Captain Jack Harkness is the man in charge at Torchwood: knowledgeable, immortal, absolutely gorgeous. Originally introduced in parent show Doctor Who, Came Back Wrong after dying, and given a spinoff because of aforementioned reasons. At his core, oscillates between Team Dad and Action Hero (we've definitely seen him be the Science Hero as well, though usually other members of the team (read: Tosh) have that down).
Age Without Youth: Albeit at a much slower rate. This is partially an Author's Saving Throw for if/when Barrowman starts to show his age, unlike the actors who work in Highlander shows.
Bi the Way: Jack is attracted to men and women, as well as non-humanoid aliens. It's stated in Doctor Who that in the 51st century almost everyone is bisexual.
Body Horror: His body regenerates layer by layer, and pops him back into consciousness as soon as he's able to live again... even if his skin isn't done regenerating yet. He does a lot of screaming at times.
Broken Ace: As the series progresses, you definitely see that Jack is having trouble dealing with the shitload of angst he's gotten handed with him.
Brought Down to Normal: In the first episode of Miracle Day, he discovers that while the rest of the world has become The Ageless, he's now mortal again. He regains his immortality by the end of Miracle Day.
But Not Too Bi: Is often interpreted as this by fans, although he just avoids emotional commitment in general. Is seen in loving, caring relationships (both romantic and casual) with men and with women. However, the fans still felt that he was "too straight", and as of 2011 he's finally shown to really open up to a partner (who happens to be male) while his attraction to women is mentioned slightly less often.
Chivalrous Pervert: Has the occasional flirt with Gwen (and jokingly invites her for a threesome), but would never come between her and Rhys. Has a snog with his ex-boyfriend in front of his fuckbuddy Ianto, but becomes monogamous for Ianto as soon as they're officially dating. Has been happily married at least once, and is still good friends with his ex-girlfriend from the 1940's, pretending to be his own son.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Was the Time Agencies top interrogator for 10 years. Considering other members included John Hart, and he is shown to do this on occasion, this is somewhat chilling.
Cursed with Awesome: after episode one of Miracle Day, it's clear how lucky he's been with his type of immortality.
Dark and Troubled Past: Quite a lot of his dark history has come back to bite him in the ass.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Jack is well aware of the sexual tension between himself and Gwen. He also goes to many lengths to make sure her relationship with Rhys succeeds.
Limited Wardrobe: Always wears some variation of a blue shirt, black trousers held up by suspenders, brown boots and an RAF greatcoat. While there was some variation in earlier series, his outfit goes completely unchanged for the duration of Miracle Day.
Loveable Sex Maniac: According to Ianto, Jack's style in bed is "innovative... bordering on the avant-garde."
Mr. Vice Guy: You'd think it would be his lust that gets him into trouble, but it's actually his brashness.
Mysterious Past: Other than his immediate family, birthplace, and former occupation, almost nothing is known about him. What is known normally isn't pretty.
No Name Given: "Jack Harkness" is not his real name, but one he stole from a World War II pilot and has used ever since.
Out of Time, Out of Mind: 1874 years of unending torture didn't seem to bother him too much. It is possible that he simply stayed dead for the duration of it, but it can't be known.
Papa Wolf: Hurt his Team and you are in for a world of pain. The Doctor has mercy. He doesn't. This is best shown on two separate occasions when he tricks a Starfish Alien in human form that manipulated Tosh via sex and emotions into teleporting into the heart of the sun. Also when his team was captured by cannibals, he performed a Big Damn Heroes with a tractor and a pump action shotgun. Also Team Dad for many the same reasons.
Total Watson and general Audience Surrogate, Welsh Gwen joining Torchwood is where the series begins. Functions as The Chick and/or The Heart, so much so that a coked-up-alien-fish calls her on it. An identical relative of one Miss Gwyneth (as the Doctor gleefully tells her, a "spatial genetic multiplicity"), which may explain her talent for using resurrection gimmicks.
Break the Cutie: While she certainly went through her fair share of hardship beforehand, Children of Earth utterly destroys any innocence she may have had left.
UST: With Jack. However, both are not only aware of it on some level, there are some things they would defy or even kill each other over regardless by Season 4.
Anything That Moves: Has a penchant for suggesting wild sex any time the world's about to end. Once propositioned Ianto and Tosh when he thought they only had a few minutes left to live. Spends a lot of time trying to find new Fuck Buddies as well as one night stands.
Bi the Way: Seduces a woman using alien pheremones in his first appearance, until her boyfriend shows up... at which point he promptly seduces him too.
Break the Cutie: Starts the series completely broken, with no sign of "cutie" left. Gradually works his way back up, only to be broken over and over again. Eventually, we catch a glimpse of what he was like before Torchwood, and it turns out that he was a genuine cutie indeed. (In fact, Adam's interpretation of him wasn't even that far off.)
Our Liches Are Different / Our Zombies Are Different: Take you pick as to which he is. He becomes either a non-magical lich or a revenant zombie. Seems to be closer to lichdom than zombiedom as his mind is about as unaffected as it can be after coming back from the dead.
Pet the Dog: Owen's introduction was uncomfortably close to date rape, when he used alien pheromones to make two people uncontrollably attracted to him. Two episodes later, he gets to experience the feelings of a woman being raped through telepathy, and promptly does a complete Heel Face Turn on the issue. In the episode "Out of Time", he actually falls in love with someone, is dumped days later, and as a result (and after a period of violent mourning) generally becomes a nicer person.
Too Spicy For Yog Sogoth: After he turns undead, Weevils are scared shitless of him, to the point they worship him like he was a god. He eventually gets Genre Savvy to this and weaponizes it.
Death personified also avoids him like the plague (he's already dead and there's nothing for it to feed on), and the Nostrovites (carnivorous shape-shifters) won't touch him because he, "smelled a bit off."
Toshiko Sato
I'm going to have to dig down into the system memory and see if I can find any remnants of deleted or temporary files. Completely illegal, of course.
Beware the Nice Ones: Her plan to get the team into the Pharm has Ianto calling her "warped on the inside". She responds by smiling happily.
Broken Bird: Was tortured by terrorists, and subsequently tortured by UNIT for seemingly cooperating with terrorists, before Jack rescued her and offered her a job.
I clear up your shit. No questions asked and that's the way you like it. When did you last ask me anything about my life?
Played by: Gareth David Lloyd (2006-09)
The Ensemble Darkhorse, due to much fan noise early on in the series. Responsible for getting the Torchwood team where they need to be, Ianto also can make a mean coffee and looks great in a suit. Started out as The Big Guy, but eventually was revealed to have a Dark and Troubled Past in his own right. Was initially part of Torchwood London and witnessed the Battle Of Canary Wharf. Becomes Jack's fuckbuddy after a while, and his exclusive boyfriend in season 2. Gets to meet the Doctor.
Bi the Way: Starts having sex with Jack halfway through season 1. They properly begin dating and become romantic in season 2. Doesn't openly identify as bisexual: it's "just Jack". (He does identify as bisexual in the novels, so that's either Depending on the Writer, or simply because Ianto lies a lot.) Feels comfortable with being Jack's boyfriend in the context of Torchwood, but quite uncomfortable with it around his family.
Noodle Incident: We never found out how he and Jack first started "dabbling".
Relationship Upgrade: His relationship with Jack has a lot of buildup: he goes from loathing Jack to shagging him in season one, from shagging him to dating him in season two, and from dating him to becoming an official couple (and out to his family) in Children Of Earth.
[Singing along] Who'd you trust to transport your goods? Harwoods! You won't be sorry with a Harwoods lorry!
Played by: Kai Owen (2006-present)
Action Survivor: When he first gets involved with Torchwood, he's not badass per se, but he is willing to do some dangerous things on Gwen's behalf.
Badass Normal: Eventually, not only does he become surprisingly desensitized to the weirdness around him, he's even willing to stand up to some of the freakier aliens. He even scares the shit out of Oswald Danes in Season 4.
Friend on the Force: Originally just for Gwen, but eventually the whole team taps him (not like that) from time to time.
Just Following Orders: The main thing that restrains him from helping Torchwood, though he finally realizes which side he's on in Children of Earth when he finds out what the government are doing.
Just Friends: With Gwen, his ex. He's quite frank about his feelings for her, but he refuses to angst about it, and manages to just become mates with Rhys.
Here's what's going to happen: everything you love, everything you treasure, will die. I'm gonna tear your world apart, Captain Jack Harkness, piece by piece. Starting now.
Jack's former boyfriend of five years, also from the 51st century. A member of the Time Police, and — like Jack used to be before meeting the Doctor — a bit of a con man. Has a flair for the dramatic and wears cowboy gear for no discernable reason. Also shares Jack's love for standing on top of buildings.
Pet the Dog: In the finale, he's shown to still love Jack and have some sense of honor. He's still amoral but not genuinely evil as he first appeared to be.
Psycho Ex Boyfriend: Subverted. He looks like he's blowing up Cardiff just so Jack will pay attention to him, but he's actually being forced into it by Gray.
Why Am I Ticking?: He ends up with a bomb strapped to him in both of his appearances.
John Frobisher
Bridget Spears: If ever you think of John Frobisher, just remember that it wasn't his fault.
Played by: Peter Capaldi (2009)
Anti-Villain: He only wanted to protect his family and do his job as best he could.
