Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Doom Patrol Seasons 1-3.HBO Max’s Doom Patrol has many strange settings for its plots. The less than ideal superhero team assembled by Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton) has faced enemies in the middle of a sentient street and inside a donkey’s anus. However, even with all this weirdness, the show’s most interesting location is, by far, Jane’s (Diane Guerrero) Underground.
The Underground is a physical representation of Jane’s psyche, serving as home both to her and to all her other personalities — a total of 64, according to Caulder’s research, each with her own powers or abilities. Jane is the primary personality of Kay Challis, a girl who developed dissociative personality disorder due to extreme abuse.
The first time we get a look at Jane’s Underground is in Season 1, Episode 8, "Danny Patrol." After wreaking havoc on the surface, Jane’s rom-com obsessed persona Karen is dragged away into the depths of Jane’s inner space. The following episode, fittingly titled "Jane Patrol," has Cliff (Brendan Fraser) taking a trip via Negative Spirit into Jane’s mind to help her out of a catatonic state. However, this is just the first of many trips we, as viewers, get to take to Jane’s subconscious.
Over Seasons 2 and 3 of Doom Patrol, Jane’s other personalities have grown in prominence, and the Underground has become a setting so common to the show’s storylines as the Doom Manor itself. First, it was the return of the presumed dead former primary Miranda (Samantha Marie Ware) that took the action to Jane’s mind. Then, the focus shifted to Kay’s (Skye Roberts) increasing confidence and what it represents to the other personas. Both stories are extremely interesting, compelling, and have a lot to say about mental illness and facing your traumas. However, the complexity of Jane’s Underground might prove to be too much for some, leaving viewers as lost as Cliff in his first foray.
Here’s a guide to all the main personas and places one may find in the Underground.
Jane
Sometimes referred to as Crazy Jane, Jane is the current primary persona among the inhabitants of the Underground, meaning she’s the one in control of their physical body in their day-to-day lives. Jane has no special powers. Her main job is serving as a front to the world, maintaining balance in the Underground, and allowing the other personas to emerge whenever they are needed. Despite having myriad anger issues, she’s arguably the most level-headed of all personas. She’s also presented as having a special bond with Kay, probably due to her role as primary, and as being the only persona that truly wants “the girl” to overcome her traumas. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Guerrero herself.
Kay Challis
As a child, Kay developed dissociative identity disorder as a result of the sexual, emotional, and physical abuses she suffered at the hands of her father. Though the physical body the 64 documented personas inhabit corresponds to Kay’s adult body, a child version of “the girl," as the others frequently call her, still lives in the Underground. Initially confined to her bedroom where she spent her days putting together a jigsaw puzzle, Kay gained more agency and confidence over Seasons 2 and 3, something that a lot of personas see as a danger to their shared existence. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Skye Roberts.
Miranda
The first primary emerged during Kay’s early teens. Unable to endure their father’s constant abuse, Miranda ran away from home and managed to build a seemingly happy, normal life for herself in the 1960s. However, after being sexually assaulted by her boyfriend and a couple of friends at a swing party, Miranda starts to question whether she is fit to be primary. Depressed and looking for answers, she throws herself into the Well, seemingly reemerging years later as a different, spiritually healed woman. She quickly charms the other personas and begins to retake her role as primary. But the new Miranda isn’t Miranda at all, but a personification of Kay’s deepest fears. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Samantha Marie Ware.
Hammerhead
With unmatched strength and endurance, Hammerhead surfaces whenever Jane is extremely angry or in need of help to get out of a physically threatening situation. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Stephanie Czajkowski.
Silver Tongue
Silver Tongue has the ability to materialize the words she says as silver in the air. The letters can then be used as weapons against anyone that poses a threat to Kay and the other personas. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Chelsea Alana Rivera.
Flit
A lover of 1980s fashion, Flit is one of the friendliest personas in the Underground. Her teleportation powers usually come in the aid of the Doom Patrol, but they can also be used for less noble reasons — for instance, to drag Cliff out of Doom Manor and drop him at his daughter’s house after he sells Jane’s records online without her permission. Though we can catch glimpses of Flit in the Underground now and then, we mostly see her at the surface, portrayed by Guerrero.
Baby Doll
A childish persona with pigtails and telekinetic abilities. After a fight with her former playmate Dorothy (Abigail Shapiro), Baby Doll is killed by the Candlemaker alongside Flaming Katy. Her body is thrown into the Well by the others. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Sarah Borne.
Doctor Harrison
With uncanny powers of persuasion and psychoanalysis, Doctor Harrison was instrumental to Jane’s survival in the many asylums she passed through during her life, as well as in defeating the Decreator. Lately, though, Doctor Harrison seems to be using her abilities to control Kay and the other personalities. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Catherine Carlen.
Karen
Despite being extremely joyful, ditzy, and a real people-pleaser, Karen is considered one of Jane’s most dangerous alters — as well as the most insufferable. Her power is manipulating the feelings of others, and she is first introduced as using them to force a man she’s obsessed with into a romantic relationship. Whenever questioned, she doesn’t hesitate to use her ability against her own allies; the only one immune to those powers is Cliff. Like Jane, she’s also portrayed by Guerrero in the Underground.
Penny Farthing
Penny Farthing is a timid and submissive Victorian girl that speaks with a stutter and an English accent. Her powers are still unknown to viewers, but she had her time to shine during the Decreator arc when she got stuck in Nurnheim with Cliff. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Anna Lore.
Flaming Katy
Like Hammerhead, Katy is a very defensive persona that emerges when Jane is put under extreme pressure or stress. A pyrokinetic, Katy has a body made of fire and is capable of casting flames against those that threaten her. She was killed by the Candlemaker after Baby Doll’s fight with Dorothy. Her body was also thrown in the Well by the others. In the Underground, Flaming Katy is portrayed by Emily Brobst.
The Secretary
The Secretary’s main power is a high ability to multitask. Her brain also processes information at a faster pace than a regular human being’s. She surfaces for the first time in the show in the beginning of Season 3, suggesting the Codville Mountain Resorts as the Patrol’s perfect vacation spot. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Jackie Goldston.
Lucy Fugue
A persona with the power of electrokinesis, Lucy Fugue is killed by the fake Miranda right after Scarlet Harlot. Jane finds her body at the bottom of the Well. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Tara Lee.
The Hangman’s Daughter
Inspired by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, the Hangman’s Daughter is a sad persona with an artistic vein. In the Underground, she’s portrayed by Maya Santandrea.
Scarlet Harlot
A sensual, lustful persona. Her powers are still unknown in the show, but in the comics, she could create ectoplasmic projections and manipulate psycho-sexual energy. Scarlet Harlot disappears after the Candlemaker’s attack. Jane finds her body in the Well and discovers that she was killed by the fake Miranda. She appears only briefly in the Underground, portrayed by an uncredited actress.
The Three Sisters
A body with three heads, or three heads sharing the same body, the Three Sisters exist exclusively in the Underground where they offer advice to the other personas. Their counsel usually involves seeking the Well, where the personas will likely meet their fate. The Sisters are portrayed by Monica Louwerens.
Black Annis
Another persona exclusive to the Underground, Black Annis is responsible for guarding the Well. She’s portrayed by Helen Abell.
Driver 8
Yet another one devoted to the Underground’s safety and maintenance, Driver 8 conducts the train that takes the personas to the surface and back. She’s portrayed by Guerrero.
Pretty Polly
Though she currently spends most of her time in the Underground, Pretty Polly is seen surfacing in a couple of flashbacks — during Kay’s exorcism and the assault at the swing party, both during Miranda’s tenure. She’s portrayed by Hannah Alline.
Sylvia
With a spooky voice and a preference for speaking in rhymes, Sylvia surfaces only a couple of times during the show, most notably after Joshua Clay (Alimi Ballard) reveals Niles’ role in the experiments done on Jane. Sylvia is yet to appear in the Underground.