Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / The Ministry of Time: Historical Characters

Go To

    open/close all folders 

    El Empecinado 

Juan Martín Díez "El Empecinado"

Played by: Hovik Keuchkerian

A Spanish guerrilla leader during the Peninsular War whom Thibaud wants to kill.


  • La Resistencia: He stands (or will stand) against the Napoleonic invasions.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Receiving side, Truth in Television. He fought for the freedom in Spain only for his king Ferdinand VII to execute him when he came back to Spain after the Napoleonic troops returned to France.

    Lope de Vega 

Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/41a6a930e07a408b093272959c5dc147.jpg
The Squee is strong in Amelia.
Played by: Víctor Clavijo

"I don't know how he wrote so much if he spent his whole life fucking."
Julián Martínez

One of the most famous Spanish poets in the Golden Age, Lope de Vega was a soldier and a womanizer too. The trio must stop his enlistment in a wrong Spanish Armada ship to prevent a future death.


  • Broken Pedestal: Amelia's admiration for him takes a hard hit in episode 26 when Lope caves in to the Duke of Lerma's demands to not present a play that derides him to avoid having his theatre license revoked indefinitely. And yet another one when she catches him about to brawl with Cervantes later on.
  • The Bus Came Back: He reappears Older and Wiser in Episode 11.
  • The Casanova: Any female in the episode falls for him including a squeeing Amelia. Truth in Television too. He had at least 14 illegitimate sons with various women.
  • Dashing Hispanic: Wears a goatee, he can use a sword — or two swords — and is a magnet for every woman thanks to his lyrics.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: He has a childish "battle" against Cervantes because the latter met Shakespeare first. They use candles as swords and boast each other about their past acknowledgments.
  • Older and Wiser: The second time he met Amelia, his Casanova days were over and he saw her as an old friend instead of a beautiful woman he needs to take to bed.
  • Red Baron: "The Phoenix of Ingenuities".
  • Rhymes on a Dime: He always has a poem to say, which irritates Julián very much.
  • Unreliable Narrator: He tells the naïve Amelia that he couldn't ship to the San Juan because he didn't get in time... Only for the audience to find through a flashback that he spent a night with a beautiful woman.
  • Viewers Are Morons: He unashamedly embraces this when he becomes a established writer, which earns him the criticism of Cervantes.
  • Warrior Poet: He fought in the Spanish Armada, something that he is very proud of.

    Heinrich Himmler 

Heinrich Himmler

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8e4f614e3d02f755625408988e433249.jpg
Played by: David Luque

Hitler's The Heavy and SS Commander who is visiting the Catalonian Montserrat Abbey, searching for a certain "Holy Grail" (actually a time door).


    Hitler 

Adolf Hitler

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b8ae04ea608a3616500b70a8a9be05da.jpg
Played by: Miko Jarry

The German dictator and leader of the National Socialist Party from 1933 to 1945 who is having a meeting with his Spanish counterpart in Hendaye, France and sends Heinrich Himmler to find supernatural weapons.


    Francisco Franco Bahamonde 

Francisco Franco

Played by: Pep Mirás

The Spanish dictator from 1939 to 1975 that caused a civil war. He is on his way to meet Hitler in the Franco-Hispanic frontier in Hendaye to discuss if Spain will enter the Second World War.


    Torquemada 

Tomás de Torquemada

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e4d125aea1607182ab57635a193ca042.jpg
Played by: Juan Gea

The supreme inquisitor who sentenced rabbi Levi to death in 1491 and looks very much like Ernesto...


  • Antagonistic Offspring: To Ernesto.
  • Evil Is Hammy: In contrast to Ernesto, who is very stoic, Torquemada is very grandiloquent and likes to emphasize how his word is sacred.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Torquemada has a similar voice to Ernesto. Granted as they are both portrayed by Juan Gea.
  • Hanging Judge: He is evidently biased against Rabbi Levi and will stop at nothing to send him to the stake.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: Himself and the Inquisition as a whole are depicted here as far more ruthless and bloodthirsty than their real-life counterparts. The real Torquemada certainly wouldn't have dared ignore orders from the Queen or an edict from the Pope.
  • Identical Grandson: To his father, Ernesto.

    Queen Isabella of Castille 

Queen Isabella I of Castille

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3855802d37929b7396aa2ede5ca85322.jpg
Played by: Michelle Jenner

"I swear I met her before."
Julián Martínez

The queen who re-conquered and united Spain after a long period of Muslim dominion in the southern part of the country in 1492, and helped Christopher Colombus to sail to America. Oh, and she also founded the Ministry of Time and is the heroine of her own TV Series.


  • Berserk Button: She only appears for a few minutes, but it's enough for us to know that she hates being told she should consult decisions with her husband.
    The Queen of Castille is me, not my husband!
  • Casting Gag: She is played by Michelle Jenner, who portrayed her in a previous TV series. In-universe lampshaded by Julián — Rodolfo Sancho played her husband, King Ferdinand of Aragón.

    Federico García Lorca 

Federico García Lorca

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lorca.png
Played by: Ángel Ruiz

The famous homosexual poet and playwright from Granada and a central representative of the "Generación del 27" cultural movement that tragically died in the Spanish Civil War. He appears in the same dreams that of Julián, being the start of a short but deep friendly bond.


  • Doomed Moral Victor: After Julián tells him that he will be killed in Granada in the Civil War if he goes back there, and shows him Camarón de la Isla turned one of his poems into songs in The '70s, Lorca decides to accept his fate and "leave things as they are", thinking that he won out in the end since three and a half decades of dictatorship couldn't erase him from the collective memory.
  • Foregone Conclusion: His death in the Spanish Civil War at the hands of the National Army. Julián knows this very well and feels as bad as when he tried to rescue Maite from her death. He can't save his new friend as History wrote it that way.
  • Mysterious Stranger: At first, he appears Julián as a mysterious man in his dreams remembering Maite's death.
  • True Companions: Lorca doesn't feel any romantic feelings towards Julián (that is Salvador Dalí) but the fact that they met in dreams and understands Julián's sadness make them good friends. Makes a surprising return in Episode 35 to help Julián recover his memories after losing them in the incident that supposedly killed him, and when Julián manages to remember he decides to bring the poet to the future so he can see how much of an impact he made in Spanish culture.

    Luis Buñuel 

Luis Buñuel

Played by: Jordi Coll

The man who will become one of Spain's most important filmmakers of all time. He wanted to be an engineer in his college days.


  • Brick Joke: At the end of "Tiempo de censura", he finally connects Alonso with the guy that punched the daylights out of him in his youth.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Challenges Alonso to a boxing match after an argument... and the swashbuckler promptly lands a One-Hit KO.
  • Mr. Fanservice/Walking Shirtless Scene: He appears to like running around half-naked.
    Lorca: Picasso had his Blue Period and his Rose Period, and Buñuel is right now in his... naturist period.

    Salvador Dalí 

Salvador Dalí

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dali_mdt.jpg
Played by: Enrique Alcides

The artist who would become well-known for his surrealist paintings and crazy mustaches.


  • Money, Dear Boy: In-universe example. He admits to Julián that he doesn't really believe in cubism, and even less in surrealism, but his work follows those styles because they sell well. He claims this is also the reason why he pretends to be eccentric.

    Cervantes 

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cervantes.png
Played by: Pere Ponce

The famed novelist and playwright from the early 17th century, best known for Don Quixote.


  • Alternate History: He sells the first draft of Don Quixote to an English lord (well, to Darrow's Paul Walcott posing as an English lord) before ever publishing it, prompting the Ministry to intervene.
  • Broken Pedestal: Amelia is very disappointed to see Cervantes and Lope de Vega fighting and arguing like little kids over meeting Shakespeare.
  • Driven to Suicide: When his attempts to premiere his theatre play The Algiers Baths, which historically was never played, go bunk. His suicide attempt is stopped in the nick of time by the patrol.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: His rivalry with Lope de Vega runs partly on this. Cervantes is annoyed at getting little, if any, credit for his works outside Don Quixote, and having to struggle to get his theatre plays presented while Lope gets one theatrical success after another.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: Against Lope de Vega. They have a hilarious "battle" with candles and boasting to each other to see which one is the best writer.

    Napoleon 

Napoléon Bonaparte

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/napolen.png
Played by: Fernando Cayo

The Emperor of France, who comes to the abbey of Santa Clara de Tordesillas during The Peninsular War.


  • Affably Evil: While Napoleon has been considered one of the most power-hungry men in History, the episode presents him as a sympathetic man with intimate features such as his love for cooking and his friendly relationship with Angustias.
  • Cunning Linguist: Parodied with his claim that he speaks Spanish "in private".
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: Angustias mentions that he had thirteen siblings, five of which died in infancy.
  • The Napoleon: He's the Trope Namer after all. Small size (a few inches taller than Angustias though) and has most of Europe under his control.
  • Pet the Dog: He's actually very nice to Angustias — who is posing as the abbess — and volunteers to help her cook dinner.

    Marshal Ney 

Marshal Michel Ney

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mariscal_ney.png
Played by: Jordi Martínez

Napoleon's second-in-hand during his visit to the abbey. He has caught an eye to the handsome Pacino when posing as a priest.


  • Armored Closet Gay: Confesses his homosexuality to Pacino as if it were a sin.
  • Cunning Linguist: Like his Emperor, he talks Spanish very well like his natural French.
  • The Dragon: To Napoleon during his visit. He makes sure the Emperor gets his way safe and sound to the abbey.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: Every time he catches Pacino, who is posing as a priest, he eye-eats him up and down, looking for the moment to declare his intentions much to the poor police officer's disdain.
  • Manly Gay: Being a Straight Gay with a hefty build and a military rank.

    Houdini 

Harry Houdini

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/houdini.png
Played by: Gary Piquer

The uber-famous illusionist and stunt performer. He appears in Season 2 when he calls Joaquín Argamasilla to United States in order to test his supposed supernatural powers.


    Enriqueta/"The Vampiress of Raval" 

Enriqueta Martí i Ripoll, aka "The Vampiress of Raval"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/enriqueta.png
"Miss Folch, I've done something terrible."
As the "Vampiress of Raval" 
Played by: María Rodríguez

Enriqueta was the housemaid of the Folchs and was in good terms with Amelia. But after Amelia found her stealing the silverware to pay her mother's medical treatment, she was fired. Enriqueta followed Amelia to the Ministry and found out about her future: that she will be the child abducter and killer "The Vampiress of Raval".


  • Future Me Scares Me: The young Enriqueta found out about her future self and was terrified of it. She tried to talk to the future Enriqueta but failed, so she helps the Ministry to stop her.
  • Scullery Maid: In the most tragic and horrifying way. Enriqueta was Amelia's housemaid, but then she got fired for stealing silverware. The loss of her mother and her son made her deranged becoming a monstruous child killer and a prostitute.
  • Serial Killer: Kidnapping and murdering children to sell their organs to rich people as fake medicine.
  • Significant Name Overlap: Her surname is the same as Salvador but it's just a coincidence. She is not related to him as he confirms.note 
  • Tragic Villain: She lost her son and her mother died of sickness.
  • Would Hurt a Child: The future Enriqueta would not only verbally and physically abuse children; she would kill them and sell their organs to the aristocracy as remedies.

    Christopher Columbus 

Christopher Columbus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/colon.jpg
Played by: Joan Carreras

The man who found America himself. He meets Lombardi and his merit of discovering the New World is taken.


  • Alternate History: The discovery that will make him famous is stolen by Lombardi.
  • Bad "Bad Acting": His attempt to play dead to fool the Portuguese spies after Julián pretends to shoot him.
  • In the Past, Everyone Will Be Famous: When Lombardi meets him, no one takes Columbus seriously as it was a few years before his greatest discovery but as the Argentinian knows well, he is going to be one of the most important men in History.
  • Running Gag: His nationality. Was he Italian or Spanish? Lombardi tries to ask him but he is always interrupted. At the end, Amelia convinces Lombardi to leave things as it is. Though his little son spoke Galician.
  • Wham Line: He introduces himself as "Columbus, Christopher Columbus" causing Sonia, Lombardi's daughter, to pull an "O" face.

    Philip II of Spain 

Philip II of Spain

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3615134.jpg
"The Armada will set sail again... and this time it'll be victory."
Played by: Carlos Hipólito (Episode 21), Jorge Clemente (Episode 37)

King of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. After the Spanish Armada's defeat, he decides to use the Ministry of Time to correct his mistakes.

Earlier in his reign, as Consort King of England, he seeks to secure his wife Mary's reign by having a heir to the English throne with her and helping her gain the Englishmen's loyalty.


  • A God Am I: He is revered as an immortal king that will stay for all time; there's even a new Credo that praises him. A Downplayed Trope in that it's more like God's Most Powerful Servant Am I.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: King Philip dies from old age in his bed, all alone and found with defecation. After he comes to his senses, Amelia helps him to die peacefully, getting him to remember his happy childhood days with his mother.
  • Alternate History: He creates one. It's not pretty.
  • Big Bad: Of the season 2 finale.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Philip II is fond of finishing his lines while looking at the camera, like when he arrived at the Ministry. He expected something better.
  • The Emperor: Of the Spanish Empire. And after conquering the Ministry of Time, of Spanish history itself.
  • Hero Killer: He kills Salvador. Luckily, by the end of the episode his death is undone.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: He's portrayed here as an angry, unstable king that decides to become an Orwellian megalomaniac after losing the Spanish Armada, when in real life he was much more of a stoic, chilly kind of ruler who cared very little about what his subjects think of him and for whom the Armada wasn't anywhere near that big a blow. He's also portrayed as an unabashed racist, deriding American natives as mere savages, when in real life he was never unkind to them, even ordering crimes against natives should be investigated with more care that those against other Spaniards, as he believed that their recent Christianization made them more prone to be abused.
  • King on His Deathbed: He's seen dying at the end of the episode.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Lombardi changing history was hilarious and mostly cosmetic; Philip II changing history is terrifying. He basically personifies the reason why the Ministry of Time needs to protect the time gates.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: There is no place in his Empire for homosexuals, and the women must Stay in the Kitchen. After all, he comes from the 16th century, and Politically Correct History is definitely not in place here.
  • Really Gets Around: In his youth, he is quite prone to having sex with any pretty maid he can find, and had Tiziano paint a naked painting of his lover Isabel de Osorio so he could look at it when he had to Lie Back and Think of England (literally) with his wife Mary.
  • Self-Deprecation: He thinks (and says) that he will never be as good as his father Carlos I.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He really believes that he's doing what's best for Spain. And for God Himself.
  • Wicked Cultured: He loves books and art.

    Mateo Vázquez de Leca 

Mateo Vázquez de Leca

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mateo_vazquez.png
Played by: Carlos Kaniowski

King Philip II's royal secretary.


  • The Dragon: Always seen assisting his king, even in his Dystopian dominion.
  • The Lancer: He tries to reason with Philip II not to use the Ministry doors for selfish purposes, but is no use. He still follows his lord's orders.

    Alfred Hitchcock 

Alfred Hitchcock

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hitch.jpg
Played by: José Ángel Egido

The famed master of suspense. The British director is at the 1958 San Sebastián Film Festival to present his newest feature, Vertigo, unbeknownst to him that the Russians want to kidnap him.


    Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Played by: Tamar Novas

One of the most well-known Spanish romantic writers. He travels to Trasmoz and meets the mysterious "witch" Mencía, and both fall in love... something that never happened in Real Life.


  • Comically Missing the Point: At the townsfolk's Satanic aquelarre, Pacino tells him to look at his two o'clock where Mencía and the baby are trapped, but the poet takes it too literally and thinks it's actually the two o'clock of the night.
  • Did Not Get the Girl: Mencía commits suicide and their love will never be consummated, though she left Juana's orphan baby to his care.

    Simón Bolívar 

Simón Bolívar

Played by: Itzan Escamilla, Juan Pablo Shuk

The man who will free South America from Spain... but for now is a young boy madly in love with Teresa del Toro, the woman history says will be his wife, if he figures out a way to win her heart.


  • All of the Other Reindeer: Universally disliked, and mocked, within the entourage of the Duchess of Alba, including Teresa. They see him as a bland Wide-Eyed Idealist.
  • In the Past, Everyone Will Be Famous: Bolívar will free South America from the Spanish crown, but when the patrol meets him, these are his youthful years before he was married.
    Pacino: And this Pink Floyd guy will free America?
  • Rescue Romance: Attempts to invoke this with the help of Pacino and Alonso during his attempts to win Teresa's heart. He intends to rescue her from two assailants, who are actually just two hired actors, to show her she will always be safe with him. An untimely interference from Velázquez, who was unaware of what was going on, sends the plan crashing down.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Towards the end of the episode, he shows some guts by standing up to Manuel Godoy's soldiers when they were taking the orphans back to their orphanage, a Foreshadowing of what he will do in the future. Also, it made María Teresa look at Bolívar with other eyes.
    • When he returns in the next season, he's already the famed Libertador, and widely respected by those around him.

    Goya 

Francisco de Goya

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paco_de_goya.jpg
Played by: Pedro Casablanc

The famed painter from the first half of the 19th Century.


  • Broken Pedestal: At the end of the episode, Velázquez, who wanted to meet him like happened with Picasso, asks Goya, who is unaware that he is front of the artist, if he would have liked to meet Velázquez in real life. Goya tells him that he wouldn't as he was told that Velázquez was an "insufferable Andalusian".
  • Grumpy Old Man: Goya is angry with Spanish society and sees everyone as metaphorical monsters. Notably done with the Shout-Out to actor Fernando Fernán Gómez's "¡Váyase usted a la mierda! ¡A la mierda!".note 
  • Never Bareheaded: Goya is always wearing an inseparable top hat and takes it off only out of courtesy.

    Godoy 

Manuel Godoy

Played by: Luis Callejo

The second most powerful man in the 1799 Spain as the King's favorite. He comissioned the "La maja desnuda" painting to Goya, and won't stop until he gets it.


  • Jerkass: Definitely one of the biggest in the series. He insists on demanding Goya re-paint "La maja" after he has been attacked and the first one has been defaced, and is willing to put the fate of several children on the line just to get his way.

    Queen Margaret 

Queen Margaret of Austria

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reina_margarita.jpg
Played by: Elena Rivera

The queen of Spain between 1599 and 1611, wife to King Philip III of Spain.


  • Broken Bird: The oppositional schemes of the Duke of Lerma and the fact that her husband spends more time with the Duke and his staff, had made her a melancholic and insecure woman who needs some affection and company. Thanks to Amelia she gains some confidence to herself.
  • Historical Beauty Update: According to a painting the real Queen Margaret looked like this, whereas in the series she is played by the cute beauty of Elena Rivera.

    The Duke of Lerma 

Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma

Played by: Fernando Guillén Cuervo

The chief minister of the court of Philip III.


  • Jerkass: Like Manuel Godoy, he is the King's most important supporter and a complete asshole. He antagonizes the Queen, does not tolerate Satire and self-deprecating humor, and did not allow Cervantes to create a play for the pleasure of the English that were going to sign a treaty of peace.

    Gonzalo Guerrero 

Gonzalo Guerrero

Played by: Miguel Ángel Muñoz

A Spanish sailor who was enslaved by the Maya and became a respected warrior for them.


  • Crisis of Faith: It is heavily implied that he suffered one in Christianism after the shipwreck, and seems to have completely abandoned it.
  • Meaningful Name: His surname means 'warrior'.

Alternative Title(s): El Ministerio Del Tiempo Historical Characters

Top