Black Mirror: The National Anthem / Characters

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Michael Callow

Prime Minister Michael Callow

Portrayed By: Rory Kinnear

All for Nothing: After being coerced into having sex with the pig on live television, it's eventually revealed that the princess was released half an hour before the designated time of the broadcast. Had the public been more observant and the authorities more vigilant, Callow wouldn't have needed to do it.
Break the Haughty: A minor example. He's kind of shallow and power-hungry, but other than that, he's just kind of an arrogant politician. By the end, though, he's an absolute shell of himself.
Happy Marriage Charade: By the end of the whole sordid incident, Callow and his wife present themselves as happily married to the public, but in private it's clear that their relationship is ruined.
Meaningful Name: Callow is kind of a typical superficial politician...i.e. callow.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is very evidently at least partly based on David Cameron.
No Party Given: His political party is never stated.
Rape as Drama: He's ultimately forced to go through with the kidnapper's demands, and despite the ridiculous nature of the demand, the act itself is portrayed as the sick violation that it is.
Slave to PR: Played for drama. If Callow doesn't go through with the kidnapper's demand, Susannah will be killed and the public will blame him.
Stepford Smiler: By the end he is this in a big way.

Alex Cairns

Portrayed By: Lindsay Duncan

Just Following Orders: She invokes this fiercely to get Callow to agree to having sex with the pig.
Lady in a Power Suit: As Callow's second-in-command and a tough female politician.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Although it's ultimately Callow who goes through with it, she is the first to invoke this trope with him to push him into doing it.

Julian Hereford

Portrayed By: Donald Sumpter

Tom Blice

Portrayed By: Tom Goodman-Hill

Jane Callow

Portrayed By: Anna Wilson-Jones

It's All About Me: When the kidnapper's humiliating demand is made, she's more upset about the people mocking her on social media and her own reputation being ruined than she is concerned about her husband's well being, despite what he's facing.
Jerkass: Blaming her husband for having sex with a pig, even though he had basically no say in that makes her more than qualify! Despite being explicity told what the stakes are, she keeps complaining and crying throughout the story.
No Sympathy: Acts as though the whole incident was her husband's fault even though he had no control over the situation. A year after he was forced to go through with the demand she refuses to speak to him in private, wanting nothing more to do with him.
Wet Blanket Wife: Look at these tropes. Essentially, all she does the whole episode is complain, cry, and refuse to help Michael even as an emotional support.

Princess Susannah

Portrayed By: Lydia Wilson

Damsel in Distress: She spends most of the episode in captivity.
Princess Classic: She is deliberately a perfect invocation of this trope. It's never made clear how much she actually is this, because we don't learn anything about her outside of her media image.

Carlton Bloom

The Ghost: He is never fully seen. Only part of his body is visible when he is hanging, having committed suicide.
Harmless Villain: One of the most truly extreme examples...ever. If it wasn't for the extreme darkness of his actual plot, he'd be Peek-a-Bogeyman. He released Susannah just before the pig video, so her life was never actually at stake; while he kidnapped her, she was drugged the whole time and had no memory of it; he cut his own finger off rather than hurting her. However, this is his point: he did nothing worse (from a certain perspective) than the audience or Callow did.
Mad Artist: He tricks the Prime Minister into raping a pig to make a point about society's obsession with television, shock and degradation.
Noble Demon: His actual goal borders on being diabolical, although, disturbingly, he's right about everything. He wants the PM to rape a pig on live television, in front of the whole nation... but he barely committed any violence himself. Despite posing as a fearsome terrorist cell, he didn't even cut off Susannah's finger; he cut off his own and then committed suicide after releasing her, completely unharmed.