At the stroke of noon on Oct. 1, 1989, a supernatural event causes 43 women to give birth to supernaturally gifted babies. When an enigmatic monocled man swoops in to adopt seven of these siblings, a new era of superheroes begins. Welcome to the age of the Umbrella Academy. Sir Reginald Hargreeves trains the new family to be protectors of the world, but the bickering siblings never really get the opportunity to grow up. Their powers pair with their flaws: Luther (Tom Hopper) is half man, half ape but not exactly bright. Viktor (Elliot Page) plays violin virtuosically, but his explosive powers are harder to master. Party animal Klaus (Robert Sheehan) suffers trauma from seeing dead people, including his deceased brother Ben (Justin H. Min). Famous actor Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) controls others’ minds but can’t manage her own ego. Then there are Diego (David Castañeda) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), master assassins whose impulsiveness often get everyone into tricky situations. Add time travel, a rather fickle timeline, supervillains, apocalypses and the occasional dance break to the mix, and the world of the Brellies seems like it was made for getting lost in. To help you find your way, here’s an A-to-Z breakdown of the wild characters and plot points. 

And be warned, if you haven’t seen these previous seasons, this guide has more spoilers than a Dallas parking lot in 1963. 

A 

A.J. Carmichael He’s the head of the Temps Commission Board of Directors, which oversees the space-time continuum. Carmichael is also a shubunkin fish who resides in an aquarium that’s the noggin of a human body wearing a really sharp suit. And he’s kind of a jerk.

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B 

The briefcase Forget the flux capacitor. This briefcase is a portable time transporter that the Commission uses to hop around timelines. 

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C

The Coopers (Sissy, Carl and Harlan) A car collision leaves Viktor with amnesia after he materializes in 1960s Texas. The driver, Sissy Cooper, takes Viktor home to care for him, where he’s introduced to her husband, Carl, and son, Harlan, who’s on the autism spectrum. Sissy and Viktor quickly fall in love. When Carl discovers their relationship, he threatens to send Harlan to an institution. A skirmish breaks out, and Harlan reveals the full extent of the powers he received from Viktor.

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D

Destiny’s Children When Klaus travels back in time to the ’60s, he does what any semi-supernatural ghost-peeping wastoid would do: He reinvents himself as a spiritual guru. Armed with the sage-like wisdom of the future’s greatest poets (TLC) and thinkers (’90s boy bands), he inspires his adherents into an orgiastic explosion of free love and fanaticism. And of course, they’re called Destiny’s Children.

E

Elliott Gussman The television store owner in 1960s Texas gets a front-row seat to each Academy member that appears in his timeline. At first, he thinks they’re aliens — fair! — but he eventually befriends Number 5 and discovers that they’re not. He offers the Brellies refuge as they attempt to elude the assassin trio, The Swedes.

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F

Frankel Footage For some, finding an old film reel of your dad would be a delightful surprise. But when it looks like he might have been involved with JFK’s assassination? Not so much. Left behind by time-traveling assassin Hazel (Cameron Britton), the Frankel Footage is found by Number Five, who notices that it’s dated back to Nov. 22, 1963. It starts out innocently enough — it’s mostly vacation footage — but the film ends with an accidental capture of JFK’s assassination, where we spot a young Sir Reginald Hargreeves in the background.

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G

Grace Adoptive mother to the ragtag Academy crew, Grace has all the warm, comforting qualities of a parent and caregiver — except when there’s a glitch in her hardware. Yes, Grace is a robot who Sir Reginald Hargreeves created after Viktor kept killing the nannies he hired. She’s named and modeled after an actual human woman who Reginald dated in 1963 before she broke up with him over his apparent plan to kill JFK. Again, fair!

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H

Hotel Obsidian  As Klaus waxes poetic in this Season 3 sneak peek, everyone has stayed at the dilapidated party hotel, including Gandhi and two Kardashians.

I

“I Think We’re Alone Now”  The Umbrella Academy loves a needle drop. In the series premiere, the show deploys Tiffany’s 1987 cover of Tommy James & the Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now.” In the wake of their father’s death, the Hargreeves reunite at the Academy — the home where they grew up — have another falling out and retreat to their respective corners of the mansion. Luther starts listening to the tune in his room, and as the song rings throughout the house, the siblings can’t help but start dancing. It’s the earliest sign that music is an important element of the Hargreeves’ lives. 

What To Know About The Umbrella Academy Season 3

J

JFK John F. Kennedy was an American president with great hair and a Massachusetts accent. In the Umbrella Academy timeline, he’s also the target of an assassination attempt organized by the Majestic 12. In Season 2, Diego becomes obsessed with preventing the death of the 35th president, which leads to him going a little berserk.

K

Kugelblitz Sure, this sounds like a Bavarian confection dusted with powdered sugar, but the Kugelblitz is anything but scrumptious. Spawned by the paradox of the Brellies’ transpacial trek into the alternate timeline, it’s a pulsating mass in the Academy basement.

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L

Lila Pitts A double agent and comrade to Diego Hargreeves during their time together at a psychiatric institution, Lila was planted by The Handler (who’s also secretly her adoptive mom) to gain access to the Umbrella Academy. Her superpower? Mimicking the supernatural abilities of others. 

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M

Majestic 12 Who pulls the levers, behind the scenes? It’s the Majestic 12, a shadowy group of suit-wearing scientists and military types who secretly run the US government in the 1960s. Sir Reginald Hargreeves joins the group — where he’s naturally the best dressed — in exchange for the freedom to experiment on the dark side of the moon. When things go sideways, Hargreeves makes a messy scene of the other members. 

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N

Number Five The show’s chaotic plot wouldn’t be possible without Number Five. Five is simultaneously the youngest and oldest member of the family. As a boy, he discovers that his teleportation powers allow him to traverse time. Eventually, he gets stranded in a postapocalyptic future and is recruited by the Commission, who turn him into a time-traveling assassin. After protecting the timeline for decades, he returns to the present but reverts to his adolescent body on the journey. 

Number Five's Best Fights in The Umbrella Academy S1-2

O

Olga Foroga Olga is an unsuspecting old woman in 1960s Dallas whose name is unfortunately similar to the Swedish threat “öga för öga” (an eye for an eye), which is scrawled in blood by the assassins, The Swedes, and left for the Umbrella Academy as an ominous explanation for the murder of Elliott. The mistranslation confuses Diego and Luther, leading them to call Olga — who is, again, in no way connected to anything Brellie — and threaten her with death by nightfall. Oops, wrong number.

P

Pogo Pogo is Reginald Hargreeves’ assistant, the master of the house at the Umbrella Academy, caretaker to Hargreeves’ seven adopted children and also a chimpanzee. A hyper-intelligent ape and a snappy dresser as well, Pogo is beloved by his family for his steady demeanor. Unfortunately, Pogo perishes after being impaled on a set of antlers. But is anyone really dead in the Umbrella universe?

Every Conspiracy Theory In The Umbrella Academy Season 2

Q

quarterly meeting of the Commission board Ever get all your buddies together only to have them killed by a grumpy old man in a teenager’s body? That’s exactly what happens when Number Five rolls up on a meeting of the Temps Commission board. Would hate to be the janitor cleaning up the aftermath of that. 

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R

rumor  If Allison Hargreeves starts saying “I heard a rumor..., ” then you know you’re in trouble. Allison’s superpower is activated by the phrase and allows her to manipulate anyone’s mind to force them to do anything. In a tragic turn of events, Allison impatiently uses it on her daughter, which leads to her losing custody.

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S

Sparrow Academy  After their messy romp through the ’60s in Season 2, the Brellies return to the present to discover that their actions changed the timeline. Specifically, in this new reality, Sir Reginald Hargreeves has adopted seven other miracle children and created the Sparrow Academy instead of the Umbrella Academy. The members of the Sparrows are Jayme (Cazzie David), Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez), Alphonso (Jake Epstein), Fei (Britne Oldford), Marcus (Justin Cornwell), a new version of their formerly deceased brother Ben (Justin H. Min) and the telekinetic cube, Christopher.

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T

Temps Commission  This wacky organization is in charge of keeping the timeline intact. Despite its solemn duty, the Commission, as it’s so often called, is also prone to whimsy. Employing cartoon-masked assassins, goldfish bosses and a Handler (Kate Walsh) who dresses similarly to Fame Monster-era Lady Gaga, the Commission is also Five’s former employer and responsible for constantly siccing hired guns on the Umbrella Academy. 

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U

The Umbrella Academy mansion Literally speaking, the Umbrella Academy is the physical mansion where the Hargreeves kids were trained by their adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

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V

Viktor Hargreeves The true name of Elliot Page’s character, Viktor is raised to believe he’s the only Umbrella Academy member lacking powers. Instead, he’s actually the strongest of the bunch, packing an often volatile ability to transform soundwaves into energy. The full story of Viktor’s reintroduction will be unveiled in the third season.

W

White Violin  In the comics, this is the moniker (and kinda the look) Viktor takes when he becomes a villain. But in the series, when Viktor plays violin, he turns white and his powers become Armageddon-level unstable. He ends the season kicking off the apocalypse with a string solo. Only Viktor!

X

(Generation) X’s “Dancing with Myself” English punk band Generation X’s “Dancing with Myself” provides the soundtrack to one of Season 2’s Umbrelliest moments: A little blue humor with Luther’s double-kick to the genitals, some ultra-violence and even more sci-fi surrealness as Five fights himself in a much physically older body (Sean Sullivan). The song choice, of course, is self-explanatory.

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Y

Young Umbrella Academy These are the sweet kids who appear in Umbrella Academy flashbacks as explanations for the dysfunction on display in the present. They are most often seen in the Umbrella Academy mansion looking sad or fighting crime during days gone by.

Number Five's Best Lines In The Umbrella AcademyFive, played by Aidan Gallagher, is one sassy 58-year-old in a 13-year-old's body.

Z

Team Zero In Season 2, Diego encourages the siblings to rebrand as “Team Zero” in an effort to reject the numbers that their father Reginald forced them to live by their entire lives.