: [beat] Oh. - The Dandy: Always impeccably dressed in exaggerated and stylish outfits. He's known for enforcing the trope for his infamous parties, which always have elaborate themes and require people to wear either costumes or complicated ensembles.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed. Mitch and Cam do like Pepper, but they make up excuses to avoid his parties. It's implied they aren't the only ones, though Cam and Mitchell's reasons for not wanting to go is because it's a big hassle to dress up in costumes and whatnot.
- Jewish Complaining: Oy, so very much, even though this is more a case of Informed Judaism.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: One episode reveals that he has a grown son who is apparently a black ops Navy SEAL entrusted with top-secret and deadly missions.
- Oblivious to Love: Had no idea his assistant was in love with him.
- Odd Friendship: Has one with Jay.
- Office Romance: How his love story with Ronaldo began.
- Punny Name: Pepper Saltzman.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Even Gloria points out what a weird name "Pepper" is. (His parents named him Sherman.) Also unintentionally lampshaded by Cam:Cam: [comforting an upset Pepper] You are NOT a joke! You are Pepper Saltzman!
Walt Kleezak
Played by: Philip Baker Hall
Dunphy's next door neighbor.
- Grumpy Old Man: In spades, though he is slightly more personable once you get to know him.Claire: If Hannibal Lecter and Freddy Kruger had a lovechild, he would be afraid of our next door neighbor.
Phil: I don't say bad things about people, but Mr. Kleezak is... not a nice person.
Claire: Easy, honey. - Intergenerational Friendship: With Luke, who befriends him after knocking on his door out of curiosity.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As grumpy as he is, he is harmless and doesn't hurt kids. He used to be a fireman.
- Killed Off for Real: In the Season 3 episode "The Last Walt".
Introduced in Season 3
Introduced in Season 4
Gil Thorpe
Played by: Rob Riggle
A rival real-estate agent who constantly harasses Phil.
- Always Someone Better: To Phil in real estate.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Luke saves his son life by performing a Heimlich maneuver when the Thorpe boy was choking. Gil actually visited the Dunphy house to thank Luke and Phil for it.
- Evil Counterpart: Or a more jerkass version of Phil.
- Hate Sink: Whenever he's on screen, he treats Nice Guy Phil like crap.
- Jerkass: He'll do anything to upstage and embarrass Phil.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He offers Claire a job just so he can constantly call Phil and torture him with sexual innuendo about her, not caring that he does so in front of their son. And while Claire is much more open to accepting his offer than Phil is, she quits almost immediately on her first day, claiming that Gil treated her like a pig.
- Manly Gay: He's revealed to be gay later in the series, but retains his macho personality.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: A rival real estate agent to Phil. Every time someone steals a house out from under him or outsells him at work or embarrasses him, it's Gil Thorpe.
Introduced in Season 5
Andy Bailey
Played by: Adam Devine
The babysitter/nanny for Joe. The family quickly takes a liking to him, especially Phil, due to their similar personalities and interests. Develops feelings for and later dates Haley.
- Big Damn Kiss: With Haley.
- Breakout Character: Adam Devine delivered such an outstanding performance in his initial 3 episodes that the writers asked him to come back for more episodes over many seasons.
- Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally
- Dogged Nice Guy: To his own girlfriend, Beth, who seems at best indifferent to him. Actually Averted with Haley, in that she's pretty quick to realize she'd be lucky to have him if he weren't with Beth.
- Female Gaze: Haley stares at Andy quite a lot.
- Generation Xerox: Though he's not actually related to the family, he's gearing up to be Phil to Haley's Claire, to the point of becoming Phil's assistant in the hopes of becoming a real estate agent.
- Genius Ditz: He seems like a pure ditz, but he's actually very competent at most things he turns his hand to.
- Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Appropriately, since he works in childcare, he barely ever swears. It also helps emphasize his resemblance to Phil. One episode reveals he thinks the word "shucks" is the S-word.
- Hypocrite: In "White Christmas", he gets mad and dumps Beth upon finding out that she was cheating on him... despite the fact that he also cheated on her with Haley.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Meets the family when Gloria hires him to be Joe's nanny. He's way better at his job than any of the female candidates.
- Insistent Terminology: Prefers "manny" to "male nanny", but admits that this causes a problem in a household where his charge's older brother is actually named Manny. He finally settles on "bro-pair".
- Mirthless Laughter: Has a pretty freaked-out laugh when he discovers that Haley tried to stop his proposal.
- Mr. Fanservice: Very much so.
- Nice Guy: Andy is described as a gentleman, with similar interests to Phil Dunphy. Like Phil, he is one of the sweetest and nicest characters on the show.
- Perpetual Smiler: Constantly has a cheerful, dimpled grin. Haley even describes it as an "eagle-scout smile", due to the fact that it lights up the room.
- The Pollyanna: He always looks on the bright side of life, complimenting Haley's more cynical view of things.
- Put on a Bus: In the Season 7 finale, he returns to his native Utah to take over his cousin's real estate business; he and Haley mutually decide to end their relationship, despite still being in love with one another.
- Temporary Bulk Change: In the Season 7 premiere, he attends the Dunphys' Fourth of July barbecue on a strict "wedding diet," only to inadvertently overhear Claire and Phil talking about how they prevented Haley from interrupting his proposal to Beth. He claims he's fine, but grabs a few cupcakes as he leaves and starts stuffing his face. When he returns for a Labor Day party, he's packed on the pounds to the point where Haley doesn't recognize him. It didn't last, though.
- Unfortunate Names: While Phil and Claire are definitely Shippers on Deck for Haley and Andy, in one episode when they mistakenly believe the two have eloped one of their concerns is that their daughter's name after marriage will be "Haley Bailey".
- Will They or Won't They?: With Haley. 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 eventually get together, but it doesn't last.
Introduced in Season 6
Ronnie La Fontaine
Played By: Steve Zahn
A loud and obnoxious man who moves in next door to the Dunphys with his wife Amber and their children Ronnie Jr. and Tammy.
- Jerkass: Is loud and obnoxious towards the Dunphys and also being annoying towards them.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After bonding over the hate of the pornographic statue, he and Amber go to dinner with Phil and Claire and they get on well, which ends their rivalry.
Amber La Fontaine
Played By: Andrea Anders
A loud and obnoxious woman who moves in next door to the Dunphys with her husband Ronnie and their children Ronnie Jr. and Tammy.
- Jerkass: Is loud and obnoxious towards the Dunphys and also being annoying towards them.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After bonding over the hate of the pornographic statue, she and Ronnie go to dinner with Phil and Claire and they get on well, which ends their rivalry.
Earl Chambers
Played By: Jon Polito (Seasons 6-7), Robert Costanzo (Season 8)
Jay’s former business partner and best friend who is now his business rival and worst enemy.
- Actor Swap: Played by Jon Polito in Season 6 and 7, but was then played by Robert Costanzo in Season 8 after Polito’s death.
- Killed Off for Real: Dies in Season 9, obviously due to his original actor’s death and the fact that his recast actor was only masked and didn’t resemble his original.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Jay. They used to be best friends and ran their own closet business together, but Earl then betrayed Jay and he is now Jay’s worst enemy.
Ben
Played by: Joe Mande
A co-worker of Claire and Jay, has feelings for and later dates Alex.
- Butt-Monkey: Very frequently at his work and with the family.
- Extreme Doormat: Finds it extremely difficult to stand up for himself, especially to Jay.
- Manchild: oh man!
- Nice Guy: He's a genuinely nice guy, who puts others needs before his.
Sanjay Patel
Played by: Suraj Partha
- Dating What Daddy Hates: His mother in this case. She is the only one out of his and Alex’s parents that doesn’t take kindly to the two kissing.
- Unseen No More: After being mentioned multiple times beginning from Season 2, he finally appears in Season 6.
