History Characters / ThePretender

Another Pretender, one under the tutelage of Raines, who was trained to be conciousless assassin, but grew uncontrollable until Raines ordered him incarcerated. He escapes and appears to be trying to find and assassinate Jarod's parents, [[spoiler: however, he is actually Jarod's younger brother and is just looking for his parents as well and he and Jarod team up together to try to find them. He appears to get killed off at the end of the first season finale, but escaped, only to die saving Jarod's life in season two.]]

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror
* CriminalMindGames: Of a much more sinister sort directed at The Centre.
* {{Determinator}}
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:at The Centre.]]

* GoodFeelsGood: [[spoiler:Jarod teaches him this.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Twice. The second time he is KilledOffForReal.]]

* InstantExpert: Goes with being a Pretender.

* OddFriendship: With Angelo.

* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Dies taking one for Jarod]].
* TykeBomb
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Invoked at the end of his first appearance, which was in flashback. Jarod sits by himself and wonders aloud what became of Kyle.

* DesignerBabies: Is one.

* MotivationalLie: Was told by Raines that Jarod killed his parents, so that way if Gemini ever met Jarod he would hate him. [[spoiler: One wonders how Raines was going to address things when Gemini got old enough to realise that he's the spitting image of Jarod.]]
* MundaneObjectAmazement: He was even more cloistered than Jarod.
* ProperlyParanoid: Though he falls for the MotivationalLie, he can't shake the pained look in Jarod's eyes and how similar it is to himself.
* TeenGenius
* TroubledChild: Was abused and kept locked in a room without sunlight by Raines. Yeah, he's a little troubled.
** It's implied Raines beat him if he ever caught him crying.

Started out as Mr. Lyle's right hand woman, and implied lover. She has her eyes set on climbing as high as she can go in The Centre by fair means or foul, and forms a bit of a rivalry with Miss Parker because she is trying to catch Jarod first. After Lyle's loss of power she ends up [[spoiler: marrying Mr. Parker. She bears Mr. Parker's child, but he (having no more use for her), has her killed by Cox.]]

* DarkActionGirl
* DarkMistress: [[spoiler: Mr. Parker.]]
* EvilCounterpart: To Miss Parker.
* PerkyFemaleMinion: To Mr. Lyle.
* TheRival: She and Miss Parker are each other's. They eventually gain respect for each other [[spoiler: after Miss Parker finds out that though Brigitte's 'seduction' of Mr. Parker might have initially been a bid for power, she actually has fallen in love with him.]]

* TheDragon: Ostensibly to the Triumvirate [[spoiler: but actually to Mr. Parker.]]

* TheGrimReaper: What Miss Parker calls him.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Certainly dresses like it.
* SoftSpokenSadist: He never raises his voice and he's always polite, but it's very clear he enjoys his job.
* TaxidermyIsCreepy: It's his hobby, and he loves to philosophize about it.

* ScaryBlackMan

* AmbiguousDisorder
* BrokenAngel: Jarod sends him an angel with a broken wing as a symbol for him to let him know that he (Jarod) understands and empathizes with how Angelo has been broken.
* CantStayNormal

* TheEmpath
* FlawedPrototype: He was supposed to be a Pretender like Jarod,but Raines experimented on him to make him more efficient and ended up destroying his mind and turning him into something completely different and completely useless for the Pretender program.
* IdiotSavant

* LostInCharacter: Can become so (and very difficult to get back) if the emotional state of someone is strong enough.
* ManChild: Of a very sweet and innocent variety.

* MundaneObjectAmazement: At least as far as food goes.

* PlayfulHacker

* BullyingADragon: In "Past Sim," he brushes off warnings of Jarod taking offense to using one of his Sims to kidnap a murder witness (which also led to the death of a federal agent). See above trope for how well that worked out for him.

* ChairReveal: His first appearance.
* ConsummateLiar: It's just better not to trust anything he says.

* DevilInPlainSight: Everybody knows he's an ambitious ManipulativeBastard who will anything to get to the top, but everyone but Miss Parker's team and Jarod seems completely oblivious to the fact he's a serial killer and a cannibal.
* TheDragon: To Mr. Raines.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: No matter who he works for, he always has his own plans in mind.
* EasilyForgiven: Part of his game in "A Stand Up Guy" and especially "Red Rock Jarod." He believes that if he walks back into The Centre with a captured Jarod, all would be forgiven.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He framed his adopted father for his own murder (ensuring a life sentence), but this also drove his adopted mother insane. When Jarod points this out, Lyle--if even for a moment--seemed genuinely remorseful.

* EvilerThanThou: In his first appearance, ''Mr. Raines'' refers to him as "The Bogeyman." Mr. Parker is also unable to handle him directly, requiring more covert action. Of course, that was when Lyle had a much stronger powerbase in the organization.

* ManipulativeBastard: Is outclassed by Mr. Raines and Mr. Parker, but is still very dangerous in this way.
* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: What he says. Nobody believes him.
* NotMeThisTime: He spends roughly the first half of Season 4 insisting that he is not in league with Mr. Cox and that he did not cut a deal against Mr. Parker, but due to his history of lying, Miss Parker is quite dubious. [[spoiler:For once, he wasn't lying]].

* {{Sadist}}
* SerialKiller: Is one. Has a special penchant for Chinese women.

* TortureCellar: Has one.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Is in charge of The Centre a few different times.

* WeCanRuleTogether: Has tried a couple times to convince Jarod that they could do much as allies. Jarod knows better than to ever consider it.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Lyle has done a lot to Jarod and is still breathing. Even Mr. Lee asked why Jarod hasn't simply just killed him and be done with it.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: As noted above, he murdered his best friend without a second thought. He doesn't express the slightest bit of regret when Jarod calls him on it.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: As revealed in "Once in a Blue Moon."

-->Jarod: You stole me from my parents. You had the FBI kill [[spoiler: my brother]], and now you're trying to kill my family. What have I ever done to you?
-->Mr. Raines: You exist.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: He is of the evil sort.
* GutturalGrowler
* HeelFaithTurn: At the start of Season 4, Raines returned from Africa far more religious than before and though still out to catch Jarod, seemingly more kindhearted. The question was whether this was the result of some Triumvirate torturing, he himself faking it to save his own life or if it was all genuine. [[spoiler:Apparently, it was a fake-out as he's back to his old state-of-mind in the movies.]]
* IconicItem: His oxygen tank.

* MadScientist: A classic.
* ManipulativeBastard
* TheManBehindTheMan: Different episodes suggest Raines was this for Mr. Lyle. [[spoiler:In "Bloodlines," he arranged for his adoption. "Inner Sense" has Lyle himself mention how "Bobby Bowman" was one of Raines' outside projects.]]
* MedicalRapeAndImpregnate: [[spoiler:Mr. Raines does this to Catherine Parker. Twice. Once with his own sperm, and once with Major Charles'.]]
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: In one early episode, he remarked that he wasn't a doctor anymore and not bound by the Hippocratic Oath. However, flashbacks show then-Dr. Raines performing medical practices that would've had him immediately stripped of license by a proper review board.

* SoapOperaDisease
* TheStarscream: He's pretty brazen about his disregard for Mr. Parker and even tried to have him killed in "Donoterase."
* SuperBreedingProgram: Has been trying to create more Pretenders.
* SympathyForTheDevil: The twist ending to "Once in a Blue Moon."
* VaderBreath
* VillainousIncest: [[spoiler:When seen in retrospect, when you know he's Miss Parker's biological father, his ogling her in the first couple of seasons turns into unutterable squickness and underlines his evilness.]]

* BaldOfEvil
* BigBad
* DirtyOldMan

* CowardlyLion: He's frightened and freaks out easily, but he frequently braves sneaking into restricted areas in the Centre at the risk of getting caught or worse, will do anything to protect his daughter and just about anything to protect Sydney and Broots, and can be counted on as a steady ally in times of crisis.

* MissionControl: For most of Season 1, Broots would stay at The Centre while Miss Parker and Sydney would go in the field. By the end of the season, while remaining the tech guy, he would regularly join them instead.

* TheGhost: For most of Season 1.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: At the end of ''Island of the Haunted''.]]

* SharpDressedMan: Is always dressed to the nines. When he's not, it is a huge signal at how much power has gotten out of his control.

* DarkActionGirl: As befit someone working as enforcer for an evil organisation to hunt down one escapee.

* DeadpanSnarker: One of her chief traits.
* DefrostingIceQueen

* HeavySleeper:

* IgnoredEpiphany

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold
* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Thomas, who Jarod sets her up with, is killed by The Centre.]]
* TheNicknamer: Comes up with nicknames for just about anyone she comes in contact with. She calls Jarod things like 'Frankenstein's Monster' and 'Wonderboy,' Mr. Raines things 'Nosferatu' and similar themed names, and Sydney 'Dr. Frankenstein.'

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Justified in that if she catches Jarod she's been promised that The Centre will let her quit.

* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids

* TakingTheBullet: For [[spoiler: Mr. Parker]]. [[HeGotBetter She got better.]]
* TrappedInVillainy: By her loyalty to her father.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: until her mother's death.

** "Ties That Bind" reveals she has nightmares about being stuck in The Centre for life, even if she did manage to capture Jarod.

* AndStarring

* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler:He tried to kill Mr. Raines for trying to kill Jarod.]]

* ConflictingLoyalty: Between Jarod and The Centre. Eventually becomes [[TheMole a mole]] for Jarod.
* DisappearedDad: To Nicholas, but not by choice.

* IgnoredExpert: He believes The Centre is being too extreme in its pursuit of Jarod and that they're only serving to drive him further away.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Partially how he justified Jarod and the other children's treatment and training, the other reason was ForScience

* ParentalSubstitute: To Jarod, and, to a certain extent, Miss Parker.

* ThoseWackyNazis: Was kidnapped by them in World War II as a child to be experimented on.

* AntiVillain: Sure, she might work for an evil organization and try to catch one of their prisoners but she also has difficulties to deal with her past with the said organization.

** Jared compares her to cockroaches via proxy, mentioning both would survive nuclear apocalypse, by a student who mentioned her but didn't know he was talking to miss Parker. In the same scene, infecting her with a flu.
** Trapping her and her men by using a super adhesive to trap them.
** All those are lampshaded when they are both locked in Florida during a hurricane.

* SarcasticConfession: Uses these a lot.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Starts out this way, due to the abuses done to him by The Centre, and from there it just gets worse.
** This is a particular plot point in "Stolen," where he has nightmares and panic attacks about his abduction.

* SlasherSmile: Very often when he has the villain of the week entrapped and experiencing whatever justice Jarod felt was acceptable.

* ThinkNothingOfIt
* ThouShaltNotKill: He only breaks this rule under the most extreme circumstances.
* ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim: How he figures out who, how, or why the villain of the week did the deed.
** Averted in [[spoiler: "Once In a Blue Moon" where Jarod refuses (because of the emotional and mental trauma it will cause him) to fully go into a psychotic serial killer's mind, and instead tricks the man into revealing where the next victim was.]]

* WalkingTheEarth: Due to both searching for his family and running from the Centre.

* WarriorTherapist
* WeHelpTheHelpless: In fact, in addition to helping them, he'll give them money, too.

Jarod's mother. A very kind woman who has been on the run from The Centre ever since they kidnapped Jarod, but has never stopped searching for him. It is implied that she knows more about The Centre than many people inside The Centre, [[spoiler: may have been working with Catherine, and has some inkling about TheChosenOne status of her son.]]

* LawOfInverseFertility: Was unable to have children until she and Major Charles went to that very helpful fertility clinic... which just happened to sideline in kidnapping special children.
* MissingMom: Not her choice.
* MysteriousParent
* ParentsKnowTheirChildren

Jarod's father who used to be an Air Force pilot. Has been on the run since Jarod's kidnapping, but also never stopped searching for him. He and Margaret got split up while on the run and hasn't been able to find her for several years. Believed to have assassinated Catherine Parker, [[spoiler: but that was just a lie created by The Centre to try to get Miss Parker to kill him.]]

* BadassOldGuy: Still a force to be reckoned with.

* DisappearedDad: Not his choice.

* HellBentForLeather

* PapaWolf
* ParentsKnowTheirChildren

* {{Determinator}}: It runs in the family.
* IntrepidReporter

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Very quirky.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Initially.

-->Fellow F.B.I. agent: "Jarod, has anyone ever told you you're an odd duck?"
-->Jarod: "Odd, yes. Duck, no."

** PsychopathicManchild: which is part of why his switch over to the rage-filled righter/avenger of wrongs who metes out poetic justice with gleeful relish, so terrifying. WordOfGod is this dichotomy was intentional to keep Jarod a sympathetic character.

* NoodleIncident: The show opens with Jarod already out of the Centre and, for four seasons, viewers and characters alike don't know how he escaped. A selling point of ''2001'' was finally revealing how he pulled it off.
** There are occasional references to unseen pretends, though the most memorable example has to be from "Til Death Do Us Part," where Jarod is said to have exposed a clown as a child molestor. The clown was found in a circus's tiger cage with a piece of meat tied to his privates.

* {{Determinator}}: It's a family trait.
* HellBentForLeather: Runs in the family.
* ProperlyParanoid

* BadassArmFold: Often when he's taunting a villain.

* ConMan
* CriminalMindgames: Jarod loves playing these on his pursuers.

* ForgetsToEat: and sleep.

* GoodIsNotDumb: By no means.

* HouseOfBrokenMirrors: Jarod is not fond of mirrors because they remind him of everything he is not: one and whole. He rarely (except for a few memorable occasions) actually breaks the mirrors to reflect his splintered and broken psyche, but he does tend to avoid having lodgings that have them.

* InnocentProdigy: Was one.
* InstantExpert: Goes with being a Pretender.

* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne

* KnightErrant
* ManChild: Generally exhibits a childlike wonder and certain amount of childlike innocence, due to being deprived of normal childhood and any contact with the outside world.

* {{Mangst}}
* TheMatchmaker: Sets up Sydney and Michelle and Miss Parker and Tommy.

* MundaneObjectAmazement: Due to his being isolated from the outside world.

* PhlebotinumRebel

* QuizzicalTilt: When encountering and trying to understand some sort of human behavior, thinking, practices, item, or pop culture he has never seen before.

* WalkingTheEarth: Due to that he's both searching for his family and is on the run from the Centre.

* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:Doesn't at first believe he's Jarod's clone, then gets frightened about it, but Jarod reassures him and treats him like a little brother (which he essentially is).]]

* HurtingHero: Hoo boy.

* BadassBaritone: Has a very deep voice, and is a person it is a really good idea to avoid being on his bad side.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Combined with LaserGuidedKarma is his favorite pass time. Every single time he solves a crime mystery, he makes the criminal experience ''exactly'' what his victim(s) experienced, with the caveat that murderers actually [[ThouShallNotKill survive]] the experience. This does come back to bite him at least once, when one criminal with an extreme case of MoralMyopia comes after him in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and Jarod has to team up with Parker to survive seeing as a hurricane is bearing down on all of them, and escape is not an option.

* ShesGotLegs

* AudienceSurrogate
* BadLiar: Really, really bad.
* BumblingDad: Slightly.
* CasualKink

* {{Nerd}}
** LovableNerd
* NiceGuy

* PluckyComicRelief

* AffablyEvil

* EvilOldFolks

* HearingVoices: [[spoiler: A trait passed down to him, TakenUpToEleven, from Catherine.]]

* BiggerBad

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Thomas, who Jarod sets her up with, is [[StuffedInTheFridge killed by The Centre]].]]

HEre's the list of characters. NeedsMoreWikiLove.

* TheBaroness: Love wearing CombatStilettos and MinidressOfPower, and is fond of bossing her coworkers of the Centre.
* BrokenBird: Her mother died in tragic circumstances, first thought to be suicide [[spoiler;before being revelated to be murder]].
* ButtMonkey: A more stoic and dignified example but especially early on, Jared seemed to go out of his way to mess with or generally make a fool of miss Parker. Notable examples include:

* EveryoneHasStandards: She's loyal to The Centre, but she often expresses disgust with the shadier operations, such as Lyle getting in bed with the Yakuza to abduct a murder witness.

* InspectorJAvert: She will hunt down Jarod for the Centre across the United States.

* InTheBlood: Wonders if she, along with the other Parkers, are all doomed to be murderers, whether it's just in the blood, or whether she can break the cycle. [[spoiler: It doesn't help that in "Island of the Haunted" it is said that [[HereditaryCurse her family is cursed]] because her great grandfather made a deal with the devil and slaughtered his entire family.]]

* ManChild: Generally exhibits a childlike wonder and certain amount of childlike innocence...

* AntiVillain
* TheBaroness
* BrokenBird

** Getting a casino security team to capture her and her people while also implied to have later been stripped searched.
** Jared compares her to cockroaches via proxy by a student who mentioned her but didn't know he was talking to miss Parker.
** Infecting her with a flu
** trapping her and her men by using a super adhesive to trap them.

* DarkActionGirl

* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking

* OnlySaneMan

-->'''Played by:''' Peter Outerbridge

* {{Adorkable}}: He has a childlike innocence, purity of emotion, and wonder (when not Pretending); is just terribly nice and sweet to innocents; practically squees any time he gets to interact with a family that really loves one another; and is genuinely curious and puzzled about U.S. societal and cultural norms; all of which combined makes even the over six-foot, highly imposing Jarod someone that is just terribly adorable when he's not being the psycho, badass avenger and defender of the weak.

* TheRainman