History Characters / AmericanGirlsCollectionHistoricalCharacters

* SeriesMascot: Samantha used to be it -- she was even in the company logo!
* ServileSnarker: Elsa, Samantha's maid, is harsh (though she loves her family, for whose sake she's working) and is fed up with Samantha's antics.

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: In ''Happy Birthday, Samantha!'', Eddie ruins the molded ice cream at Samantha's birthday party by pouring extra rock salt in it when he's left alone unsupervised.

** Samantha is not a tomboy specifically, but this trope appiles. She's ''expected'' to be prim and proper befitting her well off status and implied future as a ProperLady of high class, and is being guided towards this by her stern Victorian-era grandmother. However, she frequently fails at being so by the standards of her class and time, and many of the things she has to do she does out of obligation and respect for her grandmother and not her own personal interest. She likes climbing trees (something she's told she's not supposed to be doing at all), isn't afraid to confront her bully neighbor Eddie's insults and even shoves him and puts gum in his hair, and wishes she could fight like boys when conflict comes up rather than be expected to deal with such insults quietly. She wishes she could earn money for herself despite her grandmother's scandal at the very idea of such a thing--only men earn money in Grandmary's eyes--and when Samantha brings up that Cornelia considers it fine, Grandmary says that it's still improper and she's not allowed. She ''does'' wear fine dresses as she's expected for the era--girls never wore pants then, and she's rich--and do needlework (which she finds boring but does anyways[[note]]After Nellie is sent back to the city, she is angrily working on her sampler because to her, even ''that's'' preferable to interacting with the adults around her she's upset with.[[/note]] and practice the piano--all things she's ''expected'' to do as a young well off girl being raised "properly". For a brief while, Samantha was promoted as preferring to climb trees and get messy instead of playing piano or doing needlepoint. She also doesn't mind going by a TomboyishName, Sam, and has interest in motorcars. In conclusion, while Samantha's not what one would think of as a modern-style tomboy, she does have traits that according to the standards of her era make her a "tomboy", paired with a great reluctance for what a proper young lady "should" do.
** This also applies to Agatha Pitt, one of Cornelia's twin sisters. She wears dresses as expected, but is much more direct and willing to fight than her twin sister or Samantha. At Samantha's birthday party, she forcibly tackles Eddie to get back the teddy bear he took from Samantha (to try and force her to let him play with Jip), and earlier balls her fist up as if to punch him when Eddie says "who's going to make [him] leave" when they tell him to go away and let them made their ice cream in peace. (Samantha doesn't tell Grandmary about the tackle when Grandmary spots the party guests all messy from the conflict, because it's against Grandmary's strictest rule that girls shouldn't fight ''ever''.) She may wear dresses, but she doesn't limit herself according to what she should do in them.

* OrphansOrdeal: Goes through quite the TraumaCongaLine as being a poor immigrant orphan in the early 1900s.
* ParentalAbandonment: The O'Malley parents die shortly before ''Changes For Samantha'', leaving Nellie and her sisters at the mercy of a greedy uncle and an OrphanageOfFear. After being adopted by the Edwards, Nellie still struggles with fears of being abandoned again, getting distressed that she will be left behind by her new family.

* SingleSexOffspring: One of three sisters, later, one of four once Samantha's aunt and uncle adopt her as well as taking in Samantha. This changes later in the Mystery novels when [[spoiler: Cornelia gives birth to a son, William]].

'''Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner are different girls (a free Black girl of color and returning French immigrant from Boston) becoming friends during the multicultural 1850s in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, Louisiana. The girls meet when Marie-Grace and her widowed father return from living in Boston, and bond during the crisis of the [[ThePlague 1853 yellow fever outbreak]]. Cécile and Marie-Grace were the first set of historical characters to be marketed as a duo (though sold with separate meet books, they shared the six-book series overall). They were released in 2011 and retired in 2014 as part of the depreciation of the Best Friends line and pivot to the [=BeForever=] rebranding for the Historical line. giving them the shortest availability for any Historical Character until Caroline.

* GirlyGirl: She and Cecile are two of the more girly historicals, both with fancy dresses and feminine pursuits. Furthermore they are more urban (living in a large port city) compared to their contemporary Kirsten, who lived a more rural life with suitable clothing.

* RedOniBlueOni: Marie-Grace's blue to Cecile's red. (Despite that Cecile is wearing blue.) Marie-Grace is shy and timid while Cecile is more talkative and outgoing.

* RedOniBlueOni: Cecile's red to Marie-Grace's blue. (Despite that Cecile is wearing blue.) Cecile is more talkative and outgoing while Marie Grace is shy and timid.

* DemotedToExtra: Samantha's first two books focused on her relationship with Nellie (a poorer Irish daughter of immigrants) and had an antagonist in Edith Eddleton, a well-to-do girl with a snobbish attitude. However, the plotlines and focus on class issues proved controversial; the first author, Susan S. Adler, was replaced for the third book which barely included Nellie, and by the fiourth book now being written by Valerie Tripp, all the class issues were downplayed and Edith switched from an antagonist to a minor acquaintance, likely due to [[ExecutiveMeddling Ms. Rowland disliking the class focus]]. Nellie is not present or even mentioned in ''Happy Birthday, Samantha'' and is entirely absent from ''Samantha Saves The Day,'' (with Samantha instead being paired with her twin aunts, Agnes and Agatha) before coming back in ''Changes for Samantha'' where her parents have died and, after several struggles, she and her younger sisters Bridget and Jenny are adopted by Samantha's aunt and uncle. The retooled abridged books focus more on their connection before Nellie's adoption and have Samantha thinking of her often.

* GoodWithNumbers: Despite having no formal education at the start of the series, she can do math problems in her head in seconds. This is because she used to have to purchase food for her family, and had to be able to determine the cost of things they needed quickly and to get hte most for their meager funds.

* HeartwarmingOrphan: Samantha's beloved friend who is orphanaed and later adopted as her sister.

* StrangerInAStrangeSchool: A mundane variant. In ''Nellie's Promise,'' Nellie has been HappilyAdopted by the rich Edwards, but she's still of her poor background and it affects her. Her first school she attends with Samantha has her feeling completely out of place; not only does it not teach anything she feels is practical, but the other girls of higher class often aren't sure if she's Samantha's sister or maid. this is seen when the girls speak about their eight year old birthday parties and she states she was working in a factory, making the conversation awkward. She later transfers to a school that is more in alignment with her hopes to have a more practical adult life.
* TraumaCongaLine: First, there's the struggles of being a poor girl in a society xenophobic towards Irishmen (as the Irish were not considered as "white" as [=WASP=]s). She keeps her hair short because long hair in a factory is a safety risk; she saw a girl get ''scalped'' at work. She has to perform child labor to provide for her family and initially is sent away from them alone to work in Mt. Bedford. When she does start school for the first time, she is treated like she's stupid and put in a grade lower than her age, in the back, and insulted for being ignorant to the point she doesn't want to return. Then, while Samantha is living in New York City, both her parents die and she's first sent to live with her abusive uncle Mike who takes all their things to sell them while [[PromotionToParent trying to parent her younger sisters]]. After Mike abandons them, the girls go to a horrible orphanage that doesn't feed them well and threatens to spit them up by sending Nellie away on an orphan train out west. They run away and hide in Samantha's attic, and Nellie spends the time trying to find a job again (in the movie, she ends up working in a clothing factory and Samantha sees this). After their adoption, she deals with her sisters crying at night missing their parents, even though they're in a good home. Nellie once again has to face her abusive uncle who threatens to take her away again after he finds her, sending her into worry that she has to leave town altogether to stop him until the Edwards foirce him to fully sign away any rights. Finally, according to the not-fully-canon ''Real Stories from My Time'' series, when she turns sixteen she ends up traveling ''on the Titanic.''

* AlliterativeName: '''M'''olly [='''M'''cIntire=].

* BirthdayEpisode: Emily's birthday is on September 29th. However in ''Happy Birthday, Molly!'', Molly says they should share parties on her birthday, since Emily missed out having birthday celebrations for years due to London's bombing and British rationing. [[PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure Until they fight over what happens ''at'' a party.]]

* AbsentAnimalCompanion: Her dog is never mentioned again in the main series following ''Happy Birthday, Molly!''; he is present in the short story Molly's Puppy Tale.

** ''In Happy Birthday, Molly!'' the radio mentioning that it's up to the Yanks (American Troops) to save England (and the world) from Hitler's threat upsets Emily--who says it's not true and she's tired of hearing how America is "winning the war" when England's been involved longer. Molly says that England can't win without America because their soldiers are stronger, and the fight the two are having (that started over birthday plans) becomes more intense.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Considered this by [[AloofBigBrother Jill]]. Inverted with Ricky in the first book, who's older than her but constantly gives her a bad time. Five-year-old Brad is described in his mini-bio as "a little pest" but is barely characterized or interacts with his sister or older siblings.

* AmericaWonWorldWarII: In ''American Girls Revue,'' her song begins with "Hurray for the USA! We won the war!" Also, in Happy Birthday, Molly, the radio mentioning this trope is the catalyst for Molly and Emily's big argument, because Emily is offended by the radio broadcasts acting like America is winning the war when the British have been fighting for so much longer.

* AmericaWonWorldWarII: In ''American Girls Revue,'' her song begins with "Hurray for the USA! We won the war!"

* BestFriend: To Felicity. While their families support opposing sides of the brewing Revolutuion, the two remain good friends, with the only major conflict between them being due to Elizabeth's father being unjustly jailed. T

* AllGirlsLikePonies: Kaya loves her horse, Steps High, to the point of endangering her own life to save her. She ends the series with both Steps High and the Appaloosa's colt, Steps High.

%% * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Her twin brothers, Wing Feather and Sparrow.
%% * BadassNative: Swan Circling, and Kaya to an extent.

%% * CanineCompanion: Tatlo.

* UptownGirl: Kit's mother Margaret came from wealth, but went down in class when she married Jack who is an orphaned man raised [[Nephewism by his aunt and uncle]][[note]]Millie and Birch weren't Jack's biological aunt and uncle, but are called as such by the family. Maragaret considers doing so "countrified" and calls Millie "Miss Millie" rather than aunt.[[note]] in rural Appalachia. Her uncle and only living relative, Hendrick, constantly says that her mother--his sister--would have a broken heart to see her living as "poor" as she does.

* UptownGirl: Kit's mother Margaret came from wealth, but went down in class when she married Jack who is an orphaned man raised [[Nephewism by his aunt and uncle]][[note]]Millie and Birch weren't Jack's biological aunt and uncle, but are called as such by the family. Maragaret considers doing so "countrified" and calls her Miss Millie.[[note]] in rural Appalachia. Her uncle and only living relative, Hendrick, constantly says that her mother--his sister--would have a broken heart to see her living as "poor" as she does.

%% * LanguageBarrier: Between Kaya and Two Hawks in the second and third books, and Hawk Rising in ''The Silent Stranger.''

%% * SmallNameBigEgo: Kaya is prone to boast or brag to seem important.

%% * RebelliousSpirit: She's free-spirited and rebellious for the time period.

%% * BestFriend: To Felicity.

%% * ToxicFriendInfluence: Harriet is a mean girl to Addy, and discourages her from making friends with NiceGirl Sarah.