History Characters / TheStrainTVSeriesMain

->'''Played By:''' Rupert Penry-Jones

* GutturalGrowler: David Bradley uses his full vocal ability with this character.

* GutturalGrowler: Can do this (combined with a slight VoiceOfTheLegion) if he's trying to be really intimidating.

* ProperlyParanoid: Back in his youth in the concentration camp, he was the only one to suspect a supernatural beast was murdering people around said camp. He was correct.

* WouldHurtAChild: He lops off a infected child's head without even flinching. Justified because it's necessary and the infected are no longer human.

* HeroicBSOD: Has one after Sektrakian saves her and Eph from two vampires, one of them a small child. The next episode though snaps her out of her when one attacks the facility she is at with her mother.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: What he does to [[HerrDoktor Dr.]] [[MadScientist Dreverhaven]] [[spoiler:(dismembering him ‘alive’ and dumping the pieces into the ocean)]]. He describes it as [[MomentOfWeakness “the closest he has ever come to madness”]].

* DecapitatedArmy: An {{Inverted}} weakness for the Master: he's virtually impossible to even reach, let alone destroy, being surrounded by his army of strigoi minions whose HiveMind senses he can hijack at any time. The heroes spend most of the series just trying and often failing to track him down. Setrakian eventually discovers that the Master's true weakness is his need to rely on human and vampire minions who still have autonomy and free will. Taking them out keeps the Master from enacting his plans effectively, making him vulnerable. In the Master's case, destroy the metaphorical body and the head will eventually die.

->'''Played By:''' Samantha Mathis

* TheChick: Much more emotionally mature and capable of approaching things diplomatically than [[ManChild Eph]] is. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] when Abraham points out that her feelings and firm morals are actually a liability when it comes to [[IDidWhatIHadToDo doing what needs to be done.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: His attitude at times towards Palmer, such as when the man boldly declares he's the Master's "partner." Also, when he threatens Palmer and Coco by withholding the worms that give them youth, he sees them startled and laughs as he realizes they thought the effects were permement.

* IHaveNoSon: On the receiving end of this.

* WellDoneSonGuy: His father holds resentment over Vasily not following his footsteps and choosing to become a ratcatcher, and Vasily is deeply wounded by that, leading them to a very strained relationship.

* DeterminedWidow: Combined with a bit of TakeUpMySword. She tells Eph that her husband died on 9/11, and it inspired her into public service.

* UncannyValley: InUniverse, the fact he doesn't breathe, which is remarked as off-putting. Also mentioned is the fact he rarely ''walks'' into places, but instead emerges out of the thin air.

* {{Jerkass}}: in 1x10, he essentially tells Dutch, who hasn't done anything wrong (he doesn't know that she and her crew "hacked the Internet", and even so, she has been making amends after she found out the real purpose behind it), to piss off and potentially die outside of the protection of the pawn shop because the man-child cannot control his emotions.

* PlayingGertrude: Jonathan Hyde is 66, whereas Palmer seems to be at the very least in his early 90s.

* AwesomeMccoolname: How many guys do you know named Goodweather? Let alone with a first name like Ephraim?

* InSeriesNickname: “[[PunnyName Dutch]][[AwesomeMcCoolname ess]]”, courtesy of Gus.

* BaldOfAwesome: He changes his appearance by shaving his head.

* BadassBeard: A long goatee.

* BadassBeard: A mustache plus goatee combo.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: It's practically a RunningGag for people to mispronounce his name as Seh-TRACK-ian (as in "track") instead of Set-rake-Ian (as in "rake").

* LoveIsAWeakness: [[NotSoDifferent Similar to Setrakian]], he expresses this view.

* NotSoDifferent: He tries to make this claim with Setrakian, but his argument rings hollow.
-->'''Eichhorst:''' You comfort yourself with the fantasy that you're morally superior to me, but you're not. First day you arrived, I asked if anyone was a carpenter, and you eagerly threw up your hands! And from that day on, you've labored here, working on behalf of the Third Reich!
-->'''Setrakian:''' I had no choice!
-->'''Eichhorst:''' Yes, you have! But you're afraid of the choice.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Eldritch" literally means "weird and sinister". "Eldritch Palmer" is therefore roughly on par with, say, [[Comicbook/{{Sleeper}} Genocide Jones]]. It's also a ShoutOut to Creator/PhilipKDick's novel ''The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch'', in which the titular character is also a corrupt plutocrat with designs on extending his lifespan unnaturally.

* OddFriendship: Starting to forge one with Vasily the Ratcatcher, due heir similar worldviews.

* CrazyPrepared: He carries all manner of equipment around – rebar, a mirror for seeing around corners, sticks of dynamite… He also had the foresight to put a GPS tracker on the [[MacGuffin Lumen]], beneath the silver binding where strigoi can’t get to it.

* MamaBear: Though she is biologically compelled to feed on Zach, she still protects him from a feral strigoi in 3x04.

* CoolSword: He carries what appears to be a sword with a hilt made from a bone.

-->''"The ancients are the past. I am the future."''

* LargeAndInCharge: He's absolutely massive. Until he transfers his consciousness into Bolivar.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Writes down all the info he can before he finally submits to death, rather than become a Strigori.]]

* FantasticRacism : Is this towards resident Dhampyre Mr. Quinlan when he assists Setrakian in translating the Lumen. He readily admits it and advises Setrakian to be cautious around him.

* ScienceHero: Together with Eph, she uses her scientific expertise to stop the strigoi epidemic.

* VagueAge: He looks somewhere in his early to mid-70's, and for someone who's 94 years old, he's in phenomenal shape. [[spoiler:It is revealed in season 2 that he has been using a chemical compound extracted from the worms to hold off the aging process.]]

* StepfordSmiler: His usual DeadpanSnarker attitude drops at his alcohol rehab and he reveals that he's very much unhappy with how his life is turning out, and how he ruined his marriage. Notable he actually starts to cry, though he quickly wipes his eyes. It all indicates that Eph is putting his sarcastic attitude as a cover for his own HeroicSelfDeprecation.