History Characters / MalcolmInTheMiddle

* BookSmart: A BrilliantButLazy example. He's a troublemaker like his brothers, but unlike them, he's also a prodigy who excels in school, even in his class for gifted students.

* HasTwoMommies: Has two dads, and is very defensive of them.

Francis's wife.

[[folder: Jamie]]

[[folder: Stevie Kenarban]]

[[folder: Dabney Hooper and Lloyd Jensen]]

[[folder: Cynthia Sanders]]

[[folder: Jessica]]

[[folder: Eric Hanson]]

[[folder: Stanley]]

[[folder: Richie]]

[[folder: The Buseys]]

[[folder: Ida]]

[[folder: Victor]]

[[folder: Walter]]

[[folder: Piama Tananahaakna]]

[[folder: Craig Feldspar]]

[[folder: Abe and Kitty Kenarban]]

[[folder: Caroline Miller]]

[[folder: Lionel Herkabe]]

[[folder: Hal's Poker Buddies]]

[[folder: Commandant Edwin Spangler]]

[[folder: Lavernia]]

[[folder: Otto and Gretchen Mankusser]]

* MenCantKeepHouse: A RunningGag when a pregnant Lois goes to stay with her sister is that the mennget the house into a state including demoliting walls.

* OnlySaneByComparison: While he's usually more reasonable and down-to-earth than the rest of his family and his friends, Malcolm is still a cynical, neurotic and self-centered and always put the blame on others for everything wrong in his life. He also does often joins in his brothers' antics and pranks, bullies Dewey, and does many stupid and self-harming actions by himself.

* AmazinglyEmbarassingParents: She is often this due to her controlling, confrontational and wisecracking nature. In "Bowling" she unknowingly humiliates Malcolm by choosing to stay to chaperone the kids when she learns there's no adult to chaperone the party, and with her overbearing cheering attempts to and help him at bowling by making him bowl with a lighter ball with the name "Connie" on it. In several episodes she has also embarrassed her children by showing herself half-naked.

* AmazinglyEmbarassingParents: Like Lois he has embarrassed his children more than once by being naked or half-naked. He has also put his children in more than embarrassing situations, such as in "Houseboat" where he slaps a woman's rear due to have mistaken her for Lois and calls Malcolm for help while being arrested and that Malcolm is trying to impress a girl, causing Malcolm to pretend to not know him.

* If you want to divide the family into pairs:

** In-Between: Reese. Like Franchis, he's a BigBrotherBully towards Malcolm and Dewey but has more PetTheDog moments compared to other examples of this trope.

* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Out of the four (late five) children:

** Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey often get into fights and rat on each other, but they swore to NEVER rat on each other for making Lois think she had cancer so they could get away with bad report cards. They [[OldShame: felt so bad about it]] they referred to the evidence as "The Nuclear Option".

* EveryoneHasStandards: This trope page alone is proof that they're anything but saints; and each of them has their own list of flaws in addition to their group flaws, and they can all be judgemental of others. However, NONE of them are racist and they're frequently disgusted by Ida and other side characters' prejudices.

* TheFavorite: To his grandparents Victor and Ida, who treat him far better than the rest of the family for fitting their image of manliness by being a brutish bully and not being intellectual at all.
* TheUnfavorite: Averted. Despite Reese being a delinquent, stupid, slacking D-student who causes more trouble than all his siblings combined (which is saying something), Lois doesn't treat him any worse than she treats Malcolm, the family prodigy. In fact, when a SadistTeacher tries to blackmail her by claiming she'd never risk Malcolm's reputation to save Reeses', rather than dismiss Reese for being a failure, Lois claims she would throw Malcolm under the bus for Reese in a heartbeat — because Malcolm can always take care of himself, while Reese needs to be protected. The sadist teacher's skepticism is destroyed when Lois' firstborn Francis suddenly appears and begs her to be let back in.

* TooDumbToLive: His bread and butter. Dewey claims, "He almost killed himself with Bisquick once."

* BerserkButton: Do not, under any circumstances or for any reason even hint that you think that Lois is anything except the absolute worst mother in the history of the world. He went from refusing to fight Lavernia to [[WouldHitAGirl socking her in the face]] the moment she implied wasn’t in any way good or nurturing.

* MistakenForPedophile: When he winds up getting too invested in Dewey's love life, he tries to help out by driving alongside the girl Dewey likes and offerring her chocolate. It looks as stetchy as it sounds and he ends up carted off by the police, although considering he took off and left Dewey to face the music when his first gift triggered the girl's allergic reaction, it's hard to say he didn't have it coming.