JAG/Characters

Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. (David James Elliott)

• Ace Pilot: Flies, F-14s, F-18s, his own Stearman, C-130s and on CIA aircraft.
• Big Brother Instinct: Harm to Sergei.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Commander Badass
• Courtroom Antics: Harm fired a loaded machinegun during a trial to make a point. No one lets him forget about that either, particularly the judge presiding over the case.
• Dad the Veteran: Harm's deceased father.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Disappeared Dad: Harm's father was shot down over Vietnam on Christmas when he was a kid, and Harm's attempts to find him were a recurring subplot for the first three seasons.
• Do Anything Soldier: Is there a Navy job that Harm can't perform?
• Embarrassing First Name: Harmon Rabb, known as Harm to his friends.
• Generation Xerox: Harm’s dad just so happened to look in his prime exactly like his son latter does in his prime (save for the moustache and the deeper voice)…
• Genius Bruiser: Harmon Rabb is a lawyer that looks like a boxer and is, of course nicknamed 'Harm'. He's more liable to use the law to fight his battles than anything else, but failing that he's a trained Naval Aviator and qualified to fly fighter jets.
• Hello, Attorney!: He is one, can't even escape so while as a naval aviator.
• The Hero
• I Will Find You: Harm's quest to find his father.
• Long-Lost Relative: Harm spends a substantial portion of the show searching for his father, who went MIA during the Vietnam War. His father escaped custody, and was later shot and killed, but not before meeting a Gypsy woman and fathering another son, Sergei.
• The McCoy
• Military Brat:
• Tall, Dark and Handsome:
• Ten-Minute Retirement: Harm had his vision impairment fixed and went back to flying Tomcats for a short while, before his new commanding officer convinced him that he was too old to be competitive as an aviator against all the younger pilots, despite his skill, and that he would do the most good as a judge advocate.
• Third-Act Stupidity:
• Ultimate Job Security:
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Mac and Harm

Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell)

• Abusive Parents:
• Action Girl:
• The Alcoholic: Mac, formerly.
• Brainy Brunette:
• Colonel Badass:
• Cunning Linguist: Mac, as she speaks Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Farsi and German.
• Deadpan Snarker:
• Dirty Harriet: Mac goes undercover in season 5 as a Chief Petty Officer trying infiltrate a Wicca group, including getting herself sky-clad.
• Foot-Dragging Divorcee: Mac had an abusive husband who refused to sign the divorce papers. And then he wound up dead and Mac was tried for murder.
• Genius Bruiser: Mac also qualifies, though not surprisingly given that she's a Marine.
• Hello, Attorney!:
• Hot Chick in a Badass Suit:
• Lady of War:
• The McCoy:
• Military Brat:
• Missing Mom: Mac's mother left when she was a kid. They eventually reunited, but it didn't go well.
• Ms. Fanservice: Catherine Bell is a notably attractive woman, and the show took every opportunity it could to show off Mac both in uniform and in other attire, skivvies and swimwear included.
• Oops, I Forgot I Was Married: Done with Mac.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Catherine Bell's pregnancy in late season 8, as her character temporarily served as judge to hide the fact. And later that season she follwed Clayton Webb on a secret mission to Paraguay posing as his pregnant wife...
• Semper Fi:
• Ten-Minute Retirement: Mac resigns to become a civilian lawyer, only to realize she was far happier in the Marines. Turns out, Admiral Chegwidden never actually processed her discharge papers, and she was allowed back on.
• Third-Act Stupidity:
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Mac and Harm

Budrick "Bud" Roberts, Jr. (Patrick Labyorteaux)

• Abusive Parents
• Beware the Nice Ones: Bud and Harriet are the sweetest couple and good parents, but both go on the warpath if someone screws over their spouse.
• Big Brother Instinct: Bud to Mikey.
• Embarrassing First Name:
• Ensign Newbie: Both Bud and Harriet literally starts out as this.
• Genius Ditz:
• Happily Married: Bud and Harriet.
• Military Brat:
• Non-Action Guy:
• Obfuscating Stupidity: One of Bud's tactics. Or as Mac puts it, his "Awwe-shucks" facade as a lawyer. He got a serial killer to confess on the stand by playing dumb and later stressed Harm out by asking him why the guy should believe Bud was incompetent at all.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In season 2.
• Recurring Character: In season 1.

Albert Jethro "AJ" Chegwidden (John M. Jackson)

• Authority Equals Asskicking: Admiral Chegwidden, before he became lawyer, was a Navy SEAL who earned a Navy Cross in The Vietnam War, and he's had more than one occasion to showcase his credentials in Badass...including one or two Papa Wolf moments. And one incident involving an actual wolf...
• Badass Grandpa: Admiral Chegwidden, the boss of the team and a former Navy Seal.
• Bald of Awesome
• Benevolent Boss
• Big No: Admiral Chegwidden does formidable one in "Ghosts".
• Cool Old Guy
• Deadpan Snarker
• A Father to His Men
• Grumpy Bear:
• Officer and a Gentleman
• Papa Wolf
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In season 2.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
• Recurring Character: In season 1.
• Two Star Badass:
• The Vietnam War: Veteran.

Harriet Sims (Karri Turner)

• Beware the Nice Ones: Bud and Harriet are the sweetest couple and good parents, but both go on the warpath if someone screws over their spouse.
• Ensign Newbie: Both Bud and Harriet literally starts out as this.
• Happily Married: Bud and Harriet.
• Mama Bear:
• Non-Idle Rich: Harriet Sims, despite having been brought up in wealth, she joined the Navy, works hard as an office manager at JAG and has 4 children with Bud Roberts.
• Recurring Character:

Peter Ulysses "Sturgis" Turner (Scott Lawrence)

• A Day in the Limelight:
• Deadpan Snarker:
• Military Brat:
• Mistaken for Racist: Sturgis is accused of racism against Koreans by a biased Lieutenant in Naval Intelligence. The charges are eventually dropped.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In season 10
• Recurring Character:
• The Spock:
• Token Minority: African-American.

Jennifer Coates (Zoe McLellan)

• A Day in the Limelight:
• Plucky Office Girl: Petty Officer Jennifer Coates, to some extent.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In season 10.
• Recurring Character:

Jason Tiner (Chuck Carrington)

• A Day in the Limelight:
• Lovable Nerd:
• Non-Action Guy:
• Recurring Character:

Mic Brumby (Trevor Goddard)

• Awesome Aussie: Averted, even though he talks just like Crocodile Dundee.
• Fake Nationality: Englishman Trevor Goddard playing Australian Mic Brumby. Apparently Trevor Goddard made a career out of playing Australians.
• Put on a Bus: Character left for Australia after knowing Mac was in love with Harm.
• Recurring Character:
• Romantic False Lead: For Mac in seasons 5 & 6.

Victor Galindez (Randy Vasquez)

• A Day in the Limelight:
• Recurring Character:
• Sergeant Rock:
• Servile Snarker:
• Semper Fi:
• Token Minority: Latino.

Megan "Meg" Austin (Tracey Needham)

Appeared in season 1 only

• Action Girl: Took down a rogue Thai girl to save Harm's life.
• Boot Camp Episode: "Boot" has Meg investigating Paris Island's female DI's in the most straightforward way.
• Dumb Blonde: Averted.
• Put on a Bus: Lt. JG Meg Austin was present for most of the first season, but disappeared with little explanation at the start of the second.

Gordon "Biff" Cresswell (David Andrews)

Appeared in season 10 only. Replaced Chegwidden as the Judge Advocate General of the Navy following his retirement.

• Benevolent Boss:
• Cool Old Guy:
• Reasonable Authority Figure
• Recurring Character:
• Semper Fi:
• Two Star Badass:

Clayton Webb (Steven Culp)

• Badass Bureaucrat:
• Blatant Lies: For a time, Webb insisted that he worked for the State Department, rather than the CIA, despite always turning up in the middle of various plots. Nobody, hero or villain, ever believed him for a second, but most of the time his claim would be accepted with a roll of the eyes and a grain of salt.
• The Chessmaster: Clayton Webb. He is a good Chessmaster (both in the sense of being skillful and being on the good side), but he is cold and ruthless and has a streak of the Knight Templar in him. However, he is incorruptible and occasionally surprises people with his softer side. In the later episodes he often goes into danger himself, giving him a good claim to being a Badass Bookworm.
• Combat Pragmatist: Webb's practicality about covert warfare often shocks everyone else. The others sometimes act as his conscience.
• Deadpan Snarker.
• Faking the Dead: Clayton Webb does this twice.
• Guile Hero: Clayton Webb. Especially toward later episodes when he kind of Took a Level In Badass.
• Insufferable Genius: Webb. Well he's smart and he thinks he is a genius.
• Knight in Sour Armor:
• Recurring Character:
• Romantic False Lead: For Mac in seasons 8 & 9.
• The Spock
• The Spymaster: CIA Officer Clayton Webb.

Thomas Boone (Terry O'Quinn)

• Ace Pilot:
• Bald of Awesome:
• Cool Old Guy:
• Deadpan Snarker:
• Recurring Character
• Tell Me About My Father: He served with Harmon Rabb Senior tour he was shot down and went MIA and occasionally tells his son Harm Jr. a story about his time with Haerm Senior.
• The Vietnam War: Veteran.

Elizabeth 'Skates' Hawkes (Sibel Galindez)

• Guy in Back: In Season 2 Episode 5 and for Harm from Season 5 to Season 7.
• Put on a Bus: Not seen after mid-Season 7.
• Recurring Character: From Season 4 onwards.