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| Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope |
Leslie is the Deputy Director of the Parks department in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana. Her intense ambition and work ethic not only drives the plot of the show, but also unites the rest of her team to work together. Whether she’s working to fill in a pit or running for City Council, it’s Leslie’s goals that bring everyone in, including us as the audience. This may seem self-centered, but to balance it out, Leslie has a supernatural ability to care about her friends and her town. She has a unique and special bond with each character. The amount of time and effort she puts into every aspect of her life is at times cartoonishly unrealistic, but that’s what makes her rootable. She’s the Energizer Bunny that keeps on giving.
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| Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson |
2. Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman)
Ron is a government hating Libertarian, who ironically is the Director of the Parks department. Since he doesn’t care about his job, he has plenty of time to follow his passions, such as woodworking, alcohol, and eating any meat he can get his bare hands on. The thing about Ron is that although he is tough and seemingly fearless, he rarely exercises his authority. This makes it very effective when he gets serious. One example of this is when he snaps at everyone for being selfish at the Harvest Festival. Underneath his gruff exterior is a soft side that he tries to keep hidden. April summed up Ron best when she compared him to her favorite tree, "It's strong and quiet and always here when you need it.
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| Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins |
3. Ann Perkins (played by Rashida Jones)
Ann is a nurse in Pawnee who meets Leslie in the pilot and the two became near-instant BFFs. I originally viewed Ann as the weakest of our main characters. This is because her initial role seemed to be the rational, sane person who looked down on all the wacky characters. This show didn’t need that role. Things changed around season 3 as Ann becomes someone who seems like they have it all together, but is secretly just as crazy as anyone else. Her dating life is a mess and it doesn’t take much to get her unraveled, so she needs her new Pawnee family. That’s when Ann becomes so relatable. When she and Leslie get into a drunken fight at the Snake Hole Lounge, I remember thinking “Ok, Ann is fun to watch all of a sudden”.
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| Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt |
4. Ben Wyatt (played by Adam Scott)
Ben came in during the season 2 finale as a financial specialist to fix Pawnee’s budget crisis. Initially Ben was very cold and harsh, but as he becomes familiar with Leslie and her team, he is able to let his guard down. Underneath he’s a sweet guy who turns out to be the perfect match for Leslie. He takes his work seriously, but he is still a full-on nerd, obsessing over things like Game of Thrones and Calzones. Coming in as an outsider to Pawnee, Ben is also able to react to the town’s unique quirks the way the audience might. When everyone is freaking out over the mini horse, Lil Sebastian, Ben says what we were all thinking, “I don’t get it”. Ben’s the sensible one who could do your taxes, while rocking his Batman suit.
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| Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate |
5. April Ludgate (played by Aubrey Plaza)
April is the seemingly apathetic intern of the Parks department. Her personality is very similar to Ron, who often acts as her father-figure. Like Ron, she pretends to hate everything and tries to hide her inner soft-side with her hard, sarcastic outer shell. April has a very dark, strange sense of humor and isn’t afraid to be weird. We start to see beyond her apathetic attitude when she starts to develop a crush on Andy. This shows us that there’s definitely two sides to April. While working for Ben, she draws cartoons mocking him, but also scares his interns into respecting him. She’s never going to be the bubbly, perky, happy girl, but she can use her frightening intensity for good when the situation calls for it.
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| Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer |
6. Andy Dwyer (played by Chris Pratt)
Andy is by far my favorite character. Everything he says is comedy gold! Andy starts out as Ann’s inconsiderate boyfriend, but soon transitions into being a lovable, dumb goofball. Basically, he’s an adult who doesn’t know how to be an adult. He has a frightening lack of knowledge when it comes to practical things like jobs, money, and personal safety. Through all of this, he has an eternal optimism that is very admirable. No matter how big of a mess his life is, Andy’s happy as long as he has April and his music. He’s also extremely loyal and kind. Andy is not the guy to count on to get work done correctly, but he is the guy to count on to always be ready and eager to help.
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| Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford |
7. Tom Haverford (played by Aziz Ansari)
Tom technically works for the Parks department, but if asked, he’d say he’s an entrepreneur. He’s always got some big idea to chase fame and fortune, whether it be an entertainment company or an Italian restaurant. His extreme ambition is matched by his taste for expensive things and his confident swagger. Tom can at times be self-centered and inconsiderate, but he often gets out of trouble with his charm. That being said, there are also times when he uses his charm to help his coworkers, like when he was able to convince business owners to support the Harvest Festival. Underneath his swagger, Tom is good guy who dreams big and wants to make a name for himself.
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| Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger |
8. Chris Traeger (played by Rob Lowe)
Chris comes to Pawnee with Ben at the end of season 2 and eventually becomes City Manager. He is LITERALLY, the most positive person in the entire world. (The overuse of the word “literally” is a Chris Traeger trademark.) At first, he is a one note character, with his physical health and extreme positivity being pretty much all there is to him. He’s so intense that his attitude seems fake until he goes out of his way to help people he literally just met. Minutes after meeting him, Chris talks Andy through relationship issues simply because he could tell Andy was a good person. There is no half-way with Chris. He jumps into everything he does and goes above and beyond with a huge smile on his face.
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| Jim O'Heir as Jerry Gergich |
9. Jerry Gergich (played by Jim O’Heir)
Jerry (also known as Garry, Larry, and Terry) has worked in the Pawnee Parks department for over 30 years and is almost always the butt of the joke. He often unites people by giving them someone to make fun of when he farts, spills something, mixes up his words, or basically makes any mistake. This may sound mean, but Jerry is a good sport about it and is extremely resilient. He also seems to love doing the boring, tedious work that everyone else hates doing. Interestingly, whenever we get a glimpse of Jerry’s life outside of work, he’s easily the most content. He has a shockingly gorgeous wife, loving daughters, and he is an extraordinarily talented painter. People may mock him, but no one is as happy as Jerry.
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| Retta as Donna Meagle |
10. Donna Meagle (played by Retta)
Donna is the backbone of the Parks department. She gets things done and never apologizes for being herself. Donna is a perfect mix of her coworkers. She has the confidence and style of Tom with the sensibility he lacks. She has the diligence of Jerry without being accident-prone. Donna is often the one to come to the rescue when things are a mess. Who got Ben out of a funk by dragging him to the mall for a shopping spree? Who had a system backup when April accidentally deleted everything? Who taught Ann how to flirt with guys when she was freaking out about dating? Who drove everyone home when they were all wasted on Snake Juice? The answer to all of these is Donna Meagle. Don’t mess with her.
