Characters / Sweet Valley High

This page is an index for the characters of the book series Sweet Valley High. It is incomplete and needs some love! Spoilers are unmarked.

The Wakefield Family

Jessica Wakefield

Portrayed by: Brittany Daniel

Click^here

to see her as portrayed in the TV series.

The outgoing and wild Wakefield twin. Loves boys, fashion, and is often a devious schemer.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Dumbass: While her academic performance tended to vary in the books, Jessica was almost always depicted as smart, sometimes extremely so. The TV version ranges from being cunning but Book Dumb to being a Brainless Beauty whose stupidity causes any scheme she embarks on to implode.
• Alpha Bitch: She's popular, manipulative, and obsessed with status. The only one who can compete with her status as this is her best friend Lila.
• Book Dumb: Unlike her sister, she doesn't do too well at school, mainly because of lack of interest.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Possibly. An early book outright states that she gets good grades in most of her classes without putting in much effort. Later books have her as a bad student, again due to the lack of effort—when she gets to work, her grades are as good as Elizabeth's.
• Butt-Monkey: Her schemes and stunts consistently blow up in her face, leaving her humiliated (though given her often malicious intent, this is frequently deserved). Her genuine efforts at improving herself (music lessons, cooking classes) end up the same way. Virtually everyone, even her own parents, appear to blatantly favor Elizabeth over her. And the few times she genuinely likes a guy enough to have a steady relationship with him, it never works out.
• Cartwright Curse: Several of her boyfriends have died, including Sam Woodruff (who is killed in a car crash) and Louis Miles (murdered by his unhinged ex-wife.)
• Catchphrase: Jessica uses the strangely specific "one hundred and thirty seven" to mean what most others would denote with "many" or "tons of" ("I'll be one hundred and thirty seven years old before [that happens]!"). She says it at least one time per book, and it's always completely spelled out in words instead of a numeric 137.
• Cruel Cheerleader: She's a cheerleader, part of the school's Girl Posse, and is known to be competitive and manipulative, sometimes to the point of cruelty.
• Date Rape Averted: Early in the series with older boy Scott.
• Drama Queen: Often overreacts to situations where things don't go right for her, often spurring her to seek vengeance. She also has a recurring obsession with getting on television.
• Dude Magnet: She has a long list of ex-boyfriends. Unlike her sister, she never was in a longtime relationship.
• Dumb Blonde: Downplayed, she's a vapid and shallow blonde who is not into academics, but can be cunning when it comes to her schemes.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: One of the school's most popular students, along with her identical twin.
• Evil Twin: Can be this to Elizabeth, especially in early books where her schemes are less zany and more downright nasty.
• First Girl Wins: Jessica was interested in Todd before Elizabeth, and she's ultimately the one who ends up marrying him despite him being Elizabeth's boyfriend for so long.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish to Liz's Responsible. Jessica is impulsive, temper-tantrum prone and loves to party; Elizabeth is much more even-tempered and serious.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Jessica hastily marries Mike McAllery in the Sweet Valley University series after just a couple of dates. It turns out to be a Starter Marriage as well.
• Great Accomplishment, Weak Credibility: Jessica is usually a mediocre student. So when she gets a higher score on the SAT than her more studious twin Elizabeth, everyone assumes (wrongly) that she must have cheated.
• It's All About Me: Jessica's schemes and motivations are mostly self-serving, and she often has little regard for anyone else's feelings.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As shallow as she is, she does have her nice moments from time to time.
• Karma Houdini: Rarely gets any punishment harsher than a light scolding for even her cruelest schemes, including bullying a girl into an eating disorder and another into attempting suicide.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Jessica is the mischievous and flirty Dark feminine to Liz's sweet and demure Light Feminine.
• Proud Beauty: A vain Narcissist who often spends time in front of the mirror.
• Slut-Shaming: To Annie Whitman, so much so that Annie attempts suicide.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Prone to wild, unrealistic daydreams, especially in regards to whatever boy currently has her affections.
• The Unfavorite: Many scenes — and two specific books in particular — reveal that Jessica feels like this in comparison to twin sister Elizabeth.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Lila— much of their friendship revolves around competition and they're often found sniping at each other, despite being best friends.

Elizabeth Wakefield

Portrayed by: Cynthia Daniel

Click^here

to see her as portrayed in the TV series.

The sensible and empathetic Wakefield twin. An aspiring journalist, and the person that seemingly everyone at school goes to with their troubles.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Skimpiness: In the TV series, despite having the same conservative "good girl" personality, she is occasionally seen with revealing clothes that she would never wear in the books.
• Book Smart: She's a studious girl who loves reading and writing.
• Broken Bird: In Sweet Valley Confidential. Alone in New York, estranged from her sister and basically making her living sneaking into off-Broadway plays for a third-rate magazine that reviews off-Broadway plays, and socially isolated from everyone, even the various one-night stands she has.
• Class Princess: She is as pretty and popular as her twin sister Jessica. Unlike Jessica (a shallow cheerleader with several Alpha Bitch traits), Elizabeth is kind, caring, and studious.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: One of the school's most popular students, along with her identical twin.
• Extreme Doormat: Especially when it comes to her sister's schemes, Liz is often a massive pushover.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to Jessica's Foolish. Jessica is impulsive, temper-tantrum prone and loves to party; Elizabeth is much more even-tempered and serious.
• A Friend in Need: To literally everyone in Sweet Valley. Liz loves helping people with their problems.
• Go-Getter Girl: An aspiring journalist who is often involved in extracurriculars at school.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Known as one of the kindest students at Sweet Valley High.
• Identity Amnesia: Both one of the books and an episode of the show has her become a reckless bad girl after taking a blow to the head in a motorcycle accident.
• Indifferent Beauty: Despite being as popular as her identical twin, she doesn't care much about appearance and popularity.
• Lady And A Scholar: She's smart, hard-working, and selfless, in contrast to her Book Dumb selfish sister.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The sweet and demure Light Feminine to Jessica's mischievous and flirty Dark Feminine.
• Nice Girl: Especially compared to her sister. Often taken to the extreme and she becomes a massive pushover.
• Oblivious to Love: In many cases, such as Olivia's boyfriend Rod Sullivan in Elizabeth Betrayed.

Steven Wakefield

The twins' older brother, who attends the local university but returns home often.

Tropes

• Age-Gap Romance: Steven seems to have a thing for high school girls, considering his first two significant love interests were both high schoolers while he was in college. Goes frustratingly unexamined by the narrative. In Sweet Valley Confidential, he has an affair with Aaron Dallas, a former classmate of his sisters', although by that point the age gap is pretty insignificant.
• Cool Big Bro: To Jessica and Elizabeth - they consider him cool, anyway.
• Loving a Shadow: He goes through a few examples:
  • After his girlfriend Tricia dies, he dates several girls who remind him of her in some way; failing to realize (until one of them calls him out on it) that they're individual people and it's wrong to expect them to be just like Tricia.
  • His relationship with Cheryl Thomas progresses unusually fast, and they ultimately break up, realizing they weren't actually that attracted to each other - they felt the need to "prove" to others that being in an interracial relationship isn't wrong.

Alice Wakefield

The twins' mother, who works as an interior designer.

Tropes

• Adults Are Useless: Alice is absent much of the time, and on multiple occasions has failed to notice when something was seriously wrong with one of her children and/or when one or both twins was being impersonated. She even repeatedly fails to correctly tell Elizabeth and Jessica apart whereas their friends almost always can.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Fits this trope much like Elizabeth.
• Mum Looks Like a Sister: Alice is in her early 40s but people often think she's the twins' older sister.
• Precision F-Strike: Gives the series' first one in Sweet Valley Confidential.

Sweet Valley High Students

Todd Wilkins

Portrayed by: Ryan Bittle (seasons 1–2), Jeremy Garrett (seasons 3–4)

Elizabeth's on/off boyfriend. Captain of the basketball team.

Tropes:

• Academic Athlete: While also being an athlete, he is also intellectual like Elizabeth.
• Adaptational Jerkass: He is definitely more arrogant in the TV series, but still overall a good person.
• Birds of a Feather: With Elizabeth— they have very similar personalities, although Elizabeth is a little nicer.
• The Bus Came Back: Returns to Sweet Valley in Broken Hearted and remains there for the rest of the series.
• Character Exaggeration: In the books, he is a Lovable Jock who is also good at academics and has a lot in common with Elizabeth. In the TV series, he is a stereotypical jock, obsessed with basketball (especially in later episodes), and has no other interests other than sports.
• First Guy Wins: When Todd moves back to Sweet Valley from Vermont, Elizabeth drops her new boyfriend Jeffrey like a hot potato to get back together with Todd.
• First Love: Elizabeth's first love and first boyfriend, at least within the main series.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: One of his only notable character traits.
• Lovable Jock: Todd is a tall, muscled, well-built, good basketball player and also a considerate Nice Guy and a very sweet boyfriend to Elizabeth.
• Put on a Bus: Moves to Vermont partway through the series.
• Satellite Love Interest: To Elizabeth. Or Jessica, if she's trying to steal him away from Elizabeth.

Lila Fowler

Portrayed by: Bridget Flanery (seasons 1–2), Shirlee Elliot (seasons 3–4)

Jessica's snobby and devious best friend. Her family is one of the wealthiest families in Sweet Valley.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Dye-Job: Brown hair in the books, red hair in the TV series (both actresses).
• Alpha Bitch: Like Jessica, she is a queen bee who considers herself superior to the other students.
• Break the Haughty: Up until then a bitchy girl, she has a nervous breakdown after nearly being raped.
• The Fashionista: The ultimate fashionista in the school, and many girls are jealous of her stylish clothes.
• Fiery Redhead: In the TV show.
• Friendly Rivalry: While she and Jessica are best friends, this doesn't stop them from competing over boys and pretty much everything else.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being a Rich Bitch, Lila really can be nice when she wants to be, especially after her Character Development.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Since her parents are divorced, she is frequently left alone in her mansion.
• Rich Bitch: She is the richest of the school's Girl Posse and that says a lot, given that by normal standards everyone in Sweet Valley is rich and Jessica herself lives a luxurious life.
• Spoiled Brat: Her family is filthy rich and she often brags about the presents she receives from her father.
• Starter Marriage: Had one to a European aristocrat during Sweet Valley University.
• Trademark Favorite Food: It's often mentioned that Lila loves "million dollar mocha" ice cream.
• Uptown Girl: Lila was this for a couple of less-wealthy love interests.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jessica— if they're not scheming together, they're scheming against each other.

Enid Rollins

Portrayed by: Amy Danles

Elizabeth's sweet but often timid best friend.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Personality Change: In the TV series, she's a completely different character. In the books, she's just a shy and meek Girl Next Door, while the TV version is a weird, goofy, and talkative Genki Girl, especially in the second half of the show. This also counts as Adaptational Comic Relief.
• Best Friend: Elizabeth's closest friend, until they grow apart in senior year.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Used to frequently use drugs and alcohol with an ex-boyfriend before a terrible accident caused her to clean up her act.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Despite her Dark and Troubled Past with drugs and drinking, she has become a polite and nerdy girl, but in the University books, she surprisingly turns into an Alpha Bitch who starts drinking again and ends her friendship with Elizabeth. She gets better ... until Sweet Valley Confidential where she's become an intolerant religious conservative.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Elizabeth.
• Nice Girl: In the original series, she is a very sweet and supportive friend to Liz.

Bruce Patman

Portrayed by: Brock Burnett (season 1), Christopher Jackson (season 2)

A smug and arrogant senior at Sweet Valley High. From one of the town's wealthiest families, he and Jessica form a bitter rivalry after a fling between them ends sourly.

Tropes:

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Jessica, throughout the series after their early breakup.
• Jerkass: An arrogant asshole, before he falls for Regina Morrow, and after her death he falls back into his old ways for quite some time. In #86:Jessica against Bruce, he deliberately puts Jessica in several situations that could get her seriously and permanently injured.
• Jerk Jock: A tennis player and race-car driver, fitting his rich Jerkass character.
• Lady Killer In Love: Known for being a womanizer, but occasionally develops sincere feelings for some girls like Regina Morrow.
• Spear Counterpart: To both Jessica and Lila. He is just as materialistic and shallow as Jessica, while also being a Rich Bastard to Lila's Rich Bitch.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He becomes a Jerk with a Heart of Gold in later books, after he starts to show his caring and human side. In Sweet Valley Confidential, he has grown into a good person.

Winston Egbert

Portrayed by Michael Perl

Sweet Valley High's class clown.

Tropes:

• Abhorrent Admirer: To Jessica in early books— he really likes her, she really doesn't like him. Elizabeth once exacts revenge on her sister by forcing her to dance with him.
• Broken Bird: In Sweet Valley Confidential, he's gained power and wealth and the ability to get revenge on anyone who ever tormented him. But he's lost everyone who ever cared for him and when Elizabeth rejects him for reformed former tormentor Bruce Patman, he kills himself.
• Class Clown: This is the majority of his character in the original series.
• Dogged Nice Guy: To Jessica at first, although he moves on fairly early in the series.
• Face–Heel Turn: In Sweet Valley Confidential. After university, the negative experiences turn him into a hateful and resentful businessman who eventually ends up killing himself.
• Give Geeks a Chance: After getting over Jessica, he has successfully dated some girls, including a popular cheerleader. Tragically subverted in Sweet Valley Confidential, as his character ends up with a Downer Ending.

Ken Matthews

Quarterback of the Sweet Valley High football team.

Tropes:

• Dumb Jock: Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
• Lovable Jock: A bit dim, but a sweetheart.

Sam Woodruff

Jessica's second steady boyfriend. His tragic death marks the end of the series' classic run and the shift into more melodramatic & campy multi-part storylines.

Tropes:

• Character Death: Dies in a car crash on prom night as Elizabeth's passenger, due to Jessica spiking their drinks in anger.
• Cool Bike: A competitive dirt bike racer.
• Flat Character: He's nice, races dirt bikes, and likes Jessica. That's about it.
• Nice Guy: Very nice and infinitely patient when it comes to dealing with Jessica's schemes.
• Satellite Love Interest: To Jessica, and probably her most prominent, considering his death marks a series turning point.

Amy Sutton

A friend of Jessica and Lila, and former best friend of Elizabeth.

Tropes:

• Beta Bitch: She plays this role to Lila's alpha.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Amy is blonde, beautiful, and (like Jessica and Lila) one of the most popular girls in school.
• Face–Heel Turn: Between Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High.
• Gossipy Hens: She can rarely keep her mouth shut, although she is better at it than Caroline Pearce.
• Hypocrite: One of the Sweet Valley Twins books is about Amy fighting to join the school cheerleading squad, and the Unicorns trying to keep her out because she isn't popular. By the time of Sweet Valley High Amy is still a cheerleader, and openly bullies any girls she thinks are not cool enough to be on the squad.
• We Used to Be Friends: She was Elizabeth's best friend in middle school, but after moving away for a few years, becomes shallow and vapid and more like Jessica. Amy and Elizabeth quickly realize that they won't be able to rekindle their friendship.

Jeffrey French

A boy Elizabeth dates after Todd moves away.

Tropes:

• Book Smart: Like Elizabeth, he is academic and studious with ambitions of being a writer.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Unlike Todd, Jeffrey is blond, studious, and not particularly popular or athletic.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In contrast to the dark-haired Todd.
• Replacement Goldfish: Fills in as Elizabeth's boyfriend after Todd is written out.
• Satellite Love Interest: His only real purpose in the series is as Elizabeth's replacement for Todd.
• Second Love: He's Elizabeth's second love after Todd.

Annie Whitman

Elizabeth and Jessica's classmate who is bullied for her perceived reputation.

Tropes:

• Driven to Suicide: As a result of bullying, although she doesn't succeed.
• Hidden Depths: Despite struggling in high school, she's intelligent and driven enough to become a successful lawyer as an adult. She also proves to be a surprisingly skilled cheerleader at her audition for the squad.
• Innocently Insensitive: Annie (who is white) throws a party in honor of her new stepsister Cheryl (who is Black), and invites all the kids of color at school in an effort to help her make friends. Annie herself doesn't know any of these people, and Cheryl has nothing in common with them besides being people of color, making the situation very awkward for both Cheryl and the guests.
• The Mistress: In The Sweet Life she and Bruce have an affair behind Elizabeth's back.
• Parental Neglect: Her mother is rarely around, preferring to go out on the town with her sleazy boyfriend rather than spend time with Annie.
• Slut-Shaming: Is bullied by her classmates, including Jessica, because of her reputation for promiscuity.
• Urban Legend Love Life: Annie is bullied because she is known as "easy", although there's little evidence of this on the page.

Regina Morrow

A wealthy girl who becomes friends with the twins and falls in love with Bruce.

Tropes:

• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Dies after trying drugs only once.
• Class Princess: Regina is beautiful, rich, and loved by pretty much everyone at school.
• Drugs Are Bad: She dies from heart failure after trying drugs for the first time.
• Inspirationally Disabled: Her deafness is portrayed as this.
• The Lost Lenore: She holds this role for Bruce after her death.
• Morality Pet: She serves as one for Bruce.
• Spoiled Sweet: Regina is from a very wealthy family and has everything she could desire; but is unfailingly kind, gentle, and gracious.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: What everyone thinks of her after she dies suddenly.

Others

Margo Black

A serial killer who is identical to the Wakefield twins, and plans to kill Elizabeth and assume her identity.

Tropes:

• Bad People Abuse Animals: This is one of many indications that Margo is dangerous.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Margo is motivated by her plan to kill and impersonate Elizabeth. In Return of the Evil Twin, she has the same idea, but now wants to be Jessica instead.
• Faking the Dead: She does this between the events of The Evil Twin and Return of the Evil Twin.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish to Nora's Responsible.
• Freudian Excuse: While it's apparent that something has been very wrong with Margo since early childhood, her problems were exacerbated by her long history of abuse and neglect in the foster care system.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard: Margo is eventually killed by her own twin sister, Nora, who mistook her for Jessica.
• I Have Many Names: Margo uses numerous aliases in her scheme to reach Sweet Valley and take over Elizabeth's life.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: The main reason for her actions is that she wants Elizabeth's loving family and boyfriend for herself.
• Identical Stranger: She is identical to Elizabeth and Jessica, despite being no relation to them.
• Just Eat Gilligan: In The Evil Twin, her plan to take over Elizabeth's identity fails because she simply isn't very good at pretending to be Elizabeth - most people think she is Jessica playing some kind of prank. Even when this happens repeatedly, and Margo quickly realizes she'd prefer Jessica's friends and wardrobe over Elizabeth's, she sticks to her original plan and doesn't think to take Jessica's place instead. Averted in Return of the Evil Twin where it's finally dawned on her that she would be more convincing as "Jessica."
• Palette Swap: Has black hair and grey eyes, while Elizabeth and Jessica are blond with blue-green eyes.
• Pet the Dog: Margo genuinely likes Lila, and while posing as "Jessica" she is a more sympathetic friend to Lila than the real Jessica.
• The Pig-Pen: Margo has terrible personal hygiene.
• Poor Communication Kills: A literal example - Margo is killed because she tried to take Jessica's place among the Wakefields without bothering to inform Nora.
• Really Gets Around: Margo is seemingly very promiscuous off the page, and her efforts to take things further with Todd cause him to realize she isn't Elizabeth.
• Serial Killer: Margo kills a large number of people over the course of the books.
• Trash of the Titans: This is the state of her rented room.
• Would Hurt a Child: Margo callously murders her foster sister; a boy in her care as a nanny; and a baby she deliberately ran over.

Nora Chappell

Margo's long-lost twin sister who tracks her down and joins in her plan to kill and impersonate the Wakefields.

Tropes:

• Dead Person Impersonation: Nora plans to join Margo in killing the Wakefield twins and taking their place.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to Margo's Foolish.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Nora's desire for a loving family makes it easy to convince her to go along with Margo's scheme.
• Identical Stranger: Like Margo, Nora is identical to Elizabeth and Jessica.
• Imposter Forgot One Detail: Nora has a tattoo on her arm, making it obvious she isn't one of the Wakefields. She uses this to try to persuade Margo that she should get to be Jessica - since it's far more believable that Jessica would be the one to get a tattoo. Later, when Elizabeth has to Spot the Impostor, she notices the tattoo and instantly knows which one is the real Jessica.
• Instant Expert: Nora is able to do a perfect imitation of Elizabeth pretty much instantly, whereas Margo took months to be able to imitate her, and usually got mistaken for Jessica.
• Neat Freak: Nora is fastidious and clean, and finds it difficult to be around the perpetually messy Margo.
• Palette Swap: The Wakefields are blond with blue-green eyes whereas Nora and Margo have black hair and grey eyes.
• Sibling Murder: She ultimately resolves herself to having to kill Margo if Margo won't let her become "Jessica." She ends up accidentally killing Margo instead of Jessica anyway.
• Southern Belle: Was raised as one by her stepmother, and even though she hated it, she still has the requisite social graces.
• Visible Odor: Nora has a form of synesthesia that causes her to "see" smells.
• Wicked Stepmother: Nora was raised by one, who ultimately throws her out when Nora's father dies.