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Jane Doe/Alice Kruger/Remi Briggs

Played by: Jaimie Alexander

"I don't remember who I am, who I was. Whatever life I had is gone, shattered into a million tiny pieces."

A mysterious woman who was found by the New York Police Department in Times Square after she emerged out of a duffle bag naked. She was discovered to have tattoos all over her body and diagnosed with amnesia due to the heavy use of Zeta Interacting Protein, or ZIP.

Jane’s real name was originally Alice Kruger, a South African taken in by the government with her brother as children and trained to be killers after their parents were killed for their anti-Apartheid activism. After the end of Apartheid, the two were rescued by a covert US military force of which Shepherd was a member, and she took the pair in, and Alice changed her name to Remi Briggs.

  • Action Girl: The FBI manages to discern that Jane Doe was apparently a Navy SEAL, which explains her exceptional hand-to-hand combat skills and marksmanship.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: Jane is a sweet yet strong, kind hearted woman who hates to see anyone suffer. Remi, while well intentioned, is a manipulative murderous terrorist, who is plotting to bring down the government.
    • At the end of Season 3, due to residual effects of the amnesia proteins she was injected with, she snaps right back to her evil persona as Remi with no memory of the 4 years she spent as Jane.
  • Amnesiac Hero: Despite her lost memories, Jane Doe has no problem putting herself in harm's way.
  • Audience Surrogate: As she unravels her own mystery, so do the viewers.
  • Big Sister Instinct: She’s been protecting her little brother Roman ever since they were in the orphanage together. When she rediscovers his existence after her mind wipe, Jane quickly latches back on. After wiping his memories, she keeps going out of her way to keep her brother safe.
  • Bizarre Human Biology: Two different methods of biological identification (DNA testing and dental isotope analysis) used in an attempt to learn Jane's identity end up contradicting each other, for a reason that has yet to be explained. The conspiracy that erased Jane's memory tampered with the FBI's evidence in the Taylor Shaw case, replacing Taylor's DNA with Jane's before Jane appeared, but the dental isotope test was one they couldn't have anticipated.
  • Cunning Linguist: Jane demonstrates that she can read and speak Russian, Bulgarian, and multiple Chinese dialects (an amazing accomplishment in itself), and Weller finds himself constantly having to ask for her assistance against his better judgement.
  • Decoy Backstory: Jane spends much of the first season believing she's Taylor Shaw, a childhood friend of Weller's who disappeared. At the end of the season, however, Weller's father confesses that he killed Taylor, leading Weller to find Taylor's body, meaning Jane's not her.
  • Good Is Not Soft: Jane is utterly beautiful; personality-wise, her first thoughts always on the victims or potential victims and those she works with, and outside the job wants to connect with Kurt and the others, or in a bout of I Just Want to Be Normal seeks out people to watch a movie or have a beer with. She is also an ex-SEAL who is as brutal as necessary to stop the threat (but no further), is happy to be called off an assault and will intervene where she sees fit.
  • Granola Girl: In the timeskip before Season 3 she turned vegan after hanging out with monks in Kathmandu.
  • Handicapped Badass: In "Careless Whisper", Jane defeats a serial killer who has claimed dozens of victims while the ZIP poisoning she is suffering from has all but completely cost her her sight and her hearing, as well as dealing with serious headaches.
  • Human Notepad: Jane Doe's entire body is covered in intricate tattoos with clues to future crimes.
  • Hyde Plays Jekyll: Early during Season 4, the Remi side of Jane returns and spends the first half of the fourth season posing as Jane to manipulate the FBI into helping her find a cure for the ZIP poisoning that restored her memory and will eventually kill her, until unconventional therapy helps the 'Jane Doe' identity regain control.
  • Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: While undercover in "Authentic Flirt", Jane fights off several criminals wearing an elegant black evening gown.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Due to her system being flooded with a chemical that erases narrative memories, Jane Doe can't remember anything about herself or her past. But she retains her procedural memory and skills, ranging from how to talk and feed herself, to multiple languages and advanced weapons training. At the end of the pilot, it's shown she willingly went through with the amnesia—and at the end of "Evil Handmade Instrument", she sees a video in which she takes credit for the whole scheme herself.
  • Meaningful Rename: A name that's meaningful because it is completely meaningless. "Jane Doe" is the term used by English-speaking hospitals and police forces if a female victim, patient, or person of interest does not have any identification or identifiable features that would allow law enforcement to identify said person. It also alludes to the abandonment of her previous personas.
  • Morality Pet: Kurt is a very moral person, but he tends to have a cold demeanor. That said, he is affectionate to Jane.
  • Mysterious Past: No one knows where Jane Doe came from, not even Jane herself. Her multitude of tattoos only add to the mystery.
  • Naked on Arrival: Jane Doe literally arrives in Times Square via duffel bag without any clothes on.
  • Omniglot: So far, she is fluent in Bulgarian, Russian, Cantonese and Wenzhounese Chinese, and English.
  • Parrot Exposition: How she tends to learn things during briefings.
  • Positive Friend Influence: Her kindness is a great part of why Rich Dotcom became heroic if still shady and grows to love the team.
  • Reformed Criminal: Her zip consumption made her become a kind person. It is cemented when the Jane and Remi personas merge and Jane retains her kindness and becomes remorseful of what she did as Remi.
  • Secret Test of Character: In "Sous-Vide", Remi basically fails an inadvertent test; she is in the locked-down FBI building, potentially infected with a dangerous genetically engineered virus while being 'treated' by the people who created said virus, and old ally Alison Knight observes that Jane Doe would have insisted that Kurt not put himself at risk to save her in that situation, where Remi never made any such protest.
  • Split-Personality Merge: In episode 9 of season 4, the Jane and Remi personalities make peace and merge. Since that, Jane has the memories of her life as Remi.
  • That Man Is Dead:
    • Jane refuses to assist her handler and the organization she used to work for by being their mole inside the FBI because whatever person she was before, that's not who she is now and as far as she's concerned, she is FBI.
    • Notably, despite knowing her birth name Alice Kruger, and her adopted name Remi Briggs, she still goes by Jane Doe, even in all government documents, where that has to be monumentally confusing.
    • The opposite happens in Season 4 when she reverts to being Remi, as she vehemently declares that Jane Doe is dead. After Jane's personas merge and Jane gains control over her three personas, she still decides to go by Jane Doe.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: "Evil Handmade Instrument" reveals she herself was the mastermind who planned everything done to her.
  • Toplessness from the Back: Jane Doe does this a lot to show off the tattoos.
  • Tyke-Bomb: Shepherd reveals the reason she adopted Alice/Remi/Jane and her brother Roman instead of them being sent to normal foster care like the other children rescued from the South African Child Soldier program was that they were simply too dangerous to be placed with someone who couldn't handle lethal child killing machines.
  • Uncertain Doom: The ending makes her status ambiguous, since it gives the possibility that Jane actually didn't survive the ZIP infection.
  • Un-person: For some reason, Jane Doe can't be found on any of the FBI's databases. As far as they know, she doesn't legally exist. Likely justified due to the scale of the conspiracy against her and her apparently off-the-grid upbringing.
  • Villain Protagonist: At the end of Season 3, she regains her pre-mindwipe memories and loses her post-mindwipe memories, becoming Remi once again. In Season 4, now impersonating her post-mindwipe self, Remi is secretly back to her evil ways, undermining the FBI from within, until Jane Doe becomes the dominant identity once again in Episode 9.
  • The Watson: Given Jane's incredible skills, she probably once had a working knowledge of whatever the team might be discussing in any given episode, but since she can't remember any of it, she is the one asking such questions as, "The dark web? That sounds bad, what is that?" so that the audience can learn.
  • Wham Episode:
    • The ending of "Eight Slim Grins" reveals that Jane's DNA matches that of Taylor Shaw, Weller's friend who went missing years ago.
    • Another one comes up in "Bone May Rot" when Patterson reveals that enamel testing on Jane Doe's tooth shows that she's from Africa—directly contradicting the DNA results.
    • "Evil Handmade Instrument" then reveals the one behind her amnesia and tattoos was herself.
    • "If Love a Rebel, Death Will Render" has Mayfair finding out Jane's involvement in her frame-up but shot dead and dying in Jane's arms. Meanwhile, Weller's dying father confesses he did murder Taylor Shaw and buried the body, meaning Jane can't be Taylor.
    • "Why Await Life's End": Jane finds out why she was planted in the FBI, that there's a larger plan, and kills Oscar. Weller discovers Taylor's remains and arrests Jane. The rest of the team find out Mayfair is dead but she left them a USB drive that has files on Operation Daylight and Orion.
    • "In Night So Random Bridged": Jane learns her true origin and meets Shepherd who is her adoptive mother.
  • Wife-Basher Basher: One of Jane's Establishing Character Moments in the pilot. Even as she stands thoroughly confused outside Chao's apartment, she hears a man yelling at his wife and immediately goes to intervene, rediscovering her martial arts skills in the process.

Special Agent Kurt Weller

Played by: Sullivan Stapleton

A FBI Agent in charge of the Critical Incident Response Group, he gets involved with Jane Doe after the FBI finds his name on Jane Doe's tattoos.

  • The Ace: Reade tells Jane how good Weller is at what he does, to the point that he and Zapata always defer to his judgments.
  • Action Dad: He eventually becomes a father and remains an agent of the FBI.
  • Action Hero: In Kurt Weller's first scene, he's shown rescuing several women and children from a gun-toting maniac who was holding them prisoner in his house.
  • Action Politician: Despite the fact his promotion to Deputy Director should mean his job involves more politics than field work, Kurt still personally leads his team in their investigation and refuses to let them do anything he wouldn’t do himself.
  • Amazon Chaser: His on-screen love interests include Ally (US Deputy Marshall), Nas (NSA agent who is more than capable in the field), and Jane (every kind of badass).
  • Badass Boast: In "Eight Slim Grins", Weller hands his handgun to Jane to protect herself and then heads out, unarmed, to confront four heavily armed former SEALs.
    Weller: You're right, you need a gun.
    Jane: What about you?
    Weller: Don't worry about me. I'll get another one. [He does.]
  • Badass in a Nice Suit:
    • While undercover in "Authentic Flirt", Weller fights off various criminals in a tuxedo.
    • In Season Two, following his promotion to Assistant Director, Kurt starts dressing smarter and wearing a suit more often.
  • Broken Pedestal:
    • He loses a lot of respect toward Mayfair after learning about Daylight.
    • He has one to Jane as well after learning she was never Taylor Shaw.
    • Hiding knowledge about Jane's daughter temporarily strains his relationship with Jane. She separates from him for a while until she sees that Roman intends to separate them.
  • Combat Pragmatist: In the pilot's Cold Open, instead of facing the kidnapper head on, he authorizes the use of breaching charges on the first floor ceiling so that he and the other FBI agents can easily nail the armed suspect without going through the stairway, which is a very difficult obstacle when clearing a building of hostiles.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: The disappearance of his childhood friend, Taylor Shaw, still weighs heavily on his mind.
  • Face Death with Dignity: In “Cease Forcing Enemy” he calmly accepts what he believes is certain death over being used to further the terrorists’ cause.
  • Fanboy: He adores watching Bill Nye's scientific explanations.
  • A Father to His Men: Kurt is first and foremost very protective of his team, leads by example and will always put their safety above his own life. Following his promotion, this spreads to all the FBI officers under his command.
  • Flashed-Badge Hijack: In "Evil Handmade Instrument", he commandeers motorbikes for him and Jane to use when they chase a fleeing suspect.
  • Hates Their Parent:
    • He's been estranged from his father for many years and his sister has been trying to reconcile them. The fact that his father was accused for murdering his friend may have something to do with it. The fact Weller finds out that he did do it makes it fully justified.
    • He is also estranged from his mother for abandoning him. She loved him, but Kurt's father forced her not to visit him by threatening to kill him.
  • Hypocrite: He scolds their colleagues for involving emotionally, but he is involving in Jane's case due to believing he is Jane and for his attraction to her.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Shepherd outright states in “Lepers Repel” that Kurt is incorruptible, nothing can sway him from doing his duty to his country and its people. It is down to this that she tries to have him take over as part of the emergency new government.
  • Keeping Secrets Sucks:
    • He hides knowledge about Jane's daughter Avery, partly because he thinks he accidentally killed her. Roman blackmails him for a while with this information until he decides to come clean. Jane doesn't take this well and leaves him for a while.
    • He is attempting to cover-up Jane's past as a terrorist out of fear of losing her and this makes him prey of Weitz.
  • Not So Stoic: Despite his stoicism, Kurt will occasionally reveal a more playful and laid back side underneath, such as joking about sports with Doctor Borden during their mandatory sessions, admitting how happy he is Jane is back in his life or gushing how Bil Nye makes science fun. On the darker side of this trope, he has also shown that he can lose it in circumstances such as one of his own team’s lives (especially Jane’s) being in danger or if someone betrays him. His fury towards Mayfair when he finds out about Daylight, and his breakdown in “Why Await Life's End” when he discovers his father really did kill Taylor Shaw and that Jane has been lying to him, are prominent examples of this.
  • Perma-Stubble: He has a very short beard that makes him look mature and aggressive.
  • Perpetual Frowner: He often has a frowning face.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Following his promotion to Assistant Director, Kurt is absolutely focused on taking down Sandstorm, yet he never ignores everyone else’s opinions on the matter and always aims for the best solution. He goes out of his way to keep Roman safe, as he expects he’s both useful and believes he’s not the dangerous terrorist he was anymore.
  • Steel Eardrums: Played absolutely straight with Weller and the subway bomb.
  • The Stoic: One of Kurt’s great strengths as an agent is that he is able to keep his calm and think rationally even in the most extreme situations. This also means he often comes across as quite emotionally reserved, even towards his friends and family.
  • Wham Episode: In "If Love a Rebel, Death Will Render," Weller is made head of the unit and told to disband the Jane Doe operation. He and Jane share a kiss before Weller hears his father is dying. Just before he dies, his father confesses that he did murder Taylor Shaw and where the body is buried, meaning Jane isn't Taylor.

    Federal Bureau of Investigation 

Assistant Director Bethany Mayfair

Played by: Marianne Jean-Baptiste

"The tattoos are already in the system. Killing her won't undo that, it'll only make it worse, draw more attention to it. I'm managing the situation."

The assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office who works with Weller to solve the mystery on who Jane Doe is. She's also involved in a conspiracy known as "Operation Daylight".

  • Action Politician: Although her job is high ranking and involves more politics than fieldwork, she arms and immerses herself into the action during "Split the Law", engaging in a Mexican standoff with the CIA.
  • The Atoner: She regrets her involvement in Daylight, particularly how it drove the woman she loved to suicide. She keeps a copy of the FBI's letter to Martin Luther King Jr. as a reminder of her past sins.
  • Black Boss Lady: Mayfair is the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York City field office.
  • A Father to His Men: Mayfair is very protective of the people under her command. For example she risks a battle with the CIA to stop Carter from taking Jane in “Split the Law,” and puts her own career on the line when Jonas’ witch hunt endangers Zapata and Patterson’s careers.
  • Frame-Up: Throughout Season One, the agenda of the organisation behind Jane’s amnesia and the tattoo’s is to frame her for the murder of a woman they set up as her date, so that Kurt can take over as head of the FBI's New York Office. They succeeded.
  • Killed Off for Real: She's killed by Oscar in "If Love a Rebel, Death Will Render."
  • Lipstick Lesbian: While Mayfair is stern and tough towards her employees; towards her potential lovers she is nothing but sweet, caring and feminine. It’s best demonstrated in flashbacks of her relationship with Sofia Varma back when she had long hair.
  • The Lost Lenore: She was in a relationship with Sofia Varma, another conspirator in Operation Daylight, and is still torn up about her suicide. Subverted when it turns out Sofia is still alive, and upon her return while willing to help, Mayfair no longer wants anything to do with her due to all the emotional pain she caused her.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Once she figures that Jane Doe's tattoos and her skills helped the agency thwart a terror attack, she allows her to work with the CIRG to help the woman recover her memories.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The rationale behind her involvement with Daylight. In the present she greatly regrets her decision, accepting that it was a huge mistake..
  • Twofer Token Minority: Female, black, and gay.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one to Patterson near the end of "Sent on Tour" for enlisting her boyfriend in decoding Jane's tattoos, over what she's allowed to do for fears of accidentally getting into top secret data.

Dr. William Patterson

Played by: Ashley Johnson

"...this job; I love this job, but it takes all of me. And I can't be ... distracted."

The head of the FBI's Forensic Science Unit. She's responsible for analyzing Jane Doe's tattoos to determine the nature of the next criminal/terrorist incident.

  • Bad Liar: As shown in "Bone May Rot", when she trips over her words to avoid admitting that someone outside the FBI, her boyfriend, saw a picture of Jane's tattoos.
  • Break the Cutie: The series is not kind to her, following her boyfriend’s death, Borden turning out to be a mole, her being tortured and violated, Sandstorm using her to spy on the team etc. By the end of the second season she openly admits that she no longer enjoys her job and just can’t take the stress anymore, causing her to wonder if she should do something else.
  • Child Prodigy: Built a supercomputer when she was nine years old.
  • Dumb Blonde: Inverted; she's the most intelligent person on the team.
  • Embarrassing First Name: She really doesn't like going by her first name. Understandable, since it's William.
  • Generation Xerox: She's smart and made multiple inventions and discoveries like her dad.
  • Historical Character's Fictional Relative: She is Bill Nye's daughter.
  • The Lab Rat: A forensic scientist, she helps the FBI by analyzing the tattoos on Jane Doe to gain any useful information on an impending case.
  • Last-Name Basis: She usually only goes by her last name, as she's deeply embarrassed about her first name, William.
  • Married to the Job: See quote above. She breaks up with David in "Sent on Tour" because she feels she can't afford to be "distracted" by their relationship.
  • Minored In Ass Kicking: Patterson is not a field operative and thus is rarely involved in combat situations. However, as an FBI operative she has still undergone training and carries a sidearm. Likewise, in “Swift Hardhearted Stone” she manages to kill several of the attacking terrorists before Weller and Jane arrive.
  • Mr. Exposition: She shows the team information about the cases and Jane's tattoos.
  • Nom de Mom: Her parents agreed that their child would have the mother's surname if they had a girl.
  • Not Quite the Right Thing: Creating the hacktivist group Three Blind Mice seemed like a good way to combat crime, but the third member went too far with her campaigns and is part of Sandstorm's schemes.
  • Only One Name: Even her FBI ID only says "Patterson" (However, her first name is finally revealed in "We Didn't Start the Fire" as William).
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Although never portrayed as unattractive, when she goes undercover in "Authentic Flirt" she wears the most revealing dress of the three women (herself, Jane, and Zapata).
  • The Smart Guy: She's the go-to girl for necessary information. She even created a computer program that automatically links any clues from Jane's tattoo to current events.
  • Workaholic: Not even recovering from being betrayed and tortured is enough to get her to stop working. Originally this stemmed from her loving her job, however as her opinion towards it sours, it becomes a coping mechanisms for her, as she has nothing else in her life but it.

Dr. Robert Borden / Dr. Nigel Thornton

Played by: Ukweli Roach

"We're defined by our choices. You just don't remember yours, so, keep trying new things, see what your body remembers—or make new choices. The more you make, the less helpless you'll feel. Even if nothing ever comes back, you can still find yourself."

A therapist brought in by Mayfair to help Jane Doe jog her lost memories.

  • All Therapists Are Muggles: Averted, as Borden is a useful source of insight into Jane's psychological issues due to her amnesia; after he is revealed as a traitor, Jane has trouble finding anyone to offer appropriate psychological insight to her later issues due to the scale of background detail required for anyone else to understand what she's talking about.
  • Anti-Villain: A terrorist and a traitor, Borden’s motivation is that he lost his wife to an illegal bombing on a civilian village, and honestly believes Shepherd’s plan will bring the end to the corruption she promises. He is likewise clearly uncomfortable with Shepherd’s more brutal tactics, such as murder and torture.
  • But Not Too Foreign: His mother is 1/8 Russian, but fully British.
  • Character Death: Dies in “Evil Did I Dwell, Lewd I Did Live” by blowing himself up, rather than letting himself be taken in by the FBI. Subverted turns out he's still alive
  • Closest Thing We Got: In "The One Where Jane Visits An Old Friend", Jane is forced to turn to Borden for help dealing with her psychological struggles in trying to reconcile her restored memories of Remi into her identity as Jane Doe; Borden himself explicitly states that they never had a conventional doctor/patient relationship given how he was manipulating her for Sandstorm, but as Jane points out, he's the only trained psychiatrist who understands her situation without requiring excess background details about the principle characters in Jane's life.
  • Crusading Widower: He resents Jane/Remi for the incident with his wife, since the ones who killed her were going after Jane.
  • Evil All Along: He was a member of Sandstorm.
  • Faking the Dead: His name was originally Nigel Thornton, but after the bombing run that was meant to kill Jane also killed his wife, he was listed as a casualty, changing his name in the process.
  • Freudian Excuse: Borden used to be an international volunteer medical doctor with his wife. They found Remi following the attempt to assassinate her and put an end to Orion. This led to his wife and the villagers he had been treating being killed in an illegal bombing attempt to kill Remi. This combined with Remi’s influence convinces him that Shepherd is right and the corruption has to be stopped.
  • The Mole: He was Sandstorm's mole.
  • Mr. Exposition: Helps explain to the FBI (and to the audience) about the nature of ZIP, the drug used to wholly erase Jane Doe's memories.
  • There Are No Therapists: Averted. He's assigned by the FBI to counsel Jane and help her try to regain her memories, and has a session with Patterson after David's death. He also has a mandatory quarterly session with Kurt, but they use it to talk about sports, since Kurt doesn't trust the psychoanalytic side of the profession and doesn't like people trying to get in his head. In "The One Where Jane Visits An Old Friend" Jane is forced to visit him again for a psyche evaluation as conventional therapists just can't help her due to their lack of understanding of her unique background.
  • Took a Level in Badass:
    • Helps Patterson fends off armed gunmen after a young child due to being a witness of a CIA agent funding the Ahmadi family.
    • After being outed as a Sandstorm mole, he's able to hand Kurt his ass and has him at his mercy. Of course there's a case of Can't Kill You, Still Need You involved in their plans.

Special Agent Edgar Reade

Played by: Rob Brown

"Look, I know you think I'm the bad guy because I didn't welcome you with open arms."

An FBI agent working alongside Weller.

  • Badass in a Nice Suit: A highly competent FBI field agent, who even in his spare time wears custom made suits and has a private tailor.
  • Break the Badass: His arc in Season Two. Discovering that Coach Jones molested him as a child sends him down a spiralling path, with him developing PTSD and turning to drugs, alcohol and meaningless sex to try and cope with the trauma. This ends up costing him his job, damaging his relationship with his friends, and leads to him being beaten up in a street. It takes him befriending a dying soldier who understands what PTSD can do to your life to set him back on the right path, then numerous therapy sessions and the office being attacked by terrorists to restore him to his form.
  • Broken Pedestal:
    • When the team tracks a tattoo clue to his former school, a shooting occurs. Edgar meets the gunman who reveals that he and the other shooter were athletes for the football coach who Edgar always counted as a friend and mentor, who has secretly been abusing players for years. The gunman is killed and Edgar tells the wounded coach that if the allegations are true, he'll make sure to put him away. It turns out the school has been paying hush money for years to cover this up, getting the coach and other higher-ups arrested and Edgar is rocked a man he admired for so long could be the cause of so much tragedy.
    • It gets worse in season 2 when he realizes the coach molested him as well and Edgar has been repressing the memory all these years.
    • His mentor Eleanor Hirst is revealed to be corrupt, much to his disgust.
  • Killed Off for Real: He is revealed to have been killed in the drone strike in the season 5 premiere.
  • Non-Idle Rich: His exact financial situation is presently unclear. However “In the Comet of Us” reveals that he not only regularly buys himself custom made suits, but he has his own tailor, revealing that he’s pretty well off. He’s likewise a highly competent FBI field agent.
  • Only Sane Man:
    • Thinks that Jane Doe's tattoos may not necessarily be the best thing to use to solve their cases. He also rightly points out that the victims of crimes (i.e., Jane) do not usually join the task force investigating those crimes, regardless of their qualifications.
    • He later reveals to Jane that he's not worried about her proven ability to handle herself in the field; he's concerned that she's throwing Weller off his game.
  • Repressed Memories: Reade was abused as a teenager by Coach Jones, he blocked out the memories well into his adulthood.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: He's almost always impeccably dressed on the job. And as mentioned above, he has his own tailor.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • Gets warned off by Zapata for going out with Weller's sister.
    • Gets one from Weller in "If Beth" when he nearly beats up a hacker the FBI was suppose to arrest. Weller had to intervene before Reade could severely give the hacker injuries.
    • He scolds Weller for hiding the situation with Jane being a former terrorist and letting him be blackmailed by Weitz. He makes the team concede that they aren't innocent and fell in the gray morality they were supposed to fight.

Special Agent Tasha Zapata

Played by: Audrey Esparza

An FBI agent working alongside Weller.

  • Action Girl: Being an FBI agent and former cop, she's can definitely hold her own against any suspects and criminals.
  • Blackmail: She sells Jane's file to Deputy Director Carter to pay off her gambling debt, and he proceeds to use that fact to make her continue to spy on Jane.
  • Closet Geek: As “Mans Telepathic Loyal Lookouts” reveals, she is both very interested in and highly knowledgeable of astronomy; and in her own words, she “was very unpopular in high school.” The reveal comes as a surprise to her team.
  • Fair Cop: Helps that she's played by Audrey Esparza. She mentions in "Persecute Envoys" that she used to be an NYPD officer.
  • Fake Defector: She pretends to be let go of the CIA over petty reasons in order to be a deep-cover agent to bring down Crawford's company from within so that nobody else could repeat his schemes.
  • The Gambling Addict: Admits she turned to gambling in "In The Comet Of Us" in order to cope with survivor's guilt after her NYPD partner was killed.
  • Hidden Depths: She's an experienced lockpicker.
  • It's Personal: When she finds out that someone's out to get NYPD officers in "Persecute Envoys".
  • The Mole:
    • Recruited by Carter to spy for the CIA in "Split the Law", to pay off her gambling debt.
    • Revealed to be acting in this capacity in HCI Global as part of a deep-cover op for the CIA, to the extent that only Keaton knew about it before she's forced to confess the truth to Reade.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: Zapata gets told by an Assistant DA to help them find out what's going on within the FBI or else she'll get into legal trouble...
  • Omniglot: Is fluent in English and Spanish, as is Audrey Esparza herself.
  • Spicy Latina: Inverted; she's rather deadpan and the only interesting thing about her is her gambling problem.
  • Trapped by Gambling Debts: Implied near the end of "Bone May Rot".
  • Tropaholics Anonymous: Is seen going to Gamblers' Anonymous meetings in "In the Comet of Us"
  • Undying Loyalty: To Reade, as seen in season two. She thought he murdered someone and still stuck by him, even helping get rid of the body and the murder weapon. In 2x07, she mentions that going to jail for helping him was a risk she was willing to take because he is her best friend.

Director Tom Pellington

Played by: Dylan Baker

The Director of the FBI’s New York branch.

  • Action Politician: Pellington’s job is mostly politics and organisation. However, when Shepard attacks the FBI headquarters he personally leads the defense, even carrying on after it’s clear they are outgunned and caught in an ambush.
  • Da Chief: Is the team’s overall boss, first Mayfair’s and then Kurt’s.
  • Defiant to the End: Even after being shot and disarmed, he still refuses to give Shepherd his code until the very end.
  • Good Is Not Nice: While well intentioned, Pellington is not one for sparing feelings and can be quite blunt in his opinions.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: Overall Pellington is sceptical and suspicious towards Kurt’s attempts to put an end to Sandstorm. Normally, it takes Kurt bargaining and reasoning with him to stop him from shutting them down every time they hit a road block.

Director Eleanor Hirst

Played by: Mary Stuart Masterson

The director of the New York branch.

Rich Dotcom

Played By: Ennis Esmer

An eccentric and charismatic crime lord. Renowned as one of the most dangerous men in the world. He becomes a FBI informant as of Season 3.

  • Adventurer Archaeologist: He suggests Patterson to form a duo searching for treasures after the fallout of the Season finale.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: In ‘One Begets Technique’, he not only manipulates the team into helping him escape prison, but steals the priceless Gardener Paintings, and escapes with his ex-boyfriend Randall Turner.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: Rich spends the majority of the time cracking jokes and acting like a perverted idiot; however, he is still a very dangerous criminal mastermind. Reade outright lampshades it by declaring he's either ‘the world’s smartest idiot, or the world's dumbest genius.’
  • Big Fun: He is chubby and loves making jokes and out of place remarks.
  • Boxed Crook: He starts to help the FBI after being arrested a few times.
  • Breakout Character: He starts as a Villain of the Week in Season 1. He becomes a recurring character in Season 2 and 3, becoming a FBI member and a friend of the team, and was ascended to regular in Season 4.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He loves making funny, random remarks and make flirtatious comments, but he is a clever man. He is talented in general knowledge, in hacking and in deception.
  • Character Development: As most of the tropes here suggest, Rich is not introduced as a particularly nice person. Once the FBI detains him and starts putting his unique skills to use, each episode and season slowly moves the needle from Boxed Crook to a man that genuinely believes in fighting the good fight.
  • The Chessmaster: Rich is very good at complicated plans. Throughout ‘Authentic Flirt’, he is constantly looking out for the slightest tip something is off with his “buyers” and engineers several situations to trip up any imposters. In ‘One Begets Technique’, his plan to escape prison and steal the priceless stolen paintings right under the FBI’s noses goes off without a single hitch.
  • The Cracker: He is a dangerous cybercriminal. In ‘Authentic Flirt’, he manages to hack WitSec and steal a list of the Government’s special operatives, which he tries to sell to several professional assassins.
  • Depraved Bisexual: Downplayed. As far as we know Rich isn’t a sexual deviant. However, he is incredibly perverted and always loudly expresses his desire to sleep with anyone he’s attracted to. He even makes it clear he’s perfectly happy to simply watch other people having sex. In ‘One Begets Technique’, he even complains the Prison Rape he’s been experiencing has been “surprisingly vanilla.”
  • Diabolical Mastermind: Being a rich and highly influential crime boss he fits this trope. In ‘Authentic Flirt’, Rich even has his own island base complete with a squadron of heavies, a high tech security system and private helicopter transport.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Sure Rich is charming, goofy and often jokes around, even with his enemies. However, he unflinchingly executes one of his own henchmen the second the man reveals he made a mistake. Switches to genuine Affably Evil and then to not evil anymore in his later appearances.
  • The Hedonist: Rich's main motivation seems to be self-pleasure, which he gets through a variety of forms. He takes noticeable thrill out of his crimes, often tries to sleep with multiple people and at one point casually and almost randomly takes cocaine at a party.
  • Heel–Face Turn: While he never stops being an immature horndog, Rich eventually develops a genuine friendship with the FBI agents (especially Patterson and Jane), and puts his extensive tech skills and Dark Web knowledge to use for the good guys.
  • Insufferable Genius: Every single time the team works with him they treat it like a fate worse than death.
  • Meaningful Rename: He changed his name from Gord Enver to Rich Dotcom to mark him making billions off Bitcoin.
  • Meta Guy: A lot of the things he says sound like they could have come from the viewers.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: While he is a genius, he mainly provides comedy for the series.
  • Reformed Criminal: After joining the FBI, he becomes a genuine ally of the team and even grows to care for them. While he isn't a complete saint, he becomes a better person.
  • Shipper on Deck: Throughout ‘One Begets Technique’, Rich encourages Weller and Jane to hook up, and voices his displeasure towards Weller’s present girlfriend Allison. That is, when he’s not trying to convince one (or both) of them to sleep with him.
  • Token Evil Teammate: As a reformed criminal mastermind, he has extensive knowledge of the Dark Web and other shady areas of society.
  • Undying Loyalty: He develops genuine loyalty to the FBI and he refuses to betray them for any reason even if it means returning to jail.

    Central Intelligence Agency 

Deputy Director Tom Carter

Played by: Michael Gaston

"If that girl has information about Daylight on her body, then we are in very serious trouble. There's only four people in the world who knew about that operation, and one of them is already dead. Don't manage the situation—make it go away."

The current Deputy Director of the CIA. He's familiar with Mayfair and is knowledgeable about "Operation Daylight".

  • Action Politician: Deputy Director Carter accompanies a team of CIA agents in person during "Split the Law" to try and apprehend a bomb maker. He later arms himself with a sniper rifle and tries to shoot Jane himself.
  • Affably Evil: Maintains a friendly demeanor while discussing such subjects as illegal domestic CIA black sites and the assassination of government assets.
  • Character Death: He's killed off at the end of "Evil Handmade Instrument".
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Advocates killing Jane to cover up Operation Daylight (see quote above), but Mayfair is against the idea because it would draw more attention to the case.
  • Sinister Spy Agency: The face of the CIA in the show, he is unapologetically antagonistic to Jane and Weller's team.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He's willing to do this by getting Mayfair to put Jane Doe in CIA custody. Mayfair doesn't like the idea. He also tried to assassinate her in "Split the Law". During "Evil Handmade Instrument," he waterboards Jane.

Deputy Director Jake Keaton

Played by: Chad Donella

The CIA’s new Deputy Director, following Tom Carter’s death.

  • Action Politician: Despite his position being more political, Keaton happily leads his team into the field and often is personally involved in their operations.
  • Anti-Hero: Keaton is a ruthless man, happy to outright violate the law and civil liberties, as well as use kidnapping and torture to obtain information. However, unlike his predecessor, he is not corrupt, and only does so out of a genuine belief it’s for the best for his country.
  • Good Parents: Ruthless and immoral as he is, Keaton does love his daughter Erin. He is perfectly happy to die to ensure she keeps on living.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Having Zapata as an undercover agent spying on Madeline exposes her to a dangerous situation and culminates in the team being framed as terrorists.
  • Nothing Personal: His opinion over torturing Jane. He has nothing against her as a person, but she is considered a terrorist and he was assigned to press her for information, so he has her illegally imprisoned and tortured. After her return to working with the FBI he has no problem working with her. Jane obviously doesn’t agree.
  • Shadow Archetype: To Weller, they’re both dedicated and talented operatives, who normally personally lead their teams and are motivated by a desire to protect their country’s interests. Keaton represents what Kurt might become if he ever let his moral standards slip, and went to illegal lengths to protect his country.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Keaton will happily torture you for information if you’re a terrorist, organise an illegal extraction from another country and negotiate with one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, but he does all of it to protect his country.

    National Security Agency 

Nas Kamal

Played by: Archie Panjabi

The head of the NSA's secret Zero Division who has uncovered the existence of the organization Jane belonged to (and gave it the name "Sandstorm") and now wants Jane to help root it out.

  • Action Girl: Despite being part of an agency that doesn't typically involve field work, Nas shows herself to be handy with a sniper rifle. She is also capable of handling herself in a fist or fire fight.
  • Anti-Hero: Naz is very much on the side of what is right. However, being a member of the NSA, her methods are more ruthless and immoral than the others. She’s perfectly willing to illegally gather intelligence, or even kill people when it isn’t absolutely necessary, just as long as she can claim it’s for the greater good.
  • Back for the Finale: Reappears in the season finale to help Keaton with his advanced interrogation of Shepherd.
  • But Not Too Foreign: She's an American of Indian origin, but born in Pakistan.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Anticipated Jane ditching her tracking tooth and secretly installed another one in her belt.
  • Didn't Think This Through: The second tracker she installed literally came within seconds of getting Jane killed because Naz completely failed to anticipate that they would wait to scan her until giving her medical aid.
  • Put on a Bus: To save the team from Weitz’s corruption investigation, Naz agrees to take the fall for everything in “Senile Lines”, causing the joint NSA-FBI taskforce to be ended and herself to leave service pending investigation.

    US Government 

US Assistant Attorney Matthew Weitz

Played by: Aaron Abrams

An immoral Assistant US Attorney, who is looking to boost his own career by taking down members of the team.

  • Ambition Is Evil: Weitz’s main goal is simply to bolster his own resume and increase his chances of promotion by taking down high officials in the government. If that means he has to cause an outright witch hunt to do so, he's more than happy to.
  • Amoral Attorney: While not outright corrupt, Weitz has his blinders stuck entirely upon the team, and will rush in half a second to persecute them at the slightest chance.
  • Hero Antagonist: Subverted. Whilst technically doing his job and investigating government agents for negligence or corruption, Weitz operates on a "guilty until proven innocent" philosophy and happily manipulates and misinterprets statements to get people into a corner.
  • Jerkass: Even aside from his ruthless pursuit of the team, and unwillingness to look at events in context, Weitz is also a smug and demanding person, who quickly gains everyone’s disdain.
  • Know When to Fold Them: Despite his ruthless pursuit of the team, Weitz does know when to cut his losses, such as him accepting Naz’s deal in “Senile Lines”
  • Redemption Equals Death: After being a pain in the team's collective backside and complicit to Madeline Burke's domestic terrorism, he has a crisis of conscience and starts risking his own life in secret resistance to Madeline. His efforts culminate in him being mortally wounded during a firefight with the last remnants of Dabbur Zhan that were moments away from executing the team.
  • Smug Snake: Arrogant as he is, Weitz never realises that Sandstorm played him like a fiddle.
  • Spotting the Thread: Weitz actually demonstrates this when he determines that his old mentor was lying about his role in a conspiracy when he realises that the man cannot have been blackmailed under the circumstances he described. Weitz's friend claims that he slept with an underage girl at a prep rally when he took her back to his hotel room before learning her true age, but looking at a photo of the man wearing a tie Weitz leant him for that particular rally, Weitz remembered that the man only attended one such rally and left on the same day (which Weitz remembers as he didn't get the tie back until later), which meant that he couldn't have taken anyone back to his room.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Improves in Season 4 when he becomes the new director of the team; while they have trouble trusting him, at one point he officially 'fires' Reade only to ensure that the two of them can try and capture the apparently rogue Zapata before the CIA can kill her.

    US Marshals 

Allison Knight

Played by: Trieste Kelly Dunn

A US Marshal, as well as Weller’s former girlfriend and old flame.

  • Action Girl: Being a US Marshal, Ally can easily hold her own in a fist or fire fight.
  • Action Mom: She has a daughter with Weller and remains a Marshal.
  • Amicable Exes: She and Kurt. They’re so amicable that they end up hooking up again during the second half of season one. Even after breaking up for good, they still remain friends. They stay friendly after Ally discovers that she is pregnant with Kurt’s child.
  • The Confidant: In Season 4, Kurt tells her about his suspicions on Jane acting strange. She notes that Jane didn't stop Kurt from coming to a quarantined area.
  • Distaff Counterpart: As Rich outright lampshades in “One Begets Technique”, she is basically Kurt if he were a woman. Rich argues this means they can’t date each other as they are simply too similar.
  • Pregnant Badass: Even after getting pregnant, despite Kurt’s concerns she still insists on doing her job and manages to kill several mob hitmen in “Condone Untidiest Thefts”.
  • Put on a Bus: Leaves New York to pursue a job in Colorado in “Droll Autumn, Unmutual Lord”.
  • Secret Test of Character: While Ally doesn't set out to carry out such a test in "Sous-Vide", she essentially makes one when she realises that 'Jane' never told Kurt not to go into a dangerous situation to try and save her life, starting the chain of deduction that leads to Kurt realising that 'Jane' has become Remi once again.
  • The Stoic: Like Kurt, Ally is normally straight faced, rarely giving away her emotions.

    Civilians 

David

Played by: Joe Dinicol

Patterson's boyfriend. In his free time, he helps her out in figuring out some of the tattoos found on Jane Doe's body.

  • Amateur Sleuth: Gets drawn to Jane's mysterious tattoos thanks to his girlfriend carelessly keeping pictures of them in her apartment.
  • Character Death: In "Authentic Flirt", he sees a redheaded woman using the same code book at the library that he and Patterson found in "Sent on Tour", and tails her until she catches him and slits his throat.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: He keeps pushing Patterson to get serious despite her reluctance.
  • Kill the Cutie: He gets killed near the end of "Authentic Flirt". See Character Death.
  • Spirit Advisor: Serves as essentially this to Patterson in "Mans Telepathic Loyal Lookout". It's actually Patterson's subconscious guiding her on a scavenger hunt to decode one of the tattoos

Sarah Weller

Kurt's sister who is a single mother.

  • Nice Girl: She's nice to Weller and to Jane, especially since she barely knew her.

Douglas Winter

The man responsible for leaking out government secrets.

  • Expy: Of Edward Snowden.
  • Fall Guy: Roman and Shepherd use his laptop to frame him while telling him to go to a non-extradition country.
  • Punk in the Trunk: He gets stuffed into a suitcase and into a car trunk by Kurt and Nas in Bulgaria.

Avery Drabkin

Jane's daughter, who was adopted by a German family in Europe after Shepherd forced Jane to give her up.

  • Broken Pedestal: Her adopted father was a Sandstorm member, although he tried to confess everything in the end.
  • Like Parent, Like Child: Kurt sees a similar character to Jane in her. Both are brave women and both are fluent in various languages.
  • Lineage Comes from the Father: She wants to get revenge against those responsible for making her adopted father commit suicide.
  • Omniglot: Speaks English and German.
  • Put on a Bus: By the fourth season opening she has left for college.

Bill Nye.

Patterson's father and a well-known scientist.

     "Sandstorm" 

The organization Jane used to work for responsible for numerous domestic terrorist attacks thought to have been carried out by lone wolves, given the codename "Sandstorm" by the NSA agent Nas Kamal who discovered their existence. Revealed in the first episode of season 2, "In Night So Random Bridged" to have had at least one mole in the NSA and have an inactive one in the New York FBI office.

Markos

Played by: Johnny Whitworth

A man responsible for training Jane Doe and for using ZIP to wipe her memory. He also engineers the plot to destroy the Statue of Liberty in "Pilot", apparently as a way of demonstrating to the FBI the utility of Jane's tattoos and of Jane herself.

  • Character Death: Is assassinated by a sniper when he visits Jane's FBI safehouse in "Eight Slim Grins". In "Why Await Life's End," it's revealed Oscar was the shooter.
  • No Name Given: Up through the fifth episode, he was credited only as "Ruggedly Handsome Man" in press releases and on IMDB. We did not learn his name until the season 1 finale. We did not learn until the middle of Season 2 that it's spelled with a "k" and not a "c."

Oscar

Played by: François Arnaud

Another mystery man who's invested in Jane Doe.

  • Affably Evil: Oscar genuinely does love Jane, is always polite towards her and often comes across as a decent guy. He is also a dedicated follower of an organization that wants to overthrow the government, is not above lying to Jane to further its agenda and is a remorseless killer.
  • Big Damn Heroes: At the end of "Evil Handmade Instrument", he kills Carter, saving Jane in the process.
  • Character Death: Killed at the end of season 1.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: At least one scene has him watching outside of Jane's safehouse. It's later revealed he was her ex-fiancé before the amnesia.
  • Mr. Exposition: Helps Jane fill in the details of her life prior to being brainwashed.

Cade

An associate working with Oscar and Markos, he held a grudge against them.

  • Cop Killer: Killed a FBI SWAT officer just for the sake of trying to get close to Jane.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Someone close to him died when he worked with Oscar and Jane. It was Markos, the Bearded Man.
  • Freudian Excuse: His father was a miner, who died with several others in an accident. Due to the company’s lawyers, they got away without paying his family a penny of compensation. this led to Cade agreeing to be part of Shepherd’s army in her crusade to put an end to government and business corruption, that was, until he came to accept that Shepherd was herself worse.
  • Made of Iron: Gets shot twice by Oscar, after being through an intense fight with Jane and falls into the ocean. He still not only survives, but climbs out and carries on.
  • The Mole: He turns out to be the FBI's informant inside Sandstorm, and the one giving Nas the information on them.
  • Never Found the Body: Reade points out that claiming Jane was being held by Cade is a risk because they don't know if Cade really died and Sandstorm found the body, Sandstorm found him alive and killed/captured him themselves, or that he survived and got away and Sandstorm finds out he never had Jane.
  • Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: When we first meet Cade he comes across as a dangerous psycho who wants to kill Jane for seemingly no good reason. As it turns out Cade, is really a lot more nuanced person. His desire to kill Jane stemmed from wanting to put an end to Shepherd’s plans, having come to realise she was worse than the corruption she was against. As well as revenge for the murder of his best friend Markos.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's all out killing Oscar and Jane in order to settle his Dark and Troubled Past.
  • Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Abandons America in "Evil Did I Dwell, Lewd I Did Live" to get away from whatever Shepherd is planning.

Roman

Played by: Luke Mitchell

Jane's new handler for "Sandstorm" and her brother.

  • Affably Evil: Cares deeply for Jane due to being her brother, but ruthlessly kills four cops who stumbled on to them, and was only prevented from killing a fifth and a nurse due to Jane preventing him from doing so.
  • Ax-Crazy: Due to his experiences and training, he is an incredibly violent man, with murder as his go to solution when faced with a problem.
  • Beardness Protection Program: He uses a shorter beard after disappearing after Jane and Kurt's marriage to impersonate Tom Jakeman.
  • Beard of Evil: Has a long blond beard. Switches following his Amnesia.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Although initially attempts to have Hank Crawford killed, he becomes loyal to him since he was the first person to be kind to him.
  • Becoming the Mask: He becomes loyal to Crawford since he actually treated him well.
  • Cop Killer: Roman takes out four cops who at a routine traffic stop when they become suspicious due to Jane's injury.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar on his right eye given to him during the program that turned him and Jane into killers.
  • I Am a Monster: Following having his memories wiped, as he begins to remember all the people he’s killed and his natural talent for it, Roman develops a deep self-loathing out of guilt and horror at what he has done. This occurs despite Jane and Kurt assuring him he’s not that person anymore, and that the events are probably more complicated than he thinks.
  • Kill and Replace: He murders Tom Jakeman and steals his identity in order to infiltrate in Hank Crawford's life. He also takes his PTSD history to use as a facade.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: In “Why Let Cooler Pasture Deform”, Jane outright injects him with the same drug that they used on her, so that he can have the same second chance that she had. It seems to work for a while, only for it to wear off in “In Words, Drown I”.
  • Made of Iron: Following a massive car crash, he gets up and enters a fist fight with his sister. Even after being stabbed in the leg and beaten, he still gets back up and casually escapes.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Responsible for providing Jane her new tattoos.
  • Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
    • Shepherd ordering him to kill Jane, caused him to turn on her in "Why Let Cooler Pasture Deform".
    • Learning that Jane lied to him “In Words, Drown I” and was the one who erased his memory sends him back on the path to being a terrorist, ending with him re-joining Shepherd.
  • Mr. Fanservice: He is frequently shown undressed.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: He tends to use violence to get rid of witnesses and will still kill people he is torturing even after they reveal what he wants them to tell. Jane has to reel in his more violent tendencies after seeing him kill cops at a traffic stop.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: In "Technology Wizards", he gets called out by Weller for tricking Avery, doing the same thing Shepard did to him as a child.
  • One-Man Army: Just like Jane, Roman can destroy lesser operatives in a fight. He casually takes down large groups of opponents. So far, only his sister and mother have managed to beat him in a fair fight.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The violent emotional red to Jane's calm controlled blue.
  • Tragic Villain: Lost his parents as a child, was raised as part of a child soldier program where he was abused by the guards and beaten up by the other children, rescued then raised by the bitter and manipulative Shepherd. He’s likewise clearly horrifically emotionally conflicted and damaged by his life, despite loving his sister and his mother.
  • Tyke-Bomb: As with Jane, Shepherd adopted him because he was simply too dangerous and lethal to place in any normal kind of foster care.

Shepherd (Ellen Briggs)

Played by: Michelle Hurd

Leader of Sandstorm and Jane/Remi and Roman's adopted mother

  • Abusive Parents: Sure she does love her children (in her own way), but her child rearing methods often involve emotional manipulation and shaming them into doing what she wants.
  • Action Mom: She is the adoptive mother of Jane and Roman. She is also a good shooter and hand fighter.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: She's able to put up quite the fight against Jane and Roman.
  • Big Bad: As the head of Sandstorm.
  • Character Death: Fatally shot by Jane, right before Shepherd was about to kill Kurt.
  • The Chessmaster: It is Shepherd who organises all of Sandstorms plans. Virtually everything that happens throughout the first season does so exactly as she planned.
  • Evil Matriarch: She's Jane's adoptive mother.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Shepherd often comes across as a warm maternal figure, and a genuine believer that she’s doing what’s right. However when things go wrong, this slips, revealing a cold, calculating and mercilessly bitter woman beneath.
  • Freudian Excuse: Because a corporation was dumping toxic waste into the lake near where she grew up, she lost her entire family to a horrible slow death, as well as having to have her ovaries removed to save her. Said corporation managed to get away with it. It was this that started her campaign to destroy the corruption.
  • Genius Bruiser: Shepherd is a strategic mastermind and a calculating manipulator, who’s responsible for the entire Sandstorm plot. She is also a good enough fighter to take on both of her children in a one on one fight.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Cade outright lampshades the fact that in her pursuit of putting an end to the corruption, Shepherd has become just as ruthless, selfish and callous as the people she’s supposed to be fighting against.
  • Knight Templar: Shepherd’s entire goal is to expose and put an end to deep corruption and abuse of power. However, despite her goals being genuine, there is no depth she won’t stoop to accomplish this and she is incredibly callous about the amount of bloodshed she causes with her methods. Jane outright states that while Shepherd’s goals seem noble, she truly doesn’t care who she hurts in pursuing them.
  • Manipulative Bastard: A large part of Shepherd’s plans rely upon manipulation, and Weller outright calls her “a master manipulator.” She is an absolute expert on playing on people’s emotions and fears to make them do what she wants. For example, she expertly plays upon a Thai police officer’s father issues so that he’ll come close enough to her that she can break his neck in “Regard a Mere Mad Rager”.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: She feels remorse over having manipulated Jane and Roman to compete against each other.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Tries to pull this on Kurt, arguing that they will both happily sacrifice themselves for their causes, both want to put an end to the corruption and both want what’s best for their country. As Shepherd is also perfectly willing to sacrifice countless others to achieve this goal, Kurt doesn’t buy it.
  • The Unfettered: Shepherd will do anything to bring down the corruption, be it murdering completely innocent bystanders to cause a diversion, risking her own children’s lives or irradiating the entire eastern sea board of America.
  • Villain Respect:
    • Shepherd deeply respects Kurt, admiring his skill, dedication and genuine integrity. It is for this reason that she plans to implement him in the new government to take over following her wiping out the old one, believing he will build a better country.
    • She also admits that Pellington is a truly brave man, right before she murders him.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Shepherd’s goal is to expose and put an end to the deep corruption in America. She’ll happily commit murder, torture and terrorism to pull it off.
  • Wicked Cultured: A dangerous terrorist who uses the “Ab Urbe Condita” as cipher for her organisation to deliver messages.

    Crawford Family 

Hank Crawford

A known businessman, he has ties with shady figures in the criminal underworld.

  • Big Bad: For Season 3.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Lived in a household where his stepfather beat the crap out of his mom.
  • Pet the Dog: He helps Roman with his problems regarding Shepard. He ends up becoming loyal to him due to this.

Blake Crawford

A businesswoman and the only child of Hank Crawford, she operates in the humanitarian field.

  • Back for the Dead: She is killed in the Season 4 premiere when she is fatally poisoned by Madeline Burke alognside the HCI Global board when she was supposed to succeed her late father as CEO of his company.
  • Parental Substitute: She was something of a mother to Avery.
  • Understanding Girlfriend: She tries to be understanding to "Tom"'s difficulties and is supportive of him until he is revealed to be Roman.

    Recurring Characters 

Boston Arliss Crab

Played by: Josh Dean
A particularly skilled art forger, and Rich Dotcom’s on again-off again associate/boyfriend.
  • Camp Gay: Boston is an openly homosexual man who is also prissy, stylish, fashion conscious and emotional.
  • Closest Thing We Got: During the fourth season, Boston is occasionally called in for hacking duties because, while he isn't as good as Patterson or Rich, he's still skilled enough to get the job done and has the advantage that other involved parties won't recognise him.
  • Love Makes You Evil: It was his affair with Rich that leads him to a life of crime.
  • The Masochism Tango: Boston and Rich are in an ambiguously ongoing relationship based mostly around insulting and cruelly manipulating each other. But after one particularly nasty verbal fight, Boston secretly cracks a smile behind Rich's back.
  • Master Forger: As well as being a highly capable cybercriminal, Boston is an expert art forger. When initially called in to repair one of the priceless Gardner paintings which the team need for a sting operation, he not only succeeds but casually switches the real paintings; with identical copies he made beforehand right beneath the FBI's nose.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever they are forced to work together, he has this dynamic with Patterson. Upon their first meeting, she had to be restrained to prevent her from assaulting him. Things do start to get better between them after “Borrow Or Rob” though.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Admits to Patterson in “Borrow Or Rob” that back in college he just wanted to get his art out there for people to see. He more or less became a criminal only through association with Rich.

Victor

A businessman who is Hank's second in command of his underworld operations.

  • Frame-Up: He's set up by Roman to be the fall guy as the double agent for the FBI.

    Others 

Saul Guerrero

Played by: Lou Diamond Phillips

A man on the FBI's Most Wanted list, whose case file number is tattooed on Jane's body.

  • Casual Danger Dialogue: While the team trying to extract him is being shot at, it doesn't stop him snarking at them.
  • Character Death: At the end of "Authentic Flirt", Carter has him killed in prison just as Mayfair was about to talk with him.
  • The Mole: Mayfair says he was her CI in the past. When she tries interrogating him, Weller realizes that they've never met. She eventually confesses her involvement with Daylight, and that Guerrero was her means of skirting the law to utilize what she knew to arrest other criminals. If Guerrero were to stand trial, the people Mayfair had arrested through him would all be released.
  • The Nicknamer: Makes up names for each of the team.
  • Smug Snake: Incessantly gloats at the team as they struggle to secure him in their custody.

Madeline Burke

Played by: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
A shareholder in HCI Global, she ultimately causes a blackout in the Eastern US and frames Jane and the team as rogue FBI agents.

  • Big Bad: In Seasons 4 and 5, she becomes the main enemy of the FBI team, since she plots to hijack their base and frame them as terrorists.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Whether or not J. Edgar Hoover did contribute to her father's death, it is still an excessive response to try and destroy the entire FBI because of that.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Crosses with Evil Parents Want Good Kids, no matter how evil Madeline is, she refuses to have her son killed.
  • Hero Killer: After taking over the FBI, she sends drones to kill the FBI agents, killing Reade. She kills Brianna herself after she finds out that she's trying to work behind her back.
  • I Have Your Wife: Madeline uses this to force some people to help her secretly.
  • It's All About Me: Madeline wants to destroy the FBI for the bureau's perceived 'crimes' against her father, regardless of the good they do on a larger scale and the relative lack of evidence that the FBI had any particularly significant role in her father's death.
  • Tampering with Food and Drink: She poisons Blake Crawford and other possible HCI Global inheritors. She commit suicide by poisoning her wine.

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