Characters / Melrose Place

Main Characters

Jane Mancini

Jane Mancini

Portrayed by: Josie Bissett

• Betty and Veronica: She's the Betty to Kimberly's Veronica in regards to their relationship with Michael in season 1.
• Face–Heel Turn: Throughout much of season four, she is seen as cold and ruthless as Amanda when working for Richard, but it gets much worseafter Richard rapes her. She became more antagonistic, even going as far as to try and break up Alison and Jake out of jealousy and then filed fake charges of the former stalking her. She gets better before the season ends, though.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has blonde hair and is usually sweet to others (at the beginning of the series, at least).
• Happily Adopted: She finds out in season 5.
• The Heart: Along with Matt, she is the one that holds the group of friends together.
• Heroic BSoD: She tries to kill Richard after he rapes her.
• Hypocrite: We find out later in the series that she cheated on Michael the night before their wedding, but was upset by him when he cheated on her during their marriage.
• Nice Girl: Her primary characterization.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: During the first couple seasons as a meek housewife, she mostly wears unflattering, conservative clothes (bulky sweaters, long skirts). But after her divorce from Michael, she is wearing more tight, short dresses and showing more cleavage.

Michael Mancini

Michael Mancini

Portrayed by: Thomas Calabro

• Awful Wedded Life: Most of his marriages could be this, but especially his marriage to Sydney, as she manipulated him into the marriage. Later with his marriage to Kimberly.
• Berserk Button: One of Michael's more nobler traits is his intolerance for people who have an issue with his friend Matt's sexual orientation.
• Bittersweet Ending: He finally ends up as the Chief of Staff at Wilshire Memorial, but at the expense of being with Jane and their child.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In spite of all his faults, he is shown to be a very competent doctors and holds his position in high regard.
• The Casanova: Always has women fawning over him.
• Characterization Marches On: Initially seen as a devoted husband and Nice Guy, he soon became the libido-charged, serial cheater he's better known as.
  • Even in Season One there are signs that he's not the nice guy he appears to be.
• Dr. Jerk: Usually cares more about himself that he does about his patients.
• Everyone Has Standards
  • Michael once helped Peter in protecting Amanda after learning that her abusive ex-husband, Jack, was coming after her, as well as discovering old photos of a battered Amanda she had taken as evidence.
  • He also gave Jo's baby back to her after realizing that Kimberly stole him. He was forced to by Peter, and he wasn't particularly nice about it but still....he begrudgingly told Kimberly it was the right thing to do anyway.
  • Michael once conspired with Matt to get rid of their homophobic boss after the latter fired Matt for his relationship with another man. This is the same Michael that blackmailed Matt at one point.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is a jerk, but he also cares about his friends and his then-girlfriends and wives.
• Hospital Hottie: He is a surgeon.
• Odd Friendship: With Matt. Earnest nice guy Matt and philandering jerkass Michael somehow manage to stay friends for the duration of the show.
• Really Gets Around: Dates and sleeps with many women throughout the series.
• Serial Spouse: was married 6 times throughout the series: Jane, Sydney, Kimberly, Megan, Jane (again), and on the reboot, Vanessa.
• Smug Snake: He's overly confident, sarcastic, and is rude to just about everybody.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He has dark brown hair, brown eyes and a nice body.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Peter. They barely tolerate each other, but they're really each other's best friends who typically have each other's back (usually when it's in their own self interest to do so).

Sandy Harling

Sandy Harling

Portrayed by: Amy Locane

• '80s Hair: Still rocking the Kelly Bundy look in 1992.
• Fake Nationality: Sandy is from South Carolina; Amy Locane is from New Jersey.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has long light blonde hair and speaks with soft, sweet southern accent. Much kinder than she'd like to admit.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Sandy's Southern accent is shaky and extremely inconsistent from scene to scene.
• Put on a Bus: She gets a job on a soap opera in New York in the middle of season 1, ironically leaving Melrose before it turns into a soap opera.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: She refuses to do a topless scene for a horror movie, as she feels uncomfortable.
• Slashers Prefer Blondes: While filming a horror movie, this trope is invoked on her character.
• Southern Belle: She speaks with a southern drawl and hails from South Carolina.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Written off after 13 episodes.

Matt Fielding

Matt Fielding

Portrayed by: Doug Savant

• Advertised Extra: At least, in season 1, where he was simply a supporting player with no major story arcs. It isn't until midway through the season where he gets a story arc where he is gay bashed and fired for being gay. And then, he is a consistent player in the show until his departure.
• Bus Crash: He dies early in season 7, in a car accident.
• Butt-Monkey: Like with Jo and Alison, plenty of bad things happen to him, like being framed for murder and getting fired for being gay.
• Friend to All Children: Being a social worker initially, he is great with children and has both temporary custody of his wife Katya's daughter Nikki and his teenage niece Chelsea.
• The Heart: He and Jane are seen as the two that held the group together and got along with virtually everyone.
• Heroic Build: Although it's rarely seen, he has a nice body.
• Hospital Hottie: Although he worked as a social worker through Wilshire Memorial, he goes to medical school later in the series.
• Like Brother and Sister: He and Jo.
• Straight Gay: Was not considered camp whatsoever.
• Only Sane Man: Possibly the only character on the show who is not a complete jerk.
• Put on a Bus: He moves to San Francisco with his niece, Chelsea at the end of season 5.
• Really Gets Around: He's had plenty of love interests on the show. But was never allowed to even kiss his love interests, weird considering that Matt was on a show known for everyone having a ton of sex.

Jake Hanson

Jake Hanson

Portrayed by: Grant Show

• Abusive Parents: His mother was an alcoholic and his father abandoned him and his brother.
• Alcoholic Parent: His mother, who died off screen but during the series.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: He rides a motorcycle, has long hair, and the girls love him.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Will throw down when he needs to, but deep down he has a good heart and cares deeply for his friends.
• Cain and Abel: Played straight as he killed Jess via a Railing Kill after the latter beat Jo half to death.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Usually wears darker or neutral-colored clothing, yet is a mostly friendly and helpful guy.
• Heroic Build: Like many of the men on the show, only he's one of the only people who could be considered heroic.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Jake learns in season one that he has a son by a former girlfriend.
• Made of Iron: The man survives a boat explosion, being shot in the chest and falling several stories off of a construction site. Even being injured, he's up and walking in an episode or two.
• Put on a Bus: He moves with the mother of his son (Colleen) at the end of season 5.
• Really Gets Around: Dates and sleeps with many women throughout the series.
• Shirtless Scene: Notably in the opening credits.
• Troubled, but Cute: Had a rough childhood with an alcoholic mother, an absentee father, and he has a strained relationship with his brother during adulthood.

Billy Campbell

Billy Campbell

Portrayed by: Andrew Shue

• Broken Ace: He's handsome and charming, but can also be a jerk at times.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: With Jennifer during season 7.
• Grew a Spine: Towards Brooke, as he grows tired of her manipulating ways and throws her out, and treats her so badly that even Alison feels sorry for her.
• Living Emotional Crutch: He spends most of his time being this to Alison.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Everyone calls him Billy, to the point that being called "William", even on the job, is rare.
• Put on a Bus: Moves to Italy in season 7 with Jennifer.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: He and Alison aren't destined to be together.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He has dark brown hair, brown eyes and a nice body.

Alison Parker

Alison Parker

Portrayed by: Courtney Thorne-Smith

• Abusive Parents: Her father molested her and her sister, and her mother took his side.
• The Alcoholic: She struggled with alcoholism during college, and later becomes this during season 3. She relapses again in season 5. Amanda mentions later on that she went to rehab again after leaving the series.
• Convenient Miscarriage: Played with. She becomes pregnant with Jake's baby in season 5, initially wants an abortion, decides against it, but then ends up having to get one for medical reasons.
• Damsel in Distress: She had a rough childhood, is stalked by an obsessive ex-boyfriend who kills himself after she refuses to be with him, was an alcoholic during adulthood, was bullied by Amanda at work, eventually had to have a life-saving abortion after which she was told she could never have kids, temporarily blinded in the apartment building bombing, widowed, and later goes into rehab again offscreen.
  • Also counts as Trauma Conga Line.
• '80s Hair: In the first two seasons.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Although she has her flaws and makes stupid decisions at times, she's still an overall decent person.
• Lady in a Power Suit: Often wears power suits to work, especially ones with shoulder pads and short skirts.
• Obfuscating Disability: Temporarily during season 4 after secretly regaining her eyesight in the aftermath of the bombing.
• Put on a Bus: She moves to Atlanta at the end of season 5.
• Rape as Backstory: She remembers her father molested her as a child on the day of her wedding to Billy.
• Trauma Conga Line: She probably suffered more than any other person on the show, including abuse, alcoholism and lost loves.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: The last reference to her states that she went back into rehab in Atlanta, where she was hoping to make a fresh start.

Rhonda Blair

Rhonda Blair

Portrayed by: Vanessa A. Williams

• Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally:
  "Another beautiful day in Lotus Land."
• Token Minority: The only non-Caucasian main character throughout the series.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Matt. It's quite obvious she has a crush on him, but has accepted that he's gay and only sees her as a friend.
• Put on a Bus: She leaves the series after season 1 when she gets engaged to Terrance.
• Workout Fanservice: Was employed as an aerobics instructor.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Aside from only lasting only one season, the audience never finds out that much about her.

Jo Reynolds

Jo Reynolds

Portrayed by: Daphne Zuniga

• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Has a more reserved personality than the rest of the females.
• Butt-Monkey: Like Matt and Alison, she has it rough on the show.
• Camera Fiend: She's a photographer, mostly freelance, but is occasionally employed by a agency.
• Domestic Abuse: When she starts the show, she is fleeing from an abusive husband. She later struggles with other abusive relationships in the series with Reed and Jess and sometimes even Jake.
• Like Brother and Sister: Her and Matt's relationship is like this.
• One-Hour Work Week: As a freelance photographer, she definitely is shown working far less than the other characters.
• Put on a Bus: She leaves the series at the end of season 4 when she moves to Bosnia with Dominick.

Amanda Woodward

Amanda Woodward

Portrayed by: Heather Locklear

• Abusive Parents / Parental Abandonment: Her mother abandoned her at a young age.
• Alpha Bitch: She is often very mean to Alison and everybody else.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Even while sick with lymphoma and undergoing chemo, she never loses her hair or looks anything more than tired.
• Breakout Character: She saved the show from cancellation. Her business savvy, manipulative, driven attitude and her beauty brought forth plenty of viewer interest, and she would remain with the show for the rest of its run.
• Domestic Abuse: Her first husband Jack Parezi was very abusive towards her. He even tried to kill her while on his death bed.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After she and Peter fake their deaths to help her escape being charged for the self-defense murder of an old boyfriend and collected the insurance money to get married on a tropical beach.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Nearly all of the men in the show desired her at one point or another.
• Fake Guest Star: She's always credited as a "Special Guest Star" despite appearing in all but the first 20 episodes of the show.
• Lady in a Power Suit: often wears these to work, especially ones with shoulder pads and short skirts.
• Really Gets Around: Dates, sleeps with and marries plenty of men throughout the series. The only main male characters she wasn't involved with were Kyle's brother Ryan, Brett, and the gay Matt.
• Serial Spouse: She had five husbands throughout the series, including one she married twice.
• We Used to Be Friends: Hit it off instantly with Alison, but went sideways with her as soon as she started dating Billy.

Sydney Andrews

Sydney Andrews

Portrayed by: Laura Leighton

• Awful Wedded Life: in season 2, she blackmails Michael into marrying her, much to his displeasure. The marriage is very one-sided and ends after Kimberly returns.
• Bratty Half-Pint: As being shorter, smaller and more annoying than everyone else, she definitely qualified. Kimberly even lampshaded this by calling her a runt and a pipsqueak.
• Damsel in Distress: She gets caught up in a prostitution ring, gets framed for attempted murder, almost gets raped by Chris Marchette, gets lured into a polygamous cult, among other things.
• Fake Guest Star: In season 2, where she appears in all but two episodes and has a major story arc, despite ostensibly being a recurring character. In season 3, she's Promoted to Opening Titles.
• Fiery Redhead: While not as extreme as Kimberly, she is also very scheming and jealous
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: When she was a prostitute during season 2.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Especially to set her apart from Jane.
• Karma Houdini: Gets away with both stealing away Jane's fiance and paralyzing her after poisoning her drink.
• Killed Off for Real: in the reboot series, it's revealed that she faked her death from the original series, only to then get killed off again in the pilot
• The Unfavorite: Her parents over favored Jane over her.

Kimberly Shaw

Kimberly Shaw

Portrayed by: Marcia Cross

• Broken Bird: Aside from her troubled relationship with Michael, she is also has a very troubled childhood and some mental illness, to boot.
• Characterization Marches On: Goes from a fairly straight laced doctor to the Fiery Redhead antagonist whom everyone knows within a span of a season.
• Death Is Cheap: In season 2, Michael and Kimberly are involved in a car accident where the latter is seriously injured. A couple of episodes later, Kimberly is announced to have died. Half a season later, Kimberly returns bent on revenge against Michael.
• Evil Redhead: Pretty much swings back and forth between this and Fiery Redhead. When she's sort of normal, she's the latter. Other times, she commits some pretty horrible acts of violence.
• Fake Guest Star: Kimberly is present in much of seasons 2 and 3 (in the latter season, she is missing in just one episode), though doesn't get Promoted to Opening Titles until season 4.
• Fiery Redhead: Becomes very jealous if she sees another woman so much as looking at Michael.
• Hospital Hottie: She is a doctor and very attractive.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her characterization by the end of her tenure on the show, where she is much more nicer and kinder to the other characters.
• Karma Houdini: she never really suffers any major consequences, despite her horrific actions (including attempting to kill her husband and bombing an apartment building, which did kill a person).
• Killed Off for Real: Kimberly succumbs to a brain tumor in the arms of her mother, in front of her husband Michael.
• Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: She has a large scar on her head, which she got from a car accident. The psychological effects are self-explanatory.
• Revenge: She lives on this, this is largely the motivation for most of her actions.
• Sanity Slippage: Gets worse and worse as the show goes on.
• Split Personality: By the end of season 4, she has two other personalities. A prim-and-proper one (Betsy) and a leather-clad wild one (Rita).

Brooke Armstrong

Brooke Armstrong

Portrayed by: Kristin Davis

• The Baby Trap: Tries to use this as a way of keeping Billy around it was a lie
• Daddy's Little Villain: Is just as wicked as her father, if not more so.
• Fake Pregnancy: Played with. She had a false positive, but then lied and said she suffered a miscarriage, but she was never pregnant in the first place.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Given how manipulative, bitchy and condescending she is. Even Billy seemed like he could barely stand her while they were married.
• Killed Off for Real: Towards the end of season 4, having lose her father, her husband, and her money, Brooke gets drunk and falls into the pool, striking her head in the process and drowns.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has long dark brown hair.
• Rich Bitch: She acts very entitled.
• Socialite: She comes from a wealthy family, and she was engaged to a wealthy man when she first appeared.
• Spoiled Brat: She grew up very wealthy and spoiled.

Peter Burns

Peter Burns

Portrayed by: Jack Wagner

• Black Gal on White Guy Drama: Averted, thankfully. He had two Black girlfriends on the show (Caitlin and Alycia), but their race was never an issue with him or anyone else.
• Crusading Widower: After his wife died.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He and Amanda faked their deaths to collect the insurance money, evade impending murder charges against her and ended up getting married on a faraway beach.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: He constantly flips between being an antagonist and being a well...better person.
• Hospital Hottie: He is a surgeon.
• The Lost Lenore: His wife, Beth, who died of cancer years earlier.
• Morality Pet: To Michael, even if he's far from perfect himself.
• Settle for Sibling: Played with; he initially wasn't interested in Taylor upon reuniting with her until she relentlessly pursued her and even after that he still rejected her after realizing what she really was.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: His and Amanda's relationship.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After being a villain in his initially appearance, he became a more decent guy, even though he still had jerkass tendencies.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Michael. They barely tolerate each other, but they're best friends who typically have each other's back(usually when it's in their own self interest to do so).

Kyle McBride

Kyle McBride

Portrayed by: Rob Estes

• Cain and Abel: His relationship with his younger brother, Ryan (although it wasn't fatal.)
• Earn Your Happy Ending: With Jane in the end and her and Michael's unborn child.
• Heroic BSoD: Has one in season seven after not being able to give Amanda a child which only magnifies after she does get pregnant with his child and miscarries during an accident he caused.
• Local Hangout: His two businesses, Kyle's (an upscale restaurant) and Upstairs (a jazz bar).
• Mr. Fanservice: He is a very handsome man.
• Semper Fi: He is a retired Marine, having served in The Gulf War.

Samantha Reilly

Samantha Reilly

Portrayed by: Brooke Langton

• Daddy's Girl: Loved her father dearly, in spite of what he put her through.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Involving her father, who was a criminal who was constantly in and out of jail.
• Generic Girl: Compared to the others, Samantha is not much in the way of character.
• Naïve Everygirl: Which made both her father and Jennifer's manipulation of her so easy.
• Satellite Love Interest: Compared to other females on the show, she had very little personality.

Taylor McBride

Taylor McBride

Portrayed by: Lisa Rinna

• Arch-Nemesis: Her and Amanda, over Peter and Kyle. Also her and Jennifer, to a lesser extent.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: tries to act nice to everybody, but in reality is very scheming and manipulative.
• The Baby Trap: she tried this unsuccessfully on Peter, who knew she wasn't pregnant.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Was seen as little more than a troublemaking homewrecker who couldn't be trusted.
• Karma Houdini: While most of her actions do receive punishment, one really big one didn't: her involvement with the death of fake Christine, an imposter pretending to be an ex-flame of Kyle's. While her co-conspirator, Nick, gets arrested, nothing happens to her.

Megan Lewis

Megan Lewis

Portrayed by: Kelly Rutherford

• Daddy's Girl: She became a prostitute to help pay for her ailing father's medical bills.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: with Ryan in the series finale.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Kimberly hired her as a prostitute for Michael while she was dying.
• Nice Girl: Probably one of the most moral characters on the show.
• Taking The Knife: she ends up stabbed by Kimberly's mother while she was aiming for Michael, winding up in a coma for an episode.

Craig Field

Craig Field

Portrayed by: David Charvet

• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Even with all the money he and the family has, they are a mess.
• Driven to Suicide: after Sydney's death, he became depressed, and eventually took his life.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Had dark hair and was good-looking.
• You Killed My Father: Two subversions: the first was towards his father, who killed his beloved grandfather when he was younger and he did this again with Samantha, who he held responsible for killing Sydney, as it was her father's car that struck Sydney at their wedding. He eventually forgave the latter, but not the former, going as far as allowing him to die of a stress-induced heart attack.

Brett Cooper

Brett Cooper

Portrayed by: Linden Ashby

• Awful Wedded Life: Him and Lexi.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The trio of Peter, Michael and himself, respectively.
• Dr. Jerk: As was the standard on the show, any M.D. had to be a Jerkass.
• Fiery Redhead: Both he and Lexi were hot-blooded.
• The Lost Lenore: Kimberly serves as this to him.
• Mr. Fanservice: Like all of the men on the show.
• Put on a Bus: After his storyline ends in season six.

Jennifer Mancini

Jennifer Mancini

Portrayed by: Alyssa Milano

• Earn Your Happy Ending: she and Billy move to Rome together during the last season.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: More often than not, Jennifer showed more common sense than Michael.
• Manipulative Bitch: Pushed Samantha into an affair with a local baseball player so she could get with Billy.
• The Mistress: she was this for Kyle prior to their introductions on the show.
• Parental Favoritism: It's implied that her parents, especially her mother, prefer her to Michael.
• Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed, it was mentioned that Michael had siblings before Jennifer's appearance on the show but she specifically wasn't mentioned before she arrived at Melrose Place.
• She Is All Grown Up: what fans thought upon seeing Alyssa Milano on the show.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: for Sydney Andrews Mancini as far as conniving, slutty younger sisters go. This was even lampshaded by Craig during a rather heated argument with her where he yelled, "You will never be Sydney!"

Lexi Sterling

Lexi Sterling

Portrayed by: Jamie Luner

• Awful Wedded Life: Her and Coop.
• Bound and Gagged: By Eve, in a ploy to keep her away from Peter.
• Drugs Are Bad: Battled an addiction to prescriptions.
• Fiery Redhead: Like every other redhead on the show.
• The Rival: She was this to many people on the show, including but not limited to Amanda, Coop, Michael and Eve.

Ryan McBride

Ryan McBride

Portrayed by: John Newton

• Cain and Abel: His relationship with his older brother, Kyle (although neither man killed one another.)
• Crusading Widower: His first wife and mother of his daughter died years earlier.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He ends up with Megan in the series finale.
• Spoiled Brat: His young daughter, Sarah.

Recurring Characters

Lauren Ethridge

Portrayed by: Kristian Alfonso

• Expy: She appears to be one of Heidi Fleiss.
• Faux Affably Evil: Initially her facade to Sydney. While she presents herself as a warm, big sister type to her prostitutes, she's truly a vicious and manipulative woman (as to be expected as a pimp).
• Food Slap: Via Sydney, who threw her vodka in her face while they were at a bar. She just laughs it off as the latter is dragged out by her henchmen.
• Interrogation by Vandalism: When it's learned that Sydney didn't have her $15,000 as payback for keeping the "business" afloat, her muscle began to bust up her apartment.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Even though she was obviously guilty and in a lot of legal trouble, her lawyer managed to get her off on all charges.
• Woman Of Wealth And Taste: She's a powerful and successful madam with a beautiful mansion and collection of fine clothing.

Jess Hanson

Portrayed by: Dan Cortese

• Cain and Abel: With his younger half-brother Jake.
• Domestic Abuse: He beat Jo after she rejected his marriage proposal and was implied to do the same to his first wife Shelly.
• Green-Eyed Monster: The driving force behind his hatred of Jake, as he tried steal his bar, steal Jo and kill him.
• Hate Sink: He's an angry, vindictive and violent man who beats women, tries to kill his own brother twice and can't act. What's not to love?
• Never My Fault: One of his personality traits, even as a child where he convinced Jake to ride a bike backwards, which resulted in him falling, their mother beating Jess and he "getting off scot-free", in spite of Jess potentially putting Jake in harm's way.
• Railing Kill: How he met his demise at the hands of Jake after brutally beating Jo.
• The Resenter: Big time. He's bitterly jealous of Jake and tries to take everything good in his life, including Shooters and Jo.

Richard Hart

Portrayed by: Patrick Muldoon

• A Deadly Affair: Ultimately. Had he not been screwing Jane behind his wife MacKenzie's back, she wouldn't have gone to the complex to confront them, been there when Kimberly's bombs went off and suffered a fatal heart attack.
• Fake Guest Star: He was seen in every episode of season four as well as the very end of season three and the first episode of season five, yet he never was placed in the opening credits.
• May–December Romance: His late wife, MacKenzie, was at least fifteen years his senior.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He is a fashion designer, after all.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Subverted: he wasn't a nice guy to begin with (he cheated on his wife and eventually came between Jane and Jo's friendship), but he turned into a straight-up monster after he raped Jane.

Hayley Armstrong

Portrayed by: Perry King

• Death by Falling Over: He dies on his honeymoon via getting drunk, falling off his yacht and drowning.
• May–December Romance: He marries and quickly but quietly divorces Alison, who appears to be more than twenty years younger than himself.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: He openly despises his son-in-law Billy, considering him to be beneath his daughter.
• Papa Wolf: To his only daughter, Brooke.
• Silver Fox: He has Grey hair and is a very handsome man.

Jack Parezi

Portrayed by: Antonio Sabato, Jr.

• Death by Falling Over: Subverted: While he was critically injured after Amanda hit him with a golf club in self-defense, it was his yanking out his breathing tube and own determination to kill her that ultimately lead to his death.
• Domestic Abuse: He brutally beat Wife Amanda routinely and even threatened to kill both her and her father if she ever tried to leave him.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: It doesn't come out until much later, but his father Vincent loved him dearly, called him his future and ordered his other son to kill Amanda in revenge for killing him. This is though undermined by the fact that he apparently hated his father and couldn't wait for him to die.
• Hate Sink: He's certainly one of the biggest ones in the show, as a violent and dangerous mobster who abused Amanda and repeatedly threatened to kill her if she left.
• If I Can't Have You…: He tries to kill Amanda after luring her to his mansion under the premise of meeting his "fiancee" Rita.
• Knight of Cerebus: While the show wasn't exactly light at the time, especially in the aftermath of the complex bombing, his presence made it much more serious.

Bobby Parezi

Portrayed by: John Enos III

• Cain and Abel: Downplayed. The Parezi brothers don't kill each other, but Bobby is the clear good counterpart to Jack's evil.
• Death by Falling Over: He meets his end by plummeting from a high-story window after accidentally getting knocked out a window by Alycia.
• Hitman with a Heart: His reason for not killing Amanda in addition to his past relationship with her.
• I Have No Son!: His father disowns him after he chooses to continue loving Amanda in spite of being the better son to him over Jack.
• Love Triangle: Between him, Amanda and Peter. It eventually becomes more complicated when his lawyer Alycia comes into the picture.
• Nice Guy: Played with. He is from a mob family and is no pushover, but he's good to Amanda and even tries to sacrifice himself when they were held at gunpoint by his father.

Eve Cleary

Portrayed by: Rena Sofer

• Fake Guest Star: She was a major character in the final season, but was only a guest star.
• Killing in Self-Defense: Her backstory had her killing a would-be rapist boyfriend. Unfortunately due to the his family having money and influence, she was still sent away on manslaughter charges.
• Remember the New Guy?: Apparently, she and Amanda grew up together in spite of the latter not mentioning her once in the first five seasons.
• The Rival: Of Lexi over Peter's affections.
• Yandere: Towards Peter. Anyone that stood in her way in having him to herself paid for it dearly.