History Characters / Hamlet

* RabbleRouser: Is apparently charismatic enough to inspire a mob of angry citizens to ransack Elsinore with him after learning of Polonius' death and the crown pulling a cover-up.

* GentleTouchVsFirmHand: He's generally the firm hand to Gertrude's gentle hand but he can be the gentle hand when he needs to be. Due to his skill with words, he's a lot more tactful than Gertrude even if she is more personally sensitive.

* {{Foil}}: To Hamlet himself, both are [[NonActionGuy]]s that resort to subterfuge and plots instead of direct martial action to obtain their goals.

* JerkassHasAPoint: He's rather dismissive of Ophelia getting a Christian burial since he believes she drowned herself deliberately, but he's not wrong to say it's unfair that the nobility often bend or even break laws to suit themselves, avoiding the penalties of suicide that common people have to suffer. Ophelia gets an official burial because of her rank and Claudius putting his foot down, essentially buying her way into consecrated ground; one law for the rich and another for the poor.

* JerkassHasAPoint: He's rather dismissive of Ophelia getting a Christian burial since he believes she drowned herself deliberately, but he's not wrong to say it's unfair that the nobility often bend or even break laws to suit themselves, avoiding the penalties of suicide that common people have to suffer. Ophelia gets a official burial because of her rank and Claudius putting his foot down, essentially buying her way into consecrated ground; one law for the rich and another for the poor.

* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: For all the worrying about him possibly invading and trying to conquer Denmark by force, in the end he takes over simply by showing up to find all of the Danish royal family dead or dying, and is then simply handed the crown by the dying Hamlet.

* KarmicDeath: Subverted. The play never gives ''any'' indication whatsoever that Claudius made them aware of his plan for them to become complicit in their old friend Hamlet's execution ([[FridgeLogic and to be perfectly honest, it doesn't really make sense for him to have done so, either]].) [[PoorCommunicationKills But Hamlet doesn't know this]], and he switches the missive they are transporting to England for the king to [[PleaseShootTheMessenger one commanding for the bearers' executions]], then rather callously leaves them to die.

* HonorThyParent: Shortly before Laertes leaves for university, Polonius notices that he and Ophelia have been discussing something, and when the former leaves, nosily asks her just what they were talking about. Ophelia withholds nothing from her father, but lays out in full the rather intimate topic of their conversation, namely the fact that Hamlet has been making advances at her, and she is not sure what to think about them. Polonius responds in a know-it-all and extremely patronizing manner, telling his daughter that he will teach her immature self what to think of it, that Hamlet's vows of love are not genuine and only meant to mask lust for her, and that in the future he would have her not give Hamlet any encouragement at all. Ophelia meekly replies: "I shall obey, my lord." Later, Polonius uses the fact that Hamlet has shown interest in his daughter as a pretext to offer her up to King Claudius as a pawn for spying on Hamlet. In all this, Ophelia shows no signs of asserting herself but blindly follows her father's wishes in all things.[[note]]Of course, theater being what it is, a director can choose to have Ophelia indicate annoyance or dissatisfaction with her father's behavior[[/note]]

A noblewoman and the sometime target of Hamlet's affections--though that is soon put to an end by disapproval of her overprotective brother and her pretentious father. On top of that, Hamlet has become withdrawn and consumed with sorrow after his own familial turmoil and now begins to take out his anger against his mother on Ophelia, assaulting her with cruel remarks and accusations of infidelity. And ''then'' her father dies, murdered by Hamlet, which pushes her over the edge and into madness. It's unclear whether she was even stable enough to keep herself breathing, which becomes important when Gertrude finds her drowned body. Gertrude chooses to call it an accident, but if gravediggers and priests know anything about death, Ophelia may just have killed herself.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Before leaving for France, Laertes warns his sister Ophelia from getting involved with Hamlet.

* StrongEmpireShriveledEmperor: {{Subverted}} if one interprets that Claudius is actually a ''better'' King than his dead brother, capable of making peace with Denmarks enemies and not doing anything especially evil other than the crime itself and attempts to cover it up.
* TheUsurper: One of the most iconic in fiction. He killed King of Denemark, his older brother, and took the throne despite the fact that the King had a son who should have inherited the throne and ruled over the country.

* TheQuietOne: His screentime far excels his number of lines.

In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,\\

The new King of Denmark, charismatic, competent and liked and respected by his subjects. But Claudius has a dark secret. He got his throne by murdering his brother, the previous king. He isn't ''proud'' of murdering his brother, Hamlet Sr., but he's not remorseful enough to give up his throne either, so he's more than willing to get whoever he can to silence Hamlet before the prince can bring him to justice..

* AffablyEvil: A fairly common treatment in productions more sympathetic to him. This is backed up by some textual evidence - Claudius is certainly friendly and generous to those in his court as long as they don't stand in his way.

* BeardOfEvil: Very often portrayed with one, though there are productions that forego one. Considering the traditional setting is, to quote the Royal Shakespeare Company's chronology of the tragedies, "nine-tenth century" and the culture he would belong to it is not unlikely he would have had one.

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Many in the court (particularly Polonius) perceive Hamlet's eccentric speech and behaviour as signs of madness. It is up to the director's and audience's interpretation as to how much is feigned (to put Claudius in a false sense of security) and how much is real.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Hamlet can be inescapably sexist, something that poor Ophelia pays the price for. Then again, [[BrokenPedestal considering what’s he’s been going through after finding out about his father’s murder,]] [[HatesEveryoneEqually it’s not like he cares about everybody anymore]].

* TomatoSurprise: During the duel with Laertes, Gertrude casually mentions that Hamlet is "fat and scant of breath". This fact seemingly justifies the whole deal with everyone assuming fight will immediately make him thirsty. Authenticity of this line is fiercely challenged by many Shakespearean scholars, who argue it's supposed to read "hot", not "fat"; or that "fat" is Shakespeare using an archaic regional term for "tired". [[YouAreFat Or, of course, she could just be teasing him]].[[note]]Keep in mind that Richard Burbage, the first player to enact Hamlet, weighed in at around 250 lbs.[[/note]]

* IconicItem: Tis skull of Yorick.

* ItsAllAboutMe: When Hamlet comes across Laertes burying Ophelia, his beloved sister, how does he react? He [[BigEntrance jumps out of the bushes]] and announces that he loved Ophelia ''far'' more than her brother did, and no woe can ''possibly'' equal his. [[ItsAllAboutMe This is despite the fact it was ''his'' actions that lead to Ophelia's death beginning when he kills her father by mistake]].

* LonelyRichKid: Hamlet might have more meaningful connections at school in Wittenberg, but at home in Elsinore he is profoundly lonely--somewhat justified, given his [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation extraordinary but isolating intelligence]] and the his belief that almost everyone around him is a lying manipulator.

* HotBlooded: Hamlet himself averts this, but discusses it often. He seems to hold a contradictory position on whether it is an admirable trait, castigating himself for own his lack of motivation ("I am pidgeon-livered and lack gall") but praising Horatio for his equanimity ("Give me the man who is not passion's slave / And I will wear him in my heart's core").

* RedHerring: All that talk of Fortinbras's invasion and time devoted building up is his character? He ends up being a tertiary character at best and just ends up invading Poland instead. He has nothing to do with the tragedy of the play, and doesn't conquer Denmark so much as show up ''right'' as the Danish royal family conveniently kills itself off.

* TheCorruptible: His grief and anger over his father's death make him an easy target for [[TheCorrupter Claudius]].

* RabbleRouser: Is apparently charismatic enough to inspire a mob of angry citizens to ransack Elsinore with him.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Seems to think he's in a StarCrossedLovers play rather than a revenge tragedy.

* PungeonMaster: Every other word out of his mouth is a DoubleEntendre, a StealthInsult, or just [[JustForPun wordplay for the sake of wordplay]].

These theories still don't explain how Hamlet can remember Yorick, who he says died twenty-three years ago.

* RedHerring: All that talk of Fortinbras's invasion and time devoted building up is his character? He ends up being a tertiary character at best and just ends up invading Poland, instead. He has nothing to do with the tragedy of the play.

* HeelFaithTurn: Subverted. In his confession soliloquy, he expresses [[OutDamnedSpot consuming guilt]] over the murder of his brother and stoops to pray, crying, "Help, angels!" but is unwilling to give up all that he gained through that murder and therefore knows that he won't be forgiven.

* OutDamnedSpot: Is repeatedly shown to be consumed with guilt over the murder of his brother.
-->'''Claudius:''' What if this cursèd hand\\
Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood?\\
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens\\
To wash it white as snow?

* MoralMyopia: Yes and yes.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The tendency to do this is one of his defining character traits.

* FinalSpeech: repeatedly interrupted, but gets the job done.

* AttentionWhore: Is prone to these during his mad episodes. His show-down with Laertes at Ophelia's grave is an example. Played for all it's worth in the Kenneth Brannagh version in which he narrates ''[[PlayWithinAPlay The Mousetrap]]'' at the top of his voice and eventually jumps onto the stage.

* TemporaryLoveInterest: Likely a case of an UnbuiltTrope. Her relationship with Hamlet fits the requirements, but her departure from the story is ''very'' significant.

* OedipusComplex: Hamlet's relationship to his parents is sometimes interpreted as this. Notably, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud himself thought so, saying that ''Hamlet'' is, "rooted in the same soil as Theatre/OedipusRex." This is despite the fact that part of why he's disgusted by his mother marrying his uncle is because, at the time, it'd be considered incest, and a good chunk of his motivation is avenging his father. Granted, Oedipus did [[EyeScream gouge his own eyes out]] when he found out he had unknowingly killed his biological father and married his biological mother...

* DelusionsOfEloquence: Polonius thinks that he's adept with witty turns of phrase and profound philosophizing. In fact, he speaks in empty platitudes e.g. "To thine own self be true" and tautologies

* {{Irony}}: Many of Polonius's [[HurricaneOfAphorisms kernels of wisdom]]--such as [[BrevityIsWit "brevity is the soul of wit"]] and "Neither a borrower nor a lender be"--have [[MemeticMutation become widely known]] and are often WrongfullyAttributed to Shakespeare himself--despite belonging to a comic buffoon whom no one is meant to take seriously.

* HelicopterParent: To both of his children. He sends a spy to monitor Laertes while he studies in Paris, and drives himself between Ophelia and her love Hamlet.