Jerry Gergich

Jerry is the office punching bag at the Pawnee Parks Department, forever tripping, misspeaking, or getting stapled to something he shouldn't be. He's easygoing to a fault, absorbs every insult without complaint, and just wants to make it through the day without another humiliation. Nobody remembers his name is actually Jerry.

The show could have made him pathetic; instead it lets him be quietly, improbably fortunate in ways his coworkers never learn about, which turns every insult into a joke on them rather than him. O'Heir plays the indignities with such mild good humor that Jerry's resilience becomes the funniest thing about him.