This page is for characters appearing in the 2015 CW television series.
open/close all folders
The Messengers
In General
- Angel Unaware: They themselves don't know this at first.
- Back from the Dead: They all died and came back to life a few minutes later when Satan landed on Earth.
- Legacy Character: There were six previous generations who successfully saved the world from the Apocalypse.
- The Mirror Shows Your True Self: They all have wings which can only be seen in mirrors.
- Mission from God: Save the world and prove humanity is still worth saving.
- Saving the World: Their Mission from God.
Vera Buckley
- Played by: Shantel VanSanten
- Agent Scully: As a scientist, she takes the longest to believe the supernatural things occurring.
- Astral Projection: Her power, called "Spirit Walking."
- Hollywood Atheist: Averted, Vera is an atheist who initially doubts the things she's told at the start of the series but comes to believe when shown incontrovertible evidence, and is not shown as wrong for doubting earlier or otherwise portrayed poorly.
- Missing Child: Her son Michael, who has been missing for seven years.
- Modesty Towel: When Alan tracks her down in her hotel room at Houston she's only wearing a towel, implied to have been taking an offscreen Shower of Angst.
- Remote, Yet Vulnerable: She leaves her body behind when using her Astral Projection powers, and if she doesn't come back in six minutes, she dies.
- Undercover as Lovers: With Alan in Metamorphosis
- Working with the Ex: Vera finds herself having to work with her ex-boyfriend, Leo Travers, who left her years before.
Rose Arvale
- Played by: Anna Diop
- Evil All Along: She's actually the Horseman of Death.
- Hospital Hottie: An attractive hospital nurse.
- The Leader: She's the one who assembles the team and acts as their leader. Until she's revealed to be a Horseman.
- Mercy Kill: As a nurse she performed this on soldiers in Afghanistan and on elderly patients at the Houston Hospital.
- Omniglot: Her power of "understanding." She can even read binary. Since she's not really a Messenger, it's unclear whether she truly has this power or just knows enough languages to deceive the others.
Raul Garcia
- Played by: J. D. Pardo
- Absurdly Youthful Father: He's revealed to be Nadia's biological father.
- Empowered Badass Normal: After he gains his Telepathy powers.
- Official Couple: With Erin.
- Telepathy: His power.
Peter Moore
- Played by: Joel Courtney
- Accidental Murder: Kills his bully, Sam by fighting back without yet knowing he had Super-Strength
- Driven to Suicide: His mother killed herself due to having him taken away at birth because he was born out of wedlock, which caused her to fall into deep depression. He himself is nearly goaded by Satan into doing it. He's only stopped by the arrival of Rose to visit him.
- Orphan's Ordeal: He grew up living in foster homes and now lives in a group home for orphaned children.
- Super-Strength: His power.
Joshua Silburn, Jr.
- Played by: Jon Fletcher
- American Accents: Speaks with a Southern accent.
- Back from the Dead: He's killed by Rose, but brought back to life in the following episode by Satan.
- Church of Saint Genericus: The evangelist, Joshua Silburn Junior, starts out as the youthful "face" of an evangelist TV show; aside from the interaction of the show's premise with his religion, he could be a leader of any relatively mainstream Christian church.
- Fainting Seer: His power, which causes him to have what looks to others to be a seizure.
Erin Calder
- Played by: Sofia Black-D'Elia
- Action Mom: She's a single mom, but that doesn't stop her from trying to Save the World.
- Cast from Hit Points: Using her powers too much cause her own health and body to deteriorate.
- Domestic Abuse: Erin's husband grew increasingly paranoid and controlling once their daughter Amy was born, to the point that he wouldn't even let them leave the house. She left with Amy, but he tracked them down.
- Healing Hands: Her power.
- Informed Judaism: The only time we find out she's Jewish is in a quick recital of the Messengers' faiths/belief systems in the finale.
- Official Couple: With Raul.
- Swiss-Army Tears: Her tears have healing properties.
Koa Lin
- Played by: Jessika Van
- Attempted Rape: Koa Lin is nearly raped by a man in a casino after she's caught cheating at cards. She uses her ability to assume his form and beat him up.
- All Asians Know Martial Arts: She's Asian and uses her martial arts skills to fight Raul.
- The Gambler: Basically her job. She was in the middle of a high stake game, when they wave hit her and she fell uncouncious, revealing she was cheating, which put her in a lot of trouble.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Koa suffers from memory loss, some of the most basic memories have become blurred like a card trick her father taught her at the age of 6. Joshua believes it comes from the fact she borrows someone else's identity and in turn she loses her own.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She's very pale, with long black hair.
- Sixth Ranger: Seventh, actually. She joins the other Messengers in "Metamorphosis." Then Rose is revealed to be a Horseman, meaning Koa really is the sixth.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Her power. She can apparently acquire knowledge from the people she's impersonated as well (learning martial arts through doubling a man when he had attempted to rape her, for instance).
Zahir Zakaria
- Played by: Winston Duke
- 11th-Hour Ranger: He joins the Messengers in the penultimate episode.
- Mundane Utility: Uses his eletric powers to recharge his cellphone.
- Shock and Awe: His power.
- Twofer Token Minority: He's black and a Muslim.
Villains
The Man
- Played by: Diogo Morgado
The Devil himself.
- Deal with the Devil: Makes one with the other Messengers to bring Joshua, who had been killed by Rose, back to life.
- A God Am I: Declares this when the Horsemen betray him.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: Has fiery red wings much like the Horsemen's.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While he causes quite a bit of trouble in his own right, the Horsemen remain the primary antagonists. The Devil only helps them along as long as it amuses him but claims he doesn't actually want them to destroy the world, and even helps the Messengers against them once they reject him.
- Naked on Arrival: After he fell naked on earth, he stole the clothes of the first guy he met (and possibly killed him).
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Man's (Satan's) eyes glow red from time to time
- Smug Smiler: His expression by default.
- Voice of the Legion: When he declares being a god.
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse
- Big Bad Duumvirate: They're the ones trying to destroy the world.
- Evil Counterpart: To the Messengers.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: They have fiery red wings.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe, committing an irredeemable act of evil turns them into a Horseman.
- Omnicidal Maniac: They want to destroy humanity because they can.
Sen. Cindy Richards
- Played by: Lauren Bowles
The Horseman of War.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her son died serving the army, which may have caused her turn in villainy.
- The Starscream: She essentially fired the Devil.
Leland Schiller
- Played by: Sam Littlefield
The Horseman of Pestilence.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Attacked a hospital and killed its patients for letting his mother die.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: His motivation for launching an attack on a hospital.
- Ignored Epiphany: Got talked out of his first attempt to attack the hospital, then went right back and did it again.
Rose Arvale
- Played by: Anna Diop
The Horseman of Death.
- It Gets Easier: Went from performing euthanasia on several patients to murdering someone in cold blood.
- Deadly Doctor: Her Mercy Kill eventually crossed the line into cold-blooded murder.
- Kiss of Death: She gives one to Joshua.
- The Mole: When she was part of the Messengers.
- Woman Scorned: This is actually what caused her to become the Horseman of Death.
Vincent Plowman
- Played by: Jamie Bamber
- Cain and Abel: With Mark.
- Red Herring: He's initially believed to be the Horseman of Famine, but it turns out his brother is.
Mark Plowman
- Played by: Riley Smith
The Horseman of Famine.
- Cain and Abel: With Vincent.
- Face–Heel Turn: He starts out as a decent guy who protests against his brother's unethical business practices, but he ends up killing his brother and becoming the Horseman of Famine.
Other Characters
Alan Harris
- Played by: Craig Frank
Vera's fellow astronomer and best friend.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Thinks the military is behind everything.
- Muggle Best Friend: To Vera.
- Secret-Keeper: Vera tells him about the Messengers and her own powers in Deus Ex Machina
Amy Calder
- Played by: Madison Dellamea
Erin's young daughter. She's also The Antichrist.
Nadia Garcia
- Played by: Brittany O'Grady
Raul's teenage niece. Actually his daughter.
Joshua Silburn, Sr.
- Played by: Victor Slezak
Joshua's father.
- Abusive Dad: Joshua's father beat him when he was a child, controls everything in his life, has an affair with his daughter-in-law, blackmails her and nearly kills her when she refuses to cooperate.
- Domestic Abuse: His physical abuse to Joshua's wife is what gets Joshua to have him arrested.
- Jerkass: Make Joshua's life a living hell.
Eliza Shepard
- Played by: Jennifer Griffin
- Fainting Seer: She used to have the same power as Joshua.
Michael
- Played by: Zeb Sanders
- Archangel Michael: Actually the incarnation of the Archangel Michael.
God
- Abusive Dad: The Man paints Him in this light.
- Big Good: As the one who gave the Messengers their mission.
- The Ghost: Never appears directly.
