Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)/Characters

Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster
""I mean to say, I know perfectly well that I've got, roughly speaking, half the amount of brain a normal bloke ought to possess. And when a girl comes along who has about twice the regular allowance, she too often makes a bee line for me with the love light in her eyes. I don't know how to account for it, but it is so.""
 * A Friend in Need: He never lets down a pal in distress, to the point where he can be quite the Determinator.
 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Pretty much any time he gets a little sozzled.
 * Altum Videtur: He sometimes quotes Latin tags, usually of the schoolboy variety, quite unnecessarily.
 * Badly-Battered Babysitter: Any time he has to look after some irresponsible young chump (or, in one case, dog).
 * Big Brother Instinct: Tends to develop it easily, perhaps as a side effect of Chronic Hero Syndrome.
 * Black Sheep: Extremely out-of-place in his Big Screwed-Up Family, he hardly gets along with any of his relatives. His Aunt Agatha disapproves of his lifestyle and spends a lot of time trying to turn him into a credit to the name of Wooster, to no avail.
 * Buffy-Speak: Well, the Genteel Interbellum Setting version.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Catch Phrase:
 * "This is a bit thick."
 * "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party."
 * (in the narration) "… And I meant it to sting."
 * "… if that's the word I want." / "What's the word I want?" / "That's the word I want."
 * "The Code of the Woosters". (In the same vein, beginning sentences with "We Woosters..." or "We Woosters know when...")
 * Child-Hater: Justified due to the series' constant use of the Bratty Half-Pint trope. He does have a fondness for little girls, although even that tendency seems to have vanished as of "Bertie Changes His Mind".
 * Chick Magnet: Although he claims to have bad luck with women in general, even he's noticed that he has a remarkable tendency to attract exactly the kind of girl he most fears.

"Providence looks after all the chumps of this world, and personally, I'm all for it."
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: In a serious case of The Blind Leading the Blind, he sometimes has to play this role for his crazier friends, Bingo Little in particular.
 * The Dandy
 * Deadpan Snarker: Believe it or not. Not to the same extent as Jeeves, of course, but he certainly has his moments.
 * The Ditherer: Due to letting Jeeves run his life. Aunt Dahlia actually calls him "poor ditherer" in one story.
 * Drama Queen: Everything he does is Serious Business, to the point where retaliation in a prank war is a heroic defense of the Wooster name likened to participation in the Crusades. After being forced to sing at a "clean, bright entertainment", he goes into Shell-Shocked Veteran mode, insisting that the pain he went through was "unparalleled since the days of the early Martyrs."
 * Dreadful Musician: Not as a general rule--even if you don't count his excellent piano playing in the TV series, he's said to be a good singer with a "light, pleasant baritone". Though his playing of the banjolele in Thank You, Jeeves isn't terrible, his sheer devotion to it causes his neighbors in the flat collectively give him the ultimatum to give it up or clear out, and even Jeeves deserts him rather than put up with it in isolated quarters. (When the TV series adapted the plot, the banjolele was replaced with a trombone.)
 * Et Tu, Brute?: His reaction upon being betrayed or let down by Jeeves.
 * Expy: Of Wodehouse's earlier character Reggie Pepper. A few of Reggie's stories were even rewritten to star Bertie (with Jeeves in tow) instead.
 * Extreme Doormat: He can be talked into pretty much anything. He suffers the worst of one Zany Scheme after another because he's simply unable to say "no" to a friend. Besides that, he's afraid to stand up to his aunt, and he lets Jeeves dictate every facet of his existence, even down to the details of his wardrobe. Attempts to assert his rights by keeping an article of clothing Jeeves disapproves of invariably give out by the end of the story.
 * Fatal Attractor
 * Family Honor: "We Woosters have our code." (It's "never let a pal down".)
 * Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Such as his banjolele kick in Thank You, Jeeves.
 * The Fool:

""You would see him face a furious head master with a sort of dauntless look in those big blue eyes of his...""
 * For Happiness
 * Genius Ditz: He thinks of himself as such, since when it comes to figuring out if people are in love, he is "Hawkshaw the Detective himself in person". In a slight meta-example, as many critics have pointed out, he has a gift for language and humorous phrasing, due to being written by PG Wodehouse. The TV series made him an accomplished piano player, as well.
 * Gratuitous French: He often uses French phrases, sometimes wondering if they're correct.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Jeeves.
 * Hidden Depths
 * Honour Before Reason: The Code of the Woosters demands he marry any girl who believes he is in love with her, whether he likes it or not.
 * Idle Rich
 * I Need a Freaking Drink: His automatic stress response.
 * Infinite Supplies: He never runs out of money, no matter how much he spends or has to pay in fines.
 * Informed Flaw: He doesn't appeal to most girls, just every girl who actually appears.
 * Innocent Blue Eyes: Mentioned specifically by Chuffy in Thank You, Jeeves.

"Most fellows, no doubt, are all for having their valets confine their activities to creasing trousers and what not without trying to run the home; but it's different with Jeeves. Right from the first day he came to me, I have looked on him as a sort of guide, philosopher, and friend."
 * In Touch with His Feminine Side
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: Cats instinctively take a liking to him.
 * Lazy Bum
 * Like Brother and Sister: With his ex-fianceé Pauline Stoker in Thank You, Jeeves. Really! It's Not What It Looks Like!
 * Man Child
 * Nice Guy
 * Nice to the Waiter:

"...my ideal wife was something quite different, something a lot more clinging and drooping and prattling, and what not."
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon: Hence his avoidance of Honoria Glossop and her ilk.


 * However, these ideal traits do need to be moderated; Madeline Basset fits this description to a tee, and he is equally terrified by the prospect of marrying her.
 * Not a Morning Person: Does not take kindly to being awoken before noon.
 * Obfuscating Insanity: More than one scheme has been pulled off only because Jeeves told everyone involved that Bertie was insane. This doesn't make him happy in The Inimitable Jeeves, but by Very Good, Jeeves! he's gotten used to it and even goes along with it if necessary.
 * Odd Couple: With Jeeves.
 * Parental Abandonment: His parents presumably died when he was little, and he was raised by his aunts and uncles.
 * Ping-Pong Naivete: His level of stupidity is entirely dependent on the Rule of Funny.
 * Pity the Kidnapper: In "Helping Freddie".
 * Rich Boredom: Develops it briefly in "Bertie Changes His Mind", though it doesn't last.
 * Seemingly-Profound Fool: Occasionally ends up in this position.
 * Self-Deprecation: The narration is full of it.
 * Shout-Out/To Shakespeare: Frequently indulges in these, though he doesn't always get the quote right. Fortunately, Jeeves always knows the real one.
 * The So-Called Coward: He cheerfully acknowledges his cowardice in the television series, along with his quite rational fear of the latest spurned fiance out for his blood, but nonetheless always ends up facing them.
 * Sophisticated As Hell
 * Spoiled Sweet: It's noted that the richest member of the Drones is the meanest. Bertie is the second richest, and the nicest chap in the club.
 * Spot of Tea: Has been known to rhapsodize about the glories of the sacred British beverage. Additionally, he can't wake up without it.
 * Talks Like a Simile
 * Temporary Love Interest: Subverted: Bertie generally falls out of love with the girl by the end of the book (if he's in love with her at all). In later books where it looks like he's safe, previous fiancées display an alarming tendency to get engaged with Bertie again, inevitably breaking it off by the end of story,
 * Third Person Person: In the narration, he references himself as "Bertram" on a semi-frequent basis.
 * Translator Buddy: Often has to translate Jeeves' Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness for the benefit of those present.
 * Upperclass Twit
 * Verbal Tic: And plenty of them, what?
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jeeves, Bingo Little and Aunt Dahlia.
 * The White Prince: Bertie is a type one "innocent and childlike". He's especially prone to this when he and Jeeves are separated

Reginald Jeeves
"All the while I supposed he had been landing me in the soup, he had really been steering me clear away from it."
 * The Ace: Not only is he the perfect "gentlemen's personal gentlemen", he seems to be utterly infallible at anything he tries.
 * Ascended Extra: Literally. In the first short story featuring Bertie, "Extricating Young Gussie", he simply appeared in the background as the necessary valet, and, according to Word of God, was never intended as anything more than that. It wasn't until the second story that he became the conniving genius of a gentleman's gentleman we know today.
 * Battle Butler: Generally handles things with his wits alone, but is equally able to descend to violence if the situation calls for it.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: Assisting his master in theft, blackmail and gambling is perfectly fine. Errors in dinner dress are not.
 * Captain Obvious: But when you have to explain things to Bertie, stating the obvious becomes necessary.
 * Catch Phrase:
 * "I endeavor to give satisfaction."
 * "Very good, sir."
 * "Most disturbing, sir."
 * "Indeed, sir?"
 * The Chessmaster: Has an uncanny knowledge of people and situations and a knack for The Plan.
 * Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Almost to the point of being The Caretaker. Aunt Agatha has referred to him as Bertie's "keeper", and he doesn't even go on vacation without making sure that Bertie is staying with friends, relatives or a substitute valet.
 * The Comically Serious: Unfazed by even the most ridiculous situations Bertie gets into.
 * The Confidant
 * Cruel to Be Kind: Constantly. Bertie sums it up nicely after The Reveal in "Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit":

"Jeeves came in looking as fresh as a dewy violet. It's a mystery to me how he does it."
 * A Day in the Limelight: He narrates only one story in the canon: "Bertie Changes His Mind".
 * Fascinating Eyebrow: The most obvious expression of his emotions is the elevation of his eyebrow, in mere fractions of an inch.
 * Friend Versus Lover: Doesn't like the idea of Bertie getting married.
 * Gratuitous French: Just as prone to it as Bertie.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Will throw anyone, especially Bertie, under the bus if it's necessary for a scheme.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Bertie.
 * Hidden Depths: Bertie constantly discovers startling things about him; for instance, the fact that he's quite the man-about-town when he's not valeting.
 * Hypercompetent Sidekick
 * Instant Waking Skills:

"Bertie: Mr. Little tells me that when he came to the big scene in 'Only a Factory Girl,' his uncle gulped like a stricken bull-pup.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Fashionable: Non-romantic example. To him, the valet's task of managing the employer's wardrobe is Serious Business, and he gives away, sends back, and/or utterly destroys anything he doesn't approve of, with or without Bertie's permission.
 * The Jeeves: Trope Namer.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Particularly evident in the Jeeves-narrated "Bertie Changes His Mind", where his resolve almost falters upon seeing how distraught Bertie is due to his scheming.
 * The Lancer
 * Last-Name Basis: Bertie was surprised to learn that Jeeves even has a first name.
 * Living Emotional Crutch: To Bertie, although this lessens somewhat as the series continues.
 * Living MacGuffin: Most of Bertie's friends want him to work for them, and at least one offered him twice the amount Bertie was paying him. When he gives notice in Thank You, Jeeves, he goes into what Bertie refers to as "circulation"..
 * My Brain Is Big: His head bulges out slightly at the back.
 * Nerves of Steel: "You can't rattle Jeeves."
 * The Not Love Interest
 * Not So Above It All: Let's face it, he's never really above it all. He just gives everyone that impression.
 * Odd Couple: With Bertie.
 * Parental Substitute: Bertie seems to see him as such--and indeed, he often looks upon the young master in a manner described as "paternal".
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Seems to have a soft spot for romance novels.

Jeeves: Indeed, sir?

Bertie: Where Lord Claude takes the girl in his arms, you know, and says

Jeeves: I am familiar with the passage, sir. It is distinctly moving."


 * Tall, Dark and Handsome: In the TV series at any rate
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Sometimes slips into this, confusing everyone in the vicinity. Bertie has been known to translate.
 * Servile Snarker
 * Smart People Know Latin
 * The Stoic
 * Undying Loyalty: Jeeves will do anything to stay with his master, generally to Bertie's inconvenience. Bertie calls it Jeeves' "feudal spirit".
 * Verbal Judo: The undeniable master. Can soften the most furious person or the angriest of Powder Keg Crowds with a few smooth words.
 * Verbal Tic: Perhaps not so much a verbal tic as a respectful habit, but still, he says "sir" in almost every sentence he speaks to Bertie. This made for a bit of comedy in the TV series when he and Bertie tried to sing a Call-and-Response Song.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: He snarks at Bertie, manipulates him, gives him the cold shoulder when he most wants sympathy, gets him into trouble, and destroys his stuff. Why? Because he cares.

Aunt Agatha

 * Deadpan Snarker: When confronted with her nephew.
 * Grande Dame
 * Evil Matriarch
 * Family Honor: Her obsession. She's willing to go even as far as bribery to keep family members from marrying into common blood.
 * Rich Bitch

Aunt Dahlia

 * Cool Old Lady
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Intergenerational Friendship: She and Bertie act more like a couple of drinking buddies than an aunt and a nephew.
 * Tough Love
 * Upperclass Twit: Despite being snarky and assertive, she's not the brightest bulb.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Bertie. She generally greets him with a friendly barrage of insults.

Charles Edward "Biffy" Biffen

 * Forgetful Jones
 * Upperclass Twit

Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle

 * Cannot Spit It Out: When it comes to declarations of love, he gets flustered and talks about newts.
 * Geek / Nerd: Obsessed with newts.
 * In Touch with His Feminine Side
 * It's All About Me
 * The Teetotaler: His drink of choice is orange juice.

Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps

 * Breakout Character: The star of the novel Barmy in Wonderland.
 * The Ditz
 * Dumb Blonde
 * Upperclass Twit

Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop

 * Big Eater
 * Embarrassing First Name
 * Get Rich Quick Scheme: Plumbo Jumbo, his idea about importing American cars and trying to sell his cockaleeky soup just to name a few.
 * Hidden Depths: In one story, he ends up on a football field full of local toughs who resent his participation and beat him black and blue--until he decides enough is enough and proceeds to pummel them. Bertie is naturally shocked.
 * It's All About Me

Richard "Bingo" Little
"You know, with the most charitable feelings towards him, there are moments when you can't help thinking that young Bingo ought to be in some sort of a home."
 * Breakout Character: Wodehouse gave him his own series of short stories, most of which can be found in the collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets.
 * Catch Phrase: "We were at school together!"
 * The Gambling Addict: Frequently has to take tutoring jobs to make up for the money he loses on horse racing.
 * : As of The Inimitable Jeeves, although he still gets himself in plenty of trouble with.
 * Idle Rich
 * In Love with Love
 * It's All About Me
 * Jerkass: He spends a lot of his time coaxing Bertie into bad situations and then blaming him for everything, not to mention the way he treats his uncle.
 * Serial Romeo
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: With, although most of it is on her end.
 * Taking Advantage of Generosity: He knows Bertie can't refuse him a thing.
 * Upperclass Twit: Arguably even twittier than Bertie himself.


 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Bertie.

Rev. Harold "Stinker" Pinker

 * The Klutz
 * Nice Guy

Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham
""I would always hesitate to recommend as a life's companion a young lady with quite such a vivid shade of red hair. Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous.""
 * Breakout Character: Starred in a few short stories of her own and appeared in the novel Barmy in Wonderland.
 * Evil Redhead: According to Jeeves.


 * Fiery Redhead
 * Girl of the Week
 * The Prankster: Bertie admires her "espiglerie"--French for "impish or playful behavior". He's a bit less amused when.
 * The Vamp

Madeline Bassett

 * Abhorrent Admirer: To Bertie. Unlike most examples of the trope, she's not ugly - she's actually very attractive, but unbearably sentimental.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Often comes out with bizarre, pseudo-poetic pronouncements
 * Dumb Blonde
 * Girl of the Week
 * Glurge Addict
 * Hair of Gold
 * Love Freak
 * Progressively Prettier: In her first appearence, she's decribed as "pretty enough" but not "the sort of breath-taker that takes the breath". In later novels, she's invariably described as a bombshell.
 * Tastes Like Diabetes
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel: In Jeeves and the Mating Season she does this quite literally when she compares Bertie to the main character of Rosie M. Banks Merven Keen Clubman

Stephanie "Stiffy" Byng

 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Stinker.
 * Spoiled Brat
 * It's All About Me

Florence Craye

 * Abhorrent Admirer: To Bertie again. She's very attractive - that's why he engaged her - but she has a horrifyingly caustic personality.
 * Girl of the Week
 * I Can Change My Beloved
 * Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: Inverted. Despite the fact that she's mean, manipulative and utterly unsuited to Bertie in every way, besides being the kind of girl he typically avoids, he stays with her because she has a nice profile.
 * Rich Bitch: Her servants' nickname for her is "Lady Caligula."
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Not as a general rule but definitely when Bertie shows up in her bedroom in the middle of the night

Honoria Glossop

 * Abhorrent Admirer
 * Brawn Hilda
 * Genius Bruiser
 * I Can Change My Beloved
 * Noblewoman's Laugh: Bertie's descriptions of her laughter are extremely...creative. He has likened it to, among other things, a charge of cavalry and "the Scotch express going under a bridge".
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance: To her cousin Heloise Pringle.

Sir Roderick Glossop

 * Breakout Character: Shows up in the Blandings Castle novels
 * Heel Face Turn: Though he starts out as an antagonist he mellows out considerably by the end of the series.
 * Overprotective Dad
 * Not So Different: Though at first he and Bertie couldn't appear more different it turns out that they both stole biscuts from their headmasters when they were kids and that Sir Roderick used to help his buddies with their hairbrained schemes.
 * Psycho Psychologist: Though a mild example of this trope a lot of his ideas are extremely misguided not the mention the fact that he seems more neurotic than some of the people he believes to be mentally ill (i.e. Bertie)
 * The Shrink

Sir Watkyn Bassett

 * Grumpy Old Man
 * Jerkass: certaintly to Bertie
 * Overprotective Dad

Roderick Spode

 * Large Ham
 * The Comically Serious: Part of what makes his so funny is how deadly serious he is while making the hammiest, most pompous pronouncements ever.
 * Insane Troll Logic: The thinking behind all of his "reforms"
 * Nazi Nobleman
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Was created by Wodehouse as a parody/TakeThat toward Oswald Mosley
 * Real Men Wear Pink: He's a would be dictator who designs ladies underwear
 * Those Wacky Nazis: Literally

Claude and Eustace Wooster

 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: In their very first appearance, they're arrested for while drunk.
 * Put on a Bus: In "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace", they're.
 * Single-Minded Twins
 * The Thing That Would Not Leave: In "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace".
 * Trickster Twins
 * Wacky Fratboy Hijinx: The reason that Bertie wound up with Sir Roderick Glossop's hat and cats and fish in his bedroom, also why they got kicked out of Oxford.

Rosie M. Banks

 * Glurge Addict
 * Stylistic Suck: Her novels.
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel
 * Uptown Girl: The premise of all her novels.
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel
 * Uptown Girl: The premise of all her novels.

Marmaduke "Chuffy" Chuffnel

 * Berserk Button: Being compared to Lord Wotwotleigh (a Gold Digger from a musical comedy).
 * Embarrassing First Name
 * Impoverished Patrician
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
 * Manly Men Can Hunt: "He rides, swims, shoots, chivvies foxes with loud cries, and generally bustles about."
 * Not with Them for the Money

Pauline Stoker

 * Brainless Beauty: It doesn't seem to have occurred to her that might give people the wrong idea.
 * Genki Girl
 * Like Brother and Sister: With Bertie, although considerable awkwardness is added by the fact that they used to be engaged and everybody assumes they still like each other.
 * Upperclass Twit: Of the female variety.
 * Weakness Turns Her On: The reason she accepted Bertie's proposal..

Anatole

 * French Cuisine Is Haughty
 * Living MacGuffin
 * Supreme Chef

Oliver "Sippy" Sipperly

 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: He punches a policeman, kicking off the plot of "Without the Option".
 * Dreadful Musician: His singing is apparently quite awful (at any rate, Bertie thinks so).
 * Insecure Love Interest: To Gwendolyn Moon in "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy".