Gilmore Girls: The 20 Best Characters Of All Time, Ranked!

Twenty years ago, The WB made its first trip to Stars Hollow, Conn., and we became hooked on Gilmore Girls like Lorelai on a good cup of coffee.

The dramedy, which centered on the close relationship between single mom Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory, aired its very first episode on Oct. 5, 2000; it ultimately ran for seven seasons (the last of which aired on The CW), then got a four-part Netflix revival, titled A Year in the Life, in 2016.

In honor of Gilmore Girls' 20th anniversary, we've ranked the show's 20 best characters. Of course, there wasn't room for every Stars Hollow denizen or Yale University student; for this ranking, we stuck to series regulars and recurring characters who made a memorable impact during the show's run. (No disrespect meant to town mechanic Gypsy, inseparable Chilton duo Madeline and Louise, or Yale Daily News editor Doyle, among other omitted characters.)

Note: We ranked the Top 20 based on how interesting and dynamic the characters were, not on their likability or (we're looking at you, Kirk) moral superiority.

Scroll through the list below to see our ranking of Gilmore Girls' 20 best characters, then hit the comments with your own!

While Logan Huntzberger eventually became a Serious Adult in Gilmore's last few seasons, his main Life and Death Brigade pals — Colin, Finn and Robert — never really gave up their hard-partying ways. But as much as we enjoyed their banter and affection for Rory, the Life and Death Brigade's condescension and frivolous spending grew tiresome as the series wore on. Plus, their appearance in the Netflix revival only highlighted the trio's immaturity; would it have killed them to pick up all that cash on the floor of Doose's?

We'd never dream of splitting up these Stars Hollow staples, who were as inseparable as Pierpont and Babette's garden. Just make sure to keep your personal secrets far, far away from these well-meaning — but nosey! — gals.

We'd probably be less fond of Taylor if we actually had to live under his persnickety thumb. (Enforcing an ideal grass height for front lawns is a bit much, after all.) But without Stars Hollow's staple selectman and market owner, the town just wouldn't be the same — and who else could raise Luke's blood pressure quite that high?

For most of Gilmore's seven seasons, Jackson was a near-flawless husband to Sookie — and one heck of a produce supplier, too. (Do you know anyone that would willingly sleep in a zucchini patch, hmm?) In fact, we would have been fine with a flawed Jackson... if only those flaws didn't take the form of Jackson lying to Sookie about having a vasectomy, then getting her pregnant with a third child she hadn't planned. Not exactly the character development we were looking for.

We'll say it: Dean deserved better. As much as we longed for a Jess/Rory romance, Dean was owed a better sendoff than Rory endlessly flip-flopping between crushes for a season and a half. That said, even before Jess came into the picture, Dean was a bit too one-dimensional to have any real staying power... and we're not sure he and Rory actually had anything in common.

Just as the Life and Death Brigade is ranked as one trio, so are Lane's delightful Hep Alien bandmates: Gil, Brian and Lane's eventual husband, Zack. Hep Alien's road to (moderate) success was an odd one, sure; touring Seventh-day Adventist churches probably wasn't what the band had in mind when it formed. But ever since their first rehearsal in Sophie's music shop, Lane's bandmates were quirky, kind and endlessly supportive of one another.

No one did snark quite like the Dragonfly Inn's concierge did snark, eh? And lurking somewhere underneath that sarcasm and French accent was someone who genuinely cared about coworkers Lorelai and Sookie... but frankly, we didn't see enough of that Michel for our liking.

When Christopher and Lorelai were on, they were on; in fact, at their best, they had more effortless chemistry than Luke and Lorelai did. (Don't @ us, or whatever the kids say these days.) But Gilmore Girls never quite knew what to do with Christopher. Was he Lorelai's one true love, with whom she could simply never get the timing right? Was he a petty, vindictive ex who could so easily be manipulated by Lorelai's mother? Or was he a well-meaning partner to Lorelai who would, unfortunately, always pale in comparison to Luke? At different points in the show's run, he was all of these things — and as much as we enjoyed Christopher's occasional appearances in the early seasons, his inconsistent character development squashed his appeal by the end.

Lane's mom was so strict, she made Emily Gilmore look like... well, Lorelai Gilmore. But even though Mrs. Kim often took her household rules too far — kicking Lane out was harsh — she also let us glimpse the sadness behind her authority, revealing a woman who was simply trying her best to raise a daughter the only way she knew how. Also? Mrs. Kim may have had the best comedic timing on the show, and we don't talk about that enough.

Of Stars Hollow's many eccentric personalities, Kirk was easily the most fascinating. How did he hold so many jobs at once? What was his exact relationship with his mother? Had a cat ever hated their owner more than Kirk's cat despised him? The result was a genuinely hilarious character who was rightfully promoted to series regular... after starting out as Mick, the DSL installation guy, in an early Season 1 episode. Such growth!

The Logan vs. Jess debate might rage on for years to come — but regardless of who was the best partner for Rory, there's no denying Logan's impressive evolution during his three seasons on the show. After starting out as a supremely entitled brat in Season 5, Logan grew into a reliable, mature (and, yeah, still a little entitled) boyfriend for Rory, even after claiming that'd never be his style. And as we learned more about Logan's patronizing parents and their incredibly high expectations for him, the character became much more complex and sympathetic than we'd initially anticipated.

Patient, understanding and unwaveringly loyal, Lane was the ultimate friend to Rory... even when Rory didn't always return the favor. We only wish Gilmore Girls had stuck Lane's ending: After years of hiding her real interests under floorboards, then living out her rock-and-roll dreams as Hep Alien's drummer, it was a shame to watch Lane immediately get pregnant after marriage, then continue working at Kim's Antiques in the Netflix revival. (She's just one of many TV characters who deserved better.)

Sookie, admittedly, wasn't always an ideal business partner for Lorelai. (Remember that time she slept through a crucial sink delivery? Oof.) But despite her forgetfulness, and total misunderstanding of how to cook for a Lord of the Rings birthday party, Sookie remained one of the best friends a girl could ask for, and her wild-eyed intensity in the kitchen provided some of Gilmore Girls' most entertaining scenes.

Gilmore character arcs don't come more nuanced than Jess Mariano's, which transformed Luke's nephew from a surly teen to sensitive, supportive confidant by the time the show was over. We'll admit: We're not ready to give Jess the title of Rory's Best Boyfriend, seeing as their actual romance fell apart due to Jess' lack of communication and eventual decision to ditch her for California. But teen mistakes aside, Jess went on to fulfill his massive potential — not only as a writer, but as a nephew, son and friend.

If we were ranking Gilmore's characters based on their good deeds and kind hearts, Luke would unquestionably be No. 1. The birthday coffee cake! The chuppah! The ice rink! Despite his curmudgeonly exterior, Luke was a big softie, always showing up for the people he cared about most... even when that meant working a Renaissance fair for weeks on end. That said, we'll have to knock him down a few pegs for some truly bizarre choices. Bailing on his new romance with Lorelai — the woman whose horoscope he'd been holding for eight years — the moment things got tough? Mishandling the April situation at every turn? We'd never claim that Luke was perfect, but his rare mistakes were especially hard to forgive.

Jess Mariano was the Gilmore character initially eyed for a spinoff, but we'd have watched 10 seasons of a Paris-centric offshoot, too. Her verbal takedowns of both friends and enemies were legendary, her relationship with Doyle was one of the series' best, and her evolution from Rory's Chilton bully to Rory's best friend was completely captivating. Yes, the doe-eyed Rory needed a foil during those early seasons, and Paris was the perfect mean girl. But it was even more fun to watch as Paris examined her own anxiety and self-doubt, transforming along the way into a better (but no less intense!) person.

No one could pull off a bowtie better than Richard Gilmore — and no male character on the show was more fascinatingly layered than Richard, either. During the show's seven seasons, we did, unfortunately, see glimpses of the manipulative, cunning man that Lorelai believed her father to be, whether he was interfering in Lorelai's relationship with Luke or blindsiding Rory with a last-minute Yale admissions interview. But despite his flaws, Richard was also an extremely decent man; his love and generosity toward Rory were unparalleled, and his relationship with Lorelai improved when he wasn't afraid to let his guard down a bit. (We can only tolerate so much insurance talk, though. Nothing personal, Mr. Gilmore!)

For a girl who started out as a model student, friend and daughter, Rory has perhaps become the show's most polarizing character over the years — and for good reason! In one corner, there's the squeaky-clean Rory who studied obsessively, earned the nickname "Mary" at Chilton for her innocence and dressed up in a pilgrim outfit for countless Stars Hollow Thanksgivings. In the other, there's the Rory who strung along poor Dean for months when her crush on Jess began, had an ill-fated affair with Dean years later, then stole a yacht and dropped out of college the first time she got some harsh criticism. But we kinda love that Gilmore Girls brought messy, hotly debated complexity to its leading ladies — and though Rory's character development may have been surprising, it was certainly never boring.

Lorelai might not want to admit it, but her mother is just as compelling and magnetic as the rest of the Gilmore girls. Emily isn't perfect by any means; at many points in the show's run, she was just as calculating, difficult and unfair as Lorelai had advertised her to be. But as Emily spent more time in Lorelai's life, she showed us a woman who was all at once envious of her daughter, utterly confused by her, and far too proud to admit her own failings in their relationship. Emily's clashes with Lorelai (and, less frequently, Rory) provided some of Gilmore's most electric scenes — and Emily's slow but sure growth over the years made her one of the show's most well-rounded women.

It's hard to imagine anyone else topping this list than the woman who appears in the show's very first frame. Much like her daughter and her mother, Lorelai's imperfect, sometimes believing herself to be in the right when she's the one that owes an apology. (Luke didn't need to tell you he moved to Litchfield, girl!) But Lorelai's many facets only add to Gilmore Girls' appeal —  namely its ability to portray women who are intelligent, hard-working, funny, frustrating and occasionally selfish all at once. With or without caffeine in her system, Lorelai is a force to be reckoned with... but seriously, just give her the caffeine.