Baltimore Police Department (Major Crimes Unit | Homicide Unit | Police Commanders | Western District) | Baltimore Underworld (The Barksdale Organization | Omar and Associates | The Greeks | The Stanfield Gang | New Day Co-Op) | Courthouse | Baltimore Docks | City Hall | The Baltimore Sun | Other Characters (Homeless People and Addicts | The Next Generation)
D'Angelo: And you're a goddamn drug dealer.
Bodie: So? So, what, the customer is always right?
The drug trade would, of course, be nothing without the people who actually buy drugs. The various homeless characters of The Wire are the show's way of exploring these often-ignored individuals. The main homeless character is Bubbles, a drug addict who, whilst prepared to go pretty damn low for his fix, is nevertheless one of the more human and morally upright characters on the show. The show charts his struggles with addiction and the world around him, especially the desperation and fear of the day-to-day life of one of the War on Drugs' refugees.
A homeless heroin addict. He mentors Johnny Weeks from seasons 1-3, teaching him the skills of scheming and scrounging that are necessary to support a life on the streets. When Weeks is attacked by members of the Barksdale crew, Bubbles renews his duties as a police informant, providing critical information to Greggs and McNulty.
In season 4, Bubbs takes a different homeless youngster, Sherrod, under his wing. Unfortunately for Bubbs, the season also sees him being repeatedly beaten and robbed by another drug addict. As Kima and McNulty are no longer working drugs at that point, Bubbs must settle for snitching for the considerably less reliable Herc, who twice fails to come to Bubbles's aid. Bubbles pays Herc back for his incompetence by feeding him bad information that gets Herc in some trouble with his superiors, but his plan for dealing with the robber backfires, resulting in Sherrod's death. He turns himself in and attempts suicide, but is receives an uncharacteristic bit of mercy from Jay Landsman, who decides not to charge Bubbs and instead has Bubbs put into a detox ward where he's watched carefully to make sure he won't kill himself.
- Blue Oni: To Johnny Weeks', and later Sherrod's, Red Oni. It keeps him alive while both of them end up dead.
- Break the Cutie: After failing to clean himself up, he's targeted by a street addict who robs and beats him constantly. The police fail to help him out of the mess, so he takes matters into his own hands and plans to use potassium cyanide to kill the man, but Sherrod, another addict who's like a son to Bubbles, falls for the trap instead, mistaking the cyanide for heroine. Bubbles turns himself in for murder, and tries to hang himself with a belt in the interrogation room.
- Butt-Monkey: Played for drama.
- Classical Anti-Hero: Bubbs has a lot of good qualities, (cleverness, ingenuity, an entrepreneurial personality, business savvy, a basically good heart, etc.) but he's certainly not many people's idea of a hero, nor is he looking to become one.
- The Dog Bites Back:
- Herc let Bubbles down multiple times to help out against The Fiend. Bubbles eventually tires of what feels like sweet nothings from Herc. So Bubbles strolls by a church, and notices the congregation and a surely respected Black minister making their way to the cars. He has a "Eureka!" Moment, and calls in the minister to Herc as doing a drug re-up. Herc takes the bait, hook line and sinker, and roughs up the minister during what turns out to be a bogus shakedown. Herc had already gotten himself in hot water over a very similar situation when he subjected a woman to a search just because Marlo deliberately engaged with her. This latest incident only compounds his already considerable troubles, and ultimately contributes to getting fired from the BPD.
- Averted with the attempt to poison The Fiend with the hot shot. That obviously didn't turn out so well.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Over the course of the series he endures as much hardship as any other character, and he's one of only a few "street" characters who doesn't die, go to prison, or appear to be headed for one of those two fates in the end. His evolution from a vagrant heroin addict to a sober, well-adjusted individual is one of the few stories of redemption in this otherwise brutal, pitch-black universe. His monologue where he finally comes to terms with Sherrod's death is certainly one of the most emotional and compelling scenes in the entire show.
- Functional Addict: Despite his heroin addiction, he manages to be a useful informant and a valuable mentor to Johnny and Sherrod.
- Guile Hero: He manages to inform on various drug dealers for the better part of five seasons without ever being suspected of being a snitch, mostly because he's very clever in his information-gathering. Deconstructed because whilst he is clever enough, he is a Non-Action Guy who is completely defenseless against the junkie fiend who keeps robbing him and beating him up.
- The Informant: Partially earns his living working as one for the BPD.
- Interrupted Suicide: After Sherrod's death.
- The Mentor: Does his best to school his green protégés. It's fairly clear that Bubs genuinely enjoys teaching and trying to help the young men under his care, first by being a Big Brother Mentor to Johnny and later taking an almost fatherly interest in Sherrod.
- Mobile Kiosk: Starts telling t-shirts and other items from a shopping cart to support himself in season 3. He's pretty good at it, at least until he attracts the attention of The Fiend.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Sherrod takes the "hot shot" Bubbles had prepared for his tormentor and dies.
- Non-Action Guy: He has no combat skills against the more aggressive drug fiends.
- Only Known by Their Nickname:
- Until late in Season 5, his real name is revealed only through incidental references to legal documents and the like; he's almost always called "Bubbles" or "Bubbs" in conversation.
- Walon, despite having been Bubbles' sponsor for over a year only finds out his first name because Fletch says it in front of him.
- The Punishment Is the Crime: The reason Landsman drops his prosecution. Bubbles has to live with the guilt over Sherrod's death, but eventually he overcomes the grief and is able to move on.
- Shopping Cart of Homelessness: Bubs is often seen pushing a shopping cart with his few possessions around, or items that he's gathered from one of his scams. In seasons 3 and 4 at various times he ran a veritable mini-store out of the cart, using it as a means of moving and organizing merchandise.
- Street Smart: It's hinted that he's been navigating the streets for decades, the fact that he's still alive is because he's extremely savvy about living in the streets.
- Survivor's Guilt: He feels so guilty over Sherrod's accidental death that he tries and fails to hang himself, then has to process the guilt when he goes clean and works to put his life back together. When he learns that he is HIV-negative despite having been a dope fiend most of his life, he says it's unfair because Sherrod did catch it.
- Those Two Guys: With Johnny Weeks.
- Trauma Conga Line: Until his happy ending.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: Bubbles drifts in and out of various recovery programs and addiction support groups until he finally sobers up for good in season 5.
A homeless addict taken under the wing of Bubbles. He is caught trying to pull off Bubbles' scam of paying for drugs with counterfeit bills, which brings down the wrath of Bodie and Poot and leaves him in the hospital. While he's there, he also learns that he has HIV. Johnny objects to Bubbles snitching to the police, but the two continue operating together until the third season, when Weeks goes to Hamsterdam and becomes a permanent resident there. He is found dead by overdose some time later.
- Addled Addict: Devolves into this once he arrives in Hamsterdam. Even Bubbles couldn't talk sense into him.
- Bus Crash: Dies off-screen.
- Con Man: Participates in several with Bubbles. But he's much less successful when he tries to run them on his own.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: He seems to regard being forced to go to Narcotics Anonymous, or the possibility of getting clean, as this. When he attends a NA meeting with Bubbs, Bubbs recognizes a few people and comments that he hasn't seen them in so long he assumed they were dead. Johnny comments that being clean and sober is practically the same thing. Only Walon's speech manages to inspire a moment of doubt for Johnny, and only very briefly.
- The Ditz: In the most self-destructive way.
- Expy: Johnny is an extension of Leo Fitzpatrick's character from Kids.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Suffers one after he gets caught trying to scam the Barksdale crew in the Pit.
- Nothing Personal: His attitude about getting beat by Bodie and company, accepting it as part of the game. He's shocked and even somewhat disturbed when Bubbles reveals that he has been informing on the Barksdales in revenge for Johnny's beating.
- Red Oni: Unlike Bubbles, who is more restrained and cautious in his drug use, he uses impulsively and recklessly. It leads to his death by overdose.
- Tempting Fate: Johnny is constantly doing this, often mocking the idea of showing any restraint in how he uses drugs, and his boasts of how he can handle large amounts of drugs because "I'm a viking!" seem to imply he thinks he's immune to dying of an overdose. Eventually he is proven wrong.
- White Gangbangers: Comes off as one at times.
A young homeless dealer who is taken in by Bubbles. Bubbles tries to get him to go back to school, but Sherrod, being embarrassed by how far behind he is and his difficulties with reading and math, refuses to go and starts using drugs instead. When they are attacked repeatedly by another junkie, Bubbles puts poison in a dose of heroin, in the hopes that the junkie would rob them, use, and die. Sherrod takes the poisoned dose by accident.
- Bumbling Sidekick: He becomes Bubbles' pupil, but cannot do the basic math required to sell goods from the cart. Bubbles points out that the two of them working together should be able to do more and expand the business, but can't because Sherrod can't be trusted to charge the correct prices.
- Dumb Is Good: He's not bright, but he has a good heart.
- Hope Spot: When he and Bubbles reunite, it briefly hoped that maybe they can fend off the Fiend who has been harassing Bubs and build more of a life for themselves. It doesn't work out, and Bubbles turns to the poisoned "hot shot" out of desperation which Sherrod then takes by mistake.
- Like a Son to Me: Bubbles comes to feel this away about him over time, even saying as much to Landsman while being questioned.
- Sacrificial Lion: Dies from a poisoned heroin dose meant for another junkie.
- Street Urchin: He's homeless and stopped going to school when he was around 10 years old.
An HIV-positive recovering drug addict and drug rehabilitation counselor.
- All-Loving Hero: Towards addicts, at least. He knows that most addicts have a lot of messing up and backsliding to do before they get clean, (he's been there himself) so he has a lot of patience and care for them, regardless of how many times they seem to screw up.I don't care who you are, what you done, or who you done it to. If you're here, I'm here.
- Ignored Epiphany: He inspires one in Bubs, as he's a big factor in Bubs deciding to get clean in Season 1, but by the end of the season Bubs is back to using, and it's not until after Sherrod's death in Season 4 and his own attempted suicide that Bubs is able to stay clean.
- The Mentor: An unofficial Reasonable Authority Figure who helps people walk the clean path.
- Put on a Bus: Shows up for two scenes in Season 1, then disappears all the way until the last episode of Season 4.
- The Sponsor: Gives advice on keeping clean. He becomes Bubbles' NA sponsor in Season 5.
- The Storyteller: Holds a degree of fame in his NA circles for the great stories he can spin about having been an addict and trying to get clean.
A drug addict. First seen buying an eight-ball of cocaine in Hamsterdam from a car, a year later she is living in West Baltimore and working as a prostitute. Fifteen months later again she is seen trying to stay clean at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
- Break the Cutie: A nice girl who gets trapped by her own drug addiction.
- White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: Middle class white American. Her character arc shows how drugs not only destroy the lives of forsaken poor blacks.
A large and intimidating homeless addict, he is encountered in the fourth season. After first encountering Bubbles, he takes to repeatedly beating and robbing Bubbles as a way to feed his drug habit.
The constant repetition of this, along with the repeated failure of Bubbles to find any legal help or recourse, will eventually drive Bubbles to take drastic action which ends tragically. He is also known as "Bubbles' Tormentor", as he's credited that way.
- Arch-Enemy: Becomes this for Bubbles during Season 4.
- The Bully: Bullies and harasses Bubbles frequently, robbing him of his money and other objects.
- Evil Counterpart: To Omar. Omar robs criminals and drug dealers for a living, while the fiend robs Bubbles, a petty thief, criminal, and occasional Con Man himself. The difference lies in how powerful and sympathetic their targets are. The fiend obviously takes much more pleasure in hurting people, and additionally is robbing a much more sympathetic character who is considerably lower down the criminal food chain who has no chance of defending himself, which makes his actions cruel and despicable instead of cool and badass.
- Hate Sink: A truly vile and despicable character, his Hate Sink status is solidified to fans of the show more due to never facing any comeuppance for his actions, thus becoming one of the most despised characters of the show.
- Karma Houdini: For as much grief and pain as he inflicted on Bubbles and Sherrod, nothing happens to him. We never see ANY comeuppance for him at all. In the first episode of season 5, Bubbles spots him still roaming the alleys in a drugged out haze.
- No Name Given: Neither a given name or a street handle are ever used to identify him. He tends to be identified as simply "the fiend". (As in a dope fiend.)
- Sadist: Seems to take pleasure in hurting Bubbles and later Sherrod.
- Scary Black Man: A tall, dangerous, and aggressive addict willing to rob and brutalize people for money.
The drug-addicted mother of Michael Lee and Bug Manigault.
- Abusive Parents: Mostly of the neglectful sort. She leaves her sons to fend for themselves while she uses whatever resources come into the family to "chase her next high."
- Hate Sink: Winds up as this because of her neglect of her sons and bringing Michael's abusive father back into their lives.
- It's All About Me: Her and her addiction. She neglects her children to get high, then talks about how cold Michael is to her when she does the bare minimum for him, ignoring her neglect of Michael or turning a blind eye to how his stepfather abused him.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: She wants to be acknowledged for picking up Michael from the police station after he was brought in for questioning. Michael tells her that he's not going to thank her for acting like his mother.
- What Does She See in Him?: Seems to genuinely be in love with Devar and is convinced that him getting out of prison is going to be the start of better times for her and her family.
A homeless, mentally ill man abducted by McNulty and taken to a homeless shelter in Virginia.
- Loss of Identity: McNulty passes him off as Donald from Cleveland. The poor man tries to say otherwise, but he can't help himself due to a disability.
- Morality Pet: Zigzagged for McNulty, who abducts him, takes him to an unfamiliar place and deprives him of his identity and medication. On the other hand Jimmy feels bad about his scheme and is clearly torn apart when he sees the guy unable to feed himself. It's implied in the final scene of the finale that Jimmy is going to get the guy help.
- Unwitting Pawn: A central piece of the "serial killer" scheme. The man has no idea what is going on.
A mentally ill homeless person that likes collecting business cards. Several characters run into him a few times while visiting homeless people throughout Season 5. When Baltimore fears a serial killer on the loose, he gets the idea to become a copycat.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He appears briefly several times before he has an instrumental role in the finale.
- Jack the Ripoff: He killed another homeless man for "drinking all the time" and sloppily copies the "killer's" MO, wrapping a white ribbon around his victim's wrist (instead of a red one that was found on the previous bodies). During the interrogation he says he killed "everyone one of [the other victims]". Though shortly after he also says "I've killed millions okay? And they've all killed me", which makes it very clear he does not understand to any extent what he's done.
- No Name Given: His name is never spoken or seen anywhere.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Possibly. When being interrogated, he refers to McNulty and Bunk as "liar" and "black liar" respectively. Given his extreme mental illness, it's hard to tell if this comes from a place of true racial prejudice though.
- The Scapegoat: His ultimate fate. Instead of Carcetti and the entire system being forced to come clean that they were all duped by McNulty's fake serial killer scheme, Rawls decides to pin the blame for all of the killings on him. Though at the least, they don't put him in prison and send him to a mental health facility.
