Monk (TV series)

Characters

Main characters

• Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) The protagonist of the series. A former homicide detective whose obsessive compulsive disorder interfered with his job, resulting in a still current suspension. He is still mourning the loss of his wife Trudy who was murdered in 1997. He was never able to fully solve the case.
• Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram) Adrian's personal nurse and assistant. Hired by Stottlemeyer, she helped Adrian get back on his feet, and out of his house, during his 3 1/2 year slump.
• Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard) Adrian's new assistant after Sharona left.
• Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) Police Captain and Adrian's former watch commander. Although he is a decorated and respected, he knows that he will never be as great as Adrian at solving difficult crimes.
• Lieutenant Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) Less than brilliant yet loyal assistant to Stottlemeyer.
• Trudy Monk (Stellina Rusich seasons one and two, Melora Hardin seasons three and four, Hannah Contrucci as little Trudy during fourth season) The late wife of Adrian. Often mentioned and sometimes portrayed, her death caused Adrian's disorder and fears to get out of control. Clues about her death are gradually given throughout the series.
• Dr. Charles Kroger (Stanley Kamel) Adrian's kind and sympathetic psychiatrist.

Secondary characters

• Benjy Fleming (Kane Ritchotte during pilot episode and second and third seasons, Max Morrow during first season.) Sharona's son. Often uses Adrian and his skills as a "toy."
• Julie Teeger (Emmy Clarke) Natalie's daughter. She shares many of her mother's irritations with Adrian.
• Ambrose Monk (John Turturro) Brother of Adrian. He possesses deductive powers exceeding even those of his younger brother, but suffers from agoraphobia. He has appeared in two episodes and has a romantic interest in Natalie. He blames himself for Trudy's death because she was buying him cough medicine when her car was blown up.
• Dale the Whale (Adam Arkin, Tim Curry) The series' most significant criminal, after the Six-Fingered Man. He appears in two episodes, and gives Adrian the name of the man who built the bomb which killed Trudy. Dale had been engaged in a year long legal battle with Trudy within three years of her death because she called him "The Genghis Khan of finance." Dale the Whale is called such because he is very, very heavy (around 800-900 lbs.) and cannot leave his bed. Strongly hated by Monk.
• Six-Fingered Man The mysterious man who hired Warrick Tennyson to build a bomb to kill Trudy. All that is known about him for sure is that has six digits on his right hand, met Tennyson in a parking garage, and had a reason to kill Trudy.
• Warrick Tennyson (Frank Collison) He was hired by the Six-Fingered Man to manufacture the car bomb which killed Trudy. Adrian goes to New York City to find him after receiving a tip from Dale the Whale. Tennyson was unable to identify the Six-Fingered Man, and died of heart disease and liver failure shortly after being found by Adrian.