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Derek and Ben
Derek and Ben
Played By: Blake Lee and Josh Duvendeck
A gay couple who also happen to be in an open relationship with April.
- Ambiguously Bi: Derek is dating both Ben and April, though still using the term gay rather than bi.April: Derek is gay, but he's straight for me, and he's gay for Ben.
- Amicable Exes: With April. The two both appear at April and Andy's wedding as flower maidens.
- Jerkass Ball: They usually seem pretty amiable, but during "Galentine's Day" they show up at the senior citizens dance just to make fun of the people there, much to April's annoyance. This (and her growing relationship with Andy) motivates her to break up with them.
- Polyamory: April seems to be their "third," and all parties are fine with it. When April dumps them, it has less to do with the nature of their relationship and more to do with the fact that she now likes Andy better.April: This is my boyfriend Derek, and this is Derek's boyfriend Ben.
Leslie: Oh. Wait, sorry. What's the situation?
April: What do you mean?
Leslie: How does this work?
April: Derek is gay, but he's straight for me, and he's gay for Ben, and Ben's really gay for Derek. And I hate Ben.
Derek: It's not that complicated. - Straight Gay: Despite the two of them being openly gay, they display none of the stereotypes.
- Those Two Guys: The two of them are always seen together.
The Langmans
Marcia and Marshall Langman
Played By: Darlene Hunt and Todd Sherry
"There are girls quivering. There are boys staring deeply into girls' eyes as they quiver and so forth. There really is a tremendous amount of quivering. It is anti-Christian. It is pro-quivering."
Marcia is the first of the two to be introduced, and is an uptight and humorless right-wing Christian activist offended by everything. Often uses Insane Troll Logic. The episode "Sex Education" introduces her husband Marshall Langman, who shares her views. (They're probably based on Michelle and Marcus Bachmann.)
- Armored Closet Gay: It's implied that Marshall himself is a closeted gay man and uses his activism as a way to try to hide it. However, it's undermined by the fact he's very stereotypically camp.
- Department of Redundancy Department: They're the founding members of the Society for Family Stability Foundation.
- Effeminate Misogynistic Guy: Marshall concurs with Marcia that women should stay home with the kids.
- Evil Is Petty: Spite seems to be Marcia's main motivator. If she doesn't like something, nobody is allowed to enjoy it, no matter how little it affects her. Her argument against gay marriage is she thinks it "ruins it for everyone else", and when Leslie grows attached to a nude centaur goddess painting that resembles her, she doesn't even let Leslie keep the painting for herself, insisting that it be destroyed. She even expresses hatred for the concept of art itself because she personally doesn't care for it.
- Female Misogynist: Marcia thinks women should Stay in the Kitchen.
- The Fundamentalist: Very uptight and conservative Christian moral guardians.
- Hate Sink: Marcia is an uptight and hostile woman who's against gay marriage, actively hinders anything she disagrees with regardless of being in the moral wrong, and is in general very unpleasant to be around. Add in that she's a Karma Houdini, and she's quite possibly one of the most despicable characters in the series.
- Heteronormative Crusaders: Both of them are very conservative when it comes to sex, relationships and family values.
- Hypocrite:
- Marcia has very conservative, heteronormative views on gender roles and believes women should stay home and care for their children, but she works outside the home advocating her political and social views and causes, similar to Beverly LaHaye
and Phyllis Schlafly. - Meanwhile, Marshall shares his wife's attitude, but is heavily implied to be a gay man himself.
- Marcia has very conservative, heteronormative views on gender roles and believes women should stay home and care for their children, but she works outside the home advocating her political and social views and causes, similar to Beverly LaHaye
- It's All About Me: Best shown in "Jerry's Painting." It's not enough that the painting of a topless centaur woman is removed from City Hall, Marcia wants it destroyed because she personally hates it.
- Jerkass: Whenever we see Marcia, she's rarely portrayed in the most positive light.
- Moral Guardians: To the extreme. Marcia constantly rails against anything she deems improper or bad for society, sometimes invoking Think of the Children!.
- Political Correctness Is Evil: A more right-wing version of this where they rail against anything that seems "improper".
- Stay in the Kitchen: They believe in this, holding very conservative views on how women should behave.
- Transparent Closet: While it's only hinted at, Marshall does act very stereotypically camp. Once speaking—in a stereotypical effeminate high-octave—that everyone has inappropriate "thoughts" that they should ignore. Serves as something of a potshot against Marcus Bachmann, who is often accused of being a huge closet case.
Greg Pikitis
Greg Pikitis
Played By: Cody Klop
A teenager who tee-pees parks every Halloween who Leslie has been trying to catch for years. When she confronts him at his school to warn him that this time will be different, he manages to tee-pee the office and drives Leslie nuts by trying to figure out how and when he got in. He enjoys tormenting her and is implied to continue doing so even after the show ends.
- Aborted Arc: Makes a cameo appearance at the end of a Season 6 episode as the boyfriend of Leslie's protege, seemingly setting him up for a future story, but he never appears again.
- Arch-Enemy: To Leslie. While she has other Sitcom Arch-Nemesis, most of them are indifferent to her and she only crosses swords with them due to a clash of policies or politics (or in the case of Tammy 2, because she gets in the way of her and Ron). Greg, however, actually goes out of his way to torment her personally just to amuse himself, and furthermore he targets parks (which directly encroaches on her job).
- Foe Romance Subtext: It's pretty telling that his girlfriend is basically a teenage version of Leslie.
- For the Evulz: Pretty much why he commits his acts of vandalism and why he later goes after Leslie.
- Master of Disguise: How he got into the office — they were putting up decorations for Halloween, so he disguised himself as a decorator, stole Leslie's keys and hid in a trash bin until everybody left, Leslie thinking that he was at school the whole time.
- Smug Snake: He seems to view himself as a Magnificent Bastard, he loves riling people (especially Leslie) up, and he never seems to lose a certain air of smug superiority and disdain towards everyone else. Even when apprehended by the police he won't stop with the insults, probably because he knows that as a minor he can't actually be prosecuted.
- Stand-In Parents: He hires a woman from Craigslist to pretend to be his mother when he is held on suspicion for the office incident, even getting her to threaten to sue them all to scare them off. His actual mother claims he always does this whenever he is in danger of getting in trouble.
- Too Clever by Half: His antics are extremely well thought-out and he is probably motivated in part by sheer boredom.
- Worthy Opponent: Seems to regard Leslie as this in his first appearance, when he states that he likes her but thinks she should loosen up (implying that this is the purpose of his pranks).
Ken Hotate
Ken Hotate
Played By: Jonathan Joss
"There are two things I know about white people: they love Rachael Ray, and they are terrified of curses."
The Chief of the local Wamapoke tribe. He enjoys inducing White Guilt at every possible opportunity. Leslie was at one point his favorite target, but eventually, they jointly figure out ways to weaponize that against some of the nastier people in Pawnee.
- The Barnum: Considers his casino the best way to get back everything Pawneeans stole from the Wamapoke, one quarter at a time.
- Deadpan Snarker: Usually at Leslie, but other people have been on the receiving end of his snark, too.
- Everything Is Racist: He frequently declares random things offensive, likely just to make others uncomfortable.
- The Gadfly: Milks every possible ounce of enjoyment out of watching white Pawneeans squirm and messing with their heads.Ann: Mr. Hotate, thanks for coming. Would you like some water?
Ken: Water? Like fire water? That's racist, and I do not appreciate it.
Ann: No-no-no-no-no, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, you know—
Ken: I'm just messing with you.
Ann: Oh my God.
Leslie: He's funny. This guy's funny. He does that sometimes.
Ken: But seriously, I'll have a whiskey. - Ink-Suit Actor: Inverted, in this case — Ken Hotate is basically John Redcorn from King of the Hill without the womanizer angle. Both are played by Jonathan Joss.
- Is That a Threat?: Plays this perfectly straight, and with a smile on his face. During the episode where he's making it clear he's not going to tolerate Jamm and the Paunch Burger corporation screwing over Leslie, he mentions all the Paunch Burger franchises in the Wamapoke casinos, and how those contracts are up for renewal.Kathryn Pinewood: Is that a threat?
Ken: Yes. I thought it was obvious. - It Amused Me: When he's not trolling white people to get his way, he's just doing it for his own amusement.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's definitely a Troll and is fully willing to exploit White Guilt to get what he wants, but Ken's not a bad guy and is more than happy to team up with Leslie to take down genuinely nasty characters (i.e., Jamm and Pinewood).
- Magical Native American: Exploited and parodied. He'll play the part of a Native American with mystical powers to freak out white people. When asked to remove a curse, he just utters nonsense and insults.
- Political Overcorrectness: Exploited and parodied. He knows white people are awkward around Native Americans and uses their White Guilt to get his way.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: He may act like The Gadfly and exploit White Guilt to no end, but it's implied that he genuinely does like Leslie and gladly hears her out when she apologizes for her rash actions.
- White Guilt: For both fun and profit, he milks the guilt of most other characters.Leslie: He really plays white people like a fiddle.
Dr. Harris
Dr. Harris
Played By: Cooper Thornton
A doctor and a coworker of Ann's at the local hospital. An incredibly Deadpan Snarker with a terrible bedside manner.
- Comically Inept Healing: Normally quite competent, but every now and then can be shockingly negligent, such as when he fails to check Jerry for mumps.
- The Comically Serious: Always has his stoic and deadpan demeanor on, even in ridiculous situations.
- Distracted by the Sexy: While not finding it sexy or arousing, he is fascinated by the size of Jerry's penis.
- Dr. Jerk: His bedside manner is pretty awful and he doesn't like it when patients ask too many questions. He gets along quite well with Ron as a result.
Li'l Sebastian
Li'l Sebastian
- Back from the Dead: He appears to Leslie and Ben as a sign they should get married. It's actually a licensed impersonator (imhorseinator?), and his handler tries to tell that to Leslie, but she doesn't care.
- Gag Penis: Even when pixilated out, it's played for laughs.
- Insistent Terminology:Ben: What's the deal with the pony?
Tom: He's not a pony, man. He's a mini horse. There's a big difference. - Killed Off for Real: Dies at the end of the third season, and is given a city-funded hero's funeral. Ron takes his death particularly hard:Ron: When I walked in this morning and saw the flag was at half-mast, I thought "All right — another bureaucrat ate it." But then, I found out it was Li'l Sebastian. Half-mast is too high. Show some damned respect.
- Loved by All: By far the most beloved denizen of Pawnee. Even the stoic Ron Swanson gets giddy in his presence. The only one immune to his charms is Ben; he doesn't hate him, mind you, he's just perplexed over why everyone is going gaga over the little animal when he appears to be just a normal miniature horse.
- Noodle Incident: Precisely what Li'l Sebastian did to earn the undying love of the residents of Pawnee (other than being adorable) is lost to history. And as Ben finds out, asking for reasons is considered a major faux pas.Ben: Why is he so famous? Does he do something? What does he do?
April: Yeah, he does being a mini-horse, and he does it better than anyone. - Parody Sue: The fact that the most beloved person in all of Pawnee is a miniature horse is easily one of the show's funniest Running Gags.
- Really Gets Around: According to his obituary, after his relationship with Li'l Anges ended, he became involved with Li'l Zelda, Li'l Jasmine, Li'l Courtney, and Big Jim. By the time he died, Li'l Sebastian had sired over 200 mini-horse colts and fillies.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Naturally, being a miniature horse (not a pony, they're different things). "The Trial of Leslie Knope" shows he has a line of plushies for sale.
- Serious Business: Everyone in Pawnee adores him. Outsiders don't really get it, which is a Berserk Button for Pawneeans.
- Undying Loyalty: The entire city of Pawnee loves Li'l Sebastian, to the point where even Joan Callamezzo is excited to see him at the Pawnee Harvest Festival.
Burly Burlinson
Wyatt "Burly" Burlinson
Played By: Andrew Burlinson
Guitarist and backing vocalist (later co-lead) for Mouse Rat.
- All There in the Manual: His full name is never mentioned on the show, with Andy only ever calling him by his nickname. It is, however, on Mouse Rat's website.
- Neat Freak: According to Andy, though given what a slob Andy is, that may not be the case.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Just known as Burly.
- Satellite Character: To Andy. Justified as he's part of his band.
- Straight Man: To Andy in Mouse Rat-centric plots.
Brandi Maxxxx
Brandi Maxxxx
Played By: Mara Marini
Local Pawnee pornstar who also ran for City Council against Leslie Knope and Bobby Newport. Admires Leslie and played her in Too Big to Nail, an adult movie about Leslie saving the Pawnee Videodome.
- Abhorrent Admirer: For Leslie. She also, at one point during a political debate, said she'd sleep with every one of her opponents.
- Hidden Depths: She does run for political office at one point. In the Distant Finale, she actually does become city council president. Her run is possibly a nod to porn star Mary Carey's publicity stunt campaign for governor of California in the 2003 recall election.
- Nice Girl: She actually seems to be pretty nice and friendly, if a little overly so.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Parodied — she constantly says she and Leslie are very alike, though the latter disagrees. Then again, considering the insane number of adult films Brandi has starred in and produced, she may very well have a work ethic to rival Leslie's. And her persistent attempts to help Leslie (even when Leslie is unreceptive) are reminiscent of Leslie's own dynamics with the town.
- Porn Names: The excessive number of X's in her name for starters.
- Running Gag: Repeatedly compares Leslie's work in the Parks Department to her work as a porn star, much to Leslie's disagreement and horror.
- Too Much Information: Her comments about her career are usually irrelevant to the discussion, and unwanted by Leslie.
- Unwanted Assistance: Every time she tries to help out Leslie, Leslie wants no part of it.
Orin
Orin
Played By: Eric Isenhower
Orin is April's very quiet, very creepy friend. He seldom speaks and often stares at people and makes them feel uncomfortable. Everybody except April dislikes him, with Leslie even outwardly insulting him. He once had a performance art show, where he was an animal living on a human farm.
- Anvilicious: Invoked. He's not especially subtle. At the previously mentioned farm art show:Orin: [in a sheep costume] Moo... moo...
Leslie: Shut up, Orin. Aren't you supposed to be a sheep?
Orin: No. You are. - Butt-Monkey: He's an even bigger one than Jerry. He creeps everyone out so much that they all talk bad about him. Leslie especially, who will yell at him and insult him directly, advises April to stay away from him.
- Creepy Crossdresser: When he dresses up as April's mother in "Prom".
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Goth
- The Stoic: The only times Orin showed any emotion was when he's scared by Chris' brand of intense positivity and smiling at Chris' depressing music mix.
Dennis Feinstein
Dennis Feinstein
Played By: Jason Mantzoukas
A perfume mogul who lives in Pawnee.
- Atrocious Alias: Ben doesn't get why he chose the name Dennis Feinstein, and thinks it was a bad change.
- Awesome McCoolname: His real name is Dante Fiero, but he changed it to Dennis Feinstein because sounding Jewish is more exotic in Pawnee. Tom approves.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He just wants to earn as much money as possible, anything else is completely inconsequential.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Alludes to having done this on a vacation and tries to hire Tom to be his next target.
- Jerkass: Makes every other jerk on this show look like a sweet pussycat. Among other things, he callously rejects Tom's cologne idea (even though Jerk Ass Has A Point in this case, as Ben agreed the cologne smelled terrible), treats his employees like crap, and proudly and loudly declares he's going to unplug his father from life support after spraying a bunch of protesters with stinky cologne that smells like wet dog to get them off his back over shutting down JJ's Diner.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He brags about paying $25,000 to hunt a man on vacation.
Barney Varmn
Barney Varmn
Played By: John Balma
An accountant who is employed at the Tilton & Radomski firm, he is first introduced when Leslie hires him for an accounting presentation to lighten up her party. It doesn't work.
- Abhorrent Admirer: A male, non-romantic example for Ben.
- Butt-Monkey: Is never able to get Ben to stick around at the jobs he hires him for and treated as weird and/or a bore by other characters.
- Hero-Worshipper: Seems to view Ben of all people as one of the coolest men alive. Of course, compared to Barney and most of his other colleagues and friends, Ben's a rock star, but still.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Often needlessly excited by his accounting job, bursts into fits at Ben's admittedly mediocre accounting puns and enjoys Cones of Dunshire.
- Running Gag: Hires Ben for various jobs, only to be crushed when he quits a few days later.
Trevor Nelsson
Trevor Nelsson
Played By: Marc Evan Jackson
A high-priced Pawnee lawyer who works for many of Pawnee's wealthier families, namely the Newports and the Sapersteins.
- Amoral Attorney
- The Comically Serious: Never seen without a stony glare and does not care for Ben's puns.
- Every Man Has His Price: Admits to Tom that he would vandalise the car of his client (Dr Saperstein)... for ten thousand dollars.
- Overly Long Gag: The full name of the law firm he represents is Fwar, Dips, Winshares, Gritt, Babip, Pecota, Vorp, and Eckstein.
- Straight Man: Often plays off much zanier characters like Ron, the Sapersteins and Jessica Wicks.
Kathryn Pinewood
Kathryn Pinewood
Played By: Mary Faber
Head of the Pawnee Restaurant Association, she fights for "consumer rights" in generally the worst ways possible. She heads the fight to get Leslie recalled from office.
- Alpha Bitch: Never misses an opportunity to put Leslie (or any of her friends) down.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Puts profits over the public's health.
- Jerkass: A very smug one at that.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Ann puts her in a headlock after she mocks Leslie getting recalled too many times.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: For much of Leslie's tenure in city council, she shares the role with Councilman Jamm.
Jennifer Barkley
Jennifer Barkley
Played By: Kathryn Hahn
A straight-forward, fierce Washington political strategist who is first introduced in Season 4 to run Bobby Newport's campaign for City Council.
- The Ace: Intelligent, confident, reads international newspapers, is a big political muckety-muck in Washington. She ran two Republican congressional campaigns, a Senate race and gave Leslie and Ben a real run for their money when she opposed them in the City Council election.
- Brutal Honesty: When she's paid 1,200 dollars to consult with Leslie for one hour, she tells Leslie that she could lose the election she's planning to run, and encourages her to get out of Pawnee because she deserves better. As Jennifer puts itJennifer: You can trust me. Because I don't care enough about you to lie.
- Leslie's initial plan is to run against Dexhart because he has another sex scandal tied to his name, so how could she lose? Jenn points out that she absolutely could lose because terrible candidates defeat good ones all the time (something Jenn herself should know).
- Career Versus Family: Not a problem with her. The trope is defied because she is completely satisfied she doesn't have kids, especially since she'd have to wear a plastic poncho to cover her clothing.
- The Chessmaster: Makes this comparison in her very first episode.
- Child Hater: Blatantly states she's very happy with her life choices whenever Leslie and Ben's kids come up and she freaks out when she sees one of the triplets run past her.Jennifer: Whoa! What was that? That thing was huge!
- Combat Pragmatist: Has no problem smearing her opponents and throwing bucketloads of money to win/buy an election.
- Dare to Be Badass: When Leslie is deliberating on whether to run for another seat at Pawnee, Jenn challenges her to dream bigger, to run for Senate or Congress, because Leslie is smart, driven, and kindhearted, and she deserves to get out of a town that doesn't appreciate her.
- Deadpan Snarker: Common topics she mocks include life in Pawnee and Leslie and Ben's children.
- Evil Counterpart: "Evil" may be putting it strongly, but she is certainly way more amoral compared to Leslie. Jennifer is the true opponent that Leslie faces in her city council election, with Bobby Newport being nothing more than a telegenic idiot who possesses little understanding of policy or politics. Jennifer as Newport's (highly paid) political consultant masterminds his entire campaign and frequently outmaneuvers Leslie and Ben with her press appearances and political savvy. This is best highlighted in their first meeting with Jennifer, who shows up to the meeting even earlier than Leslie and Ben, recognizes that Leslie is very competent at her job (and would undeniably be a better city councilor than Bobby, if not perfectly qualified for federal office), and even admits that she genuinely likes and respects Leslie and Ben — before going on TV to attack Leslie mercilessly as she had been hired to do.
- Foil: To Leslie in that both are hypercompetent and incredibly dedicated career women who are nonetheless the sidekicks to someone with absolutely no interest in doing their work. While Leslie has her sights set on one day becoming president and genuinely wants to help the world, Jennifer is content with pulling the strings from behind the scenes and is Only in It for the Money. Also, while Leslie has very strong morals and would rather take a very inconvenient third option than compromise her principles, Jenn can and will do whatever underhanded thing to win.
- Friendly Enemy: Her loudness and willingness to admit she's just in it for the money aside, she's friendly to Leslie and Ben and even admits Leslie will be a better City Councilor than Bobby Newport. She drops the "enemy" part almost completely after the council election, offering Ben a job in Washington DC and even dropping by to give Leslie advice.
- Hypocrite: Pounces on Leslie when the latter makes some gaffes involving Nick Newport's death... but when she's away from the cameras, the first thing we see her do is badger someone (presumably the executor of his estate) to confirm that she'll still be getting paid.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Well, a heart of bronze, maybe. She runs campaigns for people she admits are horrible and is rather blunt and abrasive, but she never makes her rivalry with Leslie personal and does genuinely think Ben and Leslie have what it takes to succeed.
- Meaningful Name: Jennifer Barkley makes sense for someone who's as loud and intimidating as a Rottweiler.
- Neat Freak: Puts plastic covering on herself and several things in the Knope-Wyatt household to keep the kids from spilling something on her.
- Non-Idle Rich: She's got enough money to have a condo on every Virgin Island, but the reason why she has that money is because she works incredibly hard at her job, and is the best at what she does.
- Nothing Personal: She can sit down and have a very nice lunch with you, and on the same day go on TV and utterly humiliate you if it's what her job requires.
- Only in It for the Money: While it's debatable that she's doing good, this is her motivation.
- Punch-Clock Villain: For the City Council arc. She is a totally unscrupulous political operative who'll play any dirty political trick to win because that's what she's paid for. She's very clear from the start that she has no personal investment in the election, she's just doing her job. She's mostly on friendly terms with Leslie and Ben and the entire reason she took the Newport campaign was because they paid her a butt-load of money. After that, she offers Ben a job as a campaign manager at her firm, and subsequently a position as a congressman in the House of Representatives and then Governor of Indiana.
- The Rival: To both Leslie and Ben at various times. She's generally friendly with both of them, but is easily one of their greatest obstacles in accomplishing their goals. Most of Leslie's other opponents are lazy idiot jackasses, but Jennifer equals her in drive and intelligence, has a lot more experience with high-level politics, and has fewer scruples than Leslie.
- Sarcastic Devotee: Loyal and hardworking for the Newport campaign, no qualms about mocking him in private.
- Sex Goddess: She's a satisfying lover, as Chris Traeger will testify. Jennifer herself is aware of this.Jennifer: It's just sex. I'm very good at it.
- Spirited Competitor: She gives Leslie campaign advice a few times because, to use her chess metaphor, she doesn't have anyone to play against, so she has to play against herself.
- Worthy Opponent: She steadily grows to respect both Leslie and Ben as political adversaries.
Justin Anderson
Justin Anderson
Played By: Justin Theroux
Ann's lawyer friend introduced in season 2. He dates Leslie for a short time.
- The Ace: He's well-traveled and cultured, always has an interesting story to tell, and is an intelligent lawyer. Pretty much everyone likes him.
- Derailing Love Interests: His biggest problem for most of his time on the show was that he couldn't be around all the time. It isn't until the episode where he and Leslie break up that his being a "tourist" in other people's stories is established. Though it is foreshadowed a bit in "Leslie's House", where it's shown that he has a tendency to unnecessarily one-up other people's stories and to latch on to the people he deems interesting.
- Innocently Insensitive: He's a genuinely nice and helpful guy, but whether he realizes it or not, he tends to see people as objects of interest rather than as actual people, and he can put his nose into other people's business because he sees a chance to spice their lives up without thinking about the possible negative consequences.
- Nice Guy: For the most part, Justin is a pretty nice guy who likes being there for people.
- The One That Got Away: For Ann, in a way. She used to hope that maybe she could start something with him, much to Andy and later Mark's annoyance. She does get over it.
- Temporary Love Interest: For Leslie in the second season, after she broke up with Dave. They later break up after Leslie realizes he's an "emotional tourist".
