Fictional characters appearing within in-universe works of film and television in the world of Bojack Horseman.
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Horsin' Around
General
- Flat Character: For the most part, given that they're supposed to be easily identifiable and kinda predictable. They dip into static characters at times, since they can show some Hidden Depths or have a new ability, but for the most part, they remain completely one-dimensional.
- Sitcom Character Archetypes: Accordingly, all of the main characters fall into this, although it's a little more dynamic than usual. Let's see:
- The Horse's role is to be the Straight Man a.k.a. The Square to all of the shenanigans around him. Alternatively, he's the "sagacious dispenser of advice" and "the classy player" due to his paternal role and often having to educate his children and his status as the best lawyer in the firm Libertore & Associates. He can also fall into The Wisecracker, since he simply loves being a Pungeon Master.
- Olivia is comparatively The Bully due to her more rebellious personality out of the three orphans, as well as her more intolerant attitude towards her siblings and being proved wrong. She also fits into The Charmer since she's the most worried about personal status and the most socially invested out of the three.
- Ethan is The Dork being the most knowledgeable of all in terms of political systems and matters, while also being the most gawky in comparison to the rest.
- Sabrina is a mixture of The Wisecracker with her snappy and rebellious attitude, The Goofball with her outlandish yet still childish ideas and her tendency to be innocent in every account and The Precocious due to her young age and her belief on childhood tales like Santa.
The Horse
"Neigh way, José!"
Played by: BoJack Horseman Real Actor
A horse working for Libertore and Associates who, feeling lonely, decides to adopt three orphans as his family.
- '80s Hair: A mullet, to be precise.
- Absurdly Youthful Father: Justified because he has adopted kids.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Prickly Muffin" for Sabrina.
- All Just a Dream: Exaggerated. The entire 3rd season, when Horse becomes the president of the United States of America, was retconned to have been a dream all along.
- And Starring: "And Starring BoJack Horseman as The Horse".
- A Dog Named "Dog": A horse named "The Horse". According to BoJack, the writers didn't care.
- Bumbling Dad: At times. His cheerful disposition and optimistic nature often causes him to mess up.
- Character Catchphrase: Just like everyone in the show. Two of them, to be precise: "Neigh way, Jose!" and "I've heard of (x), but this is ridiculous!"
- Children Raise You: He used to be a full-time Workaholic before he adopted Olivia, Ethan and Sabrina. Thanks to them, he has mellowed out and tries to be an attentive father toward them.
- Death by Despair: In the series finale, he dies of what the doctor calls "a broken heart" since apparently his children didn't love or appreciate him enough.
- Family Versus Career: He often had to balance his professional life with now taking care of three little children.
- Good Parents: He is nothing but compassionate, caring and understanding towards his adopted children.
- Hates Being Alone: The reason why he adopted Olivia, Ethan and Sabrina.
- The Hero Dies: In the series finale.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: In the final episode, he dies of this. Although it could have been something more akin to a cardiovascular problem, not necessarily a heart attack. Still, those twitches...
- Iconic Outfit: The Horse's classic crosses and apples sweater.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: He's got quite the interesting ideas of how to have fun.
- Interspecies Adoption: A horse adopts three human children.
- Interspecies Romance: The closest thing he has to a Love Interest is his boss' human secretary Tracey.
- Lampshaded Double Entendre: His flirting with Tracey would often involve this, from both sides.The Horse: Tracey, if you wanted to see my "briefs", all you had to do was ask.Tracey: Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me. [audience woos].
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: "I've heard of (insert theme that is connected to something that has just happened), but this is ridiculous!"
- Married to the Job: Before he adopted the children.The Horse: Ah, sorry, Trace, I'm just trying to get ahead so I don't have to work on Christmas this year.Tracey: Since when do you care about workin' on Christmas? Are those little rugrats making you soft?
- Nay-Theist: Hinted at when he explains to Sabrina the way the Santa's Existence Clause works, which mirrors the way atheists think and view the world. Being the family-friendly program this one is, it doesn't matter much.The Horse: You can't be good just to expect a reward. You have to be good just to be good.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: While the Horse is a kind and caring father, BoJack Horseman was reportedly very difficult to work with. This trope is further cemented when BoJack Horseman was exposed as a sexual predator and abuser, as well as being directly responsible for Sarah Lynn's death.
- Nice Guy: He's never mean and even when he messes up, he's willing to apologize.
- No Name Given: Hell, there's never any indication that he has a real name.
- Office Romance: Implied with Tracey, Mr. Libertore's secretary.
- Only One Name: Considering he doesn't seem to have a surname.
- Pungeon Master:The Horse: Neigh way, Jose!
- Real Men Can Cook: He was often seen making breakfast for his children and does well.
- Ship Tease: With Tracey.
- Sitcom Character Archetypes: The Horse's role is to be the Straight Man a.k.a. The Square to all of the shenanigans around him. Alternatively, he's the "sagacious dispenser of advice" and "the classy player" due to his paternal role and often having to educate his children and his status as the best lawyer in the firm Libertore & Associates. He can also fall into The Wisecracker, since he simply loves being a Pungeon Master.
- Standard '50s Father: A Parody of such, given the kind of show this one is.The Horse: Sabrina, you and Olivia and Ethan are the best things that have ever happened to me, and if it took your parents dying for you to be part of my life, well, then I'm glad your parents died.Sabrina: Oh, you don't mean that.The Horse: No, I do, I'm glad
your parents are dead and are never coming back.Sabrina: Well, when you put it that way, I guess I am, too. [audience awws]. - Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Since it seems like it's his real name, it's a really weird decision to name your kid the same way as his species.
- Workaholic: Used to be this before he adopted the children. Mr. Libertore laments that Horse has gone soft.
- Mr. Libertore: I can't say I'm not disappointed. Time was, I thought you were a go-getter.
Olivia
Played by: Joelle Clarke Real Actress
The eldest of the three orphans.
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: Olivia, Ethan and Sabrina fit the bill, even if they're not related, as they act like siblings. Olivia is The Girl, of course.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Goober.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Blonde to Ethan's Redhead and Sabrina's Brunette.
- Demoted to Extra: Apparently, all good plot lines went to Sabrina after she became the Breakout Character, leaving Olivia kind of in the background.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: A lovable Valley Girl who cares for her family and a blonde, to boot.
- Heartwarming Orphan: An Invoked version of this trope.
- Happily Adopted: With The Horse.
- Lethal Chef: In one episode, she tries to make breakfast for everybody and ends up making a mess in the kitchen. To be fair, what she ended up cooking looked decent.
- Ship Tease: With Goober.
- Sitcom Character Archetypes: Olivia is comparatively The Bully due to her more rebellious personality out of the three orphans, as well as her more intolerant attitude towards her siblings and being proved wrong. She also fits into The Charmer since she's the most worried about personal status and the most socially invested out of the three.
Ethan
Played by: Bradley Hitler-Smith Real Actor
The middle child.
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: The Boy of the three orphans.
- Ascended Extra: In-universe, Bradley creates a Horsin' Around spin-off focused on Ethan who has grown up and adopted 3 young horses.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Redhead.
- Character Catchphrase: "Yowza yowza bo bowza!" (This never really caught on, as demonstrated when he uses this line in the first Christmas Special.)
- Character Filibuster: He would often fly off into long tangents involving politics, national issues and serious discussion about dark matters even if they had nothing to do with what they were discussing or wondering about.
- Forced Meme: His catchphrase of "Yowza yowza bo-bowza!", not even the studio audience reacts to it (say for one guy clapping).
- Happily Adopted: With the Horse.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Deliberately Invoked.
- Nerd Glasses: He has a pair.
- Raging Stiffie: Appeared to have this in the episode where Goober's hot cousin visited. At one point he even covered it up with a book.
- Sitcom Character Archetypes: Ethan is The Dork being the most knowledgeable of all in terms of political systems and matters, while also being the gawkiest in comparison to the rest.
- The Smart Guy: He's quite well-versed for his age and really invested in politics.
- Youthful Freckles: In a similar way to Sabrina, he has freckles, although in this case it's because he's a redhead.
Sabrina
Played by: Sarah Lynn Real Actress
The youngest one of the orphans.
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: While Sabrina is 5 and way older than a baby, she fits The Baby as she's still the youngest one of the three.
- The Baby of the Bunch: She's the youngest one of the orphans and the most insecure.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Brunette.
- Breakout Character: Apparently, her in-universe popularity was so big, she alone started to take episodes that were supposed to go to other characters.
- Character Catchphrase: "That's too much, man!"
- Daddy's Girl: Out of the three, she's the closest one to The Horse.
Reality Subtext as BoJack Horseman and Sarah Lynn were pretty close during production, although not in a healthy way. - Deceased Parents Are the Best: She finally concludes this, as without it, she wouldn't have been adopted by The Horse.
- Happily Adopted: With The Horse, although she still wishes every so often her parents were still alive.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Invoked.
- Make a Wish: For Christmas, all she wished was for her parents to come back. It didn't work.
- Sitcom Character Archetypes: Sabrina is a mixture of The Wisecracker with her snappy and rebellious attitude, The Goofball with her outlandish yet still childish ideas and her tendency to be innocent in every account and The Precocious due to her young age and her belief on childhood tales like Santa.
Goober
Played by: Richie Osborne Real Actor
An annoying neighbor who casually drops by at the Horse' house, much to everyone's detriment.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Goober Goes Home"note .
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Olivia.
- Drop-In Character: A parody of the concept, his only purpose was to come in and act Totally Radical.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He just comes and goes whenever he feels like it, mooches out food, annoys Olivia, Sabrina and Ethan barely put up with him and the reason he's allowed in is because The Horse doesn't mind him and even he can be kind of a dick to him when he's had enough. Otherwise, no one can stand Goober, although from Olivia's point-of-view, it's more a case of Slap-Slap-Kiss.
- Mall Santa: During "Sabrina's Christmas Wish".
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: Well, Goober wouldn't be what you'd call "nice", but still: annoying and unwanted is a step up from a sexual offender and all around sleaze bag who nowadays runs a drug ring and a low-level whorehouse like Richie Osbourne.
- Phrase Catcher: "Go home, Goober!"
- Ship Tease: With Olivia.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: No wonder the family always yells for him to leave when he annoys them.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Implied in "Goober Goes Home".
Tracey
Played by: Unknown Real Actress
Mr. Libertore's secretary. Implied to have a thing for The Horse.
- Ambiguously Brown: She has a darker skin tone than most of the cast, but it's still lighter than other people. Not to mention her mostly puffy hair.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: To Mr. Libertore, being his assistant and all.
- Implied Love Interest: Being the kind of show this one is, her flirting with The Horse is enough to showcase them as possible love interests, yet it's never explicit enough to confirm it.
- Interspecies Romance: With The Horse, a....Horse.
- Lampshaded Double Entendre: Whenever she and The Horse would flirt, this would often be present:The Horse: Tracey, if you wanted to see my briefs, all you had to do was ask.Tracey: Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me. (Audience woos)
- Plucky Office Girl: A Parody of the trope, as Tracey checks every single requirement for it.
- Ship Tease: With The Horse.
- Sassy Secretary: Quite willing to make a snappy comeback and snark in a friendly tone.
- Sexy Secretary: Oh, yes. From her dress, her cleavage and skirt. She particularly loves to Show Some Leg.
Mr. Libertore
Played by: Herb Kazzaz Real Actor
The Horse's boss at Libertore & Associates.
- Benevolent Boss: Downplayed. He's not a saint by any chance, but if it's clear that you work hard and what you ask doesn't conflict in any way with the company or can be reasonable, he'll grant it with certain conditions such as The Horse asking for a small vacation to celebrate Christmas with his family.
- Descended Creator: In-Universe example. Mr. Libertore's voice is provided by the show's creator, Herb Kazzaz.
- Disappointed in You: His opinion of The Horse nowadays: the guy seems to care more about his kids rather than being #1 at work, complete opposite of how he used to be.
- The Grinch: Making money and working are the two number one priorities in his mind and predictably (initially) forbids The Horse to take the Christmas day off to spend time with his kids, only relenting when it's only the Christmas morning off instead of the whole day.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Not a nice guy or selfless boss, but he does end up relenting and gives The Horse half the day off to spend time with his kids.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Then again, it's only half day instead of a full one like he asked and once it's over, he must return immediately.
- Mean Boss: Arrogant, standoffish and greedy by the show's standards. A professional for sure, but expects everyone to be as committed to the job as he is.
- Right Behind Me: A clever variation. After The Horse goes into a tirade against Libertore, Tracey tries to get him to stop talking as if he's standing behind him. When he gets the message, he simply stops and looks behind only to find there's no one. As it turns out, he's been hearing through the intercom.
- The Voice: He never appears on screen, only speaking through the intercom at Tracey's desk.
- Workaholic: Dedicated to the job like crazy.
Mr. Peanutbutter's House
Mr. Peanutbutter
Played by: Mr. Peanutbutter Real Actor
An Expy of The Horse who, similar to him, adopts human children, in this case orphaned girl twins and learns along the way how to be a parent.
- Animal Stereotypes: Mr. Peanutbutter (both the character and the actor) are every single trope about loveable dogs incarnate. He's lighthearted, easily excited and overall a nice pers—ehmm, dog.
- As Himself: Probably. The actor and the character share the same name, attributes and mannerisms.
- Captain Ersatz: It's a no-brainer that the "Mr. Peanutbutter" character is a rip-off of "The Horse" from Horsin' Around.
- Character Title: He's the aforementioned Mr. Peanutbutter of the show.
- Children Raise You: Being a single parent with no previous experience dealing with children, Mr. Peanutbutter often has to learn how to deal with the responsibilities that come with it as well as how to be a proper father.
- The Danza: Mr. Peanutbutter is the name of both the character and the actor.
- Dog Stereotype: Mr. Peanutbutter is a Labrador Retriever, and is thus incredibly nice (if a bit dim and has his moments of being Innocently Insensitive), light hearted and he has a very short attention span.
- Expy: Of The Horse.
- Family Versus Career: During the season in which Mr. Peanutbutter became President of the United Statesnote , the family obligations constantly came into conflict with the demands of leading the nation. He finally resigned after one of his kids got into a problem in school, realizing he had to be there.
- Fun Personified: He's incredibly cheery and always has a bouncing personality that can be contagious when around him. Only Zoë seems to be immune, not that it matters.
- Good Parents: Overly abrasive happiness and easily distracted character aside, he truly cares about his adopted children. He's a bit put-off by Zoë's overarching cynicism and Troubling Unchildlike Behavior, though.
- Interspecies Adoption: Mr. Peanutbutter, a Labrador adopts Zoë and Zelda, two human girls.
- Loved I Not Honor More: Played With and Averted. Mr. Peanutbutter did eventually resign from office after an enormous incident in school involving one of his children, but judging from the context, things had to escalate to a serious breaking point for him to do so, and even then, he continued working until it was clear he couldn't be both a parent and the president.
- Mighty Whitey: Unintentional, but the fact that Mr. Peanutbutter, a yellow Labrador, adopts two girls, who are not only orphaned but also a minority since they're black sure lends itself towards White Man's Burden comparisons.
- Mister Strangenoun: Mr. Peanutbutter.
- Nice Guy: Just like his actor.
- Papa Wolf: Oh, yes. He resigned from the Oval Office just to see his kids.
- The Pollyanna: Happy, cheerful to an extent and never lets anything wear him down.
Zack
Played by: Unknown
The eldest of the three kids, and only boy.
- Crossover: We learn his name when BoJack finally agrees to a pretend crossover when he and Mr. Peanutbutter find the kitchen set from Mr. Peanutbutter's house in the Smithsonian.
- Happily Adopted: By Mr. Peanutbutter. Well, one assumes given the star and premise.
- Interspecies Adoption: Adopted by an anthropomorphic Labrador Retriever dog.
- The Ghost: We never see him in the show clips, and he's only mentioned by name in seasons 2 and 6.
Zelda
Played by: Unknown
The youngest one of the two twins and the more idealistic out of them.
- Always Identical Twins: With her sister, Zoë. For the most part, anyway. See Polar Opposite Twins.
- Cheerful Child: Yeah, pretty much. When you get along with your giddy, Manchild-like stepfather, you have to be a combusting ball of positive energy yourself.
- Children Are Innocent: Goes hand-in-hand with her Wide-Eyed Idealist tendencies.
- Expy: Of the kids from Horsin' Around. In a meta level, she's also part of one to the characters from Sister, Sister.
- Happily Adopted: By Mr. Peanutbutter, whom she adores.
- Interspecies Adoption: Adopted by an anthropomorphic Labrador.
- Kiddie Kid: To her sister Zoey's Wise Beyond Her Years.
- Polar Opposite Twins: In terms of personality, Zelda is the Wide-Eyed Idealist and Zoë is The Cynic.
- The World Is Just Awesome: Her philosophy.
Zoë
Played by: Unknown
The oldest one of the two twins and the cynical one of them.
- Always Identical Twins: With her sister, Zelda. For the most part, anyway. See Polar Opposite Twins.
- Accentuate the Negative: Her bread and butter, having a pretty grim outlook in life already.
- The Cynic: A Parody of one, with the less savory aspects of such personality often being cropping up at inappropriate times.
- Expy: Of the kids from Horsin' Around. In a meta level, she's also part of one to the characters from Sister, Sister.
- Happily Adopted: By Mr. Peanutbutter. They have their differences, though.
- Interspecies Adoption: Adopted by an anthropomorphic Labrador.
- Polar Opposite Twins: In terms of personality, Zoë is the The Cynic and Zelda is the Wide-Eyed Idealist.
- Soapbox Sadie: She derides Halloween as a "pagan holiday used to consume and buy".
- Troubling Un Childlike Behavior: For Halloween, she carved a puking face in a pumpkin as a sign of protest against the holiday. 'Nuff said.
- World Half Empty: Her philosophy.
Secretariat
Secretariat
Played by: BoJack Horseman Real Actor
A famous horse racer from The '70s, Secretariat's life and exploits are known far and wide for the tragedy surrounding his very existence. Born in squalor to rather lackluster parents, Secretariat always strove for the grand, becoming a major candidate for a scholarship that would propel him into achieving his dream: being the best in horse racing.
For the tropes related to the real Secretariat, see BoJack Horseman - Other Characters.
- Adaptational Badass: While Secretariat was (and is still remembered) as one of the grand racers in the sport, his later life was stumped by increased legal problems, addictions, mental issues and family trouble which lead to his termination in disgrace. Furthermore, while he was characterized by media as a patriot* , he was never involved in any particularly important race against the Russians. This Secretariat, due to eliminating internal turmoil from the equation, not only doesn't run out of steam at any point in his life, he's still particularly in his prime when he enters a race against the still-USSR strong Russian competitors.
- Adaptational Heroism: Probably the biggest departure from the source. Secretariat was far from a bad guy himself, being a good chap that would be humble enough to make public appearances in talk shows, had a pretty biting wit and was nothing but accommodating to his fans, even agreeing to do a Q&A on-air in The Dick Cavett Show of letters. But that was only one of his sides, by other accounts, he was a rather shady persona himself: there were rumors about his excesses in everything including addiction to all types of drugs and Conspicuous Consumption of all kinds of extravagances. He was also very difficult to work with, in no small part due to his changing moods and frequent bouts of depression; his fame was so important to him that there's a very well-documented infamous deal that involved reaching to Richard Nixon himself and discussing an exchange in which Jeffretariat, Secretariat's brother, would be send in his place for drafting while he would become Nixon's Propaganda Machine; not to say about betting in his own races, ultimately leading to banning from any competition. In the film, Secretariat is portrayed as a rather amiable guy who has no mean bone sin his body, treats everyone respectfully, often offers to teach Latin wannabe-gangbangers to give them a better future and is basically a Commie-bashin' patriotic bloody-national hero with no hangups.
- Adaptational Personality Change: From a Real Life Tragic Hero with brooding qualities who ended up his life in misery to an eternally optimistic, inspirational-cliché spouting, invincible hero who ends up his life with no regrets.
- Alternate History: Where do we begin?
- As detailed above in Adaptational Badass, Adaptational Heroism and Adaptational Personality Change, everything about Secretariat's life, moral ambiguity and moody personality is gone, making this Secretariat In Name Only. The real Secretariat was only momentarily Nice to the Waiter, was an emotional mess and later in life, lost his ability to keep away from debts or gambling compulsion.
- Secretariat never married or had any children, dying in his late twenties.
- In real life, Secretariat committed suicide by jumping off the John F. Kennedy memorial bridge in 1973, rather than going in for a swim there with his girlfriend Sue Side.
- Secretariat never taught in any school or entered any international competition where he would go face-to-face against Soviet participants.
- Anti-Hero: Initially. During the early stages of production, Secretariat was played to a hilt with no sin-washing or deflecting from his flaws, instead concentrating in his inner conflicts and his often overlooked deep flaws, making him a more rounded human individual.
- Babies Ever After: With his fiancee (later wife) Sue Side. The last shot of the movie is Secretariat holding their baby while giving one last Rousing Speech.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Sue Side. It's even spelled out in their garments; Sue is always in Pimped Out Dresses and seems to live by the Rule of Glamorous while simultaneously being a Naïve Everygirl whose status as a debutante makes her far more optimistic about the future, while Secretariat is constantly depressed, strung-out, wears the exact same sporting clothes and is far from a happy person.
- Broken Hero: Played straight, in contrast to his real life counterpart's Deconstruction of the ideal. Secretariat was born in the Wrong Side of the Tracks, had a difficult upbringing and a turbulent journey to the top of the game, but eventually sorted his life out, got married and dedicated his life to give spirit and inspiration to other people in order to achieve their dreams.
- Clothes Make the Superman: In the footage shown, he never once races. His Iconic Outfit appears in every frame, however, and he wears it at all times to the point where considering he's got some Limited Wardrobe might not be a stretch of a statement. Apparently, the logic behind this is clothes = the person in question.
- Cool Teacher: Towards his students in low-sources schools. He often gives them pep talks, encourages them to be better people and exploit their talents.
- Draft Dodging: Averted. Being the upstanding citizen he always was, Secretariat never considering asking President Nixon this as a personal favor–-according to this movie's account.
- Happily Married: With Sue Side, eventually.
- Historical Badass Upgrade: Apparently, Secretariat overcame his depression issues and became a grand paragon beyond any suspension of disbelief and was one of the top dogs charged with defeating Russkies at sports during the Cold War conflict.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: This should go without saying at this point, but Secretariat was never involved in an important event surrounding the USA-USSR racing conflict.
- Ideal Hero: Eventually. As the film progressed (and the Troubled Production got running again), Secretariat was portrayed more and more as an incorruptible force of good whose will and actions (being a Humble Hero to everyone, settling down with a sweet natured, tender woman, having children, inspiring other people to improve themselves, being a substitute teacher for downtown schools and low-income students) shed a lot of his conflicts, flaws and suicide to create a hero everyone would like to be and audiences would likely project themselves into.
- Jerkass: In the original footage, he would often act like this during his lowest moments, especially after the race against "Big Hearted" Sham and when he threatens to "do the same" to his coach after he accuses him of busting the opposing pinto's leg.
- Lighter and Softer: Jarringly so. Unused footage of the early shootings show a more faithful adaptation of Secretariat's life, especially the controversial Knee-capping that surrounded one of his races and his less savory traits such as depression and standoffishness toward people in his life. Secretariat in the final product is shown to be a romanticized interpretation, with a grand openness to life, capability of falling in love and ending up married to a debutante with a child. Needless to say, if you're versed in history, this movie won't be taken as actual events.
- Love Redeems: Bonding, falling in love and marrying Sue Side turns out to be the thing Secretariat needs to put his life back on track.
Susie Side
- Punny Name: Her name's a play on the real Secretariat's fate, likely to convince the masses that's what really happened.
Wayward Students
- White Man's Burden: Most if not all of them are Latino.
Philbert
John Philbert
Played by: BoJack HorsemanReal actor
The titular protagonist of Philbert. He's a crooked LAPD detective with a dark past, who may or may not have been responsible for killing both his wife and his partner in the police force.
- Anti-Hero: Seems to be an Unscrupulous Hero, if not an outright Nominal Hero.
- Badass Longcoat: As a police detective, he's always dressed in a beige trench coat.
- Character Narrator: He's always providing neo-noir style, first-person narrations.
- Cowboy Cop: He prefers to solve problems with action and violence.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Has a dead wife he's obsessed with that he may or may not have killed. No, his partner Fritz did... no, Philbert made Fritz up to deflect his guilt of killing his wife.
- Dirty Cop: He's a rather crooked police detective, and is heavily implied to be a murderer too.
- Ephebophile: It's strongly implied that Philbert was seriously considering whether or not to have sex with a teenage girl who was taken captive by human traffickers. This scene was written due to Diane's discovery of BoJack's almost-affair with a teen girl in New Mexico.
- Tomato in the Mirror: He's forced to confront that Fritz was never real; he was the actual strangler and killer of his wife. Philbert responds to this revelation by strangling Sassy.
- Villain Protagonist: Due to possibly being responsible for killing his wife and Fritz.
Fritz
Played by: Mr. PeanutbutterReal actor
Detective Philbert's deceased partner. He died under suspicious circumstances, though he (seemingly) continues to haunt Philbert as a ghost.
- Badass Longcoat: He always wears a nice, black trench coat, and is also a skilled gunfighter like his partner.
- Cowboy Cop: Like Philbert, he's a bit trigger-happy when dealing with suspects.
- Dirty Cop: Just like Philbert, he's a corrupt cop.
- Face/Heel Double-Turn: While Philbert isn't a saint, the way he describes it is that Fritz killed his wife and set him down a dark path to avenge her. If Fritz was a real cop and not a hallucination, Philbert is forced to confront that he killed Marjorie and Fritz never crossed that line. In fact, Philbert killed Fritz so his mind would have a fall guy.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is he a ghost? Is he just a paranoid delusion in Philbert's mind? Was he even a real person to begin with? Diane decides to go with the idea that Fritz isn't real and write from there.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: He's a rather villainous character played by Mr. Peanutbutter, who's well known for his reputation as a likable, friendly guy in real life. Heck, the role of Fritz was originally supposed to go to the controversial actor Vance Waggoner, until his misbehavior and PR troubles led to Peanutbutter being cast instead.
- Meta Casting: Mr. Peanutbutter was the star of "Mr. Peanutbutter's house" which was often accused of being a copy of BoJack Horseman's "Horsin Around". Here he plays BoJack's characters ex-partner who may be a stand-in for himself, created to process traumatic memories.
- Posthumous Character: He's been dead for some time, and possibly died at Philbert's hands.
Sassy Malone
Played by: Gina CazadorReal actor
Philbert's current partner and love interest, a sassy female detective who's desperate to discover Philbert's dark secrets.
- Ambiguously Brown: She's played by a Hispanic actress, but her surname Malone is of Irish origin.
- The Conscience: With Diane's direction, Sassy becomes this to Philbert. She questions him about his past, gives him a What the Hell, Hero? for leaving people to die, and gives him a second chance. He doesn't take that chance and strangles her when realizing that he is the killer they were hunting.
- Deadpan Snarker: Her name is Sassy after all.
- Fair Cop: She's quite an attractive policewoman.
- Flat Character: In-Universe. Initially, her only character traits are to be a Deadpan Snarker and be nude a lot. Though after Diane joins the writing team, Sassy Malone becomes a much more rounded character.
- Love Interest: She starts dating Philbert, partly out of romance, but also to get close enough to learn the secrets he's hiding.
- Ms. Fanservice: She gets a scene devoted to Philbert drawing a picture of her while she's naked.
- Pungeon Master: Sassy loves saying punny one-liners, even in situations where they are rather inappropriate.Sassy: Hey, Philbert. This your friend? (shows Philbert his coroner friend's strangled corpse)
Philbert: (gasps) A second strangling victim.
Sassy: If it's the same killer, he's a real pain in the neck.
Philbert: Hey, there's being sassy, and there's going over the line with humor. - Spicy Latina: She's an attractive sassy detective who has quite a few nude scenes. This is Played With however, since she is Ambiguously Brown and not explicitly Latina, even if she is portrayed by a Hispanic actress.
- Uncertain Doom: Philbert's final season would have involved Philbert strangling Sassy when she realizes that he killed his wife, and is the murderer he was hunting. Thanks to the episode and show being cancelled mid-production, however, everyone sees Sassy and Philbert facing incoming nuclear war.
Marjorie Philbert
Played by: Unknown
John Philbert's late wife.
- Disposable Woman: She pretty much exists just to give Philbert a Dark and Troubled Past to brood over, and for Sassy to try to uncover the truth of.
- Driving Question: In-universe: Did Philbert kill his wife?
- The Lost Lenore: To Philbert. To say he's still obsessed with her is an understatement.
- Posthumous Character: She was murdered not by Fritz, but by Philbert himself.
Deirdre
Played by: Unknown
A reptilian femme fatale who tries to shoot Philbert dead.
- Chandler's Law: Her appearance kickstarts Philbert's tangled plot.
- Death by Woman Scorned: Averted, if only because of Philbert's unhealthy obsession with keeping his wife's blood in a flask.
- Femme Fatale: Very, very much. Slim, beautiful, mysterious, and shoots the hero without hesitation.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: A photo posted on BoJack's Twitter feed of the table reading, shows the actress who plays her having fun with the rest of the cast.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: She's a Femme Fatale lizard who shoots the protagonist.
Ivy Tran: Food Court Detective
Ivy Tran
Played by: Unknown
Ivy Tran has just moved to Chicago and is having trouble adjusting. She decides to become an Amateur Sleuth and solve mysteries at the nearby mall, to do a little bit of good and help out the employees.
- Amateur Sleuth: She is a teenager that likes to solve mysteries at the local mall. Given that Diane wrote a whole series with Ivy as the protagonist, she seems to be good at it.
- Author Avatar: She is one of Diane, who like her has tried her hand at being an Amateur Sleuth back in seasons two and three with Hank and Richie, respectively. Ivy is also Vietnamese-American who has recently moved to Chicago and doesn't like the cold winters but wants to make her mark on the world to make it a better place.
- Nice Girl: The food court employees like her because she's willing to hear out their worries and complaints about the soul-sucking retail jobs, including the mysteries that plague them. She also comforts Diane when the latter is having an existential crisis about writing her memoirs.
- Perpetual Smiler: Nothing makes her frown, except when she's sympathizing with Diane about the latter's crisis.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: She is confident that in her world, you can solve problems with some logic and observation.
