Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Big Brother 8

Go To

Navigation: Main (Hosts and Recurring Characters) | Big Brother US | Celebrity Big Brother | Big Brother Canada | Big Brother UK | Big Brother Australia


    open/close all folders 

The Winner

     Dick Donato 

Richard Louis "Evel Dick" Donato

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dick_d_bb8.jpg
Born: June 24th, 1963
Age: 44 (at time of competition)
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Bar Manager
Number Of HOH Wins: 3
Number Of POV Wins: 1
Number Of Times Nominated: 3
Finished: 1st Place (Won 5-2, Won $500,000)

  • Abusive Parents: This could be assumed as Daniele has spoken to Dick in many years and has gone out of her way to not stay in contact with Dick. These are all signs of a very tumultuous father-daughter relationship.
  • The Ace: Dick was strategically brilliant throughout the game and although he had uses bullying and intimidating tactics towards the other houseguests throughout the game, Dick still managed to win over his daughter by a 5-2 vote. Even America voted for him through Eric's vote (as America's Player).
  • Action Duo: With his daughter Daniele. It is pretty evident that they got to the Final 2 by being a dynamic and powerful duo.
  • Alliterative Name: His first and last name begin with the same letter, D. Just like his daughter, Daniele.
  • Archnemesis Dad: To Daniele. Dick has had a very difficult and tumultuous relationship with Daniele and they have gone many years or periods at a time without speaking to each other or having any kind of contact with one another. The first time that Dick speaks to Daniele is when he enters the Big Brother house during the season and this is after five years of not talking or having any contact.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Dick wins the season over his daughter Daniele by a 5-2 vote. One of the votes, which was casted by Eric as America's Player, was chosen by America and they chose to vote for Dick to win.
  • Break the Badass: The first part of the final HOH manages to do a number on even a stern and foul menace like Dick. He's very worn down and broken up about having to bow out, and his daughter hugs him for quite a long time afterward.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Dick says the F word a lot, almost like it is part of his everyday vocabulary.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Although he has a very rough relationship with her, it is clear that he loves his daughter Daniele.
  • Evil Genius: Dick is very intelligent despite his loud and brash personality. He was the major reason why Dick and Daniele made it to the Final 2, because he depended on strategy.
  • Evil Overlord: How the house saw Dick. The houseguests thought that Dick was a bully and a tyrant who ran the house and tried to intimidate others in order to get the results he wanted.
  • For the Evulz: Often stirred up drama and bullied other houseguests for his own amusement.
  • Hollywood Atheist: Dick openly believes that religion is brainwashing and admits that he is an Atheist.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: Does this to Jen even when she was nominated and backdoored and was going to be evicted. What does Dick do? He decides to rub it in her face that she is going home by tormenting her. After Jen destroyed Dick's cigarettes to get back at him for bullying her, Dick decided to get back at her by taking her clothes and hiding them. He then follows her around and continues to taunt her, which leads to a major argument and blow out between the two. Dick begins to taunt Jen about her breaking her non-eating punishment when she decides to eat against the rules (Jen ends up receiving a penalty vote as a result of breaking the rules). The heated argument between Dick and Jen heats up when Dick begins smoking and blowing smoke in front of Jen when she is eating (knowing that Jen hates smoking and the smell of cigarettes to begin with). As Jen tries to take the cigarette away from Dick, Dick purposely burns her with the lit cigarette. Talk about kicking them when they are really down.
  • Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: The final HOH endurance phase was a combination of balance and punishment from freezing cold sprays of water while trying not to let go of your key to the house. The discomfort from both the water drenching his footwear and his sore feet got so bad he had to remove his shoes and socks to alleviate it. Dick still lost this part, though.
  • Made of Iron: He lasts several hours into the first part of the final HOH in pounding cold sprays of water that forced him to remove his footwear and made his slimmer and smaller daughter agonize as her body ached from the freezing cold. Danielle tried to stay in the challenge despite the very clear distress it put her in, until it finally became too much for her to handle and she had to drop out. From here, Dick started to agonize. Zach managed to handle it with little visible signs of discomfort, and Dick forced himself to keep balanced and hold his key for his daughter's sake, and the competition wore on in an extreme stalemate that had no end in sight. Danielle saw her dad was in very bad straits and shaking, but he refused to let go of his key even when Danielle told him it was okay to quit and she wouldn't think less of him for it. Dick, perhaps exhausted, or just sick of the waiting for Zach to drop, decided to quit.
  • Morality Pet: His daughter, Daniele. Even when she makes clear in no uncertain terms that she hates him, he still tries to be a good father to her (though their "long-time estrangement" turned out to be fake, since it came out that they previously had applied to be on The Amazing Race as a team).
  • Papa Wolf: Even though he has a very strained relationship with Daniele, he did everything and anything possible to make sure Daniele was safe in the game. Including making himself a target.
  • Pet the Dog: His moments with his daughter. We see that he does in fact have a heart when it comes to Daniele and that he has even cried over his relationship with her in the DR.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Dick often used sexist, misogynistic and derogatory words throughout the season. He also had no issue with bullying the other houseguests in order to get his way in the game.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: Dick swears or curses more than any other houseguest of the season.

The Runner-Up

     Daniele Donato 

Daniele Donato

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daniele_d_bb8_5.jpg
Born: August 20th, 1986
Age: 20 (at time of competition)
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California
Occupation: Waitress
Number Of HOH Wins: 2
Number Of POV Wins: 5
Number Of Times Nominated: 4
Finished: 2nd Place (Lost 5-2, Won $50,000)

  • A-Cup Angst: Daniele is pretty flat chested and she wears push up bras to make her chest appear bigger.
  • Action Duo: With her father. Dick was the strategist while Daniele was the competitor.
  • Action Fashionista: Daniele loves clothing and fashion and she is also an Action Girl in the game.
  • Alliterative Name: Her first and last name begin with the same letter, D. Ironically, the same is for her dad.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Daniele was consistently ostracized and picked by the other houseguests. Most of the reason for this was because Daniele was closely tied to her father, whom everyone in the house hated.
  • Antagonistic Offspring: Daniele has openly said that she dislikes her father and his antics. There was a point where she didn't talk to her dad for 5 years.
  • Break the Cutie: Daniele has been through a lot throughout the game. She had been ostracized by other houseguests due to her father's antics, had to constantly fight to stay in the game by winning endless competitions, was a huge target in the game since the beginning and had been a Have Not for the majority of the season. The only thing good that came out of her experience in the game was that she made it to the Final 2 with her dad.
  • Butt-Monkey: Daniele was often shunned or ostracized by the other house guests simply because she is Dick's daughter.
  • Daddy's Little Villain: Most of the houseguests saw Daniele this way because she was Dick's daughter. Although Daniele didn't approve of Dick's behaviour and frequently called him out on it, game-wise, Daniele always followed her father.
  • The Determinator: Daniele is one of the most determined and persistent players in the game. This is evidenced in her multiple competition wins and she wonk the most competitions by a single player in the season.
  • Drama Queen: Daniele was very whiny and often used sympathy to make others feel sorry for her, especially in regards to the strained relationship with her dad.
  • Hypercompetent Sidekick: Although Dick was the strategist, Daniele won many of the competitions which ensured her and Dick's safety in the game.
  • Jerkass: Daniele could be very bitchy and unlikeable and she wasn't always nice to her fellow houseguests. She definitely has shades of her father in her. Much of Daniele's bratty personality has to due with her personal life and her tumultuous relationship with her father.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Daniele is physically appealing although she looks better later on at the end of the season due to the fact that she gains weight.
  • Noble Top Enforcer: Daniele is much nicer than Dick and she is less confrontational.
  • Nothing but Skin and Bones: It is evident that Daniele lost a lot of weight. This is because while Daniele was in the house, she was on slop for the majority of the season.
  • The Resenter: Towards her father, Dick. There was a point where she didn't talk to Dick for a long period of time because they have a very tumultuous relationship.

The Jury

     Zach Swerdzewski 

Zachary Joseph "Zach" Swerdzewski

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zach_s_bb8.jpg
Born: April 17th, 1977
Age: 30 (at time of competition)
Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida
Occupation: Graphic Designer
Number Of HOH Wins: 2
Number Of POV Wins: 1
Number Of Times Nominated: 2
Finished: 3rd Place (Evicted 1-0, JURY MEMBER #7)

  • Badass Bookworm: Zach is intelligent and book smart. He attended Florida State University and is a graphic designer.
  • Bash Brothers: With Nick and Mike. They were his allies in the beginning of the game before they were both evicted.
  • Celebrity Resemblance: Some viewers think Zach looks a lot like and sounds a lot like John Cena, especially when his hair is hidden under a ballcap.
  • The Chew Toy: Like Jen above, pretty much the entire house hated Zach (behind his back, he was constantly made fun of), and he had trouble getting any respect from the jury when he beat Dick head to head in the first part of the last HOH competition.
  • Cowardly Lion: Early in the game, Zach would often steer clear of the action and the drama as much as possible. However, this is later on subverted when Zach wins HOH and nominates both Dick and Daniele.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite being socially awkward and having a bad social game, Zach still managed to make it all the way to the Final 3.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Completely obliterated Dick at the first part of the Final 3 HOH, which was a brutal endurance competition.
  • Friendly Enemy: With both Dick and Daniele. They aligned with each other later on in the game.
  • The Smart Guy: Zach is intelligent and he is a graphic designer for a living.

     Eric Stein 

Eric Scott Stein

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric_s_bb8.jpg
Born: January 25th, 1980
Age: 27 (at time of competition)
Hometown: New York City, New York
Occupation: Talent Management Assistant
Number Of HOH Wins: 0
Number Of POV Wins: 1
Number Of Times Nominated: 3
Prizes Won: $40,000 (For completing 20/28 tasks as AMERICAN'S PLAYER)
Finished: 5th Place (Evicted 2-0, JURY MEMBER #5)

  • Constantly Curious: Eric is curious about everything and he is always listening in on people's conversations. This is because Eric would gather info for his role as America's Player.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Eric is very dorky but he was very dangerous because he had a secret identity as America's Player and he was basically playing for America.
  • Motor Mouth: Once Eric gets going, he can't seem to stop talking. He is a very good conversationalist and when he is discussing something that he is interested in or excited about, he will keep talking.

     Jessica Hughbanks 

Jessica Lynn Hughbanks

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jessica_h_bb8.jpg
Born: December 22nd, 1985
Age: 21 (at time of competition)
Hometown: Haysville, Kansas
Occupation: Student
Number Of HOH Wins: 2
Number Of POV Wins: 0
Number Of Times Nominated: 1
Finished: 6th Place (Evicted 2-1, JURY MEMBER #4)

  • Cute, but Cacophonic: Jessica's voice has been considered to be annoying to some of the viewers. Some have described Jessica's speaking voice as "squeaky".
  • Protectorate: For Eric. Eric put Jessica before anything else in the game, aside from his America's Player game.

     Jen Johnson 

Jennifer Marie "Jen" Johnson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jen_j_bb8.jpg
Born: April 25th, 1984
Age: 23 (at time of competition)
Hometown: Beverly Hills, California
Occupation: Nanny
Number Of HOH Wins: 1
Number Of POV Wins: 2
Number Of Times Nominated: 4
Finished: 8th Place (Evicted 5-0 +1 Penalty Vote, JURY MEMBER #2)

  • Action Fashionista: Jen is a model, therefore, it is understandable that she would take to fashion and clothing. She paid much attention to her clothing and she loved setting fashion trends in the house. She even has a few tops that include her name in statements such as "100% Jenius" and "100% Jenuine".
  • Action Girl: Jen can be very competitive. She won a few HOH's and a POV and she was the second strongest female competitor of the season next to Danielle. Unfortunately for her, her only strength was her physical competitiveness as she had an awful social game and a weak strategy, hence why she was such a target throughout the time she was in the game. However, she classifies more as a Dark Action Girl.
  • Alliterative Name: Her first and last name begin and end with the same letter, J.
  • All Women Are Lustful: Jen will use her sexuality to get her way. She won't hesitate to walk around in skimpy clothing in order to gain attention from the male houseguests and she seems to flaunt her body as much as she can. Jen has the assets and she likes to show them off.
  • All Women Love Shoes: Jen loved wearing high heels. The only time when she is not wearing high heels or pumps is when she is wearing athletic clothing or just lounging around the house.
  • Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Jen fits the trope to a T. Physically, she has very dark brown hair, brown eyes and she is well endowed in terms of assets. Personality wise, she is very stand offish, reserved, and aloof. She often appears to be very stuck up and arrogant simply because she is a very reserved and aloof person. She is the classic Emotionless Girl who never lets anything get to her.
  • Alpha Bitch: Jen is very cold, competitive and bitchy. She was very catty towards all of the other female houseguests and she thought that she was above everyone in the house. Jen showed highly competitive and catty behaviour towards Daniele because she felt jealousy over Daniele's relationship with Nick.
  • Arch-Enemy: Dick and Daniele. Jen disliked both of them. She disliked Daniele because of Daniele's relationship with Nick and Jen was jealous of Daniele because of it. In regards to Dick, Dick bullied Jen the entire time she was in the house. It doesn't help that Daniele and Dick were directly responsible for her eviction. Jen had such a hard time casting her vote when both Dick and Daniele made it to the Final 2, but she decided to cast her vote for whom she felt was the lesser of two evils between the Donatos, which is Daniele.
  • Artifact of Doom: She's the first person to be fitted up with the dreaded unitard punishment in the US run. Nobody who has ever worn one of these punishments has ever made it to the end of the game during the same season.
  • Big Eater: Jen ate a lot while she was in the house and she seemed to have a large appetite, despite the fact that Jen was very conscious of her looks and appearance.
  • Can't Take Criticism: Hates it when people make comments about her but has no problem with making comments about others.
  • The Chew Toy: She was pretty much hated by everyone in the house, and given the way Dick treated her, it's hard not to have some sympathy.
  • Dirty Coward: Jen threw a POV competition that would ensure her safety so that Jameka would win it instead and use it on her. So, she basically used Jameka so that she would use the POV on Jen to take her off the block because Jen knew that Jameka would use it on her if she had won it. Dick even called her out on it.
  • Emotionless Girl: Jen rarely if ever showed any emotion. Even when Dick was taunting her and bullying her, she still didn't show any emotion or break down and cry.
  • Entitled Bitch: Jen thinks that she deserves to be there more than others and she has a very spoiled, entitled attitude. She also broke Have-Not Rules and incurred a penalty vote.
  • Extreme Doormat: Jen let Dick walk all over her and bully her without even standing up for herself and standing up to him. This made Jen come off as an extreme push over.
  • Iconic Outfit: She wore a red unitard for a week punishment, an outfit so bizarre and goofy that it stuck in memory... and made such a fuss over it it inspired the unitard series of costume punishments in the Big Brother US run as a recurring installment. Gee, THANKS!
  • It's All About Me: Jen is very selfish and self absorbed. Numerous houseguests have called her out on it.
  • Narcissist: Jen loves looking at herself in the mirror. This is the same girl who cried about her memory wall picture.
  • Proud Beauty: Jen takes a lot of pride in her physical appearance.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Can be sweet sometimes and icy at other times. It depends who she is interacting with.
  • The Stoic: Jen hardly showed any emotion in the game, even when Dick was attacking her and verbally abusing her. How she didn't react to Dick's attacks is amazing.

Evicted Pre-Jury

     Kail Harbick 

Kail Lucille Harbick

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kail_h_bb8.jpg
Born: October 05th, 1969
Age: 37 (at time of competition)
Hometown: Beaverton, Oregon
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Number Of HOH Wins: 1
Number Of POV Wins: 0
Number Of Times Nominated: 3
Finished: 10th Place (Evicted 4-3)

  • Butt-Monkey: Kail had to wear a bunny suit for 120 hours, had to eat slop for almost a month and have up her ability to win 5 HOH's competitions. Poor Kail.
  • Humiliation Conga: In week 5, she was nominated by the HoH Daniele, and competed in one of these competitions for the Veto. She accepted every punishment in full magnitude (this included wearing a bunny suit for 120 hours, having gunk dropped on her every hour for 24 hours, eating only slop for the next 30 days, and giving up the right to compete in the next 5 HoH competitions), except for the last one, thus losing the Veto to Jen. Jen used the Veto on herself, and Daniele put into motion a plan to backdoor Eric, but Kail was still evicted 4-3 after a blindside by Dustin, Jessica, and Jameka.
  • Plucky Girl: Despite the fact that she has had a hard road in the house, Kail still manages to get through it with a smile.
  • Only Sane Man: Kail was the wisest houseguest especially due to the fact that she is the oldest female houseguest of the season.


Top