List of Fringe characters
The fourth season is set in an alternate timeline, where original and parallel universes have evolved from different outcome at a certain point in their history, resulting in two more versions of the characters.
Having been locked up for 17 years in a mental institute prior to becoming assigned to the Fringe division, Walter often expresses wonder at modern technology, and seems to be disconnected from the world, sometimes leaving his son to decode his rantings for others.
The Other Universe version of Walter Bishop, nicknamed Walternate, is the United States Secretary of Defense, and directly oversees the alternate and more powerful Fringe division.
She is stationed in the lab with Walter, who can never remember her name (e.g. calling her "Asterix", "Aspirin", "Asteroid", "Astro", "Ostrich", "Aphid", "Esther", "Ashram", "Alex", "Afro", "Astrif", "Agnes", "Asner", etc.).
[16][17] Alternate timeline: The original Astrid is a field agent, examining crime scenes and collecting information with the rest of the team, which she relays back to Walter in real time via a videophone device worn on her right ear.
[26] John Scott (portrayed by Mark Valley; main: season 1) is an FBI Special Agent who, in the pilot episode, is Olivia's partner and lover.
He is placed in a medically induced coma, and during this time Walter devises a procedure to link his mind to Olivia's in order to gain information about the suspect who caused the explosion.
[27] Before his consciousness disappears completely, Olivia learns that John was working undercover for the NSA, infiltrating ZFT, by now known to be the organization responsible behind "the Pattern", and that whatever relationship the two of them had was real.
In the episode "Everything in Its Right Place", the prime and parallel versions of Lincoln Lee both grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey until their moms died and then their dads moved them to Philadelphia, both fathers started an Ace Hardware, they both attended Hamilton High School, both had Mr. Glasberg as their 10th grade science teacher, they both graduated with a 3.85 GPA and both slacked off in their senior years to work at their dads' stores, and they both didn't go to prom because they both had just broken up with Alicia Dvoskin.
[32] Agent Broyles originally introduces him to the Fringe Division in order to consult on the case of a seemingly immortal woman, to which he had been assigned after her family was gruesomely murdered.
Mitchell Loeb (portrayed by Chance Kelly) is an FBI agent, and a member of the bio-terrorist organization ZFT, as led by David Robert Jones.
One evening he got drunk and sexually assaulted three female Marine privates; a crime for which he was exposed and prosecuted by Olivia, resulting in several years of imprisonment.
William is mentioned throughout season one, showing several ties with Walter's past and the study of the parallel dimension, including participating in the Cortexiphan trials.
Sometime after founding Massive Dynamic, William finds a means to travel to the parallel dimension, and sets up an office in the still-standing World Trade Center.
Though he travels back and forth several times, William finds his body has become unstable and remains in the parallel dimension, still communicating with Nina whom he left in charge of Massive Dynamic.
After Walter and Peter "die" within her mind, William aids Olivia in escaping until she is able to confront her own fears, enabling her to take back control of her body.
[46] In the fourth season, it is noted by Nina and Walter that Bell is dead, having, in the new timeline, committed suicide in a car accident in 2005 to end his suffering from lymphoma.
Brandon Fayette (portrayed by Ryan McDonald) is the leading scientist at Massive Dynamic, offering assistance to the Fringe team on multiple occasions.
The Other Universe version of Brandon is the chief scientist of the Fringe division, often answering directly to Secretary Bishop, and responsible for the assimilation of Olivia into Fauxlivia.
David Robert Jones (portrayed by Jared Harris) is a biochemist and former employee of William Bell and Massive Dynamic, a connection that wasn't revealed until the season one finale.
In the second season's finale, September is responsible for alerting the Fringe division to the dangers of Peter being taken back by Walternate to the parallel universe, ultimately leading to their rescue attempt.
In the third-season episode "The Firefly", September conducts a convoluted experiment to test Walter's resolve to give up Peter for the greater good when the time comes.
[50] In the third-season finale, episode "The Day We Died", a gathering of ten Observers appeared on Liberty Island to watch and comment on the disappearance of Peter Bishop from existence.
After being taken into custody by the Fringe Division, he learns that the point of divergence in the timeline is that September never saved him from drowning in Reiden Lake when Walter brought him over from the alternate universe.
It is explained that this was an attempt to correct the timeline after accidentally preventing Walternate from discovering the cure to save Peter, thus beginning a chain of events that led to the war between the two universes.
The primary characteristic differentiates a human and a shapeshifter is the large quantity of mercury in their blood, and the presence of a metallic data disc at the base of their spine.
Sam Weiss (portrayed by Kevin Corrigan) is a friend of Nina Sharp who operates at a bowling alley, and helped her with her physical therapy process after she lost her arm.
He also has other branches of mysterious knowledge, such as being able to predict that a series of seemingly random letters Olivia picks out will contain a message that would help her get over the death of Charlie.
After Walter and the rest of Fringe Amber themselves, Donald returns to the pocket universe to extract Michael, then sheltering him with former Resistance fighters who escape detection by isolating themselves on a remote island.
September purposely stopped the growth process, leaving Michael a child possessing both a powerful Observer-intellects and human emotion, creating an anomaly in danger of being destroyed by the Observers.
