Although PHD is a Gag Series that focus more on jokes about grad school life, some characters stand out among the cast.
Students
"Winston"
The unnamed protagonist who serves as the typical go-to representative of a graduate student. He majors in engineering and works under Professor Smith. Has an older brother (whom Mike knows) and a younger sister named Dee. In the live-action adaptation, he's named Winston.- Author Avatar: He looks a lot like Jorge Cham, and his sister once mentions how he wants to become a cartoonist.
- Audience Surrogate: He has no name or any distinctive personality, and could represent just about any Grad Student (i.e. the intended audience of this very series).
- Named by the Adaptation: In the movie adaptation, his name is Winston.
- Nerd Glasses: The main character is the embodiment of a stereotypical, dorky grad student. Naturally, he wears a pair of glasses.
- No Name Given: He's never referred to by name. Jorge uses him to depict himself in his "Tales from the Road", where he visits other universities.
- Out of Focus: Frequently gets shafted from the limelight whenever the series wants to delve deeper into the darker side of grad life drama and Character Development, and the series focuses more on Cecilia, Mike and Tajel instead. In the movies, however, he is one of the protagonists along with Cecelia.
- Promoted to Love Interest: The second film pairs him up with Cecelia following a Ship Tease in the first movie, though this is only revealed to the audience at the end. In the actual strips, the two barely even interact despite being in the same department due to their different research groups.
- Put on a Bus: He briefly suspended his PhD to work with his crush, Mariko. He later returns, only to realise that no one had missed him while he was gone.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: There's really nothing special about his appearance, or character traits, that distinguishes him from other students. In fact, whenever he and his other course mates are seen together, they behave almost exactly the same way (i.e. procrastinate whenever they can, and fumble around in an unsuccessful attempt to make progress with their thesis when they can't).
Cecilia
One of the few female students in the Engineering faculty. A diligent over-achiever who constantly worries about her inability to properly write her thesis and despairs over the increasing lengths of time that she has wasted in grad school.- Author Avatar: Whenever the strips receive a reader's comment/request that needs addressing, Cecilia is the one to respond to them.
- Eating Lunch Alone: Since Cecilia's social life is very limited, she has no friends to eat with during lunch breaks.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Cecilia had always been too meek to approach her high school crush, Scott, and believes that a popular guy like him wouldn't be aware that she even exists. However, Scott reveals that he actually likes her for being the humble overachiever, and after they reconnect during their high school reunion party, they hook up.
- In Vino Veritas: Played with. The shy and reclusive Cecilia turns into the Life of the Party not because of drunkenness, but from a chocolate high.
- Knight of Cerebus: It's fairly minor, but whenever she comes into focus, you know that the strips will shift from the usual jokes on advisors, thesis and the like to highlight the stress and anxiety that a grad student may face in trying to complete their degree.
- Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Her teaching style has shades of this in the first movie; she prepares baked goods for her students and comes up with an interpretive dance (complete with props and rhymes) to introduce the course material to them. She is eventually discouraged from doing this by the undergrads' seeming apathy, but returns to it enthusiastically once she gets out of her funk.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she refuses to eat chocolate after breaking up with her boyfriend, Tajel is rightfully concerned by her behaviour.
- Promoted to Love Interest: The second film pairs her up with Winston (the Nameless Grad Student) following a Ship Tease in the first movie, though this is only revealed to the audience at the end. In the actual strips, the two barely even interact despite being in the same department due to their different research groups.
- Shrinking Violet: Cecilia is extremely introverted and barely has the courage to approach anyone to make friends. Tajel seems to be her Only Friend.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Cecilia has an addiction to chocolate and cookies (except raisin ones).
Mike Slackenerny
The Slacker, who has been at grad school longer than any other character. He has a surprising amount of luck in his quest to obtain free food, though this has not endeared him to the faculty. The only one who actually graduated. Now a post-doc.- Big Eater: He's always sneaking around the campus to steal food from various association meets, and could eat the whole batch if he doesn't get caught.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a PhD at Stanford, so that alone should speak of his potential. Unfortunately, he'd rather sleep and eat than do anything productive.
- Demoted to Extra: In the second film, his role is diminished relative to the comics and the first film, only getting some token lines and scenes that for most part don't directly affect the main plot.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Met his wife during a conference trip and marries her before his return.
- Happily Married: He and his wife Jennifer have a happy, stable relationship, even though she does occasionally get exasperated with his laziness. Pretty surprising, considering how he only knew her for a week before marrying her in Las Vegas.
- Heavy Sleeper: When Mike is not trying to mooch free food, he's most likely sleeping.
- Meaningful Name: The resident Ridiculous Procrastinator is creatively named Mike Slackenerny.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Everyone is freaked out to see Mike actually working
. When he's about to submit his thesis to finally graduate, he actually has a whole crowd of grad students watching him, as though it was a parade. - Ridiculous Procrastinator: Mike is so lazy that he even takes his own sweet time to be born◊.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: During the credits of the second movie, a montage is shown of Mike's attempts to land an industry job during the conference. He is eventually offered a position... only for the employer to retract the offer when Mike starts gratuitously celebrating on the spot.
Tajel
A humanities- er, Social Science student who is constantly finding causes to rally protests. She's Cecilia's house mate and best friend, though she's much more easygoing than the latter.- Ambiguously Brown: Tajel has dark skin and is said to be an international student, though her exact nationality is never revealed until we meet her parents during her wedding day.
- Demoted to Extra: In the second film, her role is diminished relative to the comics and the first film, only getting some token lines and scenes that for most part don't directly affect the main plot. There were originally plans to adapt her marriage as part of the movie's storyline, but this did not make it into the final version.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: In the movies, she addresses the audience at the end of both films, and refers to herself as a "secondary character" in the first film.
- Marriage of Convenience: The main reason she marries Khumalo is to gain U.S. citizenship and resolve her visa issues.
- Soapbox Sadie: Always has some cause she's willing to protest, and is prone to forcing her political views on students while TA-ing.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Tajel hooks up with one of her professors, Khumalo, and eventually marries him. In an interesting variation of the trope, the teacher is actually younger than the student because Tajel is another one of those eternal grad students who will probably never graduate.
Dee
The protagonist's younger sister who is currently an undergrad. Carefree and irresponsible, she sees academia as a means to postpone the real world. Hasn't really figured out what she wants to do, has no major, and is generally more concerned about enjoying her freedom as a university student than actually achieving a degree.- Big Eater: She's almost always eating, and at one point leaves in the middle of an exam to buy food.
- Heavy Sleeper: She can barely wake up on time to attend an 11 o'clock class, and falls asleep in class anyway. She doesn't even have the justification of staying up too late.
- Platonic Life-Partners: She has a male friend she's always hanging out with. The two are inseparable (it is implied that they live together), and she laments over the prospect of not getting in the same school with him, but clearly only considers him a friend.
Faculty
Professor Brian Smith
A tenured professor of the Engineering department, who serves as the protagonist's and Mike's research advisor. A stern, uncaring and, at times, absent minded fellow, Prof. Smith generally represents the negative stereotypes associated with research advisors.- Hidden Depths: The students are very surprised to discover that their infamously heartless teacher actually has a sweet wife. They thought she was a robot, at first.
- Perpetual Frowner: Prof. Smith's default expression is a stern glare, and it remains so, even as his mood changes. Also true of his film persona.
- Sadist Teacher: Smith clearly enjoys overworking the grad students and post-docs, and spoiling their holidays for them."Turning holiday cheer into sheer panic is my favorite part of the season."
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Whenever he's in his Sadist Teacher-mode who makes the grad students' life hell, his spectacles become opaque. Otherwise, they're normal glasses.
- Shrouded in Myth: There are many rumours about Prof. Smith's past floating around the campus. How many of them are actually true is up for debate.
- Terse Talker: Prof. Smith's emails tend to be very short and take only about a second to write.
- Workaholic: Professor Smith doesn't believe in holidays, and would rather stay at the campus to continue his research than go on a vacation with his family. Even when he's forced to go anyway, he'll bring his laptop and continue to monitor his grad students and postdocs through emails while he's away.
Professor Jones
Another member of the Engineering Faculty, Prof. Jones is Cecilia's research advisor. He tries to be supportive, but is often too vague in his advice to actually be of any help. Has a young daughter, whom he often brings to the campus.- Absent-Minded Professor: Sort of. He doesn't think in the same wavelength as his students, so any advice he gives is barely usable.
- Adaptation Name Change: He is named Professor Chu in the movies.
- Good Counterpart: He's portrayed in a much more positive light than Prof. Smith and Prof. Rivera, especially in later strips.
Professor Rivera
A Social Science professor who serves as Tajel's advisor. Sees students as nothing but a brain on a stick, and frequently gives conflicting instructions.- Apathetic Teacher: He doesn't care to remember Tajel's name or even what her research is about, and never gives her any useful advise. In fact, he frequently hinders her progress by telling her to undo and redo her work over and over again.
- Characterisation Marches On: In his initial appearance, he's a more level-headed professor who bemoans Tajel's apparent lack of seriousness in doing her research. Their roles are eventually reversed, and Tajel becomes the long-suffering student who desperately tries to get advice from him, while Rivera doesn't seem to care about her progress at all.
- Put on a Bus: He leaves Stanford to work with another university. At first, he tries to continue to advise Tajel via Skype, but the university eventually decides that it's too confusing and replaces him with someone else.
