Hawaii Five-0

The series centers on highly decorated former Navy SEAL Commander Steve McGarrett, who is tasked by the Governor of Hawaii with forming a task force to fight organized crime. He recruits former cop Chin Ho Kelly, who was forced to leave the force after unjustified bribery charges, cop Danny "Danno" Williams, who followed his divorced wife and their daughter from New Jersey to Hawaii, and young cop Kona "Kono" Kalakaua, who just finished her training and is Chin's cousin. They call themselves Five-0 and work together on a variety of different criminal cases.

In season 2, Agent Lori Weston joins the team, but leaves when a case goes too far and the Governor gives her a choice between Five-0 and the state of Hawaii.

When McGarrett's girlfriend Catherine Rollins leaves the Navy in season 4, she also joins the task force after a short time. But when she is recruited by the CIA during a relief trip to Afghanistan, she accepts the offer and leaves the team.

In season 5, Captain Lou Grover, former captain of HPD's S.W.A.T. team, and Jerry Ortega, a school friend of Chin's and conspiracy theorist, join the Five-0 Task Force. The latter received his badge after 2 years on the team, making him officially part of Five-0.

In season 7, Masi Oka, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left the series, Kim and Park due to unfair pay and Oka because he wanted to move on to other projects.

These exits were explained in the series as medical examiner Max Bergman (Masi Oka) moving to Madagascar to join a relief organization; Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) moving to San Francisco to run his own task force; and Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) traveling around the mainland busting human trafficking rings.

Replacing the two missing investigators on Five-0 are police school dropout Tani Rey and former Navy S.E.A.L. Junior Reigns, and Dr. Noelani Cunha is hired as the new medical examiner. As things progress, Kono's ex-husband Adam Noshimuri, a close friend of the team for years and former bigwig in the Hawaiian Yakuza, also joins Five-0.

Main characters

Lieutenant Commander Steven John "Steve" McGarrett (Commanding Officer)

Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett is a former, highly decorated commander who transfers from the Navy SEALs to the Hawaii Police Department as a reservist. In 2002, for example, he was deployed to Morocco with his instructor Joe White under the direction of Agent Greer, with whom he became romantically involved. Later, he was mostly stationed in Afghanistan, but also completed individual missions, such as in North Korea. His grandfather, also named Steven McGarrett, served on the USSArizona and was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Steve came to Hawaii to solve his father's murder and stayed after Governor Patricia Jameson persuaded him to take charge of a new team. He has been estranged from his younger sister Mary Ann in the past, so he is now trying to get a little closer to her again. After finding out that his father was killed on behalf of Wo Fat, he does everything he can to bring him to justice. He has a relationship with Navy officer Catherine Rollins, which is already becoming clearer early in season three. Steve McGarrett finds out at the end of season two/beginning of season three that his mother Doris McGarrett aka Shelburne had only faked her death to get into the witness protection program. At the time, he was sent to boarding school by his father because John himself didn't think he could take care of his son. There is a tentative rapprochement between the two. He also has an aunt named Debra, who is his father's sister and is very close to him. In season four, we learn that she has cancer. After he wanted to propose to Catherine in the beginning of the sixth season, but she went to the CIA, he ends the relationship. He then gets together with Lynn Downey, but later breaks up with her. In season seven, he suffers radiation poisoning, which he still has in the next season. He later takes in Eddie the police dog, who comes to the Five-0 team's aid on some missions, and Mr. Pickels the cat. Together with Danny, he plans to open an Italian restaurant in the eighth season, but later sells it to Kamekona. Steve is fluent in Mandarin and partially proficient in other languages such as Korean, Japanese and Hawaiian. He also played guitar for a long time in his childhood, knows how to ride horses, and broke many of Chin's football records in college.

Detective Sergeant Daniel "Danny"/"Danno" Williams...

Danny Williams is a New Jersey detective sergeant who has transferred to Hawaii so he can be closer to his daughter Grace. He minored in business administration and was later held captive by gangsters while on police duty with his partner Grace during the terrorist attacks onSeptember 11, 2001, after which she died that day, in part due to a lack of medical care. He subsequently named his daughter after his partner who was killed that day. Danny hates Hawaii and the ocean, he keeps getting into minor arguments with Steve about it. It is not until the third season that it becomes clear why Danny hates the ocean: In his childhood days, he lost his best friend to drowning. He still has feelings for his ex-wife Rachel, but she has remarried and has a child by her husband Stan. He later develops feelings for historian Dr. Gabrielle Asano and begins a relationship with her. At the end of the second season, he begins fighting Rachel for custody of Grace, as she wants to move to Las Vegas with her husband and daughter. After his relationship with Gabby ends early in season four, he gets together with Melissa Armstrong some time later. Midway through season five, we learn that he also has a son named Charlie, but Rachel has kept this from him by claiming that her husband is the father. His brother Matti was murdered by drug lord Marco Reyes, whom Danny later kills in revenge, after which he is transferred to a Mexican prison, but is eventually freed by the Five-0 team. His sister Bridget divorced her husband, finding her life too boring. Also, Danny has another sister named Stella. His parents Clara and Eddie have grown apart over time, but find their way back to each other with his help. In season eight, he and Steve pursue a plan to open their own Italian restaurant, getting help from his Uncle Vito, among others. However, after opening it, he sells it to Kamekona.

Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly

Chin Ho Kelly is a former Detective Sergeant, later Detective Lieutenant, of the Hawaii Police Department, having been falsely accused of corruption and forced out of the HPD. Chin is the older cousin of Kono, who always believed in his innocence. After he was terminated, his relationship with doctor Malia Waincroft also went kaput. Later, his case is reopened and his innocence is confirmed. Over time, Malia and Chin reunite and marry. In the season finale of season two, she is shot by Delano's men, after which she dies early in season three. He later meets prison nurse Leylani, with whom he begins a relationship. In the fourth season, we learn that his father was murdered 15 years ago by his brother-in-law Gabriel. Furthermore, he has two uncles: one whose relationship only improves after his wife passes away; the other lives in the Hawaiian rainforest as a moonshiner. In season six, he meets Abby, an investigator who came to Hawaii from San Francisco. The latter was assigned by the FBI to look into the Five-0 team, but ultimately decided to go with Five-O and against her assignment. He describes his ancestry as a "colorful mix". For example, he hails from Japan and Korea, among other places. In season seven, he fights for custody of Sara Diaz, the daughter of Gabriel Waincroft, which he gets. After season seven, he moves to San Francisco with his family to run his own task force.

Officer Kono Kalakaua

Kono Kalakaua is a young police officer, good sniper and Chin's cousin. In her youth she was a professional surfer, which was taught to her by her mother. Kono had to give up professional surfing due to a knee injury, however, she remains devoted to surfing as a hobby. Her mother suffered a stroke years later, after which she became a caregiver for Kono's father. Kono was signed to Five-0 straight out of police academy. However, as she later gets involved in criminal activities, she is officially terminated. However, she worked as an undercover officer throughout. She later returns to the Five-0 team. She begins an initially secret relationship with Adam Noshimuri, who is part of the Yakuza. In the season finale of the second season, she is kidnapped by Frank Delano's men and thrown into the open sea, but is able to be rescued by Adam. At the end of the third season, when Adam is being hunted by the Yakuza, she flees to Japan with him and Steve's mother Doris. At the end of the fifth season, she and Adam marry, but are held captive and tortured by Gabriel at the beginning of the sixth season. After the seventh season, she goes to the mainland to conduct wide-ranging investigations into human trafficking rings.

Dr. Max Bergman

Dr. Max Bergman is a partially sociopathic Chief Medical Examiner in Hawaii and works closely with Five-0. He is a huge science fiction fan, writes journals, plays the piano, and dresses up as a Keanu Reeves movie character every year for Halloween. As a baby, he was given away to a church by his birth mother and later adopted. She was later killed by the "Garbage Man", after which Max helps Five-0 catch her killer. He also sells his Deep Space Nine action figures and parts of his prehistoric fossil collection in season two, using the money to buy a yellow Chevy Camaro like Danny has. In season three, during a bank robbery, he meets Sabrina, whom he later marries. After spending three months on assignment for Doctors Without Borders in Africa early in season seven, he later decides to leave Hawaii for the job. In the tenth season, Bergmann returns to Oahu to visit his old friends on Halloween. While there, he also introduces his son Tunde, who was adopted in Africa.

Special Agent Lori Weston

Special Agent Lori Weston is a profiler from Quantico, where she trained as an FBI agent and later worked for Homeland Security. She was assigned by Governor Denning to join the team. She later had to choose between Five-0 and the state of Hawaii, after which she chose both and later moved back to the mainland.

Lieutenant Catherine "Cath" Rollins...

Lieutenant Catherine Rollins is a Navy officer working on the USS Enterprise and has a relationship with Steve at the beginning. In the first two seasons, she is mainly used by him to help solve criminal cases with the help of military technology, such as satellites. At the beginning of the third season, she assists Steve in tracking down his mother, who has gone into hiding again. In the episode "Mangosta", she assists Doris McGarrett, who is being stalked by a contract killer from her past. She promises to keep this story a secret from Steve. At the beginning of season four, she leaves the Navy when her former comrade and former Navy SEAL William "Billy" Harrington (played by Justin Bruening) offers her a job at his private security firm. After he is fatally wounded during a stakeout, she officially joins Five-0. At the end of season four, she goes to Afghanistan to help an old friend. She decides to stay there to fight terror. At the end of season five, she comes back to Hawaii. When Steve decides to propose to her, Danny talks to her and tries to convince her to stay without success. Through a phone conversation at the end of an episode in season six, you get that she has signed on with the Secret Service, as she is addressed as Lieutenant and they ask if her cover has been blown. She later returns to Hawaii a few times to solve CIA cases with the Five-0 task force.

Captain Louis Purnell "Lou" Grover

Lou Grover had a love-hate relationship with Steve McGarrett at the beginning of season four. He is forced by Governor Denning to work with McGarrett. Due to a police protection program, he had to move his family, consisting of his wife Renee, daughter Samantha and son Will, from Chicago to Hawaii, as he was undercover against a drug cartel in his home country. He gained notoriety in Chicago as well for the case of a murdered boy, for whose death the media blamed him. Lou himself, plagued by guilt, was even on the verge of ending his life. At the end of season four, his daughter is kidnapped. With Steve's help, Grover is able to rescue her and becomes part of Five-0. In season five, when his former colleague Clay kills his wife while visiting Hawaii, Lou is one of the only ones to hold onto Clay's guilt. To prove it, he travels to Chicago several times in seasons six and seven to testify against his former colleague in court cases, among other things. Ultimately, it is not until season eight that Lou finally succeeds in convicting Clay, with the whole case costing him his reputation in Chicago. His hobbies include golf as well as barbecuing, although he played football and boxed in his youth, even going undefeated in twenty fights in a row. There is a brotherly rivalry between him and his brother Percy Lee Grover Jr. over Renee as well, though Percy always defended him when Lou was bullied at school. His mother Ella is like the head of the family, while his father Percy Grover Sr. is more reserved.

Jerry Ortega

Jerry Ortega is a former classmate of Chin's who is best known for his conspiracy theories and knowledge of history. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, he wanted to join the army, but didn't meet the requirements for it. He is repeatedly asked by Five-0 to help them with their cases, until in season five he is appointed "special consultant" (Special Consultant) to the task force. At this point, he is still living with his mother, but later moves in with Chin for an extended period of time. In season seven, he gets his badge, making him an official member of Five-0. He has a sister named Isabel, whom he jokingly calls "Bröckchen" since she was so heavy at birth.

Officer Tani Rey

Tani Rey was the best student at the police academy. However, two days before the final exam, her father died, after which she emotionally battered her instructor Captain Keo and subsequently had to leave the academy. After working as a lifeguard for a while and dating criminal Damien Batiste at the same time, she is recruited to the team by McGarrett early in season eight. She has a difficult relationship with her brother Koa, as he repeatedly breaks the law. However, after he swore off drugs, went through rehab, and eventually helped other addicts, the relationship between the two became better and better. Shortly before her father's death, she promised him to take care of Koa.

Officer Junior Reigns

Junior Reigns is a former Navy SEAL who asks McGarrett to give him a job at Five-0. The latter agrees on the condition that Reigns first graduates from police school and becomes a cop, which he then does. Prior to becoming a Navy SEAL, he dated a local girl named Layla. His plan was to go to Iraq for a year, get a scholarship afterward, and eventually marry Layla. But when he got a request to extend his Navy service, he agreed. At the same time, Layla got together with Tory, a local, and separated from Junior by letter. The latter did not want to fight for her, as Layla was expecting a child with her new boyfriend. Later, when Junior is a permanent member of Five-0, he shoots Tory, who is involved in criminal activity, during a case when he turns his gun on him. In the eighth season, Junior lives with Steve, as he does not have a good relationship with his parents, especially his father Natano. The latter did not want Junior to join the army, after which the relationship broke down. In addition, Natano was never able to cope with the death of Junior's sister Maya, who died in a car accident from which Junior's father got a prosthetic leg. The two are able to reconnect later in season eight after Natano is able to overcome his drinking problems and Junior helps him control his grief. However, when Junior forgives the man responsible for Maya's car accident in court, Natano no longer recognizes Junior as his son. Junior's cousin is a Marine.

Adam Noshimuri

Adam Noshimuri is the son of the late yakuza boss Hiro Noshimuri and tries to legalize the business after his death. Over time, he gets together with Kono and marries her at the end of season five. After conflict arises with his brother Michael in season three and he kills him in the heat of the moment, he flees to Asia with Kono. There, with Doris' help, the two are able to hide from Michael's followers for a while. He then leaves Kono behind, thinking that it is too dangerous for them. After Kono takes out Michael's followers and finds Adam in Canada, they both return to Oahu. In addition to being an informant for Five-0, he continues to try to make a living for himself, but when conflict arises with business associates of his father, he shoots two people. Because of this, he is sent to prison for 18 months. When Kono goes to the mainland at the end of the seventh season, he initially follows it, but then returns to the island. There, he henceforth heads the Five-0 Task Force Special Division of Organized Crime. However, after his colleague Jessie Nomura is shot by his half-sister Noriko and eventually the latter is murdered as well, he leaves the task force and returns to the mainland to Kono for the time being. Later, Tani finds a gun in his house, the model of which was used to kill Noriko, making him the prime suspect in the murder case. However, he is later able to convict the real culprit. During the course of the ninth season, it is revealed that Kono has ended her relationship with Adam, as she only has eyes for her job. Shortly after he returns to Hawaii, Danny offers him a permanent spot on the Five-0 team, which he accepts. He speaks Japanese and is also learning sign language.

Kamekona tupuola

Kamekona is a former criminal who works as an informant for Five-0. His main occupation is running a Shave Ice stand and a shrimp truck with his cousin Flippa, in addition to offering helicopter tours. Over time, he develops a familial relationship with the Five-0 Task Force. As a result, he becomes a silent partner in Steve and Danny's restaurant in the eighth season and eventually buys it out later. Like him, his brother Kanoa went off the rails early on. Coming from poorer backgrounds, Kamekona had to work as a street vendor early on instead of going to school. In the process, he fell in with the wrong people and thus became a criminal, sold drugs and eventually had to go to prison. However, because he became an informant for Chin and helped to convict his accomplices, his prison sentence was drastically reduced.

Sergeant Duke Lukela

Duke Lukela is a good confidant of Five-0 at the HPD (Honolulu Police Department), who is often called in for support. He knew the fathers of Chin and Steve, both police officers, personally and was one of the first to trust Five-0. Together with his wife Nalani, he has a daughter named Carrie and a granddaughter named Akela.

Dr. Noelani Cunha

Noelani Cunha is a medical examiner and Max's successor. Until he left the island, she worked as his assistant. Although she wanted to become a surgeon all her life, she dropped out of her surgical residency shortly before graduation and instead studied at Oʻahu State University, after which she eventually became a forensic pathologist. Her parents, on the other hand, did not like this move very much, which is why she has a strained relationship with them. She has a fear of flying.

Important minor characters

Where Fat

Wo Fat is a criminal and over time develops into the nemesis of McGarrett and Five-0. He controls the Yakuza in Hawaii in season one and initiates the murder of John McGarrett by Victor Hesse. When Hesse later turns on him, he kills him in prison. Also harboring a great hatred for Steve, he frames him for the murder of the Governor at the end of the first season. CIA agent Jenna Kaye also dies at his hands, as she has arranged a barter deal with him whereby Kaye delivers McGarrett to him in exchange for him releasing her fiancé Josh. When Jenna learns that her fiancé is dead and she becomes loyal to McGarrett again, Wo Fat kills her. At the end of the second season, he is captured by Steve in Japan and transferred to Hawaii. However, he is able to escape early in the third season with the help of Frank Delano, who wants to make a deal with him. Wo Fat, on the other hand, goes to McGarrett's house, having learned that the latter's mother Doris is back on the island. When he comes face to face with her, a gunfight appears to ensue and Wo Fat is able to escape once again. It is later revealed that Doris killed his mother over 30 years ago and subsequently raised him to repay that debt. When he is recaptured in season three and escapes once again in season four, he wants to get to the whereabouts of his father, also a terrorist, who was the real target of Doris over 30 years ago, through Steve. For this reason he kidnaps Steve, tortures him and tells him the truth about Doris. When it comes to a final battle, McGarrett manages to kill Wo Fat early in the fifth season.

Doris McGarrett

Doris McGarrett is the mother of Steve and Mary. When she was with the CIA over 30 years ago, she was assigned to kill Wo Fat's father. However, during this operation, Wo Fat's mother died. She then faked her death so that she could take care of the young child, Wo Fat. However, her superiors found out about this, which is why she had to go into hiding from then on. Then, when Steve brings her back to Hawaii early in the third season and Wo Fat shows up at her place, she fires three shots into the ground. She is also pursued by "Mangosta", who once tried to kill her. Together with Catherine, she convicts him. When this made her realize that she is still a high-value target, she decides to go into hiding in Asia with Kono and Adam at the end of the third season. Later, Steve learns that Wo Fat was visited by Doris in prison a few times. Then in season seven, she decides to free Wo Fat's father from a CIA prison in Morocco. When she is captured in the process, Steve and the rest of Five-0 have to come to her rescue and are able to free her and Wo Fat's father.

Gabriel Waincroft

Gabriel Waincroft is the brother of Chin's late wife Malia. When he was young, he was forced to rob a store as a rite of passage into a gang, killing Chin's father in the process. Chin suspected him, but held back because of Malia. Gabriel later went to Mexico, where he became a major cartel boss. When he returns to Hawaii in season four, Chin convicts him of murder and he is sent to prison. Early in season five, he loans Chin $5.5 million so Danny can ransom his brother. Later, Gabriel is taken out of custody by Rex Coughlin of Internal Affairs so that Coughlin can use Gabriel's testimony to convict Chin of corruption. In the process, however, Gabriel kills Coughlin and subsequently flees. Afterwards, he wants to continue his illegal business in Hawaii and forces Adam to give him the money that was supposed to be for Goro Shioma. After he then pays Adam's debt to Goro Shioma, and thus befriends the Yakuza, he wants to kill the leading bosses of the Triads, the Yakuza, and the Samoans. But he succeeds in eliminating Shioma. Because of this, Michelle Shioma, Goro's daughter, now wants to avenge her father and tracks down Gabriel. Gabriel is shot by a drug addict in his hideout and pursued by Shioma's men. Five-0 then protects Gabriel and takes him to a hospital, where he dies a short time later. Before his death, he had asked Chin to take care of his daughter Sara Diaz, who dates back to his time in Mexico.

Joe White

Joe White is a former Navy Seals instructor and Steve. He comes to Hawaii early in the second season as a retiree and applies for a job at Pearl Harbor. Time and time again, he assists Five-0 in their missions. At this point, Steve finds out that apparently "Shelburne" killed Wo Fat's father, so he tries to find out who "Shelburne" is. Joe, knowing that Steve's mother Doris is actually "Shelburne", keeps lying to Steve about this. After Wo Fat is caught at the end of the second season, Joe decides to finally bring Steve to "Shelburne". When Joe is discharged from the military, he heads to the mainland after season three to retire in Montana. In season five, he briefly returns to Hawaii as an employee of a private security firm. He later helps Five-0 once again when Danny is extradited to Colombia. After these events, he goes into hiding in Africa for a few years for protection. In Nairobi, he meets Sarah, a pediatrician, with whom he forms a relationship. When he is later captured, the Five-0 team frees him. A year later, he helps out when a hunt is launched for a Seal team from Morocco. While defending Steve, who is like a son to him, Joe eventually dies. His last will was that his ashes be scattered in Halong Bay, where he served during the Vietnam War, which his companion Frank Bama does.

Jenna Kaye

Jenna Kaye is a former CIA analyst. After Wo Fat captured her fiancé Josh, she takes a leave of absence and comes to Oahu. There, she wants to get information about Wo Fat through Five-0 in order to save her fiancé. For this reason, she becomes part of the team for a short time. However, when she then supposedly learns that Josh is still alive, she apparently returns to the mainland. She later convinces Steve to accompany her to North Korea, where rebels are believed to have captured her fiancé. Five-0, meanwhile, figures out that the whole thing is a hoax and she's actually supposed to turn Steve over to Wo Fat. However, when she does so and Steve is captured, she learns that Josh is long dead. She then tries to help Steve escape, but is shot by Wo Fat.

Governor Patricia "Pat" Jameson

Patricia "Pat" Jameson is the acting governor of Hawaii in season one. She recruits Steve McGarrett to lead a task force with full immunity on Oahu. It comes out that she has close ties to Hiro Noshimuri, the Yakuza boss of Hawaii. Then, when Steve has a toolbox stolen from his father that contains evidence from investigations into the Yakuza, Jameson comes into possession of it, presumably to cover for the Yakuza. However, Laura Hills, their assistant, finds out about this and sends Steve the evidence from the toolbox piece by piece. When Jameson finds out, she orders Wo Fat to take Hills out. When later confronted by Steve about these accusations, she admits to everything. In the process, however, Wo Fat incapacitates McGarrett and kills the governor, thus framing Steve for the murder.

Inspector Abby Dunn

Abby Dunn is an undercover agent who is brought into Five-0 by Robert Coughlin, Rex Coughlin's brother, under the guise of gaining experience for her own task force in San Francisco. The real goal, however, is for her to gather information on Five-0 violations in order to break Five-0. As she works with Five-0 for some time, and they slowly figure out her secret, she decides to be loyal to Five-0 and turn in her badge. During this time, she also hooked up with Chin. She decides to stay in Hawaii and join the HPD. When Chin leaves for San Francisco after the seventh season to head his own task force, she follows him.

Sang Min

Sang Min is a former human smuggler. After Five-0 convicted him in their first case, he becomes an informant and ally of Five-0 over time. At first, he helped Victor Hesse go into hiding, but when he becomes the target of Wo Fat, he changes his mind. For example, he helps to convict corrupt cop Kaleo or Chin when he is struggling to survive in prison. From this cooperation, he also hopes to be able to see his family more often, who have turned their backs on him because of his prison stay. In season six, he is suspected of murder after Five-0 puts him undercover. However, with the help of Odell Martin, he is proven innocent.

Rachel Edwards

Rachel Edwards is the ex-wife of Danny, with whom she has their daughter Grace. Her father passed away before she and Danny were married. Her mother Amanda Savage, a successful writer from England, refused to allow the two to marry because she felt Danny was not good enough for her daughter. After Rachel eventually separated from Danny, the latter blamed Savage for the marital problems and divorce. Rachel subsequently moved to Hawaii with her new husband Stan, along with Grace, which is why Danny followed her to the island. She reunites with Danny once again at the end of season one. Later in season five, Rachel reveals that Charlie is Danny's son from that very same time. At first, she had assumed Stan was the father, which is why she reunited with him. When he moves to Las Vegas, Rachel wants to follow him and file for sole custody of Grace, but is unsuccessful. In season seven, she tells Danny that she is going to divorce Stan because he can't handle the whole situation.