History Characters / FridayNightLights

[[/folder]]

%%* {{Jerkass}}: The biggest one in the series.

%%* SportsDad: He's pretty much an {{Expy}} of Marv Marinovich.

* OutnumberedSibling: Has four younger brothers

* FanNickname: Mrs. Coach, after a gloriously awkward encounter onscreen involving her and Matt Saracen.

* TheFoil: To Tyra. Both are involved with Tim; but have had vastly different upbringings and outlooks on life.

* BirdsOfAFeather: With Tyra; both are from the WrongSideOfTheTracks, drink and party, deal with ParentalAbandonment, and insecurity in their own abilities. [[Ultimately, TheyDo.]]

%%* ThirdPersonPerson

* DisappearedDad: His dad joined the Army and Matt believes he was a much better soldier than he was a parent. He even goes so far as to encourage his dad to go back to Iraq after he suggests his grandmother go to a nursing home.

%%* TheAce: In Season three
%%* BrokenAce: He's talented, but also very messed up emotionally.

* {{Jerkass}} / TookALevelInJerkass: In Season four.
%%* NoSocialSkills: In season three, thanks to his upbringing.

%%* ParentalSubstitute: Most notably to Matt.
%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure

%%* DeadpanSnarker

%%* HonorBeforeReason

%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure

* SnarkKnight

%%* TheAce

* TheDeterminator

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: He is rarely ever short lady attention regardless of there age.

%%* DisappearedDad

%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Jason.

%%* HardDrinkingPartyGirl

* TheResenter: Admits in her college application essay that she used to be this for Jason Street and others who had more potential to succeed in life.

%%* ClosetGeek

->'''Played by:''' Creator/Creator/AdriannePalicki

!!East Dillon High School / The East Dillon Lions]]

* YourCheatingHeart: Has an affair with Tim while her boyfriend Jason is in hospital and dealing with paralysis. When he finds out, he's [[{{Cuckold}} understandably infuriated with both of them]], and every other character is disgusted. Lyla is [[SlutShaming treated far worse for her infidelity than Tim by the school, to the point where hate sites pop up dedicated to bashing her]].

%%* YourCheatingHeart: It doesn't end well.

%%* {{Adorkable}}

%%* {{Adorkable}}

%%* {{Adorkable}}: At first.

[[folder: The Taylors]]
!!Coach Eric Taylor (Creator/KyleChandler)

* AFatherToHisMen: Especially Matt and Vince.

* NiceHat
* PapaWolf: To his daughters and his team.
** Even more terrifying, when Julie comes home from college and confesses to [[spoiler: having an affair with her married TA, and said TA shows up at the Taylors' house, Coach silently strides out and physically chases him back into his car and actually smashes the taillight as the car pulls away.]] Doubles as a HUGE instance of BewareTheNiceOnes.
* ParentalSubstitute: Most notably to Matt.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* RousingSpeech: Before and/or during almost every game.

!!Tami Taylor (Creator/ConnieBritton)

The coach's wife who is not content to be just the coach's wife in a town crazy about football. Guidance counselor and then principal at West Dillon High, and mother of Julie and Gracie Belle. [[DeadpanSnarker Eminently quotable.]]

* AlliterativeName

* CatchPhrase: "Hi, honey!"

* DeadpanSnarker

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: In Season 2.
* HonorBeforeReason

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure

!!Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden)

* {{Adorkable}}

[[folder: Dillon High School/The Dillon Panthers]]
!!Jason Street (Creator/ScottPorter)

Former star quarterback of the Dillon Panthers. Suffers a severe spinal injury in the pilot episode that leaves him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

* TheAce
** BrokenAce

* [[spoiler: HappilyMarried: Finally finds happiness and settles down during his final arc)]]

* PutOnABus
** TheBusCameBack: For one episode in Season 5.

!!Lyla Garrity (Creator/MinkaKelly)

* TheCheerleader: Natch. Then she throws her uniform in the garbage.

* YourCheatingHeart


!!Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch)

* DisappearedDad
* [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Hard Drinking Party Guy]]: You could probably take a shot everytime Tim isn't in the middle of drinking a beer and finish the series without even feeling tipsy.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Jason.

* LongHairedPrettyBoy
* MrFanservice
* TallDarkAndHandsome

* UrbanLegendLoveLife: * Tim has a reputation as a notorious and prolific womanizer. Even the adults seem aware, with parents cringing at the thought of Riggins taking an interest in their daughters. In contrast to his reputation, throughout the series, we see him engaged in long-term, albeit extremely tumultuous, relationships with just three women (Lyla, Tyra, and Jackie) and he is genuinely distraught when each woman breaks up with him. While we see him flirt with rally girls, the only actual one-night stand we see him engage in is with Cheryl Sproles who makes it clear that she would welcome a repeat performance, but the age difference (she is over ten years Tim's senior) and her neediness make Tim uncomfortable and he refuses. He also serves as a [[BigBrotherInstinct protective older brother figure]] to some of the younger female characters such as Becky and Julie. He refuses their blatant advances, tries to redirect their interests to more age-appropriate companions, and generally tries to keep them out of trouble recognizing some of the bad intentions of the guys they encounter.
** It should also be pointed out that people often claim that Tim has slept with half of the girls (and women) in Dillon, but because of the odd way time passes on the show, for the majority of the show he is between 15-17 years old. So either there is a lot of exaggeration or a large number of older girls and older women ignored the [[DoubleStandard age of consent]].
*** This is actually the case with Jackie who is portrayed to be in her early to mid-30s while Tim is 16. The show does not explicitly treat this as an unsavory pedophilic relationship, but Jackie eventually has a meltdown over the idea of anyone discovering that she has slept with a minor and ends the relationship. Tim is shown to be enamored with Jackie and enjoys both the physical and emotional nature of their affair. However, an objective and discerning viewer can see that Tim lacks the emotional maturity to be in such a relationship which is a big reason why he lashes out so intensely when Jackie refuses to see him anymore and begins dating his older brother. It is also worth nothing that Tim got along just as well with Jackie's six-year-old son, Bo, who he's closer in age to than Jackie herself.

!!Tyra Collette (Creator/AdriannePalicki)

* DisappearedDad
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Landry after Their breakup.

* ShesGotLegs: And everyone knows, including Tami, who takes advantage of Tyra's height to boost up the floundering girls volleyball team.

!!Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles)

* [[spoiler: EarnYourHappyEnding: Came back from a confidence-shattering injury to end up earning a spot with Texas A&M. As of the end of the series, he is the only Panther or Lion to have successfully transitioned to college football.]]

* SmallNameBigEgo / InsufferableGenius: Had his moments but Coach Taylor was always quick to bring him back down to earth.
* ThirdPersonPerson

!!Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford)

* {{Adorkable}}

* ClosetGeek
* TheDeterminator

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Matt is first shown sitting on the the bench during practice, as he's the reserve player for Jason. His next scene shows him practicing at home, demonstrating that although he's overlooked by the team, Matt is a very dedicated player.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Landry
* HonorBeforeReason

* NiceGuy

* ThoseTwoGuys: With Landry

!!Landry Clarke (Creator/JessePlemons)

* ActorSharedBackground: Jesse Plemons is one of the few cast members who is also from Texas and who did play high school football.
* Adorkable

* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: It took him no time at all to beat Tyra's would be rapist to death.]]

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Matt.

* OnlySaneMan

* TheSmartGuy

* SouthernFriedGenius

!!J.D. [=McCoy=] (Jeremy Sumpter)

* TheAce: In Season three
** BrokenAce: He's talented, but also very messed up emotionally.
* {{Adorkable}}: At first.

* NoSocialSkills: In season three, thanks to his upbringing.

[[folder: East Dillon High School/The East Dillon Lions]]
!!Vince Howard (Creator/MichaelBJordan)

!!Luke Cafferty (Matt Lauria)

!!Dallas Tinker ([=LaMarcus=] Tinker)

* BigFun
* TheDanza: Same last name as his character.

!!Jess Merriweather (Creator/JurneeSmollett)
* DaddysGirl

!!Becky Sproles (Madison Burgess)

* BrokenBird
* DisappearedDad

!!Buddy Garrity, Jr. (Jeff Rosick and Joey Trutty)

!!Hastings Ruckle (Grey Damon)

* DemotedToExtra: When he first showed up, it looked like he was going to be a major character and possibly [[{{AbortedArc}} end up in a love triangle with Jess and Vince]]. But he actually starts getting fewer lines as the episodes progress.
* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: Similarly to Buddy Jr., he initially views football as "barbaric", but Coach Taylor makes a convert out of him. He ends up loving his time on the team.

[[folder: Family and Friends]]
!!Lorraine Saracen (Louanne Stephens)

!!Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland)
* GoodOlBoy

* YourCheatingHeart: It doesn't end well.

!!Joe [=McCoy=] (D.W. Moffett)

* {{Jerkass}}: The biggest one in the series.

* [[StageMom Sports Dad]]: He's pretty much an {{Expy}} of Marv Marinovich.

!!Mindy Collette Riggins (Stacey Oristano)
* AscendedExtra: Began Season 1 as little more than a background character for the guys to [[MaleGaze ogle at]] and Tara to be pissed at, but beginning with her engagement to Billy she began to have more involved role and a significant one in season 5.
* ParentalSubstitute: Becomes this for Becky when her mother leaves and she is stuck living with her stepmom while her father on the road.

----

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Coach--along with his wife Tami--is probably the nicest person on the show and serves as the town's moral touchstone on many occasions. That being said, if you EVER hurt his wife, his daughters OR his players, Coach ''will'' make you sincerely sorry ([[DeathGlare often without actually speaking]]), and even the toughest man will find himself apologizing profusely by the time he's done talking to him. The best part? When he's angry, he manages to be terrifyingly intimidating ''without'' crossing any moral lines. (Again, he ''is'' the show's moral center)
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: More often than not, he will be referred to as Coach and not Eric

* VerbalTic: Calls his players "Son" very often, showing that he thinks of Them as family.

* MamaBear: To Julie and to some of the other girls at the school, especially Lila, Tyra, Becky and Epyck.

Cheerleader and girlfriend of Jason Street when the series starts. Comes from a McMansion family barely holding together at the seams.

* StepfordSmiler

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: When someone calls him "Brian", its a sign of something important.

* WhenHeSmiles: He has a pretty sweet nerdy grin that comes out on the few occasions he's happy. Its always nice to see.

* RuleofCreepy: In season 1, to Tyra. He constantly follows her around and pushes himself on her when she is very clearly not interested.

* {{Tomboy}}: A HUGE football fan - and she's knows her stuff. She teaches Landry to kick a field goal.

* StepfordSmiler: Her optimistic attitude hides the broken fragile young girl beneath it.[[/folder]

* ParentalSubstitute: Becomes this for Becky when her mother leaves and she is stuck living with her step-mom while her father on the road.

* BoisterousBruiser
* DisappearedDad

* JustifiedCriminal: When he starts taking steroids in season one, he is only doing so to improve his chances of going to college and getting his family out of poverty. Subverted when his mother finds out, and reports him. She makes it clear that she doesn't want out of poverty if they can't get their legally.

* IronWoobie

!!Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler)

!!Tami Taylor (Connie Britton)

!!Jess Merriweather (Creator/JurneeSmollettBell)

!!Buddy Garrity, Jr.

!!Hastings Ruckle

!!Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly)

!!Jess Merriweather (Jurmee Smollett)

!!Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan)

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be be a real jerk at times but has a very sweet and warm exterior underneath. Most notably when he starts acting as a mentor to younger players like J.D. or consoles his friends like Matt or Becky.

* TroubledButCute

* BewareTheNiceOnes: hCoach--along with his wife Tami--is probably the nicest person on the show and serves as the town's moral touchstone on many occasions. That being said, if you EVER hurt his wife, his daughters OR his players, Coach ''will'' make you sincerely sorry ([[{{DeathGlare}} often without actually speaking]]), and even the toughest man will find himself apologizing profusely by the time he's done talking to him. The best part? When he's angry, he manages to be terrifiyingly intimidating ''without'' crossing any moral lines. (Again, he ''is'' the show's moral center)

The coach's wife who is not content to be just the coach's wife in a town crazy about football. Guidance counselor and then principal at West Dillon High, and mother of Julie and Gracie Belle. [[{{DeadpanSnarker}} Eminently quotable.]]

!!Jason Street (Scott Porter)

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Coach--along with his wife Tami--is probably the nicest person on the show and serves as the town's moral touchstone on many occasions. That being said, if you EVER hurt his wife, his daughters OR his players, Coach ''will'' make you sincerely sorry ([[{{DeathGlare}} often without actually speaking]]), and even the toughest man will find himself apologizing profusely by the time he's done talking to him. The best part? When he's angry, he manages to be terrifiyingly intimidating ''without'' crossing any moral lines. (Again, he ''is'' the show's moral center)

* {{Jerkass}}: After his accident, although difficult to blame him, especially in light of Tim and Lyla's betrayal (though they eventually resume their friendships).

* JustifiedCriminal: When he starts taking steroids in season one, he is only doing so to improve his chances of going to college and getting his family out of poverty.

!!Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons)