Characters / Band of Brothers

Note: Characters are organized by their rank at the time of the end of the series.

Remember also that while these characters are based on real people, this page discusses their fictionalised depictions in the show.

Commissioned Officers

Colonel Robert F. Sink (Cpt Dale Dye)

The man who commanded the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment throughout the war.

He is the highest-ranking officer among the cast credited in the opening.

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• A Father to His Men: Generally viewed by the soldiers under his command as reasonable, forthcoming, and friendly. Where Taylor "thought the men loved to fight", Sink knew "they hated to fight", and generally did his best to provide for them.
• The Alcoholic: Although it is not shown in the series, the book mentions his love for whisky and how it earned him the nickname of "Bourbon Bob".
• Colonel Badass: Professional, plainspoken, inspires respect and deference from every man junior to him.
• Cool Old Guy: Considerably older than the rest of the cast. Real-life Sink was in his late 30s during WWII, but in the series he looks to be fifty-something.
• Foil: To Lt. Colonel Strayer, who has a Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die mentality going for him and seems a bit of a coward as well.
• Get Out!: His angry words to the Easy Company NCOs who attempt to mutiny over Sobel's weak leadership.
  "Now get out of my office and out of my sight." (NCOs stand at attention} "Get!"
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He is shown as competent, level-headed, and harboring no illusions about his men having any desire to lose their lives. A major exception is in episode 8, when he shows really bad judgment and orders a very dangerous mission into enemy territory.^note The previous mission had captured an enemy soldier who had information they could use, so he was hoping for a replay of that. However, the tactical and environmental situations had changed to the point where a second attempt would be a suicide mission.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Was known in real life to tell his subordinates, "You should have just shot the S.O.B. and saved us the trouble," when men under their command committed court martial-level offenses. In the series, he tells the NCOs he could have them all shot when they threaten to resign if Sobel isn't replaced.

Major Richard "Dick" Winters (Damian Lewis)

The central character of the series, with the biggest number of POV episodes (#2, 5, 10 and, arguably, 1). Starts the series as a 2nd Lieutenant and is eventually promoted to Major thanks to his competence, tactical genius, and general badassery.

He is portrayed as a model leader (is calm and unflappable, cares about his men, can hold his own in combat, an excellent tactician) and an all-around good person (even if he's considered overly straight-laced by some).

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• 100% Heroism Rating: With the single exception of Sobel, whose dislike is plainly Driven by Envy, it's next to impossible for anyone to say anything bad about Winters.
• The Ace: Smart, courageous, analytical, calm under pressure, and a decent man in a time of war, Winters is exactly the kind of soldier you want leading your company.
• A Father to His Men: Leads his men from the front and genuinely cares for their well-being.
  • In Episode 1, as if to further prove just how opposite they are, Winters is seen running alongside the men during training and encouraging all of them by name. He even manages to recognize Bull's voice, even though his back is turned. Sobel, on the other hand, had to read Christenson's nametag to identify him and couldn't even tell that he was being pranked by Luz in Aldbourne.
  • When Dike clams up mid-battle, he instinctively runs out to help them himself, only for Colonel Sink to stop him.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's a Major because he's badass. Unfortunately, his promotion means he's a Desk Jockey for the later half of the series.
• Bag of Spilling: During the jump into Normandy on D-Day, he loses his equipment and is left with nothing more than a knife and a compass until he can acquire replacement gear.
• Bothering by the Book: This is how he deals with Sobel's Neidermeyer tendencies. Sobel tries to give Winters non-judicial punishment for the crime of not reporting when summoned, even though Winters never received the message, which was Sobel's fault. The punishment is relatively minor (temporary confinement to base), and Sobel tells him to just take it because he never leaves the base anyway. Winters, however, requests trial by court martial, leaving Sobel speechless. So what Sobel intended as an authoritarian flex becomes a judiciary nightmare that exposes Sobel's pettiness. It's implied that this contributes to Col Sink's decision to reassign Sobel, as he calls the court martial an "unpleasant distraction".
• Call to Agriculture: Hopes to pass his days after the war on a "quiet piece of land someplace."
  • Truth in Television: That's exactly what he did: He and his wife bought a farm near Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he set up a company to sell chocolate byproducts as livestock feed.
• Catchphrase:
  • "Hang tough."
  • "Follow me!"
• The Captain: Is this or Majorly Awesome for most of the series.
• Celibate Hero: Winters is never shown pursuing women (or even talking about them), even on leave. It's implied that he completely contains these feelings so he can focus entirely on running Easy Company.
  • Truth in Television: While Winters did go on to marry and have children later in life, he avoided dating during the war, as he observed that the men with wives or sweethearts were the first to panic in combat.
• Deadpan Snarker: He does in fact have a sense of humor, but it is dry as a bone.
• The Fettered: Not to the point of Honor Before Reason though, since this is WWII we're talking about.
• Genius Bruiser: He's a fine soldier (not the finest, that prize goes to Speirs), but his best attributes are being able to stay calm no matter how chaotic or brutal the fight, and his ability to analyze a combat situation and come up with an effective battle plan.
• Gentleman Snarker: On occasion, contradicting Nixon's claim that he lacks a sense of humor.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Unlike practically every single other character, he doesn't swear and says things like "For Pete's sake" instead.
  • Truth in Television: The real Dick Winters abhorred swearing and even threatened to stop working on the series because of all the profanities in his character's lines. Tom Hanks had them toned down accordingly.
• Hero Protagonist: He's the closest thing the series has to a main character and is a stoic yet ultimately heroic individual.
• Heroic BSoD: Never to a debilitating extent, but in "Crossroads" he's clearly struggling with flashbacks to the combat action which also led to his promotion away from Easy Company. It comes out in full when he sees a young French boy who reminds him of the equally young German soldier he killed on the field.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Nixon. After the war, the two get jobs at a company run by Nixon's father.
• Humble Hero: Even though he rises through the ranks, his personality never changes.
  • Truth in Television: The real Winters was uncomfortable with any public acclaim. He only agreed to be interviewed for Stephen Ambrose's book and the subsequent series to ensure accuracy, and he only agreed to let a statue in France be cast in his likeness on the condition that it be dedicated to all junior officers.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: As summarized by Nixon, "no flaws, no vices, No Sense of Humor". It's a bit of a deconstruction as well: Winters' men respect him, but are slightly suspicious of his moral behavior (until he proves himself extremely competent on D-Day).
  Guarnere: I like Winters, he's a good man. But when the bullets start flying, I don't know if I want a Quaker doing my fighting for me.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: It's telling the kind of day D-Day was that Winters, a notorious teetotaler, takes a drink from Guarnere when it's done.
• The Leader: Everyone in Easy company thinks he's a great leader.
• Magnetic Hero: He's able to inspire confidence in everyone, even the most cowardly of soldiers.
  • In Episode 2, Hall, who isn't even in Easy Company, willingly goes with them to Brecourt Manor because he trusted and respected Winters' leadership that much.
  • Similarly in Episode 3, Winters giving a much-needed pep talk to Blithe is all he needs to overcome his hysterical blindness and finally become the soldier he was trained to be.
• Meaningful Name: 'Winters' is a really apt metaphor for a man who is always cool in the heat of battle.
• Neat Freak: All members of Easy Company forego shaving during the Battle of the Bulge (firstly, why bother; secondly, the conditions are unfavorable; thirdly, facial hair helps to keep warm). Winters, however, resolutely breaks out his shaving kit every morning.
• Not So Above It All: He usually looks askance at the looting that goes on, but he eventually agrees to split a set of silverware with Welsh after a bit of goading.
• Not So Stoic:
  • The normally cool and collected Winters freaks out when a stray bullet strikes Nixon's helmet.
  • He also accepts an offered drink of wine in the aftermath of the Brecourt Manor assault.
  • When 1st Lt. Dike freaks out during the assault on Foy, he becomes so irate that he almost goes in to relieve Dike himself, until he's reminded that he is the battalion commander and can't go out. And when Sink—his superior officer—tries to reason with him, Winters brushes past him and shouts for Speirs to relieve Dike. The real Winters later said that he only did so because Speirs was the first officer he saw.
• Officer and a Gentleman: He doesn't curse, he doesn't drink, and he rarely raises his voice when out of combat. He also treats everyone he meets with respect and politeness.
• One-Man Army: In episode 5, he leads a charge on an entire company of SS, who are so surprised by him they start running away. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross^note second only to the Medal of Honor in US combat decorations for his actions in the climax of episode 2. The only reason he wasn't awarded the Medal of Honor for that one was because someone else had already been awarded one during D-Day and had used up the "one per unit" allocation. After the release of this series a grassroots movement sprang up to have his medal upgraded, which Winters himself disagreed with.
• On-Site Procurement: He's forced to do this on D-Day after losing his equipment in the jump and being left only with a knife and a compass. He's first given a captured German rifle by one of his squad before outfitting himself with gear from one of the dead paratroopers they find after daylight.
• Real Men Love Jesus: He comes from a family of Mennonites, though he and his parents did not practice.
  • Truth in Television: He made efforts to attend church every Sunday during the war.
• Reluctant Warrior: Despite being a soldier and leader so competent that his exploits are literally taught in military schools, he states in his memoirs that he joined the Army hoping not to go to war, and when he was recalled for the Korean War, he did everything he could to stay out of it (but remained as a trainer for the Army and the Rangers).
• Shirtless Scene: Gets one in "Crossroads" and in the final episode.
• Starving Student: His backstory. He had to give up sports and social activities in favor of part-time jobs that paid for his college studies.
• The Stoic: He's not particularly emotive, and the times when he smiles can be counted on one hand.
• Smug Straight Edge: Winters has elements of this, since he believes drinking clouds judgment. Ironically, his two best friends in the company (Nixon and Welsh) are notoriously heavy drinkers.
• Undying Loyalty: He earns this from the men throughout the series. There are too many examples to provide, but to demonstrate that it happens early on: it's pretty telling that the last straw which eventually provokes the Easy Company NCOs to mutiny and resign en-mass is Sobel having Winters reassigned to the catering division.
• You Are in Command Now: On D-Day, the plane carrying Easy's CO and HQ section is shot down, leaving Winters the highest-ranking officer and effectively making him acting CO, until he's officially promoted to the position.

Captain Lewis Nixon (Ron Livingston)

Nixon is a 2nd battalion intelligence officer (eventually moved to a regimental position), known for his sardonic wit and his apparently endless supply of Vat69 whisky. He comes from a very privileged background (complete with prep schools and a sophisticated international upbringing), unlike the majority of Easy Company men who had to endure the hardships of The Great Depression.

Throughout the series he develops a drinking problem (which gets him demoted from Intelligence to Operations) and a disenchantment with how things are run in the army. He is Winters' best friend and frequent confidant.

Episode 9, "Why We Fight", is from his POV.

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• Accidental Hero: Winters claims Nixon may be the only man in the entire 101st (certainly the only named character) with 3 combat stars on his jump wings.^note For parachuting into Normandy and Holland with the 101st, then made a third jump as an observer with the 17th. This is despite being one of the most prominent Non-Action Guys in the series, having not once fired a weapon in combat.
• Affectionate Nickname: Harry and Winters both refer to him as either "Nix" or "Lew."
• The Alcoholic: Frequently shown taking quick nips and Drinking on Duty.
  • When he gets demoted (and divorced), his drinking really starts getting out of hand.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Just look at the picture.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Or, rather, Brilliant But Drinking/Drunk/Hungover.
• Cultured Warrior: Was a graduate of Yale and can tell the difference between Mozart and Beethoven.
• Deadpan Snarker: In contrast to Winters.
• "Dear John" Letter: Is the recipient of one in episode 9. While hardly happy about it, he seems more or less resigned to to the marriage ending, and claims to be most annoyed that his wife is claiming his dog when she doesn't even like it. It doesn't exactly help his increasing struggle to keep things together, however.
• Desk Jockey: As an Intelligence officer, this is his position. But unlike many men in his position, he is unafraid of battle and travels to the front often to understand the situation and is never seen behind the desk. One of the best examples is when he can be seen watching the Battle of Foy from the tree line with a pair of binoculars while Speirs runs out to relieve Dike of command.
• Divorce Assets Conflict: His wife takes everything after the divorce, including his beloved dog. He even provides the page quote for this trope.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The ending narration reveals that, after a string of failed marriages, he found the right woman, sobered up, and got his life back together.
• Foil:
  • To Winters. The two are both brave and competent officers, but they differ in just about everything else - background, attitude towards the war, role in it (Nixon's combat experience is limited for obvious reasons), and general moral makeup. Their friendship is thus a textbook case of Opposites Attract.
  • He's also a foil to Dike, who enjoyed a similarly privileged upbringing with all the perks it's bound to bring, yet has none of Nixon's competence.
• Functional Addict. Sorta. He's always a competent officer, but as the war drags on his drinking becomes an embarrassment to the point that Sink demotes him.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Winters.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Succumbs to this in Episode 9 where he bears the responsibility for writing letters home to soldiers who died in his third combat jump. What makes it worse is that he didn't actually know any of them, having been assigned to the jump as an observer, but nevertheless has been assigned the task as the highest-ranking survivor.
• The Lancer: To Winters; the latter's stringent moral standards contrast Nixon's cynical and more obviously flawed persona.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Not an injury in a physical sense, but to his career. Nixon's performance as an intelligence officer apparently decays (probably due to his drinking and his despair about his divorce), and Sink finally demotes him out of Intelligence, pretty much indicating his military career as an officer is dead. Nixon doesn't even flinch when he gets the news from Winters... he is more concerned about all the men in his jump stick lost that day.
  • Played for laughs during the retreat from Nuenen, where he appears to have been shot in the head, only to be revealed as a graze that left him stunned but otherwise unharmed.
• Nepotism: His father runs his own company, which helps Nixon secure jobs for himself and Winters there after the war.
• Non-Action Guy: Gets through the war without firing his gun even once.
• Non-Idle Rich: Comes from a very wealthy family.
• Not a Morning Person: What with all the hangovers, it's to be expected.
• Screw the War, We're Partying: Subverted. While Nixon does use drinking as a way to cope with the horrors around him, he's generally shown to be a good officer despite his alcoholism.
• Sole Survivor: Nixon is an observer for his third jump, and due to Easy Company's achievements, the rest of the jumpers give him place of pride at the front of the line. The plane gets shot down and he's one of only four to make it out. Plus, he is the only surviving officer so it falls on him to write letters of condolence to the families of men he didn't know. The resulting Heroic BSoD only worsens his already debilitating alcoholism.

Captain Herbert Sobel (David Schwimmer)

The training officer at Camp Toccoa. He's petty and short-tempered, finding fault with the smallest (occasionally imagined) infractions, which earns him the hate of Easy Company's men. He's obsessed with Easy being the best company in the Division and drills his men to near-perfection by methods that are somewhat sadistic. As it often happens, he himself is not particularly competent and ends up being moved away from field command positions - assigned first to run a paratrooper jump school, then later as a supply officer.

Episode 1, "Currahee", is (partly) from his POV.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: He's not a villain, but he's definitely a petulant and childish prick. Still, there is something pitiable about his clear devastation at losing command of Easy Company, to say nothing of his eventual fate.
• Armchair Military: It's shown repeatedly that he has no idea how to actually lead in a real combat situation, messing up tasks as simple as reading a map.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: Spends much of "Currahee" running around with his .45 in hand and his finger on the trigger. Most seriously, when asked to select three of his men to be "wounded" during a field exercise, he does so by pointing his pistol directly at their faces, sweeping the muzzle across a number of other men in the process. Note that this may have been a deliberate choice on the part of the filmmakers, as it illustrates Sobel's deficiencies as a field commander, as well as his disregard for his men's welfare.
• Bungled Suicide: Attempts to shoot himself in 1970, only for the bullet to sever his optic nerves and render him blind until his death in 1987.
• Catchphrase: "Hi-ho, Silver!". He's also fond of "your weekend pass is revoked" as his standard response for any mistake, no matter how minor.
• Crippling Overspecialization: The only thing he's good at is drilling the men.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Nearly every member of Easy Company has gone on record as saying that they personally hated Sobel, and at one point several of the NCOs threatened to quit unless he was replaced as their commander. Nevertheless, the men admitted that he gave them motivation to unite as a unit, and his over-the-top training standards prepared them well for the war. He's also something of a deconstruction; rather than the usual battle hardened veteran preparing his men for the harshness of battle who earns his men's respect as a result, Sobel has never been in the field and shows himself to be utterly useless when he is. The result is a rather toxic combination of disciplinarianism, small-mindedness and ineptitude which leads his men to view him as a petty bully who is far more concerned with making himself look good than their safety, and they despise him for it.
• Drunk with Power: He's basically a petty little tyrant, bully and martinet who milks all the power that being in charge of Easy Company grants him. Unfortunately for him, Easy Company revolts once it becomes clear that his tyranny is not matched with competence.
• Due to the Dead: Sadly averted. Sobel received no services at the time of his death in 1987, despite the fact that he served in many battles and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retirement. The only member of Easy Company to seek him out was Bill Guarnere, who paid Sobel's membership dues into a veterans group but otherwise had no contact with the man.
• Establishing Character Moment: He actually gets two.
  • The first is him screaming "You people are at the position of attention!" as he walks onto the scene, cementing him as a harsh instructor. He then proceeds to lay into Easy for increasingly ridiculous infractions (including, but not limited to, Perco's supposedly creased pants, rust on Malarkey's gun, and a single stray thread on Lip's uniform).
  • The second is during the training exercise at Camp Mackall when he peeks over the trench looking completely lost, both figuratively and literally, showing he has no idea how to actually command in the field.
• Evil Is Petty: Evil is a stretch, but he is extremely petty and nearly wrecks Dick's career over a screw-up that Sobel himself made.
• Glory Seeker: He wants Easy to be the best company in the Airborne and is visibly distraught when command is taken away from him. All in all, he's shown as lacking in competence and unflappability rather than determination or desire to prove his worth. However, it's also deconstructed; he clearly seeks glory for himself as opposed to his company, and treats his men as little more than expendable appendages to his own personal success, which only serves to earn their resentment.
• Hate Sink: In the first episode, before encountering the Germans, he serves as a character to hate. Nixon lampshades this by noting that he has caused the men of Easy Company to hate him so much that every one of them would run Currahee just to piss in his coffee.
• Hypocrite: His refusal to salute Winters in "Points" until firmly reminded about military protocol counts as this, considering that in "Currahee" he makes a point of ensuring that men lower-ranked than him show him appropriate respect by following military protocol to the absolute letter.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: He's a deeply insecure man who knows he isn't a good commander and takes his insecurities out on everyone around him to compensate.
• Ironic Fear: While not overtly stated, he looks extremely nervous during Easy's first actual Training Jump. He keeps a lid on his fear, as he is the CO of a paratrooper company.
• It's All About Me: It's heavily suggested that this is behind his Glory Seeker tendencies and drive to push Easy Company to excel; it's about how their successes and excellence reflects well on him personally. Notably, he never bothers to try and connect with any of the soldiers to the extent that he doesn't even remember their names. This, naturally, doesn't endear him to the company, and also suggests that he'll readily sacrifice them in combat if it'll benefit him.
• Jerkass: He's a very volatile and inept man that cares more about his own career than his men. If anything, David Schwimmer's portrayal of Sobel actually understated his disagreeable tendencies.^note At the 2001 Emmy Awards, Schwimmer spoke with the real Dick Winters, who told him that Sobel was far worse than the way Schwimmer portrayed him.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Zigzagged. His training methods are extremely harsh, but many soldiers acknowledge that his disciplinarian tendencies helped make them a better unit and equip them to survive the war. That said, they also state that his treatment of his men was still excessive and needlessly cruel, crossing the line from "necessary toughness" to just petty mistreatment and outright bullying. Furthermore, it's heavily suggested that his extreme conduct was done more to make himself seem impressive to higher ups and as a way to compensate for his insecurities rather than to make his men better soldiers, a fact his men are fully aware of and why they hate him.
• Kick the Dog: Hardly a scene passes where he isn't subjecting men under his command to mistreatment for no reason beyond sheer petulance.
• Life Saving Misfortune: After the "mutiny" by Easy Company, Sobel is reassigned to command a jump training school in England. Had he not been, then he would have been on the HQ transport plane when it was shot down during D-Day.
• Machiavelli Was Wrong: A perfect example as he isn't loved at all by his men and is hated more than feared. His extreme methods are shown as nothing but a way for him to bolster his own fragile ego and cover up his own incompetence.
• The Neidermeyer: Pushes Easy Company very hard just to further his own career. While his Training from Hell is effective, in the field he's shown to be incompetent to the point where every NCO in the company threatens to resign rather than follow him in combat.
  • Liebgott even intimates (and none too discreetly) that he may frag Sobel as soon as they are in combat.
• Never My Fault: He refuses to acknowledge that he is a poor combat leader and tries to sabotage Winters instead.
• Pet the Dog: Comes upon Popeye having escaped from the field hospital and gives him a lift back to Easy Company so he can jump into Holland with them.
• The Resenter: To Winters. It is especially evident when by the end of the war he has to salute the (by that time higher-ranking) man he used to bully.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He seemingly becomes nicer to Easy men once he becomes a regimental supply officer. He even seems to be a bit proud to see that Malarkey is now a sergeant...which is then subverted when he antagonizes Malarkey for taking a joyride on a motorcycle.
  • ...which Malarkey really shouldn't have been doing.
• Training from Hell: He subjects his men to this. Even when the company is already outperforming all others in the regiment, his methods remain excessive and sadistic.

Captain Ronald "Ron" Speirs (Matthew Settle)

Initially one of Dog Company's platoon leaders, he takes command of Easy during the Battle of the Bulge and stays with them for the remainder of the war.

Fearless, professional, and nonchalant, Speirs is perhaps the most absurdly badass member of Easy and one of the few to stay in the army once the war's over. He is the subject of many rumors regarding his treatment of German prisoners of war and the fact that he shot one of his own men for disobedience.

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• The Ace: In a company of badasses, this guy is heads and shoulders above them, and he's a hell of a looker.
• Ambiguous Situation: Whether or not Speirs shot German prisoners in cold blood. In-universe, none of the other characters know for certain, but in Real Life the situation was an active battlefield and as paratroopers behind the lines, Speirs and his men had no other way to handle prisoners. He did, however, shoot one of his own men for drunken insubordination: he felt that the man had been endangering the unit so badly that there was no other choice, and has confident enough that he reported himself for investigation. The investigation preliminarily deemed the shooting acceptable, and ended when the officer in charge of it died during the ongoing invasion. By eyewitness accounts, Speirs did it in self-defense.
• The Big Guy: To a T.
• Blood Knight: Probably the only one in the series (unless you also count Guarnere, who is a less obvious example).
• Brave Scot: Edinburgh-born, though moved to the States as a child.
• Creepy Awesome: In-universe. The men of Easy Company respect him and find him extremely frightening at the same time. There's also the fact that he doesn't blink when talking and delivers nihilistic speeches with a pleased smile on his face.
• Death Seeker: Has shades of this. He considers himself dead already, and so holds nothing back when fighting to become a truly ruthless and effective soldier.
• Dissonant Serenity: His default mood.
• Divorce Assets Conflict: His first wife takes away his war spoils after their divorce.
• Establishing Character Moment: His first appearance in the series occurs in episode 2. It's the infamous scene with the German POWs, which isn't even shown onscreen in its entirety.
• Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die:
  • The speech he gives to Blithe. Unlike most examples of the trope, it actually works.
  Speirs: The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it.
  • In an interesting twist, Speirs applies this trope to himself, not just the soldiers under his command.
• Good is Not Nice: Played with. Considering his Grey-and-Gray Morality, Spiers was one messed-up dude for such an exemplary soldier.
• In-Series Nickname: In real life, most of the officers called him "Sparky," thanks to his easily set-off nature.
• Karma Houdini: In spite of Winters' desire to court martial him, Speirs ultimately got away with whatever he did to the German POWs in Episode 2. This is probably in part because Speirs was technically in compliance with their orders not to take prisoners during D-Day (because there was nowhere to send them and their captivity would tie up precious resources).
• Kleptomaniac Hero: While most soldiers participate in looting German homes, none (save for Pvt More) are as prolific as Speirs. He also attempts to steal Perconte's lighter at some point.
  Vest: Boy, your folks are sure gonna have quite a collection by the time you get home, sir.
  [pause; Speirs stares at Vest, then slowly smiles]
  Speirs: Finders, keepers.
• Leeroy Jenkins: You get the feeling the man never had much truck in the concept of 'cover'. His usual response to a pitched firefight is to run out in the open and charge towards the enemy before they even realize how crazy and awesome he actually is.
• Machiavelli Was Wrong: Defied. He welcomes his men's wariness of him, and he tells Lipton that it's why he works to maintain his fearsome reputation.
  Speirs: Well, maybe that's because Tertius knew there was some value to the men thinking he was the meanest, toughest sonofabitch in the whole Roman Legion.
• Nerves of Steel: Where to begin?
  • At Brecourt, while tasked with taking out the fourth artillery gun, instead of methodically working his way forth, he jumps out of the trench (exposing himself to fire), charges straight for the gun, and disables it, without even hesitating.
  • Later at Foy, he runs through German lines to reestablish contact with I Company, straight past an entire assemblage of armed German soldiers and tanks. Then once he was done, he ''ran back'' through the German line again and returned to Easy Company, when most men would have rather stayed where they were.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Delivers this to a drunk New Meat who shot one of The Squad.
• One Last Smoke: He supposedly guns down a number of German prisoners after handing them cigarettes and afterwards gets amusement out of offering smokes to Easy men, who are understandably horrified every time.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: His eerily calm demeanor slips a handful of times.
  • He doesn't say much at the concentration camp, but his reaction is the first time when he shows a facial expression other than "creepy stare" or "mischievous smirk."
  • He raises his voice for the first time when he suspects Pvt More, the company's other prolific thief, of stealing loot that Speirs had wanted. Speirs is right, but never finds out.
  • He's so furious when confronting Sgt Grant's would-be murderer that his hand shakes when he draws his sidearm.
  • He surprises a roomful of soldiers by not summarily executing the man who shot Grant. It seems that Speirs knows to save his Terminator-like persona for the battlefield.
• Papa Wolf: After becoming Easy's new CO, he becomes very protective of the men under his care, to the point that he is absolutely livid when Chuck Grant gets shot in the head. Even when told that Chuck's situation is hopeless, he refuses to give up and continues searching for a doctor that could save his life.
  • During episode 8, when Winters gives the briefing for the second patrol, Speirs display a dark, stressed and sadden face, clearly knowing and disapproving what is ordered to his men. By the end of the briefing, after Winters explain a specific caveat to the mission, there is one of the rare moment when Speirs can be seen with a genuine smile.
• Pet the Dog: His interactions with Lipton.
• Refuge in Audacity: His daring run through the German line in episode 7 is successful only because the Germans can't believe what they're seeing. Note that he really made this run in real life! There's a reason he has an entry in Badass Weekly.
• Shrouded in Myth: The stories about him become more and more overblown with each retelling. He even encourages this mystique about himself. It helps that he actually pulls off ridiculous feats of valor on the field.
• Sociopathic Soldier: An unusually reflective, self-aware case. Speirs shows a few sociopathic traits, namely recklessness, an indifference to violence, a nihilistic attitude about death, and a bit of a sadistic streak. But he considers these to be virtues in wartime; see his motivational speech. The fact that he cares about his men and shows a warmhearted side in his one-on-one chat with Lipton suggests that he isn't a true sociopath, but deliberately embraced his more sociopathic side to better do his duty.
• Sticky Fingers: He was infamous for the sheer amount of "souvenirs" he picked up from German soldiers and civilians.
• Troll: He's well aware of his own reputation, which means he knows exactly what he's doing by casually offering gossiping soldiers a cigarette.

Father (Captain) John Maloney (Doug Cockle)

The regimental chaplain, who administers last rites to dying soldiers even when under fire.

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• Badass Pacifist: The below-mentioned DSC that he was awarded was for going into an active battlefield, unarmed, to provide comfort to the wounded and Last Rites to the dead and dying.
• Badass Preacher: He got the Distinguished Service Cross^note 2nd only to the Medal of Honor in terms of awards, and the same medal awarded to Winters for his actions at Brecourt Manor for his actions during the Battle of Carentan.
• Irish Priest: Of Irish descent.

First Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton (Neal McDonough)

Buck was a star athlete at UCLA and played catcher for the college baseball team. He is considered to be one of the best officers of Easy, despite being overly friendly with his men and treating them as fraternity brothers rather than subordinates.

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• A Father to His Men: Deconstructed. He's shown as being very close with his NCOs. When several of them are killed and wounded at Bastogne, he breaks down and ends up being pulled off the line.
• Back for the Finale: He's evacuated at the end of episode 7, is absent for the next 2 episodes, and returns to Easy at the very end of episode 10.
• Being Personal Isn't Professional: Winters tells him off for gambling with the men, and he suffers a Heroic BSoD after two of his friends are maimed in front of him.
• Break the Badass: His reaction to the loss of his friends in "The Breaking Point" was used to not only relate Compton's personal story, but to help show the viewers just how shitty it was for the troops during the Battle of the Bulge.
• "Dear John" Letter: Gets one during the Battle of the Bulge, a fact which does nothing good for his already low morale.
• Establishing Character Moment: Being reprimanded by Winters for gambling with the soldiers.
• Freak Out: Suffers a major breakdown after seeing Guarnere and Toye lose their legs in an artillery barrage.
• Hello, Attorney!: Becomes a prosecutor (later a judge) after the war.
• Heroic BSoD: Seeing so many of his friends get wounded heavily weighs on him and he starts to withdraw into himself. He's driven over the edge during the siege at Bastogne and has to be pulled off the line and hospitalized for psychological issues^note Unofficially, that is. The official reason given was trench foot.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: How he swindles Babe out of cigarettes in a game of darts.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Especially prominent in Bastogne.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He was a star catcher at UCLA and was ridiculously good at timing his grenade throws. During the assault at Brecourt Manor, he's seen throwing a grenade that explodes as it hits the shoulder of a fleeing German soldier. In real-life, he calculated the distance between him and the soldier (roughly the distance between home and second on a regulation baseball diamond), noted the speed at which the man was running, popped the spoon on his grenade, and threw it with no arc so that it would explode on impact.
• Lovable Jock: A college athlete and one of the best men in Easy.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name, Lynn, is never mentioned in the series.
• Renaissance Man: Buck wasn't only an athlete; he is a historian, a skilled dart player, a natural leader, and a fierce warrior.
  • After the war, he has a rather impressive career: he quickly ascends from police officer, to detective, to prosecutor, and finally to judge. He most famously was the lead prosecutor of Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Senator Bobby Kennedy.
• Shot in the Ass: In Holland, lengthwise ("one bullet, four holes").
• Workplace-Acquired Abilities: His baseball skills serve him well in combat, since he's ridiculously good at timing his grenade throws...although holding onto them is a different matter.

First Lieutenant Norman Dike (Peter O'Meara)

Serves as company leader during the Battle of the Bulge, which is highly unfortunate since he's incompetent, cowardly, and takes to hiding in his foxhole instead of trying to run things. He is eventually relieved of his duty by Winters, much to the joy of Easy men.

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• Character Tics: Tends to yawn frequently, which Luz ridicules at one point.
• Cryptic Conversation: One-sided, at that. He often gives long convoluted "commands" that do not mean anything at all. Lampshaded to Dike's face in a very subtle manner by Buck:
  (After Dike gives a pointless, long spiel)
  Buck: Uh, but what do we DO, sir?
  Dike: For now, per usual, but I will clarify that at a later.. time. Lieutenant.
  Buck: Yes, sir.
• Dirty Coward: Received the name "Foxhole Norman" for his tendencies to hide in his foxhole. After a vicious artillery shelling, instead of personally helping the company he is in charge of, he runs away "to get help."
• The Ditherer: Unable to make any combat-related decisions.
  Lipton: (narrating) Dike wasn't a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.
• Dumbass Has a Point: He actually makes a single valid point when he points out to Roe and Spina that the two of them sharing a foxhole is a bad idea, because if that foxhole gets hit, (which later is exactly what happens to Muck and Penkala), then Easy Company is down two medics.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Foxhole Norman", which says everything you need to know about him.
• Establishing Character Moment: When given directions by Captain Winters to prepare Easy Company to head to Bastogne, Dike immediately delegates all work to officers under him, with the apparent intention of contributing precisely nothing to the preparations himself. He misses the brief but scathing look from Winters that this earns him.
  • In the same scene, when Dike is introduced he starts blathering on about some matters that frustrate him about the upcoming assignment. With barely concealed contempt, Winters lectures Dike on how his petty complaints are nothing compared to some real problems: namely, that some of his men don't have winter clothes and ammo.
• Foil: To Nixon. Both come from similarly rich and privileged backgrounds (complete with Ivy League colleges and nepotism), yet Nixon is a capable officer and a good person while Dike is incompetent and cowardly.
  • Also to Peacock. Both of them are incompetent officers, but Peacock is a Nice Guy and actually tries his best while Dike is a coward and dithers most of his duties.
• General Failure: The attack on Foy is initially a disaster because of him. Losing sight of First Platoon, and being under fire, Dike completely freezes up and tells everyone to take cover...in the open, with an enemy garrison raining death down on them. He then commands First Platoon to try to go around the village (completely detected, mind you) and hit it from the back. Lieutenant Foley tells him point blank that's nuts.
• Hate Sink: He's a wuss and an utterly incompetent leader who doesn't seem to be overly concerned with the lives of the men he's charged with. This makes him arguably a greater threat to their lives than the Germans.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Dike was a poor company leader, but he wasn't a bad soldier^note He was actually decorated for dragging a wounded soldier to safety before being transferred to E Company. His problems leading Easy came down to his poor social skills, and his hands-off leadership style that clashed with what the men had gotten used to under Winters.
  • It isn't mentioned in the series or the book — mainly because the men of Easy Company had no idea — but the actual reason why Dike fell apart during the attack on Foy wasn't about incompetence or shock or cowardice, but because, very early in the attack, Dike got shot in the chest twice. By the time Easy reached the outskirts of the town, Dike had become incoherent and confused due to blood loss and shock. The heavy cold-weather gear he had been wearing hid the wounds from his fellow soldiers, who assumed Dike was just being Dike again. The truth wasn't found out until Dike had been evacuated to the nearest aid station after the capture of Foy was over.
• Karma Houdini: His irresponsible behavior gets men killed, yet he never gets any comeuppance.
• Kicked Upstairs: The book reveals he became an aide to General Eisenhower.
• Kick the Dog: Abandons his men when they come under fire during a combat patrol, while one of said men is dying in the snow just out of reach. He essentially leaves it to sergeants Martin and Randleman to try to save the poor kid.
• The Neidermeyer: To the point where Lipton has to ask Luz not to add fuel to the fire with his impersonations.
• Nepotism: How he got to be Lieutenant in the first place.
• No Social Skills: He's too awkward to get to know his men, which worsens their confidence in him.
• Non-Answer: Dike spouts these quite a bit to his officers and NCOs.
• Pet the Dog: Oddly averted. He awkwardly strikes up a conversation with Lipton, as a fraternization attempt... but then Lipton realizes Dike's not even listening. Dike even walks away abruptly while Lipton is asking him a question.
• Too Dumb to Live: He collapses like a piece of soggy loose-leaf paper the minute the bullets start flying during the assault on Foy, and he orders Easy Company to hold position in the middle of a field while under heavy machine-gun fire. It gets a ton of guys killed and the entire damn company might have gotten wiped out if Speirs hadn't managed to miraculously get the ball rolling again.
  • See Historical Villain Upgrade above for the real story of why this happened.

First Lieutenant Henry Jones (Colin Hanks)

A young officer fresh out of West Point, he joins Easy late, at Haguenau, causing the war-hardened veterans of Easy brush him off as naive and incompetent. However, he exceeds their expectations and proves his worth in combat.

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• Casting Gag: Arguably so - Lt Jones is a fresh face who hasn't gone through the same hardships as Easy, is brushed off as being out of his depth, and has to prove his worth to the unit. He is played by the son of one of the producers, who didn't have to go through bootcamp with the other cast members, and has to prove his worth as an actor.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The soldiers of Easy Company write him off as useless, but change their opinion of him after he acquits himself well in the patrol and even manages to take charge of the chaos that ensues afterwards.
• Death Glare: He shoots Webster a very dirty look when Liebgott says that Webster already told them the orders he overheard, before the briefing.
• Ensign Newbie: Turns up as a replacement for Buck Compton and begs to be put on the patrol to get some experience. He doesn't stay in the company long though.
• Kicked Upstairs: Sadly, since he has all the makings of a good leader. It isn't due to incompetence though. All the West Point officers were slated to serve as the officer corps post-war and the higher ups didn't want him killed before he could fill the position. Ironically, the book notes that he died in a car accident shortly after his promotion.
• Naïve Newcomer: Naive, yes, but by no means incompetent. His complete by-the-book formality makes for some awkward moments when dealing with 2nd Platoon, a bunch of war-weary vets who loosely follow military protocols of the petty variety at this point.
• Officer and a Gentleman: So much so that Easy Company finds it a bit ridiculous at first. He loosens up a bit once he's found his feet in the unit.
  • Lt. Jones fastidiously salutes every superior rank. However, virtually none of the enlisted nor NCOs salute him, even when they are supposed to (i.e. when he meets Malarkey).
  • Even after loosening up, Jones stays strict enough to confront Cobb for being a drunken, belligerent ass. By now, Jones has earned the men's respect enough that they back him up.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite being fresh out of training, and as such, unused to the bending of rules and regulations that combat necessitates, he is quite reasonable. He doesn't berate any of the vets for ignoring formal protocols like saluting and after Major Winters tells them that they are to ignore Colonel Sink's orders to go out on another patrol, he lets it go because he understands how pointless and dangerous the mission would be for the exhausted men of Easy.

First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan (Jason O'Mara)

Easy's CO after Sobel and before Winters, he's killed when the plane with Easy's CO and HQ sections is shot down.

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• Face Death with Dignity: In contrast to Evans, who is visibly frightened.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: As a replacement to the incompetent Sobel, Meehan was seen as this by his men. He treated his fellow officers with respect and clearly outlined the Invasion plan of Normandy for the men. Unfortunately, before this could be proven in combat, his plane was shot down in Normandy and he perished.
• Sacrificial Lamb: He gets killed before he even jumps when his plane gets shot down, showing how much of a soldier's survival came down to sheer luck.

First Lieutenant Harry Welsh (Rick Warden)

An invariably cheerful Easy Company CO and a friend to Nixon and Winters. While in training he would often get demoted for picking fights, but would inevitably get promoted again, thanks to his leadership abilities.

A Running Gag involves him lugging his reserve parachute all through Normandy in hopes of turning it into a wedding dress for his bride, Kitty. The plan works 100%.

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• The Alcoholic: Not very noticeable in the series (especially in comparison to Nixon), but real-life Welsh was famous for his crazy drunken exploits.
  • Although in "Carentan," he's obviously drunk (or at least tipsy) while reassuring Blithe in the trench. He even offers Blithe a sip of his canteen, strongly implied to be filled with booze, not water.
  • Also in "Carentan," during the initial assault into the city, there is an embedded machine gun nest pinning down Shifty Powers, the company sniper. So what does Welsh do? He takes a grenade, pops the spoon to cook it off, runs at the emplacement and exposing himself to enemy fire, and then ducks right under the wall in front of the explosion he just caused to destroy it.
• Drinking on Duty: See above.
• Fighting Irish: His numerous fights keep him from reaching the upper officer ranks.
• Idiot Ball: Making a fire during the siege of Bastogne, which a) wastes precious supplies, b) calls attention to their position, and c) gets himself wounded in an ensuing barrage when the enemy sees the fire. However, you can't really blame him, since everybody was freezing their balls off in the middle of winter at night.
• Loveable Rogue: Considering everybody else who drinks on duty and gets into fights with fellow officers get discharged, yeah, he'd have to be.
• My Girl Back Home: Kitty, his bride-to-be.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Very much a "follow me" kind of leader, who charges first into enemy territory to set an example for the troops.

First Lieutenant Frederick "Moose" Heyliger (Stephen McCole)

Easy company's CO after Winters is promoted. Served as commander in Holland and led Easy during its rescue of survivors of the British 1st Airborne Division. Replaced by Dike after being wounded by one of his own men. Appears in Episode 5, "Crossroads."

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• The Cavalry: Awarded the British Military Cross for leading Easy in Operation Pegasus, the rescue of stranded British paratroopers.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Moose" was a reference to his large stature.
• Unfriendly Fire: Wounded by one of his own men after he forgot the password at a checkpoint.

Second Lieutenant Carwood "Lip" Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg)

A quiet and unassuming NCO, Lipton is the focus of episode 7, "The Breaking Point", wherein he tries to keep Easy Company's morale up while Lt Dike hides in his foxhole and Lt Compton slowly falls apart.

Thanks to his leadership abilities and his good heart, the Battle of the Bulge goes smoother than it could have, and Lipton is given a commission in recognition of his bravery.

Appears in all 10 episodes.

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• Bearer of Bad News: For some reason, he's always the one who has to tell the men about moving out and back onto the line.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: After a mortar shell (which is, thankfully, faulty) lands near his and Luz's foxhole, Luz lights a cigarette and Lipton, previously a non-smoker, takes a drag as well. He picks up smoking after the event.
• Disappeared Dad: His father died in an automobile accident when Lipton was 10.
• Draw Aggro: In Episode 7, Lip deliberately runs out into the open to draw a German sniper's attention.
  Lip: Don't miss, Shifty.
• Every Scar Has a Story: Gets a nasty cheek gash at Carentan, which then slowly fades to a (very noticeable) scar.
• Establishing Character Moment: He easily breaks up a spat between Martin and Perconte, and manages to persuade an already-irate Perconte into running Currahee with the rest of them. Before leaving, he also takes the time to check on a depressed private.
• Field Promotion: His rise through the ranks is exceeded only by that of Winters. He is introduced in the first episode having just been promoted to Sergeant. He then becomes the company First Sergeant (an overall rise of three ranks) after Normandy and is commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after the Battle of the Bulge.
• Groin Attack: He suffers a shrapnel wound to the groin, which thankfully doesn't cause any permanent harm.
  Floyd Talbert: Don't worry, Lip: everything's right where it should be!
• Humble Hero: When Speirs tries to tell him who the rest of Easy Company consider their true leader, Lipton clearly has no idea who he's talking about. Hint: it's him.
• Morality Pet: For Speirs, who shows a caring human side in his interactions with Lipton.
• The Reliable One: He was the only reason Easy Company got through Bastogne.
• Sergeant Rock: His job, before he gets his Field Promotion.
• Team Mom: A rare male example. Speirs credits him with keeping Easy Company intact during the Battle of the Bulge. Prior to this, he's constantly shown checking on the men and is only second to Doc Roe when it comes to calming down injured soldiers.
• While Rome Burns: He spends the entirety of one of the artillery barrages laughing because the display reminds him of fireworks.

Second Lieutenant Thomas Peacock (David Nicolle)

An Easy officer, whose default reaction to anything is either to get confused or to panic. He's not a good commander, but definitely not for lack of earnestness and trying on his part.

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• Butt-Monkey: His ineptitude, unlike Lt Dike's, is Played for Laughs, mostly because he's such a Nice Guy.
• Comically Missing the Point: When the men hear he's going stateside for a War Bonds Promotion, they tell him how happy they are that he's leaving. They're happy because they think he's an incompetent officer and his absence makes everyone safer. Oblivious, Peacock gratefully takes it all as genuine camaraderie.
  Bull: Congratulations, Lieutenant Peacock. I can't think of a man who deserves this more.
  Christenson: Best news I heard in weeks.
  Luz: I'm really glad you're going home.
  Peacock: Aw, thanks guys. It means a lot, you know?
  Penkala: Aw, get out of here, you!
• Desk Jockey: He was a supply officer before being transferred to Easy.
• The Ditz: He leads his platoon, yet cannot tell when his map is upside down^note There is speculation that Peacock was red-green colorblind and his struggle to read maps and tendency to get lost was because he was unable to distinguish any features on the page and in the woods around him. This is touched upon ahead of the Market Garden jump when he orders Martin to let him know when the jump light turns green; much to the chagrin of his NCOs.
• Foil: To Dike. Both are inept officers, but Peacock actually cares about the men and doing his job.
• Kicked Upstairs: Reassigned during the Battle of the Bulge on a stateside recruiting drive. The soldiers are all glad to see him go home, both because he is a genuinely nice guy that they like, and also because he's dangerously inept.
• Nice Guy: His men personally think well of him and recognize that he tries, but he has no skill as a leader.
• "Stop Having Fun" Guy: A justified example. Most of his screen time in episode four consists of him trying to get the men to stay focused on their mission instead of partying with the Dutch.

Second Lieutenant Ed Shames (Joseph May)

An Easy officer who "thinks he has to yell all the time." Holds the distinction of being the only 2nd Lieutenant in the regiment who is also a platoon leader. At the time of his death in December 2021 he was one of last two living Easy men left as well as the last commisioned officer.

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• No Indoor Voice: See the below quote.
• Wrong Genre Savvy:
  Winters: Shames's seen too many war movies. He thinks he has to yell all the time.

Non-Commissioned Officers

First Sergeant William Evans (Simon Pegg)

Sobel's right hand man. He's killed on D-Day when the plane carrying Easy Company's HQ and CO sections is shot down.

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• Bit Character: Has three lines, despite the actor's name being in the opening credits of episode 1.
• The Dragon: To Sobel. Although it is intimated that he knows what's going on when Luz impersonates Major Horton and gets Sobel into trouble, he doesn't say anything so as not to be annoying.
  • He also has no problem with serving Lieutenant Winters the papers for a court martial on Sobel's bullshit trumped-up charges, even remarking "Compliments of Captain Sobel, sir."
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: As the First Sergeant, his job is to take care of the enlisted men and Noncommissioned Officers of the company (as Lipton is later shown doing), yet he is never once shown interacting with any of them, instead serving as Sobel's mute sidekick.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Kisses up to Sobel and acts as his lackey.

Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey (Scott Grimes)

The everyman of the series, Malarkey is a college student who enlists after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Never seriously wounded, he ends up serving more time on the front lines than any other member of Easy Company. One of the few characters to appear in all 10 episodes.

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• Beard of Sorrow: Grows one after two of his best friends die in the Battle of the Bulge.
• Heroic Fatigue: Shows signs of combat fatigue after episode 7, but keeps on going nonetheless.
• Nice Guy: YMMV, but this is his defining characteristic. He fraternizes with the enemy as early as episode 2, when he chats up a German POW.
• Refuge in Audacity: During one of the battles he spots what he thinks is a Luger on one of the dead Germans and crawls out into the open to retrieve it. The only reason he's not shot is because the enemy confuse him for a medic.
• Shower of Angst: When he receives news that he has to lead a patrol after being in combat longer than any Easy Company paratrooper.
• Team Chef: On at least a couple of occasions.
• Tragic Bromance: With Muck, since his friend dies.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • Receives a piece of Skip's broken rosary after the latter's death.
  • Lip gives him the Luger Hoobler accidentally shot himself with to try to cheer him up after Muck and Penkala get hit.
• Unfortunate Names: "Malarkey" is slang for bullshit, as Capt. Sobel points out in episode 1.

Staff Sergeant John "Peewee" Martin (Dexter Fletcher)

Promoted to sergeant in the very first episode and to Staff Sergeant later in the series. Portrayed as reasonable, reliable, and a man of few words.

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• Deadpan Snarker: With emphasis on the snarking.
• Death Glare: Often employs this, to great effect.
• Happily Married: To a woman named Patricia.
• Perpetual Frowner: Not that the rest of the men have much to smile about, but with Martin, it's pretty much his default facial expression. Averted in Episode 4 when Bull, whom he is particularly close with, safely reunites with the company after spending a night behind enemy lines.
• Satellite Character: He's constantly around, but never really gets the limelight.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the book, he gets a medical discharge due to cartilage issues in his knees. He only mentions this condition to the medics after he is passed over for promotion one too many times.
• Self-Made Man: He founds his own company after the war and becomes a multimillionaire.
• Sergeant Rock: In Episode 4, under 2nd Lt Peacock, and once again in episode 8, under Ensign Newbie 1st Lt Jones. He's not particularly happy about the role being thrust on him.

Staff Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere (Frank John Hughes)

A young man from Philadelphia of Italian descent, remarkable for his reckless abandon in battle (he's not called "Wild Bill" for nothing), tendency to go AWOL from hospitals, and very blunt demeanor. Despite his apparent harshness, he is a true friend, as evidenced in episode 7 when he disregards artillery fire and tries to drag the injured Toye to relative safety, an attempt that proves futile when his leg is blown off.

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• A Friend in Need: If a friend needs him, he will risk life and limb to save them. The last time it happened, it actually did cost him a limb.
• An Arm and a Leg: He got a leg blown off by artillery fire while trying to pull Toye, who had suffered a similar fate moments before, to cover.
• The Berserker: A modern version. He's aggressive and impulsive in combat, ignores orders to hold his fire, and shrugs off (or at least successfully conceals) pain despite some staggering injuries.
• Blood Knight: It's not particularly evident in the series, but real-life Guarnere was described as a "natural-born killer" of the same caliber as Speirs.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Often the loudest Easy Company paratrooper and one of the first who is ready to fight.
• Brick Joke: Episode 3 reveals that he knows full well about his Embarrassing Nickname "Gonorrhea". In episode 6, most of his appearances involve him complaining to Doc Roe about some unspecified complaint which has rendered him "pissing needles"... which is, of course, a symptom of gonorrhea.
• Captain Obvious: On occasion:
  Guarnere: Crazy Joe McKlosky was fucking nuts, Babe, that's why they called him Crazy Joe.
• Determinator: Just like Toye, he consistently runs away from hospitals without waiting for his wounds to heal.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Gonorrhea."
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Babe Heffron and, to a lesser extent, Joe Toye.
• Honorary Uncle: After the war, he becomes this to Babe's daughter. Babe even tells a story where his daughter asked him what he would do if something happened to "Uncle Bill" and not to Babe's own blood brothers.
• Hot-Blooded: His defining trait.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a harsh prick sometimes, but underneath that is a good friend who will risk his life for anybody.
  • After he rags on Pvt. "Cowboy" Hall one too many times, Cowboy fires back with, "Shut your fucking guinea trap, Gonorrhea!" Guarnere laughs with delight and says, "He's all right, that kid!"
  • Along with Bull and Skip, he's one of the few Toccoa men who tries to get to know the replacements.
  • Despite participating in the mutiny that ousted Captain Sobel, he would forgive Sobel after the war, and even invited Sobel (unsuccessfully) to veterans' reunions.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Easily identified by his very prominent jawline.
• Major Injury Underreaction: He manages to make a few quips when his leg is blown off in Bastogne.
• The Nicknamer: Gives Hall the nickname "Cowboy", despite him being from New York.
• No One Gets Left Behind: His modus operandi. He gets the wounded Compton to safety in episode 4, organizes a party in search for Bull Randleman in the same episode, and attempts to drag Toye to a foxhole during the Battle of the Bulge.
  • After the war, he is the only member of Easy Company to even attempt to contact Sobel.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Bill is very proud of his home city, Philadelphia, but Frank John Hughes delivers Guarnere's every line with his own South Bronx accent.
• Odd Friendship: As he doesn't seem like the social type, it's rather surprising how devoted he is to his friends.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Between the events of "Replacements" and "Crossroads" he was wounded while leading a platoon on a mission. The men were too spread out, he used a stolen motorcycle to go between them, was shot by a sniper, crashed, and injured his leg.
• Pet the Dog: Unlike a lot of the Toccoa men, he's pretty friendly towards the replacements, especially Heffron.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: On the ship ride to Britain, Guarnere makes a comment about Sobel being Jewish, clearly showing his disdain for Jews by calling him a "Son of Abraham". Liegbott angrily says that he's Jewish too, and Guarnere responds, "Congratulations, get your nose out of my face", which results in a fight breaking out. This was a period where anti-Semitism was still fairly common in both America and Europe. Just before that, he also makes a comment about Winters being a Quaker and how he doesn't trust him to pull his weight in combat. This stems from Guarnere being Catholic, like most Italian Americans, and the long-standing divide between Catholics and Protestants dating back centuries.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Shortly before the drop into Normandy, he learns his brother has been killed in Italy. He takes it out on every enemy he runs across once he lands.

Staff Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman (Michael Cudlitz)

A calm, large soldier who is occasionally given flak for his farmboy sensibilities. He is described by Dick Winters as "one of the best" in the company.

Episode 4, "Replacements", is from his POV.

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• The Big Guy: The man didn't receive the nickname "Bull" for nothing. Out of all the men in Easy Company, he is easily recognized for being the biggest man there.
• Cigar Chomper: More so than the other smokers in Easy Company, who mostly smoke cigarettes. He keeps chewing the butts of his cigars even when there's not enough left to smoke.
• Gentle Giant: He's one of the only Toccoa men who's friendly to replacements.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: No one calls him Denver during the series.
• Papa Bear: He's very protective of the men in his squad, but especially of the replacements who nobody usually cares for.
• Sergeant Rock: A solid, dependable NCO who is no slouch in hand-to-hand, even injured.
• Southern-Fried Private: He has the "folksy wisdom" part down.
• Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: In episode 4. He makes it back, despite being shot and stabbed.

Staff Sergeant Darrell "Shifty" Powers (Peter Youngblood Hills)

A mild-mannered, soft-spoken young man from rural Virginia and the best sharpshooter in the company.

One of the seven characters to appear in all 10 episodes (along with Winters, Nixon, Lipton, Talbert, Malarkey, and Roe).

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• Badass Adorable: Soft-spoken and sweet, Shifty is absolutely ruthless with a gun in his hands.
  Popeye Wynn: (in an interview) You know, it just doesn't pay to be shootin' at Shifty when he's got a rifle.
• Friendly Sniper: The man can spot an artillery piece hiding as a tree amongst a whole forest, yet he will still be hospitable and humble to his friends.
• Humble Hero: Whenever anyone praises him for his marksmanship, he politely shrugs it off.
  Shifty: Oh no, I'm not that great a shot. Now Pa, he was an excellent shot! Excellent shot! I declare, he could shoot the wings off a fly.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: To the point of Reality Is Unrealistic since the real-life Shifty Powers was every bit as good with his gun as his in-series counterpart (he could toss a penny ten feet in the air and hit it with his rifle every time). Then again, his father was apparently an even better shot.
  • To clarify, in Real Life, he was credited for two major feats during the Battle of the Bulge.
    • First, having just run a farm field under fire, he threw himself to the ground, and, using the iron sights on his rifle, shot a machine gunner who was a couple hundred yards away, in a building, and busy shooting at Shifty and the rest of his platoon at the time. Reportedly, when Lip and Popeye went to check on the body, Shifty's bullet had gotten him right between the eyes. Lip's narration in-episode even states that if it weren't for Shifty's incredible aim, more lives would've been lost that day.
    • Second, he located an enemy artillery battery by noticing, in the middle of a forest, that a tree had appeared overnight a mile down the road, which turned out to be part of the battery's concealment. To reiterate, this man was able to tell that there was one more tree in the forest one morning than the day before. One tree. In a forest. A mile away.
  • The book mentions that he kept getting written up during inspections because his rifle had a divot in the barrel. Becoming tired of constantly being in trouble for something he couldn't fix, he got a replacement rifle but couldn't get used to it and confessed that he never hit anything he intended afterwards. Luckily the fighting was dying down by this point and he was sent home soon after.
• Nice Guy: To the point that he actually defends Sobel after the latter screws up a maneuver, much to Liebgott's amusement.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His name "Darrell Powers" is only spoken in the last episode.
• The Quiet One: For someone who appears in every episode, he has very few lines.

Staff Sergeants Charles "Chuck" Grant (Nolan Hemmings) and Floyd "Tab" Talbert (Matthew Leitch)

Easy NCOs who do not get much focus devoted to them. Strangely, Talbert is one of the few characters to appear in all 10 episodes.

---

• The Casanova: Tab. During a surprise inspection, Sobel discovers over 200 condoms in his footlocker, and he's seen enthusiastically snogging one of the Dutch women later on.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Tab adopts a stray dog while they're stationed in Holland and names him "Trigger".
• The Chains of Commanding: A downplayed example with Talbert. He served as Easy Company First Sergeant, but as the war was winding down, he requested a demotion in order to rejoin his friends.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Averted. The police chief of his hometown sends him a revolver to take into Normandy. The only use it sees is when he uses the barrel of it to tap awake the soldier who's supposed to take over watch for him, only for him to get bayonetted for his trouble.
• Too Dumb to Live: Talbert wakes up a nervous, sleeping soldier by tapping him on the helmet with the barrel of his gun, while wearing a stolen German raincoat. This nearly costs him his life in the Unfriendly Fire incident.
• Unfriendly Fire: Or, in this case, Unfriendly Stabbing. While checking the line, Talbert gets bayoneted by Pvt. Smith, who mistook him for a German. He survives.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Grant is shot by a drunken replacement and his eventual fate is left unknown. The real Grant survived the wound and went on to own a cigar store until his death.
  • Talbert became a 'mountain man' who lived off the land and acted as a guide to hikers for money.

Staff Sergeant Joseph Toye (Kirk Acevedo)

One of Easy's Staff Sergeants; a miner before the war.

He earned 4 Purple Hearts, the highest total for Easy.

---

• Agony of the Feet: He picks up trench foot at Bastogne after his boots are destroyed in an artillery attack. Though his whole lower leg is blown off before it can do much damage.
• Brick Joke: He mentions wanting brass knuckles in the first episode. In the very next episode, he is seen punching out a German soldier with a pair he probably found lying around.
• Deadpan Snarker: Emphasis on the deadpan.
• Determinator: He was wounded numerous times. Whenever this happened, Joe, undeterred by his injuries, would inevitably head back to the line without spending much time convalescing, or wait until a mission was completed before getting medical attention. At least until he lost his leg in the Battle of the Bulge and returned to the USA.
• Made of Iron: Takes two point-blank grenade explosions without any serious injury in episode 2. Even after losing his leg and getting hit by German artillery twice, he's still conscious and able to banter with Guarnere.
• Mercy Kill: He puts a wounded horse out of its misery in episode 2.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Toye is one of the tallest men in the company, has dark hair, and pretty much everything he says is a sarcastic comment.

Sergeant Warren "Skip" Muck (Richard Speight Jr.)

Member of the mortar squad along with Penkala and Malarkey, and the latter's best friend. His playful sense of humor can almost, but not quite, rival Luz's.

He's among the few Easy men to have gone to college.

---

• Loved by All: Everyone in the company likes him. His death is the one that hits the other men the hardest.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Comes from a very large Catholic family.
• Meaningful Name: His family called him "Skip" because, as a child, he couldn't go anywhere without skipping.
• My Girl Back Home: The sweet Faye Tanner.
• Nice Guy: As demonstrated when he helps reassure a replacement who's afraid of getting hit.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: He's only called "Skip" throughout the series, never "Warren."
• Plucky Comic Relief: To a lesser extent than Luz, but it's there.
• Sacrificial Lion: While many characters die throughout the series, he's the one with the biggest number of episodes and amount of screen time among them.
• Tragic Keepsake: Malarkey keeps Muck's rosary after the latter's death.

Sergeant Robert "Popeye" Wynn (Nicholas Aaron)

One of the original Toccoa men. He enlisted with Shifty Powers and is extremely loyal to the company.

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• Apologizes a Lot: After getting shot in the ass, he keeps apologizing to Winters for getting hit and not being able to fight anymore.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Shifty. The two were actually friends before the war and enlisted in the paratroopers together.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is never used in the series.
• Shot in the Ass: Starts the Easy Company tradition in Normandy.
• Undying Loyalty: Also starts the trend of men going AWOL from the hospital so they can rejoin the company and fight.

Sergeants James "Moe" Alley Jr (George Calil), Burton "Pat" Christenson (Michael Fassbender), Myron "Mike" Ranney (Stephen Graham)

Easy NCOs who don't get much screentime devoted to them. All three survive the war.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. In Christenson's first scene, he gets in trouble with Sobel because he got thirsty and drank from his canteen during a 12 mile march. In real life, Christenson was one of the most physically fit members of the company and never got fatigued during the marches.
• Advertised Extra: Not when it originally aired, but as of now, Christenson's actor is one of the most famous faces connected with Band of Brothers.
• Bit Character: Ranney and Alley.
• Demoted to Extra: Christenson is one of the most quoted vets in the book. In the series he's mostly a background character.
• Hidden Depths: Christenson is a talented artist, a fact which is not evident in the series.
• Nice Guy: Christenson, who consistently treats the replacements in a friendly manner, unlike most Easy men.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Ranney, who isn't seen after the first couple of episodes. Especially ironic, as it was Ranney who proved the closing quote of the series ("I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" Grandpa said "No, but I served in a company of heroes."). In real life, Ranney accidentally shoots himself in the leg in Holland while servicing his pistol, which ended the war for him.

Sergeant Edward Tipper (Bart Ruspoli)

An Easy NCO who gets wounded in Carentan.

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• Beleaguered Assistant: He is visibly annoyed by Sobel's inability to read the map he's carrying.
• Eye Scream: His eye gets destroyed when he gets hit by a shell in Carentan.
• For the Lulz: He's visibly amused when Luz does his Major Horton imitation to trick Sobel. Real-life Tipper was apparently one of Sobel's favorites to pick on, so him helping the prank along might've just been him getting a little bit of revenge.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The last we see of him, he is wounded by a shell and being attended to by Liebgott. In real life, he was sent to a hospital in England to have his eye removed and returned to the US. He went on to become one of the longest living members of Easy company, passing away in early 2017.

Technician 4th Grade George Luz (Rick Gomez)

A Portuguese-American from a family of 10 whose talents include a) being able to imitate just about anyone and b) causing trouble. Whenever wacky hijinks ensue, it's usually thanks to him.

Despite his lightheartedness, he is a highly competent paratrooper and one of the few Easy men to be with the company from Toccoa to Germany (he manages to get through war unscathed).

As the ending narration reveals, it is a testament to the sheer force of his personality that 1,600 people attended his funeral in 1998.

---

• Break the Cutie: In Episode 7, he sees Muck and Penkala die right in front of him, and is noticeably a lot more subdued in subsequent episodes.
• Communications Officer: He's one of Easy's radiomen.
• The Gadfly: In Episode 5, he annoys Lip and Toye by spoiling the movie they were all watching. Even when they tell him to shut up, he keeps quoting it and even remarks that he's seen it thirteen times.
• Genki Guy: His genki-ness gets a little muted by the war experience but he retains it.
• Heroic BSoD: A minor one in episode 7.
• Man of a Thousand Voices: Has a remarkable talent for parodying and mimicking. His actor, Rick Gomez, is well-known for his voice-acting work.
• Meaningful Name: His last name means "light" in Portuguese. Fitting for somebody who was unanimously reported by the men to be a bright beacon of hope throughout their time in the European Theatre, thanks to his jokes and unflappable personality.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When receiving Colonel Sink's letter on the eve of the invasion, he initially begins to read it out in an irreverent impersonation as always, but gradually slips out of it when the letter's contents sink in.
• Plucky Comic Relief: His irreverent sense of humor is what kept the other men's morale up throughout the war. He's responsible for most of the funny moments in an otherwise grim series.
• The Prankster: He tricks Sobel into cutting a farmer's fence and letting cows onto the base by imitating Major Horton.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: He's already seen most of the the movies shown to the soldiers and knows the lyrics to "Oklahoma".
• Sad Clown: Considering the setting, he has elements of this (especially after episode 7), but it's not particularly noticeable.
• The Scrounger: A minor example compared to works of fiction, but he unfailingly manages to procure cigarettes, including two packs of Lucky Strikes during the siege of Bastogne when supplies are extremely scarce.
• Smoking Is Cool: While many characters smoke, he's the one most often seen with a cigarette, which lends a certain je ne sais quoi to the character.
• Those Two Guys: With Perconte.
• Voice Changeling: He's capable of imitating the voices of various superior officers, and at one point successfully tricks Captain Sobel into thinking he's talking to Major Horton.

Technician 4th Grade Frank "Perco" Perconte (James Madio)

A young man of Italian background, most often seen in the company of Luz.

He survives the war and works as a postman afterwards. Until his death on October 24, 2013, he was the oldest surviving veteran of Easy Company.

---

• Badass Bookworm: Downplayed. He's shown reading while on watch and gets annoyed with O'Keefe for distracting him with too much noise.
• Global Ignorance: Wonders whether Berlin is situated in the Alps.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar across his left eyebrow.
• Happily Married: He meets and marries his wife between Camp Toccoa and D-Day landings.
• Neat Freak: He is very fastidious, especially about brushing his teeth.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Less so than Luz. He is fond of wise cracks and is the target of playful jokes from his buddies.
• Shot in the Ass: As per Easy Company's tradition, natch.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives an epic one to Pvt O'Keefe in Episode 9. While it was justified, it's immediately obvious to the audience how guilty he is afterwards.
• Those Two Guys: With Luz.
• Trademark Favourite Food: Spaghetti, to the point where he complains about the quality of the army stuff.

Technician 4th Grade Eugene "Doc" Roe (Shane Taylor)

The company's medic, he steadfastly performs his highly stressful job in the direst circumstances, including under fire, and as a result starts to suffer from Combat Exhaustion as war goes on. While compassionate, he is reluctant to form any emotional attachment to other soldiers (since it's easier to have a random soldier, rather than a friend, die in your arms). However, he starts to connect with others during the Battle of the Bulge.

He is half-Cajun, and his knowledge of French helps him strike a friendship with a nurse in Bastogne.

Appears in all 10 episodes and is the POV character for episode 6.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Babe starts calling him "Gene" after the two bond in Bastogne.
• Ascended Extra: In the book, he was only mentioned three times. In the series, he is one of the few characters to appear in every episode and serves as the POV character in "Bastogne".
• Beware the Nice Ones: Quiet, gentle, little Roe is probably the only one who can just yell at his superior officers for doing something as stupid as giving a wounded man too much morphine (thus putting his life in danger) and they'll just meekly listen and do as he says. While it was Winters and Welsh he was yelling at, the point still stands.
  • He also loses his temper in Episode 6 after he and Renee are unable to save a critically-wounded soldier.
• Character Tics: Has a habit of holding his supplies between his teeth while tending to patients, likely to free up his hands.
• Comfort Food: He attempts to comfort a grieving Babe Heffron by giving him chocolate.
• Contemplate Our Navels: Episode 6 is dedicated to him trying to find meaning in his role.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: During the siege of Bastogne, when he's sickly and cold.
• Heroic BSoD: A minor one in episode 6.
• Ineffectual Loner: Given the nature of his job, it makes it very difficult to become emotionally attached to the other men.
  • Shown most emphatically in his spotlight episode, "Bastogne." Even during the Company's downtime, he keeps to himself and has to be approached several times by other characters instead of the other way around.
  • He also makes a point of never calling anybody by their nicknames, as Babe points out.
• It Never Gets Any Easier: Subverted.
• The Medic: Obviously. Although he actually had no medical experience before the war, and was only given the job because the army was in such desperate need of medics.
• Non-Action Guy
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Loses his temper and actually yells when Winters and Welsh improperly treat a wounded man. The entire rest of the series, he is nothing but soft-spoken and stoic.
• The Quiet One: Portrayed as introspective and introverted.
• Ragin' Cajun: Subverted. He's one of the quietest and gentlest characters.
• Survival Mantra: Recites a single sentence out of the Prayer of St Francis whenever he needs to give himself some peace and reassurance.
• When He Smiles: Due to the stressful nature of his job, he rarely smiles, and even when he does, they're mostly quick ones. Averted when he and Babe Heffron share a Friendship Moment at the end of Episode 6.

Corporal Walter "Smokey" Gordon (Ben Caplan)

One of Easy's machine gunners.

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• Butt-Monkey: For some reason, Sobel antagonizes him in particular during boot camp.
• Deadpan Snarker: After being shot in the spine and paralyzed, he nonchalantly points out to Lipton: "Lip, you're standing on my hand."
• Handicapped Badass: A minor version of the trope; he was deemed colorblind at birth, so in order to pass the Army medical test, he listened to all the men ahead of him on his enlistment day until he was able to memorize the order of the chart they were supposed to read.
• Heroic Second Wind: He initially sports a Thousand-Yard Stare after being hit in Carentan, but when he sees the US tanks breaking through the foliage, he is immediately revitalized and loads up his machine gun once more.
• Hidden Depths: He writes a poem about Talbert getting wounded by an overly nervous sentry, which is aptly called, "The Night of the Bayonet.".
• Made of Iron: Received three Purple Hearts in the Normandy Campaign, and was wounded a fourth time in the Battle of the Bulge and was paralyzed. He survived and eventually recovered from his paralysis, but never returned to Easy Company.
• Nice Guy:
  • When Easy is first shown running up Currahee, Skip trips and sprains his foot as a result. Despite Sobel ordering them not to stop, Smokey doesn't listen and is shown helping him up.
  • He happily gives Tab one of his Purple Hearts after the latter is stabbed.
  • Even though he teases Doc Roe about it at first, he still manages to procure morphine for him and even tells him where he could get some scissors.
  • The real Smokey was noted by the veterans to be a friendly man. His son also said that even though he suffered from chronic back pain for the rest of his life (thanks to his temporary paralysis), he would always accept the tight hugs and back pats people would give him for being a WWII vet.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His name, Gordon, is only mentioned a few times in the first episode. For the rest of the series, he is known as "Smokey".
• Screaming Warrior: A downplayed version during the battle in Carentan. Also justified, seeing as his job as a machine gunner would mean that he has to yell in order to be heard over the noise.

Corporal Donald "Hoobs" Hoobler (Peter McCabe)

A cheerful young man who dreams of obtaining a Luger to bring home as a souvenir. His wish is fulfilled in the woods of Bastogne, but the Luger discharges and causes Hoobler's death.

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• Blood Knight: Not to the same degree as Speirs, but he's definitely portrayed as highly enthusiastic about the war.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Hoobler was a great shot in the Company, but was still behind Shifty in terms of accuracy.
• Nice Guy: He's constantly nice to the replacements, defending Miller from Cobb and giving them beer he found when they land in Holland. In Episode 7, he even voices his worry for the horse of the German officer he's just killed.
• Pants-Positive Safety: Averted.
• Reckless Gun Usage: What gets him killed. Averted in that he wasn't even touching the gun when it went off.

Technician 5th Grade Joseph "Lieb" Liebgott (Ross McCall)

The only Jew in the company other than Sobel, Liebgott is an angry young man whose participation in the war is motivated by his hatred for Nazis.

After the war, he returns to cab driving and cuts off all contact with other members of Easy.

He is a big fan of the Dick Tracy and Flash Gordon comic books.

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• Artistic License – History: In real life, Liebgott was a practicing Roman Catholic. In the series, he's Jewish. However he does have Jewish ancestry from Germany.
• Cunning Linguist: One of the two employed by Easy (along with Webster). His parents emigrated from Austria, which is where his knowledge of German comes from.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's especially snarky when he's pissed-off.
• The Fellowship Has Ended: Post-war.
• Gentile Jew-Chaser: Dreams of marrying a Jewish girl with "big titties and a smile to die for".
• Hot-Blooded: He's very eager to kill Nazis, especially after discovering the concentration camp.
  • In the very first episode, he swings at Guarnere with no warning after the latter insults his Jewish heritage.
  • In Episode 5, Winters has to strip him of all his ammo, save for one bullet, after seeing how nonchalant he is while picking off German soldiers.
• Informed Judaism: Understandable, given that real-life Liebgott was actually Roman Catholic in terms of practicing religion (though both his parents had ancestral relatives who were Jewish from Germany). The men of Easy thought he was Jewish due to his appearance, name, and hatred of Germans, and he went along with the assumption.
• It's Personal: After he discovers what the SS did to his fellow Jews.
• Manly Tears: In episode 9, after the discovery of a concentration camp. Made even more harsh by the fact that Liebgott is also of German descent.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Webster's blue.
• Tsundere: Much like Guarnere, Lieb is extremely loyal and sweet to his friends, especially when they're injured. God help you if you're a German soldier.

Privates

Private First Class Alex "Penky" Penkala (Tim Matthews)

Part of the mortar squad along with Muck and Malarkey, and their best friend.

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• Big Eater: In Carentan, when Skip remarks that Kraut cheese and bread tastes horrible, Penkala happily takes the food from him.
• Ludicrous Gibs: Along with Muck, when a mortar shell lands in their foxhole.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Comes from a family of 13.
• Satellite Character: He's portrayed mainly through his interactions with Muck and Malarkey, both of whom get more screen time and character development.

Private First Class David Kenyon Webster (Eion Bailey)

A Toccoa man who is one of the few to have gone to college. He misses the entirety of the Battle of the Bulge while recuperating from a wound and is thus treated as New Meat upon his return to the company. His significant diplomatic skills help him win back the trust and respect of others.

Episode 8, ""The Last Patrol", is from his POV.

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• Artistic License – History: Did not actually go on the eponymous "Last Patrol", but instead manned a machine gun during the action.
• Badass Bookworm: An elite soldier and an English literature student at Harvard.
• Can't Believe I Said That: Almost word-for-word in "Replacements", concerning his exclamation of "They got me!" after he's shot. Especially humorous in light of the next trope...
• Cultured Warrior: Is erudite and intellectual, unlike most of Easy Company men.
• Cunning Linguist: Along with Liebgott. His German is good enough that he can seemingly make sense of spoken Dutch, too.
• Dismotivation He could've easily gotten a commission to be an officer with his family connections, but he wanted to be in the trenches with the Average Joes.
• Foil: To Guarnere. While Wild Bill is eager to get back to the line after being wounded, Webster stays in the hospital until fully healed. This is not the only contrast (e.g. Webster is well-spoken, WASP, erudite, etc), but it's the one expressly pointed out in-series.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Isn't very popular when he rejoins the company at Haguenau after missing the Bulge completely. Truth in Television, as other Easy veterans described him as a goldbrick and believed that he was milking a relatively minor wound to stay in the hospital as long as possible. With so many other Easy men literally going AWOL from the hospital to rejoin the company despite more significant injuries that hadn't fully healed, this didn't help Webster's Real Life popularity, either. Though somewhat ironically, by Webster's own recollection he reportedly wasn't ostracised as much as the episode depicts on his return; while there were some rather pointed comments regarding all this, overall people were apparently quite glad to see at least one of their old comrades who hadn't been put through the wringer during the Bulge.
• Happiness in Minimum Wage: A variant as Webster remains a private throughout the war and doesn't have any issues over this even though his college education would have made him an officer candidate and other Toccoa men rose through the ranks to become leaders. According to the book, this was because he'd decided he'd spend the war as a detached observer and only do as he was told and not give the army any more than necessary.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Gets a pretty sympathetic portrayal in both the miniseries and the book, largely because Steven Ambrose thought of him as a Warrior Poet. According to other Easy veterans, Webster was a lazy and ineffective soldier who only ever did just barely enough to get by, as well as a Jerkass who thought his Harvard education made him better than everyone else and wasn't shy about it either. He had few, if any, friends. Webster's own war memoir doesn't help his case, as it's mostly filled with his complaints about his platoon leader Peacock, whom he despised, and every other officer in the company (generally that he's smarter than they are, according to him at least) with the two exceptions being Spiers, whom he liked, and Winters, who gets only a single brief mention. Bill Guarnere, Babe Heffron, and Don Malarkey all disliked him and felt that the book and miniseries gave him far too much credit. Notably, he's also depicted as having participated in the "Last Patrol" when in fact he remained behind.
• Ineffectual Loner: Self-consciously intellectual, he's as ambivalent about the other Easy men as they are about him.
• In-Series Nickname: Liebgott starts calling him "Web" when the two start bonding.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Real-life Webster strongly disliked both the army and the war and kept fighting due to a sense of duty.
• Must Make Amends: Webster finds himself a pariah when rejoining Easy after a lengthy stay in the hospital, the other men feel he rode out the horrible battle of Bastogne in a warm hospital bed. Webster repairs the damage by minor and patient acts of kindness towards his comrades and volunteering for a dangerous mission. By the end of his feature episode, they accept him again as one of them.
• Never Found the Body: His eventual fate, as revealed by the ending narration (he was lost at sea in 1961).
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: His confrontation with the German baker.
• Precision F-Strike: Webster is normally well-mannered, so when he starts spewing rants at the surrendering Germans in episode 9, the effect is quite jarring.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Liebgott's red.
• The Social Expert: The reason he's able to reconnect with the rest of the men after missing Bastogne.
• Tranquil Fury: He doesn't raise his voice at all when threatening the baker. It doesn't help that the actor himself has rather Icy Blue Eyes, making the overall effect rather chilling.
• Warrior Poet: Becomes a journalist and a writer after the war.
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: He's a Harvard guy in the 1940s.

Private First Class Edward "Babe" Heffron (Robin Laing)

A friendly and amiable soldier who joins Easy Company after Normandy. Unlike most replacements, he fits in easily with the company and is lucky enough to make it through the war.

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• "Dear John" Letter: Gets one between episodes 3 and 4. He didn't really care that much.
• Fiery Redhead: Averted. The only time Babe even gets somewhat close to annoyed in the series is when Roe keeps on insisting on calling him "Edward" or "Heffron" as opposed to "Babe."
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Guarnere. They were from the same Philadelphia neighborhood^note  Funnily, the first time they met was when Heffron joined Easy company , and Guarnere took Heffron under his wing immediately when he joined the company, sort of making him an "honorary Toccoa man." The two remained best friends for the rest of their lives, and co-authored their own war memoir.
• New Meat: In episode 3. He's also the most notable of the replacements and receives the most screen-time out of them, essentially becoming one of the core characters.
• Nice Guy: The blunt and harsh Guarnere adores him, he's the first to reach out to Doc Roe (and coax a genuine smile out of him at that), and all in all, one gets the feeling he didn't get that nickname for nothing.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Guarnere immediately pegs Babe as a fellow Philadelphian, despite Heffron not speaking with the local accent at all.
• Odd Friendship: With Guarnere, seeing as the two seem to have nothing in common, personality-wise.
• No One Gets Left Behind: He's forced to leave his foxhole buddy John Julian to die on the German line, an event which shakes him up and makes him feel guilty for years to come.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Babe's real name comes up in episode 6, when he asks Doc Roe not to use it. Apparently, only "the goddamn nuns" call him Edward.

Private First Class Ralph "Doc" Spina (Tony Devlin)

Easy Company's other medic - more personable and friendly than Doc Roe but growing increasingly dissatisfied with his role in combat.

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• It Never Gets Any Easier: During a conversation with Roe, he mentions how tired he is becoming with "playing doctor."
• The Medic: The other prominent medic in the company.
• Nice Guy: Easily hits it off with the men of Easy and takes the time to comfort Babe when the latter is torn up about Julian's death.
• Non-Action Guy: Much like Roe, due to their roles as medics.
• Satellite Character: To Roe.

Private First Class John Janovec (Tom Hardy)

A replacement that joins Easy in Germany.

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• Killed Offscreen: In a traffic accident soon after VE-day.
• Establishing Character Moment: Janovec is first seen fraternizing with a German girl, in the only sex scene in the series.
• Nice Guy: His defining trait. He embraces and comforts one of the concentration camp prisoners, Webster seems to like him, and he becomes friendly with a German soldier after the war in Europe is over.

Private Roy Cobb (Craig Heaney)

A soldier who has been in the army way longer than other Easy Men yet never got a promotion. This has made him somewhat unfriendly, especially to new recruits. He is portrayed as a complainer and a bit of a coward.

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• Drinking on Duty: In episode 8.
• Experienced Protagonist: The series does not mention it but Cobb served in North Africa before joining the paratroopers and was one of the few men in Easy Company who saw combat prior to D-Day. This probably made him more war weary than the others and contributed to his drinking and bad attitude.
• Hypocrite: Chews out Pvt Miller for wearing the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon on his dress uniform despite not having fought in Normandy (Miller was a member of the 506th when the PUC was awarded, so he was authorized to wear the ribbon). Cobb didn't either; on D-Day, the plane he was in was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Shrapnel penetrated the hull of the plane and punched through one of Cobb's legs. The rest of his platoon made the jump and fought in Normandy. Cobb was left on the plane, returned to England, and spent the next month in an Army hospital.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: He's not a villain, but Cobb was much less of a jerk in real life.
• In Vino Veritas: Most of his jerkass moments occur when he's drunk.
• Jerkass: He's not portrayed as a pleasant individual. Especially when talking to replacements.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Subverted. His put-down of Private Miller was blunt to the point of rudeness, but his pointing out that Miller, as a freshly-arrived replacement, hadn't actually done anything to earn the unit citation badge he was wearing, seems like a valid criticism. In truth (and as the others point out), this doesn't matter. It is a unit citation, and as such any New Meat may wear it despite not having "earned" it (as long as they stay in the unit anyway). So he's not just a jerk, he's wrong too.
  • In a fairer example, when he is confronted with the fact that he didn't jump into Normandy either, he defensively (and somewhat petulantly) points out that this is because he was hit by flack while the plane was still in the air and had to be flown back to base.
• Perpetual Frowner: He's almost never seen with a smile, and is always in a sour mood. The only times he does smile is when Bull returns from behind enemy lines and briefly when Perconte returns from the hospital.
• The Resenter: To other Easy men whose military careers are more successful.
• Weapon Specialization: Cobb prominently makes use of an M3 Grease Gun, the only member of Easy Company to do so.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He's led away by military police at the end of episode 8 and isn't seen again in the series. The reason is that he got drunk, attacked Lt Foley, and was discharged as a result.

Private Allen Vest (Kieran O'Brien)

The company's mail clerk.

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• Desk Jockey: He volunteers for the patrol precisely because he hasn't done anything combat related.
• Heroic BSoD: Goes through one after Jackson gets injured during the patrol and tries to kill the captured Germans in revenge.
• Non-Action Guy: His attempt to subvert it does not go well.

Private James Miller (James McAvoy)

Introduced in episode 4 as one of the titular replacements.

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• Innocent Blue Eyes: They show that he's a...
• Naïve Newcomer: Shows how green the replacements are compared to the D-Day vets. Exemplified by him openly wearing a unit citation for what the 501st did in Normandy before he himself joined the regiment, a distinction Cobb isn't shy about calling him out on. On the other hand, he is in fact allowed to wear a unit citation, something the other point out.
• Sacrificial Lamb: His death in the very episode he is introduced is meant to illustrate the alarmingly high rates of casualties that new replacements were prone to; before the seasoned veterans and (to an extent) the audience, gets to know them.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Dies in the episode in which he is introduced.

Private Albert Blithe (Marc Warren)

A young man who suffers severe shell-shock during D-Day landings and has to try and overcome his fear of death and wounds.

He's the POV character for episode 3 "Carentan".

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• Angst: He's practically the living embodiment of the emotion.
• Death by Adaptation: A strange meta example. The veterans of the Easy company had assumed that Blithe had died, since they didn't hear from him after 1948, which lead Stephen Ambrose to assume the same thing when he wrote the book, and the mistake was then carried over the TV series. But in fact, the real-life Blithe lived quite a bit longer than his series counterpart.^note In real life, Blithe went on to attain the rank of Master Sergeant, served in the Korean War, and died in 1967, while on active duty in West Germany, of complications from an ulcer.
• Flower from the Mountaintop: In a symbolic gesture, he takes one off a dead German's body.
• Heroic BSoD: Enough to cause hysterical blindness.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: As shown on his picture.
• Took a Level in Badass: By the end of "Carentan".
• Tragic Keepsake: Weirdly enough, an example taken from an enemy. He kills a German soldier and takes his Edelweiss, wearing it until he's wounded and taken out of the field.

Private Alton More (Doug Allen)

A private within Easy and one of Malarkey's good friends. Infamous for his looting tendencies, he brings to the States an unusual war spoil - two albums full of Hitler's personal photos.

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• Kick the Dog: When he loots the musette bags of his fallen comrades in Normandy. Justified in that their ammo would be of more use to him now than to them.
• Heel Realization: Complete with Tears of Remorse, when he finds baby booties in one of the bags he'd been looting.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Noted for looting whenever he can. In episode 3, More and Malarkey steal an Army motorcycle, which in the next episode is brought to light by Capt. Sobel. By the end of the war, after securing Hitler's Eagle Nest, he steals Hitler's personal photo album.
• Satellite Character: Often seen with the mortar squad's members, especially Malarkey.

Private John "Cowboy" Hall (Andrew Scott)

An Able Company soldier who gets lost during D-Day landings and joins Winters & other Easy men in the Brecourt Manor Assault.

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• Accidental Mis Naming: A Meta-Example. In real life, his name was John Halls.
• Communications Officer: He's Able's radioman.
• Red Shirt: He's the first man to die under Winters's command.
• Insult of Endearment: Guarnere first calls him "Cowboy" as an insult, but later on as a nickname.
• Non-Indicative Name:
  Popeye: This here is Hall; Able Company.
  Guarnere: Known as "Cowboy".
  Liebgott: You from Texas? I got a friend who—
  Hall: (deadpan) Manhattan.
  Liebgott: Oh.

Privates Antonio C. "Tony" Garcia (Douglas Spain) and Lester A. Hashey (Mark Huberman)

Two of the first replacements for Easy company after D-Day along with Heffron and Miller. Both of them survive the war.

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• Gratuitous Spanish: Tony speaks Spanish a couple of times throughout the series.
• New Meat: Start off as this before they slowly integrate themselves with the company, but not to the same extent as Heffron.
• Those Two Guys: Each is never on screen without the other.
• Token Minority: Garcia is one of the company's only two Latinos, and the only character of color in the series who gets real prominence. Justified because the army was still segregated at the time (Hispanics were considered white) and the Hispanic population in the US was much smaller in the 1940s.
• Undying Loyalty: Both of them go looking for Bull, their squad leader, after he goes missing in Holland.

Private Patrick "Paddy" O'Keefe (Matthew Hickey)

A replacement for Easy Company who shows up near the end of the series.

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• Accidental Mis Naming: Perconte calls him various Irish surnames because he doesn't care enough to learn his real one. He finally calls him O'Keefe during his breakdown at the concentration camp.
• Break the Cutie: He goes into a Heroic BSoD when the company discovers the concentration camp.
• Innocently Insensitive: He doesn't realize how much his eagerness to fight the Germans offends the vets who have actually been through combat.
• Naïve Newcomer: His attitude leads to him receiving a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Perconte.
• New Meat: The reason why Perconte treats him with disdain.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: He is very eager to fight the Nazis, much to the annoyance of the vets.

Civilians

Renee Lemaire (Lucie Jeanne)

A Belgian girl who works as a nurse at the hospital in Bastogne and strikes a friendship with Doc Roe.She is based on the real life nurse who worked during the siege to tend to the wounded and died rescuing the wounded from a burning building. There is no evidence she ever met Roe in person.Her character is a tribute to all the civilians who helped the war effort.

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• Blessed with Suck: Doc Roe notes that she has a "healing touch", which seems to calm wounded and dying soldiers. He calls it a gift from God; she retorts that God would never be so cruel as to bestow something like this upon a person.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Renee dies while rescuing men trapped in a building hit by German bombs. She saved six, but died trying to reach the seventh.
• The Smurfette Principle: The female with the longest screen time within the series.
• Tastes Like Friendship: She gives chocolate to Roe in their first meeting.
• Token Minority: The only woman, and only civilian of note, in a very large cast.^note There is another nurse, based on Augusta Chiwy and played by Rebecca Okot, who appears briefly in the background. Chiwy survived the war, and was honored in 2014 for her efforts.
• Tragic Keepsake: Subverted. Doc Roe doesn't keep her headscarf and uses it as a bandage instead.

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