Characters / Carnivale The Carnivale

Leadership

Management

Management a.k.a. Lucius Belyakov

Portrayed By: Michael Massee, Linda Hunt

• Ambiguous Gender: Never seen in the flesh, goes by the gender-neutral alias "Management", and is voiced by a woman despite being the very male Lucius Belyakov in a previous life. Apparently, casting off his physical body also caused Belyakov to cast off his gender.
• An Arm and a Leg: Lost both legs and one of his arms after being attacked by a bear while hunting Scudder during World War I.
• Big Good: Arguably since his goal is to save the world from the Apocalypse.
• Body Horror: When he finally appears, as he's horribly scarred from being mauled by a bear.
• The Chessmaster: Is manipulating everything in the series.
• The Faceless: He's always hidden behind a curtain. He's finally seen in Season 2, and isn't exactly the prettiest thing to look at.
• The Ghost: From the perspective of anyone who isn't Ben, Lodz or Samson, at least. In more ways than one, considering he's Lucius Belyakov, who took on an incorporeal bodiless form after he was near-fatally mauled by a bear.
• Good Is Not Nice: Undertakes many questionable actions in the pursuit of the greater good.
• The Man Behind the Curtain: There's a curtain separating his living space from the rest of the trailer.

Samson

Samson Leonhart

Portrayed By: Michael J. Anderson

The dwarf co-manager of the Carnivàle.

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• The Barnum: Downplayed, as his carnival features genuinely supernatural things on display, but when the carnival's in need of a quick buck he's not afraid of resorting to these sorts of tactics.
• Little People Are Surreal: Averted. He's one of the most reasonable and down to earth people in the series.
• Meaningful Name: His courage is reflected in both his first name (a biblical hero) and his last (Middle English for "lion heart").
• Nerves of Steel: Fairly old, but proves himself to be fairly resilient under pressure.
• No Badass to His Valet: Neither Management nor Ben really impress Samson with their powers.
• Only Sane Employee: He's been keeping a carnival of freaks running smoothly and is pretty much the only reason Ben, Management, and Lodz can cooperate in any way.
• Only Sane Man: You'd think Samson would have learned; Avatara are not the most mentally-stable of people.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Samson's solution to the Babylon problem - specifically Stangler escaping Carny Justice and no one being held accountable for Dora Mae's death? Shoot Stangler between the eyes anyway.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: His size isn't an impediment to his badassery.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Frequently, to Ben, especially when Ben kills Management, the necessity of which Samson cannot understand.

Lodz

Lodz

Portrayed By: Patrick Bauchau

• Blind Seer: Traded his eyes for psychic powers.
• Bondage Is Bad: Lodz and Lila have fun with his cane.
• Deal with the Devil: Shame his psychic powers had to come at the price of his eyes. That's what you get for dealing with Dark Avatars.
• Dirty Mind-Reading: Does this with Lila.
• Junkie Prophet: Frequently seen drinking absinthe.
• Manipulative Bastard: Not above this when training Ben. The worst example of this is when he caused Ruthie's death as part of a scheme from him and management to get Ben to use his power of resurrection.
• Treacherous Advisor: To Ben, although he advises Samson as well.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Management gets Ben to kill him at the end of Season 1 after he's served his purpose.

Acts

Sofie

Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya

Portrayed By: Clea Duvall

• The Antichrist: Revealed to be the Omega in the series finale.
• Attempted Rape: Almost gets raped by a couple of mechanics in the first episode. Ben manages to save her, however.
• Black Eyes of Evil: In the finale.
• Broken Bird: A lifetime of being in constant telepathic communication with your mother'll do that to you. She becomes progressively more broken over the series.
• Child by Rape: Was conceived when Justin raped Apollonia.
• Circus Brat: She was born into the carnival.
• Face–Heel Turn: In the series finale.
• Fortune Teller: Her job in the carnival, which she does with a pack of Tarot cards.
• Heroic BSoD: Multiple times, although to be fair, it really does suck to find out that your mother tried to kill you because you were the product of a rape, the daughter of the Antichrist, and very probably heir to some serious demonic powers.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Or, Lipstick Bisexual. She makes out with Libby, but nothing is ever really made of it.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of "The Road to Damascus", she leaves the Carnivale for good, saying there's nothing left for her there.

Apollonia

Apollonia

Portrayed By: Diane Salinger

• And I Must Scream: Trapped in your own body, unable to communicate except through psychic contact with your daughter? AUGH.
• Driven to Suicide: Uses her psychic powers to lock Sofie and herself in the trailer before setting it on fire. Sofie escapes. She doesn't.
• Fainting Seer: Is permanently comatose.
• Heroic BSoD: A big enough one to make her catatonic.
• Offing the Offspring: Attempts to burn Sofie alive in the trailer in a sort of Taking You with Me, having possibly foreseen her destiny as the Omega.
• Rape as Backstory: Justin raped her in the past.

Ruthie

Ruthie

Portrayed By: Adrienne Barbeau

• Back from the Dead: Ben resurrects her in the first season finale after she dies of a snake bite, using trading Lodz's life for hers.
• Deadpan Snarker: Her editorial comment to Justin forcing Iris to ride the Colossus in the finale:
  ''Prick.''
• Ethical Slut: She gets around and others demean her for it but all of her encounters are shown in a positive light and she pointedly says she's never let any man, God included, tell her what to do in her bed.
• I See Dead People: Begins seeing ghosts after being resurrected, including those of Apollonia and Lodz.
• Unwitting Pawn: Is killed and resurrected as part of a scheme by Management and Lodz to get Ben to use his full power.

Gabriel

Gabriel

Portrayed By: Brian Turk

• Berserk Button: Do not touch his Mama.
• The Big Guy: He's the circus strongman, and is considerably larger than most everyone else.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He may have the mind of a child, but you don't want to piss him off.
• Gentle Giant: As long as you don't hurt Ruthie, he's fine.
• Momma's Boy: Justified, as he's mentally handicapped, and Ruthie is the only one who can calm him down.
• Secret-Keeper: One of the first carnies to find out about Ben's healing powers, and complies when Ben asks him not to tell anyone.
• Undying Loyalty: To Ben, after Ben heals Gabriel's broken arm (which was a result of their brawl).

Lila

Lila

Portrayed By: Debra Christofferson

• Bondage Is Bad: Lodz's cane, meet Lila.

• The Dragon: To Lodz, even after his death.

• Girls With Mustaches: Comes with the territory for a Bearded Lady.

• Pet the Dog: Lila assisting Ruthie in wrapping Dora Mae's body in silk and telling stories about how much the Carnivale really loved her is absolutely tearjerking.
• The Vamp: "When you're done with Grandma, you come see Lila." Yowza.

Gecko

Gecko

Portrayed By: John Fleck

The Lizard Man at the carnival.

The Potter Sisters

Alexandria & Caladonia Potter

Portrayed By: Karyne & Sarah Steben

Twins conjoined at the hip.

The Dreifuss Family

Stumpy

Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss

Portrayed By: Toby Huss

• Bumbling Dad: He really does love his daughters, but he's not the brightest bulb in the box.
• Henpecked Husband: Rita Sue wears the pants in that family and everyone knows it.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: All his dubiously-legal hijinks - pimping his wife and daughters, blatantly cheating the public, shilling fake healers, gambling - are so obviously due to his devotion toward his family. Well, except for the gambling, since he's generally terrible at it, which leads them into trouble. Still, with everything else that's the part of his character most depicted as a failing.

Rita Sue

Rita Sue Dreifuss

Portrayed By: Cynthia Ettinger

• Big Beautiful Woman: She certainly is curvy.
• Evil Matriarch: Well, less "evil", more "manipulative".
• Lady Macbeth: She manages to talk Stumpy into (or out of) anything.
• Manipulative Bitch: To Stumpy.
• Ms. Fanservice: She is also a stripper.
• Pet the Dog: Almost Hypocritical Heartwarming, but when Dora Mae is killed, Libby turns up missing as well. Cue Rita Sue frantically searching for her daughter. Libby shows up later, smoking and backtalking Rita Sue - who slaps her, then hugs her tightly.
• Stage Mom: Teaches her daughters all her stripping and prostitution tricks, and when they don't listen, proves that she's still got it.
• You Can Leave Your Hat On: Multiple times.

Libby

Libby Dreifuss

Portrayed By: Carla Gallo

• Cassandra Truth: When she tells her mother about Ben
• Happily Married: To Jonesy in Season Two.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Along with Sofie, it's more like a case of Lipstick Bisexual.
• Ms. Fanservice: Well, she's one of the carnival's strippers, so this is a given.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Her marriage to Jonesy has elements of this in the beginning, but she definitely grows up in "Lincoln Highway".

Dora Mae

Dora Mae Dreifuss

Portrayed By: Amanda Aday

• And I Must Scream: Not only is she murdered, but her ultimate fate is to serve as the eternal plaything for a bunch of rapist immortal miners.
• Ms. Fanservice: Another one of the carnival's strippers.
• You Can Leave Your Hat On: Horribly, horribly averted in "Babylon".

Roustabouts

Jonesy

Clayton "Jonesy" Jones

Portrayed By: Tim DeKay

• Badass Normal: Isn't one of the freaks, nor does he possess any supernatural abilities, but is a badass nonetheless.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: The victim of it, in "Lincoln Highway".
• Mr. Fanservice: Count the number of times Tim DeKay is shirtless. When he's not shirtless, he sometimes wears a tank top.
• Grease Monkey: Is often seen working.
• Handicapped Badass: At least, until he gets better. Then he's just a badass.
• Happily Married: In Season Two, to Libby.
• The Lancer: To Ben, especially in the latter half of Season Two.

Ben

Ben Hawkins

Portrayed By: Nick Stahl

• Always Save the Girl: Especially in the series finale:
  Jonesy: What if Sofie's dead?
  Ben: Then God help 'em. God help every single person in that valley.
• Animal Motifs: Ben Hawkins to contrast with his adversary, Justin Crowe.
• Bank Robbery: According to Word of God, this is what went wrong and landed Ben in the chain gang before the series begins.
• Big Good: After he kills Management, gaining his powers. Also note how he's placed in Management's former living space when he's unconscious in the Season Two/Series finale, which is the very last shot of him.
• Blessed with Suck: He hates his powers and tries to hide them away so he can live normally.
• Break the Cutie: Happened to him as a kid due to his insane, abusive mother. Particularly when said mother drowned a kitten he had just brought back to life, calling it "unnatural".
• Can't Hold His Liquor: He gets drunk very easily, which Jonesy comments on.
• Catchphrase: A drinking game could be made of the number of times he tells someone "None of your goddamn business."
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Ben can't stop himself from helping with his powers even when he's trying to keep a low profile.
• Disappeared Dad: Not that it isn't justified - Scudder wanted to keep his son safe from his dark nature.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Constantly has dreams that hint at his future.
• Farm Boy: Well, until the First Bank of Oklahoma comes to repossess it...
• Fish out of Water: A socially awkward farm boy in with a bunch of carnies.
• Hates Being Touched: You would too if you had a serious case of Psychic Dreams for Everyone or could accidentally kill people if you weren't careful.
• Hates Small Talk: As he says, he's got nothing to say.
• Healing Hands: One of his first powers to be revealed. He's able to restore a crippled girl's use of her legs, and when he was a child he even brought a dead kitten back to life. Still, if he is to give life, he has to take it from somewhere else first.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: He's already shady due to whatever he did to land himself in prison and then go on the run, but with the events of the finale, one imagines Ben's public image is going to nosedive.
• Informed Attractiveness: In the first couple of episodes, several women (the cooch girls, Sofie, Ruthie, and Lila) all comment on Ben's looks.
• Likes Older Women: Ruthie being the main example, though he later regrets it.
• Limited Wardrobe: Ben owns only what he has on his person, and wears the same overalls and shabby shirt for much of the series' run.
• Loners Are Freaks: Antisocial and closed off from everyone else.
• Messianic Archetype: As the Avatar of Light. People who witness his abilities actually start hailing him as the second coming of Jesus.
• Mysterious Past: Revealed bit by bit through flashbacks.
• Naïve Newcomer: To the point where he's everyone in the Carnivale's personal Butt-Monkey.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Justin.
• Plagued by Nightmares: He has repeated visions and nightmares about a man with a black tree tattooed across his chest. Eventually, these dreams begin merging with others about Brother Justin Crowe, a charismatic preacher who is undergoing his own visions and developing strange powers; ultimately we learn Justin and the tattooed man are one and the same, the Usher of Destruction destined to end the world.
• Took a Level in Badass: Becomes much more formidable as he comes to terms with his powers and his role as the Avatar of Light.
• Weather Manipulation: Seems to be capable of this although not consciously. When a sandstorm triggers memories of his mother's death he cries out for it to stop and it does, then immediately resumes when he freaks out and tries to deny it; earlier it's also mentioned how the sandstorms that ultimately killed his mother never harmed him. He also causes a thunderstorm when he and Sofie are having sex.