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Students
Cher Horowitz
Played by: Alicia Silverstone (film), Rachel Blanchard (series)
"But seriously, I actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl."
A spoiled Beverly Hills Valley Girl who is one of the most popular girls at her high school. She initially believes herself to have infallible judgement about others, but this is challenged as the film goes on.
- Becoming the Mask: One of the big themes of the movie. While some of Cher's actions have the pretense of altruism, she does grow genuinely altruistic and becomes humbled by the experience, be it successful or a mishap.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Cher Horowitz is a good example of the smarter (if still shallow and naive) version and is also unusual in being the actual protagonist. She's a very spoiled high schooler but is also sweeter and more considerate than the usual example in several ways, in that she's constantly fretting about her father's stress levels and need to have a proper breakfast, and reaches out to make friends with the awkward and unfashionable newcomer to the school (for pretty shallow reasons at the time, but still).
- Catchphrase: She will often disgustedly respond to things with "As if!"
- Character Development: Cher grows into a more mature and generous young woman over the course of the movie. While she was always surprisingly deep despite her Valley Girl flair, her experiences lead her to start treating her classmates, teachers, and family with more respect than she used to.
- Class Princess: She has all the trappings of the typical Alpha Bitch - spoiled, wealthy, shallow, superficial - and yet she's very much a Nice Girl.
- Daddy's Girl: Cher and her father are very close and share many heartwarming moments. She always watches after his diet and he obviously loves her just as much.
- Distracted by the Luxury: Cher's self-pitying internal monologue is interrupted when she passes a window display of shoes and goes "Ooh! I wonder if they have that in my size?"
- The Ditz: She is not actually unintelligent as such, but she certainly isn't a deep thinker or especially perceptive. Cher has a sharp mind (unlike Tai); she just doesn't really use it all time. She's not exactly up on her geography either, as this exchange while she and Josh are watching a news report about war in Bosnia demonstrates:Josh: You look confused.
Cher: It's just that, I thought they declared peace in The Middle East. - Drives Like Crazy: Cher is very careless behind the wheel, which leads to a spectacularly failed Driving Test.
- Entertainment Below Their Age: Cher and Josh are shown watching The Ren & Stimpy Show on TV. Josh judges Cher, questioning why she still watches cartoons as a 16-year-old, but Cher reassures him by stating that Ren and Stimpy are "existential". It's downplayed, though, because Ren and Stimpy, while officially a kids' show, was hardly appropriate for young children.
- Fashion Hurts: Cher implies that her party clothes are so binding that they make it hard to relax.
- Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Cher's feather boa on the movie cover, and an outfit in the movie with which her cell phone clashes.
- Genius Ditz: Cher is highly intelligent in a few areas, but in most she’s, well, clueless.
- Global Ignorance: Cher thinks Bosnia is a Middle Eastern country. She doesn't know where Kuwait is either. No wonder she mistakes her housekeeper as Mexican.Mel: (calling from his phone) Where are you?
Cher: (lying, while at Travis's party) I'm just having a snack with my girlfriends.
Mel: Where? In Kuwait?
Cher: Is that in the Valley? - Green-Eyed Monster: Cher becomes jealous when Tai becomes the new popular girl at school and starts crushing on Josh.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The golden-haired Cher is despite coming off as shallow and superficial, a really good person at heart.
- Hidden Depths: Cher isn't quite The Ditz you might expect her to be on first glance. While she's definitely quite naive and shallow, and has plenty of gaps in her knowledge base, she's also got a pretty shrewd mind, is quite effective at hatching schemes and manipulating people to achieve her desired outcomes, is skilled at debate and organising, and can be very sharp at identifying and exploiting loopholes and her naturally likable personality gives her a strong sense of charisma that allows her to reach others. She also can remember facts and knowledge when given a reason to care about them on her terms (for example, she remembers the Polonius quote from Hamlet not out of particular reverence for Shakespeare, but because she likes Mel Gibson, who starred in a film adaptation of it). In short, perhaps thanks to her parentage, she's got the makings of a pretty good lawyer.
- Jewish American Princess: Cher is a rich and spoiled Jewishnote California girl.
- The Matchmaker: Cher, of course, with Dionne's assistance. In this case, it's to get better grades; but since Cher is genuinely happy for the teachers she sets up and it doesn't veer into Jerk with a Heart of Jerk or Manipulative Bitch territory. She also seems to want Tai and Elton to be together due to wanting happiness for Tai, and not just as a "project".
- Nice Girl: Whilst definitely spoiled and somewhat self-centered, Cher is very much this. She's friendly, willing to admit fault, a romantic at heart, has a genuinely altruistic side that comes out more as the film goes on, and overall has more of a sense of decency than one would expect from an Alpha Bitch.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Josh accuses Cher of doing this a couple of times, pointing out that while she might be doing good things for several people, she's also doing so in large part because she'll benefit from it in some way. This eventually provokes a bit of a crisis in conscience for Cher, who begins to wonder whether she actually is a good person.
- Oblivious to Love:
- Cher is adamant about setting Tai up with Elton, despite the fact that Elton clearly has a thing for her instead. If not just how he looks at her, how about how he's always grabbing her from behind and kissing her cheeks whenever he gets the chance. Hello!
- Played with, however, in that it's not so much 'love' to which Cher is oblivious, but 'lust' — it's ultimately made pretty clear that Elton doesn't really want much more than to get into Cher's pants. He also likes the idea of them as a power couple.
- Operation: Jealousy: Cher starts sending herself gifts and love notes to make it appear to Christian that she's very sought after and desirable. This is a subversion, since there really isn't anyone for Christian to get jealous of.
- Proud Beauty: Cher is conventionally beautiful and fashionable and knowingly flaunts this.
- Retail Therapy: Whenever Cher's feeling down, she goes shopping.
- Spoiled Sweet: Despite being rich and popular at school and with everything a teenage girl could want, she is genuinely sweet to people and usually motivated by good feelings.
- Students Playing Matchmaker: Cher decides to set her teachers up together, thinking that if she makes them happy they will give into her demands for higher grades. It actually works, as the teachers turn out to have a lot in common and are actually happy together, and Cher ends up genuinely supporting their relationship despite it coming from a selfish place initially.
Tai Frasier
Played by: Brittany Murphy (film), Heather Gottlieb (series)
"Cher, I don’t want to do this anymore. And my buns, they don’t feel nothin’ like steel."
The new girl in school. Cher takes her under her wing and tries to make her attractive and popular.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Tai takes a handful of spills throughout the story. It's part of her charm.
- The Ditz: Tai is an amiable airhead.
- New Transfer Student: She's new to the high school, and her naivete and sweetness makes Cher take a liking to her.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Tai is the kind, klutzy new girl with dyed bright red hair. While she's not too alternative, it does come up when conventionally feminine and pretty Cher and Dionne befriend her. When they give her a makeover, their first order of business is to remove the dye from her hair. She spends the rest of the film with natural brown hair.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Tai becomes more self-centered post-makeover. Cher's influence took a bit too strongly. Fortunately it doesn't stick.
Dionne Davenport
Played by: Stacey Dash
"Dude, what’s wrong. You suffering from buyer’s remorse or something?"
Cher's best friend and confidante, who is similarly beautiful, spoiled, and fashionable.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: When she finds an affair hair in Murray's jeep, she calls him out on it. Then, at the house party, she sees another woman suggestively with Murray, grabs her by the back of her hair and pulls her away. Then she hits Murray, demanding to know "who was that?!".
- Sassy Black Woman: She's a black teenager prone to snarky comebacks, eyerolls, and flamboyant body language.
- Technical Virgin: Dionne claims to be a virgin while satisfying Murray in other ways. This changes after the freeway incident, although that was waved away for the series.
- Token Black Friend: She's the most prominent black character and mainly exists to be bestie to white protagonist Cher.
- Tsundere: Her attitude towards her boyfriend Murray runs hot and cold.
Josh Lucas
Played by: Paul Rudd (film), David Lascher (series)
"If I ever saw you do anything that wasn’t 90% selfish, I’d die of shock."
Cher's college-aged ex-stepbrother, an aspiring lawyer who maintains a familial relationship with her and her father. He acts as an older brother figure to her and is her staunchest critic.
- Big Eater: Josh is frequently seen eating. Lampshaded when his mother calls Cher and jokingly asks if her son is looting the Horowitzes' fridge.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's easily the biggest source of snark in the film with hardly a scene passing without him making a cynical remark, usually towards Cher.
- First Guy Wins: Josh is the first guy and potential romantic interest we see Cher talk to and, after a string of failed attempts at finding a boyfriend, Cher realizes that she loves Josh and they end up dating.
Murray Duvall
Played by: Donald Faison
"Cause I'm keeping it real."
Dionne's longterm boyfriend.
- Hypocrite: Early in the film, Murray confronts his girlfriend Dionne and accuses her of cheating on him. Yet he has a lock of someone else's hair in his own car, further implying that he hasn't been entirely faithful and honest to Dionne either.Murray: Woman, why don't you be answering any of my pages?Dionne: I hate when you call me "woman"!Murray: What's up? You jeepin' behind my back?Dionne: Jeepin'? No. But speaking of vehicular sex... perhaps you could explain how this cheap K-Mart hair extension got in the back seat of your car!
Travis Birkenstock
Played by: Breckin Meyer
"I would like to say this. Tardiness is not something you can do on your own. Many, many people contributed to my tardiness."
A slacker and stoner.- Meaningful Name: Travis's last name is 'Birkenstock'; Birkenstock is also a brand of shoe that, when introduced in the U.S., first became popular among hippies and general counter-culture types, who tended to also smoke a lot of weed.
Word of God is that Travis is heir to the Birkenstock fortune, explaining why a slacker pothead attends an elite school.
Elton Tiscia
Played by: Jeremy Sisto
"Yeah. I can't find my Cranberries CD. I gotta go to the quad before anyone snags it."
A pompous and wealthy student. Cher considers him as a potential boyfriend for Tai.
- Karma Houdini: Elton never really does get his comeuppance for sexually assaulting Cher and then ditching her in a rundown neighborhood where she gets mugged at gunpoint.
Christian Stovitz
Played by: Justin Walker
A student who spends alternate semesters in Chicago due to his divorced parents. Upon meeting him, Cher considers that he might be boyfriend material.
- Adaptational Sexuality: In Emma, Frank Churchill's flirtation with Emma is meaningless because he's been secretly engaged to a woman (Jane Fairfax) the entire time. Here, his equivalent Christian is gay instead.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Christian is mentioned early when Mr. Hall is distributing report cards. It's explained that he's missing because his parents have joint custody and thus he spends every other semester in Chicago. He comes back at the start of the new term by the midpoint of the movie and Cher gets an instant crush on him.
- Cultured Badass: Christian is a Rat Pack lover, knowledgeable about the arts, and has a taste for Billie Holiday and vintage films... but you do anything so stupid that could threaten someone else's safety, he won't be afraid to confront you with the threat of a physical throw-down.
- Gender Nonconforming Equals Gay: Christian's tendency to dress stylishly is cited as clear proof of his homosexuality.
- Heroic Bystander: Christian ends up being this while on a shopping date with Tai and Cher. Several jerks grab Tai and jokingly hold her over the second-floor railing while she's screaming for help. They back off when Christian gets Tai down and tells them off for endangering one of his friends.
- Straight Gay: Played with. Christian does have some Camp Gay tendencies, but the girls and Cher's dad don't realize. It's straight boys Murray and Josh (he clues in at the dance when he realises Christian is flirt-dancing with the boys around him rather than with Cher) who pick up on Christian being gay.
Adults
Melvin Horowitz
Played by: Dan Hedaya (film), Michael Lerner and Doug Sheehan (series)
"I'd like to see you have a little direction."
Cher's stern but doting father, a wealthy and renowned litigator. He has been divorced several times and maintains a paternal relationship with Josh, one of his ex-stepsons.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mel Horowitz is a feared litigation attorney who terrifies everyone around him with his blunt manner, but he clearly loves Cher and is a devoted father to her and Josh (see Parental Abandonment below).
- Hates Their Parent: He has little patience for his parents.Mr. Horowitz: Don't tell me those brain-dead low-lives are calling me again.Cher: Well, they are your parents.
- Papa Wolf: He has no issue threatening to kill suitors if they hurt Cher and his tone makes it clear he isn't bluffing.
- Parental Abandonment: Subverted with Josh; despite being divorced from his mother and having no blood relation, Mel makes a point of being a devoted father-figure to him.Mel Horowitz: You divorce wives, not children.
- Shipper on Deck: Mr. Horowitz picks up on Josh's (admittedly subtle) crush on Cher early and, judging by his sly grin when Josh ditches work in order to "watch over Cher", he approves of it.
Mr. Hall and Ms. Geist
Played by: Wallace Shawn (Mr. Hall) and Twink Caplan (Ms. Geist)
Two teachers, whom Cher successfully sets up at the beginning of the film.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Mr. Hall fails Cher on her debate report. His reasons are legitimate: Cher didn't put in any actual work and instead used her time to win the class's sympathy by using an analogy about having too many people at a party. Cher refuses to learn and instead conspires to matchmake, setting him up with another teacher.
- Politically Motivated Teacher: Miss Geist, who wants to inspire her students to save the environment and aid disaster victims. She's portrayed as dorky but likable.
- Stern Teacher: Mr. Hall is the only teacher Cher can't sweet-talk or 'negotiate' her grades with and is a bit long-suffering with the eccentricities and antics of his students, but is a fairly reasonable fellow otherwise (not least since Cher probably didn't entirely deserve getting her grades adjusted). He certainly lightens up considerably after being (unwittingly) set up with Miss Geist.
