Characters in Citizen Kane.
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The Eponymous Character
Charles Foster Kane
Played by: Orson Welles (adult), Buddy Swan (child)
"I run a couple of newspapers. What do you do?"
A newspaper tycoon who has become one of the richest men in America until his death.
- All Take and No Give: Played with. On one level, Kane seems to genuinely believe that he is giving the world, and the people closest to him, something of value by running newspapers that promote workers' rights and liberal issues, backing political candidates, and the like... and all he asks for is their love and admiration in return. However, as Leland calls him out on, what Kane really offers the people he supports is almost wholly superficial; for all his talk, he doesn't put much actual action behind them unless it's also to his own benefit, and he believes that doing that much entitles him to the rest.
- Domestic Abuser: Toward his second wife, Susan. Mostly he is just thoughtless toward her, assuming he knows what she wants (although he doesn't), but eventually, it escalates to emotional manipulation and him physically striking her.
- Dying Alone: Happens at the beginning of the film (though a butler heard his last words).
- Fatal Flaw: He wanted to be loved, but on his own terms.
- Freudian Excuse: His parents (specifically, his mother) sent him away to an emotionally distant banker.
- It's All About Me: Kane's mission in life is to be loved on his own terms.
- Mouthscreen: One of the most iconic examples in film history. The first we see of the title character is a close up of his lips as he says his last words: "Rosebud."
- Name of Cain: Charles Kane is more of an anti-hero than a true villain, but he still fits the bill fairly well.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His child Charles III with his first wife Emily dies in a car crash offscreen along with his mother.
- Rich Jerk: What he gradually turns into.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Before he became a power-hungry newspaper editor... or an unpleasant person in general, he was a carefree child with a loving mother, and a not-so-loving father. Unfortunately, he was taken away from his parents when he was 8, and raised by banker William Thatcher who was very distant from Charles, which resulted in him not knowing how to give proper love to someone, and growing up to be cold and bitter and missing out on his childhood.
The Reporter
Jerry Thompson
Played by: William Alland
"I don't think there's any word that can describe a man's life."
A newsreel journalist who is tasked with uncovering the meaning of Kane's last word.- The Faceless: He's always shown from behind, or from a long distance, or with his face hidden in shadow, along with all of his reporter colleagues.
- Gave Up Too Soon: After spending the entire movie looking for the answer to the Driving Question, he gives up precisely in the very room the answer lies.
- The Watson: Exists to discover more about Kane's life, having little characterization himself.
Kane's Associates
Walter Parks Thatcher
Played by: George Coulouris
"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper. I think it would be fun to run a newspaper. Grrr."
A successful banker that took guardianship of Kane and his trust until he reached adult age. Their tumultuous relationship is what shaped Kane to become the man he was in life. While long deceased, his memoir gives details on Kane's humble beginnings and his eventual rise to power.
- Hidden Depths: While Thatcher comes off as stoic and distant as Kane's adoptive father, he does genuinely care for Kane throughout his life, even bailing him out during the great depression and allowing him to keep the majority of control over the Inquirer. Kane may lament the loss of his mother, but it's not an enormous leap to recognize that Thatcher was an infinitely better father figure than Kane's actual father would have been.
- Morally Bankrupt Banker: Subverted, because Mr. Thatcher doesn't seem evil. Implicitly, Thatcher is a decent (if very conservative) middle-aged banker who did his best while raising Kane... as The Stoic, in a stage in Kane's life when he needed love more than anything. Any wonder Kane grew up to be dysfunctional?
- Parental Neglect: He seems to be very distant from his young ward. Have you ever wondered how any human being could ignore that to have love, you have to give love? Well, just imagine him being raised by this man.
- Posthumous Character: Thatcher is dead from the very start of the film and only appears in newsreels and flashbacks. Because of this, he is the only viewpoint character that never gets a personal interview from Jerry, who instead reads his unpublished memoir to learn about Thatcher's first meeting with Kane.
- The Stoic: He does not seem to be very close to his young ward... or anyone else, really.
Mr. Bernstein
Played by: Everett Sloane
"Who's a busy man, me? I'm chairman of the board. I've got nothing but time."
- Greedy Jew: Subverted with Bernstein who knows the real priorities of life.Bernstein: "Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money... if what you want to do is make a lot of money."
- Honest Advisor: He may play along with Kane's whims, but on his off-time, he is ready with honest advice when his boss might be open to listening.
- Kicked Upstairs: As Chairman of the Board, he apparently does not have much to do now.
- Morality Pet: Allows Kane to show some of his good qualities to balance his many flaws: his friendship with Bernstein (and defending Bernstein against the snobby Emily) shows that he's not a snob or an anti-Semite, and Bernstein's ascention to Chairman of the Board shows that Kane genuinely rewards people who are loyal to him, even if he can be brutal to anyone who says no to him.
- Yes-Man: Professionally, he's willing to support any of Kane's whims.
Jedediah Leland
Played by: Joseph Cotten
"Maybe I was what you nowadays call a stooge."
A drama critic for the Inquirer and Kane's closest friend since his college days; his disillusionment with Kane and the collapse of their friendship is one of the major story threads of the film.
- Impoverished Patrician: Unlike Kane, he comes from an upper-class family, but his father lost all their money and took his own life.
Susan Alexander Kane
Played by: Dorothy Comingore
"Everything was his idea, except my leaving him."
- The Alcoholic: By the time we see her in the present, it's apparent she's become the Lady Drunk type.
- Broken Bird: Starts out a nice, cheerful girl with a modest job who shares her childhood dream of being an opera singer with Kane. Years of having Kane force her to study music and open for major opera venues despite audiences, and she herself, acknowledging she is no great singer and subjecting her to massive ridicule all to further his own reputation takes a serious toll on her mental health.
- Dreadful Musician: The public reaction to her singing in a nutshell, though it's more due to her very light voice being completely unsuited for opera.
- Driven to Suicide: At the height of her forced opera career, she deliberately overdoses on medication as a last resort to make herself unable to perform. Fortunately, she survives.
- Grew a Spine: Lets herself be pushed around by Kane until the day he slaps her in the face.. at which point, she packs her bags and leaves him the very next day, despite his attempt to manipulate her to stay.
- Nice Girl: Aside from the fact that her relationship with Charles begins because of her showing him hospitality, he admits to The Reporter that, in spite of everything, she still feels sorry for him.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Who knew giving Charles Kane hot water when he was standing on the curb in ruined clothes would lead to such a trainwreck of a marriage?
Raymond
Played by: Paul Stewart
Supporting Characters
Mary Kane
Played by: Agnes Moorehead
"I have his trunk all packed, I've had it packed for a week now."
- Abusive Parents: She can be this towards her son emotionally, as she wants to ensure that he has wealth and "proper" upbringing at the cost of being raised by his parents. The irony is that by trying to protect Kane from his physically abusive real father, his mother condemned him to emotional neglect by Mr. Thatcher.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She only appears in one scene throughout the film, but she's single-handedly responsible for sending Charles away to live with Thatcher and most of his wealth and fame... and dysfunctional personality.
- Tragic Mistake: Despite having the best intentions for her son, her decision to send Charles away to live with Thatcher ends up being this.
Emily Monroe Norton Kane
Played by: Ruth Warrick
"Sometimes, I think I'd prefer a rival of flesh and blood."
- Awful Wedded Life: The famous montage shows her marriage to Kane souring very quickly.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Expresses some veiled antisemitism towards Mr. Bernstein.
Jim W. Gettys
Played by: Ray Collins
"You're gonna need more than one lesson, and you're gonna get more than one lesson."
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Has a wife and kids and cites his embarrassment at their seeing Kane's cartoons about him as the reason for his blackmail plot.
- No Party Given: In film. In the original script he's said to control both the local Democratic and Republican Parties.
- Sleazy Politician: Though he's more of a political boss like Boss Tweed.
John
Played by: Gus Schilling
Jim Kane
Played by: Harry Shannon
- Abusive Parents: Physically speaking, which is partly why his mother sends him away in the first place. Although in his defense the one time he threatens to strike his son is after Charles violently pushed Thatcher down with his sled.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Though he is rough and implied to be physically abusive toward Charles, he does have a point in warning his wife against sending their son away from them to be raised by a banker.
Rosebud
WARNING: ALL SPOILERS UNMARKED HEREAFTER
Kane's childhood sled, a symbol of the last time in his life that he was genuinely happy.
- Burn Baby Burn: The last shot is of Kane's childhood sled burning. Ultra close up on the sled's name, which is Rosebud.
- Chekhov's Gun: The sled is first seen near the beginning of the film before Kane is sent away from his parents to live with Mr. Thatcher. It is also obliquely referenced during Kane's first meeting with Susan, when he mentions that he was on his way to a warehouse to look for something in his late mother's possessions when he first met Susan.
- Early-Bird Cameo: It appears earlier in the film in a flashback, but it's hugged against a young Kane's chest, and its name, printed on the sled, is thus not shown.
- It Was His Sled: Yes it was, it's also the Trope Namer. Well, partially.
- Real After All: After Thompson Gave Up Too Soon to find what Rosebud is, the audience gets The Reveal.
- The Reveal: "Rosebud" was actually Kane's sled.
- Walking Spoiler: A rare non-character example. The twist is now extremely known due to being the Trope Namer for
It Was His Sled. - Wham Shot: At the very end of the film, as all of Kane's crap is hauled into a furnace, the camera zooms in on this particular item as the flames consume it.
