The Pretender/Characters

Jarod
"Played By: Michael T. Weiss; Ryan Merriman (child)"

A "pretender", someone with a high-level intelligence who can pass as an expert in practically any field. Jarod was abducted as a boy by the Centre, a nefarious think tank that recognized his abilities as a savant. Trained under Sydney, Jarod ran 'simulations' of deadly accidents and terrorist attacks, believing that his data would prevent such events in the future. He was later horrified to learn that the Centre was doing just the opposite. As an adult, Jarod escaped from the clutches of the Centre to search for his real family.

"Young Sydney: You can't save everyone.
 * Adult Child
 * The Atoner
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Beware the Nice Ones
 * But Now I Must Go
 * Catch Phrase: "Didn't you?" and "I'm not really a [occupation]."
 * Celibate Hero
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: Wants to help those wronged by his corrupted Sims, those he feels have been grievously wronged in unrelated ways, and even those he happens to run into during a given mission.

Young Jarod: Well, I had to try!"


 * Con Man
 * Friend to All Children: A lot of his pretends involve helping children somehow harmed by an incident.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Kind to every possible animal - even cockroaches. One unseen pretend even dealt exclusively with a farmer using a too powerful cattle prod on cows.
 * Important Haircut
 * Instant Expert
 * Master of Disguise
 * Missing Mom
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: As part of his pretends, he downplays how smart he really is depending on what the profession is. He can purposefully play it up, as he springs a trap on someone.
 * Technical Pacifist
 * Think Nothing of It
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: He only breaks this rule under the most extreme circumstances.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Pez candy.
 * Walking the Earth
 * We Help the Helpless: In fact, in addition to helping them, he'll give them money, too.

Sydney
"Played By: Patrick Bauchau; Alex Wexo (flashbacks to Jarod's childhood)"

A psychologist who works for The Centre. He was tasked with overseeing Jarod's development and knows more about him than anyone. Sydney is the closest thing Jarod has to a father, though Sydney refused to return such sentiments. Nevertheless, Sydney cannot deny his paternal instincts for Jarod, and cooperates with Miss Parker's manhunt in hopes of protecting him from harm.

"(to Jacob) "Since your accident, I've done things - terrible things - to protect Jarod, to protect you. I even .""
 * Always Identical Twins
 * And Starring
 * Beware the Nice Ones:
 * He Who Fights Monsters: In "Indy Show," he feels he has become this.


 * Papa Wolf
 * Parental Substitute
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Watches soap operas.
 * Those Wacky Nazis
 * You Are What You Hate

Miss Parker
"Played By: Andrea Parker; Ashley Peldon (child)"

A former "cleaner" for The Centre who now works as a field agent. Miss Parker is also the daughter of The Centre's chief executive, Mr. Parker. Her allegiances are challenged when Jarod digs up evidence regarding her late mother's alleged suicide -- which may have been murder.

"Jarod: Your gun won't work. I took the firing pin out last night.
 * Anti-Villain
 * The Baroness
 * Defrosting Ice Queen
 * Foe Yay
 * Good Smoking, Evil Smoking
 * Grumpy Bear
 * Heavy Sleeper:

Miss Parker: I sleep with this under my pillow.

Jarod: And you drool out of the left corner of your mouth.

(Miss Parker pulls the trigger and nothing happens)"


 * Ignored Epiphany
 * She's Got Legs
 * Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance
 * Used to Be A Sweet Kid

Broots
"Played By: Jon Gries"

A computer expert and the third member of Miss Parker's triad. Unlike other Centre employees, Broots is shown to be a caring family man who is rather out of his depth. He holds no stake in Jarod's capture, but cooperates out of regard for Sydney and Miss Parker, his closest friends.


 * Adult Child
 * Audience Surrogate
 * Berserk Button: Threatening or upsetting his daughter. He once yelled at Miss Parker for doing the latter.
 * Bumbling Dad: Slightly.
 * Casual Kink
 * Hollywood Nerd
 * Mission Control: For most of Season 1, Broots would stay at The Centre while Miss Parker and Sydney would go in the field. By the end of the season, while remaining the tech guy, he would regularly join them instead.
 * Nice Guy
 * Only Sane Man
 * Plucky Comic Relief

Mr. Parker
"Played By: Harve Presnell"

The boisterous head of The Centre and father to Miss Parker. His easygoing personality conceals a wily mind.


 * Affably Evil
 * Cain and Abel: Obviously lampshaded by his brother, Abel Parker..
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He dearly loves his daughter.
 * Evil Old Folks
 * Heel Realization
 * Obfuscating Stupidity
 * Porn Stache
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy

Angelo
"Played By: Paul Dillon"

A pet project of Mr. Raines, Angelo was born Timmy, a child savant in the same vein as Jarod. Mr. Raines subjected him to intense shock treatments to enhance his empathic mind, at the cost of his lower brain function. Initially portrayed as an antagonist, Angelo is quickly revealed to be more cunning then he lets on. He considers Jarod his friend and assists him from behind the scenes.


 * Ambiguous Disorder
 * Can't Stay Normal
 * Didn't See That Coming: Timmy had the potential to be a Pretender, but the abilities were latent. The experiments then-Dr. Raines performed on him were designed to bring that potential to the surface and make him like Jarod. Instead, they destroyed his mind and made him an empath.
 * The Empath
 * Meaningful Name: Angelo = Angel
 * The Mole: Also the Detective Mole.
 * New Powers As the Plot Demands
 * Playful Hacker
 * Smarter Than You Look: Aside from covertly aiding Jarod, he has free-run inside The Centre and can apparently escape at will.
 * That Man Is Dead: A very tragic example: "Timmy's gone."

Mr. Lyle
"Played By: James Denton"

A latecomer who is brought in to oversee Jarod's capture, which The Centre believes has been mishandled by Miss Parker's team. Lyle conceals his sadistic tendencies beneath a veneer of professionalism.


 * An Arm and A Leg: Thanks to both Jarod and those in The Centre, Lyle finds himself on the bad side of a Yakuza clan. He disappears for a while, but upon his return, he's missing a thumb - per their tradition.
 * Bullying a Dragon: In "Past Sim," he brushes off warnings of Jarod taking offense to using one of his Sims to kidnap a murder witness (which also led to the death of a federal agent). See above for a taste for how well that worked out for him.
 * Chair Reveal: His first appearance.
 * The Dragon: To Mr. Raines.
 * Dragon With an Agenda: No matter who he works for, he always has his own plans in mind.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He framed his adopted father for his own murder (ensuring a life sentence), but this also drove his adopted mother insane. When Jarod points this out, Lyle - if even for a moment - seemed genuinely remorseful about that.
 * Eviler Than Thou: In his first appearance, Mr. Raines refers to him as "The Bogeyman." Mr. Parker is also unable to handle him directly, requiring more covert action. Of course, that was when Lyle had a much stronger powerbase in the organization.
 * Evilly Affable
 * Freudian Excuse: His adopted father disciplined him by locking him in a shed for any misbehavior.
 * I'm a Humanitarian
 * Man in White
 * Me Love You Long Time
 * Serial Killer
 * That Man Is Dead: Raised as Bobby Bowman, he gave up this identity when he faked his death and took the name of his abusive adopted father.
 * Token Evil Teammate: In Season 3, he's added to Miss Parker's team.
 * Torture Cellar
 * Torture Technician
 * Tyrant Takes the Helm: Is in charge of The Centre a few different times.
 * Yubitsume

Mr. Raines
"Played By: Richard Marcus"

A former colleague of Sydney's who ran similar experiments with other children, most notably Kyle and Angelo. At some point in the past, Raines abandoned his doctorate. A chain-smoker, he seems to be suffering from illness and is always accompanied by his squeaky-wheeled oxygen tank.


 * Bald of Evil
 * Big Bad
 * Cry for The Devil: It was only one episode, but there was an episode when Jarod stopped a child murderer in the past and his copycat in modern times. Jarod finally finds the body of the dead girls and a bracelet one wore. The next scene we see is Big Bad Mr. Raines clutching the necklace and crying.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: See above.
 * Evil Cripple
 * Good Smoking, Evil Smoking
 * Guttural Growler
 * Heel Faith Turn: At the start of Season 4, Raines returned from Africa far more religious than before and though still out to catch Jarod, seemingly more kindhearted. The question was whether this was the result of some Triumvirate torturing, he himself faking it to save his own life or if it was all genuine.
 * Iconic Item: His oxygen tank.
 * Joker Immunity
 * Luke, I Am Your Father
 * Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate
 * Soap Opera Disease
 * Vader Breath
 * You Are in Command Now