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Westley

Inigo Montoya

  • "Hello!. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father. Prepare to Die."
  • Before fighting Rugen, Inigo takes out his four elite guards in seconds, including stabbing one behind his back while never once taking his eyes off Rugen.
  • The scene where Inigo has Count Rugen cornered, begging for his life, builds up to a truly awesome line:
    Rugen: NO!
    [Inigo corners Count Rugen and slashes his cheek, just like the slash he gave to Inigo as a child, then starts taunting him]
    Rugen: Yes!
    Inigo: Power, too, promise me that.
    [another slash]
    Rugen: All that I have and more. Please...
    Inigo: Offer me everything I ask for!
    Rugen: Anything you want...
    [Rugen knocks Inigo's sword aside and lunges. But Inigo traps his arm and stabs his sword into Rugen's stomach]
    Inigo: I want my father back, you son of a bitch.
    Count Rugen: You've got an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. It’s going to get you into trouble some day.
  • The whole fight is awesome. From the book:
    Slowly, inch by inch, Inigo forced his body up the wall, using his legs just for pushing, letting the wall do all the supporting that was necessary.
    Count Rugen struck again, but for any number of reasons, most probably because he hadn't expected the other man's movement, he missed the heart and had to be content with driving his blade through the Spaniard's left arm.
    Inigo didn't mind. He didn't even feel it. His right arm was where his interest lay, and he squeezed the handle and there was strength in his hand, enough to flick out at the enemy, and Count Rugen hadn't expected that either, so he gave a little involuntary cry and took a step back to reassess the situation.
    Power was flowing up from Inigo's heart to his right shoulder and down from his shoulder to his fingers and then into the great six-fingered sword and he pushed off from the wall then, with a whispered, ". . . hello . . . my name is . . . Inigo Montoya; you killed . . . my father; prepare to die."
    And they crossed swords.
    The Count went for the quick kill, the inverse Bonetti.
    No chance.
    "Hello . . . my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father . . . prepare to die. . . ."
    Again they crossed, and the Count moved into a Morozzo defense, because the blood was still streaming.
    Inigo shoved his fist deeper into himself. "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die."
    The Count retreated around the billiard table.
    Inigo slipped in his own blood.
    The Count continued to retreat, waiting, waiting.
    "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die." He dug with his fist and he didn't want to think what he was touching and pushing and holding into place but for the first time he felt able to try a move, so the six-fingered sword flashed forward—
    —and there was a cut down one side of Count Rugen's cheek—
    —another flash—
    —another cut, parallel, bleeding—
    "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die."
    "Stop saying that!" The Count was beginning to experience a decline of nerve.
    Inigo drove for the Count's left shoulder, as the Count had wounded his. Then he went through the Count's left arm, at the same spot the Count had penetrated his. "Hello." Stronger now.
    "Hello! HELLO. MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA. YOU KILLED MY FATHER. PREPARE TO DIE!"
    "No—"
    "Offer me money—"
    "Everything," the Count said.
    "Power too. Promise me that."
    "All I have and more. Please."
    "Offer me anything I ask for."
    "Yes. Yes. Say it."
    "I WANT DOMINGO MONTOYA, YOU SON OF A BITCH," and the six-fingered sword flashed again.
    The Count screamed.
    "That was just to the left of your heart." Inigo struck again.
    Another scream.
    "That was below your heart. Can you guess what I'm doing?"
    "Cutting my heart out."
    "You took mine when I was ten; I want yours now. We are lovers of justice, you and I—what could be more just than that?"
    The Count screamed one final time then fell dead of fear.
    Inigo looked down at him. The Count's frozen face was petrified and ashen and the blood still poured down the parallel cuts. His eyes bulged wide, full of horror and pain. It was glorious. If you like that kind of thing.
    Inigo loved it.
  • Mandy Patinkin later revealed the reason for his utterly believable and terrifying lust for vengeance in the scene is because he imagined he was fighting the cancer that had recently killed his father. Gives a whole new meaning to "I want my father back, you son of a bitch."
  • In the book, Inigo travels the world training with the sword. He then returns home to a friend of his father's, for whom he demonstrates his skill. His father's friend tells him about a time he and Domingo went to see an exhibition by the world's only known wizard (the level above "master" in swordsmanship).
    "He was the greatest who ever lived, and you could never beat him. But he could never beat you."
    "I am ready, then."
    "I would not enjoy being the six-fingered man."

Westley and Inigo

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The entirety of their iconic duel on the rocks counts as this for its flair, theatrical nature, precision, and all-around fun; not many sword fights where you get to see someone do a gym routine mid-clash.

Buttercup

The Grandfather

  • The sardonic, punctuating wit with which he keeps his grandson in place needs to turn up just a few times to be highly memorable. One of the best bits:
    Yes. You're very smart. Shut up.

Fezzik

  • During their first encounter Fezzik proves despite his demeanor and appearance, it's a very bad idea to underestimate him and think him any less of a threat then Inigo. When the Man in Black passes by his hiding spot, Fezzik throws a boulder as big as Westley head at him with enough force and speed that it shatters into dust, missing him by inches, showing that if Fezzik had followed Vizzini orders the story would have ended here. Fezzik then completely abandons the element of surprise, walks out, and casually pick up another rock, showing he confident that he can hit the Man in Black even if he can see it coming. Fezzik then makes it clear that the first throw wasn't a fluke
  • "The Dread Pirate Roberts has come for your SOUUUUUULLLLLL!"
  • The last room in the Zoo of Death is a dark, creepy hallway, with absolutely nothing dangerous inside it—except the venomous green spider hidden by a green doorknob on the entrance door. Invaders would be creeped out so much by the darkness that they would flee—only to be bitten and killed. Too bad a grief-stricken Fezzik has no use for these inefficient things you call doorknobs.
  • At the end: he comes with four white horses he procured in case he ran into Inigo and Westley after they saved the lady ("Hello, Lady!") and explains it much more articulately than one might expect. As Inigo points out, Fezzik did something right. ("Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.")

Vizzini

  • True to his word, he managed to determine exactly which goblet the iocane powder was in. His only mistake? The inconceivable notion that Westley would actually poison both drinks!
    • What Vizzini did was actually pretty damned clever, even if it didn't work. Vizzini knew that since Westley knew full well which goblet was poisoned, if Vizzini chose the right goblet, Westley wouldn't actually drink the remaining poisoned one, leaving Vizzini with no way to actually kill Westley and win the battle. So Vizzini switched the goblets. If he chose wrong, Westley would refuse to drink, giving away where the poison is and saving Vizzini's life. If Vizzini chose right, Westley would happily drink thinking he would be safe, and Vizzini would drink knowing he would be safe. If you pay attention, you'll notice he doesn't drink until he sees Westley do it, confirming that this was his plan. The fact that Westley knew where the poison was meant the battle was rigged against Vizzini from the start even if there had only been poison in one goblet, and Vizzini figured out the only way the battle of wits could have still ended in Westley's death.

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