Beware of spoilers. Only spoilers from the current season (7) are whited out.
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Maritza
Maritza Ramos
"If you want more pizza, vote for Maritza."
Played By: Diane Guerrero
A Hispanic inmate. Her defining physical trait is that she, in contrast to the majority of her cellmates, is strikingly beautiful by conventional standards. She is often seen with Flaca with whom she has a rivalry and close friendship; both of them are generally portrayed as giggly airheads.
- Bait-and-Switch Lesbians: Played with. In a moment of loneliness and desperation on Valentine's Day, Maritza and Flaca make out for a little bit. It might seem like something might develop, given the setting, but afterwards the two of them just stare at each other and start to laugh about it.
- Brainless Beauty: Maritza is extremely attractive but not especially bright. How much of this is her pretending to be stupid and how much is genuine is unclear.
- Break the Cutie: She's forced at gunpoint to swallow a living baby mouse. Happens again in season 7 when she's picked up in an ICE raid and held with no access to any contact with the outside world.
- Celebrity Resemblance: Another inmate in ICE comments that she looks like "that girl from Glee but with sharper lines".
- Con Artist: This is revealed as the reason why she's in prison in her flashback episode. She would scam clueless men at her cocktail waitress job by breaking liquor bottles and having the men pay for them. She gets enlisted to do even bigger cons stealing expensive sports cars, but due to some hiccups on her first and only big con, Maritza presumably ended up getting arrested.
- Disappeared Dad: We don't see or hear anything of her baby's father, so it's safe to assume he's not around. Given she was on drugs and it was "crazy" at the time, Maritza might even not know who he is for sure.
- Distracted by the Sexy: How she pulls her cons, along with getting men to take pity on her.
- The Ditz: While not a Brainless Beauty, both her and Flaca share an 'airhead pretty girl' mentality, which does not really fit prison atmosphere and occasionally annoys others in their group. That, and Maritza didn't know she was pregnant until the seventh month (it should be noted that Maritz is all of 5'2" and slim). What, she is not a scientist.
- The Dog Bites Back: A minor, yet significant example. She's the first inmate we see Humphrey abuse on-screen, and she and Flaca talk about wanting to get back at him, even if they're unsure how to. But in the season 4 finale, she's the one who spots Humphrey reaching for a gun hidden in his shoe during the prison riot and promptly pushes him over—causing him to drop it and have it aimed at his head by Daya. She later gets to kick him a little after Daya shoots him.
- Dude Magnet: She easily attracts all the men's attention and is quite proud of it. When she and Flaca made their own YouTube channel, all the male fans were commenting on how "hot" she is.
- Fingore: In a downplayed version, when Gloria steps out of the kitchen for a visitation, Maritza cuts off the end of her pinky finger.
- Hidden Depths: Season 4 reveals that she is a pretty effective con artist who can make lies up on the fly and is pretty good at improvisation when the plan goes wrong. Not always, but she tries. It's also revealed in the Mother's Day episode that she has a child.
- Honey Trap: This is how she tricked men into giving her money in her backstory.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's easily
◊ the sexiest character◊. Emphasized in her flashback episode, where she spends the whole time in tight dresses and high heels. In Season 5, she and Flaca modify their uniforms into sexy schoolgirl outfits. - Obfuscating Stupidity: It's established a few times, especially in her flashbacks, that Maritza isn't quite as ditzy as she seems.
- Proud Beauty: And well aware of it.Flaca: Girl, you look hot.Maritza: Well, duh. I'm still me.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: She's deported to Colombia not only because she's an illegal, but also for giving out a free number to a lawyer fighting against ICE. This may be inspired by the actor's background-her parents and brother were deported when she was fourteen, and she's since become an activist for immigration reform.
- Smarter Than You Look: She can be easily dismissed as a flighty pretty girl, but in reality is not only quite clever underneath, but also consciously plays up the former aspect, making men underestimate her. To her misfortune, this trope is what gets her Humphrey's attention.
- Surprise Pregnancy: She got pregnant and never realized for seven months. Given she's all of 5 feet 2 inches and extremely petite, Flaca finds this amazing.Flaca: How could you not know? You weigh like 90 pounds. You musta looked like an egg with four sticks in it.Maritza: I'm not a scientist, okay? Besides, I was smoking a lot of pot that summer.
- Those Two Guys: She is rarely seen without Flaca.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Between the character quote above and her part in providing "You Also Have a Pizza" its titular quote, Maritza seems to really, really like pizza.Maritza: I like pizza. Everyone likes pizza. It's American and shit.Flaca: It's Italian, you fucking idiot.
Rosa
Rosa Cisneros
"Thank god I got cancer. No one fucks with cancer."
Played By: Barbara Rosenblat & Stephanie Andujar
"I always pictured myself going out in a blaze of glory. Hail of gunfire, screech of tires. But this kind of death, this slow, invisible disappearing into nothing, it's terrifying."'
An older inmate, and former bank robber, suffering from cancer.
- Ascended Extra: In season 1, Rosa was sparingly seen and didn't have much character outside of being a cancer patient. In season 2, she gets her own flashback episode and story arc.
- Badass Driver: She did this as a former bank robber, and it comes back when Morello lets her drive the van away so she can die free.
- Baldness Means Sickness: Rosa's baldness stands out in a cast primarily comprised of female inmates and marks her as the one who has ovarian cancer. An Imagine Spot shows she once had long, rich black hair back in the day.
- Bond One-Liner: She has one after killing Vee.
- Turns out to also be a Pre-Mortem One-Liner, as the next episode reveals that she crashed into a quarry.
- Cartwright Curse: She's been widowed twice, and is terrified that it also applies to a teenage boy she bonds with during their chemo sessions. Thankfully, it doesn't.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has some very dry lines.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: She mows Vee down after escaping from prison, shortly before crashing the van into a quarry so she doesn't die in prison.
- Grumpy Old Man: Considering she's dying of cancer in prison, it's little wonder she's never in a good mood.
- Healthcare Motivation: Her doctors recommend surgery, and the DoC won't pay for it. Being in jail, there's not a whole lot she can do about it.
- I Die Free: The DoC won't pay for the surgery that will save her life, and the doctor gives her three to six weeks to live. Thanks to Morello, she uses the van taking her to and from chemo to drive through the gate of the prison, run over Vee, and go out in the "blaze of glory" she always wanted.
- I Was Quite a Looker: She never references this, but when we get into her flashback, we learn she was a fierce and good looking Spicy Latina in her youth.
- Kiss of Death: She believes she is cursed because the men in her life end up dying.
- Money Fetish: She "loves the smell of cash". In her bank-robbing days, she would sleep on some of the bundles, apparently. After the "last job" in the chemo session, she sniffs her $43 cut of the loot before bed.
- One Last Job: Played for laughs. She robs a purse with a kid that she befriends at the hospital, snagging $63 in her last robbery. All of this is planned and executed over a single chemo session.
- Outlaw Couple: She was this with three different men over the years.
- The Topic of Cancer: It's the most immediately noticeable thing about her.
- Underestimating Badassery: No-one would be intimidated by on old woman with cancer, definitely not Vee when she and her gang where on top of the prison. she very much came to regret it.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: In "Comic Sans," she has this response when offered a cigarette.
Flores
Blanca Flores
"There's more of us everyday, fucking pendeja, and there's fucking nothing you can do about it!"
Played By: Laura Gomez
A Hispanic inmate. The other inmates thought she was insane, as she appeared to have animated romantic conversations in Spanish with the Devil while inside a restroom stall. Piper later discovered that Blanca is actually of sound mind, and had actually been speaking to her boyfriend, "Diablo", with a cell phone that she had hidden behind a tile in the stall, while feigning madness so they would not expect anything.
- Accidental Misnaming: On the outside, she was a care worker for an extremely demanding elderly woman who called her "Bianca" because she read the "l" as an "i" and had become accustomed to it. To Blanca, however, it felt more like Malicious Misnaming.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: The reason she became so attracted to "El Diablo". She didn't even bat an eye when he flat-out told her upon their first meeting that he used to be a jewel thief, as she found her own life and job to be boring and regretted not doing more exciting things.
- Ascended Extra: In the first season, she basically only existed so that Piper could gain access to a cellphone and got Put on a Bus immediately after, but she returned as a minor recurring character in the second and third seasons and, in the fourth season, gets her own flashback scenes as well as her own story arc.
- Badass Bookworm: Spends Season 5 researching in Piscatella's office rather than joining in on the rioting, and comes up with crucial information.
- Big Ol' Unibrow: She sports one and has a slight mustache. She shows concern that it may be due to a hormone imbalance. Her flashbacks show that she did not have this body hair, so she might look the way she does now due to lack of access to beauty supplies. She loses it after Flaca and Maritza give her a makeover in Season 5.
- Defiant Stone Throw: Not exactly a stone throw, but Flores' stand against the guards gets the rest of the prisoners to form a peaceful protest against them.
- The Dog Bites Back: When her boss Millie fired her boyfriend Dario, aka Diablo, for being a "bad influence" on her, Blanca pays her back by having her boss watch her have sex in front of her while staring her in the eye.
- The Dragon: She becomes this to Maria in Season 4
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending the final season in an ICE camp at the mercy of asshole guards, horrendous living conditions and a Kangaroo Court overseeing it all, she's one of the few to make it out as a free woman and gets to reunite with her partner, who she has hands down the show's most wholesome romantic relationship with.
- Foil: She can be seen as the Latina counterpart of Crazy Eyes at first, although it's later revealed she's not actually mentally ill.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Out of all the Hispanic inmates she speaks Spanish the most.
- Hidden Depths: Daya is surprised to see her attending Poussey and Taystee's "memorial service" for the burned library books.Daya: I didn't know you were such a big reader.Flores (In Spanish): I like reading more than I like living my actual life.
- Obfuscating Insanity: She pretends she's mentally ill in the first season, but seems to be in not so good mental shape anyway (though perhaps not to the degree of clinical illness).
- The Ophelia: In Season 1, she has long matted hair (which stays throughout all her appearances), and wanders around talking to herself, although this turns out to be at least partially an act.
- The Pig-Pen: In season four, she realizes that the guards won't frisk her if she stinks, so not only does she stop showering, but also starts to deliberately make herself stink by lathering herself in whatever odorous food items she can find in the prison.
- Put on a Bus to Hell:
- She's taken to Psych after her cellphone is handed in, but The Bus Came Back in the second season.
- Almost literally in Season 6 when she's sent to an ICE internment center when she was led to believe she's being released.
- The Reveal: In the Season 6 finale we find out that her participation in the riot is a deportable offense and got her green card revoked. And following her early release, she's headed to the newly rechristened Litchfield Internment Center.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Blanca has an extremely disheveled appearance, but her flashback scenes show that she was actually a pretty attractive woman when she took care of herself. In season 5 she becomes the masterpiece of Flaritza's makeover spree.Red: Your eyebrows, they're plural!
- Smarter Than You Look: Flores comes off as erratic, but she's quite the schemer. In addition to her love of reading, her Season 1 ploy to frequently use her cellphone in the bathroom as well as her Season 5 claims of "knowledge is power" both proved to be successful.
- Token Minority: Of Red's group in Season 5.
Ouija
Ouija Aziza
Played By: Rosal Colon
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: She is (or at least claims to be) a gang banger and serial killer, who is in prison after getting busted for WIC fraud.
- Hidden Depths: Turns out that she's a Mom, and she chews Gloria out for acting like the other inmates don't have families that matter. It also sheds some light on her sympathy towards Maria in Season 4. She also reveals herself to be a talented stand-up comedian and fantastic at impressions
- Knight of Cerebus: She's introduced mocking Flaca for her fake tear drop tattoo, comparing it to her real ones, claiming she's murdered several people. She also asks who runs "the game" in Litchfield. It's the first sign that the new inmates are more intense and sets up some of the gang tension that season.
- Those Two Guys: With Pidge in season 5.
- Undying Loyalty: To Maria. Ouija is ready to start a war with Piper after Maria gets added time, and supports all of Maria's leadership decisions.
- When She Smiles: In Season 5, when she's performing a comedy act for the inmates, she's practically unrecognizable.
- Woman of a Thousand Voices: She does a stand-up routine where she does flawless impressions of other inmates and staff, including Lorna, Red and Nicky.
Pidge
Pidge Contreras
Played By: Miriam Morales
- The Generic Guy: We don't know much about her other than she's Ouija's right-hand woman.
- Those Two Guys: With Ouija in season 5.
Zirconia
Irene "Zirconia" Cabrera
Played By: Daniella De Jesús
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Luscheck.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Not a lot that comes out of her mouth makes sense.
- Embarrassing First Name: Clearly thinks "Irene" is one.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Decidedly unhappy about the apparent sexual tension between Luschek and Gloria.
- Hidden Depths: Seems to have a passion for feminism and grooming.
- The Lad-ette: She has the personality and sense of humor of a frat boy.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Named after her zirconia stud earrings.
- Weakness Turns Her On: Seems to be one reason why she finds Luscheck attractive.
D-Block
Daddy
Dominga "Daddy" Duarte
Played By: Vicci Martinez
Barb's right hand woman. Formerly a pimp.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Daddy is called both "she" and "he" by different inmates. We never learn if this reflects either a transgender or other identity, since Daddy doesn't say anything about it either way.
- Butch Lesbian: Not to the extent Boo is, but she’s like that even in her flashback days.
- Bury Your Gays: She gets killed from an overdose of poisoned heroin in season 7, courtesy of her lover Daya.
- The Dragon: To Barb.
- Dragon Ascendant: She becomes this after Barb's death. And then promptly dies from an overdose, leaving Daya to move into the position.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: She's one of the inmates who dies from the spiked heroin in the Season 7 opener.
- Laser-Guided Karma: She dies via spiked drugs, after previously doing the same to Barb.
- Love Redeems: Her personality softens a little after she gets involved with Daya.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: No one calls her Dominga.
- The Starscream: She gives Barb bath salts and claims Carol spiked her supply, to distract from the blame for ruining the cheese factory supply line.
ICE
Karla
Karla Córdova
Played By: Karina Arroyave
A Salvadoran detainee at the PolyCon ICE Detainment Center.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Her final appearance in the series. She breaks her ankle in the middle of the Mexican desert. The coyote promises to come back for her, but she can't walk.
- Determinator: She does everything in her power to be with her children again, even if everything turns against her.
- Good Parents: A very loving mother to her children who seem to love her back.
- Mama Bear: She adores her children more than anything. The minute she gets back to El Salvador, she walks through the desert to get back to them. And she falls and breaks her ankle.
- Nice Girl: Even after losing hope with her case, she's still nice enough to help Blanca and give her advice
- Omnidisciplinary Lawyer: Maybe. She probably isn't an immigration lawyer, but she still manages to save Blanca from instant deportation. Although not herself, which points to her probably not being an immigration lawyer.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: Deported back to El Salvador without her children.
- Trauma Conga Line: Karla's beloved husband dies, her even more beloved children are taken from her, she gets deported to El Salvador, she does everything she can to return, then she breaks her ankle and is probably left to die.
- Uncertain Doom: We don't see her die, but given that she's left alone in the desert, unable to walk because of her broken ankle, it's very unlikely she will survive.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Twice. She gets a chance to find an attorney but, even after working hard, her case is denied and she is sent to Salvador. Then she gets a chance to call her children and promise them she will do everything to come back, but her final scene shows her injuring her leg and being left alone in the desert.
