Main •
Jason O'Mara as James "Jim" Shannon, a former
Chicago Police narcotics
detective. eventually becoming third-in-command of the colony. •
Shelley Conn as Dr. Elisabeth Shannon, a trauma
surgeon who works at Terra Nova's medical center. She is married to Jim and is the mother of their three children. Intelligent but socially clumsy, and depicted principally either as a student or the love interest of Mark Reynolds, a young soldier. • Alana Mansour as Zoe Shannon, the five-year-old (later six-year-old) daughter of Jim and Elisabeth Shannon. •
Allison Miller as Skye Alexandria Tate, a veteran resident of Terra Nova from the Fifth Pilgrimage, and Josh's closest friend. Her parents reportedly died three years before the series begins, and she was subsequently adopted by Commander Taylor. She is later revealed to be a Sixer
mole, being blackmailed by the Sixers who held her mother hostage and controlled the medicine which kept her alive. •
Mido Hamada as Guzman, a member of Terra Nova's security forces and father of Tasha, a teenage girl who is one of Skye's closest friends. Guzman was originally meant to have a bigger role and was supposed to be the colony's second-in-command, which is why Hamada was credited as a member of the main cast. However, after the pilot, Guzman was written out of the show, and the second-in-command was said to be Lt. Washington. •
Stephen Lang as
Commander Nathaniel Taylor, Terra Nova's head of state. Himself the first colonist, Taylor survived 118 days alone, helped build a community as new settlers arrived, and has been the colony's leader for seven years. When Skye's parents died, he became her legal guardian and father figure. Taylor's relationship with his son, Lucas, has degraded severely since an incident in 2138 in which Taylor was forced to sacrifice his wife to enemy fire. Lucas arrived in Terra Nova on the Second Pilgrimage, but plotted against his father to destroy the colony, and has since re-appeared as antagonist. •
Rod Hallett as Dr. Malcolm Wallace, the
chief science officer for the Terra Nova colony. Early in the first season, it is revealed that he recruited Elisabeth for Terra Nova, having earlier had a romantic relationship with her, and he was hopeful that she would leave her husband in prison in 2149.
Recurring •
Caroline Brazier as Deborah Tate. Under the cover story that she died in a fever epidemic, she was taken to the Sixers by her daughter Skye who made a deal with Mira, the Sixers' leader, for treatment of her mother's illness in return for spying on Taylor and the colonists. Later in the first season, she was rescued by the soldier Curran and returned to the colony. •
Emelia Burns as
Corporal Reilly, a member of Terra Nova's security forces and an expert at defusing bombs. •
Damien Garvey as Tom Boylan, a
bartender and former
soldier who occasionally trades with the Sixers. Often secretive and abrasive, he operates minor crime but proves loyal to Terra Nova when the Phoenix Group invades. •
Dean Geyer as
Corporal Mark Reynolds, a soldier under Taylor's command and eventually the suitor of Maddy Shannon. He is a competent soldier and able survivalist, but often uncertain of his own position, and therefore formal, when interacting with Maddy and her father Jim. •
Simone Kessell as
Lieutenant Alicia "Wash" Washington, the second-in-command to Nathaniel Taylor. She had served with Taylor for several years prior to her assignment to Terra Nova. In the season finale, she was reduced by the Phoenix Group to menial status and later killed by Lucas Taylor for abetting the Shannon family's escape from the settlement. • Peter Lamb as Casey Durwin, a
tradesman that works in Terra Nova's market and a former member of the U.S. army. He operates a motorized wheelchair, allegedly having lost his legs to a
Carnotaurus. •
Sam Parsonson as Hunter Boyce, a teenager that lives in Terra Nova and came on the 5th Pilgrimage. He is one of Skye's closest friends and is also one of her housemates. He was once injured by an Acceraptor (a fictional species of theropod), and once contracted a 30-ft.
tapeworm-like parasite of which he was relieved by Elisabeth and Skye. • Romy Poulier as Kara, Josh's girlfriend from 2149. She was unable to join the Shannons on the Tenth Pilgrimage in the series premiere, whereafter Josh cut a deal with the Sixers to bring her to Terra Nova. She eventually arrived with the Eleventh Pilgrimage, but was killed shortly thereafter by the Phoenix Group, who used a suicide bomber upon arrival. •
Rohan Nichol as Weaver, a senior associate of Lucas and the Phoenix Group. He commanded the mercenary forces that invaded Terra Nova in the season finale. Thereafter he returned to 2149, but was slain by a juvenile
Carnotaurus brought to the future by Jim. •
Jay Ryan as Curran, a member of Terra Nova's security team. Banished from the colony for murdering a fellow soldier named Ken Foster, Curran was later encountered by Taylor in the local jungle, who saved Curran from an 'Ancestral
Komodo'. Thereafter Taylor employed him to infiltrate the Sixers' camp, whence he rescued Deborah Tate. In recognition of Curran's actions, he was readmitted to Terra Nova. • Matt Scully as
Private Dunham, a member of Terra Nova's security team. •
Damian Walshe-Howling as Carter, a member of the Sixers who was once injured and captured at Terra Nova. After escaping, he made an attempt on Nathaniel Taylor's life and was stopped by Jim Shannon, and released during a trade with the Sixers. •
Ashley Zukerman as Lucas Taylor, the estranged, deceptive and vengeful son of Nathaniel Taylor, and the main antagonist of the series. A brilliant yet unstable
physicist employed by the same people who hired the Sixers and the Phoenix Group to assist their invasion of the alternate, past Earth, for which he remained there at some length, periodically revealing the results of his calculations. During the finale, his plans were counteracted by Jim Shannon, and Lucas himself was wounded by Skye and not seen again. ==Episodes==