Characters / Saved by the Bell

"In just a handful of scenes, we've established the full set of character archetypes to see us through until the series goes off air. Zack's a huckster, Slater a jock, Jessie an uptight brain, Kelly a cheerful object of desire, and Screech an intolerable bundle of silly faces. When Lisa appears on crutches, having kicked a television in rage when her favorite nail polish was discontinued, her core personality—likes clothes; doesn't fancy Screech—is also laid out."

— Stuart Millard (discussing the first episode, "Dancing to the Max"), So Excited, So Scared: The Saved by the Bell Retrospective

The main characters from Saved by the Bell. For the characters of the spinoff Saved by the Bell: The New Class, see here.

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Main Characters

Zack Morris

Zachary "Zack" Morris

Portrayed by: Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Voiced by: Raúl Aldana and Irwin Daayán (Latin-American Spanish)

• The Ace: He's popular, gets all the girls, is fairly good at sports, musically talented, The Charmer, and despite being a slacker, he gets unbelievably high SAT scores with a fictional Ivy-League college pining for him.
• Big Man on Campus: Interestingly enough, he was clearly not the big man on campus when the show started, and seemed almost like a guy who was desperately trying to be popular. Apparently, whatever he did worked. As the series went on, Zack appeared to become popular around school. By senior year, he had truly became the big man on campus. The fact that he went from a scrawny runt during freshman year to a more muscular basketball player and track team runner (and his legendary status around school as the loveable rogue) may have had something to do with it.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Often does this in an episode.
• Breakout Character: He started off as a supporting character in Good Morning, Miss Bliss. By the end of that show's run, he was already starting to steal the spotlight from the titular Miss Bliss. Once it was replaced by Saved by the Bell, Miss Bliss was gone, and now Zack was the protagonist instead.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Invoked in the episode where the characters get their SAT scores back and Zack scores extremely high (1502). The other characters realize out loud that although Zack's lazy, he's a lot smarter than he lets on. Zack himself tells them to keep it quiet, since he has "a reputation to look out for." Even without this example, there are numerous times where Zack excels at various schemes because he applies himself there instead of at schoolwork.
• Catchphrase: "Time out!"
• Chick Magnet: Is one of the most popular in Bayside. "Date Auction" is a good example of this.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Him and Kelly get married in Las Vegas in the movie.
• Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally is this.
• Delivery Guy: Helped deliver Mrs. Belding's baby.
• Easily Forgiven: Zack gets away with a lot of sociopathic behavior.
• Expy: According to Mark-Paul Gosselaar, he's pretty much modeled after Ferris Bueller of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• Freudian Excuse: "Rent-a-Pop" suggests Zack's antics and poor schoolwork are the direct result of his father being a workaholic. The guy even interrupts reprimanding Zack for the latest stunt to take a business call, much to Zack's irritation. Mr. Belding also alludes to Zack's mother being a soft touch, saying he's had many meetings with her about Zack's behavior and never seen any real progress afterwards.
• Friendly Enemy: With Mr Belding. Belding makes no secret of his frustration with Zack and Zack often runs his schemes under his nose but it's been shown that the two do like one another and have a level of genuine respect, Belding seeing that Zack is generally a good kid with a lot of potential and Zack coming to regard Belding as a mentor and respect that he sincerely cares about the kids at his school.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Not to the level of Screech, but his friends (bar Screech) often scheme against him behind his back and show abhorrence towards him.
• The Hero: He's the central character of the series.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Eventually gets into this with Slater after Kelly chooses between the two of them.
• High-School Hustler: Arguably the Trope Codifier to Ferris Bueller's Trope Maker.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may be a schemer, but he ultimately does care about his friends and doing the right thing.
• Ivy League for Everyone: Zack's very high SAT score (1502) gets him offered admission to Yale despite his lackluster grades.
• KidAnova: When he wasn't in a relationship.
• Loveable Rogue: Despite his scheming, he is a likable guy.
• Manipulative Bastard: He comes across as this more often than not, since he's constantly shown lying, scheming, and manipulating to get what he wants.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Was a nice guy despite his scheming.
• Physical God: He's aware of the fourth wall and can even temporarily stop time (by calling a "time out") to address the audience, escape danger, or carefully analyze his surroundings. It rarely comes into play in most episodes, but it's reminiscent of another practical joker that has fourth wall awareness. This includes occasionally throwing a lampshade on this "ability" by waving his hand in front of someone's face. He'd occasionally even re-arrange the scene to help him escape a predicament.
• The Power of Friendship: The easiest way to tug at his strings. As noted at Saved by the Bell...Reviewed!, for all his flaws, Zack "would rather lose some pride than lose a friend."
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Screech's Sensitive Guy.
• Ship Tease: With all the female characters at some point.
• Smarter Than You Look: As hinted above, Zack was far smarter than he let on.
• Tech Marches On: In 1989, a teenager having his own cellphone was playing the High-School Hustler trope up to eleven.
• Time Stands Still: "Time Out!"
• The Trickster: Part of what cements his Alternate Character Interpretation as a Physical God is how closely he matches the Trickster archetype.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: At his worst, when his schemes, manipulative tendencies, and Toxic Friend Influence go too far, it can be hard to root for him
• Will They or Won't They?: With Kelly for a while.
• With Friends Like These...: It'd be easier to list the episodes where Zack doesn't get one or more of his friends into some kind of trouble.

A.C. Slater

Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater Sanchez

Portrayed by: Mario Lopez

Voiced by: Yamil Atala (Latin-American Spanish)

• Affectionate Nickname: 'Papa' and 'Bubba' from Jessie
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Jessie
• The Big Guy: He was the most muscular of the group.
• Big Man on Campus: In the first season, and it was the source of his and Zack's hostility.
• Chick Magnet: Was one of the most popular at Bayside.
• Depending on the Writer: Slater either takes part in Zack's schemes, acting as his right-hand man, or is his rival, depending on the episode.
• Embarrassing First Name: Along with Embarrassing Middle Name, he is Albert Clifford. No wonder he prefers to go by "A.C." or Slater.
• Flanderization: Into a proud male chauvinist.
• Hidden Depths: He actually has the most practical real-world skills of the gang such as knowing how to fix cars and cook.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: He has shown his good-natured and caring moments on occasions.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Eventually gets into this with Zack after Kelly chooses between the two of them.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a bit hot-headed, and schemes sometimes, similar to Zack, but is a fairly nice guy, deep down.
• Last-Name Basis: He's usually referred to his last name by the other students. The faculty tends to call him "A.C." more often.
• Lovable Jock: He is a star wrestler and basketball player and, while a bit of a hot-head, he has his Hidden Heart of Gold
• Military Brat: His dad was in the Army. Slater says he's been to Bolivia, Italy, Iceland, Berlin, and other places because of this.
• Missing Mom: Maybe. We see his father a couple times, but his mother never appears onscreen and is only referred to infrequently.
• Mr. Fanservice: The show never missed an opportunity to show off his impressive physique.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: In one episode, Zack starts dating Slater's his little sister J.B. much to Slater's chagrin.
• New Transfer Student: Technically. He transferred to Bayside at the very beginning of the series, so he's not any newer to the audience than the rest of the characters. However, to the characters on the show, he was "the new guy," and the first season kept emphasizing this.
• Opposites Attract: Him and Jessie. An athletic (occasional) misogynist and a studious feminist.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: His interactions with Jessie.
• Remember the New Guy?: Not him, but the sister that suddenly appeared in one of the Tori episodes.
• The Rival: To Zack, at first.
• Romantic False Lead: Early on in the Zack/Kelly relationship.
• Straw Misogynist: At times, always played for laughs. To be fair, it's usually just to tease Jessie when she has a Soapbox Sadie moments. He's actually quite respectful to the other women on the show such as Kelly even after he stopped courting her.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: the show took every available chance to get Slater shirtless or in tights. Cue sitcom "Woooooooh~"
• Worthy Opponent: When he was Zack's rival, he was frequently able to keep up with his schemes and even get the better of him a time or two.

Screech Powers

Samuel "Screech" Powers

Portrayed by: Dustin Diamond

Voiced by: Genaro Vásquez (Latin-American Spanish)

• Abhorrent Admirer: Towards Lisa, sometimes verging on Stalker with a Crush (played strictly for comedy).
• All of the Other Reindeer: Screech is this for the rest of the gang. According to Dustin Diamond, Screech's actor, this is also the source of a lot of his disdain for the rest of the cast.
• Berserk Button: He doesn't take it well when his friends forget to celebrate his birthday.
• Book Smart: Since he's a stereotypical nerd, he's even better at academics than Jessie. However, he lacks common sense outside of school.
• Brutal Honesty: Often does this.
• Butt-Monkey: Of the group. He tends to be object of ridicule very often.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He's a flamboyant, immature nerd with an infamously annoying voice.
• Comically Missing the Point: Is prone to this in later seasons. The group would usually call him out for this.
• Ditzy Genius: He's academically smart, but he usually lacks common sense, and is socially inept.
• Dogged Nice Guy: He comically pines after Lisa.
• Dope Slap: As the original series went on, Screech was subjected to this (usually by Zack or Slater). Screech never caught on what was happening, even turning around one time and shouting, "Stop that!"
• Fanboy: He is seen to be a fan of science, ALF, animals (especially bugs), weird, exotic foods, The Brady Bunch, chess and The Simpsons.
• Flanderization: His quirkiness is exaggerated in later seasons to the point where it becomes blatant stupidity. The New Class takes this even farther.
• Forgot Flanders Could Do That: After Screech's goofy quirks were ramped up at the cost of his academic success, the Grand Finale revealed that he qualified to be class valedictorian. The College Years later depicts him as pretty goofy, but he remains academically successful and never bats an eye over the heavy workload.
• Forgotten Birthday: His Berserk Button.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While Screech is good friends with Zack (and Kelly to a degree), he is merely tolerated by the rest of the group (and outright despised by Lisa).
• Geek Physiques: He's very skinny.
• Hidden Depths: So much that even Kelly once genuinely fell in love with him.
  • He's a surprisingly good impressionist being able to do spot-on impressions of both Mr. Belding and Al Bundy.
  • He's also a master of disguise, with many of them being undetectable by even his friends.
  • His sentient robot, Kevin, was made by him in the 80s, which shows that he's not just book smart, but also something of a genius.
• Jerkass Ball: Screech takes a firm hold of this when Zack shows interest in Lisa in "The Bayside Triangle", to the point of trying to instigate a fight with him. This forces Lisa to put her foot down, and bluntly tell Screech once and for all that she simply isn't interested in him romantically.
• Karma Houdini: Surprisingly with a lot of Zack's schemes, he is rarely directly punished for them, despite being Zack's unindicted co-conspirator.
• Kiddie Kid: He is the character with the least development, and is the goofiest to boot. It doesn't help that his actor is a few years younger than his costars, yet his character is the same age on the show.
• Lovable Nerd: Initially, before his voice changes. He was such a cute, dorky little kid and far less annoying.
• The Millstone: He's frequently roped into scams by his best friend, Zack. And, as a running gag, he often unwittingly sabotages them. He also becomes this to Mr. Belding in The New Class when he takes an assistant job, being a constant source of frustration and embarrassment.
• Nice Guy: He's eccentric, dorky, and can be annoying every now and then. However, he is a very lovable, sweet, and friendly loser.
• No Social Skills: Usually has trouble dealing with people outside the group.
• Odd Friendship: With the other main characters. Five cool, popular students and... Screech.
• Only Known by Their Nickname:
  • Almost always referred as Screech. The one exceptions are his mom and Violet Bickerstaff, as both would always addressed him as "Samuel".
  • Zack and Slater actually forgot Screech's real name in an episode of The College Years.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Is this for the group.
• Rejection Affection: Even though Lisa is extremely vocal in her lack of interest in Screech, he obliviously insists they are meant to be.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Zack's Manly Man.
• Serious Business: Birthday celebrations from people he cares for. Violating it is a good way to get him to turn cold on his friends.
• The Smart Guy: Qualifies since he becomes Valedictorian at Bayside.
• Smart People Build Robots: Has one in his bedroom in a show that doesn't have any other science fiction elements.
• Smart People Play Chess: Is fond of playing chess.
• TV Genius: He's an eccentric and immature nerd that was able to build his own robot. He was also the senior class valedictorian.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: At the start of the show he was smart enough to build a robot, but in later seasons he seems barely able to tie his own shoes. Though he still has his intelligence somewhat, since he is declared valedictorian in the last episode.

Kelly Kapowski

Portrayed by: Tiffani Thiessen

Voiced by: Rommy Mendoza (Latin-American Spanish)

• Abandoned Catchphrase: "I think I'm gonna cry.", which was used once in the first season, and a few times in the second, to the point where Screech quotes it verbatim when he dresses up as Kelly. It would be dropped by the next season.
• Academic Athlete: A good student and captain of the volleyball, swim, and softball teams.
• Alliterative Name: Kelly Kapowski
• Class Princess: Homecoming Queen and head cheerleader, Kelly is sweet, kind, and the quintessential Girl Next Door.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She and Zack get married in Las Vegas in the movie.
• The Cutie: Kelly ties with Screech as the most sweet-natured character of the group. Despite her beauty, being the head cheerleader and the most popular girl in school, she usually shows compassion towards others and doesn't like upsetting people, especially compared to Jessie and Lisa. There's no better example of this than when she started crushing on Screech of all people in Beauty and the Screech. However, even she has her limits and will fight back or get even with someone when to moment calls for it.
• The Ditz: Played with, she was smart and a good student, but also a bit of an airhead at times.
• Dude Magnet: Was one of the most popular girls at Bayside.
• Girl Next Door: A rare case where the popular "hot girl" is also the wholesome and approachable one.
• Head-Turning Beauty: How she was seen at Bayside.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: She gets pissed off when Zach brings a date to The Max. It seems pretty hypocritical, considering that she just dumped him for another guy, but (a) She never deliberately threw it in his face, and (b) Even though their relationship is over, she never acted like it meant nothing to begin with.
• Informed Attractiveness: Kelly was hot, no doubt, but few would argue that Lisa or Jessie were not just as hot. Within canon, however, Kelly was treated like a supermodel parading through the school.
• Ivy League for Everyone: Probably the worst offender; 1100 on her SAT and from a cash strapped family yet made it into the same prestigious (if fictional) university as Zach (high SAT/upper middle-class family), Screech (Valedictorian), and Slater (sports scholarship).
• Military Brat: Somewhat inverted as even though her father, Frank, worked at a defense plant, she never had to move around, unlike Slater.
• Ms. Fanservice: When the opportunity presented itself. Several episodes have portrayed her in a high-waisted swimsuit, including the entire Malibu Sands arc. But even in the school, we see her in a swimsuit a few times.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Played with, regarding her singing ability. In "Miss Bayside," she can't carry a tune. In the very next episode, "Jessie's Song," she (along with Jessie and Lisa) is noted to have excellent singing talent. In "The Glee Club," she's just as helpless as everyone in the glee club not named Violet, yet in "The Last Dance" and "Rockumentary" she's the band's lead singer (doing so angelically) and doesn't play an instrument.
• Pom-Pom Girl: Despite the stereotypes of cheerleaders, Kelly is one of the kindest and most squeaky-clean girls at Bayside High.

• Remember the New Guy?: Apparently grew up with Zack, Lisa, Screech, and Jessie.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kelly is a sweet and pretty Dude Magnet (girly), her sister Nicky is a sporty girl with a Tomboyish Baseball Cap (tomboy).
• Will They or Won't They?: With Zack for a while.

Jessie Spano

Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano

Portrayed by: Elizabeth Berkley

Voiced by: Ana María Grey (Latin-American Spanish)

• Academic Alpha Bitch: Jessie teeters close to this - particularly when someone gets better grades than her - but overall she's a good-hearted girl.
• Affectionate Nickname: 'Mama' is Slater's most frequently used one for her.
• The B Grade: Jessie's greatest fear.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Slater.
• Book Smart: She takes her studies seriously, as she has the dream of going to Stanford.
• Class Representative: If not literally then at least in terms of personality.
• The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Much of her activism is mostly Played for Laughs and ends up doing more harm than good. Save for one serious occasion when she and Zack try to stop an oil tycoon from turning Bayside into a disaster zone.
• Determinator: Was one of her characteristics.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: As noted above, Myrtle.
  Zack: "That's what I named my turtle."
• Embarrassing Nickname: 'Honey Lips' is implied to be one, seeing as how she doesn't let Slater call her that in public.
• Flanderization: Her Straw Feminist tendencies. Ditto her drive to get good grades.
• Genius Bruiser: Aside from her vast intelligence, she's also implied several times to be the most physically strong of the three girls.
• Go-Getter Girl: Academic overachiever, environmental activist, and class president.
• Granola Girl: She is very verbal in her stances on saving endangered animals and the environment. Unfortunately, it sometimes crosses over into being in the Animal Wrongs Group.
• Huge Schoolgirl: She was the tallest girl in the group. This was one of the things that she was initially insecure about.
• Hypocrite:
  • When she rails against oil in general, Slater points out that it has a variety of uses, including the plastic earrings she's currently wearing.
  • When she rags on Zack about how he can't understand the plight of poor people:
  Jessie: "You grew up in a land of freedom and opportunity..."
  Zack: "And you live next door."
  • She is very much into loving/helping endangered animals, but it's implied that she dislikes children.
  • Possibly the most egregious example is that she is about peace and equality and feminism, but she comes off as pretty misandric at times and is occasionally seen as being physically abusive to Slater (even if the great majority of it is Dope Slaps, one time had her put him in a headlock). She once even hits Slater when he's describing a vehicle because it "sounded sexist".
  • Despite her feminism, the only person she's seen dating in more than one episode is the hyper-masculine, somewhat misogynistic jock Slater.
  • Occasionally criticizes men for being shallow but herself only dates attractive guys.
• Ivy League for Everyone: She attends Columbia upon her graduation, after several of the other Ivy League schools turn her down, presumably due to her less than incredible SAT score (a still very respectable 1205, the 83rd percentile).
• Opposites Attract: Her and Slater, a studious feminist and an athletic (occasional) misogynist.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Zack, leading to occasional moments of Ship Tease.
• Remember the New Guy?: Apparently grew up with Zack, Lisa, Screech, and Kelly.
• Soapbox Sadie: Constantly due to being a feminist.
• Straw Feminist: Her defining trait.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed. While she's not nearly as outwardly boyish as Tori, she's usually seen in more conservative and earth-tone colored clothing and rarely wears skirts or dresses, is stronger than Kelly and Lisa, and has far more ladette qualities than her girlfriends.

Lisa Turtle

Lisa Marie Turtle

Portrayed by: Lark Voorhies

Voiced by: Rossy Aguirre and Patricia Acevedo (Latin-American Spanish)

• Daddy's Girl: She's very close to her father to the point of him calling her "Daddy's Little Princess" and being totally cool about her accidentally overspending on his charge card.
• Dude Magnet: Not as much as Kelly, but she is popular with boys as well.
• The Fashionista: Throughout the series. Also, she apparently becomes one in the literal sense as an adult, as she gets accepted to a prestigious fashion institute at the end of high school.
• Feigning Intelligence: "What is art? Are we art? Is art art?"
• Gossipy Hens: If there's gossip, expect Lisa to know about it.
• Hidden Depths: She's actually a pretty good student even making honor roll in the first season.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: She is a popular, spoiled, and shallow rich girl, and can be very rude to her nerdy Abhorrent Admirer, Screech. She's still a good friend, a likable person, and much nicer than the Alpha Bitch stereotype.
• Sassy Black Woman: Definitely had the best put-downs of the cast:
  "You want toasted buns? Go sit on a microwave!"
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Sort of. After Kelly and Jesse left the show, Lisa got a noticable boost in both popularity and brains so she could step into their shoes as the pretty and smart one to play against Tori's wild one. Lisa was always popular in canon, but after the other two left, it's like she became the only hot girl left at Bayside.
• Rich Bitch: Downplayed. Sometimes, she's sassy and a bit snarky, but she's overall a decent person whose parents are both doctors and therefore very rich.
• Token Minority: She's the only black member of the group.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl:
  • During the Miss Bliss episodes, she is the shopaholic Girly Girl to her outspoken best friend Nikki's Tomboy.
  • During the Tori episodes, she is the Girly Girl to Tori's Tomboyish biker and The Lad-ette.
• Valley Girl: She's a fashion obsessed rich girl who frequently spends "Daddy's money", occasionally dropping "like" and "totally". But she's a little smarter than most traditional instances - and the fashion obsession is partly because she wants to work in the industry.

Mr. Belding

Mr. Richard Belding

Portrayed by: Dennis Haskins

Voiced by: Gustavo Rocha (Latin-American Spanish)

• Actually Pretty Funny: He can find Zack's pranks and jokes fairly amusing on occasion and even laughs with Zack and Slater when their fight knocks off his toupee, acknowledging how stupid it looked.
• Affectionate Nickname: In the Saved by the Bell: The New Class series, Screech calls him "(the) chief".
• Always Someone Better: "The Fabulous Belding Boys" plays with it. His brother, Rod, is seen as cool and exciting, while Richard looks stiff and boring. However, Rod's carefree approach to life and teaching causes him to bail ahead of a student whitewater rafting trip. Only Zack knows what's really going on, as Mr. Belding covers and agrees to chaperone the kids.
  Mr. Belding: Heck, Rod always was the more exciting Belding.
  Zack: Maybe, but we've got the better Belding.
• Butt-Monkey: Usually at the hands of someone else's antics (from Zack in the original series and Screech in The New Class).
• Catchphrase:
  • "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?"
  • "My office, now!"
• The Chains of Commanding: "The Fabulous Belding Boys" shows that it's easy for his brother to goof around as a substitute teacher; it's hard for the one in charge to keep order and make good on promises.
• Dodgy Toupee: In "The Fight", he sports one to keep up with Becky, who lost forty pounds, and to look younger. It ends up knocked off of his head by the end of the episode whilst trying to break up a fight between Zack and Slater. It was for the best, as even he acknowledged how silly it looked.
• Forehead of Doom: Thanks to his receding hairline, his is noticeable, although hilariously enough, his thinning hair is moreso brought up by the students and staff, especially Zack and Mr. Tuttle. Except when Screech did a comparison between him and his kid brother Rod:
  Screech: It's just that he has so much more hair than you do, sir...oh, but you have a much bigger forehead!^note This is made even funnier by Lisa's reactions to his comments
  Mr. Belding: Thank you for pointing that out.
• Former Teen Rebel: Was this when he was younger, hosting a rock and roll radio show and mooning the administration when they banned jeans and long hair on boys.
• Friendly Enemy: Despite being at odds, he and Zack genuinely like and respect one another and will admit to the other's positive traits. By the end of the series, they've dropped pretty much any animosity and get along well.
• Happily Married: To his wife, Becky. He's always bragging about the fun things they do together and the alternating ways they first met.
• Large Ham: Usually.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Most people know that Mr. Belding is a very strict but a kindhearted person. However, in one particular episode, "Video Yearbook", he was more than willing to restrain Zack while Slater was gonna punch him. Of course, this was all just part of a group scheme to get back at Zack for his yearbook. This also really backfired on Belding, as Zack used his classic Time Out power to get away and left him to get punched out when time resumed.
• Panicky Expectant Father: Very much so. When Becky was pregnant and he thought at one point that she was in labor, he accidentally pulled Lisa away with him instead.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Even Zack occasionally admits that Mr. Belding is a lot more reasonable than he usually gives him credit for. During the graduation episode, Zack gives Belding a hug. In the Wedding in Vegas movie when Mr. Belding is a guest at Zack and Kelly's wedding, Zack finally admits that he appreciates Mr. Belding and says "You made high school challenging."
  • This is also his primary role towards the student body in The New Class series.
• Retired Badass: Touched upon in many episodes; he used to belong in a popular band in school, is a retired member of the armed services (either the Army or the National Guard, if not both), was formerly his high school's Big Man on Campus as well as his own radio show with his school's station and he mooned the school board when they threatened to pull said station.
• Signature Laugh: His high-pitched "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" whenever he's amused or makes a joke.
• Subverted Catchphrase: A self-enforced version, that starts with him saying ""Hey, hey, hey —" before immediately ending with his high-pitched "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!", which he uses during The New Class series.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Cake, especially in Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
  • In the Season 4 episode "To Tell the Truth", he refuses to let Screech throw a party in the gym — until Screech tells him that there will be cake in the party.
  • In the Season 6 episode "Mind Games", when Screech gets obsessed with efficiency, the first thing he does that upsets Mr. Belding involves taking his lunch — cake included — away when he takes longer for lunch than Screech would allow. After Mr. Belding gets Screech to tone down on his efficiency obsession:
  Mr. Belding: Now, can I have my cake back?
• Worthy Opponent: Despite his Butt-Monkey status, he's one of the few people who can keep up with Zack's schemes and even turn them against him on a regular basis. Zack even admitted that that Mr. Belding made things challenging for him.

Max

Portrayed by: Ed Alonzo

Voiced by: Mario Castañeda (Latin-American Spanish)

The owner of The Max and a friendly waiter to the gang, who gives them wise advice and performs amazing magic tricks.

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• Advertised Extra: Despite being billed in the opening credits during the first season, he was essentially a minor character, not having much of a role, besides being the owner of his titular restaurant, and performing some magic tricks here and there. This could be partly why he was quietly written out during Season 2.
• The Bartender: The age-appropriate variant of this. He's the friendly waiter at the local malt shop who knows everybody's names and keeps up with what's going on in their lives.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Despite being a mascot of the series, and even having his own "and starring" credit in the theme song, Max is only a member of the main cast until Season 2, where he makes only a few more appearances, before disappearing from the show altogether. He would finally return in the 2020 series, but that still doesn't explain his absense in Seasons 2 to 4 of the original series.
• Cool Old Guy: Frequently gives sage advice to the kids and help thems out whenever they're in a jam.
• Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: Always has some amazing magic trick he performs whenever he's on-screen.
• No Full Name Given: He's the only member of the main cast to not have their surname revealed.

Recurring Characters

Students

Tori Scott

Portrayed by: Leanna Creel

Voiced by: Araceli de León (Latin-American Spanish)

• The Ace: Tori manages to be snarky enough to keep Zack on his toes, knows how to bake and is an excellent mechanic, be cool enough to make Lisa pretty much beg to be her friend, and attract the attention of Zack, Slater, and Screech.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Kelly and Jessie disappear, Tori appears and takes their place for nine episodes, then disappears, Jessie and Kelly reappear and everything carries on as normal as if Tori never existed.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Replaces Kelly as Zack's love interest, though otherwise she doesn't much resemble her. Kelly is sweet and feminine, Tori is a rough, tomboyish biker.
• Dude Magnet: All the guys fall for her. Including Screech who temporarily forgets about his long-running obsession over Lisa.
• The Lad-ette: A tough, rebellious, jacket wearing, motorcycle-riding tomboy.
• New Transfer Student: Was this in the final season.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Briefly the Tomboy to Lisa's Girly Girl.

Ox

Portrayed by: Troy Fromin

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• Dumb Jock: His main character trait was that he was a jock, but not very bright.
• Dumb Muscle: He was a big guy, easily looking like he could be in his 20's, if not 30's, despite being in high school. But again, he wasn't very bright.
• Jerk Jock: Sometimes. By the end though, he, Screech, and Big Pete have a "breakthrough" during Mr. Belding's bizarre group-psychotherapy session in gym class, and Ox ends up swearing off making fun of nerds again.
• Younger Than They Look: As mentioned above. He looks far too old for high school.

Maxwell Nerdstrom

Portrayed by: Jeffrey Asch

• Casanova Wannabe: He thinks he's a God's gift to women.
• Control Freak: He controlled Violet throughout their relationship.
• Meaningful Name: Nerdstrom.
• Jerkass: Was condescending and controlled Violet.
• Smug Snake: His attitude.

Violet Anne Bickerstaff

Portrayed by: Tori Spelling

Voiced by: Ariadna Rivas (Latin-American Spanish)

• Dating What Daddy Hates: Due to his assorted quirks and nervousness, Screech makes a very bad impression on both of Violet's parents, and they forbid her from seeing him. They only relent after Screech bails Violet out of a nasty case of stage fright.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She is extremely sweet.
• Nerd Glasses: Wears a pair.
• Performance Anxiety: Between her folks forbidding her from seeing Screech and her general shy demeanor, she's a bundle of nerves in "The Glee Club" and freezes up on stage. It takes Screech joining in to snap her out of it.
• Shrinking Violet: She is very quiet and submissive.

Ollie Creekly

• Black and Nerdy: One of the biggest nerds at Bayside.

Rhonda Robistelli

Portrayed by: Kirsten Kemp Becker

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Chases Zack around the school, trying to kiss him up.
• Affectionate Nickname: Calls her lover "Zack-E".
• Dumb Blonde: Not the sharpest tool in the shed, as she failed to spell the name of her own school during cheerleading tryouts.
  Rhonda: Give me a B! Give me an A! Give me a ... Can you tell me what comes next?
  Jessie: Y.
  Rhonda: Because I don't know the next letter.
• Dysfunctional Family: Although we never see it, we hear that her father is in jail.
• Huge Schoolgirl: Arguably the tallest girl in the school, even towering over Jessi Spano.
• Passionate Sports Girl: She holds the school record for shot-put.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A character with her exact archetype named "Peggy" appeared in "The Friendship Business", both being very tall, strong blonde girls who could dance for long periods of time, until their partners got exhausted.
  Screech: Okay, Peggy. It's 5:00. I'm tired.
  Peggy: Oh, we're not done yet, friend.
• Tom Boy: Characterized as a boyish, assertive, and dominant athlete.

Ginger Baldwin

Portrayed by: Bridgette Wilson

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• Brainless Beauty: Was beautiful but wasn't smart.
• Comically Missing the Point: Most of her jokes are this.
• Convenient Replacement Character: Served as the new waiter of The Max, following Max's departure from the show.
• Dumb Blonde: Was a brainless beauty.
• Girly Girl: She's all about fashion, shopping, and the color pink.
• Satellite Love Interest: Lampshaded by Tori as the type of bimbo Zack dates (when he isn't in a steady relationship with Kelly/Stacey/Tori herself).

Big Pete

• Ascended Extra: Big Pete's first appearance was during the Malibu Sands arc. Later on, he started appearing at Bayside High as one of the recurring students, often having speaking roles. He was one of the very few recurring students, besides the main six, Violet and Ox, to not be a Living Prop.
• Renaissance Man: Is in the glee club, is a science geek, and mentions taking a Spanish cooking class.

Alan Fairbanks

Portrayed by: Dion Zamora

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• Big Eater: A fat kid who eats tons of junk food.
• Butt-Monkey: Constantly gets bullied for being fat.

Faculty

Miss Simpson

• *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": Miss Simpson throws her back out in the first episode, suffering from an old hockey injury.
• Hidden Depths: Miss Simpson was apparently a hockey player back in the day.
• I Can't Hear You: Miss Simpson is hard of hearing and will either misinterpret what her students say or just flat-out not hear them at all.
  Miss Simpson: Good morning, students.
  Students: Good morning, Miss Simpson.
  Miss Simpson: Didn't your parents teach you any manners? In my day, kids would say 'good morning' back to their teachers!

Mr. Dewey

• Not So Stoic: On a rare occasion when he speaks more loudly than usual and shows more aggressive emotion — it's Played for Laughs.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Played for Laughs. He's generally quite soft-spoken and shows little emotion, but in the New Class episode "Little Hero", when he encourages the Bayside football team to win, his encouraging words of choice are "Smash them! Destroy them! Pulverize them!" and he speaks in a slightly louder volume than usual and shows more aggression before catching himself at it and calming down.
• The Stoic: Most of the time, he shows little emotion and speaks in a dull tone. Not always, though.

Mrs. Wentworth

Mr. Tuttle

Mr. Testaverde

• Motor Mouth: He talks fast and talks much, with the exceptions being "Everyone ready?" and "Any questions?", with the bell ringing barely seconds after the latter.

Coach Sonski

Malibu Sands Beach Club

Leon Carosi

Portrayed by: Ernie Sabella

• Expy: Of Donald Twinkacetti from Perfect Strangers, who was also portrayed by Ernie Sabella. Both characters are greedy, rude to the main characters, and threatened to fire their employees on multiple occasions.
• Heel–Face Turn: Despite being a jerk for the majority of his time on the show, he thanked them all for their hard work at the end of the summer, welcomed them back, gave Zack all of his tips from the breakfasts he stiffed him on and ultimately approved of him and Stacey dating.
• Large Ham: Very much. One scene even has him screaming out "Hot coffee!" whilst holding a pot of it instead of just dropping it like anyone else would.
• Mean Boss: He's quite the jerk to his staffers, especially Zack.
• Morality Pet: His only daughter, Stacey. She reigns him in from some of his nastier moments.
• Papa Wolf: To Stacey. In spite of his stern personality, he obviously loves her very much and is quite proud and protective of her.
• The Rival: Zack for both his flippant attitude and for dating his daughter.

Stacey Carosi

Portrayed by: Leah Remini

Voiced by: Araceli de León (Latin-American Spanish)

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Zack.
• Big Applesauce: She was a New Yorker who only goes to California during the summers to work at her father's beach club.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She went from hating Zack to being his girlfriend during the time at her father's beach club.
• Parental Marriage Veto: Her dad didn't approve of Zack.

One-Shot Characters

Nurse Jennifer

"I certainly did!"

Portrayed by: Nancy Valen

• Angry Collar Grab: Jennifer grabs the collar of Zack's sweater just before she lets him leave.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite her otherwise sweet and pleasant deposition, Jennifer does tell Jessie, Lisa and Slater that he was going to bring Zack into her office and have him see a side of her that he's never seen before.
• Bishie Sparkle: Zack sees Jennifer this way upon enamoring in her beauty for the very first time.
• Cathartic Exhalation: Jennifer lets out a loud sigh as she proceeds to remove the stick that's holding up her hair.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Jennifer delivers this in spades, especially when she's goes about aggressively seducing/scaring Zack straight at the end of the episode.
• Dramatic Curtain Toss: Jennifer rips open the white curtain in the nurse's office after Zack announces that he's back.
• Dressed to Heal: Jennifer's standard nurses uniform comprises of a white medical coat, white mini-dress, white pumps, and a brown clipboard.
• '80s Hair: Jennifer with her long, thick, wavy dark head of hair.
• Getting Hot in Here: Jennifer tells Zack that it's rather warm in her office while she sensually takes off her white medical coat.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Jennifer wears an oversized purple t-shirt in her final scene with Zack. She also wears a purple low-cut top during her very first scene.
• Grow Old with Me: Jennifer while cornering Zack in her office, suggests that they get married and have lots of children.
• Hair Flip: Jennifer does quite an extravagant hair flip while she lets her hair down in front of Zack.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Jennifer tells Zack about her fictitious husband, who is a professional wrestler with a violent temper.
• Heroic Seductress: Jennifer only becomes this as a means of helping the gang get revenge against Zack for mistreating and neglecting Kelly.
• Hospital Hottie: Basically, the entire episode has Jennifer seen as this, from Zack's immediate infatuation to her climatic seduction of him.
• Head-Turning Beauty: Jennifer is naturally this from Zack's perspective.
• Indulgent Fantasy Segue: Zack imagines Jennifer reading Kelly's romantic poem in class and later imagines himself as a surgeon with both Jennifer and Kelly as his nurses.
• Locked in a Room: Jennifer locks the door in her office shortly before she proceeds to seduce Zack.
• Lured into a Trap: Jennifer pretty much does this to Zack at the end of the episode.
• Mrs. Robinson: Nancy Valen is in real life, about nine years older than Mark-Paul Gosselaar.
• Ms. Fanservice: Jennifer is afterall, played by Nancy Valen, who would later become a castmember on Baywatch.
• Late for School: Jennifer during her very first scene, is late and asks Zack where the nurse's office is.
• Love at First Sight: Zack when he first lays his eyes on Jennifer in the hallway at Bayside.
• Mistaken Identity: Slater pretends to be Jennifer after Zack mistakenly believes that she's behind the curtain. After hearing Zack profess his feelings for Jennifer, Slater blackmails Zack into taking a flu shot for him.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit: Towards the end of the episode aptly entitled "From Nurse to Worse", Zack sees his crush Nurse Jennifer, instead of her standard white mini-dress uniform, don a black, tubed mini-skirt, black pantyhose and black pumps, a big waist hugging black Western belt (with a silver buckle), a purple pocketed t-shirt (with shoulder pads), plastic purple hooped earrings, her hair in a bun (which she would soon shake loose to further rile Zack up), and her white medical coat (which Jennifer soon takes off since it's "rather warm" in her office) for good measure.
• Nice Girl: Jennifer is generally seen being very sweet and friendly with the students that she interacts with, including Zack.
• Oblivious to Love: Jennifer is not aware that Zack is in love with her until near the end of the episode.
• Older Than They Look: Zack initially thinks that Jennifer is simply a new student and not the new school nurse.
• One-Shot Character: "From Nurse to Worse" from Season 2 served as Nurse Jennifer's only appearance in the Saved by the Bell franchise and yet, she's still one of the few non-main characters who managed to make an indelible impression.
• Passing the Torch: Jennifer arrives to take over from the retiring Nurse Butcher as Bayside's resident nurse.
• Playing Sick: Zack at one point, pretends being sick as an excuse to get out of class and to see Jennifer.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Jennifer starts blocking Zack's path after he hears about her violent husband.
• Prim and Proper Bun: Jennifer uncharacteristically wears her thick, wavy dark hair up when we first see her in her final scene with Zack.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Jennifer puts these on after she tells Zack that she hasn't been able to stop thinking about him.
• The Runaway: Jennifer suggests that she and Zack runaway after telling him about her "husband" with the violent temper.
• School Nurse: The name of the episode is afterall entitled "From Nurse Worse".
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Zack at the end of his final scene with Jennifer in her office.
• Shaking Her Hair Loose: Jennifer dramatically lets down her hair soon after she tells Zack that it's warm in her office.
• Stacy's Mom: Even Slater admitted upon first seeing Jennifer that she could understand why Zack would have such a crush on her.
• Taught by Experience: Jennifer tells Jessie, Slater and Lisa while discussing Zack's neglect of Kelly, that she's had plenty of experience dealing with sick people.
• Teacher/Student Romance: This is pretty much the entire basis of Zack's involvement with Jennifer.
• Team Mom: Jennifer sort of becomes this to Jessie, Lisa and Slater after they inform her about Zack's behavior of late. Jennifer even tells Jessie that she doesn't need glasses after her predecessor, Nurse "Blind as a Bat" Butcher suggested otherwise.
• A Threesome Is Hot: Zack fantasizes about having Kelly and Jennifer as his two sexy nurses assisting him while performing surgery on Mr. Belding.

Eric Tramer

Portrayed by: Josh Hoffman

• Big Applesauce: From New York.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Never seen or heard from again after his appearance in "The Wicked Stepbrother." This is despite saying that he would stick around.
• Hidden Depths: Despite his Jerkass ways, he genuinely liked Lisa, enough to be very hurt upon discovering that she only went out with him to help Jessie get back at him and not believe her sincere claims that she really had come to like him also.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At first, he's a jerk. Two moments that highlight this are when he ruins Mr. Belding's car for no reason, and when he tells Jessie that he doesn't care who he hurts, as long as it is not himself. Later on, he comes to see the error of his ways, and becomes the latter, fixing Mr. Belding's car, and getting on better terms with the gang.

Kimberly

Portrayed by: uncredited/unknown

• Happily Adopted: Screech said that Kimberly was adopted.

• One-Shot Character: Only appeared in one episode, "The Aftermath", and never appeared or mentioned again afterwards.

Good Morning, Miss Bliss

Carrie Bliss

Portrayed by: Hayley Mills

• Beware the Nice Ones: She was understandably pretty upset at her students when they costed her thousands of dollars in the stock market. She also punished Zack for one of his schemes by giving him a 0 as his grade.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Despite being The Protagonist in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, she is never seen or heard from again once the series was retooled into Saved by the Bell, even though Zack, Screech, Lisa and Mr. Belding all made the transition.
• Deadpan Snarker: As nice as she was, she had her snarky moments.
• Narrator: She narrated the beginning of each episode.
• Nice Girl: Miss Bliss is perhaps the nicest character in the whole franchise.

Mikey Gonzales

Portrayed by: Max Battimo

• Expy: Inverted. He was basically a precursor to Slater, being Zack's best friend (as well as his lancer), having curly hair with a mullet, and being a Latino. Though, unlike Slater, he wasn't a jock.
• Deadpan Snarker: Particularly towards Screech.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Zack's Manly Man.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He was sometimes this with Zack, particularly in one episode where they had a crush on the same girl.

Nikki Coleman

Portrayed by: Heather Hopper

• A Day in the Limelight: ""Leaping to Conclusions" is the only episode that really gives her individual focus.
• Only Sane Woman: She often stood up as the voice of reason.
• Those Two Girls: With Lisa. This makes it all the more jarring when she is written out (but not Lisa) once the series is retooled into Saved by the Bell.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The outspoken Nikki played the Tomboy to shopaholic Lisa's Girly Girl.

Tina Paladrino

Mylo Williams

The College Years

Mike Rogers

Portrayed by: Bob Golic

• The Big Guy: Was a former football player.
• Embarrassing Tattoo: We'll let the quote speak for itself:
  Screech: "Coach has Big Bird on his butt!"
  Mike: "Hey, hey, hey! It's Tweety Bird!"
  Screech: "Trust me, Mike; that's a big bird!"
• Glory Days: A former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers, Mike often wistfully reminisces about his days as a football player, and clearly loves the sport. On one occasion, while complaining about a Jerkass from his old team, he admits that he's jealous, and says "He's getting paid millions to play a game that I would have been willing to play for free."
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He was this for the group at California University.

Susan McMahon

Portrayed by: Holland Taylor

• California University: The college where she works.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: How the group reacted when they were around her.

• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Was the dean of California University.

Becky Belding

• Alliterative Name
• The Ghost: For most of the series. Mr. Belding constantly talked about her, but we never actually met her until an episode during senior year.
• Screaming Birth: Gave birth in an elevator.