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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Jack Burton]]
->Played by: Creator/KurtRussell

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmtq1ndyznji1nf5bml5banbnxkftztgwnzcznju5mte_v1_sy1000_sx800_al.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Now wait a minute! I'm a reasonable guy, I've just experienced some very ''unreasonable'' things.]]

* ActionHero: Deconstructed. He tries to be all tough and macho, but everything just backfires on him. On the DVD Commentary, Creator/JohnCarpenter and Creator/KurtRussell said that Jack is a man who thinks he's the action hero, but really he's the sidekick.
* ActionSurvivor: Jack's not an action guy despite his macho façade, and by the end is simply glad to be out of there. Despite this he leans more toward the badass side of this trope. He is brave, sort of competent, and Wang constantly asking for his help implies Jack has a bit of a reputation as a tough guy. He's just out of his element when dealing with magic.
* AllAmericanFace: A DeconstructiveParody of this. Burton sports a Creator/JamesDean pompadour and drawls like Creator/JohnWayne but lives up to these iconic images of American masculinity with less-than-perfect aplomb. Overconfident and always slightly behind the information curve, his bombast sometimes pays off but more often makes him the butt of a slapstick gag. For a light comic performance, Creator/KurtRussell walks a very precise tightrope, giving Jack a puppyish quality that redeems his made-in-America arrogance. The audience roots for him to succeed and to be taken down a peg or two along the way.
* AudienceSurrogate: Jack, being unfamiliar with the world he's entering, asks all the same questions that the audience is.
** "What is that -- don't tell me!"
** "It will come out no more!" "''What?!'' Huh? ''What'' will come out no more?!"
** "'Jack' what? I'm supposed to buy this shit? Two thousand years and you still can't find one girl to fit the bill? Come ''on'', Dave, you must be doing ''something'' seriously wrong."
* BlatantLies: After Jack shoots a mook, he gets a horrified expression on his face. When Eddie asks if it's the first time he's ever "plugged somebody," Jack suddenly adopts a macho facade and says, "'Course not!"
* ButNowIMustGo: Well, he is a truck driver, so it's part of his job.
* ButtMonkey: Most of the comedy in the movie happens at his expense, be it that he is over his head and doesn't understand what the hell is going on, or he is the most useless person on the battlefield.
* CatchPhrase: "It's all in the reflexes."
* CoveredInKisses: As a result, Jack has Gracie's lipstick smeared on his mouth when he's facing Lo Pan.
* DeadpanSnarker:
--->'''Jack:''' ...so you can go off and rule the universe beyond the grave...
--->'''Lo Pan:''' Indeed!
--->'''Jack:''' Or check into a psycho ward, which ever comes first, huh?
* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: He doesn't hook up with Gracie despite their chemistry. In an interesting variation, it's by choice. "Sooner or later I rub everybody the wrong way."]]
* TheDitz: The poor guy clearly doesn't get how over his head he is a lot of the time. Leads him into FearlessFool territory.
* FiringInTheAirALot: Tries this at the start of a fight scene but bits of the ceiling break off and knock him out.
* FunnyForeigner: At least in Little China he is. Loud, brash, and constantly needing things explained to him that everyone else seems to know about, and always good for some slapstick. He is what you get when you drop an {{Eagleland}} character into a supernatural kung-fu flick.
* HumbleGoal: All Jack wants is to get his truck back. Unfortunately, that means having to deal with all of this supernatural wuxia crap.
* IceCreamKoan: Jack's weird, rambling philosophical speeches are intended to be the equivalent of the cliche ethnic sidekick's 'ancient wisdom'.
* ItsAllAboutMe: HumbleGoal as it is, he is still charging into a millennia-old conflict only to get his truck back.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He is a jackass, but he will unhesitatingly help anybody he considers a friend.
* LargeHam: With lines like "Keep the home fires burning, and if we don't return, call the President!" and the John Wayne impression his actor puts on, it's pretty much inevitable.
* MightyWhitey: Parodied. He's doing his best, but he's entirely in over his head and just wants to get his truck back.
* NaiveNewcomer: A lot of the moments when someone gives exposition regarding the backstory are aimed at Jack. And even then, [[NoodleIncident Jack is as much in the dark as the audience about most of them]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: His speech patterns are very similar to those of Creator/JohnWayne.
* PlayingWithCharacterType: Being played by Creator/KurtRussell, you'd assume he's the ActionHero. As it turns out, he only thinks he's the hero, and he's an over-the-top parody of Russell's other roles like Snake Plisskin. The guy thinks he's a hero, but it's clear he's...not.
* PluckyComicRelief: Most of the comedy surrounding Jack is the fact that he is this amongst the main cast and doesn't really know he is.
* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: Against Rain. In fairness to Jack, Rain ''is'' a minor deity.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After their first confrontation with Lo Pan, Jack says he's going home and tells Wang to keep the money he owes him.
* TheSmartGuy: His actual role in the story, shared with Egg Shen. He's the one coming up with the plans to infiltrate the brothel and the front organization.
* SuperReflexes: About the one thing Jack legitimately has going for him is that his reaction time is pretty damn ''fast''. To wit, he catches the empty bottle Wang fails to cut in half right before it flies into his face, to Wang's surprise. Later on, [[spoiler: though he was likely helped by Egg Shen's Chinese formula, he caught his own knife thrown at him by Lo Pan and [[CatchAndReturn threw it back right between his all-powerful wizard's eyes]] faster than he could react.]]
* SupportingProtagonist: According to WordOfGod.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Frequently, although it doesn't always work.
-->"Ah, you know what ol' Jack Burton says at a time like this?"\\
"Who?"\\
"Jack Burton! Me!"
* TrueCompanions: He is very loyal to Wang and doesn't hesitate to help him out with rescuing Miao Yin.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Zig-zagged. Jack seems to have been waiting his whole life to be a larger-than-life action hero, obviously growing up on a steady diet of John Wayne films if the way his swagger sounds is a clue, but not in a story like this. He spends most of the film a step behind the plot and is often humiliated, but he eventually ''does'' achieve all of his goals and becomes a hero.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Gracie Law]]
->Played by: Creator/KimCattrall

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bogm1mte5y2ytm2qxnc00nmezlwewyzgtntfjywm1yzbjnjg3xkeyxkfqcgdeqxvymte2nza0ng_v1_sx1777_cr001777755_al.jpg]]

A crusading lawyer with an interest in Chinatown affairs and social justice. She is considered an annoyance by everyone in Chinatown.
----
* DamselInDistress: Her role in the story.
* FieryRedhead: More on the auburn side of brunette, but closer than anybody else in the film except Margo, and with the appropriate nerve and quick temper (noted by none other than Lo Pan himself):
-->'''Lo Pan''': Ah... and this one has ''fire'' as well!
* HelloAttorney: She is played by Creator/KimCattrall and is a lawyer.
* TheLoad: No one in Chinatown takes her very seriously.
* MightyWhitey: As an alternative to FakeMixedRace, she's another parody of this trope like Jack, meaning she's just a white outsider who has immersed herself in Little China and fancies herself an expert on the place and the people who live there. Note that before she gets kidnapped, she keeps explaining to the other Chinese and Chinese-American characters stuff that they already know.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Wang Chi]]

->Played by: Creator/DennisDun

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ea081790_d2c1_4126_a7a4_e4e084168aba.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Nothin' or double, Jack]]


A local restaurateur who is engaged to be married to his childhood friend, and friends with Jack Burton.
----
* ActionHero: He's clearly the hero of the story, given his martial arts skills and his classic goal of rescuing his fiancée.
* AllAsiansKnowMartialArts: Despite being just the owner of a restaurant, he is quite adept at Kung Fu.
* DeadpanSnarker: He takes Jack's SkewedPriorities this way.
-->'''Wang Chi''': (on Jack's complaints about his truck) How do you think ''I'' feel, Jack? I lost a whole girl!
* ElectiveBrokenLanguage: A very minor example -- though otherwise perfectly fluent in English, Wang has a backward CatchPhrase of "Nothing or double" that he and Jack clearly share as a mutual in-joke.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: Subverted. Jack's the main character, but Wang's got more personal reasons for seeing Lo Pan vanquished, implying that ''he's'' the real hero.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: His toast before drinking the potion is as {{Eagleland}} as it gets.
* MasterSwordsman: He proves good enough to match ''Rain'', though admittedly this is after taking Egg Shen's formula.
* NiceGuy: He's much less abrasive than Jack.
* StraightMan: To Jack.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: [[spoiler: How he kills Rain.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: David Lo Pan]]

-> Played by: Creator/JamesHong

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1dd5a3cf3a86ce98c7f855343910dc41.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"A young man, a king, a warrior...all entombed in this old man's crippled body."]]

An ancient Chinese sorcerer cursed by UsefulNotes/QinShiHuangdi to become a body-less spirit. He is now the leader of a criminal syndicate in Chinatown.
----
* AgeWithoutYouth: Seems to be part of the curse. Lo Pan can shift between his incorporeal ghost form and a physical body which is so ancient and decrepit and repulsive that he might as well be incorporeal anyway. See WhoWantsToLiveForever below.
* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Lo Pan needs to marry a girl with green eyes to become flesh again. He doesn't care about her consent.
* ArchEnemy: He seems to have some kind of personal grudge against Egg Shen. It's implied the two have fought before with no conclusive victor.
-->'''Lo Pan:''' You never ''could'' beat me, Egg Shen.
* AristocratsAreEvil: If his fancy clothes and what little we learn about his past are any indication, he was a member of royalty back at the height of his power. Then there's his sneering remark to Egg Shen in the climax:
-->'''Lo Pan:''' ''Peasant'' magic.
* BeamOWar: He engages in one with Egg Shen during the climax. Then the beams create astral warriors who battle each other with swords. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes. This actually happens.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He wants to regain his mortal form. [[spoiler: He does, and Jack promptly puts a knife in his head.]]
* BigBad: All the forces of evil seen in the movie work for him.
* CursedWithAwesome: He was cursed into a state of undeath, roaming the world as an immortal ghost [[SenseLossSadness unable to feel the way a human does]] with a fraction of his original power, [[AgeWithoutYouth his corporeal form is a shriveled old man]]. In this state however, he is unkillable and he still has enough power and influence -- both magical and political -- to have his own army of humans and monsters to do his bidding.
* DeadpanSnarker:
-->'''Lo Pan:''' Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to "get it"!
* TheDreaded: Anyone who knows anything about Lo Pan is deeply alarmed by the prospect of his return.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: A rare male example in his ghostly form. [[spoiler: He loses this upon becoming mortal again]].
* EvilIsHammy: You can tell Creator/JamesHong had fun playing this role.
* EvilOldFolks: His corporeal form is a withered old man in a wheelchair.
* EvilOverlord: Has ambitions to become one of these and isn't far from it now.
* EvilSorcerer: This plus EvilOverlord equals SorcerousOverlord.
* GigglingVillain: He lets out a rather high-pitched cackle from time to time.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Part of his mind control abilities, sometimes accompanied by a ThroatLight.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: He likely would have killed Jack easily and won had he just blasted him with magic. Instead, he tries to kill Jack by throwing the latter's own knife at him, [[CatchAndReturn which Jack catches and hurls back to nail Lo Pan right between the eyes]].]]
** Possibly justified. [[spoiler: He'd completed the ritual far enough to regain a mortal body but hadn't sacrificed Miao Yin; so he hadn't regained his powers just yet]]. See WhoWantsToLiveForever for more details.
* HumanoidAbomination: Several people try to explain what Lo Pan is in vague and often contradicting ways. Whatever he is, he's not human - or at least not anymore. Lo Pan himself claims that he is "like nothing you can understand."
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He's around 2000 years old.
* SarcasmBlind: His initial response to Jack's dry remarks about him ruling the world from beyond the grave is a rather gleeful "Indeed~!"
* SophisticatedAsHell: "Now this really pisses me off to no end!"
* TakeOverTheWorld: At ''minimum,'' if his MotiveRant to Jack is anything to go by.
* ThroatLight: As part of his mind control powers.
* TomTheDarkLord: How does Lo Pan disguise himself as a naturalized Chinese-American, or at least someone born during the last century of Western contact, to pose as the head of the Wing Kong Exchange? He simply adds a "David" to his name.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Subverted, as he ''does'' want to remain immortal, he just doesn't want to have to give up corporeality to do it. Marrying a green-eyed Chinese girl means he gets his corporeal body back but loses his magic and immortality, and sacrificing the girl to his demon means he gets to have both a physical body and godly power.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Egg Shen]]

-> Played by: Creator/VictorWong

A local tour bus driver (and secret sorcerer) who is enemies with Lo Pan.
----
* AlmightyJanitor: To the public, Egg Shen is just a tour bus driver... who also happens to be a sorcerer capable of standing up to an immortal wizard. It's lampshaded when Wang points out Egg is actually quite rich (owning the entire city block) and just plays it up for the tourists.
* {{Archenemy}}: To Lo Pan. It is heavily implied that they have been fighting for an unknown amount of years.
* AttackReflector: Egg Shen uses a mirrored fan to send Lightning's lightning bolt attack back at him.
* CoolOldGuy: An old man but still able to take on Lo Pan.
* DeadpanSnarker: Boy, is he ever?
-->'''Jack:''' That is ''not'' water.\\
'''Egg Shen''': Black blood of the Earth.\\
'''Jack''': You mean oil?\\
'''Egg Shen''': [[NotHyperbole I mean black blood of the Earth!]]
* TheMentor: Plays this role to a small extent.
* SecretlyWealthy: He drives a tour bus and owns a shop full of random crap... at least to Western eyes. According to Wang, he owns the entire city block that holds his businesses, and the things in his shop are priceless to people with knowledge of the occult, which gives him significant influence in Chinatown.
* ShockAndAwe: Can summon lightning from his hands.
* TheSmartGuy: Shares this role with Jack, given his knowledge of Lo Pan's powers and how best to counter them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Eddie Lee]]

A Maitre'd at Wang's restaurant.
----
* ActionSurvivor: Lacks Wang's skills but handles himself in a fight (as well as killing) reasonably well.
* HiddenDepths: Is able to find out what happened to Wang's fiancée fairly easily.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Margo Litzenberger]]

A reporter for the ''Berkeley Peoples Herald'' caught up in the action while investigating a prostitution ring.
----
* IntrepidReporter: Even while held prisoner in the bowels of Lo Pan's compound, she busies herself writing a first-person account.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Miao Yin]]

Wang's wife-to-be from China.
----
* DamselInDistress: Is kidnapped early in the movie.
* HumanSacrifice: Was going to be one of these but Gracie Law provided Lo Pan with a better option.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: We find out almost nothing about her.
* SilkHidingSteel: Both she and Gracie survived Lo Pan's testing ceremony of "embracing the naked blade", implying that she has at least as much inner steel as Gracie does in a real crisis.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Thunder]]
----
* BadassInANiceSuit: When passing himself off as a normal human.
* BodyHorror: When he [[spoiler: loses control of his strength-giving inflation powers,]] the end results aren't pretty.
* TheBrute: Of all the Storms, this is the one who uses the most straightforward attacks. Graceful elegance is... ''not'' his thing.
* CoDragons: He reports directly to Lo Pan alongside the other three Storms. It's worth noting that of the three, he's the one who personally accompanies Lo Pan when he tries to make off with Miao Yin.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: When he sees Lo Pan dead, he is upset because without anyone to serve, he can't go on living. So he blows himself up.]]
* FighterMageThief: He's the "Fighter" of the Three Storms, relying on raw strength and brute force the most.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Ultimately, his main power seems to be self-inflation...except that this includes his muscle mass, giving him super-strength.
* ImmuneToBullets: The Chang Sings open fire on him and the other Storms during the gang war in the alleyway. The bullets don't even seem to connect.
* PopGoesTheHuman: [[spoiler: His eventual fate.]]
* PhlebotinumOverload: Another interpretation of [[spoiler: his death. He might have been charging up for an all-out attack on the heroes, only to lose control of his powers and explode]].
* SuperStrength: He's powerful enough to ''shatter'' a machine pistol with his bare fist.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: During the ritual to test Lo Pan's brides, he performs a martial arts kata while shirtless.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rain]]
----
* BadassInANiceSuit: In his non-storm outfit.
* BadassNormal: His fighting style. Apart from blowing a rubber ball into Jack's chest while the latter's imprisoned, his primary method of attack - apart from flying around - is pure martial arts and swordplay.
* CoDragons: He serves alongside the other two Storms as Lo Pan's personal enforcer.
* CoolSword: He wields a ''jian'' in his final battle.
* FighterMageThief: He's the "Thief" of the Three Storms, given that his fighting style is more graceful than the other two.
* ImmuneToBullets: Despite the Chang Sings shooting at him and the other two Storms, he doesn't even flinch.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: How he dies, courtesy of Wang throwing his sword at him while he's jumping towards him with no way to dodge in mid-air]].
* LightningBruiser: As is the norm with the demigod Storms.
* MasterSwordsman: He's the most graceful fighter out of the Three Storms.
* PsychoticSmirk: Often wears one.
* TortureTechnician: Downplayed since he doesn't use any torture instruments, but he's the one that manhandles Jack and Wang when the duo are imprisoned in the Wing Kong's hideout.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Lightning]]

* AwesomeButImpractical: Lightning's lightning bolts are extremely powerful and impressive but very inaccurate. He hardly ever hits what he aims at on the first try.
* DeathByLookingUp: [[spoiler: He looks up just as he's about to fry Wang Chi, just in time to see a statue crashing down on him.]]
* CoDragons: He shares this role with the other two Storms to Lo Pan.
* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler: After Lo Pan's death, he's the last enemy that the gang encounters.]]
* FountainOfExpies: He is the inspiration for [[Franchise/MortalKombat Raiden]], who takes from him the hat and lightning powers.
* FighterMageThief: He's the "Mage" of the Three Storms, casting lightning magic from a distance.
* ImplacableMan: The most controlled of the trio, going beyond TheStoic.
* ImmuneToBullets: If the alleyway gang war near the beginning of the film is any indicator, shooting at him or his partners is a waste of ammo.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: The one time he uses a weapon, it's a pair of slender blades attached to his palms that spin up into a pair of mini-propellors. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes, for real.]]
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Despite the AwesomeButImpractical entry, Lightning's powers give him potentially the most destructive output of the Three Storms.
* ShockAndAwe: As if the name didn't clue you in.
* TheSilentBob: While Rain and Thunder get some lines, Lightning's only speaking parts are battle cries when hurling his lightning.
[[/folder]]
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