H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock

The A-Team is a group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who were wrongly convicted of a crime during the Vietnam War. Managing to escape from the military police, they fled to Los Angeles, where, as fugitives, the A-Team work as soldiers of fortune, using their military training to fight oppression or injustice. Murdock, along with Hannibal Smith, B. A. Baracus, and Templeton "Faceman" Peckmake up the A-Team.

Before the war, Murdock was a member of the Thunderbirds.^[1]

Abilities

Murdock's primary role in the team is as a pilot. He claims that he can fly anything with wings, and this seems to be borne out by the show. He can also drive a semi ^[2], and operate construction equipment (such as a crane^[3] and tractor^[4]) and a jet refueling truck^[5]. Though he doesn't usually drive the team around, when it's necessary he can be very skilled at evading pursuit.^[6] In addition to flying and driving, Murdock is capable of piloting a sailboat.^[7] He knows how to ride a horse,^[8] parachute,^[9] and SCUBA dive.^[10] He can pick a lock (though not as well as Face can).^[11]

Murdock actually has extensive knowledge of various subjects and keeps up on current events, showing a genius level aptitude. He can speak many different languages such as:

• Chinese (Mandarin)
• German
• Japanese
• Russian (not too well though)
• Spanish
• Swahili^[12]
• Vietnamese

He can communicate in Morse code^[13]. He has photographic memory, is a talented actor, and often accompanies Face on his scams. He is also capable of impersonating the voices of famous individuals and mimicking many different foreign accents.

It is revealed in the Season 4 episode Wheel of Fortune that Murdock has worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on at least two occasions, once in 1969 and once in 1972. The exact extent of Murdock's missions with the CIA was never revealed.

Read more »

John "Hannibal" Smith - The A-Team

As a child, Hannibal enjoyed waiting on Christmas Eve even more than he enjoyed opening presents the next morning.^[1]

The A-Team is a group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who were wrongly convicted of a crime during the Vietnam War. Managing to escape from the military police, they fled to Los Angeles, where, as fugitives, the A-Team work as soldiers of fortune, using their military training to fight oppression or injustice. Hannibal, along with H.M Murdock, B. A. Baracus, andTempleton "Faceman" Peck make up the A-Team.

Abilities

He styles himself a "master of disguise", though his skill lay not so much in how convincing his disguise was, but in his ability to assume any role and convince others that his role is genuine. Most episodes begin with the prospective clients coming to meet the A-Team, and instead, being introduced to one of Hannibal's comic aliases. Hannibal uses his various disguises to screen all the A-Team's potential clients to assure they were not fronts for the military—sometimes playing more than one at a time. Clients often make reference to a Mr. Lee, the owner of a Chinese laundromat who tells them where to meet the team.

Hannibal is also an aspiring actor, playing monsters in low-budget horror movies (being a fugitive, he can only choose roles in which his face cannot be seen). His many roles include "Gatorella", "Killgator" (Uncle Buckle-Up) and his most famous, "The Aquamaniac" (Mexican Slayride, Season 3 Breakout). Naturally, Hannibal secures his roles playing his own agent; somehow always 'eluding' the Producer of his true identity.

Hannibal knows how to drive a bus,^[2] a semi,^[3] and a motorcycle.^[4] He knows how to parachute^[5] and SCUBA dive.^[6] He can communicate in Morse code.^[7] He knows how to ride a horse.^[8]

He can speak broken Spanish.^[9]

Mr. Lee

The owner of a Chinese laundromat, who often makes use of clichéd Chinese proverbs. Mr. Lee only appears onscreen in the pilot episode "Mexican Slayride: Part 1". However, the alias of Mr. Lee is often referred to throughout the series by clients and by the team itself. Typically "Mr. Lee" is the first one to screen potential clients and then refers them to a second location to meet a second liaison on behalf of the team.

Read more »