Highway To Heaven - Main characters
open/close all folders
Jonathan Smith
A probationary angel who was sent to Earth by God in order to help people in need. He befriends Mark Gordon and together they travel the country, helping others to overcome their struggles.
- Armor-Piercing Question: He seems to be specialized in delivering these.
- Badass Pacifist: Usually he never goes farther than pushing or throwing someone,and that's only arrogant jerks who swing first.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a very nice person and literal angel, but do not genuinely enrage him enough to stop playing nice. He's more than capable of demolishing an entire gang of armed thugs by himself without even trying, all the while doing his best Terminator impression.
- Dead All Along: Technically, he is an angel but only Mark and a handful of others know about that.
- Friendto All Children: He is shown to be very kind and friendly to children. Not surprising, as he was a father before he died.
- Good Is Not Soft: He can veer into this sometimes: Johnathan is very patient, and he'll give everyone a second chance, sometimes even a third or fourth...but boy howdy, can he be scary if you're determined to be bad.
- Happily Married: He was married to Jane when he was alive, and he still loves her, even 40 years after his death.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Mark.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Jonathan normally relies on talking to get the job done, but he is still an angel with a good deal of supernatural power. On the few cases he is forced to actually use them in a fight, the fight didn't last long.
- Immune to Bullets: Barring a time he was briefly mortal, bullets don't even phase him.
- Knight Errant: His whole shtick is going from place to place to help others. Partly because it is his job, and partly because he is sincerely compassionate.
- Limited Wardrobe: Justified since he is an angel and only seems to change wardrobe when he and Mark get a job that requires specific clothing, such as bellhops.
- The Mentor: He acts as this to anyone he is assigned to help.
- Nice Guy: He is a very patient, kind, compassionate and understanding man. Not surprising, since he IS an angel.
- Not So Above It All: Although he is an angel, he is not perfect and sometimes has a lapse in judgement or his own feelings get in the way of his work.
- In "One-Winged Angels", he was assigned to help a divorcee woman find love with her old friend but ended up falling in love with her, and almost got in the way of the couple getting together out of jealousy.
- In "Bless The Boys In Blue", his naivety almost ended up killing him a second time when The Boss temporarily made him experience life as a mortal cop and he hesitated to shoot a burglar and tried to talk the guy out of it instead. The burglar would have shot him had Mark not stopped him.
- In "We Have Forever", he has an emotional breakdown when his wife Jane dies and God denies him the chance to reunite with her in Heaven since he was still needed on Earth. He then unleashes a very upsetting Rage Against the Heavens and temporarily loses his powers and goes through a Heroic B So D...until Jane came back as an angel to help him snap out of it.
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: He is prone to deliver these, usually to the antagonist or anyone who needs a good kick in the pants.
- Smug Super: Sometimes, he can't resist showing off, especially to Mark.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Sometimes with Mark.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: He is the straight man to Marks' wise guy.
- Super-Strength: He rarely shows it, but as an angel Jonathan is much stronger than he looks and capable of casually throwing men across the room with one arm.
- Troll: Downplayed, but he sometimes can't resist doing this, usually with Mark as the recipient.
- Walking the Earth: He literally seemed to have been doing this before Mark came along. Afterwards, he and Mark are driving the Earth to get to their assignments.
- Willfully Weak: Jonathan is an angel with a lot of supernatural power, but normally just uses his words to handle problems.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Downplayed with Mark. Sometimes Jonathan and Mark snark and bicker with each other, but they are very close and Mark sometimes worries about Jonathan getting his wings and never seeing him again.
Mark Gordon
An ex-cop who, after getting his life turned around by Jonathan, becomes his best friend and travels around the country with him to help the people on Earth. He tends to be more cynical than Jonathan but he has a good heart deep down.
- The Alcoholic: He was this before he befriended Jonathan.
- Catchphrase: Everytime Jonathan or God shows off, Mark unimpressed calls them off by grunting "Cute. Real cute".
- Dark and Troubled Past: He was a cop and years on the force seemed to have embittered him, especially after he was retired for "excessive use of force". He apparently struggled keeping a job and dealing with alcoholism before Jonathan helped him pull his life together.
- Friendto All Children: Despite his gruff, exterior, he is shown to be very good with kids.
- Good Is Not Soft: Mark means well, but he was a cop for 15 years and is not afraid to use force when needed.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sometimes. He tends to be rather gruff and cynical at times, but he has a good heart and more than once said that he truly enjoys helping others with Jonathan.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jonathan.
- Limited Wardrobe: Like Jonathan, he seems to wear the same set of clothes and only seems to change wardrobe when he and Mark get a job that requires specific clothing, such as bellhops.
- Mr. Vice Guy: Mark can be lazy, impatient, quick to be suspicious of others and sometimes loses his temper. Aside from that, he is deeply loyal to Jonathan and truly means well deep down.
- Nice Guy: He may be a little impatient at times, but he is shown to be a very loyal friend to Jonathan and more than once admitted that he likes helping other people on their assignments.
- To be more clear, Mark volunteered to leave his previous life behind to travel the country with Jonathan to help out people in need.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Sometimes with Jonathan.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: He is the wise guy to Jonathan's straight man.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In the pilot, he was a prickly, suspicious and short-tempered alcoholic who was embittered due to his years on the police force and struggled to keep a job after getting laid off. Meeting Jonathan and choosing to help him on his assignments really turned his life around.
- Walking the Earth: Heand Jonathan are driving the Earth to get to their assignments.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Downplayed with Jonathan. Sometimes Jonathan and Mark snark and bicker with each other, but they are very close and Mark sometimes worries about Jonathan getting his wings and never seeing him again.
The Boss/God
Jonathan's Boss who happens to be God. He always sends Jonathan and Mark on assignments to help the people on Earth.
- Big Good: He is God and He always sends Mark and Jonathan to help those in need.
- Benevolent Boss: "The Boss" is portrayed as one.
- Divine Intervention: He is usually hands off with His creation, usually just guiding servants like Jonathon to places where they are needed. Sometimes though He will get more directly involved when He is needed.
- God Is Good: A benign creator who sends down his angels to help humanity with their issues and flaws. He will even lend some Divine Intervention every now and again when Jonathon’s plans or powers aren’t enough.
Highway To Heaven - Recurring characters
Scotty Wilson
A quadriplegic lawyer who is a good friend of Jonathan and Mark. He falls in love with Mark's cousin Diane and eventually marries her.
- Crusading Lawyer: He works as an attorney and he is a very kind and compassionate man who truly tries to help his clients.
- Happily Married: With Diane. While they sometimes have their marital issues, they truly do love one another and stand by each other.
