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

 * Badass Damsel
 * Determinator
 * Guile Heroine
 * Silk Hiding Steel

Reverend Cole

 * The Atoner:
 * Badass Preacher
 * Despair Event Horizon:
 * 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
 * : 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

 * Jerkass
 * Jerkass
 * Jerkass

Pawnee Killer

 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: At worst. When it comes down to it he's only defending his people.

Sean and Mickey McGinness

 * Those Two Guys

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
 * : With Joseph

Sen. Jordan Crane

 * Corrupt Politician

Many Horses

 * Reasonable Authority Figure