Jarod	Sydney	Miss Parker	Broots	Mr. Raines
Angelo	Mr. Parker	Kyle	Mr. Lyle	Brigitte

Jarod [Michael T. Weiss]
Taken from his parents in 1963, Jarod spent decades (approximately 30 years) in isolation at The Centre, a think tank that sold the his mental gifts to the highest bidder. Classified as a "pretender" because of his ability to master nearly any skill, and to insinuate himself into any walk of life, Jarod can literally become anyone. Now an adult, Jarod has escaped The Centre and goes about making wrongs right, while hiding from his former keepers. Jarod remains at large.

Leading the team to capture Jarod is Miss Parker, a Centre field investigator. Jarod is involved in a perhaps deadly game of cat and mouse with Miss Parker. Friends as children, the two both seek answers to their pasts. Though eluding, often provoking, Miss Parker, Jarod maintains contact with Sydney, a Centre psychiatrist, in a effort to determine who his parents were, and thus who he really is.

At the end of season one, he was within seconds of meeting his sister and mother when a Centre "sweeper" team arrived, and they fled. He hasn't seen his mother since. At the end of season three, he was reunited with his father. The two worked together to liberate a clone of Jarod raised by the Centre, before being split up by another sweeper team. At the end of season four, he'd been reunited with his sister, and a half-brother he hadn't known about previously.

Sydney and Jacob [Patrick Bauchau]
Sydney is a psychiatrist in The Centre's Psychogenic Research Department, in charge of programming extremely gifted children and running simulations utilizing "pretenders." In that role, he often becomes an unintentional parent. Sydney is fond of Jarod and wants him to reach his full potential, which caused problems for The Centre when Jarod escaped. Sydney is protective of Jarod, who is like a surrogate son. Sydney was responsible for rearing Jarod, and now is an integral member of the team attempting to retrieve him. Though on some level he feels betrayed by Sydney, Jarod still trusts him enough to turn to him for information about the identity of his parents, and for reassurance when he is troubled.

Sydney's twin brother Jacob, had been in a coma since a car accident that occured while the brothers were arguing. Jacob had brought Jarod to the Centre, but he appears to have had second thoughts about his involvement and had been threatened at gunpoint by Raines. While in the coma, Raines sent a sweeper team to kill him, but Sydney and Miss Parker were able to deceive him into thinking the deed had been done. Jacob later died a peaceful death.

Miss Parker [Andrea Parker]
Out to spoil Jarod's fun is The Centre's henchwoman, Miss Parker. Even though The Centre wants Jarod back as a valuable investment, she has ordered him shot on sight. Once an elite Centre operative in Corporate Operations, Jarod's escape has brought Miss Parker back into "field investigations" in charge of the hunt for Jarod.

While pursuing Jarod, she also searches for keys to her own past, including the truth about the death of her mother Catherine. Parker believed that when she was a child, her mother committed suicide in an elevator --- though information Jarod discovered has indicated otherwise. A birthday gift from Jarod took her to her mother's weekend getaway (to visit a man Catherine loved, and who may be Miss Parker's real father) in Maine, and to the realization that, like Jarod, she may not really know as much about her parents as she'd like to. Jarod has continued to feed her information about her mother. As a result, it is doubtful she'd kill him as she's threatened, if she got the chance. At least so far she hasn't.

Miss Parker has a troubled relationship with her father (who may not be her biological father), who also works for The Centre. She has shown her soft side in conversations with him, yet his attentions aren't always reciprocal. She has learned from Jarod, that perhaps her father is not worthy of her trust.

Early on, her work relationship with Sydney and Broots were icy, even condescending as she'd remind them of her superior position in The Center. She seems to enjoy the power she commands. As they've worked together, she has learned to respect each of them, and they her.

In the late episodes of season two, Miss Parker had several disturbing revelations. The first, described in the mysterious "red files," is that she was reared to be a Pretender. The second is that she has been told by the mysterious Mr. Fenigor that Jarod's father murdered her mother.

Early in season three, she learned a difficult truth -- Mr. Lyle, a despised rival who had ousted her father at the Centre, is her twin. She has also had to endure the marriage of her father to Brigitte, Mr. Lyle's cohort.

Taking stock of her life, Miss Parker let down her guard, falling in love with her neighbor Thomas. She had planned to leave the Centre and begin a new life with him in Oregon when he was brutally murdered. Evidence indicates the Centre was involved. She returns with a watchful eye.

In season four Ms. Parker discovers some truths about her mother, the strangest of which is that she gave birth to a half-brother she hadn't previously known about -- a strange coincidence she shares with Jarod. Even stranger is that it's the same guy.

Broots [Jon Gries]
Broots is a computer, electronics and tracking expert assigned to Miss Parker and the Jarod Project. He uses his technical wizardry to discover traces of Jarod's whereabouts. Although he is intimidated by those in power at the Centre, he actively works with Miss Parker and Sydney to solve the mysteries of the Centre. Divorced, he has custody of his daughter Debbie. Though often picked on by Miss Parker, he gets his "revenge" with the occasional prank, and over the time they have worked together, they have forged mutual respect.

Mr. Raines [Richard Marcus]
Mr. Raines is a shadowy, high-level operative within the Centre. A former Centre psychiatrist, (he was referred to as "Dr. Billy" by young Centre residents), Dr. William Raines worked with Sydney on the Pretender project until his license was revoked.

Mr. Raines conducted his own Pretender experiments within SL-27. His pet project was turning Jarod's brother Kyle into a sociopath. Another of his projects was the savant Angelo, whom he offered as assistance in the hunt for Jarod. And in one episode we see Raines and Mr. Lyle conducting experiments on the adult Jarod before he escaped the Centre.

Raines was seriously burned during a sweeper attempt to capture Jarod when his ever-present oxygen tank was struck by a bullet (fired by Sydney). In season three we learn that he has succeeded in cloning Jarod, though the boy was liberated by Jarod and his father.

The season 4 incarnation of Raines seems even more bizarre, if that is possible. We seem him offer Miss Parker a religious tract.

Angelo [Paul Dillon]
Angelo is a savant who exhibits a sponge-like power to absorb personality data on others. No official classification for Angelo exists. He originally arrived at the Centre as a young boy named Timmy, but his identity was destroyed by neuroshock experiments conducted by Raines in SL-27.

Brought in on the Jarod Project by Mr. Raines, he spends much of his time in the air ducts of Centre. His allegiance is uncertain, but it is clear he has great access to Centre information and has shown a willingness to help Jarod. He enjoys snacking on Cracker Jack.

Angelo is in reality operating on his own, even leaving The Centre at will. He has recovered and hidden files from SL-27, and has helped Jarod and Kyle both inside and outside The Centre --- even orchestrating their escape when Kyle was recaptured. Angelo may know the identities of their parents as well.

Mr. Parker [Harve Presnell]
Mr. Parker is the Chairman of the Centre Council, and Miss Parker's father. His wife, Catherine Parker, died violently, though it most likely wasn't the suicide he has described to his daughter. Specific information on Mr. Parker remains classified, although it is known he works on many high-level secret Centre projects. He maintains a somewhat distant, largely business-like relationship with his daughter. Mr. Parker took an unexpected leave of absence, replaced by the enigmatic Mr. Lyle. After a power struggle, Mr. Parker regained his position atop the Centre Tower.

Later, it was Mr. Parker who brought Mr. Lyle back to the Centre to oversee his own angle on the Jarod Project. It was then revealed that Mr. Lyle is Miss Parker's twin brother. And in a most bizarre turn of events, Mr. Parker wed Brigitte, who at one time tried to kill him. Is it true love, or does Brigitte have something up her sleeve? Soon we find her pregnant with yet another Parker.

Or perhaps it's Mr. Parker who has something up his sleeve. In Season 4 we find him once again in exile from the Centre with Brigitte in tow. The mysterious Motumbo, who forced him out is assasinated, and it seems the Centre is looking for him as fiercely as they pursue Jarod. About the time for the birth the pair surface again.

When Brigitte dies in childbirth, Parker seems unaffected by his apparent loss. Viewers get the sense that he knew she was up to something all along, and he played along in order to turn the tables on those who would usurp his power.

Kyle [Jeffrey Donovan]
Kyle, also a Pretender, is Jarod's brother and was in the Pretender project with him, until his supposed release from the Centre ten years later. In actuality, he had been held by Raines in SL-27 as part of a series of secret projects to create a sociopathic pretender, stripped of all morality.

Kyle escaped from The Centre, and kidnapped a woman while searching for his parents. Captured and sent to prison, Kyle escaped several years later. As Jarod has searched for his parents, he identified Kyle and began looking for him. When Kyle kidnapped the woman a second time, Jarod rescued her. A sweeper team nabbed Kyle and he was scheduled for a lobotomy, no doubt to conceal his knowledge of Raines and SL-27. Jarod helped Kyle escape the Centre once again (with Angelo's help), but Kyle was wounded and presumed burned to death in the attempt [The Dragon House]. He turns up later [Red Rock Jarod] to save Jarod from Mr. Lyle, but is killed in the confrontation.

Kyle and Jarod also have a younger sister, Emily.

Mr. Lyle [Jamie Denton]
Mr. Lyle is a mysterious and powerful member of the Centre who took over the Chairman's duties during Mr. Parker's "leave of absence." His means are often dangerous and ruthless. Mr. Lyle found trouble following the sale of Centre services to the Yakuza, a Japanese crime organization. He disappeared from day-to-day Centre business only to be shot by Miss Parker (at the request of her father) when he resurfaced. Thought to be dead, he turned up later and took Jarod captive in an attempt to redeem himself at the Centre. Jarod's brother Kyle died freeing him, but Mr. Lyle again slips away.

For a while Mr. Lyle was on the loose -- thumbless and recovering from a shotgun wound to the shoulder. It was revealed that he is also one of the seven Pretenders from the "red files."

Early in season three, Mr. Lyle reappeared at the Centre and we learn his true identity. He is indeed Miss Parker's twin, thought to have been stillborn. A SIM of the delivery shows Raines taking him away. He is also pursuing Jarod. To his sister, he puts up a front of a kinder, gentler Mr. Lyle.

We see plenty of evidence, though, that the "new" Lyle is a facade.The viewer has seen that he's still a psychopath. His interest Asian women has an evil side to it. No doubt we'll learn more about this later.

Brigitte [Pamela Gidley]
Brigitte is a Cleaner, a special operative and assassin brought in by the Tower specifically for the Jarod Project. A rival operative to Miss Parker, Brigitte will do whatever it takes to complete her assignments. She initially reported directly to Mr. Lyle, but in season three she's more closely associated with Mr. Parker, both professionally and personally. She's not unlike Miss Parker in her manner, but the two haven't hit it off. While Brigitte often seems one step ahead in the pursuit, she underestimates Jarod's skills as a pretender.

In a surprise turn of events, she married Mr. Parker --- much to Miss Parker's dismay. We viewers were able to see her exchange knowing glances with Mr. Lyle at the ceremony. Now she is pregnant. Is there more to this than meets the eye?

Apparently. Turns out Brigitte is the operative that killed Thomas, Miss Parker's lover. Miss Parker is prepared to exact her revenge, but finds herself helping Brigitte deliver the baby. Brigitte dies in childbirth, Mr. Parker arrives and the baby is quickly spirited away. He seems not to be affected by her death -- perhaps he knows more than we do.