Elite has some of the most memorable characters in today’s TV streaming landscape. And just like us normal un-elite people, they all have their imperfections and have had questionable moments. Despite this, some of them have were able to worm their way into our hearts, while some have just been downright unlikeable. In this list, you’ll see the Elite characters ranked from worst to best.
The criteria is… there is no criteria! However, it will most likely boil down to two things: (1) likeability — including their character development and my personal affinity for them — as well as (2) their overall importance in the show — referring to how much drama they caused.
We’ll only be taking a look at the 15 Las Encinas students (plus Nano) whose journeys we watched in the first three seasons of Elite. So no, people like the Detective, random season 1 professor Martín, and the parents are not included here no matter how iconic Ander’s mom is.
Since we don’t know much about the Elite Season 4 characters as of the time of writing, they are also not part of this particular Elite character ranking. But if you want to learn more about them, you can view some info in our guide here. Spoilers ahead!
Deciding who should come in last place in this Elite character ranking was a tough call between Yeray (played by Sergio Momo) and the 15th person in the list. In the end though, I went with Yeray because he just did not bring enough riveting drama to the show. Was he ever a legitimate threat to Carla and Samuel? No. Did we ever relate to his story as a successful young start-up founder who lost a lot of weight and became hot? No.
Was he ever the most interesting character in a screen? No, Carla always stole their scenes.
Yeray was only able to accept that Carla really didn’t like him when he saw her drugged-up. I mean how messed up is that?
This isn’t a knock on the actor since he just played with what he was given. I think his storyline with Carla was the only obvious misstep in an otherwise perfect third season. We love seeing Sergio Momo and Ester Expósito hang out in each other’s IG Stories, though.
If I’m being honest, I hated Malick (played by Leïti Sène) more than Yeray. In fact, just watching Malik frustrated me even before he showed his true colors. Introduced as the polar opposite of Guzman and potential love interest for Nadia, my Guznadia heart just didn’t like him because his “kindness” was obviously fake.
But even if I knew he was being phony AF, what he did as the season progressed was even more despicable: destroy Omander. We will get into that whole debacle later on because to Malick’s credit, it does take two to tango.
He was obviously placed in the show to add some drama, but to the show’s credit, it freaking worked. At least his presence made me feel something which is more than what I could say for Yeray. Even if those feelings were mostly negative, it was the emotion that the writers were hoping to get from the viewers.
I’m just glad he was able to help out Nadia and Lu in the end and leave Las Encinas for good. I just hope that the damage he had caused in the Omar and Ander characters was not irreparable.
I would like to apologize to Rebe (played by Claudia Salas) fans, but this is more of a critique against the writers and not the character. To be honest, I like this girl. She’s feisty, she’s real, and she’s one of the more sane ones.
But I’m struggling to think of a storyline that got me invested in her. I obviously remember her drug lord of a mother and all the drug-selling she was doing later on. Did it stir any emotions in me though? Not really.
There was one moment where I remember her clearly: when all the other students stood up for her when she was about to get expelled. It almost brought tears to my eyes, but you could replace Rebe with any of the characters and I’d feel the same.
So let’s hope that she gets a more interesting storyline in the next season.
READ: ‘Elite’: All Couples Ranked from Best to Worst, Throuples Included
Oops. This is probably the first unpopular opinion in my Elite character ranking, and I actually didn’t want to place him this low due to the potential backlash. But you know… journalistic integrity and all.
Samuel/Samu (played by Itzan Escamilla) is a great example of being a Vanilla Protagonist. Think Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother, or Spongebob Squarepants. Since the series revolves around them, they suffer from having to be “plainer” than the rest of the characters to balance everything out.
I totally get the presence of their type, but in a crazy Spanish teen drama like Elite, being boring is a sin. Despite having traits of a rootable lead, Samuel is a safe character that makes him easily fades into the background.
He’s not morally good all the time. Nor is he Satan.
I enjoy him most when he’s with Guzman, who started to form an unlikely friendship due to circumstance. They mesh together well because of their differences in personalities — the biggest one being Guzman’s impulsiveness, and Samuel’s rational decision-making.
It was a tough decision ranking Nano (played by Jaime Lorente) above Samuel in my Elite character ranking, especially when my memory of the first season is a bit hazy after all the awesomeness of the following seasons. But I look back at his character, and I can say that he really brought a lot of drama then.
Nano was definitely the more interesting one of the Domínguez brothers (if you’re interested in learning the last names of all Elite characters, check out our guide) and was pivotal to many plot-centric moments in season 1. Stealing the watch of Carla’s dad, the reveal of Marina’s HIV-positive status, and Marina’s pregnancy wouldn’t have been possible without him.
Nano was misunderstood and had a lot of enemies, but he wasn’t necessarily a bad person. I wouldn’t mind seeing them wrap up his storyline more definitively in a future season.
I acknowledge that his story may not be “sexy”, and he is hardly sympathetic, but he was a much-needed wedge between Samuel and Marina who just felt wrong and icky together.
When I think of Valerio (played by Jorge López) and where he fits in the Elite character ranking, I want to place him at a high position. But there’s just something… unremarkable about him.
That’s saying a lot about him because he was involved in two of the most scandalous relationships in the show: his incestuous relationship with half-sister Lu, and his throuple-mance with Cayetana and Polo. He was also the catalyst to Guzman and Nadia’s sextape being leaked.
So despite all this, why have I found myself not liking nor disliking him? If someone has the answer to the question, tell me. I think he peaked when he played with Lu’s vajayjay under the dinner table to expose all the creepy incest to their father.
Somewhere along the second season, Valerio and Jorge López won over the fans and the writers had to put him in the third season even if he didn’t serve much of a purpose there. Even his final moment in the show where he ends up being the manager of Carla’s winery came out of left field.
Marina (played by María Pedraza) is the definition of hot mess; I literally designed this tier for her. Starting off the series as a sympathetic girl who makes sure Samuel finds his place in Las Encinas, she soon reveals herself to be a manipulative but misunderstood girl.
I hate to say this, but Marina was the perfect murder victim.
She was trying to be a better person but was also making enemies left and right in the process. There was a certain darkness to her that we saw slowly creep in the second half of the first season. Eventually, all of her lies and scheming led up to her death.
As a fan of Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks and Alison DiLaurentis in Pretty Little Liars, I can appreciate a complex character like Marina. I am ranking her this low though because her likeability just went down the drain as we saw her bad side jump out.
The first time Cayetana (played by Georgina Amorós) was introduced in the show, I don’t think anyone expected her to be a wild loose cannon as she turned out to be. I honestly think she’s the most polarizing character because you either love to hate her, or just plain hate her.
My journey with her started with thinking that she was just Carla 2.0 (starting a relationship with Polo didn’t help), but then we find out that she has actually just been faking her lavish lifestyle all the time. I was so entertained with how she tried to hide her secret from everyone, and the eventual reveal of her lie.
While lying isn’t really a “likeable” character trait, I was able to feign some sympathy for her because of my enjoyment of watching her make a huge-ass mess out of herself.
And then… season 3 happened. Not only did she force Polo to keep the secret even if the guilt was killing him, but she made sure that he couldn’t transfer schools by spreading fake tweets in his name. It was so frustrating to watch, and her likeability just went to zero after that.
I don’t believe for a second that she had nothing but selfish intentions when she did what she did.
Since then, I’ve had no sympathy for her, but I’m willing to give her a chance to redeem herself in the fourth season. Nonetheless, she has consistently brought a lot of drama and entertainment to the show which I can’t penalize her for.
Christian (played by Miguel Herrán) was the most likeable character among those who departed the show early. This goof was a big personality that stole the spotlight in the scenes that he was in. He brought some harmless fun into the show despite being written off pretty violently.
In his short stay, we won’t forget his friendship with Nano, and his polyamorous relationship with Carla and Polo. I know this storyline shocked a lot of viewers, but in my opinion, it was never overtly trashy and tied itself neatly to the main mystery later on.
I have nothing against Christian, but he was just ranked this low because we weren’t really able to explore his character as deeply as we did with the others.
Guzman (played by Miguel Bernardeau) is the jerk with a gold heart. It was easy to dislike him due to his — and pardon the pun — elitist behavior against Samuel, Nadia, and Christian in the first couple of episodes. But as we saw his protective brother side come out, we started to root for him.
It was actually when Marina was murdered that Guzman started to become more appreciative of the people around him. That includes his ex-rival and now good friend, Samuel. And of course, his weakness for Nadia has shown what he is willing to do anything for the woman he loves. Their romance brought nothing but good vibes from us despite being doomed from the beginning.
Out of everyone in the show, I do believe Guzman is the best and most loyal friend out of all of them. He was supportive of Ander through his coming out and his cancer treatment. And let’s not forget that he was able to forgive the person who murdered his beloved sister.
Raise your hand if you hated Lu in the first two seasons of Elite!
Lu (played by Danna Paola) was constantly stirring drama in the show. It was tough defending this girl because of her overwhelming insecurity and manipulativeness, but somehow and some way, she came around in the third season.
All her snarky remarks and scheming were obviously a front for someone who had never been the “first choice” in her life — whether it’s by her crush Guzman, her friend Carla, or her father. It was only in the second season when we started to see through the walls that she built.
And when her whole world crumbled in the third season thanks to Valerio, she started to humble herself and grow into a better person.
When I look back at Lu’s entire character arc, I couldn’t help but be proud of her. She was definitely ready to be sent off by the last episode of the third season.
You can’t argue that she brought a lot of entertainment in her stay. From kickstarting a scandalous bet with Guzman to try and humiliate Nadia in the first season, to her incestuous relationship and charity gala-turned-Las-Encinas-exposed party in the second season, and to her character redemption in the third season, she was never dull. This is the #1 reason why she’s so high up in our Elite character ranking.
When the least remarkable thing about you is accidentally killing someone, then you know you’ve had an eventful life.
We just hope that her friendship with Nadia is forever because that was honestly one of the best things to come out of the last season.
While he has never been the focal point, Omar (played by Omar Ayuso) has progressively made a bigger impact in the show. He was introduced as Ander’s romantic interest at the beginning of the series which made him an instant favorite.
Their relationship had always been a focal point for Omar’s character development, and it kind of sucks that they couldn’t let him have his own thing going on. He seems pretty detached from the “main crowd” aside from being Ander’s arm candy and his admittedly cute friendship with Lu.
That said, we would love to see more interactions with him and the other cast members. If we’re excited about anything in the fourth season, it’s the fact that he’s now officially a student of Las Encinas.
There’s also the rocky relationship he has with his conservative dad which spoke to an issue that many gay teenagers face. It’s actually weird seeing a storyline in Elite be so grounded in reality, and we can’t help but sympathize with Omar’s struggles.
Most viewers turned on him in the third season because of his tryst with Malick, but hot take: I could kinda totally see why he did what he did. He and Ander were placed in a tough spot and neither of them knew how to react without hurting each other. But if Ander can forgive him, why can’t we?
And if you haven’t noticed, Omar is my personal bias so I was too quick in forgiving his mistakes.
Nadia (played by Mina El Hammani) probably ranks high in a lot of people’s Elite character ranking. It’s not surprising because she’s probably the most normal one out of all of them.
She has had quite the journey from being a judgmental and snobbish teenager with conservative views, to being the more laid-back and accepting version of herself when she graduated. Nadia might not have a big personality, but she has the biggest heart.
I don’t think anyone could stomach a guy like Guzman who initially saw taking her virginity as a medal to be won. Lu was unnecessarily mean to her when she first transferred to Las Encinas because she was simply the smarter one. Then her own brother betrayed her by sleeping with a guy she liked and was planning to move to New York with.
But what did Nadia do? She not only forgave all of them, but she was able to develop stronger bonds with those people.
There was nothing like seeing Nadia let loose for the first time in the nightclub!
I mean there wouldn’t even be an Elite if it wasn’t for him. Even before he was revealed to be Marina’s killer, Polo (played Álvaro Rico) was already interesting to watch because of his creepiness and hopeless devotion to Carla.
No one will ever forget the first time we really got to meet Polo: with his hand on his junk watching Carla and Christian get it on. Unfortunately, the monster that is jealousy started to make its way to the surface. What we thought was just going to be a fun polyamorous storyline was cut short when he struck Marina with the dreaded trophy.
Looking back, Polo was a tragic figure who somehow got what he deserved and then some. It was difficult watching him suffer from guilt — his attempted suicide, and his desperate pleas to leave the country. I got angry for him for putting the other characters through so much pain, but is it bad to say I felt sorry for him?
His descent to social outcast was honestly deserved, but it got to an uncomfortable degree where we just wanted his suffering to be over. Those sad puppy eyes didn’t help either. He just wanted to be loved!
Well Polo, you brought us a lot of entertainment. May you rest in peace.
I honestly believe Ander (played by Arón Piper) is the most universally-loved character in Elite. While I do find him a bit overrated, and I think that half the reason people love him is because of the man who plays the character, I just couldn’t imagine the show without him.
Ander had many notable storylines throughout the series’ run. Let’s start with the first season where he starts to explore his sexuality and enters a relationship with Omar. The process he underwent coming out to his friends and parents was a joy to watch after seeing him struggle with his sexual identity. As he started to embrace who he really was, here comes Hurricane Polo to ruin everything.
The Ander in the second season was tough to watch because he was one of the characters whom you just wanted to see happy. Learning that Polo killed Marina, the let he guilt take over him. He started to become emotional, pushing Omar and Guzman — the people who loved him the most — as far away from him as possible.
Then just when he was able to free from the shackles of his own guilt, he discovers he has cancer.
I mean, come on. Give Ander a break!
The thought of his own death did prove to us what we had already known about Ander: that he’s a genuinely good person. Putting Omar’s happiness over his, and being there for Polo and Guzman were some of the most standout character moments in the show.
While we are in awe of Sad Ander’s resilience and kindness, we hope that the writers bring back Happy Ander in Season 4.
In making this Elite character ranking, I don’t think it was ever a question for me that Carla (played by Ester Expósito) was going to be number one. She is Elite.
I don’t think Carla was planned to become as huge a character as she turned out to be, but thanks to Ester and the writers, Carla became many people’s lowkey favorite in the first season. Everyone remembers the badass moment when she ran away with Polo and Christian, and flashed the middle finger to her parents.
Then when the second season came, homegirl stole the freakin’ spotlight. She was doing a lot of work covering for Polo, starting a sexual cat-and-mouse game with Samuel, and playing detective on her father. It was so captivating watching her try to keep herself together through it all. And when she finally broke, it felt so satisfying to see the vulnerable girl behind the bitch exterior that she’s been projecting.
Unfortunately, the writers couldn’t keep the momentum going in the following season as she got stuck in a crappy storyline with Yeray that led to her “release” from her parents. I understood that it had to be done to conclude her character arc, but I wish it was done in a more… entertaining way.
We are going to pretend we didn’t watch that.
To give her credit though, she was always a highlight in the scenes that featured her.
Her relationship with Polo is also something that I love to think about sometimes. Their complicated relationship was one of the major highlights of the first three seasons of Elite for me. I believe that they were soulmates (in a non-traditional sense) and she does care for him a lot.
In a matter of three seasons, we saw her with the “perfect boyfriend”, the fallout with said boyfriend, the means she’d go to to protect him, the breakdown of her ridiculously strong walls, the rock bottom she had hit, and eventually, the freedom from her parents. It was quite the character arc that highlighted many facets of Carla’s personality.
The amount of exposure she got — and being a resilient and strong woman all throughout — is probably why a lot of people love her.
Now I want to ask you: what’s your Elite character ranking? Do you agree or disagree with some of our choices? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
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I’m sorry but I hate Omar so much. His character was good In season one. But then developed to be a pick me boy who thinks the word revolves around him. Remember when Malick cheated on Nadia with Omar. Omar’s best exuse was that ‘he needed to get it out of his system and Nadia also lies about other things.’ Then proceeds to say “we all have our faults”. Also the way he treated Samuel in season 5. He is defending bilal. (Someone who stole samuels laptop) and didn’t even try to return it. He also voted Samuel to be expelled from the school. Let’s not forget how he treated Ander after Ander let him stay at his house, RENT-FREE for almost two seasons!!!