Characters / Snowpiercer (2020): Big Alice

Snowpiercer Main Character Index
The Engine | First Class | Second Class | Third Class | The Tail | Staff of Snowpiercer | Big Alice

Big Alice

In General

A 40 wagons long train, and the original prototype test-bed for the Perpetual Motion Engine used by the Snowpiercer. The train has been commandeered by Mr. Wilford himself, who turns out to still be alive, and really, really pissed off.

---

• Cold Equation: Big Alice used to have a population of 200, but Wilford culled half because the train didn't have the resources to support that many. Alex suggests he'll orchestrate a similar purge on Snowpiercer.
• Last Episode, New Character: The train appears at the end of Season 1.
• Nitro Boost: Big Alice comes equipped with a booster that increases its speed; this is how it caught up with Snowpiercer and docked with it.
• Super Prototype:
  • Big Alice is equipped with features that allow it to forcibly connect to Snowpiercer and override its systems. Even when the latter is severed, it still has the engine power to act as a giant anchor for Snowpiercer, effectively allowing Big Alice to freeze out Snowpiecer whenever they want, until Melanie sabotages the docking clamps and permanently fuses the two trains together. It's suggested that Mr. Wilford had it retrofitted over the years to aid in its ability to capture Snowpiercer. It's also downplayed in that Big Alice has a significantly lighter load that Snowpiercer, so it doesn't have to haul or power as many cars.
  • Subverted in season 3; Big Alice lacks the power output of Snowpiercer, so Wilford is forced to sacrifice First and run the train on minimal power just to keep the train moving when the primary engine is stolen by Layton's ragtag group. This ultimately contributes to his defeat, as the train's reserves are totally exhausted trying to outmaneuver Snowpiercer, forcing Wilford into a desperate gamble that Layton anticipates and counters.

Mr. Wilford

Joseph Wilford

Portrayed By: Sean Bean

"I'm back, and I've come to take what's mine."

The former head of Wilford Industries and the one in charge aboard Big Alice.

---

• Adaptation Personality Change: Downplayed but present. The Adaptational Villainy entry details many of the ways this Wilford is worse than his movie counterpart, but even then there's glaring differences.
  • Movie Wilford lives an austere lifestyle in the Engine with very little human contact, seemingly not even noticing the drug-fuelled parties not far from his location. His Engine barely has any personal decoration aside from his books, and he's farsighted enough to understand the need to recruit Curtis as a successor to run the train after he's gone.
  • Show Wilford, on the other hand, absolutely craves adulation and the finer things in life, with his casual weed habit, obsession with Audrey and need to control everyone around him as defining aspects of his personality, while any hint of the train having a leader other than him drives him to ever-greater depths. Even Big Alice's command deck says a lot about him, adorned as it is with its own kitchen, fine art, potted plants and comfortable furniture.
• Adaptational Villainy: Yes, really.
  • Movie Wilford was already a genocidal tyrant who talks casually about mass murder and child slavery, but at least he seems to genuinely believe that the survival of humanity depends on it, and recognizes the train needs a leader like Curtis to survive, albeit suitably warped to Wilford's viewpoint.
  • Show Wilford only cares about being praised and living his own life of luxury. When things don't go as he wants, he's quick to try and kill everyone on Snowpiercer - almost the entirety of the humanity's survivors - out of pettiness. He's also shown to take great delight in playing mind games with everyone around him, and can't abide the thought of anyone but himself in charge of Snowpiercer's destiny.
• Ambiguously Bi: He seems rather turned on by Kevin's grovelling, and has some very erotically charged physical moments with him, Javi and Oz. Granted, what's really turning him on is their fear and the control he's exerting on them, but he seems not to be picky about his victim's gender, either when receiving their devotion or asserting his dominance by alternating abuse and physical care on them, so long as he's in charge.
• The Bad Guy Wins: By the end of 2x08, Wilford not only saves the day and becomes the savior of the train, but he also successfully gets back Snowpiercer from Layton. The kicker is that he does this all without having to fire a shot.
  Ben: Mr. Wilford... you have the train.
• Bad Boss: Wilford isn't very big into second chances. Kevin was a devoted servant, but one slip-up sent him to near-suicide and a shattered mind at Wilford's word. Then there's having the breachmen (all utterly loyal to him) massacred as part of his plan, and his vindictively consigning Roche and his family to the Drawers for siding with Layton.
• Berserk Button:
  • Aside from generally being outwitted (his look of fury when Melanie reveals how she sabotaged the trains' uncoupling mechanism is something to see), he really doesn't like people speaking poorly of Audrey, lashing out when Alex jokingly refers to her as his "paramour".
  • Negative comparisons to Melanie as well. While he's emotionally cruel to her all season, Alex telling him he could never be the leader she was is the only thing that causes him to physically attack her.
• Big Bad: Of Season 2. He's overthrown a few episodes into season 3, but returns to prominence, sharing the role with Melanie of all people after she exposes the lie of New Eden.
• Bread and Circuses: Quite literally. After taking over Snowpiercer, he reopens a carnival car that Melanie had shut down,
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a outstanding Engineer with a grasp of the train's workings that exceeds even Ben and Javi when the crisis he instigates unfolds, and it's all but said only Melanie is outright better. But most of the time he's content to lounge in Big Alice's chambers bathing and getting high while his plans unfold, with Alex doing most of Big Alice's driving.
• Chaos Is Evil: For all his obsession with order, his reduced circumstances in season 3 lead him to the conclusion that he needs a little chaos in the mix to keep balance, at least until Layton's train reconnects.
• Control Freak: He insists on giving Alex the order to get both trains moving again, even though the only other option is death. Audrey opines his goal isn't just total control over the train, but control over its people too.
• Cult of Personality:
  • As befitting a narcissist, he's created a cult around his persona and has brainwashed his subjects into total loyalty. It turns out he even has loyalists willing to maim and kill for him on Snowpiercer itself, their loyalty having never wavered.
  • Ironically, there was already one on the Snowpiercer, even without Melanie's support, despite Wilford not actually being on the train at all. Ruth by far is his most loyal adherent.
• Deadpan Snarker: Gets some great lines on finding out someone has to man the research station providing information on the thawing Earth - namely Melanie herself.
  Wilford: [on finding out the train needs to leave Mel behind] You really should have led with that, Melanie.
  Wilford: Your brilliance is exactly why we're here. It's just unfortunate that your projects always seem to require leaving someone behind.
  • Again when Layton turns out to have broken free and confronts him with an axe.
    Layton: I'm not here to fight.
    Wilford: No? This your conversation axe, is it?
• Decomposite Character: Most of Wilford's traits from the film were split between this Wilford and Melanie Cavill. Melanie inherited his cold utilitarianism and obsession with order, while Joseph Wilford got his friendly and persuasive facade.
• Didn't Think This Through: A hallmark, despite his intelligence.
  • He engineers a plan to position himself as Snowpiercer's saviour via fixing the God module he sabotaged - but he doesn't bother checking to make sure the system hosting it hasn't been modified in seven years, leading to a catastrophic failure he's only narrowly able to improvise his way out of.
  • Appoints the unflappably honest Till, a fervent Layton loyalist, as his new advisor after his victory. Needless to say, she betrays him for Layton the first chance she gets.
  • He exiles the much less threatening (by that point) Ruth to compost, where Layton is, just out of spite for her defying him. Surely, putting two of his greatest enemies together in the same room just because it's a very humiliating job Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.
  • Leaving Melanie marooned to die in the Freeze seems like the perfect bit of poetic justice for him, but it it turns into the biggest petard to hoist him yet, setting in motion a chain of events that culminate with his losing first one Engine and then the entire train.
  • His plan to act as a power balance between Layton and Melanie in season 3, hoping to force one to turn to him to gain control of the train, only ends up uniting them both against him.
• Don't Create a Martyr: Both on the giving and receiving end of it.
  • That's the reason why, when he takes over the train, he exiles Layton to compost instead of killing him. Given how Melanie went from being despised by virtually the entire train to hailed as a hero by accepting the near-certain suicide mission to the weather station, he knows he can't affort giving another martyr to his enemies.
  • Melanie and Layton don't want Wilford on Snowpiercer at all; however, they can't kill him because if they do, his followers on the train will start a war over it. In the Season 3 finale, Melanie and Layton realize even if they do go to war with each other, in the end, Wilford wins as he'll try to take control over whoever's left in the aftermath. The two find a solution by sending him off the train. Wilford isn't dead, as he's in a maintenance cart and can carry on using suspension drugs, but he's in no position to be a threat to the train for the foreseeable future.
• The Dreaded: Both Melanie and Audrey are immensely fearful about what his return means for the train.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Kind of; in the third episode of season 1 - long before he appears in the flesh - Melanie uses clips of his speeches (as voiced by Bean) to splice together an inspiring message for the train's residents.
• The Engineer: Or in this case, the Great Engineer. While he doesn't show it that often, he's still a brilliant engineer, and Alex mentions he taught both her and Melanie all they know. Even Asha's heard of his accomplishments.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • He doesn't even appear in Season 1, but his sending Alexandra aboard with a threat to freeze everyone on board if they don't surrender - whether rebels like Layton or fervent loyalists like Ruth - without even trying to negotiate is very telling as to his true nature.
  • A subtle one in "Without Their Maker"; when Lilah demands to speak to Wilford, Melanie bluffs and looks to give her the phone - and Lilah folds, letting Layton and Melanie continue with their investigation. It's telling that even Lilah Folger, ruthless elitist and Alpha bitch of First, is clearly unwilling to cross him, something that speaks volumes to what he's really like.
  • In the Season 2 premiere, he demands an assortment of food as payment for negotiations, just to make a single elaborate meal that's up to his standards. More tellingly, later episodes establish his crew didn't see any of it.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Maybe.
  • He clearly cares deeply for Audrey, albeit in his particularly twisted way, but his "therapy session" suggests he's more obsessed with the idea of controlling her through her domination of him than anything else. To her horror, he proves willing to let her die when Layton presents her as a hostage, though he insists that Layton doesn't have it in him to kill in cold blood.
  • As for Alex, he clearly does have a bond with her that has more genuine moments than any other, sometimes coming off as caring, even if it is in an emotionally manipulative way. His verbally lashing out at her in the aftermath of leaving Melanie behind seems to come from a place of genuine devastation that she'd betray him, as he's visibly shaken when raging at her.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Very downplayed, in that he was responsible for it all, but when he realises that Alex has returned to the cars filled with the crew he culled, he expresses remorse she should have to relive it, especially seeing her best friend Shilo's body.
• Evil Brit: Shares his actor's natural accent, and is undoubtedly the single worst individual in the series to date.
• Evil Is Petty: Ben characterises him as intensely jealous and unforgiving of anything he can't control, hence his utter dickishness towards him and Melanie. Hits new levels in the finale when in spite of her having data that could be vital to humanity's survival, he leaves Melanie to die in the cold to satisfy his need for revenge on her.
• Faux Affably Evil: When he finally appears in person, he's seemingly charming, gregarious and happy to talk...but it doesn't take much for him to lose his temper. Layton's attack strips away any veneer of civility, exposing his massive ego, raging god complex and petty ruthlessness.
• The Fatalist: Early in season 2, he states that the deaths of everyone on either train is a foregone conclusion no matter what, so he's justified in using his power like a sword to ensure his own position as long as he can.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of Season 1, as it was his decision to convert the Snowpiercer from a train meant to help humanity survive into a luxury train that wound up causing problem after problem for everyone aboard.
• The Ghost: Even though his name is on the train and he is played up to be the leader of Snowpiercer, who keeps it running unseen by everybody, he is not actually aboard, as Melanie left him behind in Chicago to freeze to death. Even in the Season 1 finale, when Big Alice catches up to Snowpiercer he still remains unseen. Subverted in Season 2 where he finally appears in all his larger than life glory.
• Hate Sink: Ruthless, sadistic, petty, dictatorial and consistently shown to place his own needs above Snowpiercer's best interests - by series 2's end even those that initially believed in him (like Ruth and Alex) have come to despise him. It says a lot that the only one of the main cast unequivocally on his side by that point is sociopathic Social Climber L.J.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He's very, very clever, but his sheer pettiness makes this a recurring theme for him.
  • His brutal treatment of his underlings, overreliance on fear and endangering of the passengers in general end up alienating most of his key supporters who, in small or big ways, end up undermining or defying him often in key moments: Ruth, Boki, Sykes and Javi all turn on him one by one, but the most glaring example would be his surrogate daughter, Alex.
  • Sentencing Layton first and Ruth then to a lifetime in compost is a purely petty move, to humiliate them with the train's least desirable job; it ends up putting them in the perfect position to organise a break out and be back into the game.
  • Leaving Melanie behind to die in the Freeze in a bout of poetic justice for her doing the same to him years ago is by far his worst mistake, especially knowing full well how much of a martyr she'd become if she died like that. Indeed, it sets in motion a chain of events that lead to his downfall. First, Layton and his circle steal the Snowpiercer engine and turn it into a pirate train to try and rescue her, leaving the Great Ark Train crippled and humiliating Wilford in the process. As a result, the living conditions on the train deteriorate severely and Wilford has to enforce a draconian regime to keep things running, which alienates almost all of his supporters. And finally, Melanie's presumed death is used by the Resistance to keep hope alive while awaiting Layton's return with the resutls of the climate investigations. When they do return and manage to get the train back without bloodshed, there is no unrest to put him back in charge. Even though the end of the series shows he does have a small band of followers left (LJ, the Janitors, the surviving Jackboots) he's reduced to acting as a power broker, hoping either Melanie or Layton will side with him to tip the scales against the other.
• Hookers and Blow: Wilford's relationship with Audrey is far from the typical version of this trope - but his obsession with having her back as well as his weed habit certainly qualify. Surprisingly though, while 2x09 has him orchestrating a massive orgy in his quarters on Big Alice, he looks lost and exhausted compared to even Audrey, escaping briefly to share possibly his only genuine Pet the Dog moment of the series with a baffled Javi.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Ends the season outwitted and missing an Engine because he underestimated both Layton's determination and the loyalty of many characters to both him and Melanie. However, it's his thinking that Alex would accept his abandoning Melanie to die that does the most damage, as well as assuming Josie would side with him against Layton.
• Hypocrite: He refers to Layton as "King Layton", mostly to mock the idea of his democracy, but Wilford expects nothing less than total authority vested in himself.
• I Am the Noun: Boasts "I am the train" as he claims that Layton retaking power isn't going to last.
• If I Can't Have You…: When Layton refuses to relinquish the Snowpiercer, and leads a failed assault on Big Alice, Wilford has Alex disconnect both trains to leave everyone inside to die to the cold. Fortunately, as Melanie placed C4 on the decoupling mechanism, it gets destroyed, leaving both trains permanently connected.
• Informed Flaw: Alex says one of the eye-opening things about Snowpiercer after years on Big Alice was seeing women with power, implying he's a Straw Misogynist. However, the few people Wilford places any measure of trust in are women (Audrey, Sykes, Alex herself, Melanie before things went sour), and the one time Alex does say he's sexist the two are having a lighter moment, so it may be he just doesn't trust anyone of either gender with power apart from himself.
• In-Series Nickname: Alex calls Wilford "Dubs".
• Ironic Death: Roche certainly tries to give Wilford this, poisoning him with a syringe of the same Drawers chemical that killed his wife Anne after Wilford imprisoned her. He pulls through, however.
• It Must Be Mine!: He's still pissed off after Melanie's betrayal. He wants Snowpiercer back under his control. However, he's also perfectly willing to let everything on board freeze it if he can't have it. According to Kevin, he can "restart everything".
• It's All About Me: Flashbacks show him deliberately undermining Melanie's efforts to save humanity simply because he cares more about his own convenience and safety than he does anything else.
• Kick the Dog: He practically lives on this trope, For the Evulz half the time, but even so his denunciation of his bond with Alex, the one person who he seemed to be able to interact with as a normal human being, as nothing more than a tool to get at Melanie and that he'll leave her trackside now she's served her purpose might be his cruellest moment of the season.
• Large Ham: An intensely theatrical and charismatic speaker, with a flair for the dramatic. Sean Bean is clearly having a blast playing Wilford, and even the more negative reviews of season 2 have praised his performance.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: He engineers a malfunction on Snowpiercer that will require him to personally deliver a spare part, reasoning that the word will get out of his help and Snowpiercer will be grateful to him for it. But when things go to hell thanks to a bad interaction with a previous bypass Melanie designed, he manages to quickly work out a solution and paint himself as the savior of the train. He then deposes Layton and secures Snowpiercer.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: He's very much accustomed to the finer things in life. His initial demands are for a list of fine food and drink so he can lay on a feast for himself.
• Miles Gloriosus: His opening voiceover for episode 3x03 has him bragging that he's born for battle and how good he is at improvising now that his EMP plan has failed. By episode's end, Layton has thoroughly played him, forced him into a humiliating public surrender after outwitting him, and he ends the episode in a cell.
• Narcissist: The man built an ark for the remnants of humanity seemingly not out of altruism, but a raging God complex. Not only did he choose who got on the train and who didn't, essentially putting himself in the role of Noah with the human race as animals, but he built a cult of personality around himself as some super-genius and proceeded to plaster his name absolutely everywhere.
• Never My Fault: In the very tense aftermath of leaving Melanie to do, he sneers at Alex that he can't believe she's "fallen for Melanie's games". Considering he's talking to her daughter, it's staggeringly short-sighted to say the least.
• Oop North: Retains Sean Bean's natural accent, although he has a more refined and upper-class take on the Sheffield accent compared to his other roles.
• Parental Substitute:
  • For Alexandra in Melanie's absence; she even refers to him as "Dad" and she's about the only one he's seen to display any sort of affection towards (aside from Audrey). He's definitely a dark version though, continually berating and playing mind games with her even during his lighter moments to keep her under his influence. In the finale Alex says she's as much him as she is Melanie. The following season sees her try to come to terms with the positives and negatives of his past influence.
  • When Alex helps Layton steal the Engine and disappears, he graduates to being this for L.J. too, even giving her away at her wedding. Given that they're both power-hungry sociopaths, it's an apt pairing.
• Pet the Dog: While they're rare, he does have the odd moment; his friendly moments with Alex early in the season before their relationship falls apart, his remarkable tolerance of Till's blunt advice (given his previous disdain for being questioned in any way) and the bizarre moment where he goes out of his way to tell Javi he's a better Engineer than Ben in the middle of an orgy. Of course, given his appalling nature, they're few and far between.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He exiles Layton to Big Alice's compost room instead of killing him out of fear of making him a martyr. He also refuses to harm Zarah (who's pregnant with Layton's child) because of the political capital of being able to control his enemy's family.
• Put on a Bus: After the train experiences yet another schism, Melanie and Layton force Wilford to put himself under suspension and get sent off in a small maintenance cart.
• The Real Remington Steele: Melanie reveals early on in the series that the society of Snowpiercer, hellish as it is, is the result of Wilford changing it from The Ark it was meant to be for the sake of profit — which is why she left him behind to die and has been masquerading as him to try to prevent things from getting worse. The Reveal that he's still alive, probably unhappy, and is coming with a train full of probably brainwashed subjects is one of the few times this trope can be safely said is being Played for Horror. From what's been seen of Big Alice, it seems like life under Wilford is even more dictatorial and vertical than on Snowpiercer.
• Revenge: While Layton becomes an obsession for him, it's Melanie who he hates most. The season 2 finale sees him leave her to die in the cold the same way she once left him.
  Wilford: Heh heh. See ya!
• Sadistic Choice: The king of this once he gets the train back. Offers Ruth the chance to keep her position if she'll announce Melanie's death, and gives Till the opportunity to execute the Breachmen's murderers as she'd wanted to close the case. Both refuse, and are marked firmly as enemies as a result.
• Sanity Slippage:
  • The realisation that Layton is free, and that key members of the train are conspiring to rescue Melanie does NOT do good things to his psyche.
  • He verbally and physically lashes out at Alex - the latter for the first time in the series - not from his usual place of mind games For the Evulz but out of genuine cruelty at her betrayal, causing the final break between them and earning a slashed throat as a result.
  • In the aftermath of that, he has the Headwoods prep Josie - who he knows is still loyal to Layton - to go breach the Engine and kill Ben. Needless to say, she sides with her former lover.
  • Finally, he seems completely prepared to let Audrey die if it means he and his men can kill Layton, something especially out-of-character as she's been the one thing he seems to care about (though to be fair, he was going on the hunch Layton wouldn't actually hurt her, and looked to be correct).
  • Following Roche's assassination attempt, he becomes something of a shell of his former self, and almost seems willing to side with his former enemies. As Zarah points out though, it's difficult to tell if he's genuinely repentant or just acting out his plans in more devious and subtle ways now he's imprisoned.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Even after seven years, he's still impeccably dressed in a sharp suit and fur coat as he returns to Snowpiercer. One episode shows he has a whole wardrobe of outfits like this.
• The Sociopath: A Control Freak with a massive god complex that lies to and manipulates even those loyal to him for his own amusement, and will happily take advantage of even those few genuine emotional attachments he has (like Alex) if it'll prove a point. He even admits to Till he doesn't really have a sense of right or wrong, one of the classic signs of this trope. Likewise, when he strikes Kevin for threatening Zarah and (rhetorically) asks Till why, she snarks he has poor impulse control, another major sign of this.
• Strange Salute: He waves to the people of Snowpiercer by pointing three fingers outward, making a crude 'W'. Till realizes from the maiming of a Tailie woman that this is a sign he has spies aboard Snowpiercer trying to stir up trouble.
• Take a Third Option: How he plans to regain power at the end of season 3; he's well aware his relatively small band of supporters have little chance of taking over the rest of the train (even with Icy Boki), but he seizes the Night Car in the middle of Melanie and Layton's warring factions, hoping that one will court him in order to tip the balance against the other. He's defeated when he fails to foresee their alternate third option; unite to take him down, then peacefully avoid war.
• Troll:
  • A dark version, befitting his Evil Is Petty personality; delights in taunting Ben and Melanie as they try to sync the engines for the trip up the pass, and really seems to be enjoying using the situation to set Alex against her mother even more.
  • During the viewing party to confirm Melanie's reaching the outpost, deliberately pops a balloon at the height of the tension just to give everyone a fright.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: He manages to depose Layton in episode 8, and in the space of an episode has those he deemed disloyal sent to the Drawers (Roche) or Compost (Ruth), orchestrates mass orgies, re-erects the rigid class system and appears to be planning a mass cull of those deemed too old or useless. Even more appropriately for this trope, the end of episode 8 actually shows him sitting at Snowpiercer's controls for the first time in 7 years.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Has all of those who killed the Breachmen for him executed in an effort to sway Till.
• Villain Has a Point: While he's undoubtedly doing it to seed doubt in Melanie, his claim that if there's no real New Eden the unstable track will make it difficult to come back out and possibly doom them all only strikes a chord because Melanie's also coming to those same conclusions even before they speak. Given the half of the train that made the trip barely made it and derailed at the end anyway, it's almost certain taking the entire train would likely have been even worse.
• Villain Respect:
  • Despite his antipathy towards Layton and conviction Snowpiercer's fragile democracy will ruin him, he can't help but be a little impressed (despite visible annoyance) at how the the former Tailie makes his ploy to exchange food for parts in front of Wilford's own people, commenting on how much he's learned in a relatively short time.
  • While he hates Melanie for originally leaving him to die (and happily returns the favour later on), he clearly still respects her. He treats her as an equal immediately when she comes aboard Big Alice, to the extent of indulging her when she enquires how he survived and later offering her breakfast. During one of their early bonding moments Alex tells Mel that he would occasionally reminisce on how his former protege was the finest Engineer he'd ever seen. It's telling that when he hallucinates an imaginary companion to talk to after he's imprisoned by Layton, it isn't Audrey or Alex but Melanie.
• Villains Out Shopping: Hosts a Big Alice book club, discussing the merits of classics like Rebecca with his crew. Given a predictably grim twist later, when Alex mentions this was one of his ways of determining who was intellectually suitable to be be saved from the cull and who wasn't.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Even before the freeze, most people who know him view him as a brilliant and charismatic man, blind to his flaws. This appears to be an attitude Wilford deliberately cultivates through where and when he chooses to meet with others; it's a common refrain that those who speak highly of him generally have only met him personally once or twice. Prolonged contact with him, as Melanie had, tends to break that facade.
• Visionary Villain: Melanie's flashbacks show the subversion of this to be what caused her to abandon him; his initial building of the train as an ark looked farsighted enough. But then he gradually slipped into doing things for his own self-gratification (like building the Night Car as his personal brothel and stacking the train with jackboots for security). His murder of the geneticists Melanie knew could help rebuild humanity just so he could have a few more security men on board is what finally causes Melanie to leave without him. However, quite a lot on the train, especially Ruth in the first season, still fervently believe the visionary part.
• Walking Spoiler: His survival spoils much of the Season 1 finale.
• While Rome Burns: Six months after the departure of Layton's pirate train he's still sipping wine and chowing down on what's left of Snowpiercer's fine food, while the rest of the train is reduced to a frozen, low-power hellhole.
• Wicked Cultured: An admirer of the finer things in life, and starts off his morning broadcast with "March of the Lions" by Camille Saint-Saens. His crew aren't quite as appreciative.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: His grand plan to reclaim Snowpiercer nearly comes undone when, having caused the disaster threatening Snowpiercer and positioned himself as its only saviour, his easy repair is screwed up by one of Melanie's system modifications he knew nothing about. However, he's able to use his engineering knowledge to propose and execute a different fix involving Big Alice pushing them, and with the train having heard him saving them, he's back in charge by episode's end.

Alexandra Cavill

Alexandra Cavill

Portrayed By: Rowan Blanchard

"Where is my mother?"

The daughter of Melanie. A self-assured 17-year-old wise beyond her years, with mysterious connections to the history of Snowpiercer. She debuts in the Season 1 finale "994 Cars Long."

---

• Ambiguously Gay: Between her short hair, penchant for wearing masculine clothing, and her surprising receptiveness when LJ pulls her away from the weather-balloon launch party, one gets the sense that Alex has little interest in boys. The following episode has her distinctly frustrated she can't see LJ as Wilford has Audrey over.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Years under the care of Mr. Wilford have made her hostile to her mother, who she believes ditched her to steal Snowpiercer. Melanie explaining that she sent men to retrieve her and her grandparents — they wouldn't leave and Alex wouldn't leave them — seems to make a crack in that armor, but she has a long way to go.
• Chekhov's Skill: It's established she's good at hiding a razor blade in her mouth for a quick killing strike early on. This comes in handy when things get nasty between her and "Dubs", leading to her slashing his throat and escaping.
• Deadpan Snarker: When Melanie asks if she really believes Wilford's talk of schemers and dreamers, offhandedly replies he says a lot of things when he's high.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: As of episode 3 she's slowly beginning to warm to Melanie through their mutual expertise on the train. Which is why Wilford spends much of the trip through the pass reasserting his control over her.
• The Dragon: She's Wilford's closest aide and confidante. Unfortunately this changes later in the season; he deliberately freezes her out after she starts getting closer to Melanie, with Sykes and Audrey taking over the role.
• The Dog Bites Back: After a season of being mentally manipulated and shunted aside in favour of Audrey, Wilford marooning her mother to die finally causes her to crack, side with Layton's crew and slash Wilford's throat (although it doesn't kill him).
• Green-Eyed Monster: Her icy reaction to Audrey trying to get to know her a bit is more than a little reminiscent of a child suddenly realising she has to compete with her dad's (in this case, Wilford's) new girlfriend for affection. She even storms out exactly as you'd expect a raging teenager to.
• Heel–Face Turn: Finally, irrevocably turns against Wilford when he himself confirms he never had any intention of going back for Melanie.
• Heel Realization: Her opening dialogue in the Season 2 finale states Alex saw her mother, Layton, and the people of Snowpiercer as a bunch of idiots that didn't know their place. She even showed doubt in Melanie's mission. After seeing what life is like on Snowpiercer, unlike Big Alice, and witnessing their kindness, Alex finally breaks free of Wilford's control over her. She pulls a Heel–Face Turn and joins up with Layton's pirate crew to get Melanie back, all the while dreaming when they can finally leave the trains together.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Despite his extremely vocal hatred of Melanie, it takes Alex until fairly late in the second season to work out that Wilford is deadly serious about leaving her mother behind to die.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: She mentions in her intro to the season 2 finale that due to Wilford's assertion that leaders have to be lonely because they can't trust anyone, she held herself apart from the rest of Big Alice's population. However, her actions at points indicate she's desperate for human contact outwith Wilford, which might explain her consistently doing nice things for Emilia (rigging the lottery to go on Snowpiercer, covering for her when she hasn't read Rebecca) and why she takes so quickly to LJ's overtures of friendship.
• Kick the Dog: Destroys Melanie's snow sample out of spite at her mother lying to her.
• Locked Out of the Loop: After Audrey returns Wilford starts increasingly freezing her out of his plans, to the point she's got no clue about what's going on with Icy Bob's sabotage of Snowpiercer.
• Mouth of Sauron: Serves as one for the real Mr. Wilford after Big Alice catches up with Snowpiercer. However, given we see Wilford doing most of his own communication with Layton after this, this was most likely a shock psychological tactic against Melanie, one that didn't pan out as intended given she wasn't there.
• Odd Friendship: With LJ. A "dork" and a "bitch" (as they themselves put it), when viewing the skies they nonetheless share one of the series' few moments of friendship without an agenda, afterwards even joking that they shouldn't be friends. Falls apart when LJ first mocks Melanie's death in Wilford's puppet show, then when LJ's desire to be in Wilford's good graces has her ruining the plan to retrieve Melanie.
• Servile Snarker: She is able to get away with nicknaming Wilford "Dubs" and some other moments of humour at his expense that no-one else on Big Alice could get away with - though as his explosion over her joking about Audrey shows, he definitely has his limits. Episode 9 confirms he's had her stuck in the brig before.
• Sour Supporter: It's clear from her conversations with Melanie that she's well aware of Wilford's shortcomings, but her inexperience and anger at her mother keep her in his thrall for the time being.
• Teen Genius: She's no more than 15 when we meet her, and she's the sole Engineer we see on Big Alice while Wilford indulges in the finer things in life. Wilford mentions on several occasions he thinks she's as good an Engineer as her mother.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: Doesn't even bat an eye when making Wilford's threat to freeze everyone aboard - humanity's last survivors - if they don't surrender. When the two trains have a summit over the world beginning to heat back up, Wilford has her ready to kill Layton until the very last moment.
• Walking Spoiler: It is impossible to talk too much about her without giving away her role in the Season 1 finale, her ties to Melanie, and her survival.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Many of her interactions with both Melanie and Wilford give the impression that as sour and truculent as she often is towards them both, she's desperate for their genuine approval and respect. Trouble is, Melanie (who's equally desperate to give it) has to leave the train not long after, while Wilford frequently abuses her trust to leave her even more mentally troubled than before. In the finale, even after he maroons Melanie to die, she seems crushed when he callously dismisses her as a tool he used to get at Melanie and nothing more, tearfully reminding him she's as much a product of him as she is Melanie.

Kevin

Kevin McMahon

Portrayed By: Tom Lipinski

The head of Hospitality in Big Alice and a loyal servant to Wilford.

---

• Alas, Poor Villain:
  • Kevin is a smug Wilford dupe with a nasty streak, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him when the man he's so hopelessly devoted to forces him to commit suicide for the crime of being hungry enough to eat the enemy's food, thereby revealing a weakness. The Reveal he survived but with his mind utterly shattered, just so Wilford can sway Audrey back to his side, makes it even worse.
  • Averted when LJ stabs him in the throat; Kevin has become such a massive Hate Sink (and just tortured Strong Boy to death) that LJ doing him in, regardless of her motives, is met with applause since the audience knows it's going to stick this time.
• Bread and Circuses: After Wilford takes back Snowpiercer, the former put Kevin in charge of a carnival car that Melanie had shut down.
• Butt-Monkey: Of the thoroughly unsympathetic variety. Wilford had him nearly commit suicide, his mind shattered so badly Audrey had to totally rebuild him to the point of licking Wilford's boots, Ruth beat him down (including a Groin Attack) while escaping and Zarah routinely gets to belittle him die to her safeguarded status. Z-Wreck even steals his drink straight out his hand during the wedding celebrations.
• The Dragon: With Sykes and Audrey gone, Wilford's made him this in season 3, putting him in charge of tracking down the resistance. Wilford even compares him to Jupiter in needing to bare his teeth to frighten people every so often.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: When he menaces Ruth in the finale with his taser, she disarms him with a well-placed Groin Attack before blasting him with his own weapon.
• Hostage Situation: Layton's men grab him as a bargaining chip. Unfortunately, as he explains to them, Mr. Wilford has no problem letting him die with everyone else if it means getting what he wants.
• Jerkass: Gives Melanie a taste of his taser when they meet as payback for abandoning him years before, and later threatens to give an uncooperative Zarah a slap.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: He's reduced to shrieking in terror when Layton's men capture him. Again when Ruth gives him a well-earned beating in the finale.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Wears a grey three-piece suit.
• Slashed Throat: Meets his end when LJ stabs him in the throat, as a way to get in with the resistance before power shifts hands once more.
• Too Hungry to Be Polite: After being captured by the people of Snowpiercer, he tries to hold out and reveal nothing about Big Alice, but his resolve withers when Layton presents him with a plate of real Buffalo chicken wings, which he snatches up and stuffs into his mouth. Layton takes from this that the food situation on Big Alice must be pretty tight.
• You Have Failed Me: Wilford forces him to commit suicide after learning that he gave up information to Layton. Except he didn't die, but survived with a ruined mind. Audrey ends up mentally manipulating him back to being a Wilford loyalist.

Icy Bob

Icy Bob

Portrayed By: Andre Tricoteux

A hulking, unnatural brute deployed by Wilford to stop Snowpiercer's attack on Big Alice.

---

• Character Death: Icy Bob dies from even worse frostbite injuries in 2x08, though, in his own words, he's ready for it now that he's served his purpose.
• Exploited Immunity: He triggers a defense system that vents in outside air to freeze the attackers, while his own immunity to it allows him to continue attacking with near-impunity.
• Face Death with Dignity: While he successfully sabotages Snowpiercer, the extreme cold leaves him dying by the time he returns. While Josie tries to encourage him to keep fighting, he calmly states he's ready for death now he's served his purpose, expiring offscreen afterwards.
• Hidden Depths: Despite his freakish appearance, he's still quite articulate and empathetic, giving Josie advice on how to control the pain of the Headwood's frostbite treatments. She even expresses shock he's reading a book as he does so. He also keeps secret that Josie heard the Headwoods spilling some of Wilford's secrets while they thought she was out cold.
• No-Sell: He can walk through freezing cold air from outside the train without so much as flinching, much less any damage. It does have a limit, however; around thirty minutes of being outside the train (cold air on top of wind chill) leaves him badly injured.
• One-Man Army: Singlehandedly breaks the back of Layton's assault on Big Alice without taking so much as a scratch (admittedly with help from the frozen atmosphere Big Alice vented in from outside).
• Outside-Context Problem: Until this point the fighting on Snowpiercer saw normal humans take each other on hand-to-hand. A super-strong giant immune to the freezing cold, on the other hand, is a totally unexpected foe that no-one is able to deal with.
• Scars Are Forever: The Headwoods's experiments on Icy Bob to help him survive prolonged exposure to the cold have left his body scarred all over. Layton describes his face as a baseball mitt.
• Super-Strength: Kills at least one of Layton's army with a single hit, and is able to pull the heavy door to Big Alice shut with one hand while giving the shocked Taillies the finger.

The Headwoods

Mr. & Mrs. Headwood

Mr. Headwood (Left), Mrs. Headwood (Right)

Portrayed By: Damian Young & Sakina Jaffrey

A pair of scientists responsible for the developments on Big Alice.

---

• The Dividual: The two of them rarely appear, or speak, separately.
• For Science!: The Headwoods care about only two things: their research and each other. They are devoted to pushing the bounds of scientific progress at the expense of humanity and ethics.
• Happily Married: Their marriage seems to be a healthy, equal partnership... even if they're otherwise more than a little weird.
• Killed Offscreen: Mr. Headwood apparently died of influenza in the 6 month gap between seasons 2 and 3.
• Lack of Empathy: Their only objection to the Breachmen being killed off by Wilford's agents uptrain is that it's a waste of good subjects. Even when Mrs. Headwood stays with Icy Bob as he dies, she's more lamenting they never got to see what he was truly capable of rather than empathizing with the man himself.
• Mad Scientist: They're not raving lunatics in the usual sense of this trope, but going by their odd conversation style (bordering on Finishing Each Other's Sentences) and weird habit of having fully audible conversations about Melanie right in front of her, there's definitely something off about them.
• Pragmatic Villainy: They object to Wilford's order to send the newly empowered Josie outside to kill Ben in the Engine, not for moral reasons but because they know she's not ready physically. They go along with it out of fear of their boss, and are interestingly proven wrong when she proves capable of surviving outside up to the aquarium car - which she destroys to allow Layton's pirate train to escape.
• Sole Surviving Scientist: Since surviving the Freeze onboard Big Alice, the Headwoods have perfected a method of instantly healing frostbite injuries and experimented on Icy Bob to make him the cold-immune brute he is today.
• Token Good Teammate: Not in the usual sense, but their dedication to science is such that they publicly confirm Melanie's theory about the Earth rewarming because it fits with the data from her snow sample they tested, despite the dangers of disagreeing with Wilford in such a fashion.

Sykes

Sykes

Portrayed By: Chelsea Harris

Wilford's personal assistant.

---

• Dark Action Girl: Swiftly demonstrates why she's in the position she is when she absolutely thrashes Ben during his attempt to seize control of the engine. The only reason he comes out on top is because she loses her balance when the train switches tracks and he smacks her with a metal case before she can recover.
• Heel–Face Turn: In Season 3, after six months on the train section hijacked by Layton, Alex, Till and Ben to look for hotspots. It turns out she's been cooperating with the good guys, unlike Audrey who's being kept in the library book cage, and even refuses to join Audrey's attempt to wrest back control of the Engine.
• Number Two: Sykes is the right-hand advisor to Mr. Wilford.
• Scars Are Forever: There's a noticeable scar on the right side of Sykes's face. She later admits to Javi that she got it from being mauled by Jupiter just like he was.
• The Spymaster: Her bio describes her as a covert operative who is well-versed in the dark arts of intelligence.
• The Stoic: Doesn't bat an eye as Layton tosses her an orange to examine as part of their trade. She's visibly a little tempted when Layton initially unveils his cart of food though.

Emilia

Emilia

Portrayed By: Georgiana Haig

A seamstress and a friend of Alexandra.

---

• Commonality Connection: She and the Last Australian bond over the fact that the other's existence means neither is the Last Australian anymore.
• Killed Offscreen: Season 3 reveals she died of influenza at some point after Layton's fleeing with the pirate train.
• Ship Tease: With The Last Australian, which Alex completely supports.
• There Is Another: The Last Australian finds out that his title no longer applies when she shows up. She likewise thought herself the last until their meeting.

Oiler Bob

Oiler Bob

Portrayed By: Leon Ababio

A crewmember of Big Alice.

---

• Mr. Fixit: An oiler is in charge of maintaining machinery, implying that Oiler Bob handles this role aboard Big Alice.
• One-Steve Limit: He has the same name as Icy Bob and their crewmates sometimes mix the two up, even though Icy Bob is a One-Man Army and Oiler Bob is implied to be a Non-Action Guy.