Character page for Raising Dion.
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Dion Warren
Dion Warren
When I want things, they come to me, and I can do this
Portrayed by: Ja'Siah Young
an 8-year-old (season 1)/10-year-old (season 2) boy who starts to manifest several magical, superhero-like abilities.- All of the Other Reindeer: Dion struggles to make friends, likely because he is the new kid in school.
- Disappeared Dad: His dad Mark literally went missing in a freak storm.
- Healing Hands: One of Dion's mid season abilities. He was able to heal a dying fox, even through glass.
- Invisibility: An ability Charlotte learned him to use; by manipulating the ions around him, he can bend light away from his body and thus turn invisible.
- Kamehame Hadoken: One of the abilities he has seems to resemble this, as he can build balls of some sort of glowing energy that crackled with electricity, and can set things on fire.
- Kid Hero: Dion is only 7-8 (season 1)/10 (season 2) years old, but already fully set on becoming a superhero once he discovers his powers. He gets his wish in the season 1 finale when he has to fight the Crooked Man.
- Mind over Matter: The first power Dion manifests. Starts with some cereal and balloons from there. However it can sometimes act on it's own, responding to his desires, such as causing Twix bars to follow him.
- Power Incontinence: A mayor problem in season 1 is that his Mind over Matter powers tend to manifest seemingly random, and without Dion being able to turn them off. He learns to get better control over them once Nicole gives him Mark's old watch and tells him it will help him focus.
- Superpower Lottery: Compared to all other superpowerd people seen in the series, Dion has by far the most (or at least the most diverse) powers of all. Part of it can be attributed to him being a second generation, and that Dion can be very creative in finding new ways to use his powers.
- Superpowerful Genetics: He inherited his powers from his father. They partly overlap (Mark also had teleportation and invisibility as powers), but Dion is much stronger.
- Teleportation: Dion has inherited this directly from his dad. If he wants to be somewhere desperately enough, he can teleport there.
- Tragic Keepsake: He wears his dad's watch as a focus to control his abilities, doubling as a magic feather.
Nicole Reese
Nicole Reese
s"If you show people the real you, you will not only make friends, but you will make the right friends."
Portrayed by: Alisha Wainwright
A former professional dancer and recent widow, she is balancing the struggles of mourning her lost husband Mark, with the stress of being a single mother to a budding superhuman.- Action Survivor: Nicole doesn't have any superpowers, nor is she a BIONA employee with access to their technology, but she holds her own when it comes to trying to guide and protect her son
- Dainty Little Ballet Dancers: Despite having retired from dance before Dion was born, Nicole retains the largely dainty figure of a professional dancer.
- Foil: Charlotte is one for her. Charlotte is fiercely independent, knowledgeable about the circumstances surrounding the Iceland event, and is capable of taking care of herself. Unfortunately this has also left her extremely isolated and paranoid. Contrast this to Nicole who is struggling to manage on her own and largely in the dark about what was happening with Mark, however this means she relies heavily on her family and friends, giving her a strong supportive community network. While Charlotte's methods may be safer, Nicole's are emotionally much more healthy.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Is the 'foolish' dancer to her sister Kat's 'responsible' career as a Doctor
- Her Heart Will Go On: She is still clearly mourning the lost of her husband Mark.
- Mama Bear: Nothing is going to get between Nicole and protecting her son. Nothing.
- Smarter Than You Look: Nicole was a professional dancer, leading some (like Pat) to initially dismiss her. As Kat reveals however, Nicole was pre-med before changing major to become a dancer, so clearly she's no slouch in the brains department.
- Struggling Single Mother: As if having to deal with a superpowered kid wasn't enough, she also has trouble to make enough money to pay all the bills.
- Took a Level in Badass: She was already quite the Mama Bear in season 1, but come season 2 she has started taking boxing lessons.
Pat Rollins (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Pat Rollins AKA The Crooked Man
Portrayed by: Jason Ritter
Mark's childhood best friend and fellow scientist. With Mark gone, Pat is stepping up as Dion's godfather, and considers Nicole and Dion family. Unfortunately, it turns out he's actually seriously obsessed with Nicole and is the supervillain, the Crooked Man.- Abhorrent Admirer: He is infatuated with Nicole, who is at best uninterested in him romantically, but when he doesn't take no for an answer the situation between the two worsens.
- Always Someone Better: Clearly has shades of this with Mark. Mark was the star scientist, always came first in competitions, was the favored employee at BIONA, and had a loving stable relationship with his wife and son. Contrast to Pat who is perpetually single and overlooked at work.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Comes across as a very meek Love Martyr for Nicole, until the last few episodes of season 1, where it is revealed he not only killed Mark, but also half a dozen others, and he believes he is entitled to essentially take over Mark's role in Nicole and Dion's lives, whether Nicole wants him to or not. It gets worse in season 2 where he appears to be powerless at first and offers to help Biona against a new threat, but ultimately uses their research to give himself even more powers and take back the Crooked Man energy.
- Blessed with Suck: While a lot of other peoples powers come with downsides, Pat's is particularly brutal. His experience in the storm left him with horrible radiation burns, that grow and spread causing him pain. The only thing that stops them seems to be absorbing other powered people, effectively eating them. Even worse, this need seems cause some sort of craving or addiction.
- Cannibalism Superpower: His abilities causes his body to break down, and the only thing that seems to help is absorbing other powered people. None of the bodies are ever found, so it seems this is a complete absorption.
- Entitled to Have You: His feelings towards Nicole are this. As Dion's godfather he seems to assume that in stepping in to help Nicole with parenting, he is also entitled to a romantic relationship with her.
- Evil Mentor: Due to his comic book knowledge he tries to style himself as Dion's Mentor, but not only does he not know enough to help, he also turns out to be the Crooked Man himself.
- Evil Nerd: He's into typical nerd interests like comic books and video games, and presents himself as a meek guy, but he's the Big Bad of Season 1 nonetheless.
- Horror Hunger: Pats need to consume other super powered people manifests itself as a craving.
- Not Quite Dead: He seems to die by Dion and Nicole's hands at the end of season 1, but comes back in season 2, having just enough power left to restore his human body.
- Manipulative Bastard: He will try anything he can to worm his way into Nicole and Dion's lives, including ignoring Nicole's rules for Dion to get him to like him, following them when Nicole actively tries to flee, and even lying to Dion to try and save his own skin.
- Reformed, but Rejected: In Season 2... up to a point. When Pat returns to BIONA, having been freed from the Crooked Energy, he has a genuine desire to reform himself and stop its new host, though he quickly learns that — unsurprisingly — nobody trusts him; Suzanne has him locked up under heavy guard, and only grudgingly accepts his help later when it becomes clear she has no alternative. Deep down, however, Pat is a fundamentally selfish man who thinks he's entitled to a get out of jail free card, and when it becomes clear he will never be forgiven for his actions as the Crooked Man, he sets about reempowering himself, ultimately returning to full-on supervillainy.
- Walking Spoiler: There's very little you can say about Pat without revealing at the least that he's not a a very nice person, but more than that that he is the Crooked Man]
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Seems to believe that because he has been helping Nicole raise Dion, he is entitled to a relationship with her. Nicole shoots that idea down fast.
- Weather Manipulation: Among other things Pat's powers cause him to turn into a micro cyclone, complete with gale force winds and lightening.
- Would Hurt a Child: Not initially perhaps, but by the end he is clearly fully willing to let Dion kill himself if it means he will be healed.
Mark Warren
Mark Warren
Energy never dies. It just takes a different form, so whatever that thing was, it's still out there.
Portrayed by: Michael B. Jordan
Mark was Nicole's husband, Dion's father, and a top engineer at BIONA who died in a storm before the show starts.- Ambiguous Situation: Its not really clear how dead Mark truly is. He was absorbed by the Crooked Man, which should mean he is dead, but he manages to become corporal for a few minutes in the finale, which might relate to his intangibility superpowers. He then delivers a line about how energy is never destroyed only displaced. This could be an emotional overture to his family to move on, or it could be a hint that he himself is not gone.
- Intangibility:The first power Mark manifests is intangibility, causing him to be unable to hold the steering wheel while in the middle of driving his car
- Invisibility: Its unclear if this is a side effect of his intangibility, but he does manage to turn his hand invisible at one point.
- Lost Lenore: Is this for Nicole
- Never Found the Body: Mark supposedly drowned and was swept away in a large storm. In reality he was absorbed by a cannibalistic power eater. His corporal appearance at the end of the season makes it a bit ambiguous whether or not he is truly dead.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: In the climactic fight with the Crooked Man, Marks soul attempts to break free, weakening Pat enough so they can deliver the final blow.
- Posthumous Character: Died at some point before the series starts, though how long ago it was remains unclear. Clearly it has been long enough ago that Nicole's friends are encouraging her to start dating again, but not so long that Dion doesn't still have clear memories of him.
- Properly Paranoid: Just like Charlotte, Mark was terrified what might happen if people found out about him, and was aware that he was in at least some degree of danger. Unfortunately though, he thought the danger was coming from his company BIONA, who seemed to actually have no ulterior motives around the storm. In reality what he should have been afraid of was Pat.
- Science Hero: Was a star employee at BIONA. Though his specific field of study is not mentioned, he was a 'weather chaser', so he was likely some sort of meteorologists
- Teleportation: Another one of his abilities, and one he seems to have passed down to Dion. If Mark wants desperately enough to be somewhere, he can teleport there.
Esperanza Jimenez
Esperanza Jimenez
Hi, I'm Dion's best friend, but he doesn't know it yet.
Portrayed by: Sammi Haney
A girl in Dion's class and fellow outcast who makes efforts to befriend him, despite his apparent disinterest- All of the Other Reindeer: If Dion is to be believed, Esperanza doesn't have any friends until her and Dion get pushed together.
-
Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Esperanza is in a wheelchair due to her brittle bone disease, just like the actress portraying her, Sammi Haney - Disabled Snarker: She's very honest and to the point, and never misses a chance to tease Dion when he's being foolish.
- Secret-Keeper: She figures out fairly early on that Dion has powers, and its one of thee first things they bond over. True to her word, she doesn't tell anyone what he can do.
- Twofer Token Minority: She is both the only girl in Dion's close group of friends, and wheelchair bound due to her brittle bone disease.
- With Friends Like These......: After all the insults and icing out Dion puts her through, you do have to wonder a bit why she still makes an effort to be friends with him.
- Of course by the end of the show, Dion has grown a bit and now proves himself to be a loyal friend who is willing to atone for him mistakes.
Suzanne Wu
Suzanne Wu
Portrayed by: Ali Ahn
The CEO of BIONA Initiative, and thus in charge of all the research performed at the institute. She is Pat and Mark's boss, and is very interested in tracking the phenomena from the Iceland event.- Good All Along: Though initially she seemed set up to be a villain of the Mad Scientist variety, Suzanne turns out to be one of the good guys. She is legitimately interested in not only helping Dion, but also fixing the current environmental damage in Iceland.
- Good Is Not Nice: Regardless of her intentions, the way in which Suzanne decided to get access to Dion was very shady. Rather than approach Nicole with her concerns, she instead orchestrated a kidnapping to get her hands on him.
Charlotte Tuck
Charlotte Tuck
Portrayed by: Deirdre Lovejoy
One of the witnesses of the Iceland event, she was in contact with Mark before his death, and may hold answers that could help Nicole in understanding her son's powers.- Deadpan Snarker: She has a very scathing wit, and little time for bullshit
- Foil: To Nicole. Charlotte is fiercely independent, knowledgeable about the circumstances surrounding the Iceland event, and is capable of taking care of herself. Unfortunately this has also left her extremely isolated and paranoid. Contrast this to Nicole who is struggling to manage on her own and largely in the dark about what was happening with Mark, however this means she relies heavily on her family and friends, giving her a strong supportive community network. While Charlotte's methods may be safer, Nicole's are emotionally much more healthy.
- Invisibility:Charlotte's main superpower. She seems to spend more of her time invisible than not these days
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When we first meet Charlotte she is pricklly and reluctant to even talk to Nicole, let alone help her. By the end of the show she has turned into a true friend for Nicole, and Dion's snarky protector, and she even dies defending him.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Despite what Pat might think, Charlotte is Dion's real mentor, teaching him how to control his powers and letting Nicole in on the knowledge of powered people. She dies right before the finale, clearing the way for Dion and Nicole to save the day.
- Properly Paranoid: Went into hiding to escape being killed by the 'Thing in the Storm'. Turns out the thing is still hunting her and the other powered people :and it gets her too in the end.
- Sacrificial Lion: She dies right before the finale to really hammer home how dangerous the crooked man is. She is also the only person we've seen with control over an offensive superpower, so getting rid of her also ups the danger level.
- Shock and Awe: Though she doesn't use it as much as her invisibility, Charlotte's ability to create electronic discharge was the first one she discovered.
- The Snark Knight: Having been on the run for quite a while at this point, Charlotte is a very very jaded person when we first meet her.
Kat Neese
Kat Neese
Portrayed by: Jazmyn Simon
A surgical resident and Nicole’s sister. She considers herself to be the responsible one of the two, and always tries to look out for Nicole and Dion, even when the former doesn't appreciate her meddling- Dressed to Heal: Does spend a lot of time in a lab coat or scrubs in season 1.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Is the 'responsible' doctor to Nicole's 'foolish' life as dancer. Or at least it is implied that is how her parents see it.
- Twofer Token Minority: She's a black lesbian in a career dominated by straight white men. She even invokes this when she complains that one of her students shows a lack of respect for her, and when asked why she think that is, she implies that it is likely because of her identity.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Out of concern for her nephew she takes Dion to the ER when he starts presenting with a fewer. While this does save his life, it also gives BIONA the opening it needs to kidnap Dion.
Mr. Anthony Fry
Mr.Anthony Fry
Portrayed by: Donald Paul
Anthony Fry is science teacher at McKoy Park Elementary, the school that Dion Warren attends.- Hot Teacher: Though Nicole doesn't pursue romance with anyone in the first season, her friends do make flirty comments about her being interested in Mr Fry, and Donald Paul is a very attractive man.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Mr Fry is a great teacher who takes care to be fair with his students and get the whole story, unlike his racist college who targets Dion as a 'bad kid' because he's black.
Walter Mills
Walter Mills
Portrayed by: Marc Menchaca
A farmer who Mark met at the Iceland event, Walter Mills was one of the people who subsequently developed superpowers.- Dying Moment of Awesome: Grows a massive thicket around his house in a last ditch attempt to save his son Brayden. It works.
- Foil: For Nicole. Both of them are caring parents to a super powered child, but where Walter is also super powered and like Charlotte has become paranoid of the outside world leading an isolated life, Nicole is still an average human who is trying to figure out how to help Dion with the support of her community. The difference really shows up most in how well adjusted their sons are after this. Under Nicole's guidance, Dion is a happy normal 8 year old, where as Braydon seems to be a fairly maladjusted Tyke Bomb in training.
- Green Thumb: His power seems to be an ability to grow plants, which comes in useful in his job as a farmer
- We Hardly Knew Ye: We get to see a little bit of Walter living his life, tending his farm, parenting his son, and using his powers, before he is taken by the Crooked Man.
Brayden Mills (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Brayden Mills
Portrayed by: Griffin Robert Faulkner
The young son of Walter Mills, and just like Dion he seems to have inherited powers from his father.- Beware the Mind Reader: Brayden is around the same age as Dion, but is already pretty terrifying due to his powerful mind reading and seeming lack of understanding of morals and boundaries around peoples privacy. When Charlotte has to leave to get back to protecting Dion, Braydon gets viciously jealous, screaming into her head as she flees.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Pat in Season 1. Pat was an adult, Brayden a child around Dion's age. Pat having powers and being the Big Bad was kept a secret from the audience until the penultimate episode of Season 1, Brayden is revealed to be the new host of the Crooked Man right away. Pat tried to present himself as a genuine nice guy who seemed to have Dion's best interests in mind until he showed his true colors and gradually gets worse, Brayden is obviously a False Friend towards Dion from the start trying to corrupt him, but ultimately makes a Heel–Face Turn.
- Creepy Child: Brayden is very small and adorable, and in his scenes with Walter he seems like a pretty sweet kid. After Walter's death however we soon learn that Brayden is a tiny little mind reader with a vindictive streak and a worrying lack of empathy.
- Demonic Possession: Well not demonic perhaps, but at the end of season one after Pat has been defeated, it looks like he has latched on to Brayden and is now possessing him.
- Mind Control: Per season 2, his powers have grown so he can now manipulate people into doing or thinking what he wants.
- Minor Living Alone: While he mind controls a man and woman to drive him to Atlanta, Brayden has no adults taking care of him since the death of his aunt at the end of Season 1.
- Superpowerful Genetics: Got his powers from his father Walter, like Dion, but unlike Dion, Brayden's powers don't resemble those of his father at all; Walter had a Green Thumb, Brayden has several mental powers.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Brayden intentionally tries to invoke this trope after befriending Dion. It fails.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: If his telepathic screaming at Charlotte wasn't enough, he ends the season by murdering his aunt off camera, before calming stepping over her body to leave the house. It gets even worse in season 2, where he has also developed Mind Control powers and uses this to, among other things, brainwash two people into driving him to Atlanta. Seriously, picture a child version of Kilgrave, and you have Brayden Mills.
Jonathan King
Jonathan King
Portrayed by: Gavin Munn
A boy in Dion's class who initially has it out for him, but ultimately becomes part of Dion's True Companions.- Bully Turned Buddy: He started season 1 as a bully who had it out for Dion, most prominently seen when he stole Dion's watch under the pretense of performing a magic trick. After a falling out with his two other friends and being paired with Dion and Esperanza for their science project, he slowly warms up to them. At the end of season 1, he is aware of Dion's superpowers, and per season 2, he is part of Dion's Triangle of Justice.
- With Friends Like These...: his initial friends, Chris and Steffi, clearly don't value their friendship with him that much. According to Esperanza, they frequently make fun of him, and she wonders why he even tries to be their friend.
Tevin Wakefield
Portrayed by: Rome Flynn
A former Olympic-level athlete now working as a trainer at BIONA. He becomes Dion's new trainer in Season 2.- Barrier Warrior: While he does have offensive abilities, his primary power is summoning forcefields.
- Love Interests: Becomes one to Nicole.
- Mentor Archetype: he becomes Dion's mentor and trainer in Season 2. Biona specifically choose him because as a fellow superpowered human he can keep up with Dion, and because they feel he is perfect role model for Dion to look up to.
- Personality Powers: Being a person with the existing mental health problem of anxiety disorder, Tevin put up many emotional walls in his life and his powers now can make physical walls from his mind.
David Marsh
David Marsh
Portrayed by: Josh Ventura
An ambitious BIONA scientist, the new VP of Operations and Suzanne Wu's ex.- Ambition Is Evil: The only thing that really matters to David is his career. Even when facing a potential catastrophe that threatens the lives of everyone in Atlanta (and possibly the world), his first thought is how he can use it to benefit himself.
- For Science!: He sees the Powered simply as assets to be studied and exploited for financial gain, uncaring how many people get hurt as a result. After his plans are rejected by the Board, he ends up teaming up with Pat, offering to help him to study his newfound powers and potentially create an army.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Upon learning that the search for a cure for the botanical plague has yielded a new gene therapy that could give people Powered genes, he becomes excited and makes a presentation to the board about it, thinking they'll leap at the opportunity to be able to sell superpowers commercially. In any other story, he'd probably be right, but the BIONA board are smart enough to see that this would unleash havoc which would end up doing them far more harm than good, and flatly turn down his proposal.
