Editing Alan Harper (section)

== Personality ==
Alan is extremely stingy and almost never pays for the smallest thing, be it a meal or the rent. For twelve years, he never paid a dime to live in Charlie's beach house in Malibu, even after his brother died. Although Alan was initially more concerned with being there for [[Jake Harper|Jake]] or reconciling with [[Judith Harper-Melnick|Judith]], Alan's evolution from struggling father to victim of the universe to shameless con man becomes more and more apparent. Alan will do anything to get money, dirty or otherwise. In "A Live Woman of Proven Fertility," he bribed Jake into liking Judith's fiancé [[Herb Melnick]] so he wouldn't have to pay alimony, and in "Three Hookers and a Philly Cheesesteak," he set up a huge Ponzi scheme to swindle his friends and family out of $50,000, but quickly spent the money on himself, plunging him into massive debt". Perhaps the most memorable and certainly the least dignified moment was when he ran fully clothed into the sea to get Walden's expensive rhodium and Platinum ring back. in "A Fishbowl Full of Glass Eyes". However, you can't put all the blame for his miserliness on Alan. During the divorce proceedings, Charlie slept with his expensive lawyer and later left her, prompting her to increase the alimony payments in revenge, leaving him with virtually nothing. This situation worsened when he and [[Kandi (Two and a Half Men)|Kandi]] divorced. However, there is evidence that Alan's stingy and frugal attitude towards money existed before he was dependent on alimony. When Alan defends his inability to pay for Jake's outing by saying "I'm not stingy, I'm broke," Charlie tells Jake that "he was stingy long before he was broke." This is probably because as Alan got older and his misfortune and bad luck piled up, he realised that he'd never really succeed and began to abandon his morals.

One of Alan's contrasting traits to his brother is his aversion to hard liquor (bourbon, scotch, whiskey, etc.) and his fondness for light beer and Appletini's, much to Charlie's chagrin.

Despite facing a lot of harsh treatment from others, Alan's genuinely annoying attitude and loudly mocking character make him a difficult person to be around. Alan often acts out of fear, which is why he's not seen as brave, but rather, he regrets his acts of bravery. This is because he's powerless in those situations, leading to more harm for him. This pattern is especially evident with [[Evelyn Harper|Evelyn]], his mother, and Judith, due to her influential lawyer. Whenever Alan attempts to confront Judith, he often finds himself regretting it, either by losing his courage and letting Judith win, or by acting on his bold statements, which Judith then uses against him.

Alan leads a very sedentary sexual life and often turns to frequent masturbation. His relationship with Judith lacked any romantic spark. Charlie characterizes him as someone who has been "married for twelve years but only had sex twelve times." This led Alan to become overly dependent on women he only had sexual encounters with, confusing his feelings for true love. Following a purely physical weekend with Nancy, a woman he encountered at the grocery store, he was ready to run away to Vegas with her, but his plans were dashed when she informed him her husband had arrived early in "Frankenstein and the Horny Villagers". The most notable instance was with Kandi, who appeared to care for Alan but was incredibly foolish and shared little in common with him. They hastily got married in Vegas after Charlie and [[Mia (Two and a Half Men)|Mia]]'s wedding was canceled, only to part ways a few months later. Additionally, it was revealed that Alan uses Viagra, a fact highlighted when he started masturbating throughout the house. Charlie was taken aback to learn that Alan's "constant sexual frenzy" was due to financial reasons, as his Viagra would soon run out. Alan jokingly added, "... and horny" in "Twanging Your Magic Clanger". In "Ergo, The Booty Call," Jake mistakenly took one of Alan's Viagra pills, mistaking them for vitamins, during a birthday party, to which Berta jokingly remarked, "the kid's gonna need another party hat" (to hide the erection).

Despite being portrayed as a solitary individual, Alan has had numerous romantic partners throughout the series, yet it's usually him who ends up destroying these relationships. This pattern is evident, for instance, when he and Judith were on the verge of making up but, after their intimate encounter, he became upset over her desire to have sex after their divorce, choosing not to do the same in "Carpet Burns and a Bite Mark." Similarly, his jealousy got the better of him when his girlfriend, Lindsey, gave him a house key, suspecting Charlie of trying to take her away, and he broke up with her over their unsatisfying sexual relationship, which she had planned to have with her friend in "Meander to Your Dander." Despite his constant surrender to women, Alan displays remarkable confidence and charisma at times, though these moments are fleeting. Alan has been taken advantage of by almost every woman in his life, a fact that is often pointed out by others, but he ultimately blames Evelyn for his predicament. Despite loving his mother more than Charlie yet being the least favored, Alan craves affection but is met with indifference. Evelyn drained the joy from her children's lives with her self-centeredness and devalued his worth, making him even more desperate for love, which he then transfers to every woman he enters into a relationship with, allowing himself to be manipulated and neglecting his own desires to please them instead. The irony of this situation is that his quest for love has led to resentment from every woman he has been with. The closest Alan has experienced to a loving relationship was with a single mother who was struggling. His need for affection led him to lose his job and his apartment to Kandi, as he failed to see the importance of keeping the money for himself and being aware of Judith's plot to make him even more unhappy.

Alan is described as a man who is very feminine, which some people think makes him gay, but he insists he's just metrosexual. He has a wide and rich vocabulary, often speaking in clear and complex sentences, dresses in bold and stylish outfits, enjoys watching Glee and Broadway shows and musicals like The Lion King. He also started questioning his own sexual orientation when he started spending time with his friend Eric, who was gay in "Tucked, Taped and Gorgeous". Additionally, after his friends and family started seeing him as gay and their lives improved, he was truly confused until he kissed Eric and realized he didn't have any romantic feelings for him, which led him to confront Eric and ask him to leave his car after realizing he was more attracted to Charlie.

Even though he's seen as quite gentle, Alan has a sinister aspect and shows signs of a harsh nature. Upon learning that Charlie had accused him of taking Silly Putty when he was younger, he furiously attempted to break down the door Charlie was concealing himself behind in "The Price of Healthy Gums Is Eternal Vigilance". Similarly, when his girlfriend was assaulted during their outing, he struck the assailant directly in the face, admitting that he found pleasure in it, which he later acknowledges he possesses a "monster" within in "Crude and Uncalled For".

Although a kind person, the stress from his divorce, ongoing alimony payments, frequent rejections, and years of suppressed anger and fury have also led to significant mental strain. The revealed details of his past show him struggling with poor social skills and dealing with agoraphobia, bed-wetting, and night terrors, as detailed in "Hey, I Can Pee Outside In The Dark". Additionally, the built-up anger after his divorce with Judith resulted in sleep-walking and outbursts until he vented his anger during therapy sessions with a padded baton in "My Doctor Has A Cow Puppet". Alan's mental issues are more pronounced in certain episodes. He reached a breaking point after Kandi ended their marriage in "Working for Caligula" and became consumed with envy of his brother's successful life. The bitterness towards Charlie, who faced no repercussions for his wild lifestyle while he was consistently punished for his good behavior and clean record, led to insomnia in "Release the Dogs". He had a breakdown in a cinema library, started yelling during a movie, and hyperventilated in Charlie's car upon realizing his son was getting older and wanted more time away from him in "That Special Tug". A particularly severe aspect of Alan's mental illness was his struggle with identity. He was deeply affected by Charlie's death, to the point where he believed he was his brother and began to act like him, even speaking to a reflection of himself in the mirror in "Thank You For The Intercourse" while contemplating what to do with the money he had swindled from his family.