List of ''Black Lightning'' characters

Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning

Jefferson “Jeff” Pierce (portrayed by Cress Williams) is the main protagonist of the series.

At the beginning of season one, Jefferson has retired crime-fighting as Black Lightning due to the urges of his ex-wife Lynn and the safety of his two daughters and is the benevolent school principal of Garfield High who is loved by his students and his daughters. His foster father, Peter Gambi, urges him to return to the streets and use his metahuman abilities to give hope to the inhabitants of Freeland, their city, which is under duress by the 100 Street Gang. Jefferson adamantly refuses to return and resists using his powers even against a group of racists police officers who pull him and his daughters over unjustified suspicions, but after his daughter Jennifer is captured by the 100 (and later his other daughter Anissa), he uses his metahuman abilities (which allow him to generate and control electricity offensively) to fight off the gangsters holding them captive as Black Lightning, adorning a new suit built for him by Gambi (although, he initially only does this as a once-off for his daughters).

Initially, Jefferson only returns to being Black Lightning to save his daughters and promises his ex-wife Lynn that it was a never to be repeated occasion and Black Lightning is gone and the two begin to explore reuniting, with Jefferson believing he can do more as Jefferson than Black Lightning could ever do as the community believes in his ability to get things done as a school principal and elder. As the series progresses, it revealed that Jefferson’s ability to stand up for the community is so effective that he has come to be affectionately known as “Black Jesus” as revealed by his former student LaWanda White.^[1] Members of Freeland’s community complain to Jefferson about the looming threat of the 100 taking young girls, including LaWanda’s own daughter and having them forcibly work for them, but Jefferson continues to resist Black Lightning and promises to help find another way. He speaks to Latavius (who insists to be called “Lala”), one of Jeff’s former students and a high ranking member of the 100 gang, and asks him to back off to no avail, forcing LaWanda to confront Lala only for him to shoot and instantly kill her. Unbeknown to Latavius, she has recorded the event and it is found by the police, who use this as evidence to imprison Latavius. LaWanda’s death forms the catalyst to convince Jeff that he is not doing better as Jefferson Pierce but must fully return and act as Black Lightning, much to Lynn’s chagrin. As Black Lightning once more, Jeff attacks and hands Lala over to the police, who apprehend him, although is soon murdered by Tobias Whale, the secret true leader of the 100 gang.

Jeff continues to act as Black Lightning during the night and principal and parent during the day, dealing with the stress of Jennifer’s adolescence and Anissa’s incessant cry for action against the 100. Gambi helps him by watching through a camera in his glasses and a com and has surveillance watching most parts of the city. It is later revealed that Jefferson’s father was a journalist who was killed by Tobias after he wrote an article about him. Jefferson retired shortly after a confrontation with Tobias that left the gangster believing he’d killed Black Lightning, making a name for himself on the streets for the past decade. Upon discovering he is alive, Tobias attempts to have Black Lightning killed while citizens of Freeland pay tribute to his return, but the bullet instead hits Jennifer’s boyfriend Khalil, severing his spinal cord and crippling the track star. After discovering Tobias’s resurgence, Jefferson attempts to kill him to avenge his father, but is convinced he's better by Lynn, who reminds him he is a hero and not a murderer shortly before she is attacked by some 100 gangsters for biological research into the drug Greenlight (a high addictive drug which the 100 had begun selling to the youth that seems to temporarily give them enhanced strength while under its frenzy). The gangsters are chased off by Anissa, who is revealed to have inherited her father’s metahuman genes, has powers and has started to act as a vigilante as well. Upon arrival, Black Lightning fights a masked Anissa, believing her to be the one attacking a gagged and tied-up Lynn. After a heated confrontation, Jefferson knocks Anissa out only to realize who she is. Lynn laments that she is also a metahuman and that she has followed in Jeff’s footsteps but the two are forced to accept her need to fight for good just like Black Lightning and Lynn has Gambi make her suit. Jefferson though is displeased with Lynn’s apparent hypocrisy and briefly voices his outrage on the matter.^[2]

Jennifer Pierce / Lightning

Jennifer “Jen” Pierce (portrayed by China Anne McClain) is Jefferson Pierce’s younger daughter and a metahuman, like her father and sister. She is based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

In season one, Jennifer is portrayed a carefree, rebellious teenager who is prone to challenging the “good girl” appearance imposed on her by her respected father, who is the principal of her high school Garfield High, as well her sister Anissa, who is teacher at the same school. Initially, Jennifer is very careless and even at times reckless with her own life such in the series premier when getting drunk in a well-known 100 club and almost being forced to work for them. Jennifer is subsequently rescued by her father, who is unbeknownst to her, the crime-fighting vigilante known as Black Lightning. After being kidnapped by the 100 with her sister Anissa, she is rescued by Black Lightning and begins drinking and smoking to mask her fear.

Jefferson has extensively taught Jennifer and Anissa martial arts and she is a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant, having once even efficiently severed a girl’s wrist. She and her sister Anissa share a very close relationship, although Jennifer often does not support Anissa’s more confrontational approach to doing the right though. Jennifer begins to show maturity after her long-time friend Khalil (who is Garfield High’s track star) asks her to be his girlfriend and becomes a stable influence on her life. Jennifer deeply cares for Khalil and after they agree to lose their virginity together, she is responsible enough to inform her parents she will be having sex, although Khalil is shot and crippled before this can happen while marching against the 100’s gang violence with Jennifer, ending his ambitions of becoming an Olympic star and transcending the limitations usually imposed on teenagers of color (an example he makes is getting a girl pregnant, getting in jail or becoming a junkie). This puts a strain on their relationship and Khalil lashes out at Jennifer, on an occasion even supporting a girl cyberbullying her. After confronting him on the matter, Khalil reveals he blames her for his new status due to her encouraging him to join him on the march that got him shot, seemingly ending their relationship. Jennifer is currently unaware that she has also inherited her father’s metahuman genes and that, like her sister, may one day gain her own abilities, a fact that is presently being kept from her by her sister, mother and father.

After she quits tracking, Jennifer becomes an unpaid intern for her mother. Later, an encounter with her friend Kiesha startles Jennifer into awakening her own latent metahuman abilities, which become known to her after Kiesha almost falls off a ladder. Her abilities manifest as a very hot red lightning that comes from her hands and burns her smartphone. She keeps this a secret from Kiesha and later consciously attempts to recreate the earlier conditions and confirms she has abilities, further destroying her phone. Terrified, Jennifer immediately tells her sister and shows her the deconstructed smartphone.

The next morning, Anissa confesses the truth about her and their father being metahumans and that she is the crime fighting Thunder. As Jennifer initially does not believe her, Anissa uses her super strength to lift Jennifer's bed in a demonstration. Terrified, Jennifer flies and confronts their father, who begrudgingly admits Anissa is telling the truth. This makes Jennifer react angrily as she thinks they have all betrayed her trust as they have lied to her whole life. Later she laments to her mother that she will no longer have a happy and normal life and get to experience such things as prom, marriage and having children due to her new state as a "freak". She also confronts the fact that Lynn herself (who admits she is human and not Vixen or Supergirl as Jennifer suggested) ended her marriage to Jefferson because he was the metahuman Black Lightning. Jennifer and Anissa later reconcile and she shows her older sister her online presence and following far exceeds even Black Lightning's. Jefferson later talks to Jennifer and the two watch a movie together after Jennifer reveals they have not done so in some time. Jefferson also later assures her that the only life she will live is the one she wishes to live and does not have to become a superheroine like her sister or himself. This helps Jennifer although she still admits difficulty to accepting or even exploring her new abilities.

When Anissa tries to push her to find out what her ability is and take up the mantle of becoming a hero, Jennifer's abilities manifest again and react violently due to the hurtful things Anissa said, having denounced Jennifer as a "disappointment". Her powers char a nearby couch and Anissa theorizes that her seemingly electric powers resemble their father's. Anissa has her sent to their mother's lab to take an MRI scan in order to insure Jennifer is okay. This leads to the discovery that Jennifer's cells are constantly producing "pure energy" in contrast to Jefferson's, whose electric powers are absorbed and conducted from an exterior source like a battery's while Jennifer's body acts as a powerful interior generator for a stronger kind of "lightning".

After the A.S.A. discovers Black Lightning's secret identity, Jennifer and her family are forced to go into hiding.

Anissa Pierce / Thunder

Anissa Pierce (portrayed by Nafessa Williams) is the older daughter of Jefferson Pierce and Lynn Steward and a metahuman like her father and younger sister Jennifer.

In season one, Anissa is an outspoken young woman who is described as “Harriet Tubman” by her sister Jennifer due to her avid support of the Black Lives Matter movement and Black Rights in general. At the start of the series, she is bailed out of jail by her sister and father due to her joining a protest against the 100 that turns violent. After provoking and publicly attacking Will (a member of the 100 and Lala’s nephew) in defence of Jennifer after he got Jennifer into trouble with the gang, Anissa and her sister are kidnapped by Will and small group of gangsters. Fortunately, Black Lightning resurfaces and rescues them. Later that night, Anissa begins to undergo a panic attack that awakens her latent metahuman abilities, which (unbeknownst to her) she inherited from her father, breaking her bathroom sink in half. Anissa does not immediately realize that she is a metahuman and continues to briefly go on with life, believing it to have been an “accident”. Anissa, who is openly lesbian, breaks up with her girlfriend due to losing interest in her and begins to investigate her new abilities after her powers awaken again during a store robbery she is able to stop using them. She determines that she has enhanced strength and density when taking deep breaths that she can activate and deactivate at will by controlling her breathing. This makes her virtually invincible so long as she can continue to control her inhalation. Anissa begins to look into her family history while also making a friend and possible new love interest in bartender Grace Choi while also doing vigilante work. Anissa learns that her grandfather was a journalist who investigated a group of young metahumans who disappeared years ago. Anissa eventually finds his research and decides to share it with her mother, Lynn Steward, a neuroscientist, although she does not immediately tell her why she is researching their history. Lynn is attacked by members of the 100 shortly after, who tie her up and tape her mouth shut in her office forcing Anissa to use her powers to help her mother. While she successfully scares them away, Black Lightning shows up, wrongly believing a masked Anissa to be the culprit of a still tied-up Lynn’s kidnapping. The two metahumans confront one another, and after Black Lightning inevitably wins and injures Anissa, Lynn reveals the truth and laments that both her children are metahumans.

Describing her character as a positive role model, Williams said "I'm just really grateful to tell the story for young lesbians — and black lesbians in particular ... My hope is that when you watch Anissa, a young lesbian is inspired to walk boldly as who she is and to love herself and to love herself exactly how she looks."^[3]

Lynn Steward

Lynn Steward (portrayed by Christine Adams) is a highly learnered doctor and neurologist as well as the ex-wife of Jefferson and the mother of Jennifer and Anissa Pierce.

Several years before the onset of the series, Lynn divorced and convinced Jefferson to retire Black Lightning in order to protect their two daughters as his vigilante work often brought him home battered and wounded, on occasion even bleeding in front of Anissa. Years later, Lynn and Jefferson begin to get close again, giving Jeff hope of reconciliation before their daughters are kidnapped and Jefferson is forced to use his powers for the first time in years to save them, although he promises Lynn that it was a one-time deal. After the death of his student LaWanda White, Jeff decides to return to Black Lightning, much to Lynn’s frustration as this pushes back their relationship, which had finally started to heal. Lynn attempts to convince Peter Gambi (Jeff’s enabler and surrogate father) to tell him to stop to no avail. Lynn begins to realize Anissa is acting strange and inquires into this unsuccessfully, although she assures her that she will support her no matter what. Despite not wanting to get involved with Black Lightning, Lynn is instrumental in convincing Jefferson to not kill Tobias Whale, the leader of the 100 and the man who killed his father. Lynn later begins to investigate the effects of a new drug called “Greenlight” and its effects on the brain, which are similar to what appears to happen to Jefferson when he uses his powers. She is also given a box by Anissa containing Jefferson’s father’s genetic research on the metagene due to the disappearance of a group of metahumans years prior to his eventual death. Anissa dismisses her curiosity as her simply doing an assignment on their family history. Shortly thereafter, Lynn is attacked by some 100 gangsters who tie her up and tape her mouth shut. Fortunately, Anissa shows up dressed in a jumpsuit and mask and uses her abilities to disarm and scare off the attackers, although before she can untie a shocked Lynn, Black Lightning arrives wrongfully believing a masked Anissa to be Lynn’s attacker. The two metahumans get into a heated confrontation of metahuman abilities with Jefferson immerging as the victor, although he soon regrets this as he realizes who she is. Lynn and Jefferson lament that Anissa has gained powers and has followed in Black Lightning’s dangerous footsteps. Lynn analyses Anissa’s wounds and realizes she has very fast healing abilities like her father.

Tobias Whale

Tobias Whale (portrayed by Marvin Jones III) is the leader of the 100 Gang and the main antagonist of season one.

Tobias is an African-American albino who is portrayed as cruel and seemingly loathes his “Black” heritage as he casually but very often expresses that he prefers the company of “White people” and refers to “Black” individuals distastefully as “negroes”. This expressed usually by his left and right hand man and woman – Joey Toledo and Syonide – who are always with him. Though this is contradicted by his apparent great love for his sister, Tori, who is a Black African-American (that is, without albinism). Tobias is first shown scolding Latavius, one of his main subordinates, on the apparent return of Black Lightning (whom he believed was deceased after his disappearance years earlier), asking if he believes in the “Resurrection”. Tobias built his “street cred” around his apparent murdering Black Lightning and was gifted the 100 gang by a group of unseen, powerful underworld gangsters for it. They assign a woman named Lady Eve to watch over their investment in him and he reports to her. After Latavius is incarcerated for the death of LaWanda White (a civilian of Freeland who wanted her daughter back from the 100), Tobias, Toledo and Syonide infiltrate the jail with their connections at the police station and murder Lala as he is a liability. Tobias next attempts to assassinate Black Lightning after he appears before a mob of marchers against the 100. The bullet he fires misses and instead hits Jefferson’s daughter’s boyfriend, Khalil, whose spine is severed, but no one sees Tobias except Peter Gambi, who curiously erases the footage and keeps it from Jefferson. Tobias meets with Lady Eve, who expresses aversion with the uproar the 100 is receiving for paralyzing a potential “Olympic star”, a fact Tobias mostly shrugs off. It is revealed that Tobias killed Jefferson Pierce’s father years before the onset of the series when Jeff was a kid, but has maintained the same youthful appearance apparently due to an unnamed serum that sustains his youth and seemingly inhumane strength. Upon discovering that Tobias is in Freeland, Jefferson attempts to assassinate Tobias in return, but is convinced otherwise and Tobias escapes. Tobias next begins to release a drug called Greenlight that seems to temporarily enhance the user’s strength while in a blind rage-filled frenzy but is highly unstable. Tobias’s sister arrives in Freeland and suggests they turn the people of the city against Black Lightning. Together they decide to finally deal with their father, who was abusive towards them as children. Tobias breaks his back, mercilessly “letting him die” alone with no help. Later, Tobias and Syonide convince Khalil that they have a way to make him walk again. Sometime after this, Tobias and his sister are subsequently attacked by Black Lightning while attending a club. After Lady Eve and Peter Gambi murder Toledo, Tobias and Tori plot to kill Evelyn in revenge. Tobias’s people are badly overpowered and he is injured while a stray bullet hits and kills Tori. His henchmen guide him out of the building.

Billy Henderson

Inspector William “Billy” Henderson (portrayed by Damon Gupton) is a police detective and Jefferson’s best friend who is oblivious to his alter ego as Black Lightning and hunts him due to believing he is an outlaw and vigilante.

Peter Gambi

Peter Gambi (portrayed by James Remar) is the main benefactor and surrogate father of Jefferson Pierce, who took him in after Alvin Pierce’s death.

Introduced in season one

• William Catlett portrays Latavius / Lala, A member of the 100 who is in charge of the Seahorse Motel that the 100 use as a front for their prostitution ring. His cousin Will was responsible for the abduction of Anissa and Jennifer Pierce which led to Black Lightning rescuing them. Upon being brought to Tobias Whale by Syonide and Joey Toledo, Lala is instructed to kill Black Lightning. After killing Will, Lala reactivates the prostitution ring at the Seahorse Motel where he killed Lawanda during a confrontation which led to his defeat at the hands of Black Lightning and being arrested by Inspector Henderson. He is killed by Tobias Whale for his repeated failures to dispose of Black Lightning. Lala is later resurrected by Lady Eve's magic dust and starts seeing Lawanda's ghost. Lala returns soon after his resurrection, although it remains a mystery how or why Lawanda remains and is only seen by him.
• Tracey Bonner as Lawanda White: One of Jefferson's former students whose daughter was taken by the 100 under Latavius's supervision. After Jefferson fails to help her as promised, Lawanda confronts Latavius, who shoots and kills her mercilessly. Unknown to him, she recorded the entire exchange, which leads to his arrest and eventual death. Lawanda later turns up as a ghost that only Lala can see and inspires dark behaviour.^[4]
• Kyanna Simone Simpson as Kiesha Henderson: Jennifer Pierce's best friend and the daughter of Henderson, who encourages Jennifer to challenge her perfect image.
• Skye P. Marshall as Kara Fowdy: Garfield High's vice principal.^[5]
• Charlbi Dean as Syonide: Tobias Whale's henchwoman and enforcer. She is almost always near and by Tobias and assists in most of his major jobs.
• Eric Mendenhall as Joey Toledo: Tobias Whale's former right-hand man and enforcer. He is later murdered by Peter Gambi to serve as a warning to Tobias.
• Jordan Calloway as Khalil Payne: A track star at Garfield High and Jennifer's boyfriend. During a protest march where Black Lightning prevented a massacre, he was shot in a spine by one of Syonide's bullets that went through Reverend Jeremiah Holt. After Khalil was unable to walk again after that, he is approached by Tobias Whale who gives him an offer to walk again.^[6]
• Chantal Thuy as Grace Choi: A bartender who becomes Anissa's girlfriend.^[7]
• Jill Scott as Evelyn Stillwater-Ferguson / Lady Eve: The owner of a funeral parlor who connects Tobias Whale with a secret group of corrupt leaders that gave him leadership over the 100. She is later killed by Tobias’s hired guns who frame her murder on Black Lightning by using special lightning guns.^[8]
• Edwina Findley as Tori Whale: Tobias Whale's younger sister who assists in his plot to destroy Black Lightning. She is later killed by accident in a confrontation with Black Lightning.^[9]

Introduced in season one

• Dabier as Will: A member of The 100 and Lala's cousin who initially approaches Jennifer at a 100 club. After he kidnaps her and Anissa, Black Lightning is forced to return to his heroics. Black Lightning is able to save his daughters from him. After getting out of jail, Will is later killed by Lala for being a nuisance.
• Clifton Powell as Jeremiah Holt: A reverend who mobilizes the community against the 100 and pays a heartfelt tribute to Black Lightning, believing he is a gift from God. Despite Black Lightning stopping the attempted massacre at the peace march, Jeremiah Holt was secretly shot by one of Syonide's bullets which also hit Khalil. Though Holt made a good recovery.
• Anthony Reynolds as Deputy Chief Cayman: A member of the Freeland police Department.
• Jason Louder as Two-Bits: A drug-dealer and Jefferson's childhood friend.
• Antonio Fargas as David Poe: The editor of the "Freeland Gazette" who is later found dead after giving Anissa data on Alvin Pierce.
• Gregg Henry as Martin Proctor: A member of the A.S.A. that Peter Gambi is associated with.

Roland S. Martin and Nina Turner appeared as themselves in the pilot. Journalist Amanda Davis has a posthumous cameo appearance in the debut episode.