Special Agent Dale Cooper Special Agent Dale Cooper, played by
Kyle MacLachlan, is the protagonist of the series. An
FBI agent who arrives in
Twin Peaks in
1989 to investigate the brutal murder of popular high-school student
Laura Palmer, Cooper falls in love with the town and gains a great deal of acceptance within the tightly knit community. He displays an array of quirky, whimsical mannerisms, such as giving a "thumbs up" when satisfied, sage-like sayings (often inspired by his fascination with
Tibet), and a distinctive sense of humor, along with his love for
cherry pie and "a damn fine cup of coffee". One of his most popular habits is recording messages containing everyday observations and abstract thoughts on his current case to his (primarily unseen) secretary, Diane, into a
microcassette recorder he carries. His investigative techniques go far beyond the FBI's usual ones, including intuitive exercises and dream analysis. He becomes deeply involved with the inhabitants of Twin Peaks and remains in town after the resolution of the Laura Palmer case, especially once his nemesis and former partner Windom Earle starts menacing the town in order to exploit its supernatural properties.
Albert Rosenfield Albert Rosenfield, played by
Miguel Ferrer, is a talented forensic analyst Cooper calls in to assist on the Laura Palmer case. An inaugural member of the Blue Rose Task Force, he is, by 2014, the only member who has not disappeared under mysterious circumstances. His abrasive and mocking personality alienates the Twin Peaks sheriff's department relatively quickly; he compares
Andy to a dog and repeatedly insults
Sheriff Harry S. Truman to the point where Truman punches him. He also fights with Doc Hayward and harshly disparages the local police and medical facilities, showing respect only to his FBI colleagues, at least at first. A later appearance, and another conflict with Truman, lead to an emotional moment where Rosenfield exposes a
pacifist nature seemingly at odds with his acerbic surface
persona, to the sheriff's shock. Albert returns to Twin Peaks after the murder of Laura's cousin Maddy Ferguson and is visibly affected by the crime; he is present when Killer BOB's identity is revealed, leading to a moment when he discusses with Cooper, Truman, and Major Briggs the nature of the evil they have confronted. Albert warms up to the townsfolk as the series progresses, going so far as to hug Truman when returning once more to assist in their hunt for Windom Earle, but does not lose his sharp and sardonic manner. Albert has a minor role in
Fire Walk With Me, appearing in the FBI offices with Cole during the reappearance of
Phillip Jeffries, and later as a skeptical listener of Cooper's seeming premonition about the next victim. He also appears briefly in
The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes, under the entry recorded on February 4, 1977. It is implied that this is Cooper's and his first meeting. This makes Albert 21 when the two first meet, according to the
My Life, My Tapes canon. After Cooper's
doppelgänger is arrested in South Dakota in 2016, Albert investigates his apparent reappearance, alongside Cole and Tamara Preston. He later discloses to Cole that he was apparently contacted by Jeffries, which resulted in the death of an agent stationed in Colombia. Albert, along with Cole, also convinces Diane Evans, Cooper's former secretary, to speak to the doppelgänger, after which Diane confirms the incarcerated man is not the real Cooper. Albert later participates in the investigation of an apparent double homicide, also in South Dakota, after a headless corpse bearing Major Briggs's fingerprints is found with the severed head of high school librarian Ruth Davenport. During the investigation, Albert begins to form a relationship with Constance Talbot, the local police department's coroner.
Chester Desmond Chester Desmond, played by
Chris Isaak in
Fire Walk with Me, is a taciturn FBI Special Agent who is called out by his boss, Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole, to investigate the murder of 17-year-old Teresa Banks, who was found wrapped in plastic. Desmond is introduced to his new partner, Special Agent Sam Stanley, and receives coded clues in the form of Lil the Dancer. Desmond and Stanley begin their investigation by driving to a rural town called Deer Meadow. A few days into the investigation, Desmond mysteriously disappears after picking up a ring later seen to be owned by the
Man from Another Place. His disappearance is reported to Cole, who then dispatches Special Agent
Dale Cooper to pick up where Desmond left off. Desmond's disappearance is never explained, although Cooper discovers that Desmond's car has been vandalized with the words "LET'S ROCK", the same words spoken by the Man from Another Place when he introduces himself, implying that Desmond was taken to the
Black Lodge. Desmond is briefly mentioned in the 2017 series, where he is revealed to have been one of the inaugural members of the Blue Rose Task Force, alongside Cooper, Phillip Jeffries, and Albert Rosenfield.
FBI Special Agent Sam Stanley FBI Special Agent Sam Stanley, played by
Kiefer Sutherland, assists Special Agent Desmond in the investigation of the murder of Teresa Banks. Gordon Cole mentions that he cracked the Whitman case. He is portrayed as being somewhat stiff and inflexible, in contrast to the laid-back demeanor of Desmond; at one point, Desmond manages to make Stanley spill coffee on himself when he asks what time it is (noticing that Stanley is holding his cup with his watch hand). Stanley was mentioned in the series pilot, during the scene in which Agent Cooper is examining Laura Palmer's body. He speaks into his dictaphone: "Give this to Albert and his team; don't go to Sam; Albert seems to have a little more on the ball."
Phillip Jeffries Phillip Jeffries, played by
David Bowie in
Fire Walk with Me and voiced by Nathan Frizzell in the 2017 series, is an FBI agent who disappeared for years studying paranormal and supernatural happenings. In
Fire Walk with Me, Jeffries suddenly exits an elevator in the Philadelphia FBI office, two years after his disappearance. He hurries to the office of his former superior, Gordon Cole, and starts raving in a loud and disturbed manner, referring at one stage to Special Agent Dale Cooper and yelling "Who do you think this is, there?" Jeffries goes on to narrate where he has been since his disappearance. He mentions names and incidents unfamiliar to those listening. His words are illustrated by the intrusion of a
ghost transmission depicting a small group of characters, including the Man from Another Place and BOB, in a series of strange rooms. He disappears into thin air once again after announcing "I found something... and then there they were!" Jeffries is frequently mentioned in the 2017 series, which reveals that he was the original leader of the Blue Rose Task Force and was involved in the first case, alongside Cole. An unseen individual identifying as him assigns Ray Monroe to kill Cooper's doppelgänger. Albert Rosenfield also informs Cole that he was contacted by an individual claiming to be Jeffries, which led to the killing of an agent stationed in Colombia. Cole later re-experiences Jeffries' sudden reappearance in a dream and remembers Jeffries' comment about Cooper, implying that Cooper may have been an imposter. With the 2016 death of Bowie, Jeffries is depicted as a grey orb beside a giant steaming kettle in a room above the convenience store. Cooper's doppelgänger approaches it, after receiving info on his whereabouts from Ray Monroe. The real Cooper later encounters Jeffries to access an alternate 1989 in an attempt to rescue Laura Palmer in "
Part 17".
Gordon Cole Gordon Cole, played by
David Lynch, is a Regional Bureau Chief in the FBI and
Agent Cooper's immediate superior. He is very
hard of hearing (wearing large
hearing aids) and thus speaks very loudly. He often misunderstands what is said to him and replies with comically inappropriate responses. Cole's coded messages sometimes baffle even his closest colleagues. In the first episode in which he appears, he says, "Cooper, you remind me today of a small Mexican chihuahua" (which he pronounces "chee-WOW-wow"). The conversation continues as normal, with the issue remaining unsolved. While in Twin Peaks, Cooper and Cole go to the Double R Diner where he is smitten by waitress
Shelly Johnson, whom he apparently can hear perfectly well. Shelly, being ignored by her boyfriend Bobby Briggs at the time, is shocked yet pleased by his attention, and upon Cole's imminent departure, they share a kiss, to the chagrin of Bobby, who happens to show up at that moment. At the beginning of
Fire Walk With Me, Cole briefs agents Chester Desmond and Sam Stanley on their assignment to investigate the murder of Teresa Banks. Cole uses a
coded language, in the attire and gestures of Lil the Dancer, to inform the agents of what to expect in their investigation. Cole describes the Banks murder case as one of his "blue rose" cases. The 2017 series reveals that "blue rose" refers to the Blue Rose Task Force, which investigates cases, particularly those involving apparent doppelgängers, that cannot be rationally explained. Cole and Phillip Jeffries investigated the first "blue rose" case, where a woman was killed by another woman who looked exactly like her, and uttered the phrase before her body disappeared. By 2016, Cole has become the FBI Deputy Director, and obtains improved hearing aids, resulting in fewer instances of him misunderstanding others. When at their maximum volume, Cole is able to speak quietly and hold private conversations, although he only occasionally raises the volume of the aids as loud noises hurt his ears. After Cooper's doppelgänger is arrested in South Dakota, Cole leads the investigation alongside Albert Rosenfield and Tamara Preston. The trio later take part in another case in South Dakota when a headless corpse found in the area is found to have Major Garland Briggs's fingerprints.
Denise Bryson Denise Bryson, played by
David Duchovny, is a DEA agent. A
trans woman, Bryson first wore women's clothing during a DEA undercover operation and found that it relaxed her. Formerly named
Dennis, she changed her name to Denise for the purpose of the operation and retained it afterward, finding it comfortable. Bryson comes to Twin Peaks when the
Mounties and the FBI accuse
Dale Cooper of
misfeasance for his handling of the rescue of
Audrey Horne from
One Eyed Jacks and the alleged theft of
cocaine from an RCMP stakeout. Cooper quickly determines that the Mountie accusing him is himself involved in drug dealing with Jean Renault and Hank Jennings. This leads to the standoff at
Dead Dog Farm, in which Bryson uses her femininity to effect Cooper's rescue. 25 years later, Bryson leaves the DEA and becomes the FBI Chief of Staff. It is implied that her presence in the agency made other agents uncomfortable, but they were berated by Gordon Cole, for which Bryson remains grateful to Cole. Bryson also comes to fully embrace her female identity. After the arrest of Cooper's doppelgänger, she approves Cole's investigation into the matter, although she questions Cole bringing along Tammy Preston.
Tamara "Tammy" Preston Tamara Preston, also known by her nickname
Tammy, is an FBI agent introduced in the novel
The Secret History of Twin Peaks, in which Gordon Cole assigns her to investigate a dossier recovered from Major Garland Briggs. She makes her first physical appearance in the 2017 series, played by
Chrysta Bell. Preston joins Cole and Albert Rosenfield into their investigation of Dale Cooper's apparent reappearance after his doppelgänger is arrested in South Dakota. During the investigation, she discovers that one of the doppelgänger's fingerprints is a reverse of the real Cooper's print. Afterward, Preston takes part in investigating an apparent double homicide in South Dakota where the severed head of librarian Ruth Davenport is found with a headless body bearing Garland Briggs's fingerprints, and interrogates murder suspect William Hastings. In addition to the South Dakota cases, Preston leads the FBI's investigation into the deaths of Sam Colby and Tracey Barberato in New York City and finds that Cooper's doppelgänger was spotted at the penthouse where the couple was found dead. Her work earns praise from Cole and Rosenfield, who have her join the Blue Rose Task Force.
Diane Evans Diane Evans is Dale Cooper's secretary in the FBI. She is featured in the original series as an
unseen character, receiving recordings addressed to her from Cooper that he creates during his investigations. Diane makes her first physical appearance in the 2017 series, played by
Laura Dern. She travels to South Dakota at the behest of Gordon Cole to speak to Cooper's doppelgänger after his arrest, and confirms that the doppelgänger is not the real Cooper. Against her wishes, Diane then joins Cole, Albert Rosenfield, and Tamara Preston in investigating a headless body bearing Major Garland Briggs's fingerprints, due to Briggs' connection with Cooper. However, Diane is later shown to be corresponding with the doppelgänger, leaving her true loyalties unclear. Cole and Rosenfield learn of Diane's correspondence, but choose to keep her close, and have her deputized during the investigation. Ultimately, it is revealed that the Diane participating in the investigation is a
tulpa of the real Diane, who was created by the doppelgänger. On the doppelgänger's orders, she attempts to kill the FBI team, but is gunned down by Rosenfield and Preston. Her body promptly disappears after her death and her spirit is destroyed in the Black Lodge. Initially, the fate of the real Diane is unknown, although the tulpa says that she was raped by the doppelgänger and taken to the convenience store where supernatural entities converge. The tulpa also says that Diane is the estranged half-sister of Janey-E Jones, who married the decoy Cooper replaces in his return to the natural realm. The real Diane is revealed to be trapped in the body of Naido in "
Part 17". She sees another doppelgänger of herself in "
Part 18" and, after traveling in a car with Cooper and having sex with him in a motel, she leaves him a note, calling him Richard and herself Linda, then disappears.
Lil the Dancer Lil the Dancer (Kimberly Ann Cole) is seen only in
Fire Walk with Me. Her movements and clothing are code; this is an FBI method devised by Cole to quickly and covertly brief Special Agent Desmond on what to expect during his investigation into the death of Teresa Banks. == Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department ==