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Mitch Kramer
An oncoming high school freshman who is often picked on by graduating or current seniors. He thankfully is accompanied by Pink who helps him adapt to High School.
- Character Development: Starts off as just an incoming freshman getting picked on by seniors but through his experience becomes much more adaptable quicker than expected.
Randall "Pink" Floyd
- Big Brother Mentor: While not brothers, he takes on this role to Mitch, inviting him to the senior party.
- Lovable Jock: He's on the football team and a really cool, friendly and laid-back guy.
- Nice Guy: He gets along with others, has no interest in hurting the freshman, prevents people from getting beaten up, and serves as a caring big brother mentor to Mitch.
David Wooderson
- Breakout Character: Wooderson has become a movie icon. His catchphrase "alright, alright, alright" is now also Matthew McConaughey's.
- Catchphrase: "Alright, alright, alright!" It even became his actor's in real life.
- The Charmer: Wooderson is damn near impossible not to like due in no small part to possessing his actor's incredible charisma.
- Creepy Good: It seems creepy considering he is passed his high school days and likes to ogle at high school girls. With that said, he is still a person many kids look up to, because taking that out, he really is a cool and respectful guy overall.
- Erudite Stoner: He is not nearly as much of a stoner as Slater but he has the stoner persona. Since he is older than the teenagers, he provides enough wisdom for others like "..you just got to keep living man, L.i.v.i,n"
- Ephebophile: Is sexually attracted to high school girls, despite being in his early 20's.
- The Hedonist: Wooderson doesn't seem to have any ambitions or goals beyond drinking, getting high, sleeping around and overall just having a good time.
- Manchild: Even though he's in his early-20's, he behaves like a stereotypical teenager and shows no signs of ever evolving past that mindset.
- Nice Guy: He's incredibly charming, friendly and seems to get along well with everyone.
Slater
Jodi
- Cool Big Sis: Towards Mitch and Sabrina
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Thanks to her pleas to the guys that they go easy on Mitch, they instead make certain that her younger brother's ass is profusely handed to him on a silver platter. Lampshaded later by Mitch when he drunkenly tells her not to ask their strict mother to go easy on him.
Cynthia
- Two Guys and a Girl: The girl to Tony and Mike.
Mike Newhouse
The philosophical nerd of the group. He is a bemused observer.
Tony
- Deadpan Snarker: Observes everyone and everything with a pretty cynical eye.
- Only Sane Man: Arguably the most rational of the trio. He displays little interest in partying, only reluctantly agreeing to go to the initially-planned party at Pickford's under duress from his friends, and the Moontower party because Wooderson invited Cynthia, who is his ride throughout the night. He also has no problem standing up for Sabrina against Alpha Bitch Darla.
Darla
- Alpha Bitch: She's the head cheerleader after all.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Darla is listening just as intently to Ms. Stroud's parting words as are the other students.
- Jerkass: While the other girls do the hazing mostly out of obligation and later make friends with the very freshmen they hazed, Darla takes an almost disturbing level of pleasure in tormenting them. Both before and after the hazing.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Though Sabrina eventually manages to back away from her constant tormentnote , she never gets any sort of come-uppance.
Fred O'Bannion
- The Bully: He goes above and beyond the other students participating in the hazing as the others see it as a good-natured rite of passage and get along well with the students after while O'Bannion never lets up on them.
- Fatal Flaw: His bullying nature. He simply can't resist the opportunity to pick on kids which Mitch's friends use to lure him into a trap, humiliating him.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Even other students his age don't seem to like him due to what a dick he is with everyone enjoying his later humiliation.
- Hate Sink: He's easily the most unpleasant and unlikable character in the film along with Darla. While other students who participate in the hazing ease up after and are even capable of being nice to the kids later, showing it's not personal or malicious, O'Bannion never lets up on being a jerk.
- Jerkass: The biggest one in the film, besides maybe Darla.
- Jerk Jock: He's a complete jerk who gets his kicks picking on weaker kids.
- Last-Name Basis: He's never referred to by his first name.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Is utterly humiliated after Mitch Kramer's friends dump white paint on him from above. We never see him again in the film.
