History Characters / ThirteenReasonsWhyStudents

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Clay starts out as a geek whose crush is DrivenToSuicide. He spends the next few weeks wrestling with grief, [[ILetGwenStacyDie guilt]], and dealing out revenge on the people that wronged her. Then over the next few months, his pursuit in exposing and punishing the toxic behavior of the [[JerkJock jocks]] turns him into TheFettered. This eventually causes him to cover up an attempted school shooting and then later he gets a serious KickTheSonOfABitch moment by [[spoiler:framing [[PayEvilUntoEvil Monty for Bryce's murder]] to protect Alex.]] Finally, in Season 4, the SanitySlippage he has been slowly undergoing since the beginning causes him to [[spoiler:develop a SplitPersonality that begins terrorizing the students and vandalizing school property.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Zig-zagged. He always toes the line on becoming this, with plenty of PayEvilUntoEvil and KickTheSonOfABitch moments as the series goes on.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: While rather mild there was his threat to Monty after finding out that he raped Tyler.

** Clay learns all throughout season one that he shouldn't have slut-shamed and judged Hannah, and he learned that a picture (both the one of Hannah on the slide and the one of her and Courtney kissing) doesn't tell the whole story. In Season 2, he is incredibly judgmental of girls that ended up in the clubhouse, such as [[spoiler:Nina and Hannah]], saying that because they're smiling, it couldn't have possibly been that bad.
** He also learns in Season 1 that retribution and revenge aren't the answer to tragedy, and that he should try to help people, not hurt them, but listening better and being compassionate. He also learns that he should open up to his parents more. In Season 2, he leaks the tapes online because he's angry despite knowing they would humiliate Jessica, he lashes out at Zach [[spoiler:because he found out he dated Hannah]], he spends the entire season badgering Jessica to testify about [[spoiler:her assault]] despite her not being ready for it, and he acts like Justin's addiction is ''his own fault'' despite growing up surrounded by drugs.

* CelebrityParadox: The ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' exists on this series. Dylan Minnette played Donnie Gill / Blizzard on ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Zig Zagged. He always toes the line on becoming this, with plenty of PayEvilUntoEvil and KickTheSonOfABitch moments as the series goes on.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:VERY tragically subverted. All the crap that he goes through (molestation, abuse, heroin addiction, etc.) results in his death.]]

* HappilyAdopted: The process isn’t over with as of Season Three, but is already this to the Jensen’s.
* HeelFaceTurn: In Season 2, he's racked with guilt about his role in what happened to Hannah and especially Jessica, and works with Clay to try and take Bryce down.

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: From season 2 onwards he shows that he has low self esteem as he constantly says that he thinks he’s not worth anyone’s time to Jessica and Clay and wonders why Clay’s parents would want to adopt him.

* TheJunkie: In Season 2, he has been homeless for months and picked up a heroin addiction.
* JunkieParent: His mom is an addict.

* BreakTheCutie: Perky cheerleader Jessica is put through hell by the events of Season 1.

* BigBadSlippage: He spends the first two seasons being an extremely flawed person who recognizes his role in Hannah's death. [[spoiler:He unfortunately loses it in season three when he kills Bryce in cold blood and spends the rest of the season trying to cover his tracks, and even set up others to take the fall.]]

** Also after Clay becomes incredibly protective of him in Season 3, [[spoiler:he offers to help in any way when the police begin trying to pin Clay for Bryce's murder.]]
** Tries to discourage the girls from protesting Bryce’s funeral and it’s later revealed this is because of [[spoiler:Bryce blackmailing Monty for raping Tyler.]]
* BullyMagnet: He was already low on the totem pole at school due to his perceived creepiness towards girls, but his possible culpability in Hannah Baker's death and later having a nude photo of him circulate around the school makes his situation worse. In season two, he starts acting out and is sent to a camp for teens with behavioral issues and comes back a lot more mellow and kind. [[spoiler:And then he is attacked by Monty in the school's bathroom and then ''brutally raped with a mop handle.'']]

* HateSink: In the first two seasons. Even before he was revealed as being a rapist, he's still a smarmy, rude asshole who embodies the JerkJock and displays different ways of abuse towards his friends and others, showing little care for anything. Clay and Hannah are downright appalled when she matches up with him in the Valentine game. Deconstructed in season three where we see him in a much more complex light as he attempts to make amends for his actions, as well as several humanizing moments with his mother and Ani.

* {{Jerkass}}: One of the biggest ones in a series ''filled'' with Jerkasses, though he isn't outwardly nasty like, say, Monty or Marcus lack. Still, while he might not be the biggest {{Jerkass}} per se, he is one of the biggest villains along with Monty.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: The rest try to ensure the tapes don't reach Bryce. [[spoiler:Thanks to Clay, they never do reach him in the end and he only hears of their existence from Justin in the last episode of season 1, and doesn't hear them himself until he listens with Tony in Season 3 (albeit he is vaguely aware of their contents), even though the tapes have been public since season 2.]]

** Inverted toward the latter half of season two where he becomes more of a CardCarryingVillain, where he all but brags to his mother's ''face'' about how he "fucked" Hannah hard until she cried. While drinking a glass of liquor he clearly envisions his encounter with Hannah as rape, and gets a ''hard'' on from it.

* PetTheDog: In season one, despite having mooned Tyler earlier, he actively stands up for him in episode 12 when Monty pushes him against the lockers and prepares to beat him down. Later Deconstructed, as in the season two premiere he mentions this moment, and asks why Tyler is talking about him in court, [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency showing he clearly expected something in return.]]

** Further deconstructed in Season 3. After his crimes are exposed to the world, he’s polite when trying to make up to his victims and their families ''and is completely clueless'' that they want nothing to do with him.

* SameCharacterButDifferent: In Season 1 and 2, Bryce is pure evil who ''raped dozens of women'' in an organized operation and bragged to his mom about committing rape. In Season 3, he at first only admits to "going too far" but later is shown him in a much more "emotional" light, making him look like a much more sympathetic character - nice to his mom, defensive of his friends - without giving him any reason to feel this way, just that he's bullied at his other school for being a ''rapist''. A common critic of the third season was that it's almost like the writers forgot what Bryce was like in the first two seasons.

** [[spoiler:Confirmed in season two. He is the leader of a clubhouse him and the other jocks go to where they party with girls and then rape while they are intoxicated.]]

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Played with in Season 3. [[spoiler:Ani, whom he honestly fell in love with, rejects him days earlier after she saw him lose his temper and believes what everyone says about him afterwards (that being said they do share a kiss before the homecoming game and seem to still be friends but don’t end up together again). He is annoyed that his attempts to atone for his actions are getting rejected left and right. He finds out that Chloe was pregnant and had an abortion without telling him. And he finds out she dumped him without telling him for Zach. The last straw is when he tries to reach out to Jessica and she rejects him, leaving him to this final conclusion that no one will accept him in his hometown again. His actions of threatening to harm Zach and accusing Jessica of setting him up, lead to his death by Alex. He never outright gave so up trying to atone for his actions but he definitely comes extremely close to.]]

* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: In season two, after Tyler mentions Bryce, Monty and Scott as bullies, they confront him, and Bryce claims (seemingly forgetting the mooning incident, though he didn't physically touch Tyler then) that he never laid a hand on Tyler and told others messing with him to back off, before asking why he is talking about him in court. Apparently, in Bryce's mind, not bullying the friendless kid with the camera deserves special recognition.

* AscendedExtra: Mostly a minor character in Season 1, but gets more screen time and becomes plot-relevant in Seasons 2 and 3.

* TheSociopath: A prime example of a low-functioning sociopath. He has a complete LackOfEmpathy, guilt, remorse, morals and conscience. And unlike Bryce, Monty has absolutely ZERO redeeming traits, remorse, or capability of love and is completely and irredeemably evil.

* GoodParents: His parents clearly love [[spoiler:/loved]] him a lot, and are compassionate and friendly. It's no wonder Jeff ended up having the personality he does.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Zig-zagged. [[spoiler:On a Meta level. He bears a physical resemblance to Monty, and they are both jocks. This is arguably a RedHerring for Jeff's lack of appearance in the present day scenes, and the reveal that Jeff is dead. However their personalities could not be more different.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: He's the only one at the end of season three who knows [[spoiler:Monty didn't kill Bryce and the gang worked together to frame Monty to protect the real killer. When he moves to Liberty High in season four, everyone is on-edge around him on account of his being the only one who could expose the truth once he gains sufficient evidence. He decides not to in the end.]]

* LovingAShadow: His relationship with Jess. He becomes incredibly possessive of her, though it becomes clearer and clearer to him, [[spoiler:Justin is [[OneTrueLove the real great love of her life]]]].

* ItsAllAboutMe: Although as she was full blown BreakTheCutie and BrokenBird, so her mental state ''did not help'', some of her actions have shades of this:

** [[spoiler:In Season 2 Clay, (struggling with his own deep anger and bitterness), furiously states to Hallucination Hannah that the creation of the tapes and her eventual suicide was selfish. With mental health playing a large factor, The tapes profoundly fucked up people's lives who weren't all deserving like Bryce, and her suicide deeply hurt her loved ones.]]

** Tries to discourage the girls from protesting Bryce’s funeral and it’s later revealed this is because of [[spoiler Bryce blackmailing Monty for raping Tyler.]]

** In season 2 he bonds with Alex by [[spoiler:helping him with his physical therapy.]]
** In Season 3 he becomes close to Chloe and is deeply supportive when she reveals her pregnancy, offering to help raise the baby and accompanying her to the abortion clinic. By the present they have a very close, platonic relationship.

** In season 2 he also testifies on behalf of the Bakers at the trial, [[spoiler:is part of the group that goes to support Jessica when she and Justin report her rape, and is part of the group hug in the last episode.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: In season 1, he's just a generic JerkJock and bully but nothing too bad. In season 2 he's a totally sadistic, homicidal sociopath [[spoiler:and eventually rapist]] that rivals Bryce himself in evil. By the time of season 3, he is the only character in the main cast without a single redeeming trait.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Sends out a nude photo of Tyler, which earns him a literal WhatTheHellHero, and later vandalizes Zach's car. He has quite a few WhatTheHellHero moments in the second season, most notably when he [[spoiler: leaks the tapes online the night after Alex's botched birthday party and days before Justin was meant to testify, despite what effect the public release of the tapes would have on the psyche of both of the aforementioned individuals, and several others.]]

* BrokenPedestal: In Season 2 [[spoiler: Clay learns during the trial against the school for failing to act before Hannah committed suicide, that many of the students on the tapes who testified reveal things Hannah did that doesn't make her look like the innocent NaiveEveryGirl he believed. He questions whether the tapes she made were truthful, but continues to help her get justice.]]

* NiceGuy: Hannah herself lampshades this. Despite all his flaws, Clay is kind to everyone he interacts with, is probably one of the most selfless characters on the show, and is a good friend and eventually brother.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the end of episode 7, Clay (after what he's listened from the tapes at that point)[[spoiler: completely goes off at the student body of Liberty High in how they treat others. ''Especially'' in what happened with Hannah. (But the worse was yet to come.)]]

* AttentionWhore: She's often accused to be this even after her death, a DramaQueen who only wanted attention. At some point, even Clay tells her she always tries to make everything about herself [[spoiler: although he did this when she was trying to tell him that she had actual involvement in Jeff's death]]. However, she got a lot of negative attention and clearly wasn't happy about it.

* BrokenBird: Arguably what lead to her creating the tapes. Considering the immense TraumaCongaLine she endured and went past BreakTheCutie after [[spoiler: being raped by Bryce]], it's no surprise she'd become a bit off, especially with her EnemiesList. One ''can't'' blame her.

* EnemiesList: Zig-zagged. Her tapes largely function as this, where each tape implicates someone she knew in her suicide. [[spoiler: However, she includes Clay because his part of the story is necessary to help contextualize other parts and not because he caused her death; she explicitly spells this out on Clay's tape.]]

* AFriendInNeed: Offers to stand by [[spoiler: Courtney]] even though she's been majorly screwed over by her. She also makes sure the intoxicated Jessica gets home safe from a school dance, despite their falling out.

** Her reaction to [[spoiler: Jessica's rape]]. Rather than trying to get [[spoiler: Jessica]] help, Hannah focuses on how it impacted ''her'', and shares the story with multiple people; disregarding how [[spoiler: Jessica]] might feel about that.
** Putting [[spoiler: Clay]] on the tapes just to [[spoiler: shoehorn in an apology while leading him to believe it was his fault she killed herself, with no regard for how that might impact his psyche, was horribly self-centered and myopic.]]
** [[spoiler: In Season 2 Clay, (struggling with his own deep anger and bitterness), furiously states to Hallucination Hannah that the creation of the tapes and her eventual suicide was selfish. With mental health playing a large factor, The tapes profoundly fucked up people's lives who weren't all deserving like Bryce, and her suicide deeply hurt her loved ones.]]

** [[spoiler: Hannah considers Justin to be at fault for Jessica's rape, at lists him as Reason #9. When Jessica learns the truth about what happened, she considers Justin to be this as well.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Justin's motivations and interactions with Bryce after Jessica's rape fall into this category.]]

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. A large part of why he has trouble with what Bryce does is that Bryce offers him not just monetary support, but a place to ''live'' when no one else will; his home life is extremely difficult and Bryce consistently provides him with an escape from that. It doesn't in any way excuse in part in Jessica's rape and Jessica rightly does not want to hear Justin defending the person who assaulted her, but it does make Justin's internal conflict over the situation more understandable. [[spoiler: Eventually, he does cut ties with Bryce, having finally decided that continuing to associate with Bryce is the same thing as accepting his actions, but by this point Jessica has dumped him.]]

* TheBroCode: His strict adherence to this trope gets him into trouble way after the event, [[spoiler: as Jessica dumps him after finding out she was raped by Bryce and he didn't do anything about it]].

* FatalFlaw: Justin has a tendency to not seek help from others when he needs it. In season 3, he doesn’t tell the Jensens or Jessica that he’s still addicted to heroin until the end of the season. [[spoiler: In season 4, he gets HIV and it progresses to AIDS because he was too ashamed to get tested and he ends up dying as a result.]]

* {{Gaslighting}}: Claims to have benevolent motives, but nonetheless he chooses to [[spoiler: lie to Jessica repeatedly about Bryce raping her, and convince her that it didn't happen.]]

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Zach and Bryce. [[spoiler: Though he falls out of favor with both by the end of season 1. His friendship with Zach resumes in season 2.]] With Clay in season 3.

* ManlyTears: Does a lot of crying over the course of the series. Between the abuse he faces at home, [[spoiler: his guilt over letting Bryce rape Jessica, and Jessica's revelation and subsequent dumping of him]], Justin goes through the ringer emotionally. This continues in season 2.

* TheRunaway: [[spoiler: By the end of the first season, he's been kicked out of his house, cut ties with Bryce, and has been dumped by Jessica and his friends. He takes off with a duffel bag, some vodka, a handgun, cash and some clothes, leaving his old life behind.]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler: The poor kid goes through a large amount of CharacterDevelopment and overcomes a gauntlet of obstacles including, AbusiveParents, molestation, toxic friends, homelessness, drug addiction, prostitution, relapsing, and his mother dying of overdose, and almost comes up on top only to die of AIDS between prom and graduation]].
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: He becomes one of the most unambiguously nice members of the cast come season 4, the same season he dies from AIDS.]]
* TraumaCongaLine: From the time he was born he has had an addict mother who put her boyfriends and her addiction above him, admits to having almost starved and not being able to afford basic necessities with Bryce, been abused emotionally, physically, and sexually by his mother's aformentioned boyfriends, been caught in a toxic friendship with Bryce, had to deal with Hannah's suicide, lived on the streets, become an addict and a prostitute while on the streets, and had to deal with Bryce's murder and his complex feelings about it. He has been through the ringer in pretty much every way.

* BadassPacifist: [[spoiler: Became this in Season 3, after TookALevelOnBadass in the end on the season 2, Jessica is the leader of female activists group and often uses heart-rending speeches (sometimes with big words) to try of change the situation for the girls of Liberty as her speech in the 3x12. She shows her fearless and talk very directly.And she don't hesitate to interrupt a important match with a manifestation for be heard.]]
* BigSisterInstinct: [[spoiler: After learning about Tyler's rape, she becomes incredibly supportive of him, and like Clay before her, openly threatens Monty for what he did.]]
* BlatantLies: [[spoiler: Denies knowing about the existence of the tapes in her deposition. Though she's implied to have done this because she wanted to process her sexual assault on her own terms, rather than hide her mistreatment of Hannah.]]

** Her first boyfriend Alex tried to pressure her into sex and cruelly voted her as having the 'worst ass' in school out of spite after they broke up. He also suffers from depression and attempted suicide, starts using drugs, has a violent streak [[spoiler: and ended up being the one who killed Bryce in the third season]].

** In Season 3 she gives a pretty straight forward example. [[spoiler:She leaves NiceGuy Alex, mainly because she didn't enjoy having sex with him and goes back to Justin who better knows her body. At the same time, she goes on a crusade to ban male aggressive sports in Liberty High, because she claims it promotes sexism and rape culture, despite going back to a jock who let her get raped and didn't say anything for months afterwards. She is called out on this many times, and even she admits that she is being hypocritical in her actions but doesn't stop them.]]
** [[spoiler: She is perfectly willing to leave Bryce to freeze to death after his brutal beating by Zach without calling an ambulance but she gets horrified and mad at Alex when he kills Bryce by pushing him into the river.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: In season 4 she gets together with Diego just to make Justin jealous after he broke up with her because he wanted to prioritize his sobriety.

* AccompliceByInaction: Season 2 reveals that [[spoiler:he and Monty were in the pool house at Bryce's party when Hannah was raped, and they did nothing, Alex not realizing what happened until after Hannah was already dead and Monty seeing the rape happen but [[KickTheDog willingly doing nothing.]] Alex's feelings of guilt for this were a major factor in his suicide attempt.]]
* AmbiguouslyBi: Implied throughout the second season. While still redeveloping his relationship with Jessica, his friendship with Zach has become increasingly close ([[spoiler:evidently shown in the locker room scene.]]).[[spoiler: Confirmed to be bisexual in the final season]].
* TheAtoner: Feels genuinely bad about his role in Hannah's suicide, and wants to be honest in the deposition. Arguably, it's his intense need to atone and his perceived failure at getting justice for Hannah that is the largest contributor to his deteriorating mental health, and him [[spoiler: attempting suicide.]] A more downplayed example is his attempts at reconciling with Jessica after the hot/not list incident.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Has a violent temper, and is incredibly aggressive [[spoiler: towards Justin and Jessica after Jess breaks up with him. Plus he's the one who murdered Bryce Walker.]]

** In Season 4 [[spoiler: he not only ultimately gets off scot-free for murdering Bryce and framing Monty, he is forgiven by Monty's ex-boyfriend and he gets accepted into a good college]].

* SympatheticMurderer: [[spoiler: With Bryce having caused as much damage as he had and threatening to do more, you can understand why Alex who was also recovering from brain damage , pushed Bryce into the bay to drown.]]

** Also after Clay becomes incredibly protective of him in Season 3 [[spoiler: he offers to help in any way when the police begin trying to pin Clay for Bryce's murder.]]
** Tries to discourage the girls from protesting Bryce’s funeral and it’s later revealed this is because of [[spoiler: Bryce blackmailing Monty for raping Tyler.]]
* BullyMagnet: He was already low on the totem pole at school due to his perceived creepiness towards girls, but his possible culpability in Hannah Baker's death and later having a nude photo of him circulate around the school makes his situation worse. In season two, he starts acting out and is sent to a camp for teens with behavioral issues and comes back a lot more mellow and kind. [[spoiler: And then he is attacked by Monty in the school's bathroom and then ''brutally raped with a mop handle.'']]

* CreateYourOwnVillain: [[spoiler: Tyler probably wouldn't have told the prosecution about the tapes, or created his hit-list if he hadn't been repeatedly antagonized by both the heroes and villains of the story.]]

* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: '''1000% averted.''' [[spoiler:Tyler's rape at the hands of Monty is easily one of the most horrifying and upsetting scenes in the entire show]].

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: In the Season 2 finale he has a buzzcut since he has spent time in juvenile detention facilities.

** His plan to [[spoiler: out Bryce's crimes to the police. While Hannah's suicide was triggered by a number of traumatic events, Bryce's rape of her pushed her over the edge, and is explicitly a crime.]]

-->'''Tyler:''' ''"I would say that the climate at Liberty High School, as I have experienced it myself, is bad. I take shit everyday. People trip me, slam me into walls, lock me in the bathroom stalls, and pull my pants down."''

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler: Tyler references this trope in the meeting at Monet's, when he says that the group should turn Bryce in. He argues that with Bryce as a scapegoat, none of the infractions of the other kids are legally or morally significant in comparison.]]
* ReformedButRejected: Attempts to apologize to Monty in the season 2 finale for his actions of vandalizing the baseball field [[spoiler: and ends up getting raped with a mop pole]].

** [[spoiler: Heavily implied during the last two episodes of Season 1. He is shown buying an illegal gun off the street, and by the end of the final episode, is shown having a whole collection of different guns, complete with several boxes of ammunition, and he's using photos he'd taken of different students that disrespected or bullied him to make a hit list, which includes Clay.]]

** Arguably to Marcus as well; Marcus singles Tyler out as the worst on the tapes and loathes him for being a creeper [[spoiler: though Marcus's sexual harassment/groping of Hannah firmly puts him into the creeper category as well.]]

* ThrowTheDogABone: [[spoiler: The main focus of Season 3 is Tyler overcoming the horrors that happened to him in the first two seasons and gaining friends and allies (even Bryce Walker of all people) who help him though it. In season 4, he even gets a girlfriend.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: To Clay, [[spoiler: he has no doubt that Clay is innocent, even when the Police think not so.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: At the end of season 2, after returning to school from his diversion program with a kinder a attitude and trying to do a better, he ends up being brutally beaten and sodomized with a mop pole by Monty and his friends and he decides to go through with his plan to commit a school shooting.]]

* ItsPersonal: For all of her flaws and pettiness, she has a very legitimate reason to hate Tyler; [[spoiler: namely, that he photographed her during an intimate moment and circulated the photo around the school. Made all the worse in that she was a closeted lesbian at the time.]]

** [[spoiler: She's incredibly callous about Jessica and Hannah's rapes as well, to the point where even the other culprits on the tapes are horrified at her utter shamelessness at admitting she was ready to team up with Bryce to protect herself.]]

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: After [[spoiler: Jessica and Sheri both]] HeelFaceTurn, [[spoiler: she's the lone female in the "stop the tapes" movement. This is lampshaded by Ryan, when he is horrified by her callousness towards Jessica and Hannah's rapes, despite being the only woman at the meeting.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: While her mistreatment of Hannah was wrong, she does apologize to Hannah, shows remorse when Clay took her to Hannah’s gravestone and was somewhat sympathetic in that she was terrified of being outed. By the end of the season, [[spoiler: she goes above and beyond, resorting to UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming and is ready to team up with a rapist to protect her reputation.]]

** [[spoiler: Decides to get Clay falsely suspended and threaten him, arrogantly overlooking that Clay TookALevelInBadass, and doesn't have much to lose if the tapes went public regardless.]]

* EntitledToHaveYou: Because of Hannah's (false) reputation for promiscuity, Marcus expects her to put out for him. [[spoiler: He flips out and starts yelling at her when she rejects his sexual advances.]]

** In the series finale, [[spoiler: all the people on Hannah's tapes get together to bury them]]. There are three notable absences: Justin and Bryce, [[spoiler: who are dead]], and Marcus, who either felt that showing up was beneath him, or wasn’t contacted about it at all. His absence isn’t addressed, but either explanation would be in character.
* TheHeavy: In Season 1. He's not the BigBad of the series, but he's the leader of the "stop the tapes" movement, and is more directly Clay's antagonist for the beginning of the series than [[spoiler: Bryce. His plans are ultimately thwarted when everyone gets summoned to a deposition, and the tapes are revealed to Mr. Porter and the prosecution.]]

** He's quick to harass Tyler for being a predatory creep towards girls, ignoring the fact that he himself [[spoiler: attempted to finger Hannah in a diner as she repeatedly told him to stop, also making ''himself'' a predatory creep towards girls.]]

* MoralMyopia: Tyler taking photos of an unknowing subject? Horrible perverted creep! The jocks circulating an upskirt photo of Hannah around school, Marcus [[spoiler: groping and sexually harassing Hannah in public]], and Bryce [[spoiler: raping multiple girls without remorse]]? That isn't "any different than what's done to any high school girl".

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Getting Clay suspended gave him extra time to finish all the tapes, and was the kick in the ass Clay needed to get Bryce's confession, and turn the tapes in to Mr. Porter, both things Marcus hoped that would be avoided by getting Clay suspended in the first place.]]

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Many of his KickTheDog moments indicate that he's a sexist prick. There's his sexual harassment and aggressive behavior towards Hannah, his condoning of sexual violence and slut-shaming in general (see LackOfEmpathy), and allegiance towards [[spoiler: Bryce]] throughout the series.

* SleazyPolitician: A high school version. He rigs hearings, frames people for crimes, [[spoiler: lies in court]], is FauxAffablyEvil, and even has a [[spoiler: sexual harassment scandal.]]

** In Season 2 [[spoiler: When he testifies, he lies on the stand by claiming Hannah Baker had a sexual relationship with Bryce Walker, and Bryce breaking up with her might have led to her suicide, not bullying. Bryce is furious about this, as he didn't want his name mentioned at all with Hannah, and throws him out from his inner circle. Bryce does use the narrative when he testifies, however, and it does work for him. When Marcus gets in trouble later in the season and ask Bryce for help, reminding him how he was the one who created the narrative about Hannah killing herself because he rejected her, Bryce reminds him that he never asked for it and still wants nothing to do with him.]]

** Notably, while Justin and Zach very much struggle with the revelation that [[spoiler: their friend (and in Justin's case, ''best'' friend) Bryce is a rapist, and has raped their mutual friend/girlfriend Jessica]], Marcus is only interested in how that information can be used to his advantage, and will protect or turn in [[spoiler: Bryce]] accordingly.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards his little sister May. [[spoiler: It's enough to slam Tyler against a locker when he thinks that Tyler's blackmailing him with pictures of her.]]

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Bryce]] is this to him by the end of season 1, as is [[spoiler:Coach Rick]] by the end of season 2.

* TheDragAlong: Implied to be this as far as his friends' schemes go. He's confused about what's going on when [[ItMakesSenseInContext Marcus brings him on his date with Hannah,]] is the least involved when Alex drives dangerously to intimidate Clay, and doesn't say much at the group meetings. [[spoiler: He eventually refuses to join in on Marcus's "control the narrative" scheme, and is honest at the deposition, confirming the stories about Hannah being bullied at Liberty High.]]

* HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler: He lays an absolutely ''brutal'' NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Bryce despite having a ''broken'' knee.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Downplayed. Wasn't much of a bad guy to begin with, but season 2 does officially show him cutting off his ties with Bryce after the latter's accused of raping Hannah.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: He beats Bryce within an inch of his life for breaking his knee and then throws his phone in the water and leaves him to freeze to death. He only isn’t guilty of Bryce’s murder because Alex came and killed Bryce quicker. To his credit, when he believes he murdered Bryce, he actually confesses to the cops, but the police tells him that Bryce's cause of death was drowning, so Zach is never arrested, despite being guilty of assault, battery and attempted murder, and even being partially responsible for Bryce's death.]]

** [[spoiler: He also takes a long time to come to his senses on [[SerialRapist what kind of person Bryce is]]. After he finds out about Bryce's horrible actions and behavior however, he seems to be rapidly cutting himself off from Bryce by the end of the season, and you can't blame him.]]

* NoNonsenseNemesis: [[spoiler: He doesn't fool around in his fight with Bryce. Beating on him even as Bryce is trying to talk, giving him little time to react or fight back, and the one punch Bryce tries to swing, Zach easily catches and disables via ''breaking'' his arm.]]
* ObliviouslyEvil: Zig-zagged. [[spoiler: His stealing of Hannah's notes was obviously intentional and dickish, but he didn't realize how important the notes were to her at the time and what effect it would have on her mental health. See DisproportionateRetribution.]]

* OnlySaneMan: [[spoiler: He's the only person on the tapes who is summoned to the deposition who stays composed, answers the questions in a straightforward manner and doesn't lie.[[note]]Marcus, Courtney, and Jessica all lie at the deposition. Tyler outs the existence of the tapes. Justin, Sheri, and Alex don't show up. Clay's and Ryan's aren't shown.[[/note]]]]

* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: He's very sympathetic to Hannah, but also recognizes (and has proof) that not everything she said on the tapes was true. He opts to be straightforward and honest in his deposition, ignoring Marcus's plan to "control the narrative", but also not falling into despair like Alex, slandering Hannah to cover his own behind like Courtney, or working outside the law like Clay.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Is introduced jerkishly publishing the hot-list and people's private notes, causing damage and drama at Liberty High. Then he befriends Hannah and convinces her to express herself through writing, and is encouraging of her talent. [[spoiler: Then it becomes clear that the first impression he gave off was accurate, when exploits Hannah's trust and he steals Hannah's most personal poem and publishes it, leaving her devastated and humiliated.]] Eventually becomes a JerkWithAHeartOfGold by the end of the first season and start of the second. He is willing to accept the fact that he hurt Hannah and despite not losing his snarky demeanor, Ryan is at least trying to be a better person.
* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler: Ryan genuinely loves Hannah's poem, and thinks that she'll come around to his point of view on him publishing it without her consent. He didn't publish it to hurt her feelings, though he also doesn't care that he did.]]

* TheAtoner: Develops a supportive relationship with the elderly couple involved in the car crash she may have caused, and [[spoiler: turns herself in to the police at the end of the first season.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: [[spoiler: A tragic case, because she's not like this in general. But on the night of Jessica's party, when she drunkenly mows down a stop sign, she's freaking out about her parents finding out and refuses to report the accident to the police, even anonymously. [[AmbiguousSituation This may have caused Jeff's fatal car accident.]]]]

** While she's on the tapes, she's more or less been able to keep her head down. As she was not involved in Hannah's dating life nor did she participate in bullying her, she's less involved in the group politics of the kids on the tapes. [[spoiler: She's also not summoned to the deposition.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: As if Bryce wasn't already despicable enough in the book, in the first season of the show, he is also responsible for sending out Hannah's upskirt photo,[[labelnote:book]]doesn't happen at all[[/labelnote]] came up with the idea for the hot/not list[[labelnote:book]]ostensibly Alex's idea[[/labelnote]], [[spoiler: guilt trips Justin into letting him sleep with an unconscious Jessica[[labelnote:book]]Justin lets him do it because Bryce has the night shift[[/labelnote]], and violently rapes Hannah[[labelnote:book]]it's complicated[[/labelnote]].]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: A group of rape victims crash his funeral, reminding everyone what a horrible person he was. That being said, everyone in the cast still attends his funeral.]]

** While the other characters on the tapes may have hurt Hannah unintentionally or indirectly, Bryce is a scumbag who repeatedly inflicts trauma on people for his own personal enjoyment. [[spoiler:He rapes Jessica and Hannah (and is implied to have raped others), beats Clay up,]] and uses his money and influence at school to avoid repercussions for his actions. [[spoiler: The culprits themselves come to consider Bryce the BigBad, when they discuss his crime being the worst and contemplate turning him in.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Season 3 reveals how Bryce's life comes crashing down shortly after getting a slap on the wrist for the serial rapes, and ends with him being murdered, which showed that he ultimately suffered a fate worse than prison would've given him.]]

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Horrifically enforced to show his sociopathy. He flat out ''doesn't even remember'' [[spoiler: raping Hannah]] until [[spoiler: Clay's confrontation and sequential beating lead to him remember, which only lead to his atrocious logic of EntitledToHaveYou and misogyny towards women]].

* DeclarationOfProtection: Oddly towards Tyler, [[spoiler: after learning that Monty had led the rape of him, Bryce threatens to report all the crimes Monty committed in the second season to the authorities if he ever comes near Tyler again.]]

* EntitledToHaveYou: [[spoiler: Seems to feel this way towards his victims, as indicated by his speech on how "every girl in the school wants to get raped" by him due to his popularity. His "what's mine is yours" line to Justin alludes to this as well.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler: Even he, a serial rapist himself, is disgusted upon finding out that Monty raped Tyler with a broom in the school bathroom, and threatens Monty to stay away from Tyler or else he will reveal all the crimes he committed in the second season to the police.]]

* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Broke Zach's knees during the big brawl at the homecoming game out of spite for him supporting Chloe through her abortion. While it's understandable Bryce might be upset that Chloe didn't tell him about her pregnancy and abortion, Zach wasn't exactly at fault for that. His response to Zach following him to the pier is to taunt him and continue taunting him about how much of a "pussy" he is after the resulting NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Zach lays on him. This shows that despite working to make amends for his past actions, his spitefulness is a part of his character that could never really change.]]

* HandsomeLech: He's described as being a "frat boy Darth Vader"; he's a handsome, superficially charming and [[BigManOnCampus popular]] JerkJock, who really likes the ladies. However, Bryce is also very self-absorbed, lacks empathy and has a strong sense of entitlement towards women, which is rather off-putting. It takes a ''very'' dark turn when it's eventually revealed that Bryce [[spoiler: is in fact a SerialRapist who genuinely doesn't think he's done anything wrong (or just doesn't care) and that it was [[RapeAsDrama his rape of Hannah Baker]] that ultimately [[DrivenToSuicide drove her to suicide]]]].

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: Bryce genuinely tries to understand the wrong he has done, since he is [[TheSociopath not capable of feeling remorse or empathy]] and tries to atone for it. However, he is rejected by most people he reaches out to, and his last attempt by reaching out to Jessica, results in his death.]]
* InformedAttribute: His great reputation. The only person In-Universe who has nice things to say about him is Justin, and Bryce seems to be generally loathed by the student body even before [[spoiler: him being a rapist]] is revealed. In early season 1 he even appears as something of a CasanovaWannabe. Season 2, however, puts much more emphasis on his popularity and him being a VillainWithGoodPublicity.
* {{Jerkass}}: One of the biggest ones in a series ''filled'' with Jerkasses, though he isn't outwardly nasty like, say, Monty or Marcus lack. Still, while he might not be a biggest {{Jerkass}} per se, he is one of the biggest villains along with Monty.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Season 3 wants him to be this, which has been...controversial to say the least.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Bryce was a bully who infamously bullied Hannah Baker into killing herself, not to mention raped her and countless other girls. In Season 3, this reputation follows him and he ends up getting bullied by the football team at his new school.]]

* MoralSociopathy: In Season 3, [[spoiler: right before he is murdered, Bryce accepts that he is a sociopath and that he hurt a lot of people, even if he can't empathize with them.]]

* NotMeThisTime: In season 2, he confronts Tyler over his testimony, who tells him the "darkroom threat" didn't scare him. Bryce asks "what darkroom threat" seemingly having no idea what he's talking about, though Tyler doesn't believe him. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that Monty did this to intimidate Tyler, and Bryce genuinely had no idea. Downplayed somewhat, as the reason Monty did it was to stop him from mentioning Bryce and other jocks as bullies.]]

** Even though most people recognize and identify him as kind of a smarmy jerk, much of Bryce's behaviour is overwhelmingly "normal." He isn't outwardly creepy with compliments or flirtations — his reaction to Hannah's haircut is simply "I like that hair, by the way, it looks good." He is uncomfortable around guns. There are few indications up until [[spoiler: his rape of Jessica]] that he will turn out to be the series' BigBad; he just seems like a mild jerkass. The overarching message of Bryce is that most [[spoiler: rapists]] don't think they're [[spoiler: rapists]] and aren't an obvious BigBad. They're people you know, often liberal-minded people who seem outwardly nice and accommodating.

* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: Deconstructed. As mentioned above in Faux Affably Evil, Bryce rarely loses his composure and is usually jovial and polite to everyone including Jessica and Clay, who have both threatened him at gun point on separate occasions and have been very open about hating him. Part of this is implied to be an act, staying calm and collected while his enemies look like lunatics hurdling accusations at him. Another part of it is while he can mimic social niceties, as a sociopath, he’s incapable of getting morally outraged over his actions so as long as he gets his way (which as a rich straight white man, will be the vast majority of the time), he has no reason to be rude.

* PostRapeTaunt: [[spoiler: After Zach beats him for breaking his knee and ruining his future as an athlete, Bryce taunts him about Chloe, who he had molested during clubhouse activity. This leads to Zach breaking his leg and leaving him to freeze.]]

** [[spoiler: Confirmed in season two. He is the leader of a clubhouse him and the other jocks go to where they party with girls and then rape while they are intoxicated.]]

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Played with in Season 3. [[spoiler: Ani, whom he honestly fell in love with, rejects him days earlier after she saw him lose his temper and believes what everyone says about him afterwards (that being said they do share a kiss before the homecoming game and seem to still be friends but don’t end up together again). He is annoyed that his attempts to atone for his actions are getting rejected left and right. He finds out that Chloe was pregnant and had an abortion without telling him. And he finds out she dumped him without telling him for Zach. The last straw is when he tries to reach out to Jessica and she rejects him, leaving him to this final conclusion that no one will accept him in his hometown again. His actions of threatening to harm Zach and accusing Jessica of setting him up, lead to his death by Alex. He never outright gave so up trying to atone for his actions but he definitely comes extremely close to.]]
* TheSociopath: ''Very'' clearly. Bryce fakes emotions to fit in, is creepily calm and is rarely if ever temperamental, brags about his crimes and is a surprisingly good manipulator and surprisingly intelligent for that matter. He even gets to the point that [[spoiler: while remembering the time he raped Hannah, he is shown getting turned on by the memory with an erection in his pants.]]

* TookALevelInKindness: After being largely a HateSink in the first two seasons, [[spoiler: season 3 shows him as a more remorseful and sympathetic character who tries to make amends for his past mistakes. He defends his mother from his emotionally abusive grandfather and begins to genuinely bond with her, helps Justin settle his debt with Seth and with his drug addiction, starts a genuine relationship with Ani and protects Tyler from Monty after learning of how Monty raped him. He even makes an apology tape to Jessica confessing his crimes. Downplayed as he still does a few villainous things such as crippling Zach, threatening a little boy, vandalizing two houses and selling Alex drugs. Sadly, it ends up being too late for him to redeem as he ends up killed.]]

* VillainousFriendship: With Justin. Bryce seems genuinely concerned about Justin's welfare and Justin regularly spends the night in the Walkers' guesthouse. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Bryce does so much for Justin (such as bailing his mom out of jail, giving him a place to stay, etc.) so he can "own" him.]] However, [[spoiler: though it is possible that his friendship with Justin might have been genuine; at the school dance in the second season Bryce seems nostalgic for his former friendship with Justin. Regardless, his relationship with Justin is manipulative and controlling either way.]]

* WithFriendsLikeThese: [[spoiler: Rapes Jessica, who is both his friend, and his best friend's girlfriend.]]

* MrFixit: Tony is often tinkering with cars, bikes, etc. [[spoiler: He also sets up Hannah with the recording device and tapes, which is probably the source of some FridgeHorror for him.]]

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Tony's story arc in Season 3 [[spoiler: is about how majority of his family gets arrested and sent to a detention center by ICE before possibly being deported back into Mexico. This is because Barry Walker turned them in out of spite for Tony helping Clay Jensen in outing his son Bryce as a rapist.]]

* StalkerWithoutACrush: Follows Clay around to make sure he's listening to the tapes and doing okay mentally. [[spoiler: Though it is implied he might have feelings for Clay, said feelings have nothing to do with him following Clay around.]]

* YouOweMe: [[spoiler: Invoked by Hannah. Season 2 reveals that after assaulting a man, Tony ran to the movie theater where Hannah was working, where she hid him and lied to the cops about his location. She lampshades this in her letter to him when she leaves the tapes at his door, leaving Tony to repay the debt.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: Things don't go well for Monty in Season 3. [[spoiler: He is passed up for football captain despite getting the most votes from the team, Bryce turns against him for good after he found out he raped Tyler, he is eventually outed and arrested for the rape, his own abusive father rejects him for good by spitting in his face after he admits to him that he is gay, he is killed in jail while awaiting trial, and he is posthumously framed for the murder of Bryce.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Downplayed example. He goes from “I’m not fucking gay” to answering in the positive when his dad asks him if he is. [[spoiler: Not that it matters in the end]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: He brutally beats and rapes Tyler with a mop pole due to him having had a hand in exposing Bryce for his rapes, which caused the school to cancel their baseball season.]]

* DragonInChief: For Season 3, [[spoiler: although Monty and Bryce stopped being friends.]]

** He calls Alex "a crazy motherfucker", seems to pick up that he’s potentially dangerous and generally seems to avoid directly confronting him. [[spoiler: considering Alex killed Bryce in cold blood, that’s not a bad idea]].

** He blames his personality on his childhood and occasionally comments on what a raw deal he got compared to other students in a similar situation. Why that ‘’hardly’’ excuses his crimes and overall behavior, it is rather jarring that some students like Justin get a support structure (up-to-and-including getting adopted by an upper-middle class family) and yet even foster care is never even considered for Monty, despite his abusive household being well known. This is actually lampshaded [[spoiler: by his hallucination/ghost in the fourth season, who asks why a would-be school shooter and murderer get second chances, but he doesn’t]]

** Although it was an excuse to be a bully, he was correct to step in when he saw Sherri arguing with Tyler in Tape 5, Side B. Tyler had a history of being…..inappropriate towards girls and seeing one having a heated discussion with him would raise alarm bells.
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: Winston quickly accepts Monty's apology for beating him up, and invites him over for a second hookup.]]

* InformedAttribute: [[spoiler: After his death]] multiple characters- some not even ones who even liked him- claimed that he was loyal to his friends and would do anything for them. Besides Bryce in Season 2, that’s never really shown- he mocks Justin for his drug problems, mocks Zack’s mother issues and even tries to pin his assault of Tyler on Bryce’s orders. This is even more baffling in “House Party” when it’s implied during the “pour one out for Monty” scene that he was almost close to a BigManOnCampus, despite no one liking him.

* NeverMyFault: Getting Monty to take responsibility for his actions is utterly impossible. He uses "I had a bad childhood" as an excuse when Jessica asks him why he's so cruel and enjoys hurting people, [[spoiler: he dismisses Tyler's rape as mere "hazing", and he lies that Bryce ordered him to rape Tyler even though Bryce's exact instructions to Monty were to leave Tyler alone]].

* {{Sadist}}: Probably the strongest example of one in the series. He attempts to goad Alex into killing himself for failing to stop Hannah’s rape and suicide, [[spoiler: brutally beats, tortures and rapes Tyler for getting their baseball season cancelled just to hurt him in the most painful way possible and not only does he mock Tyler about the rape by making kissing noises but he actively threatens to do it again.]]

* StupidEvil: Even Bryce calls him out on how stupid his actions of threatening the people who knew about the rapes were. Even after Bryce orders him to leave Tyler alone as Monty could Bryce in more trouble, [[spoiler: Monty chooses to rape Tyler as revenge for getting their season cancelled.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: In season 1 he's just a generic JerkJock and bully but nothing too bad. In season 2 he's a totally sadistic, homicidal sociopath [[spoiler: and eventually rapist]] that rivals Bryce himself in evil. By the time of season 3, he is the only character in the main cast without a single redeeming trait.

* ArtisticLicense: [[spoiler: In-Universe, there's a lot of debate over whether he was intoxicated/at fault for his fatal car accident. However, in the United States it is legal/medical protocol to test the blood alcohol content of anyone involved in an automobile accident, especially a fatal one. However, the ambiguity serves the narrative better, especially Hannah's and Sheri's processing of the situation.]]

* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Comes back for some flashbacks in one episode of season 2.]]

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Revealed to have died in a car accident prior to Hannah's suicide.]]

* GoodParents: His parents clearly love [[spoiler: /loved]] him a lot, and are compassionate and friendly. It's no wonder Jeff ended up having the personality he does.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Zig-zagged. [[spoiler: On a Meta level. He bears a physical resemblance to Monty, and they are both jocks. This is arguably a RedHerring for Jeff's lack of appearance in the present day scenes, and the reveal that Jeff is dead. However their personalities could not be more different.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: World weary and sarcastic.

* HiddenHeartOfGold: [[spoiler: It's implied that her snippiness is a defense mechanism, because she's terrified of rejection.]]

* OnlyFriend: Hannah described Kat as being "the type of friend who couldn't be replaced". [[spoiler: Hannah was right.]]

-->'''Kat:''' ''"Look, the jocks walk the hall like they own the place. The teachers feed into it. Bolan feeds into it. It's just... it's how it is. You try going to school with a bunch of Neanderthals who are told that they are the only thing of value at school, and that the rest of us are merely there to cheer them on and provide them with whatever support they need."''

* TheSocialExpert: Downplayed, but most of her assessments about the boys at Liberty are accurate, and she mentions in her deposition being able to pick the right guys and navigate Liberty's toxic and sexist culture. [[spoiler: She's quick to discourage Hannah from interacting with Bryce and tries to point her towards the NiceGuy types, like Clay and Zach. She herself was involved with Justin, who is a BaseBreakingCharacter, but didn't seem too emotionally attached to him.]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/UriahShelton

-->'''Pratters:''' Exactly, thank you!
-->'''Zach:''' Totally not on your side, dude...

* BestServedCold: [[spoiler: She tells Bryce about her pregnancy and termination knowing he will be hurt and pissed off. She also makes sure he knows that Zach is her new man.]]

* ChildByRape: Not clear whether it's this or not, but at the end of Season 2, she admits to Jessica that [[spoiler: she's pregnant with (what seems to be) Bryce's child.]]

* GoodAllAlong: At first she seemed like the typical AlphaBitch who plans to make Jessica's life a living hell out of jealousy, because of Bryce. She even starts off believing his version of what happened. [[spoiler: However, as Season 2 goes along, Chloe's actions prove to be genuine with no malicious intent, and she realizes Bryce isn't the man she thought he was. And when it seems like she betrayed Jessica and Hannah by not incriminating Bryce for drugging and raping her during the trial, we later find out its because she is pregnant with his baby and is conflicted on what to do.]]
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: [[spoiler: Subverted in Season 3. Chloe aborts Bryce's child and never tells him about the pregnancy in the first place. Even anti-abortion protesters outside of the clinic, including the street crossing guard cant stop her, like in so many other examples in media. And the scene of her getting the abortion is also shown in detail.]]

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Believes the rumors that [[spoiler: Jessica lied about her relationship with Bryce and that she cried rape out of jealousy]] and strays into this. As Season 2 goes on, she starts seeing [[spoiler: Bryce's true nature, leading her to scratch out graffiti in the bathroom calling Jessica a slut.]] Though, she claims this had nothing to do with believing [[spoiler: that Jessica was actually raped.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler: While her telling Bryce about the pregnancy and abortion was meant to hurt him in Season 3, even she didn't realized doing so would set in motion the circumstances leading to his murder.]]

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She is told by many people what Bryce did and how he is nothing but trouble, but she falls for him anyway, believing that she sees a side of him no one else does. [[spoiler: However, once Bryce shows his angry side while drunk one day, she tries her best to distance herself from him.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Acts friendly to Clay, but initially sees him a suspect in Bryce's murder and even tries to convince his friends that Clay may be dangerous. [[spoiler: And after her first kiss to Clay, she shamelessly sleeps with Bryce, the guy who raped her friend Jessica.]]

* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Played straight. Her main purpose is to tell the story about who, how, and why Bryce was murdered, [[spoiler: and to makes sure the person who really did it doesn't get caught.]]

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Averted, despite everything that Monty tries to get him to do, [[spoiler:in the end he sides with Tyler, and is among his support group, alongside Justin and Jessica, when he reports his rape at Monty's hands to the police.]]

** [[spoiler: To Monty. They hooked up twice, first at a party Bryce took Monty to, and then a few months later following the Homecoming game.]]
** [[spoiler: To Alex, with whom he's in a relationship with for about half of season 4 before Alex breaks up with him for not being honest. Alex ultimately ends up with Charlie.]]
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: [[spoiler: He is one of the main antagonists of the fourth season, making him a heavy contrast to every other antagonist in the series, in particular Bryce and Monty who were jerk jock bullies who hurt people and tried to get away with it. Winston is an affable gay guy with a sympathetic motive of wanting seeking justice for his love interest, Monty after he was killed and framed by Clay and his friends.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Clay. Both fall in love with a partner that tragically died before anything could come of their relationship. Both seek justice against the people who wronged them following their death. Both of their arcs end with them [[spoiler: seeing an hallucination of said partner, with them realizing that they never got to truly know them but in actuality [[LovingAShadow loved their idealized version of them]] which encourages them to finally move on]]. The only difference is that in Hannah's case, she was a victim of rape which was a major factor in her suicide, while with [[spoiler: Monty he ''was'' the rapist and was killed out of a direct consequence for his action.]]
* LoveMartyr: He still loves [[spoiler: Monty]] and is willing to sleep with him even after he [[spoiler: beat the crap out of him]].
* LovingAShadow: Out of all the characters, he probably has it the '''worst''' in falling in love with people he hardly got to know. [[spoiler: He decides that he's madly in love with Monty after only a few brief hookups and sets out on a quest to clear his name despite Monty already being dead. He decides to drop his "investigation" after coming to the realization that his ideal version of Monty isn't grounded in reality, and the two possibly never would have been together even if Monty '''didn't''' die.]]
* NiceGuy: He seems to be a truly genuine guy. Even after Monty lays a vicious NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on him. He doesn't out Monty or call the police, and is the only one to speak in his defense when [[spoiler: Ani frames him for killing Bryce.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: He's the only one at the end of season three who knows [[spoiler: Monty didn't kill Bryce and the gang worked together to frame Monty to protect the real killer. When he moves to Liberty High in season four, everyone is on-edge around him on account of his being the only one who could expose the truth once he gains sufficient evidence. He decides not to in the end.]]
* TurnTheOtherCheek: [[spoiler: He quickly accepts Monty's apology for beating him up, and invites him over for a second hookup. He also decided in the end not to rat out Alex for Bryce's murder.]]

* BerserkButton: Being called "stupid" seems to be one for him. Even when Jess calls him such in a flirty, joking manner he makes a point to tell her he isn't.

* ForTheEvulz: Toyed with. [[spoiler:His torturing Clay with Monty's phone, is done out of his and Winston's belief that Clay killed Bryce. However the guy gets a lot more pleasure out of it than just going along with Winston's plan.]]

* LovingAShadow: His relationship with Jess. He becomes incredibly possessive of her, though it becomes clearer and clearer to him, [[spoiler: Justin is [[OneTrueLove the real great love of her life]]]].

* RememberTheNewGuy: she was never mentioned until Season 4 and if anything, her existence implicitly contradicts Monty’s backstory (who, whenever complaining about his abusive father, never mentioned having a sister involved as well.)
* SiblingYinYang: She is nothing like her older brother, being a kind hearted, openly friendly, if shy young woman.

* InstantSeduction: [[TakeOurWordForIt We never learn what Zach suggests Clay whisper in her ear,]] but she lays him immediately after hearing it, as promised.
* NiceGirl: She’s very understanding of Clay and doesn’t judge him for his inexperience with sex. Subverted when it's revealed she has a boyfriend.

* VirginShaming: [[spoiler:He is revealed to be a virgin and single, which leads to intense teasing by his friends. This may be why he was so obtuse with asking Hannah out, as it is implied he never asked a girl out before. Subverted in season 2 where it turns out he lost his virginity to Hannah before she died died.]]

* HateSink: He's a {{Slimeball}} and one of the few characters who is never put in a sympathetic light, and never has nice moments or redeeming qualities. Some of the other characters have done bad things but you can also feel sorry for them, but not Marcus. Only Bryce and Monty are worse than him and even those two eventually gain sympathetic qualities in season 3 [[spoiler: though Alex outright murdering Bryce definitely might push him over Marcus.]]

%%* BettyAndVeronica: The Betty to Justin's Veronica. [[spoiler:In Season 3, he's the Betty to Bryce's Veronica for Ani's Archie]].

* CrazyJealousGuy: Really much. He can be very jealous when other guys seem attract Hannah like Justin.[[spoiler: In Season 2, he became out of him when he discovered Zack's summer romance with Hannah and expressed little jealousy when he learned Alex kissed her during a game. Also in season 3 when it's about Ani's relationship with Bryce.]]

* FatalFlaw: Anger and Jealousy. Clay is impulsive in his actions and can make choices who finally regrets and when he is driven by anger the consequences can do risk his life. Clay is also a GreenEyedMonster that make him critical and easily believe rumors on Hannah and Justin.

* DudeMagnet: Attracts almost everyone in the male cast but unfortunately for her, it's an extent of her DoomMagnet situation.

** To Jessica, saying to Clay he cares more about Jessica than anybody else even Bryce always to protect her throughout the seasons.[[spoiler: In the Season 2 penultimate episode, he makes a testimony without hesitation against Bryce because he raped Jessica. Consequently, Justin is arrested as accomplice for sexual assault and suffers more consequences.]]

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Possibly the main reason she became friends with Clay is due to the fact he's the only person who tried to tell her what happened at her party.

* TheDreaded: [[spoiler:In Season 3 she is quite feared by few Liberty tigers and by Ani.]]

** She tells Clay, "Don't believe everything you hear," even though believing everything she heard is ''exactly'' why she's on the tapes ( a little justified due to the fact ''even'' his boyfriend lied to her on the truth of her birthday party).

* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler:In Season 2 last episodes, she finally denounce Bryce for raping her. The executive producer said it's the most courageous act of the season. In Season 3, she became [[PluckyGirl a brave]] BadassPacifist.]]

* PintSizedPowerhouse: Shorter than the majority of the cast but he hits pretty hard. Ask to Monty.

* BettyAndVeronica: [[spoiler: In season 3, is the Archie to Clay's Betty and Bryce's Veronica.]]

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Played with. At the beginning of one of the final episodes, a flashback is shown of a grade-school Bryce being nice and befriending Justin, who was teased and bullied by other kids due to wearing the same clothes everyday and smelling bad. However, it's also shown that Bryce used fear and intimidation even back then.

* MoreDespicableMinion: He's even more sadistic than Bryce, his captain.

* CoolLoser: She's supposed to be this. A witty, friendly, attractive DudeMagnet, whose life is ruined by rumors and bad reputation, and is constantly mistreated/betrayed/bullied by other characters.

* CoolLoser: Skye is witty, artistic, and cool, but is HollywoodHomely and unpopular.

* PetTheDog: In season 1, after he says to Clay that Hannah was a drama queen who killed herself for attention, he immediately apologizes, saying that he knew that Hannah was Clay’s friend.

* YourCheatingHeart: Has sex with Clay, but is then revealed to have a boyfriend. Neither Clay nor her boyfriend take this well.

* DaddysGirl: Is very close with her father, slightly more than her mother. She opens up to him about her sexual assault, confides in him throughout her recovery, is tucked in by him for comfort and opts to live with him when her mother has to move out-of-state for work.