List of The Big Bang Theory franchise characters

File:TBBT Comic Con (1).jpg

The Big Bang Theory cast at Comic Con, from left: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco and Simon Helberg.

The following is a list of characters from the American situation comedy The Big Bang Theory created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, which premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. It concerns two prodigies in their 20s, one a theoretical physicist and the other an experimental physicist, who work at Caltech and live across the hall from a waitress with show-biz aspirations. Their geekiness and intellect are contrasted by her social skills and common sense.

Main Characters

• Dr. Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) is an experimental physicist with an IQ of 173 who received his Ph.D. when he was 24 years old. He shares an apartment with colleague and friend Sheldon Cooper. Due to Sheldon's insistence, they keep regular room-mate meetings, written contracts and other parliamentary procedures to resolve issues. Leonard is the straight man of the series. The writers have toyed with a romance between him and neighbor Penny, with their unresolved sexual tension being a major force for drama. Leonard finally started dating Penny in Season 3 when, at the end of Season 2, Penny realized her feelings for Leonard. The relationship was rocky at first, when they both stated it was awkward to be intimate with one another. However, this was resolved soon after when Leonard refused to give up. Leonard has had relationships with Joyce Kim (who is not seen, and everybody recalls to have defected to North Korea), Leslie Winkle (two booty calls), and more recently Dr. Stephanie Barnett. Leonard wears glasses and has lactose intolerance. His family is composed of many accomplished scientists including his mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, and his brothers and sister. Leonard designs experiments in order to prove theories but, according to Sheldon, his work is mostly derivative and thus unimportant. Often seen wearing one jacket with another underneath, followed by a tee.
• Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) is a theoretical physicist, possessing a master's degree, two Ph.D.s, and an IQ of 187. Originally from East Texas, he was a child prodigy, starting college at the age of 11, right after completing the 5th grade. He is calculating, and cynical, believing that Leonard is only setting himself up for disappointment as he continues to have a crush on Penny. He displays characteristics common among those with Asperger syndrome: he exhibits a strict adherence to routine, a lack of understanding of irony, sarcasm and humor, and a complete lack of humility; these characteristics are the main sources of his character's humor and the center of a number of episodes. Sheldon also shows traits of being obsessive compulsive and hypochondriac. He is not interested in any romantic relationship. Once, when asked by Penny, Leonard and Howard mentioned their theories on how they thought Sheldon would reproduce, either by cellular mitosis or by metamorphosis. Sheldon's family is very different from him. His mother, Mary, is a devoted Christian, and his twin sister, Missy, is not a scientist by all means. Often seen wearing a comic book inspired tee shirt or another graphic style tee shirt with a long sleeve underneath, and almost always has some form of plaid on him somewhere. Sheldon's nemesis is Wil Wheaton.
• Penny (Kaley Cuoco), (the only main character whose last name is unrevealed) is Leonard and Sheldon's neighbour across the hallway. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she is a beautiful waitress at the local Cheesecake Factory and also an aspiring actress. Penny is very outgoing, kind, and assertive. She has dated several men during the course of the series, including former boyfriend Kurt, Leonard, Stuart (from the comic book store), and David Underhill (who turned out to be married). Despite this, she always abruptly rejects Wolowitz's advances. She has toyed with the possibility of dating Leonard more than once throughout the show. The first time they went out she lied about being a community College graduate to look smarter. When this was discovered she broke up with Leonard. Outward attraction towards Leonard did not show until the end of Season 2. In the latter episodes, she has shown to be influenced by her geek friends, including an obsession with on-line gaming and making references to Star Trek, to her own surprise. For the most part she cannot stand Sheldon's nerdy, crazy personality, but at times they have shown to be good friends, with Penny taking care of Sheldon while he is sick, and Sheldon lending her money when she needed it.
• Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) is a Jewish engineer at Caltech's Department of Applied Physics who often hangs out at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. Howard fancies himself a ladies' man and provides outrageous pick-up lines whenever there is a female present. Unlike Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and other characters, Howard lacks a Doctorate. He defends this by pointing out that he has a Master's degree in Engineering from MIT. Despite being Jewish, he commonly eats pork and other non-Kosher meals in an attempt to be a "bad Jew". He still lives with his mother, who is overly oblivious to his accomplishments as an engineer. Howard, much like Penny, dislikes many of Sheldon's antics, but has grown accustomed to them. When asked by Penny why they became friends with Sheldon, Howard simply replied "we like Leonard". Howard is fluent in various languages including Russian and Mandarin. In one episode he teaches Mandarin to Sheldon so he could complain at the restaurant about his tangerine chicken. Howard is allergic to peanuts, and they are a serious threat to his life. Being an engineer, Howard usually works on equipment to be used in NASA missions and the International Space Station. He also mentions having friends in the military who sometimes lend him equipment for personal use, like the time he took control of a satellite to spy on a house full of supermodels. Howard once engaged in a casual sex relationship with Leslie Winkle. After she dumped him, Leonard and Raj tried to cheer him up by soliciting the services of a prostitute in Las Vegas, which Howard doesn't seem to have a problem with. Often seen wearing a V-neck or tee shirt over a turtleneck or dicky, and always has skinny jeans and an oversized belt.
• Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) is Wolowitz's best friend and yet another genius. He also works in the Physics department at Caltech, where his area of expertise is particle astrophysics. He approaches women in the exact opposite way of Wolowitz: he is so shy that he is unable to speak to them unless he is intoxicated or does not feel he is directly addressing them. His social anxiety around women seems to be indicative of selective mutism, and is inspired by a former co-worker of series co-creator Bill Prady. When Penny is around, Raj usually whispers what he wants to say to Howard, who then responds out loud. When he is drunk he has no problem talking, becoming extremely outgoing and sometimes annoying to women, like when he went out with Lalita Gupta, and once with Penny. Despite his pathology, Raj has often ended up in bed with women, even without drinking, leaving the other guys perplexed. Working as an astrophysicist, Raj discovered a planetary object and became a one-time celebrity appearing on People magazine, drawing his friends' scorn at his arrogance. Raj communicates with his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Koothrappali, in India through a webcam. Often seen wearing a layered combination of two shirts and khakis, with a jacket over them.
• Dr. Leslie Winkle (Sara Gilbert) is another physicist who works in the same lab as Leonard, specializing in high energy physics, particularly supersymmetry and dilepton calculations. She is essentially Leonard's female counterpart equipped with the black framed glasses and sweat jackets. She does not get on well with Sheldon and frequently mocks him, calling him "dumbass". Leslie had sexual relationships with Leonard first, and then Howard, although these didn't imply romantic feelings from her, but strict cost-benefit relationships. With Leonard, after evaluating his genetic defects, Leslie went as far as planning the number of kids they would have, but eventually decided to break up because Leonard didn't support her loop quantum gravity theory against Sheldon's string theory.

Recurrent characters

These characters appear in several episodes.

• Kurt (Brian Wade): Kurt is Penny's ex-boyfriend. He is a muscular intimidating bully. In the pilot episode Leonard and Sheldon go to his apartment and try to retrieve Penny's TV set from him; they don't succeed and return home without pants. Penny left him because he cheated on her, but he is still invited to her Halloween party. When Penny experiences financial difficulties, Leonard and the guys try to convince Kurt to pay Penny back some money he owed her; at first Kurt refuses, but eventually he pays her back to date Penny again.

• Dr. Eric Gablehauser (Mark Harelik): Dr. Gablehauser is the guys' boss at Caltech. He appears as a mediator in the university's affairs (The Jerusalem Duality, The Bat Jar Conjecture). One time he fired Sheldon after Sheldon pointed out his (Sheldon's) "superior" mind out loud to his face. Eventually Dr. Gablehauser rehired Sheldon because he has a soft spot for Sheldon's mother Mary.

• Mary Cooper (Laurie Metcalf): Mary is Sheldon's mother, a devout Christian from Texas. She has given birth to two children besides Sheldon, including Sheldon's fraternal twin sister, Missy. Mary herself is not intellectual but is very wise; she appears to be an extremely good mother and is the only one who has ever been able to control Sheldon. Leonard describes Mary as Sheldon's "Kryptonite". When Penny and Sheldon engage in a fierce dispute, Penny calls for Mary's help, who subsequently calls and scolds Sheldon about his actions.

• Dr. V. M. Koothrappali (Brian George): Raj's father, a gynecologist in India. He and Raj's mother communicate with their son via video chat and constantly try to arrange dates for Raj. He believes academics have a limited earning potential. Raj's parents were under the impression that Leonard and Sheldon were a "couple" because they lived together.

• Mrs. Koothrappali (Alice Amter): Raj's mother. She communicates with Raj via video chat along with her husband. She wants Raj to get married and give her grandchildren. She is unimpressed with Penny as a possible mate for her son. She enjoys Doogie Howser reruns, which are apparently new to India.

• Mrs. Wolowitz: Howard's mother is not seen on-screen but her voice is heard when he is at their house or when he talks to her on the phone. She talks to Howard always by yelling at him, which results in awkward long-distance conversations with Howard yelling back at her. She makes Howard's life miserable at home which prompts him to call her a "crazy old lady".

• Dr. Stephanie Barnett (Sara Rue): Stephanie is a doctor and highly distinguished surgical resident at Fremont Memorial who is first seen with Howard at the Mars Rover's secret operating facility. When Howard's plan to let her drive the Mars rover fails, she leaves with Leonard and the two immediately become attracted to each other. Sheldon begins meddling in Stephanie and Leonard's new relationship in an effort consolidate it, since in his eyes, Stephanie is the only "tolerable" mate Leonard has had. After several weeks of dating, Stephanie officially begins living with Leonard in his and Sheldon's apartment, but Leonard, after much hesitance, tells her to move out because he is uncomfortable with the pace of the relationship. Although they weren't seen breaking up on camera, evidence suggests their relationship ended for some time. Stephanie did her medical internship at Lawrence Memorial in Galveston, Texas, which is where Sheldon was born.

• Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie): Kripke is an unlikable co-worker of Leonard and Sheldon's, working at the plasma lab. He has a case of rhotacism, meaning he pronounces "r" and "l" as "w" in much the same way as Elmer Fudd. In his first appearance (The Killer Robot Instability), he completely destroys Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and Howard's robot with his own "killer robot" during an unofficial robot fight. In another occasion (The Friendship Algorithm), Sheldon attempts to befriend Kripke in order to gain access to an open science grid computer to carry out research. However, Sheldon's efforts are abandoned when he realizes that Kripke has no say in who uses the computer. They have since become rivals. Barry is ostensibly named after philosopher and logician Saul Kripke.

• Dr. Beverly Hofstadter (Christine Baranski): Leonard's mother. Beverly is a neuroscientist as well as a psychiatrist, thus, she is overly analytical. Between her neurotically strict speech patterns, lack of social conventions, and attention to detail, she is Sheldon's female equivalent. The two of them share an odd non-romantic attraction to each other. She even shares his belief that the social sciences are "largely hokum," despite her husband being an anthropologist. She diagnoses Raj with selective mutism and considers Raj and Howard's relationship to be a "homosexual marriage". Beverly mentions that Leonard's brothers and sister are more successful than he is.

• Stuart (Kevin Sussman): Stuart runs the comic book store which the guys frequently go to. He is also a nerd, but he has a talent for drawing, is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and possesses a few more social skills than them. During Stuart's first appearance, the guys bring Penny along to the store and he manages to ask her on a date. Feeling threatened, Leonard advises Stuart on his date with Penny, setting him up to fail. When Penny is with Stuart she mistakenly calls him "Leonard", leaving him devastated. Stuart was the partner of Wil Wheaton in the card game tournament, where they defeated the pair formed by Raj and Sheldon. As Stuart runs a comic book store, he has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of comic books.

• Bernadette (Melissa Rauch): Bernadette is a waitress paying her way through graduate school microbiology studies (The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary) and is introduced to Howard via Penny. At first she and Howard do not get along, as they appear to have nothing in common. However, when they find out they both have overbearing mothers they immediately feel a connection.

Other characters

These characters appear in fewer episodes, some in just one.

• Toby Loobenfeld aka "Leopold Houston" (DJ Qualls): Toby is a research assistant with a double major in Physics and Theater. He is used by Sheldon to play his fictional first cousin "Leopold", a character Sheldon invents as part of an elaborate lie told to avoid going to see Penny sing. "Leo" is a recovering drug addict who ends up cuddling with Penny on the couch, much to the chagrin of Leonard.
• Dennis Kim (Austin Lee): Dennis is a 15 year old genius from North Korea whom Dr. Gablehauser hopes to recruit into their Ph.D. program. Dennis and Sheldon have an antagonistic relationship when the former excels Sheldon in every way. The guys make arrangements so Dennis can meet girls of his age and get distracted of his own research. The plan succeeds and Dennis is seen kissing with a girl, no longer an intellectual threat to Sheldon.
• Missy Cooper (Courtney Henggeler): Missy is Sheldon's fraternal twin sister who is intellectually much unlike him. Tall and attractive, she immediately catches the attention of Leonard, Howard, and Raj. Sheldon realizes that within Missy's eggs lies the potential for another "superior mutation" like him. He temporarily erects himself as a guardian to Missy in order to choose the best mate for her. Missy refers to Sheldon as "Shelly", and despite their differences she loves him and is proud of his accomplishments.
• Lalita Gupta (Sarayu Rao): A childhood acquaintance of Raj, she is now a dental student at USC. Raj's parents set up a date for their son with her. During the date, Raj can only speak to her after drinking an alcoholic beverage (a "grasshopper"). Sheldon insists she bears a remarkable resemblance to an Indian princess in a children's story. Eventually, Lalita leaves the obnoxious and drunk Raj to have dinner with Sheldon.
• Ramona Nowitzki (Riki Lindhome): Ramona is a graduate student and a huge fan of Sheldon's. After a lecture, she arranges to have dinner with him in his apartment. The next few days she becomes a permanent presence in his life, pressuring him to concentrate on his research and avoid distractions. Sheldon gets tired of her but is unable to dissolve their "relationship". Eventually, Sheldon reaches a breakthrough in his work, and kicks Ramona out when he refuses to share credit with her for the discovery.
• Dr. David Underhill (Michael Trucco): David is a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and a more successful physicist than Leonard, who is excited to be working with him. With his leather jacket and handsome looks, Penny is shocked to know that David is a scientist and starts dating him. They break up as she is dismayed to find out he is married.
• Alicia (Valerie Azlynn): Alicia is a young blonde who moves into the apartment right above Leonard and Sheldon's (The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition). Penny displays a fit of jealousy at this turn of events, thinking that Alicia is supplanting her in the boys' attention. Alicia is an actress, although more successful than Penny, having landed a role on CSI as a dead hooker. Eventually, to Howard's delight, she and Penny get into a catfight.
• "Captain Sweatpants" and "Lonely Larry": Nerds that are seen at the comic book store. Captain Sweatpants is a middle-aged bald man who wears grey sweatpants and a T-shirt with a star on it. Lonely Larry wears a brown suit.

Notable guest stars

Guest stars portraying themselves include Charlie Sheen (in The Griffin Equivalency), Summer Glau and George Smoot (both in The Terminator Decoupling), Wil Wheaton (in The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary), and Katee Sackhoff (in The Vengeance Formulation).

• Summer Glau: When the guys travel by train to a conference in San Francisco, they realize a "terminator" is sitting in the same wagon. Raj, Howard, and Leonard take turns trying to talk to her.
• George Smoot: After the train ride to San Francisco, Sheldon presents his paper to 2006 Nobel Prize laureate George Smoot and proposes joint research; Smoot rejects his idea.
• Wil Wheaton: When Sheldon realizes Wil Wheaton will enter a card game tournament (Mystic Warriors of Ka'ah), he decides to participate to confront Wheaton over an incident of the past: a young Sheldon was devastated when Wheaton (Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation) failed to show up in a fan convention years ago. In the final match, Sheldon is about to defeat his hated rival and win the tournament, but Wheaton tricks him once more and prevails.

See also

• The Big Bang Theory
• List of The Big Bang Theory episodes

External links

• CBS.com – The Big Bang Theory official site