Zorn is a barbarian warrior from the magical South Pacific island of Zephyria, a violent land of dark sorcery and Mad Science where everyone and everything is animated. In the series' Backstory, he married Edie, shared adventures with her in Zephyria, fathered Alan, then was divorced by Edie. Now, he's come to Orange County to reconnect with his family, taking a sales job with Sanitation Solutions in the process. However, as hard as he tries to fit in with ordinary humans, his past keeps catching up with him — and his jerkish tendencies just make things worse.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Zorn is this to his son Alan, by virtue of being a half-naked, sword-carrying barbarian in suburbia.
- Barbarian Hero: What Zorn was in Zephyria.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Despite being more human-looking than other Zephyrians, he has two penises.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Zorn can summon wristblades from his bracelets.
- Expy: Zorn is basically a parody of He-Man.
- Fish out of Water: Zorn is a Barbarian Hero attempting to cope with life as an office worker on Earth.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: A documentary about Zephyria paints him as a bloodthirsty terrorist.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even ignoring the whole "bloodthirsty barbarian" thing, Zorn is often self-centered, insensitive and manipulative. Still, he tries his best to forge a relationship with Alan, as well as get along with Edie and Craig, and he saves Headbutt Man from his own self-destructive tendencies.
- Super-Speed: Breezes through the Turkey Trot to this effect while the participants barely just started.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Zorn, a 7' tall barbarian who looks like he stepped out of Toontown, barely fazes the people in Orange County.
- Violence Really Is the Answer: Zorn brought this mindset with him from Zephyria, where casual brutality is a way of life. He's still learning that in Orange County, attacking people who steal hot sauce from the break room is frowned upon.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Zorn goes almost everywhere sans shirt. His boss does manage to get him to wear a shirt and tie at work, but pants are still off the menu.
Zorn's ex and Alan's mom, who got tired of Zorn's violence and selfishness and turned to Craig as a result. However, her time with Zorn changed her forever, and she's picked up a few tricks that your typical Orange County divorcee would never know...
- Amicable Exes: Helps Zorn out when he gets back to Orange County, including giving herself time to help him on connecting to Alan as his father.
- Mama Bear: Edie when she finds out Alan's been bullied at school.
- Reformed Bully: Edie was a bully in her youth.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Her relationship with her mother is this ever since she dated Zorn.
Alangulon (he prefers "Alan"), the teenaged son of Zorn and Edie, is literally half-human, half-Zephyrian — he's animated from the waist down. Alan is embarrassed by his father's antics, which threaten his efforts to be accepted at school and find a girlfriend — at least until his unique anatomy gets him a spot on the football team.
- Blown Across the Room: Alan unintentionally kicks his bully across the locker room with his toon legs. He later causes an even worse injury to a rival football player.
- Full-Name Basis: Zorn's the only one who ever uses his Zephyrian name.
- I Am Not My Father: Alan mentally may not be like Zorn, but when his legs are shown, they're drawn like his old man's.
- I Am X, Son of Y: A number of characters call him Son of Zorn, and if his football jersey is anything to go by, Son of Zorn is his actual surname.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Zig-Zagged. Alan begins with this attitude, then abandons it when his Zephyrian legs make him a popular football star, then returns to it when his fame turns him into a Jerkass, which endangers his relationship with Layla.
Craig, Edie's fiancee, is a psychology professor at an online college. He's everything Zorn is not: sensitive, rational, empathetic, and even-tempered (which is why Edie chose him). However, he has demons of his own, and he's out of his league when he tries using reason to cope with the insanity that Zorn brings into his life.
- Absurd Phobia: In "The War on Grafelnik", he's forced to reveal that he's afraid of Santa Claus. According to Craig, as a child he witnessed his father, dressed as Santa to entertain his son, having caught his ex-wife being with another man and proceed to beat the living crap out of the guy. Also, he is afraid of skateboards due to the fact his father was using one to beat up his ex-wife's lover.
- Black and Nerdy
- Nice Guy: Craig is friendly with everyone, including Zorn when they first shake hands.
- Training from Hell: One of the training regiments done to Craig includes carrying Zorn from his back while slowly walking up the stairs.
Linda is Zorn's boss at Sanitation Solutions, although their relationship gets off to a bad start: she's exasperated by his inability to fit in, while he assumes Linda is a man because he can't wrap his head around the idea of a female "superior". However, they gradually warm up to each other—so much so that they're engaged by the end of the first season.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Wants to help Zorn out in adjusting to the workplace, but she has her limits.
