List of Parks and Recreation characters
The primary characters of the American television comedy series Parks and Recreation are the employees of the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional Indiana town. The protagonist is Leslie Knope, the deputy parks director as well as serving on city council, and the rest of the ensemble cast consists of her friends and co-workers, including nurse Ann Perkins, parks director Ron Swanson, and parks department employees Tom Haverford, April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer, Jerry Gergich, and Donna Meagle.
While most of the main cast have been with the series since it debuted in April 2009, actors Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joined the cast late in the second season portraying Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt, two state auditors who later take permanent jobs in Pawnee. Paul Schneider was a regular cast member during the first two seasons as city planner Mark Brendanawicz, but he departed at the end of season two. Billy Eichner who portrays Craig Middlebrooks, the "associate administrator" of the Pawnee parks department, recurred throughout the show's sixth season until he was promoted to the main cast in the fourth episode of the seventh season. The majority of Parks and Recreation episodes are set in Pawnee, and most of the recurring and supporting characters are friends of the main characters or residents of the town.
Several guest stars have made appearances on the show, including Louis C.K., John Larroquette, Justin Theroux and Parker Posey. Megan Mullally, Offerman's real-life wife, played his character's ex-wife [|Tammy] Swanson, and Poehler's former husband Will Arnett made an appearance as a man on a blind date with Leslie. Several of Poehler's past colleagues on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live have appeared on Parks and Recreation, including Fred Armisen, Will Forte and Andy Samberg.Cast overview
Main cast
Each of the following primary characters were played by members of the Parks and Recreation regular cast, rather than guest stars or non-regular supporting cast members.Leslie Knope
Leslie Knope is the deputy director of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department, and the protagonist of Parks and Recreation. Leslie is a passionate, hard-working and ambitious woman who loves her hometown of Pawnee and, unlike many around her, has not lost her optimism in the face of government bureaucracy. She believes strongly in the mission of her job, sometimes going over-the-top in her dedication to helping people. Her dream is to become the first female President of the United States. During the first two seasons, Leslie seeks to turn a construction pit into a park, despite several government obstacles and red tape. When the parks department is hindered by Pawnee's budget problems, Leslie successfully relaunches the town's harvest festival, which makes her department sustainable again. The third season ends with political scouts approaching her about possibly running for elected office, although she declines to inform them of her secret affair with Ben Wyatt, which could prove to be a political scandal. In season four, Leslie furthers her political ambitions when she successfully runs for city council. Season 5 focused mainly on Leslie's experiences on the Pawnee City Council. In season six, however, she is recalled and returns full-time to work in the Parks and Recreation department.Ann Perkins
Ann Perkins, Leslie's best friend, is a nurse who eventually takes a part-time position with Pawnee's department of public health. Ann and Leslie meet after Ann requests at a town meeting that an abandoned construction pit be filled, and Leslie pushes to have it turned into a park. Even before getting her part-time Pawnee job, Ann often spent time at city hall and helped the parks department on their endeavors due to her friendship with Leslie. Ann was dating Andy Dwyer at the start of the show, but she broke up with him after the first season after learning Andy faked the severity of an injury so that Ann would pamper him. She started dating city planner Mark Brendanawicz, but they split up by the end of the second season. Ann briefly dated Chris Traeger until he broke up with her, leaving Ann emotionally distraught and prompting her to go on a string of dates with multiple men. The two got back together in the sixth season and Ann became pregnant. Shortly after, Ann and Chris moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. She had a son, Oliver, on Galentine's Day.Mark Brendanawicz
Mark Brendanawicz was a Pawnee city planner who dated Ann Perkins for much of the second season. According to Aziz Ansari's character, Tom Haverford, "He's stuck it in some crazy chicks." At the start of the show, Mark was an unrequited love interest for Leslie Knope. The two had once had a one-night stand six years earlier and Leslie never got over him, although Mark did not return her affections. Jaded and disillusioned with his job due to government red tape, Mark often pragmatically insisted to Leslie that her ambitions to turn a construction pit into a park were unlikely to succeed. Nevertheless, he admired Leslie's unwavering optimism in the face of government ineffectiveness and tried to help her. In the first-season finale "Rock Show," a drunken Mark tried to kiss Leslie, but she rejected him and he accidentally falls into the pit. Although Mark is selfish and promiscuous with women at the start of the show, he becomes kinder when he starts dating Ann, and even plans to propose to her. After she broke up with him, Mark left his city hall position for a job in the private sector, marking Schneider's departure from the series. He did not appear in any episodes after Season 2, and the show pointedly made no references to him ever having been there at all, most notably in the episode where Ann Perkins left Pawnee and the storyline reviewed her many pre-marriage/pregnancy romances but erased Mark from that listing even though they dated for almost all of Season 2. The only remaining references are that the mural mock-up he made hangs in Ron's office through season 6, and a laptop bag he gives to Ann Perkins appears as a prop through season 5.Tom Haverford
Tom Haverford, birth name Darwish Sabir Ishmael Gani, was an administrator in the parks department for most of the show, although he also became a minor investor in the Snake Hole Lounge and quit at the end of the third season to form an entertainment company with his friend Jean-Ralphio. Tom was Leslie's immediate subordinate on the parks department and the two would often work together on tasks. The sarcastic Tom seemed to care little for his mid-level government job and seldom showed any initiative or work ethic. This made him a favorite of Ron Swanson, who once quipped, "I like Tom. He doesn't do a lot of work around here. He shows zero initiative. He's not a team player. He's never one to go that extra mile. Tom is exactly what I'm looking for in a government employee." However, Tom harbors strong aspirations of becoming a media mogul, and sometimes used his parks department job to increase his stature and curry favors with others. Tom considers himself an extremely stylish dresser and smooth pickup artist, and believes he carries himself in the style of rapper Jay-Z. He constantly hits on women, particularly Ann Perkins, but usually to little success. Tom was married to an attractive surgeon named Wendy at the start of the show, but it is eventually revealed to be a green card marriage that amicably ends in divorce.Ron Swanson
Ron Swanson is the parks and recreation director, although he allows Leslie to do almost all the real work in the department. Despite working in a government job, Ron is a steadfast libertarian who believes in as little government as possible and feels the parks department should not even run or maintain parks. He advocates for program cuts wherever possible, actively works to make city hall less effective, and especially detests interacting with Pawnee taxpayers. Nevertheless, Ron has a deep respect for Leslie and genuinely cares about his fellow employees, despite his efforts to hide it. Ron has a deadpan, inexpressive personality, and loves meat, hunting and breakfast foods. He has two ex-wives, both named Tammy, both of whom he hates. Ron Swanson has been praised as the show's breakout character, and some of his traits were based on elements of Offerman's real-life personality, like their shared affinity for woodworking and saxophone-playing.April Ludgate
April Ludgate is an extremely sarcastic, apathetic and goth-like college student who started the show working as an intern in the parks and recreation department, but is eventually hired as Ron Swanson's full-time assistant. She always speaks in a deadpan and uninterested tone of voice, often making dry comments or mocking those around her, and expresses little interest in her job. Nevertheless, she secretly has a deep appreciation for Leslie Knope. In contrast to April's personality, her parents are extremely positive and enthusiastic people. At the start of the show, April was dating her openly gay boyfriend, Derek, who was simultaneously dating his gay boyfriend, Ben. April and Derek eventually broke up, and April harbored a crush on Andy Dwyer for most of the second season. They started dating in the third season and, after a very short period, were married during an impromptu ceremony in the episode "Andy and April's Fancy Party." She also became the manager of Andy's band, Mouse Rat, previously known as Scarecrow Boat. When Pawnee's Animal Control division is threatened, April recommends that the Animal Control division should be absorbed into the Parks and Recreation division. She is put in charge as the deputy director of the animal control part of Parks and Recreation. With Ann's help, she applies and is accepted into veterinary school, which she declines to attend. Eventually she finds enjoyment in a job in Washington D.C. as a career placement counselor.