List of main characters on seaQuest DSV

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This is the complete list of main characters on seaQuest DSV. The series went through significant cast changes after every season it was on the air. This list contains only those characters that were given credit in the main titles (therefore, does not contain characters such as Admiral Noyce or The Professor, see List of recurring characters on seaQuest DSV for more information).

Contents 1 First season main characters 1.1 Captain Nathan Bridger 1.2 Commander Jonathan Ford 1.2.1 Early Life 1.2.2 Appointment to seaQuest 1.2.3 Background 1.3 Lucas Wolenczak 1.4 Lieutenant Commander Katherine Hitchcock 1.4.1 Background 1.5 Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg 1.6 Lieutenant Tim O'Neill 1.6.1 Background 1.7 Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz 1.7.1 Background 1.8 Darwin 1.9 Dr. Kristin Westphalen 2 Second season main characters 2.1 Dr. Wendy Smith 2.1.1 Background 2.2 Lieutenant James Brody 2.2.1 Background 2.3 Seaman Anthony Piccolo 2.4 Lieutenant Lonnie Henderson 2.5 Dagwood 3 Third season main characters 3.1 Captain Oliver Hudson 3.2 Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks 4 References 5 External Links

[edit] First season main characters

[edit] Captain Nathan Bridger

Main article: Nathan Bridger

[edit] Commander Jonathan Ford

Jonathan Devin Ford
Don Franklin as Commander Ford
First appearance	To Be or Not to Be (09/12/1993)
Last appearance	Weapons Of War (09/06/1996)
Portrayed by	Don Franklin
Information
Date of birth	March 4, 1990
Specialty	Command
Occupation	Executive Officer in the Navy
Title	Commander
Nationality	American

[edit] Early Life

Ford comes from a very financially well off family, his father owning "Ford Freeport: Aquacultural Engineering", one of the largest undersea farming companies in the world. He had a bad relationship with his father and brother. In 2022 a sharp raise in the temperature of the water in the South Atlantic, caused by an undersea mining operation, a deinosuchus (gigantic prehistoric crocodile) thawed out and was threatening the local ecosystem and the life of the local people. With the help of his family they stopped to creature and settled their differences. Ford's father decided to take a year off from work and give Jonathan's younger brother Ben the run of the company.^[1] His mother is deceased.^[2]

[edit] Appointment to seaQuest

Part of the original seaQuest's crew under Captain Marilyn Stark (2015-2017), Ford was forced to relieve her of command when she disobeyed orders and attempted to attack several other submarines after being ordered to stand down. For 13 months after this incident Commander Ford oversaw a major refit of the seaQuest to have the ship generally geared more towards scientific exploration/research and peacekeeping missions. In 2018, after the refit was complete, Admiral William Noyce was trying to convince retired Captain Nathan Bridger, the subs original designer, to take command and ordered Ford to act arrogant, cowardly and generally unfit for command in an effort to get Bridger to stay on board. Despite the ploy not working Bridger decided to stay on board after defeating Stark during her attempt at revenge. ^[3]

Early on he was in continual conflict with Dr. Kristin Westphalen, the ship's Chief Medical Officer and head of the science department. After the discovery of the Great Library of Alexandria, in which Ford helped with the Excavation (he being the one who accidentally found it) and was a lot more interested in seaQuest's exploration and research mission and not just the military and peacekeeping aspect. ^[4]. The character had a romance with Lt. Lonnie Henderson in the shows third season.

[edit] Background

Commander Ford was portrayed by actor Don Franklin and is one of three actors to remain with the show for all three seasons. Ford appears in every episode except for "And Everything Nice."

[edit] Lucas Wolenczak

Main article: Lucas Wolenczak

[edit] Lieutenant Commander Katherine Hitchcock

Katherine Hitchcock
Stacy Haiduk as Lieutenant Commander Katherine Hitchcock
First appearance	To Be or Not To Be (09/12/1993)
Last appearance	Higher Power (05/22/1994)
Created by	Rockne S. O'Bannon
Portrayed by	Stacy Haiduk
Information
Gender	Female
Date of birth	June 17, 1990
Specialty	Engineering, command
Occupation	Chief Engineer of the seaQuest DSV 4600.
Title	Lieutenant Commander
Spouse(s)	Benjamin Krieg (divorced)
Address	San Diego, California
Nationality	American

Lieutenant Commander Katherine Hitchcock was the Chief Engineer of the seaQuest DSV 4600 following her refit in 2018.

While at the naval academy, she, along with Benjamin Krieg, were top of their class, and were eventually wed. However, the marriage only lasted a year.

Being Chief Engineer, Hitchcock was also third in command aboard the seaQuest and was placed in command in several occasions, such as the Liberté space station incident where Commander Ford had been infected with an unknown virus and was unable to perform his duties.^[5]

On a mission to save a family from the clutches of an outlaw at the Broken Ridge mining facility, Hitchcock masqueraded as a singer in order to gain access to the mine and allow the family to board the seaQuest.^[6]

During an experiment that involved the flooding of the boat, Hitchcock, Ford, Lucas, Krieg, and Chief Crocker were attacked by environmental radicals who intended to use the ship's computer to disable various pollutant manufacturers around the globe. Hitchcock was held prisoner on the bridge along with Lucas where she began to gain their trust by telling them nothing but the truth (under the orders of Commander Ford), although, their leader ultimately believed she would lie to him. She fulfilled her orders by telling the leader that if he attempted to leave the seaQuest as it was sinking, the water pressure would crush his submersible. He didn't believe her and ultimately died.^[7]

She and Lucas later developed a prototype for a single-seat submersible that featured perfect laminar flow that replicated the tail of a fish in order to cut down on turbulence. Hitchcock had wanted to name it the Gazelle, though Lucas insisted on the Stinger. Ultimately, the name Stinger became official.^[8]

As the seaQuest`s tour of duty came to an end, both she and Commander Ford were offered command of the H.R. Clinton, though, the UEO offered her more money to take command than Ford. With the destruction of the seaQuest shortly afterwards, Hitchcock agreed to take command and did not come aboard the new seaQuest in 2021.^[9]

[edit] Background

Hitchcock was portrayed by actress Stacy Haiduk and appears only in the first season of the series. Haiduk, unhappy with her character's development in the first season, opted not to return to the series for the second season. Her character was replaced by Kathy Evison's character, Lieutenant Lonnie Henderson.

[edit] Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg

Ben Krieg
First appearance	To Be or Not to Be (09/12/1993)
Last appearance	In the Company of Ice and Profit (09/27/1995)
Portrayed by	John D'Aquino
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	February 9, 1989
Specialty	Supplies
Occupation	Supply and morale officer
Title	Lieutenant
Spouse(s)	Katherine Hitchcock (divorced)
Nationality	American

[edit] Lieutenant Tim O'Neill

Tim O'Neill
Ted Raimi as Lieutenant Tim O'Neill
First appearance	To Be or Not To Be (09/12/1993)
Last appearance	Weapons of War (06/09/1996)
Created by	Rockne S. O'Bannon
Portrayed by	Ted Raimi
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	25 May 1992
Specialty	Communications, languages
Occupation	Communications officer of the seaQuest DSV 4600.
Title	Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Religion	Catholic
Nationality	American

Lieutenant JG Tim O'Neill was the communications officer of the seaQuest DSV 4600, originally serving under Captain Marilyn Stark. He remained aboard the boat after she had been relieved of duty and the seaQuest was refitted to serve as more of a research vessel.

O'Neill specialized in foreign languages, was fluent in at least a dozen and could adequately speak several others. He also shared some sort of unknown psychic link with Darwin which allowed him to sense when Darwin was ill.^[10]

A religious man since childhood, O'Neill was taught to believe that evolution topped out with mankind and had a difficult time believing in intelligent life on other planets, although, secretly wished that it existed.^[11]

He briefly pursued a relationship with Lieutenant Lonnie Henderson in 2021, although, he was uncomfortable with the notion of a shipboard romance and decided not to continue with it, although, the two remained friends.

Somewhat of a nervous individual, O'Neill was prone to occasional acts of heroism, such as fearlessly rushing to save Henderson from the clutches of an alien predator that had invaded seaQuest in 2022.^[12] He also questioned the direction his career was headed that year and tendered his resignation to Captain Bridger, though, Bridger assured him that the crew saw him as a valuable commodity, and decided to stay.

Ten years after the Hyperion Incident and the seaQuest`s return to Earth, O'Neill decided to remain aboard the boat under the command of Captain Hudson. O'Neill ran afoul of Hudson on several occasions, such as not responding to orders quickly enough during an emergency situation^[13] and questioning Hudson's orders to fire on Captain Bridger's fleet.^[14] O'Neill nearly ended his career by stealing a seaLaunch to rendezvous with his on-line girlfriend while in the middle of an unstable political area. However, his girlfriend, Heiko Kimura, turned out to be a defector from the Chaodai. He once again disobeyed orders by refusing to deliver Kimura into their hands, however, his actions ultimately saved both Kimura and the seaQuest, prompting Lucas Wolenczak to suggest that he may be in line for a promotion.

[edit] Background

O'Neill was portrayed by actor Ted Raimi and was one of three actors to remain with the series for entire duration. The character was originally named "Mack O'Neill" and had nametags designed for his uniforms that read "M. O'Neill" before it was ultimately changed to "Tim."^[15]

[edit] Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz

Miguel Ortiz
Marco Sanchez as Miguel Ortiz
First appearance	To Be or Not to Be (09/12/1993)
Last appearance	Splashdown (05/21/1995)
Portrayed by	Marco Sanchez
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	March 3, 1992
Date of death	2022
Specialty	Sensory operations
Occupation	Sensor Chief of the seaQuest DSV 4600.
Title	Senior Chief Petty Officer
Nationality	Cuban

Miguel Ortiz was a member of seaQuest's original crew under Captain Stark. After she was relieved of duty, he stayed on, serving again under Nathan Bridger's command.

As the Sensor Chief, Ortiz was responsible for controlling the boat's WSKRs (Wireless Sea Knowledge Retrieval Satellites) and was also involved in various away missions. He could understand Portuguese and had a knowledge of Greek mythology, particularly that of Atlantis.

Like Dr. Smith, it is assumed that Ortiz was killed in action while the crew was trapped on Hyperion.

[edit] Background

Marco Sanchez portrayed Ortiz during the first and second season of the show. He requested to remain for the third season, but was ultimately let go after NBC decided to lower the cast number.

[edit] Darwin

Darwin
First appearance	To Be or Not To Be (09/12/1993)
Information
Species	Bottlenose Dolphin
Gender	Male
Date of birth	2007
Specialty	Data retrieval, tracking
Title	Ensign

[edit] Dr. Kristin Westphalen

Main article: Kristin Westphalen

[edit] Second season main characters

[edit] Dr. Wendy Smith

Wendy Smith
Rosalind Allen as Dr. Wendy Smith
First appearance	Daggers (09/18/1994)
Last appearance	By production order: Splashdown (05/21/1995) By broadcast order: Blindsided (09/13/1995)
Created by	Jonathan Falls
Portrayed by	Rosalind Allen
Information
Gender	Female
Date of birth	1987
Date of death	2022
Specialty	Ph.D in Biophysics, Psychiatry, Parapsychology
Occupation	Chief Medical Officer aboard seaQuest DSV 4600 Head of Science Department
Title	Doctor
Relatives	Admiral Lexington Fisher-Smith (mother)
Nationality	American

Wendy came aboard the seaQuest DSV 4600 II in 2021 after the first seaQuest had been destroyed by Captain Nathan Bridger the previous year in an attempt to seal a lava pool that threatened to melt the world's polar caps.^[9] When Dr. Kristin Westphalen elected not to sign aboard the new seaQuest, Dr. Smith won the most coveted medical position in the UEO; that of the chief medical officer of the flagship.

A doctor of all trades, Wendy only took her residency in psychiatry; with a Ph.D in biophysics; although her passion was parapsychology. Discovering that she had a high psi-factor as a child, Wendy found that she could sense the thoughts and emotions of the people around her. Calling it her "sixth sense", she sometimes wished she didn't have the talent, but usually used it to her advantage, although, she swore that she never probed anyone's thoughts without their permission.^[16]

Wendy came from a navy family with both her mother and grandmother serving. Captain Bridger had, not only served under her mother, Lexington Fisher-Smith (aka "Sexy-Lexy Smith"), but also pursued a brief romantic involvement with her before ultimately ending the relationship. However, Bridger's prior interest in her mother didn't stop the captain from developing feelings for Wendy. At first, Wendy resisted the relationship and considered transferring off of seaQuest due to the scandal a relationship with the ship's captain would no doubt present, but, after convincing from both Bridger and Lucas Wolenczak, Wendy decided to remain aboard the ship.^[17]

Prior to her relationship with Bridger, Wendy had engaged in a relationship with Clay Marshall, director of a parapsychology facility, who helped her develop her telepathic sense, however, the relationship eventually ended. When Tony Piccolo and Dagwood mysteriously shared a nightmare, Wendy took them to be examined by Marshall. However, Clay had been cybernetically augmented in the years following their relationship and required sentium available in the seaQuest's missiles as blood. Desperate to get the material, Marshall used his previous relationship with Smith to help gain access to the seaQuest, however, he was ultimately foiled On May 14, 2022, Wendy, along with the rest of the seaQuest crew were transported to the far distant planet Hyperion, tricked into becoming participants in the Hyperion civil war. Wendy was part of the away team sent from seaQuest to destroy the KrayTak mothership and was able to cofirm that Tobias LeConte, who had been captured by the KrayTaks, was the genuine article, not a Stormer clone. With the seaQuest hulled by a barrier mine and their shuttle destroyed, the team looked to be doomed. With no other choice, Captain Bridger activated explosive charges and destroyed the mothership, taking the away team with it.^[18]

Although the Hyperion rebels were somehow able to save the majority of the seaQuest crew, as well as repair the critical damage to the ship and return them all to Earth, Wendy was not able to be saved and ultimately perished on Hyperion.^[19]

[edit] Background

Dr. Smith was portrayed by actress Rosalind Allen and was Stephanie Beacham's replacement after she opted not to return for the second season of the show. Allen's character has been a point of criticism from many fans of the show as her character's psychic and telepathic abilities helped to push seaQuest DSV away from reality based fiction to heavy science-fiction.

The episode "Alone", which focused extensively on Dr. Smith's powers, infuriated actor Edward Kerr (Brody) to the point that he stormed off the set and did not appear in the episode.

Allen's character was eventually written out of the series at the end of the second season as the series began to progress back towards more reality based episodes in the third season.

[edit] Lieutenant James Brody

James Brody
Edward Kerr as Lieutenant Brody
First appearance	Daggers (09/18/1994)
Last appearance	SpinDrift (11/08/1996)
Portrayed by	Edward Kerr
Information
Date of birth	October 14, 1993
Specialty	Demolitions, weapons, tactical, sub-fighter pilot
Occupation	Tactical officer of the seaQuest DSV 4600-II
Title	Lieutenant
Nationality	American

When Brody was six years old, his mother was involved in a murder cover-up at the (accidental) hands of Franklin Thomas. Contracting, the P-Core A virus, Brody's mother was place in cryogenic suspension and he was sent to live with his grandparents, who "let (him) get away with murder.^[20] After joining the navy, Brody led a stealth invasion during the North Korean Crisis in 2010, which Captain Bridger considered to be a "nifty piece of work."

Assigned to the G.E.L.F. colony prison island, Brody began to sense subtle changes in the behavior of the G.E.L.F.s, finally culminating in their uprising and seizure of the colony. Brody, however, was able to escape and was picked up by the seaQuest, after which the crisis had ended, he joined the crew as tactical officer.^[16] As tactical officer, Brody led most away missions into hostile environments and manned the weapons console when Commander Ford was in command.

When Brody's mother awoke from her cryogenic suspension, she sought out her son, who took her aboard the seaQuest to shield her away from assassins plotting to kill her, hired by General Thomas, to protect his career. Ultimately, Brody was able to apprehend Thomas, allowing his mother to return to cryo-stasis, secure in the knowledge that when she awoke again, she would have nothing to fear. He also promised his mother that he would be with her again when she was revived, a promise he would ultimately be unable to keep.^[20]

When the seaQuest was abducted to the planet Hyperion in 2022, Brody was wounded while part of an away team sent into the Hyperion mothership intent on destroying it. Brody, along with the rest of the away team, were apparently destroyed along with the ship after Captain Bridger detonated an explosive attached to the ship's plasma core, but was able to be rescued by the Hyperion rebels and returned to Earth with the majority of the crew by the year 2032.^[18]

Brody butted heads with the seaQuest's new captain, Oliver Hudson, played by Michael Ironside, who apparently favored his personal student, Lieutenant Fredericks, over Brody. However, when President Alexander Bourne and Larry Deon conspired to gain control of Fredericks' psyche-implant, Brody was able to learn the truth and inform Captain Hudson, saving both Fredericks and Secretary General McGath, whom she was being manipulated to assassinate.^[21]

At some point in his life, Brody sired a child with a woman. However, being a career-military and a private man, Brody never told any of the seaQuest crew of that aspect of his life. He himself only found out about the then 10 year old child after the ship returned from Hyperion and the mother of the child decided to contact him after one of her parents had recently died.^[22]

Brody ultimately died later that year in a rescue mission to save Lieutenant Henderson from a Macronesian death sentence. His last words were "With your shield or on it."^[22]

[edit] Background

Brody was played by Edward Kerr and was named after Police Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) in Jaws. Brody was Chief Crocker's replacement, both on the show and on the ship (after Royce D. Applegate was released from the show and Chief Crocker retired from the navy). Kerr was not fond with the content of the episode "Alone" and refused to appear in it. Frustrated with the direction of the show and afraid that the series would hurt his career, Kerr requested to exit the show along with Scheider. NBC granted him his release as well, under the provision that he continue to play Brody for a few episodes into the third season so his character could be killed off for dramatic impact.

[edit] Seaman Anthony Piccolo

Tony Piccolo
First appearance	Daggers (09/18/1994)
Last appearance	Weapons of War (6/9/1996)
Portrayed by	Michael DeLuise
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	October 28, 1998
Specialty	Sub-fighter pilot
Title	Seaman and later Warrant Officer
Family	Nick Piccolo (father), Marie Piccolo (mother)
Nationality	American

[edit] Lieutenant Lonnie Henderson

Lonnie Henderson
First appearance	Daggers (09/18/1994)
Last appearance	Weapons of War (06/09/1996)
Portrayed by	Kathy Evison
Information
Date of birth	June 21, 2000
Specialty	Engineering
Occupation	Helmsman and Chief Engineer of the seaQuest DSV 4600-II
Title	Seaman and later Lieutenant JG
Nationality	American

[edit] Dagwood

Dagwood
First appearance	Daggers (09/18/1994)
Last appearance	Weapons of War (29/04/1995)
Portrayed by	Peter DeLuise
Information
Nickname(s)	Dag
Species	GELF
Gender	Male
Date of birth	2001
Occupation	Head janitor of the seaQuest DSV 4600-II

Played by Peter DeLuise, Dagwood was the imperfect prototype Dagger, a group of G.E.L.F.s (Genetically Engineered Life Forms) intended as supersoldiers. Unlike the other Daggers, Dagwood was less intelligent that normal and his fighting skills were not fully developed, although he had great physical strength. He was assigned to the SeaQuest cleaning crew.

[edit] Third season main characters

[edit] Captain Oliver Hudson

Oliver Hudson
First appearance	Brave New World (09/20/1995)
Last appearance	Weapons of War (06/09/1996)
Portrayed by	Michael Ironside
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	September 12, 1984
Specialty	Command
Occupation	Commanding Officer in the Navy
Title	Captain
Spouse(s)	Elaine Morse (separated)
Nationality	American

[edit] Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks

J.J Fredericks
Elise Neal as Lieutenant Fredericks
First appearance	Brave New World (09/20/1995)
Last appearance	Weapons of War (06/09/1996)
Portrayed by	Elise Neal
Information
Nickname(s)	Freddy
Gender	Female
Age	27
Date of death	2032
Specialty	Spector class sub-fighter pilot
Occupation	Lieutenant Fighter Pilot
Title	Lieutenant
Nationality	American

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

Photos of some of Commander Ford's costumes at the seaQuest Costume Museum

v • d • e seaQuest DSV Actors Roy Scheider  · Jonathan Brandis  · Stephanie Beacham  · Michael Ironside  · Don Franklin  · Ted Raimi  · Stacy Haiduk  · John D'Aquino  · Royce D. Applegate  · Marco Sanchez  · Rosalind Allen  · Edward Kerr  · Michael DeLuise  · Kathy Evison  · Peter DeLuise  · Elise Neal Characters Captain Nathan Bridger  · Commander Jonathan Ford  · Lucas Wolenczak  · Dr. Kristin Westphalen  · Lt. Commander Katherine Hitchcock  · Lieutenant Tim O'Neill  · Dr. Wendy Smith  · Lieutenant James Brody Recurring Characters List of recurring characters on seaQuest DSV Technology and Government seaQuest DSV 4600  · United Earth Oceans Organization Episodes "Games"  · "Nothing But the Truth"  · "Higher Power"  · "Daggers"  · "Vapors"  · "Dead End"  · "Dream Weaver"  · "Splashdown"  · "Brave New World"  · "In the Company of Ice and Profit"  · "Equilibrium"