Lorelai Victoria Gilmore was born in to an affluent family and a lifestyle that she hated. When she was only 16, Lorelai became pregnant, and after refusing to marry the father, Christopher, Lorelai ran away from her controlling parents to raise her daughter, Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore, on her own.

Determined to make it on her own, Lorelai was able to find a job as a maid at Stars Hollow's Independent Inn, and while Rory was growing up the two lived in the Inn's potting shed. Since then, Lorelai has moved up the ranks at the Inn, becoming manager with the help of her quick wit and matching charm, and bought a home for her and Rory to live in. After the Independence Inn burnt down, Lorelai’s long-time dream of opening her own inn started to become a reality. As season 4 came to a close, Lorelai, with the help of her best friend Sookie, official opened The Dragonfly Inn.

After everything they’ve been through together, Lorelai and Rory are best friends. They share the same likes and dislikes, eyes, and even have the same coffee addiction. Lorelai tries to avoid the traditional parent role, by being more of a best friend than mother, but when it’s absolutely necessary, Lorelai plays the ‘mom card’. Despite typically getting along perfectly, Rory and Lorelai have hit some rough patches. At the end of season 4 and beginning of season 5, Lorelai had to deal with the aftermath of Rory sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend, Dean, and most recently, Lorelai had to cope with Rory dropping out of school and moving in with her grandparents.

Lorelai, determined to make it on her own, shut her parents out of her life. However, 16 years after she ran away, Lorelai reluctantly returned home to ask her parents for money in order to send Rory to Chilton, a prestigious, yet expensive private school. Emily and Richard gladly gave her the money, but on one condition – she and Rory would attend dinner every Friday night. Since that day, Rory and Lorelai have faithfully attended Friday night dinner, though sometimes kicking and screaming the entire time.

During the last six seasons, Lorelai had many romantic interests, ranging from Rory’s English teacher, to the diner owner who has pined for Lorelai for several years. Season one brought Lorelai’s first suitor, Max Medina, a Chilton teacher. After breaking up, then rekindling their romance, Max proposed to Lorelai, and she accepted. However, Lorelai realized she couldn’t marry him and broke the engagement off. Lorelai as also had an on-and-off relationship with Christopher Hayden, Rory’s father, but with Chris’ reluctance to commit and the unexpected news that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant, a long romantic relationship never took off. Soon enough, Jason “Digger” Stiles, a family friend, entered Lorelai’s life, but the two broke it off after Jason and Richard’s bad blood interfered with their relationship. Now, Lorelai became involved with long-time friend Luke Danes, who has been in love with Lorelai from day one. Though their relationship hit some rough patches, they managed to stay together and in the last scene of season 5, Lorelai proposed to Luke. However, Luke's hesitance to commit fully to Lorelai led Lorelai to rekindle her relationship with Christopher and break off her engagement to Luke. After dating Christopher, the two married in Paris and are living together in Stars Hollow.

Now, Lorelai continues to be best friends with Rory, continuing to work to ensure that Rory has more than she ever did.

Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, nicknamed Rory, was born on October 8, 1984 at exactly 4:03 AM. At the time of her birth, her parents, Lorelai and Christopher, were both only 16 years old, and in Christopher’s absence, Lorelai decided to raise Rory on her own without the help of her wealthy parents. Lorelai raised Rory in the small town of Stars Hollow and lived in the potting shed at the Independence Inn until Lorelai could afford to buy a place of her own.

Due to their closeness in age, and after everything they’ve been through together, Lorelai and Rory are best friends. They share the same likes and dislikes, as well as the same coffee addiction. In everything that Rory does, it’s obvious that she is her mother’s daughter.

Growing up in Stars Hollow, Rory was adored by the townspeople, but wasn’t as liked by kids her age. However, Rory quickly befriended Lane Kim and the two have been best friends ever since. Rory excelled at school, never getting less than an “A” on any assignment. In order to obtain her life-long dream of attending Harvard University, Rory applied to attend Chilton Academy, an extremely prestigious private school in Hartford, Connecticut, and due to her outstanding merits and recommendations she was quickly accepted. However, her mother couldn’t afford the tuition and was forced to go to her parents for help. In exchange for funding Rory’s education, Lorelai and Rory attend dinner every Friday night at the elder Gilmore’s home, a tradition that has lasted throughout the series.

Upon graduating Chilton as the school’s valedictorian, Rory chose to attend Yale University, instead of Harvard, her dream school, in order to be closer to her mother and grandparents. There she majored in Journalism with a minor in Political Science for the first two years of college, but dropped out of school temporarily causing a rift between Rory and her mother that was slow to heal.

During the series, Rory has been romantically linked to three different guys. Her first love was Dean Forrester, whom she met at Stars Hollow High. They dated for two seasons until Rory broke up with Dean to be with Jess Mariano, Luke’s nephew, whose love of books, similar to Rory’s, caught her eye from the moment Jess arrived in Stars Hollow. However, their relationship was also ill-fated and the two broke up at the end of the third season. As season 4 came to a close, Rory and Dean had rekindled their relationship, despite Dean being married, and Dean had an affair with Rory which led to Dean’s divorce. The two dated once again, but Dean soon broke it off when he realized how different their lives had become. From there, Rory fell for Logan Huntzberger, son of newspaper tycoon Mitchum Huntzberger, and moved in together until Logan graduated and moved to London for work.

Through the series, Rory has transformed dramatically – from the book-worm Chilton student with the “boy-next-door” boyfriend to the self-made editor of the Yale newspaper willing to take a risk in order to get what she wants.

Sookie St. James is Lorelai’s klutzy and lovable best friend. Sookie and Lorelai worked together at the Independence Inn, where they met, and have been best friends ever since. Being the remarkable chef that she is, Sookie has gained a national reputation as one of the top chefs in the United States and works hard to keep that standing, often working late into the night to make the perfect dish.

During the first season, Sookie fell for her produce man, Jackson Melville, and after dating for two seasons, the couple tied the knot at the end of season two. Together, Sookie and Jackson have two children – Davey and Martha (whose middle name is Janice-Lori-Ethan-Rupert-Glenda-Carson-Daisy-Danny) – though Jackson originally wanted to have seven children. During season 6, they had their children baptized in order to please Jackson’s family, though Sookie does not get along with the Melville (whose last names often inexplicably change to Belville) clan.

After the Independence Inn caught fire and was ultimately closed down, Lorelai and Sookie, along with Michel Gerard, went into business together and opened The Dragonfly Inn at the end of season 4. They continue to run the Inn together, Sookie running the food aspects, and remain each other’s best friend.

Luke Danes was born and raised in Stars Hollow. He attended Stars Hollow High, where he was a track star, and has lived in the small town ever since. Upon his father's death, Luke transformed his father's hardware store into Luke's Diner, but in remembrance of his father, he left the "Williams Hardware" sign hanging over the door. Luke spends most of his time at his diner -- cooking, cleaning, and delivering food -- and lived above the diner in his father's office that he turned into an apartment. In season 2, Luke bought the building that the diner occupies and reluctantly sold the store next to the diner to Taylor Doose.

Though Luke's family rarely appears on the show (except Jess), he has a strong family connection. He remembers his father in every thing he does, through restoring his father's boat to taking a day away from Stars Hollow each year to remember his dad, and is always willing to help his sister, Liz, fix her numerous problems. In season 2, Luke agreed to let Liz's son, Jess, live with him after being too much of a problem for Liz, a single mother, to handle. With tough love and a lot of effort, Luke was able to help turn Jess away from his rebel-without-a-cause antics for a short while until he moved away to California to be with his father.

Despite Luke's tendencies to keep to himself, he has had a few long-term relationships. Rachel, a photographer, was his first long-term relationship who broke his heart when she wouldn't stay in Stars Hollow. She returned in season 1, wanting to restart their past relationship, but Luke's very visible feelings towards Lorelai made Rachel realize that he had moved on from what they once had. From there, Luke struck up a relationship with Nicole Leahy, a corporate lawyer, who he ended up marrying, then divorcing days later, on a cruise. Next, after four seasons of pinning for her, Luke and Lorelai got together and remained together despite Lorelai's parents obvious objections and Rory's father, Christopher’s, attempts to break them up. At the close of season 5, Lorelai proposed to Luke, and in the season 6 premiere, Luke quickly accepted her proposal. However, their engagement hit a bump when Luke discovered that he had a child from a previous fling with Anna Nardini, and in his need to get to know his daughter, April, he alienated Lorelai, leading to an emotional ultimatum: April or Lorelai.

Lane Kim was born and raised in Stars Hollow under the roof of a very conservative, Korean family (though Mr. Kim is never seen during the series). Though her parent(s) strictly prohibit Lane from doing much of anything that isn’t related to church or helping in the family-owned antique shop, Lane has a love for all things music. With the help of her best friend Rory, as well as Lorelai and strategically placed faux floorboards, Lane was able hide her love of music and expansive non-Christian book and CD collection from her mother, and even managed to be the drummer in a rock band, Hep Alien, undetected for a short while.

Lane’s original bandmates included Dave Rygalski, Brian, and Zach and they frequently practiced in Lorelai’s garage. After a short while, a romance blossomed between Dave and Lane which they had to hide from their band mates, fearing that their relationship might tear the band apart. Despite Mrs. Kim’s strict rules about Lane dating, Dave was able to convince Mrs. Kim to let him take Lane to her senior prom which led to their relationship being exposed to their bandmates. Their relationship ended when Dave left Connecticut for California in order to attend college. Dave was replaced by Gil, a married, older man and the band continued to play.

After high school, Lane attended a small Seventh Day Adventist college. Her double life ended when Mrs. Kim found Lane’s secret stash of CDs, clothes, and books Lane was forced to come clean to her mother about being in a band. She moved out of the house shortly after and soon moved in with bandmates Brian and Zach. Since then, Mrs. Kim has been less judgmental of the lifestyle Lane has chosen to lead, and has even help the band schedule a tour hosted by Seventh Day Adventist churches.

Months after moving in with Brian and Zach, Lane began to develop feelings for Zach. She told him that she liked him and wanted to be more than just friends with him, leading to the two become a couple. After a brief break-up, Zach went back to Lane and asked her to marry him. They wed near the end of season 6, eager to start their lives together and somehow get their band into the spotlight.

Michel Gerard, a Frenchman and graduate of École Hôtelière de Genève, a world renowned hospitality school, is the concierge at The Dragonfly Inn. Michel first met Lorelai at the Independence Inn, where he was a concierge as well, and after the Independence Inn was closed down, he agreed to go into business with Lorelai and Sookie. His extreme diet-conscious lifestyle and snobby attitude often conflicts with Lorelai’s free-spirit and Sookie’s love of carbohydrates, but at the end of the day, the girls know that they can’t live without him.

Michel has a close relationship with his mother, though she has only appeared in one episode, and during season four, Michel adopted two Chow dogs, Paw-Paw and Chin-Chin, which he spoils as if they were his children.

Richard Gilmore, born to extraordinarily wealthy parents Charles and Trix Gilmore, worked as the Executive Vice President of the Gehrman-Driscoll Insurance Corporation during the first two seasons. After seeing that retirement is not for him, he started his own consulting business that, after some hard work, became quite successful.

Richard is a graduate of Yale University, a fact that he is very proud of. He is very involved with the school and donates large amounts of money to the school each year. When Rory was applying to college, he tricked her into having an interview with the admissions department at Yale and though mad at him for doing so, Rory ultimately chose to attend Yale much to her grandfather’s delight.

While a student at Yale, Richard fell for Emily and the two soon wed after Richard broke off his engagement to Pennilyn Lott. This enraged his mother and ever since, Trix has resented Emily for coming between Richard and Pennilyn. However, Richard kept in touch with Pennilyn and when this fact was discovered, his marriage to Emily was threatened and the two separated for a short while. They soon reconciled and renewed their vows in a large ceremony with Rory as his “best man”.

Similar to Emily, Richard disapproves of most things Lorelai does, from the men she dates to the lifestyle she chose to lead. However, Richard never interferes in Lorelai’s life unless he feels it’s necessary. Though he’s disappointed that Lorelai got pregnant and dropped out of school, he’s proud of the life that Lorelai has made for herself and proud of the woman that Rory has become.

Paris Geller was born in December of 1984 to very wealthy, socialite parents, so rich in fact that they hired a Portuguese nanny to practically raise Paris for them. Her parents are rarely seen on the series, but her nanny has been in several episodes, even her graduation when her parents were too busy to attend.

Paris and Rory first met at Chilton and quickly became arch-nemeses when Paris realized that Rory might outscore her and knock her down from her top-of-the-class standing. At Chilton, Paris was best friends with Madeline and Louise, both of whom were polar opposites of Paris – more concerned with their appearance and boys than excelling at school. Eventually Paris and Rory became friends, and together became the Chilton school body president and vice-president during their senior year.

The Geller family tradition was to attend Harvard, a goal that Paris had worked for her entire life. She involved herself in every extracurricular activity possible, received “As” in all of her classes, and was crushed when Harvard failed to accept her. During Rory’s first day at Yale, she was shocked to discover that Paris had decided to attend Yale and that her father had arranged for her and Rory to share a room (along with Janet, who Paris strongly disliked; and Tanna, a child prodigy).

Though never being interested in boys, Paris was asked out by Jamie during a leadership convention in Washington, D.C. They dated during the third season and Paris hid their relationship from Madeline and Louise. Eventually, Paris lost her virginity to Jamie (which she decided was to blame for her not getting into Harvard), but their relationship ended soon after Paris started her freshman year at Yale. While at Yale, Paris has been involved with two men, the first being Professor Asher Flemming. Paris fell in love with the professor, but was forced to hide their taboo relationship from the rest of the school, except Rory after she caught the two kissing in an alleyway. This relationship also didn’t last due to Asher dying of a heart attack while he and Paris were at Oxford University during the summer. Her next and current relationship is with Doyle, the editor of the Yale Daily News. They fell for each other while speed dating, had sex hours later, and have had a highly competitive, yet loving relationship ever since.

During the sixth season, Paris’ life was thrown off when her parents fled the country and ended up exhausting all of her funds except her the money in her trust fund and her tuition money. Paris was forced to get her first job, a server at a D.A.R. function, and despite her new circumstances, Paris became editor of the Yale Daily News. However, her new found power went straight to her head and the other staff unseated Paris and had Rory take her place. This caused a fight between Paris and Rory, but they soon reconciled and returned to being close friends.

Emily Gilmore, the product of a strict, wealthy family, is the stereotypical society woman. Her high standards have made it impossible for her to keep a maid longer than a week, but have propelled the Gilmore clan into the highest ring of Hartford society. As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as a member of several committees, boards, societies, and auctions, Emily and her husband, Richard, frequently attend social events.

Emily and Richard first met when Emily was attending Smith College and Richard was a student at Yale University. He asked her out on a date to the Yale Center of British Art and shortly afterwards, Emily and Richard were married. Richard, however, had to break off his engagement to Pennilyn Lott, a woman his mother adored, to marry Emily, resulting in his mother disapproving of their marriage and of Emily. Due to this, Trix Gilmore verbally harasses Emily during her visits and disapproves of how Emily does absolutely everything, which damages her marriage to Richard and almost results in the two getting a divorce.

During the fifth season, Emily and Richard were separated briefly and during this time Emily dated Simon McLane, making her realize that there’s no one for her but Richard. Soon afterwards, Emily and Richard reconciled their differences and renewed their wedding vows in a spectacular ceremony.

Together Richard and Emily have one daughter, Lorelai, who they tried to raise to be a child of high social standing, but when Lorelai rebelled against their lifestyle they found it hard to control her. After Lorelai got pregnant and ran away from home with Rory, both Emily and Richard had very little contact with their daughter. When they did see each other, their visits were met with pent up rage and hostility on both sides, often ending in fighting that tore apart their relationship further.

When Lorelai came to Emily for money to put Rory through Chilton, Emily eagerly gave her the money with one catch – in exchange for the funds, Lorelai and Rory had to attend dinner at the elder Gilmore’s home every Friday night. Through these dinners, Lorelai and Emily have begun to rebuild their relationship and Emily was able to connect with Rory. Though Emily meddles in both her daughter and granddaughter’s lives frequently, Emily’s actions often show that despite the years of no communication she truly loves her daughter.

The eccentric, yet loveable Kirk is one of Stars Hollow’s most infamous residents. Along with his myriad of quirks comes his myriad of jobs. He’s worked dozens of different jobs, from a DSL installer in his first appearance to his most recent realtor-in-training gig. Since he still lives with his mother, he’s spent almost no money and has accumulated nearly a quarter million dollars over the years.

Born and raised in Stars Hollow, Kirk is often the butt of the townfolks’ jokes and stories, mainly due to being emotionally stunted.

Despite his quirks, Kirk was able to win the affections of Lulu, his brother’s ex-girlfriend. The two have become increasingly closer during the past few seasons and Kirk has even considered buying her an engagement ring.

Through the annoyances and oddities the town puts up with, Kirk has become the town’s “go-to guy” when they need a Revolutionary War re-enactor, actor, photographer, waiter, sports announcer, building inspector, mailbox salesman, dog walker, pedi-cab driver, …

Logan Huntzberger is the son of the famous Mitchum Huntzberger, a wealthy newspaper mogul, and Shira Huntzberger, a well-known Hartford socialite. Dubbed “king of the sloths” by his friends, Logan is a renowned ladies man and is good at doing as little as possible to get through school. But behind the image and front that he puts up, Logan is a brilliant writer and is well-equipped to take over his father’s company in the near future, though that’s the last thing that Logan wants