History Characters / Fleabag

* EndearinglyDorky: The Priest is quite awkward and straight-laced, but extremely sweet and charming because of it: despite finding him attractive, Fleabag only realizes she has a crush on him after he makes an IncrediblyLamePun in front of her.

* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: Realistic example. He needs to remain chaste because of his religious calling, but his attraction to Fleabag brings that into question. [[spoiler:In Series 2, Episode 5, they have sex.]] It's framed as a LoveTriangle of sorts, and he ultimately choses [[spoiler:God, breaking it off with Fleabag to recommit himself to his calling]].

* LovableSexManiac: Played with. Fleabag is a sex maniac, and she's an endearing character who the audience is encouraged to like. But even though we ''like'' Fleabag, the show doesn't pretend that her behavior is healthy. Her inability to reign herself in sexually destroyed her most significant relationship with her dead best friend Boo, and secondarily with her boyfriend Harry. So then Fleabag is alone, and she sleeps around more ''because'' she is alone and wants to connect with people. But hookup culture will never provide her with meaningful connections.

* ThisLoserIsYou: Both emotionally repressed and stunted, grief-stricken, uses SexForSolace, runs an unsuccessful company, and communicates directly with us.

* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: Realistic example. He really wants Fleabag, but he takes his vow of celibacy very seriously, so sex becomes this for him. It's framed as a LoveTriangle of sorts, and he choses [[spoiler:God]].

* WillTheyOrWontThey: Played for drama due to his occupation. He needs to remain chaste because of his religious calling, but his attraction to Fleabag brings that into question. [[spoiler:In Series 2, Episode 5, they have sex. Yet can't become a couple, and the Priest ultimately breaks it off to recommit himself to his calling.]]

* CoolLoser: Lampshaded by Claire, Fleabag may have a DarkAndTroubledPast but she "will always be interesting".
-->'''Claire:''' You'll always be fine. You'll always be interesting, with your quirky cafe and your dead best friend.

* AwwLookTheyReallyLoveEachOther: Across Series 2 her and Fleabag slowly repair their relationship, and in the final episode she finally admits how much her sister means to her.

* ImportantHaircut: The bizarre bob she gets for her father's wedding is initially played only as a gag, but it eventually becomes this when her love interests Klare uniroincally digs it. Simbolically, Claire ditches the extensions she was using to masquerade the bob when she decides to chase after Klare before he leaves.

* DoggedNiceGuy: Deconstructed. He certainly ''thinks'' he's this, but he's often condescending and short-tempered with Fleabag. He also overreacts like crazy to virtually everything she does and treats her masturbation as some kind of personal offense worth throwing a hissy fit over, he's unsupportive, WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency, is overly-controlling and there are a few hints of genuine misogyny that leak out (not to mention apparently seeing as no problem being asked by Godmother to pose in her garden ''naked, erect and covered in plaster for several hours'', taking at face value Godmother's lie that Fleabag is okay with it).

* ButNotTooBi: She impulsively kisses Belinda in Season 2, who she has known for all of two minutes, and is very evasive when Belinda asks her if she's ever been interested in women before. The answer seems to be yes, but we never see her with anyone except men.

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Big time in Season 1, but she's trying to cut down by Season 2.

* HotForPreacher: In season 2, she falls hard for the Priest, even though his occupation is obviously a hurdle.

* WomanChild: Although she's starting to get her act together by Season 2, she was this purely in Season 1, with mountains of debt, immature relationships, and being unable to confront her feelings.

* BigSisterInstinct: A very downplayed example as she actually [[TheScapegoat scapegoats]] Fleabag a lot throughout Season 1, but by Season 2, it becomes slightly more apparent.
* ControlFreak: Her most prominent feature (at least before BeneathTheMask in Season 2). She can't even get a surprise party: she organizes her surprise party by herself and ''then'' invites the others.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Mostly only defrosts towards Fleabag when she needs her help. By season 2 they have a much healthier relationship, with Claire stating how she considers Fleabag the most important person in her life in the finale.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The "responsible" to Fleabag's "foolish". Although this is getting murkier in Season 2 when Fleabag pulls herself together and Claire's ordered life begins to fall apart.

* ArchEnemy: To Fleabag in Season 2 when he tries to sue her. Their personal enmity is basically a battle for Claire's soul, with Fleabag urging her to follow her own happiness while Martin wants to keep her locked to him.

* KickTheDog: Martin has a habit of doing this to most people, though Fleabag is his preferred target. [[spoiler: In the season 2 premiere, Martin mocks Fleabag for suffering a miscarriage. That's bad enough, but since Fleabag is actually covering for Claire, Martin's insult unknowingly wounds his wife]].

Fleabag's best friend, who died before the events of Season 1.

* ILetGwenStacyDie: Fleabag was indirectly responsible for Boo's suicide, and it continues to haunt her even after she's come to accept her mother's death in Season 2. Exactly why she died is one of the driving questions of Season 1.

* LoveWillLeadYouBack: Fleabag believes this of him in the later part of Season 1, but it doesn't work. Though there will always be fondness and warmth between them: in Season 2, when he has a new partner and a child and meets Fleabag at a church fundraiser, he seems genuinely pleased to see her.

* TheOneThatGotAway: Season 1 makes it clear he is this to Fleabag when he finally breaks up with her and moves on.
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Played straight for a lot of Season 1, but subverted when she pushes him too far.

The priest marrying Godmother and Dad, and Fleabag's new love interest.

* TheFashionista: Downplayed example -- he dresses normally while out on the town, but he also jokes that he’s only into priesthood for all the fancy robes he gets to wear, and he does wear several pimped-out robes through the second season.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: Played for drama due to his occupation. He needs to remain chaste because of his religious calling, but his attraction to Fleabag brings that into question. [[spoiler:In Season 2, Episode 5, they have sex. Yet can't become a couple, and the Priest ultimately breaks it off to recommit himself to his calling.]]

* TheAtoner: He truly does feel terrible about his past actions and is genuinely trying to better himself. He shows how far he's come when he performs the key act of kindness in series 1: urging Fleabag to forgive herself, and giving her a second chance with the cafe.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Returns in a single episode of series 2. He's happier, reconciled with his wife and has got a new job.

* NiceGuy: One of the handful of characters who actually tries to better himself.
* OddFriendship: With the thirtysomething Fleabag by the end of series 1. He even keeps an eye on her cafe in one series 2 episode.
* TookALevelInKindness: The essence of his arc throughout series 1.

-->'''Bus:''' Okay, you don't go through life with teeth like these and not know when someone's pretending.

!!Belinda

!!Klare

Claire's business partner from Finland.

* DoggedNiceGuy: Deconstructed. He certainly ''thinks'' he's this, but he's often condescending and short-tempered with Fleabag. He also overreacts like crazy to virtually everything she does and treats her masturbation as some kind of personal offense worth throwing a hissy fit over, he's unsupportive, WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency, is overly-controlling and there are a few hints of genuine misogyny that leak out.

* EthicalSlut: Reconstructed. In Season 1, her sluttiness is one of the ''least'' ethical things about her (she sleeps with Boo's boyfriend, sleeps around, pushes Harry away with her porn searches), but she's also an ethical person. By Season 2, she's less slutty and even more ethical, but her sex drive is no longer treated as so unethical.

* GoodBadGirl: Fleabag did a lot of unpleasant things, like cheating with Boo's boyfriend, but she is also extremely moral and the audience is encouraged to like her.

* LovableSexManiac: Played with in Season 1, played much more straight in Season 2. Fleabag ''is'' a sex maniac, but it's actually destroyed most of her significant relationships, including (without Boo's knowing) with her dead best friend, Boo. In Season 2, most of this angst is gone.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Jake is odd, but it's never clear exactly about what his deal is beyond being creepy as fuck. Fleabag wonders if he'll turn out to be a killer.
-->'''Fleabag:''' He's really weird, probably clinically, but no one really talks about that.

-->'''Belinda''': Are you a lesbian?
-->'''Fleabag''': ''[With a smirk]'' Not strictly.

* NoAccountingForTaste: Lampshaded; in the flashback episode to the funeral, he doesn't even ''like'' Godmother. No-one else likes her, but it's not known how, when, or if this changed for him.

* TheSociopath: A rare realistic example, Godmother seems to care for no-one but herself (especially not Fleabag's father) and is extremely narcissistic.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's appalled when [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals Fleabag thinks he's threatening Hillary, Fleabag's guinea pig]], seemingly offended by the very notion.

-->'''Fleabag:''' She accidentally killed herself. Wasn't her intention, but it wasn't a total accident. She didn't actually think she'd die. She just... found out that her boyfriend fսckеd someone else and wanted to punish him by ending up in hospital, not letting him visit her for a bit.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Deconstructed. He needs to remain chaste because of his religious calling, but his attraction to Fleabag makes him very unhappy.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: Played for drama due to his occupation. [[spoiler:In Season 2, Episode 5, they finally do, but can't become a couple.]]

-->'''Arsehole Guy:''' Physically she [his girlfriend] just never satisfied me, she has these really massive, bouncy tits that really don't do anything for me. And you just kept turning up like this sexy... plank.

-->'''Bus:''' OK, you don't go through life with teeth like these and not know when someone's pretending.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Hot Misogynist is so nicknamed because he gets laid ''[[ReallyGetsAround a lot]]'', despite being [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a huge misogynist.]]

* TheCasanova: Despite being a misogynist, he's also a major ladies man and has no problem getting them into bed.
%% * TheCharmer: He's admittedly very charming.

* BuxomIsBetter: {{Inverted|Trope}}. He's constantly commenting on how attractive he finds Fleabag's small breasts. Fleabag seems to take it as a backhanded compliment, although he's very sincere in it.
-->'''Arsehole Guy:''' Physically she [his girlfriend] just never satisfied me, she has these really massive, bouncy tits that really don't do anything for me. And you just kept turning up like this sexy... plank.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A mother-son variety. [[Spoiler: He urges Fleabag to encourage Claire to leave Martin. Sure, he might miss her but he knows she isn't happy with his father.]]