Editing Alan Harper (section)

== Biography ==
Alan was married to Judith, the mother of their son Jake, until Judith divorced him. The divorce was difficult for Alan, who lost most of his possessions and ended up paying $3,875 in monthly alimony. This amount was set after Charlie slept with, then broke up with, Alan's lawyer, who retaliated by negotiating a high alimony for Judith.

Alan drives a Volvo station wagon and operates his own chiropractic clinic in the San Fernando Valley, where he has won the "San Fernando Valley Chiropractic Award" several times. He becomes annoyed when people remind him that he is not a medical doctor. Although he aspired to be an M.D., the only medical school he could afford was in Mexico.

While Alan loves his brother and son, he harbors some resentment towards Charlie, who effortlessly attracts money and women, while Alan—despite working hard his whole life—has not achieved the same success. He also lacks faith in Jake, who he sees as lazy and unmotivated.

Alan’s second wife, Kandi (April Bowlby), was previously one of Charlie's girlfriends. Kandi often dates older men, possibly due to unresolved father issues.

Judith enjoyed a luxurious life on Alan’s alimony until she remarried Jake’s pediatrician, Dr. Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles, also known as Greg Melnick in earlier episodes). Alan was delighted by the marriage, as it ended his alimony payments. Alan, Herb, and Charlie have since developed a close friendship, with Herb even becoming closer to them than to Judith.

When Alan divorced Kandi, she received his condo, which they had purchased with winnings from a spontaneous Las Vegas wedding. Alan then moved into the guest room of Charlie's Malibu Beach House, where he did not pay rent for the first five years, two months, and eleven days, since nearly all his income went to alimony and supporting Jake. When Evelyn offered to pay for Jake's college, Alan felt unmotivated to work. Eventually, he agreed to pay Charlie a small amount of rent, though it wasn’t enough to earn him a say in household matters.

Shortly before Judith married Herb, Alan and Judith had a brief sexual encounter, resulting in Judith’s pregnancy with an uncertain paternity. While hints suggest the child might be Alan's, the true father remains unknown, and Charlie even joked that the baby might not belong to either of them.

Alan starts spending more time with Herb, much to Judith's annoyance. He also begins dating [[Lyndsey McElroy]], the mother of Jake's friend [[Eldridge McElroy]], with whom he has a fling in a bathroom.

After Charlie's death and funeral in Season 9, Alan is left deeply saddened and feeling lonely. He shares a heartfelt farewell with Charlie's cremated remains, expressing his love and gratitude for allowing him and Jake to live in the beach house for the past eight years. He plans to scatter Charlie's ashes on the beach, but Walden's sudden appearance startles him, causing him to accidentally fling the urn and scatter Charlie's ashes all over the living room. Unable to afford the beach house on his own, Alan reluctantly sells it to Walden. Despite this, Alan and Jake continue to live in the house, which has been their home for eight years. Walden considers Alan his best friend, and Alan helps guide Walden through the world of dating and other ordinary life experiences.

While Alan genuinely cares about Walden and sees him as his best friend, he also has an ulterior motive: to keep Walden paying for the house so that Alan won't end up homeless or have to live with his mother, Evelyn. Alan is willing to sacrifice any remaining dignity to ensure he can stay in the house, acknowledging that he has resigned himself to living off others and will never achieve success on his own.

Eventually, Alan's suppressed grief over losing his only brother begins to overwhelm him, and he starts to lose his sanity, believing himself to be Charlie. This is driven by his desire to live Charlie's life and keep his brother "alive" in some way. After spending 28 days in a rehab center, Alan returns to find that Walden has remodeled the beach house. Alan comes to terms with the reality that Charlie is truly gone and contemplates leaving. However, Walden reassures him that he still has a place there, so Alan continues living in what is now Walden and Alan's beach house. Despite his earlier feelings, Alan eventually admits that Charlie was a terrible person.

During this period, Alan and Lyndsey get engaged, but their relationship ultimately falls apart when the spark is gone, and Lyndsey calls off the wedding. Meanwhile, Kandi returns seeking reconciliation, but Alan turns her down. Alan's long-lost niece arrives in town and moves in with him and Walden.

At the start of the season, it is revealed that Alan's chiropractic clinic went out of business due to his ongoing financial troubles, leaving him unemployed. To escape his unpaid rent, Alan fakes his own death. He then begins an affair with Lyndsey, despite her being in a relationship with another man. Alan and Judith also briefly reunite and get engaged after a drunken night, but they break it off when Judith learns Alan had initially planned to propose to Lyndsey.

Alan's affair with Lyndsey ends when he starts a new relationship with Larry's sister, Gretchen. The two become engaged, but their plans are put on hold when Gretchen's former husband returns, seeking reconciliation. She tells Alan that they are not over but needs time to think before deciding what to do next.
After a health scare, Walden decides to reprioritize his life and adopts a baby. Realizing that being single might hinder his chances, he concludes that getting married is the only way to ensure success in the adoption process. Unable to find anyone else willing to marry him, he asks Alan to marry him and pretend they are a gay couple. Jenny moves out of the house and in with Evelyn to make space for the adoption preparations.
Walden and Alan adopt a child named Louis and later decide to divorce so they can pursue relationships with women. Alan proposes to Lyndsey for a second time, and she accepts. Meanwhile, Walden starts a romantic relationship with Louis' social worker, Ms. McMartin

In a surprising twist, Charlie is revealed to be alive after being held captive by Rose. However, he is killed before he can reunite with Walden and Alan.