Characters from the film Bottoms.
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Students
PJ
"I don't need a plan. My mom has a business, all we do is yell."
Played by: Rachel Sennott
"No one hates us because we're gay. Everyone hates us because we're gay, untalented, and ugly."
One of two protagonists. Like her best friend Josie, PJ is an unpopular high school senior who starts a "fight club".
- Deadpan Snarker: Reacts to everything with dripping amounts of sarcasm.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Unlike with Josie and Isabel, who make up at the ending, PJ doesn't score with her own crush, Brittany, who's not into girls and gently turns down her advances. Josie implies during their fight that PJ's crush on Brittany was only ever a case of Loving a Shadow to begin with, and she instead gets a Maybe Ever After with Hazel.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Well, most of the ones in this movie are, but PJ is a notable example of this given that she was fine with getting punched and bleeding all over her face simply because she'd "never had so many girls look at [her] before."
- Never My Fault: During her big confrontation with Josie, PJ refuses to take accountability for literally any aspect of the mess they've gotten into. Although Josie has done some pretty shitty things too, she is a lot more self-aware than PJ.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She is only ever referred to by her initials with her full name never revealed.
- Secretly Selfish: She goes along with Hazel's female solidarity stuff, but she really just wants to bang a hot cheerleader.
Josie
"But, like, the only way that we can learn to defend ourselves is by teaching each other!"
Played by: Ayo Edebiri
"If we do this — very big if — we just run the risk of becoming even bigger losers than we already are right now."
One of two protagonists, and PJ's best friend; like her, Josie is an unpopular lesbian student. She is less eager to go along with the idea of the self-defense club, but likes how it lets her get close to her crush, Isabel.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Josie has two. She is friends with Rhodes, an older lesbian. (PJ is also friends with Rhodes, but we don't see the two interacting because PJ and Josie are fighting when Rhodes appears.) She also seems to consider Ted, the school janitor, to be her friend.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Josie's reaction to Jeff's insults:Jeff: Don't talk to me, you ugly bitch. Okay, I do not talk to girls in overalls.
Josie: Okay, I may be ugly but these aren't overalls. - Secretly Selfish: Downplayed. Like PJ, she cares more about scoring with a cheerleader than actual female solidarity — at first, at least. Josie has genuine interest in Isabel as a person and forms a real connection with her, which is why she takes her back at the end. She also seems to actually care about feminism and female solidarity beneath her desire for sex.
Hazel
"I feel like people are actually liking more than the hitting and tackling part of the club."
Played by: Ruby Cruz
"There's a serious lack of female solidarity at this school."
An outcast like PJ and Josie who encourages them to start the club.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Hazel eventually snaps when PJ refuses to give her credit for the work she's done to market and organize the club, as opposed to PJ and Josie, who are just winging everything. PJ later apologizes and admits Hazel deserved more respect for her role in the club.
- The Heart: PJ and Josie put the group together, but Hazel goes along with the motive of having solidarity among the girls in the school and is the one responsible for turning it into a genuine group of friends. And when she gets injured, the others rally around her and take care of her.
- Kick Chick: She mentions knowing Taekwondo and displays some decent kicks while fighting.
- Literal-Minded: Hazel takes Josie's comment that she "ate shit" (i.e. "fell down") literally.
- Sarcasm-Blind:
- She asks if it's true that Josie and PJ went to juvie, and when the latter sarcastically "confirms" it, genuinely believes them and is shocked that they "lied" to her when they later clarify it wasn't true, even though, as PJ points out, Hazel was the one who brought up juvie in the first place and she just didn't bother to correct her.
- Apparently, neither of them learn their lesson from this encounter, as the club later plans to go egg Jeff's house after his breakup with Isabel, and Hazel offers to put a bomb in his car. PJ once more gives a sarcastic reply of "Yes, we're going to do terrorism," meaning the opposite, and again, Hazel takes her response seriously and really does bomb his car.
Isabel
"I thought this was to be part of, like, a local underprivileged female community."
Played by: Havana Rose Liu
"I really appreciated you fighting and speaking loudly at my boyfriend."
A popular cheerleader and the girlfriend of quarterback Jeff.
- Hair Flip: Her introductory scene has her flipping her long hair in slow motion to establish how good-looking she is.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Maybe a lipstick bisexual since she's dating Jeff at first, but Isabel falls for a lesbian girl, Josie, and they kiss, then have sex together offscreen. She's a very feminine cheerleader who's always in blouses, skirts, has long hair and loves pink.
- Nervous Tics: Isabel appears to make uncomfortable laughing and crying noises upon learning unfortunate news (Jeff cheating on her and hearing that PJ and Josie lied to the girls about their intentions with the fight club).
- Nightmare Fetishist: She outright says that violence is one of her love languages.
- Pink Means Feminine: She wears a lot of flattering pink outfits throughout the film, befitting a pretty cheerleader. In one of the scenes where she isn't wearing pink (the first history class), she's carrying several pink school supplies.
- Woman Scorned: After Jeff publicly admits to cheating on Isabel, the club bands together to egg/TP his house and blow up his car in revenge. Everyone finds it quite cathartic.
Brittany
"Stop smiling, I'm kicking your ass."
Played by: Kaia Gerber
"My identity is completely attached to [Isabel's] so I just go wherever she goes."
Isabel's best friend. Like her, she is a popular cheerleader.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: While seeing PJ and Hazel kiss Brittany reaffirms that she isn't gay, but just really likes gay porn.
- Hidden Depths: Invoked. Brittany complains that everyone only sees her as a hot popular girl and nobody wants to talk about how she's actually a driven, book-smart business owner. PJ is heavily implied to be one more such person.
- Satellite Character: Lampshaded by Brittany, who states that her being is attached to whatever Isabel is doing at any given moment (though she does have a jewelry business apart from Isabel).
- Statuesque Stunner: She's very attractive and stands at 5'10, towering over most of the other girls.
Annie
Played by: Zamani Wilder
A conservative classmate who joines the club."Nice try, PJ, but my vagina belongs to the government."
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Josie notes that Annie is their smartest member when asking for the other girls to help them. True enough, Annie's instrumental to saving Jeff's life by quickly figuring out that the Huntington players put a whole barrel of pineapple juice in the sprinklers.
- Black Republican: Annie is Black and makes several conservative, Christian, and pro-life comments. Josie, who is also Black, laments that despite being a Black Republican, Annie is one of the smartest members of the club.
- Covert Pervert: Annie is a very Catholic Republican, but gets so hype over homecoming that she flashes her breasts at the team.
Sylvie
"I'll be able to kill my stepdad."
Played by: Summer Joy Campbell
"Yas queen! Slay! Yas! Yes! Slay! Yes!"
An aggressive member of the club.
- Ax-Crazy: Sylvie appears quite aggressive, seemingly wanting to kill her stepdad just for enforcing Friday movie nights and gleefully wielding a sword (or at least trying to do so) during the final battle.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Sylvie wants to kill her stepdad. It's assumed she has a dark reason for doing so, but all she complains about is his obsession with making her watch movies with him every Friday night.
- Fangirl: She's an enthusiastic fan of David Fincher which is part of why she joined the club.
- Large Ham: Even if the film takes place a World of Ham, Sylvie takes the top spot as the loudest of them all with no competition. Once she gets excited about something, she lets all of it out by screaming at the top of her lungs.
Stella-Rebecca
Played by: Virginia Tucker
"I can finally reverse-stalk my stalker!"
A beautiful classmate and a family friend of Hazel's, who joins the club through her.
- LGBT Awakening: Parodied. She cheerily realizes she's gay after watching PJ and Hazel make out.
- Lipstick Lesbian: She's a feminine cheerleader who realizes she's a lesbian near the end of the film by seeing Hazel and PJ kiss.
- Ms. Fanservice: A parody of one. Her character centers solely on how hot she is, with her primary scenes featuring her in a bikini to promote a car wash and getting soaked with water at the homecoming pep rally.
- Sexy Soaked Shirt: Parodied. The cheerleaders' routine at the big homecoming game mainly consists of dumping water on the hot Stella-Rebecca.
Jeff
"I'm so strong."
Played by: Nicholas Galitzine
"Don't talk to me, you ugly bitch. I do not talk to girls in overalls."
The school's beloved but immature quarterback.
- Bad Liar: When put on the spot about his sexual liaisons with Mrs. Callahan, Jeff's first lie is...helping her with her taxes.Hazel: Aren't you in eighth-grade algebra?
Jeff: Well, I-I can't answer that question because I don't know how to read. - Big Jerk on Campus: Exaggerated for the comedy value. Not only is he the most popular guy among his peers, the teachers also worship him. However, he's also a self-centered, philandering douchebag.
- Likes Older Women: Jeff cheats on Isabel with Mrs. Reilly (a teacher) and later cheats on Isabel with Hazel's mom. Downplayed in that he seems plenty attracted to girls his age too, but he believes it "doesn't count" as cheating if they're not in high school and that's why he cheats on Isabel with older women.
- Manchild: He's a high school senior, but he talks and acts more like a little kid. For instance, when queueing for some food at the cafeteria, he sings in a baby voice, "Jeff so hungy, Jeff so hungy." Isabel also tells Josie that Jeff would touch her hair and go, "Shiny, shiny, shiny."
- Plot Allergy: Jeff is established to have a serious pineapple allergy. The Huntington team's climactic murder attempt is to spray the field with pineapple juice to kill him.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Jeff lets out a high shriek after seeing his car explode.
- Throwing Off the Disability: After Josie's car gently hits Jeff's knee the footballers act like he's essentially been murdered. Jeff shows up to school the next day in crutches, gaining everyone's sympathy, only to "heroically" throw them away when it's time for practice.
- Your Mom: Jeff blurts out "I fucked your mom" to Hazel. He's too stupid to realize until after he's said it that this means he's admitting to cheating on Isabel in the process, just as Hazel and Isabel hoped.
Tim
"Great show last night."
Played by: Miles Fowler
"Listen, it's really cute and everything, but we're getting a little close to the game now, and, um, I'm just a bit concerned it might be taking attention away from our team."
Jeff's best friend and fellow football jock.
- Attention Whore: Tim works to undermine the girls and their Fight Club because their camaraderie and confidence is drawing attention away from the upcoming football game. Even before they do anything to actually threaten Jeff and the football team (confronting him for cheating and blowing up his car) Tim can't stand the Fight Club's existence. Apparently the offense was just being happy for reasons other than supporting the team.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Jeff, the quarterback of the football team, is the most popular guy at Rockwood Falls High School and arch-enemy of PJ and Josie, but he's too childish and idiotic to come anywhere close to threatening. Tim on the other hand actively works against the girls for most of the movie and successfully exposes PJ and Josie's lies at the pep rally. He's also more attentive to threats towards Jeff in general, stopping him from eating a fruit cup that has pineapple in it, which Jeff is deathly allergic to.
- Karma Houdini: He doesn't face any consequences for his actions, not even for outing PJ and Josie's lies (and essentially almost ruining their high school lives) or tricking Hazel into getting beaten to a bloody pulp at the pep rally. While he does wind up in a chokehold in the climactic fight with the Huntington players, it's at the hands of a different party and rather brief, so it hardly counts as karma.
- Skyward Scream: Jeff collapses in the fair parking lot in Tim's arms; Tim screams revenge at the sky. This is despite Jeff having only been gently hit in the knee.
- Slow Clap: After the fight club, with help from the Rockbridge football, defeat the entire Huntington team, Tim starts clapping, and soon the entire audience is applauding them.
Adults
Mr. G
"You know what, I'm not a fucking idiot. I just look like this."
Played by: Marshawn Lynch
"Whoo! That shit felt good to say! Whoo, I tell y'all...men need therapy."
The girls' history teacher, whom they recruit as the club advisor hoping his ongoing divorce will keep him from paying too much attention.
- Character Development: Played for Laughs. He constantly flip-flops on his opinions on women and feminism. But after the girls kill the entire Huntington football team (in self-defense, to be fair, but still), Mr. G proudly proclaims that he knew women were good all along.
- Cool Teacher: Zig-zagged with Mr. G. At first, PJ and Josie only enlist him because he's so checked out that he won't look too deeply into their club, but he slowly becomes a genuine supporter of the girls' cause. However, he turns on them so quickly following the Liar Revealed plot that it's clear he's just a strange man going through his own shit.
- Everyone Has Standards: He makes clear in his class on the Treaty Of Versailles that he has no tolerance for discussing wheter the Holocaust happened.
- Politically Motivated Teacher: Played for Laughs. His (highly mercurial) opinions about women — which are most definitely influenced by however his divorce is going — are never a secret to his class. One day, he could think that feminism is totally awesome and the other, he could think that women are actually evil, and his students will be made aware.
Principal Meyers
Played by: Wayne Pere
"Hah, sure. You're all victims, and girls are always right."
The school principal. He is dismissive of Josie and PJ.
- Dean Bitterman: The principal of the school, he puts the jerk jocks on a pedestal and threatens to expel PJ and Josie for even daring to lay hands (or gently tap Jeff with a car) on them.
Mrs. Callahan
Played by: Dagmara Domińczyk
Hazel's recently divorced mother.- Karma Houdini: Faces no repercussions for having regular sex with a high school student.
- Open-Minded Parent: Implied by how she looks on approvingly at her daughter making out with another girl.
- Stacy's Mom: Jeff is hooking up with his schoolmate Hazel's glamorous mother, cheating on his girlfriend Isabel in the process.
Rhodes
Played by: Punkie Johnson
"I've never had many friends, and that's sad. And as I've gotten older in this world, it's only gotten more sad."
PJ and Josie's shared childhood babysitter.
- Hermit Guru: Rhodes lives alone in a trailer and mentions that she leads a largely solitary existence. Josie, who had previously compared her to the swamp-dwelling elderly mentor Yoda, seeks her out for advice.
- Mentor in Queerness: It's implied that Rhodes, whom PJ and Josie describe as a "gay Yoda", is part of the reason they're both out-and-proud in high school.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She's only in the film for a single scene, but kicks the whole third act in motion by telling Josie that Huntington will probably kill a Rockbridge football player.
