Characters / Gang Related

Gang Task Force, Los Angeles Police Department

Ryan Lopez

Played by: Ramón Rodriguez

An ex-soldier who served with the 75th Ranger Regiment prior to joining up with the LAPD, he serves as a double agent for Javier Acosta to provide information that can be useful for his business empire.

• Anti-Hero: A Dirty Cop allied with a vicious gang.
• But Not Too Foreign: An American of Mexican descent. He came to America by arriving in California illegally with his family.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His parents died when he was a child.
• Dating Catwoman: Has a relationship with Jess, who's coordinating with Internal Affairs in finding The Mole within the LAPD. Oh, and she also happens to be his boss's daughter.
• Dirty Cop: He's secretly The Mole for Los Angelicos, a Latino gang, in the LAPD, feeding them information along with other crimes he commits. At the very least, he still has a conscience, and does go against Javier Acosta's orders on occasion. One notable instance is when he busts a human trafficking ring led by one of Javier's fishscale buyers.
• Fair Cop: He's quite handsome, and an LAPD detective.
• The Illegal: He originally entered the US illegally with his family.
• The Mole: Ryan's one for Los Angelicos, a Latino gang, in the LAPD. Though, admittedly, he is (somewhat) reluctant in his role as this.
• Omniglot: Speaks fluent English and Spanish.
• Parental Abandonment: He first lost his mother and then his father as a child.

Cassius Green

Played by: RZA

An African-American agent from the Drug Enforcement Agency, he was assigned to the GTF from New York, serving as Lopez's new partner.

• Anti-Hero: He's willing to blackmail a Long Beach Lords OG after he learns of his secret. The latter mentioned that he knows that Green isn't the type of person to do that.
• Dark and Troubled Past: When he started out, his partner was killed by Metas Cartel assassins. He had a hard time explaining his death to his relatives.
• Token Minority: The only African-American in the main cast.

Tae Kim

Played by: Sung Kang

A Korean-American agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he was assigned to the GTF. He's very familiar with the Korean criminal underworld while speaking fluent Korean.

• Big Brother Instinct: Most of his money goes to an institution taking care of his brain-damaged sister.
• But Not Too Foreign: A Korean-American. Though the shows suggested that he did a few things here and there to settle in California.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Has ties to the Korean criminal underground, and is hinted to have immigrated under false pretenses.
• Dirty Cop: Steals some of the drug money during a GTF raid in order to ensure payments to the boarding house resident to keep his sister safe.
• Omniglot: Speaks fluent English and Korean.
• Morality Pet: His sister.
• Token Minority: The only Asian-American in the main cast.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Has some of this with his partner Vee.

Veronica "Vee" Dotsen

Played by: Inbar Lavi

An agent with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she works with the GTF by serving as the task force's sniper when cover and protection is needed in a major operation.

• Action Girl: She's quite skilled in using firearms, whether automatic or not, being an ICE agent. Additionally, she's the sniper of her unit.
• Fair Cop: She is a very beautiful ICE agent.
• Friendly Sniper
• The Mafiya: Her older brother is a member of the Russian Mafia Family.
• Ms. Fanservice: Not most of the time, but when going undercover once to get close with a Russian gangster, she gets dressed in a very revealing, low-cut dress.
• Omniglot: Speaks fluent English and Russian.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female member (in the main cast) of the GTF.
• Underestimating Badassery: Her fellow GTF operatives know better than to underestimate her, and more than a few criminals in the series find out the hard way.

Sam Chapel

Played by: Terry O'Quinn

The current head of the GTF. He has a daughter named Jessica Chapel.

• A Father to His Men/Benevolent Boss
• Married to the Job: Somewhat implied from his relationship with his daughter.
• Police Brutality: Nearly beats up El Mozo hard when he finds out that Jessica was killed.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's willing to listen to his subordinates for reasonable feedback.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Occasionally plays the various LA gangs off against one another, and isn't afraid to bend the rules to get what he wants.

Los Angeles City government

Jessica "Jess" Mary Chapel

Played by: Shantel VanSanten

The current Assistant District Attorney of Los Angeles County, she is also the daughter of Sam.

• Dramatic Irony: Becomes very close with Ryan, whom the viewers know is the very mole she and Internal Affairs have been trying to root out in the LAPD. She finally discovers the truth at the end of "La Luz Verde".
• Killed Off for Real: As revenge for the GTF dismantling the Metas' fishscale operation, the gang executes her.

Ellis

Played by: Catherine Dent

The current District Attorney of Los Angeles, she is responsible for overseeing the status of the GTF. For a short time, Ellis had plans to run for mayor before settling for the DA position.

• Amoral Attorney: Implied to be responsible for Jess' death after she finds out about Ryan's mole status.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Agrees to Jess' request to loop in Ryan as a Double Agent against the L As.
• Secret-Keeper: She knows that the LAs have a mole in the GTF.
• Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about her significance in the series since it has an impact on it.

LAPD

Paul Carter

Played by: Jay Karnes

An LAPD officer from Internal Affairs, he was tasked to investigate the death of James Tanner.

• Inspector Javert: Once he notices a distinct pattern within Ryan's arrest record, he latches on to him as the most likely Los Angelicos mole. Ryan does his best to dissuade Carter of this notion in return.

Los Angelicos

Javier Acosta

Played by: Cliff Curtis

The current head of the Los Angelicos, he took in an orphaned Ryan after he found out that his father had passed away. He was also responsible for making him serve in the army and in the LAPD to be his double agent in the GTF.

• Anti-Villain: Though a crime boss, his goal is to go straight, with very paternal regard for Ryan which is genuine. He also really cares for his community, so he's increasily dismayed when the Metas, a far more ruthless Mexican cartel he's begun to sell his operations, move in and terrorize them.
• The Don: Current head of the gang.
• False Flag Operation: Tolerates the murder of Jess so that no one will know of Ryan's mole status and blame it on the Metas.
• One Last Job: His fishscale operation was intended to fund the Los Angelicos' transition to legitimacy. Unfortunately for him, his suppliers, the Metas, had other ideas.
• Parental Substitute: Ryan was informally adopted by Javier Acosta after his father's death.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Javier gladly listens to Ryan and helps him out to ensure his cover is still intact. When he warned him that the LAPD was coming to raid the LA's territory, Javier made plans to move out before they're caught.

Tio Gordo

Played by: Emilio Rivera

The right-hand man of Javier Acosta and the second-in-command of the Los Angelicos. He's responsible for commanding its soldiers in the field and helping Ryan out whenever he meets with Javier off-duty from the GTF. Prior to joining the L As, he had served prison time alongside Javier.

• The Dragon: Currently the second man in the L As after Javier.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Like Javier, Tio gladly listens to Ryan and helps him out to ensure his cover is still intact.

Daniel Acosta

Played by: Jay Hernandez

Son of Javier, he works in the investment banking business in order to help his father go legitimate and leave the life of crime. Daniel was also Ryan's best friend from when they were kids.

• Expy: He's basically the show's equivalent of Michael Corleone.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Javier is actively keeping Daniel away from the "Family Business" as much as possible. For example, he refuses to allow Daniel to launder drug money for him and his "subcontractors."
• Took a Level in Badass: After getting kidnapped and nearly executed by the Metas, he becomes more violent and assertive, taking a more active role in leading the Los Angelicos while his father is imprisoned.

Carlos Acosta

Played by: Reynaldo Gallegos

Son of Javier and Daniel's older brother, he's known to have a violent streak. As such, he doesn't hesitate to use violence when it helps him meet his goals. He also looks down on Daniel very much.

• Can't Have Sex, Ever: At least not since he got paralyzed.
• Cop Killer: Shoots Detective Tanner since he saw his face breaking into a warehouse.
• Jerkass: Dismissively calls Ryan "The Orphan", constantly undermining his efforts to help the Angelicos and questioning his loyalty.
• Kick the Dog: Beats up his physical therapist out of sheer frustration.
• The Load: Doesn't appear to share his father's vision of the Los Angelicos becoming legitimate, and insists that they should be more aggressive and violent. As a result, his actions tend to add more complications to the Angelicos' affairs.
• Not Quite Dead: The pilot episode has him gunned down by several Long Beach Lord gang members. He manages to survive, but is left paralyzed from the waist down.
• Wild Card: How Ryan views him. In the pilot episode, his presence alone complicates things for him and the L As.
  Ryan: "Messed up"? My job is to protect the family. I know that. To provide information to you. But if I don't know what's going on, what's the point?

Metas

El Mozo

Played by: Emiliano Diez

One of the leaders of the Metas. He is currently serving time in the United States for drug-related charges. However, he is still able to call the shots for running it from the supermax prison.

• Even Evil Has Standards: He's not willing to harm anyone who's not involved in getting in his way, especially if it involves Jessica.
• Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: The boss of the Metas Cartel, he still runs them from inside of a maximum security California prison, attended there by guards who even serve him fine food like waiters.

Matias Villareak

Played by: Amaury Nolasco

The main representative of the Metas while El Mozo is imprisoned. He worked with Javier Acosta in making the alliance between the L As and the Metas work to distribute the fishscale drugs from South America.

• The Dragon: To El Mozo and he runs the Metas' American operations while he's arrested.
• Would Hit a Girl: Word is that he killed Jessica in her house. Except El Mozo insists that he didn't do it.

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