Falling Skies/Characters

Tom Mason (Noah Wyle)
A former history professor, Tom lost his wife early on in the invasion, and he was left alone to keep his three sons safe. He joined the Massachusetts Milita with his sons, but his second oldest son Ben was captured and put into a harness when the invasion began. He serves as Weaver's second in command of the 2nd Massachusetts, and spends any free time attempting to locate Ben.


 * Action Survivor
 * Badass Bookworm: Taught college-level American History, and fought a Skitter one-on-one and won.
 * The Smart Guy

Hal Mason (Drew Roy)
Tom's oldest son, Hal became a scout for the 2nd Massachusetts alongside girlfriend Karen.


 * Army Scout
 * Chick Magnet
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait: In-universe.
 * The Lancer: to his Dad.

Matt Mason (Maxim Knight)
Tom's youngest son, Matt is too young to fight, and stays at the camp with the rest of the civilians.


 * Bratty Half-Pint
 * Morality Pet: Shows signs of becoming one to Pope.

Ben Mason (Connor Jessup)
Tom's second oldest son, Ben was captured by the aliens and put into a harness while fighting for the 2nd Massachusetts.


 * Bookworm
 * Came Back Wrong

Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood)
A civilian doctor, Anne was a pediatrician before the invasion, and now does her best to treat the civilians and soldiers of the 2nd Massachusetts.


 * Hospital Hottie
 * The Heart
 * The Medic
 * Team Mom

Daniel Weaver (Will Patton)
A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, Weaver is placed in charge of the 2nd Massachusetts. He has little regard for the needs of the civilians with the unit, viewing them as a hindrance to fighting the aliens.


 * A Father to His Men: A harsh, tough father, but still…
 * Badass
 * The Captain
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While a good person and primarily concerned with the good of the group as a whole, he tends to put the welfare and comfort of his fighters first.
 * His Hidden Heart of Gold is best shown with his interactions with Jimmy, the 13 year old fighter, who he treats as a soldier and a child.
 * Hidden Depths
 * Sanity Slippage

Karen Nadler (Jessy Schram)
A scout with the 2nd Massachusetts, Karen is dating Hal.


 * Action Girl
 * Army Scout
 * Biker Babe
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Automatically suspected Lourdes of coming on to Hal when the other girl was being friendly.

Margaret (Sarah Carter)

 * Action Girl
 * Broken Bird: Due to her rape by Pope's brother, not to mention the general crapsackiness of the world's current situation. She also had cancer when she was 16.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Moreso than Hal.
 * The Stoic

Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel)
A religious member of the 2nd Mass.


 * Meaningful Name
 * Raised Catholic

Dai (Peter Shinkoda)
A soldier with the 2nd Massachusetts, Dai is good friends with Tom.


 * Badass
 * The Lancer: to Tom, when Hal isn’t around.
 * Number Two: Though he and Hal both act as the Lancer, Dai seems closer to this role for Tom.
 * Third Person Person: In "Grace", when he's "high as a freakin' kite".

Anthony (Mpho Koaho)
A former Boston cop and a member of Tom’s team.


 * Badass

John Pope (Colin Cunningham)
The leader of a gang of racists and rapists, John captured Tom and his squad in an effort to get the 2nd Massachusetts .50 caliber machine gun and food stores, but failed and was captured by them.


 * Affably Evil
 * Badass: He killed a skitter one on one.
 * Blood Knight: Don't make him choose between killing Skitters and anything else. You might regret it.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Compare the tropes under his name to the tropes for the other characters.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: He is disgusted by the fact that some humans actully make deals with the Skitters.
 * Hidden Depths: He's a surprisingly good chef, and seems very well-read.
 * Jerkass
 * The Nicknamer: He almost never uses anyone's real name, preferring to give nicknames such as:
 * Tom Mason: "Papa Smurf".
 * Karen Nadler: "Sexy Freedom Fighter Girl".
 * Hal Mason: "Strapping Young Man".
 * Anthony: "Black Gangbanger".
 * Dai: "Oriental of Some Sort".
 * Weaver: "El Capitan", and "Supreme Allied Commander of the 2nd Massechussetts".
 * Margaret: "Little Miss Midwife With A Heart Of Gold".
 * Matt Manson: "Little Prince Of The 2nd Mass".
 * Ben and Hal: "Little Princelets"
 * Pet the Dog: Becoming the chef for the resistance.
 * Supreme Chef
 * Token Evil Teammate

Jimmy Boland (Dylan Authors)
A 13-year-old soldier who fights with the 2nd Mass.


 * Badass
 * Child Soldiers

Colonel Porter (Dale Dye)
The overall leader of the Massachusetts Militia.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Typecasting: Have you ever seen Dye play a non-military character? Justified since he actually was a Marine captain in Vietnam.

Uncle Scott (Bruce Gray)
Anne’s uncle and a biology teacher.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Cool Teacher

Dr Michael Harris (Steven Weber)
A medical surgeon and old friend of Tom.


 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Dirty Coward
 * Jerkass

Mike Thompson
A soldier for the 2nd Mass.


 * Papa Wolf
 * Too Dumb to Live
 * Too Dumb to Live

Rick Thompson
Mike's formerly harnassed son.


 * Creepy Child
 * Heel Realization: Looks like it.

Terry Clayton (Henry Czerny)
Leader of the surviving 7th Mass.


 * Devil in Plain Sight
 * False Friend
 * Les Collaborateurs