The main character Jarod, played by Michael T. Weiss, is a genius who assumes new identities and masters new professions in every episode.
[1] A 'pretender'; a super-genius polymath with eidetic and working memory (possibly Hyperthymesia), who has the ability to be anyone, learn any skill and function in any situation – a chameleon who takes on identities as easily as most people change clothes.
Jarod usually avoids being caught by The Centre at the end of every episode and has, at times, engineered close calls for the purposes of gloating.
An example of this occurs when he is working as a substitute teacher for chemistry and tells his students that "roaches would be the only living thing after a biological holocaust.
He routinely passes as an expert and experienced practitioner of various trades and can anticipate virtually all of the fugitive retrieval methods employed by the Centre.
While Jarod can seemingly master any profession, he must find or create the means of replicating physical activities; for example, taking swim lessons prior to posing as a Coast Guard officer.
He has a deep psychological need to discover the truth about his past and unwavering commitment to his surviving family members; because of this, he has demonstrated a willingness to endanger and expose himself on their behalf.
Finally, Jarod can make mistakes and become frustrated when he cannot acquire all available data, especially that of a private or personal nature; he cannot accurately predict the actions of people or organizations where there is limited information on their motivations, objectives, or goals.
A child of the Centre, "Miss Parker" has grown up within the Blue Cove complex, with both her father and mother playing pivotal roles in the organization.
Sydney's family includes his father John-Michael, his mother Gretta, and his identical twin brother, Jacob; a sister is also mentioned, but never elaborated upon.
Sydney is not meant to be a father figure to Jarod and outwardly resists this role, though privately, he is shown to have developed a deep fondness and loyalty to the boy.
Throughout the pursuit, he also has several conversations with Jarod over the phone and empathizes with the rogue Pretender's quest to learn about his past and find a new life.
In the season-two episode "Bulletproof", Sydney learns he fathered a child with an old lover Michelle, a boy named Nicolas.
During one simulation, Jarod is tricked by Raines into pouring acid on Kyle's right hand, leaving a permanent scar between his thumb and forefinger.
Posing as an FBI agent named Jarod Ness, he examines Kyle's cell and finds a journal that has "I decide who lives or dies" written repeatedly on every page.
Tashman assumes that Jarod and Kyle did not remember they had a sibling, or the faces of their parents, due to memory repression bought on by the trauma of kidnapping and the experiments of the Centre.
Later on, Jarod calls Sydney and asks where his brother is buried, only to be told that the van burned for a long time and that no remains were found.
He was once married to Edna Raines (now deceased) and had a daughter named Annie, who was murdered in 1975 (thanks to Jarod the criminal was caught, and her remains were later recovered).
When Jarod reunites with the surviving members of his family on a crowded street, Raines and his team of gunmen arrive to kill everyone on site.
Jarod once called Argyle's friend his "toughest Pretend"; no 'forged papers or a fake id's required, 'just a lot of patience and no common sense'.
Originally a cleaner associated with Lyle, and hired along with him to help capture Jarod, Brigitte immediately became the bane of Miss Parker's worklife inside the Centre.
Despite both the unsettling atmosphere of the Centre and unsavory nature of his work, Broots is a fairly hapless, yet emotionally stable individual, who while being somewhat lacking in actual relationships with women, is devoted to his daughter, Debbie, whom he raises alone.
Despite her outward contempt for him, Miss Parker does have a certain respect for Broots (she will allow nobody but herself to abuse him), especially after he stands up to her in the season-one episode "Bomb Squad".
Younger sister to Jarod and Kyle and older half-sister to Ethan, she is constantly on the run from the Centre and searching for her brothers.
According to "The World's Changing", (season four), Emily "adores yellow tulips, she hates cruelty to animals, she's smart, she's funny, she's tortured by the tragedies of her family", and that she has a little tattoo.
He is the father of two sons, Jarod and Kyle, who were both abducted by the Centre, and a daughter named Emily, who was born after the boys were kidnapped.
Only known as Margaret, she is the mother of two sons Jarod and Kyle, who were both abducted by the Centre, and a daughter named Emily, who was born after the boys were kidnapped.
Later on, Catherine becomes the subject of Project Mirage, wherein she is impregnated with the sperm of Major Charles, father of the Pretender named Jarod.
For reasons unclear, Catherine Parker places her trust in Mr. Raines when she is pregnant again, despite disagreeing with his amoral attitude towards the Pretender children.
Actress : Lisa Cerasoli In the franchise, the second motivating factor in Jarod's life is atoning for the deaths he inadvertently caused by working for The Centre; because of this, he identifies himself with Onyssius.