Oz/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== Main Cast ==

 

=== Tobias Beecher ===

 

'''Tobias Beecher''': ''You ever read the story of Job?'' }}

 

* [[The Alcoholic]]: The whole reason he is in OZ.

* [[Badass Pacifist]]: Later on.

* [[Drunk Driver]]: How he got in OZ.

* [[Estrogen Brigade Bait]]

* [[Humiliation Conga]]

* [[Naive Newcomer]]

* [[Madness Mantra]]: His [[Ironic Nursery Rhyme|nursery rhymes]], when he's ''really'' crazy.

* [[Sanity Slippage]]

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Augustus is the only one who will call him out as he's losing his mind.

 

=== Ryan O'Reily ===

 

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]: His childhood was pretty horrible.

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[Fighting Irish]]

* [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?]]: "I'm no fag!" is almost a catchphrase for him.

** 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]]

* [[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.

 

=== Augustus Hill ===

 

 

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 * {{spoiler|Hill's ghost, narrating the show from the afterlife after dying. In the final season, other deceased characters, including Dino Ortolani, Antonio Nappa and Jefferson Keane take turns narrating episodes as well.}}

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Butt Monkey]]

* [[Disabled Snarker]]

* [[Estrogen Brigade Bait]]

* [[Greek Chorus]]

* [[Large Ham]]: During his narrations.

* [[Only Sane Man]]

* {{spoiler|[[Taking the Bullet]]}}

 

=== Kareem Saïd ===

 

 

* [[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]].

* [[The Atoner]]: Becomes this.

* [[Badass Preacher]]

* [[Knight Templar]]

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]

* [[Malcolm Xerox]]

* [[Sanity Slippage]]: He gets better.

* [[Sinister Minister]]

 

=== Vernon "Vern" Schillinger ===

 

 

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 [[Crowning Moment of Funny|deafening applause]].

* [[Bald of Evil]]

* [[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.

* [[It's All About Me]]

* [[Knight Templar]]

* [[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.

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: When he realizes Keller played him for a fool.

 

=== Simon Adebisi ===

 

 

* [[Affably Evil]]: Can be a pretty easy going guy if you don't get on his bad side.

* [[Ax Crazy]]

 

=== Miguel Alvarez ===

 

 

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 [[Asshole Victim|pretty much deserves it]], seeing as he {{spoiler|gouged out the eyes of a prison guard in a desperate bid to avoid being expelled from the main Latino prison gang, due to his light skin and semi-Caucasian looks.}}

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Badass]]

 

=== Tim McManus ===

 

 

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.

* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: He's a very good guy with great intentions but he can be really petty at times.

* [[Honor Before Reason]]

* [[Kavorka Man]] or [[Handsome Lech]]

* [[Love Makes You Crazy]]: Wittlesey moving to England drove McManus to drinking, {{spoiler|singing Camptown Races at a wake for a slain black CO}}, and {{spoiler|Glynn finally firing him.}}

* [[Not So Above It All]]

* [[Really Gets Around]]

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]

 

=== Leo Glynn ===

 

'''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]]

* [[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." {{spoiler|He doesn't.}}

* [[The Spock]]

 

=== Sister Peter Marie Reimondo ===

 

 

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.

* [[Team Mom]]

 

 

== The Aryans/Bikers ==

 

=== Scott Ross ===

 

 

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]]

 

=== Jaz Hoyt ===

 

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 ===

 

 

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

* [[Ascended Extra]]

* [[Asshole Victim]]: Quite literally.

* [[Laser-Guided Karma]]

* [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]

* [[Villainous Friendship]]: He's pals with Vern.

 

=== Wolfgang Cutler ===

 

 

* [[Bondage Is Bad]]

* [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]

 

=== Andrew Schillinger ===

 

 

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.

 

 

== The Homeboys ==

 

=== Jefferson Keane ===

 

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Being Good Sucks]]: Though his conversion to Islam brought him inner peace, it lost control of his gang to the maniacal Adebisi.

 

=== Kenny Wangler ===

 

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]]

 

=== Johnny Post ===

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: to his fellow Homeboys.

 

=== Malcolm Coyle ===

* [[Bald of Evil]]

* [[For the Evulz]]: Why he committed the murders.

 

=== Arnold "Poet" Jackson ===

 

 

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]]

 

=== Omar White ===

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

* [[Butt Monkey]]

* [[Talkative Loon]]

 

=== Burr Redding ===

''"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 {{spoiler|Augustus is killed.}}

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: His attempts to get the Homeboys to stop selling drugs are a bit... extreme, to say the least.

 

 

== The Italians ==

 

=== Dino Ortolani ===

 

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]]

* [[Posthumous Character]]

* [[Troubled Sympathetic Bigot]]

 

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.

 

=== Peter Schibetta ===

 

 

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

* [[Big Bad Wannabe]]

* [[Break the Haughty]]

 

=== Antonio Nappa ===

 

 

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

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[Badass Grandpa]]

 

=== Chucky Pancamo ===

 

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.

* [[The Big Guy]]

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]

* [[The Ditz]]: Noticeably less intelligent than O'Reilly or Adebisi.

 

 

== The Irish ==

 

=== Cyril O'Reily ===

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.

* [[Morality Pet]]

* [[Psychopathic Manchild]]

* [[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.

 

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

* [[A God Am I|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.

* [[Would Hurt a Child]]

 

 

== The Latinos ==

 

=== Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez ===

 

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 ===

 

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

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[Badass in Charge]]

 

=== 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.

 

 

== The Christians ==

 

=== Jeremiah Cloutier ===

* [[And I Must Scream]]

* [[Anti-Villain]]

* [[The Atoner]]: Trying to make up for embezzling money from his church.

* [[Badass Beard]]

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]

* [[The Rival]]: to Mukada, but they eventually put their differences behind them and become friends.

 

=== William Cudney ===

* [[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]]

* [[Would Hurt a Child]]

 

=== Robert Sippel ===

* [[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, {{spoiler|the Aryans crucify him on the gym floor just hours later.}}

 

 

 

== The Others ==

 

=== Chris Keller ===

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

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[Becoming the Mask]]: He just wanted to toy with Beecher but ended up falling for him.

 

=== Shirley Bellinger ===

[[The Smurfette Principle|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.

* [[Manipulative Bitch]]

* [[Platonic Life Partners]]: With Richie Hanlon and Nat Ginzburg.

 

=== Bob Rebadow ===

''"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]]

* [[Cool Old Guy]]

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: With Busmalis.

* [[Nice Guy]]

* [[Odd Couple]] (with Busmalis)

 

=== Agamemnon Busmalis ===

* [[Adult Child]]

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]

 

=== Yuri Kosygin ===

* [[Hired Guns]]: The [[Career Killers]] version.

* [[Impossibly Cool Weapon]]: Making a shank out of the temple pieces of your glasses definitely qualifies.

* [[The Mafiya]]

 

=== Donald Groves ===

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

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]

 

 

== Prison Guards ==

 

=== Diane Wittlesey ===

* [[Blackmail]]: Is on the receiving end.

* [[Not So Above It All]]

 

=== Claire Howell ===

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]]

* [[Manipulative Bitch]]

* [[The Vamp]]: A variant. Unlike most Vamps, she doesn't lure men with promises of sex, she outright molests them.

 

=== Sean Murphy ===

* [[Nice Guy]]

* [[Not So Above It All]]: {{spoiler|Cutting Morales' Achilles tendons}}

 

=== Karl Metzger ===

* [[Meaningful Name]]

 

 

== Prison Staff ==

 

=== Father Ray Mukada ===

''"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]]

 

=== Gloria Nathan ===

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 {{spoiler|Ryan becomes obsessed with Gloria and has her husband murdered so that they can be lovers.}}

* [[Hospital Hottie]]

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: Unleashed one on Dr. Frederick Garvey.

 

=== Governor James Devlin ===

''"[[Blatant Lies|Justice has been served!]]"'' }}

* [[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.

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]

* [[Smug Snake]]

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Subverted. Its made abundantly clear that Devlin doesn't give a shit about anything but himself.

 

=== Martin Querns ===

''"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]]