Gallagher family
Frank Gallagher
Francis "Frank" Gallagher (William H. Macy) aged 52, is the father of six children. He is a deadbeat alcoholic, drug addict and morally deficient freeloader who relies on his children to barely get by. He also swindles the state welfare system and this type of opportunistic deceit has been learned by his children. According to Fiona, since Frank refuses to work and most of them are uneducated, the family lives far below the federal poverty threshold for a family their size. As mentioned by Lip, Frank is very intelligent and finished school before he attended college to study psychology, where he met Monica. They had only dated for about 2 weeks before he dropped out of school and they got married.
William Hall Macy Jr. is an American actor and director. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in summer action films. Macy has described himself as "sort of a Middle American, WASPy, Lutheran kind of guy... Everyman".
The poverty threshold, poverty limit or poverty line is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country.
Frank has sex with almost any available woman to support himself. For instance, he begins a relationship with Sheila Jackson when he discovers that she gets maximum disability benefits for her agoraphobia. Frank is the biological father of Sammi, Fiona, Lip, Debbie, Carl, and Liam, but not of Ian, who is presumably the son of Frank's brother Clayton, making him Frank's nephew as well as the children's half-brother and cousin. Despite that, he refers to Ian as his son. Frank is also the grandfather of Chuckie, Frances, Carl and Lip's unborn children.
Sexual intercourse is principally the insertion and thrusting of the penis, usually when erect, into the vagina for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both. This is also known as vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex. Other forms of penetrative sexual intercourse include anal sex, oral sex, fingering, and penetration by use of a dildo. These activities involve physical intimacy between two or more individuals and are usually used among humans solely for physical or emotional pleasure and can contribute to human bonding.
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can include open spaces, public transit, shopping centers, or simply being outside their home. Being in these situations may result in a panic attack. The symptoms occur nearly every time the situation is encountered and last for more than six months. Those affected will go to great lengths to avoid these situations. In severe cases people may become completely unable to leave their homes.
The children do not think much of him and refer to their father by his name "Frank" and rarely address him as Dad, though there have been occasions where they have. Although Frank pontificates self-righteously about political and social issues, he spends most of his time developing schemes to cheat the system and take advantage of others in order to make money. He pays little attention to his children but he can display care and concern for them in drastic circumstances, having shown on occasion that he does indeed love his children, at times proving himself a better parent than either Monica or his mother.
In Season 1, he is introduced as an alcoholic deadbeat who neglects his children after his wife abandoned the family. The older Gallagher children resent him while the younger ones are shown to still have faith in him. Frank tries to get a check to bring back his estranged wife Monica to sign it for him. She makes a condition, in which he gives up his youngest child Liam so that she and her new girlfriend can raise him. Frank learns through two paternity tests that he is Liam's father but not Ian who is the result of an affair. Glimpses of Frank's love for his family is shown, when he allows Lip to urinate on him after the latter learns Frank slept with Karen. The pair made amends after the event and Frank walks away.
In season 2, his mother Peggy is released from prison and the root of Frank's bad parenting is revealed to stem from his own childhood with his abusive parents mainly being from his mother, who was often neglectful and condescending of him and left him scarred. Frank finds himself at her beck and call, as she puts him down at any opportunity. A saddened Frank finds comfort in Fiona, who now sees what her father went through as a child and finds him better than Peggy. After Peggy makes herself at home, Frank's former trauma returns such as his habit of wetting the bed and being her personal servant. He briefly contemplates killing his mother in her sleep but is shown to continue to assist her in her deteriorating health. Once Peggy dies of suffocation by Sheila, he puts things together though rejoices at being free of his mother's influence.
During Season 3, he calls CPS on Fiona and is kicked out of the house for it. At court, he retains his parental rights while Fiona is named guardian of the children. During his exile from the Gallagher house, he finds Carl and they bond while stealing from his former foster parents. When the police try to arrest Carl, Frank unselfishly takes full responsibility for the theft and is charged with Carl, Lip, and Ian witnessing this display. Frank is released when his liver fails, as the result of his chronic alcoholism. Frank thinks nothing of it and bonds with Lip to congratulate him on his High School graduation. However, his illness gets to him and he is sent to the hospital. It is here where Fiona reveals that she does love him and only wishes for him to show that to the family, since she fears that he doesn't care for them. These words cause him to consider it.
In Season 4, he returns home and is tended to by Carl who supplies him with medicine. After Fiona refuses to help him by donating her liver, he reveals the existence of his eldest daughter Samantha, to Fiona's shock. Frank and Carl track down Sammi where he finds her with a child of her own, making him a grandfather. Although she is not aware of this, Frank accidentally reveals the truth when she is not match for a liver transplant, which causes her to kick him out. Later on, Sammi track him down and they reconcile, continuing to spend time with her. Due to him having parental rights, Frank was needed to reclaim a hospitalized Liam and the family are successful in getting while learning of the new additions. Much later, Sammi, Carl, and Sheila go out of their way to arrange Frank's liver surgery. Frank also bonded with Sammi and saw that she was more like the other Gallagher kids than he thought. They find an unlicensed Bangladeshi surgeon willing to do the operation, using a Bangladeshi donor. The surgeon initially asks for $30,000 but when the two women admit they can only pay $26,000, he reluctantly agrees to operate. With money acquired by Sammi from the sale of Sheila's furniture, along with Sheila's savings, the cost of the surgery is covered. The surgeon makes off with the money and one of Frank's kidneys, leaving Frank with his original failing liver. Nevertheless, Frank is supplied with a replacement liver from the emergency room that allows him to survive continue drinking. Afterwards, he shares a beer with Carl to thank him for his help and rejoices at surviving the ordeal.
In season 5, a home beer brewing mishap causes Sheila to leave for good. He moves back in house, asserting as their father and refusing to leave. He also allows Sammi to move in after her trailer is confiscated. However, Sammi eventually shoots Frank in the arm when he doesn't leave the house and not showing care for her. Frank gets payback by implicating his grandson Chuckie for Carl's heroin smuggling attempt. In episode 9, Frank embarks on a "bucket list" style spree with Bianca, who has advanced pancreatic cancer. They spend Bianca's last days together and although Bianca's thrill seeking is too much for Frank, they end up in Costa Rica. After leaving a note for Frank, Bianca commits suicide by walking naked into the ocean. Frank returns home crying and tells Lip and Ian that Bianca has died.
In season 6, he supports Debbie in her pregnancy and soon reconnects with his ex-girlfriend Queenie (his daughter Sammi's mother). After he ruins Fiona's wedding (even though he told his daughter about her fiancé's indiscretions) the Gallagher kids (except Lip, Liam, and Fiona) and friends, have had enough of him and throw him off a bridge into a frozen river.
In Season 7, he survived the fall and was only in a coma for one month with brief amnesia before he returns to the Alibi and everyone is surprised that he survived. Frank soon recalls them throwing him off the bridge and is angry at the pain they put him through. Kev was the only person who felt guilt. He attempts to go back his house where he is depressed to learn from Carl that everyone kinda hoped he was dead and Fiona kicks Frank out of the house and the other children do the same. Hurt by this, he "disowns" them and makes a "new" family at a luxurious homeless shelter. He soon gets even with his real children for their treatment by taking his only loyal child Liam and blocking the family out the rooms of their house by hiring contractors (via Debbie's stolen credit card) to cement the house. Frank and his new family crash a realtor's showing of a house on his block, the realtor was familiar with him and called the cops. However, he manipulates them into thinking the old owner okayed it. The cops were also aware of who he was but couldn't throw so many people out and permit it. Frank basks in his fortune and sends his real kids away when they try to stop him since they have shown how they feel. Frank is eventually thrown out a window when the homeless patrons find out he's been hiding money they earn and treating himself with it. He suffers an injured arm and leg before he tries to burn the house in revenge but instead helps in getting Liam in a private school. Near the end of the season, he is permitted to return to his old home after he slowly started making amends with the family, helping by fixing up the house after stealing some of his possessions from the shelter. Frank is reunited with Monica and they fall back into their old habits but he is devastated when Monica dies from brain damage. He is devastated at her death and ignores Fiona's attempt at comfort. He is later attacked by Monica's enraged father and shares touching words at her funeral about Monica before leaving out in sadness. Afterwards, he is allowed to return home with all animosity ended and him once more accepted again by his children.
In season 8, Frank copes with Monica's death by doing all of the meth she bequeathed to him, then having a midlife crisis where he decides to restart his life as a 21 year old, having realized that Monica was the trigger of his alcoholism and bad parenting. As a result, he became sober and went by Francis to disassociate with his past, he cleaned his hygiene up, got a real job, made amends with his family and friends, got a car, and tries to be a more productive member of society. While his children believe Frank has lost it, he proves his change is genuine by protecting his family from an armed meth head who was Monica's partner, which earns gratitude from Fiona. He continues his change by mentally aging himself on occasion and even help more with his children by giving them useful advice. Frank soon bonds with his youngest son Liam and acts more fatherly to him, as he sees Liam as his last chance to be a proper parent and he ends up having fun in their time together. However, when the hardware store chain he is working at shuts down and he is unable to find new employment, Frank starts to fall back into his old ways. [4]
During Season 9, he is still showing signs of being his old self by sleeping with the mothers of the PTA and secretly stealing from them to pawn their belongings. He is revealed to have given them a series of STD's after he is revealed to be common source. Because of this, his son Liam is expelled from private school and forced to attend public school. Frank also nominates a former congressman Moe White to be city councilor as a part of a scam to earn money, though he comes to have second thoughts after the man is revealed to be a sex-offender. Despite that, things still proceed and Frank gets Terry Milkovich to help him and soon Mo nominated as congressman but Frank is dismayed to see he is up to no good. He later ends up the hospital for his liver and finds a bipolar woman who catches his interest. Frank begins a relationship with the woman who is named Ingrid and they go onto have a series of adventures. Ingrid asks Frank to fertilize her eggs but since his habits have left him sterile, he bribes Carl into doing it and expects kids with her. As he is financially insecure, he enters a local game for money to help him but loses the contest and Ingrid who returns to her ex-husband who pays Frank off. Frank mostly falls into his habits again and does a business venture with Fiona while telling her to stop drinking. Frank injures his leg and is rendered out of commission for months, forcing his children to hire a nurse for him. During Fiona's departure, he wishes his daughter luck while thanking her for what she has done and they part amicably.
Fiona Gallagher
Fiona Monica Gallagher (Emmy Rossum), aged 28, is the eldest of the Gallagher children. Because of her mother's absence and Frank's neglect, most of the responsibility for child-rearing falls on her shoulders which forces her out of high school in her junior year. Fiona works a few dead-end minimum-wage jobs to support her five siblings. Though often stressed and exhausted by her responsibilities, she always performs them. Prone to selflessness, she sometimes needs to be reminded to look out for her own happiness. Even though Fiona wants everything under control, she enjoys a little bit of chaos once in a while. Fiona often comes through for her siblings and loves them dearly.
In Season 2, she shows that she does love her father in spite of his neglect, after she witnesses her previously imprisoned grandmother put him in his place. Fiona comforts him about this and now sees his bad parenting stems from his poor example. At the close of season 2, Fiona receives her GED and begins to take more interest in jobs.
During season 3, after Frank calls social services out of sheer spite, Fiona wins a court case (and with the admiration of the judge) and is appointed her siblings' legal guardian, though Frank maintains parental rights. This strains her relationship with Steve/Jimmy. Towards the end of season 3, Fiona finally gets a more rewarding job with a cup manufacturing company. She starts
In season 4, she is moving up at her job and puts in effort to financially support her family. She refuses to help her ailing father with his liver however, she is shocked to learn of his oldest daughter, who he never told her of and goes to for a transplant. Fiona continues dating her boss Mike and things are looking good but she has sex with Mike's addict brother Robbie. When Mike finds out he breaks up with her. In the aftermath of the breakup, Liam ingests cocaine that Fiona got from Robbie (a birthday gift; she kept the coke but made Robbie leave) at her birthday party and is hospitalized. Fiona is arrested for child neglect and drug possession. Mike posts her bail and she is put under house arrest with a curfew. When Fiona breaks her probation while partying with Robbie, she is incarcerated with a 90-day sentence. She is released shortly after due to overcrowding in the prison, and gets a job at a diner.
In season 5, Fiona impulsively marries Gus Pfender, the bassist of an indie rock band, and changes her last name to Pfender upon marriage. She then cheats on Gus with Steve/Jimmy when he appears in town once again. After that, she begins a relationship with Sean, her boss at the diner. Her extramarital affair with Steve/Jimmy, along with her budding relationship with Sean, end her marriage. She discovers she is pregnant around the same time as Debbie does, but doesn't know whether the father is Gus or Steve/Jimmy, so she has an abortion and urged Debbie to do the same. By the end of season 6, Fiona and Sean plan to be married, but Frank ruins the nuptials by revealing Sean's drug relapse to Fiona at the altar, causing Sean to leave her.
By season 7, Fiona starts to act more selfishly as she is tired of being unappreciated by her family members, especially Lip, and she is more focused than ever on building wealth. She keeps Frank out of the house, despite appreciating him for saving her from marriage to someone like him. She learns her boss, Margo, is also a high-school dropout but has amassed a net worth of $300 million; Fiona wants to follow in her footsteps. She sees an opportunity to invest in a deteriorating laundromat and uses the Gallagher home as collateral, which angers Lip. She eventually sells the laundromat to Margo and buys an apartment building.
When Monica dies, Fiona is indifferent, declaring her willingness to have the funeral consist of a bonfire in the funeral home parking lot using the ashes stored in a bag. Although it doesn't come to that since her estranged grandfather pays for it, Fiona does bury her portion of the inheritance in Monica's casket. She also lets Frank return home after making peace with him.
During Season 8, she takes to living in her apartment building and has started to find her own independence. She still helps her family, as she spends time with Debbie and helps when a meth head comes after the family, though Frank saved them from harm and she acknowledges his changing for the better.
In Season 9, Fiona tries to help Ian in his situation while others tell her to let him settle it himself. Very soon, Fiona realizes that she can't always help and is pleased when Ian handles it. She continues to handle her business and starts doing investments while continuing her relationship with Ford. However, she learns Ford is married and soon goes bankrupt after a car crash as well as bad investment. She is forced to sell her building and falls into a drunk slump while wasting her funds. Fiona finds solace when Debbie gives her a chance to humiliate Ford as revenge for his deceit. As a result, her place as caretaker falls into Debbie's hands after Fiona proves to be unstable to handle it. She continues to fall down a bad path by assaulting a neighbor and having drunken nights on town. At one point, Lip kicks her out when she ruins a meeting for him and gets a man he was sponsoring drinking again. Fiona's habits warrant the attention of Frank and he even tells her to slow it down and after an event, she attends a AA meeting and gets a job at the advice of her attorney. Working at a gas station, she learns from an old business partner that an investment she made has garnered her a large sum of money. Quitting her job, she meet with her attorney who advises her to leave her past behind and after visiting Ian in prison this further motivates her when seeing her siblings have grown up. Fiona's family catch on and try to throw a party but she resolves to leave before having second thoughts and amicably parting with her father once he thanks her for the hard work she put in over the years. Before leaving, she left a check of 50 grand for her family as she leaves Chicago on an airplane.
Lip Gallagher
Phillip "Lip" Ronan Gallagher (Jeremy Allen White) aged 23, is the second Gallagher child and is the most academically minded. In high school he was a straight-A student. He created various money-making schemes to help the Gallagher clan survive, such as running an ice cream truck that also sold beer and marijuana. He also made money by taking the SATs for fellow students for a fee, but had to stop when he was caught by Professor Hearst, an investigator from the Educational Evaluation Service. After testing Lip in private, Hearst discovers Lip is one of the statistically very rare students capable of achieving a perfect SAT score and offers him an internship at the robotics lab at the University of Chicago, which Lip turns down. Hearst gets Lip in trouble with his past clients by invalidating all of their SAT scores, since they didn't actually take the tests themselves. In addition to being adept scientifically, Lip like his father is multilingual; in season 2 he exhibits knowledge of Portuguese and Italian and in season 4 he speaks Spanish.
Outside the classroom, Lip spends much of his time drinking beer and smoking weed and eventually participates in car theft schemes with Jimmy. Lip has a strong bond with Ian and is also the first one to discover that Ian is gay. During the first season of the show, while tutoring Karen Jackson in mathematics, Lip develops a sexual relationship with her, and soon falls in love with her despite betrayals such as her having sex with Frank. Karen though, decides to marry Jody, and gives birth to a baby that is neither Lip's nor Jody's despite leading Lip to believe the baby was his.
Lip then starts a new relationship with Mandy Milkovich. The provenance of their relationship begins between the first season finale and season 2. They consummated their relationship in "A Beautiful Mess". They live together from season 2 until season 3; Lip briefly lived at her house and she eventually moved herself in with the Gallaghers. Though Mandy and Lip have an insatiable sexual relationship–he had a plethora of condoms ready when she moved in–he is annoyed with her living with him because he thinks she's turning the relationship into a common law marriage. Lip has trepidation that he possibly got her pregnant in season 2, but in season 3 during one of their trysts, he flippantly recommends her to get off the pill and get pregnant with his baby even though he wouldn't be around to take care of it. When Mandy discovers Lip doesn't plan on going to college, she considers that he is wasting his potential and his chances for a brighter future. When she secretly applies to colleges on his behalf, he is accepted by MIT, among others. Lip breaks off their relationship when he learns that Mandy hit Karen with her car, an accident that resulted in serious injuries and brain damage, to keep Karen from him (he doesn't know she threatened to poke a hole in his condoms). Lip graduates from high school and bonds with his father who congratulates him on his feat.
In season 4, Lip begins courses at the fictional Chicago Polytechnic. He struggles to juggle his studies, his job at the cafeteria, and his family life. Lip's new girlfriend Amanda helps him and his grades improve. He takes over as caregiver for the house when Fiona is arrested and Liam is hurt in the process. He shows his ability as caretaker rivals that of his sister, shown when he cooks and kicks out Frank along with his newly revealed half-sister and nephew.
In season 5, Lip works for Tommy in construction. At Amanda's summer home, Lip and Amanda's father do not get along. However, Amanda's father offers Lip an internship when they find some common ground. Lip starts to follow a changed life but is challenged when Mickey and his brothers plan to raid a café. After the raid, Mickey locks Lip out of the getaway car, leaving him to hide from the police. Despite difficulties paying for his education, Lip receives a grant and also begins an affair with a professor named Helene Runyon. Helene invites Lip into her home and her husband catches them, but condones the affair due to an apparent taste for voyeurism. Also, Lip starts losing interest in Amanda and she punches him in the face after he says their relationship wasn't as serious as she thought it was.
In season 6, Amanda gets her revenge by posting a naked picture of Helene on Twitter. This causes Helene to get fired. Lip has trouble getting over her until Queenie uses reflexology to give him a foot massage that arouses him and "cures" his stress. Lip is also friends with an alcoholic teacher named Professor Youens until he starts drinking and Youens starts taking advantage of him. After this, Lip continues drinking and smashes up Youens' car out of rage. Lip gets arrested but is bailed out by Professor Youens who takes pity on him and tells him he's been expelled. Youens takes Lip to rehab and sets him up with a job for when he gets out.
In season 7, Lip is sober as well as an intern at a sketchy company that has the possibility of a future lucrative career in tech and marketing, but is soon shut down due to an FBI investigation. He then gets a job a Patsy's Pies working for Fiona. In this season, their relationship is that of sibling rivalry. Lip believes that because his internship can lead to a 6-figure income, that he is the one who should be the breadwinner of the family and that Fiona's job isn't enough, which makes Fiona furiously leave the house and vow to stop taking care of everyone else. He then meets a girl named Sierra who also starts working for Fiona, they begin to become friends with benefits but soon turn into more. Youens then tries to convince Lip to go back to college. Lip agrees to go and testify to get a position back in the college but is denied because of his previous actions; he proceeds to start drinking again and has a fight with Sierra's ex-boyfriend. Sierra then tells Lip she can't see him anymore. Lip goes on a few benders and ends up breaking into Helene's house whilst drunk; she proceeds to tell him to sort himself out and "move on". He leaves weeping. At the end of the season, Lip attends his mother's funeral and decides he wants to stop drinking and tells Sierra he's thinking about going back to college.
During Season 8, he attends meetings and gets a job as a motorcycle mechanic from the man who helped him Brad. Lip is one of the few put off by his father's change but is pleased by him putting in the effort and giving him helpful advice on embracing change. He starts a flings with a coworker named Eddie who is a rather aggressive girl in bed. However, he makes amends with Sierra and reconcile their relationship. In the finale, he tells her to make amend with the father of her child and though he tells Sierra that he does love her, he can't really express. He also takes in Eddie's niece Xan who is abandoned by her aunt who skips town to be with a random man.
During Season 9, he continues to care for Xan and tries to file for guardianship of her but is unable to properly support her and she is taken back by her. He also starts a relationship with a new girl named Tami who proves to be rather condescending of his skills in sex until he redeems himself. Lip later part ways with Ian who is to do a two year prison term for Arson and a series of other events. He makes progress in his AA classes and becomes a sponsor of another alcoholic.
Ian Gallagher
Ian Clayton Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) aged 22, is the third of the Gallagher children. He resembles Monica but is not Frank's child instead the child of Frank's brothers, making him the cousin as well as half-brother of the Gallagher children. Ian participates in Army JROTC. He works at the Kash and Grab grocery store. When the series begins, Ian's employer, Kash, is aware of his homosexuality and participates in an affair with Ian. Ian later tells Lip and eventually the rest of the family of his sexual orientation.
Ian develops a complicated relationship with his neighbor, Mickey Milkovich. At the end of season 3, Ian, still underage, enlists in the Army using his brother Lip's identity. In season 4, it is revealed that he has deserted training camp, stole an army helicopter, and is being pursued by Army MPs.
When season 4 begins, he is working as a dancer and a rent boy at a gay bar called The White Swallow while squatting in an abandoned house. Lip and Debbie track him down and try to persuade him to return home.
Ian's behavior becomes more and more erratic and he is diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, which also affected Monica. Ian is offered treatment but refuses it despite his family's encouragement.
In season 5, Ian is arrested then released soon afterwards into Monica's care. When Monica takes Ian to live in her trailer, he discovers she is using methamphetamine and he leaves. He returns to the Gallagher household and by the end of the season has ended his relationship with Mickey, citing his mental illness.
In season 6, Ian visits Mickey in prison. Mickey asks Ian if he'll wait for him, but Ian has convinced himself that he’s over Mickey. After being tired of getting bossed around by Fiona, Ian quits his job at Patsy's Pies, and Lip gets him a job as a janitor at the college. Ian thinks Lip and his friends are making fun of him and they get into a fight. When Ian sees a car crash occur, he rescues a woman from a burning car. He passes out and is saved by a firefighter. Ian eventually meets a firefighter named Caleb (Jeff Pierre) with a religious priest father who disapproves of his homosexual lifestyle. Caleb convinces Ian to lie about his bipolar disorder when he applies to be a paramedic. Ian does get fired but convinces them to let him keep his job.
In season 7, Ian later discovers that Caleb has been cheating on him with his female friend from high school and they break up. Ian then meets a trans man named Trevor and they begin dating. Ian soon finds out that Mickey has escaped from prison and "kidnaps" Ian and asks him to go to Mexico with him and Ian obliges. However at the Mexican border, Ian realizes that he has changed and decides not to go, devastating Mickey. Ian tells Mickey he loves him for the first time. He and Mickey kiss, say goodbye and Mickey sneaks into Mexico. After this, Ian apologizes to Trevor and they break up.
In season 9, Ian's erratic behavior with his gay Jesus movement causes him to face the possibility of years in prison. Ian still experiences manic moments but after he is bailed out and starts to take his meds, he realizes the pressure of his movement and his mistake, As a result, Ian ultimately decides to plead not guilty by reason of insanity due to his bipolar disorder. Ian is sentenced to two years in prison in the end and is seen off by Carl, Lip, Liam, Kev and Viv after Fiona fails to show up to drive him to prison due to being in a car accident the night before. In prison, Ian is shocked to discover that his new cellmate is Mickey and the two resume their relationship. He is visited by Fiona in the finale where they share a heartfelt reunion and she tells him of what's been going on in his absence. She soon reveals her desire to make a fresh start and he encourages it, since she worked hard for it and persuades to really take the chance to live. At the end, he spots the plane Fiona is in and smiles, silently wishing his sister well.
Debbie Gallagher
Deborah "Debbie"/"Debs" Jean Gallagher (Emma Kenney) aged 17, is one of the middle Gallagher children. Debbie will cover for others but is not brash or reckless like her older brothers. She forgives her father's neglect and irresponsibility as well as her mother's absence. She is very mature in some ways and therefore has trouble making friends with people her age. Like her siblings, Debbie knows clever ways to make money at a young age and she runs a business. She is one of the few of the Gallagher children to get along with Frank and even call him Dad several times though does call him Frank often.
In the early seasons, Debbie is often stressed by her adult responsibilities but is upset that she doesn't get the recognition for it; when she was a child she addressed Fiona for making her play both sides: when Child Protective Services come over Fiona wants her to "act like a kid" but when bills need to get paid Fiona wants her to contribute like an adult.
In season 3, Debbie becomes a teenager and is more rebellious, disrespectful, and secretive like her siblings. In season 4, her friends Holly and Ellie glamorize sexual promiscuity. Debbie meets the twenty-year-old Matty (James Allen McCune) and tries to seduce him, but is rejected because of their age disparity. Debbie becomes jealous of Matty's girlfriend, Seema. Debbie makes harassing calls to Seema at work, puts a snake in her car and plans to stab Seema with a homemade shank. As revenge, Seema hires a boy in Debbie's class to humiliate her. Matty then breaks up with Seema and says he has committed himself to Debbie because even though Debbie was horrible first, Seema "is the adult." In season 5, Debbie has a falling out with Holly and Ellie and continues to desperately pursue a first sexual encounter. At a party, Debbie rapes an intoxicated Matty after which he leaves and tells Debbie to never speak to him again.
Debbie then meets Derek and begins a relationship with him. By the end of the season, she has purposely become pregnant, hoping this will make Derek want to marry her. In season 6, Derek leaves her once he finds out she is pregnant with his baby and became pregnant on purpose. Derek's family points out that Debbie was too busy trying to trap Derek into fatherhood and marriage that she never listened to his hopes and dreams. Furthermore, Debbie's decision to have a child creates a major rift between herself and Fiona, who refuses to raise yet another child. She gives birth to a baby girl named Frances Harriet Gallagher (named after Frank) on the Gallagher's kitchen table.
In season 7, Debbie is struggling as a single mom and with Fiona threatening to kick her out. She considers dropping out of high school, marrying Sierra's brother, sex working, and panhandling. The DCFS pays her a visit after a video of her fighting a woman while holding Frances is posted online.
Carl Gallagher
Carl Francis Gallagher (Ethan Cutkosky) aged 16, is the second-youngest Gallagher child. He shares a room with Lip and Ian, who try to keep their more adult interests from him. Carl is often in trouble at school for attacking other students. In his early years, he displays several psychopathic tendencies such as mutilating his toys and killing stray animals, although this behavior seems to be less prevalent as he ages. Carl's bad tendencies don't emerge until he meets his grandmother Peggy who encourages his behavior. He also begins to show concern for his father Frank and is one of the few children to call him Dad. His bond with Frank is strengthened after Frank convinces him he has cancer (for one of his schemes—later "cured").
In season 3, Carl is the only Gallagher left loyal to Frank. Later, he is placed in a foster home but returns once Fiona files for legal guardianship of her siblings. While bonding with Frank, he is nearly arrested for a theft on his temporary foster parents that he committed with Frank while Lip tries to defend him but his father takes full responsibility for it and Carl is released.
During Season 4, when Frank is released from and his liver fails, Carl takes it on himself to find his father an organ donor and meets his half-sister and nephew. Carl falls into crime with Bonnie, committing robberies of stores and cars. Carl begins his sexual life with Bonnie and then Holly Herkimer until Holly leaves. After Frank survives his liver transplant, he shares a beer and hug with Carl to thank him for his help in saving him.
In season 5, he has grown up more and falls into thuggish behavior with support from Frank. During the season's ninth episode, Carl deliberately commits a crime with his nephew Chuckie but both are sentenced to juvenile detention to "get his education and street cred". Carl is accepted by the gang since he didn't rat anyone out.
In season 6, he gets out of juvie and has a friend named Nick who helps him sell firearms. After someone steals his bike, Nick murders the kid and gets arrested once again. Carl shows up and is traumatized by Nick's actions and decides to stop. One of Carl's superiors asks him to do a drug run. When Carl tries to decline, he is pistol whipped and threatened. Frank fills in for him while Sean eventually helps Carl get out of the drug business and gets him a job at Patsy's Pies. Carl's new attitude also earns a girlfriend in Dominique, a girl he tried to woo with his thuggish behavior who took an interest in him after he stopped pursuing her. Carl even loses his virginity to Dominique. He later decides to be a cop to try to win the approval of her father.
In Season 7, Dominique cheats on him and her father accuses him of giving her an STD but he proves innocence by catching his girlfriend in the act. He eventually enrolls in military school, with help of Dominique's father.
During Season 8, Carl becomes much more responsible and mature even helping detox a drug addict. On a impulse, he marries his new rich girlfriend Kassidi who is shown to have some issues. Her clinginess to him soon causes him to escape her by going back to military school.
Liam Gallagher
Liam Fergus Beircheart Gallagher (Christian Isaiah, Brennan Kane Johnson & Blake Alexander Johnson, Brenden & Brandon Sims) aged 8–10, is the youngest of the Gallagher children. He is African-American and was thought to be the result of his mother's supposed affair with an AA sponsor, parole officer, or bouncer, though a DNA test reveals that he is in fact Frank's son. It is suggested this is due to Frank himself possibly being the result of his own mother's affair and the genes skipping him and passing onto Liam.
During Season 2, Liam is taken because of Frank's bad bet and the family have to gather up money to reclaim and are successful. When his grandmother Peggy comes to stay, she spots Liam and remarks that he confirms her affair.
Although stunted in verbal and emotional responses, the whole family feels sentimental towards Liam because he is the only normal member of their crazy family.
In season 4, Liam ingests Fiona's cocaine (for which she was arrested thereafter) and possibly suffers brain damage but he recovers. Since Frank still had parental rights, he was needed to get Liam out of the hospital and the family reclaimed him. Lip took to caring for him while Carl attacked bullies who made fun of him. Liam remains in the custody of his family once Lip helps out the unfortunate siblings of Carl's girlfriend. Fiona also apologizes to him for her irresponsible act.
In Season 5, he starts walking and talking but is mostly doing kid stuff while cared for by his siblings.
In season 6, he moves in with Fiona and Sean when the family are kicked out of the house.
During Season 7, he has grown up and is now young kid. He is shown to be the only Gallagher child who is loyal to Frank after they turned against him and Frank takes Liam with him after he is kicked out. Despite warnings from his siblings of their father's habits, Frank treats Liam better than he did the rest of his children. Liam is also the only Gallagher who is allowed to get a free stay at the house. When the family finds Frank has started a homeless shelter, Frank turns all but Liam away since they are now against him. Soon, he starts school but finds it closed and goes to another one, before he meets up with Frank and they go to Frank's old school where they are told to leave. When dropping him off, Frank sees Liam being bullied and decides to help his son by getting him enrolled in private school, with a paid tuition. Liam thanks his father by hugging him as he goes off, with a proud Frank looking on. Frank is allowed to take Liam to school, which is a stepping stone to his acceptance by the family. From his time with him, he starts to take more after his father who passes down his traits to him.
During Season 8, he spends more time with his father, who decided to change his ways and sees Liam as his last chance to be a proper father to one of his children. Liam is shown to not mind Frank, even enjoying the activities with him. Also, Liam is used by his school to promote diversity but soon falls behind in his classes until Frank once more steps in by telling the school to stop taking Liam out of class and educate him, causing him to do better. Very soon, Frank hits rock bottom and Liam is now used as a lookout for Frank to steal from the rich parents but they still bond.
In Season 9, Liam is expelled from his school as a result of Frank giving various STD's to the mothers of the school who passed it to their cheating husbands. Liam is sent to public school and is picked on for his upper class education. However, he uses his new intellect to help him excel by helping a classmate with school work for protection from a bully. He also helps Fiona with business as she makes a wise purchase because of him. Liam's intellect also causes him to be placed in sixth grade.
Other Gallaghers
- Margaret "Peg" Deborah Gallagher (Louise Fletcher), also known as "Grammy", is the formidable mother of Frank and his brothers Jerry, Clayton, and Wyatt Gallagher and the Gallagher family matriarch. She is largely responsible for Frank's bad parenting, as she hardly attended to him and was abusive to him as a child. She ran numerous meth labs and was sent to prison for a meth lab explosion that killed two college students. She first appears in Season 1 when she is visited by her grandsons Lip and Ian. Peggy is happy to meet them before they inquire about their uncles since they learn that one of them Ian's biological father. She obliges and gives the information in exchange for cigarettes and they agree. In Season 2, she is sent home from prison on a medical furlough after lying about her health and moves in with Frank and his kids. She bonds with the younger Gallaghers who were surprised to meet her. Not long, Peggy seeks retaliation on a retired meth dealer who profited from her arrest. Despite her hostile nature to Frank, she does express pride in him when she learns of his scams and tries her best to reach out to the Gallagher children, giving Fiona money and showering Carl and Debbie with gifts. She ignores Frank's attempts to reconcile with her and continues to put him in his place. This causes Frank to briefly contemplate killing his mother in her sleep but he is shown to relent in this. However, her treatment causes Fiona to understand why Frank is the way he is. Frank continues to assist her in her deteriorating health while trying to find ways to get rid of her. At the end of season 2, Peg is kicked out of the house by Fiona after Carl causes an explosion in a meth lab she built in the basement. Peg sends money to her other sons while leaving Frank with nothing before she allows Sheila to smother her for the purpose of euthanasia due to the pain that she suffers from terminal cancer. Later on, she is cremated and her ashes go to Frank who no longer wants anything to do with any reminder of his mother.
- Monica Jean Gallagher (Chloe Webb) is Frank's ex-wife and the mother of the Gallagher children. Monica has bipolar disorder —she feels terrible for abandoning her children but can never sustain her love and concern for them for very long before succumbing to drugs, selfishness, and depression. The older Gallagher children resent and distrust her, but she is sometimes able to coax Debbie or Carl into spending time with her. In season 1, Frank tricks Monica into returning for financial gain. However, Monica announces she is gay and in a relationship with Roberta, or "Bob" who she will marry. Monica and Bob try to leave with Liam but a paternity test reveals that Frank is his father. Another test reveals that Ian is not Frank's biological son but the son of one of Frank's brothers. Despite this, she still tries to leave but Fiona asks Monica to give him back and she does so. In season 2, Frank goes to Monica when his mother dies. The following morning, Frank and Monica are at the Gallagher household cooking breakfast. Bob has left. At the end of the second season, Monica finds the Gallaghers' squirrel fund and convinces Frank to spend it with her. Later, Monica cuts her wrists in front of the family. After a long discussion with Fiona, Frank takes Debbie and helps Monica escape the clinic with her new girlfriend. Monica is last seen, speeding away in a car, telling Debbie she loves her. Monica reappears in season 5, episode 11, when she visits Ian in prison. She and Ian hitchhike out of the city. Monica takes Ian to live with a boyfriend called Walter who makes methamphetamine. In Season 7, Monica returns to Chicago in another attempt to make amends. She tells Frank that she is dying and that she returned in order to leave something behind for the children. Monica and Frank renew their wedding vows. Monica dies the following morning from a massive cerebral hemorrhage. At her funeral, Monica's father appears and punches Frank for supposedly ruining his daughter. Monica's stash of multiple kilos of drugs in a storage locker found after her death causes the dealer she stole them from to threaten the other Gallagher children until the drugs are returned.
- Jerry Gallagher (William H. Macy) is Frank's twin brother who is introduced in Season 1. After visiting their grandmother Peggy, Ian and Lip learn his name and visit Jerry who owes money to her. They were shocked to see Frank has a twin while Jerry is unaware who they are until they reveal that they are his nephews via Frank, and he runs back inside his home since he presumably has problems with his family. Lip wanted to talk to him since they also learned Ian may be the child of Frank's brothers but Ian warned him not too, though was ignored by him. From inside, Jerry threatened his nephews by telling them he has a shotgun and he won't hesitate to use it before they realize he can't be Ian's father and leave.
- Clayton Gallagher (Kristoffer Ryan Winters) is Frank's brother who is introduced in Season 1. After visiting their grandmother Peggy, Ian and Lip learn about him and visit him. Unlike Jerry, Clayton is accepting towards them and shows them pictures of him and the family. It was noted by his wife and Lip that Clayton looks like Ian and may be the latter's biological father. Clayton mentions to having a fallout with his brother and would have like to mend it. After Clayton was called on by his wife, they argued for a while since they both knew their purpose for the brothers being there and noticed Ian looked like their son Jacob. Ian took Lip away outside and told him that he didn't care who his real father was and accepted Frank and their siblings as his family since he grew up on that. Clayton had noticed the brothers disappearance and overheard Ian's words and didn't seem to protest the decision. Bidding farewell to the boys, Clayton went back inside. Clayton reappears in Season 2, where he is visited by Frank and Monica to get money that Peggy sent him and the other brothers before her death. Clayton doesn't seem pleased to see his brother and tries to send him off, as Frank tries to guilt him into giving him some of the money since he took care of their dying mother without his help. Clayton justified that he didn't know she was released and spent the money to pay his mortgage. He resists Monica's advances and sends them off.
- Wyatt Gallagher is Frank's brother who is mentioned in Season 1. After visiting their grandmother Peggy, Ian and Lip learn about him where Peggy calls him "her baby", implying he is the youngest of the Gallagher boys. Peggy scratches him off as a candidate for Ian's father, since his testicles were blasted off in the navy.
- Ginger Gallagher is Frank's deceased aunt who was mentioned in Season 1. It is not known whether she is the sister of Peggy or Frank's father. She was revealed to have been the owner of the Gallagher House but died of an drug overdose twelve years ago at a party thrown by her nephew. She was buried in the backyard by Frank who uses her identity to claim her checks from the state. Frank is eventually forced to tell his kids over her death when social workers arrive. Using a senile woman from a retirement home, the Gallaghers have impersonate Ginger to claim the check but remain suspicious. In Season 2, Peggy showed Frank the check that he was looking for and remarked on Ginger being dead and buried after getting told this by Carl. Peggy complimented her son on impersonating Ginger but told him that she would take over. In Season 3, the family dig up Ginger's body after their house is check and they bring her to a random cemetery where they properly bury her. When the Gallaghers try to file a fake will of Ginger, they are shocked when another relative Patrick had filed Ginger as dead and made a will before the rest of the family could do so.
- Patrick Gallagher (Brent Sexton) is Frank's cousin who is introduced in Season 3. It is not known whether he is the nephew of Peggy or Frank's father. He plays an antagonistic role by claiming the Gallagher House by using a fake will of his late Aunt Ginger before the rest of the family could do so. Frank remarked Patrick was called Pit Bull as he never gives up, as seen when he overcame the family's attempts to stop him. Carl tried to kill him by poison but failed and Patrick brought the police but Debbie was able to turn this around by claiming Patrick to make advances on her. Patrick was nearly arrested but was offered a truce to be landlord and be given rent or go to jail. Reluctantly, he agreed to the terms. In Season 6, he appears again and is not pleased to see his extended family again, because of their actions. He admits to pulling a loan and that the bank will take the house but refuses to help them. The family were disgusted but Carl helped Fiona reclaim the house.
- Samantha "Sammi" Slott (Emily Bergl) is Frank's eldest daughter and the older half-sister of his other children but this is only revealed when Frank needs a liver transplant and he seeks her out. She becomes a recurring character in season 4 and a regular character in season 5. Sammi lives in a trailer in a rundown neighborhood with her son, Charles (Kellen Michael), called Chuckie. Sammi can be caring but can also be impulsive, violent and promiscuous. Sammi learns that Frank is her father when she is not a match for him and he carelessly lets it slip. Sammi is enraged at being rejected but accepts her relationship with Frank. Mid-way in the season, she meets her half-siblings who are surprised to learn of her. Sammi soon bonds with Debbie and Carl by giving her sister advice on her period and helping her brother in caring for their father. She comes to blows with Sheila but they are able to get along to a degree. In season 5, Sammi moves in with the Gallaghers after her trailer is confiscated. Frank lies to Sammi about getting her a new trailer and she chases after him. Sammi eventually shoots Frank in the arm when he doesn't leave the house. Frank gets payback by implicating Chuckie for Carl's heroin smuggling attempt. Sammi rats on Carl because he tricked Chuckie into helping him and none of the Gallaghers care that Chuckie is innocent, preferring to let him take the fall for Carl. Carl gets locked up for a year in juvenile detention. Carl says that he'll hurt Chuckie but Sammi physically fights him. After telling him that he will get raped in jail, Sammi tattoos a swastika on Chuckie's head to make sure he doesn't get hurt. When the judge finds out he only has an IQ of 71, she gives him an appeal of 120 days. Later on, Sammi calls military police on Ian as revenge. Mickey and Debbie try to get back at Sammi by drugging her, but Mickey thinks she's dead and they stuff her in a moving crate. However, Sammi comes back and tries to shoot Mickey. In Season 6, when Chuckie is released from jail, he stays with the Gallaghers as it is revealed that Sammi is incarcerated for attempting to kill Mickey.
- Charles 'Chuckie' Nevins Slott (Kellen Michael) is a recurring character in seasons 4-6. Chuckie is Sammi's son, making him the grandson of Frank and the nephew of the Gallagher children. He has an IQ of 71 and is naïve to the intentions of others. He ends up in prison along with Carl for being a drug mule. He is later released and stays with the Gallaghers despite their previous tension with Sammi. Although Carl threatens to hurt Chuckie, Carl doesn't follow through his threat. In Season 6, Chuckie writes an essay expressing his absolute disapproval of minorities in America with propaganda provided by neo-Nazis in prison with school officials threatening to expel him. Frank disapproved of Chuckie's views but defends Chuckie's freedom of speech and Chuckie is allowed to recite his essay to the class. After the Gallaghers lose their home, they forget to inform Chuckie who is left to camp under the porch alone until Frank arrives and keeps him company before seeing he is more like the family than he thought. Eventually, Sammi calls her mother Queenie to look after him and she takes him to live at her Eco Village. While there, he works tending poppy plants and is mauled by a mountain lion though he survives with scars.
- Frances 'Franny or Harry' Harriet Gallagher- is Debbie's daughter, making her the niece of the other Gallaghers and granddaughter of Frank and Monica. She was conceived in the middle of Season 5 and born in the finale. Longing for a perfect family, Debbie deceived her boyfriend Derek Delgado that she was on the pill so that she would have a child. Things didn't go as expected, as Derek would leave her and she would have to raise the baby alone as Fiona didn't want another mouth to feed, even telling Debbie to abort the unborn child. However, Frank loved the idea of being grandfather to another child and told Debbie that she should have it. Frank supported Debbie throughout the pregnancy and tried to help her find ways to support Debbie, the child, and secretly himself. When her water broke, Debbie gave birth to her child on the kitchen table, a girl, who she named her Frances after her grandfather for his role in helping her in his own way. During Season 7, she briefly went by her middle name when Debbie and her siblings became estranged from Frank but this was only briefly. She meets her paternal relatives who take her away from Debbie, though her maternal grandmother returns and takes her back after being excited at having a granddaughter. At CPS meeting, Franny is returned to her mother while her paternal family have visiting rights but both families are told to stop the conflict or they're all lose her to the system. For her next appearances, Franny is a background character and is often tended to by her mother, aunt, and uncles. She takes her first steps and walks to her grandfather who had changed his ways and started to bond with his kids.
- Kassidi Gallagher (Sammi Hanratty) is a recurring character in season 8. She is introduced as a girl living in a shelter, she comes to the Gallagher house after others refuse to take her in while recovering from addiction. She is revealed to be a runaway and gives Carl the idea to send her father a ransom note since he needed money but her father saw through the ruse and wanted her to come back home. He gave Carl the money as incentive to return his daughter. Carl planned to do so since he got what he want but after being given oral sex by her, she was allowed to stay and they start dating. Kassidi proved to have possessive attitude and wanted Carl to stay with her all the time. Due to a misunderstanding with a promise ring, she believed Carl proposed to her and forbade him from leaving for military school unless he married her, despite both being underaged. Carl agreed they used fake ID's and married in front of his family, making Kassidi's Carl's wife. In the Season 8 finale, she tried to prevent from going to military school as she didn't want to be alone and handcuffed him to the bed. Carl breaks free and makes it on the bus with Kassidi watching, begging him not to go though he ignores it. It is revealed the beginning of Season 9, she has followed him to military school and has decided to support her husband's endeavors by dressing up as a cheerleader and cheering for him as well as counting down the days until his time in school. Carl was annoyed as this was preventing him from advancing in camp and one of his cadets (who Carl had problems with) decided to help by handling Kassidi. The cadet implied that he killed Kassidi based on his shady comments and there being no trace of her at her makeshift camp, to Carl's worry.
Other main characters
Jimmy Lishman
Jimmy Lishman (Justin Chatwin) is a main character in seasons 1-3, a guest star in season 4 and a recurring character in season 5. He is also known as Steve Wilton and Jack. Jimmy is a young man who relentlessly courts Fiona, going to great lengths to win her over because she is his "dream girl". He has expensive possessions and spends money liberally. Fiona finds this off-putting until she discovers that he is a professional car thief. It is later discovered that his real name is Jimmy and he comes from a wealthy family who presumes he is in medical school.
In season 2, he marries Estefania, the daughter of Nando, a Brazilian mafia mob leader, even though he is not interested in her. Fiona and Jimmy resume their relationship at the end of season 2. Nando wants Estefania to become a citizen and stay in the US. He threatens to kill Jimmy if he does not convince the Department of Immigration that he is her devoted husband.
In season 3, Jimmy vacillates between Fiona and Estefania but he professes to Fiona "just say the word and I will leave her". Beto, one of Nando's cronies, watches Jimmy. Estefania does not convince Immigration that her marriage is real. Nando then takes Jimmy on a boat, presumably to murder him. In the post-credits scene of the Season 4 finale, Jimmy, called "Jack" is alive.
In season 5, episode 6, Fiona encounters Jimmy at her diner job. She sleeps with him, cheating on her husband, but later comes clean. They all agree to meet at the diner to discuss the affair but Gus immediately punches Jimmy in the face. Fiona talks to Jimmy and he offers to whisk her away to Dubai but she decides it's better to end their relationship even though she still doesn't know his real identity. Jimmy's business partner Angela then tells Fiona the truth that their business dealings in Dubai actually fell through and tells her that "Jack" is a good thief but a terrible person.
Veronica Fisher
Veronica "V" Fisher (Shanola Hampton) is the Gallaghers' neighbor and Fiona's best friend and confidante. She often gives Fiona advice concerning relationships, caring for her siblings, and caring for herself. Veronica had pursued a hospital medical career until she was fired for stealing medical supplies and now works as a webcam girl.
Veronica and her husband Kevin are unable to conceive. Veronica's mother Carol acts as a surrogate. However, Carol wishes to keep the baby when Veronica becomes pregnant with triplets (one of which is non-viable). Veronica delivers two girls. In season 5, Veronica misses attention from Kevin. She contacts an old high school acquaintance but on meeting him again, she walks away. She and Kev eventually reconcile. By season 7, she and Kevin and are in a "throuple" (menage-a-trois) relationship with Svetlana.
Kevin Ball
Kevin "Kev" Ball (Steve Howey) is Veronica's husband. He is separated from his first wife who left him. Kev is the owner of the Alibi Room and is the Gallaghers' neighbor and friend. Though frequently exasperated by Frank's lifestyle, he gives Frank drinks on credit at his bar and cashes his disability checks for him.
Kev is dyslexic and grew up in foster care. When Kev and Veronica take in a foster daughter named Ethel, Kev takes it upon himself to make her feel as comfortable as possible. However, she runs away and so Kev and Veronica are no longer allowed to be foster parents.
Kev has inherited the bar from its previous owner, Stan. (Stan's son is an effeminate homosexual man who was estranged from homophobic Stan). To keep his bar afloat, Kev brings Mickey into the business. When Mickey steals from the bar, Kev brandishes and accidentally fires a shotgun. Veronica tells Kev to get rid of the weapon.
In Season 5, Kev spends more time with his daughters and wishes to learn to be a better parent. He goes to internet chatrooms, watches Svetlana breastfeeding and shaves off all of his hair after his babies keep pulling on it. Veronica is appalled by Kev's actions and puts him in the spare room. V feels that Kev gives much more precedence to the babies than their own relationship, while Kev feels that V is acting too detached from the girls and that their relationship would be stronger if she was more attentive to them (V is alleged to have post partum depression). After V kicks Kev out, he briefly moves in with Lip at his college dorm and begins sleeping with multiple co-eds. When they try to reconcile their relationship, further problems ensue.
Beginning in Season 7, Kev is in a three way relationship with Svetlana and Veronica. He was also notable for being the only person who felt guilt for throwing Frank off the bridge in the sixth season finale after he is revealed to have survived and returns. He and Veronica are betrayed by Svetlana who buys the Alibi from under them and forces Kev to get a job as bartender at a gay bar where he also does a side job as a dancer. Near the end, he and Veronica reclaim their bar and nearly have Svetlana deported. He makes amends with Frank and was present as the Gallaghers accept him again.
During Season 8, he has a health scare and is forced to track down his biological family to see if it runs in the family. Kev is also one of the few people who is not put off by Frank's change and cheers him on. Later on, he contacts his real family in Kentucky and learns his true name was Bart and that he was really abandoned by his late biological father but is happy to learn that he is the only successful member and bonds with his new family by adopting their mannerisms. In the middle of the season, he and Veronica face financial problems in their bar and are forced to drop the charges against Svetlana but force her to comply with their demands.
Sheila Jackson
Sheila Jackson (Joan Cusack) is Karen's mother and Eddie's widow. Sheila is a kind and caring person, if a bit empty-headed. She has agoraphobia and a fear of germs, developed when Karen was young. Frank seduces Sheila in order to live in her home, taking advantage of her cooking, disability checks and bedroom hospitality. Sheila eventually overcomes her conditions and continues to spend a great deal of her time with Frank. Sheila starts a relationship with Jody and they appear to have a loving, healthy relationship. However, when Karen has an accident, Sheila breaks things off with Jody and encourages him to take care of Karen. In season 4, Sheila starts internet dating. She meets a Native American man with five little nieces and nephews. She wants to adopt the children but is required to be married, so she marries Frank while he is unconscious in the hospital. However, he is still married to Monica so they never really get married. Her request for adoption is denied. Then, Sheila and Sammi begin to disagree about Frank and the house and many other things, and Frank finds himself in the middle of their little "war". All three get into a fight and Frank yells at both of them, and his home brewing setup blows up destroying Sheila's home. She steals an RV and leaves to fulfill her dream to travel and go live with Karen and Jody.
Karen Jackson
Karen Jackson (Laura Slade Wiggins) is a regular character in seasons 1 and 2 and a recurring character in season 3. Her mother is Sheila and her father is Eddie.
She is tutored by Lip and is seen as the neighborhood bad girl. Karen begins a casual relationship with Lip, but due to her promiscuous nature she refuses to make any real commitment, leading to a complicated relationship with him.
When Eddie invites Karen to his church's purity ball in exchange for the gift of a car, Karen is humiliated over her past sexual escapades. Eddie calls Karen a whore in front of everyone else. Karen responds by dying her hair black, gets Whore tattooed on her arm, and eventually sexually assaults Frank when he is on pain medication which is shown on a webcam to her father, which led to his eventual suicide.
In season 2, Karen is revealed to be attending Sex Addicts Anonymous and dating a fellow addict named Jody. Though she later marries Jody, she continually cheats on him with Lip. She becomes pregnant and is unsure who the father is. She attempts to sell the baby to a childless couple for as much as possible. At the end of season 2, Karen gives birth to a baby with Down syndrome. The baby is also Asian, indicating that neither Lip nor Jody is the father. The couple who planned to adopt the baby back out due to his disability and Sheila insists on raising him, even giving him the name Hymie. When Sheila refuses to send the baby away, Karen runs away.
Later in Season 3, Hymie’s paternal grandmother shows up and takes the baby. Not long after, Karen returns but it is revealed that she called the baby's father and paternal grandmother and convinced them that Sheila was not capable of raising Hymie so she could come home and not have to deal with him, devastating Sheila. Karen tries to make amends with Lip, starting to show that she really did love him but he turns her away as does her mother. She sleeps with Lip after he has a falling out with Mandy, though he rejects her later since he sees her as the same person who left him, this devastates her. She finds solace, when her mother makes amends with her. However, beforehand Karen had called Mandy and threatened to derail the future Mandy is trying to set up for Lip, as a result she is run over by Mandy and suffers frontal-lobe brain damage resulting in her inability to make new memories, though she is capable of recalling past memories. Jody states it might wear off or be permanent but takes Karen and her baby to Arizona to be with faith healers to tend her condition. While Karen and Jody do not appear again, in season 5 they are briefly mentioned by Sheila.
Mickey Milkovich
Mikhailo Aleksandr "Mickey" Milkovich (Noel Fisher) is a recurring character in season 1, 2 and 7, a regular character in season 3-5 and a guest character in season 6, 7 and 9. Mickey is Mandy's older brother. He is aggressively antisocial and carries firearms illegally. Mickey has a very long prison record, just like his father, Terry.
Mickey and Ian start on bad terms after Ian’s rejects Mandy’s advances. Mandy lies in retaliation and tells Mickey that Ian sexually abused her, prompting him and his brothers to go after Ian. He later steals food from Kash’s store, prompting Linda to give him and Ian a handgun to scare him away. Ian later goes to the Milkovich house to confront Mickey after he steals Kash's gun, though the two end up having sex after Ian finds gay porn in Mickey’s room and begin an affair. He is later shot in the leg by Kash after he catches him and Ian having sex and is sent to juvie for the thefts.
In season 2, Mickey is released from Juvie and has sex with Ian at a baseball field to celebrate. Though they continue their affair, Mickey continues to have sex with other women which frustrates Ian. Frank eventually sees Mickey and Ian having sex at the Kash and Grab but does not seem to be fazed. Mickey is afraid Frank will expose him and plans to attack him, but refrains, as he feels guilty, because of Ian. He throws his gun away and punches an officer instead, landing him in juvenile detention.
In season 3, Mickey is let out for overcrowding and continues his 'relationship' with Ian. Ian manages to get him a job at the Kash and Grab and after seeing Ian's 'boyfriend' becomes jealous and beats him up. Mickey suggests Ian stay at his house for the night instead of going back to foster care. Terry comes home to find Mickey and Ian having sex and beats them up. He has Svetlana, a Russian prostitute, rape Mickey to fuck the gay out of [him]. Svetlana becomes pregnant and Terry forces Mickey to marry her. Ian leaves to join the army, leaving Mickey heartbroken.
In season 4, Mickey becomes a pimp with Russian prostitutes and persuades Kev to allow him to use the upper floors of the Alibi Room. Ian who has left the army without permission is now working in a strip club which is where Mickey finds him and sets out to find Ian and brings him home to his family. At his son Yevgeny's christening party at The Alibi Room, Mickey comes out in order to salvage his relationship with Ian. Mickey, Ian, Terry and a friend of his fight resulting in their brief incarceration. At the end of season 4, Mickey notices that Ian is depressed and asks Debbie and Carl for help. Debbie tries to talk to Ian and quickly identifies the symptoms. Fiona thinks he may have bipolar, like their mother, and suggests he be hospitalized. Mickey strongly disagrees and says he will take care of Ian himself.
In season 5, Ian cheats on Mickey twice due to his hyper-sexuality. Mickey and Ian make a plan to destroy a homophobic church. Ian's mania increases as he shoots a porno and runs away with Yevgeny. Ian is hospitalised and at first, on his discharge, Mickey avoids seeing him, but after Debbie tells him he won't be able to just forget about him, they reunite. They later on get into a fight because Ian does not like Mickey nursing him and accuses him of going soft, they make up immediately as Ian says the fight is the first time he's felt something since his symptoms started. As they go home, planning to go on a date, Sammi has notified the army MPs of Ian's whereabouts and Ian is taken away. Mickey and Debbie take revenge by "roofie"-ing Sammi and thinking they have killed her, put her body in her moving crate which is moving her stuff to her new house. In the finale, Ian breaks up with Mickey after admitting he no longer wants to take his medication, Mickey is heartbroken but has to run away as Sammi appears and starts shooting at him.
In season 6, he is incarcerated once again and appears only in the first episode. When Ian comes to visit him, Mickey asks if he will wait for him. Ian appears to be uninterested in doing this, and Mickey asks him to lie if he has to. Ian promises to wait.
In season 7, Mickey escapes prison, while serving a fifteen-year sentence. He comes back to Chicago and through proxies manages to see Ian, to let him know that he's going to go to Mexico. Ian, despite having started a new relationship with Trevor, goes with Mickey to the Mexican border in Texas. At the last moment though, Ian has a moment of clarity and realizes that he is not the person he used to be, and that he cannot be with Mickey, even though Ian tells Mickey that he loves him. Upset, Mickey says goodbye and crosses the border, dressing up in drag to avoid scrutiny.
In season 9, Ian is sent to prison for two years and discovers to his shock that Mickey is his new cellmate. Mickey explains that in exchange for turning on the Mexican cartel he was working for, Mickey was allowed to choose which prison he would serve his time in. Ian and Mickey begin kissing and resume their relationship.
Mandy Milkovich
Mandy Milkovich (Jane Levy season 1, Emma Greenwell season 2-6) is a recurring character in season 1, 2 and 5, a regular character in seasons 3 and 4, and a guest character in season 6. Mandy is Mickey's sister who has a reputation at school for her sexuality. She originally wanted to date Ian but was humiliated when he rebuffed her advances. She sent her brothers to beat him up but he confessed to her that he's actually gay. She offers to be his beard and they become close friends.
In season 2 she starts dating and sleeping with Lip. Mandy was raped by her intoxicated father (who had mistaken her for her dead mother), which explains a part of her private side regarding situations that happen in her family. He believed Ian got her pregnant but it was his, and she aborted it in "A Great Cause". In season 3 her dad is mixing drugs and alcohol again so she moves in with the Gallaghers, to Fiona's chagrin. While living with the Gallaghers, Mandy and Lip frequently have sex and she is often scantily clad in his house. Though their romantic life is passionate, Lip starts to feel that Mandy is too clingy, wifely, and obsequious and says their relationship was never "official".
Mandy loves Lip and secretly sends his applications to colleges when she sees he's wasting his potential. After she tells him he should be grateful for how hard she worked to get him into universities, he ends his affairs with Karen. Mandy objects to Karen's advances on Lip and injures her with her car. Lip confronts Mandy and they break up. Lip does thank Mandy for all she has done before he leaves for college. She finds a new boyfriend and tells Lip about it before a drunk Ian reveals he's been sleeping with Mickey, which shocks her.
In season 4, Mandy's live-in boyfriend is Kenyatta. He physically abuses Mandy and Ian tries to help her. At the end of season 4, Mandy works as a waitress at the Waffle Cottage. Lip is served by Mandy and suspects something is wrong but she won't talk to him about anything other than the menu items.
In season 5, in contrast to her previously moody behavior, Mandy is dressed demurely and is good natured. In episode 3, Mandy considers leaving with Kenyatta for Indiana to "clean port-a-potties". Ian and Lip try to convince her not to go. However, during sex, Lip tells Mandy she is "gorgeous, sweet, funny, very smart, and a good person". She admits to Lip that she loves him but he is unable to say it back, so she goes with Kenyatta.
In season 6, it is revealed that she left Kenyatta and works as an escort. She enjoys her profession as her clients treat her well. She calls Ian for help when a client dies during an appointment and almost manages to avoid Lip before she leaves again.
Jody Silverman
Jody Silverman (Zach McGowan) (a recurring character in season 2 and a regular character in season 3) is a man Karen meets at Sex Addicts Anonymous and later marries. Jody is good-natured, if somewhat absent-minded. He is a keen tattoo artist, often looking for work. Jody adores Sheila and calls her Mom. Through the middle of season 2 after Karen has her baby and runs away, Jody begins a romantic and sexual relationship with Sheila but subtly ends after Sheila urges him that he is truly right for Karen. Eventually he and Karen leave Chicago to travel to Arizona.
Mike Pratt
Mike Pratt (Jake McDorman) is a recurring character in season 3 and a regular character in season 4. Mike is responsible and good natured. He is Fiona's corporate boss and in season 4, becomes her boyfriend. Fiona cheats on Mike with his brother Robbie, which Mike eventually learns. Although very hurt by Fiona's betrayal, Mike does not fire her and bails Fiona out of prison. Mike makes it clear that he never wants to see her again. At the end of season 4, Fiona is having a hard time finding a job because of her felony conviction. She asks Mike's sister to lie and say that she was not fired because of her drug and child neglect arrest but because of downsizing. Mike's sister berates Fiona for taking advantage of someone as nice as Mike, asking the company to lie to the federal government for her and causing a rift in their family.
Svetlana Yevgenivna
Svetlana "Suka" Yevgenivna (Isidora Goreshter) is a Russian prostitute hired by Terry to have sex with Mickey to "cure" his homosexuality. She becomes pregnant and despite her occupation, she says the father is Mickey. In season 4, Svetlana is living in the Milkovich house together with other prostitutes. She threatens Ian when he returns because she fears he will distract Mickey from his duties as her child's father. After the birth of her son, Svetlana threatens to tell Terry that Mickey and Ian's relationship continues and demands Mickey give her money to keep quiet. In season 5, Svetlana is a softer and more comic character. She becomes a surrogate mother to the twins. She moves in with the Fisher/Balls and performs oral sex on them both as part of her 'wifely' duties. In season 6 she regularly visits Mickey in prison (baby in tow) and works as a bartender at The Alibi - often providing comic relief to Kev and V's storylines. When Kev accidentally reveals Svetlana came to America illegally to Immigration, V and 'Lana pretend to be married to keep her here, but fall in love in the process. In season 7, she lives with Kev and V as a three-way couple, the "Throuple". Her father (later revealed to be her husband) comes to America, and stays with the family, until Svetlana "gets rid of him" in unknown terms, disturbing Kev and V. She later takes ownership of the Alibi behind their backs, to help them out of debt, but ruins the Throuple in the process.
Ford Kellogg
Ford Kellogg (Richard Flood) is a recurring character in season 8 and a regular character in season 9. He is Fiona's latest boyfriend. He is revealed to have a wife and son in season 9, but claims that he and his wife are separated and getting a divorce and are only keeping up appearances for the sake of their son. After Fiona's family find out her troubles, they build a ramp and place Ford in it and humiliate by hanging his pants to his ankles before having Fiona shoot a paintball gun at his rear end in revenge.
Recurring cast
Tommy
Tommy (Michael Patrick McGill) is a heavyset, cheery regular at The Alibi Room. He works as a construction crew manager and takes Lip on as a summer temporary employee. Tommy provides comic relief and is a voice of optimism.
Kash
Kash (Pej Vahdat) is the owner of the grocery store Kash and Grab, where Ian works. He has an affair with Ian despite being Muslim and married with children, as well as Ian being only 15. When Linda, Kash's wife, learns of his sexuality, she allows it as long as he gives her another child. Kash is unable to stand up to Mickey, who constantly steals from the store. This stems from a previous experience with Mickey’s father Terry who attacked him for accusing him. When Linda becomes pregnant, he tries to restart his affair with Ian and is shocked to find him now with Mickey. Faced with this knowledge, Kash finally managed to stand up to Mickey and shoots him in the leg, leading Mickey to be returned to juvie. However, Kash continues to feel trapped in his marriage and is having an affair with an unknown muslim man. He eventually leaves his family without a word.
Tony Markovich
Tony Markovich (Tyler Jacob Moore) a police officer, is the Gallaghers' neighbor who lives with his overbearing mother. Tony courts Fiona and learns of the Gallaghers' illegal activities. In Season 6, Tony facetiously identifies as gay, to a confused Ian that it's a consequence of his failed relationship with Fiona.
Eddie Jackson
Eddie Jackson (Joel Murray) is a season 1 character. He is Sheila's husband and Karen's father. He is religious and stuck in an unhappy marriage. He breaks down when he learns of Karen's promiscuity and at the end of the season, commits suicide.
Linda
Linda (Marguerite Moreau) is Kash's wife, a business-minded busybody. She is a Muslim convert and a proud mother but treats everything like a business, including her marriage. When Linda discovers her husband and Ian have been having an affair, she accepts it, but only on the basis he gives her another child and he does not touch Ian until she is pregnant. She does fall pregnant but Kash leaves. In a deleted scene, Linda finds out about Kash leaving and cries.
Kermit
Kermit (Jim Hoffmaster) is one of Frank's acquaintances at The Alibi Room. He often listens to Frank's rants and stories. He is quick to defend his name when people liken it to that of Kermit the Frog. Kermit has an extensive collection of firearms: his motto is, "Prepare and prevent, not repair and repent." Kermit was a friend of Dorothy (Butterface).
Kate
Kate (Kerry O'Malley) is a fiery redhead. She works with Kev as manager of The Alibi Room. When Kev inherits the bar, Kate tells him that the bar is not profitable. Kate witnesses Frank calling Children's Services on his family, saying "That is a whole new low even for you, Frank." Frank often reminds her that they have slept together during his comebacks.
Terry Milkovich
Terry Milkovich (Dennis Cockrum) is the father of Mandy and Mickey. He has evaded arrest numerous times and hence, Frank turns to him for an alibi. When he sees Ian and Mickey having sex, he beats them. He then hires Svetlana to "fuck the gay" out of Mickey and forces him to marry her after Svetlana becomes pregnant with Yevgeny. When Mickey comes out as gay at Yevgeny's christening, Terry and his brothers get into a massive fight with Ian and Mickey. This breaks Terry's probation and he is returned to prison, while Mickey taunts him relentlessly. Despite this, it is never confirmed if Terry disowned Mickey.
In Season 9, he is shown released from prison and called on by Frank who enlists his aid in getting Mo White elected as congressman. Ian later goes to visit him, unlike before Terry shows no ill will to him and states Mickey is in Mexico. However, Ian revealed he only came for his advice on prison. Terry tells him of his experience and tells he’d do best fleeing the country.
Carol Fisher
Carol Fisher (Vanessa Bell Calloway) is the mother of Veronica. She is the gregarious owner of a beauty salon. Carol acts as Veronica and Kevin's traditional surrogate. While initially skeptical of the idea, due to her age, she ultimately agrees to the request, and has Kevin's sperm inseminated into her (through very unorthodox methods). When this fails, Veronica suggests that Kevin and Carol actually have sex, something they don't find enjoyable. Miraculously, Kevin and Carol successfully conceive, giving birth to their baby (who is to be more exact, Veronica's half-brother). After giving birth, Carol wishes to raise Dominique and Veronica decides to allow her to do so.
Jasmine Hollander
Jasmine Hollander (Amy Smart) is a married mother of three with a free-spirited approach to parenting. Jasmine is Fiona's friend and tries to help by inviting her to parties and setting her up with different men. Jasmine has cheated on her husband and is kicked out by him with nowhere to go.
Ethel
Ethel (Madison Davenport) aged thirteen, is Veronica and Kevin's foster child. She was removed from a polygamist colony where her elderly husband, Clyde, was arrested for molestation. Ethel has had a child by Clyde, a son called Jonah who is also taken in by Veronica and Kevin. Initially, Ethel struggles to adjust to her new home but soon warms up to Kevin and Veronica and the Gallaghers. In the middle of season 2, Ethel meets a boy named Malik who has a daughter the same age as Jonah. When Ethel finds two bags of marijuana hidden in a hole in Kev's backyard, Malik sells it to fund their elopement. Kev and Veronica are worried about Ethel and Jonah leaving but she writes a thank you note and tells them not to worry.
Professor Hearst
Professor Hearst (Dennis Boutsikaris) is a college professor. He ensnares Lip when he catches Lip trying to take someone else's exam. He tries to channel Lip's talents into worthwhile endeavors. However, in return, the professor wants drugs and he wants knowledge about contemporary youth and popular culture in order to bed his female students.
Jess
Jess (Missy Doty) is a lesbian and is the bartender at The Alibi Room. She is witty with a dry sense of humor. When it becomes evident that Kev is dyslexic, she does the bar's books. The owner of the bar, Stan, is slowly losing his mental faculties. Jess and Kev argue over how to help Stan.
Little Hank
Little Hank (Nicky Korba) is Carl's socially awkward and slightly twisted friend. He tries to woo a number of girls. He often leads the way on pranks and stunts that land him and Carl in trouble. Little Hank and Debbie have a fledgling relationship.
Adam
Adam (James Wolk) is a banker who courts Fiona while she is working at a bar. Veronica tells Fiona that Adam is just a second rate version of Steve, but she takes no notice. Adam encourages Fiona in her track work and they begin dating. When Steve returns, Fiona, Adam, Steve and Estefania double date. When Adam notices favour between Fiona and Steve, he leaves heartbroken and humiliated.
Estefânia
Estefânia (Stephanie Fantauzzi) is the daughter of a Brazilian drug lord. She marries Jimmy despite her relationship with Marco. At the end of season 2, Marco abuses Estefania and she moves to the Gallagher household. She breaks up a fight between Ian and Frank, knocking Frank out who the Gallaghers decide to remove from the house for the night. In season 3, Estefania and Marco are living together. When Estefania's father, Nando, comes to the States he murders Marco by shooting him in the head.
Lloyd Lishman
Dr Lloyd "Ned" Lishman (Harry Hamlin) is Jimmy's father. He is a surgeon who has a brief sexual relationship with Ian. When Jimmy invites Fiona and her siblings to meet his family, both Ian and Ned are stunned to see each other again. Ned reveals to Jimmy that he and his wife are getting a divorce and he spends the night at the Gallaghers after drinking too much. Unfortunately, he accidentally climbs into bed with Lip and everyone is made aware of his relationship with Ian which devastates Jimmy. Despite this, they continue seeing each other. Their relationship makes Mickey jealous and he beats Ned senseless when Ned calls him Ian's boyfriend. Ian admits he likes Ned since he buys him things and isn't afraid to kiss him, prompting Mickey to kiss Ian for the first time. He recruits Ian and Mickey to get some of his things back from the house, telling them they can help themselves to anything else. His wife wakes up as they are robbing the place and shoots Mickey in the buttock. Ned rushes to the Gallagher house to remove the shrapnel from Mickey's wound.
Nando
Nando (Pêpê Rapazote) is the father of Estefania. He is a Brazilian drug lord. He tells Steve (aka Jimmy) that he can see Fiona as much as he wants but he wants Estefania to become a US citizen. Nando assigns Beto to watch over Steve and follow him wherever he goes. Nando tells Jimmy to get a job, stay out of trouble and stop stealing cars. Near the end of the third season, Nando learns Estefania is being deported and takes Jimmy away on his boat. It is implied that Nando was going to murder Jimmy.
Robbie Pratt
Robbie Pratt (Nick Gehlfuss; season 4) is Mike's alcoholic brother. Fiona starts an affair with Robbie while dating Mike. Robbie is irresponsible and lives a careless life. He funds his lifestyle by leeching off Mike and his parents. He justifies his manipulative actions by saying that he cannot live a "normal, boring" life with a desk job like his brother.
Mike learns of the relationship between Fiona and Robbie at a family occasion and punches Robbie. When Fiona rejects Robbie, he leaves a bag of cocaine at Fiona's house that is ingested by Liam, leading to her arrest. Fiona can no longer get a job and tells Robbie he has ruined her life. Fiona violates her probation by becoming intoxicated. The next day, she takes ecstasy, joyrides with Robbie's friends and is abandoned at a gas station. One day, when Robbie was hungover, he tells Debbie and Ian that he does not know where Fiona is. Debbie angrily tells Robbie to stay away from Fiona.
Ron Kuzner
Ron Kuzner (Adam Cagley) is a regular character in season 4 and makes a cameo appearance in season 5. Ron is Lip's supportive college roommate. Lip steals from Ron and goes behind his back with Amanda. Ron appears briefly in season 5, episode 1, when he is playing a PC game, semi-oblivious to Lip with an unknown girl.
Amanda
Amanda (Nichole Bloom) is a recurring character in seasons 4 and 5 and a guest character in season 6. In season 4 she is a sexual acquaintance of Lip's roommate Ron and later Lip. Amanda begins helping Lip care for Liam in his college room when Fiona is jailed, and she becomes attracted to Lip. She seduces Lip by performing fellatio on him in the middle of the night. She reveals to Lip that she has never had vaginal sex and she's saving it for her husband. She begins organizing Lip's daily schedule and starts buying him suits and expensive jewelry. Amanda is the rebellious adopted daughter of Jason and Sheryl, an affluent Caucasian couple. According to Amanda, she was rescued from a Subic Bay brothel and they are unsure of her ethnicity. They pay Lip $10,000 to stay away from Amanda but Lip and Amanda continue to see each other.
In season 5, Amanda invites Lip to spend a week in the summer with her and her family at their estate in Miami where Lip bonds with her father, and she gives Lip her "virginity". In their second year of college, she invites Lip to move in with her at an off-campus apartment. He declines and so she finds a roommate, Muff Bull Dagger, on Craigslist. Muff is a violent, sociopathic lesbian who stalks Amanda. She hides in Lip's room to avoid Muff and learns Lip is having sex with Helene. Gradually, she becomes more attached and possessive of Lip as she falls in love with him and Lip distances himself as he falls for Helene, even going so far as to blatantly ditch Amanda. When she confronts him in the college library, Amanda punches Lip and accuses him of making her fall in love with him.
In season 6, Amanda returns and gets her revenge on Lip by posting a nude photo of Helene online, ultimately resulting in the latter's firing from the university. However, things also turn bad for Amanda when she reveals that her actions have angered a group of "femin-nazis" and she is being run off campus.
Bonnie
Bonnie (Morgan Lily) is a recurring character in season 4. She becomes a friend and accomplice of Carl when they meet in after school detention. She lives in a van in a grocery store parking lot with her siblings. At the end of the season, Carl finds Bonnie and the van gone.
Jackie Scabello
Jackie Scabello (Alessandra Balazs) has a cameo appearance in season 4 and is a recurring character in season 5. Jackie is one of Fiona's co-workers at Pasty's Pies, where they are both waitresses. Jackie, similar to many of the other employees, is a recovering addict and is trying to make positive strides in her life in order to gain custody of her daughter. After her appeal for custody is denied, Fiona and Sean find her in her apartment unconscious after a heroin overdose. She recovered but Sean tells Fiona that he had no choice but to terminate her employment.
Sean Pierce
Sean Pierce (Dermot Mulroney) appears in seasons 5 and 6. He is a heroin addict, struggling hard to kick the habit while knowing that he will always be addicted. He has a son, Will, who has been taken away to Pittsburgh by the boy's mother. Sean manages a diner and is Fiona's rehabilitation supervisor. The chemistry between the two of them is apparent immediately, but both resist for personal reasons. Fiona then marries Gus, a caring indie-musician, but when that relationship falters, Fiona turns to Sean for help with that and multiple issues. They begin and are in a relationship throughout season 6. Sean reveals to Fiona that his past includes murdering a fellow drug user while high, but though he fears Fiona will leave him for this, she is unfazed. He helps out Fiona and her siblings multiple times, letting Fiona stay when the Gallaghers lose the house and eventually asking her to move in, buying Gus' ring back from the pawn shop and getting Carl out of the drug business. However, he loathes Frank and verbally and physically assaults him. He and Fiona were due to be married until Frank revealed Sean's relapse to Fiona at the altar. Following this revelation, Sean leaves to focus on Will, remarking that Will is more important. In season 8, he asks her to meet him in a diner, only to announce that he married someone else. After this, Sean hears Fiona rambling to the wrong person about how he ruined her life. Sean is oblivious, and Fiona walks away humiliated.
Gus Pfender
Gus Pfender (Steve Kazee) is a recurring character in season 5. Gus is a bass guitarist for an indie rock band. Fiona meets him while working in the diner. They marry on an impulse. Gus goes on tour without Fiona because she has cheated on him with Jimmy. When he returns, Fiona has already moved on with Sean, infuriating him. When Fiona attempts to apologise and remain friends by going to his gig, he sings a humiliating song about her. To punish him, Fiona pawns his grandmother's engagement ring in order to get a mortgage to buy her home back. He returns some time later, asking for the ring and a divorce. Sean buys the ring back for him so they can finalize their divorce and he can propose to Fiona.
Derek Delgado
Derek Delgado (Luca Oriel, Seasons 5-6 and Damien Diaz, Season 8) is a recurring character in season 5 as Debbie's boyfriend. Derek is an aspiring mixed martial artist who fosters Debbie's passion for fighting. Derek claims he placed third in a city championship. He is the father of Debbie's baby Francis (Franny).
In season 6, he moves to Florida with his grandmother after finding out Debbie is pregnant, leaving her to be a single mother. At the end of Season 8, Derek returns and wants to share custody of Franny.
Bianca Samson
Bianca Samson (Bojana Novakovic) is a recurring character in season 5. She is a physician who examines Frank's gunshot wound. She is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and decides her whole medical career was for nothing. She starts a freewheeling relationship with Frank to get away from her parents who want Bianca to treat the cancer. She buys Frank a $10,100 bottle of Macallan whiskey '39, which is destroyed while they make love on the train tracks. When Frank tries to get her medical treatment, she flees to Costa Rica. Frank wakes up to find Bianca missing only to learn that she has gone off to die.
Helene Runyon
Helene Runyon (Sasha Alexander) is a recurring character in seasons 5 and 6. She is a highly respected Professor of Critical Theory at the college Lip attends. She and Lip have an affair throughout the last four episodes of season 5 and the first five episodes of season 6. Helene's husband, Theo, (Michael Reilly Burke), who is a Doctor of Theology, is aware of Helene and Lip's relationship. Helene's affair with Lip comes to an abrupt halt when Lip's ex-girlfriend Amanda posts a nude photo of Helene in Lip's room throughout the whole college.
In the sixth episode of season 6, Lip tries to protect her in front of the college board and help her keep her job. When Helene is summoned to the college board (with Lip remaining in attendance) she tells them that in addition to cutting off all ties with Lip, she will also be seeking a psychologist to help her with her sex addiction. Lip tries to talk to her one last time as she leaves the school grounds, having openly proclaimed his love for her in the college board meeting, but Helene (who coldly ignored that proclamation during the meeting) looks him in the eye and tells him to never contact her again, to stay away from her and her family, and to keep out of her life as she tries to fix her own problems. Lip goes to her house drunk one night, and yells at her to talk to him, but she does not respond. In the tenth episode of season 7, he had drunkenly broke into her house. She tells him to move on and get help for his alcoholism.
Professor Youens
Professor Clyde Youens (Alan Rosenberg) is a recurring character in season 6, 7 and 8. A professor at Chicago Polytechnic University, he acts as a father figure, mentor, and drinking buddy to Lip, whom he employs as a teaching assistant. After a falling out with Lip towards the end of season 6, he bails Lip out of jail and encourages him to enter alcohol rehab. Youens has had his own struggles with alcohol and has a strained relationship with his daughter. After losing a drunk driving case he is sentenced to jail time. He dies while incarcerated due to a seizure related to alcohol withdrawal.
Dominique Winslow
Dominique Winslow (Jaylen Barron) is a recurring character in seasons 6 and 7. At first, she rebuffs Carl because of his gangster like ways even though he provides her a bike for transportation. After Carl's friend Nick murders someone, Carl decides that thug life isn't for him and because of that he distances himself from Dominque but this causes her to gain an interest in him. She meets him and tells him to be real with her. She also tells him that her friends have lost their virginity and she wants to lose hers, Carl soon has sex with Dominique, and they have a relationship.
In Season 7, she and Carl are still together with her defending him from her disapproving father. Later on, she convinces him to get circumcised but she ends up cheating on him and gets gonorrhea from an older man. Her father believed it was Carl until he discovered the truth and has Carl help him in reclaiming her. Dominique becomes hostile to Carl especially after he bonds with her father who is now much harder on her. When Carl decides to go to military school, Dominique apologizes for her actions and he considers getting back with her. Her father shows Carl that she is with a new boy who reveals he is not circumcised as Dominique states it didn't bother her now. She is humiliated by Carl revealing her STD to her new boyfriend as revenge.
Luther Winslow
Luther Winslow (Peter Macon) Luther is a recurring character in seasons 6 and 7. He is the father of Dominique, he takes an immediate dislike to Carl because of his gangster like ways when he tries to hit on his daughter. After Carl gives up his thuggish ways, he and Dominique get into a relationship but Luther doesn't approve of it.
In Season 7, as Dominique and Carl continue their relationship as she defend Carl from him. When Dominique gets gonorrhea, Luther believed it was Carl and hunts him. When Carl revealed he was clean and showed him that Dominique was with a college boy, he realized the truth and has Carl help him in reclaiming her from the frat house. Luther bonds with Carl and is now much harder on his daughter her. He also helps him in getting into military school since he could better himself When Carl decides to go to military school, Dominique apologizes for her actions and he considers getting back with her. Luther learns of Carl's decision and shows Carl that Dominique is with a new boy and she is not pleased at his actions. This caused Carl to set himself back on the path of military school and he thanks Luther for it.
Margo Mierzejewski
Margo Mierzejewski (Sharon Lawrence) is a recurring character. She is introduced in season 7 as a self-made real estate mogul, who's trying to gentrify some South Side neighborhoods. Her company also owns Patsy's Pies. After Fiona becomes the manager of Patsy's, she meets Margo and learns that she is also a high school dropout, but has amassed a net worth of $300 million. Eventually, Fiona decides to follow in Margo's foot steps, and buys Etta's deteriorating laundromat to start building wealth. However, Margo owns the building that houses the laundromat, and wants to buy the lease from Fiona. When the latter refuses to sell it, Margo offers her $160,000 - twice what Fiona paid for the lease - to get it, so Fiona agrees.
In season 8, Margo is revealed to own an abandoned church, in the neighborhood of Fiona's apartment building. When she loses interest in that place, she tried to sell it to two artists, before agreeing to rent it to Trevor to house the kids from his youth center. Not knowing the shelter is supposed to be Trevor's, Fiona tries to convince the artists to buy the church, as the shelter would not raise the neighborhood's reputation. It causes Margo to lose interest in renting out the church, so Ian decides to get the money to buy it for Trevor. Despite his ability to do it, Fiona is faster than him: Margo chooses to finalize the deal with the artists, creating a rift between the Gallagher siblings. Later, when she faces a lawsuit from her squatter tenants, Fiona tries to sell her apartment building to Margo. When Margo realizes that Fiona does not really want to sell, she gives her some advice to get rid of her tenants.
Sierra Morton
Sierra Morton (Ruby Modine) is a recurring character since season 7. She is a new employee at Patsy's Pies who Lip starts dating. She is a single mother to a son named Lucas. Her brother is physically disabled (he was in a car accident) and is briefly engaged to Debbie. Lip and Sierra have a casual sex relationship, he is scared it will get too serious given his commitment issues. At the first inkling that the relationship is getting deeper, he starts panicking—she admonishes him that he isn't the playboy he thinks he is. When Lip finally realizes that she is a good-hearted person and wants a deeper relationship she tells him she has her own issues to worry about and isn't with him to be his support group. Sierra's baby daddy is a drug addict named Charlie. Lip drunkenly beats him up when he shows up to their job. Sierra tells Lip she can't deal with two addicts in her life, he goes back to AA.
Near the end of the season, Sierra is seen putting in attempts to reconcile with Lip once his parents stay with her brother and sees what he had put up with. In the finale, with the death of Lip's mother, Sierra accompanies him and they finally make up by becoming friends.
During Season 8, she and Lip are on better terms as friends so much that she tells him that she has given Charlie another chance. However, her attempts end when she discover he got another girl pregnant. Sierra is devastated she turns to Lip and this turns into another attempt at a relationship. Sierra's father is released on parole for the death of her mother, she is worried but Lip helps her by secretly getting the man sent back. For the rest of the season, she and Lip are on better terms in their relationship though he sees he is mostly a rebound for her. In the finale, Lip breaks up with her and tells her to give Charlie a chance. Even though he admits his love for her, he doesn't think he can love her like she does him and the sad girl tells him to leave.
Neil Morton
Neil Morton (Zack Pearlman) is a recurring character since season 7. He is Sierra's brother. He is permanently in a wheelchair after a sports accident as a kid. He runs into Debbie at Patsy's Pie, as she starts to think he could give her a home to get her daughter back. They later attempt to get married to do so but are turned down by Frank and Fiona. While Debbie enjoyed being with him because of his honesty, she did not appear attracted to him.
In Season 8, Neil starts to notice Debbie is taking advantage of him for her own gratification and tries many things to change that but nothing works. When Debbie sends her friend who was a nurse to care for Neil, he falls for her and promptly dumps Debbie, while calling her an awful person who wanted him for his money. He also ignores her warnings that the nurse is probably doing the same.
Lucas Morton
Lucas Morton (Cooper J. Friedman) is Sierra's son. He finds Sierra and Lip having sex in season 7. She is very protective of him because his father Charlie is a drug addict. Lip offers to babysit him while Sierra goes to a date with Charlie in season 8.
Charlie
Charlie (Chet Hanks) is Sierra's ex-boyfriend and Lucas' father. Sierra tries to keep him out of Lucas' life because of his drug addiction. In season 8, she decides to give him a new chance.
Trevor
Trevor (Elliot Fletcher) is a transgender man who is an LGBTQ+ activist. Ian Gallagher, much to his own surprise, falls for him over the course of the 7th season. Trevor doesn't like talking about his past and doesn't mention family often or at all, nor does he mention a last name or many details about himself other than him being trans, gay, and pro LGBTQ+. Trevor does introduce Ian to his friends, which are all a part of the LGBTQ+ community, prompting Ian to ask questions and learn more about it. After some reluctance due to their seeming incompatibility in the bedroom (Trevor is a top in addition to being trans), Ian and Trevor start sleeping together and begin to form a strong relationship. Trevor wound up meeting and bonding somewhat with Monica, as she understood why he was upset, afterwards sharing drinks with her as he learned about Ian, commenting on how crazy she was and that he liked her. When Mickey drifts back into Ian's life, Trevor is left on the sidelines, finally pushed to the breaking point when Ian departs Chicago with his ex. When Ian returns after being out of contact for more than a week, Trevor is sympathetic to his motivations and Monica's recent death, but makes it clear that their relationship is over.
In season 8, Trevor maintains firm boundaries with Ian, but it is obvious to everyone that a spark is still there. Ian, trying to work his way back into Trevor's good graces, spends much of his own time and money at the LGBTQ+ center. Trevor begins to warm back up to Ian, and the two settle into a friendship, albeit one with lots of flirting. Trevor nearly ends things again when one of his kids loses a place in a shelter because Ian thoughtlessly helped her, but Ian responds by helping Trevor try and open a new shelter in an abandoned church. The added time together eventually leads to them again giving in to their simmering attraction. As Ian's gay Jesus movement gathers steam, Trevor is once again pushed to the side. He no longer appears in season 9 nor is he mentioned by the time Ian goes to prison and is reunited with Mickey.
Nessa Chabon
Nessa Chabon (Jessica Szohr) was a prospective tenant of Fiona's apartment building in season 8. She is a "tough and smart lesbian". She and Fiona will become close friends throughout the season. She likes "blond and bitchy" girls like her actual girlfriend, Mel.
