Character page for the Jason Bourne novels and films.
For an index of the actors and actresses who have their own page on this wiki, see here.
open/close all folders
Novels
Jason Bourne
- Amnesiac Dissonance: Not as much as the film version. But in the first three-fourths or so of Identity, Bourne exhibits this since he believes he is a contract killer. Subverted after he discovers that he's not really an assassin, but rather, a deep-cover agent posing as one.
- False Flag Operation: The whole point of Jason Bourne, at least in the original Ludlum books. Jason Bourne the assassin is a myth. He does not assassinate anyone; he just takes credit for prolific assassinations, which real murderers happily let him. The point behind this myth is to insult Carlos the Jackal and force him into the open to confront Bourne.
- Master of Disguise: Bourne's story was influenced by real-life 20th-century assassin Carlos "The Jackal", who was infamous for his ability to blend in and elude the authorities. See also The Day of the Jackal, another espionage thriller and resulting films
where Carlos supposedly got his nickname. - Never-Forgotten Skill: Jason Bourne is introduced with having amnesia. However, his memory loss does not affect his combat skills in the slightest.
- Split Personality: Beginning with the second book, we have the contrast between Bourne and Webb. Neither is a particularly happy soul, given that the former was the deep cover creation of a man who was a merciless killer after the latter lost his whole family to an anonymous air raid in Vietnam and went into the jungles as a merciless anti-VC weapon in a deeply black ops program. So Webb is the loving husband the history professor, the man who mourns his past. Bourne is the chameleon, the killing machine, the beast on a short leash.
- Swiss Bank Account: In The Bourne Identity, the only clue he has to his identity in the beginning is the details of a Swiss numbered bank account.
Carlos the Jackal
- Anonymous Ringer: Averted as he is referred to as his real name Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez.
- Bad Habits: Dresses up as a priest.
- Evil Counterpart: To Jason Bourne. Or rather, Bourne was created to be a Good Counterpart to him.
- A God Am I: Carlos has a pretty massive ego
- Historical Domain Character: Based on the real life Venezuelian terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez
. - Kissing Cousins: Carlos and his first cousin were lovers since childhood.
- Spy School: Carlos was trained in one, a Soviet facility called Novgorod, that is a setting in Ultimatum.
- War for Fun and Profit: Well not 'war' per se. But Carlos is known for being in the assassination game solely for profit and is absolutely unconcerned with ideology or political allegiances.
Films
Characters introduced in The Bourne Identity:
Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne (real name: David Webb)
"All that matters is staying alive. You get off the grid, survive."
Played by: Matt Damon
Dubbed by: Damien Boisseau (European French)
"I can see their faces. Everyone I ever killed. I just don't know their names. Marie used to try to help me remember the names. I've tried to apologise for... for what I've done. For what I am. None of it makes it any better."
The Protagonist, an amnesiac CIA agent being hunted by the organization he once worked for.- Amnesiac Dissonance: Throughout the series, he's horrified to learn what a merciless killer he was.
- The Atoner: Especially in The Bourne Supremacy, as he travels to Russia solely to apologize to Irina Neski, the orphaned daughter of Vladimir Neski, whom he'd assassinated.
- Badass Driver: He can drive anything he can get his hands on with great dexterity when thrown into a chase, including vehicles that are clearly not made for this such as a yellow Volga 3110 taxi in Supremacy. And he knows how to make good use of them against his pursuers.
- The Chessmaster: He's often one step ahead of his opponents.
- Combat Pragmatist: He is an incredibly efficient fighter. His fighting style is clearly based on mixed martial arts with a particular emphasis on Krav Maga, Kali, Wing Chun Kung Fu and Jeet Kune Do; using fists, feet, knees, elbows, groin attacks, etc. He is also very skilled at using anything he can get his hands on as a weapon, from ballpoint pens to a rolled up magazine. When fighting, his focus is inflicting the maximum amount of damage in the least amount of time and with the least effort.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He often wears dark clothing.
- Deadpan Snarker: The very rare moments in which Bourne displays any kind of humor, it will be of this variety and usually a very dark form to boot.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Prior to volunteering for Treadstone, Bourne or rather, Webb was a Delta Force operator. Doubles as a Mythology Gag to his novel counterpart's codename, Delta.
- The Fettered: The reason he failed the assignment that caused him to lose his memory? He couldn't bring himself to kill his target in front of the man's children.
- Genius Bruiser: Extremely good at lateral thinking and finding highly creative ways to stay one step ahead of the people hunting him as well as in various areas of intelligence such as information gathering, stealth, assuming new identities, carrying out assassinations and improvisation but when the chips are down, can annihilate anyone who goes up against him in a fight.
- Heartbroken Badass: After Marie's death. And later on, Nicky's.
- Heroic Neutral: Bourne would love nothing more than to be left alone by the CIA and enjoy a peaceful life in which he doesn't have to kill anyone anymore. He only ever shows any interest in exposing their corruption when they are stupid enough to come after him while he is in hiding, either to kill him or frame him for their own misdeeds.
- I Can See You: Bourne gives these moments out like candy.
- When Bourne calls Pamela Landy at her office, he lets her know he's within line of sight.
Bourne: Get some rest, Pam. You look tired. *click*- A similar example: Bourne requests a meeting with Nicky. He is asked what if they can't find her.
Bourne: That's easy. She's standing right next to you.- An inversion happens during Bourne's phone conversation with Vosen later on.
Bourne: If you were in your office, we'd be having this conversation face to face. - Improvised Weapon: To an incredible degree, almost anything he touches can be used as a weapon, e.g. a ballpoint pen in Identity, a rolled-up magazine in Supremacy, a book and a towel in Ultimatum, a chair leg and a saucepan in Jason Bourne.
- Indy Ploy: A master at this, such as the train chase in Supremacy. Bourne rarely has the resources to plan ahead so he has to rely on winging it to get by.
- Made of Iron: Bourne can take a lot of punishment and come through still strong.
- Martial Pacifist: The only times he kills (at least in the original trilogy) are in self-defense where his opponent is fighting with the intent to kill. Otherwise he notably limits himself to stunning and disarming opponents.
- Name Amnesia: The man has no idea who he is, but he still remembers how to speak foreign languages well enough to question the boat's Portuguese crew, and also retains his hand-to-hand combat and stealth spy skills. It's not until he discovers a safe deposit box with varying ID papers, most of which bear the name Jason Bourne, that he begins to learn his identity and purpose.
- Nerves of Steel: Word of God describes Bourne this way, saying at the times most people freeze up, he goes to action.
- Omniglot: One of the first things he discovered about himself after his amnesia was he could speak several different languages including Italian, French, and German. He also speaks a bit of Russian.
- One-Man Army: He consistently outdoes dozens of opponents at a time in evasion and vanishing from their surveillance, and when in a tight spot he can take down entire groups of armed enemies with his bare hands.
- Professional Killer: When he was with Treadstone.
- Wham Line: He delivers these in multiple films to the point where it's almost a running gag, usually to signify that he knows much more than the person he's speaking to is letting on.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: A very important part of his character- it's why he couldn't bring himself to assassinate Wombossi in Identity and threatening or endangering kids around Bourne is a really bad idea.
Marie
Marie Helena Kreutz
"Nobody does the right thing."
Played by: Franka Potente
"People do all kinds of weird and amazing stuff when they are scared."
A civilian caught up in Bourne's attempts to evade the CIA.- Adaptational Nationality: as well as Adaptational Name Change, of sort. In the novel, she was identified as Dr. Marie St. Jacques a Canadian Economics Professor. In the films, she is instead a nomadic German with irregular jobs who tried to apply for an American visa.
- Death by Adaptation: She survived in the original novels.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After she first witnesses Bourne fighting a trained assassin.
- Muggles Do It Better: Pretends to be John Michael Kane's PA, instead of the complicated plan Bourne had to get the hotel's information. It works.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: She gets shot by Kirill in Supremacy.
Nicky Parsons
Nicolette "Nicky" Parsons
Played by: Julia Stiles
A CIA agent trailing Bourne.- Did They or Didn't They?: In Ultimatum, Nicky seems to imply that she was personally involved with Bourne before his amnesia.
- Dye or Die: Paralleling Marie changing her hair, complete with a flashback of Marie.
- Heel–Face Turn: She helps Bourne track down Neil Daniels in Ultimatum.
- Improbable Age: Nicky Parsons is one of Bourne's field handlers on an extremely sensitive mission and apparently has beyond Top Secret clearance given what she is involved in (monitoring all of the Treadstone field agents). In other words, significantly more dangerous to the Agency than Bourne is if she screws up, or if something was missed in her vetting and she is less than 100% loyal. When the movie was filmed, Julia Stiles was a very young looking twenty-one. There's an attempted Hand Wave in Supremacy when Nicky explains her cover was an exchange student studying in Paris.
- Perpetual Frowner: Which makes the last few seconds of Ultimatum all the more memorable.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Shot twice by the Asset in Jason Bourne.
- When She Smiles: At the very end of Ultimatum, when she realises that Bourne survived a 100 ft drop into the East River.
Conklin
Alexander Conklin
Played by: Chris Cooper
Dubbed by: Patrick Floersheim (European French), Seongho Shin (Korean)
Appears in: The Bourne Identity | The Bourne Supremacy (flashbacks)
The CIA official overseeing Treadstone.- Bad Boss: It's mentioned that not only did Conklin put a lot of pressure on his unit, but also that he was unable to deal with the loss of his best operative, who had a breakdown because of said pressure. Averted in the Ludlum novels, where after Bourne returned to the States, Conklin's primary concern is Bourne's mental health as he does not want him to suffer from PTSD.
- Big Bad: He's the one trying to have Bourne killed in the first film.
- Dragon-in-Chief: He oversees the Treadstone program, yet he is the one whp answers to Abbott.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Downplayed, but he clearly lacks the combat prowess of his operatives.
- Posthumous Character: He appears in flashbacks throughout Supremacy.
- You Have Failed Me: For failing to get Bourne, he's unceremoniously shot by a Treadstone agent. Averted in the novels, where he became Jason's primary handler and good friend.
Abbott
Ward Abbott
Played by: Brian Cox
Appears in: The Bourne Identity | The Bourne Supremacy
A CIA section chief and Conklin's superior.- The Alcoholic: The end of Supremacy before he commits suicide show that he's no stranger to holding his liquor and uses it as a coping mechanism.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Once Bourne corners him, he has everything he needs to destroy Abbott and leaves him at the mercy of the authorities as he makes off with the evidence. Rather than face the disgrace of being tried for treason, he shoots himself right in front of Landy, who was also catching on to his game.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Yuri Gretkov in Supremacy, although he is the one who devises the Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit against Jason, who learns about him for the first time ever.
- Brutal Honesty: He's perfectly open about calling Treadstone a "kill squad".
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He's got glasses, and he can go to ruthless lengths to ensure his cover won't be blown up.
- Greater-Scope Villain: For Identity, as Conklin reports directly to him.
- Knight Templar: Sees himself this way.Abbot: I'm a patriot. I've served my country.Landy: And Danny Zorn, what was he?Abbott: Unlucky, collateral damage.
- Leave Behind a Pistol: By Jason in Supremacy.
- The Man Behind the Man: He's the actual head of Operation: Treadstone, not Conklin.
- Retirony: He was planning on retiring in a matter of months in Supremacy.
- The Unfettered: Will do anything to protect his own dirty secrets, including framing Bourne and killing Danny Zorn.
- Villain Has a Point: Jason can't argue when Abbott retorts that the former embroiling Marie in his life was what got her killed.Ward Abbott: You killed Marie. The moment you got in her car, the moment you entered her life, she was dead.
The Professor
The Professor
Played by: Clive Owen
Appears in: The Bourne Identity
"I work alone, like you. We always work alone."
The top assassin in Conklin's employ.- Cold Sniper: How he kills Wombosi at his Paris home, and later attempts to kill Bourne this way.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He has only 3 minutes of screentime throughout the film, and he never talks until his last scene, almost a half-hour from the end, delivering the Arc Words "Look at us. Look at what they make you give."
Wombosi
Nykwana Wombosi
Played by: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Appears in: The Bourne Identity
The dictator of an unnamed African country targeted by the CIA for assassination.- Boom, Headshot!: He gets shot by The Professor this way.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's extremely unhappy about his family being threatened. We eventually discover that Jason aborted his assignment because Wombosi's children were present when he was supposed to assassinate him.
- He Knows Too Much: He threatened to reveal information regarding the United States' involvement in Africa, so the CIA sent black ops killers after him (Bourne being the first).
Zorn
Daniel "Danny" Zorn
Played by: Gabriel Mann
Dubbed by: Alexis Tomassian (European French)
Appears in: The Bourne Identity | The Bourne Supremacy
A CIA operative working under Conklin in Treadstone.- The Dragon: Assistant to Conklin in Identity and Abbott in Supremacy.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: He makes the mistake of telling Abbott it's impossible that Bourne was behind the Berlin assassination.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: He gets stabbed by Abbott after telling him Bourne wasn't involved.
Characters introduced in The Bourne Supremacy:
Pamela Landy
Pamela "Pam" Landy
Played by: Joan Allen
Dubbed by: Véronique Augereau (European French)
The Deputy Director of the CIA.- Face Death with Dignity: She doesn't flinch when she thinks Abbott is about to kill her.
- Hero Antagonist: She's opposed to Bourne in Supremacy and Ultimatum, but is also one of the few non-corrupt CIA officials and is more concerned with uncovering the truth.
- Iconic Sequel Character: A major character of the Bourne saga who was introduced in the second film.
- Iron Lady: A very no-nonsense female authority figure who doesn't let herself be fooled by her hierarchic superiors.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Despite her efforts at whistleblowing, it looks like she's tried for treason in Legacy.
- Not What I Signed on For: Says this almost verbatim when Bourne asks her why she's helping him reveal Treadstone and Blackbriar.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A non-corrupted CIA officer with a sense of justice and morality, unlike Abbott and Vosen.
- Token Good Teammate: Out of all the CIA team hunting Bourne down, she's the one who questions the motivations behind the hunt and tries to figure out Bourne's real motivations without ever thinking about killing him.
Gretkov
Yuri Gretkov
Played by: Karel Roden
Dubbed by: Philippe Dumond (European French)
Appears in: The Bourne Supremacy
A Russian oil tycoon with close ties to Ward Abbott.- Beard of Evil: He has an unkempt beard.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Ward Abbott in Supremacy.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He started his oil empire with stolen CIA funds, with the help of Ward Abbott.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: A ruthless oil magnate who wears glasses and doesn't hesitate to bribe Dirty Cops and kill those who get in his way.
Kirill
Kirill
Played by: Karl Urban
Appears in: The Bourne Supremacy
A member of the Russian Secret Service who moonlights as an assassin for Gretkov.- Badass Normal: Unlike the Assets of Treadstone and follow-up programs who have had all kinds of psychological and chemical enhancements, Kirill is just an regular FSB agent yet comes extremely close to killing Bourne twice.
- Cold Sniper: He comes very close to kill Bourne twice. He kills Marie, who was on the passenger seat of Bourne's car in Goa, with a sniper rifle the first time and shoots Bourne in the shoulder the second time from a good distance with his pistol.
- Dirty Cop: He's an FSB officer, but also does some dirty work for Yuri Gretkov.
- Hero Killer: Shoots Marie with a sniper rifle and leaves Bourne for dead.
- Perma-Stubble: He has a 3-day beard.
Jarda
Jarda
Played by: Marton Csokas
Appears in: The Bourne Supremacy
An assassin for Treadstone operating in Germany.- Improvised Weapon: Attacks Bourne with a kitchen knife then uses an electric cable to try to strangle him.
- Last of His Kind: He and Bourne were the last two Treadstone agents around.
- Retired Badass: He was put in retirement after Treadstone was shelved. His combat skills are still on par with those of Bourne.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: It's unclear if he's supposed to be the same character as Treadstone agent "Mannheim" from Identity or someone else entirely. Both possibilities have equal validity, and Word of God remains mum on the topic.
- The Worf Effect: He gives Bourne quite a harsh beating during their meeting before Bourne gains the upper hand. B
Characters introduced in The Bourne Ultimatum:
Vosen
Noah Vosen
Played by: David Strathairn
Appears in: The Bourne Ultimatum | The Bourne Legacy
The CIA operative in charge of executing Operation Blackbriar.- Armchair Military: Vosen ironically derides Landy using the trope, but throughout the film micromanages most of his operations, acts recklessly, and manages to make Blackbriar an example of Fascist, but Inefficient in comparison to Treadstone's more methodical approach.
- Although Blackbriar, unlike Treadstone, has an expanded mandate, doing surveillance in addition to assassinations. The attention to detail counts there.
- Bad Boss: He's willing to kill civilians in order to keep Treadstone/Blackbriar secret.
- The Dragon: He's carrying out his operation on behalf of Ezra Kramer.
- The Heavy: The main threat to Bourne in Ultimatum, while Kramer is the Big Bad Bourne never meets or goes after.
- Knight Templar: This exchange sums it up.Landy: Noah, she's one of us. You start down this path, where does it end?
Vosen: It ends when we've won. - Murder Is the Best Solution: Literally anyone who seems to be a liability to Blackbriar in the film ends up getting on his kill on sight list, which Landy is quick to point out is reckless and sloppy. Landy also implies he's always held this opinion.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's basically a less corrupt (but no less unethical) Ward Abbott. Justified, considering Abbott committed suicide at the end of the last film.
Kramer
Ezra Kramer
Played by: Scott Glenn
Dubbed by: Jean Barney (European French)
Appears in: The Bourne Ultimatum | The Bourne Legacy
The Director of the CIA.- Bad Boss: Plans to have Pamela Landy take the fall for Blackbriar should Bourne escape in Ultimatum.
- Greater-Scope Villain: As the CIA Director, he's behind Treadstone, Blackbriar and any other operations the CIA takes.
- The Man Behind the Man: The one pulling the strings behind Vosen.
- Non-Action Big Bad: A morally bankrupt officer at the top of the hierarchy who lets his underlings do the dirty work for him.
- Remember the New Guy?: Other characters seem to treat him as if he's always been in-charge, despite Supremacy featuring a different DCI in the form of Martin Marshall.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Well, it wouldn't sound pretty if the CIA director's highly unethical methods were to be known publicly.
Hirsch
Dr. Albert Hirsch
Played by: Albert Finney
Appears in: The Bourne Ultimatum | The Bourne Legacy
A doctor working for the CIA who designed the conditioning program used for Operation: Treadstone and later Blackbriar- Evil Genius: The top scientist for the CIA's psychological brainwashing program.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Albert Finney used his voice at its deepest.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: A Morally Ambiguous Doctorate and Torture Technician combined, complete with glasses.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: To say the least of someone who is willing to spearhead research into an ambiguously legal assassination program.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: He dies of a "heart attack" while in protective custody the day before he is to testify. Deleted scenes show that Hirsch was actually assassinated by an agent who made it past his security detail somehow.
- Not Worth Killing: Bourne refuses to kill him as a last act of defiance upon re-embracing his real identity as David Webb.Dr. Albert Hirsch: So now you're going to kill me.Jason Bourne: No. You don't deserve the star they'd give you on the wall at Langley.
- Torture Technician: He oversaw the torture which turned David Webb into Jason Bourne.
Desh
Desh Bouksani
Played by: Joey Ansah
Appears in: The Bourne Ultimatum
A Blackbriar agent stationed in Morocco.- Implacable Man: No matter how Nicky tries to escape him in the streets of Tangiers, Desh would have caught up with her and she would have certainly died without Bourne's timely intervention.
- Improvised Weapon: Attacks Bourne with a hookah, then with a razor.
- Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Bourne is noticeably older than him (going by the actors' age, Matt Damon is 12 years older than Joey Ansah) and still gives him a run for his money.
- The Voiceless: He never speaks onscreen, but audibly suffers in the fight against Bourne.
Simon Ross
Played by: Paddy Considine
Dubbed by: Philippe Valmont (European French)
Appears in: The Bourne Ultimatum | The Bourne Legacy
An investigative journalist writing about the CIA's undercover programs.- Expy: Of investigative journalists at the Guardian, notably Glenn Greenwald and Ewan McAskill.
- He Knows Too Much: He gets targeted for finding out about Treadstone and Blackbriar and is taken down over it.
- Intrepid Reporter: The Guardian's national security correspondent, writing a series of articles about a rogue CIA assassin? Yeah.
- Too Dumb to Live: He panics and is shot by the Blackbriar agent.
Paz
Paz
Played by: Édgar Ramírez
Appears in: The Bourne Ultimatum
Another CIA agent and product of Operation: Blackbriar.- Cold Sniper: Takes out Simon Ross from a distance, in a crowded area.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Bourne spares him following the car chase, he has him at gunpoint but lets Bourne go after a moment of Heel Realization.
Characters introduced in The Bourne Legacy:
Aaron Cross
Aaron Cross (real name: Kenneth James Kitson)
Played by: Jeremy Renner
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
A rogue operative of Operation: Outcome who becomes targeted when the creators of the program try to forcefully cover it up.- Bavarian Fire Drill: Bluffs his way (along with Marta) into the Sterisyn-Morlanta factory by claiming to be a doctor. To be fair, Marta is a doctor with legitimate credentials, so it wasn't entirely dishonest.Aaron: "Remember, we belong here."
- Convenient Replacement Character: To Jason Bourne.
- "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: He reveals he was well under the Army's (fictional) minimum intelligence quota, making him likely mentally impaired. This makes the prospect of losing the heightened intelligence from his medication much scarier for him.
- Good is Not Nice: Somewhat more ruthless than Jason Bourne, beating the hell out of innocent guards or cops who were in his way and generally being a rougher character. His desperation to keep on his meds probably contributes.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Shoots down an attack drone with a hunting rifle in a snowstorm. Of course,
it was a high-powered rifle, so it's justified. - Super-Soldier: Takes green and blue pills (like all Outcome agents) which enhance his physical and mental abilities... as long as they're taken at regular intervals, lest withdrawal occur.
Marta
Dr. Marta Shearing
Played by: Rachel Weisz
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
A scientist who worked on designing the drug used for Operation: Outcome.- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Prior to Byer's shutdown of her lab, she couldn't have cared less about the Outcome agents. Although she knew a bit about Outcome's work, as far as she was concerned they were just lab rats with inconvenient schedules.
- Sole Survivor: All of her lab colleagues get killed.
Byer
Eric Byer
Played by: Edward Norton
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
The director of the Nation Research Assay and the brain behind Operation: Outcome.- The Big Bad Shuffle: His standing in the hierarchy of villains is nebulous and not made fully made clear, although he appears to be on a similar standing to the likes of Kramer.
- Colonel Badass: Not in terms of his combat prowess, but with the sheer amount of political weight that he pulls. Despite being a retired USAF colonel he oversees programs that even Ezra Kramer, who a former admiral and current Director of the CIA, and Mark Turso, another retired admiral, have little to no idea about. In one scene, it's shown that he even has the authority to shutdown several of an active-duty lieutenant general's intelligence operations!
- I Did What I Had to Do: Not particularly proud of eliminating Outcome and its scientists, but views it as a necessary sacrifice.
- Knight Templar: To be fair, his Operation Outcome does do a lot of much-needed and less morally ambiguous intelligence work than Blackbriar or Treadstone (who can argue with gathering intel on North Korea's military?). However, when faced with the possible exposure of his programs, Byer's more than willing to eliminate otherwise innocent civilian and military liabilities.
- Man Behind the Man: Even Ezra Kramer defers to his judgement on the so-called "Beta Programs".
- Murder Is the Best Solution: When there is even the slighest possibility of Outcome being exposed, Byer has everyone involved killed no exceptions.
- Non-Action Big Bad: He is only seen out in the field in one scene that took place years earlier, and even then he's out of the action. During Legacy, he either spends his time in NRAG's office or in a crisis suite, hundreds of miles from the film's conflict.
- Sin Eater: Byer describes himself and his team as "sin eaters" who commit morally indefensible but absolutely necessary actions so others on their side don't have to.
Turso
Mark Turso
Played by: Stacy Keach
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
An official of the Department of Defense put in charge of overseeing Operation: Outcome.- Audience Surrogate: Although Turso is a retired admiral and Kramer's confidant, he's as much in the dark about Byer's programs and methods as the audience is, which certainly says something about the weight that Byer pulls. His questions about LARX and D-Track teams serve to fill in the audience.
- Man Behind the Man: Not as much as Byer, who is more aware of what is going on in the world of black programs, but definitely has shades of this in his interactions with Kramer.
Ward
Terrence Ward
Played by: Dennis Boutsikaris
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
The head of the Sterislyn-Moranta pharmaceutical company that developed the drugs for Operation: Outcome.- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Technically not corrupt, since he is legally working with the US government on a contract related to Beta Programs, but definitely has shady motives with regard to his cooperation.
- Villain with Good Publicity: His company, Sterisyn-Morlanta, does do legitimate pharmaceutical research and is on the cutting edge of the field. It just happens to be further ahead than most suspect. And Ward is willing, albeit with some hesitation, to greenlight the deaths of his researchers if it means keeping the unsavory aspects under wraps.
Vendel
Zev Vendel
Played by: Corey Stoll
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
A member of NRAG and a part of Byer's staff.- Co-Dragons: One Byer's immediate underlings, along with with Ingram and Mandy.
- For Science!: When Byer has his team going over the cables and documents behind the Beta programs, Vendel gets a bit too excited with the details behind the agents' performance. Byer rebukes him for losing sight of the point of the meeting. He is also somewhat more knowledgeable about the Chems than the other members.
Ingram
Arthur Ingram
Played by: Michael Chernus
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
Another member of Byer's staff in NRAG.- Co-Dragons: One Byer's immediate underlings, along with with Vendel and Mandy.
Mandy
Dita Mandy
Played by: Donna Murphy
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
An NRAG official put in charge of handling the fallout from the exposure of Operation: Treadstone and Blackbriar.- Co-Dragons: One Byer's immediate underlings, along with with Ingram and Vendel.
LARX- 3
LARX-3
Played by: Louis Ozawa Changchien
Appears in: The Bourne Legacy
A chemically brainwashed soldier and product of Operation LARX sent after Bourne.- The Brute: Byer's top agent on the ground.
- Emotion Suppression: There are rocks that display more emotion than LARX-3 does.
- The Heavy: Byer is pulling the strings, but LARX-3 is the agent who Cross actually has to go up against.
- Implacable Man: Damn near unstoppable, until a concrete pillar had its say.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Since he lacks emotion, he's not as sadistic as other examples of this trope. However, he has no qualms about running down civilians or hijacking motorcycles (after literally kicking off the previous rider) in his pursuit of Aaron and Martha.
- Super-Soldier: Like the rest of the Beta program agents, he has inhuman endurance and durability.
Characters introduced in Jason Bourne:
Heather Lee
Heather Lee
Played by: Alicia Vikander
Appears in: Jason Bourne
The head of the CIA's Cyber Ops division.- Big Damn Heroes: She saves Bourne from Dewey when Dewey has him at his mercy.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: For much of the movie, Lee appears to be the only morally upright CIA operative, e.g. proposing bringing Bourne in alive rather than killing him outright, and even saving Bourne by killing Dewey herself. Until the final scenes show her vying to take Dewey's position. When Bourne leaves the recording device in her car indicating he heard her statement to the Director of Intelligence that she'll kill him needed if she can't bring him in, it leaves it open ended as to whether she'll become a future antagonist or back off due to the threat.
- Hero Antagonist: She's very much like Pamela Landy, as she tries to understand Bourne's motivations, tries to establish contact with him and ultimately wants him back "home", while Dewey just wants to kill him.
- Improbable Age: Alicia Vikander was 27 during filming, so unless Heather was much older, it's hard to believe that a 27-year-old could be the head of cyber-security in the CIA. It becomes especially apparent towards the end when she demands to succeed Dewey as head of the CIA.
- The Not-Love Interest: It seems like she'd be Bourne's new partner like Marie or Nicky Parsons (particularly since Nicky is killed off). Although Heather does save him from Dewey, in the end, nothing else develops between them, and her intentions in becoming the new CIA director suggests that she may not be siding with Bourne after all.
Dewey
Director of the CIA Robert Dewey
"You don't have any idea of who you're dealing with."
Played by: Tommy Lee Jones
Dubbed by: Féodor Atkine (European French)
Appears in: Jason Bourne
"32 kills, Jason. Everyone of them made a difference. People all across this country are safer because of what you did."
The new Director of the CIA, who had a hand in both Treadstone and Blackbriar, and is now looking to use the Iron Hand as a means for total public surveillance.- Arch-Enemy: To Jason Bourne.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of Jason Bourne.
- Bad Boss: Happily orders his own agents killed when they no longer suit his purposes along with the death of partners when they try to blab.
- Breaking Speech: Gives a powerful one to Jason long enough for agents to arrive and save him.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Dewey never raises his voice, speaking in a calm, collected monotone, with a chilling deepness.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Ordered the death of Jason's father, driving him into Treadstone, which makes him responsible for the events of the series.
- Knight of Cerebus: He goes further than Conklin, Abbott or Vosen in terms of ruthlessness, such as killing off several agents as he goes along.
- Knight Templar: He really thinks the shady acts in Treadstone and its successor organizations made America safer.
- Near-Villain Victory: He is the closest any villain comes to killing Jason Bourne.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Is in no physical shape, and never fights Bourne, but is still very dangerous.
- Remember the New Guy?: One of the main organizers of Treadstone/Blackbriar along with Conklin, Abbott, Vosen, Kramer, and Hirsch. Doesn't show up until the fifth film. Justifed since Jason was in hiding for more than a decade and he wasn't a danger until he returned.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Looks, acts, and is treated a lot like Ezra Kramer.
- The Unfettered: He will do anything to keep his more dubious actions safe, even if it means killing anyone who tries to stand up.
- Would Hurt a Child: Intended to monitor and put Jason into Treadstone when he was a boy. His father saw this as too far and tried to expose it, which led to Dewey ordering his murder.
The Asset
The Asset
"I Work Alone."
Played by: Vincent Cassel
Dubbed by: Vincent Cassel (European French)
Appears in: Jason Bourne
"Bourne betrayed us. It has always been personal."
A former agent of Operation: Blackbriar with a vendetta against Bourne for exposing the program.- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Played with. He's an assassin who readily kills people, but despite two years of torture and the mental troubles found in all Treadstone/Blackbriar agents, he doesn't break.
- The Dragon: Dewey's personal one.
- Dragon Their Feet: After Dewey is killed by Heather, Bourne still spends ten minutes chasing down and then killing the Asset. Though considering the man killed his father, this is very understandable.
- Dragon with an Agenda: He personally wants to take out Bourne due to his leak of Blackbriar that got him caught and tortured in Syria.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first appearance in the movie, is when he kills several bystanders to set up a sniper nest to kill Bourne and Nicky.
- Every Scar Has a Story: We see a brief shot of what appear to be whip scars on his back, presumably from his torture in Syria.
- Evil Counterpart: The Asset is Bourne without his limits. Where Bourne only kills people in self-defense, the Asset cold-bloodedly murders them, even his fellow CIA officers. Likewise, while Bourne goes out of his way to avoid getting civilians involved, the Asset has no regard whatsoever to their lives, as shown when he rams his SWAT vehicle to break through the traffic in Vegas.
- Hypocrite: Despite his insistence of Bourne being killed for being a traitor, he's an even bigger traitor given what he does to his fellow agents.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: The Professor, Jarda, and Paz were just carrying out missions and even have moments of connection with Bourne. The Asset? He's out to kill Bourne because when Bourne leaked the intel to Landy at the end of Ultimatum, the Asset was captured in Syria and tortured for two years. And it's two ways: the Asset is the one who killed Bourne's father in 1999.
- Kick the Dog: When the Asset sets up to snipe Bourne during the riots in Greece, he murders three rioters in cold blood simply because they had the misfortune of being on the wrong roof at the wrong time. Granted, they were molotoving the cops down in the street when he burst in, but that's certainly no justification for summary execution.
- Neck Snap: Courtesy of Bourne.
- No Name Given: Unlike other Treadstone/Blackbriar operatives, his name is never given. Inversely, he's the most developed and has the most lines out of any of them.
- Revenge Myopia: He wants to kill Bourne because exposing Blackbriar got him outed and captured. Except that Bourne never would have found out about Blackbriar if the Asset hadn't murdered his father, thereby driving him into Treadstone.
- You Killed My Father: He killed Bourne's father long before the events of the series under Dewey's orders.
Kalloor
Aaron Kalloor
Played by: Riz Ahmed
Appears in: Jason Bourne
The CEO of the Deep Dream social media company and reluctant CIA collaborator.- Expy: Of early 21st century new technologies / social medias moguls like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
- He Knows Too Much: Dewey wants Kalloor dead as soon as he wants to reveal the true nature of the Deep Dream platform (a backdoor access for the CIA to all informations any potential user can have on his machine, disguised as social media).
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The CIA made him rich in exchange for helping them become more and more Big Brother-ish. He deeply resents this and plans to screw it all through a reveal of what Deep Dream truly is.
Craig Jeffers
Craig Jeffers
'''Played by: Ato Essandot
Appears in: ''Jason Bourne
Dewey's right-hand man.- The Dragon: As assistant to Dewey.
Richard Webb
Richard Webb
Played by: Gregg Henry
Appears in: Jason Bourne (flashbacks and photos)
The original founder of Operation: Treadstone and the father of David Webb, aka Jason Bourne.- He Knows Too Much: When he knew that his son was to be part of the Treadstone program, he wanted to reveal it publicly. The Asset killed him and made it look like a terrorist attack so his son would enlist in the program out of patriotism and sense of duty.
Dassault
Christian Dassault
Played by: Vinzenz Kiefer
Appears in: Jason Bourne
A hacker who heads an activist group for Internet privacy- Bad Boss: Doesn't care much for the life of the hackers who work for him.
- The Cracker: He's a whistleblower who employs people such as Nicky Parsons to hack into the CIA's black ops files in order to reveal them to the world.
- In the Hood: Walks in the streets of Berlin with a hood on his head.
- Too Dumb to Live: When the CIA come knocking, he decides to attack Bourne, a former agent with near unbeatable fighting skills who's still mostly at his peak physical strength, whereas Dassault is a normal man, with only basic fighting knowledge. Bourne kills him due to this stupidity.
