The Good Place is one of the smartest and funniest comedy shows out there. It features impressive world-building, an original premise, and stellar character development. While it’s genuinely hilarious, it’s got some real substance as well, with the show exploring what it truly means to be a good person. That season 4 will be the show’s final season is bittersweet news, with it being a shame that such an excellent show has to end so soon, while also knowing that at least the show will be able to end on its own terms and do its characters justice.
In order to celebrate and analyze their favorite characters, fans often like to sort them into the Hogwarts House they belong to from Harry Potter. While The Good Place is an entirely different universe, its characters can be sorted by the defining traits of each Hogwarts House. Gryffindor values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry; Slytherin values ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness; Hufflepuff values hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fairness; Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge, creativity, and wit.
Enjoy some perfectly mediocre frozen yogurt as we explore 10 The Good Place Characters Sorted Into Their Hogwarts Houses.
Jason Mendoza: Gryffindor
Jason may lack self-awareness and common sense, but he’s got no shortage of daring, bravery, and nerve. When Michael seemed to believe Jason was a Buddhist monk upholding his vow of silence, Jason had the guts to stick with the ruse for an impressive amount of time, and sent Eleanor the note about him knowing that she didn’t belong in the neighborhood either.
From marrying Janet to every time he lights a Molotov cocktail, Jason acts before thinking–sometimes he doesn’t think at all. He doesn’t let fear hold him back and confidently expresses himself, especially if it has to do with Blake Bortles, the Jacksonville Jaguars, or his 60-person dance crew. In his own way, Jason is also chivalrous, treating Janet and Tahani with kindness and making them happy.
Eleanor Shellstrop: Slytherin
Eleanor has always been ambitious, cunning, and resourceful like any true Slytherin. For most of her existence, she used these traits for selfish and petty reasons, but over the course of the show, she began using them for more noble pursuits. When she was alive, she did things like rig the system when getting drinks with her coworkers so she never had to be the designated driver, or profiting off her roommate Madison’s misfortune by selling humiliating T-shirts of her.
In the afterlife, she’s become a much better person and used her traits for good, like in season 1 when she was cunning enough to figure out that “the Good Place” was actually the Bad Place, and that Michael had been torturing her and her friends all along. Despite new tricks up Michael’s sleeve and having her memory wiped every time, she was resourceful and clever enough to figure out the truth again in most of his rebooted attempts at the experiment. Heading into season 4 she’s putting her ambition to good use as she takes charge of the neighborhood and the new experiment with Michael unable to do so.
Janet: Ravenclaw
Ravenclaws value knowledge and Janet is literally a vessel containing all the knowledge in the universe. While she can answer any factual question, one of her true passions is learning to understand humans. She’s genuinely fascinated by Jason and the other humans she encounters. Her growing understanding of the human condition and how she at times tries to emulate it when interacting with Eleanor, Jason, Chidi, and Tahani has been quite amusing and rewarding to watch.
Janet is quite witty and creative as well, often operating outside her inherent functions to grow beyond the purposes for which she was created. Instead of fearing these changes, she embraces them, often examining them with an almost academic perspective. The creativity is there as well, especially when opening up her void and everything that ensued in the season 3 episode “Janet(s)” as she thought outside the box to save her friends.
Chidi Anagonye: Hufflepuff
Chidi’s unparalleled knowledge of moral philosophy seems like prime Ravenclaw material, yet he’s really more of a Hufflepuff. The key thing is that while Chidi is brimming with knowledge, he struggles to apply that knowledge. Practically every decision–whether major or minor–is agonizing for him to make, unable to decide which piece of moral philosophy best applies to the situation. Ravenclaws also need to be creative, but Chidi struggles to generate original ideas and go beyond the familiar.
Hufflepuffs are loyal, and Chidi has proven countless times that he is loyal to Eleanor and his friends, doing everything he can to help them become better people. Doing so also illustrates a commitment to fairness–another crucial Hufflepuff trait–as he seeks to give them a fair chance at becoming the best version of themselves. As a teacher, a scholar, a friend, and in every role he takes on, Chidi is fully dedicated. These are the traits that ultimately define Chidi and make him a Hufflepuff.
Michael: Gryffindor
Michael’s whole arc began with wanting to find a new, daring way to torture people in the Bad Place. It required serious nerve for him to propose his plan to Shawn and the other demons, and even more nerve to actually carry it out. He stole Janet and took elaborate steps to torture the humans and fool them into believing they were in the Good Place. When his many reboots of the experiment weren’t working, he boldly chose to deceive Shawn, Vicky, and all the demons, and work with the humans he’d been torturing all along.
Even when he became a better version of himself, Michael was just as brave and daring as he’d always been. He chose to stay behind in the Bad Place so his human friends could reach the Judge. He continually sought ways to change and improve the rules of the afterlife, even sneaking onto Earth to get the humans on the right track, even though the Judge prohibited interference in the deal they’d made.
Tahani Al-Jamil: Slytherin
Pitted against her sister in every way from a young age, Tahani was groomed to be a Slytherin. She always needed to be the most fashionable, wealthy, and successful person in the room. Her ambition couldn’t be quenched as she always tried to outdo her sister and everyone she came across. Despite the massive amount of money she raised for charity, it came from a selfish place of wanting to be the best and to receive recognition for her generosity and successful fundraisers.
This desire persisted even after believing she’d ended up in the Good Place as she tried doing everything in her power to be the prominent socialite in the neighborhood and the one with the most points. Like the Slytherin character Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter, she also prides herself on being well-connected, name-dropping celebrities she knows at any chance she gets.
Simone Garnett: Ravenclaw
Added to the cast in season 3, Simone is all about intellectual pursuits. She genuinely enjoys her job at the university and is passionate about her neuroscience research. She loves applying the knowledge she has to her research, and the opportunity to push herself to learn more through such studies. This made her perfect to help Chidi, Eleanor, Jason, and Tahani with their study in season 3.
The season 3 finale revealed that Simone passed away and was one of the subjects chosen for the new experiment in the neighborhood. Despite knowing she was dead and in the afterlife, Simone was still focused on her brain’s scientific reaction to the experience, which is a uniquely Ravenclaw reaction to being in a such a situation.
Dave Katterttrune: Hufflepuff
Eleanor’s mother Donna Shellstrop made a new life for herself in which she dated Dave. He only appeared in a single episode in season 3, but it was enough to prove that Dave is a Hufflepuff. Dave is a sweet guy who stands by Donna and loves her fully. He knows about her shady past, yet he sees the good in her and is a completely loyal partner.
As a wealthy architect who enjoys fancy things, Dave works hard and earns what he has. Donna has come a long way from the terrible mother and human being she used to be and Dave is a big piece of that, patiently helping her be the best version of herself, while also embracing the “edge” she brings to their relationship. While fans may never see Dave or Donna again, it’s comforting to know that Eleanor’s mother is supported by such a true Hufflepuff.
Vicky: Slytherin
Michael needed many demons to pull off his neighborhood experiment, but none of them were as cunning, resourceful, and ambitious as Vicky. By mastering the role of “Real Eleanor” she was a linchpin in Michael’s plan. She made herself seem like an admirable and empathetic figure, making Eleanor feel even more guilty for taking Vicky’s spot in “the Good Place.” In this role Vicky was also adept at torturing Chidi as she pretended to be his soul mate, and made him feel guilty for being unable to reciprocate her love.
Vicky’s Slytherin nature stayed strong in season 2 as she blackmailed Michael into giving her control of the neighborhood and with how Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason would be tortured. She was ambitious enough to threaten telling Shawn about Michael’s countless reboots of the experiment unless he gave her control.
Mindy St. Claire: Ravenclaw
Ravenclaw might seem like a strange fit for the sole resident of the Medium Place, but out of all the Hogwarts Houses, it’s the one where Mindy belongs the most, especially when looking at the act that landed her in the Medium Place. Mindy was a cocaine-addicted corporate lawyer who like most people was destined for the Bad Place. That all changed the night before she died when she created a plan for what would become the largest relief charity in the world.
Being a successful corporate lawyer requires an impressive amount of knowledge and learning, both of which are taken to a whole new level with the organization Mindy drew up the plans for before her death. She demonstrated quite a bit of Ravenclaw creativity to create something that would help kids, advance human rights, revolutionize agriculture, and improve countless nations and societies.
