Troy Bolton is the protagonist of the High School Musical trilogy (shares the starring role with Gabriella Montez in High School Musical) and the boyfriend to Gabriella Montez. He is portrayed by Zac Efron.
Biography
Troy is the most popular student at East High. He meets Gabriella Montez at a lodge while on vacation, and the two sing together. The two later find themselves attending the same school as Gabriella moved to Albuquerque. Through a series of events, they fall in love, then the two end up singing together once more and become boyfriend and girlfriend. A series of ups and downs throughout the rest of the films, their relationship is full of love and results in Troy choosing to attend Berkeley for college, a mere 32.7 miles from Gabriella's choice of Stanford University as apposed to that of the 1053 miles of U of A.
He is best friends with Chad Danforth. He's also friends with Ryan Evans, which is quite the opposite for Gabriella and Sharpay Evans' situation.
Story
High School Musical
Troy is the star player on the basketball team at East High and is extremely popular. When he auditions for the Twinkle Towne musical with Gabriella Montez and lands a callback, his life and school is turned upside down. However, tragedy strikes when his own team tricks him into saying that Gabriella and the callbacks don't matter to him at all with Gabriella watching the whole thing. He has no idea, however, that she saw the whole thing, so he's confused as to why Gabriella said she didn't want to do the callbacks either and stopped talking to him. After that, he became completely unfocused on winning the championship game, as well as seriously brokenhearted. Realizing the mistake they made and how they hurt their friend and captain, Troy's best friend and fellow teammate, Chad Danforth, fellow Wildcats, Zeke Baylor and Jason Cross tell the truth. Later on that night, he goes to Gabriella's house, calls her on her cell phone and explains that he only said the things that she heard to get his friends to finally shut up about singing with her. To prove it, he goes up to her balcony and sings the chorus of the song they sang at the New Year's Eve Party to try to convince her to do the callbacks with him "(Start of Something New (Reprise))".
After being reminded that it's a pair's audition, she agrees and apologizes for leaving him. In the end, he and Gabriella both snag the roles of Arnold and Minnie.
High School Musical 2
Gabriella with Troy in Gotta Go My Own Way
By the second movie, Troy and Gabriella are very much together. When summer time comes Troy lands jobs for the Wildcats. At first it's a struggle for them all, but Troy with his bright idea encourages the Wildcats that no matter what happens, they're spending the summer together, at this point they're in the kitchen and thats when they sing "Work This Out". When they arrive at Lava Springs Sharpay is there; he has no idea that Sharpays dad is who he's working for. Sharpay uses this to her advantage, giving troy easier jobs so he can spend more time with her. He gets close to Sharpay and her family, then Gabriella talks to him and realizes that he is changing and has been neglecting their replationship. He eventually loses the trust of all the Wildcats including Gabriella. Gabriella, upset, angry, sad and disappointed finally breaks up with him, gives him back the necklace he gave her and leaves Lava Springs despite him begging her to stay leaving them both brokenhearted, with Troy being both brokenhearted and speechless. ("Gotta Go My Own Way")
The rest of the Wildcats stay mad at him. But when Kelsi shows him the note of the other Wildcats being prohibited to be on the show, he finally realizes his mistake. He goes to the golf park and makes a promise to make things right. ("Bet on It") He then confronts Sharpay, and tells her he isn't going to sing in the show with her.
When the word had been spread, the Wildcats finally forgive him, after he apologizes. He refuses to sing with Sharpay in the talent show, though he does eventually agree to sing with her. He is later seen on stage singing "Everyday", where to his surprise Gabriella finally appears singing with him. He later rekindles his relationship with Gabriella, and they have their first kiss tenderly.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Close up of Troy Bolton in the middle of the big championship game against the West High Knights basketball team. The buzzer sounds, and East High is down. The Wildcats sulk back to their locker room, but Coach Bolton tells the team to ignore the x's and o's. There are only sixteen minutes left in this game, and only 16 minutes left for the seniors to wear a Wildcats basketball uniform. Troy and Chad then lead the team out, to the song "Now or Never". They win, to thunderous applause and with Troy actually drawing the attention of the rival team away and then to which they win the game. Troy and Chad are next seen pushing Troy's smoking pickup truck in front of Troy's house, where a huge party is being held to celebrate the Wildcat win. Troy's dad introduces him to the coach of the basketball team at the University of Albuquerque, and everybody seems to accept that both Troy and Chad will be going there in September. but Troy dodges everyone to take Gabriella up to his tree house. In the tree house, Troy sings "Right Here, Right Now" with Gabriella, where both affirm that wherever their futures take them, their hearts are together. The next day, In homeroom, Miss Darbus asks Sharpay to outline her plans for the "spring
musicale", and Sharpay says that she thought maybe it should be a one-woman show. Kelsey immediately starts writing at great speed on a clipboard, and when Miss Darbus asks if sign-ups are that light, Kelsey replies that no, there's a good turnout, actually. Miss Darbus looks at the sheet, and says that it seems everyone has signed up including Troy who Kelsey signed up, Everyone is then upset and all saying they had different plans for their free period instead of rehearsing a musical. But Gabriella makes a plea for them to consider doing the musical, as their last chance to do something together. The main group still are interested, until Troy declares that he's in. Miss Darbus also shares her big news: four students in that group are being considered for one scholarship at the pre-eminent Julliard School of the Performing Arts in New York: Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi... and Troy. Troy asks who the comedian is, obviously thinking this is a joke. Miss Darbus asks him whether something is wrong. Troy says he never heard of Julliard, but Miss Darbus tells him that Julliard has obviously heard of him. Although he says he has no interest in Julliard, he still starts flipping through the catalog that Miss Darbus hands to him. Next Day Gabriella gets a call from Troy. He's in the rooftop garden, and wants her to come up straightaway. When she gets there, he shows her a few different suit jackets, and asks her to pick which one he should wear for their prom. Gabriella says hasn't been asked to a prom before, but she thinks that was an invitation. Troy says he hasn't been to a dance before, and is afraid they might really have to waltz, since the theme of the prom is "The Last Waltz".
Gabriella shows him how she danced with her father when she was a little girl, and they begin singing, "Can I Have This Dance?" even when it starts pouring with rain. Troy then takes Gabriella home after school, and while they sit in her backyard, she chides him that he should be able to tell his dad and Chad that he actually enjoys performing. He replies that while she and her mom both chose Stanford as the place she should be, he feels that University of Albuquerque was chosen for him, not by him. Mrs Montez interrupts the moment, but Troy is clearly unsure where he should go after high school. Troy and Chad are next seen presenting Taylor with a tray of something Zeke baked fresh from the oven. Taylor and Gabriella congratulate them on kissing up to the editors of the yearbook, and Troy teases that Chad is hoping to have two pages fully to himself, with a third page solely for his hair. Chad then casually refers to Taylor going with him to the prom, and she stops him by saying that she wants an invitation, which that wasn't. Troy then meets Chad in the cafeteria, and gives him a bouquet of wildflowers from the roof garden. Chad tries to ask Taylor to be his date, but she pretends to misunderstand because of all the noise. Troy hollers for quiet, and Chad stands on a table opposite Taylor, Gabriella, Kelsi and Martha, before pleading for Taylor to be his date to the dance.
The four girls huddle as though talking the pros and cons over, before Taylor stands and accepts him with an enthusiastic hug. Troy and Chad are next in a car parts junkyard, and the owner congratulates them both, telling them he's already bought season tickets for the next basketball set for the University of Albuquerque. Troy starts to explain to Chad that he might want to do different things in the future than what they originally always planned, and "The Boyz Are Back" follows, with a big "Thriller" style dance number in the junkyard, even briefly showing the boys as eight-year old versions of themselves playing in the same yard. Troy meets Gabriella at her house, with a special picnic in her room, and tries to encourage her to accept the honor program at Stanford. She finally says that she's had a lot more practice at saying goodbye than Troy has, which confuses him, as he expects her to return for the prom and graduation ceremonies, Gabriella sends him off. At East High, things have gone rather badly downhill. Ryan takes Troy through the new choreography for "Just Wanna Be With You" with Sharpay in the role, and Troy whispers that Ryan is a better dancer than Sharpay. The set behind them crashes, and Kelsi tries to comfort Troy from the orchestra pit, saying that without Gabriella, it would've always been the Sharpay show from the beginning. In the next scene, Troy and Chad come into the Bolton kitchen, and Troy shows his mother the suit he collected from the rental place for the prom in two days. As if on cue, Gabriella phones, but Troy is soon heartbroken when she explains that she won't be coming back for either prom or graduation. Chad tells Troy that "you don't take the girl from high school with you," and says that Gabriella is one step ahead of them as usual.
He says that she'll be there at Stanford, while he and Troy will be in Albuquerque, and it'll be a "whole new ball game". But Troy says he isn't sure he wants his life to be a ball game anymore, leaving Chad perplexed. Chad then says Troy should be with his friends for the prom, and Troy responds that he doesn't plan to miss it. Troy tries to explain to his dad that he might want to do something different than University of Albuquerque and basketball, and ends up heading to East High. While a lightning storm rages outside, Troy faces the specter of past glories and present expectations, moving from the locker room and the gym to the drama stage, singing the song "Scream". When he finishes, he sees Miss Darbus sitting there. She admits that she sent his name to Julliard, and offers an apology if she overstepped herself. Troy says he isn't mad, but he doesn't know what to do. Miss Darbus says that it's better to look at opportunities now instead of ten years later. At Stanford, Gabriella comes out of a university building, only to see what looks like Troy's pickup truck in the parking lot ahead of her. Then she hears a familiar voice from a tree saying, "I figured you'd be the last one out of the building." It's Troy, wearing the suit he rented for their prom, and he jumps down in front of her. He explains that for him, the prom is wherever she is, and they begin dancing to a reprise of "Can I Have This Dance?", which also seems to show them at the East High prom, taking turns waltzing with their other friends as well. Back at East High later on Throughout the show, two representatives from Julliard continually are accessing the various performances, and both seem quite impressed when Troy finally comes in, singing to Gabriella. The scene changes to a graduation ceremony on a football field, where Troy is addressing the entire group, saying how one person can change everything, and how East High has encouraged them all to shake off the status quo. The students race and form a Wildcat design before singing "High School Musical". That scene turns back into a stage, with Chad, Sharpay, Troy, Gabriella, Ryan and Taylor coming forward to take bows to the audience at the musical.
Appearance and Personality
Troyella forever
Troy is strikingly handsome, with light brown hair, tan skin, a dazzling smile, and attractive blue eyes. Almost every girl at East High swoons over him, including Sharpay Evans, the "diva" of East High who constantly flirts with Troy. Gabriella Montez is also instantly drawn to him in the 1st movie because of his good looks.
Troy is very kind and mature. He is also quite smart and aware, and according to Chad and the other Wildcats in High School Musical 2, he is the guy who "usually knows what's up". He is an optimist, though slightly naïve. Troy, although he is the most popular guy in school, he can be shy at times. In the first movie, Troy is very conflicted, torn between his image as "Troy the Basketball Guy" and "Troy the Performing Arts Dude". This is further complicated by his dad and his friends who want him to choose basketball instead of singing.
Troy is very close to his dad, who wants him to get into a good college with a basketball scholarship, most likely University of Albuquerque. In the 2nd movie, Troy's pursuit of the scholarship often ends in conflict with his friends or Gabriella. For the most part, though, Troy and his dad have a great relationship.
Songs
