Main Characters

  • Alex Karev

    Alex Karev Small

    Alex Karev arrived at Seattle Grace with a lot of baggage. Raised by an abusive and heroin-addicted father, Alex spent much of his childhood in foster care. He moved on to attend the University of Iowa on a wrestling scholarship, which isn't really as exciting as Alex's crazy love life. (After his tragic childhood, it's understandable that his relationships with women have been rather...

  • April Kepner

    April Kepner in Season 6

    A new surgeon who joined the staff of Seattle Grace following the hospital's merger with Mercy West, April has had a checkered career. Firstly, Richard Webber fired her after she failed to check a burn victim's throat during a routine procedure, which ultimately contributed to the patient's death. Unwittingly sowing the seeds of his own dark and twisty fate, Derek Shepherd rehired her several...

  • Arizona Robbins

    Arizona Robbins Small

    Just because Arizona Robbins spends all her time with kids doesn't mean she wants any... but she's about to get one. While she's made it pretty clear that it was never her dream to share a baby and a wife with Mark Sloan, that's exactly what she's doing, and she can't do anything about it. After ditching Callie to go to Africa, she realized she made a mistake and returned, only to find out that...

  • Callie Torres

    Callie Torres in Season 6

    Ambitious, gregarious orthopedic surgeon Callie Torres has certainly made the rounds, romantically speaking — but don't tell her super-religious father! After George O'Malley and Meredith Grey's ill-fated fling, George started dating Callie. They got married... and then divorced. It was a whirlwind. Callie then hooked up with Mark Sloan and Alex Karev, but the arrival of cardiothoracic surgeon...

  • Cristina Yang

    Cristina Yang Small

    Born and raised in Beverly Hills, California, by her Korean mother and Jewish stepfather, Cristina Yang is a quintessential overachiever. She has a B.A. from Smith, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from UC Berkeley, and an M.D. from Stanford! She's steely and competitive, which often affects her bedside manner and her relationships. Despite these personality flaws, Cristina's managed to develop some...

  • Derek Shepherd

    Derek Shepherd Small

    For a charming, intelligent, uber-successful surgeon with a dreamy face and a lustrous head of hair, Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd has sure had a turbulent love life! After discovering his best friend, Mark Sloan, in bed with his wife, Addison Montgomery, the Columbia alum jetted from New York to Seattle Grace to the tune of a $2 million salary offer. Once there, he hooked up with Meredith Grey...

  • Jackson Avery

    Jackson Avery Small

    Meredith Grey and Jackson Avery have a lot in common: both have to suffer the pressure that comes with carrying famous surnames. The super-hot grandson of famous surgeon Dr. Harper Avery (for whom the prestigious Avery Award, which Richard Webber was short-listed on, is named), Jackson is a surgical resident who joined Seattle Grace after the hospital's merger with Mercy West. Although he...

  • Lexie Grey

    Lexie Grey Small

    It's true that Lexie Grey has an unfair competitive advantage: unlike her half-sister Meredith, Lexie has a flawless photographic memory, which has earned her the nickname "Lexipedia." It was a boon at Harvard, and it continues to be an advantage at Seattle Grace, where she's a surgical intern. Just like Meredith doesn't have Lexie's database of a brain, Lexie doesn't share her sis's dark and...

  • Mark Sloan

    Mark Sloan Small

    Super sleazy, super sexy plastic surgeon Mark "McSteamy" Sloan has had affairs with Addison Montgomery (when she was still married to Derek Shepherd, Mark's best friend), Callie Torres, Lexie Grey, Teddy Altman, and Reed Adamson — but don't let that fool you. In the words of his shrink: "Behind this rugged and confident exterior, I'm self-destructive and self-loathing to an almost pathological...

  • Meredith Grey

    Meredith Grey Small

    Resident surgeon Meredith Grey has always been a little bit dark and twisty — probably because she was raised by a demanding, workaholic mother: the late Ellis Grey, a famed surgeon. As for other family ties, Meredith is struggling to develop relationships with her estranged father, Thatcher, and her half-sister, Lexie. Meredith went to Dartmouth College (where she drank too much, but graduated...

  • Miranda Bailey

    Miranda Bailey in Season 6

    Miranda Bailey's co-workers not-so-affectionately refer to her as "The Nazi" — pretty much because she likes to terrify interns and appear generally invincible. (As an intern herself, the Wellesley College grad toyed with the idea of going into pediatric surgery, but she elected to remain in the general surgery program instead.) Despite her tough facade, Miranda secretly a big sweetheart who's...

  • Owen Hunt

    Owen Hunt Small

    Owen Hunt isn't like the other touchy-feely male doctors that populate Seattle Grace. After working for many years in the U.S. Army, the ruggedly handsome Owen impressed Cristina Yang by performing a tracheotomy with a ballpoint pen. Sparks flew, and the two have been together — on and off — ever since. No, it hasn't been the smoothest of rides: Owen's post-traumatic stress disorder, which...

  • Richard Webber

    Richard Webber Small

    Recovering alcoholic Richard Webber really liked his position as Chief of Surgery, and he was none too pleased about his demotion. Back when he was a surgical resident, he had an affair with Meredith's mother, fellow resident Ellis Grey, which caused him to act inappropriately paternal toward Meredith upon her arrival at Seattle Grace. His wife, Adele, has encouraged him to retire, but Richard...

  • Teddy Altman

    Teddy Altman Small

    Teddy Altman is Seattle Grace's "cardio goddess" — but that hasn't made her fast friends with Cristina Yang, her top student. Cristina's boyfriend, Owen Hunt, invited Teddy, a fellow Army vet, to Seattle Grace, and their close friendship has been a major point of conflict between Teddy and Cristina (duh). This love triangle isn't the only stressor in Teddy's life: she almost lost her job as...