History Characters / TheAmericansTheJenningsFamily

* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Unlike Philip, Elizabeth believes that the capitalist society has made Americans weak and wants to encourage her children to become likes the socialists she so admires.

* KarmaHoudini: Subverted; [[spoiler: They manage to flee the American authorities and escape to the USSR together, but they are forced to leave Henry and Paige [[IChooseToStay decides]] to abandon them at the last second, meaning they'll probably never see their children again. They're also forced to return home to a Russia neither of them really recognizes, knowing the people they've been serving for years were really the enemy. And what's more, [[ForegoneConclusion the Soviet Union is due to collapse in a few years anyway]], meaning that despite their fervent belief in the meaning of their work, every awful thing they've done in service of their country will have been for absolutely nothing.]]

* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: They are adamant Paige will not become [[FollowInMyFootsteps a second generation agent]], but she is eventually dragged to the life of deception, crime and murder of their parents.

** Downplayed with Martha; [[spoiler: While he doesn't come to ''love'' her in the same way she does him, he comes to care enough about her well-being that he works to have her extradited safely to the USSR after their relationship is discovered by the FBI.][

* OutDamnedSpot: As season 2, Philip becomes more and more consumed by guilt after killing innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* BecomingTheMask: Philip has come to enjoy living in the United States, and is more sympathetic towards the American people than Elizabeth is. In the pilot episode, he even considers defecting when he learns that another KGB agent who defected was paid $3 million by the US Government. In addition, it's strongly implied that Philip has actually been in love with Elizabeth the entire time they've been UndercoverAsLovers, while for her it's a case of MarriageBeforeRomance.

* TheUnfavorite: After Paige starts to follow in the family business, Phillip and Elizabeth don't pay as much attention to Henry, which he grows to resent.

* [[spoiler:IChooseToStay: In the GrandFinale she decides to remain in the U.S. rather than escape to the USSR with her parents.]]

* [[spoiler:WalkingTheEarth: In the GrandFinale she [[IChooseToStay chooses to stay]] in the U.S. as a wanted fugitive rather than escape to the USSR with her parents.]]

* EvilParentsWantGoodKinds: They are adamant Paige will not become [[FollowInMyFootsteps a second generation agent]], but she is eventually dragged to the life of deception, crime and murder of their parents.

* SympatheticPOV: In most other stories, they'd be the villains because they're Russians during the Cold War, but seeing the story from their perspective (and seeing the goodness in them) helps make them sympathetic.

* HollywoodAtheist: As the TrueBelievers in Communism, Elizabeth is a staunch atheist. When she finds out that Paige has been participating on a church youth group, she freaks out, as she believes religion to be "the opiate of the masses."

* PunchClockVillain: They're on the wrong side of history and commit plenty of unsavory acts, including the murder of innocent people, but they don't relish their job and are merely dutiful to their country.
* SympatheticPOV: It's very easy to forget that they're hardened killers serving a brutal dictatorship, considering their long list of sympathetic traits.

* VillainProtagonist: Both of them are 'bad guys' but they're still our protagonists.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Her children may be the only things she values more than the Motherland.
* EvilCanNotComprehendGood: When President Reagan is shot, Elizabeth immediately assumes that it's the work of a rogue faction of the US Government trying to seize control, because that's how things work in the USSR. Philip explains to Elizabeth that she still doesn't understand Americans despite living among them for years. Philip is then proven right when it's learned that the man who attempted to assassinate Reagan was a lone nutjob acting on his own.

* HollywoodAtheist: When Elizabeth finds out that Paige has been participating on a church youth group, she freaks out, as she believes religion to be "the opiate of the masses."

%%* IceQueen

* MarriedToTheJob: Ulitmately, her commitment to the motherland is bigger than her desire to move back home.

%%* MyCountryRightOrWrong

* BecomingTheMask: Philip has come to enjoy living in the United States, and is more sympathetic towards the American people than Elizabeth is. In the pilot episode, he even considers defecting when he learns that another KGB agent who defected was paid $3 million by the US Government.
** In addition, it's strongly implied that Philip has actually been in love with Elizabeth the entire time they've been UndercoverAsLovers, while for her it's a case of MarriageBeforeRomance.

%%* BullyHunter

%%* MrFanservice

%%* PunchClockVillain

* VillainProtagonist: Though he tends at times to be less cold-blooded than his wife/partner, displaying discomfort at what he has to do or when he sees Elizabeth committing murder for the sake of the mission.
%%* WigDressAccent

* GrievousBottleyHarm: Does this to the aforementioned weirdo.

* OutOfFocus: For much of Season 2. He gets screen time again in the third season.

* AntagonistOffspring: Like Paige, unintentionally. In Season 5 he gets much more serious about his schoolwork, and then applies to an elite New England boarding school. Most parents would be delighted by his hard work and drive, but his pursuit of a capitalist upper-class education is anathema to his parents' socialist values.

* ArrangedMarriage: Their entire marriage is an arrangement, due to them being deep cover operatives.

* HoneyTrap: Both of them are skilled at luring the opposite sex into...'difficult' situations.

->'''Aliases:''' Clark Westerfeld, Scott Birkeland, Ted Davis, Justin Nezer, Jim Baxter

%%* DeadpanSnarker

%%* GoingNative.

%%* [[spoiler:YourCheatingHeart]]

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Combined with HazyFeelTurn. As expected [[spoiler: with a teenager who finds out her entire identity is a lie, she takes on a more antagonistic role to them. On the other hand, she still cares about her parents, and her loyalty to her family leads her to waffle and dither between supporting them and rebelling against them.]]

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: A non-violent example. [[spoiler:Paige ultimately turns on her parents because she can't handle the years upon years of deceit.]]

* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler: She becomes this in season 3's "Stingers." She's never comfortable with it and tells Pastor Tim about her parents in the season 3 finale.]]
* TykeBomb: [[spoiler: What the KGB wants her to become.]]

* BringMyBrownPants: He has an 'accident' after an incident with a random creep. For a kid his age and the kind of situation he was in, it's hard to blame him.

* HiddenDepths

* IceQueen

* {{Jerkass}}

* MyCountryRightOrWrong

* BullyHunter
* DeadpanSnarker
* [[spoiler: DisappearedDad: To his long lost son, Mischa (who he had unknowingly with Irina).]]
* GoingNative.
* MrFanservice

* PunchClockVillain

* UndercoverAsLovers

* WigDressAccent
* [[spoiler:YourCheatingHeart]]

* ActionGirl / DarkActionGirl

* {{Badass}}: Elizabeth is a highly trained operative and has the combat skills to prove it; she's a fierce and merciless fighter who you do ''not'' want to get on the bad side of.

* {{Badass}}

* TheUnfairSex: She has an ongoing affair with Gregory for fifteen years, and Philip forgives her after awhile. However, when Philip has a one-night stand with an old lover in the aftermath of a betrayal by Elizabeth, she's outraged and separates from him. Granted, Philip lied to her about how nothing happened between him and Irina right after she had opened up to wanting to be in a genuine relationship with him.

* TheUnfairSex: She has an ongoing affair with Gregory for fifteen years, and Philip forgives her. However, when Philip has a one-night stand with an old lover in the aftermath of a betrayal by Elizabeth, she's outraged and separates from him.