All 14 major Gilmore Girls characters ranked from worst to best

11. Kirk Gleason

Look, we all love Kirk something fierce. He’s just a ridiculous person who needs to be protected at all costs. (Seriously, he has night terrors and needs to be protected!) Sean Gunn played Kirk’s deeply odd demeanor to perfection. Who is Kirk? He’s an enigma with a different job depending on the given storyline. He’s Taylor’s right-hand man, the town’s weird little brother, and a source of comic relief. However, beyond his quirks, the series kept him rather one-note compared to the other main characters.

10. Richard Gilmore

I don’t think there’s a person who hasn’t wished that Richard Gilmore was their grandfather at one point of their lives. He’s a gentle giant, his height and kindness something Lorelai has brought up a few times. Rory, literally and figuratively, looks up to Richard, and though grandfathering doesn’t initially come naturally to him, she wears him down. He loves fiercely and loyally. But Richard could also be stubborn, egocentric, and old-fashioned to a frustrating fault. Regardless of the times Richard could grind our gears, Edward Herrmann’s absence was felt in A Year in the Life.

9. Jess Mariano

Everyone has a soft spot for the brooding bad boy in a teen drama. See: Dylan McKay, Ryan Atwood, Logan Echolls, et al. So, when Luke’s nephew Jess arrived in season 2 to stir up trouble and turn Rory’s head with Milo Ventimiglia‘s good looks, it’s safe to say we all fell for him, too. Despite being her grumpiest boyfriend, Jess has definitely become Rory’s favorite boyfriend among fans. He often got a bad rap in town, but he was coming of age without the proper toolkit. His family circumstances made him independent, rebellious, and abrasive. Jess was a bunch of contradictions that made him interesting but also maddening.

8. Michel Gerard

Gilmore Girls was part teen drama, part romantic comedy, part family drama, and part workplace sitcom thanks in part to the unbothered sass of Michel Gerard, played by Yanic Truesdale. As the concierge at the Independence and Dragonfly inns, Michel works closely with Lorelai and Sookie, and though he appears to have a love-hate relationship with them, he really loves them deep down. His quippy one-liners uplift every scene he’s in, and when’s he’s given a chance to shine with his own storyline, it always left us wanting more Michel.