Characters / The Ministry of Time: The Patrol

Julián

Julián Martínez

Played by: Rodolfo Sancho

"Salvo vidas, no las quito."

"I save lives, I don't take them."

A paramedic from 2015 Madrid traumatized with the death of his wife 3 years ago and comes in contact with the Ministry.

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• Back from the Dead: Turns out to have survived his supposed death in 1937, losing his memory in the process and taking up the identity of someone else who did die in the battle.
• Combat Pragmatist: Whether he needs to bang the door in your face or headbutt for a K.O., he's your man for sure.
• Consummate Liar: He is a brilliant one, being very convincing when making up something.
• Deadpan Snarker: His most distinctive trait. He has such a nice collection of deadpan quotes at least in every episode.
  Julián: (after listening to a Nazi talking Spanish) "What a detail! We need no subtitles for this one!"
• Death Seeker: At the beginning of the series, his guilt over the death of his wife makes him too prone to risk his life. Fortunately, he grows out of it.
• Friendly Sniper: He was one during his stint in the Blue Division, saving Luis García Berlanga in the process.
• Genre Savvy: Drops from time to time quotes of this kind. For instance, this one during the siege of Baler — and yes, it actually turned out to be an ambush:
  Julián: This is a textbook movie ambush.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Julián dies saving Miguel Hernández during the Battle of Teruel in 1937. Or not.
• I'm Mr. [Future Pop Culture Reference]: Julián has seen a lot of popular films. Terminator, Indiana Jones, Groundhog Day, Back to the Future... He loves to compare the situations of his missions to the plots of those films.
• Large Ham: Julián is calm and snarky. But he intentionally goes over the top depending on the age they are travelling or the situation to convince the gullible and religious people that some events are divine or magical with hilarious and effective results.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: The bombing that supposedly killed him knocked him out and wiped his memories. He recovers them when Amelia shows him a photo of his wife Maite.
• The Medic: Working as a 2015 paramedic saved some risky situations in centuries with poor healthy conditions and medicine. He uses his medical abilities during his absence and his travel to 1898 through the Cuban and Philippine Wars to feel useful after the tragic events of the season 1 finale.
• Psychic Dreams for Everyone: He dreams exactly with the reveal of Leiva's fake death, even watching the literal scene. This is never quite explained.
  • He also shares a dream where he meets Federico García Lorca before a mission related with him. In Episode 35, Federico appears in his dreams again, but he doesn't recognize him due to having lost his memories.
• Stalker with a Crush: Subverted. Julián spies, does pictures and sometimes phones his deceased wife Maite through the Ministry's time doors.

Amelia

Amelia Folch

^{In the 1870s} 

Played by: Aura Garrido, Stephanie Gil (young)

"She knows the entire History as if she had written it herself."

—Alonso de Entrerríos

A young woman from 1880 considered as ahead of her time and the only female student in the University of Barcelona in said period.

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• Badass Adorable: Don´t let her fool you. This young woman with green innocent eyes can stand against important people and anyone that towers her with her knowledge.
• Brainy Brunette: She is the most cultivated member of the patrol, dominating both literature and historic themes. Her culture is useful for certain situations.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In episode 24, she and Alonso are poisoned by the townsfolk with mandrake when she drank the town's water and made her paranoid as the people living there and joining their Satanic cult.
• Cute Bookworm: Everything she had learned, she learned it from the books as she tells her mother. She has knowledge of History and Literature up to 1880. Amusingly lampshaded later on by Pacino:
  Pacino: You're like the Enciclopedia Espasa, but in pretty.
• Damsel in Distress: She has been taken hostage at least twice, although it's not her usual situation. Once when a German soldier had her at gunpoint, and the other when she offered herself to save one of Morán's victims.
• Dude Magnet: Her beauty and brains attract the attention of many men around her, but things rarely go very far other than the Lope incident in the second episode.
  Goya: If I was 20 years younger, I would be hopelessly in love with you.
• The Heart: She often acts as the trio's moral center, in contrast with Alonso's sense of duty and Julián or Pacino's pragmatism.
• Miss Exposition: She constantly explains things to her less well-read companions.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She feels tremendously guilty for firing Enriqueta and indirectly turning her into the vicious child killer known as "The Vampiress of Raval". Her team and superiors cheer her up and by the end of the mission, she is no longer feeling guilty.
• Naïve Newcomer: Amelia is a woman ahead of her time but she's rather naïve, like when she was seduced by the womanizer Lope de Vega, prompting Julián to interfer.
• Older Than They Look: She is from the end of the 19th century but she was recruited in the Ministry in her twenties.
• Old Maid: Brought up by Amelia's mother, who fears that nobody will want to marry her if she takes too long to find a husband. She also tells Amelia in no uncertain terms that she wants grandkids.
• Omniglot: Aside from being a native Spanish and Catalonian speaker, she also speaks English and Italian fluently, a rarity in women of her time.
• Put on a Bus: After her uncle is arrested, leading to her father's death, she leaves the Ministry in order to rebuild her family and take care of her mother.
  • The Bus Came Back: Returns in Season 4 to help Julián recover his memories.
• Torture Is Ineffective: At the season 2 finale, she refuses to reveal her plan when being subjected to Electric Torture by king Philip II and his Inquisition.

Alonso

Alonso de Entrerríos

"FOR SANTIAGO AND FOR SPAIN!!"

^{In 1539} 

Played by: Nacho Fresneda, Sergi Méndez (young)

A swashbuckler soldier from Seville that served in the Army of Flanders and was sentenced to death in 1569.

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• Accidental Misnaming: To Pacino, whom he keeps calling "Chapino". When they meet again at the beginning of season 3, he called him "Chapino" in an affectionate manner.
• The Big Guy: Being a skilled swordsman and a veteran soldier, he is the most qualified fighter in the team while Amelia and Julián being the brains.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In episode 24, he, along with Amelia, is brainwashed after drinking from the village's water poisoned with high doses of mandrake which made him paranoid and easily manipulated by the townsfolk.
• Comically Missing the Point: Due to his anachronistic nature, he doesn't understand many things his surroundings are saying, taking things too literally or confusing certain terms.
• Dashing Hispanic: An expert swordsman and soldier, wearing a Badass Cape and a hat with a feather, that has a fine touch with the most beautiful women even though his heart belongs to his beloved Blanca (or Elena).
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: What?! Women in usually male dominated jobs and telling me what to do? Same sex marriage? The king does not choose who is in charge? Times have changed for bad! But hey, don't be rude to women, be chivalrous. Though he had some Character Development as the series progressed such as respecting Amelia as a person.
• Disappeared Dad: His "death" didn't let him meet his son and seeing him growing up.
• Do-Anything Soldier: Being on a squadron of time-traveling spies requires him to pick up a lot of modern skills on top of his 16th-century army training.
• El Viejo Español Masacrado: As being from a different century. This was lampshaded by himself in one episode where he states that someone could discover that he is from other time. Luckily for him, Julián, and later Pacino, give him a hand to try to speak the new Spanish, especially when he starts to date Elena.
• Expy: Of Diego Alatriste. This is naturally brought up by Julián many times.
  Alonso: (to Julián when they first meet) "Sir, can I ask you a question? Who is that Alatriste everyone here mistakes me for?"
• Faking the Dead: A condition he had to accept to join the Ministry, since it's a secret organization saving him from a death sentence.
  Ernesto: You will be dead to everyone, including your wife.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: After the events of the Cervantes mission, which ended with the demise of an old soldier who recognized him, Alonso has to stay in the 21st century indefinitely and has to get used to the age and its advanced technology and culture. Elena lampshades this by calling him "old-fashioned" at the end of an argument, to which he waits until she is gone to respond:
  Of course I am old-fashioned. I am from the 16th century, rediez!
• Friendly Sniper: He's an elite marksman and learns quickly to use new weapons, which has already come in handy a few times, yet he is also shown to be a pretty affable guy when off duty.
• Hidden Depths: He likes arcades and Don Juan Tenorio, really enjoys his reading of Don Quixote and can be a great actor when he works on it.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: He meets a young man called Alonso de Entrerríos 17 years after his "death", who is actually the son he had with Blanca and never met.
• Mandatory Unretirement: Quits the Ministry at the end of season 3, but they bring him back in the season 4 premiere due to suspicions Julián might be still alive.
• The Musketeer: While most skilled with the sword, he becomes proficient with rifles and handguns very fast, so he qualifies.
• The Pig-Pen: Downplayed. He sports some of his time's ideas about health and hygiene, which is pointed out by other characters.
• Principles Zealot: As expected of a Spanish soldier of his time, he believes in duty and orders over almost everything else.
• Older Than They Look: Alonso is in his forties but he comes from the 16th century.
• Religious Bruiser: Again, according with his time. He always signs a cross before he enters a time door.
• The Stoic: Even when facing time changes and inesperate situations, he has a great poker face. It takes a lot to break it.

Pacino

Jesús Méndez Pontón, aka "Pacino"

"It's not Chapino, it's Pacino. How many times do I have to say it?"

^{In 1961} 

Played by: Hugo Silva

Julián's Temporary Substitute in Amelia's team in season 2 and by season 3 he became a regular. He is a 1981 cop who stumbled into a time door while chasing a murderer.

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• Clear My Name: Upon arriving in the present, he is shocked to find that the police files blame him of the murders he was investigating, and that makes him even more determined to catch the killer.
• Cowboy Cop: He believes in the value of catching the bad guys over the duty of following the law.
• Heroic Lineage: As stated by himself, he is a son and grandson of policemen.
• I'm Mr. [Future Pop Culture Reference]: Much like Julián, he loves to reference films and TV series (up to 1981) such as Serpico, The Fugitive or Historias para No Dormir, in front of his anachronical co-mates.
• In-Series Nickname: After watching Al Pacino, whom he considers the best actor in the world, in Serpico as the film inspired him to be a good cop that sometimes breaks the rules to do what is right. Alonso doesn't seem to get the hang of it, though (see quote).
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His name is known, but he tells everyone to call him by his nickname - even when he goes to another time.
• Put on a Bus: Per his own request, he is reassigned to the 1981 Ministry on Episode 16. It has been confirmed that he'll be back for season 3 to fulfill the absence of Julián who dies in a mission in 1937.
• Really Gets Around: Which often baffles his eventual roomie Alonso, but he has an eye for Amelia and the day before he leaves, he makes love with her.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In episode 10, he travels to the 19th Century and kills Morán's father before he can kill his wife, changing history - even his own personal one.
• Temporary Substitute: For Julián in season 2 as the latter time travelled to the 19th century Cuba. He leaves to help his father to come through his divorce in Episode 16. By season 3, he became the male lead after Julián's demise.^note Rodolfo Sancho left after some contractual disagreements.
• Totally Radical: Most of his 1980s slang is completely outdated in 2016. Justified as he really is from the 1980s.

Lola

Lola Mendieta

"I do not consent to be called a traitor. I've never been one and will never be."

Played by: Macarena García (young), Natalia Millán (adult)

The Lola Mendieta from 1943, right before she got recruited in the Ministry ten years later. But after the present Lola dies, Salvador recruits her to give a chance and put back what was set wrong.

For tropes related to her adult self, go here.

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• Berserk Button: She really hates being called a traitor.
• Big Damn Heroes: When the patrol are about to get shot by "The Sons of Padilla", she kills the henchmen and frees them.
• Brainy Brunette: Lola shows to be a very smart young woman, as evidenced by her ability to describe Salvador's entire office from memory, hours after leaving it, and also for her analytical ability.
• Break the Cutie: Lola is subject to torture but she still resists it. Although, she doesn't know how many beats she is going to handle.
• Older Than They Look: Like many other characters. She was born in 1920, but she is in her twenties when she was recruited.
• Photographic Memory: When asked what she remembers from Salvador's office (which she had only been once into), she goes on for hours describing every little detail.
• The Mole: Subverted in that the young Lola infiltrated "The Sons of Padilla" instead of betraying the Ministry as a secret mission planned by Salvador and everyone thought she was working for herself.
• The Starscream: Irene and Ernesto think that Lola escaped through a time door as an art dealer like her adult self did. She went as a mole to "The Sons of Padilla" to investigate about the organisation and Marta.
• Temporary Substitute: Fills in for the absent Amelia in the main patrol for the second half of season 3. As of season 4, she has become a permanent member of the team after Amelia refused to rejoin the Ministry.
• Too Kinky to Torture: Lola stands her torture along with Ernesto in the concentration camp, but soon her souls starts to tremble.

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