History Characters / DemolitionMan

* TheDragon: He is Dr. Cocteau's assistant who helps him run his many state FalseUtopia. [[spoiler:Once Simon Phoenix usurps him, Bob becomes this to Phoenix instead.]]

* ControlFreak: As is common with totalitarian dictators, he treats anyone who doesn't conform to his exact vision of the world as a danger that needs to be permanently stamped out.

* KnightTemplar: Dr. Cocteau is ruling over a totalitarian society to protect people from anything he worries could possibly harm them or make them uncomfortable in any way, basically turning them into helpless children, but he goes into this territory [[spoiler:with the reveal that he's using Phoenix's murderous talents to eliminate those who have chosen to break free from his control and are living outside the city.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: While he goes to far, he is correct that given what a cesspool society had become his ordered utopoia was a massive improvement.

* NormalFishInATinyPond: Edgar Friendly is built up to be a major resistance leader and a threat to San Angeles. Turns out he's just a foul-mouthed, red-blooded American who refuses to conform and has attracted like-minded individuals.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Associate Bob, in the film. In the novelization he's a eunuch. It helps that he was played by Glenn Shadix, who was openly gay (and a very good actor in his own right).

* ProfessionalButtKisser: Associate Bob. In the novel, it's revealed he's been castrated for this purpose.

* RapeIsSpecialKindOfEvil: While he [[OffscreenVillainy doesn't rape anyone on-screen,]] there is a scene where the cops in the future look up his rap sheet and rape is listed as one of his crimes, likely to make him seem even more evil.

* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: The main reason Huxley's such a fan of Spartan's era. Being a police officer in a city without crime, she feels very unsatisfied and so longs for a time when things actually happened, though Spartan does set her straight on how those times really were, she still proves to be a capable ally against Phoenix, and is more than happy at finally being able to put her skills to use,
* WrongGenreSavvy: Lenina assumes that Spartan is a [[HollywoodActionHero a blow-up-the-bad-guy-while-grinning type]] but realizes he's more the [[ReluctantHero moody-gunslinger-who-will-only-draw-when-he-must type]]. For his part, Spartan claims he can't be defined by a "type". He's just a cop, trying to do his job to the best of his ability. Unfortunately, his best ability is [[DestructiveSavior blowing shit up.]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: Cocteau doesn't have a censorship machine in his home, given how Phoenix curses repeatedly and we never hear a fine going off.

* AffablyEvil: Friendly, fatherly, cares about the well-being of the utopia he's made... and plans to keep it that way by unleashing criminals like Phoenix on the underground populace that causes problems for his utopia. Lampshaded by Phoenix, who calls him "an evil Mr. Rogers" before having another criminal [=MurderDeathKill=] him.

* HiddenDepths: At first introduced as the stereotypical one-liner slinging macho CowboyCop hero common in action movies at the time, he turns out to actually has a much more nuanced view of his profession than initially believed. Contrary to his reputation, he doesn't like using excessive force and is firmly against needlessly beating down the desperate crooks like Edgar Friendly's gang. It's just that his time period was populated by absolute lunatics like Simon Phoenix, so he didn't have much of a choice in how he approached things.

* HiddenDepths: At first introduced as the stereotypical one-liner slinging macho CowboyCop hero common in the time period, he turns out to actually has a much more nuanced view of his profession than initially believed. Contrary to his reputation, he doesn't like using excessive force and is firmly against needlessly beating down the desperate crooks like Edgar Friendly's gang. It's just that his time period was populated by absolute lunatics like Simon Phoenix, so he didn't have much of a choice in how he approached things.

* CowboyCop: John Spartan [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] it. He's got all the extreme combat skills, the {{Bond One Liner}}s, the trail of destruction in his wake... but he's also uncomfortable with a lot of his reputation, and clearly doesn't love violence for the sake of it. His superiors are none too fond of him, either. He is distinctly bothered with Lenina casting him in this mold, going so far as to sulkily protest that "I just do my job... and things get demolished." John is also shown to be much more sensitive, and vulnerable, than you'd expect [[spoiler: He was also a family man with a wife and daughter.]] Furthermore, going in half-cocked all action movie style at the beginning is partly what gets Spartan frozen in the first place; in originally apprehending Phoenix, he's led into a trap, and people die because of it. [[spoiler: Although he is later revealed to have been framed as they were dead already, which is why the heat scans didn't show them, and only Phoenix's gang.]] In short, he only operated the way he did because he was operating in a CrapsackWorld and that was what it took to take down the kind of people causing it. Huxley eventually changes her assessment of Spartan from a "blow-up-the-bad-guy-while-grinning type" to "the moody-gunslinger-who-will-only-draw-when-he-must type."

* SkewedPriorities: A very dramatic example, all things considered: he keeps talking about Edgar Friendly as this ultimate evil criminal mastermind that needs to be expunged by any means necessary when Friendly is at his worst a CardCarryingJerkass and at his best a JustifiedCriminal (poor people are starving, so [[JustLikeRobinHood he steals food]. These people are poor because asking for salt or saying "shit" [[FelonyMisdemeanor are unforgivable crimes in San Angeles]]). This makes TheReveal pretty shocking [[InUniverse for Spartan and Huxley]]. The "any means necessary" being releasing Phoenix is essentially unleashing King Ghidorah to try to get rid of a yappy puppy.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: Phoenix proxy-killing Cocteau, who went to extreme, disgusting lengths to create a saccharine dystopia.]]

* InstantExpert: He was accidentally given new skills intended for John, meaning Simon wakes up a skilled computer hacker, weapons expert and martial artist, making him even more dangerous than before.

* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: The main reason Huxley's such a fan of Spartan's era. Being a police officer in a city without crime, she feels very unsatisfied and so longs for a time when things actually happened, though Spartan does set her straight on how those times really were, she still proves to be a capable ally against Phoenix, and is more thrn happy at finally being able to put her skills to use,

* ItsAllAboutMe: When Spartan gets captured by the Scraps, they bring him to Edgar Friendly, their leader, who wants to live free of Cocteau's rules. Friendly thinks Spartan is there to get ''him":
-->'''Friendly:''' So, you think you're taking me in, huh?...
-->'''Spartan:''' I don't wanna rain on your parade, pal. But, I don't know who the hell you are, let alone wanna take you anywhere.