Samuel "Sam" Oliver
The protagonist of the show,
Sam Oliver (played by
Bret Harrison) is a
college dropout and all-around
slacker who, thanks to a deal made by his parents in order to save his father’s life, becomes a
bounty hunter for the Devil when he turns 21. He dates his co-worker Andi, and near the end of season 1, the two start a relationship briefly after she discovers Sam is the Devil’s bounty hunter.
Upon learning of his infernal debt, Sam initially thought that he was instantly doomed to be dragged down to
Hell, only to be informed by the Devil that he is required to function as a
bounty hunter for Hell - for the rest of his life. He now collects souls for the Devil using various vessels (which vary by episode), with the assistance of his best friends Sock and Ben. A quitter by nature, Sam’s morality was immediately pressed when he realized that if he didn’t go along with his part of the bargain, more and more people would be hurt because he failed to capture the escaped souls.
For every soul that Sam is forced to catch, the Devil seemingly gives him a special power, but these are often as much a hindrance as a help. These powers can range from psychic control, to growing tattoos that hint where the soul will be. It also seems that Sam can activate the powers any time, as seen in "The Underbelly," when through only anger, Sam can break the wine bottle without touching it. Not all of these powers affect his body. In "Love, Bullets, and Blacktop," all that happens is the song
Radar Love by
Golden Earring keeps playing. His powers rarely appear in the second season, but he admits that he does not yet have full control over his "devil powers."
At the end of season one, the demon Tony tells Sam that he believes Sam’s parents were paid by the Devil to carry his (the Devil’s) baby, though Sam’s mother denied this, and the Devil admits that he would probably not answer Sam honestly if asked about it. Later, the Devil says that Sam is his son, while the father who raised Sam, Mr. Oliver, tells Sam that the deal with the Devil will not allow him to tell Sam the truth of the matter. All other characters who know about the claim assume that Sam, though kindhearted, is indeed the Devil’s son.
During season 2, Sam discovers an escaped soul, Alan, that can’t be sent back to hell because he claims he escaped the Devil. Sam continues throughout the season hunting down Alan, trying to get information on how to escape his contract.
In "Underbelly," the Devil hints that Sam is invulnerable. In "The Home Stretch," Sam inadvertently wins a competition with his half-brother Morgan and is appointed the Devil’s right-hand man. In the words of the Devil, he is "my right-hand man, my human representative in this realm, serving at my side as we create hell on earth." In "No Reaper Left Behind", the Devil tells Sam, "I expect you to rise to the heights of political power here on earth, seize control of the planet, and hasten the Apocalypse."
Andi breaks up with Sam once Morgan revealed to her that Sam is the son of the Devil. She stated she recognized evil within him, and she can’t deal with it. Even though she ended the relationship, Andi continues to assist Sam in capturing souls. In ’The Devil & Sam Oliver," Andi ends up with him again, united by the fact that both of their souls are owned by the Devil.
Bert "Sock" Wysocki
The lowest-performing salesperson at the Work Bench,
Bert "Sock" Wysocki (played by
Tyler Labine) spends most of his time sleeping in the stock shelves, planning his topless home supply store, and other time-wasting activities. He won the dog of the month award (the opposite of employee of the month) nine months in a row. He also regularly steals supplies from the Work Bench which aids Sam in capturing souls or he just uses them for fun (like making a mechanical bull from paint mixers and lumber). Fortunately, he is braver and more athletic than his slacker persona suggests, and often provides the muscle of Sam’s group. Sock assists Sam with collecting souls.
Sock lived with his mother for the majority of the first season but had to move out after she re-married in Las Vegas. After being kicked out, he first lives in the Work Bench but then he finds an apartment and forges Sam’s and Ben’s signatures on the lease and they live there for the rest of the season.
At the start of the show Sock and Josie have just broken their relationship off but they get back together in the 14th episode and break off again in the final episode, with Josie saying that Sock is a bad boyfriend. In the last episode of the first season Sock kissed the
succubus Marlena multiple times, losing one year from his life for each kiss (he estimates he has three years left).
In the beginning of the second season it is revealed that Sock has a beautiful Asian stepsister whom he finds sexually appealing and considers asking out. He continues down this path, even with his new sister continually viewing him as a big brother, and eventually convinces her that there is nothing wrong with them sleeping together which they do in the second season episode "Underbelly." She leaves for Japan shortly after.
Sock is also one of five characters other than Sam who have captured a soul (the others being Andi, Ben, Mr. Sprong and Morgan). He captured the blob soul in episode five ("What About Blob") with the
sweater vessel, and in the season finale ("Cancun"), he caught the fortune teller soul by throwing the
baseball vessel through her car window after the fortune teller tried to run over both Sam and himself. In the first episode of season 2 ("Episode IV: A New Hope"), he captured one of the 40 fight club souls with the
cattle prod vessel. In the final episode "The Devil & Sam Oliver," he severs the toad-tongue of an escaped soul with a
machete and sends it back to Hell.
Benjamin "Ben" Gonzalez
One of Sam and Sock’s co-workers and friends,
Benjamin Casper Perez Gonzalez (played by
Rick Gonzalez) knows Sam is working for Satan and helps him out. He seems to have a tendency to get hurt when assisting Sam in capturing escaped souls (though this tendency diminished as the series progressed, partially because he doesn’t go soul-hunting along with Sam as extensively as Sock does). In the series pilot he is sent to the hospital by the fire soul and consumed by the blob monster in episode 5 ("What about Blob"), was held hostage in episode 10, ("Cash Out"), and hit by a 2x4 along with his friends while fighting two of the 40 fight club souls (Episode IV A New Hope). However in "Dirty Sexy Mongol" Ben shows a rare side of bravery fending off a demon with a tiki torch, thereby saving Sam from the would be assassin. Ben is initially seen as the brains of the trio as he is usually the one responsible for coming up with tactics and strategies in aiding Sam capture escaped souls, and is not above recommending and taking advantage of the Work Bench’s merchandise as make-shift hunting gear whenever the three conduct a hunt; he initially sought training as a
priest and has an extensive knowledge of the
Bible, and often raises theological questions about the nature of their missions and the Devil’s involvement. For example, in "The Home Stretch" Ben created a draft for a device called the ’straw-to-matic’ which help sock to get $10,000 for the funeral he attended and also help Sam in ’Business Casualty’, which he created a project for Sam which he name it ’Bentopia’.
Ben appears far less competent when he agrees to a
green card marriage with his
British co-worker Sara. He had just given up on his search for the perfect girl, who happens to be independently wealthy, enjoys
mixed martial arts, and reads
Sue Grafton novels. Once married, Ben immediately meets Cassidy while chasing a soul, and she fits every criteria for his perfect girl. Sara, far crueler and more shrewd than she initially lets on, forbids Ben to see Cassidy, though she has no qualms about her own extramarital affairs that she keeps secret from Ben. Ben is eventually able to negotiate a compromise with Sara after discovering she is pregnant with her married boyfriend Esteban’s child.
When Ben’s sham marriage is discovered by an
INS agent, he is told he is going to jail. He gets money together to pay a fine in lieu of jail time, but Sara tricks him into giving her the money so that she can go
on the lam. At the end of the episode "The Leak", Cassidy drives Ben to jail, telling Sock "
When this is all over, my boyfriend will no longer be married". Early in the next episode, "Cancun," Ben arrives at the Work Bench disappointed that his friends forgot to pick him up after serving his eight-day sentence.
Ben is one of five people who have captured a soul for Sam (the others are Morgan, Mr. Sprong, Sock and Andi) - he captured the tentacle soul in episode 24 ("Underbelly") with Sam’s
grenade vessel.
In season two, he begins dating Nina, a demon. In "The Home Stretch", he breaks up with her at the insistence of his domineering grandmother, but gets back together with her in "No Reaper Left Behind." He has shown that he has grown out of his nature by going against his psychic grandmother in order to remain together with Nina (which means he has gone against his family, since his grandmother is in control of the entire family). During the mating season for the demons, Ben fought a male demon off as it is determined to get Nina to mate with it, and Ben did not want any demon to touch Nina.
In "The Favorite", Ben is shown to be the laughing stock of the group as Sam and Sock are always wanting to tease him; Sam’s zombie like father hides in the backseat of Sam’s car while Sock and Sam tempt Ben into the car to see the look on his face when he is scared by Sam’s father.
Andi Prendergast
Andi Prendergast (played by
Missy Peregrym in the series and
Nikki Reed in the unaired pilot) is Sam’s manager and girlfriend. Initially unaware of Sam’s Reaper duties, she is let down multiple times when Sam is called away from dates to capture souls. Chancing to see him on duty, Andi watches Sam behead an escaped soul from a distance, and initially threatens to go to the police. Sam is warned by the Devil to ensure she remains unaware of his activities, but eventually he receives permission to let her know what he does. With help from Sam’s neighbor (and demon) Tony, as well as from the escaped soul at the time, Sam convinces Andi of his "job". Andi reacts poorly, but eventually accepts Sam’s fate and becomes his third assistant in hunting souls, though her assistance seems more focused on research rather than actual confrontation. In season 2, Andi was promoted to manager of the Work Bench when Ted was fired because of harassing a "secret shopper" from corporate. She was later demoted in "My Brother’s Reaper", for allowing the Work Bench to be used for a bachelor party.
Sam and Andi start dating near the end of season one but this ends abruptly in "Underbelly" because Andi discovers from Morgan that Sam is the son of the devil. She can’t handle this and believes that evil is brewing within Sam. Although they broke up, Andi continues to help Sam on his quest to get out of his deal with the Devil. In "The Devil & Sam Oliver" she declares her love for Sam, offers to have sex with him, is willing to offer her soul for him, and ends up sharing his fate. She admits that despite everything she’s happy with Sam.
Andi is one of five people who have captured a soul for Sam (the others are Ben, Morgan, Mr. Sprong, and Sock) - she captured the multiplying soul in episode 15 ("Coming to Grips") with Sam’s
scythe vessel.
John Oliver
Mr. John Oliver (played by Andrew Airlie) is possibly Sam’s father. Though equally distressed by his son’s predicament as his wife, he, in effect, works against Sam for the protection of his family. In one episode, Mr. Oliver is seen burning a page from the contract which binds Sam to the devil, to hide information from Sam (which he later admits to in the season finale).
In the season two premiere ("Episode IV: A New Hope"), Sam is confident that the Devil is his true father, not Mr. Oliver. After surviving being buried alive at the end of Season 1, Mr. Oliver reappears as a
zombie. Sam sees him again in "The Favorite" when delivering a freezer to his mother’s house. Mr. Oliver explains that he cannot die because of the deal with the Devil that cost Sam his soul. As a zombie, he cannot go out in public and needs to be kept cool. His deceased status gives him plenty of free time, which he attempts to spend rekindling his relationship with Sam. At the end of "I Want My Baby Back," Mr. Oliver moves into the garage of Sock’s parents’ house and sleeps in a freezer.
In "No Reaper Left Behind," Mr. Oliver attempts to regain some semblance of a normal life through the use of the internet, only to be disappointed. In an effort to find some purpose, he asks Sam to send him to Hell in an attempt to locate Alan Townsend and help Sam get out of his deal. Sam agrees and sends him to Hell with the Nerf gun vessel. Mr. Oliver subsequently contacts Sam by cell phone and tells him he’s discovered a way for Sam to break the deal, but he’s trapped in the third circle of Hell (it is unknown how he got there as the third level is inhabited by the gluttons). Nina goes to Hell to get it and rescue him, but he stays behind, saying he has something important to do.
Smooth-talking and debonair, known as
"Jerry Belvedere" to those who have no idea of his true identity,
the Devil (played by
Ray Wise) claims the rights to Sam’s soul thanks to a deal he made with Sam’s parents before Sam was even born. Although he knows how it all ends ("
God wins"), he is determined to do as much as he can to oppose God until the end. He also convinces Sam that he (Sam) is doing good by clearing the world of the escaped evil souls. Aside from Sam and Morgan, the Devil never appears before any of Sam’s friends face-to-face despite the Devil knowing about them and aware that they know Sam’s secret job of being a reaper for him. The only exception of this was in the episode ’Magic’ where he gave Andi tickets to a magic show.
While firm at times, the Devil has never expressed outright anger, in spite of Sam’s frequent complaints, incompetence, and meddling; however, when Sam cheated him out of a deal with another human, he caused all of the surrounding racks in the Work Bench to collapse on Sam out of "disappointment."
The Devil has nearly
omnipotent supernatural powers, and often
teleports an unsuspecting Sam to locations that serve to exemplify whatever subject he wishes to speak with Sam about. He also has a habit of providing Sam "motivation" in catching escaped souls, usually by informing him that someone just died (or is about to die) due mainly to Sam’s inaction - a habit which generally gets acceptable results; this habit became less displayed in later episodes however, as Sam is beginning to "adjust" to his infernal fate.
The Devil is nearly
indestructible, and scoffs at the idea that he could be contained within a
Solomon’s cage (which can confine the strongest demon). He also has
superhuman strength, having tricked and placed Sam once in a painful arm-hold to interrogate him. However, the Devil can be affected by angelic
relics, as he can be killed by the Sword of the
Archangel Michael (which he has in safekeeping), and could be "destroyed" if the whole world were to turn to
pacifism (as Sam deduced after the Devil’s near-annihilation of a demon rebellion, as if the Devil couldn’t tempt others with
sin, he would cease to exist - although the Devil notes that all humanity adopting complete pacifism would be nearly impossible). In addition, the Devil cannot see, hear, or appear within curves or circles, although he can be summoned within a circle. He holds no influence over true love, which may be attributed to his belief that humans are incapable of experiencing it. The Devil also confesses that even though he tried to overthrow God, he still loved Him when Sam asked the Devil about love. He confesses to Sam that God loves us all no matter what we are.
The Devil loves
ice cream, but cannot eat it, as it melts as soon as he touches it. This doesn’t happen on his own volition, but was apparently a
curse given upon him by God shortly before he was cast out of
Heaven, knowing how much he loves ice cream. It is later revealed that the devil opposes
anthropogenic global warming as anyone who dies of it would be considered an innocent and not be sent to hell.
The Devil is apparently Sam’s father, according to the Devil throughout the second season. He does many things throughout the series that imply this: He never gets truly angry with Sam, he only gets outwardly angry with him one time where he says that he is "a disappointment." He often offers guidance to Sam. He seems to have an extreme dislike of Sam’s father. Throughout the series he and Sam do things that could be considered ’father-son activities’ such as going to hockey games, eating ice cream, and playing baseball together.
In "The Home Stretch" the Devil held a competition between Sam and his half-brother Morgan. Whoever captured a soul would be made his right-hand man. Sam wanted Morgan to win because his incompetence would thwart the Devil; he inadvertently won, however, while saving Morgan’s life from the escaped soul.
In "The Devil and Sam Oliver" the Devil is forced to accept a challenge from Sam to win his soul back, and they end in a tie. In the re-match he is distracted by his face in the mirror and only manages to get one quarter into the shot glass. When Sam’s hand is broken by Steve and Sam can’t score at all, the Devil wins Andi’s soul.
The Devil changes his suit three times a day despite all of his suits looking exactly the same.
