Characters / USA High

Jackson Greene

Played by: Josh Holland

• Big Man on Campus: Frequently stated to be one of the coolest and most popular students, especially with girls, and is aware of it.
• Book Dumb: Mostly because he couldn't care less about school lessons. He's also stated to be often Late for School... on his better days.
• The Casanova: Is known as the top womanizer of the entire school. In fact, Lauren is the only girl who did not immediately fall at his feet.
• Chick Magnet: When he's not chasing girls, they will chase him.
• Expy: A blonde troublemaker and casanova like Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. He can be an uncaring jerk at times, but he's mostly likable.
• Lack of Empathy: Played for Laughs in one episode, when his friends complain about it. He learns to be more sensitive and empathic but he goes overboard, getting a We Want Our Jerk Back! reaction.
• Lady Killer In Love: Even if he is The Casanova, he genuinely falls in love with Lauren. He also develops genuine feelings for a blind girl in two episodes.
• New Transfer Student: Introduced as this in the pilot.
• Only Sane by Comparison: Usually a bit of a neglectful slacker, and the more immature one in his relationship with Lauren. However, he comes off as the most normal and levelheaded of the three main guys, which is not too hard since the other two are Dumb Jock Christian and Class Clown Lazz.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Lauren, whenever they are not dating.

Lauren Fontaine

Played by: Elena Lyons

• Brainy Brunette: More intellectual than all her friends, at least. She also has much more common sense than Dumb Blonde Ashley.
• Broken Ace: She's the gorgeous, smart, and popular Only Sane Woman of the group. But she's also a Terrible Artist (terrible at both singing and drawing) and is prone to irrational jealousy several times.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: In one episode when she and Jackson are dating, she assumes another girl is trying to hit on Jackson, and becomes extremely jealous. Possibly justified, considering Jackson's The Casanova reputation.
• Deadpan Snarker: Shares this role with Winnie. Both are equally snarky, but Lauren is more deadpan.
• Dude Magnet: In one season 2 episode, she actually complains about having too many boys asking her out.
• Ms. Fanservice: Lauren is the glamorous leggy brunette, whose actress Elena Lyons made it onto Maxim's Hot 100 List in 2005.
• Not So Above It All: She's normally the sanest of them all, but she has a few moments where she can be as immature as her friends.
• Only Sane Woman: The closest to a reasonable person in the group.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Jackson, whenever they are not dating.

Christian Mueller

Played by: Thomas Magiar

• Beta Couple: With Winnie. They are a much more stable couple than Jackson/Lauren.
• Book Dumb: In one episode he needs to be tutored by Winnie, which was also the start of their relationship.
• Brainless Beauty: A male example, merging this with Dumb Muscle and Dumb Jock.
• Chick Magnet: Quite a few girls tried to steal him from Winnie. Needless to say, she didn't take it well.
• Dumb Jock: A basketball player who is not very smart.
• Expy: A hunky jock like Slater from Saved by the Bell. Though he has no rivalry with Jackson (Zack's expy).
• Kindhearted Simpleton: A Dumb Jock who is pretty much well-meaning, loves Winnie, and is a loyal friend.
• Lovable Jock: A basketball player and probably the nicest of the main six, despite not being very smart.
• Mr. Fanservice: Christian is a German muscleman who frequently appears shirtless, even in the opening credits.
• Nice Guy: He's a good-natured guy most of the time, especially compared to his short-tempered girlfriend.

Winnie Barnes

Played by: Marquita Terry

• Beta Couple: With Christian. They are a much more stable couple than Jackson/Lauren.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She will kill any girl who tries to make a move on Christian.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: She mentions her father never liked any of her ex-boyfriends.
• Deadpan Snarker: She and Lauren are both the snarkiest characters. Although Winnie is much less deadpan.
• The Dreaded: She's so aggressive that a lot of people are scared of her, even her boyfriend Christian.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: The shortest temper in the main cast, she gets angry very easily.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bad-tempered and violent, but deeply in love with Christian, and she cares for her other friends too.
• Sassy Black Woman: Black, feisty and hugely aggressive.
• Token Minority: The only black character in the first season. In season 2, she shares the role with Excess.
• Tsundere: In the first few episodes, she claimed to hate Christian. When they get together, she mellows out and warms up to him but she is still very much this trope when she gets angry (Christian is still scared of her).
• Women Are Wiser: Zig-Zagged. She's definitely smarter than Christian, but he has a more easygoing personality while she's a loudmouthed Large Ham.

Bobby "Lazz" Lazzarini

Played by: James Madio

• Allegedly Dateless: He's supposed to be a loser who never gets girls. He actually has several one-shot girlfriends and dates throughout the show. Some of them were just using him, but others were genuinely interested in him and just disappear the next episode. A girl even picked him over Jackson. Then there's Ashley…
• Big Applesauce: Lazz is from Brooklyn.
• Big Eater: Especially when it comes to meat.
• Book Dumb: He once said that C- is the highest grade he ever got.
• Butt-Monkey: He is often teased by his friends and has a tendency to get girls using him for their ulterior motives.
• Casanova Wannabe: Shamelessly hits on girls, but he's not successful at all.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed. His friends often find him annoying and make fun of him, but they clearly care for him and Christian even sees him as his best friend.
• Hopeless Suitor: To a lot of girls, including his teacher Ms Dupree.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: An obnoxious Attention Whore, but he's not that bad and he usually apologizes when he goes too far.
• Last-Name Basis: Usually called Lazz, which is short for his last name Lazzarini.
• Plucky Comic Relief: The Class Clown who is the most prone to wacky antics.
• Put on a Bus: After season 1, Lazz goes back to Brooklyn to spend some more time with his family.
• Tiny Schoolboy: He's much shorter than all the other main characters, which is part of his Butt-Monkey loser status, along with his annoying Class Clown personality.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Meat.

Ashley Elliot

Played by: Kristen Miller

• Allegedly Dateless: Very much Depending on the Writer. In some episode of both seasons, she is sad because she is unlucky in love and the only one without a date. In many other episodes, she easily gets dozens of boys falling at her feet, sometimes literally (going to a school dance with six boys at the same time).
• Cloudcuckoolander: She is very spacey and prone to illogical thoughts that make no sense.
• Cute and Psycho: A cute blonde Nice Girl but has several unstable Mood-Swinger moments.
• Daddy's Girl: Ultimately, she and her father are very close.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: In one episode she dates Lazz just to piss her father off. She ends up liking him for real, but it was one-sided and she gets over it...until the season 1 finale.
• The Ditz: The ditziest of the group.
• Dumb Blonde: Blonde-haired Ashley isn't the brightest bulb.
• Expy: A British Phoebe Buffay in almost every way.
• Friend to All Living Things: To the degree where she rescues a chimpanzee in one episode and tries to hide it from her father.
• Genius Ditz: While she's mostly dimwitted, it's mentioned that she gets good grades, but according to Winnie, it's only because her father is the Headmaster (it is not clear if she was joking). Ashley is also very good at drawing, in contrast to Lauren, and is a decent singer.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Ashley is blonde and therefore kind and considerate.
• I Am Very British: Ashley and her father speak with very posh RP accents.
• Tsundere: Normally friendly and innocent, but she can get scarily rude and aggressive out of nowhere.

Miss Gabrielle Dupree

Played by: Angela Visser

• Cool Teacher: The girls frequently go to her for help.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Blonde and a Lust Object for the male students.
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: She has a French accent in early episodes.
• Hot Teacher: All the male students have the hots for her.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Mr Elliot, Depending Onthe Writer. It sometimes seems one sided on his part. They eventually get married.
• Weak-Willed: In 'The Winnie Show' she manages to become deeply hypnotised simply sitting in the same room watching Lazz and Christian unsuccessfully try their hypnosis trick on Mr Elliott.
• Women Are Wiser: More levelheaded than Mr Elliott.

Headmaster Patrick Elliot

Played by: Nicholas Guest

• Cannot Spit It Out: When it comes to his feelings for Miss Dupree.
• Catchphrase: "You're all on restriction". He even parodies it in a Distant Finale.
• Former Teen Rebel: Jackson in the pilot ruins the school uniforms by pouring red dye in the washing machine. After Mr Elliot decides to get rid of uniforms altogether, he says to Jackson "I used a lot more red dye".
• I Am Very British: Like his daughter, he speaks with a very posh RP accent.
• Not So Above It All: Lazz falls out of a window watching Ms Dupree changing and sues the school for the injury suffered. At the end of the episode Mr Elliot falls out the window for the same reason.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He may be stern but ultimately not a Dean Bitterman.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Miss Dupree. It sometimes seems one sided on his part. They eventually get married.

Dwane "Excess" Wilson

Played by: William James Jones

• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Excess is one for Lazz in the second season, being similarly eccentric and excessive.
• Token Minority: Shares this with Winnie, as the other black member in a white cast.