Throughout season one, Olivia demonstrates that she is very dedicated to her work and to the people she helps and that she's surrounded by staff who are very loyal to her due to her saving each of them a problem in their past.
At the beginning of season five, it is leaked to the public that Mellie was thrown out of the White House and Olivia is in fact Fitz' mistress.
He was a top litigator for a firm called Chase and Howard but suffered a nervous breakdown in the middle of defending a client in a class action lawsuit against Bromquest, a chemical manufacturer that poisoned children in West Virginia.
Abby Whelan, portrayed by Darby Stanchfield, is an ambitious woman who worked as an investigator in Olivia's firm and currently serves as the White House Press Secretary.
Abby was sleeping with AUSA David Rosen after she found his wall with pictures of Quinn and Olivia all over it when she broke into his house.
It is revealed that Quinn ran away to a hotel room, frightened by what happened and that someone broke in and injected her with a sedative; she woke up in Washington, D.C., with a new identity.
In season two, Quinn accepts Huck as her espionage and technology mentor, ultimately leading her down the path of embracing her dark side.
Huck Finn (né Diego Muñoz), portrayed by Guillermo Díaz, works as a tech guy in Olivia's firm.
Prior to knowing Olivia, and after serving in the Marines, Huck was blackmailed into joining a top secret CIA subdivision called B613, where he was trained to torture and murder American "traitors".
It is revealed that he contracted Charlie (the B613 agent) as a freelance assassin to kill Amanda Tanner so she would not publicly come forward with her pregnancy.
Throughout season two, Cyrus is struggling with keeping Defiance (a vote manipulation scheme which bent the presidential election towards Fitz based on tampering of the voting machines in Defiance County, Ohio) from coming to light, helping Fitz with his decision-making and keeping his husband James from finding out the truth.
Ten months after Verna's funeral, he is shut out by Fitz for his involvement in the rigging, no longer able to give advice or influence the president's decisions.
Fitzgerald "Fitz" Thomas Grant III, portrayed by Tony Goldwyn, is the President of the United States, a Republican former Governor of California from Santa Barbara, a Rhodes Scholar, Harvard law graduate, and decorated former US Navy fighter pilot.
Fitz was attached to a carrier-based attack fighter squadron flying air support missions in tandem with US Navy special operations during the Gulf War in 1991, which is how he met Jake Ballard, the only man whom President Grant always unconditionally trusts.
While Fitz does care for his wife Mellie, he is not in love with her, and has remained in his marriage at the urging of his chief of staff Cyrus Beene to maintain his approval ratings and to help his chances for a second term.
When the news breaks about what Billy did, Fitz is happy because he views this as a chance to get out of his marriage and be a normal man with the woman he loves, but Olivia stops this and helps him get back with his wife, upsetting and confusing him.
Ten months later, Fitz has developed a drinking problem and has become more forceful and rash in his decisions, believing that he does not have anyone he can trust, except for Jake Ballard, whom he increasingly turns to more and more for advice and help handling very sensitive and problem-fraught situations for him.
When David finally gathered enough information, he realized that the bombing in Cytron was a cover for the fact that the presidential campaign was rigged.
He decided to dig deeper into the conspiracy that was covering this up, even using Cyrus Beene's husband James Novak to help him gather evidence and be his witness in court.
Melody "Mellie" Margaret Grant, portrayed by Bellamy Young, is an empowered woman, graduate of Yale (undergrad) and Harvard Law, both top of her class, and comes from a wealthy, patrician family with Southern roots.
At the end of season one, she is planning to leave her husband after he tells her that he doesn't care about the presidency anymore and just wants to live a normal life.
After Fitz is nearly assassinated and demands a divorce from her, Mellie induces her pregnancy in a last-ditch effort to keep them together as well as maintain her position as First Lady.
NSA Director Jacob "Jake" Hamilton Ballard (né Pete Harris), portrayed by Scott Foley, is a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer attached to the Joint Chiefs of Staff who spies on Olivia Pope at the personal request of President Grant, with whom he served in the Navy during the first Gulf War.
Ballard's outstanding physical condition and highly advanced level of combat/tactical training suggests that he has a special forces background; which would give some insight into how he and the President know each other.
He was also a member of the elite CIA black ops division called B613, with Eli "Rowan" Pope the program's director.
As Command, he decides to assassinate 3 of the 4 members of the group investigating the suspicious death of Daniel Douglas, Vice President Sally Langston's husband: NSA staffer Shelby Moss, White House correspondent Vanessa Chandler, and White House Press Secretary James Novak, Cyrus Bean's husband.
Moss and Chandler's bodies were buried in a forested unmarked grave; Novak's was left on the street and staged to look like the result of a carjacking.
Marcus Walker, portrayed by Cornelius Smith Jr., is a civil rights activist, a former client of Olivia's firm and White House Press Secretary for President Fitzgerald.
At the end of season 7, Mellie signs a bill into law in the Oval Office and is seen standing with Marcus, suggesting that he might be the first First Gentleman of the United States.
Charlie (né Bernard Gusky),[3] portrayed by George Newbern, is a B613 assassin and rival of Huck who occasionally freelances for Cyrus.