History Characters / NewGirl

* {{Adorkable}}: With a healthy dose of "silly" thrown in for good measure. She does become considerably more responsible as the show goes on, however.

* BirdsOfAFeather: With Robby, when they date in season 6. They bond over their similar {{Adorkable}} personalities. They eventually break-up after discovering they are cousins.

%%* {{Adorkable}}: Jess seems to bring this out in him more than anyone else.

* DitzyGenius: She's a teacher but very awkward and naive, however the "ditzy" part is downplayed in later seasons.

* TeamMom: Basically, you will take care of yourself or she will do it for you.

* ThePrankster: He puts more passion (and money) into this than he does into his life. Everyone knows he's pretty much a prank genius.

* {{Jerkass}}: He's definitely the least likable main character in the series, in-universe at least.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all his obnoxiousness, when he's needed, he shows up. And sometimes even when he isn't needed or wanted. Show the slightest disrespect to Cece around him and you are toast.[[note]]Admittedly, the incident referred to was more than "the slightest disrespect": a rich old man asked Schmidt if he could "take a run at your girl". Schmidt's response is epic.[[/note]]

* PrimalFear: His fear of the dark is a totally rational adaptive evolutionary response. His associated fear of werewolves perhaps less so.

* ThisLoserIsYou: Winston spends most of show clueless about what he wants to do, changing several jobs and LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces.

* LovableAlphaBitch: She jerks guys around, but she is apologetic when she goes too far and is an awesome friend.

%%* TheDeterminator: To a fault.

* InsecureLoveInterest: Due to his lack of self-confidence, he's this towards several of his love interests, including his partner (and eventual wife) Aly when he realizes to be in love with her.

* StraightMan: He can be this trope in earlier episodes but becomes a childish, fun-loving {{Cloudcuckoolander}} in later seasons.

* CoolLoser: Seen as douchey or pathetically egotistical by many, but still a good-looking, well-groomed rich guy who keeps his loft running.

* BlackBestFriend: To all the other characters, though he himself is also a main character, unlike many characters on the page for this trope.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Introduced as this to Coach in the second episode, as an athletic BlackBestFriend to the rest of the group. He eventually evolves into a completely different character and his athletic background is rarely mentioned in later seasons.
* ThisLoserIsYou: Winston spends much of the first season unemployed and clueless about what he wants to do.

* {{Tsundere}}: Type A.

* WomenAreWiser: Maybe, but not necessarily better at giving advice to Winston.

* BruiserWithASoftCenter: He may be an athlete who acts tough, but actually has a prominent sensitive side.

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: In the last few seasons, we have HeadTurningBeauty and former model Cece (Beauty), teacher turned pricipal Jess (Brains), and police officer Aly (Brawn).

* BabiesEverAfter: In the series finale flash-forward scene, we see the main character's families with all their children.

* ShipperOnDeck: For Schmidt/Cece.

* DefrostingIceQueen: She is pretty distanced from the other inhabitants of the loft (understandably, seeing as she's only gonna be there a month), however they (Winston, primarily) won't have it.

* PutOnABus: Moved away at the end of "Goosebumps Walkaway," but started dating Nick long-distance at the end of the fifth season.

* SugarAndIcePersonality: She can seem pretty cold at first, but is very warm and kind underneath it. When she goes back to Portland for Jess's dad's wedding and runs into her teen crush Jake Apex, she turns into a total dork around him.
%%* {{Tsundere}}: Type A.

* BrainlessBeauty: As a model, she's very pretty. Not very smart.

* CloudCuckoolander: She's... an odd duck. When Shavrang is going to show Cece his penis, she gets into a fighting pose and says "if it runs I catch it!" Earlier, she's flipping through a magazine, and then points to it and goes "that's ME!" when no one was around.

* YouthfulFreckles

!!'''Tran''' (Ralph Ahn)

[[folder:Kai]]
!!'''Kai'''
->'''Played By''': Greta Lee
Tran's granddaughter, whom Nick dates after "Thanksgiving IV"
* AccidentalMisnaming: Calls Schmidt "Glen" and Winston "Wilfred" in one scene, to which Winston comments that she "ain't good with names."
* BigEater: Winston points out she eats like she never knows where her next meal is coming from.
* BirdsOfAFeather: She's exactly as slovenly as Nick.
* EccentricMillionaire: A millionaire so eccentric that Winston thinks she's homeless.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: During Schmidt's Bangsgiving, Nick says "slap a dress on you and I'd date ya." That same episode introduced Kai.
* MealTicket: Winston at first thinks Nick is her meal ticket, but she winds up offering Nick money to not go to work and be with her.
* OneHourWorkWeek: Justified in that's already wealthy, and just occasionally does consulting work.
* SecretlyWealthy: She hides the fact she's incredibly wealthy. Her shadiness about it leads Winston to think she's homeless.
* TheSlacker: She wants to do absolutely nothing, and wants Nick to do the same. When he realizes he wants to do ''something'' with himself, she has to break up with him.
* WeWantOurJerkBack: Breaks up with Nick because he's become too driven and motivated to do work.
[[/folder]]

** To Schmidt, by her own admission.
** To Nick, according to Jess (and later Schmidt). Her similarities with Nick are brought up when they have to live together in later seasons.

* CannotTalkToWomen: And how. It effects his work. He asks Jess for advice.

* AloofDarkHairedGirl: The gang really wants to include her, whether she wants to or not. And she does not.

* PutOnABus: Moved away at the end of "Goosebumps Walkaway," but started dating Nick long-distance at the end of the fourth season.

* AllWomenLoveShopping: Bonds with Winston's mom because of [[CommonalityConnection their mutual love]] for discount shopping.

* OneTrueLove: Winston says that after he fell in love with Aly he realized he'd never loved any of the girls he'd dated before, he only thought he did. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments He then called them all and said "I never loved you"]].

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: With the exception of Cece, all of them are over-the-top weirdos with several eccentries, although to varying degrees.

* JerkAss: Thought Schmidt's injury was funny, makes Jess sing the Russian monkey song over and over again, and overall doesn't really show much empathy.

* TheDeterminator: To a fault.

* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: His attachments tend to include sentiment for a foundation -- even his ''guy'' friends. He almost ''never'' lets any opposite-sex attraction stop at the physical.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Incredibly self-centered.

* TheChessmaster: He deeply enjoys using Schmidt's ego and cluelessness against him.

* ExpyCoexistence: Introduced as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Coach. When Coach comes back in season 3, Winston's ineptness and odd quirks are flanderized in order to make him a pathetic foil to Coach's cool manly man type.

* BirdsOfAFeather: Jess and Winston geek out together and get into weird situations no one else would join them in.

* {{Flanderization}}: Inverted. The majority of her early characterization was essentially based around how awkward, quirky, socially stunted, insecure, and otherwise ditzy she was. Come season two and she's evolved into a more complex character who's quirks are only a part of her character, similar to the others, as opposed to the only thing about her. Likewise, her wardrobe and makeup went from being more youthful to more sophisticated.

* {{Adorkable}}: Jess seems to bring this out in him more than anyone else.

* PlatonicLifePartners: He was Jess' willing "boyfriend without the rewards" [[spoiler: until he got the rewards]].

* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Jess.

* MomentKiller: His own, everyone else's...

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Not so much in season 1, but starts to develop some odd quirks in some season 2 episodes, until his weirdness becomes his defining traits in later seasons.

* MamaBear: Towards Jess.

* OddFriendship: With Jess. Also Winston. PlayedForLaughs with their "Classic Winston-Cece Mess-Arounds".

* PromotionToOpeningTitles: In Season 4.
* [[RaisedByGrandparents Raised By Grandmother]]: While she had parents, her grandmother was a significant portion of her life and they're very close. And while Cece's parents haven't been shown, her grandmother has.
* ReallyGetsAround: Possibly.

* SugarAndIcePersonality: She can seem pretty cold at first, but is very warm and kind underneath it.
** When she goes back to Portland for Jess's dad's wedding and runs into her teen crush Jake Apex, she turns into a total dork around him.
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A.

* CommutingOnABus: Was part of the pilot, then the actor's previous sitcom got renewed, then it got cancelled, so Coach returned.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Well, Coach. Because he's a coach, you see. His real name is revealed in "Clavado en un Bar."

* PlatonicLifePartners: After things fail miserably with Cece, they grow into this.

* PutOnABus: Following the pilot, he leaves the apartment (and the show) to live with his girlfriend. Two years and one breakup later, he's back. [[spoiler: At the end of season 4, he has a new girlfriend and goes to live with her in New York, for good this time, although he returns for the season 5 finale.]]

* SixthRanger: He returned in the third season originally for four episodes, was extended for the rest of Season 3 billed as "Special Guest Star", and is now a Series Regular for Season 4.

* TheLancer: To Jess.

* CuteClumsyGirl: She habitually screams "IT'S HAPPENING!" while falling over.
** Nick's terror at the thought of her with a rifle is so, so justified.
** "You tripped the other day just standing there!"

* GirlyRun
* GlurgeAddict

* NightmareFuelStationAttendant

* PlatonicLifePartners: She and Nick fell into a domestic pattern [[spoiler: long before they got together]].
* PluckyGirl

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: With Nick.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl

* ClosetGeek
* ConspiracyTheorist: Mildly.

* DeadpanSnarker
* DitzyGenius
* DontYouDarePityMe: He's quite a [[TheWoobie woobie]] but, if you value your life, you'll never treat him like one.
* DrowningMySorrows: Hoo boy.

* FoolForLove

* GrandRomanticGesture: He's surprisingly full of 'em.

* IWantToBeARealMan

* TheLancer: To Jess.

* TheSnarkKnight
* SourOutsideSadInside
* StepfordSnarker

* TallDarkAndSnarky

* TinMan

* AllMenArePerverts

* FriendsWithBenefits: With Cece.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all his obnoxiousness, when he's needed, he shows up. And sometimes even when he isn't needed. Or wanted.
** Show the slightest disrespect to Cece around him and you are toast.[[note]]Admittedly, the incident referred to was more than "the slightest disrespect": a rich old man asked Schmidt if he could "take a run at your girl". Schmidt's response is epic.[[/note]]
--->'''Schmidt''': Cry about that, you dirty old bitch.

* BewareTheQuietOnes
* BirdsOfAFeather: A non-romantic version of this with Jess.
* BlackAndNerdy

* TheBully: Formerly. "Brown Lightning!"
* ButtMonkey: To the point where we feel sorry for him. Winston never can seem to catch a break.

* ClosetGeek
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Not so much in season 1, a mild case in some season 2 episodes, until his weirdness becomes his defining traits in later seasons.

* ParentalSubstitute: He latched onto Nick's dad Walt as a replacement for his own, which Walt encouraged.

* SickeninglySweethearts: With girlfriend Shelby in season 1. After a few months, Winston finds his relationship with Shelby has become stale and passionless, so much so they can't even muster an argument about the state of their relationship. It causes him to start cheating on her in his imagination, and eventually they break up.

* ClosetGeek

* DistaffCounterpart: To Schmidt, by her own admission.
** To Nick, according to Jess (and later Schmidt).

* * MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Combined with GenderFlip of stereotypical rom-com archetypes, this describes Schmidt and Cece's relationship. He's flighty, emotional, and neurotic while at the same time working a serious suit-and-tie job. She's emotionally private, somewhat quiet/serious, and mostly stable while working a feminine job (modeling and bartending). Schmidt does a lot of the cooking, general shopping, and finances, all stereotypical female tasks while Cece tends to approach those things in more stereotypical male ways (poorly, disinterestedly, or not at all). Cece is also much more physical and hands on in her problem solving and in general (whereas Schmidt will try to be crafty) which they both acknowledge and are comfortable with.

* OddFriendship: With Jess.
** Also Winston. PlayedForLaughs with their "Classic Winston-Cece Mess-Arounds".

* PutOnABus[=/=]TheBusCameBack: Following the pilot, he leaves the apartment (and the show) to live with his girlfriend. Two years and one breakup later, he's back. [[spoiler: At the end of season 4, he has a new girlfriend and goes to live with her in New York, for good this time, although he returns for the season 5 finale.]]

* MamaBear: What Nick and Winston. To be fair, he's fussy with house chairs and cook for the house. He's one to provide for the group.

* TheHeart: Despite being emotionally removed, he's the closest with each of the other three roommates. It's often his angsty life situations that serve to bring everybody together.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: When he was fat, he was very sweet. But when he lost the weight he got much douchier. Nick and Elizabeth both comment on it.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Well, she ''is'' played by Creator/ZooeyDeschanel, after all, and she's certainly livening up soulless, sheltered, emotionless Nick. Ultimately deconstructs the trope as she's the protagonist of the show, she's given her own characterization, and she's just as much of a mess as the guys. By season 4 she has become TeamMom.

* CharacterExaggeration[=/=]{{Flanderization}}: TypeCasting example. She is like an exaggerated version of the characters Zooey normally plays.
** Jess is some kind of [[PlayingWithATrope parody/subversion/deconstruction/lampshading/discussion]] of Zooey's past characters/the MPDG.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The boys really aren't quite sure what to make of her sometimes. PlayedForLaughs of course.

* CuteBruiser: She's known for a mean tackle.
** Judging by Nick's offscreen swearing, that punch ''really'' hurt.

* FormerlyFat: Flashbacks of her in grade school show her to be this.

* GenkiGirl: And yet less so than her mother.

* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: She can be completely blind to people's ulterior motives until it blows up in her face.
** She also finds it fundamentally strange that anyone would not be into desserts.

** DyingAlone: She repeatedly cites a fear that this will happen (emotionally speaking).
* TheHero[=/=]TheChick: The hero of the story, the chick of the group.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Jess resolves on doing this for Nick in the Season 1 finale.
** Nick's dad told her Nick had always wanted a horse. So she ''bought Nick a horse.''

* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother, Like Daughter]]

* {{Meganekko}}:
** PurelyAestheticGlasses: In-universe, she has contacts, but sharp-eyed viewers will notice they're just frames with no lenses.

* NiceGirl: She does really care for her friends.
** Deconstructed in the series 4 episode "Coming Out", where her need for people to like her seriously interferes with her ability to do her job as vice-principal.

* [[OverprotectiveDad Overprotective Parents]]: Jess' parents wouldn't let her eat candy growing up (so she would sneak it), and when they find out she once accidentally ate a pot brownie, they freak out and start worrying she's become a [[ComicalOverreacting drug-addicted prostitute]].

* SweetTooth: She finds it fundamentally strange that anyone couldn't be a dessert person. That's just weird and it freaks her out.
** She wasn't allowed sugar as a kid, so as an adult she compensates by living in a world of pastries of her own making.

* BookDumb: Nick waffles between being BookDumb, BrilliantButLazy and actually just stupid. He doesn't know much about Ernest Hemingway. He talked about wanting to eat his way out of a sandwich house. Like Hemingway. He is, however, the academic among his relatives.
** Though he can come off as this, he ''did'' [[DitzyGenius get into, and most of the way through, law school]].

* CannotKeepASecret [=/=] CannotTellALie: He breaks into blatant nervous sweats.

* UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}: Nick hails from the Windy City.

* EnemyToAllLivingThings: "Nick ''hates'' living things." It's not always on purpose, but he just doesn't have the patience or he hasn't the first clue what the hell to do. Once, he encountered a flower, and literally the only thing he could think to do was kick it and run away.
** Except turtles. He likes turtles.

* {{Flanderization}}: While in the first season, he's just TheSlacker who never amounted to much after dropping out of law school, later seasons emphasize his lack of intelligence and knowledge, to the point that he's the dumbest person on the show. In later seasons, it's hard to see him as someone who was ever on track to becoming an attorney.

* [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Hard Drinking Party Guy]]: Likes a drink.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: It comes from cynicism rather than any actual Jerkishness.

* NiceGuy: He's overall a very good guy despite having a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.

* PerpetualPoverty[=/=]TheScrooge: He doesn't actually have much money to be a miser with, but he spends the majority of the first season more employed than Winston and yet way more resistant to spending, to the point where he emphatically refuses to even buy a wallet when pressed. For awhile there he can't even afford to replace his cell phone and has, in Winston's words, "The credit rating of a homeless ghost." He grew up part of a big family that scraped by on the fruits of his dad's cons, and apparently spent the better part of a year living out of a van when he was six.

* BeautyIsBad; When he was fat, he was an incredibly sweet guy. Once he lost weight and got handsome, he became a serious Jerkass. Lampshaded by Elizabeth.

* TheBigGuy[=/=]TeamMom
* CantHoldHisLiquor: He has a thing for really low-proof melon liqueur and attempting to swallow whisky makes him scream in pain.
** In another episode, however, he mentions that he was in "two frats because I couldn't decide" and then downs two bottles of alcohol in a very short period of time with no immediate effects.

* DisappearedDad: He occasionally references his mother, and a flashback shows him as a child at a large dinner table with only his mother. His dad's never been addressed.
** His dad turns out to have left the family when Schmidt was eight and started a big new happy family with another woman. He's technically still in Schmidt's life, but Schmidt has some issues with him that prevent them being consistently in contact.

* UsefulNotes/NewYorkState: Long Island, son.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Schmidt is terrified of the birdcat (cat raised by birds) which lives on the roof.
** He's also dreadfully afraid of spiders, and becomes increasingly paranoid when he spots one in the loft.

* BerserkButton: It isn't so much that he has one specific button as it is that he does really, ''really weird'' things when upset.

* UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}: Winston hails from the Windy City.

* CloudCuckoolander

* FriendToAllChildren: When Jess agrees to bring a group of troubled kids into their home after school, it initially appears that this will create a lot of trouble...until he shows up, strikes a rapport with the kids, and begins training them to play bells for a concert in the park (ItMakesSenseInContext).
** With Elvin at Schmidt's work party. It scores him a job.

* InformedAbility: We haven't really seen him at work, whether it be basketball or radio producing, which he claims to be passionate about.
** Averted in season 5, where Nick goes on patrol with him and his partner, and we see that he's a good cop.

* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: The only one to side with Jess on wanting a bathtub. He likes to be covered in bubbles.
** Really manifests in his OddFriendship with Cece.

* OneLiner: When he contributes to a discussion, you remember it.
* OnlySaneMan: He's the one to be sensible when everybody else is losing it. (When no one else is losing it, he takes on ''that'' role instead.)
* TheQuietOne

* SecondEpisodeIntroduction

* SickeninglySweethearts: With girlfriend Shelby.
** TrueLoveIsBoring: After a few months, Winston finds his relationship with Shelby has become stale and passionless, so much so they can't even muster an argument about the state of their relationship. It causes him to start cheating on her in his imagination, and eventually they break up.

* TheSmartGuy: He can this trope in earlier episodes but became a childish, fun-loving {{Cloudcuckolander}} in later seasons.