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{{work}}
{{Characters need descriptions}}
Attention. Attention. The following personnel are assigned to the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital:
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* [[Sarcasm Failure]]: Is generally ironic and caustic about most things, but when he taps into his compassionate side (for a friend or a patient) he instantly becomes incredibly serious.
* [[Sanity Slippage]]: At least five breakdowns in eleven seasons, each one worse than the last.
* [[
* [[Temporary Blindness]]: In "Out of Sight, Out of Mind".
▲* [[The Tyler Durden]]: Is this for Radar in at least one episode, and for more then one guest star in others.
* [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]]: At first, though through [[Character Development]] this was toned down in later seasons as the show grew more Anvilicious and focused less on his [[Heroic Sociopath]] tendencies and more on his role as the show's mouthpiece for politics.
* [[You Are in Command Now]]: In "Carry On, Hawkeye" and "Commander Pierce".
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* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: with Hawkeye
* [[The Lancer]]: for Hawkeye
* [[The Other Darrin]]: Played by [[Bonanza|Pernell Roberts]] on the generic medical drama ''[[Trapper John,
* [[Put on a Bus]]
* [[Really Gets Around]]
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=== Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake ===
Played by McLean Stevenson. The [[Mildly Military]] commander of the 4077th for the first three seasons. Almost always seen with a fishing hat (with lures that made any salute attempt risk a Purple Heart), he was from Bloomington, Illinois. He tried his best to keep the camp running, although between Burns, Houlihan, Hawkeye, and Radar ... well,
* [[Actor
* [[Bus Crash]]
* [[Cigar Chomper]]
* [[Colonel Badass]]: Without a doubt, he is
* [[A Father to His Men]]: Especially Radar, who actually regresses slightly after Henry is gone.
* [[Genius Ditz]]: Is a competent doctor, but a chronically indecisive commanding officer.
* [[Killed Off for Real]]
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* [[Retirony]]
* [[Team Dad]]
* [[That Came Out Wrong]]: Is apparently incapable of opening his mouth to an authority figure without either revealing too much information or dropping an [[Accidental Innuendo]].
=== Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (at one point also Penobscott) ===
Played by Loretta Swit. A no-nonsense, by-the-book soldier, and head nurse. Another of the few people who saw the whole show through at the 4077th. The first seasons had her in an illicit relationship with Frank Burns; after meeting Donald Penobscott, she breaks off with him. Later she breaks off with Donald, too, and spends the rest of the show single.
* [[Battleaxe Nurse]]: Averted considering that even in her most
* [[Brainless Beauty]]: Subverted
* [[All Women Are Lustful]]: Was definitely in touch with her more...liberated side.
** [[All Women Are Prudes]]: However, she was always very prudish and conservative in public. Nobody was fooled.
* [[Character Development]]: Moved from being a one-joke,
* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]
* [[Embarrassing Nickname]]: "
* [[Hospital Hottie]]:
* [[Military Brat]]
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Had several of these
* Starts as [[The Neidermeyer]], to a lesser degree than Frank, but eases into ...
** [[Sergeant Rock]] (not quite [[Colonel Badass]]).
* [["Well Done, Son" Guy|"Well Done, Daughter" Girl]]: Shares a moment like this with her father at the end of the episode "Father's Day."
* [[Sugar and Ice Personality]] - Specifically noted by Hawkeye in one episode, where he describes Margaret to his father like this: "The major is a paradox. A woman of considerable passion, she is also a stickler for military correctness. I wouldn't mind making a grab for her myself, but I don't know how to do that and salute her at the same time."
* [[Sweater Girl]]: Especially in the early seasons.
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Played by Larry Linville. A real [[Jerkass]]. The closest anyone came to enjoying his company in the series was Maj. Houlihan, with whom he had an illicit relationship--he has a wife and family back in his home of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
* [[Abusive Parents]]/[[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]]: Frank Burns once told Trapper, "I'm from a very strict family. We weren't allowed to talk at meals. We couldn't even hum. Anybody who hummed got a punch in the throat."
* [[Annoying Laugh]]
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Squarely in the sights of anyone on the show with a rank of Captain.
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* [[In Vino Veritas]]: Any time he gets drunk or has to be anesthetized, he ends up spilling info about his [[Dark and Troubled Past]] or else revealing intimate details about crimes and marital infidelities he's committed in civilian life.
* [[Jerkass]]
* [[Jerkass Woobie]]: As much of a jerk as he is, you really are supposed to feel a bit sorry for him during the telephone call scene in "Margaret's Engagement
* [[Karma Houdini]]: And how. After going bonkers and attacking a general and his wife, he's cleared of all charges, then [[Kicked Upstairs|promoted to lieutenant colonel and put in command of a VA hospital back in the States]]. Hawkeye understandably does not take the news of this well.
* [[Miles Gloriosus]]
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* [[That Came Out Wrong]]: Occasionally, in his conversations with Margaret.
{{quote|'''Frank:''' Oh, Margaret, you're my snug harbor. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to sail into.}}
* [[Triage Tyrant]]: Sent in American soldiers ahead of Korean ones even though the
* [[Your Cheating Heart]]: Cheats on his wife with Margaret Houlihan but never planned to get a divorce for her.
** He also cheats on her with his secretary back home, which Margaret is horrified to discover.
=== Cpl. Walter Eugene "Radar" O’Reilly ===
Played by Gary Burghoff. The company clerk and the epitome of [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]]; [[Steve Jackson Games|Steve Jackson]] has actually used him and his ability to know things 'before the Colonel' as full-blown [[Psychic Powers]] in two of the company's roleplaying games. In fact, his nickname derives from announcing incoming helicopters before anyone else can (although he shows pretty clear evidence of full-blown telepathy in at least one
* [[Berserk Button]]: Don't let him see you mistreat an animal.
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* [[Dawson Casting]]: After seven years, Gary Burghoff was noticeably older than his character was supposed to be, to the point where the writers [http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2006/10/goodbye-radar.html fought in vain] with him to keep his hat on so viewers wouldn't see his receding hairline.
* [[Country Mouse]]
* [[De-Power]]: In the movie and the early episodes of the series, Radar is genuinely psychic; his ability to detect incoming choppers is as much precognitive as sharp hearing, and at one point he responds to a mild insult that Hawkeye ''<s>narrated</s> wrote into a letter'' as Radar walked by. However, as the series went on, his paranormal abilities dwindled away, until only his "radar" remained, and that, it was hinted at by the episode where Hawkeye was temporarily blinded, became [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane|nothing more than sharp senses]].
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Not nearly as often as the doctors, but even more so on the "deadpan" end of the scale. And he was more likely to get away with it because [[Beware the Nice Ones|it wasn't expected of him]].
{{quote|'''Frank''': Here's tomorrow's routine. See that it's posted.
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* [[Friend to All Living Things]]: His menagerie of pets. He even objected to killing a rabbit of his as part of a pregnancy test.
* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: Rarely swore; his epithets of choice were mostly limited to "Heck!" and "Aw, jeez!"
* [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]]: Generally the main interaction between the unit and I Corps. One episode is built entirely around Hawkeye and Trapper John trying to get an incubator, going all the way up to (and disrupting the press conference of) a brigadier general. In the
* [[Malaproper]]:
* [[Meaningful Name]]
* [[Misplaced Wildlife]]: He has a ''skunk''. In ''Korea''. Skunks are mostly New World creatures; the few that aren't (stink badgers) are from Indonesia and the Philippines.
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* [[Fainting|Pregnancy Faint]]: On a bus with a wounded Korean woman who goes into labor, Radar practically has a [[Heroic BSOD]].
* [[Put on a Bus]]
* [[Spider Sense]]: Always knows when the choppers are in-coming before any
** He also tends to pick up the phone just before it rings, and in the early seasons had a habit of anticipating Col. Blake's orders before they were even given.
* [[Took a Level In Dumbass]]: Well, perhaps "dumbass" is overstating it, but Radar grew increasingly more childlike and naive as the show went along.
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Played by Jamie Farr. A corpsman forever trying to get out of the Army on a psychiatric discharge, most notably by dressing in women's clothing; he cited a family history of this. Of his family, most are not English-speaking, and most are in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio. And yes, both the Toledo Mudhens and Tony Packo's are real. (The Mudhens at one point slaughtered the Detroit Tigers in a pre-season game. It was a rebuilding year.)
* [[Actor
* [[Always Someone Better]]: After Radar went home, Klinger took over his job. Things didn't go so smoothly at first, with Klinger taking a lot of flack for not being able to
** Klinger eventually became a clerk on par, if not even better than Radar. He eventually earns a promotion to sergeant.
* [[Becoming the Mask]]: worries about his orientation, given that at one point he's looking at sexy catalog shots... and contemplating how the outfits would look on him. Out of character, fears of this being implied by Farr's dressing in drag on TV every week and the fact that his children were becoming old enough to watch their father on TV in same led to Farr lobbying to get the
* [[Breakout Character]]: Klinger had been intended as a one-time throwaway gag character (meant to reference [[Lenny Bruce]] and his attempts to get out of [[World War Two]] dressed as a WAC). Kinger proved so popular with the audience and the cast that they just kept writing him into episodes
* [[Character Development]]: From [[Flat Character]], add [[Hidden Depths]]. In fact, used to name the antitrope to Flanderization.
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** After he learns his wife has left him for someone else and wants a divorce, he goes looking for sympathy, but everyone think's it's another con to get a Section 8. Ripping off part of his dress demonstrates he's not joking around this time.
** Had this reaction after getting hassled over not living up to Radar's high standards immediately.
** One episode shows him trying to decorate his living area with personal mementos, but Potter
** Klinger once became seriously ill, but everybody believed that Klinger was faking illness to get out of work. When a Jewish soldier develops symptoms identical to Klinger's, that soldier is believed without question, something that Klinger calls the medical staff on. Its eventually discovered that Klinger had developed hemolysis from taking the antimalarial Primaquine, and his life was in serious danger.
*** In real-life, Primaquine was discovered to lead to hemolytic anemia in patients with G6PD-
* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: In his second appearance, Klinger was portrayed as having a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]], to the point where he [[Disproportionate Retribution|plans to threaten Frank with a live grenade]] as revenge for Frank chiding him in
* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: Almost always, with his efforts to get out of Korea. Only two have a chance to work, and he nixes them. {{spoiler|In one, he fakes a form to go home, to desert; after [[What Have I Done]], he rushes to get the form rescinded--just as the brass are ready to approve it. In the other, ''the war ended''. He stayed for his new wife.}}
* [[Hidden Depths]]: Klinger has no real love for the army, but he always does what is expected him at the camp. He desperately wants out of Korea, but he's not going to endanger a patient because of it.
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* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: The man is an amazing boxer. It starts as an [[Informed Attribute]] but it turns out he's just reluctant to hurt people, cause he's a, y'know, priest.
* [[Good Shepherd]]: Mulcahy is very obviously NOT a parody priest, instead being very devoted to his charges and the care of their souls. He extends this even to the Koreans in the vicinity, raising money to help orphanages in the area and ministering to Korean civilians as much as Army personnel.
** He's also not a theological legalist and is fascinated not to mention ''supportive'' of the locals' customs and beliefs. It seems to him what you have faith in isn't nearly as important that you ''have'' faith.
* [[Hot for Preacher]]: Is subject to this in one episode. Very much to his dismay.
* [[Irish Priest]]: Well, seems to have a slight lilt in his voice sometimes. And is fond of roller derby.
* [[The McCoy]]
* [[The Other Darrin]]: Another actor portrayed him in the pilot episode, and the character was openly
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: After belting a patient. Then again, said patient did justify the use of force, although medics usually don't go for a punch in the jaw.▼
* [[Soldiers
* [[There Are No Therapists]]: Averted thanks to him. Both he and Sidney Freedman (an actual therapist) admit that he's more the camp's sounding board and confidant than he is their actual spiritual leader. He's even able to notice when Sidney himself needs some
▲* [[What Have I Done]]: After belting a patient. Then again, said patient did justify the use of force, although medics usually don't go for a punch in the jaw.
=== Capt. B. J. Hunnicutt ===
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* [[The Lancer]]:
* [[Morality Chain]]: Tries to be this for Hawkeye in general, although he sometimes needs a little help too.
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: As a result of a [[Sadistic Choice]] in a late episode.▼
* [[Nice Shoes]]: Later in the series he started wearing a pair of Converse All-Star sneakers.
* [[The Prankster]]: Several episodes revolved around B.J.'s mastery of the prank gambit. It's established early on that this is one of his ways of coping with the stress of war.
* [[Pungeon Master]]
▲* [[What Have I Done]]: As a result of a [[Sadistic Choice]] in a late episode.
* [[Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?]]: Hawkeye spends an entire episode trying to find out what "B.J." stands for. Turns out it that's his ''actual name'', given by his parents: Bea and Jay.
* [[Your Cheating Heart]]: Cheats on his wife with a nurse jilted by her husband. Unlike Trapper and Blake, he feels genuinely awful about it. Is tempted in a later season by a reporter, but resists temptation.
=== Col. Sherman Tecumseh Potter ===
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* [[Berserk Button]]: Cruelty to horses, or even borrowing Sophie without asking. Used by BJ and Winchester to get rid of an unwanted companion.
* [[Colonel Badass]]: Potter served in the cavalry [[World War I]] ''and'' [[World War II]], after which he earned a medical degree and served as a surgeon in Korea. He is immensely proud of his Good Conduct Medal with gold clasp, which only an enlisted soldier is eligible for; identifying him as an Army mustang -- an enlisted man who became an officer.
* [[A Father to His Men]]
* [[Happily Married]]
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Harry Morgan earlier played a general who showed up to inspect and review the 4077th.
** He was also a mainstay in westerns, and Sgt. Bill Gannon on ''[[Dragnet]]''. (One wonders if Harry Morgan was ''ever'' a young man.)
* [[Military Moonshiner]]: When stationed in Guam during [[World War
* [[Old Soldier]]: As noted above, he's a career soldier who served in both World Wars.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Career Army like Houlihan, but is capable of relaxing certain regulations when needed. Including, with morale plummeting and a pair of corpsmen tasked to [[Kill It with Fire]] on some infected uniforms going overboard, giving in and instructing the camp to build 'one regulation bon-type fire'.
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* [[Drink Order]]: Usually favors cognac.
* [[Hahvahd Yahd in My Cah]]
* [[In Vino Veritas]]:
* [[Insufferable Genius]]
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: One [[Christmas Episode]] is the shining example -- throughout the episode, everyone thinks of Winchester as a creep because when the 4077th hosted a group of Korean orphans with a potluck dinner, Winchester's contribution was a
* [[Not So Above It All]]: Just as capable of pranking as Hawkeye and B.J.. In his first appearance, he even turns the tables on them with a snake in the bed prank. He even would collude with pretty much the entire camp to help teach Hawkeye a lesson in one episode.
** He states that he enjoys [[Tom and Jerry]] cartoons
* [[Officer and a Gentleman]]: Sometimes the gentleman would cause the jerkass behaviour; sometimes it would be used to crack the jerkass shell.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Frequently. Almost every few episodes.
* [[Smug Snake]]: Occasionally, whenever the writers wanted to emphasize his jerkass tendencies.
== Recurring characters ==
=== Spearchucker Jones ===
Originally introduced in [[The Movie]] as a ringer for an interunit football game. [[Put on a Bus]] when the writers
* [[Put
=== Pvt. Igor Straminsky ===
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:M*A*S*H (television)]]
[[Category:Characters]]
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