Pleasantview
"A lot has happened in 25 years, but some new faces in town are stirring up rivalries and creating tension for the once happy families. Can anything be done to get the neighborhood feeling good again?"
Presumed to be located within SimCity, Pleasantview is your typical suburban neighborhood with your average families living average, peaceful lives... right?Well, if only that were the case.
In the twenty-five years that have since passed between The Sims and The Sims 2, a lot of things have changed. Mortimer is now old and his daughter Cassandra has grown into a beautiful woman engaged to the town's local womanizer, Daniel and Jennifer are now adults with families of their own, and Michael Bachelor passed away an unspecified amount of time before the start of the game. The Newbies have left a daughter, Brandi, who is struggling to raise her two sons, and a few new families have joined the descendants of the original The Sims 1 cast, each with their own ambitions and desires.
One of the neighborhood's most, if not the most, prominent storyline involves the disappearance of Bella Goth, who has not been seen since she was last spotted scaling the deck of Don Lothario's condo. The Caliente sisters are said to have arrived on the eve of her disappearance, raising rumours that they may have been involved in her disappearance; Unfortunately their interest in Mortimer does nothing to help matters. Accompanying this is a messy Love Dodecahedron centered around a majority of the cast.
- Betty and Veronica:
- Darren Dreamer is the Betty and Don Lothario the Veronica to Cassandra Goth's Archie.
- Cassandra the Betty and Nina Caliente the Veronica to Don's Archie.
- To Daniel Pleasant's Archie, his workaholic wife Mary-Sue is the Betty and his maid-turned-mistress Kaylynn Langerak is the Veronica.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Dustin Broke and Angela Pleasant give off this dynamic.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Unlike all the other characters from The Sims 1 base game (i.e. the Goths, the Newbies, the Pleasants, and Michael Bachelor), there's no mention of what happened to Chris and Melissa Roomies.
- Counting the characters introduced in expansions to TS1, this also extends to the Hick family, the Mashugas, Claire Charming, and all the free DLC characters. Initially, only the Burbs and the members of the extended Goth clan made the cut; Ginia Kat's daughter eventually turns up in one of the expansions, however.
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Played with, as far as "teams" go. The playable Teens form a loose ensemble.
- Angela: The Optimist - The preferred daughter of Mary-Sue and Daniel Pleasant, described as patient and dutiful, and exploring her very first relationship with the teenage Delinquent Dustin.
- Lilith: The Cynic - The Un-Favourite of the Pleasant twins, a brooding Goth who was ignored in favour of her older twin Angela and is in danger of running away from the family.
- Dustin: The Conflicted - A troubled young boy who's turned to crime to help his struggling mother after his father's demise, only wishing to be told what to do.
- Dirk: The Realist - Darren's only son and an ambitious kid who's managed to bounce back from his mother's unexpected death.
- Love Dodecahedron: Don't even start.
◊ - Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Dustin appears to be the "manlier" guy compared to Dirk, the only other playable teenage guy in the neighborhood. Darren Dreamer and Don Lothario fit this dynamic as well.
- Stepford Suburbia: Downplayed. According to the description, Pleasantview used to be a rather pleasant place to live in. Now, however, the neighborhood isn't quite as happy as it looks. Every family (with the notable exception of the Burbs and the Oldies) has their own problems.
- The Brokes, as their name implies, are short on money, with recently widowed mother Brandi having to deal with her oldest son turning to crime to make a living, worrying about raising her youngest right, and coming to terms with having a third child.
- The Dreamers have been stuck in a financial crisis ever since the death of Darren's wife and the loss of his job, with his paintings barely bringing in enough money to pay the bills. Darren himself has fallen in love with his long-time best friend Cassandra, but she's off-limits, and worse, engaged to the local Casanova.
- The Pleasants are your average stereotypical middle-class family, except there's more to it than one might think. Daniel is starving for intimacy, so he's started an affair with the household maid right under his workaholic wife's nose. Meanwhile, his twin daughters Angela and Lilith are caught up in an intense enmity while trying to navigate their very first relationships.
- Don Lothario is the neighborhood's local womanizer, who's involved with four different women at the start of the game. He's engaged to Cassandra Goth, although there's no telling who whether the marriage will even go through.
- The Caliente sisters came to the neighborhood on the eve of Bella's disappearance and find themselves struggling financially after a visit from the Repoman. Dina seeks to rectify the problem by seducing the aging Mortimer.
- The Goths are trying to deal with Bella being gone from their lives. Cassandra is now engaged to womanizer Don Lothario, but no one knows if the marriage will even go through in the first place.
- Tangled Family Tree: Assuming the player obeys the various pop-up prompts and manages not to cause Don to leave Cassandra at the altar, one of these forms in combination with the Love Dodecahedron, with Dina becoming the stepmother of her niece and nephew from her first marriage, and Cassandra marrying the man who also has romantic interest in her aunt/stepmother, the twin of said aunt/stepmother, and even her own mother.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Lilith and Angela Pleasant have this dynamic, as well as Nina and Dina Caliente.
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The Goth family
See the Goth family on The Sims page for more.The Pleasant family
See the Pleasant family on The Sims page for more.The Dreamer Family
Missing the Wife
Prominent family members: Darren Dreamer, Darleen Dreamer, Dirk Dreamer
Appearances: The Sims 2 | The Sims 3
The Dreamer family first appears in The Sims 2 with widowed single father Darren Dreamer and his only son Dirk. Though only present in 2 and 3, the Dreamers' claim to fame in the franchise is Darren's love for Cassandra in The Sims 2, despite her being engaged to the local ladykiller Don Lothario. He reappears again The Sims 3 as an aspiring painter, engaged in a relationship with his high school sweetheart Darleen before her death years later in 2. Tropes applying in The Sims 2:
"Darren is pursuing his dream of being an artist, while his son Dirk hits the books. And Darren may have found his muse, but will his creativity be enough to win Cassandra's affection?"
Darren is a middle-aged widower raising his teenage son, Dirk. After his wife's death, Darren quit his nine-to-five in order to pursue his dream of becoming a famous painter. His model and muse is Cassandra Goth, whom he's secretly in love with.- Alliterative Family: Darren Dreamer, Dirk Dreamer and the late Darleen Dreamer. Additionally, all of Darren's ancestors have first names beginning with "D".
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Averted. Darren doesn't seem to have any problems with the fact that his only son is dating the rebellious black sheep Lilith Pleasant.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Dirk's memories show that his school performance suffered after his mother's death, and he has the "Grew Up Badly" token on his age transition memory from child to teen, implying he had a bad few years. However, his bio implies that he's working hard to overcome it, and he's well on his way to becoming an overachiever by the time the game starts.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Darren is this to his best friend Cassandra, who's engaged to Don Lothario. He's implied to be far too decent to try to break up their relationship, despite his distrust of Don.
- May–December Romance: Downplayed, but Cassandra's age bar shows she's quite a bit younger than Darren. Following the evidence in the back story as far as possible, she's probably around thirty, while he's maybe mid-to-late forties.
- Missing Mom: Darleen passed away some time before the events of the game and is buried in the family lot.
- Only Friend: As Lilith's boyfriend, Dirk is her only friend, since the rest of her family has neutral to terrible relationships with her.
- Only Six Faces: Often going unnoticed because of differences such as facial hair, skin color and glasses, but Darren Dreamer and Daniel Pleasant have very, very similar faces and the same haircut.
- Retcon: Darren's memories show that he was employed in the Business career before quitting to become a painter. However, when he appears in TS3, he's already working as a painter before meeting Darleen and having Dirk. (It could be reconciled that he chose to get a more stable job after getting married and becoming a parent, though.)
- Starving Artist: Darren's financial situation has been on the rocks since Darleen's passing.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Dirk is extremely similar to the aforementioned scrapped Darleen, though oddly, not at all to the version of Darleen buried in their backyard.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Not really to an extreme degree, but Dirk is a lot more focused on school, and future job prospects, while Darren quit his normal job to try and make it as an artist.
Tropes applying in The Sims 3:
- Continuity Snarl: As it tended to happen with returning sims in 3. In 2, Darren is mildly outgouing and midly interested in Nature; in the sequel, he's a loner who hates the outdoors. These are not so glaring as his socioeconomical status: in 2, after his wife died, he's a starving artist who left a lucrative job in the Business career, while in the sequel, set several years before, he's a sucessful and pretty known artist before marrying!
The Broke Family
Prominent family members: Skip Broke, Brandi Broke (née Newbie), Dustin Broke, Beau Broke, Flat Broke, Flo Broke
Appearances: The Sims 2 | The Sims 3 | The Sims 4
The Brokes first appear in The Sims 2 as a relatively poor family living in the trailer park-esque section of Pleasantview. Newbie descendant Brandi, the adult daughter of Bob and Betty Newbie, has been left widowed and struggling to raise two children by herself, alongside a surprise pregnancy that's sure to put extra strain on her household. With the absence of their father Skip, who drowned in a mysterious pool ladder accident not too long before, Dustin has decided to take up crime as the primary breadwinner of the family.The Sims 3 reveals that the Brokes' constant financial struggles run in the family; They show up as a giant clan living in yet another trailer park-esque home in Riverview, this time with Flat's unmarried brother Buck and his two children joining the household.
General Tropes applying in all games:
- Lower-Class Lout: Downplayed in 2, but played a bit more straight in 3. They live in trailer park-esque housing in the poorer sections of Pleasantview and Riverview, and their family members tend towards being sloppy and lazy (in 2), or being outright slobs and party animals who can't hold a steady job in 3.
- Meaningful Name: They're the Brokes, and both iterations of the family are dirt-poor in their respective games.
Tropes applying in The Sims 2:
"Brandi was left to raise two boys alone following her husband's suspicious pool ladder accident. With Dustin acting out, can Brandi teach young Beau to make the right choices in life?"
The daughter of Betty and Bob Newbie, Brandi hasn't had much luck since her husband passed away in a pool accident, and with the advent of another child, two kids growing up and one turning to crime, things are only going to get tougher for Brandi and the Broke family.- Absurdly Youthful Mother: Brandi is only in the first few days of the adult life stage, nowhere near old enough to have a teenage son unless she had access to the Elixir of Life aspiration reward or cheats that allowed her to become pregnant as a teen.
Fanon often seems to regard her as a former teen mother. - Aloof Big Brother: At the start of the game Dustin and Beau don't have the highest starting relationship, possibly implying this.
- Ascended Meme: Skip dying in a "suspicious pool ladder accident" is an obvious reference to players intentionally removing pool ladders to leave Sims stuck in the pool to drown.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: Given that Skip died and Brandi's heavily pregnant, Dustin's the man of the house, though given that he's also a juvenile delinquent, not a very good one.
- Delinquent: Dustin. He works in the crime career and is friends with a burglar, Gordon King, who was also implied to have been arrested along with Lilith Pleasant at one point, judging from her memories.
- Disappeared Dad: Skip Broke is deceased before the start of the game, and the family bio mentions him having been involved in a "suspicious pool ladder accident".
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: As mentioned above in the Absurdly Youthful Mother entry, she's only into the first few days of her adult stage, yet has a teenage son. This would suggest her as being a former teen mother, even though such a thing isn't possible in gameplay without player-created mods.
- LEGO Genetics: Neither Dustin or Beau look much like their parents, aside from having their dad's hair color. Most famously though, Brandi's unborn son has all of her genetics, and literally none from Skip.
- May–December Romance: If The Sims 3 is to be believed, Skip was only a couple days (years) younger than Brandi's own parents.
- Opposite-Sex Clone: Unless the player tampers with Brandi's pregnancy in some way, her unborn child will always be male. This is because the child has no genetics from Skip, and since his only genetic parent is Brandi, the game will spawn him as the other sex.
- Punny Name: Skip's parents, Flo and Flat Broke.
- Troubled, but Cute: Dustin works in the criminal career and is said to be acting out. He looks fairly cute as a teenager. Interestingly, he also happens to be dating Angela Pleasant, the neighborhood's Goody two-shoes.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Several of the story pictures seem to exist just to show how happy Brandi and Skip were together.
Tropes applying in The Sims 3:
One of the biggest households in the game, the Broke family consists of Flat and Flo, their young adult daughter, Ruby, their much younger son, Skip, still in elementary school, Flat's widowed brother, Buck, and Buck's two children, Trigger and Susie.
- Absurdly Elderly Mother: Skip's just a child while his parents are elderly.
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: To complicate things further, Skip's uncle Buck is a young adult (closer in age to his niece) with a teenage son and a young daughter.
- Continuity Snarl: One of the worst offenders in the game. Skip Broke, who canonically becomes the husband of Brandi Newbie, is here only a few years younger than her parents, who are teenagers in the same town and nowhere near starting a family together; furthermore, The Sims 2 gave no indication that Skip and Brandi were involved in a May–December Romance, and they were implied to be the same age.
- However, it's worth noting that the Riverview creator blog hints that this was done deliberately, although why that's the case is never explained.
- There's also the minor problem of the fact that Skip's parents (who are already elders) don't look anything like they did when they died before The Sims 2, and Ruby, Buck, Trigger and Susie aren't mentioned anywhere.
- Legacy Character: Skip Broke was Brandi's deceased husband in The Sims 2, and grew very popular due to the mystery surrounding his death. Flat and Flo both appeared in their son and grandsons' family trees. The other four members of the family are new in 3, however.
- Fat Slob: A fair few Brokes are overweight, and the family as a whole seems to be a messy bunch.
- Punny Name: Flat Broke speaks for itself; Flo Broke is probably a pun on "cash flow"; Buck refers to the slang term for a dollar.
- The creator blog implies that "Skip" may also carry a double meaning - fan theories include this being a reference to the time-travel story-line set up in Riverview and Skip's possible involvement in it, or to a game-play tactic that will allow Brandi to "skip" quickly through several birthdays to reach the same age as her future husband.
- Missing Mom: Mary Lu's death is why Buck and his kids moved in with the family.
- Happily Married: Flat and Flo are a surprisingly happy couple given their financial circumstances.
The Caliente family
Prominent family members: Nina Caliente, Dina Caliente, Katrina Caliente
Appearances: The Sims 2 | The Sims 2 (console) | The Sims 3 | The Sims 4
The Lovely Twins
The Caliente twins Nina and Dina were introduced in The Sims 2 as a pair of single twin sisters who were tied to the mystery of Bella Goth's disappearance and explicitly said to be after Mortimer's money. Following their debut in 2, they quickly exploded in popularity among the fandom and went on to appear in all subsequent sequels of the Franchise, usually involved in a love triangle with other characters or the franchise's other Breakout Character, Don Lothario.In The Sims 3, the sisters appear again in the DLC neighborhood Barnacle Bay, while in 4, they can be found in Oasis Valley with their Alternate Universe mother Katrina, living together with Don himself.
General Tropes applying in all games:
- Adaptation Personality Change: The sisters are constantly hit with this due to Maxis' habit of creating Continuity Snarl:
- Their base personalities get switched around a bit in 3; Dina somehow ends up with the Commitment Issues trait despite previously being shown to be very willing to get married for money, while Nina somehow gets the Mooch trait even though her 2 incarnation was the only one of the twins to hold a job. Dina also has a Hot-Headed trait despite being a relatively nice person in 2.
- Even more egregious in 4, where Nina's changed to being lazy despite being the active twin in 2, and Dina gets the active trait despite being a lazy slob in previous games.
- Big Eater: Downplayed but present with Dina. In 2, she has a middling interest in food and is said to adore chocolate, but later games flanderize this aspect of hers to the point of becoming her most prominent characteristic.
- Breakout Character: After their debut in 2, the Caliente twins' popularity exploded to the point of becoming franchise mainstays in every game, rivaling the Goths and Landgraabs in recognition among the fandom.
- Meaningful Name: Not only does their surname mean "hot" in Spanish (which they most certainly are), but it also hints at their alien heritage (Caliente) in 2.
- Maneater: Nina is this in 2 and 3, but it's a bit more downplayed in 4.
- Ms. Fanservice: In-Universe and among the fandom, the sisters are considered this. Fittingly, they usually have a string of lovers to back up this claim.
- Rhyme Theme Naming: All the prominent female members of the family share the same suffix: Nina and Dina, and their mother Katrina.
- Sibling Triangle: They usually get roped into this:
- In 2, both are romantically involved with Don Lothario, though they don't seem to know it (yet). Also, Mortimer Goth wants to flirt with both of them, meaning that another triangle will form around him if the player chooses to follow this prompt.
- In 3, they, along with their roommate Luisa Libros, are involved with Barnacle Bay's Juan Jr Inkbeard, as well as two other Sims.
- In 4, they're said to be on the verge of getting caught up in one with their own mother and Don Lothario.
Tropes applying in The Sims 2:
"Was it just coincidence that the Caliente sisters arrived on the eve of Bella's disappearance? And is their interest in Mortimer physical... or fiscal?"
The lovely sisters of Pleasantview, made up of the gold-digging Dina and the maneater Nina. Both sisters have it rough after Nina losing her job, Dina's husband Michael's untimely passing and the Repoman taking what they had from their inheritance.- Aloof Big Sister: Neither sister is particularly close to one another.
- Contrived Coincidence: Their arrival in Pleasantview is treated as this - they moved in the night Bella disappeared, and their family description blatantly raises the question whether they might actually be involved. Not helping matters is the fact that they have alien heritage on their father's side.
- The Fashionista: Both sisters adore fashion. YMMV on the stylishness of their normal attire, however, given that their sense of dress (and all of Sims 2's fashion) comes from the Turn of the Millennium.
- First Love: Nina is this to Don and vice versa: They've been romantically involved since adolescence.
- Despite being a very obvious gold digger in regards to Mortimer, Michael seems to be this for Dina, as she does have the memory of falling in love with him, not to mention that they kept his urn in their condo.
- Family Theme Naming: The sisters father was Flamenco, and his half-brother went by Tango.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Nina's a very serious person, Dina is the complete opposite. Notably, Nina's the only one of the two to have had a job, while Dina seems to be banking on marrying Mortimer instead of an actual career.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Dina's supposed to be a shallow gold digger, but given the mechanics of romance and marriage in The Sims, both she and Mortimer are as much in love with each other as any other married couple. Dina also has 6 Nice Points which make her a relatively decent person, not something you'd expect from a shallow gold digger like how the game portrays.
- Gold Digger: Dina's main motivation in this game is to marry Mortimer to get rich. Later installments downplay or outright omit this characteristic of hers while playing up her Sweet Tooth and Big Eater tendencies.
- The Hedonist: Averted with Nina, surprisingly enough. One might assume that, being a romance Sim, it would be Nina who'd rather spend her life having as much fun as possible and living it up, but judging by the sisters' interests, personalities, and memories, it's rather Dina who falls more strongly under this trope. By all accounts, Nina is the sister who's actually held a job, she's neat and organized compared to Dina, enjoys exercise and will, if the player follows the prompt, move out to strike out on her own should Mortimer be married to Dina, potentially letting her become a Self-Made Woman. Dina, on the other hand, is lazy and sloppy, has maxed out interests in several materialistic things such as toys, entertainment and travel, and doesn't seem to have any long-term ambitions beyond marrying a rich man and 'making it big', whatever that means.
- Hidden Depths: Hilariously enough, both sisters have high interest in Sci-Fi, which makes sense given that they're both alien hybrids.
- May–December Romance: Dina is still barely into the adult life stage and seems to be no older than her mid-twenties, but her late husband Michael died naturally of old age. Her new love interest, Mortimer Goth, is also in the elder stage. Dina's actually a little younger than Mortimer's daughter.
- Mal Mariée: Dina can potentially become this if married to Mortimer, since she simultaneously has a crush on Don Lothario.
- The Mistress: Both Dina and Nina (Nina is more likely) have the potential to become this if Don does end up marrying Cassandra. Who's probably going to be none the wiser.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Aside from being very active, Nina also has maxed out sports interest and some body skill points.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Though it isn't mentioned in any descriptions, their personality points are perfect opposites of each other.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: While not readily apparent, Nina is far more introverted and serious, while Dina is very playful and extroverted. Nina's bedroom is also blue, whilst Dina's is coloured red.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Nina's the tomboy, Dina's the girly girl. It's subtle, but Nina seems to be interested in mechanics and exercise, while Dina's more preoccupied with other endeavors.
- Second Love: Dina is this to Mortimer Goth. The Caliente's family description throws the possibility of Dina reciprocating into ambiguity by asking if the sisters' interest in Mortimer is "physical... or fiscal?"
- Sibling Rivalry: Not really a rivalry, but Nina and Dina don't get along. Their personalities are diametrically opposed, they're unknowingly seeing the same man and their starting relationship is not very friendly.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Nina's athletic, introverted and not interested in commitment, while Dina's lazy, outgoing, and very willing to commit, should the other Sim be wealthy.
- Sweet Tooth: Dina loves chocolate and has considerable interest in food overall.
- Uneven Hybrids: Their grandfather Nestor was abducted by aliens and later gave birth to their father Flamenco. Unusually, neither the sisters or their father have any alien characteristics.
- Wrench Wench: Both sisters in the console version; their back-story mentions that they modelled hand tools for a local hardware store in a calendar entitled "Wrenches of Summer", Invoking this trope almost verbatim. The same bio mentions that Nina is genuinely interested in mechanics, hoping to work in medicine one day.
Tropes applying in The Sims 3:
Tropes applying in The Sims 4:
Nina and Dina return in The Sims 4, this time with their mother Katrina in tow and her boy-toy... who happens to be none other than Don Lothario.
- Adaptation Species Change: No mention is made of the twins having Alien ancestors, mostly because Aliens don't exist in the base game, and even then, their Alien ancestor was on their now non-existent father's side.
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: Katrina Caliente, the twins' mother in the alternate universe, looks barely any older than her daughters. (She is in the Adult life stage, while they are Young Adults; in-game it can be very hard to differentiate, especially if no cosmetic ageing features have been used on the Adult, as is the case with Katrina.) It's also actually impossible for her to be their mother in-game without having used the youth potion reward, since she'd have had to have given birth to them on her first day of the Young Adult life stage (leaving no room in the time frame for the actual pregnancy).
- Adaptation Name Change: Dina and Nina's mother was named Nighat in the original continuity, but here is called Katrina. (Assuming she's meant to be the same character at all, which is unclear.)
- It is speculated that the name was changed because Nighat is picked up by the word filter, and would as such not appear on the Gallery.
- The Alcoholic: Dina's ambitions all revolve around learning to make ever more elaborate drinks at the bar and then consuming them.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Nina is as intelligent and cunning as her other incarnations, but while they were all athletic and ambitious, she's lazy and work-shy.
- Family Theme Naming: Nina, Dina, and Katrina.
- Fiery Redhead: Nina is Hot-Headed and has red hair.
- Legacy Character: Don Lothario and Dina and Nina Caliente, who have all appeared (in various incarnations) in The Sims 2, The Sims 2 for console, The Sims 3, and now The Sims 4. They're getting nearly as ubiquitous as the Goths and the Landgraabs.
- Love Dodecahedron: In a change-up from previous installments, the family bio implies that Don Lothario is actually the boyfriend of Katrina Caliente, the mother of his twin girlfriends from the original timeline. However, since this is Don, Dina and Nina we're talking about, it seems highly likely that one of these will develop sooner rather than later...
- Mum Looks Like a Sister: Try figuring out which one is Katrina and which one is Nina without scrolling over the characters' names.
- Race Lift: The original timeline's Caliente sisters were of Spanish, Arab and Alien descent. Not only is their skin far lighter here, but with no family tree to speak of they just appear to be non-specifically hispanic. This is even more so with Katrina, as originally in the family tree of The Sims 2, the Caliente sisters' mom had an obvious arabic name (Nighat) along with her parents, who were named Benazir and Tariq Al Mahmoud.
- Sibling Triangle: As ever, one is about to erupt between Don, Dina, and Nina. The addition of Katrina to the mix makes it a mother-daughter triangle as well.
- Spicy Latina: More pronounced here, what with both Nina and Katrina having the Hot-headed trait.
Lothario family
The Heartbreaker
Prominent family members: Don Lothario, Nicolo Lothario, Adriana Lothario
Appearances: The Sims 2 | The Sims 2 (console) | The Sims 3 | The Sims 4
The womanizer extraordinaire of the franchise, Don Lothario debuts in The Sims 2 as Cassandra's unfaithful fiancé, who sleeps around and is in involved with numerous other women at the start of the game. He proved to be so popular among the fans that he, alongside the Caliente sisters, became a series mainstay, appearing in the DLC neighborhood Riverview in 3, and in Oasis Valley in 4.
In The Sims 3, Don shows up in Riverview as his adult self, mysteriously thrown back 50 years into the past by what's implied to be his vengeful paramours from 2. In 4, he appears alongside the Caliente twins and their Alternate Universe mother Katrina, this time living with Katrina as her newest boy-toy and ready to create more drama along the way.
General Tropes applying in all games:
- Breakout Character: Alongside the Caliente twins, Don became so popular with the fans that he eventually began to appear in all franchise main games.
- The Casanova: The most recognizable womanizer of the franchise and an essential defining trait of his character. In 2, he's involved with four different women at the start of the game, 3 has his lifetime wish to be a Heartbreaker, and 4 pairs him up with the Caliente twins' own mother.
- Commitment Issues: Another constant of his character - Don really, really doesn't want to settle down no matter what game he appears in. He's a carefree adulterer with the romance aspiration in 2, and explicitly has the Commitment Issues trait in both 3 and 4.
- Handsome Lech: Ultimately, Don's shameless womanizing, Commitment Issues and sloppy nature push him in the direction of this trope.
- Meaningful Name: 'Lothario' indicates a man that chronically seduces women and 'Don' is a reference to another classic libertine, Don Juan.
- Mr. Fanservice: He's considered quite handsome by many players.
Tropes applying in The Sims 2:
"Who is Don Lothario? Is his engagement to Cassandra Goth genuine? And what about the rumor that her mother, Bella, was last seen scaling the deck of his condo?"
The single bachelor of Pleasantview and womanizer extraordinaire, currently engaged to Cassandra but has issues about sealing the deal.- Bag of Spilling: Despite being fit, because he got zapped, he forgot his body points.
- First Love: Don's memories indicate Nina is his first lover, and has been so since they were teenagers. She also seems to be his favorite lover out of the four women he's involved with at the start of the game.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation:
- Under normal circumstances, a Sim (of average build) cannot become fit without at least attaining 1 Body skill point, whether by swimming or through the use of a workout machine.
- Although the reason he lost his Body skill points is because he was given a shock therapy, it is impossible to lose any skill points with it.
- Guys are Slobs: Don's house is absolutely filthy when you first play him. The player is instead encouraged to call for a maid... who also happens to be one of his paramours.
- Hospital Hottie: He's employed in the Medical career.
- Ladykiller in Love: Has the potential to be this depending on what the player chooses to do about his engagement to Cassandra Goth.
- Men Can't Keep House: Quite fittingly, the stereotypical bachelor lives in a condo littered with trash that he's very unwilling to clean up by himself.
- Naughty Birdwatching: Implied. Taking a tour through his house reveals that Don has a telescope on the deck of his condo. Seems innocent enough, except for the fact that he's a romance Sim that has absolutely no interest in Sci-Fi, and his neighbors happen to be the very attractive Caliente twins...
- Looking at his family album also shows that Don has used the telescope to, at the very least, invite girls over as a pretense for seduction, if his failed attempt to make out with Bella is anything to go by.
- Noodle Incident: All we know of his role in Bella's abduction is that it was his condo that she was last hanging out at. We're not really shown how he reacted to this or whether he was present to see her disappearing at all, except that he was sad about his advances being rejected.
- Opposites Attract: Somehow, Don's managed to woo the shy, family-oriented Kaylynn.
- Poor Communication Kills: Don hasn't let any of his lovers know that he's seeing different women. This, of course, is bound to lead to a shitstorm sooner or later. At the start of the game the player is encouraged to hire a maid (Who will always be Kaylynn Langerak unless she's been made a playable Sim at that point) to clean Don's house whilst also encouraging them to invite Nina over for... ahem, WooHoo. Unless the player is very careful or good at micromanaging Don and one lover away from the other lover, a shit ton of screaming and fighting is going to happen. And it will be ugly (Or amusing).
- Runaway Groom: Don is very likely to run away from his wedding if the player ignores the game's advice when the Goth mansion is first loaded. If he initiates the wedding on his own lot, though, Cassandra might be the one leaving him at the altar. And either of these can be averted if their relationship is strong enough.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Don and his father Nicolo look extremely alike, down to the same beard and hairstyle.
- Unknown Rival: He has an adequate relationship towards Darren at the start of the game, while Darren considers him to be an enemy.
Tropes applying in The Sims 3:
Tropes applying in The Sims 4:
The Burb Family
See the Burb family on The Sims page for more.The Oldie Family
"The Oldies are simply one of the nicest families around. Their years together through good and bad have made them into the wonderful parents, and grandparents, they are today."
Prominent family members: Coral Oldie, Herb Oldie
Appearances: The Sims 2
Mary-Sue Pleasant's adoptive parents have decided to move back into Pleasantview to live near their daughter and her family, but they don't know that Mary-Sue's facade of a happy family life is cracked at the seams. They start the game inside the Family Bin and do not yet have a house.- Extreme Doormat: Coral is heavily implied to be one.
- Granny Classic: In terms of her appearance, Coral fits this archetype.
- Happily Married: Played with. Herb has the Romance aspiration and it's implied that he cheated on Coral several times in his youth, and will definitely roll wants to do so again during game-play; however, he's one of the few romance Sims in-game to have a positive memory of getting married, and he and Coral have a high starting relationship, and are eligible to celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary.
- Stepford Smiler: Coral's bio calls her "the picture of maternal perfection", but hints that she regrets dedicating her life entirely to her husband and daughter instead of pursuing her own dreams as well.
