Grey’s Anatomy started in 2005. It dives into lives of surgical residents and doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Created by Shonda Rhimes, it tackles relationships, ethics and social justice. Critics love it. It has racked up awards and Emmy nominations. Who knew saving lives could be so dramatic?

Meet the female characters from Grey’s Anatomy

Miranda Bailey

Miranda is that iron-willed force of nature who runs the hospital like it’s her living room and also like a boot camp, which is terrifying and kind of comforting? She’s blunt, rules-first, and will absolutely chew you out — then quietly make sure you’re eating and sleeping, because she actually cares, even if she pretends not to. There’s this weird combo of terrifying authority and exhausted mom energy (she has snacks stashed in her desk and will judge your handwriting). Also, despite being all business, she’ll do the tiniest, most unexpected acts of softness that make you cry — yes, really.

Lexie Grey

Lexie is the sweet, brainy one with a weirdly encyclopedic memory (Lexipedia, forever) and an awkwardly charming way of existing in the world — like, she could name every anatomical artery and also cry at a rom-com. She’s earnest, creative, and honestly a bit clumsy in the best way, the person who pins up anatomy sketches and tiny Post-its everywhere. Quiet but not meek; she’ll speak her mind in a soft voice that somehow lands harder than a shout. Oh and she collects little trinkets that don’t make sense together — which, yes, is adorable.

Jo Wilson

Jo is that tight-jawed, fierce survivor who keeps people at arm’s length until you earn a sarcastic grin and then you’ve got her for life — sometimes she’s closed-off, sometimes she’ll drop an absurdly specific life story at 2 a.m. She’s practical, no-nonsense, and has a suitcase full of trauma and weird resilience that she hides behind jokes and low-key thrift-shop chic. Kind of guarded but also unexpectedly sentimental (she’ll bake cookies and then act like that’s not emotional labor). Also, don’t be fooled — she’s tender where it matters and will defend you like a feral guard dog.

Meredith Grey

Meredith is complicated in the best, messiest way — broody intellectual narrator energy, like she’s always both inside her head and narrating someone else’s pain. She’s brilliant, stubborn, and somehow magnetically attractive to chaos; melancholy is her aesthetic but she’s also fiercely loyal and terrifyingly competent. There’s a black humor undercurrent — she says the dry things that make you laugh and then won’t explain why she’s crying. Also, she hoards sweaters and metaphors and has the most inconsistent sleep schedule imaginable.

Arizona Robbins

Arizona is sunshine in scrubs, pediatric-whiz and optimist to the point of being contagious, with this amazing ability to make kids feel brave by doing ridiculous little dances. She’s endlessly cheerful, compassionate, and competent — a cheerful force field who still manages to be heartbreakingly brave when things go sideways. She also has a goofy side (miniature unicorn band-aids? probably) and a stubborn streak that shows up when someone she loves is in danger. Sometimes overly hopeful, sometimes quietly fierce — basically the friend you want when you’re nine or thirty-nine.

April Kepner

April is earnest, anxious, and stubborn in the most tragic-heroine way, like she apologizes for storms while also standing in them with a first-aid kit. She’s deeply moral, sometimes a little melodramatic, and insanely brave when it counts — also prone to unexpected bursts of poetry or scripture that make everyone uncomfortable in a good way. She oscillates between awkwardly adorable and fiercely competent, and she hoards bandage wrappers for reasons only she understands. Also, she’ll insist on wearing sensible shoes and somehow make them feel like a character choice.

Callie Torres

Callie is bold, witty, and unapologetically herself — an ace surgeon with a taste for loud shoes, loud opinions, and giant life decisions made with equal parts logic and instinct. She’s flirty, passionate, and surprisingly tender underneath the sarcasm; architect of complicated relationships and oddly fond of cars and paint swatches. There’s a streak of bravado that sometimes masks a softer, uncertain spot (which she’ll deny and then prove wrong by doing something wildly romantic). Also she’ll make you feel like an adventure whether you want one or not.

Cristina Yang

Cristina is single-minded ambition with a side of blunt, surgical poetry — she treats the OR like a temple and feelings like non-essential tissue. Cold? Sometimes. Loyal? Obsessed, if you’ve earned her. She’s brilliant, ruthless, and has this tiny, secret capacity for fierce protectiveness that sneaks up on you, like a bandaged heart in a glove compartment. Also she claims not to care about accolades and then definitely logs them in a private notebook with the date and a tiny, smug checkmark.

Addison Montgomery

Addison is polished, glamorous, and quietly ferocious — a neonatal and fertility pro who enters a room like she’s arriving on a runway but also can perform a life-saving maneuver in five seconds flat. She’s sophisticated, emotionally complicated, and tends to wear her confidence as armor, which sometimes slips to reveal real, surprising warmth. She’s equal parts cynic and nurturer — will deliver tough love and then bring you herbal tea with a sigh. Also yes, she probably carries a lipstick and a medical journal in the same bag and looks flawless doing it.