Baltimore Police Department (Major Crimes Unit | Homicide Unit | Police Commanders | Western District) | Baltimore Underworld (The Barksdale Organization | Omar and Associates | The Greeks | The Stanfield Gang | New Day Co-Op) | Courthouse | Baltimore Docks | City Hall | The Baltimore Sun | Other Characters (Homeless People and Addicts | The Next Generation)
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Homeless people and Addicts
See the Homeless People and Addicts page.The Next Generation
See the The Next Generation page.Family Members of Police Officers
Cheryl
Played by: Melanie Nicholls King
Police in this town ain't shit!
Kima's live-in lover at the start of the series, it's implied that the two have been happily together for some time. Their relationship is not without friction, however, as Cheryl frequently worries about the danger of Kima's job and tries to push Kima towards getting a law degree, or at least working a desk job in safety, especially after Kima is nearly killed during a bust. Between Kima's return to investigative duties, a growing distance between them when Cheryl pushes ahead with having a child despite Kima's obvious but unvoiced doubts about being a parent, and Kima's infidelity, the two break up.
- All Lesbians Want Kids: Played straight, unlike Kima.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When she and Kima finally fight over Kima's increased drinking, distance, and not acting like a parent to the baby, Kima says that she never voiced how much she truly objected to having the baby due to not wanting to disappoint Cheryl. Cheryl's response is devastating, and pretty much the signal that their relationship is over.Cheryl: [Looks at Kima, who's more than half drunk, angry, and confused] I don't think I could be more disappointed than I am now.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Averted, although it's largely Kima's fault as she went along with Cheryl's pregnancy plans despite not really wanting to be a parent without voicing that until after the kid was born.
- Demoted to Extra: She has a fair amount of prominence in season 1, but her role gets smaller and smaller as distance grows between her and Kima. She only appears in 2 episodes in season 3, and 1 each in seasons 4 and 5.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Late in season 1 she and Kima are out with some friends, and Cheryl drinks everyone present (except for Kima, who opts out with the excuse that she has to work in the morning) into submission without putting much effort into it. She credits journalism school as the source of her alcohol tolerance.
- Intrepid Reporter: At one point Kima teases Cheryl about how she tries to act like this despite working backstage at a TV news channel.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's not exceptionally girly by any means, but in comparison to Kima she certainly is the girlier of the two. She's also the one who's interested in having a kid and appears to do most of the cooking and cleaning when she and Kima are together.
Marla Daniels
Played by: Maria Broom
The game is rigged. But you cannot lose if you do not play.
The wife of Cedric Daniels, she is an ambitious woman with a keen political eye. She spent years trying to support the career of Daniels and help guide him to the top of police hierarchy, but that fizzles out as Daniels increasingly comes to terms with the fact that he doesn't have the stomach for ladder climbing and political games and would rather dedicate himself to the job of what a policeman should be: a guardian of the city. As Cedric's ambition dies down so does their marriage, and Marla decides to live out her ambitions for herself by running in a city election when the two separate.
- Ambition Is Evil: Not necessarily evil per se, more amoral, but ambition is her defining trait and to satisfy it she recommends practical, if amoral choices. She also cites ambition as being the chief trait that first attracted her to Daniels, but his ambition has since given way to his conscience.
- Amicable Exes: With Cedric, after their separation. He's still willing to put his own private life on hold to support her political aspirations, and she's still willing to give him honest advice on difficult matters.
- Brutal Honesty: Surprisingly enough for someone so focused on politics and social climbing, she seems to be a fan of this. At a debate with her opponent Eunetta Perkins it's Marla who flat out tells the voters what is true but they don't want to hear, despite the potential for losing votes, while Eunetta plays to the crowd and promises them anything. She also seems to approve of Colvin being honest in a town hall meeting rather than talking about matters in a politically smart and safe manner.
- Dead Sparks: Her relationship with Cedric has become this by the start of the show, and it doesn't take too much for them to drift apart for good. She does actually suggest giving their relationship another try at one point, but he gently says it's just not going to work.
- Honest Advisor: Played rather cynically, as her honest advice is tailored to the dirty and corrupt world of Baltimore politics, and thus often consists of advising people to make compromises with their integrity or do what they have to to get ahead.
- Iron Lady
- Social Climber
- Vicariously Ambitious: At first she seems dedicated to helping Cedric advance himself, and only looks to do the work of social climbing for herself when he announces he has come to care more about good casework than trying to become top dog in a horrifically dysfunctional and broken police department.
Elena McNulty
Played by: Callie Thorne
I don't trust you. I can care about you, and I can want us to be friends, and if you give me enough time, Jimmy, I can actually want you to be happy. But how the hell am I supposed to trust you?
A real estate agent and the ex-wife of Jimmy McNulty. They met in college, and her becoming pregnant was what prompted Jimmy to drop out of college and join the BPD. They separated before the start of the show, and season 1 finds them in the midst of a sometimes bitter divorce and child custody battle. This becomes less bitter over time, and as Jimmy gradually realizes that his efforts aren't going to result in them getting back together. In later seasons, she and Jimmy even become somewhat friendly again.
- Amicable Exes: Very much averted in the first season, but in late seasons the interactions between Jimmy and Elena become much less charged and more affable. When she encounters him when he's gotten himself together with Beadie and has his drinking and other bad habits under control, you can see a look in Elena's eyes that seems to all but say "Now that's the man I first fell in love with."
- Armor-Piercing Question: Her line to Jimmy about how she's ever supposed to trust him, as seen in her quote above. It finally destroys Jimmy's stubborn hope of them getting back together, and helps instigate one of Jimmy's most impressive and self-destructive drinking binges. (The one where he crashes his car twice in the same place.)
- Demoted to Extra: Much like Cheryl, starting in season 3 her screentime goes way downhill, resulting in her being in only 1 or 2 episodes per season.
- Good Parents: She's much better at being a parent than Jimmy is and much more considerate of the boys.
- Sex with the Ex: Does this once with Jimmy, but because she feels she cannot trust him and his vices are always about to get the better of him, she decides not to go any further towards a reunion.
- Women Are Wiser: Not that it's hard to be wiser than Jimmy...
Shardene Innes
Played by: Wendy Grantham
He seemed like he was different.
A stripper working at Orlando's, the "gentleman's club" that operates as a front for the Barksdales. She's more or less completely uninvolved in The Game, and only works at the bar, spending time with the men who sit there drinking... as long as they keep buying drinks and tipping, that is. She begins a relationship with D'Angelo and even moves in with him, but is infuriated when Kima and Lester reveal that a group of the Barksdale lieutenants let a friend and co-worker of hers die unattended of an overdose at a party they had, and promptly moves back out and helps the MCU get some badly needed info to help put Avon away. During the investigation she grows close to Lester and remains in a relationship with him throughout the rest of the series.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Shardene poses one to Dee after finding out her friend was found in a dumpster."Do I look like trash to you? Do I look like the kind of girl you wrap in a carpet and throw in the trash?"
- Birds of a Feather: This is part of what first draws her toward D'Angelo, both of them are more empathetic and sensitive souls than the people they work with and find themselves surrounded by, and both of them long to escape the world they live in. A similar sort of kindness and bonding over Lester's dolls and dollhouse furniture is the first sign that relationship will bud between those two.
- Demoted to Extra: Appears again all of twice after the end of the first season, once in the second season and then not again until almost the very end of the very last episode.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Is nearsighted and wears huge granny glasses, likely received for free or nearly so from some charity. She gets a "corrected vision" (either surgery or contact lenses) courtesy of the BPD.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Well, she's not exactly a hooker, but the trope is close enough in spirit.
- Innocent Bystander: Despite working mere feet away from the heart and command center of Baltimore's most powerful and deadly drug empire, she's completely uninvolved in the game and while she realizes that the true owners of Orlando's aren't exactly legit, she didn't know just how deep into the Game they were.
- May–December Romance: Lester is at least old enough to be her father, but the two forge a long lasting and successful relationship together.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The fates of Avon, Stringer, and everyone within the Barksdale empire might have been very different if Wee-bey, Stinkum, and the others had just treated a stripper with a little more respect and tried to help her when she started having an OD...
- Neutral No Longer: Goes from being a bystander unaffiliated with either criminals or the cops, (aside from a relationship with D'Angelo where they both discuss leaving their current lives behind them) to being willing to risk her life to help the cops get information on the Barksdale empire in the wake of her friend's death.
- Nice Girl: Discussed in universe, as Kima and Lester say that there's something about her, some quality that shows up in her picture that makes them think she'll be the best person from Orlando's to talk to.
- Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Says something like this when Kima and Lester ask her to come with them. This is a sign of her innocence and relative naivety, as pretty much everyone else knows better than to deal with the police without a lawyer present.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man:
- The reason why she liked D'Angelo was because he was as empathetic and sensitive as she is.
- Shardene gets together with Lester because of his kind nature.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Not only does she play a key role in the first season investigation, but because of her help the group is able to put away Avon but not Stringer, leading to the gulf that grows between those two, planting the seeds that eventually leads to their final falling out, the death of Stringer and the final collapse of the Barksdale empire. Damn.
Michael and Sean McNulty
Played by: Antonio Cordova and Eric G Ryan
The two young sons of Jimmy and Elena.
- Morality Pets: For Jimmy, not that he does everything he can or should to take good care of them.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Averted. It's a bit shocking when, after not having seen them for quite awhile, they appear in later seasons and the little boys we knew are gone and they're now in their early teens.
- Sibling Rivalry: There's a mild and realistic older brother tends to lord over the younger brother vibe between them.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Not as bad as many cases of this, but two little kids who apparently often employ police procedures to tail a target and find out information about them will give a normal person pause. Bunk does a downplayed What the Hell, Hero? when he finds out about Jimmy using them to spy on Stringer, but Jimmy is oblivious as he so often is.
Miscellaneous Characters
Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh
Played by: Doug Olear
We may be assholes, but on the upside, there's an awful lot of us.
A special agent with the FBI, he's an old friend and major ally of Jimmy McNulty. In the first season he inspires McNulty to use modern electronic surveillance against the Barksdale organization by showing live surveillance during the bust of a drug production ring. He tells Jimmy it would be the last major bureau drug investigation in Baltimore because they are shifting resources to counter-terrorism.
- Butt-Monkey: His lack of familiarity about how two cars should be placed during an unofficial meeting in the middle of nowhere - with adjacent driver's windows - is turned into a Running Gag at his expense by Jimmy and Lester, who joins in the joke eventually.
- Cowboy Cop: His extracurricular, personal assistance is not sanctioned or known by the bosses most of the time. In season 3, he expedites a wiretap by registering Stringer Bell as a homeland security threat named "Ahmed". He fears that he will end in "fucking Montana" if he's ever found out.
- FBI Agent: FBI agent working from the Baltimore field office.
- Friend on the Force: Jimmy usually goes to him for assistance because the overwhelming resources and prowess of the Bureau make him a real law enforcer working for a real agency, unlike the guys from the Baltimore Police Department.
- Knight in Sour Armor: He's not very happy with the The War on Terror monopolizing the resources of the FBI and is bitter about it. Still finds the time and need to help McNulty with the so called war on drugs.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Regularly goes out of his way to help the struggling BPD. He even apologizes to Daniels as he reveals that a greater success in the Sobotka case was prevented by a mole inside the FBI, and later makes up for it.
Kristos Koutris
Played by: Tom Mardirosian
An FBI agent in league with The Greeks. The Greek himself at least occasionally acts as an informant to Koutris.
- FBI Agent: Of the corrupt variety, trading info with a criminal cartel. Or at least, that's how it appears to the Baltimore PD and lower-ranking FBI agents like Fitzhugh. Koutris is a part of the counterrorism branch, which has a secret protection deal with the Greek.
- The Mole: He promptly alerts The Greek of any direct action against him from the law. Zigzagged in that his bosses are aware of this and knowingly use the Greek as an informant in the War on Terror.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Appears briefly in 3 episodes, he's the reason The Greek doesn't get caught in season 2, and will probably never be caught.
Brother Mouzone
Played by: Michael Potts
"Good day to you sir."
Let me be emphatic: You need to take your black ass across Charles Street where it belongs.
A hitman from New York hired by Avon Barksdale in season 2 to intimidate rival dealers working for Proposition Joe into leaving Barksdale turf, due to Avon not knowing that Stringer has secretly cut a deal with Prop Joe that makes the two organizations unlikely allies. After he is all too successful at driving off Prop Joe's dealers and puts the alliance and emerging Co-op in trouble, Stringer Bell sets him up by telling Omar that it was Brother Mouzone who tortured Brandon and where to find him. Omar seriously wounds Brother, but as the two men talk Omar realizes Stringer lied to him and gets medical attention for the wounded Mouzone.
- Affably Evil: Very much, saying "Good day to you sir" after kicking "Mister" Cheese's ass is a must.
- Badass Bookworm: He inspires fear and respect in the entire Baltimore drug organization, with good reason, despite his small stature, bow tie and glasses, devotion to Harper's magazine, and frequent use of big words and carefully crafted sentences.Puddin: All damn day, he just sit there, reading. And damned if those East Side bitches don't stay away.
Bodie: That's real muscle, right there.
Puddin: True that. - Badass in a Nice Suit: Possibly the epitome of this trope. Not only does he wear an immaculate three-piece suit at all times (with a very sensibly-sized handgun underneath), but also Nerd Glasses and a little red bowtie. But do not underestimate his ability to fuck you up.
- Beleaguered Boss: Mouzone has a resigned patience for Lamar and there is no ill will nor hostility between them, but his sidekick exasperates him most of the time.
- Big Applesauce: New York City is his home turf, but he comes down to Baltimore as a hired gun.
- Cultured Warrior: When he's not working as a ruthless killer-for-hire, he's reading intellectual magazines like The Nation and Harper's.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a very dry sense of humor when he's in the mood for it, always delivered in the same tone as all his dialogue.Brother Mouzone: Is there an alley entrance?
Omar: Boarded up on both sides. We gonna have to go through the front.
Brother Mouzone: That's a change for you, isn't it - Dissonant Serenity: The guy is always speaking and behaving in a perfectly calm and methodical manner, even as he threatens people or lies seriously wounded after Omar has shot him.
- The Dreaded: To anyone who does their research like Prop Joe. To the extent that Joe not only refuses to let his nephew try and take revenge for Brother shooting him (knowing that whoever he sends won't be coming back) but also refuses to set a bounty on his head for fear of Brother hearing about it and hunting Joe down.
- Enemy Mine: He eventually teams up with Omar to kill Stringer Bell. The two are opposites in many ways, and make it clear that they don't exactly like each other, but they do understand each other and dealing with Stringer comes first for them.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first scene as enforcer
; he politely debriefs Mister Cheese, emphatically asks him to move his ass back where it belongs, calmly gives him a bullet for his troubles, says goodbye and then continues about his reading business. - Even Evil Has Loved Ones: "Loved one" is a real stretch, but after Omar shoots him, his first thought is to inquire about the health of his Dumb Muscle bodyguard Lamar.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Despite being a cold-blooded hitman who's implied to view homosexuality with distaste, he's one of the few characters who ever opposes Omar without using homophobic slurs, and even chides Lamar for doing so.
- When Omar accuses him of playing a part in Brandon's absolutely horrific torture and murder, Brother Mouzone simply comments that what happened to Brandon "isn't my style".
- Face Death with Dignity: Even though he survives the confrontation with Omar, his behavior still says it all. Lying seriously wounded with Omar looming over him, preparing to finish him off, Mouzone just calmly tells him that he has made his peace with God and really doesn't mind dying.
- Foil: Lamar, his Dumb Muscle and affably patronized sidekick.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: His glasses really brings out his ice-cold gaze.
- Holy Hitman: Implied to be a member of the Nation of Islam, but the stance on drugs of this collective casts some doubts about his official membership.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Stringer Bell tries to set this up between him and Omar, hoping to at least get rid of one them in the attempt. It backfires spectacularly when both of them realize that they were set up by Stringer, and they instead decide to team up and kill him.
- Little Useless Gun: Discussed during Brother and Omar's alleyway standoff.
- Malcolm Xerox: To the point that Cheese initially thinks he's a recruiter from the Nation of Islam until he gets a very rude surprise in the form of a bullet to the shoulder.
- Meaningful Name: His name is fairly clearly a variation on the Arabic mawzūn, meaning "balanced; judicious; careful." The man is nothing if not these things. He also shares his surname with a real life Baltimore hitman mentioned in David Simon's early book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. The real Mouzone, however, was eventually imprisoned.
- Not Afraid to Die: He is utterly without fear when he is at Omar's mercy and has already been shot. When Omar asks Mouzone if he wants to know why Omar is there to kill him, Mouzone nonchalantly responds "Not particularly" and later when Mouzone denies being part of Brandon's torture and murder, Omar says that he's "Lying to live", and Mouzone calmly replies that "I'm at peace with my God. Do what you will."
- Outdated Outfit: Lampshading the fact that the archetype he represents, while real, was pretty much extinct by the time The '80s came around. The outfit is just as archaic as the character.
- Pet the Dog: After being shot by Omar, his first question is about whether Omar, Kimmy and Tosha killed his assistant Lamar. Omar tells that Lamar is just resting, and Mouzone reacts to it with a smile.
- Professional KillerProp Joe: You think I'm gonna send any of my people up against Brother?! Shit, that nigga got more bodies on him than a Chinese cemetery.
- Put on a Bus: Twice, first after being shot by Omar and then he finally disappears after helping Omar murder Stringer and is never seen again; presumably he returns to New York.
- Scary Black Man: While he may not look very imposing, his absolute fearlessness and complete calm when killing more than make up for it.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!, Screw the Money, This Is Personal!: While Brother is a paid assassin, he also only takes work from people whose reputation he trusts. When Stringer Bell visits him in the hospital after Mouzone had been shot by Omar, Mouzone realizes Bell set him up, and absolves his contract with the Barksdales, and when he later returns to take revenge, he reminds Avon that he took the job on Avon's word and reputation. Brother is unmoved by Stringer's last attempts at buying his way out of trouble.
- Shrouded in Myth: Has a reputation that makes even drug kingpins fearful of crossing him. When Cheese demands they try to kill him, Prop Joe launches into a tale of a whole group of hardened heavy hitters that failed to kill him.
- Also, he may or may not be the the man who killed The Notorious B.I.G. (his strange manner of dress is apparently based on eyewitness accounts of Biggie's shooternote ).
- Sophisticated as Hell: He always speaks in a very formal and polite manner. He has no problems with being crude if the situation calls for it though:Mouzone: Am I correct in assuming that you are not employed by Mr. Barksdale?
Cheese: Hell, yeah!
Mouzone: Because, if that is the case, then I have to insist that you leave.
Cheese: (to one of his henchmen) This nigga serious?
Mouzone: Let me be emphatic: You need to take your black ass across Charles Street where it belongs. - The Stoic: Statues are more emotive than he is.
- Trick Bullet: Brother's Walther PPK comes loaded with two types of rounds; a less-lethal plastic pellet rat round at the top of the magazine for a warning shot, personally customized copper-jacketed hollow points after that.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: "Best Buds" is maybe a stretch, but as patronizing as he is to Lamar, Brother Mouzone does care about his well-being.
- Wicked Cultured: He prefers intellectual reading material and is never seen without a suit and tie.
- Worthy Opponent: Him and Omar's interactions makes it clear that despite them being opposite in many ways they also recognize each other as kindred spirits, and they quickly gain a lot of mutual respect for each other. So much so they eventually decide to put aside their animousity and focus on the real threat towards them both; Stringer Bell.Mouzone: I see you favor a .45.
Omar: Tonight I do. And I keeps one in the chamber, in case you pondering... Nice show piece you got there.
Mouzone: Walther PPK. .380. Double action.
Omar: Hear them Walthers like to jump some.
Mouzone: As will you, with one in your elbow.
Omar: That gun ain't got enough firepower to make my joint useless. It definitely won't stop me from emptying out half my mag.
Mouzone: You might not hit me.
Omar: This range? And this caliber? Even if I miss, I can't miss.
Mouzone: (smiles) I admire a man with confidence.
Omar: I don't see no sweat on your brow neither, bro.
Lamar
Played by: DeAndre McCullough
You see that. I ain't even stepped inside the joint yet and you're calling me a cocksucker already
Assistant/bodyguard/sidekick of Brother Mouzone.
- Animal Lover: He is shown to have a soft for animals, or at least dogs. While on surveillance Omar sees Lamar pampering passing dogs, so he has Kimmy and Tosha bring a dog to the scene. While Lamar is distracted making friends with the animal, Omar comes up from behind and knocks him out.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: It's hard not to feel a little redundant when part of your job is being a bodyguard for a notoriously efficient mob assassin.
- Bumbling Sidekick: He's assigned with menial, recurrent tasks and half the time he can't even do them half-right. His main contribution is just being there so Mouzone has somebody to deliver his witty remarks to.
- Butt-Monkey: A constant target of disparaging remarks and unfavorable situations.
- Dumb Muscle: Not very bright, and Mouzone often patronizes him.
- Calling Me a Logarithm: As quoted, a bit confused on the meaning of the word "homophobia"
- Foil: A large, muscular, not too bright/worldly contrast to his slim, average sized, intelligent boss.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Gays disgust him.Mouzone: You're the perfect bait, Lamar. They'll see you as conflicted, your homophobia is so visceral.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Lamar is constantly exasperating Mouzone and often derided in return, but when Omar comes to shoot Brother, Mouzone's first concern is the fate of Lamar, and is happy to know that he's not dead.
- Malaproper: Lamar mistakes Mouzone's comment about his homophobia (dislike/hatred for gay people) as calling him homosexual. Despite starting with the same root, they naturally mean very different things.
- Never Heard That One Before: When Mouzone asks "You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, right?" Lamar and his other flunky look at each other wearily as the Brother answers, "A nigger with a library card", implying they have heard the remark many times.
- You, Get Me Coffee: Brother Mouzone often assigns him trivial tasks, like buying intellectual magazines and newspapers.
Dennis "Cutty" Wise
Played by: Chad L. Coleman
"The Game ain't in me no more. None of it"
Whatever it is in you that let you flow like you flow, and do your thing? It ain't in me no more.
Introduced during his last days in prison, Cutty was a notorious soldier and enforcer in the drug game who served 14 years for murder. Although he is reluctant to get involved with The Game again, Avon attempts to recruit him before he leaves jail, and when he has difficulty adjusting to life outside prison he agrees to soldier for the Barksdale organization. However he soon finds that he doesn't have the killer instinct and urge needed in him any more, and leaves.
- Badass Decay: Deconstructed in-universe after quitting the game.Slim: B, he was a man in his time, you know?
Avon: He a man today, he a man. - Boxing Battler: Although it's downplayed, he has a few scenes where he shows how much damage a guy with his size and physique could do in a fist fight once it's combined with his in-depth boxing knowledge.
- Chick Magnet: Many of the women can't get over how handsome he is.
- Death Glare: Gives Fruit a devastating one. It's all Fruit can do to not pack his pants.
- Demoted to Extra: He's a fairly major character in the third and fourth seasons but his role in the final season is reduced to one short scene in which he gives Dukie some advice.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Manages to navigate through a minefield of temptations and situations that could get him killed or land him back in jail to run a successful boxing academy and find some peace.
- Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age: He learns Revolvers Are Just Better no longer applies; now sheer firepower is more important than a reliable weapon.
- Foil: Dennis' story paralleled that of String. String got conned by politicians and contractors. Dennis was helped by legitimate and good people.
- Handsome Lech: For a while. Eventually he grows into more of a Chivalrous Pervert because the women he's sleeping and flirting with are mostly the single mothers of his students, which naturally hurts his reputation with the boys he's trying to teach and puts tension into his relationships with them. Soon after he is called out on it by Michael he settles down with a real girlfriend.
- Heel–Face Turn: "The game ain't in me no more".
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he may have a brutal and selfish past, some of which lingers in his actions after he is released from prison, Cutty is genuine about helping youths avoid the game through his gym and goes out of his way to steer them clear of trouble.
- Mentor: He becomes a boxing coach once he detaches himself from the game.
- Mirror Character: Has this dynamic with Pryzbylewski; both of them left the Game from opposite sides and could not be anymore different in terms of background and culture but ultimately, they have to try and educate the next generation in their own ways: Prez in the classroom and Cutty in the gym.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Specifically by Michael. "He just too friendly, you know? That shit creep me out, man, like he some type of faggot or something." This has more to do with Michael than with Cutty. It's very strongly implied that Michael was molested by his stepfather, and since Cutty serves as a father figure to him, Michael doesn't know how to respond to Cutty's kindness.
- Mistaken for Subculture: After trying to get Michael off the corner, Dennis is shot in the leg. While in the emergency room, a nurse who looked at his medical records thinks he is an active drug dealer who was shot during criminal activity. Later when she asks Colvin if he's there to arrest Dennis, Colvin set her straight. Dennis is later shown to be dating the nurse.
- Parental Substitute: Acts as a father figure to the boys who come to his boxing gym.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Objects to Sapper and Gerard beating a guy to death... because then he won't be able to pay them the money he owes. This also becomes one of the many reasons he doesn't fit in with the drug game anymore: before he went to jail the whole thing ran on pragmatic villainy, now everyone is just out to screw each other over without a thought for the long term.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Subverted. Initially it looks like his efforts to go straight will be thwarted by bureaucracy and lack of means, but with the aid of the Deacon and Avon he manages to start up a successful boxing gym.
- Reformed Criminal: A former compatriot of Avon Barksdale, he is nicknamed "Cutty" for his long spell in the eponymous Baltimore prison. Upon his release, he reservedly tries to get back into "the game", but finds the criminal culture he has returned to is now too brutal to be comfortable with. He eventually resolves to go straight and sets up a boxing gym for boys (though he does have to ask Avon for the cash to do so).
- Retired Badass: Dennis stared down a known drug dealer.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: He is a bit taken aback when he is encouraged by Slim Charles to use a semi-automatic, stating his preference for the trusty .38 revolver, as it "don't jam". Slim Charles retorts that it might be the case, but a revolver doesn't hold 15 shots, and these days it is volume rather than making your shots count, that gives you an edge in a street shoot-out.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Multiple women become attracted to him largely due to his sincere desire to help the troubled youth of the neighborhood through his gym. It leads to some friction when those women are said youth's single mothers.
- That Man Is Dead: After going straight, he preferred being called Dennis instead of Cutty.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Has a particularly unnerving one, and puts it to good use on a few occasions. The man's clearly seen some stuff in his time.
- Would Hit a Girl: If that's the only way to get her to talk about her dealer boyfriend who's stealing money from the Barksdales.
- You Can't Go Home Again: A large part of his story arc after being released from prison is about this. He's ambivalent about going back into the Game, but can't find much outside of it. His old friends and girlfriend have all moved on, are dead, or destroyed their lives. When he goes back to the Game, he finds he doesn't fit in there, as there's no longer even a semblance of good faith in transactions, and the ranks are staffed either with guys like Bodie (who Cutty can literally remember in diapers) or incompetents. Even when he decides to leave the Game for good, his old girlfriend makes it clear that while she wishes him the best, she's not interested in him anymore. He literally has to start a new life from square one.
Grace Sampson
Played by: Dravon James
Cutty's girlfriend before he was sentenced to prison. Having managed to escape the life of the streets for a teaching position, she's disinterested in reviving the relationship, but she helps him move forward with his life. As the head teacher for eight graders at Edward Tilghman Middle School, she commands the respect and fear of the students. She's a valuable mentor to an overwhelmed Pryzblewski as he tries to gain his bearings as a teacher.
- Amicable Exes: Initially one-sided, but when Cutty runs into again at Tilghman he's much happier about how they split ways.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Much more supportive of Colvin's experiment than Donnelly, and she comes in handy when Prez is in over his head as a new teacher.
- Stern Teacher: Students are quick to behave when she enters a room.
The Deacon
Played by: Melvin Williams
A good church man is always up in everybody's shit. It's how we do.
A well connected West Side church figure involved in many community projects. He plays a role in helping various figures over the course of seasons 3 and 4, including helping Dennis "Cutty" Wise get his boxing gym up and running, helping Colvin to first improve the atrocious state of Hamsterdam and later to be able to do the study of inner city school kids that Colvin takes part in during season 4.
- The Conscience: Gives Colvin a What the Hell, Hero? because Hamsterdam has been conceived as a wild zone that needs some regulation, safety messures and social assistance.
- Cool Old Guy: The Deacon is an elder gentleman both looked up to and sought out for counsel by senior police officers, respected politicians, and feared ex-gangsters alike. And more often than not, they take his advice.
- Hustling the Mark: the Deacon is shown to indulge in a bit of Pool hustling in his free time.
- Meta Casting: Melvin Williams, a former gangster arrested by Ed Burns, is one of the inspirations of Avon Barksdale.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A pillar of the community.
- Sophisticated as HellA good church man is always up in everybody's shit.
David Parenti
Played by: Dan DeLuca
Doctor and professor of sociology at the University of Maryland with a special interest in repeat violent offenders. After receiving a grant from the university for a pilot study aimed at reducing this behavior, he plans to target 18-21 year olds and enlists Howard Colvin as an assistant. The former cop convinces him that they should focus on younger teenagers.
- Admiring the Abomination: Shows traces of fascination towards sociopathic specimens.
- Bookworm: An academic who is out of touch with the street reality. Colvin needs to give him a reality check by showing that 18+ year old boys are too hardened for the study.
- Hot-Blooded: Downplayed, but when others challenge him about things like the purpose of his study, the methods it uses, etc., Parenti's first instinct seems to be to angrily retort and get in their face instead of using tact and diplomacy. On a few occasions this means that he becomes a detriment to his own cause.
- It's All About Me: To a degree. He seems enthusiastic about the potential to reform education while immersed in the study itself. But his conversation with Colvin as the study winds down gives Colvin the sense that he cares more about it being a credential for himself in the publish or perish world of academia. Further confirmed when he gives a public presentation on his findings. Colvin shakes his head in disgust, and quietly leaves.
- Naïve Newcomer: He is extremely naive about the truths of street life, and doesn't anticipate how much it hardens people and how young. He's very much a well meaning but completely out of touch academic.
- The Professor: Doctor and professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Colvin needs translation from the Deacon after hearing things such as:We're looking for a specific target group to inoculate, epidemiologically speaking [...] A liaison operating in the, urban environment.
Marcia Donnelly
Played by: Tootsie Duvall
The Assistant Principal of Edward J. Tilghman Middle School, Donnelly's job is to keep the chaos of the school to a minimum and protect Principal Withers while he focuses on dealing with the school board and parents.
- Apathetic Teacher: More world-weary than uncaring, but she's got traces of it.
- Cutting Corners: Frequently, to save the budget. Without a truant officer in a decade, she keeps custodian positions open so they can round up absentee students.
- Hyper-Awareness: Teacher version. Despite being the Assistant Principal in a school that serves hundreds, if not thousands of kids, she nonetheless seems to know the vast majority by name and appearance, knows details about them all, and is wise to all their tricks, hustles, and games.
- Not So Stoic: Even she's alarmed when Randy tells her about Lex's murder.
- Number Two: Like many other deputies on the show, she handles far more of the details and day-to-day operations, putting her more in touch with what is going on than the nominal head of the organization.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: She plays the numbers game well to keep the school's funding. Prez is discouraged from deviating from the core curriculum and Cutty is told he's only supposed to grab certain kids once a month rather than go through the effort of bringing them to school every day.
- The Stoic: Barely raises an eyebrow when a student gets slashed in the face.
Bruce Di Biago
Played by: Keith Flippen
My great-grandfather was a knife sharpener. Pushed a grinding stone up Preston Street to Alice Ann, one leg shorter than the other from pumping the wheel. And since he didn’t want his sons to push the goddamn thing, he made sure my grandfather finished high school and my old man went to any college that would take him.
A fancy, high-priced lobbyist hired by Frank Sobotka to drum up political support for dredging the canal. His great-grandfather was an uneducated labourer, and the family has steadily climbed the socioeconomic ladder ever since.
- Briefcase Full of Money: Frank paid him from a shoebox full of loose bills in his desk drawer.
- Foil: He represents the bright side of the The American Dream for immigrants; his family achieved it by having every generation strive to surpass the previous one, pursuing higher education and moving away from their working-class roots; unlike the stevedores who passed down blue collar union jobs from father to son.
- Ivy League for Everyone: It's mentioned that his oldest son is a student at Princeton.
- Necessarily Evil: Frank views employing Bruce as a case of this, a bit of Dirty Business that is required to bring about a good outcome. He hates that he needs a rich guy in a suit on his side to be taken seriously, and is pretty open in his contempt for Bruce and the social circles that Bruce moves in.
- Nouveau Riche: His great-grandfather was an uneducated laborer, his father was the first in the family to graduate college. Bruce works in a highly paid white collar job rubbing shoulders with bigwigs and political power players, and which makes him wealthy enough to send his son to the Ivy League while Bruce is part of shaping city and state politics.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Frank becomes politically toxic after his arrest Bruce bails on him, but he does have the decency to meet Frank in person (which he notes is risky for him), one last time with some final bits of advice and to tell Frank what he's doing face to face instead of simply ghosting his former partner.
- Selective Obliviousness: He had to at least suspect that the money Frank was paying him with wasn’t legit but he didn’t want to ask questions.
- Social Climber: Not so much himself, but his family has steadily done this over the course of generations; do whatever was needed to climb higher and higher from their poor working class roots and leaving behind the things that wouldn't help them do so. While Bruce insists that his son will do whatever his son wants with his life, Franks is dubious and thinks that Bruce will change his tune real quick if the son doesn't get into a field that makes good money and continues the family's social climb.
- The Social Expert: With politics, at least. Bruce guides a rough and uncomfortable Frank into expanding the number of politicians who are allies of the union and can be counted on to support revitalizing the docks.
William Gant
Played by: Larry Hull
A state's witness in the murder trial of D'Angelo Barksdale.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Despite knowing the dangers of testifying against a lieutenant of a major criminal empire and clearly being nervous to do it, he steps up and gives honest testimony. He is murdered before the end of the episode as a result.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His murder becomes a prime motivation for McNulty and Phelan to push the police into doing a proper investigation of the Barksdales.
- Small Role, Big Impact: After a brief part in a single episode he's killed offscreen by Bird. This sets up the downfall of the Barksdale empire, as Jimmy takes offense and starts making even bigger waves that make the news and can no longer be ignored.
Devar Manigault
Played by: Cyrus Farmer
Michael Lee's stepfather (more accurately, he's Raylene's domestic partner, since he never married her), and Bug's father. He gets out of jail in Season 4, coming back into Michael's life, to his horror.
- Ambiguous Situation: Due to his Offscreen Villainy, there's a lot about Devar that isn't clear.
- The exact nature of his sexual abuse of Michael is not known, especially since Michael never truly talks to anyone about it. Bunk does eventually tell Michael that he understands why the boy would want Devar dead after what he did, which shows that the police were aware of the sexual abuse at the least.
- It is also not known if he got to abusing Bug at any point, though that one appears not to be the case given Bug's lack of fear of his father, though it's also possible Bug simply doesn't understand he's being abused if it's happening.
- Bad Liar: He denies abusing Michael and Bug when Chris confronts him about it, though Devar admitting to committing Prison Rape shortly after would cast a lot of doubt on that, even if Chris didn't already know the truth.
- Child Abuse Is a Special Kind of Evil: Michael's biggest fear from Devar is the chance he will abuse Bug in a similar way that Michael was. It's the desire to protect Bug that he turns to Marlo to get rid of Devar, instead of fear for himself.
- Depraved Bisexual: The worst kind. While he presents himself as straight and dating a woman, he will sexually abuse men in prison or boys he lives with just because he can.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: Despite being a heinous predator, Raylene tries to look for him when he doesn't come back late and Bug still appears to love him and not be afraid of him.
- Hate Sink: Among the worst in the series. A predatory rapist and child abuser, he is the lowest of the low. Even Bunk when investigating his murder calls him a "baby-bumping motherfucker".
- Karma Houdini: A Freeze-Frame Bonus when Bunk is reading Devar's file shows that the Child Services investigation closed because Michael (possibly under pressure from Raylene) was uncooperative. He went to jail for some other crime with a sentence that Michael thought was going to be much longer but he gets out in what seems to be at least a decade earlier than expected. Michael finally gets sick of him getting away with everything and goes in debt with Marlo Stanfield to get rid of him.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After getting away with child molestation, getting out early from some other crime that carried a harsh sentence, and likely Prison Rape, Devar is beaten to death by Chris and his body thrown into a vacant not long after coming back home.
- Offscreen Villainy: All his evil acts are only talked about and never seen, especially given the series' unwillingness to use flashbacks. The viewer would never know he was a sexually abusive monster if not for how others reacted to being around him.
- Necessarily Evil: This is how Raylene sees him. Despite knowing that her partner is molesting her son, to her the alternative is being homeless because no one is helping pay the bills.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He ends up on the receiving end of a fatal one from Chris. It's the only kill by Chris that is passionate in nature.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: His sexual abuse of Michael is treated as a heinous and unforgiveable act that makes him worthy of being murdered. Additionally, when confronted by Chris, he also seems to admit that he participated in Prison Rape while incarcerated and expresses no remorse, saying "man's gotta bust his nut".
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in three episodes in Season 4, but his return causes Michael to turn to Marlo's people to kill him, and in turn puts Michael in debt to the Stanfield Organization, becoming one of it's most valuable soldiers. It's also his murder by Chris that the police use to charge the enforcer with the crime and put him in jail for life near the end of Season 5.
- Wicked Stepmother: A rare male version of the trope, towards Michael. The reasons for that should be very obvious.
- Would Hurt a Child: He is more than willing to harm a child for his own pleasure.
Fredo Braddock
A state's witness murdered in Season 4.
- Not Me This Time: His death is unrelated to gang wars or drug violence.
- Posthumous Character: He's just another victim.
- Suspect Is Hatless: He was able to convey that his killer was "a guy with a gun".
- Small Role, Big Impact: The death of a state witness becomes a major issue during the primaries.Norris: So our guy's dead because a bullet misses a bleach bottle, and this fuck Carcetti gets to be the mayor behind this stupidity. I fucking love this town.
Snot Boogie
Mcnulty: If you knew that he was gonna steal at the end of the games, why do you keep letting him play?
Witness: Got to. This America, man.
Real name Omar Isaiah Betts. He is the first victim of the series, having been killed before the series began. His death is recounted by an anoymous witness.
- Dies Wide Open: The shots of his body show his eyes staring lifelessly.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He was killed for stealing. The witness McNulty interviews notes that this was needless, as everyone there knew Snot had a compulsion to attempt to steal the pot of the dice game, and normally whenever it happened the others playing would just kick his ass and then go back to the game.
- Establishing Series Moment: His death sets up the dynamic of The Wire's universe as an examination of "the dark corner of the American experiment".
- The Evils of Free Will: Despite him being a thief, people still let him play dice with them, on the idea that America is a free country and everyone gets an opportunity, even if you know it won't be used in the right way.
- Honor Before Reason: As stated above, Snot always robbed the dice game yet he was always allowed to play even when the players know better.
- Posthumous Character: The first dead person on the series.
The Governor of Maryland
The unnamed Governor of the state of Maryland. A Republican, he is almost certainly a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Bob Ehrlich in much the same way that Carcetti is based on Martin O'Malley.
in much the same way that Carcetti is based on Martin O'Malley.- Antagonistic Governor: He's the Governor of the state of Maryland and his only role in the show is to humiliate and thwart Carcetti just when it seems like Carcetti might have an actual shot to turn Baltimore around.
- Evil Is Petty: While he may not actually be evil, he certainly is petty, as he's willing to spite Carcetti and everyone in Baltimore just to score political points and stay in office.
- The Ghost: Never seen.
- Leonine Contract: The offer he makes to bail out the Baltimore schools is designed to humiliate the city, take greater control over the schools from the locals, and hurt Carcetti's chances of ever becoming a serious gubernatorial candidate. Not taking it, however, will also hurt the city and possibly sink Carcetti anyway. A furious Carcetti refuses, and it drastically changes the arc of both his character and the city over the rest of the show's run. Norman, despite having been almost as angry as Carcetti about the terms, later admits that Tommy should have swallowed his pride and taken the deal.
- No Name Given: He's just the Governor.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Snubs Carcetti and forces Tommy to wait outside his office for hours after their scheduled meeting just to get a rise out of Tommy.
- The Rival: Knows Carcetti is going to become one to him, and that Tommy will be gunning for his job sooner or later. Eventually he loses (much as Ehrlich lost to O'Malley in 2006).
- Smug Snake: Does whatever he can to humiliate Carcetti.
