As a large part of Telling Lies involves figuring out what's going on and who the characters are, even the character names are considered heavy spoilers. Read at your own risk.
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David
David Smith, aka David Jones, aka David Miller
- Portrayed by: Logan Marshall-Green
The game's central character, David is an FBI agent tasked with infiltrating an eco-activist ring. He comes from a family of cops, is married to Emma, and has a daughter named Alba.
- Age-Gap Romance: He has at least 10 years on Ava.
- Anti-Hero: An Unscrupulous Hero, bordering on Villain Protagonist.
- Becoming the Mask: David infiltrates a group of eco-activists, comes to believe in their cause and dies in an act of eco-terrorism.
- Blood Knight: He believes in stopping the bad guys by any means necessary, and even his wife Emma calls him this word for word in one of the videos.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Much to his, and other people's, detriment.
- Consummate Liar: He lies for a living, which Emma bitterly comments on during one of her calls.
- Death Equals Redemption: Played with. David, alienated from all his loved ones and out of a job, commits what he believes is a Heroic Sacrifice by blowing up the bridge supporting the pipeline which, according to the Green Storm activists, is a threat to clean and drinkable water. However, it's unknown if this does indeed halt the pipeline's production, and none of the other main characters (including his wife, girlfriend and both his daughters) watch his suicide tape or seem to retain any strong feelings for him, good or bad. They go on with their lives, completely forgetting about him.
- Deep Cover Agent: David's job within the FBI.
- Downer Ending: He's the only character who (somewhat justifiably) gets an unequivocally bad ending; after he blows himself and the bridge up, neither his wife nor girlfriend watch his suicide tape, and both his daughters grow up without thinking much about him.
- Going Native: David goes deep undercover to expose and destroy a far-left radical group named Green Storm, who the FBI believe is a rising threat. While there, he meets Ava and falls in love. Overtime he really starts to believe in their message and becomes the most radical of them all, resulting in him committing a terrorist act by using his boat and bombs to blow up a pipeline bridge, while he is on board.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He has a very bad jealous streak.
- Happily Married: To Emma, at the start of the timeline.
- Hypocrite: He's a full-blown Knight Templar when it comes to protecting women — killing his wife's abusive ex and framing Ava's rapist Peter for drug possession — but fails to see that he himself is emotionally abusive towards the women in his life.
- I Have Many Names: As David explains at one point, FBI agents normally use their own first name when undercover, but change their last name.
- Heroic BSoD: David has a number of these late in the timeline.
- Rogue Agent: He eventually veers completely off-course and becomes involved in eco-terrorism instead of stopping it.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: David's motto, often to disastrous results.
- Theme Naming: All his surnames (including the real one) are among the most common English surnames, and most double as profession titles.
- The One Guy: He's the only man out of the four main characters.
- Time-Passage Beard: You can navigate the timeline by the state of David's face.
- Vague Age: He claims to be 28 for his cover story, but (based on his daughter's age and his FBI career) is obviously older, probably a thirtysomething. The actor playing him is in his early forties.
- White Male Lead: In a game with four central character, three of which are women and one is a woman of color, the central character is still The One Guy.
- Yandere: A rare male example. It's revealed that David killed Emma's abusive ex Paul, despite the latter being unarmed at that point.
Emma
Emma Smith
- Portrayed by: Kerry Bishé
David's long-suffering wife and Alba's mother. She works with a nurse and has a mother suffering from dementia.
- Alone with the Psycho: Emma believed she was in this type of relationship with David after she saw him kill her abusive ex Paul out of jealousy.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The blonde.
- Domestic Abuse: Her ex Paul hit her, and David himself is pretty emotionally abusive.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She is blonde and a genuinely good person.
- Happily Married: At the start of the timeline.
- Long-Distance Relationship: David's latest assignment turns her marriage into this.
- The Three Faces of Eve: The Wife, literally.
Ava
Ava Martin
- Portrayed by: Alexandra Shipp
A young activist who works an a record store in Ann Arbor and dreams of being a singer.
- Age-Gap Romance: She is attracted to older men, and starts a relationship with David, who is at least 10 years her senior.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The brunette.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Ava believes she's destined for glamour and fame as a music star, and travels to Michigan to fulfill her dream. It doesn't work out. She gets raped by Peter, the leader of a rock band she joined, she falls in with a far-leftist group and she gets pregnant by David and becomes a single mom.
- Pursue the Dream Job: She wants to be a singer, but is currently working at a record store.
- Rape As Back Story: David finds out from Eric, a member of Green Storm, that Ava was raped by his friend Peter, who is the leader of a rock band Ava joined in her pursuit to become a famous singer.
- The Three Faces of Eve: The Child.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: She is pure-hearted and genuinely enthusiastic about her causes.
Melissa
Maxine Williams, aka Melissa, aka Michelle
- Portrayed by: Angela Sarafyan
A camgirl that David begins an emotional relationship with.
- Blackmail: She threatens David with extortion if he continues to stalk her.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The redhead.
- Consummate Liar: As befits her profession.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: She opens her own successful cam firm.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: The camgirl puts on a French accent for one of her personas due to this trope.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: And she sometimes accordingly dons a blonde wig.
- Ms. Fanservice: Unsurprisingly, considering her job as a camgirl involves acting sexy for money.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She appears sexy and submissive when her feed is live and caters to her viewers wishes as long as they keep the money flowing. However, as David keeps hounding her, she reveals a much tougher side: she's records all of her private interactions for her own protection and even keeps a gun in her basement, which she shoots David in the leg with.
- Theme Naming: All her names — fake and real — start with M.
- The Three Faces of Eve: The Seductress.
Karen
Karen Douglas
- Portrayed by: Katie Michels
The Player Character, a woman sifting through the NSA archives whose reflection you see on the screen.
- Player Character: Although she also appears in some videos.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: She's not authorized to view the recordings, but she does so at the risk of her freedom.
- Walking Spoiler: Unless you're extremely perceptive (or lucky), you probably won't find out who she is until near the end of the game. Understanding her connection to the plot gives away several important details, even more than the other characters.
