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BoJack Horseman - Main Characters
(aka: Bojack Horseman Diane Nguyen)

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Characters in BoJack Horseman - Main Characters
The main cast in their natural state. (L-R) BoJack, Diane, Todd, Princess Carolyn and Mr. Peanutbutter

The five central protagonists of BoJack Horseman.


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    BoJack Horseman 

BoJack F. Horseman

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bojackh.png
Click here to see BoJack as a colt
BoJack in his youth during his Horsin’ Around years
BoJack from S 6 E 07 onwards
Voiced by: Will Arnett
Debut: "The BoJack Horseman Story: Chapter One"

BoJack: Everything comes so easy for you.
Mr. Peanutbutter: Oh, and it doesn't for you? You're a millionaire movie star with a girlfriend who loves you, acting in your dream movie. What more do you want? What else could the universe possibly owe you?
BoJack: I want to feel good about myself. The way you do. And I don't know how. I don't know if I can.

A misanthropic, bitter, severely depressed horse who once starred in the 90s sitcom Horsin' Around. While he began as a young, bright-eyed actor, he has since become a complete grouch and often wallows in self-pity, committing acts that devastate those around him. BoJack struggles to find happiness in his life and move on from his abusive childhood and long list of dirty deeds.


  • Abusive Parents: His parents were cruel people who were always displeased with everything he did and hated the fact that he existed. BoJack was also a downplayed example towards his surrogate daughter, Sarah Lynn. Flashbacks show the horse being a massive asshole towards her, despite being the closest thing to a father figure in Sarah Lynn's life.
  • Addled Addict: Come Season 5, he's been trying to cut back on his drinking, only to get prescribed opioids after he injures himself in a stunt. The drug abuse takes a huge toll on his sanity, ultimately resulting in him becoming Lost in Character as Philbert and trying to strangle Gina in a violent fit of rage. After he recovers from the effects, he checks himself in to rehab.
  • Affectionate Nickname: When they were friends, Herb called him "BJ".
  • The Alcoholic: The biggest one in the series. Despite this trait being a regular sight in Hollywoo, it speaks a lot about the quantities he needs to drink just to qualify for that title. While a big part of it is because he's in a constant downer mood and hates himself; being a horse, he really needs to drink gallons before feeling the effects of the alcohol.
    Todd: Are you drunk?
    BoJack: Todd, I'm a horse, it takes a lot to get me drunk.
    (the camera shows the entire room filled with empty bottles and kegs)
    BoJack: Yes.
  • All for Nothing: One part of his Start of Darkness that shaped his current personality was that he ultimately abandoned Herb, who helped him get a foot in the door of the entertainment industry, when it came out he was gay and Angela, one of the producers of Horsin Around, gave him an ultimatum to fire Herb to keep the show going or stand by him in his time of need and suffer the consequences alongside him. Years later, when BoJack meets with Angela after his name has been tarnished by the revelation of his role in Sara Lynn's death, Angela reveals she was bluffing at the time and had no real authority to cancel it, the show was still fairly popular and would've survived the backlash, meaning BoJack lost an important friendship for no reason other than believing someone else's lie.
  • The Aloner: One of his major problems and worries is being alone. Being the kind of person he is, he's often alone in his house, in his life and in his private time. Part of his Character Development is to be more outgoing and easy with people as well as being comfortable in social situations.
  • Always Someone Better: No matter how much he tries, BoJack can never break into mainstream fame and when he tries, there's always someone more famous or powerful than him. He's no Hank Hippopopalous. According to Jurj Clooners, Bread Poot and Leornerner DiCapricorn are Household Names, BoJack isn't. He's just the fifth wheel in the Oscar race.
  • Anti-Hero: BoJack is an abrasive, lazy, bitter older man that resists any attempts to change himself for the better when he can help it. But deep down, especially when he's sober, he's a surprisingly intelligent and thoughtful guy that really does care for the few people he can consider friends. Of course, in BoJack's case, it's given a revisionist spin.
  • Anti-Role Model: Bojack practically revolves around this trope. While being a popular TV star, he's committed a variety of selfish, cowardly, and sociopathic actions throughout his career, among other things. It gets to the point where he loathes himself and is distraught when other characters look up to him.
  • Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: While Bojack has many problems, finances have never been one of them. It's never been revealed how much money BoJack has, but he made enough from his Horsin' Around royalties that he could live in a gated, mountaintop mansion for almost two decades without any need to work and he could also impulse buy restaurants and yachts without it straining his bank account.
    • After starring in Secretariat and restarting his acting career, he donated his Horsin' Around royalties to charity with no obvious effect on his income.
    • After entering celebrity rehab, he reacted to the $100,000 entrance fee with all the annoyance of someone being told their fast-food order is 50 cents higher than what they originally thought. He then proceeds to reenter rehab an additional five times and would have stayed indefinitely if he had his way.
    • Finally subverted in the final season, when his accountant informs him that a looming $100,000,000 lawsuit is more than he can afford, and he ends up forced to sell his house as a result.
  • Ascended Fanboy: A childhood fan of Secretariat, he achieves his lifelong dream of starring in a Biopic about him in Season 2.
  • At Least I Admit It: For all of his flaws and unsavory moments, BoJack never hides completely what he is or holds fantasies about what kind of person he is, being open about his addictions, problems and attitude about things. However, he often uses his admittance of flaws as way to avoid dealing with them often acting as though because he admits his flaws it is okay to do them. Todd famously calls him on this by pointing out that admitting he is flawed and feeling bad for his actions is pointless if he keeps making the same mistakes, eventually he actually has to change.
  • Ax-Crazy: He's not this normally, but his opioid addiction in Season 5 eventually results in him going into a psychotic rage, which nearly kills Gina when he strangles her on set.
  • Bastard Angst: BoJack was an unplanned child and the main reason his parents ended up together. They each blame him for how miserably their lives turned out. Even to this day, he's still haunted by the very abusive childhood he had.
  • Bastard Bastard: He was born out of wedlock and is often an antisocial jerk.
  • Became Their Own Antithesis: More than twenty years ago, BoJack Horseman used to be a caring, somewhat friendly, if still flawed individual who would do his best to help out anyone. In the present, BoJack is a bitter, uncaring, and sad individual who seems resigned to the way things are in Hollywoo.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: BoJack latches on to anyone who's even remotely nice to him, due to growing up without love or support. It's one of the main reasons why he becomes romantically obsessed with Diane, since she's the only one who knows everything about him and largely accepts him despite it. However, in the Series Finale, both he and she ultimately realize this obsession was dragging Diane down, and he accepts her decision to cut ties with him.
  • Beneath the Mask: He looks at first glance like a grade-A douche washout, especially if you're involved with him in some capacity. Sometimes, BoJack goes beyond that to reveal shocking new depths of selfishness and heinous actions. Other times, he reveals himself as a far more caring person who's not only undermined by his own flaws and egocentrism, but also by the circumstances and society surrounding him. And he's all too aware of it.
  • Beyond Redemption: invoked Word of God states that anyone who says the 'F-word' to BoJack is because he committed a transgression that they can never forget nor absolve him of. Though Todd is a small exception to this, he, too, tries to distance himself from him near the end of the series.
  • Big Eater: He can down a whole box of muffins in one sitting.
  • Birds of a Feather: With Diane. They both come from horrible homes, and Diane sometimes can be just as cynical as BoJack. Deconstructed in season 3 when Diane explicitly states they bring out the worst in each other because they're so alike. This is largely why she chooses to cut ties with him at the very end.
  • Bittersweet Ending: The series ends with him losing a lot: he ends up losing his fortune due to his role in Sarah Lynn’s death, his relationships with almost all of his friends, particularly Hollyhock and Diane, especially the former, who make it clear he will never be a part of their lives ever again. He has to sell his shares of Horsin' Around to the show so he can be edited out, and he has to spend a year in prison for breaking into his old house. On the other hand, however, he finally starts to achieve his goal of truly becoming a good person; his time in prison allowed him to get sober again, and he now fully understands that his actions have consequences and begins to face them head on without making excuses. Also, his last movie before he went to prison has started up his career again, and though there is concern he could end up falling into bad habits again because of fame, he seems to realize that the entertainment industry and fame are not healthy for him and he intends to keep his distance. He is even able reconnect with Todd and Princess Carolyn, and while they make it clear they will never be as close as they once were, he begins to accept this, Mr. Peanutbutter remains as loyal as ever to Bo Jack, helping him to get a place to stay, and it seems that he’s closer to him than before. Lastly, he was able to have one last talk with Diane, giving her his blessing to leave him behind and finding closure. At the end of the series while he has lost everything he has finally started to make real change and find inner peace.
  • Broken Bird: For a couple of reasons, the first being his Stage Mom and generally emotionally-abusive upbringing, and the other being his betrayal of his best friend to keep his career. According to his mother, he was born to be a broken mess.
    Beatrice: You're born broken, it's your birthright. You're BoJack Horseman. There's no cure for that.
  • Brutal Honesty: BoJack will never filter or sugarcoat what he wants to say, ever.
  • Butt-Monkey: Frequently at the end of his rope, receives little to no respect on the few occasions he deserves some, has several Break the Haughty moments, and more often than not has a penchant for losing and hits new lows with each passing season. Deconstructed given that some of the bad things that happen to him are hubris of his own making and since his constant mishaps (though no doubt partly of his own doing) have led him to develop a deep anxiety whenever something is going his way, fearful of losing it or just being a plain setup for a worse situation causing it to become so.
  • Byronic Hero: He is a deconstruction of this. He's self-centered, introspective, troubled, reflexive, impulsive, with a Dark and Troubled Past, Troubled, but Cute status, and Reclusive Artist shades. But instead of coming off as charming, mysterious, and tragic, his demeanor gives the impression of him being arrogant, vain, pathetic, and abrasive, with no one being interested in digging deeper, and when they do, his issues prove to be too much to handle.
  • Calling the Old Woman Out: It is made apparent through flashbacks that the instant BoJack was old enough to no longer fear his abusive mother, he routinely made clear via Passive-Aggressive Kombat what an unsupportive, unpleasant harpy he considered her to be raised under. Granted, Beatrice, already broken, couldn't care less if one other person in her life hates her back. A key plot point during Beatrice's senility is BoJack regretting never going full throttle with this trope beforehand.
  • CamelCase - The "J" in "BoJack" is capitalized.
  • The Chain of Harm: BoJack grew up with Abusive Parents who hated his existence and were never pleased with what he did, no matter how hard he tried, and passed their abusive tendencies to his younger co-stars, Sarah Lynn and Bradley Hitler-Smith (to a lesser extent), of Horsin Around.
  • Character Development: While BoJack knows he could still relapse into his old bad habits, he gets much better in the series finale "Nice While It Lasted":
    • One of his big flaws was using his friends as a Living Emotional Crutch to feel better about himself. This episode features him letting each of his friends go, with individual scenes for Mr. Peanutbutter, Todd, Princess Carolyn, and Diane, who have found happy endings.
    • BoJack in the first two seasons acted as if the world owed him for his shitty life. He was a hedonist who slept with anyone, regardless of the consequences. The first sign that things changed was when he refused to sleep with a drunk Diane after she divorced Mr. Peanutbutter, saying she would hate herself when sober if they went through with it. In "Nice While It Lasted", prison has helped him stay sober and live without usual material comforts, addictive substances, or warm bodies for sex. He's mellower, as a result.
    • Finally, BoJack...tries honeydew. For most of the series, he proclaims to hate it, yet at the wedding, he tries some and finds it's not bad. It shows that he can change; if something he despised is now okay, then maybe other things will be.
  • Commander Contrarian: Tell him to do something and he'll do the opposite. He'll argue over it. Even if he doesn't mean to. Or thinks it's a good idea. Maybe he's just bored. Bottom line: Try to make a Plan B just in case.
  • Commitment Issues: At first, it's just hinted, given his reaction to Princess Carolyn's (mild) suggestion that they have a baby. It's finally confirmed in season 2 as his first steps to get close to Wanda involve having to open up and, even then, he continually self-sabotages unconsciously to drive her away.
    Bojack: I'm not afraid of commitment, I commit to things all the time. It's the following through with that commitment I take issue with.
  • Condescending Compassion: Whenever BoJack expresses empathy and understanding towards someone else, it's hindered by his desire to overcompensate as well as his bitter cynicism and fatalistic attitude, resulting in coming off as arrogant, smug, or entitled when doing a favor or being done a favor.
    Wanda: BoJack, this is our first show and it is very important that things run smoothly tonight. I mean, do you even care about this at all?
    BoJack: (with an understanding smile on his face) Sweetie, no. I think this is stupid and a waste of everybody's time. But you're my girlfriend and I care about you.
  • The Corruptible: As a kid, he was exposed to several negative influences, such as his parents fighting while he tries to watch his TV show, often resulting in him turning up the volume, being forced to finish smoking a cigarette after being caught, and being pushed into being the best by his mom. As an adult, he also became susceptible to alcohol and drugs while living in L.A. and constantly shows weakness when it comes to addictions.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As Princess Carolyn points out, most of BoJack's problems could be easily solved if he didn't insist on making them worse with convoluted sitcom antics and stopped obsessing over whether or not people like him.
  • Covering Up Your Gray: It's revealed in "The Face of Depression" that he's been dyeing his hair for the past two decades to cover up his premature graying. After having his hair done by Sharona, he decides to keep it gray.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy:
    • When he had a crush on Diane, he had a Cock Fight with Mr. Peanutbutter to impress and then tried to sabotage their wedding.
    • As reluctant as he is to admit it in the first place and correct as he is about Vincent, BoJack eventually admits in private that one of the reasons why he so desperately tries to break Vincent and Princess Carolyn's relationship is cause as much as he doesn't take their relationship seriously, he does feel hurt he can't turn to her anymore for comfort.
    • When Alex, a guy, shows interest in Wanda due to their similar background, BoJack goes berserk with jaundiced eyes.
  • The Cynic: One of his defining traits, BoJack is incredibly pessimistic ever since he started being the washed-out actor that's generally despised by everyone in Hollywoo.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: He doesn't like to talk about his childhood or his parents.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Due to his aloofness, pessimism, and abrasive personality, he often mouths off to everyone in hilariously obnoxious fashion, even those who are close to him, like Todd, mainly.
  • Determined Defeatist: For a guy who certainly believes the worst of everything and has little hope about improving his broken life, he still shows an inordinate amount of energy and determination to keep going, even if he bitches or complains all the way through.
  • Dirty Old Man: BoJack is in his 50s, yet he often tends to sleep with women who are half his age. Including Sarah Lynn, his 30-year-old TV daughter whom he’s known since she was three.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Professes an undying hate for honeydew melon on "Hank After Dark". Later on in the episode, he finds some support from Princess Carolyn in their mutual hatred of the fruit.
  • Don't Explain the Joke: He had a propensity for doing this up until Herb talked to him over it in their standup days, which stemmed from his childhood. While he doesn't do it constantly anymore, it still pops up from time to time.
    Dick Cavett: (Reading BoJack's letter to Secretariat) "When I grow up, I want to be just like you, and I think I'm on the right track. Get it? Track, because horses run on tracks, and you are a horse, and I am a horse. Do you get it? Do you get my joke about the track?-" Okay, there's a whole page of this.
    Secretariat: Should I write him back and tell him I get it?
  • Driven to Suicide: He teeters on this in the series, mentioning several times he thought about it and nearly goes through with it in season three. But manages to find ways to keep going in some form or another. However, in the latter half of the final season, he nearly does in his drunken stupor by almost drowning himself in his depression after the reveal of Sarah Lynn's death comes out, Hollywoo turning against him, and him losing everything. Luckily, he survives, and it's this experience that ultimately gets him to get his life back on track for good.
  • Drives Like Crazy: BoJack has no scruples about driving under the influence or while watching videos. As a result, he is a terrible driver who causes traffic accidents on a near-daily basis, and his Cool Cars tend to be reduced to The Alleged Car.
  • Easily Forgiven: Played With. While BoJack does make decisions or say things that do hurt or completely sever his relationships with people he cares about, the people he's closest to find themselves accepting him back into their lives soon enough. It's only in Season 6 that Diane and Princess Carolyn decide to firmly place a wall between themselves and him and end their friendship and professional relationship respectively. All of Hollywoo plays this straight, though part of it is due to not caring about him as a person and more as an icon.
  • The Eeyore: He could give the Trope Namer a run for his money. BoJack has an uncanny ability to make people around him depressed.
  • '80s Hair: Back when he was a sitcom actor, he had what seems to be the horse equivalent of a mullet.
  • Elemental Motifs: Water. BoJack repeatedly describes his depression as a kind of "drowning", and the opening sequence of each episode features him falling backwards into his pool. In the penultimate episode, he attempts to drown himself for real.
  • Emotionally Tongue-Tied: Has a hard time expressing his emotions, particularly love or guilt.
  • Empty Shell: He sometimes seems to be falling apart. The cocktail of drugs and booze hasn't done any favors to his spiritual state. Nor has his inability to achieve any sort of peace with himself and his actions.
    "Nothing in the inside. Nothing in the outside."
  • Enraged by Idiocy: Already a bitter person, BoJack has little patience for people with interesting ways of looking at life, plain stupid or just irrational. This extends not just to people like Todd or Mr. Peanutbutter, but also to media, celebrities, and people he encounters. Telling them is just part of his Brutal Honesty.
  • Entitled Bastard: Several times, sometimes openly, others more subtly. One of the worst was his stubborn demand to Herb that he forgive him for not supporting him, as if his forgiveness was a natural outcome rather than an earned result.
  • Ephebophile: BoJack has a lust for younger women that seems to stem from a desire to relive his years of fame and innocence. It reached its extreme conclusion when he attempted (though failed) to have sex with 17-year-old Penny Carson, exploiting the fact that it was legal in New Mexico, and Penny was willing to do it with him. Though when Penny's mom Charlotte puts a stop to it, BoJack is immediately shamed as a pervert and kicked out of their home.
  • Establishing Character Moment: BoJack's first actions on screen after being announced on The Charlie Rose Show, as established above, pretty much tell you all you need to know about him. To elaborate, he was late, he parked in a disabled parking space, is incredibly drunk, is quite crude for what should be a serious interview, states that he's doing a good job at the interview, showing his insecurities, narcissism and need for acceptance (though all that said, he does give a genuinely insightful answer when called upon to explain why his performance resonated so well with audiences despite the show's many flaws, indicating there might be more to him than just a liquor-sodden Jerkass). Finally, when Charlie asks him what he has been doing since the show ended, BoJack fails to come up with an answer, proving that he's stuck in his past and hasn't moved forward, and as the series progresses, how much he is at a loss for how to do it.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Subtle, but it’s there, whether he wants it or not. Just ask Herb, Mr. Peanutbutter, and that one guy in Vigor who saw him naked.
  • Evil Pays Better: This is how BoJack was convinced by Angela that standing for Herb was a bad idea around the 5th season of Horsin' Around: Everything he'd worked for up to this point would be taken away, and he'd lose the admiration of the public, which would ruin the reputation of the show and everyone involved in it. Playing nice and letting his friend be fired would ensure the prizes would remain, and everything would continue flowing smoothly, and even allow him to get what he wants. 20 years later, it turns out she was right: he got everything he wanted out of life, but as luck would have it, his conscience and guilt for all of the horrid things he's done to reach that spot have kept him from enjoying it. What's worse, he finds out that sacrificing Herb was completely pointless; Angela later admitted that she was bluffing, and would have had to capitulate if BoJack stood up for him.
  • Exhausted Eyebags: One of the glaring signs he's getting old. That and less expanding hair.
  • Experienced Protagonist: Unlike newcomer Diane, obliviously functional PB or ruthlessly victory-assuring PC, BoJack knows the drill of how everything goes in Hollywoo and can safely play it cool if his mind is clear. Of course, because of his intelligence and tendency to play friends with everybody, he may be too outstanding, clever, and self-destructive to be a successful player of the fame game.
  • Expressive Ears: He pins them back tightly whenever he's distressed and perks them forward when alert or interested.
  • Fair-Weather Friend: He seems to prefer such, given that he dislikes getting close to people. Surprisingly, he subverts it by being a loyal, if reluctant, supporter of Diane's, Todd's, Princess Carolyn's, and even, at times, Mr. Peanutbutter's causes and dreams.
  • Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: BoJack can’t stand Mr. Peanutbutter or anything related to him, and it’s not hard to see why: his good luck, better social skills, and great life serve as reminders of his inability to be the same despite having the chance to do so. Gradually, it’s downplayed as BoJack (reluctantly) accepts PB as part of his life one way or another, even if he still prefers to spend as little time with him as possible.
  • Feigning Intelligence: As a strategy to avoid showing his true self to Diane, his biographer, he tries to pretend to be an intellectual, often musing nonsense about some of his possessions, such as paintings, like the one in his office, or sculptures he owns. That said, he is fairly knowledgeable about the history of his chosen profession and often name-drops important figures from film and theatre in conversation, sometimes even accurately.
  • Fish out of Water: When out of Tinseltown territory, it becomes clear why BoJack has never been able to subsist in normalcy.
    • He's this in "Escape From L.A." He's the Only Sane Man in Hollywoo, but when it comes to fitting in normal everyday life in Tesuque, he's at a loss about what to do or how to behave.
    • A more literal example occurs in the appropriately named "Fish Out Of Water", when BoJack ends up promoting Secretariat in the Pacific Ocean City Film Festival. Not only is he lost when it comes to money, customs, and direction, but he also ends up causing a major controversy when he gives the "okay" finger to people, which basically means Flipping the Bird underwater.
    • When in a fugue state during season 4, BoJack has trouble keeping his head down and passing as someone else, especially when annoying fans pick at his crest with innocuous comments about "this BoJack Horseman" and any stupid comment they make. He's also useless as a handyman, which is quite an inconvenience when the dilapidated Sugarman summer house is used as a temporary residence.
  • Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Be it memoirs, a dream role, or just plain trying to be friendly with people, BoJack clearly knows he won't find peace and happiness with any of them.
  • Fond Memories That Could Have Been: His Imagine Spot in "Downer Ending" hints at the life that he could have had with Charlotte. Later on, he expresses sadness and remorse at not having given it a try when he could.
  • Fool for Love: When love's involved; BoJack has a track record of making stupid and rash decisions: he stole the "D" from the Hollywood sign as a symbol of love towards Diane and later tries to sabotage her wedding with Mr. Peanutbutter, stalks, sabotages several job opportunities and fires Princess Carolyn just to have a chance of dating again and spouts needy, jealous behavior towards Wanda at the beginning and end of their relationship. This can also blind him to the reality of the relationship in its current state; namely, how fragile it is, how sometimes manipulation runs on both sides, or simply how much he can affect with his gestures.
  • Formerly Fit: Back in the glorious Horsin' Around days, he had a physique similar to PB's. In the present, he has a beer gut and is quite often teased for it.
  • Five Philosophy Ensemble: The Cynic of the group. Curiously, he can also fit The Apathetic or The Conflicted depending on the situation.
  • Freudian Excuse: His parents resented him for the simple reason of being alive, with his mother, Beatrice, creating his Inferiority Superiority Complex. His father, Butterscotch, would constantly shame him for doing things incorrectly, no matter how affecting it was, even forcing him to start from square one if he didn't approve of the process. Thus, a sense of dread in messing up as well as disappointing people counting on him was instilled. What was born out of such abuse was his desire to prove his value to other people whose approval he desperately seeks.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: In season 3, Todd calls him out on the fact that he keeps blaming his very Dark and Troubled Past for his faulty behavior and expects everyone, especially Todd, to just forgive his actions based on it. While his story is bleak and BoJack himself is suffering from depression, Todd is right that having that story doesn't make him unaccountable for the damage he causes to others, no matter how self-destructive he has become because of it.
    Todd: You can't keep doing this! You can't keep doing shitty things, and then feel bad about yourself, like that makes it okay! You need! To be! Better!
    BoJack: I know. And I'm sorry, okay? I was drunk, and there was all this pressure-
    Todd: No! No. BoJack, just... stop. You are all the things that are wrong with you. It's not the alcohol, or the drugs, or any of the shitty things that happened to you in your career, or when you were a kid. It's you, alright? It's you. ... Fuck, man. What else is there to say?
  • A Friend in Need: Several times:
    • "Prickly Muffin": When Sarah Lynn almost kills herself in a store, he lets her stay with him.
    • "The Telescope": Brutally deconstructed. He tells himself he's going to see Herb while he's dying of cancer to mend fences but Herb immediately sees it for the lame attempt to assuage his own guilt that it is and makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he'll die hating BoJack's guts.
    • "The Shot"/"Yes And": When Diane returns from Cordovia earlier than expected and is afraid of returning home defeated with Mr. Peanutbutter, BoJack offers her his house to stay in.
  • Friendless Background: Implied in "Downer Ending" when a Flashback shows a teenage BoJack sitting on a bench alone and feeling pretty miserable.
  • Friendly Enemy: With Mr. Peanutbutter, although it's more vitriolic on his part.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Deconstructed. BoJack does have noble qualities, but a combination of his childhood and past mistakes, led him to be an emotionally troubled person who often takes his frustrations out on the few people who genuinely like him, causing them to feel a mixture of anger and pity towards the horse.
  • Friendship Denial: No, he's not friends with Mr. Peanutbutter and he won't admit that he cares for Todd. At least until the 2nd season finale.
  • Friends with Benefits: Enters one with Ana, but he wants more from their relationship then sex.
  • Friend to Psychos: His relationship with Character Actress Margo Martindale. It speaks volumes of how unhinged Martindale is that BoJack comes across as the sane one in the relationship.
  • Functional Addict: For a definition of "functional", at least. He's snorted, drank and porked every substance he would encounter, but he's one of the most level-headed characters in the series, which says a lot about the chaotic world he lives in. Finally Subverted in Season 5, where he's prescribed opioids and becomes an Addled Addict.
  • Furry Reminder: While having sex with Sarah Lynn, he neighs in arousal. Plus, he has an obvious "horse" face. He also mentions seeing a bag in the window once and getting spooked.
  • Giftedly Bad: BoJack has had a few stabs at writing, both for Horsin' Around and his memoirs. While he can act his way out of a top hat, his prose is noticeably terrible. Horsin' Around ended with the horse dying and his kids sent to foster care, which made the audience scream in horrified protest. As for his memoirs? When BoJack gets past choosing the font, it's so saccharine that his imagined version of Butterscotch smacks him.
  • Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Is the miserable, washed up, misanthropic Grumpy to Mr. Peanutbutter's always peppy Gleeful.
  • Glory Days: BoJack seems to hold a special reverence for the '90s due to his participation in "Horsin' Around" and his friendship with Herb going great. Of course, this being BoJack, it becomes clear that he's deliberately ignoring the darker aspects of those times.
  • Goal in Life: When asked what he wants out of life, BoJack responds that he wants to feel good about himself. The trouble is that BoJack is His Own Worst Enemy in this regard, as his self-destructive behavior, rampant abuse of alcohol, and spiteful mean streak prevent him from making any sort of meaningful change.
  • Grand Romantic Gesture: Of the overly exaggerated kind. The reason why the "D" of the Hollywood sign is missing is because BoJack stole it as a "symbol" for Diane.
  • Grass Is Greener: One of the problems he constantly faces. BoJack always has to idealize the unobtainable for him, craving an idealized version of what he thinks he needs...and always being let down when reality sets in.
  • The Greatest Story Never Told: How BoJack stole the 'D' from the Hollywood sign from under everyone's nose shall remain The Un-Reveal.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: After decades of snidely denying it, he ultimately admits that he's this to Mr. Peanutbutter during "Let's Find Out."
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Due to his bitter personality, he has a tendency to lash out at others when he gets defensive.
  • Happily Failed Suicide: Zigzagged. While he is grateful to be alive in the Series Finale, he still has to deal with the consequences of attempting to drown himself. This includes serving time in prison, seeing his friends have happy endings without him, and facing the unknown of his future.
  • Happy Place: His Imagine Spot of a quiet lakehouse in Maine in "Downer Ending".
  • Harmful to Minors: His bad advice and lousy treatment toward the cast of "Horsin' Around" and his actions towards Penny's friends in "Escape From L.A." show that he isn't the best around children.
  • Has a Type: BoJack has a thing for strong and driven women, given the specific women he has had a romantic interest in and/or relationship with, although Princess Carolyn describes it as "wanting a mommy [he] can slide his dick in and out of".
  • Hated by All: Played With. While BoJack becomes the most hated person in all Hollywoo due to some of the bad things he has done especially being the one that was responsible for Sarah Lynn's death, there are still a few people who support him, such as Mr. Peanutbutter, Vance and an anti-feminist/incel college student. It also ultimately doesn't last in the long term, since his successful film and people just flat out forgetting about his past transgressions due to time and other things taking precedent causes him to begin to rise out of it.
  • Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: He wants fame and recognition, but despises having to deal with showbiz minutia and the whims of others. Best exemplified during the opening minutes of Season 3 when he finally gets popular enough to be regularly approached for interviews only to grow increasingly frustrated and sarcastic towards the nigh-identical questions asked of him.
  • Heel–Face Door-Slam: In season 6, after Diane drives him to rehab, he finally starts picking up the pieces of his life and takes a position as a college acting teacher. BoJack agrees with Hollyhock about setting boundaries in their relationship, but is still in contact with her. Then two reporters find out he was involved in Sarah Lynn's death, and all of that comes crashing down.
  • Hero-Worshipper: He adores Secretariat, although he doesn't put him on a pedestal and acknowledges him as flawed.
  • Hidden Depths: Oddly, he has his moments of political and philosophical insight when prompted, appearing to get at least far enough into an essay about feudalism to make a thesis statement in "Let's Find Out."
    Ana: Apparently, the French do not care for you ever since you said that thing in the press.
    BoJack: Hey, I stand by my critique of Sartre. His philosophical arguments helped tyrannical regimes justify overt cruelty. Also, the French smell and I hate them.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Zigzagged. In the first season, BJ's memories of his horrid childhood are darkly comic with Beatrice and Butterscotch’s insults and abuse of him being Played for Laughs. However, later seasons take the dysfunction, dread, melancholy, and domestic violence of his memories and play them for drama.
  • His Own Worst Enemy: BoJack has serious problems with keeping his uglier impulses in check, but is also the first to endlessly beat himself up mentally for their failures in doing so. The end result is that he is stuck in a constant spiral of self-loathing and self-destructive behavior.
  • Hollywood Heart Attack: The catalyst for BoJack to hire Diane as a ghostwriter is this happening to him. Twice. On the same day. It is later subverted, when his doctor reveals it wasn't heart attacks but panic attacks, caused by anxiety.
  • Homosocial Heterosexuality: Most of the interactions and fights BoJack has with Mr. Peanutbutter over Diane are done with only them in the knowledge of what's going on. She's not present in most of their fights and wasn't even aware of both of their emotions until BoJack kissed her. The more details are given, it seems less like a fight over a girl and more like a battle of egos. It's taken even further when in "Let's Find Out",BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter get into a heated discussion sparkled by Diane's mention that slowly drifts to a discussion about their...."complicated" relationship.
  • Hope Crusher: He destroys Todd's chances at success, just to keep him from moving.
  • Ignorance Is Bliss: During his first encounter with Diane, he takes one look at Mr. Peanutbutter and calls him an "idiot who doesn't realize he's miserable" ... and he envies that.
  • Important Haircut: In Season 6, after gets sober in rehab and making amends with her at an AA meeting, he has his old hairdresser Sharona give him a haircut, where it’s revealed to the audience he’s been dyeing his hair for 20 years, and the finished result is a shorter grey style.
  • Incompatible Orientation: During the excitement of a network picking up "Horsin' Around", Herb tries to kiss BoJack. He declines, citing that he's heterosexual.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: Best encapsulated in a Deconstruction-filled line in "Chickens".
    Kelsey: Can we have one conversation that isn't about you? I don't understand why you need me to like you so much.
    BoJack: I don't need you to like me! It would be fun if you liked me, because then I could prove to myself that my parents were wrong to never support me, because I'd now earned the admiration of a surrogate-authority figure, thus proving that I have intrinsic worth, but it's not like it's a big deal or anything. Jeez.
  • invokedReclusive Artist: After Horsin' Around concluded, he more or less retreated from the public eye, which wasn't helped by his personality deterring people from working with him.
  • It's All About Me: His mindset and cause for every unsavory thing he has done, ranging from the very scathing speech he gave Diane in "Downer Ending" to his actions in "Escape From L.A.". Justified since BoJack has shown to have a very fragile ego that he tries to counterbalance, and Deconstructed by the fact that this mindset has done nothing more than damage to everyone close enough to him. He seems to slowly be getting better, though, but unfortunately it sometimes slipped back into extremely destructive ways.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: He may be an alcoholic, grumpy, narcissistic TV star, but sometimes he makes valid arguments (especially when he’s sober). For instance:
    • In “Bojack Hates The Troops”, he has every right to call out Neal McBeal, the Navy SEAL, for abusing his position as a Navy serviceman to get everything he wants, including some muffin that he just left them among the vegetables in good view instead of putting them in a cart or carrying them with him, leading to BoJack taking them.
    • In “Live Fast, Diane Nguyen”, he rightfully tells Diane that expecting that her abusive family would change themselves for the better is stupid, and that she should cut the ties with them for good, as staying with them is not worth it.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: BoJack is set up as an example of this, being portrayed as genuinely sympathetic despite the following: his actions, pettiness, selfishness, his harshness on anything he doesn't like, and the fact he's a tough person to like in general. The show's own Netflix description references this trope, saying BoJack has "a heart of... not quite gold... but something like gold. Copper?" This trope is later brutally deconstructed, when BoJack begins to rely on this self-perception to justify his actions, and ends up outright begging to tell him that he's a good person at heart.
    BoJack: I know that I can be selfish and narcissistic and self-destructive but underneath all that, deep down, I'm a good person and I need you to tell me that I'm good... Diane... tell me, please, Diane, tell me that I'm good...
  • I Just Want to Be You: In "Let's Find Out", BoJack admits that he envies and wishes that he could be just like Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Karmic Shunning: In the final season, once all of his bad deeds come to light, his personal friends cut ties with him and he's become a pariah in Hollywoo. Subverted in the final episode, where everyone completely forgets about all that and really likes his performance The Horny Unicorn.
  • Kick the Dog: Unfortunately, it’s very easy for BoJack to pull one of these, and they are all fueled by his self-centered attitude. An example of that was enabling a teen's drinking and abandoning her at the hospital with very probable alcohol poisoning, and destroying Todd's chance at success just to keep him from moving out.
  • Ladykiller in Love: Deconstructed. BoJack sleeps with numerous women to temporarily escape his own sadness. And in the moments he wanted a real romantic relationship with someone (i.e., Diane, Wanda, Charlotte) it doesn't work out for a number of reasons - the woman already being in a relationship (Diane), differing personalities (Wanda), or already married and not having a romantic interest in him anymore (Charlotte). And besides those other reasons, it's BoJack's own subconscious drive to destroy his close relationships in the belief that he doesn't deserve them. He also tends to put his crushes on a pedastal, then becomes disillusioned or loses interest when it becomes clear that they cannot live up to the idealized version in his head.
  • Large Ham: When he gets worked up, he becomes something of a Drama Queen which makes sense because of his extreme anger issues and the fact that he was a sitcom actor growing up.
  • Leitmotif: "BoJack's Theme" by Patrick Carney, a deceitfully upbeat Blues Rock song with underlying sadness and hopelessness, used as the opening theme for the show and in a Dark Reprise montage at the end of "Escape From L.A.".
  • Like Parent, Like Child: Like his parents, BoJack can be an abusive, hurtful jerk who pushes his problems onto his past life while having an All Take and No Give mentality. Unlike them, BoJack slowly, but surely gets better.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Gray jacket, blue knit sweater, jeans and red sneakers are usually a good way to recognize him in a crowd. Only occasionally does he wear something different: smoking, his Horsin' Around wardrobe. He does get a new outfit in The Face of Depression.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: As it turns out in season 4's "Underground", Diane drunkenly admits BoJack's one for her, as she is to him, and was devastated when he left without a trace for 6 months. Of course, she kind of flip-flops on this when sober.
  • Lonely at the Top: Despite having everything a person could want from life, BoJack is shown to be very lonely and desperate, with the relationships that mattered him the most virtually destroyed and alienated by circumstance and his own flaws and the few friendships he's got left being constantly put to the test.
  • Lonely Together: In a romantic (and disastrous) way with Princess Carolyn, and in a platonic sense with Diane.
  • Longing for Fictionland: Given how his life was much easier and happier in his fictional sitcom home, it's no surprise that he truly wants to invoke its rules in real life.
  • Lost in Character: In Season 5, BoJack temporarily loses his grip on reality under the influence of opioids and starts acting like his character, the jaded detective Philbert, in real life. So when BoJack has to film a strangling scene for the show, he actually strangles someone.
  • Lousy Lovers Are Losers: Despite the fact he Really Gets Around, BoJack being an unsatisfying lover is a Running Gag in the show, as he lacks staying power and doesn't really care about helping his partners achieve their own orgasms. This is better illustrated in "Zoes And Zeldas" where his two sex scenes with Princess Carolyn end with him orgasming before he even penetrates her.
  • Love Hungry: A lot of BoJack's stupider decisions can be traced back to BoJack desperately craving some sort of positive recognition or approval from others, which leads to him doing increasingly drastic things that he thinks are good ideas but in reality ends up screwing himself over more often than not.
  • Lying to Protect Your Feelings: His unreliability when explaining his childhood, his past as a stand-up comedian and his parents, especially to Diane as a ghostwriter on his memoirs and unintentional therapist in their interactions, is initially because he's trying his hardest not to open old wounds, despite his failure to confront them hindering him and any progress he might make.
  • Mad Libs Catch Phrase: Back in Horsin' Around, his catchphrase was "I've heard of (x), but this is ridiculous!"
  • Manchild: One of the major issues holding him back is that he's got the mindset of a teenager. This is especially an issue with his relationships with women, since he tends to date women younger than him but they eventually mature and grow tired of his immature behavior. Compared to Mister however, he's more of a Psychopathic Manchild, due to how his immaturity tends to hurt people.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: At his worst, he seems to have a hatred of everything and everyone. The few lasting exceptions seem to be his friends like PC, Todd, and Diane.
  • Murder by Inaction: He waited seventeen minutes before calling an ambulance when Sarah Lynn overdosed because he was trying to think up a good alibi for his behavior before making the phone call. Had he called sooner, she might have lived. It's one of the things he gets grilled over in the second half of Season Six.
  • Must Make Amends: Upon finding out Herb has rectal cancer, he travels to his house to reconnect with him. It fails.
  • My Greatest Failure: Depressingly, he gets one once a season.
    • Season 1 - His betrayal of Herb and its consequences, culminating in the Rejected Apology.
    • Season 2 - Almost sleeping with Charlotte's daughter, Penny, after being rejected by Charlotte herself.
    • Season 3 - After going on a months-long bender with Sarah Lynn, she dies of an overdose while they're at the planetarium. This, notably, is what pushes BoJack over the Despair Event Horizon.
      BoJack: The funeral was huge. There were so many people there. I kept thinking "I did this to her." And everyone was just standing around like "Well, this was bound to happen," but... it wasn't bound to happen.
    • Season 4 - This is actually averted, as he manages to avoid irrevocably ruining anything or anyone. Though he is still haunted by the failures of previous seasons, particularly Sarah Lynn's death.
    • Season 5 - Nearly choking Gina to death on-set of his TV show because of being hopped up on drugs. It's this incident that convinces him to enter rehab for drug addiction after he realizes that he can't beat this on his own.
    • Season 6 - It is revealed through phone records that BoJack waited 17 minutes before calling an ambulance for Sarah Lynn while she fought for her life before dying at the hospital. Even BoJack hates himself for this, and when trying to apologize to a dream-Sarah Lynn he accepts her telling him to be quiet. On a grander scale, network executive Angela Diaz spitefully tells BoJack that she manipulated him into abandoning Herb. BoJack is predictably quick to blame his life's downward spiral on this revelation.
  • Mysterious Middle Initial: A quick moment in "Stop the Presses" shows the first letter of his middle name is "F", but it's left a mystery what the "F" stands for.
  • Narcissist: As an egotistical horseman, he is often portrayed as a self-absorbed individual, with a very inflated opinion of himself combined with an inordinate need for tribute from others, as well as a constant search for others' love and respect, envy of those who are better than him and contempt toward those who he feels are beneath his attention. Overall, his attitude fits more with those of compensatory narcissists, due to his motivation being less of an intricate sense of entitlement and more of a need to establish some self worth courtesy of his lack of self esteem and deep insecurities. Nevertheless, BoJack deviates from the rule in that, in a similar vein to Tony Soprano, he realizes that his actions and personality are damaging to the people around him and, unlike Tony, he actually has the sense and capacity to make a turnaround.
    Princess Carolyn: Remember that book you're pretending to write? Well, Penguin wants an update on your progress. Does Tuesday work for you, or are you gonna be too busy this week masturbating to old pictures of yourself?
    BoJack: I told you, that's not what was happening that time. I was masturbating to what the picture represented.
  • Near-Rape Experience: In "Thoughts and Prayers", BoJack recounts how in the eighth grade, he had an encounter with a pianist who "liked to tickle more than just the ivories" when getting a ride home from them after Beatrice pretended not to know him after a shaky solo, but luckily, he manages to get home unscathed.
  • Never My Fault: He knows a lot of things are his own fault, and chews himself up with self-loathing, but if there's some kind of excuse that will get him out of it, like his childhood or bad time in Hollywood or being drunk, then he'll take it. Todd and Diane eventually get sick of this, and need some time away.
  • Not Me This Time: For all the damage BoJack causes to people directly or indirectly, the one person he never actually affects is Hollyhock, as what he believed was his fault was actually the fault of his mother suffering dementia. Ironically, when she does cut him out of her life, it's due to what he did to other people, not her personally.
  • Obliviously Evil: Invoked. Most of BoJack's actions in "Escape From L.A.", including almost sleeping with Charlotte's (technically legal) teen daughter Penny, weren't, according to Raphael Bob-Waksberg, done with malicious intent since he has the mind of a teenager and doesn't realize that he's doing something wrong.
  • Older Than He Looks: Given his Funny Animal biology, style of dress and especially the way he acts, it's easy to forget that BoJack is in his early 50s. By the middle of Season 6 he finally starts looking closer to his age due to no longer dyeing his grey hair.
  • Old Shame: In-Universe: The BoJack Horseman Show. While the original concept could have been a successful comeback for him, after a night of drunken rewrites with showrunner Mr. Cuddlywhiskers, the end result became a show that people only remember for how hilariously shitty it was, to the point that BoJack practically excised it from his memory.
  • One of the Kids: Deconstructed. BoJack has an uncanny ability to bond with younger characters because of his own mental immaturity. This is one of the reasons why he's able to understand Sarah Lynn's plight and why he starts bonding with Charlotte's daughter, Penny. However, this makes him much more susceptible to screwing up instead of behaving like a responsible adult should. "Escape From L.A." just drives this home: He's still his usual self, but by interacting with people closer to his emotional age; a.k.a. teenagers, he comes off less as a lovable loser and more as a creepy, pathetic old man.
  • Only Sane by Comparison: While BoJack can be an impulsive and self-destructive manchild, he can be very rational and is intelligent enough to make excellent points about the way he views about celebrity culture and life in general. He's also seemingly the only person in Hollywoo who realises that Princess Carolyn's boyfriend Vincent Adultman is "very obviously three kids stacked on top of each other under a trench coat"
  • Parental Substitute:
    • Even though they were just actors playing characters on television, BoJack was viewed as a father figure to Sarah Lynn, due to playing her stepdad when she was very young on that show. But when BoJack and Sarah admit that they're not even real family, it changes into a more sexual relationship.
    • BoJack, in his capacity as Todd's much older roommate and financial caretaker, often acts like a nagging single father towards him.
  • Perpetual Frowner: It's rare to see BoJack with a smile on his face. Most of the time, you will most likely see him with a miserable, depressed frown. Then again, it's hard to blame him.
  • Pet the Dog: BoJack can be cruel, selfish, abrasive and horribly needy, but he can perform genuine acts of kindness to show that he's not without a heart. Probably one of the best examples is going through with a skit of Mr. Peanutbutter's "crossover episode" that BoJack himself brings up. It's done with no ulterior motive or sarcasm, despite the tentatively rocky relationship they've had in the past.
  • Phrase Catcher: "Aren't you/Isn't that the horse from Horsin' Around?"
  • Playboy Has a Daughter: Played with in Season Four, where after months of self-imposed exile at his family's old house, BoJack returns home to meet Hollyhock, who believes herself to be his daughter and, while Happily Adopted, wants his help to locate her birth mother. While it ultimately turns out that she's actually his half-sister (the product of an extramarital affair between his dad and his mother's maid), his erstwhile belief that he's a father actually gets him to clean up his act for once. Alas, eventually, she finds out about his previous bad behavior and cuts him out of her life for good, and he finally hits the Despair Event Horizon.
  • Playing the Victim Card: While he has suffered, he dials it up in Season Five, telling Diane that he's the one who has suffered the most because of his own actions. Season Six calls him out on it, showing that all the women he traumatised and tried to move on from, are still suffering more than he is.
  • Politically Incorrect Hero: BoJack has said some rather unpleasant things about people from Alaska and France.
    "Please, we're going to Alaska. How am I going to offend a bunch of inbred Eskimo blubber-munchers?"
    "Hey, I stand by my critique of Sartre. His philosophical arguments helped tyrannical regimes justify overt cruelty. Also, the French smell and I hate them."
  • Practically Different Generations: He was already a grown man when his half-sister Hollyhock was born. When he learned about her existence and that they were related for the first time, the age gap was so big that everyone just assumed that he was her father.
  • Prematurely Gray Haired: It's revealed in Season 6 that his hair started to go gray in his thirties, presumably due to his hard lifestyle, and he's been hiding it with hair dye. After Sharona cuts his hair, he decides to stop covering it up.
  • The Prima Donna: As the eventual success of Horsin' Around starts to inflate his ego, BoJack invokedbecomes demanding and selfish towards the cast and writers, arguing that his wishes should be the order and he is the star, after all.
  • Really Gets Around: BoJack sleeps with different women a lot. One episode has a list of statistics showing that he's had sex with over 100 women. But, it's mentioned time and time again that one of the main reasons he has sex with random women is to ease his loneliness, and it's not working.
  • Relationship Revolving Door: BoJack and Princess Carolyn are always going back and forth between seemingly breaking up for good and returning to give it one more shot. Justified since, as he explains himself, they're not really in love, just craving to communicate with someone, basically hanging onto each other since there's no one better around until around midway season 1 when they both agree they don't belong together. Then, again, there may have been some actual love in-between the masochism and hurt, but it has clearly become too toxic by the time season 3 nears its end.
  • The Resenter: To Mr. Peanutbutter, for being happy and comfortable in his own skin. Eventually, he lets go of this.
  • Retargeted Lust: During "Escape From L.A.", BoJack increasingly bonds with Penny Carson, Charlotte's daughter, because of their similar thought process, problematic issues that no one seems to understand or help them with, impulsive yet innocent behavior and hidden vulnerabilities. Moreso from BoJack's part, as Penny looks exactly like her mother and gets along with her as her previous relationship with Charlotte starts crumbling away. After a failed attempt to get Charlotte to elope in a romantic whim, BoJack presumably takes Penny's naive offer for sex as a sort of rebound from Charlotte. As she found them before they would do anything, he's still tormented about whether he would have gone ahead with it.
  • Ridiculous Procrastinator: He constantly postpones writing his memoirs, perhaps because he doesn't really wants to talk about his past. It's so bad that Pinky's company hires Diane as a ghostwriter to complete it.
  • Role-Ending Misdemeanor:invoked Subverted. You would think, BoJack nearly killing Gina would have cancelled Philbert, but it doesn't. What does cancel the show, however, is a sex robot harassing its employees.
  • Romantic Runner-Up: In the Love Triangle between himself and Mr. Peanutbutter for Diane in season 1. Zigzagged the more the series goes on since in spite of failing, he and Diane still form a strong bond bordering on pseudo romantic.
  • Rose-Tinted Narrative: His attempts at writing his long-overdue memoirs, after dismissing Diane, are hindered by this. His significant alteration of his Abusive Parents into Good Parents just for the sake of trading reality for a more comfortable lie shows him as unwilling to make his dark past public.
  • Sanity Slippage: While he's not the most realistic person at the best of times, Season 5 has him descend into an opioid addiction, which causes him to become completely Lost in Character as Philbert. In Episode 11, this comes to a head in a full-blown psychotic breakdown where he violently strangles Gina Cazador. Luckily for everyone, he recovers.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: The only reason why the police lets Diane, Todd and Irving go after breaking into Gentle Farms is because BoJack knows Drew Barrymore.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Famous!: As a Hollywood celebrity, he at least believes he can get away with illegal actions.
  • Self-Made Man: Throughly deconstructed as BoJack would attest himself, since he could tell people one or two things about how difficult, pain-staking and ultimately hollow such an ideal is, what with all the broken relationships, alienation from any sense of self, pressure from everyone to give your best and how your success relies on the people's opinion of what you do and how marketable it is.
  • Self-Serving Memory: Played for Drama and some dark laughs. He fabricates an alternate vision of his life and actions for the sake of avoiding responsibility or guilt over a problem he has caused. He also applies this logic to his very tragic past and high insecurities to appear more well-adjusted than he truly is.
  • Serial Homewrecker: BoJack was cheating on Princess Carolyn regularly and seemingly tried to sabotage her relationship with Vincent. It's revealed he broke up Bradley Hitler-Smith's parents by sleeping with his mother. He even tried to steal Diane from Mr. Peanutbutter with a Grand Romantic Gesture, something that even Mr. Peanutbutter could not overlook. Even so, Princess Carolyn has agreed to keep their relationship professional, and Bradley at least is willing to work with him on a new sitcom. It's not these that make BoJack realize he has to stop doing this: it's his nearly sleeping with Penny, who was seventeen and a friend's daughter, that starts his Heel Realization.
  • The Show Must Go On: The reason why BoJack refuses to help Herb when Herb was fired for his homosexuality is that he feared their show would ultimately be Overshadowed by Controversy and canceled, with the cast and crew and himself getting fired and forgotten by fans and viewers.
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Having had a pretty horrible childhood and quite a crappy life, BoJack's life Kōan involves the certainty that no one cares about him and as such, he should have little consideration for others. And has no problem telling this philosophy to anyone who'll listen. This mindset often makes him have derision for everybody who can be happy with their lives; e.g. Mr. Peanutbutter, since he secretly would wish to be part of such a group.
  • Single-Issue Psychology: Subverted. A lot of BoJack's problems can be traced down to his parents but his real problem is repeating and constantly being part of a self-destructive cycle, constantly ignoring real chances to make amends or change himself. In short, while his parents are to be blamed for his eventual condition, it's the aftermath and ramifications of the abuse that eventually drove him to be as screwed up as he is right now. But it's clear that BoJack suffers from depression, alcoholism, and several narcissistic traits.
  • Sinister Suffocation: In season 5, he becomes addicted to opioids, which causes him to lose his grip on reality. This eventually results in him getting Lost in Character as Philbert, so when the time comes for Philbert to strangle Gina's character, Sassy Malone, an enraged and drug-addled BoJack actually strangles her. If not for Mr. Peanutbutter's intervention, he could have killed her.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: Even with the great competition.
  • Sit Comic: The show Horsin' Around was made in part to boost BoJack's and Herb's career from stand-up comedians to actor and writer respectively. Of course, by the end, only BoJack had managed to make his dream come true. And even then barely.
  • Sliding Scale of Unavoidable vs. Unforgivable: Being a full-blown Anti-Hero, BoJack constantly toes the line in this department. It's highly debated between fandom, critics, creators and the characters themselves where he does stand.
    • For starters, there's his actions regarding Herb's dismissal. Was it really correct to leave out a dear pal out in the sun just for the sake of pleasing the network and continue the journey in the money train? Or was it Necessarily Evil that allowed thousands of people to remain in their cushy jobs, stopped the show from being canceled, and was therefore a tough but necessary choice? Then again, the main reason for their fallout was not the firing but that they remained out of touch for the next 20 years, yet exactly how much was in both parties is left up in the air: while Herb is hurt and mad at BoJack for dismissing him all those years without any concern for his health or life out of the business, evidence suggests the horse figured out Herb wouldn't want to see him again, since from his perspective Horsin' Around meant just as much to both of them and his inaction led to his firing, with his refusal to meet implied to include ignoring calls or even mentions of him. Basically, "you abandoned me when I needed you the most, that you can't figure that as the reason why I hate you now makes it even more unforgivable" vs "I thought you were mad at me for what I did to you and you wouldn't want to talk afterwards, that's why I didn't bother", as a brief summary.
    • Then, there is his treatment of Todd that can range from just harmless nudging to plain abuse to even harmful psychological bullying, even if BoJack certainly cares about him. There are two specific actions that cross a certain line, though: in season 1, there's his sabotage of Todd's rock opera to stop him from moving forward in life and stay with him; then, in season 3, he ends up sleeping with his would-be girlfriend Emily when offered an opportunity, although this one stands in a morally grey area: while BoJack's lack of impulse control, as well as subconscious self-sabotage make him the culprit in taking the decision, Todd's reluctance to open up to Emily about his asexuality and Emily giving up on trying to figure out what Todd wants and despondency about it also contributed to the disaster. Nevertheless, his refusal to accept responsibility and admit to what he did lights the petard that kaputts the friendship.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Deconstructed. His ego is the result of his severely low self-esteem, resulting in often wanting the validation and love of others to valorate himself. Tellingly, he switches between loving and hating himself.
  • Sore Loser: He doesn't enjoy the way he's losing in "Let's Find Out" and acts very bitter about it. There's also his reaction at the end of the episode. Justified since the game seems to be rigged for guest Daniel Radcliffe to win and him to lose.
  • Sour Outside, Sad Inside: With how assholish BoJack behaves, it's easy to forget that his actions are fueled by resentment, bitterness and deep sadness, mostly due to his lack of any real happiness or purpose outside Hollywoo or stardom.
  • Sour Supporter: He's this to Diane in "Hank After Dark", initially. He does support her, but he's still mad about her writing "One Trick Pony". Once they talk about it and bury the hatchet, he subverts the trope by standing behind her, though he also makes no secret of the fact that he thinks she's fighting a lost cause and that it would be in her own best interest to just cut her losses.
  • Species Surname: He's a horse and his last name is Horseman.
  • Star-Making Role: In-Universe. "Horsin' Around" made BoJack Horseman a household name in The '90s.
  • Stepford Smiler: Back in his early acting career on Horsin' Around he seemed much more cheerful, but he was still really miserable even back then. Now in the present day, he's dropped any pretense and is very open about how cynical and depressed he is.
  • Stepford Snarker: Don't worry, most of his snark is genuine, but it's clear that he uses snark usually as a form of protection and self-defense.
  • Stopped Caring: Years of abuse at the hands of his parents, as well as a long decline into washed-out middle age during which his only credit was to star in a 90s sitcom which, while beloved, isn't that great of an accomplishment, followed by a gradual loss of his circle of friends, some of it his doing, and the realization that the dream machine called Hollywood will toss him out just as easily as it let him in with open arms has certainly ensured that BoJack not only doesn't care about important emotional or moral issues, but that when he does, he prefers to avoid caring too much.
  • Straight Man: To Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter's antics. Otherwise, well....see below.
  • Straight Man and Wise Guy: The Wise Guy to Princess Carolyn, Diane and The Straight Man to Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: BoJack looks almost identical to his maternal uncle, Crackerjack, inheriting the pink spot/white snippet on his snout and fur color from him. He also bears a bit of resemblance to his father Butterscotch, his father; specifically, the mane color and the voice are identical. He also inherited his diamond marking from his mother and her side of the family, although Butterscotch said his mother also had a diamond marking.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: BoJack is a cynical person with many issues but deep down wants to be loved.
  • Superior Successor:
    • To Secretariat. Low as he can fall, BoJack just refuses to be kicked to the ground and simply take the easy way out and keeps trying to see any kind of silver lining, unlike his hero who allowed his bottled emotions to drain him out of any will to live.
    • To the whole Sugarman/Horseman family:
      • Beatrice's horrid childhood, rebellious young life and subsequent lack of wealth left her jaded, volatile and self-serving without any concern toward those around her other than the injustices she endured as a result of giving all of herself to her son without any regards for personal choices. BoJack does have a sense of dissatisfaction about the way his life is headed and has caused many clusterfucks worthy of being lynched, but has enough sense to know how damaging these are. Recently, he's gotten better at acknowledging his mistakes and mending them, something Beatrice could never figure out how to do.
      • Butterscotch's sense of idealism was broken by being cast out of the life he thought was promised him: the Beat generation dismissed his ideas and his sense of hurt pride made him an uncompromising man whose prose never got better as a result. BoJack has a desire to achieve greatness but has had enough experiences to know how unfulfilled hanging on to aspirations leave you, so he's learned to curb those flights of fancy.
      • Honey Sugarman's feisty and fun-loving nature was traded with her future grandson's depression and mood-swings caused by her son CrackerJack's death. Eventually, such despair consumed her to the point where she agreed to a lobotomy to live in ignorant bliss away from pain. BoJack due to living in the modern era has access to help and while not willing to go to therapy has shown a bigger commitment to fixing himself.
      • Joseph Sugarman, BoJack's grandparent, was a kind, accessible person...at least for the time of 1940. Still, the inability to understand deeper emotions or any sort of nuance from anyone made him a horribly pragmatic person. With the condonation from society, Joseph drifted into outright abuse toward his family through a warped sense of righteousness. BoJack is abrasive, unapologetic and brutally honest, which makes society dismiss his more noble qualities. Nevertheless, BoJack shows a keen understanding of his friends and loved ones' psyche and when push comes to shove, he can be there for them.
  • Sympathetic P.O.V.: Since he's our protagonist, for a measure of it, he's portrayed with a surprising depth and vulnerability that makes him a complex and at times redeemable character. Also deconstructed, as he does frequently, objectively shitty things that are hard enough for his friends to rationalise/stand by, and it's very easy to see why he comes off as an abusive predator to others.
  • Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's the tallest of the main cast, has a dark mane and hide, and usually uses strong colored garments; the snark part should be obvious by now.
  • Taught by Television: BoJack's life has always been influenced by TV, even when he was little, and more often than not, most of his knowledge comes from it. Unfortunately, this constant interaction combined with the time he spent working on Horsin Around, has caused him to constantly try to play life like a TV show, seeing as the conflicts and complexities of life can often be portrayed as easier in the aforementioned media; much to the detriment of the people who come into contact with him. He finally acknowledges this in Free Churro, where he points out that so far, it hasn't worked out.
  • Team Dad: He tries to act the part when the cast of Horsin' Around reunites at Herb's funeral, but Bradley, Joelle and Sarah Lynn know him better. Still, he is the one who acts as a mediator and stops them from killing each other.
  • The Teetotaler: Before he entered showbiz, BoJack did not drink, possibly due to the effect alcoholism had on his family. This did not last long into his career, as he is seen using booze to cope at most a few years afterwards.
  • Therapy Is for the Weak: As revealed in "Stop The Presses", he seems to hold this opinion. In a bit of irony, the person he's telling this is the closest thing to a therapist he's had and is clearly unaware of it, implying that his reasoning is more out of pride and fear than outright dismissal. By season 5 however, he is ultimately convinced to go to rehab by Diane to get help. While he resists at the start of season 6, he eventually opens up and begins to get better. Even admitting in a letter to Diane that he was stupid not to do it sooner. Ironically when Dr. Champ falls off the wagon due to an unintentional mishap of BoJack, his trying to help him (though sadly failing when Champ can't see his own problems and blames BoJack for what happened) is the breakthrough BoJack needs and he realizes where he can best his talents: Namely helping others.
  • Thousand-Yard Stare: He's sporting this in the intro credits.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: After three seasons of unsuccessfully trying to become a better person, BoJack ends the fourth season in a much better place than he was at the end of last season by reconciling with his half-sister Holly Hock and finally forming a genuine relationship with someone that he didn't irrevocably destroy at some point. BoJack's face in the final scene of the season says it all.
  • Token Adult: Downplayed. He's at best 27 years older than the youngest character, Todd. Still, he's the oldest in the main cast, so he still qualifies. His fellows and cast members treat him as such, at least.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Zig-Zagged. The least moral of the main characters, BoJack's deep exploration of his psyche as well as his (often) sympathetic motives goes a long way in softening and understanding the motivation behind some of his most heinous actions, even if not quite justifying them. The shifting morality and BoJack often ending as A Lighter Shade of Black compared to more amoral characters does its job as well.
  • Took a Level in Cheerfulness: As part of his self-proclaimed change of attitude in season 2, BoJack tries to remain calm and cheerful through his day, even as the cracks start to show. It completely falls apart by the end of the first episode.
  • Toxic Friend Influence: Sooner or later he tends to wind up hurting those closest to him. He laments this, saying after Sarah Lynn's death that he feels like there's poison inside him that spreads to every one of his friends.
  • Tragic Hero: Swinging the full scale from Comedy to Tragedy, often overlapping. There's enough evidence to suggest that should BoJack rise from his neuroses, flaws and egocentrism, he would be a great man. Yet his flaws and misunderstandings of how the world works lead him to fall lower and lower each time.
  • Tsundere: Rare Male Example. BoJack is abrasive, a stubborn jackass, rude, cynical, brutally honest and an unpleasant person in general but once the many layers are removed, he's emotionally needy, caring and a big ol' softie.
  • Unable to Cry: In public, at least. In private, however…
  • The Unapologetic: Part of what makes it difficult to reconcile with anyone he’s hurt: he stands by his choice, but he’s not happy with the results or having hurt someone, yet doing so won’t ensure the relationship will be mended nor that the situation will improve nor that everything will be the same as before. So he does nothing. And time passes.
  • Unknown Rival: There's no way he could make his hatred of Mr. Peanutbutter any clearer, yet the dog never seems to be the wiser. Or so it seems. As "Let's Find Out" reveals, he knows BoJack doesn't like him, but goes along with it, because he truly believes they can be friends. Later on, they do get something resembling an actual friendship.
  • Unreliable Expositor: Due to Diane, his ghostwriter, having to be the vessel in which BoJack has to pour all of his memories of past and present for her to write his memoirs; BoJack often struggles to appear sophisticated, well-balanced and with no baggage or in the case of traumatic and hard experiences, avoid the issue altogether. Diane doesn't fall for it.
  • Unrequited Love: He eventually develops a crush on his ghostwriter, Diane Nguyen, who couldn't be more uninterested or oblivious to it. While there are some hints that she might return his feelings, ultimately she ends up with Guy and severs her ties with BoJack for good.
  • Unstoppable Rage: He literally almost kills Gina because of his painkiller addiction that hurts his sanity.
  • Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist:
    • Is it even a surprise at this point? It should be. You’ll still sympathize with him because of his bad actions and even question if you’re that good of a person to begin with.
    • The end of season 3 with Sarah Lynn's death and season 4 introduces a Long-Lost Relative in Hollyhock, the trope ended up shattered as BoJack finally broke but as a result was able to confront his problems head-on. The end of season four and throughout season five show him succeeding in treating people better rather than just trying to erase his own self-loathing.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
    • Usually, BoJack's actions, well-intentioned or not, have serious repercussions for everyone around him. Some examples go from accidentally making Corduroy fall Off the Wagon and return to Erotic Asphyxiation, which causes his death and getting Kelsey fired for trying to be artistic in the Secretariat Biopic as well as (indirectly) causing another one of her movie projects to fall apart through Princess Carolyn .
    • He surely has a hand in Sarah Lynn's issues: he spend her entire childhood giving her awful life advice, by 2007, when they meet again with her on the edge of starting her current self-destructing personality, when they meet again, she is happy, but he reveals that he just went to see her to ask her to guest star on his show, ultimately, in the third season, he invites her to do a bender with hardcore drugs with him, which leads to her overdose and ultimate death.
    • The finale of season 3 plays this for laughs. The entire situation that arises is instigated entirely by actions BoJack has taken in earlier episodes
      • Margo Martindale is on the lam because of BoJack involving her in various criminal schemes and capers. She's in the boat he bought in New Mexico as a flimsy excuse for visiting Penny. And by this point in the series she's sufficiently unhinged by her involvement with BoJack to play chicken with a cargo ship
      • The pasta is being shipped to LA because Sandro is starting a new restaurant and requires a supply of authentic Italian spaghetti. The only reason he's doing this in the first place is because BoJack (accidently) fired him from his restaurant a couple of episodes earlier
      • The pasta starts to cook because of sunlight reflected off the blimp that was carrying a mirror to advertise BoJack's Secretariat movie, a leftover from his failed Oscar campaign.
  • Upper-Class Twit: Oscillates between this and Upper-Class Wit. He constantly overestimates himself and can be quite immature and impulsive.
  • Upper-Class Wit: Oscillates between this and Upper-Class Twit. At his best, he can have a better grasp of society and can be quite intelligent and even charming on occasion. His put-downs are also quite witty.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Child: In Flashbacks to his childhood, little BoJack is often shown to be kind, considered, well-behaved and a decent kid, almost the complete opposite of how he is nowadays, which makes it even more heartbreaking knowing what happened to him.
  • Used to Be More Social: Considering his more outgoing attitude in The '90s and his close circle of friends, this is certainly a major contrast to attitude as of the first episode, when he's nearly a shut-in with no close relationships to speak of.
  • Vengeance Feels Empty: BoJack treats Beatrice quite badly throughout Season 4, as his own way of getting back at her for years of emotional abuse. Given how she has dementia, and his spiteful actions towards her don't resonate well with Hollyhock, it doesn't really bring him any peace.
  • Villain Protagonist: Zigzagged and constantly explored. As hard as it is to not sympathize with BoJack's horrible past, his desire to be a good person, and his struggle (and usual failure) to reign in the more toxic parts of his personality, he's arguably one of the main driving forces for some of the most catastrophic events in the series. These events have resulted either from some sort of selfish desire on his part or are side effects of his obliviousness to his bad advice.
  • Was It Really Worth It?: At the end of season 1, BoJack looks back and realizes that despite gaining the role for Secretariat, not only is he still not happy, he has caused most of his relationships to crumble.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: BoJack was pretty good looking in his Horsin' Around days with a trim build and a full mullet like mane , but in the years after the show’s cancellation he's developed large eye bags and a pot belly, and has less expanding hair. Somewhat downplayed as despite characters like Herb and Princess Carolyn telling him he "looks like shit", he still manages to attract multiple women over the course of the series, most of whom are at least a decade or more younger than him and are one nights stands save for Wanda and Gina, and if anything his vices like his substance abuse and Jerkass-ness are what make him off-putting.
  • Weight Woe: Has a tendency to bemoan his weight and his constant binge eating and drinking, and gets offended when other characters point it out. His intrusive thoughts in "Stupid Piece of Sh*t" call him fat several times, and his crude cartoony mental depiction of himself gives him an exaggerated fat belly.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Even at his adult age, he can't stop wanting his parents to be proud of him. The 2nd season premiére reveals that, despite Herb's warning, he invited Beatrice to attend a taping of a Horsin' Around episode, which all she had to say about afterwards was that "it wasn’t Ibsen", and mocked him for wanting praise from her and for being a "clown" . When his father, and later his mother, died, he was saddened both times not because he actually loved them, but because it meant the slim hope that his parents would ever show kindness towards him died with them.
  • We Used to Be Friends: BoJack and Herb had a falling out after he was fired from Horsing Around and BoJack failed to support him. Years later, they meet again and it seems like they will bury the hatchet, only for BoJack to demand Herb in a passive way to forgive him. Things just escalated from there. Sadly, they never reconcile and Herb passes away hating BoJack.
  • What Have I Become?: His frequent opinions of himself and depression speaks volumes about his unhappiness in terms of lifestyle.
  • When He Smiles: At the conclusion of Season 4, as Hollyhock tells him that she doesn't need a dad... but she's never had a brother.
  • White-Dwarf Starlet: A rare male example; as of the start of the series BoJack hasn't really worked on anything of note in nearly 20 years. The only thing he's known for is a cheesy 90s sitcom that's gradually fading from the public memory and wasn't all that highly regarded even at its height, and his only other creative endeavour, The BoJack Horseman Show, was such a complete and utter flop that even he has pretty much forgotten about it. The first season follows his attempts to claw back the fame he's lost over the years through the book Diane is ghost-writing for him.
  • White Sheep: Calling BoJack this may sound weird, but considering that his grandmother Honey went mad with grief and was lobotomized as a result, his grandfather Joseph saw nothing wrong with this and was a pretty sexist guy with retrograde ideas that twisted Beatrice, his uncle Crackerjack was killed in the war, his mother Beatrice was raised to be a Baby Factory and rebelled by eloping with a hopeless dreamer like Butterscotch, only for both to end miserable due to her unplanned pregnancy with BoJack and failed dreams; BoJack is by comparison a guy with depression and narcissism. Not to say he’s completely functional, just slightly less screwed up. He shares this role with Hollyhock, who actually plays this straight as an arrow.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: He started as something akin to this in Hollywood, before he went off the deep end.
  • Worst Aid: In "Escape From L.A.", BoJack, acting as chaperone, decides to leave one of Penny's friends at the entrance of the hospital after suffering an alcohol poisoning, fearful of having to explain where the bourbon came from.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: His defining characteristic, as well as the reason he keeps screwing up his professional and personal lives, is his impression that real life operates on the same principals as a sitcom, with easily-resolved conflicts and zany schemes that actually work. He's been called out on this more than once.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In their first meeting, none other, Diane gives one such speech to BoJack regarding his work in Horsin' Around by comparing his career to Robert Reed from The Brady Bunch. Although BoJack being BoJack, the analogy backfires.
    Diane: Hey, do you know the story of the dad from The Brady Bunch?
    BoJack: Do I know his story? If I recall correctly, he was bringing up three boys of his own.
    Diane: Right, but—
    BoJack: They were four men living all together, but they were all alone. That is profoundly sad.
    Diane: No, the story is that the guy who played the dad hated being on The Brady Bunch because he was a real actor, and he considered it beneath him. Sound familiar?
    BoJack: That's not all that was beneath him. Gay joke. Sorry, I'm better than that.
    Diane: Most people don't even get to do The Brady Bunch version of the thing they want to do with their lives. You're actually in a really good position now, because you can pretty much do anything you want. You're responsible for your own happiness, you know?
    • In return, when Diane's family has driven her to breaking point, BoJack calms her down by giving her a letter from her pal "Leo".
      Diane: (reading) "Dear Diane, it's me, your old pen pal Leo. This definitely isn't BoJack Horseman writing this."
      BoJack: Keep reading.
      Diane: "You're a good person, Diane, and that's the most important thing. Even if no one appreciates you, it's important that you don't stop being good. I like how you always bring your own bags to the grocery store, and how you're always organized to go places. I like how you chew gum on the airplane so your ears will pop. A lot of people might not appreciate that about you, but I do. Yours forever, Leo." That's the best letter he ever wrote me.
    • And again in Season 3 after Sarah Lynn's funeral and BoJack's Despair Speech about being poison to everyone.
      Diane: When I was a kid, I used to watch you on TV. And you know I didn't have the best family. Things weren't that great for me. But, for half an hour every week, I got to watch this show about four people who had nobody, who came together and became a family. And, for half an hour every week, I had a home, and it helped me survive. BoJack, there are millions of people who are better off for having known you.
    • And he returns the favor by telling her what she's been trying to deny the whole season.
      BoJack: I know you don't want to hear this, but you're too good to be writing Instagram captions for celebrities. (Diane tries to make it seem a little more important than it is) I'm sorry, but you are. You know you are.
      Diane: Okay. Thank you.
      BoJack: And I wish you didn't get so distant after you moved out.
      Diane: I'm sorry.
      BoJack: You know me better than anybody, and you can't not be a part of my life.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: Once BoJack starts getting his act together after talking to Diane for his biography in Season 1, getting Secretariat's role in Season 2 and being nominated for an Oscar in Season 3, BoJack hasn't had as much time as in the early episodes to just slack off and wander around his house doing nothing, becoming less and less accustomed to it the more time passes. By the end of Season 3, when Horsin' Around and friends have stopped being part of his life, especially after Sarah's death, he returns to his home once more, now completely broken and messy, to find out he doesn't want to be there either and the effect it had on him of soothing his pain or distracting him from real problems no longer works. In other words: there are no more placebos to distract him from real life.
  • You Remind Me of X: He says to Penny, Charlotte's daughter, that she looks just like her mother.
  • Zany Scheme: Has one nearly Once per Episode. The reasons to put it in action vary, usually when BoJack tries to overstep or avoid a harsh fact of life, event or action to obtain a more comfortable reality. His determination towards these have proven to be pointless, since whenever they work, it's not in an intended way.

    Princess Carolyn 

Princess Carolyn (or "PC" for short)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1354.webp
In 2007
In the 90s
As a teenager
As a child

Voiced by: Amy Sedaris

An anthropomorphic pink Persian cat, who is BoJack's successful talent agent and also (up until Season One) his on-and-off girlfriend. She was one of the top agents working for Vigor, until she founded her own agency then turned management company VIM. She is an incredibly pragmatic yet good-natured individual who prides herself on being able to separate her personal life from her professional life, for the most part.


  • Aloof Ally: Usually when dealing with one of BoJack's schemes, PC will be the first one to point out how stupid it sounds and declare she doesn't care at all, while still helping.
  • Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Her fur is all pink, a hair color definitely not seen in real life.
  • Amicable Exes: She maintains friendly relations with BoJack even when they are not actively dating, as she claims she can separate her personal life from her professional life as an agent (later manager). In the final season, she sticks by him longer than any of his other friends.
  • Anti-Education Mama: Princess Carolyn's mother is seen confronting her after receiving college brochures in the mail, notably UCLA, both because they could not afford tuition, even with PC insisting she could get a job or paid internship, and because she resented the implication that her daughter thought she would be able to escape poverty and make something of herself, saying they had "unlucky numbers" in life’s game of roulette, ultimately to guilt her one child who hadn’t moved out (and who did her job for her most of the time due to her alcoholism) to stay home. She finally relented after a plan to push Princess Carolyn into a loveless marriage to the son of the rich family she worked for fell through, telling her she’s "free now" and reveals she got accepted to UCLA, although she did attempt to guilt her to defer for a year right before PC boarded her plane for California, but she refused.
  • Anti-Hero: She is a self-involved agent who will not hesitate to throw someone under the train if the person can be used as a scapegoat, not above using dirty tactics to get what she wants or fish some possible clients, but deep down, she is not a bad person.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Time and time again, she has had the chance (and valid reasons) to drop BoJack as a client, yet has never done it. As much as he claims that they're just really lonely and hang onto each other for solace, she obviously cares about his well-being. For his part, he has admitted that he does love her in as much as he can love anyone and even that is not enough to keep him from cutting professional ties with her in season 3.
  • Behind Every Great Man: BoJack might be the one living his life, but PC is the one pulling the strings, mostly because he can't take care completely of himself.
  • Being Personal Isn't Professional: PC prides herself in being able to separate her professional and personal lives. She can even oscillate between two different opinions depending on each of them. Coming to terms with the fact that this pride is completely misplaced is a big part of her arc.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. While Princess Carolyn tries to appear friendly and personable around Sadie in "The Amelia Earhart Story", Sadie loses respect for her when she sees her chewing out her coworkers and clients over the phone, as well as her sleazy sales tactics, and ultimately calls her out for acting elitist just because she managed to leave town. It's downplayed because Princess Carolyn really is a caring person underneath her snarky exterior, even if she struggles to show it.
  • Catchphrase: "Oh, fish!" (usually when something is VERY messed up.)
  • Cats Are Snarkers: She is a pink Persian, and very snarky.
  • Character Development: Princess Carolyn becomes more practical as time goes on, and is more willing to accept help from others.
  • Chekhov's Skill: A common Running Gag in the series, PC sports quite a talent for coming up with tongue twisters on the spot. Season 6 reveals that she tends to use them as a mnemonic device, and turns out her baby Ruthie loves to hear them.
  • The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: As PC delicately puts it to Diane:
    Diane: All right, but why are you helping me?
    Princess Carolyn: Because my life is a mess right now and I compulsively take care of other people when I don't know how to take care of myself.
    Diane: Oh.
  • Consummate Liar: Be it formulating a story out of the top of her head to pass up as an old friend of a dead guy to pretending to laugh even if she doesn't feel like it, she always has a way of bullshitting her way through bad pickles.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: As a child, she grew up in a poor family and covered for her alcoholic mother at work as a maid when she was drunk, and attempted to guilt trip her into wanting to go to college in California and make something of herself. It is revealed in "Ruthie", that before getting pregnant by Ralph twice and miscarrying, she had three other miscarriages in the past, her first one being at eighteen from her mother's employer's son.
  • Determinator: Princess Carolyn has proven time and time again, that no matter how much pain or trauma she suffers, she never gives up and always lands on her feet.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Princess Carolyn's first onscreen appearance is in a Flashback, wanting to break with BoJack while he's completely not paying attention, portraying them as incompatible, with Princess Carolyn putting in most of the work, showing her as a pretty devoted, but uncorresponding romantic partner. And then BoJack throwing her out of a moving car only for her to land on her feet shows how she improvises and recovers well, also because she's a cat. Later, when they do break up, Princess Carolyn calls him in a friendly tone as his agent, despite the rude treatment BoJack shoves her way, showing her as professional and pragmatic. Then, it turns out BoJack's one of her less remunerative clients, again confusing love with work.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Up till the point when she adopted Ruthie, Princess Carolyn has desperately wanted a child. However, when the adoptive mothers decide not to give their child, she accepts their decision. Also, despite calling out Diane for wanting an abortion, it is out of jealousy, and Princess Carolyn otherwise accepts Diane's decision.
  • Exhausted Eyebags: She has had visible bags under her eyes ever since her late teens, likely due to her workaholic attitude.
  • Family Versus Career: Deals with this in Season 6. She wants to be the perfect agent, business owner, and mother, but tends to ignore the latter in favour of work. She is overworking herself by choice as a means of generating self-satisfaction and feels guilty for loving her work too much, but at the same time took great efforts to adopt her daughter Ruthie and is more positively involved in her life than any other parent in the show besides Gekko, Rutabaga, Kelsey, Guy, and Hollyhock's dads.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: Whenever she is with BoJack and even when she is not, she is usually the one making breakfast, courtesy of being an early riser. She later reveals she learned how to cook while constantly having to cover for her mother at her job as a live-in maid for a rich family.
  • Furry Reminder: She takes her coffee with several cartons' worth of milk, and she prides herself on "always landing on her feet" as cats are said to do.
  • Girlboss Feminist: While she's a highly respectable self-made woman and once suggests rebranding Ms. Taken as a feminist film in the wake of a mass shooting committed by a woman, she often fails to practice what she preaches if it means she can benefit from it, such as trying to cast the disgraced Vance Waggoner in Philbert, a show she produces.
  • Go-Getter Girl: Shown in "The Telescope" during the Flashback, being a dutiful secretary to BoJack's first agent, whom she probably replaced once he retired, and proves to be a social expert when flirting in a friendly tone with BoJack over the phone. As it turns out, this trait of hers started all the way back when she was a little kitten and, not all of it was by choice. Rather, necessity. Tragic necessity.
  • Good Is Not Soft: If she calls you out, she will have a list of good reasons to do so. Don't think of justifying yourself, she won't want to hear it. If you are behaving like an idiot, she will call you exactly that and send you on your way. She has good reasons and intentions, but she won't be a pushover.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck!: She's not averse to swearing, but her Catchphrase for when things go really wrong is a much milder "Oh, fish!"
  • Guile Heroine: Crossed with The Face. Whenever there is some talking, negotiation or dealing the group has to do, Princess Carolyn is always at the front, detailing the conditions, the basic requirements and bargaining with the other representatives in order to get the most beneficial deal she can make.
  • Had to Be Sharp: Being a calculating, imposing woman is a requirement for an agent. And Princess Carolyn has had to resort to some underhanded tactics to keep her job or get what she wants.
  • High-Powered Career Woman: The show pulls a Decon-Recon Switch of this trope through Princess Carolyn, who starts the show off as a straight example: always on the move, continuously thinking of new plans and ways to clean up after BoJack's messes as his manager, a woman who always lands on her feet even if the worse should happen. The show later explores the toll such a lifestyle has taken on her, as she has little personal life or bonds with those outside of her job. She tries to have a baby later on with then-boyfriend Ralph Stilton only to miscarry due to her older age and low fertility. However, by the end of the series, she has adopted the child she's always wanted and is married to her former assistant Judah, the only person who takes work just as seriously as she does and is more than willing to support her any way he can.
  • Hypocrite: Despite one of her major pet peeves is being unappreciated for her status as Hyper-Competent Sidekick, Princess Carolyn deliberately sabotaged her assistant Lora’s attempts at getting promoted to ensure that she stuck around.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: Her name is Princess Carolyn, but in some foreign versions of the show, like the Japanese dub, her name is incorrectly rendered as "Princess Caroline" instead.
  • Jailbait Mistake: She once dated Vincent Adultman, never realizing that he's just a kid, despite how obvious it was.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Deep down, she has absolutely no hope of ever finding solace in any relationship. Not that that will stop her from trying.
  • Law of Inverse Fertility: The only one of the main cast who actually wants kids and she's had six miscarriages. Eventually, she chooses to adopt instead.
  • Like Parent, Like Spouse: Her relationship with BoJack is pretty clearly a recreation of her relationship with her mother. (Another Love Hungry bitter alcoholic who constantly made messes Princess Carolyn had to clean up.)
  • The Madness Place: Usually, her best moments and flashes of tactical genius shine after going through emotional breakdowns, days of reflexion about what she wants, disaster going through her personal and professional life, failed relationships coming to an end or instances of Feeling Their Age and almost losing her job because of it. Once Princess Carolyn's out of her funk, she comes up with Crazy Enough to Work plans or Xanatos Gambits that put her back in the game.
  • Married to the Job: She pours herself into her work to the point that she turns 40 while she's pulling an all-nighter at the office, all of her romantic relationships go nowhere, and she always finds her best personal satisfaction at work. As such, Princess Carolyn remains devoted to her job, mostly because it's the only place she can find a modicum of control.
  • Ms. Vice Girl: Was more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold in season 1 but becomes this in season 2 onward. Through all her faults, she is still a caring and dedicated person.
  • My Biological Clock Is Ticking: When dating BoJack, Princess Carolyn would often hint the possibility of having a baby. Later, her desire to have a baby (and her medical difficulties carrying one to term) become a major part of her character arc.
  • My Instincts Are Showing: On occasion, Princesss Carolyn gets signs of Furry Reminder in extreme situations; hissing when BoJack complains that she's in his house making breakfast or crouching on all fours and jumping out the window when she and Todd are cornered by the police about the David Boreanaz scam.
  • '90s Hair: She had "The Rachel" in flashbacks to the 90s.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: While every other anthropomorphic animal in the series has realistic coloration, she is bright pink.
  • Odd Friendship: She and Todd turn out to be remarkably good roommates despite their diametrically opposed personalities.
  • Old Maid: A central part of her character. Turning 40 is practically old age in Hollywood due to the high standards in beauty and perfection, making her chances of finding a suitor and having children in her environment increasingly unlikely. The fact that she believes that she has wasted her life in bad relationships doesn't help. Later subverted.
  • Opportunistic Bastard: As part of the job description, Princess Carolyn will never waste any advantage or opportunity that is presented to her, be it taking over an illegal operation and involving several of her resources to turn into a prolific scam, crashing a funeral to attract new clients by faking compassion, taking advantage of abortions campaigns and mass shootings to gain positive publicity for her clients, or promoting unsatisfied assistants to avoid further strikes.
  • Penny Among Diamonds: Deconstructed in her Backstory. The youngest of all of her siblings, PC covered her mother’s job as a maid within a rich family’s mansion. As she describes it years later, such aristocrats were the living image of Idle Riches and flaunted their wealth and excesses without shame in front of a young kitten whose living condition were considerably worse than normal and had to clean up after them in a daily basis, no doubt from the remains they left carelessly and could afford to do. Such dissonance between what an idealized lifestyle would look like next to how other people would disregard it without any thought and how someone like her, someone who could give good use to such fortune, had to live through alongside her family was the catalyst for her current Workaholic nature.
  • Plucky Office Girl: Princess Carolyn's portrayed as a competent, strong-willed agent who is constantly hindered by her personal issues and the casual machismo and incompetence in Vigor, the company in which she works until Season 2.
  • Rags to Riches: As BoJack lampshades, she went "from a daughter of a maid to head of [her] own company".
  • Relationship Revolving Door: Princess Carolyn and BoJack are always going back and forth between seemingly breaking up for good and returning to give it one more shot. Justified since, as he explains himself, they're not really in love, just craving to communicate with someone, basically hanging onto each other since there's no one better around.
  • Sarcastic Devotee: She is dismissive and impatient with BoJack. Still, she will always be there to get his back.
  • Self-Made Woman: She founded, owns, and runs the manager company VIM since Season 3.
  • Shorter Means Smarter: According to model sheets, she stands at only 4'9" (145 cm) out of heels, but she's by far the most level-headed and consistently competent of the main characters.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's tired of fooling around with BoJack and wants to enter a steady and serious relationship. It turns out to be a lot harder than she thought, especially with the demands of her job. Later, she fulfills this goal when she began dating and finally married the reliable and loyal Judah Mannowdog.
  • The Social Expert: She has excellent people skills and is very good at figuring out what motivates her clients. One of her key advantages over other agents is that she actually takes the time to learn her clients' interests, so she knows exactly the trump card to pull out to get them to do what she wants.
  • Teen Pregnancy: When she was almost eighteen, she had a fling with Cooper Thomas Rodgers Wallace III, the son of the wealthy family her mother worked for as a live-in maid, and got pregnant by him. She briefly angsts about what to do now that she's having a baby, briefly alleviated by her mother and then confirmed by Mr. Wallace Sr. that she’ll financially supported by the Wallaces for the rest of her life, but she then has what would be her first of five miscarriages, making the plan fall through and allowing her to go to UCLA.
  • Tongue Twister: Every once in a while, other characters say tongue twisters, but Princess Carolyn uses this as her trademark. According to Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Princess Carolyn's voice actress, Amy Sedaris, complained about the tongue twisters, and as a result, the writers gave her the most. In fact, the tongue twisters come in handy in "The New Client" when she uses them as a mnemonic device, and tells them to her baby to calm her down.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Becomes kinder and more sympathetic towards others after season 1.
  • Unusual Euphemism: "Oh, fish!" when she is angry or has just realized something unpleasant.
  • Workaholic: She works all the time. Partially, because there is really nothing else in her life. But even after she develops a life outside her job, she still is career-oriented and enjoys her fast-paced hectic lifestyle.

    Diane Nguyen 

Diane Nguyen

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df150a95_cd14_486e_a214_cb59b8a069a2.png

Click here to see Diane from S 5 E 1 - S 6 E 07
Click here to see Diane from S 6 E 07 onwards

Voiced by: Alison Brie
Debut: "The BoJack Horseman Story: Chapter One"

''"Dear Diane. We are sorry to say that your piece, 'An Open Letter to Open Letters', wasn't right for us, despite its evident merit." Do you know what this means? [...] Someone gave my piece a read and decided against it.

A nerdy socially awkward writer from Boston who is Mr. Peanutbutter's girlfriend, then wife, then ex-wife & BoJack Horseman's good friend. Diane is initially tasked with writing BoJack's memoir as a ghost writer, but the two become close throughout, as she spends a lot of time with him and relates to the horse's depression and struggles, as she also suffers similar issues to him.


  • Age-Gap Romance: There is an 11 year age gap between her and Mr. Peanutbutter, her boyfriend and later husband.
  • The Alcoholic: Briefly, after returning from Cordovia and crashing at BoJack's, Diane devolves into a drunken mess as a way to cope with the horrors she saw in the derelict country, fear of confronting Mr. Peanutbutter about the state of their marriage and shame of having "abandoned" him.
  • All for Nothing:
    • Her campaign against Hank Hippopopalous ends this way. Despite revealing Hank's long history of sexual abuse, the Hollywoo hype machine stamps out Diane's voice until the public gets bored and moves on to something else. Then, when Diane tries to salvage something on a charity mission, that ends up making things even worse. She returns home to Hollywoo undergoing a Heroic BSoD about how she can't seem to do anything right.
    • Discussed with Princess Carolyn in the Season 6 episode "Good Damage." While trying to write her book of essays, Diane goes off on a light-hearted tangent about a young girl named Ivy Tran solving mysteries in a mall, and clearly enjoys writing it. When Princess Carolyn suggests that Diane just write stories like that, Diane says she doesn't want to because that would mean that "all the damage [she] got isn't good damage," and that she would have undergone years of hardship and pain for nothing. Diane wants to write her essays because she wants little girls undergoing the same things she is to feel less alone. Princess Carolyn counters that Diane could do that just as well with a series of light-hearted detective novels for young girls.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Not in the present day, but in her backstory. Diane recalls that in high school, a group of cheerleaders wrote "virgin slut" on her forehead, and when she asked how she could be both, forced her to eat a lipstick.
  • Alone in a Crowd: She doesn't like big parties and can often feel uncomfortable by how easily she's overlooked. Mr. Peanutbutter throwing a surprise one for her 35th birthday in "After The Party" (and insisting on keeping it alive far beyond the comfortable) is one of the catalysts of their fight.
  • Amicable Exes: Zigzagged with Mr. Peanutbutter after their divorce. They try to go about it maturely despite the inevitable awkwardness and Diane even comforts his new girlfriend Pickles, but they end up having sex twice, and after the second time she rejects him wanting to get back together. By "Angela" they are able to play this straight during a phone conversation that's implied to have lasted a couple hours, and they both agree they don’t regret marrying each other.
    • Zigzagged again with Wayne, who she acts suspiciously towards when he writes a Buzzfeed article on Mr. Peanutbutter, and tells him off when she finds out he was using the article to insult him, and cites him being "mean" as one of the reasons she stopped liking him. She does later reach out to him to leak excerpts of her book on BoJack in order to spite the latter for hating it.
  • Anti-Hero:
    • A writer with a strong sense of morality, a no-nonsense attitude willing to fight for the overlooked and apologize when she has gone too far who will nevertheless overstep personal relationships and privacy in her search for the truth embodied in her books, who tries to hype up her sense of worth through stories because of the crushing drudgery of everyday life and has an underlying fear that she may be part of the problem instead of the solution or worse that her work may not be important in the grand scheme of things.
    • In terms of classification, Diane nicely fits in between Type I and Type II of the Sliding Scale Of Anti-Heroes, ricocheting between a Classical Anti-Hero and The Snark Knight. It also ties in the dynamic of the group, since she's not as decisive and dirty as Princess Carolyn or as extreme in the ideological scale as BoJack or Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Ascended Fangirl: Being a fan of Horsin' Around as an escape from her horrid family life, Diane eventually grows up to meet and write the biography of its star, BoJack Horseman.
  • Asian and Nerdy: She's not a stereotypical nerd or TV Genius, but is shown to have intellectual interests and is an acclaimed writer. She is however an outlier in her male-dominated family, the rest of which are all a bunch of lazy idiots with no ambitions whatsoever.
  • Audience Surrogate: She reacts as well as a normal person would to the weirdness of Hollywoo, especially when interacting with BoJack or Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Being Good Sucks: Fighting for good causes in a society as shallow and self-serving as Hollywoo sucks, as most people just demonize her as a Straw Feminist and Soapbox Sadie who needs to shut up and go away. A surprising number of episodes end with her giving up her squeaky-clean morals just to find some peace or get along with her friends and coworkers.
  • Big Beautiful Woman: Diane, who is attractive enough to fit the Hot Librarian trope, gains a significant amount of weight after being put on anti-depressants, and is no less attractive in her presentation nor to her boyfriend Guy.
  • Birds of a Feather: With BoJack. They both come from horrible homes and Diane sometimes can be just as cynical as BoJack. Deconstructed in season 3 when Diane explicitly states they bring out the worst in each other because they're so alike.
  • Black Sheep: Not literally (since she has a black sheep adoptive brother), but she fits the figurative meaning of the trope, being The Un-Favorite in a family full of Jerkasses.
  • Boyish Short Hair: Shortly before her divorce with Mr. Peanutbutter is finalized in the beginning of Season Five, she cuts her hair into a short bob style with an undercut. By Season 6B it grows out a little bit. Her hair was also fairly short when she first met Mr. Peanutbutter in 2007.
  • Butt-Monkey: Diane came from a family in which she was the most tortured one, with everyone ganging up on her, and as a "nerd" was also shunned and bullied in high school, eventually growing up, moving to Hollywoo and being constantly disillusioned about ideals and people, traumatized by events other people often overlook, constantly ignored and berated and often feels useless and unimportant believing she will never reach her full potential or make an impact on the world.
  • Can't Take Criticism: When BoJack sees the finished version of the book Diane's writing about him, he confronts her about it. She is respectful and tries to appeal to him, but when he outright tells her that she did a bad job and to try again, she gets offended, and goes behind his back to tell a friend of hers to leak facts about the book to BuzzFeed so that he has no choice but to let the book get published.
  • The Conscience: Usually provides a moral and sensible contrast to BoJack's self-centered, off-the-wall antics and schemes, as well to her husband's obsession with positivity and desire to cling to a perfect reality.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Diane's upbringing wasn't the best, to say the least. In the present, her mother constantly guilt trips her about leaving her family... a family who did nothing but torment and belittle her. There's also Diane's father, who contrary to what she said to BoJack, was just as abusive as BoJack's parents and joined in with her brothers on bullying her and delighting in seeing her fail. Meanwhile at school she had no friends and was bullied by the popular kids, with the only friend she had ditching her for them and using all her insecurities and secrets to make her life more miserable.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Not to BoJack or Princess Carolyn levels, but she can do the occasional quip, often mixed with bluntness and condescending attitude.
    • "The Telescope": When BoJack insults Todd while he's talking about his betrayal of Herb and he asks what they were talking about.
      You were about to tell a story about you being a shitty friend, but then, we got interrupted by you yelling at Todd.
    • "One Trick Pony": When Diane and BoJack compare their reunion after the former gets married to returning from vacation to class, she only has this to say about the ol' school days.
      Yeah, well, I hope the cheerleaders don't stuff me in a locker and write "virgin slut" on my forehead, and then when I ask how I could be both a virgin and a slut, they make me eat a lipstick.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the teen snarky crusader; in this case, becoming all grown up and disillusioned by her future in a corrupt, morally grey business that makes her feel just as an outsider as she was back home. This swift change also shows a much darker motivation beneath the seemingly altruistic desire: recognition and fame from much dumber peers.
  • Despair Event Horizon: After realizing that she's not the Intrepid Bookauthor she thought she was and she can't make big a difference as she wants, she spends two months simply wallowing around BoJack's house and being just as pessimistic about life as he is, to the point of driving BoJack towards a regression of his old self.
  • Detrimental Determination: She's determined to be a journalist in the sense of exposing dark secrets and speaking truth to power. And while this goal is admirable in and of itself, it's the fact that Diane won't stop doing so in spite of all evidence that she should quit that makes it a flaw. Her efforts to expose Hank Hippopopalus for his myriad history of sexual assaults ends up getting Diane's name dragged through the mud by the Hollywoo hype machine until the public just got bored and moved onto something else. Diane then flies to the war-torn country of Cordovia to try to make a difference there, and ends up just making things worse. After that, Diane has to fly back to Hollywoo and crash on BoJack's couch, pretending she's still in Cordovia to Mr. Peanutbutter, all because she can't face the fact that her efforts were All for Nothing.
  • The Dutiful Daughter: She returns to her hometown to bury her dad and is the only one to organize the funeral or care to assist. That, despite the fact that her family has never done any favors to her.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: While she is a Nice Girl, Diane is more outspoken, brash, and stubborn from season 2 onward. In season 1 however, she is noticably more meek but also more sweet and considerate being more the kind of person that Bojack would likely fall in love with. However, when this story trope gets deconstucted and we see that Bojack doesn't love Diane for her but rather someone he can talk to about himself, that is when her character starts to take a shift.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: At the end of the series, Diane is Happily Married to Guy, somebody who actually likes and respects her, her mental health has improved from taking anti-depressants, and is the successful author of a middle-school mystery series.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: She'll always be known as "Cry-ane" by her brothers.
  • Embarrassing Old Photo: Despite Diane's pleads not to, her brothers end showing BoJack the "Cry-ane" video, which details how they tricked her into believing she had a pen pal named Leo and they later set her up (and filmed her) with a hobo as her homecoming date.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Diane's first onscreen appearance is almost unstated, with her coming out behind BoJack during the party, showing her as ''different'' to the rest of Hollywood. The distance and brief talk between her and BoJack show them becoming pretty intimate with each other, with BoJack being able to open up a little. Then we discover that she's Mr. Peanutbutter's girlfriend, highlighting her odd choice of men and becoming the unobtainable for BoJack. Yet, despite hearing BoJack insult Mr. Peanutbutter, she never once calls him out, proving her to be very patient. Plus, she Wrote the Book about Secretariat, BoJack's childhood hero.
  • Extreme Doormat: To her family, and as it turns out, in general as compared to the rest of Hollywoo. She really, really hates this part of herself.
  • Fatal Flaw: Justice. Her significance to get the truth out has also caused harm amongst others when she won't stop pursuing the truth even at the expense of people's lives.
    • When Diane tries to prove Hank is guilty, she ends up making herself look bad by the public and turns out she hasn't considered the feelings of her friend BoJack or even her husband.
    • Stefani Stilton spells out near the end of Season 5 that Diane's main problem is she holds herself and others to impossible standards, and then hates herself and feels disappointed with the world for failing to live up to them, and what she needs to do is learn to forgive the flaws in herself and others. It seems her advice sticks, as Diane is slowly able to do just that over both parts of Season 6, and ends the series Happily Married to Nice Guy Guy and the successful author of a middle school detective girl series.
  • Fish out of Water: Diane hails from Boston, is an acclaimed writer and a quiet person in general who hates being in the spotlight unless necessary, yet stands firm by what she thinks is right and isn't above wanting to have some fun. However, as the show presents and as she finds out, the dog-eats-dog world of Hollywoo doesn't care for those things, thinking nothing of her as an individual, writer or woman, morality she's ill-equipped to face.
  • Forgettable Character: A bit zig-zagged but ultimately Diane's the victim of this trope. For roughly the first two seasons, Princess Carolyn seems to forget that she and Diane have been beyond well introduced to each other and repeatedly starts calls to her with reintroducing herself as if they'd perhaps only briefly spoken enough to exchange contact details. The thrust of the gag is that Diane is forgettable compared to PC's usual assortment of high profile connections.
  • Formerly Fit: Gains a significant amount of weight from antidepressants in the second half of Season Six.
  • Friend to All Children: She seems to get along with kids quite a bit. While in Cordovia, she befriends an orphan child named Kinko, and his death in a bombing has a serious effect on Diane’s mental health. Much later on, she happily plays “Where’s the baby” with Ruthie, even though they’re supposed to be hiding from Mr. Peanutbutter and Pickles.
  • Ghostwriter: In the first season, she's hired to be the ghostwriter for BoJack's much-delayed autobiography. When it finally gets published the following season, Diane is credited as the author.
  • Hannibal Lecture: Receives one during her private reunion with Hank Hippopopalous when she tries to convince him to come clean about his charges: Diane doesn't really matter in the grand structure of Hollywoo. Soon, as Hank says, he will be forgiven and all about his case will become ancient history. Her accusations and insistence about it, however, will continue to cause trouble for her and the people she cares about.
  • Happily Married:
  • Happy Place: Horsin' Around used to be her refuge when she was little and lived with her insufferable family, as she tells BoJack. No wonder she slipped into watching old episodes of the series when depressed.
  • Hard-Drinking Party Girl: After returning from Cordovia, she crashes BoJack's house, curses and drinks like a sailor and spends her time goofing off and slacking the time away.
  • Heroic Bystander: As detailed in Badass Bystander, Diane has become more and more proactive when it comes to issues she considers important to defend, most of which are often overlooked or dismissed by her Hollywoo friends and contemporary. Zigzagged, however, in that while her reasons to do so stems partly from a genuine desire to do some good, they're also desperate attempts to find some major purpose she can dedicate her life on.
  • Heroic Wannabe: Diane always wants to make a change. So. Very. Much. However, because of her nature, refusal to compromise, insecurities and general inability to deal with the fallout, she always falls short of achieving it and she won't just quit no matter how inconvenient it is, all to feed her own self-esteem and ego. It doesn't mean she doesn't care about the cause, she just can't help but want to be important while doing good, even if she fails constantly. Still, she has scored a few victories here and there.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: After denouncing Hank Hippopopalous of sexual abuse with his secretaries, she is booed and even threatened by society.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Stefani Stilton in season 4.
  • Hidden Depths: Apparently she is not a bad juggler, even when kinda drunk.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Deconstructed. Diane's miserable experiences were fun to someone: her brothers and parents. To her...not so much.
  • Holding Both Sides of the Conversation: When trying to justify her actions from "The Shot" up to "Out To Sea" toward Princess Carolyn and later to Mr. Peanutbutter, this is all she can come up with: telling PC to shut up and PB that she's talking to a a refugee (and then, imitating a refugee's voice to keep the charade going.)
  • Hollywood Healing: Played With regarding her trauma after the Cordovia situation. Diane does eventually recover rather fast, but it takes her taking long naps, distract herself from the issue and even falling into a depressive state at BoJack's house to even consider moving on with her life again.
  • Hollywood New England: According to "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", she hails from Boston, since her family is based on obnoxious stereotypes from Boston.
  • Hot Librarian: While lacking the bun, Diane has this down to a science. An attractive, yet reserved and moral woman who's clothes barely manage to hide any beauty, has a nerd vibe to her, prefers to concentrate on work rather than to have fun, can be kind of a wet blanket to her husband, and has more than one man interested in her? Diane rocks this trope.
  • A House Divided: Increasingly as the series goes on:
    • The first major one was about Diane's desire to go to Cordovia to work with Sebastian St. Claire which was postponed at Mr. Peanutbutter's urgence in "Later".
    • Then, a fight breaks out in "After The Party" when Diane explodes over Mr. Peanutbutter needling her on facts and decisions about what she knows and wants.
    • During Diane's battle against Hank, she tries to get Mr. Peanutbutter's support on the subject, but Mr. Peanutbutter, in order to keep his job, is forced to side with the network and tries to dissuade her from continuing. Their diverging ideas and agendas only further the wedge between them.
    • The lack of communication between them, Diane's inability to express her feelings and Mr. Peanutbutter's pushiness masked in a cheerful façade in "Love And/Or Marriage" are also big factors in the somewhat stagnated process of couple's therapy. Once Diane takes some Gush, she expresses herself more openly mending the damage.
    • While staying in the Labrador Peninsula, Diane notices something is troubling Captain Peanutbutter, PB's brother. When she tries telling him, he dismisses her worries turning angry and even insulting her when she keeps insisting on the subject.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Her new boyfriend Guy in Season six is a bison and is much larger than her
  • Hyper-Competent Sidekick: She becomes this to Flip after he cracks under the pressure of writing Philbert. She takes over and essentially ghostwrites the rest of the first season, and it's implied that her efforts to make Philbert more relatable were a major contributing factor in the show's success. Needless to say, the writing of the show takes a major dip after her departure.
  • Hypocrite: In the first episode, she told BoJack you're responsible for your own happiness. When it came to the issue of Sarah Lynn's life, she is quick to pin everything that happened to her on everyone else's shoulder's, particularly BoJack's.
    • Also in the first episode, she's explicitly introduced as a ghostwriter and offers to BoJack that she can write his memoirs as either a shallow piece for good PR, or a sincere look at who he is as a person; whichever he's looking for. Once the book is finished and BoJack disapproves, however, she not only leaks part of it to the press and defends her motives for doing so, (although her breach of ethics is acknowledged) but her name is explicitly attached to it and the book is written from her perspective. (Which, while certainly a much more equitable arrangement given it's her work, is also a breach of ethics for her position.)
  • Imaginary Love Triangle: Zig-Zagged. BoJack and Diane's relationship is characterized first and foremost as a professional one, with the occasional chummy moment like the "Stiller" puns based on a magazine in the plane from Boston to Hollywoo or simply talking in an honest matter of fact way about their insecurities and problems. Once she announces her compromise to Mr. Peanutbutter, things start getting a bit awkward around them in spite of their professed camaraderie. Eventually, during a tiny breath in which Diane is interviewing BoJack for the autobiography she's ghostwriting, BoJack (who unbeknownst to Diane was the one who pulled the "D" sign stunt rather than Mr. Peanutbutter) congratulates her over her engagement, as they resume their pun-based comments as a relaxing exercise to resume normal routine. Once asked about what he thinks, BoJack tells Diane that accepting the "D" doesn't sound like a Diane thing, more like a Mr. Peanutbutter thing. Diane, genuinely curious, asks what would be a Diane thing. He simply answers that it would be a more personal gesture like giving her "a collection of photos and e-mails" or "an iPod with her favorite podcasts" or "a practical houseplant". When Diane gently needles him further about it, he tries to dance around the issues by saying she should "be with someone who knows [her]". Diane implicitly asks him "Like who?" as if she's expecting BoJack to tell her how he really feels. Before he can answer, however, the recorder clicks and they both remember they're still in an interview, so BoJack quickly changes the subject.
  • Important Haircut: After her divorce from Mr. Peanutbutter in season 5, she decides to renew herself by cutting her long hair into more of a bob style. Of course, she doesn't seem to be having much luck playing it as "different" or "important" since she feels just the same, and more people instead bring up how it draws attention to how long her neck is.
  • It's All About Me: Her various journalistic crusades and moral high ground misadventures are less about the greater good and more about trying to inject meaning and happiness into her otherwise mundane and meandering life. Part of her Character Development in season 6 is shedding this once and for all by writing material that makes her happy.
  • It's for a Book: Diane is hired by Penguin Publishing to help BoJack finish his biography, since he has let the publication slip without presenting anything. As part of it, she starts following him, interviewing him and hanging around his house in order to write him in the most realistic way.
  • Jerkass Realization: When BoJack mentions how she wrote the book without concern about his privacy, Diane realizes that she never stopped to consider the effect it would have, if she should even do it and that she never really saw anything wrong with it afterwards, despite the signs.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. Normally a Nice Girl, Diane isn't someone you would completely trust or like either when she'd become sufficiently convinced that something deserves her undivided attention. She's had more than enough selfish moments, including sinking to near-BoJack levels of jerkassery (hence why they can sympathize so well with one another): often being annoyed enough with her husband to ignore him or simply sidetrack anything involving him in some capacity if it hinders her, fighting with people who have been nothing but accommodating to her because they stand against what she believes in, the list goes on. But likewise, she's not a bad person herself and can pedal back a bit if she goes too far.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: Despite her constant arguments that she's happy the way she is, a large part of Diane's Character Arc is her desire to leave a mark in the world in a meaningful way, and her increasing sense that she's wasting her life writing typical celebrity bullshit and settling into a marriage because of a fear of independence instead of chasing after what she truly wants.
  • Lady Swears-a-Lot: Diane didn't use profanity as much as BoJack but throughout the seasons, she became more frequent in cursing to the point that she was the first main character in the show to use the f-word out of anger.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Her closet is shown to be full of multiple copies of her green jacket. Her unpacked moving boxes in her apartment also suggest the same for her jeans, glasses, and boots. She also wears the same white top with both her regular outfit and as sleepwear.
  • Loner-Turned-Friend: A twofer example in her relationship with BoJack, since while they have companions and contacts, neither of them has true friends in Hollywoo. Well, except Todd but that's not saying much.
  • Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: Rare Female Example. Diane has always been introverted and distantly friendly, which has drawn her to Mr. Peanutbutter, due to being her polar opposite. As far as friends are concerned, BoJack is the only one she has in Hollywoo, (well besides Roxy and Wayne, but she hardly frequents them anymore) and their mutual problems and discussion about them have gone a long way in helping her overcome those problems. So has her interactions with Princess Carolyn in a professional sense especially in coming to terms with the craft of Hollywoo and Todd in the sense of accepting her more relaxed side and willing to simply let the dice roll. The thing is unlike PB, Diane has goals beyond just being comfortable with what she's got and is often exasperated by the lengths he goes to express his love for her, leading to often try to do activities just involving herself to keep her individuality; as for BoJack, his extreme cynicism has made Diane fearful of what she might become if she gives in to much weariness or too much work with no life outside of it, yet their mutual similarities have become more pronounced; Princess Carolyn's advice has led her to become more comfortable, pragmatic and willing to stretch her moral ethics through the murky workplace of L.A. and Todd in a way has influenced her to take things more slowly, sometimes to the point of becoming a passive participant in situations which could use some of her experience. What reconstructs this trope is that give or take these downfalls, Diane has developed into a more assertive person, for better or worse.
  • Lovable Nerd: Often does a lot of research involving her books and has deep knowledge about a wide range of topics, but she's far from gawky and has quite a lot of quirky and endearing traits.
  • Morality Pet: Of the entire cast, Diane is the sole person that BoJack is the nicest to.
  • Ms. Vice Girl: Being the most moral and good natured character out of the main five, Diane still possesses many flaws like often letting her continuous search for the truth get the best out of her without taking into account people's feelings, privacy or even opinion on the matter or allowing it to consume her whole attention or even realizing that sometimes getting what she believes the truth to be doesn't exactly guarantee good results. Not to say about her constant depression and avoidance of certain horrible truths. Nevertheless, these do not detract from her sympathetic persona.
  • Named After Someone Famous: While bonding with Kinko, Diane mentions that her name means "my parents used to enjoy watching Cheers". Season Six would have her reveal they didn’t name her until she was four which explains how she was named after a TV show that premiered four years after she was born.
  • Nerd Glasses: Being a nerd, she certainly has ones, although it's downplayed since she's more of an intellectual.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: She's quite good-looking with her Nerd Glasses and proves to be a Dude Magnet when BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter start fighting over her.
  • Nice Girl: She's never completely mean to anyone and is one of the few, besides Todd, to show any genuine sympathy towards BoJack, although she's more than willing to call him out if needed. Although this can be downplayed when personal issues, ideals and self-importance comes to the front. See Jerk with a Heart of Gold above.
  • The Nondescript: Invoked by herself, of all people. Being a pretty meekly person herself, Diane has always felt uncomfortable when having to deal with multitudes or social gatherings. Therefore, she has made a priority to never be the center of attention, always scooting by when at big parties, tries to avoid interacting with everyone, not be noticed at all and is reasonably upset when a reality TV camera crew is filming in her house and invading her personal space. Out of sight, out of mind, as long as she's easily forgettable and doesn't leave a mark, it's okay for her. Nobody remembers her, she is no one of importance, end of story. Unfortunately, as "Hank After Dark" shows, staying out of the spotlight and remaining there means that whenever you want to make an actually important point to the general public, your lack of reputation may be a hindrance rather than helpful.
  • Not So Above It All: She has moments of selfishness and even craziness, as well. Especially when it comes to comparisons between her and BoJack.
  • Odd Friendship: She has a very healthy friendship with Todd. Even though she is the moral, outspoken, and brash feminist writer of the main cast and he is a go with the flow happy go lucky slacker who goes on tons of crazy misadventures and business schinanigans, every scene with the two of them show that they are nothing but sweet, supportive, encouraging, and helpful to one another. Honestly, out of all the members of the main cast, these two might just have the healthiest friendship.
  • Only Sane Employee: During her brief stint at VIM in season 3. She's the only one who's allowed to (badly) do her job since Princess Carolyn seems to be the one who does most of the work by herself and protests about the shameless way PC and Sextina are using the abortion scandal.
  • Only Sane Woman: Deconstructed. Diane is this out of the main cast and is certainly the most level-headed out of them. But she's far from perfect with a lot of neuroses and flaws that only shine through when she's around other, more well balanced people.
  • Raised by Dudes: Sure, her mother had a certain part in her upbringing, but Diane's childhood was spent at the service and mercy of her 4 Jerkass brothers and even bigger Jerkass dad. As such, their impact on her and her development was pretty much influenced in both good and bad ways: for one, her victimization at their hands has made her a pretty reclusive, quiet person with a desire to make a change in society; on the other side, their manly attitude bordering on Anti-Intellectualism has rubbed on her. She clearly loves reading, books and information precisely for the same reasons they loathe them, yet Pride and Chronic Backstabbing Disorder rear their ugly heads over and over, with her ironically hot-headedness, dressing code bordering on tomboy, uninterested on female behavior proportionately inverse to female ideals and haughty reasoning clearly traits inherited by her in part due to her family, for several reasons.
  • Running Gag: Throughout the series, Diane's ringtone is portrayed by different personalities of public radio, such as Ira Glass, Sarah Koenig, and Terry Gross.
  • Shrinking Violet: She tries to avoid overstepping boundaries, often struggles to find the correct thing to say, apologizes even through she doesn't need to and often avoids large crowds and parties to not get embarrassed.
  • Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Technically supposed to be black but appears blue as part of the art style, but she's mostly a meek, nerdy person with a dark shade of blue hair, uncomfortable with a lot of people and prefers to remain with the traditional.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Like Princess Carolyn, Diane wants a caring and thoughtful romantic partner who respects her.
    • She initially has this with Mr. Peanutbutter, describing him as "sweet, kind, and loyal" but this gets deconstructed over time, as while she loves those traits, their differing personalities and temperaments become ever-increasing, and they end up divorced but still friendly.
    • While Diane does note BoJack's more noble qualities, such as honesty and intelligence, she doesn't pursue a romance with him because of his self-destructive nature. They still remain Platonic Life-Partners.
    • By the series finale, Diane is now in a happy union with a Nice Guy, named Guy, who is not only all the things Diane desired in a romantic partner but is also compatible with her in other areas.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Despite her desire to make a change and being more often than not for good reasons, Diane gets the wrong idea that her opinion and the fact that she's right alone enough for people to listen to her regardless of how truly influential she is or how much it can be in other people's interests not to. She's had to learn this in the most painful ways.
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: An intellectual Vietnamese-American woman with quite good looks who uses glasses. She's also one of the more level-headed members of the main cast.
  • Soapbox Sadie: Despite her generally introverted personality, she'll push hard for worthy causes. Sadly, as the series moves forward, this is presented as not always being a good thing, as Diane hasn't yet realized the difference between "supporting" and "being part of it".
    • Season 2, in particular, presents two instances where this is deconstructed - first, when she's trying to bring attention to Hank Hippopolous' crimes, she gets nothing but vitriol for smearing a beloved figure, and is finally asked by Mr. Peanutbutter (who'd been reading the various death threats sent to her by mail) why she has to be the one fighting for it when she has no personal stake. The second is when she travels to war-torn Cordovia to "make a difference", but is completely overwhelmed by the aftermath of the refugee camp getting hit with a bomb, going home in disgrace because she couldn't "walk the walk".
  • Straw Feminist: Zig-zagged a bunch and often Played for Laughs, but ultimately a deconstruction. While Diane is a proud feminist and a staunch advocate for social equality, she bears no ill will towards men and harbors no spite or prejudice towards any of the male characters, and she has plenty of other interests and hobbies that she enjoys other than advocating social justice. This, however, is not how the public perceives her, due to the fact that her stubbornness and self-righteousness showcase her as an angry, ranting Straw Feminist on MSNBSea whenever she tries to raise awareness to otherwise good talking points that have actual merit when discussing social issues in the US and is met with resistance, such as when she tried to expose Hank Hippopopalous and the various times he sexually harassed his assistants. In Season 4, she begins working for a feminist blog and is initially discouraged by the fact that no one wants to read her serious articles on social issues, to the point where she has to resort to writing clickbait articles with actual, serious discussion woven in just to get people to read her work. As Mr. Peanutbutter starts to support controversial stances on issues such as fracking and gun control, Diane publicly defies him by writing these articles targeted at him, and even arguing with him directly on the news, once again showing her self-righteous, argumentative side when she tries to explain the benefits of gun ownership, particularly for women. When a female mass-shooter causes an uproar in the media, she fights for the right to gun ownership when California legislators start drafting gun control bills, but only after a female mass-shooter attacks following several attacks from male shooters. Instead of listening to her words and addressing the cultural problems that lead to women wanting to own guns in the first place, the male lawmakers decide to instead ban all guns in the state of California.
    Princess Caroline: Wow, Diane! You just passed sensible gun legislation.
    Diane: I can't believe this country hates women more than it loves guns.
  • Took a Level in Cynic: By the end of season 2, it's clear that she has become more jaded about her capability on leaving an impact on the world as she had first assumed.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: While not a drastic change, Diane was clearly more meek and sweet-natured in the first season. Her more self-centered and stubborn sides become clearer with the seasons, but she's still a Nice Girl for the most part.
  • Too Much Alike: She and BoJack both come from bad homes, suffer from depression, and desperately seek out importance and approval. When Diane returns from Cordovia, she ends up in a depressive spiral and spends most of her time getting drunk and high with him, which ruins BoJack's relationship with Wanda (leading him to run away to New Mexico) and keeps Diane stuck in a rut. After this, Diane tries to distance herself from BoJack, believing they bring out the worst in each other, but keeps getting stuck working with him until she moves away from California in Season 6.
  • Toxic Friend Influence: After staying at BoJack's house for several months after returning from Cordovia feeling like a failure, Diane decides to put some distance between them in Season 3, as she feels they're Too Much Alike and they bring out the worst in each other. (Or rather, he in her.) This is why she ends their friendship for good in the Series Finale. His unspoken expectation that she be this perfect person who could "save him" from himself put so much pressure on her to be responsible for his happiness and wellbeing, then feel like a failure when she inevitably couldn't, was part of why she self-destructed over the series.
  • Undying Loyalty: To BoJack. These two are extremely loyal, compassionate and understanding to each other, making them such an inseparable pair. They even share free insightful advice and their own feelings.
    • Season 5 downplays this by showing that while Diane does legitimately care for BoJack, she has her limits and can lash out against him when he crosses the line. Still, she is ultimately the person who finally convinces BoJack to seek professional help and even opts to drive him to the rehab center herself, although in the series finale the two have what Diane wants to be their last conversation together.
  • Unexplained Accent: Even in a flashback to her childhood there's not a trace of a Boston accent.
  • The Un-Favorite: She has a lot of hard-drinking Bostonian brothers who do absolutely nothing with their lives, and yet Diane is still the one their mother criticizes the most. It seems to stem from their mother's belief that anything out of Hollywoo is toxic. She's not entirely incorrect about that, but Diane's attempts to improve herself and have her family tell her that they're proud of her is baffling to BoJack since they never give her even the slightest bit of encouragement.
  • Unfazed Everyman: Despite being an Audience Surrogate in the way of Hollywoo epic scale eccentricities, Diane is otherwise calm and straight-faced in absurd situations like a lemur catching on fire in "Prickly Muffin" or the fact that she's dating an anthropomorphic Labrador. Varying from episode to episode go from a selective Weirdness Censor or a harsh case of Scully Syndrome.
  • Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: A tad, really, since her motives and personality remain sympathetic, being her actions and selfishness what drags her to this trope. Of course, in keeping with the Cerebus Syndrome of the series, it's been slowly deconstructed through her interactions with Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Uptight Loves Wild: Diane is the reserved, aloof Uptight who is married to the spontaneous, energetic Wild Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With BoJack. Despite their volleying insults and frequent frustration with each other, they're inseparable and support each other fiercely. As Roxy notes, that they're willing to go that far for each other despite friction and BoJack is the first person Diane goes whenever there's trouble might indicate something else...
  • The Watson: Being a ghostwriter assigned to write his memories, Diane's questions and reactions, as well as commentaries to BoJack's Flashbacks lead to the show portraying an increasingly clear portrait of his persona, as well as multiple neuroses and obstacles, as the two of them eventually get to known each other.
  • Weight Woe: Zig-zagged. One of the reasons Diane stopped taking her antidepressants in college is because they made her gain weight, albeit the biggest reason she didn’t want to go on them was her fearing she would lose herself and become "nothing". When she meets Guy at the airport months later after he returns from a photo shoot, she's significantly chubbier but has a huge smile on her face, implying that she started taking them again and can live with the change in appearance if it means it helps her depression. She, nor anyone else, never even negatively mentions her weight at all in the remainder of the series, not appears bothered by it.
  • "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Despite denying it earlier, this is her motivation for all the abuse she takes from her family: She knows it's futile, but she wants some recognition from their part for all the things she has done.
    Diane: The stupid thing is, even now I still just want them to be proud of me and think I did good. Is that really stupid?
  • Wet Blanket Wife: A sympathetic, justified example. Diane can be a little pessimistic about Mr. Peanutbutter's plans and promises, but when you are married to a hyperactive, easily distracted and Secretly Selfish Labrador, being cautious is always welcomed.
  • White Sheep: She's the only member of her family that is actually (relatively) well-adjusted and responsible. As such, they treat her with mockery and contempt.
  • Wrong Line of Work: It is subtle, but over the course of the series it becomes apparent that despite her professionalism and skills as a writer, Diane is actually a terrible journalist. She’s incapable of objectivity and separating herself from the story. Likewise, her lack of restraint, tact and flat-out refusal to accept any compromise always bite her in the foot, as quite often she’ll make dramatic accusations and claims against significantly powerful figures without having the necessary evidence to back them up, then struggle to actually prove her claims (as now it's all the harder to actually gather evidence now they know she is after them). Likewise, the fact that her writing ties heavily into her own sense of self, and her need to believe she can make a difference, means that these setbacks hit hard. Yet she continually insists on going after heavy-hitting stories rather than being content with crowd-pleasing fluff pieces, and thus repeating a pattern of setting herself up to fail.

    Mr. Peanutbutter 

Mister Peanutbutter

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pb.png
In 2007
In the 90s

Voiced by: Paul F. Tompkins
Debut: "The BoJack Horseman Story: Chapter One"

"Mr. Peanutbutter and BoJack Horseman in the same room! What is this, a crossover episode?"

A native of the Labrador Peninsula in Canada, Mister Peanutbutter was raised in the countryside as the runt of the litter with his parents and grandma, free of the world's cold touch. Submerged in a saccharine and comfortable sugar bowl where the motto was "Nothing bad ever happens in the Labrador Peninsula", PB grew with the expectation the world was just as light. During a trip to Hollywood, he wandered off against his wife Katrina's objections and stumbled onto the set of Untitled Horsin' Around Ripoff. With his charisma and natural ability, Mister gained the public's favor, taking the role from Vincent D'Onofrio. Money and second rate fame ensued with the newcomer PB helming what henceforth would be called Mr. Peanutbutter's House.

Growing at the shade of the much more famous BoJack Horseman, PB quickly took to being famous, even if he preferred to be a good sport about it, contrasting BJ himself whom he gradually started idolizing and view as a peer in the industry, admiring his work even if he constantly failed to get most of the scorn thrown his way by the horse.

To hear Mr. Peanutbutter himself list these tropes, see here.


  • Achievements in Ignorance: Mr Peanutbutter is not an especially educated or driven man. He literally walked backwards into his best job, found his second by total accident, generally believes that things will just "work out" for him, and his only skills appear to be acting and being very pleasant to talk to and look at. But it seems to have worked out for him.
    • However, this starts getting deconstructed over time. Peanutbutter genuinely IS kind of dumb and almost afraid of talking about anything outside his wheelhouse, which means that it's nigh impossible for his wives to have a serious conversation with him or for him to engage with them very hard.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Played for Laughs at first, Played for Drama later. Mr. Peanutbutter is somewhat aware of his shortcomings as a dog (he admits he's not the one who usually gets bored in a relationship) and a husband (he tries, but can't remember to make compromises for his wives). And it's not like he can't see he's running out of time to change. But he just can't get himself to admit it, let alone act to fix it. He's way too reckless, distracted, and reliant on good vibes to begin confronting his dark side. As he is, he's always been comfortable that way and expects everyone to be, even when people get tired or frustrated with him. Better to blame it on "not being able to change" or to move on quickly to the next thing, regardless of whether that's the healthiest thing to do.
  • All-Loving Hero: Deconstructed. He is fun-loving, friendly and has a positive and cheerful attitude. In this case, people who interact with him on a daily basis believe him to be a moron, or just get irritated with his behavior. He's also shown to mostly be nice because he wants other people to like him, even if it causes them no end of grief or frustration. (Like his grand romantic gestures for Diane making her uncomfortable, or his run for governor of California causing a huge unnecessary mess.)
  • Ambiguously Bi: While he's only ever been shown to have romantic involvement with women, he's very clingy towards BoJack and was perfectly happy to make out with him under the guise of restoring their friendship. His dynamic with Todd also has a good deal of homoromantic subtext.
  • Animal Stereotypes:
    • Mr. Peanutbutter has a short attention span, gets excited when the doorbell's rung, and is very energetic and playful. He also hates the post office and mail carriers.
    • He also fits the "big friendly dog" stereotype; he's always excited to meet new people and tries to be Fun Personified. The keyword here being "tries". Mr. Peanutbutter's problem is that he can't seem to realize how grating this attitude can get. In his mind, everyone should be like him, because that's the only way to properly live.
  • The Anti-Nihilist: In his own words, life is largely miserable, and the best way to deal with that is to distract yourself from it as often as you can, enjoying every moment until you die. However, it's gradually subverted the more and more the series goes on; it becomes clear that for PB, this doesn't mean "accept your mortality and insignificance, and move on with the things that really matter." Rather, it means "deny anything that's wrong and focus on the exciting parts", which is just a more hedonistic form of nihilism itself.
  • Ascended Fanboy: As a child, he was a big fan of Hank Hippopopalous, getting his album The Hank Hippopopalous Hip-Hop Hypothesis and taking a picture of him and BoJack with good ol' Uncle Hankie at the Emmys. In 2015, Mr. Peanutbutter becomes Hank's co-worker when HSAC:WDTKDTKTLFO! and I Think You Can Dance are put back-to-back in MBN.
  • Berserk Button:
    • As a dog, he hates mailmen.
    • He hates watching tennis because no one catches the ball.
  • Big Friendly Dog: He's the friendliest and most cheerful character of the series.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Comes off as very friendly early on. Once BoJack starts competing with him for Diane, his douchier side begins to emerge. This is hinted at in the first episode, when BoJack actually responds honestly to Mr. Peanutbutter's concerned-sounding "How are you?", cutting BoJack short with "Living the dream, huh?" and wandering off.
  • Bookends: Diane & Mr Peanutbutter's engagement/marriage begins & ends with Mr Peanutbutter making a grand romantic gesture that Diane ultimately doesn't feel comfortable accepting. Immediately after Mr Peanutbutter asks Diane to marry him with "just the two of them, no cameras" there is an immediate surprise party and a scene where Diane calls BoJack and is clearly not happy. It ends when Mr. Peanutbutter recreates a childhood fantasy of Diane's without realising why it wasn't something he should have done and why Diane can't appreciate it.
  • Born Lucky: Mr. Peanutbutter gets everything he wants with little to no effort. He didn't even have to work his way up, he starred on a Captain Ersatz copy of Horsin' Around (which season 4 reveals he got by just happening to wander onto the set of "Untitled Horsin' Around Knockoff" and unintentionally charming the audience) and when in need of a job, he ends up with two options, one of which he never noticed!
  • Catchphrase: "What is this, a Crossover episode?"
  • Character Development: From what we see in "Nice While It Lasted", Mr. Peanutbutter is single. While he does want to hit on someone at Princess Carolyn's wedding, he's not rushing into another relationship in search of something perfect. He instead spends sixty percent of the day focused on helping BoJack rather than ten percent if at all.
  • Character Tics: As Princess Carolyn points out in "Let's Find Out", Mr. Peanutbutter's ears flop up when he is excited.
  • Chick Magnet: He was married twice to Katrina (first) and Jessica Biel (second) before divorcing them for different reasons. Sometime after his second divorce, he began a relationship with Diane that led to marriage. And in "Higher Love", while he worked as a lady shoes salesman, many women were excited to see him. His current girlfriend becomes attracted to him nearly instantly after they first meet while having dinner with Diane, his now ex-wife.
  • Cowardly Lion: Despite his fear of death and countless other anxieties and neuroses, he has no reservations about springing into action to help when he sees people in danger, even when it means putting himself in harm's way.
  • The Danza: An In-Universe example; his TV character was also named Mr. Peanutbutter.
  • Dogs Are Dumb: He has the simple-minded, excitable personality you'd expect from a dog.
  • Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: He's got a fire hydrant fountain in front of his home.
  • Dog Stereotype: Mr. Peanutbutter is a Labrador Retriever, and is thus incredibly nice (if a bit dim and has his moments of being Innocently Insensitive), light hearted and he has a very short attention span. He also hates Tennis because he doesn't understand why no one catches the ball. Also, he's violently distrustful of mailmen, carries his slippers with his mouth, sleeps curled into a ball and moves his legs while dreaming.
  • Dumb Blond: He's a yellow lab. And while not completely stupid, he is very naïve.
  • Fatal Flaw: More than anything else in his entire life, Peanutbutter NEEDS to be liked, loves to be liked, picks it by default, and while he can turn away from it for a time, sooner or later will always fall back into it. It works a lot of the time, because he IS extremely likable on a shallow level and his pleasantness is genuine. But it also plays a part in ruining his marriages, since his wives sooner or later figure out he truly will NEVER prioritize them over doing what HE wants to do that feeds his beast.
    • To that point, his first ex-wife convinces him to run for public office not because she thinks he'll be good at it - he definitely won't be - but because she knows the "likability competition" of a political race is too juicy for him to avoid, and then that if elected he would ignore the job and just do whatever her corporate interests told him to.
  • Foil: To BoJack, since they both had a hit sitcom in the 80s, but while BoJack is bitter, antisocial, and depressed, Mr. Peanuttbutter is friendly, positive, and upbeat. However, the two are actually more similar than they seem. See Anti-Nihilist and Bitch in Sheep's Clothing above.
  • Friendly Enemy: To BoJack, though the friendly part of this trope often overpowers the enemy aspect. Hell, he actually wishes they could be friends. By season 4, they could be considered Vitriolic Best Buds in-training.
  • Full-Name Basis: "Mister" is his first name and "Peanutbutter" is his last name. Everyone refers to him as "Mr. Peanutbutter", except for the children of his brother, who call him "Uncle Mister," and Pickles, the only character to consistently call him by his first name alone.
  • Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Is the always upbeat Gleeful to BoJack's miserable and self-loathing Grumpy.
  • Heroic Dog: He's saved Todd from a burning roller coaster, saved BoJack from drowning, saved an entire underwater city with spaghetti strainers and was one of the first people to pull a painkiller high BoJack off of Gina when he strangled her.
  • Hidden Depths: Everyone is surprised that Mr. Peanutbutter, best known for playing the Bumbling Dad or jovial gameshow host, can play a cold and calculating killer on Philbert that terrorizes the title character despite being a hallucination. More so since he replaced an actor with bad rep who was a better fit for the part. Mr. Peanutbutter lampshades this, while expressing a desire to actually be a hero and saves Gina from a drugged-out BoJack by pulling the horse's hands off her neck
  • Ignored Epiphany: In "Mr. Peanutbutter's Boos", Diane has to spell out for Mr. Peanutbutter that his marriages keep failing because he's mentally still a teenager and keeps dating women in their twenties, who inevitably outgrow him once they become more mature than he is. She tells him he can start dating older women, or grow up himself. He does consider the latter, but ultimately opts to keep having frivolous fun. At the end of Season 5, Mr. Peanutbutter again avoids dealing with relationship problems in a healthy and mature manner, instead cheating on Pickles with Diane and then just proposing to Pickles to gloss over their relationship flaws (like he did with Diane in Season 1), showing he's making the same mistakes that led to his three previous failed marriages. Season 6 shows the consequences of this, where Mr. Peanutbutter confesses to Pickles about what happened with Diane, asks her to cheat on him to make things even, and breaks off the engagement. Pickles, unsurprisingly, breaks up with him via the phone. At the least, Mr. Peanutbutter is single by the end of the series, implying that he is working on himself about a year after the event.
  • Innocently Insensitive: To his credit, Mr. Peanutbutter is simply trying to appease his girlfriend and show as much love and support as he can. It's just unfortunate that he never acknowledges how he's breaching their boundaries, being insensitive, and unfairly comparing each girlfriend to his ex.
  • Insecure Love Interest: For all of his happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care antics and the way he takes even the most distressing things at face value, he's revealed to be very afraid of losing Diane either by death or her leaving him.
  • It Runs in the Family: His brother and grandmother share his tendency of hiding their insecurities and sadness behind ever-happy facades.
  • Jerkass Has a Point:
    • In "Let's find out" he completely abuses his position as a quiz show host to torment BoJack. When BoJack finally snaps Peanutbutter retorts that BoJack deserves it for trying to get with Diane and always insulting him. While it is certainly petty it does make sense that he'd get fed up of trying to be BoJack's friend. When BoJack then admits he's jealous Peanutbutter replies that he lives in a big house, has a loving relationship and is going to be the star of a big movie, basically telling him that it's his fault if he's still wallowing in self-pity. Given that BoJack never really attempts to resolve his issues Peanutbutter is somewhat right with his view on BoJack's character.
    • This is why Diane can't face him at the end of season 2. He was less-than supportive about her going to Cordovia to write a book on Sebastian St. Clair for several reasons: it's one of the most war-torn areas in the world, life is full of things that one person cannot change, no normal person would want their spouse going to a dangerous place, and Sebastian St. Clair is an eligible wealthy bachelor with a reputation. With that said, when he and Diane talk it out, he agrees to support her when going and gently suggests Shoo the Dog when she starts receiving death threats about the Hank scandal so that idiot trolls won't be targeting her. Diane finds out to her chagrin that her husband was right about most of these points, minus Sebastian St. Clair hitting on her and flies home to wallow in BoJack's home, lying that she's still in Cordovia. It's not that he would say I Told You So because he is too nice for that; it's that Diane would have to apologize for hurting him for nothing.
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: Deconstructed. Mr. Peanutbutter's goal is to simply be loved by who he is. Unfortunately, he believes everybody should accept him as he is even after seeing how Be Yourself doesn't work when it screws up and messes with other people. He also has a tenuous grasp about love: namely, that it involves physical affection rather than mutual understanding.
  • Mailman vs. Dog: Mr. Peanutbutter has a problem with chasing the mail truck with his car. In "Horse Majeure" he gets pulled over for doing this and later loses his license. Even just mentioning the post office makes him growl.
    Diane: Were you chasing the mailman again?
    Mr. Peanutbutter: Yes, why? Did you see him out there too!? Nothing stops them! Not rain, not sleet, not dead of night, not gates!
  • Manchild: His solution to anything depressing in his life is to seek out simple pleasures. Once when he threw a surprise birthday party for Diane, he bought or rented many expensive and unnecessary things, including a ball pit. Addressed in "Mr. Peanutbutter's Boos" when Diane explains that Mr. Peanutbutter is mentally still in his 20s, so he keeps dating women who inevitably outgrow him.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Done without malice. Nevertheless, Mr. Peanutbutter is a textbook example of toxic positivity—for example, when Pickles asked to slow things down on their relationship, he unintentionally used passive-aggressive comments so Pickles would change her mind.
  • Mirror Character: Although initially presented as a perpetually-optimistic Foil to BoJack, it becomes increasingly apparent over the course of the series that Mr. Peanutbutter actually has a lot in common with BoJack personality-wise; Both are insecure Manchildren who numb their existential depression through hedonism, desperately crave the affection of others, and have a history of toxic relationships with younger women.
  • Mortality Phobia: Peanutbutter is deeply afraid of his own inevitable death, and seeks out whatever he can do in life to distract himself and (pretend to) be happy.
  • A Mouse Named "Mozzarella": Mr. Peanutbutter is a dog named after a common food given to dogs as a treat.
  • National Animal Stereotypes: While the series rarely indulges in this trope, Mr. Peanutbutter's friendly and polite demeanor is very much in keeping with the popular view of both Labrador retrievers and people from Canada.
  • Never My Fault: A cheerful and carefree version, but still. Another wacky business venture fell apart? Who could have seen that coming! Ah well, can't argue with Lady Fate. Guess it just wasn't meant to be. Now time to wander aimlessly till the next big opportunity presents itself and throw extravagant amounts of money at it till it too fails.
  • Nice Guy: He's generally quite friendly and pleasant towards other people, though not without some hidden personality flaws that he tends to be in self-denial about. Throughout the series, however, it gets greatly deconstructed multiple times, particularly where he cheated on Pickles with Diane. To put it simply, this quote says it all— “A nice person doesn’t automatically mean a good person”.
  • Older Than He Looks: It's easy to forget that Mr. Peanutbutter is supposed to be only a few years younger than BoJack, who’s in his fifties.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Anytime Mr. Peanutbutter drops his usual energetic, friendly nature means that something incredibly serious has happened to make him more serious than usual.
  • Perpetual Smiler: It's hard to see Mr. Peanutbutter with a frown on his face. This is shown to be both a good and bad thing.
  • Poor Man's Substitute: invoked Part of the animosity BoJack has for him is that Mr. Peanutbutter tended to mirror BoJack's career and choice of projects, particularly how "Mr. Peanutbutter's House" was an even more vapid knockoff of "Horsin' Around."
  • Running Gag: Often cuts off BoJack while greeting him at some social function to enthusiastically greet Erica, who's always standing somewhere off-screen.
    Mr. Peanutbutter: Erica! How are you? [insert some related nicety]
  • Serial Spouse: His marriage to Diane in the first season was his third marriage. His exes show up on occasion, indicating they did not end amicably. By the fifth season it's examined further; due to his Manchild personality, he tends to date women who are younger than him, but while he remains perpetually young and energetic, the women he marries will inevitably mature and outgrow his immature antics.
  • Slave to PR: Almost a deconstruction of the idea. More than anything else, Mr Peanutbutter absolutely has to be liked and loves to be liked, which makes sense because he's a Labrador retriever (a dog breed which is known for their people-pleasing personalities). Most of the time it works in his favor, because he is a professional celebrity getting paid to be enjoyed. But over time it becomes clear that he's the same way in his private life, and sooner or later, everyone who spends time with him - predominantly his wives, but also Bojack - realizes he's an attention hound who will always keep them as second fiddle to his desire for attention.
  • Stepford Smiler: It's heavily implied that his perpetually optimistic and cheerful attitude is merely a mask to cover up his nihilistic worries about life ultimately being cruel and meaningless.
  • Stupid Good: A reoccurring theme with Peanutbutter is that he's genuinely trying to be supportive and caring for his girlfriend but constantly fails to see the bigger picture or learn from his mistakes. His relationship with Diane best represents this; he compares her to his ex, pushes her out of her comfort zone, and hosts a party for her despite her telling him that she doesn't want one. Peanutbutter constantly breaks her boundaries and ignores what she really wants by trying too hard to help her.
  • Undying Loyalty: By the end of the show, Peanutbutter's the only person who commits to stick by BoJack to the very end, despite all he has done.
  • Unwitting Pawn: A consequence of his cheerful-but-dumb attitude is that he's very easy to steer in a certain direction. In Season 4 especially, he gets persuaded into running for governor of California by his ex, and it becomes very clear that she asked him because she knew he'd enjoy the experience of winning an election but also wouldn't care about doing the job at all and would just do whatever she said.
  • Uptown Guy: Mr. Peanutbutter, a rich TV star and celebrity, dates and later marries Diane, a still up-and-coming author who came from a poor family. When they first met, Mr. Peanutbutter was already a rich celebrity going to extravagant parties while Diane was working at a Starbucks and working as a waitress at those extravagant parties to make ends meet.

    Todd Chavez 

Todd Chaveznote 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_5045.png
Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me chicken soup with rice.
Teenager in 2007

Voiced by: Aaron Paul

BoJack's mid-20s slacker roommate who often gets into wacky situations. Todd may be a freeloader, and BoJack constantly voices his disapproval of him, but he deep down prefers having him.


  • Actor Allusion: This isn't the first time that a Aaron Paul voiced a stoner burnout beanie-lover type of character, who later calls out an older but morally dubious partner to not "keep getting away with this".
  • All-Loving Hero: Todd is a caring and sweet person who always wants to help. However, his loving nature gets pushed to its limits when dealing with the self-destructive BoJack.
  • Ambiguously Brown: While in prison he was simultaneously courted by both the Aryan Nation and Latin Kings, and Princess Carolyn is surprised when he tells her his last name is Chavez. In-fact, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the show's creator, referred to him as "Schrödinger’s Latino". Season 6 reveals that his last name comes from his stepfather, and he identifies Todd as white later in the episode.
  • The Baby of the Bunch: Todd is the youngest of the main cast, and the one most likely to be getting help from them at any given time. While he is certainly the silliest, he can also be the most emotionally mature of them, and - like a baby - is usually the one awakening them to their sense of duty and empathy.
  • Big Eater: Much more than BoJack, as Todd is often seen eating something almost every episode. He often orders pizza and has quite a fondness for sweets. One scene shows him dipping cotton candy into a bowl of cereal with milk.
  • Born Lucky: No matter in how many crazy misadventures he ends up involved, Todd will always come out more or less unscathed or not worse for wear. In Season 6, when his stepdad comes to visit, it's revealed that Todd never plans ahead or applies himself because he knows things will "just always work out" for him, and he just wants to coast through life on his own eternally charmed luck.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: Todd has been shown to possess a plethora of skills including an understanding of Japanese, entrepreneurial know-how, and artistic capabilities. Besides having allied with Mr. Peanutbutter for various business ideas, he tried writing and composing his own rock opera, Newtopia Rising, Book I: The Search for a New Utopia. However, his overall laziness and video game addiction often hinders his success.
  • Butt-Monkey: Todd can never catch a break. He's been framed for tourist scams he was strong armed into doing, dismissed by his friends at every turn, beaten up by two girls who caught him off-guard and stole his stuff, thrown in the can where he witnesses a very messy murder and ends up in a power play between the Aryans and Latinos that almost ends with him being curb stomped, had his Rock Opera sabotaged...the list just goes on and on.
  • Character Development: Throughout the course of the show, Todd was a shut in roommate who through his own wacky misadventures ends up doing one job after another and then never plans ahead. At the end of the show, he finds a stable life direction by opening a daycare at VIM and has found a solid relationship with his new girlfriend Maude. By season 4 he also becomes much more open about himself, coming out as asexual. In the first half of the show, he was a supportive friend to the rest of the main cast. By this point he has developed more of his own identity.
  • The Cloud Cuckoolander Was Right: Two instances:
    • When Todd figures out it was BoJack who ruined his rock opera. He's right, but the methods he uses are preposterous.
    • In a desperate attempt to keep his own Disneyland, he suggests that maybe Walt Disney copyrighted the wrong name. He's right. Disney copyrighted "Diisneyland"
  • Did Not Think This Through: While Todd is Unluckily Lucky, most of his hard luck comes from him not thinking through most of his zany schemes and almost suffering the consequences for it, only for his own supernaturally good luck to prevent him from suffering any real harm. For example, in Season 1 he tries to court two separate prison gangs in a "two dates, one prom" scenario, and when it predictably goes south he's only saved from having his arms broken by the prison suddenly bursting open.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Todd was initially more down to earth than BoJack, and would snark at how out of touch with a "normal" life BoJack was. It wasn't long before Todd became a full-blown ditz and BoJack became even more snarky and aware of how different he is from other people. In the first few episodes and bits of the first season he's also written a bit like a younger and slightly more naive version of Jesse Pinkman and shown to be involved with the criminal underworld, do hardcore drugs, and possibly be a smoker. By season 2 all of these traits are quietly ejected from his character and he becomes pure-hearted.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: By the time of the Distant Finale, Todd has reconnected and reconciled with his mother and stepfather, has an actual, stable job as the head of VIM Agency's daycare, and lives independently with his girlfriend, Maude.
  • Establishing Character Moment: In the first episode, Todd doesn't do much besides hanging around BoJack's house and mooching off, yet has a high opinion of BoJack and clearly loves him, despite BoJack's dismissal of him. He seems perfectly content with who he is, while being the butt of the joke at every turn.
  • Foreshadowing: BoJack asks him if he wasn't some troubled gay teenager with an alternative lifestyle in his first appearance. Early in season 3, he is asked this again. From his interactions with Emily when they were young, it seems clear he is not interested in sex with her: this all comes together in the season 3 finale, with him coming out as asexual.
  • Friend to All Children: Todd is good with Ruthie, Princess Carolyn's adoptive daughter, which is one of the reasons why Princess Carolyn decides to hire him as Ruthie's nanny. This is taken even further in the latter half of Season 6, where Todd decides to open a daycare for VIM Agency's employees and it becomes a great success.
  • Genius Ditz: Todd is shown to be not terribly bright, almost cripplingly eccentric, and many times comes just shy of becoming quite successful. Early in the show, he started a business partnership with Mr. Peanutbutter where they would pursue Todd's various Zany schemes and they would often just fall just short. Todd's closest brush with success came when he started a rideshare company that netted Todd $8 million when it was acquired, but he gave his entire fortune away as a tip by mistake. And also the time he accidentally became Governor of California and stepped down a few short minutes later; a decision driven by the fact that he was at the time struggling to come to terms with his own asexuality, and preferred not to deal with labels, including that of Governor.
  • Mad Libs Catchphrase: "Hooray! (Something related to the current topic of conversation)!"
    "Hooray! Gross miscarriage!"
    "Hooray! A task!"
    "Hooray! Question mark?"
    "Hooray. Betrayal."
    "Hooray! Responsibili—" (throws up)
    "Hooray! And you know, I don't throw that word around lightly."
  • Manchild: Todd is a twenty-something slacker who was kicked out by his own family for getting addicted to a video game and dropping out of high school. When he moves into BoJack's house, he continues to be lazy and mooches off his host (which BoJack bluntly calls out as parasitic behavior) and it takes him a while to get a steady job. However, while he definitely has the goofiness and innocent mindset of a childlike slacker, Todd can also subvert this trope at times by proving to being the most emotionally mature out of the main five. He puts no blame on others, he sets boundaries and confesses when someone (usually Bojack) crosses a line, he regulates his emotions, and is more open-minded than the other core characters.
  • Morality Pet: Serves as one of the entire central cast.
    • Most of all, from the series' start, he softens Bojack by showing that despite his flaws, he's let Todd live with him for years and Todd genuinely likes him, even if Bojack's rough to be around.
    • Princess Carolyn, in turn, despite doing a lot of scheming that might be construed as underhanded, is always nice and generous with Todd, even though he's not someone who'll make her money.
    • And in general, Peanutbutter, Diane, and more characters all get to prove that they have a soft side by how they treat him, helping keep them sympathetic.
  • NEET: He lives by freeloading off of BoJack and sleeping on his couch. He dropped out of high school and is rarely ever employed anywhere for long. When he leaves BoJack's house, he continues the trend with Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter, and then Princess Carolyn. Throughout the series, he does manage to build up a pretty prolific resume due to both his friends and misadventures getting him into notable jobs, and when he’s staying with Princess Carolyn, he offers to start paying rent. By the end of the show, he’s Ruthie’s nanny, running a daycare for VIM, and sharing an apartment with his girlfriend Maude.
  • Never Bareheaded: He always keeps his yellow beanie on. He has swapped it out for a nightcap, top hat, or spaghetti strainer. He wore a purple beanie in his teens, and a flashback as a toddler in the bath shows him with a towel over his head.
  • Nice Guy: Most of the time, Todd is a pretty pleasant, good-natured, and helpful fellow who has a lot of patience with someone like BoJack. He has some Jerkass Ball moments, but they are arguably less common than with the other characters.
  • Odd Friendship: With both Diane and Princess Carolyn
    • He and Princess Carolyn turn out to be remarkably good roommates despite their diametrically opposed personalities.
    • Todd and Diane have perhaps the healthiest friendship out of any two members of the main five, despite the fact that they are near opposites (with Diane being a moral and brash outspoken feminist writer and Todd being a wacky go with the flow slacker). Every scene they are on screen, they enjoy each other's company. On top of that, they are nothing but sweet, supportive, encouraging, and helpful to one another.
  • Phrase Catcher: "Shut up, Todd!" Also, "Todd, clean up your shit!"
  • The Pig-Pen: One episode even reveals that he never bathes.
  • Queer Colors: The cab company Todd starts in season three, Cabracadabra, has a sign colored in purple, white, and black. At the end of the season, Todd realizes he's asexual, likely making this subtle Foreshadowing with the tie he wears in Mr. Peanutbutter’s housewarming party and to his and Pickle’s surprise engagement party.
  • Queer Establishing Moment: Todd is shown to be apprehensive about having sex with Emily, both when they dated in high school and when they reunite in the present, and has mixed feelings after finding out that BoJack slept with her. In the Season 3 finale, when she asks about his mixed feelings towards her, he suggests to Emily that he "might be nothing" in regards to his sexual orientation, establishing himself as asexual.
    Todd: I'm not gay. I mean, I don't think I am, but... I don't think I'm straight, either. I don't know what I am. I think I might be nothing.
    • He is, however, initially uncomfortable with Emily calling him asexual at the beginning of Season 4, but by the end of "Hooray! Todd Episode!" he accepts himself and officially comes out as asexual to BoJack.
      Todd: It actually feels nice to finally say it out loud. I am an asexual person. I am asexual!
  • Same Clothes, Different Year: Todd has worn the same red hoodie with a white undershirt and blue flip flops since he was 13. He wore a purple beanie until sometime in high school when he and Emily unintentionally swapped them, and he got her yellow one.
  • Shout-Out: In a nutshell, Todd's pretty much a Lighter and Softer version of Jesse Pinkman of Breaking Bad. Bonus points for Todd being voiced by Aaron Paul, who portrays Jessie Pinkman, and, ironically, sharing the same first name as Jesse's Neo-Nazi captor. Even Todd's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to BoJack regarding the latter's Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse invokes shades of Jesse's anguished "He can't keep getting away with this!" line about Walter White.
  • Stereotype Flip: An energetic, outgoing, Cloud Cuckoolander asexual person, flipping the tendency of such characters to be misanthropic and villainous.
  • Weirdness Magnet: It's a given that no matter where he goes, Todd's storylines will often have shreds of Fantastic Comedy, ranging from rescuing chickens to becoming a more confident person by the power of self-delusion.
    Todd: You know, sometimes I feel like my whole life is just a series of loosely-related wacky misadventures.

Alternative Title(s): Bojack Horseman Princess Carolyn, Bojack Horseman Diane Nguyen, Bojack Horseman Mr Peanutbutter, Bojack Horseman Todd Chavez, Bojack Horseman Bojack Horseman

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