Characters / EastEnders

Characters in EastEnders.

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The Beale Family

Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth 1985-2000, 2015-Present)

• Beware the Nice Ones: She may be kind and understanding towards others but when pushed, she will stick up for herself.
• Faking the Dead: For about nine years it was thought that she and her husband Gavin were confirmed dead in 2006 after a car accident in South Africa, which was only an opportunity for Gavin to make off with an insurance scam. Then during the 30th anniversary Live Episode, Kathy made a shock re-appearance to the audience and it was revealed that Phil had known about her whereabouts three years prior. Several months later, she eventually revealed herself to her two sons, Ian and Ben. Seeing how both of them struggled during her disappearance they exactly weren't happy... though it wasn't due to maliciousness, it was to keep them from harm.
• The Reveal: Kathy Beale, Ben and Ian's mother, was never killed while she was away from the square, and Phil knows it having met with her.

Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt 1985-2021)

• Aesop Amnesia: Occasionally Ian will have an epiphany and realize that he should pride his wife and kids above money... it normally lasts about 2 weeks
• Asshole Victim: A lot of backlash Ian receives is usually deserved, particularly when he mocks other people for differing views, his general hypocrisy or his greed. However, there are times where his comeuppance can be taken a step too far or times where he doesn't deserve it.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Greed: He's constantly digging himself into deeper lies.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Alfie Moon, who he became firm friends with after Alfie arrived in Walford in 2004. One's a conman and near-bigamist with a criminal record, and the other's a serial spouse with the habit of being a miser. They are the best friend either man has ever had.
• Long Runner: The only character to have been in the show since the very beginning (Kathy, Michelle, and Sharon were also original cast members, but all of them left the show for a time).
• Papa Wolf: Helped his wife, Jane cover up the fact that his son, Bobby was daughter, Lucy's real killer. Therefore sending an innocent Max Branning to prison.
• Parental Favoritism: Particularly when Peter and Lucy were played by Thomas Law and Melissa Suffield, he preferred Peter over Lucy. However, shortly before her death, Ian showed intense favouritism toward Lucy, naming her his "success story". Peter was not pleased to overhear this.
• Really Gets Around: No one knows how, but he's been married to four attractive women (one of them twice) and gotten engaged to two others. Even though they were both prostitutes, Janine Butcher and Rainie Cross also count.
• Too Dumb to Live: His constant greed and negligence always gets him into trouble, you'd think he would've learnt his lesson by now. He's lucky he still managed to survive through it all.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Played straight with Cindy and Mel. Would have been played straight with Denise too, had the engagement worked out.
• Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: His and Cindy's twins: Peter and Lucy.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Though this has largely been forgotten, in the early years, he was desperately trying to win his father's approval.

Jane Beale (Laurie Brett 2004-2012, 2014-2017)

• All for Nothing: Her attempts to cover up Bobby killing Lucy was this as he was eventually convicted after almost killing Jane herself and the cover up destroyed her family.
• Mama Bear: To Bobby, most definitely.
• Opposites Attract: The mumsy and reliable Jane had a brief affair with burly and gruff, Grant Mitchell.
• Parental Substitute: Bobby thinks she's his mother.
• Straight Man: Female version. She's usually the voice of reason for Ian. This is flipped around later on as she had no control over herself whether to give Bobby in after Lucy's death.

Steven Beale (Aaron Sidwell 2007-2008, 2016-2017; previously Edward Savage)

• Ambiguously Bi: Was confused about his sexuality when he dated Stacey Slater. When attempting to lose his virginity, he became embarrassed and ended up kissing Christian Clark, claiming that he'd realised he was gay. Since returning to the Square, Steven has been in a relationship with Lauren Branning, helping to raise her son, Louie as his own. His bisexuality hasn't been mentioned again.
• Disappeared Dad: His biological dad is Simon Wicks.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Steven's temper has shown when his pathological lies end up backing him into corners.
• Love Triangle: At the centre of a messed up one involving Branning sisters, Abi & Lauren. After trying to force Lauren into staying in a relationship with him, Steven lies that he's terminally ill with a brain tumour and asks Lauren to marry him. Out of guilt, she says yes unknown to her that Steven and Abi have slept together!
• Missing Mom: His mother, Cindy Beale died while giving birth to Steven's half-brother & sister, Lucy & Peter in prison.
• Parental Substitute: Largely thinks of Ian as his dad even though he's really not.

Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell; previously Alex Francis, Rory Stroud, Eliot Carrington)

• Accidental Murder: Fought with his sister Lucy and killed her by accident.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Starts becoming this following his reveal as Lucy's killer.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Tiffany Butcher.
• For Happiness: His reasons for joining Islam.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He's very easily set off and tends to react violently.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Freddie Slater, who has become his best friend and confidante.
• Hypocrite: He has once called Dennis Jr a "spoiled little baby" but he himself is guilty of this flaw.
• Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Ian was convinced that Garry Hobbs was his father as he had a secret vasectomy. He didn't wait six weeks.
• Missing Mom: His mother, Laura, died when he was a baby. Jane became his 'adopted' mother who he lives with after his sister Lucy was murdered.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He was always regretful for what he did to his sister and his stepmother but in three years time, it takes such a toll on him after he hallucinated Lucy's ghost taunting him about it that he's become constantly apologetic towards what he's done.
• Parental Substitute: He largely thinks Jane is his mother and forms a close bond with his grandma Kathy after being released from prison.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Although he originally started off as a polite kid, after killing Lucy he becom a spoiled brat who threw huge outbursts when he didn't get what he wants.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He's reformed after being sent to prison, though this was at the cost of Bobby's insecurities.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: After being revealed as Lucy's killer, he started to become more aggressive in nature. Such as violently pushing Cindy over, threatening Phil Mitchell with a club, pushing Jane down the stairs, leaving Sharon's son Dennis for dead, and brutally attacking Jane with a hockey stick.

Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater 2012-2015; previously Melissa Suffield 2004-2010)

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Lucy had her fair share of bad boyfriends and hook-ups including 18 year old Craig (when Lucy was just 13), Leon Small who got her pregnant and dumped her, Joey Branning (Lauren's cousin and ex-boyfriend...) and a secret fling with Lauren's dad, Max!
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Her best friend was Lauren Branning.
• May–December Romance: With her best mate's dad, Max Branning.
• Parental Substitute: Lucy did see Jane as her mother, even though she knew she wasn't. Cindy, her biological mother, died during childbirth.
• Secret Relationship: Was secretly meeting and sleeping with best friend, Lauren's dad, Max who became a prime suspect when Lucy was murdered soon after the relationship was made public.
• Teen Pregnancy: Became pregnant by her ex-boyfriend Leon in 2010. She asks Jane to adopt the baby, knowing Jane is infertile thanks to Steven shooting her. Ian, however, is unhappy but realises it's the closest thing Jane will ever have to having her own child. Lucy changed her mind and with Ian's help, had an abortion behind Jane's back and lied that she had miscarried.
• Tomboyand Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Lauren's Tomboy
• Whodunnit: Was the centre of a massive storyline in 2014, 'Who Killed Lucy Beale?'

Peter Beale (Thomas Law previously: Dayle Hudson, Ben Hardy, Francis Britton-Snell, Alex Stevens, Joseph Shade, James Martin, Thomas Law)

• Ambiguously Bi: For some reason a lot of fans think the character might be gay. This is despite him having at least four on-screen romantic interests (all of them female).
• Big Brother Instinct: Even though Lucy is his twin sister, he would look out for her as much as he could and did feel super guilty for leaving her behind when Ian had his mental breakdown. He even began supplying Lucy with drugs to help control her addiction, only to become addicted himself. He is devastated when she dies. He's also very protective of younger brother, Bobby and to a lesser extent, Cindy.
• Big "NO!": When he learns his twin sister, Lucy, has died, he breaks down screaming in his father's arms.
• Break the Cutie: Since Lucy's death he's been trying to stay strong for everyone, but it's clear he's keeping his emotions private and inside he's falling apart.
• Camp Straight: When played by Thomas Law. Good lord. Ben Hardy's portrayal is very different.
• Dead Guy Junior: He is named after his deceased grandfather, Pete, who died on the day of his birth.
• Doom Magnet: A serious case could be made. His grandfather died on the day of his birth, his mother died when he was 5, his elder half-brother ran away from home only to return end up shooting Peter's stepmother, and then his twin sister dies. Plus, he was nearly killed in a car crash, was set upon and beaten up by a gangster, as well as being attacked by a paedophile and later mistakenly attacked and beaten by his uncle. The guy's had it rough.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Was the responsible sibling to Lucy's foolish sibling.
• Mr. Fanservice: Since his return as played by Ben Hardy, we've been seeing quite a lot of his very muscular arms. He's also had a shirtless scene
• Nice Guy: Peter's kind and pleasant to pretty much everyone he meets.
• Only Sane Man: Alongside Jane, often the voice of reason in a family crisis and the most level-headed of the Beales.
• Out of Focus: When played by Thomas Law, it was very rare that Peter would get any notable storylines compared to twin sister Lucy. Peter was so underused that in 2009 he only appeared in 29 out of 212 episodes broadcast that year, leaving him the least seen character of the year. He's had more focus in his 2013 return though, becoming a character with a massive storyline in the Who Killed Lucy Beale? plot
• Put on a Bus: Was written out between December 2010 and June 2013 when he moved to Devon following an argument with Ian. Left again in 2015, this time to move to New Zealand with Lauren after finding out who killed Lucy.
• Shirtless Scene: It did at least have some narrative context though.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: The version played by Dayle Hudson was this by being a Bad Boss to Martin, telling Bobby he wishes he was dead. sleeping with Lola, Sukhi and Dana and stealing Kathy's money after he left.
• Took a Level in Kindness: When Thomas Law returned to play the part, Peter has reformed himself and is now determined to help his family and fix his relationships.

The Mitchell Family

Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden 1990-2003, 2005-Present)

• Abusive Parents: But Eric did love him and his siblings despite the violence. Similarly, Phil, despite his protectiveness, was quite abusive to his own son Ben, which in turn caused Ben to carry some of those abusive traits himself.
• Addled Addict: Phil became addicted to crack cocaine as well as alcohol. He set the Queen Vic on fire, nearly killing himself and mum, Peggy before admitting his problem and getting clean. As of 2016, he's became addicted to alcohol again resulting in liver poisoning. However, he still rampages around with several drunk moments despite only having a few months to live unless someone offers him a transplant.
• Aesop Amnesia: Similar to Ian, Phil on many occasions tries to go legit and make an honest man of himself, but old habits die hard.
• The Alcoholic: Was one and father Eric was one too.
• Anti-Hero: Due to his popularity he’s been given a heroic edge in some storylines, despite being a hardened career criminal.
• Bald Head of Toughness: One of the most iconic examples in British pop culture as a bald headed hardman.
• Batter Up!: Has brandished a baseball bat a few times, most infamously when he smashed up the house of Christian Clarke and Syed Masood.
• Berserk Button: Never go for any of his family.
• Cool Old Guy: Despite being in his 60s with two grandchildren he is still a formidable presence on the Square and as of 2024 runs both a boxing gym and the local wine bar.
• Deadpan Snarker: Whilst a stoic no nonsense individual he does have his moments especially when dealing with people he dislikes and doesn’t respect.
• Distressed Dude: Held hostage by Gavin Sullivan for several days, then returns completely battered with an unhealthy addiction to alcohol.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's a thug who has committed more crimes than anyone could count but there are many lines he won't step and he's fiercely loyal to his family, meaning he doesn't take traitors very well. He's also not as Ax-Crazy as his brother Grant, at least not until later on...
• Family Business:
  • The local car garage the Arches has been in his family on-and-off since his first appearance in the show.
  • The Queen Vic was once a Mitchell establishment which his mother, brother, cousin and he himself have all owned at different points.
  • Currently owns a wine bar named after his mother which used to be a nightclub run by his cousins.
  • Gave the local car lot to his surrogate son Jay.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: You DON’T mess with Phil Mitchell.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Despite carrying a few of these traits himself, he scold Denny for hitting his own mother by teaching him that he shouldn't be physically abusive to his mother or any woman.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: Phil had a real shot at being a pro boxer, but bottled his big chance.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At his core, Phil is this. He saved Peter Beale from drowning, took Jay in after Billy lashed out at him, and after Lucy's murder comforted a devastated Ian, coming to tears himself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Phil found out Jay was in a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl, his response? Phil disowned Jay and kicked him out of the house, despite Jay just finding out she was 14 and being unaware of it before.
  • Subverted, as he gets better in time when he helps Jay out with a drug dealer after him and welcomes him back into the house with open arms.
• London Gangster: Played With. Initially Phil and his brother Grant weren’t affiliated with a gang being simply two hardmen who had the occasional dodgy dealings and were more thugs than gangsters. However over the years Phil has faced up to several gangsters such as Jack Dalton, Dan Sullivan and Johnny Allen, and been affiliated with others (who he later fell out with) such as Aidan Maguire, Danny Hardcastle and Jonah Tyler. Though not a crime lord, he is someone with numerous criminal connections and if there are criminal dealings in the Square he is likely to be involved or to become involved.
• Love Triangle: Has been one third of a few love triangles during his time on the Square, most infamously one with his younger brother Grant and his first wife Sharon better known as Sharongate.
• Made of Iron: Let’s see, he has survived: alcohol addiction leading to cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction leading to not one but two heart attacks, being shot (TWICE), being beaten to a pulp numerous times, numerous physical altercations, numerous car crashes and numerous attempts on his life. Yet is still alive and kicking in his 60s.
• Manly Man: A Deconstructed example. Phil is a macho, no-nonsense hardman who has spent most of his life as a mechanic, businessman and gangster, as well as one of the most longstanding father figures and alpha male characters on the Square. Yet due to his old school ideals of masculinity and family values, his own troubled childhood and dysfunctional family life, he has continuously suffered and struggled to live a happy life and often finds himself repeating self-destructive behaviours and hurting the people he cares about and loves.
• Marriage of Convenience: His first wife, way back in 1993, was a Romanian refugee named Nadia, who he only married so she could stay in the country (she had a boyfriend already, and Phil later fell in love with Kathy Beale). Predictably, it didn't work out and Nadia left for Germany a year later.
• Men Don't Cry: It's very rare to see Phil actually cry as it would break his 'hardman' exterior he's built over the years but he has shed tears before.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Whilst he isn't above hurting his family when he's in a drunken state, he becomes very devastated when he realises he has hurt Louise after destroying his car lot, Deals On Wheels.
• Papa Wolf:
  • He was only prevented from tearing his fiancé Stella limb from limb for abusing Ben because she decided to rob him of the satisfaction and committed suicide.
  • He nearly battered Christian Clarke with a baseball bat when he believed Christian had made a move on Ben.
  • He staged the scene of Heather's murder as a burglary and destroyed evidence to protect Ben and Jay, this was despite Ben betraying him and getting him arrested and almost sent down for Stella’s death.
  • He’s come very close to killing numerous individuals who have harmed his children, stepchildren.
• The Patriarch: Since his mother’s passing he has taken the role as head of the Mitchell family.
• Pet the Dog:
  • He sincerely apologised to Heather after Ben killed her noting how bad his treatment of her was and how she always took it.
  • Phil took this to a whole new level when Linda Carter's dog Lady Di had a litter of puppies. Phil, noticing the runt of the litter was not breathing, gave the puppy mouth to mouth resuscitation and ensured its survival.
  • He's also the one person who actually came out of his way to comfort Ian Beale following Lucy Beale's death. Keep in mind that this is the man who hated Ian with a burning passion, had no qualms of acting abusive towards him and has held a long, intense rivalry against him. Yet, he's the one who sympathised with Ian and comforted him when he was at his absolute lowest. It even brought Phil himself to tears.
    • He also saved Ian from Max Branning's assault, during Christmas in 2017.
• Put on a Bus: Went to Italy for a few months in 2017 to recover after his life-saving liver transplant.
• Really Gets Around: Even worse than Ian. He's been married five times (Nadia, Kathy, Kate, Sharon and as of 2023 Kat), been engaged four times (Shirley twice, plus Stella and Suzy), and had a whole laundry list of other conquests (Lorna Cartwright, Annie Palmer, Lisa Shaw (the one who tried to kill him), Melanie Healy...)
• Smarter Than You Look: He may appear to be a stereotypical uneducated brute and criminal who only specialises in muscles but he's far more calculating and has picked up several useful skills along the way.
• Woman Scorned: Became a victim of this after being shot by ex-wife, Lisa and ex-girlfriend, Shirley on his own wedding day!
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: When Phil first appeared on the Square he was a lot nicer and far less of a villain, however as the years went on and Phil suffered more tragedy and trauma (alcoholism, becoming estranged from his brother, his marriages breaking down, losing both of his children, drug addiction…) he became molded into a much darker and more ruthless figure who has feuded with and terrorised numerous individuals on the Square.

Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp, 1990-1999, 2005-2006, 2016)

• Abusive Parents: While Phil was their dad's preferred target, Grant was on the receiving end too.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Put his brother in a coma after discovering he had sex with his 1st wife Sharon, could get very jealous over his 2nd wife Tiffany despite not being in love with her, and went on the run from the law for violently beating the man who was sleeping with his 3rd wife Carla.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Whilst Phil has been getting worse, Grant became a lot calmer to others (except Ian) and more protective of his family.

Sharon Watts (formerly Rickman, Mitchell and Beale) (Letitia Dean, 1985-1995, 2001-2006, 2012-)

• Addled Addict: Was addicted to painkillers. She relapsed after being attacked and left for dead at her own bar, Found out that Phil was behind the attack to which she retaliated and tried to fleece him for all the money he had. She decided against it after realising how sorry he was and they got married. Only for him to be shot by his ex/lover Shirley Carter.
• Berserk Button: Never go for her little Denny.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Ended up marrying her adoptive brother, Dennis and having his baby. Dennis ended up dying in her arms after being stabbed in the middle of the square.
• Daddy's Girl: Was definitely this to Den Watts.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Husband Dennis died in her arms after being stabbed.
• Disappeared Dad: Her adopted father, 'Dirty' Den was thought to have died only to return to the Square. He was later killed for real by his ex-wife Chrissie. Sharon's biological father, Gavin Sullivan, turned up in the Square looking for his wife, Kathy Beale.
• Incest Subtext: It's implied that 'Dirty' Den has a little more love for his 'Princess' Sharon. The fact she ended up marrying her adopted brother is ironic.
• Long-Lost Relative: Her biological father, Gavin Sullivan. AKA husband of Kathy Beale who faked his death for nearly ten years. And was a companion with Den back then. Den took care of Sharon instead because Gavin was under a lot of pressure.
• Love Triangle: The central figure of "Sharongate", arguably the most famous love triangle in British soap history, in which she cheated on her husband Grant with his brother Phil.
• Mama Bear: To her son's Denny and Albie.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: When her son Denny becomes a hassle in school, Whitney goes to report Sharon about his bad behaviour. Sharon angrily tells her she's mistaken.
• Missing Mom: Her mum, Angie died when she was still young.
• Not Blood Siblings: Dennis Rickman and Sharon.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Does not get on with Peggy Mitchell.
• Only Sane Woman: Not at first but later on.
• Outliving One's Offspring: After she found out that Dennis Jr. tragically passed away.
• Parental Substitute: Treats Ben and Louise like her own kids. Since Kathy made her reappearance, she's not stood in the way of a reconciliation. When Lisa randomly shows up after Louise was burned, she again doesn't stop her and is even understanding when Lisa is revealed to have stopped taking medication for a mental health issue and kidnaps a badly injured Louise from hospital
• Really Gets Around: Was married to Grant Mitchell, had an affair with his brother Phil. Was engaged to Tom Banks, who died in a housefire trying to rescue Little Mo Mitchell. THEN she got together with Den's estranged son, Dennis Rickman; staying together with him even after discovering he's her adoptive brother. He was stabbed in an attack arranged by Phil Mitchell. THEN she got married to Phil Mitchell!
• Scandalgate: In the mid 90's, the show ran a storyline where Sharon had an affair with Phil Mitchell whilst married to his brother, Grant. Nicknamed 'Sharongate'.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Whilst she wasn't a nasty person to begin with, she's had a nasty streak as well as causing fights. Nowadays, she's easily one of the most sane characters who has everyone's best interest in mind (though she's still not one to be messed with).
• Woman Scorned: When she found out about Phil's affair with Shirley Carter, Sharon decided to retaliate by fleecing him and running off with his money.

Dennis "Denny" Rickman Jr. (Bleu Landau; previously Harry Hickles)

• Bratty Half-Pint: Most of the time he can be a little nuisance. He's started getting into more trouble whilst dragging his friend, Will into it too.
• The Bully: He's quite nasty to a lot of kids around his age, such as Bobby, Will, Chatham and Riley. His teachers have also complained that he has regularly bullied other kids in school.
• Dead Guy Junior: He was named after his father, who got murdered six months before he was born.
• Death of a Child: Dennis dies after drowning, during a boast crash on the 20th February 2020.
• Did Not Die That Way: This happened when his mother Sharon told him that his dad was killed in a helicopter crash. Once Dennis' actual death was revealed, he didn't take it too well.
• Disappeared Dad: His father, Dennis was murdered six months before he was born.
• Freudian Excuse: He's lived his whole life without knowing his father, as he died before Dennis was even born, so he takes his anger and frustrations out on everyone.
• Jerkass: He's rude and acts like a complete spoiled brat towards everyone just because he thinks he can.
• In-Series Nickname: Sharon always calls him "Denny".
• Not Blood Siblings: Is step-brother to Phil's kids, Ben & Louise.
• Parental Substitute: Phil Mitchell treats him like one of his own.

Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick)

• Butt-Monkey: Cannot be taken seriously most of the time, especially with his own family. Phil and Grant refer to him as the 'runt of the litter'.
• Characterization Marches On: Was violent and underhanded initially, acting as an abusive Evil Uncle to Jamie and a sadistic drug dealer for Steve. By the time of both characters' demises, Billy's softer, more pitiful personality had fully emerged.
• Dirty Coward: Played straight initially. Deconstructed later on, while he still shirks towards dodgy or violent deals, his inner demons generally just make him a sympathetic Lovable Coward.
• Evil Uncle: For Jamie initially. He backed off when Jamie gave him a return beating. Due to Characterization Marches On, it's generally subverted towards the rest of the Mitchell kids.
• Long-Lost Relative: His son Dan and granddaughter Lola.
• Nice Guy: After he Took a Level in Kindness, his nastier traits have completely vanished to the point where it feels like it never existed due to how his much kinder personality completely outweighs his darker side.
• Papa Wolf: Very protective of his daughter, Janet who has Down's Syndrome and his son, William.
• Parental Abandonment: Was brought up in a care home.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: He was the torchbearer for the relay around Albert Square ahead of the 2012 Olympics. He gained a great-granddaughter on the same day as well!
• Took a Level in Kindness: Early on, he was the abusive uncle of Jamie Mitchell...until Jamie became old enough to turn it around onto him. From then on, his pitiful, more comedic side started to show, to the point his malicious qualities became forgotten in favour of a more well meaning, loveable loser archetype.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Was married to both Little Mo and Honey, both very attractive.
• Undertaker: Took over the local funeral business from the Cokers when they retired.

Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton, 2005-2008, 2014-)

• Honey Trap: Originally arrived on the Square to help Yolande Trueman see if her husband, Patrick would cheat. Honey mistaken Billy Mitchell for Patrick. Hilarity Ensues
• Mama Bear: To her special needs daughter, Janet and her son, William.
• Meaningful Name: Her real name is Susan - how did she acquire the nickname Honey? When we first saw her, her profession was acting in "honey trap" schemes!

Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons, 2007-2017)

• Abusive Parents: Averted. She's probably the only Mitchell over 20 who wasn't abused.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: She's a Mitchell.
• Daddy's Girl: Was definitely this with Archie until the full extent of his evil was revealed.
• Fatal Attractor: Not the luckiest in love. First she married Sean Slater, who left her. Then she married Alfie Moon who, on their wedding day, decided he still loved ex-wife Kat and left her. Then it was Aleks, a slimy liar who was still married and had a child Roxy has no clue about! Then it was Dean, who was notorious for raping Linda and who everyone in the square resented. Roxy ignored all of that for love, until she became a victim of his attempted rape just before Mick and Linda’s wedding day. Finally there was Andy Flynn, who turned out to be Ronnie's stalker, thinking she was responsible for his step-sister Danielle's death, in addition to using a fake alias and only using Roxy to get closer to her sister. She also has a habit of stealing her sister’s Ronnie’s boyfriends, like Jack Branning and Charlie Cotton.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish sibling to Ronnie.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Having lived the high life in Ibiza, Roxy was no stranger to partying. She then developed a cocaine habit which may or may not have contributed to her untimely death.
• Hollywood Drowning: Subverted. Drowned in the hotel swimming pool on the night of her sister, Ronnie's wedding after taking cocaine and getting into trouble. Ronnie jumped in wearing her wedding dress and both drowned together. The whole event was very quiet and the only splashing around was the initial jumping into the pool. The girls' bodies floated eerily with Ronnie's dress trailing through the water.
• Long-Lost Relative: Danielle, her niece.
• Love Triangle: Got involved with her sister Ronnie's boyfriend, Jack Branning and ended up pregnant with his child.
• Mama Bear: Would do anything for her daughter, Amy.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Not exactly 'pimped out', but definitely not traditional during her wedding to Sean Slater! The dress was VERY short at the front, revealing her stockings underneath.
• Whodunnit: Was a suspect in the murder of Archie Mitchell.

Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack, 2007-2011, 2013-2017)

• Abusive Parents: Oh boy. Was raped by her father Archie by age 13. Her daughter was adopted the moment she was born at 14 as her mother was manipulated into leaving. Her long-lost daughter is blackmailed into keeping her true identity secret, only to be hit by a car upon revealing the truth to Ronnie. She miscarried a baby after Archie pushes her into a bar. No wonder she has 'issues'.
• Broken Bird: Upon discovering she was pregnant with Charlie's child, she acquired a gun to protect herself, paranoid that history would repeat itself.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: After having eventually finding happiness with Jack Branning (for the second time), Ronnie was a lot nicer and generally friendlier.
• Disney Death: After being in a car crash on her wedding day she is rushed to hospital and flatlines soon after. Everyone is crying and saying their goodbyes, then she comes back.
• The Dog Bites Back: She finally snaps when Carl attempts to molest her and makes the fatal mistake of putting his head over an open car boot...
• Even Evil Has Standards: Much like the most of the Mitchells, she has no problem with getting involved in criminal activities, threatening others or murder but she's very protective and loyal to her family and she was especially disgusted by Dean raping Linda, considering she also suffered this herself during her childhood.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: She calls Dean out for blaming his parental issues on his disgusting crime of raping Linda Carter. When Dean tries to pull this on her, Ronnie actually admits that she would never use her tragic past to justify her actions as has even shown genuine remorse for her crimes, unlike Dean.
• Gender-Blender Name: Ronnie is revealed to be short for Veronica. The only person who seemed to call her by her full name was her father, Archie..
• Long-Lost Relative: Danielle, her daughter who was adopted against her will.
• Love Triangle: Jack, Ronnie, and her sister Roxy. Especially heartbreaking when Roxy ends up pregnant, Ronnie's child with Jack dies from SIDS and kicks off the baby-kidnap storyline.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Was this to Danielle.
• Mama Bear: To Amy, as she responds so frighteningly following her kidnapping by Carl's brother she manages to disturb PHIL. One could argue Carl himself got it too if Ronnie's reasoning for killing him is to be believed, though it was also self-defence. As time wore on, she was actually taking up the matriarchal mantle of Peggy Mitchell herself. Also to her son, Matthew.
• Parental Issues: Both of her parents were either useless or evil.
• Put on a Bus: Left in July 2011 after being sent to prison for the abduction of Tommy Moon.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Comes back to Walford five months pregnant with Charlie's baby.
• Teen Pregnancy: Discovered she was pregnant when she was 14.
• Tragic Villain: Not as villainous as some of the other Mitchells but she does commit some heinous and evil crimes and has a questionable sense of morality. However, with how much abuse she's suffered as a child as well as her string of bad luck and tragedy, it's no wonder she committed these acts.
• Trauma Conga Line: Is driven to this when Carl tries to rape her and, bringing back memories of Archie, she murders him before putting his body in a car and putting the car in a crusher. Ronnie eventually gets married to her true love, Jack Branning and tragically dies in the swimming pool of the hotel they married in when Roxy goes for a drunken swim and starts to drown. Ronnie jumps in to save her but is strangled by her wedding veil and also drowns.

Ben Mitchell (Currently Max Bowden. Previously, Charlie Jones, Joshua Pascoe, Harry Reid.)

• Anti-Hero: Has traces of this from time to time Like Father, Like Son.
• Closet Key: To Callum.
• Cure Your Gays: He claims to no longer be gay. No one except his girlfriend Abi buys it. He eventually dumped Abi after finding out she'd lied about being pregnant. Ben's no angel either after he'd been sleeping with hairdresser, Paul. Ben and Paul got together and Ben's more accepting of his own sexuality.
• Darker and Edgier: When played by Charlie Jones, Ben was a likeable character, who loved dancing and was just trying to make Phil proud. Then he was recast to Joshua Pascoe, killed lovable Heather Trott and went to prison. He's now played by Harry Reid.
• The Dog Bites Back: Ben has a couple of these moments. One was the infamous "Spanner of Doom", where Ben used a spanner to bash Jordan Johnson in the head for bullying him too much. Another happened at around early 2012 after Phil mocked Ben so much that he claimed a witness statement saying that Phil was responsible for the death of Stella.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Has shades of this with Callum in regards to Whitney, when he saw Callum on what he mistook for a date, and when he found a number in Callum's pocket. Though these are more about his own insecurities.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loved Paul, and loves Callum just as much if not more.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He was disgusted by the reveal that James Willmott-Brown had raped Kathy Beale and was incredibly protective of Callum, at the hands of Jonno's (Callum's father) intense homophobia and abuse.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Ben nowadays is brash and easily irritable compared to how calm and quiet he was before.
• It's All My Fault: Says this to Johnny after exiting the Vic, after forcing himself out of Paul's moral toasting. Pam says "I wish you had died", to which Ben responds with, "So do I."
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Mostly why he breaks up with Callum the first time. His troubled past and his belief that he can't/shouldn't be loved brings about some of the biggest obstacles in their relationship.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite becoming a more selfish and aggressive character nowadays, he does still have those who he loves and will do anything to stand by them, most notably Jay. To add to this, he also tried to help Callum come to terms with his sexuality, given his own past experience with coming out.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Killing Heather.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Phil is a typical Manly Man hardman whilst Ben is more sensitive and emotional, especially as a child. Downplayed in the present, however.
• Men Don't Cry: Says this to Kathy upon her return.
• Momma's Boy: Despite his troubled history with his mum, Kathy, and her basically abandoning him when he was a child, Ben is very loving to her and has a healthier relationship with her compared to Phil as she is very accepting of him and his sexuality and supportive of his happiness.
• Older and Wiser: Starts off as a naive kid who was prone to clumsy mistakes but became more cunning as he got older. By his sixth incarnation (played by Max Bowden), Ben became a calculating, intelligent and a manipulative criminal mastermind who knew how to get his way.
• Papa Wolf: Although he's usually uncaring towards others, he has shown to be a very loving and protective father towards Lexi and unlike Phil, he encourages his daughter to be whatever she wants to be.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Jay, who's essentially his brother.
• Put on a Bus: To prison.
• Stone Wall: Despite being a weak fighter, Ben has taken some of the most constant physical abuse out of any character, yet he always manages to recover like it was nothing and can even laugh it off.
• Tears of Remorse: Since his return from prison in 2014, he makes it clear that he regrets what he did to Heather and if he could change what had happened, he would.
  • This flip-flops from time to time as Ben also acts like his murder was an accomplishment that made him "stronger".
• Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: Is wrongly presumed to be dead by a doctor. In a shock twist, it's revealed that Ben has been wrongly identified as Paul. Paul, Ben's boyfriend, is tragically killed off-screen in a homophobic attack.
• Took a Level in Badass: Starts off as a fragile and mild-mannered kid and then later became more assertive like his dad. His physical prowess has also improved as he can at least land some hits against his enemies.
  • He won his first fight against Callum's homophobic father, Jonno Highway and put up a fight against his rival, Keanu Taylor.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Ben started off as a fairly likeable character (although some people found him annoying). Since he came back from juvenile detention, his behaviour has become noticably more vile putting some characters (e.g. Patrick Trueman, Christian Clarke) into danger at the heat of the moment. It got to the point where he would even endanger (and eventually murder) his friend, Heather Trott.
  • This continues during his return in 2019.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed. After he was released from prison, he's softened out since. Whilst he does still have moments of being a Jerkass towards everyone, he's definitely not quite as nasty as he was prior to his release from prison and his relationship with Jay and Sharon has improved dramatically over time (although it may have reverted once again during his depature).
• The Un-Favourite: His father, Phil seems to favour his step-brothers, Jay and Dennis Jr and his step-sister Louise over him. This is due to Phil's inability to accept Ben's interests and sexuality as well as his criminal antics. Unfortunately, he knows this very clearly and this is one of the contributing factors of his downfall.
  • Despite this, he seems to help his son Ben more than his other children (though this is due to Ben getting in the most trouble).
• Very Punchable Man: The number of times he's had his nose broken...
• Villainous Breakdown: When truth came to light about Ben's involvement during Phil's attack, he breaks down and admits that he's sick of being treated as The Un-Favourite of his family and retaliated as a result.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He has throughout the years tried to earn the respect of Phil, but this always seems to backfire. Admitting that he was gay didn't help.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: As was seen coming a mile off, he finally snapped from years of abuse from Phil. This will inevitably continue when Paul dies.

Louise Mitchell (Tilly Keeper. Previously Brittany Papple, Danni Bennatar, Rachel Cox)

• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Louise was badly burned in a deliberate attack by bullies, Alexandra and Madison. Her chest received third degree burns that may leave her scarred but it was lucky to have missed her face.
• Daddy's Girl: Was told that her mother, Lisa had abandoned her for a new boyfriend in Portugal. Louise chose to live with Phil back in Albert Square.
• Dead Guy Junior: Named after Mark Fowler's deceased gran, Lou Beale.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Her best friend is Bex Fowler. The girls have been through a lot with Bex being bullied so badly and Louise getting attacked and severely burned.
• Reformed Bully: Louise wasn't exactly bullying her best friend, Bex Fowler but she wasn't stopping the real bullies from making her life hell, making her just as bad. Louise eventually stopped when she realised the girls weren't really her friends and exposed them in front of the whole school.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the beginning, she started off as somewhat of a Bratty Half-Pint who grew into a Bratty Teenage Daughter years later but by 2018, she has mellowed out significantly and grew into a more morally just person in contrast to her family (though she will cause trouble every now and again).

Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor 1994-2010, 2013-2016, previously Jo Warne)

• Catchphrase: "Get Outta My Pub!" or anything about 'Fah-mily.'
• Driven to Suicide: She took an overdose of pills after telling Phil she was dying of cancer.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Broke the family's strict "no grassing" rule and got her abusive husband sent down to protect her kids.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real first name was Margaret.
• Very Special Episode: Her one episode returns in 2013 and 2015.
• The Voiceless: Through most of her Jan 15, 2016 appearance. Only speaking when she tells Phil she's dying from cancer

Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb; 2008-2009)

• Abusive Parents: Had one and was one.
• Parental Favoritism: He clearly preferred Roxie over Ronnie.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Raped his own daughter, Ronnie when she was just 13. He also raped Stacey Branning, leading to her killing him in revenge.

Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick; 2006-Present)

• Adults Are Useless: This has been Jay's experience anyway, he's practically raised himself.
• Berserk Button: DO NOT insult his dead father.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Jay's a nice, laid back easy going guy but he can turn quite nasty and violent if he needs to.
• Book Dumb: Though he's hardly The Ditz, Jay is certainly not very academically bright. But what he lacks in Academic smarts he certainly makes up for in street smarts.
• Break the Cutie: Almost too many to count, he's certainly one of the writers favorite punching bags
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Abi, Lola, Kitty, Linzi/Star, Louise and (though not a girl) Ben all displayed attraction towards Jay, did he realize? Nope..
• Convicted by Public Opinion: Condemned as a paedophile by almost everyone in the Square despite not knowing Linzi/Star's real age and her clearly looking older than she really is.
• Deus Angst Machina Life really seems to have no other reason for his existence than to just completely break him down and destroy him at every available opportunity.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has his moments.
• Disappeared Dad: Jay's dad was in prison for the first 11 years of his life, then got out of prison only to be brutally murdered a year later.
• Dogged Nice Guy: His unrequited crushes on Lauren and Lucy in his younger years.
• Incompatible Orientation: It was heavily implied several times that his best friend Ben had a crush on him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Used to be this until he hit 18, now he's dropped the jerk and is just a general Nice Guy
• Missing Mom: She died of cancer. You can start to see why Jay's The Woobie of the show at times.
• Morality Pet: To Ben (and sometimes to Phil and Billy).
• Not So Above It All: Despite usually being the Only Sane Man in the Mitchell family, he's also shown to be very vengeful about his father's death which in turn leads to him sometimes chooses vengeance over reason, especially during Paul's death, where he convinces Ben to get revenge on Paul's killers rather than let the police deal with it.
• Only Sane Man: Most of the time, he's usually the most reasonable one who tries his best to stay out of trouble or any criminal activities.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Just look back at how he was back in 2006 to how he is now, the difference is very noticeable that it seems like they're completely different characters.
• Trauma Conga Line:
  • In his first six years on the show Jay has lost his grandmother and mother, been abandoned by his grandfather, seen his father get brutally murdered, been placed in care, been beaten by his foster father, witnessed a murder and been emotionally blackmailed and forced to cover it up having clearly negative affects on his mental health and was left homeless, jobless and penniless when the truth came out. All before his 18th birthday.
  • After finding out that his girlfriend was really 14 years old, he ended up arrested. At his plea hearing, he was forced to either plead guilty and get released early, do unpaid labour and get put on the sex offenders registry for five years or plead not guilty and go to prison. He chose the former.
  • And then after that, he is fired from his job, made homeless and beaten half to death in the middle of the street.
    • And THEN as if all that wasn't bad enough, Jay develops a drug addiction and is later beaten up once again before being kidnapped with Ben and being locked in a van overnight leading him to have a massive panic attack. It kicks even more when Ben was rescued but the people rescuing him didn't have time to come and help Jay. Someone give this poor boy a break.
    • YES. THERE'S MORE. After all that, Jay decides he's better off leaving Walford to go and live with his grandfather. Only, he ends up living on the street for over a month and ends up in a homeless shelter. Once he's saved and get's back to his old life, within a week, a drug dealer from his past catches up with him and threatens to kill him if Jay doesn't give him interest on the money he owes.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His need and desire for a father figure of his own constantly has Jay trying to impress people, most notably Phil Mitchell who treated Jay like one of his own.

The Fowler Family

Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy)

• Break the Cutie: First got pregnant as a teenager and gave her daughter up for adoption. Her boyfriend, Jamie Mitchell was then killed in a car accident.
• Disappeared Dad: Never knew her real father.
• Dysfunctional Family
• Happily Adopted: Her daughter, Chloe was adopted by a happy family until they were killed in a car crash. Chloe's name was changed to Rebecca (Bex) and she now lives with her biological father, Martin Fowler.
• Mama Bear: When Sonia leaves Walford for a dream job, she is gutted to leave her daughter Bex behind. However, when she's eventually told of how badly Bex is being bullied, she drops everything and comes straight back to Walford.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Didn't get on with Martin's mother, Pauline when she was alive.
• Teen Pregnancy: Became pregnant with Martin Fowler's baby as a teen. She gave birth to baby Chloe on the sofa. Chloe is given up for adoption despite Pauline Fowler's pleas.

Martin Fowler (James Bye; previously James Alexandrou 1985-2007, 2014-)

• Berserk Button: Anybody threatens his family and he loses his temper quickly.
• Butt-Monkey: Especially after helping Stacey through her breakdown after the birth of Arthur. After searching for weeks and weeks for a mother and baby unit for her to be able to live with Arthur during treatment, Martin found out that he was not actually Arthur's dad. Martin's best friend, Kush had gotten Stacey pregnant just before they got together properly.
• Dead Guy Junior: He and Stacey have a baby son, who he named after his deceased father Arthur. This was subverted though as the father wasn't him, it was Kush, but he didn't know at the time.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kush. Until he found out Kush was the father of Stacey's baby, Arthur. They've kind of made up but you can see that they're not quite as close as before though.
• Papa Wolf: Took his and Sonia's daughter, Rebecca to live with him when they had split up. Martin also loves the bones of his daughter's Hope, Lily and son, Arthur with Stacey. Even though Arthur and Lily are not his birth children.
• Took a Level in Badass: 2019 saw Martin go through a rough patch after losing his wife, his kids and being threatened by Ben Mitchell. Forced to commit criminal acts, Martin began a Start of Darkness. He had the most punches that year as well.
• Parental Substitute: To Lily. Lily's real dad, Ryan was in prison and doesn't have much to do with his daughter.

Rebecca "Bex" Fowler (Jasmine Armfield; before Jade Sharif)

• Daddy's Girl: Lived with Martin when him and Sonia split up. She has since gotten closer to her mum.
• Emo Teen: Until her make-over.
• Goth: As part of her image as soon as she returned in 2014. Subverted, Bex got a more glamourous make-over.
• Happily Adopted: Bex was happily adopted by a family until they were killed in a car crash in 2005.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Best friends with Louise Mitchell.
• Hypocrite: She came off as one during the Bex/Gethin storyline since she did the very thing that she gave both Michelle and Preston crap for.
• Kids Are Cruel: Was subjected to vicious bullying by jealous schoolgirls, Alexandra and Madison. The events culminated when the bullies were locked Bex in a locker, slamming her fingers in the doors all whilst having their actions blasted out on speakers in front of the school talent show audience.
• Nice Girl: She does have moments of being a bit selfish but is otherwise one of the nicer characters.
• Slut-Shaming: Though not a 'slut' by any regards, Bex had slept with her long-term boyfriend, Shakil who naively shown his 'friend', Keegan (a known bully) a picture of Bex in a comprising position. The picture made its way around the school and Bex had more than grief. She then slept with Preston, Michelle Fowler's 17 year old toyboy, which also got around the school.
• Stalker with a Crush: She was certainly quite clingy with both Gethin and Kush.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Bex is the tomboy to Louise's girly girl.

Stacey Slater (previously Fowler, previously Branning) (Lacey Turner 2004-2010, 2014-)

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: In her past, Stacey was always attracted to bad boys. Until she met Bradley, that is. They got married and were in love, until his untimely death. She's now found love with Martin Fowler.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Her past showed her having to deal with her father's death and her mother having severe bipolar disorder.
• Disappeared Dad: Her father died when she was young, leaving her and her older brother, Sean to deal with a severely mentally ill mother.
• Karma Houdini: More so than other characters:
  • When her affair with Max was revealed, it was Max who was on the receiving end. Her marriage with Bradley did deteriorate but she was eventually forgiven.
  • Suffers no consequences after it was revealed she killed Archie. Whilst her actions were somewhat understandable, it was her ex-boyfriend Bradley who unfortunately paid the price whilst she flies away to Spain, free from her crimes.
  • Subverted. when Stacey returns and confesses to the police, clearing Bradley's name, although she successfully appeals her sentence and is released.
  • Has an affair with Kush, it's Kush who receives all the comeuppance from both Martin and Shabnab whilst Stacey gets away scott-free (though this is excused since she was suffering from postpartum psychosis during that time).
    • This trope would later be subverted when she would be on the receiving end during her strained relationship with Martin, following her affair with Max.
    • Also subverted after her affair with Jack is exposed by Martin, Stacey loses the respect of her friends and family.
• Long-Lost Relative: Is actually Kyle's half-sister. He is one of the children her father had with his other wife when he was still alive.
• Love Triangle:
  • Stacey, Bradley and his dad, Max. Revealed on Christmas Day via a DVD that Max's daughter, Lauren put in on purpose.
  • Stacey, Ryan and Janine
  • Stacey, Kush and Shabnam. Kush slept with Stacey before his relationship with Shabnam started but the two continued having romantic liaisons behind Shabnam's back
• Mama Bear: To her daughter, Lily and her son, Arthur.
• Mood-Swinger: Turns out Stacey has bipolar disorder, just like her mother Jean.
• Ms. Fanservice: More so in her early days.
• Opposites Attract: Stacey was a brash and loud girl who married quiet, geeky Bradley Branning.
• Pay Evil unto Evil:When she killed Archie Mitchell for raping her
• Rape as Drama: Was raped by Archie Mitchell. Eventually killed him in the biggest Whodunnit storylines ever.
• Really Gets Around: When she first arrived on the Square.
• Sanity Slippage: Due to her bipolar disorder, Stacey first suffers one by experiencing hallucinations, and then another with postpartum psychosis (thinking her baby is the Son of God). She got admitted to a psychiatric hospital both times.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Stacey is the girly girl to Shabnam's tomboy.
• Took a Level in Kindness: She's grown out of her somewhat bratty behaviour from the earlier episodes and is now a caring and considerate mother.

Mark Fowler (Todd Carty 1985-1987, 1990-2003)

• Bus Crash: He succumbed to AIDS a year after leaving the square.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Threatened to rape his wife when she cheated on him. He had a Heel Realization and broke down before he could go through with it though.

Michelle Fowler (Jenna Russell; previously Susan Tully, )

The Branning Family

Dot Branning (nee Colwell formerly Cotton) (June Brown 1985-1993, 1997-2020)

• Catchphrase: "Oh I say!"
• Doting Grandparent: To a logical extreme with her natural grandchildren, a justified trope as she knew none of them as young children therefore she tries to the best grandmother she can.
• Gossipy Hens: A trait for the elderly of Walford.
• Happily Married: To Jim Branning, her first marriage to the elder Charlie Cotton went sour very quickly leaving her to raise son Nick alone.
• Hypocritical Humour: "You know me, I ain't one to gossip, but..."
• Long-Lost Relative: And how! Dot has discovered the existence of three different children Nick fathered without her knowledge: Ashley, Dotty and the recently revealed Charlie and was horrified to discover that her half-sister Rose's son Andrew was fathered by her ne'er-do-well first husband Charlie Cotton Senior.
• Shipper on Deck: Very much so for Charlie and Ronnie. Ronnie been pregnant with her great-grandson helps.

Max Branning (Jake Wood, 2006-2021)

• Abusive Parents: His father Jim used to punish him through extreme measures.
• Dirty Old Man: Is shaping up to be a slightly younger variant of this, Peter Beale calls him this trope word for word once the secret comes out that he was Lucy Beale's secret sexual liason before she died. Lauren also lampshades how he likes them young.
• Disappeared Dad: Max and his abandonment of Bradley when he was young.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He's on the receiving end of this by his family when his affair with Stacey was revealed. How he made it in one piece after being buried alive by his wife and run over by his daughter is unclear.
• Misplaced Retribution: Since his release after being cleared of Lucy Beale's murder, he's declared revenge on the entire Square rather than just the few people who were directly responsible for him being sent down.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Although he and Bobby once despised each other after the murder of Lucy Beale, they've learned that they aren't so different from each other after all, both committing heinous crimes in the past and now looking for redemption. Once they saw eye to eye, they've become much closer to the point of Max acting more of a father figure to Bobby than Ian has.
• Pet the Dog: After Bobby was released from prison, almost the entire square hated him (including Max himself) so when Bobby and his family came into the Vic, Bobby was relentlessly slated by everyone for his crimes. Surprisingly Max, of all people, stood up for Bobby and welcomed him with open arms. It wasn't even for personal gain either, it was out of genuine kindness and forgiveness.
• Really Gets Around: Now sleeping with the police officer who's supposed to be investigating Lucy Beale's murder case
• The Un-Favourite: He was considered this by his father, back in his youth.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Played straight with Tanya and Vanessa. A little more debatable with Kirsty.

Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa; 2010-2018 Previously, Madeline Duggan 2006-2010)

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Had a relationship with her cousin Joey who wasn't exactly innocent. Had an affair with married chef, Jake who she met at her AA meetings. He was accused and sent to prison for the murder of Lucy Beale as well as a brief relationship with Dean Wicks who's recently raped Linda. Finally seems to be with nice guy, Peter Beale.
• Jerkass Ball: Though she's generally one of the nicer members in the Branning family, she can sometimes fall victim to this in her worst days, even when she's unprovoked.
• Ms. Fanservice: When she hit 18 and her alcohol issues took over, Lauren's interest in clothing did too..
• The Other Darrin: Was recast to Jacqueline Jossa, during the tenure of Bryan Kirkwood.
• Really Gets Around: Has either slept with or had relationships with a lot of the younger male cast.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Lucy's girly girl, especially in her teens. Also with Abi.
• Women Drivers: Ran over her dad, Max, when she was a young teen.

Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell)

• Faux Interracial Romance: Cora dated an African-American sailor in the 60's, resulting in a pregnancy. Her daughter, Ava was born but her parents forced her to give the child up for adoption as she was mixed race.
• Long-Lost Relative: Her daughter, Ava who was forced into adoption. Her grandson, Dexter also counts.
• Mama Bear: Even though she wasn't there for them during their childhood, Cora is fiercely protective of her daughters; especially concerning Tanya when one of Max's numerous affairs are revealed. She also doesn't give up trying to reconnect with her adopted daughter, Ava and her son Dexter when they arrive in Walford.
• Parental Abandonment: When her husband fell ill with cancer, Cora would go out drinking and gambling to forget her problems, leaving her two young daughters Tanya and Rainie to look after him at the age of 13.

Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald, 2006-2018)

• The Beard: Is this to Ben Mitchell who claims he's no longer gay. She's in denial about it.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Abi has become increasingly aggressive and angry, culminating in a fight with Lucy upon discovering her sexual liasons with her dad, and even wishes she HAD killed her in a chilling confrontation with her parents. She has also tried to drown her own sister, as well as beat up Stacey in a fit of rage while she was still pregnant.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She and Ben were close friends when they were kids. Almost a decade later they're in a relationship with each other.
• Daddy's Girl: As opposed to Lauren.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Max clearly doesn't like Abi dating Jay. Doesn't need to worry about that any more as Jay broke up with Abi as he not only realised he loves Lola but he didn't want to move to Bolton with her when she went to university. He also doesn't approve of her dating Ben Mitchell. Not so much because he's an ex-con, but more because he's using her as a beard.
• Fake Pregnancy: Uses this to get closer to Ben when she felt their relationship was being threatened by Paul's presence. Eventually, Ben finds out and humiliates her in the Vic by stripping her down to underwear.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She is the responsible one to Lauren's foolish.
• Genius Ditz: She's cunning and very bright academically but lacks common sense and can be quite naive.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite going down the deep end on her behaviour, she does still show signs of this and just wants someone to love her.
• Only Sane Man: Before her break-up with Jay.
• The Smart Girl: She's academically bright and is easily the smartest one in her family. She can be cunning as well, whenever she wants something she feels she deserves.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Used to be one of the most pleasant characters in Walford, occasional bratty moments not withstanding. Since her break-up with Jay, she took a darker turn only caring for herself, generally being more unfriendly towards everyone else and committing heinous acts such as attempting to drown Lauren, faking her pregnancy and miscarriage and faking Steven's illness.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: On the other hand, she does fare much better near the end of 2017. It was a shame that she ended up dying.

Jack Branning (Scott Maslen)

• Chick Magnet: Has had Ronnie, Roxy, Tanya, Sam, Sharon, Chelsea and various others after him over the years.
• Mr. Fanservice: Judging by his countless shirtless scenes over the years.
• Only Sane Man: He seems to be one of the more down-to-earth and intelligent characters in The Square, though that's not saying a lot.
• Put on a Bus: As of 15 October 2013.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: This is one of his most prominent characteristics nowadays.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Has quickly dropped his Dirty Cop trait and became a caring family man, looking out for his children.

Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements)

• Break the Cutie: His life after he moved into Walford.
• Disappeared Dad: Max and his abandonment of Bradley when he was young.

Alice Branning (Jasmyn Banks, 2012-2013)

• Disappeared Dad: Her father Derek walked out on her when she was very young and they didn't get back in contact until she was 18.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Offering to kill Janine.
• Put on a Bus: Following her arrest all her moments are off camera
• Unwitting Pawn; In Michael's scheme to regain custody of Scarlett.

Joey Branning (David Witts, 2012-2013)

• Mr. Fanservice: David Witts is rumored to have had a no nudity agreement put into his contract, however that hasn't stopped the wardrobe department from dressing him in very tight revealing shirts.
• Put on a Bus: After losing all hope of saving his sister he takes off feeling there is nothing left for him.

Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman, 1996, 2011-2013)

• Disappeared Dad: To Alice and Joey.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: The most prominent villain in 2012, his death? A heart attack.
• Large Ham: While you can point out numerous instances the "I AM DEREK BRANNING!" line on the 2012 Christmas Episode sounded so cheesy and overdramatic

Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner, 2006-2012, 2016)

• Beware the Nice Ones: After finding out her husband Max had an affair with daughter in law Stacey, Tanya exerted her revenge by burying Max alive
• Wrong-Name Outburst: During a Live Episode, said "How's Adam?" to Jane - referring to Ian Beale, who is played by Adam Woodyatt.

The Masood Family

Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra 2007-2019)

• Hypocrite: A gambling addict who has tried to run off with a (yet another) then-married woman... twice now is it? He gets called on it twice by Syed. Once when he punches Christian even though the Qur'an teaches non-violence and once when he brings up the two examples above.
• Jerkass Has a Point: His distrust of Syed is proven to be correct as he bankrupts the family again just like he did before.
  • Nice Guy: Despite his Hypocrisy, Masood is a well meaning, kindhearted man who genuinely loves his family.

Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia 2007-2011)

• The Dog Bites Back: Triumphantly dumps and dresses down Domestic Abuser Yusef Khan on the streets. When this only leads him to try kill Masood out of spite, she tricks him into thinking his daughter is in the house fire he caused out of despair, leading him to walk into his own death.
• Hypocrite: gets called on it more than her husband...
• Mama Bear: Deep down, from Nina Wadia herself, Zainab's intense homophobia is fueled partially by her need to protect her son from all the hatred he would receive from the Muslim community. She didn't do a good job of it.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: To Amira and Afia, Christian as well in her more "tolerant" moments.

Syed Masood (Marc Elliott, 2009-2012)

• Cure Your Gays: He tries to go to counseling to get rid of all those 'icky' gay feelings. It didn't work.

Shabnam Masood (Rakhee Thakrar 2014-2016, previously Zahra Ahmadi 2007-2008)

• Characterisation Marches On: When Shabnam was first introduced, she wasn't very interested in her Muslim culture but more into British culture, thus making her look rebellious to her mother Zainab. Once she returned from Pakistan in 2014: she finally became devoted to Islam, as well as undergoing a personality change with her having a Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
• Ice Queen: Shabnam is particularly cold since she returned in 2014, not being very sympathetic to her colleague Denise's problems.
• The Other Darrin: Was originally played by Zahra Ahmadi until she left in 2008. The role was taken by Rakhee Thakrar in 2014 when Shabnam returned to the square.
• Parental Abandonment: She had a fling with Dean Wicks which resulted in her giving birth to a daughter she named Roya. She immediately left her baby on a doorstep. Couple of years later she finds out that her daughter lives in a foster home and is renamed Jade.

Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel, 2007-2016)

• The Comically Serious: He can show almost no expression during a tense moment, and it's hilarious.
• Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Was severely burned after his evil step-father Yusef set fire to family home. The memories were too much when the Moon family home was set alight, causing Tamwar to run.

Amira Masood (Preeya Kalidas, 2009-2012)

• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She tells Syed that she hopes Christian and he will be very happy right before she leaves. Of course, that doesn't last long, judging by how she acted her second time around on the Square. Either she was being extremely sarcastic, or her time spent locked up with her dad has made her very bitter.
• Moment Killer: New Years Eve, among other times.
• Put on a Bus: After The Reveal, she leaves Walford with a secret of her own. She returned in Fall 2011, with baby in tow.
• Spoiled Brat: At least until her father goes to prison.

The Carter Family

Shirley Carter (Linda Henry, 2006-present)

• Dark and Troubled Past: She is NOT fond of her dad and despises her abusive mum. Is actually Mick's mother.
• Deadpan Snarker: She plays this trope to a tee when she's in the mood (which is most of the time).
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Heather. These two have been best mates for who knows long.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Is revealed to be Mick's mother to a shellshocked Phil during a drunken moment.
• Mama Bear: Used to be this with her younger siblings Mick and Tina, now it sort of extends to their kids.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: Refuses to believe that Dean raped Linda.
• Only Sane Woman: One of the only people on The Square who isn't an idiot. She usually learns from her mistakes and whenever something suspicious takes place, she's usually the one to question it first.
• Out of Focus: After Heather's death, she hasn't really done much.
• Parental Abandonment: Left her husband, Kevin and her three kids Jimbo, Carly and Deano when they were young. Jimbo died of cystic fibrosis when she was gone.
• Undying Loyalty: With a few exceptions, Shirley has always had Phil's back whenever he needed her the most and both still appear to be good friends.
• Woman Scorned: Towards Phil Mitchell. After the pair begin sleeping together behind his fiance, Sharon's back; Phil promises Shirley that he will leave Sharon for her. He doesn't and Phil marries Sharon anyway. Shirley reveals their affair to Sharon on the wedding day but isn't believed. Shirley then shoots Phil and runs.

Mick Carter (Danny Dyer, 2013-present)

• The Ace: Of all the residents in Walford, Mick is portrayed as humble, strong, determined, charismatic, intelligent and morally correct most of the time. So much so, that his son Lee looks up to him and wants to live up to him which leads to his depression.
  • He's also usually the one helping the residents whenever they're in trouble.
  • In his youth, he also excelled in sports (except for swimming, which he was able to overcome later on).
• Berserk Button: Do NOT hurt his family, especially Linda.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Shares this with Shirley.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: He finds out that Shirley is his mother, not his sister. This also means that instead of Stan being his father he's his grandfather, and it's the same with Dean who's his brother instead of his nephew (which he refuses to believe after finding out he raped Linda).
• Luke, I Am Your Father: His mother is actually Shirley. This puts all the Stan as his father comments to big question.
• Never Found the Body: He was lost at sea and presumed to have drowned trying to save Linda, not realising she had already washed up on shore. Investigators were only able to find his wallet.
• Nice Guy: Is very firm but fair to his family and friends. He's also the most well-liked resident on the Square.
• Only Sane Man: Most of the time, he's always the one trying to defuse any situations that get heated.
• Papa Wolf: Even his own grandfather is not free from his wrath, you dare insult his family and he WILL make you pay for it. Additionally, the scene where he accepts Johnny unconditionally after he comes out of gay was so heartwarming it received acclaim.
• Roaring Rampageof Revenge: Trailers for Christmas 2014 show Mick going from Tranquil to full on explosive rage after he discovers that (his unknown brother) Dean raped his wife, throwing him across a table in the vic and smashing things
• Tranquil Fury: Mick is a very calm and controlled person to a fault, but when Stan jokes about the mortality of his elder son Lee on duty...that smile is not one of good humor. This controlled rage manifests again when Dean arrives planning to torch the Vic in revenge for the ruined life he has over the accusations and takes Nancy hostage. Upon a moment of oppertunity with that tranquil look in his eyes, gets the lighter out of Dean's hands and crashes him at the neck underfoot, leaving him unconcious only because Nancy bashed him off before he could snap his neck!.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Though he used to be one of the kindest characters in The Square, he starts becoming more aggressive and cold towards his family including Nancy where he accused her of accidentally hurting Ollie (despite Lee also being responsible).
  • It becomes worse later on when Mick was rather insensitive and unsympathetic towards his depression-diagnosed son Lee after he finds out he was involved in the Queen Vic robbery, whilst he was also under immense pressure to sort out his debts and provide for his then wife Whitney. He chastised Lee despite the fact he was obviously suffering from depression at the time and had attempted suicide from the guilt of his actions (to which Mick responded by telling him he should've gone through the suicide). Needless to say Mick's behaviour and actions during early to late 2017, including kissing Whitney twice despite still being married to Linda were his lowest points.
• Took a Level in Badass: Mick has already established himself as a physically capable individual but he hasn't fully established his inner depths until later, where he singlehandedly floors Stuart, going as far as almost choking him to death and taking vengeance by kidnapping Stuart and physically assaulting him.

Linda Carter (Kellie Bright 2013-present)

• Character Development: Though she initially had trouble accepting her son's sexuality, she eventually gets over it and is now one of the most supporting people in Johnny's life.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Initially very hostile toward Shirley, however over time they have been able to accept each others presence.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Whilst she definitely has her more unpleasant moments such as having trouble accepting her son's sexuality at first (which she eventually accepted), and sending him to Sharon's new bar as a spy against their competition, for the most part she's actually rather friendly and pleasant around everyone.
• My Beloved Smother: Is known for being this towards each of her children, specifically Johnny.
• Page Three Stunna: Was photographed topless on Page 3 when she was a teenager. The photo was found by Dexter who proceeded to pass it around to his friends. The picture is now proudly behind the bar (the obvious hidden by some conveniently placed bar snacks!)
• Rape as Drama: Was raped by her nephew Dean, who's actually her brother-in-law. This is also unknown to all the family bar Shirley and Aunt Babe. The rest of the family were downstairs in The Queen Vic pub, unaware of what was happening.

Johnny Carter (currently Ted Reilly; previously Sam Strike)

• Break the Cutie: After he came out and his mother refused to acknowledge him. Noticeable is that Johnny had only been on-screen for a week when this happened, he's the quickest cutie to ever be broken. Also, bare in mind that there's probably more on the way; no character as sweet, innocent and cute as Johnny is ever gets it easy
• Coming-Out Story: Confessing to his father Mick that he is gay, while breaking down in tears.
• Internal Reveal: After his departure to Italy, Johnny wasn't informed about anything that happened in the next year such as Linda's confession about Dean being the rapist, Lee's depression, Shirley trying to drown Dean, Mick fighting with Dean during his wedding and Nancy and Lee's fighting caused Ollie to fall out of his chair. Once he returned he was told all of these events.
• Momma's Boy: He is described as this. And it's true, since Linda is always calling him her 'sausage', and she is shown to be interfering with his problems a tad too much. Also she was very stubborn about accepting his homosexuality, probably just having high levels of concern. Then later on, Johnny eventually snaps at his mother calling her a 'stupid bitch'.
• Nice Guy: Probably the most realistic and normal young male on the show, Johnny is just out and out sweet to everybody.

Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White, 2013-2020)

• Adult Child: She's in her forties but acts like a teenager.
• But Not Too Bi: She sleeps with Billy Mitchell early after they meet but later says it was just a bit of mistaken fun and that she is a lesbian.
• The Determinator: Sylvie, her estranged mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, was under Tina's supervision despite it taking a lot of attention and willingness to control Sylvie's bizarre behaviour.
• Domestic Abuse: Girlfriend Tosh pushed her into a door frame rather violently which resulted in a cut above Tina's eyebrow. It's also been hinted that Tosh has been a bully and possibly violent towards Tina in the past.
• Insistent Terminology: Calls herself a lesbian even though she's actually bi.
• Lampshade Hanging: She knows people would find it odd that despite claiming to be a lesbian, she has a daughter, and is happy enough to talk about it.
• Nice Girl: A very caring and nice person, ESPECIALLY toward Cindy.

Lee Carter (Danny-Boy Hatchard, 2014-2017, 2020-2021)

• The Charmer: Lee's shown his charming side and eventually won over Whitney Dean, even after his fling with the late Lucy Beale.
• Driven to Suicide: Attempted. A clinically-depressed Lee, who after suffering the abuse from his bullying co-workers as well as his depression for many months, wanted to end it all. Thankfully, a parking attendant named Karen talked him out of it and he didn't go through with it.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: His and Whitney's marriage clearly wasn't going to work, after he accumulated a large mass of debt, his long-lasting depression getting worse and the rest of his family suffering from his mistakes. Mick advises him that the best thing to do for Whitney is to leave her.

Nancy Carter (Maddy Hill, 2014-2016, 2021-)

• Deadpan Snarker: Always with a serious expression. Does it more often if she's feeling moody.
• Honor Before Reason: Nancy is perhaps the most moral of the Carter family to a fault. She tells Shirley the truth of what Mick did to Dean in the Vic cellar
• Middle Child Syndrome: Shades of this can be seen. Her older brother, Lee is a war hero who's highly respected and her younger brother, Johnny is a mummy's boy who's recently come out. This can be seen clearly during Nancy's 21st birthday where her party is a little less than exciting, resulting in her mother, Linda going berserk. The family are however unaware of mother, Linda being raped only days earlier and is still coming to terms with it.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She made a stunning appearance (hair let loose, in a nice dress) for her parents' wedding. Even people in-universe were shocked.
• Tomboy: Has only ever been seen wearing baggy clothes with her hair constantly in a ponytail.

Aunt Babe Smith (Annette Badland, 2014-2017)

• Dark Secret: Implied to be between her and Shirley's mother, Sylvie Carter.
  • Turns out that she had the disappeared Sylvie in her house all along, but because she was looking after her now she has Alzheimer's' disease.
  • Also turns out that Stan had previously dated her.
• Manipulative Bitch: Underneath that caring nanny-like exterior.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Convinces Abi to manipulate Ben into staying with her instead of Paul because she's homophobic and a purely horrible woman.

Andrew "Buster" Briggs (Karl Howman, 2014-2016)

• Gentle Giant: He may come off as a stereotypical thug at first, but he's shown to be a rather friendly and outgoing man who loves his family and adores his grandchildren (especially Lee).

The Coker Family

Les Coker (Roger Sloman)

• Ascended Extra: Les was a guest character who arranged Pat Evans' funeral in early 2012, but returned for a small number of scenes during that year. In 2014 he returned as a regular cast member with his Gossipy Hens wife Pam and references were made to a grandson named Paul.
• Crossdresser: He's been doing it since the age of seven, and kept it a secret throughout his marriage to Pam. His alter ego name is of a woman named Christine and only Pam's friend Claudette knew about this.
• Darker and Edgier: Somewhat the case as he returned in the midst of the mysterious Charlie Cotton storyline and took a backhander from Charlie for arranging the funeral for the presumed dead Nick Cotton.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The Cokers unnamed son's early death is rarely discussed but his loss clearly plays on their minds making his parents cheerful and sociable demeanours and pride in their grandson Paul heartbreaking
• Family Business: The Coker family have been in the funeral business since 1915, Pam fears for their grandson Paul's future, leading to Les blackmailing an angry Charlie Cotton to keep his silence over the funeral of 'Nick'.
• Food as Bribe: Les was bribed by Mick to get Stan to quit being a Lazy Bum around the Vic by pretending to address Stan's funeral arrangements. It works, to Mick and Nancy's glee - Les's price? A single malt whiskey. Nancy now considers him a Cool Old Guy because of this.
• Happily Married: To Pam, his wife of nearly 50 years despite implying he was a client of Pat's in her days as a prostitute to Carol Jackson and David Wicks.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However he genuinely seemed unsettled by lying to Dot over the situation despite the backhander he is Happily Married to Pam and supported a devastated Peter Beale when Peter went to see Lucy's body in the Coker and Son's chapel of rest
• Outliving One's Offspring: In discussion with Billy Mitchell Les revealed that his and Pam's son had died "some time ago" leaving behind his son Paul, whom Les described as the spitting image of his father.
• Remember the New Guy?: Prior to his first appearance, the undertakers used by Walford was never named. Les stated due to his 'friendship' with Pat the funeral of Ian Beale and David Wicks' father Pete Beale was the first of many associated within Albert Square dealt by Coker and Sons.
• Under Taker: His lifelong occupation, Like Father, Like Son as he confirmed during his first and initially only a guest appearance to arrange Pat Evans' funeral in 2012.

Pamela 'Pam' Coker (Lin Blakley)

• Break the Cutie: Has been pelted with many emotional breakdowns during her final year on the show. First finding out husband Les crossdresses, then being blackmailed by Aunt Babe regarding the crossdressing, and finally, a homophobic attack leading to grandson Paul being killed.
• Nice Girl: Just seems to be the loveliest lady ever.

Paul Coker (Jonny Labey)

• Nice Guy: Happy go lucky, Paul. Referred to a ray of sunshine and a bright light in Pam and Les's life.
• Straight Gay: Ever since his arrival, he's been trying to settle in a relationship with Ben Mitchell.
• Too Happy to Live: In a shock twist, Paul is killed off screen in a homophobic attack.

The Kazemi Family

Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami)

• Mr. Fanservice: Not even a month into the show and he's provided himself to be naked in front of the stall place
• Opposites Attract: The loud, joker Kush fell in love with the distant and orderly Shabnam.

Carmel Kazemi (Bonnie Langford)

Shakil Kazemi (Shaheen Jafargholi)

The Butcher Family

Tiffany Butcher (Originally Dean) (Maisie Smith)

• Luke, I Am Your Father: Originally believed to be fathered by Whitney's father, a DNA test later showed she was actually Ricky's.

Morgan Butcher (Devon Higgs)

• Trademark Favorite Food: Chicken nuggets. Not so much anymore after a little hint about their true contents...

Liam Butcher (James Forde)

• Book Dumb: Liam's school grades aren't all that due to the fact he suffers from dyslexia.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Cindy didn't like him back, and to really make things worse she's pregnant by Liam's best friend
• Hopeless Suitor: Has a hopeless crush on Cindy Beale who ended up pregnant with Liam's best friend's baby
• In With The Crowd: Desperate to fit in, Liam ended up becoming friends with a bunch of thugs who got him into a lot of trouble
• Nice Guy: Seems to be the only one in his entire family who ever spares a thought for other people
• Out of Focus: Despite being the eldest of mum Bianca's children, it's very rare for Liam to get any screen time compared to younger siblings Morgan and Tiffany (especially Tiffany). Averted starting in 2013; He now gets story lines of his own because his actor is now over 16.

Pat Butcher (Pam St. Clement)

• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Her relationship with Peggy evolved into this. Only she is allowed to fuck with/annoy/take the piss out of Peggy. Peggy is off limits to anyone else.

Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks currently. Previously, Rebecca Michael, Alexia Demetriou)

• Crying Wolf: most of her family's convinced she murdered her grandmother Lydia
• Even Evil Has Standards: Janine has no problem with destroying lives, but genuinely seemed horrified by Rob's exploitation of Whitney (though guilt, marginal family loyalty and fear of reprisal helped)
• I Take Offense to That Last One: the only insult that actually seems to upset Janine is reference to one of her... previous lines of employment.
• It's All About Me: Janine Butcher will manipulate, con or even murder for her own self gain, all the while genuinely convinced she is Walford's purist Woobie forced into unscrupulous schemes by the cruel world around her.
• Morality Pet: Billy, Tiff, Whitney and Lydia are the most recent/longstanding examples.

Diane Butcher (Sophie Lawrence)

Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen)

The Jackson Family

Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson)

• Mama Bear: Don't mess with her family. Just don't.
• Mrs. Robinson: She once slept with a guy 25 years younger.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Son Billie Jackson died of alcohol poisoning.
• Really Gets Around: All her four children have different fathers.
• The Topicof Cancer: Has recently gone into remission after a long-running breast cancer storyline which also involved her daughters, Bianca and Sonia worrying if they carried the same cancer gene. Bianca didn't, Sonia did
• Will They or Won't They?: Her and David Wicks. They've been one of the longest on-off couples on the show. They did... then they didn't after Carol realised she didn't want to marry him after all.

Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer)

Robbie Jackson (Dean Gaffney)

The Slater Family

Belinda Peacock (Carli Norris)

• Lady in Red: There are few male members of the cast she's yet to flirt with.

Jean Slater (Gillian Wright)

• Abusive Parents: Indirectly, but her mental problems took a toll on Stacey and Sean.
• Put on a Bus: With her lover. Though she does make occasional guest appearances now and then.

Kyle Slater (Riley Carter Millington)

• Coming-Out Story: Was prompted to come out as transgender after Stacey discovered her father's other wife only gave birth to three daughters.
• Long-Lost Relative: His existence, and her father's second family, were kept a secret from Stacey.

Mo Harris (Laila Morse)

• Honest John's Dealership: Her mate, Fat Elvis, can get ANYTHING.
• Out of Focus: In 2013, she's only appeared in two episodes.

The Cotton Family

Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett)

• Dark Secret: Implied to be impersonating a policeman and that he knows more about his father, Nick's 'death'. His shady dealings with funeral director, Les Coker imply he's hiding something that could break poor Dot's heart.
• Dead Guy Junior: Averted although Charlie is named after his paternal grandfather given he is likely in his early thirties, Charlie Snr was very much alive in Charlie's early life.
• Disappeared Dad: Originally played straight but later subverted as it becomes clear Nick is aware of Charlie's actions and has played some part in his eldest sons life enough for Charlie to know him and address as 'Dad'.
• Impersonating an Officer: Appeared originally to be a Detective Constable however this was not the case: after Emma Summerhayes discovered this Charlie resorted to blackmail to keep her quiet.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Was definitely surprised to find he got Ronnie Mitchell pregnant. She turned up at his door, sporting a baby bump. The two look like they may have a potential spark.

The Moon Family

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Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace)

• Absurdly Youthful Mother: Kat is Zoe's mother yet she looks young enough to pass for her sister. Justified since Kat gave birth to Zoe at 13.
• Betty and Veronica: She was the Veronica to Zoe's Betty over their Archie Anthony, who was her ex.
• Big Sister Instinct: Much to Zoe's frustration, Kat is often over-protective of her. And that was before she revealed she was actually her mother.
• Broken Bird: Was sexually abused as a teenager by her uncle Harry which resulted in a pregnancy. The child was Zoe. Is now recovering from severe burns from a housefire started by her husband, Alfie who only did it to get money from the insurance, not realising she was in the house at the time.
• Cassandra Truth: She tells her mother that she was raped by Harry, but Viv pretends not to believe her, secretly ordering Harry to leave, causing him to flee to Spain. Viv keeps this from Charlie and sent Belinda and Little Mo away to their aunt, Violet Slater, in order to hide Kat’s pregnancy.
• Driven to Suicide: After being insulted by her uncle Harry and revealing the awful truth of her abuse to Zoe and Charlie, she attempted suicide by overdosing on pills and slitting her wrists. Luckily, she was found by the Slater family and survived.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: Zoe was passed off as her younger sister until Kat finally revealed the truth in Zoe's late teens.
• Freudian Excuse: Kat tells her ex Anthony that the reasons why she dresses up and wears a lot of makeup and sleeps around is because of the sexual abuse she suffered from her uncle Harry. It's also why she didn't tell Anthony she loved him back because "I love you" was something her uncle Harry also used to say to her as an manipulative excuse to get something from her.
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion:
  • Zigzagged. First with Zoe, when asked if she wanted to keep her, she replies that she didn't have a choice, and she was far too along in the pregnancy to even have an abortion devastating Zoe. Then she claims she wanted to have Zoe after all.
  • When pregnant with Anthony's unborn baby, she contemplates terminating the pregnancy but decided to keep the baby. Only to suffer a miscarriage afterwards.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Kat becomes jealous of Zoe's relationship with her ex Anthony and it gets worse after the pair get engaged.
• The "I Love You" Stigma: Her relationship with Anthony came to a halt because he told her he loved her and she refused to say it back.
• Internal Reveal: She reveals that she is Zoe's mother, having been sexually abused by Harry aged thirteen.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Delivers this famous line to her "little sister" Zoe as she screams out to her that she is her mother.
• Mama Bear: To Zoe. When Zoe announces her decision to move to Spain with their uncle Harry Slater, Kat refuses to allow her to go. Her son, Tommy (especially after he was abducted by Ronnie Mitchell) and the newborn twins.
• Madonna-Whore Complex: Kat looked inappropriate and promiscuous compared to her clean-cut daughter (and then rival) Zoe when competing for her then love interest Anthony. When Kat and Anthony reconciled their relationship, she tried embracing a clean well dressed "doctor's wife" image but it didn't work.
• Ms. Fanservice: Kat wears a lot of makeup, leopard prints coats, dresses up in blouses and shirts that exposes some skin, walks in high heels and mini skirts that accentuate her curves.
• My Secret Pregnancy: She tells her mother that she was raped by Harry, but Viv pretends not to believe her, secretly ordering Harry to leave, causing him to flee to Spain. Viv keeps this from Charlie and sent Belinda and Little Mo away to their aunt, Violet Slater, in order to hide Kat’s pregnancy.
• Promiscuity After Rape: After being sexually abused by her uncle Harry growing up (and him telling her he loved her), the experience left her feeling traumatized and left to believe that if she's dirty, she will let other men treat her dirty. This unresolved sexual trauma led to her promiscuity, dressing up in inappropriate outfits and heavy makeup later in life.
• Parental Substitute: To Shenice.
• Pædo Hunt: Kat refuses to let Zoe go to Spain on a trip with their uncle Harry as Kat feared that uncle Harry could've tried to sexually abuse her like he did to Kat once.
• Stepford Smiler: According to the writers of the show, Kat wears a lot of makeup to hide the fact that she's actually sad.
• Teen Pregnancy: She was raped by her uncle Harry and gave birth to Zoe at 13.
• You're Not My Father: Averted. In one infamous scene, Kate is told by her little sister Zoe that she can't tell her what to do, she ain't her mother. This causes Kate to yell out to Zoe that she is her mother.

Alfie Moon (Shane Ritchie)

• Beware the Nice Ones: Especially when Kat cheated on him with Derek.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Took a beating meant for Spencer by some gangsters.
  • Served prison time in place of his younger second cousins Jake and Danny when they committed credit card fraud.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: After he realised Kat was in their home, which he had set alight for the insurance payout, he risked his life to save her, this was after he had been blown off his feet by an explosion triggered by Mo's dodgy haircare products
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Ian Beale, the pair became firm friends after Alfie arrived in Walford in 2004, one's a conman and a near bigamist with a criminal record and the other's a serial spouse with the habit of been a miser they are the best friend either man has ever had.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After he set his family home alight for the insurance payout, unknowingly to him, Kat was in the house and his heartbroken reaction to her severe burns as a result has to seen to be believed.
• Nice Guy: Very friendly to everyone.
• Only Sane Man: During Stacey's return story, he was deeply concerned about the pregnant Kat and the legal convictions which could occur by assisting a wanted criminal.
• Odd Couple: With Heterosexual Life Partner Ian and later on with his Manipulative Bastard cousin Michael who seemed to actually like him despite sleeping with Kat and fathering Tommy.
• Promotion to Parent: Alfie raised his much younger brother Spencer after the death of their parents with help from their paternal grandmother.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: The 2018 Christmas Special showcased a particularly nasty edge to Alfie, which included when he blamed Kat for her abuse with her uncle and telling the Slater family that he hated them.
  • He eventually becomes more humble again, after seeing the error of his ways and returning Cherry back to Hayley.

Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd)

• Morality Pet: Alfie served as this as he was happy to let Alfie raise Tommy as his own son referring to Tommy as "Alfie's boy" mostly every chance he got. Also on the night of his murder Michael bid a fond farewell to Alfie and Alfie was devastated by his death.

The Fox-Hubbard Family

Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker)

• Catchphrase: "Yeah man!"

Denise Fox (Diane Parish)

• All Work vs. All Play: Slight case of this with Kim.
• Bunker Woman: Kept in a run-down house as a hostage/kidnap victim by her abusive husband, Lucas.
• Disappeared Dad: Never knew who her real father was and initially thought it could be Patrick. Unfortunately he isn't although they treat each other as if they're related.
• Domestic Abuse: Suffered this at the hands of ex-partner, Owen. Ended up being locked away in a run-down house after her husband, Lucas' lies unravelled; revealing he accidentally killed his ex-wife and then Denise's ex-partner, Owen AND covering it up.
• Empty Fridge, Empty Life: Lost her job at the Minute Mart and her pride made her refuse to seek help with money despite her sister having enough and her boyfriend able to help her. She even ended up rooting in bins for left overs and eventually signing up for benefits.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Again with Kim.
• Happily Married: To Kevin Wicks before his death.
• Lonely Together: Towards Ian. She doesn't particularly love him and was planning to leave him but his daughter Lucy was murdered, causing her to not bring herself to leave.
• Mama Bear: Adores her daughters, Chelsea and Libby and was devastated when they both left the Square.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Horrified to discover she's pregnant. Initally she believes the father to be Fatboy. It's actually Phil Mitchell after a drunken one night stand. Denise later gives the baby up for adoption.

Kim Fox (Tameka Empson)

• The Ditz: Isn't known for her intelligence but Kim is always positive and provides the majority of the comic relief in the show.
• Doting Parent: The world revolves around her daughter, Pearl. She loves her intensely, dressing them in matching outfits and entering her in baby beauty pageants.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to Denise's responsible.
• Maternity Crisis: Kim gave birth to her daughter, Pearl, prematurely. Conveniently it was in the Queen Vic pub on the live episode for added drama. Inconveniently it was during Sharon and Phil's wedding. She gave birth with no issues at all and relatively quickly although her daughter was kept in hospital for a few weeks after the birth.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Kim and her mother-in-law, Claudette did not get along.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Arrived back on the Square pregnant much to her sister, Denise's surprise. Recently, found out she's pregnant again after thinking her sickness was due to food poisoning.
• Who's Your Daddy?: The father of Kim's baby was kept a secret for a while, both in-universe and out. His name is Vincent Hubbard and he's Kim's husband. He also has history with Ronnie Mitchell..

Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood)

• Cruel to Be Kind: When the going gets tough. He doesn't tell Dot about Fatboy's death and instead makes up an excuse that he's in Ibiza. Complete with him sending fake postcards.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Has been trying to take down the Mitchells ever since because of an incident involving Phil’s father Eric murdering Vincent’s dad , until finding it was in fact his mother Claudette responsible.
• Death Glare: Gives a lot of these.
• Matricide: Very nearly. Has to be stopped from choking Claudette to death after finding out she manipulated him the whole time about his father's death.
• The Reveal: The same guy who met Kim in a cruise and got her pregnant and also provided Ronnie with the gun she had previously.
• Scary Black Man: When he's up to dodgy things.

Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas)

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Wins a Pride of Walford award for fostering children, is also a murderer.
• Dark Secret: Her family have had a long-lasting grudge between the Mitchells for about 30 years. She made all of that up just to cover up the truth: instead of Eric Mitchell murdering her husband, she pulled it off herself accidentally.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Saved Vincent from Ronnie's hitmen by making them think that Fatboy was Vincent, getting Fatboy killed in his place.
• My Beloved Smother: Shows shades of this in egging Vincent's feud with the Mitchells.
• Secret-Keeper: Helped Les keep his female alter-ego Christine a secret for years.

Donna Yates (Lisa Hammond)

• Chosen Conception Partner: Wants adoptive brother Vincent to be the father of her child.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Has a snappy and snarky attitude but is actually a very lovely person underneath the tough shell.

Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu)

• Disappeared Dad: Her father Owen was abusive to her mum, Denise. Owen was killed by Lucas.
• Nerds Are Virgins: Subverted. Libby turns up after a few years at university and announces that she's pregnant. However, she doesn't keep the baby much to her mother's dismay.

Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin)

The Wicks Family

Dean Wicks (Matt DiAngelo)

• Date Rape: Spiked Stacey Slater's drink at a house party and proceeded to blame it on Bradley Branning. Nothing happened to Stacey but the drink was still spiked.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: He tries to justify his actions because of his parental abandonment issues but as Ronnie rightfully pointed out, his personal issues have no bearing on his more disgusting crimes of raping Linda Carter and (attempted) rape of Roxy Mitchell, especially since he's a grown adult who should take responsibility for his actions.
• Never My Fault: Dean has never accepted responsibility of his crimes, thinking that his victims have consented and when he's called out for it, he blames Linda, Stacey Roxy and Shirley for him raping Linda and even had the gall to claim that he's the victim of their so-called "witch hunt".
• Parental Issues: His dad, Kevin died in a car crash. His mother, Shirley left the family when Dean, his sister Carly and their older brother Jimbo were young. Jimbo died whilst Shirley was absent. Dean is still trying to come to terms with being reunited with his mother and letting her back into his life. That is until she shot Phil Mitchell and left him AGAIN
• Psychopathic Manchild: He's currently a man in his late 20s and yet acts like a spoiled teenager towards his mum, Shirley Carter. His refusal to take responsibility for his actions and acting like a self-entitled, immature Jerkass towards even his "loved ones" doesn't help.
  • After Shirley finds out that he is in fact a rapist, his behaviour become increasingly more psychopathic and childish and even attempts to murder his mother and his brother, Mick.
• Rape Discretion Shot: When Dean rapes his aunt, Linda Carter the actual rape isn't shown; just poor Linda's stunned face. Granted the show is pre-watershed.
• Self-Serving Memory: Like many real life rapists, he genuinely believes his victim consented.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: When he first arrived back in 2006, he was actually a decent (if arrogant and cocky) guy who was carefree and fun loving. Then after he was released from prison in 2007, he started becoming more brooding, cold and angry, often mistreating his mother and causing fights. Fast forward to 2014 and onwards, he became even worse, displaying a more misogynistic behaviour and worst of all, his unforgivable crime towards Linda.
• The Un-Favourite: Averted. He considers himself this to Shirley whenever she focuses her attention to Mick, despite the fact that she had constantly spoiled him, helped him and even took his side of the story over her other son Mick, during the rape drama.
  • This is later played straight after Shirley finds out her son raped Linda (and for very understandable reasons).

The Brown Family

James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde)

• Rape as Drama: Attacked Kathy Beale back when she was with Pete Beale, it destroyed her marriage to him and traumatized her.
• Smug Snake: In his 2017 return nearly EVERY scene with him is like this.

Luke Browning (Adam Astilll; Previously Henry Power and Uncredited Actor)

• Ascended Extra: Originally he was in the background around his father's initial scenes, however now grown up he is a very prominant role.
• Berserk Button: Hates his authority being questioned, or infact people asking too many questions. Definitely hates his half-brother Josh.
• Manly Gay: *VERY* strong and enjoys a "bit of rough" as Ben puts it.

Sophie "Fi" Browning (Lisa Faulkner: Previously Natasha Knight)

• Ascended Extra: Similar to her brother, her return brought her into a very high profile storyline
• Consummate Liar: Comes with her job, she lies flat to nearly everyone she meets including making the Carters think their £60k repair bill was £50k not only to make sure they wouldn't raise the funds, but also to net a little bonus when they capture the money from the family thinking they'd be safe, not to mention Max.

Josh Hemmings (Eddie Eyre)

• Good All Along: Josh was initially introduced as being antagonistic, trying to disrupt Lauren's life and even getting in Max's way, however as the story goes on, it is revealed Josh is merely doing as he is told by his family who are in on the real business. His feelings for Lauren turn out to be real and his family don't come in between his morals, clearly shown in his disgust at their treatment of Max and Lauren.
• The Un-Favourite: It seems Josh's place as a child of his father's later marriage has put him unfavourable in the tree, not even carrying his father's name, being left out of the major work and being told by his father he needs to "earn" his trust. Only Fi seems to even remotely care about him but she isn't compromising about telling him to butt out of where he doesn't belong, then there is strangler Luke...

Hugo Browning (Simon Williams)

• Faux Affably Evil: Comes across as very polite in his dealings till he is undermined.

The Highway Family

Callum "Halfway" Highway (Tony Clay)

• Abusive Parents: His mother abandoned him and his brother, whilst his homophobic father was extremely abusive towards him, both physically and emotionally.
• All Guys Want Bad Boys: Zigzagged. Although Callum generally prefers that Ben stayed away from criminal activities, he did admit that he didn't want Ben to mellow out too much and liked his "bad boy" persona.
• Coming-Out Story: His sexuality was discovered by Ben Mitchell, who encourages him to come out by using his own experience to do so.
• Cure Your Gays: He tried to repress his true sexuality and used Whitney as a cover up. Although it's clear he really did care about Whitney and didn't do it out of malice, but rather out of fear.
• Extreme Doormat: Because of his kind nature, he'll get taken advantage of with everyone knowing he wouldn't try to argue back or say no.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Despite being hailed as a hero during his time in the army, he considers himself this because he tried and failed to save a mother of several kids. He also blames himself for his friend losing both of his legs, after telling him to save other people during the war. Of course, none of this is Callum's fault as he didn't know how it would've all played out.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Callum is the complete opposite to his father. Callum is a nice, gentle, likeable and considerate man whilst Jonno is a disgusting, vile, unlikeable and selfish man.
• Morality Pet: To Stuart and Ben, who in turn also acts as this to him at times.
• Nice Guy: He's very friendly and just wants to see the best in everyone, even Ben Mitchell (who eventually becomes his first gay love interest). However, he can be a little too nice which gets people to take advantage of him.

Stuart Highway (Ricky Chapman)

• All Gays Are Paedophiles: He accuses Ben as one at first due to his terrible experiences , until he finds out Callum is gay himself. After that, he drops this mindset and becomes supportive of Callum's sexuality.
• Big Brother Instinct: To Callum.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He despises paedophiles or any form of abusive adults. He's also protective of his brother and wouldn't dare to lay a finger on him.
• Freudian Excuse: To say that Stuart had an extremely rough childhood would be an understatement. During his time at the young offenders in his youth, he was sexually abused by a security guard officer and couldn't do anything about it or even call for help, his mother left him and both of his parents were physically and emotionally abusive towards him. No wonder he became so messed up...
  • His brother, Callum even notes that all of the negative traits that Stuart carries was from their father.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Realises his actions couldn't be justified by his terrible childhood something Mick had tried to tell him.
• Heel–Face Turn: After his visit to a psychiatrist, he starts to change the errors of his ways and wants to help people. He befriends a lot of residents in the Square and looks out for them any way he can, even saving the child of a family who hates him (The Carters) from accidentally getting ran over.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Displays this many times, despite his moments of sociopathy. He always looks out for children to prevent them from getting harmed, he is extremely protective of his brother and despite his questionable methods, he has everyone's best interest in mind. And genuinely loves Mick despite their friendship breaking beyond repair.
• Like Father, Like Son: Subverted. Whilst Stuart does carry some abusive traits from his father, he eventually drops them and has a lot of redeeming qualities unlike his father, who still carries these abusive traits.
• Mistaken for Paedophile: Mick looks into Stuart's phone to find photos of underaged girls. It turns out that Stuart was actually using these photos to lure in actual paedophiles, so he can hunt them down and stop them from abusing children.
  • Stuart himself mistakes an innocent man, who was simply looking for his daughter, as a paedophile and puts him in hospital as a result.
• Pædo Hunt: He acts as a vigilante to hunt for and beat up paedophiles to prevent children from getting harmed like he did as a child.
• Psychopathic Manchild: At first, he harassed the Carters (including Tina and Mick) and pretty much acted like a schoolyard bully towards them. Thankfully, he drops the psychopathic part and transforms into more of a lovable manchild.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After his stint with the Carters, he's mellowed out and any traces of him being bad are gone in favour of his kinder and likeable side.

John "Jonno" Highway (Richard Graham)

• Abusive Parents: He was extremely neglectful, alcoholic and aggressive towards his two sons. Even now when they're adults themselves, he literally slammed Callum against a wall.
• Asshole Victim: He doesn't die but man he deserves the separate beating and punch to the face he gets handed to him. He's such an vile asshole Jack basically enacted an Enemy Mine to get him drop the assault against Phil and get him to piss off
• Dirty Coward: Attacks Ben when his back's turned. He faces off against Phil and gets punched to the floor in seconds.
• Evil Old Folks: Downplayed, but given Stuart is in his early forties with an adult daughter of his own, Jonno is likely in his early sixties at the youngest.
• Evil Is Petty: He wanted to beat up Ben Mitchell just for "giving him looks".
• Homophobic Hate Crime: Attempts this by trying to attack Ben Mitchell. Thankfully, Ben manages to sweep the floor with him.
• Laser-Guided Karma: A homophobic jerk who gets his ass kicked by a openly gay man.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Acts as though he's the toughest guy around. He only really scares Callum due to the fear Callum jusitifably has of him. Gets his ass handed to him twice.
• Very Punchable Man: Ben and Phil seem to think so.
• Unholy Matrimony: This is hinted as Callum and Stuart's Missing Mom seems to be as much a Hate Sink as him.
• In-Series Nickname: 'Jonno' is short for John as confirmed by the detective who talk to Phil about him punching Jonno.

The Taylor Family

Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley)

• Mama Bear: She is very protective of her kids, always putting them first and doing whatever she can to help them.
• Tough Love: Downplayed, as she would only resort to this whenever her kids do something reckless or dangerous.
• Unconfessed Unemployment: Whenever her family is struggling financially, she usually tries to hide this fact from her kids to prevent them from worrying about their financial state.

Mitch Baker (Roger Griffiths)

• Parental Neglect: Initially, before atoning for his past mistakes and getting more involved with his kids.
• Properly Paranoid: Is one of the only people to suspect something was wrong with Gray's presence. Unsurprisingly, he's correct.

Keegan Baker (Zack Morris)

• Character Development: He started off as a reckless bully who would be easily prone to anger and lash out. However, a lot of experiences he's had with life since then have changed him into becoming a more rational, mature and considerate person who puts the need of others before his own.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even when he used to be a bully, there were lines he wouldn't cross. At one point when resident bullies Alexandra D'Costa pushed Louise Mitchell into a group of candles, he thought the former went way too far and exposed her for attempting to set the latter on fire.
• Freudian Excuse: It's suggested that his initial bullying attitude comes from his built-up anger from the absence of his father during his childhood. Thankfully, it gets better once they have reunited for good.
• Happily Married: To Tiffany.
• Reformed Bully: He's no longer a bully, and is easily one of the most outgoing residents in Walford.

Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters)

Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris)

Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer)

Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith)

• Domestic Abuse: He's an abusive husband towards Chantelle Atkins, and is responsible for her death.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: During his therapy session, he explained that his abusive behaviour was a result of his father's abuse towards his mother when he was young, with some of the abuse even inflicted towards him as well. However, the therapist does correctly point out that whilst his own childhood abuse was unfortunate, it's also no excuse for him to inflict abuse towards his own wife as well.
• Hate Sink: He ends up becoming worse than his father, having not only abused his wife but also ended up murdering her as well (and two other people later on). On top of that, he has no redeeming qualities.
• Like Father, Like Son: His father was also abusive when he was a child, leading to Gray to becoming just like him.
• Would Hurt a Child: Whilst he has yet to do so, the fact that he threatens to strangle his own children if his wife Chantelle had ever left him shows that he has no problem hurting children if it means getting what he wants. He was even willing to burn his entire house down with the intent of killing himself and taking his kids with him, after being unable to cope with the guilt of his murder.

Others

Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott)

• Mr. Fanservice: They really loved to have him in as little clothing as possible. One example; on his stag night he randomly decides to take all of his clothes off in public and proceeds to run around giving the audience a view of his bare naked bottom.

Jordan Johnson (currently Joivan Wade, before Michael-Joel David Stuart)

• Freudian Excuse: Due to his father Lucas being in prison, he has spent most of his teenage life causing trouble and getting involved in gangs.

Carl White (Daniel Coonan)

• Abusive Parents: His mother still abuses him.
• Domestic Abuse: Used to hit Kirsty.

DC Emma Summerhayes (Anna Acton)

• Forbidden Fruit: Max Branning is this to her due to his part in the Lucy Beale murder investigation. She goes there anyway.
• Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Figured out the identity of Lucy's killer, but died under unrelated circumstances before she could tell the police.
• Police Are Useless: The Beale family more than likely think this of her now her affair with Max Branning is in the open.

Fiona 'Tosh' Mackintosh (Rebecca Scroggs)

• All Lesbians Want Kids: She and Tina save up for artifical insemination. After Tosh miscarries, Tina's cousin Dean suggests using his sperm to impregnate Tosh whilst they were drinking.
• Domestic Abuse: Implied to have been abusive towards girlfriend, Tina Carter. Was shown on-screen to push her into a door frame during an argument and cutting her eyebrow.

Aleks Shirovs (Kristian Kiehling)

• Secret Relationship: Aleks left his wife and daughter in Latvia to come to London. His girlfriend, Roxy Mitchell has no idea they exist. They end up turning up in the square, forcing Tamwar Masood to lie to Roxy. Aleks and his wife are still attracted to each other and sleep together in the market office.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Aleks is Latvian. The actor portraying him is German-Latvian.

Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold)

• Kissing Cousins: Actually a bit more than that; Lola's third cousin Ben is the father of her daughter Lexi.
• Mama Bear: Would do anything for her daughter, Lexi. Even attempting to kidnap her when she was threatened by social services.
• Teen Pregnancy: Her first storyline involved her finding out she was pregnant at age 15.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Though originally hard faced and troublesome, Lola has matured and is now generally quite nice. She still has her moments where she panics over her motherhood and does some stupid things, but now she is generally nowhere near as fiery as before and keeps a level head. This is most evident where Bianca doesn't pay her immediately, thinking she talked Morgan and Tiffany out of their staple food.

Arthur Chubb 'Fatboy' (Ricky Norwood)

• Beware the Nice Ones: But don't take him for granted, after he discovered Whitney had cheated on him with Tyler Moon, he hunted Tyler down and punched him to the ground. He also did not take his father's meddling in his best friend Mercy's life well.
• Claustrophobia: Revealed when he was locked up by Vincent in a closet overnight. Horrible end to his life when he got involved in Vincent and Ronnie's Hubbard/Mitchell conflict because he was accidentally locked inside the boot of a car, triggering his fear of closed spaces. Since nobody heard him (except Ronnie but she thought he was Vincent) he eventually suffocated to death, and after that the car got sent to the scrapyard and crushed along with his body inside.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: You wouldn't expect a Plucky Comic Relief like Fatboy to be killed off by being crushed inside a boot of a car...
• Nice Guy: Under all that 'street lingo' is a kind hearted young gentleman who willingly stood up against Whitney's pimp Rob Grayson and befriended Dot Branning whom he affectionately calls "Mrs B".
• Odd Friendship: As his character profile on the BBC EastEnders website states thusly: "You might expect his best mate to be an Asbo-wielding ex-con, but it is in fact bible-bashing octogenarian Dot Branning, who prefers to address him by his real name. She teaches him biblical tracts, he teaches her street lingo. It's a beautiful relationship"

Dexter Hartman (Khali Best)

• Butt-Monkey: He does get into trouble a lot and has been punched a few times.

Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas)

• Chekhov M.I.A.: First referenced in 1990 as Sharon's birth father by her birth mother, then in the early 2000's as Kathy's new husband and her brother's old friend.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Gavin done this to Phil by kidnapping him for days unless Kathy gave him a certain amount of money. At the end of all this, it's revealed he was exploiting Phil's addiction to alcohol once again.
• Connected All Along: As it turns out he knew Phil's dad Eric and Vincent Hubbard's dad Henry back in the day as well as his established friendship with Ted Hills (Kathy's brother)
• Dirty Coward: Is this in spades, he'd rather flee than face prison. And he faked his and Kathy's death rather than face up to the the people he owed money to.
• Disappeared Dad: His father walked out on him and his sisters and he in turn abandoned Sharon, though he did arrange her fostering by Den and Angie via his lawyer sister, Margaret. Was also a disappeared stepdad to Ian and Ben due to his Faking the Dead.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: To Sharon. "Hello, princess!"
• Retcon: Not one himself but his backstory has a few: His faked death in South Africa, he originally had three other children but when he appeared onscreen it was stated Sharon was his only biological child. His friendship with Den Watts is one, given that his friend Ted Hills originally was Den's enemy, but according to Gavin they were friends.
• The Reveal: Appeared out of the blue, thought to have been dead along with Kathy but feigned that just to travel to South Africa and gain more money for himself.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: It's implied that he wasn't actually liked by the friends he knew, Claudette Hubbard certainly despises him.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Gavin's Faking the Dead gambit damaged his stepson Ben Mitchell and brought him back to Walford and through a series of events over many years led to the murder of Heather Trott and his various criminal endeavours.

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