Main Character Index > The Sims 2 > Pleasantview | Strangetown | Veronaville | University Sub-hoods | Bluewater Village | Riverblossom Hills | Desiderata Valley | Belladonna Cove | Non-Neighborhood Specific Families Non-Neighborhood specific families
These families are families that have no canonical neighborhood and can be placed by the players into any hood of their choosing.
The Gieke Family
Consisting solely of Chester Gieke. Born into a family of introverted scientists, he wonders if he can break the mold of his family. Installed with Bluewater Village as part of the
Open for Business expansion, but he can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Meaningful Name: Chester's surname, Gieke, sounds like "geek" and Chester is shown to be interested in robotics and computers. He is also a Knowledge Sim.
The Larson Family
Jodie and Jason Larson are twins who recently moved out and wish to build a business together. Installed with Bluewater Village as part of the
Open for Business expansion, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
The Crittur Family
Two dogs, Sarah and Danny, who came together to face the problems of being strays and are now happy to have a home of their own.
- But Thou Must!: A minor example; there is no way, without cheats, to play them unless they are merged with another household.
- Game-Breaking Bug: Sarah's pregnancy, due to an error in the Sim Bin, is corrupted and allowing her to give birth sometimes causes corruption of the neighborhood or crashing of the game. Fixed in a later patch, but like Samantha Ottomas's pregnancy, it will not help if they have already been placed into a neighborhood.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Since pets show no visible sign of pregnancy, Sarah's pregnancy will be unknown to the player until she gives birth.
The Roseland Family
A man, Cyd, and his pet dog, Porthos.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Averted. Porthos holds the record for fastest learned trick and aims to beat his record.
Ottomas Family
A large family consisting of married couple, Peter and Samantha, their three children and Peter's mother, Dora. Samantha is currently pregnant with a set of twins. Installed with Riverblossom Hills as part of the
Seasons expansion, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Game-Breaking Bug: An infamous one. Like Sarah Crittur, Samantha's pregnancy is bugged, and if her twins are born, it is possible Peter will not be their father. Instead, they will receive a random Sim as the father, which could be anything from another woman, to a child to a pet or even a Sim who is in another neighborhood entirely. This causes a corruption so deep the entire neighborhood will have to be reset. Though a later patch addresses this, it will not help if the family has already been put into a neighborhood.
- Gonk: Dora Ottomas isn't much to look at. Due to the afformentioned bug, the Ottomas twins are often born like this, with faces ranging from "merely" ugly to borderline Body Horror.
- Granny Classic: Dora Ottomas, who is said to enjoy caring for others and is a comfort to Samantha in rearing her children.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Peter and Samantha have three children but are expecting two more, and Dora's lifetime wish would require them to have a sixth.
The Ramaswami Family
A husband and wife, Sanjay and Priya. Both having dreams of pursuing successful careers, in music and writing respectively. Installed with Riverblossom Hills as part of the
Seasons expansion, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Family Versus Career: Priya worries about balancing her career ambitions once she has children.
- Token Minority Couple: The only premade Sims of Indian descent (although Ajay Loner is implied to be as well)
The Traveller Family
A former lawyer, Trent quit his job to go around the world with his wife, Trish and daughter Tina. They were added with the
Bon Voyage Expansion Pack.
- Alliterative Family: Every one of its members' names start with a "T". So, every one has the initials "TT".
- Distaff Counterpart: Trina is a little child just moved from the city and excited for her new life, just as Isaiah Gavigan.
- The Generic Guy: Just as with the Gavigan family below, they are seemingly meant to be created in order to test their Expansion Pack's features.
- Meaningful Name: they are the Travellers, and are meant to test the travelling features of the Bon Voyage EP.
The Picaso Family
A newlywed couple, Matthew and Jessica. Installed with Desiderata Valley as part of the
Free Time expansion, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
The Cooke Family
A struggling chef, Julien, who moved away from his old home after losing his recipe to a rival. Installed with Desiderata Valley as part of the
Free Time expansion pack, but he can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Meaningful Name: Both Julien's surname and his rival's name, Zebest Quizine.
- Pointy Ears: Often going unnoticed, Julien has slightly pointy ears, though not to the extent of the Veronaville Summerdreams.
The Goodie Family
An elderly couple, Faith and Herbert, who are traveling following their retirement. Installed with Belladonna Cove as part of the
Apartment Life expansion pack, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Herb and Coral Oldie from the base game. Herb and Herbert even share their first name, while their surnames combine to form the phrase "an oldie but a goodie".
The Gavigan Family
A married couple, Nathan and Mary, who have moved to a new town with their son, Isaiah. Installed with Belladonna Cove as part of the
Apartment Life Expansion Pack, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Distaff Counterpart: Isaiah is a little child just moved from the city and excited for his new life, just as Tina Traveller.
- The Generic Guy: Seemingly meant to be this, since they have a flimsy story and the idea is, probably, to just "move-and-play" them. They are thus similar in this way to the Traveller family above.
The Newson Family
A family consisting of two teens, two children, and two toddlers who lost their parents and now struggle to stay together. Installed with Belladonna Cove as part of the
Apartment Life expansion pack, but they can be placed in any neighbourhood.
- Disappeared Dad: Downplayed. The family bio mentions that the Newsons had adoptive parents, suggesting that Gloria had a partner who is also mentioned to be deceased. However, this character isn't named or mentioned in the individual kids' bios like Gloria, so might not have been male.
- Don't Split Us Up: They chose staying together and living as a family rather than returning to foster care and splitting up.
- Family Theme Naming: All six kids (Ginger, Gavin, Gallagher, Gabriella, Garrett, and Georgia) as well as their late mother (Gloria) share the same first initial. Also an example of an Alliterative Family, but Downplayed since their last name starts with an "N" rather than a "G".
- Foster Kid: They all were this at one point.
- The Ghost: Gloria Newson is a lore-only character, and is also literally deceased, but isn't literally a ghost.
- Half-Identical Twins: Garrett and Georgia, the twin toddlers who are the only biological siblings in the family, seem to have identical genetics, with only their respective genders accounting for any differences.
- Happily Adopted: They were this, until they lost their adoptive mother.
- Missing Mom: Their adoptive mother, Gloria, is dead for unknown reasons.
The Kat Family
A family consisting of Tara Kat and her three pet cats.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Tara has three pet cats, dreams of owning a pet shop and has a high level of niceness.
- Spin-Offspring: She is implied to be the daughter of Ginia Kat from The Sims 1.
The Kim Family
A family of former actors, Robert, Cynthia, and Justin who are starting a normal life following their show being cancelled.
