Degrassi/Characters/Grade 11 Class

Clare Edwards
Clare Edwards (Seasons 6- ) "Played by Aislinn Paul"

""A person can be good and mixed up all at the same time.""

Darcy's little sister who always felt pigeonholed into being the smart Edwards daughter. Clare is also very level-headed with a strong set of morals. She isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in, not even against the school principal. She meets KC Guthrie who slowly breaks her out of her shell and the two eventually start a relationship. In season 10, she gets a new look and even ditches the glasses. Her parents divorce, leaving Clare in the middle. Clare's whole ideal system is turned up-side down, and she becomes lost. During that period, she begins an intense relationship with Eli, a fellow writer. But after seeing Eli's dark side and controlling nature come out full force, she breaks it off with him. After the break up, she starts a relationship with childhood friend and step-brother Jake, which dissolves rather quickly. But after finally confronting her issues, she's doing better -- and even considering rekindling with Eli.


 * A Friend in Need: Clare, after a few curious questions, is okay with Adam's secret. Then instantly moves to help him when he needs it. In a Lighter and Softer version she is the first to stand up and dance with Alli before the football game.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played with, she's not entirely fond of Eli's "Bad Boy" activities and wasn't exactly thrilled by KC's criminal past.
 * Ascended Extra: Introduced back in season 6 as Darcy's little sister in two episodes. Later, appeared once in season 7. Now she's one of the most prominent characters and arguably the main character of Degrassi alongside Holly J.
 * Betty and Veronica: She's Betty to Jenna's Veronica and later to Imogen's Veronica.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: When together with Alli and Jenna, she's the redhead of the group.
 * Blue Eyes: Type 1.
 * Blue Oni: To Alli's Red. In fact, she plays this role to most of the people she usually interacts with. Besides Alli as the Red Oni to Clare's Blue, there's Eli, Darcy, Connor, and probably others.
 * Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Eli.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Drama Club
 * Fan Girl: Of Fortnight a series of Twilight in-show book series. And then Twilight itself, and Harry Potter if you follow her Twitter.
 * Even the Girls Want Her: Fiona complimented her eyes using the same line Eli did earlier in the season.
 * Faith Heel Turn: Briefly, as her parents divorce.
 * Flirty Stepsiblings: With Jake.
 * Freudian Trio: Clare plays The Spock while Eli and Adam switch the Kirk and McCoy hats.
 * The Glasses Gotta Go: Not only do they go, but on the first day back at school they get run over by Eli's hearse, and then Clare gladly drops them in a nearby garbage can while Alli practically cheers for her.
 * Heroes Want Redheads: Season 10 her hair comes off a bit redder then in previous seasons where she was a Brainy Brunette.
 * Hollywood Nerd
 * Hormone-Addled Teenager: Innocent When You Dream and Should've Said No.
 * I Just Want to Be Special: A lot of this in Season 9, as she laments her boring life. Then Season 10 came along...
 * The Ingenue
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Season 11 wasn't very kind to her, Clare ended up here for several chunks of it. Otherwise she's still a Wide-Eyed Idealist
 * Living Emotional Crutch: For Eli.
 * Meganekko: Until she gets laser eye surgery.
 * Morality Chain: For Alli. Less effective for Eli and Adam.
 * Naive Everygirl
 * Nature Adores a Virgin: Both on the show and in the fandom.
 * Oh Crap There Are Fanfics of Us: Under the moniker of MadamDegrassi, she writes fanfics, shipping she and Declan. This also is turned on her in a rather malicious, if veiled, manner by Eli. See Oh Crap.
 * Only Sane Man: At this point, she just might be the most sane person at Degrassi. (Let us count the people she has either directly or indirectly played this role to, shall we? We have, in no real order: Eli, The Shep, Connor, Fitz, Alli, KC, Jenna, Adam, Fiona, and her older sister, Darcy. And she's played this role to her parents too! The sanity, however, is subverted at one point when she's confronting Eli post-breakup, and Jake becomes the sane one of the duo.
 * Opposites Attract: With Eli.
 * Plucky Girl
 * Red Oni: To Jake's Blue.
 * Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: with Jenna in season 9. Mainly with Alli though.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: With Darcy.
 * The Snark Knight
 * Teen Genius, with some moments of Intelligence Equals Isolation
 * The Three Faces of Eve: When together with Alli and Jenna, she's the virgin of the group.
 * Took a Level in Jerkass: In Nowhere to Run she ignores Alli whenever she tries to talk about her problems, calling them “pedestrian”, then she refuses to forgive Alli for kissing Jake despite that fact that she wanted to kiss Eli.
 * Transfer Student Uniforms: She wore her old school uniform to Degrassi in order to deflect attention and focus on her studies.
 * Tsundere: Of the Type B Deredere type... unless she develops romantic feelings, and her Tsun shows. Happened with K.C. throughout Season 8, Eli off and on through The Boiling Point, and Jake during Now or Never (but less so than with Eli or K.C.).
 * Unrequited Love Switcheroo: She just can't believe Eli could be over her that easy.
 * UST: With KC at first, then Eli, then Jake. But especially Eli.
 * We Used to Be Friends: In season 11 part 2 with Alli.
 * What Beautiful Eyes!
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: For the better part of her run on the show.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: There's a reason she's in the honors program.

Alli Bhandari
Alliah "Alli" Bhandari (Seasons 8- ) "Played by Melinda Shankar"

"“When I'm around boys, I do dumb things. I make mistakes...”"

Alli is younger sister to Sav, and isn't about to stay in his shadow. Alli is a fun girl who rebukes her Muslim traditions in regards to how women should dress and act. As soon as she gets to school, she changes into her more fashionable outfits. She strives to attain popularity but unfortunately with her genius intellect, comes a lack of common sense and people skills. She lands herself in a mini-school scandal regarding her boiler room activities in season 10 and this culminates into her parents finding out about her double life. She voluntarily transfers out of Degrassi to appease her parents but due to all the pressure and disappointment, she ends up running away from home. She does eventually return and is now trying to change for the better along with her family and get more involved in school activities.


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * Berserk Button: Do NOT greet her by saying "Hey, you're Sav's little sister!" or use "Sav's little sister" as a nickname for her. It inevitably leads her to impulsive actions.
 * Big Eater: As of lately, downing two pounds of chicken wings and having unusual taste in food.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: When together with Clare and Jenna, she's the brunette of the group.
 * Combat Pragmatist: She sure as hell as gave Bianca a run for her money in the tenth season opener; when Bianca punches Alli in the face, Alli tosses a stack of papers in Bianca's face to disorient her before tossing her into a couple of desks. When Bianca throws Alli over the teacher's desk, Alli hops back up and tosses a trashcan at her.
 * Cool Loser
 * Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally gets in a couple of good quips.
 * Ditzy Genius: Despite her intellect, she constantly gets into avoidable situations. Drew said it best: "For a genius, you're not very smart."
 * Expy: Of Manny, right down to being the Asian best friend of the arguable main character.
 * Before the uniforms came in, she would change from the parent-approved clothes she'd left the house in into something more revealing before class, just as Manny (and Stephanie Kaye) had done before her.
 * The Fashionista
 * Follow in My Footsteps: She constantly resists her family's traditions in regards to Muslim dress and dating.
 * Hormone-Addled Teenager
 * I Just Want to Be Special
 * Love Martyr
 * Near-Rape Experience
 * Never My Fault: Her character quote displays this. She blames boys for the mistakes she makes instead of owning up to her immaturity and rash decisions. However, when it really isn't her fault, nobody believes her except for Sav anyways.
 * Overprotective Dad
 * Put on a Bus: Briefly in season 10 while Melinda Shankar films How to Be Indie.
 * Red Oni: to Clare's Blue.
 * The Runaway: During the In Too Deep storylines of season 10, she runs away from home because she feels like no matter what she does to improve herself, her parents and brother will never be happy.
 * Secret Identity: She changes from conservative clothing to fashionable clothes when she arrives at school. As had Manny and Stephanie Kaye before her.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Brash and confrontational compared to Sav's shyness and mellowness.
 * Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy
 * Teen Genius
 * Their First Time: Didn't go so well. She seeks out bad boy Johnny DiMarco and she actually had sex with him - with pretty awkward results.
 * The Three Faces of Eve: When together with Clare and Jenna, she's the seductress of the group.
 * We Used to Be Friends: In season 11 part 2 with Clare.

KC Guthrie
KC Guthrie (Seasons 8- ) "Played by Sam Earle"

"“You have this idea of me, that I'm a 'good guy.' I liked it...”"

KC Guthrie is smart kid who desperately wants to be a good guy and been seen as one. His father is in jail, and he is a former juvenile delinquent. He also lives in a group home with other kids. He instantly takes a liking to Clare, but new girl Jenna Middleton grabbed his attention. In season 10, he joins the football team and everything seems to be working out for him...until his mother comes back into his life. Despite her changing her life for the better, KC is still wary of her until she proves herself. He is also the father of Jenna's baby boy Tyson, for which he is furious with her for not telling him about the pregnancy. After Tyson is born, KC isn't the best father and he even cheats on Jenna with Marisol. Despite his lack of involvement, he does love Tyson and wants to be his father. But alas, they end up giving him up for adoption.


 * Abusive Parents: His father seems abusive from what KC has talked about. His mother was a former drug addict who was neglectful and abusive.
 * Angst
 * The Atoner
 * Bishonen: Boycott the Caf has had some fun with this, and with Sam Earle's resemblance to a certain other teenage Canadian working in the entertainment industry.
 * Dark and Troubled Past
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!
 * Give Him a Normal Life: The rationale for letting Tyson be adopted.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Why he dumped Jenna when he found out she was pregnant.
 * Large Ham: Sam Earle has a tendency to deliver some of his lines in a very hammy, over-the-top manner. "You told me... TO PLAY BASKETBALL!"
 * Loser Son of Loser Dad: As he was perceived when growing up.
 * Near-Rape Experience: His basketball coach got him drunk, watched porn and masturbated in front of him, and tried to hook with KC up with a hooker. It's not child molestation, but it's definitely sexual exploitation of a minor.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname|Only Known by Initials: In-series he's just known as KC. Even his mom calls him KC. Fanon for a while was that it stood for Kirk Cameron, or maybe Kurt. It's now officially Kirk Cameron Guthrie; who knows when/if that'll show up in the show.
 * Parental Abandonment: By his parents and later, he abandons Jenna and his unborn child briefly in season 10.
 * Teen Genius
 * Troubled but Cute
 * Turn Out Like His Father: His biggest fear, although he slips sometimes into his father's bad habits.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Just when we thought he was getting better, he dumps Clare for Jenna. Then he gets better again. Then he abandoned Jenna and his unborn child.) It Gets Worse when Tyson is born and he cheats on Jenna with Marisol and leaves her with the brunt of raising Tyson.

Connor De Laurier
Connor DeLaurier (Seasons 8- ) "Played by A.J. Saudin"

"“To know that it's not my fault that I'm the way that I am and that they're other people just like me. I'm just not some weirdo anymore.”"

Connor is boarding with Mr. Simpson in order to attend Degrassi's gifted program. He is very intelligent, but as everyone soon noticed, he's a very odd child. He constantly talks about things that don't interest people and has a knack for hyper-focusing on one subject. It is soon revealed Connor has Asperger's Syndrome. While he has his friends by his side, he also has to deal with the many kids at Degrassi that don't get him.


 * Beware the Nice Ones: Has shown he can be vindictive if you really cross him, like when he put a snake in Johnny's tent and setting up Mo with an imaginary online date.
 * Awesomeness By Analysis: Not just with numbers, but with a lot of hypothetical situations.
 * Black and Nerdy
 * Brutal Honesty
 * Creature of Habit
 * Comic Trio: with Dave and Wesley, the Only Sane Man.
 * Covert Pervert: Did anyone really think that he would be a panty snatcher?
 * Good with Numbers
 * Hollywood Nerd
 * Insufferable Genius
 * Limited Wardrobe: Pre-uniform he would wear identical T-shirts all the time, since choosing clothes was a struggle for him. Complete with one of the few non-comedic Closet Gag scenes.
 * No Social Skills
 * Put on a Bus: In season 11 after he's caught stealing girls' underwear.
 * The Rainman
 * Teen Genius
 * Those Two Guys: With Wesley.

Jenna Middleton
Jenna Middleton (Seasons 9- ) "Played by Jessica Tyler"

""At my old school, I was such a boyfriend-stealer. Especially with bad-boy types. They're totally my weakness." "

Jenna is impossibly perky and very friendly...so much so, she doesn't seem to mind stepping over some people in order to make nice. She undermines Clare's relationship with KC and soon KC is charmed by her perky ways and he breaks up with Clare to be with Jenna. She is a talented musician and she's picked to be a contestant in the reality show "The Next Teen Star" but there was a complication that will interfere with her plans. Unfortunately, she is voted off the show and now has to deal with the reality of being a teenage mother. She and KC don't do so well raising Tyson and Jenna crumbles under the weight of motherhood. They both end up giving Tyson up for adoption.


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * Betty and Veronica: She's Veronica.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first. She takes KC out from Clare's nose with a smile on her face the whole thing.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: When together with Alli and Clare, she's the blonde of the group.
 * Broken Bird | Break the Cutie: Gradually after giving birth to Tyson, but especially after giving him up for adoption.
 * The Cast Showoff: Jessica Tyler is a songwriter and guitarist, and that element was worked in with her character. In fact, Jessica Tyler's music video was shown in episode as Jenna's work.
 * The Cheerleader
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: In season 9 as KC becomes Wide Receiver for the football team.
 * The Cutie: At first, she was the The Fake Cutie, until she's broken and becomes this trope.
 * Everyone Loves Blondes: Of the flirtatious variety.
 * Genki Girl
 * Give Him a Normal Life: The rationale for letting Tyson be adopted.
 * Idol Singer
 * Missing Mom
 * New Transfer Student
 * Potty Failure: After a bad incident with diet pills.
 * Prom Baby: Well, not prom... but her water does break at a school dance.
 * Retcon/Characterization Marches On: Her family history. Her mom was in Nashville, and now she's dead. She used to have a lot of brothers, now she only has one. Her dad was away working for the family, but now he's a deadbeat.
 * Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: with Clare in season 9.
 * Teen Pregnancy
 * The Three Faces of Eve: When together with Alli and Clare, she's the mother of the group (most fitting that she does have a baby now).
 * Weight Woe: Took diet pills early in her pregnancy when she thought she was just gaining weight.

Dave Turner
David "Dave" Turner (Seasons 9- ) "Played by Jahmil French"

""I'm a loser...why fight it?""

Chantay's cousin who desperately wants to rule Degrassi and become Big Man on Campus. He stood up to the biggest bully at Degrassi, joined the basketball team, and scored (or at least thought he scored) Jenna, a cheerleader. Unfortunately, most students at Degrassi don't feel the same way toward him, he's often seen as monumentally unpopular despite his best efforts. His quest for popularity has conflicted with him being a good friend, especially to Connor and Wesley. He even gets into it with Adam after unleashing a slur against him. However, he does usually learn his lesson and is essentially a good guy.


 * Adorkable
 * Black and Nerdy
 * Class Representative
 * Comic Trio: with Wesley and Connor, the Schemer.
 * Cool Loser
 * Hollywood Tone Deaf
 * Just Friends: with Alli for seasons 9-10, before their Relationship Upgrade.
 * Kick the Dog | Pet the Dog: Much like Drew, he slides between these two, but he's mainly a dog petter. His Kick the Dog moments can get nasty though.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: After he hooks up with a girl named Jacinta (during his break with Alli), Jacinta becomes obsessed with him and won't stop texting him. He ignores her and when she angrily confronts him in person at Degrassi, he drives her to the train station to go back home and she manically grabs his phone, sends Alli a break-up text and she runs out into the street and gets hit by a car. He blames himself for being cruel to her.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Teacher's Pet
 * Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: With Sadie.
 * Took a Level in Jerkass: In season 9, he was a nice wannabe Big Man on Campus and in season 10, this has turned him into a Grumpy Bear who occasionally puts down his own friends, and even ditching them for more popular groups. In season 11, he goes on a transphobic tirade against Adam.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However, he usually does learn his lesson in the end.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Had sex with Jacinta while on a relationship break with Alli.

Adam Torres
Adam Torres (Season 10- ) "Played by Jordan Todosey"

"“I'm a guy, like 100% dude. But I was born in a girl's body.”"

Adam is Drew's step-brother. He was born as a girl named Grace nicknamed "Gracie", but he is transgender. He is trying to fit in at Degrassi, but occasionally slips. He is later found out to be biologically female by Bianca and in a fit of confusion and rejection, slips back into the Gracie persona before deciding to be himself. He is friends with Clare and Eli and has a snarky, spunky personality. But his transgender status makes him naive about trusting others and fitting in. Later in season 10, he gets a crush on Fiona, and pursues a relationship with her, only to halt the affair after her drinking gets to be out of control.


 * Adorkable
 * A Friend in Need
 * Attractive Bent Gender: Jordan Todosey can pull off a Bishounen type of guy pretty well; Adam has had three girls interested in his looks, and Tristan, a gay male.
 * Berserk Button: He is not a GIRL!
 * Dropped A Bridget On Her: On Bianca, and she wasn't very tactful or sensitive about it.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Determinator
 * Do Not Call Me Paul: It's Adam, not Gracie.
 * Drama Club
 * First Law of Gender Bending: Subverted. After taking on his birth identity ("Gracie") once, he gets together with Eli and Clare to burn all his "girl" clothes and things. Only Word of God could confirm it, but the character being FtM may well be a deliberate subversion in itself.
 * Freudian Trio: Adam takes a very reserved McCoy with Eli and Clare. Except in Still Fighting It where Adam had to pick between Eli's solution to stand, and Clare's solution to let it go.
 * Gender Blender Name: Jordan Todosey is a girl. Just to be clear. The character however took a completely different name rather than one similar to Grace.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Since when is Lizzie a guy?
 * Meaningful Name: Adam. As in Adam from the Bible? The first man?
 * Mistaken for Gay: By Tori.
 * Morality Pet: To Drew. Remove Drew's interactions with Adam and he looks a lot more of a Jerkass.
 * Mama Bear: His mom, while still trying to come to terms with Adam's transgenderism, is fiercely protective of him. However, she isn't as controlling over him as she is Drew, possibly because she cannot do a thing to control Adam's transgenderism.
 * New Transfer Student
 * Nice Guy
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Don't call him a girl, EVER.
 * Only Sane Man: Is the replacement one for Eli after he and Clare end things. For instance, he immediately notices Imogen's craziness, and refuses to take Eli's pills from him when asked.
 * Pass Fail: At first. He is gradually getting his mannerisms right and he's actually mistaken for a boy by Tristan.
 * Self -Harm: Adam hates being a girl so much that when he's forced back into his Gracie persona he starts burning himself.
 * Suppressed Mammaries: At one point he is shown using an Ace bandage to bind. Later on, he gets a chest-compression vest with an immediately noticeable effect.
 * Teen Genius
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Poutine. Only mentioned in the show once, but he's talked about it repeatedly on Twitter.
 * Transsexualism: Female to Male. He is Degrassi's first transgender character, and indeed the first fictional transgender teen in the history of scripted television.
 * Unlucky Everydude
 * What Could Have Been: Was originally supposed to be an androgynous lesbian named Zoe. Only Word of God can confirm, but sources can be read as saying Adam was conceived as he now is from the start and girls were asked to audition for "Zoe" instead, to keep plans for a transgender character secret.
 * Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Mrs. Torres tries very hard to convince Adam that being Gracie is "easier for everyone." He gives it up when they both realize how much pain being Gracie causes him.)

Wesley Betenkamp
Wesley Betenkamp (Season 9-11) "Played by Spencer Van Wyck"

"“Wesley, you're the type of guy that girls love. You're sweet, nice, and yourself.”"

Wesley is a friend to both Connor and Dave and very nerdy. He is in a band with Dave and Connor called The Three Tenners. Despite the group's unpopularity, he is completely optimistic about high school and a good friend. He is awkward around the ladies, but he is determined to get one and finally finds one in Hannah.


 * Adorkable
 * All Love Is Unrequited: His feelings for Anya.
 * Ambiguously Jewish: His Boycott the Caf nickname was "Jewfro" for a while, but they seem to have gone back to "White Connor", apparently so as not to break up the set.
 * Comic Trio: With Dave and Connor.
 * Dogged Nice Guy
 * Extroverted Nerd
 * Hollywood Nerd
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He sets Anya up with Dr. Chris, despite his own feelings for her.
 * Jizzed in My Pants: After said dream about Anya.
 * Long Bus Trip: In the second half of season 11.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Raging Stiffie: In Halo, on his date with Anya.
 * Those Two Guys: With Connor.
 * Unlucky Everydude

Hannah Belmont
Hannah Belmont (Season 10- ) "Played by Samii Folliott"

Hannah is introduced in season 10. She has an interest in science, and she instantly is attracted to Wesley's Adorkable-ness. She becomes his girlfriend in season 10.


 * Heroes Want Redheads
 * Huge Schoolgirl
 * Shallow Love Interest

Liam Berish
Liam Berish (Season 11- ) "Played by Tyler Stentiford"

""You watch him that way I watch rock documentaries.""

Liam is introduced in season 11 as Clare tries to use him to make Jake jealous. He is very interested in music, as he constantly reminds the audience of this fact. He's also a good looking guy, who'll have no problems getting the ladies.


 * Da Editor: Apparently is the head of the Degrassi Daily when Katie's away.
 * Informed Attribute: Guess what? Liam likes music. A lot. He has headphones around his neck, he loves music so much.
 * Name's the Same: Imogen was originally named Imogen Berish. They changed the last name when they cast an Italian actress and the name Berish got passed down to Liam.
 * Nice Guy
 * Unknown Rival: To Wesley in Drop It Like It's Hot.

Luke Baker
Luke Baker (Season 12- ) "Played by Craig Arnold"

Luke Baker is the twin brother of Becky and also a part of the Ice Hounds junior pro hockey team.


 * Half-Identical Twins
 * Jerk Jock

Becky Baker
Becky Baker (Season 12- ) "Played by Sarah Fisher"

Becky is the twin sister of Luke, and she is also in Degrassi's drama club. She and Eli clash when the both of them vie for head playwright at Degrassi.


 * Expy - Already seems very Darcy-ish.
 * Drama Club
 * Half-Identical Twins
 * Holier Than Thou