List of The 4400 characters
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series The 4400. The list includes the series main characters, recurring characters, minor characters, as well a list of the 4400 returnees.Main characters
Tom Baldwin, portrayed by Joel Gretsch, is the series's main protagonist. Tom was formerly at the FBI, and a longtime friend of Dennis Ryland. He joined Ryland at NTAC, but left after 5 months to investigate the circumstances surrounding his son, Kyle Baldwin, being comatose. He employed private investigators to find his missing nephew Shawn Farrell, in an attempt to discover the truth. Kyle's comatose state places great strain on Tom's marriage to Kyle's mother, Linda, and at some point before the Pilot the two have separated.Kyle Baldwin
Kyle Baldwin, portrayed by Chad Faust, is Tom and Linda's son and Shawn Farrell's cousin. He is possessed by a human being from the future, who reveals he was supposed to act as a communication channel between the future and Tom, to guide him in his dealings with the returned 4400 as they attempt to avoid the catastrophe that has caused humans to largely die out. He is responsible for the murder of Jordan Collier and spends several months in prison. He takes promicin to gain healing abilities but instead developed an imaginary guide that assumed the appearance of a woman named Cassie Dunleavy. At the end of the series he convinces his father to also take a promicin shot.Jordan Collier
Jordan Collier, portrayed by Billy Campbell, is one of the central figures of the 4400. Intelligent and persuasive, he quickly recognized the 4400 and their situation as being on a war footing with the government. Although his motives and means change during the course of the series from greed to altruism, Jordan's greatest wish appears to be that he will be remembered as a hero who changed the world, in the eye of the future. Jordan Collier's ability to neutralize promicin is discovered in "The Wrath of Graham" when he strips Graham Holt of his ability. It is theorized that this ability only works on promicin-positive non-4400s. Jordan Collier and Danny Farrell have the exact opposite ability.
Collier was initially described to Campbell as an "interesting" character rather than as a villainous role, a characterization that Campbell believes that the writers stuck with. Eric Goldman of IGN described Collier as "a fascinatingly morally ambiguous figure; one who seems like a Jesus figure one moment and nearly genocidal in another". Campbell himself has described the character as "a sociopath" and "ever manipulative".Shawn Farrell
Shawn Farrell, portrayed by Patrick Flueger, was born December 12, 1983, and disappeared April 22, 2001 from Highland Beach near Seattle, Washington, while with his cousin Kyle Baldwin. Shawn was not intended to be a 4400; as Kyle and Shawn are drinking at the beach, Shawn witnesses Kyle in the act of being abducted, and in an effort to help him, interrupts the process and is taken instead. Shawn has the ability to control the flow of life in living organisms, usually manifesting itself through healing physical damage done to the bodies of others. Limits for this power are unclear; although he is capable of basic healing, having successfully healed broken bones, severe burns and even a mortal stab through the chest, but is later able to heal people with cancer and all sorts of diseases. His ability is by close proximity - he tends to touch his targets, but can heal through clothing. When threatened he can reverse his power and drain the life-force from others, effectively killing them. He uses this latter ability to drive a possessing entity out of Kyle, and in a vision of the future he witnessed – in which, the catastrophe itself ripped the United States apart – he kills Richard Tyler, in apparent retaliation for Richard's pre-emptive strike. He is also forced to use this ability on his brother Danny as a mercy killing.Nina Jarvis
Nina Jarvis, portrayed by Samantha Ferris, became the director of NTAC in season two after succeeding Dennis Ryland; Ryland took his role back temporarily while Nina recovered from a gunshot wound. Nina returned as the director of NTAC after recovering from her injuries. Nina was later dismissed and replaced by Meghan Doyle.Alana Mareva
Alana Mareva, portrayed by Karina Lombard, was born October 17, 1969, in Tahiti, and disappeared September 5, 2001, from Seattle, Washington. Prior to her abduction, her husband and only son Billy had been killed by a drunk driver. She was an artist who owned an art gallery and travelled the world to purchase pieces for display there. Alana can telepathically create a completely realistic subjective alternate reality that she and a person with whom she is in physical contact can perceive. The reality can incorporate ideas from Alana or from her subject and is normally indistinguishable from objective reality. A great deal of time can pass in such realities while very little objective time passes. There is evidence that subjective realities of long duration accumulate subtle errors that permit the subconscious of the subject to recognize them for what they are. Tom Baldwin eventually realized that he was in subjective reality because of such errors. Alana was at that time subjected to the effects of the promicin-inhibitor. Most 4400s developed their abilities or refined their control when no longer dosed with the inhibitor. In season three, Diana Skouris was able to remain in the alternate reality without Alana. It was revealed by that incident that a participant in the alternate reality must be consciously willing to leave it.Dennis Ryland
Dennis Ryland, portrayed by Peter Coyote, was the original supervisor and director of NTAC during season one. Ryland was close friends with agent Tom Baldwin for many years. The two worked together at the FBI, and Ryland arranged for Tom to transfer with him to NTAC; this would damage their relationship, as Tom left after only 5 months to investigate the circumstances surrounding his son Kyle's comatose state. Ryland reinstates Tom into NTAC in the Pilot episode, recognizing that Tom is still one of his best agents, and partners him with Diana Skouris. During season one, Ryland is constantly portrayed as sympathetic to the 4400 and darkly amused when he informs Skouris and Baldwin that it's their job to resolve the mystery of the 4400's new-found abilities. However, as soon as Orson Bailey demonstrated his power of telekinesis, Ryland secretly ordered a separate investigation into the cause of the paranormal abilities, and possible methods of curtailing them. When a 4400 began to compel others to commit murder, Ryland ordered that the incomplete promicin inhibitor be used, in order to safeguard the country. During the final episode of season two, Ryland is arrested for his involvement for the production and administration of the Promicin inhibitor to unsuspecting returnees. He is put on trial because of the inhibitor scandal and T.J. Kim of the Nova Group causes Ryland's lawyer to attack him. The attempt fails and a hospitalized Ryland is later attacked by the telepath Gary Navarro. In season three he begins working as the leader of a privately owned company, Haspel Corporation, a defense contractor aiding the NSA in the tracking of the Nova Group, a terrorist organization of 4400 returnees. His prime motivation is based on his belief that the existence of civilians with 4400 abilities is a danger to the country, and works to limit the use of supernatural abilities created by promicin to the military and the government.Diana Skouris
Diana Skouris, portrayed by Jacqueline McKenzie, was partnered with Tom Baldwin in the pilot episode to investigate the 4400 returnees. The first, eight-year-old Maia Rutledge, asks to move in with her in the season one episode "The New and Improved Carl Morrissey". Diana adopts her in Season Two. At the beginning of season 4, Diana is seen in a vision/dream of Jordan Collier with the power to freeze time, although later in the show, it's revealed that she is immune to the effect of promicin.Maia Skouris
Maia Skouris, portrayed by Conchita Campbell, was born February 28, 1938, and disappeared March 3, 1946, at age 8 from Crescent City, California. She is the earliest of the returnees to be taken and the first to exhibit a special ability. Maia began recording her visions in diaries. She was adopted by Diana Skouris in Season 2. Maia is able to see future events. Generally, this ability is difficult for Maia to control and visions appear to her without warning. With concentration, however, she is able to predict specific events, first seen when her Aunt April helps her win at gambling. In the season three episode "Gone " she admits that she has gained greater control of her ability since she is no longer taking the promicin inhibitor.Lily Tyler
Lily Tyler, portrayed by Laura Allen and Tippi Hedren, was born August 4, 1966, and disappeared May 26, 1993, from Orlando, Florida. Her parents divorced when she was at the age of 14. At the time of abduction, she was married to Brian Moore, and is the mother to Heidi Moore. While she was in the future, Richard's DNA was extracted and put into her. She has the power of empathy and uses it to read Isabelle's feelings. Another possible power of hers would be age transmission, i.e. to transfer day, or years from other people's lives to herself and vice versa. Since the instant change of age between Isabelle and Lily happened exactly after Lily was freed from the effect of the promicin-inhibitor, it's to be said that Isabelle, unintentionally, used her mother's power against her. An image of Lily is created in One of Us, to convince Richard to restore Isabelle, now a baby, back to her adult form. She is created by a fellow 4400 on behalf of Kyle Baldwin. This Lily has no memory of events after she passed out whilst looking for Isabelle in the season two finale. After convincing Richard that his actions were wrong, she begins to fade, and Richard realizes what he had suspected all along; that she was not "really" Lily, Lily having died a year before. She finally fades away, telling Richard she loves him, as he holds her. The real Lily also appears in flashback form in "One of Us"; the "marked" Tom Baldwin remembers operating on her and Richard in the future after their initial abduction, impregnating Lily with Richard's child. Executive producer Ira Steven Behr originally pitched season three with the continuation of the character, but was told by the network to write her out of the show for "business reasons". Laura Allen, the actress who played Lily, subsequently accepted a role on another show. The season three opening episode presents Lily as an aged woman, portrayed by Tippi Hedren.