This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series, Psych. The principal cast of the series has remained the same throughout the series. However, various recurring characters have appeared over the course of the show's run.
Contents |
| Name | Portrayed by | Occupation/Status | Seasons | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Shawn Spencer | James Roday | Fake psychic; private consultant to the SBPD | Main | |||||
| Burton "Gus" Guster | Dulé Hill | Private consultant to the SBPD and Shawn's best friend | Main | |||||
| Carlton "Lassie" Lassiter | Timothy Omundson | SBPD head detective | Main | |||||
| Juliet "Jules" O'Hara | Maggie Lawson | SBPD junior detective; Lassiter's partner; Shawn's love interest | Main | |||||
| Chief Karen Vick | Kirsten Nelson | SBPD interim chief (2006–2008); SBPD chief (2008–present) | Recurring | Main | ||||
| Henry Spencer | Corbin Bernsen | Shawn's father; former SBPD sergeant; SBPD head of consultants (2010–present) | Main | |||||
Young Shawn (portrayed by Liam James and Skyler Gisondo in the majority of appearances) is the younger version of Shawn Spencer. He is almost always shown learning life lessons from his father, usually tying in to the main events of the episode. The character usually appears in flashbacks to the late 80's or early 90's. Young Shawn first appeared in the pilot episode, and has appeared in nearly every episode since.
In "The Polarizing Express" (5.14), Young Shawn appears in adult Shawn's dream in 2010. The character makes light of the rotating actors in the role when Tony Cox comments that Shawn and his younger self look nothing alike. Young Shawn (portrayed by Skyler Gisondo) replies, "We change! Sometimes every week," which adult Shawn confirms.
Young Gus (portrayed by Carlos McCullers II in the majority of appearances) is the younger version of Gus. He almost always appears with Young Shawn, occasionally learning life lessons from Henry as well. The character always appears in flashbacks to the late 80's or early 90's. Young Gus first appeared in "Spellingg Bee" (1.02) and has appeared in many episodes since.
Officer Buzz McNab (Sage Brocklebank) is a member of the SBPD, working occasionally with Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara, and sometimes with Shawn and Gus. McNab is a naive, lovable cop who is always eager to please Lassiter, though Lassiter doesn't always treat him well. He first appeared in the pilot episode, and has appeared in nearly every episode since.
He has a wife, Francine, whom he married in the first season, and a pet cat.
In the first season episode "9 Lives" (1.05), McNab, in preparation for his wedding, called a 1-800 stress-line, leading to an attempt on his life. By the fourth season, he had already had two more brushes with death, including being wounded by an exploding mailbox in "Shawn Gets the Yips" (4.05), and being drugged by a serial killer in "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16).
Dr. Woodrow "Woody" Strode (Kurt Fuller) is the quirky coroner for Santa Barbara. He shares many character traits with Shawn. He first appeared in "High Top Fade Out" (4.07) and most recently in "Dead Man's Curve Ball" (6.05). He also appeared in "Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers" (4.11), "The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode" (4.15), "Feet, Don't Kill Me Now" (5.02), "Not Even Close... Encounters" (5.03), "Shawn Rescues Darth Vader" (6.01), "Last Night Gus" (6.02), and "This Episode Sucks" (6.03).
In "Shawn 2.0" (5.08), he revealed that he had a wife. Shawn soon pointed out that she was cheating on him with her personal trainer, and he responded that he had approved. When Shawn pointed out other men in her life, Woody stated that he hadn't approved those particular men.
He is apparently wanted in the Philippines, as made evident in "Dead Bear Walking"' (5.15). While being filmed for a documentary by Lassiter's sister, he attempted to alter his voice for "legal purposes."
Madeleine Spencer (Cybill Shepherd) is Shawn's mother and Henry's ex-wife. She has an eidetic memory, which she passed on to her son. She first appeared in a cameo appearance in "Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead" (2.16), and made her first major appearance in "Ghosts" (3.01).
In her first main appearance, "Ghosts" (3.01), she returned to Santa Barbara as a police psychologist. She explained to Shawn that she left his father in 1992 to pursue a job opportunity. By her second appearance, in "Murder? ... Anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?" (3.02), she had begun to spend more time with Henry; they even attended their son's high school reunion together.
In the third season finale, "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16), she is kidnapped by Yang and almost killed by a car bomb. However, she is saved when Shawn identifies Yang and has her arrested. After the ordeal, she shares a brief kiss with Henry.
In "An Evening with Mr. Yang"'s sequel, "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16), she is revealed to be at a conference in New York, where she is safe from Yin's murderous rampage. However, she does not appear in the episode.
She appears in "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16), where it's revealed that Yang lived three blocks down from the Spencers, and that she had taken a picture of Shawn with Yang.
Abigail Lytar (Rachael Leigh Cook) is Shawn's ex-girlfriend. She is an elementary school teacher. She first appeared in "Murder? ... Anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?" (3.02) and most recently in "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16).
She first appeared in "Murder? ... Anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?" (3.02) at Shawn and Gus's high school reunion. It is revealed that she had been stood-up by Shawn at a high school dance, when he left her standing alone on a pier. Together, they solve the murder of one of their former classmates. In "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16), Gus accuses Shawn of not being able to keep a steady relationship. He then proceeds to call Abigail, immediately asking her on a date. Over the course of the episode, however, he is forced to keep pushing the time back as he struggles to capture Yang. Finally, the two share their first real date at a drive-in theater in Gus's car (though Gus stays in the backseat the entire time).
Abigail returned in the fourth season in the episode "He Dead" (4.02), wanting to meet Henry for the first time. However, Shawn attempts to prevent it, claiming that his relationship with his father is already strained. Despite his attempts, the two finally meet, and get along very well, much to Shawn's surprise. Abigail returned again in "Bollywood Homicide" (4.06), in which Shawn invites her to a crime scene. When Lassiter embarrasses Shawn in front of Abigail, Shawn becomes determined to solve the case, and eventually does. In the summer finale, "You Can't Handle This Episode" (4.10), Abigail reveals to Shawn that she is moving to Uganda for six months, and that she wants to put their relationship on hold until she visits in February.
When Abigail returns from Uganda in "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16), she is met with an unwelcome surprise. Upon her arrival at the airport, Officer McNab picks her up, due to Shawn's preoccupation with catching Yin. Immediately, McNab is drugged, and Abigail is kidnapped by Yin. After Yin ties her to the bottom of the pier (where Shawn stood her up in high school), Shawn is issued an ultimatum: rescue Juliet or rescue Abigail. He chooses Abigail, and barely succeeds in saving her life. However, immediately afterward, she tells Shawn she can't take the stress of his job any longer, and breaks up with him.
Winnie Guster (Phylicia Rashad) is the mother of Gus and Joy Guster, and the wife of Bill Guster. She first appeared in "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy" (2.10) and most recently in "Christmas Joy" (3.09).
She first appeared in "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy" (2.10), in which Shawn and Henry visit the Gusters for Christmas. She, along with her husband, was arrested for the murder of their neighbor. It was believed that they murdered him after it was revealed that she was being blackmailed for insurance fraud, and that Mr. Guster had been having an ongoing feud with the deceased. Shawn is determined to solve the case, due to their dislike of him. They blame him for being a negative influence on Gus. However, he solves the murder, revealing that it was not in any way connected to them. They are grateful, and finally accept Shawn.
Mrs. Guster returned in "Christmas Joy" (3.09). Shawn, Gus, and her daughter Joy all stayed with the Gusters for the holidays. It was made known that she had used a bookie to place one bet, and had lost most of her savings. However, her family forgave her, and she forgave her family for all the mistakes that they made as well.
Bill Guster (Ernie Hudson and Keith David) is the father of Gus and Joy Guster, and the husband of Winnie Guster. He first appeared in "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy" (2.10) and most recently in "Christmas Joy" (3.09).
He first appeared in "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy" (2.10), in which Shawn and Henry visit the Gusters for Christmas. He, along with his wife, was arrested for the murder of their neighbor. It was believed that they murdered him after it was revealed that he was having an ongoing feud with the deceased. Shawn is determined to solve the case, due to their dislike of him. They blame him for being a negative influence on Gus. However, he solves the murder, revealing that it was not in any way connected to them. They are grateful, and finally accept Shawn.
Mr. Guster returned in "Christmas Joy" (3.09). Shawn, Gus, and his daughter Joy all stayed with the Gusters for the holidays. It was made known that he had lost his job months earlier, and had been looking for a job during the days ever since. However, his family forgave him, and he forgave his family for all the mistakes that they made as well.
Mr. Yang (Ally Sheedy) is a serial killer who murdered her first victim in 1995. That year, she killed six people after a game of cat-and-mouse with each of them. Over the next 14 years, she killed two others, and was still not caught, nor her identity revealed. She first appeared in "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16) and last in "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16).
In "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16), she returned, this time, to play her game with Shawn Spencer. After Henry's adamant protests to the contrary, Shawn accepts her proposition, vowing to bring her to justice. She first kidnapped Shawn and Gus's waitress and held her hostage. After leaving several cryptic clues for Shawn, the hostage was finally returned, but replaced with Shawn's mother, Madeleine. After strapping a bomb to Madeleine, Yang sat and watched as the SBPD swarmed a drive-in theater looking for her. Shawn found her car, and she finally came face-to-face with her target. She revealed to Shawn that she was going to write a book about them, and was finally arrested.
When Shawn and Gus speak to Mary (a psychologist who helped bring Yang to justice) a year later, in "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16), he reveals that it would be impossible for Yang to work alone, and proposed that she was working with a Yin. He discerns this from Yang's book, entitled From Serial Dater to Serial Killer: How Murder Kept Me Skinny. Mary's theory proves to be true, and Shawn, Gus, and Mary proceed to visit Yang in her tiny cell at an asylum. She is being held in a completely white and grey cell, due to her tendencies toward violence when exposed to color. While there, Yang admits to working with a Yin. She says, "If you think I'm sick, you ain't seen nothing yet." This proves to be true, as Yin (representing chaos) has no rules.
In "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16), it is revealed that Yang had lived only three blocks from the Spencers. It was there that she had her picture taken with Shawn by Madeleine. After briefly letting Yang out of the asylum to help capture Yin, Shawn and Gus discover that Yang is actually Yin's daughter, and that Yin had actually committed each of the murders attributed to Yang (including the attempted murders of "An Evening with Mr. Yang"). They watch helplessly as she murders her father for trying to harm Shawn. She is subsequently taken back into custody.
Mr. Yin (Christopher Turner and Peter Weller) was Yang's counterpart and former partner, and was even more murderous than she. He was evidently obsessed with the films of Alfred Hitchcock, as his murders were almost always taken right out of a Hitchcock film. Yin first appeared in "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16) and last in "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16).
Yin first appeared in "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16). His existence was unknown until then, when Mary Lightly proposed that Yang had a partner during the events of "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16). He begins murdering people, starting with the waitress, who served Shawn, Gus, and Mary pie. He arranges the body (with two rocks) into a Yin/Yang symbol. Mary warns that, while Yang followed a set of rules, Yin would not. He said that once a person discovered the rules of Yin, the rules would change. This proves to be true very soon, when Yin murders Mary, just as "Mother" kills Detective Arbogast in Psycho. Yin flees, and then "casts" Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, Juliet, and Henry as "archetypal characters from Hitchcock's canon." While there, he kidnaps Juliet. He then travels to the airport, where McNab is picking up Abigail. Yin drugs McNab and kidnaps Abigail, forcing Shawn to choose which one he wants to save. Yin ties Abigail to the bottom of a pier, and forces Shawn to make another decision: catch Yin or save Abigail. Shawn picks Abigail, and Yin flees, once again. The episode ends with Yin stroking a picture of Yang with a young Shawn Spencer.
In "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16), it is revealed that he is actually Yang's father and had committed all of the murders attributed to her. His true identity is revealed as Professor Karl Rotmensen. He has also taken on a new apprentice (Allison Cowley), replacing Yang. After a brief reconciliation, Yang murders him.
Mary Lightly (Jimmi Simpson) was a criminal psychologist who was obsessed with the Yin/Yang cases. He also had a fondness for racquetball. He first appeared in "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16) and last in "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16).
He first appeared in "An Evening with Mr. Yang" (3.16). In his very first scene, he is forced to explain his name, saying that his "father was named Mary, his father before him was named Mary, and his father before him was named Craig." He has very odd quirks, including a "creepy handshake." After studying the Yang case for 14 years, he returned to Santa Barbara when Yang resurfaced. He provided several insights that were invaluable in catching Yang and bringing him (or rather, her) to justice.
In "Mr. Yin Presents..." (4.16), he visits Shawn and Gus, revealing that he never left Santa Barbara, and reveals his theory that Yang was not working alone. He believes that a Yin exists, and that he is even more murderous than Yang. After following Yin's clues, Shawn and Gus are led to believe that Mary is, in fact, Yin. However, after following him to (what appears to be) an abandoned building, they see him stabbed, just as Martin Balsam in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. He dies in Shawn's arms. In the final scenes of the episode, Shawn, Gus, and Mary's mother are shown attending his racquetball-themed funeral.
In "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16), the team discovers a videotape made by Mary days before his murder. It mostly consisted of random poetry and thoughts (including questioning the popularity of One Tree Hill), but eventually included valuable insight to the Yin/Yang relationship. Mary stated that he believed Yin would be jealous of Yang's popularity, and that Yin would attempt to take "revenge of the highest malevolence."
Pierre Despereaux (Cary Elwes) is an extremely elusive Canadian art thief. He first appeared in "Extradition: British Columbia" (4.01), when Shawn and Gus travel to Canada to catch him. However, it is revealed that he, in fact, is simply an insurance fraudster.
Despereaux returned in "Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part" (5.10), in which he was accused of multiple murders after his escape from prison. He was later cleared of the murder charges and finally extradited to the United States.
He is expected to return in the episode "Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Sword" (6.10) in which he races with Shawn and Gus against a gang of art thieves to find an old dagger.[1]
Declan Rand (Nestor Carbonell) is a fake criminal profiler who briefly dated Juliet. With the exception of Gus and Henry, he is the only character who knows Shawn is not psychic. He first appeared in "Shawn 2.0" (5.08) and last in "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out" (5.09).
Declan first appeared in "Shawn 2.0" (5.08), in which he was hired by the SBPD to a case Shawn and Gus were already working. He quickly surpassed them, and was given all the credit for the case. Later, however, they discover that he is not really a criminal profiler; he is just extremely rich and is working "for fun." Declan is aware that Shawn is not really a psychic, while Shawn is aware that Declan is not really a criminal profiler. Declan, like Shawn, soon falls for Juliet. Just as Shawn goes to confess to Juliet that he is not really a psychic and ask her out, Declan confesses that he is not really a criminal profiler. Juliet appreciates his honesty, and begins to date him.
In "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out" (5.09), Shawn and Gus need Declan's assistance in another case. He agrees, but must confess to Juliet every time he helps, to Shawn and Gus's vehement protests. After discovering that Declan is taking Juliet on a two-week vacation, Shawn tells Gus how he feels about Juliet. Juliet overhears everything he says. While visiting Declan, Shawn ends up alone with Juliet. They kiss, for the first time. Declan reenters the room, and Shawn leaves.
By the next episode, "Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part" (5.10), it is revealed that Juliet has broken up with Declan.
The following are characters appearing in multiple episodes in small roles.
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