This page lists all the characters of the television series Les Revenants and the various tropes applied to them. Beware, there WILL be SPOILERS BOTH MAJOR AND MINOR.
The Returned
A group of men and women who died several years ago and are mysteriously Back from the Dead.
- Ambiguously Evil: No one knows exactly why they came back or if they have a precise goal, and they all show some hidden violent side :
- Camille looks like a harmless lost teen, but why did she trash Léna's room and then denied it ? Also, what was that dead animal in the bin ?
- Simon can be scarily impulsive, as seen at the American Diner.
- Serge was already clearly crazy before his death, and continues to be now.
- Victor is the ultimate Creepy Child. We'd be there all day if we had to describe all the scary things he does, but deliberately causing Julie's neighbour's and Toni's suicide by hallucination surely stands out.
- Mrs Costa doesn't get as much screen time as the others, but then what is she doing all that time ? She seems to know something the other don't, and always lies when people ask how she died.
- Big Eater: This and not sleeping are at first the only differences between them and the living. Looking for food is literally the first thing they do after coming back to life.
- Death by Origin Story
- First-Episode Resurrection
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Étienne Berg implies that the Returned appear like normal people because this is how the living want to see them. Their real form might be more similar to decayed zombies, like the creature in the cave who might be Simon.
- Healing Factor: If the revenants get killed by conventional injuries, they just come back. However, some of them have Wound That Will Not Heal, and it's never shown what would happen if they took nonlethal injuries.
- Our Zombies Are Different: They look just like normal living people, haven't aged and don't know about their deaths.
- The Power of Love: It appears that the thing that keeps them as (mostly) functional humans is the existence of living people who still care about them.
- Revenant Zombie: Duh.
Camille Séguret
14-year-old daughter of Claire and Jérôme, twin sister to Léna. Camille died four years ago in a bus crash, an accident which tore her family apart and which she may have unwittingly caused via her Twin Telepathy with Léna. In the bus, Camille somehow senses her sister having sex with Frédéric, the boy Camille was in love with and whom Léna promised never to date. Feeling violated and betrayed, she becomes hysterical and tries to force the driver to stop, distracting him long enough to miss Victor standing in the road which causes him to swerve off a cliff. She returns four years later to a changed family and a now-adult Léna who she barely recognizes. Although she is immediately accepted, her "reintegration" proves to be a painful one.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: To Léna.
- Fille Fatale: Invoked. She tries as hard as she can to seduce Frédéric (who's four or five years older than her) by dressing provocatively and acting like a stereotypical "bad girl", but fails. She also pretends to be Simon's ex just to boast around Léna's friends, while he's twenty-two and she's fourteen.
- First-Episode Twist: Did I mention she's Léna's twin ? Oops.
- Hope Bringer: What Pierre wants her to be for the living. And after everyone discovers her true identity, she decides to take on this role for the parents of the kids who died with her, trying to convince them that they'll be together again.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: ...As a consequence, said parents proceed to kill themselves to join their dead kids.
- Kid Hero
- Older Than They Look: The actress is 17 and the character is 14, but she could pass for even younger.
- Even moreso if you think that since she was born in 1994, she's technically 19.
- Not Growing Up Sucks: As other revenants, she's stuck in the age at which she died. As such, she seems to be a little jealous of how beautiful her twin became growing up, since she would probably have looked the same.
- Twin Telepathy: Léna and Camille each seem able to feel what the other feels in times of great emotion. As noted above, it may have indirectly caused her death.
- Undead Child: Actually a teenager, but close enough.
Serge Garrel
Toni's brother and a violent serial-killer, known for attacking young women in a town underpass and eating their entrails. Julie is one of his surviving victims. While the police never knew that Serge was the culprit, Toni discovered his brother's criminal activities and killed him to stop the attacks. Now, seven years after his death, Serge is back, and so are the murders... He attacks Lucy at the end of the first episode.
- Affably Evil: The kind of psycho who says things like "Shhh it's okay" or "Calm down, it's over..." even WHILE stabbing you. Arguably, this contrast between his brutal murders and his comforting attitude makes it even more disturbing.
- All There in the Manual: The interactive website
has his diary◊ as a hidden bonus. It kinda explains his Start of Darkness in his relationship with girls, his mother and his brother. - Ax-Crazy
- Buried Alive: How he died.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When he finally meets Julie again in the last episode, seven years after he almost killed her, he dosn't recognize her. Actually, she was cosplaying Catwoman the first time, but still...
- The Butcher: Known as "The Cannibal".
- Creepy Blue Eyes: Well, light green, but the unsettling effect still applies.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: He kidnaps Léna and takes her clothes, replacing them with a skimpy dress and later forces her to have sex with him, all in his polite, gentlemanly way.
- I'm a Humanitarian: There's a reason why he was nicknamed "The Cannibal"...
- Picky People Eater: Only their liver, though.
- In the Hood: Wears it every time he's about to kill.
- Villain Protagonist: Read all his tropes and keep in mind that he's not the antagonist. And once you get to know him, he's even a nice guy...who likes to kill people sometimes.
Simon Delaître
Adèle's fiancée before his untimely death on their wedding day, and father of their daughter Chloé. A former musician with a troubled past, Simon was deeply in love with Adèle before he was killed in a car accident ten years ago. It is eventually revealed that Simon committed suicide, a fact hidden from Adèle to protect her in her vulnerable state; Simon, however, has no idea why he killed himself and does not remember his death.
- Autocannibalism: By the end of the season, he proceeds to eat his own rotting flesh.
Enjoy. - Big Eater: Refusing to give him food is generally a bad idea. Borders on Extreme Omnivore levels when he even eats his own flesh.
- Co-Dragons: Along with Virgil, he becomes this to Lucy in the second season, being in charge of punting newly returned people across the lake, to the domain. At least until he flees in order to be with Adèle and their children.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied. There are hints that something happened to him in his youth ("You know my story") and that it's why nobody was surprised when he killed himself..
- The second season reveals that his parents were members of Milan's suicide cult.
- Driven to Suicide: He doesn't remember why.
- Hot-Blooded: Beats the crap of a poor waiter... just because he was hungry.
- Lookalike Lovers: With Adèle: same height, and both have short curly black hair.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Twice. First during his autopsy, after being shot by Thomas. And then again during a sex scene with Lucy.
- Mr. Fanservice
- Supernaturally Young Parent: To Chloé. Since he died before she was born and hasn't aged since, he is in his early twenties while is daughter is around ten.
- The Lost Lenore: To Adèle.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: More like average, dark and handsome, but aside from that he fits both in looks and personality.
- Troubled, but Cute: Had this reputation before his death.
Victor / Louis Lewanski
A strange, solitary little boy who refuses to speak and follows Julie home, compelled to always stay by her side because he thinks she's a "fairy" sent by his mother to protect him. His cause of death is not revealed for quite some time. Around the time the first dam broke, burglars broke into his home and killed his entire family; while one of them tried to reassure and protect him, the other promptly shot him in cold blood. In the second season, it is revealed that he is not the Lewanski's biological son, and was probably already a Returned. He appeared on their doorstep one night with no explanation, after he unsuccessfully tried to convince Étienne Berg not to build the dam; after he returned from the shooting that killed his mother and brother, he hid with his father for 35 years, until the night when other people began returning.
- Ambiguous Situation: Some of his drawings did predict future, fatal events, such as the dam breaking and Mme Costa's death, but it is unknown whether the others were drawn before or after the events portrayed, since he stayed in hiding in town for 35 years.
- Big Good: Develops into this as the second season progresses, culminating in the finale when he manages to send the Horde away peacefully and stay with Julie through sheer force of will.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: Lucy leaves the choice about the fate of the Returned in his hands at the end of the series.
- Creepy Child: Where to start? First, he is seen wandering alone in the town at night, which itself could give any parent nightmares. Then the first time he really appears on screen, we see him eerily stalking a woman who doesn't even know him. He almost never speaks (but when he does it's even creepier) and often disappears when you aren't looking. And finally the most terrifying part: this kid apparently has the power to make you kill yourself through terrifying mental illusions.
- Cute Mute: Subverted. He's not technically mute, just refuses to speak. Starts to grow out of this in Season 2.
- Defrosting Ice King: The loving quasi-parental relationship that Julie gives him makes him grow into a more emotional and empathetic character as the series progresses. It's implied in the Season 2 finale that he already had a similar arc while he was living with the Lewanskis, and Mr. Lewanski's accident and the mass resurrection set Louis's character back to the starting point.
- The Dreaded: Was this during his life because of his predictive abilities, causing his bullying at school and Milan's cult trying to drive his family away, leading to the fatal burglary in his house.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Hates Being Alone: This trait amplifies in the second season, after Julie has become a real Parental Substitute to him. He has a nightmare in which he sees Julie playing with another child on the beach, and it's implied in the series finale he caused the mass resurrection after wishing for his elderly father not to die and leave him alone.
- Happily Adopted:
- The second season reveals that he's not even a Lewanski, and they "adopted" him after he came into their home without explanation late one night.
- The last minutes of the series finale imply that he has been adopted by Julie and Ophélie, now a couple.
- Living Emotional Crutch: He and Julie become this for one another during the course of the series.
- Master of Illusion: In a truly nightmarish way: it's probably how he caused Mlle Payet's suicide, and he later tries the same with Toni. He also terrifies Pierre with an illusion of the night he died and makes Chloé faint with an image of her mother's suicide attempt.
- Meaningful Name: Although it's not his real name, it's easy to make a parallel with Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron, who was found alone in the forest and never learned how to speak.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ten years before the events of the series, he tries to warn Esther not to traverse the underpass in order to spare her death at the Cannibal's hands. He ends up distracting her long enough for the killer to sneak up on her from behind and slaughter her.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: So nightmarish that his mother prohibited him from drawing. They predict the deaths of all people who eventually return, and he has drawn dozens of them.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Victor" is actually just the name Julie gave him since he refused to tell her his real name. It's Louis, and even this name was given to him by the Lewanskis when they "adopted" him.
- Patient Zero: Arguably the person who has been a Returned for the longest time: more than 35 years.
- Reality Warper: He shows powers of this kind in the second season finale, where he somehow saves Julie from death from falling into the sinkhole.
- Seers: Was this even before his death. He has nightmares which predict tragedies, including the first dam breaking and stuff happening years in the future, which he then reproduces as drawings.
- Tagalong Kid: Starts following Julie one night for apparently no reason. He believes she's a "fairy" sent by his mother to protect him.
- That Man Is Dead: Literally. He tells his mother, after her return, that his name is Victor, having embraced his relationship with Julie.
- Undead Child
- You Killed My Father: Seeks revenge after he saw his entire family murdered by burglars.
Viviane Costa
Apparently the Revenant whose death goes the farthest back. She was the wife of the now elderly schoolteacher Mr Costa and it is assumed she died sometime in the seventies. When he sees her back from the dead, her husband quickly proceeds to kill her by trapping her in their burning house. Of course this doesn't stop her from coming back. Throughout the series, she displays an extremely cynical attitude towards the living, saying the Revenants don't have to fear them anymore and that they don't even need the Revenants to hurt them. Flashbacks show that she survived the dam rupture that flooded the original town, and suggesting she knew something about it not being an accident. Her cause of death remains unknown until Episode 05 of the second series, when it is revealed that she drowned in the frozen lake that formed after the first dam broke, three months after the catastrophe.
- Danger — Thin Ice: How she originally died.
- Last-Name Basis: Everyone simply calls her Mrs Costa.
- Meaningful Name: Her first name is Viviane, which derives from the French word for "living".
- Kill It with Fire: After she comes back from the dead, her terrified husband tries to re-kill her in a house fire. It doesn't work.
- Out of Focus: Out of the "original" five Returned, she's the one with the least amount of screentime, and the circumstances behind her death aren't explored until the second season.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Does this in the second series after living for six months with Julie and Victor, becoming a confidant for the former and another Parental Substitute for the latter.
The Horde
The many, many other people who resurrected at the same time as the other characters. Most of them seem to have died when the dam broke and flooded the old town in the seventies. Unlike the others Revenants, they seem to have absolutely no interest in getting back in touch with their loved ones and stay together, hiding in the woods. They have a sullen, silent behaviour which makes them seem like zombies (although extremely well-behaved ones) and at least one of them has gone completely feral. They seem to harbor a vendetta against the living and are plotting some kind of conspiracy, staying in the shadows for the greater part of season 1 before emerging under the leadership of Lucy in the finale. One of their objectives is to reunite all the Revenants.
- Dissonant Serenity: Apart from the occasional feral one, the Horde never speaks and moves only at walking speed.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Their modus operandi when preventing anyone to leave the part of the city now inhabited by the Returned after the flood: calmly and silently approaching them from all sides, with a blank face.
- Stop Hitting Yourself: Their victims believe the Horde attacks them by all sides, but it's all an illusion created by the Horde itself, who remains still and silent while psychologically inducing the victim to beat themselves up.
- Walking Spoiler
Audrey Sabatini
A classmate of Camille and Léna, and girlfriend of Esteban, who perished as well in the bus accident.She returns in the first episode of the second season, and is bewildered to find the city flooded and under military control. Lucy finds her and brings her where all the Returned are, leaving her in the care of Claire and Camille.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Has the same upturned nose and Raven Hair, Ivory Skin as her mother.
- Squick: She becomes feral after being locked in the basement of the Helping Hand, and when her mother lets herself die, she cannibalises her.
Esteban Koretzky
Another student dead in the bus accident, and Audrey's boyfriend. He returns not long after Audrey and joins her in Camille and Claire's new house.
- One-Steve Limit: Zig-Zagged, doubling as Bilingual Bonus. His name translates as "Stephen", just like Étienne, another character debuting in the second season.
- Stopped Caring: Virgil suggests it's the cause why he becomes like the other Returned, given that there's no one left who cares for him.
Esther
One of Serge's victims, who died 10 years before the events of the series, she returns along with the other seven in the second season. She worked at the local bank and was a frequent customer of Toni's.
- Revenant Zombie: More so than the other Returned. She speaks again only after she has returned to the place of her death, and Serge has apologised to her for what he did.
Étienne Berg
The Lewanski's neighbour, and an engineer who built the upper dam, the one which collapsed and drowned several people 35 years prior. Out of guilt for this tragedy, he joined Milan's cult. In the present, he lives in the Returned domain and helps Claire and Camille.
- Driven to Suicide: He joined the suicide cult out of guilt for the flood he had caused.
- Meaningful Name: "Berg" means "mountain" in German and you guessed it, dams are often built in the mountains.
- Nice Guy: He provides Claire with a safe shelter after she's assaulted by the Horde.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He has limited screentime both in flashbacks and in the present, but his decision to keep building the dam despite Victor's insistence set into motion a chain of events in the series' backstory.
- Token Good Teammate: He only joined the cult out of guilt, without intending to murder anyone.
Milan Garrel
Serge and Toni's father, who returns at the beginning of the second series. He was the leader of a murderous cult in the Seventies, when the first dam broke, of which M. Costa and the teenaged Pierre were a part. He apparently killed Lucy and her boyfriend Morgane, and engineered the burglary at the Lewanski's home which resulted in the death of (almost) all of Louis/Victor's family. He was shot in the head by Pierre after finishing off all members of the suicide cult, including Étienne Berg and Simon's parents.
- Big Bad: For the second season.
- Cult: He was the leader of one - a murderous and suicide cult, to boot.
- The Don
- Fate Worse than Death: Gets tied down with weights and dumped into the water to ensure he can't come back. Considering the Returned simply revive a short time later after being "killed" while already dead, he's going to spend his days reviving and drowning, over and over... Subverted however when he's rescued by the police and goes back to the Horde.
- Faux Affably Evil: He has the same mannerisms as his son Serge when comforting their victims, but he doesn't have any actual concern for them and just revels in violence, often unprovoked.
- Join or Die: He thinks the reason he has returned is to kill everyone in order to make them a Returned.
- The Sociopath
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: How "well-intentioned" he is is up for debate, but his motivation for what he did 35 years ago was to "save" everyone.
Morgane
Lucy's boyfriend 35 years ago. They barely survived the breaking of the first dam, only to be both abducted and killed by Milan.
- Advertised Extra: Downplayed, but glaring given that he has one entire episode to his name. His whole character is ancillary to Lucy's, his death flashback actually serves to further her backstory, and after his return he never speaks, only having sex with her and following her around. Except at the end of the season.
- Gender-Blender Name: Lampshaded by Lucy.
Nathan Delaître
The second child of Adèle and Simon, conceived after Simon's return and thus the child of a living person and a Returned.
- Doorstop Baby: In the very last moments of the second season, Lucy leaves him on a couple's doorstep.
- Half-Human Hybrid: The son of a living and a dead parent.
- Living Macguffin: Much of the second season's plot involve him being contended between his family on the one side and Lucy and the Horde on the other.
Virgil
A teenager who disappeared 35 years ago, and who debuts in the second season. He was kidnapped by Milan to "cleanse him of his sins" and kept locked in the cellar. The little Serge let him out, but he fell in a bear trap in the forest and was mauled by the wild animals. Milan finds him and puts him out of his misery, while forcing Serge to watch.
- Co-Dragons: He and Simon are this to Lucy. In particular, he manages newly returned people into households.
- The Dragon: He is promoted as this after Simon leaves the domain.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Slower and more painful than most of the other Returned.
- Love Interest: For Camille.
- Meaningful Name: Just as The Divine Comedy's Virgil, he serves as a guide and Mr. Exposition to the world of the dead to Camille's Audience Surrogate.
- Mr. Exposition: As one of Lucy's assistants, he provides information to Camille and her circle about the Returned, the domain and their leader's motivations.
The Living
Adèle Werther
Simon's former fiancée. Ten years after his death on their wedding day, she has raised his child and found love again in Thomas, whom she's about to marry. After Simon's death, Adèle suffered from depression and hallucinations, claiming she could hear him whispering to her. Despite psychiatric care and her love for Thomas and Chloé, she tried to commit suicide at least once. When Simon returns, Adèle is visibly torn between her old feelings for Simon and her new life with Thomas. Unlike the other characters, she believes Simon to be a ghost who only she can see. She works at the town's media center.
- Break the Cutie: The flashback shows she was more lively before Simon died, the day they were supposed to marry. After that, she was so depressed she attempted suicide.
- Driven to Suicide: It didn't work though.
- Fetus Terrible: Simon gets her pregnant after he's back from the dead. The result ? A half-human, half-undead fetus, apparently powerful enough to be demanded by the Horde.
- Lookalike Lovers: With Simon: same height, same hair.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
- Second Love: Thomas.
- Spell My Name With An S: Vertère? Verterre? Verthaire? Werther? It was never spelled in-universe (only pronounced), and the Italian subtitles say Werther while the Spanish ones say Vertère, so... The credits for Season 2 spell it as "Werther", though.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's played by a 1.78 m (5'10'')-tall actress.
- Wight in a Wedding Dress: Seems to be associated with wedding dresses. She wears one the first time we see her, and the promotional art pictures her with one too ◊. Justified, considering what actually happened on her wedding day...
Chloé Werther
Simon's and Adèle's young daughter, she has Thomas as a surrogate father since Simon died before she was born. A calm, charming child on first appearances, she displays surprising maturity for her age and later reveals a darker edge. Having witnessed your mother's suicide attempt can do that to you. She feels strongly protective of her family.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: What kind of 10 year-old little girl enjoys drawing pictures of her parents' suicide attempts ?
- Wise Beyond Their Years: She witnesses and is able to identify correctly her mother's suicide attempt, one year before the events of season 1, and her abortion attempts at the beginning of the second season.
Claire Séguret
Wife of Jérôme, mother to Léna and Camille. After Camille's death, she saw the rest of her family crumble and this has left her with a sentiment of powerlessness. Her relationship with Léna is strained and she forced Jérôme to move out of their house when his alcoholism became too much to handle. She found an unexpected savior in Pierre, who provided her the emotional support she wanted so desperately. Their relationship is very ambiguous (though it seems platonic at the moment) and she has grown very religious. She prayed every day for Camille to come back and interprets her return as God fulfilling her greatest wish.
- Mama Bear: Shoots Frédéric in retaliation after he shoots Camille.
- Shrine to the Fallen: She has kept Camille's room in the same condition it was at the time of her death, which proves useful when Camille returns and doesn't realise at first four years have passed.
Michel Costa
An elderly retired schoolteacher who taught most of the older characters, his medical exams are regularly done by Julie. His wife Madame Costa died sometime in the seventies; when she comes back, he immediately attempts to kill her with fire before taking his own life. Supplementary materials reveal he was also mayor of the town at the time his wife died.
- The Bus Came Back: Shows up again as an old man and as a Returned in the second season finale.
- Driven to Suicide: Jumps from the dam in the end of the first episode.
- Kill It with Fire: He's terrified of his returned wife, and so tries to burn her to make her stay dead. It doesn't work.
Frédéric
Léna's current on-again off-again boyfriend. Used to fancy Camille when he was younger, a crush that was strongly reciprocated.
- Asshole Victim: In the series finale, he shoots Camille, and in retaliation Claire does the same to him.
- The Dragon: To Pierre, in the second season.
- Face–Heel Turn: In the second season, when he becomes one of Pierre's cronies.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In the second season, thanks to his Face–Heel Turn.
- Sibling Triangle: With Camille and Léna.
Père Jean-François
The local Catholic priest, always speaking in a moderate and perhaps mildly condescending tone. He seems to prefer the mysteries of the faith to actual supernatural occurrences, to the point of claiming that the idea of Jesus' physical resurrection is taking things "too literally".
- Only Sane Man: Crosses into ironic territory when the most rational character is a Catholic priest, i.e. an inherently spiritual profession. It helps, however, that he's the only living character without a personal attachment to one or more Returned.
- Secret-Keeper: In the second season, he hides Adèle and Simon's family in the church buildings.
Jérôme Séguret
Separated husband of Claire, father of Léna and Camille. Unable to recover from Camille's death, he succumbed to alcoholism and violence and was kicked out of the house by Claire. It is also revealed that he hit Léna on at least one occasion. He is slowly recovering, but his plans to reconnect with his wife and daughter do not prove successful. He despises Pierre, both for the emotional connection he has with Claire and his born-again religious outlook, which Jérôme suspects to hide fraudulent motives. His brutal honesty and tendency to address uncomfortable truths often test the patience of other characters. He is, however, trying to atone for his past mistakes by protecting Camille once she returns from the dead. He once had an extra-conjugal liaison with Lucy who claimed she could hear Camille telling him she loved him; this is probably the point when he started to clean up.
- Abusive Parents: To Léna, when he hit her.
- The Alcoholic
- Beard of Sorrow: The one he grows after the Time Skip, after Camille and Claire join the Horde on the other side of the lake,, can count as one.
- Brutal Honesty
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: OK, he may be a alcoholic, tactless jerk who beats his daughter, but deep down he really cares for his family.
Julie Meyer
Monsieur Costa's nurse and Laure's past lover. She is the last known victim of the Cannibal, and the only one who (just barely) survived his attack. Although she would rather die than admit it, Julie was left traumatized and pushed Laure away from her for this reason. She confesses that she feels "dead" since the attack and thinks that she may be one of the "Revenants." She was indeed "clinically dead" for two seconds as she laid on the operating table, but her theory remains as of now unconfirmed. Little Victor follows her home and she feels compelled to care for him, although she cannot determine who he is or where he came from. She bears deep scars on her abdomen from the Cannibal's knife; supplementary materials relate that she is now unable have children and this may explain why she feels the irrational need to protect and care for Victor.
- All Lesbians Want Kids: Her inability to have children after Serge's attack was what lead to her and Laure's break-up. Moreover, Victor reveals to her that she was pregnant when she was attacked.
- All There in the Manual: Her last name was never seen or pronounced in the show. It's only revealed in her medical report◊, one of the bonus found in the interactive site.
- It was eventually revealed on the Missing Persons posters, in Season 2.
- Driven to Suicide: In the series finale, the though of Victor leaving her to go with the Horde leaves her distraught to the point that she jumps into a sinkhole. Luckily, Victor saves her via reality warping powers.
- Living Emotional Crutch: She and Victor become this for one another.
- Parental Substitute: To Victor.
- Scars Are Forever: The multiple scars on her belly, after the Cannibal's attack.
Laure Valère
A Gendarmerie lieutenant under Thomas's command, she's Julie's past lover. One of the most stable and level-headed characters of the series. She's very dedicated to her job and even seems over-zealous when it comes to the Cannibal, which, given he tried to kill Julie, is understandable. She's notably adamant on Toni being the main suspect despite the fact that he was proven innocent years ago.
- All Lesbians Want Kids: Julie's inability to have children after Serge's attack was what lead to her and Laure's break-up.
- Bury Your Gays: After she charges the Horde with the rest of the Gendarmes in the first season finale, she becomes missing and presumed dead.
- Fair Cop
- Inspector Javert: She is totally (and wrongly) convinced that Toni is the Cannibal and will do anything to prove it. Turns out she's not so far from the truth since the real Cannibal, Serge, is actually Toni's brother.
- Put on a Bus: After she goes missing along with the rest of the Gendarmes, she's completely absent from the second season, not even as an hallucination like Thomas.
Léna Séguret
Daughter of Claire and Jérôme, twin sister of Camille. Four years have passed since her sister's death and she is now a full-grown woman in her last year at high school. Foul-mouthed, wild and sexually promiscuous, she has only a very loose relationship with her parents; Claire has given up trying to discipline her and Jérôme hit her before he left the house. Underneath the party-girl exterior Léna clearly bears a lot of unresolved pain and anger. Unlike her parents, she reacts to her twin's return with shock, fear and complete rejection. Her inability to face Camille may stem from survivor's guilt, since she was supposed to be on the school bus with her sister the day it crashed. Instead, she faked an illness and stayed at home, using the opportunity to seduce the boy Camille was in love with (Frédéric) and whom she had promised not to date.
- Abusive Parents: Jérôme hit her on at least one occasion.
- Angsty Surviving Twin: After Camille's death. And the fact that she (even indirectly) caused her death sure doesn't help.
- Big Sister Instinct: Is fiercely protective of Camille since the later part of Series One, after she escapes Serge's captivity. It works towards Chloé, too, during the second season.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Has some shades of this, but given the context it's perfectly justified.
- Captive Date: Serge's. She manages to escape, but only after being forced to have sex with him first.
- Drinking Contest: She wins one in her first appearance.
- Fiery Redhead
- Fille Fatale
- First-Episode Twist: She's Camille's twin sister.
- Messy Hair: It looks almost like a real life version of Merida's. (No, really!)
- Ms. Fanservice
- Only Sane Man: Well, only appropriately freaked out woman, since she is the only person who reacts to Camille's return with shock and fear, initially refusing to accept her.
- Playing Sick: She fakes sick so that she doesn't have to go on the school trip where Camille dies.
- She Is All Grown Up: Player for drama : Camille and her used to be identical twins. It's when Camille sees Lena is now much older that she realizes she's actually been dead for years.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Subverted. She pretends to develop feelings for Serge, even agrees to have sex with him, so that he trusts her and she can make her escape at the right moment.
- However, in the second season she deliberately visits him for information on her sister's whereabouts. This almost gets her killed at Milan's hands.
- Survivor Guilt: Feels this way about Camille's death, since she stayed at home and broke her promise about Frédéric instead of taking the bus with her on the day of the accident.
- Twin Telepathy: With Camille.
- Unkempt Beauty: Wild curly red hair, no make up, simple clothes and still the cast's Ms. Fanservice.
Lucho
Frédéric's best friend. He aids him to investigate what really happened to Camille, and in the second season he joins him as one of Pierre's cronies.
- Driven to Suicide: Victor makes him jump out of the window of Julie's apartment.
- Face–Heel Turn: Just like Frédéric, in Season 2.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He's pretty reluctant to be one of the bad guys in Season 2, and it's clear that he did it only out of devotion for Frédéric.
Lucy Clarsen
A waitress at the Lake Pub, the bar which Toni runs. She is brutally attacked by the Cannibal (Serge) in the first episode. She survives, and seems to have regenerative powers. Not much is known about her except that she arrived in town one year ago without a dime in her pocket and that she frequently had sex with customers. It is also revealed that she's some kind of medium who can communicate with the dead during sexual intercourse with their relatives; one of her clients was Jérôme. After she heals completely, she escapes the hospital and joins the Revenants; by the end of the first season she even seems to be their leader, or is at least chosen as their spokesperson. A flashback in the second season reveals that she was apparently killed by Milan shortly after the first dam broke, and returned at least a year before the events in the present.
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- Affably Evil: If she's actually evil.
- Anyone Can Die: She's got the front place on the show's poster and is introduced as a main character... only to be gruesomely stabbed the next minute. Subverted : she's taken to the hospital and back for the finale.
- Ambiguously Evil: She's leader of the Returned, or at least their spokesperson. But for all we know, she could be either the Big Good or the Big Bad.
- Ambiguously Human: She apparently survived the Cannibal's attack thanks to regenerative powers, but it's unclear if she's just a special living person, if she was killed and came back as a returned, or if she was already a returned before being stabbed.
- Given that she was apparently killed by Milan 35 years ago and hasn't aged a day since then, she definitely wasn't an ordinary human when she was "killed" by Serge in the first episode. However, she might be something different than an ordinary Returned.
- Big Bad: Starting to seem like this by the finale. Shares the position with Milan during the second season.
- Catchphrase: "Come with me". Spoken to newly-returned people, in order to lead them where the other Returned are.
- Deus Sex Machina: She's some kind of medium who can communicate with dead people... but only during sexual intercourse.
- Lovable Sex Maniac
- Not-So-Small Role: She's wounded in the first episode and is absent for most of the season, but eventually comes back as the Revenants' leader.
- Romantic False Lead: To just about any main character she sleeps with.
- Stepford Smiler: She keeps a calm and amicable demeanor in her role as leader of the Returned, but she is extremely distressed when Milan returns.
- Walking Spoiler
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She just wants the Returned to have a peaceful life away from the living, and the events of the second season show that she's right.
Mademoiselle Payet
Julie's annoying next door neighbour. Has a lot of cats and is constantly peeping through the keyhole to spy on the other inhabitants of the building. She's a gossip extraordinaire and loves to intrude in other people's private lives; she's also kind of a cougar.
- Asshole Victim: It's hard to feel sympathy for her when Victor brings her to suicide.
- Crazy Cat Lady
- Nosy Neighbor
- Old Maid: Her title of "Mademoiselle" ("Miss") indicates that she's unmarried.
- Stalker with a Crush: Behaves this way toward Julie. She's constantly keeping track of Julie's comings and goings as well as keeping track of who visits Julie. She's also always invading Julie's personal space and trying to gossip with her.
Pierre Tissier
Owner of "La Main Tendue" (The Helping Hand), a homeless shelter connected with the local church. A devout man with a charismatic persona, he annoys Jérôme no end and has become Claire's best friend and confidant. In the seventies, he took part in the fatal burglary at Victor's house, when his partner killed the whole family. While Pierre tells Victor that he did not mean for them to die, he also did nothing to prevent it. His strong religious beliefs probably stem from this guilt, as a way to atone for his sins. He's confident that the return of the dead is a signal of an imminent divine intervention on a much larger scale.
- Broken Pedestal: He loses the respect of the other people sheltered at the Helping Hand after the blame of Sandrine's death is pinned on him.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He was one of the burglars who killed Victor/Louis and his family. While he tried to protect Victor, he also didn't prevent the other man from shooting him.
- He is the sole survivor of Milan's suicide circle, and was the one to kill him in the first place. He was supposed to finish things by committing suicide, but he didn't go through.
- Driven to Suicide: He finally shoots himself in front of Milan, 35 years after he didn't have the courage to do it, in the second season finale.
- Evil Costume Switch: During the second season, he wears a black leather jacket to match his increasingly antagonistic attitude.
- Face–Heel Turn: He wasn't precisely heroic at first, but during the second season he begins to kidnap the Returned and perform painful experiments on them.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: During the burglary at the Lewanski home, he shot his partner before he could finish off Mr. Lewanski, thus saving the latter's life.
- Self-Disposing Villain: At the end of the second season, he shoots himself in front of Milan to fulfill the suicide pact they made 35 years prior.
- Wham Line: "Think of a song that makes you happy. Maybe you learned one in school”. Sounds like an innocent line, right ? Until you remember whose Catchphrase it was...
- Would Hurt a Child: He was a participant in the burglary that resulted in the death of Victor and his family.
- He subjects Audrey to his experiments in the second season.
Sandrine Sabatini
A friend of Claire who also lost a child, Audrey, in the bus crash; she's pregnant but later miscarries.
- Ascended Extra: In the first season, she acts as the doubter of the group, mistrusting Camille and blaming her for her miscarriage. In the second one, she is given her own subplot concerning her manipulation on Pierre's part and the return of Audrey.
- Death by Despair: After she's locked in the basement of the Helping Hand with Audrey, who she's made to believe isn't really her daughter, she sees no choice but to let herself die.
- I Have No Daughter!: Pierre manipulates her into thinking that the returned Audrey isn't really her.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Four years after she lost her daughter, she becomes pregnant again, but she miscarries. After she and her husband leave the now-flooded city, Audrey returns.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She has Raven Hair, Ivory Skin and an upturned nose, just like her daughter.
Thomas Mézache
Captain of the town's Gendarmerie department and current fiancé of Adèle, he's lived with her for several years and has raised Simon's daughter as his own. A highly competent officer, he is also quite the control-freak. He had their whole house monitored by hidden cameras without Adèle's knowledge, though he claims he only did it to make sure she didn't try to commit suicide when he wasn't around. Simon's return jeopardizes everything that Thomas has built in his life with Adèle and so he is extremely hostile towards him, considering him a threat to both Adèle and Chloé. He also blames Simon for leaving Adèle as an emotional wreck, knowing that Simon committed suicide but hiding this fact from Adèle to ease her psychological recovery.
- Ambiguously Brown: His actor is of Algerian origin, but nothing is specified In-Universe about Thomas's ethnicity.
- Control Freak: Up to the point of installing CCTV in his house to monitor his fiancé.
- Dead Person Conversation: In the second season, he starts appearing in hallucination form to Adèle.
- The Lost Lenore: Oddly enough, he becomes this for Adèle late in the second season, when his body is found, switching positions with Simon.
- Meaningful Name: Just like in the Bible, the guy named Thomas is the one to doubt about dead people coming back.
- Second Love: To Adèle.
Toni Garrel
He runs a bar called The Lake Pub which many of the characters frequent. He's Lucy's boss and Serge's brother. One night, he saw his brother attacking Julie. Realizing he was the Cannibal, he saved Julie and killed Serge himself, though he didn't have the courage to reveal the truth to the police. Knowing this, their mother died of grief soon afterwards. He's a hard but ultimately fair man who's clearly coping with deep guilt; he now wonders if killing Serge was the right thing to do and blames himself for the death of their mother. He will do anything and everything to fall back in their good graces.
- The Bartender: Owner of a popular meeting place, The Lake Pub. His father Milan was one too.
- Driven to Suicide: Victor makes him shoot himself in the finale of Series 1, as a retribution for his killing of Serge seven years prior. This doesn't stop him from returning in the Series 2 premiere.
- The Load: He knows how to use a rifle and seems quite badass at first, but in the forest with Serge the only thing he does is slow him down and get tired.
- Shovel Strike: Does this on Serge (the Cannibal!) when he realises he's back.
- Sibling Murder: He was the one to off Serge after discovering he was the Cannibal.
Richard Berg
A dam engineer who arrives in the city six months after the flood to investigate its causes. His father Étienne, also an engineer, built the first dam. He joins Jérôme in his quest to find answers. Berg father and son were the Lewanski's neighbours, and were visited by Victor warning them not to proceed with the construction of the dam.
- Connected All Along: At first, he seems to be a generic engineer sent to investigate the causes of the flood. Later flashbacks however reveal that he used to live in the town as a child, his father Étienne was a member of Milan's cult and they met Victor on the night he arrived in town.
- Last-Name Basis: His first name only appears in the script and credits.
- Meaningful Name: His surname translates from German as "mountain", which is fitting given that dams are often built in alpine regions.
Ophélie
A kind nurse who cares for Mr. Lewanski while he is in a coma at the hospital. She assists Julie when she has to stay hidden in one of the unused wards.
- Hospital Hottie
- Second Love: To Julie.
