History Characters / Goodfellas

* FamousLastWords: Aside from some mumbling when already half-dead, his last articulated words are : "Now go home and get your fuckin' shine box!". They became a signature line for his actor Frank Vincent, memetically quoted in any youtube video he appears in.

* KarmicDeath: He killed a made man before, and is now killed when he thinks ''he'' is going to be "made" or become a prominent member of the Mafia.

* TooDumbToLive: Even granting that he knew his rank above Tommy meant he couldn't (safely) do anything about it, one really has to wonder what kind of idiot thought slamming the biggest BerserkButton of a guy so notoriously psychotic that his own friends are terrified of him would be good for a laugh. On top of that, he hangs around until closing time at the bar run by a good friend of the guy he insulted, chatting it up with yet another friend of Tommy, all with his back to the door.

* CareerRevealingTrait: After witnessing Henry's inexplicable connections, Karen has to ask what he does for a living; Henry claims to be in construction, but a quick feel of Henry's smooth, unmuscled hands reveals this to be a pretty obvious lie, so he elaborates and tells her that he's a [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub union delegate]].

* ChekhovsGunman: Billy is a made man who dies at the hands of the protagonists. [[spoiler:He seems to be a throwaway character, but his death is what gets Tommy whacked.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: Billy is a made man who dies at the hands of the protagonists. [[spoiler:He seems to be a throwaway character, but his death is partially what gets Tommy whacked.]]

* TheDon: He's the top-ranking mafioso of the movie, so powerful that he's a Don in all but name, with hundreds of people depending on him. Despite the perspective and scope, technically he's just a captain for the Lucchese family.

** Tommy killing Spider. Knowing what Tommy's like, Jimmy asks him if he's going to let Spider get away with insulting him; when Tommy shoots Spider, Jimmy is apparently ''shocked'' at Tommy for killing him. (Though to be fair, Jimmy was only joking about it, as he didn't expect Tommy to outright kill him for the insult.)

** Tommy killing Spider. Knowing what Tommy's like, Jimmy asks him if he's going to let Spider get away with insulting him; when Tommy shoots Spider, Jimmy is apparently ''shocked'' at Tommy for killing him.

* DispossingOfABody: His has to be disposed twice, as the original burial site is going to be constructed upon and the package has to be moved before it is discovered.

* PunkInTheTrunk: After the beating he gets at Henry's bar, they thrown him into the trunk of Jimmy's car. It turns out he's NotQuiteDead, Henry opens it, Tommy stabs a man eight times and Jimmy shoots him four times. The foul smell stays in the trunk until Henry cleans it.

->''"Jimmy is the kinda guy who rooted for the bad guys in movies."''

* RagsToRiches: And back to rags again in the end.

* CareerRevealingTrait: After witnessing Henry's inexplicable connections, Karen has to ask what he does for a living; Henry claims to be in construction, but a quick feel of Henry's smooth, unmuscled hands reveals this to be a pretty obvious lie.

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/RayLiotta, Christopher Serrone (young)

--> ''"One day, some neighborhood kids carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was out of respect."''

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/RobertDeNiro

--> ''"Jimmy is the kinda guy who rooted for the bad guys in movies."''

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/JoePesci, Joseph D'Onofrio (young)

--> ''"There was nothing we could do. Batts was a Made Man and Tommy wasn't."''

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/LorraineBracco

--> ''"I remember, she was screaming on the street and I mean loud. But she looked good. She had these great eyes, just like Liz Taylor's."''

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/PaulSorvino

--> ''"Paulie might have moved slow... but it was only because Paulie didn't have to move for ''anybody''."''

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/FrankVincent

--> ''"Batts was part of the Gambino crew and considered untouchable. Before you touched a made guy, you needed a good reason. You had to get an okay... or you'd get whacked."''

!!!Portrayed by: Chuck Low

--> ''"That's when I knew, Jimmy was gonna whack Morrie. That's how it happens. That's how fast it takes for a guy to get whacked."''

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/MichaelImperioli

--> ''"I can't believe what I heard. This is for you, Spider. I got respect for this kid. He's got a lot of balls. Good. Don't take shit from nobody!"''

* WouldntHurtAChild: Possibly. The real Jimmy would sometimes [[WouldHurtAChild lock children in refrigerators]] to persuade his clients to pay him. His film counterpart was never seen attacking children.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: At the movie's end, Henry and his family go into the witness protection program to avoid getting killed by the Lucchese crime family. However, Henry hates his new life because he's lost everything from his time as a gangster and has to live as a nobody or a "schnook," as he calls it. Even though he's technically a free man, Henry becoming a regular person, the type of people he's loathed his whole life, is worse than prison.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Henry goes from a small kid in love with the criminal life to becoming a member of the Lucchese crime family. By the film's end, however, he becomes a nobody again after going through the witness protection program and losing everything from his life of crime.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Henry Hill avoids prosecution and mob retribution, but is forced to go back to the mundane life he joined the mob to escape and will spend the rest of his life forever pining for the glory days.[[note]]In RealLife, Hill spent the last years of his life in the open, no longer worried of getting killed by vengeful mobsters: because the ones who wanted him dead were long gone, and because the newer generations of mobsters wanted him to help on ''their'' memoirs.[[/note]]

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/RayLiotta

!!!Portrayed by: Creator/JoePesci

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: He fraternizes with Jimmy's crew, but they can hardly put up with him, except for Henry.
* HopeSpot: Jimmy indicates to Henry that he has called off the hit, putting Henry at ease. But right after, Jimmy leads Morrie to his death.

* {{Irony}}: A commercial of his claims that his wigs don't come off. Meanwhile, Morrie's wig comes off while he's being beaten.

* KarmaHoudini: He's sent to jail due to an unrelated charge (presumably the point shaving done at Boston College). He never pays for killing a made man alongside Tommy. (The real life Burke died of cancer in prison in 1996.)

* BerserkButton: Henry's infidelities. Finding out about his first infidelity has her harass his (first) mistress and aim a ''gun'' in her husband's face. For contrast, she's fine with all of Henry's numerous other flaws, including his disappearing for days at a time, his cocaine addiction, his using her for a drug mule, and his intense selfishness.

* PrecisionFStrike: While avoiding any major swear words throughout the film, she lets out a religious exclamation at the top of her voice upon confronting one of Henry's mistresses over her apartment intercom by telling her to "Get your own Goddamn man!"

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The real Henry Hill was never entirely comfortable with life in organized crime and tried to leave the mob multiple times, only committing to staying after his involvement in the murder of Billy Batts. He lived in constant mortal terror of his fellow gangsters. And unlike in the movie, the real Henry Hill regretted his criminal past and was glad to put it behind him.

* OhCrap: When Tommy sees that the room Tuddy is bringing him into is empty and realizes that his making ceremony is the setup for an execution, seconds before he gets whacked.

* OhCrap: When Tommy sees that the room Tuddy is bringing him into is empty and realizes that his making ceremony is really a hit.

* FatalFlaw: As mentioned above, his solution for any problem is to KillEmAll, forcing Henry to turn against him when he realizes that he's become a liability.

* EntitledBastard: Henry in a nutshell. For most of his life Henry had no problem breaking any rule that came his way and living his life without consequence and acted like he was simply being smart. Even at the end when his life has fallen apart and he's trying to save his life, he whines that he doesn't want to go somewhere cold and complains that he didn't get any good spaghetti like he used to...

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Henry goes from a small kid enamored by the criminal lifestyle to a member of the Lucchese crime family. However, by the film's end, he becomes a nobody again after going through the witness protection program and losing all he gained from his life of crime.

* BadassInANiceSuit: He may be a horrible boss as mentioned below, but it's hard not to admit he looks great in a suit,