Characters / Outer Banks

Main Characters

John B

John Booker Routledge (portrayed by Chase Stokes)

"We're the Pogues. And our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time."

John B is the main character in Outer Banks. When the series starts, he is dodging foster care and surfing with his friends, but his life changes dramatically when he finds the beginning of a trail to a sunken ship, $400 million in gold, and his dad's disappearance.

• Almost Kiss: Has one with Sarah.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: To Sarah, followed by a Big Damn Kiss.
• Berserk Button: Insulting his dad, which he gets into fights with both Topper and JJ over.
• Chick Magnet: At different points, Kiara, a tourist, and Sarah Cameron show interest in him.
• Coming of Age Story: The story follows him learning to move past his dad's death and take responsibility for his life.
• Friend Versus Lover: Kiara tries to force him to pick between herself and Sarah.
  John B: Kie, you're my best friend. And Sarah, you're my... you're my girlfriend.
• Full-Name Basis: John B is always called John B.
• The Leader: As the protagonist, he is this.
• Love Confessor: Tells Topper he's in love with Sarah before he tells Sarah herself.
• Love Triangle: Stuck in two:
  • There's one with Kiara and Sarah. Kiara's his best friend, Sarah's the rich, somewhat seductive girl who Kiara doesn't like.
  • And another between with Topper, where both guys compete for Sarah's affections
• Nephew Ism: His uncle is technically his legal guardian. However, it's mostly defied - his uncle's not around and his dad was his main parental figure.
• Official Couple: With Sarah Cameron.
• True Companions: With JJ, Pope and Kiara.
• Uptown Girl: Gets with Sarah, a rich girl from Figure 8, while himself being a poor guy from the Cut.
• You Killed My Father: Verbatim, to Ward Cameron.

JJ

JJ Maybank (portrayed by Rudy Pankow)

"You know where I'm from."

JJ is John B's best friend, a troublemaker from the Cut.

• Abusive Parents: His dad physically and verbally abuses him, and it's implied that it's been happening for years.
• Alone Among the Couples: For a brief time in Season 2, he is this. Then Kie and Pope break up.
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: The only thing we hear about his mother is from his dad when he's trying to get a low blow.
• Calling the Old Man Out: When his dad tries to take the restitution money, JJ responds with a lot of pent-up rage.
  JJ: You gave me nothing! You gave me nothing but a shitty life!
• The Dog Bites Back: He beats up his dad when he tries to take the restitution money.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: A variant to Kiara:
  Kiara: (tearfully) JJ -
  JJ: No, stop being emotional, it's fine! Okay?
• Family of Choice: Pope, Kiara and John B are his, given how awful his actual family is. He adds Sarah to the group in Season 2.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Has shades of this with Pope.
  JJ (kisses Pope's cheek): Love you too, man.
• Indy Ploy: Comes up with a lot of short-sight plans on the fly.
• Kissing In A Tree: Does a version of this to John B.
  JJ: Oh, be so careful, John B. Just give me that John D already.
• The Lancer: A foil to John B, with his more antagonistic tendencies.
• Misplaced Retribution: When he sees Pope badly beaten, his first instinct is to sabotage Topper's boat despite the fact that it was Rafe who beat up Pope and Topper who tried to stop him.
• Romantic Wingman: Encourages John B to ask out Kiara.
• The Stoner: Smokes a lot of weed and rolls his own blunts.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Pope tend to bicker a lot. despite that they're just as close to each other as they are with the rest of their friends.

Kiara

Kiara 'Kie' Carrera (portrayed by Madison Bailey)

"These are my friends."

A Pogue-by-choice, rebelling against her rich parents for her friends.

• Affectionate Nickname: Interestingly, in Season 2 Pope almost solely refers to her by her full name, while JJ uses the less formal 'Kie.'
• Betty and Veronica: Kiara is the Betty due to being John B's best friend, while Sarah would be the Veronica due to being the rich, somewhat seductive girl who Kiara doesn't like.
• Bros Before Hoes: Enforces the no-Pogue-on-Pogue-macking rule to keep from losing friends over a romantic relationship until the last episode of Season 1.
• Dude Magnet: John B says that all the guys have a thing for her. John B has kissed her, she has sex with Pope, and JJ implies or outright says he used to or does like her a few times.
• Hands-Off Parenting: Averted in Season 2; her parents come down hard after her behavior over Season 1 and subsequently in Season 2, threatening her with boarding school. And in Season 3, they make good on that threat until JJ breaks her out.
• The Heart: Fulfills this role in the group
• I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: To John B, Pope and implied offscreen to JJ. Season 2 has her delivering another of these to Pope, after they've had sex, knowing he's in love with her.
• Idiot Ball: Runs an absolute touchdown with it in season 2 when the Pogues are recording Ward's altercation with Gavin and Kiara suddenly starts yelling at him that he's a murderer, because "I don't care, he's a murderer!" This necessitates a quick retreat from the situation that results in Pope's camera being broken, rendering their evidence useless.
• Interclass Friendship: Technically, her friendships with all the boys.
• Team Mom: JJ refers to her as this a few times.
  JJ: Mama's mad..

Pope

Pope Heyward (portrayed by Jonathan Daviss)

Pope is the final member of the Pogues, described as the smart one.

• Arch-Enemy: Has two to deal with:
  • His first one would be Rafe Cameron. Rafe bullies Pope more than any other Pogue and has fought with Pope the most. Pope returns the sentiment with Rafe to the point where he nearly kills him in one of their fights.
  • His second one would be Clara Limbrey. Her family had enslaved Pope's descendants centuries ago and the two would come to blows with one another when Clara tries to take the Cross that Pope's family fought so hard to protect for her own selfish purposes.
• Bear Hug: Gives JJ one of these after JJ takes the fall for him.
• Cannot Talk to Women: In his attempt to comfort Kie, he tells her that corpses secrete fluid from their eyes too.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Has a big crush on Kiara, but doesn't admit it until he's high, and does his best to respect her lack of reciprocation.
• Deuteragonist: For Season 2. His search for the Cross of Saint Domingo is almost as important as John B. trying to get himself exonerated and eventually becomes the main plot for the second half.
• Longing Look: Gives a few of these to Kiara.
• The Smart Guy: Is easily the smartest in the group.
• Unexpected Inheritance: In Season 2, Pope finds out that he is descended from Denmark Tanny, meaning that by rights both the gold and the cross should belong to the Heyward family.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and JJ tend to bicker a lot. despite that they're just as close to each other as they are with the rest of their friends.

Sarah

Sarah Cameron (portrayed by Madelyn Cline)

"You love being seen with me, but you don't love me."

Sarah is the rich, privileged daughter of Ward Cameron, dealing with family and intimacy issues, who becomes John B's girlfriend.

• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Her mother is never mentioned, though it's made clear that she doesn't consider Rose to be a sufficient replacement.
• Betty and Veronica: Sarah would be the Veronica because she's the rich, somewhat seductive girl, while Kiara is the Betty due to being John B's childhood friend.
• Cain and Abel: The Abel to Rafe's Cain.
• Calling Parents by Their Name: Calls her stepmom Rose and her dad Ward a few times.
• Commitment Issues: She tells Kiara that people genuinely liking her scares her, and she pushes them away.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Struggles with this throughout Season 1, though by Season 2 she's come down pretty firmly on the Pogues' side.
• Cry into Chest: After a failed attempt to tell the truth, she comes back to John B and does this.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Her father is not a fan of John B, although this is in large part due to the fact that John B exposed Sarah to the truth about him.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Was this to Kiara. She regrets it.
• Let's Wait a While: Says this to Topper and John B. Their differing reactions are what change or make up her mind.
• Middle Child Syndrome: Inverted: Rafe and Wheezie both say Sarah is the favorite, at least at first.
• Official Couple: With Topper and then John B.
• Sibling Rivalry: With Rafe.
• Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: She is rarely honest with Ward and Rose about where she's going, often getting her little sister to cover for her.
• Unexpected Virgin: From Wheezie's remark about her cheating on her previous boyfriends and her status as a popular, pretty, rich girl, it seems like she would be somewhat experienced.

Cleo

Cleo (portrayed by Carlacia Grant)

Cleo is a shipworker from The Bahamas who meets John B and Sarah after they are rescued by the captain of the ship she works for.

Secondary Characters

Rafe

Rafe Cameron (portrayed by Drew Starkey)

• Addled Addict: As a result of his coke addiction.
• Arch-Enemy: Has shades of this with Pope Heyward. Out of all the Pogues, Rafe tends to bully Pope the most and has gotten to more fights with Pope than any other main characters, with of the fights having Pope nearly kill Rafe.
• Ax-Crazy: He usually attacking people with very little provocation and eventually resorts to murdering people.
• Because You Can Cope: Ward pulls this on Rafe during a rare sympathetic moment for Rafe, in which Rafe is begging his dad to get him some kind of help, only for Ward to tell him to "man up" and that they need to focus on the gold.
• Big Brother Bully: Calls Sarah a bitch a lot.
• Big Brother Instinct: Has shades of this toward Wheezie, and implies he believes it to be true for Sarah, who tells him off for it. In Season 2, he can't bring himself to shoot at the boat carrying Sarah and the Pogues away.
• Cain and Abel: He's the Cain to Sarah's Abel.
• Cop Killer: Murders Sheriff Peterkin.
• Disappointing Older Sibling: Rafe is certainly this to Sarah and may be to Wheezie.
• The Dragon: To his father, Ward.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite his contempt for Sarah, he can't bring himself to kill her when she escapes due to being his sister.
• Extremely Protective Child: Shoots Sheriff Peterkin to save his father.
• Jerkass The guy is rude and volatile to anyone he encounters.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He looked like he was going to help up Limbrey after her brother pushed her down, only to take her gun and abandon her, while taking the Cross for himself.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Averted hard, as Rafe is good friends with Topper and badmouths her to his face. Season 2 has him outright telling Topper that he'd much rather Sarah was with him than John B.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He's 19 legally making him an adult, but his impulsive behavior, emotional outbursts, and tendencies to constantly get himself in trouble and needing his father to bail him out really highlights a lack of maturity and mental stability, especially after he kills Peterkin.
• Sibling Rivalry: With Sarah.
• Stupid Evil: Tends to commit his evil actions without putting much thought to it, which leads to a lot of problems that he faces.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Has this affect on Topper with the latter usually acting at his worst whenever hanging out with Rafe.
• Turn Out Like His Father: Certainly on his way there, only a little more sociopathic.
• Upper-Class Twit: He's from a rich family and is very short-sighted and impulsive in his actions. This gets Played for Drama when he kills Sheriff Peterkin without thinking about the consequences which causes a lot of problems for his family and the Pogues.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Big time. Almost always attempting to impress his father.

Ward

Ward Cameron (portrayed by Charles Esten)

Sarah, Rafe and Wheezie's father, who is revealed to be a po murderer hunting for the Royal Merchant gold.

• Abusive Parents: Locks Sarah in her room and forces her onto a plane. Amps up to deliberate physical violence in Season 2 once he realizes she'll never be happy with the family again, when he slaps her hard and then attempts to choke her to death. He also disowns Rafe, but that's more justifiable.
• Arch-Enemy: To John B when he learns that he shot his father.
• Archnemesis Dad: To Sarah.
• Ax-Crazy: Albeit maintaining his rocker better than his son, Ward shows himself to be this having murdered people on impulse, including Big John, and tries to kill his son.
• Big Bad: Of the whole show, especially for Season 1, where his murder of John B's father and hunt for the Royal Merchant's gold drives its plot.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Had to share his role of Big Bad with Clara Limbrey for Season 2.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Despite knowing that he was an unrepentant murderer, Sarah still loved him and was devastated when she thought he died.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all of his fault, he does love his children Rafe and Sarah, despite formers actions causing him problems and the latter turning on him.
• Family Man: Repeatedly states that everything he does is to keep his family together.
• Go to Your Room!: Forces Sarah into her room to stop her from sneaking off with John B.
• Greed: Ward wants to have all the Royal Merchant's treasure to himself, unwilling to share it with anyone.
• Hypocrite: He has called the likes of John B and his father greedy, despite his own tendencies to try negotiating a bigger cut of the treasure and eventually trying to claim all of it for himself showing how greedy Ward can be.
• It's All About Me: It's clear that the person who matters to Ward the most is Ward himself and anyone who isn't immediately on side is an enemy to be dealt with. Not even his children are safe from this as he refuses to get Rafe committed and even tries to kill Sarah rather than let her go out of fear with both cases being the reason that they won't tell the authorities of his crimes.
• Manipulative Bastard: He exploits his son's desire for his approval to get him to do wan he wants and later manipulates the public into thinking that John B killed Peterkin.
• Never My Fault: He refuses to acknowledge any fault of his own. When he seemingly killed Big John, he blames the victim for being too greedy the same excuse that he uses when he justifies trying to kill his son. This also extends to his relationship with his children, blaming Rafe for the way he is despite having emotionally abused him and was shocked on why Sarah would turn against him despite her having seen Ward commit crimes.
• Parental Favoritism: Sarah is his favorite child, and he is aware his other children know it. In Season 2, however, he tells Rafe he would pick him over Sarah as a result of her defection from the family.
• Villainous Parental Instinct: Basically his whole character.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Living in Figure 8 has given him a high standing in with the community. Said publicity gets diminished when they learn he's a murderer.

Topper

Topper Thornton (portrayed by Austin North)

Sarah's ex-boyfriend.

• Crazy Jealous Guy: Over Sarah and John B... or Sarah and any guy who so much as talks to her.
• Everyone Has Standards: Sure he may be a Jerk Jock who doesn't like the Pogues, but even he doesn't approve of Rafe's treatment on them.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Pretends to be John B so that John B and Sarah can escape safely. However, he only does this to prove that he loves her more.
• In Love with Love: Sarah accuses him of being this rather than having real feelings for her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Topper can be selfish and incentive, but has shown to have his kind moments, especially compared to Rafe. He has tried to stop Rafe from beating up Pope, was genuinely horrified when he thought he killed John B, and does seem to genuinely love Sarah having saved her from getting drowned by Rafe.
• Mistaken Declaration of Love: Goes into Sarah's room while drunk and confesses that he loves her... not knowing that the girl in her bed is in fact her younger sister.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: Almost did this to John B, although he seemed to regret taking it that far.
• Romantic False Lead: Sarah dumps him for John B. He's not happy about it.
• We Used to Be Friends: Topper ends his friendship with Rafe when he sees him almost drown Sarah.

Sheriff Peterkin

Sheriff Susan Peterkin (portrayed by Adina Porter)

• The Commissioner Gordon: Acts as a figure between John B and the cops/DCS.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Gets killed off by Rafe, but protects John B until her last moments.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Does her best to help John B with DCS and keep him out of trouble with the gold.

Wheezie

Wheezie Cameron (portrayed by Julia Antonelli)

Sarah's younger sister.

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Sarah seems to consider Wheezie this at times.
• Big Brother Worship: Downplayed, but Wheezie stays in contact with Rafe after he's kicked out, seeming to think quite highly of him.
• Nice Girl: She seems kind and polite to everyone she interacts with, even Rafe.
• Spoiled Sweet: Wheezie is from the wealthy Figure 8 whose family has given her anything money can buy and Ward hasn't abused her as he does with Sarah and Rafe. Despite this she comes across well-adjusted and nice.
• Youngest Child Wins: At the very least, youngest child wins the least trauma.

Rose

Rose Cameron (portrayed by Caroline Arapoglou)

Sarah's stepmother.

• Good Stepmother: Certainly not perfect, but she does seem to genuinely care about at least Sarah and Wheezie. Subverted, though, when she helps Ward carry out his criminal plans.

Barry

Barry (portrayed by Nicholas Cirillo)

Rafe's drug dealer.

• The Corrupter: He plays a part in Rafe's Ax-Crazy behavior by selling him drugs that Rafe consumes.
• Cycle of Revenge: Attempts to rob JJ, who then robs him, so he gets his revenge...
• No Honor Among Thieves: Betrays Rafe when he attempts to flee the country.

Shoupe

Sheriff Shoupe (portrayed by Cullen Moss)

A deputy who moves to the position of Sheriff after Peterkin's death.

• Dirty Cop: Downplayed; He takes some money from a crime scene and encourages another officer to do the same, but overall seems to be OK.

Luke Maybank

Luke Maybank (portrayed by Gary Weeks)

JJ's abusive father.

• Abusive Parents: Subjects JJ to near-constant physical and mental abuse almost every time we see him.
• Cop Hater: Seems to have a pretty vehement hate for the cops, refusing to cough up the restitution even when he has it. He seems to have passed this on to his son.
• Put on a Bus: JJ literally puts him on a boat in Season 2 with the expectation that they'll never see each other again.
• Uptown Girl: Season 2 seems to imply that he might once have had a thing for Kie's mom.

Kiara's parents

Anna and Mike Carrera (portrayed by Samantha Soule and Marland Burke)

Kiara's parents.

• Abusive Parents: Downplayed; Despite Kie's valid reasoning for doing what she does, they still threaten her with boarding school.
• Happily Married: Despite their rocky beginnings, they now seem to be this.
• How Dad Met Mom: An abridged and somewhat subverted version. Kiara reveals in a fight that her mother got pregnant as a teenager.

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