Berserk Button: Being the owner of the shop and devoted to making sure that business stays booming, anything that gets in the way of that, such as overspending, buying something at a loss without a good reason, or pretty much anything that costs the shop money, especially if its something wasteful or poorly-thought out, will understandably get him steamed in zero time flat. The time Corey spent $38,000 on a hot air balloon without knowing anything about the market for something like that or having a buyer for it lined up is a good example. Rick was seriously pissed, red-faced and yelling at the top of his lungs. Even the Old Man knew enough to stay out of it until Rick calmed down. There are a few times during the scene where Rick glances at the cameras for a split-second and you can tell he's holding himself back because the cameras are running. It'll be a cold day in Hell before Corey buys another hot-air balloon.
But I Read a Book About It: Sick and confined to bed for an extended time as a child, Rick developed a lifelong love of reading and has a sponge-like memory. While he never finished high school, he gives every indication of being self-educated to at least a Bachelor's degree level in physics and the Master's degree level in history. He is skilled at identifying whether antiques are real or not through considerable knowledge of woodcraft and metallurgy. He's also an extremely canny businessman.
Jack of All Trades: According to his son and Chum, Rick knows at least a little bit about pretty much anything that comes into the shop
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rick comes across this way at times during deals, although it may just run in the family. This also applies in how he treats said family; he won't hesitate to call his son or surrogate son out (referring to Chumlee) for a dumb decision, but he also is a lot more tolerant of bad decisions than any normal boss would be and is generally very willing to forgive them for said bad decisions. Also, while he is a fairly cutthroat haggler, he still tries to give customers a fair offer, contrary to the memes. There have even been moments where he refused to purchase certain items because he could tell that they held sentimental value for the owner or he believed he was simply unable to offer a fair enough deal for the value of the item.
Only Sane Man: He tends to play the straight man to Corey and Chumlee when the latter two are up to their antics, being the more business-minded one and being very vocal in his disapproval to their shenanigans. That being said, he often gets in on it himself by the end of the episode, assuming that whatever it was didn't enrage him too thoroughly. (see Berserk Button above)
Planet of Steves: All three generations of Harrisons on the show are named after each other.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He might not be happy if Corey or Chumlee fuck up and lose the business money, but he'll always forgive them, even if he does chew them out for it.
Signature Laugh: His wheezing chuckle is one of the most memorable things about him.
Vocal Evolution: His voice has gotten noticeably more gravelly in the later seasons.
Grumpy Old Man: His good moods are few and far between, and he has very little patience for Rick, Corey and Chum
Odd Friendship: Is surprisingly close to Chumlee. Of course, given that Chum is like one of his grandchildren because of how close he is to the Harrisons, it makes a bit more sense in a familial context.
Old Shame:invoked A tattoo with his wife's misspelled name on it.
Retired Badass: According to Rick, the Old Man was stationed on a ship involved with the Cuban Missile Crisis. At one point, his ship was staring down a Russian ship, both with nuclear missiles.
The Scrooge: He plays it straight and subverts it, depending on his mood.
Played straight in one episode where he had to buy the employees a Christmas dinner. He insisted that he didn't want to do it and was only consenting because "Grandma's making me."
Subverted in "Rebel, Rebel", where the Old Man buys a nice karaoke machine for Chum's housewarming party, while everyone else got him either cheap cooking supplies or, in the case of Rick, a candy dish that had been sitting in the store for 3 years.
Middle Name Basis: No one ever calls him Richard or any derivation of it. He's always either Corey or Hoss.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Constantly tries to prove himself a worthy successor to Rick and the Old Man.
Austin "Chumlee" Russell
Big Fun: Like Corey, he's a big guy, and arguably the most laid back and fun-loving of them, often getting up to comedic nonsense during the course of the episode. Don't let that fool you, though; he has his own talents and expertise on niche topics that can impress even Rick.
Breakout Character: Chumlee was originally a background character who had A Day in the Limelight episode in Season 1. The producers realized his status as this trope and so, come Season 2, he'd become an Ascended Extra.
Butt-Monkey: In the words of Rick, "If someone says catastrophic malfunction, Chumlee's gonna be the guinea pig."
Obfuscating Stupidity: Though by how much is questionable, he definitely dumbs himself down on camera.
Odd Friendship: With the Old Man, who is much wiser, grumpier and sedentary than him. Old Man is essentially his grandfather given Chumlee's Heterosexual Life-Partners status with Old Man's actual grandson.
