Rachel Barbra Berry is the main character on Glee. She is a Tony award-winning musical theatre actress. She graduated from the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts (NYADA), after getting a second chance at her degree, following her decision to drop out in Bash, She is an alumna of William McKinley High School as of Goodbye. She was the first-ever captain of the school's Glee Club, the New Directions, having later recruited Finn Hudson as a co-captain in Mattress. She was one of the three major self-proclaimed divas of the club: the others being two of her closest friends, Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones.

Rachel is a very driven and ambitious young woman. She was raised by her two gay fathers, LeRoy and Hiram Berry, but she was able to meet her biological mother Shelby Corcoran, the former coach of Vocal Adrenaline in Theatricality, due to the efforts of her now-husband, Jesse St. James.

Rachel is very competitive but works harder that anyone else so often feels she should have the spotlight and due to her dream of performing on Broadway. However, on numerous occasions, during her tenure as a New Directions member, Rachel has shown that she was slowly becoming more considerate and supportive towards the other members of the glee club.

In the episode Yes/No, Finn, whom she has had conflicting feelings forever since the episode Pilot, proposes to Rachel and in Michael, Rachel accepts his proposal. In On My Way, they planned to get married, but at the beginning of Big Brother it is revealed that they postponed their wedding due to Quinn Fabray's texting and driving car accident. In Goodbye, Finn told her that he is setting her free so that she could go to New York and follow her dreams which she couldn't do if she was married to him. She graduated from McKinley High School in the Season Three graduation episode, Goodbye.

In The New Rachel, Rachel is now a student at NYADA and is struggling to fit in with the new adjustments. Her dance teacher, Cassandra July, isn't making her stay in New York City very welcoming either. In The Break-Up, Finn returns, but with the ongoing drama, Rachel breaks off their relationship "for now" and their relationship was put on hold. In Glease, it seems their relationship has fully dropped after Finn says they shouldn't have contact and he doesn't want to know about Rachel's arrival to Lima, Ohio if she does return again someday. Although at Will's almost wedding they talk multiple times, sing a duet, and sleep together. In the episode, Sweet Dreams, her Broadway journey begins after auditioning for Funny Girl and asked to return for callbacks. During Wonder-ful, she and Cassandra July reconcile and they become friends, after promising she and other NYADA students will help her. In All or Nothing, she re-auditioned for Funny Girl, but it is unknown if she has been selected at the end of the fourth season.

In Season Five, during Tina in the Sky with Diamonds, we found out that she was selected to play 'Fanny Brice' in Funny Girl. Despite the good news, Rachel receives the shock of Finn's death in The Quarterback, which is very tough for her to deal with, especially in the subsequent year. In A Katy or A Gaga, Rachel joins Kurt's band, Pamela Lansbury. Santana Lopez becomes Rachel's understudy which reopens old wounds. Because of her feud with Santana, they are kicked out of the band by Kurt in Trio. In Bash, Rachel quits her schooling at NYADA to focus on Funny Girl. As of Opening Night, the revival of Funny Girl successfully opened on Broadway receiving good reviews from the New York Times. In The Untitled Rachel Berry Project, she decides to leave Broadway and go to Los Angeles to shoot the very first episode of a new series based on her life.

In Season Six, it is revealed that her TV show, titled That's So Rachel, has been cancelled due to very poor ratings after airing its pilot episode. Since she can't go back to Broadway, Rachel returns to Ohio to find out her parents are getting divorced and to relaunch the glee club along with Kurt, and together (with some help of the Alumni) they recruit new members. In What the World Needs Now, with Mercedes' piece of advice and with New Directions' and Alumni's help, Rachel goes to New York to audition for a play in a new Broadway show, which is revealed to have gotten later in the season. However, after personally requesting it, Rachel is reaccepted in NYADA, which leads her to drop the role and decide to go back to college to finish her education. In the series finale, Dreams Come True, it is revealed that in 2020, she is now a successful Broadway actress, married to her friend and old love Jesse St. James, who is also her director, and a surrogate for Klaine. She finally wins a Tony Award - her lifelong dream - for her role in the fictitious Broadway musical Jane Austen Sings, showing that at the end, her life long dreams have finally accomplished and all the things she went through and worked hard for is finally paid off in the best way possible.

She is portrayed by actress and singer Lea Michele.