Characters / Cliffhanger

Rocky Mountain Search And Rescue Rangers

Gabe Walker

Gabriel "Gabe" Walker

Played By: Sylvester Stallone

A former ranger who went off the grid after failing to save Hal's girlfriend Sarah. He returns just as Qualen and his goons crash-land in the mountains.

• Action Hero: He's the main protagonist in a "Die Hard" on an X movie. This trope comes with the territory.
• Bully Hunter: After escaping from Qualen's grasp, he gradually becomes this throughout the movie when he decides to fight back to save Tucker and later Jessie by taking down Qualen's tormenting and unruly henchmen one at a time before facing Qualen himself, especially when he faces Kynette and Travers, whose unsavory and despicable behaviors illustrates what are to expect from bullies.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments:
  Qualen: I must say, you're a real piece of work...
  Gabe: I must say, you're a real piece of shit.
• The Dog Bites Back: After escaping from Qualen and his gang the first time, he decides to fight back to save the day.
• Expy: He's basically the modern take on Errol Flynn's leading role from Northern Pursuit, right down to the aspect of them having a troubled background that in turn disgraces their job professions at the beginning of the movies.
• Failure Hero: In the beginning of the film, due to his inability to save Sarah, leading him to have a Heroic BSoD during the Time Skip of the film before the main plot, his friend and Sarah's boyfriend Tucker blaming out of grief-clouded judgment and initially considering to resign from the ranger profession for not living up to the responsibility.
• Hero Protagonist: He's the protagonist of the film, and the one who does the most to stop Qualen.
• Nice Guy: Gabe is shown to be a kind-hearted man who looks after everyone beside him.

Hal Tucker

Hal Tucker

Played By: Michael Rooker

Dubbed By: Patrick Floersheim (European French)

A ranger who was Gabe's best friend, until his girlfriend died in an accident that he blames Gabe for.

• Bully Hunter: After being emotionally and physically abused and threatened by Qualen and his equally cruel henchman, even emotionally hurt by their killings of Brett and Frank and enduring a terrifying No-Holds-Barred Beatdown by Delmar, whose unsavory and despicable behavior illustrates what a bully is, Tucker finally fights back too near the climax, starting by overpowering Delmar and killing him with his own shotgun and later teaming up with Walker to confront and stop Qualen.
• Butt-Monkey: He's constantly pushed around and insulted by the terrorists.
• Composite Character: He shares traits of both Canadian Mountie Jim Austin and Julie Bishop's character Laura McBain from Northern Pursuit, especially the latter as the villains' main hostage throughout most of the movie.
• Decomposite Character: He's one half of Canadian Mountie Jim Austin from Northern Pursuit as The Hero's colleague from work who he was at odds with. He also shares Errol Flynn's role from the said movie as the rescue team member who is taken hostage to be forced as the posse's guide to escape the mountains for most of the film.
• The Dog Bites Back: He finally fights back against one of Qualen's henchmen after having enough of their torment and abuse.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He blames Walker for Sarah's death, but it is likely out of grief as Tucker loved Sarahinvoked. Also, even when he is held hostage along with Walker by Qualen and his team, Tucker encourages Walker to escape their wrath and continue to make sure Walker makes through the ordeal alive.
• Never My Fault: He started out blaming Gabe for Sarah's death, ignoring that he was on a difficult climb with a rookie who unknowingly had faulty equipment. Though it can be attributed that he is still grieving, and that Gabe did add weight to the line by getting on with her as he insists.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After going through the bullying by the terrorists that knocked some sense into him for his blaming of Walker for his girlfriend's death, Tucker finally forgives Walker for his mistake.

Jessie Deighan

Jessie Deighan

Played By: Janine Turner

A pilot and Gabe's girlfriend. She and Gabe have become distant since Sarah's death.

• Beware the Nice Ones: She's just there trying to help her friends and mostly runs from fights, but she does kick Kynette in the face while hanging from a cavern roof and then tries to shoot him... it's too bad she's unaware that the gun's empty.
• Boyish Short Hair: Her hair is barely any longer than her boyfriend's.
• Expy: She's basically the modern take on Julie Bishop's role from Northern Pursuit, especially when she becomes a Damsel in Distress hostage at the climax.
• Women Are Wiser: In regards to Gabe and Hal's falling out, she is quick to call out Gabe for running away and hoarding as much guilt as he can, while pointing out that Hal was on a difficult climb with a rookie and insisting that it was Gabe's fault.

Frank Newell

Frank Newell

Played By: Ralph Waite

An old helicopter pilot and painter-wannabe.

• Big Damn Heroes: Frank scares away a pack of wolves trying to eat an injured Evan with two gunshots and then gets Evan to a hospital.
• Chekhov's Gun: His switchblade became useful for Tucker later on in confronting his killer Delmar.
• Cool Old Guy: He is part of a search-and-rescue team, and is the nicest guy anyone could meet.
• Decomposite Character: He's the other half of Canadian Mountie Jim Austin from Northern Pursuit as the poor colleague who attempted to rescue his friends only to get killed for his troubles against the hostage's pleas not to.
• Decoy Protagonist: Suffers a rather abrupt death after spending most of the movie trying to locate Walker, Tucker and Jessie.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: After spending a bulk of the film trying to find his friends, he is suddenly killed by Delmar and mostly forgotten afterwards in the film except for a later Chekhov's Gun moment.
• Expy: He stands in for Angus McBain from Northern Pursuit for being a Cool Old Guy and a father figure for the female lead (though Angus was the actual father, while Frank is more of surrogate father while unrelated to Jessie).
• He Knows Too Much/Leave No Witnesses: He's gunned down by Delmar to tie up loose ends for the posse from being ratted out on.
• Leave No Survivors: Delmar guns him down so his gang aren't inconvenienced by handling more than one hostage.
• Nice Guy: Frank is sweet, cheerful, selfless, and generous.
• Sacrificial Lion: He's somewhat a Decoy Protagonist and his death demonstrated Delmar's own ruthlessness.

Terrorists

General Tropes

A crew of professional thieves who crash their plane into the Rocky Mountains. They call up Gabe and Tucker to force them to search for their lost money.

• All for Nothing: Everything they went through was for a hundred million dollars. Slowly that money is destroyed to $0. Qualen and Travers each have a HUGE Villainous Breakdown over this.
  Travers: It's hard to believe that I sold out after twenty years and this is my payback. To rot on a mountain with a FUCKING dirtbag like you!!
• Armies Are Evil: Their leader is former military intelligence and Travers is implied to have been in the military himself and in general presented as monstrous savages in human skin. There is also the possibility that the American henchman such as Kynette, Ryan and Heldon were ex-military too, possibly Special Forces if taken Kynette's martial artist skills to consideration and the fact the weaponry cache they had could also be stored in an ordnance storage unit at a military base. Kristel and Delmar may have been Qualen's British military acquaintances during his time as an intel officer (likely through MI-5) with Kristel being ex-RAF for her piloting expertise and Delmar being ex-SAS next being an ex-soccer player due to the weapons he carry like the MP5 being standard issue amongst the SAS and Delmar's black jumpsuit resembles the ones worn by them.
• The Bully: They're constantly screaming at Gabe and Tucker and shoving them around.
• Card-Carrying Villain: They make no secret they are vile criminals.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: For all his tactical expertise, Qualen sure is a lousy judge of character. He forms a band of henchmen that are so sociopathic and mean-spiritedly selfish that they can barely trust and cooperate with each other.
  • Given his own tendency to backstab his subordinates, it's likely Qualen intentionally wanted his team to be disruptive so they wouldn't get the idea to work together against him.
• Composite Character: Of the stranded Nazis in 49th Parallel and Northern Pursuit and Krug Stillo and his gang from The Last House on the Left.
• Dumb Muscle/Stupid Crooks: Qualen, Travers, and Kristel aside, they're a bunch of impulsive, petty thugs.
• Evil Is Petty: They act a lot like High School bullies, tormenting and screaming at people for petty reasons.
• Evil Is Hammy: Due to their terrible tempers.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: Qualen being a former member of military intelligence and his henchmen possibly had a military background as well.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: All of them are prone to screaming and throwing fits when they don't get what they want. Even Qualen and Kristel, the two most level-headed terrorists, have their moments.
• Hate Sink: They're despicable people, making their deaths very cathartic. Delmar and Travers could topped as the most hated scumbags in the film out of the gang. Compared to the other groups of terrorists in "Die Hard" on an X movies, there is nothing to like about this gang, and they're portrayed as a pack of unsympathetic monsters.
• It's All About Me: Because they're all sociopaths, hey barely seem to care about each other, much less the people they're robbing/tormenting.
• Kick the Dog: They shoot kids, they shoot Frank, and Delmar brutally tortures Hal just for both figurative and literal kicks.
• Mooks: For a mission that only required four people tops including Qualen himself, there a lot of armed goons who would do nothing but sit around for the duration and appear to be there for no purpose but so there'd be enough goons for Qualen and the protagonist to kill throughout the movie.
• The Neidermeyer: Qualen is a former military intelligence member and the rest of his henchmen is implied to have a military background as well, but they are all bullying Hate Sink Jerkasses through and through.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: They don't bother to hide that they're all Hate Sink Jerkasses and Ax-Crazy psychos with a Faux Affably Evil front at all and do not mess around when committing atrocities with no hesitation without blinking an eye to get their stolen money.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Terrorists or not, they're all mostly immature and petty bullies at heart.
• Pushy Gun-Toting Villain: Qualen and his team of goons are probably some of the most trigger-happy villains that have ever appeared in a "Die Hard" on an X film. They spend most of their screen time pointing guns at their hostages and at each other, blasting anything that moves, and clicking off the guns' safeties.
• Smug Snake: They're very arrogant, but (with the exception of Qualen), all of them are out of their depth. Even the smart ones like Kristel and Travers get more than they bargained for.
• The Sociopath: They care nothing for the lives of others, from the overtly psychotic, sadistic and monstrous Qualen, Travers, Kynette and Delmar to the coldly apathetic Kristel.
• Sociopathic Soldier: Qualen was a military intelligence agent, while Travers' slang and terminology usage during his Villainous Breakdown hints him to be The Vietnam Vet. Also see Armies Are Evil above for more information in regards to the possibility of the rest of the henchmen being this.
• Very Punchable Man: It's ungodly satisfying and easy to root for Gabe to defeat the terrorists one at a time for them being mean-spirited bullies aside from them being psychos too.

Eric Qualen

Eric Qualen

"You want to kill me, Tucker? Well, take a number and get in line."

Played By: John Lithgow

"Kill a few people, they call you a murderer. Kill a few hundred, they call you a conqueror."

A former intelligence operative turned international terrorist and the brains of the operation.

• Amazon Chaser: The only member of his team that he actually admires is Kristel, who's notably smarter than the rest of his mooks (when making the fake distress call, she claims that one of their party is running out of insulin so the rescue team won't wait till after the storm). Subverted later when he shoots her dead solely to force the hand of Travers, who's trying to become The Starscream.
  Qualen (watching her plant an explosive booby trap): You'll make a good wife for someone one day.
  Kristel: You should see me bake a cake.
• Ax-Crazy: Don't be fooled by his sophisticated demeanor; he's a cruel, merciless terrorist who's willing to slaughter anyone, even his lover, to get what he wants.
• Bad Boss: When one of his mooks is injured during the mid-air robbery, he kills him.
  Kynette: What do we do with him?
  Qualen: Send him to the nearest hospital. Fast. (throws mook out of the airplane)
  • Also see Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, The Unfettered and You Have Outlived Your Usefulness below for more information.
• Big Bad: Of the movie.
• The Bully: Criminal mastermind or not, he's just another despicable and inhumane bully.
• Card-Carrying Villain: As his quote illustrates, Qualen is under no illusions whatsoever about a vile piece of work he is.
• Cold Ham: He is the hammiest character in the film. After all, he's played by the same guy who played Lord John Whorfin, despite this role's hamminess paling in comparison to the latter role.
  • You want to kill me, Tucker? Well, take a number and get in line.
  • Partners in criiiime.
• Composite Character: He shares similarities with Nazi villains Lt. Ernst Hirth (played by Eric Portman) from 49th Parallel and Helmut Dantine's Colonel Hugo von Keller from Northern Pursuit. Qualen's Hellish Copter death at the end even mirrors Von Keller's plane crash death at the end. For his NC-17 warranted brutality prior to being edited down, he's basically Krug Stillo from The Last House on the Left except as a diabolic international terrorist.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's constantly throwing out snide, condescending remarks.
• Disney Villain Death: How he finally meets his end mixed in with Hellish Copter.
• Evil Brit: Qualen speaks with a British accent.
• Evil Gloating: His witty charm and charisma is only expressed when he cruelly taunts his enemies like the despicable snob he is.
• Evil Is Bigger: He's played by 6'4 John Lithgow while the heroes are played by 5'10 Sylvester Stallone and Michael Rooker.
• Expy: He's a sneering, arrogant European villain in a "Die Hard" on an X movie, so there are a number of similarities between him and Hans Gruber. However, he's even more brutal than Hans was.
• Faux Affably Evil: Unlike his dimwitted Barbaric Bully posse of thugs, he's witty and erudite, snootily taunting his hostages and victims. Despite all this though, he's still a cruel, vicous killer. For all his charm and charisma, there is no-one, even his own girlfriend whom Qualen is not willing to murder to satiate his Greed and megalomania. His men fear him and when he is denied the money he so craves at the film's climax, he attacks Walker in a murderous rage.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: He is stated to be ex-military intelligence.
• Gentleman Snarker: He speaks with a sophisticated British accent and demeanor and has most of the film's one-liners, yet at the same time he's The Bully and a snob.
• Hate Sink: Like the rest of his goons and compared to the rest of the "Die Hard" on an X Big Bads in cinematic history, he's a detestable creature of a thoroughly selfish and psychotic snob with zero redeeming nor likable qualities unlike the other Big Bads in in a "Die Hard" on an X movie. Also, he has an annoying-sounding, inauthentic and strangulated Fake Britinvoked accent which warranted a Razzie nomination for his portrayer Lithgow. His death was absolutely and ungodly cathartic.
• Hellish Copter: How he finally bites mixed with Disney Villain Death.
• Jerkass: He's rude and unpleasant much like his henchmen. His interactions with the other characters are especially condescending.
• I Am Very British: In contrast to Delmar's cockney accent, though Lithgow approached the accent to a near-parody and his bullying tendencies makes him come across as an Upper-Class Twit.
• The Neidermeyer: He's a former military intelligence officer, a Bad Boss to boot and as much of a Jerkass like his henchmen.
• Pet the Dog: In the uncut version after Travers shot Evan, he congratulated the former for his "nice shooting," despite being a Bad Boss in general.
• Psycho for Hire: Ironically, he is crazy, despite being the gang's employer. One of the FBI agents in-universe even calls him psychotic, while Travers calls him crazy when referring to Qualen's killing of Kristel.
• The Sociopath: He has no heart, period.
• Sociopathic Soldier: Used to be in military intelligence.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Tongue-in-the-cheek-wise, he rarely ever raises his voice unlike most of his cohorts, but is monstrously cruel and brutal either way.
• This Cannot Be!: Was what send him off in a Villainous Breakdown after Gabe destroys the last case. Also, the look on his face just as the falling helicopter he's in makes an impact.
• The Unfettered: He wants the money at all costs. Any bystander is just an inconvenience to him and his own men are just pawns. Even Kristel, his lover and possibly the least sadistic member of his gang is not safe from him. He kills her just to keep Travers in line.
• Unholy Matrimony: With Kristel, despite the both being sociopaths who only cares for themselves each and Qualen later disposing of Kristel as a Pragmatic Villainy move against Travers' The Starscream move.
• Upper-Class Twit: While a sophisticated British Gentleman Snarker, he is quite disgustingly elitist, haughty and snobby.
• Villainous Breakdown: "DAMN YOU WALKER!!"
• Villainous Widow's Peak: He has a noticeably receding hairline and is as bad as they come.
• Wicked Cultured: Just look at his page quote!
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Threatened, but never actually done. Mainly because the characters take steps to ensure that they don't (two good examples would be ordering Walker "retired" once he comes down with the first case, only for Tucker to thwarted it and Walker escaping and during the mid-air robbery, Travers decides to come down to the jet first before the money out of a gut-feeling that Qualen would leave him behind if he send down the money first).
  • Played straight when Qualen shoots his loyal pilot Kristel just to show Travers who's boss when the latter attempts to become The Starscream.
    • Well, that and Qualen was now the only person alive in the group who knew how to pilot a helicopter. Which made killing him a less than desirable option.
  • Also played straight when Qualen throws out an injured mook in mid-air during the robbery.

Richard Travers

Richard Travers

Played By: Rex Linn

"I sold out after 20 years, and this is my payback."

A veteran U.S. Treasury Agent who became a disgruntled and gradually mentally unstable double agent for Qualen.

• Ax-Crazy: After his Sanity Slippage. Though he was already quite mentally unstable to begin with due to that Hair-Trigger Temper of his.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Has issues of not being in charge and attempted a mutiny.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Travers at the beginning of the film initially appears to be an honest Reasonable Authority Figure, however, when Travers reveals his true colors as The Mole, not only is he a mole, he's a mentally unstable, disgruntled Jerkass.
• The Bully: He does his part by rudely shouting, threatening and insulting Tucker and Walker and even manhandling Tucker.
• Card-Carrying Villain: After his Sanity Slippage, he finally openly expresses and acknowledges his villainy and psychopathy.
• Composite Character: He shares similarities with Nazi henchmen Lohrmann (for being an opportunist in contrast to his other partners-in-crime and the very last henchman who finally turns on his boss out of selfishness before meeting his comeuppance not long after) from 49th Parallel and Ernst Willis (for being the villains' main guide who is also a No-Respect Guy amongst his accomplices) from Northern Pursuit. Funnily enough, Travers' actor Rex Linn is of German descent, while Lohrmann and Willis are both Nazi Germans with the latter being a German-American much like Linn, so it seems the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.
• Decomposite Character: He's one half of Ernst Willis (for being the villains' main guide who is also a No-Respect Guy amongst his accomplices) from Northern Pursuit.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: He is sick of being bossed around by his fellow thieves.
• Fallen Hero: He used to be a loyal U.S. Treasury Agent.
• Enemy Civil War: With Qualen, as Travers himself is Big Bad Wannabe who is sick of being the gang's Butt-Monkey.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: If his Hidden Depths within his rant are to be believed.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: After Walker beats him to the last case. Lampshaded by Qualen, who called him out for having lost his mind.
• Hate at First Sight: Upon meeting Walker, one of the the first things he said to him is "None of your fucking business!" when Walker asked about the cases they wanted him and Tucker to locate and insults and rudely shouts at Walker at every opportunity he has.
• Hate Sink: Let's see, not only he's a turncoat, he's a very rude, self-absorbed and ill-tempered degenerate bully and spends most of his screen-time emotionally abusing Walker and Tucker and insulting them at every chance he has while the two are his gang's hostages, he's not a good team player amongst his accomplices and he's the one who ordered Walker's jacket to be stripped off of him in return for him just asking for his bolt gun if they wanted him to climb up to get the first case only to be rudely and haughtily refused by Qualen. Also in the NC-17 cut, he's the one responsible for Evan's maiming and succeeded in shooting the rabbit dead. Most of the tropes that describes his character are all negative, making him another cathartic kill for the heroes.
• Hidden Depths: If his rant towards Qualen towards the end of film is indication that he was in the Treasury agency for twenty years and his usage of U.S. Army slang and terminology such as "Fuckin' A" or "Section 8" (for being judged mentally unfit for service), Travers was a Treasury agent since around 1972-73 and was in the United States military prior then (possibly The Vietnam Vet and even suffering from PTSD which causes him to become very aggressive and violent, which Travers seeming had been feebly trying to repress to remain level-headed which gradually breaks apart after one foiling to another throughout the film, culminating it to completely resurface by his Ax-Crazy Villainous Breakdown).
• Jerkass: He's unpleasant, mean-spirited, very rude and has a bad temper.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: Pushed around and insulted by Qualen.
• Leader Wannabe: He attempted being The Starscream to overthrow Qualen until the latter made a Pragmatic Villainy move by sacrificing Kristel.
• The Mole: For Qualen to infiltrate the U.S. Treasury. Though Travers rather be a Mole in Charge instead.
• The Neidermeyer: He's implied to have been ex-military prior to becoming a Treasury agent, but is a Jerkass Leader Wannabe.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He lacks patience in general and just want to get the money as fast as possible with nothing inconveniencing him and his accomplices along the way.
• Opportunistic Bastard: He would rather take advantage of his surroundings at the drop of the hat to get things done than follow Qualen's orders and getting pushed around by his goons.
• Psycho for Hire: He literally becomes this near the end of film when he loses his mind, with Qualen calling him out for losing his mind.
• Sanity Slippage: After realizing Gabe took the last case and that the whole operation (and his life) is ruined, Travers goes utterly insane. Lampshaded by Qualen, who called him out for having lost his mind.
  Travers: Lost it. Have I lost it? Fuckin' A, I've lost it, Qualen! Pure, fuckin' section eight!
• The Sociopath: Like his colleagues in the gang, he has a complete Lack of Empathy towards pain and suffering of anyone innocent who gets in his way, resorting to murder them, simply because he's obsessed with relocating the cases of money. This carries on towards Walker, who he developed a Hate at First Sight because he just asked about the contents of the missing cases the first time he encounters him and ordered his coat taken away that left him vulnerable to cold just to be jerk with no concern for his wellbeing. He has a pretty high sense of self worth, doesn't appreciate his lack of respect by his accomplices and tries to rebel against Qualen out of being The Starscream and a Big Bad Wannabe. Everyone else is gore fodder for him as he just focuses on retrieving the money.
• Sociopathic Soldier: If his illustrated rant quotes revealing his Hidden Depths are to be believed once pieced together.
• Southern-Fried Genius: He's played by a Texan actor and knows how to use a tracking monitor to locate the cases.
• The Starscream: He turns against Qualen post-Sanity Slippage and initially attempted a mutiny before the latter got the upper hand, and goes off to kill Gabe separately.
• This Cannot Be!: Was what send him off in a Villainous Breakdown and undergo Sanity Slippage.
• The Vietnam Vet: If the Hidden Depths revealed in his rants, as his quotes shown here illustrates, are to be believed.
• Villainous Breakdown: When he finds Gabe has outsmarted him and he'll never be able to locate the money, rendering all his crooked dealings to get it moot.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Ordered Delmar to take care of Tucker quietly after the latter served his purpose to guide them to the last case.

Kristel

Kristel

Played By: Caroline Goodall

Qualen's pilot and right-hand woman (or more).

• Ace Pilot: The main one for the gang aside from her co-pilot Mike.
• Actor Allusion: While planting a C4 booby trap, Qualen comments to her that she'll make a good wife one day, two years earlier Kristel's actress Caroline Goodall had indeed played a good wife in Steven Spielberg's family film and unofficial sequel to Peter Pan, Hook (which was distributed by TriStar Pictures, who distribute this film as well) as Robin Williams' character's wife Moira Banning, ironic considering the totally opposite kind of character she's playing in this movie depending on how the tropes listed in her folder attests to her characterinvoked.
• Afraid of Blood: More disgusted than afraid, as she berates Delmar for spraying Frank's blood all over her when killing him.
• Asshole Victim: Qualen coldly kills her off after she outlived her usefulness. But it's hard to feel bad for her considering she's just as bad as her male counterparts.
• Brief Accent Imitation: She affects a very convincing American accent during a fake distress radio call. The fact alone that her actress can do an authentic Fake Americaninvoked accent was what probably what led her to be cast as the President of the United States in Hunter Killer in 2018.
• Composite Character: She is a Gender Flip take on Lieutenant Kuhnecke (for being the villains' pilot, though her co-pliot Mike shared Kuhnecke's fate by being killed by the crash impact) from 49th Parallel and Ernst Willis (a henchman who was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness) from Northern Pursuit.
• Decomposite Character: She's the other half of Ernst Willis (a henchman who was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness) from Northern Pursuit.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Make no mistake, she has absolutely no qualms about utilising violence to achieve her ends but she doesn't seem to take any sadistic pleasure from it and draws the line at pointless violence when Delmar guns down Frank, perhaps simply because she considers it distasteful next to not benefiting any useful gain for her and her accomplices.
  • While downplayed, Kristel does seem annoyed by Delmar's racism towards Kynette when he tells her to "blow up that black bastard".
• Evil Brit: Speaks with a British accent. As with Qualen, it overlaps with I Am Very British and Smart People Speak the Queen's English. In contrast to Delmar's cockney accent, though her bullying tendencies makes her come across as a Rich Bitch-like character.
• Expy: Of Sadie from The Last House on the Left for being the token girl amongst the Hate Sink group of brutal criminals, except less perverse and not rapey.
• Hate Sink: While not as sadistic as her cohorts and openly questioning of their unnecessary actions, she continues to cooperate and work for them, coming up with the very plan which lands the heroes in trouble resulting in the deaths of every innocent along the way. Her willingness to continue working with such unhinged, self sabotaging individuals more or less contributes to her demise at their hands.
• Jerkass: While the least sadistic, she's an unpleasant, condescending and cold ice queen who is as rude as her mates.
• Master Actress: She puts on a flawless American accent when impersonating a member of a stranded climbing party.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: She's a ruthlessly logical Ace Pilot who doesn't prefer to horse around.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Chastises Delmar for needlessly killing Frank.
• Rich Bitch: Well, she is part of a heist to get rich, while also speaking with a somewhat sophisticated British accent and is a despicable snobby sociopathic ice queen with an utter disregard for human life.
• The Sociopath: While she's the least sadistic gang member, she's despicably coldly detached and indifferent to the atrocities she and her gang commits without a hint of remorse in contrast to Kynette and Delmar being psychopaths. It's also possible her relationship with Qualen was by all means just to get on his good side out of her own self-preservation rather then actual true love. Overall, she's less personally violent than her accomplices, but no less of a sociopath due to continueing to work with people who don't think twice about killing innocents.
• The Spock: Not a Sadist, but still a sociopath lacking in empathy and perhaps the most ruthlessly logical out of Qualen's gang.
• Unholy Matrimony: With Qualen, despite the both of them being utter sociopaths.
• Women Are Wiser: She seems to be the only level-headed, sensible person in Qualen's crew with things taking a sharp turn downwards for them after her death.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Qualen finally kills her after her Undying Loyalty.

Kynette

Kynette

Played By: Leon

"Time to kill a mountain man."

A brutal, psychotic terrorist who loves to hunt his victims.

• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Especially during his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Gabe, when he drags out his fight just for his own gratification.
• Ax-Crazy: Most definitely.
• Barbaric Bully: He's both a Psycho for Hire and The Bully.
• Bully Brutality: If his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown is any indication.
• The Brute: With his specialization in martial-arts and close combat, Kynette is the muscle for the terrorists.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He loves killing and spreading terror for the sake of it.
• Enemy Civil War: With Delmar, who's a racist.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Finds it hard to believe that Gabe would burn thirty million dollars, not considering that Gabe did it so he and his team could not get the money.
  Kynette: Not even a dumb mountain boy like you would burn thirty million dollars.
• Expy: He's basically a black Krug Stillo from The Last House on the Left.
• Faux Affably Evil: In the NC-17 work print, after making a deal that he usually don't with Walker when confronting him that if he hand over the money that he'll just kill him and not Jessie, he said it is because he's a self-proclaimed gentleman. Averted in the theatrical cut after that line was edited out for the sake of pacing with him being just a Jerkass without ever showing this off.
• Groin Attack: There is one muscle that not even a martial-arts-terrorist can strengthen, as Kynette finds out the hard way in his confrontation with Walker.
• Hate Sink: For his part to fatally Shoo Out the Clowns, his own Hair-Trigger Temper, condescendingly forbidding Tucker and Walker from speaking with each other just cause, then telling Qualen not to give Walker anything after the latter asked for his bolt gun in order to get the first case only to be coldly refused by Qualen with Kynette telling him that just to re-enforce this and his rudeness, monstrous viciousness and lack of camaraderie amongst his fellow accomplices besides his boss in general makes him the most despised character in the movie. Most of the tropes that described him here are all negative and is given a deliciously cathartic death.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gabe impales him on a stalactite.
• Jerkass: Ax-Crazy Scary Black Man or not, he's an unpleasant and a mean-spirited bullyboy who has a bad habit of intimidating someone. His interactions with the other characters are especially condescending whenever he doesn't lose his temper nor gets excited.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: With his martial-arts expertise, he manages to brutally pulverize the substantially less-skilled Gabe into the ground. Kynette might have won the fight had he not given him a Heroic Second Wind by bragging about doing horrible things to Jessie.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He has a deadpan expression on his face when he kills Brett. Lampshaded by himself when confronting Walker before their big fight in the caverns when he states he usually doesn't make deals.
• Pet the Dog: In spite of his constant intimidation towards Travers, in the uncut version after making the latter shoot Evan, he complimented him by saying "good shot."
• Psycho Knife Nut: A brutal and psychotic terrorist who attacks Gabe with a large hunting knife that resembles the one primarily used by Ghostface.
• Psycho for Hire: It's as if Qualen hired Ghostface to be his muscle. He even has the same knife!
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: If his taunt towards Walker about he'll "treat [Jessie] right" just before the latter's Groin Attack is interpreted this way.
• Scary Black Man: He's an evil martial-artist who dispassionately guns down a helpless teenage boy for just having seen his face. This lets us cheer when Gabe shoves his evil heart into a stalagmite.
• Slasher Smile: Sports a Bloody Horror-filled one when he brandishes his knife to kill Walker.
• The Sociopath: He's a heartless maniac is utterly without feeling unless he is inflicting suffering on someone and doesn't feel even the slightest remorse for his crimes.
• Terrorist Without A Cause: Implied to have become a terrorist just for the fun of killing rather than greed.
• This Cannot Be!: The look on his face just as he's about to be Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
• Wild Card: Willing to indulge in his sadism and homicidal tendencies even if his superior did not order it.
• Would Hit a Girl: Had socked Jessie in the scuffle (even the second time in the uncut version).

Delmar

Delmar

Played By: Craig Fairbrass

An ex-soccer player turned terrorist, and the most sadistic and cruel out of Qualen's group. Which really says a lot about him.

• Ax-Crazy: He loves killing people.
• Barbaric Bully: He's both a Psycho for Hire and The Bully.
• Big Stupid Doo Doo Head: In response to Hal calling him an "asshole", Delmar's response is to immaturely call Hal a "loudmouth punk slag".
• Bully Brutality: If his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown is any indication.
• The Brute: He's the muscle for the terrorists.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Subjects Tucker to his soccer torture to make his death painfully slow before finishing him off.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Stabbed in the leg with his victim's knife and then blasted with his own shotgun, the force propelling him off a cliff.
• Dirty Coward: Downplayed but for all his unsavorily macho bombast, when the tables are turned and Delmar finds himself facing the deadly end of his shotgun, he explicitly and pathetically expresses a lot of fear and panic.
• Enemy Civil War: With Kynette, as he himself is a racist.
• Evil Brit: Speaks with a strong Cockney accent and is as Ax-Crazy as Jack the Ripper.
• Evil Laugh: Gives a rather hearty chortle while sadistically standing on Hal's fingers as he hangs onto a ledge for dear life.
• Expy: He's basically a British Krug Stillo from The Last House on the Left, except without the rapist aspect.
• Football Hooligans: He's an ex-soccer playing Jerk Jock.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: As he says, used to be a soccer player before becoming a homicidal insane mercenary.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Out of the other terrorists, he along with Travers displays this the most.
• Hate Sink: Out of all the other henchmen, Delmar is the most repugnant in regards to his Hair-Trigger Temper, his rudeness, his killing of Frank, not being a team player and his mad-cackling sadism as the Barbaric Bully he is. Most of the tropes that described him here are all negative and he himself is considered the most ungodly cathartic kill out of the other villains' deaths.
• Hero Killer: Killed Frank.
• Hidden Depths: The fact he used to be a soccer player.
• Jerkass: Evil Brit Sadist or not, he's a colossally unpleasant, mean-spirited and very rude bully. Even Hal lampshades on his when he calls him an "asshole."
• Jerk Jock: Used to be a soccer player.
• London Gangster: Sports a cockney accent in contrast to Qualen's sophisticated Upper-Class Twit accent and is an aerial bank robber.
• Lower-Class Lout: He speaks in a working-class Cockney accent and loves football and violence.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Attempts to kick Tucker to death after the latter had outlived his usefulness.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He killed Frank out of thinking the gang wasted enough time.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He hurls racial slurs against Kynette.
• Psycho for Hire: Much like Kynette, he could've been the villain of a slasher flick.
• Psychopathic Manchild: His temper tantrums, being a bully in general and having fun in torturing Tucker like a soccer game can make him come across as immature.
• Sadist: He takes great pleasure in killing people, particularly in long, drawn out ways.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He peppers quite almost all of his sentences with cusses.
• The Sociopath: Like Kynette, he's utterly without feeling unless he is inflicting suffering on someone and reveling in it and utterly devoid of empathy and basic human morality, and actually enjoyed all the pain and misery he inflicted on others. This spells out he has no heart. Despite being not too bright, even Qualen and Kynette combined weren't as diabolically monstrous as him. Think about it for a second.
• The Starscream: He wished for Kynette to be killed so he can be the most relied muscle for the gang.
• Terrorist Without A Cause: Implied to have became a terrorist just for the fun of killing rather than greed.
• This Cannot Be!: The look on his face just as Tucker turned his own shotgun against him.
• Torture Technician: Chooses to torture Tucker to death first with his kicking out of sadistic gratification before killing him.
• Villainous Breakdown: Whenever he has his one of his tantrums, but had a pathetic and undignified one once Tucker takes the upper hand and suddenly all his macho psycho b.s. goes right out the window.
• Wild Card: Willing to indulge in his sadism and homicidal tendencies even if his superior did not order it.

Ryan

Ryan

Played By: Gregory Scott Cummins

• Cruel and Unusual Death: He and Gabe slide down the mountain side, and Gabe presses Ryan's face against the ground, ripping off a great deal of skin as they slide. Gabe then manages to hook himself to the mountain with a pickaxe, while Ryan slides off the mountainside and falls to his death.
• Evil Is Petty: In the uncut version, he and Heldon welcome Tucker and Walker by stepping on Tucker's hand (which would have foreshadowed Delmar doing the same thing to Tucker later in the movie if kept in the theatrical cut). Also, when ordering Walker to get the first case, Ryan mockingly, sleazily and smugly said to him, "Go fetch wonder dog."
• Jerkass: Despite little characterization, he's much of a bully as his partners-in-crime.
• Slimeball: If his smug and sleazy tone of voice towards Walker when backhandedly saying "Go fetch wonder dog" is any indication.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Isn't given much characterization.

Heldon

Heldon

Played By: Denis Forrest

• Cruel and Unusual Death: He's slammed by off a cliff while at the same time being crushed by an avalanche.
• Death by Disfigurement: His face is badly scarred in the crash, and he is the first Mook to die.
• Jerkass: Despite little characterization, he's much of a bully as his partners-in-crime. And the first line he spoke was "Kill the pig!" in regards to Travers screwing up the heist.
• Too Dumb to Live: Doesn't cover from the oncoming avalanche and just keeps shooting the grenadelauncher that triggered it in the first place.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The terrorist with the least characterization.

Others

Kurt Matheson

Kurt Matheson

Played By: Vyto Ruginis

An FBI Agent who singlehandedly derails Qualen's heist.

• Badass Bystander: He's one of the few red shirts in movie history to more or less nearly take out the villains all by himself.
• Finger-Twitching Revival: During the mid-air heist Matheson is shot. As the last villain prepares to depart the airplane, he steps on the man's hand. It twitches in response, then the camera pans to show he's wounded but Not Quite Dead yet. And he has an Uzi submachine gun. Although he's killed soon after, his subsequent actions put a wrench in the villains' Evil Plan and kick off the rest of the plot.
• Hero of Another Story: He had been trailing Qualen's gang for quite some time before the events of the film.
• Made of Iron: The man becomes entirely responsible for Qualen's predicament by killing two of Qualen's men and crippling Qualen's plane with a machine gun, all while at death's door from being shot four times in the chest.
• Mauve Shirt: Hinted to be a Hero of Another Story despite his Red Shirt status.
• Sacrificial Lion: He's a Hero of Another Story and a Badass Bystander with a Small Role, Big Impact who perishes when the explosives detonated on the doomed Treasury plane.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His foiling of the robbery is what kick-started the main plot.

Walter Wright

Walter Wright

Played By: Paul Winfield

A U.S. Treasury Agent who catches on to the heist and tries to capture Qualen and his gang. Unfortunately, the Rocky Mountains are a long way away.

• Big Good: Of the movie itself.

Brett and Evan

Brett and Evan

Played By: Trey Brownell (Brett) and Max Perlich (Evan)

A duo of thrill-seekers.

• Chekhov's Skill: The two are seen BASE jumping, and Evan later escapes from the villains by parachuting off a cliff.
• Nice Guy: Both of them are very friendly, if a bit dimwitted.
• Plucky Comic Relief: They provide much needed levity to the film.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Brett's Shoo Out the Clowns death by Kynette evidenced that Qualen and his gang are a ruthless group.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: They are shot down by Kynette with Brett dead and Evan seriously injured (by Travers for the latter in the NC-17 cut rather then the former that the theatrical cut interprets).
• They Know Too Much/Leave No Witnesses: They are gunned down by Kynette to tie up loose ends for the posse from being ratted out on.
• Those Two Guys: Almost never seen apart.

Sarah Collins

Sarah Collins

Played By: Michelle Joyner

Hal's ill-fated girlfriend.

• Disney Villain Death: An infamous one. The opening scene of the movie is about Gabe trying to save her from this and failing, leading to the friction between Gabe and Hal.
• Nice Girl: A friendly, affable woman who didn't deserve her fate.

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