History Characters / FargoFilm

* KickTheDog: He knowingly endangers his wife by having her kidnapped by a pair of sociopaths just for the sake of cheating his JerkAss father-in-law out of $1,000,000.

* {{Jerkass}}: He makes no secret of his dislike for Jerry, viewing him as a screw-up. In fairness, this is a pretty accurate summation of Jerry.

* NervesOfSteel: About what you'd want in a good law enforcement officer, but then you consider what the likelihood is that there's been any multiple homicides in Brainerd recently (especially ones as [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank violent]] as these), and this suddenly seems like a reasonable conclusion.

* MutilationConga: First, Carl is given a humiliating beatdown by Shep. Then Carl is shot in the face by Wade during the botched ransom collection. [[spoiler:Then Grimsrud decides to bury an axe into Carl's next. Then comes the woodchipper...]]

* MutilationConga: Carl is given an intense beatdown by Shep, and later [[spoiler:gets shot in the face by Wade. Even after his death, Gaear feeds him to a wood-chipper.]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He kills a cop who refuse Carl's bribe and then two unfortunate witnesses who happen to drive by the crime scene . All that [[TheStoic without showing no emotion at all.]]

->'''Played By:''' Frances [=McDormand=]

->'''Played By:''' William H. Macy

-->''"You'll 'take care of it'. You are smooth, smooth, you know?"''

* LackOfEmpathy: The fact he killed people left and right without even blinking and [[spoiler: justifying Mrs Lundegaard's murder saying simply that "she started shrieking'' totaly remorseless]] shows how little he respects the lives of the others.

->'''Played By:''' John Carroll Lynch

* GoodSMokingEvilSmoking: The latter.

* DeadpanSnarker: He's not impressed by Carl's pathetic attempts at bribery.

* TrademarkFavouriteFood: He loves pancakes.

* RuthlessForeignGangster: He's swedish (or at least North European) and the evilest character in the movie by far.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: In public, Jerry appears to be a [[NiceGuy meek and ingratiatingly polite milquetoast]] whom one would never suspect of breaking the law.
In reality, Jerry's pleasant demeanor is merely a facade for his true nature as a highly [[TheUnfettered amoral]], petty individual whose willing to harm his own family to appease his grandiose sense of entitlement.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: In public, Jerry appears to be a [[NiceGuy meek and ingratiatingly polite milquetoast]] whom one would never suspect of breaking the law.
In reality, Jerry's pleasant demeanor is merely a facade for his petty [[TheUnfettered amoral]] personality.

* AntiVillain: Jerry isn't sadistic or cruel. His evil comes from his inconsiderate nature and desperate sense of inferiority.

* FauxAffablyEvil: His meek and polite demeanor is merely a facade for his true nature as a self-pitying [[{{Narcissist}} narcissist]] who [[ItsAllAboutMe cares about no one but himself]].
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Emphasis on the "ineffectual" part. He may not necessarily be a bloodthirsty sociopath but he's definitely not very sympathetic since he brings pretty much all of his problems on himself.

* FakeNationality: Despite the Japanese name, Steve Park, the actor that plays him, is Korean-American.

* FauxAffablyEvil: His meek and polite demeanor is merely a facade for his true nature as a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-pitying]] [[{{Narcissist}} narcissist]].

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Emphasis on the "ineffectual" part. He may not necessarily be a bad person, but he's definitely not very sympathetic since he brings pretty much all of his problems on himself.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Marge Gunderson]]
!!Marge Gunderson
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_fargo_3473_4678.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Frances [=McDormand=]

* ActionMom: She may be pregnant with her first child, but she's more than capable of taking down [[spoiler:a psychotic Swede]].
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Her cheerful, friendly personality doesn't conflict with her natural talent for policework.
* BigEater: Being pregnant, she kind of has to be.
* {{Determinator}}: Being seven-months-pregnant won't stop her from solving a bizarre crime mostly by herself.
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: One of the most famous quotes of hers alludes to this, when speaking to Gaear [[spoiler: at the end]].
* GreatDetective: She's highly competent, putting together clues quickly and swiftly getting on the right path. The only thing that hinders her is her optimistic view of people, and even that doesn't hinder her much.
* HappilyMarried: To ol' Norm son-of-a-Gunderson.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Toyed with, when she [[spoiler: finally finds Gaear Grimsrud. It takes ''skills'' to pull off a leg shot at 50+ feet with a snub-nose, and she only hits him the second time.]]
* NervesOfSteel: About what you'd want in a good law enforcement officer, but then you consider what the likelihood is that there's been any multiple homicides in Brainerd recently (especially ones as [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank violent]] as these), and this suddenly seems like a reasonable conclusion.
* NiceGirl: She's perpetually cheerful, good-natured, optimistic and considerate of others.
* PregnantBadass: She's seven months into her pregnancy and still [[spoiler:arrests the dangerous Gaear Grimsrud.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: An odd variety. It doesn't come from hate or cruelty (it's doubtful Marge has a malicious bone in her body) but from sheer incomprehension that a person would be as evil as [[spoiler:Gaear.]] The speech is almost inadvertent.
* SmarterThanYouLook: She tends to be the smartest person in the room, and the least obvious.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jerry Lundegaard]]
!!Jerry Lundegaard
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lundegaard_jerry_5891.png]]
->'''Played By:''' William H. Macy

* AntiVillain: Jerry isn't sadistic or cruel. His evil comes from his inconsiderate nature and desperate sense of inferiority.
* BadLiar: He can't tell a lie to save his life. He only gets away with lying because he's usually seems innocuous.
* BigBad: Technically, yes. His ridiculous and greedy plan sets the events of the plot in motion and results in the deaths of six people.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Emphasis on the "ineffectual" part. He may not necessarily be a bad person, but he's definitely not very sympathetic since he brings pretty much all of his problems on himself.
* VillainousBreakdown: He has several small ones over the course of the film, but the big one comes right at the end [[spoiler:when the police track him down and arrest him in his motel room, making a rather pathetic attempt to escape through his window and crying out in a high-pitched squealing noise when they grab him and pin him to the bed.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carl Showalter]]
!!Carl Showalter
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/showalter_carl_9672.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/SteveBuscemi

* ClusterFBomb: He drops these anytime he gets angry or worked up about something, which needless to say, is pretty often.
* DeadpanSnarker: It's a given when he's played by Creator/SteveBuscemi.
* MotorMouth: In sharp contrast to Gaear, Carl cannot shut up. He's fully capable of carrying on entire conversations by himself.
* MutilationConga: Carl is given an intense beatdown by Shep, and later [[spoiler:gets shot in the face by Wade. Even after his death, Gaear feeds him to a wood-chipper.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: He suffers one at the hands of Shep.
* PhraseCatcher: He's frequently described by others as 'funny-looking'.
* SirSwearsALot: His swearing increasing in frequency as the film goes on.
* StupidCrooks: He sets up a clandestine meeting in a parking lot, despite there being an obvious witness (the attendant) that he'll have to kill (thus creating another murder scene). He also forgets to switch the license plates on the car, which a cop notices and thus sets off an escalating series of fuck-ups. He buries money in a field by a fence post, with the only marker being a pathetic ice scraper. Later, he argues with his psychotic accomplice over a car ([[spoiler:despite having just made millions in secret]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gaear Grimsrud]]
!!Gaear Grimsrud
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grimsrud_gaear_6872.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/PeterStormare

* AxCrazy: In a very literal way.
* BadassLongcoat: He has one.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: He doesn't have much to say, but he knows when to act.
* DeadpanSnarker: He's not impressed by Carl's pathetic attempts at bribery.
-->''"You'll 'take care of it'. You are smooth, smooth, you know?"''
* HypercompetentSidekick: It's little wonder that Shep would only vouch for Gaear. He frequently shows himself as smarter and more efficient than Carl, quickly taking care of 'problems' like a state trooper. In retrospect, things might have progressed a little more smoothly if Gaear had been the one to make the exchange.
* PsychoForHire: He's a remorseless monster who doesn't hesitate to brutally murder anyone who causes him a slight inconvenience.
* TheQuietOne: Something that Carl notes with annoyance.
* TheStoic: He doesn't change expression beyond that of a bored gaze until [[spoiler:he's shot.]]
* StupidCrooks: He's smarter than Carl, but not by a great margin. For example, feeding [[spoiler:Carl to a woodchipper isn't the best way to get rid of a body and he tries to run from a gun-wielding police officer, seemingly into nowhere.]]
* TheUnfettered: Kidnapping, murder, [[spoiler:implied rape,]] multilation of a corpse...nothing slows Gaear down.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wade Gustafson]]
!!Wade Gustafson
->'''Played By:''' Harve Presnell

* ControlFreak: Despite the strict instructions of the kidnappers, Wade ignores all advices so he can oversee the money transfer himself.
* {{Greed}}: He's willing to haggle with his daughter's kidnappers over the ransom money, despite already being a very rich man.
* GrumpyOldMan: Wade is in a perpetually foul mood.
* {{Jerkass}}: He makes no secret of his dislike for Jerry, viewing him as a screw-up. In fairness, this is a pretty accurate summation of Jerry.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jean Lundegaard]]
!!Jean Lundegaard
->'''Played By:''' Kristin Rudrüd
* BoundAndGagged: To be precise, she has a black sack over her head after her abduction and her hands are tied behind her back.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Scotty Lundegaard]]
!!Scotty Lundegaard
->'''Played By:''' Tony Denman
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stan Grossman]]
!!Stan Grossman
->'''Played By:''' Larry Brandenburg

* HonestCorporateExecutive: He's not as cold as Wade, and treats Jerry well while remaining a firm-willed and savvy businessman.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Stan disappears and isn't seen after [[spoiler:Wade's death. It's unclear if he'll be involved in the subsequent investigation.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shep Proudfoot]]
!!Shep Proudfoot
->'''Played By:''' Steve Reevis

* ClusterFBomb: When furiously beating up Carl for getting him on the police's radar.
* TheQuietOne: In a similar matter to Gaear. It's probably why they got along so well.
* TheStoic: When Jerry and later Marge speaks to him, he's terse and expressionless.
** NotSoStoic: When he's beating Carl to a pulp over blowing his cover about his involvement with them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Norm Gunderson]]
!!Norm Gunderson
->'''Played By:''' John Carroll Lynch

* HappilyMarried: To Marge. They don't show any big proclamations of undying love; their love is shown in small moments, like Norm making eggs for her or Margie being so proud that his stamp was chosen.
* TheStoic: He doesn't show much emotion or excitement.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mike Yanagita]]
!!Mike Yanagita
->'''Played By:''' Steve Park

* FakeNationality: Despite the Japanese name, Steve Park, the actor that plays him, is Korean-American.
* InelegantBlubbering: He breaks down into pathetic sobs when Marge rejects him.
* StalkerWithACrush: He stalked a girl so much she had to move away, and then fabricated a story to Margie about how he was married but she died.
[[/folder]]