Hell on Wheels/Characters
Cullen Bohannon
- Anti-Hero: Type IV
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Elam eventually
- Revenge Before Reason
Thomas "Doc" Durant
- Affably Evil
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Did it at the end of the first episode. Has not done it since.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Did Not Do the Research: His life history is very different from that of the real Durant.
- Large Ham: Half the appeal of the series is watching Colm Meaney chew the scenery
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money
Elam
- Anti-Hero: Somwhere between a Type III and a Type IV
- Scary Black Man
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Bohannon
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Eva
- Took a Level in Badass: A couple actually
Lily Bell
Reverend Cole
- The Atoner: Until he's not
- Badass Preacher
- Despair Event Horizon: After the Cheyenne's attack on the railway
- Good Shepherd: Subverted. He tries but can't quite pull it off.
- Preacher Man: Started off as this, gets more ambiguous as season progresses.
Joseph Black Moon
- The Atoner
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Ruth
Thor Gunderson, aka The Swede
- Big Eater
- Butt Monkey: Deserves it though.
- Inspector Javert: To Bohannon, subverted in that unlike the typical Javert he's also a Corrupt Cop.
- Known Mostly By His Nickname: The Swede, even though he's Norwegian
- Lean and Mean
Eva
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Elam
Toole
Pawnee Killer
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: At worst. When it comes down to it he's only defending his people.
Sean and Mickey McGinness
Dix
Psalms
Bolan
Ruth Cole
- Heros Want Redheads
- Calling the Old Man Out
- Fiery Redhead: She doesn't seem it at first but develops it later.
- Parental Abandonment
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Joseph