History Characters / Scrubs

* [[Characters/ScrubsMinorCharacters Minor Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Phillip Wen, Lonnie, Molly Clock, Kim Briggs, Katie Collins, Sonja "Sunny" Dey, Ed Dhandapani, Hooch, Grace Miller, Dan Dorian, Lady, Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio, Danni Sullivan, Randall.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/ScrubsMainCharacters Main Characters]]
* [[Characters/ScrubsRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]]
* [[Characters/ScrubsMinorCharacters Minor Characters]]
* [[Characters/ScrubsNotablePatients Notable Patients]]
* [[Characters/ScrubsMedSchool Med School]]

[[/index]]

[[/index]]

A list of characters from ''Series/Scrubs''.

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[[foldercontrol]]

!!Main Characters
[[folder:John "J.D." Dorian]]
!!John Michael "J.D." Dorian (Creator/ZachBraff)

->''"I don't think people are meant to be by themselves. That's why if you actually find someone you care about, it's important to let go of the little things, even if you can't let go all the way. Because nothing sucks more than feeling all alone, no matter how many people are around."''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_jd_5020.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The king of CloudCuckooLand.]]

Simply known as J.D., he is the show's protagonist and resident doctor. The show depicts the problems and fears he has to face in the hospital, accompanied by his InnerMonologue. J.D. may just be the embodiment of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} for his most prominent habit of daydreaming, which almost always ends with a weird comment [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud said out loud]] which, of course, nobody but him understands. Despite being an enthusiastic, clumsy person with a lot of self-doubt, he is an intelligent good-by-heart doctor, who cares deeply about his patients.

* {{Adorkable}}: He's an incredibly friendly and nerdy guy who has fantasies in his head and narrates all the time in his head. It's one of the reasons his patients and friends like him so much because he's so approachable.
* AffectionateNickname: Carla calls him "Bambi" from time to time because he tends to look a deer in the headlights, when his thoughts are interrupted and when he's brought back to earth after he gets lost in his own imagination. He was initially embarrassed by the name but he warmed up to it. The name was embarrassing on two levels, mainly because of the Disney origin but the name also meant "young girl".
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: The smallest thing can cause him to tilt his head up and have a fantasy, no matter how dire the situation is. Elliot and Turk even use it to their benefit on more than one occasion.
* BigBrotherMentor: Sharply contrasted with Dr. Cox's [[SinkOrSwimMentor sink-or-swim]] approach, and also [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in that it is ''J.D.'s'' style of teaching that is considered terrible, stemming from his own personal need for everyone to "like" him.
* BumblingSidekick: When he's around Dr. Cox.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: However eccentric he becomes (and they really pushed this one in later seasons), he is consistently shown as an excellent doctor, with Cox describing him as one of the best he's ever seen.
* ButtMonkey: He gets most of the physical comedy and gets hurt offscreen, he ends up homeless at the end of Season 4 until Elliot lets him move in with her and then he ends up homeless again for a good part of Season 6. His friends tend to give him little to no respect and he's always mocked for who he is by pretty much everyone. Not to mention he is constantly tormented by [[ScrewySquirrel the Janitor]] who goes out of his way to make J.D.'s life miserable just because he can.
* CampStraight: It wouldn't be completely out of line to presume J.D. is gay after his {{flanderization}}. His apparently "gay" relationship with Turk has even been addressed as they both insist they don't feel that way at all, even in song.
* CannotTellAJoke: Season 5 is the best example of this. At first he thinks he's funny, but the Janitor reveals to him that his interns are just kissing his ass (Not literally) by pretending his jokes are funny. Once they stopped kissing his ass, there was an awkward silence as he laughed at his own terrible joke.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: One of his most consistent traits is that J.D. simply ''cannot'' walk away when someone's in trouble. Dr Cox admitted once that the reason why he first took an interest in J.D. was because he actually ''cares'' about his patients.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Almost constantly drifting off into daydreams, only to snap out of it with a strange comment. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] later in the series when we see what it's like for other characters to watch him during these bits, with them often becoming bemused or annoyed at having to wait for him to drift back into reality.
* CoolTeacher: Deconstructed in Season 5 when J.D. ends up showing favortism towards the worst intern and breaking his own rules and gets called out on it by Dr. Cox, after which J.D. does the right thing. Reconstructed in Season 8 when J.D. is finally mature enough to be a tough but fair mentor and he continually pushes Denise to be an even better doctor but doesn't overstep his boundaries.
* TheCutie: JD's childlike innocence and sensitivity is part of his eccentricity.
* DemotedToExtra: In season 9, along with everyone who isn't Turk or Dr. Cox due to the focus shifting to Med Students.
* DidISayThatOutLoud: He always comes out of a fantasy with some kind of comment that makes whoever he's talking to give him an odd stare. And half of the time when he's narrating, he ends up saying something that only makes sense to him.
* DitzyGenius: He is an extremely skilled Doctor with a very goofy personality.
* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}. He's so determined not to be seen as wrong that it backfires on him massively, like when he's too proud to admit that he's never heard of Jiggly Ball to the Janitor.
* {{Flanderization}}: J.D. went from a genuine, though quirky, person into some kind of extremely girly super-geek manchild.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible to Dan's Foolish.
* HasAType: J.D.'s romantic interests have a remarkable tendency to be blond, beautiful women with weird personality quirks. Elliot, his first love of the series, might have something to do with establishing that trend.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Turk; they've been friends since college and their friendship is so strong that Carla has said sometimes she's afraid that Turk will leave her for J.D. They're so close that most of the recurring or one shot characters have thought they were a gay couple at least once.
* HollywoodDateless: It's hard to believe a cute looking guy with a genuinely nice personality finds it so hard to get a date. WordOfGod says that Sacred Heart is in southern California and someone like J.D. makes up about half the male population so most likely the women of the surrounding town are just used to men like him.
* HollywoodNerd: Seriously, he's a very good-looking fellow that managed to score on lots of ladies, but he's still considered very nerdy, sometimes nerdier, than his fellow doctors.
* {{Hypocrite}}: J.D.'s other fatal flaw, especially in regards to his brother.
* InnerMonologue: J.D.'s inner monologue pretty much narrates the entire series, save a few episodes.
* TheIntern: During the first season, J.D. was Dr. Cox's Intern and followed him around to learn and apply medical knowledge. At the end of the first season, he became a Resident.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Has several effeminate mannerisms, such as keeping a "hug schedule." It's to the extent that Dr. Cox regularly calls him girl names.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: One of his catch phrases is "I'm a doctor,", and yet half the series he doubts himself or Dr. Cox forces him to doubt himself.
* ItNeverGetsAnyEasier: J.D. ''wants'' to care so much about his patients, so it is [[JustifiedTrope justified]]
* {{Keet}}: As close as a non-anime character can get.
* TheKlutz: He gets hurt for physical comedy more than any other character, and sometimes his incidents border on AmusingInjuries. His girlfriend Julie was even more clumsy than he is.
* LovingAShadow: In Season 3, he pines after Elliot when she gets a stable boyfriend, and does everything he can to break them up so she can be with him. Once he actually gets Elliot, he realizes he doesn't love her. Danni accurately points out that he has a tendency to idealize women who can't possibly meet his impossible standards.
* MagneticHero: Dr. Cox describes him as this because despite all of his flaws, J.D. cares deeply about his patients and his friends and it shows in his work and it draws people in, Dr. Cox included.
* ManChild: Definitely becomes this after his {{flanderization}}. He slowly grows out of it after a talk with Turk after his son is born.
* ManlyTears: J.D. has cried on several occasions on screen, usually because a patient has died on him and it's hard for him to deal with, but he deals with it anyway.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Elliot's Masculine Girl.
* TheMcCoy: A Lot of the time. He is extremely compassionate and genuinely cares about his patients.
* TheMentor: Becomes this for Denise in Season 8.
* MoralityChain: Becomes this to [[spoiler: Doctor Cox after he becomes Chief of Medicine]] after Dr. Kelso tells him that [[spoiler: the Chief always needs someone to remind him that the patients come first.]]
* MrImagination: He narrates to himself and has fantasies at the oddest moments, whether it's because of his narration or because someone's talking to him about something.
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: Turk and J.D. can sense whenever the other has hooked up. In fact, they even have a Sex-Gong that they ring to let the other one know, even if they are several miles away.
* NaiveNewcomer: On first coming to Sacred Heart.
* TheNicknamer: He gives all of his interns nicknames. He also really loves receiving nicknames, even insulting ones.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Because of his friendly, lovable personality, he comes off as the most innocent of the main characters, but he's actually quite self absorbed and prone to jerkish moments like everyone else.
* OnlyKnownByInitials: "J.D".
* PermaStubble: During Season 8. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it by noting to Elliot how he's grown more mature since they last dated by growing a beard. By the time Season 9 starts, he goes back to being clean-shaven.
* PhotographicMemory: His gift to Dr Cox when he was leaving Sacred Heart was a giant book of Every. Single. Rant. that Cox had ever given him over the course of several years, almost all of them off the cuff as well of course.
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: J.D.'s first onscreen discussion with Turk was about rap music and whether he can say the N word if he's singing along to a song and the word is in the song. He's not allowed to. And on several occasions, he's tried to act black and it doesn't work well.
* PungeonMaster: J.D. makes really awkward puns, mainly from Season 5 onwards.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: He eventually develops into this in Seasons 8 and 9 when he gets his own interns to take care of, something he learned from Cox and directly comments on.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** Delivers an ''epic'' one in Season 2, but is often on the receiving end of them, mostly from Dr. Cox or Carla.
** Gives an understated but no less devastated one to Kim in "My Urologist", which actually causes her to rethink her stance on staying neutral on everything.
* SaltAndPepper: With J.D. being "Vanilla Bear"
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: He's a foil to primarily two characters:
** The sweet Sensitive Guy to Dr. Cox's tough guy Manly Man.
** He's very nerdy and InTouchWithHisFeminineSide, while his BlackBestFriend Turk comes across as the typical jock who likes basketball (Turk can be geeky and sensitive too, but not nearly as much as J.D.).
* SitcomArchNemesis: The Janitor for the entire series (one-sided on the Janitor's part), and briefly Keith in season 5 (one-sided on JD's part).
* StalkerWithoutACrush: He sometimes brushes up against this in his pursuit of Dr Cox's attention, for instance he once admitted to infiltrating his Superbowl party by disguising himself as a pizza delivery guy.
* ThisLoserIsYou: J.D. doesn't really suck at life, but he does symbolize problems and fears everyone of us has.
* WellDoneSonGuy: If he could just get that hug from Cox...
* WhiteSheep: Both his dad Sam and brother Dan had extreme ManChild qualities, but while good people they simply did not aspire to anything and achieved nothing. Dan later confessed to Dr. Cox that everyone knew J.D. would be something great and urged him to take the role of Mentor seriously because J.D. had no one in his family to look up to.
* WideEyedIdealist: Changes rather quickly when confronted with [[ThisIsReality reality]].
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Elliot. [[spoiler: After a while, they do]].
* WithFriendsLikeThese: No matter what he does, his friends almost always end up right so he can learn AnAesop. The worst example is "My Perspective" from Season 6. J.D. just found out that the previous episode that Kim miscarried their child and they broke up, he was homeless and he wanted his friends to help him through it like he'd helped them all, but they're all so self-absorbed and he had to "learn" the lesson of not asking for help with his problems.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Elliot Reid]]
!!Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke)

->'''Elliot''': My therapist thinks my trouble in bed stems from a basic fear of intimacy. But I just think it's just because any type of repetitive motion makes me nauseous. Oh, and since I was a little kid, I've always had nightmares about being crushed. \\
'''Carla:''' That poor shrink.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_elliot_4536.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Neurotic but sweet.]]

Elliot is another promising young doctor, who initially showed signs of fear and low self-esteem as an intern, but has later grown to become a confident, [[BunnyEarsLawyer yet extremely odd]], doctor in the series. She has a tendency to [[MotorMouth ramble on]] about her issues as well as stories about her life, but she's extremely intelligent and takes her profession seriously when she must. Due to a fear of commitment, she has a constant on-again-off-again relationship with J.D.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: Like JD, she's a pretty good combination of this in her early years. She was very shy, short in stature, and had a tendency to cry under pressure; but her determination to become a doctor kept her going. In the later seasons, she shows shades of this, but it's overshadowed by her confidence and neurosis.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: She's stated her love of ponies and even rode one into work once, though whether it was a flashback or a fantasy was unclear.
* AmbiguouslyBi: She has an occasional habit of flirting with other women when sufficiently drunk, and was apparently ''very'' close to her lesbian room-mate in college.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KZtES4t2Jk Never assume that a little girl from Connecticut would never fight dirty.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Elliot is this in most, if not all, of her relationships.
* BlondeRepublicanSexKitten: Elliot is a Republican and when she found out Keith was too, they made out and had sex in a closet.
* BreakTheCutie: Mid season two her dad cut her off financially and she had to fend for herself for the first time in her life. This took a toll on her and life didn't start looking up until about season five when she took a private practice job.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite her various flaws and neurosies, Elliot is a competent doctor who impressed a private practice doctor so much that he gave her a job.
* ButtMonkey: Even more than JD in the early seasons. She was very awkward, always screwing up and Dr. Kelso treated her worse then everyone else except Doug and he made it his mission to try and break her.
* CharacterDevelopment: Starts out very good, but she ''suddenly'' becomes a complete {{foil}} of what she used to be. Note how she dresses as she becomes more confident.
* ControlFreak: Not as much as Carla but she has her moments, especially when it comes to her wedding in season 6. It becomes a plot point in the episode "My Rabbit".
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: While she's a neurotic mess, Elliot's a skilled doctor and a competent fighter. Apple thieves, after all.
* CuteButCacophonic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEliTwhqtHw "STOP FINISHING MY AWESOME JOKES!"]] (J.D.'s "Oh my god" was a genuine reaction by Zach Braff, who did not expect her to get so shrill).
* CuteClumsyGirl: She has slipped and fell on several occasions, she gets hurt almost as often as J.D. does.
* DemotedToExtra: In season 9, along with everyone who isn't Turk or Dr. Cox due to the focus shifting to Med Students.
* DitzyGenius: While she's a smart, well-educated doctor, Dr. Cox calls her "Barbie" because of her "ditzy blonde" tendencies.
* DramaQueen: Self confessed.
* ExtremeDoormat: She is accused of being one by Jordan in the first season. She grows out of it after her CharacterDevelopment.
* FingerPokeOfDoom: A childhood of harvesting apples gave her enormous finger strength, enough to lay out JD with a single poke to the chest.
* FireForgedFriends: With Carla. When the series started, they started out on the wrong foot and insult one another a great deal. After the first few episodes, they had a casual friendship and in Season 2, they became much closer friends after bonding over insecurities and they were best friends for the rest of the show.
* FragileFlower: In the early seasons she was very sensitive and emotionally unstable.
* GenderBlenderName: Her father named her "Elliot" because he wanted to have a son. Her desire to please him is part of what leads her to become a doctor (widely seen as a man's profession).
* GenkiGirl: She was for the most part of the first few seasons highly enthusiastic and quick-talking, tempered with bouts of self doubt. Her enthusiasm was more of a mask. She was very neurotic on the inside, due to bad childhood experience, overbearing parents, etc. She could be considered a GenkiGirl later on, the way she pushes her boyfriends about (sometimes literally).
* GirlinessUpgrade: Beginning in the third season. This was due in part to ExecutiveMeddling (as NBC wanted a HotterAndSexier female lead to better attract the coveted young male viewer demographic), although in-universe it's justified as her getting a makeover to gain needed self-confidence.
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Because of her privileged upbringing, she's more on the girly side (just look at her room), is occasionally spoiled, obsessed with her wedding since when she was a child, she likes ponies, and in early seasons she was also shy and sensitive. It helps that in season 3 she starts wearing HotterAndSexier clothes. She is also a surprisingly strong fighter, is proud of her TomboyishName, and has no problem being OneOfTheBoys with JD and Turk.
* HollywoodNerd: Despite her short appearance and shyness in the first two seasons, she still looks rather good-looking despite belonging in a group of "hospital nerds".
* HospitalHottie: She's number 12 on the 20 hottest female staff members at Sacred Heart and has the most bra scenes.
* IKnewIt: In universe. She even has a dance for it.
* ImportantHaircut: Elliot's "new me" has different hair!
* InsistentTerminology: Due to being ''very'' uncomfortable with various sexual terms. For starters, she uses "bajingo" instead of "vagina".
* JerkassHasAPoint: She handles things quite badly with Carla when she chastises her for an error she made and breaks the cardinal hospital rule--Do ''not'' piss off the nurses--but she's still right--Carla screwed up and that could have had serious ramifications for the patient.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Masculine Girl to JD's Feminine Boy. Also to her ExtremeDoormat boyfriend Keith in season 5 and 6, which is lampshaded by Kelso.
* MomentKiller: When J.D. and Kim were home from a concert and about to get intimate, she burst into the apartment and ruined the mood. She's referred to this by name.
* MoralityPet: She is this to the Janitor.
* MotorMouth: Talks at the speed of light whenever she gets upset/excited.
* MsFanservice: Very much so. The writers even claimed they tried to think up ways for Elliot to be in just her bra at least once a season.
* NervousWreck: Anxious, fast-talking, low self-esteem (in early seasons), and often a MoodSwinger.
* OutnumberedSibling: She has four brothers (who never appear on the show) and no sisters.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Elliot trips over and hurts herself alot, especially from Season 2 onwards. She's the main one besides J.D. that is involved in the physical comedy.
* TomboyishName: Elliot's proud of having a mostly 'male' name, to the point that she's annoyed when another member of staff, Veronica, changes her name to 'Ronni' not long after Elliot arrives.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Her behavior in Season 3, where she's dating Sean, then hops into bed with J.D, who is still in love with her, only to go running straight back to Sean when he unexpectedly turns up. The fact she accuses him of not being a good friend to her when he is angry about the way she treated him is the lowest point. It didn't stop there either in the later seasons with how she treated Keith during the short time they were engaged.
* UngratefulBitch: Complains in Season 5 that Dr. Cox "has always been a total bastard" to her, ignoring the fact he ''punches Kelso out'' for mistreating her, made her and J.D co-chief residents so they would learn to get on and various other PetTheDog moments. Not to mention, he arguably has been even worse to J.D than Elliot. Also does it in the later seasons too. It reaches the point where she starts saying she got where she is all on her own with no help from anyone.
* UnusualEuphemism: "Frick!" "Bajingo" (meaning "vagina") and "Kaboodle" in one episode for ass. [[CharacterizationMarchesOn Strangely,]] an early episode has her say "vagina" with no problem.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Her dad, though she eventually learns to rely on her own self-respect.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With J.D. [[spoiler: After a while, they do]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Christopher Turk]]
!!Christopher Turk (Donald Faison)

->''"You know, I love how kids of divorce really have the market cornered on family dysfunction. But let me share with you a typical Thanksgiving at the Turk household: It starts with my mother yelling at my sister for yelling at my grandmother who's yelling at the television screen, which happens to be the microwave. And then my militant brother Jabari - formerly Bob - gives my father attitude for using the word black, even though he's referring to the turkey. Which, by the way, only got burnt because instead of turning the oven off, my bi-polar aunt Leslie tried to shove her head in it. But you know what we do? We kiss... and we hug... and we apologize for all the things we said... 'Cause a month later, we gonna get together and do it again at Christmas!"''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_turk_5123.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Like A Surgeon]].]]

JD's BlackBestFriend, who JD has known since they were roommates in college, and Carla's husband. He's a very skilled surgeon but his arrogance sometimes exceeds his talent. His attitude does come across as a typical jock, but he takes his work seriously and is atypical as a surgeon in that he strives to get to know his patients. He loves basketball, video games, using slang, and making sweet love with his wife.
----
* AccidentalMisnaming: Kelso thinks his name is Turk Turkleton, which is why he calls him Dr. Turkleton all the time. This was revealed after Kelso got ''really'' drunk at Turk's wedding.
* BaldOfAwesome: In one episode, Turk confesses to a patient that he shaves his head because he's going bald.
* BlackAndNerdy: He is both a black nerd (Or "blerd", as he calls it) and one of the show's cooler characters. He actually referred to his cousin as one. One episode had him as a temporary medical resident after breaking his arm and he wore NerdGlasses to appear nerdier.
* BlackBestFriend: Subverted in the later seasons, where he's nearly as much of a geek as JD is.
* BookDumb: He was a C student in high school, but managed to get into medical school and eventually makes head surgeon. He explains that by saying that when he realized he wanted to be a surgeon, he got his head in the game.
* ButNotTooForeign: He's 1/8 Japanese.
* CatchPhrase: "That's what I'm talkin' about!"
* CharacterDevelopment: Turk is probably the only character to remain consistent throughout the entire series. His main development was in becoming noticeably more responsible thanks to having to cope with his diabetes, being married to [[MamaBear Carla]], and [[PapaWolf becoming a father]]. He doesn't have nearly the same level of character arc that J.D., Elliot or even Dr. Cox have.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Occasionally he's this to JD. Mostly he just joins in.
* CompetitionFreak: One of his defining traits, not only when it comes to his career but also other not-so-important activities such as basketball.
* DentedIron: He gets diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in the fourth season, which shook him up because he has always been very physical and athletic and now has to worry more about his health and diet. He also loses one testicle after his daughter Izzy {{Groin Attack}}ed him.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: When the Todd finds out that Turk's middle name is Duncan, JD claims it's because Turk's dad loved donuts and he tells JD to stop saying that.
* HappyDance: Comes in several named subcategories as well.
* HenpeckedHusband: Carla was always bossing him around even ''before'' they get married and it's lampshaded constantly.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With J.D., they've been friends since college and their friendship is so strong that Carla has said sometimes she's afraid that Turk will leave her for J.D. They're so close that most of the recurring or one shot characters have thought they were a gay couple at least once.
* HotBlooded: He's passionate, determined and one of the hammiest characters.
* IKnowMortalKombat: Actually TruthInTelevision. Studies have shown that surgeons who play video games improve their reaction times and dexterity.
* IShallTauntYou: If Turk wins a bet or an argument, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfFW5EQK2SE&feature=related he will]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CZCz5XEc3c dance in]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGQNSNKwqfc&feature=related your face.]]
* LargeHam: He has his moments. After beating Carla in an arm wrestling match: "DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET, CARLA, DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WITH THE WARRIOR!!"
* LastNameBasis: Even with his wife. But then, that's nobody's business but the Turks'.
* LovableJock: The first impression of him from co-workers is that he is a JerkJock, which is, of course, wrong.
* ManChild: Has his moments, especially when he's goofing around with JD.
* MixedAncestry: Mostly black, but 1/8th Japanese.
* MrFanservice: Turk is really fit and is shirtless the most out of the guys outside of Todd.
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: Turk and JD can sense whenever the other has hooked up. In fact, they even have a Sex-Gong that they ring to let the other one know, even if they are several miles away. He can also tell when JD and Elliot have been hooking up by the way they nod at each other and when two male orderlies are getting together just from a look.
* OnlySaneMan: When he and JD are not being HeterosexualLifePartners.
* PermaStubble: His shaved head has this.
* RealMenWearPink: Turk used to take ballet; the other surgeons were a bit surprised at first then give him a pass when he waves this off as agility training for sports but give him crap about it when JD says that he not only enjoyed it but also loved wearing the tights.
* SaltAndPepper: With Turk being "Chocolate Bear"
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to JD's Sensitive Guy. JD is very nerdy and InTouchWithHisFeminineSide, while Turk comes across as the typical jock who likes basketball (Turk can be geeky and sensitive too, but not nearly as much as J.D.).
* SmallNameBigEgo: At the beginning of the series his confidence outweighed his actual skill, it was humbling to learn that several other surgical interns were actually better than him (such as The Todd). In fact, it was only J.D.'s encouragement to spend more time with his patients that put him good enough to get a Surgical Attending position. But by the end his leadership ability became his greatest asset, nearly everyone in the hospital nominates him to become the new Chief of Surgery.
* TheSpock: No matter how often he appears to care about his patients, he'll still say he works better without emotion or attachment.
* SurferDude: Probably the first impression one gets from him
%%* TheWatson: Sometimes, to JD.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Perry Cox]]
!!Percival "Perry" Ulysses Cox (John C [=McGinley=])

->''"I did it, I'm a genius, I'm a huge brain in a ripped-up body, I am Jesus H. Cox M.D..."''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_cox_1717.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Not your average MentorArchetype]]

JD's mentor (much to his chagrin) and resident doctor of Sacred Heart. He comes across as a typical DrJerk with a [[SmallNameBigEgo huge ego to match]]. However, he believes his hard teachings mold interns to competent doctors and he cares more about treating patients that deserve help rather than the budget of the hospital. He has a tendency to rant on about anything that ticks him off even slightly.
----
* AbusiveParents: He once states that his father's primary way of showing him affection was intentionally missing when he threw bottles at his head.
* AesopAmnesia: You'd think he'd learn to respect Turk's skills after he performed pre-natal surgery on Cox's daughter, but Turk still has to earn his respect multiple times
* AlcoholicParent: His father was this and often took it out on him and his sister. It was so bad that it's difficult for Cox to be around his sister because it reminds him of those experiences.
* TheAlcoholic: It's a major part of his character that he does drink a lot. It really comes to the forefront in "My Fallen Idol." Jordan claims that Jack's first full sentence was "Daddy drinks a lot".
* ArmorPiercingQuestion:
** Delivered by J.D. when Cox is talking to Ben at the event.
--->[[spoiler: [[DeadAllAlong "Where do you think we are?"]]]]
** He also managed to deliver one to Jordan in an argument, which rendered her speechless and unable to come up with a proper retaliation. Needless to say, he was overjoyed.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:
** With Jordan. Zigzagged as it is stated early on that they both like being mean (to both each other and others). They really care for each other but still hate to admit it and given the personality of both of them, it's not that surprising.
** He sometimes shows this towards JD, kinda. Especially the final episode, in which Cox defends JD from (set-up) false bad claims shows this.
* BreakTheHaughty: Big time, in the episode "My Lunch".
* BrokenAce: When Cox says he's the best, nobody disagrees with him, but he has some huge issues.
* BrutalHonesty: The basis of much of his snark.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: This is actually a plot point in that he is too good of a doctor to get fired but he absolutely hates the bureaucracy of the hospital and jumping through hoops to get promotions that would get him anywhere besides a basic staff attending doctor. J.D. is the only person to make him understand that his attitude was getting in his own way and he slowly starts taking on leadership positions that let him make a difference rather than just complain about it.
* ByronicHero: He's a brilliant doctor and an excellent mentor to JD, but he's very anti-social, prefers to be miserable, and grew up with an abusive father with a drinking problem he inherited.
* CharacterDevelopment: He suffers the least amount of {{Flanderization}} in the series and manages to grow as a character while keeping his original nature.
* CharacterTics: His habit of touching his nose. John C. [=McGinley=] stated that this is an homage to Paul Newman's character in ''Film/TheSting''. He also holds his hands together behind his head whenever he's worried or stressed. This is {{lampshaded}} by Carla at one point where - after showing him that he's not reaching his patient - she asks if he wants to put his hands behind his head. He does.
* DeadpanSnarker: He gives snarky one-liners when he isn't ranting.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: In the earlier seasons, the show focused on his personal life and explored his issues a great deal as a contrast to J.D's.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: Spends the first season pining away for Carla, but respecting her relationship with Turk enough to never make an advance to her. While she herself helps him get over it by the next season, for the rest of the series, a handful of occasional lines and scenes indicate that there are still some lingering feelings on his part.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: He really likes his appearance and one episode explores this, it never becomes a problem though because the right level of ego is important to his success and he knows it.
* DrJerk: He's a fantastic doctor, but he has a short fuse and gives insulting speeches to a lot of his patients and to his fellow staff members.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Percival, which is usually shortened to Perry.
* EmbarrassingLastName: Lampshaded in one episode.
-->'''Carla:''' You don't like Cox?\\
'''Jordan:''' No, I love Cox.\\
'''The Todd:''' [appearing from nowhere] Best conversation ever.\\
'''Jordan:''' That's the problem.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: His first, middle and last name are all odd in their own way. Percival "Perry" Ulysses Cox.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Sometimes gets "Per-Per" thrown at him, usually from J.D. or Jordan.
* EveryoneHasStandards: In "My Drama Queen," he reprimands JD for thinking that one of his quips had homophobic undertones.
-->'''Cox:''' I would never compare you to the gays. I like the gays; I like their music, I like their sense of style, I especially like what they've done with Halloween
* {{Flanderization}}: His treatment of JD. In early seasons he made a few token gestures of appreciation to J.D. for his work, making it clear the {{Jerkass}} behavior was to push him to do his best. From season 6 onwards it becomes ''very'' hard to see if he even likes or respects J.D. at all (he gets better in the last episode of season 8, "My Finale").
* FreudianExcuse: For having AbusiveParents, he developed incredibly well, and one may forgive him any KickTheDog scenes.
* FriendlyEnemy:
** With the Janitor thanks to their mutual dislike of JD and Kelso as well as their snarky personalities. However, the Janitor still has a vendetta against doctors and Cox is included.
** With Dr. Kelso. For two people that can't stand each other, they sure have lunch together or hang out in the break room together a lot. After Kelso retires, he and Cox go from this to just secret friends. Eventually everyone finds out, so now they're just good friends.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Downplayed. JD and Carla like him (especially JD), but Elliot and Turk are not too fond of him most of the time although they respect him as a doctor (and vice versa Dr. Cox can't stand them but relutanctly admits they are good at their jobs).
* GodComplex: Look at his character quote. He even admits it.
* GoodIsNotNice: He'll save your life if you're a patient and help teach you if you're an intern, but he is very abrasive and has little patience for most people.
* GoodParents: Despite his many flaws, most of the time he's a fantastic father for Jack and if he's not, he works on being a better father.
* GrumpyBear: Always pessimistic and in a bad mood which fits his character's attitude.
* HairTriggerTemper: He gets the Hair-Trigger Temper when the plot demands it, or otherwise he's just a GrumpyBear. His temper is a plot point in the episode "My Mirror Image".
* HasAType: Has a thing for strong women who don't take any of his crap. He prefers them brunette, but is happy to settle for a blonde ball buster.
--->'''Jordan:''' Let me guess, let me guess - dark haired, domineering, doesn't take any of your crap?
* HeroicBSOD: "My Lunch", due to three patients dying due to organ transplants from a woman infected with rabies. The third patient hit him the hardest since he wasn't in a desperate state and could have waited a little longer. Dr. Cox spends the next episode just drinking on the couch and only says 20 words the whole episode and most of them are in flashbacks.
* HeyYou
** Kelso = Bobbo or Bobcat
** Elliot = Barbie
** Turk = Gandhi
** JD = Newbie, every girl name in existence (Except for the names of female characters in the show.) On at least one occasion he literally called JD "Girl's Name". And on one occasion he calls JD by the names of famous dogs after some [[ItMakesSenseInContext rumors of bestiality]].
* HollywoodAtheist: He constantly mocks religion and acts like he's superior because he doesn't believe in religion. He himself lampshades this on several occasions. Despite this, he often talks directly to God in his rants, including thanking God for having his back even though he technically didn't believe he exists. At one point, he becomes determined to convince Laverne that everything is a coincidence and, typical to Cox, pushes it way too far. Laverne gives an epic ShutUpHannibal speech telling him why she needs there to be a God and a bigger reason behind the things that happen to patients. He softly offers an apology and stops pushing the issue.
%%* IcyBlueEyes
* InsufferableGenius: Is there a moment when he doesn't brag about his skills as a doctor? Let it be granted, because ''he really is that good''.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite his attitude and speaking to everyone--coworker and patient alike--with disrespect, Dr. Cox genuinely wants to help people and when he's incapable of doing so it affects him strongly. [[spoiler: Also, the finale of season 8 revealed he truly did like JD after all, though he admits it when he thinks JD isn't around.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: He's a very bitter and miserable guy, but if he's your doctor, he will do everything in his power to save your life.
* LargeHam: He gives very enthusiastic speeches about how amazing he is and makes sure everyone hears them.
* TheLastDJ: In some ways he's a deconstruction of this trope: he lives for his job and has far too much integrity to kiss ass and play the games needed to climb ranks in the hospital. That in turn leaves him locked out of any chance to change things, and the more he complains about how the hospital is run or goes outside the rules to help patients, the closer he comes to actually getting fired for good and being unable to help patients at all. It takes a whole range of people trying to give him wake up calls and several opportunities falling into his lap before he realizes that he ''can'' get himself into a position of authority and improve certain things without compromising his integrity.
* LastNameBasis: Usually referred to by his last name.
* TheMcCoy: A lot of the time, especially when with Kelso.
* MeaningfulName: He's named after [[KingArthur a knight of the Round Table]] and [[Literature/TheOdyssey a famous Greek hero]], which is fitting, given JD's idolization of him. "Percival" is particularly meaningful, given his KnightInSourArmor tendencies, and his commitment to helping patients at any cost.
* MrFanservice: And he's very much aware of it. Off camera, [=McGinley=] worked quite hard on it and even gave advice to other actors.
* {{Narcissist}}: Dr. Cox admires himself in every reflecting surfaces.
* TheNicknamer: He gives all of the main cast except for Carla a nickname that he prefers to call them by and rarely ever calls them by their real name, you can actually count on one hand how often Dr.Cox calls them by their real name outside of fantasies. See HeyYou for what he calls people.
* NoRespectGuy: ''His'' perception.
* OddNameOut: Perry is the only one in the Cox-Sullivan family whose name does not start with J, countering his ex-wife Jordan, and their kids Jack and Jennifer.
* ParentalSubstitute: To JD. Supposedly, he hates it. Although from [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation a certain point of view]] one wonders if he knows he's not the best role model for JD and is encouraging him to not see him as one. However, Dan (JD's older brother) confronts Dr. Cox at the end of the episode and pretty much says that despite the tough-guy act, Dr. Cox geuninely enjoys being looked up to by the newbies and being their idol, while also telling him to take that responsability seriously. Arguably, he really does enjoy getting to steer people on the right path.
--> '''Cox:''' (exasperated) "Let’s break down the kid’s support system, shall we? He’s got me, an emotionally-crippled narcissist, and he’s got YOU (JD's brother Dan), an emotionally-crippled narcissist who’s soaking in a tub of what by now has to be mostly your own urine! ''[…]'' And I have got to believe that the two of us together, TOGETHER Dan, we can make it at least halfway to one legitimate adult!"
* PermaStubble: In season 5, he has facial hair for the majority of the season which turns into a BeardOfSorrow when he has a HeroicBSOD due to him accidentally killing four patients. He shaves it off once J.D. helps him recover and bounce back.
* PetTheDog: Whenever the heart of gold shows itself, Dr. Cox has one of these moments, mostly with J.D. or Carla.
* RantInducingSlight: The tiniest thing can set Dr. Cox off into a rant, mostly in the earlier seasons though.
* RealityEnsues: Dr. Cox's tendency for snarking and insulting his patients and everyone around him is detrimental to his personal life and career and outside of J.D. and Carla (And even they get sick of him) and Jordan (Who got back with him because she was pregnant with Jack), no one actually likes him. They sure respect him a great deal as a doctor, but they don't like him.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: The exact reason why he hates Kelso.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to JD's Sensitive Guy.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Mainly justified in this approach; he wants his interns to learn, as quickly as possible, that lives depend on them, and that eventually they must rely on their own skills rather than outside assistance. He does have his limits and will step in when the interns ''really'' needs his help (which he decides).
* SitcomArchNemesis: Creator/HughJackman. Also Dr. Kelso, especially in the early seasons.
* StepfordSnarker: He's incredibly snarky and one of the funniest characters on the show, but as it turns out, he's incredibly broken and miserable and has very little to be happy for and even after he gets back together with Jordan and they start a family, he's still broken.
* SternTeacher: To the interns, and especially to his med students in season 9.
* TookALevelInJerkass: While he was always a jerk, he still cared enough about J.D. that he didn't even wait for J.D. to come to him for support about his [[spoiler: dad dying]] before attempting to help J.D. deal with it. But in Season 6 he suddenly seems to outright hate J.D., mocking him for having a condition where he passes out when he poops and refusing to help J.D. get through a difficult time because he doesn't consider it nearly as important as what he went through in season 5. He gets better, but this is definitely the lowest moment for the character.
* ToughLove: This is part of his SinkOrSwimMentor shtick.
* UltimateJobSecurity: He's a major DrJerk to the extent that House may have been InspiredBy him. Except that Dr. Cox ''has'' been disciplined. He even got suspended from the hospital in the fifth episode. The only reason he hasn't been fired is his ex-wife is on the hospital's board of directors. Plus he's a damned good doctor. And Kelso admitted that he needs him in order to balance out his own focus on the bottom line on occasions when an uninsured patient really does need care.
* UngratefulBastard: His response in Season 6 to J.D. helping him get through his accidental killing of three patients is to mock J.D. for being homeless and having a condition where he passes out. He also shows no sympathy to J.D. for being lied to about his baby being miscarried.
* VerbalTic: He reeee-hee-hee-hee-hee-ally stretches out words when he's ranting. Also uses "there" as a filler word quite often.
* VitriolicBestBuds:
** Becomes this with Kelso in Season 8, since they have gone from arch enemies to friends.
** He more or less has this with J.D. and Carla, who he snarks at a great deal and Carla always snarks back and J.D. sometimes snarks back, but when they desperately need him, Cox pulls through for them.
** More Co-Workers then Best Buds with Turk, but Turk is the only surgeon that Cox respects and trusts and they bond over being fathers and over their mutual interests in sports and being competitive. They insult each other so very very often though.
* WellDoneSonGuy: J.D. desperately wants his approval, which pisses Cox off a lot. Subverted with his father though, one of the happiest day of Cox's life was when his father died.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: With J.D., he hurls abuse and snarks heaps at him and [=99.5%=] of the time, he never uses his real name. But at the same time, Dr. Cox greatly respects him and considers him to have the potential to be an amazing doctor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Carla Espinosa]]
!!Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes)

->''"Well, you're a surgeon. So, you've got the god-complex, the cockiness, the whole "married to the job" thing. You're cute, but you're very, very aware of it. You have no idea what I'm like, so all of your feelings for me are coming from down there [points at his crotch]. But most of all, I'm looking for the real thing; and you're nothing but a little boy who's not used to being told "no." So there's a bunch of reasons. Pick your favorite."''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_carla_5541.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Just breathes TeamMom]]

She's the SpicyLatina who's the resident nurse of Sacred Heart and wife of Turk. Carla molded JD and Elliot over the years with her tendency to [[TeamMom be there for them]], which has resulted in their friendship. She can be rather hotheaded to people and feel like her friends are overwhelming her with her quirks, but she cares about them and it shows.
----
* AllWomenArePrudes: She never seems especially enthusiastic about sex and struggles to keep up with Turk's needs.
* AlmightyJanitor: Even before she had a position of power as a head nurse, she had considerable sway over goings on at the hospital. Several episodes showed that nurses, despite being lower ranked than doctors and getting less respect from the general public, can make or break a hospital. Because Carla is held in high esteem among her fellow nurses, she had far more power than one would guess, and even Kelso at his worst never tried to pull rank with her and always made sure to curry favor with the nurses.
* CannotTellAJoke: There's an episode where her inability to tell jokes that are funny is one of the central focuses. Note that this doesn't mean she can't be funny: as Cox says, when she's being sarcastic or getting up on her high horse she's hilarious, and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny has beaten even him in snarkiness]]. Having to tell a joke with a setup, punchline, and needing good delivery, however, is not one of her skills.
* ClingyJealousGirl: If Turk so much as looks at another woman, she goes nuts and yells at him.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: To everyone (Turk, J.D., Elliot, Dr. Cox), as to be expected from the OnlySaneWoman and TeamMom.
* ControlFreak: She tends to be very controlling and dominating in her relationships, whether those are sexual/romantic relationships or her friendships with others. This includes a willingness to use sex as a weapon in a romantic relationship.
* DeadpanSnarker: She's the snarkiest character after Dr. Cox, Jordan, and Kelso. It's usually while criticizing J.D., Turk, Elliot or Dr. Cox.
* TheDreaded: Comedic example, but not even the Janitor has the guts to say anything bad about her, despite the fact that he's twice her size, could easily snap her like a twig, and is the the trope namer for AlmightyJanitor. (Keep in mind the Janitor once snapped his fingers and a bunch of the custodial staff showed up out of nowhere, grabbed Dr. Cox, then left him BoundAndGagged in the morgue after Cox crossed the Janitor. Despite having that sort of power, he treads lightly around Carla.) Even ''Kelso'' from the early seasons, before he was softened up, avoided getting into a direct confrontation with her, especially when it pertained to work matters.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: She feels the Doctors take the Nursing staff for granted and most of the time she's right and often points it out.
* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}. Carla is a very proud person and is also certain that she is (almost) always right and has the unique insights that other people need in order to straighten out their lives. This has resulted in her ego backfiring on her on several occasions.
* FireForgedFriends: With Elliot. When the series started, they started out on the wrong foot and insult one another a great deal. After the first few episodes, they had a casual friendship and in Season 2, they became much closer friends after bonding over insecurities and they were best friends for the rest of the show.
* {{Flanderization}}: Her trait of giving advice got flanderized as time passed. In the early seasons, it was to help struggling interns, residents, or even friends that needed her guidance; in the later seasons, she forcibly gives her opinions whenever she has the chance and once admitted that taking the moral high ground "is like crack for [her]".
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: In one of JD's dream sequences, as a ShoutOut to Mortal Kombat and X-Men.
* GossipyHens: With Laverne.
* GratuitousSpanish: Carla has a tendency to mix English and Spanish together at times.
* HairTriggerTemper: She'll go off at someone for their quirks at the drop of a hat for the slightest thing, like J.D. and Turk goofing around in their spare time.
* HospitalHottie: She managed to get it on with Turk in the first episode and was crushed on by Dr. Cox so she definitely has a hot factor to her.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While very bossy and stubborn (and becomes more of a ControlFreak over the time), she's also caring and protective of her friends as well as the interns, sticking up for them when they make mistakes.
* LysistrataGambit: At the drop of a hat. ''Elliot'' can do this to Turk just by being Carla's friend.
* MamaBear: So much so that she once admitted that being the mother figure to the rest of the cast was "like crack" to her.
* MoralityPet: The ''only'' person Dr. Cox treats with anything resembling respect.
* MyBelovedSmother: While supportive and mothering to the new interns, Carla admits she can go overboard, particularly when she senses that they're outgrowing her. Her slowness in recognizing JD's need to stand on his own two feet causes one of their few major spats.
* TheNicknamer: Calls JD "Bambi" sometimes, mostly in early seasons.
* ObliviousToLove: In season 1 she was oblivious about Dr. Cox's crush on her.
* OnlyFriend: To Dr. Cox, at the hospital. Aside from Ben, she's the only one who he'll call a friend without hesitation.
* OnlySaneWoman: The sanest of the principal cast and mostly everyone else who works at the hospital
* OvershadowedByAwesome: In-universe. For a nurse Carla has a lot of power in the hospital, and this was BEFORE she was head nurse. Lampshaded by JD's monologue after one episode where the only doctors present were himself, Elliot and Turk.
--> '''JD:''' (InnerMonologue while he, Elliot and Turk walk out the hospital) ''"Tonight we practically ran the hospital. But tomorrow, we'll go back to being the most under-appreciated people here."''
--> ''Camera goes past them and focuses on Carla.''
--> '''Carla:''' "Hey guys, wait up."
* ParentingTheHusband: When Carla first meets Turk's mom, she's creeped out by how similar they are.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She tends to hand these out to people somewhat regularly. "You know what your problem is?"
* TheReliableOne: At the hospital, she's Head Nurse and she has an amazing memory when it comes to the patients and what they've been given. In her personal life, she's more or less the den mother for J.D., Turk, and Elliot. She also keeps Elliot grounded and prevents Elliot's neuroses from screwing up her life.
* RightlySelfRighteous: If everyone else in the clinic wasn't as nuts as she viewed them, Carla's characterization would likely lean more as a NeverMyFault ControlFreak.
* SitcomCharacterArchetypes: The Sage. Rarer than Cox, but still apparent.
* SpicyLatina: Get in her way or hurt her friends and she will give you a full dose of her temper.
* TeamMom
--> '''Carla:''' "You think I enjoy being den mother to all of you!?"
--> (Everyone gives her a "Well duh" look)
--> '''Carla:''' "Okay fine. It's like crack to me."
* WomenAreWiser: Nine times out of ten, any problems that arise in their relationship are caused by Turk. On the rare occasion that Carla is the cause of the problem, she'll get her way anyway. For example, an episode where Carla learned that she had to compromise with Turk instead of making all the decisions herself ended with her getting the car she wanted anyway; that's right: in the end, Turk was the one who made the compromise.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bob Kelso]]
!!Robert "Bob" Kelso (Ken Jenkins)

->''"Dr. Dorian, do you not realize, that you're nothing more than a large pair of scrubs to me? For God's sake, the only reason I carry this chart around is so I can pretend to remember your damn name!"''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_kelso_2493.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:He may not ''look'' like the devil...]]

The Chief of Staff of Sacred Heart, Kelso is a snide and grumpy old man who allows improper practices and makes strict rules for the sake of the hospital's budget. However, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he does show some care]] to certain people, even if it's extremely rare and his decisions in the hospital aren't always easy to make for him.
----
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Everyone, absolutely ''everyone'' at Sacred Heart hates him, to the extent that when Dr. Cox tricks everyone into thinking Kelso is dead in the episode "My Kingdom," their reactions range from indifference to joy; resident ButtMonkey Ted openly cheers and dances around in celebration. This is toned down later in season 8, especially after he leaves the hospital.
* BadBoss: He treats Ted as his punching bag, he treats the Interns like shit and he's just an all around asshole to everyone.
* BigEater: To a realistic degree.
* CharacterDevelopment: The early seasons largely presented him as a {{Jerkass}} that was only interested in money, but gradually he was shown to have far more depth to him.
* CoolOldGuy: At the beginning of the series he was quite the opposite, however he evolves into one after he leaves the hospital, in the last few seasons.
* DeadpanSnarker: Primarily with Dr. Cox and Interns when they screw up at rounds.
* DirtyOldMan: He loves Asian prostitutes and he's proud of it.
* TheDreaded: Especially seen when he interacts with the Interns.
* DrJerk: He treats everyone below him pretty badly, especially the Interns and Ted.
* {{Flanderization}}: His goofiness. In later seasons it became his main personality trait.
* GenghisGambit: An odd variant. His solution to the hospital staff spending too much time [[ItMakesSenseInContext arguing about the morality of the Second Iraq War]], make them all unite in their mutual hatred of him.
* GrumpyOldMan: Primarily in the earlier seasons, but he had a tendency to complain about alot of things and he was just plain unpleasant.
* HardHead: According to The Janitor, who was a paid a few bucks to whack him in the head with his mop handle, it just made him angry.
-->'''Janitor:''' He's got a skull like a mountain goat.
%%* IcyBlueEyes
* HiddenDepths: In "My Tuscaloosa Heart" it's revealed that he used to be a musician and write love songs. [[spoiler: This is made especially poignant when it's revealed that Bunny, the woman he wrote about, is the wife who now hates him.]]
* InsistentTerminology: Refers to Turk and Carla as "Mr and Mrs Turkleton". Even when Turk points out that isn't his last name.
--> '''Turk:''' "Sir, you do know my last name isn't Turkleton?"
--> '''Kelso:''' "Not yet. Turkleton. Not yet."
* ItAmusedMe: When he switches a cup of decaf for regular that Turk was going to give to Carla, he remarks as he leaves "What a fun day."
* {{Jerkass}}: He cheats on his wife and keeps her doped up on anti-depressants, openly dislikes his gay son, and treats his staff like crap.
* JerkassFacade: In his [[ADayInTheLimelight Day in the Limelight]] episode, he specifically states in his narration that he often takes on the role of the {{Jerkass}} to unite the staff. When he temporarily drops it, the entire staff is torn apart, nearly killing a patient who he cares deeply about.
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Dr. Kelso is generally depicted as a ruthless, heartless bastard, it is sometimes noted that he does have hard decisions to make between demonstrating humanity towards the doctors and the patients versus the overall welfare of the hospital as a whole. J.D once notes that while he'll never like or respect Kelso, he also wouldn't want to have to make these decisions himself.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: A minor example. He actually ''is'' a Jerk, and an unapologetically sadistic and mean-spirited one at that, but occasionally reveals himself to be ultimately more caring and decent than he cares to admit, and and at least partially acts the part of a ruthless, uncaring and egotistical bastard in order to keep the hospital running efficiently.
* KickTheDog: Pretty much all the time, especially when he appears with Ted to the point that while everyone else tries to save Kelso's job Ted is absolutely elated when he retires.
* LastNameBasis: Usually referred to by his last name.
* ManipulativeBastard: He's very good at playing people to get what he wants and it's revealed in Season 6 that he manipulates everyone to hate him so they stay united.
* MeanBoss: He's a full blown {{jerkass}} who abuses Ted, constantly harassed and belittled Elliot in the earlier seasons and has no respect for anyone who works for him.
* MentorArchetype: In late season 7 and throughout season 8, after retiring he is able to drop the "mean bureaucrat" facade and tap into his years of experience as Chief of Medicine and as a doctor in general to guide the characters. In particular, [[spoiler: he helps Dr. Cox with understanding the responsibilities that come with being Chief of Medicine and teaches J.D. that he needed to be what Dr. Cox was to him, a thankless MoralityChain]].
* NecessarilyEvil: Crosses over with ZeroApprovalGambit and MeanBoss. As the Chief of Medicine, Kelso has to do what's best for the hospital, even if that means some patients end up dying as a result of his decisions (though in practice he is quite happy to look the other way when the staff treats those patients in spite of this).
* PapaWolf: Lapses into HypocriticalHeartwarming, but while Kelso complains repeatedly about his son Harrison, ''only'' he is allowed to; when he and Dr. Cox are offhandedly making fun of their sons, Dr. Cox makes a joke about Dr. Kelso's son, who retaliates by forcing Dr. Cox [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment work with Ted all afternoon.]] Cox is baffled by this until Jordan explains, "You made fun of his kid. You ''never'' make fun of somebody else's kid."
* ParentalAbandonment: His father left him and family when he was a child, using a bicycle. As such he hates bicycles.
* PetTheDog: Though when he retires Kelso tells Ted "Thanks for everything" and when he eventually leaves the hospital makes sure to give Ted a fond farewell.
* PlausibleDeniability: In later seasons it's shown that he is fully aware that his staff often treat patients behind his back even if they are ordered not to (such as if they are terminal, don't have insurance etc.) and he pretty much lets them off with it, or publicly punishes them while privately being happy they did it. As Chief of Medicine it's his job to run the hospital like a business and Sacred Heart is often shown having financial problems on top of that, but as long as he makes a show of being ruthlessly tight-fisted he doesn't have to answer awkward questions if patients are treated "under his nose" to the Board of Directors.
* PutOnABus: Subverted twice. When he's forced into retirement in season 7 he seemingly leaves the hospital for good, however season 8 keeps him as a regular by having him hang around the hospital coffee shop all day. At the end of season 8 he decides to leave Sacred Heart to become a doctor again else where, even taking his favorite chair from the coffee shop with him. Then come season 9 there's a TimeSkip and he takes a teaching job at the new hospital after his wife dies.
* RaceFetish: For Asian women, to the point of having an AsianBabymama.
* ScrewPolitenessImASenior
--> "Write this down, Perry. I'm old, and I honestly don't care what people think about anything I do." (farts) "That was me, folks!"
* ShipperOnDeck: During "My Happy Place", he admits that it's nice to see J.D. and Elliot dating again, even though they were officially still in a platonic friendship at this point. Him pointing out that the two basically do everything that a couple does except have sex prompts the two to have a serious conversation about whether or not they should get back together. When they admit to each other that they're scared of moving forward, partially out of fear of what others would say about them, Kelso interjects that they should just do what makes them happy. It proves to be enough to inspire them to reignite their relationship.
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Cox, especially in the early seasons.
* TheSpock: His primary role. He is all too willing to coldly sacrifice individual patients for the good of the hospital. However, its been shown that he really doesn't enjoy it and he gets moments that bring him closer to being The Kirk.
* StrawMisogynist: Often shows a sexist streak; on one occasion, he chose Turk to go to Mexico on Doctors Without Borders instead of his rival Bonnie Chang simply because Bonnie was a woman.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Compared to the other main characters and most people who work at the hospital, he's by far the most cruel and malicious (closely followed by the Janitor...DependingOnTheWriter).
* TookALevelInKindness: Sort of. He's always a {{Jerkass}}, but in early seasons he was more of a heartless bastard with nearly no redeeming qualities, while in later seasons he lets out a few hints of warmness and HiddenHeartOfGold every now and again. It was stated outright that he had to be the bad guy as the Chief of Medicine, otherwise the hospital wouldn't function.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He loves his muffins.
* TragicBigot: In "My Five Stages" it's revealed that he's apparently this toward... bicycles. More specifically, to anybody who associates with them.
--> '''Kelso's Father:''' Son, Daddy's got to move on. And I just want you to know that since the car is in your mother's name, I wouldn't be able to leave the family forever if it weren't for your bike.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Becomes this with Dr. Cox in Season 8, since they have gone from arch enemies to friends.
* ZeroApprovalGambit: In one episode, he lets himself be hated because it rallies the staff together AGAINST him, letting them focus on caring for their patients instead of arguing with each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Janitor]]
!!"The Janitor" (Neil Flynn)

->''"You seem unhappy. I like that."''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrubs_janitor_7578.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[AlmightyJanitor He sees all, he knows all, and he is watching you]].]]

The AlmightyJanitor who has a dislike of doctors, especially JD. When he's not tormenting JD at every chance he gets, he tells zany stories (which are mostly lies) to the staff and helps out Elliot when he can. He's also insane.
----
* AbusiveParents: Implied from most of the times he's actually telling the truth about his past, which include things like his parents sticking him in a cat carrier.
* AdamWesting: One alternate character interpretation is that the Janitor is in fact Neil Flynn, hence explaining why [[spoiler: he appeared in The Fugitive playing Neil Flynn's role]]. Of course for this to work, Neil Flynn would have had to fallen down on his luck and been forced into becoming a hospital janitor which is inline with other examples of Adam Westing.
* AlmightyJanitor: The absolute embodiment of this trope.
* BerserkButton:
** Being called stupid.
** Almost anything J.D. says or does, apparently.
* BreakoutCharacter: The reason he appears after the pilot episode is because he was such a big hit and he started interacting with the other characters because of his popularity.
* TheBully: To J.D. for the entire series. He goes out of his way to harass and make J.D.'s life harder just because he can.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: In-universe example. In the Season 9 premiere, Turk states that the Janitor didn't know JD was leaving the hospital for good. Upon being informed of this, the Janitor just disappeared and no one knows where he went. Doubles as a CallBack to the show's first season, where he was originally supposed to be a figment of JD's imagination.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Increasingly so. He often comes up with the craziest stories (mostly lies). Among other things, he has his own squirrel army. He also doesn't believe in the moon, he thinks it's just the back of the sun.
* ConsummateLiar: Is ''very'' good at telling lies and stories; even those he's duped before tend to fall for his tricks again and again.
* DeadpanSnarker: He tends to be very snarky in his making J.D. miserable or in response to things J.D. says. This dialogue from the second episode:
--> '''J.D.:''' How's it going?
--> '''Janitor:''' I'm 37 years old, and I'm a janitor; how do you think it's going?
--> '''J.D.:''' Now, there is nothing wrong with being a janitor.
--> '''Janitor:''' Really? Thank you. You...you've turned my life around. I'm gonna have to go tell my janitor wife and all our janitor kids that life is worth living; and that comes straight from our hero, Dr. Whoozitz.... Dr. Nothin'.
* DeathGlare: To J.D. for not helping him move (Actually breaking into an Asian couple's apartment and robbing them) and to Carla for not giving him what he wanted.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Is The Janitor extremely dedicated and proud of how clean he keeps the hospital, or is he a lazy psychopath who pulls pranks on the staff all day, drinks on the clock, and never cleans as "a lesson"? For that matter, does he really hate JD and single him out, or is he a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who just enjoys messing with everybody for fun's sake?
* DisproportionateRetribution: A big fan of this. Especially to JD.
--> '''JD:''' "Oh, it looks like I did something wrong. I guess this means you'll decapitate me for it, right?"
* TheDreaded: It's been shown twice he can make whole crowds do whatever he wants, just out of fear.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: "His Story III." The Janitor feels like he doesn't make a difference in the hospital, but then a paralyzed patient he spent the episode talking to thanks him for treating him as a person and not as an object.
* EasilyForgiven: Despite all of the horrible things he's done to J.D., some of which could have permanently injured or killed him, he parts with J.D. on good terms.
* EnemyMine: He and JD worked together to help Ted get a girl though this alliance ended when Ted got the girl.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Even his Hospital ID lists his name as "The Janitor".
* EveryoneHasStandards: Even The Janitor has enough of a heart not to hassle JD after his dad died.
* EvilIsPetty: While more of a {{Jerkass}} than actually evil, the Janitor went out of his way to screw with JD and make his life miserable for ''eight years'' simply because JD accidentally lodged a penny in the door.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** While he gets more screen time and CharacterDevelopment over the years (he was barely a SatelliteCharacter in season 1), he goes from a mysterious strange janitor guy to a literally insane and sociopathic character. PlayedForLaughs obviously.
** His early pranks on J.D. were mostly harmless. In later seasons many of his pranks are physically dangerous or even potentially fatal.
* FriendlyEnemy: With Dr. Cox. They're bar buddies and they're the only ones they can speak to on an equal level about hating people.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: When J.D. tries to convince the others to attend Janitor's wedding, he says “I know the Janitor isn't exactly a friend to us, but he is a part of our family. A horrible, horrible part”.
* HairTriggerTemper: ''Everything'' JD says to him is taken in the most insulting way possible.
* HeroicComedicSociopath: He does make a small difference, but for the most part he goes out of his way to piss off and make everyone's life miserable except for Elliot (Who is his MoralityPet) and Carla (Who he fears).
* HiddenDepths: When Carla finally manages to gather the whole hospital staff for a group photo, Janitor ruins it with a strategically angled mirror. Turns out he didn't do it ForTheEvulz, he did it because [[spoiler: nobody asked him to be part of the picture and it hurt his feelings]].
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: With Carla when they interact, though he does loom over a lot of the other female interns as well.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Type B... more or less. He told Elliot that she was the only person on the hospital staff that treated him as a person. Neil Flynn also theorized that the Janitor's pranks were a very odd way of showing overtures of friendship to JD.
* InsistentTerminology: It's not a jumpsuit, it's a shirt and pants!
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Though we see the Jerk aspect [=99.9%=] of the time because of how much he tortures the staff, he genuinely likes Elliot and will do his best to help her out. He's also quite fond of and supportive of Ted.
* KarmaHoudini: He can do almost everything just because he's [[AlmightyJanitor "the Janitor"]] and he (almost) always comes out on top.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He gets his comeuppance in "My Own Personal Hell" and "My Perspective", probably the only episodes where the Janitor's pranks on J.D. backfire and J.D. finally gets the last laugh on him.
* LackOfEmpathy: Again, towards JD. He IS capable of empathy- in one episode, he spends it talking with a bedridden person who requires a computer to speak to keep him company. He often sticks up for Elliot or "Blonde Doctor."
** He does cut J.D. slack on occasion. He chose to be cordial when [[spoiler: J.D. was coping with his father dying]], admitted that [[spoiler: he was an actor in The Fugitive]] after J.D. gives him a particularly scathing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, and stood up for J.D. on a particularly difficult roadtrip to see [[spoiler: Kim's]] ultrasound, though he was suffering a concussion during that last bit.
** The one thing about him that's definitely true is that he was a world class hurdler since he managed to do a 100m hurdle in under 10 seconds to assault J.D.
* TheNicknamer: He nicknamed J.D. "Scooter", Turk "Black Doctor" and Elliot "Blonde Doctor" and almost never uses their real names.
* NoNameGiven: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and obviously played for laughs. In the season 8 finale, the Janitor apparently reveals his name to JD, but as soon as JD leaves, someone else walks by and calls the Janitor by a different name. WordOfGod says the name given to JD, [[spoiler:Glen Matthews]], is his actual name. Also at [[spoiler:Turk and Carla's wedding]] it appears he actually did give his name to Danni, who says [[spoiler:Hey Glenn]] while Ted and Doug fight about which of them she is referring to, having both made out with her recently and competing over who she is giving more attention to. Then again, the show's creators have occasionally said (''probably'' joking) that they don't know any more about The Janitor than the viewers do, that he just showed up on the set one day and everyone was too afraid of him to tell him to leave.
* NotSoAboveItAll: While normally immune to insults and the like, he will become genuinely sad when told he doesn't make a difference.
* OddFriendship: His "Brain Trust" buddies: Ted, Todd, and Doug, of all people.
* PetTheDog:
** Has some moments of this with Elliot and Ted. With the latter, for a while he's the only person that actually makes an effort to be nice to him.
** His goodbye words to [[spoiler: Laverne as she's dying.]]
** When J.D.'s dad dies, he actually doesn't bother him out of respect, merely glancing at him and letting things drop.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Subverted slightly. He gets promoted to the main cast in Season 2 and, simultaneously, the theme for the first few episodes was expanded, allowing the Janitor to be present in them. However, a few episodes into the season, the intro was shortened back to its original length/style, meaning that he was no longer featured in them despite remaining a main cast member throughout the show's run.
%%* RefugeInAudacity
* SatelliteCharacter: In the first season he only exists to be JD's tormentor and never really interacts with anyone else. This changes starting in season 2, when he becomes a main character and has regular interactions with the rest of the cast, although he still torments JD at every chance he gets.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Turk informs him J.D. doesn't work at Sacred Heart anymore, he drops his mop and walks out of the hospital, never to be seen again.
* ScrewySquirrel: To J.D., given that his primary role in the series is to screw with J.D. and make his life hell. He also screws with the rest of the main cast, but not as much.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Informs JD in the finale that the reason for all his pranks are because JD failed one in the Pilot. Turns out the penny in the door fell out of JD's pocket accidentally and the Janitor saw it happen, but punished JD because ''[[DisproportionateRetribution he kept lying about it.]]''
--> '''Janitor''': It was a test of character. You failed. And you lost out on a wonderful friendship.
* SitcomArchNemesis: To J.D., ever since the first episode.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Lampshaded in one episode when Carla flat out tells him he has delusions of grandeur. Deconstructed in "His Story III", which explains he acts this way because otherwise he doesn't feel important.
* {{Troll}}: He really seems to love messing with J.D.
* UltimateJobSecurity: He never does his work, and is constantly pulling pranks or messing with people in other ways, to the extent that he trapped JD in a water tower for an entire day and got off totally scot-free. Of course, it turns out that the main reason for his security is because Dr. Kelso openly doesn't care what the hospital employees did as long as the money rolled in and he got to enjoy the perks of his job. Upon Kelso's retirement, he's replaced by Dr. Maddox, who actually acts like an administrator, having the Janitor fired on the spot when she sees him trip JD in the hallway.
* TheUnfettered: He'll do just about ''anything'' to make JD's life difficult. Case in point: in the season 4 finale, he goes so far as to take a bite out of his own [[LaxativePrank laxative-filled pie]] in order to trick JD into thinking it's safe, ending with the two sitting side-by-side in the crapper:
-->'''J.D.''': Who would do this to themselves?!\\
'''Janitor''': [[WorthIt Totally worth it.]]
* WackyGuy: Easily the wackiest character in the show, which is ''really'' saying something.
[[/folder]]

!!Secondary Characters
[[folder:Ted Buckland]]
!!''' Theodore "Ted" Buckland (Sam Lloyd)'''

->'''Dr. Maddox:''' [looking into Ted's briefcase] Hey... How come all you have in there is a smiley face button and a revolver? \\
'''Ted:''' Well one's in case I get sad, and the other is in case I get really sad.

Resident lawyer of Sacred Heart. A lot of bad luck befalls him and he's pretty awful at his job, enabling him to bellow his trademark "Awwwww...!" He's also the leader of an [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome A Capella band]].
----
* ACappella: Ted is a member of an a cappella group called the The Worthless Peons who are played by Sam Lloyd's real a cappella group The Blanks.
* BasementDweller: He is a pathetically inept sad-sack attorney who not only lives with his mother, but shares ''a bed'' with her.
* ButtMonkey: Kelso basically bullies him. It's PlayedForLaughs, though.
* CatchPhrase: As mentioned above, "Awww..." might as well belong to Ted with a copyright attached to it.
* TheChewToy: He's Kelso's punching bag and outside of the Worthless Peons, he's got nothing good in his life.
* ClothesMakeTheLegend: His suits are almost always cheap and horrible looking.
* DrivenToSuicide: One episode has him standing on a ledge of the hospital and pledging that someday he'll have the courage to jump. He finally jumps at the end of the episode only to have his fall broken by a pile of trash that the Janitor was hiding from Kelso.
* TheEeyore: [=98%=] of the time, he has a miserable expression on his face and it's to the point that it hurts him to laugh or smile in Season 8.
* ExtremeDoormat: This is how he became Dr. Kelso's personal assistant. The janitor also takes advantage of this from time to time ("I'm a follower"), though one episode has him teach Ted to to stand up for himself, which caused him to turn against the Janitor and start a rival group to the Brain Trust, though this change is short-lived.
* HairTodayGoneTomorrow: Some episodes show him having an impressive head of hair when he started working at the hospital. On another occasion, he says he went bald at fourteen. Another episode implies he had hair when he got married.
* InSeriesNickname: His mom calls him Thunder.
* MommasBoy: His relationship with his mother, occasionally taking it to disturbing levels. They used to sleep together in the same bed.
* ObliviousToLove: Ted is so oblivious to Gooch's subtle (and not so subtle) hints she's attracted to him that she assumes he isn't interested and is just too nice to say. Though Ted musters up the courage to tell her it's because he thinks she so great he couldn't have imagined her actually feeling the same.
* PerpetualFrowner: So often smiling actually hurts and it is said that sadness is his default expression.
* StealthHiBye: Because no one ever expects him to be there.
* ThrowTheDogABone:
** The Janitor starts befriending him in Season 7.
** Finally gets a girlfriend in Season 8 and gets to show her off to the people who thought she was made up. Too bad it's revealed she left him for Hooch in his appearance on ''Series/CougarTown''.
** "Thanks for everything, Ted. Sincerely."
** By the end of the series, the hospital staff in general seems to be more caring towards him. After a visit from Dr. Kelso causes Ted to freak out and faint, Cox tells him to go lie down, Kelso lays a blanket over him while inquiring about his presence at the hospital, and J.D. notes that everyone has been "spending time with him, taking him on walks" before scratching Ted's ear like a dog. PlayedForLaughs, of course, but the humor around him is far less morbid than it was during the earlier portions of the series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Todd Quinlan]]
!!'''Todd "The Todd" Quinlan (Robert Maschio)'''

->''"I'd like to double '''her''' entendre!"''

The Todd is a plastic surgeon at Sacred Heart. He loves hitting on women [[AnythingThatMoves (presumably)]] for sex and hands for high-fives as well as showing off his physique. He's also a good friend of Turk.
----
* AbusiveParent: After a session with Molly, she stated his behavior stemmed from an abusive mother. His father doesn't seem much better, and in one flashback seemed to ''actively encourage'' Todd to objectify passing women.
* AnythingThatMoves: "The Todd appreciates hot, regardless of gender, age or disability."
* BiTheWay: After years of being AmbiguouslyBi, in Series 8 it's revealed he's sleeping with the Hendersons. ''Both'' of them.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Several episodes depict him swapping between his normal personality and a very serious, confident doctor (e.g. ''My Hero''. That episode compared Turk and The Todd in their skills, showing The Todd is much more single-minded on the task while Turk is easily distracted by everything else he has to do). Because of that single-mindedness, while The Todd may appear to be an idiot, when he's in surgery, he is one of the best by far because he is so focused on the task at hand.
* CatchPhrase: "(Insert word here) Five".
* CasanovaWannabe: He literally hits on anything. Even if most of this is purely playful, his success rate doesn't look too well.
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: His high-fives tend to sting. Exemplified by the whip-crack sound effect that accompanies them.
* DoubleEntendre: Half of his M.O.
* {{Fanservice}}: His love of banana hammocks. Fanservice to some, but disservice to others.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Can go back and forth. Todd seems to get along well enough with members of the Hospital (mainly Turk) to at least establish a decent working relationship (plus, he was invited to Turk and Carla's wedding and is a part of the Janitor's Brain Trust). But he also gets on their nerves a good amount of the time with his reliance on sexual innuendos, fetish talk, displaying of banana hammocks, and (at least to J.D.) forceful high-fives. When J.D. tries to convince his friends that they should go to the Bahamas to celebrate the Janitor's wedding, Todd overhears and J.D. tries to steer him away from following through on it. Even in the Brain Trust, Janitor and Ted are sometimes a bit perturbed by his habits.
* FreudianExcuse: Molly working with him says that he's behavior stems from a poor childhood.
* GeniusDitz: He is horribly un-PC with constant sex-jokes, unable to remember 5 seconds later that you can hear people through the door and at one point couldn't spell his own name. Yet he's managed to graduate from med school and at one point was a better surgeon than Turk.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The other half of his M.O.
* HiddenDepths:
** He's a surprisingly nice guy on closer inspection (He's very rarely mean or malicious to anyone) and an excellent surgeon.
** And a good enough friend to Turk to be one of his groomsmen. Later, he's good and ready to punch out Carla's brother when the latter won't stop making nasty comments about Turk, and in another conversation, Turk sincerely tells him, "You always know the right thing to say."
** He actually seems a little ashamed when he needs Turk to spellcheck his Thank You card to Kevin Casey, and discovers he misspelled his own name.
* JerkJock: It's mentioned frequently that Internal Medicine are the geeks and Surgeons are the jocks of the hospital, of which Todd proudly wears as a badge of honor.
* KarmaHoudini: He can apparently sexually harass all the women he wants, and never face any significant repercussions.
* LargeHam: He always makes a huge deal out of his double entendres and high fives. Heck, one intern that wanted to give a high five to somebody got flak from Todd for stealing his gimmick.
* LovableSexManiac: He's not completely horrible, but he is a sexist pig who hits on men and women of both genders.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: He's incredibly sexist and has more sexual harassment complaints put against him then the rest of the hospital combined.
* SeriousBusiness: Somebody else initiating high-fives. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness He even ignored a sex joke]] because he was so worked up about it.
* ShirtlessScene: Kinda hard to show off the "banana hammock" without it.
* SmallNameBigEgo: His arrogance sometimes surpasses Cox's.
* SpellMyNameWithAThe:
--> '''Janitor:''' What the hell are you?
--> '''Todd:''' I'm The Todd!
* ThirdPersonPerson: He's The Todd and often refers to himself as such.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jordan Sullivan]]
!!'''Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller)'''

->''"If you talk again, I'm going to eat you!"''

A member of the board at Sacred Heart Hospital, and Dr. Cox's ex-wife-ish. Saying she has a vindictive personality is like saying ice is a little cold.
----
* AscendedExtra: Was originally only supposed to appear in one episode, but due to her popularity (and also perhaps to a small extent due to [[RealLifeRelative being married to the creator]]), she became a recurring character for the rest of the series.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: With Dr. Cox. Zigzagged as it is stated early on that they both like being mean (to both each other and others). They really care for each other but still hate to admit it and given the personality of both of them, it's not that surprising.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Dr. Cox before getting back together with him, and even with J.D in her first appearance.
* CatchPhrase: [[ForTheEvulz "For funsies!"]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Towards everyone, but especially in her SnarkToSnarkCombat with Dr. Cox.
* DistaffCounterpart: Not in terms of occupation, but ''definitely'' in terms of personality with Dr. Cox.
* DotingParent: Despite [[{{Jerkass}} her flaws]], she's shown to be a loving parent to her children. Even ''Dr. Cox.'' says she's this.
* FreudianExcuse: Parodied and later subverted in her ADayInTheLimelight episode. She claimed that her acerbic personality was due to her [[AbusiveParents parents being mean to her]], but later in the episode it turned out she was lying.
--> '''Jordan:''' Here take the fake sugars, because ''I hope you get cancer, I really do.''
--> ''[Everyone in background gasps]''
--> '''Jordan:''' Well my parents were mean to me.
--> '''Everyone:''' Ohh.
* GuyOnGuyIsHot: Janitor feeds scone to Kelso = Jordan wanting sex. "Mama's heating up!"
* HannibalLecture: Jordan gives one of these to the entire cast at the end of the first season.
* HappilyMarried: Inverted; she and Dr. Cox seem to have a much better relationship divorced. Finding out in a later episode that they were still legally married worsened their relationship and they filed for divorce again. While they never actually marry again, season eight puts them on the path to acknowledging they actually love each other and not the childish SlapSlapKiss they ALWAYS had going on before.
* ImAHumanitarian: One episode has a pregnant and hormonal Jordan talking with Carla suffering from Post Partum Depression, having gone through it herself. When Turk tries to get a word in edgewise, she threatens to eat him if he speaks up again.
* {{Jerkass}}: Even moreso than Dr. Cox.
--> "There's nothing like looking into someone's eyes and seeing part of them '''die'''. Oh! There it goes. Bye bye hope. Bye bye."
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Like Cox, she's exuberantly acerbic and sarcastic, but deep down caring (albeit emotionally repressed) and loving, although she only expresses this to Cox and her son, Jack.
* KickTheDog: She does this around everyone [[MoralityPet except her children.]] [[RefugeinAudacity Usually.]]
* OneHourWorkWeek: Jordan inherited her place on the hospital's board from her father, and she only really has to do anything resembling work every couple of months.
* ParentalNeglect: Played for laughs; Jordan does love her kids and is capable of looking after them, but if given the chance to laze around, drinking, and/or pampering herself, she will leave them in the care of nannies, or Perry if he's available.
* ReallyGetsAround: In the 18 months that she and Dr. Cox were separated, she slept with Mickhead, J.D. and several other Sacred Heart employees.
* SugaryMalice: After becoming a mother, Jordan's dry wit takes a turn for this. She still heaps emotional abuse on Perry and their peers, but does so in a cute voice and a tone that would be comforting if not for the words.
* TookALevelInKindness: After becoming a mother, she slides from a {{Jerkass}} to a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. She still likes to screw with people's heads, but it seems to lose most of her earlier maliciousness and be more harmless pranking;
--> '''Jordan''': For funsies!
* YourCheatingHeart:
** While she and Dr. Cox live together and clearly love each other, Jordan also flirts with other men. Even in front of her husband (well, ex-husband in theory).
** Her cheating on Dr. Cox with Dr. Pete Fisher (whom Perry was mentoring at the time) was one of the reasons that they ended up divorcing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Laverne Roberts]]
!!'''Laverne Roberts (Aloma Wright)'''

->''"Junior, I don't know what you're doing in my area, but you better be looking for some bandages because you're going to need them when I get through with you."''

Head nurse of Sacred Heart, Laverne is a devout Christian with twice the sass of Carla and a huge love for soap operas.
----
* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: The day [[spoiler: Dr. Cox's second child, Jennifer Dylan, is born is the same day Laverne dies]].
* CatchPhrase: "Mm-hmm."
* DeadpanSnarker: She used her religious beliefs to snark at everyone, but she was still snarky.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:She constantly tries to prove Cox wrong and tell's him that everything in life happens for a reason. The morning after she convinces him that he might be wrong, she is caught in a car accident on the way to work, putting into a coma and eventually killing her.]]
* FlatCharacter: In early seasons, she was just Carla's friend and SassyBlackWoman. She got a bit more depth to her later on.
* GossipyHens: Along with Carla.
* HolierThanThou: She snarks at people by using her religious beliefs against them.
* SassyBlackWoman: Her sassiness makes Carla look meek in comparison.
* ShutUpHannibal: Delivers one to Dr. Cox as he wouldn't stop challenging her Christian faith with several rants.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Doug Murphy]]
!!'''Doug Murphy (Johnny Kastl)'''

->''"They're like my children... my big dead children."''

Formerly a resident, he is now the coroner of Sacred Heart. He's a big screw-up and he talks about his love for the job nonchalantly.
----
* BlackComedy: He's killed a lot of patients and that's funny.
--> '''Coroner''': Have you seen this before?
--> '''Doug''': Seen it? Upstairs, they call that "''a Doug''"
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He may be as weird as 99% of the other staff of the hospital and horribly incompetent when trying to treat living patients, but (in part due to killing so many patients) he is an extremely skilled coroner.
* ButtMonkey: He was the worst doctor in the history of Sacred Heart and no one has any respect for him and he constantly has accidents as the coroner, one of which ended with him breaking both of his legs. [[note]]This was a WrittenInInfirmity when his actor actually broke his leg in an accident; the writers called him as said since that was a very Doug-thing to do, they would just add it into the show rather than let him have to miss work for several weeks. [[/note]]
* ComicallyIneptHealing: He is one of the worst interns ever, in fact he is so bad he makes the perfect coroner because he knows all the ways that a Doctor can screw up and kill someone.
* {{Determinator}}: Despite being a nervous wreck, killing a lot of patients and being the only person in the history of Sacred Heart to repeat their third year of residency; Doug never falters in his dedication to ''try'' to be a good doctor. He fails miserably, but its the trying that counts, right?
* GeniusDitz: Bonus points because it's his inadequacy (in being a doctor) that makes him such a genius in the morgue at figuring out what killed patients.
* HiddenDepths: Originally a one-note failure as a doctor, it's later revealed that he's killed so many patients that he can easily identify a cause of death, so he became a top-rate coroner.
* JokerImmunity: He somehow lasts three years as an intern before anyone begins to seriously doubt his suitability to become a doctor, and even then it doesn't happen until Doug himself asks the other staff whether or not they think he should quit. Contrast this with the way that Cabbage was fired almost immediately once JD realized just how incompetent he was. Somewhat "{{justified}}" in that in many cases, he is ''so'' [[ComicallyIneptHealing comically inept]] that it isn't even clear ''how'' he keeps causing disasters- meaning, he can't be fired because it isn't clear what he did wrong.
* LethalKlutz: After becoming a coroner, he had an accident that broke both of his legs.
* LethallyStupid: There's a running gag of him killing patients due to his incompetence.
--> '''Nurse Roberts''': Doug wanted me to give this patient five hundred thousand milligrams of Morphine. I thought I'd check with you before I killed a man.
--> '''J.D.''': Unbelievable, Doug.
* NervousWreck: He's nervous about... everything. It's why Dr. Cox's nickname for him is "Nervous Guy"
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Lollipops. A habit he seems to have picked up from the other coroners. Maybe it helps with the smell.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Phillip Wen]]
!!'''Phillip Wen (Charles Chun)'''
->''"You know Christopher, surgeons don't have to be shallow rank obsessed cliches."''

The Chief of Surgery and Turk's superior. He's the OnlySaneMan of the Surgery Wing and thinks surgeons can be more than just stereotypical JerkJock[=s=] that are obsessed with being the best.
----
* HappilyMarried: He's mentioned to be married and was involved in a car accident with his wife briefly.
* NotSoAboveItAll: While he's mostly a StraightMan and a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, at the end of one episode there was a race between Internal Medicine and the Surgeons, (doctors Cox and Wen are each sitting in a wheelchair, while they're pushed by J.D. and Turk respectively) and Dr. Wen is just as into it as anybody. In fact, he might be the most hyped person there and the most competitive to win the race.
* OnlySaneMan: Firmly believes that surgeons don't need to be shallow rank obsessed cliches and has a no-nonsense approach with his interns and doesn't approve of goofing off or large egos while on the job.
* PutOnABus: He disappeared physically shortly after giving Turk his attending surgeon position, supposedly for family reasons. He was mentioned a bit in Season 6, but he never appeared again. He still appeared in J.D.'s final fantasy in My Finale.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He doesn't abuse his power and he compliments the [=interns/residents=] when they do well. He also gives Turk an attending surgeon position because he was providing excellent patient care beyond the bare minimum.
* StraightMan: Even more than Carla. He's pretty much the only normal person of ''all'' the people who worked at Sacred Heart Hospital throughout the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Lonnie]]
!!'''Lonnie (Michael Hobert)'''

-> ''"I hate you J.D."''

One of J.D.'s interns and later residents who appeared throughout Seasons 3-5. He is an odd mix of {{jerkass}} and {{buttmonkey}}.
----
* BackForTheFinale: Appears in J.D.'s last fantasy in My Finale to say he hates him.
* ButtMonkey: Both J.D. and Dr. Cox have taken advantage of their power over him on several occasions, with Dr. Cox even once mummifying his head.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's as much of an ass to J.D. as he can be and get away with it.
* PutOnABus: Vanished after Season 5 outside of a small cameo in Season 6.
* ReallyGetsAround: He has three children that he knows about and probably has more.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Molly Clock]]
!!'''Molly Clock (Creator/HeatherGraham)'''

A BunnyEarsLawyer psychiatrist who temporarily worked at Sacred Heart Hospital.
----
* TheAce: A brilliant shrink who could not only heal The Todd, make any character realize their problems, but her everlasting good mood couldn't be crushed by Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox combined either.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Sort of. She tells JD that she is attracted to damaged, dysfunctional people.
--> '''J.D.''': Molly, I'm narcissistic, I'm pessimistic, I'm obsessive, I'm insecure. And I am so afraid of intimacy that every one of my relationships is a journey of self-sabotage that inevitably ends in a black vacuum of shattered expectations and despair.
--> '''Molly''': Wow. ''(she kisses him passionately)''
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Acts like a total airhead, yet she is a very skilled psychiatrist.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Very much so.
--> '''Molly:''' So, where were we?
--> '''J.D.:''' Uhh, we weren't talking.
--> '''Molly:''' Was it cause of something you did? Cause I'm totally over it, I don't even remember what it was.
--> '''J.D.:''' No, I mean like, we've never talked. Ever.
--> '''Molly:''' Well how do I know your name then?
--> '''J.D.:''' You don't.
** There is a running gag that never gets commented on in series- Molly never has a clue what time it is.
* DitzyGenius: Extremely perceptive and a brilliant psychiatrist, but also very ditzy and spacey (even more than JD or Elliot). She’s not nearly as naïve as she seems and is able to manipulate both Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Is almost exclusively seen wearing flipflops when wearing shoes at all.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Blonde and attracts most of the hospital.
--> '''Turk''': It's not just sex. It's sex with Molly! Any guy would kill to have sex with Molly.
* GoodIsNotDumb: Molly's indomitable optimism stands against the cynicism of Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso, and she's still able to triumph against them.
* HospitalHottie: The hospital's second hottest employee of the female staff members, according to JD and Turk.
* NiceGirl: Yes, she’s very nice to everyone, but far from a pushover.
* PutOnABus: She's introduced in early season 4 and is Put on a Bus after a few episodes. TheBusCameBack for one episode later in the season.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: A short-lived one with Elliot.
* ShoutOut: Her name is a reference to Dr. Dolly Klock, who was the medical consultant for the show's pilot episode.
* TeamMom: Proves to be a better one than Carla, which makes Carla temporarily jealous when all her friends start confiding their problems to Molly.
* WideEyedIdealist: She believes in the best in everybody, and that nobody is truly bad. She succeeds in proving her point to Dr. Cox. and Kelso (despite them claiming the opposite) and finding the HiddenHeartOfGold in both of them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Keith Dudemeister]]
!!'''Keith Dudemeister (Travis Schuldt)'''

A medical resident at Sacred Heart. First introduced as a timid intern, he eventually becomes very popular, adapts to his hospital responsibilities and starts dating Elliot, to whom he eventually proposes.
----
* TheAce: Even though he was just an intern at the time, he was popular, handsome, and skilled.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To JD, who initially hates him for this reason.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Dudemeister. And yet JD claims he can't think of anything good to call him.
* ButtMonkey: Usually being pushed around by Elliot.
* ExtremeDoormat: He has no backbone and he literally does everything Elliot wants him to do. In one episode Elliot wants to break up with him because he isn't able to stand up for himself.
* HospitalHottie: A male example, in that he's considered good-looking in-universe.
* InformedAttractiveness: A lot of characters bring up how handsome he is, [[HoYay especially JD.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Lampshaded by Dr. Kelso at one point as Elliot calls the shots in their relationship.
* MrFanservice: He gets more than a few {{Shirtless Scene}}s.
* NiceGuy: He really loved Elliot and did everything for her, even though she was always bitchy to him. He only gets mad at her after she breaks off the engagement.
* RomanticFalseLead: He existed for Elliot to be FriendsWithBenefits with and then date and get engaged to so she could realize she didn't want to marry him and for J.D. to realize he still loved Elliot.
* ShrinkingViolet: He's introduced as this in the first episode of season 5 where he's not even able to talk to people. He gets better but still remains kind of an ExtremeDoormat.
* TheSixthRanger: Interacts with the main cast and is present at important events a lot more during his time with Elliot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kim Briggs]]
!!'''Kim Briggs (Creator/ElizabethBanks)'''

A surgeon at Sacred Heart. She and J.D. become romantically involved in season 5, but she becomes pregnant on their second date, causing their relationship to become infinitely more complicated. Soon after, she moves away for work and claims to have a miscarriage, but she actually did not and naturally, J.D. eventually finds out. Though they do not end up together, J.D. and Kim do ultimately manage to amiably co-parent their son, Sam.
----
* AmbitionIsEvil: J.D. finds out that Kim passed on performing a risky surgery to keep her stats up and gives her a [[TheReasonYouSuck Reason You Suck]] speech; Kim [[AnAesop "learns a lesson"]] from this and does the surgery, even though the other doctors (''including'' [[DrJerk Doctor Cox]]) treat her passing on it as a fairly reasonable thing to do considering [[BrokenAesop the demands of her job.]] Incidentally, this might be the only time in the entire series where she appears to consider J.D.'s opinions about something to be [[ItsAllAboutMe of similar importance to her own.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Either her pregnancy hormones made her completely crazy, or she's really [[ItsAllAboutMe not]] [[TheUnfairSex a very]] [[InsaneTrollLogic nice]] [[NeverMyFault person.]]
* ButICantBePregnant: She and J.D. opt not to have sex because they don't have a condom and don't want to risk a pregnancy. Unfortunately, it's still possible (although unlikely) to get pregnant without performing full intercourse. When J.D. asks if she's sure she's pregnant, she [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill produces about 12 positive pregnancy tests.]]
* ConvenientMiscarriage: She attempts to pull this in order to break up with J.D. after moving away for work - it would have probably worked better if she'd [[BlatantLies actually miscarried, though.]]
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: She is blonde and her debut episode reveals that "she gets along with everybody" and "all the guys like her".
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: PlayedStraight - though they discuss the option, J.D. and Kim decide not to abort.
* HospitalHottie: ''Everyone'' in the hospital likes her, she has no issue with casually sharing details of her past sex life with patients, and J.D. is smitten with her as soon as he first notices her.
* InsaneTrollLogic: She admits that she resents that J.D. broke up with her after her faked miscarriage because she wanted him to want to be with her in spite of it... even though she recognizes that ''she'' wouldn't have wanted to stay together with him without the baby either.
* MotorMouth: She and Elliot bond over both being this.
* NeverMyFault: She moves away for work even though J.D. wanted her to stay, then lies to J.D. about miscarrying their child. The only reason he even found out she was still pregnant was because he ran into her at a medical conference while she was showing. After J.D. tells her that he doesn't think he can ever fully forgive her for this or consider getting together with her romantically again, she breaks down crying because'' '''obviously''' [[InsaneTrollLogic her pregnancy has made her too fat for him to be attracted to her now.]]'' Never mind the perfectly reasonable reasons he has to not want to be with her...
* PairTheSpares: Kim ends up with [[spoiler: Sean, Elliot's ex and J.D.'s 'nemesis.']] Elliot introduced them.
* RememberTheNewGuy: She's introduced in the tail-end of season 5, but the characters claim [[RetCon she's been there all along.]] Attempted justification in-universe in that J.D. doesn't notice women who [[WeddingRingDefense wear wedding rings.]]
* RomanticFalseLead: For J.D.
* TheUnfairSex: She tells J.D. she loves him for the first time while in labor, and insists he immediately tell her whether or not he loves her too; when he tries to gently explain he doesn't but hopes to eventually, she flips out and dumps him. Everyone else treats this as though J.D. has done something truly horrible - even though Kim basically begged J.D. to get back together with her in the first place when he was reluctant to after she lied to him about miscarrying.
* WeddingRingDefense: Kim continued wearing her wedding ring after her divorce to keep people from hitting on her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Denise Mahoney]]
!!'''Denise Mahoney (Eliza Coupe)'''

A intern introduced in Season 8 who becomes a Resident in Season 9. J.D. takes her under his wing. She's not very good at being caring and compassionate.
----
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: To Drew, anyway. He's TheAtoner with a DarkAndTroubledPast and she finds him attractive.
* AscendedExtra: The only one of the season 8 interns that becomes a regular character in season 9.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Drew in season 9, bordering on SlapSlapKiss.
* BrutalHonesty: She's very rude, and always tells people exactly what she thinks about them.
* CharacterDevelopment: Under J.D's influence, she becomes a little better with being compassionate and able to be kinder to her patients and co-workers, in Season 9, she's able to genuinely have a proper relationship with a med student.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has a very cynical and snarky attitude.
* DefrostingIceQueen: She starts out as very cold and insensitive, but gradually learns to be more compassionate, under J.D's influence.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As harsh, angry and unfriendly as she is, she does care deep down, she's just unable to openly express it properly.
* TheLadette: An entire story arc was made where J.D. had to not necessarily make her feminine, but at least able to comprehend patient empathy.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In season 9.
* ReallyGetsAround: She loves fat dudes, they don't expect commitment and they're really grateful, so they put in a lot of effort.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to most girls she interacts with, primarily Sunny in season 8, and Lucy in season 9.
* TomboyishPonytail: She often wears her hair this way.
* WhatTheHellHero: She gets pissed off at J.D. for trying to apologize for giving her a hard time for going through with a procedure that ended up helping find out the patient's illness, since his pushing her to be more compassionate is helping her being a better doctor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Katie Collins]]
!!'''Katie Collins (Betsy Beutler)'''

->''"Please, I've got Dr. Reid wrapped around my finger, I'm going to be just fine around here."''

An intern introduced in Season 8, she's a notorious kiss ass out for herself trying to get ahead of everyone else.
----
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She puts on a good show of politeness and amiability, but she is a notorious kiss-ass who will manipulate and screw over everyone in her way to get ahead and takes credit for things she didn't do.
* BreakTheHaughty: Carla inflicts one of these on her after she catches Katie taking credit for doing a medical procedure she didn't do and warns her that everyone's aware how she's out for herself and no one cares about her past and if she lets them, the hospital staff will take care of her. It works.
* ItsAllAboutMe: She is incredibly selfish and out for herself and will walk over anyone to get what she wants.
* ManipulativeBitch: She used Elliot to get Turk to give her an research opportunity and then took credit for a medical procedure that another intern did. Carla quickly discouraged this as soon as she saw it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Sonja "Sunny" Dey]]
!!'''Sonja "Sunny" Dey (Sonal Shah)'''

-> ''"Hi!!!''

One of the interns introduced in Season 8, she is incredibly happy and has a sunny disposition at all times.
----
* GenkiGirl: She has a very bubbly personality.
* HiddenDepths: She admits to the Janitor that it can sometimes be hard to be so friendly and happy all the time. She also admits that her father is an ass, so she's not incapable of negative thoughts.
* MeaningfulName: Sunny Day.
* NiceGirl: She is incredibly nice and friendly to everyone, but she's aware of her fellow intern's flaws, she just overlooks them.
* PerpetualSmiler: The Janitor even called her "Smiley Intern".
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The cheerful and friendly Girly Girl to her "best friend", the rude, cynical TheLadette Denise.
* WideEyedIdealist: Insanely idealistic, mostly shown in My Absence where she tries to keep a coma patient alive long enough for the patient's sister to say goodbye despite Dr. Cox's refusal to help and Carla's not helping. either
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ed Dhandapani]]
!!'''Ed Dhandapani (Creator/AzizAnsari)'''

-> ''"Zwa!"''

An intern introduced in Season 8, he is notoriously lazy and ends up fired when Dr. Cox is Chief of Medicine because of this after being given a second chance.
----
* BrilliantButLazy: He was doing much better then most interns at first despite his laziness, but it's immediately deconstructed after it's proven that he's not willing to improve when he has to and then he gets fired for it.
* PutOnABus: He was fired after Dr. Cox finally gave up on him. This was because his actor got a permanent position on ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.
* TheSlacker: He's the most lazy intern ever and instead of doing all the stuff that interns have to do so they can grow as doctors, he'd rather slack off and go get pizza.
* TheStoner: Rumored to be, but it's never confirmed.
* YouAreTheNewTrend: He starts so many new trends in his short time at the hospital.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hooch]]
!!'''Hooch''' (Phil Lewis)

->''"Hooch is crazy."''

A surgeon who Turk and JD love to mess with. He has a ''very'' short fuse.
----
* AxCrazy: Hooch '''is''' crazy.
* BackForTheFinale: In JD's last fantasy in the Season 8 finale.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He seems quite cheerful and friendly at first, but it quickly becomes apparent that he's ''deeply'' unstable.
* ButtMonkey: A favorite of Turk and JD's. His status as one is what drives him crazy
* DisproportionateRetribution: After being caught by a prank involving bouillon cubes put in the shower-head, his response is to threaten to run the perpetrator over in his S.U.V. Some interns following Hooch around for a day led to a hostage situation.
** (while holding a lighter with a humongous flame) "Burn for a burn, baby! That's in the Bible."
* HairTriggerTemper: There's a reason people say he's crazy.
* PhraseCatcher: Said fondly / in amusement: "Hooch is ''crazy''."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Grace Miller]]
!!'''Grace Miller (Bellamy Young)'''

An attending introduced in Season 3. She's an incredibly condescending {{Jerkass}} and sees any attempt to defend her from men as sexism. She was written out of the show at the end of Season 3.
----
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dr. Cox. She didn't last long because [[WordOfGod the writers]] realized that they had already a female version of Dr. Cox in Jordan.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: In a fantasy, the surgeons imagine her as Creator/MarilynMonroe.
* HospitalHottie: How she is seen by the male surgeons, including Turk. Dr. Cox. and Dr. Kelso were attracted to her too.
* InsaneTrollLogic: Turk standing up for her because Todd was being sexist automatically means he's sexist too and Turk has to apologize.
* {{Jerkass}}: She puts Jordan to shame.
* PutOnABus: At the end of season 3.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Dan Dorian]]
!!'''Dan Dorian (Creator/TomCavanagh)'''

J.D.'s less successful older brother. Usually shows up OnceASeason and mooches off of his brother.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''D'''an '''D'''orian.
* BigBrotherBully: He's still bullying JD even as an adult.
* BrokenPedestal: At some point JD started seeing him as a loser.
--> '''Dan:''' (solemn) "Look. My brother will never look up to me. But he hangs on your (Cox) word."
* DisappointingOlderSibling: Dan was a cool guy in high school but became an underpaid bartender and attic dweller while J.D. went on to become a doctor.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Foolish to J.D.'s Responsible.
* {{Jerkass}}: Dan has always been a jackass to J.D., sleeping with his college girlfriend, sleeping with Elliot, constantly bullying J.D. as they grew up and whenever Dan showed up, he mooched off of J.D., constantly annoyed him and gave him all kinds of hell for no reason other then ForTheLulz.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: More like a "Jerk With a Tiny Heart of Bronze". He made it clear that Dr. Cox took being J.D.'s mentor more seriously out of concern that J.D. would become a cynical jackass who hated his job (Season 3), comforted J.D. when their dad died (Season 4) and bought J.D. a new car. (Season 7)
* ManChild: So immature and irresponsible that [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} J.D.]] is actually the more serious brother. Despite J.D's goofy personality, he's very good at his job and and can look after himself, unlike his brother.
* RagsToRiches: He eventually makes a profitable career as a real estate agent, much to J.D.'s initial chagrin, since he was the one used to be the successful brother.
* StrawLoser: J.D. is glad that his loser brother Dan makes him look successful in comparison to him. Averted in season 7 where Dan becomes a successful real estate agent, making J.D. very jealous.
* WhatTheHellHero: He wasn't happy that J.D. told him that he's meant to be the loser of the family.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Lady]]
!!'''Ladinia "Lady" Williams/ Matthews (Kit Pongetti)'''

The Janitor's oddly named girlfriend, first appearing in Season 7. Marries the Janitor in Season 8.
----
* AllThereInTheManual: Her real first and last name
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Doesn't really get much in characterization beyond her romance with the Janitor
* TerrifiedOfGerms: She's a hand specific germaphobe, a fact her therapist believes was a contributing factor in her falling for the Janitor. That and [[LikeParentLikeSpouse he's a dead ringer for her dad]]
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Basically the punchline of her name. She has a brother named Him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio]]
!!'''Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio (Shaughn Buchholz)'''

A spectacularly incompetent intern, who first appears in Season 5 and is quickly fired. He later pops up again as one of the baristas at the hospital's Coffee Bucks.
----
* TheBusCameBack: After getting fired in Season 5, he returns in Season 6 working at Coffee Bucks, and makes several more appearances during the course of that season.
* EpicFail: Easily takes the cake as the most incompetent medical professional seen in the show's entire run. He doesn't have any hidden talents like Doug, isn't suffering from outdated knowledge like Dr. Townshend, and isn't an otherwise-competent doctor who lets his attitude get in the way like Cole; he simply has ''zero'' talent for medicine, something further illustrated when he has to resort to working as a barista to make a living.
* {{Expy}}: Subverted. Initially J.D. takes Cabbage to be much like his own younger self, and resolves to have a better relationship with him than he himself does with Dr. Cox. As Cox himself later points out, however, Cabbage is actually his ''opposite''; whereas J.D. is a goofball whose relationship with his mentor is complicated at best, but ultimately a good doctor, Cabbage is much more earnest and affable and has a good relationship with J.D., but is dangerously incompetent and has absolutely no business trying to become a medical professional. If anything, he's actually an even more incompetent version of Doug.
* MeaningfulName: Not so much at first, but eventually J.D. has to admit that an ''actual'' cabbage would probably make a better doctor than him.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: At least, when we're talking about his tenure as an intern. He got fired after four episodes, but not before he transmits an ultimately lethal infection to Mrs. Wilk, a recurring patient, via his improper handling of medical waste.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Danni Sullivan]]
!!'''Danni Sullivan (Tara Reid)'''

Jordan's sister who briefly dated J.D. in season 3.
----
* DistaffCounterpart: Strangely enough, she's introduced as this to J.D. in her first episode.
* JerkassHasAPoint: She points out to J.D. that his obsession with Elliot was just because he always wants the things he can't have. And she was perfectly right.
* TheLadette: She likes beer, smoking, rough sex...
* ReallyGetsAround: She was cheating on J.D. during their rebound relationship, and at Turk's wedding she made out with both Doug and Ted.
* TookALevelInJerkass: She seems like a relatively decent person in her early appearances, but becomes more and more bitchy and slutty, especially after her first break up with J.D. In her last appearance ("My Quarantine" in season 4), she's completely obnoxious.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Randall]]
->''"Well that's a real punch in the crotch!"''

A little person who becomes part of the janitorial staff at Sacred Heart.
----
* TheAce: He's apparently very skilled in martial arts, strong enough to beat the much larger janitor in at least one wrestling match, was voted head of the janitors union despite being new to the job, and sings very good acapella.
* BackForTheFinale: Appears as a cameo in J.D's exit scene in the original series finale.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Disappears without a mention after season 4.
* GroinAttack: Has a habit of saying "that's a real punch in the crotch!" when referring to a piece of badluck, leading to him doing this in J.D's fantasies.
* NoodleIncident: Apparently the Janitor once saved him from an eagle.
* PintsizedPowerhouse: Stands roughly 3 feet tall and was apparently able to beat the BigGuy janitor in multiple wrestling matches, as well as easily break his hand in a handshake turned game of mercy.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse?: Appears as a recurring character on season 3 and 4,but eventually disappears afterwards with no explanation, despite his friendship with The Janitor and position in staff.
[[/folder]]

!!Notable Patients
[[folder:Mrs. Tanner]]
!!Mrs. Tanner (Kathryn Joosten)

->''"Listen, Dr. Dorian, there's not one thing I regret as I lay here right now. I'm ready. I really am."''

An old lady who refused to undergo dialysis because she decided she had lived a long and eventful life and wanted to die peacefully.
----
* BackForTheFinale: She appeared in J.D's fantasy of him walking down the hallway to the exit of Sacred Heart and asked him if he ever went on the picnic she told him to go on before she died.
* CoolOldLady: She's portrayed by Kathryn Joosten, after all.
* NotAfraidToDie: Makes her even cooler.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jill Tracy]]
!!Jill Tracy (Creator/NicoleSullivan)

->''"Hey guys, how are you? I'm great! You know me, I'm up, up, up, up, up, and then some fashion nazi on the E! Network says that pear-shaped people shouldn't wear stripes, and whoosh, guess who's ear-deep in mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Meheehee."'''

A recurring patient of the Sacred Hospital. J.D. and Cox found her rather annoying. She's one of the most recurring patients of the series.
----
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "How have things been going lately?", which prompts her to admit she [[spoiler: tried to kill herself]].
* AscendedExtra: She appeared in a Season 1 episode, then returned for a few more episodes and then died in her second last appearance.
* BackForTheFinale: She appeared in J.D's second last fantasy of him walking down the hallway to the exit of Sacred Heart.
* DrivenToSuicide: A failed attempt in "My 15 Seconds", although J.D. and Cox manage to figure it out and try to help her. [[spoiler: It's uncertain if it was her cocaine overdose or the rabies that killed her in "My Lunch", but J.D. was wrought with guilt thinking he could have helped her]].
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: After her death, she haunts Cox. It's comparable to how Laverne does this to Carla as she's dying.]]
* IJustWantToBeLoved: She's really lonely and once attempted suicide because her life went to hell.
* MotorMouth: She can talk really fast and she says more words in one scene then most of the main cast say in half an episode.
* StepfordSmiler: Even though she's going through a rough period, she puts up a smiling façade.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler: She had rabies when she died, which may have been what killed her, but everyone assumed that she committed suicide due to depression and since she was a donor and they had several patients waiting, her organs were transplanted before her disease was discovered, which meant that Dr Cox accidentally killed three of his own patients.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ben Sullivan]]
!!Ben Sullivan (Creator/BrendanFraser)

->''"Pictures capture moments in time. When they're posed, they're not real. You know, I hate that whole, like, "gneen!" thing. That's why, at a party, you'll see me in the bushes with my camera."''

Ben Sullivan is Jordan's little brother, and close friend to Dr. Cox. Infamous for taking photographs all of the time. Ends up in Sacred Heart as a patient suffering from leukemia. Played by Creator/BrendanFraser.
----
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Ben dies from complications due to his leukemia.]]
* CameraFiend: Ben's hobby is taking pictures of people when they aren't expecting it because they're more real to him then taking still pictures of people smiling.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: At the end of "My Screw Up", it's revealed that Ben is the patient that went into cardiac arrest and died, and all appearances subsequent to J.D. delivering this news were the hallucinations of Dr. Cox.]]
* FunPersonified: He's rarely ever serious and all about having a fun time taking pictures and being fun.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Dr. Cox of all people.
* ManChild: Has a childish and carefree attitude, but oddly enough this doesn't seem to annoy Dr. Cox.
* NiceGuy: Eccentricities aside, he's an incredibly nice guy who outside of Jordan (And even then it's due to exasperation at his antics), everyone likes. [[spoiler: When he died, everyone showed up for his funeral.]]
** [[spoiler: He's so nice that Dr. Cox's hallucination of him forces him to apologize to J.D. and to forgive himself before the funeral.]]
* OddFriendship: Ben is friendly, charming, and has a goofy sense of humour. Dr. Cox is moody, surly and misanthropic. [[spoiler: They are still very close friends and Cox is devastated when Ben dies.]]
* TokenGoodTeammate: Compared to both his sisters (Jordan and Danni) and his brother-in-law (Dr. Cox), he seems to be the only likable person in the family. We don't know much about his parents but in one episode Cox claims that [[{{Jerkass}} Jordan]] is basically the same as her mother.
* WhamLine: The subject of two very powerful ones.
--> '''Ben''': Come on JD. We both know that ''none'' of this is real. [[note]]When JD realises he's been in denial about Ben having leukemia[[/note]]
** And in his final appearance;
--> '''JD''': Where do you think we are? [[note]]Dr. Cox has been hallucinating Ben throughout the episode, in denial about his death[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Harvey Corman]]
!!Harvey Corman (Richard Kind)

A patient that appeared in four episodes. He's a hypochondriac who constantly bothers doctors and insists that he has some sort of illness. He's an excellent tennis player as well.
----
* {{Hypochondria}}: His most defining trait. He will constantly insist he has some sort of disease, no matter how obscure. It annoys Dr. Cox to no end in a couple of episodes.
* {{Jerkass}}: He harassed Turk and then sued him over his surgery in Season 4, plus his hypochondria often made him a pain in the ass for anyone caring for him.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: He once thought Turk's surgery on his arm affected his tennis game and Harvey kept bothering him about it. Turk had to end up getting a restraining order on him.
* WeakButSkilled: He's not very athletic and his hypochondria holds him back, but his tennis swing was strong enough to send Dr. Cox ''flying'' into the fence behind him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mike Davis]]
!!Mike Davis (Michael [=McDonald=])

A semi recurring patient who appeared three times in the early seasons. Mike has a habit of being unable to hold his tongue, which gets him injured enough to be in the hospital.
----
* BackForTheFinale: He appears in J.D.'s last fantasy in My Finale, claiming he broke his penis. For once, it wasn't because he insulted someone; he claimed it was for fun.
* BrutalHonesty: Arguably a deconstruction, since it gets him in a lot of trouble.
* DeadpanSnarker: A very harsh example and he gets harsh injuries as a result.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's really rude to the doctors looking after him.
* TooDumbToLive: He never shuts up when he really needs to and it gets him in a lot of trouble with people.
[[/folder]]

!!Med School
[[folder: Lucy Bennett]]
!!Lucy Bennett (Kerry Bishé)
A medical student at Winston University. She serves as the new narrator for Season 9. She loves horses and believes if they could talk they would be wise.
----
* AllGirlsLikePonies: She's even more obsessed with them then Elliot is and one of her worst fears is that they hate humans.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She knows Cole is a {{Jerkass}}, but still wants to date him.
* CompositeCharacter: Lucy is basically a composite of JD and early-Elliot.
* DistaffCounterpart: To JD as she takes over as the main character and has his whimsical imagination.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: She slept with Cole and he took a nude picture of her and she still thought he was a decent enough guy to date.
* ICanChangeMyBeloved: When Lucy admits to herself she really likes Cole, she decides to make him change some of his obnoxious behaviors.
* MsImagination: Like JD, she's a daydreamer with bizarre fantasies in her head.
* NaiveNewcomer: Much like JD was in the early episodes.
* NervousWreck: Being also an expy of Elliot, she's neurotic like her, while also being a cheerful PluckyGirl like a female JD.
* ThePollyanna: Always tries to be cheery and optimistic.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The sweet, idealistic Girly Girl who likes horses, in contrast to TheLadette Denise.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: She dates the guy who took a nude picture of her in her first episode.
* WideEyedIdealist: Usually she has a very positive attitude on where her career will go... and horses.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Drew Suffin]]
!!Drew Suffin (Michael Mosley)
A medical student at Winston University giving it a second go. He had previously been in jail and was apparently shot by a 12 year old. He describes jail as "cold". He is in a relationship with Denise. He is apparently Dr. Cox's favorite student; at one point Drew was forced to tape a "#1" sign to his chest by Cox, which is shortly replaced by a pink t-shirt saying "#1"
----
* TheAtoner: He was in jail and did some horrible stuff in his past and he's trying to do right this time.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Denise, bordering on SlapSlapKiss
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Had a breakdown leading to him dropping out of med school, spent time in prison and was shot by a twelve year old apparently.
* DeadpanSnarker: He often snarks at Denise and at his fellow med students.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Number 1, from Cox.
* {{Expy}}: He's the closest thing we get to seeing a young Dr. Cox.
* {{Foil}}: At the same time, he is the polar opposite of JD in every way. Down to getting the unwanted attention that JD always sought from Dr. Cox. While he has little in the way of emotional needs, he also lacks the sense of empathy that makes JD such a gifted doctor.
* MyGreatestSecondChance: His current attempt to be a doctor is this for him since he failed the first time.
* MysteriousPast: We never find out why he was in prison.
* OlderAndWiser: Than the other students.
* OnlySaneMan: Of the med students.
* TeachersPet: Dr. Cox's favorite student, much to Drew's chagrin.
* TroubledButCute: To Denise, anyway. He's had a rough life and she finds him attractive.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Cole Aaronson]]
!!Cole Aaronson (Dave Franco)
A medical student at Winston University. His family donated a large portion of money to get the new Sacred Heart Hospital built and as such, Cole believes that he can do whatever he wants, as he is "untouchable". While spoiled, arrogant, and immature, he occasionally reveals himself to have a good heart.
----
* BrainlessBeauty: Clearly attractive, but also immature, spoiled and just plain dumb.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Taking a nude picture of Lucy.
* {{Expy}}: He's pretty much Todd, but with more focus and screen time.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: In his study group. Even his girlfriend Lucy can barely tolerate him.
* HiddenDepths: The last few episodes try to give him some redeeming qualities.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's an arrogant tool who thinks he can do whatever he wants because his parents donated alot of money and after sleeping with Lucy he took a nude picture of her and it ended up spread over campus.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Actually bonded with a patient, hinting at his inner goodness.
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: He tends to use slang from rap music sometimes.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Invokes this any time he's threatened to be kicked out of Med School.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Not necessarily evil, but he's a total jerk to the other med students of his group.
* UpperClassTwit: An idiotic SpoiledBrat with a frat-boy personality.
[[/folder]]

* OtnumberedSibling: She has four brothers (who never appear on the show) and no sisters.

* SitcomArchNemesis: The Janitor for the entire series, and briefly Keith in season 5.

** Even The Janitor has enough of a heart not to hassle JD after his dad died.

* NeverMyFault: She moves away for work even though J.D. wanted her to stay, then lies to J.D. about miscarrying their child. The only reason he even found out she was still pregnant was because he ran into her at a medical conference while she was showing. After J.D. tells her that he doesn't think her can ever fully forgive her for this or consider getting together with her romantically again, she breaks down crying because'' '''obviously''' [[InsaneTrollLogic her pregnancy has made her too fat for him to be attracted to her now.]]'' Never mind the perfectly reasonable reasons he has to not want to be with her...

* BitchInSheepsClothing: She comes off as all polite and stuff, but she is a notorious kiss ass who will manipulate and screw over everyone in her way to get ahead and takes credit for stuff she didn't do.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* YourCheatingHeart: While she and Dr. Cox live together and clearly love each other, Jordan also flirts with other men. Even in front of her husband (well, ex-husband in theory).

* SmallNameBigEgo: In the beginning of the series his confidence outweighed his actual skill, it was humbling to learn that several other surgical interns were actually better than him. In fact it was only J.D.'s encouragement to spend more time with his patients that put him good enough to get a Surgical Attending position. But by the end his leadership ability became his greatest asset, nearly everyone in the hospital nominates him to become the new Chief of Surgery.

* SinkOrSwimMentor: Mainly justified in this approach; he wants his interns to learn, as quickly as possible, that lives depend on them, and that eventually they must rely on their own skills rather than outside assistance.

* HeroicBSOD: "My Lunch", due to four patients dying due to organ transplants from a woman infected with rabies. The fourth patient hit him the hardest since he wasn't in a desperate state and could have waited a little longer. Dr. Cox spends the next episode just drinking on the couch and only says 20 words the whole episode and most of them are in flashbacks.

* FreudianExcuse: Subverted -- She once claimed that her acerbic personality was due to her [[AbusiveParents parents being mean to her]], but it turned out she was lying.

---> '''Cox:''' (exasperated) "Let’s break down the kid’s support system, shall we? He’s got me, an emotionally-crippled narcissist, and he’s got YOU (JD's brother Dan), an emotionally-crippled narcissist who’s soaking in a tub of what by now has to be mostly your own urine! ''[…]'' And I have got to believe that the two of us together, TOGETHER Dan, we can make it at least halfway to one legitimate adult!"

* ReallyGetsAround: In the 18 months that she and Dr. Cox were separated, she slept wth Mickhead, J.D. and several other Sacred Heart employees.

* CannotTellAJoke: There's an episode where her inability to tell jokes that are funny is one of the central focuses.

* ControlFreak: She is very controlling and dominating and uses sex as a weapon in a relationship.

* TheDreaded: Comedic example, but not even the Janitor have the guts to say anything bad about her, despite the fact that he's twice her size and could easily snap her in half like a twig. Even ''Kelso'' from the seasons, before he was softened up, avoided getting into a direct confrontation with her, especially when it pertained to work matters.

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}, Carla is so proud that her ego in many cases backfires on her.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "You know what your problem is?"
* TheReliableOne: At the hospital, she's Head Nurse and she has an amazing memory when it comes to the patients and what they've been given. In her personal life, she's more or less the den mother for J.D., Turk and Elliot and keeps Elliot grounded.