The following are a list of minor characters from the American situation comedy Scrubs.

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These cast members have appeared in numerous episodes since the show's beginning but remain credited as guest stars.

Dr. Wen, played by Charles Chun, is an attending surgeon who was Turk and the Todd's mentor for their first three years at the hospital. He has a somewhat serious personality, but often lightens up and enjoys jokes. There is much that is not known about him, including his first name, but it is confirmed that he is married. In Episode 1.03, "My Best Friend's Mistake", it is revealed he is inordinately fond of the Erasure song "A Little Respect".

Lonnie, played by Michael Hobert, is a medical resident under the supervision of J.D. and Elliot. He and J.D. occasionally spar with each other over insignificant incidents, but since his introduction in Episode 3.18, "His Story II," Lonnie has been spending an increasing amount of time with J.D. and Elliot. He has even been a part of the Triple Giant Doctor (in Episode 4.13, "My Ocardial Infarction"). He has three children "that he knows of", can grow a moustache in one day, and played Big East Conference basketball for Villanova University.

Interestingly, Michael Hobert also appeared as an extra in the pilot episode, as a pizza patient getting an MRI scan near the end of the episode.

Dr. Doug "Nervous Guy" Murphy, played by Johnny Kastl, is the nervous and terribly inept colleague of J.D. and Elliot. His incompetence is the butt of many jokes on Scrubs. After being the only person in the history of the hospital to repeat his third year of residency, he transferred from internal medicine to pathology. It is discovered in Season 4 that Doug is an expert coroner due to his numerous botched procedures and ineptness with living patients. His skill of diagnosing cause of death is that nearly to the level of savant. Doug also has several means of death named after him. This has not prevented him from still making mistakes such as forgetting his gurney, misplacing a dead body or waiting too long to get a patient before rigor mortis sets in. He is under the impression that the dead bodies in the morgue are out to get him, after several of them fell on him. Doug even used to tag people before they were dead. He is often seen hanging out with Ted Buckland, as they both enjoy biking, compete in triathalons, and, perhaps most importantly, are often picked on by the likes of Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox.

Theodore "Ted" Buckland, Esq., played by Sam Lloyd, is Sacred Heart Hospital’s lawyer. Ted stumbles through life as one of its ultimate losers. He is prone to panic attacks and outbreaks of excessive sweating. He claims to have lost his hair in the eighth grade, although in another episode he says he still had hair when he started working at the hospital (approximately since 1989, as he claims in Season 1 that he's been working with Dr. Kelso for 12 years).

Ted has attempted suicide on several occasions. At the hospital, he serves as Dr. Kelso’s doormat, and has described his ultimate dream as "holding his head under the water until the last bubble goes...bloop." It is suggested that the pressures of his job caused his wife to leave him shortly before the show's first season (during the fourth season he reveals that she is with his brother, who is nine inches shorter than him and wears a toupee). He then moved in with his mother (sleeping in the same bed), until the bank foreclosed on his house in Episode 5.24, "My Transition". Ted claims to suffer from stress-induced dyslexia, calling Dr. Kelso "Dr. Oslek" on one occasion.

Ted is part of an a cappella group, with three other administrative workers from around the hospital, called The Worthless Peons (played by Lloyd's real life band The Blanks).

Dr. Todd "The Todd" Quinlan, played by Robert Maschio, is a jockish surgical resident who is friends with Turk. Todd is known for turning every sentence into a double entendre, usually of a sexual nature (a skill he apparently works very hard at, claiming he "doesn't luck into these situations" and that it takes "lots of hard work"). He loves very powerful, often painful high fives, and has invented many highfive variants; including the Miracle Five, Mental Five, I Miss You Five, Self Five, Face Five, Betrayal Five, Tough-Break Five, Assisted Five, Sterile High Five, Air Five, Inflatable Five, Fist Five, Euphemism Five, Breast-Stroke Five and Make-it-Stop Five. However, despite his frat boy personality, lack of common sense and inability to spell, Todd is a highly skilled surgeon. Dr. Wen has called him the best surgical attendant in the hospital, and he is ranked second place among the surgical attendants in terms of surgical skills.

Todd wears very distinctive scrubs. Unlike the other characters in the show, Todd's scrubs are cut off at the shoulders leaving his arms in full view most of the time, which shows off the tattoo on his right biceps that reads "DOC". Also unlike the other doctors, The Todd's surgical scrub hats usually have colorful, Todd-like patterns (such as scantily-clad women or streaks of fire) printed on them. He is also commonly seen sporting speedos (or "banana hammocks") and insists that anyone sleeping over at his apartment "hammock up."

There have been numerous hints that Todd's excessive boorishness towards women is over-compensation for homosexuality, and Episode 5.20, My Lunch, he even comes out to Carla and Elliot. However, it turns out he is lying, because "chicks dig gay dudes." It is confirmed in this episode that he has had sex with a number of women around the hospital, but later in the same episode, he continues to display an attraction to men. This is perhaps because he could be bisexual. In fact, in episode 4.14, "My Lucky Charm," he states, "The Todd appreciates hot, regardless of gender." In the end of the episode 5.20, when asked directly what orientation he is, he simply replies "I'm The Todd". The Todd has also admitted that he made out with his mother. The Todd also has a unibrow that he waxes regularly.

Jordan Sullivan, played by Christa Miller, is Dr. Cox's acerbic ex-wife and current partner, and a hospital employee. Through most of the show, she was a member of the hospital’s board of directors, and so would only appear at the hospital on occasion, and would act quite hostile towards most of the hospital’s employees. As such, much of her role on the show was originally focused on her and Cox’s private relationship (although this has changed in recent years since Jordan became a full-time employee at the hospital).

Although not much is known about Jordan's personal background, a few details of her life have been revealed throughout the course of the show. Dr. Cox implies on one occasion that Jordan is five years younger than him, which would probably place her birth somewhere around 1967. She has a sister named Danni (played by Tara Reid), who dated J.D., and a (now deceased) brother named Ben (played by Brendan Fraser) who was Dr. Cox's best friend. Her father, Quinn, occupied a position in the hospital board of directors, a position which Jordan inherited after his death. She had an abortion when she was 19 after being impregnated by her then-boyfriend's best friend, who she says was the first man she'd ever been with (in another episode, however, she claims to have given up a baby while she was in high school).

It appears that she and Dr. Cox have known each other for a very long time, at least since Dr. Cox was an intern (approximately 20 years ago). Although it isn't clear when their relationship started, it is known that they were already a couple by the time Cox occupied the position of Chief Resident at the hospital. They would eventually marry, only to get divorced five years later (shortly before the show's first season) due to Jordan's infidelity (specifically, she cheated on Cox with his then-protégé and former co-worker, Dr. Pete Fisher). Their separation would last approximately 18 months, during which Cox and Jordan maintained a meaningless, strictly sexual relationship.

They officially became a couple again during the show's second season, after Jordan showed up unexpectedly carrying Dr. Cox's child, Jack. Although he was initially unaware that he was the father (Jordan had lied by saying it was the child of a "Greek bellboy" because she didn't want Cox to feel pressured into being with her), he would eventually find out at the end of the second season, some time after Jack had been born. Since then, Cox and Jordan have rebuilt their relationship and now live together (though they have chosen not to get married), and she has shown herself to be a good mother. Though she and Cox constantly bicker, it is occasionally implied that this is merely their own twisted way of showing affection to each other, and on one occasion, was comically presented as an analogy for the sexual component in their relationship ("My Self-Examination"). Even though Jordan constantly berates and insults Cox, she has also been shown to be a loving partner who craves his respect and approval ("My Changing Ways"), and cares for him very deeply ("My Lucky Charm"). In "My Transition", it was revealed that she is pregnant with their second child.

Jordan is possibly the only person to top Dr. Cox in vindictiveness, coldness, and overall unpleasantness. She is certainly his only rival for sheer sarcasm, and is seemingly the only person able to effectively retort to Cox's many remarks and rants. She has stated on several occasions that she "feel[s] dead inside" and seems to feel minimal emotions, if any. Despite her attitude, however, she has been shown to be incredibly loyal to those she feels close to (whether this is out of friendship or sheer possessiveness is a different question, however), and on one occasion even helped series protagonist J.D. break up with his domineering girlfriend ("My Female Trouble"). In recent years, and despite her vindictiveness, she has attempted to soften her personality after obtaining a full-time position at the hospital and becoming pregnant for a second time, and has since become friendly with Carla and Elliot.

Laverne Roberts, played by Aloma Wright, is a nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital who spends her days at the hospital watching soap operas and keeping up with intra-office gossip. She has made many comments about others having to "answer to Jesus", implying a Christian background. Although her husband and son, (Mr. Roberts and Lester respectively) have been mentioned many times, like Dr. Kelso’s wife Enid, they remain unseen characters. She nicknamed her breasts "Paris" and "Nicky", but denied that this was after the Hilton sisters ("Other way around" was her defiant riposte). Throughout the run of the show (according to DVD commentary), Nurse Roberts is the only member of the hospital staff that can intimidate everyone else, including Dr. Cox, The Janitor, and Dr. Kelso.

Harrison Kelso is the often mentioned (though as-yet unseen) flamboyantly gay son of Dr. Bob Kelso. He seems to have been quite a rebel throughout his life, but though his relationship to his father appears strained, Kelso seemingly accepts his son's orientation. Harrison arrived late for his father's 50th birthday with freshly pierced nipples and a barely legal Filipino boy called Pogo. Harrison also dabbles in sado-masochism. It is also mentioned that Harrison has a "gimp" named Barry.

Harrison appears to resent his father, having staged a scathing play called "Dr. Dad", which had a certain degree of success. It is later revealed that this play is a front for a methamphetamine lab. Harrison even dated the lead actor of his play. It is also revealed in season 5 that he has a boyfriend named Winston (in a postcard sent to his father, the two are dressed as Tonto and the Lone Ranger).

Harrison also had a rebellious youth. He was a fan of heavy metal and is described by Kelso as "a bit of a headbanger". He was also homeless for a short time, after being kicked out of his hare krishna sect for being "too much of a hippie".

Keith Dudemeister, played by Travis Schuldt is the best of J.D.’s interns. On his first day ("My Intern's Eyes"), he was very timid, with only one item on the to-do list he carried around: "Find courage to talk." With J.D.'s encouragement, he eventually grew more confident with his abilities. Ironically, J.D. took an instant dislike to him because of his newfound confidence. In one instance he gave all his other interns nicknames, in reference to Keith's unusual last name. A year after Keith started dating Elliot, J.D. had warmed up to him.

Season 5 of Scrubs often focused on J.D.'s relationships with his group of interns, which included:

• Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio, played by Shaughn Buchholz, was J.D.'s favorite intern, but turned out to be incompetent when it came to the medical world. J.D. had to fire him, but, before leaving, Cabbage accidentally spread an infection to Mrs. Wilk, which would later cause her death. He is later seen in Season 6 working at a coffee shop.
• Gloria, played by Christina Miles, is outrageously older than all the other interns. She is dating Leonard the (the black afroed, hook handed) Security Guard. She also has an odd propensity for waving.
• Lisa, played by Jordan Zucker, is an overly competitive intern who is often aggravated at Elliot's blatant favoritism of Keith.
• Rex, played by Aaron Ikeda, is an Asian intern who is often picked on and/or put in an awkward situation. He lost the tip of an index finger to a patient in one episode and has his chest opened up by J.D. with a buzzsaw in another episode.
• Mark "Wolfman" Cabbage is one of J.D.'s interns who is overly hairy, though J.D. tells him the nickname is because of his "keen sense of smell." His last name and Jason Cabbagio's nickname, "Cabbage" cause some confusion.
• Crazy Barry was seen in one episode where it is revealed that he can not work around children (most likely due to a court order).

Over the years, quite a few employees of Sacred Heart Hospital – who often started off simply as background characters – have made appearances as characters on the show. These include:

• Leonard, played by producer Randall Winston, is the hospital's security guard who is recognized by his giant afro and hook-hand. It's a running joke that people tend to associate him more with his afro than his hand. He is dating J.D.’s intern Gloria. He doesn't allow bouncing basketballs in the hallways, and has confiscated (and popped) Turk's, because of J.D., on more then one occasion. Leonard lost his hand after it got caught in an ice machine, and received a $5,000,000 settlement from the hospital.
• Dr. Mickhead, played by Frank Encarnacao, who has been seen and mentioned several times throughout the show. One of the first mentions of his name was brought up in a joke ("You should hear what the interns are calling Dr. Mickhead"). In Season 3, Dr. Kevin Casey helped him to quit his addiction to huffing paint. A small story arc in Season 5 involved his involvement in the murder of his wife. He can be seen smoking outside the hospital at the the beginning of My American Girl. He has been around since the show started but back then he was only an extra. He was previously nicknamed "Black Haired Doctor" but that was changed.
• Randall Winston, played by Martin Klebba, a dwarf who works as a janitor and is also friends with the main Janitor and wrestles him from time to time. J.D. has frights about him punching crotches and remarks about the "powerful tiny fists" whenever he sees or thinks about Randall. Part of Hibbleton, the Janitor's band. He is the current president of the janitors' union. Character is named for one of the show's producers who also plays Leonard the Security Guard.
• Dr. Jeffrey Steadman, played by Matt Winston, is a brown-noser to Dr. Kelso. He was J.D.'s and Elliot's resident when they were interns. He was last seen trying to obtain the position of Residency Director (which eventually went to Dr. Cox) at the hospital during the third season. He regularly plays golf with Dr. Kelso, and in one occasion mentioned that he has a husband.
• Troy, played by Joe Rose, a cafeteria worker and sometimes sidekick of the Janitor. Not very intelligent, but hates J.D. as he, without thinking, said Troy was stupid. Part of Hibbleton, the Janitor's band. It has been insinuated that Troy is an ex-con and attended Yale.
• "Crazy-Eyes" Margo is a friend of the Janitor and is, along with Troy and Randall, part of his brain trust. Janitor helped reunite Margo with her birth mother, a "tree person". Margo also enjoys gangster rap like Ludacris and supposedly sold her children.
• Dr. Zeltzer, played by Bob Clendenin, a skilled oncologist who enjoys prostitutes and seems to have rather unusual sexual tastes (he and his wife once drugged Dr. Cox and Jordan with roofies and remarked "Party time..."). Also, in an episode where a patient has a lightbulb in his rectum, he said "That's why my wife and I use candles."
• Dr. Hedrick, played by Dave Foley, is Sacred Heart's grief counselor. He helped J.D. and Dr. Cox cope with the death of one of their favorite patients, and has been seen intermittently since. Dr. Kelso destroyed Hedrick's bike with his car. He also makes a brief reappearence in Season Six, episode "My House."
• Lloyd the Delivery Guy, played by writer Mike Schwartz, is a member of the Air Band with Turk, Ted, and the Janitor. He plays air drums. He has been in rehab and is now sober, but in an early episode was a patient at the hospital after getting his penis stuck in a flashlight.
• Franklyn, played by Masi Oka, a nerdy Japanese laboratory assistant. He dislikes pulling strings and sometimes outright rejects analysis.
• Hooch, played by Phill Lewis, is a surgeon whom Turk and J.D like to mess with. When he was first introduced, he was an easy-going guy, but during an episode where Turk and J.D. repeatedly said his name, he gradually became angrier and eventually snapped. Hooch is now very aggressive; he once knocked a man out with his shoe for trying to exit an elevator he was guarding for J.D. Upon seeing Hooch's extreme behavior, J.D. and Turk habitually respond with "Hooch is crazy." J.D. and Turk manage to pair him with another doctor, Turner, in one episode to create what J.D. describes as "a super medical crime-fighting team." Hooch briefly replaced Turk as J.D's best friend, and was given the nickname Chocolate Bear 2.
• Dr. Kim, played by Lo Ming, who makes all his patients take off their pants, no matter what the issue.
• Lisa the Gift Shop Girl, played by Sarah Lancaster, the attractive girl who runs the Sacred Heart Gift Shop. She briefly dates J.D. She is later revealed to still work at the hospital, but J.D. can't see her because she wears a wedding ring.
• Nurse Tisdale, played by Monica Allgeier, the hottest nurse at the hospital. In the episode "My Ocardial Infarction" J.D. talks of a plan that the Todd made up trying to see her thong by placing sugar packets on the floor.
• Colonel Doctor, a doctor who nobody seems to know the name of, yet gets his nickname from bearing a striking resemblance to Colonel Sanders. The Janitor watches surveillance footage of him using the bathroom so he can "freak him out" by guessing how many times he went during a given day. Like Dr. Mickhead he has been around since the show began but he was only an extra.
• Dr. Beardfacé was formerly the fastest appendectomy at Sacred Heart until Turk took the title, a moment Turk considers one of his greatest. He is often annoyed that people pronounce his name "Beard Face". Like Dr. Mickhead and Colonel Doctor he was a long time extra, however unlike them he started in the second season.
• Snoop Dogg Intern was mentioned during one episode by J.D. (he asked "Where my ho's at?". J.D. replied "I haven't seen them") J.D. has stated that Doctor Kevin Casey said good bye to him when Elliot was saying "He didn't even say goodbye" ("My Porcelain God").
• Dr. Jim Bianca usually referred to as the "albino doctor from radiology", has been mentioned in at least 3 episodes, but remains an unseen character. Has cheated on his wife with Nurse Tisdale and various other women in the hospital.
• Irv, played by an unknown actor, was a security guard who had to be "let go", according to Turk and Carla, when he tried to smother a patient to death who had made fun of his weight problem.
• Dr. Matthews, played by Jay Kenneth Johnson, is Carla's gynecologist at the hospital. He is considered extremely attractive by the female staff, especially Jordan, who often makes unnecessary gynecological appointments in order to see him.

Important roles have been played by:

• Nicole Sullivan, as flighty and nervous recurring patient Jill Tracy. She and Elliot got along extremely well due to how alike they are. She was known to suffer from depression and relationship problems, which became more extreme up until the day she died. She was originally misdiagnosed as fatally overdosing on cocaine, but the cause was later revealed to be rabies.
• Elizabeth Bogush as Alex Hanson, a social worker at the hospital and who dated J.D. during the first season. She was revealed to be a drug addict.
• John Ritter, as J.D.'s father Sam Dorian. As on 8 Simple Rules, Scrubs featured an episode dealing with the character's death, following the real-life death of Ritter.
• Kelli Williams, as Kristen Murphy, Turk's medical student and Dr. Cox's love interest.
• Scott Foley, as Elliot's two-time ex-boyfriend Sean Kelly.

• Brendan Fraser, as Jordan's brother and Dr. Cox's best friend Ben Sullivan, who died of a sudden heart attack during season three. He previously had leukemia but he went into remission. He and J.D. are skilled in playing a game of remembering female nude scenes from movies.
• Tom Cavanagh, as J.D.'s sneaky older brother Dan, who still lives with his mother in his home town and works at a bar. J.D. is slightly embarrassed of him, which Dan is aware of. Dan was aware that J.D. did look up to him at one time when they were younger, but realizes that it's Dr. Cox that J.D. looks up to now. Dan later asks Cox to promise him that he'll never have a reason to let J.D. down, and Cox promises to uphold that. He also had a fling with Elliot Reid, J.D.'s on-again-off-again girlfriend. Cavanagh was apparently chosen due to his physical similarity to Zach Braff.
• Heather Locklear, as Julie, a representative of a pharmaceutical company, lusted after by the men of the hospital. Had a relationship with Dr. Cox which lasted less than a full episode, as Jordan came back, interested in renewing their relationship.
• D.L. Hughley, as Turk's rambunctious brother Kevin. He is divorced, claiming he "got the hell out of there", when in actuality his wife took the kids and left him.
• Dick Van Dyke, in the second season as Dr. Townshend, Kelso's opposite in terms of relation to the staff, J.D.'s attending for one episode. Reluctantly fired by old friend Kelso (who began his career the same time) for a botched checkup on a patient and refusing to follow contemporary methods of treatment.
• Freddy Rodríguez, as Carla's brother and Turk's nemesis Marco. Initially Marco didn't speak English (which is a lie) until Turk (who found out) intentionally angered Marco into losing his cool and blowing up at him in front of Carla.
• Rick Schroder as slightly controlling male nurse ("murse") Paul Flowers, whom Elliot dated during the 2nd season.
• Amy Smart, as J.D.'s drama-creating one-time love interest, and wife of a comatose car crash victim, Jamie Moyer or Tasty Coma Wife (TCW).
• Ryan Reynolds, as J.D. and Turk's deadpan college buddy Spence.
• Tara Reid, as Jordan's sister and J.D.'s two-time ex-girlfriend, Danni Sullivan.
• Michael J. Fox, as Dr. Kevin Casey, a medical attending and also a surgeon with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Has a good rapport with Cox in bossing the younger staff around. He also is the only doctor shown in the series (except possibly Kelso) whose medical genius rivals Cox's.
• Lela Lee as Bonnie, a fellow surgeon who had a brief rivalry with Turk in Season 2 for Dr. Wen's attention.
• Bellamy Young as Dr. Miller, in the middle of Season 3 was one of the new surgeons and is at times the female version of Dr. Cox in regards to her personality. Dr. Cox was at one point attracted to her.
• Heather Graham as attending psychiatrist Dr. Molly Clock, whom J.D. had a crush on and was Elliot's friend and mentor. She was notable for being completely impervious to Dr. Cox's sarcastic barbs.
• Molly Shannon as a talkative and hyperactive ambulance driver who Dr. Cox had to work.
• Julianna Margulies, as cold-hearted malpractice attorney Neena Broderick.
• Matthew Perry as Murray Marks, the son of a patient who needed a transplant from his son. He finds out that he was in fact adopted but still agrees to do the surgery. A running gag during this episode was that he thought his name "Murray" was an old man name, and every time someone called him lots of old patients appeared.
• Josh Randall, as Elliot's boyfriend Jake, who was introduced towards the end of the 4th season.
• Cheryl Hines as Paige, Dr. Cox's born-again Christian sister who reminds him of their troubled childhood and abusive father.
• Jason Bateman as Mr. Sutton, an unappreciative patient who raises ostriches in Season 5. Bateman was originally slated to play a larger role, but was unable to because shooting of the episode followed surgery to remove throat polyps. There is speculation that he will reprise his role in a later episode. Braff made an appearance in Bateman's FOX sitcom Arrested Development in 2004.
• Michael Learned as Mrs. Wilk, a kind and genial patient whose lengthy stay at the hospital and apparent recovery were ultimately for naught when she succumbed to an unexpected infection.
• Elizabeth Banks as Dr. Kim Briggs, a divorced surgeon and love interest of J.D.'s near the conclusion of Season 5. In the last episode of the season, it was revealed that she was pregnant. At the beginning of Season 6, J.D. recalls that he and Dr. Briggs never had sex but their baby was conceived through a premature ejaculation. At the end of the second episode of Season 6, J.D. and Briggs decide to keep the child after witnessing the birth of Turk's child, Isabella. In "My House", she accepts a position in a hospital located in Tacoma, Washington, and will return in approximately 4 months.

Cameo Appearances where the actor is implied to be an employee at the hospital.

Gary Busey, appeared as Doctor (unnamed), after a lecture from Carla wanting a Sacred Heart Employee Picture. Elliot comments that she always looks like Gary Busey in photos. The camera follows her out of scene to reveal the real Gary Busey who says "They say the same thing about me," before laughing. Turk then says to him "See you later, Elliot." He is seen wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard (dressed in same manner as Dr. Cox) thus implying he is another physician in the hospital.

Many cast members of the sitcom Spin City, which was co-created by Scrubs' creator Bill Lawrence, have guest starred on Scrubs. In addition to Michael J. Fox and Heather Locklear, mentioned above, Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Barry Bostwick, Alexander Chaplin, and Richard Kind have appeared.

Other guests: Polyphonic Spree, Clay Aiken, Fred "Rerun" Berry, Gary Busey, Carrot Top, David Copperfield, Lee Ermey, Erik Estrada, Colin Farrell, Dave Foley, Colin Hay, Sean Hayes, Phill Lewis, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Meloni, Jay Mohr, Mandy Moore, Frank Maharajh, John Bennett Perry, Mary-Kate Schellhardt, George Takei, Larry Thomas, Jimmie Walker, Billy Dee Williams, Hattie Winston, Ben Heff, DJ Qualls, William Daniels and Blue Man Group.