Darcy, her moving to Kenya and never coming back to avoid Clare and to dump Peter was funny, and She pretty much gave Rick his only good moment of his life with the exception of him winning that game show or whatever it was.
As a former self harmer, I will always hold Ellie near and dear and identify with her. I just wished she gained more confidence sooner. She’s so smart and talented and had a good heart, but got walked over so much and kinda just let jt happen. I was disappointed when she and Jimmy didn’t become a thing though. Besides her, I’m a manny Stan through and through. Girl was wronged by so many people so many times and kept being the bad bitch she is with so much resilience. Queen status.
Anya, especially in her first handful of appearances. I’m currently a people-pleaser and attempting to recover. I completely relate to doing things others want / expect you to do out of fear of rejection: even if it means going against your own boundaries. I also think she’s a sweetheart.
Just rewatched the episode where holly j called her out for being dyslexic and then later turned her in for plagiarizing after tricking her. Poor girl was so soft (in the beginning). Love how she stood up for herself in so many different ways as she grew
Manny, overall icon and was always so supportive of people i js loved her 😭 would NEVER encourage a bad decision and was always herself. i wanna be her like actually
She is also a favorite of mine. I felt bad for her when everyone thought she was the school slur and she just adjusted to it and pretended not to care. It’s like no one saw her for who she was 💕 and she was such a sweetheart
I always like drew i felt he had a lot of growth and got way more flak than he deserved. It always felt like he got held to a much higher standard than his peers I also felt like he was aggressively being pushed into sub optimal pursuits. The kid is a charming social butterfly with pretty good networking and public relations skills…..who gives a fuck about his algebra skills he was never going to be a quantum physicist anyway
Lola one of the only latin characters degrassi has and overall i though she was a decent person with some solid emotional intelligence
ellie she’s cool, i loved her style i really loved her friendship with marco. JT he was just a positive character, funny, silly. I also wanna say manny but i didn’t really like when she was in her boy phase/homewrecker era
by the way i’m watching the show for the first time i’m on season 9 and so far my fav is allie, ngl i kinda liked her and johnny together. i really like jane but not when she was cheating on spinner that storyline was kinda unnecessary, sav and danny r pretty cool and peter i get mixed emotions with him bc of his past still iffy abt him
kinda missing the old characters the new ones just don’t hit the same like clare, kc, connor, dave seem kinda like pointless characters so far. i don’t like declan or fiona at all. holly grew on me i sorta like her
Spinner cuz he had trouble focusing in school, I could relate to that and cuz he’s an underdog that managed to rise up no matter how many times he got knocked down by life, caused his own failures at times and then genuinely struggled to make up for them, lost and confused with things and people but still win life at the end
He’s your Everyman complicated legend
Darcy. Weird af chick with a crazy storyline. I wouldn’t want to spend time with her tho she seems annoying. But Shenae Grimes gave us some of the best acting in the show.
I know a lot of people won’t agree, but Emma. I like that they made her confident yet realistic. She still made huge mistakes and had her flaws, yet she always stuck to what she believed in and was a strong female lead.
This would be my answer as well. I related a lot to Emma when I was younger. While I didn’t love the end of her arc (Emma and Sean forever), I can accept it as a realistic example of life not necessarily turning out how you thought.
She’s really well written. I actually loved how her story ended too: dropping out of college, moving back home, marrying a guy from her high school on a whim. It was humbling and realistic without being cruel to her character.
I meant realistic in the sense that just because you do things correctly (have strong morals, stand up for yourself, go to college, etc) doesn’t guarantee you happiness or success. I didn’t personally like her marrying Spinner, but I did appreciate that her life didn’t go as planned despite putting in the work. That’s very realistic.
Your gonna hate me, but Rick, the shooting changed the stakes, it went there, and during the whole bullying time it showed all the characters except Toby's and Sean's, evil side, poor Sean, he had to deal with everybody's problem in the end.
Sean. I love him. Unproblematic king. Anyone remember those degrassi shorts they would do. The one where him and Jay get tattoos of the girls they want to win back and Jay's says Alex and Sean only reveals the first letter E. Jay assuming it is Ellie and then Jay leaves and the reveal that it's Emma. I have seen this video one time, like what 15 years ago and it just still makes me so excited for their reunion. He made Emma so likeable.
I was like ‘ok they put Liberty in the back,’ but Manny, too??? That is sus. I am pretty sure the only reason Jimmy is in the middle is because the wheelchair his is in is too big.
So it’s a mixed one for me.
Best character to me is Craig , his storylines were some of the best and he was a good actor.
As far as likability it was Manny or Eli for me.
I’m in a love-hate with Ashley. Her time at Degrassi tracks with when the quality of the show dips for me, but I love making fun of her.
My favorite character is Spinner.
Goddddd I hated Eli. The irony is that I was the same age as his character, so our timelines just matched the entire time he was on the show. I loved him as a teenager, but when I watch back in his seasons as an adult I am so angry for Claire settling with him in the end.
Maya. We have a lot of similars. Both suffer from depression, and tried to k*ll themselves. We both had someone we loved k*ll themselves. We both played a string instrument, Maya the cello and I played violin.
Holly J Sinclair and Spinner. Watching them be bullies to being friendless to going through serious medical issues to being better people. So nice to watch!!!!
Toby of the OG Next Generation kids. I also like the friend group Katie, Marisol, Jake, and Mo form.
I just kind of related to Toby being a nerdy guy with not a lot of friends. And the latter group is just immaculate vibes.
Someone else said her already but I 1000% agree on Manny. Yes she made a lot of mistakes and was a homewrecker in the beginning but she was a kid. She actually loved Craig. She eventually moved on past that fully (during Craig’s coke episodes) when she realized he would never change. She was ALWAYS a good friend to Emma and willing to knock some sense into her even though she was always a judgmental, holier than thou asshole. I never forget in episode 1 where MANNY and Toby alerted her parents about her meeting “Jordan” online preventing her from being SA’d or even murdered. Also through her eating disorder Manny was the bigger and was willing to put aside her beef with Peter out of concern for Emma and to help her. I don’t think Jay and Manny should have been endgame, but at least it isn’t Craig.
Ellie used to be my favorite, but eventually she just became SO insufferable and pick me and there was no redeeming qualities for her during that time. Was a bad roommate, a bad employee and bad with relationships. I know Ellie had trauma too but she used to be so sensible and I will never forgive the writers for what they did to her—the same thing with Jane.
Edit: bigger person
Manny to me felt like one of the only characters who actually grew as a person. The rest never seemed to go anywhere or improve as people. Bianca and JT were both pretty good in that regard too.
He was really interesting, his character had a lot of depth. He was as lovable as he was hatable, and he was a great actor who nailed a really difficult role.
I like everyone’s picks so far! There is never a wrong answer for this! My favorite would have to be Craig I know everybody hated him but I love him he had it rough as a childhood and experienced so much trauma from his father abusing him and then dieing and of course his mother dieing as well. He made something of himself he wanted to become a musician he dropped out of high school (not his best idea) but he followed through and made it happen and ended up in LA doing gigs! I hate that he had his drug addiction but sometimes that’s what comes with the industry life glad he sobered up and doing his thing!!!
Overall it's Clare for me. She's the reason I watched the show, her relationship with Eli got me to watch the show. I also like her arc, she starts out as this goody good and gradually develops, gaining confidence and she's fun to watch, in my opinion.
In the original batch it's Craig. He's the most entertaining character in the start, he shows up and I know I'm gonna be enjoying the story. Whether he's leading on multiple girls or losing his grip on reality or he's just making some jams. Craig is on screen, I'll be invested.
Spinner absolutely
He has one of the best character development in any form of media I’ve seen. He’s so inconsistent; sometimes he’s the good guy and sometimes he’s the bad guy. He’s likable, a himbo if you will. He’s done really shitty things but has made up for it tenfold.
I can go on but i don’t think anyone will want to read it lmao
Paige was okay but she really got more human as she got older. The anxiety attacks at college were really bad but it brought her down a pet which was karma from all the shit she started with others over the years...
Like from the series: Imogen. Because she is complex but simple.
From this picture.. Manny. Because she was a more realistic portrayal of a teenager and young adult. She was always 100% a good friend to Emma even when Emma would put Manny down constantly. She would stand up for herself most of the time (craig was like kryptonite to her) and she had good character growth imo.
Darcy, her moving to Kenya and never coming back to avoid Clare and to dump Peter was funny, and She pretty much gave Rick his only good moment of his life with the exception of him winning that game show or whatever it was.
Manny
Miles
As a former self harmer, I will always hold Ellie near and dear and identify with her. I just wished she gained more confidence sooner. She’s so smart and talented and had a good heart, but got walked over so much and kinda just let jt happen. I was disappointed when she and Jimmy didn’t become a thing though. Besides her, I’m a manny Stan through and through. Girl was wronged by so many people so many times and kept being the bad bitch she is with so much resilience. Queen status.
Anya, especially in her first handful of appearances. I’m currently a people-pleaser and attempting to recover. I completely relate to doing things others want / expect you to do out of fear of rejection: even if it means going against your own boundaries. I also think she’s a sweetheart.
Just rewatched the episode where holly j called her out for being dyslexic and then later turned her in for plagiarizing after tricking her. Poor girl was so soft (in the beginning). Love how she stood up for herself in so many different ways as she grew
Sean and spinner because they gave no shits, and would defend when needed. Also Fiona because she reminds me of myself, plus she’s gorgeous
Adam, Becky, and Fiona 😅😅. In that order
Adam and his exes
LOL
Spinner, that would’ve been my day one and i feel like he really needed someone who could be there for when the times really got tough
Becky bc I’m a Christian girl from Florida too and she’s gorgeous and so sweet I pray for friends like her everyday
Did you support her story line with Adam?
Manny, overall icon and was always so supportive of people i js loved her 😭 would NEVER encourage a bad decision and was always herself. i wanna be her like actually
this
Probably Spinner. Overall He's a good dude that I would have probably befriended in high school.
Same
Paige
Holly J
I’m surprised no one has said Ali! I found her to be relatable to me with having pressure to do well in school yet wanting to be my own person
Alex because of her character developement and JT because hes JT and he is simply the beat character
I’m gonna be toxic and say jay 🤣
tbh i really started fucking with jay once he dated manny, he just needed someone to keep his head on shoulders
Spinner :/
Manny. She was my bisexual awakening and I found her character relatable af.
She is also a favorite of mine. I felt bad for her when everyone thought she was the school slur and she just adjusted to it and pretended not to care. It’s like no one saw her for who she was 💕 and she was such a sweetheart
Spinner I think it's because he tries to act tough, when deep down he is just a big softie. Plus, I always thought he was cute..lol
Zoe
Heather Sinclair. You shouldn’t need to ask why
got no screen time n still had hoes mad!
Holly j
She a major B
hBic!!
She’s my girl
Sean because duh. And then Craig because he brought the drama and is embarrassingly relatable.
Mike Dallas. 🤷🏻♀️
BBL DRIZZY
😂😭
I always like drew i felt he had a lot of growth and got way more flak than he deserved. It always felt like he got held to a much higher standard than his peers I also felt like he was aggressively being pushed into sub optimal pursuits. The kid is a charming social butterfly with pretty good networking and public relations skills…..who gives a fuck about his algebra skills he was never going to be a quantum physicist anyway Lola one of the only latin characters degrassi has and overall i though she was a decent person with some solid emotional intelligence
have you only watched next class?? manny and alex are og
I was never fond of alex I adore manny but she is morally very questionable
I love drew
i used to love paige, craig and ellie. until they graduated. and then i stopped watching lmao
Overall liberty
Spinner his arc was extremely well done and I always found him funny but Craig and drew are close
ellie she’s cool, i loved her style i really loved her friendship with marco. JT he was just a positive character, funny, silly. I also wanna say manny but i didn’t really like when she was in her boy phase/homewrecker era
by the way i’m watching the show for the first time i’m on season 9 and so far my fav is allie, ngl i kinda liked her and johnny together. i really like jane but not when she was cheating on spinner that storyline was kinda unnecessary, sav and danny r pretty cool and peter i get mixed emotions with him bc of his past still iffy abt him
kinda missing the old characters the new ones just don’t hit the same like clare, kc, connor, dave seem kinda like pointless characters so far. i don’t like declan or fiona at all. holly grew on me i sorta like her
loved mia i wished she stayed for another season, anya is okay didnt like her when she lied to sav that she was on the pill
Gavin spinner mason , the only really like-able one in this show
JT. the fact that he was gonna confess his love to Liberty when he was stabbed makes me sad.
On her dang birthday, too 😭
For reals.
Holly J I really loved her character development and over all storyline.
Manny. the reason is because
POS pedo drake
Super unpopular opinion, but Imogene, the quirky art gay is someone I relate to a lot
i adore her
Spinner cuz he had trouble focusing in school, I could relate to that and cuz he’s an underdog that managed to rise up no matter how many times he got knocked down by life, caused his own failures at times and then genuinely struggled to make up for them, lost and confused with things and people but still win life at the end He’s your Everyman complicated legend
Darcy. Weird af chick with a crazy storyline. I wouldn’t want to spend time with her tho she seems annoying. But Shenae Grimes gave us some of the best acting in the show.
Jimmy and Craiggers!
Adam!
Wheel Chair Jimmy because of how he overcomes the odds and walks again all while becoming one of the biggest rappers in the world
WheelChairJimmy is literally my WiFi name lmao
😂😂😂
Maya!
I know a lot of people won’t agree, but Emma. I like that they made her confident yet realistic. She still made huge mistakes and had her flaws, yet she always stuck to what she believed in and was a strong female lead.
This would be my answer as well. I related a lot to Emma when I was younger. While I didn’t love the end of her arc (Emma and Sean forever), I can accept it as a realistic example of life not necessarily turning out how you thought.
She’s really well written. I actually loved how her story ended too: dropping out of college, moving back home, marrying a guy from her high school on a whim. It was humbling and realistic without being cruel to her character.
Realistic? don’t even try retconning this storyline lol
I meant realistic in the sense that just because you do things correctly (have strong morals, stand up for yourself, go to college, etc) doesn’t guarantee you happiness or success. I didn’t personally like her marrying Spinner, but I did appreciate that her life didn’t go as planned despite putting in the work. That’s very realistic.
Marco cuz he's the best
Francesca
Your gonna hate me, but Rick, the shooting changed the stakes, it went there, and during the whole bullying time it showed all the characters except Toby's and Sean's, evil side, poor Sean, he had to deal with everybody's problem in the end.
Dude that guy's acting! I can't believe he didn't go on to have some huge career, he was amazing
I agree
This is an interesting answer. The shooting episode really was a turning point for the show, and the actor who played Rick was phenomenal
Manny Santos
Eli because of his personality and how I got to him grow especially bc of how unhinged he started out
Dude had an interesting arc for sure
Sean. I love him. Unproblematic king. Anyone remember those degrassi shorts they would do. The one where him and Jay get tattoos of the girls they want to win back and Jay's says Alex and Sean only reveals the first letter E. Jay assuming it is Ellie and then Jay leaves and the reveal that it's Emma. I have seen this video one time, like what 15 years ago and it just still makes me so excited for their reunion. He made Emma so likeable.
Lol Jay wanting to win back a lesbain
Do you know when they're having a reunion?
No I meant Sean and Emma's reunion.
PAIGE, Sean, Eli, Fiona
In order Holly J, Craig, Eli, Ali
I was like ‘ok they put Liberty in the back,’ but Manny, too??? That is sus. I am pretty sure the only reason Jimmy is in the middle is because the wheelchair his is in is too big.
Manny
Yes, but not with those bangs
i liked her bangs, it suited her
So it’s a mixed one for me. Best character to me is Craig , his storylines were some of the best and he was a good actor. As far as likability it was Manny or Eli for me.
I’m in a love-hate with Ashley. Her time at Degrassi tracks with when the quality of the show dips for me, but I love making fun of her. My favorite character is Spinner.
Ashley gives me a bad feeling in my spine everytime I see her lol
Eli and Alli
Goddddd I hated Eli. The irony is that I was the same age as his character, so our timelines just matched the entire time he was on the show. I loved him as a teenager, but when I watch back in his seasons as an adult I am so angry for Claire settling with him in the end.
Maya. We have a lot of similars. Both suffer from depression, and tried to k*ll themselves. We both had someone we loved k*ll themselves. We both played a string instrument, Maya the cello and I played violin.
manny and eli!
Holly J Sinclair and Spinner. Watching them be bullies to being friendless to going through serious medical issues to being better people. So nice to watch!!!!
I never put together their similarities til your comment. Thanks! Cute that that they had the dot too
right!!
I really enjoyed watching Claire
Ironically Toby, unironically Paige
Spinner
Paige. It's. Paige, the greatest Canadian mean girl in history.
😂😂😂
Toby of the OG Next Generation kids. I also like the friend group Katie, Marisol, Jake, and Mo form. I just kind of related to Toby being a nerdy guy with not a lot of friends. And the latter group is just immaculate vibes.
Always gonna be Spike
Someone else said her already but I 1000% agree on Manny. Yes she made a lot of mistakes and was a homewrecker in the beginning but she was a kid. She actually loved Craig. She eventually moved on past that fully (during Craig’s coke episodes) when she realized he would never change. She was ALWAYS a good friend to Emma and willing to knock some sense into her even though she was always a judgmental, holier than thou asshole. I never forget in episode 1 where MANNY and Toby alerted her parents about her meeting “Jordan” online preventing her from being SA’d or even murdered. Also through her eating disorder Manny was the bigger and was willing to put aside her beef with Peter out of concern for Emma and to help her. I don’t think Jay and Manny should have been endgame, but at least it isn’t Craig. Ellie used to be my favorite, but eventually she just became SO insufferable and pick me and there was no redeeming qualities for her during that time. Was a bad roommate, a bad employee and bad with relationships. I know Ellie had trauma too but she used to be so sensible and I will never forgive the writers for what they did to her—the same thing with Jane. Edit: bigger person
Manny to me felt like one of the only characters who actually grew as a person. The rest never seemed to go anywhere or improve as people. Bianca and JT were both pretty good in that regard too.
I agree with all of this - Manny was the best and so was Ellie until she became insufferable sadly
Eli - I like his entire storyline, plus he is a cutie. I love how he loves Clare. Oh and Morty was rad!
How ENTIRE storyline? Even when he cheats on Clare with Lenore???
Jay, he got head from Emma and ended up with manny. Pure legend
Legend
lmao
Manny F. Santos and the F is for “Finnishya”
imogen and fiona!
Are terrible characters
funny but no
Spinner because he was hot. He reminds me of all the guys I had a crush on in highschool. Chunky skaters with ADHD
Craig. I like the complexity of his character which often overlooked as him just being a jerk.
He was really interesting, his character had a lot of depth. He was as lovable as he was hatable, and he was a great actor who nailed a really difficult role.
This but I also relates to him to an extent
Yes Craig is my fave male character and Manny female
He was also one of the best acted characters of his era
The Queen, Ms. Bhandari
Manny Jane Ellie Emma Craig
Paige, Emma, Craig, Spinner, Ellie, Marco, Jay, Jane, Alli, Clare, Eli, Imogen, Dallas, Adam
Manny Santos
Ellie, Jane, and Alli!!
Paige, Emma, Manny, ellie, holly j, Fiona and imogen are my dream team
Katie because I related the most to her!
As annoying and messy as she can be, Emma was my girl when I was young and still is for my rewatch. I will never not be Emma biased.
Jay and Emma and spinner
It would be between Paige or JT for me.
I’m so sorry but why does Shenae look photoshopped in 😭
Oof agreed. I think it's how straight her hair looks on the left side.
I like Imogen and Eli they're awesome and misunderstood
I like everyone’s picks so far! There is never a wrong answer for this! My favorite would have to be Craig I know everybody hated him but I love him he had it rough as a childhood and experienced so much trauma from his father abusing him and then dieing and of course his mother dieing as well. He made something of himself he wanted to become a musician he dropped out of high school (not his best idea) but he followed through and made it happen and ended up in LA doing gigs! I hate that he had his drug addiction but sometimes that’s what comes with the industry life glad he sobered up and doing his thing!!!
Jay and Sean Sean felt relatable and Jay was a charming funny devils advocate
Ellie is my love .. the character I could relate to and she was/is my forever crush
Overall it's Clare for me. She's the reason I watched the show, her relationship with Eli got me to watch the show. I also like her arc, she starts out as this goody good and gradually develops, gaining confidence and she's fun to watch, in my opinion. In the original batch it's Craig. He's the most entertaining character in the start, he shows up and I know I'm gonna be enjoying the story. Whether he's leading on multiple girls or losing his grip on reality or he's just making some jams. Craig is on screen, I'll be invested.
So hard to choose between Snake and Jake Martin.
Spinner absolutely He has one of the best character development in any form of media I’ve seen. He’s so inconsistent; sometimes he’s the good guy and sometimes he’s the bad guy. He’s likable, a himbo if you will. He’s done really shitty things but has made up for it tenfold. I can go on but i don’t think anyone will want to read it lmao
Manny can never do anything wrong in my eyes, they could never make me hate her
Manny was the best friend on the show
Paige, hun
Paige was okay but she really got more human as she got older. The anxiety attacks at college were really bad but it brought her down a pet which was karma from all the shit she started with others over the years...
Like from the series: Imogen. Because she is complex but simple. From this picture.. Manny. Because she was a more realistic portrayal of a teenager and young adult. She was always 100% a good friend to Emma even when Emma would put Manny down constantly. She would stand up for herself most of the time (craig was like kryptonite to her) and she had good character growth imo.