Degrassi/Characters/Graduating Class of Season 5

Jimmy Brooks and Gavin "Spinner" Mason graduated with the Class of Season 7. Jimmy lost a year due to rehab from the shooting and Spinner lost a year due to being expelled. Ashley Kerwin would have graduated with the class of Season 7 after she spent a year in England, but she left school early to tour with Craig.

Ashley Kerwin
Ashley Kerwin (Seasons 1-7) "Played by Melissa McIntyre"

"“You take everything so seriously...just lighten up.”"

Ashley was the most popular girl at Degrassi and was class president. But after she experimented with ecstasy and revealed her true feelings in regards to the popular crowd, she was outcast. She changes her look dramatically to a Goth style to go along with her new friend Ellie in season 2. She also meets Craig Manning in season 2 and they start a relationship. However in season 3, Ashley is cheated on by Craig to which she finds it hard to forgive him until he writes a song for her. Ashley tends to be very melodramatic and uptight compared to her peers, a point stressed in "I Want Candy." She also is a very creative person and is a good musician. She leaves Degrassi in order to pursue a music career in London in season 7.


 * The Artifact: She, along with Toby were a lot more prominent during the first two seasons as they had a parallel with Degrassi Junior High's Stephanie and Arthur. But as the show distanced itself further from the old series, their roles gradually faded and they were pretty much Satellite Characters for the most part.
 * Broken Bird: During season 2.
 * Cool Big Sis
 * Derailing Love Interests: Towards Craig to set up the Craig/Ellie relationship
 * Drugs Are Bad: Accidentally consumes ecstasy in the first season finale, resulting in Ashley getting high, calling Paige a hag, and cheating on Jimmy. Do drugs once, and you'll become a social outcast over night.
 * Fallen Princess
 * How the Mighty Have Fallen
 * Garage Band: Part of Hell Hath No Fury, and later played with Downtown Sasquatch for a bit. During seasons 1 and 2, she was in a talent show band with Paige, Terri, and sometimes Hazel.
 * Goth: season 2
 * Has Two Mommies: Her father is gay and legally married in Canada.
 * Humiliation Conga: Karma Chameleon
 * Intoxication Ensues: during her experimentation with Ecstasy
 * Jerkass Has a Point: Ashley's mad at her dad for abandoning her so he could run off with a man. You have to admit, she does have a point, shoving away all your parenting responsibilities to the mom and running out on them is not instantly justified just because he's gay.
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch: season 1
 * Must Make Amends
 * Out of Focus: A prominent character in the first three seasons, her role started to fade in the background in favor of more Craig drama. Then later she simply became a background character for Jimmy and Ellie's storylines. Poor girl couldn't catch a break.
 * Put on a Bus: Ashley spent all but the final episode of season 5 "In Europe."
 * Reformed but Rejected
 * Satellite Character: seasons 4-7, mainly to Craig, Ellie, and Jimmy.
 * School Idol: Formerly, before her face from grace.
 * Stepford Smiler
 * Student Council President: Rigged her election to get the post, too.
 * Tragic Hero: During season 2.
 * Woman Scorned
 * Yoko Oh No: during season 4 with Downtown Sasquatch.

Ellie Nash
Eleanor "Ellie" Nash (Season 2-8) "Played by Stacey Farber"

"“I go for cool, alternative girls like Ellie Nash.”"

Snarky, world-weary Goth/Emo Girl introduced in season 2 who carries a lot of hurt. She first turned heads at Degrassi with her alternative fashion. Her father is away in the Peace Corps and her mother is an neglectful alcoholic. In season 3, she starts cutting her arms to distract herself from her home life. While she has recovered, her self-injury mentality has latched onto other aspects of her life as she seemingly puts herself into situations where she knows there's a likelihood she'll be hurt. She also has trust issues due to being burned, from her family to her boyfriends (namely Sean). She has an interest in writing and journalism and in season 7, she is made the editor of the college's newspaper. She has had a tumultuous relationship with Craig, who she has been crushing on for two years before finally wrapping up the ordeal for good in The Movie.


 * Alcoholic Parent
 * The Beard: She fell hard for Marco in season 2, before realizing he was gay. She continued to be his beard until season 3 until she finally got tired of the charade)
 * Broken Bird: She's gone through a lot, not just with boyfriends but with her family situation which pretty much left her bitter and reluctant to trust.
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Seasons 5-8.
 * Cut Himself Shaving: "I hit my arm. On that...thing."
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Quite a few viewers were inspired to start cutting themselves, after the show introduced them to the idea.
 * Emo Teen
 * Fag Hag: To Marco.
 * Fake Guest Star: Had a few of her own storylines in season 2, along with Marco, yet was still credited as a guest star. Became a series regular in season 3.
 * Freaky Fashion, Mild Mind
 * Garage Band: Part of Hell Hath No Fury and Downtown Sasquatch for a bit.
 * Goth
 * Intrepid Reporter
 * Love Martyr
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She has a tendency to try and fix what is beyond repair, see her relationship with Craig and Jesse.
 * Odd Friendship: Became friends with Paige and Alex in seasons 3 and 4, respectively.
 * Perky Goth
 * School Newspaper Newshound
 * The Snark Knight
 * Self-Harm: A cutter.
 * Settled for Gay: Or at least tried to.
 * Stepford Snarker
 * The Muse: To Jimmy.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension/Will They or Won't They?: with Craig for three long, long seasons.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: with Paige.
 * Zen Survivor

Paige Michalchuck
Paige Michalchuck (Seasons 1-8) "Played by Lauren Collins"

"“You're still the same insecure girl that you've always been!”"

The sharp-tongued young girl who was gunning for Ashley's top popularity spot since season one. She is smart, funny and wouldn't hesitate stepping over others to get to her goals. She can be very cutting with her insults and attitude and she was the primary reason Ashley was outcast in season 2. She is date raped at a party and traumatized until she finally tells Ashley about the rape. After the incident, she starts to open up some to others and tone down her meanness, along with dating Spinner until season 4. In season 5, she begins a relationship with Alex Nunez, a former girl bully and explores her sexuality. In season 6, she has a complete breakdown at Banting University, which is the start of her downward slide which lasted all the way to The Movie in which she's actually picked to be the star of Jason Mewes' movie and goes on a power trip until she comes crashing down back to Earth and in the process loses Marco as a friend.


 * Alpha Bitch | Lovable Alpha Bitch: She slides on this scale.
 * Break the Haughty
 * Bi the Way | If It's You It's Okay: With Alex and only Alex.
 * The Cheerleader
 * Closet Key: to Alex.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Fashionista
 * Freak-Out
 * Garage Band: Part of Hell Hath No Fury.
 * Girl Posse: Hazel, Terri, Ashley.
 * Gratuitous French
 * Hidden Depths
 * Homoerotic Subtext: with Alex and with Darcy in a Degrassi short.
 * Hot for Teacher: Season 4.
 * Intoxication Ensues: Season 5, after her marijuana smoking during a college prospect interview.
 * Manipulative Bitch: Successfully managed to make Spinner choose her over Terri during Season one by getting her drunk.
 * Odd Friendship: With Ellie beginning in season 3.
 * Rape as Drama
 * Rape as Redemption
 * The Rival: To Manny, for a while. After an all-out Cat Fight towards the end of season 4, they mostly get over it.
 * Suddenly Sexuality
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: with Alex.
 * Trauma Conga Line
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In season 1, Paige gave Terri some liquor to loosen her up before the dance. She vomited all over Spinner. Had she dated Spinner, she would've been more confident and probably not thought Rick was her only chance at love. If Rick hadn't put Terri in a coma, there would be no reason for people to bully him, and he wouldn't have reacted by bringing a gun to school. This was a meme on the forums for a while.
 * Verbal Tic: Try to find a sentence in her last few seasons where she doesn't say "hun."
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: with Ellie.
 * Yaoi Fangirl: Even before Marco came out, she liked to think about pairing him with Dylan.

Spinner Mason
Gavin "Spinner" Mason (Seasons 1-9) "Played by Shane Kippel"

"“...I have my job, my loft, my band, Jane so staying [in Toronto] was just...me.”"

Spinner was Degrassi's school bully and friend to Jimmy Brooks. As the years went by, his bully reputation went away and he became a lot sweeter, if not more intelligent. However, in season 4, he, along with Jay bullied Rick Murray to extremes. Rick then brought a gun to school and shot Jimmy, under a pretense fueled by Spinner that it was Jimmy who was behind an embarrassing prank. When the truth came out, Spinner was immediately outcast and was held back a year after being expelled for his role in the bullying. Jimmy disowned him as a friend and during season five, it took a long time for Spinner to find his way back in his former friend's good graces. Spinner is also a testicular cancer survivor and after he graduated (and rejection from police college), he stayed around in the Degrassi neighborhood helping the new class of Degrassi students and worked at The Dot. In season 9, he marries Emma Nelson after a drunk accidental marriage. No, really.


 * The Atoner
 * Accidental Marriage: Later turned real.
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny
 * Book Dumb
 * The Bully: In season 1, to an extent. In season 4 to Rick.
 * Big Brother Mentor: his new role on the show.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Spinner was at his bulliest when he bleached his hair, and even before that his blond hair set him apart from brunet victims J.T. and Toby.
 * Breakout Character
 * Derailing Love Interests: Towards Paige due to their relationship being strained after the rape trial, and Paige crashing his brand new car into Dean's car. And getting Spinner arrested.
 * Disappeared Dad: A Retcon, his father died of cancer apparently before the events of Degrassi, however in an earlier episodes, he mentions him.
 * The Ditz
 * Garage Band: Part of Downtown Sasquatch and later Studz and Janie and the Studs.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: In reference to Rick: "I'm just like him! Violent!"
 * Heel Face Revolving Door: Starting in season 4, ending (on the "face" side) at the end of season 5.
 * Heel Faith Turn
 * Heterosexual Life Partners (With Jimmy and Jay)
 * Last-Minute Hookup: Gets hitched with Emma at the end of Season 9.
 * Malaproper
 * Must Make Amends: season 4 and season 5.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: After the shooting
 * My Sister Is Off-Limits
 * Raging Stiffie: In Weird Science.
 * Reformed but Rejected
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: with Marco.
 * Sympathetic Adulterer
 * Took a Level in Jerkass: Season 4.
 * Took a Level In Kindness: In season 1, he was the bully and in season 2, grew nicer. Then in season 4, that was squandered but he gets nicer from that point.
 * Trauma Conga Line: Quite a lot of bad stuff happens to him throughout the series.
 * Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jimmy.

Jimmy Brooks
Jimmy Brooks (Seasons 1-8) "Played by Aubrey "Drake" Graham"

"“How do you know what I mean? Are you in a chair? Huh? Do you wake up every morning thinking you can walk and then remembering you can never ever walk again?!”"

Jimmy was a great basketball player at Degrassi and had a bright future as a pro, until he was shot in a school shooting and was paralyzed from the waist down. He spent much of the time afterward re-adjusting to his new life as a disabled person, whilst lamenting over the loss of his athletic dreams and ever walking again. He is best friends with Spinner, and even forgave him for essentially putting him in the chair, though it did take a while for Jimmy to stop being resentful. Jimmy is a very nice guy, but as Sean and Spinner can attest to, he has a mean streak a mile wide. He meets and falls in love with a disabled girl named Trina and he proposes to her in season 8.


 * A Man Is Not a Virgin: Comes up a few times throughout the series.
 * Angst: A lot after being crippled.
 * Big Brother Mentor: In later seasons after his Character Development. Mostly towards Spinner.
 * Big Man on Campus: During the early seasons.
 * Celebrity Paradox: Played by actor/rapper Drake, who apparently also exists in the Degrassi universe independently of the character he portrays).
 * Chekhov's Gun: In Season 7's penultimate episode "If This Is It," Jimmy shows Spinner his new gloves at the beginning of the episode. At the end of the episode, he uses these gloves to pull the fire alarm (and absorb the purple ink that he knew would pour out of it, thus avoiding getting caught) in order to buy Spinner some extra days to study for his physics final exam.
 * Disabled Snarker
 * Garage Band: Part of Downtown Sasquatch.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners (With Spinner.)
 * Hidden Depths: Starting in Seaon 3, Jimmy started showing a large level of open mindedness for a High School Student, eventually become one of the wisest students in the show.
 * Jerk Jock: Seasons 1 and 2.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold / Nice Guy: later seasons.
 * Lonely Rich Kid
 * Nice Guy
 * Only Sane Man
 * Positive Discrimination / Took a Level In Kindness: Arguably the most level-headed person in his circle of friends.
 * Raging Stiffie: Post-paralysis he has great difficulty getting one, which is a problem because he's ready to lose his virginity to his girlfriend.
 * The Rival: With Sean.
 * Sorry, Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs: He has them, they just... don't work.
 * School Idol
 * The Snark Knight: During the latter seasons.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Spinner.
 * Wise Beyond His Years

Craig Manning
Craig Manning (Seasons 2-8) "Played by Jake Epstein"

"“Ninety percent of my issues in life: girls, girls, girls.”"

Craig Manning has had a difficult life. His mother died when he was young. His father physically abused him, which was eventually found out and he went to live with Joey Jeremiah and his half-sister. And then his father was killed in a car accident. And then he cheated on his girlfriend Ashley and got a girl pregnant. And then he developed bipolar disorder. Despite his hardships, he is still an affable young man with a weakness for girls. He has had more romantic drama than possibly any other character on the show past or present, much of it due to his lack of commitment. He is a talented musician and starts his own band with Jimmy, Marco, Spinner and later Ellie named Downtown Sasquatch. In season 5, he leaves Toronto to pursue a music career. And then later gets a coke addiction. However, in season 8 he's gone through rehab, and he is clean with a new girlfriend, and living his life in Los Angeles.


 * Abusive Parents
 * Actor Allusion: "She reminds me of my five-year-old half-sister."
 * Breakout Character: The minute he showed up in the second season he had Emma and Manny falling for him, became best friends with all the guys, and was adopted by one of the original Degrassi characters, which was an excuse to have Joey in the show more by adding more Craig centered episodes. Most of season two, three, and four put extra focus on him as the main protagonist figure of his grade.
 * Biggus Dickus: JT goes a huge eyeful in the locker room.
 * The Casanova
 * The Cast Showoff: Jake Epstein's musical talents completely take over the character in season 3 and Craig later becomes a signed musician in his own right.
 * Celibate Hero: He tries to be one in season 5. It works for about five minutes.
 * The Charmer
 * Drugs Are Bad
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait
 * Garage Band: Leader of Downtown Sasquatch.
 * Master of the Mixed Message: With Ellie for two whole seasons, and he was a bit of a Jerkass about it. He was dating Manny at the time and not fully committing to her and treating her like a Shallow Love Interest while keeping Ellie within arm's length to avoid starting anything serious to her.
 * Missing Mom
 * Mood Swinger
 * Put on a Bus: Left midway through season 5 and spent the rest of the season recording music The Bus Came Back during the season finale though.
 * School Idol
 * Tragic Hero
 * Trauma Conga Line
 * Troubled but Cute
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy
 * Your Cheating Heart

Marco Del Rossi
Marco Del Rossi (Seasons 2-8) "Played by Adamo Ruggiero"

"“Pa, it's taken me seventeen years to say it...I'm gay. I'm totally gay!”"

Introduced in season 2 as the first gay student known at Degrassi. In his time at Degrassi, he came to terms with his sexuality, told his parents (his mom was accepting, his father not so much at first), and even got a boyfriend, Paige's brother Dylan. After he graduated and Dylan left the country, he went through the motions of dealing with a long distance relationship (and later breakup) and dealing with being alone. Marco can be very neurotic and clingy, but he is still a dependable and caring friend and a leader, and few students at Degrassi hate him save for homophobic Linus of the Friendship Club. As of season 9, he is training as a student teacher and even started out his training at Degrassi.

"Marco: "I can't be what you want." Ellie: "Can't, or won't?""
 * A Friend in Need
 * Big Man on Campus: Season 5.
 * Bishonen: Notably lampshaded by many characters.
 * Coming Out Story
 * Fake Guest Star: Had a few of his own storylines in season 2, along with Ellie, yet was still credited as a guest star. Became a series regular in season 3.
 * Flamboyant Gay
 * Garage Band: Part of Downtown Sasquatch.
 * Gay Best Friend
 * Gayngst
 * Hipster: He's open minded and goes for cool, alternative, girls like Ellie Nash.
 * Keet
 * Long-Distance Relationship: with Dylan in season 6.
 * Magical Queer: From season 3 onwards he became the one person who always offers advice and support, even to characters he never spoke to prior.
 * Odd Friendship: strikes up a friendship with Alex in season 4.
 * Raised Catholic: Doesn't come up often, but he wears a crucifix and attends church.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Spinner and Dylan.
 * Student Council President
 * The Twink/Uke: We're assuming, but c'mon, look at him and look at Dylan.
 * Why Couldn't You Be Different?: With Ellie early on in season 2.

Jay Hogart
Jason "Jay" Hogart (Seasons 3-9) "Played by Mike Lobel"

"“This guy, he's nasty. He tastes like fire, rubs people the wrong way. This guy here; sweet, refreshing. But when these two get together...bad news.”"

A bad boy at Degrassi. Unlike his best friend Sean, he lives up to his reputation and during the show's run, he engages in many illegal activities, drug use, and "corrupts" several Degrassi characters from Spinner to Darcy. Beneath the criminal exterior, Jay is a nice, sensitive and smart guy. He is also very resourceful and a good mechanic. In season 7, he starts seeing Manny Santos and in The Movie, they finally become a couple.


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * Anti-Villain: For season 3 and 4, he's the closest Degrassi gets to a serious villain, but like all the main characters, he's not completely terrible and has his Pet the Dog moments.
 * Badbutt: There's a reason Boycott the Caf called his group "The Candy Bandits".
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Blondish.
 * The Bully
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Warns Marco about "dropping anything" in front of Dylan in season 3. Later plays a huge role in season 4 and makes main cast in season 5.
 * The Corrupter
 * Dawson Casting: Mike Lobel was originally four years older than Jay and the difference in age increased when the show started splitting the seasons by semester.
 * Delinquent
 * Fake Guest Star: Season 4.
 * Part of Gang of Bullies
 * Good Angel, Bad Angel (The Bad Angel, of course.)
 * Heterosexual Life Partners (With Spinner and Sean.)
 * Hidden Depths
 * Jerkass
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold (Later on, as he interacts with more characters particularly Sean and Manny.)
 * Troubled but Cute
 * Parental Abandonment
 * The Stoner
 * Trickster Archetype: Mike Lobel compared Jay to a spider. Jay more has the "tricks himself" aspects of a trickster, though.
 * White Gang-Bangers

Alex Nunez
Alexandra "Alex" Nunez (Seasons 3-7) "Played by Deanna Casaluce"

"“Jay, I'm not bi, I'm not confused. I'm a lesbian. An actual lesbian. Who just broke up with her first girlfriend and it sucks.”"

Alex is a girl who hurts a lot inside. One of the outcasts at Degrassi, she has a very tough exterior and attitude. But inside, she is very caring, vulnerable and soft. Her mother has bad luck with love and gets abused, and she has spent time living in a women's shelter with her mom due to their poverty. Paige Michalchuk is her first true love and the first person to break down her walls and she finally admitted to herself that she was a lesbian. Due to this relationship, she begins to believe in herself more and starts taking her life more seriously. Unfortunately, in season 7 she and Paige had a cataclysmic breakup and she took a bus to Ajax for a new start.


 * The Bully
 * Co-Dragons: with Sean, to Jay.
 * Coming Out Story
 * Delinquent
 * Derailing Love Interests: During season 7. The actress was leaving the show, and they broke her and Paige up in the most painful way possible to completely destroy any chance of a reunion. Namely, she went back to her old lazy unfocused ways after spending a season pulling herself up.
 * Disappeared Dad
 * Fake Guest Star: Season 4.
 * Part of Gang of Bullies
 * Hidden Depths
 * Karma Houdini: It's easy to forget, but Alex was also in on the plan to pour the paint on Rick, and was actually the one to set it up and the one who physically pulled the rope. Yet somehow, she got off scott free, becoming friends with Jimmy and his group while Spinner got exiled.
 * However, it could be argued that, unlike Jay and Spinner, she did not take part in convincing Rick that Jimmy helped pull the prank, which ended up getting him shot. She also felt remorse for her actions beforehand.
 * Long Bus Trip: To Ajax in season 7.
 * Odd Friendship: Becomes friends with Ellie, Paige, and Marco in season 4. As a result, she becomes one of the popular kids.
 * One Name Only: Until season 5.
 * Parental Betrayal
 * Suddenly Sexuality: Her homosexuality isn't revealed until season 5, but she wasn't really a main character until then.
 * Spicy Latina
 * Single Girl Stripper
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Paige's Girly Girl.
 * Tsundere: Type A.

Hazel Aden
Hazel Aden (Seasons 1-5) "Played by Andrea Lewis"

"“Does Paige need you to lick her boots before she goes out?”"

Paige's right-hand girl from seasons 1-5. That's basically it for Hazel, she had one significant episode in season 2 regarding racism and anti-Muslim sentiment. Other than that, she is Paige's shadow, a fact that is pointed out a few times by other characters. She dated Jimmy Brooks from seasons 3 to 5.


 * Black Best Friend
 * The Cheerleader
 * Demoted to Extra: Ended up taking a back seat in season 5 until finally being written out after graduating. What was strange was she was actually had a Promotion to Opening Titles.
 * Fake Guest Star: Season 2.
 * Garage Band: Part of Hell Hath No Fury.
 * Hollywood Tone Deaf
 * Irony as She Is Cast: Andrea Lewis can sing very well.
 * Mistaken for Terrorist: as a child leading to her denial of her Muslim roots.
 * Pass Fail: as Jamaican!
 * Satellite Character
 * Those Two Girls
 * You Are What You Hate: Subverted. She doesn't really hate Muslims, but pretends to so that nobody will know she's a Muslim.

Terri Mc Greggor
Theresa 'Terri' McGreggor (Seasons 1-3) "Played by Christina Schmidt"

"“Most girls on the planet look like this, so get used to it!...I made 500 bucks today as a plus size model today...what did you make, ice cream boy?”"

An insecure, overweight girl. Both Ashley and Paige's strong personalities completely dominated hers to the point to where she really could not stand up to them. In season 2, she aligns herself with Paige due to Ashley falling out of favor with the popular crowd. In season 3, she dates Rick Murrary who in turn, abuses her and puts her in a coma and later she transfers from Degrassi in order to get away from Rick.


 * BBW: A plus-size model.
 * Death by Falling Over: well, not death, but coma and bus-hood, sure.
 * Fat Best Friend
 * Fat Girl
 * Garage Band: Part of the initial group Ashley, Paige, Ellie and Hazel had.
 * Victim of Domestic Abuse
 * Missing Mom: Died when she was younger.
 * Psychic Powers: Averted. She experimented with tarot cards, palm reading, and contacting spirits, but it was all fun and games and never had actual powers.
 * Shrinking Violet
 * Weight Woe: Felt uncomfortable with her weight.