History Characters / AndThenThereWereNone

* WrongGenreSavvy: When Owen's message was first played, Marston gladly embraces the mystery, believing this to be an amusing game that would bring life to the otherwise dull party. [[spoiler:He is almost immediately killed afterwards.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: Book Hugo is a bit of a wimp who suffers a nervous breakdown after [[spoiler:Vera gets Cyril killed ''on purpose'']]. In the 2015 series, [[spoiler:unlike in the book where he disappears and becomes an alcoholic, he confronts Vera with her testimony that weak-lunged Cyril outran and outswam her. Hugo is naive but he is ''not stupid'' and he says that if he could prove it, he would make sure Vera went to the gallows]].

* PapaWolf: More like Uncle Wolf, but in the 2015 BBC series [[spoiler:He breaks up with Vera and bluntly tells her that if he could find the evidence that she killed his nephew, then she would be hanged]].
* SmarterThanYouLook: Vera paints him as a naive bachelor in love, and that's why she wanted to marry him. [[spoiler:It turns out he's not an idiot; in both the book and the 2015 BBC adaptation, he reveals that he knows what Vera did but can't prove it]].
* SpottingTheThread: He says explicitly in the BBC adaptation that [[spoiler:he knows that Cyril was sickly with weak lungs. Thus, he couldn't have outrun or outswam Vera, who was in her prime. It's not enough to prove that Vera committed murder, however, but it's enough for him to break up with her]].
* UnableToSupportAWife: He has some old-fashioned ideas about this and refuses to marry Vera because of his income level.

** People who are completely innocent of a crime are spared his viciousness. Even those who could potentially unravel his scheme.

** He gives Mrs. Rogers and General [=Macarthur=] quick, painless deaths on the grounds that they've already suffered enough for their crimes.
** Owen explicitly tells Fred to ''not'' return to the island, no matter what. Owen doesn't want to hurt an innocent man.

* ThanatosGambit: His very last victim… is himself, since he's fatally ill and wants to leave the world of the living right after the last victim dies.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: He firmly believes that everything he's done is in the name of justice being served, both during his HangingJudge career and during his last hurrah as a self-appointed vigilante punishing those who slipped through the legal system's cracks.

* WrongGenreSavvy: When Owen's message was first played, Marston gladly embraces the mystery, believing this to be an amusing game that would bring life to the otherwise dull party. He is almost immediately killed afterwards.

* MoralSociopathy: [[spoiler:From a young age, he's had pronounced sadistic tendencies -- but also a strong moral code that causes him to disdain harm towards the innocent.]]

[[folder:Dr. Edward George Armstrong]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/WalterHuston (1945), Creator/DennisPrice (1965), Creator/HerbertLom (1974), Anatoly Romashin (1987), Yehuda Efroni (1989, as Dr. Hans Yokem Werner), Creator/TobyStephens (2015)

[[folder:William Henry Blore]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Roland Young (1945), Stanley Holloway (1965), Gert Froebe (1974), Aleksei Zharkov (1987), Warren Berlinger (1989), Creator/BurnGorman (2015)

[[folder:Emily Caroline Brent]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Judith Anderson (1945), Daliah Lavi (1965, as Ilona Bergen), Stéphane Audran (1974, as Ilona Morgan), Lyudmila Maksakova (1987), Brenda Vaccaro (1989, as Marion Marshall), Creator/MirandaRichardson (2015)

[[folder:Vera Elizabeth Claythorne]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' June Duprez (1945), Creator/ShirleyEaton (1965, as Ann Clyde), Creator/ElkeSommer (1974, as Vera Clyde), Tatyana Drubich (1987), Sarah Maur Thorp (1989), Maeve Dermody (2015)

->'''Portrayed By:''' Louis Hayward (1945), Hugh O'Brien (1965, as Hugh Lombard), Creator/OliverReed (1974, as Hugh Lombard), Aleksandr Kaydanovsky (1987), Frank Stallone (1989), Creator/AidanTurner (2015)

->'''Portrayed By:''' Sir C. Aubrey Smith (1945, as General John Mandrake), Leo Genn (1965, as General John Mandrake), Creator/AdolfoCeli (1974, as General André Salvé), Mikhail Gluzsky (1987), Herbert Lom (1989, as General Romensky), Creator/SamNeill (2015)

[[folder:Anthony James Marston]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Mischa Auer (1945, as Prince Nikita Starloff), Fabian (1965, as Mike Raven), Music/CharlesAznavour (1974, as Michel Raven), Aleksandr Abdulov (1987), Neil [=McCarthy=] (1989), Douglas Booth (2015)

[[folder:Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Ethel Rogers]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard (1945), Mario Adorf and Marianne Hoppe (1965, as Josef and Elsa Grohmann), Alberto De Mendoza and Maria Rohm (1974, as Otto and Elsa Martino), Aleksei Zolotnitsky and Irina Tereshchenko (1987), Paul L. Smith and Moira Lister (1989, as Elmo and Edna Mae Rodgers), Noah Taylor and Anna Maxwell Martin (2015)

[[folder:Judge Lawrence John Wargrave]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Barry Fitzgerald (1945, as Judge Francis J. Quinncannon), Creator/WilfridHydeWhite (1965, as Judge Arthur Cannon), Creator/RichardAttenborough (1974, as Judge Arthur Cannon), Vladimir Zeldin (1987), Creator/DonaldPleasence (1989), Creator/CharlesDance (2015)

* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** His NeverHurtAnInnocent creed is NotAnAct. [[spoiler:Edward Seton ''was'' guilty and Wargrave had evidence that proved him as such. Wargrave also took precautions to verify his suspicions that everyone on the island was guilty of their accused crimes, in the book at least]].
** Yes he is willing to overrun due process to have someone hanged and yes he admits part of it is because he simply is fascinated by murders but he simply can't stand {{Karma Houdini}}s.
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: A particularly brilliant example; [[spoiler:Wargrave sends himself a ForgedLetter from a friend of his and makes sure that he is on the list of the accused. While Lombard accurately measures his character as enjoying power, no one considers that Edward Seton ''was'' guilty and the Judge didn't murder him]].

* PetTheDog: In the BBC adaptation, he's very sympathetic to Vera and even talks her out of trying to leave the island by swimming, which would surely result in her drowning. [[spoiler: This later turns out to be a probable subversion, with the reveal that he's the killer and feels the most contempt for Vera. He was more likely concerned she'd spoil his plans if she died too early, since death by drowning would have no correlation to the nursery rhyme his murders are themed after.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Subverted. He comes across as being an intelligent, cultured man, until you learned he sentenced an innocent man to die. [[spoiler: Double Subverted, when it turns he was a actually a ''very'' fair judge, who always wanted to be sure he was punishing guilty people. Considering his murderous insanity, this is more shocking]].

----

[[folder:U.N. Owen]]

** Additionally, Wargrave telling Vera that she's his "favourite" can be interpreted as an admission that she, like him, is a ManipulativeBastard who conceals her [[AxCrazy Ax Craziness]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing underneath a kindly facade.]]

[[folder: Hugo Hamilton]]

[[folder: Sir Thomas Legge and Inspector Maine]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:Most adaptations make him even worse than he was in the book, by either having him try to torment the victims as they're dying or being willing to kill innocent people]].

* CreepyChild: [[spoiler:He refers to himself as such when recounting his childhood, as he was fascinated with death and murder ever since he was a kid.]]

* MadArtist: [[spoiler: He considers himself this in his confession. He wanted to create ten artistic deaths that no-one could solve, but acknowledges that he's writing the confession to show off the crime as his so that people will see how clever his scheme was.]]

* MoralSociopathy: [[spoiler:From a young age, he's had pronounced sadistic tendencies -- but also a strong moral code that causes him to disdain harm towards the innocent.]]

* OnlySaneMan: Subverted. He is the most level-headed out of all the characters, aside from possibly Lombard, but [[spoiler: he's a sadistic killer]].

* SoftSpokenSadist: [[spoiler: Utterly unflappable on the outside, his inner monologues reveal him to be basically a giggling maniac.]]

* VigilanteMan: [[spoiler:Although he lacks the physical prowess typical of the trope, he embodies the idea all the same: kill people who have escaped legal justice.]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: [[spoiler:He has to commit suicide as part of his plan, but this isn't a problem for him since he has a fatal disease and only a short time left to live anyway.]]

* AdaptationNameChange: In the 1945 film, to Francis Quinncannon.

* AdaptationalVillainy:
** On the other hand, in several movies and the play, he tries to kill at least 2 innocent people, sometimes knowingly. This is pretty out of character compared to his novel character.

* SoftSpokenSadist: In the 2015 series. He never raises his tone once when monologuing to Vera about his motivation.

* AdaptationNameChange: His surname is sometimes changed in post-WWII versions, to avoid NamesTheSame confusion with the real General UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur.

* AmbiguousDisorder: It progressively becomes clear that there's something more to her behaviour than religious zeal, but not even Armstrong gets to any particular diagnosis. Brent's repressed guilt expresses itself through hallucinations and dissociative episodes, during which she believes Beatrice to be the murderer on the island.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: [[spoiler:He’s far too trusting of "proper" authority figures like Wargrave.]]

** He's the only one to [[TheAtoner try and actually change his ways]] after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone being wracked by guilt over the death of his patient while he was under the effects of alcohol]], and by the time the story begins is a recovering alcoholic.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: In the 2015 version, his violent homophobia gets him onto the deadly island.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: His appearance in the book, while still charming, is described as feral and subtly menacing, while in the various American film adaptations he's portrayed by more conventionally attractive actors. His portrayal in the Russian version is closer to that in the book. The BBC miniseries takes this trope UpToEleven, with him played by Creator/AidanTurner.

** UpToEleven in the play, where he's a screaming lunatic that tries to kill Vera himself.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Legge and Maine do a diligent job of being fair-minded as they discuss the ten guests. They don't leap to judgments about whether Owen's claims are all true and are also willing to acknowledge and consider the misdeeds of public servants like Margrave and Blore. Most notably, they seem to appreciate how improper Justice Wargrave's summation of the Sefton trial seemed, even though it later transpired that Sefton was guilty.

* ActuallyIAmHim: In the novel and the 2015 version he comes to the island under the alias of Mr. Davis and confesses to being Blore once the accusations are read aloud.

* TooDumbToFool: Well, Too Dumb To Torment. Owen doesn't bother including him in the mind games he plays with the other guests, [[spoiler: instead making him the first victim]], because Marston is a low-functioning sociopath who's just ''too stupid'' for any psychological torture to reach him. He'll never be tormented by guilt because he sees nothing wrong with anything he does, and he won't be scared by the others' deaths because he can't understand consequences. [[spoiler: So he's instead made an example to the others that U.N. Owen ''will'' follow through on his threats.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: The only thing that he worries about running over two young children is that he had his license taken away for six months.

* MouthOfSauron: Filled this role for Owen as far as the locals and guests knew.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: [[spoiler:Hes far too trusting of "proper" authority figures like Wargrave.]]

* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: As a HangingJudge, he used to wear the typical red cape and BlackCapOfDeath. [[spoiler: Owen also mimics his judicial attire with a red curtain and a black kerchief when his corpse shows up]]

* AffablyEvil: Especially in the film adaptations, where he's more polite than his stern book counterpart, despite his alleged crime.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: Even without considering the crime he's accused of, he's an infamous black cap judge. [[spoiler: However, it turns out that Seton was guilty.]]

* PetTheDog: In the BBC adaptation, he's very sympathetic to Vera and even talks her out of trying to leave the island by swimming, which would surely result in her drowning.
** [[spoiler: Subverted later, with the reveal that he's the killer and feels the most contempt for Vera. He was more likely concerned she'd spoil his plans if she died too early, since death by drowning would have no correlation to the nursery rhyme his murders are themed after.]]

** He gives Mrs. Rogers and General [=Macarthur=] quick, painless deaths on the grounds that they suffered enough for their crimes.

** If you are a murderer, but you show honest remorse for your crimes, you will get a quick and painless death. Mrs. Rogers (whose abusive husband pressured her into being an accomplice to his murder of their employer) is allowed to die in her sleep, and [=MacArthur=] gets a simple bludgeon to the brain.
** He only tortures people who have the emotional and mental capability to understand the weight of their crimes; Owen sees low-functioning sociopath Marston as essentially an animal to be put down, since he's incapable of even comprehending that actions have consequences or that murder is wrong, and is too vapid to ever realize otherwise. And it's no fun to play mind games on someone who doesn't have much of a mind to begin with.

** If you are a murderer, but you show honest remorse for your crimes, you will get a quick and painless death. Mrs. Rogers is allowed to die in her sleep, and [=MacArthur=] gets a simple bludgeon to the brain.

** Due to his sociopathy, Marston gets a very quick death from poisoning. Not just because Owen hated him for his crime, but because Marston's lack of conscience meant Owen wouldn't be able to take joy from his suffering.

* TheScapegoat: Downplayed, as Lomabrd is guilty (something he himself freely admits), but he mentions in passing that there were two other men with him who also stole the food and abandoned the Africans (with it being unclear if they were just as culpable as Lombard, less culpable or even more guiltier than he was), who avoid U.N. Owen's radar, unlike Lombard himself.

* AmbiguousDisorder: It progressively becomes clear that there's something more to her behaviour than religious zeal, but not even Armstrong gets to an particular diagnosis. Brent's repressed guilt expresses itself through hallucinations and dissociative episodes, during which she believes Beatrice to be the murderer on the island.

* EvilCounterpart: Not to another guest, but still to another Christie's character -- Miss Marple. Both are elderly spinsters who like to knit, but Miss Marple is compassionate and never lets religion hinder her empathy, while Emily Brent is devoted to her principles to the point that she feels no sympathy for anyone who doesn't live up to her standards. Also, Miss Marple is always caring with her maids, while Miss Brent's harshness eventually led her maid to suicide.

* ActuallyIAmHim: In the 2015 version he comes to the island under the alias of Mr. Davis and confesses to being Blore once the accusations are read aloud.

** In the 2015 version, he is shown beating a young man, arrested for cottaging, gorily to death in a police cell for no other reason but homophobia.

** [[spoiler: Subverted later, with the reveal that he's the killer and feels the most contempt for Vera. He was more likely concerned she'd spoil his plans if she died too early or succeeded in reaching the mainland.]]

* LoveTriangle: In the game, Morley and Patrick Narracott compete for Vera's affections. Who she winds up with (assuming she survives) depends on player's choices.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Of the TenLittleMurderVictims, Morley is the only unambiguously innocent one as he didn't commit the crime Lombard is accused of. As such, he tends to be more heroic.