Ryan

Ryan Atwood (played by Benjamin McKenzie) – (Seasons 1 – 4): A troubled teenager from Chino is thrown headlong into the privileged community of Newport Beach, California after his mother (Dawn Atwood) throws him out of their family home. Ryan is subsequently taken in by his public defender, Sandy Cohen. He forms fast bonds with all the Cohen family especially Sandy's son Seth. Seth had no friends, and Ryan's arrival in the Cohen househod shook up both their lives. Ryan had a huge impact on Seth, and Ryan is later legally adopted by Kirsten and Sandy Cohen. When Ryan and Marissa Cooper meet for the first time there is an instantaneous attraction but it is turbulent relationship from start to finish. Along the way we see Ryan's relationships with his brother Trey, his first love and the "girl next-door" Theresa Diaz, and his troubled relationships with his absent mother and father. Throughout the series Ryan's other love interests include Lindsay, a high school friend, who turns out to be Calen Nichols's secret love child. He dates Sadie, Johnny's cousin. Ryan's main love interest for most of the series is Marissa with whom he has an on again/off again relationship, before the two of them are involved in a car accident and she dies in his arms. After a period of intense grief, Ryan develops a romantic relationship with Taylor Townsend. The finale shows Ryan graduating from UC Berkeley and becoming an architect. While walking to his car after work one day, he sees a teen in the same situation he was in years ago and offers him help.