Scrubs/Characters: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''"I don't think people are meant to be by themselves. That's why if you actually find someone you care about, it's important to let go of the little things, even if you can't let go all the way. Because nothing sucks more than feeling all alone, no matter how many people are around."''}}

Simply known as JDJ.D., he is the show's protagonist and resident doctor. The show depicts the problems and fears he has to face in the hospital, accompanied by his [[Inner Monologue]]. JD may just be the embodiment of a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] for his most prominent habit of daydreaming, which almost always ends with a weird comment [[Did I Just Say That Out Loud?|said out loud]] which, of course, nobody but him understands. Despite being an enthusiastic, clumsy person with a lot of self-doubt, he is an intelligent good-by-heart doctor, who cares deeply about his patients.

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: However eccentric he becomes (Andand Theythey really pushed this one in later seasons), he is consistently shown as an excellent doctor, with Cox describing him as one of the best Hehe's ever seen.

* [[Camp Straight]]: You would be mistaken for thinking that JDJ.D. is gay after his [[Flanderization]].

* [[Flanderization]]: JDJ.D. went from a genuine, though quirky, person into some kind of extremely girly super-geek.

** [[Word of God]] says that Sacred Heart is in southern California and someone like JDJ.D. makes up about half the male population so most likely the women of the surrounding town are just used to men like him.

* [[Inner Monologue]]: JDJ.D.'s inner monologue pretty much narrates the entire series, save a few episodes.

* [[The Intern]]: First season.

* [[It Never Gets Any Easier]]: JDJ.D. ''wants'' to care so much about his patients, so it is [[Justified Trope|justified]].

* [[Keet]]: As close as a non-anime character can get.

* [[Nice Guy]]: One of the nicest around, though it didn't get him any sympathy from the characters (Oror, frustratingly, the show writers).

* [[Salt and Pepper]]: With JDJ.D. being "Vanilla Bear".

* [[You Suck]]: JDJ.D. doesn't really suck at life, but he does symbolize problems and fears everyone of us has.

{{quote| '''Elliot''': My therapist thinks my trouble in bed stems from a basic fear of intimacy. But I just think it's just because any type of repetitive motion makes me nauseous. Oh, and since I was a little kid, I've always had nightmares about being crushed. <br />

'''Carla:''' That poor shrink. }}

Elliot is another promising young doctor, who initially showed signs of fear and low self-esteem as an intern, but has later grown to become a confident, [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|yet extremely odd]], doctor in the series. She has a tendency to [[Motor Mouth|ramble on]] about her issues as well as stories about her life, but she's extremely intelligent and takes her profession seriously when she must. Due to a fear of commitment, she has a constant on-again-off-again relationship with JDJ.D.

* [[Moment Killer]]: [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Took a Level Inin Jerkass]]: Arguably her behaviourbehavior in Season 3, where she's dating Sean, then hops into bed with J.D., who is still in love with her, only to go running straight back to Sean when he unexpectedly turns up. The fact she accuses him of not being a good friend to her when he is angry about the way she treated him is the lowest point.

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy|"Well Done, Daughter" Guy]]: Her dad, though she eventually learns to rely on her own self-respect.

{{quote| ''"You know, I love how kids of divorce really have the market cornered on family dysfunction. But let me share with you a typical Thanksgiving at the Turk household: It starts with my mother yelling at my sister for yelling at my grandmother who's yelling at the television screen, which happens to be the microwave. And then my militant brother Jabari - formerly Bob - gives my father attitude for using the word black, even though he's referring to the turkey. Which, by the way, only got burnt because instead of turning the oven off, my bi-polar aunt Leslie tried to shove her head in it. But you know what we do? We kiss... and we hug... and we apologize for all the things we said... 'Cause a month later, we gonna get together and do it again at Christmas!"''}}

JDJ.D.'s [[Black Best Friend]], who JDJ.D. has known since they were roommates in college, and Carla's husband. He's a very skilled surgeon, to the point where he often believes that he's unmatched. His attitude does come across as a typical jock, but he takes his work seriously and he gets to know his patients well. He loves basketball, video games, using slang, and making sweet love with his wife.

* [[Black Best Friend]]: Subverted in the later seasons, where he's nearly as much of a geek as JDJ.D. is.

* [[Embarrassing Middle Name]]: When the Todd finds out that Turk's middle name is Duncan, JDJ.D. claims it's because Turk's dad loved donuts.

* [[Only Sane Man]]: When he and JDJ.D. are not being [[Heterosexual Life Partners]].

* [[Salt and Pepper]]: With Turk being "Chocolate Bear".

* [[The Watson]]: Sometimes, to JDJ.D.

{{quote| {{spoiler|"Where do you think we are?"}}}}

* [[Character Tics]]: His habit of touching his nose. John C. McGinley stated that this is an homage to Paul Newman's character in ''[[The Sting]]''.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: He gives snarky one-liners when he isn't ranting.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: "My Lunch".

** Kelso = Bobbo.

** Elliot = Barbie.

** Turk = Gandhi.

** JDJ.D. = Newbie, every girl name in existence.

*** On at least one occasion he literally called JDJ.D. "Girl's Name.".

{{quote| '''Dr. Cox:''' Hey, girl's name!<br />

'''J.D.:''' What?<br />

'''Dr. Cox:''' Gimme a break, I got a lot on my mind, Ellen--oh! Look at that, I bounced back. }}

* [["No Respect" Guy]]: ''His'' perception.

* [[Perma-Stubble]]: In seasonSeason 5.

* [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules]]: The exact reason why he hates Kelso.

{{quote| ''"Well, you're a surgeon. So, you've got the god-complex, the cockiness, the whole "married to the job" thing. You're cute, but you're very, very aware of it. You have no idea what I'm like, so all of your feelings for me are coming from down there [points at his crotch]. But most of all, I'm looking for the real thing; and you're nothing but a little boy who's not used to being told "no." So there's a bunch of reasons. Pick your favorite."''}}

She's the [[Spicy Latina]] who's the resident nurse of Sacred Heart and wife of Turk. Carla molded JDJ.D. and Elliot over the years with her tendency to [[Mama Bear|be there for them]], which has resulted in their friendship. She can be rather hotheaded to people and feel like her friends are overwhelming her with her quirks, but she cares about them and it shows.

* [[Berserk Button]]: Carla is not [[Mistaken Nationality|Puerto Rican]], she's Dominican.

* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: In one of JDJ.D.'s dream sequences, as a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' and ''[[X-Men]]''.

* [[Only Sane Man]]: The sanest of the principal cast and mostly everyone else who works at the hospital.

{{quote| ''"Dr. Dorian, do you not realize, that you're nothing more than a large pair of scrubs to me? For God's sake, the only reason I carry this chart around is so I can pretend to remember your damn name!"''}}

* [[Big Eater]]: To a realistic degree.

** [[Hidden Heart of Gold]]/[[Jerkass Facade]]: Sort of. He's not above being a [[Jerkass]] to those that work for him. However, decisions that can harm some patients and simultaneously benefit the hospital take a toll on him -- even though he doesn't let anyone else see it. He also revealed that he's well-aware of the staff treating patients without insurance, but pretended not to notice. And although he does seem to really have a bad relationship with his wife, he does care deeply for his son, remaining connected and offering advice, even at one point seeing if JDJ.D. was free to date his son.

*** He has a good relationship with his wife too (more or less). It's hinted she is his college sweetheart, and when she dies in the 9thninth season he reveals that he's taking longer hours at the hospital purely because he doesn't like going home to an empty house. Given how open he is with everyone else about his infidelity, it might be reasonably speculated that she knows and is okay with it, since in the end the two are still married after all those years (not to mention, the anti-depressants are designed purely to kill her own out-of-control sex drive). His treatment of Edith is mostly [[Played for Laughs]], but read between the lines and its clear he cares about her.

**** On the other hand, the only reason he stopped being a [[Jerkass]].... was because he was taking less hours, and he's STILL not a nice person... he's more a [[Jerk with a Heart of Jerk]], then the latter.

* [[Mentor Archetype]]: In late seasonSeason 7 and throughout seasonSeason 8, after retiring he is able to drop the "mean bureacrat" facade and tap into his years of experience as Chief of Medicine and as a doctor in general to guide the characters. In particular, {{spoiler|he helps Dr. Cox with understanding the responsibilities that come with being Chief of Medicine and teaches J.D. that he needed to be what Dr. Cox was to him, a thankless [[Morality Chain]]}}.

* [[Put on a Bus]]: Subverted twice. When he's fired in seasonSeason 7, he seemingly leaves the hospital for good,; however, seasonSeason 8 keeps him as a regular by having him hang around the hospital coffee shop all day. At the end of seasonSeason 8, he decides to leave Sacred Heart to become a doctor again else where, even taking his favorite chair from the copy shop with him. Then come seasonSeason 9, there's a [[Time Jump]] and he takes a teaching job at the new hospital after his wife dies.

{{quote| "Write this down, Perry. I'm old, and I honestly don't care what people think about anything I do." (farts) "That was me, folks!"}}

{{quote| ''"You seem unhappy. I like that."''}}

The [[Almighty Janitor]] who has a dislike of doctors, especially JDJ.D. When he's not tormenting JDJ.D. at every chance he gets, he tells zany stories (which are mostly lies) to the staff and helps out Elliot when he can. He's also insane.

* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: In-universe example. In the Season 9 premiere, Turk states that the Janitor didn't know JDJ.D. was leaving the hospital for good. Upon being informed of this, the Janitor just disappeared and no one knows where he went.

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: "His Story III.". The Janitor feels like he doesn't make a difference in the hospital, but then a paralyzed patient he spent the episode talking to thanks him for treating him as a person and not as an object.

* [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]: ''Everything'' JDJ.D. says to him is taken in the most insulting way possible.

* [[I Just Want to Have Friends]]: Type B... more or less. He told Elliot that she was the only person on the hospital staff that treated him as a person. Neil Flynn also theorized that the Janitor's pranks were a very odd way of showing overtures of friendship to JDJ.D.

* [[No Name Given]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] and obviously played for laughs. In the seasonSeason 8 finale, the Janitor apparently reveals his name to JDJ.D., but as soon as JDJ.D. leaves, someone else walks by and calls the Janitor by a different name. [[Word of God]] says the name given to JDJ.D., {{spoiler|Glen Matthews}}, is his actual name.

* [[Screwy Squirrel]]: (toTo JD)J.D.

* [[Secret Test of Character]]: Informs JDJ.D. in the finale that the reason for all his pranks are because JDJ.D. failed one in the Pilot. Turns out the penny in the door fell out of JDJ.D.'s pocket accidentally and the Janitor saw it happen, but punished JDJ.D. because ''[[Disproportionate Retribution|he kept lying about it.]]''.

{{quote| '''Janitor''': It was a test of character. You failed. And you lost out on a wonderful friendship.}}

{{quote| ''"I'd like to double '''her''' entendre!"''}}

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Several episodes depict him swapping between his normal personality and a very serious, confident doctor. (e.g. ''"My Hero''". That episode compared Turk and The Todd in their skills, showing The Todd is much more single-minded on the task while Turk is easily distracted by everything else he has to do).)

* [[Hidden Depths]]: He's a surprisingly nice guy on closer inspection (Hehe's very rarely mean or malicious to anyone) and an excellent surgeon.

{{quote| '''Dr. Maddox:''' [looking into Ted's briefcase] Hey... How come all you have in there is a smiley face button and a revolver? <br />

'''Ted:''' Well one's in case I get sad, and the other is in case I get really sad. }}

* [[The Cast Showoff]]: "The Worthless Peons" is Sam Loyd's actual group, "The Blanks.". Even outside of that, they make an effort to showcase Ted's very real singing talent.

** Too bad its revealed she left him for Hooch in his appearance on ''[[Cougar Town]]''.

{{quote| ''"If you talk again, I'm going to eat you!"''}}

* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: With Dr. Cox before getting back together with him, and even with J.D. in her first appearance.

* [[Jerkass]]: Even moresomore so than Dr. Cox.

{{quote| "There's nothing like looking into someone's eyes and seeing part of them '''die'''. Oh! There it goes. Bye bye hope. Bye bye."}}

* [[Yaoi Fangirl]]: The Janitor feeds scone to Kelso = Jordan wanting sex. "Mama's heating up!"

{{quote| ''"Junior, I don't know what you're doing in my area, but you better be looking for some bandages because you're going to need them when I get through with you."''}}

* {{spoiler|[[Death by Irony]]: She constantly tries to prove Cox wrong and tell'stells him that everything in life happens for a reason, naturally Cox refuses to believe it,. Next Day, she is caught in a car accident on the way to work and is put in a coma and subsequently dies.}}.

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]: Delivers one to Dr. Cox as he wouldn't stop challenging her Christian faith with several rants.

{{quote| ''"They're like my children... my big dead children."''}}

{{quote| '''Coroner''': Have you seen this before?<br />

'''Doug''': Seen it? Upstairs, they call that "''a Doug''" }}

** You could theorisetheorize he never cracked under pressure like other more confident interns, because that happened so long ago, that being in that state is ''normal'' for Doug.

* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Lollipops.

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: He's a horrible ''doctor'', but he wouldn't be out of place as a Medical Examiner on ''[[CSI]]'', ''[[NCIS]]'', ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]'', ''[[Cold Case]]'' or any of the other ''[[CSI]]'' rip-offs.

{{quote| ''"Listen, Dr. Dorian, there's not one thing I regret as I lay here right now. I'm ready. I really am."''}}

{{quote| ''"Hey guys, how are you? I'm great! You know me, I'm up, up, up, up, up, and then some fashion naziNazi on the E! Network says that pear-shaped people shouldn't wear stripes, and whoosh, guess who's ear-deep in mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Meheehee."'''}}

A recurring patient of the Sacred Hospital. J.D. and Cox found her rather annoying. {{spoiler|She passed away in seasonSeason 5 due to rabies, which triggered the events of "My Lunch".}}. She's one of the most recurring patients of the series.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: A failed attempt in "My 15 Seconds", although J.D. and Cox manage to figure it out and try to help her. {{spoiler|It's uncertain if it was her cocaine overdose or the rabies that killed her in "My Lunch", but J.D. was wrought with guilt thinking he could have helped her}}.

* {{spoiler|[[The Ghost]]: After her death, she haunts Cox.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Killed Off for Real]]}}

{{quote| ''"Pictures capture moments in time. When they're posed, they're not real. You know, I hate that whole, like, "gneen!" thing. That's why, at a party, you'll see me in the bushes with my camera."''}}

* {{spoiler|[[Killed Off for Real]]: Ben dies from complications due to his leukemia.}}.