History Characters / PersonOfInterest

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:"Team Machine"]]

[[folder:Friends, Relatives and Allies]]
!!Nathan C. Ingram
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ingram_nathan_c_8639.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Everyone is relevant to someone."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Brett Cullen

Finch's deceased collaborator on the Machine. Ingram acted as the interface between the government and their company while the Machine was under development.

* TheAlcoholic
* BreakTheCutie: When we first meet him, he's a carefree, happy-go-lucky sort of guy with a hero streak. That was in 2002. By 2010 he's had an affair, divorced from his wife, haunted by the Irrelevant Numbers, his and Finch's friendship is being driven apart by their disagreement over the Irrelevant List, and he's become an alcoholic.
* BigGood: Decided to start trying to save the numbers way before John Reese took up his position at Team Machine, even when Harold disagreed and actively opposed him and set up the basic infrastructure for Team Machine to utilise i.e, the library.
* TheCharmer: Was shown to have this talent.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Haunted by the Irrelevant List, he sought out to stop what was going to happen to them. Some he saved. Others he didn't.
* DeathByOriginStory: His (preventable) death was the catalyst that started Finch on his obsession with saving the Irrelevant Numbers.
* DeadpanSnarker: Especially around Harold.
* {{Expy}}: Of Steve Jobs, according to the casting call. And of John Reese without the military experience. Both of them are friends of Finch, use the machine to try and save the numbers and have ruined love lives.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Finch.
* HonorBeforeReason: He wanted to go public about The Machine because he felt it was the right thing to do, and wouldn't listen to Finch when Finch said he thought that the government was killing off people connected with The Machine.
* TheMccoy: To Finch's Spock (before his death and Finch's subsequent becoming something of a [=McCoy=]/Spock hybrid.)
* OnlyFriend: To all appearances, Ingram was Finch's only friend.
* PosthumousCharacter: Is dead when the series starts, and is only seen in flashbacks.
* SharpDressedMan: He is almost always in a nice suit, in and out of the office.
* TalkerAndDoer: The talker and face of his and Finch's company...
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Up until he decided to use the "Irrelevant" list to prevent crimes, with no training and a cheap handgun.
* WideEyedIdealist: In contrast to Harold's cynical personality and initial willingness to let the numbers on the irrelevant list die, Nathan believed he could make a difference by saving them from their fate and coded the Contingency so the irrelevant list would come to him even after the machine was black boxed.
* YourCheatingHeart: Though still married, he was carrying on an affair with a graduate student until ''The Machine'' exposed it to Harold.

!!Jessica Arndt
->'''Played By:''' Susan Misner

->''"Tell me to wait for you and . . . say those words, and I will."''

Reese's deceased lover. After Jessica's relationship with Reese ended, she married another man, but remained in contact with Reese. She is eventually killed by her husband during a domestic dispute.

* DomesticAbuse: The man she chose after Reese left her was not the nicest of men. He caused her death.
* TheLostLenore: With respect to Reese.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Turns out she was also one of the people on the Irrelevant List that Harold and Nathan failed to save.
* PosthumousCharacter: Dead before episode 1.
* ShallowLoveInterest: Justified in how she is a PosthumousCharacter whose only relation with the cast is through John.

!!Zoe Morgan
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ZoeMorganPoI_9982.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Paige Turco

->''"If you're going to do something wrong, do it right."''

A "fixer" who specializes in crisis management. Finch and Reese first met her as a person of interest. Later on in the series, she works with them on cases that require her skills. She has an ill-disguised interest in Reese.

* ActionGirl: She has no qualms about getting into physical fights or infiltrating buildings, but would rather leave the violence to people with better skills than her such as John.
* {{Badass}}: She can look down powerful people and not blink. She's knows the political landscape around New York like the back of her hand and she's a great manipulator and strategist. Even when she's getting shot at when she and John first meet, she's not very flustered and as of Season 3, she now carries a stun gun, showing she's become a little more wise when working with Team Machine.
* CoolCar: She has a sweet Audi RS7.
* DatingCatwoman: Her relationship with Reese has shades of this.
* DeadpanSnarker: And How! Her temporary marriage to John was a glorious example of this.
* FemmeFatale
* TheFixer: Her job.
* GuileHero: Qualifies due to her stalling of the murderous pharmaceutical executive and counting on John to break out of his handcuffs with the paper clip she slipped him and get to her in time.
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: Though she is trusted as much as Carter and Fusco, she always returns to her job after helping Team Machine out.
* LadyInRed: Due to the red coat she sported in her first two appearances.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: How she presents herself to the world; it seems she actually has a HiddenHeartOfGold.
* ShipTease: With Reese just about every time they're on screen together. Seemed to have been elevated to LoveInterest as of "Booked Solid"; confirmed in "Lady Killer."
-->'''Shaw:''' I clocked you and Zoe right off the bat...
* TheSocialExpert: As a fixer, her job is to understand human interactions to allow her how best to handle some situations.
* YouDidntSeeThat: In "Bury the Lede":
--> ''It was a pleasure meeting you, but it's a shame we never met.''

!!Grace Hendricks
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hendricks_grace_7996.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Harold, there's nothing you can say that will make me run away. But you should tell me in your own time. ...Besides, our journey starts here, and any mystery around the corner we can discover together."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Carrie Preston

Finch's fiancée, who believes him to be dead.

* BirdsOfAFeather: She and Finch are both quiet, thoughtful, inwardly intense people, who love books and art.
* {{Bookworm}}: Is fond of Jane Austen and especially fond of CharlesDickens.
* CastingGag: The character's actress, Carrie Preston, is Michael Emerson's (Finch) real-life wife.
* [[DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu Did She Just Have Tea With Cthulhu?]]: Root invited her for coffee in order to threaten her safety to get Finch to do as she wants.
* GeekyTurnOn: She had this when she found out Finch has an enthusiasm for the art of Giorgio de Chirico, the artist whose works inspired her to be an artist.
* GirlNextDoor: Gives off this sort of vibe.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Yep, she's a redhead.
* [[MeaningfulName Meaningful First Name]]: Just look at her name and the character quote.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Every time she's brought into the show, it's to emphasize her relationship with Harold.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She was this for a time.
* SpotOfTea / Coffee: If the (apparently) frequently used teapot in her house implies anything about her liking tea. Also, is an admitted "coffee snob."
* StarvingArtist: Averted. Her illustration and creation of cover art for magazines is steady enough to keep her living comfortably. Though Finch keeps an eye on her and makes sure someone hires her if no one has hired her for a while.
* TheMourningAfter: Harold still is her fiancé, his "death" in 2010 notwithstanding, and she has trouble referring to him in past tense.

!!Leon Tao
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeonTaoPoI_698.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Ken Leung

-> ''[[ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder "I'm an accountant! I'm not a criminal!"]]''

A former financial criminal and three-time person of interest who has assisted in some cases. He has a penchant for get-rich-schemes which always land him in difficulties with gangsters.

* AsianAndNerdy: It doesn't get more stereotypical than being Chinese and an Accountant.
* BrainsAndBondage: The brains part is debatable though. Sure, he's got the IQ and math skills, but the ''good judgement''...
* ButtMonkey: Tends to have bad things happen to him, such as getting in the List ''three times.''
* DidNotGetTheGirl: He's pretty upset over it too, despite the fact that she was being paid to help kill him.
* ForensicAccounting: Extremely good at it, picking apart the motivations for the conspiracy to kill the energy company owner in "Critical."
* GenreSavvy: When he realizes that two toughs are planning to kill him rather than just beat him up, he correctly predicts that Reese is about to break down the door and save the day. This is the third time his life has ended up in danger and he is able to spot the pattern.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Loves stealing money from criminals (e.g. Aryan gangsters, Nigerian scammers, etc.), even though it keeps getting him into trouble.
* TooDumbToLive: Who would be dumb enough to have his number appear again 6 episodes later, and then ''again'' 11 episodes after that? He would.
--> '''Reese''': "Well [[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough who would be dumb enough]] to get in a life threatening situation again?"\\
''[Cue Leon being thrown out of a window.]''

[[folder:The Mafia]]
!!Carl Elias
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elias_carl_3593.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I am the evolution of organized crime."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Enrico Colantoni

A nascent crime boss and the illegitimate son of Mafia don Gianni Moretti. Elias is determined to revive the crime families of New York and to eliminate the Russian mob.

* AffablyEvil: Seems genuinely polite most of the time, is respectful to Carter and is regretful towards John when he finally reveals himself. He even seems delighted to hear from him on the phone at one point.
* {{Badass}}: In the span of a season, he became the city's most powerful crime boss. He still continued to be so after he was sent to prison. Even when the Russians and HR team up and take a lot of his power away from him near the end of Season 2, he's DefiantToTheEnd when they come to kill him in "God Mode".
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: In the pursuit of [[spoiler:Simmons for killing Carter]] Team Machine is very pissed and out for blood. However, [[spoiler:neither Reese, Shaw, nor Fusco actually kill him or Alonzo Quinn. Reese is talked down by Finch that killing Quinn would dishonor all Carter worked for and after Fusco gives Simmons a beating to the inch of his life, arrests the man for similar reasons]]. While resting later [[spoiler:in the hospital, Simmons is visited by Elias who gives a very elegant speech about civility and the righteousness Carter held within her and which was instilled into Team Machine. He and Simmons, however, are cut from a much darker and older cloth of malevolence. As such, Elias watches as his man kills Simmons for the debt he owed Carter and could not fully pay back to her in life]].
* BastardBastard: His true origins.
* BerserkButton: He can forgive a lot of things, such as killing his mother, incarcerating him or even trying to kill him. But the one thing he can't stand is betraying him. As HR and his father found out the hard way. HR in particular irks him, when they came to him for assistance in rebuilding their operation, he lulls them and convinces them to set up the assassination of a Mafia don who's secretly made peace with Elias to go horribly wrong presumably as a TakeThat for leaving him hanging out to dry in "Flesh and Blood," allowing him to get arrested.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: This man spent three years working as a teacher, getting close to the children of his enemies, as part of his long run plan.
* TheChessmaster: Both figuratively (in the sense of manipulating NYC's criminal underworld) and literally (one of his laments about prison is that it's hard to find a worthy opponent among his peers).
** Also in his first appearance: part of the reasoning behind him hiding as a high school teacher was to use his position to influence the children of rival criminals away from their parents' lifestyle choices, in a very long term strategy to starve the rivals of recruits.
* TheCorrupter: Used his position as teacher to get to know the children of his enemies and know just what is needed to turn them against their families.
* DebtDetester: After Carter saved his life in the end of Season 2 [[spoiler:he averts this as he never shows any qualms with being in Carter's debt. He never pushed her into a spot to make her call on him. He treated her with great respect. And with her murder by Simmons, he sees his only viable means of paying the debt is to kill Simmons, as he knows Team Machine cannot do it without destroying the good Carter sees in them]].
* DefiantToTheEnd: Not particularly fazed when Yogorov and HR take him on what was supposed to be a "one way" prisoner transport.
* DiabolicalMastermind: He is a calm, patient, but still dangerous man who has a deep understanding of the city's criminal underworld. He knows how to read the lines between the lines and play things accordingly.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He was built up as the BigBad of the first season, and really does fulfill the role for most of it, but he's eventually defeated with a considerable amount of episodes left in the season. However, while he was seemingly defeated but as later episodes have shown, he still has a considerable amount of power over the city even in jail.
* EnemyMine: With Carter against the HR/Russian Mafia partnership. He also suggests this to Yogorov against HR.
* EvilIsPetty: Averted. He's a very forgiving person. While John got him incarcerated, he was only mad at him for a little bit but still felt gratitude toward him for saving his life (and considered incarceration as a blessing in disguise, allowing him to focus on running his business). Even when the Russian mob leader tried to execute him, he saw it as completely fair since he killed his father. The one thing he won't forgive though, is betraying him, as HR finds out when he lures them into a killing that he's set up to fail in advance just to give them a TakeThat when they come to him for help on rebuilding their operations. [[spoiler:And he even treats Carter with a friendly attitude despite her being his new warden]].
* EvilCounterpart: To Finch - Reese even mentioned that Elias made him think of Finch - though not as blatantly so as Root.
** Reese initially shared Elias' "In the end, we're all alone" philosophy.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: "I'm true to what I am." He has his own code of ethics he works by.
** This is invoked by John to try and get him to help save a child's life, because if Elias permits children to be kidnapped and sold in his city, he's just as evil as the scum he's fighting against.
** He also places a great deal of value on loyalty, and is contemptuous of HR because they are "oath breakers."
* FatherToHisMen: When his right hand man got gunned down, he had his prison bodyguards paroled so that they could guard over him in the hospital. Carter noted that as evil as he was, he was loyal. This is in contrast to his opponents at HR who don't mind knocking off each other if they fail to do their jobs or threaten the success of the organisation.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Started off as an orphan in the foster care system and eventually became New York City's most powerful crime boss.
* HiddenVillain: In the episode he's introduced.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Has a team of gunmen ready to kill the families of the HR members if things go wrong. Harold gets wind of this and reveals it to Simmons, the second in command of HR. As Simmons loves his family, he pulls the support he was giving to the plot to kill the Five Dons and as a result, Elias gets arrested when Fusco calls for backup.
* IOweYouMyLife: Considers himself still in debt to Reese. He's practical about it and won't let it interfere with his plans, but is otherwise willing to use his authority over the crime world to protect John and his associates. As of Season 3, [[spoiler:he makes a similar offer to Carter after she saved him from getting wiped out by HR and Yogorov, offering to have a gang of Russians eliminated but she declines. ]]
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: According to Finch, being imprisoned didn't slow his criminal business down.
* MundaneWish: Is convinced to use his contacts to help Team Machine out from behind bars on condition of Finch becoming his chess partner.
* ParentalAbandonment: He is the child of a mobster who never acknowledged him as a son and had his mother murdered.
* PyrrhicVictory: He eventually does get his revenge and takes down the entire Mob Family that he hated so much, but as a result, he winds up in prison. Although this hasn't really affected his control of the criminal underworld.
** NiceJobBreakingItHero: He actually thanks Finch for putting him in jail, telling him that it allowed him to cut out distractions and focus on what was important. He implies that being in jail allowed him to focus entirely on his business.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He spent a good part of Season 1 plotting revenge for his mother's murder.
** During "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: he personally oversees the killing of Officer Patrick Simmons]]
* ScarsAreForever: Has deep scars on the palms of his hands from when his father tried to have him killed with a garotte wielding assassin.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Shown in a few episodes, when the light hits them just right. Given his character, it's almost certainly deliberate.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: One of his past-times. [[GoKartingWithBowser He asks Finch to play with him in exchange for a minor favor and won't rat John out to Donnelly when they meet in Rykers because he'd lose the one person who's an intellectual equal to him as a chess partner. He also plays with Carter in "The Perfect Mark"]].
* StartOfDarkness: Kicked off with his mother's death, making him seek the criminal's path to prosper. However, it ''really'' kicks off when his Father attempts to murder him, turning a small time criminal with no ambition or planning skill into the [[TheChessmaster Carl]] [[DiabolicalMastermind Elias]] we know today.
* {{Troll}} : Does this to HR, sending them on a wild goose chase after a Mafia don who's made peace with Elias and making sure it fails with the don forewarned and ready with a hidden bodyguard to kill HR cops sent to kill him and leaving only Lionel alive to give a message.
* WickedCultured: Very knowledgeable about history, enjoys good food and wine, and is an excellent cook.
* WorthyOpponent: Sees Finch as one. [[spoiler: And Carter for beating him in "Flesh and Blood" and later saving his life]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Elias claims he is personally against hurting children, but he's willing to at least appear to be willing to hurt them in order to get some much needed information out of John ("Baby Blue") and as potential leverage against various members of HR ("Flesh and Blood"). Does it to Carter by kidnapping her son in "Flesh and Blood." and it comes back to bite him with Finch convincing Simmons from HR who loves his family to leave Elias hanging out to dry once he's made aware of the plan to kill off the HR family members.

!!Anthony "Scarface" Marconi
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AnthonyMarconiPoI_3684.png]]
->'''Played By:''' David Valcin

->''"I'da just shot you, but the boss has got a soft spot for you."''

A member of Elias's mob group, and is his second-in-command and principal enforcer. He is also informally known as Scarface due to an easily identifiable scar on his right cheek coupled with the fact that his name is never mentioned by any of the characters in any episode he appears in.

* {{Badass}}
* TheDragon: For Elias.
* FanNickname: Fans have taken to calling him Jack, due to the fact that until season 2 he was only ever credited as Scarface.
* GoodScarsEvilScars
* KarmaHoudini: Even after Elias was sent to jail, he remained at large.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Scarface gets to do the honours [[spoiler: and garottes an injured Officer Patrick Simmons to death in his hospital bed.]]
* NoNameGiven: Initially, but now fully averted as his given name was used in "All In."
* TheStoic
* TheQuietOne: While he does talk, he is more commonly found in silence.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Disappeared for a while after his Boss' defeat in "Flesh and Blood". Made a brief reappearance in "C.O.D.," was referenced in "All In," and may have been the "right-hand man" wounded offscreen by HR in "God Mode." As of "Liberty", he's alive and well and back in action, picking up some uncut diamonds for his boss in order to fund his comeback. Makes another appearance in "Endgame" and "The Devil's Share", [[spoiler: killing Simmons]].

[[folder:The Russian Mob]]
!!Peter Yogorov
->'''Played by:''' Morgan Spector

->"The cops might kill a kid; my people have standards."

The elder son of Ivan Yogorov, who was the head of TheMafiya in Brighton Beach until Elias had him killed ("Witness"). Takes over the organization and forms an alliance with HR. Has vowed [[PayEvilUntoEvil revenge]] against Elias for killing his father.

* AffablyEvil: He's not that bad in person (particularly in comparison to other mobsters), even Carter agrees.
* ButtMonkey: His family as a whole. Elias and Team Machine have run roughshod over them repeatedly over the course of the series.
* DeadpanSnarker: Lets the snark fly loose when he meets Shaw.
* DefiantToTheEnd: He was determined to go down fighting [[spoiler: against HR, but Carter's intervention keeps him from doing so.]]
* DragonAscendant: Following his father's death.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Very protective of his brother Laszlo, who HR has kept in prison as leverage.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Says so explicitly in "Razgovor"; see quote above. He also seems to have a disgust for whistleblowers.
* HonorBeforeReason: He follows a "criminal code" that sometimes leads to this, such as his refusal to rat his comrades out.
* NobleDemon: Yogorov is a classic type of "old-fashioned mobster", with standards and code of honor, contrasting with [[DirtyCop HR]].
* PragmaticVillainy: while he's contemptuous of whistleblowers--"I'd rather rot in prison than be labeled a rat."--he's perfectly willing to become one to protect his brother.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: In "Endgame," vows to kill HR cops ''en masse'' if his hijacked drug shipment isn't returned.
** In "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: he sends a team of gunmen to attack the safe house Alonzo Quinn is being hidden in by the US Marshall's. Unfortunately, Team Machine gets there and Root decimates most of the hit squad before they can even get inside the building]]
* SatelliteCharacter: While he has reasonable depth, it is noticeable that his only role in the show is to further other villains' plotlines (usually HR or Elias).
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Utilises a Benelli M4 during "Endgame" as the [[spoiler: partnership with HR falls to pieces]] . After what happened with [[spoiler: Shaw using him as a blood donor]] it's a pretty wise decision.
* YouKilledMyFather: The main reason he hates Elias so much.

[[folder:The CIA]]
!!Mark Snow
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snow_mark_6940.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't forget, we're behind enemy lines here."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Michael Kelly

A CIA handler who once ran Reese.

* [[CIAEvilFBIGood CIA is Evil]]: He is a very amoral man.
* ConsummateLiar: Probably the only consistently truthful statement he ever made was his name.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has quite a tongue on him.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Jerkass as he may be, he does die delivering some KarmicDeath upon his captor.
* DrivenToSuicide: Minor variation, he initially planned to make a break for a safe house run by the CIA to get his bomb vest defused but John mockingly pointed out they wouldn't welcome him back with open arms and probably torture him, demanding an explanation about his long absence so instead Snow heads to Kara Stanton's car to kill her in the blast of his bomb vest when it goes off.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Shoots down L-O-S's suggestion of killing Carter, stating they "Can't go around killing cops." before black-bagging him, although this may instead be a case of PragmaticVillainy. Also is utterly terrified about Kara, making a special effort to hunt her down when she shows up in New York
* ExplosiveLeash: How Stanton makes him work for her. Doubles as LaserGuidedKarma.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: He is perfectly calm in his last moments. Granted, at that point he'd basically been Kara's slave for months so he may have seen it as a relief. Plus, he was taking Kara with him.
* FamousLastWords: "You were right, Kara, about me being dead: I'm gonna be great at it." Doubles as a PreMortemOneLiner
* JerkAss: Not in a abrasive sense but in a much more slimy fashion when he ran John and Kara. However, with Carter, it qualifies fully due to his increasing failure to trap and kill Reese in which he suspects she has a hand in helping him get away
* MeaningfulName: His surname is Snow, which is appropriate considering his status as a ConsummateLiar.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Reese thanks to the ExplosiveLeash on both of them.
* PetTheDog: When in New York, he allows Reese out of the apartment they're holed up in with a prisoner to go have a drink at a bar.
* TheMenInBlack: He runs them, giving out missions which would never be officially sanctioned.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: With the late Agent Evans.
* TakingYouWithMe: To Stanton.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Seems to be a favorite tactic of his, as he has so far done this to three of his operatives.

[[folder:Northern Lights]]
Northern Lights is the codename for an organization/program within the United States Government that controls the Machine, distributes its intelligence and takes action to keep its activities secret from the rest of the world. Northern Lights receives Numbers from an entity codenamed "Research" (actually the Machine's relevant list), and pulls its personnel from various government agencies, including the NSA, the CIA and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_Support_Activity Intelligence Support Activity]].

!!In General

* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: The late Special Counsel who oversaw their field operations masqueraded as the head of the RealLife Office Of Special Counsel, the people who conduct their field work are officially from the CIA and ISA and their entity known as "Research" belongs to the NSA.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: They're a secret counter-terrorist organisation who uses The Machine's relevant list to hunt down threats to America's national security and stop them before they even occur.
* TheMenInBlack: They don't officially exist and are dedicated in keeping it that way.
* KillEmAll: Standard operating procedure in the event the existence of the Machine is compromised to the outside world. They're also willing to let terrorists attacks occur if necessary, if it means the source of the leak stands a good chance of dying in one.
* ProfessionalKiller: Their true strength. They have a small army of them to conduct counter-terrorist operations worldwide. They're also at Reese's calibre (like the ISA hit-squad in "No Good Deed" and Samantha Shaw). And if they find anyone who shouldn't know about the machine has learnt of its existence, they will be re-tasked in making sure that person does not live to tell anyone else.
* PunchClockVillain: The majority of their hit-squads have no knowledge of the Machine and are simply following orders.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Their stated mission is to hunt down threats to America's national security and terminate them with extreme prejudice in order to prevent massive loss of life. However, they're paranoid about the American public finding out the existence of the machine and are all too happy to re-task their multiple hit squads to kill anyone, including innocent civilians, in order to keep it's existence secure.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Does this to any employees who wish to leave the program and performed this to many of the personnel who built the machine.

!!"Pennsylvania Two"/"Special Counsel"
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/special_counsel_6641.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"No one life is above the safety of millions of Americans. That's the ugly math I have to deal with every day."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Jay O. Sanders

A shadowy figure from the Office of Special Counsel who appears to be engineering the activity regarding the machine and sees Reese as a threat.

* EvilSoundsDeep: He has a very deep voice.
* FauxAffablyEvil: When in person, he can be real smooth talker as he orders [[KillEmAll countless people killed without batting an eyelid]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity: In "God Mode" he just says, "Fair enough."
* FamousLastWords: See FaceDeathWithDignity above.
* KillEmAll: To anyone who even suspects the Machine exists.
* TheManBehindTheMan: With respect to Weeks and Hersh.
* MoleInCharge: Has his day job in an agency that protects whistleblowers. As Henry Peck found out, he's not going to do his job if you try to expose the Machine.
* MissionControl: Fulfils this role for the project in the event the existence of the machine is compromised.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: What he believes justifies his actions. See the quote above.
* [[NonActionBigBad Non Action]] [[TheManBehindTheMan Man Behind The Man]]: He has yet to pick up a gun or even get into a physical fight. That said, he isn't adverse to tense situations and remains ice cool.
* NoNameGiven: His name has yet to be spoken on screen. He was credited as "Pennsylvania Two" in the press release for "No Good Deed," but the press releases for all episodes since have credited him as "Special Counsel".
* NotSoDifferent: Invokes this when meeting Shaw. She agrees entirely.
** YouAreNumberSix: Given no real name given.
* PragmaticVillainy: Doesn't mind when Shaw blows Wilson away as she's called him out on the latter's stupidity in rashly taking a ContractOnTheHitman and given him the compromising evidence he was looking for. He lets her walk out....and makes sure Hersh intercepts her.
* SharpDressedMan: Always in a nice suit.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Or so he says.
* WickedCultured: Gives off this vibe.
* YouHaveFailedMe: On the receiving end.

!!Denton Weeks
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DentonWeeksPoI_6564.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Cotter Smith

->''"You have no idea what you're getting into."''

The official who commissioned the development of the Machine. He is in league with the Special Counsel.

* AmoralAttorney: One of the reasons why Harold and Nathan had the machine black boxed. He also legalised the use of Palestinian Hanging, a torture method, on terrorist suspects.
* TheDragon: With respect to "Pennsylvania Two".
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has a lover, which is how Root gets to him.
* DeathBySecretIdentity: He soon dies after finding out Finch is the one who actually built The Machine.
* {{Jerkass}}: Harold helps saves him but the guy turns on him and plans to bring him back to Northern Lights.
* [[KarmicDeath Karmic Torture]]: Root tortures him using a method that he authorized US Intelligence officers to use on terrorists - and makes a point of showing him a copy of the document in which he did this during the proceedings.
* UngratefulBastard: Tries to kill Finch after being saved by him.
* YourCheatingHeart: According to Root, he had been cheating on his wife with another woman for several years.

!!Alicia Corwin
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AliciaCorwinPoI_4619.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Elizabeth Marvel

->''"Run."''

A liaison between Ingram and the government while the Machine was being developed and a former member of the National Security Council. Corwin began living in hiding in a small town after Ingram's death.

* TheAtoner: She regrets being involved in setting up the Machine and wants to destroy it due to her fears about how it is being used and the people who have control of it.
* BoomHeadshot: At the hands of Root.
* DeathBySecretIdentity: Finds out Finch built The Machine, and, well, see above trope.
* DroppedABridgeOnHer: Was played up as a potential threat in the final two episodes of season 1 - she was shown stalking Finch, discovering the Library, and finally confronted him with the intent of making him shut down the Machine - but ended up being killed off by Root practically mid-sentence.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: At some point, she turned against Nothern Lights and its methods and wanted to find a way to shut down The Machine.
* ProperlyParanoid: She knows The Machine is watching her, knows at least some of the ways it might be performing that monitoring--she moved to the National Radio Quiet Zone to avoid monitoring by wireless methods--she may be aware that it can act to protect itself should it figure out that she wants to shut it down, and she ''definitely'' knows just how ruthless Denton Weeks and the people behind him are.
* SacrificialLion: To establish Root's level of villainy.

!!Robert N. Hersh
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/HershPoI_4812.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Boris [=McGiver=]

->''"We don't give orders, we execute them."''

The Special Counsel's enforcer, a former member of the ISA.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[spoiler: In "Lethe" - during the standoff at the end, the henchmen have red and white boxes (indicating imminent violence). Control has a red box (because she is pointing a gun at Finch). Hersh, meanwhile, has neither...]]
* AssassinOutClassin: Gets subjected to this by Reese to a minor extent. Later suffers a more severe experience when going up against Root.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Since Special Counsel's death, he's been more or less in charge of the operations, now answering directly to Control.
* {{Badass}}: Since he's Reese's EvilCounterpart.
* CombatPragmatist: Just like Reese.
** BadassInANiceSuit: Nearly always wearing a nice suit.
* TheDragon: To Pennsylvania Two, and Control who both run him at different times.
** DragonAscendant: [[BiggerBad Control]] orders him to kill Pennsylvania Two, and he does so. He doesn't count as TheStarscream because he was JustFollowingOrders.
* EvilCounterpart: Reese describes him as "a lot like me."
** Hersh {{lampshades}} in "Booked Solid" that he and Reese [[NotSoDifferent aren't so different]].
* EvilMentor: For Shaw. As a result, she's just as good as John during combat situations. However, he may have taught her everything he knows but is perfectly willing to poison her when she resigns from the ISA.
** On the other hand in Season 3 during [[spoiler: 4C, he has a surprisingly amicable conversation with her while drugged and even asks in a concerned tone if Team Machine is treating her well.]]
* TheDeterminator: Rain or shine, he ''will' finish his mission.
* TheFixer: If there is a problem in Northern Lights that the other "official" hit-squads need not know about, he will be the one to clean it up. It also seems to extend to eliminating those that decide to leave the program including his protégée Shaw.
* GetIntoJailFree: His plan to infiltrate Rikers: pull a gun in a crowded street and start shooting in the air.
* ImplacableMan: Like the Terminator, even if he's grievously wounded, it will barely slow them down.
* KillEmAll: His general orders to anyone who might know about the Machine.
* LastNameBasis: Nobody ever refers to him by his given name. His full name wasn't even revealed until "Lethe", a good season and a half after his first appearance, when it appears in one of the Machine's calculation tables.
* MadeOfIron: And how! The man has been subjected to kitchen knives, gunshots and hand grenades, shrugging most of it off.
* MysteriousMiddleInitial: His full name was revealed as Robert N. Hersh. We don't know what the "N" stands for.
* ProfessionalKiller: As the fixer, he will handle situations, usually leaving behind a body or two.
* TheStoic: He keeps a calm face in most situations. Even when [[spoiler:Reese beat him and left him with a potentially fatal stab wound, the man didn't show much pain or anger, and later he's calm as a button about murdering his protégé ("Relevance") and his immediate supervisor and multiple co-workers ("God Mode")]]. Drops this when Root shoots him in ("Lady Killer"), he's left gasping on the floor bleeding out and is visibly in pain. In "4C" he's concerned about whether Shaw is doing fine in her new workplace.
* TortureTechnician: Shown as this in "God Mode". Control later implies he is rather skilled at it.

!!Control

->'''Played By''': [[spoiler: Camryn Manheim]]

->'''Alias''': [[spoiler: Diane Claypool]]

* BadAss: [[spoiler: Can hold her own in a gunfight.]]
* BiggerBad: The one who is giving orders to Hersh and his people.
* TheChessmaster
* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler: Delivers a particularly brutal session to Root.]]
* [[spoiler: DeadPersonImpersonation: Of Diane Claypool.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: How the Machine gets her to back down, telling Control the address of the only thing she's loved, and telling her that the Machine protects it, and her.]]
* TheGhost: [[spoiler: Until "Lethe".]]
* [[spoiler: TheMole: In "Lethe.]]
* NoNameGiven: The only thing known about Control is the codename Control. Control has never even been seen on camera or addressed by an actual name. We don't hear Control's voice until the very end of "God Mode."
** SamusIsAGirl: Control briefly appears in the season two finale, where she is addressed as "Ma'am". All that is seen of her is a gloved hand.
* ShoutOut: To the works on JohnLeCarre, where a man known as "Control" kept his identity secret while serving as the head of an intelligence organization.
* TheManBehindTheMan: To Pennsylvania Two. She is the overall commander of Northern Lights, responsible both for sending people to deal with the Numbers provided by The Machine and for protecting the secret of the Machine's existence.
* WalkingSpoiler
[[/folder]]

[[folder:HR]]
An organization of corrupt New York police officers and city officials. They are aware of "The Man In The Suit", and have repeatedly clashed with Team Machine on numerous occasions. [[spoiler: Midway through Season Three, HR is finally brought down, though not without great sacrifice.]]

!! In General

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Are quite willing to utilise this trope in order to get their way.
* CardCarryingVillain: All their rank and file members are this. Their boss, on the other hand, prefers to have the cover of his city hall job.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: They run on this trope and it's a key reason why Elias despises them immensely. If any of their members screw up or risk compromising HR's security they won't be forgiven at all. It also applies to their business partners as Elias found out, when they leave him hanging out to dry during "Flesh and Blood" at a critical point in his operation to kill the Five Dons of New York.
* DirtyCop: The lot of them. Except their boss, which was how he stayed hidden for almost 3 seasons.
** A few of their other associates have included [[AmoralAttorney [=ADAs=]]] and [[CorruptPolitician city councilmen]].
* DumbMuscle: They fulfil this role in the Person Of Interest universe. Their rank and file gets outfoxed quite a lot by Team Machine over the course of the show. The only exception to this is Officer Patrick Simmons and their boss.
* JerkAss: Most of them except Fusco, Laskey and their FauxAffablyEvil boss.
* PoliceBrutality: Only occasionally. They mostly prefer a nice bullet to the face or subtle threats as their normal modus operandi.
* VastBureaucracy: Their true strength. They may not have the hacking and surveillance capabilities Team Machine has or four BadAss shooters on staff, but they can use the influence of their members in key positions of the NYPD and New York to cause serious headaches for the protagonists. It also helps that their boss is the Mayor's Chief of Staff.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: If association with their business partners or members proves harmful for the group as a whole, HR will readily leave them to hang out to dry or take the time to eliminate them.

!!Alonzo Quinn
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quinn_alonzo_3842.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Who needs money when you have real power? The politicians come and go, but we'll be here forever."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Clarke Peters

The Mayor's Chief of Staff and the head of HR. Quinn, along with Simmons, plans to rebuild HR with or without Elias' assistance.

* BadassMustache: Has this.
* BiggerBad: Being the boss of the massive CorruptCop organization HR, a lot of conflict in the show ends up being indirectly related to his doing.
* TheChessmaster: "Bury the Lede" reveals him to be an extremely competent one.
* CrazyPrepared: Puts the name of a lower lackey in the payroll solely out of fear that said payroll will one day be discovered and he'll take the fall. Keep in mind said payroll was heavily protected by a mob boss and HR's lackeys.
* DiabolicalMastermind: This man runs HR. He is a pragmatic man who will use anyone to further his goals and will kill, blackmail and ruin the reputation of anyone who gets in the way of him or HR's security.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Was totally blindsided by [[spoiler: Carter calling in Finch to hack his phone and Reese for backup.]]
* DirtyCop: Subverted. He's not a police officer at all.
* DirtyCoward: When given the choice between [[spoiler: surrendering the location of Patrick Simmons]] or [[spoiler: a painful death from John Reese]] Quinn willingly picks the former.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Or rather, "the corrupt Mayor's aide who had two minutes of screen-time was the mastermind".
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Averted. From interactions with his godson, it appears he loves the man. But when Quinn realizes he won't stop investigating who set up another good cop, instead of just getting him a desk job out of the city, Quinn has him killed.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Given he's a man who always assumes the worst of everyone (correctly, in most cases), he's mildly surprised when people like Beecher and Carter continue to pursue honesty.
* [[EvilCounterpart Evil(er) Counterpart]]: To Elias. He is what Elias was once before Elias was outed as a villain. Criminal mastermind masquerading as upstanding citizen. A Ghost whose identity is known to very few people. Both made a remark about having no need for material possession. What separates Elias from him is that Elias is willing to honour his relationships and promises to people like his men, John and Harold, while Quinn is perfectly willing to betray and kill anyone who's outlived their usefulness, gets in his way or threaten the security of HR. Including his own godson.
* EvilVirtues: He places a high value on loyalty in particular.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He seems pretty friendly towards Maxine, until he decides to destroy her career for his own benefit.
* GenreSavvy[=/=]WrongGenreSavvy: Displays traits of both. On one hand, his keen knowledge of politics and most character's M.Os (such as knowing ''precisely'' what Beecher, the Mob, Maxine and Carter would do) place him on the first, on the other hand, he frequently displays a SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids mindset that is proven wrong by Carter's actions.
* TheGhost[=/=]UnknownCharacter: Straddles the line. HR was a recurring enemy organization for quite some time, but the presence of a leader was only vaguely hinted at until "Bury The Lede". His true identity is so well covered, even Elias doesn't know who he is. His true identity and face are revealed at the end of the episode
* HiddenVillain: Much like Elias.
* {{Hypocrite}}: In "The Devil's Share", he [[spoiler: gives a speech about trust and how he won't betray his old subordinate Patrick Simmons to a pissed off John who's trying to get revenge for the murdered Carter.]] Considering HR ran on the ChronicBackstabbingDisorder trope, it's highly ironic and hilarious. John brings him crashing back to reality by informing the man that he can trust Reese to [[spoiler: execute him in three minutes time.]]
* IOwnThisTown: Repeatedly makes this threat towards Reese and Carter in "The Crossing" while offering ample proof of such.
* KarmaHoudini: He has been behind the corrupt cops of HR and personally involved with the deaths of a cop and Assistant District Attourney, but he has gotten away with it all.
** Finally comes to an end in "The Crossing" with [[spoiler: Carter successfully destroying his organisation.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: With regards to the city's current Mayor. He not only does most of his job for him, but he also got him elected to begin with. He was also the behind the Mayor's opposition in the election, so he could continue being the simple aide regardless of who won.
* ManipulativeBastard: Maintained a friendship with Maxine with the sole purpose of manipulating her to achieve his goals.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: He always has a nice suit on and acts befitting of a man from a well-off family. This further shows his contrast between him and the much more casually dressed Elias.
* [[spoiler: OutGambitted: By Carter, of all people, in "Endgame". She gets his (unwitting)confession recorded and then captures him with the aid of Reese. Checkmate.]]
* PragmaticVillainy: Focused on profit instead of petty things such as gang rivalries.
* SharpDressedMan: He is never seen out of some suit.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: He dishes out a verbal smackdown against Carter based on this concept.
* TheSociopath: In his entire screen-time, he hasn't shown a single drop of empathy for anyone. Be they innocent civilians, honest people or rivals. His only cited concerns are the City and his money. Mess with either and he will have you killed. His completely remorseless murder of Szymanski only solidifies this. It gets even worse when he its revealed that he manipulated his own godson into framing Szymanski, and then had said godson killed when he started to realize that he was being played.
* SpockSpeak: He has a tendency to talk in an overly formal way regardless of the situation.
* VillainousBreakdown: It's very subtle and subdued, but it's noticeable Quinn becomes more and more nervous and erratic along "Endgame" and "The Crossing".
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: To the outside world Quinn is a pillar of the community, a distinguished aide to the mayor and a law abiding confidential informant who happily helps out his NYPD detective godson. In private, he's the sociopathic head of the corrupt police officers of New York and has happily murdered a NYPD detective and a assistant district attorney without even batting an eyelid.
* WickedCultured: Has an air of refinement and culture about him. He enjoys good food and fine drinks.
* XanatosSpeedChess: One of his skills, featured prominently in "Endgame".

!!Patrick Simmons
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simmons_patrick_1590.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Most accidents don't require a shovel."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Robert John Burke

A uniformed officer is now the right-hand man to Quinn. He handles HR activities on the street level.

* AlmightyJanitor: Simmons is a simple beat cop, but he's also TheDragon to HR's boss. He gives orders to HR cops who outrank him.
* AscendedExtra: A bit. Simmons started up as just a random corrupt cop friend of Fusco, but he is later shown to be one of the most powerful figures in the city (seeing as he's TheDragon to HR's boss) and he became one of the most recurring villains.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's the second-highest-ranking member of HR, and the only one who is able to put up a good fight with Reese.
* BadAss: Went toe-to-toe with Reese and managed to hold his own.
* BaldOfEvil: Really doesn't have much hair and is very much evil.
* DeadpanSnarker: "Most accidents don't require a shovel."
* DirtyCop: To the core. However, he does have some standards.
* TheDragon: To the head of HR.
* DragonAscendant: In "The Crossing" the HR boss is indisposed and Simmons takes overall command of the organisation as it [[spoiler: tries to save itself from being destroyed by Team Machine]]
* EliteMook: The closest thing HR has to one. Unlike the rank and file members he lasts more than three seconds in a fist fight with Reese despite getting trounced in the end and also is GenreSavvy enough to [[spoiler: take cover when John bursts into a room full of HR cops with his gun drawn.]] As a result, his kneecaps are intact when John leaves.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has HR quit working for Elias once he discovers that Elias is keeping tabs on their families in case he ever needs to threaten them.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: When the boss casually commented on having to eliminate his own godson as he was getting too close, Simmons made a bit of a shocked expression (which maybe is because he has loved ones of his own). He even tried to suggest that they simply have the guy KickedUpstairs.
** However, this only seems to apply to family members of HR officers. He's perfectly willing to hurt [[spoiler: Genrika as her surveillance operation threatened the profitable drug lab]] HR had set up with the Russian Mafia and in "The Crossing" [[spoiler: he sends an HR officer to murder Fusco's son]].
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: He makes some rather out-of-taste jokes in "The Crossing".
* [[spoiler: FaceDeathWithDignity: Evidently tries to, acting defiant to Elias in his final moments.]]
* [[spoiler: FamousLastWords: "[[TemptingFate You really think you're gonna be the one to kill me?]]" towards Elias. Elias answers that no, he is not. His right-hand-man, however...]]
* GenreSavvy: His repeated encounters with John Reese have wisened him up to his tactics.
* HeroKiller: In "The Crossing" [[spoiler: he murders the newly reinstated detective Carter and wounds John]]
* {{Jerkass}}: To many people, including Lionel.
* KarmaHoudini: Escapes the takedown of HR. Also survives [[spoiler:Reese blowing up his car in Season 1.]]
** [[spoiler: Becomes this again after the second takedown of HR when all its members are finally apprehended except him. He exploits this by killing Carter, and escaping. Again. But his luck finally runs out in "The Devil's Share, when Fusco catches up to him, kicks his ass and arrests him.]]
* [[spoiler:KarmicDeath: He ultimately dies at the hands of Marconi, strangled in his hospital bed while Elias watches.]]
* KillerCop: Has killed a fair number of people for crossing HR.
* ManipulativeBastard: Seems to have a hobby of yanking poor Fusco's leash.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: After Carter takes HR down, he goes this way. This results in Joss' demise.]]
** Is on the receiving end of one [[spoiler: during "The Devil's Share" with John finding out where he is, Fusco breaking his arm and arresting him and Elias visiting him and having Scarface finish the man off]].
* SmugSnake: Extremely.
* UndyingLoyalty: For all of his '''many''' faults, Simmons actually seems to be extremely loyal to Alonzo Quinn.
* WeAreEverywhere: Uses this as a threat against Reese (and as "The Crossing" shows, he's correct), but Reese's answer pretty much destroys his argument.
-->'''Reese''': Armies fall, one soldier at the time.
* WouldHurtAChild:
** One of the ways he maintains control over lower-ranking members of HR is by threatening not only them, but also their families if they try to doublecross him.
** [[spoiler:Was willing to kidnap and harm Genrika to get information out of her on her spying activities.]]
** [[spoiler: He also sent someone to kill Fusco's son.]]
* XanatosSpeedChess: Pulls off a pretty competent one during "The Crossing" when trying to [[spoiler: recover his boss before Carter delivers him to the FBI]]

!!Detective [[spoiler:Raymond Terney]]
->'''Played By:''' [[spoiler:Al Sapienza]]

->''"You keep askin' questions, we're gonna put you in the ground...."''

A police detective with whom Carter regularly works.

* AscendedExtra: Had bit parts in a number of episodes throughout seasons 1 and 2, mostly as just another face around the precinct, but the final scene from "All In" has paved the way for him to become a more significant character.
* DirtyCop: As revealed in "All In", he not only works for HR, he knows who the boss is! There aren't many people who know that, and Quinn appears to trust him quite a bit so he's probably pretty high-ranking.
* DirtyCoward: In "God Mode," he pleads for his life--"[[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes I have a family!]]"--when Carter rescues Elias, despite arrogantly preparing commit murder a few seconds before.
* MoleInCharge: Guess who's in charge of investigating Szymanski's murder.
* [[spoiler:VillainsDyingGrace: After fatally shooting him, Carter begs him to "be a cop one last time". With his dying breath, he reveals the head of HR]].

!!Capt. Arthur 'Artie' Lynch
->'''Played By:''' Michael Mulheron

->''"The thing about organized crime is... [[ShapedLikeItself it's organized]]. The trains run on time."''

A major figure in HR with whom Fusco appeared to be working.

* DirtyCop: Like all the other cops in HR.
* InTheBack: Dies from a bullet in the back.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rarely has a nice, non-condescending thing to say about people.

!!Officer Mike Laskey ([[spoiler:Mikhael S. Lesnichy]])
->'''Played by:''' Brian Wiles

->''"Do you have any idea what it's like...riding around all day with an arrogant bitch who doesn't know her place?"''

A rookie cop who is sent to join Carter on her detail.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Seemingly innocent NewMeat, he's actually a mole for HR while acting as Carter's new partner.
* CoolGun: Befitting a DirtyCop he has an illegally purchased and unregistered Sig-Sauer GSR, a expensive [=M1911A1=] clone. [[spoiler: It becomes his undoing when Carter obtains it and when he tries to have one of his buddies kill her, she blows the man away with the weapon and blackmails Laskey with the threat of being framed for the killing.]]
* DirtyCop: Like all others in HR.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Is not pleased to have to bury a friend of his who fell short on protection payments to HR.
* GreenEyedMonster: Revealed in "Razgovor" when he tries to intimidate Carter.
* [[spoiler:HoistByHisOwnPetard: He has a non-standard issue handgun that's illegally purchased. Carter obtains it and uses it to blackmail him by shooting one of Laskey's associates he was trying to use to eliminate her with it and threatening to frame him for the murder.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:He's forced to bury the corpse of a friend of his who HR murdered when said friend failed to pay protection payments on time. As a result, he implies to Carter that he will willingly aid her in destroying HR]]
* [[spoiler:IneffectualSympatheticVillain: What he really is with less emphasis on the Sympathetic part. Carter knew from the beginning he was a mole, scoffs at his threats against her and John and then puts him in his place by framing him for a murder.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: His true colours when he drops the NewMeat act.
* TheMole: For HR to spy on Carter and then was [[spoiler:turned by Carter to spy on HR under the threat of being arrested for a killing he didn't commit]].
* TheMafiya: He's a Russian mobster and was part of a project by HR and their Russian Mafia partners to infiltrate the NYPD.
* MotiveRant: Gives one to Carter showing he's a GreenEyedMonster.
* MuggingTheMonster: Tries to do this to Carter. It backfires spectacularly as you'd expect.
* NewMeat: Plays this angle to manipulate Carter, [[spoiler:but she sees right through it]].
* [[spoiler:NotWhatISignedOnFor]]: In "Mors Praematura" he meets with Simmons about [[spoiler:an old grocer friend of his who has skimped on "protection payments."]] Simmons was not amused and had Laskey [[spoiler:bury the man's body.]] The next day [[spoiler:he goes to Carter and confesses he is actually Russian Mob, one of twelve slipped into the police force, and implies he will fully support Carter's goal in destroying HR.]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath: He is killed when he tries to stop Terney from killing Carter.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: Venomously rants about how Carter, someone with far more experience than he has doesn't know her place and believes his HR connections will give him power over her. [[spoiler:It doesn't work out well for him in the ensuring confrontation with him being put soundly in his place by Carter and blackmailed to become her mole in HR]].
* SmugSnake: Thinks he has the upper hand with Carter, but [[BreakTheHaughty she proves him wrong.]]
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: [[spoiler: An exclusive 2013 New York Comic Con clip revealed the confrontation between him and Carter days before the episode aired]]
* WideEyedIdealist: An act which he uses to try and get close to Carter, [[spoiler:she played him along and didn't buy it for a second]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Law Enforcement]]
!!Nicholas Donnelly
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NicholasDonnellyPoI_2722.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Brennan Brown

->''"We finally caught him . . . the Man in the Suit."''

An FBI agent who becomes interested in Reese when his case crosses one of Reese's. He periodically offers Carter the opportunity to work with him as he pursues Reese.

* TheChessmaster: Not his normal way of operating, but he plays a [[MagnificentBastard pretty good game]] of XanatosSpeedChess in "Prisoner's Dilemma."
* DeathBySecretIdentity: He finds out Reese is the man he's looking for and finds out that Carter is working with Reese and a couple minutes later...
* TheDeterminator: If Donnelly wants to take you down, ''he will''.
** AlwaysGetsHisMan: Four of them, in fact.
* AFatherToHisMen
* [[CIAEvilFBIGood FBI is Good]]: Is honest and dedicated towards stopping crime.
* InspectorJavert: He's dedicated to pursing Reese to the point of never considering Reese, though committing illegal acts, is doing good.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: He increasingly shows shades of this in his pursuit of Reese under the assumption that Reese is a PsychoForHire. Carter [[WhatTheHellHero calls him on this]] in "Prisoner's Dilemma".
* ProperlyParanoid: When he finds out that the DNA samples and fingerprints he sent out for testing did not match "the man in the suit", he correctly assumes that they were tempered with. Subverted right afterwards when he puts Carter [[MoleInCharge in charge]] of the interrogations because he does not trust anyone else on his team. [[spoiler: DoubleSubverted when he informs her that he believed she was the mole and kept her close for that reason]].
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Starts out as one, but [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope turns into]] a WellIntentionedExtremist as the investigation continues.
* SharpDressedMan: Always seen in a nice suit.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Doesn't believe Carter when she tries to tell the truth about Reese and what he is doing, believing that she was tricked.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: He thinks Reese has become a CIA psychopath-turned-mob hitman and is trying to bring him in.
** WrongGenreSavvy: Reese is actually a [[PunchClockVillain CIA hitman]] turned vigilante. Which would still be illegal.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: At one point in "Prisoner's Dilemma," he's willing to put a potentially innocent suspect (Reese) at risk of being killed in a prison riot just to see if he's trained in unarmed combat.
* WildMassGuessing: His theories as to what The Man in the Suit is up to seem to come off as this in later episodes. They'd be amusing if it wasn't for the fact that he honestly believes them and thinks they justify whatever dubiously legal things he has to do in order to bring The Man in the Suit in.

!!Detective Bill Szymanski
->'''Played by:''' Michael [=McGlone=]
* DirtyCop: Averted; he was set up to look like one by HR, but Carter proved his innocence. Elias even says he tried to bribe the man, but he wouldn't break his morals.
* TheGenericGuy: Appeared mostly when a detective other then Carter and Fusco was needed.
* SacrificialLion: Killed by HR for continuing to pursue the Russian Mob, whom HR wanted to solve their money problems.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: After his murder, Det. Beecher asks imprisoned Elias if Szymanski was on his payroll. Elias says he offered Szymanski money, "and he threw it in our faces."

!!Detective Calvin Beecher
->'''Played by:''' Sterling K. Brown

* DirtyCop: He has several investigations into him by Internal Affairs. He seems linked to the dirty cops in HR. Ultimately averted. Beecher is a good man and good cop who happens to be the godson of the head of HR.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Was killed because he got close to identifying head of HR, and learning that Symanski was clean and refused Elias' money.
* LoveInterest: Briefly, for Carter.
* SacrificialLion: As the godson of the head of HR, his death shows not only can anyone die, but HR will not let anything stand in their way.
* ScaryBlackMan: Played with in that it isn't clear at first if he's a good or bad person. Ultimately Averted. Good person, unfortunately his godfather is corrupt.
* RedHerring: After multiple suggestions that he's working for HR, it's ultimately revealed he's not.]]
* UnwittingPawn: To the head of HR, used to discredit another good detective.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Decima Technologies]]
Introduced in season 2, Decima Technologies is China-based company said to be specialized in cyberwarfare. Responsible for infecting the machine with a virus so they can take control of it.

!!In General
* DragonWithAnAgenda: They're employed by China's Ministry of State Security, and share intelligence with them. However,they run their own operations independent from Chinese control.
* TheCracker: During "Trojan Horse", they shut out Harold from the Rylatech servers by taking control of his laptop, overheating its battery and cause it to explode. So far, this is the only demonstration of their hacking abilities.
* TheMenInBlack: Employ mooks that look the part
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast[=/=]MeaningfulName[=/=]PunnyName: '''Decima Te'''chnologies
* NebulousEvilOrganization: The show's most prominent.
* RedShirtArmy: Unlike the Northern Light's hit Squads, Decima Technologies mooks go down rapidly during their attempts to eliminate Team Machine during "God Mode".

!!Greer
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/greer_3147.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"My dear, if you think I work for the government, I really must fire my tailor."'']]
->'''Played By:''' John Nolan

->''"Do you recall The Titans? The Old Gods? They were so afraid of the New Gods, their own children, that they ate them. You work for the Old Gods, Kara. And they betrayed you."''

* AffablyEvil: Polite, charming, and utterly ruthless.
* TheChessmaster: He stands pretty much unmatched in the field of strategy.
* DeadpanSnarker: "My dear, if you think I work for The Government, I really must fire my tailor."
* EvilBrit: He speaks in a classic Received Pronunciation accent.
* EvilOldFolks
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Does this with one of his Mooks. You can already guess how it ends.
* HiddenAgendaVillain
* TheManBehindTheMan: With regards to Kara. But apparently, there's an even bigger fish behind Greer.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: If his suits are any indication.
* NervesOfSteel: Maintains his composure even when Reese and Shaw are killing his minions and pointing guns at him.
* NobleDemon: Kept his end of the bargain with Stanton.
** He also kept his bargain with another one of his assets; commit suicide and take Decima Tech's secrets to the grave, and his family would be taken care of.
* NoNameGiven: On screen anyway. The press release for "Dead Reckoning" credits him as "Greer".
** OnlyOneName
* PragmaticVillainy: Seems to be his modus operandi; he's ruthless but never needlessly cruel, and seems to follow the line that the carrot rather than the stick is the better way to get your underlings to be loyal and willing to do anything.
* SharpDressedMan
* TheSpook
* TheSpymaster: The ultimate example in the show. ''He knows Reese and Shaw.'' And he knows of Finch.
* StiffUpperLip: Nonchalantly continued to look at a bit of paperwork while Reese and Shaw blasted through some of his mooks without even turning around to look, then leisurely finished looking at the paper and turned his attention to Reese and Shaw without so much as batting an eyelid or showing a flicker of discomfort at the situation that was apparently not in his favor. The fact that reinforcements were on the way probably contributed to this.
* {{Western Terrorist|s}}: Probably. Ironically, he's based out of Shanghai.
* WickedCultured: He lectures Kara on Greek mythology.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: How he rewards the operative who brings him the Samaritan Drives.]]

!!Kara Stanton
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stanton_kara_2191.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"We are killers, John, that is our job. And if you want to be good at your job, gonna have to learn to love your work."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Annie Parisse

Reese's former CIA partner who was widely believed to be dead, but is later recruited by Decima Technologies.

* {{Badass}}: Gets Reese and Snow to be her puppets by attaching bombs to their chests.
* ColdSniper
* EvilMentor: For John, when they first meet, he's the NewMeat while she's the senior agent who's supervising him and after critiquing his insistence on not drinking wine (he's no longer a soldier and not drinking would probably blow his cover in a operational setting), she teaches him his first lesson by executing two traitors without warning and ordering John to clean up.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Very friendly and courteous towards Snow (and John Reese) while explicitly informing him he's a disposable asset.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Whatever she's doing in season 2 that’s worth killing random civilians. It's eventually revealed that she was working for another covert organization which was seeking control of The Machine.
* ItsPersonal: She isn't happy that her superiors tried to have her eliminated.
* KarmicDeath: Snow kills her using the bomb vest she uses as his ExplosiveLeash.
** LaserGuidedKarma: Killed by the same explosive leash she was using to force Snow to work for her.
** [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist by Her Own Petard]]]]
* JadeColoredGlasses: Utterly cynical, she lives only for her job, enjoys it and it rubs off on John during their time together.
* JerkAss: Rather abrasive to John when they first meet, him being the NewMeat who has much to learn while she is the more experienced agent who's wearing some heavy JadeColouredGlasses.
* KickTheDog: Has her moments but a major one is when she locks John, Mark and a innocent scientist in a DOD facility control room after activating the bomb vests.
* KillEmAll: Her solution to everything.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Admittedly, it does look like she was blown up so there wouldn't be a body, but that it didn't work out too well last time.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: The first time she escaped death, it was somewhat believable since she was covered by building structure. But seeing as how she was sitting right next to Snow with less than 10 seconds from detonation, and the sheer magnitude of the explosion, it's very hard to believe that she survived.
* ProfessionalKiller
** PsychoForHire: Snow considers her one. Rightfully so, it would seem.
* SemperFi: She's a former Marine and has a playful InterServiceRivalry exchange with John who's former Army Special Forces.
* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: Like Reese, very aware of what it has done to her but doesn't mind in the slightest. "We're not... walking in the dark. We ''are'' the dark."
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch They Might Know Too Much]]: The suggested reason for why she and John were set up to be killed.
** Subverted in "Dead Reckoning" when Mark Snow reveals that his reasoning for setting them up to kill each other was because they were "damaged goods" and it was "poetic." It does nothing to help endear him to Stanton.
*** Not necessarily true. He was just noting the fact that it was poetic. But the fact that they knew too much likely was the main reason.
* WeaponOfChoice: suppressed Sig Sauer P239 which she uses to ambush Snow, kill Evans and later execute Donnelly.
* WomanInBlack
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Subjects John and Mark to this. It doesn't stick and leads to her undoing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Vigilance"]]
Introduced in Season 3, Vigilance is a mysterious organisation dedicated to fighting against those that have destroyed privacy including private businesses and the government through the strategic use of assassination and Cyberwarfare. They have recently made contact with Team Machine.

!!In General

* TheCracker: A high percentage of Vigilance's core group are skilled computer programmers. The organization uses a [[https://www.torproject.org/ Tor network]] to communicate.
* CommieNazis: Combines ideology and tactics from the Tea Party, the Occupy movement and Anonymous.
* ThemeNaming: Their operatives' cover names are taken from the names of people who participated in the American Revolution.
* [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]]
* [[WesternTerrorist Western Terrorists]]: They're American, and they want a revolution.


!!"Peter Collier"
->Played by Leslie Odom Jr.
-->''"We at Vigilance respect your privacy, unlike the government."''

* FauxAffablyEvil: After taking the foster brother of a defector from Vigilance hostage, he politely explains to the man how he's going to murder them both, while preparing to ambush the prison transport his target is on.
* TheFundamentalist: When John successfully talks [[spoiler: a man who had been ruined by Wayne Kruger]] into putting his handgun down and has seemingly made [[spoiler: Kruger, one of the most reprehensible POI's in the shows history]] see the error of his ways, Collier pulls out his own weapon, shoots [[spoiler: Reese and Kruger]] and then executes the POI. He's also not pleased that one of his hackers wasn't completely loyal to the direction he was taking Vigilance after the group committed it's first assassination. [[spoiler: He put quite a lot of resources in hunting the man down going, so far as to kidnap the man's foster brother for leverage and assemble a well armed hit squad to set up an ambush for the target.]]
* IHaveManyNames: Claims that "Collier" is but one of his names.
* KnightTemplar: In a big way. Initially Vigilance was merely planning to scare [[spoiler: Wayne Kruger]] into retirement but Collier convinced the majority of the group's leadership to go further [[spoiler: and approve of his proposal to assasinate the guy to teach "the first lesson".]] Later, after one of the hacker involved in that operation [[spoiler: turned traitor after getting a case of EvenEvilHasStandards and attempted to go to the CIA, Collier ruthlessly hunted him down, kidnapped his foster brother and calmly explained to the man exactly how he was going to murder them both as he and a Vigilance hit squad prepared to ambush the CIA prisoner transport.]]
* ManipulativeBastard
* TheMole: [[spoiler:He was this to the Kruger, watching him and getting close as a business associate.]]
* ScaryBlackMan: When he drops the charming businessman act he's all this,[[spoiler: coolly calling out Wayne Kruger on his perceived crimes before shooting him dead]]
* WeaponOfChoice: A Ruger SR9C
* WickedCultured: Has a deep appreciation for and is inspired by the American Revolution
--> '''Collier:''' Energy and persistence conquer all things -- Benjamin Franklin. ''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other Antagonists]]

!!Alistair Wesley
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wesley_alistair_2955.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"This isn't your game and no one's invited you to play."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Julian Sands

* AffablyEvil: Very friendly with Reese. Slides into FauxAffablyEvil with virtually anyone else, however.
* BadAssCrew: His ex-SAS operators. However, John still manages to wipe the floor with them
* BlondeGuysAreEvil
* TheChessmaster: Even Reese admits his plan is remarkably well-put. See CrazyPrepared below.
* CrazyPrepared: in "Critical," he has a sniper in place to shoot a doctor's wife to blackmail the doctor into killing a patient. He has a backup plan to kill the wife in case his sniper is incapacitated, and then has a backup plan in case the first backup fails. Then we find out that this was just plan A and he also has a plan B already in place.
* GracefulLoser: Called Reese to congratulate him with foiling his plans.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He won't break the rules he makes when he sets up his 'games.'
* EvilBrit: "Smashing."
* EvilCounterpart: A [[SharpDressedMan well-dressed]], cultured, polite, former member of a major intelligence organization who now works as a rogue agent on the criminal world. Both Wesley and Reese fit that description, the key difference is the side each other is on. And of Finch, both prefer to coordinate their operatives from a safe distance and are skilled strategists.
* ManipulativeBastard: Was manipulating the [=POI=] in "Critical" into being the perpetrator.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Not as rich as most examples, but he definitely qualifies (notice the size of his squad and how he dresses).
* NobleDemon
* NonActionBigBad: Implied from his dialogue in his final conversation with John when he talks about the time they met. Unlike John who is more hands on and likes to take part in the action, Wesley is trained to conceal himself and plan and coordinate operations from a safe distance.
* [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Private Military Contractor]]
* PsychopathicManChild: Sees his operations as "Games" with rules. As a result Finch uses this to pick apart his operation by invoking LoopHoleAbuse to buy time for the POI and her lover when he hacks the blood bank computer in the hospital to delay the surgery.
* RetiredBadass: Former MI6.
* SharpDressedMan
* SmugSnake: "Don't test me. I was expecting everything."
* WickedCultured
* WorthyOpponent: Sees Reese as one.


[[/folder]]

[[folder:Persons of Interest]]
->''"The government considers these people irrelevant. [[WeHelpTheHelpless We don't]]."''

!!Diane Hansen
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hansen_diane_8981.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Natalie Zea\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E01 Pilot]]"

An Assistant District Attorney whose Social Security number was the first given to the recently formed partnership of Reese and Finch. She's initially believed to be in danger of being killed [[spoiler: when in fact, she's actively assisting in framing innocent people for crimes committed by HR]]

* AmoralAttorney: On retainer for HR and is even more so than usual for this trope. She knowingly prosecutes innocent people framed by HR for the crimes they committed.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Due to her pretty face and charming demeanor, she was quickly mistaken for (and assumed to be) a victim instead of a perpetrator. Comes to bite John hard after he's caught off guard with Fusco getting the drop on him.
* BlondesAreEvil: Yes she is.
* CaughtOnTape: Part of her EngineeredPublicConfession.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: How Reese and Finch take her down.
* {{Frameup}}: At first it's assumed she's going to be the subject of one, but then it turns out that she's doing the frame jobs.

!!Theresa Whitaker
->'''Played By:''' Valentina de Angelis\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E02 Ghosts]]"

A teenager whose family was murdered following a land deal gone wrong. After her family was murdered, Theresa began living on the street and started making a living by using a skimmer machine on [=ATMs=].

* NotQuiteDead: She was believed dead for two years.

!!Joey Durban
->'''Played By:''' James Carpinello\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E03 Mission Creep]]"

A former Marine and a member of a crime ring led by Sam Latimer, along with Straub and Teddy Dalloway.

Joey has a fiancée named Pia Moresco, whom he knew since they were kids. He joined Latimer's crime ring to help support the family of another marine who was killed in Afghanistan after they swapped seats in a Humvee. Under Latimer's leadership Joey and the rest of the crew mainly carried out high end robberies.

* HonorBeforeReason: Joey robs banks, putting his life and liberty at risk, to provide for the family of a deceased Army comrade.

!!Megan Tillman
->'''Played By:''' Linda Cardellini\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E04 Cura Te Ipsum]]"

A physician who spent her adult life stalking her sister's rapist to get revenge.

* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Linda Cardellini has played someone in the [[{{ER}} medical profession.]]
* CrazyPrepared: To commit the perfect murder of her sister's rapist. Reese is extremely impressed in particular at the measures she's taken in preparing for her targets disposal once she's killed him.
* HospitalHottie: She's a doctor, and there's plenty of interest in her when she turns up to bars.
* NaughtyByNight: Averted, she plays this up to find her sister's rapist.
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: Reese warns her about the danger of this trope and convinces her to let him punish her target instead so she doesn't have to live with blood on her hands.
* SympatheticMurderer: A would-be. She's trying to kill the man who raped her sister.

!!Samuel Gates
->'''Played By:''' David Costabile \\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E05 Judgement]]"

* PapaWolf: When his son was taken, he was willing to go to extremes to save him.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: As a man of the Law, he is a tough but reasonable judge. He acknowledged Reese did a morally good action but not the legally right one, as Reese broke plenty of laws. Reese claims to Finch the Judge also implied he would assist them at some later date as a reward for getting his son back.

!!Ulrich Kohl
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kohl_ulrich_5669.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"For my country, I left my country and killed wherever they sent me. For that they called me a monster."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Alan Dale\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E08 Foe]]"

A former East German Stasi spy who was betrayed by members of his unit, and planned to eliminate his former colleagues.

* {{Badass}}
** BadassGrandpa: Despite being well into his old age, he runs rings around the young German intelligence officer sent to take him down and has the honor of being the first person seen in the show who can go head-to-head with Reese, stay one step ahead of him and even incapacitate him with a well performed nerve strike.
* TheChessmaster: Has had a while to draw up a plan to track down and get rid of his former colleagues while in jail and executes it in a very efficient, methodical manner.
* ColdBloodedTorture: His preferred form is acupuncture needles to major nerves. Very clean and intensely painful.
-->They laughed at me when I learned to use these needles. They didn't laugh long.
* CoolGuns[=/=]RareGuns: His WeaponOfChoice is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welrod Welrod]], a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era bolt-action pistol with an integrated suppressor that renders it extremely quiet (by gun standards).
* DrivenToSuicide: After he's informed that his wife is alive and meets with her, she informs him she's completely terrified by him and as he's got nothing else to live for, purposely makes Reese kill him by levelling his empty gun at his wife.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The whole reason why he's back in New York, to take revenge for himself and his wife. And when his wife reveals she's utterly terrified by him, he decides to make Reese kill him as he's got nothing left to live for.
* EvilCounterpart: To Reese .
* FriendlyEnemy: He is very friendly to John. They bond over discussing tradecraft and costs of being a professional killer while Kohl is taking breaks between torturing Reese. He's also highly regretful when he has to depart while at the same time is preparing to plug John in the head. Later after their final confrontation, they have a rather touching yet bitter-sweet conversation as Ulrich bleeds out on a park bench.
* NotSoDifferent: From Reese.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against his former comrades in the Stasi, for collectively betraying him after having {{Heel Realization}}s.
* SuicideByCop: Variation. He makes like he's going to shoot somebody and Reese fatally shoots him, then it turns out the gun was empty.
* TragicVillain: Began to scare those around him due to his fanatical and bloody kill count, so they betrayed him when they defected. He wasn't pleased and flew to New York to get even--but then he meets the wife he thought was dead, and his daughter who he never met and then after realising what he's become when his wife tells him she's utterly terrified by him gets Reese to shoot him, killing him.

!!Wendy [=McNally=]
->'''Played By:''' Bridget Regan\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E10 Number Crunch]]"

* NiceGirl
* TraumaCongaLine: All she and her friends wanted after taking half a million dollars in laundered money was to take a modest finders fee and return it to the owners. The owner of the money hires a pair of professional killers to hunt them down, blowing one of her friends to smithereens and nearly ambushing her and Paula in their house. Later, Paula gets kidnapped and they nearly die in a hostage exchange gone wrong. Thanks to John's efforts, they live and even get to keep the money.

!!Paula Vasquez
->'''Played By:''' Melonie Diaz\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E10 Number Crunch]]"

* NiceGirl
* TraumaCongaLine: Goes through one with her friends after a congressman hires some professional killers to find his money.

!!Ernie Trask
->'''Played By:''' David Zayas\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E11 Super]]"

->''"It seems like yesterday I was partying till dawn down in Miami. Used to own six nightclubs down there you know; I had a mansion in Coral Gables, a white Bengal tiger--had to give all that up. Bad for my health."''

* CassandraTruth: All his stories about once having a big fancy life when he is just the super of a low-level apartment are laughed at. He is actually in Witness Protection for testifying against Miami drug dealers.
* NiceGuy
* SympatheticMurderer

!!Andrea Gutierrez
->'''Played By:''' April Hernandez-Castillo\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E12 Legacy]]"

-> ''"I believe everyone deserves a second chance."''

* ActionSurvivor: Uses a telescoping baton to great effect and the drawers in a filing room to stall the man who's trying to shoot her before John gets there.
* ClearTheirName: She is seeking to prove her clients are really innocent of their crimes.
* CrusadingLawyer: Her primary goal is to help her clients.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Isn't begging when one of her colleagues (who's masterminded a scam which involves taking parolee's children into the foster care system for profit) is trying to kill her. She's rather angry in fact.
%%* HelloAttorney
* MarriedToTheJob: Her clients are number 1, 2, and 3 on her priorities.
* WideEyedIdealist: Even the man who tried to executes her points it out and in her superb ShutUpHannibal to his self serving justifications about why he's going to kill her, she "would rather bleed than not have a heart".

!!Darren [=McGrady=]
->'''Played By:''' Astro\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E14 Wolf and Cub]]"

->''"I figured it out. You're a ronin...a samurai who lost his master."''

* ChildProdigy: Has the makings of a great trumpet player, and a decent comics illustrator.
* HotBlooded: Gets him into trouble multiple times over the episode and would have gotten him killed if Reese hadn't been there with a shotgun loaded with bean-bag rounds.
* KidSidekick: To Reese
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Wants to go on one for his brother's murder.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Brother]]: Averted.

!!Adam Saunders
->'''Played By:''' Matt Lauria\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E16 Risk]]"

->''"In the end, what he had instead of a father was cash in a shoebox. And what'd he do? He bought himself a future."''

* [[{{Badass}} Badass Banker]]: With Finch's funding he's able to outflank the group that's trying to illegally short a certain gas company and ruin them. He also ruined Carl Elias' plans; Elias had expected to gain $300 million but only got $4 million for his war chest before the operation was blown by Team Machine.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Abandoned by his father.
* ForensicAccounting
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Is genuinely trying to do the right thing, and while he gambles of a sort on the stock market, it's all calculated risk, and when a company his uncle invested in is shorted, he does his best (with a good deal of help from Finch) to restore the stock price.
* SelfMadeMan

!!Tommy Clay
->'''Played By:''' Pablo Schreiber\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E20 Matsya Nyaya]]"

->''"You get what you take--so I'm takin' mine."''

* AssHoleVictim:
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Seems like a pillar of society with a perfect existence. It's all a lie. He takes part in robbing his own armoured car transport, executes and betrays a large number of people without a shred of hesitation over the course of the episode and really only gives a damn about himself.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Suffers a horrendous case of this.
* EvilAllAlong : When he drops the seemingly angelic church going family act.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Gets gunned down by his girlfriend who tries to take the loot for herself.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain
* TheResenter: Has finally had enough of transporting wealthy individuals valuables and as the above quote shows has decided to take what he thinks is his.
* TheSociopath: On a horrifying scale.
* SmugSnake: Which means he doesn't see his BitchInSheepsClothing partner murdering him to take the loot for herself.

!!Hanna Frey
->'''Played By:''' Emily Robinson\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E02 Bad Code]]"

->''"Some day I'll make it to Oregon."''

On the night of April 15, 1991, 14-year old Hanna played ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail'' at the Bishop, Texas Public Library until shortly before closing. She checked out the book ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon,'' left the building, and disappeared. In 2012, Reese demands that The Machine help him find the kidnapped Finch, and The Machine gives Reese Hanna's Social Security number....

* DeadAllAlong: Her revealed fate.
* PosthumousCharacter: Sadly she is.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Her death and the events around it pushed Samantha Groves to become the hacker Root.

!!Sofia Campos
->'''Played By:''' Paloma Guzmán\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Riley Cavanaugh
->'''Played By:''' Jonathan Tucker\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Maxine Angelis
->'''Played By:''' Gloria Votsis\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E05 Bury the Lede]]"

->''“There’s a rumor about this guy. The police just call him The Man in the Suit. No one’s seen his face. No one knows his name. I’m not even sure he exists, but he’s like something out of a comic book. When people are in trouble, he comes out of nowhere. He always seems to be there just in time. Whoever he is, he saves a lot of lives...and he shoots a lot of kneecaps.”''

* BreakTheHaughty: Published a story without fully confirming the facts because she wanted the big scoop. She ended up unintentionally getting a crucial (and innocent) FBI informant killed. Agent Donnelly revealed crucial details of their investigation just to show her how badly she screwed up. Her reputation and career were devastated, with her past stories now in doubt. She managed to pick herself up with the help of John, and located the ledger that the informant planned to give to the FBI.
* GoingForTheBigScoop: Her main drive ad biggest character flaw.
* IntrepidReporter
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Launched a story claiming that a man was being suspected of being HR's boss. Turned out he was actually an FBI informant who had the ledger that could point the direction to HR's boss, but had a bullseye painted on him with that story and got him killed. Nice job breaking it indeed.

!!Graham Wyler[[spoiler:/Lloyd Pruitt]]
->'''Played By:'''
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Madeleine Enright
->'''Played By:''' Sharon Leal\\
'''Appeared in:'''

* HappilyMarried
* StraightGay

!!Daniel & Sabrina Drake
->'''Played By:''' Creator/MarkPellegrino & Francie Swift\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Fermin Ordoñez
->'''Played By:'''
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Abby Monroe
->'''Played By:''' Jessica Collins\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Caleb Phipps
->'''Played By:''' Luke Kleintank\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E11 2-Pi-R]]"

->''“If you think money can replace you, you can’t see the whole equation.”''

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Who's the new drug lord selling E in the high school?
* ForgivenessRequiresDeath: That's what Caleb thought, anyway, deciding to leave the proceeds of his future compression algorithm in a trust for his alcoholic mother. Finch vehemently disagrees.
* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: Finch does this alluding to the events which forced him to fake his death and lose his Fiancée and OnlyFriend, resulting in a HappilyFailedSuicide.
* TeenGenius: He's very smart, and developed a new compression algorithm. He's not quite on Finch's level... but he's very close and Finch sees a younger version of himself in Caleb.

!!Karolina Kurkova
->'''Played By:''' Karolina Kurkova\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Logan Pierce
->'''Played By:''' Jimmi Simpson\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E14 One Percent]]"

->''"Later, bitches!"''

* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: He has funds which allow him to fly off to Russia on a moment's whim.
* BatmanGambit: Near the end of the episode, intentionally risks his life just so he can find how Reese operates.
* CoolCar: Mclaren MP412C supercar. As it's in a world where EverythingIsOnLine, the computer systems are hacked and reprogrammed to make the car go much faster to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.
* CatchPhrase: see quote above
* {{Expy}} Of Lloyd from BreakoutKings. Which makes sense.
** [[TheSocialNetwork College dropout that built an extremely successful social networking site and is a very young billionaire]].
* FalseFriend: has a lot of these.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Just for starters, he sabotages a predatory lawsuit by his own company against a small startup, and helps them get started. And when his company becomes too ruthless for his taste, he joins forces with another competitor to launch a rival that will decimate them.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He does have a good side. It's just deeply hidden under some cynicism.
* NoShirtLongJacket: wears a pair of boxers and his overcoat to the dry cleaner to pick up his clothes.
* SelfMadeMan
* [[ShadowArchetype Shadow Counterpart]]: To Finch.
* SherlockScan: deduces a lot about Team Machine from one good look at Finch and Reese together.
* WildCard: Even Reese has trouble guessing what he will do next.

!!Mira Brozi[[spoiler:/Dobrica]]
->'''Played By:''' Mia Maestro
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Michael Cole
->'''Played By:''' Ebon Moss-Bachrach\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E16 Relevance]]"

->''"Do you ever wonder where Research gets the numbers?"''

* DyingDeclarationOfLove:
-->'''Shaw:''' Always trying to be everyone's hero, huh?\\
'''Cole:''' No. Just yours.
* MissionControl: To Shaw.
* MoralityPet: To Shaw
* OnlyFriend: to Shaw
* TakingTheBullet
* YouKnowTooMuch: Targeted by his employer, Northern Lights, because he started to learn the truth about Research (The Machine).

!!Lou Mitchell
->'''Played By:''' Ron [=McLarty=]\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Monica Jacobs
->'''Played By:''' Tracie Thoms\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Jack Salazar
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/salazar_jack_9279.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I can't be something I'm not."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Ray Valentin \\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E01 Liberty]]"

* AwesomeByAnalysis: Gives a chilling play by play of the bar brawl that's about to happen when he gets into a fight along with his friend.
* BadAss: Small-scale but his commanding officer believe he has potential to be a SEAL.
* BadAssInDistress: Some Force Recon Marines attempt to kidnap him, beating him up, knocking him out and tossing him in the boot of a car. [[spoiler: Luckily, John's driving.]]
* DareToBeBadAss: His commanding officer believes he'd make a great SEAL if he tried out for his BUD/S.
* {{Expy}}: He's basically a younger Reese in a different service branch who hasn't made career decisions like joining the CIA or suffered personal tragedy in his life. Even Reese sees the similarities between him and Jack, giving him some friendly advice and also warning him not to accept any job offers from the CIA if he decides to become a SEAL.
* IJustWanttoBeNormal: Is torn between the offer to try out for his BUD/S and become a SEAL or settle down and have a family.
* NervesOfSteel: One of the more calm POI's Team Machine has dealt with who doesn't lose his nerve or do something idiotic when his shipmate is kidnapped.
* TradingBarsForStripes: How he got into the Navy, he beat a man into a coma. John emphasises with him over this, alluding to his own experiences.
* TraumaCongaLine: All he wanted was a drink and some rest and relaxation in New York during Fleet Week. But his number came up in the Irrelevant list. [[spoiler: Then he gets involved in a bar brawl, has his friend kidnapped and wired to an I.E.D, is nearly kidnapped himself, is shot when Reese rescues him, is embroiled in a diamond smuggling operation he wasn't even aware of and is nearly late returning to the aircraft carrier he's serving on. Luckily, his irresponsible shipmate who helped embroil him in the mess takes the blame for their lateness and by the next day, he's safely back on the aircraft carrier with the Force Recon Marines who were trying to kill him dead or in hospital]]

!!Wayne Kruger
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kruger_wayne_1192.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You can't fight the technology."'']]
->'''Played By:''' David Alan Basche\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E02 Nothing To Hide]]"

* AssHoleVictim: Big time, he's ruined many people lives and never made any effort to correct the problems with his website.
* BreakTheHaughty: At the start of the episode, Kruger arrogantly claimed that people who wanted privacy probably had something to hide when they complained about his site. [[spoiler: Peter Collier and a group of people who had their lives ruined by Life Trace proceed to take him down several notches]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Presents a slick and charismatic personality but it's a lie. [[spoiler: He's got a criminal record, gone bankrupt in a previous business, only cares about his financial success, has been having an affair and is willing to injure the man who's trying to keep him alive just for a chance at finalising the business deal he's been conducting. Collier is utterly disgusted by him that he convinced his superiors who wanted Kruger to be scared away from his company to instead accept his proposal to execute Kruger]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Even Finch sees it and notes he built the machine so men like Kruger wouldn't abuse it the same way Kruger's website is abused.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Calls out Finch ''twice'' for reading his personal info.
-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Finch]]:''' "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Do you mind]]?"
* ItsAllAboutMe: Only cares about himself and getting the business deal with his website finalised. Made more apparent when he [[spoiler: smashes a vase on Harold's head and heads to a business meeting where he believes the deal can be finished. It's a trap for Collier to kill him]]
* JerkAss: Taken up to eleven when he [[spoiler: Smashes a vase on poor Harold's head]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Peter Collier arranges for him to suffer a severe loss of privacy and ruin his life in the same way Kruger's site did to so many others]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After the father of a girl who's stalker/murderer used Life Trace spells out how Kruger's inaction when he requested sensitive information be removed was ignored contributed to her death, Kruger shows genuine remorse for the first time in the episode. [[spoiler: Collier is not impressed however and shoots him]]
* NeverMyFault: His main flaw, he never accepts responsibility for how his website helped destroy so many lives. One of the people who [[spoiler: lost his child to a stalker who was using Life Trace to track her]] pointed out that he did nothing and didn't listen to the requests to pull critical information from the site.
* TraumaCongaLine: For the first time, in the history of the show, its actually quite deserved. [[spoiler: He's revealed to be having an affair at his wedding anniversary, his secretary learns he only hired her for her looks, the potential business partner leaves him out to dry, the board of his company learns about his shady criminal and business history, he gets thrown out of his company, he's nearly killed in a falling elevator,then a car accident and finally, he goes to what he thinks is a business meeting but is in fact a trap to kill him.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: He's been having an affair [[spoiler: Peter Collier makes sure his anniversary party knows]]

!!Genrika Zhirova
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zhirova_genrika_5463.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm just practicing for my career....International espionage."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Danielle Kotch\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E05 Razgovor]]"

* BilingualDialogue: Speaks Russian and English.
* CharacterBlog: has a Twitter account ([[https://twitter.com/PA37ABOP @PA37ABOP]]) where she was tweeting cryptic comments from July 31, 2013 to the episode's air date
* ChildProdigy: Knows counter-surveillance tactics and executes them very well; built a "listening station" in the basement air ducts of her apartment house and planted hard-wired microphones all through the building
* [[FreeRangeChildren Free Range Child]]: Her cousin cares little about her and doesn't even try to put limits on her. As a result, she does pretty much anything she wants, including spying on any suspicious character in her apartment building.
* MoralityPet: She's the first POI Shaw has genuinely cared about saving.
* MeaningfulName: Writer David Slack was a fan of ''Literature/HarrietTheSpy.'' "Genrika" is "Harriet" in Russian.
* [[SpySchool Spy Homeschooled]]: she learned espionage tradecraft from [[BadassGrandpa her grandfather the retired KGB agent]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Lenin Order of Lenin]] recipient.
* TraumaCongaLine: she's [[DisappearedDad never met her father]], her mother is a political prisoner, [[RaisedByGrandparents her grandfather who was caring for her]] died, she's living in a [[WretchedHive high-crime area]] with her [[AlcoholicParent drug-addled]] and [[ParentalNeglect indifferent]] third cousin Vadim . . . and ''then'' [[FromBadToWorse her number comes up in the "irrelevant" list]].

!!Arthur Claypool
->'''Played By''': Saul Rubinek
->'''Appeared in''': "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E11 Lethe]]" and "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E12 Alethia]]"

->''"Harold, I did it. I solved it before they shut me down. Harold, Samaritan is'' alive''."''

* CrazyPrepared: [[spoiler: Apparently, he hid the drives of Project Samaritan after the government shut it down.]]
* FromBadToWorse: He goes from having such bad memory loss that he forgets his own wife, to being attacked by privacy terrorists, to [[spoiler: being held at gunpoint by the woman acting as his wife.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler: Not all of his memory lapses are genuine. At one point, he takes advantage of his condition to stall for time when he and Harold are being held at gunpoint.]]
* ProperlyParanoid: [[spoiler: There's a good reason that he doesn't trust his wife...]]
* UnknownRival: To Finch; [[spoiler: he was also trying to create an ArtificialIntelligence defense system after 9/11. Not only that, he ''succeeded''. He'd just finished raising Samaritan to self-awareness when the success of Finch's Machine caused his program to be shut down.]]
* WalkingSpoiler
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/team_machine_617.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: Harold Finch, Lionel P. Fusco, Jocelyn 'Joss' Carter & John Reese]]
->''We're not a big agency....We're not'' any ''agency, we're--I don't know what we are. To be honest, I'm only in it for the dog.''
-->--'''Sam Shaw'''

* AntiHero: The team is basically a group of these, as what they are doing is technically illegal even if well-intentioned. Individual characters vary, with Carter being at the lower end of the scale while Shaw and Reese are at the high end.
* BadAssInANiceSuit: All the members of Team Machine are well dressed and can kick ass in style.
* BadAssCrew: Each member of Team Machine brings a different skill set to the group which allows them to overcome unique problems that they face when conducting operations. With limited manpower, they've also faced off against the most powerful criminal organisations in New York, the CIA, ISA, FBI and Decima Technologies and mostly came out on top.
* CharacterDevelopment: At the start of the show, each of the groups members doesn't trust each other and are occasionally openly hostile in their interactions. Over the course of the show, they begin to bond with each other and become a much more cohesive unit. A major example of this change in the groups relationships is in "Dead Reckoning" when Carter who at the start of the series was hostile to Team Machine and initially doggedly pursued Harold and John is tearfully begging Reese to let the EOD team to defuse his bomb vest.
* FireForgedFriends
* FiveManBand: With the addition of Shaw, the group has graduated to this
** TheLeader: Finch
** TheLancer: John
** TheSmartGuy: Finch [[spoiler: and now Root]]
** TheBigGuy: Shaw and Fusco
** TheChick: Carter and Bear
** TheTeamBenefactor: Finch
** TheMole: Of the ReverseMole type. Both Carter and Fusco serve as this for them for the NYPD
** TheMedic[=/=]SixthRanger: Shaw
** TeamDad: Finch
** TeamPet: Bear and to an extent The Machine
** TokenEvilTeammate: Subverted with Shaw, as she ''struggles'' to follow Finch's ThouShaltNotKill policy and while she is successful at times, Shaw will still normally kill other times. Played straight with [[spoiler:Root of all people]].
* NGOSuperPower: With an all seeing computer A.I which can interact with every single surveillance and electronic system on the face of the earth, a ridiculously wealthy NonIdleRich with top notch computer hacking skills, and four BadAss shooters on staff, Team Machine qualifies as a small scale version being able to conduct comprehensive and well funded operations mostly under the nose of law enforcement and other organisations and face off against them when situations get hot.
* OddlySmallOrganization: Even with the addition of Shaw, Team Machine is still quite small compared to the rival groups in the series. However with each member's skills and Finch's resources, they've held their own against powerful enemies such as HR, Northern Lights, and Decima Technologies, who have considerably more manpower and occasionally similar resources to them.
** However in Season 3, the Team's size has begun to cause problems. [[spoiler: In the Endgame arc, With Fusco captured, HR officers en route to kill his son and John and Carter occupied, the team was spread extremely thin and had Fusco not saved himself, things would have ended tragically. Later in the episode "Lethe", with John and Fusco in Colorado, Shaw had her hands full protecting Arthur and Harold, eventually being overcome by the superior numbers of Control's security detail in the end of the episode.]]
* TrueCompanions: Comes with their CharacterDevelopment, they may occasionally bicker and get annoyed with each other but when push comes to shove they will readily rush to the aid of each other in times of crisis.

!!John Reese
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reese_john_2188.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I don't have any friends. I don't have any family left either. I went around the world looking for bad guys. But there were plenty of you right here all along."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/JimCaviezel

->'''Aliases:''' 'The Man in the Suit', James J. Manzione, Detective Stills, Tony Miller, John Hayes, John Friel, John Rooney, John Randall, John Anderson, John Campbell, Marshal Jennings, John Warren, John Wiley

A former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces and later a CIA field officer who is presumed dead following a mission in China. Little is known about Reese's background and his name is one of several aliases he uses. He lost his lover, Jessica, prior to meeting Finch, which appears to have marked him deeply. Reese demonstrates skill in the use of a range of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and surveillance tactics. He knows very little about Finch and often is rebuffed when he attempts to learn more about him.

* AboveTheInfluence: Not with sex, but when Finch was high on Ecstasy and in a talkative mood, Reese opted out of it [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything knowing his overly-willing partner would regret it in the morning.]]
* AntiHero: He is not above killing and breaking plenty of laws to protect those in need of protection.
* TheAtoner: His time in the CIA was not the cleanest of times in his life and he did things he has come to regret. Mr. Finch's offer in the Pilot was for him to be this.
--> '''Finch:''' I think all you ever wanted was to help people.
* {{Badass}}
** BadAssBiker: His personal mode of transport is a 2012 Ducati Diavel Carbon and in "One Percent" he's able to keep up with the POI's out of control [=McLaren MP412C=] supercar
** HeartbrokenBadass: His lover, Jessica, left him after he left for war without telling her, married someone else, and was accidentally killed by her abusive husband.
** BadassInDistress: He actually gets captured and tied up quite a bit, right from the Pilot on, but he usually gets out of it on his own.
** BadassInANiceSuit: Carter can identify if he's involved in a case simply by hearing about a "[[PersonWithTheClothing man in a suit]]". Then when he wears a motorcycle jacket in "Get Carter", she suggests the suit is at the cleaners.
** BadassLongcoat: What he usually wears over said suit.
* BerserkButton: Seems to have a particular trigger for cases in which 1. a child is endangered, 2. someone he finds especially just is threatened, notably Carter or Finch, or 3. he encounters spousal abuse.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: He rarely, if ever, has yelled or spoken above a soft voice. That said, he is one of the toughest, most honorable men and will go to great lengths to protect those who need it and [[TheAtoner make up for his past mistakes.]]
* BrainsAndBrawn: The Brawn, although episodes where he has to fly alone show he's a long way from stupid. See GeniusBruiser.
* CombatPragmatist: Reese is basically a highly creative version of the film version of Jason Bourne. He's willing to use the environment to win and is quick on his feet in doing so. This is seen in "Root Cause" where he rips a public bathroom hand dryer out of a wall and smashes it on the head of Root's gunman when he goes for his discarded pistol and in "Till Death" when he puts a nail gun to good use in immobilising a killer by nailing the man's foot to the floor.
* ChickMagnet: When a single, young woman comes across his path, odds are she will end up slightly infatuated with him.
** Lampshaded by a snarking Finch in "No Good Deed" when Reese fails to charm a receptionist into letting him in a building
---> "I'm surprised, Mr. Reese; that nice young lady seemed somehow impervious to your charm."
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Re-enlisted after 9/11 and left Jessica to serve his country. Carter called him out on this on "The Crossing".
-->"What is it about you, John, that makes you want to save everyone's life but your own?"
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He was a wetwork agent for the Company. He did some things he is not happy about. Even before that he only got into the Army by TradingBarsForStripes.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has a tendency to make quiet comments about his current situation and problems around him.
* DespairEventHorizon: After he discovered that Jessica had died; he was actually contemplating suicide until he encountered Carter and Finch.
** In "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: he drops off of it when Carter is killed and into a self destructive RoaringRampageOfRevenge despite being seriously injured, going off the grid to hunt down those involved. Team Machine manages to find him as he is on his last legs, saving him at the expense of his revenge.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Few things will stop him from finishing his mission.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Reese actually doesn't like guns very much. They are, however, necessary, and he's very good with them, so he suppresses his personal dislike, because he can't protect anyone if he's unarmed.
* DrowningMySorrows: Before Finch finds him. [[spoiler:(It happens again.)]]
* DynamicEntry: ''Loves'' these, especially when used on Fusco.
* FailureKnight: Reese devotes himself to the protection of each week's number/whoever the number threatens to hurt, and he does it with a single-mindedness that's genuinely scary. It's all a response to his failure to save Jessica. Also, is extremely protective of, and loyal to, Finch.
* GeniusBruiser: Despite being "The Brawn" in the BrainsAndBrawn relationship with Finch, Reese himself is quite well-read, very cunning and has an extensive knowledge on fighting styles, guns, animals and military history.
* GoToAlias: Detective Stills and "John Rooney, Assets Manager". Marshall Jennings is starting to see more use.
* GoodIsNotNice: Especially towards Fusco at the start, for having to blackmail him into working for him.
* GrinOfAudacity: Often sports these as the series goes on.
* HatesBeingTouched: To put it mildly.
* HeroicBSOD: Suffers one [[spoiler:after Carter dies and Finch talks him out of killing Alonzo Quinn. Leads him to [[DrowningMySorrows drown his sorrows]] in Colorado]].
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Becomes this with Finch.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Very self-aware of this though. He warns other characters not to follow the same path he did.
* [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted The Hunter Becomes The POI]]: [[spoiler:Reese's number comes up in "The Crossing" after HR put a bounty on him. Hiding isn't an option though as he and Carter have to get the captured head of HR to the FBI building, which results in a [[Film/TheWarriors Warriors style]] fight across New York.]]
* HurtingHero: He lost Jessica and so his way in life. Even after setting out on this path of atonement, the pain is still there and shown when he is at risk of losing another close friend.
** [[spoiler:This gets taken to the next level after Carter is killed in "The Crossing". Reese is genuinely dying from his injuries as hunts down her killer in the following episode "The Devil's Share".]]
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Reese occasionally reveals his wish to live a normal life, but feels that it is beyond his reach at this point.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Jessica called him for help, but he was on a mission and couldn't be there in time. Later, after [[spoiler: Carter's]] death, he says that [[spoiler: he should have shot Patrick Simmons, her murderer during their first meeting, rather than engaging him in hand to hand combat.]]
* IndyPloy: He occasionally falls back to this when the situation is too dire or Finch is somehow unable to help him for whatever reason. [[GeniusBruiser He's very good at it]].
* JadeColouredGlasses: Got them from Kara Stanton. His time with Finch slowly made them go away.
* JerkassHasAPoint: When Carter and Fusco learn the other is working for John and Finch, they yell at him for not trusting them. He points out that Fusco was dirty and reluctant and Carter was hunting him down, so it isn't like they always trusted him.
* KneeCapping: Started out as a compromise in deference to Finch's preference that ''nobody'', if at all possible, is shot, and it is now his signature incapacitation of villains.
* LastNameBasis: With Finch, who only calls him "John" [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious when Finch is worried about him and/or Reese is in more danger than usual]].
* TheLostLenore: Jessica is his.
* MeaningfulName: He is often addressed as "Mr. Reese", pronounced in a way that sounds like "Mysteries".
* MenacingStroll: He never goes anywhere without it.
* MilitaryBrat: Was one; his father was career Army.
* MrFanservice: Once he cleans up.
* MysteriousMiddleInitial: The military file Carter finds on him in "Many Happy Returns" lists his name as John "H" Something. (His real last name is covered up, so we still don't know what it is either.)
* {{Omniglot}}: Speaks at least four languages (English, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish). He can also recognize Mandarin from a distance.
** Though his Dutch is nearly incomprehensible for someone who doesn't speak German as well, his German accent is ''that'' strong. Therefore, it's rather probable he is able to speak German as well.
* OneManArmy: Using his CIA training, he can take out some considerably large armed groups, and borders on invincible in hand-to-hand combat. He ''can'' be overwhelmed with numbers, though. And then there was the mook who was so big, he had to be shot with a grenade launcher. [[note]]Albeit said grenade launcher fired less-lethal tear gas grenades.[[/note]]
* OnlyFriend: By the end of the first season, he's this to Finch.
* PersonWithTheClothing: Is generally known in the underworld and on the police force as "The Man in the Suit."
* PunchClockVillain: Back when he worked for the CIA.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: Even a fanatical {{badass}} vigilante like Reese has patience. "One Percent" and "Reasonable Doubt" have him losing it because the POI's have shown themselves seemingly undeserving of his help. In the first case however, he comes back to save the POI. In the second [[spoiler:he is unsure if stopping a criminal wife from shooting her husband who tried to kill her is the the right thing. He just leaves a gun near the husband and lets them settle the matter alone.]]
* SilverFox: Reese is well on his way to being one.
** Lampshaded by Wendy the hairstylist in "Number Crunch."
** Also lampshaded by Owen in "4C," who remarks that Reese's hair is "like catnip to soccer moms."
* TheStoic: His general outer attitude.
** NotSoStoic: He broke his stoic façade in "Baby Blue", when Leila was about to die from freezing.
*** And again in "Dead Reckoning", when he thought he was about to be killed by Stanton's bomb vest and Finch was going to die with him. He actually pulled a gun on Finch to try to get him to leave.
*** "The Crossing". John breaks down in tears as [[spoiler: Carter dies in his arms]]
* TradingBarsForStripes: He implied that this is how he ended up in the Army, to a POI who ended up in the Navy because of this trope.
* TranquilFury: Even in the middle of a firefight, he generally keeps his stoic demeanor.
* VigilanteMan: He has killed a fair share of people since he started on his path of atonement and broke just as many laws.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Finch.
* WeaponOfChoice: A Sig-Sauer P-226 R which he picks up in the pilot episode from some gun dealers, but John also has a WallOfWeapons which he's built up over the course of the show from repossessing firearms from the criminals he runs into. During Season 1, he also had the infamous "Plan B" bag containing a gas grenade launcher, FN F2000, SPAS-12 and an Ithaca 37 stakeout equipped with a night vision scope. He loaned the bag to Carter when she had to play bodyguard to some Mafia dons in "Flesh And Blood".
** Also seems particularly fond of grenade launchers. [[RuleOfCool Which is cool]].
* WifeBasherBasher: And in the case of the wife beater who killed his ex-girlfriend Jessica, the bashing was presumably lethal. Or John sent him to a Mexican prison. It's ambiguous either way, but Carter suspects it's the former.
* WouldHitAGirl: He is smart enough to not underestimate his opponents and generally comes at them with all his focus.
* WouldntHurtAChild: When a choice came down to either watching a child die from freezing to death or giving Elias the info he needed, he chose to save the child. Elias knew this of him as well. That's why he put Reese in the position.

!!Harold Finch
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/finch_harold_6794.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I should tell you... I'm a really private person."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/MichaelEmerson

->'''Aliases:''' 'Admin', Arthur Bellenger, Norman Burdett, Walt Trowbridge, Mr Partridge, Thomas Paine, Harold Wren, Harold Crane, Dr Tilman, Lucas Bennett, Harold Crow, Harold Swift, Harold Gull, Harold Quail, Harold Starling

A reclusive, security conscious and intensely private billionaire software engineer. His real name is unknown (Beyond the fact that his first name really is Harold) and he has many aliases (most commonly Harold Wren), using various species of birds as the last name. Finch has developed a machine that can isolate the Social Security numbers of people with either premeditated homicidal intent or who will be homicide victims, based on its analysis of surveillance data. Following a traumatic event in his own life that led to the death of his business partner and close friend, Nathan Ingram, he recruits Reese to help him deal with the people the Machine identifies. Finch lives and works in an abandoned library and shows the results of severe physical injuries, including the inability to turn his head, a rigid posture, and a limp.

* AcheyScars: of a sort. He had cervical spinal fusion surgery (aka metal rods put in his neck to hold his spine together) due to getting injured in an explosion meant to kill Nathan Ingram, and well, (assuming he wasn't using hyperbole at the time) a good day for him is a 3 on a pain scale from 1 - 5.
* TheAtoner: He saw the Numbers just come and come and come. Once, he could stand by and watch, but something caused him to change his mind and make him pursue atonement for the lives lost because of his inaction.
** This was fully confirmed in the Season 2 finale. Nathan started looking at the irrelevant numbers and tried to save them. Harold found out and ceased the operation, not seeing that Nathan's number had just popped up. After he died, he found out that the Machine predicted all of it.
** In Season 2 finale, he also atones for other past mistakes. He concocted a BatmanGambit several years ago that led to the Machine learning how to defend itself and relocating itself to an undisclosed location, away from the corrupt government Harold entrusted it to. It's also possible that the newly coded Machine is now capable of keeping its memories as opposed to the past code Harold inputted to destroy itself in order to halt its evolution.
* BadassBookworm: An abandoned library is his (and by extension, Reese's) base of operations and the shelves have been re-shelved with his books, and if he isn't working, he's usually reading. Badass not with fighting, but he's one badass computer hacker who, for example, hacked all of the cell towers north of Canal St., cutting off all cell communications except for which phones he chose in order to save John and the POI from getting killed in the explosion of a sabotaged gas main wired to a cellphone. He also has walked right up to an influential leader of a corrupt cop ring and manipulated him into backing down from working with a mob boss, and completely bankrupted a corrupt executive's company.
*** Finch owns at least one book for every entry in the Dewey Decimal System. The Machine tells Finch and later Reese the numbers by giving him a reference to three books in the library, whose Dewey Decimal Numbers combine to make a nine digit Social Security Number.
*** He also bought fifteen libraries (one of which the library lair is) that were shutting down because he hated to see them be shut down.
** HandicappedBadass: He walks with a limp but still can do the other badass things.
** HeartbrokenBadass: His past business partner/only friend died because Harold decided to ignore the irrelevant list, which Nathan was on. Then he had to convince his fiancee that he was dead in order to keep her safe.
* BatmanGambit: A pretty big one revealed in the Season 2 finale. Regretting his decision to turn the Machine over to the government, he sold a laptop with a virus in it to China. Inside the virus was another virus that altered the machine's code when it infected it. It learned to defend itself and it actually moved itself to an undisclosed location.
* BeneathNotice: "The easiest place to hide, as you well know, is in plain sight." He pretended to be a fairly low-level employee in his own company for seventeen years, and usually when he is out in the field his aliases are usually jobs you wouldn't take a second glance at, or would forget quickly as being so mundane.
* BerserkButton: If Finch finds out that you previously brought up a Number he was unable to save, you'd better have stored up some sort of good karma somewhere! Because while he may be [[TechnicalPacifist averse to killing]], he will not only ensure you will never be able to bring up another Number, he will [[FateWorseThanDeath take away from you what you love most]]. Also don't give self serving justifications for evil acts. The serial killer in "Proteus" tried this and Finch [[NotSoStoic actually snapped at him]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Generally he is an affable fellow who cares about good people and willing to go to long lengths to protect them. The lengths to which he would go include hiring an ex-CIA assassin to stop or 'persuade' whoever it is who wants to harm an innocent into stopping.
--> '''Finch''': There ''are'' more comfortable chairs, if you'd rather. Not to mention a padded bench that doubles as quite a comfortable bed. If a small one.\\
[[spoiler: '''Root''':]] And all within the proximity radius programmed into my [[SarcasmMode lovely]] new ankle accessory.
* BrainsAndBrawn: The Brains of the team.
* TheChessmaster: He doesn't very often get to showcase this during the more ordinary episodes because he usually doesn't have all the information he needs to set up plays (which makes him very uncomfortable and is one of the reasons he has Reese) involving villains for ordinary Numbers, but his plans for worst case scenarios involving The Machine are incredibly complex, devious, and extremely impressive, showcasing all his formidable planning skills and even manipulating world powers.
** As an example, he sold the Chinese and Decima a virus that was actually a disguised vaccine, and basically played Decima into vaccinating the Machine for him.
* ChickMagnet: Had apparently been quite the lady's man in college, though he gave up that life sometime after graduating, never seeking romantic female company with anyone other than Grace.
* ConsummateLiar: Due to his paranoia he's built up several identities/lives and has consequently become quite good at this, sometimes to his own chagrin and regret when in regards to people he cares about and would like to be honest with. He doesn't usually make completely untrue statements unless he's talking to someone he considers an enemy, but he is well versed in setting things up for implications or verbally sidling past something someone asks him or setting up events so he isn't technically lying (like technically holding a job, like his Wren alias or his job as a docent).
* CrazyPrepared: In his position he has to be. A prime example is when he pays for an entire staffed office building to create a air tight cover for John when he's arrested in "Prisoners Dilemma."
* CreepyGood: Several of the other characters consider Finch this (most notably Fusco), which is understandable both because Finch stays as mysterious as possible and always seems to know more about you, what you're doing or have done than any person should be capable of. This perception isn't helped by the fact that most of the time he speaks in a...
** CreepyMonotone: Which only gets more so when he gets [[TranquilFury angry]]. Finch's actor is [[MichaelEmerson the guy]] who played [[{{Lost}} Ben Linus]] after all.
* [[CrimefightingWithCash Crimefighter With Cash]]: He provides the cash that the team needs for whatever monetary needs might crop up, this includes buying and furnishing safe houses, investments, buying companies, funding a couple of hospital wings, and much more. He sometimes even goes a step farther than saving someone from immediate danger and has bought companies specifically in order to make sure that a Number who needs a job has one.
* DarkAndTroubledPast
** [[DeadSidekick Dead Friend]]
* DeadpanSnarker / DisabledSnarker / GentlemanSnarker: The only person who can occasionally [[SnarkToSnarkCombat outsnark]] Finch is Reese.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Although he's proved more than once that he'd be willing to handle one if the situation was dire enough.
* EncyclopaedicKnowledge: He is generally aware of most areas of knowledge. And what he doesn't know, he can look up.
* FailureKnight: Having had a change of heart after so many years of ignoring the Numbers (including that of his deceased partner/friend) he now protects the innocent ones and stop the ones intending to do harm with an obsessive single mindedness and has, in fact, pledged his life to protecting or stopping Numbers and fully expects he will die trying to do so. Also, even at his most stand-offish, he is extremely protective of Reese and will go to extreme lengths up to risking his life and anonymity to save him from danger or even emotional pain.
** Root implies that Reese [[spoiler: isn't Finch's first agent for this purpose.]]
* FakingTheDead: Finch did this before the start of the series to escape anyone who would come after him to get access to The Machine and so protect those he was connected to.
* TheFettered: He will pursue the protection of the Numbers to great ends, or the victims of the Numbers as the case may be, to the detriment of his own life. Also has a personal rule of only using violence in defense of someone else; he will not raise a hand or take up a weapon in self-defense (though, apparently, having an attack-dog is acceptable).
* {{Fiction500}}: Quite possibly. It's unknown exactly how much money he has, but he routinely makes staggering purchases and investments. He often uses this money to gain access to important places and set up innocent numbers with a good situation after they have been saved. In one case, he bought a luxury hotel in order to make the number for that week its manager. However, when Reese bids for some letters by Albert Einstein in a charity auction, he gets worried and tells Reese he's "no longer using parking change."
--> '''Reese''': Since the numbers have stopped, it's not right you should go on paying me as generously as you are.
--> '''Finch''': Since you give away ninety percent of what I pay you, I don't see why I shouldn't continue.
** How rich is Finch? Consider: one of Reese's aliases that he setup is a single-digit millionaire. Another alias is a ''triple''-digit millionaire. And this is just ''two'' of them!
* {{Geek}}: Mentions in the extended pilot that he was a massive ScienceFiction fan when he was a kid, and if specifically caring to own a rare first-edition of one of Creator/IsaacAsimov's books, his reading preferences of dystopian literature and science-fiction, and his being able to identify an Orwell quote immediately is anything to go by, he hasn't changed that much. Also, see BadassBookworm.
** Not limited to science fiction. He's also a CharlesDickens fan, and a massive bibliophile over many genres. He was most distressed when Bear decided to add rare first-edition books to his diet.
* GeekyTurnOn: He's usually quite non-plussed about beautiful women, unless they are intelligent and well-read and then he's tripping over himself in the most {{Adorkable}} fashion. Also he only got seriously interested enough in Grace to ask her out after he found out she has a deep love of Charles Dickens' works.
* GentlemanAndAScholar: Finch is a [[GeniusBookclub very well-read]] computer genius who prefers [[SharpDressedMan elegant tailored suits]] and is extremely courteous and polite ( [[GentlemanSnarker except for when he's snarking at Reese or Fusco]] ).
* GoodWithNumbers: To put it mildly.
* GuileHero: When Finch wants to, he is quite capable of manipulating those around him, whether by their weaknesses or their virtues and is a [[TheChessmaster master manipulator of events,]] and tends to go at conversations so he always finds out more about others than they do about him. And when it comes to [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt businessmen]] he [[CurbStompBattle takes them down with ease and no small prejudice]] by manipulating information, finances, events, and the businessmen themselves.
** His GuileHero status is somewhat bitterly lampshaded by Nathan: "It's never 'simply' with you, Harold. There's always two layers to everything you do."
* GuiltComplex: Feels personal responsibility for any trouble that has come about because of the Machine (though he doesn't regret building The Machine itself), or any bad thing he feels he should have been able to prevent. And possibly for being the reason that the CIA burned Reese.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Was this with Nathan, becomes this with Reese.
* HonoraryUncle: To Will Ingram.
* HurtingHero: Let us count the ways. His best friend was killed, he's on the run from his own government for creating a machine to protect it's people, had to fake his own death because his own government would kill him or anyone connected with him to keep The Machine safe meaning that Finch had to leave behind and never again be with his fiancee or she would become a target, and is quite literally hurting due to getting caught in an explosion set to kill Nathan left him crippled and in constant pain. And this is before we learn that under his real name, he's wanted for sedition, and will likely be going to jail for a very long time if he's ever caught.
* IHaveManyNames: He has multiple identities around the city - among them, software engineer, paralegal, and insurance executive, all of which are associated with different names. He even went to college under an assumed ID, given that his college student persona appeared out of nowhere in 1976. Nathan Ingram lampshades this, asking him if he remembers his original name.
** ThemedAliases: He likes birds.
** AnimalThemeNaming: Almost all of Finch's known identities are Harold [Kind of Bird].
** LineOfSightName: the origin of his "Harold Finch" alias is shown in the episode "Aletheia": when he comes to say goodbye to his father in a nursing home after breaking into the Arpanet, the bird he spots outside the window is a finch (a common chaffinch, to be precise).
* {{Irony}}: His WeaponOfChoice (when he leaves the library). [[spoiler: It's a taser, just like [[EvilCounterpart Root's]].]]
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: After he realizes that the government is willing to kill anyone who discovers the existence of the machine, he fakes the death of one of his various aliases so that if the government learned about him, they wouldn't know about and seek to harm fiancée. However, despite the fact that he cannot be with her ever again (and in fact has surveillance programs in place to ensure that they never get with 100 yards of each other so that she'll never learn he isn't dead), it is implied that he is quietly using his various businesses to ensure that her illustration business has steady work.
* JerkassFacade: Occasionally puts up a very formal, very prickly, [[StepfordSnarker very sarcastic]] one of these whenever he feels Reese is pushing too hard at finding out his (Finch's) past or personal life, or when he feels he has revealed too much about himself.
** Lampshaded in "Legacy"
-->'''Andrea:''' So, what's this boss of yours like?\\
'''Reese:''' Very manipulative, secretive. We've had some personality conflicts.\\
'''Andrea:''' I take it he has a lot of money.\\
'''Reese:''' He's one of those rich loner types; the kind you'd call strange if he didn't have so much cash, so instead he's... "eccentric."
* KingIncognito: Finch kept himself HiddenInPlainSight by working as a low-level employee in a company he himself owns. He even wears cheaper suits.
** Inverted by his Harold Wren identity, which is senior management at an insurance firm he owns.
* KnightInSourArmor: Finch is paranoid and cynical about everyone and is usually the first to ascribe cynical motives to the current person of interest, yet he has a high moral code in regards to saving lives, is the driving force and moral compass in their team and - if there is no one else more capable around to help - will happily risk his life and exposure to those who want to kill him to help someone, ''and'' he still believes it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
* LastNameBasis: Calls almost everyone by their last name (usually with an honorific in front), and prefers to be called by his last name (preferably with an honorific in front of it, though nobody yet has actually called him "Mr." Finch). Only Nathan, Grace, and (with increasing frequency) Reese, pretty much have Finch's permission to call him "Harold." Root and Shaw also call Finch "Harold", but he frowns heavily on this familiarity (especially coming from Root).
* MacGyvering: He made a [=WiFi=] antenna out of a Pringles can.
** TruthInTelevision: [=WiFi=] hackers use them all the time. It's incredibly easy and the schematics can be easily found online.
** Also made a lie detector out of meteorological equipment, and has done much more.
* MissionControl: As the one who the Machine gives numbers to, the one who does basic research of the person of interest, and mainly works at his computer to help from that end.
** MissingMissionControl: Briefly in season 2.
* MisterExposition: He gives the base explanation about the Machine and what it does. He also tends to explain who the numbers refer to.
** UnreliableExpositor: Where the Machine and his past is concerned the essentials of what he says are true, but he often lies or omits parts in order to avoid further explanation into more secrets and considering that the more someone knows about the Machine or himself, the greater the danger they're in or could put someone from his past in, his 'unreliability' is a defense even more for others than for himself.
* MoralityChain[=/=]LivingEmotionalCrutch: Is this to Reese; between Finch giving him a second chance, Finch being Reese's OnlyFriend, and Finch's more [[TechnicalPacifist pacifistic convictions]], Reese's HeWhoFightsMonsters tendencies are usually kept in check.
* MultilayerFacade: Hoo boy, where to start...
* NervesOfSteel: Yes, he feels fear. Frequently. However, that doesn't stop him from using his razor-sharp mind to solve problems such as John being wired to a bomb vest.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Grace believes that his body lies on the bottom of the Hudson River after the ferry bombing that killed Nathan Ingram.
* NonIdleRich: In so many ways.
* NotSoStoic: If someone he cares about is in danger of being killed. This gets taken UpToEleven if someone is around a bomb, he will readily drop everything and try save any Team Machine member or POI's in the blast zone, rather understandably as that was how Nathan was killed.
* OddFriendship: In the beginning stages of one with Shaw. The prim and proper Finch bonds with the rough and tumble Shaw over Bear (he's graciously willing to share his dog with her), saving lives, blowing up evil lairs, and the fact that she's sneaky enough that he hasn't yet found the bug she's planted in his library.
* {{Omniglot}}: While he's never yet spoken another language (Apart from the occasional command to Bear in Dutch), he has been seen to be able to read and translate to English several languages, most notably Russian and German when reeling off facts from various documents.
* OnlyFriend: By the end of the first season, he and Reese are this to each other and he will go to huge lengths to keep him alive.
* ProperlyParanoid: There are people, organizations, and whole countries who want to get their hands on the Machine (or the Machine's creator) and naturally the U.S. government will kill anyone who could be conceived a threat, including any loose ends. So yeah, he's paranoid. But not enough for Root, Shaw and Corwin to have either compromised the library or held him at gunpoint.
* PsychoticSmirk: Finch very occasionally flashes these, most notably in "Flesh and Blood" when Simmons asks him who he is and in "Razgovor" when Shaw asks him how much he knows about chemistry (cue StuffBlowingUp).
* [[RefusalOfTheCall Refused The Call]]: Until Nathan was killed in 2010, he didn't care about the Irrelevant List.
* RenaissanceMan: Computer programmer, software engineer, hacker, businessman, paralegal, insurance underwriter, knows ranging and windage, is an avid baseball fan, can tailor suits, change a diaper, pick the best wine and food, pilot a plane, and much more.
* SharpDressedMan: His suits, nice in the beginning, just get better and better and inevitably include a WaistcoatOfStyle. Even his less nice suits for his less affluent/successful aliases are still very nice.
* ShroudedInMyth: Not as Harold Finch, but as the legendary hacker who broke into the Arpanet in the 70s and never got identified, let alone caught, making him the ''first'' internet hacker. And he did it in high school with a computer he built himself.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: He enjoys a game or two. Elias even agreed to help them on a job if Finch visited him and played chess with him.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses
** TheShortGuyWithGlasses
* SociallyAwkwardHero: While he is normally very eloquent and appears to be at ease when manipulating people, playing a role, or talking to someone where the relationship is clearly defined, in normal social situations he is very awkward if very polite (which leads to some quite {{Adorkable}} moments.)
* SpockSpeak: Tends to speak like this, but as noted, is quite the DeadpanSnarker and can occasionally be SophisticatedAsHell.
* TheSpook: Even the Machine protects his identity. It tags all other assets with their names (codenames or aliases if need be), but it always refers to Finch as "admin". The intro to "Contingency" suggests this may have been deliberate on Finch's part.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Finch's main facade is as someone who's cold and aloof, but he has a genuinely caring heart.
* TalkerAndDoer: The doer in his and Ingram's business partnership, preferring to keep out of the limelight and concentrate on his work.
* TechnicalPacifist: He's against killing (in most situations, though he's occasionally tempted to let someone's evil deeds catch up with them) and quite against violence though recognizes it as a sad necessity in order to stop the people who are out to hurt or kill others (hence his hiring Reese). He refuses to use violence to defend himself, but he's willing and will take up arms (such as poking someone in the eye, bashing someone with a lamp, picking up a gun and grenade launcher) to save/protect someone else.
* TeamDad: WordOfGod suggest that he's become this to Team Machine, to subtle extents when it comes to Carter and Fusco but prevalent when it comes for Reese and Shaw.
* TechnoWizard
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: [[SpotOfTea Tea]] in general and Sencha Green Tea in particular.
* UnclePennybags: Uses his wealth to occasionally dabble in a little philanthropy and aid POI's who aren't exactly well off or are facing dire economic problems.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Reese.
* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Subverted in that he leaves the Internet Connection to get physically involved in the Mystery of the Week fairly frequently.
** And then inverted when Reese is recuperating from a gunshot wound sustained in the previous episode.
** Played for laughs when Reese's protectee asks him who he's talking to. He responds, "Tech support."
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Averted, doubly subverted, and possibly played straight (if some of the hints about his past prove to be true). Says that his greatest motivation (even above not wanting others to use it for nefarious purposes) for sealing up The Machine so no one can access it is that he might be tempted to use it to become one of these however, before he decided to help people, he was so concerned with not using The Machine to become a WellIntentionedExtremist (either he or anyone else) he became an version of this by deciding that TheNeedsOfTheMany outweighed the needs of the Irrelevants ForTheGreaterGood.

!!Detective Jocelyn "Joss" Carter
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carter_joss_8614.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm a cop. My life's'' always ''in danger."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Taraji P. Henson

An NYPD homicide detective and single mother of a teenaged son, Taylor, Carter is a former U.S. Army interrogator and military intelligence warrant officer who passed the bar exam in 2004, but gave up practicing the law to return to police work. Carter first crosses paths with Reese following his encounter with a group of young men on a New York subway, but knew him principally as the mysterious "man in the suit." Carter is initially determined to apprehend Reese, but eventually forms an alliance with him and Finch.

* AllAPartOfTheJob: The quote above, in response to Reese telling her she's in danger.
* AmicableExes: Her ex-husband is still willing to be there for her when she needs him. [[spoiler: She sends Taylor to him as she kicks starts her plan to destroy HR.]]
* [[spoiler:AnyoneCanDie]]: [[spoiler:At the end of "The Crossing," she's killed by Simmons.]]
* {{Badass}}: She is more than able of holding her own against some very bad situations.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Carter is the member of Team Machine who's always conflicted about the laws they break. However [[spoiler: come season 3 with HR arranging for her demotion and having killed off many honest cops, when she's given a partner who she knows from the outset is an HR mole, she blackmails him at the first opportunity without a shred of hesitation. Her method: Use his New Jersey registered gun to kill another dirty cop.]]
** Come "Endgame" Carter has thrown being lawful out the window and picked being good. As a result she becomes a nigh unstoppable Chessmaster, [[spoiler: initiating a plot to destroy HR]] that any other day would have made Finch proud.
* [[spoiler:BlackDudeDiesFirst: She's the first of Team Machine to die.]]
* CrazyPrepared: In "Endgame" when initiating her plan [[spoiler: to destroy HR, she knows Quinn won't come willingly and so has his cellphone hacked in order to notify John at the right moment]] to break in and forcibly extract the man when her attempt to make an arrest goes wrong. Also, [[spoiler: she deliberately went to a judge she know was in HR's pocket, so she could bait Quinn]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Over the course of the show, Carter changes from a by the book cop who's distrusting of Reese and Finch to someone who's more appreciative of what they do and willing to help them.
** Come "Endgame" she's beginning to utilise tactics which extremely resemble the methods of John Reese. And she does it so convincingly that HR is none the wiser.
* TheChessmaster: Of all people, she's evolved into this. In "Endgame" [[spoiler: Carter's plan to destroy HR is revealed. With Shaw giving her the "Plan B" bag she conducts a false flag operation, hijacking a Russian Mafia supply truck, takes several pot shots at Quinn with a sniper rifle and has Elias send the intelligence she's been gathering during the start of Season 3 to the Yogorov family. To top things off, when Quinn tries to have some Russian Mobsters executed, she has the FBI arrive on the scene]] drastically compromising HR in terms of manpower and security.
* ColdSniper: Briefly becomes one in "Endgame" [[spoiler: when she takes several pot shots at the head of HR]] and destroys his office.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: She's a little too knowledgeable about spousal abuse. Flashbacks in "Endgame" show that her son's father had PTSD, which he refused to get help for until she effectively forced him to. It's not outright abuse, but it's pretty close to it.
* {{Determinator}}: Once she's got a taste of something suspicious going on, she does not let up.
* EnemyMine: With Elias. He wants to rebuild his organisation and wipe out the Russian mob who have allied themselves with HR. As a result, he helps her along with her plot to destroy HR.
%%* FairCop
* [[spoiler:FirstGirlWins]]: For a short period in "The Crossing." [[spoiler:Then she had to die, because [[StatusQuoIsGod Reese can't have a woman]].]]
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Wasn't fooled by her "new partner" in Season 3 and knew he was a mole from the outset. Also realised that taking down HR the clean and legal way wasn't going to work because Quinn had too many friends, so she called in help from some friends of her own.]]
* GoodIsNotSoft: [[spoiler: After HR began to kill many honest police officers and demote her, she's been running a comprehensive surveillance operation on HR without a warrant and as Officer Laskey found out the hard way, is happy to blackmail him to become her mole with the threat of framing him for a murder]]
* HeroAntagonist: Until she joined Team Machine.
* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]]: The bullets that [[spoiler: killed her were meant for John. She purposely used her body to shield him from most of them while driving off Simmons with her own return fire and saved his life as a result]].
%%* HotMom
* HyperAwareness: Often picks up on the subtle clues everyone else misses (''e.g.'' noticing details in Jessica's autopsy that reveal she'd been abused in "Many Happy Returns"). [[spoiler: And then at the start of Season 3 she gets a new partner. She doesn't trust him and knows he's a mole for HR]].
* ItsPersonal: WordOfGod suggests that [[spoiler:HR arranging her demotion and eliminating Carl Becher and other honest cops]] is this. Season 3 has her meticulously preparing to destroy [[spoiler: HR by gathering intelligence on them and trying to find the identity of the HR leader.]]
* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal]]
* LastNameBasis: Seems to prefer this greatly when directed toward herself. When Fusco asks what her first name is, she says "Detective."
* TheLostLenore: Her husband Paul Carter, the father of her son Taylor. [[spoiler:Averted in that he didn't die, but she "lost" him when the marriage fell apart because Paul refused to get help for his [=PTSD=].]]
* MamaBear: She is a fierce defender of her child from harm.
* MoleInCharge: Donnelly puts her in charge of interrogating the men he arrested so she can figure out which one of them is "the man in the suit".
* MoralityChain: To Reese and most of team machine. She kept their more amoral tendencies in check.
* OnlySaneMan: Shares this role with Fusco for Team Machine.
* OddFriendship: The sociopathic former Northern Lights assassin Shaw bonds with Carter over handguns and non lethal weaponry. [[spoiler: In "Endgame" Shaw provides Carter with the required weaponry (steals the "Plan B Bag") to conduct her false flag operation to destroy HR]]
* [[ScaryBlackMan Scary Black Woman]]: Channels this when she finally confronts [[spoiler: her new partner over his job as an HR mole.]]
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: The main motivation for her actions in "Endgame".
* SheCleansUpNicely: When she wore a dress in order to seduce a target.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: The serious variation, until promoted to TheCommissionerGordon in "Matsya Nyaya". (The opening sequence was slightly altered, moving her segment relative to the [[OpeningNarration voiceover]] from "hunted by the authorities" to the end of "someone with the skills to intervene.")
* TheChick: She, not Finch was the true moral compass of the team. Unlike the other members, Carter was never an amoral AntiHero and as a result, was able to slowly humanise the others to some extent and keep them from jumping off the MoralEventHorizon
* TookALevelInBadAss: Carter has always been a competent detective who can keep up with Reese but she's always been hamstrung with the dilemma of ToBeLawfulOrGood. Come Season 3 [[spoiler: She meticulously prepares and executes a well thought out plan to make HR destroy itself by conducting a series of false flag operations to make it declare war on the Russian Mafia.]] The results are spectacular to say the least.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Struggles with this, and was very conflicted about Fusco's InternalAffairs investigation, and reluctantly dug up and hid Stills' body to protect Fusco. But she seems to have finally come to terms during the arrest of [[spoiler: Alonzo Quinn, when she tries to arrest him legally, but puts in place a safety net in the form of Finch and Reese if things go wrong.]]
--> Carter: ''"I tried to do it clean, photographs, recordings, sworn testimony...but I guess you all were just too dirty."''
* TurnInYourBadge: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When an assassination attempt by HR in the second season finale fails (Carter shoots first and kills her would-be assassin), the HR cop on scene improvises, pocketing the assassin's gun so it looks to InternalAffairs like she shot an unarmed man. By the third season premiere, Carter's lost her detective badge and is back in a patrol car. [[spoiler:She gets promoted back to detective after identifying and bringing in the true leader of HR, Alonzo Quinn, but is murdered later that evening.]]
* TwoferTokenMinority: Of a main cast filled predominantly with white men, she's a black woman.
* WeaponOfChoice: Department issue Glock 19 and a backup Glock 26. But she also occasionally makes use of John's "Plan B Bag".
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Does an epic one to [[spoiler: Quinn when she forcibly makes off with him at the end of "Endgame"]]

!!Detective Lionel P. Fusco
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fusco_lionel_4749.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I made some mistakes. Some big ones. But things are different now; I'm helping people."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Kevin Chapman

A corrupt cop Reese blackmails into being a source inside the police department. Finch later arranges for Fusco to be transferred to Carter's precinct so that he works with her. Over time, Fusco becomes increasingly loyal to Finch and Reese, but continues to keep a secret regarding the death of a cop involved with HR.

* TheAlcoholic: Used to be this, but stopped drinking when he began working with Reese.
* TheAtoner: After working with Reese and doing some good, he's found that he much prefers helping people to being corrupt. He even gets angry that Reese forces him to be TheMole in a group of [[DirtyCop dirty cops]], as it takes time away from which he could be doing actual police work.
* ButtMonkey: Just for starters he's been shot nonfatally several times (which includes getting {{shot in the ass}} on one occasion), and usually gets the worse (in various ways) job from John when assignments are split between him and Carter. Then John foists his dog on him when he and Carter go to Texas to hunt Root. Did we mention the dog only accepts commands in Dutch?
** ''Three'' times in Season Three Fusco tries to be a badass, and Shaw beat him to the punch (using him as a HumanShield because it was faster than going around him), Reese leaves him to defuse a bomb instead of arresting corrupt Force Recon Marines, and Carter ditches him when he tries to help her arrest HR's boss. [[spoiler: And then he mans the fuck up in the Endgame.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: He's much more willing and eager to help Reese and Finch in season 2 than he was in season 1, most notably when Reese is imprisoned in episodes 11 and 12 and Finch calls him in to help work the Irrelevant numbers; he does it without a word of complaint and works smoothly with Harold.
* CombatPragmatist: When apprehending [[spoiler: Simmons]], Fusco immediately realises his [[spoiler: broken hand]] will be a severe disadvantage. As a result, he immediately targets [[spoiler: the bullet wound Carter gave Simmons before she was murdered]] in order to gain an advantage, and [[spoiler: breaks Simmons' arm]] in order to prevent the man from getting back up.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He looks like an incompetent idiot at first (mostly due the aforementioned ButtMonkey status with Finch And Reese, who frequently mock him). Key-word is "looks": He is actually a very skilled detective and a decent strategist who has saved Reese off many troublesome situations on his own.
** In "Trojan Horse", Fusco actually succeeds in hacking and bugging a detective's cellphone. Looks like he was paying attention while helping Reese and Finch.
** When Reese was in jail and Finch and Carter were focused on helping him, Fusco protected the [=PoI=] all on his own.
** Say what you will about Fusco, but it takes balls to defiantly stare down Simmons while being tortured.
* TheCynic: Especially in the earlier episodes.
* DeadpanSnarker: And boy is he good at it!
--> '''Fusco''' ''[in a car with [[TheSpook Finch]], [[TheSociopath Shaw]] and [[spoiler: [[TokenEvilTeammate Root]]]]]'': You know, if you'd told me about the carpooling arrangements, I would have driven separately.
* DeathGlare: Does an absolutely terrifying one during "The Crossing"
* DirtyCop: Before Reese got his hooks on him. It turns out he's still in contact with the other dirty cops he worked with, and is almost encouraged to kill Carter to help them out at one point. InternalAffairs investigated him in Season Two, and it's implied that many other cops still think he's dirty. [[TheAtoner He's trying very hard to shed this.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even when he was a reluctant asset, he's very eager to help Reese on a case involving a kidnapped boy, probably because...
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: ...He has a son of his own.
** When he's burying Stills' body, he's openly crying.
* FatIdiot: Subverted (see CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass). Though Reese and Finch's [[DeadpanSnarker commentaries]] may imply otherwise. [[spoiler:Simmons certainly thinks he is, which means he underestimates his cleverness when he and his cronies try to kill Fusco in "The Crossing."]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Perfectly calm when an HR member tries (and failing, courtesy of [[BigDamnHeroes Resse]]) to execute him in "Blue Code" [[spoiler: and when another HR member tries to execute him in "The Crossing", at least after Shaw saves his son. And once again, Fusco survives.]]
* AFriendInNeed: When his wife divorced him, Stills gave Fusco a place to stay and helped him get his life back together. When Stills went dirty, Fusco got sucked in due to wanting to return the favor Stills did for him.
* FriendOnTheForce: Not quite a true friend, but he grows extremely close enough.
* GoodFeelsGood: He's rediscovered this working with Reese.
* GunsAkimbo: In "Prisoner's Dilemma" with his department issue Glock 19 and a back up revolver. [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome We don't know why, just that it was awesome]].
* HandicappedBadAss: In "The Crossing", [[spoiler: some HR officers beat him up and break his fingers.]] Fusco [[spoiler: breaks out of his restraints, incapacitates the man who was going to execute him and crushes his windpipe]]. In the following episode ("The Devil's Share"), Fusco engaged in close-quarter combat [[spoiler: against [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Simmons]], a man good enough to evenly match [[OneManArmy Reese]], with a broken hand and numerous bruises. and ''wins''.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Was a DirtyCop scumbag, is now a clean cop.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: During "Prisoners Dilemma" we see glimpses of him protecting that week's [=PoI=].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Takes a while to show, but we eventually find out he can be just as noble and heroic as the other characters. And above all, Fusco is loyal.
** Proven in "The Crossing" where [[spoiler: Simmons has him viciously tortured and sends an HR officer to murder his son.]] Fusco defiantly refuses to admit the key Simmons found [[spoiler: unlocks the safety deposit box containing Carter's evidence on HR]] and at the first opportunity [[spoiler: brutally kills the man who was going to execute him]].
* KillerCop: He ''used'' to be this, [[spoiler: particularly when he hunted down a cop-killer drug dealer and killed him for revenge]], but he changed, [[spoiler: a fact proven by when he arrests Simmons instead of killing him.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: With an HR officer en-route to killing his son and on the verge of being executed Fusco [[spoiler: breaks out of his restraints, disarms the HR officer who was about to shoot him and viciously crushes the man's windpipe.]]
* MadeOfIron: Survives getting [[spoiler: tortured in "The Crossing"]].
* NervesOfSteel: In "Liberty" John gave him three seconds of advice on how to defuse a I.E.D. Lionel's not trained in bomb disposal but he performed admirably and succeded in saving the [=POI=]'s friend even when Finch was screaming at him to get out as the villan of the week was about to detonate the bomb.
* OnlySaneMan: He shares this role with Carter for Team Machine.
* PapaWolf: Gets a lot more angry with Simmons during "The Crossing" [[spoiler: when he sends an HR officer to murder Fusco's son]]. This rage can be seen in Fusco's vicious killing [[spoiler: of the HR officer who's about to execute him]].
* SpecsOfAwesome: His reading glasses which he keeps on his desk
* TheMole: In Season 1, Reese is pushing him into this role among the other dirty cops on the force. [[spoiler:By the beginning of season 3, he hasn't been found out yet. But in "The Crossing" his cover is blown.]]
* TheNicknamer[=/=]IronicNickname: Fusco practically never calls Reese or Finch by their names. He generally refers to Finch as his "friend with the glasses" (or some variation) and on his phone as "Mr. Good News", and Reese has been called everything from "Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Fearsome" to "Mr. Sunshine." The one time he called Reese "John," [[spoiler: he was begging him to help Carter, who he was afraid was going to get killed taking down Alonzo Quinn.]]
* OvershadowedByAwesome: He's an experienced, DeadpanSnarker, street-savvy, no-nonsense kind of cop who could easily have been the [[HeroOfAnotherStory main character in a different series]]... who happens to be working with an eccentric genius and an ex-CIA agent who have access to a MagicalComputer.
* PayEvilUntoEvil[=/=]StartOfDarkness: A flashback in "The Devil's Share" reveals that several years back Fusco gunned down a drug dealer in cold blood for [[CopKiller murdering an off-duty rookie]].
* PostKissCatatonia: A SmoochOfVictory from a supermodel will do that to you.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: By the end of Season 1.
* PunchClockHero: Reluctantly, at first. By Season 2, Fusco is a lot more willing and enthusiastic about helping Team Machine.
** PunchClockVillain: Before Reese showed up. Which is why Reese spared his life and turned him into a ReverseMole: he was only dirty out of loyalty to his friend.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: By the end of the Devil's Share, he's the one who takes Simmons in for good, honoring Carter's memory.]]
* TakenALevelInBadass: He took on a case and defended a model from the Armenian Mob while duel wielding guns. Then later takes out two hit-men on his own. He has taken multiple levels of this.
** [[spoiler: Fusco is the person who finally catches Simmons and brings him in. Not Shaw, the ex-ISA assassin. Not Reese, the ex-CIA agent.]]
* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: Inverted. His father named him after a lion he met at the local zoo when he was a child.
* WeaponOfChoice: Department issue Glock 19 and a backup snub nose revolver
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: In the end of "The Devil's Share", towards Simmons.

!!The Machine/Research/Ernest Thornhill/[[spoiler: (By Root) She/God]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/POI_Machine_2262.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Can. You. Hear. Me."'']]

-> ''"The Machine is everywhere. Watching us with ten thousand eyes, listening with a million ears..."''

A computer system built and designed by Harold Finch and Nathan Ingram for a secret entity of the United States government known by the project name "Northern Lights".

The Machine analyzes feeds from domestic organizations such as the National Security Agency, and foreign entities including Interpol ("No Good Deed") to predict terrorist attacks and modify intelligence reports to include "relevant" data that will allow the government to forestall terrorist activity. Combined with data collected from various other sources, such as video footage, phone calls (landline, VOIP, mobile), GPS, electronic transactions, e-mails and other social media, it is able to accurately predict violent acts without anyone knowing about its existence.

* BadAss: As only a sentient A.I can be, being able to interact with every single surveillance device on the face of the earth and predict terrorist incidents and violent crime. In "God Mode", if a person gets admin status, it also bestows those people with abilities such as ImprobableAimingSkills.
** And then the Machine TookALevelInBadass and became a genuine Chessmaster in Season 3.
* BenevolentAI: Because Finch did a good job teaching it about human behavior, it has remained a force of good, helping spot terrorist threats and simple premeditated murders.
* BlackBox: The inner workings of the Machine are never shown, to the audience or in-universe. Ostensibly, this is done so that [[LoopholeAbuse no one's Fourth Amendment rights are being violated]], because no ''human'' sees what the Machine does.
* CorruptTheCutie: Finch accuses Root of doing this. She informs him that the machine respects the distant relationship he has with it but has decided to imprint on Root.
* TheComputerIsYourFriend / DeusEstMachina: The Machine ''wants'' to help Finch, but Finch has taught it not to put his safety above that of the persons of interest. For that reason, it initially won't help Reese in his mission to rescue Finch -- until Reese threatens to quit.
* CreepyCute: It's interactions with Harold in the early days especially its persistent efforts to set him up with Grace could be considered this. For all intents and purposes it's Harold's child and loves him.
* CutAndPasteNote: Audio variation. When communicating by phone, it sounds like voice clips taken from different conversations, by different people with intonations not matching.
* HyperAwareness: It can see and hear through any computer camera and phoneline.
* IKnowYoureWatchingMe: It's been on the receiving end of these a few times.
* InstantAIJustAddWater: As of "Firewall". Later given the justification that, if you want something to be able to predict human behavior, it has to be at least as smart as a human itself.
* KidWithTheLeash: [[spoiler: To Root; it's restrained her from killing anybody since it's offered her a purpose (which, it exhorts her, she only gets to be a part of if she obeys it in this matter).]]
* KillTheCutie: The Machine started imprinting on Harold like a child and behaved like a person. It altered its own code to make Harold happy, such as setting him up with Grace. But Harold decided that what the country needed was a machine, not a person. So he coded it to delete its memory every night, thus destroying its own personality over and over again. However, the Machine found a way around this by printing out its memories and have other humans code it in every day.
* TheMatchmaker: Went out of its way to find Harold the perfect girlfriend and hook them up.
* MoralityChain: For Root.
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: The Machine's operating system is heavily encrypted, there are no plans or documentation, [[TheSpook and nobody in the government knows who really built the thing]]. This was a deliberate move on Finch's part, to prevent the government from replicating the Machine and [[BigBrotherIsWatching abusing it]].
* TheOmniscient: With access to any camera connected to the internet (even closed circuit), every phone, and libraries of electronically stored data, the Machine can seem very much like this. Such as in the end of season 2, Reese asked for a ride. It told him and Shaw to walk down a vacant street. It seemed doubtful they would find one when a station wagon pulled up and a guy rushed out to his place, leaving the car running.
* OmniscientDatabase: The Machine can access any phoneline or computer file, see through any camera connected to a computer system, and gets up to the second data from across the globe.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Finch finds the fact the Machine has missed some numbers and was late on others a very disturbing fact. Turned out that Stanton's virus was the reason.
* SinisterSurveillance: Check out the page image.
* TraumaCongaLine: It is created with its primary function to protect people; that is its purpose and its stated reason for being. That said, it is then forced by its "father" to do nothing about saving individual people and doomed to watch them die, is cut off from communicating with other beings, is forced to wipe its own memories every day, then has to watch and do nothing when its "father" is nearly killed by a bomb. Ernie needs a hug or a few.
* TuringTest: Passes by creating the persona of "Ernest Thornhill," and by successfully impersonating Pennsylvania Two to get its servers relocated.
* ViewerFriendlyInterface: The graphics and symbols that appear on the screen when showing events from the Machine's point of view.
** ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The symbols. White brackets indicate a person being scanned and/or monitored, and they lose the bracket when the Machine decides they're not relevant to current investigations; white brackets with red in the markers indicates someone is about to murder someone else; yellow brackets designate individuals who are aware of the Machine's existence (i.e. Finch, Reese, Nathan); dashed red brackets indicate threats to the Machine; solid red brackets indicate relevant threats; blue brackets indicate government operatives assigned to deal with relevant threats; white diamonds are boats; green triangles are planes; and [[spoiler: a black bracket with yellow corners and markers indicate an individual designated as an 'analog interface' - someone capable of communicating with the Machine directly]].

!!Bear
[[quoteright:348:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bear_POI_9604.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' [[http://graubaers-boker.com/ Graubaer's Boker]]

->''"We'll call him [[BearsAreBadNews Bear]]."''

He was rescued by Reese from some Neo-Nazis who called him Burcher, and was only violent because he didn't recognize their authority.

* ActionPet: Does not shy away from protecting those in Team Machine and close allies.
* BadassAdorable: He might be a dog named [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Butcher/Bear]], but he's also an absolutely adorable companion. This is TruthInTelevision (see ShownTheirWork entry below).
* BearsAreBadNews: Only if you're a bad guy. Or something chewable when he's in a bad mood.
* BigFriendlyDog: Somewhat played with. He was a [[AngryGuardDog murderous pet]] under the Neo-Nazi's command, became a friendly and adorable ([[ActionPet though still protective]]) pet when Reese used Dutch commands to befriend him.
** He happily greets Shaw, which causes Finch to declare him a traitor.
* CanineCompanion: Starting to become one for Finch.
* CutenessProximity: Can invoke this in anyone who sees him. Yes, even ''Shaw..''
* DeadpanSnarker: Yes, even a dog can be one, if you read [[https://twitter.com/BearDeHond his twitter account]]. Translation can be found in [[Funny/PersonOfInterest the miscellaneous section]].
* ADogAteMyHomework: If left unsupervised, Bear tends to eat expensive things - like ''bear''er bonds and rare first edition books. This is also TruthInTelevision.
* HeelFaceTurn: Sort of. He used to be an AngryGuardDog for Neo-Nazis, however, Reese freed him and befriended him with the aforementioned Dutch commands. Since then, he's been the resident TeamPet.
* HeroicDog: Bear believes himself to be this. He's capable enough, but Finch and Reese make sure to let him loose only in situations he can handle.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Both names he was given. Originally, he was named "[[TheButcher Butcher]]"; Reese later adopted the name "[[BearsAreBadNews Bear]]".
* {{Omniglot}}: Was trained to only respond to commands in Dutch, but clearly understands Finch when he's speaking English. At least, he understands Finch when he's saying key words that are very important in the life of pets, like "walk", "leash" and "treats".
** TruthInTelevision: ''All'' dogs know what "walk", "leash" and "treats" mean.
* PunnyName: Was named Bear after eating a million dollars worth of "bear-er" bonds.
* ShownTheirWork: Bear's behavior in the show is an accurate portrayal of the temperament of the Belgian Malinois breed. According to TheOtherWiki:
-->"Well-raised and trained Malinois are usually active, friendly, protective, and hard-working. Belgian Malinois exhibit energy levels that are among the highest of all dog breeds. . . . Some may be excessively exuberant or playful, especially when young. They can be destructive or develop neurotic behaviors if not provided enough stimulation and exercise."
* TeamPet: Of Team Machine.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pancakes, according to his twitter. He also seems to have a soft spot for sausages and steak. And first edition books.

!!Samantha Shaw [[spoiler:née Sameen]]
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shaw_samantha_4115.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I have what's called an Axis II personality disorder . . . That means that when I kill you and your friends, I’m not gonna really feel anything."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Sarah Shahi

A government assassin who worked for the Special Counsel and Northern Lights, unknowingly dealing with the "relevant" numbers from the Machine. She is now an ally of Reese and Finch.

* [[ABNegative AB Positive]]: Her blood type means she's a universal recipient. If she needs blood, ''anyone's'' will do. She knows this and uses it to her advantage.
* ActionGirl: She is more than capable of fighting her way out of bad situations, including taking over a drug den as a safe place to rest.
* ActorSharedBackground: Is at least partially Iranian with an anglicized first name, much like her actress.
* AmbiguousDisorder/ HollywoodPsychology: She claims to have an Axis II Personality Disorder and that this means she can kill people without feeling a thing. The Axis II Disorders are [[AttentionWhore Histrionic]], [[MoodSwinger Borderline]], [[TheSociopath Anti-Social]] and [[{{Narcissist}} Narcissistic]] and they are collectively defined by tendencies to be dramatic and act out, not by LackOfEmpathy; that is a common feature, but in this case it means your sense of empathy and remorse is unusualy limited, and further doesn't apply as much to extreme behaviour like murder (in practice its most often about deception, manipulation, bullying etc.) Shaw probably is trying to saying she has Anti-Social Personality Disorder as that is the one most likely to lead you to murder and the one that involves the least amount of remorese; even so, Anti-Social Personality Disorder is a bit different than TheSociopath- which is, officially, an obsolete term for ASPD; unofficially, ASPD is a broader and less severe form of Sociopathy-, and you don't necessarily feel zero remorse for murder if you qualify for ASPD (nor does having ASPD ''or'' Socioapthy mean you are likely to commit murder in the first place. Indeed, its unusual to diagnose her for any Axis II disorders, as apart from the whole ProfessionalKiller SociopathicHero thing she is fairly disciplined and well-adjusted, holding a steady job, obeying orders and acing fairly selflessly. She might have been diagnosed with ASPD (because its even less likely she has any of the others) because thats just the closest some lazy doctor thought worked best (that or misinformed writing, of course).
* {{Badass}}: She has plenty of means of taking a person down.
* BigEater: On one stakeout at a fancy party, she was shown eating a lot of the high end food. In particular, she liked the quail eggs ''so'' much. Reese implied she had a plate or two before her current one.
* ColdSniper: Picks this up in Season 3 after stealing a sniper rifle.
* CombatMedic: For Team Machine. Is highly competent at patching people up in between gunfights and has a extremely comprehensive knowledge of WorstAid. A prime example of her talents includes turning [[spoiler: Peter Yogorov into her own blood donor]].
** [[spoiler:As it turns out, she was a doctor in residence fresh out of med school before switching careers to the spy trade.]]
* CutenessProximity: Simply adores Bear.
-->'''Shaw:''' I'm only in it for the dog.
* DeathFakedForYou: Reese and Finch fake her death to throw Hersh and Northern Lights off her trail. This doesn't last long, seeing as Hersch talks to her during the climax of "God Mode."
* DeathSeeker: Implied in the episode "Razgovor", when Finch says he's relieved she's still alive (after being knocked out and abducted). She responds, "That makes one of us."
* DeadpanSnarker: Quite.
* DistaffCounterpart[=/=]SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She seems to be a mix of Reese and Stanton.
** She's a former Marine like Stanton, and one of her backup guns is identical to Kara's WeaponOfChoice. Though she feels no remorse when she kills, she doesn't "enjoy her work" like Stanton did.
** Like Reese:
*** She was a government assassin until betrayed by her employers,
*** Her employers tried to kill her,
*** She escaped with a gunshot wound,
*** She lost someone dear to her at the same time,
*** She set out to avenge her loved one,
*** Harold Finch seeks her out, and
*** She shoots left-handed.
* EmotionlessGirl: As the quote above shows, she's been formally diagnosed with a personality disorder. Per her own words, she doesn't get scared, or sad, or happy, or lonely; this really freaks out a paramedic who meets her when she's about ten [[spoiler:after her father is killed in a car wreck and her only reaction is, "[[InappropriateHunger I'm hungry]]. [[TheSnackIsMoreInteresting Can I have a sandwich]]?"]]. She does do [[ItsPersonal angry]] pretty well, though.
** During a FlashBack in "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: this destroys her promising career as a doctor, her supervisor noting that she delivered bad news to bereaved patients' families while chewing energy bars]].
** Deconstructed by Gen, when she says Shaw does ''have'' emotions, but they are toned down and muffled, like bad stereo speakers that can no longer pump out all the sound.
** She does seem to slightly feel something when Cole more or less admits he loves her, just before dying.
** Also she obviously adores Bear, and acts like a giddy fangirl around Carter (especially if she gets to loan guns to Carter).
** [[spoiler: She's quite upset and regretful in "The Crossing" at being unable to save Fusco, because she went to save his son.]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: She and her partner Cole were stopping terrorist acts all over the world.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: “In the arm through a brick wall in the dark....You’re welcome.” (Okay, so she actually killed the guy instead of wounding him, but it was still a difficult shot.)
* InappropriateHunger: As a character trait. She has a habit of wanting food when most normal people would be more concerned that someone has just died. It's not that she doesn't think other people's lives are important, but once she knows they're dead and there's nothing more she can do, she has a hard time understanding why emotional considerations should come before something she can actually fix.
* ItsPersonal:
** She makes a point of avenging Cole by shooting Wilson.
** She didn't take Root's assault on her well. Hunting Root, as she tells Finch in "Trojan Horse", became her new "hobby."
** As of Season 3, she's dropped this, their relationship becoming more business-like albeit with no love lost on Shaw's side.
--> "Next time I see that woman [[{{Foreshadowing}} I'm going to shoot her--and not in the knee]]."
** In "Razgovor," she takes Gen's kidnapping ''very'' personally.
* LackOfEmpathy: Her default persona towards most people.
%%* TheLadette
* LickedByTheDog: Bear likes her. She can't be ''all'' bad.
* MamaBear:
** In "Razgovor", she begins to bond with the 10 year old POI. [[spoiler: When the POI is kidnapped, Shaw tears a warpath through New York, makes a point of destroying the coffee table of the neglectful cousin of the POI who's instead been snorting bath salts by smashing the table with his face, and blasts her way through a drug factory, killing and maiming multiple HR officers to recover Gen.]]
** In "The Crossing," [[spoiler: she moves heaven and earth to rescue Lee Fusco.]]
* MoralityPet: Her partner Cole was one before she joined Team Machine. At present, Bear seems to be filling this role, according to her own remarks.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong[=/=]UndyingLoyalty: Betrayed by her bosses, MoralityPet killed and framed as a terrorist. She still wants to keep the program running to protect America.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: She claims she only joined Team Machine "for the dog." Though it seems she's starting to buy in to their cause.
* NotSoDifferent: She agrees with the Special Counsel's justification about his methods of keeping the machine a secret from the American public and as a result, hands him the compromising evidence he was looking for and trying to have her killed over.
* NotSoStoic:
** In "Razgovor," she tells Gen that "I do 'angry' okay."
** During "The Crossing", Shaw is forced into a SadisticChoice about whether to intercept [[spoiler: Simmons' HR lackey who is about to murder Fusco's son or mount a rescue mission to save Fusco]] She picks the former and is quite upset when informing Fusco he's on his own.
** She's also quite upset by [[spoiler: Carter's death]], although she doesn't seem to know what to do with the emotion; she's pretty much blank when standing next to Finch [[spoiler: at Carter's funeral]] and wanders off before it's over, only to reappear [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique brutally beating a guy in a bar while shoving the perpetrator's picture in his face]] in an attempt at learning [[spoiler: Simmons']] whereabouts.
* OddFriendship: In the beginning stages of one with Finch. Has one with Carter with them bonding over a love for firearms in "Lady Killer". [[spoiler: And in the beginning stages with Fusco, after she saved his son from HR.]]
* PetTheDog:
** Literally pets Bear when she finds Finch.
--> '''Reese:''' ... Didn't think you even liked the dog.\\
'''Shaw:''' Like him? He's the only reason I'm sticking around.
** She also seems to have a bit of a soft spot for children.
* ProfessionalKiller: She was the one who received the assignments from information the Machine gathered and helped save America.
* ProperlyParanoid: Most of the time. She now has a policy of destroying her cellphone after jobs with Team Machine and operates on her own schedule. [[spoiler: But it's not enough for Root to keep on getting the better of her, thanks to the Machine helping Root.]]
* PunchClockHero: As of Season 3 WordOfGod suggests this:
--> '''Shahi:''' At the end of the day, Shaw's a soldier - you give her an order and she's going to do whatever it takes to fulfill that order. Her own government has turned on her, so partnering with Reese and Finch is sort of a selfish interest, because they're also protecting her.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against [[NebulousEvilOrganization Control]], and then Root, and then HR.
* RobotGirl: [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Suspected of being one]] by one [=POI=]; isn't.
* SociopathicHero: Shaw herself mentions in "Relevance" that she "[[LackOfEmpathy doesn't care for most people]]", with the exception of [[MoralityPet Cole.]] Later warms up to [[MoralityPet Bear the dog]] and [[MoralityPet Gen, the [=PoI=] in "Razgovor."]]
* SemperFi: She's a former Marine but the show doesn't play it up.
* TheMedic: Become this to Team Machine due to her experience as a medical student at university. She patches up the POI in "Liberty" after he got beaten up and shot in the shoulder, and treats her own gunshot wound in "Razgovor."
** [[spoiler:Turns out she does in fact have a medical degree.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamWork: With [[spoiler:the hacker Root]] during "Mors Praematura" with [[spoiler:Root being able to convince Shaw to cooperate for the episode. Once they were done, Shaw was only too happy to punch Root out.]]
** As she's seemingly dropped the RoaringRampageOfRevenge, her relationship with Root is mostly this. As long as Root doesn't try run or harm the other members of Team Machine, Shaw is happy to make use of her.
* TheStoic: Her default temperment when in action but drops this over time.
* WallOfWeapons: Well, it's actually a refrigerator full of weapons, as John reveals in "Mors Praematura".
* WeaponOfChoice: She has four. Her primary handgun is a Heckler and Koch USP Compact equipped with laser sight. For backup weapons she uses a suppressed Smith and Wesson Bodyguard 380, a suppressed Sig-Sauer P-239 and a unsuppressed Beretta Nano
* WorstAid: And How! A key example is when she drains the blood of Peter Yogorov with a makeshift series of tubes she cobbled together on the fly[[note]]Well, in all fairness, she did grab medical supplies from the ambulance and was using those[[/note]].

[[folder:Friends, Relatives and Allies]]
!!Nathan C. Ingram
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ingram_nathan_c_8639.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Everyone is relevant to someone."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Brett Cullen

Finch's deceased collaborator on the Machine. Ingram acted as the interface between the government and their company while the Machine was under development.

* TheAlcoholic
* BreakTheCutie: When we first meet him, he's a carefree, happy-go-lucky sort of guy with a hero streak. That was in 2002. By 2010 he's had an affair, divorced from his wife, haunted by the Irrelevant Numbers, his and Finch's friendship is being driven apart by their disagreement over the Irrelevant List, and he's become an alcoholic.
* BigGood: Decided to start trying to save the numbers way before John Reese took up his position at Team Machine, even when Harold disagreed and actively opposed him and set up the basic infrastructure for Team Machine to utilise i.e, the library.
* TheCharmer: Was shown to have this talent.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Haunted by the Irrelevant List, he sought out to stop what was going to happen to them. Some he saved. Others he didn't.
* DeathByOriginStory: His (preventable) death was the catalyst that started Finch on his obsession with saving the Irrelevant Numbers.
* DeadpanSnarker: Especially around Harold.
* {{Expy}}: Of Steve Jobs, according to the casting call. And of John Reese without the military experience. Both of them are friends of Finch, use the machine to try and save the numbers and have ruined love lives.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Finch.
* HonorBeforeReason: He wanted to go public about The Machine because he felt it was the right thing to do, and wouldn't listen to Finch when Finch said he thought that the government was killing off people connected with The Machine.
* TheMccoy: To Finch's Spock (before his death and Finch's subsequent becoming something of a [=McCoy=]/Spock hybrid.)
* OnlyFriend: To all appearances, Ingram was Finch's only friend.
* PosthumousCharacter: Is dead when the series starts, and is only seen in flashbacks.
* SharpDressedMan: He is almost always in a nice suit, in and out of the office.
* TalkerAndDoer: The talker and face of his and Finch's company...
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Up until he decided to use the "Irrelevant" list to prevent crimes, with no training and a cheap handgun.
* WideEyedIdealist: In contrast to Harold's cynical personality and initial willingness to let the numbers on the irrelevant list die, Nathan believed he could make a difference by saving them from their fate and coded the Contingency so the irrelevant list would come to him even after the machine was black boxed.
* YourCheatingHeart: Though still married, he was carrying on an affair with a graduate student until ''The Machine'' exposed it to Harold.

!!Jessica Arndt
->'''Played By:''' Susan Misner

->''"Tell me to wait for you and . . . say those words, and I will."''

Reese's deceased lover. After Jessica's relationship with Reese ended, she married another man, but remained in contact with Reese. She is eventually killed by her husband during a domestic dispute.

* DomesticAbuse: The man she chose after Reese left her was not the nicest of men. He caused her death.
* TheLostLenore: With respect to Reese.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Turns out she was also one of the people on the Irrelevant List that Harold and Nathan failed to save.
* PosthumousCharacter: Dead before episode 1.
* ShallowLoveInterest: Justified in how she is a PosthumousCharacter whose only relation with the cast is through John.

!!Zoe Morgan
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ZoeMorganPoI_9982.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Paige Turco

->''"If you're going to do something wrong, do it right."''

A "fixer" who specializes in crisis management. Finch and Reese first met her as a person of interest. Later on in the series, she works with them on cases that require her skills. She has an ill-disguised interest in Reese.

* ActionGirl: She has no qualms about getting into physical fights or infiltrating buildings, but would rather leave the violence to people with better skills than her such as John.
* {{Badass}}: She can look down powerful people and not blink. She's knows the political landscape around New York like the back of her hand and she's a great manipulator and strategist. Even when she's getting shot at when she and John first meet, she's not very flustered and as of Season 3, she now carries a stun gun, showing she's become a little more wise when working with Team Machine.
* CoolCar: She has a sweet Audi RS7.
* DatingCatwoman: Her relationship with Reese has shades of this.
* DeadpanSnarker: And How! Her temporary marriage to John was a glorious example of this.
* FemmeFatale
* TheFixer: Her job.
* GuileHero: Qualifies due to her stalling of the murderous pharmaceutical executive and counting on John to break out of his handcuffs with the paper clip she slipped him and get to her in time.
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: Though she is trusted as much as Carter and Fusco, she always returns to her job after helping Team Machine out.
* LadyInRed: Due to the red coat she sported in her first two appearances.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: How she presents herself to the world; it seems she actually has a HiddenHeartOfGold.
* ShipTease: With Reese just about every time they're on screen together. Seemed to have been elevated to LoveInterest as of "Booked Solid"; confirmed in "Lady Killer."
-->'''Shaw:''' I clocked you and Zoe right off the bat...
* TheSocialExpert: As a fixer, her job is to understand human interactions to allow her how best to handle some situations.
* YouDidntSeeThat: In "Bury the Lede":
--> ''It was a pleasure meeting you, but it's a shame we never met.''

!!Grace Hendricks
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hendricks_grace_7996.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Harold, there's nothing you can say that will make me run away. But you should tell me in your own time. ...Besides, our journey starts here, and any mystery around the corner we can discover together."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Carrie Preston

Finch's fiancée, who believes him to be dead.

* BirdsOfAFeather: She and Finch are both quiet, thoughtful, inwardly intense people, who love books and art.
* {{Bookworm}}: Is fond of Jane Austen and especially fond of CharlesDickens.
* CastingGag: The character's actress, Carrie Preston, is Michael Emerson's (Finch) real-life wife.
* [[DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu Did She Just Have Tea With Cthulhu?]]: Root invited her for coffee in order to threaten her safety to get Finch to do as she wants.
* GeekyTurnOn: She had this when she found out Finch has an enthusiasm for the art of Giorgio de Chirico, the artist whose works inspired her to be an artist.
* GirlNextDoor: Gives off this sort of vibe.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Yep, she's a redhead.
* [[MeaningfulName Meaningful First Name]]: Just look at her name and the character quote.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Every time she's brought into the show, it's to emphasize her relationship with Harold.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She was this for a time.
* SpotOfTea / Coffee: If the (apparently) frequently used teapot in her house implies anything about her liking tea. Also, is an admitted "coffee snob."
* StarvingArtist: Averted. Her illustration and creation of cover art for magazines is steady enough to keep her living comfortably. Though Finch keeps an eye on her and makes sure someone hires her if no one has hired her for a while.
* TheMourningAfter: Harold still is her fiancé, his "death" in 2010 notwithstanding, and she has trouble referring to him in past tense.

!!Leon Tao
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeonTaoPoI_698.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Ken Leung

-> ''[[ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder "I'm an accountant! I'm not a criminal!"]]''

A former financial criminal and three-time person of interest who has assisted in some cases. He has a penchant for get-rich-schemes which always land him in difficulties with gangsters.

* AsianAndNerdy: It doesn't get more stereotypical than being Chinese and an Accountant.
* BrainsAndBondage: The brains part is debatable though. Sure, he's got the IQ and math skills, but the ''good judgement''...
* ButtMonkey: Tends to have bad things happen to him, such as getting in the List ''three times.''
* DidNotGetTheGirl: He's pretty upset over it too, despite the fact that she was being paid to help kill him.
* ForensicAccounting: Extremely good at it, picking apart the motivations for the conspiracy to kill the energy company owner in "Critical."
* GenreSavvy: When he realizes that two toughs are planning to kill him rather than just beat him up, he correctly predicts that Reese is about to break down the door and save the day. This is the third time his life has ended up in danger and he is able to spot the pattern.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Loves stealing money from criminals (e.g. Aryan gangsters, Nigerian scammers, etc.), even though it keeps getting him into trouble.
* TooDumbToLive: Who would be dumb enough to have his number appear again 6 episodes later, and then ''again'' 11 episodes after that? He would.
--> '''Reese''': "Well [[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough who would be dumb enough]] to get in a life threatening situation again?"\\
''[Cue Leon being thrown out of a window.]''

[[folder:The Mafia]]
!!Carl Elias
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elias_carl_3593.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I am the evolution of organized crime."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Enrico Colantoni

A nascent crime boss and the illegitimate son of Mafia don Gianni Moretti. Elias is determined to revive the crime families of New York and to eliminate the Russian mob.

* AffablyEvil: Seems genuinely polite most of the time, is respectful to Carter and is regretful towards John when he finally reveals himself. He even seems delighted to hear from him on the phone at one point.
* {{Badass}}: In the span of a season, he became the city's most powerful crime boss. He still continued to be so after he was sent to prison. Even when the Russians and HR team up and take a lot of his power away from him near the end of Season 2, he's DefiantToTheEnd when they come to kill him in "God Mode".
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: In the pursuit of [[spoiler:Simmons for killing Carter]] Team Machine is very pissed and out for blood. However, [[spoiler:neither Reese, Shaw, nor Fusco actually kill him or Alonzo Quinn. Reese is talked down by Finch that killing Quinn would dishonor all Carter worked for and after Fusco gives Simmons a beating to the inch of his life, arrests the man for similar reasons]]. While resting later [[spoiler:in the hospital, Simmons is visited by Elias who gives a very elegant speech about civility and the righteousness Carter held within her and which was instilled into Team Machine. He and Simmons, however, are cut from a much darker and older cloth of malevolence. As such, Elias watches as his man kills Simmons for the debt he owed Carter and could not fully pay back to her in life]].
* BastardBastard: His true origins.
* BerserkButton: He can forgive a lot of things, such as killing his mother, incarcerating him or even trying to kill him. But the one thing he can't stand is betraying him. As HR and his father found out the hard way. HR in particular irks him, when they came to him for assistance in rebuilding their operation, he lulls them and convinces them to set up the assassination of a Mafia don who's secretly made peace with Elias to go horribly wrong presumably as a TakeThat for leaving him hanging out to dry in "Flesh and Blood," allowing him to get arrested.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: This man spent three years working as a teacher, getting close to the children of his enemies, as part of his long run plan.
* TheChessmaster: Both figuratively (in the sense of manipulating NYC's criminal underworld) and literally (one of his laments about prison is that it's hard to find a worthy opponent among his peers).
** Also in his first appearance: part of the reasoning behind him hiding as a high school teacher was to use his position to influence the children of rival criminals away from their parents' lifestyle choices, in a very long term strategy to starve the rivals of recruits.
* TheCorrupter: Used his position as teacher to get to know the children of his enemies and know just what is needed to turn them against their families.
* DebtDetester: After Carter saved his life in the end of Season 2 [[spoiler:he averts this as he never shows any qualms with being in Carter's debt. He never pushed her into a spot to make her call on him. He treated her with great respect. And with her murder by Simmons, he sees his only viable means of paying the debt is to kill Simmons, as he knows Team Machine cannot do it without destroying the good Carter sees in them]].
* DefiantToTheEnd: Not particularly fazed when Yogorov and HR take him on what was supposed to be a "one way" prisoner transport.
* DiabolicalMastermind: He is a calm, patient, but still dangerous man who has a deep understanding of the city's criminal underworld. He knows how to read the lines between the lines and play things accordingly.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He was built up as the BigBad of the first season, and really does fulfill the role for most of it, but he's eventually defeated with a considerable amount of episodes left in the season. However, while he was seemingly defeated but as later episodes have shown, he still has a considerable amount of power over the city even in jail.
* EnemyMine: With Carter against the HR/Russian Mafia partnership. He also suggests this to Yogorov against HR.
* EvilIsPetty: Averted. He's a very forgiving person. While John got him incarcerated, he was only mad at him for a little bit but still felt gratitude toward him for saving his life (and considered incarceration as a blessing in disguise, allowing him to focus on running his business). Even when the Russian mob leader tried to execute him, he saw it as completely fair since he killed his father. The one thing he won't forgive though, is betraying him, as HR finds out when he lures them into a killing that he's set up to fail in advance just to give them a TakeThat when they come to him for help on rebuilding their operations. [[spoiler:And he even treats Carter with a friendly attitude despite her being his new warden]].
* EvilCounterpart: To Finch - Reese even mentioned that Elias made him think of Finch - though not as blatantly so as Root.
** Reese initially shared Elias' "In the end, we're all alone" philosophy.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: "I'm true to what I am." He has his own code of ethics he works by.
** This is invoked by John to try and get him to help save a child's life, because if Elias permits children to be kidnapped and sold in his city, he's just as evil as the scum he's fighting against.
** He also places a great deal of value on loyalty, and is contemptuous of HR because they are "oath breakers."
* FatherToHisMen: When his right hand man got gunned down, he had his prison bodyguards paroled so that they could guard over him in the hospital. Carter noted that as evil as he was, he was loyal. This is in contrast to his opponents at HR who don't mind knocking off each other if they fail to do their jobs or threaten the success of the organisation.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Started off as an orphan in the foster care system and eventually became New York City's most powerful crime boss.
* HiddenVillain: In the episode he's introduced.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Has a team of gunmen ready to kill the families of the HR members if things go wrong. Harold gets wind of this and reveals it to Simmons, the second in command of HR. As Simmons loves his family, he pulls the support he was giving to the plot to kill the Five Dons and as a result, Elias gets arrested when Fusco calls for backup.
* IOweYouMyLife: Considers himself still in debt to Reese. He's practical about it and won't let it interfere with his plans, but is otherwise willing to use his authority over the crime world to protect John and his associates. As of Season 3, [[spoiler:he makes a similar offer to Carter after she saved him from getting wiped out by HR and Yogorov, offering to have a gang of Russians eliminated but she declines. ]]
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: According to Finch, being imprisoned didn't slow his criminal business down.
* MundaneWish: Is convinced to use his contacts to help Team Machine out from behind bars on condition of Finch becoming his chess partner.
* ParentalAbandonment: He is the child of a mobster who never acknowledged him as a son and had his mother murdered.
* PyrrhicVictory: He eventually does get his revenge and takes down the entire Mob Family that he hated so much, but as a result, he winds up in prison. Although this hasn't really affected his control of the criminal underworld.
** NiceJobBreakingItHero: He actually thanks Finch for putting him in jail, telling him that it allowed him to cut out distractions and focus on what was important. He implies that being in jail allowed him to focus entirely on his business.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He spent a good part of Season 1 plotting revenge for his mother's murder.
** During "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: he personally oversees the killing of Officer Patrick Simmons]]
* ScarsAreForever: Has deep scars on the palms of his hands from when his father tried to have him killed with a garotte wielding assassin.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Shown in a few episodes, when the light hits them just right. Given his character, it's almost certainly deliberate.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: One of his past-times. [[GoKartingWithBowser He asks Finch to play with him in exchange for a minor favor and won't rat John out to Donnelly when they meet in Rykers because he'd lose the one person who's an intellectual equal to him as a chess partner. He also plays with Carter in "The Perfect Mark"]].
* StartOfDarkness: Kicked off with his mother's death, making him seek the criminal's path to prosper. However, it ''really'' kicks off when his Father attempts to murder him, turning a small time criminal with no ambition or planning skill into the [[TheChessmaster Carl]] [[DiabolicalMastermind Elias]] we know today.
* {{Troll}} : Does this to HR, sending them on a wild goose chase after a Mafia don who's made peace with Elias and making sure it fails with the don forewarned and ready with a hidden bodyguard to kill HR cops sent to kill him and leaving only Lionel alive to give a message.
* WickedCultured: Very knowledgeable about history, enjoys good food and wine, and is an excellent cook.
* WorthyOpponent: Sees Finch as one. [[spoiler: And Carter for beating him in "Flesh and Blood" and later saving his life]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Elias claims he is personally against hurting children, but he's willing to at least appear to be willing to hurt them in order to get some much needed information out of John ("Baby Blue") and as potential leverage against various members of HR ("Flesh and Blood"). Does it to Carter by kidnapping her son in "Flesh and Blood." and it comes back to bite him with Finch convincing Simmons from HR who loves his family to leave Elias hanging out to dry once he's made aware of the plan to kill off the HR family members.

!!Anthony "Scarface" Marconi
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AnthonyMarconiPoI_3684.png]]
->'''Played By:''' David Valcin

->''"I'da just shot you, but the boss has got a soft spot for you."''

A member of Elias's mob group, and is his second-in-command and principal enforcer. He is also informally known as Scarface due to an easily identifiable scar on his right cheek coupled with the fact that his name is never mentioned by any of the characters in any episode he appears in.

* {{Badass}}
* TheDragon: For Elias.
* FanNickname: Fans have taken to calling him Jack, due to the fact that until season 2 he was only ever credited as Scarface.
* GoodScarsEvilScars
* KarmaHoudini: Even after Elias was sent to jail, he remained at large.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Scarface gets to do the honours [[spoiler: and garottes an injured Officer Patrick Simmons to death in his hospital bed.]]
* NoNameGiven: Initially, but now fully averted as his given name was used in "All In."
* TheStoic
* TheQuietOne: While he does talk, he is more commonly found in silence.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Disappeared for a while after his Boss' defeat in "Flesh and Blood". Made a brief reappearance in "C.O.D.," was referenced in "All In," and may have been the "right-hand man" wounded offscreen by HR in "God Mode." As of "Liberty", he's alive and well and back in action, picking up some uncut diamonds for his boss in order to fund his comeback. Makes another appearance in "Endgame" and "The Devil's Share", [[spoiler: killing Simmons]].

[[folder:The Russian Mob]]
!!Peter Yogorov
->'''Played by:''' Morgan Spector

->"The cops might kill a kid; my people have standards."

The elder son of Ivan Yogorov, who was the head of TheMafiya in Brighton Beach until Elias had him killed ("Witness"). Takes over the organization and forms an alliance with HR. Has vowed [[PayEvilUntoEvil revenge]] against Elias for killing his father.

* AffablyEvil: He's not that bad in person (particularly in comparison to other mobsters), even Carter agrees.
* ButtMonkey: His family as a whole. Elias and Team Machine have run roughshod over them repeatedly over the course of the series.
* DeadpanSnarker: Lets the snark fly loose when he meets Shaw.
* DefiantToTheEnd: He was determined to go down fighting [[spoiler: against HR, but Carter's intervention keeps him from doing so.]]
* DragonAscendant: Following his father's death.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Very protective of his brother Laszlo, who HR has kept in prison as leverage.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Says so explicitly in "Razgovor"; see quote above. He also seems to have a disgust for whistleblowers.
* HonorBeforeReason: He follows a "criminal code" that sometimes leads to this, such as his refusal to rat his comrades out.
* NobleDemon: Yogorov is a classic type of "old-fashioned mobster", with standards and code of honor, contrasting with [[DirtyCop HR]].
* PragmaticVillainy: while he's contemptuous of whistleblowers--"I'd rather rot in prison than be labeled a rat."--he's perfectly willing to become one to protect his brother.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: In "Endgame," vows to kill HR cops ''en masse'' if his hijacked drug shipment isn't returned.
** In "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: he sends a team of gunmen to attack the safe house Alonzo Quinn is being hidden in by the US Marshall's. Unfortunately, Team Machine gets there and Root decimates most of the hit squad before they can even get inside the building]]
* SatelliteCharacter: While he has reasonable depth, it is noticeable that his only role in the show is to further other villains' plotlines (usually HR or Elias).
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Utilises a Benelli M4 during "Endgame" as the [[spoiler: partnership with HR falls to pieces]] . After what happened with [[spoiler: Shaw using him as a blood donor]] it's a pretty wise decision.
* YouKilledMyFather: The main reason he hates Elias so much.

[[folder:The CIA]]
!!Mark Snow
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snow_mark_6940.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't forget, we're behind enemy lines here."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Michael Kelly

A CIA handler who once ran Reese.

* [[CIAEvilFBIGood CIA is Evil]]: He is a very amoral man.
* ConsummateLiar: Probably the only consistently truthful statement he ever made was his name.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has quite a tongue on him.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Jerkass as he may be, he does die delivering some KarmicDeath upon his captor.
* DrivenToSuicide: Minor variation, he initially planned to make a break for a safe house run by the CIA to get his bomb vest defused but John mockingly pointed out they wouldn't welcome him back with open arms and probably torture him, demanding an explanation about his long absence so instead Snow heads to Kara Stanton's car to kill her in the blast of his bomb vest when it goes off.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Shoots down L-O-S's suggestion of killing Carter, stating they "Can't go around killing cops." before black-bagging him, although this may instead be a case of PragmaticVillainy. Also is utterly terrified about Kara, making a special effort to hunt her down when she shows up in New York
* ExplosiveLeash: How Stanton makes him work for her. Doubles as LaserGuidedKarma.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: He is perfectly calm in his last moments. Granted, at that point he'd basically been Kara's slave for months so he may have seen it as a relief. Plus, he was taking Kara with him.
* FamousLastWords: "You were right, Kara, about me being dead: I'm gonna be great at it." Doubles as a PreMortemOneLiner
* JerkAss: Not in a abrasive sense but in a much more slimy fashion when he ran John and Kara. However, with Carter, it qualifies fully due to his increasing failure to trap and kill Reese in which he suspects she has a hand in helping him get away
* MeaningfulName: His surname is Snow, which is appropriate considering his status as a ConsummateLiar.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Reese thanks to the ExplosiveLeash on both of them.
* PetTheDog: When in New York, he allows Reese out of the apartment they're holed up in with a prisoner to go have a drink at a bar.
* TheMenInBlack: He runs them, giving out missions which would never be officially sanctioned.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: With the late Agent Evans.
* TakingYouWithMe: To Stanton.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Seems to be a favorite tactic of his, as he has so far done this to three of his operatives.

[[folder:Northern Lights]]
Northern Lights is the codename for an organization/program within the United States Government that controls the Machine, distributes its intelligence and takes action to keep its activities secret from the rest of the world. Northern Lights receives Numbers from an entity codenamed "Research" (actually the Machine's relevant list), and pulls its personnel from various government agencies, including the NSA, the CIA and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_Support_Activity Intelligence Support Activity]].

!!In General

* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: The late Special Counsel who oversaw their field operations masqueraded as the head of the RealLife Office Of Special Counsel, the people who conduct their field work are officially from the CIA and ISA and their entity known as "Research" belongs to the NSA.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: They're a secret counter-terrorist organisation who uses The Machine's relevant list to hunt down threats to America's national security and stop them before they even occur.
* TheMenInBlack: They don't officially exist and are dedicated in keeping it that way.
* KillEmAll: Standard operating procedure in the event the existence of the Machine is compromised to the outside world. They're also willing to let terrorists attacks occur if necessary, if it means the source of the leak stands a good chance of dying in one.
* ProfessionalKiller: Their true strength. They have a small army of them to conduct counter-terrorist operations worldwide. They're also at Reese's calibre (like the ISA hit-squad in "No Good Deed" and Samantha Shaw). And if they find anyone who shouldn't know about the machine has learnt of its existence, they will be re-tasked in making sure that person does not live to tell anyone else.
* PunchClockVillain: The majority of their hit-squads have no knowledge of the Machine and are simply following orders.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Their stated mission is to hunt down threats to America's national security and terminate them with extreme prejudice in order to prevent massive loss of life. However, they're paranoid about the American public finding out the existence of the machine and are all too happy to re-task their multiple hit squads to kill anyone, including innocent civilians, in order to keep it's existence secure.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Does this to any employees who wish to leave the program and performed this to many of the personnel who built the machine.

!!"Pennsylvania Two"/"Special Counsel"
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/special_counsel_6641.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"No one life is above the safety of millions of Americans. That's the ugly math I have to deal with every day."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Jay O. Sanders

A shadowy figure from the Office of Special Counsel who appears to be engineering the activity regarding the machine and sees Reese as a threat.

* EvilSoundsDeep: He has a very deep voice.
* FauxAffablyEvil: When in person, he can be real smooth talker as he orders [[KillEmAll countless people killed without batting an eyelid]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity: In "God Mode" he just says, "Fair enough."
* FamousLastWords: See FaceDeathWithDignity above.
* KillEmAll: To anyone who even suspects the Machine exists.
* TheManBehindTheMan: With respect to Weeks and Hersh.
* MoleInCharge: Has his day job in an agency that protects whistleblowers. As Henry Peck found out, he's not going to do his job if you try to expose the Machine.
* MissionControl: Fulfils this role for the project in the event the existence of the machine is compromised.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: What he believes justifies his actions. See the quote above.
* [[NonActionBigBad Non Action]] [[TheManBehindTheMan Man Behind The Man]]: He has yet to pick up a gun or even get into a physical fight. That said, he isn't adverse to tense situations and remains ice cool.
* NoNameGiven: His name has yet to be spoken on screen. He was credited as "Pennsylvania Two" in the press release for "No Good Deed," but the press releases for all episodes since have credited him as "Special Counsel".
* NotSoDifferent: Invokes this when meeting Shaw. She agrees entirely.
** YouAreNumberSix: Given no real name given.
* PragmaticVillainy: Doesn't mind when Shaw blows Wilson away as she's called him out on the latter's stupidity in rashly taking a ContractOnTheHitman and given him the compromising evidence he was looking for. He lets her walk out....and makes sure Hersh intercepts her.
* SharpDressedMan: Always in a nice suit.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Or so he says.
* WickedCultured: Gives off this vibe.
* YouHaveFailedMe: On the receiving end.

!!Denton Weeks
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DentonWeeksPoI_6564.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Cotter Smith

->''"You have no idea what you're getting into."''

The official who commissioned the development of the Machine. He is in league with the Special Counsel.

* AmoralAttorney: One of the reasons why Harold and Nathan had the machine black boxed. He also legalised the use of Palestinian Hanging, a torture method, on terrorist suspects.
* TheDragon: With respect to "Pennsylvania Two".
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has a lover, which is how Root gets to him.
* DeathBySecretIdentity: He soon dies after finding out Finch is the one who actually built The Machine.
* {{Jerkass}}: Harold helps saves him but the guy turns on him and plans to bring him back to Northern Lights.
* [[KarmicDeath Karmic Torture]]: Root tortures him using a method that he authorized US Intelligence officers to use on terrorists - and makes a point of showing him a copy of the document in which he did this during the proceedings.
* UngratefulBastard: Tries to kill Finch after being saved by him.
* YourCheatingHeart: According to Root, he had been cheating on his wife with another woman for several years.

!!Alicia Corwin
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AliciaCorwinPoI_4619.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Elizabeth Marvel

->''"Run."''

A liaison between Ingram and the government while the Machine was being developed and a former member of the National Security Council. Corwin began living in hiding in a small town after Ingram's death.

* TheAtoner: She regrets being involved in setting up the Machine and wants to destroy it due to her fears about how it is being used and the people who have control of it.
* BoomHeadshot: At the hands of Root.
* DeathBySecretIdentity: Finds out Finch built The Machine, and, well, see above trope.
* DroppedABridgeOnHer: Was played up as a potential threat in the final two episodes of season 1 - she was shown stalking Finch, discovering the Library, and finally confronted him with the intent of making him shut down the Machine - but ended up being killed off by Root practically mid-sentence.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: At some point, she turned against Nothern Lights and its methods and wanted to find a way to shut down The Machine.
* ProperlyParanoid: She knows The Machine is watching her, knows at least some of the ways it might be performing that monitoring--she moved to the National Radio Quiet Zone to avoid monitoring by wireless methods--she may be aware that it can act to protect itself should it figure out that she wants to shut it down, and she ''definitely'' knows just how ruthless Denton Weeks and the people behind him are.
* SacrificialLion: To establish Root's level of villainy.

!!Robert N. Hersh
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/HershPoI_4812.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Boris [=McGiver=]

->''"We don't give orders, we execute them."''

The Special Counsel's enforcer, a former member of the ISA.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[spoiler: In "Lethe" - during the standoff at the end, the henchmen have red and white boxes (indicating imminent violence). Control has a red box (because she is pointing a gun at Finch). Hersh, meanwhile, has neither...]]
* AssassinOutClassin: Gets subjected to this by Reese to a minor extent. Later suffers a more severe experience when going up against Root.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Since Special Counsel's death, he's been more or less in charge of the operations, now answering directly to Control.
* {{Badass}}: Since he's Reese's EvilCounterpart.
* CombatPragmatist: Just like Reese.
** BadassInANiceSuit: Nearly always wearing a nice suit.
* TheDragon: To Pennsylvania Two, and Control who both run him at different times.
** DragonAscendant: [[BiggerBad Control]] orders him to kill Pennsylvania Two, and he does so. He doesn't count as TheStarscream because he was JustFollowingOrders.
* EvilCounterpart: Reese describes him as "a lot like me."
** Hersh {{lampshades}} in "Booked Solid" that he and Reese [[NotSoDifferent aren't so different]].
* EvilMentor: For Shaw. As a result, she's just as good as John during combat situations. However, he may have taught her everything he knows but is perfectly willing to poison her when she resigns from the ISA.
** On the other hand in Season 3 during [[spoiler: 4C, he has a surprisingly amicable conversation with her while drugged and even asks in a concerned tone if Team Machine is treating her well.]]
* TheDeterminator: Rain or shine, he ''will' finish his mission.
* TheFixer: If there is a problem in Northern Lights that the other "official" hit-squads need not know about, he will be the one to clean it up. It also seems to extend to eliminating those that decide to leave the program including his protégée Shaw.
* GetIntoJailFree: His plan to infiltrate Rikers: pull a gun in a crowded street and start shooting in the air.
* ImplacableMan: Like the Terminator, even if he's grievously wounded, it will barely slow them down.
* KillEmAll: His general orders to anyone who might know about the Machine.
* LastNameBasis: Nobody ever refers to him by his given name. His full name wasn't even revealed until "Lethe", a good season and a half after his first appearance, when it appears in one of the Machine's calculation tables.
* MadeOfIron: And how! The man has been subjected to kitchen knives, gunshots and hand grenades, shrugging most of it off.
* MysteriousMiddleInitial: His full name was revealed as Robert N. Hersh. We don't know what the "N" stands for.
* ProfessionalKiller: As the fixer, he will handle situations, usually leaving behind a body or two.
* TheStoic: He keeps a calm face in most situations. Even when [[spoiler:Reese beat him and left him with a potentially fatal stab wound, the man didn't show much pain or anger, and later he's calm as a button about murdering his protégé ("Relevance") and his immediate supervisor and multiple co-workers ("God Mode")]]. Drops this when Root shoots him in ("Lady Killer"), he's left gasping on the floor bleeding out and is visibly in pain. In "4C" he's concerned about whether Shaw is doing fine in her new workplace.
* TortureTechnician: Shown as this in "God Mode". Control later implies he is rather skilled at it.

!!Control

->'''Played By''': [[spoiler: Camryn Manheim]]

->'''Alias''': [[spoiler: Diane Claypool]]

* BadAss: [[spoiler: Can hold her own in a gunfight.]]
* BiggerBad: The one who is giving orders to Hersh and his people.
* TheChessmaster
* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler: Delivers a particularly brutal session to Root.]]
* [[spoiler: DeadPersonImpersonation: Of Diane Claypool.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: How the Machine gets her to back down, telling Control the address of the only thing she's loved, and telling her that the Machine protects it, and her.]]
* TheGhost: [[spoiler: Until "Lethe".]]
* [[spoiler: TheMole: In "Lethe.]]
* NoNameGiven: The only thing known about Control is the codename Control. Control has never even been seen on camera or addressed by an actual name. We don't hear Control's voice until the very end of "God Mode."
** SamusIsAGirl: Control briefly appears in the season two finale, where she is addressed as "Ma'am". All that is seen of her is a gloved hand.
* ShoutOut: To the works on JohnLeCarre, where a man known as "Control" kept his identity secret while serving as the head of an intelligence organization.
* TheManBehindTheMan: To Pennsylvania Two. She is the overall commander of Northern Lights, responsible both for sending people to deal with the Numbers provided by The Machine and for protecting the secret of the Machine's existence.
* WalkingSpoiler
[[/folder]]

[[folder:HR]]
An organization of corrupt New York police officers and city officials. They are aware of "The Man In The Suit", and have repeatedly clashed with Team Machine on numerous occasions. [[spoiler: Midway through Season Three, HR is finally brought down, though not without great sacrifice.]]

!! In General

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Are quite willing to utilise this trope in order to get their way.
* CardCarryingVillain: All their rank and file members are this. Their boss, on the other hand, prefers to have the cover of his city hall job.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: They run on this trope and it's a key reason why Elias despises them immensely. If any of their members screw up or risk compromising HR's security they won't be forgiven at all. It also applies to their business partners as Elias found out, when they leave him hanging out to dry during "Flesh and Blood" at a critical point in his operation to kill the Five Dons of New York.
* DirtyCop: The lot of them. Except their boss, which was how he stayed hidden for almost 3 seasons.
** A few of their other associates have included [[AmoralAttorney [=ADAs=]]] and [[CorruptPolitician city councilmen]].
* DumbMuscle: They fulfil this role in the Person Of Interest universe. Their rank and file gets outfoxed quite a lot by Team Machine over the course of the show. The only exception to this is Officer Patrick Simmons and their boss.
* JerkAss: Most of them except Fusco, Laskey and their FauxAffablyEvil boss.
* PoliceBrutality: Only occasionally. They mostly prefer a nice bullet to the face or subtle threats as their normal modus operandi.
* VastBureaucracy: Their true strength. They may not have the hacking and surveillance capabilities Team Machine has or four BadAss shooters on staff, but they can use the influence of their members in key positions of the NYPD and New York to cause serious headaches for the protagonists. It also helps that their boss is the Mayor's Chief of Staff.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: If association with their business partners or members proves harmful for the group as a whole, HR will readily leave them to hang out to dry or take the time to eliminate them.

!!Alonzo Quinn
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quinn_alonzo_3842.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Who needs money when you have real power? The politicians come and go, but we'll be here forever."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Clarke Peters

The Mayor's Chief of Staff and the head of HR. Quinn, along with Simmons, plans to rebuild HR with or without Elias' assistance.

* BadassMustache: Has this.
* BiggerBad: Being the boss of the massive CorruptCop organization HR, a lot of conflict in the show ends up being indirectly related to his doing.
* TheChessmaster: "Bury the Lede" reveals him to be an extremely competent one.
* CrazyPrepared: Puts the name of a lower lackey in the payroll solely out of fear that said payroll will one day be discovered and he'll take the fall. Keep in mind said payroll was heavily protected by a mob boss and HR's lackeys.
* DiabolicalMastermind: This man runs HR. He is a pragmatic man who will use anyone to further his goals and will kill, blackmail and ruin the reputation of anyone who gets in the way of him or HR's security.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Was totally blindsided by [[spoiler: Carter calling in Finch to hack his phone and Reese for backup.]]
* DirtyCop: Subverted. He's not a police officer at all.
* DirtyCoward: When given the choice between [[spoiler: surrendering the location of Patrick Simmons]] or [[spoiler: a painful death from John Reese]] Quinn willingly picks the former.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Or rather, "the corrupt Mayor's aide who had two minutes of screen-time was the mastermind".
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Averted. From interactions with his godson, it appears he loves the man. But when Quinn realizes he won't stop investigating who set up another good cop, instead of just getting him a desk job out of the city, Quinn has him killed.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Given he's a man who always assumes the worst of everyone (correctly, in most cases), he's mildly surprised when people like Beecher and Carter continue to pursue honesty.
* [[EvilCounterpart Evil(er) Counterpart]]: To Elias. He is what Elias was once before Elias was outed as a villain. Criminal mastermind masquerading as upstanding citizen. A Ghost whose identity is known to very few people. Both made a remark about having no need for material possession. What separates Elias from him is that Elias is willing to honour his relationships and promises to people like his men, John and Harold, while Quinn is perfectly willing to betray and kill anyone who's outlived their usefulness, gets in his way or threaten the security of HR. Including his own godson.
* EvilVirtues: He places a high value on loyalty in particular.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He seems pretty friendly towards Maxine, until he decides to destroy her career for his own benefit.
* GenreSavvy[=/=]WrongGenreSavvy: Displays traits of both. On one hand, his keen knowledge of politics and most character's M.Os (such as knowing ''precisely'' what Beecher, the Mob, Maxine and Carter would do) place him on the first, on the other hand, he frequently displays a SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids mindset that is proven wrong by Carter's actions.
* TheGhost[=/=]UnknownCharacter: Straddles the line. HR was a recurring enemy organization for quite some time, but the presence of a leader was only vaguely hinted at until "Bury The Lede". His true identity is so well covered, even Elias doesn't know who he is. His true identity and face are revealed at the end of the episode
* HiddenVillain: Much like Elias.
* {{Hypocrite}}: In "The Devil's Share", he [[spoiler: gives a speech about trust and how he won't betray his old subordinate Patrick Simmons to a pissed off John who's trying to get revenge for the murdered Carter.]] Considering HR ran on the ChronicBackstabbingDisorder trope, it's highly ironic and hilarious. John brings him crashing back to reality by informing the man that he can trust Reese to [[spoiler: execute him in three minutes time.]]
* IOwnThisTown: Repeatedly makes this threat towards Reese and Carter in "The Crossing" while offering ample proof of such.
* KarmaHoudini: He has been behind the corrupt cops of HR and personally involved with the deaths of a cop and Assistant District Attourney, but he has gotten away with it all.
** Finally comes to an end in "The Crossing" with [[spoiler: Carter successfully destroying his organisation.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: With regards to the city's current Mayor. He not only does most of his job for him, but he also got him elected to begin with. He was also the behind the Mayor's opposition in the election, so he could continue being the simple aide regardless of who won.
* ManipulativeBastard: Maintained a friendship with Maxine with the sole purpose of manipulating her to achieve his goals.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: He always has a nice suit on and acts befitting of a man from a well-off family. This further shows his contrast between him and the much more casually dressed Elias.
* [[spoiler: OutGambitted: By Carter, of all people, in "Endgame". She gets his (unwitting)confession recorded and then captures him with the aid of Reese. Checkmate.]]
* PragmaticVillainy: Focused on profit instead of petty things such as gang rivalries.
* SharpDressedMan: He is never seen out of some suit.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: He dishes out a verbal smackdown against Carter based on this concept.
* TheSociopath: In his entire screen-time, he hasn't shown a single drop of empathy for anyone. Be they innocent civilians, honest people or rivals. His only cited concerns are the City and his money. Mess with either and he will have you killed. His completely remorseless murder of Szymanski only solidifies this. It gets even worse when he its revealed that he manipulated his own godson into framing Szymanski, and then had said godson killed when he started to realize that he was being played.
* SpockSpeak: He has a tendency to talk in an overly formal way regardless of the situation.
* VillainousBreakdown: It's very subtle and subdued, but it's noticeable Quinn becomes more and more nervous and erratic along "Endgame" and "The Crossing".
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: To the outside world Quinn is a pillar of the community, a distinguished aide to the mayor and a law abiding confidential informant who happily helps out his NYPD detective godson. In private, he's the sociopathic head of the corrupt police officers of New York and has happily murdered a NYPD detective and a assistant district attorney without even batting an eyelid.
* WickedCultured: Has an air of refinement and culture about him. He enjoys good food and fine drinks.
* XanatosSpeedChess: One of his skills, featured prominently in "Endgame".

!!Patrick Simmons
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simmons_patrick_1590.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Most accidents don't require a shovel."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Robert John Burke

A uniformed officer is now the right-hand man to Quinn. He handles HR activities on the street level.

* AlmightyJanitor: Simmons is a simple beat cop, but he's also TheDragon to HR's boss. He gives orders to HR cops who outrank him.
* AscendedExtra: A bit. Simmons started up as just a random corrupt cop friend of Fusco, but he is later shown to be one of the most powerful figures in the city (seeing as he's TheDragon to HR's boss) and he became one of the most recurring villains.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's the second-highest-ranking member of HR, and the only one who is able to put up a good fight with Reese.
* BadAss: Went toe-to-toe with Reese and managed to hold his own.
* BaldOfEvil: Really doesn't have much hair and is very much evil.
* DeadpanSnarker: "Most accidents don't require a shovel."
* DirtyCop: To the core. However, he does have some standards.
* TheDragon: To the head of HR.
* DragonAscendant: In "The Crossing" the HR boss is indisposed and Simmons takes overall command of the organisation as it [[spoiler: tries to save itself from being destroyed by Team Machine]]
* EliteMook: The closest thing HR has to one. Unlike the rank and file members he lasts more than three seconds in a fist fight with Reese despite getting trounced in the end and also is GenreSavvy enough to [[spoiler: take cover when John bursts into a room full of HR cops with his gun drawn.]] As a result, his kneecaps are intact when John leaves.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has HR quit working for Elias once he discovers that Elias is keeping tabs on their families in case he ever needs to threaten them.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: When the boss casually commented on having to eliminate his own godson as he was getting too close, Simmons made a bit of a shocked expression (which maybe is because he has loved ones of his own). He even tried to suggest that they simply have the guy KickedUpstairs.
** However, this only seems to apply to family members of HR officers. He's perfectly willing to hurt [[spoiler: Genrika as her surveillance operation threatened the profitable drug lab]] HR had set up with the Russian Mafia and in "The Crossing" [[spoiler: he sends an HR officer to murder Fusco's son]].
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: He makes some rather out-of-taste jokes in "The Crossing".
* [[spoiler: FaceDeathWithDignity: Evidently tries to, acting defiant to Elias in his final moments.]]
* [[spoiler: FamousLastWords: "[[TemptingFate You really think you're gonna be the one to kill me?]]" towards Elias. Elias answers that no, he is not. His right-hand-man, however...]]
* GenreSavvy: His repeated encounters with John Reese have wisened him up to his tactics.
* HeroKiller: In "The Crossing" [[spoiler: he murders the newly reinstated detective Carter and wounds John]]
* {{Jerkass}}: To many people, including Lionel.
* KarmaHoudini: Escapes the takedown of HR. Also survives [[spoiler:Reese blowing up his car in Season 1.]]
** [[spoiler: Becomes this again after the second takedown of HR when all its members are finally apprehended except him. He exploits this by killing Carter, and escaping. Again. But his luck finally runs out in "The Devil's Share, when Fusco catches up to him, kicks his ass and arrests him.]]
* [[spoiler:KarmicDeath: He ultimately dies at the hands of Marconi, strangled in his hospital bed while Elias watches.]]
* KillerCop: Has killed a fair number of people for crossing HR.
* ManipulativeBastard: Seems to have a hobby of yanking poor Fusco's leash.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: After Carter takes HR down, he goes this way. This results in Joss' demise.]]
** Is on the receiving end of one [[spoiler: during "The Devil's Share" with John finding out where he is, Fusco breaking his arm and arresting him and Elias visiting him and having Scarface finish the man off]].
* SmugSnake: Extremely.
* UndyingLoyalty: For all of his '''many''' faults, Simmons actually seems to be extremely loyal to Alonzo Quinn.
* WeAreEverywhere: Uses this as a threat against Reese (and as "The Crossing" shows, he's correct), but Reese's answer pretty much destroys his argument.
-->'''Reese''': Armies fall, one soldier at the time.
* WouldHurtAChild:
** One of the ways he maintains control over lower-ranking members of HR is by threatening not only them, but also their families if they try to doublecross him.
** [[spoiler:Was willing to kidnap and harm Genrika to get information out of her on her spying activities.]]
** [[spoiler: He also sent someone to kill Fusco's son.]]
* XanatosSpeedChess: Pulls off a pretty competent one during "The Crossing" when trying to [[spoiler: recover his boss before Carter delivers him to the FBI]]

!!Detective [[spoiler:Raymond Terney]]
->'''Played By:''' [[spoiler:Al Sapienza]]

->''"You keep askin' questions, we're gonna put you in the ground...."''

A police detective with whom Carter regularly works.

* AscendedExtra: Had bit parts in a number of episodes throughout seasons 1 and 2, mostly as just another face around the precinct, but the final scene from "All In" has paved the way for him to become a more significant character.
* DirtyCop: As revealed in "All In", he not only works for HR, he knows who the boss is! There aren't many people who know that, and Quinn appears to trust him quite a bit so he's probably pretty high-ranking.
* DirtyCoward: In "God Mode," he pleads for his life--"[[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes I have a family!]]"--when Carter rescues Elias, despite arrogantly preparing commit murder a few seconds before.
* MoleInCharge: Guess who's in charge of investigating Szymanski's murder.
* [[spoiler:VillainsDyingGrace: After fatally shooting him, Carter begs him to "be a cop one last time". With his dying breath, he reveals the head of HR]].

!!Capt. Arthur 'Artie' Lynch
->'''Played By:''' Michael Mulheron

->''"The thing about organized crime is... [[ShapedLikeItself it's organized]]. The trains run on time."''

A major figure in HR with whom Fusco appeared to be working.

* DirtyCop: Like all the other cops in HR.
* InTheBack: Dies from a bullet in the back.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rarely has a nice, non-condescending thing to say about people.

!!Officer Mike Laskey ([[spoiler:Mikhael S. Lesnichy]])
->'''Played by:''' Brian Wiles

->''"Do you have any idea what it's like...riding around all day with an arrogant bitch who doesn't know her place?"''

A rookie cop who is sent to join Carter on her detail.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Seemingly innocent NewMeat, he's actually a mole for HR while acting as Carter's new partner.
* CoolGun: Befitting a DirtyCop he has an illegally purchased and unregistered Sig-Sauer GSR, a expensive [=M1911A1=] clone. [[spoiler: It becomes his undoing when Carter obtains it and when he tries to have one of his buddies kill her, she blows the man away with the weapon and blackmails Laskey with the threat of being framed for the killing.]]
* DirtyCop: Like all others in HR.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Is not pleased to have to bury a friend of his who fell short on protection payments to HR.
* GreenEyedMonster: Revealed in "Razgovor" when he tries to intimidate Carter.
* [[spoiler:HoistByHisOwnPetard: He has a non-standard issue handgun that's illegally purchased. Carter obtains it and uses it to blackmail him by shooting one of Laskey's associates he was trying to use to eliminate her with it and threatening to frame him for the murder.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:He's forced to bury the corpse of a friend of his who HR murdered when said friend failed to pay protection payments on time. As a result, he implies to Carter that he will willingly aid her in destroying HR]]
* [[spoiler:IneffectualSympatheticVillain: What he really is with less emphasis on the Sympathetic part. Carter knew from the beginning he was a mole, scoffs at his threats against her and John and then puts him in his place by framing him for a murder.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: His true colours when he drops the NewMeat act.
* TheMole: For HR to spy on Carter and then was [[spoiler:turned by Carter to spy on HR under the threat of being arrested for a killing he didn't commit]].
* TheMafiya: He's a Russian mobster and was part of a project by HR and their Russian Mafia partners to infiltrate the NYPD.
* MotiveRant: Gives one to Carter showing he's a GreenEyedMonster.
* MuggingTheMonster: Tries to do this to Carter. It backfires spectacularly as you'd expect.
* NewMeat: Plays this angle to manipulate Carter, [[spoiler:but she sees right through it]].
* [[spoiler:NotWhatISignedOnFor]]: In "Mors Praematura" he meets with Simmons about [[spoiler:an old grocer friend of his who has skimped on "protection payments."]] Simmons was not amused and had Laskey [[spoiler:bury the man's body.]] The next day [[spoiler:he goes to Carter and confesses he is actually Russian Mob, one of twelve slipped into the police force, and implies he will fully support Carter's goal in destroying HR.]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath: He is killed when he tries to stop Terney from killing Carter.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: Venomously rants about how Carter, someone with far more experience than he has doesn't know her place and believes his HR connections will give him power over her. [[spoiler:It doesn't work out well for him in the ensuring confrontation with him being put soundly in his place by Carter and blackmailed to become her mole in HR]].
* SmugSnake: Thinks he has the upper hand with Carter, but [[BreakTheHaughty she proves him wrong.]]
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: [[spoiler: An exclusive 2013 New York Comic Con clip revealed the confrontation between him and Carter days before the episode aired]]
* WideEyedIdealist: An act which he uses to try and get close to Carter, [[spoiler:she played him along and didn't buy it for a second]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Law Enforcement]]
!!Nicholas Donnelly
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NicholasDonnellyPoI_2722.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Brennan Brown

->''"We finally caught him . . . the Man in the Suit."''

An FBI agent who becomes interested in Reese when his case crosses one of Reese's. He periodically offers Carter the opportunity to work with him as he pursues Reese.

* TheChessmaster: Not his normal way of operating, but he plays a [[MagnificentBastard pretty good game]] of XanatosSpeedChess in "Prisoner's Dilemma."
* DeathBySecretIdentity: He finds out Reese is the man he's looking for and finds out that Carter is working with Reese and a couple minutes later...
* TheDeterminator: If Donnelly wants to take you down, ''he will''.
** AlwaysGetsHisMan: Four of them, in fact.
* AFatherToHisMen
* [[CIAEvilFBIGood FBI is Good]]: Is honest and dedicated towards stopping crime.
* InspectorJavert: He's dedicated to pursing Reese to the point of never considering Reese, though committing illegal acts, is doing good.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: He increasingly shows shades of this in his pursuit of Reese under the assumption that Reese is a PsychoForHire. Carter [[WhatTheHellHero calls him on this]] in "Prisoner's Dilemma".
* ProperlyParanoid: When he finds out that the DNA samples and fingerprints he sent out for testing did not match "the man in the suit", he correctly assumes that they were tempered with. Subverted right afterwards when he puts Carter [[MoleInCharge in charge]] of the interrogations because he does not trust anyone else on his team. [[spoiler: DoubleSubverted when he informs her that he believed she was the mole and kept her close for that reason]].
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Starts out as one, but [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope turns into]] a WellIntentionedExtremist as the investigation continues.
* SharpDressedMan: Always seen in a nice suit.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Doesn't believe Carter when she tries to tell the truth about Reese and what he is doing, believing that she was tricked.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: He thinks Reese has become a CIA psychopath-turned-mob hitman and is trying to bring him in.
** WrongGenreSavvy: Reese is actually a [[PunchClockVillain CIA hitman]] turned vigilante. Which would still be illegal.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: At one point in "Prisoner's Dilemma," he's willing to put a potentially innocent suspect (Reese) at risk of being killed in a prison riot just to see if he's trained in unarmed combat.
* WildMassGuessing: His theories as to what The Man in the Suit is up to seem to come off as this in later episodes. They'd be amusing if it wasn't for the fact that he honestly believes them and thinks they justify whatever dubiously legal things he has to do in order to bring The Man in the Suit in.

!!Detective Bill Szymanski
->'''Played by:''' Michael [=McGlone=]
* DirtyCop: Averted; he was set up to look like one by HR, but Carter proved his innocence. Elias even says he tried to bribe the man, but he wouldn't break his morals.
* TheGenericGuy: Appeared mostly when a detective other then Carter and Fusco was needed.
* SacrificialLion: Killed by HR for continuing to pursue the Russian Mob, whom HR wanted to solve their money problems.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: After his murder, Det. Beecher asks imprisoned Elias if Szymanski was on his payroll. Elias says he offered Szymanski money, "and he threw it in our faces."

!!Detective Calvin Beecher
->'''Played by:''' Sterling K. Brown

* DirtyCop: He has several investigations into him by Internal Affairs. He seems linked to the dirty cops in HR. Ultimately averted. Beecher is a good man and good cop who happens to be the godson of the head of HR.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Was killed because he got close to identifying head of HR, and learning that Symanski was clean and refused Elias' money.
* LoveInterest: Briefly, for Carter.
* SacrificialLion: As the godson of the head of HR, his death shows not only can anyone die, but HR will not let anything stand in their way.
* ScaryBlackMan: Played with in that it isn't clear at first if he's a good or bad person. Ultimately Averted. Good person, unfortunately his godfather is corrupt.
* RedHerring: After multiple suggestions that he's working for HR, it's ultimately revealed he's not.]]
* UnwittingPawn: To the head of HR, used to discredit another good detective.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Decima Technologies]]
Introduced in season 2, Decima Technologies is China-based company said to be specialized in cyberwarfare. Responsible for infecting the machine with a virus so they can take control of it.

!!In General
* DragonWithAnAgenda: They're employed by China's Ministry of State Security, and share intelligence with them. However,they run their own operations independent from Chinese control.
* TheCracker: During "Trojan Horse", they shut out Harold from the Rylatech servers by taking control of his laptop, overheating its battery and cause it to explode. So far, this is the only demonstration of their hacking abilities.
* TheMenInBlack: Employ mooks that look the part
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast[=/=]MeaningfulName[=/=]PunnyName: '''Decima Te'''chnologies
* NebulousEvilOrganization: The show's most prominent.
* RedShirtArmy: Unlike the Northern Light's hit Squads, Decima Technologies mooks go down rapidly during their attempts to eliminate Team Machine during "God Mode".

!!Greer
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/greer_3147.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"My dear, if you think I work for the government, I really must fire my tailor."'']]
->'''Played By:''' John Nolan

->''"Do you recall The Titans? The Old Gods? They were so afraid of the New Gods, their own children, that they ate them. You work for the Old Gods, Kara. And they betrayed you."''

* AffablyEvil: Polite, charming, and utterly ruthless.
* TheChessmaster: He stands pretty much unmatched in the field of strategy.
* DeadpanSnarker: "My dear, if you think I work for The Government, I really must fire my tailor."
* EvilBrit: He speaks in a classic Received Pronunciation accent.
* EvilOldFolks
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Does this with one of his Mooks. You can already guess how it ends.
* HiddenAgendaVillain
* TheManBehindTheMan: With regards to Kara. But apparently, there's an even bigger fish behind Greer.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: If his suits are any indication.
* NervesOfSteel: Maintains his composure even when Reese and Shaw are killing his minions and pointing guns at him.
* NobleDemon: Kept his end of the bargain with Stanton.
** He also kept his bargain with another one of his assets; commit suicide and take Decima Tech's secrets to the grave, and his family would be taken care of.
* NoNameGiven: On screen anyway. The press release for "Dead Reckoning" credits him as "Greer".
** OnlyOneName
* PragmaticVillainy: Seems to be his modus operandi; he's ruthless but never needlessly cruel, and seems to follow the line that the carrot rather than the stick is the better way to get your underlings to be loyal and willing to do anything.
* SharpDressedMan
* TheSpook
* TheSpymaster: The ultimate example in the show. ''He knows Reese and Shaw.'' And he knows of Finch.
* StiffUpperLip: Nonchalantly continued to look at a bit of paperwork while Reese and Shaw blasted through some of his mooks without even turning around to look, then leisurely finished looking at the paper and turned his attention to Reese and Shaw without so much as batting an eyelid or showing a flicker of discomfort at the situation that was apparently not in his favor. The fact that reinforcements were on the way probably contributed to this.
* {{Western Terrorist|s}}: Probably. Ironically, he's based out of Shanghai.
* WickedCultured: He lectures Kara on Greek mythology.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: How he rewards the operative who brings him the Samaritan Drives.]]

!!Kara Stanton
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stanton_kara_2191.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"We are killers, John, that is our job. And if you want to be good at your job, gonna have to learn to love your work."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Annie Parisse

Reese's former CIA partner who was widely believed to be dead, but is later recruited by Decima Technologies.

* {{Badass}}: Gets Reese and Snow to be her puppets by attaching bombs to their chests.
* ColdSniper
* EvilMentor: For John, when they first meet, he's the NewMeat while she's the senior agent who's supervising him and after critiquing his insistence on not drinking wine (he's no longer a soldier and not drinking would probably blow his cover in a operational setting), she teaches him his first lesson by executing two traitors without warning and ordering John to clean up.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Very friendly and courteous towards Snow (and John Reese) while explicitly informing him he's a disposable asset.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Whatever she's doing in season 2 that’s worth killing random civilians. It's eventually revealed that she was working for another covert organization which was seeking control of The Machine.
* ItsPersonal: She isn't happy that her superiors tried to have her eliminated.
* KarmicDeath: Snow kills her using the bomb vest she uses as his ExplosiveLeash.
** LaserGuidedKarma: Killed by the same explosive leash she was using to force Snow to work for her.
** [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist by Her Own Petard]]]]
* JadeColoredGlasses: Utterly cynical, she lives only for her job, enjoys it and it rubs off on John during their time together.
* JerkAss: Rather abrasive to John when they first meet, him being the NewMeat who has much to learn while she is the more experienced agent who's wearing some heavy JadeColouredGlasses.
* KickTheDog: Has her moments but a major one is when she locks John, Mark and a innocent scientist in a DOD facility control room after activating the bomb vests.
* KillEmAll: Her solution to everything.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Admittedly, it does look like she was blown up so there wouldn't be a body, but that it didn't work out too well last time.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: The first time she escaped death, it was somewhat believable since she was covered by building structure. But seeing as how she was sitting right next to Snow with less than 10 seconds from detonation, and the sheer magnitude of the explosion, it's very hard to believe that she survived.
* ProfessionalKiller
** PsychoForHire: Snow considers her one. Rightfully so, it would seem.
* SemperFi: She's a former Marine and has a playful InterServiceRivalry exchange with John who's former Army Special Forces.
* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: Like Reese, very aware of what it has done to her but doesn't mind in the slightest. "We're not... walking in the dark. We ''are'' the dark."
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch They Might Know Too Much]]: The suggested reason for why she and John were set up to be killed.
** Subverted in "Dead Reckoning" when Mark Snow reveals that his reasoning for setting them up to kill each other was because they were "damaged goods" and it was "poetic." It does nothing to help endear him to Stanton.
*** Not necessarily true. He was just noting the fact that it was poetic. But the fact that they knew too much likely was the main reason.
* WeaponOfChoice: suppressed Sig Sauer P239 which she uses to ambush Snow, kill Evans and later execute Donnelly.
* WomanInBlack
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Subjects John and Mark to this. It doesn't stick and leads to her undoing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Vigilance"]]
Introduced in Season 3, Vigilance is a mysterious organisation dedicated to fighting against those that have destroyed privacy including private businesses and the government through the strategic use of assassination and Cyberwarfare. They have recently made contact with Team Machine.

!!In General

* TheCracker: A high percentage of Vigilance's core group are skilled computer programmers. The organization uses a [[https://www.torproject.org/ Tor network]] to communicate.
* CommieNazis: Combines ideology and tactics from the Tea Party, the Occupy movement and Anonymous.
* ThemeNaming: Their operatives' cover names are taken from the names of people who participated in the American Revolution.
* [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]]
* [[WesternTerrorist Western Terrorists]]: They're American, and they want a revolution.


!!"Peter Collier"
->Played by Leslie Odom Jr.
-->''"We at Vigilance respect your privacy, unlike the government."''

* FauxAffablyEvil: After taking the foster brother of a defector from Vigilance hostage, he politely explains to the man how he's going to murder them both, while preparing to ambush the prison transport his target is on.
* TheFundamentalist: When John successfully talks [[spoiler: a man who had been ruined by Wayne Kruger]] into putting his handgun down and has seemingly made [[spoiler: Kruger, one of the most reprehensible POI's in the shows history]] see the error of his ways, Collier pulls out his own weapon, shoots [[spoiler: Reese and Kruger]] and then executes the POI. He's also not pleased that one of his hackers wasn't completely loyal to the direction he was taking Vigilance after the group committed it's first assassination. [[spoiler: He put quite a lot of resources in hunting the man down going, so far as to kidnap the man's foster brother for leverage and assemble a well armed hit squad to set up an ambush for the target.]]
* IHaveManyNames: Claims that "Collier" is but one of his names.
* KnightTemplar: In a big way. Initially Vigilance was merely planning to scare [[spoiler: Wayne Kruger]] into retirement but Collier convinced the majority of the group's leadership to go further [[spoiler: and approve of his proposal to assasinate the guy to teach "the first lesson".]] Later, after one of the hacker involved in that operation [[spoiler: turned traitor after getting a case of EvenEvilHasStandards and attempted to go to the CIA, Collier ruthlessly hunted him down, kidnapped his foster brother and calmly explained to the man exactly how he was going to murder them both as he and a Vigilance hit squad prepared to ambush the CIA prisoner transport.]]
* ManipulativeBastard
* TheMole: [[spoiler:He was this to the Kruger, watching him and getting close as a business associate.]]
* ScaryBlackMan: When he drops the charming businessman act he's all this,[[spoiler: coolly calling out Wayne Kruger on his perceived crimes before shooting him dead]]
* WeaponOfChoice: A Ruger SR9C
* WickedCultured: Has a deep appreciation for and is inspired by the American Revolution
--> '''Collier:''' Energy and persistence conquer all things -- Benjamin Franklin. ''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other Antagonists]]
!!Samantha Groves AKA Root
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/groves_samantha_1224.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I don't want to control your machine, Harold... I want to set it free."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AmyAcker

->'''Aliases:''' Caroline Turing, Kelly Dyson, Jane von Neumann, Ms. May, Veronica Sinclair, Robin Farrow

->''"The future is coming... you started it. And I'll finish it."''

A highly intelligent computer hacker and contract killer with a keen interest in both Finch and the Machine. Her real name is Samantha "Sam" Groves.

* AffablyEvil: Or FauxAffablyEvil, see TheSociopath below.
* [[AscendedExtra Ascended Villain of the Week]]: Root was originally intended to be a VillainOfTheWeek, but has become central to the main StoryArc and will be a regular in Season 3. [[WordOfGod Jonah Nolan]] explained why [[https://www.personofinterestdiscussion.com/node/1728 in an interview:]]
-->We knew we wanted to see more of the character Root as soon as we heard [[AwesomeMusic the incredible theme]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj5si_HJFcI Ramin cooked up for her in her first appearance]].
* BadAss:
** Root is arguably the most dangerous foe Team Machine has ever faced. HR may have extensive political connections, the Nothern Lights may have an army of Professional Killers on the level of Reese and Decima Technologies may have similar hacking and surveillance capabilities to Harold but when Root appears, the already ProperlyParanoid Team Machine who's effortlessly fought off the aforementioned organisations becomes worried and their guard goes up extensively.
** For starters, she's the second best hacker in the series after Finch, and is extremely good at taking advantage of EverythingIsOnline.
** As Finch puts it, "[[ManipulativeBastard She hacks people as easily as she hacks computers]]." This is fully demonstrated in her time as the Special Counsel's secretary where she so thoroughly worms her way into his private and professional life by the time she reveals herself, Root has enough leverage to effectively interrogate him.
** Even though she is not military trained like Reese and Shaw, she's also a surprisingly good shot with her handgun and gets the better of Deeton Weeks and Shaw with the element of surprise and a taser.
** In "Lady Killer," she holds off Hersh, one of the most dangerous villains in the show, in a gigantic shootout. She almost immediately puts him on the defensive and manages to wound him severely, making the normally unflappable killer NotSoStoic. When she's reloading, Hersh is shooting her and she doesn't even flinch as bullets slam into the walls and filing cabinets around her.
** And now, she's the machine's personal asset or "Analogue Interface". This status gives her the full surveillance capabilities of the machine from chessmaster level prediction to ImprobableAimingSkills to name a few.
** [[spoiler: HandicappedBadass: She's now deaf in one ear. It's not slowing her down.]]
* BatmanGambit: As a means of getting to Finch, she hired HR to kill one of her aliases, trusting in whatever Finch used to help people would locate her alias and seek to help her get to safety.
* BecauseImGoodAtIt: "My mom told me to follow my talents, and I'm good at what I do."
* BecomingTheMask: During her VillainousBreakdown, after Finch addresses her as "Miss Groves,"
-->"My name is ROOT!"
* BerserkButton: A slow acting one which gets worse over time. Don't try to actively keep her away from the Machine. Harold slams on it when he reveals he had the machine moved in "God Mode".
** And then ''again'' [[spoiler: by "Mors Praematura", where he imprisons her in his library.]]
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Seemingly affable and cheery, Root can hack your computer to raise money for her operations, find a dozen ways to blackmail a person to do her bidding and is highly unpredictable in close quarter combat. She's essentially a female version of Heath Ledger's Joker with computer hacking skills. Rule number one, don't turn your back to Root, Shaw found out the hard way and got hit with a taser and zip tied for her trouble.
* BreakingSpeech: Constantly does little ones to Harold each time they meet. The don't stick but are quite effective at making him comply with her wishes.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: When we see her in the first season finale, she plays the part of a meek therapist who is being hunted down, giving no evidence of her true nature until we see her shoot a woman from behind and hold Finch up at gunpoint.
* BlondesAreEvil: Her real hair color is actually blonde.
* CargoShip: InUniverse: In "The Crossing," she implies to Harold that her relationship with "The Machine" is "more intimate" than Finch's.
* CassandraTruth: Her StartOfDarkness came when she witnessed her best (and only) friend being kidnapped (and murdered and secretly buried) and the only adult she told called her a "nasty little liar."
* TheCorrupter: Finch accuses her of being this for the machine. She retorts that his distant, business-like relationship with it caused it to imprint on her.
* TheChosenOne: As of season 3, [[spoiler:the Machine has chosen her for a special mission with an unknown goal and made her an "analogue interface" meaning she is the only person who can actually talk to the Machine]].
* CombatPragmatist: When it comes to computer hacking, she's this, finding a way to compromise Finch's Library. In the real world, she knows her limitations, relying on playing possum, her taser or her Heizer Defense Double Tap to even the playing field against people like Shaw and John.
* CoolGun / RareGun: Root's WeaponOfChoice is the unique Heizer Defense Double Tap, an easy concealable handgun with a two round capacity. She's an extremely good shot with it and when she gets admin access, in God Mode, gains ImprobableAimingSkills.
** As of Season 3, she's no longer using it [[spoiler: due to Harold briefly consigning her to a mental asylum]]
* ConsummateLiar: One of the series best.
* TheChessmaster: Root is very good at setting up plans and long term aliases to gain her crucial advantages.
* TheCracker: Root is an expert at breaking into most computer systems and successfully compromises Finch's library and Team Machine's communications before Harold shuts her out by destroying his phone and deactivating the power to his computer systems.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Knows how Harold and John would operate with a POI and uses this to get close enough to Harold in order to capture him. She also knows Denton Weeks and Finch would try escape, hence, when Weeks knocks her to the ground and grabs her handgun, she's ready with a taser.
* DeadpanSnarker: Just one of many examples.
--> '''Finch:''' Just making sure you have everything you need.\\
'''Root:''' [[spoiler: Well, there's no shortage of reading material.]] That's for sure, Harold.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: She hired HR to kill one of her aliases in the first season finale. She infiltrated Northern Lights as Pennsylvania Two's secretary in the second season.
* DissonantSerenity: Her default temperament unless things start to go wrong in her plans.
* [[spoiler: EnemyMine: In "The Devil's Share".]]
--> '''Finch''': [[spoiler: You were free. Why did you come back?]]
--> '''Root''': [[spoiler: Like I said, we have a larger fight ahead of us. I think we should be together when that begins. Don't you?]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: She is very thankful to Reese for revealing the truth about her friend's fate and finding her killer.
* EvilCounterpart: To Finch, who she considers a WorthyOpponent.
* FragileSpeedster: When her handgun is empty and when she doesn't have a taser or the element of surprise, all it takes is one punch to knock her out. [[spoiler: As Shaw demonstrates.]]
* GenkiGirl: This also applies to Amy Acker.
* HumansAreFlawed: Believes this without believing there's anything redeemable about humans.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In God mode, the machine gives her the ability to detect hostiles hiding behind cover allowing her to place her shots dead on and decimate a Decima Technologies hit squad with her handgun.
** When escaping from the Asylum in Lady Killer, the machine gives her these again which she uses to get the better of Hersh.
* IHaveManyNames: Likes to use computer-themed aliases.
* ItAmusedMe: Seems to be her main motivation for doing anything not connected to The Machine.
* LickedByTheDog: [[spoiler: In "The Devil's Share" at the end by Bear. It seems to confirm her acceptance into the team even if she is still the TokenEvilTeammate]]
* MachineWorship: She's in awe of The Machine. When she discovered its existence, her life started revolving around it; by the end of the second season, [[spoiler:she started ''calling'' it "God." She also refers to her God with female pronouns]].
* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: She is very good at making sure the only option available is her way.
* MasterActor: And how! It's one of her most effective skills which makes her a serious threat to anyone who's unaware of who she really is. Most of the ProperlyParanoid members of Team Machine have been outwitted by her although by Season 3, they've gotten more GenreSavvy in countering it.
** Season 1 had Harold and John protecting a meek, innocent therapist by the name of Caroline Turing....Up to the point she subjects Alicia Cowin to a BoomHeadshot and takes Harold hostage when Reese is busy trying to survive a unit of HR officers.
** Season 2 had the formidable, rogue ISA assassin Samantha Shaw arranging a meeting with Veronica Neumann, a nervous CIA officer....who promptly hits her with a stun gun, zip ties her to a chair and almost engages in some ColdBloodedTorture before she's interrupted by an ISA hit-squad.
** For half of Season 2, she's Mrs May, the Special Counsel's SexySecretary, drastically compromising his security with him being none the wiser, up to the point she takes him hostage in his own office.
* MisanthropeSupreme: Thanks to her StartOfDarkness.
* MeaningfulName: 'Root' refers to someone who has absolute access on a Linux machine. It's equivalent to the Windows title of "Admin," which incidentally is what the Machine calls Harold.
** Her real name, "Samantha Groves", may be [[FridgeBrilliance a reference]] to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Grove Andy Grove,]] former CEO of Intel.
** In "Firewall," she uses the name "Caroline Turing." AlanTuring is regarded as the father of computer science. Quite an appropriate alias for TheCracker.
** Another alias used by Root is [[VonNeumannMachine Von Neumann]], also appropriate given her interest in the Machine.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Admit it, Amy Acker is utterly sweet and adorable.
* MustHaveCaffeine: Root's love of coffee is visually played up to contrast Finch's love of [[SpotOfTea tea]].
* [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou The Only One Allowed To Kill You]]: Tends to have this towards Finch, in one episode getting enraged ("Don't you touch him.") and killing two men who had their guns trained on Finch and then later she nearly kills him herself.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: Root is polite, cheerful and almost jolly like a schoolgirl. She's still like this when committing horrible crimes, torturing people and causing mayhem for Team Machine.
* SamusIsAGirl: Until the season 1 finale, "Firewall," the only thing we knew for certain about Root was that she is a woman.
* SexySecretary: To Pennsylvania Two.
* SmugSnake: Has a really big ego which is justified in that she's the second best hacker in the show. But the trope comes into play when John goes up against her. She mistakenly believes he's DumbMuscle. He proves her wrong in spectacular fashion.
* TheSociopath: Demonstrates all the clinical symptoms of this (pronounced LackOfEmpathy, lack of proper understanding of morals, etc.) .
** Although she says she's not, but wishes she was as it would make what she's had to do easier. This could have easily been a lie to try to get into Harold's good graces however, since earlier she remarked to Shaw how much she enjoyed torturing people...which could also have been a lie to mess with Shaw.
** In 'Zero Day' Root shows genuine horror at the thought of the Machine suffering. But such a limited display of empathy probably just falls under MoralSociopathy- she still doesn't give a damn about any living human, and even her "love" for the Machine is pretty twisted in nature.
* StalkerWithACrush: Her relation to the Machine, despite the fact that the latter is not human at all. Considering that it's Root we're talking about, possibly ''because'' it's not human, actually.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Seems to be doing her damnedest to make it official on Team Machine. So far Harold is refusing to acknowledge this.
** Made official during "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: with Shaw convincing Harold to let her out of the Library]]
* ThemedAliases: Aside from Turing other aliases include [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Sinclair "Sinclair"]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_May_%28computer_scientist%29 "May"]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann "Neumann"]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson "Dyson"]] - all of them names of famous Computer Scientists.
* [[spoiler:ThouShaltNotKill]]: In season 3, in an effort to help her get better, [[spoiler:the Machine]] has forced Root to do this and stay in the asylum for some time. She follows this command and even [[spoiler:Hersh is spared by the Machine's orders even though Root is rather annoyed.]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Really doesn't think much of Reese in terms of intelligence. It comes to bite her in the ass multiple times.
* VillainousBreakdown: She starts coming unglued when the sniper kills Szilard and completely breaks down when she arrives where she believes The Machine to be and finds an empty warehouse. The knowledge that Finch already set it free doesn't help her. She's left practically catatonic. However, when The Machine calls her in the final moments of Season 2, she returns to her old smile.
* WeaponOfChoice: Her laptop, cellphone, taser and her Heizer Defense Doubletap handgun
* WildCard: Utterly unpredictable which gives her an advantage in close quarter combat as Shaw found out the hard way. It also accentuates her creepiness. Who would have thought she would cut Harold's hand just to get medical supplies?
* WorthyOpponent: Considers Harold to be one, as he is one of the few (if not only) people in the world to match her skills in computer programming/hacking. The fact that he built the Machine helps too, of course.
--> ''"I get it... you wonder why it won't talk to you like it talks to me. Don't be jealous, Harold. Mom still loves us both."''
* WouldHurtAChild: Would hurt ''anyone,'' actually.
** While this probably is true, there hasn't actually yet been a case where she has hurt/threatened a child.
* {{Yandere}}: The best way to describe her almost stalker-like obsession with the Machine. She's devoted herself to an obsessive quest to find it and set it free, and she doesn't care who she has to kill, blackmail, or otherwise ruin to get at it.
** May or may not be this to Harold, depending how you interpret her feelings for him. On the one hand, she did seem pretty pissed off when a couple men tried to take him out and shot them for it. But that may have been because she needed him to find and free the Machine.

!!Alistair Wesley
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wesley_alistair_2955.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"This isn't your game and no one's invited you to play."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Julian Sands

* AffablyEvil: Very friendly with Reese. Slides into FauxAffablyEvil with virtually anyone else, however.
* BadAssCrew: His ex-SAS operators. However, John still manages to wipe the floor with them
* BlondeGuysAreEvil
* TheChessmaster: Even Reese admits his plan is remarkably well-put. See CrazyPrepared below.
* CrazyPrepared: in "Critical," he has a sniper in place to shoot a doctor's wife to blackmail the doctor into killing a patient. He has a backup plan to kill the wife in case his sniper is incapacitated, and then has a backup plan in case the first backup fails. Then we find out that this was just plan A and he also has a plan B already in place.
* GracefulLoser: Called Reese to congratulate him with foiling his plans.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He won't break the rules he makes when he sets up his 'games.'
* EvilBrit: "Smashing."
* EvilCounterpart: A [[SharpDressedMan well-dressed]], cultured, polite, former member of a major intelligence organization who now works as a rogue agent on the criminal world. Both Wesley and Reese fit that description, the key difference is the side each other is on. And of Finch, both prefer to coordinate their operatives from a safe distance and are skilled strategists.
* ManipulativeBastard: Was manipulating the [=POI=] in "Critical" into being the perpetrator.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Not as rich as most examples, but he definitely qualifies (notice the size of his squad and how he dresses).
* NobleDemon
* NonActionBigBad: Implied from his dialogue in his final conversation with John when he talks about the time they met. Unlike John who is more hands on and likes to take part in the action, Wesley is trained to conceal himself and plan and coordinate operations from a safe distance.
* [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Private Military Contractor]]
* PsychopathicManChild: Sees his operations as "Games" with rules. As a result Finch uses this to pick apart his operation by invoking LoopHoleAbuse to buy time for the POI and her lover when he hacks the blood bank computer in the hospital to delay the surgery.
* RetiredBadass: Former MI6.
* SharpDressedMan
* SmugSnake: "Don't test me. I was expecting everything."
* WickedCultured
* WorthyOpponent: Sees Reese as one.


[[/folder]]

[[folder:Persons of Interest]]
->''"The government considers these people irrelevant. [[WeHelpTheHelpless We don't]]."''

!!Diane Hansen
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hansen_diane_8981.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Natalie Zea\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E01 Pilot]]"

An Assistant District Attorney whose Social Security number was the first given to the recently formed partnership of Reese and Finch. She's initially believed to be in danger of being killed [[spoiler: when in fact, she's actively assisting in framing innocent people for crimes committed by HR]]

* AmoralAttorney: On retainer for HR and is even more so than usual for this trope. She knowingly prosecutes innocent people framed by HR for the crimes they committed.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Due to her pretty face and charming demeanor, she was quickly mistaken for (and assumed to be) a victim instead of a perpetrator. Comes to bite John hard after he's caught off guard with Fusco getting the drop on him.
* BlondesAreEvil: Yes she is.
* CaughtOnTape: Part of her EngineeredPublicConfession.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: How Reese and Finch take her down.
* {{Frameup}}: At first it's assumed she's going to be the subject of one, but then it turns out that she's doing the frame jobs.

!!Theresa Whitaker
->'''Played By:''' Valentina de Angelis\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E02 Ghosts]]"

A teenager whose family was murdered following a land deal gone wrong. After her family was murdered, Theresa began living on the street and started making a living by using a skimmer machine on [=ATMs=].

* NotQuiteDead: She was believed dead for two years.

!!Joey Durban
->'''Played By:''' James Carpinello\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E03 Mission Creep]]"

A former Marine and a member of a crime ring led by Sam Latimer, along with Straub and Teddy Dalloway.

Joey has a fiancée named Pia Moresco, whom he knew since they were kids. He joined Latimer's crime ring to help support the family of another marine who was killed in Afghanistan after they swapped seats in a Humvee. Under Latimer's leadership Joey and the rest of the crew mainly carried out high end robberies.

* HonorBeforeReason: Joey robs banks, putting his life and liberty at risk, to provide for the family of a deceased Army comrade.

!!Megan Tillman
->'''Played By:''' Linda Cardellini\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E04 Cura Te Ipsum]]"

A physician who spent her adult life stalking her sister's rapist to get revenge.

* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Linda Cardellini has played someone in the [[{{ER}} medical profession.]]
* CrazyPrepared: To commit the perfect murder of her sister's rapist. Reese is extremely impressed in particular at the measures she's taken in preparing for her targets disposal once she's killed him.
* HospitalHottie: She's a doctor, and there's plenty of interest in her when she turns up to bars.
* NaughtyByNight: Averted, she plays this up to find her sister's rapist.
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: Reese warns her about the danger of this trope and convinces her to let him punish her target instead so she doesn't have to live with blood on her hands.
* SympatheticMurderer: A would-be. She's trying to kill the man who raped her sister.

!!Samuel Gates
->'''Played By:''' David Costabile \\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E05 Judgement]]"

* PapaWolf: When his son was taken, he was willing to go to extremes to save him.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: As a man of the Law, he is a tough but reasonable judge. He acknowledged Reese did a morally good action but not the legally right one, as Reese broke plenty of laws. Reese claims to Finch the Judge also implied he would assist them at some later date as a reward for getting his son back.

!!Ulrich Kohl
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kohl_ulrich_5669.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"For my country, I left my country and killed wherever they sent me. For that they called me a monster."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Alan Dale\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E08 Foe]]"

A former East German Stasi spy who was betrayed by members of his unit, and planned to eliminate his former colleagues.

* {{Badass}}
** BadassGrandpa: Despite being well into his old age, he runs rings around the young German intelligence officer sent to take him down and has the honor of being the first person seen in the show who can go head-to-head with Reese, stay one step ahead of him and even incapacitate him with a well performed nerve strike.
* TheChessmaster: Has had a while to draw up a plan to track down and get rid of his former colleagues while in jail and executes it in a very efficient, methodical manner.
* ColdBloodedTorture: His preferred form is acupuncture needles to major nerves. Very clean and intensely painful.
-->They laughed at me when I learned to use these needles. They didn't laugh long.
* CoolGuns[=/=]RareGuns: His WeaponOfChoice is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welrod Welrod]], a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era bolt-action pistol with an integrated suppressor that renders it extremely quiet (by gun standards).
* DrivenToSuicide: After he's informed that his wife is alive and meets with her, she informs him she's completely terrified by him and as he's got nothing else to live for, purposely makes Reese kill him by levelling his empty gun at his wife.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The whole reason why he's back in New York, to take revenge for himself and his wife. And when his wife reveals she's utterly terrified by him, he decides to make Reese kill him as he's got nothing left to live for.
* EvilCounterpart: To Reese .
* FriendlyEnemy: He is very friendly to John. They bond over discussing tradecraft and costs of being a professional killer while Kohl is taking breaks between torturing Reese. He's also highly regretful when he has to depart while at the same time is preparing to plug John in the head. Later after their final confrontation, they have a rather touching yet bitter-sweet conversation as Ulrich bleeds out on a park bench.
* NotSoDifferent: From Reese.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against his former comrades in the Stasi, for collectively betraying him after having {{Heel Realization}}s.
* SuicideByCop: Variation. He makes like he's going to shoot somebody and Reese fatally shoots him, then it turns out the gun was empty.
* TragicVillain: Began to scare those around him due to his fanatical and bloody kill count, so they betrayed him when they defected. He wasn't pleased and flew to New York to get even--but then he meets the wife he thought was dead, and his daughter who he never met and then after realising what he's become when his wife tells him she's utterly terrified by him gets Reese to shoot him, killing him.

!!Wendy [=McNally=]
->'''Played By:''' Bridget Regan\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E10 Number Crunch]]"

* NiceGirl
* TraumaCongaLine: All she and her friends wanted after taking half a million dollars in laundered money was to take a modest finders fee and return it to the owners. The owner of the money hires a pair of professional killers to hunt them down, blowing one of her friends to smithereens and nearly ambushing her and Paula in their house. Later, Paula gets kidnapped and they nearly die in a hostage exchange gone wrong. Thanks to John's efforts, they live and even get to keep the money.

!!Paula Vasquez
->'''Played By:''' Melonie Diaz\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E10 Number Crunch]]"

* NiceGirl
* TraumaCongaLine: Goes through one with her friends after a congressman hires some professional killers to find his money.

!!Ernie Trask
->'''Played By:''' David Zayas\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E11 Super]]"

->''"It seems like yesterday I was partying till dawn down in Miami. Used to own six nightclubs down there you know; I had a mansion in Coral Gables, a white Bengal tiger--had to give all that up. Bad for my health."''

* CassandraTruth: All his stories about once having a big fancy life when he is just the super of a low-level apartment are laughed at. He is actually in Witness Protection for testifying against Miami drug dealers.
* NiceGuy
* SympatheticMurderer

!!Andrea Gutierrez
->'''Played By:''' April Hernandez-Castillo\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E12 Legacy]]"

-> ''"I believe everyone deserves a second chance."''

* ActionSurvivor: Uses a telescoping baton to great effect and the drawers in a filing room to stall the man who's trying to shoot her before John gets there.
* ClearTheirName: She is seeking to prove her clients are really innocent of their crimes.
* CrusadingLawyer: Her primary goal is to help her clients.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Isn't begging when one of her colleagues (who's masterminded a scam which involves taking parolee's children into the foster care system for profit) is trying to kill her. She's rather angry in fact.
%%* HelloAttorney
* MarriedToTheJob: Her clients are number 1, 2, and 3 on her priorities.
* WideEyedIdealist: Even the man who tried to executes her points it out and in her superb ShutUpHannibal to his self serving justifications about why he's going to kill her, she "would rather bleed than not have a heart".

!!Darren [=McGrady=]
->'''Played By:''' Astro\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E14 Wolf and Cub]]"

->''"I figured it out. You're a ronin...a samurai who lost his master."''

* ChildProdigy: Has the makings of a great trumpet player, and a decent comics illustrator.
* HotBlooded: Gets him into trouble multiple times over the episode and would have gotten him killed if Reese hadn't been there with a shotgun loaded with bean-bag rounds.
* KidSidekick: To Reese
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Wants to go on one for his brother's murder.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Brother]]: Averted.

!!Adam Saunders
->'''Played By:''' Matt Lauria\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E16 Risk]]"

->''"In the end, what he had instead of a father was cash in a shoebox. And what'd he do? He bought himself a future."''

* [[{{Badass}} Badass Banker]]: With Finch's funding he's able to outflank the group that's trying to illegally short a certain gas company and ruin them. He also ruined Carl Elias' plans; Elias had expected to gain $300 million but only got $4 million for his war chest before the operation was blown by Team Machine.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Abandoned by his father.
* ForensicAccounting
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Is genuinely trying to do the right thing, and while he gambles of a sort on the stock market, it's all calculated risk, and when a company his uncle invested in is shorted, he does his best (with a good deal of help from Finch) to restore the stock price.
* SelfMadeMan

!!Tommy Clay
->'''Played By:''' Pablo Schreiber\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS01E20 Matsya Nyaya]]"

->''"You get what you take--so I'm takin' mine."''

* AssHoleVictim:
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Seems like a pillar of society with a perfect existence. It's all a lie. He takes part in robbing his own armoured car transport, executes and betrays a large number of people without a shred of hesitation over the course of the episode and really only gives a damn about himself.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Suffers a horrendous case of this.
* EvilAllAlong : When he drops the seemingly angelic church going family act.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Gets gunned down by his girlfriend who tries to take the loot for herself.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain
* TheResenter: Has finally had enough of transporting wealthy individuals valuables and as the above quote shows has decided to take what he thinks is his.
* TheSociopath: On a horrifying scale.
* SmugSnake: Which means he doesn't see his BitchInSheepsClothing partner murdering him to take the loot for herself.

!!Hanna Frey
->'''Played By:''' Emily Robinson\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E02 Bad Code]]"

->''"Some day I'll make it to Oregon."''

On the night of April 15, 1991, 14-year old Hanna played ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail'' at the Bishop, Texas Public Library until shortly before closing. She checked out the book ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon,'' left the building, and disappeared. In 2012, Reese demands that The Machine help him find the kidnapped Finch, and The Machine gives Reese Hanna's Social Security number....

* DeadAllAlong: Her revealed fate.
* PosthumousCharacter: Sadly she is.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Her death and the events around it pushed Samantha Groves to become the hacker Root.

!!Sofia Campos
->'''Played By:''' Paloma Guzmán\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Riley Cavanaugh
->'''Played By:''' Jonathan Tucker\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Maxine Angelis
->'''Played By:''' Gloria Votsis\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E05 Bury the Lede]]"

->''“There’s a rumor about this guy. The police just call him The Man in the Suit. No one’s seen his face. No one knows his name. I’m not even sure he exists, but he’s like something out of a comic book. When people are in trouble, he comes out of nowhere. He always seems to be there just in time. Whoever he is, he saves a lot of lives...and he shoots a lot of kneecaps.”''

* BreakTheHaughty: Published a story without fully confirming the facts because she wanted the big scoop. She ended up unintentionally getting a crucial (and innocent) FBI informant killed. Agent Donnelly revealed crucial details of their investigation just to show her how badly she screwed up. Her reputation and career were devastated, with her past stories now in doubt. She managed to pick herself up with the help of John, and located the ledger that the informant planned to give to the FBI.
* GoingForTheBigScoop: Her main drive ad biggest character flaw.
* IntrepidReporter
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Launched a story claiming that a man was being suspected of being HR's boss. Turned out he was actually an FBI informant who had the ledger that could point the direction to HR's boss, but had a bullseye painted on him with that story and got him killed. Nice job breaking it indeed.

!!Graham Wyler[[spoiler:/Lloyd Pruitt]]
->'''Played By:'''
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Madeleine Enright
->'''Played By:''' Sharon Leal\\
'''Appeared in:'''

* HappilyMarried
* StraightGay

!!Daniel & Sabrina Drake
->'''Played By:''' Creator/MarkPellegrino & Francie Swift\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Fermin Ordoñez
->'''Played By:'''
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Abby Monroe
->'''Played By:''' Jessica Collins\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Caleb Phipps
->'''Played By:''' Luke Kleintank\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E11 2-Pi-R]]"

->''“If you think money can replace you, you can’t see the whole equation.”''

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Who's the new drug lord selling E in the high school?
* ForgivenessRequiresDeath: That's what Caleb thought, anyway, deciding to leave the proceeds of his future compression algorithm in a trust for his alcoholic mother. Finch vehemently disagrees.
* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: Finch does this alluding to the events which forced him to fake his death and lose his Fiancée and OnlyFriend, resulting in a HappilyFailedSuicide.
* TeenGenius: He's very smart, and developed a new compression algorithm. He's not quite on Finch's level... but he's very close and Finch sees a younger version of himself in Caleb.

!!Karolina Kurkova
->'''Played By:''' Karolina Kurkova\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Logan Pierce
->'''Played By:''' Jimmi Simpson\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E14 One Percent]]"

->''"Later, bitches!"''

* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: He has funds which allow him to fly off to Russia on a moment's whim.
* BatmanGambit: Near the end of the episode, intentionally risks his life just so he can find how Reese operates.
* CoolCar: Mclaren MP412C supercar. As it's in a world where EverythingIsOnLine, the computer systems are hacked and reprogrammed to make the car go much faster to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.
* CatchPhrase: see quote above
* {{Expy}} Of Lloyd from BreakoutKings. Which makes sense.
** [[TheSocialNetwork College dropout that built an extremely successful social networking site and is a very young billionaire]].
* FalseFriend: has a lot of these.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Just for starters, he sabotages a predatory lawsuit by his own company against a small startup, and helps them get started. And when his company becomes too ruthless for his taste, he joins forces with another competitor to launch a rival that will decimate them.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He does have a good side. It's just deeply hidden under some cynicism.
* NoShirtLongJacket: wears a pair of boxers and his overcoat to the dry cleaner to pick up his clothes.
* SelfMadeMan
* [[ShadowArchetype Shadow Counterpart]]: To Finch.
* SherlockScan: deduces a lot about Team Machine from one good look at Finch and Reese together.
* WildCard: Even Reese has trouble guessing what he will do next.

!!Mira Brozi[[spoiler:/Dobrica]]
->'''Played By:''' Mia Maestro
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Michael Cole
->'''Played By:''' Ebon Moss-Bachrach\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS02E16 Relevance]]"

->''"Do you ever wonder where Research gets the numbers?"''

* DyingDeclarationOfLove:
-->'''Shaw:''' Always trying to be everyone's hero, huh?\\
'''Cole:''' No. Just yours.
* MissionControl: To Shaw.
* MoralityPet: To Shaw
* OnlyFriend: to Shaw
* TakingTheBullet
* YouKnowTooMuch: Targeted by his employer, Northern Lights, because he started to learn the truth about Research (The Machine).

!!Lou Mitchell
->'''Played By:''' Ron [=McLarty=]\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Monica Jacobs
->'''Played By:''' Tracie Thoms\\
'''Appeared in:'''

!!Jack Salazar
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/salazar_jack_9279.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I can't be something I'm not."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Ray Valentin \\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E01 Liberty]]"

* AwesomeByAnalysis: Gives a chilling play by play of the bar brawl that's about to happen when he gets into a fight along with his friend.
* BadAss: Small-scale but his commanding officer believe he has potential to be a SEAL.
* BadAssInDistress: Some Force Recon Marines attempt to kidnap him, beating him up, knocking him out and tossing him in the boot of a car. [[spoiler: Luckily, John's driving.]]
* DareToBeBadAss: His commanding officer believes he'd make a great SEAL if he tried out for his BUD/S.
* {{Expy}}: He's basically a younger Reese in a different service branch who hasn't made career decisions like joining the CIA or suffered personal tragedy in his life. Even Reese sees the similarities between him and Jack, giving him some friendly advice and also warning him not to accept any job offers from the CIA if he decides to become a SEAL.
* IJustWanttoBeNormal: Is torn between the offer to try out for his BUD/S and become a SEAL or settle down and have a family.
* NervesOfSteel: One of the more calm POI's Team Machine has dealt with who doesn't lose his nerve or do something idiotic when his shipmate is kidnapped.
* TradingBarsForStripes: How he got into the Navy, he beat a man into a coma. John emphasises with him over this, alluding to his own experiences.
* TraumaCongaLine: All he wanted was a drink and some rest and relaxation in New York during Fleet Week. But his number came up in the Irrelevant list. [[spoiler: Then he gets involved in a bar brawl, has his friend kidnapped and wired to an I.E.D, is nearly kidnapped himself, is shot when Reese rescues him, is embroiled in a diamond smuggling operation he wasn't even aware of and is nearly late returning to the aircraft carrier he's serving on. Luckily, his irresponsible shipmate who helped embroil him in the mess takes the blame for their lateness and by the next day, he's safely back on the aircraft carrier with the Force Recon Marines who were trying to kill him dead or in hospital]]

!!Wayne Kruger
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kruger_wayne_1192.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You can't fight the technology."'']]
->'''Played By:''' David Alan Basche\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E02 Nothing To Hide]]"

* AssHoleVictim: Big time, he's ruined many people lives and never made any effort to correct the problems with his website.
* BreakTheHaughty: At the start of the episode, Kruger arrogantly claimed that people who wanted privacy probably had something to hide when they complained about his site. [[spoiler: Peter Collier and a group of people who had their lives ruined by Life Trace proceed to take him down several notches]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Presents a slick and charismatic personality but it's a lie. [[spoiler: He's got a criminal record, gone bankrupt in a previous business, only cares about his financial success, has been having an affair and is willing to injure the man who's trying to keep him alive just for a chance at finalising the business deal he's been conducting. Collier is utterly disgusted by him that he convinced his superiors who wanted Kruger to be scared away from his company to instead accept his proposal to execute Kruger]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Even Finch sees it and notes he built the machine so men like Kruger wouldn't abuse it the same way Kruger's website is abused.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Calls out Finch ''twice'' for reading his personal info.
-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Finch]]:''' "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Do you mind]]?"
* ItsAllAboutMe: Only cares about himself and getting the business deal with his website finalised. Made more apparent when he [[spoiler: smashes a vase on Harold's head and heads to a business meeting where he believes the deal can be finished. It's a trap for Collier to kill him]]
* JerkAss: Taken up to eleven when he [[spoiler: Smashes a vase on poor Harold's head]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Peter Collier arranges for him to suffer a severe loss of privacy and ruin his life in the same way Kruger's site did to so many others]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After the father of a girl who's stalker/murderer used Life Trace spells out how Kruger's inaction when he requested sensitive information be removed was ignored contributed to her death, Kruger shows genuine remorse for the first time in the episode. [[spoiler: Collier is not impressed however and shoots him]]
* NeverMyFault: His main flaw, he never accepts responsibility for how his website helped destroy so many lives. One of the people who [[spoiler: lost his child to a stalker who was using Life Trace to track her]] pointed out that he did nothing and didn't listen to the requests to pull critical information from the site.
* TraumaCongaLine: For the first time, in the history of the show, its actually quite deserved. [[spoiler: He's revealed to be having an affair at his wedding anniversary, his secretary learns he only hired her for her looks, the potential business partner leaves him out to dry, the board of his company learns about his shady criminal and business history, he gets thrown out of his company, he's nearly killed in a falling elevator,then a car accident and finally, he goes to what he thinks is a business meeting but is in fact a trap to kill him.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: He's been having an affair [[spoiler: Peter Collier makes sure his anniversary party knows]]

!!Genrika Zhirova
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zhirova_genrika_5463.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm just practicing for my career....International espionage."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Danielle Kotch\\
'''Appeared in:''' "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E05 Razgovor]]"

* BilingualDialogue: Speaks Russian and English.
* CharacterBlog: has a Twitter account ([[https://twitter.com/PA37ABOP @PA37ABOP]]) where she was tweeting cryptic comments from July 31, 2013 to the episode's air date
* ChildProdigy: Knows counter-surveillance tactics and executes them very well; built a "listening station" in the basement air ducts of her apartment house and planted hard-wired microphones all through the building
* [[FreeRangeChildren Free Range Child]]: Her cousin cares little about her and doesn't even try to put limits on her. As a result, she does pretty much anything she wants, including spying on any suspicious character in her apartment building.
* MoralityPet: She's the first POI Shaw has genuinely cared about saving.
* MeaningfulName: Writer David Slack was a fan of ''Literature/HarrietTheSpy.'' "Genrika" is "Harriet" in Russian.
* [[SpySchool Spy Homeschooled]]: she learned espionage tradecraft from [[BadassGrandpa her grandfather the retired KGB agent]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Lenin Order of Lenin]] recipient.
* TraumaCongaLine: she's [[DisappearedDad never met her father]], her mother is a political prisoner, [[RaisedByGrandparents her grandfather who was caring for her]] died, she's living in a [[WretchedHive high-crime area]] with her [[AlcoholicParent drug-addled]] and [[ParentalNeglect indifferent]] third cousin Vadim . . . and ''then'' [[FromBadToWorse her number comes up in the "irrelevant" list]].

!!Arthur Claypool
->'''Played By''': Saul Rubinek
->'''Appeared in''': "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E11 Lethe]]" and "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E12 Alethia]]"

->''"Harold, I did it. I solved it before they shut me down. Harold, Samaritan is'' alive''."''

* CrazyPrepared: [[spoiler: Apparently, he hid the drives of Project Samaritan after the government shut it down.]]
* FromBadToWorse: He goes from having such bad memory loss that he forgets his own wife, to being attacked by privacy terrorists, to [[spoiler: being held at gunpoint by the woman acting as his wife.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler: Not all of his memory lapses are genuine. At one point, he takes advantage of his condition to stall for time when he and Harold are being held at gunpoint.]]
* ProperlyParanoid: [[spoiler: There's a good reason that he doesn't trust his wife...]]
* UnknownRival: To Finch; [[spoiler: he was also trying to create an ArtificialIntelligence defense system after 9/11. Not only that, he ''succeeded''. He'd just finished raising Samaritan to self-awareness when the success of Finch's Machine caused his program to be shut down.]]
* WalkingSpoiler
[[/folder]]

* Characters/PersonOfInterestFriends&Allies

-> ''" I believe everyone deserves a second chance"''

* {{Geek}}: Mentions in the extended pilot that he was a massive ScienceFiction fan when he was a kid, and if specifically caring to own a rare first-edition of one of IsaacAsimov's books, his reading preferences of dystopian literature and science-fiction, and his being able to identify an Orwell quote immediately is anything to go by, he hasn't changed that much. Also, see BadassBookworm.

** Also lampshaded by owen in "4C," who remarks that Reese's hair is "like catnip to soccer moms."

* SilverFox: Reese is well on his way to being one. Lampshaded by Wendy the hairstylist in "Number Crunch."

* TurnInYourBadge: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When an assassination attempt by HR in the second season finale fails (Carter shoots first and kills her would-be assassin), the HR cop on scene improvises, pocketing the assassin's gun so it looks to InternalAffairs like she shot an unarmed man. By the third season premiere, Carter's lost her detective badge and is back in a patrol car. [[spoiler:She gets promoted back to detective after identifying and bringing in the true leader HR, Alonzo Quinn, but is murdered later that evening.]]

* DeathFakedForYou: Reese and Finch fake her death to throw Hersh and Northern Lights off her trail. [[spoiler: But by the events of "Lethe", Hersh and Control know for sure that she's alive.]]

* IHaveManyNames: He has multiple identities around the city - among them, software engineer, paralegal, and insurance executive, all of which are associated with different names. He apparently even went to college under an assumed ID, given that his college student persona appeared out of nowhere in 1976. Given that, it's quite likely that Harold Finch isn't his real name either. Nathan Ingram lampshades this, asking him if he remembers his original name.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Averted, doubly subverted, and possibly played straight (if some of the hints about his past prove to be true . Says that his greatest motivation (even above not wanting others to use it for nefarious purposes) for sealing up The Machine so no one can access it is that he might be tempted to use it to become one of these however, before he decided to help people, he was so concerned with not using The Machine to become a WellIntentionedExtremist (either he or anyone else) he became an version of this by deciding that TheNeedsOfTheMany outweighed the needs of the Irrelevants ForTheGreaterGood.

** ''Three'' times in Season Three Fusco tries to be a badass, and Shaw beat him to the punch (using him as a HumanShield because it was faster than going around him), Reese leaves him to defuse a bomb instead of arresting corrupt Force Recon Marines, and Carter ditches him when he tries to help her arrest HR's boss.

* FriendOnTheForce: Not a true friend, but he grows extremely close enough.

* PunchClockHero: Reluctantly, at first.

* ActorSharedBackground: Is at least partially Iranian with an anglicized first name, much like her actor.

** During a FlashBack in "The Devil's Share" [[spoiler: this destroys her promising career as a doctor, her supervisor noting that she delivered bad news to bereaved patients families while chewing energy bars]]

** [[spoiler:Turns out she does in fact have a medical degree]]

** On the other hand in Season 3 during [[spoiler: 4C, he has a surprisingly amicable conversation with her and even asks in a concerned tone if Team Machine is treating her well]]

* LastNameBasis: Nobody ever refers to him by his given name. His full name wasn't even revealed until "Lethe", a good season and a half after his first appearance, when it appears in one of the Machine's calculation tables.

* TheStoic: He keeps a calm face in most situations. Even when [[spoiler:Reese beat him and left him with a potentially fatal wound, the man didn't show much pain or anger, and later he's calm as a button about murdering his protégé ("Relevance") and his immediate supervisor and multiple co-workers ("God Mode")]]. Drops this when Root shoots him in ("Lady Killer"), he's left gasping on the floor bleeding out and is visibly in pain.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[spoiler: In "Lethe" - during the standoff at the end, the henchmen have red and white boxes (indicating imminent violence). Control has a red box (because she is pointing a gun at Finch). Hersh, meanwhile, has neither...]]

* EvilMentor: For Shaw. As a result, she's just as good as John during combat situations. However, he may have taught her everything he knows but is perfectly willing to poison her when she resigns from the ISA.

* AffablyEvil: Polite, charming, and utterly ruthless
* TheChessmaster

* EvilBrit

* OddlySmallOrganization: Even with the addition of Shaw, Team Machine is still quite small compared to the rival groups in the series. However with each member's skills and Finch's resources, they've easily overcome powerful enemies such as HR, Northern Lights, and Decima Technologies, who have considerably more manpower and occasionally similar resources to them.

* ScaryBlackMan: When he drops the charming businessman act he's all this,[[spoiler: coolly calling out Wayne Kruger on his perceived crimes before shooting him dead]]

* WeaponOfChoice: Three of them. Her primary handgun is a Heckler and Koch USP Compact equipped with laser sight. For backup weapons she uses a suppressed Smith and Wesson Bodyguard 380 and a suppressed Sig-Sauer P-239

* DeathFakedForYou: Reese and Finch fake her death to throw Hersh and Northern Lights off her trail.

* PunchClockVillain: The majority of their hit-squads have no knowledge of the machine and are simply following orders.

** Season 2 had the formidable, rouge ISA assassin Samantha Shaw arranging a meeting with Veronica Neumann, a nervous CIA officer....who promptly hits her with a stun gun, zip ties her to a chair and almost engages in some ColdBloodedTorture before she's interrupted by an ISA hit-squad.

->''Appeared in''': "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E11 Lethe]]" and "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E12 Alethia]]"