Oz/Characters

Tobias Beecher
"Played By: Lee Tergesen"

"Reporter: So, how would you describe your time in prison?

Tobias Beecher: You ever read the story of Job?"

A Harvard-educated lawyer who fell to alcoholism, killing a young girl while driving drunk. Spends the first season of the show being repeatedly raped by his cellmate, which he suffers without complaint due to his belief that he deserves to be tortured this way as punishment for his crimes. However, he ultimately stands up for himself and ends up spending the rest of the series fighting to survive.


 * The Alcoholic: The whole reason he is in OZ.
 * Badass Pacifist: Later on.
 * Bi the Way
 * Butt Monkey
 * Break the Cutie
 * Deadpan Snarker: Part of his numerous levels in badass.
 * Drunk Driver: How he got in OZ.
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait
 * Fan Nickname: Crazy Beecher after his new levels in badass.
 * Had to Come To Prison To Be A Crook: Imprisoned for vehicular homicide,.
 * Humiliation Conga
 * Naive Newcomer
 * Nice Guy
 * Madness Mantra: His nursery rhymes, when he's really crazy.
 * Sanity Slippage
 * Took a Level In Badass: Quite a few over the years, especially
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Augustus is the only one who will call him out as he's losing his mind.

Ryan O'Reily
"Played By: Dean Winters"

""I'm like the lord of the fucking dance. I got moves.""

An Irish-American career criminal who serves as an Iago-figure, pitting the various gangs and cliques within Oz against each other for the purposes of surviving. The embodiment of the Magnificent Bastard, ANYONE is expendable in the eyes of O'Reily;


 * Abusive Parents: His childhood was pretty horrible.
 * Affably Evil
 * Alliterative Name: Close enough, anyway.
 * Big Brother Instinct
 * Berserk Button: Hurting or threatening Cyril. If Cyril doesn't kill You, Ryan will definitely finish the job.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
 * Even Evil Has Standards: O'Reily, sociopath and all round Manipulative Bastard, was disgusted that William Cudney could murder a child. He is also disgusted with Patrick Keenan, a rapist. Although this was only because O'Reily had a crush on the person Keenan raped.
 * Fighting Irish
 * Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: "I'm no fag!" is almost a catchphrase for him.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: A lot of the things that befall him (and especially his brother Cyril) are his own fault, and brought on by his own manipulations.
 * On the other hand, he's very good at staying alive and gets out of most of the messes he creates without a scratch.
 * It's All About Me
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Morality Pet: Cyril.
 * Murder the Hypotenuse: What happens when he falls in love with Dr. Nathan.
 * Non-Action Guy: In a show filled with violence, O'Reilly almost never fights. He prefers to let others do his dirty work.
 * Real Life Relative: Brother Cyril was played by Dean Winters' real-life brother Scott. Their brother was also a top-level producer on the series.
 * Stalker With a Crush

Augustus Hill
"Played By: Harold Perrineau"

""People are defined by three things. Their heads- how they think. Their hearts- what they feel. Their dicks- who they fuck. At the end of the day, each of us has to answer one question. One, not so simple question. Who am I?""

A prisoner who uses a wheelchair who also serves as the show's surrealistic narrator, breaking the fourth wall by talking to the audience about the themes of each episode (often serving as a vehicle for beliefs of the show's creator). He also introduces every prisoner, and informs us of their crime and sentence. Note that Hill the narrator is a separate entity from Hill the in-show character, as they apparently aren't the "same" person; as the last season implies that narrator-Hill is *


 * The Atoner
 * Butt Monkey
 * Disabled Snarker
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait
 * Greek Chorus
 * Large Ham: During his narrations.
 * Leaning On the Fourth Wall
 * Only Sane Man
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The infamous "paper route" speech to Burr Redding.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The infamous "paper route" speech to Burr Redding.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The infamous "paper route" speech to Burr Redding.

Kareem Saïd
"Played By: Eamonn Walker"

""You wanna save this place, right? And I want to destroy it. Brick by hypocritical brick.""

The leader of the Black Muslims. Said starts out as a rabble-rouser, whose disdain for the poor treatment of blacks within society puts him at odds with the staff of the prison, but after triggering a riot that leads to many deaths within the prison, Said finds himself having to reconcile his beliefs with his faith and consequences of his shit-stirring.


 * Achilles in His Tent: At one point, he actively mopes after turning to the dark side ("Adebisi Lives!"), and it takes a great deal of effort to get him back in the game.
 * Affably Evil: Prior to his Heel Face Turn.
 * Angry Black Man
 * The Atoner: Becomes this.
 * Badass Preacher
 * Knight Templar
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Malcolm Xerox
 * Rousing Speech: A specialty of his.
 * Sanity Slippage: He gets better.
 * Sinister Minister
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist
 * What the Hell, Hero?: He gets this a lot in his more dark moments.
 * Where the White Women At: A major issue with both his family and his fellow blacks is his romantic interest in exclusively white women.
 * Where the White Women At: A major issue with both his family and his fellow blacks is his romantic interest in exclusively white women.

Vernon "Vern" Schillinger
"Played By: JK Simmons"

""My turn now. Sieg Heil, baby! SIEG FUCKING HEIL!""

The sexually sadistic leader of the Aryans, whose incredibly heated vendetta against his former rape victim Tobias Beecher drives a lot of the conflict during the show's run.


 * And There Was Much Rejoicing: His death during the play is met with deafening applause.
 * Bald of Evil
 * Being Evil Sucks
 * Berserk Button: Don't pronounce his name incorrectly.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In the first episode only, when we're introduced to him in the same way as Beecher.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played straight at times, yet subverted at others. He does love his sons and  but he's responsible for   Played a little straighter with his son Hank's girlfriend and her daughter/his granddaughter.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Played straight with his disgust at a paedophile priest and, and then averted horribly.
 * One could call that first example a subversion considering the priest in question is portrayed as a slave to his urges, with heavy regret.
 * Evil Is Petty: Though he prefers to inflict rape, drug abuse, and physical abuse on his enemies, Vern occasionally settles for petty slights such as messing up someones lunch tray and only giving Beecher the envelope of the letter from his grandmother under the pretense that it had to be confiscated.
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * For the Evulz: A lot of his more horrible actions really don't have any point to them besides the fact that he enjoys the suffering of others.
 * Freudian Excuse: His father is just an older, more bitter version of himself.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: Stabbed with the same knife he had planned to stab Beecher with.
 * It's All About Me
 * Knight Templar
 * Morality Pet: His son, Andrew. Coming into Oz, Andrew was a drug addict (a big trait his father hated). With Beecher's guidance, he ended up getting himself clean, leading to a blistering Reason You Suck Speech to his father about his upbringing. With Andrew
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: Well, he is a Nazi.
 * Quip to Black: When something bad happens to an inmate at his hand, the very next scene will be him shooting pool in his cell, complete with snarky one-liner about the situation.
 * Threw My Bike On the Roof: His Jerkassery is made even worse by the fact that there is absolutely no benefit from it.
 * Villainous Breakdown: When he realizes Keller played him for a fool.

Simon Adebisi
"Played By: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje"

""I have everything. Everything I need. Every love satisfied. But it's not enough.""

A low-level gangster who through his friendship with Ryan O'Reily (and several deaths) takes over the main black gang within Oz. Originally amoral, Adebisi slides into total villainy after his attempts to reform are squashed by his underlings and he is framed for the murder of an elderly inmate he befriended. Soon enough.


 * Affably Evil: Can be a pretty easy going guy if you don't get on his bad side.
 * Ax Crazy
 * Depraved Bisexual: The bisexual psychopath to Chris Keller's bisexual sociopath.
 * The Dragon: Briefly to Jefferson Keane before the latter's conversion to Islam after which he promotes himself to leader of the homeboys.
 * Dragon Ascendant
 * Even Evil Has Standards: His response to : "No. Because sometimes, it's good to be human."
 * Genius Bruiser
 * Good Feels Good: Too bad evil feels better.
 * Laughably Evil
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Nice Hat: Always wears a tilted wooly cap which never falls off. No one is sure how it stays on.
 * Sanity Slippage: Debateable as to whether he was remotely sane in the first place, but he definately gets crazier as the show progresses.
 * Scary Black Man
 * The Sociopath
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity

Miguel Alvarez
"Played By: Kirk Acevedo"

""I'm so tired. I'm tired of trying. I'm tired of the walls. The lies. The fear. The death. I'm so tired.""

The main Latino prisoner of the show. A loser whose father and grandfather are both imprisoned in Oz, Alvarez spends most of the series being driven to madness by the prison staff via being put into solitary confinement (though he pretty much deserves it, seeing as he


 * The Atoner
 * Badass
 * Being Evil Sucks
 * Butt Monkey
 * Cosmic Plaything
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait
 * Sanity Slippage

Tim McManus
"Played By: Terry Kinney"

""I may be blind but I'm not dumb.""

The idealistic creator and manager of Em City, who strives for a perfect rehabilitation system without conflict or violence, despite the concerns of others who feel that that may be an impossible dream.


 * Butt Monkey: Things just seem to conspire against him.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Its usually the only way he can keep his sanity.
 * Freudian Excuse: His father worked at Attica. Instead of his birthday, he went to a funeral. He discusses this with Said, who lampshades it by saying, 'Emerald City is your birthday party.'
 * Good Is Not Nice: He's a very good guy with great intentions but he can be really petty at times.
 * Honor Before Reason
 * Hot Blooded: He can be an angry, angry man.
 * Kavorka Man or Handsome Lech
 * Love Makes You Crazy: Wittlesey moving to England drove McManus to drinking,, and
 * The McCoy
 * Not So Above It All
 * Really Gets Around
 * Wide Eyed Idealist
 * What the Hell, Hero?

Leo Glynn
"Played By: Ernie Hudson"

"Glynn: Look, we're doing everything we can to keep the number of reported rapes down.

Sister Pete: Reported? Listen to you, your own daughter was raped!

Glynn: Well... this is different. This is Oz."

The warden of the prison. Though presented as the fair and honest caretaker of the prison, over the course of the series Glynn goes slowly mad with power as his political ambitions, family crisises (most notably his daughter's rape), and various other conflicts pop up in his job as warden.


 * Ambition Is Evil
 * Badass in Charge
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * Knight Templar
 * Not So Above It All: He is not above treating the prisoners poorly or playing favorites with issues.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: In the first season at least.
 * Sanity Slippage: Mostly it's a power craze, but the various stresses he deals with and his repeated problems in his personal life don't do him any favors.
 * Save the Villain: Averted. Schillinger pleads to be allowed to help one of his sons, and Glynn shuts him down hard, flat out admitting that it's payback for Schillinger fucking with him in the past. When Schillinger frantically protests that his son will die, Glynn more or less says "Maybe you'll have better luck with your other son."
 * The Spock
 * Took a Level In Jerkass

Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
"Played By: Rita Moreno"

""Don't think of me as a psychologist. Don't think of me as a nun. Think of me as your mother.""

The prison psychologist and nun who runs the prison's drug rehabilitation program. Though a truly good person, she suffers from various crises of faith over the course of the show, over issues such as the death penalty and her personal life (mainly the unresolved mystery of the murder of her husband and, after several tense sessions with Chris Keller, her vows as a nun after Keller tries to seduce her).


 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: The reaction of many inmates towards her. A small group actually voted her the hottest woman in the prison.
 * Hollywood Nuns
 * The McCoy
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Not ranked all that high in the prison hierarchy, but probably the most reasonable authority figure in Oz.
 * Team Mom

Scott Ross
"Played By: Stephen Gevedon"

""I'm gonna give you ten minutes to get your hands off my dick.""

A drug dealer, old friend of Schillinger and leader of the Bikers. He has a past connection to Wittlesy, and is disliked heavily by almost everyone.


 * Anything That Moves
 * Depraved Bisexual
 * Jerkass
 * Smug Snake

Jaz Hoyt
"Played By: Evan Seinfield"

One of the more prominent biker characters, he is often allied with the Aryans.


 * Ax Crazy
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * The Brute
 * Hidden Depths: He dropped out of Harvard and comes from a very wealthy family.
 * Sanity Slippage

James Robson
"Played By: RE Rodgers"

""It's funny, here I am, 36 years old I got nowhere to run. You know, and I--I guess what...what I want to know is, is it okay to do whatever is necessary... to survive?""

One of the Aryan leaders and Schillinger's closest friend.


 * Ascended Extra
 * Asshole Victim: Quite literally.
 * Ass Shove
 * Butt Monkey: In his tenure in Oz, he gets the tip of his penis bitten off, he gets recessive gums, gets "spooned" by Cutler, and is sodomized by Cutler and Clarence Seroy.
 * The Dragon: to Schillinger.
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * Freudian Excuse
 * Hidden Depths
 * Large Ham: Does a lot of yelling, screaming, and sometimes even barking. Robson acts out a lot.
 * Laser-Guided Karma
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain
 * Rape As Backstory
 * Villainous Friendship: He's pals with Vern.

Wolfgang Cutler
"Played By: Brendan Kelly"

""You and me? We're gonna spoon.""

An Aryan-Biker with a sadistic sexual appetite.


 * Bondage Is Bad
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain
 * Troll:

Andrew Schillinger
"Played By: Fred Koehler"

""I gotta tell you something Dad, my whole life you’ve crammed into my head how superior we white folks are. I don’t see the truth in that.""

Schillinger's youngest son and drug addict.


 * Butt Monkey
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivered a devastating one to his father after kicking his drug habit.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Averted hard.

Jefferson Keane
"Played By: Leon"

The original leader of the Homeboys. A deeply troubled man, he converts to Islam after meeting Kareem Said.


 * The Atoner
 * Being Good Sucks: Though his conversion to Islam brought him inner peace, it lost control of his gang to the maniacal Adebisi.
 * Being Evil Sucks: Keane cannot catch a break no matter his alignment.
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * The Stoic: Especially when compared to Adebisi or Johnny Post.

Kenny Wangler
"Played By: JD Williams"

A 16-year-old inmate who quickly becomes a member of the Homeboys.


 * Big Bad Wannabe: He tries to convince others to call him 'Bricks', acts like a big shot, and thinks he's a badass. In reality, he's a pathetic pawn of more powerful inmates.
 * The Bully
 * Butt Monkey: To Adebisi.
 * Tagalong Kid: Literally, as he is only sixteen when he first joins the Homeboys.
 * Smug Snake
 * The Sociopath: Despite the best efforts of the prison staff, he ends up being a monstrous little creature.
 * Unwitting Pawn
 * Unwitting Pawn

Johnny Post
"Played By: Tim McAdams"


 * Defiant to The End
 * Kill It With Fire
 * Undying Loyalty: to his fellow Homeboys.

Malcolm Coyle
"Played By: Treach"


 * Bald of Evil
 * For the Evulz: Why he committed the murders.
 * Hidden Depths: Originally sent to Oz on armed robbery charges, but Hill finds out about
 * Truth in Television: Child killers do NOT last very long in maximum security prisons.

Arnold "Poet" Jackson
"Played By: muMs the Scehemer"

""It's kinda fucked up, leaving. Everybody else is staying. It's like waking up from a dream.""

A high-ranked Homeboy who writes and performs poetry.


 * The Cast Showoff: muMs the Schemer wrote every one of the poems his character recited.
 * Chronic Villainy
 * Deadpan Snarker

Omar White
"Played By: Michael Wright

"I ain't no drug abuser. Truth is, I treat my drugs better than most.""


 * Butt Monkey
 * Talkative Loon

Burr Redding
"Played By: Michael Wright

"I take a shit in this world, I see reality and I make the best of it.""

A half-crazed Vietnam vet who ran the streets where Augustus Hill grew up in, and acted as a foster father to the boy. He eventually controls the Homeboys post-Adebisi. A lot of what befalls Augustus is Burr's fault.


 * Affably Evil
 * The Atoner: After
 * Ax Crazy
 * Badass Grandpa: Even the younger Homeboys were terrified of him.
 * Beard of Evil
 * Parental Substitute: To Augustus
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: His attempts to get the Homeboys to stop selling drugs are a bit... extreme, to say the least.

Dino Ortolani
"Played By: Jon Seda"

A hot-tempered and self-destructive Italian who becomes Beecher's sponsor.


 * Decoy Protagonist: Writer Tom Fontana had to argue for this, as it was unheard of to focus on one major character, only to kill him in the first episode.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper
 * Hot Blooded
 * Kill It With Fire
 * Papa Wolf: Wouldn't allow his kids to see him in OZ.
 * Posthumous Character
 * Troubled Sympathetic Bigot

Nino Schibetta
"Played By: Tony Musante"

- "What the fuck's wrong with this country? In the old days, murder was murder. You killed someone, it was business."

A mob boss and initial leader of the Italians.


 * Affably Evil: He's quite polite and cultured most of the time.
 * Cruel and Unusual Death: He inflicts these, and is also a victim of it.
 * The Don
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 * Even Evil Has Standards
 * Honor Before Reason: His refusal to give up information on his gang.
 * Morality Pet: His recently deceased wife.

Peter Schibetta
"Played By: Eddie Malavarca"

""You tell 'em I'm gonna handle Adebisi. I'm gonna get my honor back by the end of the day. Either that fucking moolie or me is gonna be in a bodybag.""

The son of Nino, Peter is handed the Italian leadership but is unable to keep it.


 * Big Bad Wannabe
 * Break the Haughty
 * Butt Monkey: With emphasis on the butt part.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy

Antonio Nappa
"Played By: Mark Margolis"

""Like God, man can finally create man in his own image and then sit back and watch all sorts of shit hit the fan.""

Replaces the Schibetta leadership, and is far more old-school and thoughtful than Nino or Peter.


 * Affably Evil
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Cool Old Guy
 * The Don

Chucky Pancamo
"Played By: Chuck Zito"

The Italian muscle who slowly rises to become leader through circumstance.


 * Affably Evil
 * Ascended Extra: Went from being a heavy that followed Peter Schibetta around without saying much to a very prominant character.
 * Badass: He's played by Chuck Zito. The man was a bodyguard for Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone and Charles Bronson. That's a laundry list of badass people and Chuck was in charge of protecting them! He's also a former boxer and president of the Hell's Angels.
 * The Big Guy
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * The Brute
 * Brooklyn Rage
 * The Ditz: Noticeably less intelligent than O'Reilly or Adebisi.

Cyril O'Reily
"Played By: Scott William Winters"

Ryan O'Reily's mentally-retarded younger brother, who suffered a head injury protecting Ryan and now requires constant supervision. An honest and good-hearted person, he is prone to outbursts of complete rage and is easy to fool -- a bad combo in a place like Oz, which is full of Manipulative Bastard types.


 * Badass Long Hair
 * Beware the Nice Ones: He's indearingly innocent most of the time. But when he goes off, its best to be somewhere else.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's VERY good at boxing.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hair-Trigger Temper
 * Morality Pet
 * Psychopathic Manchild
 * Sanity Slippage: The entire 'Jericho' arc.
 * Siblings in Crime: with Ryan, although he probably doesn't understand what's happening much of the time and is more of an Unwitting Pawn.
 * You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: You really, REALLY wouldn't.

Timmy Kirk
"Played By: Sean Dugan"

- "How'd you like a blowjob?"

An Irish inmate who undergoes several religious conversions following a meeting with Jeremiah Cloutier.


 * ADevilAmI
 * Ascended Extra: Pretty much existed as an O'Reily subordinate who saw Shirley Bellinger's vagina before getting a major role in Seasons 4 through 6.
 * Church Militant
 * Heel Faith Revolving Door First Catholic, then Protesant, then...Satanist. Then proclaiming to be Satan himself. He's nothing if not willing to change.
 * Smug Snake
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
 * Would Hurt a Child

Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez
"Played By: Luis Guzmán"

A legendary Latino gangster, he takes over the gang from Alvarez and immediately ostracizes him for his Caucasian-like features. He controls his third of the drug trade with a respected iron fist, but eventually lack of success in offing Alvarez gets to him, and he goes nuts.


 * Badass

Enrique Morales
"Played By: David Zayas"

A highly intelligent and powerful inmate who quickly becomes the Latino leader.


 * Affably Evil
 * Badass in Charge
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 * Manipulative Bastard

Carmen "Chico" Guerra

 * Ascended Extra: The only other Latino character to survive all the way through the show, outliving several other extras with no lines.
 * Flat Character: He pretty much exists to taunt Alvarez time and again, and cozy up to whomever is leading the Latinos at the moment.

Jeremiah Cloutier
"Played By: Luke Perry"


 * And I Must Scream
 * Anti-Villain
 * The Atoner: Trying to make up for embezzling money from his church.
 * Badass Beard
 * Doing in The Wizard: His mystical, unexplained disappearance from the hospital in season 5
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * The Rival: to Mukada, but they eventually put their differences behind them and become friends.

William Cudney
"Played By: Will Cote"


 * Even Evil Has Standards: O'Reilly is sickened by him.
 * Holier Than Thou: Looks down on the inmates Gambling or lusting after women despite being a Child Killer.
 * Hypocrite
 * Revenge By Proxy
 * Would Hurt a Child

Robert Sippel
"Played By: David Lansbury"


 * The Atoner
 * Too Dumb to Live: Why would a child molester willingly come back to HIS OLD CELL just for a place to sleep? Sure enough,

Chris Keller
"Played By: Christopher Meloni

"At first I wanted unconditional surrender, then I wanted unconditional love.""

A bisexual sociopath who is obsessed with controlling and manipulating others. Recruited by Vern, who he once had a sexual relationship with, to seduce Beecher for the express purpose of breaking his heart (and arms and legs). However, Keller ends up falling for Beecher and the two spend most of the series either together or apart due to Keller's possessiveness.


 * Affably Evil
 * Becoming the Mask: He just wanted to toy with Beecher but ended up falling for him.
 * Being Evil Sucks
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder
 * The Danza
 * Depraved Bisexual
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait
 * Heel Face Revolving Door
 * If I Can't Have You: He doesn't love, he possesses.
 * It's All About Me: He really can never see past his own needs.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Very much averted; Keller wants his beloved with him so he can be happy. When Beecher finally gets paroled and is getting his life back together on the outside, Keller misses him a lot. So he tells Beecher a sob story of his sick ex-wife who supposedly needs a non-FDA-approved drug in order to ease her suffering, and begs Beecher to pick it up for her even though it would be a violation of his parole. And then he tips the cops off about the deal, resulting in Beecher's arrest and return to Oz. Beecher, understandably, was unable to forgive this and Keller didn't get the reunion he was hoping for.
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Really Gets Around
 * The Sociopath
 * Tattooed Crook: His trademark Crucifix Tattoo which was real and not make-up.

Shirley Bellinger
"Played By: Kathryn Erbe"

The sole female inmate of Oz. She sparks quite a few romance attempts, notably from Adebisi. Cunning and manipulative, she seduced many guardians to obtain small favors.


 * Affably Evil: She's quite friendly despite being completely insane.
 * Distaff Counterpart: Is pretty much this to all the other inmates.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck: Which makes her foul mouthed moments even funnier.
 * Hello Nurse: She is very attractive indeed... and she knows it.
 * Manipulative Bitch
 * Platonic Life Partners: With Richie Hanlon and Nat Ginzburg.
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: She's openly racist and turned down Adebisi for being Black. He doesn't take it well.
 * The Sociopath
 * The Smurfette Principle
 * The Vamp: She has no problems with using sex as a weapon to get what she wants.
 * Villainous Breakdown: When she is about to be executed.

Bob Rebadow
"Played By: George Morfogen

"God told me.""

An elderly inmate serving a life term after being convicted for murder committed in a fit of rage in the 1960s. As a survivor of a botched execution and prison veteran, he is considered to be quite wise and often provides fatherly advice to Beecher and others.


 * Badass: How else can you describe a guy who spends everyday with the most vicious killers and never seems remotely scared?
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Butt Monkey: Quite a bit but he always seems to recover.
 * The Cuckoolander Was Right: He's generally regarded as crazy due to claiming to talk to God. Not only does he often given very good advice and guidance, but he sometimes shows knowledge he couldn't possibly have known otherwise.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Busmalis.
 * Jaywalking Will Ruin Your Life: He was sentenced to death for a purely impulsive killing that was painted as premeditated.
 * Nice Guy
 * Odd Couple (with Busmalis)
 * Only Sane Man
 * The Old Convict

Agamemnon Busmalis
"Played By: Tom Mardirosian"


 * Adult Child
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Nice Guy
 * Nice Hat: His fishing hat.
 * Odd Couple (with Rebadow)
 * Tunnel King: Utilized for robbing banks; his reason for being in Oz (and modus operandi for several escape attempts).

Yuri Kosygin
"Played By: Olek Krupa"


 * Hired Guns: The Career Killers version.
 * Impossibly Cool Weapon: Making a shank out of the temple pieces of your glasses definitely qualifies.
 * The Mafiya
 * Put On a Bus: Thrown out of Em City and out of sight, forever.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Seems to be the quintessential cold-hearted assassin until revealing his Monster Sob Story to a fellow Mafiyoso, his stoic facade finally melting into murderous glee (the last thing we see on his face).

Donald Groves
"Played By: Sean Whitesell

Lenny Burrano: Donald Groves. You killed your parents and ate them, right?

Groves: I only ate my mom. I was saving my dad for Thanksgiving."


 * Deadpan Snarker
 * I'm a Humanitarian
 * The Stoic
 * Not So Stoic
 * The Quiet One
 * Villainous Breakdown

Diane Wittlesey
"Played By: Edie Falco"

The token good-guy prison guard who ends up involved in a relationship with Tim McManus. Was played by Edie Falco, who left the show to go onto "The Sopranos", resulting in her character being Put On a Bus at the start of season four, via an impulse marriage with a guard at Buckingham Palace. Her role as the good-guy prison guard was later filled by Sean Murphy.


 * Blackmail: Is on the receiving end.
 * Put On a Bus
 * Not So Above It All

Claire Howell
"Played By: Kristin Rhode"

A sexually aggressive and sadistic prison guard, who soon begins dominating and even raping the inmates.


 * Abhorrent Admirer: Subverted. No one finds her attractive but she uses her position to get who she wants to have sex with her.
 * Dominatrix
 * Double Standard Rape Female On Male: Exploited. She knows that no one would believe a woman could possibly rape a man. She uses this to her advantage.
 * Manipulative Bitch
 * The Vamp: A variant. Unlike most Vamps, she doesn't lure men with promises of sex, she outright molests them.

Sean Murphy
"Played By: Robert Clohessey"


 * Nice Guy
 * Not So Above It All:
 * Only Sane Man
 * Reasonable Authority Figure

Karl Metzger
"Played By: Bill Fagerbakke"


 * Meaningful Name

Father Ray Mukada
"Played By: BD Wong

"Eternal rest grant unto him, Oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine down upon him.""

A Catholic priest who was assigned to Oz as punishment for pissing off a high ranking Cardinal over church corruption. Along with Sister Peter Marie, Mukada provides spiritual guidance to the inmates, often serving as good cop to Sister Peter Marie's bad cop.


 * Meaningful Name: Ray sounds like the Japanese words for both spirit and zero.
 * My Hero Zero
 * Reassigned to Antarctica: The whole reason he works at Oz

Gloria Nathan
"Played By: Lauren Velez"

An accomplished Latina doctor who is the main provider of medical care for the inmates. Throughout the series, she develops a love-hate relationship with Ryan O'Reily, most notably when


 * Hospital Hottie
 * Precision F-Strike: Unleashed one on Dr. Frederick Garvey.
 * Rape As Drama

Governor James Devlin
"Played By: Zeljko Ivanek

"Justice has been served!""

"Devlin: You've heard of Olympus, right? Mount Olympus, Ancient Greece, where the Gods lived?
 * A God Am I

McManus: Yeah.

Devlin: There was a hierarchy even among the Gods. Mercury was lesser than Apollo, Apollo lesser than Zeus. Now you run your cell block and you think you're a God. Glynn runs a whole prison, he thinks he's a greater God. Well, guys...I am Zeus. I am omnipotent. I must be obeyed...or my thunderbolts will strike."


 * Bald of Evil: Not bald but definitely has a receeding hairline.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Hypocrite
 * It's All About Me: He will do anything to further his own ambitions.
 * Jerkass: Even before his real personality was revealed, he's still a very unpleasant man.
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat
 * Smug Snake
 * The Napoleon: Called as such by Mc Manus.
 * Villain With Good Publicity
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Subverted. Its made abundantly clear that Devlin doesn't give a shit about anything but himself.

Martin Querns
"Played By: Reg E Cathey

"Don't fuck with Querns.""

A prison unit manager who's not above cutting deals with inmates to maintain order.
 * Bad Boss
 * Tyrant Takes the Helm