American Idol/Characters

Due to the show having many contestants, this page is made to avoid overdosing the main page.

Ryan Seacrest (Season 1-present)

 * Bishounen
 * Breakup Breakout: With his season 1 co-host Brian Dunkleman.
 * The Chew Toy
 * Chick Magnet
 * Dramatic Pause
 * Interactive Narrator
 * Large Ham
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Sharp-Dressed Man
 * Talent Show Host

Randy Jackson (Season 1-present)

 * A Father to His Men
 * Bald Black Leader Guy
 * The Big Guy
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Cool Teacher
 * Gentle Giant
 * Stern Teacher
 * Stoic Spectacles
 * Token Minority
 * Verbal Tic: "Yo!", "Dawg!"

Simon Cowell (Season 1-9)

 * Badass
 * Breakout Character
 * Brutal Honesty
 * Cynical Mentor
 * Deadpan Snarker: Very much so.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Ice King
 * Insufferable Genius
 * The Mean Brit
 * Put on a Bus
 * Stern Teacher
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky

Paula Abdul (Season 1-8)

 * Cool Old Lady
 * Cool Teacher
 * Hair of Gold
 * The Heart
 * Hot Mom
 * Living Legend
 * Put on a Bus: The Bus Came Back at the season 9 finale.
 * The Smurfette Principle: Until Kara shows up.

Brian Dunkleman (Season 1)

 * Garfunkel
 * Put on a Bus

Kara DioGuardi (Season 8-9)

 * Cousin Oliver
 * Put on a Bus
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Ellen DeGeneres (Season 9)

 * Lipstick Lesbian
 * Put on a Bus
 * Token Lesbian
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl

Jennifer Lopez (Season 10-present)

 * The Heart
 * Hot Mom
 * Idol Singer
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Older Than They Look
 * Spicy Latina
 * The Smurfette Principle

Steven Tyler (Season 10-present)

 * Badass Longcoat
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Camp Straight
 * Casanova
 * Chick Magnet
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Grandpa What Massive Hotness You Have
 * Guttural Growler
 * Keet
 * Large Ham
 * Living Legend
 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Older Than They Look
 * Sexy Mentor

Jimmy Iovine (Season 10-present)

 * Brutal Honesty
 * Cynical Mentor
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Grumpy Old Man
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Ice King
 * Insufferable Genius
 * Nice Cap
 * Stern Teacher
 * Stoic Spectacles
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Simon Cowell.

Kelly Clarkson

 * The Ace
 * Flawless Victory
 * Hero's Journey
 * No Damage Run
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
 * Ur Example

Tamyra Gray

 * Shocking Elimination: She is the Ur Example.

Christina Christian

 * Alliterative Name
 * Shocking Elimination

Ryan Starr

 * Tomboyish Name

EJay Day

 * Spell My Name with an "S" / Fun with Acronyms

Ruben Studdard

 * Bald of Awesome
 * The Big Guy
 * Gentle Giant

Clay Aiken

 * The Runner Up Takes It All
 * Transparent Closet: The Reveal will take years to happen, but everyone can see it anyways.

Kimberly Locke

 * One-Hit Wonder: "8th World Wonder", barely.
 * One Steve Limit
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Josh Gracin

 * One-Hit Wonder: "Nothin' To Lose"

Trenyce

 * Only One Name

Carmen Rasmusen

 * Hair of Gold

Kimberly Caldwell

 * One Steve Limit

Corey Clark

 * Alliterative Name

Fantasia Barrino

 * Guttural Growler
 * Hot Mom
 * Sassy Black Woman

Diana DeGarmo

 * Alliterative Name
 * The Cutie

Jasmine Trias

 * The Cutie
 * Teens Are Short

LaToya London

 * Alliterative Name
 * Shocking Elimination

Jennifer Hudson

 * Big Beautiful Woman
 * Funny Afro
 * Lucky Seven
 * The Runner Up Takes It All: The Trope Codifier for female examples.
 * Shocking Elimination: The Trope Maker, and maybe the Trope Codifier for female examples.

Amy Adams

 * Alliterative Name
 * Dye Hard

Matthew Rogers

 * Younger Than They Look

Leah LaBelle

 * Alliterative Name
 * Canada, Eh?

Carrie Underwood

 * The Cutie
 * Fan Service Pack
 * Flawless Victory
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hero's Journey
 * No Damage Run
 * Older Than They Look
 * Southern Belle

Bo Bice

 * Alliterative Name
 * Badass Long Hair
 * One-Hit Wonder: "The Real Thing"
 * Technically, "Inside Your Heaven" was his only top 40 hit; it peaked at number 2!

Anthony Fedorov

 * Hair of Gold

Scott Savol

 * Alliterative Name

Constantine Maroulis

 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Shocking Elimination
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome

Jessica Sierra

 * The Cutie
 * Hair of Gold

Taylor Hicks

 * Competence Zone
 * Designated Protagonist Syndrome
 * Flawless Victory
 * No Damage Run
 * One-Hit Wonder: Despite his notorious reputation as a failure, his coronation song "Do I Make You Proud" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy

Katherine McPhee

 * One-Hit Wonder: "Over It"
 * The Runner Up Takes It All
 * Spell My Name With A C
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Elliot Yamin

 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Which resulted to Daughtry's Shocking Elimination.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Despite little screentime before the semifinals, he made it to third place and is well-liked by many Idol fans.
 * One-Hit Wonder: "Wait For You"

Chris Daughtry

 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Four Is Death
 * Rated "M" for Manly
 * Shocking Elimination: The Trope Codifier.
 * The Runner Up Takes It All: The Trope Codifier, again.

Kellie Dawn Pickler

 * White-Haired Pretty Girl

William Joel "Bucky" Covington

 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Only Known by Their Nickname

Mandisa

 * First-Name Basis
 * Only One Name
 * Sassy Black Woman

Jordin Sparks

 * Big Beautiful Woman
 * But Not Too Black
 * Flawless Victory
 * No Damage Run

Blake Lewis

 * Bishounen
 * Chick Magnet
 * Hair of Gold
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Nice Hat
 * One-Hit Wonder: "You Give Love A Bad Name"

Melinda Doolittle

 * Competence Zone
 * Shocking Elimination

LaKisha Ann Jones

 * Big Beautiful Woman
 * Sassy Black Woman

Sanjaya Malakar

 * The Chew Toy
 * Elimination Houdini: Almost became the Trope Namer.

Haley Scarnato

 * Ms. Fanservice: Is considered by many to have gotten as far as she did thanks to this trope.

Gina Glocksen

 * Alliterative Name
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Possibly the earliest example of this in the show; she had auditioned for Season 5 and was cut mid-way through Hollywood rounds.

David Cook

 * The Ace
 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Follow the Leader: He started the streak for white men with guitars winning the show. Although without question, most of them pale in comparison to him.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * One of Us
 * One Steve Limit: With co-finalist and runner-up David Archuleta, as well as first boot David Hernandez.
 * Rated "M" for Manly
 * The Smart Guy
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome

David Archuleta

 * Ambiguously Gay
 * Bishounen
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
 * One-Hit Wonder: "Crush"
 * One Steve Limit: With co-finalist and eventual winner David Cook and first boot David Hernandez.

Syesha Mercado

 * Sassy Black Woman

Brooke White

 * Hair of Gold

Carly Smithson

 * Shocking Elimination
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Michael Johns

 * Shocking Elimination

Chikezie

 * First-Name Basis
 * Only One Name

David Hernandez

 * One Steve Limit: With eventual finalists David Cook and David Archuleta.

Kris Allen

 * Dark Horse Victory: Quite possibly the biggest example in the show's history.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome

Adam Lambert

 * Badass Longcoat
 * Crack Defeat
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * The Runner Up Takes It All
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Word of Gay

Lee DeWyze

 * Butt Monkey: If a contestant from any season is compared to Lee, ten to one is that it isn't in a positive way.
 * One-Hit Wonder: His cover of "Beautiful Day"

Crystal Bowersox

 * Crack Defeat
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hot Mom

Casey James

 * Badass Long Hair
 * Hair of Gold

Michael Lynche

 * Shocking Elimination: Could have been one at ninth place, but was saved by the judges.

Siobhan Magnus

 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Shocking Elimination: The nearest one that Season 9's Top 13 had.

Tim Urban

 * Elimination Houdini: Although, unlike Sanjaya, he did get a bit better as the season went on.
 * Mr. Fanservice

Scotty McCreery

 * Badass Baritone
 * Flawless Victory
 * Good Ol' Boy
 * Nice Hat
 * No Damage Run: Was never stated as being in the bottom three or two at any point in the competition.
 * Ship Tease: With Lauren

Lauren Alaina

 * The Cutie
 * Hair of Gold
 * Les Yay: She and Pia seemed very close
 * Ship Tease: With Scotty

Haley Reinhart

 * Crack Defeat
 * Guttural Growler
 * Hair of Gold
 * Older Than They Look
 * Ship Tease: With Casey

James Durbin

 * Badass
 * Four Is Death
 * Shocking Elimination
 * The Smart Guy: As to be expected with someone with Asperger's.

Jacob Lusk

 * The Big Guy
 * Camp Gay
 * Sassy Black Man

Casey Abrams

 * Badass Beard
 * The Big Guy
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Gentle Giant
 * Guttural Growler
 * Ship Tease: With Haley
 * Younger Than They Look

Stefano Langone

 * Tall, Dark and Snarky

Paul McDonald

 * Badass Beard
 * Camp Straight: Wears flamboyant suits, dances with a tambourine and is married to Nikki Reed

Pia Toscano

 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Shocking Elimination
 * Statuesque Stunner
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Philip Phillips

 * Alliterative Name
 * Chick Magnet
 * Dark Horse Victory
 * Designated Protagonist Syndrome
 * The Fettered
 * Flawless Victory
 * Good Ol' Boy
 * Ill Boy: Has kidney problems that made him unable to be in Ford commercials. Thought of dropping out of the show for surgery several times, but he clearly wanted to win the show.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Almost always seen in a flannel shirt, tee, and jeans.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * No Damage Run
 * Repetitive Name
 * Vocal Range Exceeded: During "Time of the Season." Out of all eleven winners, he has the smallest range.

Jessica Sanchez

 * The Cutie
 * Crack Defeat
 * Dark And Bishoujo
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Filipinos love Jessica Sanchez.
 * Go Out with a Smile: Cheers for and hugs Phillip when he's announced the winner.
 * Guttural Growler: Childhood clips show that it's a natural talent.
 * The Ingenue
 * Military Brat
 * Not Quite Eliminated
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Of the singing variety.
 * The Quiet One
 * Beware the Quiet Ones
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Shocking Elimination: Averted as she was saved by the judges.
 * Vocal Dissonance: Tiny Asian teenager that belts with a Guttural Growl.

Joshua Ledet

 * The Ace
 * Ambiguously Gay
 * Crack Defeat
 * Early-Bird Cameo
 * Expy: He's basically season 3 winner Fantasia's Spear Counterpart. He's even garnered the nickname of Mantasia. Further solidified when he and Fantasia had a duet in the season finale.
 * Guttural Growler
 * Large Ham: When singing.
 * Preacher's Kid
 * Shocking Elimination

Hollie Cavanagh

 * Adorkable: The videos describing other contestants were full of funny, although unintentionally so, material from Hollie, especially in one part where she calls Skylar "thick-boned."
 * Badass Decay: Started the season with strong vocals that possibly rivals runner-up Jessica. But as the week goes on, her vocals becomes weaker. Then again, it was revealed she's been eating ice cream while still in the competition.
 * The Cutie
 * Early-Bird Cameo: She was first seen in season 10.
 * Eliminate The Cutie
 * Face Elimination With Dignity
 * Fan Service Pack
 * Four Is Death
 * Funny Foreigner
 * Go Out with a Smile
 * Graceful Loser
 * Hair of Gold
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Older Than They Look
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: At first.
 * She's Got Legs

Skylar Laine

 * Genki Girl
 * Girls with Guns
 * Graceful Loser
 * Hollywood Pudgy
 * Ship Tease: With Colton.
 * Shocking Elimination
 * Shorttank
 * Small Girl, Big Gun

Elise Testone

 * Competence Zone
 * Face Elimination With Dignity
 * Go Out with a Smile
 * Graceful Loser
 * Guttural Growler
 * Hair of Gold
 * Nice Hat
 * Statuesque Stunner
 * Woman in Black

Colton Dixon

 * Ascended Extra / Born Lucky: He was only accompanying his sister during auditions for moral support. The judges, knowing how talented he is during his stint in season 10, called him and made him audition on the spot. We know the rest.
 * Badass
 * Early-Bird Cameo: He was first seen in season 10 and almost made the semi-finals.
 * Eliminated Little Sister: Which he did not take well.
 * Granola Guy
 * Hair of Gold
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Out-of-Character Moment: He states that the reason why he was axed is because his performance the night before alienated his fanbase.
 * Ship Tease: With Skylar.
 * Shocking Elimination

DeAndre Brackensick

 * Bishounen
 * Camp Straight
 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy

Heejun Han

 * Alliterative Name
 * Asian and Nerdy
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: His eccentric nature led the judges to thinking that he was another Hopeless Auditionee, but proved quite otherwise.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse
 * Funny Foreigner
 * Nerd Glasses
 * Nice Guy
 * Older Than They Look

Erika Van Pelt

 * Big Beautiful Woman
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Goes from blond to Shiny Midnight Black.
 * Hair of Gold: Naturally.

Shannon Magrane

 * The Cutie
 * Hair of Gold
 * Jail Bait
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Overprotective Dad
 * Statuesque Stunner

Jermaine Jones

 * Alliterative Name
 * Badass Baritone
 * Badass Beard
 * The Big Guy
 * Diabolus Ex Machina
 * Gentle Giant: His Red Baron.
 * Non Gameplay Elimination
 * Role Ending Misdemeanor: Literally
 * Thirteen Is Unlucky: Just watch the selection for the top 13.

Jeremy Rosado

 * The Big Guy
 * Gentle Giant: Fits this more than Jermaine.
 * Nice Guy