Sharpay Evans

Anyone who ever said money can't buy happiness, never met **Sharpay Evans**. She's grown up with the belief that everything can go her way, and should around East High School. She's pretty, she's talented, and she's dating one of the hottest guys in school, Zeke Baylor. Sharpay wants fame, her name in lights on Broadway, and with Miss Darbus wrapped around her finger, getting the attention in the East High drama department should be a cinch. She is the fraternal twin of Ryan.

Sharpay believes she owns the school, she struts around it thinking she is in charge and that everyone wants to be her friend. Although this necessarily isn't correct, the other main characters in Season 1 aren't rushing to her every need and looking towards her, but she does have her own little minions that follow her around and do what she asks of them, and a few boys who would like to be with her. This is also different because Sharpay is trying to find a way to get the boy, Troy, she likes, although he is not interested in her. But to relate back to the common stereotype of the queen bee, Sharpay is manipulative in finding ways of getting Troy to herself, using her family’s high wealth status to her advantage. Sharpay is given the stereotype of the queen bee as she is pretty and her parents are quite wealthy, having their own servants and owning their own country club.

Sharpay is the co-president of the East High drama department, which she has starred in seventeen school productions. She's a selfish and entitled rich girl who often uses her money and connection to steal Troy from Gabriella Montez, and tries to sabotage their duet performance. However, she's not popular like the typical queen bee and doesn't seem to have any friends at school and the way the basketball team talks about her, she actually comes across as incredibly unpopular. However, this shows her as a *very* popular girl with a lot of adoring fans (other students) wanting her signature in their yearbooks. It's very possible they're just acquaintances/fans though, and people don't try to actually be her friends and get to know her. And she's *not* dumb, in any means. She has a brain, and she knows how to use it in the most conniving ways possible. Sharpay's wardrobe is often extravagant and over-the-top, done up in sparkles and glitter, and she's almost always wearing a pair of heels.

Sharpay is ruthless, selfish, and cunning. All her life, all she wanted to do is to have a great boyfriend like Troy, and be in the spotlight. She became the most popular and the meanest girl of East High. Sharpay is not a nice person, and, usually, says whatever goes through her mind. She likes to belittle and bully people and make them do whatever she wants. Typically, Sharpay considers everyone an enemy and inferior to her. She has a very snotty attitude and she can be quite a bully to other people, and even treats Gabriella poorly, since Gabriella is dating Troy.

She *can* show kindness on occasion, such as the time she tried to pay for Troy’s college tuition, but these displays are usually cancelled out by other bad things she does, or they have an ulterior motive. Popularity, humiliating, and blackmailing are essential things in her life. Every time Sharpay wants something she has to get it, or else, she will make a big scene in front of everyone which involves her screaming and crying because she feels superior and no one can ever tell her to stop because she will start insulting that person physically and emotionally. As a Queen Bee, she walks with a lot of confidence and is *always* the center of attention wherever she goes.

Sharpay is *very* spoiled and regularly clarifies that she is extremely rich. She appears to have severe anger issues, and is arguably one of the most aggressive students at East High. Sharpay gets *really* freaked out when things do not go the way she wanted and blames other people for her problems. Sharpay also shows a lot ruthless mean-attitude towards everyone weaker than her. She needs to be cruel to other people so she can feel confident. The reason why she is a horrible person to everyone is because, in reality, she is very insecure and she feels really lonely, because she has never had true friends, and her parents are always working. She has tried being a nice person, but all things that include being a good person make her want to vomit. Sharpay appears to have the most power in the drama department, leaving Ryan as her right-hand man. However, the sibling loyalty is not always mutual. Classmate Taylor McKessie suspects that if Sharpay "*could figure out how to play both Romeo and Juliet, her own brother would be aced out of a job*."

Her in-the-closet twin brother, Ryan, is always willing to do her bidding. Even when he has an attack of morality and sabotages her schemes, he always comes running back, usually in floral-print pants and knee-high boots. There's also Kelsi Nielson, East High's resident troll, who writes all of Sharpay's original musical numbers.

## **Personality and Traits**

Every high school has the basic form of hierarchy; there are the athletes, the criminals, the brains, the lonely basket-cases, the delinquents, and then, at the top of the social ladder are the royals. **Sharpay Evans** — Princess of East High School — is the stereotypical popular, and spoiled rich girl who is believed to be conceited, assertive, judgmental, and has high self-esteem in the beginning of the series because her friends described her as so, and that is the image that high school has created for her. She is often stereotyped as being beautiful, charismatic, manipulative, and wealthy, holding positions of social status, such as being co-president of the Drama Club. Sharpay may have substantial influence and powers over her clique, and is considered a role-model by clique members and outsiders. Her actions are closely followed and imitated. The qualities as characteristic of Sharpay is usually being overly-aggressive, selfish, manipulative and strong willed, overly-heightened self-esteem which may lead to arrogance, behaving as a bully, being wealthy and spoilt, being pretty, popular, rich, talented and privileged, and being hated by female peers. She is mainly represented negatively for being *the* bitch, or spoilt brat.

Labeled as the “Ice Queen of East High”, she is shown as being somewhat popular. Students on campus seem to fear her, as they scour to make room for her in the hallways or cafeteria. Fear also appears to be the reason why other students, such as Kelsi Nielson, remain apart of Sharpay's wrath. Sharpay is sometimes the victim of playful jokes and light teasing from The Wildcats, despite the fact that one of their star players, Zeke Baylor, has a huge crush on her. Though she knows that when she gets her spotlight she wants to stay in it, there's a tiny bit of self-doubt that she'd never admit to having — that makes her wonder if she could really succeed in staying in the spotlight for more than just the usual 15 minutes of fame. Sharpay can be very bratty at times with the belief that it's *her* way or the highway. It may not seem like it, but her fraternal twin brother, Ryan is one of the only people that have always been able to keep her grounded. She's not afraid to kick, scream, whine, or throw a tantrum to get her way. Crying, well, that would be her very last resort because she's scared that if she cried in front of anyone other than Ryan, that it would make her seem weak.

Known among her classmates as a “Drama Queen” and “The Ice Queen”, there's a side of her that very few get to see. It's the softer insecurely vulnerable side of Sharpay that she rarely shows out of fear of it being used against her. So she lets the “Ice Queen” persona take over to protect herself which is why she barely has any friends other than Ryan. Sharpay may never admit it, but she's actually proud of Ryan's growing independence even though she fears that she'll lose him completely as he grows closer to Kelsi, which is the only reason she shows a dislike for the girl. She knows she could very well end up alone which is why she's taken such drastic steps against that by dating Zeke although she seemingly only has eyes for Troy Bolton. At times, Sharpay can be very immature. However, she is also depicted to be very wise. She always demands respect including from her *own mother*. Sharpay will do whatever it take to claim what is rightfully hers and be on top no matter what. She is also a bubbly, egotistical young woman who does not tolerate nonsense and likes to take matters into her own hands. She is also very smart and mature and creative and does not fear anybody. She is not afraid to speak her mind toward people. Sharpay can also be head-strong, sassy and tough.

Contrast to these negative traits, Sharpay is a warm and loving character down to her core. She may want love as ardently as anyone, but she masks her soft heart behind a wall of ice. When not dealing with a problem, Sharpay can be quite jovial and friendly, and she usually tries to keep her temper under control for the sake of her relaxation and contentment. Additionally, Sharpay shares a very loving relationship with Ryan, and treats him well, despite their rivalries. Sharpay also has shown signs of humility, most notably throughout the season, when her cruel pranks goes not as plan. Instead of yelling at her peers, she stays sadly silent, humiliated, and defeated, while Ryan comforts her.

For all her spitefulness, Sharpay is secretly insecure about herself. She takes offense to those who cannot understand her voice, and is notoriously envious of Gabriella Montez's popularity. Sharpay's bad luck also plays a part in her low self-esteem, as she sometimes sees herself as a failure due to her frequent mishaps. Sharpay tends to hide this with a boisterous veneer, though she has confided in Ryan about her inhibition on occasion. Zeke is also one of the very few characters capable of pacifying Sharpay's psychotic temper even though she has ironically lost hers with him on occasion. What Sharpay sometimes lacks in confidence, she makes up for with perseverance. Her aggressive nature can act as a double-edged sword; while it at times is a hindrance and even a handicap for her, it has also helped her in times of need. When faced with a threat of some kind, Sharpay may get frightened and even intimidated (mostly by her nemesis Tiara Gold), but rather than getting scared, she gets mad and has taken up fights and even the forces of nature.

### ***We're All In This Together***

***The episode gives us a little insight as to what happened in the moments we weren’t privy to in the Pilot***. ***In the direct-to-video "parallel Season 1" Season 2, Sharpay makes a few brief, non-speaking appearances in the scenes for which she was present in the Pilot.***

## **Trivia**

* Though some students believed **Sharpay Evans** deserved better, others saw her as a high school mean girl who thrived on stirring up trouble.
	+ But honestly, we loved every second of Sharpay's drama-fueled, well, *drama*.
	+ She's a selfish rich girl who often uses her money and connection to steal Troy from Gabriella, and tries to sabotage their relationship.
	+ However, she's not popular like the typical mean girl and doesn't seem to have any friends at school and the way the basketball team talks about her, she actually comes across as incredibly unpopular. On the other hand, in What Time Is It? shows her as a *very* popular girl with a lot of adoring fans (other students) *wanting* her signature in their yearbooks. It's very possible they're just acquaintances/fans though, and people don't try to actually be her friends and get to know her.
	+ Sharpay is arrogant, snobby, and has shades of narcissism. She does become a jerk with a heart of gold at the mid-end of Season 1.
* Sharpay wasn't nice in the first half of Season 1, sure, but the second half blew her negative qualities up to ridiculous proportions.
	+ Her main objective - stealing someone's boyfriend - is far more heinous than anything she did in the first half. She even went as far as to treat her own brother like crap.
* Her family is *filthy* rich, and she uses this to her full advantage to try and steal Troy (by seducing him, while mistreating Gabriella and the rest of his friends — whom he invited to come work with him, causing their relationship to fall apart).
* She seems to view Troy as a status symbol, Gabriella as a roadblock until the end of Season 1 where she gradually becomes her friend, and Kelsi as a tool to be discarded on her whim until the end of Season 1.
* Though she is generally unkind to everyone around her, she does however truly love her family and dog and though she doesn't generally show it, respects Gabriella and talent for singing.
* Sharpay comes across as less of an arrogant bitch and more star-struck and neurotic. Her passion for theatre and her determination to be successful also suggests that Sharpay doesn't do the manipulative things she does out of malice — she just truly wants to be the best at everything (star in the musical, dating the most popular boy in school, etc.)
* She doesn't dislike the Wildcats in the second episode because of any reason other than "they'll steal my talent show!" Selfish, yes, but by the ending of each episode she's realized her mistakes.
* It is also hinted that she and Gabriella became friends by the end of their senior year of high school.
* Her occasional cruelty is born out of a desire for everything she's involved with to be fabulous. Although she opts for some outrageous costumes during her performances, she does posses good fashion sense.
* Over the course of the series she slowly goes through certain stages in which she becomes a better person in the end. Also she appears to be slightly narcissistic.
* Sharpay's locker is the only pink locker in the school. It is also the only one shown that is not white.
* Sharpay likes Troy, but it is possible that she also likes Zeke, because at the end of the first episode (after the credits end), she runs through the gym to ask him to bake her more cookies. Also, in the first song sequence of the second episode, she kisses his yearbook after signing it. This scene could as well show how much she loves being popular and liked.