24/Characters

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland)
The show's central character, and the only person to appear in every single episode. His defining traits include his conservative tactics, incredibly quick thinking, and Kiefer Sutherland's voice.


 * Anti-Hero (Type IV. Definitely Type IV)
 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Grandpa: By Season 7, Kim has a daughter.
 * Blessed with Suck
 * Cartwright Curse -- Teri's dead, Audrey's gone, and the latest victim is
 * Cowboy Cop
 * Crazy Prepared: Egregiously so in many cases, particularly towards the end of Season 8 where he outwits absolutely everyone that tries to stop his Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and only backs down at the last possible moment by choice.
 * Fake Defector
 * Faking the Dead
 * Fan Nickname: Darth Bauer from Season 8. See Implacable Man below.
 * Heroic Sacrifice (Countless times, and he actually summarises his losses in season 7.)
 * Hot-Blooded
 * I Did What I Had to Do
 * Implacable Man (Season 8's Roaring Rampage of Revenge)
 * Important Haircut: In the last moments of the season 2 premiere.
 * Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique (Trope Namer)
 * Kick the Son of a Bitch: Frequently, especially killing a pedophile who was testifying for immunity in order to infiltrate Wald's group.
 * Made of Iron: He shrugs off what should be crippling injuries all the time.
 * Memetic Badass: He is the only man alive who can shrug off a Death Note.
 * Neck Snap: He's done this to villains 10 times, 5 of those with his feet. One of them was even done with the back of his leg!
 * Papa Wolf
 * Rabid Cop
 * Rock Bottom
 * Shoot the Dog: Many, many examples, but what stands out the most is probably when he shot  in the leg during an interrogation.
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: Twice in season 6.
 * Weapon of Choice: his two standard sidearms are both Cool Guns: a Sig P229 in the first two seasons, and a USP Tactical for the rest of the show.

Teri Bauer (Leslie Hope)
Jack's wife, with whom he had a trial separation just prior to the first season. A graphic designer and homemaker, she gets sucked into the events of Day 1 and pushed to her limits.
 * Action Survivor
 * Dead Guy, Junior: Kim's daughter is named after her.
 * My Greatest Failure: for Jack
 * Sacrificial Lion: As soon as she died its was pretty much the writers' policy that any of your favorite main characters could, and most of the time WOULD, die.

Kimberly Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert)
The Kimberly. Something of a Bratty Teenage Daughter when first introduced, but being dragged into Day 1's intrigues turned that around fast. Nonetheless a lot of people felt that her presence in Days 2 and 3 were kind of forced, and cries of irritation could be heard whenever Elisha Cuthbert's name appeared in the credits.
 * Action Survivor
 * Contractual Immortality: Word of God was that they could never kill her off because, after Teri's death, for Jack to lose his daughter too would throw him headlong over the Despair Event Horizon (he even says as much late in Season 7). This didn't please many fans, as she is The Kimberly--the Former Trope Namer for "Damsel Scrappy."
 * Revenge Before Reason: See Victor Drazen below. There was also Gary Matheson from season 2 who was almost able to get away with beating his child and killing his wife but couldn't resist trying to kill Kim when he realized she was in the house.
 * Took a Level in Badass: She gets closer to being a genuine Action Girl each season she shows up, and arguably is one in Season 7 (she sure kicks some ass when she needs to).
 * Trapped by Mountain Lions: Trope Namer. Are you starting to understand some of the antipathy towards the character?

Graem Bauer (Paul McCrane)
Jack Bauer's less badass brother, who, along with their father, was in league with.
 * Actor Allusion:
 * Bald of Evil
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Fan Nickname (Bluetooth, for his use of an electronic earpiece in communicating with .)
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere
 * Knight Templar
 * Smug Snake
 * Spell My Name with an "S": During Day 5 he was often referred to as "Graham" (even by the show's captions) until Day 6 revealed his name as "Graem Bauer".
 * The Dragon: Closest thing to Phillip.

Phillip Bauer (James Cromwell)
Jack Bauer's father and the closest thing to a Big Bad in the sixth season. He was a co-conspirator of  in the David Palmer conspiracy and later attempted to move his operations to China after he was discovered to be a criminal.
 * Affably Evil
 * Archnemesis Dad
 * Bad Boss:
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Big Bad Duumvirate (With Cheng Zhi)
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Offing the Offspring
 * Smug Snake

David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert)
A Democratic senator running for President. More pertinently, a black senator running for President, and then proving he could do a pretty damn good job of it once he got the office. Is believed to have positively influenced the successful campaign of current Real Life United States President Barack Obama.


 * Badass More-Normal: Comparatively speaking. For obvious reasons he doesn't fight in the field like Jack, but that doesn't make him any less awesome. Assassination attempts, threats of war, trouble his wife... This guy will endure anything thrown at him for the good of the country.
 * Bald Black Leader Guy
 * Being Evil Sucks: He found out the hard way in Season 3. He got Sherry to help him with Alan Milliken. This action causes the deaths of four people by the end of the day.
 * Big Good:
 * Black Dude Dies First: In the first season, the fear of this trope is lampshaded by more or less everybody.
 * Determinator / Made of Iron:
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He never makes the full leap, but Season 3 especially seems to turn the entire world against him and try to force him to make some really bad (in every sense of the word) decisions.
 * Our Presidents Are Different (Target, Personable, Iron and Minority)
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist

James Prescott (Alan Dale)
David Palmer’s vice president and briefly acting president during Day 2.


 * The Starscream

John Keeler (Geoff Pierson)
A presumably Republican Senator introduced in Season 3 running against David Palmer's re-election campaign for the presidency.


 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Like Wayne Palmer later in the show, an assassination attempt on him left him in critical condition, never to be mentioned again, resulting in Charles Logan being sworn in as president
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Like Wayne Palmer later in the show, an assassination attempt on him left him in critical condition, never to be mentioned again, resulting in Charles Logan being sworn in as president

Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin)
John Keeler’s inept and cowardly vice president, who is forced to step up when Keeler is taken out of commission.


 * The Atoner: In Season 6.
 * Beware the Silly Ones: Probably one of the biggest examples in the series.
 * Knight of Cerebus: Despite the occasionally hilarious moments and his personality in general, things always seem get worse whenever he shows up.
 * Knight Templar
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Knight of Cerebus: Despite the occasionally hilarious moments and his personality in general, things always seem get worse whenever he shows up.
 * Knight Templar
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Knight of Cerebus: Despite the occasionally hilarious moments and his personality in general, things always seem get worse whenever he shows up.
 * Knight Templar
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Knight of Cerebus: Despite the occasionally hilarious moments and his personality in general, things always seem get worse whenever he shows up.
 * Knight Templar
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Knight of Cerebus: Despite the occasionally hilarious moments and his personality in general, things always seem get worse whenever he shows up.
 * Knight Templar
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Wham! Episode:

Hal Gardner (Ray Wise)
Logan’s vice president, who takes control after


 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Red Herring

Wayne Palmer (DB Woodside)
David's brother who is president during Day 6. He is constantly underminded by his Straw Conservative vice-president, and is nearly killed in an attempt on his life by more Straw Conservatives wanting badly to go to war with the Middle East.


 * Authority Equals Asskicking: A former Marine, Wayne helps Jack kill Henderson's mercenaries in Season 5.
 * Bald Black Leader Guy
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Our Presidents Are Different: Our presidents kill conspiracy enforcers who helped kill his brother.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Took a Level in Badass: Went from verging on The Millstone to his brother in Day 3 to helping Jack dispatch hardened killers on Day 5.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: While a newspaper from Redemption suggests that Wayne died as a result of complications from the attack, Word of God states that he believes Wayne is alive.

Noah Daniels (Powers Boothe)
Wayne Palmer’s ambitious and aggressive vice president who later becomes president before losing his bid to Allison Taylor.


 * Hot-Blooded
 * Straw Conservative

Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones)
Continuing 24's love affair with the "Our Presidents Are Different" trope, Allison Taylor is a Republican woman. On the whole, she did a pretty good job of taking after David Palmer... at least during Season 7.


 * Brunette Republican Sex Kitten (older version)
 * Corrupt the Cutie: Former President Logan does this to her in Season 8, luring President Taylor away from her ideals...with utterly disastrous results for everyone. Eventually results in Taylor having a My God, What Have I Done? moment towards the end, and ultimately choosing to face the consequences of her actions, fully aware that it will mean the end of her career. (Meanwhile, Logan attempts to take the cowardly way out and.
 * Heroic BSOD: At the end of Season 8, after she realizes how former President Logan has corrupted her and twisted her away from her ideals. Overlapped with My God, What Have I Done?.
 * Iron Lady
 * Married to the Job: Ultimately decides to in the name of upholding the law. Her devotion to her job leads her to go to questionable lengths to uphold the treaty.
 * My God, What Have I Done? (Cherry Jones notes that "at least [she gets] personal if not professional redemption.")
 * Not So Stoic
 * Our Presidents Are Different (Minority, Iron, Personable)
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: Unfortunately, Charles Logan saw her as being ripe for a Corrupt the Cutie.
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: Unfortunately, Charles Logan saw her as being ripe for a Corrupt the Cutie.

Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower)
A loyal and dedicated Secret Service agent who is notable as being the only character besides Jack to have appeared in all 8 seasons.


 * Ascended Extra
 * Badass
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Bodyguard Crush
 * Implacable Man
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right

Audrey Raines (Kim Raver)
Jack's girlfriend during Day 4 and the daughter of Secretary of Defense James Heller. After Day 5, she ends up being tortured and brainwashed by the Chinese so they could force Jack to give them a Russian nuclear circuitboard.


 * Action Survivor
 * Cassandra Truth: Heller sums it up to Jack, "Everything you touch ends up dead or ruined." Jack later calls Heller out on his betrayal of him.
 * I Have Your Wife: Again, girlfriend. Jack gets her back, but the torture has made her detached, though Word of God states that she got better.
 * Took a Level in Badass

James Heller (William Devane)
Audrey's father, the Secretary of Defense and at one time between Seasons 3 and 4, Jack's boss.


 * Badass Grandpa
 * Heroic Sacrifice:Drives his car off the edge of a cliff to prevent Jack and Audrey to have to choose between his safety.
 * I Have Your Wife: Targeted by Christopher Henderson's men to try to secure his release.
 * It's All About Me: He views his son's actions as a reflection on him rather than anything he chose on his own.
 * Jerkass: To his son and later to Jack.
 * Overprotective Dad: Gets a restraining order put on Jack after Season 6, and blames him for what happened to her. Jack calls him out on it and claims that he can't accept the fact that it was her decision to search for him.
 * Horribly averted with his son. He quite clearly dislikes him and has no problem letting CTU torture him for information, having little regard for him outside of his use or threat to him politically.
 * Parental Favoritism: Pretty blatantly prefers Audrey to his son Richard. To the point he has no problem letting CTU subject him to nightmarish torture methods for information.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: To his son Richard. Its pretty clear he doesn't like him at all.
 * Where Did We Go Wrong??: Has this view of his son.

Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor)
President of the Islamic Republic of Kamistan who was set to sign a peace treaty with America that day, but  conspired against him to kill him.


 * Authority Equals Asskicking: A former IRK Army officer, he helps Jack kill some  commandos trying to capture him.
 * Our Presidents Are Different
 * Papa Wolf
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Although more Lawful Neutral during the period of time where he goes overboard in trying to weed out traitors after the assassination attempt.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Has an affair with Meredith Reed.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Has an affair with Meredith Reed.

Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard)
One of the show's most beloved characters, Tony was essentially The Lancer and Number Two to Jack for a long time. Killed in Season 5, he returned in Season 7


 * Anti-Hero: Type V in Season 7, when he admits that he has done "a lot of bad things" in the past, and is willing to let a security guard who is collaborating with them die for the sake of expediency.
 * Author Appeal: Tony's Cubs mug is a product of actor Carlos Bernard being a huge fan of the team.
 * Back from the Dead
 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Big Damn Heroes (his stands out as the moment he earned a LOT of popularity)
 * Catch Phrase: "Alright?"
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Has, at various points, performed the double-cross, the triple-cross, and the quadruple-cross.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him: Subverted.
 * Foil: To Jack in almost every way, and most tellingly how they each react to threats against their wives. Jack is outwardly berserk while remaining inwardly very clear-headed and pragmatic, while Tony's reaction on Day 3 shows he's capable of masking a complete inner meltdown under his usual soft-spoken, businesslike demeanor.
 * (In the season 7 finale)
 * Foreshadowing: Season 3 pilot shows him turning down a job offer in DC because there's no openings for Michelle. This willingness to put her well being first would cost Tony dearly in the finale.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door
 * The Lancer: For a while, anyway.
 * The Mole: Was played up as a possibility in Season 1 until was revealed as the real mole.
 * You Are in Command Now: Gets this on Day 2 and on Day 4, the latter being an example that's borderline hilarious, but somehow, manages to fall under the Rule of Cool.
 * The Mole: Was played up as a possibility in Season 1 until was revealed as the real mole.
 * You Are in Command Now: Gets this on Day 2 and on Day 4, the latter being an example that's borderline hilarious, but somehow, manages to fall under the Rule of Cool.
 * You Are in Command Now: Gets this on Day 2 and on Day 4, the latter being an example that's borderline hilarious, but somehow, manages to fall under the Rule of Cool.

George Mason (Xander Berkeley)
The first in a long line of Obstructive Bureaucrats on 24, Mason nonetheless proved himself to be a Reasonable Authority Figure when the chips were down. This is, sadly, more than can be said about some of the others who followed in his path.


 * Convenient Terminal Illness: As he is dying, he volunteers to take Jack's place in delivering the nuclear device to its destination, saying it would be less painful than dying of the symptoms...
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Dare to Be Badass: ...and partly because he believes that if Jack is a true hero, he should live and make things right with his daughter.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Probably the most prominent and legendary until Chloe came along.
 * Heroic Sacrifice
 * It Has Been an Honor
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: At first. Then becomes;
 * Reasonable Authority Figure

Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth)
A CTU worker who spends most of her time in the operations center—the first Voice with an Internet Connection of many. Was involved in a longstanding Will They or Won't They? with Tony.


 * Badass
 * Cassandra Truth (on Day 2)
 * Feminine Women Can Cook: Falls under Type 2, the "Independent Successful Career Woman" who's inept in the kitchen. Notably, it's mainly a source of ribbing from Tony and not really used to ding her femininity at all.
 * Hot Amazon: Tony think so.
 * Hotter and Sexier: She's always attractive, but gets a noticeably more cleavage-tastic outfit at the start of Day 3.
 * I Have Your Wife:
 * Lady of War
 * They Do: With Tony.
 * Working with the Ex: Divorced Tony after he let his life fall apart after being released from prison, leading to some tension between them on Day 4, but got back with him at some point between Seasons 4 and 5.
 * Working with the Ex: Divorced Tony after he let his life fall apart after being released from prison, leading to some tension between them on Day 4, but got back with him at some point between Seasons 4 and 5.

Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale)
Jack's partner during Season 3. He is secretly having a relationship with Kim.


 * Badass
 * The Lancer
 * The Lancer

Bill Buchanan (James Morrison)
Bill was a departure for the 24 writers. Most of the time, The Captain of CTU is either a Stupid Boss or Obstructive Bureaucrat from the Armchair Military, or a Reasonable Authority Figure who has learned to trust Jack, but for that reason has become hamstrung by his own Stupid Bosses. Bill was the only CTU leader who managed to retain power despite allying with Jack. This made him one of Jack's most powerful supporters, since he not only had the authority Jack didn't, but was willing to throw it around at Jack's discretion.


 * Alliterative Name
 * Badass Beard (In season 5 onwards)
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Benevolent Boss
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Reasonable Authority Figure

Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub)
Perhaps the classic Voice with an Internet Connection on the show, Chloe's defining traits were her proficiency at Hollywood Hacking, her Deadpan Snarkery, and her unshakeable loyalty to Jack. In the end, she supplanted Tony as the (non-Jack) character who appeared in the most episodes.


 * An Hour in the Limelight: Day 8: 4-5 AM where Jack and Cole spend the hour exchanging fire with terrorists and Chloe works to restore power to CTU.
 * Ambiguous Disorder
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Spock
 * Took a Level in Badass
 * Voice with an Internet Connection

Edgar Stiles (Louis Lombardi)
Like Chloe, was a hacker at CTU. He


 * All Love Is Unrequited: Implied to be this for Chloe.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection

Ryan Chappelle (Paul Schulze)
Jerkass who used his authority to interfere with Jack and co. in the early seasons. He became more sympathetic when


 * Face Death with Dignity:.
 * He Knows Too Much:.
 * Jerkass
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat

Lynn McGill (Sean Astin)
A Stupid Boss who

"Harry Swinton: So we're all going to die... because you were scared?"
 * Heroic Sacrifice / Redemption Equals Death:
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat
 * Stupid Boss
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Lynn is Samwise Gamgee?
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom:.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Gets a fairly powerful one from Harry Swinton, the guard watching over him.

Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke)
A former CTU agent and colleague of Jack's, making it personal.


 * Arch Enemy: To Jack Bauer. She shares the role with  for the series, though she's   and always appeared as a hired Mook for the season's Big Bad while never reaching that status herself.
 * It's All About Me: She doesn't care about anyone other than herself.
 * Karmic Death: Dies in the exact same room where she
 * The Mole: A Double Subversion. She is first suspected at the end of the second episode, but this proves false, then it's confirmed at the end of the penultimate episode of the first season.
 * Only in It For the Money: As Jack says "You don't even have a cause; you don't believe in anything. You would sell anyone and anything out to the highest bidder."
 * Smug Snake
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: How she dies.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: How she dies.

Curtis Manning (Roger Cross)
One of the Directors of Field Operations for CTU.
 * Badass
 * Hero of Another Story

Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson)
The Special Agent in Charge at the New York branch of CTU.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Following Character Development.
 * Stupid Boss

Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
Fellow CTU NY agent who ultimately helps Jack with his.
 * Badass
 * Horrible Judge of Character:
 * The Lancer: Usually, anyway.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Tony Almeida.
 * For Jack as well: there was some talk that Prinze Jr. might star in a Spin-Off after 24 came to an end.

Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff)
A CTU mole working for the Russians who has a shady past. She was engaged to fellow agent Cole Ortiz before showing her true colors.


 * Blondes Are Evil
 * He Knows Too Much: What she does to Bill Prady, simultaneously revealing herself as a mole to the audience.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Dana is Starbuck?
 * The Mole
 * Pet the Dog: Her feelings for Cole at least seemed somewhat genuine. She avoided killing him when escaping from him and even stroked his cheek late in the season.
 * Smug Snake
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She's like a Michelle Dessler / Nina Myers hybrid.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She's like a Michelle Dessler / Nina Myers hybrid.

Renee Walker (Annie Wersching)
An FBI agent introduced in Season 7, Renee quickly distinguished herself as a Distaff Counterpart to Jack, not to mention a Supporting Protagonist, telling Jack's story from another character's point of view. Had the show gone on longer, she probably would have had an impact similar to Chloe and Tony.


 * Action Girl and Dark Action Girl
 * Anti-Hero: Type IV or even V in Season 8.
 * Fiery Redhead (Averted... at first)
 * Broken Bird (Season 8)
 * Hot Chick in a Badass Suit: Wears a suit for the first few episodes of Season 8.
 * No Kill Like Overkill: What she does to Vladimir Laitanan.
 * Supporting Protagonist
 * Took a Level in Badass
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: subtly; in fact the show took some effort to downplay it during Season 7.
 * Took a Level in Badass
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: subtly; in fact the show took some effort to downplay it during Season 7.

Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling)
FBI special agent-in-charge (read: Stupid Boss who hinders Jack) who had feelings for Renee.


 * All Love Is Unrequited
 * Butt Monkey
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Good Is Boring
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: What he eventually does.
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: What he eventually does.

Janis Gold (Janeane Garofalo)
Chloe’s FBI counterpart.


 * Voice with an Internet Connection

Sean Hillinger
An FBI analyst and


 * Jerkass
 * Your Cheating Heart
 * Your Cheating Heart

Mandy (Mia Kirshner)
A female assassin-for-hire with the distinction of being a Depraved Bisexual, and, unusually for most bisexuals on TV and certainly anyone on this show, not only


 * Depraved Bisexual
 * Karma Houdini
 * Psycho for Hire

Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald)
David Palmer's manipulative ex, who gets involved in shady schemes in order to try and either become First Lady or blackmail President Palmer.


 * Catch Phrase: "Let me help you..."
 * Lady Macbeth
 * Pet the Dog: Helping Jack stop Peter Kingsley.
 * Psycho Supporter
 * Talking the Monster to Death: Verbally reams a man so hard that he has a heart attack and dies. It's possibly her Evil CMoA.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: See above entry.
 * Token Evil Teammate: Her ex-husband keeps calling her back into service for pretty much exactly this reason, and they both know it.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Until season 3 when she sold David out for discarding her again.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess

Cheng Zhi (Tzi Ma)
A Chinese agent who was a reoccuring enemy of Jack Bauer. He originally wanted justice for the Chinese consul, who was accidentally killed during a raid led by Jack Bauer, but after he failed to break Jack, he decided to use Jack for something else...


 * Big Bad Duumvirate (With Phillip Bauer)
 * Motive Decay
 * Yellow Peril
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: What he started off as.


 * Big Bad Duumvirate
 * Alternatively
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Unwitting Pawn: The IRK were this to him,.
 * Villain Ball:
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Unwitting Pawn: The IRK were this to him,.
 * Villain Ball:
 * Villain Ball:

Ira Gaines (Michael Massee)
A mercenary leader who was the first major antagonist in the series. Originally he came across as the Big Bad, though he was revealed to be The Dragon to the Drazens.

spoiler: [[Better to Die Than Be Killed: Forced Jack to kill him so he didn't have to face The Drazens
 * Bad Boss: One of his defining moments is shooting a Mook in the head to show him what "dead" was, after it turned out Janet York wasn't quite dead. He was also on the recieving end of this which he was very aware of
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Disc One Final Boss
 * The Dragon
 * Evilly Affable
 * Evil Redhead
 * I Have Your Wife (And your daughter)
 * Smug Snake
 * spoiler:[[Suicide by Cop: Does this because he thinks the Drazens would do worse to him.
 * What Could Have Been: Gaines would have been the Big Bad of the series had it not been picked up.

Victor Drazen (Dennis Hopper)
Victor Drazen was a Serbian war criminal whose heinous crimes lead to David Palmer sending a team led by Jack Bauer to assassinate him.


 * Bad Boss
 * Big Bad
 * Did Not Do the Research: Dražen is actually a Croatian first name while Victor, Andrei and Alexis do not belong in the stock of Serbian names.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Revenge Before Reason: Victor really should have just gotten out of the country rather than wasting his time chasing Kim around to use as bait.
 * Shoot the Hostage: Drazen shows how much of a monster he is by shooting his friend's daughter whom Jack had taken hostage when there was absolutely no need to do so simply because he didn't want to deal with a hostage situation, then later kills his saddened and enraged friend.
 * Shoot the Hostage: Drazen shows how much of a monster he is by shooting his friend's daughter whom Jack had taken hostage when there was absolutely no need to do so simply because he didn't want to deal with a hostage situation, then later kills his saddened and enraged friend.

Andre Drazen (Zeljko Ivanek)
The eldest son of Victor Drazen, and very much the acting Big Bad until his father is released from prison.


 * Bad Boss: So much that Gaines, himself a Bad Boss, chose to  rather than face Andre's wrath. Gaines' own Dragon, Kevin Carroll, didn't seem to realize this and tried to  and negogiate with Andre, though
 * Bald of Evil
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Dragon: to his father.
 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul
 * Revenge Before Reason
 * Though towards the end Andre starts to see reason and tells his father Victor they should flee the country, only for Victor to play it straight and try to lure Jack into a death trap
 * Villainous Breakdown: Suffers a brief one after, and tries to kill Kim before being stopped by Victor, who reminds Andre that they needed her.

Alexis Drazen (Misha Collins)
The younger son of Victor Drazen and The Dragon to Andrei.


 * The Brute
 * Revenge Before Reason

Joseph Wald (Jon Gries)
An American terrorist ring leader who was responsible for. He was a pawn for the Islamic terrorist group led by Syed Ali.


 * Bald of Evil
 * Right-Wing Militia Fanatic
 * Unwitting Pawn: By Nina Myers and Syed Ali.

Syed Ali (Francesco Quinn)
The leader of an Islamic terrorist group. He intended on denotating a nuclear warhead in Los Angeles.


 * Beard of Evil
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones (Jack breaks him by )
 * He Knows Too Much:.
 * Unwitting Pawn (By Peter Kingsley)

Marie Warner (Laura Harris)
The sister of Kate Warner who is really helping Ali detonate a nuke in LA.

"Marie: I killed Reza... and I loved him. What makes you think I would care about you and Dad?"
 * Blondes Are Evil
 * Cain and Abel: The Cain to Kate.
 * The Dragon: To Ali.
 * Emotionless Girl: By the end of the season, she's become one.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted.


 * Psycho for Hire

Peter Kingsley (Tobin Bell)
An American businessman who helped smuggle in a nuclear warhead and participated in attempting to frame Middle Eastern countries in order to start a war in order to profit off of oil. Though the Big Bad of season 2, he was actually working for Max and a group of oil businessmen


 * Bald of Evil
 * Beard of Evil
 * Big Bad
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Smug Snake
 * Typecasting: Gee, who would've guessed Jigsaw was a villain?

Max and Alexander Trepkos
Max was the mastermind behind the events of the second season as well as the Game. Trepkos was one of his associates.


 * Big Bad (Max, in The Game)
 * Bigger Bad: Max and Trepkos played this role in season 2.
 * Big Bad Duumvirate
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Sequel Hook, The Resolution Will Not Be Televised, What Happened to the Mouse? (Max gets his comeuppance in The Game, but Trepkos's fate is unknown)

Ramon Salazar (Joaquim de Almeida)
A Mexican drug lord whom Jack Bauer had put in prison, and whom Jack then had to break out of prison in order to prevent him and his brother Hector (Vincent Laresca) from releasing a deadly virus.


 * The Cartel
 * Disc One Final Boss
 * Hannibal Lecture: Lots, if you think about it.
 * Siblings in Crime
 * Smug Snake
 * Unwitting Pawn (By Michael Amador)

Hector Salazar (Vincent Laresca)
Younger brother of Ramon Salazar who is left in charge of the drug business while Ramon is in prison.


 * The Cartel
 * Disc One Final Boss
 * Siblings in Crime

Michael Amador (Greg Ellis)
The dealer of the virus that the Salazars and Nina intended to purchase the virus from. Too bad for them he already sold it to Stephen Saunders.


 * Arms Dealer
 * Smug Snake
 * Unwitting Pawn (By Stephen Saunders)

Stephen Saunders (Paul Blackthorne)
A former British agent who helped Jack in the attempt to assassinate Victor Drazen, and was believed to be dead, though he turned out to be alive and emerged as the Big Bad of the third season responsible for using the virus to attack the US.


 * Alliterative Name
 * Being Tortured Makes You Evil
 * Big Bad
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones (He has a daughter, who is used as leverage against him)
 * Evil Brit
 * Fallen Hero
 * I Have Your Wife (To Tony)
 * Knight Templar
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Smug Snake
 * Terrorists Without a Cause

Navi Araz (Nestor Serrano)
Islamic terrorist ally of Habib Marwan.


 * Abusive Parent: to his son Behrooz.
 * Disc One Final Boss
 * Hair-Trigger Temper

Habib Marwan (Arnold Vosloo)
Islamic terrorist mastermind and Big Bad of the fourth season.he planned a series of attacks against the US and had several backup plans as well.


 * Affably Evil
 * The Bad Guy Wins: Marwan certainly thought he won . It's obviously subverted as.
 * Bald of Evil
 * Big Bad
 * Hey, It's That Guy! (Arnold Vosloo?)
 * Gambit Roulette: One major criticism of the character, and Season 4 in general, is how utterly ridiculous his plot (and constant escaping) was.
 * [GoOutWithASmile: Gives a SlasherSmile that would make TheJoker proud as he commits suicide by forcing Jack to drop him to his death].
 * Knight Templar
 * Offscreen Villain Dark Matter (As a result of the writers stretching him across more than half the season as the villain, he appears to have nigh-unlimited resources)
 * Say My Name: Other characters on the show drop his name so incessantly that it quickly descends into Narm. Some viewers even made Drinking Games based around it.
 * Villian Exit Stage Left: One of the masters of this trope in any form of fiction, and the master of it in 24.
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Say My Name: Other characters on the show drop his name so incessantly that it quickly descends into Narm. Some viewers even made Drinking Games based around it.
 * Villian Exit Stage Left: One of the masters of this trope in any form of fiction, and the master of it in 24.
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * The Man Behind the Man

Ivan Erwich (Mark Sheppard)
The leader of a terrorist organization of an unnamed Russian colony seeking independence. He was the intended pawn of a group of American conspirators, however his Dragon saw through their ruse.


 * Knight Templar
 * You Have Failed Me...

Vladimir Bierko (Julian Sands)
The leader of a terrorist organization of an unnamed Russian colony seeking independence. He was the intended pawn of a group of American conspirators, however his Dragon saw through their ruse.


 * Affably Evil
 * Disc One Final Boss
 * Knight Templar
 * Western Terrorists
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy
 * You Have Failed Me...: He kills his Dragon Ivan Erwich for trusting the Americans and wasting one of the nerve gas canisters on America... Which he then did himself a few episodes later.

Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller)
Jack Bauer's former mentor whom Jack had reported for taking bribes. In later years he was The Dragon for


 * Broken Pedestal: Was Jack's mentor, but who got fired when Jack learned he was taking bribes
 * The Dragon
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 * Evil Counterpart: He even has a friendship with.
 * Face Heel Turn
 * Genre Savvy
 * I Have Your Wife
 * Retired Badass
 * Smug Snake
 * Villainy Discretion Shot (His killing of an informant's young daughter and the EMT's trying to rescue her is never brought up)

Abu Fayed (Adoni Maropis)
A terrorist ringleader who wanted to use suitcase nukes against the US and who wanted to kill Jack Bauer for accidentally torturing his brother to death. Was the intended pawn of Dmitri Gredenko, but that didn't work out too well.


 * Bald of Evil
 * Beard of Evil
 * Big Bad Duumvirate (With Dmitri Gredenko)
 * Disc One Final Boss

Dmitri Gredenko (Rade Šerbedžija)
An Ex-Soviet General who wanted to establish Russia as a superpower again by manipulating the US and the Middle East into destroying each other, using Fayed as a scapegoat.


 * Beard of Evil
 * Big Bad Duumvirate (With Abu Fayed)
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: "The Arabs are living in the dark ages yet they think they rule the world." He's a racist against Arabs.
 * Renegade Russian

Benjamin Juma (Tony Todd)
The genocidal dictator of Sangala after taking over the country in Redemption, he attempts to force the US to give up their attempts to remove him from power. When this fails,.


 * And Your Little Dog, Too (Threatens to torture and disfigure Olivia Taylor if Allison doesn't come out of the panic room.)
 * Bald Black Leader Guy (Inverted)
 * Bald of Evil
 * Big Bad Duumvirate (With Jonas Hodges)
 * Child Soldiers: Not above using these in his army.
 * Evil Overlord
 * Four-Star Badass
 * People's Republic of Tyranny: His army is called the "People's Freedom Army" and is used to overthrow a parliamentary democracy in favor of a military dictatorship.
 * Released to Elsewhere: Kills a hostage when President Taylor asks him to release the others and then asks her if she would like him to "release" any others.
 * You Look Familiar: Tony Todd appeared in season 3 as a detective investigating Alan Milliken's death.
 * Large and In Charge
 * Scary Black Man (And how.)

Ike Dubaku (Hakeem Kae-Kazim)
Juma's right hand man who Juma sent to the US to try and force the US government to withdraw troops from Sangala. However his loyalty to Juma is questionable as he has his sights on an American girl.


 * Badass in a Nice Suit
 * Child Soldiers: He appeared to be in charge of one sect of them.
 * The Dragon
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Very, very confusingly done with the black American woman with the wheelchair-bound sister. He initially claims he's going to kill her, but doesn't go through with it.
 * He Knows Too Much / You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Killed by one of Juma's men after his escape attempt fails to stop him from revealing
 * Scary Black Man

Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight)
A Corrupt Corporate Executive who suffered one big Villainous Breakdown after the government began cracking down on private military companies. He aided Juma in taking over Sangala in exchange for a deadly pathogen which he intended to use to hold the US hostage.


 * Affably Evil
 * Big Bad Duumvirate: With Benjamin Juma.
 * Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word
 * The Chessmaster
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 * Knight Templar: Thinks he's helping his country.
 * Private Military Contractors: His business.
 * Villainous Breakdown: He was going through one the entire time and it just got worse over time.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist
 * Villainous Breakdown: He was going through one the entire time and it just got worse over time.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist

Cara Bowden (Amy Price-Francis)
The intermediary for the members of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness in season 7; was also in a relationship with.
 * I Have Your Wife: Threatens Jonas Hodges's family to get him to take a suicide pill.
 * The Dragon: To Alan Wilson.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Blackmails Jonas Hodges into attempting suicide by threatening his family to keep the suspicion off of the rest of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Blackmails Jonas Hodges into attempting suicide by threatening his family to keep the suspicion off of the rest of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Blackmails Jonas Hodges into attempting suicide by threatening his family to keep the suspicion off of the rest of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Blackmails Jonas Hodges into attempting suicide by threatening his family to keep the suspicion off of the rest of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness.

Alan Wilson (Will Patton)
The mysterious head of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness that appears in season 7. He wanted to use the pathogen in order to frame Muslims in order to try and get the US government to back off on their crackdown of private military companies. . Served as the Big Bad of season 7, though arguably he was more of a Bigger Bad, since  was the actual antagonist.


 * Bald of Evil
 * Big Bad
 * BigBad Overload: Arguably, the Omniscient Council of Vagueness was a group of multiple Big Bads, with Wilson merely being the most influential, so he would be this with Jonas Hodges and the others shown in season 7
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Dull Surprise: How Will Patton played him.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere
 * Serial Escalation:
 * Save the Villain:
 * Smug Snake
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Unwitting Pawn:

Vladimir Laitanan (Callum Keith Rennie)
A Russian mob boss who Renee knew while she was undercover with The Mafiya. Attempted to rape Renee during that time and she didn't forget it.


 * Asshole Victim
 * Ax Crazy
 * Eye Scream: Renee gives one to Vlad with a steak knife before stabbing him an additional 14 times.
 * Jerkass
 * Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil
 * No Kill Like Overkill

Sergei Bazhaev (Jurgen Prochnow)
Head of a Russian crime syndicate who helps  gain nuclear rods to transport into Manhattan.


 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He runs the syndicate with his 2 sons, and he later asks for witness protection for him and his family for helping expose the Russian conspiracy. On the other hand...
 * Kick the Dog: He kills his son who was exposed to the rods, largely to punish the other son for his attempt to treat him.
 * Pet the Dog: He shows sympathy for his son afterwards, making sure he ends up with the angels and says he doesn't care where he himself ends up.

Farhad Hassan (Akbar Kurtha)
The brother to President Omar Hassan who opposes the peace treaty because he thinks it would make the IRK look weak.




 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Single-handedly eliminates three NYPD officers sent to apprehend him, who attempted to do so on their own against Jack's orders.
 * Motive Rant:
 * The Mole: Double Subverted.
 * Motive Rant:
 * The Mole: Double Subverted.
 * The Mole: Double Subverted.

Samir Mehran (Mido Hamada)
Terrorist leader working with Farhad to blow up Manhattan and kill Omar Hassan.


 * Even Evil Has Standards: He claims he does not wish to kill innocent civilians, and actually keeps his word and stops the bomb when his demands are met.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: He claims he does not wish to kill innocent civilians, and actually keeps his word and stops the bomb when his demands are met.

Pavel Tokarev (Joel Bissonnette)
Assassin and right-hand man of Mikhail Novakovich, and responsible for killing.


 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Jack tortures Pavel in the most brutal way possible, outdoing all of the other torture in the series put together.
 * The Dragon: To Russian Foreign Minister Novakovich.
 * Gorn: After beating, brutalizing, and trying to break him, Jack cuts Pavel's stomach open and his guts fall out onto the floor.
 * Karmic Death
 * Rasputinian Death: Jack beats Pavel, tears parts of his skin off with a wrench, burns him, and finally cuts his stomach open which kills him.

Mikhail Novakovich (Graham Mc Tavish)
The Russian Foreign Minister adamently opposed to the treaty, and responsible for the deaths of. Logan wants Jack to believe that the conspiracy ends with Novakovich, but that's just not how it goes.


 * Bald of Evil
 * Karmic Death
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice

Jason Pillar (Reed Diamond)
Logan's right-hand man placed at CTU to find Jack and take him out before he exposes the conspiracy.


 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * The Dragon: To Logan
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * Jerkass
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat