Main Characters | Recurring Characters | Minor Characters | Notable Patients | Med School
Notable Patients
open/close all folders
Mrs. Tanner
Mrs. Tanner
Played By: 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.
- Back for the Finale: 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.
- Cool Old Lady: She's portrayed by Kathryn Joosten, after all.
- Not Afraid to Die: Makes her even cooler.
Jill Tracy
Jill Tracy
Played By: Nicole Sullivan
"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.
- Armor-Piercing Question: "How have things been going lately?", which prompts her to admit she tried to kill herself.
- Ascended Extra: She appeared in a Season 1 episode, then returned for a few more episodes and then died in her second last appearance.
- Back for the Finale: She appeared in J.D's second last fantasy of him walking down the hallway to the exit of Sacred Heart.
- Driven to Suicide: A failed attempt in "My 15 Seconds", although J.D. and Cox manage to figure it out and try to help her. 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.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: She's really lonely and once attempted suicide because her life went to hell.
- Motor Mouth: She can talk really fast and she says more words in one scene then most of the main cast say in half an episode.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: After her death, she haunts Cox. It's comparable to how Laverne does this to Carla as she's dying. She also managed to get pregnant in Heaven and even she's not sure how that happened?
- Stepford Smiler: Even though she's going through a rough period, she puts up a smiling façade.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She had rabies when she died, which may have been what killed her, but everyone assumed that she committed suicide due to depression. Since she was a donor and they had several patients waiting, her organs were transplanted before her disease was discovered. This meant that Dr Cox accidentally killed three of his own patients, although he and J.D. observe that testing for rabies would have been irresponsible given how long it takes to perform such tests and the rarity of the disease compared to the urgent need for her organs.
Ben Sullivan
Ben Sullivan
Played By: Brendan Fraser
"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.
- Anyone Can Die: Ben dies from complications due to his leukemia.
- Best Friends-in-Law: With Dr. Cox.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Though he was probably just messing with JD. Probably.Ben: So, I understand you have slept with both of my sisters, which means we have something in common.
- Camera Fiend: 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.
- Dead All Along: 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.
- Fun Personified: He's rarely ever serious and all about having a fun time taking pictures and being fun.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Dr. Cox of all people.
- The Klutz: Informed Attribute. He first shows up with an Impaled Palm due a nailgun, and Jordan states he's too accident prone for construction work.Jordan: How many times have you hurt yourself with that nail gun?
Ben: Once. (Off her "Oh, really?" look) What? That nail gun, it's a new nail gun. Any other nail gun, the estimate would be slightly higher. - Manchild: Has a childish and carefree attitude, but oddly enough this doesn't seem to annoy Dr. Cox.
- Nice Guy: 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. When he died, everyone showed up for his funeral. 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.
- Odd Friendship: Ben is friendly, charming, and has a goofy sense of humour. Dr. Cox is moody, surly and misanthropic. They are still very close friends and Cox is devastated when Ben dies.
- Token Good Teammate: Compared to both his sisters (Jordan and Danni) and his brother-in-law (Dr. Cox), he seems to be the only friendly person in the family. We don't know much about his parents but in one episode Cox claims that Jordan is basically the same as her mother.
- Too Dumb to Live: Nice guy he may be, but Ben never went to the doctor during his two years away. If he had just once, he'd have found out his remission was gone and his leukemia has returned. Cox was absolutely right to get on his case for it and it ultimately kills him.
- Wham Line: The subject of two very powerful ones.Ben: Come on JD. We both know that none of this is real. note
- And in his final appearance;
JD: Where do you think we are? note
Harvey Corman
Harvey Corman
Played By: 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.
- Stalker without a Crush: 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.
- Weak, but Skilled: 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.
Mike Davis
Mike Davis
Played By: Michael McDonald
"I broke my penis again, but this time it was fun."
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.- Back for the Finale: 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.
- Brutal Honesty: Arguably a deconstruction, since it gets him in a lot of trouble.
- Deadpan Snarker: A very harsh example and he gets harsh injuries as a result.JD: You broke your penis.
Mike: Great. I can't wait to get my cast signed. - Jerkass: He's really rude to the doctors looking after him.
- Too Dumb to Live: He never shuts up when he really needs to and it gets him in a lot of trouble with people.
Johnny
Johnny
WHO AM I?!
A recurring patient with Alzheimer's who is weirdly obsessed with tackling people.
- Catchphrase: "WHO AM I?!" as he tackles people.
- Flat Character: We only know his first name, that he has Alzheimer's and that he tackles people. That's it.
Private Brian Dancer
Private Brian Dancer
Played By: Michael Weston
An Iraq War vet who suffered a head injury and short-term memory loss. He's a recurring character in Season 6.
- Brutal Honesty: During his time at the hospital, he becomes genuine friends with all the doctors and doesn't mince words when telling them what he thinks they need to hear.
- The Chew Toy: Head injury so bad that it takes months to be able to write his name again, his girlfriend dumps him, he has to see Kelso's butt tattoo, and he can't rejoin the Army.
- Commonality Connection: He and Kelso bond over both being veterans.
- Deadpan Snarker: "You were never in the Service, and Johnny is your husband?"
- Driven to Suicide: When he finds out he won't be able to rejoin the Army, which was his whole life, he tries to kill himself. Luckily the O.D. doesn't work, and he agrees to speak to a therapist.
- Morality Pet: Kelso is established to see most patients in terms of money, but he immediately bonds with Brian over the fact they're both veterans.
- Ship Tease: With Elliot. They share a kiss at the end of "My Fishbowl".
- Sixth Ranger: To the main cast during his stay at the hospital.
- Troll: He and J.D. pretend that "saying his thoughts out loud" is a symptom of his condition, when really they're just entertaining themselves.
- Unfortunate Names: His last name being "Dancer" is bad enough, but something about the title of "Private" makes it even funnier. As Kelso points out, he probably got teased for it a lot in his unit.
