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The main cast of Mad Men. Beware of spoilers.

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Don Draper

"This never happened."

Played By: Jon Hamm

"I have been watching my life. It's right there. I keep scratching at it, trying to get into it. I can't."

The most prominent member of the series' Ensemble Cast, Draper starts Season 1 as the head of Creative at Sterling Cooper, rises to junior partner, and flees the company to start Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce when Sterling Cooper is sold to McCann Erickson. He has a secret past - he was born as Richard "Dick" Whitman, and assumed his commanding officer's identity when he was killed in action in the Korean War.

'50s Hair: He maintains a slick, pomaded look well into the early seventies, making him look like a suave dinosaur; one episode in the last season had him not able to groom his hair in his usual manner, which struck his more up-to-date colleagues odd.
Abusive Parents:
- Don's father was an abusive drunk, and his wife, who only took Don in because she wanted a child and her own had all been stillbirths, clearly never liked him, referring to him as a "whore child".
- During a flashback in "The Crash", she is shown beating him with a wooden spoon for losing his virginity to a prostitute, an encounter which was itself sexual abuse.
The Alcoholic: In Season 4. His nurse neighbor and Allison both call him a drunk. Hits rock bottom in Season 6, even spending a night in jail.
- Things were a bit better after he initially met Megan, whom he would ask to keep track of how many drinks he's had... until he started just drinking excessively behind her back.
Alliterative Name: Both "Don" and "Draper" start with "D". Doesn't apply to his real name, Dick Whitman.
Anti-Hero: He's an asshole, a serial adulterer, and a horribly negligent parent with the occasional Pet the Dog moment, with good intentions.
Artifact Alias: Betty Francis, Bert Cooper, Pete Campbell, and Megan Draper know that Don Draper's real name is Dick Whitman, yet they all call him Don.
The Atoner: He tries to become a better person in the Season 6 finale. It doesn't work.
Backstory: Don's past is explored via flashbacks regularly.
Badass Decay: Don mellows out and loses some of his mojo. Peggy references it in-universe in Season 5 premiere "A Little Kiss".
Peggy: I don't recognize that man. He's kind and he's patient... It concerns me.
The Barnum: Don is willing to make an ad for just about anything, if the price is right, though he treats consumers with somewhat more respect than normal for this trope.
Bastard Angst: Don experienced this, being the bastard son of a whore. When his biological father died his stepmother made life miserable for him, spurring him to take over a dead man's identity and become the Manipulative Bastard he is in the show.
Been There, Shaped History: Word of God says he's responsible for the creation of this famous Coke ad from the early 70s.
Broken Ace: Top of the line in his profession, handsome, charismatic, a keen business acumen, combines a beautiful family with the life of a ladies' man, apparently a real winner. Underneath it all, he suffers from some serious Parental Issues and other mental problems which make him get no satisfaction.
Broken Pedestal: For Peggy, who eventually calls him a monster and for Sally, when the girl gets a glimpse of the real Draper.
Brutal Honesty/Consummate Liar: He mostly bullshits his way through (a dual) life, and part of his executive / creative job consists of it in order to keep clients happy, but oddly enough, he manages to combine both; at work, he prefers not to sugarcoat the truth and likes to be as direct or blunt as possible, as exemplified by his sudden lambast against tobacco and his attack of sincerity during his Hershey's pitch.
Bumbling Dad/Parental Neglect: In an odd sort of way. He gives the overall impression of being well-meaning and loving, if clueless, which stands in sharp contrast to Betty's emotional and physical abuse of Sally. However, the later seasons are taking this apart. In the fourth, following his divorce, he starts forgetting when he has to take his kids, going on a date and leaving them with a sitter, or missing his weekend with them because he was on a two-day bender. The fifth season opener shows the increasing distance with his promise to take the kids to the Statue of Liberty, to which Sally responds, "You always say that, but we never do."
Don: I don't think I ever wanted to be the man who loves children. But from the moment they're born, that baby comes out and you act proud and excited and hand out cigars but you don't feel anything. Especially if you had a difficult childhood. You want to love them, but you don't. And the fact that you're faking that feeling makes you wonder if your own father had the same problem. Then one day they get older, and you see them do something and you feel that feeling that you were pretending to have. And it feels like your heart is going to explode.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The best creative there is, he can skip important meetings or do eccentric things just because he's that good, but eventually the partners stop putting up with him.
Byronic Hero: Tall, Dark, and Handsome? Check! Charismatic and Charming? Check! Passionate when putting his mind to something? Check! Has numerous flaws? Check! Dark and Troubled Past? He took someone else's identity to run away from it, so... Check!
Carpet of Virility: Don's manliness only gets reinforced during his Shirtless Scenes.
The Casanova: Wherever Don Draper goes, beautiful women hit on him and Don is perfectly willing to take them up on it, despite being married. He becomes something more of a Casanova Wannabe in the fourth season. Now that he's available and hitting on everything that moves, he gets turned down a lot more (though his conquests are still legendary). At least until he starts getting his act together in The Summer Man.
- As more of his past becomes revealed and particularly the parts that likely affected his current behavior, he turns into a Deconstruction of the trope. He's an exercise in just how screwed-up someone has to be to actually behave like he does.
Catchphrase: Don's "This never happened."
The Charmer: Don is immensely charming and charismatic and knows how to use it with his looks to win over clients and any woman he sets his sights on.
Chivalrous Pervert: In spite of his dickish tendencies, he has a problem with the other guys at the office being overtly crude and creepy around female employees. He sort of lampshades this tendency when he tells Peggy, "I have rules" about this kind of thing (meaning, particularly, hitting on/having relationships with women at work). His drunken seduction of Allison, his secretary in Season 4, unfortunately, undermined this — becoming a deliberate signal of just how out of control Don's life has become.
Control Freak: His relationship with Sylvia eventually turns into him demanding she do various demeaning things. This causes her to break up with him.
Cool Car: In order: 1959 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 sedan, 1960 Buick LeSabre convertible, 1961 Dodge Polara, 1962 Cadillac Coupe De Ville, 1965 Cadillac Coupe De Ville.
Deadpan Snarker: He likes to make fun of the more absurd things he sees.
Dead Person Impersonation: While serving in the Korean War, he accidentally caused a gas explosion that killed his commanding officer and wounded him. He switched their dog tags, used Don Draper's identity to desert, and pretended to be him to get away from his family and start his own life.
Death By Child Birth: His mother was a young prostitute who died giving birth to him.
Did Not Get the Girl: Despite all his charisma and magnetism with the ladies. Don finishes the series twice divorced and firmly separated from all his romantic pairings.
Disco Dan: As the series goes on, it's clear that Don's still stuck in the '50s. It's especially evident in the trailer to Season 7B, where he still has the '50s look going into the '70s.
Disneyland Dad: After divorcing Betty, Don goes long stretches without seeing his kids. When he does pick them up for visitation, he takes them to flashy places, including once to Disneyland.
Domestic Abuse: While the time period prevents the show from directly acknowledging it, in the past Don has threatened to harm Betty (even implied killing her), called her a whore, gaslighted her, on top of the myriad of lies and adultery.
Doorstop Baby: How he arrived at his biological father's house.
Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Played for Drama. One of young Dick Withman's formative experiences is being subjected to this. A prostitute named Aimee, who nursed him back to health while he was sick with a severe fever, suddenly starts to forcing herself on him while he is still bedridden from his illness, and Dick, despite clearly being uncomfortable and scared with the situation and even saying "no" at first, is both too physically weak and frozen with fear to fight her off and reluctantly gives in. When Aimee later lets it slip in front of Abigail that she "took that boy's cherry", she immediately assumes that it was all Dick's own fault somehow and proceeds to beat him relentlessly with a wooden spoon while she angrily screams that he is "filthy" and "disgusting". Needless to say, this event is clearly portrayed as one of the main moments in forming some of Don's more unhealthy views on sex.
- The example arguably extended to the real world, as pointed out by Abigail Rines in The Atlantic; Aimee's rape of Don didn't get as much public notice (much less extensive debate) as other then-current fictional rapes, being largely glossed over in most contemporary reviews and analyses of the episode or, when it was mentioned, treated as if he actually wanted it.
Earn Your Happy Ending: After a whole lot of soul-searching and a decade's worth of self-loathing and character development, Dick Whitman/Donald Draper self-actualizes on a hippie commune, ending the series seemingly at peace with himself.
Expository Hairstyle Change: It's not as noticeable as the other characters' style evolutions, but Don grows some slight sideburns in the second half of the last season, signifying his change with the times.
Expy: A wealthy self-made man who grew up poor, adopted a new name to escape his past and gives off the impression of charm and charisma to cover how broken and unhappy he is, Don is basically a twenty-first century version of Jay Gatsby.
A Father to His Men: A very distant, cold, 1960s-style father, but a father none-the-less.
Flat "What": Don does these. A lot.
Foot-Dragging Divorcee: He tries to talk Betty out of a divorce and she holds firm, eventually after finding out about her and Henry he threatened to cut Betty off financially and from the kids, but then relenting and splitting more amicably with Betty.
Freudian Excuse:
- His backstory flashbacks often account for his twisted personality in the present day. Hell, even his very name, Dick Whitman, has a Freudian origin; his mother's greatest wish was to cut off his father's dick and boil it in hog fat for getting her pregnant. His mother-figures were also traumatically terrible.
- It is strongly implied that the main reason why Don acts like such a Control Freak towards the women he is in a relationship with, is because he was sexually assaulted by an older woman as a teenager.
Friendly Enemies: His general relationship with Pete. Half of the time, they're at each other's throats. The other half, they show a genuine respect for each other and share a drink when discussing the issues of their personal lives.
Guile Hero: Although he borders on Villain Protagonist a lot of the time, Don's great ability is his capacity to talk his way out of everything, which is best demonstrated by his advertising presentations.
Has a Type: Don begins the show married to a blonde Stepford Smiler, but all of his mistresses/lovers have been rather independent-minded and outspoken, and all have been brunette except for redhead Bobbie Barrett (who pursued him, rather than the other way around), and blonde Faye Miller (whom he dated after his divorce).
Heroic Bastard: Although calling him "heroic" is a stretch, he is the protagonist and he has been struggling with being a bastard to his mother who died.
Hunk: Suave, manly, and sharply dressed.
Hypocrite:
- He is a serial adulterer, but is absolutely cruel to Betty and then Megan when he believes them to be promiscuous.
- When Don learns that Sal is gay, Don lectures Sal about how it's important to be faithful to one's wife. Don was cheating on Betty shortly before he learned about Sal's sexuality.
- In the season 3 finale, Don masterminds the creation of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce to avoid being absorbed by McCann. Later in season 7, when Jim Cutler is trying to force Don out of the company, he convinces the other partners that it would now be for the best to sell out to McCann.
Ignored Epiphany:
- For Christ's sake, Don, how many times do you have to realize you love and value your wife before it's enough to make you not go right out and sleep with another woman? It's enough to make her want to divorce you.
- Don, how many times does your Martin Guerre past have to be dragged out of you and how many anxiety attacks do you have to have because of it before you take Faye's advice and do something about it legally?
Indy Ploy: Despite demanding a solid planification from his underlings, Don relies too much on his own talent, inspiration, improvisation, audacity, or plain luck, a thing that doesn't sit well with his partners.
Campbell: Don't act like you had a plan. You are Tarzan, swinging from vine to vine!
Informed Attractiveness: Women on the show frequently mention how handsome he is. In season five, when he jokes that it will look like he struck out when he leaves Joan in a bar, she scoffs at the idea that anyone would believe that.
I Just Want to Be Loved: Deep down, Don wants to be appreciated for who he is regardless of what name he's using. His platonic relationship with Anna is his most gratifying and wholesome in the entire show: even though she's the first to find out about his past and has every right to scrutinize him for it, she decides to support and respect him. Don reciprocates and spends most of his vacations in California with her - some of the few moments in the show where he's truly at peace.
It's All About Me: The other partners or workers call him out arguing this whenever he does something impulsive or unexpected (which happens a lot). Most of his peculiar behavior is the way he has to cope around his own issues.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He tends to be blunt or distant and his chronic infidelity alone makes him a dick. He can also be quite personable, charming, and fair and often tries to be a decent human being and father, but his character flaws often work against his good intentions.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Pulls some strings to provide a deferment to the Rossen boy, only to regain a place between the legs of Sylvia, the boy's mother.
Ladykiller in Love: Season 5, when he settles down with Megan.
Like Parent, Like Spouse: As Megan puts it, "My father has Marx, you have the bottle."
Madonna-Whore Complex: This seems to be Don's worldview. He seeks prim and proper women, like Betty, to settle down with, but constantly engages in extramarital affairs with sexually aggressive women. This is most obvious with Don's third wife, Megan. Don marries her after seeing how good she is with his kids, but is extremely upset when she displays any hints of sexuality outside of his control, such as singing a sexy French song at Don's 40th birthday party or when she does a kissing scene for her role on a TV Soap Opera. It is later heavily implied that his whole complex is a result of the trauma he expierienced from having being raped by Amiee as a teenager, with Amiee also having briefly acted as the first (and quite possibly only) positive maternal figure in his life before she forced herself upon him.
Manipulative Bastard: Don's a master of office politics. To say nothing of his emotional abuse of Betty.
Married to the Job: Don's character arc in the final season has him suffering an emotional breakdown due to the failings of his second marriage and the company's absorption into McCann. After finally coming to terms with all of his shortcomings, Don realizes the one thing he's really good at and enjoys doing is being an advertiser.
Meaningful Name: Among other Freudian connotations explored below, "Dick" reflects his inability to keep it in his pants and his mean tendencies, while "Don" and "Draper" evoke his manly, mercantilistic, elegant, and dapperish parts.
Morality Pet: Anna is his. He's not entirely a bad guy, but Anna is the only person in his life he doesn't on occasion act like a dick towards. Tellingly, she's also for a long time the only person who really knows who he is.
The Movie Buff: Don is often seen going to the movies, sometimes to get ideas, other times just to be alone. He has occasionally taken other people with him - he goes with Lane to see a Japanese monster movie in Season 4, and in Season 6, he takes Bobby to see Planet of the Apes (1968).
Mr. Fanservice: Don probably has the most shirtless scenes of the male cast.
My God, What Have I Done?:
- Don, after learning that his brother committed suicide shortly after Don bribed him into leaving him alone.
- He has another moment at the end of "Commissions and Fees", when he learns that he drove Lane to suicide.
Mysterious Past: Most of the characters, including his children, know virtually nothing about his background. Don eventually reveals he's from Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is just barely far enough into Central PA to count as sort of Midwestern. It certainly isn't within the Philadelphia sphere of influence that would render it East Coast. When you add that he was born and spent his first ten years in rural Illinois—just outside Chicago—it's enough.
Harry: Draper? Who knows anything about that guy? No one’s ever lifted that rock. He could be Batman for all we know.
Narcissist: A textbook example. Throughout the series, he consistently prioritizes his own desires at others' expense and feels entitled to respect and adoration despite being largely incapable of reciprocating such feelings.
Never Gets Drunk: Don never did, until Season 4.
Not So Stoic: When he mourns over Adam.
Odd Friendship: Don mostly eschews from close male friendships, mostly out of fear that he will reveal something out of his past. But he does develop a rapport with Lane, whose British reserve means he never attempts to pry into Don's private life.
- Don's best friend is Roger, because it is a mutually shallow relationship where they don't dig deep in each other's personal lives.
Office Romance: Poster boy and trope image for Sleeping with the Boss. He's initially against this kind of relationship on principle (primarily for practical reasons, but he also has some ethical qualms about it).
- In the first episode, Peggy gets hired as Don's new secretary and tries to impress him and sleep with him, but he has none of it. He is married and sleeps around the town, but not with office ladies... at that point.
- Don sleeps with his secretary Allison whe he's wasted and she helped him to get home. She feels exploited by him because he pretended like nothing happened.
- Don starts dating Faye Miller. She is a marketing researcher hired by SCDP, and probably the healthiest of Don's post-divorce relationships, until he screws it up. They kept it secret from all people in the office.
- Megan starts at SCDP as Don's new secretary, they sleep together and quickly Don decides to marry her, as he was infatuated with her model looks, magical nanny abilities and desire to work in advertising as a copy writer.
One of the Girls: For a macho man and serial womanizer, Don does not have many close friendships with men, (aside from an oftentimes hostile relationship with Roger), instead forming closer friendships with women like Anna, Peggy, and Joan.
Orphan's Ordeal: His being a bastard led to some hard times growing up.
Parental Abandonment: Don has abandoned his children on several occasions — his daughter Sally's birthday party where he just took off for several hours, missing the cake; his trip to California which lasted almost a month; and his blackout in Season 4, where he drank the whole weekend and forgot to come get his kids for their visit.
Pet the Dog: He has numerous moments throughout the series, mainly with his children and Anna, that show he's capable of genuine kindness and provide some insight into the kind of man Don could be if he weren't so extraordinarily fucked up.
Promiscuity After Rape: Don's first sexual experience was being raped by a prostitute who'd been taking care of him. As an adult, Don seems nearly incapable of monogamy generally have a flings while also having an affair while married.
The Quiet One: As admen go he is incredibly taciturn. This actually works to his advantage in meetings and campaign sessions, because what he does have to say comes off as that much more important.
Rags to Riches: He grew up on a farm during the Great Depression and is now a very wealthy man with a fancy apartment in Manhattan.
Rape as Backstory: As revealed in "The Crash" — a prostitute, Aimee, who had been caring for the sick adolescent Dick Whitman, molested him and took his virginity. This is implied to be a major contributing factor to his skewed perspectives on women and sex.
- Emphasized in season 6 when Megan and her friend Amy (who has the same name as Don's abuser) decide to have a threesome with Don. When Megan offers while she and Amy both kiss and caress Don, he seems to freeze up and says he doesn't really want to, but Megan grabs him by the genitals and calls him a liar, reminiscent of how he lost his virginity. The next day, they don't talk about it.
Really Gets Around: He has a reputation.
Redemption Failure: Don reverts to his philandering ways between seasons 5 and 6, cheating on Megan with a neighbor.
Reformed, but Rejected: Don makes a sincere effort to make things right with all the people he's wronged in the season 6 finale, but he has too many pieces to pick up and everything he does to help one person ends up hurting someone else, leaving him without both Megan and his job.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Don does this during meetings so often it could be considered a running gag of sorts.
Self-Made Man: A rural boy raised in a whorehouse becomes a successful executive and partner of a Midtown Manhattan company thanks to his hard work and talent after working as a salesman and attending City College at night.
Sex God: He's supposedly really good in bed.
Significant Wardrobe Shift: Don sticks to his late 50s/early 60s fashion for the majority of the show, but finally embraces the times in the final half of Season 7. His suits become more emblematic of the 1970s with wider lapels, bigger ties, and colored shirts.
Sink or Swim Mentor: To Peggy.
Son of a Whore: "You told me your mother died in childbirth. Mine did too. She was a prostitute. I don't know if my father paid her, but when she died, they brought me to him and his wife. And when I was ten years old, he died. He was a drunk, he got kicked in the face by a horse. She buried him and took up with some other man, and I was raised by those two sorry people."
Standard '50s Father: Taken apart at the seams. Him being married with kids is a First-Episode Twist after he's already established as a womanizer, and he understands clients a whole lot better than his family. In Season 4, Don makes the rather poignant admission that he's uncomfortable around his kids, but still misses them when they're not visiting.
The Stoic: Displays a stern and cold demeanor, even when he's being charming.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: When you hear this phrase, Don Draper is the image that pops into your head.
That Man Is Dead: The only time he acknowledges having been Dick Whitman is when Adam confronts him, and even then he does not directly confirm it. He does go by Dick when with Anna. Although his second wife, Megan, also knows his real name, and refers to him as it in "A Little Kiss."
Took a Level in Kindness: Briefly after his second marriage. "Good"-ol' Draper comes back before long.
Peggy: I don't recognize that man. He's kind and he's patient... It concerns me.
Trademark Favourite Food: Whisky ^note. Reflecting on his sober (as in solemn) and classic personality, Mr. Draper will have an Old Fashioned made with rye (usually Canadian Club, of which there's always a bottle in his office).
The Un-Favourite: His stepmother never liked him and was mean to him even before she had a son of her own.
Unfortunate Names: Dick isn't a terribly unfortunate name in and of itself, but add Whitman to the end and you easily come to Dick Whit. His name stems from his mother having died in childbirth and her last words were, "I'll cut his dick off."
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Don is against the use of physical punishment in the raising of his kids, a very progressive attitude for his time. As he explains to Betty when questioned about this, his father used to beat him up all the time when he was a child, and all it led to was him bottling up a lot of anger towards him, to the point of regularly fantasizing about murdering him.
You're Not My Mother: He's not shown saying this directly to her, but he refuses to acknowledge Abigail as his mother, no doubt because she never treated him like a son either. In addition, when Adam is born, he refuses to acknowledge him as his brother (although Adam is never shown as being anything but nice towards him and clearly looks up to him).

Margaret "Peggy" Olson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mad_men_peggy_olson_transformation.jpg

Played By: Elisabeth Moss

Don: It's your job! I give you money. You give me ideas.
Peggy: And you never say thank you!
Don: That's what the money is for! You're young, you'll get your recognition. And honestly, it's absolutely ridiculous to be two years into your career and counting your ideas! Everything to you is an opportunity! And you should be thanking me every morning when you wake up, along with Jesus for giving you another day!

Starting as Don Draper's wide-eyed new secretary at the beginning of Season 1, she ends up senior copywriter at SCDP. Initially has trouble with men (particularly Pete) hitting on her; eventually, she starts hitting on men. Known for flirting with the counterculture, but not being radical/interested enough to commit to it.

'50s Hair: Starts off with a curled ponytail and very short bangs, later she gets her hair cut into a more fashionable flip that she maintains with slight changes, into the Seventies.
'60s Hair: She starts wearing her hair in a popular flip in Season 2, sometimes wearing her hair in the poufy bobs and pageboys of that era with her hair looking less product heavy as time goes on.
'70s Hair: Her 60s flips still look conservative and use hairspray but they started looking more low-maintenance with more movemen; Still fits as many women in professional settings often maintained conservative styles.
Afraid of Blood: In Season 3, she faints when she sees a man bleeding from a tractor injury with his foot cut off. By Season 6 and 7, she keeps her head together and helps the bleeder.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Throughout the series, Peggy displays an overt (some would say unhealthy) attraction towards men with aggressive personalities - men who prioritize their own desires and who don't shy away from fulfilling them at the expense of others. Ultimately subverted when she gets together with Stan Rizzo in the series finale.
Always Someone Better: Over the course of season 3, Peggy becomes this in relation to Paul Kinsey. By the end of the season, Don chooses Peggy over Paul as his lead copywriter.
Author Avatar: Word of God has it that her complex protegee-mentor relationship with Don draws a lot from the time when Matthew Weiner worked under David Chase's wing in The Sopranos.
Berserk Button: Peggy hates it when people imply that she became a copywriter by sleeping with Don.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: At 5'3", the Short to Stan's Big and Michael's Thin.
Brainy Brunette: She's brunette and one of the smarter characters in the series.
Broken Pedestal: For years, she idolized Don and looked up to him. By the end of Season 6, she can barely stand him. The pedestal is slightly rebuilt, not to the extent it was but she still cares about him.
Career Versus Man: A major theme of her character arc. Peggy's success at her job (and the long hours and energy it demands) repeatedly comes at the expense of her romantic relationships. Subverted in the finale, she gets together with Stan (who is sweetly snarky yet supportive) and is on the path to becoming a creative director.
The Chains of Commanding: It takes Peggy some time to accept that she can't be both a productive team leader and a nice friend to her underlings.
Culturally Religious: Her faith at the very least took a big dent over her pregnancy, but as there's no escaping the Church, she still goes to Mass off and on, does the posters for a CYO dance, and creates an ad for Popsicles inspired by Catholic iconography. The church's new, young priest takes an interest in her and tries to steer her back towards the religion. Later in the series, she clearly is out of the Church and makes references to having been raised in the religion and before one flight (before the Moon Landing) she crosses her self which makes Harry nervous.
Defiled Forever: Played with. After being seduced by Pete, she seems to struggle intensely with having a romantic relationship for basically the entire series, although she eventually ends up happy.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Not that she's the biggest Ice Queen in the show (that title can go to Betty and Joan), but often she can be rather tough on those around her, yet there are times where she warms up and is friendly with people like her co-workers or Julio.
Deuteragonist: Peggy's story gets the most time and attention after Don's.
Distaff Counterpart: Peggy is developing into one for Don, adopting many of his mannerisms and personality traits.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: A pioneering woman who feels unappreciated at times, but her bosses point out that she has a meteoric career despite being under thirty.
Earn Your Happy Ending: You don't have to tell Peggy that she has to work for what she's worth; she worked her way up from a shy, mousily dressed secretary with a ponytail to a more confident, tougher Copy Chief and finally doesn't have to choose between her love life and career.
Erudite Stoner: Like the rest of Creative (except Don), she smokes a fair bit of pot for inspiration by Season 5 (1966-67).
Friendly Enemy: She's still on good terms with Don, even when they are competitors.
Family Versus Career: Her sister resents that she gave birth to a child, gave him up, and seemingly went on with her life (and career) as if it never happened. Peggy does focus on advancing her career but in "The Suitcase", she reveals to Don that she can't help but wonder about the child she gave up.
Glamorous Single Mother: Subverted. Peggy's career grows during the course of the series and she develops a thicker skin and confidence along with more flattering hair and clothes. Yet it's implied she has to avoid thinking about the baby she had to give up just to get by.
Don: Do you ever think about it?
Peggy: I try not to. But then it comes up out of nowhere. Playgrounds.
The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Has this slightly with her devout Catholic housewife sister Anita.
Hidden Depths: "Lost Horizon" reveals she's a very adept roller skater and was shown to be enthusiastically acing the Twist earlier on.
High-Powered Career Woman: Peggy starts off as just a receptionist but dreams of more and the show follows her pursuit of becoming an advertising executive during the late 1950s and '60s. She frequently faces overt sexism from just about everyone she works with (including but certainly not limited to taunts from Sexy Secretary Joan and false accusations of her sleeping with Don to get the job in the beginning), which morphs her into an Iron Lady of sorts by the series end, in contrast to her Plucky Office Girl role in the beginning. She also struggles in her personal life finding a balance between Career Versus Man.
I Am Not Pretty: Expresses this worry in the season four episode The Suitcase where she admits to Don she doesn't like dating and she has a hard time with it and "men don't exactly stop and take a look at me", doesn't help she (despite being played by a beautiful albeit less conventionally attractive Elisabeth Moss) works in an industry where there are a lot of drop dead gorgeous models being used and hired as secretaries and the men around her seem to look down on women who don't look like a movie star.
Important Haircut: During season 2, her long dainty ponytail is sheared off and styled into an aggressive no-nonsense business cut to reaffirm her days as a secretary are over.
Improbable Age: She's the copy chief at one of the best ad agencies in the country and she's not even thirty.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Her coworkers see her as this, initially (she was at one point described as an undercover nun). This obviously isn't true.
Innocent Blue Eyes: She has striking blue eyes and starts off as a shy Naïve Newcomer and, if not pure, she is one of the few people on the show who has their act together and is a relatable heroic character.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Julio, a young boy that lives in the same apartment building as her and comes over to watch tv, as of the 7th season.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Not as bad as her colleagues or boss, she has become more curt and prickly as the years go on; however her sense of fairness and care don't waver, and tends to be tender with those close to her, more likely to forgive, and can back up her colleagues.
Karma Houdini: How her sister perceives her for having a baby out of wedlock and giving it up for adoption, returning to her job like nothing happened, at a time when there was still a heavy stigma on unwed mothers.
Law of Inverse Fertility: While on birth control (albeit, just starting to use it), she becomes pregnant by Pete Campbell and gives birth to his child. This surfaces during the second season, at the same time that he and his wife are unsuccessfully trying to conceive.
Leg Focus: A more subdued version of the trope, as it's not so much about sex appeal as it is about the later styles and her burgeoning confidence; Joan notes her as having "darling little ankles" that need to be shown off and as the 60s go on, her skirts reveal more leg, but the penultimate moment is when she shakes down Roger for money after he gives her extra work◊.
Married to the Job: She even chooses staying at work on her birthday instead of spending it with her boyfriend and family.
My Beloved Smother: Her mother is a classic example, constantly nagging her to go to church and trying to set her up with men, taking her decision to move from Brooklyn to Manhattan (where her job is) as a personal betrayal, and sowing enough Catholic guilt for Peggy to reap for a lifetime. (However, she does seem to have been touchingly supportive about the fact that Peggy got pregnant out of wedlock about five minutes into the flashy Manhattan job that worries her so much.)
No Accounting for Taste: Pete Campbell, Duck Phillips, Mark, Abe, Ted....the number of fuckwits she's been with is astounding; she later averts this after getting together with Stan.
No Social Skills: For the first couple of seasons she has a habit of occasionally seeming pretentious, and breaking bad news in the worst ways possible. By the time she starts working at SCDP she's largely grown out of these habits.
Odd Friendship: With a few people on the show, what's odd is that usually said people have insulted her before, but she has grown a thicker skin and makes them learn to respect her as a person. She fights and bonds with Joan, she and Stan are polar opposites and have friendly arguments and confidences then moves beyond "just good friends", and she forms a personal relationship of Amicable Exes with Pete. Also seems to be forming one with Roger by the end of the series.
Old Maid: Not that she spends 100% of her time worrying about it, but she, like Joan before her, gets angsted by the expectations of women in her generation and worried about becoming one of those women she hates... one that lies about her age.
One of the Boys: Once she becomes a copywriter, she spends her time with other men instead of the secretaries (two female friends being Joyce and Megan). In Season 4, she accompanies Don to the men's room when he throws up, a symbolic representation of her transition to one of the guys; After becoming a copywriter, her fashion also changes, wearing dresses and skirt suits styled to resemble menswear.
Only Sane Woman: Even after she gets more in-depth with the office politics and shenanigans of her peers, she still remains in the middle of things and an apt observer.
Out of Focus: While she's still a major character, Peggy has less to do in season 3 compared to the show's other years. In fact, it's the one time Elisabeth Moss was nominated as a supporting actress rather than a lead.
Parental Substitute: To her neighbor Julio in Season 7, the boy spends time watching tv with her in her apartment and confides in her, feeling his mother doesn't care. An acute example, due to him being around the same age as the baby Peggy gave up, something she frequently thinks about.
Plucky Office Girl: She gets hired as a secretary, but her comments on a lipstick project in which the secretaries are used as guinea pigs get her noticed, and she becomes a copywriter and a rising star.
Servile Snarker: Develops into one.
She Cleans Up Nicely: Gets one of these moments at the end of a season 2 episode, and in general as she starts to dress (in Joan's words) "less like a little girl" over the season and into season 3; her wardrobe gets upgraded after becoming Copy Chief and even more so in her thirties, topped off with her entrance into McCann Erickson.
Shrinking Violet: Particularly in season one, she was incredibly shy, modest, and afraid to risk losing her job by standing up for herself. But she learns to shake this off once she realizes what she could achieve in the company if she gets a tougher hide.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Peggy is wrapped up in her career, but she does want a guy that understands her, shares her passions, loves her, and isn't threatened by her force of personality nor her success. She gets that with Stan at the end.
The Smurfette Principle: Once she's promoted from secretary, the only female copywriter at the firm. Justified in that this is the early 60's and the second wave of feminism won't really kick it into high gear for nearly a decade. Useful to the agency (in addition to her talent) in that she brings a female perspective to the boys club of advertising. Has complained about only being given the "girly" accounts (bras, lipstick, diet soda, etc).
"Success Through Sex" Accusation: People assume Peggy had to have slept with Don because how else does a secretary get promoted to copywriter? In reality, Peggy strictly got the position on her own merits; Don meanwhile has a strict rule against sleeping with secretaries (which goes out the window after Megan is hired).
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Prickly to a fault, yet can be very tender and protective of her friends, co-workers, mentors, and Stan.
Supporting Protagonist: While Don Draper is inarguably the main character, the series opens up on her first day at the office, and the show's longest running consistent arc seems to be her own evolution as she rises to the top.
Surprise Pregnancy: At the end of season one she gives birth, much to her surprise.
Took a Level in Badass: Turning down Don's demand that she join SCDP in the season 3 finale, because of the simple fact he hasn't asked her. He needs her so much, he ends up begging her to join.
- And another one in "The Other Woman"; when she figures out that Don and the rest of SCDP have been taking her for granted, she quits her job and takes an offer with CGC making triple what Sterling Cooper was paying her.
- And in "Lost Horizon", she walks into McCann Erickson with the aura of giving no fucks.
Took a Level in Jerkass: By Season 7, her lack of a love life has turned her into a paranoid wreck, then by The Runaways she's back in form (having a close kinship with a child and having to deal with Ginsberg amongst other things) and just mellowed out into her prickly yet righteous self.
The Un-Favourite: To her mother because of the baby and because she's putting her career ahead of finding a husband.
Ungrateful Bastard: On Don's return in season seven, she antagonizes him the most by telling him they've been functioning just fine since his absence, forgetting or ignoring that he helped start the agency, is the reason she is no longer a secretary, was Joan's ally when Pete pimped her out to Jaguar, and has the talent to save the agency from falling on its collective ass. She also seems to blame Don for breaking up her and Ted, even though Ted was the one who truly instigated the breakup out of an unwillingness to break up his family. Her relationship with Don is mended soon and she forgets about Ted.
Vocal Evolution: When she starts out as a secretary, she speaks in a girlish whisper. Her voice becomes more commanding as she rises in her career.
Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Behaves this way with Stan, calling him out for slacking off, arguing with him and gets together with him.

Joan Harris (née Holloway)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mad_men_joan_holloway_promo.jpg

Played By: Christina Hendricks

"You want to have this conversation in front of Mr. Draper? I'm going to the break room to find your replacement."

Voluptuous and highly competent — if at times difficult — head of the Sterling Cooper secretarial pool at the beginning, with an on-again-off-again affair with Roger Sterling. By the end of Season 4, she's the office manager at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and widely recognized as the sine qua non of the whole agency. By Season 5, she's a partner.

'50s Hair: Starts off with an artichoke that gradually became an elaborate french twist and beehive well into the 1960s.
'60s Hair: She models several versions of the Beehive Hairdo and bouffants, with high buns and stacked curls. Her hair also gets higher for a time. Sometimes she wears her hair loose into a gentle bouffant.
'70s Hair: Her updos gradually looked more wavy and looser, albeit in elaborate styles, both as a reaction to the less product heavy popular looks and her life as a busy executive and mother.
Alpha Bitch: Sometimes acts this way toward the other women in the secretarial pool, though she is not without her sympathetic traits or humanizing moments. Helps that there are some men that don't ogle her: Don admits to being scared of her at first and Lane only develops a crush on her after knowing her.
Badass Bureaucrat: She eventually gets placed in charge of managing SCDP's finances. She's also the kind of person you do not want to get on the bad side of.
Berserk Button:
- When she finds out that her husband voluntarily re-upped for another tour of duty in Vietnam, she's not happy.
- She also really hates sexual harassment. In Season 7B, she quits McCann after being repeatedly harassed.
Break the Haughty: Initially the queen bitch of the office, much of the first three years are devoted to knocking her down a peg, in both her personal and professional lives.
Career Versus Man: Although she's peerlessly good at her job, she explicitly is in the market for a husband and only plans to work until she finds one. She's given a promotion in season four, but it comes with no acknowledged power or prestige. After she marries Greg, she's expected to leave SCDP and she's heartbroken over it. Following her divorce, she strikes a deal with Pete that nets her a non-silent partnership with 5% stake in SCDP. She turns down a chance to be a Trophy Wife to Straight Gay Bob Benson for a chance at real love, and in the end, after dating an older man who wants to "spoil" her and dumps her when she refuses to leave her career behind, starts her own production company.
Consummate Professional: Possibly the most professional of all the people in the office. She will NOT put up with shenanigans if she has anything to say about it.
Disco Dan: A realistic version. Not as bad as Don, but she carries on the early 1960s Cocktail Bombshell look well into 1967, she eventually updates her look to look hipper but retains that Pinup model look well into 1970. This is justified in that she is a woman who looks to The '50s as her best decade, where she came of age and developed a style that suited her body.
The Dreaded: Not only the other secretaries are intimidated by her, but also the men who are —in theory— her superiors. Don Draper was advised in his first week at the agency that she's the one person he shouldn't cross.
Earn Your Happy Ending: At the end of the series, she went from a head secretary who placed marriage and appealing to the Male Gaze as her top priorities to a Junior Executive/Partner/Accounts Woman after divorcing Greg, in all while she lost the romances in she had in the series...she gets the child and starts her own production company.
Even the Girls Want Her: Her roommate in Season 1 propositions her. Joan pressures her into sleeping with a man in retaliation.
Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Late in Season 3, Pete encounters Joan working at a department store after she left Sterling Cooper to be a housewife to her surgeon husband, who it turns out is an incompetent oaf and unable to support her.
Family Versus Career: She's gotten what she's always wanted, a doctor husband, a baby, a nice little apartment in the city... and the fifth season opener shows her impatient to come back to work because she values it and because she's valued. Roger's joke advertisement of SCDP as an equal opportunity employer inspires her to walk back into the office and start demonstrating her competence in a bid to save her job. Then she starts a production company with her mother (Holloway-Harris) with a schedule that allows her to both run a company and bond with her young son.
The Fashionista: Doesn't have the usual slender build yet shows off a more office-oriented pinup style that's combined with the artistry of Chanel, though her outfits are designed to flatter her body and get attention from men.
Fiery Redhead: Averted. She loses her temper only a few times and isn't any more fiery than the non-redheads on the show, preferring to use Tranquil Fury or to insult a person, and keeps her temper too tightly controlled.
Freudian Excuse: After 4 seasons of Joan looking down at Peggy for not using her feminine wiles and of Joan herself caring very much of how attractive men regard her and of trying to become a "shadow leader" to her husband even after she was raped by her fiancee; we meet her mother, who did flirt and (initially) preached a "wifely role" for her daughter to follow.
My Mother raised me to be admired.
Foot-Dragging Divorcee: Even after dumping Greg, she maintains a separation from him for her son's sake, then she throws a loud tantrum in reception when she was served divorce papers though this is more out of wounded pride and anger that Greg (who raped her and treated her like an idiot) gets to maintain the high ground.
Glamorous Single Mother: Subverted. She may look the part, but it's not easy raising a baby on her own. Then later it's harder for her go out dating when she has a young son, especially with many a man that's gun shy about dealing with children again.
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Nope. Joan has had at least two abortion in the past, and considers having another when she becomes pregnant with Roger's child in season 4.
Head-Turning Beauty: Most of the male cast can't stop staring at her.
Hidden Depths: Plays the accordion, and with her stint working for Harry proves herself to have a great deal of business acumen. Also, through most of the first three seasons, almost no one seems to realize that she's running the office.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: She starts off relatively low-ranking, but it eventually becomes clear that she's the one holding the agency together.
Hypocrite: Has some shades of this in her initial relationship with Jane Siegel. She chastises Jane for using her sex appeal to attract male attention, when she herself is the office's MrsFanservice and always wears tight, very flattering clothing. She gets a bit of Laser-Guided Karma when Jane marries Roger and comes back to the office to gloat.
Informed Attractiveness: As with Don, it is simply understood by all characters on the show that she is the hottest person in any room she's in (despite the cast consisting of very attractive people), the costume design does help insure that she is to be a main focus to the audience eye.
Iron Lady: Always a zero-nonsense boss, her commanding style doesn't get softer when she's promoted.
Know When to Fold 'Em: In "Lost Horizon", she only accepts half of the money she's owed as a partner because she knows she can't win against McCann.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be very cold and intimidating, and lack of professionalism and respect can make her downright scary, but the moments when she consoles or advises someone make it shine through that, underneath the icy exterior, she's actually a very nice person. Specifically, her relationships with Lane and Peggy (even if it didn't start out that way) bring out the best in her.
Lady in Red: Red (along with green) is one of her colors, and she is one of the sexiest and powerful women on the show.
Meaningful Name: According to this videoher last name "Holloway" can refer to how hollow her ambitions towards the house with a big yard and marriage to Greg and making her way with her beauty are; on the other hand, her first name can be alluded to the strong, courageous, independent Joan of Arc which fits her true nature.
Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: She was raised with this mindset by her mother who "raised me to be admired" and only begins to subvert this trope in the Second Season when she's being consulted for non-secretarial tasks and sees how capable she is along with being excited by her job.
Ms. Fanservice: The bustiest woman on the show who wears form-fitting clothing with intent to be admired. Arguably Deconstructed in how the men lust after her so much that they are utterly incapable of seeing her as anything but a sex object.
No Accounting for Taste: Has two ex-husbands, one is a whiny, selfish rapist and the other can best be referred to as a Noodle Incident. She's dated Know-Nothing Know-It-All Kinsey, immature Roger, and the self-centered Richard.
Non-Promotion: To Director of Agency Operations, a meaningless title during the struggling beginnings of SCDP.
Old Maid: Part of her story. In Season 2, Joan gets humiliated when Paul Kinsey copied her driver's license and highlighted her birthdate and stuck it on the breakroom board, revealing that she's 31 and single. She gets engaged to her Jerkass fiancé and goes through with the wedding even afer he raped her, and later after getting divorced, Bob Benson chides her for not accepting his proposal of marriage due to her approaching the age of 40 with a young son and a mother in an apartment; she refuses since she is more willing to marry again for love.
Odd Friendship:
- With Lane.
- Bonds with Peggy.
- Develops a friendship with Pete, odd given that he sold her out to Herb Rennett, who wanted to sleep with her.
Put on a Bus: She leaves the agency partway through season 3, though she does pop up again during this absence and before too long comes back on board to help kickstart Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
Rape as Drama: Joan's fiancé Greg is introduced by raping her on the floor of Don's office. She says no and even attempts to fight him off, but he doesn't care.
Redheaded Hero: Grew into this as the series progresses, as the audience sees her move away from just being the Office Hottie to being someone who's journey they can identify with.
Resentful Guardian: Played for drama. A man dumps Joan when she reveals she's the mother of a toddler; later, she is sarcastically or sincerely contemplating leaving her child to gallivant with her boyfriend.
Joan: You're ruining my life! (directly to babysitter and indirectly to Kevin)
—>Kevin: I love you, Mommy.
(Joan cries outside her door)
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In "Lost Horizon", Joan finally quits McCann, fed up with all the sexism.
Secret-Keeper: In "Chinese Wall" — and for other secrets a long time beforehand — Joan for Roger.
Servile Snarker: She is willing to make fun of her superiors.
Sex for Services: Prostitutes herself for the sake of SCDP with a client at the suggestion of Pete and with the approval of the partners, excluding Don, getting a partnership in return.
Sexy Secretary: Probably this generation's Trope Codifier.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Starts out wanting a prosperous, handsome husband who'll take her to live in the suburbs and after her divorce, she states she'll wait forever for a man that loves her.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Depending on her mood and who she's talking to, Joan can either be very nice or very rude.
Took a Level in Badass: Finally standing up to her husband, then kicking him to the curb in season 5.
"You're not a good man. You never were. And you know what I'm talking about."
Tsundere: This is apparently the reason Don never made a move on her; she's gorgeous and fun, but terrifying.
Ungrateful Bastard: Joan might be this, especially during the few times Peggy and Don have stood up for her one way or another. Peggy, when she fired Joey for being a misogynistic bully towards her, and Don when he finally told Herb how disgusting he is. Then in 7A, she along with Peggy and Bert are very antagonistic to Don due to things done to the agency (the loss of Jaguar, Tobacco, and Ted as a boyfriend), while the latter two more or less have forgave Don, she wanted to see him ousted from the agency and this lasts into half of next season

Pete Campbell

" Please tell me you don't pity me."

Played By: Vincent Kartheiser

"Why does it have to be like this? Why can't I get anything good all at once?"

From a family that once owned half of Upper Manhattan, now fallen on relatively hard times. Initially full of himself and rather an unlikable creep who compensates for his inferiority complex by both sexually harassing and bullying the secretarial staff. However, his experiences at work give him a sense of humility and maturity that makes him a more likable character by Season 4 (in some viewers' eyes, anyway). This takes a step back in Season 5, however.

'50s Hair: In the earlier seasons, he has a pomaded haircut that would fit into a prep school or on American Bandstand.
'60s Hair: His hair gets less product heavy looking (the popular "Dry Look") as time goes on until Season 7 comes and he gets...
'70s Hair: By Season 7, he has sideburns and combover that veritably scream "I am a middle-aged businessman in the 1970s!"
Afraid of Needles: Mentioned during the blood drive.
Always Someone Better: Don is often this to him.
Amicable Exes: He and Trudy seem to settle into these roles by the point of Season 7B, if "Time & Life" is representative of anything. They get back together in the "Milk and Honey Route".
- He develops a similar relationship with Peggy starting in Season 4, after engaging in friendly banter with slight tension in previous seasons; he even departs, giving her best wishes and the prediction she will be Creative Director by the year 1980.
The Barnum: Like most of the cast, Pete's willing to sell any product.
Batman Gambit: He figures out that Roger has been reading his secretary's calendar in order to poach his accounts, and so he has his secretary write in a fictional meeting with Coca-Cola at 6 in the morning at the Staten Island Ferry Building. It works.
Butt-Monkey: Of all the characters in the office, he tends to have the highest amount of slap-stick, being slapped, punched, tripping downstairs, and running into support beams frequently.
Did Not Think This Through: Pete doesn't realize that working to impress the executives of General Motors at Detroit is going to require some driving skills, as Ken exemplified in the past.
Disappeared Dad: Hardly around his daughter Tammy so much that when he comes to visit her in "The Strategy", the little girl doesn't recognize him. He does get better, and by the last season, he is a loving doting father to Tammy who absolutely adores him.
Divorce Is Temporary: He and Trudy divorce around Season 6, but they get back together at the end of the series.
Drives Like Crazy: Not really crazy, but very poorly, and his lack of skill as a driver repeatedly figures as a plot point.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: After Lucky Strike switched to another firm, Pete surpassed Roger in terms of contributions to SCDP's profits. Despite this, he still has the worst office in the building and is not pleased about it (he eventually gets Harry's office, but it doesn't stop him from feeling he deserves ''Roger's"). To add insult to injury, Roger then starts to poach potential customers from him and Pete can't officially do anything about it.
Earn Your Happy Ending: He ends the series on a high note with being hired by Learjet and moving to Wichita with Trudy and Tammy, their divorce now dissolved.
Entitled to Have You: Pete does Type B with a German au pair that his neighbors hired. He goes through some trouble to fix a dress with red wine or some such spilled on it, but it's only after he returns it that she tells him she already has a boyfriend. Her reactions indicate that it was naivete about his intentions rather than an attempt to use him, but he still forces himself on her a bit later. This comes back to bite him when the neighbor finds out.
Famous Ancestor:
- He is a descendant of the (non-fictional) Campbell family of the (equally non-fictional) Glencoe Massacre legend. This becomes an issue when he finds out that a headmaster refuses admission to his daughter in a school because he's a MacDonald (the victims of the massacre). Pete punches him out, stating that his family were carrying out the King's orders by violating Sacred Hospitality (actually the justification members of Clan Campbell use to defend themselves in arguments about the massacre to this day).
- He is also (on his mother's side) a member of the (non-fictional) Dyckman family, descendants of the Dutch farmer William Dyckman, who owned a massive tract of land in Harlem way back when it was the rural north end of the island of Manhattan; a major thoroughfare in Upper Manhattan is named after the family.
First Girl Wins: He and Trudy, his wife to whom he was newly married at the start of the season, end up disolving their divorce and moving to Kansas to be together.
Formerly Fit: By the end of the series, he gets chubbier and his hairline starts deciding (though not fat or unattractively so) in contrast to the lean, Boy Band look he had in the beginning.
Go Seduce My Arch Nemesis: A painfully mundane example; he asks Trudy to somehow convince an ex-boyfriend to publish a short story of his in a reputable magazine. Trudy stopping short of actual adultery relegates the story to "Boy's Life".
Gold Digger: Surprisingly averted. He did marry into money, but was unaware of his family's drop in wealth until after he was married for over a year. Also, if anything, he resents his father-in-law for always trying to help financially. He does, however, want his business and has made no secret of it.
Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Hates profanities, to the point of being genuinely offended whenever anyone F-bombs in his presence. "Hell's bells" is about as extreme as his language gets.
Has a Type: His three love interests (Trudy, Peggy and Beth) are slender brunettes with a youthful appearance and big blue eyes. This should also give away his narcissism: the same description applies to him as well. Lampshaded in an occassion when he visits Beth claiming he is her brother and part of the reason he is believed is the apparent Strong Family Resemblance.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Depends on the situation and the week.
Henpecked Husband: Feels like this in his marriage as of Season 5. He is about as far from this as can be in the first two or three seasons (his wife was just as — arguably more — submissive than Betty), as can be seen in "The Mountain King" and "The New Girl". However, towards the end (last two episodes) of season three and then on, Trudy becomes very nagging of the man.
Hidden Depths: Despite hailing from a privileged background and acting like a brown-nosing greenhorn in the first season, he has an eye for social change that the dinosaurs at SC sorely lack; though they scoff at him for predicting things like the trend of humorous advertising, or that Kennedy was going to beat Nixon, (He doesn't even wear a hat!) he turns out to be right. He is completely baffled as to why the senior leadership of Sterling Cooper and their clients aren't going after African-American customers, as to his eyes they are consumers who no one is trying to reach (and in the case of the clients, black people seem to be buying their products anyway). He is also always disgusted when he comes across racism. This relative colorblindness is rather progressive for the time, to say the least. He and Trudy also do a pretty good Charleston.
Hypocrite: He callously cheated on Trudy from before they were even married, but when he goes home to visit Tammy while he and Trudy were in the process of divorcing, he acts disgusted when it looks like she went out on a date.
I Just Want to Be You: He's obsessed with living up to the ideal of the "red-blooded American male", his most obvious example being Don. By season five, his life almost exactly resembles Don's back in season one — and he still hasn't caught on that Don was as miserable then as Pete is now.
Impoverished Patrician: He comes from one of the oldest Dutch families in America, with a million connections in Manhattan, but due to a combination of being The Unfavorite and his spendthrift father having nothing to leave when he dies, he becomes beholden to his Nouveau Riche parents-in-law, which puts a strain on his marriage.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: His need for approval.
It's All About Me: Though he occasionally starts showing signs of growing out of it, this is pretty much his raison d'etre.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sure, he's petulant and selfish, but he has progressive views on race relations for the time.
- Jerkass: Despite displaying such progressive sentiments, this doesn't stop him from having Joan literally prostitute herself in order to secure a business deal with Jaguar in "The Other Woman".
Love Confession: He does it twice during the series:
- In Season 2, after a season of tension between him and Trudy for failing to conceive a baby, he confesses his feelings for Peggy, telling her he should have gotten with her instead. Peggy replies that she has renounced to guilt him into being with her when she had his child. The reveal sinks their ship for good.
- In Season 7B, after roughly two after his separation from Trudy, he comes to understand that he had loved her all along and manages to save their marriage confessing his love and the intention of starting a new life together with their daughter.
Love Redeems: Downplayed, but he becomes a much more tolerable person through his affection for Peggy, which borders on Pet the Dog given how loathsome he is, and then much more tolerable again when he and Trudy end up happy together.
Narcissist: An even more severe example than Don. Despite having a deep-rooted craving for others' respect and praise, he views nearly everyone around him with barely disguised contempt and shows hardly any qualms about exploiting others to advance his own interests regardless of the circumstances.
Older Than They Look: Naturally, as he is played by Vincent Kartheiser. In an attempt to mitigate this, Kartheiser shaved his hair in a way to make it look as though Pete's hairline is receding.
Papa Wolf: Punches a headmaster that's keeping Tammy from being admitted because she failed a stick figure test and over a centuries-old family grudge.
Politically Correct Villain: "Villain" is too strong of a word to describe him, but he's still a colossal jerkass who cheats on his wife, makes the women he cheats with her on cheat on their own significant others, and is often the most antagonistic force against Don. He's also one of the biggest supporters of the Civil Rights Movement (enough that he lashes out at Harry when he sees MLK's death as a skewed priority) and once called out Roger for his Japanophobia against the Honda executives.
Pretty Boy: He's much more boyish and soft looking than the other more debonair men in the office. His pretty-boy looks may have scored him a brief fling with Peggy, but over the next few seasons, his hairline starts to recede more, contrasting his youthful face.
Really Gets Around: Ranks third in this regard, only behind Don and Roger.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tends to get these a lot.
- He is finally able to give a few come Season Four, particularly to Roger and to Don.
Small Name, Big Ego: Pete believes that his upbringing entitles him to the respect of his peers. He grows out of this after his various schemes end in his own humiliation.
Smug Snake: Again, he's improving - until season five's "Signal 30", where he resumes being a pain in the ass.
This Loser Is You: Everybody wants to be Don, but most people are like Pete ... uncharismatic, flawed and average.
Took a Level in Badass: In season four's "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", taking point on the Honda account and verbally eviscerating Roger over his prejudice.
- Also, in covering for Don after the security probe threatens to reveal his ruse.
- In season 5 he starts demanding more respect from the partners (especially Roger) and retaliates when Roger starts poaching his clients.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Zigzagged over the course of the series.
Took a Level in Kindness: Season 7B shows him being much more involved in his daughter's life, more protective and loving with Trudy, supportive of Peggy and Joan, and basically relaxing more. He's also let go of the competition with Don that only existed in his own mind, and became one of his staunchest supporters when Don fell out of favor with the agency.
The Unfavorite: In both his personal and professional life, he's generally not respected.
Uptown Girl: Gender Inverted with Peggy.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: The most out of the main cast with his remarks, preppy casual style, and surprisingly historic heritage. Bert has to warn Don and Roger of Pete's family background when they consider firing him.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: He never got his father's approval before he died, which just adds more to his inferiority complex. His desire for Don's approval reflects this, but he's really bad at taking good advice.

Roger Sterling

"Don't fool yourself. This is some very dirty business."

^{Click here to see} Roger's appearance in Season 7b.

Played By: John Slattery

Don : Why do we do this?

Roger: For the sex, but it's always disappointing.

Partner at Sterling Cooper and then Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. A chronic drinker and womanizer, he's a bit older than Don (having served in the Pacific Theater of World War II), but is arguably his closest friend (or, along with Peggy, perhaps the closest thing he has to a friend). He inherited his partnership from his father, a friend of Bert Cooper's.

'50s Hair: Starts off with very conservative styles of that era.
'70s Hair: He grows out his sideburns, the top of this hair, and even adds a mustache to his look.
The Alcoholic: An unapologetic expert on the subject.
You (Don) don't know how to drink. Your whole generation, you drink for the wrong reasons. My generation, we drink because it's good, because it feels better than unbuttoning your collar, because we deserve it. We drink because it's what men do.
Amicable Exes: Given his serial philandering it's pretty weird to see that he retains a good relationship with all his exes (Mona, Joan, Jane). Maybe his Gentleman Snarker personality is a reason.
The Artifact: In-Universe, Season 5 drives the point home that Roger is getting overshadowed by both Don (who is the true brains behind the agency) and Pete (who does all the leg work in getting new accounts). Roger, meanwhile, is revealed to be coasting on his family name (he inherited his position in the company).
Bad Boss: Roger treats his employees (with the exception of Don) pretty terribly, frequently belittling them and cracking rude jokes at their expense. At least twice throughout the series he fires a valuable, hard-working employee (Sal Romano in Season 3, Ken Cosgrove in Season 7) simply because someone important wanted them gone, and he didn't even try to put up a fight for them.
The Barnum: Like the rest of the cast, Roger is willing to sell just about anything.
Berserk Button: Do not expect Roger to react rationally around the Japanese; he's still angry with them over Pearl Harbor. ... or so he says — he's a veteran naval officer who fought at Okinawa, so it may be more personal than that
Break the Haughty: Roger's fast-living, hard drinking, womanizing lifestyle has been shown to have consequences. He's survived a heart attack — not that it really slowed him down too much — and he's confronting the reality that in this new agency, he might be superfluous.
Brilliant, but Lazy: One of the reasons he finds himself overshadowed. He is actually a brilliant account man, but mostly coasts by. Witness his most dazzling display of competency (getting a meeting with Chevy), which he accomplished with brilliant seduction and subterfuge, which he hardly ever musters up the willpower to repeat.
Butt-Monkey: Despite his vivacious façade, he's unable to stay happy for too long. He eventually loses the Lucky Strike account (which, like his place in the company, was inherited from his father) and his decay is more evident and pathetic in Season 5 when he becomes a joke who stays afloat thanks to his pocket money, which he has to hand away. In Season 6, his mother passes away and he becomes estranged to his daughter.
The Charmer: At first, due to his extreme wit. He starts behaving more and more like a Dirty Old Man.
Cool Old Guy: The first cast member to try LSD. Later in the series, he relates more to the hippies than to the establishment, who in turn seem to see him as this.
Deadpan Snarker: Has a snarky one-liner for virtually every occasion.
Dirty Old Man: While he's not that old, he still fits — particularly in the beginning of "The Long Weekend."
Drop-In Character: An at work example. Spends at least as much time in Don's office as his own, usually just to mooch a drink.
Erudite Stoner: He's trying to become one using LSD. He later becomes a very vocal proponent of it to anyone that will listen.
Fake Guest Star: Credited as a special guest star in Season 1 even though Roger is one of the main characters in almost every episode. Tellingly, he was nominated at the Emmys as a supporting actor rather than a guest actor that year.
Handsome Lech: "When God closes a door, he opens a dress."
Happily Married: To Marie at the end of Person to Person.
Happiness Realized Too Late: Roger has spent decades cheating on his first (age-appropriate) wife Mona with women young enough to be his daughter(s). When he marries Jane (who is literally his daughter's age), he is miserable and realizes that he misses Mona. Although they don't get back together, he eventually ends up with Marie Calvet, who is also his own age and matches him.
Honorary Uncle: Takes up this role for Don's children, the fun "Uncle Roger". Also settles in this role for Joan's son Kevin, actually his illegitimate son.
It Will Never Catch On: "Psychiatry is just this year's candy pink stove." says the man in the second episode. By Season 6, he's seeing a shrink.
Jaded Washout: An unusual wealthy example. A privileged member of The Greatest Generation, Roger is a man in a permanent decline who longs for the good old days and struggles to avoid irrelevance while looking for meaning and purpose in everchanging times.
No more Sterling Cooper, and no more Sterlings...
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The man pays little regard to politeness. He is not without decency, but you have to look for the good parts pretty hard.
Lack of Empathy: Played with, it seems to be a coping mechanism. When his mother dies, he not only appears callously unaffected, he's also annoyed by his secretary genuinely mourning over his loss, but eventually Roger breaks down in tears.
Ladykiller in Love: Genuinely had affection for Joan, but mostly cared more for her body, and later he hooks up with and marries Marie Calvet.
Manchild: Self-confessed; after he starts to explore the counterculture, he describes himself as a "curious child".
May–December Romance: Had many relationships or hook ups with women at least a decade younger than him (Joan, Jane, twin models, a flight attendant, a group of hippie girls, etc.) before settling down with a woman closer to his age... Marie.
Meaningful Name: "Sterling" is another word for money, and Roger is quite well-off. It's also a synonym for "silver", and he wears a lot of the color — and is noted for his gray (i.e. silver) hair, to boot.
- Ironic Name: "Sterling" also refers to being a person of the highest quality, and Roger isn't a very good person much of the time.
Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: He indirectly ends up destroying both the original Sterling-Cooper, and then later on SC&P; in the former case because he pushes to allow a buy-out by Puttnam, Powell & Lowe in order to get money for his impending divorce, and in the latter case because he ends up selling a controlling interesting in the company to McCann-Erickson in order to save Don. In both cases it has the same result: McCann-Erickson absorbs the company and lays off most of the staff, after buying out PPL in the former case, and directly in the latter.
Most Writers Are Writers: Spent a lot of his time offscreen during the seasons working on an autobiography, or rather, making lots and lots of drunken tape recordings and having someone else write it down for him. Upon hearing that Ken is secretly a successful published author, he becomes jealous because of the lack of sales on his autobiography.
Pet the Dog: Roger is extremely passionate in arguing for Don's case against the rest of the firm's partners.
- Despite his shortcomings as a father, he is a completely doting grandfather. He also makes sure that his bastard son will be well off.
Pair the Spares: With Marie, Megan's mother after he divorces Jane and she divorces Megan's father, Emil.
Pass the Popcorn: His reaction to Lane challenging Pete to a fistfight:
"I know that cooler heads should prevail, but am I the only one who wants to see this?"
Pointy-Haired Boss: The times he has to do actual management over his underlings.
Well, I gotta go learn a bunch of people's names before I fire them.
Polyamory: Late in the series he starts living with a bunch of hippie girls with very open attitudes. When he comes home and finds one of the girls and another guy asleep in their bed, he just tells them to move over.
Promoted to Opening Titles: Already has a prominent special guest credit in scene one, but gets the And Starring treatment from season 2 onwards.
Put on a Bus: Near the end of season 1 when he suffers a heart attack. He then has a brief return, but after undergoing yet another attack, he then doesn't appear again for the last episodes of the season. He's back by the time of season 2.
Really Gets Around: Only surpassed by Don in the scorecard.
Sad Clown: Underneath the jokes and playboy exterior, he is a deeply unhappy man.
Sharp-Dressed Man: His waistcoats stand out in an already sharp environment.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Would appear to the case, given his continued hostility towards the Japanese and underlying emotional issues.
Silver Fox: Despite having grey hair, Roger is still rather attractive and very promiscuous.
Slouch of Villainy: The villain part is downplayed, but his remarkable assholism is often underscored by his postures when he's using a chair or a couch.
Sophisticated as Hell: Providing many Funny Moments.
"I wanna tell you something because you're very dear to me. And I hope you understand it comes from the bottom of my damaged, damaged heart. You are the finest piece of ass I ever had, and I don't care who knows it."
Stepford Snarker: Roger uses humor to deflect or cope with many unpleasant aspects of his unbalanced life.
Took a Level in Badass: Early in "Waterloo," Cooper says that Roger has many talents, but isn't really a leader. After Cooper dies later in the episode, Roger realizes that Cutler will now be able to easily get rid of Don (and in the longer run, will probably force him and Pete out too for being Don's main allies), he sets up a deal to partly sell the agency to McCann Ericson, which both secures Don's job and makes Roger the president of SC&P. Unfortunately, this turns into a case of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero the following season, when it's announced that McCann Ericson are fully absorbing the agency.
Tragic Bigot: His hostility towards the Japanese is implied to be due to the traumatic things he saw in the Pacific Theater.
True Companions: By Season 7, we find out that he truly is this to Don. While they fought on several occasions beforehand and Roger signed off on Don's leave of absence at the end of Season 6 (with Don's own best interests in mind, and fully intending to bring him back once he straightened himself up), the events of "Field Trip" show him bringing Don back to the firm and arguing his case vehemently against Cutler and Joan. In "Waterloo", after Bert's death, Roger bemoans that Cutler has enough power to force Don from the firm, and opines to his friend that "I'm losing you, too".
- The events of "Waterloo" show that Roger and Bert were these, too. They had their issues, but Roger cared deeply for him, and the feeling was returned.
Unconfessed Unemployment: When Lucky Strike, Roger's only account, drops SCDP (which may as well mean the death of the firm), he keeps it a secret trying to somehow control the disaster. When the truth gets out, he puts up a shameful charade trying to keep face.
What Did I Do Last Night?: At play when he hires Don ... or rather, goes out drinking with him and states that he's not going to hire him. However, he gets so drunk that he doesn't remember this, and when Don shows up the next day claiming that Roger told him he was hired, Roger —who doesn't remember anything of what happened — just goes along with it. Naturally, he later takes the credit for being the man who discovered and hired Don.

Bert Cooper

"Mr. Campbell, who cares?"

Played By: Robert Morse

Senior partner in Sterling Cooper and Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, known for his fondness for Japonica, the Republican Party, Ayn Rand, and other eccentricities. Has known Roger Sterling from childhood.

A Good Way to Die: Bert dies in awe and wonder watching the moon landing, and is mourned deeply by his coworkers. Don has the vision of Bert singing "The Best Things In Life Are Free" and actually gets teary-eyed.
Ambiguously Evil: He's willing to resort to blackmail and Roger (half-seriously) claims that Bert had his old doctor killed for performing an unnecessary surgery which cost Bert his balls.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Bert is obsessed with Japan and Ayn Rand. He's also an excellent businessman who's kept Sterling Cooper afloat since its founding and has the respect of just about everyone there.
Casting Gag: Robert Morse's first big role was in the 1961 film How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which as the title indicates, was set in the business world, not unlike Mad Men.
The Cast Showoff: Bert gets a musical number in "Waterloo", giving Robert Morse a chance to show off his pipes.
Cloudcuckoolander: He certainly acts like one, although he has demonstrated an uncanny talent for being cleverer than his fellows give him credit for.
Cool Old Guy: Bert is well into his later years, having worked alongside Roger's father, and is still extremely sharp, charismatic and good at his work.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: As shown with his verbal smackdown of Pete in the season 1 finale, as well as Roger's theory that Bert had a doctor who gave him an unnecessary orchiectomy killed. He is also the only character to have gotten away with blackmailing Don, and Don never even tries to retaliate.
Dirty Old Man: He has a copy of the woodcut The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife on the wall of his office.
The Dreaded: Downplayed as he is popular and well-liked by his employees but everyone in the office knows not to get on his bad side by betraying him or going over his head. It's telling that Roger and Don, two strong-willing alpha male types who can command any room they're in effortlessly, cowtow to Bert's wishes without any resistance and Don never even tries to retaliate for Bert's blackmail.
Dying Moment of Awesome: While ecstatically watching humanity's first steps on the moon.
Eccentric Millionaire: Bert's strangeness is matched only by his wealth.
Establishing Character Moment: Two major ones in the first season. First, when Don and Roger try to fire Pete Campbell, Bert blocks them and explains how Pete's family is wealthy and connected so tarnishing the company's reputation with them by firing their golden boy would be a bad business move. The second time is at the end of the season when Pete brings him the truth about Don's past and Bert's Armor-Piercing Response: "Who cares?". Bert Cooper might come across as just an Eccentric Millionaire but he is actually an incredibly clever businessman who knows exactly how to maneuver his employees to keep everything afloat and to instill undying loyalty.
Foreign Culture Fetish/Occidental Otaku: As mentioned above, he has a fondness for Japonica. His office at SC was done at least partially in tatami and had shoji partitions. Also, the office is decked out in ukiyo-e prints, and he demanded that everyone who entered said office take off their shoes.
Go Out with a Smile: He dies smiling, in awe and wonder after watching the Apollo 11 landing.
Honor Before Reason: He votes against firing Don from the company in "Waterloo", but when Roger talks with him later, Bert admits that Don is more of a liability now than anything. When Roger asks why he didn't join Cutler in voting Don out, Bert says that he has to be loyal to a member of his team.
Obfuscating Stupidity: To outsiders, Bert might appear to be a doddering old man that really ought to have retired long ago and is mainly kept around out of sentimentality. Those who underestimate him learn the hard way just how clever and capable he is.
Out of Focus: In Season 4. He had already entered a state of semi-retirement at the end of Season 2 and he doesn't even have an office in SCDP's building (he hangs out in the lobby instead). His role in Season 4 mostly consists of making snarky comments to passersby. Lampshaded and subverted in Season 5's "Far Away Places", where Don is stunned when he learns that Bert has become involved in SCDP business once more.
Pet the Dog: As amoral as he is, he still is outraged when he learns that Pete tried to get Joan to engage in prostitution. Even after he and the other partners vote that it's okay if Joan's okay with it, he tells Pete that if Joan changes her mind, he can't force her to do it.
Satanic Archetype: Bert isn't literally the Devil, but his Satanic appearance isn't by accident. Nor is it by accident that it is Cooper who blackmails Don into signing his contract.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Don denounces tobacco in a full-page ad, an outraged Bert leaves the company. He comes back almost immediately, though.
Spirit Advisor: After Bert dies, Don has hallucinations where Bert's spirit gives him advice.
We Used to Be Friends: His relationship with Don becomes increasingly strained as the series progresses. Initially, Don looks up to Bert as a Mentor Archetype. Likewise, Bert values Don as the agency's ace-in-the-hole, often treating him as a protege of sorts. This changes as Don's behavior becomes more destructive and Bert begins to view him as a liability. By the time of Bert's death, he is openly opposed to Don working for the company, referring to him as a "pain in the ass", and only holding off on backing Jim's attempts to fire Don and seize his shareholding in the business on the grounds that Jim had exceeded his authority by trying to do so without consulting the other partners.
Worthy Opponent: He admits that, while Jim Cutler is not "on [his] team", he has vision and leadership skills that Roger lacks.

Lane Pryce

"Well, gentlemen, I suppose you're fired."

Played By: Jared Harris

"My entire life — every time someone's asked me what I wanted, I've never told them the truth."

Introduced in Season 3, when the British firm Putnam, Powell, & Lowe buys out Sterling Cooper. Initially presented as the unwelcome representative of the foreign overlords, it proves that PPL isn't exactly treating him well, either. In exchange for "firing" Sterling, Cooper, and Draper, he is invited to become a named partner and the chief money man at their new firm.

Abusive Parents: His father STILL hits him. That is to say, clubs him to the ground and then tortures him for supposedly "abandoning" his family.
All Love Is Unrequited: He has an attraction to Joan that he harbors for a long time. When he finally makes a pass at her she quietly makes it clear she doesn't feel the same way.
Bait-and-Switch Tyrant: Initially comes off as a humorless buzzkill who PPL sent to babysit the managing partners of Sterling Cooper. He actually turns out to be a pretty good guy, until he embezzles funds from SCDP to fix his tax problems.
Berserk Button: When he finds out the guys' visit to a brothel scuttles a deal with Jaguar he helped negotiate, Lane goes ballistic, leading to...
Beware the Nice Ones: In "Signal 30", he responds to Pete's mockery by challenging him to a fist fight. Lane kicks his ass.
British Stuffiness: He only shows emotion when he's drunk and/or very upset.
Brits Love Tea: As befits his nationality, he's frequently seen with a cuppa.
Bungled Suicide: The Jaguars are indeed lemons.
Defrosting Ice King: He comes to enjoy America and get along well with Don as Season 3 and Season 4 roll on.
The Dog Bites Back: After being condescended to by his PPL bosses for most of Season 3 and then cast overboard when PPL decides to sell Sterling Cooper, he participates in the season-ending mutiny and helps found Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
Driven to Suicide: After battling with depression for a whole season, Lane kills himself after Don fires him for embezzlement.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: He's quite often the Hypercompetent Sidekick, but feels and gets unappreciated almost as often.
Fatal Flaw: Pride, and his British Stiff Upper Lip. Much of what happens to Lane could be avoided if only he could ask for help from the others, which he doesn't.
Honour Before Reason: Lane's pride is his fatal flaw. He finds asking for financial help unbecoming, as it would speak badly of his managerial skills.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: To PPL as demonstrated in the Season 3 finale, when he demonstrates that he is more than capable of going out on his own, using what he's learned despite being massively unappreciated. He's also often this throughout Season 4, as he's much more on the "technician" side of Technician Versus Performer.
Immigrant Patriotism: Lane loves living in America and being a New Yorker. He makes an effort to pick up some American habits and decks out his office in New York-related tchotchkes — including a Mets pennant (the Mets, like Lane, were new in the Big Apple, having been established in 1962). That said, he's still a proud Brit, defending Jaguar and cheering England in the 1966 World Cup.
Intimidating Revenue Service: He owes the British government a large amount of money in back taxes, and he is so scared of Inland Revenue that he embezzles from the company to pay them back. According to his lawyer, the British tax authorities are going after him so harshly because he paid his US taxes before he paid his UK taxes.
Meaningful Name: Lane pays the price.
Mistaken for Gay: The reason the Jaguar executive doesn't invite him along with Roger, Pete, and Don to the brothel.
No Dead Body Poops: Averted according to Word of God. Joan noticeably wrinkles her nose when his body blocks his office door from opening.
Odd Friendship: With Joan.
Only Sane Man: Frequently clashes with Don and Roger over their more extravagant ideas and reminds them of their financial obligations.
Playboy Bunny: He dates one — a black one.
Quintessential British Gentleman: Deconstructed all over the place. While Lane does have many of these traits, he finds himself actually much more attracted to America and their forward-thinking ideals, which leads to him separating from his wife, being attacked by his father, and ultimately, his suicide.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He seems to have a more even temper than the rest of the partners. When Joan is in tears, thinking they're going to replace her at the opening of season five, he comforts her and tells her that they're barely holding together without her and can't wait for her to return. Don would have been stiff and uncomfortable in the presence of a crying woman and Roger would have tried to have sex with her.
Stealing from the Till: Lane Pryce owes the British government a large amount of money in back taxes and he is so scared of Inland Revenue that he embezzles from the company to pay them back. The British tax authorities are very harsh on Pryce because he paid his US taxes before he paid his UK taxes.
Stiff Upper Lip: A prime example, even in his suicide note: it's just a boilerplate resignation letter.
Took a Level in Badass: At the end of season 3. Goes from being PPL's little snitch/bitch to standing up to them and basically hijacking SCDP from under their noses and again in "Signal 30" when he beats down Pete for insulting him.
Unconfessed Unemployment: Lane doesn't tell his wife that he's been forced to resign from SCDP after Don catches him embezzling.
We Used to Be Friends: His relationship with Pete Campbell becomes strained over time. Initially, the two are on amicable terms with each other. By Season 5, however, the two are literally punching each other.
Lane: I can't believe the hours I've invested into helping you become the monster you've become.

Harry Crane

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Harry-001_6954.png

Played By: Rich Sommer

"Oooh, a Negro homosexual, Canadian sexpot, and unaccompanied redhead. This may be my key demographic."

A media buyer at Sterling Cooper notable chiefly because everyone tends to overlook his existence, he eventually gets the agency into the television game, becoming Head of Television. He skips to SCDP to do the same job, where he finally has the resources to be effective ... and somehow manages to end up even more of a schlemiel and a milquetoast (despite his good work).

'50s Hair: Starts off looking like a nerd from that era with slicked hair.
'60s Hair: Season 4 shows him with hair with a lack of grease, he then grows it more to keep up with the fashions of the times.
'70s Hair: Throughout the 60s he starts experimenting with the Peacock and Mod fashions of the era, even growing out his hair and ends the series with a very full hairdo with long side burns.
Ambiguously Bi: Harry gives off vibes of this. On at least two separate occasions, he's talked about how a different character is "queer". His crass jokes about what he'd do to Megan reek of Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?, and in "Tea Leaves" he talks about how good Charlton Heston looks naked. On the other hand, he's definitely had drunken one-night stands with women (his wife exiles him to the couch for it), so it's fairly likely he has some natural inclination towards women.
- And then there's Joey's reaction to Harry's attempts to befriend him by telling him he could get him on Peyton Place:
Joey: "Everyplace I've worked, there's always some old fairy who comes on to me, but that was the weirdest by far."
Awful Wedded Life: Harry certainly feels this way in later seasons. Frequently discussing how miserable his home life is, how greedy his children are and how his wife is holding off divorce proceedings until Harry gets a partnership stake. Though given that his wife and family aren't seen in later seasons, and we only have Harry's word for it, it's entirely possible Harry is exaggerating because of how horrible a person he is.
Butt-Monkey: Very often.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: By the later seasons, the partners have had enough of Harry's behavior to a point where Roger half-seriously considers firing him. The only reason that they keep him around is because Harry and his television department are invaluable to the agency.
Casanova Wannabe: SO hard. In a series where Everybody Has Lots of Sex, he's the guy who never, ever, manages it on his own merits. After his drunken, regretted one-night-stand in season 1, the only time we see him get any, it was being used on him as a bargaining chip by Lakshmi to get him to back off from helping Paul.
Characterization Marches On: In the first two seasons, he was completely devoted to his wife, being legitimately repentant that he had a drunken one-night stand and cheated on her. In the more recent seasons, he Took a Level in Jerkass and is an outright braggart over how often he cheats on his wife.
The Chew Toy: To the point where Harry missing his chance at becoming a partner at the moment where being one would have made him a millionaire is played for laughs.
- And then in the following episode, he loses even more money in a messy divorce.
Demoted to Extra: Despite still being technically a regular character in the second half of Season 7, his role is reduced to the point where he gets barely any more focus than the various secretaries. Even in the series finale, the only thing he gets to do is go to a farewell lunch with Pete.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Harry constantly complains that he's passed over for a partnership, despite being indispensable to the firm. Heavily Lampshaded in the episode A Tale of Two Cities, where he understands exactly how Hollywood works while Don and Roger are fish out of water — but Don and Roger are convinced that all their errors are the fault of the people in California, not their unwillingness to listen to Harry.
- By season seven, he has given up on trying to earn respect and becomes a Deadpan Snarker who has no problem with calling out his bosses for ignoring the media department until it bites them in the behind.
Face–Heel Turn: In the earlier seasons, he's one of the more likeable characters, and is clearly remorseful when he cheats on his wife. In the later seasons, however, he becomes SCDP's resident Jerkass, and is only tolerated due to the importance of his department.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Even Pete and Cutler can barely stand Harry and his smarminess.
Happily Married: For the longest time, he fits this trope best out of the married men in the office — he did cheat on his wife once, but it was a drunken one-night stand, he clearly regretted it immediately, and he must have told her, because it's doubtful she could have found out any other way. He was temporarily Exiled to the Couch for it and then forgiven (between seasons). She also has a job of her own and he often takes her advice on work matters. Subverted in Season 4, where he is seen flirting with a model, and in Season 5 it is revealed that he has become unhappy with his marriage and cheats on his wife once more. In "Waterloo", he mentions that his wife is considering divorcing him.
Hidden Depths: He's clearly succeeded despite having fewer advantages than Pete or Ken — he didn't go to an Ivy League school, for instance, and doesn't seem to have their connections. He is ahead of his time on the importance of television — SC's television department was created on his initiative. He was also a photographer in college.
Inadequate Inheritor: In the later seasons, Harry is constantly looking to nose his way into the partners' inner circle. Despite Harry (or at least the department that he runs) being essential to the company's survival, he receives nothing but resistance from the higher-ups, mainly on the grounds that they don't like him.
Harry: Bert, you know how important I am to this company. You were me.
Bert Cooper (visibly disgusted): I was different from you, Mr. Crane, in every way.
Informed Wrongness: There is never any solid reason why the other characters treat Harry like crap, given he isn't exactly guilty of anything that the other main characters haven't already done if not worse. Despite having significant initiative and importance to both companies, often solving many problems with his connections, many of the partners go out of their way to tell him how much they loathe him.
Jerkass Has a Point: Despite his many faults, Harry's not exactly wrong in his assertions that his television department is invaluable to the agency. This is something that even the higher-ups can acknowledge, much to their chagrin and NEVER in Harry's presence.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Helps Kinsey out when Kinsey is at his lowest.
Laser-Guided Karma: Harry spends the latter seasons trying desperately to assert himself as a pivotal member company, eventually chasing after a position as Partner. When he finally gets an offer, he dicks around trying to play hardball with the negotiations. Naturally, at the halfway point of Season 7, he waits too long to sign the contract and misses an opportunity to make millions.
Nerd Glasses: Transitions in style from rounded browlines in the first half of the 1960s to a black and angular thick-framed variety post-Season 4.
Skewed Priorities: He is upset at learning of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death not because a great man who brought hope to millions died, but because the media coverage of his death is preempting programs in which SCDP's commercials were supposed to air, costing the agency money. Pete, of all people, calls Harry out on his insensitive behavior.
- It's hinted that he had this as early as Season 3. Following JFK's death, Pete notes to Trudy that Harry was, of all things, checking his data to see what programs wouldn't be aired as a result.
Took a Level in Jerkass: At the beginning of the show he was one of the nicest guys in the office, but after his Television department takes off at SCDP, he starts to suffer from a massively inflated ego, not to mention becoming far more overtly sexist. By series' end, seemingly every major character openly loathes him.
What You Are in the Dark: Helped Kinsey out even though no one, not even Kinsey, would ever know the full extent of the help.

Ken Cosgrove

"I wanna stand and salute that."

^{Click here to see} Ken's appearance starting from "The Quality of Mercy".

Played By: Aaron Staton

"Title"? I'm Ken!...Cosgrove...Accounts.

Columbia-educated WASP from Vermont and a major rival of Pete's, coming in as an account executive at about the same time as him. They eventually come to a truce.

'50s Hair: This is especially noticeable in the first three seasons, looking parted and slick, like a model young executive.
'60s Hair: His slicked hair loses more grease and he models the popular "Dry Look" hairdos, even growing his hair out.
The Ace: He can dance and write, in addition to being a good salesman.
Actually Pretty Funny: In response to Roger's pirate crack when wearing the eye patch after being accidentally shot by a couple of GM executives, he says he'd laugh if he didn't hurt so much.
Almighty Janitor: Roger offers to promote Ken to partner in exchange for Ken getting his father-in-law to sign on as an account. Ken turns him down because he does not want to get involved with any of the office politics.
Always Someone Better: He's the target of envy from Pete, Harry, and Paul.
Because You Were Nice to Me: After taking a position at Dow Chemical, Ken gleefully makes Pete and Roger's lives miserable, but is quite friendly with Don. This is because, unlike Pete and Roger, Don was actually willing to go to bat for Ken to keep his job when he was fired, and took the time to empathize with Ken and try to help him when he was despairing over it.
Break the Cutie: The Chevy execs drive him crazy, involving him in a car crash and later shooting him on a hunting trip — enough to make him give the Chevy account to Pete.
Butt-Monkey: In Season 6, courtesy of some rowdy executives of General Motors. A car accident leaves him walking with a cane and shortly after he needs an eyepatch thanks to a hunting accident. Then he calls it quits and hands the account to Pete.
Character Development: Actually done rather subtly, but Ken's has steadily changed over the course of the series. In the early series, he was a bit of a Jerkass Womanizer who had no problem taking advantage of the office politics. However, he's shown a bit of a softer side when he starts honestly and vocally appreciating Peggy's creative work. After settling down and getting married, Ken mellowed out, becoming faithful to his wife and transitioned to being an all around nice guy. By latter seasons, Ken is the only member of the office able to balance his work and personal life.
Chivalrous Pervert: In the early seasons, he's every bit the womanizer that his peers are, but unlike them, Ken is never shown to be manipulative or condescending towards the females he's hitting on. He treats Peggy with respect and tries (unsuccessfully) to court Jane before he finally gets engaged and remains faithful to his wife.
Even the Guys Want Him: Oh, poor Sal.
Eye Scream: He loses an eye to a hunting accident in Season 6.
- Eyepatch of Power: His attempt to cover it up does make Ken look more distinctive.
The Generic Guy/Satellite Character: Ken seems to exist primarily to act as a foil for other characters. Paul Kinsey and Pete Campbell are jealous of Ken's literary ability, Sal Romano is attracted to him, and Ken's refusal to mix SCDP business with his personal life in Season 4 serves to contrast with most of the other account men at SCDP. Early in season 1, Ken was also a Charismatic Womanizer while Harry was a stiff who kowtowed to his wife. In later seasons, Ken is now Happily Married while Harry callously cheats on his wife.
Happily Married: To Alex Mack.
Hidden Depths: For all his bluster and inappropriate behavior, he respects Peggy and treats her relatively equally much faster than any of the other characters in his generation. They later develop into a very effective team when going after clients.
- It was already known that Ken had written and published one story, but Season 5 reveals he's published over 20 science fiction and fantasy stories under a pseudonym, something he's mildly embarrassed about but that both his wife and Peggy seem genuinely impressed by. When Roger finds out, he's less impressed, giving Ken a tongue lashing for dividing his focus.
Most Writers Are Writers: During season one, he fiddled around with getting some of his writings published, much to the jealous fury of Pete. When it turns out he's succeeding, it's Roger's turn to be jealous.
Nice Guy: Ken has a few obnoxious moments in early seasons, but eventually becomes the most decent, likable, and honest person in the office.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In season 4, Ken quits his position at McCann when he's approached by the Partners to start working for SCDP. This ultimately comes back to bite him in Season 7 where after McCann buys out SC&P, McCann makes it his first priority to fire Ken for previously quitting. The real kicker is Roger doesn't even try to fight for his job.
Only Sane Employee: So far, Ken seems to be the only character whose work has never been affected by a secret personal life, blatant narcissism, excessive drinking, the inability to keep his pants on, spinelessness, or any of the other deep character flaws everyone else seems to have.
Platonic Life-Partners: With Peggy in Season 5.
Politically Incorrect Hero: In the first season, he spends a whole scene fat-shaming Peggy. His rather old school prejudice against the Irish is what gets him fired after the McCann-Erickson takeover. And that doesn't even stop him making more remarks.
The Reliable One: Throughout the early seasons, the senior staff actually favored Ken over Pete Campbell. He doesn't advance like others because of his refusal to get involved in any of the office politics. Illustrated when he isn't deemed essential enough to be worth being immediately brought to the newly-formed SCDP, but the partners do think enough of him to eventually hire him when the company is on a more stable financial footing.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In "Time Zones", the stress from managing virtually every account in SC&P's New York office has done a number on Ken's temper.
- Though these are mostly restricted to times when he is under extreme duress. He seems more apologetic to Joan for his irritability later, and he's genuinely pleased to see Don in "Field Trips". He specifically notes how much the carousel in Central Park reminds him of Don, serving as a heartwarming Call-Back to Don's speech way back in Season 1's "The Wheel" (which would've occurred almost a decade a go, in-universe).
Tranquil Fury: In Season 7's "Severance," in response to getting fired by Roger and McCann, Ken takes over his father-in-law's position at Dow Chemicals and then tells Roger and Pete calmly that they will be needing to please him now.
- After stringing them along for a few months, Ken gleefully fired them when doing so would kibosh SC&P's attempt to move to California and maintain autonomy from McCann.

Betty Draper Francis

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bettydraper_5674.jpg

"I know people say life goes on, and it does but no one tells you that's not a good thing."

Played By: January Jones

Betty Francis: I wanted a fresh start, OK? I'm entitled to that!
Henry Francis: There is no fresh start! Lives carry on.
Betty: Jesus, Henry, just once could you take my side?
Henry: No one's ever on your side, Betty.

Wife of Don until the end of Season 3. Wealthy and educated, and bourgeois and somewhat broken. When we first meet her, she's The Woobie, an outwardly perfect, inwardly depressed housewife who can't even go to her old-school Freudian psychiatry sessions without her husband calling her doctor behind her back to find out what she's saying. Over the first three seasons, she finds out a lot about Don that she didn't want to know and confronts him several times to varying effect, eventually falling for another man (although she resists engaging in a physical or sexual affair) and eventually divorcing Don. The effects of Don's borderline abusive behaviour towards her are explored over the remaining seasons, with a big focus on how this affects her fairly terrible parenting skills.

'50s Hair: The beginning of the series sees her with a slightly modified look reminiscent of Grace Kelly, one that she maintains well into the mid 1960s with slight deviations that resemble Jackie Kennedy.
'60s Hair: Her hair looks more Jackie Kennedy-esque well into the show, until her weight loss gave her a Pat Nixon like helmet. She even models a Beehive Hairdo in Rome (set in 1963).
'70s Hair: Towards the end of the series, her hair is more helmet-like with a bold swoop, that resembles the look of real-life political wives Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Ladybird Johnson, and Martha Mitchell.
Abusive Parents: We learn through her therapy sessions that her mom was emotionally abusive and highly critical (for example, Betty was chubby as a child and her mother told her that because of this she wouldn't be able to find a husband) - she becomes defensive when her doctor points out that she has a lot of anger towards her mother. Later, feeling beleaguered by her own children, she displays some abusive tendencies herself, especially in the immediate wake of the divorce.
All Girls Like Ponies: Is frequently seen riding in Season 2 as a means of staving off her depression.
Amicable Exes: Makes great strides towards this with Don by the end of the sixth season. This leads to them having a one night stand that neither seems to regret very much.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Played completely straight when she's diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in the penultimate episode. Although she looks a little weaker, she's still very beautiful. Her vanity is partly why she refuses treatment.
Big Beautiful Woman: In Season 5, she has gained a significant amount of weight. This is alluded to when Henry tells her he doesn't care about if she's big or not, she snaps that it's because his mother is obese. By Season 6, she has lost most of the weight, along with letting go of her bitterness towards Don.
Brainless Beauty: Appearance means everything to her. A firm believer of Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty. She isn't a Dumb Blonde though, given she graduated from Bryn Mawr in with a Bachelors in Anthropology, speaks Italian, and can be pretty cunning; it's just she was raised to be a Trophy Wife rather than an intellectual woman.
Break the Cutie: Seasons 1 and 2 showed her absolutely miserable and crawling up the walls living with Don and his pile of lies, secrets, and infidelities. To top it all off, she gets diagnosed with lung cancer in season 7b.
Broken Bird: The mean variety after her marriage to Don crumbles.
Celebrity Resemblance: Is said to look like Grace Kelly (and briefly gets a modeling gig (partially) because of it).
- This is in fact an Invoked Trope: The show's stylists intentionally modeled Betty's general look on Kelly.
Cool Car: Starts off with a buttercup-yellow-and-white '57 Ford wagon, graduating to a black/fake wood '60 Mercury wagon before inheriting her father's '61 Lincoln Continental which is a Cool Car for a suburban mother of three in the context of the '60s, not just something that has more style than, say, a Honda CR-V but had the same image as one in its day.
Demoted to Extra: Quite prominent in the early seasons, but after she and Don separate in season 3, Betty's role is noticeably reduced. Given she's longer married to the main character and was never involved in the advertising agency, it was unavoidable that she'd have less to do moving forward. She still remains a major character, but is a more infrequent presence from the fourth season onwards.
Face Death with Dignity: Why she refuses to get treatment when she's diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She says she knows her time is over and doesn't want her children watching her rotting slowly as it happened to her mother, and she's extremely poised about it.
Foot-Dragging Divorcee: It takes her a while to divorce Don, but it's justified in that 1. It was scandalous 2. It took her a while to know he was cheating on her 3. She has to deal with a senile father and a unplanned pregnancy on top of it. But after JFK gets shot and she finds love in the arms of Henry, she really serves Don the papers.
Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: Played with when she was married to Don, where she was the child and he was the adult, but he'd cheat on her; averted in her marriage to Henry.
Formerly Fat: Two times this happened to her. She was chubby as a child (and given a hard time of it by her Mom) until her 13th summer. Then later, after she marries Henry and Don is engaged to Megan, she puts on a significant amount of weight to cause her former-model self angst. She then loses the weight.
- Formerly Fit: Before the aforementioned weight gain, she was a former model with a slim and delicate figure.
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Discusses the possibility with her doctor and a friend, but ultimately keeps the baby.
Hidden Depths: She's actually an extremely intelligent and educated woman, with a bachelors in Anthropology and fluent in Italian. Her tragedy is that her repressed and sexist upbringing have locked her in a decorative role, never fulfilling her potential.
Housewife: The show spends three seasons deconstructing this trope, as we see seemingly stereotypical 50s housewife Betty dealing with sexual frustration, her husband's infidelity, and boredom.
- And it doesn't stop with her marriage to Henry: frustration, weight gain, Henry entering politics, her inability to be truly tender with her kids, and Henry states he'd prefer her not to speak her mind about politics at dinners.
Hunting Is Evil: Betty is bothered by the birds in her garden, however, it's only after she loses her chance at modeling again thanks to Don, and realizes that she is still trapped in an unfulfiling and unhappy family and marriage that she takes a gun out to the garden and calmly shoots them.
Hypocrite: Her slut-shaming of other women marks her as this as she actually slept with a target's (Megan) husband (and her own ex-husband to boot), she has seen at least a couple men towards the end of her marriage to Don, and she has taken a few whirls in dressing seductively and enjoyed the attention from other men she isn't married to.
Ice Queen: And she's not defrosting any time soon. Sometimes combined with Drama Queen. She's that insecure and voluble.
It's All About Me: One of Betty's biggest flaws: she's a narcissist and a control freak, and her sense of self-worth revolves around having total control of everyone around her and having her life follow her definition of perfection. When she has an opinion, she expects people to agree with her, and when anything goes against the way she wants it, she snaps.
Joisey: But not the way we usually think of it. Born in Cape May, a tony resort community where her family summered. Grew up in Lower Merion Township, on the Main Line in Pennsylvania.
Law of Inverse Fertility: Discovers she's pregnant at the end of Season 2 right when she and her husband are on the verge of becoming permanently estranged. (It's also in contrast to Pete and Trudy, who really want a baby and aren't conceiving, while Betty is so desperate she's even considering abortion.)
Mama Bear: After her neighbor threatens to kill Sally's dog, she takes pot-shots at his pigeons.
My Beloved Smother: Betty's mom seems to be mostly responsible for Betty's huge complex about physical appearances.
Model Couple:
- Makes one with Don, her dark haired, equally gorgeous (ex)husband. It has been commented on in show just how picture perfect a couple they are.
Roger: I remember Mona said they looked like they were on our wedding cake.
- She also makes one with Henry, as the youthful looking and glamorous Trophy Wife to Henry's Silver Fox. Sally even comments that they make it a thing about how perfect they look together.
Nightmare Fetishist: Partially a sign of the times, partially a sign of how she's messed-up, but she has a wildly inappropriate sense of flirtatious humor, where she casually jokes about helping her husband rape a teenage girl in the other room.
Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: A sympathetic version of this trope as it showcases the depression and ennui she feels with the prescribed gender roles and her miserable marriage but as the series goes on, she goes from Innocently Insensitive when talking to Carla about Civil Rights to out-and-about narrow minded and petty when it comes to other women who have careers or are more sexual. She is also a dramatic, narcissistic Stepford Smiler who frets over being beautiful and slim and over how other people percieve Sally's femininity and has no outlet for her intelligence.
Stacy's Mom: She's extremely beautiful and youthful even in her late thirties (but she is 28 in Season 1). That is, her daughter's friend Glen has a crush on her, instead of crushing teenage Sally.
Stepford Smiler: While married to Don, who was manipulative and completely emotionally shut off from her. After remarrying, she thought she'd escape this, but found herself just as unhappy about her life, only now she doesn't have Don to blame for it, and spends most of season 5 passing the day eating in her mausoleum of a home to ignore her disappointment.
- This starts to change in late season 5 when Betty realizes that Sally will still run to her in a crisis. By season 6, she seems to be letting go of her anger and has made peace with Don.
The Topic of Cancer: Discovers she has lung cancer after breaking a rib in season 7b.
Took a Level in Badass: The first three seasons were Betty trying to find the courage to stand her ground against Don. The fourth and fifth are her being essentially driven over the edge from this. The sixth is Betty beginning to reign the anger in. The 7th season has Betty, more or less, examining the role she was raised for and then she starts taking classes in psychology.
Took a Level in Jerkass: At the start of the series, her frustration and loneliness from her marriage to Don is easily sympathetic, but after her divorce and getting seemingly everything she has ever wanted, she goes on a pretty ugly downward spiral. Her anger at Don grows into spiteful bitterness, which she lashes out on Sally and anyone else in the house siding against her. Eventually, this takes a physical toll on her appearance in the fifth season.
- Took a Level in Kindness: By the sixth season, she starts letting go of her anger (and the excess weight) and becomes happier than she has been in years.
Troubled Abuser: She's capable of a lot of cruelty and pettiness, especially towards her kids, but she had Abusive Parents herself (mother insulting her all the time, talks about fearing her father like it's normal), Don had a tendency to gaslight her in their marriage, and she's a Broken Bird with no outlet for her intelligence.
Weight Woe: Gained a significant amount of weight in Season 5. Don't expect breakfast-skipping, former model Betty to be taking it well. By late season 6, with the announcement that Henry is running for state senate, she gets herself back to her Draper level weight.
"Well Done, Daughter!" Gal: She and Sally clash over her wanting the girl to be perfect and over politics. After learning she's going to die in less than a year, she gives Sally a set of instructions for the burial and leaves her with these heartfelt words.
Betty: Sally, I always worried about you, because you marched to the beat of your own drum, but now I know that's good. I know your life will be an adventure. I love you, Mom.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: Technically, she's of German descent. Hofstadt isn't really a WASP-y name, and her father's (very Philly) accent and general aspect implies that he is a self-made man who rose up from humbler urban roots. But her upbringing and milieu (Philadelphia Main Line, Bryn Mawr, the fashion industry, Westchester County) is the very definition of WASP. So culturally, if not ethnically.
Womanchild: Highly immature, as her daughter's shrink politely lampshades.
- As much as she'd like to think she's been around the block, she has some very naive and childlike qualities, which make her a victim initially (she has to have it spelled out for her before she realizes that Don cheats on her and constantly lies, and she forms a weird friendship with a ten-year-old boy to cope with her loneliness) and eventually a victimizer (manifesting most significantly in the petty, spiteful way she acts with Sally). Her comments about her own childhood reveal that her mother raised her pretty much how she raises Sally, and her father's comparison of her to a housecat ("You're very important and you have little to do") sums up the kind of adult life she expected and was expected to have.
- After divorcing Don (and the recent death of her father), she marries a man a generation older than she is. Crazily enough, this coincides with her finally beginning to grow up: for all Don's faults, he was willing to coddle and shelter Betty as she (supposedly) wanted. Henry, on the other hand, expects her to act like an adult, and calls her on some of her immature decisions. (For good or ill, he typically takes Don's side, respecting Betty's right to be frustrated while still calling out her Disproportionate Retribution.)
Woman Scorned: After her divorce from Don and remarrying to Henry, Betty's bitterness makes her go way out of her way to make Don's life miserable, including still living in the house Don pays for and using their kids against him. However, this actually makes HER more miserable than Don: Sally rebels against her and challenges her authority, and the feeling of lacking control over her supposed idyllic life starts breaking her emotionally and psychologically.
Your Days Are Numbered: In season 7b, she finds that she has lung cancer and less than a year to live.
Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: This is pretty much how she reacts when, after divorcing Don and marrying Henry Francis, she finds she's not suddenly in paradise with all her problems solved.

Sally Draper

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_6778.jpg

Played By: Kiernan Shipka

"My father's never given me anything."

Don and Betty's eldest child and only daughter. Very intelligent and precocious, she seems to take after her father. Betty takes primary custody after the divorce, which causes Sally to resent her even more.

'50s Hair: She starts the series with the popular little girl curls of the decade.
'60s Hair: In Season 4, she wears her hair more simply and gets a radical haircut that gives her a shorter do that looks something like popular movie star Hayley Mills. Even after she grows it out, it is straight and simple and held by a headband.
Armor-Piercing Question: Basically everything she says has varying overtones of this. Arguably, she also has Armor Piercing Eyes.
Sally: (to Betty) Did you make him leave?
Ascended Extra: Nothing more than background decoration in the first few seasons, Sally later becomes one of the principal members of the cast.
Black Sheep: In Betty's eyes, Sally is a nightmarish brat, but only because she's the only child currently old enough to have her own thoughts, while Don is too detached and tired to deal with her youth.
Bratty Teenage Daughter: Played with in Season 5, as she becomes more aware of the lies and hypocrisy of the adults around her.
- Fully becomes this by the time of Season 6.
(to her mother about a friend) "She acts like she's 25 just because she uses tampons."
Break the Cutie: Her parents' divorce, and being raised with a bitter Betty had a very negative impact on her.
Broken Pedestal: While Sally never got along well with Betty, she did idolize Don as a child, something which comes crashing down several times to varying degrees, but most notably when she witnesses him having sex with Silvia
Calling the Old Man Out: Sadly had to deliver this to her parents more than once in her life (and before the age of 20!)
Coming of Age Story: Seasons four through six seem to be hers.
Daddy's Girl: To adorable and beyond. At least at first. Season 4 sees the beginning of the end of this in "The Beautiful Girls." Completely over in season 6 after she catches Don with his latest mistress and Don tries to tell her she didn't see what she saw.
Deadpan Snarker: Just like her parents.
(to her mother about a friend)" She acts like she's 25 just because she uses tampons."
Forbidden Friendship: With Glen.
Important Haircut: A shorter boy, to symbolize her maturity and how she's trying to be her own person, she later grows out her hair.
Like Parent, Like Child: Betty and Don even get into a playful argument over which parent Sally resembles more.
No Periods, Period: Averted as of "Commissions and Fees."
- Betty's marriage to Henry seems to rectify it somewhat, as he has an adult daughter.
Parent with New Paramour: Doesn't seem to mind Henry Francis all that much, but has hated every single one of Don's girlfriends (and friends who happen to be girls) except for Megan, who she was introduced to and befriended before being informed about their relationship.
Primal Scene: Three times:
- In an early-season episode, both she and Bobby walk in when Don and Betty are about to get it on. They don't see much, and they're young enough not to (openly) question Betty's weak explanation that "Mommy and Daddy are...sleeping..."
- "At the Codfish Ball" (Season 5, Episode 7): She spies her Honorary Uncle Roger Sterling getting a blowjob from her step-grandmother Marie Calvet.
- "Favors" (Season 6, Episode 11): She walks in on Don and Sylvia in flagrante and her relationship with Don deteriorates after that.
Promotion to Opening Titles
Promotion to Parent: Hinted at in the finale, when she moves back home to take care of her dying mother and her little brothers.
Stepford Smiler: Learns that it's better to say what her mother expects her to say or nothing at all rather than express her actual opinions or feelings. This is actually encouraged by her shrink.
The Un-Favourite: She's old enough to hold her own opinions, and Betty openly can't stand her rebelliousness, at least in the first years after the divorce. The relationship seems to have cooled to standard mother teenage sniping.

Megan Calvet Draper

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Megan-Calvet-001_7078.png

Played By: Jessica Paré;

Don's latest secretary, to whom he takes a shine quite suddenly. He cheats on Faye with her, he asks her to accompany him to California to help watch his kids... and then he proposes to her. She later joins the SCDP Creative team as a copywriter... only to leave to pursue her dream of becoming an actress.

'60s Hair: She starts the series with a set flip. After she gets married, her hair gets more elaborate (or sometimes she wears it in a comparatively simple looking pageboy). She also grows her hair out which can be worn straight and down or up in a bouffant of elaborate curls.
'70s Hair: Her hair is looser and longer by the end of the series, she is even compared to Brigitte Bardot and Ali Mac Graw.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Her father is a Marxist university professor who disapproves of capitalism in general and the advertising industry in particular. Her Maman seems much nicer and more supportive, but after overhearing her husband having a suspicious phone conversation with one of his students, she accuses him of cheating on her in front of Don and at the American Cancer Society reception, she cheats on him with Roger.
Ambiguously Bi: She's definitely attracted to men and it's been implied that she's attracted to women as well. When her female boss propositions her, Megan's only objection appears to be that she does not want to cheat on Don. In Season 7, she has a threesome with Don and a female friend while high.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She has a tendency to turn into this when she's upset, which became very clear in "The Phantom:" After rudely dismissing her mother's advice, she pretends to help a friend and fellow actress get a part in a commercial by one of Don's clients but goes to him wanting the job for herself.
Brainy Brunette: Don thinks so at least, as he said that she reminds him of Peggy, the resident Brainy Brunette in-chief. How true this is remains to be seen, although her idea for Heinz does seem to have worked out quite well.
Break the Cutie: Megan goes from a wide eyed, idealistic young woman at the start, to a broken, jaded and cynical divorcee by the end of the series. Her last conversation with Don basically points out how much he ruined her.
Character Shilling: People constantly remark how beautiful and talented Megan is.
Chekhov's Gunman: She's introduced early in season 4, and although she doesn't play any important role in the plot, she is repeatedly included in scenes and mentioned by name. Viewers may wonder why this is, right up to the point that Don falls in love with her and asks her to marry him.
The Cover Changes the Meaning: How will people who've heard Zig Novak's rendition of Zou Bisou Bisou before hers react to her version...
Everything Sounds Sexier in French: She's French-Canadian, and we hear her speak it once or twice, plus she teaches the Draper kids a French song. In the opening of season 5, she throws a surprise party for Don and sings "Zou Bisou Bisou" to him.
The Fashionista: Especially in later seasons, Megan is one of the most fashion-forward characters, always impeccably dressed and keeps up with the trends.
Foot-Dragging Divorcee: She drags her feet regarding the divorce, until she gets a million dollars.
Fourth-Date Marriage: And four is pushing it. The defining moment happens during a trip to California when Sally drops a milkshake and Megan is incredibly nice and cool about it, instead of being a Drama Queen as the Drapers had come to expect after being accustomed to Betty. Deconstructed in that it gradually becomes evident that she's not really compatible with Don, but then again, who is.
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: She discusses this with Sylvia after she has a miscarriage, as they were both raised Catholic.
Magical Nanny: She's really good with kids. Don even calls her Maria Von Trapp.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Deconstructed. Reinvigorates Don for a while, but it doesn't last too long, as he only likes beginnings; it turns out that no matter how fun and sweet she is, that Don will always be an unhappy adulterer.
Mistaken for Gay: Megan invites one of her (female) bosses over to her apartment for dinner while Don is away and discusses the problems she and Don are having with their marriage. Her boss takes this as a cue to kiss her on the lips. Megan takes it in stride after her boss assures her that turning her down won't get her fired.
Ms. Fanservice: She shows the most flesh of any of the female cast, frequently wearing miniskirt outfits to just about any occasion, including the workplace.
Nepotism: Several of her coworkers are convinced that the only reason that she was made a copywriter was as a reward for marrying Don. She subverts this by actually being competent. In "The Phantom" this is played straight, when Don uses his influence to get her cast in a commercial.
Put on a Bus: She exits the series after she finalizes her divorce with Don in "New Business".
The Pollyanna: She doesn't seem to understand that she can't do everything she wants to do.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a withering one to Don in "New Business," basically calling him out for his horrible treatment of her for essentially not being the ideal wife he wanted.
Secret-Keeper: In between seasons, Don told her he's really Dick Whitman.
Sexy Secretary: A coquettish form, one that is more youthful than say Joan, she did wear bright-colored, tight clothes that show off her legs; she loses the secretary part after marrying Don and becoming a copywriter.
Sibling Yin-Yang: She's a modern, liberated aspiring actress, but her sister is a repressed, devout Catholic.
That Makes Me Feel Angry: Megan has a habit of doing this. (Though given the repression of the times and the unhappiness this leads to for so many characters, maybe that just makes her the smart one.)
- This also helps to differentiate her from Betty, who often bottled up her feelings when she was married to Don.
Trophy Wife: A borderline example. The age difference between her and Don, while referenced in the show, is only 14 years (slightly larger than the real nine year age gap between Jon Hamm and Jessica Pare), and Megan wants to work with Don in advertising rather than merely look pretty on his arm. When she decides she wants to go back to acting rather than continue as a copywriter, Don is upset — not just because he likes having his wife at work with him (though he does, and he also thinks that having her around all the time will help him keep his impulses under control), but because he thinks she has a better future in advertising than acting.
Took a Level in Badass: When she divorces Don, tells him off, walks away with a lot of money and then tells off her whiny sister for blaming her for the ending of their parents' dysfunctional marriage.
Waiting for a Break: She gets one at the start of Season 6, being cast on a Soap Opera called "To Have and To Hold".

Characters / Mad Men The Main Characters

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