Every Fast And Furious Main Character Explained

We first met Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) in the first film in the Fast franchise, 2001's The Fast and the Furious. The son of a professional stock car driver, Dom helped his sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster) run his family's small L.A. market, while on the side, he ran an operation stealing electronics off of moving 18-wheelers and participating in illegal street races. Formerly, Dom had been incarcerated for assaulting the man he blamed for causing the accident that killed his father, but that wasn't enough to steer him away from his criminal enterprises, which ultimately led to him going on the run to avoid arrest.

Dom has been with his girlfriend, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), since they were teenagers, and in the fourth film, they tie the knot, although their marriage isn't revealed to the audience until the seventh film. In between, when Dom is forced to flee law enforcement yet again, he learns that Letty has been killed. After taking some time to grieve, he begins dating Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), with whom he fathers a child, although he doesn't learn about the existence of his son for several months. While Elena is pregnant, he learns Letty is alive but suffering from amnesia, and Elena steps aside so they can be together. Eventually, Letty regains her memories, and, following Elena's death, Letty and Dom raise his son together, whom Dom names Brian, after his best friend.

Despite spending many of the Fast films on the run from the law, Dom's taste for criminal activity has only increased, albeit with a bit of a Robin Hood slant: Dom prefers to steal from greedy corporations and corrupt crime lords, and believes in passing around the spoils of his heists to the underprivileged. He also values family above all else, specifically the found family he has created among the crew of friends he has gradually assembled to help him pull off his various schemes. Beginning in Fast and Furious 6, Dom and his crew began partnering with the U.S. government to help bring down various terrorists, thanks to their unique expertise, high success rate, and — presumably — their ability to drive extremely fast. Their first government collaboration earned Dom and his allies a full pardon for all of their past crimes.

Romantically entwined with Dominic Toretto from the time they were teenagers, the highly capable and skilled Letty Ortiz has long been his right-hand woman, sticking by his side through every twist and turn their life of crime has to offer — even when Dom keeps leaving her behind. After he goes on the run at the end of The Fast and the Furious, Letty spends the next several years tracking him down, and eventually locates him in the Dominican Republic. Picking up right where they left off, the couple wastes no time in getting secretly married before pulling off their biggest heist yet. But when part of the plan goes sideways, Dom goes on the run again, once again leaving Letty on her own.

Unwilling to simply accept the hand fate has dealt her, Letty tracks down FBI agent Brian O'Conner and brokers a deal: She'll go undercover to help him bring down Braga in exchange for a pardon for Dom. But when she uncovers a plot to kill her, she tries to flee, only to be left for dead. Unbeknownst to her husband or her friends, Letty awakens in the hospital with amnesia, and is taken under the wing of Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), who was originally supposed to finish her off for Braga.

Letty works for several years as part of Shaw's crew, retaining no memory of her former life, but switches sides when she encounters Dom again and he wins back her trust. The two date for a while, but Letty eventually breaks up with him, on the basis that she doesn't think it's fair to either of them to be together while she still lacks her memories. However, she ultimately regains them when Dom is nearly killed, and the two finally take their long-overdue honeymoon. Even when Dom appears to betray the team after being blackmailed, Letty is sure there's more to the story, and welcomes him back into the family with open arms.

A childhood friend of Brian O'Conner, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) started stealing cars at a young age. His friendship with Brian stagnated when Brian joined the LAPD, and he grew resentful after he was arrested and his old friend did nothing to help him. However, the two reconnect in 2 Fast 2 Furious, when Roman is released on house arrest and Brian recruits him to help in an investigation of Arturo Braga, requiring them both to go undercover. In return, the FBI promises Roman a pardon. They complete their mission and clear their names, but, unbeknownst to the FBI, Roman also sets aside a generous portion of Braga's money for himself, which he wants to use to open a garage.

Roman re-enters the picture in Fast Five, when Brian and Dom need someone on their team who can talk his way out of any situation. After earning his $11 million from that heist, Roman lived lavishly, buying expensive cars and a private jet, but was still willing to rejoin the crew whenever Dom needs his help. He helps Dom track down Letty and foil both Shaw brothers, and sticks with him even after Brian retires. When Dom seems to betray the crew while being blackmailed by Cipher, Roman is part of the group that works to stop him, but is quick to welcome him back once the truth is revealed.

Roman has a lot of pride and can be somewhat egocentric, but he lacks the bravado of some of the other members of the crew and is often reluctant to participate in some of their more daring endeavors. Like most of the other characters, he loves cars and is a proficient driver, although not quite on the elite level of some of the others.

The always-snacking Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang) actually got his start outside of the Fast and the Furious franchise, in director Justin Lin's earlier film, Better Luck Tomorrow. That film shows that in his high school days, Han was part of an organized cheating operation that spun out of control and eventually resulted in a murder. Following the events of that film, Han changed his name from Han Lue to Han Seoul-Oh and began traveling the world. He met Dominic Toretto in Mexico, and is occasionally called on by Dom to help with various jobs.

Technically, we first meet Han in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but chronologically, his first appearance is in the prequel Fast & Furious, which is the fourth released film in the franchise. Quiet, observant, and adaptable, Han helps out with Dom's various heists in the fourth, fifth, and sixth movies, during which time he also falls in love with fellow crew member Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot). The two dream of traveling the world and growing old together, but those plans are thwarted when Gisele sacrifices herself to save Han's life while working to take down Owen Shaw. Grieving, Han heads to Tokyo, where he befriends a group of local street racers and takes American teen Sean Boswell under his wing.

Unfortunately, Han also begins stealing from the Yakuza, and eventually finds himself in a high-speed chase once his crimes are discovered. The chase ends in a horrific crash, but it turns out to be no accident — Han was targeted by Owen's brother, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). It appears Han dies in the crash, but F9 reveals that, somehow, Han actually survived and will rejoin Dom's crew.

Originally serving as a secondary antagonist in Fast Five, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) enters the picture as a Diplomatic Security Service agent tasked with tracking down Dominic Toretto and his crew after a heist goes wrong and several DEA agents are killed. However, after finally getting the upper hand and arresting Dom, Brian, and several members of their crew, Hobbs' DSS caravan is ambushed by Reyes' men. Dom, Brian, and their friend Vince (Matt Schulze) wind up saving Hobbs' life, and he decides to join forces with them to get revenge on Reyes. After the mission is complete, Hobbs returns to the DSS, where he receives word that Letty Ortiz is still alive. Hobbs passes this information on to Dom and joins his crew again to help track her down, and is able to negotiate pardons for all of them after they assist in capturing Owen Shaw.

Hobbs is later injured when Deckard Shaw breaks into the DSS offices in search of information on Dom and his crew, but still helps Dom turn the tables and bring Shaw to justice. Later, when Hobbs is tasked with retrieving a stolen EMP in an off-the-books mission, he calls on Dom and his crew to help him, but Dom's double-cross for Cipher winds up sending Hobbs to prison. He eventually breaks out and is part of the team that helps stop Cipher. Later, Hobbs was tasked by the CIA with teaming up with Deckard Shaw to recover a dangerous bioweapon, which led to him reconnecting with his estranged family in Samoa.

As part of Dom's crew, Hobbs functions as both a secondary leader and as one of the group's heaviest hitters. Extremely tactically minded, Hobbs is cool-headed under pressure and doesn't hesitate to rush into danger in service of the mission. He also has a teenage daughter named Samantha and tries to prioritize his time with her, even if it means turning down missions occasionally.

Previously married to a Brazilian police officer who was murdered in the line of duty, Elena Neves then became a police officer herself. We meet her in Fast Five, when she's recruited by Luke Hobbs to assist in his investigation of Dom and his crew. Elena proves a competent and trustworthy ally, although during the course of the investigation she opts not to shoot Dom when she has the chance, leading to her nearly getting killed. In turn, Dom saves her from Reyes' men, leading Elena to question whether he could really be guilty of the crimes he's being blamed for.

After Dom and Brian save her life again, Elena switches sides, leaving her career as a police officer behind to go on the run with Dom. The two begin a romantic relationship on the Canary Islands, where she also grows close to Brian and Mia during Mia's pregnancy. However, once Dom learns Letty is alive, Elena urges him to go find her, knowing she'd do the same in his place. Elena stays behind to protect Mia and baby Jack, and is able to take Jack to safety when Mia is kidnapped. After Dom finds Letty, Elena steps aside and gives them her blessing, not revealing to either of them that she's pregnant with Dom's child.

Elena then joins the DSS with Hobbs and helps care for his daughter when he's injured in Furious 7. At some point, she gives birth, presumably in secret, as Hobbs appears not to know that she was ever pregnant. Shortly after, she and her infant son are kidnapped by Cipher to use as leverage against Dom. Elena tells Dom that she's given the baby a middle name — Marcos — but she saved the first name for Dom, and asks him to promise to protect the baby at all costs. Shortly thereafter, Elena is executed by Cipher as punishment for Dom's insubordination.

The older brother of Owen Shaw, Deckard first appears at the very end of Fast & Furious 6, tracking down and presumably killing Han in Tokyo as payback for his participation in the effort to apprehend Owen. A former clandestine military operative and MI6 agent turned mercenary, Deckard uses his significant skills to break into the DSS offices and steal the information on Dom's team. At the same time he is in Tokyo, he also mails a bomb to Dom's childhood home, where Mia and Brian are living, and detonates it while on the phone with Dom.

Deckard continues his attempts to hunt down and kill Brian, Dom, and the other members of their crew, and is very nearly successful, but is ultimately thwarted by Dom and taken into custody by the CIA. He is surprised when Hobbs is later put into the cell opposite him, and quickly becomes annoyed, as the two are uniquely able to get under one another's skin. But it doesn't take long before the two escape during a prison riot, initiated by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), a covert U.S. government agent. Reluctantly, Deckard agrees to work with Dom's crew to stop Cipher, since he also blames her for what happened to Owen. After assisting them in tracking down Dom and Cipher, it appears Deckard is killed by Dom, but that turns out to be a ruse facilitated by his mother. Together with Owen, Deckard breaks onto Cipher's plane and rescues Dom's son, whom he returns safely to Dom. Later, Deckard is recruited by the CIA to assist Hobbs — to their mutual irritation — in recovering a bioweapon possessed by Deckard's sister, Hattie (Vanessa Kirby).

A frequent member of Dom's crew, Rico Santos (Don Omar) is a friend of Dom's from his time in the Dominican Republic. Along with his best friend Tego Leo (Tego Calderon), Santos is instrumental in helping Dom plan and execute the fuel heist at the beginning of the fourth film, and shows back up at the end of the film to help Brian and Mia break Dom out of prison.

Santos' loyalty to Dom makes him an obvious choice to join the crew in Fast Five, although his role is as more of a blunt object than the scalpel-like precision of some of the others. Santos and Leo always work together and provide much of the comic relief of the group, doing surveillance, planting explosives, and posing as workers in various other professions to pull off some of the crew's sneakier plans. After receiving his cut of their multimillion-dollar score at the end of Fast Five, Santos and Leo head to a casino. Santos bets everything he has on black while playing roulette. We never learn whether he wins or loses, but he shows up again later in The Fate of the Furious as a key member of Dom's plan to fake Deckard's death, proving he still has Dom's trust.

The youngest protagonist in the Fast and the Furious franchise, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) was introduced in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as a teenager from Alabama with a penchant for reckless driving. After having to move numerous times when her son gets in trouble, Sean's mother finally decides to send him to Tokyo to live with his father after he takes out most of an under-construction suburban neighborhood during a drag race. In Tokyo, Sean quickly falls in with the city's street racing scene through a friend. But the Japanese racers all know how to "drift" — maneuvering around tight corners quickly via controlled skids — a skill which Sean is initially woefully unable to master.

Impulsive and a little too cocky for his own good, Han takes Sean under his wing and teaches him how to drift. Sean also unknowingly flirts with a girl that turns out to be the girlfriend of Takashi (Brian Tee), the local Drift King and the nephew of a member of the Yakuza. After Han is apparently killed while being pursued by members of the Yakuza, Sean challenges Takashi to a race, with the loser agreeing to leave Tokyo for good. Thanks to Han's teaching, Sean beats Takashi, and is crowned the new Drift King. Afterward, he meets Dom while Dom is in Tokyo investigating Han's death.

The mother of a trio of truly exceptional offspring, we first meet Magdalene Shaw (Helen Mirren) in The Fate of the Furious, when Dom sneaks away from Cipher long enough to ask her for help. Owen, Deckard, and their sister Hattie are all formidable, and their mother shows that the apples haven't fallen far from the tree. Dom meets with the Shaw family matriarch to make a deal — in exchange for her help rescuing his son, he will give her the location of her incarcerated son, Owen, whom he has located using the God's Eye.

The trade is acceptable to Magdalene, who, like Dom, values family above all else. Her interaction with Deckard shows that she's cunning and manipulative both as a businesswoman and as a parent; she can turn the tears on and off to get her son to do her bidding. She also appears to have significant resources at her disposal, since she's able to set up multiple complex operations with seemingly little effort. It's never made totally clear what sort of crime Magdalene is most proficient in, but eventually, it lands her in prison. However, at the end of Hobbs and Shaw, it's implied that she's getting ready to break herself out, thanks to a nail file hidden in a cake delivered to her by Deckard and Hattie.

Only appearing in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Suki (Devon Aoki) is a street racer who is friends with Brian and Tej, and also occasionally dates the latter. Suki runs her own crew of drivers, but unlike Dom's male-heavy team, Suki's is almost entirely female. She's an extremely competent driver who takes pride in her skills, and early in the film, she takes a close second place in a race behind Brian.

Later, Suki proves a valuable asset when Roman and Brian need to misdirect the police to avoid being taken into custody. While Tej drives Brian's car, Suki drives Roman's, leading the police on a wild goose chase away from their actual targets. Suki is also an artist who uses her talents to design custom paint designs for cars — including her own bright-pink Honda which has an anime girl with a purple ponytail painted on the side.

No one knows Mr. Nobody's real name, or even which government organization he works for. All we know about the enigmatic character is that he's a covert agent who showed up in Furious 7 offering Dom a deal: rescue Ramsey and recover the God's Eye, and in return, Dom can use the technology to track down Deckard Shaw. Describing himself as a "shadow," Mr. Nobody has abundant resources and technology at his disposal. He doesn't shy away from using methods — and people — that the U.S. government would never officially condone.

Mr. Nobody shows up again in The Fate of the Furious, offering Hobbs his release from prison if he'll plead guilty to the crimes he was put up to by the government. When Hobbs refuses, Mr. Nobody stages a prison riot to achieve the same ends, proving that he's capable of getting what he wants by a variety of means. Once again, Mr. Nobody enlists a non-government crew to do his off-the-books bidding, although this time, he needs Dom's crew to stop their own leader. However, he seems relatively unshaken when Dom switches sides yet again by the end of the movie, which is consistent with the seemingly laid-back persona he exhibits whenever he pops up.

If Han is playing his same character from Better Luck Tomorrow, one has to wonder if the same goes for Earl (Jason Tobin), who played Han's cousin Virgil Hu in that film. We never receive any confirmation that the two characters are the same in Tokyo Drift, where Earl is introduced as Han's friend who helps tune and modify the cars of various racers. Although not a driver himself, Earl has a knack for understanding fuel systems and enhancing their performance.

After assisting Sean in learning how to drift, Earl is instrumental in helping him fix up his father's old car to be race-ready, which involves salvaging the engine from one of Han's cars that Sean previously wrecked. Although the Fast and the Furious movies never give any indication that Earl and Han could be cousins, perhaps Earl's willingness to assist Sean by reusing a piece of one of Han's cars is in part due to his familial ties to Sean's deceased friend and teacher.

Originally introduced in Fast & Furious 6 as a DSS agent and associate of Luke Hobbs, Riley Hicks (Gina Carano) is an ex-soldier with an impressive record. Highly intelligent and skilled in multiple forms of combat, Riley works alongside Hobbs to track down Owen Shaw and his team, and Riley is helpful in both extracting information from informants and nearly capturing Letty while Letty has amnesia.

However, after Dom's group helps Hobbs arrest Shaw, only for Shaw to reveal that he's kidnapped Mia Toretto and use her as leverage to secure his release, Riley reveals that she's been a double agent the whole time, and is romantically involved with Shaw. From that point on, Riley is openly a part of Shaw's crew, and proves willing to kill for him in cold blood, although she's thankfully thwarted. Riley is ultimately killed by Letty when Letty shoots her with a harpoon gun, causing her to fall from Shaw's plane to her death.

Although Cipher (Charlize Theron) is not officially introduced until The Fate of the Furious, we learn during the course of the film that she has actually been pulling strings behind the scenes for quite some time. She was the one who hired Owen Shaw to steal the components he was assembling in Fast & Furious 6, as well as the mastermind behind the plan to steal the God's Eye in Furious 7. It's even implied that she may have had ties to Arturo Braga.

In the eighth movie, Cipher kidnaps Elena Neves and her son to use as leverage to manipulate Dom, which proves successful for a while. However, while Cipher knows that Dom's loyalty lies with his family, she underestimates the lengths he will go to in order to keep them safe, which enables him to eventually regain the upper hand and break free of her control.

Motivated by a desire for unchecked power, and unfettered by empathy or compassion, Cipher's goal is to start a nuclear war. She's frighteningly smart and seems to have no semblance of a conscience — a dangerous combo made deadlier by her extensive technological knowledge. Even though her plans are thwarted by the end of the eighth movie, she manages to escape, and will be returning to collect her revenge in F9.