Characters / Shooter TV

Head here to go back to the main trope page.

Swagger Family

Bob Lee Swagger

Played by: Ryan Phillippe

• Action Dad: Has a daughter Mary and is a badass sniper.
• Apologetic Attacker: Twice in 'Danger Close'. Bob Lee hollers an apology back after leaving a cop stranded on the side of the road, and later makes a donation to a church after stealing a car from the parking lot.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Swagger is very soft-spoken, polite, and unfailingly calm, but do not make the mistake of crossing him.
• Career-Ending Injury: Swagger's military career came to an end after he took a sniper round to the hip. He's recovered but his hip is titanium now, there've been several lines that indicate it still bothers him at times, and he has a noticeable limp when he overexerts himself.
• Cop Killer: In "Exfil", he killed a corrupt corrections officer hired by the bad guys to kill him.
• Crazy-Prepared: He helps the Secret Service scout out locations for where Solotov might attempt the assassination, as well as recreate the shots that he needs to take to make the kill. They use this to frame him for the crime.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His partner and friend, Donny, was shot by Solotov during an anti-Taliban operation, which he blames himself for.
• The Dreaded: To the Taliban during his days as a military sniper. By the end of his career, his kill count was near 400 and he had a sizable bounty on his head. This line by Isaac Johnson sums it up nicely:
  "Bob Lee and his spotter were alone doing recon when they saw a platoon of Taliban bearing down on the school. You know what the Taliban does to young girls in Afghanistan trying to get an education. Bob Lee and his spotter could have simply moved on. No one would have ever known they were there. Instead, he took on 200 Taliban over 46 hours. Moving and shooting. Didn't sleep, didn't eat, just hunted. 51 kills, all command level. And that girls' school? It's still there to this day. Taliban won't go near it. They say it's cursed."
• Gunman with Three Names
• Happily Married: With Julie. They have a completely trusting relationship, a healthy sex life, and she's never once shown doubting his innocence.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Accused of being in a terrorist plot to kill the American/Ukrainian presidents, which he was actually trying to prevent.
• Hyper-Awareness: It comes with being a sniper.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He's an ace sniper.
• The Lost Lenore: Julie after she dies in the Season 3 finale.
• Parental Neglect: Is very absent from his daughter's life. And when Julie dies he goes hiding to avenge her she's effectively an orphan.
• I Surrender, Suckers: Pretends to give up, but uses this to get the drop on the bad guys.
• Retired Badass: He served with Force Recon and the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command before he took a sniper round to the hip which forced him to retire.
• Scapegoat: Framed for assassinating the Ukrainian president.
• With My Hands Tied: Takes out two of Lon Scott's guards with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Julie Swagger

Played by: Shantel VanSanten

• Action Girl: She knows her way around a gun if the need arises.
• Audience Surrogate: Acts like this sometimes since she's just a civilian, so her husband can explain to her what's happening with the plot.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, in "Remember the Alamo" when she's showering she examines a painful bruise she acquired from diving from an explosion the previous episode.
• Boom, Headshot!: Dies instantly when shot at the throat in the Season 3 finale.
• Groin Attack: Shot a soldier that was about to execute her in the crotch.
• Determined Homesteader: Played With. The Swaggers do live in a ranch and Julie takes care of things since Bob Lee is constantly away. She has the personality too.
• Happily Married: With Bob Lee. They have a completely trusting relationship, a healthy sex life, and she's never once shown doubting his innocence.
  • Subverted as the show goes on and Bob's dangerous life keeps endangering them and their daughter start to take a toll on her. Even then, it's evident she still loves him, but her desire to keep her daughter safe is starting to overcome it.
• Housewife: Stays at home to raise her daughter Mary.
• Mama Bear: Threatens her brother in law with a kitchen knife in one episode, and later kills Payne in the penultimate episode after she doesn't get info on what happened to Mary. Later backs up Johnson when they chase after Solotov, who's captured Swagger.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's very attractive and the showrunners know it.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Uses a sawed-off Remington 870 Express after Jack was disarmed in "Ballistic Advantage".
• We Need a Distraction: Served as the distraction in a Russian gala party in order to get the ambassador's attention that Krukov abducted her daughter.

Mary Swagger

Played by: Lexy Kolker

• Cheerful Child: She's a very sweet girl.

Earl Swagger

Played by: Derek Phillips

• Hero of Another Story: His time in the LRRPs and in the Phoenix Program.
• Married to the Job: Earl's wife (and Bob Lee) know that he's too worked up in his job back in the army and as a sheriff. Earl was secretly working to get concrete evidence that Atlas is trying to subvert control on Washington D.C..
• The Vietnam Vet: He fought in the jungles of Vietnam against the Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese masters.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Earl's murder in the '70s gives way to Bob Lee investigate the reason why he was shot dead and later gets involved in the Atlas conspiracy.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Nadine Memphis

Played by: Cynthia Addai-Robinson

• Adaptation Name Change: Agent Nick Memphis is a woman named Nadine Memphis in this adaptation.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She's a semi-disgraced agent because she once shot and killed a hostage.
• Fair Cop: She's played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson.
• FBI Agent: She's the main agent in charge of investing the death of the Ukrainian president.
• Gender Flip: Is a female in this adaptation, instead of a man named Nick.
• He Who Fights Monsters: In Season 3, Memphis is forced to use dirty tactics and skills to take down Atlas.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: In Season 2, Agent Memphis has been transferred to a basement office at the Office of Personnel Management at the FBI. This is explained as being due to the FBI "not liking heroes".
• Took a Level in Badass: While she was already a reasonably badass agent, she starts leveling up significantly after joining forces with Swagger and he starts teaching her to be his backup sniper. She acquits herself well in the final episodes of the first season.

Howard D. Utey

Played by: David Marciano

• Adaptational Heroism: In the film and novel, Utey is a member of the conspiracy framing Swagger. Here, he's a Beleaguered Bureaucrat and By-the-Book Cop.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Once he finds out that Jack isn't a law enforcement officer, he's willing to listen to Nadine about a possible conspiracy.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: It's mentioned in Season 2 that he had a shot at becoming FBI director, but his career has become just as derailed as Memphis'.
• Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: He's after Swagger, but only because he believes him to be a dangerous criminal.

Allies

Sam Vincent

Played by: David Andrews

---

• Amoral Attorney: Subverted. Sam's a nice guy willing to help Swagger out, knowing that he didn't even kill the Ukrainian president.
• Cool Old Guy: He's willing to help Swagger out even when he's accused of being an assassin out to kill the president.
  • Subverted partially in the 3rd season. He didn't want Bob to excavate his father's coffin, but later agreed.

Rathford O'Brien

Played by: William Fichtner

• *Click* Hello: To Bob Lee's discomfort and chagrin.
• Cool Old Guy: He's significantly older than Swagger, but he's as badass as they come and he also helps Swagger out by telling him about the Black King rifles.
• Combat Pragmatist: Sets up several traps to take out mercenaries hunting Swagger in "Killing Zone".
• Crazy-Prepared: O'Brien is well prepared and outfitted to repel threats, with multiple traps set around his property, pre-arranged defensive plan with multiple fallback positions, and weapons and kit to outfit multiple shooters.
• Old Soldier: Retired Marine Corps Sergeant Major, Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran, and former instructor at Scout Sniper School.
• Take Up My Sword: Bequeaths his Black King rifle to Swagger.

Patricia Gregson

Played by: Beverly D'Angelo

• Big Good: For Season 2 way back when Johnson's Marine unit uncovered a heroin op done by the CIA courtesy of Meechum by recruiting him to take down his op from within.
  • Later on in Season 3 when she assists Isaac and Nadine to take on Atlas.

Harris Downey

Played by: Jesse Bradford

• "Eureka!" Moment: Colby's Vietnam War display has the Phoenix Program patch, which Harris thinks has morphed into Atlas.
• The Load: Season 3 has him being looked down by Swagger and company due to him being a political staff member for Senator Hayes.
• Took a Level in Badass: In "Sins of the Father", he takes down an Atlas mercenary by wrestling the pistol he had and made him pull the trigger.

Conspirators

Hugh Meachum

Played by: Tom Sizemore

• Bad Boss : Being in on the conspiracy with Meachum means you are very expendable.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He's being disposed of in "Ballistic Advantage" under Krukov's watch for losing Annex B.

Isaac Johnson

Played by: Omar Epps

• Adaptational Heroism: In the film and novel, Johnson is the key organiser of the conspiracy (the role that Meachum fulfills in the series. He ultimately allies with Bob Lee towards the end of Season 1, and spends Season 2 hunting Solotov, and in Season 3 working with Memphis to take down Atlas.
• Bodyguard Betrayal: He's shown to be a bad guy in "Exfil" when he persuades Bob Lee to just paint himself as the terrorist responsible for killing the Ukrainian president.
• Double Agent: Turns out he was an undercover agent who infiltrated the conspiracy to learn the location of a powerful piece of Intel for the US Government.
• Enemy Mine: He teams up with Nadine and Swagger, mostly because of Jack's Wild Card tendencies, his fear of putting his wife in the line of fire of the conspiracy and what he knows of Annex B.
  • He later helps Bob Lee take on Atlas.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When he was told to go after Julie to find out where Bob is hiding, Isaac refuses to do it at all.
  • He criticizes a plan made to kill Bob in prison, knowing that people will start to ask who was responsible for killing him.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: He betrayed and used two of his war buddies, one he knew since childhood. Killed the mother of a fallen soldier he served with, and was a key player in the conspiracy. However, the ending revealed that he did all of this to ultimately help the US Government get their hands on a piece of very powerful Intel.
• The Mole: Turns out that he infiltrated the conspiracy on behalf of the NSA.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Spends much of Season 2 in this state, after his wife is killed by Atlas assassins aiming to silence his old unit. He finally cools down somewhat in Season 3, but revenge still motivates him to destroy Atlas.
• Villain with Good Publicity: A retired Marine now with the Secret Service.
• Walking Spoiler: It's a good idea to read here after watching the first two episodes of the show.

Jack Payne

Played by: Eddie McClintock

• Asshole Victim:
  • He is knocked down a few pegs in every episode he appears, in because his ego prevents him from realizing that he's nowhere near the skilled operator he considers himself to be. It is absolutely impossible to feel any sort of sympathy towards him whenever he gets his ass handed to him.
  Bob Lee: God, you are a dumbass!
  • Then receives a full-blown shotgun blast to the chest from a courtesy of Swagger's wife Julie.
• Bad Liar: He can do okay until he encounters an unexpected question, but after that his poker face sucks.
• The Dragon: To Isaac. Later on to Krukov.
• Impersonating an Officer: Pretends to be a police officer in order to get the drop on Bob and kill him, framing him as the assassin.
• Posthumous Character: Appears in a few flashbacks after he dies.
• Underestimating Badassery: Payne doesn't take Julie seriously because she's just a housewife. It ends up costing him his life.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He's an agent with the Department of Homeland Security. Although later episodes suggest that Lon or the Conspiracy set up that identity for him. Season 2 reveals that he's from Atlas.
• Walking Spoiler: It's a good idea to read here after watching the first two episodes of the show.
• Wild Card: Becomes a liability for the group when he threatens to expose them unless he's paid $10 million.

Lon Scott

Played by: Desmond Harrington

• Disc-One Final Boss: Gets taken out by Swagger in the penultimate episode of season one. To add insult to injury, he doesn't even go down in a firefight; he dies without Swagger even lifting a finger beyond swapping out his ammo and tinkering with his rifle sights.
• Handicapped Badass: Lost his left foot some time before the events of the series, but is still a capable marksman.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Perfectly sums up his feelings regarding Swagger.
  Lon: "NO! He's mine."
• Too Dumb to Live: Apparently failed to recheck his rifle before his final showdown, even with the knowledge that Swagger had been alone with it for several minutes. This directly leads to his own death.
• We Have Reserves: Commands a lot of mercenaries under his payroll.
• Worthy Opponent: Subverted. He wants very badly to be this for Swagger, but he's really not. While he's an excellent marksman, he has no combat skills or instincts and is mostly only shown shooting stationary targets. Swagger himself lampshades how far short of the mark he falls, and Scott is ultimately taken out by an exploding bullet that Swagger swapped out without him noticing.
  Swagger: "I'm the sniper. You're just a marksman. You shoot pumpkins."

Grigory Krukov

Played by: Sean Cameron Michael

• Big Bad: Appears to be driving the events in the 1st season.
  • The Man Behind the Man: To Isaac before he teamed up with Swagger and Nadine and to Meachum.
• Would Hit a Girl: He did oversee the death of a Russian journalist Nadine knows personally.
  • He has no qualms on killing Julie if he has to.

Kyle Timmons

Played by: Jason Gedrick

• Dirty Cop: Known to be one by the public and by the Seattle Police Department.
• Never Suicide: His death was arranged by Jack when he starts to blab his mouth publicly.
• Too Dumb to Live: While it may not have made any difference in the end, he really should have just kept a low profile after the assassination instead of bragging about it to anybody who'd listen.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He's the one "who" stopped Swagger from committing a terrorist attack.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After he proves incapable of keeping his mouth shut and starts attracting unwanted attention in "Musa Qala". His death is made to look like a suicide.

William Hayes

Played by: Harry Hamlin

• Big Bad: For most of Season 2 and the first part of Season 3 Until Memphis kills him by poisoning him.
• Corrupt Politician: He's a senator and responsible for a lot of show's plot.
• No Party Given: His political party is never mentioned.
• The Man Behind the Man: He's one of the main backers of Atlas and Solatov.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He's a senator representing Ohio.

Red Bama Senior

Played by: Gerald McRaney

• Big Bad: For Season 3 after Hayes was killed.
• Boom, Headshot!: Is shot through the head by Swagger as revenge for killing Julie.
• Even Evil Has Standards: For what it's worth, Bama Senior didn't want to kill his son even though he's loyal to Atlas.
• Hero Killer: He's responsible for Earl's death and personally kills Julie.
• Walking Spoiler: Responsible for setting up the situation to get Earl killed.

Red Bama Junior

Played by: Eric Ladin

• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He wants to make his dad proud, even if he makes a mistake.

Others

T. Solotov

Played by: Josh Stewart

• Anti-Villain: While he is a bad guy who takes out cops and soldiers, he just really wants to get rid of Atlas since they had a hand in the 2nd Chechen War.
• Cold Sniper: Takes out a Marine trying to disarm a suicide vest in "The Hunting Party".
• Cop Killer: Takes out police officers in his quest to disconnect himself from Atlas.
• The Dreaded: To the intelligence community for his accurate shots and kills made. Season two shows his reputation is well earned. The Russian military called him "Prizrak" (Ghost) for being undetectable while killing several Federal troops.
• Fallen Hero: Used to be a pro-independence fighter who fought in the 2nd Chechen War, but started to work as a hired killer afterward since Chechnya came back under Russian control.
• The Ghost: Never appears in the present during season one, despite being heavily referenced in the first episode and the main reason Swagger agreed to investigate the assassination. His sole appearance occurs in flashback, where he is never seen onscreen.
  • Subverted in season two, when he becomes the main antagonist.
• Hero Killer: He's the sniper responsible for Donny's death, and in season two he begins hunting and killing the other members of Swagger's Marine unit as well.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Changed from being a Russian to a Chechen.
• Omniglot: Speaks (presumably) Chechen, English, German, Pashto and Russian.
• Would Hit a Girl: Shoots a woman who stumbles onto his sniping post in "The Hunting Party".
  • Assassinated a mullah's wife in Afghanistan under the disguise of a doctor.