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Characters / Wizards of Waverly Place

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    Alex Russo 
Selena Gomez
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/selena_gomez_1920x2560_78.jpg
"I'm Alex Russo, and my hobby is I like to poke things with a stick, ...but I haven't figured out how to make money with that yet so I'm in school."

The middle child and only female out of the three Russo siblings. She is sly, outgoing, and usually underachieves when it comes to regular high school. She often gets into trouble because of her constant schemes (usually involving magic). She likes to make fun of her older brother, Justin, with whom she has a really close, complex relationship and she gets along with her younger brother, Max, the two of them occasionally being shown pulling pranks together. It is implied that she is her father's favorite child and that she shares a tight bond with her mother, although they sometimes have disputes due to Alex's rebellious and disobedient personality.

The Grand Finale reveals that she becomes the family wizard. She was about to win, but went back to free Justin from a tree root that caught his foot. It appeared to everyone else that Justin won, but before he accepted, he told Professor Crumbs and everyone else what happened. He gives the title to Alex, who after some coaxing from Justin, accepts and is embraced as the true winner.

  • Action Girl: Especially in Season 4. She saves the wizard world from Angels of the Darkness in "Wizards vs. Angels". She defeats Gorog in "Wizards vs. Everything" with the help of her brothers. She even saves the world from an asteroid in "Wizards vs. Asteroid".
  • Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Tall, dark-haired, and has a cool personality when compared to her brothers.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Fans think she's this based on how she acts around other girls. Producer Peter Murrieta has confirmed this to be true. Also stating Disney nixed an idea to pair Alex with Stevie.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Justin tends to feel like this about Alex since she causes trouble that he has to fix.
  • Badass Adorable: Cute tomboy girl played by Selena Gomez, who's also a teenage wizard.
  • Big Eater: She definitely likes junk food more than anyone else on the show, as she's occasionally shown eating really big hamburgers.
  • Book Dumb: She regularly fails exams, but is the craftiest and most competent character in the series.
  • Bratty Teenage Daughter: Despite being something of a tomboy.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: Alex is very smart, but would rather use her intelligence as manipulation rather than her academics. She also hardly ever pays attention to her magic lessons, but, come the Wizard Contest, she actually manages to match Justin's score, remembering spells that Justin himself gets wrong.
  • Cain and Abel: The Cain to Justin's Abel, most of the time.
  • Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Mr. Laritate seems to pick on Alex by giving her punishments while letting others who do wrong get away scott free. When asked why he does this however, he justifies it by saying he punishes her because he knows she's good at heart and can be turned around. While the other kids he lets go are either good kids who he knows will never do it again, or hopeless failures who he has given up on since they are incapable of comprehending why their being punished or that they have done anything wrong.
  • Card-Carrying Jerkass: Whenever anyone suggests she's evil/dark/scary her usual response is to grin and/or giggle.
  • Cute Witch: Or Hot Witch since she's a teenager.
  • Daddy's Girl: In the first season. A fourth season episode shows that she still considers herself as this, and her feelings are terribly hurt when Jerry seems to set this aside for 'Maxine'.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Let's face it, Selena Gomez gets the snarkiest lines.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Let's face it, a lot of the problems that Alex faces (and causes) just wouldn't happen if she actually thought things through and considered the consequences beforehand.
    • One of the worst examples happened early in the shows run in the episode "Report Card". Alex got an F in her wizarding studies and instead of owning up to it, she tries to change/destroy the report card. However, since the report card is magic and will only go away if signed, all she does is delay the inevitable. It gets to the point that she is so desperate to keep her parents from seeing it that, when caught, she turns them into guinea pigs. Which leads to this beautiful exchange with the report card (which, as part of the magic, can talk):
    'Alex:' "What did I just do?! I panicked. I had to buy myself more time."
    'Report Card:' "To do what?!"
    'Alex:' "To panic!"
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • Alex is a Jerkass and borderline Villain Protagonist, there are some lines that even she won't cross. When she's forced to join the Happy Helpers Club in "Alex Does Good," she's horrified and offended to discover the club largely consists of people doing basic politeness like pushing elevator buttons for other people, or throwing away litter, and then rewarding themselves for it.
    • It is worth noting she's never gone out of her way to actually hurt anyone. She mostly uses magic to cut corners or pull harmless pranks, but the moment she actually does something destructive, such as turning her parents into hamsters or sucking the entire kitchen into her bedroom, she feels genuine remorse. Case in point, after learning TJ turned his girlfriend into a 40 year old woman just because she was annoying, she agrees the girlfriend is annoying but points out he had no right to do such a thing.
  • Fatal Flaw: Her impulsiveness and laziness. Alex often fails to think things through and takes the easy way out by using magic, which gets her into trouble throughout the series. Even when she tries to do something good, Alex still gets in trouble because she doesn't think about the consequences of her actions.
  • Flanderization: In the beginning of the series, she's just a mischievous, prankish, lovable jerk. By the end of Season 3, she becomes an antisocial, Unsympathetic Noble Demon, with no respect for morals and any kind of rules. The only thing that saves her from becoming a straight Villain is the fact that she seems sometimes to care about her family and friends, and fight people who are even worse.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish to Justin's Responsible.
  • Generation Xerox: She is a copy of her aunt, Megan.
  • Genre Savvy: "There's always an Evil Queen. Sometimes it's a wicked witch, sometimes it's an evil step-mother and sometimes it's your sister." She's aware of what kind of Sitcom character she is, and she runs with it.
  • Girliness Upgrade: She was more of a tomboy in early episodes. It's shown early on that she hated high heels, though in later episodes she wears them quite frequently, her dress and style also is significantly more girly than in earlier episodes. She still exhibits some tomboyish traits later at least personality wise.
  • Graceful Loser: In the Grand Finale, she takes her loss to Justin really well, contrary to what one would expect given her personality. The loss doesn't stick though. Justin reveals that she was the rightful winner of the competition, but she sacrificed her victory to help Justin.
  • Hates Being Touched: Most of the time. If she does go out of her way to make any type of physical contact with someone, it's usually Played for Laughs.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Her Character Development is a bit zig-zaggy at times as she'll learn her lesson in one episode and then be back to her usual self by the next.
  • Hero with an F in Good: Later on, she doesn't mind doing good, as she has saved the world numerous times, but in other aspects of being good, she has had trouble using magic for.
  • Humanizing Tears: She definitely fits that in The Movie when it looked like she was about to lose her brothers forever, and when she was heartbroken over Mason declaring his love for Juliet in front of her. One can't help but go "Aww…" when Alex shows tears despite her often being a selfish Manipulative Bitch.
  • Informed Attractiveness: She is often described as beautiful by many characters.
  • Interspecies Romance: With Mason. Lampshaded in his second appearance.
  • It's All About Me: She has her Pet the Dog moments, but is generally very selfish and loves to be the center of attention.
  • Jerkass: Everyone in the Russo family can slip into this occasionally, but Alex is the most prominent example.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: While Alex is hardly a saint herself, she has every right to be annoyed with her family’s, and to an extent Harper’s, childish antics and fantasies, and controlling holier than thou attitudes, especially when she is always the one who gets the blame when things go wrong.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On many occasions, like when she helps an old lady cross a street. She has several of these moments with both Harper and Justin, and genuinely cares for both of them.
  • The Lad-ette: She fits this trope to a T.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Alex is really good at manipulating others into doing what she wants. She usually does this to Justin, but is able to adjust it for others.
  • Middle Child Syndrome: Justified in that it explains why Alex does what she does (she's not only the middle child but a daughter), and inverted/lampshaded in the episode where Aunt Megan is introduced.
  • Morality Pet: Her family, especially Justin. Also Dean before he left.
  • Narcissist: Most prevalent in an episode where she drank both halves of a love potion, but she is pretty narcissistic regularly.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: She definitely has an attachment to darker things, to the point where even Harper told her she had a lot of scary stuff in her head.
  • Official Couple: With Mason
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: For someone who is usually lazy, she actually defeated a dragon and cut its heart.
  • Only Sane Woman: There are times where she switches the role with Justin, as she is the only one in her family who has a realistic view of world. She also has a more realistic view of the world than her best friend, Harper.
  • Perky Goth: In later episodes, Alex actually qualifies except for having a fashion plate taste in wardrobe.
    Harper: (after having had her mind fused with Alex's) You've got some scary thoughts in there.
    Alex: Thank you. (giggles)
  • The Prankster: Certainly enjoys tricking and pranking others.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Justin's blue.
  • The Rival: She will compete against Justin and Max in the wizard contest. Plus, she's probably Justin's biggest rival at the moment.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Energetic Girl to Justin's Savvy Guy.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: She tries to do this as often as she can, but it doesn't always work.
  • She Is All Grown Up: Both shown straight and played with; she is definitely a very beautiful young woman, but the fact that she is grown up causes some pain in a Season Four episode where Jerry seems to overlook her for a temporary female Max, who becomes the new 'Daddy's little girl'.
  • Spicy Latina: Averted. She is too all-American.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Often comes across as abrasive, arrogant and cold. She's also mischievous and openly enjoys others' suffering. However, she will show a kinder side towards those she cares about.
  • Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Well, reasonably tall (especially in her heels), but still fits the other two parts of the criteria flawlessly.
  • Technician Versus Performer: The Performer to Justin's Technician, this is actually the root of her and Justin's rivalry, while he has studied his whole life to do magic perfectly, she is able to out of the blue do advanced magic, having the most talent of the three.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Kind of...despite being the main character.
  • Tomboy: Alex is certainly not unfeminine, but she certainly has a masculine side.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Harper's Girly Girl.
  • Tomboyish Name
  • Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She likes shopping and jewelry, and has a fashion plate taste in wardrobe. She evolves to a more feminine mindset as the series progresses.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Alex evolves of a witch version of a trouble-attracting Annoying Younger Sibling to a more skilled witch with Saving the World tendencies.
  • The Unfavorite: Became something of a Running Gag in later seasons, to the point that her parents love Harper more than her.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: Heavily implied in the movie to have the most innate talent for magic but because she doesn’t study she isn’t as skilled as Justin.
  • Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Bordering on Anti-Villain.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: A Type 2 relationship with Justin and a Type 1 with Harper although in later episodes Harper has been getting more willing to call Alex on her crap, moving it in the direction of a Type 2.
  • Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb: Except she's actually very smart, she just makes a lot of stupid mistakes.

    Justin Russo 
David Henrie
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/justin_russo_season_four.jpg

He is the erudite and mature older brother who gets straight "A"s. He often tries to stop Alex's crazy schemes from becoming complete disasters, and sometimes unwittingly gets involved in these schemes. Justin is often the subject of sarcastic remarks made by Alex, due to his intelligence, his love of science fiction and other quirks. He is Alex's primary target of jealousy, because he surpasses her in almost everything. Justin is, out of the three, the most responsible. He is very cynical and highly intelligent and is, in many respects, the polar opposite of the immature and mischievous Alex. At times, it is shown that Max sees him as a role model and that his parents are really proud of him.

The Grand Finale reveals that he appeared to have won the wizard competition, but before he accepts his full wizarding powers, he explains what really happened. Alex was in the lead, but when Justin caught his foot in a tree root, she came back to help him out. She would have won, so he tells this to Professor Crumbs. Alex becomes the family wizard. However, Professor Crumbs announces his retirement, and grants Professor Justin Russo the title of Headmaster of Wiz Tech, giving him his own set of full wizard powers. (It isn't made clear whether Professor Crumbs transfers his own full powers to Justin, or if he creates a new set of powers)

  • Allegedly Dateless: Lampshaded, Justin points out just how many girls he actually has dated and wonders why people act like him getting a date is a great achievement.
  • Always Someone Better: Than Alex.
  • Badass Bookworm: When it comes to knowledge, Justin knows more than some people learn in a life time, he loves reading and constantly tests himself, to the point he fitted his room so he's constantly studying. However put him in a fight or against a dangerous opponent, and he can still walk out victorious. He's particularly dangerous if you put those he cares about in danger.
  • Berserk Button: Breaking Alex's heart.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Justin normally comes across as the nicest guy in the world and most of the time he is, but he does have a darker side. When angered or offended he can turn quite cruel. He can also be quite selfish and is slow to forgive.
  • Big Brother Instinct: In most episodes, he either fixes Alex's mistakes or saves her. And she always expects him to do it.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Constant bickering, fighting and one upping aside, Justin does fall into this at times, and as much as Alex dislikes admitting it, she does value and listen to his advice.
  • Brainy Brunette: Probably the smartest guy in the show, and has dark brown hair.
  • Butt-Monkey: For Alex, and occasionally Max, when Alex brings him around.
  • Cain and Abel: The Abel to Alex's Cain, most of the time.
  • Captain Ersatz: The one and the only Harry Potter in "Saving Wiztech" episode.
  • The Chew Toy: Again, for Alex.
  • Chick Magnet: He's not only Harper's, but a lot of girls' magnet (including vampires, werewolves and centaurs). In "Family Game Night", a girl crushed on him so badly, that he wanted to get rid of her by flirting with Alex (who was controlled by Harper's brain) and by making Alex act rude towards her.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: When it's about Alex. In an episode he even follows her around and tries to make her ask for his help. He succeeds.
  • Cultured Badass: Justin loves Opera, enjoys drinking tea, has a high brow vocabulary, is well read and knowledgeable, and really enjoys silent movies. He's also stood up to a fully transformed werewolf and helped kill Gorog.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Due to his constant studying, he is pretty much prepared with a spell for any occasion, even one for turning pillows into feet (which ended up coming in useful).
  • Deadpan Snarker: To a lesser extent than Alex.
  • Determinator: Justin has incredible levels of determination, its thanks to this that he built up his great knowledge of spells and magic. It likewise stems to academia and even physical challenges, he outright refuses to give up until he is the best.
  • Didn't Think This Through: In one episode, while working as a apprentice monster hunter, he discovers that there are three monsters living on Waverly Place and reports them to the monster hunters. He doesn't realize that the monsters in question are Juliet, his Friendly Neighborhood Vampire girlfriend, and her parents until Alex explicitly tells him so.
  • Ditzy Genius: While he does well academically, he lacks common sense. When Jerry asked tasked him with trying to find ways to make the sub shop profitable, He brings out his "budget binder". A book filled with terrible money saving ideas. Mainly customers having to share normally disposable items like straws and napkins. It goes as poorly one would expect. Often prone to holding the Idiot Ball and Epic Fail.
  • Endearingly Dorky: He has nerdy hobbies and likes comics and action figures. He desperately tries to look cool in front of girls, but what make them like him are usually his nerdy traits.
  • Epic Fail: Destroying the family wizard's robe. It must be seen to be believed.
  • Fatal Flaw: Pride. Due to his intelligence and skills in magic, Justin fails to realize that sometimes he makes a mistake and that his ideas are not always the best, which backfires on him a couple of times throughout the series. A key example is in the opening of season 4, where Professor Crumbs tested him and his siblings, in which he revealed the existence of Wizards to a government agency because he thought he was helping them fight an alien invasion because they used a language Justin and his friends made up in his "Alien Language League" club, getting him demoted from a level 5 wizard to a level 1 wizard by Professor Crumbs as punishment for failing the test.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to Alex and Max's Foolish.
  • Hunter of Monsters: Following graduating basic training, Justin takes up Monster hunting (which managed to seriously improve his skills) he is presently the last one alive, thanks to Max summoning thousands of monsters who killed all the other ones.
  • Idiot Ball:
    • Reveals the existence of Wizards to the Government because he was gullible enough to believe that they'd be used to fight off an Alien Attack.
    • And why did he believe them about aliens attacking? Because they had a recording of the "aliens" talking...in the language Justin and his friends made up. When Alex pointed out the problems with the logic on this his response was "It was real. It had static."
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Justin is a crack shot with an alien blaster he picks up off the ground.
  • Insufferable Genius: Justin is kind, but he is also very arrogant. His pride is greatest flaw, and often what brings his failure.
  • Invisible Streaker: He becomes invisible in "Justin's Little Sister".
  • KidAnova: Despite being kind of a nerd, he's popular with girls.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: Most notable in "Wizards vs. Werewolves". He fights off a freaking fully transformed WEREWOLF because he thought that Alex was in danger.
  • The Lancer: To Alex.
  • Lovable Nerd: Usually a nice person, at least when he's not being smug or self-centered.
  • Love Makes You Evil: In the Angel story arc.
  • Love Martyr: To Alex.
  • Mad Scientist: "The Franken-Girl IS ALIVE!"
  • Mook: For Gorog in "Wizard vs angels".
  • Morality Pet: For Alex and Rosie.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: Both in and out of verse Justin gets a lot of attention from the ladies.
  • Nice Guy: Most of the time.
  • No-Respect Guy: Is regularly humiliated, ignored and disregarded by others, this can really make him angry.
  • The Not-Love Interest: Alex's.
  • Only Sane Man: He is the only one who thinks clearly and logically when it's necessary. There are times when he switches this role with Alex.
    • Only Sane by Comparison: ...that being said, not even he's immune to having various dumb and childish moments, such as obsessing over his nerd alien club and being dumb enough to reveal he was a wizard when he believed an invasion was happening by aliens who spoke in a language he made up, not to mention trusting what a robot had to say despite it clearly trying to collect a spell against him. Though he's still going to be the responsible one by default, considering his siblings are a lazy slacker and an irrational thinker.
  • Popcultured Badass: Justin loves comic books (to the point he bid to write for his favorite, and won), collects action figures, enjoys role-playing games and knows a (fictional) alien language. He's also the last surviving monster hunter, whose helped save the world and stared down several horrible beasts.
  • Properly Paranoid: At times, his fears of misusing magic or the dangers of using objects they don't understand often prove to be completely in the right. Likewise, he was spot on about Ronald Longcape Jr being evil, cause his father was.
  • Put on a Bus: In the Alex vs. Alex special, he is mentioned heavily but not actually seen. At the time, David Henrie was working on another movie, but the scheduling conflicts were impossible to rework, so he chose not to return.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Alex's red.
  • The Rival: He was Alex's and Max's rival in the wizard contest, and was also Alex's rival in many ways.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Savvy Guy to Alex's Energetic Girl.
  • Science Wizard: Justin is the smartest of the Russo siblings when it comes to both magic and human academics. In the episode "Franken Girl", he creates a Frankenstein's Monster using a combination of magic and computer technology.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Max's Manly Man and Manly Man to Zeke's Sensitive Guy.
  • Serious Business: Anything and everything that interests Justin.
  • Shirtless Scene: In "Wizards On Deck with Hannah Montana".
  • The Smart Guy: Of the group, Justin is the smartest and is often the one who formulates the solutions to there problems.
  • Smug Snake: Occasionally in the series and very much so in the movie, but he got better.
  • Straight Man: Quite often to Max or Zeke.
  • Student Council President: Is president of multiple school clubs, and extra curricular activity groups.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome and Snarky: The bookworm type.
  • Teen Genius: The guy built an engine that ran on Water, his own monster with his computer's brain, created his own spell and knows just about every subject in academia all before eighteen.
  • Took a Level in Badass : Especially in The Movie. Plus, after season three started, he has become a Monster Hunter and so is being trained in hand to hand combat, and he is exceedingly proficient. Best examples are in "Wizards vs Werewolves'', where he holds his own against fully transformed werewolf Mason, and in "Western Show", when he battles and defeats up to three armed cowboys with his bare hands.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass:
    • In "Alex's Logo" he acts like this towards Alex, when he turns the entire school against her, just because he doesn't like the fact that Alex has received the Citizen Ship Award. And he is actually amused when all the students give her deadly glares and want to throw things at her.
    • Again in "Who Will Be The Family Wizard?" as well: He does not take the cancellation of the Wizard competition very well and takes out his anger over it on Alex. Granted, it was her fault, but he could have been a little less of an asshole about it considering that she was trying to save the life of his best friend (something you would think he would be in support of).
  • Weak, but Skilled: Justin is the most hard working of the siblings, but it's also frequently shown that both Alex and Max are Brilliant, but Lazy. It's heavily implied in the movie that he has the least innate talent for magic which is why he works so hard. This ultimately ends up being an Earn Your Happy Ending, because his status as a top student results in him becoming the new Dean of Wiztech.
  • What Beautiful Eyes!: From Harper's point of view. Also, Justin's eyes are gray◊ green◊.

    Max Russo 
Jake T. Austin and Bailee Madison
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxrusso.jpg

The youngest of the three Russo siblings, he is the naive younger brother, who at the beginning of the series is an underachiever (when it comes to wizard school), being far behind his siblings in his magic lessons (as seen in "Potion Commotion"). Max is a witty, cheeky boy with a very imaginative and out-going personality. Like Alex, Max is often depicted as a slacker and is been known to use magic mischievously. He is very naive and has a short-attention span. His mother, Theresa sometimes treats him like the baby of the family. He sometimes assists his sister Alex in pulling pranks on their brother Justin.

The Grand Finale reveals that he did not win the wizard competition, but Jerry tells him that he will inherit the family business some day.

  • Annoying Younger Sibling: He's the youngest of the three and causes comical frustrations for Alex and Justin at times.
  • Badass Adorable: As Maxine. She not only beats the crap out of Justin, she weaponizes her cuteness on more than one occasion.
  • Cannot Tell a Joke: Max is the reigning king of hilariously-inappropriate comedy timing.
  • Cheerful Child: At the beginning of the series. Later he enters Justin's and Alex's world.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Easily the biggest example in the series. He enjoyed swimming in his own rubbish.
  • Comedic Sociopathy: Gets up there with Alex as the series progresses.
  • Consolation Prize: Between him and his siblings, he's the only one who is now a mortal. Alex won the competition, and Justin is the new Headmaster of Wiz Tech. However, to keep his spirits up, Jerry tells Max that he will some day inherit the family business. Max is clearly not pleased, but tries to stay optimistic about it anyway. One wonders if he'll put Rice-A-Roni on the menu.
  • The Ditz: Or so he seems.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: Max has had his far share of smart moments through the series which his family almost never acknowledges.
    • He's the only character who listened to Mason when he explained werewolves are impulsive.
    • In "My Two Harpers", he's good at understanding how the substation works, bringing in more money through opening a wizard world side of the business.
    • When Alex and Justin are in danger of disappearing into a black hole in Alex's apartment, Max suggests opening another black hole in the lair so that he can jump through it, reach his siblings, and the three of them can travel through the black hole and arrive back at the lair.
    • When called out on the fact that it's stupid to believe that martians exist, he correctly points out that they themselves are wizards and, in comparison, Martians aren't that far-fetched.
  • Dumbass Teenage Son: He once misspelled his own name.
  • Fatal Flaw: His shortsighted thinking. Max's lack of rational thinking and failure to realize what he's doing isn't the smart thing is what often gets him into trouble, and allows other people to manipulate him.
  • Fearless Fool: In an episode it is mentioned that Max isn't afraid of anything, due to the fact that he loses his conscience.
  • First Law of Gender Bending: Subverted. He spends several episodes as Maxine but gets turned back eventually.
  • Flanderization: From Cloudcuckoolander to Too Dumb to Live. As of the Season 4 premiere, he reveals that his descent into idiocy is all an act, as he figured that if he acted this way, but let being a wizard slip out, no one would believe him.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish to Justin's Responsible.
  • Gender Bender: As Maxine. Also acts as a slight Fountain of Youth, as Max also becomes younger in the process.
  • Heh Heh, You Said "X": In "Future Harper", he laughs when Justin constantly says I.P.P..
  • Heroic Wannabe: In "Alex's Brother, Maximan".
  • Hidden Depths:
    • In "My Two Harpers", unlike Jerry or Justin, Max demonstrates a great deal of business savvy about the sub shop - such as thinking to open a drive thru to the Wizard World and the limits of a small staff. This will serve him well as it's revealed that Jerry wants him to run the sub shop since he doesn't have magic anymore.
    • While he was Maxine, Max showed a devious and manipulative side on par with Alex. He also became skilled enough in martial arts to beat Justin.
  • Kids Are Cruel: At the beginning of the show.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Usually because when he does crazy things it all implodes on him and he ends up punishing himself.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: In the Season 4 premiere episode, Max reveals that he has been doing this.
  • Out of Focus: From Season 2 onward, majority of the main plot began to focus more on Alex and Justin's relationship. Max ends up getting pushed to the side plots.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: His main role for the first few seasons developed further after that, but still not all gone.
  • The Prankster: Not as notable as Alex, but he still pulls pranks once in a while along with her.
  • The Rival: His brother's and sister's rival in the wizard contest.
  • Sarcasm-Blind: Nearly always.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Will certainly try this, but it doesn't often work the way he planned.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Justin's Sensitive Guy.
  • Sidekick: Justin's, in "Franken Girl".
  • Small Name, Big Ego: To a lesser extent.
  • Smarter Than You Look: Max is weird and a bit dim (again, he once misspelled his own name) but at the same time he can sometimes offer good advice and isn't as oblivious as he appears to be.
  • Took a Level in Dumbass: He starts to act crazier and dumber as time goes on. However, he reveals in the Season 4 premiere that this was indeed an act the whole time, as he figures that if he is seen as crazy then no one would believe him if he accidentally revealed his secret, since he says and does crazy things all the time. Granted, he is still a little dumber than before, but not as much as he leads people to believe.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: When he loses his conscience.
  • The Un-Favourite: Not an obvious case since his parents love him as much as Justin or Alex, but it is clear in the finale that neither of his parents want him to or believe he will win the family competition. His father even used the idea of him winning by default as part of Alex and Justin's legal defense.
  • Wild Card: He is on Justin's side. Or Alex's side. Or none.
  • Youngest Child Wins: In the Season 4 premiere, Max is the only one of the Russo siblings who kept his place in the wizard competition after Justin and Alex revealed magic to the world. This ends up getting subverted with a vengeance in the finale. Max is the only one who doesn't get to keep his powers. Alex wins the competition and Justin is named the new Dean of Wiztech.

    Jerry Russo 
David DeLuise
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JerryRusso1_4894.jpg

Jerry is the father of Alex, Justin and Max Russo and co-owner of the Waverly Sub Station, with his wife Theresa (whom he accidentally insults on occasion). He is also a former wizard, who chose to give up his powers to marry his wife Theresa, a mortal, due to a rule forbidding wizards to marry mortals. Jerry Russo is the average father. He is stern, protective and is annoyed by Alex and Max constantly, and even by Justin occasionally. Unlike his children, he does not have powers any more; nonetheless, his children inherited their powers from him.

  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parent: Alex seems to think so (and Justin has gone there himself, but not without cause).
  • And Starring: "And David Deluise".
  • Angrish: Usually brought on by Alex.
  • Berserk Button: Standing between him and food.
  • Big Eater: He certainly loves food.
  • Brought Down to Normal: He was the winner of the Wizard Competition but gave up his powers to Kelbo so he can marry Theresa (since wizards are forbidden to marry mortals).
  • Bumbling Dad: On and off.
  • Casanova Wannabe: In the movie when he was "single".
  • Digging Yourself Deeper: When he tells something nice to his wife it sometimes comes out wrong. Then he tries to clarify it, but he just makes things worse.
  • Fatal Flaw: Jerry's pigheadedness can be often the source of his own problems throughout the series, as it can cause his children to use magic when he tells them not, and makes him fail to realize his ideas aren't as clever as he thinks they or when he has to admit when he's wrong.
  • Happily Married: He and Theresa are actually a fairly realistic example of how a happy marriage isn't a perfect one. They fight occasionally but they work through it. It is significant that there is never a scene where he regrets exchanging his powers for the ability to marry her (except maybe when his kids are causing magical trouble).
  • If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Even learning his daughter was dating a werewolf didn't in the slightest deter him from giving him the "I'll make you pay if you ever hurt her" speech.
  • Only Sane Man: At times, he certainly gives sound advice on not misusing powers and is generally a good voice of reason.
  • Parents as People: While he and Theresa are nevertheless Good Parents, they don't seem to understand how their controlling attitude towards their children can create quite a few problems and how their favoritism towards Justin has made him stubborn and prideful and taught him nothing about humility.
  • Parental Favoritism: He's shown various times that he cares more about Justin's future than Alex's and Max's. Though for Alex's case, it's partially justified since she's a constant mischief maker.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Wacky moments aside, generally he is a supportive father who often gives sound advice to his children.
  • So Proud of You: He often gives this line to Justin. And sometimes to Alex when she actually does a right thing.
  • Third Wheel: He was once this, being used because of his pretty sister and never truly being treated like a friend. He tries to comfort Harper about Alex's friendship with Stevie by relating to her situation, but as he shoes and says, one never gets over it.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: The episode "Wizard for a Day". First, when the aliens demand the milkshake machine, he tells them that Max is the machine. Next, as the aliens are shooting their lasers and the rest of the Russos are hiding behind the counter, Jerry is forced to choose between saving his beloved family and his precious milkshake machine. Guess which one he picked. Finally, he tries to use Merlin's hat to teleport himself to Hawaii. Yeah, that's father of the year for ya.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Ugly Guy to Theresa's Hot Wife.

    Theresa Russo 
Maria Canals Barrera
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Maria_Canals-BarreraPostss_8956.jpg

Theresa is the mother of Alex, Justin and Max Russo and co-owner of the Waverly Sub Station, with her husband Jerry; and is also the slightly more serious one out the couple. Theresa Russo is a typical mother. She's fussy, caring and can be pretty embarrassing. Unlike her children, she is a mortal. She is overprotective of Justin and Max. She tries to relate with her kids, but it doesn't always work.

  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parent
  • Berserk Button: Trying to stop her from protecting her kids.
  • Does Not Like Magic: Depending on the Writer, she jumps from absolutely and completely hating magic, to just being cautious, to actually liking it.
  • Fatal Flaw: Her Controlling attitude: While Theresa does want what's best for her children, her need to control their lives and force them to do what shes wants is what causes them, especially Alex, to rebel against her and use magic to solve problems they are dealing with most of time.
  • HA HA HA—No: In "Saving WizTech, Part 1" where Jerry tries to laugh the matter off with her.
  • Happily Married: See above.
  • Mama Bear: If standing up to a fully powered wizard who was clearly very evil, while not even remembering her children doesn't qualify her, nothing will.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Her wardrobe is composed of clothing that accentuates her figure with cleavage-friendly blouses.
  • My Beloved Smother: At times, she smothers her kids (especially Justin and Max) with parental affection and authority a little too much.
  • Overly Narrow Superlative: Theresa likes to mention that she was the most popular girl in her high school, but forgets to mention it was because she was the first girl in a formerly all boy school.
  • Parents as People: While she and Jerry are nevertheless Good Parents, they don't seem to understand how their controlling attitude towards their children can create quite a few problems and how their favoritism towards Justin has made him stubborn and prideful and taught him nothing about humility.
  • So Proud of You: Usually of Justin.
  • Spicy Latina: Theresa is Latina and has the temper and seduction to qualify.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Hot Wife to Jerry's Ugly Guy.
  • Unfazed Everyman: Has to have evolved into this, due to living with a family of wizards.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In "Cast-Away (To Another Show)", Theresa insists on wearing a life-jacket on a docked ship and is apprehensive in general about water. Justin is surprised, noting that she won a number of swimming medals in high school.
    "Why do you think I was so fast? I couldn't wait to get out of the water!"

    Harper Finkle 
Jennifer Stone
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stone_3092.jpg

She is the best friend of the show's main character Alex Russo and is often known for her outrageous fashion ensembles that she designs herself. Harper is a typical teenage girl: kind, smart, a bit dorky and a fashion lover. She is very optimistic, though a little insecure at times. Harper has an extremely large and often (extremely) obsessive crush on Alex's brother, Justin.

  • Badass Bookworm: While she rarely ever gets involved with fights, she is seen ready to throw a punch if provoked. She's normally a geek who remains a voice of reason, but it says a lot when she can intimidate a generation of mages.
  • Berserk Button: Being called a bad friend.
  • Beta Couple: With Zeke, once she (more or less) gives up her crush on Justin.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: She's as sweet as they come, but get on her bad side and your be sorry.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: All her silliness aside, she is generally good at several things, for instance she makes all her own clothes and is very good at school.
  • Character Catchphrase: Harper yells "See you in P.E.!" when making a hasty exit.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Far more down-to-earth than Max and Zeke, but it's still there (are her clothing choices obvious enough?).
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Was initially one towards Justin; she eventually managed to grow out of this.
  • Creator Breakdown: In-Universe in "Alex the Puppetmaster". After a fight, Harper redoes her puppet show as "a thinly veiled attack" showing the audience how Alex treats her.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: In "New Employee", Harper was a clumsy waitress.
  • Ditzy Genius: More so than Justin, since the "ditzy" part is much more evident. She is both an awkward Cloudcuckoolander and an intelligent student.
  • Dogged Nice Girl: To Justin; she eventually moves on, but it's implied by her future self she never truly gets over him.
  • Emo Teen: Behind her happy facade.
  • Fatal Flaw: Her Naïvety. As Harper tends to see the glass half full and looks only at the good of things, she has a childlike view of the world and fails to realize when she should listen to Alex about certain things, which forces the latter to bail her out when she gets into trouble.
  • Faux Action Girl: Does Tae Kwon Do, but is horrible at it.
  • Fiery Redhead: Harper certainly has something of a temper.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Alex.
  • Hidden Depths: Subverted. She runs marathons, does Tae Kwon Do, enters spelling bees and does Double Dutch jump rope. And she's terrible at all of them. Played straight in reference to her façade of happiness.
  • The Ingenue: More naive and innocent than Alex, though she can be more snide and manipulative at times, usually under Alex's influence.
  • The Lancer: To Alex.
  • Love Makes You Crazy: Before her much needed Character Development.
  • Morality Pet: For Alex.
  • Nice Girl: She is one of the most genuinely nice characters in the series, being positive, kind-hearted and cheerful.
  • Rejection Affection: Harper isn't at all put off by Justin's disinterest.
  • Rummage Sale Reject: Most of her outfits, which she makes herself.
  • Sad Clown: Every now and then, she is hinted to be this.
    Harper: You are a Maddy. Happies and Maddies just don't get along.
    Alex: Well, I get along with you and you're a Happy.
    Harper: Oh, dear, only on the outside. That's why we work.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Whenever she drops her catchphrase "See ya in P.E.!", she makes a beeline for the door.
  • Seemingly-Wholesome '50s Girl: When they go to the 50s, she becomes the most popular girl in school in a matter of days.
  • Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: She would routinely talk about her (imagined) relationship with Justin and claim that any other girl Justin dated was only a temporary fascination and that he would eventually find his way back to her.
  • The Smart Gal: Despite being only human with no powers, she manages to be smarter than the vast majority of her peers, putting her on par with Justin. Mages don't traditionally turn to muggles for help in studying magic and have it work out.
  • Stalker with a Crush: On Justin.
  • Stepford Smiler: Lampshaded in "Positive Alex" when Alex calls her a "Happy" and she says "Only on the outside. That's why we work." And in "Third Wheel" we get to see what happens when the smile slips.
  • Straw Loser: How weird and socially awkward Harper is in general. And then there's the ultra-dorky outfits she always wears so that Alex can look cool and fashionable by comparison.
  • Third Wheel: Becomes this when they learn that Stevie is a wizard. Even Jerry can't offer her any advice that cheers her up. Alex has to reassure her that she could never forget Harper.
  • Token Human: Among the main child characters, she's the only one who has no powers or inhuman physiology. Despite this, she still manages to be helpful through how smart she is. Ultimately subverted by Max in the finale.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Alex's Tomboy.
  • Unfazed Everyman: Following finding out her best friend and her family are wizards.
  • Unwitting Muggle Friend: She was this to Alex for the first two-and-a-half seasons before finally finding out the Russos are wizards in Season 2's "Harper Knows".
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 1 with Alex. As the bottom, although in later episodes she has begun to grow a spine moving in the direction of Type 2.
    Alex: When have I ever kept secrets from you?
    Harper: WIZ-ard!
    Alex: You're never going to let that go are you?
    Harper: No.
  • Yandere: Towards Justin. Thankfully, she lost this trait before her interest in Zeke.
    [Alex tells Justin that Harper watches him sleep]
    Harper: You should not have told him that. That could be misconstrued as creepy.

Recurring characters

    Zach "Zeke" Beakerman 
Dan Benson

He is a friend of Justin's. He is one grade higher than Justin and is considered "cool", yet nerdy. He attends Tribeca Prep and is in advanced chemistry along with Justin. He is also part of an "alien language" club; he and Justin often "speak alien" to each other.

    Juliet Van Heusen 
Bridgit Mendler

She is an immortal vampire who falls in love with Justin while he spies for his parents' restaurant. The two fight their parents for their love (similar to Romeo and Juliet, but with a happier ending) and soon, are allowed to date despite the restaurant feud between their different families. When she was born, her parents let her have a soul so she could socialize in the mortal world, which makes her nice and down-to-earth, as opposed to most vampires, who are usually heartless and cunning.

    Mason Greyback 
Gregg Sulkin

He is a transfer student from England, perfect in every way except for his artistic vision, and Alex's first true love. He turns out to be a werewolf and breaks Alex's heart when he shouts out that he loves Juliet. In the end, he repents for breaking Alex's heart and proves he does love Alex, after all.

  • Berserk Button: Trying to take Alex away from him.
  • Big Eater: Due to him being a Werewolf. In one episode, Mason was able to consume all of the meat in the Waverly Substation with no ill effects.
  • Fatal Flaw: Jealousy. Whenever he gets jealous, it causes him to fail to think things through, which further complicates his relationship with Alex. In season 4, during a banquet to celebrate Alex, who was named Wizard of the Year, gets into a fight with Chase, a famous beast tamer who likes Alex, after falsely believing he is trying to steal his girlfriend (though to his credit, Chase really was interested in her), which makes Alex break up with Mason.
  • Hot-Blooded: Mason does have a temper, and it can cause him to seriously loose control of his wolf side.
  • Interspecies Romance: With Alex.
  • Love Interest: Alex's.
  • Mayfly–December Romance: With Alex.
  • Mysterious Past: Not much is elaborated on what his life was like before he met Alex, aside from him winning a dog show in London several hundred years ago, and dating Juliet.
  • One-Track-Minded Artist: When Alex first meets Mason, she discovers that the only subject he is interested in painting are dogs, to the point where he wants to paint Alex as a dog. She uses magic to make her his inspiration instead, and he becomes completely obsessed with making art of her and only her, to where it's all he can do.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Most notably, the full moon only causes him to transform into werewolf form, but doesn't make him become crazy or violent like werewolves in other stories.
  • Really 700 Years Old: He has the appearance of Alex's age, but is really around three hundred years old.
  • Shout-Out: His name is really similar to Fenrir Greyback, the infamous evil werewolf from Harry Potter.
  • Sensitive Artist: He is a talented artist who is in touch with his emotions, his identity, and the emotions of others. His sensitive, sentimental nature, thoughtfulness, and expressiveness set him up as a natural contrast to Alex's former Badbutt boyfriend Dean.
  • Stalker with a Crush: In the last half of the "Wizards vs. Werewolves" arc.
  • Undying Loyalty: According to him, this is a common trait of all werewolves, which is why he shouted that he loved Juliet, as the two had dated previously.
  • Wolf Man: His partial wolf side resembles Lon Chaney Jr's original wolf man, although his full wolf side is much more monstrous.

    Mr. Laritate 
Bill Chott

He is the principal of Tribeca Prep Sr. High School, which is shown when he calls Alex into the principal's office. He also admires Justin and often compares Alex to him.

  • Born in the Wrong Century: Acknowledged on several occasions that he would better if he lived in the old west. Likewise when Alex sends him there he fits in very well and proves to love it.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Herschel.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: Sometimes Alex winds up alienating everybody in which case Mr. Laritate seems to be her friend of last resort.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Although unorthodox, Mr. Laritate is a pretty good and supportive principal.
  • Shout-Out: Larry Tate was Darrin's boss in Bewitched.
  • Stern Teacher: He is harder on Alex than he is on other students, but it's justified. He knows when a student doesn't need to be punished because he knows they won't do whatever they did wrong again, or when punishing someone is pointless since they just won't understand why that they did was wrong. He knows Alex is neither of these things and knows that she can be better, so he punishes her waiting for his lessons to stick.

    Gigi 
Skyler Samuels

She is (or at least, was) Alex's rival. She has tried to embarrass Alex ever since they were in kindergarten when Gigi spilled juice on Alex's mat during naptime and said Alex had an "accident".

    Dean Moriarty 
Daniel Samonas

He is Alex's boyfriend in the second season. He makes temporary tattoos in the boy's bathroom and is interested in cars. Dean is shown as a "bad boy", and Justin and Harper do not approve of him at first.

  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: As bad as you're likely to get on the Disney Channel. It's Alex that's really the "bad" one in the relationship, on several levels. The worst thing he does is....temporary tattoos!
  • Bad Butt: Considered in universe quite tough, and does do a drag race, but really only fitting with Disney standards.
  • Love Interest: Alex's.
  • Morality Chain: In one episode Alex's love for Dean is what prevents her from turning evil.
  • Shout-Out: To On the Road

    Kelbo Russo 
Jeff Garlin

Jerry's brother. He was given Jerry's powers, when he married Theresa.

    Stevie Nichols 
Hayley Kiyoko

A young wizard Alex befriends. She is almost the perfect friend for her. Turns out she is apparently evil and has a diabolical plot to bring an end to the wizard competition, effectively making her the Big Bad of season 3. She is killed, but later resurrected and has a Heel–Face Turn.

  • And There Was Much Rejoicing: Calling it "rejoicing" might be a bit extreme, but her death was taken way too well by all parties involved. Not even her own brother or the girl who, up until that episode, had been close friends with her so much as shed a tear over it. Although partly Justified as he was unconscious at the time.
  • Anti-Villain: Type III. She was a Well-Intentioned Extremist and she did have a good goal...
  • Arc Villainess: During her arc in Season 3.
  • Butch Lesbian: While not explicitly confirmed to a lesbian, she was confirmed to be Alex's girlfriend and also has a butch style.
  • Evil Counterpart: She's basically Alex, but with even less concern for the impact of her actions on other people.
  • Killed Off for Real: In a Disney show, folks, in a Disney show. And it's accompanied with a laugh track.
    • Word of God later indicated that Stevie was put back together and sent to a sort of magical rehabilitation, where she underwent a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Pet the Dog: When she changes the heavy metal band into a smooth jazz one to stop Alex and Justin from fighting.
  • The Rival: To Harper.
  • Shout-Out: Her name is an obvious shout out to Stevie Nicks.

    Rosie 
Leven Rambin

A literal Angel, who falls in love with Justin and visa versa. They had a romantic relationship although it turns out she is really a demon (referred to as Angel of darkness) and The Mole for Gorog. Justin decides to become one as well and help Gorog to stay with Rosie. After a showdown with Alex, Justin has a Heel Realization and uses his love to redeem Rosie.

  • The Corrupter: Her presence turns people darker, and her purpose was to corrupt Justin for her Master Gorog.
  • Love Redeems: Her relationship with Justin causes her to turn good.
  • The Mole: In Justin's class, she's posted there to seduce him.
  • Our Angels Are Different: As an Angel of Darkness, she causes people to turn dark by spending time with them.

    Chase Riprock 
Nick Roux

    Master Gorog 
John Rubinstein

The equivalent of Satan of the show (and many other show's). This makes him the Big Bad/Greater-Scope Villain. He is introduced in season four with a plan to turn the world evil by stealing the Moral Compass, which he uses Justin and Rosie for, but was ultimately defeated. He also has a Plan B to take over the Wizard world, and spy's on the Russos incognito throughout the season. As he puts the plan into action he is killed by all three Russo children.

Movie Characters

    Archie 
Steve Valentine
A former wizard who sets out to find a magical stone of dreams to turn his girlfriend Giselle back to her human form.
  • Anti-Villain: He's a polite and friendly fellow and not really all that evil - he's just devoted to Giselle and serves her because he loves her, and he dislikes the negative consequences this brings.
  • The Dog Bites Back: When he realizes Giselle doesn't have any regard for him as he does for her, he finally gets fed up with her selfish cruelty and redoes her Karmic Transformation - even commenting that he actually likes her better as a bird.
  • The Dragon: To Giselle.
  • Foil: To the Russos - his love for Giselle is superficial (since she has nothing good in her personality) and unrequited, with a lot of abuse dish out his way; the Russo siblings might clash, but they actually care for each other and the abuse is Comedic Sociopathy at best.
  • Heel–Face Turn: In the end he turns on Giselle, even giving the wishing stone to Theresa so she can bring her children back.

    Giselle 
Jennifer Alden
A former wizard, who was turned into a parrot as a punishment for something and relies on her boyfriend Archie to free her with the Stone of Dreams.
  • Big Bad: Of the first movie.
  • Fate Worse than Death: To her at least. She turns back to a parrot and once again has to put up with Archie.
  • Flat Character: She gets no context on why she was imprisoned into her parrot, doesn't get a real personality besides being evil, and gets defeated by Theresa Russo within five minutes.
  • It's All About Me: Shown to care only for herself and willing to manipulate Archie, who is utterly devoted to her, without remorse. It comes back to bite her when he realizes she cares nothing for him, and his morals lead to a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Karmic Transformation: There and back again.

    Dominic 
Beau Mirchoff
An evil Wiztech member who has a plan to trap all mortal beings in beads and take over the world. He carries out this plan by splitting Alex's positive and negative traits into separate entities. He turns out to be Gorog's nephew and may be part Angel of Darkness.

Others

    Other characters 

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