History Characters / TheDeparted

* HeroWithBadPublicity: As an undercover cop who must resort to shady things to gain Costello's trust he's this in the eyes of the police department aside from Queenan and Dignam. Enforced when Sullivan deletes all records of him being an undercover cop, then defied when Sullivan, in order to maintain his own cover, reveals that Costian was an undercover trooper in order to pin everything on Barrigan. Costigan winds up being posthumously given the Medal of Merit and a departmental funeral.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He creates an image for himself as an intelligent, hard-working and generally likable person to cover that he's really a mole.

* ProperlyParanoid: For as crazy as he is about it, he's not wrong about there being a cop in his crew.

* AllForNothing: Sullivan's very upset to discover that [[Costello has been an FBI informant the entire time and always planned to sell him out.]] Any remaining plans he might have had to continue his ambitions to go to Harvard and become legitimate [[spoiler:after the deaths of Costigan and Barrigan are rendered moot when Dignam kills him anyway.]] Costigan had also given evidence of Sullivan being the mole to Madolyn, and Costello almost certainly included Sullivan in the evidence he sent to the FBI before his death. Basically, no matter ''what'' happened, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty Sullivan was ultimately never going to escape retribution]].

* GoodIsNotNice: He is a rude, obnoxious bully who needlessly antagonizes everyone he comes in contact with, but is dedicated to the job and fiercely loyal to Queenan. [[spoiler:He saw to it that Queenan's death, as well as Costigan's (who he didn't even like) were avenged.]]

* KavorkaMan: Not much to look at, in his later years and that's not even getting into his [[AxCrazy personality]] but he has no issue attracting beautiful women.

-->'''Costello:''' You know, if your father were alive, and saw you here, sitting with me, let's say he'd have a word with me about this. In fact, he'd kill seven guys just to cut my throat, and he could do it. . . He kept his own counsel. He never wanted money. Can't do anything with a man like that.
* WickedCultured: He goes to an opera play, along with two of his lovers. Somehow he seems to enjoy it as he quietly shooshed one of his girls. He also seems to enjoy drawing, and is pretty good at it.

-->'''Delahunt (to Costigan):''' Tell me why I didn't tell anybody.

* VillainousBreakdown: When he finds out [[spoiler:about Delahunt being a cop.]]

* WickedCultured: He goes to an opera play, along with two of his lovers. Somehow he seems to enjoy it as he quietly shooshed one of his girls.

* BadBoss: He constantly threatens to murder his underlings if they displease him. He kicks it up a notch at one point with Sullivan, threatening to have his girlfriend raped if he doesn't find the mole.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Like Dignam, he is unbelievably abrasive and insensitive, but well-meaning.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He trusts Sullivan completely while treating Dignam with disdain. He even says to Sullivan that the latters clean record [[SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord would make any other cop suspicious]] but doesn't phase him.

* BadassBeard: He's grown a neat goatee [[spoiler: when he comes back for the finale]].

-->''Costello:'' You know John Lennon?
--> ''Costigan:'' Yeah, he was President before Lincoln.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Refers to Sullivan as a "Two-faced faggot."

* TheIrishMob: He leads his own Irish-American crime syndicate even though he is Italian-American.

* PetTheDog: There are hints that he feels guilty about what happened to Billy such as pushing for him to receive a posthumous medal of merit and his resigned acceptance when [[spoiler: Dignam comes to kill him]].

!!William ‘Billy’ Costigan Jr

* HairTriggerTemper: He's like this as the result of the stress of being a mole.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Accepts his fate with a dejected "Okay" when Dignam has him at gunpoint.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Few of his co-workers could stand being around him, but for all his rudeness he's quite fond of Queenan and wants to stop Costello's criminal empire.

* FamousLastWords: "F*ck it!"

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: With Delahunt.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Delahunt is usually seen with Fitzy.

* MagnificentBastard: One of the most wickedly entertaining villains in recent history. No one is more corrupt, seductive, fully aware and fully able to harness it into a criminal empire.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He trusts Sullivan completely while treating Dignam with disdain. He even says to Sullivan that the latters clean record [[TooGoodToBeTrue would make any other cop suspicious]] but doesn't phase him.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He trusts Sullivan completely while treating Dignam with disdain. He even says to Sullivan that the latters clean record [[ToGoodToBeTrue would make any other cop suspicious]] but doesn't phase him.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He trusts Sullivan completely while treating Dignam with disdain.

* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:There's no way he could have anticipated being taken down like that. He called for backup by calling Brown, he mailed the evidence (making copies) and sent it to the police shrink but it takes a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere, a second mole, to take him out with no warning]].

* TheMafia: While he isn't part of Cosa Nostra, he is an Italian mobster who just so happens to lead the Boston branch of the Irish Mob.