Other Characters
Marlene Griggs-Knope - Marlene Griggs-Knope is Leslie's mother and a major political figure in Pawnee's school system. She is a shrewd and cunning politician who is willing to resort to unethical tactics to get her way. Although Leslie has very different standards, she nevertheless sees Marlene as a source of inspiration, and is extremely eager to impress her mother. Marlene has low expectations for her daughter's ability to succeed, but is ultimately supportive of her, as indicated in "Canvassing" when Marlene attended Leslie's public forum in support of her despite privately predicting it would be a "train wreck". In "The Banquet", Marlene encouraged Leslie to use scandalous information to blackmail a Pawnee zoning official into supporting Leslie's park project. In "The Bubble", Leslie secretly prepared her boyfriend Ben for a meeting with Marlene with the hopes her mother would be impressed with him. The plan backfired, however, when Marlene became attracted to Ben and made a pass at him.
Mark Brendanawicz - Pawnee city planner who dated Ann Perkins for much of the second season. At the start of the show, Mark was an unrequited love interest for Leslie Knope. Jaded and disillusioned with his job due to government red tape, Mark often pragmatically insisted to Leslie that her ambitions to turn a construction pit into a park were unlikely to succeed. Nevertheless, he admired Leslie's unwavering optimism in the face of government ineffectiveness and tried to help her. In the first season finale "Rock Show", a drunken Mark tried to kiss Leslie, but she rejected him and he accidentally falls into the pit.Although Mark is selfish and promiscuous with women at the start of the show, he becomes kinder when he starts dating Ann, and even plans to propose to her. After she broke up with him, Mark left his city hall position for a job in the private sector.
Jean-Ralphio Saperstein - is a cocky friend of Tom Haverford who, like Tom himself, fancies himself a pickup artist and baller, although he is looked upon with contempt by most people around him except Tom. He tries to dress stylishly, makes up and raps spontaneous rhymes and often speaks in slang terms such as variations of the suffix -izzle as popularized by rapper Snoop Dogg. Jean-Ralphio is first introduced in "The Set Up", when Tom brought him in for an interview to be Ron Swanson's new assistant; he was quickly rejected. Jean-Ralphio contributed $5,000 when Tom was seeking a $10,000 investment in the Snakehole Lounge nightclub. In the third season finale, "Li'l Sebastian", Tom quit his city hall job to form an entertainment company with Jean-Ralphio called Entertainment 720.
Justin Anderson - a lawyer and long-time friend of Ann who briefly dated Leslie. He is very charming,regularly travels around the world and has done many extravagant things, such as mountain climbing. He loves telling entertaining stories, and sometimes seems less interested in the people around him than he is in listening to and learning new stories. Justin and Ann never dated, but she seems to secretly harbor romantic feelings for him, something that caused difficulties between Ann and Andy when they were dating. Justin first appears in "The Set Up", when he provided legal advice to the parks and recreation department, and Leslie developed a romantic interest in him. She asks Ann to set them up, but she hesitated to do so, prompting Mark to accuse her of still having feelings for Justin. Ann finally sets up a date, and the two start dating regularly. Impressed by Justin's worldliness, Leslie was so determined to impress him with a house party that, in "Leslie's House", she abused her government power by recruiting town employees to provide entertainment. Justin made his final appearance in "Galentine's Day", when Justin and Leslie tried to find Frank Beckerson, the long-lost love of Leslie's mother Marlene, and reunite the two. Upon finding him, Leslie quickly realized Frank is too strange and tried to call the plan off, but Justin insisted on going through with it. After the evening ends disastrously, Leslie realized Justin is a selfish person who only cares about getting more stories, so she broke up with him. Tom, who strongly admired Justin's hipness and idolized him, became extremely disappointed by the break-up and reacted like a child whose parents are divorcing.
Orin - is the creepy and intense friend of April Ludgate. He seldom speaks and often stares at people and makes them feel awkward. He first appeared in "April and Andy's Fancy Party", where he made Ben feel uncomfortable; at one point Ben said to him, "No, Orin, I don't know how I'm going to die. Wait, are you asking me or telling me?" At that same party, Orin spoke to Chris, but Chris was so positive he overwhelmes Orin. Orin reappeared in an art show at "Jerry's Painting", where he stood silently and motionlessly next to his exhibition: a completely blank canvas. Orin was originally mentioned in a throw-away joke in "Time Capsule", but Parks and Recreation screenwriter Katie Dippold liked the idea of the character so much she worked him into her script for "Fancy Party".
Tammy Swanson - is the second ex-wife of Ron Swanson. Tammy is a manipulative woman , and she constantly tries to make Ron miserable. However, the two maintain a strong attraction to each other. Tammy is director of the Pawnee Library, which is widely considered a horrible place by Leslie Knope and the parks department employees. Tammy is introduced in "Ron and Tammy", when she approached Leslie in a friendly way under the guise that she wants to talk to Ron and work out her differences with him. Secretly, she was scheming for Ron to give her a lot Leslie wanted to turn into a park, so she can instead turn it into a library branch. Once she and Ron reconnected, the two fight loudly. Ron eventually realized he was being manipulated and, with Leslie's help, resisted Tammy's efforts. Tammy returns in "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", where she went on a date with Tom to make Ron jealous. Tammy and Ron ended up getting re-married. However, when Tom tried to intervene and Tammy brutally beat him up, Ron remembered how horrible Tammy was and ended their marriage again. Tammy briefly appeared in the third season finale, "Li'l Sebastian", where she and Ron learned together that Ron's first wife, "Tammy 1", had arrived in town, which made Tammy flee in terror.
Wendy Haverford - started the season as the wife of Tom Haverford, although it is later revealed to be a green card marriage that amicably ends in a divorce. Wendy came to Pawnee from Canada and married Tom so she could remain in the country.Introduced in the first season finale "Rock Band", Wendy is an attractive, outgoing and wealthy pediatric surgeon, and the other characters are surprised she is married to Tom, who often brags about her attractiveness. Although Tom outwardly claims he is fine with the divorce, he secretly harbors romantic feelings for Wendy and wishes for the marriage to continue. When the parks department employees hold a contest in "Practice Date" about who can find out the biggest secret about the others, Ron learns about the green card marriage, but he keeps it a secret at Tom's request. The divorce proceedings begin in "Tom's Divorce", and Tom continued to pretend he is alright with the arrangement. However, when Ron asked Tom whether he could ask Wendy out after the divorce, Tom was secretly heartbroken, despite giving Ron his blessing. In "Galentine's Day", Tom admitted to Wendy his true feelings for her, but she rejected him, prompting an angry Tom to sue her for alimony in an attempt to blackmail her into going out with him. This effort was short-lived, however, and Tom eventually apologized and the two parted on good terms. A horrified Tom learned in the second season finale, "Freddy Spaghetti", that Wendy and Ron are indeed dating. Although the pairing caused tension between Ron and Tom, Ron proved so happy in his relationship with Wendy that it allowed him to resist the temptations of his horrible ex-wife Tammy. In "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", Ron and Wendy broke up after she decided to move back to Canada to take care of her ailing parents.
Mark Brendanawicz - Pawnee city planner who dated Ann Perkins for much of the second season. At the start of the show, Mark was an unrequited love interest for Leslie Knope. Jaded and disillusioned with his job due to government red tape, Mark often pragmatically insisted to Leslie that her ambitions to turn a construction pit into a park were unlikely to succeed. Nevertheless, he admired Leslie's unwavering optimism in the face of government ineffectiveness and tried to help her. In the first season finale "Rock Show", a drunken Mark tried to kiss Leslie, but she rejected him and he accidentally falls into the pit.Although Mark is selfish and promiscuous with women at the start of the show, he becomes kinder when he starts dating Ann, and even plans to propose to her. After she broke up with him, Mark left his city hall position for a job in the private sector.
Jean-Ralphio Saperstein - is a cocky friend of Tom Haverford who, like Tom himself, fancies himself a pickup artist and baller, although he is looked upon with contempt by most people around him except Tom. He tries to dress stylishly, makes up and raps spontaneous rhymes and often speaks in slang terms such as variations of the suffix -izzle as popularized by rapper Snoop Dogg. Jean-Ralphio is first introduced in "The Set Up", when Tom brought him in for an interview to be Ron Swanson's new assistant; he was quickly rejected. Jean-Ralphio contributed $5,000 when Tom was seeking a $10,000 investment in the Snakehole Lounge nightclub. In the third season finale, "Li'l Sebastian", Tom quit his city hall job to form an entertainment company with Jean-Ralphio called Entertainment 720.
Justin Anderson - a lawyer and long-time friend of Ann who briefly dated Leslie. He is very charming,regularly travels around the world and has done many extravagant things, such as mountain climbing. He loves telling entertaining stories, and sometimes seems less interested in the people around him than he is in listening to and learning new stories. Justin and Ann never dated, but she seems to secretly harbor romantic feelings for him, something that caused difficulties between Ann and Andy when they were dating. Justin first appears in "The Set Up", when he provided legal advice to the parks and recreation department, and Leslie developed a romantic interest in him. She asks Ann to set them up, but she hesitated to do so, prompting Mark to accuse her of still having feelings for Justin. Ann finally sets up a date, and the two start dating regularly. Impressed by Justin's worldliness, Leslie was so determined to impress him with a house party that, in "Leslie's House", she abused her government power by recruiting town employees to provide entertainment. Justin made his final appearance in "Galentine's Day", when Justin and Leslie tried to find Frank Beckerson, the long-lost love of Leslie's mother Marlene, and reunite the two. Upon finding him, Leslie quickly realized Frank is too strange and tried to call the plan off, but Justin insisted on going through with it. After the evening ends disastrously, Leslie realized Justin is a selfish person who only cares about getting more stories, so she broke up with him. Tom, who strongly admired Justin's hipness and idolized him, became extremely disappointed by the break-up and reacted like a child whose parents are divorcing.
Orin - is the creepy and intense friend of April Ludgate. He seldom speaks and often stares at people and makes them feel awkward. He first appeared in "April and Andy's Fancy Party", where he made Ben feel uncomfortable; at one point Ben said to him, "No, Orin, I don't know how I'm going to die. Wait, are you asking me or telling me?" At that same party, Orin spoke to Chris, but Chris was so positive he overwhelmes Orin. Orin reappeared in an art show at "Jerry's Painting", where he stood silently and motionlessly next to his exhibition: a completely blank canvas. Orin was originally mentioned in a throw-away joke in "Time Capsule", but Parks and Recreation screenwriter Katie Dippold liked the idea of the character so much she worked him into her script for "Fancy Party".
Tammy Swanson - is the second ex-wife of Ron Swanson. Tammy is a manipulative woman , and she constantly tries to make Ron miserable. However, the two maintain a strong attraction to each other. Tammy is director of the Pawnee Library, which is widely considered a horrible place by Leslie Knope and the parks department employees. Tammy is introduced in "Ron and Tammy", when she approached Leslie in a friendly way under the guise that she wants to talk to Ron and work out her differences with him. Secretly, she was scheming for Ron to give her a lot Leslie wanted to turn into a park, so she can instead turn it into a library branch. Once she and Ron reconnected, the two fight loudly. Ron eventually realized he was being manipulated and, with Leslie's help, resisted Tammy's efforts. Tammy returns in "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", where she went on a date with Tom to make Ron jealous. Tammy and Ron ended up getting re-married. However, when Tom tried to intervene and Tammy brutally beat him up, Ron remembered how horrible Tammy was and ended their marriage again. Tammy briefly appeared in the third season finale, "Li'l Sebastian", where she and Ron learned together that Ron's first wife, "Tammy 1", had arrived in town, which made Tammy flee in terror.
Wendy Haverford - started the season as the wife of Tom Haverford, although it is later revealed to be a green card marriage that amicably ends in a divorce. Wendy came to Pawnee from Canada and married Tom so she could remain in the country.Introduced in the first season finale "Rock Band", Wendy is an attractive, outgoing and wealthy pediatric surgeon, and the other characters are surprised she is married to Tom, who often brags about her attractiveness. Although Tom outwardly claims he is fine with the divorce, he secretly harbors romantic feelings for Wendy and wishes for the marriage to continue. When the parks department employees hold a contest in "Practice Date" about who can find out the biggest secret about the others, Ron learns about the green card marriage, but he keeps it a secret at Tom's request. The divorce proceedings begin in "Tom's Divorce", and Tom continued to pretend he is alright with the arrangement. However, when Ron asked Tom whether he could ask Wendy out after the divorce, Tom was secretly heartbroken, despite giving Ron his blessing. In "Galentine's Day", Tom admitted to Wendy his true feelings for her, but she rejected him, prompting an angry Tom to sue her for alimony in an attempt to blackmail her into going out with him. This effort was short-lived, however, and Tom eventually apologized and the two parted on good terms. A horrified Tom learned in the second season finale, "Freddy Spaghetti", that Wendy and Ron are indeed dating. Although the pairing caused tension between Ron and Tom, Ron proved so happy in his relationship with Wendy that it allowed him to resist the temptations of his horrible ex-wife Tammy. In "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", Ron and Wendy broke up after she decided to move back to Canada to take care of her ailing parents.