WARNING: Contestants are listed in order of elimination and there are unmarked spoilers on this page, including some spoilers for previous seasons.
Main (RuPaul, hosts and judges)
RuPaul's Drag Race (USA) seasons:
Drag Race around the world:
All Stars & Vs. the World
All names, ages, and locations stated are at the time of filming.
Venus D-Lite (13th)
Age: 26
From: Los Angeles, California
"I do lots of characters, but I've had plastic surgery to look more like Madonna."
- Celebrity Impersonator: A professional Madonna impersonator, she even got plastic surgery to look more like Madonna.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Well, named after a song by somebody famous. She took the name Venus after Bananarama's cover of Shocking Blue’s hit song of the same name (which itself was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty).
- No Sense of Personal Space: Was sent home after her lip-sync with Shangela, in which she was shoving and pulling her opponent across the stage, and continuously trying to push in front of her to steal the spotlight.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom / Genre Blindness: She is the one who passed the sugar daddy rumor about Shangela to Mimi Imfurst during the promo shootings, resulting in the infamous catfight in Untucked. She had no idea Mimi would even bring the rumor up in the show.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Besides being one of two queens to be brought onto the show via an Audition Line as opposed to submitting a tape (along with Delta Work), the only other thing really known about her is that she is a Madonna impersonator, that's about it.
Phoenix (12th)
Age: 29
From: Atlanta, Georgia
"I can play well with others, my mom raised me well. But, I definitely do have a bitchy side!"
- Deadpan Snarker: Although to be fair most of what she said came out as rather deadpan, she did like to talk filth about her fellow queens when she got the chance. Her read on how India likes to paint herself "old school" comes to mind.
- Dresses the Same: Ends up wearing an almost identical outfit to India Ferrah when the show starts, with the two proceeding to glare daggers at each other. Happens again with the Christmas runway, in which Venus D-Lite claims she stole her ornament collar idea.
- No Fair Cheating:
- Was called out by Venus D-Lite during the Christmas dressmaking challenge, when she claimed Phoenix has stolen her idea of breaking up tree ornaments and hot gluing them to her collar.
- Also during her elimination when she was dancing to Bad Romance India Ferrah called her out on simply copying Lady Gaga's dance moves instead of making the song her own.
- Shrinking Violet: Her performance in the "Drag Queens from Outer Space" challenge was critiqued for coming off too shy and out of her element.
- Vocal Dissonance: Has quite a deep and deadpan voice, in and out of drag.
Mimi Imfurst (11th)
Age: 27
From: New York City, New York
"I try to put the B in subtle."
- Attention Whore: The tears, the tantrums, the histrionics — she certainly lived up to her name.
- Drama Queen: Linking back to her Attention Whore personality, it was not at all uncommon for Mimi to cry when things got challenging, or whenever another queen would bring up a hardship they've had to overcome, for her to try and top them with an even more dramatic experience in her life.
- Large Ham: Most obviously during the Queens in Space challenge, where Mimi's tooth marks were all over the set by the end.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Seems to be her lip sync style, as she is constantly pushing against and in front of India during their lip sync, finally coming to a head when she lifts India over her shoulder clearly against her will.
- Non-Indicative Name: Invoked by Delta Work when she muddles over Mimi's drag name by saying that Mimi Imfurst isn't first, and in her opinion, isn't even second.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: After she picked up India Ferrah during their lip-sync, Mimi's entire character on Drag Race was pretty much defined by that moment, even into her run on All Stars. It even gets a Call-Back in the bonus material for the Season 9 finale.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Lifted a screaming India this way during a lip-sync. After the incident, Ru felt the need to remind Mimi drag is not a contact sport before eliminating her.
- Punny Name: Me! Me! I'm first!
- Rejected Apology: Despite doing her best to try and make amends for her behavior, India refused to cut her any slack during the reunion.
India Ferrah (10th)
Age: 23
From: Dayton, Ohio
"Someone get this bitch off of me!"
- 10-Minute Retirement: After Season 3 she quit the business claiming the show had "taken the fun out of drag". However, she's back in her wig and pumps by the time of the Season 5 reunion, ending her retirement and seemingly taking back her harsh words about the competition.
- And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Was given a shirt by Mimi during the reunion that said "I got picked up by Mimi Imfurst and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!" India was not amused.
- Big-Breast Pride: Despite the fact that they're fake, India loved using her breast plate every runway, to the point where the judges called her out on it for using it so often."I paid $600 for these breasts, I'm gonna show them off!"
- Damsel in Distress: When Mimi infamously lifted her over her head during their lip-sync.
- Dresses the Same: With Phoenix, both entering the competition wearing a similar leather ensemble with black and blond streaked wig. Neither queen was amused, to say the least, shooting each other daggers.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: Her outfit during the "Favorite Body Part" runway, where she brought out her breast plate, a nude bodysuit, a rhinestoned top hat, and an incredibly long wig that reached down past her knees. It ended up landing her in the bottom two.
- The Resenter: It was quite obvious during the reunion that she still harbored quite a lot of bitterness towards Mimi Imfurst for embarrassing her during their lip-sync.
Mariah (9th)
Age: 29
From: Atlanta, Georgia
"My name is Mariah, aka Mariah Paris, aka Mariah Successful."
- Bad Impressionists: Her performance as Joan Crawford was read as this. With poorly applied makeup and unfunny jokes, it ended up placing her in the bottom where she was eliminated.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: This should be noted in Mariah's case, as Ru singles her out as one of the most beautiful and realistically feminine queens in all the series so far.
- Informed Ability: Was touted as Drag Race's first "Ballroom Queen"
(her full name is Mariah Balenciaga, as she's a member of the famous Balenciaga vogue house), though her unique skills aren't explored before her elimination. - Phrase Catcher: "They call this queen Mariah" — taken from the song "They Call The Wind Maria" by Harvey Presnell.
- The Quiet One: The judges accused her of not standing out enough, and that she always seemed to be coasting by on safe.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Was upset that the judges only seemed to see her as pretty, and did not acknowledge her hard work in the competition.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: Gets called out by Shangela for being too feminine even when not in drag, criticizing Mariah for wearing make-up or using skin products even while as a man. Shangela even goes as far as to insinuate Mariah is more transgendered than a drag queen, and says that gives Mariah an unfair advantage.
Stacy Layne Matthews (8th)
Age: 25
From: Back Swamp, North Carolina
"There ain't shit in North Carolina but cornfields!"
- All of the Other Reindeer: Some of the queens constantly said in interview that although they considered Stacy a lovely person, she had no business even being on the show in the first place.
- Big Eater: Was supposed to be nibbling fried chicken during her shake weight workout routine, but ended up picking the bones clean during the first take! She had to use bread during the second take after running out of chicken.
- Country Mouse: Her hometown is Back Swamp, North Carolina, and she talks about feeling somewhat intimidated competing with the big city queens like Raja.
- Overly Long Name: When Ru nicknamed her "Stacy Layne Bryant Matthews Lattisaw Q." Lane Bryant is a chain of plus-sized clothing stores, and Stacy Lattisaw and Stacy Q. are pop singers.
- Shrinking Violet: One of her most often cited critiques by the judges. Her lack of confidence always seemed to get the better of her as they saw a queen who would occasionally shine, only to withdraw back into her shell afterwards.
Delta Work (7th)
Age: 34
From: Norwalk, California
"I am not worried about you, I am not worried about you and I am not worried about you."
- Big Beautiful Woman: One of the more glamorously poised larger ladies.
- Big Fun: Intentionally subverted. On a show where many of the big queens have a big, campy personality and joke about their weight, Delta was a poised, glamorous queen who pointedly refused to play into stereotypes about her weight.
- Brutal Honesty: Something she actually admits to regretting, and says she wishes she would have just lied about some of the shade she threw since it would have led to the same ends with less hurt feelings.
- In-Series Nickname: "Heather", as part of the Heathers clique along with Carmen Carrera, Manila Luzon, and Raja. The group was named after the movie of the same name.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Delta Burke.
- Pet the Dog: Giving up the phone call home she won in a mini-challenge to Shangela, who desperately wanted to use it to call her grandmother.
- Unknown Rival: To Stacy Layne Matthews, whom didn't realize the extent of it until after the show had aired and she saw the hurtful, spiteful things Delta said about her. It seemed to stem from Stacy being almost an antithesis to Delta as a big queen, where as Delta was very polished but very insecure about her weight, Stacy seemed rather rough around the edges but very comfortable in her own skin.
- You Are Fat: What was usually thrown her way during the reading mini-challenge. It got to the point where she even calls the other queens out on the fact that was basically the only thing they could read her on.
Shangela (6th)
Age: 29
From: Los Angeles, California
"I'm BACK, bitches! Halleloo!"
- Batman Gambit: She loudly proclaims that she wants the reggae option for the singing challenge, which compels Carmen to select it for herself. Little did she know that Shangela actually wanted country music all along, and Carmen's bloody-mindedness and lack of reggae vibes causes her to go to the bottom and be eliminated. Carmen, for her part, claims that she had no intention of screwing Shangie over, though that's up for debate.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Several other Season 3 queens have said that the sugar daddy fight between her and Mimi was a lot more intense than what was shown on TV, and may have even gotten violent at one point, resulting in a three week halt in filming while production debated whether or not to let Shangela & Mimi go for their actions. Needless to say, Shangela takes her sugar daddy rumors as Serious Business.
- Brutal Honesty: To the point where her Catchphrase was "Just keepin' it real". Raja accused her, however, of her 'keeping it real' as just being an excuse to be rude and insulting to the queens she didn't like
- Catchphrase: In addition to "Halleloo", she added "Just keepin' it real" this season.
- He's Back!: Infamously returned to the show after being eliminated in the first round of Season 2.
- Hypocrite: Tries to call out Mariah for being too naturally feminine to be a fair competitor ... only for Mariah to turn around and point out almost every single one of them have or accentuate feminine features, because you know, they dress up like women.
- I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Self-invoked, although she became close friends with Alexis Mateo, especially during "Untucked".
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: In spite of several more months of drag experience under her belt, her wardrobe was still rather ... less than spectacular. She tried constantly to wow the runway, only to be read by the judges and the queens for her looks always being half-baked, ill-fitting, or just plain bad.
- Manipulative Bastard: Liked to think of herself as one. As she once said, other people attack with daggers, she attacks with strategy.
- My Greatest Second Chance: After being the first queen eliminated in Season 2, she came back this season where she won two challenges and finished in a respectable sixth place.
- Odd Friendship: With Alexis Mateo, despite her initial standoffishness towards Shangela. Their friendship especially comes through on "Untucked", with them always sitting together and talking. She also has this with Yara Sofia to a smaller extent.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: Went out of her way to re-audition for this season after being eliminated first in Season 2, yet she still didn't know how to sew (in spite of being first eliminated in a sewing challenge) or even how to properly do her own make-up.
- The Rival: With Raja, even though they had had a drag mother/drag daughter relationship before the show.
Carmen Carrera (5th)
Age: 25
From: Elmwood Park, New Jersey
"Carmen Carrera is nudity and sex."
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She claimed this was the reason she looked so bored during critiques on the main stage, her mind would wander and she would end up thinking of other things ... sometimes involving her boyfriend's penis.
- Be Yourself: Claims this was what she hoped to achieve with her drag makeover, that despite her partner being such a brick of a man that he should at least feel sexy and comfortable showing skin even if he doesn't look like a woman ... the judges don't buy it though, and she gets eliminated for it.
- Can't Take Criticism: Accused of such on the mainstage, when the judges said although Carmen always looked flawless walking down the runway, during the critiques she looked like she couldn't give a shit any longer and seemed to be ignoring their feedback.
- Celebrity Lie: Early in the competition, she liked to claim that she was good friends with Jennifer Lopez ... although later on she changed her story saying she didn't know her all that well, leading the rest of the queens to accuse her of lying before, and in fact, was probably still lying that she knew Jennifer Lopez at all.
- Cloudcuckoolander: A minor case. Sometimes she will be just mesmerized by the flashes of the spotlight or the reverberation of her voice on a microphone. Most of her screen time while in drag she just have this blank smile.
- Gasshole: Is accused of letting rip at least three times during the series — to the point where the other queens question whether her tight corset is making her "fart so much".
- Improbable Hairstyle: Her ringed hairstyle for the futuristic runway made it nearly impossible to move her head or neck, which was criticized by the judges.
- In-Series Nickname: "Heather", as part of the Heathers clique along with Delta Work, Manila Luzon, and Raja. The group was named after the movie of the same name.
- It's All About Me: This actually played a part in getting her eliminated during the "Jocks in Frocks" challenge, where the judges noted that Carmen did very little to craft a more feminine silhouette for her jock and instead focused on her own look, which the judges thought was throwing her partner under the bus.
- Joisey: Despite being a Jersey girl, Carmen claimed to avert this trope, although some of the judges and other queens would still say her Joisey roots would show from time to time.
- Ms. Fanservice: In her own words, "Carmen is nudity and sex."
- My Greatest Second Chance: In a Drag Race first, she was brought back by the judges who felt she was eliminated too soon ... subverted, however, since she was once again eliminated the same episode she was brought back.
- Rhetorical Request Blunder: When she's eliminated by Shangela she says she only regrets that someone better hadn't sent her home ... when she's brought back into the competition she instead gets sent home by her good friend, Raja.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: In many of her outfits, she would only wear pasties on her chest in order to show off her nude back.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: As Michelle Visage tried to tell her, "Stop relying on that body!"
- Stripperiffic: Practically her signature style, although she did try to change it up now and again, this always seemed to be her stand-by.
- Too Much Information: Delivered one that made the other queens flinch, when complaining about how she has to shave her ass just like every other drag queen.
Yara Sofia (4th + Miss Congeniality)
Age: 26
From: Manatí, Puerto Rico
"Echa pa'lante!"
- Anime Hair: Usually her signature style with mad, multi-colored coils of hair sculpted in some crazy way.
- Catchphrase: "Echa pa lante!" which means "Keep moving forward!"
- Cloudcuckoolander: Her personality was once likened to an alien petting zoo.
- The Fashionista: Her drag style was constantly referred to as edgy and high fashion, and at one point Yara even says she wants to use the prize money to come to America to become the next Bob Mackie.
- Flag Bikini: As part of her patriotic drag, she wore a one-piece bikini with a Puerto Rican flag design.
- Gem-Encrusted: Loved to accent her face in rhinestones and other sparkly elements.
- The Gimmick: Played with when Delta asks her if she thinks the judges will grow tired of her accent shtick. Yara flatly replies that it's not a shtick, it's her real accent, and she's just using it to her advantage instead of as a hindrance.
- Heroic BSoD: The stress of the competition finally caught up with her in the penultimate lip-sync of the season when she collapsed to the floor in tears, unable to continue.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: She kept adding more and more coins and dollar bills to her money dress, even when criticized by the other girls. The judges thought it made her look too bulky and even during her final lip synch she strips it off in frustration.
- Ms. Fanservice: Although not to the same extent as Carmen, Yara was no stranger to showing off her svelte body on the runway.
- Nice Girl: Season three's Miss Congeniality.
- Perky Goth: Her stylings veer into Cyber Goth territory on occasion.
- The Resenter: Near the end of the competition she started showing deep resentment towards Raja and Manila, whom she felt were receiving unfairly positive treatment by RuPaul and the judges.
- The Unintelligible: Occasionally, but Yara used it as a joke so it wound up not being a liability.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Her impersonation of Amy Winehouse for the Snatch Game was amusingly mad, but her attempt at Amy's north London accent was disastrous.
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Or, as Chad put it during All Stars, "stupid like a fox".
Alexis Mateo (3rd)
Age: 30
From: St. Petersburg, Florida
"I'm a fucking drag queeeeeeeen! Ha ha ha! BAM!"
- 10-Minute Retirement: Nearly quits from the stress of the competition during the money ball challenge, even walking out of the work room shortly. She does eventually return to complete the challenge.
- Big-Breast Pride: Much like India, Alexis made frequent use of her breast plate, which she stated helped her achieve a level of success as a female illusionist that she wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
Alexis: "I love my titties and I work it out all the time. BAM!"
- Boob-Based Gag: Alexis's schtick during the stand-up comedy challenge, playing a very stereotypical Latina stripper complete with a ridiculously oversized set of plush breasts with pasties.
- Catchphrase: "BAM!" and sometimes "BAM BITCHES!"
- Distracted by the Sexy: By Carmen and Raja during their lip sync.
Alexis: "This is just soft porn! ...It's kinda hot."
- Even the Girls Want Her: Amber Rose expresses her attraction to Alexis's flirtatious rendition of a butch and pregnant Alicia Keys.
- Fighting Your Friend: She was forced to lip sync against Stacy, Shangela, and Yara, all of whom she considered her friends in the competition. Alexis was victorious each time.
- Friendly Rivalry: During the money ball challenge, she admitted to Ru that she viewed Yara as her biggest competition, since she possessed many qualities she admired in a drag queen like her mind for high fashion and over-the-top personality.
- Gender-Blender Name: She uses her real name in drag.
- Good-Looking Privates: For the patriotic challenge, her runway outfit was her former lover's army dress blues, altered to Show Some Leg.
- I Am Not Pretty: Out of drag, she has a very low self-image and does not think of herself as sexy or desirable.
- The Lost Lenore: Had a lover who joined the military, and she has not heard from him in over two years. She has already come to terms with the fact that she will never see him again.
- Odd Friendship: With Shangela, almost instantly. Both frequently spent time together during "Untucked" spilling the tea on other contestants.
- Tragic Keepsake: One of the outfits she wears uses the jacket her love left behind.
- You Are Fat: Called out as such while in drag due to her love of her large breast plate and enormous hip and ass pads. Michelle Visage questions her directly on why she would willingly choose to look 30 pounds heavier than she actually is when she already has a smoking body without the excessive padding.
Manila Luzon (2nd)
Age: 28
From: New York City, New York
"I don't want you to think I'm attacking you, but I'm attacking you, because This Is a Competition and I'm here to win."
- Asian Speekee Engrish: She gets called out by some of the other queens on her reliance on this and other offensive Asian stereotypes for comedy. Mostly this is because she's Filipina and the stereotypes she's using are a mishmash of other cultures.
- Beta Bitch: As the 2nd in command of the Heathers clique.
- Genki Girl: Her facial expressions are more than a touch anime-esque.
- In-Series Nickname: "Heather", as part of the Heathers clique along with Delta Work, Carmen Carrera, and Raja. The group was named after the movie of the same name.
- Keet: A cheerful, upbeat queen, who can verge on the annoying with her exuberance.
- Large Ham: When she has to perform in a challenge, you can expect her to be giving everything she has for a ham-tastic performance. Best exemplified in her battle against Delta.
- Official Couple: With Season 2's Sahara Davenport, before Sahara's death.
- Self-Deprecation: Is fully aware of how annoying she can be, and says for as bad as it is for everyone else, it's even worse for her since she's stuck with herself!
- Throw the Dog a Bone: When she won the mini-challenge that allowed her to select which contestant could next pick the music genre they wanted for the main challenge, she opted to go down the line up in standing order, rather than allow her fellow 'Heathers' to select first. There is no strategy that would benefit her for doing this, so she was clearly just trying to be nice.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Raja.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Had said one the reasons she was trying so hard on the show was because she hoped to gain the approval of her father. During the reunion she said her father had finally accepted that she is a drag queen, but still calls what she does "weird".
Raja (winner)
Age: 36
From: Los Angeles, California
"We're drag queens, we're meant to be pioneers. So why not wear a funny little cyclops hat?"
- Affectionate Parody: Her Snatch Game version of Tyra Banks, since she knows her in real life. Ru expresses some worry in the workroom that this might cause Raja to hold back out of fear of offending the real Tyra but in the actual game this doesn't wind up being a hindrance.
- Alpha Bitch: As the leader of the season's cool girls "Heathers" clique.
- Ambiguous Gender: Her drag style was referred to as "genderfuck" more than a few times.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Carmen Elektra's reaction to Raja's punk performance.
- The Fashionista: The outfits she designed were almost all brilliantly conceived, with a very editorial quality that would not look out of place in a Vogue fashion plate. Amongst her influences are top British designers Vivienne Westwood and the late Alexander McQueen.
- Fighting Your Friend: Knocked out her Heathers teammate Carmen, giving her a kiss goodbye during their lip sync.
- Gender-Blender Name: "Raja" is Sanskrit for "king."
- I Can't Dance: Claimed outright, that she is a runway girl, not a dancer.
- In-Series Nickname: "Heather", as part of the Heathers clique along with Delta Work, Carmen Carrera, and Manila Luzon. The group was named after the movie of the same name.
- Leg Focus: As a fashion queen, she admits she's not much of a dancer, so when she does have to lip-sync, she makes sure that full attention is given to her long, bronzed pins and modelling strut.
- The Rival: With Shangela, during the reunion she flat out admits that she considered Shangela her nemesis. Ironically before the show Raja was essentially Shangela's drag mother.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: She invoked this by sorting the queens into two categories, "Heathers" and "Boogers". Who was considered good enough to be a Heather seemed to be up to her.
- Statuesque Stunner: At 6'3, she's one of the tallest contestants in the show's history.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Raja came in with a lot of self-importance (even by drag queen standards), but by the end of the season, it was readily apparent that she very much cared about the other queens, and sealed it with her act of kindness towards Stacy Layne Matthews in the reunion.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Manila Luzon.
- Vocal Dissonance: Has a very deep voice that she did little to mask while in drag.
