<Li> Jane Clementine Rizzoli (Angie Harmon): a Boston detective in the Homicide Unit . From an Italian American family, Jane is brash, sarcastic, and often prickly but also a confident and independent woman as well as a brilliant detective . She is the tomboy daughter of an overprotective mother . She is extremely competitive, especially with her younger brother, Frankie (also a cop), who is often caught in her shadow . Jane can tackle a perp like a linebacker . She rarely lets her guard down with anyone, except her best friend, Maura Isles . She is something of a slob; her apartment has been shown on several occasions to be quite messy, and in one episode she claimed to have just opened a box of cereal five years after originally buying it . As a child, she was slightly chubby, earning her the nickname "Roly - Poly Rizzoli". She mentioned in one episode that she played field hockey as an attacker in junior college . She is the eldest Rizzoli sibling, and graduated from high school in 1994, which puts Jane's birth year at 1976 . She is hopeless with men and allergic to dogs, but she winds up taking in Jo Friday, a stray dog rescued by her former partner, Korsak . Raised in the blue - collar Boston suburb of Revere, Jane has fought long and hard to win the respect of her colleagues, but it is her relationship with her equally stubborn mother, Angela Rizzoli, that sometimes proves to be her biggest headache . During her time on the force, she had a traumatic experience at the hands of a serial killer known as "The Surgeon", Charles Hoyt . While trying to rescue one of his victims, she was taken by surprise from behind and almost became a victim herself . She has matching scars in the center of her palms where Hoyt stabbed her with scalpels, keeping her pinned to the ground . Her original partner, Vince Korsak, saved her life, and Jane survived the brutal, near - death attack by Hoyt . Although she put Hoyt behind bars, she is still haunted by him . She learned that she was pregnant at the end of season four, owing to a liaison with her old boyfriend Casey, but lost the baby midway through the fifth season when she was attacked while protecting a key witness in a case . In the final season, Jane takes a new job as an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and works her final case with the Boston PD in the series finale, "Ocean - Frank". </Li> <Li> Dr. Maura Dorothea Isles (Sasha Alexander): the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Medical Examiner . Isles is a forensic expert working at the Boston Police Department . She is Jane's best friend . Maura is a walking encyclopedia, able to spout out facts regardless of whether or not they are relevant to a case . She has a pet tortoise named Bass, after noted forensic anthropologist William M. Bass . Maura is not easily ruffled and has a steady temperament . She absolutely loves examining dead bodies, but she has a tendency to diagnose living people a little too often . She is the adopted only child of a wealthy family . In high school, she was nicknamed "Maura - The - Bore - A" because her classmates thought she was boring . She is always impeccably dressed and is known around the force as "Queen of the Dead"; her ring tone on Jane's phone appropriately plays Chopin's "Funeral March". Maura is the complete opposite of Jane, though they are best friends; Rizzoli is more of a tomboy, while Maura always looks like she is going to a fashion shoot rather than to the morgue or a crime scene . Though Maura is socially awkward and has trouble with men because of her brutal honesty and habit of revealing all their medical conditions, she is not awkward around Jane . She can analyze x-rays and blood chemistries and can slice open muscles and organs but possesses no scalpel with which to dissect human emotions . Maura also cannot lie; if she does, she breaks out in hives . It is later revealed that her biological father is an Irish crime boss named Paddy Doyle, something she finds out while investigating her half - brother's death . She finds out in the episode "What Doesn't Kill You" (3.1) that her father told her biological mother that she died on the day she was born, August 7, 1976 . She subsequently visited a cemetery containing a gravestone with the name "Baby Maura Doyle" on it . In the series finale, "Ocean - Frank", Maura takes a sabbatical from the ME's office to go to Paris, France, and work on her novel . </Li> <Li> Angela Rizzoli (Lorraine Bracco): Jane, Frankie and Tommy's overbearing mother . Angela is fiercely protective of her children, saying she has not slept since Jane decided to become a cop . Angela wishes Jane could be a little more feminine and is constantly trying to set her up on dates . After her divorce, she spent some time working in the precinct's café, and dated Lieutenant Cavanagh, but she quit the job and broke up with Cavanagh when she decided that she needed to re-evaluate her life . She currently works at the bar that Vince Korsak bought and that they all frequent . </Li> <Li> Vincent "Vince" Walter Korsak (Bruce McGill): Rizzoli's former partner . The two maintain a close bond after years of working together, but Korsak is clearly bothered that he is no longer partnered with Jane . He seems to care for her like a daughter and is nearly as protective of her as Angela is . It is revealed in the series pilot that he saved her life from Hoyt . He will drop whatever he is doing on a moment's notice to rescue an animal, and enjoys watching videos of dogs on the Internet . After remaining a detective for nearly his entire career, Korsak was finally promoted to sergeant - detective in season two, and took the lieutenant's exam in season five . In preparing for retirement, Vince bought the local bar that they all frequent, the Dirty Robber, and employed Angela . He was a US Marine and served during the Vietnam War . Korsak has been divorced 3 times, despite the jokes that he is behind the times he is very wise and observant . He also has several hobbies including playing guitar and sailing, Maura has even once before asked him for his expertise on seaman knots and skills . In the series finale, "Ocean - Frank", Korsak retires from the Boston PD after a thirty - two year career . </Li>

Who plays the mom on rizzoli and isles