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Dunder Mifflin & Affiliates
Gabriel Susan "Gabe" Lewis
"Sometimes I wonder if I have ovaries in my scrotum because I am great at girl talk."
Played by: Zach Woods
Seasons: 6-8, 9note
Coordinating Director of Emerging Regions (Sabre) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
- 0% Approval Rating: Nobody in the office likes him, to the point that he effectively becomes The Chew Toy for all of the employees.
- Abhorrent Admirer: The women on Dunder Mifflin found Gabe to be very charmless but he was especially this to Erin after Erin found him to be too unattractive as a person and broke up with him and Gabe was often obsessing over her and Erin was very uncomfortable about it. He even has an obsessive crush over Val but she manages to turn him down gently when she tells that it wasn't personal and she doesn't date co-workers.
- Authority in Name Only: While he is a liaison between Corporate and the Scranton branch, he technically doesn't have as authority as he thinks he does and the other co-workers consistently mock him every time he acts as the boss that deserves respect.
- Berserk Button: When his relationship with Erin collapses, Gabe develops one towards Andy."SHUT UP ABOUT THE SUN!"
- Butt-Monkey: Even more so than Toby because while Toby mostly gets abused by Michael, the entire office just seems to love messing with him. To be fair, he’s his own worst enemy and to make matters worse not only does he feel powerless in every situation that he gets him into but like other characters like Michael and Toby, he’s an insecure, socially inept and lonely which is why he obsesses over being liked by everyone in such an infuriating manner, especially with Erin as he hate the idea of ending up alone.
- The Chew Toy: The rest of the office loves to make fun of Gabe.
- Cloudcuckoolander: While he mostly tried to be a straight-laced Consummate Professional, but ever Erin dumped him, he started to behave more like an erratic Manchild and this caused people to want to keep their distance themselves from his awkwardness plus he did have some unusual hobbies and obsessions that generally made him a social pariah.
- Comically Missing the Point: Happens to him many times due to his lack of social awareness. In particular, he has a tendency to misinterpret signs from his romantic partners as signs of affection or love when, in fact, they usually suggest that they are deeply unattracted to him.
- The Comically Serious: This Workaholic takes his job in Sabre seriously because of his neurotic and uptight attitude and a need to be respected as an authority.
- Composite Character:
- Gabe's personality as a stick-in-the-mud and a sad sack can be best interpreted as he's the combination of both Dwight Schrute and Toby Flenderson. Like both characters, he's socially awkward, intelligent, hapless and often gets ridiculed for his desperate attempts to uphold the rules. Like Dwight, he's an officious sycophant that other characters can't stand and they both arrogantly claim authority of all the coworkers even though they lack the requirements to be the respected boss so they end up coming across as insufferable and like Toby, he's a insecure, pathetic and meek weakling that obsesses over the redheaded coworker and never gets a happy ending.
- With the original Office in mind, Gabe is similar to both Neil and Gareth.
- Control Freak: Gabe is incredibly uptight, intrusive and officious but lacks respect from the office workers because he lacks authority over them.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He was really uncomfortable about Erin being around Andy.
- Depending on the Author: Oddly, "Viewing Party" portrays him as being a sophisticated Always Someone Better to Michael, who people see as boss over him, despite virtually every other one of his appearances depicting him as a spineless, awkward, eccentric sycophant who everyone sees as a creep or a joke.
- Derailing Love Interests: His relationship with Erin initially showed them as a normal couple, but as time went on Gabe was clearly shown as self-absorbed, emotionally needy and controlling to make Andy the better man.
- Dirty Coward: Gabe is a spineless and cowardly sycophant who is easily intimidated and hates confrontation despite wanting to assert authority over others.
- In the episode "Spooked", Erin asks Gabe to help make her party "scarier" and "sexier" - he makes a horror film that disturbs everyone who watched it and Erin takes all of the criticism while Gabe sneaks off instead of admitting that he was responsible.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Although he actually doesn't seem to be all that embarrassed by it.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Gabe's obviously a tall, skinny, pale skinned man with dark hair that's sometimes seen as a human skeleton. He's also accidentally comes across as creepy due to his hyper obsessive and intense personality, his social awkwardness and many eccentricities and odd hobbies including owning 200 horror movies and even making his own unsettling film. The fact that he can be such a power-hungry sycophant doesn't really help much.
- The Eeyore: It's hard not to blame him actually because of how insecure he is and the fact that he's constantly treated like an unappreciated loser. His emotional fragility becomes even worse when Erin publicly dumps him.
- Extreme Doormat: While Gabe has a power-hungry side, he's a weak pushover who hates confrontation, wants people to like him and is extremely obsequious in nature.
- The Finicky One: He's a neurotic, uptight and fussy stick-in-the-mud who's awkwardness makes others uncomfortable and is often the Butt-Monkey because of how officious and rigid he is.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: Gabe is a proud Japanophile.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Especially seen in the episode "The Search", he's disliked by everyone in the office. Erin was the only exception, but even she grows to dislike him in "Michael's Last Dundies" and breaks up with him.
- Hate Sink: He's an insufferable, cowardly Control Freak who is out of his depth in just about every situation, yet refuses to ever acknowledge his mistakes. This only gets worse when he starts dating Erin and begins directing all of those negative traits towards their relationship.
- Hipster: In terms of his taste in films and music.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His attempts to exert authority frequently backfire on him:
- In "Secretary's Day", he tries to punish Jim and Pam by suspending them from work. However, he only finds out afterwards that he doesn't have the authority to withhold their pay, meaning he really just gave them free time off. Which they learned just as he was about to try and backpedal out of it, and the rest of the office found out just afterward.
- In "The Search", he attempts to take over the impromptu caption contest the office holds with Pam's artwork, resulting in them shifting the target of their insults from Sabre to him.
- In "Trivia", his attempt to gloat over how he was getting rid of Dwight so upper management wouldn't have to deal with him, Dwight takes the opportunity to put him in a hammer lock and forces him to reveal where Robert California lived.
- Hollywood Atheist: He mentions not believing in God once, though he backpedals immediately afterwards.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Gabe is the social pariah of the office workplace due to his awkward personality, so he's often a lonely person desperate for either a friend or girlfriend but is always unsuccessful because no one wants to deal with him.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Erin dumping Gabe left him a wreck. At one point he has to hide away from everyone else to let out some tears, then he walks out with a forced smile while still visibly crying.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Gabe is the most effeminate male character in the show. He dresses up as Lady Gaga for Halloween, watches Korean soap operas and gets so eager to be a part of the women having a conversion that he says that sometimes he wonders if he has ovaries in his scrotum as he personally he believes that he's great at girl talk.
- It's All About Me: One of the early signs that he's not a great boyfriend, he has a tendency to be very selfish and controlling at times as he tends to focus more on himself without considering how she might feel. Case in point, He also uses Scrabble (a game Erin isn't good at) to make her watch horror movies with him rather than the animated family comedies she likes, which really gives off an uncomfortably controlling vibe and after they broke up, when he tells Erin that he got a tattoo, she replies that he did for himself. He's not just selfish when it comes to his relationship with Erin. Despite initially trying to defend to Kevin when his co-workers were mocking his voice, he later attempts to join the other co-workers in teasing Kevin just to look good in front, which of course backfires with the co-workers mocking him and even Dwight calling him "stick-insect" and accusing him of being insufferably tasteless.
- The Killjoy: Gabe is an officious corporate lackey that feels the need to uphold the rules of Sabre to the point that he refused to let his coworkers makes jokes about their printers in one episode.
- Large Ham: While he can a meek and wimpy dork, he becomes more neurotic, intense and erratic after Erin broke up with him and not only does he obsess over her, he also gets aggressively hostile towards Andy.Gabe: Shut up about the sun! SHUT UP ABOUT THE SUN!
- Laser-Guided Karma: Gabe's arrogance and hostility towards Andy after breaking up with Erin finally comes back to bite him when Kelly, after being dismissed from interviewing by him, blabs to Jo about his relationship with Erin and his recent spiraling behavior. When Jo gets him to admit that his comments towards Andy were biased out of spite, she scolds him for getting too involved with people and sends him back to Florida.
- Loners Are Freaks: Gabe is often a meek and awkward introvert but also has an eccentric, intensely obsessive and erratic side which is combined with his questionable morality.
- Manipulative Bastard: Towards Erin when they're dating, often controlling her and taking advantage of her childlike naivety. Tries to be like this to others, but is unsuccessful.
- The Movie Buff: He's quite the horror-film devotee, owning 200 of them on DVD, including such well-known titles as The Shining, The Ring, Suspiria (1977), and Rosemary's Baby. He also disregards any movie that Erin may like due to his belief that she and her interests are "childish".
- Never My Fault: After Erin publicly breaks up with him, he blames and threatens Andy in the bathroom because he believes that Andy is responsible in damaging his relationship with her. Although, it's not necessarily his's fault that Erin wanted to end things with him, since he wasn't a good boyfriend due to his possessiveness and selfishness and convinced himself that his relationship with her was a happy one despite Erin feeling uncharacteristically miserable and uncomfortable.
- Nerdy Bully: He got very petty towards Andy during their love triangle with Erin out of jealous rage. At the same time, he's an extremely egotistical and socially awkward dork that nobody likes because he can inadvertently come across as insufferable.
- Nervous Wreck: Gabe often gets anxious interacting with others and feels extremely nervous by the thought of cockroaches.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Gabe thought that a cemetery would be a decent place to date a woman and believes that maternity wards are "the perfect blend of love and horror - things can go so wrong, or so right".
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Gabe is often portrayed as too meek, fragile and insecure for his own good but due to his lack of social skills, eccentricities, extreme intensity and obsessiveness, many characters (and fans) think of him as creepy. It doesn't help that he has a fascination for horror movies, maternity wards and other morbid activities that make others uncomfortable.
- No-Respect Guy: Gabe quickly become the staff equivalent to Toby. When Pam starts printing out her cartoons and gets everyone to add captions, Gabe tries policing what they can and can't joke about, which leads to everyone making mean-spirited captions about him.
- No Sense of Humor: Due to how rigid, uptight and painfully awkward he is, he Cannot Tell a Joke without getting ridiculed and his lack of humor is best shown when he tries to make rules restricting the office staff from poking fun at Sabre. Later, he criticizes their sense of humor (while still not able to tell a joke) and in another episode he tries to punish some of the coworkers for teasing Kevin when he is unable to join in on the teasing.
- No Social Skills: Has less social skills than most of the cast, which is a little sad in comparison.
- Nothing but Skin and Bones: He's 6'4" but a meager 175 pounds. This leads to other characters referring to him as a tall, lanky skeleton. He's even referred to like a stick insect and a palm tree due to his skinny frame.
- Opposites Attract: Deconstructed. The main reason Erin started dating him was because she felt she had to since he is her boss. Erin was a cheerful, charming and a fun-loving free-spirit while Gabe was a awkward, uptight and a rigid stick-in-the-mud. When Gabe grew more selfish and controlling, it made Erin less interested in him. She even states that she cringes when he talks and is uncomfortable with him touching her.
- Psycho Ex-Boyfriend: Became this after Erin breaks up with him. He follows Andy to the men's room and threatens him and follows Erin into the ladies room and pleads for her to take him back.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Probably the biggest suck-up and he's often consistent with being obsequious with David Wallace, Jo Bennett, and Robert California. Despite his attempts, none of them acknowledge him.
- Put on a Bus: Jo finds about him and Erin and takes him back to Tallahassee. But then he comes back...only to be laid off when Sabre goes under, though he returns for the episode "Moving On".
- Sanity Slippage: While he at first seems very level-headed and professional, his break-up with Erin has caused him to become an incredibly erratic and emotionally intense man who comes across as too unhinged and maladjusted to ever have a decent interaction with others. Even the eccentric Dwight Schrute thinks that Gabe is a freak.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The savvy guy to Erin's Genki Girl.
- Stalker with a Crush: Mainly due to his lack of social awareness, but his romantic overtures tend to come across as rather sinister, obsessive and disregarding of the woman's boundaries. He even corners Erin and tries to persuade her to take him back in the women's bathroom.
- Sudden Name Change: His middle name changed from "Stuart" to "Susan" in season 8. His original middle name was, however, only listed in promotional materials and never stated on the show itself.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: While originally starting off as a seemingly friendly and polite person who was smart, rational and took his profession very seriously, he later becomes a pretentious and egotistical Control Freak who feels entitled to be with Erin despite the fact that she lost all interest in him and Gabe was not always a good boyfriend. In fact, his obsession with Erin came across as more creepy and unsympathetic when he lost focus of his job and was more focused on getting sexual with girls than actually being professional.
- Two First Names: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
- Uptight Loves Wild: Uptight and neurotic Gabe is obsessed with the free-spirited and energetic Erin.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Initially he's just there to oversee the transition between Dundler-Mifflin and Sabre. After the merge is complete, however, Jo leaves him in Scranton ostensibly in a supervisory role, but he has absolutely no authority and no official job title.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: No mention to what has happened to him after the eighth season but he returns in "Moving On" when Andy hires him in an attempt to make Erin uncomfortable after she breaks up with him for Pete.
- Yes-Man: To Jo, to Michael at times, and later, to the new Sabre CEO, Robert California.
- Yellow Fever: Openly admits to having an Asian fetish when discussing his love for obscure Korean soap operas.
Janet "Jan" Levinson (formerly Levinson-Gould)
"Imagine there's a princess, who falls for a guy beneath her station, and the queen doesn't like this at all. And the princess knows that the queen doesn't like it so it just makes her wanna do it all the more just to get at the queen!" [...] "I'm the princess. And the queen."
Played by: Melora Hardin
Seasons: 1-5, 7, 9
Vice President of Sales (Corporate) of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
UK counterpart: Jennifer Taylor-Clarke.
- Adaptational Villainy: Her UK counterpart, Jennifer Taylor-Clarke, is a consummate professional and little else, but Jan is an alcoholic domestic abuser with mental problems.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Her UK counterpart was a patient, down-to-earth professional and not the least bit quirky.Jan gradually goes crazy, and by the time she's let go from Dunder Mifflin, it's said that she barely does any work at all anymore.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In the UK version, the relationship between Jennifer Taylor-Clarke and David Brent is strictly platonic, without a hint of romance. Jennifer is also far more patient with David than Jan is with Michael, who generally viewed him with some degree of contempt before they hooked up.
- Broken Bird: One reading of the character (which Melora Hardin herself has endorsed) is that the frustrations of being a woman trying to get ahead in the male-dominated corporate world (plus a bitter divorce) completely broke Jan's spirit, which is why she goes from cold and demanding to flighty. In "Boys and Girls", Kelly, of all people, seems to recognize this.Kelly: How can someone so beautiful be so sad?
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Two of Michaels's "cons" about Jan were that her chest was "nothing to write home about" and that she was lacking in "chesticles." Jan is well aware of this and gets a boob job and starts wearing low-cut tops in an attempt to win him back and it actually works, at least for a little while.Michael: [To Pam after she had told him not to get back together with Jan.] You made a good argument. Hers was bigger.
- Characterization Marches On: Was at first a very professional, overworked and impatient superior who was forced to put up with Michael's advances, but soon transformed into a shrill, abusive nightmare, and then finally going completely insane, going hippie and singing sexually provocative songs to her infant in the office.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She accused Pam of having eyes for Michael three separate times (Michael's claim that he and Pam HAD dated didn't exactly help matters any). Furthermore, even after breaking up with Michael once and for all, she still tried to tell him not to date Holly after taking an immediate dislike to her (Michael ignores her "advice" and immediately hugs Holly warmly and asks her out. D'awww!).
- Cloudcuckoolander: She used to be a more level-headed and rational person but her relationship made her more erratic and flighty.
- Did They or Didn't They?: With Michael in "The Client".
- The Dilbert Principle: During the first three seasons, she serves as Dunder-Mifflin's Vice President of Sales. But as shown in "The Client", she herself is not a very effective saleswoman as she continually derails her and Michael's meeting with the county government by being too impersonal and focused on numbers.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Averted. When the abusive nature of the relationship is first brought up in "Women's Appreciation Day", the women present immediately notice how disturbing it is and try to motivate Michael into breaking up. "Dinner Party" flat-out deconstructs this trope, as Michael himself is the only one who seems to be okay with her erratic behavior, while everyone else at the party is either uncomfortable or outright disturbed.
- Drop-In Character: A downplayed version in the first three seasons, because she was very stern and caused Michael to go off the rails trying to impress her. Odd how often she showed up in Scranton, with New York a two and a half hour drive away. Later played straight, when David Wallace cites the amount of time she spends in Scranton as one of several reasons for her firing.
- Hollywood Mid-Life Crisis: She starts the show as a corporate exec who's a consummate professional, but as she approaches middle age after getting a divorce she gradually becomes more impulsive, often at the expense of her good judgment. She apparently had a Mrs. Robinson fling with her young assistant, then got into a relationship with Michael even though she acknowledged that he was a poor fit for her. After she got fired from Dunder Mifflin, rather than pursue another job that would fit her qualifications, she decides to become a candle maker!
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: She went from the Vice President of Dunder Mifflin's Sales Division to being a borderline alcoholic squatting jobless in Michael's condo before starting up a failing candle business. She gradually bounced back with her own business, but given the way she mistreats her secretary it's implied she'll eventually lose it all once again because she never owned up to her mistakes.
- Hypocrite: Breaks up with her husband due to him not wanting children, then rejects the idea of Michael and her having kids. And then she has a child.
- Hypocrite Has a Point: Yes, she did drive Michael into debt with her failed candle business and condo renovations, but she wasn't wrong when she pointed out Michael is Money Dumb.
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Got implants to get Michael to get back together with her. Michael is obvious about how effective this trope is on him.
- Karma Houdini: In real life, after it's revealed in "Women's Appreciation" that she basically rapes Michael, films their sex without his consent and passes on the videos to her counsellor, both her and the counsellor would be looking at steep prison sentences.
- Ms. Fanservice: After she gets her boob job, she starts wearing really low-cut tops, and makes an effort to show her new... "assets" off, particularly when she can get something from Michael.
- Mrs. Robinson: It's implied that she had an affair with her teenage assistant Hunter (and took his virginity) and when she returns in season 9 as a client Dwight brings in Clark, the new 23 year old Dunder Mifflin employee as a bribe for her in exchange for her business.
- Never My Fault:
- She drained Michael's bank account to set up her failed candle business and to make pointless renovations to his condo. After Michael went into debt because of her, she accused him of being unable to manage his finances. (Granted, Michael did make some questionable financial decisions of his own, such as buying, among other junk, "multiple magic sets [and] professional bass fishing equipment," according to Oscar's audit of Michael's finances. But still!)
- In "The Client" she accuses Michael first of getting her drunk, and then spiking her drinks in order to sleep with her despite the fact that she was the first to order alcohol, then continued drinking when Michael derailed her sales strategy with his more personal (and much more effective) sales style.
- When she gets fired from Dunder-Mifflin, she accuses David of being prejudiced against her (and hating her boob job), despite David listing out the multiple legitimate reasons why she's become The Load and needed to be made redundant. She ends up filing a deposition against the company in an attempt to file an unlawful termination, which fails largely due to Michael deciding to stand by the company instead of her.
- Pet the Dog: Jan gets the occasional humanizing moment, like her When She Smiles reaction after Michael closes the deal in "The Client", or when she talks Michael out of running away in "Money".
- Plastic Bitch: She got a boob job to better manipulate her ex Michael.
- Sanity Slippage: She was originally a very professional woman but starting in Season 3 she started to become more and more paranoid and unstable and she completely went off the deep end after David Wallace fired her. Her relationship with Michael also deteriorated as she became controlling, self-absorbed and possessive towards him awfully until they broke up.
- Straight Man: Until she seemingly had a complete mental breakdown and became worse than Michael.
- There Are No Therapists: Double subverted. She has a therapist she mentions seeing often, however, it's not working and it's implied said therapist is not very good, having told Jan to embrace her self destructive tendencies and watches the videos she makes of herself having sex with Michael (much to Michael's chagrin).
- Woman Scorned: It's hinted that her behavior in early Season 3, culminating in the (brief) closing of the Scranton branch, is revenge for Michael rejecting her in "Casino Night."
- Women Are Wiser: In her early appearances, she's a very serious and professional woman who has to put up with Michael's immaturity. Subverted after her Sanity Slippage.
Hank Tate
Played by: Hugh Dane
The security guard of the office building that the show is set at.
- Canon Foreigner: Has no direct counterpart on the UK version of the show.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Played with in his case: when the office staff are locked in because Jim decided that they should work late rather than come in on a Saturday, but forgot to tell Hank, none of them can remember his name except Creed, who is normally awful at remembering people's names.
- Hidden Depths: Season 5 reveals that he likes to play blues on the guitar, and he even had his own CD, all as part of the Crime Aid fundraiser. Subverted in that he's terrible at it.
- Straight Man: Often, when he appears, he is this to Michael, having to deal with the latter's quirks and immaturity.
- When She Smiles: Usually wears a perpetual frown while doing his job. However, Todd Packer tells a joke that makes him crack a smile, which Michael says doesn't happen often.
Todd Finch Packer
Played by: David Koechner, Toby Huss (voice only, in the pilot)
The boorish, alcoholic and sexually promiscuous Outside Sales Representative, who tells obscene, disrespectful jokes, which tend to offend everyone except Michael for the most part.
UK counterpart: Chris Finch.
- All Men Are Perverts: To a truly, truly ridiculous degree. Part of why he’s excited to go to Tallahassee is to meet hot chicks there.
- The Artifact: By the time he made his reappearance in the seventh season episode "Todd Packer", many critics and fans noted that he was practically a remnant of the original crass humor that was common when the show was still mostly following its British predecessor. The show had evolved so far beyond that in his seasons-long absence that he seemed to no longer fit in the world of the show. Possibly played straight, since even Michael finally becomes sick of him by the end of the episode.
- The Bully: He's pretty rude, obnoxious, boorish and mean-spirited when he interacts with everyone, even Michael who considered him to be a friend until he realizes how much of a bad person Todd is.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Apparently he has pretty good sales numbers, which explains why's been employed at Dunder Mifflin for so long, and serves as a reason for why he returns to an office job in his self-titled episode. We never actually see him selling paper, though.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared for several seasons (excepting a cameo or two), and then returned for the aptly-named "Todd Packer". Jim and Dwight team up to get rid of him by impersonating as Sabre representatives over the phone who tell Packer he's been promoted to a job at Sabre HQ in Florida."Yeah, Dwight and Jim tried to get me fired, but I landed on my feet in Florida. You see this cat's got nine lives. And a nine inch—!"(Curse Cut Short)
- Casanova Wannabe: Packer believes himself to be The Casanova when it's clear that most women are repulsed by his boorish behavior.
- Evil Counterpart:
- Er, Eviler-counterpart - to Dwight. Both are Kavorka Men salesmen who have committed many things that would likely have gotten them fired were it not for their sales records that are close to Michael. However, whereas Dwight is willing to put aside his differences with Jim temporarily if it's for the greater good of Dunder Mifflin (and later permanently) and grows to appreciate his fellow coworkers, Packer never stops antagonizing anyone. Also, Dwight eventually takes over branch manager, whereas Packer eventually gets fired.
- To Michael. Both are obnoxious and egotistical manchildren who are socially inappropriate but while Michael was able to mature and act better as a person, Todd remained the same boorish character he always was. Also, Michael being inappropriate is usually him being Innocently Insensitive, while Todd's obnoxiousness is very much intentional.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Of all the employees at the office, the only one who seems to like him as a friend is Michael Scott... up until he insults Holly, which turns out to be too much for Michael.
- Hate Sink: He's a bad influence for Michael and often lacks redeeming qualities that would make him likable.
- Hidden Depths: He admits in his self titled episode that he would love to move to Florida because he's a huge alligator nerd. He can "name every genus, every subspecies". (Though this is also him being something of a Know-Nothing Know-It-All; "alligator" is itself the genus, and there are only two subspecies of alligator still alive, so this is not knowledge requiring extensive research.)
- Jerkass: Is a sexist and homophobic bully who tries to play it off as "joking around", but no one is buying that.
- Kavorka Man: He's rude, middle-aged and not in the best shape, yet he was able to score at least one threesome. One possible explanation is that he brings Michael along so he can look good by comparison.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: He acts perverted and Michael thinks he's likable and funny, but no one else does. You can easily remove the "lovable" part because of how toxic he is.
- Promoted to Scapegoat: His ultimate undoing.
- Really Gets Around: According to Michael, once he banged every chick in the office, as a joke.
Sadiq
Played by: Omi Vaidya
The former IT guy.
- Hidden Depths: Deliberately invoked. When the topic of religion is brought up, Sadiq says he's a Sikh right away, then talks about his interest in cars, NPR, and hip-hop music so that he can be seen as more than just his religion.
- Mistaken Nationality: He wears a turban because he's a Sikh, which causes the ignorant Michael to mistakenly call him a Muslim terrorist when he sees him at Jim's party. He's even holding a beer at the time.
- Mistaken for Terrorist: He's a Sikh, so his appearance to Michael just screams "non-American".
Devon White
Played by: Devon Abner
A former Supplier Relations representative before being reluctantly fired by Michael. Rehired at the end of the series.- Back for the Finale: Returns in the Finale after Creed fakes his death.
- Forgiveness: After he is fired, he indirectly tells Dwight to go to Hell. However, after he is rehired, Dwight mentions that he's always liked Devon.
- Irony: He is dressed as a Hobo for Halloween the day he is fired, and is seen living homeless in a deleted scene of a later episode.
- Additionally, when he returns in the Finale, he replaces Creed, who was partially responsible for Devon's firing.
- Only One Name: Subverted. His last name is never mentioned by any of the characters; rather, it is revealed when Dwight pulls out a list of the employees' ranks.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He appears in the background throughout all of Season 1 and Season 2, but does not have any lines until he is fired
Josh Porter
Played by: Charles Esten
The former regional manager of the Stamford Branch, who became Jim's boss when he transferred there. His decision to take a job at Staples results in the closure of the Stamford branch and its subsequent merger with Scranton.UK counterpart: Neil Godwin
- The Ace: He's a Reasonable Authority Figure and a far more mature and competent regional manager than Michael Scott is, to the point Jan is willing to scuttle the Scranton branch to keep him. He's also tall, in-shape, and cycles to work everyday, despite (as Jim notes) the fact he lives fairly far away, and unlike Jim (who lives far closer to the office) he doesn't appear particularly fatigued by it.
- Always Someone Better: Michael is clearly threatened by him.
- Ambition Is Evil: With all of the downsizing going on, Corporate decides to close the Scranton branch instead of the Stamford one solely because he works at the Stamford branch. Josh then proceeds to secretly use his position at Stamford to leverage a much better job at Staples, dropping this news on Jan right after the Scranton branch is being closed down. As a result, not only does corporate have to scramble to change their plans at the last minute, but all of the people who worked under him and trusted him so much are now out of a job with no warning.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's an affable guy that's both loved and respected by his staff. He'll gladly throw them under the bus if it means leveraging a better job.
- Foil: To Michael. While Michael is childish and lacks several important manager skills, Josh is much more competent and mature. However, Josh also puts his own career above the needs of Dunder Mifflin and decides to take a job at Staples even though it would result in the Stamford branch closing while Michael is extremely loyal to the company and would never do such a thing if given the chance.
- Not So Above It All: He's the one that got the Stamford branch into playing Call of Duty, ostensibly as a team-building exercise. He treats the game as Serious Business and calls Jim into a private meeting to berate him for his lousy gameplay.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: By comparison to Michael, he's clearly competent at his job while also being on mostly friendly terms with his staff. He does humiliate Karen by having Jim oversee her work to make sure she does it, but only because she did fail to finish a task on schedule, and is clearly trying to be professional.
Karen Filippelli
Played by: Rashida Jones
Regional Manager, Dunder-Mifflin Utica branch/former sales representative, Scranton branch/former sales representative, Stamford branch.
UK counterpart: Rachel.
- Ambiguously Brown: Filippelli is an Italian last name (and she admits to Italian ancestry), but she also speaks some French and Chinese and it's also speculated whether she might have Filipino ancestry. At one point, Michael tactlessly tells her she looks very exotic and inquires whether her father was a G.I. Her actress Rashida Jones is of black and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.
- Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Pam's Betty. Aside from having darker hair, Karen is significantly more confident, vocal, and ambitious than Pam is.
- Differing Priorities Breakup: She's much more prepared to leave Scranton than Jim is. Plus the whole Pam thing.
- Distaff Counterpart: Originally intended as one for Jim, with the idea that Jim essentially has become Stamford's version of Dwight, so Karen would playfully prank him.
- Dude Magnet: Besides Jim, she has attracted other men in the office. In “Traveling Salesmen”, Dwight states that he likes Karen because she's pretty and intelligent. Ryan asks her out via email in "Women's Appreciation". Michael thinks she has an awesome body in "Branch Wars". And in "The Job", Kevin tells Jim that he can't decide who is hotter between Pam and Karen (according to Kevin "Pam is taller and has bigger breasts, but Karen has a prettier face, though Pam's face is really pretty, too).
- Foil: To Jan. Like Jan Levinson, Karen is portrayed as an ambitious career woman – having gunned for a corporate vice president position and now serving as the regional manager of the Utica branch – though considerably more personable than Jan.
- Gamer Chick: She's a Call of Duty enthusiast, although the extent to which she is a gaming fan is not explored.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: While she looks conventionally feminine, it's been noted that Karen rarely wears skirts.
- Happily Married: She was able to find someone else, being married and pregnant when we catch up with her in Season 5. This eases Pam's guilt.
- Kick the Dog: She spends the finale of Season 3 saying and doing things that would place her in Romantic False Lead territory. She gives Pam the cold shoulder, openly laughs when she witnesses Jan's breakdown, micromanages Jim while they're in New York, and candidly reveals that she believes Michael to be totally unqualified for the position of VP Sales when asked by David Wallace.note
- Put on a Bus: Left Dunder Mifflin Scranton after getting dumped by Jim at the end of Season 3. It's later revealed that she'd accepted the Regional Manager position at the Utica branch.
- Romantic False Lead: She was introduced to set off Season 3's Unrequited Love Switcheroo.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After finding someone else and getting pregnant, Karen drops all the hostility she had in her last few appearances and warmly congratulates Pam on her engagement with Jim.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The fate of her career after the Sabre buyout (and all the subsequent corporate transactions involving Dunder-Mifflin) is never revealed. She is briefly seen in a talking head segment in "Threat Level Midnight" (her final appearance in the series) but the setting of the interview appears to be outside a supermarket, not in her office at Utica (although the Utica branch is mentioned in a Season 8 episode). Karen is also one of the more prominent characters to not return for the finale season.
Charles Miner
Played by: Idris Elba
Vice President of Northeast Sales who steps in to temporarily run the Scranton Branch in Season 5.
- Affably Evil: As condescending of a Smug Snake as he can be, he's fairly polite, calm and never seems to raise his voice at anyone. Not that it redeems his character though.
- Arc Villain: "Villain" might be a bit of a stretch, but he's effectively the main antagonist of Season 5, and a massive Hate Sink to boot.
- The Bully: He's pretty unnecessarily harsh and scornful towards Jim even when Jim is trying to get in his good graces.
- Chick Magnet: Kelly and Angela are immediately attracted to him. He's aware of this, but seems to find it annoying.
- The Comically Serious: Charles is a strictly earnest, sophisticated and intelligent hard-worker who can be humorless but can be a straight man opposite other characters that are more eccentric and less serious and no-nonsense than he is.
- Consummate Professional: Subverted. David Wallace dispatched him to Scranton to eliminate waste (and to rein in Michael's eccentricities, though this was unspoken) and he at first fully embodies the trope - soft-spoken, no-nonsense, and completely immune to Michael's shenanigans. However, the longer he's in Scranton, the more clear it becomes that he's largely ineffectual at actually managing. His micro-managing and snide attitude causes the successful Scranton branch to lose sales, he is a shockingly Horrible Judge of Character, and completely jettisons his professional attitude and turns into a spineless kiss-ass to Wallace during the buyout meeting. Promoting and hiring incompetent managers seems to be a running theme in Dunder-Mifflin corporate.
- Evil Counterpart: In a sense, compared to Michael's handsoff managerial approach, Charles is incredibly strict and is a micro-manager. Despite Michael's incompetence, under Charles' brief reign, Scranton actually begins to lose sales despite being the previously established top selling branch.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He asks Dwight whats wrong with him when Dwight suggests using children as leverage.
- Hate Sink: All he wants to do is increase the productivity of the Scranton Branch, but he is so stubborn, critical, and even downright rude that it's almost impossible to genuinely like him. His cancelling Michael's 15th anniversary and driving him away from the company is what cemented him in this trope for many fans.
- Honor Before Reason: Never once asked Jim to get information from Pam on the Michael Scott Paper Company, no matter how dire the situation got.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Completely and permanently wrote off Jim (one of the more effective salespeople in the office and probably the most charismatic employee in the entire branch) because he wore a tuxedo to the office (an admittedly immature but ultimately harmless prank on Dwight), made Stanley the "Productivity Czar", Kevin the temporary receptionist (after Pam left to join The Michael Scott Paper company), and Dwight his number two. Dwight had been among the company's top salesman and Michael's right hand man, but was also, well, Dwight; favoring him eventually backfired during the buyout meeting. His utter failure to correctly identify anyone's talents in the office really calls into question his abilities as a manager.
- Jerkass: He can be a rather condescending, rigid and judgmental Smug Snake and his cancellation of Michael's anniversary party was completely uncalled for even if Dunder Mifflin was having money troubles.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He can be a very dismissive, petty and spiteful bully sometimes but he is correct that the Scranton Branch does waste a lot of company time and resources, a habit that should be curbed due to Dunder Mifflin's financial troubles.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: While he leaves Scranton after Michael gets his job back, he just returns to corporate no worse for the wear. But then when Sabre buys the now bankrupt Dunder Mifflin, he gets put on the chopping block as they clean house.
- Kick the Dog: Frequently does this to people he dislikes.
- He cancels Michael's 15th anniversary party, claiming it's due to money troubles, despite David signing off on it and the plans being in place.
- When the New York branch is losing to Scranton in the company picnic volleyball game, he forces Pam, Scranton's best player, to leave the game and go to the hospital after she suffers an extremely minor ankle sprain that she was able to play through to ensure victory.
- Knight of Cerebus: All of his scenes portray him in an intimidating manner, just for the audience to see how much of a Hate Sink he is.
- Never My Fault: During a friendly game of soccer in the car park, Charles sends a kick to Jim — who had exaggerated just how good at soccer he was to try and get into his good graces — that is so powerful it would make professional soccer players duck, much less a group of office workers having a quick kick-around during a break. When Jim naturally ducks out of the way and it hits Phyllis in the face, Charles immediately blames Jim for not taking the hit.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: After spending the whole arc trying and failing to get in his good graces, Jim's amused reaction to witnessing him being a Professional Butt-Kisser to David was a blatant non-verbal example of this.
- Not So Above It All: While previously portrayed as a comically serious Knight of Cerebus, His last appearance was just him being very petty and competitive in a volleyball game.
- Pet the Dog: A small one when he praises Erin for doing a good job after Michael busts in one day and she informs him.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: A Miner case. While he performed every other managerial duty as any competent manager would (and thus better than Michael), his assignment of duties wasn't one of them. Plus, nothing he does can stop Michael's new paper company from poaching the branch's clients, eventually causing David Wallace to have to step in to fix the problem.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Frequently kisses up to and parrots David Wallace to cover up his failings as an executive.
- Put on a Bus: When Michael gets his job back. He is also later fired when Sabre cleaned house after they acquired Dunder-Mifflin.
- Scary Black Man: Well, he's intimidating to Jim and he once physically threatened Michael when he attempted to take a list of customers when he left to start his own company.
- Selective Obliviousness: When it comes to Dwight. Wallace's visibly shocked reaction when Miner tells him that he doesn't think much of Jim, but regards Dwight very highly, should have clued him in right away that Wallace completely disagreed with him. He misses it completely, which is surprising in light of his obvious kissing up to Wallace. It's not until he's in the meeting with Wallace, Dwight, and Jim and sees Dwight's manic behavior as well as his obviously illegal suggestions to sabotage Michael, that he realizes how badly he'd misjudged Dwight. Wallace's obvious disgust and disbelief at Dwight's suggestions really drove the message home.
- Yes-Man: To David Wallace. Lampshaded by Jim, to his embarrassment.
David Wallace
Played by: Andy Buckley
The Chief Financial Officer of Dunder Mifflin, Corporate.
- Beware the Nice Ones: A deleted scene from the second part of "Weight Loss" addressing his reaction to Ryan returning after getting arrested has David absolutely furious at the man, yelling at him over the phone until he cries and only stopped by Michael's unyielding faith in Ryan."You are the most worthless piece of trash I have ever had work for me in my entire life. And get out of that Dunder Mifflin Scranton office, because you are no longer allowed at this company. Dunder Mifflin does not work this way, you are a pathetic human being, get the hell out of that office. I don't know who the fuck you think you are. Put Michael Scott on. I don't give a shit. Put Michael fucking Scott on the phone."
- Broken Pedestal: For Michael in Season 5, after sending Holly away and putting Charles in charge of the branch's operations while ignoring Michael's calls, pushing him to quitting the company altogether.
- Creator Backlash: In-Universe. After viewing the documentary series, he admits he didn't enjoy seeing himself and learning so much about the happenings at the Scranton office.
- Despair Event Horizon: Went a little off the deep end after Sabre fired him.
- Horrible Judge of Character:
- He repeatedly shares confidential information with Michael, such as Jan getting fired, the Buffalo branch closing, or the company being sold. Michael cannot keep secrets to save his life, and this repeatedly comes back to humiliate David.
- He chose Ryan Howard to replace Jan as VP of Sales, despite the fact that he was an inexperienced employee who had never successfully completed a sale. Ryan's poor management skills and illegal sales tactics end up accelerating the collapse of Dunder Mifflin. Dialogue implies that the main reason David hired him was because Ryan was the only applicant who had an MBA.
- He also didn't do a great job of selecting Ryan's successor, as Charles Miner winds up alienating most of the Scranton employees with his poor personnel decisions and unfriendly attitude as well as causing Michael to start a rival paper company that causes the branch to lose most of their clients.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He has Michael steal customers from a small family company that poses no real threat to Dunder-Mifflin and reassigns Holly after he discovers her relationship with Michael. However, most of his malicious actions have reasonable justifications:
- The Prince Family Paper Company may not have been a direct threat to Dunder Mifflin, but it had potential clients that Dunder Mifflin needed as it's been established since the beginning of the series that the company was not doing well with downsizing being a recurring issue and branches closing left and right. It seemed to be a move born out of self-preservation rather than pointed animosity towards the Prince Family Paper Company. Essentially, it wasn't personal and David was just doing what was best for the company - acquiring more clients.
- Holly's transfer is justified in a number of ways. Michael was just coming off of a disastrous relationship with a former co-worker in Jan. It's entirely reasonable for David Wallace to not want another potential situation like that. Additionally, Holly was the Scranton branch HR rep. Toby, her predecessor, was able to at least occasionally control and limit Michael's shenanigans. However, with an HR rep that's actively dating the manager, David may have feared that Holly wouldn't able to be objective when it comes to handling Michael.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For all of the malevolent actions he does, David eventually gets fired and goes into a downward spiral that only ends when he comes up with a one-in-a-million invention that ultimately lets him own the company outright.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: For some reason, he's in charge of personnel decisions that are normally handled by a company's Chief Human Resources/Operating Officer even though he's Dunder Mifflin's Chief Financial Officer.
- Nice Guy: Occasional Kick the Dog moments aside, he's a friendly guy who thinks well of Michael on a personal basis (if not a professional one), recognizes Jim's talents and tries to reward him for it, and treats most of the Dunder-Mifflin staff with courtesy.
- Only Sane Man: Probably the most rational and pragmatic character on the show. In fact, his main flaw is being too tolerant of everyone else's irrational behavior.
- Poor Communication Kills: Wallace's keeping Michael at arms length in Season 5 after hiring Charles Miner ends up alienating Michael and leading to him briefly quitting the company.
- Put on a Bus: After Dunder-Mifflin goes under and is acquired by Sabre. He and all of the other DM executives are fired. It comes back in the final season when he uses his "Suck It" money to buy Dunder-Mifflin back from the failing Sabre.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's notable for being calm and sensible in his role as a corporate decision maker. Even his more malicious actions are justified as being good for the company. A notable example is him calling Michael to the corporate headquarters to try and determine how his branch is remaining so profitable, despite most of Dunder Mifflin's corporate leaders dismissing Michael as a moron (though, to be fair, not without good reason, since Michael genuinely is a ditzy Manchild).
- Straight Man: More or less inherited this from Jan once she went off the deep end.
- Two First Names: His first and last name can both be used as a given name for a male.
Joleen Mary Ann "Jo" Bennett
Played by: Kathy Bates
The CEO of the company Sabre, who buys Dunder Mifflin.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Cultivates an affable, grandmotherly image but it doesn't take long for Jo to be outed as ruthless to anyone who might be an obstacle. She passive-aggressively forces the Scranton staff to work late on St. Patrick's Day and when her printers are reported to be faulty to the point of being dangerous, her first order of business is to punish the whistleblower rather than go into damage control.
- Brutal Honesty: When she learns that Gabe had become erratic and obsessive over Erin, she pads nothing about her opinion: Gabe was picked, perhaps because of his gaunt, bony appearance, to be a "ghost" to keep the DM staff on their toes, and since he had gotten involved in their lives and therefore showed them that he was a weakling and kind of insufferable, he was useless to her in Scranton, and his being moved back to Florida was not a promotion.
- Canine Companion: Her great danes...although when we see her again in "Dwight K. Schrute (Acting) Manager", they've been
replaced, by two much smaller dogs.- The next time we see her, she's got one of the smaller dogs and one great dane. Woman loves her dogs.
- Disproportionate Reward: Made Deangelo a Regional Manager, a job that he was in no way qualified for, because he rescued one of her dogs.
- Foil: To Charles Miner. She's able to charm Michael despite being just as much of a micro-manager as Charles was.
- Groin Attack: She's often accompanied by her two enormous Great Danes, who really seem to love Andy's crotch.
- Nepotism: After demoting Dwight from his disastrous short tenure of Acting Regional Manager, Jo tries to angle for her personal friend Nellie to be the one hired for the position. When the search committee end up picking someone else, Jo ends up gifting Nellie with a high ranking job in Corporate, even though she's clearly not qualified.
- Peace & Love Incorporated: Sabre seems to come off as one.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: She seems to be rather competent, and her straight-shooting style is actually a honest kick in the pants that the office needs when facing problematic situations such as finding full-time managers, but she does make her share of boneheaded moves as well:
- Not recognizing that the reason Dunder Mifflin Scranton had two co-managers was because Scranton had absorbed the full workload of two other branches prior to that point, making the arrangement more or less necessary. Though this seems to be more Fridge Logic than in-universe stupidity on Jo's part, as it comes across as though the writers forgot this themselves.
- Appointing Deangelo Vickers, a complete incompetent, to a Regional Manager position solely because he rescued one of her dogs.
- Appointing Dwight to be Acting Manager when Deangelo is incapacitated, despite it being very obvious that he has zero concern for his fellow employees.
- When Dwight doesn't work out, she puts Creed in charge solely based on his senority, despite every member of the Search Committee warning her not to. It's only thanks to Pam keeping him in check that he didn't cause irreparable damage to the client base.
- Giving Dwight a second chance at becoming regional manager after he fired a gun in the office simply because she liked his determination.]]
- Greenlighting Nellie's retail store initiative. Robert California, of all people, points out that Saber's electronics are the cheap kind that are better off being sold online or over the phone than in person.
- Two First Names: Her first name can be used for a female's given name and her last name can be used as a given name for a male.
Nathan "Nate" Nickerson
Played by: Mark Proksch
A warehouse worker and frequent lackey to Dwight.
- Blackface: When Dwight wanted to give the office a more "traditional" Christmas party, he gets Nate to play the part of Zwarte Piet. Luckily the rest of the office sees this coming a mile away and discourages Dwight from fulfilling the racially insensitive aspect. The camera crew however does get a shot of Nate in full costume.
- Establishing Character Moment: His debut episode has him obey Dwight's orders to get rid of a hornet's nest, to which Nate complies by using a baseball bat and gets stung for his efforts.
- Horrible Judge of Character:
- The fact that he's obedient to Dwight of all people is a big sign of this.
- Averted with Ryan. When Ryan risks losing Kelly to someone much better for her, he asks everyone to put it to a vote. Nate says that while he doesn't know Ryan that well and hasn't even met the other guy, he'd still side with the other guy.
Deangelo Jeremitrius Vickers
Played by: Will Ferrell
Michael's replacement as Branch Manager during the end of season seven.
- Berserk Button:
- He doesn't like it when people talk politics.
- He gets frustrated when Dwight rejects his offers.
- Big "NO!": He yelled one at a cake while trying to resist the urge to overeat.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Shows his stripes after Michael leaves, right from the point where he starts screaming at a cake. Highlights include performing an "inspirational juggling routine" with nothing to juggle and his attempt to prove that he wasn't a sexist.
- Decoy Protagonist: As an initial replacement for Michael, he was very similar to him and played by frequent Steve Carell collaborator Will Ferrell. He only appeared for four episodes before disappearing after a total physical and mental breakdown.
- Formerly Fat: Part of his Small Name, Big Ego tendencies seem to stem from the fact that he overcame obesity, to the point that he claims that "If someone shot me in the head, I'm pretty sure everything would be fine. I almost welcome it."
- The Millstone: When Andy takes him along to help with hanging on to a client, Deangelo nearly wrecks the entire pitch instead.
- Performance Anxiety: He suffers from this.
- Plot Allergy: Deangelo has a peanut allergy, and this caused Michael to get a rise out of him.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: The only reason he has a job at Sabre was that he stopped a guy trying to steal one of Jo Bennett's dogs, and not because of any skills in sales or management. He is completely incompetent and antagonistic with clients. During a sales call to one of the company's most important clients, he intentionally angers and alienates the client, believing that this is some sort of brilliant reverse psychology sales tactic. Deangelo fails so spectacularly that Andy, who is a mediocre salesman, has to step in to save the contract.
- Put on a Bus: Ultimately winds up becoming comatose after being the official boss for just one episode after a freak accident with a basketball hoop. His fate is later clarified in "Lotto":Andy: Deangelo didn't die, his brain died.
- Rage Breaking Point: He gets this when Dwight didn't want to see him play basketball at the warehouse.Deangelo: Damn it, Dwight! ENOUGH! Get your ass downstairs or find a new place to sell paper!
- Rapid-Fire "Yes!": Deangelo yells it as he left the room Dwight is in.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: His character was written after Will Ferrell requested to see Steve Carell off.
- Some of My Best Friends Are X: His attempt to convince everyone that he's not a sexist boils down to this. And... apparently claiming that he's a woman himself.
- Straw Misogynist: He only allows males into his inner circle despite the office having high-ranking females such as Pam and Angela. When Jim meekly tries calling him out on it, he tries to cover this by hiring a woman as his executive assistant, except that he hires a Brainless Beauty with no corporate background. On the other hand, the woman in question is named Jordan, so it's possible he didn't even know that she was female when he hired her.
- Sucksessor: As Michael's replacement, he ends up having all of Michael's negative traits while having none of his positives. While Michael was an effective salesman, Deangelo has absolutely no experience, is prone to emotional breakdowns and outbursts, and more blatantly plays favorites with certain workers in the office.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He is very clearly introduced as a "New Michael", as a blunt and eccentric Pointy-Haired Boss. However, he lacked Michael's Hidden Depths and the character didn't last long.
Jordan Garfield
Played by: Cody Horn
The new executive assistant hired by Deangelo Vickers in "The Inner Circle", mainly to prove to the staff that he was not sexist.
- Aborted Arc: One of her deleted scenes implied she had a crush on Jim, and the writers stated that she might be a regular in Season 8, but this didn't come to pass.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Vanished without trace between Season 7 & 8.
- Two First Names: Her first name can be used as a given name for either a man or a woman and her last name can be used as a given name for a male.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Was teased to be a future regular character, but was ultimately removed from the show after three episodes.
Cathy Simms
Played by: Lindsey Broad
A temp meant to fill in for Pam while she was on maternity leave with her and Jim's second child, she stays for a bit, even getting picked for the Tallahassee meeting for Sabre's new retail branch.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Seems to be nice, but quickly shows a conniving side.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She doesn't return from Tallahassee. It's never revealed if she stayed there, or like Todd Packer, was fired.
- Evil Counterpart: She's an unsavoury version of Jim. Jim pined after Pam even though she was already engaged, only confessed his feelings to her when he was certain Pam wanted out and loved Pam enough to let her go when she rebuffed him. Cathy meanwhile made advances on Jim knowing he was happily married and had no real feelings for him.
- Manipulative Bitch: When Jim rejects her advances, she tries to play innocent so he won't kick her out. He doesn't believe her and has Dwight scare her off.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Jordan.
- The Vamp: Tries to seduce Jim while they're in Tallahassee.
Family Members
Schrute Family
Mose Schrute
"Bye Ryan...He seemed nice."
Played by: Michael Schur
Mose is Dwight's cousin and assistant (to the) farmhand.
- Cannot Talk to Women: We don't see Mose interact with the other characters that often, but Dwight implies as such on a few occasions.
- Chaotic Stupid: Things seldom go right whenever Mose gets involved.
- Companion Cube: His scarecrow in a dress.
- Didn't Think This Through: In one episode, Dwight offered Mose a job in the office. He questions Mose about some blatant lies on his resume and Mose has no alibi, so he runs.
- Gullible Lemmings: Dwight seems to like Mose because he has no will of his own.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Despite his flaws, he seems much less hostile than Dwight.
- Manchild: He's not very mature, to put it simply. It says a lot when Dwight is the more responsible one.
Halpert-Beesley Family
Helene Beesley
Played by: Shannon Cochran (Season 2), Linda Purl
Pam's mother and Michael's brief lover.
- Characterization Marches On: In her first appearance she's quite upbeat, but after divorcing Pam's father she becomes somewhat jaded. Then Michael dumps her and she pretty much gives up on life.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: A reversal. She's dating Pam's boss, despite Pam telling her just how immature and socially inept he is.
- May–December Romance: Michael eventually sees their relationship as this, despite Helene only being in her late 50s while he's in his mid-40s.
Vance-Lapin Family
Robert "Bob" Vance (Vance Refrigeration)
Played by: Robert Ray Shafer
Phyllis Lapin-Vance's husband and the owner of Vance Refrigeration, a neighboring tenant in the office park.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Generally affable and accommodating, he quickly has enough with Michael's attempted hijacking of his wedding. He unceremoniously manhandles him away from the mic, away from the table, and then out the building, ordering Dwight not to allow him back in."That's it, you're outta here!"
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His eccentrities aside, he's a genuinely talented and successful businessman.
- Happily Married: He absolutely adores Phyillis and she feels the same way about him in kind.
- Insistent Terminology: Refers to himself as Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
- He's first shown introducing himself to four people in a row with that exact phrasing, and it's never stopped.Ryan: (after the above has happened) So, what line of work are you in, Bob?
- Even at his WEDDING. "And do you, Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration..."
- His delivery van is even the vehicle they leave the wedding in. it's not just Insistent Terminology, it's Insistent Visual Reinforcement!
- He even signs Valentines Cards to his wife in the same way.
- He's first shown introducing himself to four people in a row with that exact phrasing, and it's never stopped.
- Nice Guy: He is a friendly guy, genuinely loves his girlfriend (eventually wife), and showers her with gifts whenever he can.
- Only Sane Man: He's one of the few characters in the series to react the way any of us would to the cringe-worthy, insulting, agonizing hi-jinks at Dunder Mifflin. When Jim and Pam have lunch with Bob and Phyllis in "Blood Drive", he asks how they can stand working with "that jackass" (Michael), "that other jackass" (Dwight) and "that new jackass" (Andy).
- Small Name, Big Ego: His ego is a bit larger than being a small business owner in a mid-sized city warrants.
- Tranquil Fury: He cheerfully threatened to kill Michael after Michael made one too many disruptions during his wedding to Phyllis.
- Verbal Business Card: " Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration "
Hudson Family
Martin Family
Palmer Family
Flenderson Family
Kapoor Family
Philbin Family
Others
Katy
Played by: Amy Adams
A purse saleswoman and Jim's brief girlfriend.
- Always Someone Better: To Pam. She has a similar look (petite build, long reddish hair) and personality (polite, even-tempered) but is more poised and glammed-up than her. Michael even calls her "New and improved Pam...Pam 6.0." She also manages to attract Jim, making Pam jealous. Kevin even asks Pam if she's jealous because Katy is prettier.
- Dude Magnet: Her feminine charms lead Michael to violate his own rule about vendors in the office, allowing her to set up shop in the conference room. After that, almost all the men at Dunder Mifflin try to pursue her.
- Girly Girl: She sells purses, looks far more radiant than any other female character in the series and considers Legally Blonde to be her favourite movie.
- Put on a Bus: She disappears completely after Jim dumps her.
Carol Stills
Played by: Nancy Carell
Michael's first girlfriend and his former real-estate agent.
- Irony as She Is Cast: Out of all of Michael's girlfriends, she is perhaps the least tolerant of his Manchild ways and is quick to turn down his hasty proposal. Her actress is Nancy Carell- Steve Carell's real-life wife.
- Rejected Marriage Proposal: In "Diwali", Michael, noting how Happily Married Kelly's parents are despite not knowing each other too well when they got married, is inspired to take the microphone and propose to Carol in front of all the party attendees, even though they've only had a handful of dates. All she can say in response is "Can we talk about this in private?", then she not only says no, she leaves the party and forces Michael to find another ride home.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: She's willing to put up with Michael's quirky immaturity because his heart seems to be in the right place. But in "A Benihana Christmas", when he uses one of her old family photos with Michael's face in place of her ex-husband's as his Christmas card, it's just too creepy and she immediately breaks up with him.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: She's quite fetching in her cheerleader outfit in "Diwali", though she feels self-conscious when she gets to the party and realizes that, contrary to what Michael said, Diwali isn't the Hindu version of Halloween.
- Uptight Loves Wild: While not impressed with him at first, Carol takes a liking to Michael when she sees how good he is with kids.
- The Bus Came Back: Twice, once when Michael gets herpes and visits his former girlfriends, and like many other characters, she appears again in the series finale this time, she is selling Jim and Pam's house.
Donna
Played by: Amy Pietz
Michael's girlfriend in Season 6 and a bar manager.
- Master of the Mixed Message: When Donna comes into the office to do business, everyone is left wondering if she's also trying to get Michael to flirt with her. Not helping is that Michael's idea of flirting is a natural turn-off.
State Senator Robert Lipton
Played by: Jack Coleman
A Pennsylvania State Senator introduced in Season 7 as a Love Interest for Angela, and later becoming her husband. It's later revealed that, unknown to Angela, he's a closeted gay man, after which he starts having an affair with Oscar.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He initially seems like a kind and affable person. However, his treatment of Angela and Oscar ultimately shows that the only thing he really cares about is himself and his political career, as Kevin notes in his "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Insistent Terminology: He doesn't do so himself, but when he was first introduced and Angela referred to him as "the Senator", Oscar would always correct her by adding "State Senator" to annoy her.
- Kick the Dog: After Angela stood loyally by him, despite him having lied to her about his sexuality and had an affair with one of her coworkers (though to be fair, she didn't have much room to complain about the latter seeing as she had an affair of her own with Dwight), he blindsides her by coming out at a press conference and implying that she was the reason he realized he was gay. Incredibly, his treatment of Angela is so poor that even she winds up looking sympathetic, despite having mostly been a judgmental Jerkass up to that point.
- Romantic False Lead: For Angela. They initially seem very compatible, both being refined and conservative, before he's revealed to be gay and a pretty crappy person.
- Sleazy Politician: He's ultimately revealed as one. He strikes up a romance with Angela to use her as his Beard, then cheats on her with Oscar, whom he also uses to boost his political profile and cheats on as well.
- Some of My Best Friends Are X: He invites Oscar to a political event to be his token Hispanic friend and boost his electability.
- Straight Gay: He has no camp affectations or stereotypical gay mannerisms at all.
- Transparent Closet: Several characters (with the notable exception of Angela) figure out his sexuality almost immediately after meeting him.
Brian
Played by: Chris Diamantopoulos
A member of the documentary crew.
- Big Damn Heroes: He jumps in to protect Pam from a violent warehouse worker. He gets fired as a result, but doesn't regret what he did.
- Dogged Nice Guy: His marriage fell apart around the same time as he lost his job. Despite this, he still tries to be there for Pam.
- Only One Name: His last name has yet to be revealed.
- Stalker with a Crush: Over the course of several years on the documentary crew, he's picked up a torch for Pam. However, he seems to understand quickly that it's not going to happen between them.
