Characters In Peacemaker That Are More Important Than You Realize

If Peacemaker weren't the headlining character, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) very well might've been. Her character arc is just as pivotal as the growth Peacemaker experiences throughout the series. For starters, she is indirectly under her the command of her mother, Amanda Waller, who has proven that she can be ruthless and careless toward the lives of innocents. Using Leota's desperate need for a job and planting her on a dangerous mission is either very brave and confident in her own daughter's abilities or completely cold and foolish. Regardless, Leota has to come to grips with operating on a team that may have to skirt the lines of moral boundaries in order to see the mission through to the end.

For a while, Leota said and did all the right things to make Peacemaker feel seen and not like such an outcast. Ultimately, she followed through with her mother's task of planting a fake diary with incriminating scribblings in Peacemaker's home, alienating the tormented hero while simultaneously putting a massive target on his back (perhaps to send him right back into Amanda Waller's arms as an operator for Task Force X once again). In the finale, Leota single-handedly saves most of the team as she rushes in to provide support after Harcourt and Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) are shot. She even sends her own mother's head spiraling as she reveals Waller's secret task force to the public in an effort to do right by Peacemaker and clear his name. As a character, Leota is an absolute game-changer.

Every team needs a solid insurance plan. While John Economos (Steve Agee) might not seem like a competent operator, luck manages to place him in the right moments to save the day for the rest of the members of his team. In other words, he acts as the team's unlikely insurance policy. Being the tech liaison, John goes just about everywhere with the team but is typically positioned just outside of the operating area to oversee the mission and assist with intel. However, every so often, good ol' Dye-Beard springs into action like a hapless fool and manages to subvert expectations by protecting his teammates.

During the planned assault on the Glan Tai Bottling Company to take out the Butterflies' means of distributing their food source, John steals the show after an infected gorilla attacks the team, and he takes down the giant ape with a chainsaw. John also happens to run down Judomaster with a van after the devious little green ninja attempts to escape. That's right — a skilled fighter who bested Peacemaker, Vigilante, and Harcourt was subdued and captured by John, even if by unconventional means. Also, because he's largely remained outside the hot zones of each mission, he is the perfect unidentifiable candidate to infiltrate the Butterfly barn containing the cow in order to plant the sonic boom helmet. He may be the butt of countless jokes throughout the series, but John's value to the team can't be understated.

An A.R.G.U.S. agent who once worked directly under Amanda Waller during the events of "The Suicide Squad," Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) was reassigned by Waller to Project Butterfly under the direction of Clemson Murn. Hardened by her time under Waller's often-amoral direction, she refuses to divulge her first name for quite some time and simply operates as Harcourt. She keeps her distance by often dressing down Peacemaker for his seemingly idiotic actions and remarks, but after the operation to take down the Glan Tai bottling factory, she begins developing a bond with her teammates.

Of all the members of Project Butterfly, Harcourt is the one who always keeps her head on her shoulders. She is straight-laced and analyzes each situation carefully to gain a true understanding of what's at stake. Notably, she's the first to find out that Murn is actually a Butterfly, but she obviously hears what he has to say and makes the decision not to out him (even if that moment occurred off-screen). 

Harcourt also often designates the strategy for coordinated operations with her team. Without Harcourt's firm leadership and her combat prowess in the field, the team would be in complete disarray. Early on, she often finds herself cleaning up her own team's mess, like Peacemaker's run-in with the Butterfly-controlled Annie Sturphausen. With volatile characters like Peacemaker and Vigilante on the team, someone of the opposite caliber must be present to keep them grounded.

The Vigilante (aka Adrian Chase), as presented in "Peacemaker," is markedly different from his comic book counterpart in several ways. Most notably is that he is a friend and ally to Peacemaker. In the pages of comic books, Vigilante actually seeks revenge against Peacemaker for killing a close friend of his. Of course, in the comics, Vigilante does begin to lose his sanity, but "Peacemaker" basically presents him as a high-functioning psychopath. He clearly doesn't fully understand regular emotions and constantly tries to emulate what he perceives to be a superhero. However, he doesn't sweat innocent casualties or collateral damage like typical folks.

Vigilante's combat capabilities are quite remarkable, despite his dopey Deadpool-esque humor and his penchant for childish antics. Because he's so attached to Peacemaker, he becomes part of the team. Murn understands that Vigilante is a bit crazy, but he also knows that the team is severely lacking in the firepower department. Vigilante proves his worth when he assassinates the Senator's Butterfly-infected family without remorse. He also provides plenty of tactical distractions for the team, often emerging unscathed, with the exception of a missing pinky toe. Alongside Peacemaker, Vigilante acts as the team's much-needed muscle and is willing to do the dirty deeds others aren't ready for.

This is another character that only saw mere seconds of screen time. However, the Peacemaker's brother, Keith Smith (Liam Hughes), leaves a brutally lasting and traumatic impact on him. Peacemaker has fond memories of his brother growing up, but his father was obviously slimy and repugnant in his treatment of his children and those around him. Perhaps most disturbingly, he forced his two sons to fist fight while he and his friends bet money on the winner. Chris (Peacemaker) sucker punched his brother so hard it gave him a seizure and caused him to die. Instantly, Auggie blamed Chris for killing his son.

Peacemaker carried that guilt with him for so many years. It is constantly a source of his own grief and torment and likely fueled some of his more erratic behaviors later in life. However, Peacemaker's team becomes more of a family to him than Auggie ever was. Leota even tries to convince Peacemaker that he isn't responsible for his brother's death — that Auggie is responsible being the abusive father that he was. Peacemaker finally accepts that Keith's death isn't his to own when he ends Auggie's life. Keith may only have a minor flashback role, but his impact on Peacemaker is unmistakable.

Judomaster is a bit of a thorn in the side of Peacemaker and his comrades. Size truly doesn't matter as this small martial artist is capable of single-handedly taking out Peacemaker, Vigilante, and Harcourt, even if it's a surprise attack. Regardless, he's big on taunting his opponents and often comes across as a bit of a jerk.

The real question, however, is whether Judomaster is bad or good. Which side of the fence does he sit on? Right before Leota shoots him, he tries to tell Peacemaker that the Butterflies aren't what she thinks they are. In the final episode, when Peacemaker confronts Goff, she tells him that Judomaster understood the Butterflies' plan to help save humanity from itself and was completely on board. Just like Murn is a Butterfly who rebelled against the majority of his kind, Judomaster is a human who understood the Butterflies' plot but moralistically agreed with their decision and sought to aid them by working against his fellow humans. While Judomaster doesn't play a deeply impactful role, his very stance on the matter demonstrates a diversity of thought when it comes to the moral implications of the Butterflies' overall plan for humanity.

Keeya (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow) is Leota's wife, and she offers her the moral support she needs to help her overcome the heavy burdens she deals with on a daily basis at Project Butterfly. Both Leota and Keeya are in between work at the start of the show, which is the reason Leota accepts a position on the team from her mother, Amanda Waller. While Keeya often has very minimal screen time, she is a grounding force that ensures Leota never flies too high into the ether and becomes willing to commit the same atrocities her mother did to complete the mission. But ultimately, Leota often longs to return home from a hard day's work to her Keeya. It's not hard to figure out that Leota ultimately makes the decisions that she does in the finale of the series because she has someone like Keeya in her life. Maybe Waller should take a break and attempt to find love — if that's even possible.