BEWARE OF SPOILERS! To prevent the page from being whited out entirely, only spoilers from the final season (5) are whited out!
open/close all folders
Vigilance
In General
"See, America is dying and everybody knows it. It's not just about privacy, it's about principle. Our nation is assassinating people with drones, holding them without due process, and yes, spying on its own people without cause or limits and in direct violation of our Constitution."
— Peter Collier
Introduced in Season 3, Vigilance is a mysterious organization dedicated to fighting against those that have destroyed privacy including private businesses and the government through the strategic use of assassination and Cyberwarfare. They have recently made contact with Team Machine.
- Arc Villain: The primary ones of Season 3, being introduced in the second episode and appearing multiple times over the season until getting killed off rather unceremoniously in the season finale.
- The Book Cipher: Their M.O., usually combined with Public Secret Message.
- Commie Nazis: Combines conservative and libertarian ideology similar to the Tea Party with tactics from the Occupy movement and Anonymous.
- The Cracker: A high percentage of Vigilance's core group are skilled computer programmers. The organization uses a Tor network
to communicate. In the Penultimate episode of Season 3 "A House Divided", Vigilance uses a computer virus to cause a complete citywide blackout of New York in order to blind The Machine while using the confusion provided to stage multiple kidnappings a select group of people related to the development of The Machine and its possible successor. - Even Evil Has Standards: They do avoid killing those they're not actually targeting, a holdover from when they were just involved in public protest hacking and sabotage. In fact, the only time innocent bystanders get killed due to their involvement is when their Kangaroo Court is blown up, and that was orchestrated by Decima, not them.
- Foreshadowing: Their introduction to the plot is always foreshadowed by their Leitmotif.
- Jerkass Has a Point: You can hardly complain about a group opposing pervasive government surveillance in a series where Big Brother really is watching you.
- Leitmotif: They have a particularly haunting one that sounds like a marching army, fitting to their American Revolution theme.
- Malevolent Masked Men: They use teams of Faceless Goons.
- The Purge: On the receiving end. Vigilance is effectively wiped out by Decima at the end of Season 3.
- Red Shirt Army: These people might be good at hacking, but they're not trained professionals. Reese and Shaw have no trouble against them even with numerical superiority on their side and multiple Northern Lights operators decisively tear through a team of them during a gunfight in an episode.
- The Remnant: Defied. Samaritan hunts down and sees to it that every single member dies after it comes online.
- Theme Naming: Their operatives' cover names are taken from the names of people who participated in the American Revolution.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of Decima Technologies. This entire time they only served their purpose.
- Well Intentioned Extremists: They will go to any length to save America from the corruption and failings it has entered into the past few years.
- Western Terrorists: They're American, and they want a revolution. And as pointed out above, they're acting just like terrorists.
Collier
Peter Collier/Brandt
"We members of Vigilance value privacy, even if the government doesn't."
Peter Brandt, better known by his alias Peter Collier, is a leading representative of Vigilance, an organization devoted to restoring personal privacy to the average citizen while at the same time punishing those who take personal privacy for granted. He claims that his organization has thousands of members.
- Alas, Poor Villain: In the end, Collier was just an angry man who thought he was doing the right thing, only to find out his actions were dictated by the very people he was trying to destroy. Moments before his death, Greer reveals to him that he's been nothing but a pawn and he's in fact helped to bring about the type of world order he fought so hard against. Not only that, but his teammates who trusted him are being executed.
- Badass Boast: Uses one at the end of "A House Divided":"Court is now in session."
- Bald of Authority: More or less the leader of Vigilance. Doubles as a Bald of Evil.
- Bald of Evil: He's bald, and although misguided and angry rather than genuinely evil, he's still a killer.
- Big Bad: Of Season 3, until it's revealed at the last minute that he was just an Unwitting Pawn for Greer and Decima Technologies.
- Character Death: Greer has him killed after he's fulfilled his purpose.
- Character Filibuster: He just loves giving these. In the Season 3 finale, practically everything he says falls under this.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Broadcasts a city wide transmission of a "trial" in "A House Divided", where he puts Finch, Greer, and a few others for their crimes. And then subverted, as it turns out his broadcast didn't go out.
- Faux Affably Evil: After taking the foster brother of a defector from Vigilance hostage, he politely explains to the man how he's going to murder them both, while preparing to ambush the prison transport his target is on.
- Freudian Excuse: He blames the government in general and its domestic surveillance programs in particular for the suicide of his brother, whose life was destroyed by government interferance and wrongful arrests.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Collier was a nice guy and lawyer before becoming the leader of Vigilance.
- The Fundamentalist: When John successfully talks a man who had been ruined by Wayne Kruger into putting his handgun down and has seemingly made Kruger, one of the most reprehensible POIs in the show's history, see the error of his ways, Collier pulls out his own weapon, shoots Reese and Kruger, and then executes the latter. He's also not pleased that one of his hackers wasn't completely loyal to the direction he was taking Vigilance after the group committed it's first assassination. He put quite a lot of resources in hunting the man down going, so far as to kidnap the man's foster brother for leverage and assemble a well armed hit squad to set up an ambush for the target.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Became a terrorist to fight corruption in the government.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Well, masks are hardly... malevolent, anyway.
- I Have Many Names: Claims that "Collier" is but one of his names (though the only other one known is "Brandt", his real name).
- In the Back: How Greer has him killed.
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Once Finch, Greer, and a few others were now under Vigilance's control and after he had broadcast a city wide transmission of their "trial", saying his Badass Boast above.
- Knight Templar: In a big way. Initially, Vigilance was merely planning to scare Wayne Kruger into retirement, but Collier convinced the majority of the group's leadership to go further and approve of his proposal to assassinate the guy to teach "the first lesson". Later, after the hacker who told him about Kruger turned traitor after getting a case of Even Evil Has Standards and attempted to go to the CIA, Collier ruthlessly hunted him down, kidnapped his foster brother and calmly explained to the man exactly how he was going to murder them both as he and a Vigilance hit squad prepared to ambush the CIA prisoner transport.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Unlike most villains, anytime he's in a situation that will pit him against Reese or Shaw, he leaves.
- Manipulative Bastard
- The Mole: He was this to the Kruger, watching him and getting close while posing as a business associate.
- Out-Gambitted: He was but a pawn in Greer's game.
- Scary Black Man: When he drops the charming businessman act he's all this, coolly calling out Wayne Kruger on his perceived crimes before shooting him dead.
- Unwitting Pawn: Was this for Greer. Everything he did with Vigilance was pointless and only served to further the agenda of the exact thing he was fighting against.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Does this fairly often.
- Villainous Breakdown: Has one when an adviser to the President refuses to play along with his Kangaroo Court, leading to him summarily executing the man.
- Villainous BSoD: When Greer reveals he's been played for a fool this entire time, Collier emotionally collapses as he realizes his entire struggle has been in vain.
- Wicked Cultured: Has a deep appreciation for and is inspired by the American Revolution. He has a habit of tossing out a line from Benjamin Franklin if he has time.Collier: Energy and persistence conquer all things.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Believes he's in a conspiracy thriller like the Parallax View and by murdering the people behind a benevolent surveillance system, he'll save the American public from further abuses of power. He doesn't realize he's been set up as the ultimate pawn and is eventually murdered by his mysterious corporate sponsor to set the stage for a true surveillance state.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After the purpose of Vigilance is complete, Greer has him killed.
Jefferson
Jefferson
A member of Vigilance who has been working with Peter Collier since 2010. She was there when Collier made a statement by killing one of of the group's members, who turned out to be working for the FBI.
- Bit Character: Despite being The Dragon to Collier and perhaps the only other recurring Vigilance member, she received very little focus over the course of the Vigilance arc.
- Character Death: Like the rest of Vigilance, she's tracked down and killed after Samaritan comes online.
- The Dragon: For Peter Collier.
- In the Back: She's shot in the back by a police officer.
- Knight Templar: Like the rest of Vigilance.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of Greer and Decima, like the rest of Vigilance.
Other
Dr. Carmichael
Dr. Ronald W. Carmichael
A psychiatrist who was treating Root at Stoneridge hospital.
- Agent Scully: Of course, he doesn't believe Root's (admittedly crazy-sounding) story about talking to a machine God.
- Covert Pervert: He secretly visits a 'massage parlor' on the regular and fantasizes about sex with his patients, fantasies that he shares in online forums.
- Hero Antagonist: 'Hero' is something of a stretch, but he's not exactly a villain, either. He's just a somewhat skeevy therapist doing his job, although Root considers him an enemy.
- Oh, Crap!: When Root tells him in slow, leisurely detail about how she's going to escape, he becomes very unnerved.
- The Shrink: For Root.
Peter
Peter Arndt
Jessica Arndt's husband.
- Accidental Murder: Peter didn't intend to kill his wife. However, she still appeared on the irrelevant list because domestic violence frequently escalates to murder (therefore her death was extrapolated from his current behavior).
- Bait the Dog: He comes off as a pleasant guy in his first appearance. Not so much later on.
- Domestic Abuse: He abuses his wife to the point of killing her.
- Never Found the Body: It's unclear what Reese did to him, but it's fairly certain that the result was not pretty.Carter: Do you have any other Americans in your prison?
Mexican Prison Officer: One or two.
Byron
Byron
A thuggish white supremacist, and a member of the Aryan Nation.
- Asshole Victim: So far, a non-fatal example. He regularly gets beaten up by the likes of Reese.
- Butt-Monkey: Every time he's tangled with Reese, he's come out worse for wear.
- Jerkass: Big time.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Attempts to give this to Reese in prison on two separate occasions. Thankfully, interventions from Elias and Carter prevent this.
Wesley
Alistair Wesley
"This isn't your game and no one's invited you to play."
A former MI-6 operative who currently leads a team of ex-SAS commandos on a mission to influence the outcome of a corporation's entry into wind energy.
- Affably Evil: Very friendly with Reese. Slides into Faux Affably Evil with virtually anyone else, however.
- Badass Crew: His ex-SAS operators. However, John still manages to wipe the floor with them
- The Chessmaster: Even Reese admits his plan is remarkably well-put. See Crazy-Prepared below.
- Crazy-Prepared: in "Critical," he has a sniper in place to shoot a doctor's wife to blackmail the doctor into killing a patient. He has a backup plan to kill the wife in case his sniper is incapacitated, and then has a backup plan in case the first backup fails. Then we find out that this was just plan A and he also has a plan B already in place.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He won't break the rules he makes when he sets up his 'games.'
- Evil Brit: "Smashing."
- Evil Counterpart: A well-dressed, cultured, polite, former member of a major intelligence organization who now works as a rogue agent on the criminal world. Both Wesley and Reese fit that description, the key difference is the side each other is on. And of Finch, both prefer to coordinate their operatives from a safe distance and are skilled strategists.
- Graceful Loser: Called Reese to congratulate him with foiling his plans.
- Karma Houdini: Escapes out of the country after Reese foils his plan, while expressing interest in meeting up with him again and finishing their drink, which ultimately never comes to pass.
- Manipulative Bastard: Was manipulating the POI in "Critical" into being the perpetrator.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Not as rich as most examples, but he definitely qualifies (notice the size of his squad and how he dresses).
- Non-Action Big Bad: Implied from his dialogue in his final conversation with John when he talks about the time they met. Unlike John who is more hands on and likes to take part in the action, Wesley is trained to conceal himself and plan and coordinate operations from a safe distance.
- Psychopathic Man Child: Sees his operations as "Games" with rules. As a result Finch uses this to pick apart his operation by invoking Loop Hole Abuse to buy time for the POI and her wife when he hacks the blood bank computer in the hospital to delay the surgery.
- Retired Badass: Former MI6.
- Worthy Opponent: Sees Reese as one.
The Voice
The Voice (Terry Easton)
A mysterious, well prepared and technologically proficient mercenary for hire.
- Back for the Dead: In "Sotto Voce".
- Batman Gambit: He tends to employ these. He sets himself up as his own victim, using a separate identity and nonexistent wife, for the purpose of getting arrested and put into the police station just so he could kill the man who can identify him.
- Catchphrase: "Cleanliness is all."
- The Cracker: That's how he is effectively omniscient, by hacking.
- Crazy-Prepared: In addition to his Batman Gambit, he runs parallel schemes and is cautious to a crazy level.
- Creepy Monotone: Rarely does his voice go above a soft gentle way of speaking.
- Danger Deadpan: His calm tone is not a good sign.
- Deadpan Snarker: Emphasis on deadpan. Such as when he tells Sandra to turn off the power grid.Sandra: Why would I do that?
The Voice: Because I asked nicely. - The Dog Was the Mastermind: He turns out to be Terry Easton, a Nervous Wreck, locksmith, and person of interest.
- Evil Counterpart: Explicitly said to be this to Harold by Shaw.
- External Combustion: How he dies, courtesy of Elias.
- Faux Affably Evil: Similar to Finch, He's calm, quiet, impeccably polite and overall civil as he goes about in his job. Then he casually threatens to sever a child's arm and mail it to someone.
- The Fixer: He is essentially an extremely dangerous one.
- The Ghost: Only his voice is heard in "The Last Call". Subverted in "Sotto Voice" where he does make a physical appearance.
- He Knows Too Much:
- Even after being called off a job, the fact the child has seen as much as he has means he cannot be allowed to be set free.
- His ultimate goal in his second appearance? Eliminate an incarcerated killer who knows his identity.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: In both of his appearances, his ultimate goal is initially a mystery.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His own secure signals allow Finch to zero in on him. Elias then kills him with one of his own bombs.
- No Name Given: Shaw refers to him as "a ghost" after failing to track him down.
Word of God (the press release for "Sotto Voce") just calls him "The Voice" - Pragmatic Villainy: He says he will not harm Aaron, the aforementioned child, after Aaron is rescued and his plans foiled—not out of moral sense, but because it would be counter-productive.
- Psycho for Hire: He's been hired by many people to commit horrible crimes and is one of the most sociopathic villains Team Machine has ever encountered.
- Sinister Surveillance: His main way of keeping track of his foes.
- Smug Snake: He's a dangerous man, but not as untouchable as he thinks. He gives Finch and Elias some Faux Affably Evil advice and remarking that he's won, and won't be taken down anytime soon. Then he drives off...and his car promptly explodes. Perhaps if he'd been a trifle less arrogant...
- The Sociopath: Could easily give Martine and Dominic a run for their money.
- The Spook: Like Finch, he's extremely dedicated to staying anonymous, to the point where the ultimate goal of all his actions in his second appearance is to kill a single busted former affiliate who knows who he is.
- Trojan Prisoner
- The Voice: Obviously. Never seen, only heard.
- Virtue Is Weakness: A sincere belief of his. He's proven wrong almost immediately; Elias' loyalty to Finch helped take down Easton, killing him in the process.
- Worthy Opponent: He and Finch seem to see each other as this.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He has a tendency to tie up his loose ends via murder.
One-Episode Antagonists
IRS
"IRS"
A hitman hired to take out Theresa Whittaker after the previous hitman failed.
- Beard of Evil: He has a goatee.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a slight snark."You really shouldn't lie to kids."
- The Dragon: To his boss.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Downplayed. Who doesn't hate the IRS?
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is never revealed.
- Would Hurt a Child: Unlike the previous hitman, he has no qualms about killing a teenage girl.
Sam Latimer
Sam Latimer
An ex-Army sergeant who leads a gang of robbers.
- Bad Guy Bar: He runs his gang from a bar known as the Green Zone.
- Bald of Evil: A gang leader with a shiny domed head.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: A US Army sergeant who now leads a gang of criminals who all have this as their hat.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Employs liberal use of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness by killing his crew after a few jobs. At the end of the episode, he's killed by Elias to tie up loose ends.
- Starter Villain: His operation is the first step in learning who Elias is.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After a few jobs he kills the gang and hires a new crew. After stealing the evidence from Marlene Elias' case, Elias bumps him off as well.
Benton
Andrew William Benton
A serial rapist who was stalked by Megan Tillman after raping her sister, which led to her suicide.
- Ambiguous Situation: The episode in which Benton appears ends with Reese debating whether to let him go or kill him. We never do get an answer.Benton: You don't wanna do something you're gonna regret.
Reese: Which do you think I'll regret more? Letting you live or letting you die? Andrew. Help me make a good decision. - Date Rape: His M.O.
- Faux Affably Evil: He puts up a veneer of charm.
- Never Found the Body: Sort of. It's left unclear what happened to him, but it's probably nothing good.
- It seems plausible that like Jennings in a later episode Reese simply framed him for drug possession in Mexico.
- Serial Rapist: Benton plans his rapes, frequently using roofies on unsuspecting women.
Koska
Jarek Koska
The head of a New York branch of the Polish street gang SP-9 (Szajka Pruszkow Dziewiec), which runs a kidnapping ring and is also responsible for huge money laundering operations. Under Koska's leadership, it became a highly organized and very dangerous force.
- Bald of Evil: He's bald, and he's a ruthless criminal who runs his own kidnapping ring.
- Leave No Witnesses: He plans to kill the Gates family after he gets what he wants.
- Would Hurt a Child: He has a judge's son kidnapped to force a verdict. He seems more than willing to carry through with his threats.
Jennings
Deputy Bradley 'Brad' Jennings
A U.S. Marshal married to Sarah Jennings, whom he physically and emotionally abused.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He acts like a decent man to outsiders and is a man of the law, but he's also a domestic abuser obsessed with tracking down his wife.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: He's on the receiving end of a very vicious and very deserved smack-down from Reese.
- Dirty Cop: He abused his authority as a U.S. Marshal to track down his terrified, abused wife.
- Domestic Abuse: To his wife.
Massey
George Massey
A racketeer and the head of an Irish mob family.
- Character Death: He's shot and killed by his former henchman, Riley Cavanaugh.
- Dirty Old Man: Massey leers at the widow of a man he had killed.
- Evil Old Folks: He's an older man, and plenty bad.
- The Irish Mob: Appears to be the head of the New York syndicate.
- Jerkass: Aside from being a mobster, Massey is mean, rude and just plain aggressive.
Fahey
Special Agent Alan Fahey/Alex Declan
A prolific serial killer who kills his victims and adopts their identities. His real name and identity is believed to be Alex Declan, who is responsible for at least eight deaths. He kills his victims, destroys any and all photographs of them and takes over their identities. In time, he grows bored and moves on to his next victim. According to Declan, when he finds the person he is meant to be, he will stop killing.
- Character Death: He's killed by Cal Beecher.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: When his victims have glasses, anyway.
- I Have Many Names: Alan Fahey is just the recent victim whose identity he stole.
- Impersonating an Officer: After murdering FBI Agent Alan Fahey, he takes his identity as well.
- Kill and Replace: His M.O. is to steal his victims' identity.
- Serial Killer: He kills his targets and his trophy is taking over their lives, and in his view, living it a better life than they ever could have.
- The Sociopath: Has really a hard time understanding why killing underachievers is a wrong thing.
Makris
Dario Makris
The owner of the Venus Casino in Atlantic City and a very powerful powerful drug lord. He is also the owner of a pharmacy which he uses along with his casino to launder his drug money.
- Beard of Evil: A goatee.
- Corrupt Casino Owner: He uses senior citizens to launder drug money through his casino.
- Jerkass: He really isn't a nice person.
- Out-Gambitted: Quite literally. He didn't realize Lou lifted the bullet before it was put in.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Lou before making him play Russian Roulette.
- Smug Snake: He has a very arrogant vibe about him.
