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Main Characters
Stefano "Step" Mancini
Played by: Riccardo Scamarcio
A young and troubled hoodlum who spends most of his time doing illegal street racing with his gang, until he meets Babi.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the Spanish remake, his name is Hugo "Hache" Olivera.
- Anti-Hero: Especially in the first book. The only thing that keeps him from being a Villain Protagonist is his love for Babi.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Despite the mutual attraction, he and Babi have a very antagonistic first meeting at a party, before starting a relationship.
- Byronic Hero: He is moody, cynical, hangs out with delinquents, but he is also passionate, and has a troubled relationship with Babi, who falls in love with him.
- Chick Magnet: All the girls find him "hot", and at least three of them are in love with him, like Maddalena, Babi, and Gin.
- Delinquents: Along with his friends. When Babi starts dating Step, she reluctantly starts to get involved in their criminal lifestyle.
- The Ditherer: In later books, much of his drama is that he can't decide if the love of his life is Babi or Gin.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Step is a violent delinquent (Foolish), his older brother Paolo is formal, well-dressed, and has a good job (Responsible).
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: He doesn't have the best family life, but this still doesn't justify his violence and horrible behavior.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the first book, he is a criminal through and through, but in later books, he decides to leave crime behind and find a normal job.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A cocky and violent jerk in the first book, but genuinely cares for his friend Pollo, and his relationships with Babi, and later Gin.
- Love Redeems: His relationship with Babi gradually changes him, although he only has a complete Heel–Face Turn after their break-up, as he realizes how much he screwed up only after losing her.
- Loving Bully: He starts off as abusive Babi, forcing her to take a hot shower at a party, despite being attracted to her since the beginning. They end up falling in love.
- Older and Wiser:
- In the second book, Step is still cocky, but no longer a hoodlum, and he finds a normal job.
- In the third book, he has completely lost his "bad boy" streak. Now, he's a rich, dull, contemplative guy who's bored with his life and spends his time thinking about the past.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He is rarely called Stefano.
- Rags to Riches: Goes from a street thug in the first book to an important television producer in the third book.
- Troubled, but Cute: He has a Cool Bike, is violent, part of a gang of delinquents, leather jacket, has a Freudian Excuse, is extremely handsome, and shows his heart of gold when he falls in love with the female protagonist.
Fabrizia "Babi" Gervasi
Played by: Katy Louise Saunders
A model student from a rich family who unexpectedly falls in love with Step.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: We go from the blue-eyed blonde Babi of the book to the brown-eyed brunette Babi of the movie.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the Spanish remake, "Babi" is short for Bárbara Alcázar.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: The premise of the story is her falling in love with troubled bad boy Step, who loves her back.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: On the surface, a well-behaved good girl. But she has a dark and selfish side, and can be quite rude.
- Brainy Brunette: In the movies, she is a smart girl with dark hair. However, she is blonde in the original book and her good grades are mentioned more often than in the movies.
- Broken Ace: She is a rich, beautiful, popular girl who usually gets perfect grades. After she starts dating Step, her life becomes more problematic, both at school and at home. She breaks up with him at the end of the first book, and obviously Love Hurts.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She is initially cold to Step, looking down on him in their first two meetings. But she obviously starts to like him, even quite soon.
- Dude Magnet: And is aware of it. During an argument with her friend, she claims to be the biggest Dude Magnet in her school.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: In the books. The movie version popularizes the brunette version of Babi, which was also used in the Spanish remake.
- First Girl Wins: She is the first girl introduced in the first book, and the first girl Step fell in love with. Step ends up with her at the end of the last book.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Babi is mature and a brilliant student (Responsible), her sister Daniela is a shallow Bratty Teenage Daughter who only thinks about boys and often lies to her parents (Foolish).
- Good Girl Gone Bad: She starts off as the perfect daughter and the perfect student, but later starts getting in trouble with the law because of Step.
- Not So Above It All: While she is a studious girl, she doesn't like Catinelli, the nerdy Academic Alpha Bitch of her class. She even insulted her in front of everyone.
- Old Flame: She is this to Step in later books. Even though Step is dating Gin, he still has not gotten over Babi.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Babi. According to the third book Tre Volte Te, her real name is Fabrizia, although in the first movie, she was Roberta Gervasi instead.
- Riches to Rags: In the third book, she loses her wealth after her divorce from her rich husband, especially since Babi's own family is not wealthy anymore.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Not that she was ever nice to begin with, since she is a stuck-up rich girl since the first book. But in later books, she becomes very selfish and willing to use Step and ruin his relationships without caring.
- Uptown Girl: A rich girl who falls in love with a hoodlum from a Dysfunctional Family.
Ginevra "Gin" Biro
Played by: Laura Chiatti
A girl who meets Step when he returns from the US, two years after his break-up with Babi.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the Spanish remake, Gin is short for Ginebra, instead of Ginevra.
- Characterization Marches On: In the second book, Gin was a free-spirited, assertive, and determined girl who was willing to do crazy things for love. In the third book, she's a saintly and long-suffering Extreme Doormat.
- Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: In the second book, she replaces Babi as the female lead and Step's girlfriend. Gin is a rebellious Manic Pixie Dream Girl, the opposite of the uptight Babi from the first book.
- Extreme Doormat: In the third book. When she finds out that Step has been cheating on her with Babi throughout most of the book, she decides to turn a blind eye and doesn't tell Step anything, despite being pregnant. She doesn't even tell Step that she has a terminal illness, until she actually dies, after giving birth to the baby.
- Iconic Sequel Character: She doesn't appear until the second book, but is one of the main characters since her introduction.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Her love for Step is a bit obsessive, since she has been secretly stalking him for a long time.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A free-spirited, upbeat, beautiful woman, who starts a relationship with the brooding Anti-Hero Step. Deconstructed, due to Gin's stalkery tendencies.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She is mostly called Gin, rarely Ginevra.
- Romantic Runner-Up: In the third book. While Gin is Step's fiancée and later wife, Step also has a secret relationship with his ex-girlfriend Babi. The ending is tragic for Gin: she dies after giving birth to a child… and Step decides to raise the child with Babi.
- Second Love: After the end of Step's relationship with Babi, she is the second girl Step falls in love with.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In the second book, she gets more focus than Babi, the original heroine. Averted in the third book, where Babi becomes the female lead again, despite Gin's relationship with Step.
- Stalker with a Crush: To Step. At first it looks like a normal Boy Meets Girl story, but later it's revealed that Gin has been obsessed with Step for years, and she had many pictures of him and knew everything about his life, much time before they actually met each other. Even their "casual" first meeting was planned by the girl.
Other Characters
Pollo
Played by: Mauro Meconi
Step's best friend.
- Anyone Can Die: He dies at the end of the first book, and his death has an impact on the life of his best friend Step, the main character.
- Beta Couple: In the first book, he has a relationship with Babi's best friend Pallina.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Pollo ("chicken") is clearly not his real name.
- Posthumous Character: In later books. After his death, he's still mentioned by other characters, like Step and Pallina.
- Small Role, Big Impact: In two opposite ways.
- It's because of Pollo's crush on Babi's friend Pallina, that Step and Babi have the opportunity to meet again and start dating.
- At the end of the first book, because of Pollo's fatal accident and death, Babi decides to break up with Step.
Pallina
Played by: Maria Chiara Augenti
Babi's best friend.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the Spanish remake, her name is Katina.
- Beta Couple: In the first book, she has a relationship with Step's best friend Pollo.
- Odd Friendship: While her friend Babi is more uptight and studious, Pallina is more carefree and fun-loving.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Pallina ("little ball") is only a nickname. Her real name is Simona Lombardi, although she keeps the nickname Pallina even as an adult.
- Out of Focus: In the sequels, due to her boyfriend being dead, and the fact that she doesn't hang out with Babi anymore.
- We Used to Be Friends: In the sequel, she is no longer friends with Babi.
Daniela Gervasi
Played by: Giulia Elettra Gorietti
Babi's younger sister.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the books, Daniela is chubby and "there's nothing pretty about her", at least according to her sister Babi. In the movies, she's played by a pretty and thin actress.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: She can irritate her older sister Babi with her immaturity.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Daniela is 13 in the first book, slightly younger than Babi, and usually whiny, superficial, and immature.
- Character Development: She seems more mature in the last book Tre Volte Te, where she has a subplot about finding the real father of her child.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Daniela is a shallow Bratty Teenage Daughter who only thinks about boys and often lies to her parents (Foolish), while Babi is more mature and a brilliant student (Responsible). Downplayed, as Babi has many immature moments during the course of the books.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: An extremely boy-crazy teenager, and quite obsessed with cute guys. This gets exaggerated in the sequel, where she also becomes sexually active.
- Straw Loser: Other than being ditzier and more irresponsible than Babi, the first book also implies than she's uglier than her.
- Teen Pregnancy: In Ho Voglia di Te, she gets pregnant in a club's toilet. While she doesn't know who is the father, Daniela decides to keep her baby, despite her young age.
