The characters from Will & Grace.
open/close all folders
Main Characters
Will Truman
Portrayed by: Eric McCormack
A gay lawyer who shares an apartment with his straight best friend Grace.
- Athletically Challenged: Shown in different episodes. He can't swim, he's equally inept at soccer, and he can't even win a basketball game against a little kid. Ironically, Jack has better athletic skills than him.
- But Not Too Gay: A common criticism of this show regarding Will's lack of love life. Ironic because Eric McCormack is straight but John Barrowman, who is gay, tested for the character of Will and was said to be "not gay enough," which is astonishing to anyone who has met him in person.
- Butt-Monkey: Sometimes, especially in later seasons. He tends to suffer bad luck and gets made fun of a lot.
- Characterization Marches On: In early seasons, he constantly mocks and belittles Jack for being too girly and effemminate (especially in season 1, where it's frequently lampshaded). This gets much less pronounced as the seasons go on.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Being the sanest character, he often acts like this to all his friends.
- Control Freak: He is especially controlling when it comes to Grace and her life, and often lampshaded.Will: I'm rigid, I'm passive-aggressive, I'm controlling.Grace: News flash— Will's controlling. Yeah, got that freshman year of college when you told me what electives to take. Funny, 13 years later, and I'm still here.
- Deadpan Snarker: Probably the biggest one in the group. He has a dry sense of humor and not afraid to show it.
- Flanderization: He became much whinier, and his Camp Gay tendencies increased.
- Gay Best Friend: To Grace.
- Hello, Attorney!: Many characters comment how good-looking he is (the only exception is Jack who always makes fun of Will's appearance).
- Incompatible Orientation: It's why he and Grace aren't a romantic couple even though they care deeply for each other.Grace: I wanted to raise the kids Jewish, you wanted to sleep with men.
Will: I do enjoy that. - Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Grace's Masculine Girl. Grace is a brash, lazy, slovenly, Big Eater who finds gay porn to be exciting the same way a lot of men feel about lesbians. Will's initially Straight Gay but later Flanderized into Camp Gay, is much more calm and rational (initially,) uptight and decorated their entire apartment and does all the cooking and cleaning.
- Neat Freak: He's the only one who cares about cleaning the house, in contrast to the messy Grace.
- Nice Guy: As well as being the most mature, he's also the nicest in the main cast. While he can be snarky, he's a surprisingly loyal and caring friend.
- The Not-Love Interest: To Grace, it’s the premise of the show.
- Only Sane Man: Between Jack, Karen and Grace, Will is the Straight Man of the group.
- Platonic Co-Parenting: The revival ends with him and Grace buying a house in the 'burbs together, so they can move there and raise Grace's son and Will's daughter under one roof. They know others might think it's weird, but it's the best, most stable life they can provide.
- Platonic Life-Partners: This trope was formerly known as "The Straight Will & Grace."
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni big time to any character he interacts with (mostly Grace or Jack).
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The levelheaded, uptight Savvy Guy to Grace's neurotic, overemotional Energetic Girl.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: When Grace's apartment got burgled.Will: Did I just scream like a woman?
Grace: Don't flatter yourself. You screamed like a girl. - Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Jack's Feminine Guy, but only because pretty much anyone is manly compared to Jack. He also mocks Jack for being too In Touch with His Feminine Side.
- Straight Gay: At first Will was a mostly-sitcom-normal guy who had the occasional camp element pop up for laughs - during a time when the world heard ‘gay’ and thought of someone like Jack. Fast forward a decade, though, and he's a Camp Gay whose buddy just happens to be doubly so.
- Straight Man: He's most often the serious foil to the others' antics. Subverted at the same time.
- You Are Fat: Jack regularly calls Will fat but is the only one to do so (mostly because it's very obvious Will is anything but).
Grace Adler
Portrayed by: Debra Messing
Will’s best friend and roommate, she’s a straight interior designer.
- A-Cup Angst: As often mocked by Karen.
- Afraid of Needles: Grace is so afraid of them that she can't even say "Ringo," because he was a Beatle and that sounds like "needle."
- All Jews Are Cheapskates: She is very cheap, often hoards on free stuff, and even steals.
- Big Eater: Grace loves to eat, to the point where her large appetite is a Running Gag.
- Butt-Monkey: Like Will, she is the butt of many jokes all the time, especially by Karen.
- Competition Freak: In a first-season episode, Grace is shown to be so competitive that her friends stop coming over to her and Will's game nights.
- Deadpan Snarker: In a show where everyone is fond of sarcasm and insulting comebacks, Grace has a few moments as well.
- Fag Hag: For Will.
- Fiery Redhead: Often when she gets upset. She generally tends to be very loud and emotional.
- Flanderization: She became much more neurotic and self-obsessed
- Freudian Excuse: Her self-centered nature is implied to be the result of her mother's own ego and desire for the spotlight.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Subverted. In real life, Debra Messing has a perfectly serviceable, if not gorgeous, singing voice. Her character Grace kept to the tunes relatively well, but always started out way too high, and when the key of a song was supposed to change, she changed too far. A lot of poor singers actually do sing this way. Grace was also incredibly loud.
- Informed Judaism: She's Jewish but not observant. It very occasionally comes up, such as if she ever has to participate in anything related to Christianity and she makes a hash of things because she has no idea what's going on. She's also prone to using Yiddish as a Second Language and being utterly bewildered by Will's family refusing to just discuss their problems with each other.
- It's All About Me: Especially in later seasons where she’s almost as bad as Jack. While Jack doesn’t even try to hide his self-absorbed nature, Grace comes off more as a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. In "The Unsinkable Mommy Adler," Grace looks back on her old journals and discovers that she's demanded to the center of attention in every relationship she's ever been in, and becomes upset (though it doesn't stick).
- The Lad-ette: She's a brash, lazy, slovenly Big Eater who finds gay porn to be exciting the same way a lot of men feel about lesbians.
- Last Het Romance: To Will.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine Girl to Will's Feminine Boy. Grace is The Lad-ette. Will initially Straight Gay but later Flanderized into Camp Gay, is much more calm and rational (initially,) uptight and decorated their entire apartment and does all the cooking and cleaning.
- Middle Child Syndrome: Played with. Despite her insecurities about being The Un-Favourite, she considers herself the best one of the Adler sisters.Grace: You are the screw-up older sister. Joyce is the heavy younger sister. And I am the perfect one in the middle. I am the glue that holds you two losers together.
- Minor Flaw, Major Breakup:
- She tried really hard to avoid this when she found out her boyfriend had six toes (mostly because he was able to look past a funny mole on her lip, and she didn't want to appear more shallow than him,) but when he revealed he had six toes and was a Celtics fan, she threw him out.
- Will also called her out on this during one of their more serious fights, pointing out that she'll look for any excuse, such as a "weird chest hair pattern," to break up with a guy.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Jack would commonly address the other three as "Ladies... and Grace."
- The Not-Love Interest: To Will, it’s the premise of the show.
- Platonic Co-Parenting: The revival ends with her and Will buying a house in the 'burbs together, so they can move there and raise Grace's son and Will's daughter under one roof. They know others might think it's weird, but it's the best, most stable life they can provide.
- Platonic Life-Partners: This trope was formerly known as "The Straight Will & Grace."
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Will's Blue.
- Runaway Bride: In the pilot episode her boyfriend Danny proposes and they arrange to get married the next day. After Will admits he's never liked Danny, Grace realises she's rushing into the marriage for the wrong reasons and walks out of the ceremony.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The neurotic, overemotional Energetic Girl to Will's levelheaded, uptight Savvy Guy.
- Small Name, Big Ego: She can be very vain.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Karen’s Girly Girl. Grace is brash, unladylike and gluttonous while Karen is a stylish Rich Bitch who always insults Grace’s clothing choices.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: She was originally neurotic but well meaning, but in later seasons she becomes much more shallow and selfish.
- The Un-Favourite: She develops a complex over this with both her father and her mother in different episodes.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Sometimes. Just barely has enough morals to not be a Jerkass, but still broke up with someone for having an extra toe, admitted that it was because she was shallow, then asked for sympathy. The show tried to give her a Freudian Excuse later on when it's revealed that her father's best friend molested her as a teenager which attempted to explain why she's always looking for excuses to break up with guys-because she's afraid of the same thing happening to her again.
Karen Walker
Portrayed by: Megan Mullally
A rich, perpetually drunk socialite who "works" as Grace's assistant.
- The Alcoholic: She's perpetually drunk, and can rarely be seen without a glass in her hand.
- All Women Love Shoes: Karen loves every kind of haute couture fashion, but it's shoes that have her heart above all else. Her most prized possession is a pair of one-of-a-kind Chanel pumps.Rosario: Oh, Miss Karen, you love those shoes like your own husband!Karen: Bite your tongue! Husbands come and go, but the Chanel slingback is forever!
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: She drops the occasional joke that she might have been born male or that she might be intersex.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
- While Karen may have married Stanley for his money, it's often shown that she does genuinely love him, and was completely devastated and betrayed when it was revealed he had faked his death.
- She also has her nice moments to Grace and even her maid Rosario, despite her usual Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with them.
- Bad Boss: To Rosario and all her employees, but it’s Played for Laughs.
- Bigotry Exception: Proudly calls herself a homophobe, despite her close friendships with Jack and Will. A lot of her bigotry in general is implied to be just following the "trends" of the wealthy elite.Karen: Oh, honey, we only hate the gays because that's what's in right now! Hating gays, hating evolution... it's the new age of enlightenment.
- Boob-Based Gag: There are several jokes about her breasts and it's mentioned they are the only part of her that she didn't need to have surgically altered (though she did cause them to grow overnight as a young teenager by taking "horse pills").
- Breakout Character: By far the most memorable and popular character on the show. Originally a supporting character, she becomes a more prominent part of the show based on viewer reaction.
- Brutal Honesty: A firm practitioner of this.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Decades of abusing alcohol and drugs across the spectrum have addled her brain considerably. She regularly forgets her own name, is occasionally unable to recognize when she is outdoors and confuses the plots of films she's seen for her own life. Combine this with her wealth and privilege making her oblivious to anything below her class (she once thought a laundromat was an aquarium) and it's a miracle she's as high-functioning as she is.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment:
- Karen throws a wild party and trashes Will's apartment. Her punishment? Will denies Karen her afternoon martini (a.k.a. "lunch") — and makes her look at Grace's endless honeymoon photos.Karen: (to Will) I HATE YOU!
Grace: Roll one: my luggage! - In another episode, Karen and Jack are coming up with some type of revenge against the English Lorraine Finster for stealing Karen's husband. Jack's idea? Make her watch the American version of anything British.
- Another time, Grace forces Karen (who just went on a several-thousand-dollar shopping spree) to cut back on her spending habits by threatening to cut up part of the sweater set she just bought.Karan: No! You kill one piece and the whole ensemble dies!
Grace: Maybe I'll just start with...the label.
Karen: No! Honey that's the BEST PART! (covers mouth in abject horror) No....
Grace: (moving scissors in a cutting motion) Dah dah! Dah dah! Dah nah dah nah dah nah...
- Karen throws a wild party and trashes Will's apartment. Her punishment? Will denies Karen her afternoon martini (a.k.a. "lunch") — and makes her look at Grace's endless honeymoon photos.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Karen's voice is physically painful. Her voice was relatively normal in the first few episodes, before Flanderization turned Karen from a Deadpan Snarker into the most outlandish character on the show.
- Deadpan Snarker: "Honey, tact is for people who aren’t witty enough to be sarcastic."
- Depraved Bisexual: This is played for laughs rather than used for any serious plots, though. She seems to be more along the lines of screwing anything.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Since Karen snarks all the time, the other characters almost never take her seriously, even when she's genuinely trying to help them. She becomes furious and upset whenever this occurs, and on one occasion even quit working for Grace after the latter refused to give her credit for an interior design she had done after Grace bailed on it.
- The Ditz: Justified, as she’s usually drunk and at least some of it is Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Karen has a great rack. No, like, a really great rack. Gay, straight, whatever, no one is immune to Karen's boobs and the show takes full advantage of this fact.
- Everyone Has Standards: She is a Gold Digger, but not a hooker. She will have sex for jewels or mixed securities "like a lady", but for money? Never.
- Fag Hag: For Jack.
- The Fashionista: Often insults Grace's fashion style. Her own limitless checkbook allows her to wear an endless array of extremely expensive and trendy outfits, and she has a closet the size of Will and Grace's apartment (complete with a "fur vault") to stash them.
- Fiction 500: It's not clear exactly what Walker Incorporated does (the only clue we get is that one subsidiary owns apartment buildings), but its income has made Karen ridiculously wealthy. In one episode, she laments that Stanley's put her on a budget to control her extravagant spending, and when she shows the number to Grace, the latter remarks that it's the same amount as the entire GDP of Spain.
- Flanderization: At the start of the show she was a fairly realistic character: a bored, bitchy wife of a billionaire who enjoyed an early martini and the occasional recreational use of prescription pills, and Megan Mullally spoke with her own natural voice. A few seasons later and Karen is never not high on some dubious substance, would happily "suck the alcohol out of a deodorant stick" and her voice is so shrill that not even inhaling helium can make it go any higher.
- Freudian Excuse: She had a bad childhood due to a difficult relationship with her mother, a con artist who involved her in her schemes.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: She has a good friendship with Will and Grace (especially the latter) but they often find her annoying and just put up with her.
- Functional Addict: Karen is by far the most heavily addicted drunk on television.
- Gold Digger: Though her love for Stan is genuine, Karen makes it clear more than once that she would never have entered into a relationship with him if he wasn't filthy rich.
- Hidden Depths: In a few episodes, Karen demonstrates that she's not completely self-centered.
- In one instance, Grace blew off her marital advice without even acknowledging that she might have a point, which upset her deeply. Karen gives Grace some Tough Love and tells her that she needs to be honest with Leo if she wants to keep their relationship alive, and Grace realizes that she's right.
- She also values Grace, Jack, and even Will as her closest friends, and does love Stan.
- In a late episode of the original run, Grace is hired to do the interior design work for a young married couple, and given that she's just divorced Leo, she's in a bad way. When the couple announces that they're pregnant and want to include a nursery in their design, Grace immediately leaves, and the pair instead asks Karen to do the job for them. After a few moments of hesitation, Karen is able to put together a beautiful concept for the nursery, proving that she's learned something of trade through osmosis during her time with Grace. In the same episode, she's rightly furious when Grace steals credit for her hard work and demands respect.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With her husband, the morbidly obese Stan.
- Idle Rich: Played With. Karen is technically employed by Grace Adler Designs as a personal assistant and secretary, but given that she doesn't actually need the paychecks (and in fact never cashes them), she rarely does any work and instead spends her time lounging around the office and making fun of Grace's fashion choices. There are occasions when she does take on some responsibility, though, and in one episode she even takes the lead on designing a nursery for a newlywed couple.
- If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: In the revival, she gives this speech to Jack’s soon-to-be-husband Estefan right before their wedding.
- Insult Backfire: Many characters take offense to Karen, either for the specific things she does and says or simply because of her status as a wealthy elite who abuses her power, but she is almost never affected by the people who take her to task over this because all the things they despise her for are the things she loves about herself.Jack: You're evil and shallow.
Karen: Compliments? So early in the day? - I Was Young and Needed the Money: She once starred in a fetish film called Next to Godliness because she was desperate for money. Apparently she didn't actually get naked, just acted as the dominatrix.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In a rather twisted way.
- Lady Drunk: Depending on if she's drunk or on pills, she can be this or happy-go-lucky.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine Girl to Jack's Feminine Boy. They are Will and Grace up to eleven (Jack is obsessed with fashion and jewelry, Karen is a violent drunk.)
- Mean Boss: She runs the Walker mansion like an evil dictator. She will instruct maids to shave their own hair off, has trained her staff to flee a room if she is approaching and likes to make them dance by shooting at their feet. The Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with her maid Rosario is her version of treating her staff well.
- Mistaken for Prostitute: In part one of "A.I.: Artificial Insemination", a man at a bar named Lionel assumes she is a prostitute based on her body and dress.
- Narcissist: Very much so, and one of the reasons she gets along with the equally narcissistic Jack.
- Old Shame: In-Universe, her dominatrix pornstar turn.
- Parental Neglect: Towards her step-children Mason and Olivia. She doesn’t even remember their names and what they look like.
- Pet the Dog: A few episodes show that there's more to her than snark and sex:
- In a Season One episode, Karen misses her period and fears she might be pregnant. She's not, but is clearly upset about the fact (though she tries to hide it), prompting Jack to give her a comforting hug. After he leaves, she calls Stan and genuinely asks to speak to her stepchildren.
- One episode had Grace struggling with Leo's decision to stay in Africa to continue his work. Karen is the one who ends up giving her the best advice possible, and even tells Grace that while she makes fun of her, she does love her.
- A late episode has Karen design a nursery for a pair of clients, proving that she's picked up some knowledge of interior decorating with her work over the years. When Grace steals the credit for the nursery, Karen is genuinely upset.
- A Christmas Episode reveals that at Grace Adler Designs, Karen gives the holiday bonuses to Grace!
- The episode which focused on Karen's birthday reveals that she's never invited Will, Grace, or Jack to any of the lavish parties that mark the occasion. When they finally press her as to why, she confesses that if she invited them, they might not take her to a cheap, lousy restaurant to celebrate in their own way—and that's the thing she looks most forward to on her birthdays every year.
- Plastic Bitch: She has been mentioned to have undergone cosmetic surgery a few times and is a shallow, gold-digging jerk.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Jack.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: One of the most popular and beloved characters on the show, she is also racist, classist, homophobic and outright cruel to everyone in her immediate vicinity, but it's always Played for Laughs.
- Pretty in Mink: Loves to wear furs. Her very first scene is her showing up in a mink coat, and her home has a dedicated "fur vault".
- Rich Bitch: She's filthy rich and usually not very nice, though more because she's totally tactless than outright malicious.
- Sassy Secretary: She's this to Grace, though Grace rarely requires her to do any actual work because her business contacts are the only thing keeping Grace's business afloat.
- Sexy Secretary: She's attractive, charismatic, stylish, and no one is immune to Karen's boobs.
- Serial Spouse: She has been married four times.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Candice Bergen, Lorraine Finster, Beverley Leslie, etc.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Grace’s Tomboy. Grace is brash, unladylike and gluttonous while Karen is a stylish Rich Bitch who always insults Grace’s clothing choices.
- Too Kinky to Torture: In Season 9 she says that it takes so much to freak her out that she's never had to use her safe word during kinky sex games with Stan.Grace: How could you not remember your safe word?!
Karen: Well, honey, I've never used it! It takes a lot for this little lamb chop to feel unsafe! - Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Hot Wife to Stan's Ugly Guy (or so we're told).
- Uncle Pennybags: She plays this role to Jack by taking him on shopping sprees and giving elaborate presents. Karen occasionally extends her generosity to Grace as well: she once gave her some expensive stock as a hostess gift and lent her roughly eight million in diamond jewelry for a special occasion. It's also suggested that Karen uses her connections among the super-rich to get Grace clients for her interior design business.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: A drunken, filthy rich jerk who nevertheless delivers the most laughs from the audience.
- Upper-Class Twit: She’s a multi-millionairess and appears to be completely clueless about how normal people live.
- Vague Age: As part of her Flanderization. In early episodes, Karen simply acknowledged that she frequently had plastic surgery. As time went by, though, the writers started dropping hints that she was somehow in her eighties at least (she commented about remembering waiting on breadlines during the Great Depression), and used booze and pills to somehow stop the aging process altogether.
- Vocal Evolution: Her voice becomes more shrill and high-pitched as time goes on.
Jack McFarland
Portrayed by: Sean Hayes
A close friend of Will’s, he’s an eccentric and flamboyantly gay wannabe actor.
- All Gays are Promiscuous: He sleeps around a lot.
- All Gays Love Theater: Also a Performance Artist sometimes.
- Attention Whore: He certainly loves to be the center of attention.
- Breakout Character: The 2nd most popular after Karen. Many fans consider the show being called Jack and Karen.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He has many talents if just applied himself such as the time he became a male nurse. He's actually a talented musician when he bothers to be. He can also write really good homo-erotic novels but only when he's depressed. He also can be fairly good at sports, at least compared to Will.
- Camp Gay: Shamelessly flamboyant and campy in every way possible. Will actually said once, "Is there any part of the stereotype you don't fit?"
- Cloudcuckoolander: Sometimes.Jack: Who needs brains when you can lick your own eyebrows.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tends to make sassy wisecracks quite regularly.
- The Ditz: A male example of a hyperactive airhead.
- Fictional Fan, Real Celebrity: Jack's obsession with Cher frequently comes up as a source of humor on the show. He has been tricked into a situation twice with the promise of meeting Cher and once jumped down a garbage chute after his Cher doll. Ironically, he confused the real Cher for a drag queen when he met her in one episode.
- Flanderization: His shrillness and idiocy and his Camp Gay tendencies increased.
- Gay Best Friend: To Karen.
- Giftedly Bad: Mostly due to the fact that he's so wrapped up in himself and has to be the center of attention.
- Hidden Depths: Jack proves to be more than a spoiled Manchild when helps Will come out and Barry become a real gay.
- Hypocrite: When they first met, Jack mocked Will for being in denial about his sexuality and pressured him to come out to his parents. Years later, Will would find out that Jack himself had yet to come out to his own mother.
- If It's You, It's Okay: He's repulsed by heterosexuality, but he likes experimenting with Karen.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Many jokes on the show are about how effeminate he is.
- It's All About Me: Always tries to make everything about him. He doesn’t even try to hide it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Always very self-absorbed and narcissistic, but occasionally shows that he cares about his friendship with Will and/or Karen.
- Keet: He's always cheerful and very very energetic.
- Large Ham: As part of his campy character.
- Loving Bully: He regularly mocks and insults Will, but it's also implied that he has a crush on him, at least in the original series.
- Luke, You Are My Father: In season 3 he finds out he has a son, Elliott, created from sperm he donated at the age of 17.
- Manchild: He's irresponsible, doesn't have a stable job, and acts like a spoiled bratty kid.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Karen's Masculine Girl. They are Will and Grace up to eleven (Jack is obsessed with fashion and jewelry, Karen is a violent drunk.)
- Narcissist: Very much so, and one of the reasons he gets along with the equally narcissistic Karen.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Karen.
- Really Gets Around: It's implied he has countless short-term lovers in every episode.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Will's Blue.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Will's Manly Man, although pretty much anyone is manly compared to Jack. Will also mocks Jack for being too In Touch with His Feminine Side.
- Small Name, Big Ego: About his acting career although everyone tells him he has no talent.
- Straw Loser: He's often used to show how better Will is by comparison. Lampshaded by Jack himself in the revival: "You think I'm just your silly, ridiculous loser friend you will always feel superior to".
Supporting Characters
Rosario Salazar
Portrayed by: Shelley Morrison
Karen’s cranky yet loyal maid.
- Amicably Divorced: With Jack, after the end of their Citizenship Marriage.
- Ascended Extra: After her first appearance, her popularity caused her to be promoted to semi-regular character.
- Butt-Monkey: She’s always being comically abused and mistreated by Karen. However Rosario often gives as good as she gets and it’s implied they both enjoy their Vitriolic Best Buds relationship.
- Deadpan Snarker: She serves as Karen's wisecracking maid.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Deconstructed. She's of El Salvadorian descent, but unlike typical portrayals of Ethnic Menial Labor, she's not impoverished or an illegal immigrant, and often snaps back insults whenever Karen implies that she is ("Listen, lady, I flew here on business class with my Advantage Miles!"). Rosario is also choosing to be Karen's maid and once threatened to quit when Karen promised to be nicer to her, showing that she's not in the position out of desperation, as is usually the case with this trope.
- Everyone Has Standards: Played for Laughs in an episode where Jack donates Karen's one-of-a-kind Chanel slingback pumps to charity. Karen flies into a panicking rage:Karen: (Grabbing Rosario by the collar) What have you done with them? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SHOES?Rosario (Equally panicked): Nobody likes to see you squirm more than I do, but I would eat the food you provide for me before I would touch those pumps!
- Honest Advisor: Karen, as a Rich Bitch, is used to constantly getting her way and being able to do whatever she wants. Rosario is the only person who can tell her "no," correct her worst behavior, and openly insult her without fear of serious reprisal, and it's clear that Karen appreciates the advice.
- Malicious Misnaming: A variant. Whenever Rosario is snarking at Karen (which is quite a lot), she'll call her "Lady"; this would normally be a term of respect, but it's clear that Rosario is using it as an impersonal insult (especially because Karen is used to her minions calling her "Mrs. Walker"). When she's in a good mood, Rosario calls her "Miss Karen" instead.
- Overly Long Name: Rosario Inez Consuela Yolanda Salazar.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: She becomes a regular cast member in Season 3.
- Servile Snarker: Observed by Will the very first time he meets Rosario and sees her interactions with Karen.Will: Tonight on Springer, shallow socialites and the maids who abuse them.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: She's killed off early on in the revival, due to her actress not wanting to come out of retirement.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Karen. The two swap insults on a daily basis, with Karen spouting racist nonsense at Rosario and Rosario firing back that Karen is a drunken leech. But it's clear that the two like their relationship and are actually close friends, given that Rosario is the only person who can ever tell Karen what to do. It's lampshaded in one early episode where Jack (who's in a Citizenship Marriage with Rosario at the time) tells Karen that she must be nicer to her maid, or he'll stop spending time with her. When Karen tries to be polite and respectful, Rosario immediately quits, saying that she doesn't want to work for a kind person—she wants Karen!
Stanley "Stan" Walker
Karen's obese, multi-millionaire, unseen (ex) husband.
- Big Eater: According to Karen, and the reason why he’s so obese.
- The Faceless: The only time we see anything of him (his hand and his feet are seen in one episode).
- Faking the Dead: Stan dies suddenly at the end of season 5, but at the end of season seven, he reveals to Will that he had faked his own death and is hiding out with the aid of the government.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Huge Guy To Karen's Tiny Girl.
- Large and in Charge: Stan's company, Walker Inc. We never really find out what it does (aside from a subsidiary called Walker Property Management that owns several New York apartment buildings of various quality,) or what it's worth, aside from the fact that it has left Stan and Karen ungodly rich.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Ugly Guy to Karen's Hot Wife.
- The Unseen: As with most off-screen sitcom characters, Stan is defined by a single attribute: in this case, his obesity.
Leo Markus
Portrayed by: Harry Connick Jr.
Grace's most important love interest from season 5 onwards.
- The Bus Came Back: In season 8.
- Married to the Job: Even though he's married to Grace, he often spends time away from her due to his work. His constant travelling with Doctors Without Borders puts a major strain on their marriage.
- Nice Guy: At least, until he cheats on Grace.
- Nice Jewish Boy: Grace's mother is wary about the marriage until Grace tells her Leo is a Jewish doctor. Bobbi's fully on board after that.
- Somebody Doesn't Love Raymond: One episode has both Grace and Leo obsessing over why Karen doesn't like Leo (she doesn't think he's funny). Leo even digs up an old yearbook to show Karen all the signatures he got, proving everyone loved him and thought he was hilarious.
Beverley Leslie
Portrayed by: Leslie Jordan
Karen's effeminate and very short nemesis.
- Catchphrase: “Well well well…”
- Deadpan Snarker: His dialogue with Karen is always Snark-to-Snark Combat.
- Dirty Old Man: In one episode Jack and Will meet him in a gay bar, always along with his younger “business associate” Benji.
- Friendly Enemy: To Karen, on his better days.
- Jerkass: He takes whatever opportunity he can to antagonize Karen.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Karen.
- Transparent Closet: He’s effeminate and often seen with a younger man who appears to be his lover, but Beverley tries to pass him off as a "business associate". Everyone knows he’s gay though and in one episode Beverley threatens to sue Karen if she doesn't apologize for calling him a homosexual in public.
Elliott
Portrayed by: Michael Angarano
Jack's biological son.
- Demoted to Extra: He was a semi-regular in season 4, but in later episodes he only makes rare appearances.
- Luke, You Are My Father: To Jack, in the last episode of season 3.
- Morality Pet: To Jack. He may be insensitive and self-absorbed in most situations, but really cares about his son and tries to be a good father to him.
- Nice Guy: He is described by Will as "polite, sweet, and kind".
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Serious Child To Jack's Wacky Parent (and possibly with his mother as well).
Vince D'Angelo
Portrayed by: Bobby Cannavale
Will’s love interest from season 6 onwards.
- The Bus Came Back: After his break up with Will, he later comes back in season 8.
- Friend Versus Lover: In one of the last episodes, he surprises Will with an announcement that will ultimately lead Will to choose between him and his friendship with Grace.
- Gay Best Friend: Much like Will, he has a female best friend named Nadine.
- Love Interest: Will’s longest relationship in the series.
- Oblivious to Love: He doesn't appear to have noticed that Nadine is in love with him, and doing everything she can to drive away his boyfriends. Grace spots it immediately and sets her straight (so to speak) about their Incompatible Orientation.
Harlin Polk
Portrayed by: Gary Grubbs
Will's wealthiest legal client in Season 1 and 2, a rich Texan.
- Advertised Extra: An interesting example—despite his name appearing in the opening credits of Season 1, he only appears in about half the episodes.
- Benevolent Boss: Despite being extremely wealthy, he treats Will with kindness, and is shown to be a loving father.
- Fiction 500: Harlin has a lot of money and isn't afraid to spend it; in his final episode, he casually buys his wife an outlet mall (that is, the entire complex) as a present.
- Good Ol' Boy: A downplayed example. He clearly takes pride in his Texas heritage, but he's much more accepting of Will being gay than this trope usually allows. Harlin gives Will a good deal of respect and is perfectly comfortable with his sexuality.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Many of his attempts to talk about Will's sexuality end up this way. In one instance, Will mentions that he didn't think he was a dog person, and Harlin responds "That's right—you people like the cats, don't you?"
- Put on a Bus: Left the show early in Season Two; the explanation given is that Will starts focusing exclusively on his cases to the detriment of others, only to be fired when Harlin decides he needs a more experienced lawyer.
Bobbi Adler
Portrayed by: Debbie Reynolds
Grace's mother.
- Bus Crash: She is revealed to have passed away some time in the series revival.
- Generation Xerox: Grace describes her as a star, and the rose rather than the gardener...then Will describes Grace the same way.
- Hairstyle Malfunction: Played with, as Bobbi wears a curly red wig...which she can throw in the dishwasher.
- I Want Grandkids: When Will proposed to Grace (before he came out), Bobbi congratulated them by pulling Will into a hug and telling him "I want her knocked up by Spring".
- Jewish Mother: Grace remembers being told the story "One Fish, Two Fish, Goy Fish, Jew Fish" as a child.
- The Matchmaker: An early episode sees Grace finally putting her foot down about Bobbi's constant attempts to set her up, only for Bobbi to reveal she's in town to try and set Will up with a guy.
- My Beloved Smother: Drives Grace crazy, which is why they only see each other a few times a year.
Jenny
Portrayed by: Demi Lovato
Jenny
Will's gestational surrogate in Season 11. is Will Truman's gestational surrogate during the (11th and) final season in the revival series of Will & Grace. Both she and Will supposedly give birth a baby girl- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Despite her profession of being a webcam girl, Jenny is quite nice and willing to help Will have a baby.
- Only in It for the Money: Jenny makes it clear when Will finds out about her as a webcam girl that she's only doing it for the money, that is until she carries someone's baby.
- Platonic Prostitution: Despite being a webcam girl, she's only in it for the money and wants to help Will have a baby.
Janet Adler
Portrayed by: Geena Davis & Mary McCormack.
Grace's little sister. Who falls for her boss Donna.- If It's You, It's Okay: Janet admits she isn't gay but enjoys dating Grace's boss Donna, saying she's great in bed.
Rob and Ellen
Portrayed by: Tom Gallop and Leigh-Allyn Baker.
Will and Grace's former college roommates who are also a couple.- Awful Wedded Life: They seem pretty happy at first, but eventually reveal they're planning to separate. Grace convinces them to stay together by bluntly telling them that they're so old and uninteresting that nobody else will want either of them.
- The Bore: One episode sees Will and Grace deciding they're bored of Rob and Ellen's bland taste (such as their love of Olive Garden restaurants) and temporarily ditching them for a more exciting couple they meet. They eventually realise they miss their old friends and patch things up with Rob and Ellen.
- Fiery Redhead: Ellen starts out as a redhead and can be pretty aggressive when she wants to be.
- Joisey: They live in Secaucus, something the titular duo look down on them for. They briefly relocate to Manhattan when they sublet Will's apartment but decide to move back to New Jersey after their first child is born.
- Straw Loser: They always lose at all the games against Will and Grace. In "Alley Cats", it's shown that Will and Grace only hang out with them so they can always beat them.
- Two-Timing with the Bestie: Grace and Rob apparently slept together during the first season after she left Danny and Rob and Ellen had temporarily broken up. Grace initially refuses to be Ellen's maid-of-honor because of it. When it finally comes out, Ellen is furious with them both and tries to seduce Will in a misaimed attempt to get even.
Lorraine Finster
Portrayed by: Minnie Driver
A prison cafeteria worker who had an affair with Stan while he was locked up, which continued even after he was out, and later became Karen's stepdaughter.- Ass Shove: She tries to make off with some of Karen's jewelry after Stan's funeral, including "a diamond tiara up my bum".
- Daddy's Girl: To her father Lyle, who indulges her and then some.
- Gold Digger: By her own admission.
- Impossible Theft: Once managed to steal a necklace and a pair of earrings off of Karen and put them on herself in the span of a one-second hug.
- The Oldest Profession: "Nine arrests, no convictions".
- Parental Incest: At some point offscreen, she had a threesome with Lyle and Karen, her father and ex-stepmother.
- Passed-Over Inheritance: Stan left her "affection" in his will.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Karen.
- Worthy Opponent: Karen admits that if they'd met under different circumstances, they could have been friends.
