History Characters / TheShieldTheStrikeTeam

** His desire to be seen as good even though it's increasingly clear that Vic is anything but. Despite the horrible things Vic does throughout the series, he seems to ''genuinely think'' that he's a fundamentally decent, misunderstood family man. It makes sense, since he does grand heroic gestures and [[BelievingTheirOwnLies bullshits himself into believing he's somehow a good person despite it all]] to distract his conscience. As [[https://www.the-solute.com/the-shield-season-5-eps-3-4-jailbaittapa-boca/ some critics have pointed out]], much of the drama from the series comes from the fact that Vic can never admit, to others and to himself, that he's an evil man who deludes himself into thinking that somehow he's good. When he finally does, [[spoiler: not only does he lose everything that he cares about, but he's also rid of the illusion that he was ever a good man to begin with.]]

* IgnoredEpiphany: In "Scar Tissue", he realizes he's been a terrible father and decides to start being there for his kids... only to immediately start cheating on Corinne again with Emma the second he gets back to his hotel room.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: During Kavanaugh's investigation and directly after it, due to [[spoiler:Lem's death]].

* BreakTheCutie: In Season 5.

* FriendToAllChildren: Lem has a deep sympathy toward children, and is generally very kind and gentle with them.

* MoralityPet: For Vic.

* AlasPoorVillain: Ronnie was a bad guy for sure, and he stood by Vic even [[spoiler: after learning that he did indeed kill Terry.]] But it's hard not to feel bad for him when [[spoiler: he gets arrested after Vic sells him out. He has to face the consequences of all of the Strike Team's actions alone.]]

* CowboyCop: To a much lesser extent than Vic and Shane, but Lem is very willing to break protocol and help rough up suspects.

** His desire to be seen as good even though it's increasingly clear that Vic is anything but. Despite the horrible things Vic does throughout the series, he seems to ''genuinely think'' that he's a fundamentally decent, misunderstood family man. It makes sense, since he does grand heroic gestures and [[BelievingTheirOwnLies bullshitting himself into believing he's somehow a good person despite it all]] to distract his conscience. As [[https://www.the-solute.com/the-shield-season-5-eps-3-4-jailbaittapa-boca/ some critics have pointed out]], much of the drama from the series comes from the fact that Vic can never admit, to others and to himself, that he's an evil man who deludes himself into thinking that somehow he's good. When he finally does, [[spoiler: not only does he lose everything that he cares about, but he's also rid of the illusion that he was ever a good man.]]

* FatalFlaw: There are several crippling ones that Vic deals with, that only leads him to his eventual fate by the end of the series.

%%** His [[ControlFreak desire for control]]

* FatalFlaw: Hubris. As [[http://www.the-solute.com/the-shields-final-episodes-possible-kill-screenfamily-meeting/ some critics have so astutely pointed out]], Vic self-righteously believes that he can make due as a violent cop that flouts laws for his own benefit while ''still'' being the fundamentally noble family man and defender of innocents that he presents himself as. The fact that his [[XanatosSpeedChess uncanny ability to improvise]] and [[TheChessmaster manipulate people]] get him out of many bad situations throughout the series only feeds his delusion that he's the good guy. Unfortunately, this tendency leads him to repeatedly compromise his morality throughout the series, culminating in him [[spoiler:betraying his only remaining friend in a desperate attempt to both protect himself and to maintain a degree of control over his family life.]]

* HeavenSeeker: A mayority of his altruism/grand heroics is just as motivated by a grand messiah complex (with a monetary bonus) as it is by the desire to escape any moral reckoning for his terrible actions.

** Despite how strained their friendship is at the time Vic still helps Shane save himself from Antwon.

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Where does he go at the end? Does he decide to go rogue and spite his immunity deal? Or does he decide to serve his three years and attempt to piece together what's left of his shattered life? Ultimately, it's up to the viewer to decide.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: One of his core flaws through the series. At the end, he manages to gain full immunity for himself and is able escape justice for his crimes. Yet he fails to consider that ICE would be completely disgusted by him and would never work with somebody such as him, his handler even going as far as to make his 3 years working with ICE be as unpleasant as possible. He also [[spoiler: loses his family and destroys all of his credibility and friendships in the process.]]

* FailureHero: For all his plans, brutality, and short-term victories, Vic never succeeds at stopping the drug trade in Farmington. The only point where the crime rate actually lowers is when he's hewdimg the One-Niners' drug ring and thus covering it up, and for each crime lord he puts down a new one rises right back up.
* FallenHero: By the end, [[spoiler: Vic is isolated to a desk job and ostracized by his colleagues with his sins laid bare for all to see]].

* HumiliationConga / IronicHell: [[spoiler: His final fate. He was able to get immunity for his crimes, but it came with a steep price tag. His family's been relocated by Witness Protection. His reputation at The Barn is in cinders with Ronnie's arrest. His job is a tedious desk job and not the street work he wanted. His superior hates his guts and will try as much as possible to void his immunity deal. Also, the job is just for 3 years, after which there is next to NO chance he'll be able to get work even ''related'' to law enforcement (where he spent most of his career).]]

* TheSociopath: Played with. Vic showcases sociopathic tendencies and will screw over anyone who gets in his way. By the end, [[spoiler: he has become willing to sell his team down the river to save himself, only cares about having his family as way to control his life, and spurs Shane into killing himself with little feeling]]. But this is subverted as he is shown to be capable of genuine feelings, such as his love for his family, his [[spoiler: genuine devastation at Lem's death and the fact Shane did it]], [[spoiler: and when he finds out Shane had also killed his wife, son and unborn child, and reacts with anger and shock]]. The thing is that no matter the bond or closeness, he will first and foremost [[ItsAllAboutMe try to save himself before anyone else.]]

%% * VillainousBSOD: He spends the last few minutes of the series in the midst of one.

* TheMillstone: His attempts to imitate Vic's style of 'policing' continually blow up in his face, putting the rest of the Strike Team in jeopardy and forcing Vic to save him from himself. His [[spoiler:killing Lem is what finally destroys the team for good.]]

%%* HotBlooded

%%* NiceGuy

* TheAce: Especially in seasons 1 (in which his friendship with Assistant Chief Gillroy effectively insulates him from nearly any sort of legal repercussions to his extralegal actions) and 5 (in which Captain Billings has almost zero ability or desire to rein him in). Vic's ability to charm people and to talk his way out of difficult situations is unmatched, and he not only fools nearly everybody that he comes across throughout the series, but also [[KavorkaMan bed multiple women]] as well. He also shows a genuine talent for investigation, [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot if only he had used his skills for the good of the community and not for his own selfish aims.]]

%% * UngratefulBastard: Despite Ronnie's loyalty to him Vic gives him up to save his own skin.

* AllForNothing: He [[spoiler:murdered his best friend Lem to protect himself and the rest of the Strike Team from prosecution, only to learn after the fact that Lem had no intention of selling them out.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: One of Shane's core flaws throughout the series is that he often takes actions without fully considering all of the consequences of his actions, with Vic uses to his advantage when he [[spoiler: uses Shane's blackmail journal to gain himself full immunity from ICE.]]

* DirtyOldMan: By virtue of being lenient on the age department when it comes to hook-ups.

* FatalFlaw: Impulsiveness and [[DidntThinkThisThrough never fully considering the consequences of his actions]]. While he's hardly stupid, Shane's [[HairTriggerTemper extreme emotional volatility]] and inability to rationalize away his guilt over the consequences of his actions leads him to take several stupid actions throughout the series that end up [[spoiler:not only leading to his own death, but those of his family and Lem as well]].

* TooCleverByHalf: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] Shane has the right idea by keeping a journal of all of the horrible things he and the rest of The Strike Team did. But he [[DidntThinkThisThrough failed to consider]] that Vic would beat him to it and gains full immunity for himself. He then proceeds to [[KickTheDog rub it in to Shane's face]], breaking him completely.

* TooCleverByHalf: He's easily the smartest one in the Strike Team that isn't Vic, and it's even noted by Kavanaugh to be the one who's covered his tracks ''too well'' and even tells him to stay away from Vic and Shane, as their flaws will eventually do them in. Ronnie doesn't listen and makes the mistake of trusting Vic, who [[spoiler: promptly betrays him so he can have full immunity from ICE.]]

** He's completely right when he accuaes Dutch of only wanting to catch Sally's killer for the credit.

* TheAce: Especially in seasons 1 (in which his friendship with Assistant Chief Gillroy effectively insulates him from nearly any sort of legal repercussions to his extralegal actions) and 5 (in which Captain Billings has almost zero ability or desire to rein him in). Vic's ability to charm people and to talk his way out of difficult situations is unmatched, and he not only fools nearly everybody that he comes across throughout the series, but also [[KavorkaMan bed multiple women]] as well.

* AtLeastIAdmitIt: {{Played With}}. In his confession to Olivia, he confesses to all of his crimes without attempting to excuse his actions and seems rather morose. But by the end, he seems to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil fully accept]] that he is a truly horrible person.

* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: An InUniverse [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this mindset. For Vic, whatever despicable course of action can be justified as long as some good may come out of it. In fact, he uses this to propel his crookedness: anything he does for extra power, money or respect are meant to secure his retirement home, protect the everyday man or to pay the admittedly expensive accomadations for his children. Unfortunately, this blinds him to the fact that whatever the ends, the repercussions of such amoral decision-making can affect or even nullify any well-intentioned result. Not to say of anything of how Vic tries to often buy himself out of any residual psychological guilt due to his long rap sheet by attempting large-scale redemption acts (e.g. attempting to help Connie by all means in seasons 1 and 2, enforcing Rawlings's policy in season 4, hobnobbing with ICE to stop a large scale drug operation in Farmington in season 7), which rarely last due to Vic's pathological need to indulge in dark moral territory.

* BeingEvilSucks: By the time he realizes this, it's far too late for him to back away now.