History Characters / TheATeam

* TalkingToHimself: In universe. He occasionally makes up theatrical scenes or has a persona with a sidekick where he has intense conversations between two or more characters/personas, including between a sock puppet who is a sidekick to a superhero and his alter ego (that's three voices, not including his own), and two personas who are flirting with each other (one of which has a [[IAmVeryBritish very posh British RP accent]]).

-> Played By: Creator/HackGing

** "Shut up fool!" to Murdock.

** ActorSharedElement: The cigars that Hannibal was always smoking were actually from the personal humidor of Creator/GeorgePeppard.

** He is sometimes also seen to be enjoying smoking expensive cigars, a trait shared by Hannibal. This trait was written in to reflect Dirk Benedict's own love of cigars; the early first-season episode "A Small and Deadly War" shows a contradiction to this - while smoking a cigar as part of his guise on a scam mission with Amy, he throws it away and comments "How can Hannibal stand those things?". The very next episode broadcast and produced, "Black Day at Bad Rock", shows him to be contently puffing on a cigar for the first of a number of times in the series, suggesting that the character may have grown to like them.

* TheChick: In the pilot she's an important character, but afterwards she's just more or less the "token girl".

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female member of the team and the main cast.

* TheChick: Basically introduced to have another female character, after Amy is PutOnABus. It didn't work.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: But, unlike Amy, she was never a full-time member of the team.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She replaced Amy midway through Season 2 and stayed through part of Season 3, filled an identical role of a reporter and TheChick.

* ATeamFiring: [[TropeNamer Obviously.]] They ([[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy and the villains]]) both fire ridiculous amounts of bullets at the climax of almost every episode, to practically no effect. However, it's implied that they're not really trying in these cases, given that they're shown to be extremely accurate shots when they put their minds to it. Or to be specific, they're ''trying to miss'' (Hannibal can shoot a rope in half or shoot a strap on a bag without harming the carrier.)

* FriendToAllChildren: B.A. is the biggest example, but they all ensure that children around them are safe and kept/rescued from harm or trouble. The episode "" has them break up an immigrant exploitation scam with an appeal from an escaped child.
* GoodisNotNice: They are military soldiers, after all. They don't treat villains with respect or empathy, but as they are villains they don't get any and most of their enemies are deceitful and corrupt, which means they wouldn't be called on if the law could be any help.

* BerserkButton: In his own words in "The Island", he hates drugs and slavers.
** In "Pure-Dee Poison", he delivers wisecracks to the leader of a gang of moonshiners whose drink has crippled/killed people. When the leader offers the team a place in his operation, Hannibal drops the quips and tells him straight that if their client hadn't insisted on non-lethal methods there'd be a massacre without regrets.

* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: No matter how messy a situation gets, they will ''never'' abandon one of their members.

* UndyingLoyalty: The whole show is filled with moments of the team proving their loyalty to each other. Notable examples include "Curtain Call", which begins with Murdock being critically injured {{taking the bullet}} for Hannibal. Hannibal flatly refuses his plea for the rest of them to ditch him and get themselves out (and B.A. agrees with him), and Face makes it quite clear that he is willing to risk capture and being sent to prison in order to get the proper medical supplies to save Murdock's life. Later, in the beginning of Season 5, Hannibal, Face, and B.A. are willing to face the firing squad so Murdock won't have to, and Murdock threatens a general to get them out safely. Don't worry. They all make it out just fine.

->Played by: Creator/DirkBenedict (Tim Dunigan in the pilot) (series), Creator/BradleyCooper (film)

->Played by: Melinda Culea (seasons 1 and 2)

->Played by: Marla Heasly (seasons 2 and 3 (1 episode))

->Played by: Eddie Velez (season 5)

->Played by: Bill Lucking (season 1 (2 episodes) and season 3 (1 episode))

->Played by: Lance [=LeGault=].

->Played by: Carl Franklin

-> Played By: Hack Ging

->Played by: Della Reese

->Voiced by: John Ashley (seasons 1-4, intro's only)

* WeaponOfChoice: In early episodes the team used Colt AR-15 [=SP1=] semi-automatic rifles (with automatic sound effects, simulating the M16), while in later seasons they used the Ruger Mini-14, and on rare occasions, the selective fire AC-556K variant of the Mini-14.

* WeaponOfChoice: His sidearms are either a nickel-plated Smith & Wesson Model 59, or a stainless steel Smith & Wesson Model 639. Unusually in "Black Day At Bad Rock" he is seen carrying a Browning Hi-Power.

* WeaponOfChoice: He seems to have an affinity for heavier caliber revolvers as opposed to the rest of the teams .45 or 9mm automatic pistols. He usually carried a Colt Trooper .357 Magnum with a nickel finish and rosewood grips although he sometimes used a blued Smith & Wesson Model 29. He was usually seen to use a Ruger Mini-14 or an Uzi when he needed more firepower.

* WeaponOfChoice: He normally uses a Heckler and Koch P7 pistol.

* PerpetualFrowner: Rarely smiles, being a GrumpyBear and all.

* GrumpyBear: He's perpetually grumpy and Murdock's kookiness certainly doesn't help.

* ATeamFiring: [[TropeNamer Obviously.]] They ([[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy and the villains]]) both fire ridiculous amounts of bullets at the climax of almost every episode, to practically no effect. However, it's implied that they're not really trying in these cases, given that they're shown to be extremely accurate shots when they put their minds to it. (Hannibal can shoot a rope in half or shoot a strap on a bag without harming the carrier.)

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Murdock was eccentric (and often plays his CloudCuckooLander -ness UpToEleven to get people to underestimate him) and likely did suffer from some form of PTSD, but was definitely not mad. His team had to break him out of a mental institution in almost every episode. However, at times he faked more extreme insanity to get into an asylum in order to break someone else out, or take down a gun smuggling ring or something. Of course, he might have exaggerated the problem more regularly for the free accommodation and the nurses, or just to irritate B.A. When the situation called for it, Murdock could act completely sane and coldly competent.

* NiceHat: His baseball cap.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Not the pilot, but after her first appearance. As the series' renewal for the fifth season was uncertain, due to Tia Carrere's contractual obligations to ''Series/GeneralHospital'', she had to drop out, so Tia vanished with no explanation or further mention.

'''Tropes''':
* DroppedAfterThePilot, AbortedArc, and ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Not the pilot, but after her first appearance. As the series' renewal for the fifth season was uncertain, due to Tia Carrere's contractual obligations to ''Series/GeneralHospital'', she had to drop out, so Tia vanished with no explanation or further mention.

* {{Determinator}}: Once he's taken on a job, nothing will stop him from finishing it.

* {{Troll}}: Pissing enemies off is his calling in life. Sometimes it's because it's important to his plan. Most of the time, it's because it amuses him.

** "I ain't going on no airplane!" when he believes the others will try to get him to fly.

* GrumpyBear: He's perpetually grumpy and Murdock's behavior certainly doesn't help.

* ScaryBlackMan: He's played by Mr. T, a large, muscular African-American actor. Most goons seem suitably cowed when he gets in their faces.

%%* BrainyBrunette

* IntrepidReporter: She blackmails her way into the team by threatening to write an expose on them. Her journalistic skills eventually come in handy.

* {{Unperson}}: Besides the episode after her departure, in which Decker mentions she's working in Jakarta, Indonesia, Amy just vanished from the series. The final episode of the second season was "Curtain Cull" in which Murdock was seriously wounded. While saving his life, we see flashbacks from previous episodes, and NONE of these flashbacks have Amy in them. They never even mention her again.

!!'''Lieutenant Templeton "Face" Peck'''

* TwoByFour: If he needs to go flying for a mission, and the usual sedative wasn't available for the job, he whips out a wooden plank instead.

* WeaponOfChoice: In early episodes the team used Colt AR-15 SP1 semi-automatic rifles (with automatic sound effects, simulating the M16), while in later seasons they used the Ruger Mini-14, and on rare occasions, the selective fire AC-556K variant of the Mini-14.

* FiveManBand:
** TheHero / TheLeader / TeamDad: Hannibal
** TheLancer: Face
** TheSmartGuy: Murdock
** TheBigGuy: B.A.
** TheChick: Amy/Tawnia

* ATeamFiring: [[TropeNamer Obviously.]] They (and the villains) both fire ridiculous amounts of bullets at the climax of almost every episode, to practically no effect.

* ThouShaltNotKill: They never kill anybody onscreen, but it's not clear how much of this is due to their own methods, and how much of it is just the television show trying to remain family-friendly (especially since they get into gunfights on a regular basis and we often see people surviving things that would clearly be fatal in real life). No one in the A-Team has a strongly voiced opinion against killing and even less against guns - as Vietnam veterans and a former Special Forces unit, it's a foregone conclusion that they have killed people before. At the same time, they routinely pass up opportunities to kill enemies that they have at gunpoint, and much prefer to simply beat the tar out of the villains and leave them tied up for Colonel Decker to put in jail.
** Hannibal at least seems to have a rather blasé attitude toward killing. During the final season, when the team is on trial, he's asked if he's killed anyone and he replies matter of factly, "That's what you do in a war."

* UndyingLoyalty: The whole show is filled with moments of the team proving their loyalty to each other. Notable examples include "Curtain Call", which begins with Murdock being critically injured {{taking the bullet}} for Hannibal. Hannibal flatly refuses his plea for the rest of them to ditch him and get themselves out (and B.A. agrees with him), and Face makes it quite clear that he is willing to risk capture and being sent to prison in order to get the proper medical supplies to save Murdock's life. Later, in the beginning of Season 5, Hannibal, Face, and B.A. are willing to face the firing squad so Murdock won't have to. Don't worry. They all make it out just fine.

* PapaWolf: The other members of the team may be capable, gutsy grown men with dozens of battles under their belts, but that doesn't mean Hannibal will not take it personally if he feels they're in actual trouble. This shows up in "Deadly Manuevers"[[note]]he is rougher than usual with the people he believes (mostly correctly) are involved with kidnapping Face, B.A., and Murdock[[/note]] and in "Mind Games"[[note]]he becomes more serious and aggressive after Face is abducted, even explicitly telling the guy they're interrogating that his involvement is one of Hannibal's grievances against him[[/note]].