History Characters / NathanBarley

* BornLucky / KarmaHoudini: No matter how many times Dan tries to sabotage or humiliate Nathan, he always comes out on top. Even after genuinely embarrassing him with geek pie incident, he still ends up getting TV coverage in Japan.

* KarmaHoudini: Nathan always wins, even when the cards are stacked against him.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He scorns the hipsters despite being equally pretentious and superficial. He also believes that his colleagues' hobbies of comic books and fashion are immature despite himself knowing jack about "adult" things like cars and wine.

* NotSoDifferent: While his criticism of the "idiots" is often valid, he himself is immature, needlessly spiteful, and very, very lazy.

->'''Played By:''' Kevin Eldon

* YourCheatingHeart: Despite being married, he solicite a handjob from Dan.

* HumiliationConga

Dan is Claire's older brother, a reporter for Sugar Ape and the show's protagonist: a depressed, lethargic thirtysomething who only does his job out of sheer hatred for the people he reports on. His acerbic, anti-hipster article "The Rise of the Idiots" unexpectedly earns him praise and worship from hipsters, bohemians and rival newspaper editors, which only makes him more miserable and alienated. He also suffers from the pestering adulation of his fan Nathan Barley, as well as his own failure to grow as a person.

Dan is Claire's older brother, a reporter for Sugar Ape Magazine and the show's protagonist: a depressed, lethargic thirtysomething who only does his job out of sheer hatred against the people he reports on. His acerbic, anti-hipster article "The Rise of the Idiots" unexpectedly earns him praise and worship from hipsters, bohemians and rival newspaper editors, which only makes him more miserable and alienated. He also suffers from the pestering adulation of his fan Nathan Barley, as well as his own failure to grow as a person.

Dan is Claire's older brother, a reporter for Sugar Ape Magazine and the show's protagonist: a depressed, lethargic waste of space who only does his job out of sheer hatred against the people he reports on. His acerbic, anti-hipster article "The Rise of the Idiots" unexpectedly earns him praise and worship from hipsters, bohemians and rival newspaper editors, which only makes him more miserable and alienated. He also suffers from the pestering adulation of his fan Nathan Barley, as well as his own failure to grow as a person.

Nathan (aka "The Trashbat" and "Barley UK") is the show's titular character: a hyperactive immature "media node" with a limitless cash supply. He spends his days "managing" his website (Trashbat.co.ck, full of inane videos and selfies with Z-listers) and promoting club nights via heavy canvassing on East London streets. He hero-worships Dan, has a perma-boner over Claire and savagely bullies his webmaster Pingu. As the series goes on, he grows in popularity on the back of the Sugar Ape crew and Claire's film-making efforts.

Dan is Claire's older brother, a reporter for Sugar Ape Magazine and the show's protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your view of Nathan). He's a depressed, lethargic waste of space who only does his job out of sheer hatred against the people he report on. His acerbic, anti-hipster article "The Rise of the Idiots" unexpectedly earns him praise and worship from hipsters, bohemians and rival newspaper editors, which only makes him more miserable and alienated. He also suffers from the pestering adulation of his fan Nathan Barley, as well as his own failure to grow as a person.

The chief editor of Sugar Ape. A smart, dry, highly sarcastic mastermind and smooth as ice. Had the question mark added to his name by deedpoll. He has a unique position within the scene, as he shares Dan's views on the waves of shallow, unintelligent hipster bullshit around them; however, Jonatton cynically participates in and exploits it all for profit. His respect for Dan as a colleague and reporter nosedives, as Dan's true incompetence and laziness becomes more apparent.

Nathan (aka "The Trashbat" and "Barley UK") is the show's titular character: a hyperactive immature "media node" with a limitless cash supply. He spends his days "managing" his website (Trashbat.co.ck, full of inane videos and selfies with Z-listers) and promoting club nights via heavy canvassing on East London streets. He hero-worships Dan, has a perma-boner over Claire and savagely bullies his webmaster, Pingu. As the series goes on, he grows in popularity, riding on the back of the Sugar Ape crew and Claire's film-making efforts.

[[caption-width-right:350:''I haven't slept for five days."'']]

Pingu is the only other member of Trash Industries that we see; a painfully shy and nerdy hipster tech geek, who does all of the behind the scenes work on the Trashbat.co.ck website that Nathan gleefully takes credit for. He rarely ever speaks, and seems deathly afraid to stand up to Nathan, who bullies and harasses him almost to the point of 1984-style psychological torture.

Dan is Claire's older brother, a reporter for Sugar Ape Magazine and the show's protagonist[[note]]or antagonist, if you find Nathan the more sympathetic character[[/note]]. He is a depressed, lethargic waste of space going through an early mid-life crisis and only doing his job out of sheer hatred against the Hosegate culture. His acerbic, anti-hipster article "The Rise of the Idiots" unexpectedly earns him praise and worship from hipsters, bohemians and rival newspaper editors, which only makes him more miserable and alienated. He also suffers from the pestering adulation of his fan Nathan Barley, as well as his own failure to grow as a person.

* JadedWashout: He has the mentality of one despite still being fairly young.

Nathan (aka "The Trashbat" and "Barley UK") is the show's titular character: a hyperactive immature "media node" with a limitless cash supply. He spends his days "managing" his website (Trashbat.co.ck, full of inane videos and selfies with Z-listers) and promoting club nights via heavy canvassing on East London streets. He never takes anything seriously unless it has the word "party" in it, and is the progenitor of some of the most ridiculous slang words ever heard.

Nathan hero-worships Dan, has a perma-boner over Claire and savagely bullies his webmaster, Pingu. As the series goes on, he grows in popularity, riding on the back of Claire's filmmaking efforts and the Sugar Ape crew.

A struggling filmmaker trying to break into the mainstream television industry, Claire lives with her brother Dan and housemate Jones in a dingy flat. She joins Trash Industries on Nathan's invitation, but her socially conscious ideas end up clashing with Nathan's drug-fueled hipster stupidity. For her own part, Claire is perfectly willing to drop Nathan like a hot potato every time she gets an offer from an actual TV studio.

As she fights an uphill battle to lift her career off the ground, Claire spends her days frustrated and pissed off at everyone around her. She also happens to be an unwilling DudeMagnet, which contributes to Dan's worsening mental state.

* DudeMagnet: Nathan, Toby and Pingu are all shown to be attracted to Claire.

Dan is Claire's older brother, a reporter for Sugar Ape Magazine and the show's protagonist (''or'' antagonist, if you find Nathan the more sympathetic character). He is a depressed, lethargic waste of space, going through an early mid-life crisis and only doing his job out of sheer hatred against the people he reports on.

His acerbic, anti-hipster article "The Rise of the Idiots" unexpectedly earns him praise, worship and the nickname "Preacherman" (which he hates) from hipsters, bohemians and rival newspaper editors. However, this only makes him more miserable and alienated. He also suffers from the pestering adulation of his fan Nathan Barley, as well as his own spiteful immaturity and failure to grow as a person.

[[quoteright:350:''"I am the Trashbat, you are the Trashbat, we are all the Trashbat!"'']]

[[quoteright:350:''I haven't slept for five days."'']]

[[quoteright:350:''"Stop it. Stop it. You're all fucking idiots. Yeah, you're all fucking idiots."'']]

[[quoteright:350:''"Stupid people think it’s cool, smart people think it’s a joke - also cool."'']]

* TheOtherDarrin: In the pilot episode, Mandy is played by a different actor, Kate Fleetwood. Although they both run through the same basic plot (starring in Claire's film about prostitution), Kate Fleetwood's Mandy is a totally different character to Ophelia Lovibond's Mandy.

A struggling amateur filmmaker trying to break into the mainstream television industry, Claire lives with her brother Dan and housemate Jones in a dingy flat. She joins Trash Industries on Nathan's invitation, but her socially conscious ideas end up clashing with Nathan's drug-fueled hipster stupidity. For her own part, Claire is perfectly willing to drop Nathan like a hot potato every time she gets an offer from an actual TV studio.

A struggling amateur filmmaker trying to break into the mainstream television industry, Claire lives with her brother Dan and housemate Jones in a dingy flat. She joins Trash Industries on Nathan's invitation, but her philanthropic, political ideas end up clashing spectacularly with Nathan's drug-fueled, low-IQ hipster stupidity.

Claire is bitchy, frustrated and pissed off at every single person around her almost 100% of the time, as she fights an uphill battle to lift her career off the ground. She is also perfectly willing to drop Nathan like a hot potato whenever she gets an offer from an actual TV studio. Finally, Claire happens to be an unwilling DudeMagnet, which contributes to Dan's worsening mental state.

[[quoteright:350:''"Stupid people think it’s cool, smart people think it’s a joke which is cool."'']]

* AmbiguouslyGay: He never shows any interest in women, but is very fond of his (male) housemate Jones and gives a handjob to a "stray for pay" man (albeit after being forced to do so by Jonatton Yeah?).

* AuthorAvatar: He is a stand-in for Creator/CharlieBrooker, sharing his disheveled appearance, occupation and general misanthropy.

* TheSlacker: Doesn't pay his bills, loses his house keys, doesn't watch any of Claire's videos upon her request, unable to even start his cover feature for 15Peter20, the list goes on...

* EmbarrassingNickname: Preacherman. It lends him an aura of prestige with the masses, but Dan himself hates it.

* LaughingMad

* PursueTheDreamJob: Dan wants to work for an "adult" publication, but he knows nothing of adult things like wines, restaurants and cars, and his interview is a trainwreck.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Double-handed muff, no way man!" "Yeah, that's not allowed!"''[[note]]Rufus (left) and Ned (right)[[/note]]]]

* MomentKiller

[[caption-width-right:350:Rufus (left) and Ned (right)]]

* DeathGlare

* {{Workaholic}}

* PermaStubble

[[folder:Ned Smanks]]
!!Ned Smanks
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nedsmanks_8521.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/RichardAyoade

A graphic designer at Sugar Ape and one of the foremost, biggest examples of the Idiot subculture. Ned is often on the bleeding edge of cool; he is the first person to recognize Nathan's blowjob from a 13 year old girl as being completely fucking awesome. Or, in Ned's words, "That is well no way!". His best friend is fellow designer and idiot Rufus, and the two are never, ever seen apart.

* CoolShades: Always seen with a rather glitzy pair of white glasses.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With his best friend, Rufus.
* ManChild

* TheStoner: In the vein of a typical RAPE employee, he always looks baked.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Rufus.

[[folder:Rufus Onslatt]]
!!Rufus Onslatt
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rufusonslatt_1531.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Spencer Brown

A graphic designer at Sugar Ape, one half of the personality that he shares with fellow designer Ned. The only difference between the two of them is Rufus's obnoxiously stupid, goat-like laugh. Like Ned, he is permanently spaced out and fully ingrained in the Idiot subculture. Rufus and Ned are both good friends with Nathan.

* AnnoyingLaugh: It's so galling that it almost directly correlates with Dan placing his head into his hands.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Ned and Rufus often have to repeat basic sentences and statements to each other, multiple times over, before either of their brains will register anything.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With his best friend, Ned.
* ManChild
* NiceHat: Like Ned and his glasses, Rufus has his silly flat cap glued permanently to his head.
* PermaStubble
* TheStoner: In the vein of a typical RAPE employee, he always looks baked.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Ned.
[[/folder]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:His mental health deteriorates throughout the series, and in the final episode he jumps out the window, sustaining serious injuries. He ends the series drugged out of his mind at a hospital, signing a waiver so that Nathan can use the footage of his jump for his show and learning that Claire has accepted a job offer on said show instead of following her own dreams.]]