Characters / Carnivale New Canaan Ministry

The New Canaan Ministry

The Crowe Family

Justin

Brother Justin Crowe a.k.a. Alexei Belyakov

Portrayed By: Clancy Brown, Jamie Kaler (young)

• Affably Evil: Most of the time. Right up until he actually gets angry, when despite his tone and expression barely changing from "happy," he suddenly becomes fucking terrifying.
• The Antichrist: As the Avatar of Dark.
• Anti-Villain: Is very conflicted about his power and genuinely thinks he's doing the right thing.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: His primary power basically amounts to Mind Rape and he's the show's main villain.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Frequently in Ben's visions.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Canonical, too.
• Dark Messiah: Again, he's the Avatar of Dark.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments.
  Vulgarity is not a sin against God, but against polite society. Between you and me, I don't give a shit about polite society.
• Evil Is Hammy: A born orator, he's prone to making grandiose speeches both in public and private.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He has a magnificently deep voice.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Anyone in Justin's way when he finally comes face-to-face with Ben? Gets eviscerated by his scythe.
• Go Among Mad People: When he's confined to a mental institution in Season 1.
• Husky Russkie: Russian by birth and very physically imposing.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Fully embraces his evil in Season 2.
• Kick the Dog: His treatment of Norman and the young maid Celeste in the second season definitely fall under this.
• Mangst: Justin is the emo-est Dark Messiah ever, until he just embraces the evil.
• Mind Rape: His preferred use of his powers, particularly on young women.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Initially it seemed that Justin could just show people their darkest sins. As the series progressed it was revealed that he could also use telekinesis, mind control and communicate at a distance, cause injury to others, and had a berserker rage with superhuman strength. Ben's powers of healing on the other hand stayed relatively the same.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Ben.
• Sinister Minister: He's a minister and also the closest thing the series has to a Big Bad.
• Villain Protagonist: A large portion of the story focuses on him.

Iris

Iris Crowe

Portrayed By: Amy Madigan

• Axe-Crazy: Though her preferred weapon is a boat oar, and the axe is technically meant for someone else to use.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Sweet on the outside, crazy on the inside.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Pretty explicit on both sides, though Justin's is sexual in nature and Iris's is emotional.
• The Dragon: To Justin, at least until Stroud comes along.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Much debate centers around Iris's true nature after the events of Season Two. Is she still loyal to Justin? Was her alliance with Norman just for appearances? Why did she let Ben go? Is she truly sorry for setting the Ministry fire? And just whose side is she on, anyway?
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Will do anything for Justin.
  "I did it for you".

• Pet the Dog: Iris may be very dangerous, but she at least has the decency to comfort the traumatised maid after Justin rapes her (the maid).
• Promotion to Parent: Iris is arguably one of the only competent mother-figures Justin has ever known. Which makes their relationship that much squickier.
• Secret-Keeper: By the series' end, she's the only person who knows about Sofie's parentage.

• Stronger Sibling: Well, smarter and more ruthless, at any rate.
• Took a Level in Badass: She takes several over the course of the series, even ones that are levels in retrospect (her "punishment" from Justin and plotting with Norman).
• Villainous Breakdown: Has one in "The Road to Damascus" when she thinks she's about to go to jail for setting the Ministry fire. She's praying on her knees on shards of a broken mirror. She doesn't anticipate Tommy Dolan taking the fall instead, courtesy of Justin's mind control powers tricking him into writing a false confession.
• Yandere: Calm and pleasant on the surface, "crazier than a shithouse rat" underneath.

Associates

Norman

Reverend Norman Balthus

Portrayed By: Ralph Waite

• Parental Substitute: For Justin and Iris, which makes Justin's sadistic treatment and killing of him very Oedipal in nature.
• Sacrificial Lion: One of the great shockers of the finale is Justin killing him.

Dolan

Tommy Dolan

Portrayed By: Robert Knepper

• Deal with the Devil: Ironically referred to exactly as such by Brother Justin. Since Tommy still thinks Justin is a simple man of god, he jokes "Oh come on, I'm not that bad." Justin replies "No, you're not."

• Lovable Rogue: Seems to genuinely care about the migrants and the truth, but is not above underhanded methods or receiving financial compensation for his work.
• Unwitting Pawn: To be fair, no one in-universe sees Iris coming as the arsonist, and no one could predict how far Justin would go to protect her and how manipulative he can be.

Stroud

Varlyn Stroud

Portrayed By: John Carroll Lynch

• Bald of Evil: He's not completely bald yet, but has lost most of his hair.
• The Brute: Justin tasks him with tracking down and killing Henry Scudder.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Is openly misogynist and mocks Samson's dwarfism, making him this even by the standards of the times.
• Psycho for Hire: He's Brother Justin's personal assassin.

Eleanor

Eleanor McGill

Portrayed By: K Callan

• Cloud Cuckoolander: She certainly chooses to ignore a lot of the strange goings-on around Justin's ministry.

• Magnetic Plot Device: Her coin-stealing in the pilot provides the impetus for the first manifestation of Justin's powers.
• Sacrificial Lion: Shouldn't have insisted upon telling Justin you saw his Black Eyes of Evil, Eleanor - Iris didn't appreciate it.