Gabriella Montez

## Season 4

**Gabriella Montez** is the girlfriend of Troy Bolton, and the daughter to single mother Maria Montez. Extraordinarily beautiful and academically gifted, she is constantly examining what she wants for herself. Her main concern is how it will affect her as an individual.

Gabriella tends to be somewhat shy and private about her feelings and prefers not to be in the spotlight. Her main tool for making decisions seems to revolve around what she wants for herself independently. Though she doesn't like to be the center of attention, her shyness seems to dissipate when she loses herself in a song and lets herself live in the moment. She urges Troy to enjoy the present rather than worry about the future. Her selfness is shown by her reluctance to think about the future and lose the joys the present has brought her. She seems happiest when enjoying the current moment, whether it’s dancing with Troy on the school roof or taking funny pictures for the yearbook.

Though thinking about the future tends to bring her down, she realizes that she can’t run away from it forever. She has the ability to intuitively read Troy and his motives, and she develops a clearer insight of what she wants for herself throughout the episodes. The interaction between her and her best friend Taylor, a dominant academic genius, best demonstrates her inferior-self. She finds it hard to make decisions concerning college and such, it makes it difficult for her to be decisive and give practical factors higher priority than personal factors.

Nonetheless, she is shown to be an excellent student with good organizational skills and self-reliance.

## **Physical Appearance**

Gabriella stands at 5'2" and has a delicate frame. She has an olive-complexion that glows with youth and health, free of blemishes or freckles. She has high cheekbones, a slightly up-turned small nose, and full cupid bow lips. Her eyes are wide and almond-shaped, the most stunning facial feature, and are chocolate-colored with flecks of rich gold around the dark iris. They are framed by thick dark lashes, curled out in an almost feline fashion, with thin arched brows. Her hair is thick and falls to her bottom in full corkscrew curls and is often left down with the front pulled back. It is a rich brown in color with slight dark gold undertones that shine in the sunlight.

Her arms are thin and though she has some muscle there is hardly any definition to her arms. Her legs are long, shapely, and lean. The overall shape of her body is a thin hourglass.

As the brainy-yet-beautiful girl next door, Gabriella is not afraid to be herself, which is readily apparent in her laid-back *Bohemian* wardrobe. With hippy-inspired pieces from *American Eagle* and *Free People*, she put together a look to channel her romantic ensembles -- pairs a flirty floral dress with a cozy cardigan, and piles on jewelry -- mixing it up with turquoise stones and big wooden beads.

## **Personality and Traits**

Gabriella is a *perfectionist* and has higher standards for herself than for those around her. As such, she is an extremely hard worker but rarely gives herself enough credit. It’s unacceptable if she fails to meet the extreme goals she sets for herself but rarely allows herself to feel successful even when she does meet those goals. She blames herself for a lot of the problems she encounters and will silently carry this weight and stress on her own shoulders. She feels restless if she is not learning something new or working to perfect her chosen skills. For a person like Gabriella, ambition is a source of energy that will keep her motivated throughout her life. It will push her to make great achievements and continually refine her already natural talent.

Gabriella may be a very hard-working academic intellect, but she's very much a nice girl, who's incredibly good-hearted and noble. She is a laid-back, friendly individual -- the "sweetheart" of the gang -- who shows great personal warmth and makes others feel valued and cared for. She might not be friends with everyone, but she's definitely *friendly* to everyone, and that makes all the difference to her.

Gabriella is a selfless and an empathetic girl. Despite being somewhat shy, she listens to everyone's concerns, especially her friends. She is so caring and genuinely *wants* others to be happy. Honestly, she just wants to make others happy; seeing anyone hurt would really upset her. Gabriella would not want to upset anyone, and would feel awful if she did. She is the sort of person who believes the best of people and that things will work out. This proves to be something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it means she is more easily manipulated by others. On the other hand, it also makes her a genuinely nice person, and able to see the hidden good side of others. She is focused on understanding, supporting, and encouraging others.