It's been twelve seasons, but sometimes it feels like the characters of Grey's Anatomy have lived – and died – twelve lifetimes.
Here's where our faves* started, and where they are now. Yes, there are spoilers. All the spoilers.
*Note: Characters introduced within the past three seasons are not included in this list because they've only lived 1-3 lifetimes so far, not an eternity.
Meredith Grey (Played by Ellen Pompeo)
Where she started: A wide-eyed if somewhat emotionally tortured intern who also happened to be sleeping with her boss.
Where she is now: A widow who's seen approximately 1000x more trauma than any human should be expected to bear. Chief of general surgery and has three kids. Oh, and she's part-owner of the hospital.
Seasons active: One through twelve.
Miranda Bailey (Played by Chandra Wilson)
Where she started: The resident known for her toughness. Main teacher/babysitter of the original horde of interns.
Where she is now: HBIC Miranda Bailey is now CHIEF OF SURGERY. She's also happily married to a fine AF man. Good on you, Miranda.
Seasons active: One through twelve.
Cristina Yang (Played by Sandra Oh)
Where she started: An intensely ambitious intern who also happened to be sleeping with her boss.
Where she is now: Running a whole damn hospital in Switzerland. Harper Avery nominee. Left Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital at the end of Season 10 when Preston Burke decided to retire and hand her the keys to a kingdom.
Seasons active: One through ten.
Alex Karev (Played by Justin Chambers)
Where he started: The antagonistic, chauvinistic intern who wasn't quite in the friend group and made fun of pediatrics.
Where he is now: A beloved pediatric attending who stepped in as Meredith's ~Person~ when Cristina left.
Seasons active: One through twelve.
George O'Malley (Played by T.R. Knight)
Where he started: The underdog intern who botched a surgery on the first day and pined after Meredith like a goofy little puppy dog.
Where he is now: Dead. Joined the army, but that wasn't a big enough exit – he died in a bus accident saving a woman's life instead. He was so disfigured from the crash that his friends didn't recognize him until his last moments.
Seasons active: One through five.
Izzie Stevens (Played by Katherine Heigl)
Where she started: As the former-model intern who got a little too attached to her patients.
Where she is now: IN THE WIND. After some ghost sex and a heavy battle with cancer, Izzie got fired from the hospital and left her husband and her life to go...be Katherine Heigl, I guess?
Seasons active: One through six.
Addison Montgomery (Played by Kate Walsh)
Where she started: Derek's neonatal attending wife who moved to Seattle to try to make the marriage work.
Where she is now: In California, presumably, with husband Jake and son Henry.
Seasons active: Two through three.
Preston Burke (Played by Isaiah Washington)
Where he started: Cardio attending who happened to be sleeping with an intern.
Where he is now: Retired with his wife and kids, having handed the hospital he founded over to Cristina.
Seasons active: One through three.
Mark Sloan (Played by Eric Dane)
Where he started: As the steamy plastic surgeon who had an affair with Derek's wife.
Where he is now: Dead! Succumbed to wounds from a plane crash, leaving behind little daughter Sofia.
Seasons active: Two through eight.
Callie Torres (Played by Sara Ramirez)
Where she started: George's ortho attending girlfriend-turned-wife. Misfit among the main characters.
Where she is now: Divorced twice over, but overall pretty happy and very beloved. Long-since out as a bisexual badass. Mother of little Sofia with Arizona.
Seasons active: Two through twelve.
Lexie Grey (Played by Chyler Leigh)
Where she started: Long-lost and unwanted sister to Meredith, and an intern at the hospital.
Where she is now: Dead. Beloved by Meredith and the rest of Seattle Grace, Lexie died in the same plane crash that killed Mark. The hospital is now named after them both.
Seasons active: Four through eight.
Teddy Altman (Played by Kim Raver)
Where she started: A war buddy of Owen's and cardio chief at Seattle Grace.
Where she is now: Unknown, she hasn't been mentioned in over three seasons. Last we saw her she'd taken a job at the US Army Medical Command after a rough time being widowed.
Seasons active: Six through eight.
Arizona Robbins (Played by Jessica Capshaw)
Where she started: As the pediatrics attending and Callie's first serious girlfriend.
Where she is now: Divorced from Callie and raising Sofia with her. Lost her leg in the aforementioned plane crash. She's also chief of both fetal and pediatric surgery.
Seasons active: Five through twelve.
Jackson Avery (Played by Jesse Williams)
Where he started: The pretty boy resident who transferred from Mercy West.
Where he is now: In the midst of a potential divorce from April Kepner, attending of plastics and ENT.
Seasons active: Six through twelve.
April Kepner (Played by Sarah Drew)
Where she started: The high-strung Mercy West transfer who got on everyone's nerves.
Where she is now: A trauma surgeon hardened from two tours with the army but beloved by her friends at the hospital. Married to Jackson but in the midst of a possible divorce.
Seasons active: Six through twelve.
Owen Hunt (Played by Kevin McKidd)
Where he started: A PTSD-suffering trauma surgeon who immediately started wooing Cristina.
Where he is now: Divorced from Cristina, with further demons surfacing thanks to the presence of his former best friend.
Seasons active: Five through twelve.
Richard Webber (Played by James Pickens Jr.)
Where he started: Chief of surgery, with a long-suffering wife.
Where he is now: Married to fellow workaholic Catherine Avery, reconnecting with his long-lost daughter. He's still at Grey Sloan Memorial hospital, but as a senior attending.
Seasons active: One through twelve.
Derek Shepherd (Played by Patrick Dempsey)
Where he started: A recently-separated attending at Seattle Grace who happens to be sleeping with an intern.
Where he is now: Dead. Hit by a semi while saving victims of a crash, leaving a pregnant Meredith a widow with two kids and another on the way.
Seasons active: One through eleven.
