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Five-0 Task Force
Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett
Played By: Alex O'Loughlin
"No, it’s not fifty, it’s five-0. It’s what my dad used to call our family, because we weren’t native Hawaiian. Five-0. I don’t know; it was his way of making us feel like we belonged somewhere I guess."
A former Navy SEAL with intelligence experience, current Navy reservist, and leader of the Five-0 Task Force.
- Aloof Big Brother: To Mary at first, but he’s getting better.
- Anti-Hero: Mostly nice if snarky guy that loves dogs, goes completely out of his way to help those around him if he isn't too injured to do it, and fights crime to do the right thing. Also totally willing to take cheap shots at criminals, inflict the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique, go against orders and even entirely off-the-record if he thinks it's necessary, troll Danny at every opportunity he gets, and has an obscenely high body count to his name. He's also wracked with so much guilt over his failures that he sometimes ends up being anything but the action hero badass he usually is at work.
- Berserk Button: Do not hurt, threaten, or breathe wrong near McGarrett's family and friends. Children who lose a parent also seem to be a trigger for him (i.e. "Ohana" and "He Kane Hewa' Ole").
- Beyond the Impossible: He's shrugged off the bends from a 150-meter ascent in the ocean, something that disabled the perp in the same episode. He flew a helicopter straight into a forest fire's excessive smoke to save his team, and flies off without even so much as a cough. He's fought through entire platoons, gotten tortured extensively in ways that would kill or break most men for life, and gotten back up to fight again. The series eventually reaches a point where the Honolulu Police Department, national agencies, international groups abroad and even his own Five-0 squad tend to look to Steve first if someone needs to do something impossibly dangerous to save the day.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Thanks to the events of the 100th episode, Steve is very much a part of one.
- Blood Knight: Prone to taking violent actions against perps and tends to enjoy it, especially if they pushed one of his buttons.
- Bond One-Liner: Generally good for these.
- Cain and Abel: A stepbrother example. Steve McGarrett is the Abel to Big Bad Wo Fat's Cain.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: His idea of a "special date" is eating plate lunch in a truck (at Rainbow). At least there's "romantic music" (80s Hair Bands). He also has occasional cravings for MREs.
- His lesson in survival skills to a group of ten year-old Aloha Girls includes teaching them military tactics ("We're going to talk about the kill zone now...") and how to throw knives.
Steve: (super happy grin) Who wants to learn how to do that? - Control Freak: Steve likes to be in control of any situation he's involved in. This includes drug busts, shootouts with the Yakuza, driving Danny's Camaro, and manning the barbeque at a backyard picnic. It's lampshaded on several occasions by Danny, Kono, and even Chin.
- Cowboy Cop: Treats criminals as enemies to be defeated as if it were a war, and thus frequently ignores police procedure in favor of more expedient tactics.Danny: Let's just try not to get the new girl blown up, kidnapped, or shot on her first day. That's all. Can we do that, Steven?Steve: I can't guarantee that.
- Crazy-Prepared: Not many cops have grenades in the car, especially if it's not their own. He always has several knives and guns on his person, and it's not unusual for Steve to hide other not-so-legal weapons in strange parts of the Camaro as well.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: The nature of his mother's real job with the CIA prompted Steve's dad to send him away for his own safety.
- Dead Guy Junior: Named for his grandfather who died in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
- Deadpan Snarker: Which makes for a lot of snarktastic conversations between him and Snark Master Danny.
- Determinator: If he starts something, he will finish it and not even being physically unable to move will stop him for long.
- Drives Like Crazy: No matter what he's driving. And it doesn't help that at least 90% of the time Steve is the one driving Danny's Camaro. The latter never fails to complain about said driving skills or riding shotgun, either.
- Emotional Bruiser: Despite being a total badass, Steve does not even try to hide his affection and protectiveness towards those close to him. The Man Hug of relief is a common reaction on his part to friends surviving deadly danger and he's always doting and affectionate with Danny's daughter, Gracie.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric.
- A Friend in Need: Will do pretty much anything to help his friends, which occasionally leads to him becoming this trope in the process.
- The Hero/The Big Guy: Fills both roles. He's the lead character who believes strongly in justice and making criminals do their time but also can be a brash goofball who tanks hits like they're not even there.
- Honorary Uncle: To Danny's children, Grace and Charlie.
- It's Personal: With cases involving his father or his friends.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: With more than a side of Torture for Fun and Information.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: To Mary.
- MacGyvering: Or, as Danny calls it, "Steve The Science Guy".
- Made of Iron: Somewhat justified due to his background as a Navy SEAL, who are infamous for taking an insane amount of damage and just walking away from it. Steve takes a lot of physical and mental abuse, being tortured on numerous occasions, witnessing the murder of several friends and family members, and taking hits for his teammates whenever possible. This is also a guy that took a boulder to the face while climbing, broke his arm from the fall that ensued, and managed to bounce back in short order even if in a cast for the rest of the episode, and in another episode mostly shrugged off the bends from a 150-meter ascent underwater to the surface, whereas the episode's perp landed themselves in an ICU from the same feat.
- Magnetic Hero: By the Season 2 premiere, all the original members of Five-0 have clearly indicated their first loyalty is to McGarrett. Even Kamekona is willing to enact a Bolivian Army Ending if Steve gives him the word.
- Military Maverick: Is not any better at following rules when doing military duty than he is as a cop.
- Ironically, he clashed with his superior in "He ke'u na ka 'alae a Hin" because he refused to use the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique on a captured terrorist, insisting on creating a rapport with him using dignity and kindness.
- Missing Mom: He believed she was killed in an accident but, as it turns out, she was a CIA operative who faked her death to protect her family. She dies in season 10.
- Mistaken for Gay: With Danny, more and more.
- Mr. Fanservice: Steve has a bad (or good) habit of taking his shirt off whenever the opportunity presents itself.
- Odd Couple: With Danny.
- That One Case: For McGarrett, it's the Story Arc concerning the contents of the Champ box and his father's relationship with the Yakuza and Wo Fat.
- One-Man Army: He's a Navy SEAL, so it's to be expected, but Danny has taken to calling him an animal due to his very aggressive nature and ethos.
- Papa Wolf: Steve easily rivals Danny in protective instincts when it comes to Gracie. When they discover provocative pictures of a young girl that were taken by her so-called second father-figure, Steve agrees with Danny that he'd kill anyone who tried something similar with Grace.Danny: I do not think these were taken by a second father... If I found somebody taking pictures of Grace like this, I'd go to their house and I'd kill them.Steve: Yeah... me, too.
- Trauma Conga Line: Pretty much his life from the first episode on. His father is murdered while he's on the phone with him, he learns 20 years later that his mother was also murdered, discovers the real reason his father sent him away after his mother died, he's betrayed by a former member of his SEAL team who shoots up his house and tries to kill him, his sister is kidnapped over his continuing of his father's investigation, he's framed for murder by his boss, then discovers that she was Evil All Along and only started 5-0 to keep him occupied, then he gets framed for her murder and sent to prison where he gets shivved by the guy who killed his father. After that was cleared up, he was betrayed by a former 5-0 teammate and turned over to Wo Fat who had him beaten and tortured for information he doesn't have. And then he discovers his mother is still alive, which starts a conga line of its own. He doesn't seem to get a break.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Danny.
- White Male Lead: He's white, he's male, and he's the lead, though the show itself averts Monochrome Casting.
- You Killed My Father: To Victor Hesse, who Steve very much wants to rip apart. Wo Fat is also on the receiving end of this trope, due to him ordering Hesse to eliminate Steve's father.
- Younger Than They Look: Played for laughs when Steve and Danny show up at a sorority house to question a person of interest. Upon seeing them, one of the sorority girls calls out to another girl and says that her dads are there to pick her up. Steve is very much affronted... by being mistaken for the father of a college student.Steve: I'm sorry, you think I look old enough to be her father?Danny: That? That's the part you bumped on?
Detective Sgt. Danny 'Danno' Williams
Played By: Scott Caan
"Why do you do that? I had my fantasy worked out. You're like a devourer of dreams. You know what I mean. You, like, eat them. You're like a little Pacman in cargo pants."
Formerly of the Newark, New Jersey Police Department, he transferred to Honolulu PD after his ex-wife Rachel took their daughter there. He insists that he hates Hawaii and only tolerates it because it's where his daughter is.
- Action Dad: He's a special task force police officer who loves playing dolls with his young daughter and isn't afraid to rip apart anybody who's stupid enough to cross him and his team.
- Anger Born of Worry: Very prone to this, especially where Steve and Grace are concerned.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Believes in psychics but not ghosts even though he met one in one episode.
- Badass Normal: He may not be a Navy SEAL or Soviet-trained spy or CIA operative, but Danny can hold his own when the chips are down and has even saved One-Man Army Steve's butt a time or five.
- Berserk Button: Don't mess with Danno's friends. And do NOT come between him and his daughter.
- Ever since Grace was kidnapped, anyone that abducts children has also become this for Danny. After finding a man who kidnapped a little girl, Danny gave him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that surprised even Steve, whom has done some pretty harsh things himself to suspects.
- On a lighter note, Played for Laughs, is his issue with the word "classified". Don't use that word on him outside of a case or he will rant your brains out.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Danny's a friendly, outgoing guy who adores his daughter, enjoys hanging out with his friends, and doesn't hesitate to help those in need. But hurt innocents or his friends and family? If that's the case, then he'll gladly strap you to the front of his Camaro with bungee cords and drive through heavy traffic while ignoring all of Steve's complaints about Double Standards in interrogation procedure.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: To Grace on more than one occasion. As an example, he had a 11-year-old boy investigated by the police because he was flirting with his daughter.
- Cain and Abel: The Abel to little brother Matt's Cain.
- Cowboy Cop/By-the-Book Cop: He tries to be the latter but keeps getting pulled towards the former by McGarrett.
- He is the former during a dream sequence of "Ina Paha", where he and McGarrett are visiting an incarcerated Victor Hesse at the hospital. Danny says that because Victor Hesse is not a U.S. Citizen, he has no access to protections guaranteed by the Constitution. Taken to severe extremes when he shoots Victor in the knee.
- Deadpan Snarker: Perhaps the biggest one on the whole show. Steve and criminals are his usual targets, but anybody's fair game if they do something to annoy or amuse him.Danny: I have the number of a therapist that I wanna give you. Walk — up steps — like a human.
- Everyone Has Standards: Considering he'd been knocked out, stabbed and attacked with intent to kill by a would-be girlfriend's insane and murderous ex, he doesn't exactly raise a single concern with her fatally running the bastard over to keep him from hunting either of them down again.
- Fair Cop:
- "Mana'o" ends with Danno in his Newark PD dress uniform.
- "Kapu". Chin gets an e-mail with a photo attachment. Said photo is Danno posing for the Newark PD "Mr. November" calendar back in 1998.
- First Father Wins: Zigzagged throughout the early seasons due to Danny's custody battles with his ex-wife and her very rich new husband. However, as of the fifth season, Danny has received custody of Grace and an order from the judge to keep her in Hawaii instead of moving to Las Vegas with her mother and stepfather.
- Fish out of Water: New Jersey native Danny doesn't like Hawaii, or as he calls it:Danno: ...this pineapple-infested hellhole.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.
- Good Parents: He's an excellent father and does everything he can to spend time with Grace.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Danny's rants about Hawaii and the insanity of his partner are as common as criminals on the show. Certain things set him off more than others, like kidnapping or hurting children, hiding grenades in his car, kicking in doors without any warning, and eating pineapple pizza.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Danny is a major dog-lover and in "Lapa'au", he's more than willing to adopt the orphaned dog of a dead customs agent. He even forces Steve to
ride in the backseat of the Camaro while the dog rides up front with him.- It turns out that Danny also lost his dog to Rachel in the divorce. When Steve asks what happened to it, Danny says he was old and died in the airport quarantine process. Which he claims is just yet another reason why he hates "that miserable island".
- Hollywood Atheist: Discussed in "Ka Iwi Kapu", to the disbelief of Steve. Doesn't really believe in any higher being or spirits, let alone ancient Hawaiian beliefs. Or at least until the end of the episode.
- Hypocrite: In one episode, he delivers a sanctimonious tirade about why citizens should never be allowed to own or use guns, even for self-defense, no matter how many defenseless victims he finds hours postmortem. Proceeds to shoot lots of people on two occasions when violence against his own family provoke a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Yeah.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A downplayed example, in that Danny is actually not really much of a jerk, and certainly would prefer to be a By-the-Book Cop compared to his partner. He's also usually the first to jump to helping someone if they need it, and tries not to treat suspects like total shit unless they really earned it. But he's not quite a Nice Guy because he's always nitpicking and complaining about Steve, Hawaii, their cases, not getting to drive his car, you name it, and when someone crosses a line with him, he gets irritable enough to have a perpetual stick up his ass that even Steve doesn't want to deal with sometimes. If you pissed him off enough, he'll beat you with it, too.
- Joisey: Danny's illustrious home state. Aside from his obvious accent and mannerisms, Danny frequently reminisces about how great and sane New Jersey is compared to Hawaii and loves threatening to return home when Steve or the other islanders get too crazy. He's just bluffing, of course.
- The Lancer/The Smart Guy: To both Steve and the rest of the team. He's a very good detective with over a decade of field experience, which makes Danny much more knowledgeable about proper procedure and national/international laws than his more gung-ho, ex-Navy SEAL partner. Growing up in the mainland U.S. also gives him an outsider's perspective of the islands and how to approach situations that the native Hawaiians aren't familiar with.
- Mistaken for Gay: With Steve, more and more as time progresses.
- Mr. Fanservice: Not nearly as much as Steve, but Danny has his moments.
- The Napoleon: Averted. Danny doesn't attempt to overcompensate for his size and usually doesn't let short jokes get to him. Though he does state at one point that his greatest nightmare is waking up a foot shorter. If this is serious or just a joke is hard to tell considering he is, well, Danny.
- The Nicknamer: He likes to ascribe nicknames to friends and enemies alike. Grace is Monkey, Steve is Aquaman and Superman, Babe, Neanderthal, Super-SEAL, animal etc. and criminals are whatever pop culture insult or character jumps into his mind, just to name a few. Sometimes even victims get this treatment.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: When a man has been found with the proverbial smoking gun of having murdered one girl and kidnapped another solely to reap childcare benefits for a measly $500, Danny's Tranquil Fury finally snaps once the smug bastard outright admits he won't give up his only leverage of the second girl's location. Steve initially tries to hold Danny back — and then when the man says they can't hurt him because they're cops, Steve temporarily takes Danny's badge and walks away from one of Danny's only cases of willing suspect abuse in the entire series.
- Number Two: To Steve and the Five-0 team as a whole. He's usually right beside or just a few steps behind Steve during any jobs they're working together and whenever Steve's out of commission, Danny is the one to take over as temporary boss.
- Odd Couple: With Steve. They're polar opposite personalities, bicker like an old married couple, and are best friends who always have each other's backs.
- Out of Character: The "What If?" dreams that McGarrett has in
"Ina Paha" from Wo Fat's drugs invert a lot of Danno's characteristics in an AU. Ex. He loves Hawaii, and is still married to Rachel. - O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the Grand Finale, after getting kidnapped, tortured and shot before recovering in the hospital, Danny just sits at the beach as Steve comes to see him for the last time, and for once in the entire series finally espouses that Hawaii is actually pretty beautiful to look at. Steve immediately points out how utterly bizarre this is to him.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: He's a very competent cop in his own right, but then his partner is a former Navy SEAL.
- Papa Wolf: Moving to the other side of the continent is the least he'll do for Gracie.
- Half of the episode "E Malama" is basically Danny being this. Never endanger the life of his daughter.
Danny: If you ever bring a gun into the same zip code as my daughter again, I will kill you.- It's subtly played, but Danny is consistently more on edge and prone to violence in cases where children are in danger.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Danno is only 5'5.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: So long as you don't commit very specific crimes that will send him off the deep end (hurting his friends/family and kidnapping or murdering children), Danny tends to be much more by-the-book than his Blood Knight partner, insisting on proper procedure, Miranda rights, and not dangling suspects off a three-story building.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Despite being a stickler for proper procedure, Danny's willing to loosen his ever-immaculate tie when the situation calls for it, especially if children or innocent civilians are involved.
- Took a Level in Badass: Danny's competency as a cop is often overshadowed by Steve's extreme amounts of badassery, Chin's disgrace arc, and Kono's Fanservice and Badass. But in "He Kane Hewa'Ole", he is the first one who correctly deduces the culprit's plot. Lampshaded by Steve, who asks, "When did you get smart?"
- Tranquil Fury: After an initial lashing out when Reyes presents his brother's corpse in a barrel to him and then threatens his daughter's life to boot, Danny and Steve calmly leave when forced to at gunpoint. Not even a minute later, they kill every single guard and Danny comes back down to put a bullet in the man's head without even so much as a shout.
- Tsundere: For those that ship him with Steve, he can be seen of the Type A variety: very snarky and quick to deny his feelings, but is caring deep down inside.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Shooting Marco Reyes in the face was entirely justified in the heat of the moment, but ends up getting corrupt FBI agents harassing the Five-0 team and trying to take them down because he was a cartel asset with a lot of money now flying in the winds after the incident.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Steve.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Usually, and generally instantly, the first person to call out Steve when he decides it's time for a radical or extreme plan, or when Steve has outright crossed legal boundaries to get the job done.
Captain Louis "Lou" Grover
Played by: Chi McBride
Former SWAT officer of the Chicago Police Department, he gets transferred to the Honolulu Police Department to command its SWAT team. After being forced to leave at the end of the fourth season, he gets recruited to join Five-0.
- Ascended Extra: Started out as a recurring HPD SWAT officer that usually butt heads with McGarrett on his over-the-top, Cowboy Cop methods of doing justice. The two even come up to the point of being ready to kick eachother's asses, and file complaints. But the two befriend eachother to the point of Lou getting a Promotion to Opening Titles, and when push came to shove and Lou ends up out of a job, McGarrett opts to bring him into the Five-0 team, and the two rapidly become Fire-Forged Friends.
- By-the-Book Cop: In the beginning, Grover is a no-nonsense member of HPD who believes Five-0 goes too far to get their job done and needs to follow the law. Just like with Danny, Steve gradually starts to knock little chunks out of his always-proper-procedure attitude, but Grover's still the most strict member of the Five-0 team, even after he relaxes a bit.
- Deadpan Snarker: He fits right in with the team in this respect.Grover: I think you told a really great camp fire story and the only thing missing is the marshmallows.
- Driven to Suicide: His life falling apart after blaming himself for a Murder-Suicide hostage situation going wrong had him even lashing out at his wife Renee, resulting in losing all sense of reason and nearly shooting himself. But his son William happened to break a bowl coming home early from school, which saved his life distracting him from pulling the trigger. Lou recounts this to another person contemplating suicide as the final means of talking them out of it.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: At the latter part of Season 7, most of his mates in the Chicago Police Department accuse him of turning in of their own despite the fact that he got evidence that a fellow officer was dirty.
- "Hey, You!" Haymaker: Grover does this to punch a fleeing suspect.Grover: Didn't your mother tell you to look both ways?
- My Greatest Failure: His old Chicago PD job had him try to talk down a suicidal gunman from killing himself and his son because of his wife trying to take their kid. Despite Lou doing everything he could while SWAT were repeatedly telling him non-stop to let them kill the man, the perp had a mental breakdown mid-negotiations and committed Murder-Suicide, which traumatized Lou so badly that it ruined his job, his home life, and even nearly claimed his mind too.
- Papa Wolf: He's very protective of his daughter, Samantha, and doesn't hesitate to hunt Ian Wright down when he kidnaps her.
- Persona Non Grata: He discovers his long-time friend and partner, Clay, killed his wife on vacation. While he can't prove that, Grover does bust Clay for stealing money from a drug bust years before with Clay trying to get Grover killed by a mobster as payback. When he heads to Chicago to testify against Clay, Grover is thrown that all his fellow cops are more mad at Grover for turning on his partner, despite what Clay did.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: "Also Starring" halfway through season 4, official promotion starting season 5.
- Why Did It Have To Be Horror Movies: It's revealed in "Ho'oma'ike" that Grover really doesn't like horror movies or anything associated with them.
Officer Junior Reigns
Played By: Beulah Koale
Ex-Navy SEAL who got an honorable discharge from the US Navy. He was recruited by McGarrett by working for him part-time when he was asked to see him on a recommendation.
- "Dear John" Letter: He was subjected to this prior to being recruited to Five-0 in "E'ao lu'au a kualima" after he mentions that his ex-wife left him due to being deployed overseas for many months.
- Second Episode Introduction: Appears in episode 2 of season 8.
Officer Tani Rey
Played By: Meaghan Rath
A promising HPD officer cadet who got kicked out for punching an officer in her training course. Forced to take up odd jobs before McGarrett recruited her.
- Action Girl: She engages in hand-to-hand combat against Jason Duclair in her first episode and joins Five-0 on a foot chase despite not having a bulletproof vest.
- Cowboy Cop: More appropriately, cadet rather than cop.
- Ms. Fanservice: In her introduction, she's working as a lifeguard at Hilton Resort Waikiki.
Jerry Ortega
Played by: Jorge Garcia
"So, you're sayin' like if Amelia Earhart had come to Hawaii to fake her death instead of Howland Island?"
An old friend of Chin Ho (and to Kono) from their high school days. He is also a conspiracy theorist who helps Five-0 check in on certain angles when they hit a dead end.
- Basement-Dweller: Jerry lives in his mother's basement, which is his own little conspiracy headquarters.
- Cassandra Truth: He tells Five-0 that in one of his surveillance jobs, he found that out that criminals had bought up used books in Honolulu for an unknown purpose. Danno and Steve don't seem to believe him until the pre-credits stinger for "Aʻohe Kahi e Peʻe Ai" shows that he was right all along.
- Conspiracy Theorist: What he's known for.
- Crazy Homeless People: He's shown to be this in the 100th episode, "Ina Paha", where he's living on the street and suffers from a debilitating mental disorder.
- Deadpan Snarker: Jerry can keep up with the Five-0 team pretty well in this department, especially after he becomes more comfortable around them.Jerry: Whoa, Sarah Connor! [to Kono when she pulls a gun on him and his drone] I come in peace.
- MacGyvering: He's been shown to have a knack for it on several occasions. The best example so far is in Season 5 when Jerry takes over a drone using stuff he bought at the local hardware store. He then proceeded to fly it into the engine of the bad guys' plane to keep them from taking off.
- Properly Paranoid: Part of being a conspiracy theorist that he has security measures to protect himself from trouble.
- Put on a Bus: Leaves in the season 10 premiere as after being shot, he wants to live more and become an author.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Jerry whips this out whenever he has information for the Five-0 team that's not exactly legal. When he brings some intel on drones to Steve in "Ho'oma'ike", he emphasizes that he's only there for a tour of the palace and that he possesses no connection whatsoever to the information he's about to give them.Jerry: Any attempt to associate me with the information I am about to share will be vehemently denied by myself and the attorney I will retain. Are we understood?
Adam Noshimuri
Played By: Ian Anthony Dale
Formerly the heir of the Noshimuri-gumi group in Honolulu, he broke his ties with the family after the group's influence weakened in the death of his father. He broke off his relationship with Kono and is now working alongside his once sworn enemies.
- Anti-Villain: He may have been a Yakuza head, but one thing led to another and had him quitting to try to make amends for all the bad shit that went down between Wo Fat and his father, Hiro. It's enough so that he ends up an Anti-Hero for the Five-0 side, albeit one with his own problems and agenda.
- Cain and Abel: The Abel to Michael’s Cain.
- Dating Catwoman: Ends up in a relationship with Kono that ascends to a full marriage. Let's just say this leads to no small amount of hell for the both of them.
- Didn't Think This Through: For someone so high in the yakuza, he has a Horrible Judge of Character and consistently fails to realize most of his constituents are out for themselves and won't take well to dating Kono. This gets close friends, associates, and even his brother killed.
- Heel–Face Turn: Eventually ends up as a Five-0 member, albeit one who repeatedly has his Yakuza roots creeping back up on him to make things hard for everyone. He borders on Heel–Face Revolving Door as he occasionally has to do (or get framed for) crimes to survive or get what needs to be done, but he firmly stays in Anti-Hero territory.
- It's Personal: Much like Steve, his father's death lies at Wo Fat's decisions, and he has a personal stake in the conflict with the man.
- Opposites Attract: He was in love for a long while with Kono, making them a criminal and a police officer in a rocky liaison.
- Reformed Criminal: No longer involved in the Yakuza world, but has some influence within it. This is why McGarrett sought him out for recruitment.
- Trauma Conga Line: The amount of shit Adam goes through is immense, partly from his Yakuza life, partly from work trying on him. When Kono is Put on a Bus and leaves late series, cutting their relationship apart after so many years as a result, Adam becomes an alcoholic wreck with a messy apartment and a major hygiene problem, and needs extensive convincing and a lot of work to get himself back into shape again to officially join the Five-0 Task Force.
Sergeant Quinn Liu
Played By: Katrina Law
A former staff sergeant with Army CID who was recently demoted for insubordination and then joins the Five-0 Task Force.
Other Main Characters
Noelani Cunha
Played By: Kimee Balmilero
Max's replacement when he moves out of Hawaii to be involved in humanitarian projects overseas. She's the state's main ME.
Five-0 Relatives
Rachel Edwards
Played By: Claire van der Boom
The ex-wife of Det. Danny Williams, current wife of Stan Edwards, and mother to Grace Williams and Charles Edwards.
- Good Parents: Aside from the custody issues, Rachel is shown to genuinely love her daughter and encourages a relationship between Danny and Grace once she realizes that he's serious about taking care of his little girl.
- Rich Bitch: Averted. In early episodes where she is The Unseen her off screen actions and Danny's descriptions lead the viewer to believe she is this, but when she's revealed she is quite reasonable and pleasant once she realizes Danny isn't jerking her around. Danny claims she left him because he wasn't wealthy enough, but she indicates to Steve that it had more to do with not being able to handle the stress of having a husband whose job puts him in constant danger.
Grace Williams
Played By: Teilor Grubbs
"Did you catch the bad guys?"
The beloved daughter of Det. Danny Williams and Rachel Edwards, Danny's ex-wife. Grace is frequently seen visiting her father, Uncle Steve, and the other Five-0 team members.
- Cheerful Child: Grace is an easy-going and cheerful little girl who rarely gives her parents or their friends any problems.
- Child Prodigy: She's a whiz at poker and whips Kamekona's butt at it.Grace: [to Kamekona] Mmm, uh. How about 5 card draw?
- Daddy's Girl: It's not unusual for Grace to call her father every night and she's shown to be incredibly close to him. This transfers over to Danny's team as well, who the typically shy Grace is shown to be very comfortable around.
- Dead Guy Junior: Grace was named for Danno's former partner, Det. Grace Tillwell, who died the day he found out he was going to be a father.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her favorite hairstyle, usually accompanied by several glittery barrettes.
- Little Miss Con Artist: In "Kai 'e'e," Grace dominates Kamekona and his friends at the poker table. They're only playing for candy, though.
- Nice Girl: When her friends dare her to teepee (throw toilet paper all over) someone's house, Grace decides to teepee her father's since she thinks that teepeeing someone else's house would be mean. Danny still scolds and punishes her for it.
- Official Couple: Starts dating Lou Grover's son William in season 7.
Dr. Malia Waincroft
Played by: Reiko Aylesworth
The wife of Det. Chin Ho Kelly (2010) and a pediatric oncologist employed at Honolulu Hospital.
- Hospital Hottie: She's a very pretty doctor.
- I Have Your Wife: It was nice knowing you, Malia.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Chin Ho. Chin broke up with her to protect her when he was kicked off HPD, but Kono thinks Malia was actually abandoning Chin.
Doris McGarrett
Played by: Christine Lahti
The mother of Steve and Mary Ann McGarrett. She was presumed dead in an apparent car accident 20 years ago. She is later revealed to have been a CIA agent codenamed "Shelburne" who was assigned to to kill Wo Fat's father, but the mission went wrong and she killed Wo Fat's mother instead. She faked her death to protect her family until Joe White finally led Steve to her.
- Action Mom: She has great fighting skills, having workedfor the CIA.
- Back from the Dead: Her supposed death when her children were teenagers was revealed to be faked, and after 20 years of hiding she (sorta) came back into the life of her children.
- Killed Off for Real: Died for real in season 10.
Mary Ann McGarrett
Played by: Taryn Manning
Steve McGarrett's younger sister, who was sent by their father to live with his sister Deborah when their mother was killed. She did not see her brother for 15 years, but their relationship has gotten better.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: He was investigating the Yakuza before he was killed, so he sent her and Steve to Aunt Deb in the mainland.
- Daddy's Girl: If the cemetery scene in "Ohuna" indicates anything, she tells her father that she hasn't forgiven her for faking her death.
- Happily Adopted: She adopts a baby girl called Joan in season 4.
- Missing Mom: She believed she was killed in an accident but, as it turns out, she was a CIA operative who faked her death to protect her family
- Noodle Incident: She had one in Los Angeles; said incident gave her knowledge about cop shorthand.
Eric Russo
Played by: Andrew Lawrence
Danny's nephew, introduced in season 3 episode "Kapu". Works in the HPD Crime Lab.
- Butt-Monkey: Treated as such throughout "Kapu".
- Deadpan Snarker: It runs in the family.
- Hidden Depths: In "Kapu" he shows that despite his immaturity, he is able to make suggestions that help in the investigation of a murdered chemistry professor.
- When looking for a student cheating on exams in a class, he suggests checking the students' transcripts and seeing who's grades have spiked the most; good chance they're cheating.
- When they take said student out of class, Eric notices that he tosses out a drink can on his way out. Eric takes the can, and shows Danno and Steve that it has an answer key on it.
Eric: Drinks; one of the few things you can bring in to an exam. So if you print out a fake label with an answer key on it, no one looks twice.- Maybe the biggest example, the duo are still stuck looking for whatever project their victim was working on. Eric suggests that he was probably hiding it and if he knew his computer was hacked he probably started taking his work home with him. At first Danny says that HPD already searched his home and found nothing, but Eric points out that there's a chance they missed something.
Eric: I'm just saying, hypothetically speaking, if I was hiding something at my mother's house (Danny gives him a look) - which I am not! - I'd make sure the cops had to tear the place apart to find it. And I'm no chemistry genius.- He is also able to recognize a forensics machine that Charlie is using:
Eric: Sweet thermal cycler, dude.Danny: How do you know what that is?Eric: Duh. Discovery Channel. - Manchild: Doesn't know what to do with his life until the end of the episode he first appears in.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Danny gives him a minor one in "Kapu".Danny: At this point in your life... you've accomplished nothing of note. Your mother expects more of you. Eric, I expect more of you. But most importantly, you should expect more from yourself.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the aforementioned episode, he spots a detail that Danny and Steve don't catch.
Recurring
Governor Pat Jameson
Played By: Jean Smart
"I can help you find this son of a bitch, with full immunity and means. Your task force will have blanket authority to go after guys like Hesse and get them the Hell off my island. Your rules, my backing, no red tape. I promise you, Commander. What you see is what you get."
The late Governor of Hawaii who established the Five-0 Task Force, giving Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and his team full immunity and means to "clean up the islands".
- Antagonistic Governor: She at first seems to be the team's most significant ally, empowering them with their infamous "full immunity and means," but it turns out to be part of a classic attempt to keep one's enemies close.
- Evil All Along: She was revealed to have been in league with Wo Fat and even had her assistant, Laura Hills, killed in a car bomb.
- I Need A Drink: Whenever the Five-0 team (most specifically Steve) does something extra-dangerous or involving a lot of collateral, structural, or political damage, this is her immediate response.
- Oh, Crap!: When a dinner talk with Hiro Noshimuri is interrupted and hassled by an incredulous Steve, she tries to rip into him for it afterwards since the man contributes to a lot of Hawaii. Steve subsequently pulls the drama bomb that Hiro is head of the local Yakuza, which immediately makes her shocked and horrified. Turns out this is more her realizing that Steve is getting too close to realizing the truth about the crime leaders in the region, and her association with them.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: She was killed instantly after being shot twice in the chest by Wo Fat, who Governor Jameson had been working with all along.
Lt. Governor Samuel Denning
Played By: Richard T. Jones
"Governor Jameson gave you full immunity to basically run roughshod over every single law on the State's books. That's not gonna happen on my watch. You cross the line you answer to me."
The new Governor of Hawaii who took the position after his predecessor, Governor Pat Jameson, was fatally shot at the hands of crime boss, Wo Fat.
- Antagonistic Governor: He is closer to
Lawful Neutral in that his need to play politics and present a certain image to the public occasionally leads him to hinder McGarrett's task force, but as long as 5-0 keep getting the job done, he'll smooth over their more egregious abuses of their so-called "full immunity and means." - Obstructive Bureaucrat: Lampshaded heavily. He gives the Five-0 team a lot more bureaucratic problems than the original Governor, but this is probably because he's not associating with a whole bunch of criminals on the side.
- Put on a Bus: He does not appear again after season four.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite not being as lenient or gung-ho as his predecessor, Governor Denning is very capable at his job and assists the Five-0 team whenever he can without legal or political repercussions. Denning's lack of corruption actually makes it a much more effective leader than the Governor before him.
Laura Hills
Played By: Kelly Hu
Governor Pat Jameson's liaison to the Five-0 team.
- Ship Tease: She has a crush on Chin and it appears the feeling is mutual. Sadly, nothing comes of it due to her death.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Laura only appears in three episodes of the show and in that time drops clues that lead Mc Garret to discovering Pat Jameson's corruption.
Civilians
Kamekona Tupuola
Played By: Taylor Wily
"You get what you paid for, brah. This stuff don't grow on trees."
A confidential informant for the Hawaii Five-0 team and entrepreneur who runs Wailoa Shave Ice, The Shrimp Truck, and helicopter tours around the islands of Hawaii.
- All There in the Manual: "Hoʻomaʻike" reveals his surname.
- Big Eater: The reason why Kamekona is fat. He claims that he's trying to eat smarter in "Pu'olo" and Kono calls him out on eating a giant plate of shrimp. Kamekona's response? He made them, so of course they're healthy.
- Big Fun: Kamekona is a very friendly guy who enjoys finding non-life-threatening ways for the Five-0 team to decompress and have some fun. He has also expressed an interest in sumo wrestling due to his large size. Inverted Trope in an "It's a Wonderful Life" scenario in the 100th episode, "Ina Paha", where he's in prison and is familiar with Wo Fat.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Kuleana" gives a glimpse of Kamekona's criminal past and how he met Chin when the latter was a junior detective.
- Deadpan Snarker: From time to time.Kamekona: You're a back seat aviator, you know that? You tell your partner how to drive?
- Drives Like Crazy: A helicopter. Kamekona uses it to give tours around Hawaii and chase down criminals for the Five-0 team. He nearly gives Danny a heart attack during their first test-run of it and if Steve's reaction is reliable, then his knowledge of the compass seems to be a little suspect, too.
- Gentle Giant: He's very good with children, likes animals, and enjoys playing cards with Grace, even if she kicks his butt every time.
- Honest John's Dealership: He runs his businesses as cleanly as possible and is always looking for new business ventures. The fact that Kamekona's a parolee probably helps enforce this, too.
- The Informant: Is one for the Five-0 team. He charges them money for Wailoa Shave Ice t-shirts in exchange for valuable information.
- Has become a close friend to the task force in recent seasons and is often seen bringing food to the Five-0 team or helping them with their investigations. He even chases down a criminal in his helicopter for Steve in "Ho'i Hou".
- Masochist's Meal: Kamekona's quite proud of his. When Steve samples some of his Jambalayas and starts hacking his head off, he tells Joe White, who is happily shoveling it down, that he must have a cast iron stomach and that the dish should be weaponized.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: After seven seasons as a recurring character, he becomes a series regular in season eight.
Lt. Commander Joe White
Played By: Terry O'Quinn
A retired US Navy SEAL who held the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was once Steve McGarrett's commanding officer (CO) as well as a father-figure. He was friends with John McGarrett, Steve's estranged father, and promised him that he would look after Steve.
Sabrina Lane
Played by: Rumer Willis
A bank teller and Max's (mostly-offscreen) girlfriend. Accidentally gets shot in a bank robbery, but recovers by the end of the episode.
- Beta Couple: With Max.
- Eternal Love: Discussed. Max says if there's ever a Zombie Apocalypse and he gets bitten, he wants her to kill him before he turns. She responds that she'll just make him bite her so they can "live forever, eat brains, and have zombie babies!"
- Satellite Love Interest: All we know about her life outside dating Max is that she's a bank teller, and we only know that because that's where he asked her out.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Max being Endearingly Dorky trying to ask her out is what charms her into giving him her phone number.
Honolulu Police Department
Sergeant Duke Lukela
Played By: Dennis Chun
Uniformed HPD patrol officer and recurring character, has a good relationship with the Five-0 task force.
- Friend on the Force: He helps the Five-0 task force from time to time.
- Mauve Shirt: Averted in "Hookman". He gets shot, but he survives surgery.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: After seven seasons as a recurring character, he becomes a series regular in season eight.
Pua Kai
Played By: Shawn Thomsen
Ex-guard who once worked at the Waikiki Beach Marriott, he joins the HPD later on as a uniformed officer. He's got a crush on Kono.
- Friend on the Force: Like Duke, he helps the Five-0 team from time to time when possible.
US Military
Lieutenant Catherine Rollins
Played By: Michelle Borth
A US Navy intelligence officer, and Steve's girlfriend as of Season 3. She joins up with Five-0 thereafter before she leaves to stay in Afghanistan to help out the family who saved her life while deployed there.
- Action Girl: Marks her debut as a regular by utterly destroying an assassin in hand to hand combat. She does better when she makes a scissor kick to take down a gun-armed man.
- Ascended Extra: Initially recurring cast, promoted to the main credits in Season 3.
- Deadpan Snarker: This is Hawaii Five-0 after all.
- Put on a Bus: At the end of Season 4.
- The Bus Came Back: She occasionally returned in every season after season 4 and was the only former series regular to return in the finale.
- Ms. Fanservice: She seems to spend as much time in a bikini as she does in uniform.
Antagonists
Wo Fat
Played By: Mark Dacascos
A former Chinese MSS officer turned drug kingpin and crime boss who terrorizes the Hawaiian islands and serves as a longtime enemy to the Five-0 team. His involvement with numerous criminal enterprises and the murders of John and Doris McGarrett has made him Steve's Arch-Enemy.
- Alas, Poor Villain: As of the series 100th episode.
- Big Bad: He was the most notorious nemesis of Five-0 for the first 100 episodes of the show. He's shot dead at the end of episode #100, and his place as Big Bad was taken by Gabriel Waincroft, a personal nemesis of Chin and Kono.
- Boom, Headshot!: This is how McGarrett kills him in episode 100. They are on the ground, and Steve is able to shoot Wo Fat in the forehead.
- Cain and Abel: A stepbrother example. Wo Fat is the Cain to The Hero Steve McGarrett 's Abel.
- The Chessmaster: He manipulate law enforcement and criminals alike, like chess pieces.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Wo Fat's standards: Using hitmen to kill people? Yes. Killing people himself? Yes. Pulling the You Have Outlived Your Usefulness card on people working for him? Yes. But... kidnapping Lou Grover's daughter for a $100 million ransom and planning to kill her anyway even when he does get it? No. Ian Wright did the latter, and Wo Fat promptly shoots him dead the moment he sees him and rescues Grover's daughter in the process.
- Killed Off for Real: As of the show's 100th episode, Wo Fat is dead for real. Word of God confirmed it.
- Manipulative Bastard: Has his hand in a lot of the Yakuza men, and usually kills them once they're no longer needed so he "doesn't leave loose ends".
- The Man Behind the Man: To Victor Hesse and Hiro Noshimuri.
- Pet the Dog: In the season 4 finale after he kills Ian Wright, he goes to Grover's daughter Samantha and frees her.
- Red China: Former Ministry Of State Security operative who has gone into business for himself.
- Worthy Opponent: Shelburne, aka, Doris McGarrett, his adoptive mother who had accidentally killed Wo Fat's biological mother.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Loves killing his associates once they stop being useful. Victor Hesse, Governor Jameson, Jenna Kaye, and Hiro Noshimuri found this out the hard way.
Victor Hesse
Played By: James Marsters
A Northern Irish terrorist and international arms dealer who is the primary enemy of Steve McGarrett and the Hawaii Five-0 team in the first season.
- All for Nothing: Presumably, even if McGarrett HAD saved his brother, he would have killed Steve's father anyway, due to it being on orders from Wo Fat.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Was the man who carried out the murder of John McGarrett in the pilot episode, and was eventually captured by Steve, though he later discovered that Wo Fat ordered the hit.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Starts off the series trying to save his brother.
- It's Personal: With McGarrett. He shot and killed his father.
- You Have Failed Me: Wo Fat kills him in his jail cell for helping McGarrett in the Season 2 premiere.
Sang Min
Played By: Will Yun Lee
A snakehead facilitator originally from China who specializes in human trafficking.
- The Bus Came Back: Escapes from prison halfway through Season 3, but is recaptured just in time for the 100th episode.
- Casanova Wannabe: Refers to Kono as "Spicy".
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Rule number one when dealing with Sang Min is that he's always looking out for himself, so switching sides is a forte of his when the situation and his life calls for it.
Ian Wright
Played By: Nick Jonas
A hacker wanted by the United States who appears in seasons 4 episodes "Akanahe" and "O ka PiliʻOhana ka ʻOi".
- Asshole Victim: After what he put Louis "Lou" Grover through in "O ka PiliʻOhana ka ʻOi", when Wo Fat shoots him dead, no tears were shead.
- The Cracker: If there is something he will benefit from, he will use his hacking skills to get it.
- Eviler than Thou: After being behind two major crimes and a kidnapping, he runs into Wo Fat on his way out of his safehouse, and is promptly shot dead by him.
- Faux Affably Evil: He talks like an average smart mouth college student and he is was more than willing to send hundreds of people to their deaths if it meant he can escape.
- I Have Your Wife: He gets Louis "Lou" Grover to try and steal 100 million dollars for him, by kidnapping his daughter.
- Lack of Empathy: When Steve tells Wright that he is endangering hundreds of lives, Wright just says that it is his one bargaining chip in a casual tone. Steve's response is to punch him.
- Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates the Five-0 task force into letting him escape, with the pretense of holding an airplane carrying 300+ people in it.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He starts off the episode "Akanahe" as someone who forgot to pay his parking tickets. He ends the episode as a wanted fugitive who manages to escape the Five-0 task force.
- Smug Snake: While he did manage to escape the Five-0 task force, he could have stayed scott free if he had not came back to and forced Grover to do his dirty work. It is how Wo Fat found and killed him.
- The Sociopath: He can manipulate people and is not above letting hundreds of innocents die, all while showing no remorse or empathy.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: Has a habit of not holding holding his bargains.
- In "Akanahe" he threatens to cause a plane over 300 people on board to crash, and when his demands are met he still tries to crash the plane anyway.
- In "O ka PiliʻOhana ka ʻOi" he kidnapped Grover's daughter in an attempt to force him to steal 100 million dollars for him, and later reveals that he was planning on killing her anyway even if he did get the money.
Gabriel Waincroft
Played By: Christopher Sean
The brother of Chin Ho's late wife Malia, and the killer of his father and major crime kingpin. His actions lead to him replacing Wo Fat as the series' Big Bad when Fat is killed in the 100th episode.
- Alas, Poor Villain: As of 6x24, he died from cardiac arrest.
- Big Bad: Becomes this in Season 6 following Wo Fat's death when he coerces Adam Noshimuri to steal Yakuza money, which puts Adam and Kono on the organization's hit list unless they get the money back. Waincroft returns the cash at the last minute following Adam killing two Yakuza men in self defense and to get off the organization's radar.
- Disappeared Dad: To his daughter, Sara.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Downplayed, he had a daughter who is Chin's niece through his late wife, Malia.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Went from Malia's no-good, bottom-of-the-barrel carjacking crook of a brother that Chin didn't arrest years ago out of sympathy, to a crime syndicate drug lord sociopath in Mexico and out to expand into Hawaii. Once Chin's connections to him through Malia are discovered, the authorities utterly give Chin hell for this and think he's on the take from Gabriel.
- It's Personal: With Chin Ho and Kono, later Adam. Part of this is because he murdered Chin's father and because Chin couldn't save his sister after Frank Delano leaves her to die.
- Made of Iron: Gets thrown through a window by Chin down three stories onto a car below in a fall that would've been fatal to just about anyone else. Gabriel somehow manages to get up and escape off-screen when everyone lets their guard down. This makes his fairly normal death by cardiac arrest, inflicted via gunshot wound and immense blood loss, that much more shocking.
- Manipulative Bastard: Kills people tied to Five-0 to "save" them so he can mess with them later.
- Not Quite Saved Enough: Due to massive blood loss in "Pa'a Ka 'ipuka I Ka 'Upena Nananana", he goes into cardiac arrest during surgery.
Michelle Shioma
Played By: Michelle Krusiec
The daughter of deceased Yakuza leader Goro Shioma.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has shades of such snarkery while being interrogated by Steve and Danny.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She has two daughters.
- You Killed My Father: Gabriel Waincroft.
Former charaters
Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly
Played By: Daniel Dae Kim
"Part of doing the job is knowing when you’re not the one to do the job."
A high school classmate of Steve, he starts out as a disgraced former HPD detective, but is reinstated at the end of Season 1.
- Berserk Button: Family is this for him. Also, don't even consider badmouthing his late wife.
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards Kono.
- Bound and Gagged: But he still manages to kick ass in the episode "Pukana" (4.11).
- But Not Too Foreign: Chin Ho's family is a mix of possibly native Hawaiian with some Japanese and Korean ancestry.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Accused of embezzlement, he was dismissed from the Honolulu PD, disowned by his cop-pride family (except Kono), and separated from his fiancée.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Kuleana" has Chin take charge while Steve and Danny are on a couple's retreat.
- Deadpan Snarker: Like all the leads on this show, though he is usually the first to make fun of Steve and Danny when their sniping at each gets too much for the other characters.
- Distressed Dude: Most likely to find himself in trouble out of the four.
- Fake Nationality: Korean-American playing a character of Native Hawaiian extraction.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic.
- Good Is Not Soft: When Frank Delano had Malia murdered and it became very personal, he manages to corner Frank who says "he's not a dirty cop, you can't shoot an unarmed man." Chin promptly unloads a shell of buckshot into Delano, and while Vengeance Feels Empty, he gets away with it.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Once shot a guy on a moving boat with a shotgun, one handedly, while driving another boat himself.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: You could cut bread with it.
- Like Brother and Sister: A variation on the classic. He is related to Kono, being her cousin, but their relationship is much closer, more akin to that of brother and sister.
- Mr. Fanservice: "Hoa 'inea" has him with just a towel on in the lobby.
- Officer O'Hara: Averted. Despite having an Irish last name, he has a very American accent.
- Omniglot: Can speak English, Hawaiian and Spanish in "Makaukau 'ce e Pa'ani?".
- Only Sane Man: As of Season 2, episode 12, has taken over from Danny.
- Sadistic Choice: When forced to choose between Kono and Malia when they were both kidnapped, he chose the latter, not that it mattered very much. However, he also called Adam so he could save Kono.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: When superior firepower is called for, Chin invariably goes for the big-gauge.
- Strapped to a Bomb: Once, in "Hana 'a'a Makehewa," courtesy of a very much alive Hesse.
- Take a Third Option: In "Ua Hala." See Sadistic Choice above.
- Tap on the Head: He's been smacked in the head and knocked out cold twice with no serious side effects.
- Techno Wizard: He was the team's tech expert.
- Therapy Is for the Weak: Refreshingly averted. He willingly participates in therapy sessions after Malia's murder.
- Thicker Than Water: He is very protective and loyal towards his family, even if they don't extend the same sentiment
- Notably this is what landed him with his dirty cop reputation. He covered for his uncle, who stole money from a drugs bust, and insisted that if need be he would take the fall to preserve his uncles honour.
- Tranquil Fury: In the climax of 3.01 (La O Na Makuahine), he unflinchingly walks through gunfire and kills Frank Delano in revenge for Malia's murder.
Officer Kono Kalakaua
Played By: Grace Park
"I’ll go find out if the daughter saw anything. I mean, I’m the woman, so you’d probably ask me to do it, anyways."
Chin Ho's cousin, a former professional surfer and current HPD officer.
- Action Girl: Kono is particularly good at fighting, despite her size. She could rival Steve for the amount of violent, and creative, take downs she has done.
- Berserk Button: Family is this for her. And God help you if you are a sex trafficker, offender, or otherwise. She will take vengeance.
- But Not Too Foreign: Like Chin Ho, Kono is native Hawaiian with Japanese/Korean ancestry included.
- Damsel out of Distress: Most of these moments show her breaking herself free and kicking ass afterwards.
- Dating Catwoman: Her mystery boyfriend, and later husband, turns out to be Adam Noshimuri, the heir to the yakuza in Honolulu.
- Deadpan Snarker: Slightly less so than the others on the team, but she still has a bone dry wit.
- Fair Cop: Played by Grace Park helps.
- Fake Nationality: Korean-Canadian-American playing a character of Native Hawaiian extraction. (Her namesake in the original series was played by a Native Hawaiian.)
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine.
- Friendly Sniper: Helps the team as their designated sniper in ops requiring firearms.
- Friend to All Children: In the first season she got lumped with dealing with the families and kids of the victims because she was the rookie. It still continues to this day, and you can be sure that if there's a kid around, either Danny or Kono will be the one to talk to them.
- Friendly Sniper: Easygoing and cheerful, she's also the one generally called on when the team needs a bad guy to meet the business end of a rifle at long range.
- Gender Flip: In the classic series, her namesake is male.
- Generation Xerox: Queen Liliʻuokalani, of the House of Kalākaua, was overthrown from the Aliʻiōlani Hale. Kono Kalakaua polices the state of Hawai'i as part of the 5-0 task force operating out of Aliʻiōlani Hale.
- It Gets Easier: Glossed over. Kono is introduced as a green cadet, fresh out of the academy, but almost instantly is killing bad guys with the veterans (including one with a decidedly non-regulation neck snap in episode five). Compare with Rookie Blue in which a big deal is made of a young officer's first kill. (Of course there is also the slightly disturbing possibility that she's already had experience in this sort of thing...)
- It's All My Fault: Gets pissed at herself in "He Kane Hewa'ole" because she unknowingly let a suspect in a criminal investigation go and ending up getting shot by Steve. Chin helps her get over it by telling her making mistakes is natural and that it is part of being on the force.
- It's Personal: Getting involved in cases involving human trafficking.
- Kick Chick: She's usually seen using all sorts of kicking techniques when taking down perps.
- Like Brother and Sister: Has this relationship with all her team members, though more so with McGarrett and Chin.
- An interesting variation with Chin though. They are actually cousins, but their relationship is much closer, more akin to that of a younger sister and big brother.
- Ms. Fanservice: Especially in early episodes. Her role as this toned down somewhat since Catherine joined the cast.
- New Meat: In the first season, she's fresh out of the academy.
- The Smurfette Principle: In the first season she was the only woman of the team.
- Small Girl, Big Gun: She is the smallest person on the Team but she is usually rocking a Sniper Rifle
- Statuesque Stunner: She's played by 5'9" Grace Park.
- Techno Wizard: She's definitely the most tech savvy of the team.
- Vigilante Man: Season 7 hints that she's starting to be one, heading to Nevada since it was the first stop the smuggled girls were heading to. Averted later in Season 8 where it's just revealed that she joins in an inter-law enforcement team to take on human trafficking cases.
- Waif-Fu: Regularly beats up men larger than her. Park is tall (especially for an Asian female), but not exactly rippling with muscle.
Lori Weston
Played by: Lauren German
A profiler from Homeland Security who was a temporary member of the Hawaii Five-0 task force and served as a "babysitter" for them under the new Hawaiian Governor.
- Put on a Bus: "I Helu Pu".
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to that plotline where she was supposed to be policing the team on the new governor's behalf?
- The governor actually fired her over this in "I Helu Pu".
Jenna Kaye
Played By: Larisa Oleynik
A CIA analyst who attempted to hunt down Wo Fat because of his involvement in the killing of her fiancée, a highly respected CIA Agent.
- All for Nothing: She sells out Steve, hoping that Wo Fat will give back her fiancée. Turns out her fiancée is already dead and she is soon killed afterwards.
- Easily Forgiven: The team, while at first shocked and pissed at her betrayal, don't resent her. Danny mourns her after seeing her dead body and Steve's desire to kill Wo Fat increases after he killed her right in front of him.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Really, she didn't figure out that Wo Fat, who she knows has a habit of killing his minions, wouldn't screw her over?
- My God, What Have I Done?: She has this moment right after seeing her fiance's dead body.
- Redemption Equals Death: She doesn't survive the end of her betrayal.
- Regretful Traitor: Betraying the others is something she bitterly regrets.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Wo Fat never intended to let her live. He also was being needlessly sadistic, showing her the body of her fiance after promising to reunite them.
- The Smart Guy: Serves as this for Hawaii 5-0 for some time.
- The Mole: She is turned against the team with the threat of her fiance, who is already dead.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Wo Fat showed her the body of her fiance before intending to kill her.
Charlie Fong
Vince Fryer
Played By: Tom Sizemore
Internal Affairs captain who recruits Kono for an undercover mission, without telling the Five-0. Fryer was eventually promoted to Chief of Detectives at the HPD but he was later killed in the Season 2 finale episode and the Five-0 have to find the killer.
- Internal Affairs: He uses his clout to blackmail Kono into working undercover.
M.E. Max Bergman
Played By: Masi Oka
"I also make pickles. It’s a good way to reuse specimen jars."
The Chief Medical Examiner who frequently deals with the bodies that the Five-0 team stacks up.
- Asian and Nerdy: In addition to his other eccentricities, he's also a big fan of Star Trek.
- Beta Couple: Max and Sabrina have very little drama between them. No jealous exes, no disapproving parents, no angry Yakuza...
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He plays the piano in the morgue because it helps him think. He makes pickles in extra specimen jars. He's an odd little nerd, but he's also considered one of the best medical examiners on the island. Guess whose job isn't going anywhere?
- Deadpan Snarker: Not as often as the main characters, but when he gets in a snarky mood, he's perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with Danny and Steve.
- Dissonant Serenity: Going along with being The Stoic, he's calm even in situations where most people would be freaking out.Flippa: How can you be so calm!?
Max: I project outward calm as a way of dealing with stress. Inside, I'm terrified. - Endearingly Dorky: His general attempts at courting Sabrina are so obviously over-eager that it's endearing to her.
- Happily Adopted: Seems to be on good terms with rest of the Bergmans. Presumably knew he was adopted from an early age, as he's clearly Asian and "Bergman" is a very non-Asian name, though we've never seen his parents on screen to confirm their ethnicity.
- Informed Judaism: So informed that the only clue we've gotten so far is Masi saying Max is the first Jewish-Japanese guy he's ever played on TV
. In the 2015 Christmas special, we did finally get to see him light a menorah. - Missing Mom: Max's real mother, Michiyo Takeshita, left him at St. Martin's orphanage. He was adopted by the Bergmans.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Starting season 2.
- Shorter Means Smarter: He's the same height as Danny, or maybe a touch shorter.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Possibly the reason his height confers intelligence while Danny's just confers snarkiness.
- Spock Speak: He speaks with a markedly clipped tone. While his level of formality does seem to have diminished slightly over the series as he warmed up to Steve and Danny, he's still very precise in his language. This is probably partly due to being a medical examiner, where precision is imperative, and partly due to having an unspecified mental disorder.
- The Stoic: He's generally unfazed and emotionless, at least when not dealing with a pretty lady.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pancakes.
- Took a Level in Badass: At one point, he gets kidnapped by a serial killer, tied to a chair. He manages to break out of his clutches and kill his captor.
