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The characters of Oz, fictional characters on the television series about prison life, are a diverse mixture of inmates from various gangs and prison staff.
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Actor | Character | Faction | Seasons | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||||
Ernie Hudson | Warden Leo Glynn | Staff | Main | |||||||
Terry Kinney | Tim McManus | Staff | Main | |||||||
Harold Perrineau | Augustus Hill | Others | Main | |||||||
Eamonn Walker | Kareem Saïd | Muslims | Main | |||||||
Kirk Acevedo | Miguel Alvarez | Latinos | Starring | Main | ||||||
Rita Moreno | Sister Peter Marie Reimondo | Staff | Starring | Main | ||||||
J. K. Simmons | Vernon Schillinger | Aryans | Starring | Main | ||||||
Lee Tergesen | Tobias Beecher | Others | Starring | Main | ||||||
Dean Winters | Ryan O'Reily | Irish | Starring | Main | ||||||
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | Simon Adebisi | Homeboys | Recurring | Starring | Main | |||||
Also starring | ||||||||||
Edie Falco | Officer Diane Whittlesey | Staff | Starring | Voice | ||||||
Leon | Jefferson Keane | Homeboys | Starring | Starring | ||||||
Tony Musante | Nino Schibetta | Italians | Starring | |||||||
Sean Whitesell | Donald Groves | Others | Starring | |||||||
B.D. Wong | Father Ray Mukada | Staff | Starring | |||||||
George Morfogen | Bob Rebadow | Others | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Lauren Vélez | Dr. Gloria Nathan | Staff | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Kathryn Erbe | Shirley Bellinger | Others | Recurring | Starring | Starring | |||||
Luis Guzmán | Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez | Latinos | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Željko Ivanek | Governor James Devlin | Visitors | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Mark Margolis | Antonio Nappa | Italians | Guest | Starring | Starring | |||||
Christopher Meloni | Chris Keller | Others | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Granville Adams | Zahir Arif | Muslims | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Seth Gilliam | Officer Clayton Hughes | Staff | Starring | |||||||
Tom Mardirosian | Agamemnon Busmalis | Others | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
muMs da Schemer | Arnold "Poet" Jackson | Homeboys | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Kristin Rohde | Officer Claire Howell | Staff | Starring | |||||||
J. D. Williams | Kenny Wangler | Homeboys | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Scott William Winters | Cyril O'Reily | Irish | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Robert Clohessy | Officer Sean Murphy | Staff | Starring | |||||||
Philip Casnoff | Nikolai Stanislofsky | Others | Starring | |||||||
Austin Pendleton | William Giles | Others | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Charles Busch | Nathaniel "Nat" Ginzburg | Gays | Starring | |||||||
Kevin Conway | Seamus O'Reily | Irish | Starring | |||||||
Erik King | Moses Deyell | Homeboys | Starring | |||||||
David Zayas | Enrique Morales | Latinos | Starring | |||||||
Reg E. Cathey | Martin Querns | Staff | Starring | Starring | ||||||
Lance Reddick | Johnny Basil | Others | Starring | |||||||
Lord Jamar | Supreme Allah | Homeboys | Starring | |||||||
Michael Wright | Omar White | Others | Starring | |||||||
Luke Perry | Jeremiah Cloutier | Christians | Starring | |||||||
Anthony Chisholm | Burr Redding | Homeboys | Starring | |||||||
Rick Fox | Jackson Vahue | Homeboys | Recurring | Guest | Starring | Starring | ||||
Betty Buckley | Suzanne Fitzgerald | Staff | Starring | |||||||
Chuck Zito | Chucky Pancamo | Italians | Recurring | Starring | ||||||
Eddie Malavarca | Peter Schibetta | Italians | Guest | Recurring | Guest | Starring | ||||
Patti LuPone | Stella Coffa | Staff | Starring | |||||||
Sean Dugan | Timmy Kirk | Irish | Recurring | Recurring | Starring | |||||
R.E. Rogers | James Robson | Aryans | Guest | Recurring | Starring | |||||
Joel Grey | Lemuel Idzik | Others | Starring | |||||||
Jon Seda | Dino Ortolani | Italians | Guest | Starring | ||||||
Bobby Cannavale | Alonzo Torquemada | Gays | Starring | |||||||
Otto Sanchez | Carmen "Chico" Guerra | Latinos | Recurring | Starring |
Muslim inmates
Non-Muslim Black inmates |
Aryan inmates
Latino inmates |
Irish inmates
Other inmates
|
Character: | Portrayed by: | Appears in seasons: | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Augustus Hill | Harold Perrineau | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
The socially astute narrator of the show. Hill's narrations offer philosophical perspectives on given situations, frequently dealing with existential concepts and the nature of death. During his arrest for drug offenses, he killed a police officer. In retaliation, another officer threw him off a roof, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Due to his disability and distaste for heroin, he is not associated with the Homeboys until Redding, a surrogate father for Hill, arrives in Oz in season 4. He tries to remain neutral in most affairs and appears friendly with almost everyone: no inmate appears to wish him any particular harm aside from the Aryans' general dislike of non-white inmates and a brief period of exclusion from the Homeboys after he betrays them. He is often the moral compass of the show and shows great remorse for the deaths for which he is responsible. He is accidentally killed by Urbano while trying to protect Redding at the end of season 5. Despite this, he remains on the show throughout season 6 as a partial narrator alongside other dead characters. | ||||
Tobias Beecher | Lee Tergesen | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
A former middle class lawyer in denial about his alcoholism, Beecher is convicted of driving whilst intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter after hitting a young girl. Thrown into the deep end in a super-max prison and forced to fend for himself, Beecher quickly learns he is out of his league. Not being street-savvy, Beecher is quickly taken advantage of by Aryan inmate Schillinger who dominates him, rapes him and sexually humiliates him during Season 1. Around this time, Beecher also becomes addicted to drugs to cope with the harsh reality of his surroundings, befriending Irish inmate Ryan O'Reilly. After reaching breaking point, Beecher attacks Schillinger and leaves his eye badly damaged. By the end of the first season, Beecher has become self-sufficient to a degree and is no longer a gullible pushover. His character undergoes the most drastic changes throughout the seasons, during which he becomes a drug addict and falls in love with Keller, a first for Beecher in encountering homosexuality. His relationship with Keller and blood feud with Schillinger is the series' dominant story arc, beginning in the first episode and being resolved during the series finale, when he accidentally kills Schillinger in an acted fight in a performance of Macbeth. By the end, Beecher is free of all his enemies, Keller having arranged for all remaining Aryans to be wiped out by a chemical release, which causes the entire prison to be evacuated. Several years later, Beecher is released from the Governor's pardon arranged by his mother and is later haunted by Ryan O'Reily when he is also released. | ||||
Vernon Schillinger | J. K. Simmons | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
The leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, Schillinger commits atrocities against other inmates because of race, sexual orientation, or overall weakness. He often takes pleasure by not just bullying and harassing, but also raping them and mostly being turned into his personal sex slaves, most notably former cellmate Beecher. Beecher soon became his main rival throughout the series, and sometimes granted help by Beecher's lover, Keller (who was also a long-time friend of Schillinger), to take him down. Schillinger remains a pivotal figure and antagonist, known for his brutality and pursuit of vengeance against his former cellmate, the central arc of the series. Their feud results in the deaths of both Schillinger's sons, the kidnap of Beecher's children and death of his son and the murder of Beecher's father, as well as the deaths of several other prisoners and even Officer Metzger. He undergoes a spiritual transformation in season 4 and he and Beecher try to forgive each other but this does not last. In the final season of the show, Schillinger is double-crossed by Keller during a production of the play Macbeth. With Schillinger playing Macbeth and Beecher playing Macduff, Keller switches the prop knife for a real one and Schillinger is fatally stabbed by Beecher. He dies, cursing Keller with his last breath when he realizes his betrayal. | ||||
Ryan O'Reily | Dean Winters | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
Ryan O'Reily is an Irish-American inmate and one of the central characters in the show. O'Reily is characterised by his Machiavellianism, doing whatever it takes to survive through double-crossing, manipulation and betrayal. Despite his meek physical stature, O'Reily is a respected member within Emerald City for his lucrative drug connections and seemingly infinite resources and favours to call upon. Compared to Othello's Iago by show creator Fontana, O'Reily is responsible for almost every death in the first season. In the second and third seasons, Ryan's obsession with Dr. Nathan becomes destructive after she helps him through his battle with breast cancer, with O'Reily ordering his mentally challenged brother Cyril to kill Dr. Nathan's husband. Later, he kills Irish inmate Keenan for raping Dr. Nathan. By the end of the series, a romantic relationship exists between the two of them. O'Reily also finds purpose again for his own life sentence at Oz by taking care of his sick father, who abused both himself and Cyril in their youth, and who is also an inmate at Oz and who regrets his own life's actions though he misses the opportunity to see Cyril before his execution. Several years later Ryan is released from prison after the police officer who testified against him has been charged and all his cases got dropped. Ryan later haunts Beecher through the phone and tracks down his address. | ||||
Bob Rebadow | George Morfogen | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
An elderly inmate serving life for murder. He was originally sentenced to death, but in 1965, he survived a botched electric chair execution when the power went off and his sentence was commuted. He is fantastically intuitive (some think as a result of the botched execution), which in the first couple of seasons he explains by nonchalantly saying "God told me"; later he begins doubting the source and veracity of his insights, however he even knows private details about prisoners' lives of which he had no prior knowledge. His calm personality is briefly replaced with more murderous fantasies when he suffers from a brain tumour. His grandson's battle with leukaemia makes him look for ways to find a cure. To raise the funds he asks a guard to buy him a lottery ticket and he wins with "God's" numbers only to be thwarted by the guard failing to share. By the time the guard had second thoughts, his grandson dies. When he is later smitten with the prison librarian, he finds out she has breast cancer and hardens his heart fearing the pain of another death. He comes around after being awakened by the admonition of a young inmate whom the librarian had also reached. | ||||
Kareem Saïd | Eamonn Walker | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
Kareem Saïd is a charismatic Muslim leader with a powerful voice and a conviction that other people's racism will absolve him. In the first season, Saïd spends much of his time converting other inmates to his cause, even many of the Homeboys, much to the anger of Adebisi. In the end of Season 1, he orchestrates a riot with the Muslims and takes charge of Emerald City. He fancies himself a lawyer and tries to help other inmates by representing them, with mixed results. His more liberal views see him deposed as the leader of the Muslims though he regains the position after Arif recognises his own deficiencies as a leader. After killing Adebisi in self-defense, he struggles with personal demons and inner anger, frequently lashing out at the Aryans, which he tries to overcome by mentoring volatile inmate Omar White. He is shot and killed by Lemuel Idzik, who kills him because of a conversation over a cup of coffee that ruined Idzik's life many years before. | ||||
Miguel Alvarez | Kirk Acevedo | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
On and off leader of the Latino inmates in the prison, Miguel Alvarez has a family background of Latino Gang-life, with his father Eduardo and grandfather Ricardo both incarcerated in Oz. After running the Latinos with little incident, his life spirals out of control in season 2 with the arrival of Hernandez. Hernandez forces him to blind Officer Rivera and he is sent to solitary. He also makes an enemy of Warden Glynn for concealing the identity of the man who raped Glynn's daughter. He escapes Oz through one of Busmalis' tunnels and remains on the run for 6 months, eventually recaptured on the border with Mexico. He spends most of his time in Oz in and out of solitary and survives several attempts on his life by Guerra, a fellow Latino inmate. On his final release from solitary, he abandons the gang life and works towards parole. He participates in the guide dog program and trains a bilingual dog for Rivera, somewhat burying the hatchet between them. After a Latino parole board member swears that Alvarez will never be released, he loses heart about being freed, returns to drugs and is swallowed up again by Oz by the end of the series. | ||||
Cyril O'Reily | Scott William Winters | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
Ryan O'Reily's brain damaged and mentally-challenged brother. He was severely mentally incapacitated in a gang-related fight with Ryan and remains unfailingly loyal to his brother. He is incarcerated after blindly following Ryan's orders to murder the husband of Dr. Nathan, with whom Ryan is obsessed. On his arrival into Oz, he is raped by Schillinger, which destroys the alliance O'Reily had previously held with the Aryan. Throughout his time in the prison, as his brother does his best to take care of him, he also often guarded Ryan from danger from other inmates due to his talent for fighting. He kills an inmate to defend his brother, but gets sent to death row and is finally executed, after a long legal battle. | ||||
Chris Keller | Christopher Meloni | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
A bisexual serial killer and psychopath who preys upon gay men in the outside world while hiding his sexual orientation through a series of marriages. He is a master of emotional manipulation and only seems to really enjoy himself when those who care about him are made to suffer, including Beecher and Sister Pete. After being recruited by Schillinger to seduce and destroy Beecher, he falls for Beecher and their relationship remains an integral part of the series. They alternate through periods of affection and animosity, such as when Keller takes the fall for having Schillinger's son murdered but also sets up Beecher for violating parole to get him returned to Oz. This act turns Beecher against Keller for good. In an attempt to regain his love, he switches a prop knife with a real one, allowing Beecher to kill Schillinger during a performance of the play Macbeth. Despite this, Beecher still rejects him and Keller commits suicide by throwing himself off the balcony in Em City, making it appear that Beecher pushed him. It is then revealed that he had a toxic substance mailed to Oz and released into the mail room, wiping out the remaining Aryans and requiring the whole prison to be evacuated with it being implied it shut down for good. | ||||
Simon Adebisi | Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | 1, 2, 3, 4 | ||
A gigantic, deranged maniac of Nigerian descent; incarcerated for decapitating a police officer with a machete. His flirtations with insanity and religion are transient, and similar to the Aryans, he later-on carried a somewhat racist belief towards Whites, believing them responsible for any cruel events towards his people. He grows in prominence in seasons 3 and 4 when he manipulates racial tension within the prison to force Warden Glynn to hire a black man to run Em City. This new manager, Querns, allows Adebisi to indulge any drug or sexual desire in return for preventing violence within the unit. This allows Adebisi to become the most powerful inmate in Oz and creates his own version of paradise. His reign is brought to an end by Saïd, who stabs him to death in self-defense. | ||||
Arnold "Poet" Jackson | muMs da Schemer | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
An African-American inmate with a talent for poetry. He is often seen reciting his poetry in the cafeteria and his poems provide insight into some of the current prison issues. McManus and Saïd have his work published in order to promote McManus' prison education program and he is granted early parole. However his addiction to heroin means he quickly violates his parole and he is sent back to Oz. He claims to have a knack for "picking winners and losers", which probably explains his shifting alliances and ability to stay alive. Upon his return to Oz, he is friends with Wangler and Pierce until their deaths and helps Saïd bring down Adebisi. He then tries to lead the Homeboys but is ineffective and quickly cedes control to the more competent Redding, becoming one of his most loyal lieutenants. He again leads the Homeboys while Redding is distracted following Hill's death and later unsuccessfully tries to convince Neema to lead them. He reluctantly becomes a telemarketer when Redding pulls the Homeboys from the drug trade but finds a way to scam his respondents with the help of his cousin. He is one of the inmates present in the season pilot to survive to the finale. | ||||
Kenny Wangler | J. D. Williams | 1, 2, 3, 4 | ||
One of the youngest inmates in Oz, Wangler (nicknamed "Bricks") was sixteen when he committed murder and was tried as an adult. Wangler exhibits the qualities of a juvenile delinquent: cocky, hot-headed and sadistic. He is also illiterate and a father without knowing any life skills such as parenting, shown in the third season during his interactions with his crying son and not knowing how to react. He often bullies and intimidates other inmates despite his age and size, including his fellow African-American cellmate Poet (who he eventually made peace with) and the elderly Rebadow. He is good at making businesses within the Homeboys, mainly with selling drugs, and often makes good business ventures with O'Reily and the Italians. He has a love–hate relationship with the Gang's in-and-out leader Adebisi, and their relationship goes further in the second and third seasons where Adebisi treats Wangler as his subordinate. His usual prison routine of intimidation ends up being his downfall when inmate Guillaume Tarrent, a bullying target of Wangler and his fellow Homeboys, murders him and his associate Pierce with a pistol. | ||||
James Robson | R.E. Rodgers | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
As the Lieutenant of the Aryan Brotherhood, Robson is similar to their leader, Schillinger, as he enjoys harassing others that are not of the brotherhood. He is just as brutal, willing to kill anyone without provocation. He is convicted for murdering a black man whom he spotted walking with his girlfriend. Over the course of the show, Robson evolves from a secondary character into a central character with a storyline of his own. His lack of oral hygiene becomes his undoing in Season 5 when his Arabic dentist transplants cadaver tissue from a black man into his gums in response to his racially-charged comments. Upon discovery, the rest of the Aryans, including Schillinger, cast him out. Desperate for protection from the many non-white inmates and enemies he has, Robson becomes a willing prag of Wolfgang Cutler, who rapes and sexually humiliates him in front of other inmates. Robson eventually breaks free of Cutler's slavery, as he tricks him into hanging himself during erotic auto-asphyxiation. Robson's role in the Brotherhood returns, but not long after he begins to have haunting memories of his rape carried-out by Cutler, which reminded him of being raped by his own abusive father as a child. Reflecting on his past, Robson begins to see much of his actions in Oz as a result of his conditioning. After being diagnosed as HIV positive, Robson confesses that he had brought much of the actions on himself for his cruelty in the past, and he decides to turn against the Brotherhood. Robson allows himself to be raped on purpose by black inmate Seroy. Disgusted in his actions and labelling him a race traitor, Schillinger expels Robson from the Brotherhood. This act saves his life as he becomes the only Aryan to survive Keller's mailroom attack. | ||||
Shirley Bellinger | Kathryn Erbe | 2, 3, 4, 6 | ||
Known as the first and only woman on the prison's Death Row for murdering her daughter by driving into a river. She is unfailingly friendly and sexually aggressive, despite her 'good girl' persona. After starting a correspondence relationship with Adebisi, she rejects him upon meeting him and discovering he is black. This racist belief is later absent when she meets inmate Deyell. Her first stay on death row is commuted when it is discovered she is pregnant and though the father is never identified, she claims it was Satan and she is sent to a mental hospital. She returns after inducing a miscarriage and befriends Deyell and Ginsberg, though clashes with Miles. She chooses death by hanging and her calm demeanor finally fails her upon seeing the gallows. She is executed screaming and crying. She is the only one of the four death row inmates to be executed as planned. Despite her death, much like Hill, she came back in spirit in the sixth season to help narrate one of the episodes. Like Robson, she was only one of the few main inmates who never was put in Em City. | ||||
Omar White | Michael Wright | 4, 5, 6 | ||
White is an African-American drug addict who murdered a key witness against his cousin in front of her daughter's eyes. White proves to be very troublesome throughout his stay at Oz, most of which ends up with him in solitary confinement. Omar is violent and somewhat childish and has never lost a fight to anyone in Oz besides Saïd. Unit Manager Tim McManus believes he can help White until he messes up for a last time in Season 5 where he ends up in solitary again. He eventually gains control of himself and displays a talent for singing. Idzik, believing in the futility of life, asks White to kill him. White refuses, so Idzik kills White in order to be sent to Death Row. | ||||
Agamemnon Busmalis | Tom Mardirosian[1] | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||
Named after the mythological Greek king Agamemnon. Since early childhood, he had a fascination with digging. Outside of prison, he was known as "The Mole," having been an expert at digging tunnels to commit various robberies. He makes several attempts to escape OZ by digging tunnels, escaping for only a day before he is recaptured. He is good friends with the fellow elderly inmate Rebadow. After returning to Oz following his escape, Rebadow feels betrayed that Busmalis escaped without him and, coupled with violent fantasies due to a brain tumour, Rebadow unsuccessfully tries to kill him. They reconcile soon afterwards. He is paired with Vahue for the basketball matches and though very ineffective, he does manage to score one goal. He has never been with a woman sexually, and is a huge fan of the children's show Ms. Sally's Schoolyard. Every time the inmates are watching the show, Busmalis can be heard saying "This is the best Miss Sally ever." He writes her fan letters and a woman claiming to be Miss Sally visits him in Oz, though it turns out to be a production assistant named Norma Clark. They fall in love and eventually marry. |
The Aryans are a fierce gang. Led through the whole series by the charismatic Vernon Schillinger. They are racist, nationalist, tough and like to have what are known in the series as "Prags" (The show's term for a "Bitch"). They, and mostly Schillinger himself, take up most of the Oz rape statistic. Curiously they rarely have feuds with the Homeboys but rather with the Muslims. The Aryans were in a perpetual alliance with the Bikers, had a CO on their "payroll," and were a force to be reckoned with.
The Bikers are, for the most part, some of the toughest inmates. They are also Schillinger and the other Aryans' allies and as such, share at least some of his thoughts on race, religion, etc. Jaz Hoyt is their leader.
The Christians are perhaps the most quiet of all the groups in Oz, but they get a voice when Jeremiah Cloutier entered the fold. Cloutier converted Biker Jim Burns and got close to Vern Schillinger, but unfortunately these connections proved fatal when he banished Timmy Kirk from his congregation. Timmy Kirk was using the flock to extort and punish inmates he considered wicked, but was indeed wicked himself, and eventually turned to Satanism before finally being killed by Jaz Hoyt on his second attempt. Other notable members include William Cudney, who shot the child of a doctor who had aborted his wife's fetus, and Robert Sippel, a pedophile priest, who was eventually nailed by Schillinger and the Aryans.
The Gays are the most non-violent gang in the prison and they stick together. They do not seem to have a leader but Fiona and Ray Masters are the front figures. Despite usually being in the background, they have had some notable members. Richie Hanlon was a kind individual who was shafted by the Aryans, and Jason Cramer was the only inmate who was ever released and stayed out. Nat Ginzburg was known for killing the former Sicilian leader Antonio Nappa. Alonso Torquemada who entered late in the series, seemed the perfect leader with tons of ambition, but by then the show was declared to be over.
The Gangstas or the Homeboys are a black gang in Oz and have the most members compared to other gangs. They also however suffer the most losses, although many of them are due to internal struggles. They are the least religious group and the most drug affected.
The Irish are perhaps the smallest gang in Oz based on membership, mostly driven by the schemes of Ryan O'Reily. As a gang they might appear to be insignificant, but Ryan O'Reily manages to factor into most major plots throughout the series.
The Sicilians, also known as the "Wiseguys", are one of the most powerful gangs. In the beginning of the series, they run the drug trade with an iron fist, but because of Ryan O'Reily and Simon Adebisi, they lost their leader Nino Schibetta and control of the drug trade. Schibetta's son, Peter, failed to take it back, but under Antonio Nappa they finally got back a lot of their power. Adebisi caused trouble again for them however by stabbing Nappa with an AIDS-infected needle and thus infecting Nappa with HIV. When the prospect of a slow death caused Nappa to need to confess his crimes through his autobiography, he was ordered killed by the next leader, Chucky Pancamo. Pancamo then led the Wiseguys for the rest of the series, only with brief interlude when he was stabbed by Robson and almost died from a staph infection.
The Latinos, also known as "El Norte", are one of the three main players in the drug trade along with the Italians and Homeboys. They tend to have an easier relationship with the Italians rather than the Homeboys, although they have cooperated with both. Besides drugs, they also deal in alcohol and medical supplies via their members doing work detail as orderlies. Miguel Alvarez led the gang in the beginning, then El Cid Hernandez took over and forced Alvarez into proving himself by sticking out the eyes of a CO. This landed Alvarez in solitary where he went in and out through the series. Chico Guerra was the perpetual lieutenant, both to Hernandez and Morales. Guerra had a long rivalry and vendetta to Alvarez, but made peace in the end. After Morales died, nobody stepped up to lead.
The Muslims are the most devout gang in Oz. They mostly stay away from violence and gang-related things. They are anti-drugs and against almost everything else that falls in that category. Kareem Saïd was their natural leader for almost the entire series, but his position was usurped by Hamid Khan (Ironically just after Saïd refused a pardon to be with his Muslim brothers). After Khan died in the boxing tournament, Arif took over but found he could not lead. Saïd took over leadership duties again but after he killed Adebisi in self-defense and convert Salah Udeen was killed by the Aryans, he had an angry period where he gave into violence a lot. When he came around again he started the book-binding business, and then suddenly, was shot by Lemuel Idzik. Arif took over after that, but again could not handle it. When the series ended it was not certain who was the leader. Huseni Mershah was more gang member-like but his effort to take over from Saïd failed and he was cast out. Saïd converted Jefferson Keane but he was set up by Ryan O'Reily fearing that he would inform on him. The Muslims had almost inevitably long-running tensions with the Aryans.
The corrections officers (COs) are mostly white, with many black and some Latino officers. They range from kind and well-meaning to cruel and violent. Diane Wittlesy was the CO supervisor in Emerald City initially, then succeeded by Karl Metzger, Sean Murphy, Travis Smith and then Murphy again. Claire Howell excels in cruelty and sexual harassment, despite being a guard. Other staff members try their best to run the Penitentiary but sometimes get involved with the Inmates, such as main medic Dr. Nathan's relationship with O'Reily, and McManus always getting into complicating and overwhelming situations with several of the Inmates in his unit of Emerald City.
Due to Emerald City's unconventional configuration and routine, each new inmate is given a sponsor to help acclimate. Inmates are generally paired with sponsors of similar nationality, background, race, and/or religion, to help acclimate, with the help of someone with similar interests and beliefs. Specific requests for current Emerald City prisoners to be paired up with inbound inmates have occasionally been made and granted. Below is a list of inmates and sponsors.
Inmate | Sponsor |
---|---|
Tobias Beecher | Dino Ortolani |
Donald Groves | Bob Rebadow |
Paul Markstrom | Jefferson Keane |
Kenny Wangler | Simon Adebisi |
Scott Ross | Mark Mack |
Ryan O'Reily | Vernon Schillinger |
Jackson Vahue | Augustus Hill |
Chris Keller | Tobias Beecher |
Raoul 'El Cid' Hernandez | Miguel Alvarez |
Jiggy Walker | Bob Rebadow |
Jaz Hoyt | Jim Burns |
Antonio Nappa | Chucky Pancamo |
Hamid Khan | Kareem Saïd |
Vincent | Simon Adebisi |
Carlo Ricardo | Raoul 'El Cid' Hernandez |
Andrew Schillinger | Fred Wick |
Malcolm Coyle | Kenny Wangler |
Kevin "Supreme Allah" Ketchum | Kareem Saïd |
"Desmond Mobay" | Augustus Hill |
Ralph Galino | Chucky Pancamo |
Guillaume Tarrant | Jaz Hoyt |
Ronald Barlog | Tobias Beecher |
Adam Guenzel | Tobias Beecher |
Father Daniel Meehan | Ryan O'Reily |
Stanley Bukowski | Ryan O'Reily |