History Characters / TrueDetectiveSeasonThree

* MistakenForPedophile: PlayedForDrama. The death of Will and disappearance of Julie leaves the town on edge, and Woodard's solitary lifestyle along with his friendliness to children makes him the obvious suspect for the townsfolk, even after being cleared by the police. He is specifically warned to stay away from the town's young people in his first confrontation with the posse, and his refusal to do so [[spoiler:leads to the massacre.]]

* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler: Forces Hays to kill him after dispatching 10 people in the shootout. It's clear Woodard wanted to die for a long time and the firefight was the perfect excuse to end it. He sees Hays as something of a kindred spirit due to their shared Vietnam service and it's implied he doesn't kill Wayne when he had a clear shot out of respect. He also shows relief that Hays is the one to end it.]]

* MistakenForPedophile: The death of Will and disappearance of Julie leaves the town on edge, and Woodard's solitary lifestyle along with his friendliness to children makes him the obvious suspect for the townsfolk, even after being cleared by the police. He is specifically warned to stay away from the town's young people in his first confrontation with the posse, and his refusal to do so [[spoiler:leads to the massacre.]]

* ShellShockedVeteran: He was a Vietnam War veteran, and it's implied the trauma and mental scars from the war has caused him to become the man he is today. It is also discussed when Hays and West scout his house. The two detectives come across a framed picture of what is clearly his wife and kids, despite him being noted to live alone. Both of them are quick to express sympathy for Woodard, noticing that the War might have something to do with why he no longer lives together with his family, with West bringing up the that some of his own buddies came back from overseas and had severe difficulty adjusting to civilian life again. [[spoiler: He eventually snaps, kills a racist vigilante group who was gunning for him, and is killed himself by Hayes.]]

* ShellShockedVeteran: He was a Vietnam War veteran, and it's implied the trauma and mental scars from the war has caused him to become the man he is today. [[spoiler: He eventually snaps, kills a racist vigilante group who was gunning for him, and is killed himself by Hayes.]]

* StiffUpperLip: In 1980 and 1990, but firmly subverted due to the traumas of ageing and having Alzheimer's (or whatever it is that's causing his memory lapses).

DirtyCop: Also played with. [[spoiler:He's more or less the only cop who refuses to believe the stated truth about the Purcell case, but he ''is'' extremely aggressive with his techniques, killing Harris Purcell and covering it up with Roland.]]

** In episode 7, Wayne's dementia causes him to mistake a woman's child for his own daughter Rebecca. Roland has to pull him out of it to prevent things from getting awkward.
* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler: In episode 3 Wayne begins hallucinating Amelia in 2015, who is more mocking and foreboding than a HelpfulHallucination.]]
* DirtyCop: Also played with. [[spoiler:He's more or less the only cop who refuses to believe the stated truth about the Purcell case, but he ''is'' extremely aggressive with his techniques, killing Harris Purcell and covering it up with Roland.]]

* AudienceSurrogate: Elisa embodies the views of the audience on certain theories on how the Purcell case could have happen and/or ideas that tie the 3rd season with other seasons.

* SourOutsideSadInside: He's very brusque and almost rude to everyone, and he eventually loses his girlfriend and big house, but this is implied to be because of [[spoiler:

* RecoveredAddict: In the 90s.

* LowerClassLout: Lucy is extremely rude, aggressive, and lower-class, and she's also basically drunk or high in most of her appearances.

* ButNotTooBlack: Light-skinned, played by a half-Scottish biracial woman.

* BrutalHonesty: He pulls absolutely no punches when he accuses Amelia of "feeding off the pain" of everyone involved in the Purcell case, solely for her own career, morbid fascination and ego.

* AmbiguousDisorder: He has a rather childlike and naive view of morality. [[spoiler: While he acknowledges that the things he did were wrong, he seems to genuinely think they were done with the best of intentions.]]

* EvnEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler: He makes it clear that he had nothing to do with Will Purcell's death and it was simply a tragic accident and regrets both that and everything else which transpired.]]

* {{Foil}}: Of Rust Cohle from Season 1. Both are heroic, but antisocial characters who end up having no family of their own due to their loner behavior and personality. Where things change is their attitude towards their cases. Rust, despite a long TimeSkip in between, is ultimately determined to solve the mystery of the Yellow King cult, due to the horrific deeds they committed. Roland, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with the case following the TimeSkip, even getting mad at Hays when he brings it up.