List of House characters

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These are the characters in the television series House.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Main characters

Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) – As the show's protagonist, he is the head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine, an infectious disease specialist, and nephrologist. Dr. House is seemingly lacking in bedside manner and prefers to avoid direct contact with his patients whenever possible. Due to an infarction in his right thigh, House lost a substantial portion of the muscle in his upper leg and must use a cane to assist with walking. As a result, House is also forced to deal with constant physical pain, which he manages through a dependency on the prescription pain-medication Vicodin. Although his behavior can border on antisocial or misanthropic, House is viewed as a maverick physician whose unconventional thinking and flawless instincts have afforded him a great deal of respect and an unusual level of tolerance from his professional colleagues.

Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) – Administration: Dean of Medicine, endocrinologist. Though commonly seen as a thorn in Dr. House's side, Dr. Cuddy is an ally and frequently acquiesces to House's often outlandish medical requests. Additionally, Dr. Cuddy has the distinction of being one of the few characters on the show (Dr. Wilson being the other) who can match wits with the fast-talking Dr. House in conversation (and arguments).

Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) – Department Head: Oncology. Dr. Wilson is Dr. House's best (and only) friend. Dr. Wilson is very well-respected and well-liked by both his colleagues and his patients, making his close friendship with the antisocial House especially puzzling to the other hospital employees. Wilson claims that his job and his "stupid, screwed up friendship" with House are the two most important things to him.

Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, intensivist. Dr. Chase's demeanor appears to have been either influenced or amplified by House, as he has previously displayed a penchant for insulting patients behind their backs, takes clear and vicarious joy in watching House tear into others, finds House's antics more amusing than others do, and repeats House's mantra of "everybody lies" whenever a patient's full disclosure of any required medical history is called into question. Moreover, when suggesting treatments to diagnoses, Chase is arguably the most creative member of House's staff, often proposing unconventional treatments that had not previously been considered, but whose perceived effectiveness is generally agreed upon.

Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, neurologist; attended Johns Hopkins Medical School. Of all the members of House's staff, it is strongly implied that Foreman performed best academically throughout college and medical school. However, during the pilot, Dr. House tells Foreman that a major factor in his hiring was the fact that he was a former juvenile delinquent who once broke into houses and had 'street cred'. Despite his youthful offences, Foreman may be the best-adjusted of House's medical team. As a result, he frequently voices his disapproval of House's maverick methods and daring decisions.

Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, immunologist; former Mayo Clinic medical intern. Dr. Cameron is earnest and committed to doing good, in contrast to Dr. House's misanthropy. Of all the members of House's staff, Cameron is the most empathetic. A growth in character development has her more brazen in her beliefs and actions. In addition to this, she has also taken on a tad of House-like characteristics, which has proved to make her more cynical but unlike House, she still manages to be more or less as compassionate as before.

[edit] Other characters

Stacy Warner (Sela Ward) – Dr. House's ex-girlfriend (she lived with him for five years), a Constitutional lawyer and Duke University graduate. Two years after their breakup, she married Mark Warner. She appears in 9 episodes during the run of season 2, taking a job at PPTH to be close to her husband during his recovery. House and Stacy's relationship has been strained due to his relentless pursuit to prove she still has feelings for him. Mark aided House's cause by driving a wedge between himself and his wife when he suspects a brewing affair. Mark was eventually proven correct, as Stacy fell for House all over again and they slept together. As Stacy prepared to leave her husband for House, he then rejected her (stating that he could not make her happy, because he could not change). She quit her job at the hospital and went back home to Short Hills with Mark. An enraged Wilson believed House broke her heart not out of guilt for Mark (which is not his modus), but as a last-ditch resort to ensure that he (House) doesn't allow himself happiness. The aftermath of this botched affair left House in a stark depression.

Mark Warner (Currie Graham) - Stacy's husband. A middle school guidance counselor by profession, he became a patient at PPTH against his will in episode 1.22 ("The Honeymoon") and was eventually diagnosed with porphyria by House. Mark is jealous of House, and House's sharp words and actions indicate the feeling is likely mutual. Still recovering from his illness, Mark is confined to a wheelchair and attends both physical therapy sessions and psychological counseling at PPTH; during this time, Stacy and Mark began arguing with increasing frequency due to Mark's frustration with his illness and slow recovery. In episode 2.11 ("Need To Know"), Mark confronted House about Mark's own fears of losing Stacy and his suspicions of House and Stacy's interactions; their confrontation led Mark to physically grapple with House and undo months of rehabilitation. House realized that Mark was willing to do the things House himself could never do for Stacy, giving him an excuse not to not follow through with their relationship. House broke up with an astounded Stacy and she left with Mark for good.

Edward Vogler (Chi McBride) - Billionaire owner of a pharmaceutical firm and former board chairman of PPTH, a position he gained through a major cash donation to the hospital. 5 episodes, 1.14–18. Vogler sought to reshape PPTH into a testing facility for his firm's new drugs and saw House's maverick ways and blatant disregard for rules and authority figures as a substantial legal and financial liability. When House refused to kowtow to Vogler's increasingly capricious demands (including an order for House to fire one of his fellows) and made a mockery of Vogler's company at a press banquet, Vogler gave the board an ultimatum: Fire House, or lose Vogler's grant. After an impassioned plea from Cuddy for the board members to put the hospital's independence ahead of Vogler's deep pockets, the board voted to retain House, as well as voting Vogler off the board of directors and therefore losing his $100 million.

John and Blythe House (R. Lee Ermey and Diane Baker) - House's parents. One episode, 2.05 ("Daddy's Boy"). Mother Blythe seems to be the standard military housewife, and House calls her a "human polygraph". His father John used to be a Marine Corps pilot and is incessantly honest, a trait which House seems to be quite bitter about. House's father is hard on him for not dealing with his leg better, telling him "your problem is that you don't know how lucky you are". When House was young, his father was stationed in Egypt, and was stationed in Japan when he was a teenager. In episode twelve of season three (One Day, One Room), House reveals that his father abused him as a child with punishments including sleeping in the yard and ice baths.

Dr. Rowan Chase (Patrick Bauchau) - Dr. Chase's estranged father and acclaimed rheumatologist. He left his alcoholic wife and teenage son, and some unspecified time later, remarried. He is seen in one episode, 1.13 ("Cursed"). In episode 2.08 ("The Mistake"), the character was revealed to have died of lung cancer, without ever saying goodbye to his son, and in 2.22 ("Forever"), it is revealed that he also left Chase out of his will.

Rodney Foreman (Charles S. Dutton) - Dr. Foreman's religious father, appears in Euphoria, Part 2.

Steve McQueen - House's pet rat, which he captured in Stacy's attic in episode 2.07 ("Hunting"). Originally supposed to be exterminating the rat, House granted him reprieve in order to diagnose his odd neck tilt. By the end of the episode House had determined the cause to be mycoplasmosis, aggravated by Stacy's smoking. As much as House cares for Steve, he's not always above using him for medical experimentation. In Episode 2.21 "Euphoria, Part 2", House uses Steve to do a walkthrough of the Cop's home, he stated that when Steve began to show symptoms, as House saw it on his webcam, he would be hit with a 'cane-shaped object'. Steve never showed symptoms, however, so House didn't end up killing him. Since then, he can be seen in the background in House's apartment during various episodes.

Detective Michael Tritter (David Morse) - He is a clinic patient of House. After House refuses to run tests at Tritter's request, Tritter trips House. House then puts a thermometer in Tritter's rectum for 2 hours. Afterwards, Tritter demands an apology from House for deliberately leaving the thermometer in him. House refuses; perhaps spurred on by the patient's attitude which is at least as bad as House's. Caught speeding and arrested for possession of allegedly unprescribed medication, House is thrown in jail overnight by Tritter, who searches his house the next week and finds a large amount of Vicodin. He has also interviewed House's staff looking for inconsistencies in their stories. He is proceeding to tighten his vicegrip on Wilson by freezing Wilson's bank account, towing his car, and revoking his drug prescription rights because he wants Wilson to testify against House in court. After Tritter discovers that Wilson refuses to betray House, he turns on to House's assistants, freezing Foreman and Cameron's accounts, before talking to each one of them in turn. Foreman and Cameron refuse to testify in court about House, but when Tritter talks to Chase, he makes it appear to the hospital staff as though they had had a pleasant lunch together. This makes Foreman and Cameron seem to think that Chase has told Tritter something, although he had refused too, his only stated reason being that he would lose his job. Tritter finally succeeds in his goal however, when Wilson comes to him, requesting "thirty pieces of silver" in a symbolic statement of his decision to betray House, whom he has come to see as spiraling out of control. In the final days leading up to House's trial, Tritter confronted him in rehab to see if he was really going through with it. When the charges against House were dropped at the trial, because the judge believed Tritter was just being vindictive, Tritter wished House good luck and said that he hoped he was wrong about him. Tritter has not appeared on the show since.