| Michael | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Biographical Information | |
| Full name: | Michael Bishop |
| Status: | Alive |
| Alias: | Mike Pope
Mike Royce Jonathan |
| Nickname: | Mikey |
| Profession | |
| Occupation: | Spy and assassin
Field agent Division director Former Naval Intelligence Officer |
| Organization: | Division |
| Position/Rank: | Division Director |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Hair color: | Brown |
| Eye color: | Green |
| Relationships | |
| Significant Others: | Nikita Mears (wife) Elizabeth† (wife) |
| Children: | Max (son) Hayley† (daughter)(deceased) |
| Character Information | |
| Portrayed by: | Shane West |
| First appearance: | "Pilot" |
| Latest appearance: | "All" |
Michael is a Division operative who has been charged with training new recruits and bringing back Nikita Mears, for whom he has lingering feelings. Michael worked for the Office of Naval Intelligence prior to being recruited by Division. At that point, he had a wife and daughter, however, they were killed by terrorists in a bombing attempt on his life. At that point, Percy stepped in, and recruited Michael into Division and twisted his desire for revenge. When Nikita stops him from killing the people who bombed his family at the cost of his life, Michael swears revenge on Nikita as well, although he is still unable to kill her.
Towards the end of the first season, Michael realizes that Division was in fact the ones responsible for killing his wife and daughter. He sought revenge against Percy specifically and joined forces with Nikita Mears, taking Percy's black box with him. The two of them soon recruit Birkhoff , regain Alex, and add Ryan and Sean to the team.
Michael has a son, named Max, who was not killed in the bombing, because his mother was not Michael's wife, rather a British intelligence operative named Cassandra that Michael slept with on a mission. After finding out about Max Michael did everything in his power to make shore that Cassandra and Max were safe.
Personality[]
Michael is an overprotective kind of person, especially to the people he loves, like Nikita.
Although at one point realizing that Percy is not the man of honor he pretends to be, he stays there in order to protect recruits as best as he can.
He will do anything to protect the recruits and make sure that they are safe from any harm. Michael is also fond of kids, for him family is more than important - it is everything.
He seldom smiles, the only time he smiles is when Nikita makes him laugh and when he enjoys the company of his friends.
Michael is also very romantic and traditional.
Relationships[]
Nikita Mears[]
Michael and Nikita have a long history together following their time at Division. It is clear to everyone (regardless how much Michael denies it) that the two shared romantic feelings for each other, enough to prompt Amanda, Birkhoff and Percy to joke about it. However, only Michael and Nikita themselves know they actually acted on these feelings in St Petersburg 2 years before she went rogue, only for it to be in vain after he professes he can't move on with her until he avenges his wife and daughter. One year later Nikita meets Daniel. Daniel ends up being killed by Division - after they get engaged.
During the series, Michael and Nikita repeatedly show hints of a complicated relationship following their opposing sides yet their hesitation to kill each other, despite Michael's orders from Percy to do so. The sexual tension between them hints greatly at a deeper bond however, It isn't until "Rough Trade" that we are given a glimpse of their past relationship to which it is shown they were incredibly close considering the difference in rank, and it is evident by the way they look at each other that there are romantic feelings involved. Throughout the series, it becomes clear their feelings haven't gone away. Michael displays great distress upon hearing rumor of Nikita's death and Nikita herself displays attachment to him in the sense that she tries to use herself as a reason to save Michael from himself in "One Way", saying she is what he has to live for. However, when this fails, she ends up saving him against his will causing him to believe she has betrayed him.
It is ambiguous, seemingly, to Michael as to why Nikita acted the way she did in saving him. In the episode "Alexandra", he questions her about it, claiming that had she never acted "that shiv would have been between his ribs, and I would have been the one pushing it in, looking at him as he realized it was me", to which Nikita retaliates "what I did, I did out of--", trailing off before regretting something. They continue to assist each other, using negativity to disguise the fact they missed working together, especially in "Covenant" when finally catching Kasim Turiq in St Petersburg following Michael's blackmail of her. The two, under apparent unwilling co-operation, discover Percy was in fact behind the death of Michael's family as Kasim was under Division's employ and Percy's orders when the explosion occurred. They discover Percy ordered him to kill Michael to become a hero in the ranks of Al-Qaeda's finest however the plan went awry and Michael's family died in the crossfire where Michael himself survived. It is with this knowledge that Michael finally joins Nikita in her battle against Division and the two begin their long awaited romantic relationship.
However at the end of "London Calling" Michael and Nikita seem to have a little bit of a fall out. Nikita convinces him that he can either be with her or be with Cassandra and their son, Max. While Michael argues he can do both, Nikita tells him he cannot. The episode is finished with Nikita kissing his hand endearingly and then leaving him to make up his decision. They get back together and in the season 3 premiere Michael proposes to Nikita who accepts by saying, "You had me at give the damn glock," and they kiss pasionately. The last episode of Season 3 Nikita leaves Michael and the rest of the group for their safety (also breaking off the engagment with Michael in the process).
Alex Udinov[]
Michael is also in charge of processing new recruits, and telling them that they have been taken out of prison and been given a new life by Division. He breaks the news to Alex in the first episode, telling her that the public now will believe her to have committed suicide in prison. As a field agent, he plays a similar role to that of Amanda, who are both high-ranking yet with some psychological leanings in their positions. It is following her successful training as a recruit that Michael forms a bond with Alex, seeing her constantly as a second chance at Nikita due to the likeness of attitude between the two (something which is later discovered to be because of Nikita being her mentor)- a second chance to change what he believes caused him to lose Nikita in the first place. However, due to Michael's strong feelings for Nikita, Michael and Alex do not have a romantic relationship, although it mirrors his and Nikita's relationship when she was a recruit in every other sense. As proven in "Alexandra", he is highly protective of her, as he is with Nikita, and treats her almost like a younger sister- something which evolves into a more fatherly relationship when he and Nikita finally begin a romantic one in "Covenant". By the end of the season however, their relationship is undetermined as is hers and Nikita's following the discovery that Nikita was the agent assigned to kill her father Nikolai Udinov, and his running away with her.
Kasim Tariq[]
Following the murder of his family in 2001, Kasim Turiq is the sole reason as to why Michael is in Division in the first place; spending 10 years in the company to find and kill him in vengeance for killing his wife and daughter, Elizabeth and Haley. In the two occasions he has come close to completing his vengeance, Michael has worked with Nikita to find him, and it is with Nikita that he discovers Kasim is not the true mastermind behind his family's murder, rather Percy is. At the time of the ordeal, Kasim was under Division's employ and therefore under Percy's orders when he killed Elizabeth and Haley. Percy had informed him to target Michael with the promise that with Michael's death, he would be accepted into the ranks of Al-Qaeda's greatest to which he was, regardless of the plan going awry. He admits he never intended to kill Elizabeth and Haley, his target was Michael and Michael only. Percy used the mistake to his advantage and brought Michael into his employ to murder a villain he himself had created. Shocked by this new knowledge, Michael left in the horror of the realization whilst Nikita stayed and did what she incidentally prevented Michael from doing in "One Way". She killed Kasim.
Cassandra[]
A woman Michael once seduced for a mission. While Michael does not appear to hold any romantic feelings for her, he does care for her deeply. She apparently reminds him of his previous wife and child. Cassandra's son, Max, is actually Michael's son even though she denies it. Nikita is aware of this fact and told Michael about it at the end of the "343 Walnut Lane" episode.
Abilities[]
Michael is trained and highly proficient in both hand-to-hand and all sorts of weaponry ranging from sniper rifles to mortars and including everything in between. He also has a keen sense of perception and intuition, which are very useful when in a tight spot.
- Weapon Combat: Michael has been trained by Division and is quite adept with all sorts of weapons. He appears to have an affinity towards iron sights on his weapons as he always heads into the field without a sight attatched. It must be noted that he is just as deadly with a sight as with the iron sights themselves. He at one point held the marksmanship record at Division, but since then was narrowly edged out by Nikita for the top spot.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat:Like all Division agents, Michael's hand-to-hand fighting style is Krav-Maga. It is assumed that he was also taught some other fighting methods while in Navy Intelligence, namely Jiu-Jitsu and Muay-Tai. Michael is very deadly in hand-to-hand combat having fought and beaten the best, including having besting Nikita on some occasions.
- Perception: Michael uses a keenly honed sense of perception or intuition to notice things that many others miss. He has often found things that were hidden where no-one else could find it, and his intuition when it comes to situations is almost never wrong. His instict is a powerful advantage and has gotten him and his friends out of many sticky situations. He also remains calm under every circumstance, save when it came to the man who killed his wife and daughter. This coolness has often been needed to calm people down when they start caving under stress.