List of One Tree Hill characters

One Tree Hill is an American television series created by Mark Schwahn for The WB in 2003. After Season 3, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which then became the broadcaster for the show in the United States. Schwahn served as executive producer while also writing and directing for the show, including the premieres and finales of all seasons.

The show began with nine main characters in its first season with the roles of Lucas Scott, Nathan Scott, Haley James, Peyton Sawyer, Brooke Davis, Dan Scott, Karen Roe, Keith Scott, and Whitey Durham. After that, characters from that first season left the show, with new main characters having been both written in and out of the series. Originally, it followed two half-brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott who started out as enemies but later formed a close bond as brothers. It also followed the brothers' various relationships with other female leads during their high-school years and in their early twenties. The series ultimately spanned nearly fifteen years across nine seasons, with various time jumps taken into account.

Chad Michael Murray was the first person to be cast for One Tree Hill. The producers were originally unsure as to who Murray would play. Series creator Mark Schwahn wanted him to play the character of Nathan Scott since Murray had played a bad guy several times before, he felt it was only natural to give him this role. Murray, however, wanted to portray Lucas due to a connection he felt with the character. He felt that he could inhabit the character as the two share several similarities. Murray's mother left him when he was young, and Lucas was abandoned by his father. Murray's passion for the role led the producers to cast him as Lucas. Murray had turned down the lead role of Ryan Atwood in The O.C. to accept the role of Lucas Scott. James Lafferty was later cast in the role of Nathan as he was a great basketball player.He left Peyton for Haley at one point to raise their son James.

Hilarie Burton auditioned for the part of Ed Harris's daughter in the film Radio. She was encouraged by subsequent callbacks but did not land the role. However, the casting department remembered her and asked her to send an audition tape for One Tree Hill, and producers promised her a character that she could sink her teeth into – Peyton. "[Burton] is an old soul," said Mark Schwahn, the series' creator. "She's great. She's always just thrilled to do the job, even though she's kind of new to acting. She's just a joy to be around." Burton said, "I've never studied acting or anything because I've been so lucky with MTV. I'm convinced I got the chance to be on One Tree Hill because I did a guest thing on Dawson's Creek as myself, when the cast appeared at the MTV Beach House." She added, "And my only scene was with Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott). So, now The Chad and I are reunited. How bizarre is that?"

The following is a list of series regulars from One Tree Hill.

Portrayed by Chad Michael Murray from Season 1 through 6, Lucas Eugene Scott is Haley's best friend and Nathan's half-brother. He was the heart of the show while in Tree Hill. He and Nathan started on bad terms but later become close brothers. He was a star on the high school basketball team, but had to quit after he found out he had a genetic heart problem, inherited from his father, seeing his dream of becoming a professional player vanish, but being able to focus on writing and his second dream: becoming an author. In high school, he was involved in a complicated love triangle with Brooke and Peyton, whom he eventually realized was the one for him all along (although he had actually loved her since childhood). About one year after graduation, Peyton temporarily turned down his marriage proposal because she thought it was too early, causing them to break up. Just over another year later, heartbroken and having lost every hope of getting back together with Peyton after a failed attempt to reconcile with her, he began dating his book editor Lindsey. Then, Peyton's return to Tree Hill made Lindsey realize that Lucas was still and would always be in love with her, no matter what, and that she was just a rebound, prompting her to leave him at the altar after Lucas had ended up proposing to her out of fear of being rejected again by Peyton. Lucas tried to move on, but soon realized that he couldn't keep running away from his true feelings and living miserable, so he finally made amends with Peyton and the two got back together. Then, they became engaged and she moved in with him, leading them to reach an adult and definitive stability, and, after some time, they got married and also had a daughter, whom they called Sawyer Brooke Scott. After her birth, the newborn family left Tree Hill for good. Lucas then returned in Season 9 to help Haley deal with Nathan's disappearance by taking care of his nephew and niece. Lucas is currently travelling with Peyton, Lily, Karen, and Andy while raising Sawyer and writing a new book.

Portrayed by James Lafferty since the pilot, Nathan Royal Scott was a basketball player for the Charlotte Bobcats, husband of Haley James Scott and father of James Lucas Scott and Lydia Bob Scott. He originally started out as a villain and enemy of his brother, Lucas. After falling for Lucas's best friend, Haley, he becomes a better person and later forms a strong bond with his brother. During the course of his life he has experienced many obstacles including spending time in a wheelchair following an accident after a fight; dealing with an overbearing father; an alcoholic-drug addict mother; and allegations he cheated on Haley. Nathan overcomes all of his problems throughout the series and vows to never raise his child the way Dan raised him. Nathan maintains a strong bond with his mother, who was at one point Jamie's nanny. Haley gives birth to Lydia Bob Scott. In Season 9, he is traveling a lot as an agent but when returning to Haley, Jamie and Lydia, he is taken by Eastern European mobsters, with the aid of corrupt policemen, for a failed signing in Europe. The gangsters plan to execute Nathan, but he is rescued by Chris Keller, Dan and Julian. Dan, however, is critically injured after taking a bullet meant for Nathan. At the hospital, Nathan tells Dan that despite everything he ever did, he is still his father, and he forgives him, with Dan dying shortly after. In the final episode time jump, Nathan is seen with everyone else at Jamie's basketball game who has since broken Nathan's record for all-time scorer.

Portrayed by Hilarie Burton from the pilot until the Season 6 finale, Peyton Elizabeth Scott, née Sawyer, was introduced in Season 1 as Nathan Scott's on-and-off girlfriend. She has a huge love for music and art, and frequently sketches certain events in her life, or feelings she cannot bring herself to tell anybody about. In Season 1, Peyton fell in love, reciprocated, with Lucas Scott (who actually loved her since childhood), but frequently tried to bury her feelings since in the meantime he started an on-again, off-again relationship with Brooke, her best friend since childhood, who came between her and Lucas before they had the actual chance to get together. After three seasons stuck in this complicated situation, Peyton eventually decided not to give up on her love for Lucas any more and finally declare her true feelings to him, prompting him to realize she was the one for him all along and ultimately choose her over Brooke in Season 4. Her adoptive mother died in a car accident when she was young, and her adoptive father works at sea, leaving Peyton on her own for most of the first four seasons. She met her birth mother, Ellie Harp, at the end of Season 2; however she died of cancer by the middle of Season 3. Peyton was often surrounded by terrible events: she was shot in the leg during the school shooting in Season 3 and lost a lot of blood, but was rescued by Lucas, and was brutally attacked twice by Ian Banks, who pretended to be her long-lost brother Derek. She was saved the first time by Lucas and her real brother, and the second time by Brooke. Peyton left for Los Angeles to work as an intern at a major record label at the end of Season 4 but did not enjoy herself or feel she was accomplishing anything, so she moved back to Tree Hill in the Season 5 premiere. After her return, Peyton decided to start her own record label, which she named “Red Bedroom Records”. Peyton eventually married Lucas and they had a daughter, Sawyer Brooke Scott, at the end of Season 6. Peyton and Lucas then left Tree Hill to raise Sawyer on the road, alongside Lucas's mother, Karen, her daughter Lily, and her boyfriend, Andy.