History Characters / InglouriousBasterds

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: He makes a solid effort of wooing Shoshana with both a friendly demeanor and more elaborate shows (namely the premier), but moves onto threats after getting rejected one too many times. As friendly as his is, the fact that he killed so many people by himself hangs over him like a fog; and once he drops the nice act he's quick to point it out, hinting that he's not as ashamed of it as he'd let on previously.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Despite the amount of characterization he gets, he's suddenly killed during the tavern fight, and his death isn't even shown on camera.]]

![=LaPadite= Family]

->'''Played By:''' Julie Dreyfus

%%zce* Les Collaborateurs: Much to Shoshanna's {{Squick}}-filled contempt.

![=LaPadite=]

* SpottingTheThread: Subverted, then PlayedStraight; Hellstrom picks up on Hicox's "obscure small town" accent, but a sufficiently detailed and corroborated cover story assuages his doubts. ''Then'' Hicox makes a drink order with the wrong hand gesture, which Hellstrom [[MeaningfulLook notices immediately]], and the fiction is dispelled immediately.

* NinetiesAntiHero: He's the vicious and brutal leader of an equally vicious and brutal squad of essentially war criminals, but his enemies are Nazis, so he ends up on the lighter side of the moral scale.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: He makes zero attempts to try to hide his thick Tennessee accent while posing as an Italian stuntman during the film premiere at the climax of the film.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Depending on your interpretation of what happens after, [[spoiler:there's a strong argument to be made that Raine affixing a permanent MarkOfShame upon his forehead, thereby doomeing him to living the rest of his life branded as a Nazi, means he will constantly be afraid of what people will say about or do to him in response.]]

* NotSoStoic: His [[spoiler: brutal and apparently very personal murder of von Hammersmark]] is a far cry from his usual dispassion about killing people, not to mention his reaction when [[spoiler: Raine shoots his driver]].

** KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While he might have gotten away with his crimes, [[spoiler: he'll never be able to recover from the carved swastika on his head, which will be a reminder of his crimes.]]

* StoutStrength: An unused trailer shot has him running through a building firing an MG42.

* DeadManWalking: He knows from the moment Hicox outs himself that he isn't walking out of there alive. His eyes immediately after the realization can only be described as ones of regret and acceptance, as he seemingly makes peace with the fact that he will soon die for his country.

* PunchClockVillain: He confesses to Shosanna that he does not want to watch his film, because he does not feel proud of killing so many men. At the premiere, he watches the violence onscreen only briefly before excusing himself. On the other hand, he proudly boasts of killing 300 men when threatening Shoshanna, so who knows?

* BerserkButton: Being a bad spy is apparently this for him. [[spoiler:He brutally murders Hammersmarck despite having every intention of defecting to the Allies, possibly because her incompetence insults him.]]

* {{Irony}}: Despite being a Jew, he disguises himself as an SS officer when rendezvousing with Hammershark. Also doubles as DramaticIrony since Helstrom is completely unaware [[spoiler:(until Hicox gives everyone away)]] that the SS guy sitting in front of him is a Jew.

* WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: As a former Wehrmacht enlisted man, Stiglitz knows exactly how to make use of his high-ranking disguise and act like a real officer. When Hicox tries and fails to make a pesky German soldier go away, Stiglitz not only casually intimidates the man but also orders his own teammates to remove him from the table.

* WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: As a former Wehrmacht enlisted man, Stiglitz knows exactly how to make use of his high-ranking disguise and act like a real officer. When Hicox tries and fails to make a pesky German soldier back off, Stiglitz not only casually intimidates the man but also orders his own teammate to remove him from the table.

* WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: As a former Wehrmacht enlisted man, Stiglitz knows exactly how to make use of his high-ranking disguise and make other German soldiers follow his command. Hicox tries the same thing and fails miserably, whereas Stiglitz casually orders a whole table of German soldiers to follow his command.

* DefectorFromDecadence: He's actually Austrian-born.

--> ''Hellstrom'': You and I both know, captain, no matter what happens to anybody else in this room, [[TakingYouWithMe the two of us aren’t going anywhere]].

* {{Irony}}: Despite prominently carrying an SS knife, which displays their motto of "My honor means loyalty"[[note]]adapted from the praise that Hitler gave the SS when they stayed loyal to him during the SA revolt[[/note]], Stiglitz is actually a German traitor working alongside the Allies.

* DefectorFromDecadence: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that the Basterds are nearly as decadent as their targets. However, the inscription on his knife translates into "My duty is to my honor", indicating that his rebellion against the Nazis arose out of disgust for their dishonorable crimes. The inscription may also imply that he's a former Waffen-SS member (as it is their motto) and genuinely believed in Nazi ideology at one point.

* HeelFaceTurn: Subverted. It's never fully explained ''why'' he decided to kill Gestapo officers, but the Basterds heard about it and offered him his freedom in return for helping them. Naturally, he joined up. The film hints that the Gestapo tortured him for some reason, setting him off on his personal RoaringRampageOfRevenge before capture (and rescue by the Basterds). The inscription on his knife ("My duty is to my honor") may give a clue as to his rebellion.
* HeroicComedicSociopath: The greatest example in the movie.

* AmbiguousSituation: He has an SS knife in his possession, which can either mean that he took it from a Gestapo officer (also part of the SS) or he was an SS man himself.