History Characters / FallingSkies

* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler: Caused by Karen's Probe. Might be a case of EnemyWithin, as the nature of the problem hasn't been properly explained.]]

* ActingForTwo / TalkingToHimself: Doug Jones not only wears the make-up for both of them, but he also voice-acts them both (only with a digital enhancement for Waschak).

[[folder: Marina Perlata]]
!!Marina Perlata

* ControlFreak: Called one by [[spoiler:his daughter]], though this mostly manifests as his [[spoiler:OverprotectiveDad status]] and someone pressing his BerserkButton (badmouthing him about his family). He admits he hasn't changed much.

* [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent President Action]]: Elected President of Charleston during the time-skip between seasons 2 and 3, Tom only agreed to take the job [[BadassInCharge if they allowed him to keep leading the occasional combat mission]]. He allowed Arthur Manchester to keep running the day-to-day affairs of government.

%%* TheChick

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While a good person and primarily concerned with the good of the group as a whole, he tends to put the welfare and comfort of his fighters first.
** His HiddenHeartOfGold is best shown with his interactions with Jimmy, the 13-year-old fighter, whom he treats as a soldier ''and'' a child.

* IllGirl: [[spoiler: Almost reaches the end of his lifespan in Season 5 due to organ failure, but is saved at the last second by his father's donation.]]

%%* NiceHat

* BikerBabe: She used a bike in scouting missions.

[[//folder]]

%%* RaisedCatholic

* BadassBeard: In contrast to Noah Wyle's [[Series/{{ER}} other major TV role]], Tom sports a fully-grown beard.

%%* BadassBeard: Lyle.

!!Alien Allies
[[folder:Alien Allies]]
!!Red Eye
->'''Played By:''' Creator/KeithArbuthnot

A Skitter aboard the ship Tom was temporarily held on. He followed the humans, was captured, and tells the humans through one of the rescued children that he's part of a Skitter resistance. Current location unknown, as he escaped in the attempt by Ricky and Ben to free him.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Saves the 2nd Mass strike team sent to destroy the Overlord's weapon, but dies fighting the Overlord.]]
%%* DodgeTheBullet: Can pull this off.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Appears to be TheDragon to the Overlord that Tom saw, and is actually the leader of the Skitter resistance.
** MoleInCharge
** SixthRangerTraitor: For the Overlords.
* FightingFromTheInside: He and some of the other skitters have been able to resist the harnesses.
%%* NervesOfSteel
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Absurdly polite and soft-spoken to the 2nd Mass, even though he is usually talking with numerous guns pointed at him. Further more, he always calls Mason "Professor Mason" or "Professor".
* RedRightHand: His red eye. Subverted since he's actually a good guy.

!!Cochise
->'''Played by:''' Creator/DougJones

Spokesman and member of the Volm species first introduced at the end of season two. Serves as a liaison with the human resistance in Charleston.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The first alien in the series who can speak English without having to speak through a harnessed human.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: Speculation on their true objectives have been a great concern in the 2nd Mass. [[spoiler: Turns out to be subverted.]]
* TheComicallySerious: Cochise's [[SpockSpeak overly formal]] way of speaking can be quite amusing at times.
* FightingForAHomeland: However, he doubts he will ever get to see his homeland on his lifetime, commenting that he fights so the children of his children might see it.
* FirstContact: His introduction in the finale of season two mirrored many classic examples of such scenes - aside from the fact that Earth was already crawling with other alien species...
* HealingFactor: When seriously wounded he heals on his own without need for medical attention.
* IComeInPeace: Cochise and the other Volm are aiding the human resistance as of the beginning of season three, though many people are wondering whether they will turn out to be a case of WeComeInPeaceShootToKill. [[spoiler: They don't, even though the species-wide alliance is almost soured in the season finale, and Cochise is still helping the 2nd Mass out.]]
* IllGirl: [[spoiler: Almost reaches the end of his lifespan in Season 5 due to organ failure, but is saved at the last second by his father's donation.]]
* MeaningfulName: Named after Indian resistance fighter [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochise Cochise]].
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: [[spoiler: "Like you, Colonel, I am a soldier. I follow orders, whether I agree with them or not." Says Cochise, regarding his orders to relocate 2nd Mass against their will. He changes his mind, though, and becomes a steadfast ally of humanity.]]
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Looks like this thus far.
%%* SpockSpeak
* TheStoic: Always cool-headed.
** NotSoStoic: His voice cracks up briefly when he is talking about his (deceased) brother, [[spoiler: and he sheds tears after his father dies.]]
%%* TrueCompanions: With the 2nd Mass.
* WellDoneSonGuy: His interactions with his father are very reminiscent of this.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Worse than the usual situation, as Cochise not only can't go back to his homeland (because of the war against The Overlords), but he has ''never seen his homeplanet in his entire life''.

!!Commander Waschak-Cha'ab
->'''Played by:''' Creator/DougJones

The Volm in charge of the entire Volm expeditionary force on Earth, and Cochise's father.

* ActingForTwo / TalkingToHimself: Doug Jones not only wears the make-up for both of them, but he also voice-acts them both (only with a digital enhancement for Waschak).
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: In the finale of season four, he comes guns blazing to save Mason from a Beamer squadron.]]
* BigGood: For the Volm. [[spoiler: Not so much for humanity]]
%%* TheBrigadier
* CommandingCoolness
* HeroOfAnotherStory: He's been waging another, much larger and deadlier, war against the Overlords off-screen in the present, and in the past, he fought them across several planets.
* HumanityIsInsane[=/=]HumansAreWarriors: Seems to conflate the two [[spoiler: because humans are the first race he's encountered who weren't happy to let his people do their fighting for them and go to a reservation]]
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: [[spoiler: Same deal as Cochise, he just follows protocol whatever it may be.]]
* OldSoldier: His voice, appearance and implied history (being the father of the already adult Cochise) give him the feel of this trope.
* PutOnABus: Largely absent from season four due fighting in other theaters of the war.
** TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler: In the finale.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler: Zig-zagged a bit but ultimately played straight.]]
* TheStrategist: Implied to be the mind behind the entire Volm offensive that turned the tide of the war.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: He (at first) forces humans to go to a reservation, but simply so they won't be in harm's way. He genuinely wants the best for mankind.]]

!!Shak-Chic Il She- Shesash
->'''Played by:''' Creator/JohnDeSantis

Cochise's right-hand-man and trusted confidant. Dislikes humans.

* FantasticRacism: Shows signs of it towards humanity.
* InSeriesNickname: The human characters shorten his name to "Shak," sounding just like "Shaq," the nickname of basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. This references Shak's great height (De Santis is 6' 9").
%%* TheLancer: To Cochise.
%%* NumberTwo: Again to Cochise.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: He appears to hold a heavy dislike towards humans, and only fights alongside them because he's ordered to.

!![[spoiler:The Dornia]]
->'''Played by:''' [[spoiler: Creator/JenniferFerrin]]

A mysterious alien who picks Tom up at the end of Season 4. [[spoiler:It takes the form of his dead wife to speak to him, only occasionally showing glimpses of its true form.]]

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[spoiler:It usually appears as Tom's deceased wife, Rebecca. [[SubvertedTrope This doesn't exactly make him comfortable.]]]]
* BigGood: [[spoiler:It's been manipulating events for a while to turn the tables on the Espheni.]]
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: By its own admission, it functions by analyzing potentially useful assets, then pushing them into the playing field precisely when they will be most useful for the cause.]]
* DeusExMachina: Often plays this role, most obviously when it rescues Tom in Season 4 and [[spoiler: brings Anne back to life in the series finale.]]
* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler: Every other Dornia was turned into a Skitter.]]
* StarfishAliens: [[spoiler: Its abilities are unlike any other being in the series, and what little we see of its true form is... strange.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Saying anything about it spoils a big part of the final season.
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: [[spoiler: It would be impossible to communicate with Tom in its base form, at least.]]

[[folder: The Espheni Empire]]

!!Unnamed Espheni

A member of the alien race that invaded Earth who temporarily held Tom.

* AlienBlood: In his case in particular, he seems to bleed dark blue.
%%* ArcVillain: Of Season 1 and 2.
* BigBad: Or at least a member of the species of {{Big Bad}}s.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: [[spoiler: Whips them out against Tom and the rebel Skitters. While they kill Red Eye, Tom isn't hurt.]]
* TheChessmaster: If you re-watch series two carefully, you'll notice a considerably large chunk of its events were part of the Overlord's plan. [[spoiler: In particular Karen's entire participation]]
* TheCorrupter: Regarding Karen, at least.
%%* DiscOneFinalBoss
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He doesn't seem to grasp why Mason dislikes the idea of living in a reservation for the rest of his life.
%%* FantasticRacism: Against humans.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Acts remarkably polite and soft-spoken, but no less despicable.
* GalacticConqueror: His species has a knack for enslaving sentient species under any means necessary, and are shown to have done this [[spoiler: at least once before, with the Skitters]]. Curiously, he's called "[[EvilOverlord Overlord]]" In-Universe.
%%* HumanoidAliens
* InSeriesNickname: For his entire species, which the Resistance calls Overlords, or more derisively, "fish heads". The Season 2 finale gives the actual name of the species.
%%* KnightTemplar
* LackOfEmpathy: Discussed. According to him, it's his main strength.
* LastVillainStand: [[spoiler: Decides to face the Skitter army and the Second Mass head-on, despite being outnumbered and outgunned.]]
%%* LeanAndMean
* LightIsNotGood: The Overlords look remarkably white and bright. Don't be fooled by that.
%%* ManipulativeBastard
* TheManBehindTheMan: A member of the species apparently controlling the Skitters.
* NonActionBigBad: A bullet can seemingly kill him and he never fights.
** His first attempt at hand to hand combat [[spoiler: is his last, as Tom effortlessly kills him.]]
* NoNameGiven: We don't even know if his species use names, but if nonetheless we are never given a name for him, and so he's called by a wide variety of nicknamed (The Overlord, [[FantasticSlur Fishhead]], Espheni and so forth)
%%* TheSociopath
%%* SoftSpokenSadist
* StrawVulcan: [[BreakingSpeech He goes on a lengthy dialogue with Mason explaining how humanity's greatest strength is also their greatest weaknesses: Emotions. According to him, mankind's attachment gives them strength, but also leads them to trouble.]] To [[LackOfEmpathy prove his point]], he [[KickTheDog almost kills Tom's son]]. [[ShutUpHannibal Mason shoots him]]. [[StrawmanHasAPoint Which proves his point]].
* SuperIntelligence: According to Red Eye, all members of his species have PhotographicMemory and HyperAwareness.
* VillainTakesAnInterest: After Mason shot down one of the Drones.
* TheVoiceless: In the literal sense of the word, his species seem to be uncapable of communicating in human tongues and Skitter tongues, they communicate through telepathy or...
** MouthOfSauron: ...Harnessed humans and Skitters.
* WickedCultured: Knows a lot about our history and philosophy.
** HumansAreTheRealMonsters: His judgment of humanity as a result after cherry-picking the worst examples.

!!Scorch
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MarkGibbon

Another high-ranking Espheni, tasked with overseeing the South Carolina Ghetto. He appears to be older than the previous Espheni, and a lot more dangerous.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Uses this tactic very freely.
%%* BigBad: Season 4.
* BondVillainStupidity: He was so focused on killing Lexi, [[spoiler: he ignores a downed Tom who is right behind them, unaware he has a poisoned syringed that can kill him]].
* CassandraTruth: He tells The Monk Lexi will rebel and disrupt all their plans, but he's ignored.
* TheChessmaster: Already shows a high-degree of skill at playing against Tom Mason, and judging by the way he talks, he seems to have a few cards up his sleeve.
* DeadpanSnarker: Scorch takes a few, subtle verbal jabs at Mason when they talk.
* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler: Tom's syringe blindsided him entirely]].
* EvilOldFolks: Possibly. If you compare him to the other Overlords, you will notice his skin is far more wrinkled, maybe implying age.
* ExactWords: Mason commands him not to touch his daughter. Scorch smugly retorts [[PsychicPowers he doesn't need to]].
* FrontlineGeneral: He is seen leading his troops directly to battle Mason, a first for the Overlords.
* IHaveYourWife: Threatens Mason with this.
* LastBreathBullet: [[spoiler: Not literally, but as Scorch lays dying he rips out the self-navigation system of his ship, essentially forcing Lexi to sacrifice herself.]]
* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler: Survives being pretty much roasted alive.]]
* MeetTheNewBoss: The promo that introduced him mentioned this exact phrase.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Institutes ghettos like those from World War II and uses kidnapped children in a Hitler Youth-style "New Coalition" reeducation camp. Matt explicitly mentions the parallels on the latter. Interestingly, these are the exact behaviors the first Espheni leader in the show used as an example of the worst of humanity.
* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler: He is apparently gathering an army to fight a larger threat of some kind.]]
* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: "Scorch" is all we've got.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Being roasted alive didn't make Scorch any friendlier with Mason. Mason himself makes note that Scorch is going to destroy everything until he finds him.
* SinisterSurveillance: Scorch is always watching with a billion eyes.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: His interference forces Lexi to sacrifice herself to destroy the power source.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: Probably why he ripped off the ship's navigation device.]]
* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: "Free will can be dangerous, but I don't have to tell you that." Says Scorch, towards Mason.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: He wears some sort of thick steel armor all the time.
* VaguenessIsComing: He warns Mason a greater evil is on the way, but he never specifies what exactly he's talking about. It is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact Mason isn't his ally and he has no reason to share intel with him.
* WardensAreEvil: We ''are'' talking about a Nazi-style ghetto of innocent people rather than an actual prison, so this trope applies in full force.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: In his own words. [[spoiler: The entire Espheni invasion is apparently ''just'' to gather resources to fight off a greater evil of some kind]].

!!The Monk
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RobertClotworthy

An unnamed Espheni, always wearing a cloak, provides guidance to Lexi for unknown purposes.

* BlackCloak: He wears one at all times, probably to make it easier for him to sneak around.
* TheChessmaster: If his dialogue with Scorch is any indication, he's playing a long game on humans for unknown purposes.
** [[spoiler: We eventually learn that he's manipulating Lexi into using her powers for destructive purposes.]]
* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler: Lexi disintegrates him.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: His conversation with Scorch is full SnarkToSnarkCombat.
%%* EvilMentor: To Lexi.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: His motivations are completely in the dark. [[spoiler: Near the end of the season we finally learn that he's trying to turn Lexi into a weapon]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Lexi kills him with the powers that he taught her to use.]]
* NoNameGiven: He's been nicknamed "The Monk" due his robes and quasi-religious role to Lexi.
* PsychicPowers: The Monk seems to posess several psychic abilities, namely telepathy and some form of telekinesis.
* SiblingTeam: Scorch and the Monk call one another "Geminus", which is latin for "Twin". It's possible they are brothers.
** TwinTelepathy: They communicate telepathically.

!![[spoiler:Espheni Queen]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TriciaHelfer
The force behind of the invasion, and the BigBad of the series.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: She is the queen of the ''[[ScaryDogmaticAliens Espheni]]'', after all.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:She was behind everything, the Overlords and Karen were her proxies]].
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: She attempts to drain Tom of his blood [[spoiler:but Tom had already injected himself with the Dornia weapon. His altered blood kills her.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: The first Espheni overlord captured by the 2nd Mass argued the Espheni were devoid of emotions, and thus were superior to humans. [[spoiler:In the finale, the invasion was ordered by the queen because she was enraged that her daughter was killed by primitive humans.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Killed in the finale by a weapon created by her ancient enemy, the last Dornia.]]
* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:She hates humans because her daughter was killed by primitive humans 1,500 years before the modern age.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: The fact that the Espheni even had a queen was only revealed in the final episodes.

[[folder: Main]]

!!Tom Mason

!!Hal Mason

[[folder: Recurring]]

!!The Berserkers: "Crazy" Lee (Luciana Carro), Lyle (Brad Kelly), and Boone (Billy Wickman)

* FamousLastWords: "I'm so sorry."

* FamousLastWords: "I'm not ready!"

* FamousLastWords: "[[TakingYouWithMe Tick, tick..Boom!]]"

* FamousLastWords: "Keep the fight going..."

%%* FriendlySniper
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Tector has a GrinOfAudacity before blowing himself up]].

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler: Willingly leaves the 2nd Mass after the incident in which he [[KickTheDog stole Weaver's compass off of Jimmy's corpse because he could]].

* CynicismCatalyst: It is heavily implied by the way talks about children that he once had a child, and that its death was what caused his current {{Hikkomori}} way of living.

** {{Reverse|Mole}} MoleInCharge

%%* CryingLittleKid

->'''Played by:''' Drew Roy

->'''Played by:''' Connor Jessup

->'''Played by:''' Maxim Knight

->'''Played by:''' Moon Bloodgood

->'''Played by:''' Jessy Schram

->'''Played by:''' Sarah Carter (credited as Sarah Sanguin Carter)

->'''Played by:''' Seychelle Gabriel

->'''Played by:''' Peter Shinkoda

->'''Played by:''' Mpho Koaho

->'''Played by:''' Colin Cunningham

->'''Played by:''' Dylan Authors

->'''Played by:''' Bruce Gray

->'''Played by:''' Brent Jones

->'''Played by:''' Martin Roach

->'''Played by:''' Daniyah Ysrayl

->'''Played by:''' Henry Czerny

->'''Played by:''' Brandon Jay [=McLaren=]

->'''Played by:''' Ryan Robbins

->'''Played by:''' Laci J. Mailey

->'''Played by:''' Matt Frewer

->'''Played by:''' Megan Danso

->'''Played by:''' Gloria Reuben

->'''Played by:''' Robert Sean Leonard

->'''Played by:''' Treva Etienne

->'''Played by:''' Dakota Daulby

->'''Played by:''' Desiree Ross

->'''Played By:''' Keith Arbuthnot

->'''Played by:''' John De Santis

->'''Played by:''' [[spoiler: Jennifer Ferrin]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Mark Gibbon

->'''Voiced by:''' Robert Clotworthy