History Characters / Unbelievable

* DirtyCoward: He thinks of himself as a strong figure but all his victims were women he attacked at night and who had no chance of fighting him off and he even tries to cop a deal to get a lighter prison sentence and is clearly frightened at the prospect of serving a life sentence.

* AbusiveParents: Former foster mother, in this case. While she never harms Marie physically, she is emotionally abusive, accusatory, and is directly responsible for the police not believing Marie's truthful testimony about her rape. It's not a one-time incident - she continually calls Marie a liar about other topics too and attempts to undermine and control how Marie responds to the accusations of her being a liar. Arguably, she does more to damage Marie's mental well-being than anyone else, aside from the rapist himself. Like many parents who do this too, she doesn't seem to realize the harm she's done, and thinks her acts are in Marie's best interests.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the series' end, Marie has been given a $150,000 settlement which she uses to buy a car (she finally got her driver's license) and goes to the beach, a place she reminisced about during her assault. There she calls Karen and thanks her for her and Grace's work, seemingly at peace. The real Marie eventually married and had a family of her own, albeit wishing to remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

* {{LackOfEmpathy}}: He has no regard whatsoever for any of the women he attacks and doesn't seem to think of them as anything more than prey.

* DirtyCoward: He thinks of himself as a strong figure but all his victims were women he attacked at night and who had no chance of fighting him off and he even tries to cop a deal to get a lighter prison sentence.

->'''Portrayed By:''' Merritt Wever

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He pleads guilty in the hopes of a lighter sentence. It backfires spectacularly as the judge sees right through him and he ends up sentenced to three-hundred years, destroying any possible hope of ever getting out.

* TheAtoner: After discovering that he was wrong all along, he's wracked with guilt.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He pleads guilty in the hopes of a lighter sentence. It backfires as he ends up sentenced to three-hundred years, destroying any possible hope of ever getting out.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A truly horrific example as it's shown throughout the series how his attacks left his victims severely traumatized and, in the case of Marie, nearly ruined their lives. But McCarthy is never shown to give them any further thought beyond a few mementos.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Averted. Even his brother seems to find him off putting and his only concern is that hearing about Chris' crimes will destroy their mother.
* FauxAffablyEvil: In his final scene, he is seen talking politely to an interviewer about his crimes and comes across as almost charming but the knowledge of what he's done makes him firmly this.

* LaserGuidedKarma: He hoped to escape a permanent sentence by pleading guilty. The judge is far from impressed and throws him in prison [[LongerThanLifeSentence for about 300 years]].

* FromCamoflaugeToCriminal: He served three years in the Marine Corps long before his crimes.

* LongerThanLifeSentence: He is sentenced to three-hundred years for his numerous crimes. The look on his face when the judge dashes any hope he ever had of getting out is immensely satisfying.

* OhCrap: He hae this reaction when the judge shoots down his effort for a lighter sentence and sentences him to three-hundred years in prison. Given all he's done, it's enormously gratifying, to say the least.

[[folder:Duvall]]
!!Det. Karen Duvall

[[folder:Rasmussen]]
!!Det. Grace Rasmussen

[[folder:Marie]]
!!Marie Adler

[[folder:Amber]]
!!Amber Stevenson

!!Sarah

!!Doris

!!Mia

!!Max

!![=RoseMarie=]

!!Elias

[[folder:Det. Parker]]
!!Det. Robert Parker

[[folder:Det. Pruitt]]
!!Det. Pruitt

!!Judith

[[folder:Colleen]]
!!Colleen Doggett

[[folder:Al]]
!!Al Doggett

[[folder:Steve]]
!!Steve Rasmussen

[[/folder]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Eric Lange

* TheWatson: Since Elias is an intern, RoseMarie often takes the time to explain procedure and what certain terms mean to him if he's unfamiliar with them. This is very helpful for audience members who also might not know the particulars of different DNA tests and other relevant policework.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As well as being overly critical of Marie, she is also the one who tells Parker that she believes Marie may have fabricated the assault. Yet she genuinely cares for Marie She appears to realize her mistake due to a conversation with Colleen, though by then it's too late. Unfortunately, her approach seems to be "tough love" in general with Marie, which isn't helpful.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's never really a jerk, exactly, but he initially comes across as very cold and clinical in dealing with Marie's case. When he starts to believe that she's making the whole thing up, he runs with it and behaves more like an outright jerk. Ultimately, he isn't portrayed as being malicious or even incompetent, but as someone who made a grievous mistake brought on my unconcious bias, a lack of communication between police departments and influence from the likes of Judith. He's utterly horrified to realize the depth of his error. It's telling that in the scene where Marie is badgered into "admitting" she made the assault up, Parker isn't present. It's hard to imagine him letting Pruitt get away with his aggressive, bullying tactics.

!!Colleen

!!Al

!!Det. Parker

[[folder:Det. Karen Duvall]]
->'''Played by: Merritt Wever'''

[[folder:Det. Grace Rasmussen]]
->'''Played by: Creator/ToniCollette'''

[[folder:Marie Adler]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/KaitlynDever

[[folder:Amber Stevenson]]
->'''Played by: Danielle Macdonald'''

* TheStoic: When Detective Duvall interviews her after her rape, Amber is calm, collected, friendly, wants to be helpful and is very good at remembering details. She even keeps humorously apologizing for various things until Duvall has to reassure her that she doesn't have to apologize for anything. This lasts until her medical examination is over and she gets to call someone to see if she can stay with them, and only then, while talking on the phone to a friend, does she break down, very quietly.

->'''Played by: Vanessa Bell Calloway'''

->'''Played by: Jayne Taini'''

->'''Played by: Liza Lapira'''

->'''Played by: Austin Hébert'''

->'''Played by: Dale Dickey'''

->'''Played by: Omar Maskati'''

->'''Played by: Eric Lange'''

* DirtyCop: Downplayed but also Lampshaded by Parker himself. He and Pruitt both coerce Marie into recanting her statement and saying that she lied. He muses how incompetent or dirty cops are ever allowed on the force and thinks he should be gotten rid of too.

->'''Played by: Bill Fagerbakke'''

->'''Played by: Elizabeth Marvel'''

->'''Played by: Bridget Everett'''

->'''played by: Kai Lennox'''

* LaserGuidedKarma: He hoped to escape a permanent sentence by pleading guilty. The judge is far from impressed and throws him in prison for about 300 years.