The ABC Family teen drama Pretty Little Liars is based on the series of young adult novels by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four girls — Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily — whose clique part after the disappearance of their leader, Alison. Later they begin receiving various messages from someone using the name "A" who threatens to expose their secrets — including long-hidden ones they thought only Alison knew. The list only contains characters that appeared in five or more episodes.
Aria Marie Montgomery (Lucy Hale) (season 1 – present) is considered the "alternative" one of the group. She is more outgoing in fashion and what she sees as acceptable behavior. She moves back to Rosewood with her family after living in Iceland for a year. Before Alison's death, she and Alison discovered that Aria's father was having an affair with one of his former students, Meredith, who became his coworker at Hollis College. Alison encourages Aria to tell her mother the truth, but instead, Aria reluctantly agrees to keep her father's secret. On top of that, she finds herself involved with her high school English teacher, Ezra Fitz, after making out with him in a pub bathroom and discovering he was her English teacher on the first day of school. Aria was dating Noel, however, she kissed Ezra while meeting each other to talk. She also began dating someone she met, named Jake. However, she was in love with Ezra and stayed with him. Aria found out that Ezra is writing a book about Alison and used her in order to uncover the mystery of who tried to kill Alison. This left Aria heartbroken and angry. She then breaks up with him, and he resigns from the school as a teacher.
Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario) (season 1 – present) is considered the "de facto leader" of the group. Intelligent and extremely ambitious, she strives for perfection in everything she does in an attempt to live up to the high expectations of her parents. Spencer's biggest rival is her older sister, Melissa, and the two are constantly fighting over something. Their relationship is often strained by the fact that Spencer has a habit of crushing on Melissa's boyfriends (first Ian, then Wren). At the end of the first season Spencer begins a relationship with Jenna's stepbrother, Toby Cavanaugh. Spencer is revealed to be the biological daughter of Mary Drake and sister of CeCe Drake.