Del Boy - Personality

Personality

Del Boy is a lively, happy-go-lucky, confident character. While not always successful, his general confidence and occasional forcefulness often persuade people to believe in him. From the sixth series on, he becomes a stereotypical yuppie of the late 1980s, pretending to be much more wealthy than he really is, as he tries to associate with the upper classes despite being obviously working class.

He is a habitual liar, particularly to women, customers, policemen and even his family and doctors. He lies even when it is against his best interests, such as when he claims to be a health freak while suffering from stomach pains, leading to his spending several days under observation in hospital rather than receiving an immediate diagnosis.

Del Boy is not always keen to express his love for his family and others, but this side of his nature is shown in numerous episodes, such as "Diamonds Are for Heather", "Strained Relations", "Dates", "The Yellow Peril" and "Little Problems". His care for his grandfather ("Grandad" – Lennard Pearce) is shown in "The Second Time Around", when Grandad confesses to having Trigger phone to tell Del that his fiancée, Pauline Harris, has killed her husband Bobby Finch by poisoning him.

Although engaged many times, he never marries. He has had many girlfriends, a fact that is the subject of numerous sarcastic jibes by Rodney. He finally meets his partner Raquel Turner (whom he calls his "significant other") in the 1988 special "Dates".