# Who is the best Dawson's Creek character?

> The Capeside teens get most of the screen time, but parents, older siblings and one-season flames earned their own loyal fans. Some here are easy to root for, and a couple are characters viewers loved to resent.

*By YPB Team · Published November 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-dawsons-creek-character*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Doug Witter** — score 1000/1000
   Pacey's older brother, a Capeside sheriff's deputy played by Dylan Neal, whose long-teased sexuality pays off with Jack in the 2003 finale.
2. **Evelyn "Grams" Ryan** — score 898/1000
   Mary Beth Peil's devout grandmother of Jen, a main character in all six seasons who also takes Jack into her home.
3. **Pacey Witter** — score 800/1000
   Joshua Jackson's wisecracking son of the town sheriff, whose season 3 romance with Joey started the Dawson–Joey–Pacey love triangle.
4. **Gretchen Witter** — score 762/1000
   Pacey's older sister, played by Sasha Alexander, who returns to Capeside in season 4 and dates Dawson.
5. **Professor David Wilder** — score 659/1000
   Ken Marino's Worthington literature professor who becomes the object of Joey's affections in season 5.
6. **Bodie Wells** — score 659/1000
   Bessie's boyfriend and the father of her son Alexander, a chef played by Obi Ndefo.
7. **Eddie Doling** — score 659/1000
   Oliver Hudson's working-class bartender and aspiring writer who falls for Joey in season 6.
8. **Abby Morgan** — score 659/1000
   Monica Keena's sharp-tongued, scheming classmate who dies after falling off a pier while drunk in season 2.
9. **Bessie Potter** — score 571/1000
   Joey's older sister, played by Nina Repeta, who raises her son Alexander and runs the Potter Bed and Breakfast.
10. **Jack McPhee** — score 571/1000
   Kerr Smith's character joined in season 2, came out as gay, and shared a kiss with Ethan in the 2000 season 3 finale, widely cited as the first romantic kiss between two men on US prime-time network TV.
11. **Dawson Leery** — score 467/1000
   The show's title character, an aspiring filmmaker from Capeside played by James Van Der Beek across all six seasons (1998–2003).
12. **Mitch Leery** — score 467/1000
   Dawson's father, played by John Wesley Shipp, who dies in a car accident in the season 5 episode "Capeside Revisited" (2001).
13. **Gail Leery** — score 467/1000
   Dawson's mother, a local TV news anchor played by Mary-Margaret Humes, whose affair with her co-anchor shook the Leery family in season 1.
14. **Charlie Todd** — score 467/1000
   Chad Michael Murray's Boston college charmer who dates Jen and pursues Joey in season 5.
15. **Jen Lindley** — score 343/1000
   Michelle Williams's New Yorker sent to live with her grandmother in Capeside in the pilot; she dies of a heart condition in the 2003 series finale.
16. **Henry Parker** — score 343/1000
   Michael Pitt's freshman football player who pursues and dates Jen in season 3.
17. **Audrey Liddell** — score 343/1000
   Busy Philipps's outspoken Californian who becomes Joey's roommate at Worthington University in season 5 and dates Pacey.
18. **Joey Potter** — score 0/1000
   Katie Holmes's tomboyish Capeside girl who rows over to Dawson's house, works at her sister's bed and breakfast and ends the 2003 finale with Pacey.
19. **Andie McPhee** — score 0/1000
   Meredith Monroe's driven overachiever and Jack's sister, who dates Pacey from season 2 and struggles with mental illness after her brother Tim's death before leaving early in season 4.
20. **Tamara Jacobs** — score 0/1000
   Pacey's English teacher, played by Leann Hunley, whose affair with the 15-year-old student was a major season 1 storyline.

Tags: 2000s, 90s, tv shows, characters, dawson's creek