American Horror Story/Characters

Dr Benjamin ‘Ben’ Harmon
"Played By: Dylan McDermott

"The more you fear something, the more power you give it.""


 * Agent Scully
 * Character Development: His journey from being fairly self-involved, to seeing 'things how they really are'.
 * Chick Magnet
 * Dark and Troubled Past
 * Distracted By the Sexy
 * It's All About Me: Prior to his character development.
 * Jerkass
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold as well as he seem to really care for his family.
 * Papa Wolf
 * Supernatural Proof Father
 * Took a Level In Badass
 * Papa Wolf
 * Supernatural Proof Father
 * Took a Level In Badass

Vivien Harmon
"Played By: Connie Britton

"The thing is when you fall in love, it’s kind of like you go crazy. Before you know it the whole world looks different, and you’ll do anything for the other person.""


 * Butt Monkey: A cheating husband? A miscarriage? A home invasion? ?  ? Yep, it's all happened to our Viv.
 * Hey It's That Guy: Hey, it's Tami Taylor!
 * Hot Mom
 * Mama Bear
 * Only Sane Man:
 * Only Sane Man:

Violet Harmon
"Played By: Taissa Farmiga

"The darkness. It has me.""


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * Bratty Teenage Daughter: She has her moments.
 * Driven to Madness: And eventually
 * Emo Teen
 * Genre Savvy
 * Nightmare Fetishist
 * Strange Girl: She certainly loves the darker side of things.
 * Weirdness Magnet: Even though every character encounters the supernatural, Violet seems to experience the strangest of them, particularly Tate's love for her and being bombarded with a flurry of ghosts.
 * Weirdness Magnet: Even though every character encounters the supernatural, Violet seems to experience the strangest of them, particularly Tate's love for her and being bombarded with a flurry of ghosts.

Tate Langdon
"Played By: Evan Peters

"Hi, I'm Tate. I'm dead. Want to hook up?""


 * Axe Crazy
 * Bi the Way: Agrees with Violet that gay porn is hot, though he says it somewhat facetiously. He also offered to have sex with Patrick, although this was to get his wedding ring. Whether or not he is actually bisexual is unknown.
 * Blonde Guys Are Evil:
 * He is in present time but however with the  and   in the past this trope certainly applies.
 * Dawson Casting: Tate is 17 years old, Evan Peters was 24 when he played him.
 * Mr. Fanservice: You need not look far for a Tate fangirl when hitting a fan blog.
 * Freudian Excuse: For a lot of things. YMMV on how much they actually matter.
 * Haunted House Historian
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Even if it means killing any guy Violet takes even a remote liking to.
 * Jerkass:
 * Love At First Sight: Towards Violet.
 * Mommy Issues: Tate describes himself as having these.
 * Nightmare Fetishist
 * Love Redeems: His love for Violet is something he has never felt before, which is weird at the beginning he was acting very much as a sociopath. Of course, it’s arguable as to whether his love is genuine.
 * He says he does, but it's possible he doesn't. See Mommy Issues above.
 * Ultimately this is
 * Stalker With a Crush
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist
 * Teens Are Monsters
 * The Sociopath
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
 * Yandere: For Violet. Oh so very much.
 * Mind you, this would have
 * Teens Are Monsters
 * The Sociopath
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
 * Yandere: For Violet. Oh so very much.
 * Mind you, this would have

Larry Harvey
"Played By: Denis O’Hare

"Gimme my treat! You *don't* want the *trick*!""


 * Abhorrent Admirer
 * Affably Evil
 * The Atoner: He decides to put himself in prison to pay for his crimes. It's partially to protect Constance, though.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Evil Cripple
 * Love Makes You Crazy: And how!
 * Love Makes You Evil
 * Meaningful Name/ Punny Name/ Shout Out: His actually works on two levels. There's the more obvious (to this crowd, anyway) nod to Harvey Dent, but Larry Harvey is also the name of the founder of Burning Man. Oy.
 * Two Faced
 * Stalker With a Crush:
 * Stalker With a Crush:

Constance
"Played By: Jessica Lange

"I questioned my sanity when I first found out, but this house will make you a believer.""

""Moira: You need to pay for what you've done."
 * Abusive Parent
 * Blondes Are Evil
 * Born Unlucky:

"Constance: I do...every goddamn day.""


 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Evil Matriarch
 * Feeling Oppressed By Their Existence:
 * Gold Digger:, not out of love, but so she could get back into the house.
 * Karma Houdini: An interesting version of this, while she escapes criminal punishment for her deeds, she suffers greatly through the death of all her children, and anyone she loves.
 * Large Ham
 * Mama Bear: Nobody is allowed to hurt Addy except for her.
 * Applies to  and , as well.
 * Pet the Dog: Largely in regard to our daughter, Addie...despite her being constantly passive aggressive, belittling her, regarding her with disgust and going so far as to lock her in a room full of mirrors...she still seems to love her and is distraught when  It's a...complex relationship.
 * Southern Belle: Of the aging, Blanche Dubois variety.
 * Sticky Fingers
 * White Dwarf Starlet: An odd example. She wanted to break into movies and certainly has both the ego and dramatic flair, but never succeeded in the first place. She stills acts like a faded Hollywood star, though.

Moira O’Hara
"Played By: Frances Conroy & Alexandra Breckinbridge"


 * And I Must Scream
 * Earn Your Happy Ending
 * French Maid Outfit
 * Hey It's That Guy: Hey, it's Ruth Fisher!
 * And Katerina Pelham!
 * Ms. Fanservice: As her younger self.
 * Also with Fetish Fuel with erotic maid outfit.
 * Servile Snarker
 * Servile Snarker

Adelaide ‘Addie’
"Played By: Jamie Brewer"


 * Abusive Parents
 * I Just Want to Be Beautiful

Hayden McClaine
"Played By: Kate Mara"


 * Butt Monkey
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Evil Redhead
 * Love Makes You Evil/ Love Makes You Crazy: Seemed pretty normal prior to sleeping with Ben.
 * Manipulative Bitch
 * Sanity Slippage
 * Stalker With a Crush
 * Yandere: Even worse after.
 * Yandere: Even worse after.

Leah
"Played By: Shelby Young"


 * Alpha Bitch
 * Defeat Means Friendship
 * Demoted to Extra
 * Driven to Madness
 * Locked Into Strangeness

Chad Warwick
"Played By: Zachary Quinto"


 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * Camp Gay
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: He completely loses his shit over seemingly little things.
 * Jerkass
 * The Perfectionist: Halloween parties are damn serious business.
 * Would Hurt a Child:

Patrick
"Played By: Teddy Sears"


 * All Gays Are Promiscuous
 * Though he draws the line at  He whoops his ass instead.
 * Gym Bunny
 * Kick the Son of A Bitch: His absolutely awesome and long-deserved
 * Manly Gay
 * Straight Gay

Billie Dean Howard
"Played By: Sarah Paulson"


 * Gender Blender Name
 * Ms. Exposition: Justified in that Billie is both the only character with a psychic perspective on things and the only character without a reason to not explain what the hell's going on.
 * Resigned to The Call
 * Rich Bitch

Dr Charles Montgomery
"Played By: Matt Ross"


 * Affably Evil: When he's
 * The Alcoholic
 * Driven to Madness
 * Mad Doctor

Nora Montgomery
"Played By: Lily Rabe"


 * Blondes Are Evil
 * Broken Bird
 * Despair Event Horizon
 * Pet the Dog
 * Pet the Dog

Travis Wanderly
"Played By: Michael Graziadei"


 * Brainless Beauty
 * Nice Guy: Probably the nicest character in the whole first season cast.
 * Your Cheating Heart
 * Nice Guy: Probably the nicest character in the whole first season cast.
 * Your Cheating Heart

Luke
"Played By: Morris Chestnut"


 * Bald of Awesome
 * The Big Guy