Other Characters
Miscellaneous Characters
◊Characters who play important roles in the story, but do not belong in any of the above categories.
Sam Weiss VII
- "You're giving up? I tell you he met a girl and moved away, and you're just gonna give up?"
Portrayed by Kevin Corrigan
An enigmatic bowling alley owner and acquaintance of Nina Sharp. He helped rehabilitate Olivia so she could regain her ability to walk after her initial universe jump, and the two quickly established a friendship. He is, however, one of the most enigmatic characters in the series and no one knows who he truly is, or what side he's playing for - if any.
It is revealed in "The Last Sam Weiss" that he is in fact, the seventh in a long line of "Sam Weisses", who have all been keepers of the knowledge found in an ancient manuscript left behind by the First People.
Tropes associated with Sam:
- All There in the Manual: He himself is the manual for technology millions of years old, and hundreds of million years ahead of its time.
- Bus Crash: He died in the twenty years Olivia and Peter were missing
- Chekhov's Gunman: Originally introduced as a simple bowling alley owner who knew more than he let on. That is, of course, until we learned that "Walternate doesn't trust him."
- "A DEMON'S TWIST RUSTS" is an anagram. When re-arranged, you get "DON'T TRUST SAM WEISS"
- The author of The First People, Seamus Wiles, is once again an anagram of Samuel Weiss when re-arranged.
- The truth is, Sam's great great grandfather, the second Sam Weiss, was the only who wrote the First People books.
- In a neat twist that doesn't involve weird parallel universes, when we first meet Sam Weiss in the bowling alley, he is seen wearing a t-shirt with a logo that will later be revealed as the logo of Violet Sedan Chair , Walter's favorite band and home of his hero, Roscoe Joyce.
- Somewhat unrelated, but Violet Sedan Chair is also an anagram for "Olive can read this." What's with Sam and anagrams?
- Dying Alone: His ultimate fate. Though with the Observer invasion averted in the finale, he's presumably alive again.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Somehow managed to to fight and slay three Observers and one Loyalist together before expiring.
- The Everyman: Sam's biggest secret? He's just an ordinary bowling alley owner after all. What sets him apart is that he has considerably more knowledge about the First People and alternate universes than anyone else due to his family line. His attitude towards the whole thing goes pretty much like this:"My father took me to the Museum hundreds of times. Believe me, you have no idea how boring those were."
- Heroic Sacrifice: Died protecting the signal that leads to The Child.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: His heroic sacrifice.
- Older Than They Look"I'm older than I look. I barely remember my childhood. I'm also taller than I appear."
- Seen It All: Appears to know a lot more than he lets on.
- Secret Legacy: The Weiss family have been keepers of the knowledge of the First People for generations. Sam has accumulated the knowledge of his past six predecessors.
- Someday This Will Come in Handy: Who knew that working at a bowling alley would end up saving his and Olivia's life from a lightning storm!
- Trickster Mentor: Especially with his Mr. Miyagi schtick at the beginning of season 2. Having Olivia tie and untie bowling shoes get her walking and using her gun properly after her accident. He also taught Nina how to use her robot arm by making her eat french fries.
- His trick with the business cards initially seemed like a random gimmick, but in the end it helped Olivia get over Charlie's death by spelling out the first thing he told her on the job:
"You're going to be fine."- One could also assume that randomly visiting her in the middle of the night for a game of Cluedo counted as giving her a hint for a case.
- Wild Card: AND HOW!
- After the recent ad, a lot more people are starting to jump on the train of "not trusting Sam Weiss".
John Scott
- "Department is not a massive fan of office romance. The policy seminar was endless, wasn't it? Kept finding myself staring at you, I decided to move my chair to stop."
Portrayed by Mark Valley
An FBI special agent who was for a time Olivia's partner and lover. However, during the pilot episode incident, he is killed, and seemingly mistaken for a traitor and double agent.
A good deal of the first season was focused surrounding the mystery behind his death, and who he was truly working for. In truth, he was an NSA agent who was infiltrating ZFT.
Tropes associated with John:
- Aborted Arc: We'll never learn what Scott and his accomplices were up to regarding ZFT.
- Double Agent: For the NSA.
- Hallucinations: For pretty much the entirety of Season 1, John Scott is this.
- The Mole: For the ZFT, and to the ZFT for the NSA.
- Posthumous Character: Mostly.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Since he was killed off in the first episode.
Thomas Jerome Newton
- "You're in over your head. You're not fully committed to this task, and because of that, you will fail."
Portrayed by Sebastian Roché
Leader of the Shape Shifters, and primary villain of Season 2. During Olivia's first meeting with William Bell, she was warned about Newton and was instructed to stop his revival, but ultimately failed.
He later begins assembling a force of Shape Shifters in an effort to recover pieces of Walter's brain to re-construct a portal between the worlds, and in Season 3 was seen to be assisting Fauxlivia with her mission, much to his dismay. He committed suicide after he was caught by Peter, so as not to reveal any information.
Tropes associated with Newton:
- Affably Evil: Surprisingly, is quite polite and pleasant to those who aren't his enemies or obstacles.
- Fan Boy: Confesses to being a U2 fan. Supposedly, one of the few bands he likes Over Here.
- Pulling Themselves Together: His frozen head is reattached to his body.
- Shout-Out: A shout out to David Bowie. "Thomas Jerome Newton" was the name of the character portrayed by Bowie in the 1976 adaptation of The Man Who Fell to Earth.
- Undying Loyalty: Is shown to be extremely protective and loyal to Walternate. A close friendship between the two is even hinted at times.
The Man in the X T-Shirt
- "...Nice to meet you."
Portrayed by Ulrich Thomsen
A mysterious individual whom Peter, Walter and Bell ran into on board a zeppelin within Olivia's mind. Unlike her other mental projections, this man apparently had a sense of self as well as awareness of what was going on; compared to her other mental manifestations who just kill everything in sight, he was much more focused on just escaping the zeppelin.
Later, when Olivia recovered - albeit not remembering most of what happened, this man's image invaded her mind. She claimed she had no idea who he is and never met him before, but said that "I think that he's the man who's gonna kill me."
The two-part Season 4 finale reveals that the X symbol is actually William Bell's signature, meaning that this man was some sort of entity who was inhabiting Bell's mind, not Olivia's. Who or what he still is, or his true connection to William Bell, is unclear.
Tropes associated with the mystery man:
- Aborted Arc: Absolutely nothing was revealed about him since his appearance, and likely won't be.
- Actually, it was strongly implied that he was a representation of William Bell.
- Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Somewhat hinted at - he might not even be a real character on the outside. The truth is, the guy was just flying around locked in a Zeppelin within Olivia's mind, which is suggested even further with what Peter said earlier: "I'm pretty sure there's a good reason why we can't enter each other's minds. What if we kick something loose in there?" There's a good possibility that this man is exclusive within Olivia's mind, and that Peter effectively set him loose aboard the Zeppelin.
- Chekhov's Gunman: David Robert Jones's agenda, September's warning to Olivia, and September himself getting shot?
Word of God says it's all somehow connected to this guy.- From the looks of it, he has more of a connection to William Bell than to Jones. The X on his t-shirt is of the same design on William Bell's killer nanites.
- Driving Question: Just who the hell is this guy?
- Wham Episode: He single-handedly created a standard Character Development driven story into this.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The mouse was apparently abandoned.
Henry Higgins
- "Look, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers here, guys. There's some things a guy like me shouldn't know about. I get it. But you start hearing things about some other universe ... it's hard to ignore."
Portrayed by Andre Royo
An ordinary taxi driver in the alternate universe. Despite thinking Olivia was crazy at first, he ends up becoming one of the few allies she had Over There. Ever since meeting her, he's unwittingly become involved with the war between the two universes - and oblivious to just how much of an impact his actions will evoke for things to come.
Tropes associated with Henry:
- Delivery Guy: Helps deliver Fauxlivia's baby with Lincoln. Not a typical example as he doesn't panic and actually seems to know what he's doing.
- Fish out of Water: Needless to say, he's now in deep with Walternate's schemes.
- Legacy Character: Both Henry (Fauxlivia's and Peter's ret-gone'd son) and Henrietta are named in his honor.
- More than just that: While not completely obvious from the get-go, the truth is his selfless actions have pretty much laid the foundation for the rest of the series.
- Shout-Out: His name is the same as Professor Henry Higgins' in Pygmalion and the musical adaptation, My Fair Lady.
Edward Markham
- "Uh-huh... 'Destruction by Advancement of Technology' - sounds sexy and very challenging."
Portrayed by Clark Middleton
The owner of a shady used bookstore, Markham is one of in a long line of Peter's "contacts". He first revealed the existence of Seamus Wiles' "The First People" to the Fringe Division, in exchange for "protection."
Tropes associated with Markham:
- All Love Is Unrequited: He fell in love with Olivia. Yes, really.
- Bookworm: Owns a bookstore.
- Sanity Slippage: If the Season 5 premiere was any indication, the Observer occupation has driven him completely insane, and a bit creepy with the way he was hogging Olivia in amber and fantasizing about a love with her. All while using her amber coated body as a table. Peter was not pleased.
- Stalker with a Crush: In the future, he is shown as this to Olivia.
- Properly Paranoid: The information that he read in The First People freaked him the hell out - he's been hiding the book ever since.
Raymond Gordon
- "We don't know who they are. But I can tell you what they want. They want to exterminate us."
Portrayed by Stephen McHattie
A ruthless former Army colonel, he was a steadfast supporter of Project Tin Man. The project was initially developed to treat soldiers afflicted with nerve agents, but had an interesting sideffect of also turning them into human bombs. Gordon had a fast interest in the human bomb part, so he fought to keep the project alive but ultimately failed. Following that, he went AWOL and was considered a traitor.
Turns out, Broyles wasn't the only one who noticed the Observers - so did Gordon, but he also noticed that the Observers made use of human couriers transporting black briefcases. Paranoid that the Observers were studying us for nefarious purposes, he made use of soldiers still loyal to him as bombs to intercept the couriers. He was caught by the Fringe team, and labeled as clinically insane following his interrogation.
He was also completely right about the Observers. Twenty years before the Occupation.
Tropes associated with Gordon:
- Cassandra Truth: Entirely correct on his thesis that the Observers are here to take us down. No one believes him.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Believed there was a war coming. He was right.
- Foreshadowing: His entire character serves as one. When he appeared, the Observers were still a bunch of Mysterious Watchers who were considered
Neutral Good by everyone; he claimed they were evil conquerors; the show, the viewers and the characters saw him as batshit insane. Three seasons later, the show proves him fully correct. - Lackof Empathy: Described as ruthless and vicious.
- Properly Paranoid: No one really believed him though. He was totally right about the Observers.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Well intentioned is putting it very, very strongly ... But regardless, his paranoia panned out, and one way or another he WAS fighting against the real enemy while everyone else was ignorant.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Made use of unknowing human bombs to intercept and blow up Observer couriers.
Alistair Peck
- "You and I both know there are certain things we take for granted — the laws of nature for example — that are not necessarily binding. There are places on this Earth where two plus two most definitely does not equal four."
Portrayed by Peter Weller
A brilliant mathematician and theoretical astrophysicist who is considered to be even ahead of Walter's time. Making use of a Faraday cage meshed with his own body, he repeatedly traveled through time (and inadvertently kept killing the same people in a train over and over) to rescue his wife from a car crash. The attempt ended in both of their lives, but his actions and compassion towards Walter came to shape the man for the rest of his life.
Tropes associated with Alistair:
- Body Horror: Surgically installed a Faraday cage into his own flesh to accomplish time travel.
- For Science!: Is a hardboiled man of science, even more so than Walter.
- Legacy Character: The titular "white tulip" he mailed to Walter made him believe it was a sign from God of forgiveness. This ultimately came to finalize both his road to recovery and to becoming a better man.
- Mad Scientist: How his colleagues viewed him; he was simply way ahead of his time.
Rachel Dunham
- "Some new horrifying event you're not allowed to tell me about?"
Portrayed by Ari Graynor
Olivia's sister and Ella's mother. She came to temporarily live with Olivia after some troubles occurred regarding her marriage.
Tropes associated with Rachel:
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She just sort of disappeared after the season 2 part one finale.
- Dead Alternate Counterpart: The version of her from the "Red" universe died in childbirth.
- Everygirl: Olivia's very normal sister, who's totally unconnected to the crazy shit that the Fringe Division gets involved in.
- Lethal Chef: She's a pretty terrible cook.
Ella Jae Blake
- "Are you kidding? That's not a proper ending. Don't you know? All good stories start with 'once upon a time', and they end with 'happily ever after'. You don't know how to tell stories."
Portrayed by Lily Pilblad, Emily Meade (future)
Rachel's daughter. She came to live with her mother at Olivia's place for a while after Rachel's marriage turned sour. She's developed something of a bond with Olivia, and to an extent, Peter and Walter.
Tropes associated with Ella:
- Blatant Lies: She's quite the little liar.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She too dropped off the radar very quickly into Season 3. (And that was just a phonecall)
- She appears in the Season 3 finale grown up. Apparently she was just on a bus.
- Cheerful Child: She objected to Walter's story not because it had her mother drowning in a coffin but because it wasn't accurate.
- Dead Alternate Counterpart: In the "Red" universe she was either stillborn or died shortly afterwards due to her mother being a carrier for a virus that kills pregnant women and their babies.
- Deadpan Snarker: For a 9-year old, she is snarky!"Maybe you should teach me algebra." (after listening to Walter's singing)
- Future Badass: She's a Fringe Agent in the Bad Future.
- Little Miss Badass: In the Bad Future, she is a trainee Fringe Agent. She doesn't do anything badass but has the attitude for it.
- Nom de Mom: In the Bad Future, she goes by Agent Dunham rather than Agent Blake.
- Only Sane Man: She was arguably the only person who remotely made any sense out of Walter's story.
- Shipper on Deck: She quietly opposes her mother being in love with Peter despite the Ship Tease.
- Took a Level in Badass: During the season 3 final's Bad Future segment, she's just been promoted as a Fringe Agent.
Special Agent Amy Jessup
- "It's not that I don't appreciate petulance, Mr. Bishop, but the sooner you cooperate..."
Portrayed by Meghan Markle,
An FBI Special Agent assigned to investigate a mysterious auto crash in Manhattan, and who takes a special interest in the Fringe Division.
Tropes associated with Amy:
- Decoy Protagonist: She's apparently introduced as a way to maintain suspense about whether Olivia might have to be replaced as the show's lead. Once Olivia is back on her feet, Amy disappears.
- FBI Agent: Another point of similarity with Olivia.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Keeps her hair tied back out in the field.
