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Characters / Warehouse 13

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The characters of Warehouse 13.

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Main Characters

    Pete Lattimer 

Played By: Eddie McClintock

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warehouse_13_pete_lattimer_eddie_mcclintock_suit_coat.jpg

A Secret Service agent, former Marine, and recovering alcoholic. Lattimer gets 'vibes' that tells him when something strange or bad is about to happen; one of these vibes warned him of his father's death when he was a child, something he has grappled wtih ever since. He's reassigned to Warehouse 13 after witnessing Artie neutralize the Aztec Bloodstone, which nobody believes actually happened. While seemingly less mature than his partner, he is still a highly competent agent.

  • Agent Mulder: To Myka's Agent Scully, though he's far more relaxed than the namesake. It has been said that he is the intuitive side of his partnership with Myka.
    • Reversed in "Past Imperfect," where Myka is the emotional, impulsive one while Pete is the methodical, logical one. Justified, as in this case Myka is investigating something personal, and Pete realizes he needs to pick up the slack.
      Myka: Pete, what are you doing?
      Pete: Well, I'm thinking like Myka. When something doesn't make sense, Myka tries to make sense of it. But not right now, because she's too emotional, which is where Pete usually is, emotional. Then I thought hey, while you're being me, I may as well be you.
  • The Alcoholic: Pete is a teetotal alcoholic, having been sober for several years at the beginning of the series. Tellingly, he shows clear signs of panic in "Merge With Caution" when Myka and he switch bodies when Myka was inebriated, fearing that this will cause him to suffer a relapse.
  • The Atoner: For his relationship-destroying alcoholism. Turns out what actually made him stop drinking was even worse: his drunk driving cost his friend both legs.
  • Berserk Button: Pete was clearly pissed off enough to want to kill the photographer with the Man Ray camera after what he did to Myka in the "Age Before Beauty" episode. It's probably safe to say messing with any member of his team will get you on Pete's bad side in short order, but hurting Myka in particular, very bad idea. It doesn't help that he mentions that the effects of this particular artifact (turning beautiful women into dying old ladies) disturbs him more than just about anything else he's seen.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Toward Claudia. Outright stated by him in "The Greatest Gift";
    Pete: I'm like your big brother, Myka is like your big sister and Artie is so much like your dad it's kinda annoying.
  • Big Eater: Pete is perpetually hungry, and if he’s not seen eating something than he’ll probably bring up wanting to eat something. When he and Myka interrogate witnesses or suspects, it's not uncommon to see him raid those people's fridges in plain sight of everyone. It actually gets him affected by an artifact at one point.
    Myka: You will eat anything, wont you?
  • Book Dumb: Mostly as a blatant excuse for other characters to make exposition dumps, he resolutely refuses to read the Warehouse training materials.
  • Catchphrase: Hey-hey-hey!
    • "I just got a really bad vibe."
  • Determinator: In "Second Chance", Pete is repeatedly punched by a boxer wielding the collective strength of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, but refuses to back down, stating that if the boxer really intends to kill someone, he has to go through him first. Also note that a side-effect of the enhanced strength inflicted whoever he hit with a rust disease, and each hit accelerated the condition.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: One had been implied for him before (mostly due to his past as The Alcoholic and his divorce from his wife), but it wasn't really elaborated on until "What Matters Most," where it was revealed that he crashed a car when he was drunk, breaking both of his friend's legs
  • Distressed Dude: Especially in the early seasons. It always seems to be Pete who makes the Heroic Sacrifice, gets whammied by an artifact, or punched out by the bad guy. He straight up dies in 'Burnout'(briefly).
  • The Gadfly: He likes to poke fun of Myka.
  • Hyper-Awareness: His vibes.
  • I See Dead People: In "We All Fall Down," Pete sees the ghost of Lena who guides him to the information he needs to find Evil!Artie.
  • Manchild: As Myka and Artie frequently point out.
  • My Greatest Failure: The one time he refused to pay attention to his vibes was the night that his father died. Pete blames himself for this, since he knows he could have warned him, but by the time he realized how bad the vibe was, it was already too late.
    • He also regrets his alcoholism and self-destructiveness leading to the breakup of his marriage to Amanda and it's part in his friends death.
  • One of the Kids: He's very immature most of the time.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Myka.
  • Pop-Cultured Badass: In contrast to Myka's Badass Bookworm.
  • Reading Lips: As revealed in the episode "Claudia", he learned to read lips because he has a deaf sister. Proved to be useful when they used an artifact to show projections of past events.
  • Recovered Addict: Several episodes keep drawing attention to the fact that Pete is a recovering alcoholic by stating it in the recap opening, but they subvert it by making the characters simply think he has when the truth is far weirder.
  • Sad Clown: Heavily implied that Pete hides a lot of his personal baggage behind a goofy sense of humour.
  • Semper Fi: He's a former Marine.
  • Spider-Sense: His "vibes". "Shadows" reveals he inherited it from his mom.
  • The Kirk: Possibly, though he usually seems more like The McCoy, but nevertheless invoked at certain times, when he signs off on the Farnsworth by saying, "Kirk out."
  • The Teetotaler: As a recovering alcoholic.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Occasionally hints at having this with Myka, though their relationship is mostly Like Brother and Sister.
    • With his ex-wife Amanda, though she's now remarried. Despite this, they're Amicable Exes and don't seem to hold any resentment.

    Myka Bering 

Played By: Joanne Kelly

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/myka.jpg

A Secret Service agent with a no-nonsense attitude and a healty dose of skepticism. Her partner (both in the romantic and professional senses), Sam Martino, was killed while protecting the President before the series began, and Myka has been grieving him since. She's assigned to Warehouse 13 along with Pete; her father owned a bookstore, and her knowledge of classic literature, history and mythology has helped save her life, and countless others, on countless occasions.

  • Action Girl: She can take on four armed Marines while unarmed herself.
  • Agent Scully: To Pete's Agent Mulder. She has a knack for detail and has been described as meticulous to Pete's intuitiveness.
    Artie: This warehouse, well look, the warehouse needs you. Pete, don't touch! It needs your combined talents. He's intuitive and you've got a scrupulous eye for detail. He's scattershot, y'see, and you're meticulous. You look and he leaps.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: She's usually the first to point out how impossible whatever weirdness they encounter is, at which point Pete reminds her what they both do for a living.
  • Badass Bookworm: Highlighted in the season 3 premiere, where she saves at least four people using her knowledge of Shakespeare plays; three of which are rescued within seconds of each other. Note that she has to do the following to save the victims: look at the page, see the pose and the name of the play, recognize the character, then recite the character's last words, which the victim must say before the page burns out. And she does it every time in less than five seconds.
  • Brainy Brunette: She's got a fairly extensive knowledge of classic literature and Shakespeare. She grew up in a bookstore.
  • Cool Big Sis: To Claudia.
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: Double subverted. In "Mild Mannered", Myka refuses to tell Pete what it is at first, and finally reveals it to be the rather nice-sounding Ophelia, in a hilarious conversation:
    Myka: It's Ophelia, okay? Like from Hamlet. Yes, Ophelia, let the mocking commence.
    Pete: Ophelia. That's kinda... beautiful. (pause) Can Ophelia boobies? Oh, snap!
  • Failure Knight: She thinks so anyway, as of the season 2 finale.
  • Friendly Enemy: With H. G. Wells, who started out trying to be the evil Obi-Wan to her Luke Skywalker. It evolved into something akin to Love Redeems.
  • Genre Savvy: One of Myka's main areas of expertise as a Warehouse agent is her extensive knowledge of history, literature and languages, a result of her upbringing as a bookstore owner's daughter.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: In her first case back with the Warehouse just before she was let off of probation, she shot a one inch garbage disposal switch from twenty feet away.
    • Also, in the season 3 finale, Myka manages to shoot Cecil B. DeMille's riding crop out of Sykes's hand with a Tesla. Note that in "Love Sick", Teslas have been described as hard to aim, due to them being unconventional ray guns.
    • In "Fractures", she disarms Alice - who is in a fireman's body - by shooting an axe she was holding.
  • In-Series Nickname: Pete calls her 'Mykes'.
  • Mama Bear: At least, Pete thinks she would be in "No Pain, No Gain" when she subdues a stalker using a wish-fulfillment artifact while pregnant. Although, after the artifact is neutralized, her pregnancy is undone.
  • My Greatest Failure: The death of her partner/lover, which, in "Past Imperfect", turns out to have been artifact-related.
  • Omniglot: Myka understands and speaks a very wide range of languages, including Arabic, Portuguese, Greek, among others. To Myka's dismay, it still constantly surprises the team whenever she displays this knowledge.
  • Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: It's been shown multiple times that Myka doesn't know much about pop culture, including thinking that "Stairway to Heaven" was written by The Rolling Stones, and mistaking Spider-Man for Batman.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: While she's not bad looking to begin with, in "The Big Snag", she looks absolutely stunning when they go back to the Indigo Club and dress nice to blend in.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: In the season 3 premiere.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: As of "Mild Mannered", she's a "Twizzlers gal", after one season of claiming to not eat sugar. Lampshaded by Leena in "Trials".
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She has a mild phobia of tentacles, so of course she gets involved in a case about an artifact that once belonged to H. P. Lovecraft.

    Artie Nielsen 
Played By: Saul Rubinek
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/artie_1.jpg
  • Ancient Keeper: Though Artie isn't really all that ancient (despite Claudia's incessant teasing). And his job involves keeping the artifacts in the Warehouse, not giving them away.
  • Ambiguously Jewish: He isn't shown outright to be Jewish until the Christmas episode in the second season.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Artie is remembered by Jinks as "the guy with the eyebrows". They are promptly exaggerated in Fargo's VR game in "Don't Hate the Player".
    Pete: Artie's gonna be deeply pissed.
    • In "Insatiable," when Artie can't get the boy to open up to him, Pete remarks that "maybe it's the eyebrows."
  • The Chessmaster: Of a literal sort, as shown in "Elements". Artie has a chessboard he keeps outside his office and plays against himself for months between moves. Given how Claudia ignores his objections and makes a move half-way through the episode, and then at the end makes the first move of a re-set board, she's also on-board for having this be her role.
  • Collector of the Strange: Artie likes to take care of the things in the Warehouse, not just store them. He has a near encyclopedic knowledge of every item.
  • Cool Old Guy: It's frequently mentioned that Warehouse Agents have a tendency to die young whilst protecting the Warehouse. Artie has been working continuously (and occasionally by himself) at the Warehouse for over 40 years. And he's only died once.
  • Crazy-Prepared: His handbag always seems to contain the most useful artifacts or other objects to help him with almost every predicament he finds himself in. Word of God says that his bag is an artifact (Mary Poppin's Bag) seemingly with the ability to provide whatever is needed to its owner.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Before he came to the Warehouse he used to work as a NSA codebreaker, but he was was imprisoned trading secrets to the USSR. In truth he was trading "trinkets" to get his relatives back in Russia released from the Gulag. When he found out what those trinkets did (they were Artifacts) he turned himself in. Mrs. Frederic recruited him to give a chance to redeem himself and got his espionage charge dropped. He had to change his name though to protect himself from the Soviets. He makes it clear if the team ever got caught in Russia, the others would be yelled at and then home sent on plane, while he'd be locked up to rot.
  • Death Seeker: Pretty heavily implied in "The Big Snag", stemming from his guilt over killing Leena under the influence of his Enemy Within. He grows out of it, though.
  • Drives Like Crazy: In "Beyond Our Control", Claudia marvels at how he got his license. Also serves as an inversion as it's usually the spunky younger character that drives like crazy and the conservative cautious older character that freaks out.
  • Enemy Within: In "The Ones You Love", it's revealed that Artie is suffering a Split-Personality Takeover and is Brother Adrian.
  • Failure Knight: He thinks that he failed MacPherson back when they were still friends.
  • Grumpy Old Man: Acts like this to keep the others in line and at arm's length. Nobody falls for it.
  • I See Dead People: In "Mild Mannered", Artie sees visions of MacPherson after he is killed by H.G. Wells, which he suspects is a result of the Phoenix.
  • Mission Control: He knows alot about artifacts and what makes them so Peter and Myka often contact him for info.
  • Parental Substitute: For Claudia.
  • Punny Name: Artie has a distinct attraction to artifacts and knows more about them than most anyone else.
  • Reading The Enemy's Mail: He used to be a codebreaker for the NSA during the Cold War.
  • Secret-Keeper: In the season 4 premiere, before he uses the astrolabe to save the Warehouse, he is warned not to tell anyone of what he has done, lest he put that person "in grave danger."
  • Split-Personality Takeover: As a result of using the Astrolabe.
  • Team Dad: Pete pretty much outright referred to him as much. Artie outright tries to be a father figure for Claudia in "Age Before Beauty", so he's cemented his place as Team Dad.
  • We Used to Be Friends: With MacPhearson and Claire before he turned evil, though Artie laments that despite all the antagonism he really wanted James to be good again.

    Claudia Donovan 
Played By: Allison Scagliotti
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2ad0c01418a9a0f7aea7eccfb0f267a6.jpg
  • Acting Your Intellectual Age: Lampshaded in a conversation with Artie regarding her plans after saving Joshua:
    Artie: Shouldn't you be in college or something? Don't you wanna be with other people your own age?
    Claudia: Artie, I'm not my own age. Come on; writing English papers and going to frat parties? Boring.
  • And This Is for...: A bone-chilling version of it in the Season 3 finale.
    Claudia: That was for Steve.
  • Badass Bookworm: Just as much as Myka.
  • Broken Bird: At first. She reverts to this in the season 3 finale after she sees Steve's dead body, and eventually recovers after he's revived in "An Evil Within".
  • Butt-Monkey: In season one, though doesn't completely leave this territory. Hell, Season 4 actually had several multi-episode plots that amounted to 'Claudia receives some form of physical pain', with varying levels of severity and comedy to the situation.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: After Steve is killed in the season 3 finale, Claudia calls the Regents (particularly Jane) out for their cowardice and letting their agents take all the risk.
    Claudia: You know, I see you and the Regents for what you really are: cowards. Steve was worth a thousand of you.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: People thought she was crazy when she started seeing "visions" of her brother. It turns out her brother really was there; just stuck in another dimension.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Especially when she's around Artie, who snarks right back at her.
  • The Determinator: When a friend or family member is in trouble she will not stop until she figures out a solution.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Over the years she's helped Artie develop the systems of the Warehouse.
  • Genki Girl: When she's not being a Deadpan Snarker, she can be quite excitable.
  • Fake Guest Star: In Season One, she's credited as a guest star despite appearing in every episode from episode four onwards.
  • Harmful to Minors: It's not as severe as other examples and she's an adult at this point, but Claudia's face at the end of "Emily Lake" is still this trope in SPADES.
  • Heroic BSoD: Spends the end of Season 3 in one, due to Steve's death.
  • Hollywood Hacking: She exhibits this on a regular basis, to the point of severely straining credibility for those in the audience who actually know how to use a computer themselves.
  • In-Series Nickname: Steve refers to her as "Claud".
  • The Mole: The security footage at the Bronze Sector makes her appear to be this; later subverted as it turns out to be Leena using a Full-Body Disguise artifact.
  • Nonconformist Dyed Hair: A hacker who grew up in a series of psychiatric institutions due to her Dark and Troubled Past, Claudia has streaks in her hair and frequently changes the color, including blue, purple, green, white, and magenta.
  • Older Than She Looks: In the series finale, after a fast-forward to several decades later, she looks the same age as she did before. Of course, she's the Caretaker, so she's just as ageless as Mrs Frederic was.
  • The Ophelia: Claudia has spent time in mental institutions over what happened to her brother, and she occasionally falls back to a broken bird status.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Steve.
  • Synchronization: Using the metronome to revive Steve has linked them together. Any pain Steve should feel goes to her instead. Removed when they manage to separate him from the metronome.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Picks this up by the time of the Distant Finale series finale, set "several decades" after the main series. Apparently being Caretaker comes with this as a perk.
  • Totally Radical: Justified. Claudia spent a large amount of her youth in mental institutions, not immersed in pop culture or socializing with her own age group, so most of her knowledge of pop culture is just what she gleaned from the internet and tv shows.
  • "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Claudia is starving for approval, particularly early on. She gets over this somewhat, later.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Her introduction has her kidnapping Artie to save her brother, who's trapped between dimensions due to his careless use of an artifact. In the season 3 finale, when Steve dies, she keeps the metronome that was keeping Marcus alive, intent on using it to bring him back, and won't let anyone stop her.
    • When someone she cares about is in trouble, she has a tendency to completely ignore any warnings about the dangers she might be putting herself or others in.

    Steve Jinks 
Played By: Aaron Ashmore

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5botm2mduwnjy4of5bml5banbnxkftztcwnzk0ody4nq_v1_uy1200_cr8306301200_al.jpg

  • Back from the Dead: Claudia resurrects him using the metronome.
  • Bad Liar: In contrast to his ability to sense other people's lies, he's a terrible liar himself.
    • Though considering how he was able to trick Walter Sykes and everyone else into thinking he'd gone double-agent, one has to wonder if he's just bad at on-the-spot lying.
  • Big Brother Instinct: In a big way towards Claudia.
    Steve: Because I couldn't save my sister. But I can protect you.
  • But Not Too Gay: Steve's sexuality is mostly just referred to, and he's never seen with a boyfriend due to being Cursed with Awesome. That and because the Warehouse is in the ass end of nowhere. Played with though in "Runaway"; while his relationship with his ex is built on No Hugging, No Kissing until they have an offscreen sexual encounter at the end, they do spend the episode dealing with realistic Unresolved Sexual Tension the same way hetero couples in the show do and openly flirt when they finally talk about their issues (as well as prove to be a somewhat effective Battle Couple), all of which is still rare with gay couples in live action fiction.
    • Subverted in "Savage Seduction," where Steve is split into two versions of himself: one a Knight Templar cop, the other an irresponsible and flirtatious Camp Gay.
  • Butt-Monkey: Not only does he quite frequently get whammied by artifacts, but he has a tendency to wind up in harmless, but hilarious, unfortunate situations- for instance, getting barfed on by the gooery, getting stranded up a ladder and forgotten about or bronzed by Pete and Myka when under the influence of an Intoxication Ensues artifact.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Jinks is a literal Living Lie Detector, but views his ability mostly as a hindrance to his love life.
  • Deep Cover Agent: Apparently part of his expertise during his previous employment at the ATF. He becomes this to infiltrate Walter Sykes's organization and learn his endgame.
  • Determinator: Shown best when he has to motivate a despairing Claudia:
    Claudia: Why bother if we just keep losing?
    Steve: Because it's not the win, it's the fight. Evil is relentless. It always has been. You take one evil out and another pops up to replace it. [...] But if we stop fighting, if we give up, what does that say about us?
  • Fair Cop: A male version.
  • Fake Defector: He goes to work for Walter Sykes after being fired from the Warehouse.
  • Gay Best Friend: Averted. Claudia makes jokes about this trope, but Steve's sexuality is only one aspect of his character and his friendship with Claudia is built on a foundation of genuine love and respect.
  • Innocent Blue Eyes: As the only blue-eyed member of the main cast, he fits both the naiveté and purity of heart aspects of this trope.
  • In-Series Nickname: 'Jinksy'. Also, 'Poopypants' due to his tendency to be a bit more serious and follow the rules.
  • Literal Split Personality: In "Savage Seduction" he gets whammied by an artifact and splits into two people, one Camp Gay and one that's Serious Business.
  • Living Lie Detector: He can tell when someone is lying.
  • Living on Borrowed Time: Thanks to Johannes Maelzel's metronome. If it stops, he dies. He's freed from it in "Second Chance".
  • The Mole: Turns out he was acting on orders from Mrs Frederic.
  • Naïve Newcomer: Joins the more experienced Pete and Myka at the start of season three.
  • Nice Guy: He especially bonds with Claudia.
  • Odd Friendship: Mrs Frederick seems to take a liking to him after he comes back from the dead, as he's the agent she talks to the most other than Artie. They even hang out during the final episode, sharing memories via the Round Table while the other agents sort out their issues.
  • Perma-Stubble: In contrast to clean-shaven Pete and goatee-sporting Artie.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Claudia.
  • Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Despite being a main cast member since Season 3, Aaron Ashmore tends to get left off of the promotional material; he's not even on the Season 3 or 4 DVD cases. Whenever he is included, it's always the same picture of him crudely photoshopped into a pre-existing cast photo. It seems to extend from the fact he started off as a Fake Guest Star.
  • Straight Gay: His sexuality is more or less incidental to his character. His Buddhist faith is usually more noteworthy to his character.
  • Synchronization: The downside of the metronome, other than the obvious problem of stopping it. It brought him back to life, but now Claudia, who activated it, feels the pain he would. Once free from the metronome, the effect is removed.
  • The Spock: Possibly, but invoked by Pete in the Season 3 premiere, when he signs off the Farnsworth with "Kirk, out. Oh, and Spock, too." Steve, for his part, plays along with a Vulcan hand-gesture. He references the joke on another occasion, referring to himself and Claudia as Spock and Uhura.
  • Walking Spoiler: If you haven't watched through the third season, do not uncover any of the spoilers in this section. If you already have, make sure you've made it through the second episode of season 4 before uncovering the rest.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Sykes kills him when he's not needed anymore.

Villains

    James MacPherson 
Played by: Roger Rees
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5boty5ztyxzdgtm2m1ms00mte3lwfhy2utnmi5n2fingy4nmu4xkeyxkfqcgdeqxvymze0otyyntu_v1_uy1200_cr75106301200_al.jpg

    H.G. Wells 
Played by: Jaime Murray
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/helena_image_1.jpg
  • Affably Evil: So much so that, past her introduction episode in Season 2, you'd have a hard time believing she ever was evil until the finale. As of Season 3, she's quite firmly on the side of the angels .
  • And I Must Scream: She was turned into a bronze statue, but aware for over 100 years. She seems to have come out of it fairly alright, and just used it to plan.
  • Anti-Villain: For most of her screentime. She eventually pulls a Heel–Face Turn and a Heroic Sacrifice. It's generally implied that HG isn't actually all that bad; it's just that losing her daughter did very bad things to her, and as a result, she has a tendency to temporarily revert to The Dark Side.
  • The Atoner: For Season Three.
  • Badass Bookworm: A villainous version of Myka and Claudia.
  • Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Or rather, H.G. Wells was a female Warehouse agent.
    • This is a bit less farfetched in execution - the author history recorded was her brother (who had the same initials), but he was basically writing about her inventions for public viewing.
  • Big Bad: Of Season Two.
  • Brainy Brunette: She's a Gadgeteer Genius with dark hair.
  • The Chessmaster: H.G. Wells' mentor Caturanga was a literal sort. The two of them played chess every day for years, and H.G. Wells (who was no slouch in this department herself) didn't win once. Catarunga designed a lock for a back door to the Warehouse as a chess game. The game was set up with the player in check; if the player didn't win in 3 moves they were killed. Sykes kidnapped H.G. Wells assuming she could beat the lock, and she still couldn't. She then realized that Catarunga designed it so that the player had to cheat to win.
  • Commuting on a Bus: During Season 3, her consciousness was trapped inside a metal sphere as punishment, but when she was needed they could let her out again. As of Season 4, this is no longer the case, but she seems to have become much more freelance and so doesn't appear very often.
  • Dark Action Girl: Drops the "dark" part after her Heel–Face Turn.
  • Does Not Like Men: Somewhat justified, as she lived before women's rights existed.
    • Although flashbacks show she got on well with her male colleagues at Warehouse 12, likely because they valued and recognised her potential. Evidently it was only men like her brother, horndogs with little respect for women, that put her off men, while her initial anti-men comments were directed at Pete, who she seemed to think at the time as just the same. After that its severely downplayed.
  • Evil All Along: Although she's pretty much an Anti-Villain Well-Intentioned Extremist, and eventually goes back to being a good guy, culminating in a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Evil Brit: She gets over the Evil part though.
  • Evil Counterpart: H.G. Wells can be considered this to Myka, even if her scientific leanings are closer to Claudia. She has Myka's Action Girl tendencies, and Claudia's Gadgeteer Genius smarts, but she does not share their good intentions.
  • Expy: During the flashbacks to her time in Warehouse 12, she seems to be playing Sherlock Holmes: solving mysteries using a vast amount of knowledge on various sciences, deducing the answer long before actually revealing it, and going around with a plucky partner who, while competent in his own regard, is Overshadowed by Awesome. She claims at one point to have been friends with Sherlock's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and even quotes him, possibly lampshading it.
  • Fallen Hero: Like MacPherson, she used to be a Warehouse agent.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: She invented an actual time machine. Unfortunately it only sends your consciousness into the past and you can't really do anything to change it, just observe.
  • Grappling-Hook Pistol: A self-made one thank you very much.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Mostly in Season 2.
  • Heel–Face Turn: In Season Three. And as of the Season 4 premiere, Artie is finally convinced.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: At least until the Season 4 premiere, where it's averted.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: In her first appearance in Season 2: Pete and Myka go to the home of HG Wells and apprehend a tour guide, who they believe to be the freshly de-bronzed Wells, returned to his old home to retrieve something he needs for his plan. As they start to drag the guy off, the observant viewer will catch a brief glimpse of Helena, standing in the middle of the crowd like just another curious tourist.
  • Human Popsicle: When she was an agent for Warehouse 12, she voluntarily asked to be bronzed, hoping to wake up to a better world. In a flashback in "3...2...1", there is a brief glimpse of her as this. She remains in this state until MacPherson de-bronzes her in the Season 1 finale.
  • Iconic Sequel Character: She doesn't make a proper debut until season 2 as the Big Bad. However, she quickly became one of the show's most popular and iconic characters, forming a deep friendship with the lead female agent Myka Bering, redeeming herself, saving the lives of the main agents in the season 3 finale, and even being revived after dying to allow her to make more appearances in season 4
  • Lady of Adventure: Highly prone to random acts of swashbuckling; at least before she became much more subdued, due to an unusual form of incarceration. Also has a strong English accent, is commonly seen in period dress during her Victorian flashbacks, and still maintains a dignified bearing in present day clothing.
  • Lovable Traitor: She was almost an Omnicidal Maniac, and makes lots of use of the Heel–Face Revolving Door, yet no matter what she does, for some inexplicable reason, you just can't help wanting to forgive her.
  • Madden Into Misanthropy: H.G. Wells developed this opinion of humanity, and sought to use the Minoan trident in the Season 2 finale to deal with it. She had herself bronzed with the hope that things would have gotten better, but she finds the future far more disappointing than she imagined. She eventually gets better, at least in thinking that Pete, Myka, and Artie are worth saving in the Season 3 finale, prompting a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Mama Bear: When her daughter was murdered, she invented Mental Time Travel to try and change the past. She failed, but put up a hell of a fight by her account. Claudia tells her that losing a daughter must be the worst pain imaginable. Wells tells her otherwise; what she did to the people who killed her daughter is the worst pain imaginable. Season 4 also shows her as such for her surrogate daughter as well.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Part of her backstory. During her time at the Warehouse, her daughter was murdered. Seeking some way to bring her back, she began combing the shelves for an Artifact that would do the trick. She ended up getting another agent killed, and so asked to be bronzed. Subverted in the Season 2 finale, when it's revealed that was all part of the plan.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Due to losing her daughter, she thinks the whole world deserves to die, and rants about how it's gotten worse since she was bronzed.
    • Of course, her real-life counterpart predicted among other things: tanks, a world war between Germany and England, and atomic bombs. Not to mention, in later work, became apparently disillusioned with the human race and the fate of mankind as a whole.
  • Older Than They Look: Via Human Popsicle effect.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: As it turns out in the Season 2 finale, not quite omnicidal; she couldn't bring herself to kill Myka, which makes her give up on her plan to destroy the world.
  • Put on a Bus: Effectively this when she's tasked with keeping the Astrolabe hidden until the threat of Adrian is taken care of. After that is dealt with and the astrolabe returned, she voluntarily distances herself from the Warehouse, hoping to try her hand at a normal life.
  • Really Gets Around: At least during the late 1800's, while she was a Warehouse 12 agent. It was easier to name who she hadn't been with back then; namely, "Oscar Wilde; and not for lack of trying."
    • And that's just the men. Who knows how big the list of women she was with is.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Subverted; she sacrifices herself in the Season 3 finale to save the main characters but thanks to a Reset Button she's alive again at the end of the season 4 premiere. Artie is then convinced that she is redeemed, but the Regents aren't as sure.
  • Retired Badass: As of Season 4; she officially retires from adventuring to become a crime lab scientist and settles down with a civilian and his daughter. She later divorces him and is living with a woman.
  • Samus Is a Girl: H.G. Wells is female.
  • Steampunk: Alot of her inventions go towards this.
  • Straw Feminist: Slightly justified due to times she lived in.
  • Sweet Polly Oliver: In this case, the man known as H.G. Wells is actually her brother, used as a proxy since she wouldn't be accepted as a scientist in her time.
  • Tragic Keepsake: She went back to the Warehouse and broke into the Escher Vault just to steal back her locket, compact, and ring. The locket is revealed to be an ordinary locket, containing a picture of her daughter. The significance of the ring and compact have not yet been revealed.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: When she's not being an Anti-Villain, Anti-Hero, or just plain regular hero

    Walter Sykes 
Played by: Anthony Michael Hall
  • Bad Boss: He's a big fan of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
  • Big Bad: Of Season 3.
  • The Corruption: The bracelet that gave him mobility also completely prevents its user from being able to give or receive love. Unfortunately, they failed to take it from him fast enough to prevent that effect from kicking in.
  • Creepy Child: When he was younger, thanks to The Corruption.
  • Evil Cripple: He's a paraplegic, so he's in a wheelchair.
  • Evil Is Petty: He tortures and kills dozens of people and destroys the Warehouse because when he was a kid Jane took Collodi's bracelet from him. Though the bracelet is the cause of his evil in the first place.
  • Evil Plan: His plan to destroy the Warehouse. It works almost flawlessly, the Warehouse is destroyed and H.G. and Mrs. Frederic are killed off (add Jinks to the list and he's the only villain thus far who's managed to kill three major characters); but Jane, Artie, Myka, and Pete are still alive.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: After Artie hits the Reset Button and changes the timeline, Sykes is "cured" by Gandhi's cloth. Now able to see what he has become, Skyes apologizes to the team.
  • Portal Cut: Not as gory as the usual variety. Only his hand makes it through the portal, and disintegrates as the rest of him is trapped "between" spaces as it closes. Conveniently, Collodi's bracelet does not disintegrate with him.
    • Subverted in the season 4 premiere, where Artie hits the Reset Button and he is instead pulled out from the other side by Pete, suffering a fatal concussion in the struggle.
  • Redemption Equals Death: In the season 4 premiere, after Gandhi's cloak is used on him, he apologizes for his actions and immediately dies afterwards.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The reason for his obsession with hunting down the Regents and destroying the Warehouse.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He's an asshole, but it all started because he was in a wheelchair and he got a bracelet that let him walk again...and turned him evil. Then Jane took his bracelet away, meaning he couldn't walk anymore...but he was still evil.
  • You Have Failed Me/You Have Out Lived Your Usefulness: He does this to the rest of his Mooks.

    Marcus Diamond 
Played by: Sasha Roiz
  • Living on Borrowed Time: Which runs out when Claudia stops the metronome keeping his heart beating.
  • Not Quite Dead: Pete throws him off a balcony and assumes he's dead, until he reappears beside Jinks, even wiping off some of his blood. It turns out Sykes had an artifact which was keeping him alive.
  • Torture Technician: He claims to be one when interrogating Emily Lake/H.G. Wells. We have no reason to disbelieve him.

    Sally Stukowski 
Played by: Ashley Williams

    Brother Adrian 
Played by: Brent Spiner
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newhope2.jpg
  • Anti-Villain: He does genuinely believe he's doing the right thing.
  • Big Bad: For the first half of season 4.
  • Church Militant: Works for the Black Diamond Brotherhood, a secret order of the Vatican dedicated to protecting Ferdinand Magellan's astrolabe.
  • Enemy Within: The Brother Adrian of the new timeline never really existed. He's a manifestation of Artie's subconscious, the evil of the astrolabe given form. The most evil thing Artie could do would be to reverse the effect and create a world without hope, so that is what it drives him to do.
  • Hypocrite: Gets on Artie's case for supposedly releasing some kind of evil, only to release highly dangerous artifacts which he stole from the Warehouse. In particular, he unleashes Alice Liddell, a Body Surfing psychopath, to take out Artie's loved ones, with no apparent means of controlling her, care for what she'll do after that (not that it would matter; if Artie played ball, it would never have happened), or even any guarantee that she'll honor the agreement (which she ultimately did not).
    • Averted as it turns out it was really Artie all along.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: In the season 4 premiere, he manages to hit a button the size of a nickel with a thrown knife from across the room. He didn't even need any setup time.
  • Knight Templar: As he tells Artie, "We follow no rules. We do whatever needs to be done."
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: Shows a rather scary side at the end of "There's Always a Downside." In the season 4 premiere, he managed to wrestle Pete, a trained federal agent, into a Mutual Kill (which, thankfully, Artie averts by using the astrolabe).
  • Protectorate: Of the astrolabe.
  • Revenge by Proxy: His modus operandi. Artie used the astrolabe, so he targets Artie's loved ones to get him to use it again to put the timeline back to what it was. While this is technically necessary (he can't very well kill Artie), it becomes this in full when he starts targeting the families of the agents.
  • Sinister Minister: Not a minister technically, but definitely dresses the part.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the original timeline, his last words to Artie where that he could never anyone that he used the Astrolabe lest he put them in danger. This cases a lot of pain for the characters in Season 4.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: At least from his own point-of-view. He has no qualms regarding using artifacts against Artie to get him to return to the pre-Reset Button timeline.
    • Subverted: Whatever the real Adrian's view on the subject, the one trying to get Artie to unreset is actually a figment of Artie's imagination created by the Astrolabe.

    Paracelsus 
Played by: Anthony Head
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capturing_paracelsus_0_12.jpg
  • Big Bad: His influence is felt throughout the second half of season 4, though he doesn't actually show up until the last few episodes.
  • Cain and Abel: Has been waiting in bronze for a long time to get revenge on his brother Sutton for turning him in to the authorities.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Anthony Head is obviously enjoying himself.
  • Evil Laugh: He has a magnificent one.
  • Fallen Hero: He was the Caretaker of Warehouse 9.
  • For Science!: Perfectly willing to kill off his entire village in order to further his experiments — and to test the Philosopher's Stone on his own brother, sister-in-law, and nephew just to make sure that it worked regardless of age or sex.
    • The Warehouse under his control for thousands of years becomes a cross-artifact testing facility.
  • Herr Doktor: Has a slight, but distinctive German accent.
  • Historical Domain Character: A version of Paracelsus.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: H.G. Wells got off easy compared to him. The historical Paracelsus may have been a Jerkass Insufferable Genius, but he was most decidedly not a genocidal madman.
  • Kick the Dog: Immediately upon being debronzed, Paracelsus spots Claudia, knocked unconscious prior, and bronzes her before destroying the machine so it can't be reversed. Just in case you might have thought he didn't deserve what he got.
  • Living MacGuffin: Sutton and his family broke him out of the Warehouse's bronze sector so he can undo their immortality.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: He was bronzed for misusing artifacts. He ends up being bronzed again to stop him after he travels back in time to change history.
  • Shock and Awe: He can't actually shoot lightning, but he uses a lot of artifacts that can. Pete even calls him Emperor Palpatine.
    • As of the season finale, he can shoot lightning, courtesy of being psychically linked to the Warehouse in a much stronger way than most caretakers.
  • Übermensch: As noted by his brother, he occupies his own moral world.

Others

    Mrs. Frederic 
Played by: C.C.H. Pounder
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0586da1a73148f9c8a0cf9d46e84e7d3.jpg
  • Ancient Keeper: We initially think that the guardian of the Warehouse is Artie. We later find out it's her.
  • Black Boss Lady: She's the Caretaker of the Warehouse and Artie's immediate superior.
  • Came Back Wrong: Sort of. In the season 4 premiere, after Artie hits the Reset Button to save the Warehouse, she shows him her graying hair, suspecting him of having done something.
  • Crazy-Prepared: She and the Regents seem to be prepared for just about any and all problems.
  • Da Chief: She's Artie's boss.
  • Immortality: As seen in "No Pain, No Gain", she doesn't complain about it, and she isn't actively trying to get rid of it, but she has lived long enough that her grandson is old enough to look like her father.
  • Locked into Strangeness: Gets a stripe of gray hair in season 4, a result of the Warehouse being destroyed then restored through time travel.
  • Mysterious Employer: She is this at first.
  • No Immortal Inertia: The moment the Warehouse explodes, she collapses, dies, and decays very rapidly. Reversed later in the season 4 premiere after Artie hits the Reset Button This can be justified by the fact that her life force is tied to the Warehouse. Also, it would appear that this only happens if something bad happens to the Warehouse. In the season four finale, she's purposefully disconnected from the Warehouse (which almost definitely is what makes her immortal), and she doesn't seem any worse for the wear.
  • Noodle Incident: In the series finale when she's recording her most defining moment as a Warehouse agent. We don't actually see it, but it seems to have been some sort of big historical event, as Steve comments, "Really? You were there for that?"
  • Odd Friendship: She develops a rather friendly dynamic with Steve, and by the end of the show he is the agent she talks to the most. She even uses the Round Table to show him all sorts of memories of her time with the Warehouse.
  • The Omniscient: Has a tendency to suddenly materialise when she is being spoken about, and always seems to know virtually everything about what other characters are doing. This, combined with her ability to appear and disappear randomly, her intermittent amorality (or at least ruthlessness) and her use of a very terse form of Spock Speak, is the reason why she is able to scare the crap out of most of the other characters.
  • Older Than They Look: Since she's the Caretaker of Warehouse 13, as long as it stands she'll stay alive, at least until a new Caretaker is selected.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In season 4, when Steve notices that she is physically walking away instead of doing her usually Stealth Hi/Bye, he realizes that something is seriously wrong.
  • Passing the Torch: Though not yet, she's clearly decided that Claudia is going to replace her sooner or later, and events in season 4 convince her to step up preparations for that.
    • By the last scene of season 5, the torch has been passed.
  • The Quiet One: She speaks, but only when necessary. Most of the time she just gives people a rather spocky version of the Death Glare.
    • Season 4 sees her with a more talkative role, usually with Jinks. Whether this is guilty over Steve's death, responsibility/shared burden of his double agency, something else, or just coincidence is an exercise for the reader.
  • Really 700 Years Old: Mrs. Frederic is bonded to the Warehouse and if it dies, she dies. Confirmed in "No Pain, No Gain" when Claudia meets her older-looking grandson. "Cangku Shisi" establishes that she became Caretaker in 1898, which given her appearance would probably make her somewhere around 150 years old.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite her stern and scary nature, she does value the input of her Agents and is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in certain situations.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: When Mrs Frederic goes to war, she doesn't adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Although it is never stated outright, she demonstrates that in her mind, she only really has one rule; what she wants, she gets. Given that she is a Regent, it is also implied that she justifies this internally with the belief that the ends justify the means.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Her name is frequently used as a verb for the Stealth Hi/Bye.
    Claudia: Did you just Mrs. Frederic me?
  • The Stoic: She generally doesn't like displays of human emotion directed towards her, even if they are positive; which is another element of her alien demeanour.
    • In the Christmas special at the end of Season 3, Pete made the mistake of giving her a hug. She didn't react well.
  • Taking Up the Mantle: Turns out her sister was the first Caretaker of Warehouse 13. When she died Irene took her place.
  • They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: She is Mrs. Frederic. Not "Mrs. F." And certainly not "Irene," unless you're a close friend or superior.
  • When She Smiles: She absolutely lights up when visiting her grandson.

    Leena 
Played by: Genelle Williams
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6a01348361f24a970c0176174ef386970c_600wi.jpg
  • '80s Hair: Naturally curly hair.
  • Action Girl: Despite not being a field agent, she beats up a few bad guys by herself.
  • Advertised Extra: Despite being listed in the starting credits as a regular, there were several episodes in season 2 where she wasn't seen.
  • Aura Vision: Has the ability to see the auras of people, objects and places.
  • Character Death: Courtesy of Evil!Artie.
  • Team Chef: Since she owns the B&B they stay at, she's the one who keeps them fed.

    Daniel Dickinson 
Played by: Simon Reynolds
  • Back for the Dead: In season two.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: He dies rather abruptly (and brutally!) about halfway through the second season, early in the episode "Vendetta", after having been absent since about halfway through the first season.
  • Friend on the Force: He used to be Pete and Myka's boss before they joined the Warehouse and they called him a few times instead of Artie to track down a lead.

    Benedict Valda 
Played by: Mark Sheppard
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a massive hardass, but he ultimately only wants to protect the Warehouse, even being a Reasonable Authority Figure and not holding Pete's actions while under the effects of an Artifact against him. He ultimately willingly performs a Heroic Sacrifice to allow the others to get inside Warehouse 2, saying he's just doing his job as a Regent.

    Jane Lattimer 
Played by: Kate Mulgrew
  • Action Mom: She's Pete's mother and she's picked up a few tricks through the years.
  • Almighty Janitor: Pete's mother is an elementary school teacher. She claims that Regents are picked based on their areas of expertise; in her case, her insight on children.
  • First-Name Basis: Despite being a Regent, even the agents only refer to her by her first name.
  • Spider-Sense: Apparently, she passed her ability to have vibes on to her son.
  • Troubled Backstory Flashback: She and Pete once used an artifact to look into her past to dig up information about Walter Sykes.

    Adwin Kosan 
Played by: Faran Tahir
  • Big Good: He's the leader of the Regents and the nominal head of Warehouse 13.
  • Da Chief: He's introduced as the head of the Regents.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure:
    • When Pete inadvertently comes close to blowing the Warehouse's cover by arousing a doctor's suspicions, he gives Pete a chance to choose the best option of dealing with the problem, letting his vibes inform his judgment.
    • When Jane goes rogue and allows Claudia to resurrect Jinks, he is stern but realistic in his response and ultimately allows the artifact to continue to be used to keep Steve alive and other than instituting supervisory precautions on the situation seemingly doesn't punish any of the Agents or Jane in any way.

    Abigail Cho 
Played by: Kelly Hu
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She was hired for this purpose, actually. Since Artie was being all Heroic BSoD over Leena's death Mrs Fredericks called her in to help him deal with it. She runs the inn and provides a sounding board for Artie when needed. The one thing Leena did that she can't is determine an artifact's origin.

    Professor Bennett Sutton / The Count of St. Germain 
Played by: James Marsters

    Charlotte Dupres / The Countess of St. Germain 
Played by: Polly Walker

    Nick Powell 
Played by: Josh Blaylock

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