We are all in love with Grey’s Anatomy – but more importantly we are in love with the characters. Have you actually thought about the real reason why the show has drawn you in and makes you feel such a strong connection with the characters? Well after re-watching the entire series over and over, I’ve analyzed and studied what’s so great about each character. Warning: Minor Spoilers.
Meredith Grey
Maybe some of us only love Meredith because of her unconditional love with McDreamy, but there’s something to her we all can relate to. She comes from a shaky childhood with an unstable mom and out-of-the-picture dad. She’s such a strong figure in the show due to everything she’s overcome. We were able to watch Meredith grow throughout the series. We watched her deal with the troubles of life and learn to let people in and tear her walls down. We’ve been here to watch her blossom into the awesome character that we love and know. We love her enough to replace Patrick Dempsey’s wife’s face with Meredith’s face.
Derek Shepherd (McDreamy)
Where do I start? His luscious, thick, brown locks. His deep blue eyes. Oh and we cannot forget about his voice… the way he talks about aneurysms or demands for the scalpel. The way he smiles with his eyes and makes our hearts melt. He is literally a walking dream that we get the pleasure to watch for 11 seasons straight. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. Derek Shepherd is the definition of a DILF. He’s the perfect dad, with the perfect body and he’s the perfect husband to Meredith. She’s unstable throughout the first half of the series and he still manages to stay by her side and never give up. Derek is beyond McDreamy and he is the dream man that every woman wishes for.
Cristina Yang
Cristina is the character we all got so frustrated with because of her stubborn attitude whether it was in the O.R. or with her relationships. But she’s the character we want back the most and constantly miss. We love her so much because of her independence and determination to be the best. She knows her worth and doesn’t accept anything less than what she deserves. She speaks what’s on her mind and is one of the realist characters on the show, which is why we have a love/hate relationship with her. The reason we love her so much is because of her loyalty for Meredith. “He’s very dreamy but he’s not the sun, you are.” She keeps Meredith grounded by giving her advice to help her remember her worth. Whether they’re drinking tequila and crying about all of their issues, or dancing it out to relieve stress, they are the example of best friends that everyone wants.
Alex Karev
Let’s be honest… we all hated Alex in the beginning. He was rude, ignorant and a bully throughout the series, but after learning about his back story and watching him grow as a character, we grew a connection with Karev that we never knew we would have. Every time someone says they’re watching Grey’s and say they hate Karev, we say, “just wait.” As soon as his sensitive side comes out and he joins the Peds department, our entire view of him changes. Karev is the bad boy in school that all girls try to run from but we can’t stay away.
Miranda Bailey
She brings the sass to sassy and we LOVE it. She does not take any attitude from anyone. She’s the one everyone is scared of but everyone goes to for anything. She is the mother of the hospital and has been sense day one. When someone has to tell her bad news – we get nervous for them. That’s when you know the character connection is real. We watch her go from B.A. Bailey to Booty Call Bailey after she spends her time yelling at residents for hooking up with interns, but she marries an intern herself. Even though Bailey is the strict mother of the hospital, we love everything about her.
Mark Sloan (McSteamy)
“The things I would do to that man,” as my roommates say. After being introduced to McSteamy, we all understood why Addison cheated. He has the slick looks, the smooth words and the smile of an evil man with a beautiful mind and body. He was supposed to be the character we disliked because of his promiscuous actions, but for some reason we adore him so much. Even Derek can’t resist his charm.
Callie Torres
You either love Callie in the beginning or you hate her. Either way, as time goes on we learn to love her for her honest ways. She shows us what a real woman is. Her body is perfect and she isn’t afraid to show off and flaunt her curves. She dances in her underwear and does not give a crap about what people think about her. She brings inspiration to women and brings hope to society that body image for women will change.
Lexie Grey
When she first comes into the show we are skeptical. I mean we should be, shouldn’t we? We are protective of our girl Meredith. As the show goes on she slowly grows on us and we start to get the impression we might like her a little but we can’t admit it just yet. It takes some time for us to warm up to her awkwardness but as soon as her and Sloan hook up we know that she’s welcome into our Grey’s family. What makes her so great is her awkwardness around Sloan and her attempt to act like she isn’t completely infatuated with him. She will always be one of our favorites in the Grey’s family.
Richard Webber
Ahh, the father figure of the show. Whether it’s his own children or the new interns in the hospital, he’s constantly looking out for everyone. We appreciate him as he deals with his wife having Alzheimer’s and show’s us true love can exist even when it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He inspires us to believe even after a heartbreak (whether it’s because of death or unfortunate events) that we can move on and begin a new love life with someone else. He overcomes his battles with alcohol and shows us that no matter what life throws our way; we can always come out winning. Webber gives us a fictional father figure that we care about and anytime he gives the characters’ advice, we take it to heart also.
Jackson Avery
HIS EYES. Behind McDreamy and McSteamy, Avery is right up next to them. Anytime he looks into the camera – no… anytime we see his eyes in general we just die. The way he looks at us through the camera just makes us melt. We think our obsession with him can’t get any worse until the episode of him taking his scrubs off. That is what I call art. Other than his unbelievable looks and crazy intelligence, Avery brings so much passion into the work he does in the hospital and into his relationships. He’s the whole package.
April Kepner
April, April, April… man was she annoying at first? It took a very long time to finally think Kepner was tolerable. Although she still has her moments, she has really grown as a character we love. She spends the majority of the show attempting to please others and worrying about what other people think, but when she finally accepts herself and her flaws – that’s when she really starts to blossom. Now we love Kepner’s passion for her work, kids and other people. Kepner has found a happy medium to focus on herself instead of pleasing everyone else… and that’s beautiful.