A list of all the characters that appear in Boyfriends.
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The Boyfriends
Prep (Vincent)
Prep
Prep making a date with Jock
Prep is a rich if somewhat fussy student who is on the school's council and one of the first two characters introduced in the comic. After lamenting how difficult it is to get one boyfriend, he ends up with three.
- Abusive Parents: Preps's parents seem to have mentally abused him
into thinking that self worth hinges on what you can provide or prove rather than how good of a person you are. He's internalized this by trying to show his affection through gifts, trips, or paying for things his boyfriends want but otherwise couldn't afford on their own. After hearing this, the boys reassure him that they love him for who he is not just what he has or can do for them. - Camp Gay: Downplayed, as he's not flamboyant, but he's still a gay man who is In Touch with His Feminine Side. He used to date Prep GF, but this was back before she came out as a trans woman. A lot of his "camp" qualities seem to have more to do with him being rich than him being gay.
- Childhood Friends: Has known Goth since they were kids. Though they ended up going to different schools for a while, they reunited in college and don't seem any less close in spite of it.
- Cool Car: Has one of these in episode 19 and uses it to take the boys on an impromptu summer trip in episode 42.
- Dumb Blonde: Dumb when it comes to being hit on at least. One of his earliest scenes shows Jock blatantly asking him out, but he's too busy lamenting about how nobody is interested in him to realize it's a date proposal.
- Lethal Chef: Nearly burns down Jock's dorm while trying to boil water and messes up chopping vegetables badly enough to leave two of his boyfriends bleeding out. Jock actually has to put him through an entire training arc just to get him to the point of making spaghetti that doesn't incapacitate whoever tastes it.
- Nosebleed: Is prone to these whenever Jock has a fanservice moment.
- Real Men Wear Pink: His default sweater and polo shirt outfit along with many others contain the color pink.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Tries to buy luxurious presents for his boyfriends before Prep GF warns him that his partners cannot reciprocate in kind and spoiling them this way could create a power imbalance. He heeds her advice and gets cheaper but practical gifts.
- Spoiled Sweet: Has Money to Burn and comes from an elitist family that places immense pressure on him to be "perfect". But though Prep has his bratty moments, he's never deliberately mean towards anyone and uses his wealth to show affection for his beloved boyfriends rather than an excuse to look down on others.
- Stronger Than They Look: Prep apparently works out a lot and is able to pull off a "champion throw" with a football. But he has no interest in sports and just exercises to stay in shape. And despite being about the same size as Goth, he's the only boyfriend besides Jock to be drawn with visible abs.Goth: How about you try out? You work out in the gym often, right?
Prep: Working out and playing sports are two different things! One gives me a great ass, and the other just tires me out for no reason! - Stylish Sunhats: Prep wears a sunhat as part of a fashionable dress outfit he is showing Nerd. It◊ is white with a pink ribbon.
- Tranquil Fury: Invokes this when he sees Jock getting mistreated by a rude customer at his new barista job.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: While none of the boys are slouches when it comes to fashion, Prep seems to get the most outfit changes out of the main cast. Unsurprising given his role as the token rich kid of the group.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Has a collection of rather fancy looking dresses he likes to wear, as shown in episode 134. At least one of them he likes to wear specifically to piss off his dad.
- Would Hit a Girl: Pulls on Prep GF's hair as the two start physically fighting over their chances of being the student speaker at graduation.
Goth (Felix)
Goth
Goth trolling Prep as per usual
Goth is a cool but lazy student who seems to spend most of his time gaming or sleeping in instead of going to class. He's the first to start officially dating and tries with Nerd to get the polycule started.
- Childhood Friends: Has known Prep since they were kids. Though they ended up going to different schools for a while, they reunited in college and don't seem any less close in spite of it.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a sarcastic streak and is the quickest to point out when other characters are acting weird or stupid. His banter with Prep is basically ninety percent of this.Prep (after getting caught wearing Goth's missing hoodie): I-i-it's not what you think!
Goth: Why do you have my sweater then...
Prep: Uhm...it's because...your sweater smells good...
Goth: But we use the same detergent.
Prep: Why do you always have to be the ruiner of moods? - Does Not Like Spam: He's in the percentage of people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap and leaves it out of guacamole if he's making it himself.
- The Flirt: One of his most consistent character traits. His Establishing Character Moment is showing Prep how easy it is to get a date by obtaining Nerd's number. He goes on to relentlessly seduce and tease all of his boyfriends both before and after the titular relationship is official.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Mutes chat when his audience starts cat-calling Prep, and is outright accused of this when he objects to playing spin the bottle at a Halloween party. He pouts and insists he isn't jealous but ultimately kisses Prep in front of everyone to show "who he belongs to".
- Played for drama in Episode 191, wherein he confesses his jealousy towards Jock being "everything he's not" and in particular, his masculinity, even dropping the trope by name. Jock is quick to give him a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech.
- Mysterious Past: Is currently the only boyfriend who has had nothing revealed about his family or his past beyond his friendship with Prep and hints towards having Abusive Parents.
- Perky Goth: Acts laid back and aloof, but he is amicable and playful towards his boyfriends and can get quite passionate about gaming.
- Skeleton Motif: One of his shirts has a small skull and crossbones symbol.
- The Slacker: Is seldom seen in class and at one point admits he didn't even know you're supposed to sign up for them.
- The Stoner: Softly retconned in the recent comics but he's the only one of the boyfriends who smokes and in the original release of chapter 7 he explicitly says, "those aren't cigarettes I'm smoking". But he still mentions he's good at baking brownies and cookies with Jock's reaction making the implication clear.
- Trans Tribulations:
- Mostly subverted since Goth is a trans man who is accepted by every character in the comic and casually mentions his recovery from top surgery. He also goes to the beach shirtless for the first time and doesn't encounter any problems. Though it's implied his parents either took more time to come around or never did through flashbacks.
- Played straight in Episode 191, which reveals that he's been secretly harboring some deep insecurities surrounding his masculinity, even expressing some jealousy towards Jock because of it. Refrainbow himself reveals in a comment that this was inspired by his own struggles as a trans man.
Jock (Kevin)
Jock
Jock encouraging Prep to communicate
Jock is one of the boyfriends and a football player at the main cast's unnamed college. He starts off only having a crush on Prep, but also flirts with Nerd and gets flustered by Goth. He's open to the idea of a polyamorous relationship with the three.
- Always Someone Better: How he feels about his competitive older sister who was into many of the same sports and interests as him but was apparently much better at them. This even extends to being in a polycule as the Girlfriends are portrayed as being much more coordinated in relationship matters than the boys are.
- But Not Too Bi: He's actually bisexual as it's offhandedly mentioned he took a girl to prom and he tries to ask out Prep GF in the early comics, but he doesn't express attraction to women in the present very often. Justified given that he's in a closed polycule consisting of men only.
- Casual Kink: In the 2022 Halloween comic, he wears a sexy demon costume that includes a choker and harness. He blushes and shyly asks if it's weird to like wearing such a thing, to which Goth assures it's a good look for him.
- Disappeared Dad: His and Jock GF's father passed away sometime prior to the series' beginning, which is apparently why Jock GF took up a job.
- LGBT Awakening: A Q&A comic reveals that he had this in high school when seeing his fellow athletes change in the locker room.
- Lovable Jock: Big time. He's a football player who is also great at basketball and has the most muscular build out of all the boyfriends. He's also one of the sweetest characters of not just the polycule, but the whole comic. He never resorts to violence (even after getting punched), frequently cooks for his boyfriends, and generally tries to quell arguments or act as a sounding board when his partners are troubled.
- Mature Younger Sibling: Is less competitive and boisterous than his sister and wishes she would treat him more like an adult.
- Mr. Fanservice: Gets the most body closeups and sexy outfits of the boyfriends. His chest tends to get the most focus as his pecs have caused shirt buttons to pop off and he accidentally ruins one of Nerd's tops by stretching it out. Not that Nerd complained of course.
- Nice Guy: A chill and kindhearted dude who never gets angry and is quite patient when dealing with his boyfriends' antics. The worst he ever gets is annoyed and that's only when his sister is ribbing him.
- Supreme Chef: He's a good cook as a result of working at his family's restaurant. He can make more traditional Vietnamese dishes like pho and buns as well as simple recipes such as eggs and toast.
Nerd (Adrian)
Nerd
Nerd learning dances from his favorite KPOP group
Nerd is the fourth boyfriend and an otaku who has little romantic experience. Despite this, he has no trouble reeling in boys left and right and is the first to propose a poly relationship when the others feel conflicted about liking multiple people.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: As of Episode 183, where after he's praised for his Magical Girl cosplay, we're given a panel showing an egg cracking (a common visual metaphor to represent someone starting to question their gender identity). Even before this, the ribbon on the cosplay has almost the same colors as the demiboy flag. Episode 185 clears up the ambiguity a bit by confirming that, while he's still okay with being seen as a boy, he's also okay with being seen as a "not-boy", and becomes both flustered and excited when Goth flirtatiously calls him a boy and girl simultaneously. While as of this writing he hasn't labeled his gender identity, it's definitely clear that he is not cisgender.
- Attention Whore: He likes having his boyfriends spoil him so he'll play up his small stature and supposed delicateness to make them spend time with him. He lets up on this after Goth calls him out when he pretends to be a bad skater to make Jock hold him at the roller rink promising to be more straightforward with his needs.
- Bespectacled Cutie: Wears glasses and is a short, adorable boy who gets doted on by his boyfriends. Goth even pinches his cheeks and calls him pet names, something he noticeably doesn't do with his two other partners.
- Covert Pervert: Seems to be the most innocent of the boys in the first few chapters right down to being a virgin. But he's quickly revealed to be a "hentai fiend", coaxes Prep into taking a shower with him, and fantasizes about seeing his boyfriends in speedos at the beach. More examples pile up as the series continues.
- Friendless Background: His mother casually reveals he's never brought home friends before.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: Nerd is accustomed to changing his hair color frequently, cycling between cotton-candy blue, bubblegum pink, and purple, blue, and yellow.
- Nerds Are Sexy: Has three boyfriends who all find him very cute and often uses his charms to get his way.
- Nerds Are Virgins: Is the only boyfriend who hasn't had sex yet. Until Goth sleeps with him in a bonus comic.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: He's a nerd whose glasses usually cover up his eyes.
- Otaku: Is explicitly an anime fan and even reads hentai.
- Youthful Freckles: Has these on both of his cheeks and his thighs.
The Girlfriends
Prep Girlfriend (Stephanie)
Prep GF
It's the humility for me
Prep Girlfriend is the female counterpart to Prep and a professional streamer who has an arch rivalry with him. Like him she's part of a polycule, but insists their relationship is better than his.
- Amicable Exes: A rather... unusual example with Prep BF. Episode 122 reveals they dated in high school, but only to boost their status and they ultimately broke up. While they do argue constantly in the present, it has less to do with the relationship ending badly and more with their mutual desire to be the best at whatever they do. The rivalry itself isn't a serious one, as the two don't actually hate each other making them fall under this trope.
- Animal-Eared Headband: Her headphones have cat ears and she's almost never seen without them.
- Arch-Nemesis: Of the comical kind with Prep BF. The two have been competing with one another over anything they can since high school according to Goth.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: The comic seems to portray her as especially attractive and she's noticeably the bustiest of the Girlfriends. She has over 25,000 fans and Jock asks her out when he thought Prep BF turned him down.
- Competition Freak: Even more so than Jock GF. She has an established rivalry with Prep BF that consists of them insulting each other and occasionally getting physical.
- Gamer Chick: She's a paid streamer who is sponsored by a headphone company.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's gorgeous and she knows it. In one of the Halloween specials, she dresses up as a Succubus and in Episode 181, she cosplays as fellow Ms. Fanservice Junko Enoshima.
- Queer Colors: She's a trans woman who frequently dresses in pastel blue, white and pink (the colors associated with the trans flag).
- Signature Headgear: Always seen wearing her cat-ear headphones even when she's not streaming.
- Trans Tribulations: Subverted. While she was reluctant and scared about coming out, her transition was met positively by her school mates and she never expresses any physical or emotional difficulties in the present.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Threatens to ban anyone in her stream that insults her partner's Anime Crossing cottage.
Goth Girlfriend (Luna)
Goth GF
Short, dark and pretty
Goth Girlfriend is the female counterpart to Goth and runs the school's occult club. Unlike Prep GF, she has a more cordial friendship with her male parallel and interacts with the other boyfriends frequently.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Always wears black and is a very sweet girl who just happens to be into spooky things.
- The Flirt: Flirts with Jock GF to get her to ease up on teasing her brother. It works a little too well.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: The Goth girlfriend adopted a one-eyed stray as her Occult Club's mascot.
- Little Black Dress: Her go-to outfit.
- Nice Girl: She's polite, friendly, and gives good advice. She doesn't even engage in sarcasm the way Goth BF does.
- Perky Goth: There's nothing very off-putting about the female Goth, who adopted a stray and who offered to repair Jock's relationship stresses with his sister.
- Signature Headgear: Wears a flower crown with most of her outfits.
- Trademark Favorite Food: She seems to like tea a lot. The comic often shows her drinking it or brewing it for others and she'll even have it with popcorn.
Jock Girlfriend (Alex)
Jock GF
Jock GF greeting her girlfriends
Jock Girlfriend is the female counterpart to Jock and is also his older sister. She often teases him and seems to get a kick out of being in a similar, but supposedly better poly relationship than him.- Amazonian Beauty: She's a muscular woman who's taller than her brother but is pretty enough to attract three girlfriends. She even uses this to her advantage by getting a job at a bar that employs buff women to attract customers.
- Big Sister Mentor: She earnestly tries to give Jock BF some helpful advice in Episode 190, telling him that he should focus on the things he wants to do instead of comparing himself to her.
- Competition Freak: Plays competitive sports and loves facing off against her little brother much to his chagrin.
- Disappeared Dad: Her and Jock BF's father passed away sometime prior to the series' beginning, which is apparently why she took up a job.
- Lesbian Jock: The sister Jock plays for her school's womens' basketball team, and is very competitive against her brother.
- Ms. Fanservice: Most of her outfits show off her abs and she has a job as a waitress where her uniform is just a sports bra and shorts under an apron.
- Sibling Rivalry: Tries to invoke this with her brother who dreads having to compete with her. She sways him into a one on one basketball match that she of course wins. Deconstructed later, as we see the toll this takes on her brother's self image.
- Tomboy: Is the token sporty girl of the Girlfriend group and plays on the college basketball team.
Nerd Girlfriend (Lala)
Nerd GF
Living the fanfic writer's dream
Nerd Girlfriend is the female (NB) counterpart to Nerd as well as a comic artist who often fulfills commissions. Them and Nerd seem to be close friends and take certain classes together.
- Artsy Beret: Always wears a cap resembling one and is an accomplished artist.
- Bespectacled Cutie: Wears round glasses and is considered to be very cute by her girlfriends.
- Identical Stranger: Without their clip-on braids, they look a lot like Nerd BF.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Is this with Prep GF at least according to an indignant Prep BF.
- Signature Headgear: Rarely seen without their hat or their clip-on hair braids.
Family Members
Jock Mother
Jock Mother
After learning about her son's boyfriends
Jock BF and Jock GF's mother. She owns a small family restaurant and is accepting of her children's relationships.- Open-Minded Parent: Is very behind the idea of her children having multiple partners since it just means more sons/daughters in law for her to dote on.
- Secret-Keeper: Apparently never let on to the fact that Jock GF was also in a poly relationship given Jock BF's shock at learning this.
- Shipper on Deck: Immediately makes a comment on how she wants Jock to marry his boyfriends. Jock is embarrassed, but all three of his boyfriends seem open to the idea...
Nerd Mother
Nerd Mother
Uncanny isn't it?
Nerd's mother who bears a striking resemblance to him.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Almost casually reveals that Nerd has never brought friends to the house and watches him interact with his boyfriends with intensity, much to his chagrin.
- Good Parents: Instantly accepted her son's non-standard relationship with utter glee.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Looks like a taller, genderbent version of her son right down to the glasses and freckles.
Nerd Father
Nerd Father
After hearing about his son's boyfriends
Nerd's father and a quiet, calm seeming man.
- Good Parents: Instantly accepted his son's non-standard relationship with utter glee.
Nerd Siblings
Nerd Siblings
Double adorable
Nerd's younger siblings who love being spoiled by their brother.
- Annoying Younger Siblings: Downplayed. Nerd clearly has a good relationship with them but gets fed up with their demands for "nuggies" and asks his boyfriends to distract them while he talks to his parents.
- Single-Minded Twins: They're both very precocious and look up to their brother. Perhaps the only difference is that the brother seems to like videogames while his sister enjoys dress-up.
Recurring Characters
Flirty Boy
Just a friendly dude
A guy who tried to hit on the titular Boyfriends not knowing they were taken. By each other.
- The Bus Came Back: Was featured briefly in Season 1's Pride Month comic and made a reappearance in Season 2 (Episode 165), at Jock's cafe with a boyfriend.
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Shifts to talking about his new boyfriend when Jock brings up the fact that he flirted with him and the others at Pride.
- Nice Guy: Comes off as a polite man who took the rejection pretty well and even asked how the polycule got started.
The Art Students
Art students
Students from Goth's life drawing class.- Delinquent Hair: All three have some variation of dyed hair that could give off the impression of rebellion. Subverted in that they are all very nice, normal people.
- It Has Been an Honor: They compliment Jock's muscles after he poses for them, even though they were quite difficult to draw accurately.
