List of ''Degrassi'' characters

That same night, Erica danced with a high schooler who sneaked into the Dance named Aaron, they walked out of the dance and Erica complained about Heather. Aaron later used cheesy pick up lines, which Erica fell for. They ended up kissing passionately, which Heather ended up seeing. When Erica told Heather about it, she revealed that they were French kissing, an idea that repulsed Heather.

The next day Erica said she had a sore throat and had a fever. Her health project partner, Alexa pointed out that those were the symptoms of Mono. Erica was later in bed sick, when Aaron arrived to take Erica for a drive, Heather heard the things Erica said about her and she went with him. While on the drive, Aaron kissed Heather. Heather told Erica and they went to the doctor, neither girl had mono. Erica had tonsillitis and Heather had sympathy pains.

When Erica read her horoscope, it said that she would fall in love and she did, with an 11th grader named Clutch. She had Heather ask Clutch what his birth sign was, Clutch later mistook the question and asked Heather out to a charity bowling day, she gave the date to Erica. Erica had a dentist appointment in the middle of it, so the twins worked out that they would switch places, when Heather got there she saw that Clutch was more interested in Lucy.

Over the summer Erica was involved with a boy named Jason, after a short time of dating she lost her virginity to him. He ended up breaking her heart. When school began she was sick every morning. She confided in Heather that she thought she was pregnant, they bought a home test and it turned up negative. Even though the test was negative she still hadn't gotten her period, she bought another one and it was positive. She didn't tell anyone including Heather. In class they were talking about abortion and Heather said it was murder as did other people. She left school for the rest of the day and went to an abortion clinic. She booked an abortion and told Heather and asked if she would go with her. On the day of the abortion she was approached by Pro-Life protesters and told not to go in. At that very moment Heather came and helped through the crowd of protesters.

Weeks after the abortion Erica had wanted to act as though it never happened, but someone knew her secret. She had posters and graffiti plastered on her locker. She caught Spike's friend Liz putting a flyer on her locker. Erica erupted in rage and tackled Liz to the ground. The fight was broken up by teachers, Liz shouted at Erica that she should be ashamed of herself. Erica shot back saying that it's not easy to do what she did.

Erica began seeing a new boy named Blaine, whom she really liked. However Heather was very disapproving. Blaine reminded Heather of Jason, the boy who got Erica pregnant. At the dance Heather saw the two making out and she ran away crying. At home Heather reminded Erica that if she never had the abortion, she would have had the baby and she wouldn't feel guilty. Erica said she never wanted to go through that again. She recommended that Heather see her counselor.

Throughout the rest of high school she didn't go through as much drama as last year. She helped with Lucy's School President campaign and helped shoot a music video for "The Zits." After graduation she went to the Dominican Republic to teach English for underprivileged children.

According to the show, Lucy was born in 1974. Lucy starts out as a rebel who seems to essentially live alone. She talks about how she does what she wants and her parents seem to be rarely around. Her parent's lack of presence is supposedly from being workaholics that are always out of town on business trips; Lucy seems to be a spoiled brat and her house is very nice. She seems to be more mature than other children when really she has just been left to deal with being a teenager essentially without parents which leads her to be sad inside, like any other child left alone would be. Throughout the multiple series she: shoplifts, gets sexually assaulted, gets in a relationship with two older guys, dumps her friends for a boyfriend, throws multiple parties, talks to a psychologist, and ends up going blind because of a car accident. Besides her hard life and lack of parental influence, Lucy graduated Valedictorian of Degrassi High.

• Lucy was caught shoplifting a sweater with her friend Voula. Both of the girls got in trouble for this, although it was Lucy's idea in the first place, and she claimed that she did it all the time (but never got caught). Because of this, Voula's parents found Lucy to be an unfit friend for their daughter, and wouldn't allow the girls to be friends anymore.
• When her parents were out of town for the weekend, she often held parties, the most notable of which was when Shane McKay and Spike had sex (and Spike later learned she was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Emma). After Lucy's shoplifting incident, her parents became suspicious of her reckless behaviour. Thereafter, Lucy was more cautious with her parties and how wild they would get.
• She also dated Paul, an 11th grader from Borden High school, but broke up with him after he tried to go "too far". After this, she had an on-and-off relationship with Paul's friend, Clutch.
• Lucy's best friend was Lorraine Delacorte, better known as L.D. Lucy taught L.D. to be more feminine, since L.D. was a tomboy and would always play sports with the boys.
• A teacher at Degrassi became close to Lucy in one episode, and would try to touch her. Susie, a classmate of Lucy, was later victimized similarly. Susie and Lucy, with Wheels and L.D. as witnesses, reported the teacher to the authorities.
• In the 10th grade, she helped Joey, Wheels, and Snake make the music video for "Everybody Wants Something" for their band, Zit Remedy (later, The Zits). It then lead to the making of the video, "It Creeps!!", which she received an A+ for in class. She was there for her best friend L.D. when she was diagnosed with Leukemia.
• Lucy's Grade 11th year saw the beginning of Lucy's relationship with school president, Bronco. The couple dated for a year up until "School's Out". Lucy also ran to become Degrassi's school president in her senior year and won, although she didn't end up fulfilling it due to the closure of Degrassi in the following year.
• We find Lucy being Degrassi's Valedictorian in her grade level. Also during "School's Out", an intoxicated Wheels gets behind the wheel of a car with Lucy, crashes into another vehicle, and kills a child in the accident. Also, Lucy becomes temporarily blind.

Lucy substantially recovers from her injuries. Her eyesight is restored [whether in one or both eyes is unclear] and, having completed extensive physical therapy, she is able to walk well with the use of a cane. She completes an honours bachelor's degree, a master's degree and most of the work toward a Ph.D..

She appeared in the series premiere of Degrassi: The Next Generation, in which she attends a joint reunion of her class and Joey's. A day before the reunion, Joey sells her a blue Volkswagen New Beetle in preparation for her relocation to New Mexico to run her company and complete her doctoral dissertation. She also returns in the second season episode, "White Wedding" as one of Spike's bridesmaids for her wedding to their former classmate Archie "Snake" Simpson.

Stephanie Kaye Kobalewsky was featured prominently in the first 2 seasons of Degrassi Junior High, but was said to have gone to a private school in the remaining 3 seasons. In reality, actress Stoffman decided to pursue her acting career elsewhere. Although she had bit parts in Canadian TV movies, she eventually went to University and became a jazz musician.

Stephanie Kaye Kobalewsky was one of the most notorious characters in the Degrassi franchise, as well as one of the most controversial. Her sexualized image and apparent disregard for self-respect was a heavy storyline that permeated most of the first 2 seasons of the popular show. An example of this being her suggestive campaign slogan for class president, "All the Way with Stephanie Kaye!"

Nicole Stoffman was nominated for the Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Continuing Dramatic Role at the 1987 Gemini Awards for her role as Stephanie Kaye Kobalewsky.^[1]

Kathleen got her first real storyline in DJH season two. The episode, "Bottled Up"^[2] gives us a glimpse of Kathleen's home-life. We are introduced to Kathleen's alcoholic mother whose behaviour is severely affecting her daughter. Kathleen invites Caitlin, Nancy Kramer (played by Arlene Lott) and Tim O'Connor (played by Keith White) to her house to prepare for a quiz show appearance and is humiliated to find her mother at home and noticeably intoxicated. In a later episode from the third season, "Food For Thought",^[3] Kathleen invites Melanie Brodie (played by Sara Ballingall), her best friend throughout much of DJH, to her house to work on a science project. Her mother is, again, drinking heavily and Melanie learns about Kathleen's burgeoning problem with anorexia nervosa when she sneaks a peak in her personal diary. Melanie takes pity on Kathleen believing that her eating disorder is stemming from her problems at home. She confronts Kathleen and tells her to get help. Kathleen is furious that her secret is out, but that day passes out in the middle of the school hallway.

Kathleen eventually does get counseling, but her problems continue into high school. Kathleen begins dating a boy named Scott Smith (played by Byrd Dickens) in high school. He turns out to be an overly possessive boyfriend and physically assaults Kathleen during a quarrel.^[4] Kathleen eventually involves the police and frees herself from Scott. Kathleen is one of the better students at Degrassi. She is often seen competing with Caitlin Ryan in school and, in the DJH episode "Stagefright",^[5] Susie Rivera (played by Sarah Charlesworth) tells Caitlin "you always beat her", referring to Kathleen.

Kathleen seemed to have conservative political and social views. Throughout the series she seemed to have homophobic views (in the episode "Rumor Has It"^[6]), is against sex before marriage (in the episode "Censored"^[7]) and is critical of animal rights activism (in the episode "The Whole Truth"^[8]). Her sober presence made her unpopular with many of her peers, most notably Caitlin and Rick Munro (played by Craig Driscoll).

Although Kathleen often seemed conservative and uptight, she also showed a rebellious side. In junior high, she and Melanie get Joey Jeremiah to sell them drugs ("The Experiment").^[9] Joey actually just gave them vitamin pills, and when the girls found out, they were infuriated. In high school, she found marijuana joints hidden in the tampon dispenser in the girls' washroom ("The All-Nighter").^[9] She hides them in her purse and takes them to Diana Economopoulos' birthday sleepover party. She offers them to the other girls, and everyone except Caitlin smokes it. Kathleen makes fun of Caitlin when she refuses to try it.

Kathleen was also vice president of Degrassi Junior High. She lost the election to Nancy who was the only other presidential candidate. Kathleen was a turbulent addition to the Degrassi landscape and her character was used to explore some of the most dangerous teenage issues that the show tackled.

In the Degrassi: The Next Generation Season 1 special features, a video is made for the reunion showing where some of the students of Degrassi High are now. Kathleen is shown being jealous of Caitlin's success after high school. She says she is pitching an idea for a new television show called "Mead in Canada."

Wheels' first appearance in the series is as a grade eight student in Mr. Raditch's homeroom class. In episode 102 of DJH, "The Big Dance," Wheels attempts the first of two ill-fated dates with class president Stephanie Kaye (portrayed by Nicole Stoffman), which ends early when she gets sick from having consumed too much alcohol. In "Best Laid Plans," episode 107 of the series, Stephanie asks him out again. Facing peer pressure to "go all the way", Wheels purchases a box of condoms from a drug store. When he shows up at Stephanie's house on date night, he learns that Stephanie's mother is also the pharmacist who sold him the condoms. When Wheels loses interest in her, Stephanie attempts to make him jealous by openly flirting with Joey ("Revolution!", episode 113).

In "Parents' Night" (episode 112), shortly after his fourteenth birthday, Wheels meets his biological father Mike Nelson (Dave James), a struggling musician. In the same episode, he counsels pregnant classmate Christine "Spike" Nelson (Amanda Stepto) on whether to keep her unborn child (the future Emma Nelson) or put her up for adoption. Wheels explains that he is grateful to both his natural parents for having given him a chance at a better life, and to his adoptive parents for providing that better life to him.

Wheels' poor grades become an issue in season two of Degrassi Junior High. In "A Helping Hand..." (episode 202), he learns that he is near-sighted and begins to wear glasses. Wheels also enrolls in after-school tutoring with Miss Avery (Michelle Goodeve), forcing him to put music on hold. During a break from a tutoring session, he witnesses substitute homeroom teacher Mr. Colby attempting to sexually molest classmate Lucy Fernandez (Anais Granofsky) and breaks it up. Lucy confided in him, and Wheels promised to corroborate her story when she eventually came forward ("He's Back...", episode 212).

Thanks to the extra tutoring, his grades improve enough that he is allowed to resume playing music with the Zit Remedy. Later, Wheels and Joey sleep over at Snake's home when his parents leave him on his own for the weekend. They stay up all night and when they wake up late the next morning, Wheels realizes that he is going to be late for an optometrist appointment. Joey drives them both in Snake's parents' car, despite having neither a driver's license nor any formal driving skills. After they get caught—for fixing a broken tail light—Wheels' parents forbid him to associate with Joey as a result ("Trust Me", episode 211). Wheels heads into final exams still concerned about his grades; he gets promoted while Joey learns he's being left back. Despite these factors, the Zit Remedy perform live for the first time at the end-of-the-year dance ("Pass Tense", episode 213).

At the start of season three of DJH ("Can't Live With 'Em", episodes 301-302), John and Ellen Wheeler are killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Wheels was to have been with them that evening; instead he lied about having to study before sneaking off to Joey's house where the band recorded a demo of "Everybody Wants Something." The grieving Wheels withdrew from his friends, then blamed Joey for him not being with his parents that night. Wheels eventually reconciled with Joey and Snake, who was unable to articulate his grief.

Wheels is then cared for by his maternal grandparents (Rod Rekofski and Dorothy Phillips), but the tragedy affected him for the remainder of the show's run. He takes to using his parents' death as an excuse for his own failings, and is hostile to his grandparents' attempts to discipline him. After receiving a postcard from his biological father, Wheels hitchhikes to see him in Port Hope, Ontario; along the way, he is nearly molested by a traveling salesman who gives him a ride ("Taking Off", episodes 311-312). Mike is surprised to see him and dashes Wheels' dream of living with him; after introducing Wheels to his pregnant fiancé, Maggie, Mike sends Wheels back to his adoptive grandparents. Later in the season, Wheels cites his parents' death as the reason he turns down an offer to drink beer with Snake and Joey ("Pa-arty!", episode 315).

Wheels, Joey, and Snake enter high school with their bond intact. In a move to display maturity, they change their band's name from the Zit Remedy to "The Zits". They each survive a hazing by bully Dwayne Meyers (Darrin Brown) ("A New Start", episodes 101–102); shoot a music video for "Everybody Wants Something", ("Everybody Wants Something", episode 105); try to get into a strip joint together ("Little White Lies", episode 108); and perform in a "feminist" horror movie directed by Lucy ("It Creeps", episode 114). Wheels also shares a passionate kiss with Heather Farrell (Maureen Deiseach), but does not reciprocate her interest in him ("Just Friends", episode 107).

The second and final season of Degrassi High revisits Wheels' conflicts with his elderly grandparents. They eventually tire of his lies, disobedience and theft, and evict him ("A Tangled Web", episode 204); Joey's parents allow him to stay at the Jeremiah house. In "Home Sweet Home" (episode 208), Wheels is kicked out when he is suspected of stealing from Joey's mother (Gretchen Helbig). The theft and Wheels' attempt to shift the blame drive a wedge between Wheels and Joey, though he later confesses. Snake's parents refuse to let Wheels in the Simpson house but Snake, though fed up with Wheels' attitude, takes pity on him and lets him sleep the night on the porch. Wheels and Joey reconcile their relationship in "Showtime" (episodes 210–211) when Wheels performs at the school talent show, alongside Joey and in place of Snake.

In the made-for-television movie Degrassi: School's Out, Wheels is assumed to have graduated from high school, is working as an auto mechanic, and is preparing for a move to Calgary to be with his girlfriend Karen. In a twist of irony, Wheels also has become a heavy beer drinker. At a summer party, he drives Lucy under the influence of alcohol to pick up snacks, and collides with another car. In doing so, he temporarily blinds and partially cripples Lucy, and kills a young child in the other car. Although Wheels had long worn out Joey's and Snake's sympathy after incessantly lying, stealing and refusing to take responsibility for anything, Joey nevertheless visits him in pre-trial confinement. However, Wheels' inability to accept culpability angers and disgusts Snake, who refuses to forgive him. He was charged with "criminal negligence causing death, criminal negligence causing injury times two, and drunk driving". Taking responsibility for once, he pleaded guilty to all charges.

Wheels is released from prison by the time the events of Degrassi: The Next Generation, take place. He appears in the series' pilot episode "Mother and Child Reunion" (episode 101-102). His appearance, however, is only shown on the Canadian version on CTV and not on the American version shown on The N. In the American version, Snake is nevertheless shown harbouring disgust with Wheels over the way his life turns out, and Wheels can be seen in vintage still photographs being viewed by the characters. Two years later, in "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" (episode 307), Joey finally manages to reunite the old friends when taking Snake out bowling to get the latter's mind off of his leukaemia and chemotherapy. Snake initially wants nothing to do with Wheels, but they bond over both having wanted to die (Wheels after killing the child, and Snake while dealing with his ailment and its treatment). The three friends, now balder and hopefully wiser, loudly sing Everybody Wants Something on the ride home in Joey's convertible.