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!!! '''First Appearance:''' "[[Recap/BlackLightning2018S1E1TheResurrection The Resurrection]]" (''Black Lightning'' 1x1)
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!!! '''First Appearance:''' "[[Recap/BlackLightning2018S1E1TheResurrection The Resurrection]]" (''Black Lightning'' 1x1)
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!!! '''First Appearance:''' "[[Recap/BlackLightning2018S1E1TheResurrection The Resurrection]]" (''Black Lightning'' 1x1)
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!!! '''First Appearance:''' "[[Recap/BlackLightning2018S1E1TheResurrection The Resurrection]]" (''Black Lightning'' 1x1)
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!!! '''First Appearance:''' "[[Recap/BlackLightning2018S1E6TheBookOfThunder Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder]]" (''Black Lightning'' 1x6)
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!!!'''Played By:''' Nafessa Williams
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!!!'''Played By:''' Nafessa WilliamsCreator/NafessaWilliams
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moderator restored to earlier version
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* GoodIsNotNice: As Black Lightning; while a civil, model citizen, well-respected school principal and loving, dedicated father and family man, he is aggressive and relentless in his vigilante guise, shown to brutally beat up and [[ElectricTorture electrify]] suspects to get them to give him what he wants.
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* GoodIsNotNice: GoodIsNotSoft: As Black Lightning; while a civil, model citizen, well-respected school principal and loving, dedicated father and family man, he is aggressive and relentless in his vigilante guise, shown to brutally beat up and [[ElectricTorture electrify]] suspects to get them to give him what he wants.
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Updated character index links
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'''National City:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38NationalCity Citizens]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseKaraZorEl Kara Zor-El]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJamesOlsen James Olsen]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38LuthorFamilyAndAssociates Luthor Family & Associates]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38CriminalGroupsAndOrganizations Criminal Groups & Organizations]]\\
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'''National City:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38NationalCity [[Characters/ArrowverseNationalCityCitizens Citizens]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseKaraZorEl Kara Zor-El]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJamesOlsen James Olsen]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38LuthorFamilyAndAssociates [[Characters/ArrowverseLuthorFamilyAndAssociates Luthor Family & Associates]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38CriminalGroupsAndOrganizations Criminal Groups & Organizations]]\\[[Characters/ArrowverseNationalCityCriminals Criminals]]\\
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'''Organizations:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseUSGovernmentAndMilitary US Government & Military]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38USGovernmentAndMilitary Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLGovermentAndMilitary Earth-BL Immigrants]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseARGUSAndTaskForceX A.R.G.U.S.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheDEO The D.E.O.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseJusticeSocietyOfAmerica Justice Society of America]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseLeagueOfAssassins The League of Assassins]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHIVE H.I.V.E.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseVandalSavageAndFollowers Savage and His Followers]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseInternationalGroups International]]\\
'''Other Locales:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCity Gotham City]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OtherLocales Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLOtherLocales Earth-BL Immigrants]])\\
'''Time Travel:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseTheLegends The Legends]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseSaraLance Sara Lance]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseRayPalmer Ray Palmer]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseLeonardSnart Leonard Snart]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseMickRory Mick Rory]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJohnConstantine John Constantine]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeMasters Time Masters & Time Bureau]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheLegionOfSuperheroes Legion of Superheroes]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeCriminals Time Criminals]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEobardThawne Eobard Thawne]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseDamienDarhk Damien Darhk]]) | [[Characters/ArrowversePastCharacters The Past]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseFutureCharacters The Future]]\\
'''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseMetahumans Metahumans]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseFirestorm Firestorm]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHawks The Hawks]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseGrodd Grodd]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OutsideEarth Aliens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseMystics Mystics]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEntities Other Entities]]\\
'''The Multiverse:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEarths Other Earths]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 Earth-2]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]) / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38 Earth-38]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth90 Earth-90]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthX Earth-X]])-]]]]]
'''Other Locales:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCity Gotham City]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OtherLocales Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLOtherLocales Earth-BL Immigrants]])\\
'''Time Travel:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseTheLegends The Legends]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseSaraLance Sara Lance]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseRayPalmer Ray Palmer]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseLeonardSnart Leonard Snart]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseMickRory Mick Rory]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJohnConstantine John Constantine]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeMasters Time Masters & Time Bureau]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheLegionOfSuperheroes Legion of Superheroes]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeCriminals Time Criminals]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEobardThawne Eobard Thawne]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseDamienDarhk Damien Darhk]]) | [[Characters/ArrowversePastCharacters The Past]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseFutureCharacters The Future]]\\
'''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseMetahumans Metahumans]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseFirestorm Firestorm]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHawks The Hawks]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseGrodd Grodd]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OutsideEarth Aliens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseMystics Mystics]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEntities Other Entities]]\\
'''The Multiverse:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEarths Other Earths]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 Earth-2]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]) / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38 Earth-38]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth90 Earth-90]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthX Earth-X]])-]]]]]
to:
'''Gotham City:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseBatFamily Bat-Family]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCityCitizens Citizens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCityCriminals Criminals]]\\
'''Organizations:'''[[Characters/ArrowverseUSGovernmentAndMilitary US Government & [[Characters/ArrowverseUSGovernment U.S. Government]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseUSMilitary U.S. Military]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38USGovernmentAndMilitary Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLGovermentAndMilitary Earth-BL Immigrants]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseARGUSAndTaskForceX A.R.G.U.S.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheDEO [[Characters/ArrowverseTheDEO The D.E.O.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseJusticeSocietyOfAmerica Justice Society of America]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseLeagueOfAssassins The League of Assassins]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHIVE H.I.V.E.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseVandalSavageAndFollowers Savage and His Followers]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseInternationalGroups International]]\\
'''Other Locales:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCity Gotham City]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OtherLocales Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLOtherLocales Earth-BL Immigrants]])\\
[[Characters/ArrowverseCriminalGroupsAndOrganizations Criminal Groups]]\\
'''Time Travel:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseTheLegends The Legends]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseSaraLance Sara Lance]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseRayPalmer Ray Palmer]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseLeonardSnart Leonard Snart]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseMickRory Mick Rory]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJohnConstantine John Constantine]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeMasters Time Masters & Time Bureau]] |[[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheLegionOfSuperheroes Legion of Superheroes]] [[Characters/ArrowverseTheLegionOfSuperHeroes The Legion]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeCriminals Time Criminals]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEobardThawne Eobard Thawne]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseDamienDarhk Damien Darhk]]) | [[Characters/ArrowversePastCharacters The Past]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseFutureCharacters The Future]]\\
'''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other Locales]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseMetahumans Metahumans]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseFirestorm Firestorm]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHawks The Hawks]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseGrodd Grodd]]) |[[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OutsideEarth [[Characters/ArrowverseAliens Aliens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseMystics Mystics]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEntities Other Entities]]\\
'''The Multiverse:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEarths Other Earths]]([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 Earth-2]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]) / | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38 Earth-38]] / | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth90 Earth-90]] / | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthX Earth-X]])-]]]]]
Earth-X]]-]]]]]
'''Organizations:'''
'''Other Locales:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCity Gotham City]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OtherLocales Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLOtherLocales Earth-BL Immigrants]])\\
'''Time Travel:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseTheLegends The Legends]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseSaraLance Sara Lance]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseRayPalmer Ray Palmer]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseLeonardSnart Leonard Snart]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseMickRory Mick Rory]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJohnConstantine John Constantine]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeMasters Time Masters & Time Bureau]] |
'''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other Locales]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseMetahumans Metahumans]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseFirestorm Firestorm]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHawks The Hawks]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseGrodd Grodd]]) |
'''The Multiverse:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEarths Other Earths]]
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* SecondSuperIdentity: Aside from being the heroine Thunder, she also sneaks around at night in dark hoods, brutally beating up criminals and stealing money for those in need. The streets label her second alias "The Blackbird".
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* SecondSuperIdentity: Aside from being the heroine Thunder, she also sneaks around at night in dark hoods, brutally beating up criminals and stealing money for those in need. The streets label her second alias "The Blackbird". In season 3, she uses this alternate identity to join the resistance, since the ASA knows who Thunder is.
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-->'''Jefferson:''' If my teachers had taken that approach, I never would've made it.
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* NotSoDifferent: Jefferson only starts to manage to reconcile himself to his situation when he speaks to [[Series/TheFlash2014 Earth-1's Flash]], who, despite his much greater power level and familiarity with the Multiverse, turns out to be an ordinary man with a past much like his own and a similar moral code he also inherited from his father. It's an especially comforting moment for Jefferson when Barry recognizes his reference to "Literature/DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight", meaning Creator/DylanThomas (and other RealLife literature) is TheConstant between his world and Earth-1, and something he loves still exists to defend.
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* NotSoDifferent: Jefferson only starts to manage to reconcile himself to his situation during the Crisis when he speaks to [[Series/TheFlash2014 Earth-1's Flash]], who, despite his much greater power level and familiarity with the Multiverse, turns out to be an ordinary man with a past much like his own and a similar moral code he also inherited from his father. It's an especially comforting moment for Jefferson when Barry recognizes his reference to "Literature/DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight", meaning Creator/DylanThomas (and other RealLife literature) is TheConstant between his world and Earth-1, and something he loves still exists to defend.
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'''Jefferson:''' If my teachers had taken that approach, I never would've made it.
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* EmbarrassingNickname: Jennifer has given her the nick-name "Harriet Tubman" due to her political activism. On the other hand, it can also count as an AffectionateNickname, since Jennifer really adores her elder sister.
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* EmbarrassingNickname: Jennifer has given her the nick-name nickname "Harriet Tubman" due to her political activism. On the other hand, it can also count as an AffectionateNickname, since Jennifer really adores her elder sister.
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* AddledAddict: Agent Odell covertly gets her adicted to Greenlight both as a means to enhance her intelligence and productivity for the ASA and keep her loyal to them. As she becomes more dependant on the drug, her personality spirals out of control until she hits rock bottom. While Jefferson and her daughters help her through it and help her stabalize, it's clear that she has not fully kicked the addiction (and in fact may never) and it has put a significant dent in both her professional life and the progress she and Jefferson hav made towards rebuilding their marriage.
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* AddledAddict: Agent Odell covertly gets her adicted to Greenlight both as a means to enhance her intelligence and productivity for the ASA and keep her loyal to them. As she becomes more dependant on the drug, her personality spirals out of control until she hits rock bottom. While Jefferson and her daughters help her through it and help her stabalize, it's clear that she has not fully kicked the addiction (and in fact may never) and it has put a significant dent in both her professional life and the progress she and Jefferson hav have made towards rebuilding their marriage.
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* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Jefferson's worst nightmare has come true during ''Crisis'' -- his entire family is dead, as is the whole community of Freeland, as is everyone else in his universe, and he wasn't able to do anything to stop it.]]
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* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Jefferson's worst nightmare has come true during ''Crisis'' -- his entire family is dead, as is the whole community of Freeland, as is everyone else in his universe, and he wasn't able to do anything to stop it. At the end of ''Crisis'' he is reunited with his family and the rest of Freeland on Earth Prime.]]
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* AddledAddict: Agent Odell covertly gets her adicted to Greenlight both as a means to enhance her intelligence and productivity for the ASA and keep her loyal to them. As she becomes more dependant on the drug, her personality spirals out of control until she hits rock bottom. While Jefferson and her daughters help her through it and help her stabalize, it's clear that she has not fully kicked the addiction (and in fact may never) and it has put a significant dent in both her professional life and the progress she and Jefferson has made towards rebuilding their marriage.
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* AddledAddict: Agent Odell covertly gets her adicted to Greenlight both as a means to enhance her intelligence and productivity for the ASA and keep her loyal to them. As she becomes more dependant on the drug, her personality spirals out of control until she hits rock bottom. While Jefferson and her daughters help her through it and help her stabalize, it's clear that she has not fully kicked the addiction (and in fact may never) and it has put a significant dent in both her professional life and the progress she and Jefferson has hav made towards rebuilding their marriage.
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* AddledAddict: Agent Odell covertly gets her adicted to Greenlight both as a means to enhance her intelligence and productivity for the ASA and keep her loyal to them. As she becomes more dependant on the drug, her personality spirals out of control until she hits rock bottom. While Jefferson and her daughters help her through it and help her stabalize, it's clear that she has not fully kicked the addiction (and in fact may never) and it has put a significant dent in both her professional life and the progress she and Jefferson has made towards rebuilding their marriage.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Thanks to her research on Metahumans, she is able to create a serum that allows non-Metas to copy Meta powers temporarily. She has used it several times so far to give herself abilities to help herself and her family during Season 3, though her powers only last a couple of hours at at time.
* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: Her use of Greenlight while working for the ASA greatly enhanced her intelligence and thinking abilities, though at the cost of her becoming adicted to the drug.
* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: Her use of Greenlight while working for the ASA greatly enhanced her intelligence and thinking abilities, though at the cost of her becoming adicted to the drug.
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* JerkassBall: Grabs it whenever she's around Gambi, whom she blames for Jefferson's vigilantism.
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* JerkassBall: Grabs it whenever she's around Gambi, whom she blames for Jefferson's vigilantism. She eventually comes to terms with their collective past.
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* SecretKeeper: One of the few people who know that Jefferson is Black Lightning.
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* SecretKeeper: One of the few people who know that Jefferson is Black Lightning. Later extends to knowing Anissa is Thunder and Jennifer is Lightning.
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* ChildSoldier: What Odell manipulates her into for him. She eventually calls it quits and tries to assassinate him.
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* {{Elopement}}: In Season 2, [[spoiler:she decides to run away with Khalil, after fearing to be locked in her house forever and seeing how Khalil can no longer work for Tobias]].
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* {{Elopement}}: In Season 2, [[spoiler:she she decides to run away with Khalil, after fearing to be locked in her house forever and seeing how Khalil can no longer work for Tobias]].Tobias.
* LeeroyJenkins: A really bad trait of hers, combined with SmugSuper. She is so overconfident of her abilities that she will charge into action without thinking of the consequences.
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* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: In Season 2, Jennifer struggles more and more to control her powers. Her parents forbid her from going to school and eventually decide that getting an in-home tutor for her would be best. [[spoiler:Jennifer is ''not'' amused about this, and then runs away with Khalil.]]
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* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: In Season 2, Jennifer struggles more and more to control her powers. Her parents forbid her from going to school and eventually decide that getting an in-home tutor for her would be best. [[spoiler:Jennifer Jennifer is ''not'' amused about this, and then runs away with Khalil.]]
* WorldsStrongestWoman: She surely has the potential for it, as her powers have virtually no limits.
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* {{Irony}}: She spent the early seasons blasting Jefferson for his supposed addiction, only to end up with an addiction of her own.
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* {{Irony}}: She spent the early seasons blasting Jefferson for his supposed addiction, only to end up with an addiction of her own.own, though to be fair, it wasn't her fault, as Odell had her hooked on Green Light.
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[[center:[-[[Characters/{{Arrowverse}} Main Character Index]] > Freeland > '''Pierce Family''' | [[Characters/ArrowverseFreelandCitizens Citizens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseFreelandCriminals Criminals]]]]-]
to:
[-'''Star City:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseTeamArrow Team Arrow]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseOliverQueen Oliver Queen]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseDinahLaurelLance Dinah Laurel Lance]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseTeamArrowFamilyMembers Team Arrow Family Members]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseStarCityCitizens Citizens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseStarCityCriminalGroups Criminal Groups]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseMalcolmMerlyn Malcolm Merlyn]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseSladeWilson Slade Wilson]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseSimonMorrison Prometheus]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseStarCityIndependentCriminals Independent Criminals]]\\
'''Central City:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseWestAllenFamily West-Allen Family]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseBarryAllen Barry Allen]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseSTARLabs Team Flash]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseCaitlinSnowAndKillerFrost Caitlin Snow & (Killer) Frost]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseCentralCityCitizens Citizens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseCentralCityCriminalGroups Criminal Groups]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseTheRogues Rogues]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseCentralCityIndependentCriminals Independent Criminals]]\\
'''National City:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38NationalCity Citizens]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseKaraZorEl Kara Zor-El]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJamesOlsen James Olsen]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38LuthorFamilyAndAssociates Luthor Family & Associates]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38CriminalGroupsAndOrganizations Criminal Groups & Organizations]]\\
'''Freeland:''' '''Pierce Family''' | [[Characters/ArrowverseFreelandCitizens Citizens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseFreelandCriminals
'''Organizations:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseUSGovernmentAndMilitary US Government & Military]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38USGovernmentAndMilitary Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLGovermentAndMilitary Earth-BL Immigrants]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseARGUSAndTaskForceX A.R.G.U.S.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheDEO The D.E.O.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseJusticeSocietyOfAmerica Justice Society of America]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseLeagueOfAssassins The League of Assassins]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHIVE H.I.V.E.]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseVandalSavageAndFollowers Savage and His Followers]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseInternationalGroups International]]\\
'''Other Locales:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseGothamCity Gotham City]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales Other]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OtherLocales Earth-38 Immigrants]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthBLOtherLocales Earth-BL Immigrants]])\\
'''Time Travel:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseTheLegends The Legends]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseSaraLance Sara Lance]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseRayPalmer Ray Palmer]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseLeonardSnart Leonard Snart]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseMickRory Mick Rory]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseJohnConstantine John Constantine]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeMasters Time Masters & Time Bureau]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38TheLegionOfSuperheroes Legion of Superheroes]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseTimeCriminals Time Criminals]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEobardThawne Eobard Thawne]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseDamienDarhk Damien Darhk]]) | [[Characters/ArrowversePastCharacters The Past]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseFutureCharacters The Future]]\\
'''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseMetahumans Metahumans]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseFirestorm Firestorm]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseTheHawks The Hawks]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseGrodd Grodd]]) | [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38OutsideEarth Aliens]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseMystics Mystics]] | [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEntities Other Entities]]\\
'''The Multiverse:''' [[Characters/ArrowverseOtherEarths Other Earths]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 Earth-2]] ([[Characters/ArrowverseHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]) / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth38 Earth-38]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarth90 Earth-90]] / [[Characters/ArrowverseEarthX Earth-X]])-]]]]]
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* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Because her powers protected her from the Crisis, she's the last physical remnant of the series' pre-Crisis Earth.]]
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!!!'''Species:''' Metahuman
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!!!'''Species:''' Human
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-> [[{{Characters/Arrowverse}} return to the Arrowverse characters index]]
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new suit
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/new_jefferson.png]]
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* AntiHero: Starting with Season 2, she starts acting a lot more angry and even downright ruthless. Fittingly, she abandons "Thunder" and goes full-time "Blackbird".
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* AntiHero: Starting with Season 2, she starts acting a lot more angry and even downright ruthless. Fittingly, she abandons "Thunder" at the start of Season 3 and goes full-time "Blackbird"."Blackbird", though she later goes back to Thunder again.
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* NotQuiteTheRightThing: She meant well when she made Jefferson promise to give up the hero gig, but it led to utter disaster. Sure your husband will no longer put himself in danger (at least, for a while), but the bad guys ended up basically taking over the city, which in the long run put everyone of its citizens in danger, including Lynn and the girls.
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* NotQuiteTheRightThing: She meant well when she made Jefferson promise to give up the hero gig, but it led to utter disaster. Sure your husband will no longer put himself in danger (at least, for a while), but the bad guys ended up basically taking over the city, which in the long run put everyone every one of its citizens in danger, including Lynn and the girls.
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* {{Irony}}: She spent the early seasons blasting Jefferson for his supposed addiction, only to end up with an addiction of her own.
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* EvilMeScaresMe: She makes no secret that she's greatly disturbed by the deeds of her Earth-2 counterpart.
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* EvilMeScaresMe: She makes no secret that she's greatly disturbed by the deeds of her Earth-2 counterpart. It's enough to convince her that Odell has nothing good planned for her.
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
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Damn, I deserve checks for these! :D :D
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-> [[{{Characters/Arrowverse}} return to the Arrowverse characters index]]
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[[foldercontrol]]
!The Pierce Family
[[folder:Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning]]
!![[ComicBook/BlackLightning Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2_67.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/27575195_534581863595823_19497.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CressWilliams
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018'' | ''Series/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths|2019}}''
-> "''Don't mistake my patience for weakness, boy.''"
\\
A former vigilante turned high-school principal. He is forced back into heroics when the gangs he once fought target his family.\\
\\
Jefferson can absorb and manipulate electricity.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for his Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for his Earth-2 counterpart
----
* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Jefferson is said to be extremely popular (in his civilian identity) among the people of Freeland for his work with kids and the school. He's even nicknamed "Black Jesus". As for Black Lightning, except among cops and criminals, the people of Freeland hold him in awe.
* ActionDad: A father of two and a superhero.
* AlmightyJanitor: In Season Two, where he's forced to step down as principal, but stays on as history teacher.
* AmicableExes: With his ex-wife Lynn. There's still [[IncrediblyLamePun sparks]] of attraction between them and part of why Jefferson is reluctant to become Black Lightning again is that he believes there's a possibility of them getting back together.
* AngryBlackMan: He usually tries to avoid being this, but when he's reached his limits, it'll be played straight. It's not natural, being a side effect of the serum that gave him his powers.
* ArmorIsUseless: Averted--his new armor goes a long way in keeping him from getting full of bullet holes. However, it has its limits; getting shot at close range with a pistol is enough to give him a large cut (though that may have been from hitting an unarmored area).
* BadassInANiceSuit: As a principal, he's almost always dressed in a suit and tie, and can both fight and stand up to aggressive cops and the 100 with nary a blink while wearing it.
* BadassTeacher: A high school principal who can shoot lightning bolts. He refuses to have metal detectors in his school because he doesn't want his pupils treated like criminals. Harm his students, and he will make you regret it.
* BaldOfAwesome: Before giving up his vigilante activities, Jefferson sported this while wearing his older costume as part of the greater MythologyGag to his character's look in the comics.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Even when Tobias Whale prepared a countermeasure for his powers, Jefferson was still strong and skilled enough to take down the villainous albino in pure hand-to-hand combat.
* ClarkKenting: A justified example. It is mentioned that he does something with his powers that makes it hard for people to look directly at his face; it also disrupts cameras, though of course this doesn't show on screen.
* CoolTeacher: He's very supportive towards all his students, not just his current ones, but also the adults in the city who were his students at school years prior. He worries and cares about them, supports and encourages them and doesn't treat them like kids, but rather like young folks ready to take the first steps into adulthood and all they can achieve with it. In return, the majority of the students greatly respect him for this, working hard to achieve and exceed his expectations for them, and as seen in episode 11, they will not hesitate to confront the police when Jefferson gets accused of a crime, firmly believing in Jefferson's innocence.
* CosmicHorrorReveal: He does ''not'' deal well with the sudden knowledge that his universe is only one among many, and that everything in it has just been destroyed.
* DentedIron: His powers allow him to recover from injuries faster than most people, but his HealingFactor is not as good as it used to be.
* DoNotGoGentle: Of all the heroes in the third hour of the CrisisCrossover he has the most reason to succumb to despair, being the SoleSurvivor of his universe with not even any alternate analogues of his loved ones left in existence. But even knowing that he's joined the battle in its DarkestHour, he quotes Creator/DylanThomas and resolves to spend his last day of existence still fighting.
* DoubleStandard: Called out as a victim of this on the news; though other superheroes are confirmed to exist, Black Lightning is the only one treated as a vigilante, which is speculated to be because of his race. Though, as noted, he tends to lay out racist cops (not that they wouldn't have had it coming), which doesn't make him look good to the local police.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite being a well-loved pillar of the community, he's the suspect of racial profiling ''a lot'' -- and he's fed up with it.
* ElectricBlackGuy: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Duh]], given that his comics counterpart was [[UrExample the origin of this trope]].
* ElementalPunch: He can channel electricity into his fists in order to make his punches more effective.
* EnergyAbsorption: Jefferson takes most of his powers from external sources. He is also immune to electric shocks, as Looker and her Sanges in Season 2 find out: Wrongly assuming that Black Lightning's powers come from his suit, they accidentally charge the drained Jefferson with electricity (to torture and kill him), allowing him to fight back.
* ExperiencedProtagonist: In contrast to other Creator/DCComics superheroes on Creator/TheCW, he's in his late 40s and long past his origin story.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:He alongside Clark, Iris, Ralph, Nash and Diggle, is among the final survivors of the entire Multiverse [[DefiantToTheEnd to stand in defiance of the Anti-Monitor]] before being erased by Antimatter.]]
* FamedInStory: Jefferson is famous not only as an Olympic medal winner, but as one of the best, if not ''the'' best educator in the country.
* FishOutOfWater: Although he's a seasoned superhero in his own world, the concept of the Multiverse has him almost as in over his head as poor Ryan Choi.
* {{Flight}}: As of "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light", he can use his powers for short bursts of flight.
* ForceField: A new trick of his is to create a field of electricity that deflect bullets.
* FriendToAllChildren: He is a teacher so it's a given.
* GlowingEyes: His eyes turn light blue and spark when his powers activate.
* GoodIsNotNice: As Black Lightning; while a civil, model citizen, well-respected school principal and loving, dedicated father and family man, he is aggressive and relentless in his vigilante guise, shown to brutally beat up and [[ElectricTorture electrify]] suspects to get them to give him what he wants.
* HealingFactor: Jefferson's abilities also allow him to regenerate faster than a normal human.
* HesBack: The whole point of the first season is that he's ending his retirement from being Black Lightning in order to take on the threats to his community. Indeed, the excerpt from Godholly's "Black Lightning", used for the opening title card, includes these lines:
-->''I saw a superhero and he was black\\
He said'' "This is for the streets: Black Lightning's back!"
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Does this a lot. While not TheAlcoholic, he's pretty quick to reach for a drink when he's upset or stressed about something.
* JiveTurkey: Invoked and downplayed; much like the 70's comics, Jefferson in-character as "Black Lightning" acts more cocky and self-assured, uses more AAVE and slang, and has a thicker drawl than when he's out of costume, in order to disguise his identity further. But by the same token, his specific vernacular plays the trope back up; as an older man, he's not as in tune with what modern slang is. He drops the act whenever he's alone with somebody that knows.
* JustInTime: For whatever reason, Pariah was only able to teleport Jefferson out of his reality ''right'' before it was destroyed.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: After one too many brushes with death, his wife divorced him and is part of the reason why Jefferson gave up being Black Lightning.
* MessianicArchetype: There's a reason he's called the "Black Jesus" of Freeland.
** He's never overtly harsh, extremely forgiving and patient, and dedicated to making the city a better place. As Black Lightning he's by and large seen as the city's savior.
** In Season 2, [[spoiler: he steps down as principal in order to convince the school board to keep Garfield open knowing that the price to pay will be to have his name and his reputation dragged through the mud.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he realizes he just unknowingly beat up Anissa.
* NeverMyFault: Jefferson tends to blame everyone else for problems he is also partially responsible for. Anissa is frequently the one who calls him out on it.
* NotSoDifferent: Jefferson only starts to manage to reconcile himself to his situation when he speaks to [[Series/TheFlash2014 Earth-1's Flash]], who, despite his much greater power level and familiarity with the Multiverse, turns out to be an ordinary man with a past much like his own and a similar moral code he also inherited from his father. It's an especially comforting moment for Jefferson when Barry recognizes his reference to "Literature/DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight", meaning Creator/DylanThomas (and other RealLife literature) is TheConstant between his world and Earth-1, and something he loves still exists to defend.
* OverprotectiveDad:
** PlayedForLaughs in Season 1, when he intimidates Khalil, who he knows is a guy Jennifer wants to sleep with.
** He is ''not'' happy at first that Anissa is running out as Thunder, and tries to rule her in because of her inexperience. While he does have a point, he sometimes overdoes it in Season 2, as his daughter ''has'' learned from her mistakes and he can't treat her like a child forever.
** In Season 2, he forbids Jennifer from going to school, as her powers start running out of her control. He and Lynn then decide, after no apparent improvement, that Jennifer should receive in-home tutoring. [[spoiler:Jennifer eventually elopes with Khalil, after being fed up with her parents' strict parenting and Jefferson is being called out by Anissa.]]
* PapaWolf: To his daughters. He comes out of retirement when his daughters are threatened.
* PaperThinDisguise: Subverted as one would think a simple mask isn't enough to keep either his best friend or his daughters from recognizing him up close. However, it's stated that his electrical aura makes it "hurt to look directly at him" and thus no one is able to get a really close look.
* ParentsAsPeople: PlayedWith -- he loves his daughters, but he can be overly harsh ''especially'' on Anissa, who has a tendency to court controversy in doing what she believes is right, often lecturing her like a teenager even though she's a college student and technically an adult. It's played with because he almost always turns out to be right.
* PoweredArmor: Jefferson got a less bulky form of this through Gambi. There's an exoskeleton frame under all those plates of armor and that seems to give him a boost in strength, as he easily lugs around large thugs. The armor also gives him better control over his powers and requires a control module to fully work.
* PowerIncontinence: Going years without using his powers means he has less control over them when he's angry or upset. When two police officers terrorize him and his daughters and refuse to apologize, nearby electronics go on the fritz until he calms himself down.
* PowerPerversionPotential: Turns out that being able to stimulate your partner's nervous system directly with low-level electrical discharges makes sex memorable, as he and Lynn demonstrate.
* PrepositionsAreNotToEndSentencesWith: Jefferson incorrectly informs a young boy that sentences shouldn't end with prepositions.
* PsychoactivePowers: Jefferson's rage, even when he appears outwardly in control, messes up nearby electrical devices. And the more he uses his powers, the angrier he seems to become. This is because they came from a vaccine that was supposed to make people docile but instead made them into metahumans, making them angrier and irrational as a side effect.
* RealAfterAll: Jefferson is starstruck when he meets the two Supermen from [[Series/Supergirl2015 Earth-38]] and [[Film/SupermanReturns Earth-96]], in a way that implies that Superman on his Earth is either an urban legend or [[ComicBooksAreReal pure fiction]]. (Note that alternate Earths being MutuallyFictional has a long history in DC Comics.)
-->'''Black Lightning''': The Franchise/{{Superman}} thing is real?! After all these years...
* RealMenLoveJesus: He's a devout Christian who honestly believes that his powers are a gift from God. Turns out they're due to the ASA's experiment with an illegal vaccine. ''However'', he is the only one given that vaccine who didn't die, so perhaps it was a gift from God after all.
* RetiredBadass: Introduced in the series having been out of the superhero game for years, having given it up due to the toll it took on his marriage and family.
* SaveOurStudents: He thought he could make more of a difference by ensuring his students have a decent education and be kept away from the One Hundred's toxic influence. He even relinquishes much of his authority over disciplinary matters just to save ''one'' student from being expelled.
-->'''Vice Principal Fowdy:''' I mean, you do everything you can to help them succeed, but the students still have to do their part. If they don't, then those students choose for you.\\
'''Jefferson:''' If my teachers had taken that approach, I never would've made it.
* SecretIdentityVocalShift: He gives his voice an echo at times (often in front of his daughters) to cover his identity. According to Jennifer, Black Lightning also does something with his powers that makes it hurt to look at him directly.
* ShockAndAwe: His powerset. Lynn compares him to a battery -- he draws electricity out and then redirects it.
* ShockingSwerve: InUniverse. From his perspective, the sudden appearance of the red skies, the revelation of TheMultiverse's existence and the destruction of his world are all this, interrupting his struggle with the ASA over the fate of Freeland with a massive OutsideContextProblem.
* ShootingSuperman: Or in this case, tasering the guy with electrical superpowers. When two officers try it, he just grabs the lines and returns the electricity.
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Jefferson's worst nightmare has come true during ''Crisis'' -- his entire family is dead, as is the whole community of Freeland, as is everyone else in his universe, and he wasn't able to do anything to stop it.]]
* StrongAndSkilled: Jefferson has years of experience as a superhero and is a trained martial artist and athelete.
* SupernaturalMartialArts: Uses his powers to supplement his already formidable martial arts skills. He seems ''more'' inclined to fighting up close and personal than just zapping people from a distance.
* SuperToughness: He may have a problem with bullets, but Black Lightning can jump from three or four stories up to the street with no effect.
* SurvivalMantra: His famous call-and-response he used with his students in his own world becomes the set of words he clings to to hold himself together in the CosmicHorrorStory he's woken up in.
-->'''Black Lightning''': Where's the future? Right here. And whose life is this? Mine. And what are you gonna do with it? ''[[TheAntiNihilist Live it by any means necessary]]''.
* TakeMeInstead: He's ''furious'' with Pariah for choosing to save him just because the Earth-1 heroes need his powers to contain the antimatter wave, while letting everyone else in his universe die. (What makes this worse is knowing that his daughter Jennifer, whom he was just trying to save, has powers that would be more legitimately useful in the Crisis than his, but she died precisely because those powers left her trapped in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds when the antimatter arrived.)
* {{Telekinesis}}: He can use his lightning to draw enemies in and lift them in the direction he wants. In the first episode, one punk found this out when Jeff lightning-lifted the guy over a motel banister and hurled him into his car.
* ThouShallNotKill: Subverted -- he became Black Lightning so he could kill Tobias Whale for killing his father. Nonetheless, his general rule is to not use lethal force unless it's necessary.
* TotallyRadical: Black Lightning uses a lot of antiquated mid-90s to early 00s slang when acting as a superhero. For instance, he opens a conversation with "Wassup?"
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Heroic example. Jeff can turn his voice into this at will.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Blue, with his chestplate referencing both kinds.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anissa Pierce / Thunder / Blackbird]]
!!Anissa Pierce / Thunder / Blackbird
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anissapierce.jpeg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/11_3.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blackbird.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Nafessa Williams
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
-> ''"And I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." (quoting Fannie Lou Hamer)''
\\
Jefferson's eldest daughter. She is a medical student, who also works at his school as a part-time teacher when not at college, and is much more politically active than her father would like.\\
\\
Anissa can manipulate the density of her body, gaining superhuman strength and toughness when she holds her breath.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for her Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for her Earth-2 counterpart
----
* AchillesHeel: Anissa's powers are tied to how long she can hold her breath. A surprise attack when she is off-guard or waiting until she tires out are ways to harm her.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: {{Inverted}}. In the comics, Anissa coming out as a lesbian to her father caused friction between them. Here, she's already out and her family is shown to be perfectly fine with it.
* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: Anissa in the comics simply had the ability to increase her density. Here she has SuperStrength and is NighInvulnerable.
* AffectionateNickname: Jennifer affectionately calls Anissa "Harriet", after Harriet Tubman.
* AntiHero: Starting with Season 2, she starts acting a lot more angry and even downright ruthless. Fittingly, she abandons "Thunder" and goes full-time "Blackbird".
* BetaOutfit: Her first costume that she assembles herself is a flashy, form-fitting spandex outfit complete with blonde wig and heavy makeup, a MythologyGag to her original costume in the comics. She [[CostumeEvolution later gets a proper costume]] [[Comicbook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders resembling her Outsiders incarnation]] provided by Gambi when she starts partnering with her father.
* BigSisterInstinct: ''Judo flips'' a gang member who harasses her sister at school.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Whenever an injustice or someone in trouble catches her eye, Anissa cannot stop herself from jumping in to save the day. According to Lynn, she's been like this since she was a little girl.
* CompositeCharacter: The comic version of Thunder has the ability to manipulate her density, but that's it. The SuperStrength is her girlfriend Grace's power.
* CurbStompBattle: Her encounters with gang members and criminals become this, with nearly fatal results during one such encounter, but it becomes literal in "Black Jesus".
* DaddysGirl: Is close to her dad and do not even think about insulting her father or his superhero identity.
* DieOrFly: Anissa's powers activate for the first time when a store robber threatens her with his gun and she starts to hyperventilate.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Jennifer has given her the nick-name "Harriet Tubman" due to her political activism. On the other hand, it can also count as an AffectionateNickname, since Jennifer really adores her elder sister.
* {{Expy}}: In a show full of Biblical motifs, Anissa represents the disciples of Jesus Christ. She has a whole-hearted faith in Black Lightning as Freeland's salvation and wants to follow his example by becoming a vigilante, too; a decision which, due to her human flaws, has mixed results.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The responsible sibling to Jennifer's foolish sibling. However, when it comes to Anissa's attempts at being a superhero, she is clearly hotheaded and doesn't consider the bigger picture of what her powers can do to the innocents around her until after she's used them.
* GirlyBruiser: She's very feminine and her civilian outfits tend to be very fashionable and brightly colored. However, her default fighting style, due to her power of SuperStrength, involves a lot of direct punching and brute force.
* GoneHorriblyWrong:
** Anissa's first attempt at being a hero in "Black Jesus", after encountering two drug dealers, she later finds them and punches them out with her super strength, but she quickly realizes to her horror that she seriously injured one man and nearly killed the other. And such things keep happening; moral of the story is... super-charged strength takes an awful lot of getting used to using, and is impossible to practice getting to know and stay private for more than five minutes. Until you do get it right, you'll keep accidentally putting either too much or too little into it.
** In "Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder", she destroys a statue of Robert E. Lee in response to a protester who had been killed. The statue explodes and the fragments end up injuring several nearby civilians who had gathered to mourn.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Inverted with her and her father. His electricity gives him long range attacks while she is limited to close range.
* HealingFactor: She heals from bruises and concussions rather quickly, as an implied metahuman trait.
* ImmuneToBullets: Anissa is bulletproof so long as she keeps her power activated, but when she starts exhaling, she is vulnerable again. Gambi makes her [[BulletproofVest suit bulletproof]], fixing a fatal weakness of hers.
* JumpedAtTheCall: About a week after discovering her powers, Anissa is raring to suit up and be a superhero. Unfortunately, this show doesn't beat around the bush that heroism and recklessness are a ''bad'' combination.
* LipstickLesbian: You wouldn't realize it until it's casually mentioned in the second episode that she and Chenoa have been together for a year. She seems to have a new hairstyle or outfit in every single scene she's in.
* MostCommonSuperpower: Hilariously subverted, as her first attempt at a superhero costume quickly breaks a seam due to "too much ass." And then her derriere becomes a RunningGag.
* MsFanservice: The first and second episode spend quite a bit of time with her in just her underwear, she's [[GirlOnGirlIsHot shown post-sex next to her girlfriend]], and her early attempts at a superhero costume are deliberately skintight and revealing comics-accurate outfits. Of the female cast, she seems to be the one with most MaleGaze.
* NighInvulnerable: When her powers are activated, she's immune to small arms fire, concussive blasts and explosions, kinetic force and can shrug off bolts from Black Lightning unless he ups the voltage.
* PoliticallyMotivatedTeacher: Often is seen at protests. Unfortunately for her they often turn violent (due to the 100) and her father chews her out even though what results isn't her fault.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Or gets you severely concussed by your own father and outed as a super to both your parents. Admittedly, clamming up instead of coming clean at every possible point before that to discuss the whole "I'm super-strong when I put thought into it, sometimes -- and I think it has something to do with Granddad" thing is very understandable.
* PsychoactivePowers: Anissa's metahuman abilities only activate when she takes deep breaths to calm down and focus. Syonide deduces this as her AchillesHeel, taking advantage of her respiratory cycle to gain the upper hand in their fight.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Her [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/7cb704ef6537bb5466dd75d104571be3/tumblr_p45l403cGV1rk0k4co1_1280.jpg first outfit]].
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: These words may as well be Anissa's life mantra; There is no boundary this woman won't cross or risk she won't take to do what she feels is right.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: After her father tries to control her too much and brings up that she should do as she is told so long as she's living under his roof, she declares that she's leaving the house. They eventually make up, but Anissa still stays out of the house.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few people who know that Jefferson is Black Lightning.
* SecondSuperIdentity: Aside from being the heroine Thunder, she also sneaks around at night in dark hoods, brutally beating up criminals and stealing money for those in need. The streets label her second alias "The Blackbird".
* ShockwaveStomp: Like her counterpart in the comics, Anissa can generate a localized shockwave, throwing her opponents off their feet, by stomping hard on the ground via SuperStrength; the same effect is present when she [[ShockwaveClap claps her hands together.]]
* SmugSuper: Anissa has the makings of one as of "Black Jesus" - her desire to save Freeland from the 100, combined with inspiration from Black Lightning, drives her to punch the crap out of criminals with powers she barely understands and hardly a thought to the consequences. When Jefferson takes Anissa under his wing, a frequent lesson in his vigilante curriculum is that she can't be this.
* SoapboxSadie: As noted, she's very political. She quotes civil rights leaders, goes to protests, and films the police when Jefferson is pulled over. It leads her to conflict with Jefferson, who believes she's taking unnecessary risks.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: While she doesn't inherit her father's ShockAndAwe powers, Anissa's abilities far out-class Jefferson's on a physicality level, with {{Nigh Invulnerab|le}}ility as her greatest asset.
* SuperStrength: She learns about this when she accidentally breaks the bathroom sink at the end of the pilot episode.
* SuperToughness: She has super strength, so having the toughness is [[RequiredSecondaryPowers par for the course]] (both her strength and toughness are the result of her being able to increase her mass while keeping the volume of her body). So long as her powers are activated, she has NighInvulnerability.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: The trauma from being kidnapped and threatened is what awakens her latent powers.
* WhatTheHellHero: Is often the one who calls out her father or Gambi for keeping things from her. In Season 2, when her father tries to partially blame her for [[spoiler:Jennifer's elopement with Khalil, Anissa is fed up with her father's tendency to always see the fault in everyone [[NeverMyFault but himself]], and calls him out for his overprotectiveness that pushed both his daughters away]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jennifer Pierce / Lightning]]
!!Jennifer Pierce
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jenniferpierce.jpeg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blacklightninglightning.jpeg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Music/ChinaAnneMcClain
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
Jefferson's youngest daughter, who resents having to be the model student at school because her daddy's the principal.\\
\\
Like her father, Jennifer can manipulate electricity, but her ability to generate electricity far outweighs Jefferson's.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for her Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for her Earth-2 counterpart
----
* AffectionateNickname: The people that are close to her sometimes shorten her name to "Jenn". Khalil also calls her "J".
* AlphaBitch: Subverted; though she acts rebellious in school (including smoking weed and drinking in school), and the "Queen of Garfield" nickname would infer this, it's apparent she's doing this to try and avoid bullying for being the principal's daughter, with the Queen of Garfield nickname being used in jest. In the fifth episode, she has to defend herself from two rivals, and she admits to her dad that she's a "target" at school.
* BadassAdorable:
** Even [[TheDragon Lala]] is amused in the pilot, when Jennifer lets Will know what she thinks of him - [[GroinAttack with her knee.]]
** In "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light" two rivals from school attack, and [[CurbStompBattle Jennifer effortlessly takes both of them down]], demonstrating that Jefferson and Lynn made sure ''both'' their daughters could handle themselves in a fight.
* BeingGoodSucks: Her attitude towards life at this point in time.
* BigSisterWorship: Jennifer really looks up to Anissa. In Season 2, when Anissa has a falling out with their father, causing her to move out, Jennifer is disappointed, especially since she is basically in confinement and has no one to talk to who can understand her other than her sister, [[spoiler:which is why she is drawn back to Khalil]].
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: She's at the age when she wants to act out -- her dad also being her principal doesn't help.
* DieOrFly: Sort of. Jennifer burns her phone and the poster in her hands, when her friend, Kiesha, starts to fall from a high place and Jennifer reacts in panic.
* ElementalShapeshifter: In "Shadow of Death: The Book of War" she appears to briefly turn entirely into electricity, as she does in the comics.
* {{Elopement}}: In Season 2, [[spoiler:she decides to run away with Khalil, after fearing to be locked in her house forever and seeing how Khalil can no longer work for Tobias]].
* EvilMeScaresMe: She makes no secret that she's greatly disturbed by the deeds of her Earth-2 counterpart.
* EyeColorChange: When Jennifer's powers flare up, her eyes turn the same orange of her lightning.
* {{Foil}}: To her older sister Anissa, when it comes to how they deal with their superpowers. While Anissa [[JumpedAtTheCall almost immediately]] decided to go out and find some bad guys to beat up, Jennifer [[RefusalOfTheCall wants no part of it]] and would [[IJustWantToBeNormal make her powers go away if she could]].
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The foolish sibling to Anissa’s responsible one in all ways ''except'' in their discovery of superpowers. While Anissa wants to use hers to crush the first wrong she sees, Jennifer would ''much'' rather her life remain safe and crime fighting-free, thank you very much. It's one thing to crash a club you're not supposed to be in to add spice to life, but powers are a whole other barrel of danger. It's probably because of her history of being a bit of a screw-up that she immediately spots how suddenly getting powers isn't going to be automatically a fantastic thing or become a universal solution to her life's problems.
* HiddenDepths: She wants to be just a normal teenager, and so tries to act like one; however, even without her abilities, thanks to her exceptional parenting, she's clearly not average--she can defend herself against multiple targets in unarmed fights, has good enough grades and extracurriculars to apply to Harvard, is the one who figures out how Issa's powers work, and occasionally says things so profound that it takes Anissa aback.
-->'''Jennifer:''' [Anything] can turn bad real quick if it becomes your only joy.\\
'''Anissa:''' ...that's actually deep.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: She's ''horrified'' when she discovers she has powers, seeing it as ruining her chance for a normal life.
* LikeParentLikeChild: Jennifer inherited electricity-based powers similar to Jefferson's.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Jennifer was the last one of the family to learn about her own and their father's powers. Anissa eventually reveals it to her, soon after Jennifer asks Anissa for help after burning her phone with her powers.
* PhoneaholicTeenager: She spends ''way too much'' time on her phone.
* PowerIncontinence: It suddenly becomes an issue in Season 2, as her powers start to randomly activate with no way to turn them off. She [[PowerFloats floats in her sleep]].
* PsychoactivePowers: Like her sister, she gets power fluctuations. Except in her case, the more she tries not to use them and the more into denial she gets... the more of it she builds up and stores, until just getting frustrated, hyped or relaxing her guard too much = zappy-zap.
* RefusalOfTheCall: In direct contrast to Anissa, Jennifer has ''no'' desire to be a hero. She just wants to be normal. Though she seems to have changed her mind when she discovers that her powers basically heals her dad.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few people to know who Black Lightning is.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: In Season 2, Jennifer struggles more and more to control her powers. Her parents forbid her from going to school and eventually decide that getting an in-home tutor for her would be best. [[spoiler:Jennifer is ''not'' amused about this, and then runs away with Khalil.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Discovers she has the power to shoot electricity from her hands in the episode "The Book of Revelations." However her powers aren't exactly like Jefferson's -- Lynn compares his powers to a battery; Jennifer is a ''generator'' since her cells produce pure energy.
* SuperiorSuccessor: While she still as a lot to learn, her powers far surpass the ones of her father.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Mixed with LamarckWasRight, Jennifer inherits her father's metahuman traits, but it's implied she's potentially more powerful than Jefferson by the ability to generate electricity rather than having to absorb and store it like he does.
* {{Telekinesis}}: Like her father, Jennifer can use her powers to make others float and throw them in the air.
* UnskilledButStrong: Her powers are far more powerful than Jefferson's, but she lacks control over them.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A large chunk of what happens in the premiere happens because she was stupid enough to sneak into the One Hundred's local club.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: She dispels yellow-orange electricity, same as her comic counterpart.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lynn Stewart]]
!!Lynn Stewart
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lynnstewart.jpeg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ChristineAdams
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
Jefferson's ex-wife, a neuroscientist who left him because of his Black Lightning activities.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for her Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for her Earth-2 counterpart
----
* AdultFear: When she finds out Anissa has powers and is actively trying to follow in her father's footsteps, Lynn is obviously terrified of what might happen. Note also her face when she realizes that if one daughter has inherited it (and that it's gone to her head)... What about the other, more reckless one? Yeah: that right there? That's dread.
* AesopAmnesia: How she feels about Jefferson being Black Lightning varies from episode to episode. One episode, she's unhappy but understanding that the city needs Black Lightning, the next she's berating Jefferson for putting himself in danger. However, [[JustifiedTrope this is well within character.]] She started out actively supporting Jefferson being Black Lightning, only souring on it over time as his injuries started stacking up. At the same time, she is still the activist fire-brand she's always been. The "protect my own" instinct clashes with itself more than once, because her family is not the only thing she is protective of. Note how she reacts if somebody tries to do unethical medical research near her, or tries to steal her research to do unethical things with.
* AmicableExes: She still loves Jefferson and there's still sparks between them; Jefferson hopes they can get back together. They make a point of having a family dinner every week. In episode 12 she outright seduces Jefferson, calling him to her place for a fake emergency only to be waiting for him wearing lingerie. He...didn't take much convincing. She moves back into the house in Season Two and she and Jefferson are more or less a married couple, without the actual marriage part.
* GoodParents: Loves her daughters very much and has joint custody of them.
* HeroismAddict: {{Discussed}}; Lynn believes, or has at least convinced herself, that Jefferson is addicted to his powers. Gambi, however, believes that his addiction wasn't to his powers at all but to ''her''. Jefferson himself, on the other hand, disagrees with the whole idea of him having an "addiction" in the first place.
* JerkassBall: Grabs it whenever she's around Gambi, whom she blames for Jefferson's vigilantism.
* TheLastStraw: Made Jefferson promise to give up being Black Lightning because Lynn could not stand him coming home bleeding in the bath-tub every night. Jefferson went back on that promise, and Lynn divorced him after a very bloody battle with Tobias.
* TheMedic: Reluctantly to her husband when he suffers injuries too severe for Gambi to treat.
* OnlySaneMan: PlayedWith. Her husband and daughters all have super-powers and inevitably find themselves in dangerous situations, leaving Lynn in an almost perpetual state of AngerBornOfWorry. On the other hand, she almost always turns out to be wrong.
* NotQuiteTheRightThing: She meant well when she made Jefferson promise to give up the hero gig, but it led to utter disaster. Sure your husband will no longer put himself in danger (at least, for a while), but the bad guys ended up basically taking over the city, which in the long run put everyone of its citizens in danger, including Lynn and the girls.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few people who know that Jefferson is Black Lightning.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Literally the ''only'' one at the ASA who sees the pod kids as human beings worthy as respect instead of disposable assets.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Again, her making Jefferson promise to give up super-heroics allowed The 100 to take over the city.
* WetBlanketWife: PlayedForDrama, as she insisted that Jefferson stop being Black Lightning. It smoothed out his relationship with her and their kids, but it also allowed crime to flourish in Freeland for years. She eventually comes to terms that Black Lightning is needed again, whether she likes it or not.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Alvin Pierce]]
!!Alvin Pierce
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alvinpierce.png]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Keith Arthur Bolden
-> ''"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today". (quoting Malcolm X)''
\\
Jefferson's father, who was an investigative reporter. He looked into Tobias Whale's corrupt dealing when he was city leader that got him killed. But he also uncovered another secret, one that was much more dangerous than a crooked politician's dealings.
----
* EducationPapa: A rare positive example. What does he do when Jefferson got suspended for breaking another kid's nose during a fight for self-defense? Have him study the Constitution rather than waste his time watching TV and then quiz him before dinner.
* GoodIsNotSoft: When Gambi tried to get him to stop his very detailed articles about Tobias and the ASA's experiments less he get killed, Alvin's response was give him TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for trying to use him as a way to assuage his guilt without putting his own life on the line.
* GoodParents: A stern, but affectionate father who ultimately wanted his son to have a good future, and not to squander away his opportunities.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: His reports about Tobias Whale's corrupt dealing as a civic leader got him killed; the latter [[CruelAndUnusualDeath literally shoved his articles down his throat until he died]]. He also uncovered a DarkSecret about kids who were experimented on and disappeared. His editor buried the story after he was murdered. In truth, his death was orchestrated by the ASA, the government agency responsible for experimenting on those kids; Tobias was just a smokescreen and an enforcer.
* HonorBeforeReason: He knew that his articles would anger the wrong people and get him killed. He saw it as a necessary sacrifice to make Freeland a better place for his son.
* IntrepidReporter: He had a knack for uncovering things people wanted kept secret. It got him killed.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: His relationship with Jefferson is exactly like the one Jefferson has with daughters now.
* PapaWolf: Part of his motivation for his reports was for what the ASA's vaccine did to Jefferson.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: His murder by Tobias Whale is what inspired Jefferson to become Black Lightning. However, it turns out Tobias was just the cover for the ASA.
* PosthumousCharacter: He's been dead since long before the series began.
[[/folder]]
----
----
[[foldercontrol]]
!The Pierce Family
[[folder:Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning]]
!![[ComicBook/BlackLightning Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2_67.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/27575195_534581863595823_19497.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CressWilliams
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018'' | ''Series/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths|2019}}''
-> "''Don't mistake my patience for weakness, boy.''"
\\
A former vigilante turned high-school principal. He is forced back into heroics when the gangs he once fought target his family.\\
\\
Jefferson can absorb and manipulate electricity.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for his Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for his Earth-2 counterpart
----
* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Jefferson is said to be extremely popular (in his civilian identity) among the people of Freeland for his work with kids and the school. He's even nicknamed "Black Jesus". As for Black Lightning, except among cops and criminals, the people of Freeland hold him in awe.
* ActionDad: A father of two and a superhero.
* AlmightyJanitor: In Season Two, where he's forced to step down as principal, but stays on as history teacher.
* AmicableExes: With his ex-wife Lynn. There's still [[IncrediblyLamePun sparks]] of attraction between them and part of why Jefferson is reluctant to become Black Lightning again is that he believes there's a possibility of them getting back together.
* AngryBlackMan: He usually tries to avoid being this, but when he's reached his limits, it'll be played straight. It's not natural, being a side effect of the serum that gave him his powers.
* ArmorIsUseless: Averted--his new armor goes a long way in keeping him from getting full of bullet holes. However, it has its limits; getting shot at close range with a pistol is enough to give him a large cut (though that may have been from hitting an unarmored area).
* BadassInANiceSuit: As a principal, he's almost always dressed in a suit and tie, and can both fight and stand up to aggressive cops and the 100 with nary a blink while wearing it.
* BadassTeacher: A high school principal who can shoot lightning bolts. He refuses to have metal detectors in his school because he doesn't want his pupils treated like criminals. Harm his students, and he will make you regret it.
* BaldOfAwesome: Before giving up his vigilante activities, Jefferson sported this while wearing his older costume as part of the greater MythologyGag to his character's look in the comics.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Even when Tobias Whale prepared a countermeasure for his powers, Jefferson was still strong and skilled enough to take down the villainous albino in pure hand-to-hand combat.
* ClarkKenting: A justified example. It is mentioned that he does something with his powers that makes it hard for people to look directly at his face; it also disrupts cameras, though of course this doesn't show on screen.
* CoolTeacher: He's very supportive towards all his students, not just his current ones, but also the adults in the city who were his students at school years prior. He worries and cares about them, supports and encourages them and doesn't treat them like kids, but rather like young folks ready to take the first steps into adulthood and all they can achieve with it. In return, the majority of the students greatly respect him for this, working hard to achieve and exceed his expectations for them, and as seen in episode 11, they will not hesitate to confront the police when Jefferson gets accused of a crime, firmly believing in Jefferson's innocence.
* CosmicHorrorReveal: He does ''not'' deal well with the sudden knowledge that his universe is only one among many, and that everything in it has just been destroyed.
* DentedIron: His powers allow him to recover from injuries faster than most people, but his HealingFactor is not as good as it used to be.
* DoNotGoGentle: Of all the heroes in the third hour of the CrisisCrossover he has the most reason to succumb to despair, being the SoleSurvivor of his universe with not even any alternate analogues of his loved ones left in existence. But even knowing that he's joined the battle in its DarkestHour, he quotes Creator/DylanThomas and resolves to spend his last day of existence still fighting.
* DoubleStandard: Called out as a victim of this on the news; though other superheroes are confirmed to exist, Black Lightning is the only one treated as a vigilante, which is speculated to be because of his race. Though, as noted, he tends to lay out racist cops (not that they wouldn't have had it coming), which doesn't make him look good to the local police.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite being a well-loved pillar of the community, he's the suspect of racial profiling ''a lot'' -- and he's fed up with it.
* ElectricBlackGuy: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Duh]], given that his comics counterpart was [[UrExample the origin of this trope]].
* ElementalPunch: He can channel electricity into his fists in order to make his punches more effective.
* EnergyAbsorption: Jefferson takes most of his powers from external sources. He is also immune to electric shocks, as Looker and her Sanges in Season 2 find out: Wrongly assuming that Black Lightning's powers come from his suit, they accidentally charge the drained Jefferson with electricity (to torture and kill him), allowing him to fight back.
* ExperiencedProtagonist: In contrast to other Creator/DCComics superheroes on Creator/TheCW, he's in his late 40s and long past his origin story.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:He alongside Clark, Iris, Ralph, Nash and Diggle, is among the final survivors of the entire Multiverse [[DefiantToTheEnd to stand in defiance of the Anti-Monitor]] before being erased by Antimatter.]]
* FamedInStory: Jefferson is famous not only as an Olympic medal winner, but as one of the best, if not ''the'' best educator in the country.
* FishOutOfWater: Although he's a seasoned superhero in his own world, the concept of the Multiverse has him almost as in over his head as poor Ryan Choi.
* {{Flight}}: As of "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light", he can use his powers for short bursts of flight.
* ForceField: A new trick of his is to create a field of electricity that deflect bullets.
* FriendToAllChildren: He is a teacher so it's a given.
* GlowingEyes: His eyes turn light blue and spark when his powers activate.
* GoodIsNotNice: As Black Lightning; while a civil, model citizen, well-respected school principal and loving, dedicated father and family man, he is aggressive and relentless in his vigilante guise, shown to brutally beat up and [[ElectricTorture electrify]] suspects to get them to give him what he wants.
* HealingFactor: Jefferson's abilities also allow him to regenerate faster than a normal human.
* HesBack: The whole point of the first season is that he's ending his retirement from being Black Lightning in order to take on the threats to his community. Indeed, the excerpt from Godholly's "Black Lightning", used for the opening title card, includes these lines:
-->''I saw a superhero and he was black\\
He said'' "This is for the streets: Black Lightning's back!"
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Does this a lot. While not TheAlcoholic, he's pretty quick to reach for a drink when he's upset or stressed about something.
* JiveTurkey: Invoked and downplayed; much like the 70's comics, Jefferson in-character as "Black Lightning" acts more cocky and self-assured, uses more AAVE and slang, and has a thicker drawl than when he's out of costume, in order to disguise his identity further. But by the same token, his specific vernacular plays the trope back up; as an older man, he's not as in tune with what modern slang is. He drops the act whenever he's alone with somebody that knows.
* JustInTime: For whatever reason, Pariah was only able to teleport Jefferson out of his reality ''right'' before it was destroyed.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: After one too many brushes with death, his wife divorced him and is part of the reason why Jefferson gave up being Black Lightning.
* MessianicArchetype: There's a reason he's called the "Black Jesus" of Freeland.
** He's never overtly harsh, extremely forgiving and patient, and dedicated to making the city a better place. As Black Lightning he's by and large seen as the city's savior.
** In Season 2, [[spoiler: he steps down as principal in order to convince the school board to keep Garfield open knowing that the price to pay will be to have his name and his reputation dragged through the mud.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he realizes he just unknowingly beat up Anissa.
* NeverMyFault: Jefferson tends to blame everyone else for problems he is also partially responsible for. Anissa is frequently the one who calls him out on it.
* NotSoDifferent: Jefferson only starts to manage to reconcile himself to his situation when he speaks to [[Series/TheFlash2014 Earth-1's Flash]], who, despite his much greater power level and familiarity with the Multiverse, turns out to be an ordinary man with a past much like his own and a similar moral code he also inherited from his father. It's an especially comforting moment for Jefferson when Barry recognizes his reference to "Literature/DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight", meaning Creator/DylanThomas (and other RealLife literature) is TheConstant between his world and Earth-1, and something he loves still exists to defend.
* OverprotectiveDad:
** PlayedForLaughs in Season 1, when he intimidates Khalil, who he knows is a guy Jennifer wants to sleep with.
** He is ''not'' happy at first that Anissa is running out as Thunder, and tries to rule her in because of her inexperience. While he does have a point, he sometimes overdoes it in Season 2, as his daughter ''has'' learned from her mistakes and he can't treat her like a child forever.
** In Season 2, he forbids Jennifer from going to school, as her powers start running out of her control. He and Lynn then decide, after no apparent improvement, that Jennifer should receive in-home tutoring. [[spoiler:Jennifer eventually elopes with Khalil, after being fed up with her parents' strict parenting and Jefferson is being called out by Anissa.]]
* PapaWolf: To his daughters. He comes out of retirement when his daughters are threatened.
* PaperThinDisguise: Subverted as one would think a simple mask isn't enough to keep either his best friend or his daughters from recognizing him up close. However, it's stated that his electrical aura makes it "hurt to look directly at him" and thus no one is able to get a really close look.
* ParentsAsPeople: PlayedWith -- he loves his daughters, but he can be overly harsh ''especially'' on Anissa, who has a tendency to court controversy in doing what she believes is right, often lecturing her like a teenager even though she's a college student and technically an adult. It's played with because he almost always turns out to be right.
* PoweredArmor: Jefferson got a less bulky form of this through Gambi. There's an exoskeleton frame under all those plates of armor and that seems to give him a boost in strength, as he easily lugs around large thugs. The armor also gives him better control over his powers and requires a control module to fully work.
* PowerIncontinence: Going years without using his powers means he has less control over them when he's angry or upset. When two police officers terrorize him and his daughters and refuse to apologize, nearby electronics go on the fritz until he calms himself down.
* PowerPerversionPotential: Turns out that being able to stimulate your partner's nervous system directly with low-level electrical discharges makes sex memorable, as he and Lynn demonstrate.
* PrepositionsAreNotToEndSentencesWith: Jefferson incorrectly informs a young boy that sentences shouldn't end with prepositions.
* PsychoactivePowers: Jefferson's rage, even when he appears outwardly in control, messes up nearby electrical devices. And the more he uses his powers, the angrier he seems to become. This is because they came from a vaccine that was supposed to make people docile but instead made them into metahumans, making them angrier and irrational as a side effect.
* RealAfterAll: Jefferson is starstruck when he meets the two Supermen from [[Series/Supergirl2015 Earth-38]] and [[Film/SupermanReturns Earth-96]], in a way that implies that Superman on his Earth is either an urban legend or [[ComicBooksAreReal pure fiction]]. (Note that alternate Earths being MutuallyFictional has a long history in DC Comics.)
-->'''Black Lightning''': The Franchise/{{Superman}} thing is real?! After all these years...
* RealMenLoveJesus: He's a devout Christian who honestly believes that his powers are a gift from God. Turns out they're due to the ASA's experiment with an illegal vaccine. ''However'', he is the only one given that vaccine who didn't die, so perhaps it was a gift from God after all.
* RetiredBadass: Introduced in the series having been out of the superhero game for years, having given it up due to the toll it took on his marriage and family.
* SaveOurStudents: He thought he could make more of a difference by ensuring his students have a decent education and be kept away from the One Hundred's toxic influence. He even relinquishes much of his authority over disciplinary matters just to save ''one'' student from being expelled.
-->'''Vice Principal Fowdy:''' I mean, you do everything you can to help them succeed, but the students still have to do their part. If they don't, then those students choose for you.\\
'''Jefferson:''' If my teachers had taken that approach, I never would've made it.
* SecretIdentityVocalShift: He gives his voice an echo at times (often in front of his daughters) to cover his identity. According to Jennifer, Black Lightning also does something with his powers that makes it hurt to look at him directly.
* ShockAndAwe: His powerset. Lynn compares him to a battery -- he draws electricity out and then redirects it.
* ShockingSwerve: InUniverse. From his perspective, the sudden appearance of the red skies, the revelation of TheMultiverse's existence and the destruction of his world are all this, interrupting his struggle with the ASA over the fate of Freeland with a massive OutsideContextProblem.
* ShootingSuperman: Or in this case, tasering the guy with electrical superpowers. When two officers try it, he just grabs the lines and returns the electricity.
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Jefferson's worst nightmare has come true during ''Crisis'' -- his entire family is dead, as is the whole community of Freeland, as is everyone else in his universe, and he wasn't able to do anything to stop it.]]
* StrongAndSkilled: Jefferson has years of experience as a superhero and is a trained martial artist and athelete.
* SupernaturalMartialArts: Uses his powers to supplement his already formidable martial arts skills. He seems ''more'' inclined to fighting up close and personal than just zapping people from a distance.
* SuperToughness: He may have a problem with bullets, but Black Lightning can jump from three or four stories up to the street with no effect.
* SurvivalMantra: His famous call-and-response he used with his students in his own world becomes the set of words he clings to to hold himself together in the CosmicHorrorStory he's woken up in.
-->'''Black Lightning''': Where's the future? Right here. And whose life is this? Mine. And what are you gonna do with it? ''[[TheAntiNihilist Live it by any means necessary]]''.
* TakeMeInstead: He's ''furious'' with Pariah for choosing to save him just because the Earth-1 heroes need his powers to contain the antimatter wave, while letting everyone else in his universe die. (What makes this worse is knowing that his daughter Jennifer, whom he was just trying to save, has powers that would be more legitimately useful in the Crisis than his, but she died precisely because those powers left her trapped in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds when the antimatter arrived.)
* {{Telekinesis}}: He can use his lightning to draw enemies in and lift them in the direction he wants. In the first episode, one punk found this out when Jeff lightning-lifted the guy over a motel banister and hurled him into his car.
* ThouShallNotKill: Subverted -- he became Black Lightning so he could kill Tobias Whale for killing his father. Nonetheless, his general rule is to not use lethal force unless it's necessary.
* TotallyRadical: Black Lightning uses a lot of antiquated mid-90s to early 00s slang when acting as a superhero. For instance, he opens a conversation with "Wassup?"
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Heroic example. Jeff can turn his voice into this at will.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Blue, with his chestplate referencing both kinds.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anissa Pierce / Thunder / Blackbird]]
!!Anissa Pierce / Thunder / Blackbird
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anissapierce.jpeg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/11_3.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blackbird.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Nafessa Williams
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
-> ''"And I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." (quoting Fannie Lou Hamer)''
\\
Jefferson's eldest daughter. She is a medical student, who also works at his school as a part-time teacher when not at college, and is much more politically active than her father would like.\\
\\
Anissa can manipulate the density of her body, gaining superhuman strength and toughness when she holds her breath.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for her Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for her Earth-2 counterpart
----
* AchillesHeel: Anissa's powers are tied to how long she can hold her breath. A surprise attack when she is off-guard or waiting until she tires out are ways to harm her.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: {{Inverted}}. In the comics, Anissa coming out as a lesbian to her father caused friction between them. Here, she's already out and her family is shown to be perfectly fine with it.
* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: Anissa in the comics simply had the ability to increase her density. Here she has SuperStrength and is NighInvulnerable.
* AffectionateNickname: Jennifer affectionately calls Anissa "Harriet", after Harriet Tubman.
* AntiHero: Starting with Season 2, she starts acting a lot more angry and even downright ruthless. Fittingly, she abandons "Thunder" and goes full-time "Blackbird".
* BetaOutfit: Her first costume that she assembles herself is a flashy, form-fitting spandex outfit complete with blonde wig and heavy makeup, a MythologyGag to her original costume in the comics. She [[CostumeEvolution later gets a proper costume]] [[Comicbook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders resembling her Outsiders incarnation]] provided by Gambi when she starts partnering with her father.
* BigSisterInstinct: ''Judo flips'' a gang member who harasses her sister at school.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Whenever an injustice or someone in trouble catches her eye, Anissa cannot stop herself from jumping in to save the day. According to Lynn, she's been like this since she was a little girl.
* CompositeCharacter: The comic version of Thunder has the ability to manipulate her density, but that's it. The SuperStrength is her girlfriend Grace's power.
* CurbStompBattle: Her encounters with gang members and criminals become this, with nearly fatal results during one such encounter, but it becomes literal in "Black Jesus".
* DaddysGirl: Is close to her dad and do not even think about insulting her father or his superhero identity.
* DieOrFly: Anissa's powers activate for the first time when a store robber threatens her with his gun and she starts to hyperventilate.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Jennifer has given her the nick-name "Harriet Tubman" due to her political activism. On the other hand, it can also count as an AffectionateNickname, since Jennifer really adores her elder sister.
* {{Expy}}: In a show full of Biblical motifs, Anissa represents the disciples of Jesus Christ. She has a whole-hearted faith in Black Lightning as Freeland's salvation and wants to follow his example by becoming a vigilante, too; a decision which, due to her human flaws, has mixed results.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The responsible sibling to Jennifer's foolish sibling. However, when it comes to Anissa's attempts at being a superhero, she is clearly hotheaded and doesn't consider the bigger picture of what her powers can do to the innocents around her until after she's used them.
* GirlyBruiser: She's very feminine and her civilian outfits tend to be very fashionable and brightly colored. However, her default fighting style, due to her power of SuperStrength, involves a lot of direct punching and brute force.
* GoneHorriblyWrong:
** Anissa's first attempt at being a hero in "Black Jesus", after encountering two drug dealers, she later finds them and punches them out with her super strength, but she quickly realizes to her horror that she seriously injured one man and nearly killed the other. And such things keep happening; moral of the story is... super-charged strength takes an awful lot of getting used to using, and is impossible to practice getting to know and stay private for more than five minutes. Until you do get it right, you'll keep accidentally putting either too much or too little into it.
** In "Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder", she destroys a statue of Robert E. Lee in response to a protester who had been killed. The statue explodes and the fragments end up injuring several nearby civilians who had gathered to mourn.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Inverted with her and her father. His electricity gives him long range attacks while she is limited to close range.
* HealingFactor: She heals from bruises and concussions rather quickly, as an implied metahuman trait.
* ImmuneToBullets: Anissa is bulletproof so long as she keeps her power activated, but when she starts exhaling, she is vulnerable again. Gambi makes her [[BulletproofVest suit bulletproof]], fixing a fatal weakness of hers.
* JumpedAtTheCall: About a week after discovering her powers, Anissa is raring to suit up and be a superhero. Unfortunately, this show doesn't beat around the bush that heroism and recklessness are a ''bad'' combination.
* LipstickLesbian: You wouldn't realize it until it's casually mentioned in the second episode that she and Chenoa have been together for a year. She seems to have a new hairstyle or outfit in every single scene she's in.
* MostCommonSuperpower: Hilariously subverted, as her first attempt at a superhero costume quickly breaks a seam due to "too much ass." And then her derriere becomes a RunningGag.
* MsFanservice: The first and second episode spend quite a bit of time with her in just her underwear, she's [[GirlOnGirlIsHot shown post-sex next to her girlfriend]], and her early attempts at a superhero costume are deliberately skintight and revealing comics-accurate outfits. Of the female cast, she seems to be the one with most MaleGaze.
* NighInvulnerable: When her powers are activated, she's immune to small arms fire, concussive blasts and explosions, kinetic force and can shrug off bolts from Black Lightning unless he ups the voltage.
* PoliticallyMotivatedTeacher: Often is seen at protests. Unfortunately for her they often turn violent (due to the 100) and her father chews her out even though what results isn't her fault.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Or gets you severely concussed by your own father and outed as a super to both your parents. Admittedly, clamming up instead of coming clean at every possible point before that to discuss the whole "I'm super-strong when I put thought into it, sometimes -- and I think it has something to do with Granddad" thing is very understandable.
* PsychoactivePowers: Anissa's metahuman abilities only activate when she takes deep breaths to calm down and focus. Syonide deduces this as her AchillesHeel, taking advantage of her respiratory cycle to gain the upper hand in their fight.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Her [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/7cb704ef6537bb5466dd75d104571be3/tumblr_p45l403cGV1rk0k4co1_1280.jpg first outfit]].
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: These words may as well be Anissa's life mantra; There is no boundary this woman won't cross or risk she won't take to do what she feels is right.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: After her father tries to control her too much and brings up that she should do as she is told so long as she's living under his roof, she declares that she's leaving the house. They eventually make up, but Anissa still stays out of the house.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few people who know that Jefferson is Black Lightning.
* SecondSuperIdentity: Aside from being the heroine Thunder, she also sneaks around at night in dark hoods, brutally beating up criminals and stealing money for those in need. The streets label her second alias "The Blackbird".
* ShockwaveStomp: Like her counterpart in the comics, Anissa can generate a localized shockwave, throwing her opponents off their feet, by stomping hard on the ground via SuperStrength; the same effect is present when she [[ShockwaveClap claps her hands together.]]
* SmugSuper: Anissa has the makings of one as of "Black Jesus" - her desire to save Freeland from the 100, combined with inspiration from Black Lightning, drives her to punch the crap out of criminals with powers she barely understands and hardly a thought to the consequences. When Jefferson takes Anissa under his wing, a frequent lesson in his vigilante curriculum is that she can't be this.
* SoapboxSadie: As noted, she's very political. She quotes civil rights leaders, goes to protests, and films the police when Jefferson is pulled over. It leads her to conflict with Jefferson, who believes she's taking unnecessary risks.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: While she doesn't inherit her father's ShockAndAwe powers, Anissa's abilities far out-class Jefferson's on a physicality level, with {{Nigh Invulnerab|le}}ility as her greatest asset.
* SuperStrength: She learns about this when she accidentally breaks the bathroom sink at the end of the pilot episode.
* SuperToughness: She has super strength, so having the toughness is [[RequiredSecondaryPowers par for the course]] (both her strength and toughness are the result of her being able to increase her mass while keeping the volume of her body). So long as her powers are activated, she has NighInvulnerability.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: The trauma from being kidnapped and threatened is what awakens her latent powers.
* WhatTheHellHero: Is often the one who calls out her father or Gambi for keeping things from her. In Season 2, when her father tries to partially blame her for [[spoiler:Jennifer's elopement with Khalil, Anissa is fed up with her father's tendency to always see the fault in everyone [[NeverMyFault but himself]], and calls him out for his overprotectiveness that pushed both his daughters away]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jennifer Pierce / Lightning]]
!!Jennifer Pierce
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jenniferpierce.jpeg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blacklightninglightning.jpeg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Music/ChinaAnneMcClain
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
Jefferson's youngest daughter, who resents having to be the model student at school because her daddy's the principal.\\
\\
Like her father, Jennifer can manipulate electricity, but her ability to generate electricity far outweighs Jefferson's.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for her Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for her Earth-2 counterpart
----
* AffectionateNickname: The people that are close to her sometimes shorten her name to "Jenn". Khalil also calls her "J".
* AlphaBitch: Subverted; though she acts rebellious in school (including smoking weed and drinking in school), and the "Queen of Garfield" nickname would infer this, it's apparent she's doing this to try and avoid bullying for being the principal's daughter, with the Queen of Garfield nickname being used in jest. In the fifth episode, she has to defend herself from two rivals, and she admits to her dad that she's a "target" at school.
* BadassAdorable:
** Even [[TheDragon Lala]] is amused in the pilot, when Jennifer lets Will know what she thinks of him - [[GroinAttack with her knee.]]
** In "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light" two rivals from school attack, and [[CurbStompBattle Jennifer effortlessly takes both of them down]], demonstrating that Jefferson and Lynn made sure ''both'' their daughters could handle themselves in a fight.
* BeingGoodSucks: Her attitude towards life at this point in time.
* BigSisterWorship: Jennifer really looks up to Anissa. In Season 2, when Anissa has a falling out with their father, causing her to move out, Jennifer is disappointed, especially since she is basically in confinement and has no one to talk to who can understand her other than her sister, [[spoiler:which is why she is drawn back to Khalil]].
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: She's at the age when she wants to act out -- her dad also being her principal doesn't help.
* DieOrFly: Sort of. Jennifer burns her phone and the poster in her hands, when her friend, Kiesha, starts to fall from a high place and Jennifer reacts in panic.
* ElementalShapeshifter: In "Shadow of Death: The Book of War" she appears to briefly turn entirely into electricity, as she does in the comics.
* {{Elopement}}: In Season 2, [[spoiler:she decides to run away with Khalil, after fearing to be locked in her house forever and seeing how Khalil can no longer work for Tobias]].
* EvilMeScaresMe: She makes no secret that she's greatly disturbed by the deeds of her Earth-2 counterpart.
* EyeColorChange: When Jennifer's powers flare up, her eyes turn the same orange of her lightning.
* {{Foil}}: To her older sister Anissa, when it comes to how they deal with their superpowers. While Anissa [[JumpedAtTheCall almost immediately]] decided to go out and find some bad guys to beat up, Jennifer [[RefusalOfTheCall wants no part of it]] and would [[IJustWantToBeNormal make her powers go away if she could]].
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The foolish sibling to Anissa’s responsible one in all ways ''except'' in their discovery of superpowers. While Anissa wants to use hers to crush the first wrong she sees, Jennifer would ''much'' rather her life remain safe and crime fighting-free, thank you very much. It's one thing to crash a club you're not supposed to be in to add spice to life, but powers are a whole other barrel of danger. It's probably because of her history of being a bit of a screw-up that she immediately spots how suddenly getting powers isn't going to be automatically a fantastic thing or become a universal solution to her life's problems.
* HiddenDepths: She wants to be just a normal teenager, and so tries to act like one; however, even without her abilities, thanks to her exceptional parenting, she's clearly not average--she can defend herself against multiple targets in unarmed fights, has good enough grades and extracurriculars to apply to Harvard, is the one who figures out how Issa's powers work, and occasionally says things so profound that it takes Anissa aback.
-->'''Jennifer:''' [Anything] can turn bad real quick if it becomes your only joy.\\
'''Anissa:''' ...that's actually deep.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: She's ''horrified'' when she discovers she has powers, seeing it as ruining her chance for a normal life.
* LikeParentLikeChild: Jennifer inherited electricity-based powers similar to Jefferson's.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Jennifer was the last one of the family to learn about her own and their father's powers. Anissa eventually reveals it to her, soon after Jennifer asks Anissa for help after burning her phone with her powers.
* PhoneaholicTeenager: She spends ''way too much'' time on her phone.
* PowerIncontinence: It suddenly becomes an issue in Season 2, as her powers start to randomly activate with no way to turn them off. She [[PowerFloats floats in her sleep]].
* PsychoactivePowers: Like her sister, she gets power fluctuations. Except in her case, the more she tries not to use them and the more into denial she gets... the more of it she builds up and stores, until just getting frustrated, hyped or relaxing her guard too much = zappy-zap.
* RefusalOfTheCall: In direct contrast to Anissa, Jennifer has ''no'' desire to be a hero. She just wants to be normal. Though she seems to have changed her mind when she discovers that her powers basically heals her dad.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few people to know who Black Lightning is.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: In Season 2, Jennifer struggles more and more to control her powers. Her parents forbid her from going to school and eventually decide that getting an in-home tutor for her would be best. [[spoiler:Jennifer is ''not'' amused about this, and then runs away with Khalil.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Discovers she has the power to shoot electricity from her hands in the episode "The Book of Revelations." However her powers aren't exactly like Jefferson's -- Lynn compares his powers to a battery; Jennifer is a ''generator'' since her cells produce pure energy.
* SuperiorSuccessor: While she still as a lot to learn, her powers far surpass the ones of her father.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Mixed with LamarckWasRight, Jennifer inherits her father's metahuman traits, but it's implied she's potentially more powerful than Jefferson by the ability to generate electricity rather than having to absorb and store it like he does.
* {{Telekinesis}}: Like her father, Jennifer can use her powers to make others float and throw them in the air.
* UnskilledButStrong: Her powers are far more powerful than Jefferson's, but she lacks control over them.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A large chunk of what happens in the premiere happens because she was stupid enough to sneak into the One Hundred's local club.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: She dispels yellow-orange electricity, same as her comic counterpart.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lynn Stewart]]
!!Lynn Stewart
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lynnstewart.jpeg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ChristineAdams
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BlackLightning2018''
Jefferson's ex-wife, a neuroscientist who left him because of his Black Lightning activities.
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseOtherLocales page for her Earth-1 counterpart
-> see the Characters/ArrowverseEarth2 page for her Earth-2 counterpart
----
* AdultFear: When she finds out Anissa has powers and is actively trying to follow in her father's footsteps, Lynn is obviously terrified of what might happen. Note also her face when she realizes that if one daughter has inherited it (and that it's gone to her head)... What about the other, more reckless one? Yeah: that right there? That's dread.
* AesopAmnesia: How she feels about Jefferson being Black Lightning varies from episode to episode. One episode, she's unhappy but understanding that the city needs Black Lightning, the next she's berating Jefferson for putting himself in danger. However, [[JustifiedTrope this is well within character.]] She started out actively supporting Jefferson being Black Lightning, only souring on it over time as his injuries started stacking up. At the same time, she is still the activist fire-brand she's always been. The "protect my own" instinct clashes with itself more than once, because her family is not the only thing she is protective of. Note how she reacts if somebody tries to do unethical medical research near her, or tries to steal her research to do unethical things with.
* AmicableExes: She still loves Jefferson and there's still sparks between them; Jefferson hopes they can get back together. They make a point of having a family dinner every week. In episode 12 she outright seduces Jefferson, calling him to her place for a fake emergency only to be waiting for him wearing lingerie. He...didn't take much convincing. She moves back into the house in Season Two and she and Jefferson are more or less a married couple, without the actual marriage part.
* GoodParents: Loves her daughters very much and has joint custody of them.
* HeroismAddict: {{Discussed}}; Lynn believes, or has at least convinced herself, that Jefferson is addicted to his powers. Gambi, however, believes that his addiction wasn't to his powers at all but to ''her''. Jefferson himself, on the other hand, disagrees with the whole idea of him having an "addiction" in the first place.
* JerkassBall: Grabs it whenever she's around Gambi, whom she blames for Jefferson's vigilantism.
* TheLastStraw: Made Jefferson promise to give up being Black Lightning because Lynn could not stand him coming home bleeding in the bath-tub every night. Jefferson went back on that promise, and Lynn divorced him after a very bloody battle with Tobias.
* TheMedic: Reluctantly to her husband when he suffers injuries too severe for Gambi to treat.
* OnlySaneMan: PlayedWith. Her husband and daughters all have super-powers and inevitably find themselves in dangerous situations, leaving Lynn in an almost perpetual state of AngerBornOfWorry. On the other hand, she almost always turns out to be wrong.
* NotQuiteTheRightThing: She meant well when she made Jefferson promise to give up the hero gig, but it led to utter disaster. Sure your husband will no longer put himself in danger (at least, for a while), but the bad guys ended up basically taking over the city, which in the long run put everyone of its citizens in danger, including Lynn and the girls.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few people who know that Jefferson is Black Lightning.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Literally the ''only'' one at the ASA who sees the pod kids as human beings worthy as respect instead of disposable assets.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Again, her making Jefferson promise to give up super-heroics allowed The 100 to take over the city.
* WetBlanketWife: PlayedForDrama, as she insisted that Jefferson stop being Black Lightning. It smoothed out his relationship with her and their kids, but it also allowed crime to flourish in Freeland for years. She eventually comes to terms that Black Lightning is needed again, whether she likes it or not.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Alvin Pierce]]
!!Alvin Pierce
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alvinpierce.png]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Keith Arthur Bolden
-> ''"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today". (quoting Malcolm X)''
\\
Jefferson's father, who was an investigative reporter. He looked into Tobias Whale's corrupt dealing when he was city leader that got him killed. But he also uncovered another secret, one that was much more dangerous than a crooked politician's dealings.
----
* EducationPapa: A rare positive example. What does he do when Jefferson got suspended for breaking another kid's nose during a fight for self-defense? Have him study the Constitution rather than waste his time watching TV and then quiz him before dinner.
* GoodIsNotSoft: When Gambi tried to get him to stop his very detailed articles about Tobias and the ASA's experiments less he get killed, Alvin's response was give him TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for trying to use him as a way to assuage his guilt without putting his own life on the line.
* GoodParents: A stern, but affectionate father who ultimately wanted his son to have a good future, and not to squander away his opportunities.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: His reports about Tobias Whale's corrupt dealing as a civic leader got him killed; the latter [[CruelAndUnusualDeath literally shoved his articles down his throat until he died]]. He also uncovered a DarkSecret about kids who were experimented on and disappeared. His editor buried the story after he was murdered. In truth, his death was orchestrated by the ASA, the government agency responsible for experimenting on those kids; Tobias was just a smokescreen and an enforcer.
* HonorBeforeReason: He knew that his articles would anger the wrong people and get him killed. He saw it as a necessary sacrifice to make Freeland a better place for his son.
* IntrepidReporter: He had a knack for uncovering things people wanted kept secret. It got him killed.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: His relationship with Jefferson is exactly like the one Jefferson has with daughters now.
* PapaWolf: Part of his motivation for his reports was for what the ASA's vaccine did to Jefferson.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: His murder by Tobias Whale is what inspired Jefferson to become Black Lightning. However, it turns out Tobias was just the cover for the ASA.
* PosthumousCharacter: He's been dead since long before the series began.
[[/folder]]
----
