Torchwood: Miracle Day/Characters

Torchwood
For the Cardiff side, please see Torchwood.

Rex Matheson


"What, you mean Wales is separate? It's like the British equivalent of New Jersey."

"Played by: Mekhi Phifer (2011-present)"

A hard-boiled CIA agent with zero patience for Torchwood's antics, Miracle Day's weirdness or Jack's... everything. Gets impaled on Miracle Day and has to live on with a giant hole in his heart. Is very reluctantly roped into joining Torchwood.

" I am sick of Torchwood acting like amateur clowns."
 * Arbitrary Skepticism: Immortality? Ok. Jack is several centuries old? Ridiculous. He also doesn't believe that aliens are the cause behind Miracle Day, and dismisses claims that Torchwood got their tech offworld.
 * Skepticism Failure: Until the events of Episode 8 occur, when Jack proves beyond a shadow of a doubt it's possible.
 * Big Damn Heroes He rescues the Torchwood crew not once, but twice.


 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Cartwright Curse
 * CIA
 * Despair Event Horizon: Met when he witness Vera's execution in the overflow camps. Taken Up to Eleven when
 * Determinator: Have an injury obtained from being impaled in the heart by a pole? No problem, just keep on going and find a way to end the Miracle. Nothing gets in the way of Rex when he sets out to accomplish a goal.
 * Eaglelander: The Mixed type.
 * Healing Factor:.
 * Hypocrite: He calls Esther out for visiting her sister in an attempt to say goodbye before the shit hit the fan. Never mind that, not twenty minutes later in the episode, Rex does the exact same thing only with his father. To be fair, however, Rex is trained for this sort of thing, while Esther isn't.
 * Impaled With Extreme Prejudice
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Emphasis on the Jerk. The Heart of Gold is in there, but it takes the Torchwood crew a bit to actually find it. He's also a casual homophobe, which is a source of endless entertainment for Jack.
 * It finally comes to the forefront when and Rex breaks down, merely asking Jack "What should I do!?", and is almost willing to
 * The Lancer: Which annoys him to no end. Torchwood's methods are too unprofessional for his taste.
 * But when he sees just what the government is doing to the Category 1s, he finally cuts all ties to them and now officially considers himself a member of Torchwood... at least to a certain degree.
 * By "The Gathering", Torchwood's lack of professionalism has actually become an in-joke between him and the other members. When he quickly finds out where they're hiding due to Gwen's presence, everyone laughs to themselves.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: An undead man hurling insults at everyone? Hi Owen!
 * For bonus points,
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jack, eventually.
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?

Esther Drummond


" I'm kind of guessing alien doesn't mean foreign."

"Played by: Alexa Havins (2011)"

A CIA analyst whose curiosity attracts too much attention. Is asked by Rex to come help out when things go bad, and soon finds herself in way over her head.


 * Action Girl: Averted. She isn't a fighter and it shows. However, she puts up an impressive and surprisingly realistic fight when actually attacked.
 * Audience Surrogate
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Break the Cutie: She tried to make sure her sister Sarah's children were taken care of by calling Social Services. Instead of working with her as she had hoped, they had Sarah committed and put the children into foster care. Of course, she only has herself to blame for not seeing it coming, since Sarah had boarded up every window out of fear of the miracle.
 * It Got Worse. Now Sarah's trying to get herself set up as a Category 1 so she can die, since she feels she has no soul.
 * Even Better! Sarah also volunteered her kids to be Category 1.
 * And once more!
 * CIA
 * Combat Pragmatist: Justified - since she's not a trained fighter, the one time we've seen her fighting for her life she reacts like anyone desperate would and goes for the eyes, crotch, etc.
 * Heroic BSOD: She has a breakdown after seemingly made Maloney a Category 1, which is about as close to killing someone as you can during the time of the Miracle. Made worse when Maloney still tries to kill her.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: Jack gives her this... only for it to mean literally nothing after she joins the team anyway.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: See Heroic BSOD.
 * The Chick
 * The Smart Guy
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Toshiko with a touch of early Gwen.
 * Voice With an Internet Connection
 * The Watson: To American audiences.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Toshiko with a touch of early Gwen.
 * Voice With an Internet Connection
 * The Watson: To American audiences.

Dr. Vera Juarez


"Looks like someone changed the rules. Miracles got... easy."

"Played by Arlene Tur (2011)"

Rex' doctor, whose first instinct when Miracle Day happens is to join as many medical panels and discussion groups as possible. Realises soon enough that talking won't save the world, and joins Torchwood.


 * Closer to Earth
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Dead Star Walking
 * Fake Guest Star: She plays a much bigger role than Rhys in a few of the episodes, but is still billed as a "special guest star."
 * Hospital Hottie
 * Jumped At the Call: When the new medical system finally gets to be too much for her to handle, she joins Torchwood.
 * As much as is possible, anyway.
 * The Medic
 * Only Sane Woman: She is getting increasingly fed up with the chaos resulting from the overburdened medical care system.
 * Raised Catholic: "I got better."
 * Spicy Latina
 * Tsundere: "Stupid Rex, it's not like I like you or anything..."
 * : Spicy, tough, no-nonsense, ambitious, determined? Yep.

Oswald Danes


"She should have run faster."

"Played by: Bill Pullman (2011)"

A convincted child rapist and murderer whose execution happened to take place on Miracle Day. Decides to manipulate the media and secure his freedom.


 * Dark Messiah: There are hints of it in episode 3, but he really skyrockets into it in episode 4.
 * Death Seeker: Jack suspects this of him, but Oswald seems content to stick with PhiCorp and his growing popularity.
 * As it turns out, he does want to die - so that he can.
 * Easily Forgiven: At the start of the series he's one of the most reviled men in all of America, even the police want to kick his ass. Then he cries on TV and people tweet with the hashtag #forgive so much it trends and apparently that means he's been redeemed.
 * "End of the Road" makes a distinction here: as a celebrity, people idolize him. As a man, they still hate him.
 * Famous Last Words:
 * Go Out With a Smile:
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * New Era Speech: This is what PhiCorp hired him for.
 * Not So Different: When talking with Jack in "Dead of Night", he concludes
 * Obviously Evil: You mean the murdering paedophile is a villain?
 * Taking You With Me
 * Villain With Good Publicity: Offered to him by Jilly. He turns it down, at first, but after some police brutality decides it might be a good idea. Unfortunately for him, that popularity was engineered to be temporary, which he finds out to his later horror.

Jilly Kitzinger


"Frankly I think if the Devil himself were to walk this earth, he'd need representation."

"Played by: Lauren Ambrose (2011-present)"

A mouthy Phicorp PR woman with impossible amounts of lipstick and her conscience very neatly tucked away. Thinks she can cope with Oswald Danes.

"Jilly: Personally? It's your hands. I can't look at your hands without thinking about what they did."
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * Devil in Plain Sight
 * Even Evil Has Standards: She admits to Danes in "Escape To L.A." that while she'll willingly represent anyone, he disgusts her.

"Vera Juarez: This is disgusting.
 * Evil Redhead
 * Karma Houdini: Sure, she ends up on the run from the CIA, but.
 * Lady in Red
 * Manipulative Bitch
 * Meaningful Name: Her alias under the Families is Lucy Staten Meredith.
 * Mook Promotion: She starts out as just another pawn of the Families via PhiCorp, but she impresses them enough that they let her in on their secrets and make her a part of their plans.
 * Motor Mouth
 * Not Quite Dead:
 * Perky Female Minion: To PhiCorp.

Jilly Kitzinger: I KNOW!!"

The Three Families
"We are everywhere. We are always. We are no one. And soon the families will rise."


 * Ancient Conspiracy:
 * Big Bad
 * Evilly Affable: The finale shows Cousin and Mother to be the epitome of this. Mother is courteous, and speaks wonderfully of Jack and the Blessing. Cousin speaks with a tone that makes him seem like a preacher. Both of them constantly speak in nice, calm tones, with smiles on their faces... even as they explain their plan to
 * Mysterious Past: Jack had dealings with them in the past, though the reference is vague enough that even he doesn't seem to remember the incident.
 * Time for Plan B: Their reaction to the "Miracle Day" plan failing is to prepare to activate "Plan B"
 * The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Even at the end, their ultimate goals are still not very well-explained.
 * Voice With an Internet Connection
 * We Are Everywhere: Yet at the same time are "no one".
 * Which is actually correct:
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Poor Ellis Hartley Monroe.

The Blessing
 * Big Dumb Object
 * Eldritch Abomination: Most likely.
 * Starfish Aliens
 * Stupid Good: It really does care about humanity, hence why it tried to impose Jack's imortality on people who would otherwise die, not knowing it was aiding The Three Families' cause in the process.
 * Unfortunate Character Design: It's a giant vagina. A blood vessel was probably the intended effect.