Occupation: Assistant to Michael in Neighborhood 12358W
BEFORE DEATH: Sales Rep Temp
Family: Doug Shellstrop (Deceased father)
Donna Shellstrop (mother)
Julie (1st cousin once removed)
Romantic Relationships: Samuel (ex-boyfriend)
Chidi Anagonye (ex-boyfriend/afterlife soulmate)
Friends: Chidi Anagonye Jason Mendoza Tahani Al-Jamil Janet Michael
Played by: Kristen Bell Avery Hayes (teen) Noelle E. Parker (child)
Personality: Prior to dying, Eleanor was a selfish, rude, and dishonest person who only ever cared about herself. Due to being neglected by her self-centered parents for most of her life, Eleanor grew to believe that depending on others was weak and thus prevented herself from ever being part of a group, even quitting a job simply because it required employees to hang out with each other after work. Eleanor is extremely insecure about her own ethical shortcomings, and as a result, lashes out at anyone who she perceives as more virtuous than her. She isn't ashamed to lie to others and go back on her promises, and rarely ever took responsibility for any of her actions. However, after ending up in The Good Place by mistake, Eleanor attempts to learn more about ethics from Chidi in order to avoid being sent to The Bad Place. While she initially did this solely for self-preservation, she begins to gradually become more selfless and thoughtful as time goes by, no longer needing to suppress her conscience and guilt. Though she rarely shows it, it is clear in a flashback that the lack of a loving and supporting family has deeply wounded her, and during her time in The Good Place she continues to better understand and accept her flaws in an attempt to become a truly good person.
Origin: Eleanor Shellstrop was born in Phoenix, Arizona as an only child. She moved to Tempe, Arizona for school, and by the time of her death she had moved back to Phoenix. Eleanor enjoys cursing and is constantly being censored. Her self-centered parents, Donna and Doug, largely ignored her when she was growing up, leaving her to fend for herself. She became a loner who disliked social activities of any kind; she did have a circle of drinking buddies but didn't care much about them and always shirked the duty of being designated driver. She even refused a high-paying job because she was expected to befriend her co-workers, preferring to become a salesperson for a sham pharmaceutical company where she sold fake medicine to the elderly. She swiftly became the company's top salesperson, surprising even her shady boss, Wallace, with her lack of scruples.
Facts: Eleanor's primary form of torture was to place her in "The Good Place" with the knowledge that she did not belong and that her existence was "destroying" the neighborhood. Not only leaving her with the stress of maintaining her secret, the guilt of "endangering" the neighborhood, but also forcing her to endure lessons with Chidi. Although Eleanor is the "worst" of the four, she has also shown the greatest ability to grow and improve her person. This is likely because she has no delusions of what kind of person she is and is able to tackle her negative aspects head on. Unlike Jason, Eleanor never made any "serious" offenses (like a major crime, or having a vanity license plate). She mainly was just mean, rude, and dismissive of all those around her. Her favorite TV show is The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Her favorite "book" is Kendall Jenner's Instagram feed. Eleanor died after being run over by a boner pill truck after dropping margarita mix in a parking lot. It is strongly implied in the show, and has been confirmed by William Jackson Harper (the actor of Chidi) that Eleanor is 'super bisexual'. She has slept with Chidi in eight different reboots and has admitted attraction towards both Tahani, Vicky, Simone, and even Janet.[2] Eleanor has a thing for sexy mailmen. The deeds which contributed to her entering The Bad Place included deliberately setting a mailbox on fire to get a mailman to remove his shirt, and at one point she replaces one of the disliked clown portraits in her Neighborhood 12358W house with one of a sexy mailman. In the episode The Burrito, when the Judge was giving tests to Team Cockroach, Eleanor was the only one who passed, showing that over the course of the series she has improved the most. Typhoon Falls was her favorite water park growing up and was thing that made her the happiest, as revealed in Chapter 37: The Book of Dougs In the episode Chapter 23: Best Self it is revealed that she hates camping. She hates Jazz music (as mentioned in Chapter 9: ...Someone Like Me as a Member and seen in Chapter 16: Dance Dance Resolution as well as Chapter 32: The Ballad of Donkey Doug, when she cringed at the sound of it playing). She also hates Baby Showers (as mentioned in ...Someone Like Me as a Member and seen in Chapter 26: Somewhere Else). She hates any pointless group activities like office Christmas parties or Jury Duty (As she revealed in Chapter 30: The Snowplow). She has a very low tolerance for men who wear sandals. (Which was revealed by Chidi in Chapter 36: Janet(s). Her worst nightmare is having someone say something nice about her to her face. (Revealed by Chidi in Janet(s). She has frequent sex dreams about Sam the Eagle from The Muppets (Which Michael says in Chapter 34: The Worst Possible Use of Free Will) She hates expressing any kind of vulnerability. (As seen in Chapter 36: Janet(s) and Chapter 34: The Worst Possible Use of Free Will). Her favorite "movie" is the video of John Travolta saying "Adele Dazeem." (Revealed by Chidi in Chapter 36: Janet(s). Eleanor's Zodiac Sign is Libra.
