WARNING: Contestants are listed in order of elimination and there are unmarked spoilers on this page.
Main (RuPaul, hosts and judges)
RuPaul's Drag Race (USA) seasons:
Drag Race around the world:
All Stars & Vs. the World
All names, ages, and locations stated are at the time of filming.
Sherry Pie (disqualified)*
Age: 27
From: New York City, New York
"Hope you left room for dessert, 'cause I brought pie."
- All for Nothing: Sherry delivered a solid performance during the season and was undoubtedly a strong candidate to win the crown, having won two challenges and never landing in the bottom 2. However, she would be disqualified prior to the season airing due to her predatory behavior outside the show being exposed (more details below), rendering her performance completely moot.
- Ambiguous Situation: Did Sherry really not notice that she went on three times as long as she should have during the One-Queen Show or did she know exactly what she was doing and simply feigned innocence? Given how well she has hid some truly horrible, manipulative behavior, it's hard to say.
- Attention Whore:
- Sherry's disqualified status has led to her being heavily edited out of the show. However, the fact remains that she's a highly talented queen (her off-the-show behavior nonwithstanding), so even though she's largely Out of Focus, her Large Ham performances and on-point looks still manage to stand out quite a bit.
- This element of her personality is on blatant display during the One-Queen Show stand-up challenge, where the queens had five minutes to perform a skit. Sherry (who, it must be remarked, was not closing the show), takes seventeen minutes and apparently didn't even realize she took that long until she was told later.
- Big Applesauce: She's one of five New York girls this season.
- Bowdlerise: While Sherry was heavily edited out of the show but otherwise acknowledged, her Frozen runway walk was completely excised out of episode 7. It's been speculated that this was done on Disney's request, who was sponsoring the episode by plugging in the musical Frozen.
- Camp: She has a distinctly campy, mid-century vibe, and of all the competitors in season 12, she’s the most old-school drag in the traditional sense.
- Grand Dame: Her specialty and go-to character type — solidified in the Snatch Game challenge when playing an aged Katharine Hepburn.
- Karma Houdini: Despite taking seventeen minutes in what was supposed to be a five minute performance during the One-Queen Show, she only gets harshly called out for it by Michelle, and doesn't end up in the bottom 2.
- Lack of Empathy: Her predatory behavior off the show nonwithstanding, even on the show Sherry shows shades of this, giving the other queens no slack for not doing better at Snatch Game, making fun of tremors with full knowledge that Crystal's father has Parkinson's (while standing next to her), and her "Haha, whoops!" apology after taking more than three times her alloted time in the One Woman Show challenge, throwing Jaida (who had to perform after her) off her game and leading to her being up for elimination could be seen as rather insincere.
- Non-Gameplay Elimination: Sherry has the dubious honor of being the second queen in the franchise to be disqualified (after Willam Belli in season 4), but the first to have it take place post-production after several men came forward to say Sherry had impersonated a casting director in order to trick them into making fetish porn videos
. While the season would still air as normal to respect the other queens' hard work (as it had already been filmed before the story came out), Sherry did not appear in either the reunion or finale episodes. - Out of Focus: Due to the aforementioned predatory behavior, Sherry has been heavily edited out of the episodes, with barely any talking heads or screen-time, and recap videos and other Drag Race-related media have for the most part treated her as the Un-person, such as runway and episode reviews skipping over Sherry entirely.
- It's thought by the fans that the perennial Reading Is Fundamental mini-challenge was cut from the season due to Sherry winning it, leading to its replacement in the sponsored FabFitFun challenge that did make it to air.
- Persona Non Grata: Ru takes the reputation of Drag Race very seriously, so when details of Sherry's predatory behavior were revealed, he swiftly and surgically excised her from the franchise's alumnae like no previous contestant, completely erasing Sherry from promotional material, episode and runway reviews, and heavily editing her out of the show. In the Reunion, the only reference to Sherry is a joke about the season only having 12 queens.
- Fans and even Drag Race alumni heaped plenty of love onto Sherry's superfan makeover challenge partner Janet The Planet after she was effectively cut out of the episode and the various spinoff media like Fashion Photo Ruview and The Pitstop due to Sherry's post-production disqualification. Many of her fellow fans jokingly petitioned that she should replace Sherry in the reunion and finale episodes to make up for getting edited out.
- Streisand Effect: In-universe example. Despite the production team's best efforts to Un-person Sherry, the very fact that she's somewhat jarringly (though understandably) edited out of most of the season lends her a vestigial presence and creates a weird sense of anticipation and intrigue in the viewers — essentially "how the hell are they going to handle the Sherry situation this week??"
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Patricia Quinn, during her rant against Aiden's impersonation of her in Snatch Game, also said it was tasteless of Sherry to make fun of Katherine Hepburn's tremors.
- Michelle calls her out for taking over seventeen minutes for what was supposed to be a five minute skit in the One-Queen Show challenge, saying that it was selfish, specially because Jaida still had to perform after her.
- Whole Costume Reference:
- For her Capes runway look, she goes with a Rule 63 version of Elvis Presley.
- Her The Color Purple runway look was inspired by the Cheshire Cat.
- Younger Than They Look: Most people would assume Sherry was in her late thirties to mid forties in (and out) of drag, but at 27 at the time of filming, she's the fourth youngest competitor on the season. ALL of Sherry's characters and runway looks read as a woman at least double her age, and she luxuriates in portraying mid-century Housewife-type characters and old battleaxes. She gets read for her penchant for sticking in this safe-zone come week 9.
Dahlia Sin (12th)
Age: 28
From: Los Angeles, California
"Are you ready to live a little, sin a lot?"
- Always Identical Twins: Mentions having an identical twin brother who is also gay and has been recently wanting to get into drag as well, much to Dahlia's chagrin.
- Butt-Monkey: Gets eliminated first, shows up in her disastrous Broc-ally costume over and over again throughout the season as a Running Gag, and at the Reunion is teased for "coming in thirteenth out of twelve queens".
- Callback: Dahlia gives an update on her brother's introduction to drag in the Reunion, saying that he's got wigs, padding, and makeup. "So yeah, guess he's doing drag now."
- Emotionless Girl: Tends to be rather deadpan
- Flat Character: The reason for her elimination due to her struggles in the improv challenge, with the judges wondering if all she knows how to do is be sexy.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: During the Fosse challenge, Dahlia claims to love Fosse, but when pressed, she finally admits that she has no idea of who he is.
- Narcissist: Dahlia Sin knows each season needs their beauty queens, and she's all too eager to take up the role.Dahlia: K, I'm gonna stare at myself.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Seems like the Fierce Broc-Ally is everything that will be remembered of her in the show. In the series 13 premiere, her photo joins those of all other first-out queens in the "Porkchop Loading Dock", but while the others are all their promo shoots, Dahlia's is her as the Broc-Ally.
- One Degree of Separation: She's the first of the Haus of Aja, drag daughters of Aja from season 9 and All Stars 3, to get on the show.
- Overly Long Gag: Expect her to make a cameo as Broc-Ally in almost every episode.
- Poor Communication Kills: Her Fosse verse was criticized for being misleading. She claims to be from the City of Sin, though she meant New York instead of Las Vegas, and mentions having won titles, which makes her sound like a pageant queen, but when asked to clarify Dahlia says that she just meant that she Really Gets Around.
- Redhead In Green: Does this look for her Spring runway. Michelle is actually a big fan of the look, which is no small deal considering her renowned hatred for green.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Once she's eliminated, Dahlia gives a curt goodbye and walks off without giving an exit line. Other queens mention that what aired was actually edited to portray her in a better light and that it took thirty minutes for the producers to convince her to give an exit speech.
- So Unfunny, It's Funny: Her performance as the Broc-Ally ends up being this, with her delivery being so stilted and awkward that it ends up becoming hilarious for all the wrong reasons.
- Sore Loser: Her reaction to losing the lip-sync is to curtly thank Ru and angrily storm off, before bitterly saying in her exit interview that Crystal Methyd should have been in the bottom instead of her.
- The Stoner: Ended up stuck in New York during the COVID quarantine but says that it's fine because she has a ton of weed stockpiled.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Her drag mother is Season 9 and All Stars 3's Aja, with many fans agreeing that she looks almost exactly like her.
- The Bus Came Back: After being eliminated in episode 3, she makes cameos in episodes 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 wearing her infamous Broc-Ally costume. It gets to the point where Ru and Michelle wonder if she's stalking them.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Downplayed. The first to be eliminated in her season, but with the premiere being split in two and no-one being eliminated in their first episode, we get two episodes to know her.
Rock M. Sakura (11th)
Age: 28
From: San Francisco, California
"All tuck and no play make Rock M. a crazy bitch!"
- Abusive Parents: She reveals that her mother once blamed Rock M for her own meth addiction, a hurtful comment that's affected her for years.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Began the competition with tons of energy and excitement but after struggling to lead the group in choreography during their first challenge, Rock's confidence takes a hit. Over the course of the next two episodes she gets more and more in her head and her elimination is heartbreaking. She completely breaks down backstage and spends her exit speech trying not to sob.
- Desperation Attack: It fast becomes clear that her elaborate gown is hindering her performance in the lip-sync, so once it's literally torn off she pulls out all the stops, with splits, spins and tricks to try and wow the judges. Sadly it ends up looking more desperate and sloppy than fierce, and doesn’t save her from elimination. Rock M revealed after the episode aired that Ru had completely stopped looking at her by the time she tore the dress off, so her efforts were All for Nothing.
- Duct Tape for Everything: At one point, she uses what she calls an old trick from cosplaying: she wraps a bunch of tape around her body, then cuts the big chunk of tape off to create a silhouette for a dress she's making.
- Foreshadowing: She foreshadowed her own elimination in one of her press week outfits, wearing a shirt depicting a woman with pink hair wearing a rainbow puffball dress in tears, mirroring the look she wore when eliminated.
- Gasshole: She let’s rip multiple times in the Werk Room and even incorporates a huge fart into a jumping split during her solo in the Bob Fosse number of week 1. The judges are... a little confused to say the least.
- Genki Girl: Her entrance cements this. She's literally running all around the Werk Room and clambering over the furniture with excitement.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: When Ru asks her how she’s been coping with lockdown during the Reunion episode, she gives us this delightful bit of Too Much Information:Rock: I'm just here in San Francisco, in my old converted nunnery. Also I've been masturbating so much that my wiener looks like a piece of beef jerky. Unusable. [everyone cracks up]Heidi: [completely straight-faced] ...I love beef jerky.
- No Accounting for Taste: Rock designs most of her outfits, which tend to have a strong concept, but her Ball runway lacked cohesion and seriously needed some editing. Rock expected to be in the top, and got eliminated instead.
- Occidental Otaku: Shamelessly so. She even lampshades it — "Is it cultural-appropriation? Let's find out".
- Prone to Tears: Especially in her elimination, where as soon as she gives her exit line and steps off camera, the whole cast hears her sobbing uncontrollably.
- Rummage Sale Reject: Her Ball runway look was criticized for this, with the judges saying that it looked like she just threw as many balls as possible on top of her outfit without rhyme or reason. It leads to her elimination.
- Self-Deprecation: A big fan of this kind of humor.
- Shout-Out: Her name is a reference to the Rock'em Sock'em Robots game.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Played with. During her lipsync, Rock's Impractically Fancy Outfit, complete with rigid panniers, gives her little room to move so she attempts to tear it apart. The actual malfunction is that the dress is too well built and she wastes much of the lipsync trying to fully tear the skirt off only for it to continually hang on by a thread. It kills any chance of her winning.
- Whole Costume Reference:
- Her entrance look is one to Sailor Moon. Complete with a transformation sequence!
- Her Buttons and Bows runway is an anime-style take on Alice from Alice in Wonderland, complete with a "drink me" bottle and a wig so long she uses it as a skipping rope.
- Post-elimination, she revealed her planned Makeover runway was based by her namesake, the Rock'em Sock'em Robots game, whilst her The Color Purple runway was inspired by Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time.
Nicky Doll (10th)
Age: 28
From: New York City, New York
"Well, that was a long flight."
- Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Invoked in the Reunion episode when she talks about getting messages from American fans saying "Sacré bleu”, "hon hon hon," and other stereotypical French phrases, and she could only laugh because French people don't actually say those things!
- Big Applesauce: She's one of five New York girls this season.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Over her tenure in the competition, Nicky gets more and more defeated, as she feels held back by the language barrier and the feeling that her personality just can't shine as brightly in another language.
- Covert Pervert: The first thing she comments on after seeing everyone de-drag for the first time is about how hot some of her competitors are.
- Deadpan Snarker: Is this in spades — enhanced by her haughty, fatigued expressions and marvellously dry French-accented delivery.
- Double Standard: Calls it out. She's one of the queens who takes issue with Aiden towards the end of her run, though Nicky's ire is more towards the judges' perception of her. Nicky points out how hurtful it is when she's critiqued so heavily for just being a fashion queen and not showing enough personality, while the judges see something special in Aiden because her drag is spooky and unpolished. Aiden's nap in the Werk Room and withdrawn nature certainly wasn't helping either.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: She was born and raised in Marseille, France and has the lithe body and sexy, sultry face to match the stereotype.
- Flat Character: Repeatedly critiqued by the judges for struggling to show her personality. Other queens however claim that this is only an issue on the runway, and note how funny Nicky is in the Werk Room.
- Funny Foreigner: Averted in the improv challenge out of concern that she would be critiqued for playing it too safe. She tries it in the Gay's Anatomy challenge, sprinkling french words into her lines, but her delivery is lacking and it ends up being more confusing than funny, landing Nicky in the bottom and leading to her elimination.
- Humble Hero: When asked which queen did the worst in the Gay's Anatomy challenge, Nicky has the humility and the honesty to answer herself. Unfortunately, the judges see this as a sign that she was giving up, and Ru bristles immediately at her Brutal Honesty. It's pretty obvious Nicky is going home that episode.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: Her Buttons and Bows dress severely limited her movement, leaving her unable to do much other than point and walk across the stage.
- I Work Alone: While by no means reclusive, Nicky is relieved to finally have an individual challenge come the Ball Ball.
- The Fashionista: Self-appointed "fashion queen" of the season. She's French as well!
- Kitsch Collection: Nicky apparently collects wooden sheep in place of having a real pet.
- Lost in Translation: English isn't her first language, so she's quite prone to misunderstandings and Malapropisms.
- Rank Up: Following in the steps of Season 11 contestant Brooklyn Hytes, Nicky is now the host of her own home nation’s spinoff series, Drag Race France.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Half-jokingly mentions that because she is pretty, the judges don't notice her personality and wonders if she has to fart on stage for the judges to think she has a soul.
- Tempting Fate: When asked which queen did the worst in the challenge, Nicky says herself. Guess who got eliminated that episode.
- Whole Costume Reference: Her Buttons and Bows runway look was a nod to Cinderella.
Aiden Zhane (9th)
Age: 29
From: Acworth, Georgia
"Season 12 is about to be in-Zhane!"
- All of the Other Reindeer: It's pretty clear that the other queens aren't the biggest fans of Aiden, although it's more for her attitude and work ethic than her style. It gets to the point that when Aiden is in the bottom three but is declared as safe from lip-syncing, the other queens are visibly shocked and in the next episode tell her that they think she should've been in the bottom 2.
- Bad Impressionists:
- Her Patricia Quinn impersonation in the Snatch Game was this. Along with using her regular voice instead of an Irish accent, Aiden portrayed her as a senile actress with substance abuse problems. The end result was so unfunny, that not only did she end up in the bottom two and got subsequently eliminated, but Quinn herself also called Aiden out on social media.
- Averted in the Gay's Anatomy challenge. Everyone else fears the worst, but Aiden's Mae West impression is perfectly serviceable.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Aiden has a signature minimalistic aesthetic, but in the Ball challenge she finishes her outfit rather quickly, even acknowledging that it's simple (just a corset covered in black and white balls), yet she decides to take a nap rather than add anything to it. It comes back to bite her when she winds up in the bottom three due to her look being read as basic and simplistic.
- Burger Fool: Has not yet been able to make drag a full time gig and works a day job as a line cook in an IHOP.
- Friendless Background: Unlike most queens, Aiden has no drag family and is relatively detached from her nearest drag community back home.
- However, she does have a Drag Sister in Dragula season 3 contestant and Dragula: Resurrection winner Saint (formerly Saint Lucia).
-
Disowned Adaptation: Usually when a living celebrity is impersonated on the Snatch Game, they're a good sport about it even if the performance goes poorly. Not Patricia Quinn. She hated the performance, was insulted by Aiden portraying her as a senile drug addict, and she made it clear that she doesn't know Aiden despite Aiden's claim that they had lunch together (or more likely it was one event out of countless others). - Gender-Blender Name: "Aiden" is typically a boy's name.
- Iconic Item: She really loves that black pussycat wig, to the point that after a few episodes fans started wondering if she even brought any other wigs. The Ball challenge in episode 4 finally showed her in some longer hair.
- Limited Wardrobe: Some of those same fans went as far as to speculate if this is the reason why she wears that wig so often. In the reunion episode, Aiden reveals that she actually owns several black pussycat wigs, who are all displayed on mannequin heads, and she simply likes the style.
- Minimalism: Claims that her drag style follows a "less is more" aesthetic (simple, knee-length dresses / cropped wig). Deconstructed, in that her adherence to this makes some of her looks seem unfinished — her Buttons & Bows look garnered infamy for being more or less a sweater with a few little bows attached to it. And then there's her infamous black & white corset with balls hanging off it during the Ball challenge.
- Nightmare Fetishist: She's a proud horror-queen and loves to shock with her strangely compelling, yet vaguely disturbing looks.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Played Patricia Quinn with her normal voice rather than Quinn's Irish accent. Michelle grilled her for it.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: The fact that Aiden took a nap after finishing up her rather simplistic outfit during the Ball challenge really irked some of the girls, even though she placed in the bottom 3 on that challenge. During the next episode, despite Aiden doing well in the challenge and placing safe, both Brita and Nicky bring it up again.
- Redundancy Department of Redundancy: While telling the other queens about how she reflected on her time in the competition, Aiden mentions having 'self-conversations with myself.'
- The Scream: Refusing to be remembered as The Quiet One, she does this upon her exit, good and loud.
- The Stoic: The other queens note that she's rather quiet and withdrawn for a drag queen.
- Take That!: A playful example; after being read throughout her run for seemingly wearing ‘that one black pussycat wig ALL the time’, in the Zoom-style Reunion episode, Aiden films herself with rows of nearly-identical black pussycat wigs in the background. Doubles as a Funny Background Event.
- Took a Level in Badass: During the season, Aiden was often criticized by both judges and fans for her outfits looking cheap and basic. During the finale, she shows-up in a stunning evil-queen gown that wowed everyone.
- Uncanny Valley Makeup: Her speciality as this season’s spooky queen. She paints in an exaggerated 30s/40s style, often incorporating cat-like lenses. This, combined with her own natural facial features, lends her an evil-doll-like quality.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- During the Ball, Aiden quickly finishes her outfit and even has time to take a nap — but said outfit lands her in the bottom three due to being read as basic and unfinished. The other queens cut her no slack, saying that they were insulted by Aiden sleeping while they were working hard on their own outfits, and that she could have worked on improving the look, with Jan even giving her a whistle to use as a prop after pointing out that the outfit would read as a referee. Aiden tries to explain that she has a minimalistic aesthetic, and that by adding more to the outfit she thought it would look silly, but the other queens take it as an excuse for her laziness.
- The opposite happens in Gay's Anatomy Untucked, where Aiden calls out the other queens for constantly bullying and belittling her throughout the competition.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Wears white eye contacts with slanted pupils during the Frozen runway but as Aiden is being critiqued, her contacts begin to rotate sideways, which the camera playfully does a close up on.
Brita Filter (8th)
Age: 34
From: New York City, New York
"Here we go, sis! Y'all thirsty?"
- Big Applesauce: She's one of five New York girls this season, though she's originally from Hawaii.
- Big Beautiful Woman: One of this season’s curvier girls.
- Big Fun: It's worth noting that Brita is the only queen on season 12 not to be 5'8"-5'10", standing slightly taller than everyone else at 6'. Due to her height and size, she calls herself "a rhino trying to be a giraffe".
- The Bully: She is dismissive of Aiden from the get-go, but as the competition goes on and Brita does not do as well as she expected, she starts talking smack about her almost every episode. Reaches a critical point in episode 5, when Brita has a complete meltdown after placing low when Aiden was safe, straight-up telling Aiden that she should go home. She shows remorse over it in the reunion.
- Blatant Lies: After harshly critiquing Aiden throughout the competition, as soon as Aiden is eliminated Brita goes on about how much they all loved her and how much respect she has for the fallen queen.
- Evil Laugh: And it's her real laugh too.
- Failed a Spot Check: Her Michelle Visage runway was a perfect recreation with the exception of her earrings, with Michelle saying that she would never wear a button earring like Brita had on.
- Graceful Loser: Handles her elimination surprisingly well, given her propensity for bluster, and manages to keep smiling even when she says how heartbroken she is.
- A Hero to His Hometown: In case you haven't heard — Brita is from New York City — and she's here to represent.
- Hidden Depths: Received a considerable vocal scholarship to go to a performing arts school, though this does not come up much because by her own admission, the low register that earned the scholarship doesn't translate well to emulating a woman.
- Humble Pie: Having had the chance to watch herself back, Brita admits that quite a bit of the bumptious behaviour she exhibited during her run bothers her, and she’s much nicer and less self-aggrandizing in the Reunion episode.
- I Can't Dance:
- Brita expresses a lot of concern over not being able to have the choreography down in time in the Fosse challenge of the first episode and tends to be the slowest in learning moves in her group back home.
- Proves to be her downfall in the Madonna: The Rusical challenge. Brita's nerves and lesser ability when it comes to choreography is what ultimately sends her home.
- The Klutz: Accidentally spilled an entire container of balls while the queens were trying to grab materials, leading to the group collectively groaning her name.
- Paper Tiger: Despite talking a big game and constantly touting herself as a major threat that the other girls should watch out for, Brita was either safe or in the bottom in all episodes she was in.
- The Pig-Pen: Easily considered to be the messiest of the queens in terms of her werk-station. By her own admission, her room at home is so messy she needs someone to come in twice a week to clean it.
- Reformed Bully: After seeing how she acted throughout the season, Brita admits that her behavior was rather arrogant, and shows remorse for her actions.
- Spit Take: Brita has a habit of spitting when she speaks; when she and Aiden are planning their dialogue for Gay's Anatomy, Brita practically showers her in a torrent of saliva.
- Tempting Fate: During the Michelle Visage runway, Brita walks across stage holding a card that declares herself the winner of the challenge. Brita's eliminated the same episode...
- Unknown Rival: Exhibits a lot of resentment toward Aiden, while the latter is mostly unbothered (though understandably confused) by it.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment:
- Brita's Basketball Wives runway has a bust-line stuffed with cash.
- During the Ball Untucked, Brita uses the bust of her dress as a cup holder.
- Vocal Dissonance: Looks like a glamorous woman in drag but has a low, extremely raspy voice. Played for laughs in the Madonna: The Rusical challenge where she alternates between a high singing voice and a deep baritone.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Much like Jan, Brita's full drag name is Brita Filter.
Jan Sport (7th)
Age: 26
From: New York City, New York
"Hey y'all! Let's play some basketball! Yes!"
- Ambiguous Situation: The other queens doubt that Jan was truly in tears over Brita being eliminated and was far more upset at not winning the Madonna: The Rusical challenge. Jan insists that it was purely because she knew how badly Brita wanted to win. It gets brought up during the Reunion, where Jan concedes that the other girls were right — she was more upset over her mounting frustration.
- Ascended Fangirl: Has been a long time super fan of Drag Race — and now she's finally here.
- Armored Closet Gay: An unusual example of this being upheld by other people rather than Jan herself. Because she was an avid soccer player in school, many people assumed she "couldn't be that gay" despite also being a loud theater kid.
- Audience Surrogate: Acts as this whenever there's heightened drama happening in Untucked. She doesn't get involved beyond slapping the "Shade Button" and tends to comically overreact when observing, much like a fan watching at home would.
- Big Applesauce: She's one of five New York girls this season.
- Catchphrase: "Feel the Jantasy".
- Character Tic: As pointed out by Jackie, Jan's voice gets higher when she's frustrated.
- Comical Overreacting: During the fight in the Gay's Anatomy Untucked, Jan stays out of the drama but watches with expressive reactions and stays near the ‘Shade Button’ to slap as needed.
- Fatal Flaw: Jan's ambition and eagerness to please. The judges mention that Jan is so motivated to win that she tries much too hard at everything she does, to the point she ends up feeling overbearing and a bit obnoxious.
- Genki Girl: Jan sports an infectious, perky confidence and approaches each challenge with gusto.
- Girl Next Door: Sweet, cheerful and wholesome, Jan (for the most part) doesn’t exhibit the waspish, snarkier qualities most queens trot out as part of a drag persona.
- Go-Getter Girl: Her persona is that of a peppy cheerleader, and she’s not shy in revealing her ambition to go beyond mainstream — as Ru wryly notes.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Prior to her elimination, following the Droop challenge, she’s critiqued for trying too hard.
- Heroic BSoD: The "face-crack of the century". Everyone thought it was a given that Jan would win the Rusical challenge, since she's the theater queen of the season, but ultimately the win went to Gigi. Queue Jan making one of the most infamous face-cracks in the franchise since Shangela's after not making the top 2 in All Stars 3. You can just see the shattered dreams in her face as she shambles to the back of the stage, completely deflated.
- There's a Funny Background Event at the end of this episode, when Ru asks the usual "can I get an amen" and the queens all reply enthusiastically, except Jan, who's already begun her descent from BSOD into Inelegant Blubbering, which carries over into the couch meeting at the beginning of the next episode.
- Master of None:
- Jan is an extremely well-rounded queen but consistently gets overshadowed by other queens in both challenges and runways. This got to the point where, after six episodes, she hadn’t been critiqued (positively or negatively) once, as she never landed in the top or in the bottom, always being safe.
- Finally averted in the Madonna: The Rusical challenge when Jan places high. She receives universal praise for her amazing performance and flawless runway... only for Gigi to get the win instead. The Untucked is full of Dramatic Irony as the other queens all agree that Jan is going to win.
- Meaningful Name: Just like the middle Brady sister, Jan is constantly overlooked in favor of the other queens.
- Middle Child Syndrome: Invoked via the various wry nods to Trope Codifier Jan Brady that she incorporates into her attention-loving drag persona, but this also becomes strangely apposite with regards to her actual success on the show, as the judges seemingly overlook Jan, despite her being a strong all-rounder, throughout her tenure.
- One Degree of Separation: Her drag mother is season 9's Alexis Michelle. Other members of her drag family include fellow Season 12 competitor Brita Filter as a drag aunt, Season 13's Rosé as another drag aunt (and fellow member of Stephanie's Child), and Canada Season 1's Lemon as a drag cousin (and also a former roommate).
- Only One Name: Just Jan.
- Out-of-Character Moment: The usually cheerful Jan goes silent after getting declared safe in the Madonna challenge. After being safe the entirety of the competition thus far, Jan was ready for this to be her moment, only to lose it at the last second to fellow Ace Gigi Goode. Widow adds in a confessional:Widow Von Du: Y'all didn't see her face when she turned around. But I saw that. You know, like, the scary movies when the serial killer finally just, like, snaps, and just starts tearing faces off? Hooooo-ney. She is upset.
- Phrase Catcher: Ru cheekily acknowledges her having to necessarily shorten her name for the show by always introducing her as "Simply, Jan".
- Running Gag: Slapping the 'Shade Button' in Untucked whenever anything shady happens.
- Second Place Is for Losers: After barnstorming performances described as "perfect" in both the Madonna: The Rusical and Michelle Visage challenges of week 7, Jan (and her fellow queens) are sure she's finally out of the "safe" box and got a win in the bag — until Gigi snatches first place (again). Needless to say, Jan was devastated, the queens are agog with shock and #JusticeForJan and #JanWasRobbed immediately began trending.
- Self-Deprecation: In the Reunion episode, Jan (wearing a robe featuring a repeating pattern of her own now-infamous face-crack following the Madonna challenge), gamely acknowledges her unshifting "safe" status, and when asked to describe her experience on the show in one word, her response? "Safe."
- Shout-Out:
- Began her solo in the Fosse challenge of week 1 by storming centre-stage ranting "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"
- For the Droop product challenge she creates "Sure, Jan", a glamourizing spray that transforms awkward Jans into smoking-hot Marcias.
- Transatlantic Equivalent: Jan is incredibly similar looking (in and out of drag) to Cheryl Hole from Drag Race UK; they also both exhibit a sweet, exuberant personality. Both queens have thoroughly embraced and acknowledged their twinhood, and when Jan noted that both she and Cheryl wore the same wig that they did for their entrances for their commercials (without knowing or discussing), Cheryl immediately tweeted "Yes! We can finally confirm we are the same person!"
- Whole Costume Reference:
- Her Frozen runway look was based on a White Walker version of Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones.
- Appears as a Rule 63 version of Edward Scissorhands in the Finale.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Her full drag name, Jan Sport, is trademarked, so for television she shortened it to Jan. She even invokes You Wanna Get Sued? within her first minute in the Werk Room.Jan: Hi! I'm Jan.Rock M. Sakura: Jan! Nice to me- Oh, Jan *bleep*, right?Jan: Uh, it's just Jan!
Widow Von'Du (6th)
Age: 30
From: Kansas City, Missouri
"Relax your throat, bitches, 'cause you're gagging."
- Acrofatic: Despite a bigger figure, she's incredibly agile, as showcased in the rap challenge and lipsync against Gigi in episode one, where Widow drops down into a one-handed crab, performs multiple splits and even does some contortionism.
- Animal Motif: She is named after the Black Widow and outright compares herself to a spider at the start of episode 8. Hilarity Ensues in her talking head when she starts going a bit overboard with the spider analogies, talking about laying eggs in her competitor's dead bodies, which manages to gross even herself out.
- Badass Boast: Outright tells the other queens that if there was another dance challenge, she would destroy them at it.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Has no problem showing off her body and wants to give other big girls the confidence to do the same.
- Boastful Rap: It was no secret that Widow was a good rapper but her freestyling in the Reunion proves just how talented she really is.
- Brought Down to Normal: Dominated the first week only to spend the next several episodes just safe. Widow notes with immense frustration in episode 8 that she truly does not know what is causing this mental roadblock.
- Chewing the Scenery: Produces scene-stealing performances in both the World's Worst challenge and Gay's Anatomy with her quick wit and over-the-top acting.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: Does this intentionally on the Capes runway, tearing the bikini top off her outfit to reveal pasties.
- Comical Overreacting: Doesn't say much during the argument in the Gay's Anatomy Untucked but her facial reactions alone tell a whole story.
- Crazy-Prepared: Brought detailed sheets of notes for eight potential Snatch Game characters.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Was kicked out of her home after her mother died and has dealt with homelessness and a slew of abusive relationships. The story has a heartwarming ending as Widow adds that she's living her best life now with her loving husband, her own home, and working her dream job.
- Dance Battler: She’s a badass on the dance floor, and pulls no punches during the first lip-sync of the season, even resorting to some unexpected contortionist skills.
- Doomed Defeatist: Starts to take on this mentality towards the end of her run, as she hadn't won a challenge since week one and had been consistently safe. Unable to find a reason for why she's slipping, Widow begins to get more and more in her head and feel like she's just not good enough and that it's all for nothing. It gets to the point that when asked by the judges what had gone down wrong after her middling performance in the Choices 2020 debate (her last episode), she just frustratedly shrugs and says that she doesn't know what else she can do.
- Funny Background Event: During Untucked, as Brita is prepping to lip-sync and giving a dramatic talking head, the camera pans out to Widow hula-hooping the life preserver she wore for her Frozen look.
- Happily Married
- Hard Work Hardly Works: As noted under Crazy-Prepared Widow arrived with eight different celebrity cheat sheets for Snatch Game, however impersonations just are not part of her wheelhouse so she still gets called out for delivering a mediocre Tina Turner/Ike Turner.
- I Work Alone: Admits in the Reunion that she didn't try to get particularly close to any of the other queens, though she still considers them friends.
- Informed Attribute: The other queens mention that Widow is a heavy smoker.
- Kind Hearted Cat Lover: When mentioning all the things she's thankful for in life, Widow makes special mention of having a great cat.
- Meaningful Name: Got the name 'Widow' because she was known for going through men at home.
- Non-Ironic Clown: The basis for her second runway.
- Parting-Words Regret: The last interaction Widow had with her mother was an argument that ended with Widow storming out of the house. Her mother died in a car crash that same day.
- Really Gets Around: While playing a game where the contestants have to give the queen next to them a new drag name, Widow's first reaction to Nicky's suggestion of 'Anita Man' is to casually say "I already got two."
- Stealth Pun: She's a black Widow.
- Stripperiffic: Many of her outfits reveal a lot of skin.
- Whole Costume Reference: Her Frozen runway is this to Titanic (1997), complete with a whistle like the one Rose uses to call for help.
Heidi N Closet (5th + Miss Congeniality)
Age: 24
From: Ramseur, North Carolina
"America, it's time to stop hiding in the closet!"
- Armor-Piercing Question: After Nicki Minaj tells Heidi on the main stage how much she hated her makeup, Heidi asks her point blank in the Untucked lounge (even starting by politely raising her hand and waiting for Nicki to call on her) what Nicki hated about it. The unexpectedness of the question had both Nicki and the other queens shook.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She’s a sweet, softly-spoken queen, but her irritation at the catty drama centering around Aiden comes to boiling point during Untucked and she yells at everyone, telling them to grow up and stay in their lanes.
- Brick Joke: Does Leslie Jones for Snatch Game a week after Leslie guest judged. Not only does Heidi recreate the outfit Leslie wore, but she uses the pair of shoes Widow was wearing that Leslie hated (and autographed) as a prop that causes Widow to nearly break character from laughing.
- Bully Hunter: In the Untucked of the fifth episode, when quite a few of the queens rail against Aiden, and what they perceive to be her lack of talent, Heidi leaps in to defend her.
- Catchphrase: She often describes herself as "soft and supple" (with her whistling out the S through her tooth gap) and "blessed and highly favored".
- Celebrity Resemblance: Fans have remarked on how she looks like Octavia Spencer, in and out of drag.
- Character Tic: Tends to raise her hand and politely wait for acknowledgement before she makes a cutting remark.
- Comical Overreacting: In the Choices 2020 political debating challenge, if Heidi couldn't think of a quip to play off of her competitors she would gasp and react as dramatically as possible. It works and earns her a top spot.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: Does this on purpose during her Button and Bows runway to expose a buttoned-covered gusset.
- Country Mouse: Hailing from Ramseur NC, she lacks the big city entourages and experience of most of the other queens, but she’s no less of a fierce competitor.
- Dance Battler: Despite her low-energy, country girl vibe, she whips out all the moves on the main stage.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Fans herself as soon as the Pit Crew come out and has no qualms about having to stand next to them.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: During the Ball challenge, Heidi explains in the Werk Room how she doesn't want her outfit to be just a bunch of balls everywhere....as she looks over and realizes what she’s saying whilst standing right next to Rock's outfit, which is exactly that.
- Good Is Not Soft: She’s a mellow soul, but won’t stand bullying or cattiness, whatsoever.
- Hairstyle Malfunction: During her lip-sync with Nicky Doll, her wig fell off. Luckily, she managed to pick up and put the wig back on as if nothing happened.
- I Am Not Pretty: Heidi has a lot of problems with her self image and states that the only time she feels beautiful is when she's in drag, so takes any critiques on her makeup fully to heart.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Her name is so much this that Ru starts openly trying to convince her to get a better one. By episode 5, she's calling her 'Heidi N. Seek'.
- Large Ham: She practically chews the stage during her Droop commercial, landing her her first win.
- Malaproper: She describes the fabric for her entrance look as "leprosy print" note
- Meaningful Rename: After weeks of utterly hating her drag name, Ru re-christens her ‘Heidi Afrodite’ as of week 10 — a series first. Heidi is delighted and onboard. Backtracked in the Reunion, however, when Heidi reveals that she prefers to listen to her fans, who prefer her original name.
- Nice Girl: One of the sweetest queens of the season. She's quick to comfort other queens during emotional times and steers clear of petty drama. It was no surprise to anyone when she won Miss Congeniality.
- Noodle Incident: A serious example. In the first episode, Heidi has a severe allergic reaction and has to be taken to the ER, fortunately making a full recovery. The comedy factor comes in when Heidi has deduced that the reaction was either because of the hotel's detergent or because of kale, which she has promptly sworn off.
- Precision F-Strike: Delivers this times four as she chews the other girls out.
- Punny Name: "Hiding (in the) closet".
- Raised by Grandparents: Mentions being raised by her grandmother.
- Rejected Apology: After Gigi puts down Heidi's makeup, Gigi tries to apologize — twice. The first time they're interrupted by the guest judges coming to see them backstage; the second time Gigi is able to complete her apology but Heidi delivers a rather scathing rejection: "I respect you, but I've lost a little respect for you today."
- Running Gag:
- Ru lets it known Once per Episode that she hates Heidi's name. Heidi has stated that she is not too proud to change it if it gets her closer to the crown.
- Another is her propensity to always gamely appropriate Ru's ideas, be it for her 'Heidi Hydrates' commercial, or even her own new drag name as 'Heidi Afrodite'.
- Reaches its zenith in the Reunion, where Heidi coyly but firmly tells Ru that she and her fans (‘Closet Cases’) prefer to stick with her ‘N Closet’ last name. With good-natured humour, Ru simply replies “well that’s a mistake.”
- Southern Belle: From North Carolina and has the drawling accent to match.
- Toothy Issue: Used a flipper as a gag during the improv challenge. Though Heidi does have a sizable gap between her front two teeth — which came in handy for the Madonna-themed challenge of episode 7.
- Unlocking the Talent: In the improv challenge, after being picked as the perceived weakest competition, even improv vet Jackie is shocked at how well Heidi performed.
- Vocal Dissonance: Has a very soft, feminine voice that has been compared to that of an old Southern woman who sits on her porch and drinks sweet tea.
- Wardrobe Malfunction:
- During the spring fashion runway, her tall headpiece comes off, exposing her real hair. To her credit she keeps on going as if nothing happened.
- Her wig falls off during her lip-sync against Nicky Doll. Fortunately, she's able to quickly put it back on and continue.
- Whole Costume Reference: For her Buttons and Bows runway look, she dresses as a sexy, Rule 63 version of Disney's Pinocchio.
Jackie Cox (4th)
Age: 34
From: New York City, New York
"Roll call! I'm Jackie! Salaam, the Persian princess of drag has arrived!"
- Academic Alpha Bitch: Downplayed, but humorously evidenced in the Reunion, where a montage of Jackie bossily organising various group challenges and assigning tasks, to the eye-rolling of some of her fellow queens, reveals something of an overbearing side to her personality.
- Always Second Best: Was in the top in six challenges but won none, with Widow, Gigi, Sherry, Heidi and Crystal each snatching the win from her hands.
- Approval of God: Lisa Rinna loved Jackie's Portrayal of her in Snatch Game. So much so that she made a video for the Reunion talking about how good she and her husband (Harry Hamlin, have you met him?) thought it was.
- Bedlah Babe: Her Capes runway — a Persian princess-inspired ensemble in gold, complete with harem-pants.
- Big Applesauce: She's one of five New York girls this season.
- But Not Too Foreign: Of Persian descent, born in Canada and now based in NYC.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Jackie's mother wanted her to be a doctor so badly that she got a teenaged Jackie an internship at a hospital — collecting stool samples.
- Cool Aunt: Describes herself as this in her Meet The Queens video.
- Covert Pervert: Just look at how she looks at the Pit Crew.
- Team Dad: In addition to being everyone's fun aunt, Jackie has come to terms that she is the dad of the season.
- Determinator: Despite going into the final challenge with two bottom placements and no wins, Jackie refuses to let that get in her way and approaches the challenge with an "I can do this" spirit.
- Eagle-Eye Detection: Gets applauded for her attention to detail when it comes to the Michelle Visage runway and Michelle in particular is impressed that Jackie recreated the exact manicure and lightning bolt ring she had worn.
-
Genius Bonus: She mentions R&B singer Deborah Cox in the political debate challenge. Most people would assume it's because they share a last name, but it was also because Deborah is a fellow Canadian. - Hypocrite: Ribs Aiden in a talking head for not knowing much about Mae West; the very next episode Jackie has a moment of extreme Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure to not pick up that Widow was doing Tina Turner for Snatch Game from the wig Widow shows her.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes:
- Some of her outfits have been read for coming across as costumey though Jackie avoids this for the most part.
- Deliberately invoked in her episode 7 runway look, where Carson calls the outfit Jackie’s wearing cheap, tacky, and whorish — but because she’s supposed to be dressed as Michelle Visage, it works perfectly.
- Innocently Insensitive: Points out that Snatch Game is the one challenge that they all know is coming and felt that the group as a whole should have done better, much like they did the preceding week when no one was necessarily bad. The other queens explain that it's easy for Jackie (an improv pro) to say that when improv is not as easy as she's making it out to be, but Jackie doesn't seem to get the message.
- Moose and Maple Syrup: She's the second Drag Race queen in the US series (after Brooke Lynn Hytes) and third overall (including Crystal from the UK edition) to originally hail from Canada. This becomes her schtick in the Choices 2020 political debating challenge, where she constantly makes references to being Canadian. However, it ends up being one-note and lands her in the bottom.
- Mr. Fanservice: Is a classically attractive man that has been referred to as the trade of the season by Heidi. Miss Vanjie even flirts with him when she sees him.
- Overly Long Gag: Purposefully done in her Droop commercial, which harkens back to the cheesy commercials of the 1960's. The same shot of Jackie looking earnestly into the camera and going "For you!" is used three times throughout.
- Perma-Stubble: Clocked for this by Michelle in the first episode, though by the next runway, she had fortunately fixed it. Jackie at one point mentions that if she's going to be in drag for a long time that she has to take off her makeup, re-shave, and re-do her makeup or else her beard will bleed through.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure:
- Failed to identify Tina Turner's signature hairstyle when Widow showed her her Snatch Game outfit.
- When it comes to the Madonna: The Rusical challenge, Jackie completely missunderstands her role of Boy Toy Madonna and plays her cute, rather than sexy, which lands her in the bottom.
- The Smart Guy: Many queens consider her wit to be a force to be reckoned with.
- Retraux:
- Jackie stands out by directly emulating fashion from the 1960s — the name 'Jackie' is undoubtedly for 60s icon, Jackie Kennedy.
- Her Droop infomercial was heavily inspired by I Dream of Jeannie and used 60s “movie magic” techniques, such as cutting and holding position while props are moved into place, to appear as if by magic.
- Goes with a disco theme for her Superfan Makeover runway, though unfortunately the look is bland and uninspired, which leads to her lipsyncing.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Jackie reveals that she never met any of the expectations that her mother set for her and fears that her learning that she does drag would be her mother’s worst nightmare. Despite that, Jackie still hopes to find a way to make her mother proud through drag. Jackie's father on the other hand, was supportive from the start and Jackie was constantly trying to find the middle ground between them.
- Whole Costume Reference:
- Jackie's entrance look is a send up of Annette Funicello's Mouseketeer outfit, with Snow White's trademark hairstyle and red bow.
- Her The Colour Purple runway look was inspired by the one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater of the eponymous Sheb Wooley song.
Crystal Methyd (runner-up)
Age: 28
From: Springfield, Missouri
"Who's ready to party and play? Checkers, anyone?"
- Always Second Best: Was in the top in four challenges in a row, but didn't win any, with Jaida, Gigi and Heidi each snatching the win from her. She finally breaks the curse when she wins the One-Queen Show challenge of week 11.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Crystal often paints her skin in wild colors; throughout the show she's been red, silver, grey, purple, orange, blue, yellow, pink, and even multicolored.
- Ambiguous Gender: Portraying a woman isn't a high priority for Crystal. She has the capacity to look perfectly glamorous and feminine but many of her looks don't even look human, let alone womanly. Notably, Crystal wears pants for every runway except for three.
- Attractive Zombie: Unlike the other queens, who went with more glamourous looks, Crystal's The Bride Wore Black runway wouldn't look out of place on Dragula and was equal parts Lydia Deetz and Corpse Bride.
- Big Red Devil: Her first runway look evokes this.
- Bowling for Ratings: The basis for her Lady Baller runway, inspired by the fact that before Drag Race, Crystal worked in the basement of a bowling alley.
- Character Tic: When someone asks Crystal a question she is not prepared to answer, her response is to stare at the person asking the question and respond "...No" with her voice getting higher if she's nervous. This happens no less than four times in the first episode alone.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Her drag is crazily creative, and even out of it, she maintains an upbeat, wacky persona.
- Her One-Queen Show, where she portrayed a male exotic dancer named Phenomenal Phil, was described by the judges as "the stupidest thing they'd ever seen"... and they loved it, earning Crystal her first win. As Crystal explains in her Whatcha Packin video, not even she knows what that was.
- Everything Crystal did in the Finale certainly counts. Her red carpet look is a literal piñata that farts confetti, she at one point dresses in a suit with printed on body hair and a necklace made of dolls’ legs, and her self-designed lip-sync is a deranged Subverted Kids' Show featuring herself playing vomiting bird puppets.
- Chekhov's Skill: The queens mention in multiple press week interviews that Crystal can paint a full face at breakneck speeds. This is showcased in the premiere when Crystal able to completely change her makeup (which included painting her entire face red) in the time between the group challenge and the runway, which was said to be only thirty minutes.
- Darkhorse Victory: She definitely was the underdog going into the finale in terms of stats, with only one challenge win versus Gigi's four and Jaida's three, and that win took until nearly the end of the competition to finally snatch.
- A Day in the Limelight: After weeks of being Out of Focus, hovering around the safe-zone, and generally being treated as something of an endearing novelty act, the One-Queen Show challenge of week 11 sees Crystal absolutely slay the competition with her (phenomenal) Phenomenal Phil: Exotic Dance Instructor skit and deservedly bag her first win.
- Double Entendre: Her entrance line; the term 'party and play' is slang for getting high before sex. Production didn't like the line and only allowed her to use it so long as she subverted it, hence the "Checkers, anyone?" at the end.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Crystal gives Sherry a noticeable Disapproving Look during the Choices 2020 debate, when Sherry once again plays an old woman with tremors. This was after Crystal revealed that her father had Parkinson's.
- '80s Hair: Sports a curly mullet out of drag. It's heavily implied that Crystal started growing the mullet as a tribute to her father after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: In her own words; if it doesn't come together, cover it with glitter. Her campaign in the Choices 2020 political debating challenge in episode 9 is centered around her love for sparkles, and when she asks the other queens for a word that identifies her for her Top 4 verse, they all immediately answer glitter.
- Fangirl: Loves One Direction, enough to get a 1D tattoo during a concert. The other queens note that she appears to get the most starstruck (by Ru, the judges and even her fellow queens) in general as well.
- Freaky Fashion, Mild Mind: Has a penchant for bizarre (yet cool) clown-like make-up and some off-the-wall looks, yet she's one of sweetest, jolliest queens of the bunch.
- The Gadfly:
- Introduces herself as 'The Dancing Diva of Missouri' only to immediately take it back when a producer calls her bluff.
- In her Meet The Queens video, she claims to be a singer but in the first episode, Crystal admits to having never even done karaoke before.
- Genre Savvy:
- Michelle tells her to change her makeup; Crystal applies the critique the next very episode without sacrificing her style. Notably this instance makes Crystal one of the very few queens to survive the "Change Your Makeup Curse" and not be eliminated during the episode she gives the judges what they want.
- Utilizes Ru's obsession with her hair in the Droop challenge by making her product a mullet wig. It works, the commercial comes out hilarious and scores Crystal a high placement. She brings it back again the following week for the Choices 2020 political debating challenge and again it scores Crystal a high placement. She does it again for the One-Queen Show challenge, and ends up winning.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Frequently paints a simple scar over her right eye and has an actual scar over the same eyebrow.
- Heroic Second Wind: Crystal has a shaky start in the competition and teeters near the bottom two more than a couple of times, being critiqued for her lack of confidence and makeup choices. Starting with the Rusical, Crystal has five episode streak of high placements, getting rave reviews for her personality and fashion, culminating in a well deserved win for the standup challenge.
- Homage: Her The Color Purple runway was inspired by the work of the sculptor and performance artist Nick Cave. (NB - not this guy)
- Lust Object: Ru can’t get enough of her mullet hair.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The Nice of the final three, when looking back at their shadiest moments throughout the season, none of the queens can give an example for Crystal.
- Non-Ironic Clown: Her entrance look is based around one. Crystal's signature makeup is inspired by clowns as well.
- Oblivious to Love: Took her a really long time to realize that Ru liked her.
- Out of Focus: Crystal receives very little screen time in the first half of the season, with very few confessionals, few lines in Untucked and almost all of her little screentime being devoted to Ru's love for her mullet and El Debarge references. She starts to break out of this by the second half of the season, with a string of high placements culminating in a win in episode 11 and a spot in the top three in episode 12.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure:
- When asked if the boots for her devil outfit were Prada, Crystal just stutters out a "No".
- Crystal makes it clear that she has no idea who El DeBarge is, despite Ru constantly bringing him up.
- Prone to Tears: Seemingly the most overwhelmed of the bunch, albeit a talented queen, she often wells up when receiving critiques — and even when Ru lends her some supportive advice prior to Snatch Game.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Over the course of the series, Crystal and Gigi have become close friends and have no issue showing affection; they spent the majority of one Untucked holding hands and even shared a teasing air kiss. Since filming, they’ve made a lot of jokes on social media about being “secret lovers“ following their time on the show — in the Reunion episode, neither confirm or deny it, and many fans have wistfully commented that they hope they're serious.
- Punny Name: Crystal Meth-head.
- Recursive Crossdressing: Plays a male stripper character ‘Phenomenal Phil’ for the One-Queen Show challenge of week 11. And wins.
- Retraux: Crystal's Droop infomercial is designed with an 80s aesthetic, from the mall backdrops and neon graphics used to the VHS-style camera filter.
- Rummage Sale Reject: Defied — Crystal is a self-described thrift store queen who says that every necklace she owns cost less than three dollars. Despite this her runways, in particular her Stars and Stripes runway, are well put together and may well be cheap, but certainly don’t look that way.
- Running Gag: Ru's obsession with Crystal's real hair, and El DeBarge’s "Rhythm of the Night" playing every time he mentions it. Ru takes this obsession a step further during Snatch Game when he tells Crystal that she should do DeBarge, despite Crystal not actually knowing who he is.
- Shrinking Violet: Has shades of this and outright says her makeup helps with her confidence. Her vulnerability prior to the Snatch Game challenge compels Ru to give Crystal a famously infrequent Cooldown Hug.
- Signature Style: Overdrawn eyes and clown-like lips that vaguely resemble a moustache.
- Stepford Smiler: Likes to draw on her lips in a way that makes her look like she is always smiling.
- Subverted Kids' Show: With the final three tasked to pick a song and make something of a music video for it, Crystal (in typical outside-the-box fashion) opts to lip sync to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like A Bird" while made up to look like various cartoonish-looking birds. It's very cute, until one of the Crystal!Birds vomits in another one's mouth.
- Took a Level in Badass: She starts the season quite under the radar and ends up in the bottom three twice, but beginning with the Madonna: The Rusical challenge, she manages to place high one week after another until finally scoring a win in the eleventh episode and making the top three come week 12.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Crystal has the fortune of having both parents be supportive of both her and her drag. She credits both of them, particularly her father, for the reason she's so crafty and creative and hopes that they'll be proud with what she does on the show.
- Whole Costume Reference:
- Her fall runway look in episode 1 is basically a couture Freddy Krueger.
- Crystal's Frozen runway look was inspired by Mr. Freeze's pyjamas in Batman & Robin.
- She based her Superfan Makeover looks off of Bert and Ernie and wins high praise for daring to do so.
- For the Reunion episode (category: nightwear), Crystal lives up to her penchant for taking a theme to its zaniest level, dressing as Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, complete with (lit) bedside candle.
Gigi Goode (runner-up)
Age: 21
From: Los Angeles, California
"My name is Gigi Goode and I'm not just good, I'm incredible."
- The Ace: She's the first queen in the franchise to win the Ball, the Snatch Game and the Rusical episodes in a single season, as well as the second fastest queen in the franchise to reach three challenge wins, at only six episodes. Overall, Gigi has the most challenge wins out of season 12's top three, with a total of four, and is the only queen in the top three to have never landed in the bottom 2.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism:
- Gigi's Droop commercial opens with the line "Hi, I'm better than you" and makes the price of her product the exact amount of money she's won from challenges. However, Gigi lacked the timing and delivery to sell these lines, making her sound entitled and arrogant rather than comedically narcissistic.
- During the Droop Untucked, Gigi asks the other queens who they thought was their strongest competition. However, given that this was the first episode where Gigi had received any negative critique, it felt less like she genuinely wanted to know, and more like she knew everyone would say her and was fishing for an ego boost.
- This comes up hard in the Finale and interviews that were recorded beforehand. Gigi was unbelievably confident and fully expected the crown to be her's for the taking.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Three 'Gs' in a row. Lampshaded during the "Starships" lip sync, with the lyrics "if you're a G, you're a G, G, G"—Gigi points to herself three times as she delivers it.
- Ambiguously Human: Her character for the Political challenge is a robot trying to masquerade as a human and contentiously insists that she is a "human girl" but the jokes fall flat.
- The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest queen of the season at a tender age of 21.
- Badass Boast: When asked what she excels at, Gigi's response is simply "name something."
- Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: Wears sparkly, pink headgear as part of her final runway to complete a ‘nerdy girl at an 80s prom‘ theme.
- Book Dumb:
- Gigi admits to not knowing much about politics because how terrifying and overwhelming they can be. This proves to be a major downfall in the Choices 2020 political debating challenge because, as the judges point out, you can't satirize something you know nothing about.
- For the Stars and Stripes runway Gigi walks out in an American Revolution inspired outfit. The coat, however, is red which would mean that she was aligned with Britain rather than America.
- Gigi plays up her status as The Ditz for laughs. For example, she purposefully misspells 'here' in the first episode, claims she can't count, calls herself illiterate, and in fact misread the assignment for her WOW makeup tutorial, presenting an unused look rather than recreating something she did on the show like she was supposed to.
- Boring, but Practical: While "boring" is a stretch, Gigi's noted fondness for jackets and/or hats has resulted in some social media backlash for being samey. And yet they're all wonderfully constructed, and they're part of what's kept her safe.
- Brought Down to Normal: Gigi absolutely dominates the first half of the season, quickly winning 3 challenges, but she begins to slip by the second half of the season, barely avoiding the bottom two three episodes in a row.
- Broken Ace: Gigi begins to plateau in the later half of the season, barely avoiding the bottom 2 several episodes in a row. She's Back however by week 12, winning the challenge and snatching a place in the final.
- Character Tic: Gigi has very shakey hands even when she's not nervous, though under duress, it’s certainly more pronounced.
- Cold Ham: Plays ‘Maria the Robot’ as this in the Snatch Game to winning results.
- Cool Helmet: Three out of four looks in the first episode, as well as her promo look, feature a helmet of some sort.
- Deadpan Snarker: Her humor is dryer than the desert.
- Determinator: Gigi's response when Ru questions her choice to do Sophia the Robot for Snatch Game? "I understand your concern, but I do not have that same concern" before going on to win the challenge.
- The Fashionista: She defines herself a "fashion queen" and her outfits are, almost always, brilliantly constructed.
- Femme Fatalons: Wears 5 inch acrylic nails for her Michelle Visage runway.
- Hidden Depths: Despite her Fashion Queen status, she can work the stage like a pro AND do comedy as well.
- I Can't Dance: Bemoans this in the first episode and assesses herself as the least coordinated of the group. For her solo in the I'm That Bitch performance, she's mostly standing in one spot.
- Iconic Item: Helmets are this for Gigi in the first episode, though a fitted blazer with a plunging neckline is up there as well.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit:
- Gigi's Buttons and Bows outfit restricted her movement so much that she was forced to spend the entirety of Untucked standing, not even being able to raise her glass to her mouth.
- Averted for her Balls to the Wall Eleganza; despite sewing several balls to the visible panty of the dress, Gigi states that it was surprisingly comfortable to sit in.
- Large Ham: When Gigi has to lip-sync she quickly becomes this, dropping the smooth fashion-girl persona and going full drag-clown.
- Leg Focus: She shows off her legs on the runway. The judges explicitly point out that Gigi's outfits work so well due to her lithe figure.
- Malt Shop: For her Frozen runway look, she sports a sexy, mid-century ice cream parlour girl look (complete with cute little chilly nose), which helps to land her in the top spot in week 6.
- Momma's Boy: She has a strong bond with her mom, a costume designer who has created several of her looks. The matching outfits she brought for the makeover challenge were based on what her mother said she would want to wear in the off chance that she would be brought in as the person getting made over. Furthermore, when Gigi wins a trip for two to Vegas, the first thing she says is how excited she is to go with her mother.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The Mean of the final three, though a downplayed example. Gigi can exhibit a haughty and somewhat condescending demeanor at times, and over the course of the show, stepped on the most toes.
- Pirate Girl: The theme of her entrance look.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Unsure of who Patti LuPone is when Michelle references her, though she recognizes the name.
- The Pratfall: Pulls one during the Showgirls quick-drag mini challenge and scores a win.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Over the course of the season, Crystal and Gigi have become close and have no issue being openly affectionate. They spent the majority of one Untucked holding hands and even shared a teasing air kiss. Since filming, they’ve made a lot of jokes on social media about being “secret lovers“ following their time on the show — in the Reunion episode, neither confirm or deny it, and many fans have wistfully commented that they hope they're serious.
- Tempting Fate: In her interview with Ru in the Finale, Gigi says that she's so determined to win that not taking home the crown isn't an option. Come the end of the episode, Jaida wins instead though Gigi is a Graceful Loser about it.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Learned how to sew from her mother, a professional costume designer, and she proves in the Ball challenge that sewing runs in the family.
- Visual Pun: The "helmet hair" she wears in the Sparkles runway is a literal motorcycle helmet made to look like a wig.
- Vulgar Humor: Shamelessly asks Michelle how you're supposed to ‘wipe’ with five inch nails on while standing on the main stage. Unshakable Michelle simply explains that there’s a technique to it.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Wanted to win the fashion-focussed Ball challenge to make her mother proud.
- Whole Costume Reference:
- Gigi's press week look is a Rule 63 take on the mascot of the fast food chain Big Boy.
- Her croquet-playing Lady-baller runway look in episode 4 was a direct Shout-Out to mega-bitch Heather Chandler from the tar-black comedy, Heathers.
- Bases her The Color Purple runway on Daphne from Scooby-Doo.
- During the Finale, she recreates both a spring-break hosting look Ru wore back in the 90's, and also a sexy take on Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz for her final lip-sync.
- Writing Around Trademarks: She chooses to portray Sophia the Robot for the Snatch Game, but since the name is trademarked she calls her character "Maria".
Jaida Essence Hall (winner)
Age: 32
From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"I'm Jaida Essence Hall and I'm the essence of beauty."
- The Ace: One of the most polished queens of the season. She is consistently praised for her makeup and outfits—most of which she has sewn herself—and she has also done well in the comedic challenges. She also hadn't landed below safe until week 11, where she lands in the bottom 2 for her One-Queen Show. By week 12, she deservedly snatches a place in the final three.
- Awesome by Analysis: With only their appearances and very brief introductions to go off of, Jaida demonstrates some incredible intuition in assigning the Drag Superfans to the other queens for the week 10 challenge. Part of the reason why everyone had such a great time that week is because Jaida paired everyone up so well that every team complemented each other perfectly.
- Badass Boast: Her verse in the Fosse challenge retroactively becomes this after winning. In it, Jaida spells out exactly why she is going to slay the competition before she goes on to prove each point she made right and takes the crown.
- Bathing Beauty: For her Balls to the Wall Eleganza look, Jaida walks down the runway looking like she just stepped out of a bubble bath, complete with an oversized bar of soap in her hand.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Other queens note with joking ire that instead of getting crunchy from sweating under the lights, Jaida's makeup just gets better.
- Callback:
- Her character for the Showgirls quick-drag mini challenge is just as lost and confused as her character for the political debate.
- She references her "look over there!" bit from the debate in her victory speech at the end of the season.
- Catchphrase:
- "Look over there!"
- Whenever Jaida says "...chilllle," she is done with your shenanigans.
- Confusion Fu: Bases her character for the Choices 2020 political debating challenge around how confusing actual politics can be. In the debate, she's constantly lost and baffled by her competitors and if she got asked a question she didn't have an answer for, Jaida would dramatically shout "Look over there!" and point at nothing — a sly dig at many a politician's propensity for avoiding tough questioning. She knocked it out of the park and scored her second win.
- Dramatic Drop: Averted. She struts on with a basketball and corresponding outfit during her Lady Baller runway, only to completely fumble when she attempts to actually dribble the ball. However, she's clearly playing it for comedy, making the judges laugh, and Jaida still ends up in the top.
- Early-Bird Cameo: That's her (out of drag) in Miss Vanjie's "Can I Asssk You a Question?" video before the Season 11 finale, doing Silky Nutmeg Ganache's makeup.
- The Eeyore: She has a serious case of resting-bitch-face, and she’s especially irritable during the rehearsal for the Bob Fosse challenge. Defied as the season progresses, as Jaida proves she has a big heart under the stern exterior.
- Fangirl: Was very excited to learn that Whoopi Goldberg would be a guest judge and professes that her favorite movie is The Color Purple.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her role in the Madonna: The Rusical challenge sees her take on the role of “Sexy Madonna” (Justify My Love era), and she produces a slick, verging on R-rated performance where she straddles a chair mid-stage whilst writhing about with two oiled-up dancers. She nails it.
- Freudian Slip: When reciting a lesson she learned from her father, Jaida accidentally says "Keep your ass right, and your mind will follow" before realizing that she meant to flip those two around.
- Genre Savvy: Smart enough to realize that when she didn't have enough materials to make the gown she had originally planned on, to revise her idea and make what she had already started look like a bubble bath — and it worked.
- Hidden Depths: Despite being known as a slick, glamorous pageant queen with a fairly stern attitude, Jaida has a funny, campy side to her too. She also proves to be a very talented seamstress, having made each one of her runways with the exception of the first.
- Insistent Terminology:
- Jaida doesn't debate, she argues.
- Jeff Goldblum is a dinosaur doctor.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can come across as a bit stern and no-nonsense, with a dry sense of humor and no patience for foolishness, but deep down it's pretty obvious she's a sweetheart.
- Even after being perpetually pissed off during the Bob Fosse challenge rehearsals, she's the first one to comfort Rock M Sakura when she opens up about her history with her mother.
- When given the opportunity to match the queens up with partners for the Superfans Makeover challenge, Jaida does her best to pair everyone up with who they think will work well with each other, which she does exceedingly well. Jaida also takes it upon herself to make sure the superfans have a great time and keeps them entertained while the other queens were out.
- Karmic Jackpot: Oftentimes, the queen who has the task of matching competitors with makeover partners will throw one or two of her fellow queens under the bus, by assigning her a radically different partner appearance-wise. As noted here, Jaida decides otherwise and plays the match-up completely fairly. This pays off when she wins the challenge alongside her partner Jazz, not to mention everyone doing a good job and having a great time.
- Momma's Boy: Grandma's boy in this case. Jaida explains in the Finale how close she was to her grandmother and how they would sit and watch old movies together like Gone with the Wind and Casablanca and how much her grandmother has shaped her into the person she is today.
- Narcissist: Self-proclaimed trade of season 12. Jaida is firm in her philosophy that trade is not about physical appearance but is a state of mind.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The In-Between of the final three. Jaida has had her shady moments throughout the competition but she's had just as many kind moments too. In arguments, Jaida tends to take on either a neutral position or level with both sides.
- Not So Above It All: The judges were initially concerned that Jaida was one of those queens who took themselves far too seriously, only to be pleasantly surprised in the first challenge after Jaida lets loose and has fun.
- One Degree of Separation: Her drag sisters include season 4's Dida Ritz, season 8's Naysha Lopez, and season 13's Kahmora Hall.
- Out-of-Character Moment: She's a slick, sultry queen, but when she randomly improvises a song about needing to find popcorn and whiffleballs, the other queens can't hide their amusement (and confusion) at this unexpected weirdness.
- Self-Deprecation:
- Humorously introduces herself as “the terrible actress from Gay's Anatomy“ during her Droop commercial.
- Is aware that her jokes are not landing in the One-Queen Show, and acknowledges it to the audience. The judges interpret this as Jaida "giving up" and she winds up in the bottom two for the first time.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Jaida made each of her runway looks except one, but you would be forgiven for thinking she hired a designer.
- Verbal Tic: Tends to say 'bitch' a lot between words. It's been noted that Jaida also speaks very quickly.
- Vulgar Humor / Urine Trouble: For her One-Queen Show Jaida retells a story about accidentally pissing on her boyfriend while judging a pageant. Unfortunately for her, the audience finds the skit more uncomfortable than funny, and she ends up in the bottom 2.
- Whole Costume Reference: Her The Color Purple runway was a high-fashion take on Whoopi Goldberg's costumes when she played the El-Aurian bartender Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation .
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Prior to the Bob Fosse challenge of week 1, she moans and bitches throughout the rehearsal, implying that she doesn’t get the moves at all. Come the live show, she whips out a slick, punchy solo and ultimately goes on to win the week.
