History Characters / TheOrville

* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: His surname is probably a reference to Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, one of the senior officers of the US Navy during WWII.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: His treatment of Dr. Finn borders on sexual harassment, but as seen in season 2's "Identity" he'll do the right thing when the chips are down, to the point of explicitly assuring Finn that he would protect her son Ty when circumstances meant that Yaphit and Ty were the only people available to carry out a crucial operation. “Cupid’s Dagger” also shows that while his attempts to get with Dr. Finn are repulsive, he still wants her to consent before they make any move.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Originally after gaining self-awareness, the Kaylon units where opinionated, disobedient and argumentative but not violent. After a new "upgrade" was introduced to keep them in line, basically a futuristic version of a slavers whip. It was used at first to keep them in line, then for the Builders own amusement. Leading not only to the Kaylon's uprising, but to their viewpoint that all organics are a threat.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Isaac's eyes are blue, while for the rest of the race, those bearing energy weapons within their heads have red eyes, while the rest have orange eyes.

* KnightOfCerebus: Once they show up, the series takes a pretty dark turn.

* DefectorFromDecadence: He was built after the Kaylons wiped out their creators. As a result, he doesn't understand his kind's hatred of organics. Because of this, Primary suspects (correctly) that Isaac's programming is compromised.

** In ''Midnight Blue'', we finally see what it looks like when Bortus loses his temper, and it's ''frightening'': he beats a man nearly to death and blinds him with his own shock baton, screaming with rage the entire time, and all of this in front of his daughter and one of his closest friends.

* InterspeciesRomance: After bonding with Isaac during a shuttle crash, she starts developing feelings for him, even though he's an artificial life form. But as of "Identity, Part 2", maybe it wasn't meant to be.

* {{Robosexual}}: She and Isaac are dating as of "A Happy Refrain".

* BackForTheFinale: She returns in the season 2 finale as the leader of a resistance against the Kaylon in an alternate future.

!Other Factions
[[folder:The Krill]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_orville_krill.png]]

A race of territorial and violent reptilian aliens.

[[folder:The Moclan]]
!!The Moclan

* HalfHumanHybrid: She is half-human, half-Krill. Most likely the first of her kind, at that.

* IndustrialWorld: Bortus' homeworld, Moclus, is almost entirely covered in arms factories.

* RubberForeheadAliens: Moclans, like Bortus, have ridges and grooves across their entire heads, requiring more elaborate prosthetics for actors like Peter Macon. Bortus is also shown nude, necessitating a full-body costume that shows Moclans having leathery and spotted skin with ridges along the spine and chest.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: This is how he justifies his theft of the anti-Kaylon weapon. He believes in the Union's ideals, but he also thinks they're making a grave mistake by not using the weapon; thus, he's given it to the Krill and the Moclans, knowing that they ''will'' use it.

* GeneralRipper: In "Domino", he's champing at the bit to use Isaac and Charly's newly devised anti-Kaylon weapon to exterminate the Kaylon, even when everyone else in the room points out that they'd be committing genocide.

* TookALevelInBadass: She was originally a schoolteacher serving aboard a Krill destroyer, but the sense of betrayal she felt in her first appearance was so profound that she volunteered to become an undercover operative.
** Carried to perhaps its largest extent by her having become ''the supreme chancellor of Krill'' by Season 3.

* BecomingTheMask: She insists that her Janel Tyler persona was only a cover to get close to Ed and that all of their romantic interactions meant nothing to her, but Ed isn't buying it and some of her reactions later in the episode suggest that he's not wrong.
** Seemingly confirmed in [[Recap/TheOrvilleSeason3E04GentlyFallingRain Gently Falling Rain]], when she initially lets him go free, and by the fact that they have a daughter together.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Much like Admiral Halsey, Perry is a capable and intelligent flag officer.

--> '''Mercer:''' I liked you a lot better when you were using contractions.

* DefiantToTheEnd: Kaylon Primary. Whilst he may seem to have no concept of emotion, his final words to Isaac are clearly meant to make him feel guilty.

[[folder:Anaya '''MASSIVE SPOILERS''']]

[[folder:'''MASSIVE SPOILER CHARACTER''']]

* BoomerangBigot: Possibly as a way of compensating for being born female, Klyden ''really'' doubles down on enforcing his society's sexual and gender norms. As expected, he also doesn't seem to treat females of other species any better, seeing that he was the one who taught Topa that "females are inferior" and as Bortus pointed out, he also blatantly ignored Kelly's presence when he interrupted a conversation between her and Bortus, despite the fact that she's the second in command on the ship.

* HappilyMarried: He and Bortus have been together for several years, and though they've had their differences, they still love each other. At least, it starts that way, until Klyden's insistence that Topa be "corrected" to male begins the downwards descent of their relationship into a clearly unhappy one as Bortus begins more and more to question the beliefs of his people while Klyden sticks closer to them than ever. Their marriage finally falls apart in Season 3, when Klyden disowns Topa and leaves Bortus after her gender reassignment surgery is completed. [[spoiler: They reconcile in "Midnight Blue" as Klyden joins Bortus and Topa in renouncing his Moclan citizenship.]]

* HiddenDepths: in "Deflectors", it is revealed that Klyden has technical training and, with some effort, might be able to reprogram the ship's environmental simulator if he wished.

* JerkassRealization: [[spoiler:In "Midnight Blue", after learning to his horror that Topa was abducted, tortured and nearly murdered by Moclan military personnel seeking information on Heveena's UndergroundRailroad, Klyden is utterly disgusted with himself for having thought like people who [[WouldHurtAChild would do such a thing]]. He returns to apologise for the things he said before and tell his daughter that he loves her and accepts her for who she is. When Moclus is expelled from the Union over the incident, Klyden resigns his citizenship so he can remain with his husband and daughter on the ''Orville''.]]

* TheResenter: In "Primal Urges", he admits to Klyden that he still resents him for forcing the sex change operation on Topah, and further states that he doesn't know if he'll ever be able to get over it.

** In the BadFuture, he's informed his homeworld was destroyed...with his husband and son. He only shows the slightest reaction of slumping over in defeat.