This is a list of characters from the TNT science fiction television series Falling Skies.
The main character is history professor Tom Mason, played by Noah Wyle, who becomes an action hero battling an alien invasion. His second in command is Desert Storm veteran Captain Weaver, played by Will Patton. Much of the show explores relationships between fathers and sons, including Weaver's relationship with Mason, and Tom Mason's own relationship with his three sons.
One of the female supporting characters is Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood), who is a doctor and the main romantic love interest for Tom.
In 2011, Entertainment Weekly called John Pope, played by Colin Cunningham, the show's "most interesting character...as twitchy and sarcastic as Tom and Weaver are sincere". He is the leader of a band of marauders.
Main characters Name Actor Starring seasons Recurring/guest seasons Tom Mason Noah Wyle 1–5 Tom is a former Boston University military-history professor and becomes the second-in-command of the Second Massachusetts Militia Regiment, a group of civilians and fighters fleeing Boston. He has three sons (Hal, Ben, and Matt), and his wife is killed by Skitters. Tom befriends Anne Glass, eventually becoming romantically involved with her. At the end of season one, he boards an alien shuttle with Hal's girlfriend Karen and one of the Espheni in the hope of stopping the changes to Ben from his captivity earlier in the season. Tom is eventually freed, and finds his way back home. Between seasons two and three, he is elected president of the New United States. Tom continues to fight with the 2nd Mass, seeing himself as a military leader who belongs on the front line. He marries Anne in season three and they have a daughter, Alexis (Lexi). Due to interference by the invaders while the pregnant Anne was held hostage, Lexi is a hybrid of human-alien DNA.
Season four finds Tom in a concentration camp similar to the ghettos of the World War II era. After the destruction of the Espheni power core and being contacted by the Dornia, Tom begins to rally humanity against the Espheni, leading a march to Washington, DC where the Espheni Queen is. In a final confrontation with the Espheni Queen at the Lincoln Memorial, Tom infects the Espheni with a Dornia bioweapon, wiping them out and freeing the Earth. While Tom is offered to be the new leader of a united humanity, he repeatedly refuses the offer. Anne Glass Moon Bloodgood 1–5 Anne, a doctor for the 2nd Mass, was a pediatrician before the invasion. She is sympathetic to the civilians, and believes that everything possible should be done to help them. Her husband and son were killed at home in the invasion bombings. In season two Anne and Tom begin a relationship and have a daughter, Alexis. Anne and Alexis are captured by the Espheni, and released to the 2nd Mass. After the attack which scatters the regiment, she becomes de facto commander in the absence of Tom and Col. Weaver. She later marries Tom and they have a daughter, Alexis Glass-Mason who is half-Espheni. Anne is killed in the final assault on Washington, D.C., but is resurrected by the Dornia. Months later, she is still happily with Tom and once again pregnant. Hal Mason Drew Roy 1–5 Hal (age 16) is Tom's oldest son, who scouts for the 2nd Mass. After his girlfriend Karen is captured the former lacrosse player connects with tough newcomer Maggie, who helped free him and his father's squad from Pope's outlaws. Although she is reluctant, he kisses her and she eventually returns his feelings. Hal becomes paralyzed in season three, losing the ability to walk. Karen implants a probe in him, and it affects him deeply; he thinks he is meeting her in his dreams, but in reality he is meeting her at night to tell her his father's plans. The implant eventually takes over completely, but is retrieved when Hal is exposed as a mole.
By season four Hal is his father's second-in-command, leading the ghetto resistance while Tom is held in solitary confinement. In the series finale, Hal proposes to Maggie during the final battle and she accepts. Months after the invasion, they are shown to be happily engaged. Ben Mason Connor Jessup 1–5 Tom's second son, who was captured by the Skitters, in the pilot Hal sees Ben controlled by a spinal harness. Although he was rescued, he still hears aliens communicate on fluctuating radio frequencies. Stronger and needing little sleep, according to Hal he is no longer the bookish science nerd that he was. The spiky stubs in his spine still glow, despite the removal of the harness with a blowtorch, and his chemical changes make him convince his father to accompany the alien overlord at the end of season one. In season two Ben joins the fight, but he helps the rebel skitters by communicating with them with his spikes.
In season three he continues helping the rebel skitters, and grows close to Deni. After the 2nd Mass is attacked, Ben is in a safe zone in Chinatown where humans are not attacked by the aliens because of his half-sister's presence. After the destruction of the Espheni power core, Ben continues to aid in the fight with the Espheni. Due to his spikes, Ben is able to connect to the Espheni Shadow Plane and discover the existence of the Espheni Queen and her location. Ben survives the war and is last seen speaking with the Volm delegation at months later. Matt Mason Maxim Knight 1–5 Although Tom's youngest son makes a birthday wish in season one that everything returns to the way it was before the invasion, Matt volunteers to help Scott with the radio and Pope with making ammunition. In season two Matt participates more in the fighting, protecting Anne, and in season three he continues to fight.
In season four he has been captured and placed in a re-education camp to brainwash young humans into believing that the Eshpeni are benevolent. After being rescued, he aids in the fight and after the war, writes a book on it. He also begins dating Evelyn. Captain (Colonel) Dan Weaver Will Patton 1–5 The commander of the 2nd Mass, Weaver is a retired active and reserve military officer who served with Porter during the Gulf War. He misses his family, and learns that his wife and oldest daughter may be alive. In season two, Weaver finds his daughter; she, her boyfriend and their surviving group leave separately and reunite in Charleston. His wife died of a stroke when supplies of her blood-pressure medication ran out. Weaver's gruff exterior belies a fierce determination and loyalty to the 2nd Mass, inspiring equal loyalty from them in return. Promoted to colonel between seasons two and three, he is a key advisor to Tom Mason in his role as President of the New United States. Weaver is trapped in the ghetto with Tom and Hal, and his daughter has been missing since the attack on the 2nd Mass. He finds her turned into a Skitter, but she retains her humanity and sacrifices herself to save him.
He follows Tom as he leads the militias in a march on Washington, D.C., and is reunited with an old lover, Captain Katie Marshall. After she turns a hunt for collaborators into a witch hunt, Weaver is forced to kill her and discovers that the woman he loved died weeks ago and was replaced by an Espheni clone. Weaver takes part in the final assault as part of the strike team that goes after the Espheni Queen directly and survives the war. Maggie May Sarah Carter 1–5 Maggie, once a reluctant part of Pope's gang, kills his brother and another rapist ("He thought he was better because he brought chocolate - he wasn't") and rescues Tom, Hal and their squad. A tough fighter, she teaches Anne to shoot and works hard to earn her new place. Maggie tells Hal that she knows the hospital where the harnessed Ben is held, because she was hospitalized there with cancer at 16. In "Death March" she says that after chemotherapy for brain cancer she fled, but was arrested when she was three months pregnant and gave birth in jail. In season three, Maggie and Hal begin a relationship and are happy; she protects him when she learns that Hal might be the mole. Maggie is in the Chinatown safe zone with Lexi, Ben and Lourdes. In season 4, she is mortally injured in a massive Espheni attack on Chinatown and Ben gives her three of his spikes to heal her injuries. As a result, she starts to develop a romantic relationship with Ben, but eventually breaks it off and has the spikes removed. In the series finale, Hal proposes to her during the final battle and she accepts. Months later, they are shown to be happily engaged. Lourdes Delgado Seychelle Gabriel 1–4 The former college student helps Anne, proudly displaying her Catholicism. In season two Lourdes' romantic interest shifts from Hal to Jamil, and she is devastated when Jamil is killed by Skitters. She still helps Anne with the Charleston medical department in season three, but has been infected with eye worms which drive her to destabilize Charleston from within. Lourdes is unveiled as the mole, and her eye worms are removed by Lexi (to whom she is fanatically devoted). Lexi kills her in episode 407, "Saturday Night Massacre"; when Lexi emerges from her chrysalis she plans to leave Chinatown, disgusted with the 2nd Mass' violence. When Lourdes begs her to take her along, Lexi uses an alien power to strangle her without touching her. John Pope Colin Cunningham 1–5 Leader of a post-apocalyptic gang who ambush Tom's squad when they scout an armory and kill a scout (Click) with a bow and arrow, Pope sends Hal to offer Weaver a trade: hostages returned for the gun mounted on a truck. Although Anne volunteers to return and patch up Pope's brother, Maggie kills her rapists and frees Tom's squad. Pope becomes the cook for the 2nd Mass and rides away after leading them to a motorcycle store, but helps the children escape a human traitor and makes bullets capable of killing the invading machines. His character a mixture of good and evil, in season two he leads the Berserkers (which include Lyle, Tector, Crazy Lee and Anthony). Although Pope leaves with Anthony, he returns alone to the 2nd Mass. In season three he opens a bar in Charleston, often speaking out about the alliance with the Volm and continuing to fight with the Berserkers. When Pope is in the ghetto, he returns to his mercenary ways. He later forms his own crew after disagreeing with Tom Mason's actions. Pope is apparently killed in an explosion caused by Tom Mason and Colonel Weaver during an attack on the 2nd Mass' headquarters. However, he survives, but is mortally wounded.
After Tom wipes out the Espheni and loses Anne, Pope confronts him on the beach he is waiting on in hopes the Dornia will save her. Pope realizes he takes no pleasure in Tom's misery and lays down his weapon, asking Tom to kill him. Tom refuses as the war is over and he won't kill anyone else. Pope accepts this and dies soon after of his wounds. Anthony Mpho Koaho 1–5 A fighter, a former Boston police officer, part of Tom's team and The Berserkers, Anthony is Anne's second-in-command. He later joins John Pope's crew due to his PTSD, but rejoins the 2nd Mass after realizing that Pope has gone too far. During the final battle, Weaver has him lead a team to hold their base in Norfolk, Virginia which he reluctantly accepts.
Months later, he attends Tom's speech and is shown to be fully accepted back. Cochise Doug Jones 3–5 Son of the Volm commander, Cochise is the first Volm to arrive on Earth and commands the Volm forces throughout season 3.