Characters / New Girl: Main Characters

The Main Crew

In General

• Babies Ever After: In the series finale flash-forward scene, we see the main character's families with all their children.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: In the last few seasons, we have Head-Turning Beauty and former model Cece (Beauty), teacher turned principal Jess (Brains), and police officer Aly (Brawn).
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite their silly personalities, they are all good at their respective jobs, and by the end of the show, they all have a more successful career than in the beginning.
• Cloudcuckoolander: With the exception of Cece, all of them are over-the-top weirdos with several eccentricities, although to varying degrees.
• Disappeared Dad: All of them except Jess.
  • Nick's borderline abusive dad dies in season 2.
  • Schmidt's dad left the family when he was 8, and they had a strained relationship until they reconnect in later seasons.
  • Winston never met his father, and as a result, he's transferred his attachment onto Nick's dad.
  • Cece's dad died when she was a kid.
• Five-Token Band: Five or six people, including two black guys, a Jewish guy, and an Indian girl.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Out the four main 4d appartment rommates : take-charge Schmidt is choleric, cheerful Jess is sanguine, pessimistic Nick is melancholic and sensitive Winston is phlegmatic.
• Happily Married: By the end of the series each main character is married. Schmidt and Cece were married in season 5, Nick and Jess were married in season 7 and Winston and Aly were married off screen between season 6 and 7.
• Idiot Ball: They pass it around from episode to episode, each taking turns being grounded while everyone else is a lunatic.
• Manchild: They all act very immature for their age, except maybe Cece, but even she has her moments.,
• Nice Mean And In Between:
  • The male characters: Winston is nice, Schmidt is mean, and Nick is in-between.
  • The female characters in later seasons: Jess is nice (cheerful and caring), Aly is mean (especially before she Took a Level in Kindness), and Cece is in-between (snarky and competitive but also a loyal friend). When Reagan appears instead of Aly, she's another "mean" (a standoffish Aloof Dark-Haired Girl).
• Three Plus Two:
  • The three main guys (Nick, Schmidt, and Coach/Winston) have been friends for a long time, and they meet similarly old friends Jess and Cece in the pilot (or second episode, in Winston's case).
  • The three main characters are Jess, Nick, and Schmidt who always get the most screen time, while Winston and Cece are more supporting characters.
• Town Girls: Jess is a straight-up Girly Girl (femme), Cece is a Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak (neither), and Aly is a Tomboy with a Girly Streak (butch). Actually, several of the temporary love interests (as well as Jess's sister Abby) often serve as the Butch to Jess's Femme and Cece's Neither.
• True Companions: There are many occasions where they all come together as a group in defense of one of them. In fact, the climax of an early season 3 episode has Jess yelling at everyone to not freak out over some of the episode's issues because they're family as much as friends. And because of such, they'll figure things out.
• Two Girls to a Team: Jess and Cece among Nick, Schmidt, and Coach and/or Winston.

Jess

Jessica "Jess" Day

Played By: Zooey Deschanel

"If we're going to do a shenanigan, I'm fine with doing shenanigans! I love shenanigans! As long as no one gets hurt."

The primary protagonist, a quirky teacher who moves into the loft following a breakup.

---

• Actor Allusion: Zooey Deschanel who plays Jess, also plays Ms. Edmunds in Bridge to Terabithia. Hence this line...
  Jess: "I might as well call you Bridge to Terabithia, because you make children cry..."
• Affectionate Nickname: Jess' mom calls her "Jujube."
• Ascended Fangirl: Gets invited by Prince to join him on stage during the aptly named episode.
• Ascended Meme: The second episode of season 2 had Jess being called Katy.
• Bad Liar: Occasionally, and not as bad as Nick (as she doesn't have a blatant tell) but it's just bad acting. Inverted when skillfully talking about her fake trip to Sacramento ins Sister III.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Jess and Nick's UST in early seasons is based on this trope. It's first seen in "The Landlord", and their fight in "Tomatoes." The two of them burn off steam in...interesting ways. While they are considering a Relationship Upgrade, this trope kicks up a notch culminating in their fight whilst making out in "Quick Hardening Caulk".
• Berserk Button: "I told you to water the plants..."
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's a very kind, and caring friend, but don't cross her. Just don't.
• Beware the Silly Ones: One second she's apologetically handing you library cards and cookie fortunes to pay the gas bill, the next she's threatening to castrate you with her feet.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • With her first boyfriend in season 1, Paul. She really thinks Paul is a hottie, and he's even nerdier than her.
  • With Robby, when they date in season 6. They bond over their similar dorky personalities. They eventually break-up after discovering they are cousins.
• Blithe Spirit: She's actually closer to this than MPDG, especially as the series progresses, giving her more characterization and depth.
• Book Smart: She may be goofy, but is still a well-educated teacher. By contrast, her best friend Cece never finished high school, and Jess's love interest Nick is frequently shown to be Book Dumb.
• Brainy Brunette: Brown hair and a well-educated teacher.
• Break the Cutie: A gentle version of this happened to Jess at the beginning of Season 2. She became so downtrodden and discouraged (not to mention broke) by her professional efforts not working out that she essentially turned into the apartment's new Nick.
• Brief Accent Imitation: Jess frequently slips in and out of a variety of accents, usually when trying to defuse a tense situation.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's odd and she sings, but she's got a solid philosophy on keeping her students encouraged, is a well of information, and by and large seems to get their respect.
• Character Tics: Jess will randomly burst into song for no reason.
• Character Title: She's the titular new girl.
• Catchphrase: Usually says "welcome to our home" or some variant of it when someone from outside the loft comes into an awkward situation inside.
• Cheerful Child: So very much in the flashbacks to her as a six-year-old.
• Characterization Marches On: The majority of her early characterization was essentially based around how awkward, quirky, socially stunted, insecure, and otherwise ditzy she was. Come season two and she's evolved into a more complex character whose quirks are only a part of her character, similar to the others, as opposed to the only thing about her. Likewise, her wardrobe and makeup went from being more youthful to more sophisticated.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Nick even points out that she runs herself ragged trying to help everyone.
• Cloudcuckoolander: The boys really aren't quite sure what to make of her sometimes. Played for Laughs of course. She does becomes more normal as the show goes on.
• Cool Teacher: Her students love her, except for a single bully... whom she puts in her place by making her stand up and perform a duet in front of the class.
• Covert Pervert: She's really awkward about surprise roommate genitalia, but it's frequently underlined that she's in touch with her sexuality (nervous about not being good, but not nervous about having urges). And girl knows how to flirt.
• Crazy-Prepared: Packed a sewing kit, stain remover, and a box of 100 condoms for a one night stand, as well as spraying her entire body with perfume in case. Keeps a feelings stick in her purse, picks up Cece from a club with pretzels, bakes in anticipation of confrontations, and if she plans something — a last-minute birthday party, a science day presentation — it will be elaborate.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: She has a deep, slightly raspy voice to start with. Then there's her boisterous singing and general exuberantly noisy tendencies.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: She habitually screams "IT'S HAPPENING!" while falling over. Nick's terror at the thought of her with a rifle is so, so justified.
• Cuteness Proximity: Gets distracted from a violent, hurried struggle for a parking space by cats sitting on her car. On another occasion she gets distracted from an intense argument because she sees a cat.
• The Cutie: Big eyes, high-waisted shorts, a cell phone case with bunny ears.
• Disposable Fiancé: Played With in the last few episodes of season 5. She's back together with Sam, but has just met Sam's best friend Diane. The two clearly adore each other, and Jess, who is a fan of romcoms, realizes that this might not be her love story and she might just be the girlfriend standing in their way. In an attempt to invoke this trope, she gives Diane a chance to confess her feelings. Sam initially keeps dating Jess, but then has a Love Epiphany for Diane, and dumps Jess for her.
• Ditzy Genius: She's a teacher but very awkward and naive, however the "ditzy" part is downplayed in later seasons.
• Drives Like Crazy: When provoked. Made sharp, sudden swerves and and the occasional sharp, sudden U-turn on crowded main streets, but only when Cece was freaking out about her wedding. Also blocking an intersection to avoid hitting a bird, but what're you gonna do when there's a life at stake? Also intentionally played on when she suffers sexism at the hand of a car salesman attempting to talk down to her.
• Dude Magnet: While less of a Head-Turning Beauty than Cece, many men fall in love with her on the show, and even her roommates admit she's attractive.
• Endearingly Dorky: She's a clumsy, sweet, and bubbly Bespectacled Cutie whose playful innocence is part of her appeal. Only in the first episode, we see her singing and humming, dancing chicken dance and wearing funny fake teeth. Her roommates learn to love her for all her quirks, and she's a notable Dude Magnet throughout the show.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: She enjoys baking, and is seen cooking eggs without incident, but she needed help making Thanksgiving dinner and her cooking has been otherwise criticized by Schmidt, who does most of the cooking in the house. She can, however, make clothes.
• First Girl Wins: Jess (in the process of being interviewed by Nick and the other roommates) is the first thing you see when the series starts.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible "good sister" in contrast to her wild and rebellious Foolish sister Abby.
• Formerly Fat: Flashbacks of her in grade school show her to be chubbier than she is now.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic.
• Friend to All Children: With the exception of one of her students, kids and young adults always seem to take to her.
• Friend to All Living Things: Sobbed over a cute dead puppy, bonded with a rhinoceros, even named a frozen turkey she intended to cook. Her response to a strange new roommate smuggling a wild animal into the loft was favorable.
• Genki Girl: She's very lively and bubbly, but less so than her mother.
• Girl Friday: She's Nick's. Lampshaded by him writing a story about a sleuthing duo based on them.
• Girl Next Door: She's Nick's Girl Across the Hall. Not that there's much about her that's average, but she's got a down-home quality compared to most of the girlfriends he's had.
• Girly Bruiser: She's known for a mean tackle. Judging by Nick's offscreen swearing, that punch really hurt.
• Girly Girl: Known for being unapologetically cute and feminine. She wears colorful dresses, polka dot skirts, is addicted to purses, has a bunny ears iPhone, likes baking, and is extremely sweet and naive, though still very intelligent. She even points out that embracing her girliness is not a bad thing:
  Jess: And I hate your pantsuit. I wish it had ribbons on it or something to make it just slightly cuter. And that doesn't mean I'm not smart and tough and strong.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: She can be completely blind to people's ulterior motives until it blows up in her face. She also finds it fundamentally strange that anyone would not be into desserts.
• Gratuitous French: She seems to tend toward this or French accents in particular.
• Hairstyle Inertia: She's had pretty much the same cut her whole life.
• Happy Dance: A major form of communication for Jess.
• Hates Being Alone: Gets epically bored and paranoid.
• Heroic BSoD: When Jess finally faces that her parents really never will get back together, she goes catatonic, and then silently tries to shove the Thanksgiving turkey down the garbage disposal.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Cece. And with her mom. They have a contingency plan of retiring to Miami together, eating cat food, and solving crimes.
• Hippie Teacher: Vaguely, but Dreamcess must count for something.
• Hot Teacher: Occasionally commented on. She even dated the father of one of her students.
• Informed Ability: She claims to be "weirdly good at volleyball". In a later episode, we see her playing volleyball with Coach and she's clearly terrible at it.
• The Ingenue: Especially apparent compared to Nick's girlfriends, who are often foils for Jess.
• Inherently Attractive Profession: Jess becomes Friends with Benefits with a guy named Sam, but things get complicated when she finds out he's not only a doctor, but a pediatrician (meaning he likes kids in addition to all the other things that make doctors desirable) and winds up actually falling for him, which drives him off.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Giant blue eyes, which are often commented on.
• Insufferable Genius: She's kind of a know-it-all.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Jess resolves on doing this for Nick in the Season 1 finale. Nick's dad told her Nick had always wanted a horse. So she bought Nick a horse. On a sadder note, she realizes she's in love with Nick in season 5 and spends most of season 6 making sure his reltashionship with his new girlfriend is working okay.
  "I can't do that because my love for Nick exists so it has to come out somewhere[....] Exactly. So I can't express my feelings for Nick through my romance hole, so I need to express them through my friendship hole."
• Lampshade Hanging: She's rather self-aware about how bizarre or childlike people can sometimes find her.
  "I essentially used my face as a butterknife. I don't think I'm ready to bring new life into the world."
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Light to Cece's Dark.
• Like an Old Married Couple: With Nick. They literally bicker about milk.
• Like Brother and Sister: After moving past a brief attempted kiss (Schmidt) and an aborted attempt to sleep with (Jess), Jess and Schmidt seem to have settled into this dynamic. Many of their plots together use this dynamic.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Her mom is bubbly and eccentric like her.
• The Mad Hatter: She knows she's kind of ridiculous. She's cool with it.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Well, she is played by Zooey Deschanel, after all, and she's certainly livening up soulless, sheltered, emotionless Nick. Ultimately deconstructs the trope as she's the center of the show, she's given her own characterization, and she's just as much of a mess as the guys. By season 4 she has become Team Mom.
• Motor Mouth: Chatty, opinionated, and has no trouble saying whatever comes to mind, however strange or unsettling. Nick has suggested a couple of times that he would like her to be more quiet.
• Nice Girl: She does really care for her friends. Deconstructed in the series 4 episode "Coming Out", where her need for people to like her seriously interferes with her ability to do her job as vice-principal.

• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Basically, Jess' life is her trying to be helpful and thus walking into or unintentionally creating some kind of disaster.
• Non-Nude Bathing: She always comes out of the shower either in a swimsuit or already in her towel.
• Odd Friendship: Model sophisticate Cece and socially awkward Jess. There's even an episode lampshading the oddity of this friendship.
• One of the Boys: Played with, she's very much a Girly Girl, but she's the only girl who shares a loft with three (sometimes four) guys who consider her part of the group.
• One of the Kids: Among other things, she has a collection of "heartwarming films" with a usual audience of about age ten, loves prop teeth and bubbles, and gets totally distracted by ice cream.
• Only Sane Woman: Ironically becomes this in later seasons. In the pilot, she's such a Cloudcuckoolander that the guys don't known what to make of her. Over time, the guys are revealed to be even weirder than she is, while Jess becomes less blatantly quirky, and in later episodes she's often the Straight Man to the others's antics.
• On the Rebound: Jess tries to have a rebound fling, but she has issues with getting attached. After another relationship, she has a rebound backslide where she hooks up with an old exboyfriend.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Jess is generally pretty gentle, so on those occasions where she does raise her voice or throw her weight around, the others are taken aback and stop offering resistance because this is obviously a big deal. As with other initial aspects of her character, as she's developed over the first season, this has become less of an issue. Now she bickers as much as the rest of the loftmates and it's not really treated as anything particularly unusual.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: In front of her ex-boyfriend and his current girlfriend, no less.
  Sam: I would love to explore all of this with you, but I have a circumcision to perform.
  Jess: Hopefully not your own. —Just kidding. I know you're circumcised. Ha, ha. Yeah. ...Well, not that I think about it, it just, I mean, I'm definitely not picturing it right now. [pause] I am picturing it. [pause] Only 'cause we talked about it.
• Opposites Attract: Jess is bubbly, optimistic, hard-working, and book smart, while Nick is grumpy, snarky, lazy, and Book Dumb. They are the main couple.
• Perpetual Smiler: Discussed.
• Plucky Girl: She's very positive and optimistic.
• The Pollyanna: As she develops, it becomes clear that she's not impervious to bad moods, but she makes a concerted effort to focus on the plus side. Get laid off and hate your new job? Think about all that free time you have now! Your roommate spends half your life together pissing you off with his constant negativity? Appreciate all that's good about him and encourage him to be his best self!
• Proper Tights with a Skirt: She rarely wears her miniskirts (or shorts) without them.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She's very pale with long dark hair.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Nick, especially in season 1. Downplayed in later seasons, as Jess becomes less of a Genki Girl, while Nick becomes less of a grump and turns into a slobby Manchild.
• Sensei-chan: More childish than some of her students.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: For someone who spends as much time as possible in bedclothes and tends toward costumes that make her look grungy if not outright misshapen, she really does know how to make herself look good.
• Shipper on Deck: For Schmidt/Cece, and later also for Coach/May (season 4), and Winston/Aly (season 5), even acting as The Matchmaker for both couples.
• Silk Hiding Steel: She's sweet and cute and initially comes off as helpless, but she can handle herself and do so with class. She even has a monologue about not underestimating her just because she seems girlish.
• Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: Okay, she has a nicer way of saying it. It isn't necessarily that she's blindly perky all the time; she gets upset, but she considers that positivity is a more effective/productive way of getting through life. It comes to a head when she confronts Nick about accusing her of "not knowing how to be real" and tells him he needs to put more effort into his life.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She has a bit of a traditional approach to her romances; she just wants a good guy and takes relationships seriously.
• Sliding Scale of Beauty: Jess is considered Common Beauty. She is considered beautiful, but does not usually attract the same type of attention as Cece, and her model friends.
• Stupid Sexy Friend: All three of the guys have fallen into that trap with regard to Jess, but it happens to Nick repeatedly (so much so there was an episode devoted to it).
• Sweet Tooth: She finds it fundamentally strange that anyone couldn't be a dessert person. That's just weird and it freaks her out. She wasn't allowed sugar as a kid, so as an adult she compensates by living in a world of pastries of her own making.
• Team Mom: To her students, or when her friends are in trouble/being idiots. Nick remarks on her tendency to take care of everybody.
• Tsundere: Type B. Particularly when it comes to Nick.
• Unkempt Beauty: At home chances are she's padding around in pajamas, messy hair, and glasses too big for her face, and sometimes she's got confusing taste in clothes, but it would really strain credibility to claim she isn't pretty. Her wandering around in her bathrobe is Nick's "catnip."
• Womanchild: Ultimately averted. She has playful and silly mannerisms and a wide-eyed outlook, but she's responsible and self-sufficient and has been a mature emotional support for others.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: She has huge blue eyes, which several character comment on.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: No pun intended about her massive eyes, but she is way too quick to see the good in everything. When she was a kid, a creepy man in a van pulled up to her and asked her if she liked candy... when she said yes, his grandma in the back opened the door and he said she made too much.
• You Are Not Alone: Her unflinching approach to loved ones in need.
  "I know you don't want to be alone. But I'm going to be there!"

Nick

Nicholas "Nick" Miller

Played By: Jake Johnson

"You know what sucks about getting older? Your friends have known you for way too long. They've got too much on you. I want friends who still lie to me 'cause they don't want to hurt my feelings. I sadly kind of mean that."

One of Jess's three new roommates. Nick is an underachieving law school dropout turned bartender who struggles to apply himself.

---

• Bad Liar: He can't keep a lie and his back starts sweating when he has to hold one in.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Jess and Nick's UST in early seasons is based on this trope. It's first seen in "The Landlord", and their fight in "Tomatoes." The two of them burn off steam in...interesting ways. While they are considering a Relationship Upgrade, this trope kicks up a notch culminating in their fight whilst making out in "Quick Hardening Caulk".
• Be Yourself: He has a hard time doing this, and it always screws him over.
• Book Dumb: Nick waffles between being Book Dumb, Brilliant, but Lazy and actually just stupid. He doesn't know much about Ernest Hemingway. He talked about wanting to eat his way out of a sandwich house. Like Hemingway. He is, however, the academic among his relatives. Though he can come off as this, he did get into, and most of the way through, law school.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: This is Nick's initial characterization, as best exemplified by the fact that he dropped out of law school because he didn't apply himself. In later seasons, he comes across as generally rather dim.
• Broken Bird: His home life was a disaster.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Jess. Works because her thing is more being nice to him (and others) rather than dragging him (or others) into unfamiliar scenarios.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a lazy, messy, slobby Manchild for the most of the show, but eventually his talent for writing novels makes him a famous writer (in the last season, at least).
• Butt-Monkey: It seems the writers aren't happy until they can put Nick through at least one painfully humiliating and unhappy experience per episode. However, by season 4 he is able to hold down a relationship (with Kai, although it doesn't last) and the Butt Monkey status is more evenly distributed around the cast.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: He breaks into blatant nervous sweats.
• Carpet of Virility: He's a far, far cry from Robin Williams territory, but he's easily the hairiest guy in the house. Kind of insecure about it, but then he's insecure about everything.
• Catchphrase: "This is my nightmare."
• Characterization Marches On: In season 1, he is a jaded and cynical Brilliant, but Lazy guy and an "old man" in spirit, who has a Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl dynamic with the naive and childlike Jess. As the show goes on, he becomes an ignorant and slovenly Manchild, with Jess being the Closer to Earth one.
• Character Tics: That scrunched-up grimace of bewilderment and/or disgust he frequently makes. Dubbed his "turtle face" by Jess.
• Chick Magnet: Ironically, he attracts many hot women on the show. Not that he's necessarily so good at keeping the women.

• Consistent Clothing Style: If not wearing basic shirts, Nick is in plaid button-downs.

• Deadpan Snarker: One of the most sarcastic characters, especially in early seasons.
• Deuteragonist: Despite Jess being the title character, Nick's story arc is just as important as hers. By the end of the show, you can say they are both equally main characters.

• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: He's quite a Butt-Monkey but, if you value your life, you'll never treat him like one.

• Embarrassing Nickname: His dad calls him Little Penis and tells his friends about where the name came from, making him a possibly unique case where showing people his naked baby pictures might actually be preferable.
• Enemy to All Living Things: "Nick hates living things." It's not always on purpose, but he just doesn't have the patience or he hasn't the first clue what the hell to do. Once, he encountered a flower, and literally the only thing he could think to do was kick it and run away. Except turtles. He likes turtles.
• Evil Laugh: He's very fond of the memory of stealing a frisbee from some kids who were foolish enough to fly it into his yard. When he was also a kid. He still uses that frisbee as a dish. He also spent an entire episode miming maniacal cackling behind his friends' backs after pulling pranks that approached gaslighting territory.
• Face Your Fears: He's scared of like... life, pretty much. He tries to overcome his many, many neuroses with varying degrees of success (or utter and complete disastrous failure).
• Fatal Flaw: Nick does not like confronting problems and will run anywhere to avoid them.
• Flair Bartending: He wishes.
• Flanderization: While in the first season, he's just The Slacker who never amounted to much after dropping out of law school, later seasons emphasize his lack of intelligence and knowledge, and it becomes hard to see him as someone who was ever on track to becoming an attorney.

• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to little brother Jamie's Foolish.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric.
• Gag Penis: He was absolutely glowing when he got compliments for the picture he accidentally texted Jess of his "prize hog."

• Grumpy Old Man: In spirit. Cece compares him to Walter Matthau. And yes, he's been that way since he was a kid.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: To an almost absurd degree.
• Happy Dance: Nick tends to make up dances in order to make people happy. It's never worked.
• Has a Type:
  • He often goes for The Lad-ette type of girl (Julia, Angie, Kai, and even Reagan to an extent). Ironically, his main Love Interest is the super-girly Jess.
  • He's gone for a lot of light-eyed brunettes since Jess moved in.
• The Heart: Despite being emotionally removed, he's the closest with each of the other three roommates. It's often his angsty life situations that serve to bring everybody together.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Schmidt, to the point where Schmidt insists on throwing a very expensive, wedding-like party to celebrate their having been roommates for ten years. Shivrang has to explain to his mother that it is not what it sounds like. Nick himself outright describes Schmidt as a good husband to him.
• Hot-Blooded: While Schmidt is probably the most excitable roommate, Nick is certainly the one most prone to anger and rages.
• I Can't Dance: It doesn't always stop him, though.
• I Have to Go Iron My Dog: This is Nick when nervous. If he actually used ironing his dog as an excuse, it wouldn't be a surprise coming from him.
• Informed Ability: Almost Played for Laughs. All the other characters say his novel "The Pepperwood Chronicles" is amazing and it eventually makes him a successful author, but anything we learn about the book just comes off as... bizarre.
• Informed Deformity: He's occasionally stated to be overweight by Schmidt and other characters. While he's the least skinny of the main guys, he's still not fat at all, even at his worst.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He will do effectively anything for Jess.

• In Love with Love: It's why he gets back with Caroline. Though if you point that out to him, there will be screaming.
• In Vino Veritas: The times he actually gets genuinely drunk he's usually pretty candid.
• Inelegant Blubbering: He cries the most of anyone on the show, yet still feels the need to mock Schmidt for crying.
• Insecure Love Interest: His rock-bottom self-esteem surfaces a lot when he's in a relationship, particularly with Jess and Reagan.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: He's extremely cynical due to not having his life in order.
• Jaded Washout: A pretty big part of why he is so cynical and unhappy.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He gave Paul a hard time and told Jess he didn't like him in pretty abrasive terms. Not only did Paul turn out to be unwilling to compromise with Jess about their relationship, but he is later revealed to have cheated on his girlfriend with an unknowing Jess.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's incredibly cynical and grumpy but considers Jess one of his closest friends and appears to really like her quirks. Overall it is made quite clear throughout the series that Nick is a really good guy who has simply endured a lot of misfortune and unhappiness. He's also very aware of this, and genuinely wants to become a better person (even though he gets in his own way a lot.)
• Kavorka Man: He's a fairly schlubby loser, but quite the Chick Magnet nonetheless. He seems to effortlessly bring home beautiful women from the bar whenever he feels like it. He doesn't get it either.
• The Killjoy: He's very dour and often tries to bring the group down when they're over-enthusiastic about something.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He almost always does the right thing for people. He's just rarely happy about it.

• Lazy Bum: Frequently lampshaded by the other characters, like Schmidt in season 4, who point out how lazy he is.
• Like an Old Married Couple: With Jess. This is before they get together.
• Limited Wardrobe: His style seems to consist solely of plaid shirts and denim which fits his characterization quite well. There's also those hoodies he hides under sometimes.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Kind of everyone's, especially Schmidt's and his family's.
• Love Makes You Dumb: His crush on Reagan in season 5 makes him act like a fool around her.
• Malaproper: Often uses one word when he means another, similar-sounding word.
• Manchild: His immaturity is often a plot point, to the extent that his roommates call him out on it, and he needs Schmidt or Jess to look after him.
  Jess: Nick isn't even a man. He's like some man-boy, man-child hybrid. The other day I had to tell him not to pull a dog's tail. I shouldn't have to do that.
• Middle Child Syndrome: The logical conclusion from his having a (very childish) younger brother and rather large nieces and nephews from an unseen (but once-mentioned) older brother. His needs being ignored by his family is compounded by his having to always look after their needs.
• Mommy Issues: Fathers, more specifically. He's distrustful of the entire concept of "fathers."
• Most Writers Are Writers: There have been implications that his interest is in writing, such as using that as an excuse to get out of a doctor's appointment, or his having written half a novel. Based on some references he's made, he also seems to have high and varied literary tastes (or pretensions, anyway).
• Mr. Fixit: The roommates are all afraid of the landlord, so if something goes wrong, everybody goes yelling for him instead. He likes working with his hands and gets very creative with his handiwork, whether in repairing something or methodically destroying it.
• The Nicknamer: If Nick doesn't like you, he doesn't use your name. "Clown" and "Kid" in particular are recurring.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Noble to Schmidt's Roguish.
• No Indoor Voice: He kind of almost always sounds like he's barking at somebody even when he's not upset (which isn't often).
• Odd Friendship: Of the three guys, he seems to be closest with Jess which is unusual considering that she's perpetually cheery and he considers smiling a sign of weakness. He's also best friends with Schmidt though both find the other's lifestyle choice highly objectionable.
• One-Hour Work Week: Justified as he is a bartender. His days are incredibly free.
• Only Sane Man: He thinks of himself as this, telling a date that he's "the voice of reason" among his friends. This is less true than it may appear. The role generally rotates between the cast depending on the episode.
• Opposites Attract: Jess is bubbly, optimistic, hard-working, and book smart, while Nick is grumpy, snarky, lazy, and Book Dumb. They are the main couple.
• Perma-Stubble: As a bit of slob, he rarely appears freshly shaven.
• Perpetual Frowner: He considers smiling a sign of weakness.
• Perpetual Poverty: He doesn't actually have much money to be a miser with, but he spends the majority of the first season more employed than Winston and yet way more resistant to spending, to the point where he emphatically refuses to even buy a wallet when pressed. For awhile there he can't even afford to replace his cell phone and has, in Winston's words, "The credit rating of a homeless ghost." He grew up part of a big family that scraped by on the fruits of his dad's cons, and apparently spent the better part of a year living out of a van when he was six.
• The Pig-Pen: Has a terrible hygiene to match his laziness, and becomes more of a slob as the show goes on.
• The Prankster: He puts more passion (and money) into this than he does into his life. Especially seen in the season 2 episode "Neighbors", where pulls an elaborate prank on Schmidt.
• Promotion to Parent: Had to take care of his unruly, disorganized family from a young age largely due to his father's unreliability. Probably goes a long way toward explaining his emotional repression, his willingness to rely on do-it-yourself shortcuts, his short-lived sheen of stability, and his ability to be a support through the extremes of others while himself a complete mess who doesn't take care of himself. Not to mention his rage problem.
• Ridiculous Procrastinator: One time, he broke his laptop rather than face his writer's block.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Nick really can't handle haunted houses. Or clowns.
• Self-Deprecation: He really hates himself.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Schmidt's Sensitive Guy. The "male Team Mom" Schmidt who places extreme importance on caring friendships, sharply contrasted with his rigidly non-sentimental long-time friend Nick who hedges a mostly impenetrable wall around his heart. Nick makes it clear how he thinks men should (not) relate, a rigid "manly" stereotype unthinkable to Schmidt.
• The Slacker: One of his defining traits. He's perpetually underemployed and living beneath his potential. Jess claims he once had a post-it note reminding him to put on pants. And it had a question mark at the end of it.

• The Stoner: Formerly, and apparently such a notorious case that his mom still brings it up.
• Straight Man: He often plays this role, getting irritated by the insanity around him.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: To those who don't know him well, he seems really angry and snarky. People who know him better get to see his kind-hearted, goofy side. (But angry and snarky still apply.)
• Team Dad: It's not even that he's got himself together; he's just a magnet for people who come to him for help with everything, so he's developed a habit of doing so.
• The Tell: He sweats when there's lying involved.
• This Loser Is You: He is a bartender who dropped out of law school shortly before getting his degree and comes off as rather bitter.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Finally becomes a successful author in the last season.

• Took a Level in Dumbass: Nick's laziness is flanderized into being rather stupid or ignorant in a variety of surprising ways. He's still revealed to have some hidden talents, however, once he becomes a successful YA author.
• Understanding Boyfriend: He's dating Jess, he understands her flaws and usually goes out of his way to comfort her.
  Nick: If you're going to do something that's obviously very stupid, then I'm going to do it with you.
• The Unfavorite: His father liked his friend more than him, apparently.
  Nick: He was my dad, Winston.
  Winston: Yeah, but, I mean, he loved me more than he loved you.
  Nick: He told me that.
• The Unsmile: When Nick smiles disingenuously... he suddenly has an awful lot of teeth.
• Uptight Loves Wild: The degree of "wild" varies, but it's a thing with him, probably because he wishes he was more like that. Anyway, he's attracted to Julia's aggression, Jess' lack of self-consciousness, and Angie's...well, all-around wildness.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Schmidt.
• When He Smiles: He spends most of his time scowling and looking unhappy (often because he is). But when he's actually happy and smiles, it's pretty sweet.
• White Sheep: Much to his roommates's surprise, a season 2 episode reveals that he's the most mature and responsible of his family.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Nick is scared crapless of haunted houses (as part of a larger terror of the unexpected).
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: But he'll punch a zombie. Not his fault the zombie was actually a girl.
• Write Who You Know: In-Universe, two of the characters in his novel The Pepperwood Chronicles are transparently based off of his roommates Jess and Schmidt ("Jessica Night" is Pepperwood's partner; "Schmidt" is apparently are psychopathic Jewish villain).
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He's convinced he's broken, but Jess disagrees.

Schmidt

Schmidt

Played By: Max Greenfield

"But, I mean, can we just take a moment to celebrate me?"

Another of the roommates and Nick's college friend. Schmidt (first name unknown) is an overly confident marketing executive.

---

• The Ace: Played for laughs. He's wonderfully excellent...at cunnilingus, which explains a lot. After he's described his technique to OB/GYN Sadie, she doesn't hesitate to admit that he is a "va-genius".
• All Men Are Perverts: He's a pervert in early seasons, but grows out of it after getting engaged to Cece.
• Ambiguously Bi: Possibly.
  • At the very least, he seems awfully determined to get a look at Nick's privates in one episode, even attempting to hide in the shower to do so (it doesn't work). And he kisses Nick forcefully right on the mouth on more than one occasion. Then there are those suggestive comments he makes about other guys...
  • He's apparently specifically gay for Nick. He couldn't deal with the prospect of kissing Winston. Justified in that Nick was there for him for quite some time when the world was not. While he may not actually be sexually interested in Nick, Schmidt basically doesn't know how to express interest in people in ways that aren't sexual.
• Beauty Is Bad: When he was fat, he was an incredibly sweet guy. Once he lost weight and got handsome, he became a serious Jerkass. Lampshaded by Elizabeth.
• Berserk Button: Do not put your dirty hands anywhere near Schmidt's food.
• Butt-Monkey: Especially in the first two seasons, he's often criticized and mocked for who he is (like his Small Name, Big Ego tendencies) by many people, including his friends.
• Camp Straight: Often bashing other characters for their poor sense of fashion and grooming, and has all the extreme mannerisms of the Camp Gay and yet is an undeniable ladykiller, besting lesbian gynecologists at cunnilingus.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: He has a thing for really low-proof melon liqueur and attempting to swallow whisky makes him scream in pain. In another episode, however, he mentions that he was in "two frats because I couldn't decide" and then downs two bottles of alcohol in a very short period of time with no immediate effects.
• Casanova Wannabe: Downplayed. He's seen as repulsive or pathetic by numerous women, but he's also quite successful at attracting others.
• Casual Kink: Schmidt has mentioned his interest in breathplay, signed a sex contract with his amateur-dominatrix boss, and was seen hogtied on the kitchen counter by Jessica's sister, Abby.
• Character Development: Starts off as a Fratbro womanizing douche, but eventually evolves into a stable and devoted partner to Cece in the last few seasons.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Originally the emphasis was very much on the "pervert", but his chivalrous tendencies surfaced in his protective feelings about Cece, and once he accepted that he was genuinely in love with Cece they flowered in his gentlemanly behaviour towards other women. Beautifully demonstrated in how he breaks up with Fawn: having had to claim in a press conference that he loathes the idea of her wearing underwear, he deliberately stages a freakout in a lingerie shop which makes him look like a huge Jerkass and her the innocent victim, and then walks out, turning only when he's out of the view of the press cameras and giving her a fond smile of farewell.
• Closet Geek: Seemingly hinted at. He apparently was considered a geek when he was in school.
• Consistent Clothing Style: Schmidt favors button-downs, often with a V-neck sweater.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Became so insecure about the male models Cece works with that he accuses her of being an untrustworthy sex worker with bad taste in men (proof being her interest in him), sneaks into her text messages, and breaks up with her "for her own sake."
• Crazy-Prepared: When Schmidt develops an ulcer and is ordered by his doctor to not go to work for a few days, Nick confiscates all his electronic devices, including "a satellite phone with a condom taped to it."
  Schmidt: My earthquake kit?!
• Cringe Comedy: A lot of his scenes rely on this. Especially the case when he's interested in a woman.
• The Dandy: He has body gelato, and even Cece isn't allowed to touch it.

• Disappeared Dad: He occasionally references his mother, and a flashback shows him as a child at a large dinner table with only his mother. His dad's never been addressed. His dad turns out to have left the family when Schmidt was eight and started a big new happy family with another woman. He's technically still in Schmidt's life, but Schmidt has some issues with him that prevent them being consistently in contact.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Fat Schmidt." It haunts him. Inverted with "Big Guy" from ex-Elizabeth which references the same thing but in an affectionate way.
• Fat Comic Relief: The show mines a lot of physical comedy from his slobby, nerdy, overweight past self.
• Formerly Fat: He was known for most of his life as "Fat Schmidt." He has a reason for his weight gain, however, and once he was in a healthy relationship, he lost the weight, only to pick up his present day douche-y personality traits.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine (shares this with Coach).
• Friends with Benefits: With Cece in season 1, but they later evolve into a real relationship.
• Handsome Lech: He's a good-looking ladies man and Lovable Sex Maniac, and sometimes makes sexist and lecherous remarks even towards his Love Interest Cece, at least before season 5.
• Happily Married: To Cece in the last two seasons. They have a very loving marriage.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Nick, to the point where Schmidt insists on throwing a very expensive, wedding-like party to celebrate their having been roommates for ten years. Shivrang has to explain to his mother that it is not what it sounds like. Nick himself outright describes Schmidt as a good husband to him.
• Humiliation Conga: Goes through one in season 3. He loses both Elizabeth and Cece, has a Villainous Breakdown when he fails to break Nick and Jess up, finds out his hero Michael Keaton had never written him, got beaten up by a bunch of kids, was swindled by Jess' sister, and after moving out on his own was forced to move back in due to financial difficulties.
• Hypocritical Humor: Schmidt disapproves of Nick picking up all his deliveries because he himself buys everything local, "except, of course, for clothing and produce, medication, water, seasoning, meat."
• I Call Him "Mister Happy": Or, in Schmidt's case, "Hector J." He also calls Cece's boobs "Harold & Kumar."
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Often comes off as overly proud and full of himself, but it's only to cover up his neuroses and his need of approval from others.
• Innocent Bigot: "How are you not cold right now? Does your brown skin retain heat?"
• Insecure Love Interest: In the season 1 finale, Schmidt ends things with Cece because he's convinced she's too out of his league for him to ever make her happy.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: His attachments tend to include sentiment for a foundation — even his guy friends. He almost never lets any opposite-sex attraction stop at the physical.
• It's All About Me: Incredibly self-centered at first, although he gets a lot of Character Development later on.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Schmidt is portrayed as so egotistical and obnoxious that the others force him to pay a fine whenever he did or said something inappropriate (even after being warned several times not to). However, when he's needed, he shows up. And sometimes even when he isn't needed or wanted. It's also shown that much of his nagging is because he wants the best for his family/friends. For instance, he mocks Winston's current choice of girlfriends because he envisions Winston being in his wedding photos with someone much more successful. And while he dislikes cats, he apparently has made an effort to like Furguson because he's Winston's cat. Additionally, show the slightest disrespect to Cece around him and you are toast.^note Admittedly, the incident referred to was more than "the slightest disrespect": a rich old man asked Schmidt if he could "take a run at your girl". Schmidt's response is epic.
  Schmidt: Cry about that, you dirty old bitch.
• Jewish and Nerdy: He's very proud of his Jewish heritage (Schmidt: "Judaism, son!") and alludes to his Judaism very often. He appears to hide his nerdiness though, but his status as a secret geek is often hinted at.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Frequently dispenses bad advice or gives lectures with great confidence about information that the others know is wrong.
• Ladykiller in Love: Towards Cece, and when he reconnects with college girlfriend Elizabeth.
• Last-Name Basis: Revealed to be addressed as such because his first name is also Winston. Which cause an odd bit of strife.
• Like Brother and Sister: With Jess. The prospect of them hooking up has become an object of shame and disgust to them and everyone who knows them.Many of their plots together use this dynamic.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Sex-obsessed but hilarious and ultimately likable.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's not above lying, turning on friends, and using people's vulnerabilities against them to get what he wants or avoid trouble.
• Manly Tears: He's a human being and he's entitled to his emotions.
• Mixed Ancestry Is Attractive: In addition to his consistent comments fetishizing Cece's Indian background, Schmidt has also made several comments about how attractive their babies would be.
  Schmidt: An Indian-Jewish baby, who wouldn't want that? Think about the bone structure.

• Mr. Fanservice: Since he's proud of his appearance and he likes to show off, he gets a lot of Shirtless Scenes, especially in early seasons.
• My Beloved Smother: Based on the information given, his mother is both emotionally distant and yet controlling, to the point where it drove him to binge eating as a child.
• Narcissist: He's prideful, self-centered, obsessed with his appearance, and desperately wants appreciation from other people, even if they are people he doesn't care for, like in the episode "Neighbors".

• Nerd Glasses: He's switched to contacts these days.
• Never My Fault: Blames Nick and Jess for Cece and Elizabeth being hurt, rather than the fact that he was cheating on both of them.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Roguish to Nick's Noble.
• No Full Name Given: Goes by his last name, Schmidt. The audience doesn't even know his first name until Season 6, when it is revealed to be Winston.
• The Not-Love Interest: To Nick.
• Occidental Otaku: Possibly.
  • In "Cece Crashes," he owns a rather short kimono (handwoven ... in China) and tried to defend himself from Winston and Nick's ridicule by associating it with samurais.
  • Another episode shows him eating an entire platter of sushi, and an argument with Nick brings up the time Schmidt spilled a Midori Sour on his nana's quilt.
• The One Guy: Schmidt is this at his workplace.
• Only-Child Syndrome: His mother micromanaged the hell out of his childhood, and now he's a micromanager himself.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The episode where he can't do laundry seems quite strange, considering that he usually cares about cleanliness more than anyone in the loft.
• Porn Stash: There's at least five and a half hours of it on his laptop and apparently he just leaves it on sometimes.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: He believes himself to be very hip, and thinks that Winston's family loves him.
• Proud Beauty: He takes great pride in his appearance, especially since he used to be Formerly Fat.
• Pungeon Master: They're bad, but he's full of 'em.
• Real Men Cook: When competing with his cousin, he posits this and claims to be more manly in modern times due to his culinary skills.
• Really Gets Around: Implied. Although he might be exaggerating this to make himself look more impressive.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: He grew up rich and makes a lot of money in his job, which has made him not necessarily clueless but very used to a certain standard of living, willing to throw money at any problems, and unaware that ruining someone's family heirlooms inherited from dead loved ones is not something you can make up for with a check.
• Sensei for Scoundrels:
  • Nick goes to him to learn how to be a douchebag and not care about women.
  • Jess goes to him to learn how to use "Dice," an Ersatz version of Tinder.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Nick's Manly Man. The "male Team Mom" Schmidt who places extreme importance on caring friendships, sharply contrasted with his rigidly non-sentimental long-time friend Nick who hedges a mostly impenetrable wall around his heart. Nick makes it clear how he thinks men should (not) relate, a rigid "manly" stereotype unthinkable to Schmidt.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Constantly. He must have squandered at least a month's salary in the "Douchebag Jar."
• Stalking is Love: His pursuit of Cece at the very least generously approaches this at times.
• Token Evil Teammate: In early season 3, where he suddenly becomes an antagonist, cheats on Cece while dating Elizabeth at the same time, and also tries to sabotage Nick and Jess's relationship. Thankfully this doesn't last long and he quickly goes back to being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold after a few episodes.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In season 3, he briefly goes from lovable Jerk with a Heart of Gold to Token Evil Teammate, but gets better after his Jerkass Realization.
• Unwitting Pawn: Frequently, corresponding to Winston's chessmaster.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When he was fat, he was very sweet. But when he lost the weight, he got much douchier. Nick and Elizabeth both comment on it.

• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: A few from his fat days are shown
• Walking Shirtless Scene: At least once every episode Schmidt finds an excuse to employ this trope, usually whenever Cece is around.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Schmidt is terrified of the birdcat (cat raised by birds) which lives on the roof. He's also dreadfully afraid of spiders, and becomes increasingly paranoid when he spots one in the loft.
• With Friends Like These...: Although Vitriolic Best Buds tends to be his default, Schmidt occasionally enters this territory with Winston. Schmidt will mock Winston's quirks the most, tends to blame him when things go wrong, gives him the occasional My Friends... and Zoidberg treatment, and his default attitude when dealing with the latter is often barely restrained hostility. By later seasons, one of Schmidt's catchphrases is just exasperatedly yelling out Winston's name.
• Workaholic: At least gives the impression of it. He does choose work over other things a lot of times, if only for the income.
• Young and in Charge: He's the youngest in the house — a fact he does not tire of pounding in — and basically head of the household — a fact which he also does not tire of pounding in.

Winston

Winston Bishop

Played By: Lamorne Morris

"I don't know how to talk to women. Reason being: I feel like you all think that I just want one thing from you. ...I want the one thing, but a bunch of other things — can't a man just want all the things?!"

Another of the roommates, who returns in the second episode (replacing Coach) after spending two years playing professional basketball in Latvia. He's Nick's childhood friend.

---

• Action-Hero Babysitter: He reminds the kid he sits for of LeBron James.
• Allegedly Dateless: He has no game, no confidence, no luck with girls, and is mocked for it. Yet he manages to be romantically involved with six women over the course of the show, along with several other dates, and even gets an Unwanted Harem in a later episode.
• Alter-Ego Acting: He mentions an alter-ego named Theodore K. Mullins who sleeps with Schmidt, saying he really wants to use that someday. He finally gets to act as Theodore when scaring away Nick's hook-ups, this time claiming that he's Nick's secret lover.
• Ascended Fanboy: He gets to work with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The first thing he does is ask to sit on his shoulders.
• Ax-Crazy: At his worst. His Deadly Pranks can often be dangerous. And after he finds out his girlfriend cheats on him, he tries to kill her cat Ferguson as a revenge, but eventually changes his mind and decides to keep Ferguson for himself, while also becoming obsessed with that cat.
• Beleaguered Assistant: To cruel and annoying DJ Joe Napoli. They end up getting along, but Joe puts him through a lot of weird stuff.
• Berserk Button:
  • It isn't so much that he has one specific button as it is that he does really, really weird things when upset.
  • All In shows us that disturbing his puzzles is a big one. And, on a more serious note, so is being lied to/thrown to the wolves as part of a lie.

• Birds of a Feather: In a season 5 episode, he dates Rhonda, a crazy prankster and pretty much a female version of him. He's the only one who finds her funny, however their relationship doesn't work out.
• Black and Nerdy: After Jess, he's easily the geekiest character (except maybe in season 1, where he was more a jock type as Coach's replacement).
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He eventually becomes a competent cop in later seasons, despite his weird antics and Cloudcuckoolander personality. During the background check of his police academy training, he's even stated to be one of the best cadets.

• Butt-Monkey: To the point where we feel sorry for him. Winston never can seem to catch a break. He gets better in season 5, especially after he starts dating Aly.
• Cannot Talk to Women: Winston spends so long not getting any action that at one point his desperation steals his ability to speak.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: One sip of a fruity cocktail and he gets... naughty.
• Characterization Marches On: Introduced as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute to Coach. When Coach comes back in season 3, Winston's ineptness and odd quirks are flanderized in order to make him a pathetic foil to Coach's cool manly man type.
• The Chessmaster: He has used Schmidt's ego and cluelessness against him, especially in the early seasons.
• Childhood Friends: With Nick.

• Cloudcuckoolander: Not so much in season 1, but starts to develop some odd quirks in some season 2 episodes, until his weirdness becomes his defining trait in later seasons.
• Consistent Clothing Style: If not wearing basic shirts or work clothes, Winston will put on short-sleeved printed button-downs.
• Crazy Cat Lady: Well, more like "Crazy Cat Guy." After Daisy cheats on him and he's the only single person in the loft, he starts burying his loneliness by over-bonding with his cat.
• Deadpan Snarker: Pretty close to Nick's level.
• Deadly Prank: His complete and utter inability to prank people constantly threatens to lead to this, because his fallback idea is always to beat somebody with a ski.
• Flanderization: Went from being the most normal and laid-back character in season 1, to a bit on the awkward side in season 2 and eventually full-blown crazy in season 3. His decision to become a cop has the effect of making him become more serious and by the time he's become one, he's still eccentric but no longer nuts.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Eclectic.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: He's often ignored or treated like a joke by his friends who also forget his birthday and find his weird habits (like his cat obsession) annoying or off-putting.
  Schmidt: Friends, ex-girlfriend, Winston...
• Friend to All Children: When Jess agrees to bring a group of troubled kids into their home after school, it initially appears that this will create a lot of trouble... until he shows up, strikes a rapport with the kids, and begins training them to play bells for a concert in the park (It Makes Sense in Context). Also with Elvin at Schmidt's work party. It scores him a job.
• Go-to Alias: Will often pretend to be a gay man named "Theodore K. Mullins" if an alias is necessary.
• Heroic BSoD: When he gets extremely scared or stressed, he has panic attacks which involve him stripping down to his underwear.
• Hot-Blooded: When he gets either really mad or really engaged in an activity.
• Humble Hero: Played for laughs after he saves a kid from underneath a car, and becomes famous as Officer Bishop, the Carport Hero. He doesn't like this nickname because he prefers people to think of him as "Prank Sinatra", in spite of the fact that he is rubbish at pranks.
• Informed Ability: We haven't really seen him at work, whether it be basketball or radio producing, which he claims to be passionate about. Averted in season 5, where Nick goes on patrol with him and his partner, and we see that he's a good cop.
• Insecure Love Interest: Due to his lack of self-confidence, he's this towards several of his love interests, including his partner (and eventual wife) Aly when he realizes to be in love with her.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Elvin, a boy he nannied, is arguably his best friend in the first season.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: The only one to side with Jess on wanting a bathtub. He likes to be covered in bubbles. It also really manifests in his Odd Friendship with Cece.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Has an adoring devotion to his cat Furguson, which eventually becomes a Running Gag. After Furguson's death, he got another cat in the final season.
• Like Brother and Sister: With Cece in later seasons. It starts off by them teaming up for Winston's one and only successful prank in season 4 and evolves to the point that Cece asks Winston to be one of her bridesmaids.
• Loon with a Heart of Gold: As Jess puts it: "You really toe the line between sweetness and insanity".
• The Mad Hatter: During the party with Aly's family, he proudly declares to be "the king of crazy" even if he knows the others find him ridiculous.
• Maintain the Lie: Told his mom that instead of being a cop, he was doing a radio show. He then went so far as to create his own radio show and broadcast it on a special frequency only his mom could hear.
• Manchild: As expected from someone whose favorite hobbies are pranks, puzzles, and taking selfies with his cat. In a season 2 episode, he still believes in Santa.
• NEET: Jess cracks up at the idea that he might be too busy to come help her when she calls him. Things start looking up eventually.
• Odd Friendship: He becomes the arguably closest friend to Cece after Jess, to the point she turns to him whenever she can't get a hold of Jess or to talk about something Cece feels Jess can't handle. She even makes him a bridesman at her wedding.
• Only Sane Man: Originally. In the first two seasons, he's usually the most normal and level-headed of the group, sometimes to the point of being the voice of reason. Heavily inverted from season 3 onwards, as he becomes the goofiest Cloudcuckoolander on the show.
• The Prankster: A terrible one. His love for pranks is a lampshaded Running Gag, especially during weddings. He's proud of it and doesn't realize that his pranks are terrible and he is the only one who finds them funny.
• Primal Fear: His fear of the dark is a totally rational adaptive evolutionary response. His associated fear of werewolves perhaps less so.
• Raging Stiffie: His chronic morning wood is the subject of much conversation.
• Second Episode Introduction: He's introduced in the second episode, replacing the suddenly-absent roommate Coach.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The soft, cat-loving Sensitive Guy to Coach's tough, alpha-level Manly Man.
• Sexier Alter Ego: Sometimes it is useful to him to slip into the character of Theodore K. Mullins, the soulful, deep-voiced "lover on the down-low" of Nick or Schmidt, depending on who he's trying to help/hurt at the time.
• Shipper on Deck: For Schmidt/Cece in season 4, as he's the first one to realize that Cece still has feelings for him. He's also supportive of Nick/Jess (especially in season 6), and encourages Coach's interest in May in "The Crawl".
• Sickeningly Sweethearts:
  • With girlfriend Shelby in season 1. After a few months, Winston finds his relationship with Shelby has become stale and passionless, so much so they can't even muster an argument about the state of their relationship. It causes him to start cheating on her in his imagination, and eventually they break up.
  • In season 6, he has a lovey-dovey relationship with Aly, his eventual wife.
• Small Name, Big Ego: His deep interest in hobbies he's not good at (pranking, puzzles...).
• Straight Man: He can be this trope in earlier episodes but becomes a childish, fun-loving Cloudcuckoolander in later seasons.
• Straw Loser: This is mostly prominent in season 3 and 4 (the Coach seasons). He Cannot Talk to Women and is a hopeless Butt-Monkey who is terrible at almost everything and is treated like a laughing stock even by his friends, to the point that even Nice Girl Jess looks down on him. Gradually gets better in season 5.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Introduced as this to Coach in the second episode, as the cool, athletic, black friend to the rest of the group. He eventually evolves into a completely different character and his athletic background is rarely mentioned in later seasons.
• This Loser Is You: Winston spends much of the show clueless about what he wants to do, changing several jobs and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After spending much of the show as the group's Straw Loser, he eventually finds a job he likes, the perfect girlfriend, and becomes more valued by his friends, being especially close to Cece.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Very much so after he becomes a police officer, even rescuing a kid from underneath a car when the jack failed. Played for laughs in that it played hell with his back.
    Winston: [holding up the car, through gritted teeth] Call an ambulance for meeeee!
  • He later develops "cop face" and "friend face", depending on whether he's giving personal advice as a friend or legal advice as a cop.
    Jess: Honestly, I can't tell the difference.
    Winston: [sternly] Well, there is no difference. That's why I have to announce it.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: Fairly serious in season 1, but becomes more and more goofy and oblivious as the seasons go on.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Winston is deathly afraid of the dark.
• With Friends Like These...: Sometimes has this dynamic with Schmidt. While less openly antagonistic, Winston has no problem engaging in extensive mind games with him, cruelly preying on his insecurities, or annoying him purely For the Lulz. Winston even openly admits that their continued friendship is contingent on Nick's influence and he really wouldn't want to hang out with Schmidt otherwise.
• You Need to Get Laid: He gets this from everyone quite often... even when he's in a committed relationship.

Cece

Cecilia "Cece" Parekh

Played By: Hannah Simone

"Please put your shirt back on. Please don't make me laugh at you."

Jess's best and oldest friend, who works as a model. Although she doesn't live in the loft, she also develops a rapport with Jess's new roommates.

---

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: In certain ways, Schmidt is in keeping with her usual taste.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: A gorgeous, dark-haired woman whose tongue is rather razor-sharp.
• Ambiguously Brown: Eventually, after the guys unsuccessfully attempt to guess her heritage, she reveals that she's Indian.
• Arranged Marriage: Headed into one of the "traditional arranged" variety. Their mothers got them into contact with each other, and everyone involved approved enough that they kept going along with it. Both she and the groom called it off at the literal last second. She's also the product of an arranged marriage, and is very defensive about her parents' genuine fondness for each other.
• Ascended Extra: In early seasons, she only serves as a female friend to Jess and a Satellite Love Interest to Schmidt (she's not even included in the opening, despite being a regular). In later seasons, she's a full-time member of the gang.
• Big Sister Instinct: Because Jess is so purely kind and gullible, it is usually on Cece to look out for her.
• Book Dumb: Later on, she develops insecurities over the fact that she never finished high school.
• But Not Too Bi: All of Cece's onscreen relationships have been with men; her fling with Reagan is only mentioned in dialogue.
• Childhood Friends: With Jess.

• Deadpan Snarker: When she's angry.
  Nick: If you weren't a girl...
  Cece: Uh-huh?
  Nick: I'd karate chop you in the mouth.
  Cece: You would get winded just trying to ball your fist up, dough-boy.^note This turns out to be true: Nick starts waving his fists in Cece's direction and the sheer effort makes him out of breath.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Towards Schmidt, though his actions towards her at the beginning of season 3 undid a lot of that. In season 4 she falls in love with him again, and they marry in the finale of season 5.
• Distaff Counterpart:
  • To Schmidt, by her own admission, although mostly in the first two seasons, when she was more a Good Bad Girl.
  • To Nick, as lampshaded in season 5. Both Jess and Schmidt agree they are basically the same person (stubborn, hotheaded and brutally honest).
• Drop-In Character: She's the only regular cast member who doesn't live in the loft.
• Dude Magnet: She's considered hot by all the men on the show. Nick is probably the only one who was never attracted to her.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.
• Friends with Benefits: With Schmidt, at least to begin with. As of the end of season four, they are engaged.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: A graceful Head-Turning Beauty and a (former) model often seen in dresses, but she is also very tough and more physically adept than most of her friends. In season 5, she is also revealed to be kind of a slob, to the point that she's described as a female Nick.
• Good Bad Girl: Mainly in season 1, she jerks guys around, but she is apologetic when she goes too far and is an awesome friend.
• Happily Married: To Schmidt in the last two seasons. They have a very loving relationship.
• Head-Turning Beauty: She's a model. And the boys react accordingly, particularly Schmidt, who goes to ridiculous (and ill-planned) lengths to seduce her. Downplayed when she gives up modelling and goes to work as a bartender; her dream job is actually TV newscaster and she seems to have a talent for it.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jess.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Socially, Cece's this to Jess.
• I Call Him "Mister Happy": Schmidt calls Cece's breasts "Harold" and "Kumar."

• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Dark to Jess' Light.
• Magical Asian: Referenced. Schmidt believes that, because of her brown skin, Cece has the wisdom of a thousand white women.
• Mama Bear: Jess actually calls Cece this in regards to how Cece can/is very protective of Jess when Cece is feeling insecure about her ability to take care of her fiancée.
• Men Can't Keep House: Inverted with Schmidt and Cece: he's extremely neat, whereas as soon as she starts spending all her spare time in the loft, the guys realise that she's a slob who never tidies up. Justified because, as Jess points out, "Ever since she got boobs, people stopped making her do stuff."
• Mistaken for Terrorist: Turns out that Cece exploits this trope whenever she wants to get out of jury duty:
  Cece: Just tell them that your parents are Pakistani militants. That's what I do, works every time.
• Ms. Fanservice: Because Cece's a model, we often get to see her in skimpy dresses, lingerie, bikinis, etc. Lampshaded in one episode when Schmidt tells her she looks like she's trying to distract James Bond at a baccarat table. Downplayed after she gives up modelling, and starts spending more time in casual clothes that cover her up.
• My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: According to Jess, Cece's always thinking this way.
• My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Wasn't interested in having kids at first, but when she discovered her window of fertility was very small, she became very goal-oriented about getting pregnant.
• Not So Above It All: Tends to play the role of the sane one most often and in general is the least-quirky of the cast, but it's really more like she's just learned to take all of the insanity in stride and regularly plays a part in the group's hijinks, including things like building a secret tree house with Nick and Winston.
• Odd Friendship: With Jess. Also with Winston, with their "Classic Winston-Cece Mess-Arounds".
• Only Sane Woman: By far the sanest of the main cast, and usually the Straight Man to everyone's craziness. Although her friendship with Winston in later seasons brings out a goofier side of her personality.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Winston in later seasons. It starts off by them teaming up for Winston's one and only successful prank in season 4 and evolves to the point that Cece asks Winston to be one of her bridesmaids.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In Season 4, although she was a main cast member since season 1.
• Raised by Grandparents: While she had parents, her grandmother was a significant portion of her life and they're very close.

• Shipper on Deck: For Nick/Jess.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Despite being a main character, she's left out of a huge amount of the promotional materials. She's the only main cast member who's not in the title sequence, and even in the show, she's frequently absent. As of the fourth season, the title sequence has been changed to a new one (it's about five seconds long) which includes both her and Coach.
• Sliding Scale of Beauty: Cece is considered World-Class beauty. Being a model, her physical beauty usually attracts more attention than with Jesse.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Guys often parade her around like a trophy and it makes her very wary of her relationships.
• The Slacker: It only emerges in Season 5 when she comes to live in the loft, but she is phenomenally untidy and also has a peculiarly loud and disgusting way of blowing her nose. Justified because, as Nick points out, she's so beautiful that people have tidied up after her for her whole life.
• The Stoic: Her grandma'll tell you.
• Stupid Sexy Friend: It's happened to all the guys with regard to Cece.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She can seem pretty cold at first, but is very warm and kind underneath it. When she goes back to Portland for Jess's dad's wedding and runs into her teen crush Jake Apex, she turns into a total dork around him.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Originally an Aloof Dark-Haired Girl, but becomes much more approachable in later seasons.
• Tsundere: Initially harsh and dismissive towards Schmidt, but is also sweet and protective of Jess.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Or wife. Don't ever try to disrespect Schmidt in front of her.
  Cece: Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cece Schmidt. So if any of you have anything else you'd like to say to my husband, I will drag you outside and we will handle this L.A. style.
• What Does She See in Him?: When she first starts dating Schmidt, several characters have this reactions. It's occasionally brought up in later seasons, even by Reagan in one episode.

Coach

Ernie "Coach" Tagliaboo

Played By: Damon Wayans Jr.

"That first-class ass is gonna be sitting in Coach tonight."

Initially one of Jess's new roommates before being replaced with Winston in the second episode. He's an ex-athlete turned personal trainer.

---

• Bruiser with a Soft Center: He may be an aggressive, athletic, tough guy, but actually has a prominent sensitive side.
• The Bus Came Back: After being Put on a Bus after the pilot, he comes back in season 3.
• Cannot Talk to Women: In the pilot, he can't talk to women without shouting and it effects his work. He asks Jess for advice. Less so after he comes back in later seasons.
• Characterization Marches On: In the pilot, he's a nice guy but has trouble talking to women because he quickly loses his temper. When he returns in season 3, he starts acting like a womanizing, jerkish Fratbro similar to season 1 Schmidt, although he still has his awkwardness and sympathetic traits.
• Commuting on a Bus: Was part of the pilot, then the actor's previous sitcom got renewed, then it got cancelled, so Coach returned, becoming a regular character for two seasons. He's Put on a Bus again after season 4, only making guest appearances afterwards.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Well, Coach. Because he's a coach, you see. His real name, Ernie, is revealed in "Clavado en un Bar." Lampshaded, too.
  Coach: Jess, you're gonna want to listen to me. Anyone else here named after their career?
• Friendly Rivalry: Occasionally with Schmidt, like in the camping episode where they battle it out over who is the best woodsman, or in another episode to get the attention of two attractive neighbors. Also, they are both interested in Cece at first in season 3.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine (shares this with Schmidt).
• Insecure Love Interest: When he falls for May, thinking she's too good for him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When he comes back in season 3, he's much more cocky and abrasive (especially to Winston) than he was in the pilot, but still a good friend to everyone.
• Ladykiller in Love: With his ex-girlfriend Malia and later with May. He's initially reluctant to hook up with May, a woman he genuinely likes, because he was looking for "something easy" and she's too "relationship material".
• Lovable Jock: He's a personal trainer, and despite his awkwardness probably the nicest to Jess when she first joins the loft.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Very few people (like his girlfriend May) call him Ernie.
• Opposites Attract: He's a boisterous jock who ends up with May, an Elegant Classical Musician.
• Platonic Life-Partners: After things fail miserably with Cece, they grow into this. He also develops a nice friendship with Jess after they start working in the same school.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In Season 4.
• Put on a Bus: Following the pilot, he leaves the apartment (and the show) to live with his girlfriend. Two years and one breakup later, he's back. At the end of season 4, he has a new girlfriend and goes to live with her in New York, for good this time, although he returns for a few guest appearances in season 5, 6, and 7.
• Sad Clown: Upon his return, he's claiming that he's happy to have dumped his girlfriend and just wants to party. In truth, she dumped him and he's distraught over it, but can't let his friends see how sad he is.
• Scary Black Man: Schmidt's bronemy Benjamin is a jerk to everybody else but sputters into meekness in the face of Coach.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The tough, alpha-level Manly Man to Winston's soft, cat-loving Sensitive Guy.
• Shout-Out: To Cheers, which also has a character nicknamed Coach whose real name is Ernie.
• Sixth Ranger: He returned in the third season originally for four episodes, was extended for the rest of Season 3 billed as "Special Guest Star", and becomes a Series Regular for Season 4.
• Suddenly Shouting: A big part of why he can't talk to women. He gets frustrated easily.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • In one season 6 episode, two years after his departure, the guys realize they don't know anything about him anymore and Schmidt is worried that he will be forgotten by his friends, just like him.
  • In one season 7 episode (after the three-year Time Skip), we found out he and Nick had a falling out because Coach had borrowed a large amount of money from Nick and didn't pay him back. They reconcile at the end of the episode though.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: No explanation is given for his absence at Nick and Jess's wedding. Especially since he appears in one episode of the same season for the death anniversary of Winston's cat.