Characters / Dark Angel

Transgenics

Max Guevara/X5-452 (Jessica Alba)

A genetically engineered Super Soldier developed by Manticore. She led a break out of her fellow experiments and escaped to Seattle. Decades later Max works as a bike messenger by day and looks for information about her fellow Transgenics by night.

• Action Girl: "She was designed to be the perfect soldier, a human weapon."
• Badass Biker: Of both the motorbike and bicycle variety.
• Cat Girl: Not in appearance, but she has some feline DNA, which gives her extraordinary strength, speed... and heat cycles.
• Child Soldiers: Manticore started training them very young.
• Classy Cat-Burglar: In third-world America, she needs alternate means of income than her minimum wage.
• Cool Big Sis: Tries to be one to Joshua (despite being younger than he is).
• The Chosen One: revealed in the final book, Sandeman created her for this purpose, so save all the Muggles.
• Deadpan Snarker: "Don't tell me you're one of those people... because a butterfly farted in India, you and I are sat right here, right now, sharing a cup of coffee that tastes like goat piss".
• Extraordinarily Empowered Girl: All the X5s are super soldiers, complete with enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Seems to be a transgenic thing.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Mostly due to Fantastic Racism towards transgenics. It doesn't help that her arch enemies have inserted themselves into the military, police, hospitals.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: "All I wanted was a nice, normal life."
• Meaningful Name: After guerilla leader Che Guevara.
• Ms. Fanservice: Most noticeable in Gill Girl, where she has to pretend to be a stripper/dancer to get into the club.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: She's fond of them. Sometimes mid-ass-kicking one-liners too.
• Say My Name: When she finds Tinga, complete with Big "NO!".
• Scannable Man: All transgenics have barcodes.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Think she's beautiful normally? Wait until you see her in a Pimped-Out Dress.
• She-Fu: Tiny, slender and full of acrobatic ass-kicking.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She can be sweet and kind, especially towards Joshua and Cindy. Or she can be "such a bitch", especially to Alec. Sometimes she can switch in a heartbeat.
• Super Soldier: See Extraordinarily Empowered Girl above.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Shades of it with Kendra and Original Cindy.
• Tomboyish Name: Max, which is not short for Maxine, or "Maximum Girl".
• Tyke Bomb: See Child Soldiers above.
• Unkempt Beauty: Complete with her tomboyish nature, Max doesn't usually take care of her appearance. She still looks beautiful.
• You Are Number 6: The X5s gave each other names. Manticore gave them numbers. This is shown unpleasantly at the start of Season 2, where part of Max's reindoctrination involves identifying herself as 'X5-452'. If she refuses, she's locked in a box for a week.

Alec McDowell/X5-494 (Jensen Ackles)

Another X5 Transgenic and backup twin of Ben, that breaks out with Max during her second visit to Manticore. Once outside he fully embraces his freedom and becomes a bit of a hedonist, though he will still reluctantly assist Max.

• Backup Twin: Twinned with Ben.
• A Day in the Limelight: "The Berrisford Agenda" is very much an Alec episode.
• Deadpan Snarker: "Hell, I wanna get rid you, and I just met you!"
• Handsome Lech: In "Gill Girl," he's the one who finds out about the captured transgenic, because he was at a strip club at the time.
• Heel–Face Turn: Starts off working for Renfro to track down Eyes Only. When Manticore explodes, he's in it for himself for a while, until he eventually befriends Max and the gang.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a selfish jerk sometimes, but he can also be kind. Most noticeable with Joshua. He also has a moment with Max at the end of "Hello, Goodbye", after she tells him about Ben.
• Lovable Rogue: Called one outright by Logan; starting as a Lovable Traitor
• Meaningful Name: Derived from "smart alec", actor Malcolm McMcDowell, and Malcolm's A Clockwork Orange character Alex
• Mr. Fanservice: At least two shirtless scenes in the series, to show off those finely chiselled abs.
• Pretty Boy: "Say what you like, Manticore sure knows how to make 'em pretty."
• Scannable Man: Has a barcode on the back of his neck.
• Super Soldier: All the X5s are super soldiers, complete with enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed.
• Tyke Bomb: Trained to be super soldiers since they were kids.
• You Are Number 6: Known by Manticore as X5-494. It's Max who names him 'Alec'.

494 provides examples of the following further tropes while posing as Simon Lehane:

• Becoming the Mask: He was supposed to get close to Rachel's father so that he could kill him. Instead, he came to care for Rachel herself.
• Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story: He kills the real Simon and steals an ID badge, but that's as much effort as we see. He gives a sob story about his parents dying as well.
• Dead Person Impersonation: See above.
• In Love with the Mark: He falls for Rachel and attempts to abort the plan to assassinate her father.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When he sees the car explode, knowing that he planted the bomb.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Dresses in a fancy suit, befitting a man teaching the rich elite.
• Stoic Spectacles: Completely different from his joker personality as Alec. The writer said they put him in spectacles because they thought he'd look good in them.
• Teacher/Student Romance: His cover is that he's Rachel's music teacher. He falls for her instead.

Joshua (Kevin Durand)

Joshua is the first Transgenic developed, a human/dog hybrid, that breaks out with Max during her second trip to Manticore. Due to his canine features Joshua can't be seen outside, which causes a lot of friction between him and Max.

• Adorkable: Joshua has very little experience with the outside world, and reacts with adorable excitement to a lot of new things. "Tricks and treats!"
• Beast Man: Part dog, part man.
• Beast and Beauty: The Beast to Max's Beauty.
  • And Annie's Beauty.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's pretty damn scary when he gets his hands on Ames White.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Sometimes gives off this vibe because of his naivety.
• Cute Little Fangs: He has canine choppers, though they're very white.
• Expy: Is rather similar in appearance and mannerisms to Vincent from the Beauty and the Beast TV series.
• Genius Bruiser: Can seem simple due to his lack of world experience, but has a high IQ.
• Gentle Giant: Easily the sweetest member of the team, though he towers over Max (and everyone else).
• The Heart: Joshua is everyone's friend, even Alec and Max can't resist him. Most noticeable at the start of "The Berrisford Agenda'", where he invites everyone to dinner. He's also unfailingly supportive about people's problems ("Virus bitch going down!")
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With either Annie or Max. Adorably lampshaded with Max and Joshua's nicknames: 'little fella' and 'big fella' respectively.
• Hulk Speak: "Max and Joshua outside with out there people."
• Nice Guy: One of the nicest in the series.
• Reclusive Artist: invoked For obvious reasons, he sold his paintings to the gallery via Alec.
• Scannable Man: A notable aversion. He is the only transgenic without a barcode, because he was the first one created.
• Third-Person Person: See Hulk Speak above.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Joshua never uses the military/martial arts combat moves we see the other transgenics use. Since he seems to be stronger than them though, this doesn't work to his disadvantage. Noticeable in Designate This, when Max and Alec are trying to saw through bars on a window, since they can't remove it. Eventually, Joshua walks over and yanks the whole thing off the wall with ease.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: Most of the time, Joshua is very sweet. However when the Familiars attack Jam Pony in Freak Nation, he's tossing them around like rag dolls (while the other transgenics have a much tougher time). When he gets his hands on Ames White, Joshua comes very close to ripping him in half.

Zack/X5-599 (William Gregory Lee)

Co-planner of the original break out with Max. Zack was designed to be the Transgenics field leader and as such is naturally protective of them, to a obsessive degree.

• And I Must Scream: After Manticore recaptures him, he's used as a organ donor, providing a heart to Max and liver and kidneys to others. While still alive.
• Big Brother Instinct: Most of his Big Damn Heroes moments are due to this. He also shoots himself in the head so his heart can be used to save Max.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In his last episode.
• Child Soldiers: Manticore trained them young.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Unapologetically kills Vogelsang (the information broker Max hired, who was later squeezed down by Lydecker) to protect his siblings.
• Neuro-Vault: Apparently, Manticore trained them to forget information in case they are captured by the enemy. Zack does exactly this when Manticore captures him, so that he can't reveal the locations of his siblings.
• Scannable Man: Has a barcode on his neck.
• Super Soldier: All the X5s are super soldiers, complete with enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed.
• Tyke Bomb: See Child Soldiers above.
• You Are Number 6: His designation is 599. He and his siblings gave each other the names they use now.

Ben/X5-493 (Jensen Ackles)

Another X5 soldier. As a kid Ben use to tell stories to keep everyone's spirits up, but sadly he lost his mind when he escaped Manticore and became a Serial Killer.

• Child Soldiers: Trained from childhood to kill.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: He captures people and hunts them down, ripping out their teeth to prove his faith to 'The Lady'.
• Let Them Die Happy: Max asks him to tell her about 'the good place' (from one if his childhood stories), before snapping his neck.
• Mercy Killing: His leg is injured after fighting Max, and Manticore is closing in. Rather than go back, he asks Max to kill him.
• Pretty Boy: Naturally, he's played by Jensen Ackles.
• Room Full of Crazy: His hideout is covered with words like 'Mission' and 'Duty', reminiscent of the propaganda slides they were shown whilst children at Manticore.
• Scannable Man: Has a barcode on his neck.
• Serial Killer: See Hunting the Most Dangerous Game.
• The Storyteller: In order to explain the things that happened to them as children, Ben would make up stories. Max theorises that when he got into the real world, he couldn't handle the amount of unexplainable things, and it broke him.
• Super Soldier: All the X5s are super soldiers, complete with enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed.
• Tyke Bomb: See Child Soldiers above.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The flashbacks show him telling stories to keep the others entertained. Also, the trope name is almost word-for-word what Alec says when Max describes him.
• You Are Number 6: His designation is 493, named Ben by his siblings.

Tinga/X5-656 (Lisa Ann Cabasa)

Another escaped X5 that managed to start a new life, get married, and have a kid. Then Manticore tracked her down.

• Baby Factory: Renfro's plans for her, due to her being able to pass along her Super Soldier genes to her chlidren.
• Child Soldiers: Raised by Manticore to be a soldier.
• Happily Married: Until Manticore catches up with them.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Like Max, Zack and Alec, she wears a leather coat.
• Killed Off for Real: The tank she is placed in kills her.
• Mama Bear: Tinga gives herself up to Lydecker to save her son's life.
• People Jars: Max finds her in one after she is captured by Renfro.
• Rapunzel Hair: "It's like she hasn't cut it since the escape."
• Scannable Man: Has a barcode on her neck.
• Super Soldiers: All the X5s are super soldiers, complete with enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed.
• Tyke Bomb: See Child Soldiers above.
• You Are Number 6: Her designation is 656. She was named Tinga by her siblings, and later named herself Penny when she settled down into a normal life.

Brin/X5-734 (Nicole Bilderback)

Another escaped X5 who got recaptured and brainwashed into a Manticore enforcer.

• Child Soldiers: Raised by Manticore to be a soldier.
• Consummate Professional: Once reindoctrinated, she acts like the perfect soldier Manticore always wanted.
• The Dragon: Becomes one for Renfro for a while.
• Face–Heel Turn: After being taken back to Manticore, she is reindoctrinated and becomes "one of them now."
• I Don't Want to Die: Said word for word, and the reason she allows Manticore to recapture her.
• Locked in a Freezer: Done by choice, because the cold slows down her rapid aging.
• Rapid Aging: She is afflicted with a disease that causes rapid aging. Her only options were to die or return to Manticore.
• Scannable Man: Has a barcode on her neck.
• Super Soldiers: All the X5s are super soldiers, complete with enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed.
• Tyke Bomb: See Child Soldiers above.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: She doesn't show up in Season 2, despite Max spending months and a whole episode at Manticore, and her fate is not mentioned at all.
• You Are Number 6: Her designation is 734, named Brin by her siblings.

Mole (Brian Jensen)

A human/lizard Transgenic designed for desert combat. After escaping Manticore Mole becomes the unofficial leader of the underground Transgenic community, coordinating efforts to help other Transgenics.

• Cigar Chomper: Which did not interfere with his altered body.
• Non-Indicative Name: Named Mole, even though he looked like a lizard instead of a mammal.
• Rebel Leader: A role Mole grows into gradually as more Transgenics are found.

Human Allies

Logan Cale/Eyes Only (Michael Weatherly)

A wealthy journalist who uses his resources to be "Eyes Only", a faceless hacker who interrupts tv signals to report on corrupt dealings in Seattle with impunity. Max first runs into Logan when she tries to steal from his apartment. In exchange for tracking down lost Transgenics Max does missions for Logan to help out Seattle's less fortunate.

• The Alleged Car: A Pontiac Aztek. Kind of pathetic given Logan's money, but it's best to keeping a low profile on missions.
• Catchphrase: As Eyes Only: "This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in this city... This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin. Peace, out."
• Genius Cripple: His spine is damaged in the very first episode, leaving him paraplegic. He is still invaluable as a hacker and general computer whizz.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Only on one occasion, but he jumps to the conclusion that Max and Alec are in a relationship based on seeing them having a friendly conversation outside Max's apartment. He then gets drunk and confronts Max with his suspicions.
• Handicapped Badass: One one occasion, Max was incapacitated due to her seizures, so someone had take on some thugs. Cue Logan arming up and going at it from his wheelchair.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: His role in Eyes Only gets him some heat, despite trying to get the truth out. Siding with the transgenics doesn't do him any favours either.
• Hollywood Hacking: It's made very aesthetically pleasing, and very simple. Sometimes all it takes is one button click.
• Intrepid Reporter: To the point that he can't even go on a holiday without trying to find out the truth about some police brutality that occurred after the Pulse.
• Knight In Sour Armor: Lost some of his idealism over time. The prequel novel "Before the Dawn" shows that he was against killing bad guys and chewed Max's brother Seth out for doing so, but by the time of the series he's over it. Blaming himself for getting Seth killed, which he hides from Max until "After the Dark", may have something to do with it.
• Knowledge Broker: Comes with being able to hack into anything, and being filthy rich.
• Non-Idle Rich: Uses his wealth to help out the rest of Seattle.
• Nice Guy: Most of the time.
• Obfuscating Disability: After his walking problem is solved by an exoskeleton.
• Perma-Stubble: Perhaps to emphasize that his work takes priority over everything else.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Logan's official job is a journalist, and while that is only a cover and a way for him to find information for Eyes Only, we never see him submit an article for publication, or publish an article himself in his regular persona.
• Secret Identity: Reporter Logan Cale vs Eyes Only.
• Stoic Spectacles: He usually keeps his cool in any situation, though this is notably averted at the end of Season 1, when Max is shot.
• Voice of the Resistance: For both the transgenics and the S1W.
• White Sheep: The rest of his family are rich jerks who look down on Logan for using his money for altruistic purposes.

Original Cindy/Cynthia McEachin (Valerie Rae Miller)

Max's first and best friend, co-worker, and roommate. Original Cindy always has Max's back, and after learns Max's secret regualrly runs interference for her.

• Badass Gay: She's not afraid to "lay the smackdown on you."
• A Day in the Limelight: "Shorties In Love" is the only episode in either season to give her character any kind of real focus.
• Demoted to Extra: Got hit with this the hardest in Season 2 compared to her importance in Season 1.
• Dope Slap: Called upon occasionally to give these to Max; see "Heat" for a particularly good example (Max: "Thanks. I needed that").
• Meaningful Rename: From Cynthia to Original Cindy, shedding her timid childhood persona.
• Muggle Best Friend: And Max values their friendship extremely highly.
• Sassy Black Woman: Not afraid to tell it like it is, even if it gets her in trouble sometimes.
• Secret Keeper: One Cindy learns Max's secret, she does the most to keep Max's transgenic status from everyone else at Jam Pony.
• Shrinking Violet: Her original personality.
• Third-Person Person: Original Cindy picked this up from her previous girlfriend, Diamond, along with a dose of confidence and sass.
• Twofer Token Minority: African American and lesbian.
• Undying Loyalty: To Max.
• Unfazed Everyman: In the last episode of Season 2, Normal actually mistakes her for a transgenic because she's that comfortable with them and supportive.

Normal/Reagan Ronald (J.C. MacKenzie)

The unpleasant boss of Jam Pony Express, the bike messenger service Max and original Cindy work for. In Season 2 he is one of the most fervent anti-transgenic people.

• Bad Boss: Overworks and belittles his employees. They in turn give him no respect.
• Catchphrase: "Bip-bip-bip!"
• Deadpan Snarker: Especially to his workers.
• Fantastic Racism: Hates transgenics in Season 2, thinking they are trying to destroy the country.
  • Heel Realization: Realizes transgenics are people too after being forced to act as the midwife for one.
• Hidden Depths: Dated a post-op Transgender woman despite his normally narrow-minded behavior.
• Jerkass: Aside from constantly belittling his employees, he also exhibits Fantastic Racism towards transgenics.
• Mr. Fanservice: Only shown in one episode, but dude is ripped for an unpleasant weasel.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Named after Ronald Reagan and has a very conservative attitude.
• Nerd Glasses: Partial example, as he wears glasses and has a less-than heroic personality.

Kendra Maibaum (Jennifer Blanc)

Max and Cindy's other roommate. Was mostly concerned with Max's love life.

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She disappears late in Season 1 and is never heard from again.

Asha Barlow (Ashley Scott)

A member of a resistance cell that often collaborates with Logan.

• Locked Out of the Loop: She believes Logan is a collaborator of Eyes Only instead of the same man.
• Pair the Spares: Looked like she and Alec were going this way, until they didn't.
• La Résistance: An important member of the S1W, who fight against police brutality and corruption in Seattle.
• Romantic False Lead: Served as a Foil for Max and Logan.

Calvin "Sketchy" Theodore (Richard Gunn)

Another employee at Jam Pony. Prone to slacking off, cutting corners, and getting into trouble.

• Distressed Dude: Often had to be bailed out by Max after doing something stupid.
• Early Installment Weirdness: Sketchy was much sleazier in the pilot than the rest of the show.
• The Slacker: Sketchy likes to cut corners and avoid doing work.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In Season 2 surprisingly he actually listened to and agreed with Normal's transgenic-bigoted beliefs, until Cindy set him straight and he learned about Max and Alec.

Herbal Thought (Alimi Ballard)

Another Jam Pony messenger.

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared without a trace between seasons 1 and 2.
• Closer to Earth: Probably the wisest Jam Pony employee, even if was as much of a goof off as the rest of them.
• Erudite Stoner: Not shown, but at least implied in his name that he smokes.

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Human Enemies

Donald Lydecker (John Savage)

Manticore goon in charge of tracking down the X5 series. Lydecker was originally in charge of the X5's training and as such sees them has his children.

• The Alcoholic: Hasn't had a drink for 10 years when the show starts, but that doesn't last the season.
• Abusive Parent: Closest thing the X5s had to a parent.
• Big Bad: Of Season one.
• Colonel Badass: Although following the Conservation of Ninjutsu, his badassery goes up exponentially when he's by himself.
• Coup de Grâce: Delivers several.
• Determinator: He gave up alcohol through sheer force of will. He even goes to an AA meeting to gloat about it.
• Enemy Mine: And he uses the associated saying.
• Establishing Character Moment: Lydecker establishes himself as both a determinator and a complete dick when he goes to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for the sole purpose of telling them how weak they are. You see, when he gave up drinking, he did it cold turkey under his own willpower. He didn't whine about how he had a disease and he needed help. The irony when he later falls Off the Wagon is delicious.
• Glasses Pull: Often at dramatic moments.
• Heartbroken Badass: After his wife's pre-series death.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Discussed and lampshaded. He isn't related to Max, but did include some of his dead wife's DNA in her.
• Mercy Kill: At the end of season one, he's about to kill Max and then himself. She convinces him otherwise with a boot to the head.
• Never Found the Body: His car is driven into the water early in Season 2, and he's never heard from again.
• Off the Wagon: When Manticore turns on him, and he's holed up with a captured Max in a motel, he breaks out the whiskey.

• Papa Wolf: He gets extremely upset when "his kids" are endangered.
• Stoic Spectacles: Moreso than Logan, the mission is his primary objective.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He actually thinks his treatment of the X5s was good for them, and made them stronger.

Ames White (Martin Cummins)

Head enforcer of the conspiracy that wants to hunt down Max and the rest of the Transgenics.

• Big Bad: in Season Two
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: played straight with his son, but subverted with his wife, whom he kills.
• Fantastic Racism: He and his Familiars really hate transgenics. They are very dismissive of ordinary people too.
• Smug Snake: He especially loves gloating when he has someone at his mercy.

Elizabeth Renfro/Madame X (Nana Visitor)

Head of Manticore, really wants the X5s back, enjoys threatening Lydecker.

• Disc-One Final Boss: In Season 2. Until Manticore is deactivated
• Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: A live-action version!
• Eviler Than Thou: She ousts Lydecker from his position of season one Big Bad.
• Expy: Of the Intendant from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• Have You Told Any One Else: Usually asks this before killing her coworkers or business partners.
• Obviously Evil: The moment you see her, you know she's bad news, in particular because she's a Smug Snake.
• Older Than They Look: According to Nana Visitor, Renfro used transgenic DNA to retard the aging process.
• Smug Snake: Most of her time spent with Max is her gloating through nasty means, e.g. turning up the monitor so Max can hear the heartbeat of Zack's heart inside her chest.
• Taking the Bullet: Does this for Max, because "[she's] the one we've been looking for..."