History Characters / RecessFacultyMembers

* GutturalGrowler: A rare female example: she speaks with a raspy contralto.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He's a bit of a stern hardass, but is usually willing to listen to others.

[-[[Characters/RecessTheMainSix The Main Six]] | [[Characters/RecessOtherStudents Other Students]] | '''Faculty members''' | [[Characters/RecessOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

* {{Catchphrase}}: "Bummer..."

* FlatCharacter: Has the least amount of characterization of the faculty members.

* NeverMessWithGranny: She's a senior citizen and is the most feared and formidable teacher in school. She also knows how to box.

* ArchEnemy: To the Recess Gang, since she's the one who deals with their hijinks most directly.

** In "The First Picture Show", Prickly lays down a deal with TJ with a 10-question duel that will determine whether or not the students can go see the Señor Fusion movie during its premiere, and when TJ wins the duel fair and square, Prickly honors the deal.

* ChildHater: To an extent in the first season, save for Randall. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] later on, when it becomes clearer that it's just a part of her job. Off the clock, she loves kids.

** While in season one she was more of a SadistTeacher, she makes it clear that no one hurts the kids on her playground. [[spoiler:As the Bald Guy found out when he threatened T.J.]].

* EvilOldFolks: Not really "evil" (unless season one counts), but still the main antagonist for the series.

** It's most apparent in "The Fuss over Finster," when Muriel sprains her ankle and can't keep up with the children like she usually does. At first, T.J. is thrilled, because it means that they can all do whatever they want--but the Gang quickly realizes that it's [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction no fun]] pulling off schemes and pranks if there isn't an antagonist trying to stop them. T.J. then lampshades the trope when he assembles the students to hold a playground-wide truce of perfect behavior, calling Muriel "a mighty lion" that he can't take advantage of. The episode even ends with T.J. warning Miss Finster that once she's healed up, it will be "business as usual" between them--and Muriel is clearly happy about it.

* HiddenDepths: At school she's an authoritarian taskmaster. Out of school she's a friendly ReasonableAuthorityFigure. She also really wants to be seen as cool by kids, to the point of reaching TotallyRadical or NewAgeRetroHippie levels. TheMovie also shows that she's appalled by the notion of getting rid of recess. In addition, she enjoys wrestling.

* TheOneThatGotAway: [[spoiler:Benedict calls her the only woman he ever loved, and when they meet again decades later, he immediately offers her a chance to be by his side again. Naturally, her response was a defiant, [[TakeThat "I'd rather eat playground dirt!"]]]]

* PetTheDog: Gives respect to Miss Grotke in TheMovie. Also shown when she's given Spinelli advice on more than one occasion.

* CoolOldLady: On a good day, as Spinelli learns a few times ("Weekend at Muriel's" being an example).
** She even further tops it off in the movie when rallies the teachers to help the students in fighting off Benedict's henchmen; even TJ is extremely delighted to see Finster taking the ugly bald guy with her fistcuffs.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Courtesy of April Winchell. And apparently, she's had it since the '60's.

* GutturalGrowler: A rare female example: she speaks with a raspy ContraltoOfDanger.

The school's lunch and recess monitor. She has zero tolerance for rule-breaking .... but she does have a softer side she keeps hidden.

* FanDisservice: Is prone to this. Miss Finster still thinks she's sexy. She's...not, to say the least.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Not the best example, but if you got trouble and have proof, she will listen. Case in point when Gretchen pulled the fire alarm, Miss Finster was going to lecture her...until Gretchen pointed out that Library Kid was trapped on the top of the flagpole and screaming for help, making this a real emergency. Miss Finster goes OhCrap and contacts the fire department to get down Library Kid safely.

* TookALevelInCynicism: Like Prickly she started out as a highly idealistic hippie teacher. Compare that to her ... current personality. ''Recess: All Growed Down'' reveals before the show started she was the kindergarten teacher, who while keeping her class on a very tight leash, still was overall nice. So what happened? [[spoiler: Gus transferred to his class (and left just as quickly because his dad had to move) and inspired the kids to act ... well, like kids. Randall exaggerated this that the kids had become anarchists which was the catalyst for Ms. Finster's current personality]].

[[folder: Hank]]

* BerserkButton: He's put up with a lot of crap T.J. threw at him, but he draws the line at accusing him of not caring about summer vacation.

* KindheartedCatLover: She has a cat that she adores (she's genuinely grateful to Spinelli for getting it out of a tree) and has a cat flap on her front door to let in stray cats.

* {{Retcon}}: In one episode we see a picture of her classroom in the late 1960s where she looks to be in her 40s and is similar to her appearance in the present. In the movie however she appears in a flashback taking place in 1968 and is much younger and more attractive looking.

* FriendToAllChildren: The movie reveals that like Miss Finster, Prickly got into teaching because he loved children. In fact, he thought that [[{{ChildHater}} Benedict's]] plan to get rid of recess was a horrible idea.

* AdultsAreUseless: Aveted most of the time, as she's always on the kids' side and standing up for them. Though at the same time, she's also naive and gullible, and is prone to being oblivious to the gang's schemes.

* UnknownRival: Benedict apparently spent ''decades'' obsessing over Prickly's intervention against his no-recess plan back in 1968; Prickly never saw him again and stayed principal for years after, apparently not giving him much thought, until Benedict revealed himself as the mastermind behind Prickly's kidnapping.

* PlatonicLifePartners: With Miss Finster. In the episode where he got promoted to being a middle school principal she became depressed because they've been working together for so long.

%%* {{Jerkass}}: Mainly in the first season.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's not the world's nicest person, but she ''does'' have a soft side. When she was younger, she broke up with Benedict because she didn't like the idea of taking recess from kids.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In "The Great Jungle Gym Standoff", he's another SadistTeacher in the series, which isn't seen again for the rest of the show (with him being [[ApatheticTeacher apathetic]] instead.) This could've been because the episode was one of the earliest ones made.

* ApatheticTeacher: Most of the time, Prickly doesn't care about what happens as long as law and order is maintained.
* AscendedExtra: He gets a bigger role in ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut''.

** Finster doesn't have much of a problem coming with harsh but fair punishments, but she thought Phillip Fitzhugh's decision of separating the Main Six permanently in other schools was taking too far.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He was horrified by Benedict's plan to eliminate recess; in the present day, he's even more disturbed by Benedict's obsession with how Prickly had humiliated him, which ultimately led to him to his plan of eliminating summer, calling him [[YoureInsane insane to his face]] and, after seeing how Benedict defaced his office wall with a disturbing amount of anti-recess graffiti, mutters that "I told 'em the guy was a nut."