Michael Scofield
Michael Scofield is a male television character who features in Prison Break.
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Biography
Michael Scofield was born on October 8, 1974. After his father, Aldo Burrows, deserted the family before his birth, Michael took up his mother's maiden name as his surname to start a new life because she told him that his father was an alcoholic and drug user. When Michael was 11 and Lincoln, his older brother, was 15, their mother supposedly died of a brain aneurysm brought on by a brain tumor though it was initially thought to be liver cancer. Lincoln became his guardian and tried his best to take care of him. Having lost both their parents, Lincoln descended into a deep life of crime. However, Lincoln worked hard to prevent Michael from taking his own path and suffering the same fate. This became one of Michael's reasons for hatching an escape plan to help his brother. Following the death of his mother, he and Lincoln moved in with the family of Lincoln's friend, Veronica Donovan. This situation was short-lived. Afterward, Michael and Lincoln both traveled in and out of different foster home situations. Though they were usually kept together, there were periods when circumstances required them to be placed separately. One such instance occurred when Lincoln did a six-month sentence stretch in juvenile hall on an assault charge when Michael was 11. Michael was placed with an abusive foster father in the Pershing section of Chicago; who routinely locked Michael and his other charges in a small storage shed. Six months into Michael's stay, his foster father was found dead in his home, a victim of a violent attack: killed by Aldo, where he rescued Michael. For better or worse, young Michael repressed all memory of what had occurred and could not help police in their investigation.
When Michael would wake up in the mornings not knowing where his brother was, there would be an origami crane next to his bed, a sign his brother was watching out for him. In Morton East High School in Cicero, Illinois, Michael took an elective survey class in Arts and Crafts, which had a large section devoted to the Japanese art of origami. He was immediately drawn to the precision and patience that the practice required. This fascinated him to the extent that he began constructing several cranes out of any material he could find. His habit of making paper cranes carried over into his adulthood. Michael was a gifted student and finished his secondary education at Morton East High School with an impeccable record; He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree and a Master of Science (M.S.) Degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola University in Chicago. After which, he became successful as a structural engineer at the prestigious architecture firm of Middleton, Maxwell and Schaum in downtown Chicago. Michael said that he has no religion, as he had no time to think about it before getting into jail. However, in truth, he was raised Catholic, as he went to confession in New Mexico and told the priest it is his first confession in a long time.
Three years before Lincoln was imprisoned at Fox River State Penitentiary in Joliet, Michael and Lincoln's relationships had grown strained because of their differing lives. Michael, proud and triumphant, looked down on his brother and both viewed and thought Lincoln as irresponsible. Michael became tired of playing the older brother to his older brother. After Lincoln was arrested for Terrence Steadman's murder, Michael initially thought Lincoln was guilty. However, upon discovering that his brother had taken a $90,000 debt to pay for his education, Michael realized that Lincoln was not the man he thought he was. Michael's discovery of his misperception of his brother and his brother's sacrifice for him prompts him to change; he apologizes to his brother and decides to help Lincoln, remembering how Lincoln had always looked after him when he was a child, Michael swore to do the same; the reason why Michael would go to such extreme lengths to save his brother from his death sentence. Michael begins to investigate his case full-time. His feeling of guilt and familial obligation caused him to devote full-time to it. However, all the evidence pointed to Lincoln as the murderer of Steadman. Over the next three years, Michael reviewed Lincoln's case countless times but found he couldn't help his brother via any legal means. After Lincoln's last appeals were denied, Michael decided to take matters into his own hands. Coincidentally, Michael's firm had been responsible for retrofitting Fox River. In this prison, Lincoln is incarcerated and being held until his execution. Retrieving the blueprints of the facility, which the firm, and Michael himself, had access to, from this information Michael spent a year creating an elaborate plan to break out his brother.
Over four months, Michael had specific sections of the prison tattooed onto his upper body by the tattoo artist Syd, hidden within gothic imagery of battling angels and demons. His chest features an image of a devil slaying an angel. It contains blueprints of the prison's underground tunnels and passageways. His back has the angel attacking and killing the demon and hides an overhead view of the prison. His right arm has an image of the demons. They left the impression of the angels and numerous clues and reminders. His arm also contains the image of a Native American 'Moaning Man' tattoo. Michael also analyzed every detail of the prison and the people inside; inmates he needed to recruit for his plan and prison staff members he needed to manipulate, to form relationships with to use them. After urging his brother to swear that he is innocent, he pays a visit to Syd, who finished tattooing Michael's design onto his body. That night he returned to his apartment near the Chicago River and tore off the newspaper clippings and destroyed his computer.
Once in Fox River, he scrutinized every detail regarding the prison and its inhabitants. Given Michael's educational background, inmates and correctional officers alike focused a great deal of attention on Michael and were very interested in what Michael was all about; they would often wonder why a man of Michael's credentials would have thrown such a privileged life away to end up in state prison. What was even more intriguing were his habits, as he was often seen conversing discreetly with his brother, Lincoln, both during Prison Industry time and Chapel time; and the fact that he tended to execute a highly defined stare around Fox River's boundaries immediately from the point he got incarcerated as well as being called personally on command by the prison's warden, Henry Pope. Michael put his plan into action while overcoming various obstacles. He began by having specific objectives he must accomplish to build an escape route out of prison. One the way, Michael needed to recruit several people to aid in the escape: his cellmate Fernando Sucre to help him dig, mob henchman John Abruzzi to get him on Prison Industries. Michael also had to fake type 1 diabetes, which gave him daily access to the infirmary and allowed him to build a relationship with Doctor Sara Tancredi, who happens to be the daughter of Frank Tancredi, the Governor of Illinois. After agreeing to help Warden Pope finish his Taj Mahal replica in his office, Michael also forms a friendship with Pope.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Michael Scofield was depicted as a tall, lean man with sharp features and a calm, analytical demeanor. His most distinctive feature was the full-body tattoo covering his torso, arms, and back—an elaborate design that concealed Fox River’s blueprints, hidden symbols, and escape details within its artwork. Michael typically wore the standard blue prison uniform but maintained a clean, composed look.
Michael was calm, highly intelligent, and deeply methodical, with a relentless focus on problem-solving. He carried himself with quiet determination, rarely showing panic even when under severe stress. His defining trait was his unwavering loyalty and compassion toward his brother Lincoln, for whom he was willing to risk his life. However, his willingness to manipulate, deceive, and even endanger others to achieve his goal highlighted his morally complex side. He balanced empathy with cold pragmatism, often walking the line between altruism and ruthless necessity.
Personality-wise, Michael combined compassion with cold calculation. He was fiercely loyal to his family, especially Lincoln, and demonstrated a willingness to risk everything for their survival. His brilliance often bordered on obsession, and he struggled with the moral consequences of the manipulations and lies required by his plans. Yet, despite the burden of his choices, Michael remained defined by his humanity, empathy, and belief in justice, even when the world demanded otherwise.
Powers and abilities
He showed himself to be the ultimate strategist with him being a man who outwitted prisons, governments, and conspiracies through intellect and sacrifice. His story combined the thrill of elaborate schemes with a deeply personal narrative about love, loyalty, and the cost of genius.
Having escaped several prisons, Michael is very skilled in assessing the layout, system and blueprints of prisons and exploiting them to his own advantage. His skill attracted even his own rivals such as Alexander Mahone and the Company who even hired him to break one of his men. He was also blackmailed by Poseidon into breaking certain people out of prisons in exchange for his family's safety.
Notes
- Michael Scofield was created by Paul Scheuring where he was portrayed by actor Wentworth Miller and featured in the setting of the Prison Break universe.
In other media
Video games
Appearances
- Prison Break: (2005)
External Links
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