History Characters / BurnNotice

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: It becomes increasingly apparent that his conman persona is an earnest but ultimately futile attempt to emulate his brother's superior criminal and espionage expertise.

%%* ParentalAbandonment

* RecklessSidekick: In some episodes Nate takes a direct role in helping Michael and is decently skilled, but a little too impulsive for Michael's taste and doesn't seem to get the principal of KnowWhenToFoldEm

* PsychoPsychologist: While affiliated with Internal Affairs, he analyzed spies like Michael to determine whether they should be burned; This became the seed for the burned spies organization. Unbeknown to Michael, he also stood in as his parents' therapist.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Michael is unable to ever turn his back on anyone who comes to him for help. Sometimes, they don't even ask, mostly because they're not sure there's anything he ''can'' do to help, and he does anyway.

* MoralityChain: For all his drinking and womanizing, Sam's usually the one to remind Michael and Fi not to cross any lines, to the point characters refer to the soused bedhopper as a boy scout. This fits with their backgrounds, as Mike's a spy, Fi's a criminal, and Sam's a soldier. That's like being a boy scout for adults. (A boozing, womanizing boy scout, but a boy scout nonetheless.)

* GeniusBruiser: He's an outstanding tactician, investigator and operative who is skilled in a variety of areas as well as a brutally efficient combatant.

* NormalFishInATinyPond: Granted, Michael is seen as dangerous and highly skilled even alongside other operatives. But in the criminal and civilian world against people with little training i combat or tactics, he's near unstoppable.

%%* TheSpook

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Sam Axe sounds like a superhero name.

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: If the art dealer from the pilot is an indication.

* UnwittingPawn: For Anson in "Dead to Rights."

* KnifeNut: His preferred melee weapon, and he's made good use of it [[spoiler:as Brennen can attest]].

* KnifeNut: Tries to kill Michael with a Japanese tanto knife.

-> ''"Michael, you can do anything you put your mind to, or at least anything I put your mind to."''

-> ''"You've heard of the carrot and the stick. Well, I'm the stick."''

!!Detective Michelle Paxson (Moon Bloodgood)

!!Marvin "Marv" Paterson (Robert Kind)

* CorruptBureaucrat: He's a government desk jockey who falsely filled Michael's record with various crimes and atrocities in order to get him burned. Michael's not the first spy Cowan has ruined this way, either; it's his organization's way of recruiting new operatives.

* CorruptBureaucrat: He's a government desk jockey who falsely filled Michael's record with war crimes and other atrocities in order to get him burned. Michael's not the first spy Cowan has ruined this way, either; it's his organization's way of recruiting new operatives.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Well, pretty high up on the food chain anyway.

* SimpleYetAwesome: Michael's fighting style avoids flash moves and is built around taking opponents down as quickly as possible, using moves from Shotokan Karate, Aikido, Muay Thai, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Krav Maga.

* AdultFear: She has a son she's worried about losing to social services.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: They have more reasons why they won't help than ways they actually will.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Michael is unable to ever turn his back on anyone who comes to him for help.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His father was an abusive, alcoholic prick and a petty criminal who constantly physically assaulted him, his brother, and his mom. He had to occasionally commit minor crimes himself to help provide for his family whenever his dad was on a bender or locked up, and would do his best to take the brunt of the punishment for his little brother. His mother signed his form to enlist in the Army as a teenager.. because she was afraid of what would happen if all all anger he carried around wasn't pointed toward something constructive. Michael even lampshades this in the pilot.

** The fact that he's MarriedToTheJob. Truth of the matter being burned and having no job reference or money to his name would've barely stopped Michael from living a normal life. Michael has both enough skill, charisma and guile that he could get a very successful job in any number of a dozen domains where his skill would shine if he put his mind to it. But Michael loved the patriotism of being a spy, the lifestyle and resents being burned, and thus can't stop himself from digging deeper and up the chain and constantly take on questionable work in the hope that it might lead to his rehabilitation as a spy. He's also blind that his life has improved since he's been burned. He reconciled with his brother, got along with his mother, him and Fiona are a stable pair, and has a loyal buddy in Sam.