Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Favorite Secondary/Minor Characters. I’ve decided to focus on supporting character from one particular series.
Last week marked the series finale of the Outlander TV series — but the book series continues, with author Diana Gabaldon still working on book #10, A Blessing For A Warrior Going Out. There’s no release date yet — here’s hoping it’s not too far off!
I have a lot of feelings about the series finale… but putting plot aside, what stays with me is how many wonderful characters are important to the story. With Outlander on my mind, I thought I’d highlight ten favorite supporting/secondary characters from the book series. (Yes, many of these appear in the TV version as well, but often with altered storylines and/or personality traits, so I’m focusing on the books!)
My top ten are:
- Brianna Randall Fraser MacKenzie: Bree is a controversial pick — plenty of people dislike her, particularly early in the series when she’s kind of bratty and mean to Claire (and it is NOT okay to be mean to Claire). Bree really grows up (and grew on me) over the course of the series. She’s smart, she’s fierce, she’s welcomed Jamie into her life, and she’s become a terrific daughter at long last. Plus, gotta love a woman who does things like inventing matches and plumbing in her spare time.
- Roger MacKenzie: Total sweetheart and all-around wonderful soul. He’s devoted to Bree, is a man of faith, and has stuck with the Fraser clan despite truly terrible things happening to him because of his association with them
- Ian Murray (Young Ian): The little baby nephew Jamie bonded with before being sent off to prison post-Culloden grew up into a teen in need of rescue, an adopted Mohawk warrior, and a surrogate son to Jamie. Ian’s devotion to the Frasers, to his wife, and to Rollo (RIP) are lovely.
- Lord John Grey: Lord John gets his own books to star in (and they’re well worth checking out, for those who haven’t explored outside of the main Outlander volumes), but he’s also a fantastic friend to Jamie, Claire, and Brianna.
- Hal Grey, Duke of Pardloe: He doesn’t appear much in the TV version, but book readers know and love Hal for his wit, his devotion to family, and the endlessly entertaining dynamic whenever he and Claire are in the same scene.
- Fergus Fraser: From a wee French pickpocket to an American patriot of the printing press, Fergus is an excellent son to Jamie, with a lovely marriage and family. He lights up his moments on the page.
- Dougal MacKenzie: Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he’s the catalyst for so much of what happens early in the series.
- Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser: While book Murtagh doesn’t last nearly as long as TV Murtagh, he’s a crucial character nonetheless. Jamie’s godfather has his back no matter what, and comes through for him in critical moments.
- Jenny Fraser Murray: I love Jenny’s fire, her devotion to her husband and children, her brother, and their home. She’s a force to be reckoned with, and is just glorious whenever she gets a moment to shine.
- Rollo, Adso, Donas, and the other animals of Outlander: I mentioned Rollo earlier in relation to Ian… but honestly, the various animals of this series deserve a shout-out of their own!
Stopping at ten means I have to omit so many others! So I’ll just a quick word of praise for all the rest of Diana Gabaldon’s amazing characters… including Marsali, Rachel, Denzel, Dottie, all the various grandchildren, William (can’t forget William!), Mother Hildegard… well, I could just go on and on until I name every single one!
If you’re an Outlander fan: who are your favorite supporting characters?
If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I didn’t realize there were so many instalments of this series!
Nine full-length novels, bunches of novellas, and a spin-off series!!
I agree with your picks. The books are certainly character-driven, and I believe that is why we love them so.
Definitely — the books give us so much space to get to know these characters and follow their lives across so many years.
Love Roger, Young Ian and Lord John!
Bree definitely takes a while, but she has really grown on me over the series – in the later installments, I actually kind of found myself more interested in some of her and Roger’s storylines… (which is probably blasphemy!)
Totally understandable! Their storylines are very engaging in some of the books, and it’s hard to leave them to go back to the rest of the characters!
Fab topic!
Thank you!
I can see why readers love this series!
There really is so much to love!
I’ve only read the first book but Lord John Grey and Fergus are a couple of my favorites from the show!
They’re both portrayed so well on the show!
The series had too much sex for me, but my best friend is a HUGE fan of the books! I’ll show her this.
The sex gets a little less emphasis later in the series (but it’s still there!)… definitely a matter of taste!
I listened to the first book on audio on my daily commute for about a month. One scene caused me to nearly wreck in heavy rush hour interstate highway traffic!!
Ha, yes, I’ve listened to certain audiobooks where the sex were way more than I bargained for…
These are all unfamiliar to me, as I haven’t watched the show nor read the books.
Here’s my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/ten-series-ive-caught-up-on-in-2026/
Thanks for sharing your link!
I have heard great things of Outlander but it does have quite a bit of sexual content for me.
Great list! It is crazy how one series can have so many side characters.
My List:
https://thegentlechapter.blog/2026/05/19/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-secondary-minor-characters/
The series is so huge — and so are the individual books — that somehow, it all makes sense and gives readers so much time to get attached to a big cast of characters!
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
I’ve read OUTLANDER, but it was a looonnnggg time ago and I don’t remember much about it. I liked the book. I just never continued the series for some reason. It’s wild that it’s still ongoing!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
It’s been over 30 years since she wrote the first book!
I love your twist on the topic! It’s been too long since I read Outlander, so I don’t remember much about the characters… I really need to find time to continue the series, although I might have to do a reread of the first book before.
I’m thinking about revisiting the 1st book (although I’ve read it several times already). There’s a new audiobook version available now with a new narrator, and I’ve heard that it’s really good!
I think Dougal is a good pick. He’s an on the fence character but also offered to much if you took the time to actually look into him
Kristin @ Book Sniffers Anonymous
Thanks! He’s not a hero by any means, but he’s fascinating and is the reason behind so much of what happens early on.
It’s great how you zeroed in on one single series!
Thanks! It was fun to put together!