Marianne and Connell
Marianne
Marianne Sheridan
Played by: Daisy Edgar-Jones
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Marianne is not considered to be very attractive at first in the book, certainly not as lovely as Daisy Edgar-Jones (although they did try to make her plain to give her a similar makeover when she gets to university).
- Aggressive Submissive: Despite her snark, Marianne is sexually an Extreme Doormat, to the point where Connell finds it unsettling.
- Deadpan Snarker: Marianne can often come up with very witty comebacks on the spot, which she uses to defend herself against bullies and when a teacher tells her off.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: It is clear that her cold, standoffish demeanor is a front she puts up to deal with her classmates rejecting her. And it is also clear that being with Connell helps soften some of those edges. By the time she's in college and surrounded by people who better understand her, she's defrosted completely.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Marianne does her best to brush off the bullying and isolation from her peers. She even tries to overcome her insecurity in dating Connell only in private. But Connell asking Rachel to debs is the straw that breaks the camel's back. She is so wounded and embarassed that she ices out Connell completely and stops coming to school entirely. Connell is blindsided by her reaction because he mistakenly believed her front, in part because it made things more convenient for him.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: In school, Marianne wears her hair long and often tied back in a modest braid, and her bangs are cut short in a harsh line. By the time Connell runs into her in college, where she's become more confident in herself, her hair has shortened considerably and she wears it down with longer, less 'uptight' bangs.
- Fatal Attractor: The guys Marianne sees outside of Connell seem to get progressively worse, as lampshaded in an email:Connell: But whatever, I'm not pushing the boyfriend thing, I just hope you have confirmed he's not a psychopath. You don't always have a good radar on that.
- Friendless Background: We don't ever see Marianne hanging out with others her age in high school unless it is Connell. She's often seen eating alone.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: This is at the root of her arrogance when she is in high school. She knows her classmates think she's a loner freak, she has no friends, and she has a hard time connecting with others in her town. So she uses her intelligence as a weapon to bite back at anyone who tries to berate her to her face. Her inferiority complex is most apparent in her relationship with Connell where she'll downplay her own physical attractiveness and call herself annoying in front of him. This is played up in further when she is older and has seemingly fallen into a sub-dom relationship with a man, with the narrative implying out of a lack of self-worth.
- Insecure Love Interest: Recall that it is Marianne who suggests hiding their relationship to avoid any public blowback Connell may receive for being with her. This is our first inkling that despite her tough front, Marianne is far more insecure about how other's perceive her and her relationship with Connell. She even asks Connell if he has a crush on someone at school while he's quite literally still inside her, something Connell points out himself. Connell's inability to publicly claim his relationship with Marianne only pushes Marianne further into insecurity as he is unable to assuage her fears that she is good enough to love and be with.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Marianne is combative and abrasive to most people - at first anyway. She does however care deeply for those who show her kindness, and becomes a nicer person through maturity and college life.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Marianne in school. Her mother is a solicitor and has a Big Fancy House (the boys refer to it as "the mansion") but she has virtually no friends.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Marianne goes to a lot of effort to look nice at a school fundraiser, Letting Her Hair Down and donning a Little Black Dress. Sadly it opens her up to unwanted attention, and she's sexually assaulted by one of her brother's friends.
- The Snark Knight: How she acts at school, dishing out comebacks in the blink of an eye in response to bullies and teachers, alike.
Connell
Connell Waldron
Played by: Paul Mescal
- Academic Athlete: GAA footballer who gets into Trinity College Dublin (the top university in Ireland) and later earns a scholarship.
- Bookworm: He enjoys reading.
- Country Mouse: Connell has a hard time connecting with his peers at Trinity, spending most of his time alone studying or with his roommates. When he talks to a therapist later on, he admits that being this has been the main source of some of his depression.
- The Ditherer: Connell is mostly The Empathic Fence Sitter version of this trope. He doesn't want to ruffle any feathers and just wants to fit in with his peers, so he often avoids stating a clear opinion to avoid getting on anyone's bad side. However, his relationship with Marianne reveals some aspects of the Wishy-Washy variant. He doesn't want to risk any of the social repercussions that may come of him publicly dating Marianne but also wants to reap all of the benefits (physical and emotional) that come with dating her. His mom blows a gasket once she realizes how he's been treating Marianne.
- Nice Guy: This is the persona Connell puts on. While he's not a bad guy, he has a lot more depth (his love of literature and insight into the world around him) and character flaws (his unwillingness to combat peer pressure even to defend Marianne). His friends even call him out on it a bit, saying that Rachel probably likes him because she thinks he's this, when he's really just The Quiet One.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Downplayed. Connell doesn't pretend to be dumb, but he downplays his interest in literature around his friends and only really talks about it with Marianne.
- The Quiet One: Marianne points out that Connell never seems to give his opinion on anything, which is why no one can ever be annoyed by him. In his friend group, Connell is more reactive than active: he'll speak if someone makes a comment directly towards him, but he's more than happy just quietly laughing and being along for the ride.
- Shrinking Violet: Between being in a small town where everyone knows each other and his looks and athletics, he gets away with it in school - he’s never really had to introduce himself. His shyness catches up with him when he goes to Dublin. If someone doesn't directly invite him to join them, he does not go out of his way to talk to or hang out with people. He ends up spending a lot of time alone reading.
- Working-Class Hero: From a working class background, but portrayed as intelligent and hard working. His financial struggles collide with his social anxiety when he ends up going home for the summer instead of asking Marianne if he can stay with her.
Family
Waldrons
Lorraine Waldron
Played by: Sarah Greene
Connell's single mother who works as a cleaner for the Sheridans.
- Calling the Young Man Out: Gives Connell a severe "Reason You Suck" Speech with several F-bombs upon learning he asked Rachel to the debs instead of Marianne despite sleeping with Marianne and leading her on for months.
- Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: She is a genuinely kind woman and has a close relationship with her son, but she does not hesitate to give Connell a "Reason You Suck" Speech followed by the Silent Treatment for sleeping with Marianne while refusing to publicly claim or even defend her.
- Stacy's Mom: In the book, Connell's friends tease him about his mother being attractive.
- Teen Pregnancy: She had Connell as a teenager.
Sheridans
Denise Sheridan
Played by: Aislín McGuckin
Marianne's wealthy, emotionally distant single mother who works as a solicitor.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Although she's not exactly parent of the year in the show, she does not belittle Marianne to the extent she does in the book. Show Denise is just emotionally distant. Moreover, she is more sympathetic – she knows Alan is awful but is paralysed by pure fear and trauma, while in the book, she's internalised the belief that it's okay for men to treat women badly.
- Bad Boss: Despite being a wealthy lawyer who has a mansion and can afford to send her daughter to Trinity, she does not pay Lorraine well.
- Bystander Syndrome: Does nothing to stop Alan from bullying Marianne, though it is implied Denise's lack of reaction is a trauma response related to her late husband's abuse.
- Generational Trauma: In the book, she projects a lot of the emotional issues and harmful ideas she's internalised through years of abuse onto Marianne, to the point of calling her daughter "frigid and unlovable" for not responding to men's aggressive behaviour.
- I Have No Daughter!: She ignores Marianne when she's back in Carricklea for Christmas, walking right past her and the Waldrons on the street. She later asks Marianne to return the keys to the Dublin flat.
- Parents as People: In the show, specifically, she is cold and reserved, but shows interest in Marianne's academic success, even if she is careful to avoid setting Alan off. She does quietly support Marianne by giving her a flat near Trinity to use. That said, she refuses to stand up for Marianne against her brother who torments her and later cuts her off.
Alan Sheridan
Played by: Frank Blake
Marianne's resentful and aggressive older brother.
- Abusive Offspring: We don't see him hit her or anything, but Denise seems absolutely terrified of her son.
- Berserk Button: Mentioning Marianne's successes seems to set him off, which is why Denise is cautious about it.
- Big Brother Bully: He is mean to outright abusive towards Marianne. He forces her to walk outside in the rain to school when his friend asks him for a ride while he is already dropping Marianne off.
- Cain and Abel: He openly resents his sister. His behavior gradually escalates into full on abuse, culminating in him slamming Marianne's door into her head, which is the point where Connell finally intervenes.
- Never My Fault: He has a habit of knocking on Marianne's bedroom door the day after a fight so that she can apologize to him. He throws a bottle at her that misses, and insists he "didn't do anything," and when he accidentally slams her bedroom door into her head and induces severe bleeding, his only reaction is "are you going to blame me for this one, too?"
Peers
School
Eric
Played by: Seán Doyle
A boy in Connell's social circle who bullies Marianne.
- Reformed Bully: Later in life after Rob's suicide, Eric apologises to Marianne for having bullied her in school and suggests Rob would have wanted to apologise as well.
Karen
Played by: Niamh Lynch
One of the nicer girls at school to Marianne.
- Innocent Beta Bitch: She's the one who invites Marianne to join the fundraiser, dances with her at the fundraiser, and is the only person to tell off the guy who sexually assaults her for refusing to dance with him at the fundraiser. She's also the first person to go to her side and even defends Marianne against Rachel and Eric trying to brush off the whole incident as "just being funny." Marianne explicitly thanks her for being so kind to her when few others would.
Rachel Moran
Played by: Leah McNamara
A girl in Connell's social circle with whom he had a fling.
- Alpha Bitch: Downplayed. According to Marianne, everyone knows Rachel is the most popular girl in school and Rachel does join in with the guys in casually bullying Marianne, but Marianne ignores it and the social hierarchy in general.
- Hopeless Suitor: Downplayed in the sense that they did have a fling and he did ask her to the debs, but it's apparent that she's way more into Connell than he is into her.
Rob Hegarty
Played by: Éanna Hardwicke
A good school friend of Connell's.
University
Gareth
Played by: Sebastian de Souza
Connell's classmate and Marianne's short-lived boyfriend at the start of university.
Helen Brophy
Played by: Aoife Hinds
Connell's first adult girlfriend during university and a medical student.
- Always Someone Better: She seems to fear that she'll never live up to Marianne and sometimes displays jealousy by making snide comments about her. Marianne and Connell's hug at Rob's funeral solidifies in Helen's mind that she'll never live up to her.
- Love Cannot Overcome: She breaks up with Connell in the midst of his Heroic BSoD after losing Rob, though it's clear the writing had been on the wall for a while.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Connell actually likes being with Helen as he feels they can have a normal, drama-free relationship. He finds PDA and affection easy with her, unlike with Marianne. But even Helen ends up deciding it's not meant to be.
Jamie
Played by: Fionn O'Shea
A student in Marianne's social circle and her second boyfriend outside of Connell, and whose wealthy father was instrumental in the 2008 financial crisis.
- Hate Sink: He is a Jerkass to everyone, complains about feminism, is a Strawman in every argument, displays subtle racism and classism, and generally seems to hate everything. As he's also Marianne's Romantic False Lead, he doesn't hold back attacking Connell.
- Hypocrite: After their breakup, Jamie spreads nasty rumors about Marianne, supposedly exposing details about their sex life and saying she's into "weird stuff". Connell discusses it with Marianne, pointing out that Jamie is the one who actually did that stuff to her, but Marianne brushes it off saying "it's different for men."
- The Napoleon: He is short and unbearably rude and condescending. He also hits and chokes Marianne in bed, which she suggested herself because she wanted to please him despite not really enjoying it.
- Straw Misogynist: Jamie can't go an episode without complaining about feminism or women in general, and raises these arguments just so he can be shot down.
Joanna
Played by: Eliot Salt
A History and Politics student from England in Marianne's social circle and her most genuine friend.
- Foil: To Peggy. Peggy declares herself Marianne's best friend, but in practice, is flaky and critical, and gives terrible advice. Joanna never declares as such yet is significantly more supportive, caring and trustworthy.
- Nice Girl: Probably the nicest of Marianne's Trinity friends.
- Team Mom: As a caring friend with whom Marianne frequently speaks about her life, and who offers her words of encouragement.
Niall
Played by: Desmond Eastwood
Niall's flatmate in Dublin from Belfast.
- Mellow Fellow: One of the few Trinity students Connell encounters who isn't highly entitled and is very chill and down to earth as a result.
- Positive Friend Influence: He seems to genuinely care about Connell's wellbeing, even if Connell is reluctant to open up to him. It is Niall who encourages Connell to seek out therapy.
Peggy
Played by: India Mullen
A posh Dublin girl in Marianne's social circle and a History and Politics student.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: It's not apparent in the show, but in the book, Peggy offers to have a threesome with Marianne and Connell while overstaying her welcome after their other friends have left.
- With Friends Like These...: Peggy calls herself Marianne's best friend, but she is not a very reliable friend, and is often critical and overbearing.
Other
Other
Lukas
Played by: Lancelot Ncube
A photographer Marianne meets while studying abroad in Sweden.
