Saved by the Bell/Characters
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Characters from Saved by the Bell include:
Zachary "Zack" Morris
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Big Man on Campus: Interestingly enough, he was clearly not the Big Man on Campus when the show started, and seemed almost like a guy who was desperately trying to be popular. Apparently, whatever he did worked. As the series went on, Zack appeared to get more popular around school, until by senior year he had truly become the Big Man on Campus. The fact that he went from a scrawny runt during freshman year to a more muscular basketball player and track team runner (and his legendary status around school as the Loveable Rogue) may have had something to do with it.
- Brilliant but Lazy: Invoked in the episode where the characters get their SAT scores back and Zack scores extremely high. The other characters realize out loud that although Zack's lazy, he's a lot smarter than he lets on. Zack himself tells them to keep it quiet, since he has "a reputation to look out for."
- Chick Magnet
- Deadpan Snarker
- Handsome Lech
- The Hero
- High School Hustler - Arguably the Trope Codifier to Ferris Bueller's Trope Maker.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Launcher of a Thousand Ships - It helps that the show at one point or another ship teased him with all the major female characters. And we're not even mentioning all the Ho Yay with Slater and Screech.
- Loveable Rogue
- Obfuscating Stupidity: as hinted above, Zack was far smarter than he let on.
- Trickster: Part of what cements his Alternate Character Interpretation as a Physical God is how closely he matches the Trickster archetype.
Kelly Kapowski
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- The Chick
- The Ditz
- Informed Attractiveness - Kelly was hot, no doubt, but few would argue that Lisa or Jessie were not just as hot. Within canon, however, Kelly was treated like a supermodel parading through the school.
- Ivy League for Everyone - Probably the worst offender; 1100 on her SAT and from a cash strapped family yet made it into the same prestigious (if fictional) university as Zach (high SAT/upper middle-class family), Screech (Valedictorian), and Slater (sports scholarship.)
- Military Brat: Somewhat Inverted as even though her father, Frank worked at a defence plant, she never had to move around , unlike Slater.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch - She's head cheerleader and the most popular girl in school but she's also the most sweet natured character in the show (and it isn't because she's Spoiled Sweet either because she's from a poor family.)
Lisa Marie Turtle
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Alpha Bitch - Sweetest version possible, but she had shades of Rich Bitch from time to time.
- Book Dumb
- Fan-Preferred Couple - Matching her up with Zack is surprisingly popular in the fandom, despite only being teased in a few episodes.
- The Fashionista: Throughout the series. Also, she apparently becomes one in the literal sense as an adult, as she gets accepted to a prestigious fashion institute at the end of high school.
- Feigning Intelligence - "What is Art? Are we Art? Is Art Art?"
- Sassy Black Woman - Definitely had the best put-downs of the cast.
- "You want toasted buns? Go sit on a MICROWAVE!!!"
- Spoiled Sweet
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute - Sort of. After Kelly and Jesse left the show Lisa got a noticable boost in both popularity and brains so she could step into their shoes as the Pretty One and the Smart One to play against Tori's Wild One. Lisa was always popular in canon, but after the other two left it's like she became the only hot girl left at Bayside.
- Token Minority
Samuel "Screech" Powers
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Abhorrent Admirer - Towards Lisa, sometimes verging on Stalker with a Crush (played strictly for comedy).
- Butt Monkey
- Ditzy Genius
- Extroverted Nerd
- Flanderization - See the New Class.
- Hollywood Nerd
- The Smart Guy - Qualifies as he becomes Valedictorian at Bayside.
- Teen Genius - He did build his own robot.
- Took a Level In Dumbass - Oh did he ever.
- Wacky Guy
Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater Sanchez
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- The Big Guy
- Big Man on Campus - In the first season, and it was the source of his and Zack's hostility.
- Chick Magnet
- Embarrassing First Name - Albert Clifford. No wonder he prefers to go by "A.C." or Slater.
- Licensed Sexist
- Military Brat
- New Transfer Student: Technically. He transferred to Bayside at the very beginning of the series, so he's not any newer to the audience than the rest of the characters. However, to the characters on the show, he was "the new guy," and the first season kept emphasizing this.
- Romantic False Lead - Early on in the Zack/Kelly relationship.
- Straw Misogynist: At times, always played for laughs.
- Walking Shirtless Scene - the show took every available chance to get Slater shirtless or in tights. Cue sitcom "Woooooooh~"
Jessica Myrtle Spano
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- The "B" Grade: Jessie's greatest fear.
- Class Representative: If not literally then at least in terms of personality.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: As noted above, Myrtle.
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Zack: "That's what I named my turtle." |
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- Granola Girl
- Huge Schoolgirl
- Ivy League for Everyone: A literal example, as she is accepted to Columbia upon her graduation (after several of the other Ivy League schools turn her down, presumably due to her low SAT score).
- Soapbox Sadie
- Straw Feminist
Principal Richard Belding
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Butt Monkey: Usually at the hands of Zack's antics.
- Catch Phrase - "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?"
- Former Teen Rebel
- Playing Against Type: Most people that know Belding on and off the show to be very strict but a kindhearted person. However one particular episode; The Yearbook, he was more than willing to restrain Zack while Slater was gonna punch him. Zack did get out of it with his classic Time Out power and boy did Belding learn the hard way that he can't be sadistic without consequences.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Even Zack occasionally admits that Belding is a lot more reasonable than he usually gives him credit for. During the graduation episode, Zack gives Belding a hug. In the "Wedding in Vegas" movie when Belding is a guest at Zack and Kelly's wedding, Zack finally admits that he appreciates Mr. Belding and says "You made high school challenging."
Tori Scott
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Biker Babe
- Creator's Pet - Being a Replacement Scrappy, the show had to do a lot of shilling to make her seem cool to viewers. It didn't really work.
- The Ladette
- Mary Sue
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute - Replaced Kelly as Zach's love interest, though otherwise didn't much resemble her. This lack of resemblance didn't stop her becoming a...
- Replacement Scrappy
- It should be noted that the only reason for the introduction of Tori is that at the last minute NBC ordered more episodes to be filmed for the final season, just as the series was wrapping up and all the cast's contracts had expired. Cast members Elizabeth Berkley and Tiffani Amber-Thiessen (Who played Jessie Spano and Kelly Kapowski, respectively) simply wanted to move on and refused to resign. As a result, the character of Tori was hastily created to fill in the roles left by the absence of the two aforementioned characters, and especially in the case of Kaposwki's absence, serve as a love interest for Zack Morris.
- What Happened to the Mouse? - Kelly and Jessie disappear, Tori appears and takes their place for nine episodes, then disappears, Jessie and Kelly reappear and everything carries on as normal as if Tori never existed.
- The Tori episodes were filmed after the series finale and the made-for-TV movie that were supposed to wrap up the plot of the series, but were inserted into the middle of the season, as their storylines take place at the high school, in the usual canon of the series. This has lead to a series of gigantic plot holes that fans call the "Tori Paradox": Out of nowhere, Jessie and Kelly unexplainably disappear; Tori starts as a new student at the school and instantly befriends the main cast, who are carrying on as if Jessie and Kelly never existed; She is established as some kind of hybrid of Jessie and Kelly, thus she is beautiful and athletic while being smart, snarky and feminist; Zack begins a romantic relationship with her with absolutely no mention of his relationship with Kelly and showing no remorse for the fact that he is potentially cheating on her with Tori; Zack and Tori break up and all of a sudden, she is gone with no explanation of her fate; Jessie and Kelly reappear and everything reverts back to how it was before Tori appeared, Zack and Kelly get engaged and everyone graduates with no mention of Tori whatsoever, as if she was never there in the first place.
- New Transfer Student
Violet Anne Bickerstaff
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Stacey Carosi
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Slap Slap Kiss - With Zack
- Big Applesauce - She was a New Yorker who only goes to California during the summers to work at her father's beach club.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Viewers will probably instantly recognize her for her later role as Carrie Heffernan from The King of Queens.
Mike Rogers
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Landlord: OK, not actually a landlord, as the characters were living in a college dorm, but he was their Resident Advisor, so Landlord is probably the closest trope that fits.
- Glory Days: A former NFL player for the San Francisco 49'ers, Mike often wistfully reminisces about his days as a football player, and clearly loves the sport. On one occasion, while complaining about a Jerkass from his old team, he admits that he's jealous, and says "He's getting paid millions to play a game that I would have been willing to play for free."
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Hardcore NFL fans will recognize Bob Golic (who played Mike) as a defensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns during the 1980s (or for being the older brother of fellow defensive lineman and Mike and Mike in the Morning co-host Mike Golic).
- Embarrassing Tattoo: We'll let the quote speak for itself
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Screech: "Coach has Big Bird on his butt!" |
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Susan McMahon, Dean of Students
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Iron Lady
- California University: The college where she works
- God Save Us From the Queen
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Played by the awesome Holland Taylor, aka the mom from Two and A Half Men.
- Crowning Moment of Awesome: How badass/scary is Dean McMahon? On one occasion, when trying to shut down a zany dorm party orchestrated by Zack, she storms into a room that has an angry guard dog in it. The large dog growls and barks at her, and prepares to pounce. McMahon simply gives it an icy glare and says "Dont. Even. Think about it." The guard dog covers its face and begins whimpering. It's still in this position when she leaves the room.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm
- What Could Have Been: A very fun character, but alas, she joined the recurring cast of The College Years very late into its run, as the show was nearing cancellation. If the show had lasted more than one season, she would have surely continued to play a larger role.
Minor Characters
Ollie Creekley
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Eric, aka Jessie's wicked stepbrother
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Becky Belding
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Alliterative Name
- Screaming Birth
- The Unseen for most of the series. Mr. Belding constantly talked about her, but we never actually met her until an episode during senior year.
Big Pete
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Ox
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Jerk Jock sometimes. By the end though, he, Screech, and Big Pete have a "breakthrough" during Mr. Belding's bizarre group-psychotherapy session in gym class, and Ox ends up swearing off making fun of nerds again.
Ginger
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Brainless Beauty
- Dumb Blonde
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Hey, it's Veronica Vaughn from Billy Madison!
- Shallow Love Interest: Lampshaded by Tori as the type of bimbo Zack dates (when he isn't in a steady relationship with Kelly/Stacey/Tori herself).
Sylvester
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Maxwell Nerdstrom
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
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