Editing Alpha

{{CharacterSidebar
|name            =Alpha
|image           =Alpha alovesupreme.jpg
|fullname        =Alpha
|alias           =[[Stephen Kepler]]
|sex             =Male
|height          =
|weight          =
|eye             =
|hair            =
|status          =
|statusdate      =
|occupation      =[[Active]] (Until 2008)<ref name="lastyear">In {{E|Omega}}, [[Adelle DeWitt]] says Alpha was an active "until last year" this episode is set in 2009.</ref>
|title           =
|rank            =
|assignment      =[[L.A. Dollhouse|L.A.]] [[Dollhouse]] (Until 2008)<ref name="lastyear" />
|first           ={{E|Ghost}}
|last            ={{E|Epitaph Two: Return}}
|total           =5
|portrayer       =Uncredited Actor ({{E|Ghost}})<br/>[[Alan Tudyk]]
}}

{{quote|Dead bodies in a shower. And a man standing over me holding a knife, but I can't see his face. I don't think he has one.|[[Echo]] / [[Jenny]]}}

'''Alpha''' is a rogue [[active|doll]], played by [[Alan Tudyk]] (although is played by a different actor during a short scene in episode 1) and the main antagonist of the first season. During much of Season One, his identity was a mystery. He was revealed in "[[Briar Rose]]", and details about his motivations were given in "[[Omega]]". His original personality was named [[Karl William Kraft]], a kidnapper and attempted murderer with a penchant for slashing faces.

Flashbacks from "[[The Target]]" suggest that the Alpha's killing spree and escape were, in fact, an unforeseen byproduct of the technology the [[Dollhouse]] uses to program its actives, an incident they have dubbed a "[[composite event]]." In this unique event, all of his previous imprinted personalities resurfaced simultaneously. Alpha was forced to process countless world-class talents and equally countless and irreconcilable memories, which caused a psychotic break; Alpha has become an omnidisciplinary psychopath.

[[Topher Brink|Topher]] noted to begin with that Alpha, as one of the earlier dolls, has "default" fighting abilities in his doll state, whereas later dolls did not receive such a default skill set due to its dangerous and unpredictable nature. This, however, proved to be a problem for the Dollhouse population when Alpha went on his rampage because the dolls were unable and unaware of how to defend themselves and were quickly killed.

Alpha's character and mindset have been described as having "multiple personalities and a fragmented and twisted individual thanks to the Dollhouse's influence over him". In Omega, it was pointed out that his original personality is also psychopathic. Despite having at least 49 imprints, Alpha also has an overarching identity and goals, and an obsession with [[Echo]].

==Characterization==
Alpha is extremely aggressive and unstable due to his composite event and prior history. Indeed, the fact that the composite event has caused many, if not all, of his imprints to reactivate could mean Alpha has something akin to [[wikipedia:Dissociative disorder|Dissociative Identity Disorder]] (DID) on a scale never likely seen before. In "Omega", his personalities appear to disagree with one another openly, though a consistent identity appears to be in control.

His fixation on Echo is revealed to be more of an obsession, regardless of whether he is fixated on her or on rescuing her. Alpha sabotaged her [[engagement|engagements]] throughout Season One, endangering her in the process but also providing learning experiences, providing her with evolving self-awareness. Eventually, it is revealed that Alpha has been trying to bring about a stable [[composite event]] for Echo, which he then tries to catalyze himself by reproducing the imprinting accident that created him.

Alpha is an intelligent strategist: see "[[The Target]]" and "[[Gray Hour]]" as prime examples of this. In "The Target," Alpha appeared to be the mastermind behind the hunt that led to Echo learning she deserved to live. He covered his tracks, eliminating an accomplice at the end of the engagement. In "Gray Hour," he displayed remarkable intelligence when he performed a remote [[wipe]] on Echo by hacking the [[Dollhouse]]'s secure signal, something that [[Topher Brink|Topher]] claims is impossible, suggesting that Alpha can utilize the combined intellect and skills of his different [[imprint|imprints]].

[[Briar Rose]] also showed that Alpha is a master planner, a manipulator and very, very patient. He successfully managed to throw the Dollhouse off his trail with a flash drive that sent them on a wild goose chase that they only realized when it was too late. He manipulated/helped Ballard so he could get back in to the Dollhouse and take Echo, subtly taunting Saunders—possibly intending for her to eventually realize that she is herself an Active.

===Quirks/ personality traits===
Flashbacks and clips have shown he seems to have interesting quirks and idiosyncrasies. One prime example can be found in the first episode where he sits naked in a room of a house where he has just killed two people, watching a video of [[Echo]]. Also he doesn't sit on a seat but on a table. He has a unique method of killing people where, after disabling them, he cuts all the major blood vessels, a process [[Boyd Langton|Boyd]] described as causing the maximum amount of damage and pain for the victim. It is hard to tell whether these quirks are "normal" or part of the insanity from the composite event.

Prior to his composite event, Alpha also used to sign his name in the house art class with the Greek letter alpha, which Dominic said was the first sign he was different from the others. Alpha described each of his face-slashings as unique, saying that every time he did it, it came out different, perhaps as though it were an art form. His hand moves with an almost inhuman quickness when he performs the facial slash, supporting Dominic's theorized timescale for other kinds of kills (8 seconds). The face-slashing is a characteristic of Alpha's original personality, Karl William Kraft, rather than an imprint. While in the guise of Kepler, Alpha said that he prefers Mother Earth to humanity; this could be part of his assumed identity or a statement of his own beliefs.

During his time in the Dollhouse, Alpha showed a high level of self-awareness, even more so than Echo does when she isn't on engagements. He was able to remember certain emotions and read them on people's faces, like he did when Caroline first arrived he noticed and commented to Whiskey that Caroline was sad but Whiskey just blissfully ignored him and mentioned that Dr. Saunders is nice. This also led to another quirk where Alpha responded with a look of confusion and even annoyance at the "stupidity" of the other active. He also showed that he wasn't ignorant like the other actives when he listened in on a conversation between the original Saunders and a worker about the "new arrival" and was notably interested in this.

Alpha, unlike most dolls, was programmed with default fighting abilities in his Doll state though the reason for this is unknown. However, due to the revelation from the episode Stop Loss about Rossum's attempt to create Active Super soldiers it is possible that Alpha was an early, failed experiment from the project. Looking at him during his fight with Echo it is also possible that Alpha received some physical augmentation. He was able to catch Echo during their fight with one hand when she takes a running lunge at him and was able to recover from the severe beating Echo gives him in their fight and the fall from the top floor of the house. He is unnaturally fast when slashing people with knives too.

He does not react negatively when he sonically activates the virus he trojan-horsed into all the Actives through Sierra in ''Love Supreme''. While the other Actives become violent, skillfully attacking their handlers and other Dollhouse staff, Alpha just laughs, enjoying the chaos he's created. Echo, locked in observation, while not having been in the chair recently and therefore not uploaded with Alpha's virus, does hear the device. She finds it painful and flashes to the incidents of ''Gray Hour'' when she was wiped remotely through her phone by Alpha, and realizes Alpha is in the Dollhouse.

===Imprints/ Composite personalities===

Forty eight personalities, all of his previous engagements, were uploaded into Alpha by accident after his attack on Whiskey. The only one specifically named is from his engagement with [[Whiskey]] as the sadistic sex criminal "[[Bobby]]" (this personality proved unstable; instead of delivering the crime spree and sexual exploitation requested by the client, Whiskey and Alpha escaped surveillance and tortured him until stopped by their handlers). Alpha claims that one of his personalities, in fact, suffers from a multiple personality disorder.

He later imprints himself with [[Paul Ballard]]'s personality, bringing his count to at least 49 personalities. (Ballard may actually be his 50th, with Stephen Kepler being his 49th, and not so much an alias, but a personality he hides within, having "stolen" it using the chair in his lair before killing Kepler in L.A. then dumping him in Tucson.) While fighting against Echo, Alpha gets weakened, resulting in the Ballard imprint surfacing & telling Echo that if she trusts him she would kill him. After seeing that some part of Paul exists within Alpha, she is unable to kill him. Alpha shakes it off and eventually regains control from the Ballard imprint.

===Dialogue from "The Target"===
'''Concerning Alpha's violent tendencies:'''

:'''[[Boyd Langton]]''': [Looking down on Actives doing Tai Chi] Look at them. Just a bunch of helpless children. Did the ones Alpha slaughtered even put up a fight?
:'''[[Topher Brink]]''': They wouldn't know how. Not without an imprint.
:'''Boyd Langton''': Why not default them with ninja skills or whatever?
:'''Topher Brink''': We tried that once.
:'''Boyd Langton''': And?
:'''Topher Brink''': Blood. Screaming. Dying.
:'''Boyd Langton''': Alpha.

'''Concerning Alpha's modus operandi''':

:'''[[Boyd Langton]]''': A single blade, non-serrated, ten to twelve centimeters. The tendons in the extremities were severed first to disable him, and then the real work started. He knew exactly where to cut to cause the maximum amount of damage and pain. Whoever did this took their time.
:'''[[Laurence Dominic]]''': Eight seconds. That's the time line we've been able to piece together.
:'''Boyd Langton''': The cuts are meticulous, almost surgical. I wouldn't have thought it was possible to carve up a man like this so fast.
:'''Laurence Dominic''': It isn't, unless you've been imprinted with the necessary skills.
:'''Boyd Langton''': You're telling me you programmed one of your dolls to be Jack the Ripper?
:'''Laurence Dominic''': Not my department. All I know is that Alpha accessed multiple imprints, personalities that should have been erased, and one of them did this and slaughtered everyone around your girl before pulling a smoke-and-mirrors.

==Biography==
===Emerging Awareness===
Alpha started to show signs that he was different, when he started to sign his name using the Greek letter on his work in art class. While the rest of the staff presumed he was simply painting a fish, [[Laurence Dominic]] was aware of its true meaning, and the fact it was the first sign that something was different. ({{S1|Omega}})

Alpha went on a double engagement with Whiskey, being imprinted with the personality of [[Bobby]] which Topher flagged as prone to extreme paranoia. This warning proved useful when Alpha/Bobby had noticed the vans of his handler following him, causing him to kidnap the client, [[Lars]] and take him to a defunct power plant in San Pedro, Industrial Road 7-18, where his original personality Karl William Kraft once took a victim named [[Nita Walsh]] ({{S1|Omega}})

===The Escape===
Three months prior to the time frame of the show, Alpha escaped from the Dollhouse. His obsession with [[Echo]] lead to him attacking the popular doll [[Whiskey]], viciously slashing her face with bonsai shears, so that Echo could be "number one". Restrained by Dollhouse personnel, he was brought to the imprinting room, where he was to be diagnosed and then sent to the [[Attic]]. Instead, he attacked, inadvertently imprinting himself with the diagnostic Topher was running; a composite of all his prior personalities.

One of the many victims of Alpha's massacre was Echo's previous handler [[Samuelson]] - it was reported that every major blood vessel in his body surgically severed in eight seconds; however, in "Omega" it is only shown that he gouged his handler's eyes out with his thumbs during his composite event. The original [[Saunders|Dr. Saunders]] was murdered immediately after, followed by many Actives and Dollhouse employees such as his handler [[Blevins]], though Alpha spared Echo. Alpha then escaped and vanished. The [[Claire Saunders|"new" Dr. Saunders]] and other staff members were told that the [[Dollhouse]] managed to track and kill him.

Alpha's whereabouts were unknown prior to his invasion of the Dollhouse. He anonymously assisted [[Paul Ballard]] in investigating the Dollhouse. His file is shown at the end of the pilot as the heads of the Dollhouse discuss him briefly, stating that he needs to be contained. Elsewhere, a mysterious man watches a video of Echo's previous life before sending a picture of her to Paul, telling him to "keep looking." The overlap with the discussion of Alpha suggests that their rogue doll is in fact the mysterious man, who sits near two dead bodies, suggesting that Alpha is willing to kill to either expose the Dollhouse or to protect Echo, or Echo's original persona, [[Caroline]].

The identities of these latest victims remain unknown, though it has been speculated that they are either Dollhouse operatives or Caroline's parents.

==="[[The Target]]"===
Alpha appears to be the mastermind behind [[Richard Connell]]'s subversive engagement with Echo. Depending on how much of the scenario Alpha planned, it reveals a lot about his capabilities. Connell's identity was forged to pass the Dollhouse's background check; Alpha himself may have created it. He may have also been the one who provided Connell with the drugged water that Echo drank and caused her to see some of her previous imprints, which would suggest he has a chemical expertise as well. The events of "The Target" would also seem to suggest that Alpha is testing Echo for an unknown reason, which may be to discern if Echo is similar to Alpha. Echo survived the ordeal Connell put her through, who commented, "He was right about you. You really are special," to a confused Echo after she had to kill him in self-defense. The "he" to which Connell referred may have been Alpha. Alpha himself helped to clean up the aftermath of the encounter, as an accomplice of Richard's was found murdered in a manner similar to the murder of Echo's previous handler.

==="[[Gray Hour]]"===
Alpha once again made a move against the [[Dollhouse]] when he remotely wiped [[Echo]]'s imprint during her engagement. Again, his actions tested Echo, possibly to grant her the opportunity to develop skills, beliefs, and a personality. This feat shows Alpha to have access to Dollhouse intel and tremendous technical skills. He had to have both to hack into their system to access Echo's cell number and to perform the remote [[wipe]]; a feat that even [[Topher Brink|Topher]] cannot achieve. Topher correctly deduced that only Alpha could do this and must therefore be alive, and received confirmation after [[Adelle DeWitt|DeWitt]] upped his security clearance. She further explained that even though the Dollhouse was able to track him for awhile, the "gifts" Alpha has makes finding and confining him impossible.

==="[[True Believer]]"===
Alpha was mentioned by [[Laurence Dominic]], Dollhouse's head of security, while expressing concern about [[Echo]]'s growing unpredictability - described as being similar to Alpha's "[[composite event]]". He also mentioned that despite DeWitt's confidence in managing the Actives, Alpha had taught then this wasn't the case. Alpha sent a package to [[Paul Ballard]] containing a video of [[Caroline Farrell|Caroline]] saying goodbye to her sorority at college. Agent Ballard noted that the hand writing on both envelopes were similar. Similar but not the same.

==="[[Man on the Street]]"===
In this episode, Sierra's handler mentions Alpha when it was thought that Victor was raping Sierra. Sierra's handler claimed Victor could be pretending to behave just like Alpha did, suggesting Alpha may have Composited a little while before his escape and simply waited for the right time to escape. Victor was later cleared of any rape allegations. Someone inside the Dollhouse interferes with Echo's imprint to give Paul a message about the Dollhouse and to ask Paul to find its true purpose. While many fans thought that Alpha might have been behind this, further events cast this theory in doubt.

==="[[Needs]]"===
During a staff meeting to discuss the fact that many of the Dolls were developing sentience and the risk it posed (such as another composite event), Boyd asked what of the current Alpha, and in response Laurence Dominic replied that his current whereabouts are unknown. This would now mean the Dollhouse heads have revealed that he is still alive, in order to be better prepared if another composite event happens, or if he strikes again.

==="[[A Spy in the House of Love]]"===
During her investigation into the spy master, Echo mentioned the "Alpha incident" when talking to Saunders. Dominic also called Echo another Alpha waiting to happen.

==="[[Briar Rose]]"===
[[File:Promo-briarrose-04.jpg|thumb|Alpha|left]]
An anonymous flash drive is delivered to the Dollhouse. Laurence Dominic is imprinted into Victor and gives the password to open it. It is theorized by the Adelle and Boyd that Dominic may have been in communication with Alpha. This leads to Tucson, Arizona, where a man was recently killed in a manner similar to the way Alpha killed Samuelson.

Meanwhile, Paul tracks down [[Stephen Kepler]], an agoraphobic architect who designed the systems that make the Dollhouse almost self-sufficient. Ballard forces Kepler into helping him infiltrate the Dollhouse and takes him along. Inside the Dollhouse, Paul makes a male Doll undress and orders Kepler to put on the clothes. While Ballard searches for Caroline in the sleeping chambers, Kepler uses a computer terminal to take control of the surveillance and environmental systems.

While Boyd takes a captured Paul up to see Adelle, Claire looks after Victor, who was slightly injured in the fight. In Claire's office, Kepler slashes Victor's face with a knife. Claire, horrified, identifies him as "Alpha." At the same time, Sierra (imprinted as a forensics expert) informs Adelle that the dead man in Arizona is actually Steven Kepler.

Alpha threatens Claire into calling Echo to her. Alpha then takes Echo up to the imprint room, where he imprints her with the masochistic criminal personality previously used by Whiskey on a dual engagement. They kiss passionately, and she calls him, "My prince." They leave the Dollhouse together.

(Alpha is extremely focused in ''Briar Rose'', none of his other personalities leaking through his Kepler persona until he no longer needs to fool Ballard. He's more fragmented in the next episode, ''Omega'', perhaps because he's excited about finally having Echo with him, and perhaps because really doesn't need to maintain a single consistent character.)

==="[[Omega]]"===
Having imprinted [[Echo]] with a persona that trusts him and stolen all of the [[wedge|wedges]] for Echo's imprints, including the original Caroline, Alpha takes Echo to his lair in a power station. He also kidnaps a woman named Wendy. Alpha exhibits sudden shifts in consciousness as the different personalities within him struggle for control.

Alpha uses his own imprint chair to imprint Wendy with Caroline, then creates a composite event in Echo that combines all of her previous imprints, which he calls "Omega." Alpha demands that the new persona kill her former identity imprinted into Wendy, as a blood sacrifice. The new persona refuses to kill herself or an innocent bystander. Alpha and Echo fight, and Alpha appears knocked out. Wendy/Caroline talk for a moment, shortly before Alpha shoots Wendy in the neck. Alpha threatens to go on a murder spree, imprinting all his victims with Caroline's personality. Alpha also holds Echo at bay by threatening to destroy the last remaining wedge with Caroline's personality; however it appears that for some reason he is unwilling to actually destroy the wedge himself. Alpha flees the power station with Caroline's wedge as Boyd and Paul arrive, with Echo chasing him. He throws the wedge away, but Paul catches it.

In a deleted scene (included with the DVD and Blu-ray editions of the first season), Alpha is cornered by [[Sierra]] and [[November]] (imprinted as bounty hunters) outside his lair. He starts to use the "three flowers in a vase" phrase to take control of November and turn her against Sierra. This forces Boyd to use the "treatment" code to shut down both Actives. Alpha takes the opportunity to escape.

Flashbacks and information from Adelle reveal that Alpha was a convicted criminal recruited by the Dollhouse in exchange for a shortened sentence. His methods strongly foreshadow his later behavior as Alpha. Like Echo, he exhibits more consciousness than the other Actives. He's sexually attracted to Echo and kisses her. When someone says that Whiskey is more popular than Echo, he slashes Whiskey's face with pruning shears. The guards drag him back to the chair for wiping, but in the ensuing struggle, he accidentally triggers a composite event. His first victim is [[Blevins]], his handler. His second is the original [[Saunders|Dr. Saunders]]. However, as Paul reveals, his first victim of choice, not necessity, was [[Karl William Kraft|his own original]] imprint wedge.

==="[[Epitaph One]]"===
Though not seen, it is revealed that the technology that allows no one to be imprinted in Safe Heaven is thanks to Alpha. Whether this means that Alpha is there in person, helping Caroline and Paul or whether they simply use his technology is left unclear. It is also possible that this refers to some kind of fail-safe devised after Alpha's [[composite event]].

==="[[Vows]]"===
Though not seen in this episode, it is revealed that Paul is helping the Dollhouse find him, as he has the most experience with capturing someone like Alpha. Also it was revealed that Alpha's composite on Echo has had the unforeseen side-effect of allowing her to remember and use her former imprints despite the Dollhouse's attempts to wipe the personalities. Alpha may also have sent pictures to Echo's fiancé, of her and Paul either as a way to mess with her engagement or to see if he could get her on his side again.

==="[[Instinct]]"===
It would appear that, like with Paul Ballard, Alpha is now giving information to Senator [[Daniel Perrin]] who is investigating the Dollhouse. This is evident by the fact that an anonymous file full of information about the Dollhouse is delivered to his home, in a similar manner to how Paul used to receive messages.

==="[[Belle Chose]]"===
When Victor is on the loose with a serial killer's personality inside of him Adelle demands that Topher free him; and Topher guesses she means a remote wipe. He says it is impossible but Adelle responds that Alpha can do it. Topher responds that Alpha was able to access Echo's phone and also used some kind of tech that even he has not thought up. This means that since "Gray Hour" no one in the Dollhouse has been able to crack the mystery of the remote wipe. Topher tries to use the bio link in Victor to wipe him remotely. However, it does not produce the desired effect and switches the serial killer imprint with Echo's imprint and also crashes the Dollhouse. Meaning so far Alpha is the sole master of remote wipes. Echo, however, is able to resist the imprint on her own but could not rid herself of it; even after a proper wipe it would appear a fragment still lives in her.

==="[[Belonging]]"===
In this episode Topher is grumbling to himself while fixing the damage to the Dollhouse from the previous episode while wondering how Alpha could have done remote wipes. When he notes he's talking to himself like Alpha does he wonders if that has something to do with it. This could mean that Alpha is able to do remote wipes because the collective personalities were able to figure it on their own while a normal single personality person couldn't.

=== "[[The Left Hand]]" ===
Though not mentioned by name his situation is mentioned when Topher marvels at the Washington programmers ability to make such a complex imprint without driving the individual insane. The other programmer mentions she believes its possible for the brain to be able to handle such a thing but thinks of a composite event has a sort of "Experimental" stage. Alpha has shown that it is possible though at the time it would appear his personalities haven't completely settled and some of them might have been degrading when one mentions that one of them was now gone. [[Bennett Halverson|Bennett]] also mentions Alpha when Topher confronts her saying he was one of her "Victims" has even in Doll state Echo has a certain "power" of influence over people and blames her personally for Alpha's rampage.

==="[[A Love Supreme]]"===
Alpha takes to wearing a "Southern dandy" suit and begins to murder all of Echo's previous clients who sought romantic engagements. In order to alert the Dollhouse, he pretends to be one of his victims and requests Echo for a repeat engagement. He then sets up an elaborate romantic scene for Echo, with his victim's decaying body as the center piece, leaving her a note which she guesses to be from him. He also hires Sierra under a false name and gives her a clue to the identity of his next victim, saying "He ages well". This causes Dewitt to order that all of the dolls in the house be wiped so as to insure that Alpha didn't corrupt any of them, not realizing that Alpha had entered a secret program into Sierra, which then infected the imprint chair, which then, unknown to the staff, infects all of the dolls.

Ballard and Langton are able to deduce that "He ages well" means that Alpha's next victim is one of Echo's former clients with a birthday coming up. They lead a team of soldiers up to the roof of an L.A. skyscraper where the victim lives, and discover that Alpha has him held on the roof and covered with explosives, which will trigger if Alpha drops a signal device. After speaking briefly with Langton and Ballard, he throws the device in the air, causing his hostage to explode, and the ensuing chaos allowing him to escape.

After Ballard brings who he believes Alpha's next victim will be into the Dollhouse for protection, Alpha reveals himself to Dewitt by exiting her private bathroom in her office. He briefly talks with her, and as she tries to bargain for her life by offering him Echo, he reveals that he is not there to take her, because "she isn't ready for me yet". He also shows her pictures he took of Echo and Ballard during their three month absence, revealing to Dewitt that Ballard lied about when he found her. He then leads her into the main house, and activates a device which causes the program which he infected all of the dolls with to activate. This causes them to attack their Handlers and all of the staff, and Victor to become completely subservient to him.

He then lures Ballard to the imprinting room, where Victor sedates him. Ballard awakens, tied to the chair, with various wires attached to his skull. He tells Ballard that he wishes to know why Echo has fallen in love with him and not Alpha. He shows Ballard the pictures he has been taking of the two of them together, and says that, because Ballard did not sleep with her when she propositioned him, then Ballard must also be in love with her. Alpha says that he resents this because, while Echo was programmed to love all of her clients, she truly loves Ballard. Alpha wishes now wishes to understand this, and begins taking painful scans of Ballard's brain, which leave Ballard brain dead. Alpha then decides that, to understand Ballard, he does not have to get inside his head, but rather to get Ballard inside Alpha's, so he imprints Ballard's personality into his own head.

Echo then attacks him, which Alpha finds comical, and only fights defensively. After Echo knocks them both through the window of Topher's office, Ballard's mind is able to briefly take control, and he begs Echo to kill him. When Echo cannot do this, Alpha regains control and calmly walks out of the house.

==="Epitaph Two: Return"===
When the group from Safe Haven returns to the Los Angeles Dollhouse, they meet Alpha. He has taken over the Dollhouse and has turned it into a refuge for dolls once more, taking all in. Apparently in the ten years of chaos, Alpha has become an ally, who helped Echo develop Safe Haven. He, Echo, and Victor embrace, and he displays grief upon hearing of Paul's sudden death. When the tech-heads stage an insurrection, Alpha, who can still call on his imprints, helps Echo dispatch them quickly. Alpha is also seen to be helping Topher create the reflection "bomb", this implies that Alpha still kept his intellect and was smart enough to assist Topher. Later, Adelle explains to Echo that Alpha has left, in case he returns to the mind of Karl William Kraft, the burgeoning serial killer and his original human personality. At the end of the episode, Echo finds a gift from Alpha on the chair. She loads the wedge and begins the imprinting process. She realizes that Alpha has given her the full imprint of Paul Ballard.

==Relationships==
===The Dollhouse===
It is uncertain what kind of relationship Alpha had with those involved with the [[Dollhouse]] before his [[composite event]] and escape. The events of "[[Gray Hour]]" indicate that many of the Dollhouse staff are terrified of him and he is a touchy subject to talk about. Topher, who seemed scared before when he mentioned there was only one person who could perform remote wipes and that person was supposed to be dead, became downright terrified when DeWitt confirmed that Alpha was alive. DeWitt, while showing more composure, also seemed afraid and uncomfortable when their rogue was mentioned and the fact he had eluded capture. The Gray Hour incident may also indicate that while Alpha was testing Echo again he might also have been mocking the Dollhouse.

===Dolls===
It's hard to tell what Alpha thinks of the rest of the Dolls. On the one hand, many of his victims were his fellow Dolls as well as the Dollhouse staff. But comparing the bodies of the Dolls and staff seen in the Target, the wounds on the Dolls are less severe and less in number. There were also a few other Dolls spared from the rampage as well who had been sent to their sleeping quarters at the time. Alpha seemed to resent Whiskey's popularity prior to his composite event; afterward, he taunts her imprint as Dr. Saunders with hints of her true nature, but does not harm her. During "Briar Rose", Alpha wounded Victor in his trademark style, casually slashing his face. He told Saunders that Victor's wounds were deeper than her own had been. Alpha was also apparently very polite when dealing with Sierra when he deliberately infected her with the "Rage" virus. Sierra's imprint claimed to have met a man at her engagement location who had a similar history has the imprint and didn't like being used. He then left and told her to give his name to her employers. Since Alpha has apparently got access to Dollhouse intelligence he is most likely aware of the circumstances behind Sierra's tenure in the Dollhouse and may possibly empathize with her situation has in his eyes they have both been used by the house.

===Echo===
One of the biggest mysteries to date involving Alpha is his relationship with the Active [[Echo]]. She was one of the few who were spared from his rampage (even though the room in which she was found was filled with his dead victims). It is also suggested that he has been observing (in "[[Ghost]]") and testing Echo (in "[[The Target]]" and "[[Gray Hour]]") for an unknown reason. Prior to his composite event, Alpha considered Echo special and may have had romantic feelings similar to those of Victor for Sierra. At one point, Alpha goes so far as to kiss her.

Echo appears to have some experience with Alpha. Although Echo admitted in "Briar Rose" that she had some memory of him, her repeated wipes made her unable to recall much until she was imprinted with a memory with clear recollections of him; ironically, this was an imprint originally used for Whiskey. For his part, Alpha claimed that he remembers everything about Echo. Although he attempted to use a composite event to bring them together as "super-beings", she instead turned violently against him. Despite threats to destroy her original personality, Alpha seemed curiously reluctant to harm her imprint wedge.

In "[[A Love Supreme]]" Alpha slaughters all of Echo's past romantic clients, because they used her and made her love them while he himself loves her unconditionally. After spying on her and Paul during their three month absence, he learns that Echo and Paul love each other as well, so he wipes Paul and imprints his personality into himself to see why Echo loves him so much. This ends up being the beginning of the end of Alpha's reign of terror.

Between that point and the Epitaph episodes, Alpha reformed and allied himself with Echo, and while it is clear that he still loves her, he is no longer obsessive. Indeed, when he and Echo reunite at the Dollhouse, they exchange a warm, friendly hug. Alpha later leaves them, fearing his original personality might emerge from Topher's mind-wipe, but leaves one last gift of love for Echo: the recently deceased Paul Ballard's imprint wedge, so he and Echo can be together forever.

===Agent Ballard===
Alpha has been using Ballard as a pawn to get closer to the Dollhouse. He has been sending him information on the [[Dollhouse]] and [[Echo]], providing him with his only known major leads on the Dollhouse, and acting as a silent partner and informant in [[Paul Ballard]]'s investigation. When they finally met in person, Alpha played the part of Kepler and led Ballard to the house. At the end of Briar Rose, Alpha appears to have abandoned Ballard and escaped with Echo on his own.

For his part, Ballard was quick to seize on the importance of Alpha's original personality as the key motivator for Alpha's behavior.

Alpha later imprints himself with Ballard's personality in order to gain an understanding of why Echo loves him.

===Himself===
'''[[Topher Brink]]:''' ''"You can't profile Alpha, he's not a person! He's like... Soylent Green! He's... people!"''

With a stream of contradictory memories, he has a severe variant of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Under the circumstances, it is fruitful to consider the "relationships", friend and foe, between his various imprints.

There are 48 complete personalities residing within Alpha in total, one of which is itself a DID case, not including the original characteristics of Karl Kraft which seem to still reside in the 'ascended' Alpha, despite that imprint no longer existing. Alan Tudyk has also stated that while Alpha is in control most of the time, it is quite a strain for him to maintain this, as each of the personalities have a desire to speak their mind/desire a voice. So essentially he will say or do something in one instant and then contradict himself as another personality rises and takes over. Also one of the personalities notes in his lair that they are all screaming, which would suggest that they are not comfortable with the situation they are in. Another personality mentioned during the argument that "the little one's gone", which might have just been nonsensical gibberish or a sign that the personalities are "dying" due to their crowded environment.

While in the guise of Steven Kepler, Alpha appeared to be raising sizable quantities of marijuana under grow lights in Kepler's apartment. Whether this indicates that Alpha is self-medicating or was simply a part of his disguise is unknown.

Evidence from Omega suggests that one or more of the personalities doesn't like Echo very much. One such personality emerged before Alpha initiated an imprint on his hostage Wendy, when Echo said she didn't understand what Alpha was doing. After she said this Alpha's posture shifted and his voice took on a deeper more educated and slightly irritated tone that said Echo (in her Chrystal personality) obviously couldn't understand what was going on. He also said that because of the mind that she had been given, that it was incredible that she could still do such basic things has walking and talking. The Bobby persona quickly takes over again and tells a distraught Echo/Chrystal to ignore what the other personality just said. (Alternatively, this could not be hostility on this personality's part toward Echo, but rather have been the apparently very intelligent persona Alpha was presenting at that moment expressing scorn and impatience with Echo's current persona, Chrystal, whom he had uploaded into her because she trusted him in his Bobby persona, and so would go with him without a fuss. And while she may not have been very bright, she had traits such as fearlessness and the ability to hot-wire cars which proved useful in the escape/kidnapping.)

Other personalities however seem to show concern for Echo and disagree with what Alpha is doing. This is evident in Omega while in the car several personalities berate Alpha for not telling Echo the truth and one even claims to have known Echo when she was younger. (This also might have been an artifact from the history the Dollhouse had fabricated for the Bobby and Chrystal personalities and their "doomed-love crime spree," as he took her from "that first place" when she was thirteen.) Some of these personalities may have been the ones who held Alpha back from destroying Caroline's wedge.

Alpha may or may not know what his original personality was before the Dollhouse, as he destroyed his wedges. He thought that Caroline was weak for abandoning herself, so he may also think his original personality was weak as well. His composite event seemed to awaken his real personality even though it wasn't imprinted back into him - the facial slashing and psychotic personality fit with who he was before the Dollhouse (in jail). Ironically, despite destroying his original personality, this is the strongest influence on his behavior.

Since then, Alpha has not displayed conflicting personalities. He has said that what was "on the outside" is what counts, despite his numerous personalities. When Ballard confronts him with a prisoner he tries to appeal to the better nature of the other personalities by saying a part of Alpha knows what he is doing is wrong. Alpha admits this is true but claims that most of his other personalities simply don't care anymore suggesting Alpha may have beaten them in to submission. He then admits with a grin that 6 of his possibly more deranged personalities find the current situation funny.({{S2|A Love Supreme}})

Since Alpha has recently incorporated Paul Ballard in to himself it is possible to consider that this may lead to the change of character hinted at in Epitaph One. Indeed during his fight with Echo the Ballard imprint was physically and mentally able to overpower Alpha if only for a short while forcing Alpha to flee once again. It could be possible now with a strong leader like Paul the more benign personalities who have shown concern for Echo in the past may be able to now dominate.({{S2|A Love Supreme}})

Ten years later, Alpha has evolved to be calm and at peace with his personalities, and is allied with Echo and the others. However, before Topher initiates the mind-wipe that will restore everyone's personalities, Alpha leaves, fearing that his original personality, Karl William Kraft, might hurt his friends.

===Saunders===
Prior to breaking out, Alpha knew Saunders as [[Whiskey]], the most popular of DeWitt's Actives. Alpha resented her because he felt Echo should be number one, and thus he attacked her during a bonsai trimming class. His rampage occurred shortly after, when Topher and his then-assistants tried to figure out what was wrong with him. He killed the original Dr. Saunders, and thus, after his escape, Whiskey was turned into Saunders' replacement, believing that she'd always been the house physician.

When they meet again in Briar Rose, Alpha appears very angry in Saunders' presence and speaks to her with much disdain, asking her to remember how she examined him after he was first wiped. Since Whiskey was at this point still an Active, he clearly is taunting her with her false memories (or, perhaps, is taunting the remnants of the Dr. Saunders he murdered). He refers to her scars as his "gift" to her, and notes that hers are much more shallow than the ones he gave Victor.

==Lair==
Alpha has set up shop in the Los Angeles area, at the very same abandoned power station where his [[Karl William Kraft|original personality]] (a criminal) held a woman hostage for three days before slashing her face. Alpha's equipment includes an imprinting chair and many computers. At the base of the chair, there are multiple engravings, one of which while upside down clearly says "Danger".

In "Omega", Alpha's lair is discovered by Ballard and Boyd. Alpha escapes, so any new or alternate base is again unknown.

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:L.A. Dollhouse Actives]]
[[Category:Murderers]]