The Bishop/Special Crimes Unit - FBI

Character Bios

Every member of the unit must be extensively trained in law enforcement and investigative techniques. While some auxiliary personnel may not be actual FBI agents, every one involved in field operations is required to have the necessary training as well as being well-versed in FBI methods and regulations.

As series progresses, it becomes apparent that some members of the unit specialize in certain kinds of crimes/investigations. Such as Lucas Jordan and his interest in missing persons, and Riley Crane's expertise in the occult.

It is vitally important to the survival and success of the unit that no taint of sideshow fortune-telling or fakery touch any of the agents or the unit itself, especially in the early years.

click for SCU definitions of psychic abilities

Noah Bishop
Unit leader (Chief, Special Crimes Unit), founder. Tall, athletic and physically powerful, raven-black hair with a widow's peak and a white streak at the left temple (except in flashback scenes which took place prior to the events of Out of the Shadows), striking sentry eyes a silvery-gray, almost coldly handsome (though emotionally quite intense). Scar down left cheek from corner of eye almost to corner of mouth.
Job: Special Agent, Profiler, top investigator, sharpshooter. Has a few unusual abilities he deliberately cultivated, including lock-picking and computer hacking, and is licensed as a pilot of fixed-wing planes, jets, and helicopters.
Adept: touch-telepath, exceptionally powerful. Also possesses secondary or 'ancillary'ability of enhanced senses (hearing, sight, scent) familiarly known as a 'spider sense,' as well as the shared (with his wife) ability of precognition. Was driven to found the unit out of a strong desire to bring psychic ability into the mainstream as a useful investigative tool. Totally committed to his unit — and extraordinarily committed to his wife.
Appearances: Stealing Shadows, Hiding in the Shadows, Out of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Sleeping With Fear, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties

Miranda Bishop
Tall, raven-haired, electric blue eyes, beautiful.
Job: Special Agent, investigator, black belt in karate and a sharpshooter.
Adept: touch-telepath, seer, remarkably powerful and possesses unusual control, particularly in a highly-developed shield capable of protecting herself psychically, a shield she's able to extend beyond herself to protect others. Shares abilities with her husband due to their intense emotional connection, and together they far exceed the scale developed by FBI to measure psychic abilities.
Appearances: Out of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties

Tony Harte
Six feet, on the thin side, brown hair. Humorous, very intelligent.
Job: Special Agent, investigator, profiler.
Adept: telepath. Not especially strong, but able to pick up vibes from people, particularly emotions.
Appearances: Out of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Blood Ties

Dr. Sharon Edwards
Medium height, slender, blond.
Job: Forensic pathologist.
Adept: picks up vibes from objects.
Appearances: Out of the Shadows, Blood Ties

Quentin Hayes
Tall, lean, with rather shaggy blond hair and keen blue eyes. Almost feline way of moving.
Job: Special Agent, investigator, unofficial profiler. Humorous and somewhat reckless, he's developed a reputation for being resistant to authority, but is highly valued both as an investigator and a psychic.
Adept: seer. Does not 'see' the future, in the sense of visions, but simply knows things before they happen — at least until the events in Chill of Fear.
Appearances: Touching Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Blood Sins, Blood Ties

Kendra Eliot
Short, petite, pretty. Brown hair and eyes.
Job: Special Agent, investigator, profiler.
Adept: telepath. Not especially powerful, but unusually accurate, and possesses a slight secondary ability in that she can pick up 'vibes' from objects and places. Also possesses a 'uniquely flexible' mind capable of performing several tasks at once. Computer expert, particularly with databases.
Appearances: Touching Evil

Beau Rafferty
Tall, lanky, wheat-gold hair worn long and pale blue eyes. Face of an angel.
Job: World-renowned artist (impressionist-style paintings).
Adept: seer. Experiences visions as well as simply 'knows' things about the future, and is also able to paint in a technique similar to automatic writing, almost a trance state — but Beau is fully conscious and able to carry on a conversation while doing so. Not a field agent, he's what's known in the unit as technical support: a psychic with a stable and solid profession, he's able to go undercover to gather information on a situation for the agents.
Appearances: Touching Evil, Chill of Fear

Hollis Templeton
Tall, brown hair and (new) blue eyes. Was a commercial artist before the attack that changed her life. Will, in at least her second appearance in the series, be struggling with her new life and new abilities, as well as the destruction of her old life and talents. Should make at least a couple more appearances before her own story.
Job: Special Investigator/Special Agent, Profiler-in-training
Adept: medium. Perhaps because of the extreme trauma of Hollis’s psychic awakening, her abilities evolve and change more rapidly than those of many of the other agents. Even as she struggles to cope with her mediumistic abilities, each investigation in which she's involved seems to bring about another "fun new toy" for the agent. In Blood Dreams, she begins to see auras, the energy fields surrounding individuals. And in Blood Sins, yet another new ability catches her unawares.
Appearances: Touching Evil, Sense of Evil, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties

Galen
Very large and powerful, dark hair and eyes. Harsh face, hard mouth. Moves with exceptional quiet and has the uncanny ability to blend into the background until he's nearly invisible.
Job: Special Investigator, watchdog, guardian, pilot.
Adept: not psychic in the accepted sense of the word, Galen possesses a very unique ability Bishop knows will one day help save more than one other member of the unit. As much a natural leader as Bishop is, he takes orders from Bishop because he chooses to, and both men recognize that.
Appearances: Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Hunting Fear, Blood Sins, Blood Ties

Nell Gallagher
Average height and build, light brown hair and striking green eyes. Has a characteristic, peculiar quality of stillness.
Job: Special Agent, investigator.
Adept: possesses an unnamed ability — she's able to literally look into time, to see scenes which took place in the past as well as the future, particularly dramatic, emotional scenes, moments of crisis. In Whisper of Evil she also experiences blackouts she believes are connected to her use of her abilities, though the truth proves to be somewhat different. Her abilities were considered in her family a curse, and they were something Nell feared for most of her life — at least until she was recruited by Bishop and began not only to understand her unique talents but to use them constructively.
Appearances: Whisper of Evil

Isabel Adams
Tall, blond, striking green eyes, absolutely gorgeous and possessing the kind of measurements men's magazines drool over. Also far, far smarter than average, with an I.Q. well into the genius range. Is humorous, quick-witted, and inclined to take things as they come and lightly — at least on the surface.
Job: Special Agent, profiler.
Adept: 7th degree clairvoyant, able to pick up bits of information and knowledge seemingly out of thin air, sometimes in the form of unnervingly 'real' visions where facts may come written in blood. Isabel knows evil for what it is, because she's seen it — up close and personal.
Appearances: Sense of Evil

Rafe Sullivan
Physically a very large man, well over six feet tall, and unmistakably powerful. Not exactly ugly, his self-described label of "thug" fits pretty well; he has a harsh face with very sleepy, heavy-lidded eyes so impenetrably dark they tend to make people uncomfortable, a sharp jaw with a stubborn jut to it, and a nose broken at least twice in his past. Both the very dark eyes and his high cheekbones mark him indelibly with his Celtic ancestry.
Job: Joined the SCU after serving as sheriff of a small Southern town.
Adept: A latent psychic, his clairvoyant and shielding abilities were awakened by the events in Sense of Evil.
Appearances: Sense of Evil

Paige Gilbert
Brunette, brown eyes, late twenties. Extremely successful at undercover work, since she has the knack of blending into the background when she wants to. Also has a wide range of interests, and so is able to pose in a number of different jobs when necessary.
Job: Special Agent, investigator.
Adept: an open telepath, she specializes in the ability to recognize other psychics (even latent ones) with an 80% success rate. She is also able to pinpoint specific abilities a psychic may possess but be unaware of.
Appearances: Sense of Evil

Lucas Jordan
Fair, striking blue eyes, very intense. Has a kind of wired physical energy that demands release, so that he often paces, has other restless gestures; also runs and works out daily, so that he's in excellent shape. Very quiet voice, though the intensity 'lurks' in it.
Job: Special Investigator.
Adept: telepath/empath, specializes in the ability to locate missing persons, and possesses a unique drive to do so, almost to the point of obsession.
Appearances: Hunting Fear

Jaylene Avery
Black hair she wears rather severely pulled-back, brown eyes, flawless coffee-with-cream skin. Medium height, athletic, so tough she doesn't have to act like it. A sharpshooter and martial arts expert, she's also skilled in hostage negotiations and is a fair profiler.
Job: Special Agent.
Adept: Psychometric, is able to pick up impressions from objects. Sees her ability as a tool, pure and simple, and is less interested than most of the others in the scientific aspects of the paranormal.
Appearances: Hunting Fear, Blood Ties

Samantha Burke
Black hair worn short, very dark eyes, medium height, slender build. Unlike most of the others in the unit, Sam did find a way to use her abilities early in life — in a carnival. A teenage runaway from an abusive home, she had to find a way to support herself, and did so by becoming a professional fortuneteller. She and Lucas have a turbulent history, which includes her previous rejection by Bishop and the SCU.
Job: Special Investigator.
Adept: Touch-Seer, with a secondary ability of clairvoyance that sometimes allows her to experience a vision of the here and now. She's dealt with skepticism and been treated like a second-class citizen all her life, and understands the price of her abilities in a way few other psychics on the team could.
Appearances: Hunting Fear

Diana Brisco
A slender woman with copper hair and green eyes, Diana “lost” most of her adult life in a haze of various medications her father’s doctors tried to “treat” the mediumistic abilities they viewed as mental instability. Until an independent doctor weaned her off the medications and she met Quentin Hayes, Diana was more than half convinced she was crazy.
Job: Joined the SCU after coming to some understanding of her abilities during the events of Chill of Fear. She has gone through the FBI training, and is officially a Special Investigator assigned to the SCU.
Adept: A medium, and a strong one, she possesses the unique ability to walk with spirits in a place/time/dimension she calls the “gray time.” She walks there in spirit, in a kind of astral projection that leaves her unconscious or sleeping body behind. In this cold, gray, virtually empty between-world, she is able to gather information from spirit entities she calls Guides.
Appearances: Chill of Fear; Blood Dreams; Blood Sins; Blood Ties

Riley Crane
About medium height or a little less, petite, short blond hair and large gray eyes. Deceptively innocent, harmless appearance. But she was raised in a military family, was military herself until recruited by Bishop, and is extremely self-reliant and capable. She's also considered a chameleon, able to blend into any situation and become anyone she chooses. A sharpshooter and martial arts expert. A born psychic, she realized early that her abilities were tools to use, not a curse, and is entirely comfortable with them.
Job: Special Agent, investigator.
Adept: strongly clairvoyant, she also possesses a highly-developed spider sense.
Appearances: Sleeping With Fear

Ash Prescott
Large, powerful, and literally radiates an intense, almost primal energy field palpable even to non-psychics, Ash has very dark hair and his hooded, very pale green eyes are set beneath slanted brows in a deeply-tanned, chiseled face. Possesses a beautiful, fluid voice.
Job: Joined the SCU after working as a prosecutor in Atlanta and a coastal beach community.
Adept: Not psychic in the strict sense, he has "energy to spare" and is able to share that with the right psychic.
Appearances: Sleeping With Fear

Bailey
Unexpectedly fragile-looking given her job, she’s a tall, slender brunette with large dark eyes so calm and deep they’re almost hypnotic.
Job: Special Agent, guardian.
Adept: open telepath, but her strength is a powerful shield she’s able to extend to protect others.
Appearances: Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties

Reese DeMarco
A big man, with a deceptive stillness that does not quite disguise an inner wired intensity, DeMarco has blond hair and very sharp blue eyes, and is extremely good-looking. Highly skilled at undercover work, he possesses the ability to “mirror” whatever character he needs to be, for extended periods of time. That skill makes him rather enigmatic and unreadable to those around him when he’s being himself – even to most other psychics. Though he is strongly bonded with Hollis Templeton, an uneasy connection that is both psychic and emotional; it is a bond responsible for both positive and negative effects on both team members.
Job: Joined the SCU after a background in the military; he is not an FBI agent, but is officially a consultant and SCU member.
Adept: Strongly telepathic, he possesses a unique double shield which guards his own thoughts and enables him to “read” as not psychic to virtually all other psychics. As part of that same ability, he is able to project whatever personality he needs in an undercover assignment so that another psychic will read only what he wants them to read. Also possesses what Bishop calls a “primal ability:” he is able to sense a deadly threat, such a gun pointed at him even at an extreme distance.
Appearances: Blood Sins; Blood Ties

Psychic Abilities
(as classified/defined by Bishop's team)

'Adept' is the word used to label any functional psychic generally; the specific ability is much more specialized.

Telepathy (touch and non-touch or open): the ability to pick up thoughts from others. A Telepath.

Precognition: the ability to correctly predict future events. A Seer.

Telekinesis: the ability to move objects with the mind.

Telepathic mind control: the ability to influence/control others through mental focus and effort. Extremely rare ability.

Empathy: experiencing the emotions of others. An Empath.

Healing Empathy: the ability to not only feel but also heal the pain/injury of another. An Empath.

Mediumistic: the ability to communicate with the dead. A Medium.

Psychometric: the ability to pick up impressions from objects.

Regenerative: the ability to heal one's own injuries/sicknesses.

Clairvoyance: the ability to know things, to pick up bits of information, seemingly out of thin air.

Dream-projecting: the ability to enter another's dreams.

Dream-walking: the ability to invite/draw others into your own dreams.

The ability to see into time (unnamed).

The ability to see the Aura of another person’s energy field.

The ability to Channel Energy usefully as a defensive/offensive tool/weapon.

And the 'Spider-Sense' is the ability to enhance one's normal senses (sight, hearing, smell) through concentration and the focusing of one's own mental and physical energy.