History Series / TheInvisibleMan

* InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers: Alex is introduced in an episode that involves a newborn baby being taken from the mother. As it turns out, Alex herself is a victim of this. The culprit is a NebulousEvilOrganisation called Chrysalis, and the babies in question are actually those of their members. The women whose babies were stolen were actually secretly being used as surrogates. Alex's baby's biological parents are actually Jarod Stark and his wife.

* LoopholeAbuse: The Agency is never shown being sponsored by an intelligence or defense department, which would normally disqualify them from involvement in many cases. However, there is usually a loophole that can be exploited on the basis of who their current sponsor is. For example, in "Ralph," a foreign leader being assassinated on American soil and the FBI takes the lead. But because the assassin acted in a national park and also killed an endangered falcon, the Official says the Agency - which was then sponsored by Fish and Game - can be involved.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Implicitly agreed between Darien and Claire after [[spoiler:they both have sex while under Quicksilver Madness and the influence of an insanity inducing experimental TruthSerum, respectively.]]

* AppliedPhlebotinum: "Quicksilver"[[note]]In the real world, the common name for the element Mercury[[/note]] - which renders objects invisible not by allowing light to pass through them, but by bending light around them. This is accomplished through its "complex semifluid polymer surface layer, which possesses a refractive metallic matrix composed of (classified) and (classified)." Because of "the unusually strong covalent bonds in the Quicksilver semifluid matrix," light that strikes it is bent and refracted over its surface until it refocuses and continues in its original direction. The result is invisibility from the visible spectrum. [[spoiler:And somehow, [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot]] produces the stuff, which is why it's so hard to catch on cameras. HilarityEnsues when Darien runs into one, because for some reason the Gland makes it think he's a Bigfoot as well - a ''female'' Bigfoot]].

** Averted when it comes to Darien being able to see. Quicksilver is explained as bending light around a person to make them invisible. Bending light ''would'' make you invisible, but due to how the eye works, it would also make you blind. Darien, of course, can see perfectly while invisible. This is clarified by saying that Quicksilver only bends ''visible'' light. Non-visible light isn't bent, instead shifting to the fisible spectrum as it passes through the Quicksilver, so that is what allows Darien to see; however since only a narrow range of UV light is shifted to a visible range as it passes through the quicksilver (and presumably shifted back as it passes back out), he can only see in monochrome.
* AscendedExtra: [[TheSmartGuy Eberts]] started out as a minor character, the boss's nerdy assistant. The actor playing him posted to the fan message board, and [[PopularityPower the fans started a campaign, Get Eberts More Scenes]]. [[EnsembleDarkHorse The GEMS won, and Eberts was in the opening credits the second season]].

* AnIcePerson: When invisible, Darien's skin temperature is -10 degrees Celsius, giving him minor freezing powers; he is initially show using this to cool drinks by holding them.

** Quicksilver is explained as bending light around a person to make them invisible. Bending light ''would'' make you invisible, but due to how the eye works, it would also make you blind. Darien, of course, can see perfectly while invisible. This is later clarified by saying that Quicksilver only bends ''visible'' light. Non-visible light isn't bent and so that is was what allows Darien to see; however since only a narrow range of UV light is shifted to a visible range as it passes through the quicksilver (and presumably shifted back as it passes back out), he can only see in monochrome.

** In "The Lesser Evil," Chrysalis gives Darien the Solution: Beta file in order to lure him to their side. The file turns out to be a contingency plan only, but Darien becomes deeply suspicious of the Agency and considers their offer until he learns the truth. [[spoiler:[[OutGambitted And the whole thing turned out to be a gambit by the Official, who leaked the file himself to ultimately strike a blow against Chrysalis.]]]]
** In "Beholder," the Chameleon (a professional assassin) kills a long retired general. The general's son, Alan [=McGoldrick=], is a software tycoon and willing to pay top dollar to bring the killer to justice. Upon hearing that Alan will be flying in to deliver a eulogy, Darien realizes the Chameleon is "flushing the mark"--killing an unimportant target to get the high-value one out in an open area.

* CallBack: In "It Hurts When You Do This," Darien's narration discusses whether or not the ends justify the means. The VillainOfTheWeek (Dr. Carver) justifies harvesting brain cells from homeless people by saying he's helping people more useful to society. Later in "The Lesser Evil," Stark talks to Darien about the ends justifying the means and invokes Dr. Carver's final fate in order to make his case.
* CatchPhrase: "OhCrap"
** BorrowedCatchPhrase: Claire says "Oh crap" after recovering from an inhibition-removing TruthSerum.
* CelibateHero: Darien for the most part, though not by choice. Intense emotions or sex could cause the gland to activate, which would expose his secret. He's only ever romanced or had sex with women that already knew about it.

* UhOhEyes: Darien's eyes turn beyond-bloodshot [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] when he's on the edge of losing control, and turn silver when he's completely insane.

* SickEpisode: "Diseased." Arnaud infects Darien with a nasty virus to make him so sick that he'll be transferred to a specific hospital, where Arnaud intends to harvest the gland. Arnaud's plan backfires spectacularly when the virus makes the gland sick, vastly affecting how it behaves.

** This is disputed by Darien and Hobbes at the end of the second season opener ''Legends'', after they find and kill an invisible bigfoot. The Official denies their accusations but lets it slip that he knew about these creatures, implying that the original gland did come from a bigfoot but may have been adapted for a human. Strangely, this may imply that quicksilver madness is a natural side effect of the gland, not Arnaud's deliberate sabotage.

* TemporaryBlindness: A one-shot ProfessionalKiller, the Chameleon, had a modus operandi of rendering witnesses unable to identify him by permanently blinding them instead of killing them. Darien was a witness, although he was still able to see while invisible. According to Claire, going invisible just as he was being blinded ensured it would be temporary.

A terrorist attack on the I-man project facility, led by Arnaud, kills Kevin, and forces Darien to partner with either the group that killed his brother or the mysterious and under-funded "Agency", headed by the manipulative Official (Creator/EddieJones), for his counteragent shots. He chooses the Agency, and is usually sent on a new mission every episode. Rounding out the cast are Darien's partner Bobby Hobbes (Paul Ben-Victor), an experienced but...quirky agent; the Keeper (Shannon Kenny), an acerbic scientist in charge of keeping Darien sane and cooperative; and Eberts (Michael [=McAfferty=]), the Official's faithful bureaucratic aide.

** It's generally just arousal that causes PowerIncontinence. In one early episode, he's dancing with a HotScientist and his hand goes invisible without him noticing.

* TheyFightCrime: Darien and Bobby again.

* CryptidEpisode: "Legends" serves as a Bigfoot episode. The creatre has a natural ability to turn invisible, with Darien's gland harvested from such a (female) creature.

* YourHeadAsplode: In the pilot, the method Arnaud uses to eliminate the compound's guards. After getting all the guards to check in on their walkie-talkies:
--> '''Arnaud:''' Some joker put plastic explosives in your radios. ''*boom*''

* AbsenteeActor:
** Alex Monroe doesn't appear in "The Importance of Being Eberts," "Brother's Keeper," "Insensate," "Immaterial Girl," "A Sense of Community," "The Invisible Woman," "Possessed," "Enemy of My Enemy" and "The New Stuff."
** Claire also misses "The Invisible Woman."

A terrorist attack on the I-man project facility, led by Arnaud, kills Kevin, and forces Darien to partner with either the group that killed his brother or the mysterious and under-funded "Agency", headed by the manipulative Official (Creator/EddieJones), for his counteragent shots. He chooses the Agency, and is usually sent on a new mission every episode. Rounding out the cast are Darien's partner Bobby Hobbes (Paul-Ben Victor), an experienced but...quirky agent; the Keeper (Shannon Kenny), an acerbic scientist in charge of keeping Darien sane and cooperative; and Eberts (Michael [=McAfferty=]), the Official's faithful bureaucratic aide.

** In the pilot, Darien attempted to spy on a security guard and a [[HospitalHottie nurse]] about to get it on, when he involuntarily becomes visible. Needless to say, the security guard did not appreciate that and threw him out, although not before punching him in the face. However, this was more due to inexperience in controlling his adrenalin levels, which is rectified by Kevin teaching him yoga.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: An acupuncturist forces Darien to help her steal some magical Chinese acupuncture needles from a museum so that she can heal her OldMaster. The OldMaster claims that the needles are filled with "unenlightenment" because they were stolen, and so won't work. The acupuncturist thinks he means that the needles were stolen from China by a British businessman and that killing the businessman will make them effective again.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Claire for Darien's ex Casey (who only appears in the pilot.

* NotSoDifferent: The Catevari tries this with Darien. For his part, Darien sees a lot of similarities and is committed to bringing the Catevari in alive. Heck, the Official put Darien on the case because of this trope.

* ComplexityAddiction: Arnaud, Arnaud, Arnaud.
* CoolDownHug: A literal version in "The Catevari."

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Hobbes

[[BoxedCrook In exchange for a pardon]], professional thief Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca) agrees to let his brother Kevin (Davis Burke) use him as a test subject for a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke synthetic gland]] that allows him to secrete a light-bending substance called "quicksilver" from his skin and turn into an invisible man. However, the gland was sabotaged before the operation by Kevin's right hand man, Arnaud [=DeFöhn=] (Joel Bissonnette), forcing the host to receive regular injections of a counteragent, or slip into a deeply unpleasant state of "quicksilver madness".

A terrorist attack on the I-man project facility, led by Arnaud, kills Kevin, and forces Darien to partner with either the group that killed his brother or the mysterious and under-funded "Agency", headed by the manipulative Official (Creator/EddieJones), for his counteragent shots. He chooses the Agency, and is usually sent on a new mission every episode. Rounding out the cast are Darien's partner Bobby Hobbes (Paul-Ben Victor), an experienced but...quirky agent; the Keeper (Creator/ShannonKenny), an acerbic scientist in charge of keeping Darien sane and cooperative; and Eberts (Michael [=McAfferty=]), the Official's faithful bureaucratic aide.

[[BoxedCrook In exchange for a pardon]], professional thief Darien Fawkes agrees to let his brother Kevin use him as a test subject for a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke synthetic gland]] that allows him to secrete a light-bending substance called "quicksilver" from his skin and turn into an invisible man. However, the gland was sabotaged before the operation by Kevin's right hand man, Arnaud [=DeFöhn=], forcing the host to receive regular injections of a counteragent, or slip into a deeply unpleasant state of "quicksilver madness".

A terrorist attack on the I-man project facility, led by Arnaud, kills Kevin, and forces Darien to partner with either the group that killed his brother or the mysterious and under-funded "Agency", headed by the manipulative Official, for his counteragent shots. He chooses the Agency, and is usually sent on a new mission every episode. Rounding out the cast are Darien's partner Bobby Hobbes, an experienced but...quirky agent; the Keeper, an acerbic scientist in charge of keeping Darien sane and cooperative; and Eberts, the Official's faithful bureaucratic aide.

* GoodNewsBadNews

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Kevin saw first-hand what Geither's experiments were doing to the test subjects. According to Thomas Walker, Kevin got the experiments shut down "on moral grounds." (This also had the result of Kevin leaving the SWRB and ultimately wind up at the Agency.)

** Quicksilver is explained as bending light around a person to make them invisible. Bending light ''would'' make you invisible, but due to how the eye works, it would also make you blind. Darien, of course, can see perfectly while invisible. This is later clarified by saying that Quicksilver only bends ''visible'' light. Non-visible light isn't bent and so that is was what allows Darien to see; however since it ''is'' non-visible, he can only see in monochrome.

* BadBoss: While the Official is by no means a nice guy, he does, on occasion, show that he cares about his agents. He also never asks Darien to kill someone, knowing that Darien wouldn't do it. After the Official is arrested for botching a rescue attempt, a new chief with political ambitions has himself appointed the head of the Agency. He quickly figures out Darien's secret and then forces him to kill people in exchange for the counteragent (with a sniper rifle, no less, despite Darien not being a marksman). Fortunately, StatusQuoIsGod, so he is removed by the end of the episode, and the Official comes back.

** Arnaud gets a gland of his own - one free of Quicksilver madness, but ends up permanently invisible.
* BoxedCrook

* WhamLine: The end of "Money for Nothing, Part 2," as spoken by an invisible Arnaud.

-> ''There once was a story about a man who could turn invisible. I thought it was only a story...until it happened to me. Okay, so here's how it works. There's this stuff called quicksilver that can bend light. Some scientists made it into a synthetic gland, and that's where I came in. See, I was facing life in prison, and they were looking for a human experiment. So, we made a deal. They put the gland in my head, I walk free. The operation was a success, but that's where [[GoneHorriblyWrong everything started to go wrong]]...''

* FiveManBand: The main characters fit the formula.
** TheHero: Darien Fawkes
** TheLancer: Bobby Hobbes
** TheSmartGuy: Eberts
** TheBigGuy: The Official
** TheChick: The Keeper
** And then in season 2, Alex Monroe as TheSixthRanger
** Alternatively, the Keeper is the smart guy and Eberts is the chick.

** From the two-hour premiere alone: There's a magazine cover with articles reading [[Series/DoctorWho Time and Relative Dimensions in Space!]] and [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors Playing the Game of Rassilon!]], a business card reading [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild I.M. Foreman]], and a [[StealthPun doctor named]] [[Creator/PatrickTroughton Troughton]].

* AnIcePerson: When invisible, Darien's skin temperature is -10 degrees Celsius, giving him minor freezing powers.

** In "Legends," Darien encounters Odets, a long-time believer in Big Foot. Unlike his fellow believers, though, only he believes that the creature can turn invisible.

[[caption-width-right:300: Remember, before you turn invisible, you have to turn into Capri Sun. This is why invisible men go mad.]]

A [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] series that aired from June, 2000 to February, 2002. A total of 46 episodes in two seasons.

[[BoxedCrook In exchange for a pardon]], professional thief Darien Fawkes agrees to let his brother Kevin use him as a test subject for a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke synthetic gland]] that allows him to secrete a light-bending substance called "quicksilver" from his skin and turn into an invisible man. However, the gland was sabotaged before the operation by Kevin's right hand man, Arnaud [=DeFöhn=], forcing the host to receive regular injections of a counteragent, or slip into a deeply unpleasant state of "Quicksilver madness".

* AbsenteeActor: Alex Monroe doesn't appear in "The Importance of Being Eberts," "Brother's Keeper," "Insensate," "Immaterial Girl," "A Sense of Community," "The Invisible Woman," "Possessed," "Enemy of My Enemy" and "The New Stuff."

* AffablyEvil: Jarod Stark, the head of Chrysalis.

* AndIMustScream: As noted below, the experiment that created the Catevari paralyzed him for decades. Thing is, he was completely conscious the entire time, but everyone thought his mind was completely gone. Darien figured it out when the Catevari's warning quoted a Grateful Dead song released after he was paralyzed.
-->'''Darien:''' Your pal has been stuck in frozen crazy Hell for 30 years.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: During a meeting with FBI agents in the last episode, Darien tries to explain what Chrysalis is and what their plan appears to be, but is laughed off. Take note that the agents ''know'' that Darien can turn invisible.

--->"In a community of crackpots, ''I'm'' a crackpot!"

-->"You hit your wife, too? She didn't tell me, Joe. It wasn't hard to figure out, seeing Val come to church with a fresh bruise on his body every week. Do you have any idea what it's like knowing what I know and not being able to do a thing about it because there's a collar around my neck?"
* BatmanGambit: In "The Lesser Evil," Chrysalis gives Darien the Solution: Beta file in order to lure him to their side. The file turns out to be a contingency plan only, but Darien becomes deeply suspicious of the Agency and considers their offer until he learns the truth. [[spoiler:[[OutGambitted And the whole thing turned out to be a gambit by the Official, who leaked the file himself to ultimately strike a blow against Chrysalis.]]]]

* BlessedWithSuck: Invisibility is cool. The regular descents into screamingly painful homicidal insanity? Not so much.