Characters from Never Have I Ever. Beware of spoilers!
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Devi Vishwakumar
played by: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
The Protagonist. A high school sophomore determined to attain greater popularity among her peers.
- Affectionate Nickname: Ben calls her "David" which starts as Malicious Misnaming, but with time evolves into this trope. Paxton sometimes calls Devi "Little D".
- Age-Inappropriate Dress: The principal chews Devi out for her self-imposed makeover. She's a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore in a tiny skirt and strappy heels, dressed "like Erin Brockovich."
- Antagonistic Offspring: Slowly deconstructed as the first season passes, but the friction boils over before the resolution. Devi proclaims that Nalini doesn't really love her (due to overhearing her say the night her dad died that she doesn't consider Devi her daughter) and both of them say harsh things they don't mean because of their anger and repressed grief.
- Athletically Challenged: Not very athletic. In "...ruined someone's life", she's terrible at running. Later, when she wants to gain more credentials for Princeton, everyone says she's not good at sports, so Devi tries to find a "sport" that requires little to no exercise, and becomes the swim team's equipment manager.
- The Beard: Invoked. She wants to use the evidently gay Jonah Sharpe for his reasonable levels of popularity until she can get a straight boyfriend. The plan quickly falls through when she finds out that Paxton is in the same class as she is.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Ben, as their rivalry and snarking develops a quite obvious attraction undercurrent.
- Betty and Veronica: Zigzagged. On one hand, she can be the nerd Betty to Shira's Alpha Bitch Veronica. But on the other hand, she is the Veronica as she is Ben's rival and love interest with a hot temper while Shira knew him since childhood.
- Birds of a Feather: With The Rival, Ben. They're both Competition Freaks and see each other as equals. She realizes he's always been there for her and they kiss in the S1 finale, although their ultimate In-Universe fate is still yet to be seen.
- Bollywood Nerd: Indian, gets top grades, participates in several extracurriculars, and even plays the harp.
- Book Smart: She's ambitious, a very good student, and graduates valedictorian at the end of the show.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Gender-Inverted Trope. Devi calls out her mother Nalini for saying she isn't her daughter and expressing how she doesn't like her.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Easily gets jealous when Ben is hanging out with or dating other girls, like Aneesa or Margot. She also acts like this towards Paxton at times, like when she thinks he's still attracted to Haley in season 3.
- Competition Freak: She can be "a bit of a psycho" when it comes to her rivalry with Ben Gross. They've been warned to keep their rivalry heat toned down by teachers due to disrupting class and scolded for things getting out of hand between them.
- Curves in All the Right Places: Invoked in Season 4 when Devi tells Ben she is "a snatched waist slim thicc queen", which means she is slender with a tiny waist yet curvaceous.
- Cute Sports Club Manager: She decides to work as the swim team's equipment manager in season 4 to help boost her resume. She is the assistant coach's ex-girlfriend and is often the only girl in team scenes.
- Daddy's Girl: She was much closer to her dad, as seen in flashbacks of them spending time together, while her relationship with her mom is quite strained. Her mother noticed this, scolding him for "being too easy on her" while he defended that he connected with Devi because he simply took a gentler approach with her. (As she was quite hard on Devi, which made emotionally connecting a hard thing to do.) This made his death especially hard on her, as she felt she lost "the one parent who actually cared about her."
- Disabled Snarker: She's a Deadpan Snarker who spent her freshman year in a wheelchair. She also clearly suffers from debilitating grief throughout the show, which she often denies and is left reeling from in some way.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: She bluntly asks if Paxton will have sex with her. He says yes, but Devi backs out when the time to do so actually comes.
- Dude Magnet: For a supposedly unpopular girl, she attracts many guys. Paxton, Ben, Des, and Ethan fall for her, and all of them are also handsome and popular guys (except for Ben, who is considered a "loser", but he's a Chick Magnet too).
- Elite School Means Elite Brain: She's an excellent student who's confident she'll get into Princeton, but may be willing to settle for the other Ivies. Played with when getting waitlisted for Princeton and rejected by the other Ivies knocks her down a peg, but she is accepted into Princeton in the end.
- Everyone Has Standards: She can be rude and isn't above saying really nasty stuff to get back at people. But, she is clearly horrified at the idea that Rebecca would have been bullied (even by ex-friends of Paxton) for her disability and enjoyed her brief time getting to know her, even calling the other girl "cooler than her."
- Fangirl: Squees over celeb couple Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid, BTS, etc.
- Fatal Flaw: Selfishness, impulsiveness, and a lack of self-awareness are usually what end up getting her into hot water.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Devi has undeniably experienced serious emotional trauma, but Fabiola makes it clear to her that it's "not a free pass to treat [them] like crap." Part of her Character Development is improving her treatment of others as she tries to heal from the trauma of losing her dad.
- Green-Eyed Monster: In season 2, her jealousy over Aneesa being much more popular than she is (and in Ben's good graces) makes her very jealous. She sabotages Aneesa and Ben at the 24-hour relay and accidentally spreads a correct rumor that Aneesa has an eating disorder in her frustration. She spends the next few episodes making amends.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Downplayed. It isn't entirely beyond control, but she does have quite the temper. She's described as a hot-head by McEnroe, who — as tennis fans probably know — has a very public history of getting heated with umpires himself. Most likely connected to her trauma.
- Harp of Femininity: She used to play the harp (encouraged by her father as anyone can learn the guitar but the harp has more strings) and while she isn't gentle or ladylike by most standards, she proves exceptional at it and playing it calms her down.
- Heritage Disconnect: Played with. She's the daughter of first-generation Indian immigrants, and though she grew up in the States, she still practices many traditional customs. She's just not entirely good at them or feels a true connection with them. As a corollary of where she grew up, she also behaves in "all-American" ways, causing her to clash with her mother and her relatives from Asia. At an Indian party, she doesn't feel anything towards the customs and even admits she felt "out of place" and like a stranger among her own people. She makes some progress in this by the end of the season finale when she performs a Bollywood style dance with Kamala."Some old loser was telling me that I'm too Indian, and some other people think I'm not Indian enough."
- Hidden Depths: Devi's romantic and sexual pursuits seem like that of a standard Hormone-Addled Teenager until the show unravels the depths to which her trauma runs.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Devi desperately wants a boyfriend and tells her therapist in the first episode, "I don't even care who he is, as long as he wanted to be with me."
- Insufferable Genius: She's a Teen Genius and abrasive.
- It's All About Me: For a while, she gets so wrapped up in her own problems that she dismisses the idea that other people, like her best friends, have some big ones of their own too. When her best friends approach her, insisting they needed to talk, she coldly says whatever problems they have, hers "are always bigger" before ditching them.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She has a knack for escalating every conflict to ridiculous degree, but she is not always completely wrong. For example, her suspicion that Margot vandalized her car is quite reasonable, especially after the other girl lies about her "alibi".
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: While Devi is selfish and dishonest, she gets a lot of flak. She's called "crazy Devi" by her peers, she gets suspended for mishandling a moment of jealousy, and Paxton's friends treat her pretty invisibly.
- Manipulative Bitch: To a minor degree, Played for Laughs. When Fabiola hears her plans for upgrading their status in school, she calls Devi a sociopath. Devi responds that sociopaths get things done. Later Fabiola comments that Devi can work "Jedi mind tricks".
- Obfuscating Disability: Some of her peers accuse her of having faked her leg paralysis. She didn't, though it was psychosomatic, meaning that the cause was mental distress rather than physical.
- Pink Is Feminine: Wears a long, chiffon, light pink gown for her prom (not that she makes it).
- Shared Family Quirks: Devi clearly inherited her mother's caustic and outspoken personality (they are also both attracted to chill guys close with their family). As we meet her grandmother Nirmala, we see that Devi inherited her snarky personality as well from her.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: The very first episode shows that she can easily make herself look as glamorous as "an Indian Kardashian" when she chooses to and when she volunteers at the last minute for Paxton's sister Rebecca's fashion shoot, he comments on how good Devi looks in the designer clothing she wears. As the series goes on, she undergoes a slight Girliness Upgrade where the costumes show off more of Ramakrishnan's shapely figure and Devi enhances her naturally wavy hair, the transformation more equal to Karen Wheeler than Mia Thermopolis.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Devi's clearly suffered a lot from her dad's death, possibly with PTSD. She had hysterical paralysis and thus had to use a wheelchair for a year. After getting over that, she still gets triggered by music or playing the harp, as he collapsed at her concert as she was playing the instrument. She has flashbacks of him frequently too (also triggered by certain things, like seeing an ambulance) and even the pleasant ones are painful to her. Devi's clearly in denial and tries to push her grief away, but of course, it doesn't work and her bottled up emotions often lead her to make rash decisions as an unhealthy coping mechanism.
- Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy: She's very attracted to Paxton, who's so hot that even John McEnroe has a moment of fawning over him during narration.
- Stepford Smiler: She tries hard to be an average teenage girl, but she has been dealing with the aftermath of her father's death and her strained relationship with her mother.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted as Devi is getting therapy, though it does little good as she mostly ignores what her therapist says and talks largely about things other than her problems.
- Throwing Off the Disability: For a year, both her legs were paralyzed with no medical explanation, so she has to use a wheelchair. However, she abruptly regains their use later. As the doctor found nothing physically wrong, this is ascribed to trauma at her dad's death (i.e. hysterical paralysis) and a way she coped with her loss.
- Tragic Keepsake: Devi keeps the voice mails her dad left on her phone, frequently listening to his voice in moments of stress. She's very dejected after thinking she lost them. Later she's saddened after they get erased due to her phone getting wet, but her mother shows Devi home videos of him as a substitute.
- Trauma Button:
- Music class triggers this for Devi, because her dad Mohan died during a concert, even though she wants to bury herself deep in denial about her grief.
- She has another concert finally in Season 3, but hallucinates her dad is among the crowd and runs away tearfully into the bathroom, unable to keep going. Her boyfriend's mom helps her recover and get out there though to perform.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: She says her greatest wish would be to hear her mom is proud of her, as despite being an honor student she's largely berated by her mom for her head-strong, un-traditional ways.
- Unreliable Narrator: Played for Laughs in S01E02, when Devi tells Fabiola and Eleanor an embellished version of her encounter with Paxton. To be fair, he really did agree to sleep with her, just not as fawningly as he did in her fake version.
- You Should Have Died Instead: When it's revealed that her mother had been planning to move them back to India without telling her daughter ahead of time, after a whole day of disturbing flashbacks, emotional suppression, and parental microaggressions, Devi tells her that she wishes Nalini had been the one to die at the recital instead of Mohan.
Devi's Family
Dr. Nalini Vishwakumar
played by: Poorna Jagannathan
Devi's mother, with whom she has a difficult relationship. Nalini is a dermatologist.
- Affluent Ascetic: She is a successful dermatologist living in the affluent suburb of Sherman Oaks; she is also so cheap that she refuses to use her family's air conditioning or dishwasher, and deliberately bought a crappy old printer because it was cheaper. Justified as she is a single mother and the main breadwinner.
- Almighty Mom: Nalini is Devi's mother and a very blunt and strict woman.
- Her strictness is a constant thorn in her daughter Devi's side.
- Goes off on Paxton after he shows up to return Devi's dress.
- She tells off Joyce to her face when Joyce talks about why she is back in Los Angeles, by reminding her that she abandoned Eleanor when she was a little girl.
- Cool Aunt: To Devi's dismay, she shows she is very understanding of Kamala having a secret boyfriend and that she doesn't feel ready to get married yet. Devi wonders why she doesn't get the same sensitive treatment as her cousin.
- Education Mama: She's very focused on Devi's academic performance, even getting her textbooks blessed before the school year starts. Devi mentions that she lives under the threat of bodily harm should she ever get a grade lower than an A.
- Give Geeks a Chance: She finds the nerd cast of The Big Bang Theory to be very attractive.Nalini: I know there are some real hunks on Cal Tech campus. I've watched Big Bang Theory.
- Letting Her Hair Down: With Dr. Ryan's help and suggestions, she learns to be more vulnerable and open to Devi about her feelings and her own grief at losing her husband.
- Mama Bear: Her Berserk Button is losing Devi to certain vices or to death (justified given that Devi could have drowned or been killed by the coyote), but she also shows this trait towards Devi's peers and her niece, telling off Eleanor's mother for abandoning her daughter, inviting Ben for dinner when she finds out how lonely he is, and helping Kamala sneak her secret boyfriend out from getting caught by their uncle and Kamala's fiance. Rhyah finds out about this trait the hard way when it's found out Rhyah encouraged her son to ghost Devi after getting triggered by her trauma over her father's death, Nalini gives the woman "The Reason You Suck" Speech for it.
- Parents as People: She has good intentions, but is of course a deeply flawed parent who doesn't always understand her daughter. She was also possibly jealous that her husband had a far better relationship with their daughter than she did, leading her to impulsively say she didn't consider Devi "her daughter" during a fight.
- Parental Hypocrisy: She tells Devi to stop being stubborn, hot-headed, outspoken, and rude... all traits that she often exhibits (as Joyce Wong and Paxton would know).
- Parent with New Paramour:
- In season 2, she tentatively starts seeing Dr. Jackson, another dermatologist. This infuriates Devi, who sees it as moving on too quickly after Mohan's death.
- In season 4 she falls for Andres, the contractor father of Devi's classmate and nemesis Margot. As a sign of Devi's growth, she pushes for Nalini to have a relationship with Andres, even going out of her way to make up with Margot so their parents can be happy.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: With Joyce Wong, especially regarding how she abandoned Eleanor and her father, and that time where she left the girls alone at a carnival unsupervised.
- There Are No Therapists: It takes her awhile to meet with Dr. Ryan as she believes "therapy is for white people" but obviously she entrusts Devi to her because of the issues after Mohan's death and it's implied that Nalini would benefit a lot from therapy herself.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Nalini apparently lost a baby, as a flashback has her in tears on the bed with Mohan assuring her their life is great with just one child. Possibly this happened more than once, since they only ever had Devi.
- Uptight Loves Wild: She's an incredibly straitlaced and pragmatic woman. Her beloved husband Mohan was a free spirit who just wanted her to be the Kate Hudson to his "Matthew McConicky."
Kamala Nandiawanda
played by: Richa Moorjani
Devi's beautiful cousin who is staying with them as she completes her PhD.
- Arranged Marriage: Kamala's family is trying to set her up with a husband. At first, she's secretly very reluctant, as she has a boyfriend (who's not Indian, and they're also having sex, neither of which they'd like). However, after she meets her would-be groom, she's smitten by his good lucks and charm, dumping her boyfriend. After her past relationship is revealed, he actually expresses approval since it makes her more interesting. They both agree to not rush into marriage, however.
- Big Sister Instinct: Develops this for Devi by Season 3, when she finds out Devi is trying to pursue sex with Paxton after hearing he only stays with girls who sleep with him, Kamala tells her to never do anything if she isn't ready for it.
- Cool Big Sis: She develops into this role for Devi, as the girls give and take in each other's development, with Kamala covering for Devi and being a mediator between her aunt and cousin she also covers for Devi when she leaves their grandmother's wedding reception early to go sleep with Ben.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Variation: she's dating what her grandmother hates. Nirmala takes charge of finding Kamala a fiance after Kamala's relationship with Prashant unceremoniously ends and is greatly dissatisfied that Kamala has chosen to date the easygoing Indian-American teacher Manish over any of the accomplished Indian men Nirmala deems acceptable husbands.
- Fangirl: After binge-watching Riverdale, she becomes this. A scene of Betty going against her mother so she can stay with Jughead even inspires her to reunite with her secret boyfriend.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: She is a very good cook and prepares a lot of meals at the Vishwakumars. She is asked to emphasize this over her medical studies when meeting her prospective in-laws.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Kamala's beauty is enough to make random men crash into the Vishwakumars' trash bins and walls at the sight of her.
- Heritage Disconnect: Played with, again. Kamala is a lot more "Indian Indian" than Devi, having grown up in India. However, she's also not a traditionalist and finds herself more inclined towards Western ideals as she lives abroad. Nalini says as much, saying she looks like "a careerist Western woman" when she attempts to meet her arranged fiancé for the first time in smart jeans and a blazer — which she is, Nalini concedes, but he doesn't need to know that yet.
- Hidden Depths: Kamala's plots turn out to be a Coming of Age Story about a young woman who moves to a new country and tries to test out pushing the boundaries deemed acceptable for her culture and find out what she wants in her life.
- I Am Not Pretty: She takes on this stance about herself, right before a man bikes past her and, stunned by her beauty, crashes.
- The Ingenue: She's very sweet and innocent for a woman in her mid-twenties.Kamala: Are we allowed to say "dick" now?
- Naive Every Girl: With her sweet heart, limited knowledge of American customs and manners, and innocent Nice Girl nature, she comes off as less savvy than her younger cousin. She learns to be more savvier and even question things by the end of the series.Kamala: [after being falsely told that a bird hit the window] This is my fault for keeping the windows so clean. Where is the poor bird?
- Nice Girl: She is typically sweet and pleasant, even making Devi a lunch on her first day and talking to an outcast woman at Ganesh Puja.
- Obliviously Beautiful: Kamala seems unaware of just how beautiful most men find her, even when they crash into things as a result of staring at her while biking or driving past.
- Parody Sue: She's introduced as annoyingly perfect. Devi actually gains respect for her when she finds out Kamala has flaws and secrets of her own.
- Secret Relationship: Kamala had a secret boyfriend, Steve, while her parents are trying to arrange her marriage. He's of East Asian ancestry, not Indian, and their relationship is sexual too, both of which they wouldn't like, so she keeps it hidden. However, this turns out to be an open secret since he's been spotted more than once sneaking in and out of the house.
- Shipper on Deck: For Ben and Devi, she volunteers to cover for Devi, after seeing that the two are in love and want to have sex.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Kamala almost never behaves less than perfectly nice and elegant, but can be suprisingly strong-willed and can stand up for herself, with some encouragement from her younger cousin.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Kamala laments that she's too curvaceous to be a model, when mistaken by a besotted biker for one.
- Stay in the Kitchen: She is an ambitious and proud doctorate student but she is urged by her aunt (a professional woman herself) to emphasize her domestic skills when meeting with her would-be groom and his parents and her and Devi's uncle talks about how it's expected she will give up her career when she has children.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Kamala knows nothing about casual dating! She has never known anything about having boyfriends and she'll only ever date the man who will become her husband.
Mohan Vishwakumar
played by: Sendhil Ramamurthy
Devi's father. A very easy-going and kindly man.
- Disappeared Dad: He dies of a heart attack in the first episode. Afterward, Devi's traumatized by it, suffering hysterical paralysis in her legs as a coping mechanism, therefore having to use a wheelchair for a year and seeing a therapist. However, she doesn't really want to move on from her dad despite others urging her to let him go, because it would mean he's gone for good. She finally does at the end of the first season, scattering his ashes with her mom.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Mohan appears perfect by all accounts and memories of his family and is immediately stated that Devi adored him. She initially resents that his death stuck her with her mom.
- Doting Parent: He adored his daughter Devi and frequently kept her spirits and self-esteem up. Without him, Devi feels adrift.
- Funetik Aksent: His pronunciation of McConaughey is written as "McConicky" by the subtitles.
- Immigrant Patriotism: He warmed more and more to the American lifestyle, unlike his wife, who longs for India again.
- Nice Guy: An understanding father who encourages Devi's fiery spirit and encouraged her to try to play the harp and tennis and he was so friendly and easy-going that even their old realtor was saddened by his death.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His death, combined with Devi's paralysis, is what caused her trauma and is the root of her unstable behavior and rash choices throughout the show.
- Posthumous Character: He died of a heart attack during Devi's orchestra concert a year prior to the events of the first season.
- Uptight Loves Wild: He was a free spirit, compared to his uptight wife. She even commented on his "too easy" childrearing style with Devi, to which he replied that he was simply taking a different approach from her more stern one.
Aravind
Nirmala
played by: Ranjita Chakravarty
Devi's paternal grandmother, who moves in with the family in season 2.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Offers a pretty scathing one to Nalini regarding her stubborn desire to move her family to India:Nalini: I need to move here. I need my family's support.
Nirmala: And are you getting that from them? - Doting Grandparent: She is this towards Devi and Kamala, but can show a stricter side.
- The Mourning After: Invoked. She is hesitant to admit to her female relatives that she's dating again, thinking that they expect her to be a steadfast widow even though her husband has been dead for two decades. Kamala, Devi, and Nalini are actually delighted that she has a new boyfriend.
- Hypocrite: A season after giving Kamala really hard time about being in a relationship with a man who's "not Indian enough" she starts dating a white man. This is acknowledged by how she repeatedly and regretfully refers to him as her white boyfriend, even though Kamala says Nirmala doesn't have to keep clarifying Len's race.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Subverted. Once back in India, Nalini dreads meeting her mother-in-law, giving the impression that she doesn't like her. However, upon meeting her again, Nalini finds the comfort her family didn't give, and invites her to move to America to live with them. Though Nirmala does cause a few problems in the household with her troubles accepting American culture.
- Outliving One's Offspring: When we meet her, she is not only a widow but has also been mourning her son for a year.
- Secretly Wealthy: She acts like a typical cheapskate Indian woman, but season 4 reveals that she's a millionaire, having invested in Apple stock in the early 2000s. A shocked Nalini comments that Nirmala has never once chipped in for groceries.
Sherman Oaks High School
Students
Eleanor Wong
played by: Ramona Young
One of Devi's best friends. A highly emotional Cloudcuckoolander who loves performing arts.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her attraction to Malcolm, whom her friends quickly and correctly label as pretentious and toxic. Her relationship with Trent also blossoms when she finds out that he has a manipulative streak.
- Blended Family Drama: She dislikes her stepmother Sharon as she thinks Sharon is boring, despite the latter doing her best to be a Good Stepmother.
- Broken Pedestal: She thinks her mother's absence is justified by her living her dreams on glamorous cruises. She's actually waiting tables in town, and never bothered to check in on her daughter all the while.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She rollerblades to school and thinks that wearing a single feather earring is the height of coolness.
- Drama Queen: She's quite theatrical and has a tendency to fall into melodrama at the drop of a hat. For instance, when Devi lost the use of her legs, she proudly (and seriously) declared that she would not walk while her best friend couldn't, promptly collapsing on the floor. This experiment didn't last long.
- Friend Versus Lover: Her arc in the back half of season 2. She gets with Malcolm, who is plainly toxic and tries to manipulate her against Fabiola and Devi (who don't like him). In the end, he dumps her via text, which is for the best.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She wears a curve-hugging lavender dress for prom and gets back together with Trent in it.
- Missing Mom: Her mom left her, both when she was 7 and again later in the show.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Subverted and Played for Laughs. After her mother abandons her again, she decides to become a “serious” person. However, her attempt at being a “serious person” is itself quite melodramatic: she dresses in all drab colors, speaks glumly constantly, and declares that her career goal is to be an accountant.
- Parental Neglect: Her mother abandoned her to follow her acting dreams.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Played for laughs. Distraught at her mother leaving her once more, Eleanor (dramatically) decides that drama is no longer for her, and spurns her colorful outfits for dressing in all-beige ensembles. She snaps out of it.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She is attracted and starts dating stage tech Oliver, who is a very chill guy who is supportive of her and won't compete with her over the spotlight. Later on she dates Trent, who is The Slacker, but otherwise good-hearted and devoted.
- Tender Tears: She's quite sensitive and prone to tears.
Fabiola Torres
"We are smart, and idiots are banging all the time. If they can do it, we can learn how to do it too!"
played by: Lee Rodriguez
One of Devi's best friends. A tomboy interested in robots and engineering.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her best friends sometimes shorten her name to Fab or Fabi.
- Be Yourself: Her arc in season 2. After coming out, Fabiola tries her best to fit in with her girlfriend's LGBT friends, but is out of touch with pop culture and finds it difficult to balance hanging out with them with robotics. When she is crowned "Cricket Queen" along with Eve, she does it in her trademark polo shirt and pants, indicating she's decided to be herself.
- Butch Lesbian: A milder example, in that she's tomboyish and has interests in activities that aren't considered traditionally feminine.
- Closet Key: She kinda falls in Love at First Sight with her eventual girlfriend, Eve.
- Coming-Out Story: She realizes she's a lesbian, coming out to her friends, mom and then accidentally her entire class.
- Consistent Clothing Style: In season 1, she is always in a polo shirt and pants. Apparently, she dresses like the janitor's nephew.
- Curves in All the Right Places: Devi scolds her for dressing like "the janitor's nephew" when Fabi is "naturally snatched", thus referring to a shapely hourgass figure with a very defined waist.
- Elite School Means Elite Brain: Her robotics genius eventually nets her admission to at least Princeton and Howard, prestigious unis with great engineering programs. She chooses to go to the latter after a professor tells her they prioritize inclusivity.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Her mother is a girly (and heterosexual) woman. Fab's neither of those things. Unlike the usual trope, she and her mother lack the conflict that shows up in other parent-child relationships, aside from the latter trying to encourage but not force Fabiola to become more feminine. Her mother is accepting of her daughter coming out, and is just distressed that Fabiola would be keeping a secret to herself.
- Has a Type: Her Closet Key is Eve, a girl with short hair and masculine clothing, whom she then dates. After they break up and she's dating Aneesa she fixes Addison, who has the same style, with the Longing Look she had for Eve on first seeing her. Aneesa realizes it clearly, amicably parting with Fabiola as they remains friends as she encourages her to pursue Addison.
- Huge Girl, Tiny Guy: Fabiola says she doesn't want to date Alex Gomez because of how much shorter he is. Devi tells her to go for it anyway because he's handsome.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Lampshaded when Devi tells her to date the much shorter Alex Gomez. Her actress stands at 5'9".
- I Resemble That Remark!: Her response to Devi saying they aren't cool is pointing out that they're the only students allowed to eat lunch with the teachers.
- Longing Look: She gazes raptly at Eve after seeing her. This clues in both the audience and Eve that she likes girls, but it takes Fab a bit longer to realize this herself.
- One Head Taller: In the first episode Devi tells her to date Alex Gomez, who is much shorter than she is. Discussed, as Devi compares the height difference to that of a celebrity couple.Fabiola: I can't go out with Alex Gomez. He's like a foot shorter than me.
Devi: Yeah, but he has a hot face. You'll be like Zayn and Gigi. - Nice Girl: Easily the nicest one in the trio, and later even befriends Ben.
- Only Sane Man: In her friend group, she is often more logical and emotionally chill than either Devi or Eleanor, it's very rare for her to get ansgty or angry.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Fab knows almost nothing of pop culture, so a reference to "Villanelle" from her girlfriend's queer friends and similar things are completely lost on her. It's all due to her being a devoted nerd whose interests lie elsewhere.
- Quirky Curls: As an Afro-Latina, she has the tight curly afro and she comes off as quirky to most of the school, but she tends to be low-key and more chill compared to her friends.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives one to Devi in S1:E8, stating that not everything revolves around her problems and she doesn't get to treat her friends like crap just because her dad died.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: While she's pretty regardless, Fab looks very nice indeed in a dress once Eleanor gets her to reluctantly put this on. She soon reverts to her original style though, disliking this. She also looks very conventionally attractive in the outfits she wears in order to fit in with her new queer friends, but similarly, feels uncomfortable and ditches this style. As Devi observes in the first episode Fabiola is very obviously conventionally beautiful, but her dressing choices prevent her from being seen like that.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: She tells off Ben in Season 3 for his poking at Aneesa for being Book Dumb, being condescending in general, for hurting Devi with the "Unfuckable Nerds" moniker, and annoying her and Eleanor all after challenging him to a trivia game where they drink after they get a question wrong.
- Smart People Build Robots: She's depicted as highly intelligent, even building a robot during the series that later accompanies her and friends on outings.
- Teen Genius: She is invested in STEM and has created her own very advanced robot and even speaks French.
- Tomboy: Fabiola is captain of the robotics team, is at odds with her feminine mother, and dresses "like the janitor's nephew," according to Devi. "His favorite nephew," she protests.
- Tranquil Fury: Her anger, especially as Devi and Ben would personally know, is understated even when she says "Damnit" or even when she drunkenly hisses "Drink, Bitch".
Paxton Hall-Yoshida
played by: Darren Barnet
A hot junior who's the subject of Devi's infatuation.
- All Work vs. All Play: Season 2 reveals that he's never actually studied in his classes because he was coasting on the probability of getting into a university on a sports scholarship, he has spent all his time on sports or hanging out with the other popular kids and going to parties. The accident makes him realize he really needs to step up his game academically.
- Ambiguously Brown: Inverted. He's a white-passing biracial kid and it doesn't click for his peers that he has Asian heritage, even with his last name, until they hear him speak Japanese or bring up this fact. Trent, one of his best friends, even thought that his visibly Japanese father was his neighbor.
- Big Brother Instinct: He's very protective of his adopted sister, who has Down Syndrome. As a child, he used to hide by her bed at night with a Nerf gun, which is why the family cat now only has one eye. By the end of the series, he starts to fill this role for Ben (during his hospital stay) and Devi (as of the final season).
- Big Man on Campus:
- The swim team captain, he is highly beloved by the student body. According to Model UN Russia, every kid in SoCal knows who Paxton is. He's got like three fan Tumblrs, apparently. One of them is even in Korean.
- In season 4, his former popularity causes him to have a hard time in college, and he decides to work at Sherman Oaks to get some of the high back. He then has to struggle with delineating himself from his former peers since he's now a staff member.
- Book Dumb: The reason why he's in Mr. Shapiro's class is that he flunked it as a sophomore. Once he starts applying himself however, he turns out to be pretty intellectually capable, even if not on Devi, Fabiola or Ben's level.
- The Casanova: He's hot enough that Even the Guys Want Him, and not afraid to use his looks and popularity to get girls. His sister's comments and his agreeing to have casual sex with Devi as an afterthought imply that he doesn't really take his hook-ups very seriously. Confirmed in season 3 when he is forced to confront his exes.
- Chick Magnet: Exaggerated. In most of his scenes, there is usually some random female character who is attracted to him, even strangers, background characters, or older women.
- Cool Big Bro: Starting later in Season 3, he takes on this role a la Steve Harrington with Fabiola, Ben, and Devi, this is later invoked in Season 4 when he works as school staff and teaches Eric to swim. He goes back to college, ready to learn to become a educator.
- Dumb Jock: Swim team captain and prodigy who doesn't exert effort in school. It is a plot point in season 2 that he has "college athlete grades" — he can afford to be less than stellar academically because he can count on swimming scholarships. After he breaks his arm he starts putting in the work.
- Even the Guys Want Him:
- John McEnroe fawns over his looks during narration, excusing it by saying, "but look at the jawline on that kid!" That said, this is probably a version of the tennis star constructed by Devi's imagination, so of course he'd find Paxton hot too.
- While a gay girl, not a guy, Fabiola admits that when Paxton turns his charm on her, even she does feel something.
- Freudian Excuse: His lack of work ethic can be blamed on his parents being chill Christian Hippies who never pushed him on academics or otherwise to improve himself (i.e. like Devi and her Education Mama).
- Future Loser: Subverted. In season 4 he quickly drops out of college because he doesn't fit in and starts working for Sherman Oaks. He starts to feel insecure about being considered a loser who peaked in high school. He gets his groove back over the year, though.
- Hidden Depths: According to his grandfather, he became fluent in Japanese when he was five, giving an impression that he is really smart, he just doesn't put in the work earlier.
- Hot Teacher: In season 4, he works for the high school as assistant swim coach and realizes he likes influencing young minds. He decides to go back to school to study teaching for real. Devi says this is a good thing: students will be more willing to listen to him because he's attractive.
- Informed Attractiveness: Characters mention his attractiveness constantly. Even Dr. Jamie Ryan is impressed by his good looks. Given that the cast is full of attractive characters, the thing that distinguishes him from his peers is how much more mature he looks. This is aided by
Dawson Casting — Paxton's actor Darren Barent is significantly older than the rest of the "high school" cast and is in fact only two years younger than Richa Moorjani, the actress for Kamala, Devi's adult, working cousin. He was the only cast member to be in his 30s by the time the show wrapped filming, with the rest of the cast only being in their early to mid 20s. - Jerk Jock: Has some traits, as he can be quite status-conscious, looking down on Devi as a romantic prospect and being mildly apprehensive of the prospect of having to talk to the drama club members.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's capable of being a real asshole, but he does have more sympathetic moments and qualities. For instance, he's very protective of his adopted sister and he does admit that the other kids in his friend group can be incredibly shallow.
- Just Friends: He grows to like Devi fairly quickly in season 1 and back in season 2, but he keeps their relationship as this, not wanting to complicate his life.
- Love Epiphany: After a serious wake-up call by his sister, he realizes that he's not only taken Devi for granted, but he actually does like her. Too bad she's apparently moved on to Ben of all people.
- Mr. Fanservice: Handsome and prone to the occasional drawn-out, Female Gazey Shirtless Scene.
- Never My Fault: He blames his car accident solely on Devi, even after forgiving her. He neglected to Look Both Ways.
- Popular Is Dumb: How he is widely regarded in school, and quickly labelled by Devi's mother. He grows to resent this notion though and starts working towards being taken more seriously intellectually and as a person.
- Really Gets Around: Paxton clearly enjoys his popularity and has had many encounters with various girls, some of which he doesn't even remember. He also immediately agrees to have sex with Devi in the first episode, with a "sure, why not?" attitude.
- Shipper on Deck: He remarks to Devi that the "vibes" are still there with her and Ben with some affection and amusement.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Gives it to Malcolm when the latter claims that Paxton and Fabiola will do all the work on their group project, initially claiming that Fabiola will do it all. He tells him "Yes, you too, weird actor kid" in a furious tone that shakes the normally smug Malcolm.
Ben Gross
played by: Jaren Lewison
Devi's longtime academic rival.
- Accidental Pervert:
- Once the principal accuses him of wanting to watch his girlfriend's field hockey game just to see boobs bouncing around, Devi runs with it. She later taunts him by accusing him of having a foot fetish, which has no basis as he was only complaining about how her heels were slowing them from getting their clean-up job/punishment done.
- When he attempts to kiss Devi at his party, she rejects him, leaving him embarrassed. She says it's cool, referencing how she'll blow off the failed kiss attempt, to which he confuses with her saying kissing her is okay. He goes in again, making her leave in disgusted confusion as he's humiliated once again. Afterward, he tries to excuse his behavior as being drunk, which she believes.
- Amazon Chaser: Ben definitely has a thing for strong-willed women who can humble him, as exemplified by his attraction to Devi and Margot, and his turn off by Aneesa's laid back attitude. When he described his sex dream, it opens with Devi pointing out how she is better at school than him. And then stealing his shirt and claiming she's taking charge.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Devi. They bicker constantly and snark at each other, but there's pretty obvious attraction from Ben's side later reciprocated.
- Birds of a Feather: With Devi. They're both Competition Freaks and see each other as academic equals. Despite often snarking and picking on each other, they both really connect and prove to have much more in common than they thought. She eventually realizes he's always been there for her and they kiss in the S1 finale, although their ultimate In-Universe fate is still yet to be seen.
- Competition Freak:
- He learned a whole new language (Mandarin) just to spite Devi. Their shared school clubs and activities proved to be too much for their egos, making them create a pact in 6th grade to have a list of groups they can each have and the other stays away from. Even their school teachers have to warn them to keep their rivalry toned down because of how out of hand they tend to get during class.
- Later he resorts to assert dominance by speaking Mandarin to the confused Des, when Ben feels threatened by the other boy.
- A Day in the Limelight: He gets a couple of focus episodes narrated by Andy Samberg.
- "...been the loneliest boy in the world" centers on him and his character backstory. While he's rich, he's also very lonely as his parents are absent much of the time, he has no true friends and his girlfriend only cares about his money. He has a far better relationship with his housekeeper than his own parents. When all is said and done, his rivalry/friendship with Devi is the one positive aspect of his otherwise lonely life.
- Also in Season 3 with "...had a breakdown" which features Ben going through some significant Character Development and forming a friendship with Paxton.
- Elite School Means Elite Brain: His excellence in academics nets him early admission to Columbia.
- Fanboy: He's apparently one for BTS, and is also active on a Rick and Morty forum. (He hates lame memes and just wants to discuss serious Rick and Morty theories.)
- Foil: He mocks Devi and her pals for being unpopular yet he doesn't have any friends at school (the ones he does hang out with are Shira's friends, whom he doesn't care for), his girlfriend is only with him because his family is wealthy and she is the only one at school he knew since childhood, he's part of the Model UN (which is lower on the school totem pole than Devi and her friends), and he's from a permissive family (they allow him to throw a Wild Teen Party, nay encourage him to) that leaves him alone often while Devi's family is extremely involved and caustic but the warmth is still there.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: The "boyfriend of one of ours" version. Ben initially doesn't have any own friends at school, so first falls into this situation with Shira's circle, where nobody likes him (Shira included). Later Fabiola and Eleanor learn to tolerate him, first because of Devi's, and then Aneesa's relationship with him.
- Green-Eyed Monster: At first, it's only hinted that he may possibly have a crush on Devi. It grows more clear that their petty rivalry is not the only reason Ben is so dismissive about Devi pursuing other guys. In his one single-focus episode, he's shown to have a brief yet clear Longing Look as he watches Devi and Paxton before walking away and, later, abruptly decides to throw a last-minute party after seeing her talk to Paxton with hopes of spending time with her.
- Has a Type: He clearly goes for smart girls who can humble him and keep their own in a Snark-to-Snark Combat. His first season's girfriend, Shira, is the opposite of this and they have no feelings for each other.
- History with Celebrity: Justified. Because his dad is a celebrity lawyer, Ben has mingled with celebrities before. According to Devi, he used to coast on the fact that basketball player Blake Griffin attended his bar mitzvah.
- Hypocrite: He constantly mocks and looks down on the girls' unpopularity and nerdy status, but as several characters point out, he doesn't fare better himself. In the first season he has no friends and his girlfriend just uses him for money and status. In the second, on Popularity Food Chain chart presented by Fabiola, he places behind Eleanor and Fab, above only Devi who is dead last.
- Insufferable Genius: He's a Teen Genius and highly pretentious. Aneesa breaks up with him because of how he constantly looks down on her comparative lack of focus on academics and is dismissive of her athletic accomplishments.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he has a rather snobby and rude front, when seeing someone (usually Devi) genuinely upset, he drops his unkind attitude immediately and consistently tries his best to help. His soft side is also noticeable when one realizes how lonely he is in the episode from his perspective, with culminates with him breaking down in tears at Nalini's office after she mentions the Vishwakumars eat dinner together every night, something Ben has not done with his family in a very long time. He's been shown to be kind to his maid (happily giving her a pair of expensive tickets to a basketball game to enjoy with her family) and goes out of his way to reconcile Devi with her friends/family, even letting her stay at his home when she briefly needs a place to crash.
- Jewish and Nerdy: He rivals Devi in intelligence, and happens to be Jewish.
- Kavorka Man: While Ben is not ugly, his style, personality and relatively short height make him widely perceived as not too attractive by most of the characters in-universe. Still, several different girls take interest in him and pursue him romantically.
- Lonely Rich Kid: His parents are never around, they even leave for their appointments on a plane on his birthday.
- Malicious Misnaming: Part of his bullying of Devi is by mangling her name to "David". Over time it graduates to something of an Affectionate Nickname.
- Mistaken for Racist: Devi and her best friends are all girls of color (Indian, Afro-Latina, and Chinese descent, respectively), and so they think that the nickname "UN" that Ben started is a racist term alluding to the United Nations. It actually means "Unfuckable Nerds." (Still not better.)
- Nice to the Waiter: He is very close to the family's maid and enjoys a rapport with her, giving her his sports tickets when he himself cannot go. He urges her to enjoy the event with her sons, which she is grateful for, and he's even invested in her hooking up with Billy Crystal. It helps that she pays more attention to Ben than his parents ever do.
- Parental Neglect: Ben's parents can't be bothered to spend any real time with him. When his mother is introduced, she's keen to leave him to go to various frivolous "workshops" in an attempt to "be a better mother for him" despite how she's being largely absent from his life by doing so. This neglect is the reason why he's envious of Devi's own family life, as they still spend time together and clearly love each other.Andy Samberg, narrating Ben's Day In The Limelight: Ben's mom and dad had a very unique parenting style, in that they did none of it.
- Privileged Rival: Devi herself is upper-middle-class, but her rival Ben is specifically mentioned to be uber-wealthy, as his dad is a bigshot lawyer to the stars. There is a definite contrast between their homes and family lives.
- Rise of Zitboy: In his focus episode he gets a very prominent red pimple on his chin. He visits Nalini to get rid of it and gets invited to dinner with the Vishwakumars.
- The Rival: He and Devi have been at each other's throats (and grades) since they were young and in elementary school, constantly competing to being the best student with the best grades.
- Shiksa Goddess: After ending things with Shira, he pursues Gentile girls like the Latina Margot, Indian Muslim Aneesa, and Indian Hindu Devi he ends the series in a relationship with the latter.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: How he starts out for Devi. They treat their competition as Serious Business to the point of dividing extracurriculars into their "turfs", but everyone else just rolls their eyes at them.
- Stepford Smiler: As Andy Samberg admits, Ben tends to push his pain way down to the point that people even remotely close to him can't see him as sad. He doesn't even admit to his parents or maid that he actually would like their company.
- Token White: Aside from the Lemony Narrator, he's the only major character who is fully Caucasian.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Devi are this at calmer stages of their relationship. They snark at each other constantly, but both enjoy it and care for each other.
Oliver Martinez
played by: Martin Martinez
Eleanor's boyfriend in seasons 1 and 2.
- Accidental Pervert: Devi thinks he's molesting Eleanor, but is actually "caressing" her.
- Distracted by the Sexy: When he is supposed to be filming a TikTok video for his girlfriend and her friends, he gets distracted by Kamala doing yoga in her purple two-piece suit. Eleanor chews him out for this and it ruining the video.
- Nice Guy: He's very supportive of Eleanor's feelings, especially regarding her mother and conflict with Devi.
Shira
played by: Hannah Stein
Ben's shallow girlfriend in season 1.
- Alpha Bitch: She's popular, looks down on people below her on the popularity totem pole, spreads mean rumors about others, and uses her boyfriend for his money and family image.
- Brainless Beauty: She is considered to be one of the prettiest girls in Sherman Oaks, but she doesn't seem to use her brain often.
- Betty and Veronica: Shira (Veronica) is a glamorous and popular Alpha Bitch; Devi (Betty) is a supposedly not-as-attractive smartie with whom Ben connects with on an intellectual level.
- Dumb Jock: A female version; she is on the field hockey team but is idiotic and shallow.
- Jewish American Princess: A vacuous, spoiled, wealthy Jewish girl who uses her Daddy's car dealership as clout to keep her from getting kicked off the dance committee.
- Gold Digger: She is only seeing Ben because his family is wealthy.
- Kick the Dog: Not only is she catty to Devi but Shira and Zoe spread a rumor that Devi makes about Aneesa having an eating disorder, with no care as to how it would hurt Aneesa.
- Trophy Wife: A girlfriend version. She is this to Ben in the first season, her using him for money and him being with her for her looks and status.
- Valley Girl: Justified, as she literally lives in the Valley, but unlike the other teen female characters, she fits the stereotype of a shallow, materialistic, vacuous, non-intellectual girl from that region.
Eve
played by: Christina Kartchner
A history classmate whom Fabiola is attracted to.
- Butch Lesbian: She's a mild example, with short hair, masculine clothing, and is an LGBT activist. Eleanor compares her androgynous look to Kristen Stewart in Charlie's Angels.
- Closet Key: Eve is this for Fabiola, helping her realize she is attracted to girls.
- Gaydar: Eve instantly discerns that Fabiola is gay, probably due to her longing look, inviting her to an LGBT youth event. This is before Fabiola herself realizes. They later start dating.
- Hypocrite: She is vegan, yet she wears leather jackets and encourages Fabiola to do so.
- Informed Attractiveness: She's described as being attractive as Kristen Stewart in Charlie's Angels (2019).
- Nice Girl: She's very sweet and patient, understanding even of Fabiola's argument with Devi and helping her with the fruit punch stain on her white suit.
- Satellite Love Interest: She doesn't have much of a personality besides being nice, popular and proudly queer, and dating Fabiola.
- Put on a Bus: She's written out in season three via her family moving to South Korea.
Jonah Sharpe
played by: Dino Petrera
Another history classmate. While not explicitly out at the beginning of the series, Jonah is obviously gay, and serves as a source of gossip and support to the main characters.
- Demoted to Extra: Has less screen time in Season 2; limited to minor appearances and giving advice to Fabiola about being herself in the final.
- Camp Gay: He has a high-pitched voice and very twee fashion tastes.
- Coming-Out Story: He comes out to his classmates after Fabiola does, but they already know.
- The Fashionista: Takes fashion quite seriously and is responsible for the costumes in Eleonor's play. Which he takes even more seriously, forbidding the actors to gain or loss an ounce of weight after the measurements are done.
- Gay Best Friend: Jonah becomes this to Eleanor and Fabiola. He's very camp and offers fashion advice, while never seen with a romantic/sex life (in fairness, at first he wasn't out, though everybody knew). Eleanor is also delighted when Fabiola says she's gay, as she always wanted a GBF (Fabiola, however, doesn't fit the stereotype).
- Mentor in Queerness: He technically comes out just after Fabiola does, but given that he's a case of Transparent Closet, he is readily able to give the latter advice about being an LGBT high-schooler.
- Nice Guy: He is very friendly and sweet, helping Fabiola out and being her's and Eleanor's support system as they deal with Devi at her worst.
- Replacement Goldfish: He befriends Eleonor and Fabiola and serves as the third of the trio after Devi falls out with her friends. Devi resents him for it.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: He befriends Fabiola and Eleanor in season 1 and Devi is threatened by him, for a good reasons. From his side, Jonah dislikes Devi, spreads mean rumors about her, and frequently offers unsolicited, albeit correct observations about her character flaws and shortcomings as a friend.
- Transparent Closet: When he comes out, everyone just says "obviously", as he's quite Camp Gay.
Trent Harrison
played by: Benjamin Norris
Paxton's best friend.
- Brainless Beauty: He is hot... but so dumb and generally weird that even the supposed "loser" Devi confesses that she doesn't fully see him as a boy.
- Book Dumb: He's not the brightest kid at Sherman Oaks.
- Forgetful Jones: He has a pretty bad memory.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's very co-dependent on Paxton and has trouble dealing with the prospect of his best friend going to college.
- Hidden Depths: Despite being a dudebro for 95% of his screentime, he'll occasionally offer some deeper glimpses. He has some wine knowledge due to his dad being a sommelier, and confesses to being taken by Eleanor's performance in the school play.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When it gets into Trent's head that Eleanor will inevitably leave him once her acting career takes off, he preemptively breaks up with her. They later realize how much they miss each other and get back together in time for the series finale.
- Popular Is Dumb: He is Paxton's best friend and has a secure place in "The Hot Pocket", but is easily one of the dumbest characters in the series.
- The Stoner: The first three seasons heavily imply him to be a stoner, given his laidback demeanor and general lack of intelligence. Confirmed when he and Ben take some edibles in the fourth season.
Eric Perkins
played by: Jack Seavor Mc Donald
An unpopular member of the robotics team.- Geek Physiques: He's an overweight nerd. Season 4 reveals his dream is to become a swimmer, but his stature and lack of proper training makes that difficult. He spends more time flailing in the water than actually swimming until Paxton starts giving him pointers.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He's at the bottom of the popularity totem pole, but thinks himself to be the peer of the popular kids.
Aneesa Qureshi
played by: Megan Suri
A New Transfer Student in season 2. Her confidence and extraverted popularity make Devi feel threatened.
- Always Someone Better: She is nicknamed "Devi 2.0" by Trent immediately upon her arrival and to Devi's horror proves that she can be both a traditional Indian "perfect girl" and a popular girl. Fortunately, she is so likeable, then even Devi befriends her. Less fortunately, she also attracts Ben.
- Ambiguously Bi: It's unclear if she was truly attracted to Ben or if she was just a lesbian with compulsory heterosexuality.
- Broken Ace: Initially comes across as an overly perfect Class Princess, but she also has secret insecurities because she used to have an eating disorder, and had to leave her old school because of this. She's also not Book Smart like Ben and Devi, and during her relationship with Ben, she realizes that they don't have much in common, and that Ben still likes Devi more.
- Class Princess: She's pretty, popular with the other students, athletic, witty, and always friendly to everyone.
- Foil: Like Devi, she's from a strict, conservative Indian family (albeit a Muslim one, not a Hindu one). However, Aneesa isn't awkward like Devi is and easily fits in with the student body, to the point that Trent starts calling her a better version of Devi.
- Lovable Jock: To drive home how nice and "cool" Aneesa is, Devi's favorite teacher notes that Aneesa is a star soccer player and invites her to join the team. Her athleticism is a point of contrast against the unathletic Devi.
- Meaningful Name: Her name comes from an Arabic word for "friend". In spite of Devi's one-sided rivalry with her, Aneesa is always a kind and understanding person. And, although set up as a possible love interest for Fabiola, the girls ultimately remain friends.
- New Transfer Student: She transfers to Sherman Oaks High from a fancy prep school in the middle of the year because she wanted a fresh start after developing an eating disorder at her old school.
- Nice Girl: She's consistently charming and friendly to everyone, easily winning people over as a result, including Devi (although she's also jealous of this).
- No Sparks: After the initial steamy kiss and Relationship Upgrade sometime later, it becomes increasingly clear that she and Fabiola like each other as friends, but are not particularly attracted to each other.
- Out of Focus: She becomes unimportant in Season 2 after "... begged for forgiveness", serving as Ben's girlfriend to add pain towards Devi during her quest to become more mature and moving on to Paxton. She gets a bit more focus in Season 3, which explores her relationships with Ben and then Fabiola, but only appears in a few scenes in season 4.
- Queer Establishing Moment: In Season 3 we learn she's into girls too, as she kisses Fabiola (to the latter's shock), later dating her before they amicably decide they're really Better as Friends.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Her relationship with Ben Gross is pretty tiring to watch even for someone that isn't Devi, at least in early stages.
- Weight Woe: She developed an eating disorder at her old school due to wanting to stay In with the In Crowd. Being skinny was the only thing they complimented her about, so she thought she would become more popular if she stopped eating.
Margot Ramos
played by: Victoria Moroles
An artistically talented classmate who is tasked with tutoring Ben in season 3.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Familial version. She gives her blessing to her father for dating Nalini, even though she and Devi don't get along too well.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: She matches Devi with her temper. They get into a screaming match over Ben and Margot even threatens to beat Devi up.
Ethan Morales
played by: Michael Cimino
A classmate who catches the eye of Eleanor and Devi in season 4.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: He draws the attention of his female classmates because of his bad boy charm, against their better judgement. When he turns out to be too "bad", Devi breaks up with him, however.
- He Is All Grown Up: Happened offscreen — we don't see him before his season 4 introduction, but Eleanor and Devi comment that he grew two feet and gained washboard abs over the summer.
- Mr. Fanservice: Because our heroine is attracted to him, we get several scenes showing off his hotness.
- Pet the Dog: He helps Devi impress the Princeton interviewer during their meeting.
- Remember the New Guy?: He apparently has always been around and the main characters know him, but he only gets their attention after turning handsome over the summer.
- Sex God: Ethan confidently says Devi will enjoy having sex with him much more than Ben (who disappointed her). Judging by her awed look afterward and softly saying "Wow" he's very good.
Faculty and Staff
Principal Grubbs
played by: Cocoa Brown
The school's tough principal.
- Black Boss Lady: A sassy, intimidating black principal who cows the students in her school into following the rules.
- Establishing Character Moment: Introduces herself as the school's Black Boss Lady by ordering Devi and Ben to get their acts together — otherwise she'll personally call all the Ivy Leagues so they won't be admitted.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She's tough but fair, and just wants her students to have a good education.
Lyle Shapiro
played by: Adam Shapiro
The characters' history teacher.
- Ambiguously Jewish: He has a Jewish surname and stereotypical looks, but hasn't been explicitly identified as Jewish.
- Hippie Teacher: A free-spirited, left-leaning, fairly young teacher. He is overeager to indulge himself in foreign cultures (collecting dashikis, playing Peruvian flutes) and Devi easily talks him into letting Paxton retake a test by accusing him of toxic masculinity. He is apparently constantly in conflict with the school administration as he would prefer alternative forms of progress-marking other than exams (eg. an interpretative dance).
- Nice Guy: Though he goes over the top at times, he's trying genuinely to help his students and be inclusive of everybody. E.g., his reaction upon learning Aneesa's a Muslim is immediately offering her a prayer rug and a place to pray if she wants.
- Speaking Like Totally Teen: Mr. Shapiro's attempts at this are a rich source of Cringe Comedy.Mr. Shapiro: Genocide is not 100. And systemic racism is not litty. As we travel through all of humanity's most horrific atrocities, I want you to feel shooketh. Thank you. Trust. [dabs in front of his students]
Manish Kulkarni
played by: Utkarsh Ambudkar
An English teacher at Sherman Oaks.- Cool Teacher: According to Devi, he's the coolest teacher on staff. When he's introduced he greets her with a Handshake Substitute, and he later calls Aneesa a "little Megan Rapinoe".
- Commonality Connection: McEnroe narrates that "Mr. K" played favorites with Devi for "obvious cultural reasons" (ie. they are both Indian-American).
- Demoted to Extra: After having minor subplots in seasons 2 and 3, his only appearance in season 4 is a brief scene in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue.
- Heritage Disconnect: A sticking point between Kamala and Nirmala is that Manish isn't at all connected to his Indian heritage: he grew up in Arkansas and has divorced parents. Manish isn't too bothered by this for himself but makes an effort to appease Nirmala.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He is laid-back, open-minded and regarded by his students as cool, but can still be strict and act like a teacher when the situation calls for it.
Lindsay Thompson
played by: Genneya Walton
The substitute teacher brought in to teach literature in season 4.
- Enthusiastic Newbie Teacher: Downplayed. She's a sub who has freshly graduated, and is already rather cynical about the public school system and the antics of high schoolers. But she's much more fresh-faced and optimistic than most of the other staff, even organizing a student helpline for their problems.
- Hot Teacher: This pretty young substitute teacher stuns Paxton silent when she shows up in a slinky silver number at prom.
Coach Noble
played by: Pete Gardner
The swim coach.- Apathetic Teacher: He's pretty happy to let his assistant coach handle the work and is even seen dozing off in his office. He does take Paxton being caught with Devi in the supply closet very seriously, though.
Other Characters
Dr. Jamie Ryan
played by: Niecy Nash
Devi's therapist.
- Deadpan Snarker: As she often can't knock any reason into Devi, she resorts to resigned, sarcastic comments.Dr. Ryan: Our time is up and yet again I have failed.
- Only Sane Woman: She consistently provides sensible advice to Devi. Unfortunately, it tends to fall on deaf ears.
- The Shrink: She's Devi's therapist, though she won't hesitate to remind her that she very much has a life outside the walls of her office.
- She falls mainly in the Well-Meaning category - not for any lack of insight, but because Devi just won't listen to her advice of confronting her grief instead of chasing shallow quick fixes.
- She slowly goes into the Awesome category in Season 2. While Devi still doesn't always listen, she begins to consider her advice during major decisions or when going through hard times. Jamie also comforts her when Devi is feeling like she is a crazy person after everyone isolated her. By Season 4, she points out how far Devi has come since they first started sessions.
Rebecca Hall-Yoshida
played by: Lily D Moore
Paxton's younger adopted sister, who has Down syndrome.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Slightly to Devi. She likes Devi as the latter was one of the few people Paxton brought over who didn't make a big deal about her disability (either through bullying her or being condescending to her).
- Brutal Honesty: She won't hesitate to keep it real with anyone. She bluntly tells Devi she'll be using models instead of Devi as inspiration and also tells Paxton that he'd be stupid for not dating Devi and that his usual girlfriends suck. She does it again when telling him that nobody owes him anything and if he can't make it into college without Devi, he doesn't deserve to go.
- Deadpan Snarker: Hits this pretty hard at the dinner table in "... opened a textbook".Paxton: I can work hard. Why don't you think I can work hard?
Rebecca: I'd like to answer that. - Disabled Means Helpless: Subverted. Paxton is very protective of her, but she's a very capable and talented young woman despite her Down's Syndrome. It's also deconstructed in Season 2 when she calls Paxton out on expecting Devi to do all his homework to maintain his sports scholarship by telling him (tearfully) that it was so hard for her to get into fashion school and she had to work hard, alluding to the difficulties caused by her disability or overcoming prejudice.
- Fashionista: She is very fashionable, a fashion major who works retail, and has dreams of becoming a fashion designer.
- Happily Adopted: She is Paxton's adopted sister and clearly is part of a loving family with a protective big brother.
- Only Sane Man: Gender-inverted. She is the only member of Paxton's family to challenge him to do better as a person and calls him out for being lazy or a jerk as her parents and grandfather are too doting on him.
- Shipper on Deck: She clearly wants Paxton to date Devi, one of the few girls she gets on with that he brings to their house.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She gives it to Paxton at least a couple of times, calling him out for being an entitled jerk who thinks he is above Devi (whom she finds to be a genuinely good person) or feeling that he is owed privileges that she and Devi have to work hard for.
Joyce Wong
played by: Jae Suh Park
Eleanor's mother, an aspiring actress who left Eleanor as a child to pursue her career.
- Asian Airhead: She's Asian-American and not the sharpest tool in the shed. In one flashback, she leaves Eleanor, Devi, and Fabiola stranded at a carnival after she thinks she can do an entire audition and return in the time it takes the kids to get their faces painted.
- Drama Queen: A trait she shares with her daughter. Unlike the latter, however, she doesn't have smarts to mitigate it.
- Gaydar: She realizes that Fab's gay instantly, saying her gaydar is quite good due to having dated Nathan Lane before.
- It's All About Me: She left Eleanor as a child to pursue her acting career. She lied to Eleanor about said career to make herself look good. She leaves Eleanor again after Eleanor's acting talent makes her jealous.
- Parental Neglect: She left Eleanor, her husband, and her other daughter to pursue her acting career. After her career fails, she winds up back in town, but doesn't bother to visit or check in with her daughter.
Prashant
played by: Rushi Kota
Kamala's fiance whom she hasn't met.
- Head-Turning Beauty: When Kamala and her family open the door to meet him, they are all stunned by his handsomeness. Devi outright says she was expecting someone ugly.
- Inherently Attractive Profession: The Indian aunties fawn over how he's an engineer, as it's a prestigious and presumably high-paying job.
- Nice Guy: He's more amused and appreciative of Devi's vocal candor (when she said they were expecting an "uggo") and very enthusiastic about Kamala's career ambitions (even getting her a beaver key chain as the animal is Cal Tech's mascot) and tells Kamala he understands that she is not ready to marry.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: When he shows up in person, he's releaved to be "the perfect candidate" even by Kamala's standards. Unfortunately, he's ultimately not what she wants.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Played with. Being in STEM himself, he's understanding about Kamala's lab's demands, even coming to visit her late at night after her supervisor gets in the way of their rare physical date night. However, Kamala isn't happy with his advice to keep her head down about the lab's exploitative environment, and he doesn't seem to realize how Kamala's situation is different as the sole woman in a male-dominated lab.
Steve
Kamala's secret boyfriend from Cal Tech.
- Academic Athlete: Zig-zagged, he is on the basketball team of Cal Tech but the school has the lowest performing basketball team compared to other universities.
- Asian Airhead: He's Chinese-American but is often slow on the uptake, especially compared to the brainy Kamala.
Dr. Chris Jackson
played by: Common
A dermatologist who, unlike Nalini, caters to more celebrity clientele.
- Hospital Hottie: He is very attractive and clearly seen as such by all female medical personnel in the clinic. Except for Nalini, who is too busy being annoyed with him, initially.
- Romancing the Widow: Nalini tentatively starts seeing him less than a year after her husband's death. She later decides it's too soon and breaks things off.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: Initially to Nalini, who dislikes everything about his practice and snipes at him every chance she gets. This antagonistic relationship later gives way to attraction.
Evan
played by: P. J. Byrne
The head research assistant at Kamala's dream lab.
- Bad Boss: He makes Kamala do menial work, and leaves her name out of the journal article despite her hard work. After she walked out, all the scientists cheer for her, implying he doesn't treat the male scientists well too.
- Geek Physiques: He's rather pudgy, fitting for a geeky scientist (and contrasting with the modelesque Kamala).
- Hypocrite: Evan angrily calls Kamala putting in their research page "fraud", even though Kamala had done all the work and he left her name out.
- Manchild: He still goes to cosplay conventions, reads comic books, demeans the idea of women working in the lab, and takes credit for Kamala's work.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: His dismissiveness and exploitation of Kamala's work is driven by misogyny, and (it is implied) racism due to the stereotypes of Asian women being seen as submissive.
- Straw Misogynist: It is clear that he doesn't take Kamala (the only woman in the lab) seriously, and is more than happy to take credit for her hard work. Kamala triumphantly humiliates him, adds her name to the journal article, and exits.
John McEnroe
played by: John McEnroe
Devi's father's favorite athlete. He serves as the series's narrator.- As Himself: The real-life John McEnroe narrates as himself. In the Season 1 finale, he makes an appearance in person and meets Devi.
- Lemony Narrator: He narrates in this style, and includes references to his own life and tennis career. Episodes focusing on other characters have other narrators.
Rhyah
played by: Sarayu Blue
A nutritionist whom Nalini befriends.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Rhyah's attitude is similar to a Lovable Alpha Bitch, superficial and opinionated, but still sweet with the people she cares about.She even helps Devi get though a panic attack at her recital, when the girl envisions her father in the audience, but then tells Des to dump Devi for being too complicated.
- Only Friend: Becomes this to Nalini and for a time they get along very well. Until she reveals that she doesn't consider Devi to be good enough for her son and Nalini herself grows tired of Rhyah's condescending attitude towards her.
- Open-Minded Parent: Appears to be this at first, being more understanding when Des and Devi kiss while Nalini is furious.
Nirdesh "Des"
played by: Anirudh Pisharody
Rhyah's son.
- The Ace: Charming, sociable, and intelligent, he’s able to simultaneously focus on his sea program while hooking up with multiple girls in addition to getting into Stanford early.
- Bollywood Nerd: Described as such by his mother and expected by Devi to be so uncool, that she decides to pass him off as her cousin before meeting him. Subverted when he shows up, as he turns out to be hot and popular, along with being smart and academically different.
- Derailing Love Interests: Des has a strong start and is able to actually sustain a relatively mature relationship with Devi, but then breaks up with her because his mama ordered him to.
- Innocently Insensitive: His remark that dating Devi "isn't worth" angering his mother gets him an (iced) coffee in the face.
- Momma's Boy: Is praised often by his mother for being wonderful. Takes a more negative turn when she makes him break up with Devi and he can’t defy her.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Calls Devi out when she immediately dismisses him as a nerdy loser for being Indian at a party despite them having never met before.
- Third-Option Love Interest: After two seasons of complicated feelings for both Ben and Paxton, Devi is quickly attracted to Des. Ben later comments to Paxton that she managed to find a guy who's smart/accomplished like Ben is and popular/charming like Paxton is.Ben: Actually, she kind of has this new guy now, and weirdly he's sort of a combo of the two of us if we were also Indian.
Addison
played by: Terry Hu
Des' friend and Fabiola love interest. They are non-binary.
- Satellite Love Interest: Addison only exists for Fabiola to date and as a plot device once.
Andres Ramos
played by: Ivan Hernandez
Margot's father and who works as a contractor and is hired by Nalini in season 4.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Inverted. He is attracted to Nalini, but is hesitant about starting a relationship with her due to Devi and Margot hating each other's guts.
Len
played by: Jeff Garlin
Nirmala's boyfriend in season 4.
- Gold Digger: Kamala suspects that Len is only interested in her grandma for money. It turns out not to be true.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Turns out that the woman whom he addressed "baby" was just named Baby and he was never cheating on Nirmala.
