Line #96 Characters/FamilyTies


1	[[foldercontrol]]
2	!Keaton Family
3	[[folder:Elyse Donnelly Keaton]]
4	[[quoteright:194:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elyse_7.jpg]]
5	--> '''Played by''' Creator/MeredithBaxter
6
7	Steven's wife, and an architect who was a hippie in the past.
8	----
9	* TheAce: A successful architect, and the ClassReunion episode reveals that she was a successful student loved by all her classmates.
10	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Has blonde hair, and is a sweet and caring mother.
11	* HappilyMarried: Has a good relationship with her husband Steven.
12	* HippieParents: Steven and Elyse tried to keep the spirit of the hippie movement alive while still living their upper middle class lifestyle.
13	* NiceGirl: She's a very caring mother and wife.
14	* OutOfFocus: She barely appears in the first half of season 3, even being completely absent in several episodes, due to the pregnancy of her actress.
15	[[/folder]]
16
17	[[folder:Steven Keaton]]
18	[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steven_6.jpg]]
19	--> '''Played by''' Creator/MichaelGross
20
21	Elyse's husband, and general manager of [=WKS=], who was a hippie in the past like his wife.
22	----
23	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Steven is generally a mellow, understanding person. But if you make him mad, you had best vacate the premises at once.
24	* HappilyMarried: Has a good relationship with his wife Elyse.
25	* HippieParents: Steven and Elyse tried to keep the spirit of the hippie movement alive while still living their upper middle class lifestyle.
26	* NiceGuy: While he disagrees with some of Alex's opinions, he's very loving towards all his children, Alex included.
27	* PapaWolf: Steven is a very nice guy who generally gets along with everyone; but harm his children and he will get you.
28	* WhereDidWeGoWrong: Towards Alex in the pilot, when the latter wants to hang out with socialites at a country club. As it's normal for a DomCom, the episode ends with a AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther moment with his son.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Alex P. Keaton]]
32	[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alex_480.jpg]]
33	--> '''Played by''' Creator/MichaelJFox
34
35	The eldest child, an ambitious Republican, and the BreakoutCharacter.
36	----
37	* AloofBigBrother: To Mallory and Jennifer. He's an overachieving InsufferableGenius who mainly thinks about himself. He has little in common with his sisters and is not very close to them, save for their occasional AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther moments.
38	* BigBrotherInstinct: He gives up his opportunity to attend Princeton to look after his sister Mallory, who was having an emotional breakdown during Alex's interview.
39	* BoundAndGagged: Briefly with [[spoiler:Mallory]] and some British lords in ‘Family Ties Vacation’.
40	* BrainyBrunette: Easily the most intelligent of the Keaton children. His intelligence as a child in particular is a RunningGag throughout the series.
41	* BreakoutCharacter: Michael J. Fox even went from losing an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor to winning three consecutive awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.
42	* BrutalHonesty: Alex is rarely shy about telling people exactly what he thinks or how he feels about something. This often leads to him (usually unintentionally) hurting people's feelings.
43	* TheComicallySerious: He's always stiff and serious, but can be funny in his own way.
44	* CompetitionFreak: A very competitive person, and he doesn't take it well when someone gets a better result than him
45	* CoolBigBro: He's seen this way by Andy, his youngest brother who looks up to him.
46	* DeadpanSnarker: Usually makes snarky remarks towards both Mallory and his friend Skippy (though Mallory is equally snarky towards him). The crowning moment of this trope is his ''long'' SarcasticConfession to his boss Rebecca, when they share a room in "A Tale of Two Cities".
47	* DisappointingOlderSibling:
48	** Mainly due to his pretentious attitude. While Mallory and Jennifer love him, they are often snarky towards him. This is more often seen with Mallory, but even Jennifer often shares this. Jennifer even asked Alex's girlfriend Ellen WhatDoesSheSeeInHim. Mallory insists the P in his name stands for "Pompous".
49	** In the episode where Jennifer feels neglected by her older siblings, she says that in that case, Mallory is the one who disappointed her the most... because Jennifer has never expected anything from Alex.
50	* DitzyGenius: He's a hyper-competitive straight-A student and math genius who was doing his parents' taxes when he was five years old and advised his parents on mortgage rates when they bought their house. Yet in everyday activities, he often proves completely incapable. His little sister frequently beats him in sports, and he fails at things like building kites, cooking or fixing cars even with extensive directions.
51	* EncyclopedicKnowledge: Politics, economics, math, and history to name a few.
52	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The hard-working Responsible to Mallory's unscholarly Foolish.
53	* IncrediblyLameFun: Alex thoroughly enjoys watching Wall Street Weekly, whereas it puts the rest of his family to sleep.
54	* InducedHypochondria: The multi-part episodes, "Heartstrings", has Alex in the throes of anxiety after having convinced himself that he no longer has a pulse and is on the brink of death.
55	* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Despite coming across as arrogant and overly-confident, Alex is often shown to be quite insecure and anxious a lot of the time.
56	* InsufferableGenius: He often looks down on people he considers less intelligent than him.
57	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He dreams of reaching the top of the corporate ladder and being rich — and he often acts pompous about his intelligence. His views also sometimes appear sexist and he often appears to hold a certain contempt for people who lack intelligence (particularly his sister Mallory) or wealth. However, he has shown many times that he truly is a lovable and compassionate person.
58	* LikeParentUnlikeChild: He's a hard right-winger, very different from his liberal parents, Steven and Elyse.
59	* MysteriousMiddleInitial: Both actor Michael J. Fox and character Alex P. Keaton. It's been suggested that the P stood for Peace. Mallory at one point suggests, not necessarily jokingly, that it stands for Pompous.
60	* NervousTics: Alex tends to wrap his arms around himself, rub his hands over his leg, or rock when nervous. He is also prone to HandBehindHead.
61	* NoSocialSkills: While extremely intelligent and possessing knowledge across many different subject matters, Alex often struggles to connect with and appropriately interact with others. He often comes across as standoffish, blunt, and emotionally detached.
62	* NoSympathy: Alex often comes across as aloof to the thoughts and feelings of others. He sometimes only sees his own perspective or considers how a particular decision/event will impact him rather than how it will affect those around him.
63	* OppositesAttract: Despite being old-fashioned and conservative, his two most important girlfriends were feminists Ellen and Lauren, as well as his very strong attraction to the somewhat flaky and carefree Marty.
64	* PerformanceAnxiety: When appearing on an academic quiz show with Mallory, Alex finds himself struck with severe stage fright that leaves him unable to speak and also causes him to pass out.
65	* RepressionNeverEndsWell: Alex tends to bottle up his emotions until they become too overwhelming for him to handle on his own. The episodes, "A, My Name is Alex" and "How Do You Sleep?" are good examples of this.
66	* SecurityBlanket: As a child, Alex was completely obsessed with a cardboard box called Ba Ba that was accidentally destroyed when he took it into the bath with him. Years later, when he sees a box for one of Andy’s toys, he can’t help but claim it as his own and call it Ba Ba. Though in typical Alex fashion, he denies any knowledge of this childhood memory:
67	--> Alex: At no time have I ever cuddled with a box.
68	* ShorterMeansSmarter: He's one of the shorter characters. His less intelligent foils (his sister Mallory and his friend Skippy) are taller than him.
69	* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Alex is so good at chess that he competes against a player from the Soviet Union.
70	* StillBelievesInSanta: Alex is well into college when he learns the truth about Santa from Jennifer, and immediately starts accusing her of spreading anti-Santa propaganda.
71	* TinySchoolboy: He's stated to be short for his age but is very ambitious. He also has a taller friend as BumblingSidekick.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Mallory Keaton]]
75	[[quoteright:267:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mallory_4.jpg]]
76	--> '''Played by''' Creator/JustineBateman
77
78	The second-eldest child, a BookDumb teenager who loves fashion and boys.
79	----
80	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Her eventual boyfriend Nick looks like a GreaserDelinquents.
81	* BookDumb: She is frequently portrayed as a below average student who posits that there may be "special verbs for dead people" since they don't "do" anything. However, she is clearly a very talented fashion designer who nearly beats Alex in the PBS scholarship contest of her own accord.
82	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: She is into fashion, shopping, gossip, and is very boy-crazy, even choosing a rebellious bad boy disliked by her parents.
83	* BrilliantButLazy: She gets low grades, but in one episode, it is revealed that she has a higher I.Q. than Alex, much to the latter's horror. This is never brought up again though.
84	* DatingWhatDaddyHates: And mommy too. Everyone in the family has a WhatDoesSheSeeInHim reaction when she starts dating Nick. They warm up to him eventually.
85	* TheDitz: Downplayed. She's not an exaggerated example of BrainlessBeauty like similar characters are usually portrayed, but she's vapid and superficial, and often comes off as ignorant when it comes to academics. She usually displays more common sense than her brother though.
86	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The unscholarly Foolish to Alex's hard-working Responsible.
87	* LovableAlphaBitch: She's popular, shallow, boy-crazy, a bit rebellious, and snarky towards her nerdy brother Alex. But for all her flaws, she's still a kind and sweet-natured person, and it's also lampshaded by her mother.
88	* MiddleChildSyndrome: She sometimes feels like this in the family, being the BookDumb middle child between her TeenGenius older brother and her AcademicAthlete younger sister. A plot point in a later episode where she feels nobody in her family respects her.
89	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: In early seasons, she's the girly fashionista to Jennifer's athletic tomboy. In later seasons, they are equally girly.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Jennifer Keaton]]
93	[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jennifer2.jpg]]
94	--> '''Played by''' Creator/TinaYothers
95
96	Originally the youngest child (before Andrew's birth), she starts off as an athletic tomboy and later grows up to be a normal teenager.
97	----
98	* EightiesHair: Jennifer's hair in later seasons was a fairly extreme case.
99	* AcademicAthlete: She is initially a sporty tomboy who gets good grades. After her GirlinessUpgrade in later seasons, the "athlete" part is removed, but there is more focus on her intelligence and she is stated to be just as much as a TeenGenius as Alex (possibly smarter according to the final episode).
100	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: In later seasons, she becomes a typical teenager who likes boys, fashion, music, and tries to fit in with the popular crowd.
101	* GirlinessUpgrade: Over the years Jennifer went from a sport-loving tomboy to a music-loving GirlyGirl with massive EightiesHair. Her interest in sports disappears and she starts dressing and acting like the typical girly teenager.
102	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She has blonde hair and is usually the nicest of the children.
103	* InfantSiblingJealousy: She gets hit with this hard when baby Andrew comes home and turns the household on its ear. One episode has her freaking out at her parents because the baby has woken everyone up in the middle of the night and she has an important test in the morning.
104	* LittleMissSnarker: In the early seasons. Full on DeadpanSnarker as she gets older.
105	* OnlySaneWoman: The most down-to-earth of the three siblings. She's smart without being a pompous InsufferableGenius like Alex, and also grows up to be a normal teenager without being superficial and BookDumb like Mallory.
106	* SoapBoxSadie: Sometimes in later episodes, such as when she becomes obsessed with envinroment in "Rain Forests Keep Falling on My Head".
107	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: In early seasons, she's the athletic tomboy to Mallory's girly fashionista. In later seasons, they are equally girly.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Andrew "Andy" Keaton]]
111	--> '''Played by''' Creator/BrianBonsall
112
113	Born towards the end of season 3, he's the youngest child of the family.
114	----
115	* BigBrotherWorship: He looks up to Alex and even dresses like him.
116	* CousinOliver: He's the youngest Keaton child, who was born in season 3 (due to actress Meredith Baxter being pregnant in real life at the time).
117	* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: He went from an infant in season 4 to about four years old in season 5.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	!Other Characters
121	[[folder:Irwin "Skippy" Handelman]]
122	[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skippy_6.jpg]]
123	--> '''Played by''' Creator/MarcPrice
124
125	Alex's dorky best friend, and neighbour of the Keaton family.
126	----
127	* AbhorrentAdmirer: Has a crush on Mallory, who can't stand him.
128	* BumblingSidekick: He's a clumsy and awkward nerd, often annoying his best friend Alex.
129	* ButtMonkey: Hardly anyone on the show respects him and is also unlucky in love.
130	* DumberThanTheyLook: He looks and acts like a nerd (socially inept, nerdy clothes, NerdGlasses), but he has no academic intelligence. Alex considers him even less intelligent than Mallory, Alex's BookDumb superficial sister. In "Designated Hitter", it's revealed that Mallory is [[SmarterThanYouLook Smarter Than She Looks]], while Skippy has an ImprobablyLowIQ that can't even be calculated.
131	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Always referred to as "Skippy" and nobody calls him Irwin.
132	* StrawLoser: An unpopular nerd who is not even intelligent, and he's pretty much there to make the relatively nerdy Alex (but of the NerdsAreSexy and TeenGenius variety) look good.
133	* ThrowTheDogABone: In season 5, he finally finds Amy, a girl who likes him back, thouh she's only seen in two episodes.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Nick Moore]]
137	--> '''Played by''' Creator/ScottValentine
138
139	Mallory's most important boyfriend, starting in season 4.
140	----
141	* BookDumb: He's even more ignorant than Mallory, and doesn't have a high school diploma. Alex will later help him to pass a test.
142	* FaceOfAThug: He has the GreaserDelinquents appearance, but he's a good person.
143	* HellBentForLeather: Wears a leather jacket that gives him a "bad boy" image.
144	* RealMenWearPink: A Fonzie-like greaser who also has an interest in art.
145	* TroubledButCute: A bad boy with long hair, leather jacket, and earrings, and has Mallory falling for him.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Ellen Reed]]
149	--> '''Played by''' Creator/TracyPollan
150
151	Alex's girlfriend in season 4.
152	----
153	* FirstLove: Alex's first serious girlfriend. She lasts for an entire season.
154	* OppositesAttract: With Alex. He's Reagan-loving and conservative, while she's an artsy feminist. Although they have different ideologies, they are equally stubborn and argumentative.
155	[[/folder]]
156
157	[[folder:Lauren Miller]]
158	--> '''Played by''' Creator/CourteneyCox
159
160	Alex's girlfriend in seasons 6-7.
161	----
162	* SecondLove: Alex's second serious girlfriend, after Ellen is PutOnABus.
163	* OppositesAttract: Though she and Alex are actually very similar personality-wise--driven, overachievers--much like him and Ellen, they have differing opinions on everything.

Context Characters / FamilyTies