53 (age 15 in 1976, revealed in a deleted scene in Mash Off) 34 (supposedly)
Hair Color:
Blonde
Eye Color:
Blue
Birthday:
June 30, 1961/1980
Height:
6'0"
Weight:
161 lbs (73 kg)
Occupations:
Vice President of USA Former Yoga Instructor Former News Reporter Former Vocal Adrenaline Coach Former WMHS Principal Former Glee Club Co-Coach Former Cheerios Coach Former Aural Intensity Coach Former Booty Camp Director Former Diving Team Coach
Aliases:
Coach Sylvester, Miss Sylvester, Principal Sylvester (students) General Zod (League of Doom) Ajax, Mighty Greek Warrior Original Recipe Sue (herself, Choke)
Susan Rodham "Sue" Sylvester, Vice President of United States of America, is a major character on Glee. She is the former coach of the McKinley High school Cheerios cheerleading club and founder of the Muckrakers Club and League of Doom as well as the Old Maid's Club and formerly the principal of McKinley High School. Sue was at one point the coach of Aural Intensity, before their loss at Regionals in 2011. She also bullies kids on a daily basis.
Sue wanted to destroy the school's glee club, the New Directions, and their teacher, Will Schuester, attempting to bring it down at any cost. She had a disabled sister named Jean, who she often spent time with. Jean brought out her kinder side, and passed away in the Season Two episode Funeral. As a result, Sue announced she will no longer try to bring down the Glee Club - and instead decides to focus on politics. When her campaign as congress fails and later Roz Washington, the coach of the McKinley swimming team, takes over the cheerios because Sue wasn't present for them, she is kicked from being the cheerleading coach, but deals with Principal Figgins, that if she can win a Nationals championship with the glee club, she wants her cheerios back. When the New Directions win, Sue is back on top with her title as winner of two national championships, her cheerios and the glee club.
Sue is the main antagonist of Glee, and is often seen as the villainous teacher who likes to shake them up. On many occasions she, usually inadvertently, inspires Will.
She is highly critical, constantly reprimanding other students, faculty, and her Cheerios - and still manages to be one of the most loved characters of the show.
Sue has a strong disliking for most of the New Directions kids, but seems to have taken a liking for Kurt, protecting him against Karofsky and other bullies, resigning as principal out of protest, when Karofsky is allowed back. And when he told her to stop calling him "Lady," she listened. In Comeback, when Will mentions Kurt and the Warblers, she sadly whispers, "Sweet Porcelain." In Sexy, she seemed to have thought they were allies, until Kurt quickly informed her otherwise.
Sue became pregnant somewhere between The Spanish Teacher and On My Way. In Big Brother, she finds out that her child is female and has a high risk of having Down syndrome, similar to how her sister Jean and cheerio of hers, Becky, the two people closest to her, had Down syndrome. Her baby is introduced in The New Rachel and is named Robin. Sue was fired from McKinley in Shooting Star after covering for Becky who accidentally fired a gun causing the school to go into emergency lock-down, but returned in Love, Love, Love when she made Figgins get fired after police found sexual suggestives magazines in his office, and because Becky previously confessed about the gun accident (back in Lights Out).
After having achieved her goal of being Principal, she disbands the glee club after their loss at the 2013 Nationals and transfers every member left (with the exception of Kitty) and instead, the Choir Room becomes a computer room. When Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel reboot the glee club more than one year after those events, Sue begins a new rivalry against them.
Sue's position as principal is later terminated by Lima Public Schools superintendent Bob Harris after all her secrets were discovered. She is later seen as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline, though she later quits off-screen.
Five years later, it is revealed that she has become the Vice President of USA with Becky working for her as her secretary.
Due to the Cheerios' increasing budget, the teachers' coffee machine was temporarily taken away. To make up for it, Sue brings Will and Ken lattes. When Will asks if he could have some of her cheerleaders join the Glee Club, Sue tells him that in high school certain people fall into different spots, the Cheerleaders and Athletes are at the top, the smart kids are at the bottom and the Glee Club kids are below them. However, when her and some of her Cheerios see the glee club kids singing Don't Stop Believin'she becomes jealous of them, and tries to get Principal Figgins to cancel Glee club.
Sue thereafter tries to disband the Glee club. Sue informs Will that unless Glee club makes it to Nationals, Principal Figgins will cut them. She later catches Finn and Rachel using her copy machine and wants them kicked out, but her efforts are blocked by Will. After the Glee club does a really offensive version of Push It, Sue is the first to complain, almost getting Glee club shut down. When Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce also join Glee Club, she orders them to become spies for her.
With the Cheerios updating Sue about the Glee club she learns that Will hadn't been showing up for practices and the club's members were considering hiring Dakota Stanley, a cruel yet amazing choreographer that taught Vocal Adrenaline. The Cheerio spies thought that this would convince all of the weaker members of the club to quit. However, Dakota's fee was much too expensive for the club to pay, so Sue allowed her Cheerios to help with a car wash to support the Glee club as part of her ultimate goal to disband it. However they fired Dakota and Will came back, allowing Glee club to continue on as normal. Sue, however, was not happy with her Cheerios for failing to bring down the Glee club.
Later on, Sue obtains her own section of the local news (WOHN News 8), named Sue's Corner. However, she learns that unless her Cheerios make it to nationals, Sue's Corner will be cancelled.
Sue visits Sandy Ryerson and teams up with him to try and get Rachel Berry out of the Glee Club. Sandy, who believes that Will has been running Glee Club into the ground, is happy to help.
The two set up a school musical, to get Rachel to audition for. Subsequently, they give the part to her. When Will gives Rachel's solo to Tina Cohen-Chang, Rachel quits the Glee Club. Sue later finds out that Sandy has been yelling at Rachel, and tries to convince her that she is a horrible singer so that he could write himself into the musical, instead of Rachel. Rachel agrees to rejoin Glee club, but after hearing that Quinn is pregnant, she confronts Sue and says that if she wants her to return, there would have to be some changes made. Sue agrees with her completely and gives her control of the musical. However, Rachel ends up rejoining Glee club.
Sue is seen writing in her journal where she talks about a "recent disaster" where Quinn's leg quivered during a practice. She writes that the quiver would cost her Nationals unless she stops the Glee club, because Quinn's excuse for quivering was that she was tired from Glee Club. She decides to blame Will Schuester for it. She thinks if she fails at ruining Glee Club, she can try to ruin Will. So, she talks to his wife Terri Del Monico about Will's relationship with Emma Pillsbury. Growing suspicious, Terri gets a job as the school nurse despite having no medical experience. She gives all of the Glee club members performance enhancers so Principal Figgins decides that they need a co-director, for which he chooses Sue.
Sue is the New Directions' new Co-Director, causing huge arguments between Will and
herself. She asks her Cheerio spies (Quinn, Brittany, and Santana) what they think the club's biggest flaw is, and Quinn says "The minorities think they are not being heard." She splits up the Glee Club according to minorities, trying to make the kids think Will is racist and sexist, and causes conflict. Sue comes up with a song for the minorities (or Sue's "Elite" Glee Club). They sing Hate on Me, with Mercedes singing the solos. Sue also finds out that her Cheerios are not academically eligible to be cheerleaders, because Will flunked them all to sabotage her. Instead of reporting this to school officials, Sue gives back to Will full control of the Glee Club. Sue also forces Jacob Ben Israel to reveal to her that Quinn is pregnant.
Sue finds a new relationship with Rod Remington, a fellow co-worker at the news station she films "Sue's Corner" at. He wants to take her a "swing" dancing competition, so Sue gets dance lessons from Will, building a friendship. Sue finds out that Rod is cheating on her with Rod's partner news anchor,Andrea Carmichael, ending their "relationship." This break-up puts Sue in a bad mood again, abruptly ending her and Will's friendship, to no surprise. She kicks Quinn off the cheerleading squad for being pregnant, which she was not going to do when Rod had put her in a good mood.
Sue is forced to hold an open audition for the Cheerios, having removed Quinn. Kurt, Mercedes and some other students try out, but she refuses all of them. Except when Becky Jackson, a girl with down-syndrome tries out. Sue accepts her to Will's surprise, ending the auditions. Principal Figgins wants to take money from the school's different budgets to get more handicap ramps, but Sue thinks it is a horrible idea, refusing to give up any money. In the end of the episode, Sue suddenly pays Figgins for three new ramps. Later on, it is revealed that Sue's sister, Jean, has Down syndrome as well, and Sue's visit inspired her more generous side, which lead to her helping the handicapable kids at McKinley.
Sue forces Will to give her the set list, even threatening to come back as Co-Director of the Glee Club. Will gives in, handing over the set list, which she immediately takes to the other directors of the Glee Clubs competing show choirs.
Sue convinces Principal Figgins to not let the Glee Club have a picture in the Thunderclap yearbook. She says that having a picture of the Glee Club in the Thunderclap would give the other students another change to bully the kids in Glee. Will is angry, and has to buy a small ad in the yearbook just so the Glee Club can be shown. Rachel, not satisfied with the small picture in the yearbook, casts the Glee Club in a mattress commercial. Sue sees the advertisement and has Glee Club's amateur status revoked, almost disqualifying New Directions from Sectionals, but Will accepts the free mattresses given to them, disqualifying him from Sectionals and saving Glee Club. Quinn labels Sue a hypocrite in front of her, because Sue has kept the Cheerios amateur performers even thought they had been given large amounts of gifts such as shoes, haircuts, and complimentary tanning. Quinn forces Sue to give up one of the Cheerios' six yearbook pages to the Glee Club. Sue likes her fierceness and accepts Quinn back on the Cheerios for the yearbook photo, but Quinn surprisingly refuses, as she wants to be in a group that wants her there, like Glee Club.
Will finds out that Sue leaked the set list to the other teams. The evidence builds up and is given to Principal Figgins by Will, Grace Hitchens the Jane Addams director, and Dalton Rumba, the Haverbrook director. Furious, Figgins decides to suspend Sue from the position of cheerleading coach. Sue decides to take a vacation to her condo in Boca, and come back tanner, muscular, and even more hell-bent on Glee Club's destruction.
Following the suspension from her position at William McKinley High School, as seen in "Sectionals," Sue blackmails Principal Figgins, slipping him a date rape drug and taking an incriminating photograph of them in a compromising position. He allows her to return to work at the school, where she immediately returns to plotting to bring down the glee club. She also has a secret plan to get rid of Rachel by having Santana and Brittany seduce Finn.
Sue then blackmails Figgins into playing Madonna's hits over the loud speaker all day long, and tells her Cheerios they have to find younger men like Madonna dated. This inspires Will, and angers Sue, leading the hair insults to start up again. The insults backfire, having Will come back at her short hair. She then reveals to Kurt and Mercedes that she used chemicals in her hair when she was a little girl to bleach her hair like Madonna, as her album "True Blue" was released on Sue's sixth birthday (this reveals that she was born June 30, 1980). This leads Kurt and Mercedes to give her a makeover and recreate Madonna's Vogue video.
Sue owns the auditorium for a week for the Cheerios, because she gonna have an interview. Also instructs Kurt and Mercedes to lose weight, especially Mercedes.
Kurt finds a video of Sue Sylvester dancing to Physical. After Finn posts it on the Internet, it circulates around the school quickly. She then complains to Principal Figgins about the situation and presents the "Glist." It is a list based a hotness quotient. In the teacher's lounge, she immediately clashes with new teacher Brenda Castle. Castle even makes a point to laugh at her. Everyone is laughing about her which means no one is afraid of her anymore. Realizing how it is to be laughed at, she apologizes to her sister for not protecting her more. After that, Sue becomes a counselor to Emma and helped her confront Will about cheating. After the endless laughter from everyone, Sue thought it was karma getting back at her for what she did to everyone. Kurt confronts her about posting the video, but Sue thanks him. It turns out she got a call from Olivia Newton-John and they both sing Physical in a video. It makes her become a top 700 recording artist and gets back at the teachers by showing it to them. Sue confronts her sister and tells her she just needed an attitude change and the only person she needed to persuade is her. She gives her cut of the profits to her sister's nursing home.
It is revealed that she will be one of the four celebrity judges at the Regionals. This knowledge puts New Directions in a state of despair as Sue is finally in the position to ensure that they do not place at Regionals and therefore, ending Glee Club. At Regionals, Sue makes it seem like she wants to put New Directions in last place. However, after the other judges make harsh remarks about New Directions, she attempts to come to their defense.The other judges then write her off, stating that it's laughable that she's considered a celebrity. After the votes are placed, Sue is the one chosen to read the results revealing Aural Intensity came in second and Vocal Adrenaline placed first, meaning New Directions came in last and, due to Will's deal with Figgins, would be forced to disband. As Will is emptying out the former Glee Club room, Sue approaches him and begins bragging about how she has proven that she can wipe Glee Club off the face of the earth. She then states that while she doesn't like Will, she truly admires the work he has done with his students. It is then revealed that she was actually the sole vote for New Directions at the competition. Then, when they failed to place, she promised Figgins to never mention their "affair" ever again in exchange for giving Glee Club one more year.
Personality
Sue is the ultimate alpha-personality in all the episodes. Seen, always, as calculating, ruthless, devious, sneaky, egotistical, pompous, sarcastic, arrogant, vindictive, sadistic, scheming, manipulative, ungrateful, immoral, sociopathic, cruel, spiteful, bitter, dishonest, greedy, treacherous, dirty, sly, brutal, diabolical, sinister, pure evil, vain, vicious, ambitious, rotten, nasty and unscrupulous. She is without a moral compass and possesses no scruples and conscience. She is also an extremist who shows no compassion, love or concern to anyone, but herself and her sister. She will often do anything and everything in her power to get what she wants and she usually doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. With a sense of great entitlement, she will ignore all rules and regulations that work against her, but have no issue using those same rules against others. Sue's height also leads her to speak down to people, and to name drop and speak of herself as something beyond everyone else.
Sue doesn't handle emotional pain well. If for whatever reason she gets hurt, she will take it out on everyone around her, normally by destroying anything around her and insulting people. These scenes are a scary kind of comical, dramatic music in the background and Sue throwing things around viciously, but at the same time it makes Sue look powerless for all her strength.
She's very good at holding grudges to unhealthy, almost super-villain levels, particularly her desire to destroy the Glee Club for getting money that had once been promised to her Cheerios. Sometimes she ignores these grudges in the short term, when external events reach the softer side she keeps locked deep inside herself.
Sue makes it a point to make fun of Will's hair, often commenting about his curls and his perm,even saying he looks like a sheep and she can't help, but picture "small birds laying sulfurous eggs" in his hair and it revolts her. However, in The Power of Madonna, it's revealed that this hate actually stems from jealousy due to her own awful hair.
Sue also holds no man or woman to her loyalty to anyone save herself and her sister. For example, despite both being members of the school staff, Sue is more than willing to betray Will at the drop of a hat. The same held true for Quinn, who for a long time was a loyal member of her cheerleading squad, and who Sue kicked out for being pregnant.
We see, however, that Sue's aggression and unreliability stem largely from a difficult childhood. Her mannerisms are very much in parallel with her mother's, a woman who left Sue to take care of herself and her handicapable sister at a young age. This explains why she has such a thick emotional shell surrounding her more vulnerable qualities.This softer self isn't gone, just very well hidden from the world, and when it does leak out she's sure to push it back in before too long.
Sue is very loving towards her sister Jean, who suffers from Down's Syndrome and who Sue visits as often as she can.This love for her sister caused Sue to donate money to the school to help disabled kids and to allow a student with Down's syndrome to join the Cheerios. After Jean's passing, the memories Sue relived lead her to apologize to Will for being a bully as opposed a supportive friend, and she called off her vendetta against Glee, an act that is likely to be overlooked for comic effect by the writers for the first act of Season Three, Episode One.
Also, when Sue had thought she had found love, she became noticeably kinder and more understanding towards others, even Will and the Glee Club. However, when she found out she'd been cheated on, she returned to her old cruel and vicious nature.
This kind/cruel dichotomy has happened many times. Her fluctuating personality can change from episode to episode depending on the circumstances, showing perhaps how unstable and lonely, her character is. An alternative theory is Sue's absolute lack of concrete character as highlighted her absolute ability to have coherent, predictable allegiances and stance is actually the result of a complete authorial disregard for continuity.
Sue's age has been somewhat a mystery throughout the series thus far. In The Power Of Madonna, we get the first news of her age when in self monologue she admits she's about to turn thirty despite the fact that she looks like someone in her forties/fifties. As well as that, in Furt, we can clearly see on her dating profile that it says her age is "27." And in Funeral, it's revealed her sister made it well past fifty, and it was said in previous episodes she and Sue went to school together. In a deleted scene from Mash Off, it is revealed that she is in fact fifty-two years old.
Her sharp wit and quick tongue leave funny, clever, and often insane proclamations in their wake, and while they're mostly ill-intended, and usually directed at Will Schuester, are some of the best lines of the show.
Relationships
In Mash-Up, Sue falls for Rod. He takes her on a date and invites her to a Swingers contest. The relationship fails when Sue finds him cheating on her with Andrea Carmichael.
No comments:
Post a Comment