History Characters / SpringAwakening

* AnythingThatMoves: One interpretation of his character due to his flirtatious nature, his [[BiTheWay bisexuality]], and this line in "The Bitch of Living":

* BiTheWay: His attraction towards other boys is made apparent in "The Bitch of Living", and in the next scene we see him he's masturbating to a depiction of Desdemona.

* AdultsAreUseless: Many ways for Moritz. Firstly, he is [[spoiler: made to fail by Herr Knochenbruch an Fraulein Knuppeldick, then is kicked out of his home by his own father who beats him AND, if that wasn't enough, is then refused his thousand bucks to escape to America by Melchior's mother whom shrugs off his problems.]]

-> Played by John Gallagher, Jr. (OBC), Daniel Durant and Alex Boniello (2015 revival)

->'''Played by''': [[Creator/JonathanGroff Jonathan Groff]] (OBC), Kyle Riabko (First National Tour), Austin McKenzie (2015 revival)

* BigNo: On discovering [[spoiler: Wendla's freshly-dug grave. Often repeated by the Groff (and Austin McKenzie), but other Melchiors just went for one.]]

->'''Played by''': [[Creator/JonathanGroff Jonathan Groff]] (OBC), Austin McKenzie (2015 revival)

* GriefSong: Mourns over [[spoiler: Moritz]] in "Left Behind", and then contemplates over his death again [[spoiler: along with Wendla's]] in "Those You've Known", [[spoiler: [[GhostSong with their ghosts by his side]]]].

* SurvivorGuilt: Expresses this for [[spoiler: Moritz]] in "Left Behind," and once again for [[spoiler: Wendla]] just before "Those You've Known," so much so he considers suicide.

* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Subverted. Ilse, an old childhood friend, calls out to him, unknowingly preventing him from his first attempt. [[AteHisGun He goes through with it after she leaves]].]]

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Played with. She admires Melchior's bad boy traits[[note]]mostly having to do with his atheism[[/note]] with her girl friends, and, to an extent, is even more attracted to those traits once they have their first real conversation since childhood. However, his validation in her questioning their conservative society is what launches their relationship, and while this still shows shades of teenage rebellion, it also has a lot to do with him being the sole person who allows her to be more than TheIngenue her parents had strictly raised her to be. But then [[spoiler: [[RapeAsDrama he exploits that innocence himself]], indirectly causing her death.]]
%%* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: [[spoiler:Averted.]]

* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Gets pregnant both due to her mother never giving her proper sex education and being coerced into having sex, which is partly as a result of the former point.]]

* TraumaCongaLine: In the beginning, she's mostly just a curious girl who's naive to a fault but is ultimately pure and kind. Over the course of the show, she gets [[spoiler: beaten by the boy she likes[[note]]which he initially agrees to do only because of her pleading, but it quickly goes wrong[[/note]], [[RapeAsDrama raped]] not long after by the same boy, learns the exact consequences of such an act [[TeenPregnancy the hard way]] despite asking her mother for sex-ed from the very beginning[[note]]and gets hit for calling her out on it[[/note]], and is forced into a [[BackAlleyDoctor back-alley abortion]], which finally leads to her death.]]

* InnocenceLost: "Until this morning, when he woke me with a gun, set against my breast. He said: 'One twitch and it's the end.' Really gave me the goose bumps."

* AnythingThatMoves: One interpretation of his character due to a combination of his flirtatious nature, his [[BiTheWay bisexuality]], and this line in "The Bitch of Living":

* DoubleEntendre:

* UrbanLegendLoveLife: Though it's never explicitly stated, Hanschen's behavior and language heavy with [[DoubleEntendre double meanings]] and suggests he presents himself as something of a casanova, though the girls seem more interested in either the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys rebellious Melchior]] or [[TroubledButCute brooding]], [[TheWoobie neurotic Moritz]]. Possibly, they view him as a HandsomeLech; perhaps he never actually invests in seducing his female classmates at all. Only once do we see him in action, and he is quite successful.

* WideEyedIdealist: Revealed to be of this variety when he describes his country pastor fantasy, and gets called out for it by Hanschen.

%%* GriefSong: "Left Behind", for [[spoiler: Moritz]].

%%* IWantSong: "All That's Known."

* TraumaCongaLine: Starts out as a cynic doubting his faith in God, loses his best friend to suicide and his love interest to a botched abortion, is sent to a boarding school where he's bullied relentlessly, and attempts suicide himself. "Those You've Known" suggests that this earns him IronWoobie status.

%%* DrivenToSuicide

* BreakTheCutie: Wendla starts off the show as a relatively cheerful girl who relishes in her [[VirginInAWhiteDress white, "fairy queen" dress]]. This doesn't last long, however, as she starts to question the world around her. [[spoiler: Namely, her [[RapeAsDrama rape]] and botched abortion, which eventually lead to her [[KillTheCutie death]].]]
* GhostSong:
** "Those You've Known", and arguably to some shade "Whispering". The latter seems [[spoiler: as if Wendla is predicting the consequences of her actions and eventual death.]]
** "See the father bent in grief/The mother dressed in mourning/Sister crumbles, and the neighbours grumble/Preacher issues warning."
* HiddenDepths: Despite being defined by her innocence, Wendla's deep-seated frustration towards her mother preserving her as such comes in early on in the show ("Mama Who Bore Me" and its reprise), as well as her intellectual observations on society surprising WiseBeyondTheirYears Melchior, as they happen to corroborate with his own ideas. [[spoiler: And of course, there's her whole motive behind the beating scene.]]

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: She is virtually PurityPersonified, and is killed by, in short, a combination of her mother's lies and being sexually taken advantage of.

%%* ParentalIncest: Implied to be occurring in "The Dark I Know Well".

* ADateWithRosiePalms: During his spoken section of "My Junk", accompanying the thought of ''murdering'' a girl. Jesus. (The murder part is sorta compulsory, though, since he's masturbating to a depiction of [[Theatre/{{Othello}} Desdemona]].

* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Subverted, with Ernst, who is pure, wholesome, and almost childishly enthusiastic (his solo in "Touch Me" notwithstanding). His monologue before "The Word of Your Body (Reprise)" says it all:

* CompositeCharacter: Otto and [[LastNameBasis Lammermeier]] are two separate characters.

%%**"You say 'Time for bed now, child"/Mom [[AndIMustScream just smiles that smile.../Just like she never saw me]]/Just like she never saw me..."

%%* LoveTriangle: Type 3 with Moritz and Ilse.

%%* ParentalIncest: Implied to be occurring in "The Dark I Know Well".

[[folder: Wendla Bergman]]

----

%%* AbusiveParents: "Ilse! Storytime!"

%%* AbusiveParents:

%%* MinorCharacterMajorSong: "The Dark I Know Well".

%%* ADateWithRosiePalms

* AdaptationalHeroism: Downplayed, as Melchior is still flawed in the musical, but in Wedekind's original play he's a more morally ambiguous figure, at times looking like a NietzscheWannabe, and the musical's version of the character more clearly has romantic feelings for Wendla, where in the play he can be portrayed as not wanting anything from her other than sex.

* TomBoyAndGirlGirl: Could be seen as an inversion of a tomboy to Wendla's girly girl.

%% Zero context examples have been commented out. Examples need context that explains how the trope occurs. Not just when, with whom, or to.

!Theatre/SpringAwakening

[[folder: Main]]

[[WMG: Melchior Gabor]]
-->Played by [[Creator/JonathanGroff Jonathan Groff]] (OBC), Austin McKenzie (2015 revival)

[[WMG: Moritz Stiefel]]
--> Played by John Gallagher, Jr. (OBC), Daniel Durant and Alex Boniello (2015 revival)

Melchior's insecure best friend whose dreams of women haunt him to the point that he is too afraid to fall asleep. He is disgusted by his new sexual feelings and his inability to control them. As this is the 19th century, he is terrified to even ''speak'' of such things aloud, and asks Melchior to [[MacGuffin write down the knowledge he needs and to slip it into his satchel after Gym class.]]
----

--> '''Moritz:''' 'Cause you know, [[BlatantLies I don't do sadness--not even a little bit.]]/ Just don't need it in my life--don't want any part of it./ [[MadnessMantra I don't do sadness--]]/ Hey, [[{{Foreshadowing}} I've done my time, looking back on it all]]--man, it blows my mind./ [[BlatantLies I don't do sadness, so been there.]]/ [[HeroicBSOD Don't do sadness]]--[[TearJerker just don't care...]]

[[WMG: Wendla Bergman]]
-->Played by Creator/{{Lea Michele}} (OBC), Sandra Mae Frank and Katie Boeck (2015 revival)

An innocent, friendly young woman. A childhood friend to the others and eventual love interest to Melchior. She opens the musical with her song "Mama Who Bore Me", searching for answers to the questions she has about {{l|ampshadedDoubleEntendre}}ife.

----

[[WMG: Ilse Neumann]]
-->Played by Lauren Pritchard (OBC), Krysta Rodriguez (2015 revival)

A childhood friend of the group. She is seen as a sign of something that could happen to Martha if she speaks out about what happens to her at home. Ilse is portrayed in "The Dark I Know Well" as an echo of what Martha is going through; Ilse was beaten and sexually abused by her father, and Martha is at the time of the song. Martha yearns to escape, and we never actually learn if she does. Ilse now lives in an artist's colony named Priapia with the Bohemians, but the girls think of this as no way to live for their fallen friend.

----

[[folder: Secondary]]

[[WMG: Hanschen Rilow]]
-->Played by Jonathan B. Wright (OBC), Andy Mientus (2015 revival)

--> '''Ernst:''' On my way here, I thought perhaps we'd only talk.
--> '''Hanschen:''' (''pulling back'') So, are you sorry we-
--> '''Ernst:''' No, I love you, Hanschen!

[[WMG: Ernst Robel]]
-->Played by Gideon Glick (OBC), Joshua Castille and Daniel David Stewart (2015 revival)

A naive classmate of the boys who falls deeply for Hanschen's seduction.

--> '''Ernst:''' Sometimes...I imagine myself as a country pastor. With my red-cheeked wife, my library, my degrees...Boys and girls, who live nearby, give me their hand when I go walking...

----

[[WMG: Georg Zirschnitz]]
-->Played by Skylar Astin (OBC), Alex Wyse (2015 revival)

[[WMG: Otto Lammermeier]]
-->Played by Brian Charles Johnson (OBC), Miles Barbee and Sean Grandillo (2015 revival)

Another classmate. He dreamt of his mother, as Melchior humorously reveals to Moritz in an effort to help him relax.
----

[[WMG: Thea]]
-->Played by Remy Zaken (OBC), Amelia Hensley and Lauren Luiz (2015 revival)

[[WMG: Martha Bessel]]
-->Played by Lilli Cooper (OBC), Treshelle Edmond and Kathryn Gallagher (2015 revival)

[[/folder]]

* BuryYourGays: Averted. He and Hanschen survive the play completely intact (if by virtue of disappearing from the action for a bit when Melchior's story comes back into focus) and the original play was strongly censored because it did ''not'' show the boys as criminals receiving inevitable punishment. (As well as, y'know, [[RapeAsDrama Wendla's rape]] and... the general plot.)

* AntiHero

* ByronicHero
* TheCynic
* DeadpanSnarker
* GriefSong: "Left Behind", for [[spoiler: Moritz]].

* IWantSong: "All That's Known."

Melchior's insecure best friend whose dreams of women haunt him to the point that he is too afraid to fall asleep. He is disgusted by his new sexual feelings and his inability to control them. As this is the 19th century, he is terrified to even ''speak'' of such things aloud, and asks Melchior to [[MacGuffin write down the knowledge he needs and to slip it into his satchel after Gym class.]] He passes his exams despite falling asleep in classes often, but [[spoiler: the two teachers make it so that it seems he has failed as they cannot take on anymore students.]] This leads to bad, [[DrivenToSuicide bad]] things for Moritz.

* AgeAppropriateAngst
* AnimeHair
* [[spoiler: AteHisGun]]: The stage directions specifically call for this.[[note]]RealitySubtext: A lot of people who kill themselves this way have motives tied to their sexuality.[[/note]]
* BreakTheCutie
* CounterpointDuet: "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind"

* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide]]
* [[spoiler: ForgottenFallenFriend]]: To a certain extent, for Melchior. His [[spoiler: funeral]] produces one of Melchior's most emotional moments, the GriefSong "Left Behind", but for Melchior's closest relationship in the play he's turned aside pretty quickly when being accused of causing Moritz's [[spoiler: suicide]] spurns the largely comical "Totally Fucked". Sadly, this is fairly representative of their whole relationship, including when Moritz [[spoiler: was alive]].
* [[spoiler: GhostSong]]: He and Wendla appear to Melchior [[spoiler: as ghosts. They float out of their graves and everything.]]
* IWantSong: "The Bitch of Living."
* LoveTriangle: Type 3 with Martha and Ilse. They both have feelings for him; he may or may not be oblivious, but his main struggle is trying [[spoiler: and failing]] to cope with his feelings about ''anyone.''
** Depending on interpretation, [[AmbiguouslyBi Moritz]] can be viewed as a HopelessSuitor of Melchior and thus part of a triangle with Melchior and Wendla.

* SanitySlippageSong / BSODSong: Moritz has two, the first being "And Then There Were None," where he devolves into a suicidal state ("Another day of utter shit/[[{{Foreshadowing}}And then there were none]]", and the second being "Don't Do Sadness," where he's already in the throes of it.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: [[spoiler:Averted.]]
* BreakTheCutie/KillTheCutie
* DrFeelgood: "Who lives in this house, Mama?"
* GhostSong: "Those You've Known", and arguably to some shade "Whispering". The latter seems [[spoiler: as if Wendla is predicting the consequences of her actions and eventual death.]]
** "See the father bent in grief/The mother dressed in mourning/Sister crumbles, and the neighbours grumble/Preacher issues warning." Coupled with TearJerker.

A childhood friend of the group. She is seen as a sign of something that could happen to Martha if she speaks out about what happens to her at home. Ilse is portrayed in "The Dark I Know Well" as an echo of what Martha is going through; Ilse was beaten and sexually abused by her father, and Martha is at the time of the song. Martha yearns to escape, and we never actually learn if she does. Ilse now lives in an artist's colony named Priapia with the Bohemians, but the girls think of this as no way to live for their fallen friend. [[spoiler: She offers Moritz to come home with her, implying they could be a lot more, yet he turns her down.]] She is symbolically seen as Moritz's last chance of redemption, and the "blue wind" as opposed to Moritz's rash and reckless summer wind he ponders on before [[spoiler: committing suicide]].

* AbusiveParents: "Ilse! Storytime!"
* CounterpointDuet: "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind"
* InnocenceLost: "Until this morning, when he woke me with a gun, set against my breast. He said: 'One twitch and it's the end.' [[{{Understatement}} Really gave me the goose bumps.]]"
* LonelyTogether: "The Dark I Know Well" for her and Martha.

* MadArtist: The men she models for. One of them isn't that bad (chasing her around and dabbing her with paint), but the other one... see InnocenceLost above.
* ParentalIncest: Implied to be occurring in "The Dark I Know Well".

* StepfordSmiler: Most incarnations have her smile and be playful despite all the terrible, '''''terrible''''' things happening to her.

* UnkemptBeauty: Ilse is a disheveled, beautiful wanderess.
* WildHair: In her original incarnation.

* ADateWithRosiePalms

* AbusiveParents: "You say 'Time for bed now, child"/Mom [[AndIMustScream just smiles that smile.../Just like she never saw me]]/Just like she never saw me..."
** Amped up from the stage play in a very [[TearJerker chilling]] way.
* InnocenceLost

* LoveTriangle: Type 3 with Moritz and Ilse.
* MinorCharacterMajorSong: "The Dark I Know Well".
* ParentalIncest: Implied to be occurring in "The Dark I Know Well".

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Though Moritz is far more brooding of the two

* TheIngenue: Wendla's virginity and excessive naïveté drives much of the plot: it's played for drama in that it is directly correlated to her [[spoiler: rape and later pregnancy]], and it's exploited by her parents who desire her to continue to remain one.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Depending on the actor, Hanschen can vary from smug but good-hearted to a sleazy, horny seducer.

* CounterpointDuet: Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind

* IWantSong: "The Bitch of Living".

<<|CharacterSheets|>>

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/melchi_1940.jpg
-->''Played by [[Creator/JonathanGroff Jonathan Groff]]'' (Austin McKenzie in the 2015 revival)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_15_4978.jpg
-->''Played by John Gallagher Jr.'' (Daniel Durant, voiced by Alex Boniello in the revival)

--> Depending on interpretation, [[AmbiguouslyGay Moritz]] can be viewed as a HopelessSuitor of Melchior and thus part of a triangle with Melchior and Wendla.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wendla_5363.jpg
-->''Played by Creator/{{Lea Michele}}'' (Sandra Mae Frank, voiced by Katie Boeck in the revival)

* BreakTheCutie

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ilse_7276.jpg
-->''Played by Lauren Pritchard'' (Krysta Rodriguez in the revival)

* AbusiveParents: ''"Ilse! Storytime!"''
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: And ''how.''

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rilow_4024.png
-->''Played by Jonathan B. Wright'' (Andy Mientus in the revival)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/woyb_3168.png
-->''Played by Gideon Glick'' (Joshua Castille, voiced by Daniel David Stewart)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/georg_1791.png
-->''Played by Skylar Astin'' (Alex Wyse in the revival)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ottob_7851.png
-->''Played by Brian Charles Johnson'' (Miles Barbee, voiced by Sean Grandillo)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/remyz_9307.png
-->''Played by Remy Zaken'' (Amelia Hensley, voiced by Lauren Luiz)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marthaa_1797.png
-->''Played by Lilli Cooper'' (Treshelle Edmond, voiced by Kathryn Gallagher)

* MinorCharacterMajorSong: "The Dark I Know Well"

----

[[WMG: Anna Reiniger]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anna_8663.png
-->''Played by Phoebe Strole'' (Ali Stroker in the revival)

One of Wendla's friends, who cannot wrap her head around Martha's trials.
[[/folder]]