The following is a list of cast members and characters appearing on the ABC (seasons 1–6) and Fox (season 7–9) sitcom Last Man Standing.
Overview ActorCharacterSeasons123456789 Tim Allen Mike Baxter colspan="9" Nancy Travis Vanessa Baxter colspan="9" Alexandra Krosney Kristin Baxter-Vogelson colspan="8" Amanda Fuller colspan="8" Molly Ephraim Mandy Baxter-Anderson colspan="6" colspan="3" Molly McCook colspan="6" colspan="3" Kaitlyn Dever Eve Baxter colspan="6" colspan="3" Christoph Sanders Kyle Anderson colspan="9" Héctor Elizondo Ed Alzate colspan="9" Evan & Luke Kruntchev Boyd Baxter colspan="8" Flynn Morrison colspan="5" colspan="3" Jet Jurgensmeyer colspan="6" Nick Jonas Ryan Vogelson colspan="8" Jordan Masterson colspan="2" colspan="6" Jonathan Adams Chuck Larabee colspan="2" colspan="6" Krista Marie Yu Jen colspan="6" colspan="3"
Baxter family tree
*Character is mentioned, but does not appear in an episode. +As of Season 8, Bonnie Davidson is married to Ed Alzate.
Main cast Mike Baxter Mike Baxter (portrayed by Tim Allen) is the series' protagonist, Mike is married to Vanessa, and is the father of their three daughters. Mike runs the Outdoor Man webcast. He is the executive director of marketing for the Outdoor Man chain of sporting goods stores, with an office based in the Denver "flagship" store. He is a firm believer in traditional American values, is a Protestant and very politically conservative. Mike loves his daughters but is closest to Eve, the youngest and most intelligent and athletic daughter, and whose political opinions and interests mirror his own. He is proud of her ability to excel at anything she tries, including schoolwork, hunting, and sports. Mike often finds himself warring with Outdoor Man's young employee Kyle (who later becomes his son-in-law), and with Ryan, his atheist and politically liberal son-in-law married to his oldest daughter, and the father of his grandson Boyd. Prior to the events of the series, Mike traveled extensively for photo shoots of various outdoor adventures to promote Outdoor Man gear. As the series begins, Outdoor Man has shifted its advertising to a primarily digital platform, and Mike now mostly works out of his Denver office. The video blog or "vlog" that Mike does for Outdoor Man is frequently used as a vehicle to express his political and social views. Mike is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and an amateur radio operator using the call sign KA0XTT. Mike drives a green 1956 Ford F100, which he lovingly works on throughout the series. The truck is stolen in the series finale.
Vanessa BaxterVanessa Baxter (née Davidson; portrayed by Nancy Travis) is Mike's wife. Vanessa is a geologist working in the energy industry for a company that does hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking". In season four, Vanessa becomes frustrated with her job (as well as constant harassment from Ryan) and decides to go back to college to become a high-school science teacher. After being laid off as a teacher due to budget cuts, Vanessa begins her own tutoring business. Vanessa was ambiguous in her political views until season five, when she announced her support of Hillary Clinton for president, believing it will advance women's causes. She is frequently shown drinking copious amounts of wine, and is also frequently mocked by Mike and her daughters about it. She is a graduate of Ohio State University with a Master of Science degree in Physics and a PhD in Geology, and thus advanced farther in college than did Mike. She endlessly brags about her alma mater (which she tries to bully Eve into attending, despite her daughter's ambition to enter the U.S. military), and her extensive history of boyfriends (all of whom dumped her). Vanessa often makes attempts to be politically correct, but when trying to relate to people of other races, she generally causes humiliation for herself. Despite this, she and her African-American neighbor Carol Larabee eventually become good friends. Vanessa's humor involves punning, which amuses her greatly but irritates Mike and the girls to no end. Vanessa and Eve do not connect well (mainly because Eve has interests, hobbies and beliefs that are nearly identical to Mike's), and if Eve has a problem, Vanessa's forced conversation is generally torture for her, one of these intrusions costing her a boyfriend. In Season 8, Vanessa all but abandons her tutoring business (just as Mike buys her an office) to run for a state assembly position. She drops out of the race when her opponent receives the school board endorsement Vanessa coveted, but not before getting her main competition to embrace her ideas. In her home life, Vanessa is ecstatic to learn she's getting two new grandbabies (albeit a few months apart), but gets burned for trying to uncover a secret Kristin and Ryan have entrusted to Mike.
Kristin BaxterKristin Beth Baxter Vogelson (portrayed by Alexandra Krosney in season 1, Amanda Fuller in season 2-9) is the oldest daughter. Krosney portrayed Kristin in the show's first season (despite being nearly two years younger than Molly Ephraim, who played her younger sister Mandy); Krosney was replaced by Fuller before season two for unspecified creative reasons. Kristin, unlike her father, espouses liberal political views and her views with regard to Christianity seem ambiguous, however she does enjoy hunting, fishing, and other sporting activities, like her father. She is also pro-gun rights. During her senior year in high school, Kristin became pregnant with her son Boyd. She was a single mother living in the Baxter home until she moved out in the season-two finale. She begins to reconcile with Boyd's father, Ryan Vogelson, in season three, and the two get married between seasons four and five. Kristin worked at a diner until landing a job at an upscale restaurant run by a former co-worker at the end of season two. In season four, she becomes the manager of the new wild game restaurant opened by Outdoor Man. Kristin tends to work extra hard in this new job to prove she did not get the position through nepotism, despite Mike and Ed frequently telling her she was qualified. At the start of season 8, Kristin announced that she is expecting her second child, and only trusted Mike with the secret of it being a girl. Amanda Fuller directed the 18th episode of season 8 ("Garage Band"). Kristin gave birth to her daughter, whom she and Ryan named Evelyn (after Eve) between seasons 8 and 9. After the Season 9 time jump, the pandemic-stricken economy forces the Outdoor Man Grill to close (hopefully temporarily), though Kristin manages to transfer her staff into the store, avoiding any layoffs and saving recruiting costs. Impressed by this, Mike decides Kristin will be his successor as head of Outdoor Man when he eventually retires.
Mandy BaxterAmanda Elaine "Mandy" Baxter-Anderson (portrayed by Molly Ephraim in season 1-6, Molly McCook in season 7-9) is the middle daughter: Although she is not the best academically (she has a penchant for cutting class, ignoring homework and flirting for better grades), she excels in social situations. Interested in fashion and little else, she was one of the most popular girls at her high school, having dated or slept with nearly every male student, and a few teachers, which may be the only way she ever graduated. Mandy is very confident and creative, demonstrating traits found in her father. She is also lazy, conceited, promiscuous, insulting, and delinquent – she drinks underage, ignores all driving laws, shoplifts from Outdoor Man, has been caught staying out all night, and there area many implications that she has smoked cannabis – but occasionally she can display moments of generosity and caring. (She flew a relative of Blanca's home from Afghanistan one Christmas, gave a homeless woman a makeover so she could ace a job interview, and listed big sister Kristin as her hero in her college applications.) Her loose morals and willingness to break all rules paints Mandy as the daughter most like Vanessa, and in no good way. Despite this, Mandy shockingly started dating "nice guy" Kyle in Season 2. As of Season 3, she attends a local community college and works at the diner where Kristin used to work. It has been implied that she has ADHD when she takes some of Boyd's ADD medication and starts doing well on her college tests. Later that same season, she begins an online clothing business, selling her self-designed fashions which she assembles in the basement of her parents' house. Kyle asks her to marry him in Season 5, the 100th episode. She marries Kyle in Season 6, and they lived in the Baxter home until the finale of season 7. Up until she turned 21, a running gag on the show was Mike, Vanessa, and occasionally Kristin snatching glasses of alcohol out of Mandy's hand, usually followed by Mandy making a lame excuse. Ephraim was replaced by Molly McCook prior to the season 7 revival on FOX due to Ephraim choosing not to return. As an in-joke for the season 7 premiere, Kyle finally noticed that Mandy got taller and did not comment on her hair being blonde. Since her marriage, Mandy has done everything possible to avoid conceiving a child, but never bothering to tell husband Kyle that she's not ready for motherhood. That changes at the start of season 8, when she confides that she and Kyle are trying for real to conceive. Also in season 8, Mandy gets an opportunity to design a new casual clothing line for Outdoor Man. The penultimate episode of this season reveals that Mandy is pregnant. In the season 9 premiere, it is revealed that during the time jump Mandy had a daughter named Sarah (born via midwife in Mike and Vanessa's bed) and that she, Kyle, and Sarah moved back in with Mike and Vanessa. They later moved into Kristin and Ryan's garage apartment.
Eve BaxterEve Baxter, (portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever; series regular, seasons 1–6; recurring, seasons 7–9) is the youngest daughter. Eve is intelligent and athletic, and generally has the same interests as Mike, including camping, sports, guns, and the military. She also has conservative views like Mike. She is Mike's favorite daughter, and excels at her hobbies. She frequently outplays the boys in soccer and makes the school's football team as their placekicker. She is well aware of being the favorite over her two sisters, but does not lord it over them (at least not Kristin, but Mandy's endless stream of idiocy leaves her wide open for ridicule). Eve also shares her father's sense of humor, and her sardonic wit is frequently directed at her brainless sister Mandy and hypocrite brother-in-law Ryan. Eve is an excellent student, whose only weak subject is art, though she did have to change math classes to escape a difficult, misogynist, high-standard teacher. Eve is a member of Army Junior ROTC and works toward gaining admittance to West Point. Her attempt to do so is unsuccessful, which seriously depresses her, so in season six, Eve decides to take a "personal year" rather than immediately attend college. She spends some of this time singing and playing guitar for money, but this proves to be unfruitful. She had more success working at Outdoor Man and volunteering for a Habitat for Humanity-style local charity. During her gap year, Eve applies to the Air Force Academy in nearby Colorado Springs (without telling either parent), and is accepted. Over her mother's objections, Eve chooses to enlist in the Academy. In season seven, Cadet 4th Class Baxter is only a recurring character as she is now enrolled at the Academy. (This was due to Dever's commitments to the Netflix miniseries Unbelievable.) Due to Dever's continued busy schedule, Eve is again a recurring character in seasons 8 and 9. In the series finale, Eve reveals she has just flown a jet at supersonic speed for the first time.