Dollhouse/Characters
The Dolls
Did I fall asleep?
"For a little while."
"Shall I go now?"
"If you like."
Dolls are people who have effectively sold themselves to the Rossum Corporation for a period of five years. During this time their memories and personalities are wiped clean and then rewritten in order to cater to the needs of Rossum's megarich customers. All Dolls qualify as Blank Slates in their unimprinted modes.
Echo/Caroline Farrell
I have 38 brains, and not one of them thinks you can sign a contract to be a slave.
Played by: Eliza Dushku
One of the Los Angeles Dollhouse's most popular dolls. Echo has begun to develop a self-awareness independent of her original personality.
- Action Girl: A frequent imprint, and a defining trait of her integrated personality.
- Action Survivor: When not imprinted with combat skills she's still dangerous.
- Badass
- Blessed with Suck (or Cursed with Awesome, depending on point of view): The emotional isolation Echo's ability to retain imprints and be anyone imposes on her, especially how it prevents her from opening her heart fully to Paul Ballard until after he dies in battle. Near the end of his life, Paul tells her, "A hundred personalities, and you're the loneliest person I know."
- Chronic Hero Syndrome
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: At some points in the series.
- Granola Girl: her original personality as Caroline.
- Magnetic Hero: Specifically cited by Bennett for her ability to get people to obsess over her or do what she wants even after her mindwiping.
- Many Spirits Inside of One
- Meaningful Name: She's one of the few Dolls who remembers fragments of her previous personality- perhaps we could call them echoes?
- Ms. Fanservice: Her other most common imprint.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Once she becomes self-aware.
- Spoiled Brat: Even Eliza Dushku agrees Caroline is this.
- Took a Level in Badass
- Waif Fu
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: at least her original personality.
Sierra/Priya Tsetsang
I love him so much more than I hate you.
Played by: Dichen Lachman
One of the newest additions to the Dollhouse. Formerly an Australian artist named Priya. The Dollhouse believes they helped her; five years of service in return for curing her severe paranoid schizophrenia. In reality, a high ranking Rossum employee drugged her into psychosis after she rejected his advances, sent her to the House, and rented out her services regularly. She eventually gets her payback.
- Action Girl: As with Echo, this is a frequent imprint.
- Action Survivor: As Priya.
- Break the Cutie: Broken before the Dollhouse, and then again as a Doll when she is repeatedly raped by her original handler.
- Determinator
- Hot Scientist: Three important imprints.
- Ms. Fanservice: In her unimprinted state.
- Ship Tease: Between her and Victor.
- The Chick
Victor/Anthony Ceccoli
Played by: Enver Gjokaj
One of the most popular male dolls of the Dollhouse. His love for Sierra survives even in his unimprinted state. Formerly Tony, an Iraq war veteran who was recruited after The Dollhouse promised to cure his PTSD.
- Fridge Horror: A Face Heel Turn was hinted at at some point before Epitaph 2, and he was full of battle ready imprints at the time.
- Hive Mind: Operation Mindwhisper
- Making Use of the Twin: done with Enver Gjokaj's non-actor twin, Demir Gjokaj, in "The Attic."
- Scars Are Forever: Averted. They're notably gone by "Vows" (2x01).
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: He originally entered the Dollhouse to be cured of his post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Ship Tease: Between him and Sierra.
- Eventually promoted to OTP.
- Super Soldier: Rossum has a mind-linked band of these as their independent contractors. Tony is recruited to be one.
- Mr. Fanservice
November/Madeline Costley
When someone's free they get to make mistakes. Am I free?
Played by: Miracle Laurie
November is another female doll in the LA Dollhouse. She spends much of the first season as a sleeper agent, imprinted with the personality of Paul Ballard's lovable neighbor Mellie.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She's a "sleeper agent" possessing lethal martial arts abilities when triggered by a code phrase.
- Driven to Suicide: she shoots herself in the head when her Mellie imprint comes up against her sleeper imprint, saving Ballard's life
- Hollywood Pudgy: Somewhat subverted. She on occasion makes reference to her weight. Others (particularly Ballard) do not treat her as anything other than the attractive woman that she is.
- Manchurian Agent
- The Mole: As Mellie
- Shallow Love Interest: Her imprinted personality as Mellie.
The Dollhouse staff
Adelle DeWitt
Illusions aren't worthless. They're at the heart of most relationships.
Played by: Olivia Williams
The Dollhouse's 'madam,' in charge of the Los Angeles branch. Outwardly cool, stoic and very British, in her private moments she has revealed a melancholy and loneliness she would die rather than show to her employees.
- Anti-Villain
- Batman Gambit: Pretty much her whole role in "The Attic."
- Broken Bird
- The Chessmaster
- Drowning My Sorrows: She seems to do this a lot.
- Even Evil Has Standards
- Heel Face Revolving Door
- Hey, It's That Guy!: It's Dr. Malcolm Crowe's wife!
- I Am Very British: Trope Namer
- Kick the Dog: In both "Meet Jane Doe" and "A Love Supreme" .
- Lady Drunk
- Mama Bear: Toward the Actives in general and, eventually, toward Topher.
- Manipulative Bitch
- More Deadly Than the Male
- My God, What Have I Done?: A minor one alongside Topher, when she realises what they inadvertently did to Priya.
"You have made me an accomplice in something vile... and it ends now."
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules: Always true but specifically demonstrated when she breaks with Rossum in "Epitaph One".
- Spot of Tea: She tends towards green tea, though.
- The Stoic: She took a bullet during Dominic's mindwiping and refused treatment until it was over.
- Sugar and Ice Personality
- Xanatos Speed Chess: To quote the woman herself, any good battle plan must be fluid.
Dominic: You played a good hand, ma'am.
Adelle: I played a bad hand very well. There is a distinction.
Boyd Langton
We're pimps and killers, but in a philanthropic way.
Played by: Harry Lennix
Echo's gruff but kind handler. An ex-cop, he has serious reservations about the work the Dollhouse does, yet constantly shows unswerving loyalty to Echo. Acts as the moral lodestone of the Dollhouse. Later promoted to head of security. Ultimately revealed to be the head of Rossum
- Badass Normal
- Bait the Dog
- Big Bad
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto Us
- Evil All Along
- The Handler
- Hoist by His Own Petard.
- Karmic Death: Of the Action Bomb variety.
- Knight in Sour Armor
- The Man Behind the Man
- Morality Chain: He serves as this to Adelle. Or at least he tries. Or so it seems.
- Nice Guy
- Papa Wolf: In regards to Echo.
- Positive Discrimination: Until The Reveal
- Revolvers Are Just Better
- True Companions: "You're my family. I love you guys."
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
Topher Brink
If I think I can figure things out, is that curiosity or arrogance?
Played by: Fran Kranz
The Los Angeles Dollhouse's genius head programmer. He creates and implants the personalities used by the actives, but has little regard for the morality of what he is doing... at first.
- Adorkable: So very much.
- Affably Evil
- Bunny Ears Lawyer
- Dating Catwoman: With Bennett.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Even Evil Has Standards: Topher is horrified when he realises what really happened to Priya and refuses to allow Sierra to be given over to Nolan permanently.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: In "Epitaph One," he's gone mad from the realization he might be responsible for the end of the world. Might have been helped by Bennett's murder having clearly traumatized him.
- For Science!: This appears to be his primary motivation.
- Heel Realization
- Heel Face Turn: As of "Meet Jane Doe".
- Heroic BSOD: After Bennett is killed right in front of him. He has a milder one earlier after helping kill and dismember the doctor who made Priya into a Doll.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In "Epitaph Two: Return," he restores the minds of everyone that has been imprinted with a pulse that kills him when activated.
- Hollywood Nerd
- Ho Yay: With Boyd.
- Insufferable Genius
- Jerkass: In first season, gradually evolving into ...
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As of the second season.
- Mad Scientist
- My God, What Have I Done?: By Epitaph One, due to his role in creating the tech.
- He has a smaller-scale one earlier when he realises that, instead of helping Priya by curing her psychosis, he was complicit in her enslavement and rape.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: A computer expert and neuroscientist. Though both are essential for his job.
- Ship Tease: Mostly with Ivy, but also with Claire, Echo and even Adelle in "Echoes."
- And with Boyd.
- Why Did It Have To Be Rats?
Laurence Dominic
It's easy to be attached to your assigned active. In fact it's necessary, but don't think of them as children; think of them as pets. When your child starts talking for the first time, you feel proud. When your dog does, you freak the hell out.
Played by: Reed Diamond
The Dollhouse's original head of security and DeWitt's number two. He takes his job very seriously but is contemptuous of the dolls themselves. Saves a special dislike for Echo, whose autonomy he considers a security risk. Revealed to be The Mole, wiped and put in The Attic.
- Badass: Conquers his nightmares to become self-aware within the attic, sets himself to hunt down the attic's resident serial killer, remains behind when the others escape to free the minds of the attic's prisoners, manages to kill and revive himself to escape the attic and was probably the one who sent Ballard those mole messages. Mr. Dominic is a total offscreen badass.
- Badass Normal:
- Deadpan Snarker: 90 percent of his dialogue post Spy In The House of Love counts as this.
- Devil in Plain Sight
- Fate Worse Than Death
- Hero Antagonist. Dang that pesky lack of Sympathetic POV.
- Heel Face Turn His motivations don't really change between the first season and the second, but the torture and wet works aspects of his personality are downplayed and he stops trying to kill Echo, making him more of a straight-up heroic character.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Shoots eight rounds at his target from point-blank range and doesn't hit her once.
- Jerkass
- Knight Templar
Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey
My entire existence was constructed by a sociopath in a sweater vest; what do you suggest I do?
Played by: Amy Acker
Chief medical officer at the Dollhouse, she was attacked by Alpha during his composite event and left with bad facial scarring. She is the Dollhouse employee with the most concern for the emotional well-being of the actives. Revealed to be Whiskey, a doll, implanted with a personality based partially off the previous (male) Dr. Saunders, who was killed by Alpha.
- Broken Bird: As of her discovery that she's a former doll.
- Corrupt the Cutie
- Face Heel Turn
- Fallen Hero
- Foreshadowing: in 1x08, Caroline demands the release of all the dolls. Guess who's quite casually at the front of the crowd.
- Hospital Hottie: Despite the facial scarring.
- Hot Chick in a Badass Suit: In "The Hollow Men", when Clyde has taken over her body.
- Locked Out of the Loop
- The Medic
- The Mole: for Boyd
- Moment Killer: Literally. Bennett ;_;
- Replacement Goldfish
- Scars Are Forever: Averted in "Epitaph One." Her face has been healed.
- Tomato in the Mirror
Ivy
My talents go beyond asking if he wants chocolate chip or oatmeal.
Played by: Liza Lapira
Topher's assistant in the imprint room. She thinks she's here to use her knowledge and technical skills to work the cutting-edge imprinting technology. Topher thinks she is here to bring him snacks. The male fans of Dollhouse think she's here because who doesn't love a cute Asian techie. Joss Whedon thinks she's here so she can become a suspect for the spy in "A Spy in the House of Love."
- Beautiful All Along: It's notable that by the second season, her character both gets more screen time and starts to get better attention from wardrobe and makeup and playing up her attractiveness a lot more. Particularly notable in "A Love Supreme" when she's wearing eye shadow and lipstick as well as sporting a perm/hairstyle.
- Girlish Pigtails
- Hollywood Nerd
- Hot Scientist: Even if Topher won't let her play.
- Me's a Crowd: In the comic series, as shown by this cover: [http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/Previews/18-758]
- The Igor: Played with in that even though she's Topher's assistant, she's very attractive and far from subservient.
- Only Sane Woman: easily the most stable programmer we meet.
- Punch Clock Villain: To the point were you forget she's moaning about not being allowed to Strip people of different identities and create Sex Slaves.
- Ship Tease: Between her and Topher.
Bennett Halverson
Now's not the time for 'why.' I like this void. This evil, simple world. Just pain. Over and over again. No reason, no end, no in-between. You can't even pass out. We shut down everything that stands between you and blinding, searing pain.
Played by: Summer Glau
Topher's counterpart at the Dollhouse located in Washington, D.C. A former friend of Caroline, who was left to die by her in the past,[1] which has made her bitter - understandable since Caroline's abandonment left Bennett with a paralyzed left arm. Extremely shy and awkward, and has a huge geek-crush on Topher.
- Adorkable: When she's not being...
- Axe Crazy: Just a bit.
- Ambiguous Disorder: Poor social skills, obsessive control issues, emotionally closed off.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: She has her ... quirks, but it's obvious everyone puts up with her because of her genius.
- Cold-Blooded Torture
- Bi the Way / Depraved Bisexual: Maybe. There are some strong indicators that Bennett may actually have loved Caroline, not to mention her relationship with Topher.
- Whether Bennett was sexually attracted to Caroline or not, it's very evident that Caroline is probably Bennett's only friend and that Bennett is very emotionlly invested in the relationship. As for the depraved part: if you look at it strictly from Bennett's POV it does look an awful lot like Caroline exploited her loneliness to lie and seduce her, when that was revealed used her to break into Rossum, and then when things went wrong left her behind (maimed to boot). Echo herself wonders if she had it coming.
- Disabled Love Interest
- Foe Yay: With Topher.
- Deadly Change-of-Heart
- Hot Librarian: Lampshaded by Topher.
- Insufferable Genius
- Les Yay: A whole lot of it with Caroline.
- Mad Scientist: And how!
- Meganekko: Again, lampshaded by Topher.
- More Deadly Than the Male
- Pet the Dog: Advising her assistant not to question Rossum's motives, and attempts to comfort Madeline Costly.
- Pretty Little Headshots: Oh so averted. When Dr. Saunders kills her, the exit wound splatters both Topher (who was standing behind her) and a computer screen across the room.
- Red Right Hand: Or, in this case, Black Left Hand.
- Revenge: On Caroline.
- Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: With Caroline.
- Shrinking Violet
- Slap Slap Kiss: With Topher, though kind of delayed. He punched her, she returned the favor with a hell of a right hook, and cue the kissing.
- Torture Technician
Other Rossum Employees
Matthew Harding
Everyone likes to take a little something home from the office once in a while.
Played by: Keith Carradine
Adelle's direct superior in the Dollhouse.
- Body Surf: As of "Epitaph Two: The Return", he and Clive Ambrose have apparently been switching bodies repeatedly.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Dirty Old Man
- Foe Yay: With Adelle.
- Jabba Table Manners In the dystopian future, Harding completely lets his appetites run amok once he gains the ability to shed old bodies and inject his mind into new ones. He even jokes about "blowing up" his latest "suit" (to the tune of 300 pounds or so) in "Epitaph Two: Return."
- Me Love You Long Time: Had an Asian girlfriend in the future.
- Villainous Glutton
Clive Ambrose
You won't give up this body. That's fine, I won't resist. Right now I'm having this same conversation in ten other bodies in ten other Dollhouses around the country.
Played by: Philip Casnoff, and also others ? see below
Face of the Rossum Corporation.
- Body Surf: As of "Epitaph One," he's in at least eleven separate human bodies. Later he joins Harding in constantly jumping from body to body to maintain his power over the ruined world of "Epitaph Two: Return."
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Trademark Favorite Food: His original body was allergic to shellfish, so after that's no longer a concern, he develops a real sweet tooth for them.
Nolan Kinnard
Played by: Vincent Ventresca
Highly skilled neuro-chemist working for the Rossum Corporation. Knew Priya before she became a doll; when she refused his advances, he drugged her to make her appear psychotic and manipulated the Dollhouse into taking her on as a "humanitarian" case.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Adelle and Topher are both horrified by his actions.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections
- Stalker with a Crush
- Victim Falls For Rapist: The fact that he relishes Sierra saying she loves him (via brainwashing) makes his lust for her even creepier.
Clyde Randolph
Played by: Adam Godley
The inventor of the imprinting process and co-founder of Rossum. Original Recipe Clyde was betrayed by his business partner and became the attic's first occupant-victim. An imprint of him, modified to be unambitious and obedient, now runs things at Rossum.
- Awesome McCoolname: "Arcane." Lampshaded: "I thought it sounded badass."
- Big Bad, well, at least the second or third copy is. The original is locked in the Attic and very bitter.
- Body Surf: There have been at least five versions of the modified Clyde, plus the original in the Attic.
- Knight Templar. In the Attic, original Clyde is killing people (a) to put them out of their misery, and (b) to help take down the computer mainframe their brains comprise.
Others
Alpha/Carl William Craft
I'm not kidding. He's not fooling. We're not bluffing. (I'm bluffing.) But the rest of us, we mean business.
Played by: (Alan Tudyk)
A former Active, he had 48 personalities downloaded into his brain during a "composite event." He proceeded to get slash-happy and killed his handler, Echo's handler and a dozen other people before escaping. He has an obsession with Echo. He remains a looming presence throughout the first season, and has been known to contact Paul Ballard with information concerning the Dollhouse.
- Axe Crazy: Knife-crazy.
- Batman Gambit: : His whole plot in Briar Rose? Oh.My.God!
- Big Bad : For the first season he is this, even if he only appears in two episodes.
- A God Am I
- Faux Affably Evil: He's highly entertaining, despite being one of the few completely evil characters on the show.
- Heel Face Turn: Hinted at in Epitaph One when Caroline tells Claire that no one has been wiped at Safe Haven, thanks to Alpha.
- And confirmed in "Epitaph 2: The Return".
- Hey, It's That Guy!: It's Wash from Firefly!
- Insane Equals Violent: Averted; he was already psychopathic before the composite event drove him insane.
- Knife Nut: He likes cutting things.
- Laughably Evil: Some of his lines would sound appropriate coming from The Joker.
- Mad Scientist: Has built his own versions of Dollhouse tech.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Many Spirits Inside of One
- Obfuscating Stupidity: While pretending to be Stephen Kepler.
- And earlier, when he was still pretending to be an ordinary active.
- Phlebotinum Rebel
- Psycho Prototype
- Split Personality: At least 48 of them. One of which has multiple personality disorder itself.
- Stalker with a Crush
- Talking to Themself
- Ubermensch: He refers to himself as this.
Paul Ballard
The Dollhouse is real!
Played by: Tahmoh Penikett
FBI agent striving to investigate the truth about The Dollhouse, a job described as "the nicest version of fired the bureau has." Like Alpha, he has developed an unhealthy obsession with Echo/Caroline, but you know, a less slashy one.
- Badass Normal
- Character Development: starts in 1x06, when he begins to realize the "Black and White Morality" lens he's been viewing the Dollhouse through is somewhat inappropriate.
- Cowboy Cop
- Determinator
- Deuteragonist
- The Dulcinea Effect
- Hero Antagonist - In the first season
- Idiot Hero: For an FBI agent, he seems hopelessly ignorant of proper procedure and constantly goes into situations without preparation or backup. Of course, it's more that no one in the FBI would be his backup or follow the leads he does.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Especially after he starts working for the Dollhouse in season two.
- Mr. Fanservice
Senator Daniel Perrin
Loomis
It's a good thing I'm relatively sure you're not crazy.
Played by: Aisha Hinds
Graham Tanaka
Played by: Mark Sheppard
- Hey, It's That Guy!: What TV show has Mark Sheppard NOT been in at this point?
- Jerkass
The Future
These are characters we first meet in "Epitaph One" and any other future-set episodes. Any characters met in the present day who later appear in these episodes go up top.
Iris
Played by: Adair Tishler
- Creepy Child: The actress has the same adult-in-a-childs-body vibe Dakota Fanning had. Hearing her say "she loves it when your corny" is just weird.
- Little Miss Badass: In this case, a Justified Trope: the body is just a vessel with an adult imprint.
- The Messiah
- Older Than They Look: At least mentally.
Mag
Played by: Felicia Day
- Action Survivor
- Lipstick Lesbian: More like chapstick.
Zone
Played by: Zack Ward
- Jerkass
- Properly Paranoid: The reason he's still alive.
- Why Did It Have To Be Tech: He seems to turn the justifiable paranoia towards broadcast tech of the others Up to Eleven.
- ↑ okay, not really; Caroline had Bennett's best interests in mind--it's complicated