Character sheet for Independence Day and Independence Day: Resurgence.

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The Main Trio

Whitmore

President Thomas J. Whitmore

"Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whitmore_thomas_j_16.jpg

"We sacrifice for each other no matter what the cost."

Portrayed By: Bill Pullman^{Other Languages}

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

"Today, we celebrate...our Independence Day!"

President of the United States and former Gulf War hero. He is initially unpopular due to his perceived softness, but takes charge when the alien threat becomes clear.

Ace Pilot: Was one in the Gulf War, and uses this again against the aliens.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Subverted. He was elected because people thought that as a fighter pilot, he'd be a strong leader. Before the invasion, his presidency was plagued with complaints about how meek he was.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Justified, as Whitmore was apparently a fighter pilot in the Gulf War, and is still relatively young at the time of the invasion. As a Double Subversion, his presidency was plagued by complaints about how meek a leader he was before the invasion.
Badass in a Nice Suit: As president, required.
Bad Liar: Whenever he tries to tell a lie to his wife, she immediately recognizes it and reminds him that he's a really bad at lying. It's implied that his honesty was one reason that he was elected in the first place.

Beard of Sorrow: Sports this along with a cane in Resurgence. In addition, he mentions that his brief Mind Rape with the alien causes him to still see and hear them in his dreams.
Big Good: As befitting the president of the country, he is the figurehead of the resistance. In the sequel, as his terms are over, he's not a leader anymore, but still a vital pillar of support to the new resistance.
The Chains of Commanding: Has a moment aboard Air Force One after they narrowly escape the destruction of Washington, trying to comprehend how millions of Americans have just died on his watch.
Chekhov's Skill: Whitmore's tour of duty as a fighter pilot in the Gulf War becomes useful when he leads the final attacks against the Aliens.

Do Not Go Gentle: Referenced in his famous speech, where he said "We will not go quietly into the night!".
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": OK, show of hands, who actually remembered that the character's name was not "Mr. President" without having to look it up?
A Father to His Men: Becomes indisputably true during his brilliant Churchillian speeches right before the final battles.
Frontline General: Personally leads the final battle against the aliens, as the world needed a pilot more than it needed a president. This is making him the first United States President to personally lead men into battle since President George Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion. In the sequel Whitmore once again spearheads the Earth's last stand at Area 51.
Good Parents: A very loving father to Patricia to the point of initially trying to take her place during the Area 51 assault.
Happily Married: He and Marilyn are shown to have a very stable and loving marriage.
Heroic BSoD: He goes through a major one after escaping Washington on Air Force One.
Heroic Sacrifice: He goes on a suicide mission to kill the Queen in Resurgence.
Hero with Bad Publicity: Before the alien war, Whitmore took a lot of crap from others who either hated his policies or felt that he was too young to run a country. Much of what happens on the news prior to the attack is pretty much everyone badmouthing him.
Humans Are Warriors: Has to remind everyone of this with Rousing Speeches.
Intergenerational Friendship: With General Grey. In the sequel, though he's hellbent on taking the stand, he still pauses to aknowledge the elderly Grey when he sees him.
Ideal Hero: Despite becoming a politician he remained a fighter pilot war hero at heart, uniting every nation on Earth and remaining brave in the face of humanity's extinction. 20 years after the event of the first movie when the aliens returned, he ultimately donned his flightsuit yet again and killed himself in a voluntarily suicide mission even though there were other pilots around who could've done the mission for him.
Improbable Age:
- To a slight extent as he appears to be in his mid to late 30s in the first film. While this is legally old enough to become the President of the US (35 is the youngest one can be, and the youngest thus far was Theodore Roosevelt at age 42) it would definitely be a hard sell to get elected, although being too young for the job is something Whitmore is criticized for by his detractors in story.
- In addition to his youth, there's also how fast he must have been elected. Given that he's President in 1996, that must mean he was elected in 1992. He was a fighter pilot in the Gulf War in 1990, so he went from being a fighter pilot to President of the United States in just two years. That is an insanely fast rise in American politics. Conceivably he could have already been a politican and military reservist when the Gulf War broke out and he got called up, and then was demobilized and went to political life after the war ended.
Last Stand: Right before the final battle, President Whitmore gives one of the most memorable speeches in movie history, a speech that seems to be deliberately designed to be similar to Churchill's refusal to surrender. In Resurgence, he dies trying to personally kill the Queen.
Legendary in the Sequel: He's very famous in Resurgence due to leading humanity to victory in the events of the first movie, and is still saluted and addressed as a president by everyone around him.
Mad Oracle: Along with Okum and Umbutu. All three of them having had direct physical contact with the aliens - they are linked to the alien hive mind and can from time to time catch a glimpse of the invaders' thoughts and plans. This causes them intense headaches and bouts of mad babbling.
The Mourning After: Despite twenty years having passed after Marilyn's death, he still wears his wedding ring.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He seems to be a combination of John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, minus the marital infidelities. Although apparantly some, including Levinson, suspected differently.
No Party Given: The novelization establishes Whitmore as a Democrat, though the film does not state this (though it rather vaguely hints at him being a Republican).
Our Presidents Are Different: Starts off as a President Personable, as he's heavily criticized for weak leadership and not taking a hard enough stance for his policies, depending too much on compromise. When it comes time to lead the battle against the aliens, he's a full-fledged President Action.
Patriotic Fervor: He is a handsome young fighter pilot who helps save the world and gives a Rousing Speech about July 4 being Independence Day for the entire world, after America Saved the Day.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "On behalf of the people of Earth, happy 4th of July!"
Reasonable Authority Figure: Upon seeing David again for the first time in years, when David punched him in the head, he immediately says he doesn't have time for this. However, he then decides to give him a minute and after hearing about the countdown, Whitmore immediately orders General Grey to begin evacuating the cities. Later, he rejects using nuclear weapons over American soil, up until it's clear they have no other options.
Sacrificial Lion: He's the biggest major casualty of Resurgence in a desperate bid to save Earth by killing the Queen.
Senseless Sacrifice: Whitmore's sacrifice fails to kill the Queen, as he had hoped to do. However, he does succeed in destroying her personal ship, weakening her personal shield, and forcing her into the open, where she is vulnerable and eventually killed.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: He's this way 20 years after the first invasion, plagued with nightmares and visions and initially appears to everyone as having cracked completely.

Hiller

Captain Steven Hiller, USMC

"Now that's what I call a close encounter."

Portrayed By: Will Smith

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence^notePortrait

"Welcome to Earth!"

U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot with aspirations to become an astronaut. Is called to duty when the invaders first appear.

Ace Pilot: He's the only member of the Black Knights to survive the first counterattack, which he does by leading his pursuer through the Grand Canyon. The novel also establishes that he's flown nearly every kind of aircraft there is, even experimental planes.
Action Hero: He's the only one who survives the Black Knights massacre and even manages to capture an alien, making his attacker crash in the desert and then knocking him out with a single punch without showing any sign of fear.
Bond One-Liner: He gives out several throughout the film:
- "Welcome to Earth!"
- "Now that's what I call a close encounter."
- "Just anxious to get up there and whoop E.T.'s ass, that's all, sir."
- (Before firing the nuclear payload at an alien in the mothership.) "Nothing but love for ya! Nothing but love!"
Bus Crash: Will Smith opted to not appear in the sequel Independence Day: Resurgence due to After Earth's failure turning him off to father/son sci-fi. As a result, the supplementary website War Of 1996 says Hiller died in April 2007 when a new aircraft built with reverse-engineered alien tech he was test-flying exploded.

Cigar Chomper: Just look at his pic. As a tradition for his squadron, he carries a cigar in his pocket during missions and lights up afterwards. He even nearly postpones the flight to the mothership because he doesn't have any cigars; luckily, Julius has two cigars left on him and gives them to Hiller.
Closest Thing We Got: When the counter-attack requires someone to pilot an alien fighter, the Secretary of Defence protests that nobody on Earth is qualified to pilot the ship, at which point Hiller observes that he's seen the ships in action and at least has an idea of their manoeuvring capabilities.
The Fighting Narcissist:
Jasmine: You are not as charming as you think you are, sir.
Steve: Yes I am.
Hidden Depths: It's hinted that Hiller actually wanted to be an astronaut, rather than an USMC fighter pilot. He applied for the chance to be an astronaut at the NASA, but his application was rejected (Jimmy believes it's because Hiller dates Jasmine, who works as a stripper). When he and David get into space on their way to the alien mothership, Hiller remarks on how he waited his whole life to see space and Earth from orbit while being in awe as he looks on.
Hot-Blooded: While being usually calm and collected he occasionally lashes out some angry tirade.

Improbable Piloting Skills: He was able to maneuver a fighter jet through the Grand Canyon AND fly an alien craft with only his witnessing its capabilities as experience. Handwaved as he's able to fly a helicopter, which has completely different flight controls, back to what's left of El Toro to find Jasmine and Dylan.
Killed Offscreen: Died in a disastrous test flight eleven years after the War of 1996.

Large Ham: Just in the famous desert sequence. Smith sure had a lot of fun in there.
Military Maverick: Which is how he manages to survive terrible battles and eventually get sent to pilot a modified alien ship.
Posthumous Character: In Independence Day: Resurgence compliments of a big heroic painting of him in the rebuilt White House.
Semper Fi: A Marine F/A-18 pilot.
Sole Survivor: When he realizes that the battle in the skies over the ruins of Los Angeles has turned into a one sided slaughter in favor of the Invaders, Hiller tells his wingman, Jimmy, to make a break for it, and are chased by two defender craft. Eventually, the rest of Black Knight squadron are systematically destroyed, and Hiller sees Jimmy being shot down and killed over the desert. In Area 51, after Hiller is told El Toro was destroyed, among the survivors Jasmine rounded up and set up camp in the ruins of El Toro, no military personnel were present, suggesting that Hiller was the only one stationed in El Toro to survive until the film's end.
Tranquil Fury: The entire desert scene. Rather than be mad or horrified like everyone else would be, he takes it as a hiccup to his vacation. When Hiller (and to an extent Smith) smelled the brine shrimp in the air, he finally snaps and kicks the alien he's dragging with him, before calming down and walking.

David

Director David Levinson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/id41.jpg

"Faster, faster."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/idr1.png

"They like to get the landmarks."

Portrayed By: Jeff Goldblum^Dubs

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

"Checkmate."

An MIT graduate-turned-cable company employee who stumbles upon an alien transmission signalling their imminent attack. In Resurgence he runs the alien defense force. Also happens to be the ex-husband of Constance Spano.

Admiring the Abomination: A minor example, especially compared to Okun, but David is one of the few characters who's genuinely awestruck by the aliens.
Almighty Janitor: He went to MIT and is extremely overqualified as a "cable repairman." He was able to decipher the signal almost casually, and didn't realize what he figured out until the destroyers settled over the first wave of cities. He was later able to triangulate Constance's exact position in the white house from her cell signal, joking that all cable repairman can do that.
- That's a bit of a stretch; David jokes about his job but he is in a high-level technical position with the "cable company." He's still highly overqualified, and it's implied that his divorce took a lot out of him.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: He and Constance snark on a daily basis, but the reason he went to the White House to warn the President was so that she didn't die in the eventual invasion.
- He still wears his wedding ring. Constance looks like she's about ready to cry when she finally notices.
- He and his dad fight almost constantly but in their introductory scene, Julius expresses concern that his son is still wearing a wedding ring and can't move on from his divorce. Julius eventually pulls him out of a Despair Event Horizon when it looks like the aliens are unbeatable.
Badass Normal: Unlike most of the cast, he has no military background or political status whatsoever. Yet he manages to lead and strategize a counter-assault against an advanced alien mothership using nothing but his wits and intelligence.
Big Applesauce: Hails from New York.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He had the talent and knowledge base to become a wealthier engineer, but he was perfectly happy where he was.
Celebrity Paradox: Averted in promotionals for the sequel, where Levinson gets interviewed by an in-univeree Jeff Goldblum, and both spend most of the interview trying to convince the viewer that despite having nearly identical appearance and mannerisms, they are, in fact, separate people.
Character Development:
- He started out as a Brilliant, but Lazy cable guy, who hated smoking and berated everyone for minor acts of pollution such as littering. After the invasion he starts smoking cigars, making messes and saving the world using a computer virus.
- Made even more drastic in Resurgence, where we see he's risen from being a cable guy to the commander of the agency responsible for guarding Earth against the aliens.
Endearingly Dorky: He's a scruffy, glasses-and-plaid-wearing, Gibbering Genius Granola Guy Almighty Janitor pining for his ex-wife. Combine that with his being a Nice Jewish Boy and prone to anxiousness and airsickness, and he's by far the least cool of the three principal characters, but also the most adorable. The contrast is especially played up when he and Steven team up in the third act of the first film. Eventually, Steven's cool attitude rubs off on him a bit.
Granola Girl: Is a male example prior to the invasion, constantly nagging his coworkers about recycling and his dad about his smoking habits. When he finds nuclear weapons will be used to fight the aliens he gets drunk, convinced that'll mean certain death for mankind and thus all of his earlier efforts were All for Nothing.
The Hero: He's arguably the most prominent protagonist in the two films; it's only because he figures out how to deactivate the alien ships' force fields that humanity, including the other two protagonists, can finally put up a real fight against them in the first.
Ignored Expert: His warnings almost go unheard. Luckily, his ex-wife works close to the President who has an open ear for David's story.
Ivy League for Everyone: Spent eight years at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which is the equivalent in status for math & science.
Jewish and Nerdy: His nerdiness ends up serving him well by allowing him to save the world. And he even pushes his father back to Judaism.
Meaningful Name: David, as in David Versus Goliath. In a cast full of military officers and government officials, it's the nerdy Jewish cable guy who finds a clever way to defeat the more powerful enemy's defenses.
Nervous Wreck: Turns into one when he and Hiller escape from the alien ship. His babbling irritates Hiller.
Nice Jewish Boy: A trait shared with Jeff Goldblum. And he's nice even if not as combative.
Rank Up: Twenty years later David is in charge of all the Earth's defenses.
Smart People Play Chess: He has a very keen interest in playing chess, given that his introductory scene has him playing it. He continues to make references to the game throughout the movie.
Working with the Ex: Given ex-wife Constance is his contact to the President...

The Whitmore Administration

Marilyn

First Lady Marilyn Whitmore

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_0065.jpeg

"Liar."

Portrayed By: Mary McDonnell

Appearances: Independence Day

The First Lady.

Happily Married: She and Tom love each other very much.
Iron Lady: The novel goes into more detail, portraying Marilyn as a popular figure and being part of the reason Tom is able to accomplish anything.
Phrase Catcher: Due to Tom's inability to lie, she frequently and affectionately calls him "liar."
Sacrificial Lion: She survives the destruction of LA, but is seriously injured when Jasmine and the other survivors discover her. After Steve rescues them, she's brought back to Area 51 and soon dies after seeing her family one last time.

Patricia

Patricia Whitmore

Portrayed By: Mae Whitman (young) & Maika Monroe (adult)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

President Whitmore's daughter. By Resurgence, Patricia is a speechwriter at the White House and a former pilot.

Ace Pilot: Just like her father, she's an avid pilot.
Adaptational Dye-Job: Brunette in the first film, blonde in the sequel.
Affectionate Nickname: Her father and President Lanford both call her Patty.
Back in the Saddle: When the second film starts, she has left the military and is working for the President as a speechwriter. She gets back into the cockpit to take part in the final battle.
Battle Couple: With Jake. That said, by the time the film takes place, she has returned to the civilian world, and while they both take part in the final battle, they're never fighting at the same place at the same time.
Ejection Seat: Forced to punch out just after taking down the Harvester Queen's shields.
Freudian Trio: She is the Ego to Jake's Id and Dylan's Superego
Generation Xerox: Like Dylan, she's taken after her father and has become a fighter pilot and a politician.
Last Stand: In Resurgence, she attempts one against an alien ship, after her aircraft is brought down by the Harvester Queen. Luckily, the person she was shooting at was Jake, her fiancé.
Screaming Warrior: As she shoots at the queen.
Tagalong Kid: Follows her father from Washington to Area 51.
Two Guys and a Girl: She's the girl of the bunch, alongside Jake and Dylan. That said, Jake and Dylan have been on the outs for a while after Jake nearly killed Dylan in a training accident. Patricia has been trying to mediate and get her two mutual friends to reconcile.

Constance

Constance Spano

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_645.png

"In case you haven't noticed, we are having a little bit of a crisis here!"

Portrayed By: Margaret Colin

Appearances: Independence Day

The White House Communications Director. Also David's ex-wife.

Affectionate Nickname: Her college nickname was "Spunky" Spano, according to David, when he brings it up for the benefit of his father (and during his attempts to locate her in the phonebook).

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When she finds out David volunteered to fly into the mothership with Hiller, she practically begs him not to go, trying to convince him to teach someone else to do the coding needed for the mission. She herself said she never stopped loving him beforehand, but here she shows she doesn't want him to die, even if humanity may require it.
Brainy Brunette: You don't get as far as Presidential aide without being smart, but she's also the only one who realizes that all the people outside the Area 51 bunker would be screwed when the aliens arrive.
Bus Crash: Independence Day: Crucible establishes that Connie had died sometime after the first film.
Family Versus Career: She went for a career with President Whitmore "wanting to make a difference".

Maiden Name Debate: David notes that she didn't take his last name when they were married. She does however use it on the phonebook listing for her cellphone which is how David finds the right number.
Mistaken for Cheating: The reason David punched President Whitmore in the head (before he was President) was because he thought Constance was having an affair with him. She insists she wasn't, and it's implied she's telling the truth.
Punny Name: The White House Press Secretary with a name seemingly inspired by C-SPAN.
Rank Up: Gets elected as Senator of Nevada after the events of the film.
Working with the Ex: Is forced to bring David and his discoveries to the president.

Nimzicki

Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki

"Sir, if we don't strike soon there may not be much of an America left to defend."

Portrayed By: James Rebhorn

Appearances: Independence Day

The Secretary of Defense during the Whitmore administration.

Big "SHUT UP!": When David protests against Nimzicki's plan to use nukes, the latter tells him to shut up and orders other staff members to throw David out of the conference room before Julius shows up and shouts him down.
The Cassandra: Nimzicki, probably because he has foreknowledge of what was in Area 51, is the only person on Whitmore's staff who advocates an attack on the aliens when they initially appear. His advice is characteristically stupid, but his impression of the immediate threat the invaders pose is the only thing he gets right.
Curbstomp Battle: He ran for president after Whitmore's two terms were served. Grey beat him in the single biggest landslide in the history of the country.
Embarrassing Nickname: In the novelization, his nickname is "the Iron Sphincter."
Evil Chancellor: He's the only surviving cabinet member, thus the person to take over in the line of succession if something happens to the President, and tries to be this during the crisis. The novelization even says that he's outright trying to make Whitmore appear as a weak and indecisive leader during a global emergency.
Hate Sink: We're not supposed to like him, given that he tries to have Levinson thrown out of the immediate room when the latter objects to using nukes. This is even more pronounced when he reveals he's known about the aliens from the get-go and withheld critical information. He is called out on the latter by General Grey since it would've saved hundreds of American pilots from dying in pointless counterattacks. This gets to the point where a furious and exasperated President Whitmore finally fires him.
Lack of Empathy: The President chose a Nuclear Option in desperation and whispered "May our children forgive us" upon authorizing firing it. He took the decision as a terrible but necessary choice. However, once the nuke hits, the Secretary of Defense cheerfully starts clapping people on the back saying "Good job, everyone," while the President grimly waits to see if it succeeded...which it didn't.
Laser-Guided Karma: When Whitmore's two terms were ending, he ran for president and painted himself as a loyal supporter who did most of the work saving the human race, knowing that anybody who appeared to be as close to Whitmore as possible was the only one who could win the presidency. Grey, who was actually Whitmore's right-hand man, won the election in the most blistering defeat of an American nominee for president.
The Neidermeyer: Given how willing he is on getting soldiers killed...
Never My Fault: Refuses to admit that if he'd come clean about his knowledge of Area 51, it might have given the Americans some advanced warning, or at least stopped them throwing away countless numbers of their pilots in a futile counter-attack.
General Grey: You should have told us about this when they first arrived! You should have warned us before we launched a counter-attack that cost us the lives of hundreds of American pilots!
Nimzicki: There was no way we could have known our fighters would have been that ineffective against their attackers!
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Throughout the film, he continues to pressure Whitmore to take drastic and unprecedented retaliatory attacks as soon as possible. The morning after the attack, he is the first to suggest unloading a full nuclear arsenal against the invaders over American cities. Later, he reveals that he and certain government officials had full knowledge of the aliens for decades and knew what they were capable of, but didn't tell any of the past administrations or the general populace. Arguably, his refusal to reveal this information until his hand is forced results in the initial counterattack failing and hundreds of pilots dying as a result. Nimziki eventually tries to talk Whitmore out of attacking the aliens before the final battle, claiming it would be a mistake. Whitmore does not listen to him.
Whitmore: The only mistake I made was appointing a sniveling little weasel like you as my Secretary of Defense. Fortunately, that's a mistake I'm glad to say that I don't have to live with. Mr. Nimziki... you're fired.
Pet the Dog: Even after being fired, he's still willing to sit and hold hands with Julius as he prays, even though he isn't Jewish.
Second Place Is for Losers: In supplementary material for the sequel, it's stated that he ran for president when Whitmore's second term was up, only to lose to General Grey.
Skewed Priorities: It's outright stated in the book that he cares more about his political career and legacy than saving the human race from extermination.
Take That!: His firing lampoons Joe Nimziki, MGM's head of advertising, who made life unpleasant for Devlin and Emmerich when studio executives forced recuts of Stargate.
Ungrateful Bastard: He's the only one that still acts like an asshole even after many times he's been proven wrong. And maybe even after the aliens were defeated.

The Lanford Administration

Lanford

President Elizabeth Lanford

Portrayed By: Sela Ward

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

The President of the United States during Independence Day: Resurgence.

Badass Boast: "You are screwing with the wrong species!"
Face Death with Dignity: Displays no fear as she accepts her fate at the hands of a squad of aliens.
- Even better in the novelization: Landford is taken into the Queen's ship and interrogated by the Queen herself to learn where the sphere is. Alone and facing a two-hundred foot tall alien, Landford still refuses to back down, mentally telling the Queen that humans are going to win because while she will die, others will take her place, where if the Queen dies, her entire force dies.
Foil: To Whitmore. In the first film Whitmore is initially a beleagured president whose first instincts are peaceful and diplomatic and who is unpopular due to perceived weakness. In contrast Lanford seems popular and strong, presiding over the anniversary of intial victory over the aliens and quickly establishes herself as much more hardline than her predecessor, willing to shoot first and think second. However Whitmore establishes himself as both much smarter and a better leader than Lanford who ignores her civilian advisor and who's only idea seems to be keep hitting the enemy again and again. She is quickly killed by the aliens and while she does Face Death with Dignity her death is nearly irrelevant to the plot of the second film. In contrast Whitmore manages to rally the world in the original movie and performs a Heroic Sacrifice in the sequel.
Killed Offscreen: Her death is not shown on-screen, and it's implied the aliens killed her in the bunker. It's revealed in a deleted scene that Landford was originally to be taken to the Queen's ship to be interrogated, and subsequently crushed by the Queen.
Our Presidents Are Different: A President Iron who takes a very hard line against the aliens (see her quote above.) She shows traits of President Personable, being friendly and familiar to her staff. More surprisingly, she also shows a few traces of President Buffoon, as she ignores the advice of her alien expert David not to fire on the newly arrived and unfamiliar aliens and seems more interested in the anniversary celebrations of the first victory than worrying over a new attack. She also doesn't display any particular imagination or insight during the rest of her screentime before she is killed off.
Rank Up: The bridge novel Resurgence says she'd been the Vice President under her predecessor Lucas Jacobs.
Sacrificial Lion: Is killed shortly after the first counterattack against the Queen fails.

Tanner

Secretary of Defense Tanner

Portrayed By: Patrick St. Esprit

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Secretary of Defense for the Lanford administration.

Authority Equals Asskicking: It might not have done much good, but he was very willing to fight off the aliens in person.
Heroic Sacrifice: He throws himself in front of the president in a last-ditch effort to make the aliens pay.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's impatient and something of a prick, but he's still a genuinely good man trying his best.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He pushes Lanford to shoot down the Sphere in spite of David's warnings, when it could have helped them immensely.

U.S. Military

Grey

General William Grey, USMC

"Get on the wire, tell them how to bring those sons of bitches down."

Portrayed By: Robert Loggia

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

A senior Marine Corps general. The novelization makes him head of US Space Command (which is actually an Air Force billet), the movie is more ambiguous about his job, leaving Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commandant of the Marine Corps as possibilities.

Bearer of Bad News: Grey often has to give disheartening information to the rest of the characters, like telling Whitmore that his wife's helicopter was shot down by the L.A. City Destroyer, that the City Destroyers will wipe out all of the world's cities in 36 hours, and telling Hiller that El Toro was wiped out to a man.
Brutal Honesty: "Has anyone told you? El Toro's been completely destroyed." Not long after Grey says this to Hiller, there is a fade to Jasmine and others arriving at a wrecked El Toro.
The Cameo: Appears at the international celebration as one of the war veterans invited by President Langford.
Combat Pragmatist: When the captured alien starts to attack the President's mind telepathically, everyone is standing around completely unsure of what to do, but Grey cuts through to a solution very quickly. "Is that glass bulletproof?" "No, Sir!" Cue everyone with a gun (including Grey himself) to start emptying their magazines into the alien. The alien dies real quick.
Consummate Professional: The only official who manages to keep a cool head.
Cool Old Guy: He's very kind and reasonable and loyal to his colleagues.
Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": Much like how President Whitmore is known only as "Mr. President", Grey is referred to by most characters in the film simply as "General."
Face Death with Dignity: As the City Destroyer opens up over Area 51, Grey orders Whitmore to run and save himself.
A Father to His Men: Not just his men, he felt it was his own duty to report to Hiller that his squadron's base was destroyed when these two never met in person prior.
Four-Star Badass: Hell yeah. Even became President after Whitmore.
Intergenerational Friendship: With President Whitmore, or as Gen. Grey refers to him, Tom.
Legendary in the Sequel: Grey is an honored guest at the 20th celebration of the aliens' defeat and gets a standing ovation when he waves to the crowd.
Mission Control: Serves in this capacity for the Final Battle as Whitmore is in the sky taking on the City Destroyer and Harvester Attackers.
Number Two: To President Whitmore. At the beginning of the movie, he requests to stay at the White House alongside the President (it turns out to be lucky. The rest of the JCS were apparently killed by the aliens after they evacuated to NORAD). Throughout the movie, Grey is unfailingly loyal to Whitmore. He ends up succeeding Whitmore as President once the former's second term expires.
Officer and a Gentleman: In the sense that he keeps a Stiff Upper Lip through the whole crisis.
Old Soldier: A sturdy and reliable old war horse who is completely loyal to Whitmore. When the captured Harvester pilot attacks Whitmore, he doesn't hesitate to open fire.
Rank Up: Succeeds Whitmore as President in the bridge novel Resurgence. It's also practically a given that the re-formed Congress would give him a fifth star, making him the only General of the Marine Corps in history.
Reasonable Authority Figure: General Grey takes his responsibility to defend his country very seriously without being paranoid or overly hawkish. He shoots down SECDEF Nimzicki's initial suggestion to blast the mothership with nuclear warheads before it enters orbit, citing that at best it will turn one dangerous falling object into many (and he recognizes that provoking aliens capable of engineering such a ship is probably not the best idea). He's utterly disgusted with SECDEF and the CIA for withholding what they knew about the aliens rather than preparing any kind of defense in case they proved hostile. Even when David's Dad starts ranting aboard Air Force One, his reaction is understandable given that some random dude is acting increasingly belligerent towards the President, and even then he doesn't raise his voice.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Nimzicki over the fact he kept his mouth shut about Area 51, when that knowledge might have given the Americans some advanced warning about the threat the aliens posed, or at least stopped them from throwing away so many military personnel in a futile counter-attack.
Grey: As the former head of the CIA, you knew about this place! When were you planning to tell the rest of us?!
Nimzicki: It had been deemed "Classified"
Grey: You should have told us about this when they first arrived! You should have warned us before we launched a counter-attack that cost us the lives of hundreds of American pilots!
Semper Fi: A United States Marine Corps General, and he behaves exactly as a Marine General is supposed to.
The Stoic: Even when the Los Angeles counterattack is spectacularly falling apart, he is the only one in the war room who isn't freaking out, while Whitmore is screaming for a withdrawal and the flight staff are desperately trying to reach anyone to order to retreat.

Jimmy

Captain Jimmy Wilder, USMC

Portrayed By: Harry Connick Jr.

Appearances: Independence Day

Hiller's best friend and fellow pilot.

Big Damn Heroes: Zigzagged. Jimmy chases down one of the Harvester fighter craft who zeroes in on Hiller and attempts to shoot down the alien; he fails thanks to the craft's Deflector Shields but knocks it off-course, saving Hiller.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: To Hiller. Before the aliens attack, the two of them are shown to be best of friends, and yet after Jimmy's death in the Black Knights massacre, Hiller carries the unconscious alien he knocked down all the way to Area 51 more pissed about the aliens ruining his vacation than killing his best friend.
Mistaken for Gay: In a brief hilarious scene at the El Toro base, when Jimmy and Steve discuss the latter's application for working as an astronaut at the NASA, which got a reply mail saying Hiller was rejected, Jimmy comments on how one needs to be a bootlicker to get what one wants, and jokingly crouches down to have his face staring right at Hiller's butt. Then Hiller drops the wedding ring he was going to propose with to Jasmine, and Jimmy picks it up (without getting up from his crouched position), and Hiller gives it to Jimmy who opens the ring's box and looks back at Hiller... at the exact moment when another fellow Marine pilot passes by and watches the two of them.
Oh, Crap!: His reaction when the Black Knights emerge from cloud cover to find the City Destroyer directly ahead of them, realising the scale of the enemy they're about to fight.
Jimmy: Holy God!
Sacrificial Lion: His death helps Hiller get more focused on winning the fight. Too bad he is quickly forgotten afterwards.
This Is Gonna Suck: His wide-eye expression when he sees hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny crafts being deployed from the alien destroyer.
Token Black Friend: A rare inversion. One of the main heroes is black and his white best friend is the wise-cracking comic relief. He fulfills every trope related to the black best friend, right down to being comparatively underdeveloped and one of the first named characters to die.

Area 51

Okun

Dr. Brackish Okun

"As you can imagine, they... they don't let us out much."

Portrayed By: Brent Spiner^{Other Languages}Michel Papineschi (European French)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

An eccentric scientist who conducts research on the aliens at Area 51.

Admiring the Abomination: Shows a very enthusiastic interest in the aliens and their technology, even after the damage they caused.
Ascended Extra: Okun's role in the first movie is basically to be a meat puppet for the alien that takes over his mind and explains the alien's motivations. In Resurgence his role in fighting back the aliens is much more important.

Blind Without 'Em: Has some thick Nerd Glasses.
Breakout Character: In the first film he was a minor character who got killed off rather quickly by the aliens. When the second film retconned his death into a coma, he took on a much more prominent role.
Buffy Speak: While trying to explain about the Harvesters and their technology, Okun peppers his speech with some of these since he doesn't really understand them, such as "gizmos" (referring to the attacker's hardware), "doohickey" (a part of the engine he pulled out), and "thingamajig" (part of the Bio-Armor he's trying to cut open).

Convenient Coma: Okun is put into a coma instead of killed during his run-in with the alien in the original movie, hence his return in Resurgence.
Einstein Hair: Just to show he's a Mad Scientist.
Mad Oracle: Along with Umbutu and Whitmore. All three of them having had direct physical contact with the aliens - they are linked to the alien hive mind and can from time to time catch a glimpse of the invaders' thoughts and plans. This causes them intense headaches and bouts of mad babbling.
Mad Scientist: And a Nightmare Fetishist, to boot, given he likes weird science that works while endangering people...
No Social Skills: He is so devoted to his research to the exclusion of all else, he has lost his grasp of social mores. He geeks out about how fascinating and exciting it is that the ship is activating, until the President reams him out for treating it like happy fun times when untold numbers of people are either dead or dying.

Straight Gay: The sequel reveals he had a relationship with one of his male scientist colleagues, and he has no stereotypical gay traits.

Isaacs

Dr. Isaacs

Portrayed By: John Storey

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Another scientist working at Area 51. Took care of Okun's body while he was in a coma.

Ascended Extra: In Resurgence, even more than Okun.
Bearer of Bad News: Informs President Whitmore that his wife is fatally injured.
Bury Your Gays: Killed by an alien towards the end of Resurgence.
The Medic: Serves as medical officer of Area 51, as he treats Troy Casse and tries to save Marilyn Whitmore. In the novel, he expresses excitement at getting to examine a live alien, but he's forced by Russell to look after his son first. This ends up saving him when the alien wakes up.
Number Two: He's subordinate to Okun in the research project.

Mitchell

Major Mitchell, USAF

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_9958.jpeg

"Welcome to Area 51."

Portrayed By: Adam Baldwin

Appearances: Independence Day

An officer at Area 51.

Double Tap: Performs this on a wounded alien after he, General Grey, and several Secret Service agents gunned it down.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: With the City Destroyer bearing down on Area 51, when Connie asks him what will happen if the ship reaches the base before the virus is implanted, Mitchell replies that the base is built into the mountains, which will hopefully provide some protection from the ship's main cannon. Connie asks what about the civilians outside the base who will be in the firing line, and after a moment of horror, Mitchell orders his subordinates to start getting civilians into the base before the ship arrives.
Connie: Major, what happens if that thing gets here before the virus is planted?
Major Mitchell: Well, ma'am, this whole facility is built into the mountains. Should provide some protection.
Connie: Great. What about the people outside?
[Mitchell gives her a look of horror, looks at a digital map on-screen tracking the ship's approach, then grabs a phone]
Major Mitchell: Lieutenant Sell? We've got incoming.
Majorly Awesome: He has the first confirmed kill of an alien invader, and supervises the evacuation of the refugees before the imminent attack on Area 51.
Outranking Your Job: Inverted. Command of an extremely secret military research installation seems like something that would go to someone higher ranking than a Major. In terms of typical US Air Force organization, a Major would be in command of a smaller squadron or a flight, or he'd be in a staff position working for a commander of a larger unit. Rank of leadership becomes further inflated for particularly important or prestigous units. Compare to Stargate, where we typically see a Brigadier or Major General commanding a similarly secret but admittedly more active Air Force installation.
Reasonable Authority Figure: In spite of being in charge of a highly secret military base, he unlike most fictional characters in such a position is portrayed as a professional soldier whose response to an imminent alien attack is to allow all the unauthorized civilians to take shelter in the underground laboratories and personally take charge in the evacuation efforts.
Tranquil Fury: His reaction when he sees the captive alien telepathically attack the President.
General Grey: Is that glass bulletproof?
Major Mitchell: No sir.

Earth Space Defense

Jiang

Commanding Officer Jiang Lao

Portrayed By: Ng Chin Han

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Commanding officer of the ESD's Moon Base and Rain's uncle.

Cool Uncle: Big important military man and a very nice uncle to Rain.
Da Chief: At least for Jake and Charlie.

Dylan

Dylan Dubrow-Hiller

Portrayed By: Ross Bagley (young) & Jessie T. Usher (adult)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Steven Hiller's stepson. Has followed in his father's footsteps by Resurgence and become a pilot too.

Ace Pilot: Just like his step-dad.
Generation Xerox: Like his step-dad, he grows up to be a fighter pilot. Lampshaded in the promotional videos, where he states that given his father's accomplishments, his career choice was pretty self-evident. A variation from the typical trope in that Dylan isn't related by blood to his predecessor.
Multinational Team: Leads the International Legacy Squadron, a 12-person team with the best pilots from nations all across the globe.
Parental Abandonment: His step-father died in between films and his mother dies when the aliens first attack in the second film.

Tagalong Kid: Like Patricia, he follows his mother through the ruins of Los Angeles.
We Used to Be Friends: Hasn't gotten along with Jake since the training accident where Jake nearly killed him.

Jake

Jake Morrison

Portrayed By: Liam Hemsworth

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A cocky Ace Pilot who constantly gets into trouble with his superiors.

Battle Couple: With Patricia, although she's left the military by the start of the film, and during the final battle, they're never fighting in the same place at the same time.
Big Brother Instinct: Towards Charlie. Jake takes the heat for one of Charlie's mistakes, figuring that the commander already hates him anyways.
Establishing Character Moment: After saving the lunar base with a reckless maneuver, he then takes the fall for the start of the incident, when it was Charlie's mistake that caused it.
The Hero: He's the most prominent protagonist of Resurgence.
Hot-Blooded: And one who's always getting into trouble.
Parental Abandonment: His parents died in the original attack.
Reassigned to Antarctica: After the training accident, Jake got assigned to hauling equipment to the moon base.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Charlie.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Dylan, who resents him because he (Jake) almost got him killed in a training incident in the past.
True Companions: With Charlie, who he grew up with. They're basically brothers in all but blood.
Two Guys and a Girl: With Patricia and Dylan. He's been on the outs with Dylan since a training accident where he nearly killed Dylan.
You Killed My Father: Distracts the aliens while aboard their ship by announcing this to them, giving them the middle finger, and urinating on the deck while his wingmates steal some alien attackers to escape in.

Charlie

Charlie Ritter

Portrayed By: Travis Tope

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A pilot serving in ESD, and Jake's best friend.

Casanova Wannabe: He constantly flirts with Rain to very little effect.
Expy: Basically shares Jimmy's role from the first film, except he doesn't die, and also gets the girl!
Guy in Back: At first with Jake, later with Rain.
Parental Abandonment: Like most of the other younger characters, his parents died in the first film's attacks.
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Jake is surprised to learn Charlie survived the failed attack on the mothership. Charlie is a bit hurt at Jake's assumption that he had perished.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Jake.
True Companions: With Jake, as the two grew up with each other in an orphanage.

Rain

Lt. Rain Lao

Portrayed By: Angelababy

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A Chinese pilot and lieutenant in ESD and the niece of ESD Moon Base commander Jiang Lao

Action Girl: She's the most visible female participant in the new battle against the aliens.
Ship Tease: She brushes off Charlie's awkward attempts at flirting, but at the end decides to try having dinner with him.
You Killed My Father: In addition to the bridge novel Resurgence stating that her father was a Chinese Air Force pilot killed during the War of 1996, her uncle, who's the commander of the Moon Base, is one of the first casualties when the aliens invade, making the war that followed personal to her.

Catherine

Dr. Catherine Marceaux

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charlotte_9.jpg

"Looks like someone picked up the phone and answered."

Portrayed By: Charlotte Gainsbourg

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A scientist at ESD who is David's new love interest.

Cunning Linguist: Is studying how the aliens communicate, specially regarding the traces left on humans.
Remember the New Guy?: She's introduced having a history with David that we're not told about before.
Replacement Goldfish: She's a replacement for David after his wife Constance died some time before the film.

Adams

General Joshua T. Adams

Portrayed By: William Fichtner

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A general for the Earth Space Defense.

Big Good: He's sworn in as President when Lanford and the entire line of succession are killed.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Upon seeing the odd behavior of the alien prisoners, he immediately calls his wife and tells her to get to safety.
You Are in Command Now: After the alien kill squad raid on the bunker that President Lanford and the rest of the Cabinet resided massacres everyone in the presidential line of succession, leaving him to sworn in to be the acting president of United States.

Casse Family

Russell

Russell Casse

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_119.jpeg

"Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"

Portrayed By: Randy Quaid^{Other Languages}Gilbert Lévy (European French)

Appearances: Independence Day

A Vietnam vet who was abducted by aliens sometime before the events of the first movie.

Ace Pilot: While he doesn't seem one initially due to his alcoholism, he's noted to be a Vietnam combat veteran, and despite not having flown a fighter in decades, he has no trouble keeping up with younger pilots and is careful not to waste missiles.
The Alcoholic: Ever since his abduction, he has been drinking alcohol to cope with what happened.
Alien Abduction: As part of his backstory. He claims to have been abducted by the aliens, who made experiments on him... but no one believes him, partly due to the severe alcoholism he developed after the experience. While aliens do eventually arrive to Earth and attack mankind, the truth about Russell's story is never verified or explored in the film itself. The novelization, however, expands on this.
Big Damn Heroes: "Sorry I'm late, Mr. President!"
Bumbling Dad: At first his oldest son is ashamed of him. Then he goes into battle and gets his respect back.
Cassandra Truth: He was the first person to warn them that the aliens are gonna kill them all. Unfortunately, they don't realize the truth until it's too late.
Dad the Veteran: A veteran of the Vietnam War.
Famed In-Story: Is implied to be remembered as a hero for his Heroic Sacrifice that ultimately saved the world, as twenty years later his name is seen engraved on the rebuilt Washington Monument along with the names of others who died.
Fatal Family Photo: He clips a photograph of his children to the controls of his fighter plane. The photo gets a lingering closeup as he makes the decision to sacrifice himself.
Finger in a Barrel: With himself and his plane acting as the finger plugging the City Destroyer's firing port.
Go Out with a Smile: Grins feverishly as he delivers his last Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Hello boys, I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"
Heroic Sacrifice: Arguably one of the most iconic in movie history. His last missile jams before he can take out the primary weapon of the alien's ship. Rather than let them kill his children, he flies his plane directly into the weapon, blowing it up and setting off a chain reaction that destroys the entire ship.
Leitmotif: His theme is a rousing series of trumpet notes, first heard in his introduction when he dust-crops the wrong field. It comes back in full force for the Final Battle and his Heroic Sacrifice.
Meaningful Name: Russ T. Casse. — that would be "Rusty Case" if you didn't know.
Papa Wolf: He kamikazes his plane into the city destroyer's Wave-Motion Gun literally just before it fires on the base where his children are taking refuge.
- In the special edition there's a scene where he rushes a group of armed guards and slams a high-ranking doctor against the wall to get him to attend to his dying son.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Two in a row, in fact. "All right, you alien assholes! In the words of my generation: Up... YOURS!", followed by "Hello, boys! I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!"
Redemption Equals Death: He spend years as a useless alcoholic. When he joins the other pilots fighting the aliens, he kills himself to destroy the aliens' Wave-Motion Gun.
Revenge: Says this is his personal motivation to get back at the aliens, as he claims to have been abducted by them to be a victim of their experiments years ago.

Shell-Shocked Veteran: The news report on Russell claims he got this as a result of being a fighter pilot in Vietnam, but he claims it's from his abduction.
You Have to Believe Me!: Once the aliens start showing up, Russell tries to warn people. By flying over City Hall and dropping leaflets.

Miguel

Miguel Casse

Portrayed By: James Duval

Appearances: Independence Day

Rusell's oldest son.

Big Brother Instinct: Just about everything he does is for his siblings' protection.
Missing Mom: His mom has apparently been dead for some time. It's also suggested in the special edition that Russell is actually his stepdad, as he bitterly calls him "the man who married my mother."
Pet the Dog: For all his disagreements with Russell, Miguel does express pride in him after his father sacrifices himself to destroy the alien destroyer.
Mitchell: What your father did today was very brave. You should be proud of him.
Miguel: I am.
Promotion to Parent: After his mother died and with Russell suffering from PTSD and eventually pulled a Heroic Sacrifice, he takes responsibility for looking after his younger siblings.

Alicia

Alicia Casse

Portrayed By: Lisa Jakub

Appearances: Independence Day

Russell's daughter.

Must Not Die a Virgin: Alicia's boyfriend tries to talk her into losing her virginity, seeing as the world is probably going to be destroyed by aliens. Foiled by Alicia's Big Damn Brother interrupting and taking her home.

Troy

Troy Casse

Portrayed By: Giuseppe Andrews

Appearances: Independence Day

Russell's other son.

The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: In the special edition, he has a very vague disease which requires expensive medicine or he could die. Whatever it is, it's hinted that it also killed his mother. In the book, it's an adrenal cortex deficiency, AKA Addison's Disease.

Civilians

Julius

Julius Levinson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_8970.jpeg

"So what are you waiting for? Hmm? My social security will expire, and you'll still be sittin' there."

Portrayed By: Judd Hirsch

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

David's father.

Action Survivor: His arc in Resurgence has him go through lots of it. First he survives a tidal wave. Then he helps a bunch of kids go to Area 51 as the place is being attacked by the aliens, and the school bus he's driving is chased by the gigantic alien queen.
Alter Kocker: A gruff old Jewish man complete with a Yiddish accent.
Back for the Dead: It appears that this will be his fate after he's stuck in the harbor when the gigantic alien mothership lands and causes a tidal wave that sweeps his boat away, but he later reappears alive, albeit a little shaken, and is rescued by some kids and eventually reunites with his son.
Beware the Silly Ones: When he's not being a Papa Wolf he's a bit of a Cloud Cuckoolander, talking about looters and Area 51. However when shit hits the fan he's the first to pull a shotgun out....accidentally at his son, but the thought counts.
Cigar Chomper: Like Steve, Julius loves his cigars, much to David's displeasure. He ends up giving Steve his last two when he refuses to go on the mission to the mothership without a "victory dance."
Conspiracy Theorist: He believes that the government captured a spaceship back in the 50s, and turns out he was right.
Cool Old Guy: Gets some of the best lines of the movie, isn't afraid to shout down the freaking President and his staff when he feels that they're being disrespectful and ungrateful to his son, and in general seemed like a character who it'd be pretty fun to be around. He's still at it 20 years later, managing to survive a giant tidal wave without so much as a scratch, and in his early 80's, no less.

Jews Love to Argue: He argues with his son during the drive to Washington. And with the teens who rescue him driving to Nevada.
Magical Jew: He is a rabbi whose primary purpose in the story is to provide a source of wisdom (and comic relief) for the characters and audience. In fact, it's his statement (advising his son not to catch a cold) which is the catalyst that sparks David to create the computer virus that wins the war for humanity.
Papa Wolf:
- Memorably, he shouts down the country's leaders when they disrespect his son aboard Air Force One.
  Julius: You'd all be dead now if it wasn't for my David!
- After being rescued by some kids in Resurgence who have lost their parents, he immediately embraces his role as a surrogate father to all of them.
Plucky Comic Relief: Even more in Resurgence, as danger just seems to follow him.
Small Role, Big Impact: Julius may seem unassuming as David's sarcastic father, but he's responsible for getting David to Washington, which convinces Whitmore to evacuate, inadvertently directs Air Force One to Area 51, and gives David the idea of a computer virus to defeat the aliens.
- The bridge novel "Crucible" lampshades this by having Julius write a book called How I Saved The World, which does show up in Resurgence.
Yiddish as a Second Language: He's frequently cursing in Yiddish, such as saying he looks like a schlemiel because he didn't bring a tie to meet the President.

Jasmine

Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller

"You take care of yourself, ya hear?"

Portrayed By: Vivica A. Fox

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Hiller's wife.

Action Mom: Years of exotic pole dancing mean she's in phenomenal physical shape so she can snatch up her 4 year old and outrun every other Angelino fleeing the conflagration. It also mean she has enough strength to kick open a tunnel maintenance shaft door in two tries. And enough lung strength to shout over the panicked crowd for her dog loud enough for him to hear it.
Action Survivor: Survives the alien bombing by hiding in a maintenance tunnel, then uses a highway patrol truck to help other survivors get out of the city.
Back for the Dead: Has a little screentime before being killed off to give Dylan motivation for revenge.
Character Development: Jasmine has risen from being a stripper to a hospital administrator in the twenty years between films.
Chekhov's Skill: Being an exotic dancer might not seem like it would help during an alien invasion, but pole-dancing requires really strong legs—legs that, for example, can kick in the door to a maintenance tunnel.
Family-Friendly Stripper: She is named as a stripper in dialogue, but we only ever see her dancing in a bikini. Justified as when we see her go into her routine, she notices no one is interested due to the invasion.
Heroic Sacrifice: She saves a woman and her newborn baby in Resurgence, but falls to her death shortly afterwords.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Well, technically an exotic dancer, but this is probably the closest trope that fits to her portrayal.
Mama Bear: When she sees the explosion coming, she grabs her son leaves her dog and runs. She doesn't stop running until she gets somewhere safe, at which point she stays there and calls for her dog. She may love her dog, but she isn't going to risk her life or her son's life for it.
Ms. Fanservice: Very downplayed, as she mostly wears modest clothing. But Jasmine is easily the most beautiful woman in the first movie, and during her dancing scene, she wears a nice red bikini and camera focuses rather closely on her breast cleavage, as well as her bare belly and legs.
No One Gets Left Behind: Refuses to leave a mother and her newborn infant behind when trying to evacuate a hospital.
Sacrificial Lion: The first veteran character to get the axe in Resurgence.
Single Mom Stripper: Unlike most examples of this trope, she dances by choice and enjoys the work and the money that comes with it that provides a good living for her and her son.
Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: She only appears briefly in Resurgence before getting killed in the first attack.

Boomer

Portrayed By: Dakota

Appearances: Independence Day

Jasmine's pet Labrador Retriever.

Heroic Dog: He was the one who found the First Lady Marilyn Whitmore when she was injured by the invasion on Los Angeles; even leading Jasmine and the other survivors to her. Also, when the military evacuated many people to Area 51's bunkers, Boomer is seen giving company to Dylan and Marilyn's daughter Patricia.
Heroes Love Dogs: Apparently, no one (not even the military) seems to mind letting Boomer inside Area 51 given to his pacifying nature; even allowing him to witness Steven and David boarding the alien ship. Even after the successful counterattack, President Whitmore happily allows Boomer to board on a military jeep with Constance, Jasmine and Dylan so that they can reunite with a returning Steven and David.
No One Gets Left Behind: Refuses to leave Jasmine and her son behind, even willing to safely hide with them inside a utility tunnel to avoid being incinerated by the conflagration of Los Angeles. He is even allowed to remain inside the bunkers with the others when the aliens attacked Area 51.
What Happened to the Mouse?: It is unknown what to Boomer following his reunion with Steven and his family, but it can be implied that he died from natural causes even before the event of the sequel.

Marty

Marty Gilbert

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_394.jpg

"David! David, what's the point of having a beeper if you're not gonna turn it on?!"

Portrayed By: Harvey Fierstein

Appearances: Independence Day

David's boss.

Benevolent Boss:
- His immediate reaction when David warns him of the potential danger is to tell everyone to stop work and get to safety now. This is a media company that is covering the event: shutting off transmission long before others even guess of any danger would cost them millions.
- On the other hand, a deleted scene shows Marty taking much glee with the fact that David has hacked through the aliens' signal and cleared the reception up for the station, making them the only broadcaster in town with a working transponder.
Bury Your Gays: Ends up killed by a massive fireball.
Camp Gay: He's extremely camp, and Harvey Fierstein is a very flamboyant homosexual. Not to mention he kisses David on the lips in a deleted scene.
Didn't See That Coming: When David warns him about the impending attack, Marty urges his mother to head to her sister's place in Atlanta. It's later mentioned that Atlanta was destroyed in the next wave of attacks on major cities, something which Marty didn't expect.
Everyone Has Standards: When David warns him that the aliens are going to attack, he immediately goes to call his mother, his brother, his housekeeper, his doctor, and his lawyer...before deciding against warning his lawyer.
Girly Run: Runs like this at the office.
Oh, Crap!: The trope name happens to be his last words as he witnesses the fireball heading towards him in his car right before a car flies and lands on top of his car (with him still inside).
Precision F-Strike: Subverted. "Nah, forget my lawyer," is very noticeably dubbed over. Originally, he would have said, "Eh, fuck my lawyer," but the expletive was dubbed over with "forget" in the final cut.

Tiffany

"This is so cool!"

Portrayed By: Kiersten Warren

Appearances: Independence Day

Jasmine's co-worker, who believes the aliens are benevolent.

Big "NO!": When the LAPD tells her and the others atop the US Bank Tower to leave.
Comically Missing the Point: When Jasmine brings up her "bad feeling" in the special edition, Tiffany says that she also had a bad feeling when she left to apply for a job in Vegas. Jasmine was right, since she didn't get the job and lost all her money in the casinos. But, Tiffany retorts that at least she wasn't in LA for the '94 earthquake.
Didn't Think This Through: She ignores Jasmine's warnings of getting out of Los Angeles and instead heads directly to the gathering on the US Bank Tower's roof, right under the City Destroyer. Guess what happens?
Distaff Counterpart: To Jimmy. Both are cheery people who are inversions of the Token Black Friend who wind up getting killed early on in the invasion.
Too Dumb to Live: Completely ignores Jasmine's "bad feeling" and heads to the party welcoming the aliens. She's one of the first shown to be vaporized.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Tiffany thinks she's in an 1980s Steven Spielberg alien movie, where the aliens are nice and helpful. Instead she's in a 1990s Roland Emmerich alien movie, where the aliens are evil and destroy everything. And as a result, she is swiftly killed when the aliens unleash their weaponry upon the building she's positioned at.

Lucas

Lucas Foster

Portrayed By: John Bradley

Appearances: Independence Day

A farmer who hires Russell to spray his crops.

Pet the Dog: According to the novelization, he hired Russell out of sympathy for him and his children. Unfortunately, Lucas could only tolerate him not doing his job for so long.

Umbutu

Dikembe Umbutu

Portrayed By: DeObia Oparei

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A Congolese warlord who's the leader of a resistance group that has fought the alien survivors from the first war for years.

Authority Equals Ass Kicking: As any warlord worth his salt. And it's hereditary given his father was the previous leader.
Genius Bruiser: Due to having had a psychic exposure to the aliens, he manages to learn and decipher some of their language and uses the information gathered to plan effective tactics to fight them.
Machete Mayhem: Along with Dual Wielding.
Mad Oracle: Along with Okum and Whitmore. All three of them having had direct physical contact with the aliens - they are linked to the alien hive mind and can from time to time catch a glimpse of the invaders' thoughts and plans. This causes them intense headaches and bouts of mad babbling.
Scary Black Man: Definitely has the appearance of one. It's downplayed in that, as David puts it, he's much more benevolent to outsiders than his father, who's the previous warlord.
You Killed My Father: His brother was killed in an alien ambush.

Floyd

Floyd Rosenberg

Portrayed By: Nicolas Wright

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

David's accountant who accidentally gets tagged along with David's attempts to save the world in Resurgence.

Butt-Monkey: He really doesn't want to get stuck in the middle of an alien war, but his adventure with David and the rest of the heroes constantly puts him in the front seat of it all. And he manages to pull through.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He bears more than a passing resemblance to John Oliver.
Odd Friendship: With Umbutu.
Took a Level in Badass: After witnessing Umbutu casually killing aliens easily, he asks to be trained by him in order to fight the aliens himself, and although he is refused, he then takes part in the final battle along with other ESD soldiers at Area 51 to fight the aliens and even successfully killing some of them.
What Does This Button Do?: He curiously touches the Sphere and accidentally activates it, after all of Doctor Okun's previous attempts to do it failed.

Sam & family

Sam

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joey_king.png

Portrayed By: Joey King

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

A teenager who is forced to drive her family away after the aliens ravage the East Coast.

Action Survivor: A tsunami, a cross-country drive, a massive alien attacking... once Julius suggests her and the kids stay with him for a while afterwards, Sam happily agrees.
Broken Bird: Losing her parents, her friends and her boyfriend all at once, yeah.
Happily Adopted: More or less by Julius.
Improbable Infant Survival: Demonstrates it along with the other kids.
Mess of Woe: To the point she first only thinks of getting away, and then Julius has to reason her into getting rest and such.
Promotion to Parent: Given their parents probably died down in Florida, she is forced to become a mother to her siblings.

Aliens

The Aliens

The Aliens / "Harvesters"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/269776df11f5e9da21ba2f553928e40a.png

"Die. Diiiiie."

Voiced By: Frank Welker

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

A nomadic species, they raid the universe hoping to harvest a planet's resources. And to do that, they need to wipe out every race in their path.

0% Approval Rating: Every single sapient species in the galaxy despises them. They see all other lifeforms as mere pests to be exterminated in their continual mission to extract as many natural resources from as many habitable planets as possible and therefore have absolutely zero allies. They rely entirely on their highly advanced technology to win every conflict without any outside help.
Aliens Are Bastards:
- Played entirely straight. It is made abundantly clear that they intend to wipe us out and steal our planet's resources.
- Dean Devlin plainly explained his view of the aliens in a documentary: "They don't like us, they don't hate us. They're the new tenants, and we're the cockroaches."
Alien Blood:
- The alien pilot Mitchell kills in the first film is bleeding bluish-purple Blood from the Mouth.
- In Resurgence, an injured alien that gets decapitated bleeds green.
Alien Invasion: One of the most visually impressive ones ever put on film.
Aliens Speaking English: Averted. They use telepathy.
Always Chaotic Evil: The alien pilot doesn't even know what "co-exist" means.
President Whitmore: I saw its thoughts. I saw what they're planning to do. They're like locusts. They're moving from planet to planet... their whole civilization. After they've consumed every natural resource they move on. And we're next. Nuke 'em. Let's nuke the bastards.
Armor Is Useless: The aliens have bio-mechanical armor, but it doesn't seem to help them very much from being punched out. The armor might have helped against being shot, if Dr. Okun and the other scientists hadn't cracked it open to vivisect the alien inside. When Major Mitchell and the other soldiers shot it, its armor is open.
Big Bad: Collectively, though there is no apparent supreme leader of the aliens in the first movie. The closest we see to an alien leader is a dock controller. It's revealed in the second movie that each invasion force has a queen, which is not seen in the first movie.
Bio-Armor: The large tentacled biosuits worn by the aliens. Though resistant to bullets when closed a sucker punch from Will Smith can still knock them out while wearing the armor due to the overall tight fit mixed with the blunt impact.
Bizarre Alien Senses: Independence Day UK establishes their eyesight to be unused to Earth sunlight; whereby they pursue aircraft's heat signatures rather than appearance.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: They don't seem to particularly find any pleasure in the annihilation of other races. They simply see the extinction of a planet's natural population to be a standard step in their harvesting process.
Chicken Walker: The legs of the bio-mechanical suits are beant backwards.
Combat Tentacles: Their bio-mechanical suits sport several long flickering tentacles that they can use to kill people with. They also pull double duty as a way to probe the minds of their enemies and use people as puppets.
Converging-Stream Weapon: The city destroyers' primary weapon. The bottom opens, bathing the target area in a blue light. Afterwards, the central spire unlocks and descends. The eight beam generators approach the spire, sending an energy charge to power the weapon. A bright beam shoots down into the target building, after which the spire fires an energy pulse that obliterates it. The beam continues firing until the devastation is well underway.
Dead Guy on Display: The three that died in the Roswell crash are kept in ceiling-high clear tanks at Area 51.
Evil Smells Bad: Apparently they omit an odor that's not too pleasant to Earthlings. Both Hiller and Okun make note of it.
Expy: Their habitation of larger, mechanical bodies recalls H. G. Wells's Martians - although rather than giant three-legged machines, the Harvesters pilot the psychokinetically animate corpses of eight foot tentacled beasts. In a further nod to The War of the Worlds, the novelisation emphasises the Attacker ships to resemble living creatures as much as mechanical vehicles.
Extra Digits: Zigzagged; their normal forms only have two fingers but their Bio-Armor has an array of Combat Tentacles.
Fantastic Racism: They have no time for other aliens; and humans. Every planet they come across, they steal their resources.
Flying Saucer:
- The City Destroyers, 15-mile wide ships that serve as their primary attack craft. Unlike other saucers, which are shiny and chrome, the surface is heavily detailed with greebles and there is a parabolic indentation that indicates the front of the ship.
- The Harvester warships, an even bigger flying saucer that can cover the entire Atlantic Ocean.
Genius Bruiser: Outside of their bio-mechanical suits, they aren't much of a threat. However, their greatest advantage is their advanced technology, which makes them seemingly invincible.
Glass Cannon: Individual Harvesters are good at attacking with the Combat Tentacles on their Bio-Armor, but a single punch can knock one out even while armored.
Hive Mind: Due to communicating through telepathy. And humans who survived physical contact with them are able to experience it too.
Hoist by His Own Petard: One of their long-lost attacker crafts brings down their shields and nukes them from within.
Horde of Alien Locusts: They travel from planet to planet and take every natural resource they can find for themselves. The president even describes them as such. Resurgence shows they have traits of bees as well, with a Hive Mind and Hive Queen, and desire to reproduce more than anything.
Humanoid Aliens: Somewhat. They have two arms, two legs, a head, and a torso, but that's where, appearance-wise, the similarity ends. However, Dr. Okun does point out that they breath oxygen, are equally sensitive to temperature and that beneath their suits, they aren't really any more or less frail than any average human. In short, they are perfectly suited for living on Earth.
Idiot Ball: You'd think that aliens would be immediately suspicious that one of their aforementioned long-lost craft (which we see from closeups has gone through visible man-made modifications) suddenly showed up at the mothership.
Immune to Bullets: Until you disable their force fields, take them out of their ships, and strip off their bio-mechanical suits.
Implacable Man: Throughout the film, they never attempt to make contact with the humans; not to make demands or threats, not to pretend to be friendly not even to taunt us. They don't target our military strongholds as an utmost priority. They simply show up, position themselves over the most populated cities, and begin firing away as if this is just another workday for them. The one alien captive only communicates after it has killed everyone in the room and wants to demand its release. The only expression seen on an alien face is right at the end when the mothership controller realizes it's about to get nuked.
Inscrutable Aliens: The aliens just show up and blow up cities, we don't get a look at their actual appearance until well past the halfway point of the film. The only time they communicate with humans is when one is taken prisoner and takes telepathic control of a scientist in order to demand its release.
In the Back: This is how a human can kill the aliens in hand-to-hand combat if they're wearing the bio-mechanical suits.
Jerkass: As the other entries here demonstrate, saying they are not nice would be a massive understatement. They go from world to world draining planets of resources and consequently wiping out entire populations before moving on to the next world. They have no respect for life and view all species apart from themselves as worthless. They outright hate the concepts of peace and will not show any mercy to any lifeforms they encounter.
Keystone Army: Living up to its name, the mothership is the key element of the alien invasion force. It serves as the command and control center, and also directs all power and shield functions. Okun mentions that the captured attacker didn't even activate until the mothership arrived. The novel makes it clear that when the mothership is destroyed at the end, all the destroyers and attackers lose power and are quickly downed.
- In the sequel, they're rendered useless when their queen is killed and can't do much more than retreat from Earth.
Lack of Empathy: They never show signs of compassion or even remorse towards the thousand (or more) victims they cause. When Whitmore tries to find a peaceful solution with one of them, the alien simply answers that there will be "no peace" and the only thing humans can do is "die."
Whitmore: What is it you want us to do?
Alien: Die...DIE!
Laser-Guided Karma: After exterminating millions of lives and potentially whole other alien races to get their resources, they are finally taken out by one of their targets and have their own resources stolen twice. And then the alien resistance to them decides to put said race in charge of fighting back against them.
Mighty Glacier: The City Destroyers. They're 15 miles wide, move extremely slowly (the New York Destroyer takes approximately 12 hours to travel to Philadelphia) and have no other weapons aside from the primary cannon. However, said cannon can destroy a city (obviously) and each City Destroyer can soak up a lot of damage to the point that Attack Its Weak Point is the only option to bring them down.
Mobile-Suit Human: A rare serious example. The roughly human-sized alien invaders turn out to be biomechanical suits; the real deal are child-sized. They are implied to be physically weaker, but by no means disarmingly cute. In the novelization, it is explained that they're not just biomechanical suits — they are literally another alien species that the Big Bad conquerors had defeated, found to be useful, and turned into suits. Or perhaps they somehow evolved some sort of symbiotic/parasitic relationship... psychic revelations like that tend to be unclear.
Monochromatic Eyes: Their eyes appear to be silver, with no pupils or irises.
Monumental Damage: "They like to get the landmarks."
The Napoleon: Most of them (minus the Queen) are at least 2-3 feet smaller than humans outside of their Bio-Armor, and they're all vicious Planet Looters.
No Name Given: In the original film. We find out their names as the "Harvester" species in the sequel. And given their M.O., the name is quite fitting.
Not Quite Dead: Right before the destruction of the mothership, the aliens were able to send a distress signal. And twenty years later, their reinforcements arrive.
Not So Invincible After All:
- Okun indicates that it's only really their superior technology that gives them an advantage; without it they're as susceptible to injury and death as humans. The point is further driven home when their destroyers and fighter craft are stripped of their shields and rendered vulnerable to human weaponry.
  Whitmore: Can they be killed?
  Okun: Their bodies are just as frail as ours. [indicates the specimens from Roswell behind him] These two died in the crash, this one a few weeks later. You just have to get through their technology, which I am sad to say is, far more advanced.
- Also, Sphere reveals no one ever managed to destroy a Harvester Queen. Then the humans do so - if only because the aliens setting a trap on them gave a great idea on how to achieve it.
Oh, Crap!: If their faces were capable of displaying emotion, this would likely be their reaction to seeing the timer on a nuclear missile count down to zero right before their eyes. Though that one alien who's right next to the bomb might also admire the humans' cleverness.
Omnicidal Maniac: The entire race as a whole is this. Their entire civilization is based around wiping out all life on other planets.
Organic Technology: The alien's suits are more like a second organism that they ride inside of. Word of God states that most of their technology is at least partly biological as well, though In-Universe, Okun specifically states that the suits are "biomechanical", indicating that the suits are either fully organic technology, or a mix of organic and manufactured technology. In fact, the whole design aesthetic of the alien race implies that biology is a major influence on their "look".
Planet Looters: They are a race of galactic nomads that travel from planet to planet consuming its resources and wiping out any native inhabitants that stand in their way, and now have designs on Earth. The actual depths of this (reaching Planet Eater levels) is realized in the sequel, where a massive Harvester ship begins to drill into Earth's core in order to steal the energy for fuel and technology.
Power Armor: Bio-Mechanical in nature, and offers little protection from a punch to the face (which doesn't actually line up with the real head), but with several built-in weapons and decent protection from bullets.
Puppeteer Parasite: Can use human bodies to communicate audibly by wrapping the tentacles of their biomechanical suits around throats.
Quizzical Tilt: One of them does this when Steven and David decide to reveal themselves before they fire the nuke.
Scary Dogmatic Aliens: They operate as a Horde of Alien Locusts, migrating from planet to planet, destroying the native population, and consuming all the resources before moving on, but when diplomacy is attempted with a captured alien, it's shown that they're intelligent enough to understand that other species perceive their genocidal ways as wrong. They just don't care.
Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: Their armada consists of a mothership that serves as their home base, destroyers which are their primary offensive weapon, attackers that are utilized as defense against enemy fighters, and transports to bring their ground forces to the planet. And then there's a "supermothership" that can destroy whole planets.
Technologically Advanced Foe: The movie drives the point home early, as The Mothership is said to be 1/4th the size of the moon and deploys individual craft to cities around the world that are still 15 miles across. In this case, though, it's said that human technological development is heavily based on the Area 51 Roswell alien ship of the same design, so humans find ways to fight back in part because they had developed some familiarity with their technology.
Telepathic Spacemen: The aliens' natural means of communication. It also seems to work across species in a limited manner: the captured alien is able to control Dr. Okun's body to speak for it, and can even attack President Whitmore telepathically. Supplemental material states that the aliens are designed to reflect their telepathic ability, having their huge heads shaped a bit like antennae.
Telepathy: Implied to be how they communicate with each other.
Okun: No vocal cords. We're assuming they communicate with each other through some other means.
David: You're obviously not thinking about hand signals and body language, are you?
Okun: No, this is some kind of extra-sensory perception. Telepathy, say.
To Serve Man: Invoked in the novel. Whitmore asks Okun what the aliens eat, which causes everyone to immediately picture humans being rounded up and marched into slaughterhouses. However, Okun says that the autopsy found nothing in their stomachs, so their actual diet is unknown.
We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: The first part averted. They don't want peace.
The Worf Effect: In the first movie, it took a lot of firepower to damage them, including a Trojan virus that disabled their shields and a nuke. In a case of karma, Resurgence shows their own weapons are reverse engineered against them, and the aliens are taken down after a couple of shots. The only alien not effect was a queen, and it took a series of barrages to finally kill her.
Would Hurt a Child: The aliens destroy 36 cities at a time, and several children can be seen fleeing the fireballs.
Xenomorph Xerox: Their biomechanical-looking skeletal bodies and the shape of their head owes a lot to the Xenomorph Queen from the Alien series. The sequel doubles down on that by establishing that their species also has a Queen.

The Harvester Queen

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alien_queen_resurgence.jpg

*angry screaming*

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

The Queen of an alien Harvester ship which attacks Earth in Resurgence after receiving a distress signal from survivors of the failed annihilation of Earth in 1996.

Alien Blood: Green slime leaks from her body when she is killed.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The Harvester Queen is absolutely massive, and equipped with a BFG and their best Deflector Shields. She tanks a cold fusion blast in the face, and while her firepower is mediocre, it takes a lot to finally bring her down.
Barrier Warrior: She protects herself with a forcefield when she emerges from her ship.
BFG: The Queen has a blaster similar to her drones, it's just scaled to fit her enormous body.
Big Bad: The main antagonist of Resurgence and the one leading the second invasion.
Combat Tentacles: She has seven of them sprouting from her back, even without her suit. She makes good use of them, taking out several ESD fighters, including Patricia, with them alone.
Frontline General: When the Sphere's presence on Earth is detected, she personally leads the assault on Area 51.
Giant Equals Invincible: The alien queen has its own forcefield, enabling it to escape the destruction of its craft.
God Save Us from the Queen!: And how, humanity just barely survives yet again once she comes to Earth.
Hive Queen: It's her existence that makes the attack on Earth, the intended extermination of every living being on it (especially humans), and the drilling for the contents of the Earth's core possible. The minute she dies, the fighters around her drop like flies and the mothership automatically withdraws its drill and flies back to their homeworld.
Kaiju: She's several stories high and near indomitable.
In the Back: Once her shield goes down, it takes sustained firepower to her back like her drones to bring her down.
It's Personal: When she learns of the failed invasion of Earth, she's enraged and heads there to deal with humanity herself.
Large and in Charge: To the point one of its "hands" is the size of a bus the Queen pursues.
Made of Iron: It takes a massive explosion and several minutes of firepower from multiple fighters just to take down her personal shield. Afterward, she tanks sustained firepower from a pair of hijacked alien fighters with just her bio-mechanical suit alone.
More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Unlike her minions, who lack visible mouths, beneath her armour the Queen has jaws and fangs worthy of a theropod dinosaur.
Reveal Shot: For most of Resurgence the Queen is shown alone in her command center, and the only mention of her size is when David notices her slightly larger dot on an infrared monitor. Then at the climax she climbs out of her ship's wreckage, showing her to be at least as tall as her ship.
Xenomorph Xerox: She resembles the Xenomorph Queen from Aliens.

The Sphere

Voiced By: Jenna Purdy

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

An alien being who has been leading an intergalactic war to prevent the harvester aliens from destroying all life in the universe.

Ambadassador: It serves as one between its species and Earth.
Arch-Enemy: The harvester aliens most determined foe. They in turn fear and hate it above anything else.
Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: It and its kind took on digital forms over biological forms millennia ago.
Big Good: It is the only enemy the aliens fear and has led the fight against them across the universe for centuries. It has also made it its mission to rescue as many beings as possible from the worlds under attack by the bad guys, so that they don't go extinct.
Brain Uploading: Its species found that artificial bodies were vastly superior, so they uploaded their consciousnesses into them thousands of years ago.
Cyber Cyclops: Has a blue slit of sorts in its body that gives the impression of a single eye. It is also entirely mechanical.
The Dreaded: The harvester aliens are terrified of it. The very symbol for it in their language equals fear. This is somewhat strange considering that the Sphere isn't shown actually doing anything that would make the viewer understand why the Harvesters fear it. Unless just the fact that someone wants to hurt them is somehow enough to make them afraid, in which case the utter lack of fear for humanity on the Harvesters' part would be out of character for them.
Easily Forgiven: Despite its ship being shot down by ESD Moon Base, the Sphere doesn't show any animosity towards the humans and still wants them to lead their resistance.
Enemy Mine: It has spent several decades, possibly even centuries, invoking this trope to assemble an alliance of survivors from various alien races who were previously attacked by the Harvesters with the intent of fighting back against them. Its main purpose in coming to Earth is to recruit the humans to join said alliance.
Floyd: Their enemy...
Umbutu: is our ally.
Everything Is an iPod in the Future: If Apple designed a giant floating orb, it would probably look exactly like this.
Humans Are Special, Humans Are Warriors: A believer of this trope. The Sphere entity notes that mankind was the first species to strike back successfully at the Harvesters, and so it asks the humans, not only to join, but to lead the intergalactic resistance against them.
Informed Attribute: The Sphere and its kind are said to be much more powerful than the Aliens, to the point of being The Dreaded. When the Sphere arrives in the solar system, its ship gets wrecked by humans in a single hit (whereas the Alien ships are borderline immune to the same weapons) and when it later talks about the planet where the galactic-strong La Résistance is training, it mentions how important it is to keep its location a secret, otherwise the Aliens will likely destroy it.
Innocent Aliens: In sharp contrast to the Harvesters, he and his allies are good and want to help the Earthlings.
La Résistance: It is training other surviving aliens for warfare against the harvesters, and asks Earth to join and lead them.
Last of Its Kind: Its planet and race were destroyed by the harvester aliens.
Noble Bigot: Calls humanity primitive to Okun's face, but has no malice when saying so whatsoever; it's plainly stating that humanity is way behind its species. By the end, it recognizes' humanity's resolve and bravery and asks them to lead the fight against the aliens.
No Name Given: Despite its importance to the plot, the Sphere never mentions its name, nor do the humans ask for it.
The Remnant: It has made it its mission to save at least some of the members of the various species whose worlds have been destroyed by the harvester aliens, and has gathered them in a secret refuge planet.
Time Abyss: It and its kind have been around for many eons.
Walking Spoiler: The promotional campaign did all it could to avert revealing the Sphere, with reason.

Characters / Independence Day aka: Independence Day Resurgence

Edit Locked

The Main Trio

President Thomas J. Whitmore

Portrayed By: Bill PullmanOther Languages Robert Guilmard (Independence Day, European French), Vincent Violette (Resurgence, European French)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Captain Steven Hiller, USMC

Portrayed By: Will Smith

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgencenote Portrait

Director David Levinson

Portrayed By: Jeff GoldblumDubs Bernard Lanneau (European French), Seongho Shin (Korean)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

The Whitmore Administration

First Lady Marilyn Whitmore

Portrayed By: Mary McDonnell

Appearances: Independence Day

Patricia Whitmore

Portrayed By: Mae Whitman (young) & Maika Monroe (adult)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Constance Spano

Portrayed By: Margaret Colin

Appearances: Independence Day

Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki

Portrayed By: James Rebhorn

Appearances: Independence Day

The Lanford Administration

President Elizabeth Lanford

Portrayed By: Sela Ward

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Secretary of Defense Tanner

Portrayed By: Patrick St. Esprit

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

U.S. Military

General William Grey, USMC

Portrayed By: Robert Loggia

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Captain Jimmy Wilder, USMC

Portrayed By: Harry Connick Jr.

Appearances: Independence Day

Area 51

Dr. Brackish Okun

Portrayed By: Brent SpinerOther Languages Michel Papineschi (European French)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Dr. Isaacs

Portrayed By: John Storey

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Major Mitchell, USAF

Portrayed By: Adam Baldwin

Appearances: Independence Day

Earth Space Defense

Commanding Officer Jiang Lao

Portrayed By: Ng Chin Han

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Dylan Dubrow-Hiller

Portrayed By: Ross Bagley (young) & Jessie T. Usher (adult)

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence

Jake Morrison

Portrayed By: Liam Hemsworth

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Charlie Ritter

Portrayed By: Travis Tope

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Lt. Rain Lao

Portrayed By: Angelababy

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Dr. Catherine Marceaux

Portrayed By: Charlotte Gainsbourg

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

General Joshua T. Adams

Portrayed By: William Fichtner

Appearances: Independence Day: Resurgence

Casse Family

Russell Casse

Portrayed By: Randy QuaidOther Languages Gilbert Lévy (European French)

Appearances: Independence Day

Miguel Casse

Portrayed By: James Duval

Appearances: Independence Day

Alicia Casse

Portrayed By: Lisa Jakub

Characters / Independence Day
aka: Independence Day Resurgence

Portrayed By: Bill Pullman^{Other Languages}

Appearances: Independence Day | Independence Day: Resurgence^notePortrait

Portrayed By: Jeff Goldblum^Dubs

Portrayed By: Brent Spiner^{Other Languages}Michel Papineschi (European French)

Portrayed By: Randy Quaid^{Other Languages}Gilbert Lévy (European French)