Dale Doback and Brennan Huff
- Abusive Offspring: Both of them are quite demanding, disrespectful, and ungrateful towards their parents. At one point, Brennan considers sending his mom to a nursing home.
- All Take and No Give: They always expect their parents to give them whatever they want, no matter what. That said, they never do anything to contribute or even provide for the household themselves.
- Bad Liar: Brennan is proven to be this after he breaks Dale's drumstick out of spite and Dale confronts him about the drumstick having a chip in it with Brennan just repeatedly denying it or that he was just watching COPS (1989) instead. Dale points out it's still noon and "Cops doesn't start till 4".
- Basement-Dweller: Not only are they both over 40 and still live with their parents, but they both refuse to find jobs, and at home, all they do is watch TV, play video games or the drums, read magazines, and eat junk food.
- Berserk Button: Dale's is when his drum set gets played with by someone else, let alone with their testicles.
- Big Eater: Dale appears to be this. He's frequently seen eating or asking for food.
- Big "WHAT?!": Their reaction to their TV privileges getting taken away.Robert: You two guys leave me no choice. No television for a week.
Dale and Brennan: WHAT?! - Break the Cutie: After getting mauled by the schoolchildren. Played for Laughs, of course.Dale: You know in that one scene, in The Wizard of Oz, when the Flying Monkeys pull apart the scarecrow? That's what it was like!
- Brutal Honesty: This is how they ruined most of the interviews Robert set them up for. When asked the question of what's their biggest weakness, instead of listing merely personality flaws such as impatience, overconfidence, or preferring to work alone (little white lies wouldn't hurt), they straight-up tell the interviewers they are incompetent, lazy slackers with a weakness for sweets.
- Childish Older Sibling: Played with. On the one hand, they are lazy and unemployed, while Derek is independent and hard-working. On the other hand, Derek still behaves like a middle school bully, making him almost as immature as they are.
- Does Not Like Spam: Brennan throws a tantrum that all he was given to eat at Nancy and Robert's wedding was salmon, which he despises and said it four times he didn't want any.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even they think Robert pretending to be a dinosaur at 17 years old is strange.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish Siblings to Derek's Responsible Sibling.
- Gaslighting: Brennan tries this on Dale as he denies ever touching Dale's drum set (and damaging a drumstick).Brennan: You fucking crazy, man? You sound insane, you realize that? You should be medicated!
- Hypocritical Humor:
- "YOU'RE WAKING THE NEIGHBORS, SHUT UP!"
- During the job interviews, they try judging one of the interviewers on what his income is when theirs is zero, and with another, they call her stupid, making her retort that they are wearing tuxedos to a toilet-cleaning job interview.
- Insistent Terminology: Brennan claims he was not fired from PetSmart but rather laid off.
- Jerkass: While neither of them is particularly heroic or even pleasant, Dale in particular comes off as a bully to Brennan initially. He brags about how hot his mom is and how he wants to "do" her (which he also said in front of his dad, understandably angering them both), then calls them both "hillbillies". He mocks Brennan's singing and stage fright; he even makes him cry at the first family dinner.
- Loser Protagonist: Both of them are this. They are manchildren who still live with their parents and have next to nothing going on for them.
- Manchild: The entire premise of the movie is how they have the maturity of preteens and still live with their parents, despite being middle-aged men.
- Minor Insult Meltdown: Both of them start bawling after Robert openly blames them for his and Nancy's separation.
- NEET: They are both lazy and never get serious about finding employment or housing until their parents finally have enough and kick them out.
- No Indoor Voice: Due to their immaturity and bad manners, they are quite prone to this. Special mention to when they lose their TV privileges and when they are denied a raise by Robert (due to them crashing his boat).
- Lethally Stupid: During their sleepwalking. They even tumbled Robert down the stairs.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: While both of them are incredibly immature, Brennan tends to be more emotional and prone to crying fits than the normally confident and uptight Dale.
- Sibling Rivalry: Towards each other at first. After Dale punches Brennan's douchebag of a brother, they become actual friends.
- Spoiled Brat: They are 40 year olds, yet they have the constant habit of throwing loud fits when not getting their way.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Both of them to their parents. Even after Robert buys him a pizza, Dale complains about not getting wings with it.
- Would Hurt a Child: In The Stinger, they attack the schoolchildren. Unlike most examples, the children deserved it.
Derek Huff
- Big Brother Bully: Inverted. He's the younger sibling who enjoys harassing Brennan.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Inverted. Derek sings with a tenor voice while bragging about how high his vocal chords can go.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: A Downplayed Responsible Sibling to Brennan and Dale's Foolish Siblings. He is an independently functioning adult unlike Brennan and Dale, but he harasses Brennan like a middle school bully.
- Heel–Face Turn: Becomes much less of a jerk once he witnesses Brennan's singing, thus remembering the good times he had with him during childhood.
- Jerkass: He's a smug asshole who likes to rub his success in everyone's faces.
- Manchild: Downplayed in that, while he's mostly a functioning, successful adult, he acts the same way a middle school bully would to his brother and step-brother.
