List of Outrageous Fortune characters

The following is a list of characters in the New Zealand drama comedy series Outrageous Fortune. The show created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang stars an ensemble cast centered on the west Auckland family, The Wests, headed by Cheryl West.

Main characters

Character	Actor	Seasons	Notes
Cheryl West	Robyn Malcolm	1–6	When the show begins, Cheryl is married to Wolfgang, and in her early or mid forties. She is the mother of Van, Jethro, Pascalle and Loretta, and later becomes the grandmother and adoptive guardian of Jane. After Wolf is sent to prison early in season 1, Cheryl decides that she and the rest of the family will 'go straight'. After several short term stints working for other people, she and her friend Casey start the Hoochie Mama lingerie firm. Cheryl runs the business until season 5, when she hands it over to Jethro. During season 1 she enters into a relationship with Wayne Judd, who at that time is a police detective. The relationship is initially secret, but Cheryl later leaves Wolf for Judd. She falls pregnant with Judd's child in season 4, but the baby is stillborn. At the end of season 5, Cheryl accidentally stabs Gerard with a broken bottle as he arrests Pascalle. Gerard dies from his injuries and Cheryl is charged with murder and jailed. While she is in prison, Judd breaks up with her because he has fallen in love with Pascalle. In the second to last episode, Cheryl walks free after the police drop the murder charges, due to Gerard's dodgy past.
Van West	Antony Starr	1–6	Van is the twin brother of Jethro, and is approximately 20 when the show begins. He is of below-average intelligence, which his family attribute to his being trapped in a freezer during a childhood game of hide and seek. Despite his simple ways, Van is shown to be very caring and fiercely loyal to those whom he loves. He is best friends with Munter, and the two start Tool Guys, a handyman business, together. He is also Van's best man at his wedding to Casey. In season 1 Van gets engaged to Draska, but she changes her mind and runs away from the wedding. In season 2 he reunites with his childhood sweetheart Aurora Bay and they become engaged, but she is then killed in a motorbike accident. Van becomes extremely depressed and gets back together with Draska, who fakes a pregnancy in order to keep him. He later dates his father's ex-girlfriend Sheree Greegan, until she attempts to kill him by staging a house fire, and leaves the country. He believes himself to be the father of her twins. In season 6 he falls in love, and in the finale marries, Elena, a Russian girl he met while doing a course at Unitec.
Jethro West		1–6	Jethro is the twin brother of Van, and is approximately 20 at when the show begins. Unlike his twin, he is highly intelligent and also very unscrupulous. In the first episode he graduates from law school, and he works as a lawyer for several seasons, first for a large firm and then on his own. Subsequently he embarks on various entrepreneurial schemes, often of dubious morality and legality. These include legal party pills, property development, and Hoochie Mama, the lingerie firm originally owned by his mother. He has had a series of one-night stands and relationships, several of them with women who his brother has also been involved with. He is probably also the biological father of Sheree's twins. Early in the show, Cheryl is particularly proud of Jethro as she believes he has rejected his father's criminal ways. However it is revealed that in fact Jethro has only become a lawyer in order to be a more effective criminal.
Pascalle West	Siobhan Marshall	1–6	Pascalle is Cheryl and Wolf's oldest daughter. Pascalle is in her late teens when the show begins. In season 1 her ambition is to become a model like her hero Rachel Hunter. She manages to get some modelling work and also a degree of fame after having an affair with a local celebrity. In season 2 she is sentenced to community service at a retirement home after being caught shoplifting. The experience of looking after the elderly makes her less shallow and gives her a positive new age philosophy. While at the retirement home, she meets and becomes engaged to Dr Bruce Khan. She tells him she is a virgin, when in fact she has been quite promiscuous. She agrees to star in a pornographic movie directed by Loretta in order to raise money to have hymen restoration surgery. However Bruce sees the movie (which has been edited to be more graphic than Pascalle wanted) and dumps her. She then makes a series of internet videos about positive thinking, which are seen by American millionaire Milt Delaney, who she marries. Early in season 4 Milt has a heart attack and dies, making Pascalle a rich widow. She uses the money to start up a company selling 'the best bag ever'. The money attracts Loretta's boyfriend Nicky Greegan, who dumps Loretta for Pascalle. They become engaged, but Pascalle dumps Nicky after his sister Sheree defrauds Pascalle's company, putting her out of business. Pascalle becomes involved with Nicky's nemesis, Detective Inspector Zane Gerard. After Nicky confesses to bank robbery in order to free Ted, Pascalle takes him back. Gerard begins harassing Pascalle and her family. At the end of season 5, this culminates in a raid on the West house in which Cheryl stabs Gerard and Gerard shoots Pascalle. Nicky escapes from prison and tries to persuade Pascalle to elope with him, but after an armed stand-off she refuses. Later in season 6 she falls in love with Judd and the two start an affair. At the end of the final season she leaves to be with him.
Loretta West	Antonia Prebble	1–6	Loretta, born in 1991, is the youngest daughter of Cheryl and Wolf. She is very cynical and has no obvious moral compass until the final season. Her lack of morality is shown in acts such as allowing her best friend to be arrested for DVD piracy which she had in fact committed (against his protests), and her attempts to sell her daughter Jane. Jane was the result of an accidental pregnancy which Loretta was unaware of until it was too late for her to have an abortion. Cheryl adopted Jane after foiling Loretta's attempts to sell her, but Loretta and Jane's father Hayden subsequently took on shared parenting. While Cheryl was in prison in season 6, Loretta and Hayden were Jane's primary caregivers, and the experience of motherhood seems to have softened and humanised Loretta, making her generally more considerate of others. Loretta owns or runs a string of small businesses over the course of the show, including a video store, a cleaning company, the Tool Guys, a legal party pill business, and a brothel. Towards the end of the series it is suggested that she has become like Cheryl.
Ted West	Frank Whitten	1–6	At the start of the show Ted is apparently Wolf's elderly father, but in season 3 it is revealed that Wolf's mother Rita had cheated on him and Wolf might not be his son. Ted continues to live with the Wests after the relevation, and even after Wolf disappears from the picture, partly because Ted owns the house they all live in. Ted is a skilled safe cracker, and although mostly retired he still occasionally does 'jobs' for friends and family. Although he is a career criminal, Ted has a very strict moral code, which puts loyalty to family and friends above everything else, and forbids informing on anyone or pleading guilty to anything. He initially hated Judd, partly because Judd was a police officer but also because of Judd's involvement with Cheryl and Wolf's marriage breakup. However, when Wolf found a new partner Ted felt Wolf had betrayed the family and subsequently bonded with Judd, with Ted worked for Judd's security firm. When Judd fell in love with Pascalle Ted began hating him again. In the first two seasons it was believed that Ted had Alzheimer's disease, but this was then revealed to be a brain tumor, which is surgically removed. In season 4 Ted marries Ngaire Munroe, the widow of one of Ted's old criminal associates.
Wayne Judd	Kirk Torrance	1–6	Judd was initially a Detective Sergeant in the police force and primary antagonist of the show, who regularly investigated crimes in which the West family were suspected of involvement. He is in his forties. He fell in love with Cheryl in season 1, and ended up leaving the police force due to that. By season 3 they were partners. After leaving the police he worked as a private investigator in his own firm. Cheryl gave birth to his baby in season 5, only to have it die at birth. This and Cheryl's imprisonment in season 6 caused their relationship to suffer, and Judd fell in love with Pascalle. In the series finale, they leave to be together for good.
Wolfgang "Wolf" West	Grant Bowler	1–5	Wolf is a career criminal in his forties, and is married to Cheryl when the show begins. Wolf has four children with her: Jethro, Van, Pascalle, and Loretta. He also has an illegitimate teenage son, whom Pascalle slept with during her promiscuous years, and a deceased infant daughter with Cheryl. At the start of season 1 he is sentenced to prison for four years, provoking Cheryl into trying to turn the family away from crime. In season 2 he is released on home detention after Jethro finds evidence that Judd had planted some evidence. Wolf walked out on his family halfway through season two due to Cheryl's affair with Judd, plus the fallout from the robbery of some motorbike gangs, but ended up coming back at the end of season three. At the end of season three and during season four he had a relationship with Sheree Greegan, but at the end of season 4 he dumps her to go back to Cheryl, who rejects him. He leaves the country and in season 6 is revealed to be in Australia with his brother, Gary Savage. Throughout the show he opposes Cheryl's plan for the family to 'go straight' and repeatedly tries to get his sons (but not his daughters) involved in his criminal enterprises. All the West children look up to Wolf to some extent, although less so as the show progresses.
Jared "Munter" Mason	Tammy Davis	1–6	Van West's best friend, and the husband of Kasey. Munter has been considered as part of the West family since primary school. Most of the West children refer to him as their half-brother, while Cheryl considers him as one of her children. He is a Tool Guy with Van, and helped him to start up the business. He was thought to be infertile for a short period, but Kasey since became pregnant and gave birth to their son, Hemi, in season 6.

Recurring characters

Character	Actor	Seasons	Notes
Angel	Hori Ahipene	5–6	Angel is a transgender sex worker, formerly known as Garth Loader. Several years before the time of the show, Garth married Sheree Gregan and faked his own death in order to get a life insurance payout. He then moved to Australia and became Angel. She first appears on the show in season 5, working for Nicky Gregan's escort agency. After Nicky is imprisoned she begins working for Loretta and Hayden. She also shares a house with Van for a while and has some kind of relationship (probably paying) with Eric.
Aurora Bay	Claire Chitham	2–3	Aurora was Van's high-school sweetheart, but she disappeared from his life after Jethro pretended to be Van in order to sleep with her. In season 2 she reappears as the girlfriend of a gang member. Van rescues her and the two become engaged, but she is tragically killed in a motorbike accident before their wedding.
Caroline Darling	Katrina Browne	1–2	Caroline is a teacher at Shadbolt High School, where she had a relationship with Jethro while he was still her student. Loretta found out about this and blackmailed her into allowing her to wag/not attend school. Caroline and Jethro's relationship continued into season 2.
Draska Doslic	Aidee Walker	1–3, 6	In season 1 Draska was Pascalle's best friend, and becomes Van's fiancee. In the season 1 finale, she changes her mind about the marriage and runs off, partly because Loretta bribes her to leave. After Aurora's death, Draska returns and she and Van get back together. She fakes a pregnancy in order to keep him, but Cheryl and Munter expose her. She reappears in season 6 as one of Cheryl's fellow inmates. The two initially come into conflict but then become cellmates and friends.
Lloyd Draper	Scott Harding	2–6	Lloyd originally appeared as a bank manager who tried and failed to lend money to various members of the West family. He later became a marriage celebrant and officiated most of the show's weddings. In season 4 he began a relationship with Rochelle, and also left his bank after it was robbed by Loretta and Nicky. He then started a microgreens company funded by a loan from Pascalle.
Eric	Brian Sergent	1–2, 5–6	Eric is a long-time friend of the West family and one of Wolf's partners in crime. He is extremely sleazy and persistently attempts to sleep with Cheryl. He disappeared into hiding after season two, due to Monica Judd lying to him that she had told everyone he was a nark. He returned in season 5, and revealed that he had been hiding in Palmerston North, until he had come across Monica again there, who told him the truth to get back at Wayne and the Wests. In season 6 he becomes Van's flatmate.
Falani	David Fane	1–6	Falani is a Samoan friend of the Wests and one of Wolf's partners in crime, with his speciality being the fencing of stolen goods. He lives in fear of his never-seen wife, known only as 'Mrs Falani'.
DS Zane Gerard	Charles Mesure	5	Gerard is a police detective with an unexplained vendetta against Nicky Greegan. In season 5 he harasses Van and Munter in order to turn Van into an informant on Nicky, even though Van doesn't know anything. He enters into a relationship with Pascalle, who then dumps him to go back to Nicky. In revenge, Gerard stages a raid on the West house and begins to drag Pascalle away. In the season cliffhanger ending, Cheryl accidentally stabs him with a broken bottle and he fires his gun at her, hitting Pascalle. At the start of season 6 he dies from his injuries and Cheryl is charged with murder. During the season information emerges that Gerard had a history of harassing women and using his police powers inappropriately. In order to avoid this being revealed, the police agree to drop the charges against Cheryl.
Barry "Sparky" Gibbs	John Leigh	1–6	Electrician, pyromaniac and associate of the West family, who sporadically turns up - usually to cause trouble. He is an old friend of Wolf's, and trusts him implicitly. In season 5 he is sent to prison for kidnapping, eventually breaking out. In season 6 he returns as a "reformed" parking warden forced to join Ted's "crew".
The Gooch	Karl Willetts	3–6	Aaron Spiller's best mate, a fellow Tool Guy and the only one with any actual competence in the job.
Graham	Nick Kemplen	2–5	First appears as 'Ranger Graham' in the Christmas tele-movie. He looks after the Tutaekuri Bay camping area that the Wests stay at each summer and is in constant conflict with them. Loretta develops a crush on him and they have a fling. He reappears in season 5 and he and Loretta have a short-term relationship before she breaks up with him.
Nicky Greegan	Craig Hall	4–6	Nicky is Sheree's extremely close younger brother. He was a partner in crime with Wolf, before getting involved with Loretta. The two stage a bank robbery, framing Wolf. With Sheree's encouragement, he then dumps Loretta for Pascalle, because Pascalle is rich and also a nicer person. Pascalle's family tries to break them up, but the two become engaged at the end of season 4. To Sheree's horror, Nicky has fallen in love with Pascalle and is not just after her money. In season 5, Nicky organises a robbery which results in Ted getting arrested. Pascalle finds out and dumps him for Gerard, but after Nicky turns himself in in exchange for Ted's release, she takes him back. In season 6 he escapes and tries to persuade Pascalle to go on the run with her. She nearly does so, but then backs out when she finds out that Sheree is involved. Nicky flees and is probably in South-East Asia with Sheree.
Sheree Greegan	Tyler-Jane Mitchel	3–6	First seen at the end of season three, debuting as Wolf's girlfriend. However, after many accounts of flirting and attempts of seduction, she and Van got together after Wolf dumped her. She became pregnant with Jethro's twins, and ended up living at the West's. Left town after stealing Pascalle's money, and sold the twins shortly after their birth. In season 6 she returns when her brother Nicky is about to flee the country to Thailand with his fiancé, Pascalle.
Dane Harris	Barnie Duncan	4–5	Went to school with Van and Munter. Dated Kasey in season four while Kasey and Munter were not dating one another anymore. Currently in prison due to amateur robberies of dairies with a scraper. Was Ted's cellmate for a brief period of time.
Glen Hickey	Rohan Glynn	1–3	A detective who was obsessed with, and could not stop stalking Pascalle.
Mr. Hong	Trevor Sai Louie	1–3	Van's employer, after Van robbed his house.
Tracy Hong	Michelle Ang	1–2	Love interest for both Van and Jethro West, and daughter of Mr. Hong. Bought into Hoochie Mama, then left town after seeing her boyfriend Jethro hit his mother Cheryl.
Suzy Hong	Josephine Davison	1–2	One of Van West's many lovers, she has an affair him while he is working for her husband. Van fathers their daughter, Jasmine, though Mr Hong believes the baby to be his own.
Deleesha Judd	Dominique Crawford	5	Deleesha is Judd's half sister, who lived with the Wests for a short period of time. She's in a relationship with Isaac Anesi.
Monica Judd	Kate Louise Elliott	1–4	Wayne's ex-wife. A detective who hates the West family, due to Wayne's involvement with Cheryl. Moves down to Palmerston North.
Nadine Kronk	Sarah Walden	5	Appeared in the early episodes of season five. Was previously Jethro's best friend at Shadbolt High School. Started the party pill business with Jethro, Loretta and Hayden. Goes into rehab.
Kasey Mason	Nicole Whippy	1–6	One of the original owners of the lingerie business, Hoochie Mama, and the wife of Munter. She briefly dated Dane Harris after Munter and her separated, because they cheated on one another. However they are now back together and Kasey is expecting their first child together, even though Munter was previously thought to be infertile. Had a lesbian affair with an Inland Revenue inspector to try to keep her off Hoochie's case, after they staged a number of invisible parties to launder money through the business. In season 6 she and Munter welcomed a son, Hemi. She currently works for Hoochie Mama again and their new debt collecting company "Booty Call".
Ngaire Munroe-West	Elizabeth Hawthorne	3–6	First appeared in season three, as an old associate of Ted's. There was no love lost between them at that point, but in season 4 she reappears in Ted's life and the two fell in love, ending up getting married in the finale.
Hayden Peters	Shane Cortese	2–6	Hayden previously dated Pascalle for a short period, before moving on to Loretta. The relationship with Loretta ended over the pornography movie they made together and Hayden moved to Australia, after she burned down his house. He returned towards the end of Season four to start being a father figure to his daughter Jane, whom Loretta gave birth to in the season three finale. He is in the party pill business with Jethro, and marries Loretta in the season five finale, supposedly so that they could fairly fight for shared custody of their daughter Jane. In season 6 he reveals that he is broke He starts up a business with Ted and Ngaire and then begins working with Loretta to run her prostitutes at a brothel named Loretta's.
Gary Savage	Aaron Jeffery	3	Wolf's half-brother, from an affair his mother, Rita had with a young neighbour, Vern Gardiner, while Ted was in prison for a botched robbery of department store, Smith & Caughey's. He is a businessman and property developer who employed Jethro as his lawyer. Current whereabouts unknown, but is possibly in Asia or Australia. He offered Wolf a business contract for earth moving in diggers.
Aaron Spiller	Wesley Dowdell	3–6	Aaron went to school with Van, Jethro and Munter. He desperately wants to be Van's mate, and was hired by Loretta to be a Tool Guy with Van and Munter. Has an unhealthy obsession with Pascalle, and in season five tries his hardest to protect her from the cops. In season 6 he takes a bullet in the ass to protect Pascalle from Sheree.
Rochelle Stephens	Roz Turnbull	1–6	Rochelle is Cheryl and Kasey's best friend, and has 2 children with Lloyd.
Bilkey van der Heever	Jon Brazier	4–5	Old friend of Ted's. Was in the crime business back in the day, and is openly homosexual.
Jane West	Stella King	4–6	Jane is Loretta's baby daughter with Hayden, who was adopted by Cheryl when Loretta chose not to look after her.
Bailey Wilson	Sophie Henderson	6	Van's lawyer. She managed to get Munter, Pascalle, Falani, Ngari, Ted and Eric off their charges from the season 5 finale. She had a brief fling with Van but he could not handle sharing Bailey with Jethro. She is dating Jethro. Bailey got Cheryl off on her murder charge in the second to last episode ever.