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3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExamples have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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6The characters pertaining to the ''Franchise/DieHard'' film series.
7----
8[[foldercontrol]]
9
10!!The [=McClane=] Family
11
12[[folder:In General]]
13!![=McClane=] Family
14* BadassFamily: You might be a BigBad armed to the teeth and have a brilliant EvilPlan, but the moment a [=McClane=] gets involved, disaster will inevitably follow as they stare you down with more steely courage and determination than you can possibly counter.
15[[/folder]]
16
17[[folder:John]]
18!!John [=McClane=], Sr.
19[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JohnMcClane_4485.jpg]]
20[[caption-width-right:350:''"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs... Now I know what a TV dinner feels like."'']]
21!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/BruceWillis [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/PatrickPoivey (French), Ramón Langa (Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
22!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/DieHard'' | ''Film/DieHard2'' | ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' | ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' | ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard''
23
24A New York City Detective who, when visiting his estranged wife’s office building to reconcile with her, finds himself having to take on organised terrorists. He has a very abrasive personality, but more than makes up for it with determination and a sense of heroism.
25----
26* ActionHero: Whilst [=McClane's=] [[GuileHero ability to think on his feet]] is his strongest asset, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty.
27* ActionSurvivor: From the very beginning. Although John is a cop, the fact is that he is completely out of his depth, at least in the first few movies. He's not even a detective, just a street cop. In the first movie especially, while he demonstrates plenty of quick thinking, resourcefulness, and observation skills, he makes some serious mistakes and is frequently forced to retreat. Only his [[MadeOfIron resilience]] and {{determinat|or}}ion allows him to save the day.
28* AdaptationNameChange: He was Joe Leland in the book, as opposed to [=John McClane=] in the films.
29* AdaptationalHeroism: He's much more sympathetic than his book counterpart. He's not misogynistic the way Leland is, and [=McClane=] mostly kills only in self defense, while Leland executes captured Terrorists simply because he thinks they are about to try and lecture him on the righteousness of their cause. Karl's brother being killed is a deliberate choice by Leland in the book, while in the film it's more accidental due to him trying to overpower [=McClane=]. More importantly, [=McClane=]'s actions save everyone on the roof, so it's clear [=McClane=]'s involvement is a good thing and unambiguously heroic. In the book, it's never entirely clear if Leland's actions didn't end up making things worse.
30* AgeLift: In the novel the main character is a retired police officer (and a UsefulNotes/WW2 veteran!) and it is his daughter who is working at the skyscraper, instead of a police officer in his thirties visiting his wife.
31* AgonyOfTheFeet: At the start of the first film, a veteran air traveller recommends John try stripping off his shoes and socks and clenching his toes in a carpet once he's on land again. John takes his advice and is delighted with the results, before, seconds later, gunfire kicks off the plot of the film and leaves him forced to deal with the whole crisis barefoot. Hans Gruber eventually takes note and leaves him stranded in a room full of broken glass with no option but to walk over it, mutilating one of his feet so badly he's forced to improvise a filthy bandage out of the remains of his tanktop.
32* AintTooProudToBeg: John may be willing to risk his own life, but he will try desperately to negotiate for the lives of others, whether that means police officers, or a hostage who has betrayed him, if he knows their lives are at risk. Unfortunately, Harry Ellis, the hostage in question, is too damn smug to realize his life is in danger due to the lie he told to sell John out, resulting in Ellis's death when John tells the truth in an attempt to beg for Ellis's life.
33* TheAlcoholic: In the third film a character comments that John [=McClane=] is two steps away from being a full-blown alcoholic. [=McClane=] corrects him by [[SelfDeprecation holding up a single finger and saying "One step."]]
34* AmmunitionConservation: In the first movie, John uses the [=MP5=] submachine gun, which he stole off of a hostage taker, sparingly, preferring to use the more ammunition-efficient semi-automatic Beretta 92 handgun. John only shoots as many bullets as is necessary to kill the hostage takers. Ultimately he ends up with two bullets for the two last hostage takers.[[note]]In real life, the [=MP5=] is not exclusively fully automatic, but selective-fire, and so with its stock and longer barrel allowing for greater accuracy, John likely would've been more accurate shooting the [=MP5=] in semi-auto mode than shooting the Beretta.[[/note]]
35* AntiHero: Downplayed. He drinks, smokes, curses, bloodily dispatches his enemies, causes wide scale property damage and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking neglects his married life]]. But John genuinely cares for the people around him and he'll do whatever he possibly can to save the lives of those in danger.
36* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In the third film, when John talks to his stalker, Simon, on the phone, he mockingly asks Simon what he had arrested Simon for, before listing off offenses such as "purse-snatching", "shoplifting", and finishing with "cross-dressing", something he doesn't seem to take seriously at all.
37* ArrestedForHeroism: In the first movie, Deputy Chief Robinson intends to charge John with property damage and a few other things after John's interference, but is unable to follow through with the arrest when a surviving gunman pulls a gun. John is briefly taken into custody in the second movie when he is mistaken for an intruder in a restricted airport area after attempting to confront two mercenaries.
38* BadassInDistress: In a variation, John initially attempts to notify the LAPD in an attempt to save the hostages since he considers himself to be physically outgunned and outmatched. Despite initially not wanting to be personally involved, John nonetheless manages to intervene in Hans's plot.
39* BadassUnintentional: The essence of the character. What made the ''Die Hard'' series stand out over other action films, especially the ones from the 1980s, was that [=McClane=] is very vulnerable. [[spoiler:Just watch his reactions with Hans, especially when he tries to convince Ellis to say they didn't know each other just to save Ellis' life in the first movie, or trying his best to signal the plane that Stuart was gonna crash.]] He could also barely fight when badly hurt, and had to rely on hiding and [[CombatPragmatist dirty tactics]] to overcome his enemies and stay alive.
40* BaldHeadOfToughness: Not by coincidence, by movie four he's out of hair and so [[MadeOfIron resilient]], the bad guys can beat him but never stop him.
41* BeingGoodSucks: Over the course of all five movies, his wife has divorced him, his daughter is distant from him, he's completely estranged from his son [[spoiler:and when he tries to save him he ends up destroying a secret CIA mission that took ''three years'' to plan]], and he simply finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time at all times. His fellow officers don't seem to care much for him, he's nearly an alcoholic, he's bitter, alone, and depressed, yet time after time, he continues to save the day simply because he's "that guy", as he puts it in his own words.
42* BloodSplatteredWarrior: In the third film, emerges blood-spattered from shooting four mooks in an elevator. Zeus ask with concern, "You all right?" [=McClane=] replies, casually, "Yeah, yeah, it's not my blood."
43* BondOneLiner: When the gunman Marco mocks John for not taking the opportunity to shoot him, John proceeds to shoot Marco at the end of the table before dryly thanking him for the advice.
44* BornInTheWrongCentury: Present, but downplayed in the first film. He expresses confusion and frustration with digital technology, annoyance with LA's lack of traditional Christmas fare, and displays an almost-but-not-quite sexist attitude towards his wife following her career. He gets better by the second one (though he still gets confused by technology).
45* BrooklynRage: John is a hardened NYPD Detective who goes toe to toe with several armed crooks on multiple occasions.
46* CarpetOfVirility: John gets to show off his hairy chest; at least in the first movie, with his a-shirt.
47* CarFu: In the fourth movie, he used a car to destroy a helicopter.
48--> '''[=McClane=]:''' I was out of bullets.
49* CassandraTruth: When John attempts to report the hostage situation, he is twice initially believed to be a prankster, with the police supervisor being dismissive of his claims until she hears gunshots, and even then, she only sends one cruiser. John also has to contend with skepticism from Deputy Chief Robinson, who is initially dismissive of John's information.
50* CharacterCatchphrase: John says "Yipee-ki-yay, motherfucker!" once per film.
51* TheChewToy: On top of the amount of abuse he takes in each film, his life in general just sucks, with his own children eventually resenting him and his now ex-wife being all but a stranger.
52* ChainPain: John seemingly finishes Karl off by strangling him with a chain. [[spoiler: Karl somehow survives, only to die at Powell's hands later.]]
53* ChickMagnet: In the earlier films [=McClane=] has no problem attracting female attention. The airline rep from the second film is a great example.
54* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Even if he doesn't like it, but in a world filled with terrorists, [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent cops]] and [[InnocentBystanders innocent victims]], someone has to be the hero.
55* CigaretteOfAnxiety: John has a tendency to smoke in order to steady his nerves, including when he has just dropped the corpse of a gunman on a police cruiser and has other gunmen searching for him.
56* CombatPragmatist: John is willing to resort to dirty tricks in combat. He's not above putting hairspray in your eyes, for example.
57* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: At the start of the first film, John [=McClaine=] is a good cop deep down, trying to get Gruber's henchmen to put down their guns and surrender rather than shooting first and asking questions later even ''after'' realizing what sorts of people they are. When he and Tony roll down the stairs and the latter breaks his neck, it's an accident that clearly bothers John. By the end of the movie, he's outright [[SpeakIllOfTheDead taunting Karl about his brother squealing as he died]] during their mortal struggle and shoots up Hans and his last henchman without hesitation, to say nothing of [[SerialEscalation the sequels]].
58* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: Despite initially wanting to leave the rescuing to the LAPD, John nonetheless decides to intervene when it becomes clear that Hans has an advantage over the police.
59* CoolOldGuy: From the fourth film onwards, John's advanced age does not make him any less of a formidable combatant.
60* CowardlyLion: In one specific instance in the original. It's established early in the film that he's scared of heights, so when he has to bungee jump off the roof to avoid getting blown up in the climax, it takes a lot of mental preparation for him to take the leap. He also has no issues hanging back and letting the police handle things, knowing how outmatched he is and only changing gears when he has to.
61* CowboyCop: In the first film, the first mook he kills tells him that he won't hurt him because there are rules for cops. He states that his captain keeps telling him that and proceeds to PistolWhip the mook. Hans comments on [=McClane=]'s ruthlessness, and then the [[DiscussedTrope discussion turns to cowboys in movies]], leading to the CatchPhrase.
62* DeadpanSnarker: John's sarcasm and sharp wit is a strong trait of his, at one point responding to a "John Wayne" comparison by sardonically stating his preference for musician Creator/RoyRogers from a cowboy standpoint.
63* DefectiveDetective: For John saving the day off duty as a police officer is much easier than saving a marriage.
64* DentedIron: Throughout the films, the injuries he takes leave him battered, bruised and bleeding, but still rather capable in taking out hostiles. This is particularly notable in the first film, especially since he's barefoot for the entirety of the hostage situation and at one point his enemies famously take advantage by [[AgonyOfTheFeet shooting out all the glass in a room to force him to walk over it]].
65* DestructiveSaviour: John often manages to save people's lives, but not without causing a lot of collateral damage, as demonstrated by Nakatomi Plaza's damage from John using explosives to neutralize a couple of gunmen, additionally covering several police personnel in shattered glass.
66* {{Determinator}}: A TropeCodifier for the non-invincible action movie hero who has to [[EarnYourHappyEnding Earn His Happy Ending]]. In the first film, he gets beat up, shot at, nearly blown up, jumps himself off a building and crashes through a glass window, his feet get lacerated, and he eventually gets shot in the shoulder. This does not stop him. The third film has him getting pistol-whipped, blown up, beaten, drowned, shot at, beaten, and blown up ''again''. This makes him angry. In the fourth film, he is shot at, blown up, shot at some more, thrown out of a car, beaten up by a DarkActionGirl, dropped down an elevator shaft, frozen, beat up again, shot at ''by a jet fighter'', shot, and then ''shoots himself''. He doesn't give up at any point.
67* DisappointedByTheMotive: John is not amused when he finds out that Hans tried to decimate his hostages for the purpose of robbing the Nakatomi Vault.
68* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His AntiHero tendencies start to peek through as he's talking to the doctor on the flight to LA. The same scene also shows he is a nervous flyer, establishing that he is a far more grounded and relatable than the typical effortlessly brave and tough action heroes of the era. He gets a second one shortly after where he rides up front with Argyle, showing his everyman side and affability.
69* TheEveryman: John is just an average New York police officer, flown into Los Angeles to see his estranged wife Holly - then Hans and his gang attack, leaving John the only one in a position to stop them.
70* ExperiencedProtagonist: John is a seasoned New York cop, and the protagonist of the series. When he's first introduced, he states that he's already been a cop for eleven years.
71* GeniusBruiser: John is an excellent detective and extremely good at thinking on his feet, and a devil in a fight.
72* GoodIsNotSoft: John's actions throughout the series are well-intentioned and heroic, but he's a brutal fighter and a CombatPragmatist par excellence.
73* GrumpyOldMan: As of the fourth movie, John has gotten a lot more agitated with age, partially because of his estrangement from his family.
74* GuileHero:
75** His ability to think on his feet, adapt to his environment, and play mindgames with his opponents is what allows him to come out on top.
76** In the book, hero Leland is even more so. For example, he sends down the corpse with the message "Now '''we''' have a machine gun" to make Gruber think there's more than one enemy.
77* HeartbrokenBadass: John still loves Holly, even if they are not married anymore. It becomes a factor in ''With a Vengeance'' where he wants to get back with his wife, only for work to get in the way.
78* TheHero: Despite being an AntiHero, a major part of [=McClane's=] character is that he's less interested in defeating his opponents than protecting innocent people and preventing major disasters. In the first film, he repeatedly gives his opponents chances to surrender, and wants the LAPD to take over and find a solution to the conflict that won't end with a pile of bodies. He only takes action when there are no other options.
79* HeroicSelfDeprecation: For all his successes in overcoming hostile situations, John considers heroism to be overrated compared to a stable family life, only saving people's lives because he thinks it's the right thing to do.
80* HonorBeforeReason: He'll often turn down bribes and blackmail, saving the day instead. When Simon Gruber attempts to offer him a portion of the loot from the Federal Reserve Heist, John flatly and vulgarly refuses.
81* HypocriticalHumor: To an extent, he smokes, but tells other people that smoking is bad for you in a mocking way.
82* IconicOutfit: Much of the merchandising and promotional artwork has John in a tank-top, or "singlet", and he wears one at least once per film. Even in ''Die Hard 2'', in the snow, he ends up just wearing a singlet under his parka.
83* ImpliedDeathThreat: In response to Marvin claiming that he wants $20 for the transmitter, [=McClane=] says that he'll "let [Marvin] live", with Marvin making a wisecrack about [=McClane=]'s bargaining skills.
84* ImprobableWeaponUser: Down to his CombatPragmatist tendencies, he'll use plenty of {{Improvised Weapon}}s to get the upper hand, including chairs, computer monitors, rolls of wrapping tape, fire extinguishers, hairspray, cars, chains and whatever else comes to hand.
85* IndyPloy: Most of his "plans" involve improvisation, whether that means pulling a fire alarm, radioing a police station, or dropping a gunman's corpse onto a police cruiser so that Sgt. Powell will call for backup.
86* IShallTauntYou: John taunts his opponents in an effort to catch them off guard, such as when he uses the radio to contact Hans after neutralizing two gunmen, or when he rubs Tony's death in Karl's face in an attempt to make him lose composure and make a tactical misstep.
87* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: Hans initially views John as a nuisance before eventually trying to have him killed for his interference, while his second in command, Karl, has a vendetta towards John due to John's (accidental) slaying of Tony, Karl's younger brother.
88* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's grumpy, potentially rude (though one must usually set him off - just ask the somewhat intrusive news lady in the second film or the dude trying to date his daughter later on), and has difficulty expressing his feelings, but he is a good man with his heart in the right place.
89* KnightInSourArmor: John may be tired and world weary, but what matters is that he still cares about doing what he thinks is right. He even gives a trope-defining little speech in the fourth movie, which somewhat calls back to how some possible allies have definitely not shown him proper respect despite what he's been out to do:
90-->'''John [=McClane=]:''' You know what you get for being a hero? Nothin'. You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah, blah, blah, attaboy. You get divorced. Your wife can't remember your last name. Your kids don't want to talk to you. You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me, kid, nobody wants to be that guy.
91-->'''Matt Farrell:''' Then why you doing this?\
92'''John [=McClane=]:''' [[SamaritanSyndrome Because there's nobody else to do it right now]], that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So we're doing it.
93* KnowWhenToFoldEm: John is a grade-A [[TheDeterminator Determinator]], but he's not reckless. If he's in a situation where he knows he's outmatched or outgunned, he'll retreat long enough to figure out a better attack plan.
94* LoveCannotOvercome: John and Holly clearly care about each other, but their marriage is already strained in the first movie. While Film/DieHard ends with them back together, ultimately their relationship can't survive John's ChronicHeroSyndrome and the problems that separated them to begin with. They're officially separated by movie three and divorced by movie four, adding to John's KnightInSourArmor bitterness.
95* MacGyvering: His ability to create makeshift gadgets to save the day would make Angus [=MacGuyver=] himself proud, notably using a computer monitor, office chair, and C4 to eliminate a pair of gunmen.
96* MadeOfIron: John is resilient despite the many injuries he endures. In the fourth film, he keeps taking enough damage to apparently kill a man three or four times, yet he still wipes out an entire assault squad occupying a building, destroys a chopper with a police cruiser and a ramp, kills Mai Linh with a Ford Explorer and an elevator pit, takes out a fighter plane with a big truck and an elevated highway, and [[AttackingThroughYourself shoots himself in the shoulder to kill Thomas Gabriel, who was holding a gun against him.]] Subsequently, all he needs to get patched up after all this is a calm ride in the ambulance.
97* ManipulativeBastard: John shows shades of deviousness throughout the series, notably putting the gunman Tony's body on display to intimidate the other gunmen, and later dropping the corpse of another gunman, Marco, onto Sgt. Powell's cruiser in order to motivate the latter to call for backup.
98* ManlyTears: John cries as he fails to save a plane full of innocents from being murdered in ''Die Harder.''
99* MistakenForTerrorist: When John is firing in the air to scare the hostages away from the roof, FBI agents Johnson and Johnson believe him to be one of the gunmen, and shoot at him accordingly, to his frustration.
100-->'''John''': I'm on YOUR side, you assholes!
101* MockingTheMourner: When Karl confronts John over the latter killing his brother, Tony, John --in a rare heroic example-- tells Karl that he should have heard his brother squeal when he broke his neck. This is an attempt to make Karl lose composure so John can deal with him in combat.
102* MotivationalLie: Cleverly uses one to get Zeus to help him in the 3rd movie by saying that one of Simon's bomb explosions happened in Harlem. Zeus, concerned and pissed about his neighbourhood getting hit, accepts to help.
103* MrFanservice: John spends 60% of the first movie in a tank top before ditching it for the last 20%, much to the delight of the audience.
104* MutilationConga: It seems like each movie is just an excuse to put [=McClane=] through one of these. In the first movie alone, he gets beaten up, falls down a flight of stairs, runs over broken glass barefoot, gets beaten up again, is shot in the shoulder, jumps off a roof with a firehose tied around his waist, crashes through a window, almost gets dragged back out of the window by the fire hose, and jumps into a water fountain to avoid an exploding helicopter. He's fine by the next Christmas.
105* ObfuscatingInsanity: He has to fake this in the third film when Simon makes him wear a billboard insulting Afro-Americans while in his underwear. Zeus saves him by claiming his insanity, and he runs with it. And in general, [=McClane=] has his moments where he appears "unhinged". He does this for various reasons, either to fool and confuse his enemies, or to cope with the crap he has to go through.
106* OfficerOHara: It's downplayed, but John ''[=McClane=]'' is an Irish flatfoot. In the first movie, when he finds the bombs Hans had Uli set up on the roof, his shocked OhCrap is "Jesus. Mary, mother of God.".
107* OneManArmy: [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Done very well in the first film,]] where he compensates for being outnumbered and outgunned by using hit-and-run tactics, psychological warfare, and crafty thinking to save the day. Notably, when he is present at Joe Takagi's death, he doesn't take the opportunity to charge in like a regular ActionHero because he notes that if he did so, he'd be dead too. It's played much straighter in the other films, however.
108* OnlyAFleshWound: Has a foot sliced wide open enough to leave a trail of blood by broken glass in the first film, and is still able to run and win fistfights with just a mild limp. He's shot in the shoulder blade not long after, and is fine in the next shot.
109* TheOnlyOne:
110** In the first movie, he's in the building seeing everything up-close, so he is able to respond to the criminals effectively. However, the authorities have their playbook and go through it step-by-step -- despite it becoming increasingly obvious that the criminals have ''read'' that playbook and either respond with a specific countermeasure or integrate it into their plans.
111** In ''Film/DieHard2'', the terrorists are renegade U.S. troops, the military troops sent to take out the terrorists are in cahoots with them, and for most of the movie the airport security guards actively oppose [=McClane=]'s heroic efforts.
112** From ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'':
113--> '''Farrell:''' Then why are you doing this?\
114 '''[=McClane:=]''' Because there's nobody else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it. But there's not, so we're doing it.\
115'''Farrell:''' Ah. That's what makes you that guy.
116* PapaWolf: Despite his strained relationship with both his children, he would go to great lengths to save them.
117* PermaStubble: John has a noticable 5 O' Clock Shadow in the third movie, because he was pulled out of bed while still hungover from a night of hard drinking. He remains unshaven in the 4th movie as well (he was up all night borderline stalking his daughter, and then had to go all the way from NYC to DC).
118* PragmaticHero: John is willing to resort to underhanded measures to save lives, such as dropping a corpse on a police cruiser windshield, or lying to a civilian about where a bomb was found to enlist his help.
119* PreAssKickingOneLiner: When John is told by gunman Tony that "Policemen have rules,", John proceeds to remark "That's what my captain keeps telling me," before engaging Tony in combat.
120* PreMortemOneLiner: John has made a smart-ass remark before assassinating his enemies on more than one occasion, notably wishing Hans Gruber a "happy trails" after shooting him out the window.
121* ProhibitedHeroSavesTheDay: Despite initially attempting to remain uninvolved as instructed when the LAPD attempt to enter Nakatomi, John ends up intervening when Hans has heavy weaponry fired on the police personnel.
122* RightManInTheWrongPlace: He was just there for a party and turned out to be the guy made to seriously derail a perfectly good plan.
123* SamaritanSyndrome: John feels remorseful over the people he can't save, even if, like Harry Ellis, they betray him.
124* SaveTheJerk: Despite Harry Ellis betraying John to save his own skin, John attempts to convince Ellis to save himself by admitting he doesn't know John. Hans kills Ellis regardless, much to John's frustration.
125* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules:
126-->'''Simon''': John. In the back of the truck you are driving, there is $13 billion worth in gold bullion. I wonder if a deal would be out of the question?\
127'''John''': Yeah, I got a deal for you: Crawl out from under that rock you hiding under and I'll drive this truck up your ass.
128* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Despite the fact that John does not want to be involved in the hostage situations, John nonetheless intervenes despite the objections of Deputy Chief Robinson in order to mitigate civilian and police casualties, consequences be damned.
129* SelfDeprecation: Many of his stings. Sometimes, as he's talking to himself, though he's rarely that harsh with himself. ("Oh, John. What the fuck are you doing?")
130* SherlockScan: He is able to deduce quite a bit about the {{Mooks}} inside the office just by picking up on subtle clues in their attire and actions.
131* ShirtlessScene: After being forced to run across broken glass in bare feet, he uses his wifebeater to improvise bandages and spends the last act of the movie shirtless.
132* SirSwearsALot: Outside of his catchphrase, he spends a lot of time cursing, blaspheming, and insulting people. Oddly enough, it seems to be a JustifiedTrope - he's only vulgar during high stress crisis situations, and seems reasonably soft spoken when off duty.
133* SleevesAreForWimps: His IconicOutfit is a singlet (aka wife-beater aka A-shirt) and slacks. Shoes are optional.
134* SmokingIsCool: He smokes a pack by himself in the first film, which takes place over the course of a few hours. He's also a grade-A badass. They also help him [[CigaretteOfAnxiety deal with being scared shitless.]]
135* TheSnarkKnight: John makes sarcastic quips at the expense of almost everyone he meets, himself included.
136* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Whenever John meets someone who is snarkier then he is, there's bound to be an exchange of sarcasm. Much of Hans and John's exchanges involve heavy sarcasm, with Hans notably calling John "Mr. Cowboy" and John responding with "Yippee Ki Yay, Motherfucker".
137* SpannerInTheWorks: If you are a bad guy planning something bad and he's anywhere close, John [=McClane=] will stop you.
138* StepfordSnarker: On the exterior, John is sarcastic. On the interior, he's weary and frustrated, as well as a nervous wreck.
139* SupportingProtagonist: John is less prominent of a character in ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard'', as the movie seems to focus more on Jack and his mission to bring down Chagarin [[spoiler:and later Komarov.]]
140* TaughtByExperience: AllThereInTheManual with regard to his hand to hand combat skills. A throwaway stage direction in his fight against Karl describes [=McClane=] as bringing "everything from the street."
141* TookALevelInJerkass: He's grumpier in the fourth movie, somewhat forced to punch a civillian to aprehend his vehicle, but still a good man underneath. {{Justified|Trope}} because he ''was'' very alienated from loved ones during the time, so it might have been somewhat understandable.
142* TranquilFury: John is understandably irate to discover that Hans attempted mass murder in order to cover up a robbery, but as fuming as he is, his reaction is relatively subdued and somewhat sarcastic.
143* {{Troll}}: He tends to [[IShallTauntYou taunt his enemies]] in some creative ways. Most notably in the first film, he sends the corpse of the first {{Mook}} he kills down the elevator with a message written on his jumper indicating that he now has his weapon. He doesn't just do this for shits and giggles, though. He's hiding on top of the elevator listening in and taking notes. Later on, Holly sees [[TheDragon Karl]] fly into a rage and notes that only John can make someone that mad.
144-->'''John [=McClane=]:''' You should've heard your brother squeal when I broke his fucking neck!
145* UnskilledButStrong: Downplayed in the first three films and PlayedStraight in the later films. John clearly lacks any formal training in hand-to-hand, but almost every up close fight he has with the villains shows that he puts all his power into his punches, and his [[MadeOfIron ability to tank insane amounts of damage]] make him much more dangerous than most fighters. The fact that he has no issue whatsoever [[CombatPragmatist doing whatever he can to gain an advantage]] and is [[GeniusBruiser smart enough to often figure out how to turn a fight to his advantage]] also help.
146* VillainKiller: He always finds himself going mostly solo against armed and organized baddies. In the first film, a baddie taunts John that he should always exploit a chance to kill a mortal adversary; John took that advice to heart and forthwith subtracted baddies without mercy.
147* WeaponSpecialization: His use of the Beretta 92 (specifically, the [=92FS=] variant) in the first three films is one of cinema's most iconic appearances of the gun until he loses it at the end of the third film.
148* WeDoTheImpossible: Never mind anything else this overworked NYPD cop does, he takes out a helicopter with a police car. He's just a mook that always ends up in the wrong place at the right time, or as they say in ''Live Free or Die Hard'', "That's what makes you That Guy." He's never the first guy anyone goes to in an out-of-control terrorist crisis in the films, doesn't get any accolades, and it is in fact suggested in the 4th film that his police department and many other law enforcement agencies consider his actions to be a fluke or an embarrassment. Somehow however, he always ends up being right in the middle of the terrorist plots he thwarts.
149* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He's rather terrified of heights and flying. In fact, the entire reason he was shoeless most of the film was on the advice of a fellow plane passenger he took off his shoes, and walked around for a few minutes with toes clenched to get over the anxiety from his cross country plane trip.
150* WorkingClassHero: The ultimate everyman, he learned everything he knew from on the job honest policing in the NYPD. Then becomes a generic SuperCop in ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard''.
151* WouldHitAGirl: John has no compunctions taking on female combatants, whether he ends up using his fists, a computer monitor, or a car.
152* XanatosSpeedChess: John is excellent at thinking on his feet, as shown when he drops a gunman's corpse on Sgt. Al Powell's cruiser to spook the latter into calling for backup rather than let him walk away without doing anything.
153[[/folder]]
154
155[[folder:Holly]]
156!!Holly Gennero/[=McClane=]
157!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/BonnieBedelia [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Anne Deleuze (French)[[/labelnote]]
158!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/DieHard'' | ''Film/DieHard2''
159
160John [=McClane's=] estranged wife. A hard working businesswoman who cares deeply for John and her children despite the separation.
161----
162* EightiesHair: Got a typical 80s perm.
163* AdaptationalHeroism: In the novel the first film is based on, Holly is an unpleasant person who cheats on her husband with Ellis, has a cocaine habit and helped fund a hostile military takeover in Chile, killing hundreds of innocents. She's nowhere near as awful in the movies, trying to help John through what means available.
164* TheCameo:
165** She has a couple lines of dialogue (yelling at John over the phone after he doesn't answer) in ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'', played by an uncredited actress.
166** Her picture (via driver's license) is seen in the fourth film, which also confirms that she and John divorced two years after the events of the third film.
167* DamselOutOfDistress:
168** While she can't join the fight with her husband, she is the one person who is able to reliably get a rise out of Hans Gruber repeatedly in hopes of making him careless. Furthermore, she is able to negotiate with him on behalf of her coworkers and does everything she can to hide her relationship with John for as long as she can to avoid complicating his fight with Gruber's gang.
169** In ''Film/DieHard2'', she is the only one able to shut Thornberg up when he is recklessly creating a panic with his news story.
170* DeadpanSnarker: Just like her husband, Holly has a smart mouth. It must run in the family.
171* DefiantCaptive: While she is held hostage like her co-workers, she doesn't hesitate to confront Hans and insult him when she needs to help one of her co-workers, or hopefully anger him enough to make a rash mistake John can exploit. [[spoiler:Even when Hans finds out she is married to John, and she finds herself in real danger, she doesn't hesitate to insult him]].
172* HighPoweredCareerWoman: Holly is an executive at Nakatomi Corporation, and her husband is a police officer, which causes a bit of strife between them due to Holly's work taking her to Los Angeles, and John's work keeping him in New York.
173* LoveCannotOvercome: John and Holly clearly care about each other, but their marriage is already strained in the first movie. While ''Film/DieHard'' ends with them back together, ultimately their relationship can't survive John's ChronicHeroSyndrome. Before the third film, Holly leaves John, and by the fourth, it's confirmed (in a FreezeFrameBonus) that they've long since divorced.
174* MarriedToTheJob: Moved to the west coast for the sake of her career while John stayed in New York.
175* MeaningfulName: The film takes place around Christmas and her name is Holly.
176* ShowingUpChauvinists: Holly is implied to be a far more capable executive than her co-worker, the chauvinistic Harry Ellis.
177* SparedByTheAdaptation: Her counterpart in ''Nothing Lasts Forever'' goes out the window with Gruber, but John saves her in time in the first film.
178* YouAreInCommandNow: She winds up being the hostage negotiating with the terrorists after [[spoiler:Takagi is killed]].
179-->'''Holly:''' I have a request.\
180'''Hans:''' What idiot put you in charge?\
181'''Holly:''' You did. When you murdered my boss. Now everybody's looking to me. Personally, I'd pass on the job. I don't enjoy being this close to you.
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:Lucy]]
185!!Lucy Gennero/[=McClane=]
186!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead, Taylor Fry (first film) [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/AlexandraGarijo (French)[[/labelnote]]
187!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/DieHard'' | ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' | ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard''
188
189The daughter of John and Holly [=McClane=].
190----
191* AscendedExtra: Small role in the first ''Die Hard'', turns out to have a major one in the fourth one.
192* DefiantCaptive: While Gabriel still kidnaps her, Lucy isn't about to get all upset about it.
193-->'''Lucy''': (over the phone as Gabriel's forcing her to beg for her life): Daddy? There's only five of them now.
194* DemotedToExtra: In the fifth film, where her brother was the one that was taking stage. She only appears taking John to the airport, talking to him on the phone in the extended cut, and [[spoiler:picking both of the [=McClane=]s from the airport]].
195* FieryRedhead: Red hair and a defiant, headstrong and snarky personality.
196* LikeParentLikeChild: Defiant, headstrong, snarky and very able to put a useful fight against her captors like her father.
197-->'''Matt''': Wow, I know that tone. It's just weird hearing it come from someone with... hair.
198* RescueRomance: At the end, it looks like Lucy and Matt are flirting ''hard'' with each other. This causes Lucy's dad even ''more'' pain than anything Gabriel inflicted on him...
199[[/folder]]
200
201[[folder:Jack]]
202!!John "Jack" [=McClane=] Jr.
203!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JaiCourtney, Noah Land (first film) [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Damien Ferrette (French)[[/labelnote]]
204!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/DieHard'' | ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard''
205
206The son of John and Holly [=McClane=].
207----
208* ActionDuo: Jack and his dad both engage in combat alongside each other.
209* AscendedExtra: Like his sister before him, small role in the first movie and gets to hang with his father in the fifth movie, taking down terrorists with him.
210* CallingTheOldManOut: Considering he goes by "Jack" instead of "John Jr.", [[CallingParentsByTheirName he calls his dad "John"]] and they were estranged for so long that [[spoiler:John had no idea where his son even ''was'' before learning he was in Russia, let alone being a CIA agent]].
211* TheChessmaster: Compared to [[IndyPloy his father]], Jack's plan took three whole years to set up and he presumably accounted for everything... [[RightManInTheWrongPlace except his dad.]]
212* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Jack ''wanted'' to be arrested so he could infiltrate TheMafiya[=/=]terrorists/Mafiya-terrorists and then his estranged dad suddenly appears to rescues him with a ''hugely destructive three-way car chase'' (John (small truck) vs. Jack (large truck) vs. Mafiya (giant armored truck)).
213* DeadpanSnarker: Gets it from his dad.
214-->'''John:''' Need a hug?\
215'''Jack:''' We're not really a hugging family.\
216'''John:''' Damn straight.
217* {{Foil}}: The HBO making-of seems to indicate that he is -- or wants to be -- TheChessmaster to John's IndyPloy master since [[spoiler:he's a CIA agent who deliberately puts himself in dangerous situations, is described as "by-the-book", and his secret mission took three years to set up]].
218* LikeFatherLikeSon: It's pretty clear he's just as badass as his dad.
219-->'''Jack''': [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Someone's gotta stop him.]]\
220'''John''': Atta boy.
221[[/folder]]
222
223!!Recurring Characters
224
225[[folder:Powell]]
226!!Sgt. Al Powell
227[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/37d3f6ac_24f6_4950_b202_b03ba5847488.jpeg]]
228[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[DeadpanSnarker I hear ya, partner. LA's finest are on it, so light 'em if you got 'em.]]"'']]
229!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ReginaldVelJohnson [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Roger Lumont (French)[[/labelnote]]
230!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/DieHard'' | ''Film/DieHard2''
231
232A Los Angeles beat cop who becomes John [=McClane's=] only ally outside the building in the original ''Die Hard''. He reprises the role for the second film for a short appearance.
233----
234* AccidentalChildKillerBackstory: Powell shot a kid one night. The kid was holding a toy gun, Powell thought it was real. Until John showed up and needed his help, Powell was a desk jokey pushing papers.
235* TheAtoner: Powell shot a 13-year-old kid who was holding a realistic-looking toy gun. The guilt he feels over the incident causes him to believe that he'll never again be able to pull his gun on somebody. [[spoiler:Thankfully, he proves himself wrong by drawing his gun and killing Karl, [[DragonTheirFeet who attempts to kill [=McClane=] at the very end of the first film]].]]
236* BatmanGrabsAGun: He has no stomach for using his sidearm in the first film, thanks to shooting a young boy with a toy gun. [[spoiler:In the end, he ends up shooting [[DragonTheirFeet Karl]] before he can take out John.]]
237* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Powell is never seen or mentioned again after the second film.
238* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: His introduction makes him seem rather buffoonish and lazy; buying a store out of its Twinkie supply and giving up on investigating Nakatomi Plaza for disturbances after realizing how many floors he would have to check, but the remainder of the film shows him to be genuinely competent and reliable, to the point of being the OnlySaneMan of the law enforcement outside of the building.
239* DeadpanSnarker: He gives his superior a hard time during the Nakatomi crisis due to Robinson's general incompetence. The best line was an ad lib when Robinson is trying to look professional for the FBI agents that arrived on the scene.
240-->'''Powell:''' Need a breath mint?\
241''[Robinson gives him a DeathGlare]''
242* DemotedToExtra: Major character in the first film, gets all of one scene in the second, then is never seen again.
243* DeskJockey:
244** [=McClane=] and Powell have a conversation that jokingly derides desk jockey cops, up until Powell reveals why he's now a desk jockey instead of patrolling the streets. This is because Powell made the horrible mistake of [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet shooting a kid with a fake gun]]. [[LetsGetDangerous He still proves he can get the job done]] when Karl [[DragonTheirFeet comes back from the dead for one last shot at [=McClane=]]].
245** The second movie then shows that he's still in the desk job. Of course, it's better paying and safer than a beat cop job.
246* DoesntLikeGuns: He states that the reason why he can't use a gun anymore is because he accidentally shot a kid who was using a toy gun. Later, when Karl begins to attack [=McClane=] at the end, Al pulls out his gun and guns down Karl.
247* DonutMessWithACop: In his first scene, he's buying twinkies, for a change, by the dozen. The clerk remarks on it, and Powell claims they're for his pregnant wife.
248* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Just before he's assigned to investigate the Nakatomi, you can tell he's a good guy because even though a checkout clerk makes DonutMessWithACop jokes to tease him, Powell reacts like it's ActuallyPrettyFunny and [[NiceToTheWaiter drops some change into the tip jar]].
249* HiddenDepths: Despite "only" being a desk jockey, Powell is remarkably insightful and clear-headed. He identifies [=McClane=] is a cop just by the language he uses, and repeatedly points out how misguided and arrogant his law enforcement superiors are. And as the ending proves, [[spoiler: when it's crunch time, he is ''definitely'' capable of gunning down a bad guy, despite doubting he'd ever be able to draw his gun again.]]
250* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Becomes this to an increasingly exhausted [=McClane=] in the second half of the film. Being on the ground away from the action, there's not much he can do other than offer emotional support.
251* MissionControl: Of a sort. He gives [=McClane=] updates on what the police and FBI are up to on the ground, allowing [=McClane=] to plan his moves accordingly.
252* MyGreatestFailure: He cannot forgive himself for shooting a kid with a plastic gun. He averts this when he fires [[spoiler:on Karl to save John at the end of the film]] in MyGreatestSecondChance.
253* OnlySaneMan: He's the only LAPD cop who realizes what's happening.
254* RevolversAreJustBetter: Unlike John, Al carries a Smith & Wesson 15 revolver.
255* ShootHimHeHasAWallet: Provides the page quote. He shot a 13-year-old who had a toy ray gun in the dark, which got him relegated to desk duty.
256* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He loves eating Twinkies.
257* UnderestimatingBadassery: Everyone but [=McClane=] seems to think of him as a mere desk-jockey, but he manages to kill Karl, the second gunman in command.
258[[/folder]]
259
260[[folder:Thornberg]]
261!!Richard '[[ADickInName Dick]]' Thornberg
262!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/WilliamAtherton [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]] Bernard Woringer[[/labelnote]]
263!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/DieHard'' | ''Film/DieHard2''
264
265A sleazy and ambitious reporter that hounds the [=McClane=] family in the first two movies.
266----
267* ActorAllusion: His name is Richard Thornberg and is referred to as "Dick". His actor William Atherton played Walter Peck in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' who was referred to as "dickless".
268* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Last seen lying in the snow on a Dulles runway unable to stand after being tazed during the finale of the second movie. Hasn't made an appearance in any of the following movies since.
269* {{Determinator}}: He's at least determined in getting news stories on the air, even though he's completely relentless and unethical about it.
270* ADickInName: He spends the entire first movie trying to get a scoop and endangering John and Holly in the process (not to mention doing so by threatening their children's nanny with deportation in order to get a televised interview with them).
271* DirtyCoward: Revealed to be willing to sell others out to save his own skin in the second film. Holly is not surprised.
272* EntitledBastard: He expects special treatment on a plane after doing a news story on the declining quality of airline service.
273* EvilRedhead: Downplayed. He isn't the villain but his actions in both films, especially the second goes from just unethical to outright malicious.
274* FaceDeathWithDignity: Averted. He was crying as the plane he was residing in with Mrs. [=McClane=] was preparing to crash land since they had no more fuel left in their tanks. (Notably, he was the only one shown crying.)
275* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Though "friend" is being generous, as most of his own colleagues clearly can't stand him.
276* HateSink: He ends up exposing who Holly really is by threatening the [=McClane=] housekeeper with deportation and terrorizes their kids all for the sake of a story. Possibly the greatest comeuppance example: he gets punched by Holly at the end. He even gets zapped with a stun gun by Holly in ''Die Hard 2'' after revealing on international TV that the airport has been hijacked, thereby causing a panic that the authorities were desperately trying to avoid.
277* ImmoralJournalist: In ''Die Hard'', he threatens to have the family nanny deported if she doesn't let him interview Holly and John [=McClane=]'s children. The resultant interview outs Holly as John's wife to the terrorists, leading to potentially fatal consequences. And in ''Die Hard 2'', he goes LargeHam on a live broadcast that terrorists have seized control of Dulles Airport. In reality, the terrorists have simply hacked into the runway wiring, leaving them unlit. This news triggers a panic stampede in the terminal itself.
278* ItsAllAboutMe:
279** He's smug reporter whose own fame and glory matter more than the safety of others. In the first movie, he reveals her relationship to John on TV, and thus to Hans by forcing his way into Holly's house, blackmailing her maid, and putting her children in the spotlight.
280** In the second movie, he expects special treatment on the plane, and when learns of the terrorists plot, he reveals it to the airport and embellishes the extent of the danger, causing a panic at the airport that impedes John and airport security from taking down the rogue soldiers.
281* {{Jerkass}}: Is obsessed with his job, insults his co-workers, is generally rude and callous towards people, and doesn't care if his actions cause harm or get other people in trouble.
282* JerkassHasAPoint: In trying to get into the [=McClane=] house to interview their children (already scummy enough, given both parents are in the middle of a hostage situation), he goes so far as to threaten Holly's housekeeper with deportation if she doesn't let him in. But he does also mention that this is the last opportunity the children will have to speak to their parents; he's ultimately wrong and not doing so from a place of genuine concern, but it's a quite reasonable assumption to make in the moment. He's also not wrong in the sequel when he says that putting Holly near him is in violation of his restraining order.
283* LaserGuidedKarma:
284** He endangered Holly by inadvertently revealing her relation to John on television, resulting in her being taken hostage. When he requests a live interview, she appropriately punches him in the face.
285** In the second film, he acts like a smarmy ass on the plane, and later causes a panic at the airport by revealing and embellishing the terrorist plot impeding John from taking down the terrorists, and possibly injuring hundreds. Holly (probably still sore from getting her kidnapped) tases him.
286* MeaningfulName: He really is a dick.
287* SlimeBall: He is deliberately portrayed as a total sleazeball. He seems to have no moral or ethical compass, breaking many ethical journalism guidelines such as the hacking of John's files, forcing his way into their family home, and broadcasting their children without consent. In fact, his Editor doesn't even seem to like him.
288* SmugSnake: He's a self-absorbed, ruthless and arrogant opportunist who takes advantage of others for his own benefit.
289* StrawmanNewsMedia: He's a parody of over-the-top news reporters that hound people for dramatic news stories without regards of privacy, ethics or safety.
290* TheToothHurts: In the second film, Holly reveals that punch in the last film knocked out two teeth.
291* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His entire purpose in both films he appears in is to unintentionally cause trouble. In the first film, he makes the villains aware that the woman they've negotiated with is John's wife, thus getting a key hostage. In the second film he causes a massive panic in the airport, most likely injuring and possibly killing many people, as well as hampering John's efforts against the terrorists.
292[[/folder]]
293
294!!''Die Hard'' (terrorists)
295
296[[folder: Hans]]
297!!Hans Gruber
298[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/HansGruber_8969.jpg]]
299[[caption-width-right:350:''"I am '''an exceptional''' thief, Mrs. [=McClane=]. And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite."'']]
300->''”And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.”''
301->'''Played By:''' Creator/AlanRickman
302->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/PascalRenwick
303->'''Dubbed in Korean By:''' Creator/SeonghoShin
304
305A self-described "classically educated professional" criminal, Hans Gruber was originally an anarchist, serving in the radical ''Volksfrei'' (People's Freedom) group throughout TheSeventies - while there he learned how to successfully anticipate certain attacks and defenses and find ways of counteracting them. He eventually became disillusioned with anarchy and radicalism, becoming more interested in securing a big payday. He masterminds a heist of the Nakatomi Tower, using a terrorist pretense based on his former political sympathies to divert the authorities from his real agenda.
306----
307* ActuallyIAmHim: Subverted. When he encounters John in person for the first time, he fakes being an escaped hostage, but when he reveals his true identity, John reveals he had seen through the disguise and gave Hans an unloaded gun.
308* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Although part of it is acting, he can't help but break into a "are you kidding me?" laughing fit when [=McClane=] tells him he's literally just a cop from New York [[SpannerInTheWorks who ended up at the party by accident]].
309* AdaptationNameChange: The lead terrorist in ''Nothing Lasts Forever'', the source material for the first film, is named Anton "Red Tony" Grueber. Here, he's named Hans Gruber.
310* AintTooProudToBeg: He pretends to be one of the American employees believing John to be one of the terrorists, who begs for his life when confronted by John in the boiler room under the roof.
311* AMFMCharacterization: He hums Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" at one point.
312* AxCrazy: Downplayed, but definitely there. Hans isn't joking around when he makes demands, he '''will''' kill you if you don't do as he asks.
313* BadassInANiceSuit: Very well dressed. He even identifies Takagi's suit as (the fictional) John Phillips, London (presumably a bespoke tailor). He's also willing to get his hands dirty and shoot alongside his men.
314* BadBoss: [[spoiler:Brushes off Kristoff's warning that Karl is still on the roof when he blows it up.]]
315* BaitTheDog: He initially comes off as genuinely AffablyEvil and having a few scruples, [[PetTheDog even allowing a couch to be moved to the lobby so a pregnant woman can sit on it.]] [[spoiler:Then it turns out ''the'' critical part of his plan is to kill all of the hostages in one fell swoop.]] Though even this may have just been PragmaticVillainy considering calm hostages are easier to control.
316* BatmanGambit: His plan is completely dependent on the FBI cutting electrical power (per standard procedure), which disables the magnetic lock on the Nakatomi Plaza vault. The plan falls apart, however, thanks to a barefoot New York cop who just happened to be visiting his wife.
317* BeardOfEvil: Has a neatly trimmed beard and is ranked as the 46th greatest film villain of all time by the AFI.
318* BerserkButton: Holly gets a rise out of him by pointing out that for all his posturing and delusions of grandeur, all he's doing is stealing, or rather trying to steal, some money.
319* BreakoutVillain: Hans Gruber would become one of the most iconic villains of all time and become the TropeCodifier for intelligent action movie villains, which many subsequent villains would take inspiration from, and serve as a [[invoked]]StarMakingRole for Creator/AlanRickman. While the character himself couldn't return due to being dropped out of a skyscraper window while on his last job, they did manage to bring in his brother Simon Gruber for the third film who ended up being a worthy replacement.
320* BigBad: As the leader of the thieves and the one who spends the most time in contact with [=McClane=], he is the main villain of the first film.
321* BondVillainStupidity: He only slips into this at the ''very'' end, once everything has gone to hell and his plan has been foiled.
322* BriefAccentImitation: Alan Rickman put on such a convincing American accent, that Creator/JohnMcTiernan decided to extend the scene where he pretends to be a hostage in order to show it off. Given a CallBack in the third film when his brother (played by fellow Brit Creator/JeremyIrons) puts on a heavy Texas accent.
323* CardCarryingVillain: The first time he's given a BoringInsult ("you're nothing but a thief") by Holly, Hans puts a gun to her head and amends it with "I am an ''exceptional'' thief, and seeing that I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite!"
324* TheChessmaster: He set a new standard for intelligent mastermind villains when the film first came out. He planned for just about everything, and almost anything that could have been considered a problem was just factored into the overall plan, [[spoiler: such as the FBI responding to a terrorist attack instead of a robbery]]. John [=McClane=] was pretty much the only thing he hadn't planned on.
325* ColdHam: Hans is pure Alan Rickman on the stage, on his film debut. Most of his dialogue is bombastically understated, with plenty of his lines towards hostages, allies, and antagonists being delivered like theatrical recitations directed towards an audience he'd expect to thrill, seduce, or intimidate with his ostensible culture, wit, and menacing gravitas.
326-->'''Hans:''' I wanted this to be professional. Efficient, adult, cooperative, not a lot to ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life.
327* CombatPragmatist: During his shootout with John on the 33rd floor, Hans remembers that John doesn't have shoes and subsequently seizes the opportunity to injure him when he and Karl shoot out all the glass panes and force John to flee, injuring himself further by cutting up his feet and leaving the detonator bag behind. Now Hans can continue with the rest of his plan.
328* CountingToThree: He likes this trope. First, he uses the count-up on Takagi. When the latter doesn't give him the access code on three, he gets [[BoomHeadShot a headshot.]] Later, Gruber does the counting on John, but this time. his weapon [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets wasn't loaded]].
329--> '''Hans''': I'm going to count to three. [[ImpliedDeathThreat There will not be a four.]]
330* CulturedBadass:
331** Plays this up, comparing himself with UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, after taking over the Nakatomi Building.
332--->'''Hans:''' And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept, for there were [[VictoryIsBoring no more worlds to conquer]]... The benefits of a classical education.
333** Humorously, he is misquoting [[Literature/ParallelLives Plutarch]]'s "Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered ''one''", which is more accurate to [[SmallNameBigEgo his posturing]].
334* DeadpanSnarker:
335** Emphasis on deadpan. It comes with [[Creator/AlanRickman the territory]].
336--->'''Hans:''' Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way... so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life.
337** He's also snarky with Theo; when Theo says that it would take a miracle to take out the electromagnetic lock, Hans replies "It's Christmas, Theo, it's the time for miracles."
338* {{Deuteragonist}}: Almost qualifies as a VillainProtagonist since the audience spends almost as much time with him as with [=McClane=] and his heist is the driving force of the film. [[invoked]][[WordOfGod Writer Steven de Souza]] confirmed that Hans ''is'' the protagonist of the story.
339* DiabolicalMastermind: Planned the (almost) perfect heist.
340* DidntSeeThatComing: He planned for and/or anticipated ''everything''...except a New York cop showing up to see his estranged wife. Even with that SpannerInTheWorks, however, he manages to roll with the events and adapt on the fly to the point several times he outwits or counters [=McClane's=] attempts to stop him [[spoiler: with the plan only really coming undone when John managed to force the hostages off the roof to avoid the explosion, and even that wouldn't have been a problem if Karl [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim had just shot him when he had the chance rather than take his time with revenge]].]]
341* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Attempts to drag Holly down with him by grabbing her watch after he is shot, but [=McClane=] unclasps it, and Hans plummets to his death.]]
342* DissonantSerenity: He's always seen in a calm and composed mood even after murdering someone.
343* EarlyPersonalitySigns: Hans cites his interest in making models as a boy to his meticulous style as an adult.
344* EstablishingCharacterMoment:
345** He establishes the suave {{Chessmaster}} type of criminal he is when he's directing his goons to prep before taking the Nakatomi Christmas Party hostage. And then, after they burst in and spray the place with bullets, he gently chides the screaming, terrified, hostages to please, please be quiet, and allow him to speak.
346** He shows his refined taste when he compliments Takagi's suit.
347** He actually gets a few in quick succession. After his moment with the hostages at the party and complimenting Tagaki's suit in the elevator, he sees a scale model of Nakatomi Plaza and misquotes that when "Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer" (showing his ego) before nerding out over another model and commenting that he loved making models as a boy for "the exactness, attention to every conceivable detail" (showing that he's a meticulous planner). It shows that Hans is undeniably very smart but not quite as much as he thinks of himself as being.
348* EvenEvilHasStandards: Downplayed but he has a quiet distaste for Theo's InsufferableGenius demeanour.
349* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: Downplayed. He and his brother Simon didn't actually like each other, but Simon still tries to avenge him since "there's a difference between not liking your brother and not caring when some dumb Irish flatfoot knocks him out a window."
350* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: The main provider of BlackComedy in the film. At times, one gets the impression that Hans enjoys showing off his own witticism even more than running away from the heist very rich.
351* EvilSoundsDeep: Rickman's bass voice is put to great use.
352* FacialDialogue: Beautifully expresses a great deal of disgust and contempt without words.
353* FascinatingEyebrow: He pulls some cool eyebrow raises. After all, Creator/AlanRickman IS Mr. Eyebrow.
354* FauxAffablyEvil: As a side effect of being played by Alan Rickman, Hans is as horrifically charismatic as he is intelligent. To this end, Hans plays up a [[WickedCultured sophisticated]] image, and displays a façade of politeness towards the hostages. However, if he doesn't get his way, he feels no revulsion towards killing those in his way without batting an eye. He's rather blasé about killing Takagi and Ellis, and he's rather angered when Holly calls him a "common thief."
355-->'''Hans''' (almost snarling): I am an ''exceptional'' thief.
356* FauxFluency: His German is accented with bad grammar.
357* {{Foil}}: To John. Hans is cold, calculating, and plans things out to the nines while John is a CowboyCop, a self-proclaimed "pain in the ass" who makes it his objective to throw as many wrenches into Hans's plan as possible.
358* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: He gets furious when Holly points out that he's nothing but a common thief. He's not a common thief, he's an ''exceptional'' thief.
359* {{Jerkass}}: Putting aside the fact that he's an attempted mass murderer, he's just a rude and condescending individual. His facial expressions alone barely conceal his contempt for others.
360* KickTheDog:
361** Killing Takagi for not knowing the password and codes.
362** And of course, [[spoiler: his actual plan for the hostages is to simply LeaveNoSurvivors.]]
363* LaughablyEvil: Downplayed. Hans is pretty serious but occasionally gets some chuckles by being a DeadpanSnarker par excellence.
364* LeaveNoSurvivors: Hans intends to eliminate all of the hostages in an explosion to fake his own death.
365* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: His response to being shot and falling through a sheet of glass is mild annoyance. Becomes OhCrap when he's dropped 30+ stories to his death.
366* ManOfWealthAndTaste: His henchmen are all extremely well-dressed, but he takes it up a notch with a double-breasted suit & tie.
367* MasterActor: When he encounters [=McClane=] while checking the explosives on the roof, he convincingly acts the part of an escaped hostage, even faking an American accent. [[spoiler: Subverted when [=McClane=] isn't fooled and gives him an unloaded gun.]]
368* NearVillainVictory: Apart from a few hiccups, his heist ''almost'' goes to plan [[spoiler: until [=McClane=] chases the hostages downstairs from the roof.]]
369* TheNicknamer: Calls [=McClane=] "[[AmericansAreCowboys Mr. Cowboy]]" until he learns his real name.
370* NonActionBigBad: Downplayed as he never fights John one-on-one and it's implied he wouldn't have much chance even if he did but he knows how to use a gun and definitely isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, personally executing Tagaki and trying to kill John and later Holly. He also was in the military prior so he likely has combat experience but prefers not to fight hand to hand now.
371* NoNonsenseNemesis: He doesn't mess around with [=McClane=], trying to shoot him point blank in the face, wounding him with broken glass, and immediately trying to blow the roof when he finds out the hostages are coming back downstairs. He lapses into BondVillainStupidity at the very end after his VillainousBreakdown, but points for trying.
372* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Inverted. Most Germans who learn Enlish speak it with A US accent because most German dialects, like most British dialects, are non-rhotic (they don't pronounce the letter "r"), so American English (which is mostly rhotic), sounds more foreign. Hans speaking with a rhotic, but British, accent is entirely in character. He sounds like the people near him, but he sounds a little bit foreign. Just foreign enough.
373* NotSoAboveItAll: He's clearly having fun bullshitting the police and FBI with his "terrorist demands".
374* OhCrap: His look as John undoes Holly's watch, letting Hans plummet to his death, just screams this. This was even invoked as Alan Rickman was let go earlier than he was told, meaning his look of surprise was genuine.
375* PetTheDog: Allowing a couch to be moved out to the lobby so that the very pregnant woman could sit on it and the hostages to take supervised bathroom breaks. [[spoiler: But then he sends everybody onto the roof that's [[BaitTheDog wired with explosives]] anyway]].
376* PredecessorVillain: To [[spoiler: his brother]] Simon in the third film.
377* RasputinianDeath: He gets wounded when he's shot in the gut, crashes through a window, and plummets 30 stories to his demise.
378* SharpDressedMan: Hans wears a smart suit and notices in the elevator how nice Mr. Takagi's suit is:
379--> '''Hans''': Nice suit... John Phillips, London. I have two myself. Rumor has it Arafat buys his there.
380* SmallNameBigEgo: Played with. He speaks of himself as basically the Napoleon of crime, but most of his big speeches about his amazing success are long before he's managed a single scheme, and his WickedCultured aspects break down if one's willing to actually check his sources. His BerserkButton, as Holly discovers, is being reminded that for all his delusions of grandeur, he's ultimately nothing more than an ambitiously unsuccessful thief. However, he still gets very close to succeeding and easily backs up his threats.
381* TheSociopath: Ruthless, totally lacking in empathy, charismatic, intelligent but prone to DisproportionateRetribution. He's got it all. Alan Rickman took note of this for his performance. His idea was that Gruber wasn't especially malicious towards others or even outright evil; he just wanted money and, if heads rolled because of it, then no skin off his back.
382* SoftSpokenSadist: Hans rarely raises his voice when speaking to the hostages, Takagi, or Ellis, which makes him more sinister.
383* SurroundedByIdiots: Hans is (in his own words) an exceptional thief, but his henchmen are less so. Karl and Marco both pass up excellent chances to kill [=McClane=] (Karl due to it being [[ItsPersonal personal]] and Marco due to BondVillainStupidity), which later causes the whole plan to become undone.
384* TakingYouWithMe: Defied by [=McClane=]. Hans attempts to drag Holly down with him by grabbing her watch after he is shot and shoot John at the same time, but [=McClane=] unclasps it, and Hans plummets to his death.
385* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, since he and his men actually aren't terrorists, just pretending as part of the cover for their heist. He even invokes it at one point, as he calls for his "brothers" in captivity around the world, all of them based on real groups -- Northern Irish mercenaries ("New Provo Front"), Quebecois separatists ("Liberte de Quebec"), and Sri Lankan ethnic nationalists ("Asian Dawn") -- to be freed and flown to Nakatomi by helicopter in two hours; not only is this an impossible demand that has everyone in the LAPD scrambling, but it helps obscure the motives of he and his men even further.
386* TheUnfettered: Looks like nothing can stop him from trying to achieve his goal. If he has to kill someone or sacrifice his own men if that would mean putting his hands on the millions, then so be it.
387* TooCleverByHalf: Hans is undeniably very smart but he's still well short of the effortlessly brilliant, cultured renaissance man he clearly thinks of himself as being, with his attempts at showing off his historical intellect just highlighting the gulf. One of the few times he ever gets genuinely angry is when Holly points out that for all his posturing, he's ultimately just a common thief.
388* TranquilFury: When Hans is frustrated by Takagi's lack of cooperation, he calmly expresses frustration that he has to do things "the hard way".
389* VillainousBreakdown: He acts very calm and collected up until the point where Holly calls him "just a common thief", at which point you can see his façade of civility crumble into derangement.
390* VillainProtagonist: Well, Villain ''Deuteragonist''. Hans gets just as much screen time as John does, and his actions set the plot into motion. From a musical standpoint, Hans is very much this trope as much of the score features his {{Leitmotif}} "Ode to Joy" while John has little musical consistency or theme.
391* VillainRespect: He doesn't give it often, but he does seem to give some, begrudgingly, when Holly steps up in the absence of her boss and makes some requests for the hostages in calm, logical terms he can't really argue with.
392* WellIntentionedExtremist: Hilariously subverted. He pretends to be this for the purposes of the heist, which results in him almost gleefully bullshitting the police and FBI with a fake MotiveRant while he's trying to stall for time and demanding the release of several imprisoned members of terrorist organizations, including one called "Asian Dawn" that he flat-out admits to Karl he read about in ''TIME Magazine'' and might not even exist.
393* WesternTerrorist: [[spoiler: Subverted, his group uses this as a cover for committing straightforward crimes, though Gruber is a former terrorist himself. Presumably, he and the others have lost their radical ideals and now just want to make a heap of money and retire]].
394* WickedPretentious:
395** He lampshades this by quoting Plutarch's "Life of Alexander" and then comments, "Benefits of a classical education." Of course, he not only gets the quote wrong, but seems to miss the point of it being that Alexander realized he'd ''failed'' to conquer the world, making his comparison to Alexander of Macedon a bit of {{Foreshadowing}} in addition to [[SmallNameBigEgo remarkably pretentious.]]
396** Amusingly enough, he can't even get pop culture right either.
397---> '''Hans:''' Still a cowboy, Mr [=McClane=]. Americans, all the same. Well, this time Creator/JohnWayne does not walk into the sunset with Creator/GraceKelly.\
398'''John:''' That was Creator/GaryCooper, asshole!
399* WorthyOpponent: Is one of the few terrorists who takes [=McClane=] seriously. Also extends to a meta level, as fans note that Hans is the series's best villain.
400* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:One of the hostages he tried to blow up on the roof was [[ImperiledInPregnancy a pregnant woman]].]]
401* WoundedGazelleGambit: He pretends to be an escaped partygoer when he first meets John [=McClane=].
402* XanatosSpeedChess: As soon as he runs into John [=McClane=], he's able to think on the spot to fake an American accent and pretend he's a hostage. During his time with John, he's very observant and notices he's going barefoot. Once John has his back to Hans, he calls for Karl, Franco, and Fritz, which comes in handy when the gun he pointed at John has no bullets. In their next shootout, he takes advantage of this by having his men fire on the glass around where John is taking cover, injuring him and causing him to drop the bag with the detonator charges Hans needed.
403[[/folder]]
404
405[[folder: Karl]]
406!!Karl Vreski
407[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dh1___karl.jpg]]
408[[caption-width-right:350:''"We are both professionals. This is personal."'']]
409->'''Played By:''' Creator/AlexanderGodunov
410->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/BernardMetraux
411Hans Gruber's second-in-command, and the primary enforcer for the Nakatomi crew.
412----
413%%* AxCrazy: "I want blood!"
414* BarbarianLonghair: The script makes a point of saying he looks "like a rocker."
415* BondVillainStupidity: See below. He has the drop on [=McClane=] and a rifle to his head and has made it clear that he just wants [=McClane=] dead. Rather than blow his head off, Karl ''lets [=McClane=] knock his gun away'', leading to a fistfight [[spoiler: which Karl loses. Bonus points - if Karl had just shot [=McClane=] then and there, their plan to blow the hostages would've worked, and he and the remaining thieves would've been able to split $640 million between the six of them.]] Whoops. This is probably justified through ItsPersonal.
416%%* ChainsawGood: Whips out a chainsaw to cut the phone lines while Tony is disabling them.
417* ClickHello: Puts his gun to [=McClane=]'s cheek when the latter realizes that the roof is [[spoiler:wired with explosives.]]
418* CombatPragmatist: Zigzagged, whilst he grabs [=McClane=]'s pistol during their fight and shoots him in the shoulder with it, he makes the mistake of toying with John when he gains the upper hand in the fight.
419%%* DarkIsEvil: Wears a black jumpsuit.
420* {{Determinator}}: He'll stop at nothing to kill John.
421* TheDragon: Hans's right-hand man and the biggest threat to [=McClane=].
422* DragonTheirFeet: Survives [[spoiler: after his boss's death to make one last attempt on [=McClane's=] life. He's subsequently killed by Powell.]]
423* DragonWithAnAgenda: He's deeply affected when [=McClane=] kills his brother Tony and subsequently spends the rest of the film hell-bent on killing [=McClane=]. A case in point is his conversation with Hans before [[spoiler: Ellis comes to talk]]; Hans is unconcerned with killing John and just wants him unable to cause trouble, but Karl insists on taking revenge by killing him.
424-->'''Hans''': If you listened to me he would be neutralized already.
425-->'''Karl''': I don't want neutral, I want dead.
426* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He casually fires up a chainsaw and cuts through all the building's phone lines, to the dismay of his brother who'd been trying to hack them, showing his impulsive side and his tendency to ignore good sense and advice.
427* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He's deeply affected by the death of his [[BigBrotherInstinct younger brother Tony]] and subsequently spends the rest of the film [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge hell-bent on killing]] [=McClane=].
428* EvilCannotComprehendGood: A downplayed example. He thought Takagi would handover the code to the vault, and made a bet with Theo who thought he wouldn't. Theo is proven right, and Karl is annoyed as he hands over a $20 bill.
429* EvilCounterpart: Can be seen as one to John. Both are {{Determinator}}s who are MadeOfIron who would do anything for their loved ones.
430* FlippingTheTable: When he hears his brother Tony is dead, he flips the desk in Holly's office.
431* GeniusBruiser: Karl may be impulsive, but he's not stupid. He almost catches [=McClane=] several times and gets the drop on him before their fight, throwing John's pistol away and crushing the radio. He also predicts that [=McClane=] will be trouble and winds up being proven right when the cop tries to warn the police and steals Heinrich's bag, not to mention killing other terrorists left and right.
432* HotBlooded: ''And then some''! Nothing will stop him in his quest to kill John himself, though he's not quite as shouty as most examples, usually.
433* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: After John kills his brother Tony, Karl foregoes any other priority and makes it personal with John. "We are both professionals. This is personal."
434* KickChick: A gender inverted example. His fight with John consists largely of high-flying and powerful Taekwondo kicks, his surprising agility down to Alexander Godunov also [[RealMenWearPink being a ballet dancer]].
435* LeaveHimToMe: (To Franco and Fritz): "No one kills him but me."
436* MadeOfIron: He can survive a ''ton'' of punishment. For example, he gets hanged by a chain and is (presumably) caught in the roof explosion.
437* MightyGlacier: A mix of this and StrongAndSkilled, John gets more hits in in their fight but every punch and kick Karl inflicts has more impact.
438* MoralMyopia: Absolutely ''furious'' that his brother was killed, yet he's probably the most trigger-happy member of the gang, [[spoiler: who were all planning to kill all the hostages from the beginning anyway.]]
439* NotSoAboveItAll: While he spends most of the film alternating between TranquilFury and UnstoppableRage after his brother's death, he does have a moment of levity when he hears Hans' "terrorist demands" and expresses confusion about "Asian Dawn" before openly wondering if the police will actually try to fulfill their bullshit demands.
440* RedOniBlueOni: Is shown to be thuggish and impulsive while Tony is calm and crafty; early on, Tony attempts to disable the phone lines electronically, but Karl simply takes a chainsaw and cuts through the lines instead.
441* RevengeBeforeReason: Downplayed, in that [=McClaine=] was probably going to mess things up for the terrorists either way, but Karl's single-minded drive to avenge his brother causes him to repeatedly ignore good sense and orders for the chance to get the kill.
442* SiblingYinYang: He and his brother Tony. The former is hot-blooded and strong, the latter is calm and craftier (though taller).
443* SlasherSmile: The face he makes when he traps John's arm, punches him, and starts kicking him around the room.
444* StrongAndSkilled: He's very strong and a skilled combatant who displays impressive martial arts prowess while fighting John.
445* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, since he ''isn't'' a terrorist, just pretending to be one for the purposes of the heist.
446* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: He instructs the other men that no one is to kill John but him.
447* TrickBomb: Karl carries a couple of flash grenades. He uses one to stun the security guard by the elevator during the initial takeover and tries to flush John out with another at the end of the shootout on the [=33rd=] floor.
448* UnstoppableRage: By the end of the film, [[spoiler: he has all but given up trying to evade capture by the police and is perfectly willing to open fire on [=McClane=] in front of dozens witnesses, including police officers, in a last ditch effort to avenge his boss and brother (and the botched robbery).]]
449* VillainousBreakdown: His brother's death causes Karl to go off the deep end. Also see UnstoppableRage above.
450[[/folder]]
451
452[[folder: Theo]]
453!!Theo
454[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theo___profile.png]]
455[[caption-width-right:250:''"You didn't bring me along for my charming personality."'']]
456->'''Played By:''' Creator/ClarenceGilyard
457->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Jérome Keen
458
459Hans' technical expert, whose tasks include locking down the building and breaking into the vault.
460----
461* AffablyEvil: Very upbeat and cheery but has just as flexible morals as the rest of Hans's group, and he always laughs and cheers the loudest when someone gets killed as part of their scheme.
462* BackForTheDead: In ''Advertising/DieHardIsBack''. He presumably held a grudge over [=McClane=] sending him to prison, [[spoiler: and ends up getting fragged for attempting revenge.]]
463* BlackAndNerdy: He's the team's upbeat and cheery hacker, he wears glasses, and doesn't have any combat skills.
464* TheCracker: His main displays of cracking skill consist of tapping into the building's camera system and guessing Takagi's password to defeat the first of [[spoiler: seven locks on the Nakatomi Corporation vault. To disable locks 2 through 6, he uses a big drill. He doesn't even know how to open the final electromagnetic time lock on the vault until he learns about Hans' gaming the FBI into shutting off the power to the entire city grid that the building is on, thus disabling the lock and giving them access to the vault]].
465* DeadpanSnarker: Gives a running commentary of the police's efforts at breaking into the building.
466-->'''Theo:''' ''[as an armored car tries to drive into the building]'' Looks like the police have themselves an RV.
467* FourEyesZeroSoul: Theo wears a pair of glasses and is one of the main villains.
468* HypercompetentSidekick: He's a hacker, a safecracker, and the primary method of actually attaining what Hans is trying to get. He also serves as a competent organizer through the building's cameras during the initial LAPD assault. He wins the side bet with Karl by correctly predicting that Joe Takagi ''won't'' tell them the safe codes.
469* {{Jerkass}}: It's implied that even Hans resents [[InsufferableGenius Theo's cocky and smug demeanor regarding his own intelligence.]]
470* LackOfEmpathy:
471** Even though he doesn't get involved in the violence himself, Theo is shown to have no qualms whatsoever about innocent people being murdered during the Nakatomi siege. On the contrary, he reacts with complete indifference to the loss of life at best and sometimes even finds it amusing to joke about it, cheering in his very first scene as Karl ventilates a poor security guard.
472** This is subtly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when Theo says to Hans "You didn't bring me along for my charming personality." implying that Theo is actually self-aware that he isn't a pleasant person to be around. Hans smiles sardonically at this, suggesting that even he may actually hold a quiet distaste towards his demeanour.
473* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Winds up punched out by Argyle, who got trapped in the parking garage when Theo locked it down]].
474* {{Leitmotif}}: "Singing in the Rain", as per composer Michael Kamen's suggestion. Theo sings and hums the theme throughout the terrorists' initial takeover.
475* MissionControl: Despite being in the field with everybody else, he still counts, since he spends most of his time away from the rest of the group trying to crack open the vault, and using the building's own security system to keep tabs on police movements outside.
476* NonActionGuy: Unlike the rest of the terrorists we never see him so much as hold a weapon let alone kill anyone. When he finally does get caught up in the fighting, he gets knocked out cold by Argyle with one punch.
477* PlayfulHacker: He's notably chatty and calm even when the rest of the villains have all lost their [[FauxAffablyEvil affable façade]] due to [=McClane's=] interference. It probably helps that he's not on the front lines.
478* PutOnAPrisonBus: [[spoiler:The only member of Gruber's heist team who does not gets killed and thus presumably was arrested. TheBusCameBack thirty years later in ''Advertising/DieHardIsBack''… [[BackForTheDead for a little while]].]]
479* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:The only terrorist with significant screentime (such as Hans, Karl, Eddie, Franco, and Fritz) to survive. He still gets punched out by Argyle, and was presumably arrested]].
480* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, as the terrorist thing is just a cover.
481* WickedCultured: Quotes from "Literature/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas" as the cops try to attack the building.
482-->'''Theo''': All right, listen up guys. 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except ... the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation.
483[[/folder]]
484
485[[folder: Tony]]
486!!Tony Vreski
487->'''Played By''': Creator/AndreasWisniewski
488->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/PatrickBorg
489
490The brother of Karl Vreski. He frequently serves as the brains to Karl's brawn.
491----
492* AdaptationNameChange: Tony's counterpart in the novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" (the source material for the first film) is named Hans.
493* BigLittleBrother: Karl is the older brother, but Tony is slightly taller at 6'4" (Karl is 6'3"). Despite this, he has smaller feet than John, who's a few inches shorter (Creator/BruceWillis being 5'11").
494* BigNo: Delivers several shouts of "Nein!" when Karl pulls out the chainsaw to cut the phone lines.
495* ClickHello: Ends up on the receiving end of [=McClane's=] Beretta [=92F=] like this.
496* DisposingOfABody: After [[spoiler: Hans executes Takagi]], Tony is given the responsibility of disposing of his corpse.
497* FourEyesZeroSoul: Wears a pair of glasses and is one of the bad guys.
498* GeniusBruiser: Seems to be one of the brainier members of the terrorists, as he rejiggers the phone lines ([[SurroundedByIdiots and has to deal with Karl just taking out a chainsaw and neatly sawing them in half before he's finished]]) and shows a manipulative side as he tries to deal with the interfering John. However, in a physical contest, his grip is not much more feeble than his brother's.
499* KickTheDog: As he approaches where he thinks John [=McClaine=] is, he seemingly tries to talk John down, only to open up with his machine gun as soon as he rounds the corner, clearly establishing that he had no intention of leaving him alive.
500* NeckSnap: [[spoiler:Pushed headfirst into the floor of the stairwell by [=McClane=], breaking his neck.]]
501* PistolWhipping: After Tony tells John that there are rules for policemen, John starts off their fight by hitting Tony with his pistol and knocking his glasses off.
502* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler: For the terrorists, the first of the group to die. He also bears the unlucky distinction of being the first on-screen kill by John [=McClane=].]]
503* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, since it's just a cover.
504* WrongGenreSavvy: See YouWouldntShootMe. He knows [[ByTheBookCop cops have rules]]. Too bad John is a CowboyCop protagonist. Ok, John doesn't shoot him, but he starts a fight that leads to Tony's death.
505* YouWouldntShootMe: When John does a ClickHello.
506-->'''John:''' Drop it, dickhead. It's the police.\
507'''Tony:''' You won't hurt me.\
508'''John:''' Oh yeah? Why not.\
509'''Tony:''' Because you're a policeman. There are rules for policemen.\
510'''John:''' Yeah. That's what my captain keeps telling me. ''[hits Tony, knocking his glasses off]''
511[[/folder]]
512
513[[folder: Franco and Fritz]]
514!!Franco and Fritz
515->'''Played By:''' Creator/BrunoDoyon (Franco), Creator/HansBuhringer (Fritz)
516
517Two of Hans's men who assist Karl in hunting John throughout the film. Franco has dark, curly hair and wears a leather jacket, and Fritz has long sandy-colored hair and wears plaid.
518
519----
520* BaddieFlattery: Fritz takes a moment to compliment the stereo system in Ellis's office during the initial takeover.
521* BearerOfBadNews: Fritz has to tell Karl his brother is dead.
522* DragonWithAnAgenda: {{Mook}} example. Franco is just as eager to kill John as Karl is, albeit for different reasons. Instead, he wants to shut John up before he can reveal the entire operation to the cops.
523* GrievousHarmWithABody: Indirectly. The glass raining down on Franco after he is killed gives Hans the idea to shoot out the rest of the glass partitions, as he knows John has no shoes.
524-->'''Hans''': Shoot the glass!
525* HellBentForLeather: Franco wears a black leather jacket, which he removes when he, Karl, and Fritz head up to the roof to attack John.
526* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Fritz has long hair.
527* MauveShirt: They have the most screen time of the {{Mooks}}, much of it with Karl and chasing [=McClane=]. Franco even gets billing during the opening credits.
528* NoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: Fritz gets a good portion of a submachine gun emptied into his torso and Franco is shot messily in the legs, smashes his head into a glass partition, then has glass rained down upon him.]]
529* OhCrap: Fritz does one when he finds Tony's body in the elevator.
530* TheQuietOne: Franco has only two lines, though he [[NoIndoorVoice shouts both]].
531* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, since they're faking it.
532* ThoseTwoGuys: Except for the [=SWAT=] assault attempt (Fritz is on the 35th floor helping James bring the missiles down to the third floor, while Franco is guarding the hostages on the 30th floor), they're always in the same scene together.
533[[/folder]]
534
535[[folder: Eddie]]
536!!Eddie
537->'''Played By:''' Creator/DennisHayden
538->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/PhilippeCatoire
539
540An American terrorist who takes the place of a security guard.
541----
542* AffablyEvil: Quite cordial with Powell and wishes him a "Merry Christmas."
543* ConsummateLiar: He actually managed to completely fool Sgt. Powell, as Powell was just about to leave before John dropped [[spoiler: Marco]] onto his car.
544* DressingAsTheEnemy: Eddie takes the guard's suit jacket during the takeover as part of his disguise.
545* TheFace: Eddie spends most of the film manning the guard's desk at the building entrance, in order to distract anyone who comes in. This also includes canceling any calls made within the building, as shown when he thwarts John's first attempt to call for help.
546* MauveShirt: Has a lot of screen time and makes it all the way to [=McClane=]'s final confrontation with Hans.
547* PrettyLittleHeadshots: [[spoiler: Shot in the head by John. In his case, it's marked by a red dot on his forehead]].
548* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted since he's faking it.
549* VillainsOutShopping: He's watching TV and (as part of his disguise) mentions he's bet 50 bucks on a game that day.
550[[/folder]]
551
552[[folder: Uli]]
553!!Uli
554->'''Played By:''' Al Leong
555----
556* BeardOfEvil: He's got an impressive beard.
557* MultipleGunshotDeath: [[spoiler:John empties four bullets into his chest at point-blank range]].
558* TheNapoleon: The shortest henchman and helps to bomb the roof.
559* NotSoAboveItAll: For all the atrocities he is committing under Hans Gruber's instruction, there is one thing [[EveryoneHasStandards he doesn't want anyone to see]]: snitching a candy bar.
560* OhCrap: [[spoiler: When he opens the door to the rest of the building after bringing the hostages to the roof and finds himself on the business end of [=McClane=]'s pistol.]]
561* TheQuietOne: Says very little during his time onscreen, four lines at most.
562* SweetTooth: Snags a couple of candy bars before the [=SWAT=] team attempts to assault the building.
563* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, since he's faking it.
564* TokenMinority: The only Asian henchman.
565[[/folder]]
566
567[[folder: Marco]]
568!!Marco
569[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a79ce7ea_9273_4a99_8690_e14013c6b652.jpeg]]
570[[caption-width-right:350:''"Next time you have a chance to kill someone, don't hesitate!"'']]
571->'''Played By''': Lorenzo Caccialanza
572----
573* AllMenArePerverts: When the terrorists begin raiding the offices on the 30th floor, Marco is seen dragging a couple that was making out from one of the offices (the woman's breasts can be seen for several seconds). This also winds up being DistractedByTheSexy since [=McClane=] uses the woman's screams as a distraction to escape.
574%%* AxCrazy
575* TheBrute: The largest (6'7") and one of the craziest of the "terrorists".
576* CarCushion: [[spoiler: [=McClane=] throws his body 34 stories onto Al's car, causing another terrorist to attack Powell and forcing the officer to call for assistance.]]
577* DeathByIrony: His most famous line is chastising [=McClane=] for not killing him earlier when he had the chance...which is exactly what [[spoiler: Marco spends his last moments doing: ''not'' killing John when he has the chance.]]
578* EvilGloating: He absolutely relishes when he thinks he has John dead to rights and savours it as much as he can. It doesn't end well for him.
579* FauxAffablyEvil: He adopts a mockingly friendly tone when he thinks he has John cornered, calling him "pal".
580* GiantMook: Lorenzo Caccialanza stands 6'7", the tallest of the terrorists.
581* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Gets half of a 15-round pistol magazine emptied into his groin (the rest goes into his chest).]]
582* LargeHam: Shouts all of his lines in his confrontation with [=McClane=].
583-->'''Marco''': You are dog now. No more table! Where are you going, PAAAAALL?! Next time you have a chance to kill someone, don't hesitate.
584* NoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Shot at least a dozen times at close range, dropped 34 stories onto Al's car, and his body is sent flying into some trees.]]
585* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Wears a bright red shirt and a black one under that.
586* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted. As with the rest of Hans's men, he isn't actually a terrorist, just faking it.
587* TokenMinority: The only Italian in the group.
588* TooDumbToLive: Well, when you ''do'' have a chance to kill someone, don't hesitate... [[spoiler: Whereupon John immediately [[StatingTheSimpleSolution shoots through the table]] and kills him but not before quipping [[DeadpanSnarker "Thanks for the advice."]]]]
589* UnnecessaryCombatRoll: He does one when he leaps onto the conference table during his confrontation with John.
590[[/folder]]
591
592[[folder: Heinrich]]
593!!Heinrich
594->'''Played By:''' Creator/GaryRoberts
595
596Hans's explosives expert.
597----
598* ChekhovsGun: Heinrich's bag of explosives is stolen by John after he is killed and becomes the {{MacGuffin}} in the second act.
599* CombatPragmatist: Uses Marco as a distraction for John while he comes up behind with a pistol.
600* DemolitionsExpert: Looks to be Hans' man for bombs, as he's given charge of wiring the roof.
601* TheDriver: Heinrich drove the truck used by the terrorists.
602* LightIsNotGood: He's a bad guy wearing an off-white sweater.
603* MadBomber: His task is to lay explosives that will blow up the roof, killing all the hostages and covering the thieves' escape.
604* SmallRoleBigImpact: Heinrich is the second of the terrorists to die, but he was an important member of the crew whose death (along with Marco's) complicates things for Hans because the timetable is crunched thanks to the cops' arrival and Hans now has to find his bag to finish wiring the roof.
605* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, as with the rest of Hans's men.
606[[/folder]]
607
608[[folder: Alexander, James, and Kristoff]]
609!!Alexander, James, and Kristoff
610->'''Played By:''' Joey Plewa (Alexander), Wilhelm Von Homberg (James), Gerard Bonn (Kristoff)
611
612The other three terrorists in Hans's group.
613
614* AllThereInTheManual: Their names are not mentioned onscreen, though Kristoff gets named in a DeletedScene when Theo shouts at him.
615* {{BFG}}: Alexander wields a [=M60E3=] machine gun and a missile launcher.
616* CopKiller: Alexander blows up the cops in the "RV".
617* DeathFromAbove: James and Alexander are killed when John drops a packet of poorly-prepped C4 down the elevator shaft.
618-->'''John''': Geronimo, motherfucker!
619* EvenEvilHasStandards: Kristoff balks at blowing up the roof when Hans tells him to since Karl is still on the roof.
620* EvilRedhead: Alexander has red hair.
621* HellBentForLeather: James wears a brown leather jacket.
622* MissedHimByThatMuch: During the initial takeover, James almost catches John by opening Ellis's door, but is distracted by the screaming of a topless hostage. By the time he turns back to open the door, John has already fled into the stairwell.
623* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Alexander attacks Sgt. Powell, forcing the officer to call for assistance.
624* PistolWhipping: Kristoff is knocked out by John with the butt of an [=MP5=].
625* {{Sidekick}}: Kristoff is Theo's assistant.
626* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Kristoff tends to be forgotten; the posters say there are 12 terrorists when there are actually 13, and even the other characters forget about him when Al tells Big and Little Johnson that there are 12 terrorists.[[note]][[FridgeLogic In-universe explanation]]: John may have counted 12 terrorists taking the Christmas party hostage, but the 13th - Eddie, the door guard - never came up to the 30th floor, and John is the LAPD's sole source of information about things going on in the building[[/note]]
627* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: While we never learned what happened to him after John knocked him out, Kristoff is the only other survivor of the entire terrorist group outside of Theo]].
628* SteelEarDrums: Averted. James is seen crouching down and holding his ears when Alexander fires the missile launcher.
629* TerroristsWithoutACause: Subverted, as with the rest of Hans's men.
630* TheUnintelligible: James only speaks in German.
631* VillainsOutShopping: During the takeover, Fritz points out a nice-looking stereo system in one of the offices. James replies that he owns two of them in Berlin.
632[[/folder]]
633
634!!''Die Hard'' (police)
635
636[[folder: Robinson]]
637!!Deputy Chief Dwayne T. Robinson
638[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/59ae2e0e_9b83_4b03_a9fe_b784cf925bbe.png]]
639[[caption-width-right:350:''"We don't know shit, Powell. If there's hostages, how come nobody's come to us with ransom demands, huh? If there's terrorists up there, where's their list of demands? All we know is somebody shot your car up. It's probably the same silly son of a bitch you've been talking to on the radio."'']]
640-> '''Robinson:''' This is Deputy Chief of Police, Dwayne T. Robinson, and I am in charge of this situation.\
641'''John:''' Oh, you're in charge? Well, I got some bad news for you, ''Dwayne'', from up here it doesn't look like you're in charge of jack shit.
642
643->'''Played By''': Creator/PaulGleason
644->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Jean-Luc Kayser
645
646Deputy Chief of the [=LAPD=], who is in charge of the attempt to rescue the hostages.
647----
648* AdaptationalHeroism: A DirtyCop in the book, but there's nothing in the film to indicate he's corrupt.
649* AdaptationalJerkass: In the novel, [[HeroicSacrifice he gets shot protecting Leland]] ([[AdaptationalNameChange [=McClane's=] literary counterpart]]) [[HeroicSacrifice from Karl]], while here he doesn't do such a thing, instead ducking his head like anyone else.
650* ButtMonkey: His handling of the crisis is deplorable before the FBI takes command, earns and gets no respect from anybody, and as John puts it, he gets butt-fucked on national TV in the process.
651* ByTheBookCop: At least initially. By the time the FBI shows up, he seems to be starting to believe Powell about [=McClane=] and even banters with him about the FBI's stupidity. He does begin to chew John out for his actions at the end of the film [[DragonTheirFeet but is interrupted by Karl]].
652* CommanderContrarian:
653** He spends his time blaming [=McClane=] like an incompetent cop. Even with Al defending [=McClane=], Robinson finally pushes too far when [=McClane=] saves some cops with an explosion, only for Robinson to take the radio and complain about him [[FelonyMisdemeanor causing falling glass]]:
654-->'''[=McClane=]''': Oh, you're in charge? Well, I got some bad news for you, ''Dwayne''. From up here it doesn't look like you're in charge of jack shit.\
655'''Robinson''': You listen to me, you little asshole, I'm--\
656'''[=McClane=]''': Asshole? I'm not the one who just got butt-fucked on national TV, ''Dwayne''. Now, you listen to me, jerk-off, if you're not a part of the solution, you're a part of the problem. Quit being a part of the fucking problem and put the other guy back on!
657* EntertaininglyWrong: His incompetence and general cluelessness do produce memorable quotes nonetheless.
658-->''(Watches [[spoiler: Hans]] fall to his death)'' "Why, I hope that isn't another hostage."
659* EveryoneHasStandards: He seems to draw the line at collateral damage, as shown when he calls the idea of cutting the power to ten blocks on Christmas Eve "crazy" and with his worried look at the FBI bringing out helicopters. He's also put off by Johnson threatening the rig worker to cut the power or he will use his connections to get him fired.
660** To his credit, Robinson intended to handle the situation with as few deaths as possible, showing he at least has some value on the lives of others, especially compared to the two FBI agents who were fully prepared to let some of the hostages die.
661* GetOut: Invites Powell to head home as they argue after [[spoiler: Hans kills Ellis]]. Powell's response?
662-->'''Powell''': [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu No sir. You couldn't drag me away.]]
663* GonnaNeedMoreX: His [[BlackComedy flippant reaction]] to the demise of Johnson and Johnson
664-->[[[StuffBlowingUp Hans blows the roof]]]: "Holy shit! We're gonna need some more FBI guys, I guess."
665* HateSink: He's a massive {{Jerkass}}, continually assumes Powell is wrong, distrusts [=McClane=], and generally acts as though he has the IdiotBall glued in his pocket at all times. Admittedly, he does get better in a few instances, particularly when the FBI agents arrive and prove themselves to be bigger assholes than he is[[note]]in an interesting bit of trivia, Creator/RogerEbert found Robinson so loathsome that he is single-handedly responsible for Ebert [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/die-hard-1988 giving the film two stars in his review]] for the ''Chicago Sun Times''[[/note]].
666* {{Jerkass}}: He's callous, obstructive, and unnecessarily unpleasant at times. He lightens up when he sees how careless the FBI is.
667* JerkassHasAPoint: As crude as he is, his initial skepticism about [=McClane=] isn't unjustified, especially given that all Powell had to go on is "a hunch" that [=McClane=] is a cop: As his quote indicates, all that was known at the moment is that a gunman shot up Powell's car and an anonymous voice on the radio claims a hostage situation is going on. Of course, given that Robinson quickly writes off Marco's dropped body as "probably just a stockbroker who got depressed", being rightly skeptical of one thing doesn't make him competent in general.
668* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Robinson's a stubborn ass with consistently bad instincts, but it helps that from the FBI to his own SWAT commander, everyone who outranks him is an even worse person with even worse instincts. And at least Robinson's ''trying'' to get out of this situation with as few deaths as possible; the FBI was outright planning to lose a bunch of the hostages to take out their captors.
669* PetTheDog: He actually does try to call off the tactical assault on the Nakatomi building when he realizes how bad of an idea it is before the team was overwhelmed, though the tactical officer refuses to back down. He also shows a greater care for the lives of the hostages than the FBI.
670* PoliceAreUseless: Robinson dismisses much of John's intel, and complains about John's interference even though John wouldn't be interfering if his concerns were taken seriously. Still, he isn't as useless as Johnson and Johnson.
671* SmartBall: He realizes the tactical assault on the Nakatomi is a bad idea and tries to revoke it before the team gets mauled, but the tactical officer at the scene brushes him off. He also has justifiable reservations about the things the FBI's trying that all turn out to be playing into Gruber's hands. Basically whenever there is another commander around that can overrule him Robinson becomes very much like Al, acting as OnlySaneMan. The moment they are gone though he goes back to holding the IdiotBall.
672* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the book, Robinson is killed by Karl when the latter makes his reappearance at the very end. Here, he survives.
673* TookALevelInKindness: A minor one, made apparent by his [[AlwaysABiggerFish supplantation]] by a pair of even bigger jackasses. By the end of the film, he and Al are more or less on the same page, although John almost hits him when he tries to yell at him following the conclusion of the crisis.
674* UnwittingPawn: By demanding the release of terrorists, Hans uses him to call the FBI, who cut power to the building, enabling Hans to open the vault.
675* WhatTheHellHero: Makes clear to Al that he will nail John for [[spoiler: Ellis's death]]. When John makes it out of the building with Holly, Robinson tries doing just that, only for [[spoiler: Karl to turn out to be NotQuiteDead]].
676[[/folder]]
677
678[[folder:Johnson and Johnson]]
679!!Special Agent "Big" Johnson and Agent "Little" Johnson
680
681-->'''Big Johnson:''' Just like fuckin' Saigon, hey, Slick? \
682'''Little Johnson:''' I was in junior high, dickhead.
683
684-> '''Played By:''' Creator/RobertDavi (Big Johnson) and Grand L. Bush (Little Johnson)
685->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Michel Beaune (Big Johnson) and Creator/GregGermain (Little Johnson)
686----
687* AssholeVictim: After their whole smug shtick, the demise of these G-Men in an act of duty is somewhat played for BlackComedy.
688-->'''Robinson:''' We are gonna need some more FBI guys, I guess.
689* BloodKnight: Big Johnson sounds pretty excited about the chance to take out terrorists; the quote above is delivered after a loud "Yee-ha!"
690* ByTheBookCop: They follow procedure to the letter. Even if it means that the hostages might suffer. This is exploited by Hans.
691* CaptainObvious: PlayedForLaughs. Little Johnson feels the need to point out that he and Big Johnson aren't related when they have different ethnicities.
692* EntertaininglyWrong : They can't get anything right, but by god, are they ever amusing.
693-->'''Big Johnson:''' Those bastards are probably pissing in their pants right now\
694''([[DescriptionCut cuts back to "Ode to joy"]], the vault has opened, the terrorists are in ecstasy)''
695* EstablishingCharacterMoment: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY_nkgJG3oE They show up late]] in the middle of the crisis, walking with determination towards the Nakatomi. Little Johnson greets the friendly LAPD chief with unconcealed disdain and a totally unnecessary clarification, while Big Johnson doesn't even bother to introduce himself nor shake Robinson's hand, quickly establishing themselves as two [[SmugSnake high and mighty assholes]] who think they are TheCavalry.
696-->'''Johnson:''' I'm agent Johnson, this is Special Agent Johnson... No relation\
697'''Robinson:''' I'm a... I'm Dwayne Robinson, LAPD. I'm in charge here...\
698'''Big Johnson:''' Not anymore.
699* FBIAgent: They take over the law enforcement response to the takeover and, as Al Powell says, "They've got the universal terrorist playbook and they're running it step by step." This plays right into the hands of Hans Gruber, who takes advantage of their tactics to break into the vault. The agents then try to slaughter the terrorists while risking the hostages' lives and get blown up by a terrorist trap.
700* HateSink: They are rather disrespectful to Powell and even Robinson, unknowingly play into the robbers' hands by cutting the power, threatening the electrical worker to cut the power and are perfectly fine with allowing some of the hostages to die if it means getting the villains. They end up getting killed when Hans blows up the roof and their heilcopter is caught in the blast.
701* {{Jerkass}}: They are both rude, disrespectful and throw their authority around, clearly viewing the local law enforcement as beneath them, Big Johnson more so. They're such assholes that they manage to make Robinson sympathetic by comparison.
702* JurisdictionFriction: They take over the situation without any kind of professional courtesy, pushing everybody around. The LAPD are not particularly happy to see them, and even Powell warns them to no avail that the terrorists know what they're up to. They don't listen to any of it, remaining aloof and condescending during the whole crisis.
703-->'''Big Johnson:''' When we commandeer your men, we'll try to let you know.
704* KickTheDog: They have an exchange in which they determine that their plan to stop the terrorists (which was actually a vital part of Hans Gruber's EvilPlan) could end up with 25% of the hostages dead, but they dismiss it as being an acceptable casualty. Presumably this is to obliterate any sympathy one might have for the fact that they get blown up by Gruber five minutes later. But that poor helicopter pilot.... They also threaten the electrical worker to cut the power or get fired.
705* KillItWithFire: Their chopper is caught in the explosion when Hans blows the roof, sending them and all aboard crashing down in a fiery inferno.
706* MeaningfulName: Johnson is a name for government stooge. It's also a euphemism for a dick, [[ADickInName in the "obstructive asshole" sense]].
707* TheMenInBlack: They're FBI agents.
708* MoreDakka: This appears to have been their plan to deal with Hans by flying up in gunships and coating the deck with automatic gunfire.
709* MrSmith: One's white, the other black. Amusingly, at one point when one of the agents is making a call to have the power to Nakatomi Plaza cut, he identifies himself as "Agent Johnson. No, the other one."
710* OneSteveLimit: A PlayedForLaughs {{aver|tedTrope}}sion. "Johnson and Johnson, no relation". Rather amusing given that one is white and the other is black.
711-->'''Big Johnson:''' ''[over the phone]'' This is Agent Johnson... No, ''the other one''.
712* OutGambitted: [[spoiler:Neither Johnson intended to fill Hans' demands (even if they were fake) and just planned to kill them once in range, which also translates into the helicopters they intended to use (Little Johnson mentions that the terrorists would expect transports instead of gunships). Unfortunately, Hans anticipated their plan as he was going to blow the roof once they arrived.]]
713* PoliceAreUseless: Though they seem more capable than the local police, in the end they aren't much more effective and even end up nearly killing John and the hostages before dying themselves.
714* SmallNameBigEgo: They behave like if they were the second coming of J. Edgar Hoover, but they are far from being some anti-criminal masterminds; they are just two excessively self-satisfied FBI lackeys who are easily outplayed by Hans and get killed for their troubles.
715* SmugSnake: Two conceited guys not nearly as good as they think they are. They act tough and badass, looking down at everybody, but they play right into Hans' hand.
716* ThoseTwoGuys: They show up in the middle of the movie and mostly act as one character dropping some highly quotable dialogue.
717* TriggerHappy: Hopelessly gung-ho.
718-->'''Big Johnson:''' Figure we take out the terrorists. Lose 20, 25 percent of the hostages, tops.\
719'''Little Johnson:''' I can live with that.
720* UnwittingPawn: They think they've got Hans scared when their actions are exactly what he was counting on and they play into his hand just as he planned.
721* WrongGenreSavvy: They seem to think they're the tough heroes who will effortlessly stop Hans and save the day while the local police look on in awe rather than being overly macho idiots who just make things worse and get themselves killed.
722[[/folder]]
723
724!!''Die Hard'' (Nakatomi)
725
726[[folder: Ellis]]
727!!Harry Ellis
728[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c602f6fb_5944_430d_8d52_3bd85f523f2b.jpeg]]
729[[caption-width-right:350:Hey babe, I negotiate million dollar deals for breakfast. I think I can handle this Eurotrash]]
730
731
732->'''Played By:''' Creator/HartBochner
733->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Bernard Woringer
734
735One of Holly's coworkers at the Nakatomi Corporation.
736----
737* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Ellis's ill-thought-out plan to negotiate with Hans was likely influenced by all the cocaine he was on that night (in fact he takes some right before talking with them.)
738* AnnoyingLaugh: Enforced with the subtitles. He lets out a drawn-out {{Slimeball}}-befitting laugh when John and Takagi are exchanging jokes.
739* AssholeVictim: He betrays John to Hans, in a foolish attempt to save his own skin, resulting in a death that is presented as brought on by his own selfishness. Nonetheless, John pleads for Ellis' life and is anguished when he is killed.
740* BoomHeadshot: Ellis receives a bullet in the cranium from Hans after his failed attempt to sell John out.
741* ButtMonkey: His screen time and life are filled with perpetual self-ridicule and derision until Hans puts an end to it.
742* DieLaughing: He nervously chuckles right before Hans blows his brains out.
743* DirtyCoward: He tries to get John to surrender himself to Hans in a craven attempt to save his own skin.
744* DrugsAreBad: He's seen snorting cocaine at least twice. The last is when he decides to negotiate with Hans. [[BoomHeadshot It doesn't end well]].
745* FatalFlaw: Arrogance. Thinking you can play Hans Gruber with yuppie-esque tactics and make John surrender with your silver tongue? Bad move, Ellis.
746-->Hey babe, I negotiate million-dollar deals for breakfast. I think I can handle this Eurotrash.
747* {{Foil}}: To John. He's after Holly and incredibly sleazy about it while John is awkwardly trying to salvage his marriage. [[WrongGenreSavvy He also thinks that the villains]] [[spoiler: actually are terrorists]] and he's the one able to defuse the situation while John is only making the situation worse. John, on the other hand, knows exactly what he is and what the villains are.
748* HateSink: Ellis is an annoying coworker of Holly's who makes unwanted advances on her while talking down about TheHero and her ex-husband John [=McClane=]. When Hans Gruber and his terrorists invade the Nakatomi Plaza, he highlights his cowardice and incompetence by despicably trying to sell John out to Hans before being gunned dead by Hans out of annoyance. While John InUniverse clearly doesn't want Ellis to die, tries to plead for Hans to leave him alone, and only shows anguish when he dies anyways, it's not a feeling the audience will share in.
749* IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance: Ellis views himself as God's gift to humanity, but his actual competence, people skills, and swagger are very limited.
750* KilledOffScreen: When Hans kills him, the shot is only heard, not shown on-screen (though his body is shown being dragged out after the fact).
751* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Besides giving John's name to Hans, Richard also gets the name and causes even more trouble afterward.
752* PetTheDog: At the start of their radio conversation John worries that Ellis has told Hans about Holly. To Ellis's credit, he hasn't, instead claiming that ''he'' was the one who invited John there. Whether this is because [[EveryoneHasStandards he's vaguely aware of just how much danger this would put her in]] or because it would ruin his made-up story he's trying to sell Hans, this still probably saves her life.
753* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: His "business pitch" to the terrorists is so full of jargon that it makes Hans fall into {{Metaphorgotten}} territory.
754-->'''Ellis''': You're here in a hostile takeover, you grab us for some greenmail, but you didn't expect some poison pill was gonna be running around in the building. Am I right?\
755'''Hans''' ''(puzzled)'': I must have missed ''Series/SixtyMinutes''. What are you saying?
756* ShooOutTheClowns: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed.]] The film becomes a lot tenser after his death but still retains some humour.
757* {{Slimeball}}: Comes across as a smarmy and smug executive from the moment we meet him.
758* SmugSmiler: Is always smiling when he thinks he's got the upper hand. In fact, the last thing he's seen doing is smiling, albeit a bit more forced since he just failed to deliver on his promise of getting John to give up.
759* SmugSnake: A sleazy scumbag trying to hit on Holly and is confident that the [[BigBad "Euro-trash"]] can be negotiated with.
760* TooDumbToLive: Yes, go to the dangerous terrorist leader who isn’t above casually executing hostages and try to sell out the guy you just met earlier who happens to be far savvier on how hostage situations work. Even better, ''fail'' at doing so when you claim you could and the best you can do is blow it off with a small laugh.
761* WrongGenreSavvy: He thinks he can negotiate with Gruber (thinking he's a terrorist instead of pretending to be as such) and that John is a pesky wannabe hero making the situation worse. He's wrong on both accounts and literally and especially dead wrong on the first.
762* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: He very famously calls Hans Gruber "bubby", short for "bubalah", a term of endearment. The line was ad-libbed by Hart Bochner, who is Jewish. That said, Ellis also casually drops an anti-Semitic slur in the same scene, so it's unlikely that the character himself is Jewish (although he ''could'' be making use of NWordPrivileges). It is also possible that Ellis could've said "Bubi", which roughly translates to German as "little boy" or "laddie". Whether he was trying to intentionally provoke Hans or it was simply because of his poor grasp of the language was unclear.
763* {{Yuppie}}: A classic example with his overconfidence, arrogance, and sleazy behavior, wrongly thinking that trying to negotiate with Gruber is just another ruthless business deal.
764[[/folder]]
765
766[[folder: Argyle]]
767!!Argyle
768[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f7041257_5a1e_435d_8da2_a83090d64fc5.png]]
769%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
770->'''Played By:''' De'voreaux White
771->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Alain Flick
772
773The Nakatomi Corporation's newest employee -- the limo driver.
774----
775* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Starts laughing when he hears John say "I'm not the one who just got buttfucked on national TV, Dwayne!"
776* AlmightyJanitor: Argyle the limo driver takes out one of the terrorists with nothing but his car and his fists. This technically means Argyle was more useful in aiding [=McClane=] in his fight against the terrorists than both the entire FBI and LAPD were (except for Sgt Powell).
777* AMFMCharacterization: He gleefully blares Music/RunDMC on the limo's radio.
778* AudienceSurrogate: At the start, it's through Argyle that we learn who John [=McClane=] is, the state of his marriage, and why he's flown into LA on Christmas Eve.
779* BadassBystander: He becomes one at the end. It's revealed it's the first time he's driven a limo and he uses it at the end to stop Theo from escaping, then he knocks Theo out with one punch.
780* CarFu: Uses the limo to crash into Theo's getaway car.
781* TheDriver: Of the limo that Takagi sends to the airport to pick up [=McClane=] and take him to the Nakatomi building.
782* HeroicBystander: He's just a passive limo driver for most of the film. He takes out Theo when he tries to escape.
783* INeedAFreakingDrink: When he realises that the building's been taken over by terrorists and he can't escape from the parking lot, he switches from pouring himself a drink with a mixer to taking a swig straight from the bottle.
784* NiceGuy: Early on, he goes above and beyond the call of duty by not just driving John to the party, but offering to hang around and drive him somewhere else if things don't go well with Holly. Not that he's got much else to do, but he didn't have to offer that.
785* OhCrap: When he hears Thornburg's broadcast and attempts to escape, only to discover that he's trapped inside the parking garage.
786* OneHitKO: How he then takes out Theo.
787* UncleTomfoolery: At first, it led to a small FunnyBackgroundEvent moment when Powell's car is being shot up. Thankfully, on the whole, he avoids most of the more unsavory aspects of the trope.
788[[/folder]]
789
790[[folder: Takagi]]
791!!Joseph Yoshinobu "Joe" Takagi
792[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c6324b5a_6ff2_4797_b67f_8d3c9b7092fc.png]]
793[[caption-width-right:350:"''Hey we're flexible, Pearl Harbor didn't work out so we got you with tape decks.''"]]
794->'''Played By:''' Creator/JamesShigeta
795->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Jean-Pierre Delage
796
797President of Nakatomi Trading.
798----
799* AdaptationalNiceGuy: He's a lot more noble and personable than his book counterpart.
800* BaddieFlattery: On the receiving end. Hans Gruber compliments him on his nice John Phillips suit.
801* BenevolentBoss: He is quickly established as a paternalistic, caring figure, enough that the audience appreciates Holly's loyalty to him and is genuinely outraged when Hans executes him
802** Throws his best employees a party and refuses to sell out his corporation. He was also the one who paid for the limo that brought John to Nakatomi Towers and seems to get along fine with him. Killing him [[KickTheDog demonstrated how evil Hans was]].
803** Holly quietly tries to stop him from stepping forward during the hostage-taking, as she does what she can to protect her boss.
804* BoomHeadshot: Receives one from Hans when he doesn't give up the codes.
805-->'''Hans:''' We do it the hard way.
806* DefiantToTheEnd: Hans Gruber threatens to kill him if he doesn't tell Hans the access codes to the Nakatomi vault. Not only does he adamantly refuse, he outright goads Hans into killing him (although he sounds so calm that he doesn't seem like he's expecting Hans to kill him):
807-->'''Takagi''': I don't know it, I'm telling you. Get on a jet to Tokyo and ask the Chairman. I'm telling you, you're just going to have to kill me.
808* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Mildly. He gets shot in the lapel in the book, shot in the head in the film.
809* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He sends John a limo at the airport and affably greets him at the party, showing his friendly side and endearing the audience to him right away.
810* FaceDeathWithDignity: He knows he's going to die, and politely tells Hans to shove it.
811* GentlemanSnarker: He is a very polite NiceGuy but isn't above snarking. Most of them are good-natured, though.
812* IvyLeagueForEveryone: He's mentioned as having an MBA from Harvard. He also went to Stanford which isn't Ivy League but still a very prestigious school.
813* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Truly a man of his time. Born in Japan and raised in America, he was sent to an internment camp as a child during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and likes to joke about Japan's economic dominance in the years since.
814* NervesOfSteel: He's extremely composed throughout his interrogation.
815* NiceGuy: Organised a limo for [=McClane=], very polite and affable, and a family man.
816* PresentAbsence: He's referenced multiple times after his death, even later than Ellis.
817* RaceLift: Takagi's counterpart in the book is a Caucasian man named Mr. Rivers.
818* RagsToRiches: He was a Japanese immigrant who is now a very wealthy businessman.
819* SacrificialLamb: The big shot of the Nakatomi building and a decent guy. He puts up some resistance and his death shows that the terrorists mean business.
820* SelfMadeMan: He was born in Japan and immigrated to America at a young age and worked his way up to his current position.
821* SharpDressedMan: Hans notices in the elevator how nice Mr. Takagi's suit is and admits that he'd hate to ruin it by killing him.
822-->'''Hans''': Nice suit. John Philips. I have two myself. Rumor is that Arafat buys his there.
823* SmallRoleBigImpact: Takagi doesn't last much longer than the 30-minute mark, but he hired Argyle to drive John to Nakatomi Plaza, making him indirectly responsible for putting John into place to foil Hans' heist and setting off the events of the whole franchise.
824[[/folder]]
825
826
827!!''Die Hard 2: Die Harder''
828
829[[folder:Col. Stuart]]
830!!Colonel William Stuart
831[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f9bfc515_7290_4cc5_abe3_35eee7d35a25.jpeg]]
832[[caption-width-right:340:''"Who I am is unimportant. What I want... well, if you don't want those planes to start splashing into the Potomac 'cause they run out of fuel, then what I want is very important."'']]
833-> ''"We've got you."''
834->'''Played By:''' Creator/WilliamSadler
835->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Gérard Berner
836
837A Special Forces Colonel who becomes disillusioned with Washington after the arrest of Ramon Esperanza, whose government was seen by Stuart as an effective bulwark against communism in Latin America. Stuart and his unit go rogue, taking Dulles International Airport hostage in an attempt to negotiate Esperanza's release.
838----
839* AdaptationalJobChange: His ''58 Minutes'' counterpart was an international terrorist, wanted in every major western country, hell bent on executing the first major terrorist attack on US soil. In the film, he's an ex-Special Forces colonel turned mercenary.
840* AdaptationalNameChange: His counterpart in ''58 Minutes'' was named Willi Staub.
841* AllThereInTheScript: His first name is only given in the screenplay.
842* ArmiesAreEvil: He and his henchmen embody the negative merciless attributes of the military.
843* AxCrazy: He is a SociopathicSoldier and a ColonelKilgore who loves the sounds and sights of screams of innocents and {{Gorn}} all over the place. When he brings out a knife for his fight with John, he looks positively gleeful.
844* BadassLongcoat: He wears one to cover himself from the cold weather. Quite good looking one too.
845* BadBoss: Colonel Stuart is a pretty abusive boss. He doesn't give a damn about any of his men and even lets [[spoiler:Major Grant]] die for no real reason other than that saving him (which he could easily do) would not directly benefit him, and holds a gun to Miller's head because he "let" Cochrane die.
846* BelievingTheirOwnLies: He honestly believes he's a noble patriot doing what's best for his country at great personal cost rather than the sociopathic mercenary who is ''far'' more of a threat to American lives than any of the enemies he claims to be battling.
847* BigBad: Of the second film.
848* BloodKnight: The only time he loses his composure is during his fight with John on the plane's wing, where he puts on a SlasherSmile while attacking John with a knife, and letting loose an EvilLaugh when he has John on the ropes.
849* BoisterousBruiser: A FauxAffablyEvil example, as he sounded hearty and cheery whenever he raises his voice the next time he confronts and addresses John who he treats him as a WorthyOpponent in his twisted perspective such as asking "How's it going?!" during the final fight, which only shows how sadistically mocking he can be.
850* BriefAccentImitation: While impersonating air traffic control [[spoiler:in order to crash the Windsor Air plane]], he speaks with a Southern accent.
851* ColonelBadass: Leads his troops with military precision. Much like a typical villain in the franchise, he embodies EvilIsCool.
852* ColonelKilgore: Coldly relishes in the bloodshed.
853* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Hans Gruber was a GentlemanThief from Germany, with him and his crew robbing Nakatomi Plaza while posing as [[DirtyCommunists far-left]] WesternTerrorists in order to deflect police attention from what they're actually up to. While he once was a leftist terrorist himself, he has long since abandoned any political ideals; his motive here is [[OnlyInItForTheMoney purely about getting rich]]. Col. Stuart is an American ex-Special Forces colonel who launches a genuine terrorist attack at Dulles International Airport, seeking to rescue Ramon Esperanza, the drug lord dictator of a Latin American BananaRepublic. His motive is expressly political and anti-communist, seeing Esperanza as a key ally in the UsefulNotes/ColdWar who the US recklessly removed from power (though Stuart's people are also getting paid a lot of money, according to one of Esperanza's lines).
854* CruelAndUnusualDeath: While the plane explosion happens fairly quickly, we get a glimpse inside and hear the soldier's agonized screams that show that Stuart's death, while relatively quick, was most definitely not painless. Given what a monster he is, it's quite cathartic, to say the least.
855* CurbStompBattle: He easily dominates and beats John during their fight due to both his own superior fighting skill and John being exhausted and badly injured from numerous other fights and the general events of the night prior. Though John does [[CurbStompCushion get a few good hits in that clearly phase Stuart and even bites off a chunk of one of the bastard's hands, causing the nearly robotic Stuart to scream in agony.]]
856* DarkIsEvil: He's clad entirely in dark clothing, which fits how evil and cold he is.
857* DeadpanSnarker: His sense of humour is very dry and sardonic.
858* DeathByIrony: He dies when his getaway plane explodes while he and his men celebrate their supposed victory, in a manner that resembles how he crashed a plane full of innocent passengers who were unaware of the danger until right before their deaths.
859* DeathGlare: This seems to be his default expression. And it's nothing short of chilling.
860* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: While Stuart gets blown up in the movie, Staub is shot and killed by Malone while trying to make a run for it in the novel.
861* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's clearly a little unsettled by [[spoiler:Major Grant]]'s horrific death, [[SubvertedTrope though he gets over it quickly.]]
862* FaceHeelTurn: Implied to have happened to him sometime in the past, since he's implied to have been a somewhat well-known war hero before he became a traitor.
863* FallenHero: He's implied to have been a war hero and an exemplar soldier before he became a traitor.
864* AFatherToHisMen: Subverted. He tries to give off this vibe and reacts with extreme rage whenever his men are killed, but he really only sees them as extensions of himself, and is perfectly willing to kill them if they prove to be a liability or let them die even if they are useful for no real reason other than it not directly benefiting him.
865* FauxAffablyEvil: He is polite towards [=McClane=] in some of their interactions and is [[BoisterousBruiser quippy during their fight on the plane's wing]], mockingly treating him as a WorthyOpponent after recollecting his heroism in the first film he read about in People Magazine and seeing him on ''Series/{{Nightline}}''.
866-->'''Stuart''': Oh, [=McClane=]. John [=McClane=]. The policeman hero who saved the Nakatomi hostages. I read about you in People Magazine. You seemed a bit out of your league on ''Nightline'', I thought.
867* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
868* HateSink: Perhaps the most unpleasant of all the ''Die Hard'' villains, in a stark contrast to Hans Gruber who, evil as he was, at least had plenty of sardonic lines and Alan Rickman's charm. He is cold, cruel, blunt, demanding and ruthless, puts a gun to the head of one of his own men for letting ''another'' of his own men get killed (while not actually caring about the dead man), has an innocent old man murdered so his team can set up shop in his church, crashes an entire ''plane'' in retaliation for [=McClane=] killing some of his men (who had just slaughtered an airport security team), and his master plan is to rescue a murderous drug-dealing dictator from prison because he ''fully agrees'' with said dictator (and is being paid of course). He not only shows zero remorse for any of his actions but is outright proud and defiant about them too, while having little in the way of interpersonal charm. He's so despicable that his actor has even said that he takes it as a compliment whenever someone tells him how much they hated him in this movie, because even he interpreted the character he was playing as an absolutely evil irredeemable bastard.
869* {{Hypocrite}}: He claims to be a patriot looking to help protect America from communism by rescuing Esperanza, who was an important ally to the US during the Cold War. This is undermined by most of his victims being Americans, many of whom were either civilians or police officers trying to save the civilians Stuart was putting in danger. He also conveniently omts the fact that he is getting paid for his work, making him just as much of a mercenary and petty criminal as Hans Gruber.
870* IcyBlueEyes: He has blue eyes, and is cold in all senses of the word.
871* ItsAllAboutMe: Stuart only really cares about himself. The way he sees it, him being disillusioned with politics and disagreeing with General Esperanza's imprisonment gives him the right to betray his country and kill countless innocents. He doesn't even care about his own men that much, even letting [[spoiler:Major Grant]] die because saving him wouldn't provide him any benefit. However, he views any of them being killed as a slight against him, and will enact brutal revenge on anyone who dares inconvenience him.
872* {{Jerkass}}: In addition to being a monster who coldly murders civilians, he's awful on a personal level. He's cold, blunt, snide, condescending, unpleasant and unbearably smug and full of himself. While Hans Gruber was evil in a similar way, he at least had [[FauxAffablyEvil impeccable manners and a dry wit]] and Alan Rickman's effortless charisma. Stuart is just an unpleasant bastard.
873* KarmicDeath: Sending a plane full of innocents to their deaths is pretty unforgivable. So it's only fitting that he and his mooks are blown up on a plane while Stuart can do nothing but scream in terror.
874* KickTheDog: He sends a plane full of innocent people to their deaths as retaliation for the deaths of some of his men, and he clearly enjoys it the entire time, showing nothing but satisfaction as the plane crashes into the ground, killing everyone aboard including ''children''.
875* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:He dies when the getaway plane explodes, [[KarmicDeath in almost the exact same way the plane full of innocent civilians he crashed died.]]]]
876* LackOfEmpathy: He kills a plane full of people on Christmas Eve and has completely no remorse for it.
877* LightningBruiser: He manages to outfight [=McClane=] at the end of the movie with some quick and hard hitting martial arts.
878* ManBitesMan: John bites him in the hand during their fight, tearing out a two-inch portion and causing the near robotic Stuart to scream in pain.
879* MoralMyopia: Killing an old man just to use his church as a base? Just a part of the operation. Killing airport security who just did their jobs? Just a part of the operation. John killing the terrorists who just killed said airport security workers and were about to shoot Leslie? Crash an entire plane as punishment.
880* MrFanservice: He gets an introductory scene in the nude to show off his impressive, glistening physique. Sadler even asked for time to work out when he learned he'd be appearing naked.
881* NakedFirstImpression: His introductory scene had him practicing martial arts in the nude.
882* {{Narcissist}}: It's subtle, but still there. He is introduced admiring himself in the mirror, and he tends to view others as extensions of himself, treating his men as expendable while also flipping his lid when they are killed. He also sincerely believes he's a noble patriot who knows best for his country and will eventually be regarded as a hero, even as he coldly orders the murder of innocent civilians for profit.
883* NearVillainVictory: He comes ''this'' close to getting everything he wants and escaping to a life of freedom and luxury until John lights the fuel trail and blows Stuart and his men to kingdom come.
884* NeverMyFault: Stuart has a tendency to blame his rash actions on the actions of others. Him getting his command terminated and subsequently turning traitor for continuing to fund Esperanza? The government's fault, for not being willing to combat communism. Him crashing a plane full of innocent people? It's [=McClane=] and the Dulles Airport staff's fault for trying to save the planes Stuart has stuck in the air, which necessitated retaliation. It shows that he still can't quite grasp that he's not the noble patriot he thinks of himself as being.
885* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: As an unstable ultra-right wing Special Forces colonel who got entangled in criminal activity supporting an oppressive Latin American regime out of hatred of communism, he's clearly meant to call to mind then-infamous centerpiece of the Iran-Contra Affair Oliver North.
886* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Beating [=McClane=] to a pulp and throwing him off the plane's wing in the finale. Of the series' Big Bads, he's the only one to physically beat the crap out of [=McClane=], albeit partially due to having a considerable advantage with John's weakened state after the events of the night. Too bad he didn't kill him, because [=McClane=] ''still'' shrugged off the beating and blew up Stuart's plane.
887* NoNonsenseNemesis: Stuart doesn't care about anything other than achieving his end goal, and focuses on his strategies and readjusts them depending on the situation. He even nearly wins before [[spoiler:getting killed.]]
888* NotSoStoic: When he battles [=McClane=] on the plane's wing, he loses his stoic facade and gleefully taunts him and draws the fight out and even cries out in pain when John bites off a chunk of his hand.
889* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: He fancies himself as a patriot doing whatever is necessary to combat communism and save those who would aid him in that fight. But he has several Americans killed and the man he want to rescue is a drug dealing dictator and TheGeneralissimo, traits [[TheHorseshoeEffect often associated with communist leaders outside of the Soviet Union]], and he's getting paid for it.
890* OhCrap: His final moments are him seeing the giant wall of flame reaching through the plane and screaming in terror as he is utterly powerless to do anything.
891* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Colonel Stuart was a model soldier before he turned against the US to rescue General Esperanza.
892* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "Okay, [=McClane=], time for the main event!"
893* PsychoKnifeNut: Brings out a combat knife first against John, before the cop bites him.
894* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The only villainous leader in the franchise to qualify for this trope.
895* {{Sadist}}: He visibly enjoys causing a plane filled with civilians to crash and shows nothing but ''satisfaction'' afterwards, and he gets way too much pleasure out of giving John a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
896* SmugSnake: On top of everything, Stuart is almost insufferably smug in a manner that, unlike Hans Gruber's smugness, is not endearing in any way and just serves to make Stuart even more unlikable. He never treats John as a serious threat and smugly mocks him in spite of how capable and badass John proves himself to be, and he oozes smugness and self-satisfaction whenever he calls the Dulles staff, particularly when he causes a plane filled with civilians to crash and enjoys it, smugly rubbing it in to the staff that they can't save the plane as he leads it to its doom.
897* TheSociopath: The only villain in the franchise to murder ''children'', and feel nothing but ''[[{{Sadist}} cold satisfaction]]'' afterwards on top of that.
898* SociopathicSoldier: He is a former Special Forces Colonel and TheSociopath.
899* SoftSpokenSadist: He almost always speak in a soft voice and rarely shouts and it highlights how cold-blooded he is.
900* TheStoic: Not one time does he emote to anything. He always acts and speaks with a very stoic presence. And it makes him more terrifying.
901* StrongAndSkilled: He's in excellent physical shape and an outstanding combatant who easily defeats John with some impressive Karate, Muay Thai and Taekwondo moves.
902* UndignifiedDeath: He dies pathetically screaming right before the getaway plane explodes.
903* VilerNewVillain: Not that Hans Gruber wasn't vile, but even he didn't murder a planeful of people just to prove a point. Stuart also manages this despite John's best attempts, and gives John a [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown pretty brutal beatdown]] too.
904* WellIntentionedExtremist: He claims to be a patriot doing whatever is necessary to combat communism, which is why he plots to rescue General Esperanza. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Being paid handsomely is also a factor]], but his political motivations seem genuine.
905* WesternTerrorist: Of the Right Wing Militia Fanatic variety. Stuart is motivated by his desire to battle communism and Soviet influence, even if it means betraying his country and rescuing a murderous dictator.
906* WickedCultured: While he doesn't put up the sophisticated front of Hans Gruber, he's well-versed enough to quote [[UsefulNotes/LouisXIII Cardinal Richelieu]].
907* WorthyOpponent: After recollecting [=McClane=] for being a publicized hero for his actions in the first film, he seems to view him as this, though in a mocking insincere FauxAffablyEvil manner.
908* WouldHurtAChild: He has no issue whatsoever crashing planes that have kids on board.
909[[/folder]]
910
911[[folder:Maj. Grant]]
912!!Major Grant
913[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2ed04d8c_1525_4f50_b33f_d494887bb2eb.gif]]
914[[caption-width-right:320:''"I'm just your kind of asshole!"'']]
915-> '''Played By:''' Creator/JohnAmos
916->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Sady Rebbot
917
918The leader of a Special Forces team sent to Dulles to help the police neutralize Colonel Stuart's RenegadeSplinterFaction... [[spoiler:or so it seems.]]
919----
920* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Came to the airport under the guise of a soldier with one full platoon trying to stop Stuart, but revealed half-way through the movie that he and the entire platoon were in on the plot with Stuart and Esperanza.]]
921* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:"Too bad [=McClane=], [[VillainRespect I kind of like you]]!"]]
922* FromCamouflageToCriminal: [[spoiler:He's Special Forces-turned terrorist.]]
923* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:He coldly slices poor Telford's throat open and then watches him die.]]
924* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:Does this to Telford, who wasn't in on the plan.]]
925* TurbineBlender: [[spoiler:John knocks him off the wing they were fighting on and he is sucked into the engine and diced up.]]
926* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:He genuinely respects [=McClane=], and even admits he liked him while in the middle of trying to kill him.]]
927* WalkingSpoiler: It's incredibly hard to talk about him without spoiling that [[spoiler:he and his men are working with Colonel Stuart.]]
928* WesternTerrorists: [[spoiler:Subverted. Unlike Stuart, Grant is entirely motivated by monetary reward, and is upfront about it.]]
929[[/folder]]
930
931[[folder:General Esperanza]]
932!!General Ramon Esperanza
933[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eee1bfbb_f52f_4dde_848d_0771eb43a9ae.jpeg]]
934%%[[caption-width-right:250:some caption text]]
935->'''Played By:''' Creator/FrancoNero
936->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Marc Alfos
937
938Formerly the dictator of [[BananaRepublic Val Verde]]. Esperanza's regime provided a fairly effective bulwark against neighboring communist forces, but American support for his regime dried up after reports of the brutality of his rule got out, and when he took up drug dealing to replace the lost foreign aid money, the US Government arranged for him to be deposed and arrested.
939----
940* AcePilot: Manages to fly the plane that was transporting him through a blinding snowstorm and a bullet hole in the windshield to the ground with little incident. Later on, he flies the getaway plane that all the terrorists are on.
941* BeardOfEvil: He's an evil dictator who has committed countless crimes and also sports a beard.
942* BenevolentBoss: While he does berate Stuart and his men for failing to kill [=McClane=], Esperanza is usually cordial with them, promises them a reward for rescuing him, and makes sure to pull his own weight by piloting their getaway plane.
943* CigarChomper: He's seen asking his guard to light his up during the flight.
944* ClickHello: The pilot of Esperanza's plane is being told by Stuart to land at a different runway than he has been instructed to. As he's protesting the change in orders: *CLICK* "Captain, please tell the tower you will proceed as ordered."
945* FauxAffablyEvil: He's very chummy and cordial, a front he uses to get people to forget he's actually a cold-blooded killer, most notably his guard, who he strangles to death after feigning respect for him.
946* FauxFluency: If you speak Spanish, than you can tell that Creator/FrancoNero clearly isn't a native speaker, with a very thick Italian accent.
947* TheGeneralissimo: Of Val Verde, no less. Maybe [[VideoGame/JustCause Rico Rodriguez]] brought him in.
948* GreaterScopeVillain: Colonel Stuart's actions are all to free him from captivity.
949* HandyCuffs: Esperanza uses his to strangle his guard on the plane to get access to his handcuff key.
950* KillItWithFire: Dies in the plane explosion.
951* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He's clearly based on Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and bears a physical resemblance to former President Cuban UsefulNotes/FidelCastro. There's also a bit of Pablo Escobar in there as well.
952* OnlyAFleshWound: Gets shot in the shoulder by John when he arrives.
953* UndignifiedDeath: He dies screaming pathetically right before the getaway plane explodes.
954* WellIntentionedExtremist: Stuart's people see him as one, a man willing to do anything to oppose Communism. Reading between the lines, it's entirely likely that he actually is just willing to do anything to maintain his own powerbase, and the fact that many of the enemies of his regime were Communists was a coincidence.
955[[/folder]]
956
957[[folder:Sam]]
958!!Samantha "Sam" Coleman
959[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aaf60646_fc95_4947_a448_154e5c3b87ec.jpeg]]
960[[caption-width-right:250:''"You give me this story and I'll have your baby."'']]
961-> '''Played By:''' Sheila [=McCarthy=]
962->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/VirginieLedieu
963
964A reporter covering the Dulles Airport Crisis. She generally tends to be nicer and more ethical than Richard Thorberg.
965----
966* BadassBystander: Does not take part in the struggle against the terrorists; that is until the end when [=McClane=] flags her down for a place on the news chopper she flew in on, allowing him to board Stuart's escape plane.
967* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Spends the better part of the first act looking for something to report on at the airport while awaiting Esperanza's arrival. Before long she's reporting on the destruction of a passenger plane full of innocents deliberately crashed into the runway by Colonel Stuart, with no survivors to be found.
968* ButtMonkey: Is constantly blown off in her overly eager efforts to land the next big spot while awaiting the arrival of General Esperanza, even earning a "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck You]]" from Colonel Stuart for her troubles.
969* {{Foil}}: To Richard Thornburg, in that she is just as eager to land her next big story but isn't malicious about it, and actually comes around to be an important ally when the situation demands it.
970* IntrepidReporter: She is a refreshing change of pace from the opportunistic Thornberg. Although she initially annoys [=McClane=] with her questions, she helps John chase the villains in her news helicopter. The fact she's getting a [[GoingForTheBigScoop spectacular exclusive]] of [=McClane=] stopping [[spoiler:Colonel Stuart]] doesn't hurt either as something she legitimately earned.
971[[/folder]]
972
973[[folder:Marvin]]
974!!Marvin
975->'''Played By:''' Tom Bower
976->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Joseph Falcucci
977----
978* BadassBystander: He may be just a janitor, but his intimate knowledge of the airport facilities proves to be a huge help to [=McClane=] and he helps John to warn the airport police of Grant's treachery after the church shootout.
979* ChekhovsGun: He recovers Miller's CB communicator, which still had its code active allowing John to listen in on all of Stuart's chatter. This allows him to intercept General Esperanza when the latter's plane arrives at the airport.
980* CloudCuckoolander: A bit of an odd duck, to say the least. In a deleted scene he is shown to be living in the airport basement as he is homeless, a fact as of yet unnoticed by the airport staff. John agrees to keep this under wraps for himself.
981* CoolOldGuy: He proves to be a critical ally to [=McClane=] due to his familiarity with the airport and spares no expense to help [=McClane=] in any way he can.
982* ShellshockedVeteran: Is implied to be a veteran of World War II. He's quite proud of it, too.
983[[/folder]]
984
985[[folder:Trudeau]]
986!!Ed Trudeau
987->'''Played By:''' Fred Dalton Thompson
988->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/WilliamSabatier
989----
990* BadassBystander: As Chief of Air Operations, he doesn't take any direct action against the terrorists, but maintains some semblance of control amid the deteriorating situation at the airport and after witnessing Stuart's wrath firsthand does everything in his power to regain control of the tower's communications.
991* DespairEventHorizon: Is forced to witness the crash of the Windsor flight, and is visibly distressed that they were not able to prevent Stuart from following through on his threat to crash the planes above.
992* LargeAndInCharge: He's Chief of Air Operations and played by the 6'6 Fred Thompson.
993* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Is one of the few higher-ups willing to hear out John's warnings when it becomes apparent that a major terrorist plot is unfolding before him.
994[[/folder]]
995
996[[folder:Barnes]]
997!!Leslie Barnes
998[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/53b9d96a_a2be_472b_9a81_52e57e75b753.jpeg]]
999%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
1000->'''Played By:''' Art Evans
1001->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Robert Darmel
1002----
1003* BadassBystander: He is the Chief Engineer at the tower and its through his own brilliant skill that he outmaneuvers the terrorists in their control of the tower; ''multiple'' times, at that.
1004%%* BlackAndNerdy
1005* EurekaMoment: He has several of these, and it is his use of the outer marker beacon as a radio signal that allows the tower to alert the planes above of what is really happening at the airport. He also is able to deduce where the terrorists' hideout is.
1006* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His attempt to re-establish communications with the planes with the antenna array leads to the crash of Windsor 114.
1007* OhCrap: When O'Reilly presses a gun to his temple; thankfully, [=McClane=] arrives in the nick of time.
1008* OnlyAFleshWound: Gets his arm bloodied up in the skywalk shootout when a glass pane explodes near him; it doesn't seem to faze him much though as he is able to aid [=McClane=] throughout the rest of the siege.
1009%%* TheSmartGuy
1010* SoleSurvivor: He is the only survivor of the skywalk shootout due to [=McClane=]'s intervention, having been under the escort of the SWAT team before they were wiped out.
1011[[/folder]]
1012
1013[[folder:Carmine]]
1014!!Captain Carmine Lorenzo
1015-> '''Played By:''' Creator/DennisFranz
1016->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Yves Barsacq
1017
1018The incredibly abrasive head of the Dulles Airport Police.
1019----
1020* DaChief: Is basically an even more aggressive version of this trope, openly threatening John, accusing him of everything, and getting up in his face.
1021* DumbassHasAPoint: As stupid and obstructive as Lorenzo normally is, he has a logical reason to send the airport SWATTeam to help Barnes activate the marker beacon. He says that if Barnes figured out how to counter the terrorist plot, the terrorists may have figured out that they are vulnerable in that respect and taken precautions. The terrorists are guarding the route to the marker beacon, and while the [=SWAT=] cops turn out to be a RedshirtArmy, they do manage to kill one {{Mook}} and keep Barnes from being killed outright. However, John speculates that Stuart [[BatmanGambit wanted Lorenzo to do that in order to take out the toughest cops on the scene.]]
1022* {{Jerkass}}: He only really gets better near the end, and spends much of his on-screen time haranguing John and screaming at his subordinates and being just extremely unpleasant to the point that it's a Christmas miracle that anyone can stand to be around him. He's especially vicious towards John.
1023* JerkassHasAPoint: He's an absolutely colossal jerk about it but he's quite right that shutting down a section of a major airport on Christmas Eve based largely on John's hunch that there might be more to the crime is not remotely practical.
1024* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Lorenzo seems to finally respect John after the latter proves that he was right about Stuart and Grant being in cahoots and prepares to mobilize the airport police to take the terrorists down. However, Thornberg's broadcast sends the airport into a panic, preventing him and John from getting to the runway and forcing the latter to find outside assistance (Samantha Coleman) to reach them.]]
1025* ObstructiveBureaucrat: A very angry, loudmouthed example. He utterly refuses to listen to John about anything and goes out of his way to be as rude and uncooperative to him as possible. Grant even describes him as such.
1026* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:He eventually warms up to John by the time the film is over and tears up his parking ticket as a favor.]]
1027* SiblingTeam: His brother Vito is an officer on the Dulles Airport Police and just as much of a jerk.
1028[[/folder]]
1029
1030[[folder:Garber]]
1031!!Garber
1032[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8391b3db_df22_4f1f_a33a_6c49f32055ea.jpeg]]
1033[[caption-width-right:320:''"God loves the infantry."'']]
1034->'''Played By:''' Creator/DonHarvey
1035->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/PatrickBorg
1036----
1037* ChekhovsGun: His [=MP5A3=] is taken by John during the snowmobile chase. John learns the hard way that Garber's gun is filled with blank rounds, which means that [[spoiler:the firefight was staged.]]
1038* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1039* GoodHairEvilHair: His hair is perpetually slicked back.
1040* MultipleGunshotDeath: [[spoiler:Shot six times by John during the snowmobile chase, marking him as the ninth terrorist to die (eighth killed by John).]]
1041* NumberTwo: Colonel Stuart's second in command. He's not enough of a badass to be TheDragon.
1042[[/folder]]
1043
1044[[folder:Miller]]
1045!!Miller
1046[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/30e57ae6_4d8e_47d3_aa7a_22526af60170.jpeg]]
1047%%[[caption-width-right:340:some caption text]]
1048->'''Played By:''' Creator/VondieCurtisHall
1049----
1050* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: After returning to the church after Cochrane is killed, Stuart threatens him with a pistol to the forehead. He even pulls the trigger-but the gun is not loaded.
1051-->'''Stuart''': You fail me again and the chamber won't be empty. Dismissed.
1052* CombatPragmatist: [[ImprovisedWeapon Uses luggage as weapons twice during his first fight with]] [=McClane=], shooting a suitcase to knock [=McClane=]'s gun out of his hand and hitting him with another.
1053* EyeScream: John sprays an unknown aerosol in his face during the baggage fight.
1054* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1055* TheQuietOne: Doesn't have another word in the film after being threatened by Stuart.
1056* TokenMinority: The only black member of Stuart's team, apart from [[spoiler:Grant and his men.]]
1057[[/folder]]
1058
1059[[folder:O'Reilly]]
1060!!O'Reilly
1061[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9d3be1a3_82dc_40fd_ac7b_785774587317.jpeg]]
1062%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
1063
1064->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertPatrick
1065----
1066* BondOneLiner: (Deleted scene): "This is Alice, we're down the rabbit hole."
1067* BoomHeadshot: Delivers one of these to the [=SWAT=] team leader, at point-blank range no less.
1068* ClickHello: Does a silent version by putting his gun to Barnes' temple.
1069* DeathFromAbove: [[spoiler:He has Barnes at gunpoint and is about to kill him when [=McClane=] appears from the grate above him. The grate lands on him, preventing him from moving his hands until [=McClane=] shoots and kills him.]]
1070* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1071* GunsAkimbo: Uses a Glock 17 pistol in his right hand and [=H&K=] submachine gun in his left for the skywalk shootout.
1072* KillAndReplace: Murders two painters in a deleted scene for their uniforms.
1073* LightIsNotGood: For most of his screentime, he wears a white painter's jumpsuit as a disguise, which he took from a painter he killed in a deleted scene.
1074* PreMortemOneLiner: "A sitting duck." (Delivered to a [=SWAT=] officer to start the skywalk shootout).
1075[[/folder]]
1076
1077[[folder:Thompson]]
1078!!Thompson
1079[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/39a4d8ed_ad4c_48e3_b36f_07de9469997d.jpeg]]
1080[[caption-width-right:340:''"[[BondOneLiner This is Buckwheat. The clubhouse is open.]]"'']]
1081->'''Played By:''' Peter Nelson
1082----
1083* BondOneLiner: "This is Buckwheat. The clubhouse is open." (After Baker kills the church keeper).
1084* DeathFromAbove: He's the one who resets the ground level to -200 feet, resulting in the crash of Windsor 114.
1085* EvenEvilHasStandards: Brief, but he's a little hesitant when Stuart orders him to manipulate the ground levels, leading to the infamous plane crash.
1086* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1087* ImpromptuTracheotomy: Shot in the throat by John when Stuart goes to pick up Esperanza at the airport. It's quite bloodless.
1088[[/folder]]
1089
1090[[folder:Baker]]
1091!!Baker
1092[[quoteright:311:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/09e94f27_0c60_4df5_b698_4aa628996469.jpeg]]
1093%%[[caption-width-right:311:some caption text]]
1094->'''Played By''': Tony Ganios
1095----
1096* TheBrute: The strongest of Stuart's men, who comes the closest to killing [=McClane=] through strength rather than martial skill.
1097* EyeScream: [=McClane=] stabs an icicle into his eye.
1098* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1099* PreMortemOneLiner: "You're right about that." (When the church keeper states he feels like a part of him is dying with the church).
1100[[/folder]]
1101
1102[[folder:Burke]]
1103!!Burke
1104->'''Played By''': Creator/JohnLeguizamo
1105----
1106* AllThereInTheManual: His name is not mentioned in dialogue.
1107* ChainsawGood: Uses a chainsaw to cut the [=ILS=] landing system lines.
1108* TheCracker: Hacks the church's power grid so the terrorists can use the equipment.
1109* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1110* InTheBack: Shot several times in the back by John, causing him to crash his snowmobile into an icy pond.
1111* KillItWithIce: Crashes into the icy pond outside the church during the snowmobile chase.
1112* TheMedic: Shown patching up a gunshot wound Esperanza suffered when Stuart came to pick him up.
1113* TheQuietOne: Only has one line.
1114[[/folder]]
1115
1116[[folder:Kahn]]
1117!!Kahn
1118->'''Played By''': Creator/TomVerica
1119----
1120* AllThereInTheManual: His name is not mentioned onscreen.
1121* TheDriver: Drives Esperanza during the snowmobile chase.
1122* EnemyDetectingRadar: He's the one who's manning the listening post at the airport (initially set up by Miller and Cochrane) and tells Garber that Barnes tried to set up the antenna array, leading to the crash of Windsor 114.
1123* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's an ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1124* MauveShirt: Kahn manages to last all the way to the final confrontation with John before getting blown up in the plane explosion.
1125* NotTheIntendedUse: Kahn has an...interesting use for a fire ax. When John flees to the plane's cockpit and Kahn can't shoot through the door, Kahn blocks the door with the fire ax so John can't escape.
1126[[/folder]]
1127
1128[[folder: Cochrane]]
1129!!Oswald Cochrane
1130->'''Played By:''' John Costelloe
1131----
1132* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Shoots an aerosol can out of John's hand during the baggage handling fight.
1133* DeathFromAbove: John jumps him from above, causing both of them to fall onto the conveyor belt.
1134* FakingTheDead: Apparently killed in a helicopter crash two years before the film. This is the first real clue to John that something is wrong.
1135* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's an ex-Special Forces-turned terrorist.
1136* NoKillLikeOverkill: He is beaten to a pulp by John, then held on a conveyor belt to the electrical baggage press before a roller either crushes his head or electrocutes him.
1137* OnlyOneName: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. He's the only {{Mook}} given a first name.
1138* SacrificialLamb: The first of the terrorists to die.
1139[[/folder]]
1140
1141!!''Die Hard with a Vengeance''
1142
1143[[folder: Carver]]
1144!!Zeus Carver
1145[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ca5de0f3_3c40_406e_ac63_d2b53009bc89.png]]
1146%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
1147->'''Played By:''' Creator/SamuelLJackson
1148->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/ThierryDesroses
1149----
1150* AccidentalMisnaming: "Why do you keep calling me Jésus?! Do I look Puerto Rican to you?"
1151* ActionDuo: With [=McClane=].
1152* ActionSurvivor: He helps out a lot throughout the film, but he's just a civilian who got dragged into the events and not an ActionHero like [=McClane=].
1153* ArcHero: He's only in the third movie.
1154* AudienceSurrogate: Jackson saw him as how a regular person would react to [=McClane=]'s antics.
1155* BlackAndNerdy: He's a qualified electrician.
1156* CoolUncle: His nephews clearly love him, and he goes PapaWolf when he thinks they're at risk of being killed.
1157* {{Deuteragonist}}: He's the second main character of the film.
1158* TheDragAlong: He gets roped into John [=McClane=]'s bomb-defusing adventure after trying to protect [=McClane=] from a street gang without realizing what was happening. They become friends by the end.
1159* GoodIsNotNice: While he's a racist and doesn't have the best temper, he's willing to risk his own life to save a complete stranger despite said stranger wearing a sandwich board with a crude anti-black slogan.
1160* GoodSamaritan: He doesn't know anything about John [=McClane=] other than he's a white man in Harlem wearing nothing but a racist sandwich board sign. Despite being a rather unrepentantly bitter and biased man when it comes to white people, he saves him from a gang. It wasn't that he necessarily wanted him to live, but he was afraid of what would happen if a white guy was killed on his block. Throughout the film, Simon Gruber calls him "The Samaritan."
1161* GoodWithNumbers: Good enough to say he's good at this and perform multi-digit multiplication in his head under pressure (though he ''also'' realizes it was a trick question). He runs a store so that might have something to do with it.
1162* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's openly hostile to white people, even when he's putting himself in danger to save their lives.
1163* KidnappedByTheCall: After he plays Good Samaritan and saves [=McClane=], Simon forces him to team with [=McClane=] and solve together several puzzles to defuse some bombs scattered all along the city.
1164* KnightInSourArmor: Zeus is openly racist against white people and has a chip on his shoulder but still plays the hero.
1165* TheLancer: Works back-to-back with John, but [=McClane=] is still the hero of the story.
1166* MalcolmXerox: He definitely qualifies. In fact, Jackson researched the role to look and act exactly like UsefulNotes/MalcolmX himself. He gradually drifts into more sensible territory as the movie progresses, though.
1167* MeaningfulName: A man named after the god of thunder is working as an electrician.
1168* NobleBigot: Zeus's EstablishingCharacterMoment reveals he has a severe grudge against white people. He still saves John's life and teams up with him to defeat Simon.
1169* NonActionGuy: He's a civilian, so he doesn't have any combat prowess. He tries to pull a gun on Simon, but [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont it doesn't go well]].
1170* PapaWolf: When he finds out that the school bomb is planted in the same school his nephews attend, the first thing he does is threaten to shoot Simon.
1171* ScaryBlackMan: Nicely averted despite the presence of a tough black character from the hood who's played by Creator/SamuelLJackson. He's a no-nonsense individual with the courage to get done what he needs to, but he's not particularly intimidating just by his looks or presence, even with a gun in his hand, as he handles it rather nervously as he's not experienced with firearms. Though it's played straight with the hoods who were about to knife [=McClane=] before Zeus intervened.
1172* TheSmartGuy: [=McClane=] himself is hardly stupid, being a GuileHero par excellence, but Zeus has some pretty solid maths and science skills that he shows off throughout the film.
1173* SpecsOfAwesome: He wears glasses and is one of the film's primary heroes.
1174* YouAreWhatYouHate: He's a black man with serious problems with white racists, which is understandable. However, he also exhibits unabashed racial disdain towards white people in general. Eventually [=McClane=] calls him out on the fact that he's just plain racist.
1175[[/folder]]
1176
1177[[folder: Simon]]
1178!!Simon Peter Gruber
1179[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SimonGruber_5558.jpg]]
1180->'''Played By:''' Creator/JeremyIrons
1181->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/BernardTiphaine
1182
1183The brother of Hans Gruber, Simon was a Colonel in the GDR National Volksarmee, where he oversaw an infiltration unit that was scrapped due to the cessation of the Cold War. Like Hans before him, he eventually deradicalised and became a mercenary for hire. He undertakes a bold heist to rob the Federal Reserve while also seeking to avenge his brother's death.
1184----
1185* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Simon appreciates John's sardonic sense of humor. In particular when John calls his late brother Hans an "asshole," Simon laughs and tells John he's absolutely right.
1186* AffablyEvil: A very polite terrorist and thief. This [[DeconstructedTrope works against him]] when he gives [=McClane=] a bottle of aspirins containing relevant information. Steers towards FauxAffablyEvil when he's robbing the bank.
1187* AvengingTheVillain: PlayedWith. He initially claims that [[spoiler: his bombings are a campaign of vengeance against [=McClane=] for the death of his brother, but it turns out that's a cover for his real motivation, robbing banks on Wall Street. In fact, he explicitly agrees with John that Hans was an AssholeVictim. But, on the other hand, he also explicitly states, "There ''is'' a difference, you know, between not ''liking'' one's brother and not ''caring'' when some dumb Irish flatfoot drops him out of a window!"]]
1188* BatmanGambit: Wreaks havoc to divert law enforcement attention from his real target.
1189* BenevolentBoss: He's a pretty good leader to his men, joining them on the frontlines and appreciating their work and pays his respects to those who died during the operation.
1190* BigBad: Simon is the primary antagonist of the third film.
1191* BigBrotherInstinct: He may not have ''liked'' Hans, but... "There's a difference between not liking your brother and not caring when some dumb Irish flatfoot drops him out a window."
1192* BondVillainStupidity: He handcuffs John [=McClane=] and Zeus to a bomb on a ship and leaves them to die instead of shooting them and blowing up the ship after.
1193* TheChessmaster: Plays several sides and moves a lot of pieces to try to achieve his goals.
1194* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Simon betrays his Middle Eastern clients by trying to keep the gold instead of blowing it up and then tries to maximise his share. He keeps at least some of his accomplices in the dark about the ultimate fate of the gold and then kills them when they find out. In the alternate ending, he's killed his girlfriend as well a few months after the movie's over.
1195* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
1196** To his brother Hans. They're both polite criminals who fake being terrorists as a distraction from their elaborate theft schemes, but Hans [[FauxAffablyEvil only puts on a polite front]], intends to kill countless innocent people for the sake of a robbery, takes himself extremely seriously, doesn’t know who [=McClane=] is for a large chunk of the film, and gets enraged when called out on his lackluster motivations. Simon is a genuinely AffablyEvil NobleDemon and a [[LaughablyEvil dark-humored]] trickster who enjoys screwing with people, and fakes being a cruel MadBomber motivated by a grudge against [=McClane=]. The grudge actually is genuine, but killing [=McClane=] is secondary to completing his robbery. And while Hans tries to kill [=McClane=] at every opportunity, Simon prefers to run him through CriminalMindGames to keep him distracted.
1197** To Colonel Stuart. Colonel Stuart is a sociopathic, stoic, and callous villain who kills countless civilians just to accomplish his goal, and is motivated by his political ideology. Simon is a LaughablyEvil NobleDemon who is genuinely charming most of the time, avoids casualties whenever he can, loves trolling people, and is focused entirely on a heist as well as a personal vendetta. Both were former soldiers who claimed political motivations, but Simon's claims are just a smokescreen while Stuart seemed to honestly believe he was a freedom fighter. They also have different dynamics with John, Stuart only facing him because John happened to be in the airport during the operation but quickly developing an intense mutual hatred while viewing John as beneath him. Simon specifically seeks out John and has a legitimate grudge against him but also seems to have some level of genuine respect and even affection for him and admits that taking John out was always secondary to his actual goal. The difference is best summed up by the fact that Stuart crashed a plane, killing hundreds of civilians, including children, without the slightest hint of remorse or reservation while Simon's main ploy of the bomb hidden in a school is revealed to be a bluff and he even says afterwards that "I'm a soldier, not a monster" whereas Stuart was both.
1198* CrazyPrepared: He prepared quite a few puzzles and deathtraps for John and Zeus, considering that any one of them could have easily killed them both early on. Perhaps Simon knew just how indestructible John [=McClane=] really was.
1199* CriminalMindGames: Subverted, his quests are all part of a misdirection.
1200* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He reveals that he wasn't happy that [=McClane=] killed his brother, Hans, despite Simon admitting that he disliked his brother.
1201-->There's a difference, you know, between not liking one's brother and not caring when some dumb Irish flatfoot drops him out of a window.
1202* EvenEvilHasStandards: In spite of the money at stake, he [[WouldNotHurtAChild will not murder children in cold blood for it.]] After all, "I'm a soldier, not a monster... though I sometimes work for monsters." He does try to avoid civilian casualties during his mission when possible, for instance preferring to tranquilize the bank guards rather than kill them outright, though he's perfectly willing to hurt anyone who gets in his way. He was even willing to let Zeus go midway through rather than have his men take him out.
1203* EvilGenius: Like his brother, he's very intelligent, effortlessly pulling off a massive scheme right under the nose of the NYPD and FBI and nearly getting away with it, and lacking in morals.
1204* EvilSoundsDeep: Speaks in a low voice while playing up his ruthlessness.
1205* EvilVirtues: Simon is evil but he's not without admirable qualities. He's highly intelligent, ambitious, resourceful, determined, brave, doesn't kill innocents if he doesn't have to and is capable of genuine respect, comradery and mercy, even towards his enemies.
1206* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's a FormerRegimePersonnel-turned terrorist.
1207* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He gave [=McClane=] a bottle of aspirin, which gave him the location of their hideout in the climax.
1208* LargeHam: Creator/JeremyIrons seems like he has a lot of fun playing a charming and devious villain.
1209* LaughablyEvil: His brother in the first film has shades of this (mostly due to being a DeadpanSnarker) though Simon is ultimately more humorous thanks to being a total {{troll}} who really enjoys what he does.
1210* {{Leitmotif}}: [[PublicDomainSoundtrack "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"]] is used as Simon's theme, as well as pretty much the main theme of the movie itself. The most notable scene where it plays is when he's robbing the Federal Reserve Bank.
1211* MrFanservice: He strips down to a vest during the gold robbery, showing off his muscles.
1212* NearVillainVictory: He nearly gets away with everything until John notices the address on the aspirin bottle and tracks him down.
1213* NervesOfSteel: Simon is many things but a coward isn't one of them. He doesn't even flinch when shotgun rounds fly mere inches from him or when Zeus has a machine gun pointed at him.
1214* NobleDemon: The kind of leader a band of warriors have is reflected in their behavior, for unlike most moustache-twirling one-dimensional villains, Simon's men actually go out of their way to make sure children will not be hurt in their operations and actually bother to ''mourn'' the losses of their brothers before rejoicing in their ill-gotten money. Goes hand-in-hand with EvenEvilHasStandards above.
1215* NobleTopEnforcer: {{Invoked}} after the bomb at the school turns out to be a decoy.
1216-->"Of course. I'm not a monster. Even though I sometimes work for monsters."
1217* ObviouslyEvil: There's a moment when he appears in person in all his sinister sunglasses, sinister voice, and on-and-off machine-like mannerisms and apparently has a bank official convinced he speaks as a man in the flower business.
1218* PetTheDog: He instructs his men to let Zeus go rather than take him out with John.
1219* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He plays with this trope like a kitten does a ball of yarn; he seems to delight in making people think he ''is'' bigoted, mostly because he thinks it's fun to anger people and/or fake them out. When first speaking to Zeus Carver, for example, Simon (who is German but can mimic UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents quite well, and who knows that Zeus is an angry black man because he's been watching him on hidden video cameras) says: "So whot's yowuh name, boy?" in twangy, hick fashion just to irritate Zeus; he then apologizes, explaining that he's fond of tasteless jokes. Later the trope is seemingly played straight when Simon calls John [=McClane=] a "dumb Irish flatfoot," but this is due not to anti-Irish sentiment but to Simon's general bitterness toward John for having killed his brother Hans in the first movie. Simon admits that he didn't even like Hans, but he's still determined to exact vengeance on anyone who messes with his family, saying "There's a difference between not liking one's brother and not caring when some dumb Irish flatfoot drops him off a building."
1220* PorkyPigPronunciation: Throughout the film, Simon seemed to have a stutter of sorts when talking over the phone when "pushed". However, in the scenes when he wasn't speaking to the NYPD, he talks and speaks perfectly fine and fakes a stutter while calling New York police gullible, indicating it was just a ruse.
1221* PsychopathicManchild: His acts are literally based around a children's game, ''Simon Says''. Also treats his acts more like a child having fun more than his brother ever did.
1222* PunchClockVillain: Appears to have been one in the past, judging by his line about working for monsters.
1223* PuttingOnTheReich: Simon's archive photo depicts him dressed in an early NVA uniform, looking completely Nazi save for the imperial eagle.
1224* {{Troll}}: Simon really enjoys screwing with people and often puts on acts to mess with whoever he's talking to.
1225* VillainRespect: While he wants vengeance on John for killing his brother, he seems to genuinely like him to an extent, or at least respect him.
1226* WouldntHurtAChild: It turns out the school bomb was a fake designed to distract the NYPD, which Simon admits was borne out of not actually wanting to place the lives of children in danger.
1227[[/folder]]
1228
1229[[folder: Katya]]
1230!!Katya
1231[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/209ad800_8be7_443d_a251_08fbe3d69936.png]]
1232->'''Played By:''' Sam Phillips
1233
1234The Bulgarian girlfriend of Matthias Targo, often working as an assassin during his missions.
1235----
1236%%* TheBaroness
1237* BloodKnight: She needs to be physically restrained by Simon and Targo from further cutting up the poor Federal Reserve guard she already killed. An almost literal example, as her knife-work leaves her clothes covered in blood for the rest of the film.
1238* DarkActionGirl: Evil, female, and deadly.
1239* DarkMistress: She's clearly infatuated with Simon.
1240* TheDragon: Works as the main muscle for Simon.
1241** CoDragons: With Targo, though it's quickly established that she is the sole dragon through her UndyingLoyalty.
1242* FemmeFatale: Sexy and absolutely dangerous.
1243* FromCamouflageToCriminal: She's a FormerRegimePersonnel-turned terrorist.
1244* NotSoStoic: She never smiles, never speaks, never even makes a sound throughout all her scenes...until the film's climax, when she and Simon are interrupted by John [=McClane=] and Zeus Carver at a very inopportune moment - and she completely loses her cool, firing off a machine gun and screaming in rage.
1245* PsychoKnifeNut: Slices up a security guard with a fillet knife until Simon and Targo need to hold back to make her stop.
1246* SilentAntagonist: She utters only a single sound (a frustrated scream) in the entire film. Ironic, given that Sam Phillips is a noted singer in real life.
1247%%* TheVamp
1248* TheVoiceless: The original ending to the movie suggests she may be mute (and she has a noticeable scar on her throat), but in the final cut, she does yell when shooting at [=McClane=]. She was originally supposed to have a speaking part in the film; however, it was decided that her character would be silent since it made her appear much more imposing and lethal. This makes the scene where she slices one of the Federal Reserve guards to death much more powerful.
1249[[/folder]]
1250
1251[[folder: Targo]]
1252!! Mathias Targo
1253[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mathias_targo___profile.png]]
1254->'''Played By:''' Nicholas Wyman
1255->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Bernard Métraux
1256A former explosives expert for the Hungarian Army, Matthias Targo now works as a contract saboteur. Radicalized against the West, Targo works primarily for the Iranians. In this capacity, he serves as Simon's handler in the Federal Reserve Heist mission.
1257----
1258* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: "Targo" isn't a Hungarian surname, while "Mathias" is the Germanic rendering of the name that would be rendered in Hungarian as "Mátyás".
1259* BombThrowingAnarchist: Unlike most of Simon's troops, he actually did seek to "level the economic playing field" of the world. He is quite angry when he finds out that Simon is OnlyInItForTheMoney.
1260* TheDragon: Shares this role with Katya, but he gets the big fight with [=McClane=].
1261* EvenEvilHasStandards: While still a terrorist, he at least believes in the cause he's involved in and isn't happy to learn that Simon intends to steal the gold instead of destroying it. [[FatherToHisMen He's also angered when John kills one of his men]].
1262* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's a Hungarian FormerRegimePersonnel-turned terrorist.
1263* GeniusBruiser: Being a Demolition Expert, he knows how to create bombs and how to properly place them. He's also a giant of a man who can give John a solid beating.
1264* MadeOfIron: [=McClane=] stabs a big sharp piece of metal into his leg and it does nothing to him. It's only when he gets tripped by a chain is when John is finally able to lay a beatdown on him.
1265* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Doesn't acknowledge John stabbing him in the leg at all.
1266* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Gives [=McClane=] one in their fight and ends up on the receiving end after [=McClane=] manages to trip him.
1267* PerpetualFrowner: He always has the frown that is shown in his character image.
1268* SuperStrength: He throws [=McClane=] around by grabbing ''one motherfucking'' leg.
1269* TerroristsWithoutACause: He, unlike Simon's other men, actually is an anarchistic terrorist, but he doesn't seem to have an end goal outside of screwing over "the economic playing field" and is noted to loan his services out.
1270* UnholyMatrimony: Implied to be this with Katya.
1271* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: "Simon, kill him. [[VillainBall Stop toying with him]] and [[JustEatGilligan kill him now]]!"
1272[[/folder]]
1273
1274[[folder: Cobb]]
1275!!Walter Cobb
1276-> '''Played By:''' Larry Bryggman
1277->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Guy Chapelier
1278
1279The head of the NYPD's Major Cases unit, and John's commanding officer.
1280
1281* DaChief: Heads up what is ostensibly New York's biggest crime-tackling division.
1282* ExactWords: When addressing the senior officers regarding the bomb in the school, Walter informs them that Simon has said that they can't evacuate, but he didn't say that they can't ''search''.
1283* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite the fact that he previously suspended John for alcoholism (and even has officers tailing him through part of the film), he puts all his faith in him, reinstating him at the first opportunity.
1284* RememberTheNewGuy: He's apparently been John's boss for some time, likely before the events of the first film, but he wasn't referenced until the plot kickstarts and he's forced into action to bring [=McClane=] onboard. In fairness, the first two films take place outside NY, and in the second film, [=McClane=] is with the LAPD. It can be surmised that when [=McClane=] and Holly had their martial troubles, he moved back to New York and back into his former position under Cobb's command, which is why he wasn't seen or referenced before this film.
1285[[/folder]]
1286
1287[[folder: Kowalski]]
1288!!Connie Kowalski
1289-> '''Played By:''' Creator/ColleenCamp
1290->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Josiane Pinson
1291----
1292* DeadpanSnarker: When asked why anyone would want to blow up a department store, Connie quips [[AllWomenLoveShoes that perhaps a woman is angry about missing a shoe sale.]]
1293* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Connie is a blonde cop who works hard during the crisis and risks her life trying to evacuate a school believed to have a bomb inside.
1294[[/folder]]
1295
1296[[folder:Lambert]]
1297!!Joe Lambert
1298-> '''Played By:''' Creator/GrahamGreeneActor
1299->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/MarcAlfos
1300----
1301* BadassNative: He's a Native American and a no-nonsense cop.
1302* SpottingTheThread: The first lines in the movie have him wondering out loud why anyone would want to blow up a school, saying there's nothing there of relevance. This is long before [[spoiler:the Bonwits bombing is revealed to be a distraction for the ''real'' heist at the Federal Reserve]].
1303[[/folder]]
1304
1305[[folder:Walsh]]
1306!!Ricky Walsh
1307-> '''Played By:''' Anthony Peck
1308->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/JoseLuccioni
1309----
1310* MauveShirt: He's revealed to be one of [=McClane's=] friends, and [[spoiler:after he dies, John grieves over him for a moment before resuming his focus]].
1311* NeverWinTheLottery: Ricky has been futilely playing the lottery for years, always using his badge number.
1312* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Simon's men kill him during the infiltration of the Federal Reserve.]]
1313[[/folder]]
1314
1315[[folder:Weiss]]
1316!!Charlie Weiss
1317-> '''Played By:''' Creator/KevinChamberlin
1318->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Jean-Loup Horwitz
1319----
1320* DemolitionsExpert: Charlie is a bomb expert who first describes how one bomb works and later works to disarm a second one when children are in danger.
1321* HeroicSacrifice: He stays behind to try and disarm the bomb in the school, fully expecting to be blown up. [[spoiler:It comes as a shock when the "bomb" turns out to be a fake, filled with pancake syrup instead]].
1322* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Charlie is a bespectacled expert in the field of analyzing and disarming explosive devices.
1323[[/folder]]
1324
1325[[folder:Raymond and Dexter]]
1326!! Raymond and Dexter
1327-> '''Played By:''' Creator/AldisHodge and Raymond Alexander Jackson
1328----
1329* {{Delinquents}}: They skip school a lot and hang out with a kid who steals radios, which is PlayedForLaughs.
1330
1331[[/folder]]
1332
1333!!''Live Free or Die Hard''/''Die Hard 4.0''
1334[[folder:Farrell]]
1335!!Matt Farrell
1336->'''Played By:''' Creator/JustinLong
1337->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Patrick Mancini
1338----
1339* ActionSurvivor: He's a kid with a laptop, he's got ''nothing'' physically, but by the end of the movie he's determined to save Lucy and America.
1340* ArcHero: Similar to Zeus from the third film, Matt is exclusive to the fourth film.
1341* DeadpanSnarker: [=McClane=]'s humor is contagious even for his sidekicks.
1342* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He has some anti social behaviors and is not happy to be dragged along in the adventure but he ends up having the best of intentions.
1343* TheLancer: Acts as John's partner and has a contrasting skill set to his.
1344* MotorMouth: Talks about a mile a minute, which contrasts against John's more laconic nature.
1345* NonActionGuy: While Matt isn't very accomplished when it comes to fighting, he knows all the hacker tricks [=McClane=] needs to defeat Gabriel.
1346* PipePain: Uses a pipe to kill one of Mai's henchmen by hitting him in the back; the henchman subsequently falls into the elevator shaft.
1347* PlayfulHacker: Large computer terminals, chugs down energy drinks... and went to Space Camp!
1348* TheSmartGuy: [=McClane=] is out of his depth with all of the hacker stuff but Matt picks up the slack.
1349* SwordAndSorcerer: Has this dynamic with John; he often needs [=McClane=] to fend off bad guys long enough to hack into whatever Gabriel is up to, but can stall Gabriel's plans and figure out his plans in ways that non-tech-savvy [=McClane=] could not on his own. Their combination of brains and brawn save the day.
1350* TookALevelInBadass: Though he does later pick up a gun [[spoiler:and shoots Gabriel's [[TheDragon other Dragon]] during the final showdown.]]
1351[[/folder]]
1352
1353[[folder:Bowman]]
1354!!Miguel Bowman
1355[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/22d9294b_475d_4114_b63f_791fb2d68139.png]]
1356%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
1357->'''Played By:''' Creator/CliffCurtis
1358->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Joël Zaffarano
1359----
1360* DeadpanSnarker: Especially to the [=DHS=] and [=FBI=] agents sent in to assist with the situation.
1361* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Not so much at first since he's skeptical of Matt's suggestion that the entire situation is a fire sale. However, he quickly wises up and tries to support [=McClane=] and Matt as much as he can. He even gives his word later on that he would save [[spoiler:Lucy after she was kidnapped should something happen to John]].
1362[[/folder]]
1363
1364[[folder:Molina]]
1365!!Alex Molina
1366->'''Played By:''' Creator/ZeljkoIvanek
1367->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Daniel Lafourcade
1368----
1369* NumberTwo: He is Bowman's second-in-command.
1370%%* PerpetualFrowner
1371%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
1372[[/folder]]
1373
1374[[folder:Gabriel]]
1375!!Thomas Gabriel
1376[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9df64a18_fa05_405c_b9a3_85dcb7ab49ee.jpeg]]
1377[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[WellIntentionedExtremist You know, John, I feel like we've gotten off on the wrong foot. And because of that, you think I'm the bad guy. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm the good guy here. I told them this could happen if they didn't prepare. And did I get a 'thank you'? No, I got crucified. But they wouldn't listen.]]"'']]
1378->'''Played By:''' Creator/TimothyOlyphant
1379->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/JeanPierreMichael
1380----
1381* BadBoss: He'll kill anyone he doesn't have a use for anymore.
1382* BigBad: Gabriel is the primary antagonist of the fourth film.
1383* TheChessmaster: His plans are far reaching and manipulates many parties to get what he needs.
1384* TheCracker: No system is safe against him. As recounted by Warlock, he hacked into NORAD and shut down the entire U.S. Defense network ''with a laptop'' just to prove a point about the system's vulnerabilities.
1385* CreepyMonotone: Speaks in a level tone which highlights his callousness.
1386* DarkIsEvil: Wears all black clothes.
1387* DeadpanSnarker: He is not impressed when [=McClane=] covers up a camera to block sound.
1388* DiabolicalMastermind: He is the leader of a pretty elaborate evil plan.
1389* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He is not at all happy when Mai is killed.
1390* FallenHero: In a way. He once wanted to protect the country from cyber crime. Then he decided that infinite wealth would be kind of nice.
1391* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Doubly so; shot by [=McClane=] with his own gun, through a bullet wound that he was torturing [=McClane=] with.]]
1392* ItsAllAboutMe: Screw the U.S.! He has money to make!
1393* ItsPersonal: He really doesn't like John killing Mai well. In general, he also has a big grudge against the U.S. for ruining his reputation despite his rather unorthodox methods of trying to show how vulnerable their systems were to cyberwarfare.
1394* {{Jerkass}}: Described as "not a people person." He's an asshole to his own {{Mooks}} except for [[DarkMistress Mai]].
1395* LackOfEmpathy: Shuts down the entire country just to be rich and gives zero fucks. Just ask the people who probably died when he blew the gas mains.
1396* NiceJobFixingItVillain: His habit of offing anyone who is no longer useful winds up piquing the NYPD’s (and John [=McClane=] by extension) attention.
1397* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Just because he is a technology driven villain doesn't mean he will avoid collateral damage to massive degrees to achieve his goals.
1398* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Gabriel claims that he's simply showing the very vulnerabilities of the system he told the government about but they refused to fix and instead destroyed his reputation out of petty revenge for his initial attempts to prove it. In reality, [[spoiler:he just intends to steal the United States' financial data for a massive payday and the "fire sale" cyber attack was just the means of getting his hands on it. When [=McClane=] notes "it's always about the money" from his prior experience, Gabriel simply replies that he deserves "to get paid for [his] work".]]
1399* SinisterSurveillance: Part of his intel gathering hinges on taking over surveillance systems along with pretty much everything else.
1400* SmugSnake: He believes himself to be on a higher intellectual plane then everyone else, particularly [=McClane=].
1401* TheSociopath: Has no problem with [[spoiler:ruining an entire country by crashing its infrastructure and stealing all of its money, or how many people he murders in the tunnel to flush out [=McClane=] and Farrell. And that's not going into what happened when he blew the gas mains after Mai died. To be honest, he wouldn't give a shit.]]
1402* SoftSpokenSadist: He shows no remorse for anything but speaks softly and in monotone.
1403* UnderestimatingBadassery: Each time he throws something at [=McClane=], he believes the cop would not survive it. Even at the beginning he thinks he can bribe John into killing Farrell.
1404* UnholyMatrimony: Gabriel and Mai are a couple who care about each other despite both being ruthless criminals.
1405* VillainousBreakdown: After Mai's death, he started to lose his cool.
1406* WouldHitAGirl: Slaps Lucy around a few times.
1407* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
1408** Does this to the hackers who gave their codes to Mai; this is where John gets involved when Gabriel tries to eliminate Farrell and John gets there first.
1409** Has all of his tech experts except Trey killed after they complete their task for him near the end of the movie.
1410[[/folder]]
1411
1412[[folder:Mai]]
1413!!Mai Linh
1414[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/23ddc41e_a851_49ee_b77f_4222abd59533.jpeg]]
1415->'''Played By:''' Creator/MaggieQ
1416->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/YumiFujimori
1417----
1418* ByTheHair: John rips out some of her hair.
1419* DarkActionGirl: A ruthless killer who murders several people without batting an eye. Later battles it out with John and gets the upper hand for a while until John finds an [[CarFu SUV]].
1420* DarkMistress: Partnered with Gabriel.
1421* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Dropped down an elevator shaft in an [=SUV=], which explodes.]]
1422-->'''John''': "Mai? Oh yeah. Little Asian chick, likes to kick people? I don't think she'll be talking to anybody for a really long time. Last time I saw her she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with an [=SUV=] rammed up her ass."
1423* TheDragon: Gabriel's second-in-command, also his partner in crime and romance.
1424* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She means enough to Gabriel to cause him to flip his lid when she dies.
1425* LightningBruiser: Easily the most capable hand-to-hand fighter in the movie. It takes some serious CarFu to take her down, and even that doesn't kill her outright.
1426* MadeOfIron: Gets run over by an [=SUV=] and survives.
1427--> '''John''': "How you doing?"
1428* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Gets run over by an SUV, rammed through several walls, and doesn't die until the SUV falls down an elevator shaft and explodes.]]
1429* SacrificialLion: A villainous version. [[spoiler:Most people were probably not expecting her to die comparatively early in the film.]]
1430* UnholyMatrimony: Despite being a ruthless criminal like Gabriel, she cares about him and is not merely working with him as a co-conspirator.
1431[[/folder]]
1432
1433[[folder:Trey]]
1434!!Trey
1435->'''Played By:''' Creator/JonathanSadowski
1436->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Éric Herson-Macarel
1437----
1438* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Shot in the chest by [=McClane=], making him the first to die in the final shootout.]]
1439* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's unnerved when Gabriel orders him to send all the cars into the tunnel. When Trey hesitates, Gabriel does it himself.
1440* EvilCounterpart: To Matt Farrell.
1441* FourEyesZeroSoul: A villainous hacker who wears a pair of glasses.
1442* LackOfEmpathy: When the hackers put up the first video message, his only reaction is that he tried to put in more Nixon.
1443* TechnoWizard: Required to be part of Gabriel's hacker crew.
1444[[/folder]]
1445
1446[[folder:Warlock]]
1447!!Frederick "Warlock" Kaludis
1448->'''Played By:''' Creator/KevinSmith
1449->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Sylvain Lemarié
1450----
1451* BasementDweller: Still living with his mother, ''in the basement.'' He and his mother mainly interact by shouting rudely at each other from different floors.
1452* TheCameo: For Creator/KevinSmith.
1453* ChekhovsGunman: First mentioned in an online conversation with Matt just before John arrives in Camden.
1454* CrazyPrepared: He has enough generators running to stay online and well-lit after the city goes dark.
1455* GeniusSlob: Messy and dressed in a bathrobe and pajamas when the heroes arrive.
1456* InUniverseNickname: His real name is Frederick Kaludis.
1457* TechnoWizard: Enough of one that Matt seeks him out when he needs help.
1458[[/folder]]
1459
1460[[folder:Rand]]
1461!!Rand
1462->'''Played By''': Cyril Raffaelli
1463->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Cyril Raffaelli
1464A French mercenary who is tasked with killing the hackers who passed their algorithms to Mai.
1465----
1466* TheBrute: The most physically capable of the villains, and barely speaks.
1467* CoDragons: With Mai and Emerson, then later with Emerson after [[spoiler:Mai's death.]]
1468* ColdSniper: Seems to be going for this with his scoped rifle, stoic demeanor, and utter ruthlessness. The only problems are A) sniping is Plan B if the bombs he planted fail, B) he lacks the necessary patience, and C) [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy he's a shitty marksman]].
1469* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:John kicks a switch that releases liquid nitrogen that freezes Rand's arms, causing him to fall into a turbine, shredding him to death.]]
1470* HiredGuns: A French mercenary.
1471* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Rand's weapon is a really expensive custom AR with an even-more-expensive precision scope. Fortunately for the heroes, he mostly can't hit shit with it (apart from a RedShirt FBI agent) and quickly switches to [[MoreDakka spraying bullets on full-auto]] out of frustration, with even less impressive results. A strong contender for "World's Worst Sniper."
1472* LeParkour: Has amazing acrobatic skills.
1473-->'''John''': "Jesus, is the circus in town?"
1474* MadBomber: His ''modus operandi'' is to rig the hackers' computers with bombs, then activate a virus. When the hacker presses delete to close windows, the bomb is triggered.
1475* MadeOfIron: Jumps out of a helicopter and gets sideswiped by a passing car. He survives both without major injuries.
1476* OhCrap: When he sees a police car flying at the helicopter he's in. He makes it out, the pilot doesn't.
1477* TheUnintelligible: Only speaks French.
1478* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: His job is to cover Gabriel's tracks by killing people.
1479[[/folder]]
1480
1481[[folder:Emerson]]
1482!!Emerson
1483->'''Played By''': Eduardo Costa
1484Another mercenary who is in league with Gabriel and third-in-command under him and Mai.
1485----
1486* AgonyOfTheFeet: Shot in the foot by Lucy during the final standoff. He manages to subdue her again, but is clearly in ''a lot'' of pain.
1487* BeardOfEvil: Has a goatee beard and is one of the bad guys.
1488* CoDragons: With [[DarkActionGirl Mai]] and [[LeParkour Rand]] to Gabriel.
1489* TheCracker: Responsible for downloading the money that Gabriel wants. That is, everyone's money.
1490* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:Tries to shoot [=McClane=] when the latter shoots Gabriel, only to be shot dead by Farrell.]]
1491* DressingAsTheEnemy: His unit wears Hazmat suits when they infiltrate Woodlawn.
1492* HiredGuns: His unit is described as "hardware" to the hackers' "software."
1493* HumanShield: Uses Lucy as one during the final standoff.
1494* OhCrap: When he captures Farrell and realizes that he's been locked out of the system.
1495* WalkingArmory: Carries at least three guns on him throughout the film: a Heckler & Koch UMP in .45 caliber, a Heckler & Koch [=MP7=], and a Heckler & Koch USP pistol.
1496[[/folder]]
1497
1498!!''A Good Day to Die Hard''
1499
1500[[folder:Komorov]]
1501!!Yuri Komorov
1502->'''Played By:''' Creator/SebastianKoch
1503->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Creator/FeodorAtkine
1504----
1505%%* BaitTheDog
1506* BigBadDuumvirate: With Irina. Though in truth, he is the one behind it all.
1507%%* BitchInSheepsClothing
1508%%* BeardOfEvil
1509* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Subverted, as he is met with a HelicopterBlender mid-fall]].
1510* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Irina is his beloved daughter.
1511%%* EvilAllAlong
1512* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:To John. Both are washed-up older men who each have a long list of regrets about balancing their work lives and family lives; they subsequently have strained relationships with their offspring yet are forced to work with them to achieve goals]].
1513%%* FauxAffablyEvil
1514%%* ManipulativeBastard
1515* WalkingSpoiler: Possibly a first in the Die Hard series.
1516[[/folder]]
1517
1518[[folder:Irina]]
1519!!Irina Komorov
1520->'''Played By:''' Yuliya Snigir
1521->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Diana Rudychenko
1522----
1523* AvengingTheVillain: [[spoiler:What she ''tries'' to do after seeing that Jack had killed her father, while she was losing control of the Mi-26 Halo cargo helicopter she was piloting due to John's interference. It leads to her ramming the Halo right into the building the [=McClane=]s, only for them to have already escaped, leading to her death.]]
1524* BigBadDuumvirate: Somewhat with Yuri. He is the one who does most of the orchestrating, though she manages to hold her own.
1525%%* DaddysLittleVillain: She fits this trope perfectly.
1526* DarkActionGirl: She's a girl who's not afraid to get her hands dirty.
1527* TheDragon: Yuri's second-in-command, and his daughter.
1528* DragonTheirFeet: She is the final antagonist who the [=McClanes=] face.
1529* HellishCopter: [[spoiler:How she dies, trying to take down the [=McClanes=] with the helicopter that was intended to take her father to safety.]]
1530%%* TheMole: [[spoiler:To Chagarin.]]
1531* MsFanservice: Tight and short dresses are only the beginning.
1532* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler:She rams her Halo cargo helicopter to kill the [=McClane=]s when she notices that they've already jumped out of the building she was about to crash into just to kill them.]]
1533[[/folder]]
1534
1535[[folder:Alik]]
1536!!Alik
1537->'''Played By:''' Radivoje Bukvic
1538->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Radivoje Bukvic
1539----
1540* AssholeVictim: To say that [[spoiler:Yuri's least evil act of killing him is saying something]].
1541* AxCrazy: Eagerly enjoys the carange that his job entails
1542* BadBoss: Blows up several of his own men in the attack on the courthouse.
1543* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:How Komorov kills him. Of course, he continues to fire into the body long after he had shot the guy.]]
1544* CopKiller: During the CarChase after Jack and Komarov, his truck gets totaled. As cops arrive on the scene, Alik shoots one of them before fleeing.
1545* TheDragon: To Chagarin as the leader of the men hired to kill Jack and Komarov.
1546* HiredGuns: His occupation and he eagerly enjoys it.
1547* LargeHam: The dude dancing a jig in front of John and Jack, while kicking away their weapons.
1548* LaughablyEvil: He can be pretty funny at points, in spite of being a psychopathic killer.
1549%%* TheMafiya
1550* PsychoForHire: Enjoys destruction and carnage while doing his job.
1551[[/folder]]
1552
1553[[folder:Chagarin]]
1554!!Viktor Chagarin
1555->'''Played By:''' Sergei Kolsenikov
1556----
1557* DiabolicalMastermind: He seems like this at first fitting his role as the BigBad [[spoiler:at least his assumed role]].
1558* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:At first it looked like he's the BigBad... until Komorov kills Alik, and gets killed himself by one of Komorov's men.]]
1559%%* EvilSoundsDeep
1560%%* FauxAffablyEvil
1561* TheMafiya: Viktor is supposed to be a ruthless Russian Mobster.
1562* NeckSnap: [[spoiler:How one of Komarov's men kills him]].
1563[[/folder]]

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