History Characters / ConAir

* TheHero: The main character who's "gonna save the fucking day".

* MoreDespicableMinion: He's the worst of the convicts working under Cyrus. While Cyrus may be an AxCrazy, sadistic SerialKiller, he is also pragmatic, [[EqualOpportunityEvil respectful of his henchmen of different races]], and [[EvenEvilHasStandards despises rapists]], which is why he barely tolerates the smug, [[HeManWomanHater misogynistic]], and equally sadistic SerialRapist Johnny who boasts of having committed ''600'' rapes; [[PariahPrisoner even the other inmates on the plane hate his guts]].

* LongerThanLifeSentence: The teaser trailer says that Greene is serving seven life sentences, one less than Billy Bedlam. Knowing him though, there might be more victims.

* OmnicidalManiac
-->'''Larkin:''' Likes to brag that he's killed more men than cancer.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Yeehaw! What's on your mind, hillbilly?"'']]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot-lrg-16_5529.png "I'm serving eight consecutive life sentences. i am not getting off this plane."]]

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* RealMenLoveJesus
-->"God's got my back."

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A notorious serial killer from Marietta, GA, nicknamed "The Marietta Mangler", who is feared by just about all criminals onboard (except for Cyrus, who dubbed him "a national treasure").

-->'''Larkin:''' He caught his wife in bed with another man. Left her alone and drove four towns over to his wife's family's house. [[NoKillLikeOverkill Killed her parents, her brothers, her sisters]], [[AndYourLittleDogToo even her dog]].

* TheDreaded: The most dangerous criminals in the country get trumped by a little man in white.

* RevengeByProxy:
-->'''Larkin:''' He caught his wife in bed with another man. Left her alone and drove four towns over to his wife's family's house. [[NoKillLikeOverkill Killed her parents, her brothers, her sisters]], [[AndYourLittleDogToo even her dog]].

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-->''"I got a spot on my arm just for you."''

* GutturalGrowler: Tends to speak in a low, rough manner.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Our Billy caught his wife in bed with another man. He left them alone but drove four towns over to his wife's family's house. He proceeded to kill her parents, her brothers, her sisters, [[AndYourLittleDogToo, and even her dog]].

[[folder:Poe]]

* AntiHero: He is a convict, although he has a strong sense of morality and is in jail because a CrimeOfSelfDefense.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: To Agents Simms after his cover as DEA agent is blown:

* BadassBoast: In other movies, his [[PreAssKickingOneLiner "I'm gonna show you that God does exist."]] would be a BlasphemousBoast. But given he is saying this to a grievously wounded Baby-O, Cage manages to make this boast as an actual kickass boast.

* BondOneLiner: Delivers one after killing [[spoiler:Billy Bedlam.]]

* ColdHam: Speaks with a soft, Southern drawl, which is all kinds of amazing considering this is Creator/NicolasCage we're talking about.

* MirrorCharacter: [[TheHero Cameron]] and [[BigBad Cyrus]] are both prisoners, each with a DarkAndTroubledPast, and both men academically-enriched themselves behind bars (Cyrus earned a University Doctorate in Law, and Cameron becomes fluent in the Spanish Language through Self-Study Book-and-Audio-Tape Courses). Both are also [[WifeBasherBasher notably opposed]] to the rapist Johnny 23, and they seem to share the same wry sense of humor, which endears Cameron to Cyrus for a while. However, [[TheHero Cameron]] got sent to prison for one manslaughter, while [[EvilCounterpart Cyrus]] killed multiple inmates while inside said prison.

* SleevesAreForWimps: Poe ditches his prison shirt in favour of a sleeveless skivvy halfway through the movie, and never changes out of it.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Cyrus' escape plan might have gone off without a hitch if Poe hadn't intervened.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: He keeps his cool even when surrounded by the dangerous criminals on the plane. One hand his training probably taught him to keep cool. Other hand he's seen so much in his time in prison he's probably used to it to an extent. When he sees he's sitting next to famous serial killer Garland Greene on the plane his reaction amounts to "Sure, why not."
* WhatHaveIDone: After killing [[spoiler:Billy Bedlam]], he had a moment of this.

[[folder:Bishop]]

* DamselInDistress: A deconstructed type. Bishop may be able to handle many convicts on a one on one basis, but being chained in a cage, left her vulnerable to Johnny 23's assault. She didn't get raped because of Poe's timely intervention. She's able to knock out Cyrus only because Poe kicked a lot of Neo-Nazi ass as he made his way to the cockpit, and because Malloy ordered the attack helicopters to open fire on the "Jail Bird".

[[folder:Falzon]]

* {{Jerkass}}: He treats prisoners under his watch with utter contempt. Not that most of them don't deserve it, but he even abuses Poe; despite being fully aware Poe's a parolee, he still shoves him around like any other convict and confiscates his daughter's picture. This is one of the few times in cinematic history that such behavior not only isn't punished but actually turns out to be a good thing; Poe is able to plant Agent Simms' tape recorder on him while retrieving the picture, alerting the authorities to the situation.

[[folder:Cyrus the Virus]]

* AdmiringTheAbomination: Cyrus has a sick appreciation for particularly heinous criminals, (except rapists) releasing Billy Bedlam after he says he won't behave and later referring to SerialKiller Garland Green as a "national treasure" releasing him in spite of the danger he poses to everyone else. He seems to view them as respected colleagues in the psychopath field.
* AndYourLittleDogToo: [[spoiler:He threatens to [[WouldHurtAChild kill Casey Poe]].]]

* BeardOfEvil: He sports an evil looking goatee.

* CardCarryingVillain: Cyrus is under absolutely no illusions about how evil he was and treats it as a badge of honor, his nickname coming from his boast that he has "killed more men than cancer".

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:He dies by being [[RasputinianDeath chained to the ladder of a speeding fire engine, hurled through a bridge and onto some electrical wires paralyzing him and finally getting his head crushed in a rock crusher]].]]

* HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook: He's spent twenty-five years of his life in prison. He's ''thirty-nine.'' Best-case scenario is that he got locked up at fourteen and managed to piss off the guards enough for his sentence to be extended... except that it's stated that he's escaped -- ''twice'' -- and commit a laundry list of crimes; kidnapping, robbery, murder, and extortion.

* PragmaticVillainy: Cyrus may be a psychopath, but he is open to reason and isn't willing to take unnecessary risks. He is willing to hear Poe out when he argues against Diamond Dog killing their cop hostages, and sides with him when he points out they are their only leverage if things go south. Cyrus also is quick to have a backup plan, and isn't willing to rely on just Cindino's words that their ride will be there soon.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He’s mildly racist, although he may have been using the N-word just to shake up Willie Sims when he takes Pinball hostage. He also told Baby-O to call the Affirmative Action Office when he complains.

* RasputinianDeath: Gets stabbed in the foot, handcuffed to a fire truck's ladder, tossed off it, dropped on some electrical cables and finally has his head smashed in by a piledriver.

* RhymingNames: His nickname, "the Virus", happens to rhyme with his given name.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Almost never raises his voice but his cruelty is clear in every line he says.

* YourHeadASplode: [[spoiler:He dies by having his head squashed by a rock crusher.]]

[[folder:Diamond Dog]]

* BaldOfEvil: Completely bald, and one of the main players in Cyrus' escape plan.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: He looks genuinely shocked when [[spoiler:Cyrus blows up Cindino.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Wrote a book which critics called a wake up call for the black race. As a result, there were plans to have a movie adaptation with Creator/DenzelWashington playing as him.

[[folder:Baby-O]]

* LivingMacGuffin: One of the reasons Poe refused to leave the plane was getting his insulin.

[[folder:Garland Greene]]

* AffablyEvil: He's one of the most dangerous men on the plane - but calm, snarky and [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse seemingly harmless]].

* BrickJoke: Unaccounted for after the ending plane crash. We don't see any of him until right before the credits... [[spoiler:when he turns out to have made an absolute fortune gambling in Vegas.]]

* InformedAttribute: Had supposedly killed more people than any convict on the plane, and had the absolute highest amount of security for transporting him. However, whilst he definitely alludes to having formerly killed people, we never really see any of his murderous aspects on-screen, to the point where it looks like he just ''might'' have been cured of them. It's still implied that he murdered one of the guards, and that doing so made him "feel better".
* KarmaHoudini: Though all his villainy is in his backstory. [[spoiler:During the movie Garland instinctively realizes Poe is a good guy pretending to be a hard con, and has a lengthy dialogue about ironic situations about how a good man has to act evil to survive. The fact that Garland intentionally leaves a little girl alive during the plane refueling hints that by the end of the movie Garland has decided to act good.]]
* LunaticLoophole: [[spoiler:Besides Poe and Baby-O, he is the only passenger of the plane who survives and doesn't get arrested at the end.]]

[[folder:Billy Bedlam]]

* DiscOneFinalBoss: Gets killed midway through the film despite being touted as one of the big bad trio, and replaced by Swamp Thing in the climax.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Our Billy caught his wife in bed with another man. He left them alone, but drove four towns over to his wife's family's house. He proceeded to kill her parents, her brothers, her sisters, [[AndYourLittleDogToo and even her dog]].

* FamilyExtermination: He killed his wife's entire family after he catches her having an affair, but spared his wife's life.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Finds the info on Poe's status as a parolee in the cargo hold. A minute after that, he's dead.]]

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:During a fight with Poe in an enclosed space, he's pushed back onto bent-outward pipe.]]

* LongerThanLifeSentence: He's serving eight consecutive life sentences (200 years) for each one of his murders which is why he balks and rejects Cyrus' suggestion that he be one of the prisoners to be dropped off in Carson City because he doesn't wanna miss the opportunity to spend the rest of his life in exile not having to pay for his crimes.

-->'''Larkin:''' He caught his wife in bed with another man. Left her alone, drove four towns over to his wife's family's house. [[NoKillLikeOverkill Killed her parents, her brothers, her sisters]], [[AndYourLittleDogToo even her dog]].

[[folder:Swamp Thing]]

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Caused Pinball's death when the latter failed to get on board the plane in time. Pinball tried to get back into the plane by clinging onto the landing gear; when Swamp Thing closed the landing gear doors, Pinball got crushed to death.]]

* HiddenDepths: Looks to be a barely literate redneck but is surprisingly intelligent, able to easily pilot the plane and get rid of the tracker. It says a lot that Cyrus respects him enough that he saw him as a crucial part of his plan.

[[folder:Johnny 23]]

* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Loses his arms while dying in the plane crash.]]

* BadassBoast: Subverted: Being called Johnny 23 or Johnny 600 would be a great accomplishment if it was for sleeping with the women consensually but bragging about raping them? Just makes him more depraved and odious than he already is.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Dies (or so we must assume) when one or both of his handcuffed arms are torn from the rest of his body.]] Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

* FauxAffablyEvil: He has a disarming smile and easy demeanor and is played by the very charismatic Creator/DannyTrejo but we are ''never'' allowed to forget just what a vile piece of work he really is underneath, to the point that [[EvenEvilHasStandards other prisoners detest him]].

* HateSink: On ''both'' sides of the Fourth Wall. It's a given that a NiceGuy like Cameron Poe would hate Johnny; but says a '''lot''' about how rotten Johnny is when ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards every other mass-murderer and psychopath on a plane stuffed with mass-murderers and psychopaths loathe breathing the same air that he does]].'' Truth in television too as rapists are regarded as the lowest of the low in real prisons alongside those who hurt or sexually abuse children. Rape truly is the '''last''' line you do not cross if you want to be regarded as an ''actual'' human being by the prison code of honor.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Tries this twice with Bishop, the first time after the cons take over the plane and the second time during the airfield shootout. [[WifeBasherBasher Fortunately Poe is there to kick his ass both times.]]
* KarmicDeath: He's chained up after trying to rape Bishop. When the plane has crashed he is found [[spoiler:dead, with his still-restrained arms ripped off.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: He shows absolute NO remorse for his victims or misgivings about his crimes and takes great and sadistic pride in the fact that he made innocent and defenseless women suffer.

[[folder:Pinball]]

* CarCushion: [[spoiler:He falls from the plane onto a moving car.]]

[[folder:Cindino]]

A drug lord who is funding Cyrus the Virus's escape plan, with the promise that he would bring them to non-extradition terrirory.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:The coward ''definitely'' deserved death after betraying Cyrus.]]
* BlatantLies: [[spoiler:He desperately tries to bluff Cy about his attempted escape.]]

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: From what Poe knows of Cindino's history, he guesses that the drug lord's probably not the best of allies. [[spoiler:He was right.]]

* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:An enraged and betrayed Cy sets him on fire.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Decides to leave the rest of the cons when things start to get hectic. Though he was planning to do so in the first place.]]

[[folder:Sally-Can't-Dance]]

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: It isn't clear whether Sally's a {{camp gay}} man who wears a dress or a trans woman (which, given [[TheNineties the time the movie was made]], might well be due to [[TransEqualsGay the filmmakers' ignorance]]).

[[folder:Viking]]

[[folder:Warlock (a.k.a. "Cochise")]]

[[folder:Carlos]]

[[folder:Larkin]]

* BadassBookworm: He is a walking thesaurus with extensive knowledge of all the important convicts within the plane and criminal behavior (he tries to remind Simms of how to act convincingly like a convict before placing him on the plane), not a bad shot and helps Poe repeatedly.

[[folder:Malloy]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Malloy might be JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope but he is right that the plane need to be destroyed as [[spoiler:it cannot reach an airport in time and ends up being forced to land on the Las Vegas Strip, causing an untold number of property damage and possibly civilian casualties.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Malloy is aggressive, short-tempered, irritable and downright bloodthirsty, not to mention the level of vitriol he levels at Larkin. [[spoiler:When it comes down to it, however, he does the right thing.]]

* NeverMyFault: Larkin makes it clear that he does not want Simms to carry a gun onboard the plane. Malloy ignores him and gives Simms one, which got him killed. Later finding out that [[spoiler:Simms is killed]], Larkins scolds Malloy for disobeying him while Malloy blames him and the guards onboard for Simms' death.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:He cancels his order to shoot down the plane when he talks to Poe directly via radio and is told of his plight.]]

[[folder:Simms]]

Malloy's partner who goes undercover so he can glean information from Cindino, but gets caught up in the prison break.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Shot by Cyrus in a stand-off.]]
* TooDumbToLive: Blows his cover, takes Pinball hostage and tries to single-handedly to take back the plane armed only with a tiny pocket pistol.

* DamselInDistress: Bishop may be able to handle many convicts on a one on one basis, but being chained in a cage, left her vulnerable to Johnny 23's assault. She didn't get raped because of Poe's timely intervention. She's able to knock out Cyrus only because Poe kicked a lot of Neo-Nazi ass as he made his way to the cockpit, and because Malloy ordered the attack helicopters to open fire on the "Jail Bird".

* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Loses his tattoo arm, not to mention his life, in the plane crash.]]