F.R.I.E.N.D.S Characters And Their Personalities

Friends as we all know is by far the most popular and one of the best American television sitcoms which you have probably watched a thousand times and continue to do so. It just never seems to get old. Friends is made up of so many jokes, so much body comedy, so many surprises and awwws, and squeals of live-studio audience excitement. And I’m sure you’ve all spent many nights recumbent on your sofa laughing at, say, Ross and Phoebe debating evolution, or everyone impersonating Chandler or Rachel taking forever to tell somebody who the father of her baby is. If any of these references didn’t make you happy, you should probably reconsider your level of humor, just kidding, everyone has their own taste. But you should probably change yours. 

Well now that I’ve given a highlight on this show, let’s jump into the six main characters personalities who are the heart of this show each of whom has an interesting, quirky personality that often gets them into all kinds of hilarious situations. Let’s have a look at the characters we’re about to dive into. 

1. Monica Geller
2. Rachel Green
3. Ross Geller
4. Chandler Bing
5. Joey Tribbiani
6. Phoebe Buffay
7. Janice
8. Mike Hannigan

Monica Geller (The One with The OCD) 

Monica as we have seen is a perfect example of someone with OCD. She obsesses over details and must have everything organized and planned out. 

Monica Is A Social Butterfly

Monica loves spending time with others and makes decisions based on feelings and personal values. She loves being the hostess and loves taking care of her friends even if they’re acting crazy. 

Monica Is Over Organized

Monica’s organization skills are unmatched, as evidenced by her Wedding Book, a total of 11 towel categories, and numbered mugs. Obsessing over seemingly insignificant details, like which way the tag on the duvet is facing, is what Monica typically does. To describe Monica as a neat freak would be an understatement, but it’s not just about being clean for her, it’s about doing things her way. 

Monica Is Competitive

This also drives her to see everything as a competition that she must win. As a head chef, she is very in control and detail-oriented. More than anything, Monica thrives on order and schedules, you will never see the apartment out of order or dirty while she is there. Organizing projects comes very naturally to her, and you can bet that she’ll get the best results in the most efficient way, even if it means through force. You can always count on Monica to get the job done.

Monica Is Emotionally Strong

Monica was overweight when she was younger. And it did affect her very much, she owned up to it, but it was also definitely an emotional burden to carry. So she decided not only to shred the burden but rule control over it completely. She becomes a chef, manipulates food, overpowers it, takes what used to be against her and uses it to her advantage. 

Rachel Green (The One Who Ran Away From The Alter) 

Rachel is spontaneous and flexible. Walking away from a secure future to start anew without so much as a “pla–” takes courage, and Rachel actually adapted to the change rather easily. 

Rachel Is A People’s Person

Her energetic and playful nature is what draws people in. Rachel loves putting her people skills to work, which helped her establish a successful career in the fashion industry. While Rachel may get teased for being a push-over, when she feels strongly about something there’s no stopping her. After all, she bravely quit her waitress job to pursue a career she felt passionate about (with a little nudge from Chandler). Rachel is all about her friends and relationships. She is caring and loyal to the people she knows. She gets her energy from interacting with her friends because she doesn’t like to be on her own. 

Rachel Is A Fashionista 

She cares about trends and her appearance in the minds of others, which leads her to be constantly aware of her surroundings. She works in the fashion industry so it’s only natural for her to act this way. Rachel thinks with her heart, which means that she easily gets hurt when it comes to relationships. She cares deeply for her friends and pays attention to their emotions. After Rachel leaves Barry at the altar, her life becomes extremely spontaneous and out of control because she has to learn how to survive without her dad’s money.

She begins to gain some order when she achieves a steady job at Bloomingdales and then Ralph Lauren. Rachel is someone who grows. Someone who changes, someone who evolves, someone who learns what it’s like to be a good person and to feel loved. And, in turn, to love back. Rachel comes to New York as a flawed and selfish person but that all changes after she learns to be independent. 

Ross Geller (The One With The Three Divorces) 

Ross, in the earlier seasons, comes off rather shy and reserved. He feels fulfilled when he’s engaging in intellectual activities, namely thinking and talking about dinosaurs. 

Ross Is All About The Facts

For Ross, Setting the record straight is extremely important, as seen with the whole “we were on a break” conundrum. Ross is all about facts and will go to extreme lengths to prove his way is the right way, like when he argued with Phoebe about evolution. As a scientist and professor, he thrives on accuracy, precision, and being detail-oriented. He is thorough and remembers specifics about certain individuals because he values loyalty. 

Ross Is Pure At Heart

He tends to make decisions with his heart, which leads to emotional pain and heartache most of the time (just review his three failed marriages and his rollercoaster relationship with Rachel.) He likes to have an orderly and harmonious environment. He is very willing to compromise his own personal interests for those of others. Ross is a highly educated person. He’s a curious person, one who constantly wishes to improve himself, at least on an academic level. He is confident because of his academic success, confident because of what his parents have given him, confident because he has proved to himself he is worth it. And yet, clumsy, romantically but he keeps trying, keeps persisting, keeps loving and keeps to his true self. 

Chandler Bing (The One With The Sarcasm) 

Chandler is quick, innovative, encouraging, and open. He relies on his intuition to easily generate new ideas, and prefers freedom to strict planning and organization. 

Chandler Is Witty

Chandler’s quick wit is his defining trait, that’s why we love him so much. He’s usually the first one to point out something funny in the room with a sarcastic remark, regardless of whether it’s appropriate or not. He gets the most zingers because jokes are his way of coping with problems, and just simply going through everyday motions. His quick wit and humor make him fun to be around, although his comments sometimes get him into trouble. He’s quite outspoken with his quick, sarcastic quips as he constantly jokes around and pokes fun of his friends. He always seems to have some unusual ideas brewing in his mind. 

Chandler Is Spontaneous 

Chandler is smart so he tends to make decisions based on logic or reason. He is probably one of the most spontaneous characters out of the group because he seems to get bored with order and routine. He constantly jumps around with his relationships and jobs. His relationship with Janice is on and off throughout most of the seasons of the show.

Chandler Has Low Emotional Stability 

He has relatively low emotional stability because of his mother’s and father’s occupations. (His mother is an erotic novelist and his father is a cross-dresser in Las Vegas.) His parents have left him emotionally scarred and immature when it comes to developing his own relationships. When nervous in social situations, Chandler turns to humor to avoid dealing with real emotions because he is so insecure.

He feels neglected, like he isn’t enough. He’s pessimistic about the world because the world has shown him nothing else but its bad side. Chandler is a sad man, one tortured by his past, by his parents, by the neglect they enforced on him. He is a man who finds escape through his friends and a man who needs that escape because his life is grey. And at the end of the day, a man who grows by finding love. Once he gets together with Monica, you can see a gradual change in his emotional development. His character grows a lot more after that.

If you love friends, you gotta check this out.

Joey Tribbiani (The One With The “Hey, How You Doin’?”) 

Joey is defined by his contagious enthusiasm for life and love of the spotlight. He is energetic, down-to-earth, and spontaneous, which draws people in. 

Joey Is The Fun One

Being around Joey is easy and comfortable because he knows how to take pleasure in everything around him (almost like a child), and he’s always open to all kinds of ideas to have fun, like building a fort, sticking his head in a turkey etc. Joey’s emotions always get the better of him, which sometimes leads to very poor decisions. For crying out loud he ate all the food from his broken fridge so it wouldn’t go bad and tried to save a sandwich from what he thought was a bullet. He is the guy who’s gone through life as a struggling actor in New York, without a stable income or a plan B. Boldness and confidence, combined with naivety, makes Joey a very approachable character. 

Joey Is Very Social 

He constantly thrusts himself into new social situations because of his occupation as an actor. He is very comfortable with talking to others, even though what he says many times may not make any sense. there is no order in Joey’s life whatsoever. Joey is highly extroverted because he thrives on human interaction, whether it’s on stage or in Central Perk. He’s always full of energy and likes to think of himself as the life of any party.

Joey has a very important job in the friend group. He’s the positive one. He looks at things from a specific angle, an angle that sees the best outcome and helps their friends do everything in their power to reach that angle. Unlike all other members of the group, Joey doesn’t actually need a special someone, he doesn’t need another person to complete him or make him happy because he is enough for himself. He might not be very intellectual but he has a kind heart which makes him one of the favourites.

Phoebe Buffay (The One Also Known As Regina Phalange)

Phoebe is imaginative and original. She is very artistic, even in appearance. 

Phoebe Is Unconventional and Quirky

Phoebe is unconventional and has a distinctive and quirky personal style. Phoebe is a singer/songwriter, a masseuse, can speak fluent French and some Italian, and has shown a keen interest in animal rights, environmental rights, spirituality, and has displayed all sorts of other unusual talents over the episodes. Phoebe has told some of the most imaginative and at times outrageous stories. She is friendly, sympathetic and committed to her friends, even though she’s had a tough life and even lived ”on the streets”.

Phoebe is one of those people who could talk to anyone about anything. She gets her energy through talking and singing about the abstract ideas and theories she comes up with. While she doesn’t have a stable job or love life, it seems to work well for her because she’s more interested in living impulsively than by an ordered routine. Phoebe has an incredibly high openness to experience because her creativity and curiousness drive her actions and way of life. She’s interested in adventure and trying new things even if they may be unusual. Her high openness to experience has helped her overcome her homelessness, find her father and, eventually, find love and marriage with Mike. 

Phoebe Is Naive and Innocent

Having experienced nothing like a normal, complete childhood, Phoebe is often quite naive and innocent, and is in some regards still a child at heart. She still believes Santa Claus existed (until Joey tells her otherwise). She is also overjoyed when Ross gets her a pink bicycle. Phoebe often uses her chaotic childhood and traumatic past as sympathy ploys to her friends. References to her mother’s death were usually to get her own way. Phoebe does have very significant control over the group but often makes others reveal things about themselves, understand things about themselves, and pushes them to go and do that one thing that they wouldn’t have been able to do without her. Phoebe is a lot smarter than she shows and a lot more manipulative, in a good way. 

Let’s have a look at one additional character who makes this show even more entertaining to watch. Sometimes annoying too. You guessed it!

7. Janice (The One With The “Oh my god”)

The hideous laugh and the stretched “omg” is what Janice is all about.

Janice Is Outgoing

Janice is the kind of person who is always up for a good time. She’s outgoing and loves to be surrounded by people. Sometimes she can be a lot to handle, but she’s a nice person.

Janice Is Not Self-Aware

Janice loves being around people but she doesn’t understand that it’s not the same for her. She has no idea how people really feel about her. She’s portrayed as a drama queen and mostly known for her obnoxious and nasally voice.

Mike Hannigan (The One With The Name- ‘CrapBag’)

Mike is an attorney turned pianist whose divorce leaves him against the idea of marriage. But that all changes when he gets together with Phoebe.

Mike Is Competitive

Mike is smart and competitive (almost as much as Monica). He is also extremely supportive and lets his childishness shine through as Phoebe comes up with the most bizarre ideas. Mike is introverted, idealistic, and creative. He’s very in tune with his feelings and those of others. He’s always quick to comfort Phoebe when she’s feeling down.

Mike Is Pragmatic

Mike is always there to ground Phoebe. He is a great match for Phoebe because he understands her unique perspective and helps her to see the world in a new light.

Wrapping Up

So this was the in-depth character analysis of the Friends cast. Who is your favourite character? 

Want to get a chance to see these characters on screen again? well, you’re in luck. Click here to find out about the Friends Reunion.