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You know what? Tragedies happen. What are you gonna do? Give up? Quit? No. I realize now that when your heart breaks, you gotta fight like hell to make sure you're still alive. Because you are. And that pain you feel? That's life. The confusion and fear, that's there to remind you that somewhere out there is something better. And that something is worth fighting for.
―Nathan Scott[src]

Nathan Royal Scott is one of the two main male characters of One Tree Hill, portrayed by James Lafferty. He is part of the original “core five” characters of the show and, for the first six seasons, its co-protagonist alongside Lucas Scott, his paternal half-brother. After Lucas’ departure at the end of the sixth season, he becomes the male lead, role he keeps for the rest of the series’ run.

Background[]

Nathan is the son of Dan and Deb Scott and younger paternal half-brother of Lucas Scott. Originally, Nathan was cocky arrogant star player of the Tree Hill Ravens basketball team. He is faced with a challenge when Lucas, joinsand threatens to steal his spot as shooting guard. Later, learning about Lucas' best friend, Haley James, Nathan decides to use Haley to anger Lucas, but eventually ends up falling in love and marrying her. His relationship with Haley helps him smooth things out Lucas and decide that they are now officially brothers. During his senior year, Haley becomes pregnant and gives birth to their first child James "Jamie" Scott.

After graduation from Tree Hill High School, Nathan is tragically hurt in an accident during a fight and is put into a wheelchair, unfortunately not being able to join the Seattle Sonics. He began rehabilitation in his training for basketball with the help of Quentin Fields, who is later murdered at a gas station by an unknown suspect. He then was recruited by the Charlston Chiefs before later being drafted into the NBA for the Charlotte Bobcats. After having trouble dealing with back pain, he is left with no choice but to resign, and then decides to take on basketball as a sports agent. In the eighth season, Haley and Nathan will welcome their second child, a girl: Lydia Bob.

Character arc[]

Season 1[]

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Nathan and Peyton kiss. ("Pilot")

Season 1 starts with the tension and rivalry between two estranged half-brothers, Nathan and Lucas Scott. They share the same father, Dan Scott, and even more tension as Lucas joins the Ravens varsity basketball team, on which Nathan was the star player. Nathan believes Lucas is intentionally doing this to take everything Nathan has from him: basketball and his girlfriend, Peyton. With his popular reputation, he and the team start hazing Lucas, hoping that Lucas will get tired of it and quit the team - but he doesn't. He then orchestrates a plan to irritate Lucas more: he goes after Lucas' best friend, Haley James. He talks her into tutoring him, but Haley has two conditions: Lucas doesn't ever find out and he stops harassing Lucas. At this point, things are on the rocks for Nathan's relationship with Peyton and it soon ends because both are unhappy. Eventually Haley and Nathan start falling for each other, but Lucas doesn't like the idea of it. Unfortunately for the couple, there is always drama. Though not yet together, Nathan screws up many chances to be with Haley. He apologizes constantly and the relationship eventually evolves, along with Nathan's character.

Nathan has a difficult relationship with his immediate family, too. His father Dan is a constant nag and bully towards Nathan and pushes him with basketball, living vicariously through Nathan in an attempt to relive his own high school basketball glory. Nathan's mother, Deb Scott,

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Nathan and Haley on their first date. ("The Search for Something More")

is usually away on business trips, but has returned to rekindle the ties of the family. Dan's pressure on Nathan is so heavy that at one basketball game, he turns to amphetamines to boost his performance. Sadly, he collapses on the court and is sent to the hospital. Dan does not accept the fact his son took drugs to up his game because of the pressure he himself had put on Nathan, and Deb realizes the jerk her husband really is. Later, Nathan slyly escapes from the hospital to go see Haley, and that is the first night they spend together. The couple, however, does not engage in a sexual relationship right away, since Haley worries about Nathan's past with other girls and desires to keep her virginity until marriage.

After Nathans hospitalization, Coach Whitey Durham suspends basketball 'until further notice', and Nathan sees the opportunity to spend even more time with Haley. His mother is still denying Dan's pleas for forgiveness. With the free time, Dan decides to take Nathan on a father-son outing to a resort - but it ends badly as Dan has not seemed to change and is still bullying Nathan to do better. Things at the Scott household are more tense than ever, and they soon turn to a family therapist. Nathan struggles with his family and is losing faith in everything except his growing relationship with Haley. During school, he decides to cut class and Haley ends up tagging along. He gets her drunk at his family's beach house, but then Dan shows up. Haley, not being the party girl, ends up puking on Dan's lap. When Nathan realizes the effect he has on Haley and her falling grades, he tells her that he doesn't want her to change, and he likes her exactly the way she is.

At Dan's birthday, Nathan's grandparents show up unexpectedly. Unfortunately, Dan's father Royal is as intimidating as his own son, and

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Nathan and Lucas after Lucas's accident. ("I Shall Believe")

neither Deb nor Dan has the guts to tell Royal and May that they are separated. Nathan's family have a dinner party, to which Nathan invites Haley, Whitey, and Nathan's uncle, Keith Scott. As dinner is taking place, massive lies are being told, but eventually the truth comes out. Dan's father learns that Nathan 'quit' basketball. Haley accidentally reveals that Dan's father visited Karen's Café earlier and was looking for Karen Roe, Lucas' mother and Dan's ex. Most importantly, all learn the accident that ended Dan's basketball career was a hoax. Nathan is disgusted and cannot fathom how his father was able to be so despicable after he knew exactly what Nathan was going through. Nathan's grandmother May is disappointed at her own son Dan, saying that he should have learned from his own experience with Royal not to put so much pressure on his own son, and the dinner ends with high tempers and tensions.

Later, Keith and Lucas get into a car crash on the way to pick up Karen from her trip to Italy. Nathan accidentally slips out to Haley that he only spoke to her to get back at Lucas. Haley is furious with him and yet again reminded of the infamous reputation he has, and begins to give him the silent treatment. Deb tells Nathan she is divorcing Dan, and Nathan reveals that he is okay with it. Nathan reaches out to Lucas at the hospital to somehow make him come back to consciousness because Haley needs him. While he is at Lucas' bedside, Lucas wakes up.

One night in Karen's Café, Nathan talks Haley into singing for him, and they grow tighter as Nathan faces problems with his parents' divorce. Not wanting to be caught in the middle with either of his tiring parents, Nathan becomes emancipated and gets his own apartment. Haley wakes him up one day, and as she reaches over the bed and her shirt rides up a bit, Nathan sees that she has tattooed his jersey number, '23', on her lower back which leads to a small conflict between the two because Haley still won't sleep with Nathan but will get a tattoo of his basketball number. However, Nathan soon after accepts it, though the peace is soon disrupted again when Haley borrows Nathan's laptop and accidentally finds porn on it. Haley confronts Nathan with it, and after they fight and make up, Nathan suggests they marry. The next day, Lucas comes to Nathan's apartment to say goodbye since he's leaving with Keith to go to Charleston and realizes Haley slept with Nathan when he sees her there wearing only a T-shirt. He confronts her with it, saying he thought she was going to wait till marriage, and the couple surprises him, telling him they actually did wait and got married the day before.

Season 2[]

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Nathan and Haley record their answering machine message. ("The Desperate Kingdom of Love")

The next day, Nathan and Haley learn that Dan has had a heart attack. At the hospital, they tell Deb of their marriage but she is angry and refuses to accept it, nor does Dan when he wakes up. Lucas and Keith return to Tree Hill and Lucas, Peyton and Brooke throw Nathan and Haley a wedding reception while Keith, filling in for Dan at the dealership, takes Nathan on as a mechanic. Haley starts to blossom as a musician but Nathan is jealous of her closeness to fellow musician Chris Keller. He warns Chris to stay away from Haley. When Haley's older sister Taylor James comes to Tree Hill and stays with the young couple, Nathan realizes that Taylor is the girl to whom he lost his virginity several years ago before he had even known Haley. He and Haley have a fight about this but later make up.

When Haley mentions that Chris wants her to accompany him on tour, Nathan asks her if she's kissed him and she finally admits to it. Nathan tells his wife to choose between him and the tour - if she chooses the tour, they are done. Haley chooses the tour and leaves Tree Hill. Nathan is devastated and goes on a downward spiral; drinking in class, punching his father and letting Lucas take the fall for his drunken driving. He attempts to kiss Taylor but is unable to go through with it because of his love for Haley. Nathan finally gets his act together and goes to visit Haley in an attempt to get her to come home but this doesn't work out and he comes back to Tree Hill alone and heartbroken.

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Nathan and Taylor almost kiss but Nathan stops himself because of his feelings for Haley. ("The Lonesome Road")

Nathan's uncle Cooper (Deb's brother and Nathan's role model) pays a visit to Tree Hill and takes Nathan and Lucas to a racing track. However, tragedy strikes when Nathan deliberately crashes his car. He ends up in the hospital where he has a dream of what life would have been like if Dan had married Karen instead of Deb and Nathan and Lucas had grown up in each others' shoes. This dream makes Nathan realize how much he loves his mother. They agree to be strong for each other and Deb goes to rehab to overcome her pill addiction. Nathan decides to move home and Dan pays his medical bills in exchange for Nathan getting an annulment from Haley. Whitey offers Nathan the opportunity to go to "High Flyers", a prestigious basketball camp, for the summer, but Dan tries to talk Nathan out of it, blaming him for Deb's addiction. When Deb learns of this, she and Nathan agree to leave Dan and make a fresh start. Nathan was then annoyed that Lucas has been investigating Dan, even though Nathan asked him not to. Nathan disowns his brother and moves back home with Deb. In the midst of everything, someone drugs Dan and sets fire to his dealership, nearly killing him. As if all of this wasn't enough, Nathan finds Haley standing on his doorstep in the season finale.

Season 3[]

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Haley and Nathan at their second wedding reception ("The Show Must Go On")

Season Three begins right where Season Two ended, continuing on the same night. Nathan goes to the door and there stands Haley. She has returned to Tree Hill for good, but Nathan has not yet forgiven her or Lucas. Nathan learns that Haley is suffering writer's block and pays Chris to come back to Tree Hill and help Haley with her music. Their relationship is tenuous - Haley wants Nathan back and Nathan still loves her, though is wary of her breaking his heart again like she did when she left. He tells her that he can't trust her anymore. Slowly, Nathan and Haley grow close again and eventually rekindle their relationship, spending a passionate night together. Later on, Dan is elected Mayor of Tree Hill and Deb confesses to Nathan that she started the dealership fire in an attempt to kill him. Nathan is angry with his mother and sends her away for a while to get her life in order. After some inspirational words from Lucas, Nathan and Deb gradually begin speaking again, before making up properly. When Jimmy Edwards brings a gun to school (With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept), Nathan races inside the school to find Haley in the tutor center. They are held hostage in the by Jimmy and the deaths of Jimmy and Keith leave Nathan and Haley saddened, shocked, and with the realization that life is too short.

They move back in together and Nathan asks Haley to 'marry' him again and renew their vows. While planning their vow renewal, they receive a visit from Nathan's uncle Cooper, but they are dubious about his relationship with Rachel Gatina. Deb returns and she and Nathan file a restraining order against Dan, with Nathan initiating, while Nathan beats old "High Flyers" rival Damien West in an all-important game. On the morning of his wedding, Nathan is traumatized following a nightmare where Haley was drowning and he couldn't save her. He gets Lucas to keep a close eye on Haley in the hours leading up to the ceremony. All goes well and they renew their vows, though Rachel causes a scene at the reception over Cooper sleeping with her despite her age. Nathan and Haley head to London for their honeymoon and Haley has something to tell Nathan but before he gets to hear it, they have a near-collision with Cooper and Rachel on the Mollina Bridge and Cooper's car goes into the water. Nathan dives in to rescue his uncle but becomes trapped and gasping for air, fighting for his life in the season finale.

Season 4[]

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Rachel tells Nathan she saw something in the water("Can't Stop This Thing We Started")

In the first episode, it is revealed that Nathan survived and managed to save both Cooper and Rachel, but is haunted by the experience as he can't remember saving them. Nathan tells Lucas that he saw Keith in the water and believes that he is responsible for saving Cooper and Rachel, as Rachel too saw something in the water. Haley tells him the news she was going to before the crash - that she is pregnant. Nathan is initially annoyed that she has kept it from him but is later delighted. Rachel is flirting with Nathan as she is grateful to him for saving her life, but Nathan tells her that she never had a chance with him and that he's forever in love with Haley. Nathan and Haley begin to face even more money difficulties now that they have a baby on the way. When Dan refuses to help, Nathan turns to a loan shark, Daunte Jones. He provides Nathan with money in exchange for Nathan losing the State Championship. Nathan is nervous about doing it, knowing how much the championship means to the team. He agrees though and ends up playing badly, causing his team to trail behind drastically in points. During halftime, Haley talks with him and reveals the sex of their baby by saying "...as long as you're a good husband and father.... to your son. It's a boy, Nathan, you're gonna have a son!" Nathan, excited to hear he's going to have a boy, decides to play his best for his son and the Ravens win the championship with Lucas scoring the winning shot. Afterwards, Daunte, angry about Nathan's failure by not losing, tries to run him over with his car. Haley sees the car and yells, "Nathan, watch out!" as she pushes him out of the way. Daunte ends up hitting her. She then rolls off the car and onto the ground, badly injured and unconscious. Nathan rush

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Nathan confesses to point shaving. ("The Runaway Found")

es to her aid. Lucas, seeing them, runs over. As Lucas calls 911, Nathan sees Daunte's car which had crashed into a roadblock after striking Haley. Angrily, Nathan tells Lucas to stay with Haley and runs to Daunte's car in a furious, hysterical state. He drags Daunte out and savagely begins punching his unconscious body, splitting his knuckles until Dan grabs his arm in midair. In the distance, sirens are heard. Dan realizes that Daunte is dead and tells Nathan that he killed him. Quickly thinking, Dan instructs him to leave the scene saying that Haley and his son needs him. Nathan is hesitant at first, but then goes over to Lucas and Haley. To cover his son, Dan starts pounding the ground, breaking his hand, and is arrested. (It's later revealed at the autopsy, that the crash was what killed Daunte, not Nathan's beating.) Meanwhile, as the paramedics are working on Haley, Lucas falls unconscious after a heart attack. They are both rushed to the hospital. As Nathan watches Haley being taken into surgery, he sits down on the floor, crying over his guilt for Haley and his son being put in danger when it was supposed to be him who got hit. The doctor informs him about Haley's condition and Nathan asks if their baby will be alright since Haley took a severe blow to the abdomen. The doctor tells him that they will do all they can for Haley and the baby. The next episode, Haley wakes up and they both anxiously wait while an ultrasound is done to check the baby. Haley bursts into tears of joy and relief and hugs Nathan when they hear the heartbeat, proving that the

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Nathan cries after Haley's accident. ("Songs to Love and Die By")

baby is indeed fine.

Later, after Deb attempts suicide by overdosing on pills, Nathan is racked with guilt. He and Haley decide to help Deb by moving out of their apartment and into the Scott Mansion.

A party is thrown on the night before prom. A tape of Nathan's basketball glories is played but Nathan was horrified when it also reveals footage of him having sex with Brooke Davis at a time when he and Peyton had just temporarily broken up. A hurt, disappointed Haley asks Nathan to make a list of his conquests. Nathan does, but tells Haley that she was the only one he loved. Haley forgives Nathan and they kiss and then go to the prom together. After Mouth sends a text saying he needs assistance, the gang goes to Honey Grove, Texas where Nathan and Haley have their dream prom. When they get back home, Nathan tells Lucas that an investigator has been calling him about point shaving and they are looking at Lucas. Lucas decides to take the fall after Haley asks him to. When Nathan finds out, he decides to come forward because he doesn't want to end up like Dan, putting his future in front of everybody else. He's prepared to take full responsibility. He holds a press conference about the point shaving which causes him to lose his scholarship. Nathan soon finds out from Deb that Dan killed Keith. When he confronts Dan about it, Dan doesn't deny it and Nathan, in anger, disowns him and says he died the day Keith died. With the loss of his scholarship, Whitey decides to help Nathan achieve his college basketball dreams. Whitey accepts a coaching position with a nearby college, and asks Nathan to be his new star player recruit. Nathan gratefully accepts the opportunity to play for Coach Whitey again. During graduation, Haley goes into

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Nathan begs Principal Turner to give Haley her graduation speech back. ("Ashes of Dreams You Let Die")

labor in the middle of her valedictorian speech. Nathan stands up in shock and excitement. In the beginning of the season finale, Nathan and Haley along with all their friends head out to the waiting ambulance. At this time, Lucas gets a text message from Deb who has informed him that his mother's condition has gotten worse (Karen was having complications in childbirth) and takes off. At the hospital, Nathan and Lucas run across each other in the hall as Haley is taken into the delivery room and Karen is taken to surgery. They walk up to each other and hug, then head off in different directions. Nathan and Haley soon welcome their son James Lucas Scott. At their graduation party, Haley tells Brooke that she was chosen to be the godmother, which Brooke happily accepts. Later on, Haley explains to Lucas the reason they picked his name for James' middle name: Lucas had Keith growing up and James would have him. Overjoyed, Lucas hugs Haley and thanks her. He then whispers something to Haley which Haley squeals in excitement about. Later on the roof, Lucas and Nathan exchan

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Haley goes into labour. ("All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone")

ge pictures of their new family members and consider confronting Dan in jail, but agree that they will never do so. It was then that Lucas reveals that he will be Whitey's assistant coach. (This is what he whispered to Haley). Nathan asks him when he decided that to which Lucas replies, "About the same time I became a godfather." After the party, everyone heads to the River Court where Lucas and Nathan prepare for a one on one game. Nathan asks "Sure you're up for this, old man?" Lucas just smiles and says "I could do this forever, little brother." The season ends with Nathan jumping to shoot a basket and Lucas trying to block it. It's unknown if he made that shot or who won. The game was a tribute of the first one on one game between the two Scott brothers which led to Lucas joining the Ravens and started everything, but the main difference is that they are now brothers instead of enemies,

Missing years[]

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Nathan and Haley buy their house in Tree Hill. ("4 Years, 6 Months, 2 Days")

In his first year of college, Nathan won his first National Championship, coached by Lucas and Whitey, and is trying to make people forget he had shaved points back in the days. He almost got into a fight with rival fans after it but Lucas held him back. Whitey advised him to control his temper or he would end up like Dan. Eventually Nathan Scott played for the University of Maryland, College Park where he was a First Team All-American. Three years later Nathan was all set to be the tenth pick in the NBA draft by the Seattle Sonics. One night he went to a party at a bar with Lucas and Haley to celebrate his new shoe deal, shoes called "the NS 23's". When Haley left to watch their son Jamie, fans of Portland, a rival NBA team, pretended they wanted an autograph from Nathan, only to mock him. When things escalated, he almost walked away thanks to Lucas but the rival fans made a nasty comment about Haley leading Nathan to defend his wife. A fight then ensued. Nathan was thrown through a plate glass window and screamed he couldn't feel his legs. Consequently his NBA career was over before it started.

Season 5[]

After his accident that left him paralyzed, Nathan has become an angered alcoholic. He has grown his hair long and has a scruffy beard, and barely acknowledges his wife or son. He gets into an argument with Haley and tells her that he lost everything and now has nothing. Haley angrily responds that he still has her and Jamie, but if he keeps this up, he will definitely have nothing because

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Carrie shows Nathan what Jamie's been hiding. ("My Way Home Is Through You")

she can't keep living like this. When Nathan realizes that he failed Jamie by not being there for his soap box derby, he decides to get his life back to what it used to be and teaches Jamie how to not be afraid. Nathan then pays a visit to Dan in jail to tell him he is done with him for good. To prove that he is going to get his family back, he cooks Haley dinner and shaves. Haley, happy to see her husband back, tells him that she missed him and they all sit down to eat. Nathan later cuts his hair undergoes physical therapy, eventually learning to walk successful again. He also starts playing basketball with Jamie. Nathan decides to assist talented yet troublesome Tree Hill High School student Quentin Fields as he reminds him of his former self- a basketball star, yet cocky and arrogant. Quentin gives Haley trouble as her English student as well. Nathan even confronts Quentin, telling how much he regrets his own mistakes, and convinces him to go back to school after he drops out. Nathan's temper gest the best of him again when Jason, a musician in a band, touches Haley's behind. Quentin comes to her aid and punches Jason, damaging his hand and putting him out of basketball for some time. Haley, however, is disappointed about Nathan's temper. Marriage troubles arise after Haley hires Carrie, a nanny to help with Jamie because she and Nathan have jobs. Carrie pretends to be innocent towards Nathan, but secretly she attempts to seduce him by having her watch her swim naked in the pool. Nathan does not reciprocate or reject her advances because he still loves Haley, but is feeling ignored by her. After Carrie hits on him several times, Haley walks in on them in the shower. He truthfully tells her that Carrie snuck into the shower without his knowledge and he tried to get her out. But Carrie insists that she and Nathan are in love, angering Haley and getting them both kicked out despite Nathan trying to prove his innocence. Some time later, Nathan has an argument with Haley. During this time, Jamie falls into the pool, nearly drowning. Nathan and Haley soon look out the window to see him lying face down in the pool. Rushing to his aid, Nathan jumps in and pulls Jamie out. As Haley is sitting on the ground with Jamie in her arms, she angrily tells

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Nathan questions his comeback. ("What Comes After the Blues?")

Nathan that she wants a divorce.; Later at Lucas and Lindsey's bachelor(ette) party she realizes she can't change him, leaving him distraught. Later, when Jamie is kidnapped on Lucas' wedding day, Haley and Nathan turn to each other for comfort; They believe that it was Dan who took him and aren't aware that it was actually Carrie. They fear that they will never see Jamie again. However, Jamie returns home and tells his parents that it was Dan who brought him home. Nathan and Lucas attack Dan outside after he walks in with Jamie. After they reconnect, Nathan and Haley start marriage counseling. In counseling, Nathan admits that he wants Haley to look at him the way she used to and that the only reason he allowed the nanny to go as far as she did is because he needed her flirting for his ego as he feels ignored by her. He realizes all his mistakes, tells Haley he loves her and the two make up. After Jamie's birthday party he learns that Dan is dying, but tells him he is done, proving that he really doesn't care if his father dies. Nathan then begins working on his comeback, although he refuses to have it called so.

Season 6[]

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Nathan is smashing through a window during a Slamball match. ("Sympathy for the Devil")

With Quentin's help, Nathan quickly gets back into shape with his basketball technique. Quentin has also befriended Jamie, who looks up to him. Sadly, Quentin is fatally shot whilst interrupting a store robbery. The saddened Nathan and Haley tell Jamie together and decide to take him to Quentin's funeral. Jamie wants to say goodbye and he didn't get to before. Nathan also offers Brooke his support after her attack, saying that they both didn't have the support of parents growing up, but he will be there for her whenever she needs him and the two share a friendly hug. During this time, Nathan finds out that Deb and Skills are in a relationship which disgusts him. The revelation strains his friendship with Skills but after a talk with Jamie, he comes to terms with their relationship. To help ease it, Skills decides to help Nathan with his comeback. Nathan soon gets a call from the general manager of an NBA D-League basketball team in Fort Wayne (the Fort Wayne Mad Ants) who says that they are interested in recruiting him. Once Nathan arrives, he is disappointed to hear they wanted him as a coach, not as a player. Nathan turns the position down, but is soon asked to play Slamball by Owen (Brooke's ex). After some hesitation, Nathan starts to play Slamball, in which he is cheered on by Jamie, his son. Haley is reluctant about it, afraid he'll hurt his back. Her worry intensifies when she sees some severe bruises on his back and spots an old rival on the opposing team. After winning the game, his old rival charges at him and shoves him through a glass window in front of his wife and son. Scared that his father almost ended up becoming what he once was, Jamie makes him promise that he will stop playing Slamball, which he agrees to for his son's sake. On the night of the USO concert, Nathan is at his home talking with the spirit of "Q"

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Nathan tells Haley about his offer. ("A Kiss to Build a Dream On")

as he watches the Slamball championships on television. Q asks if he really gave it up for Jamie or because he stopped believing himself. Q angrily tells him that this was his second chance and that he should be grateful he got one because Q himself didn't. Q also tells him that he still has a chance to follow his dream. After Q's pep talk, Nathan asks Haley to promise him that they won't be afraid of chasing their dreams to which she does. Nathan attends a trial for D-league basketball and after initially getting turned away for not belonging to a team he is called back by the general manager who offers him a coaching position. After a successful trial Nathan is selected to play for the Charleston Chiefs, but when he shows up for his first training session he discovers that he has been given the number 15 jersey instead of the number 23. Another teammate, Devon Fox, plays in Nathan's position and already has the number 23. Devon threatens Nathan and says he's not going to be taking his spot. After struggling during the training session he returns to see the photos of Haley and Jamie ripped up, as well as one of him and Quentin. Angered and spurred on by this Nathan threatens Devon, saying that he's going to take his spot and he can have it back after Nathan is called up to the NBA. Nathan also asks his coach if he can wear the number 12 instead as a tribute to Jamie (which is actually written in but is for Jenny Lynn Snyder, 17, a fan of the show who died of a heart attack that year). Later in the season, when Devon ruins five straight games for the Chiefs',

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Jamie finds out Nathan’s in the NBA ("Remember Me as a Time of Day")

the coach benches him and puts Nathan in who makes the assist that leads to the winning shot. Devon is later cut from the team and his starting position is given to Nathan, whose back up is Neno, the one who taunted Nathan at the tryouts. Nathan and Neno prove to be the team's two best players, but they play the same position, so they can't both start. The coach has Nathan teach Neno how to play shooting guard. An NBA scout from the Los Angeles Clippers comes to see the two of them play, but Nathan is worried that he won't play his best in front of the scout. He opts to drive the ball in for Neno to score. Neno is later called up by the Clippers, leaving Nathan still in the D-League. In the season 6 finale, Nathan gets called up to the Charlotte Bobcats and starts in his first game up.

Season 7[]

Nathan has been playing for the Charlotte Bobcats since the finale of season 6, but his contract is up and his friend and agent Clay is having trouble getting another contract for Nathan to play in. Nathan, Haley and Jamie celebrate Jamie's 7th

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Nathan and Haley worry about Dan's show. ("I And Love And You")

birthday and a woman named Renee asks to take a picture with Nathan and later the woman tells Clay that she slept with Nathan. After going through doubting Nathan and offering to pay the woman off, Haley decides to support him and not pay her anything. Dan and Rachel convince Renee to come onto Dan's talk show to tell her side of the story. The day that Renee appears on the show, Nathan becomes enraged and goes outside, where Haley convinces him that they shouldn't watch the rest and should enjoy the beautiful day. In a surprising turn of events, Dan submits Renee to a surprise lie detector test, and all of the answers she gives come across true. He goads her into revealing that she did have sex the night of the party and got pregnant, but not by Nathan. After hearing that, Haley buries her head in Nathan's shoulder as she begins to cry and he tells her it's finally over. Their relationships seems to get stronger after the scandal. Before Dan leaves Tree Hill for good, Nathan brings Jamie to say goodbye and says thank you to his Dad for helping him get to the NBA. Later on in the season, Nathan helps Haley and James come to terms with Haley's mothers death. Also, Nathan spent the whole day bonding with Jamie while Haley and her sister Quinn were hosting an art gallery. Once Haley came home from that, he told her that he thought about it and he wants more children because while he and Jamie were bonding, Jamie kept

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Nathan, Haley and Jamie enjoy the snow. ("Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said The Last Time I Saw You...")

asking questions about Nathan's relationship with Lucas and how it must've been nice to have someone around all of the time, Nathan tells him that although they were not close when they were younger they became more like real brothers as they got older. He said, "Having a brother is kind of like having a best friend, he helped me become the man I am today." Nathan then asked Jamie if he ever felt lonely, and Jamie told him sometimes. Haley then confesses to him that she took a pregnancy test that morning, but it turned out negative. Haley jumps into the pool hoping to feel emotion again. Nathan gets to her just in time and pulls her out of the pool after she has flashbacks about her and Nathan's lives together. On a trip to Utah Haley begins to get through her depression and is overjoyed when she finds out she's pregnant. Haley tells Nathan she thinks it will be a girl.

Season 8[]

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Nathan and Haley kiss after discussing their baby and his career. ("Asleep At Heaven's Gate")

Both Nathan and Haley are thrilled at Haley being pregnant again and because of this before leaving to start his second season in the NBA Nathan attempts to convince Haley to bring Jamie with him to Charlotte and to travel with them concerned due to her recovering from depression and not wanting to her to be overloaded with stress from the label, Jamie and her pregnancy but she decides not to leave not wanting to take Jamie out of school but promises to visit Nathan regularly. After this Nathan tries to go and visit Clay at his house before leaving due to he not being able to contact him beforehand but doesn't see but puts this down to Clay wanting to give him good luck. After going to a check-up he discovers his back is weakening and he doesn't have much time left playing basketball. But as Nathan gets to camp he gets a call from Haley that both Clay and Quinn have been shot and he returns to Tree Hill. During his time he has to comfort his family as Haley is struggling to

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Nathan breaks down after staying strong for his family for too long. ("The Space Inbetween")

deal with possibly losing her sister just after losing her mother. But he struggles to deal with his own feelings as Clay's status continues to worsen. But Quinn starts to improve while Clay gets worse and they discover he needs a kidney transplant. Nathan desperately tries to help a wounded Clay by donating his kidney, even if it means he will never play basketball again after struggling to decide whenever too but is helped to his decision by his family. While trying to decide Nathan tells Haley he has back pains, after a checkup on his back, Nathan believes his back cannot hold on much longer. But he soon finds out he isn't a match. But Clay luckily receives a kidney and recovers with the help of Nathan. After the events with Clay, Nathan finally realizes that he doesn't want to risk his health and chance to spend time with his expanding family to play basketball after discovering from Julian that Jamie likes to play baseball, something that Nathan hadn't known. So he tells Haley that he has already lived his dream and had a season in the NBA. He is also relieved that Clay is fine with his due to he

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Nathan retires from basketball with Haley and Jamie at his side. ("Nobody Taught Us To Quit")

wanting Nathan's health over his career, so he doesn't return to camp and officially retires from the NBA in a press conference with Haley at his side. At the same time he tries to help Brooke cope with losing her company. He joins Clay in his agency; Fortitude as an agent after realising that Clay could lose all his clients and is sent to help sign football player Troy Jameson but he struggles, not having any knowledge of football but he manages to land a contract to for Troy to play with the Atlanta Falcons and Troy as one of his clients. Nathan goes back to college, and isn't well liked by his college professor, Dr. August Kellerman. He then starts to gain respect and gets the hang of college, with the help of Jamie. He then wants to sign Kellerman's son Ian, who is a baseball player. He is really good, but he is the life of the party. Nathan wanted Ian to sign with him, but Dr. Kellerman told him not to. He goes to Ian's house with Clay and engages in a game of beer pong with him. After the game, Ian signs the contract and Nathan asked to go to the bathroom. Nathan goes to find it and finds the garage instead.

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Nathan finds the car in the Kellerman's house. ("The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get")

Going inside, he finds a vintage Jeep Grand Wagoneer with front end damage. He approaches it and finds an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor in front of the driver's seat. He realizes that is the car that hit Brooke and Jamie, knocking them off the bridge, almost killing them. He confronts Professor Kellerman, who at first denies involvement, but then admits responsibility a short time later in a separate meeting. Afterwards, Clay, Nathan, and Ian gather at a local bar, where Ian buys shots for everyone. When Nathan asks what they're drinking, Ian tells him the brand name of the whiskey, which Nathan finds to be consistent with the brand on the bottle found in the Jeep, and concludes that his professor was lying about his involvement in the crash to cover up for his son.

Nathan also becomes a father once again when Haley gives birth to Lydia Bob Scott. After the birth of his daughter Nathan considers reconciling with his father, but once he realised he could never forgive nor forget Dan for his murder of Keith he instead visits him and gives him a photo of Lydia and Jamie's first winning baseball and moves on from the failed relationship. After resolving the issues with the crash and Dan, Nathan is able to spend more time with his daughter and family, helping Haley to reopen Karen's Cafe.

Season 9[]

After returning home from traveling for Clay's company to scout sport players, Nathan returns home to find that Dan is living under his roof and learns that Haley let him move in after his diner burned down. Nathan understands Haley's reasons for letting Dan move in because he says she has "a good heart" and that is just the kind of person she is. Nathan volunteers to scout in Europe, since Clay can't go after learning he is sick and is sleep walking to the point of waking up in various parts of Tree Hill. However before he leaves, Nathan tells Dan he wants him out of his house by the time he returns home in a week. While in Europe, Nathan goes off route after seeing the European players aren't as good as he thought they were and goes to a darker part of Europe to sign a player only to fail in the end of signing the player. Nathan chats with Haley and Lydia via webcam before leaving Europe, showing them both a pink moose he bought to bring back home for Lydia as a gift. Upon returning back to Tree Hill, Nathan is kidnapped outside Tree Hill Airport and he struggles to break free he drops the pink moose outside the airport.

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Nathan is revealed to be held hostage. ("Catastrophe And The Cure")

  After learning why he was kidnapped, his failure signing in Europe, Nathan argues with his kidnapper Dimitri to let him go. Dimitri tells Nathan when the phone rings, he will die. Nathan yells at Dimitri when the phone rings and tells him not to be his "boss's bitch." He begs Dimitri to let him pay him money to let him go, but Dimitri finds a better way to make money off Nathan's ransom. He contacts people who will pay to want Nathan dead back over in Europe. Dimitri soon brings up Haley, referring to her as a "whore," and talks about her causing Nathan to threaten to kill him if he hurts her. Nathan makes an escape attempt after fooling Dimitri and choking him knocking him unconscious. Nathan is almost caught by the drug dealer that Dan and Clay confronted, Billy. As Nathan tries to find an exit and escape, he encounters Officer Stevens (the officer that is working on his missing case) in the building. Nathan takes the gun the officer gives him and Officer Stevens tells Nathan to go out the exit in a room and find his squad car and quickly leave saying that he'll catch up. Nathan follows the officer's instructions and comes face to face with Dimitri. Nathan tries to fire the gun only to find it empty causing him to realize everything is actually a trap. The officer then jumps behind him and strikes Nathan against his head with a pipe knocking him unconscious. Nathan regains consciousness as Officer Stevens is tying him back up to the chair, he asks the officer "Why? A cop." Officer Stevens tells him he's only a "desk cop" and he's behind this as well because the Tree Hill Police Department wouldn't make him a detective. He punches Nathan in the abdomen and tells Nathan that "this pays much better" and that he will indeed die. Nathan looks at Officer Stevens and Dimitri, fear filling his eyes as he realizes that he just may never escape and that he may actually in fact die. Nathan is gagged and Officer Steven's tells Nathan in his ear, "Your wife says hi," before he covers Nathan's head with a black cover. Dan later comes to Nathan's rescue, with the help of Julian and Chris Keller. Dan manages to make his way to Nathan by killing most of Dimitri's men. As they are about to leave, Dimitri catches up to them and fires a shot at Nathan, but not before Dan can jump between them and take the bullet intended for his son.

Nathan With Gun

Nathan seconds before shooting and killing Dimitri. ("Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will")

  Dan secretly gives Nathan his gun, which Nathan then uses to shoot and kill a distracted Dimitri. Officer Stevens comes to the scene, holding Nathan at gunpoint, but is knocked out cold by Julian.

Julian and Nathan rush Dan to the hospital, where the latter is reunited with his friends and family. He is wracked with guilt over his father's current state and blames himself for it, but he, along with Deb, Jamie and Lydia, says his goodbyes to Dan and reconciles with him.

Nathan later spends some time alone with Haley, preparing a romantic dinner for her as well as giving her a diamond bracelet. They dance out in the rain and share a passionate kiss before they go to TRIC with the rest of the group, singing along with Gavin DeGraw.

Time jump[]

Nathan and Haley spend the rest of their lives together with their children, and with the rest of the group and their children, cheer on Jamie at the Ravens' basketball games.

Relationships[]

Family[]

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Lucas watches Nathan and Haley with Jamie after Nathan’s game. ("I Forgot to Remember to Forget")

Nathan was raised by his parents Dan Scott and Deb Lee in Tree Hill. During Nathan's childhood, Dan pressured him to do well in basketball which resulted in them having a sour relationship and his mother was a workaholic, who was never around for Nathan so Dan's bullying continued until when Dan and Deb where going through their divorce and made Nathan chose, Nathan instead emancipated himself although he later improved his relationship with his mother.

Nathan was raised as an only child even though his father had a son, (who was born three months prior to Nathan) Lucas Scott with his high school sweetheart Karen Roe. Nathan was raised to hate Lucas and did until his junior year of high school when Lucas joined the basketball team and Dan encouraged Nathan to pressure Lucas off of the team. But this did not work so Nathan targeted Haley James, Lucas's best friend, to get back at Lucas but Nathan and Haley soon grew close and fell in love. They got married in their junior year, much to his parents' chagrin. But Lucas and Nathan grew together over their love of basketball and became close friends.

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Nathan with his two children and wife. ("This Is My House, This Is My Home")

In his senior year, Haley fell pregnant with their first child. Their son was born during their graduation and they named him James Lucas Scott in honor of Haley's maiden name and Nathan's brother and Haley's best friend Lucas. Nathan and his family have a very close relationship and he and Haley have raised Jamie in a supportive environment unlike Nathan's upbringing. When Jamie was seven, Nathan began to want more children and only a few weeks later reveal she was pregnant with their second child and she believed it was a girl. Haley later gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Lydia with Nathan by her side.

Nathan's extended family are: Keith Scott and Cooper Lee his paternal and maternal uncles, Sawyer Brooke Scott his niece, Lily Roe Scott his cousin, his sister-in-laws Quinn James, Taylor James, Vivian James and Peyton Sawyer Scott. He also has three unnamed brothers-in-law.

Romantic Life[]

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Nathan and Haley talk about Nathan playing basketball. ("One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning")

At the beginning of the show, Nathan was in a relationship with Peyton Sawyer, although he often cheated on her and their relationship was overly dramatic. They would often break up and make up in the same day, and the basis of the relationship was sex and meant little to either of them and it finally ended at the beginning of their junior year. It was revealed that Nathan lost his virginity to Taylor James, his future wife's older sister, after his first game for the Tree Hill Ravens. Prior to his marriage Nathan made a sex tape with Brooke Davis after one of his frequent break ups with Peyton. This is revealed during their senior year, when the tape is played during a party held by Nathan to the shock of Peyton and Haley.

Since starting a relationship and getting married to Haley, Nathan and Haley have stuck together throughout many difficulties, including their troubles in season two, when Haley decides to go on tour instead of be with Nathan, Nanny Carrie trying to replace Haley in their family, and an alleged affair between Nathan and Renee Richardson in season seven, when she claims to be pregnant with his baby. In the finale of season four, they had their first child, a baby boy named James Lucas Scott. James (known as Jamie) became a huge part in their life and they are determined to give him the best childhood possible. Together they have helped Jamie through bullying and the death of his idol, Quentin Fields, who was also Haley's student and a player for the Tree Hill Ravens. In Utah, Haley revealed to Nathan that they were going to have another child. Haley later gave birth to their daughter, Lydia Bob Scott.

Career[]

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Nathan in his first game for the Bobcats. ("Remember Me as a Time of Day")

Nathan has been a basketball player as long as he can remember; his first memory of his childhood is holding a basketball, and Dan has been pushing the sport on him for his entire life. Nathan started playing basketball more officially as a Tree Hill Raven for his high school. The summer before his senior season, Nathan attended the prestigious High Flyers basketball camp. And won MVP and the State Championship in his senior year where he was also co-captain. He also set multiple records within the school for scoring (which are later bested by his son, Jamie. His number and jersey was later retired and now hangs in courts in Tree Hill High. He received a scholarship to Duke University, but after the public found out he had been point-shaving in the games leading up to the State Championship, Nathan lost his scholarship. His high school coach, Whitey Durham took a coaching job at another college with Lucas as his assistant coach, and Whitey offered Nathan a spot on his team, which Nathan gladly took and with him they won the national championship. Later, Nathan also played for the University of Maryland where he was a First Team All-American.

After college, Nathan gets his own basketball shoe deal - called NS 23 and was going to be the tenth pick in the NBA draft for the

NS card

Nathan's basketball card.

Seattle Sonics he was injured in his spinal chord and gets paralyzed in his legs. After almost half a year, Nathan sets up a comeback with the help of Quentin Fields and after Quentin died he was put on a D-League team called the Charleston Chiefs. After a year with the Chiefs, Nathan got called-up by the Charlotte Bobcats to be their new point guard, where he played for one season and had his contract renewed despite struggling, but due to issues with his back, Nathan was forced to retire from basketball and pursues a career as a sports agent in Clay's agency.

Personality and traits[]

Nathan grew up under Dan's toxic influence, becoming a very problematic teenager, if not even a real bully and a jerk. At first, when Lucas joined the Ravens, he was very harsh towards him because he was afraid he would have stolen him the spotlight, so the two quickly became rivals, to the point he tried to date Haley, his best friend since childhood, only to mess with him. but thanks to her goodness towards him, it quickly happened something Nathan never experienced before and he couldn't expect: he truly and seriously fell in love with her. Eventually, Nathan and Haley started dating because she fell for him too and, from that moment, everything changed for him: thanks to her, he understood he could grow into a new and better version of himself, slowly becoming kinder, more selfless and caring about people, even starting to befriend Lucas. From then on, the relationship between the two began evolving as they got to know each other better, eventually becoming best friends and then considering each other true brothers. He also became good friends with Lucas' gang, in particular Mouth and Skills, and, after an unhealthy on-and-off relationship with Peyton before getting together with Haley, he even established a true friendship with her. Also, thanks to Haley and Lucas' support, he was finally able to face his long-time issues in the relationship with Dan, deciding to cut him out of his life after understanding how toxic his presence and influence was for him and even made a petition to be emancipated at sixteen as he grew tired of both his parents when they started battling each other, putting him in the middle, after the decision of getting divorced. Then, his relationship with Haley grew so strong that the two decided to even get married while still in high school and then ended up having their first child, Jamie, right after graduation. Over the years, Nathan kept growing as a person and eventually became a loving and caring man, husband and father, despite some times he kept doing more or less the same mistakes of the screwed up initial version of himself as his personality's foundations were basically impulsiveness and doing things without thinking about consequences, so he also had to learn to be more calm and thoughtful.

Trivia[]

  • James Lafferty, who played Nathan, was only 17 years old they first started filming the show.
  • Nathan was only supposed to use Haley to mess with Lucas, and his character was not supposed to fall in love with her, but the showrunners decided to change the storyline when they saw how much chemistry James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz had.
  • His middle name, Royal, is his paternal grandfather's name.
  • He's 3 months younger than his half-brother Lucas.
  • Chad Michael Murray was first wanted by Mark Schwahn to audition for the role of Nathan, but he felt a close connection to Lucas Scott since Chad's mother left him when he was ten years old.
    • James Lafferty got the role because of his basketball ability.
      • Lafferty had also been offered a sports scholarship to college due to basketball but turned it down to play Nathan.
  • In the first season, Nathan had a nipple piercing, but it was not seen afterwards (James Lafferty didn't really have the piercing so it was glued on).
  • He was the only character who had appeared in all episodes, until Season 9 where he only appeared in 8 of the 13 episodes.
  • Throughout Nathan's high school and college basketball life, he held the number 23, but after going professionally, he held both the number 12 and 15.
    • Despite this, Nathan's wife, Haley, has a tattoo of the number 23 on her lower back.
  • Nathan's favorite ice cream flavor is rocky road, yet he always gets mint chocolate chip because it's Haley's favorite flavor.
  • He is the godfather of Sawyer Scott.
  • Nathan served as best man at both his half-brother Lucas Scott's weddings: the one with Lindsey (which was stopped) and the one with Peyton (who became his actual wife).
  • Tim and Bevin Smith named their son after Nathan despite not having seen Nathan in years.
  • Nathan is one of the four main male characters to appear in all nine seasons of One Tree Hill. The other three male characters are: Dan, Mouth and Skills.
  • Nathan has had sex with all three of the core female characters: Peyton, Brooke, and Haley.
  • Nathan took the virginity of his wife Haley and his sister-in-law Peyton Sawyer.
  • Nathan is the only character whose name both starts and ends with the same letter, "N."
  • He lost his virginity to his sister-in-law, Taylor back when he was a freshmen and she was a senior.
  • He was dressed up as Batman once in An Attempt to Tip the Scales.
  • Lafferty was the only member of the Core Five cast members who was still a teenager when the show debuted. He is three years younger than Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush, and four years younger than Lenz and Murray. The same was the case for another teen drama which debuted in 2003, The O.C. On that show, of the "Core Four" teen roles, only Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper) was still a teenager at the time of its premiere.

Gallery[]

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