Twin Peaks/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


No "context" tags have been added to the tropes.

FBI

Special Agent Dale "Coop" Cooper

Played by: Kyle Mac Lachlan

Agent Cooper: No.


Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole

Played by: David Lynch

COOP, TODAY YOU REMIND ME OF A SMALL, MEXICAN CHIHUAHUA!


Diane (Cooper's secretary)


Former Special Agent Windom Earle

Played by: Kenneth Welsh


Agent Albert Rosenfield

Played by: Miguel Ferrer

Agent Dennis "Denise" Bryson

Played by: David Duchovny

Police

Sheriff Harry S. Truman

Played by: Michael Ontkean

Cooper: "I'm supposed to meet with a Sheriff Harry S. Truman. Shouldn't be too hard to remember that."


Deputy Andy Brennan

Played by: Harry Goaz


Deputy Tommy "Hawk" Hill

Played by: Michael Horse


Lucy Moran

Played by: Kimmy Robertson


Twin Peaks Townsfolk

The Briggses

Major Garland Briggs

Played by: Don S. Davis


Robert "Bobby" Briggs

Played by: Dana Ashbrook


The Haywards

Donna Hayward

Played by: Lara Flynn Boyle (TV show), Moira Kelly (Fire Walk With Me)


Eileen Hayward

Played by: Mary Jo Deschanel


Gersten Hayward

Played by: Alicia Witt


William "Doc" Hayward

Played by: Warren Frost


The Hornes

Audrey Horne

Played by: Sherilyn Fenn


Benjamin "Ben" Horne

Played by: Richard Beymer


Jerry Horne

Played by: David Patrick Kelly

Ben Horne's sleazy brother. He actually doesn't have too big of a role in the show, but he occasionally helps Ben with his schemes.


The Hurleys

"Big" Ed Hurley

Played by: Everett McGill


James Hurley

Played by: James Marshall

Biker teen who lives with Ed and Nadine instead of his parents, who, he tells people, died in a car accident.


Nadine Hurley

Played by: Wendy Robie


Dr. Lawrence Jacoby

Played by: Russ Tamblyn


The Jenningses

Hank Jennings

Played by: Chris Mulkey


Norma Jennings

Played by: Peggy Lipton


The Johnsons

Leo Johnson

Played by: Eric Da Re

  • The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Well ... sort of. He is aggressive and does sell drugs to high school kids, but they seek him out to buy them.
  • Badass Long Hair
  • The Brute
  • Butt Monkey: In the second season.
  • Convenient Coma: Well, he does clearly have some brain damage, but it's only convenient for some, who would have preferred him dead.
  • Jerkass
  • Red Herring: Despite his sadism, violence, frequent cold-blooded killing and being present at the scene of her murder, Leo did not kill Laura Palmer.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Releases Major Briggs from captivity so he can warn Shelly. Windom Earle leaves him in a situation he's highly unlikely to have survived.
  • Villain Decay: Leo has the bad luck of being the absolute middle man. Terrifying to the teenagers who are dabbling, easily manipulated by the real powers in Twin Peaks.


Shelly Johnson

Played by: Mädchen Amick

Gordon Cole : YOU ARE WITNESSING A FRONT THREE-QUARTER VIEW OF TWO ADULTS SHARING A TENDER MOMENT. [to Shelly] Acts like he's never seen a kiss before.
Dale Cooper : Uh, Gordon…
Gordon Cole : [to Bobby] TAKE ANOTHER LOOK, SONNY. IT'S GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN!


Margaret "The Log Lady" Lanterman

Played by: Catherine E. Coulson

Probably the most unusual of the Twin Peaks townsfolk (and that's saying a lot). Margaret Lanterman, aka "The Log Lady", is an eccentric recluse who lives in a cabin in the forest. She is always seen carrying a log (hence her nickname), which is implied to either contain the spirit of her dead lumberjack husband or, as of Fire Walk With Me, to serve as a link to him in the Black Lodge—though she never voices either theory outright and is implied to be forbidden from doing so. Because of this, the other townsfolk think she's crazy.

She was with Laura 5 days before her murder.


The Martells

Catherine Martell

Played by: Piper Laurie


Pete Martell

Played by: Jack Nance


The Milfords

Mayor Dwayne Milford

Played by: John Boylan


Dougie Milford

Played by: Tony Jay


Lana Budding Milford

Played by: Robyn Lively


Mike Nelson

Played by: Gary Hershberger


The Packards

Andrew Packard

Played by: Dan O'Herlihy


Josie Packard

Played by: Joan Chen


The Palmers

Laura Palmer

Played by: Sheryl Lee


Leland Palmer

Played by: Ray Wise

The father of Laura Palmer, Leland is a well-respected lawyer in the town of Twin Peaks. When he was a child, he met the evil spirit BOB and was possessed by him. After hearing the news of his daughter's murder, Leland suffers a nervous breakdown, which results in him killing murder suspect Jacques Renault at the end of the first season.

At the beginning of season 2, Leland awakens to find his hair has turned white and he is now very upbeat, joyfully dancing and singing show tunes. However, it isn't long until he is arrested by Cooper and Truman for the murder of Jacques Renault, but is soon released due to being well-respected by the townsfolk.

Soon after the trial, he brutally murders his niece Maddie Ferguson (who bears a strong resemblance to Laura) the day before she is supposed return to her hometown, Missoula. The police find out about the murder and, with help from the Giant, Cooper reveals that Leland is Laura's killer. When Leland is taken in for interrogation, BOB assumes full control over his body and forces him to commit suicide just before leaving it. Leland tells of his tragic childhood and the murders he committed and, with Cooper's help, dies peacefully while seeing a vision of his daughter.


Sarah Palmer

Played by: Grace Zabriskie


Harold Smith

Played by: Lenny Von Dohlen

Harold Smith is an orchid grower a close friend of Laura Palmer, who she met through working for the Meals-on-Wheels program. Harold is agoraphobic (meaning he has a fear of open spaces), which is why he never leaves his home. Near the start of the second season, Donna Hayward befriends him in an attempt to get answers and discovers that Laura gave him her diary before her murder. When Harold finds out that Donna is trying to steal the diary, he goes crazy and kills himself, leaving a suicide note which reads ""J'ai une âme solitaire." (French for "I am a lonely soul."). Cooper and the Twin Peaks police then read the diary to help find the identity of Laura's killer.


Dick Tremayne

Played by: Ian Buchanan

Dick Tremayne runs the clothing department at Horne's Department Store and was in an on-and-off relationship with Lucy Moran.


Outsiders

Annie Blackburn

Played by: Heather Graham


Blacky O'Reilly

Played by: Victoria Catlin


Thomas Eckhardt

Played by: David Warner


Madeline "Maddy" Ferguson

Played by: Sheryl Lee


Evelyn Marsh

Played by: Annette McCarthy


The Renault Brothers

Jacques Renault

Played by: Walter Olkewicz


Jean Renault

Played by: Michael Parks


John Justice Wheeler

Played by: Billy Zane


The Black Lodge

Killer BOB

Played by: Frank Silva

The show's main villain.


The Giant

Played by: Carel Struycken

  • Arc Words: "The Owls are not what they seem."
  • Bald of Awesome
  • Body Snatcher: However, it's clear he has stayed in the same body for a long, long time.
  • Cryptic Conversation: Less so than The Man From Another Place, giving one straight forward clue - "Without chemicals, he points."
  • Gentle Giant: His speaking voice is pleasant, and he's dressed smartly. It's difficult to imagine him hurting a fly. He seems to live in the Black Lodge, too.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!


Jimmy Scott

Played by: Jimmy Scott

  • Cool Old Guy
  • Disability Superpower: Jimmy Scott was born with Kallmann syndrome, which stunted his growth and he never went through puberty. This left his beautiful voice unbroken.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Only shows up in the last episode—in one of the most haunting scenes in the entire series.


The Man From Another Place

Played by: Michael J. Anderson


MIKE/Phillip Michael Gerard

Played by: Al Strobel


Pierre Tremond/Chalfont

Played by: Austin Jack Lynch (TV show), Jonathan J. Lepell (Fire Walk With Me)


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