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The Poe Family
Poe
Cameron Poe
"Sorry boss, but there's only two men I trust. One of them's me. The other's not you."
Portrayed By: Nicolas Cage
Dubbed By: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese, home video dub), Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Salvador Delgado (Latin American Spanish)
An ex-Army Ranger, recently paroled on the way home to reunite with his family.- Anti-Hero: He is a convict, although he has a strong sense of morality and is in jail because of a Crime of Self-Defense.
- Apple of Discord: Attempts this when asking why a militant black man like Diamond Dog is taking orders from a skinhead white guy. It fails when Diamond Dog explicitly says he's The Starscream.
- Armor-Piercing Question: To Agent Simms after his cover as DEA agent is blown:Poe: You know you're in a situation you can't control, right?
- Badass Boast: In other movies, his "I'm gonna show you that God does exist." would be a Blasphemous Boast. But given he is saying this to a grievously wounded Baby-O, Cage manages to make this boast an actual kickass boast.
- Berserk Button: Threatening his family or messing with her daughter's stuffed bunny will make him mad.
- Do not assault or attempt to rape women.
- Big Damn Heroes:Poe: What do you think I'm gonna do? I'm gonna save the fuckin' day.
- Bond One-Liner: Delivers one after killing Billy Bedlam.Poe: Why couldn't you just put the bunny back in the box?
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Can't get himself to leave Baby-O or the remaining guards to die.
- Cold Ham: Speaks with a soft Southern drawl, which is all kinds of amazing considering this is Nicolas Cage we're talking about.
- Crime of Self-Defense: He's attacked by three guys who try to make a move on his wife. He kills one of them when they pull a knife on him. The others flee, taking the knife, thus hiding the evidence that he used necessary force. As a result, the judge gives him 7-10 years, of which he serves 8.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied he had one and he joined the army to straighten himself out.
- Deadpan Snarker:Pinball: Armed robber, arsonist, dope fiend. I'm a hell of a nice guy. I just got caught.Poe: Aw, shucks.
- Deep South: Cage puts on possibly the most over-the-top Southern accent in any movie ever for him.
- Determinator: He will do whatever it takes to save Bishop and Baby-O and get home with his family.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: He's not a regular Army private, he's a Ranger.
- The Hero: The main character who's "gonna save the fucking day".
- Honor Before Reason: He's questioned by several people as to why he didn't get off the plane when he had the chance. He simply refused to leave diabetic Baby-O behind with no insulin.
- And could not live with himself if his daughter found out he left a defenseless Bishop at the mercy of "Johnny 23".
- Large Ham: He is played by Nicolas Cage, after all.
- Made of Iron / Major Injury Underreaction: Gets shot in the arm without even flinching.
- Messy Hair: Poe meant to get a haircut that day.
- Mirror Character: Cameron and Cyrus are both prisoners, each with a Dark and Troubled Past, and both men academically enriched themselves behind bars (Cyrus earned a University Doctorate in Law, and Cameron becomes fluent in the Spanish Language through Self-Study Book-and-Audio-Tape Courses). Both are also notably opposed to the rapist Johnny 23, and they seem to share the same wry sense of humor, which endears Cameron to Cyrus for a while. However, Cameron got sent to prison for one manslaughter while Cyrus killed multiple inmates while inside said prison.
- Nice Guy: Decides to stay onboard the plane and look after Baby-O and Bishop even though he has the opportunity to leave and return to his family.
- No One Gets Left Behind: He won't leave the plane when he has the chance because he's afraid of what will happen to Baby-O and Bishop.
- Papa Wolf:"You ain't gettin' near my daughter. Buckle up!"
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:YOU! DON'T! TREAT! WOMEN! LIKE! THAT!!!
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Poe ditches his prison shirt in favour of a sleeveless skivvy halfway through the movie and never changes out of it.
- Spanner in the Works: Cyrus's escape plan might have gone off without a hitch if Poe hadn't intervened.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Larkin thinks so.Got in a drunken brawl defending his wife and he killed a guy. Could have happened to any one of us, including you and me.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: He keeps his cool even when surrounded by the dangerous criminals on the plane. On one hand, his training probably taught him to keep cool. Other hand, he's seen so much in his time in prison that he's probably used to it to an extent. When he sees he's sitting next to famous serial killer Garland Greene on the plane his reaction amounts to "Sure, why not."
- What Have I Done: After killing Billy Bedlam, he had a moment of this.
- Wife-Basher Basher: He won't tolerate violence against women, which is what gets him locked up in the first place. He also beats the shit out of Johnny 23 for attempting to rape Bishop.
The Jailbird
Staff
Bishop
Guard Sally Bishop
"Next time, take the bus."Played By: Rachel Ticotin
Dubbed By: Mami Horikoshi (Japanese, home video dub), Sakiko Tamagawa (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Gabriela Michel (Latin American Spanish)
- Damsel in Distress: A deconstructed type. Bishop may be able to handle many convicts on a one-on-one basis, but being chained in a cage left her vulnerable to Johnny 23's assault. She didn't get raped because of Poe's timely intervention. She's able to knock out Cyrus only because Poe kicked a lot of Neo-Nazi asses as he made his way to the cockpit and because Malloy ordered the attack helicopters to open fire on the "Jail Bird".
- Defiant Captive: Spends most of the movie handcuffed, but she remains absolutely FEARLESS against the cons, including kicking away Johnny-23 when he tries to rape her.
- The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female guard of the Jailbird staff.
Falzon
Guard Falzon
"If any of you so much as pass gas in my general direction, upsetting my delicate nasal passages, your testicles will become my personal property."Played By: Steve Eastin
Dubbed By: Takehiro Koyama (Japanese, home video dub), Yuzuru Fujimoto (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Alejandro Illescas (Latin American Spanish)
- Deadpan Snarker: He fancies himself as this."The in-flight movie is I'll Never Make Love To A Woman On The Beach Again and it's preceded by the award-winning short No More Steak For Me, EVER."
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: When Falzon finds the picture of Poe's daughter; he refers to it as "this shit".
- Jerkass: He treats prisoners under his watch with utter contempt. Not that most of them don't deserve it, but he even abuses Poe; despite being fully aware Poe's a parolee, he still shoves him around like any other convict and confiscates his daughter's picture. This is one of the few times in cinematic history that such behavior not only isn't punished but actually turns out to be a good thing; Poe is able to plant Agent Simms's tape recorder on him while retrieving the picture, alerting the authorities to the situation.
Passengers
Cyrus the Virus
Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I have the only gun on board. Welcome to Con Air."
Portrayed By: John Malkovich
Dubbed By: Haruhiko Jo (Japanese, home video dub), Ben Hiura (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Humberto Solórzano (Latin American Spanish)
A psychotic career criminal and mastermind of the hijacking.- Admiring the Abomination: Cyrus has a sick appreciation for particularly heinous criminals (except rapists), releasing Billy Bedlam after he says he won't behave, and later referring to Serial Killer Garland Green as a "national treasure" and releasing him in spite of the danger he poses to everyone else. He seems to view them as respected colleagues in the psychopath field.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: He threatens to kill Casey Poe.
- Ax-Crazy: He might be an articulate planner, but that doesn't mean he isn't also an absolute maniac willing to slaughter everyone around him at any given moment. In all, he's responsible for almost 30 deaths in the film, most of them prison guards or National Guard members.
- Bald of Evil: He's a maniacal serial killer with no hair.
- Beard of Evil: He sports an evil-looking goatee.
- Berserk Button: Between his brutal killing of Cindino and his plans to murder Casey in revenge against Cameron after both misled him, it's fair to say betrayal is a surefire way to get under his skin.
- Big Bad: His actions are the impetus for the film's plot. He put together the whole hijacking, looking to get away.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Cyrus is under absolutely no illusions about how evil he is and treats it as a badge of honor, his nickname coming from his boast that he has "killed more men than cancer".
- The Chessmaster: He gives the orders on a plan he's clearly thought out well in advance.
- Crazy-Prepared: He somehow built a bomb in his cell in case his jailbreak plan is found, to destroy any evidence and whoever was foolish enough to poke in his belongings.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He dies by being chained to the ladder of a speeding fire engine, hurled through a bridge and onto some electrical wires paralyzing him and finally getting his head crushed in a rock crusher.
- Deadpan Snarker: Despite being Evil Is Hammy, he has his moments. Then again, he is played by John Malkovich.Cyrus: (after hearing that Garland Greene will be among the prisoners transferred onto the plane) This could be interesting.
- Death by Looking Up: Gets his head crushed by a pile driver.
- The Dreaded: Cyrus is able to keep all the other inmates in line through sheer intimidation alone. He even gets Diamond Dog to back down just by raising his voice.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Uses a prison guard's uniform and windbreaker to meet with the guards at a prison stop.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Despite making a few slightly racist remarks, he gets on fine with both black and Latino inmates who help in his scheme and seems completely fine with and respectful to Sally-Can't-Dance who is heavily implied to be transgender.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's done some terrible things, but he absolutely despises rapists. He makes it very clear to Johnny 23 that he considers him the lowest of the low and threatens to kill him if he tries to rape anybody."Your dick jumps out of your pants, you jump out of this plane."
- Evil Is Hammy: John Malkovich is clearly having fun playing Cyrus.
- Faux Affably Evil: As one would expect given his actor, Cyrus always speaks in a polite tone and can be quite witty but has a serious streak of sadism just underneath.
- Genius Bruiser: He's a vicious serial killer who is also exceptionally intelligent and canny and even has a Law degree.
- Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook: He's spent twenty-five years of his life in prison. He's thirty-nine. Best-case scenario is that he got locked up at fourteen and managed to piss off the guards enough for his sentence to be extended... except that it's stated that he's escaped — twice — and committed a laundry list of crimes; kidnapping, robbery, murder, and extortion.Larkin: He's a true product of the system.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Kept trusting Poe, until the boneyard escape.
- Idiot Ball: After displaying an impressive amount of intellect and strategy for most of the movie, Cyrus decides to advertise his escape from the plane crash by riding the top of a stolen fire engine, drawing the attention of both Poe and Larkin which leads to his death. Had he opted to position himself in the cab or inconspicuously on the side like Diamond Dog, he likely would have gotten away.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gets a broken wooden pole impaled straight through his ankle in the climax. Had he not been killed immediately after, he’d likely be crippled for life.
- Large Ham: As is to be expected, considering who plays him.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Cyrus likes to brag that he's killed more men than cancer, according to Larkin.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Cyrus may be a psychopath, but he is open to reason and isn't willing to take unnecessary risks. He is willing to hear Poe out when he argues against Diamond Dog killing their cop hostages, and sides with him when he points out they are their only leverage if things go south. Cyrus also is quick to have a backup plan and isn't willing to rely on just Cindino's words that their ride will be there soon.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He’s mildly racist, although he may have been using the N-word just to shake up Willie Sims when he took Pinball hostage. He also told Baby-O to call the Affirmative Action Office when he complains.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He hates rapists.
- Rasputinian Death: Gets stabbed in the foot, handcuffed to a fire truck's ladder, tossed off it, dropped on some electrical cables, and finally has his head smashed in by a piledriver.
- Red Baron: "The Virus".
- Rhyming Names: His nickname, "The Virus", happens to rhyme with his given name.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Almost never raises his voice, but his cruelty is clear in every line he says.
- Unfriendly Fire: While struggling with the co-pilot in the initial takeover, Cyrus accidentally shoots Carls and Benson, two of the three convicts he was planning on dumping at the next prison stop.
- Villainous Breakdown: He loses his composure first when Poe stabs him in the leg, then when he is cuffed just as the fire truck crashes.
- Villainous Friendship: Seems to be on genuinely good terms with Diamond Dog and others.
- Wicked Cultured: He is a psychopath who brags about having killed "more men than cancer". He also earned a Law degree from Harvard while in prison and is (somewhat) fluent in Spanish.
- Would Hurt a Child: Tells Cameron that he plans to go after Casey after killing him.
- Your Head A-Splode: He dies by having his head squashed by a rock crusher.
Diamond Dog
Nathan Jones a.k.a. "Diamond Dog"
"See, I's can play the house nigger until we gets to we are going...and then the day of the dog begins. Shh."
Played By: Ving Rhames
Dubbed By: Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (Japanese, home video dub), Katsuhisa Houki (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Víctor Hugo Aguilar (Latin American Spanish)
A black militant leader and second-in-command to Cyrus.- Affably Evil: One of the most cheerful characters in the film, and downright friendly to Poe... at first.
- "Angry Black Man" Stereotype: He believes white people are inherently evil.
- Bald of Authority: He is a prominent militia leader, and his head is totally shaven.
- Bald of Evil: Completely bald, and one of the main players in Cyrus's escape plan.
- The Dragon: To Big Bad Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom. Although, in his own words, he is only "a means to an end".
- Even Evil Has Standards: He looks genuinely shocked when Cyrus blows up Cindino.
- Genius Bruiser: A tough fighter and an excellent writer.
- Horrifying the Horror: Seems genuinely scared when he's removing Garland Greene's restraints.
- Informed Attribute: His militant racism doesn't really show aside from some (very mild) racial slurs and occasional verbal jabs. He never shows any real animosity toward his Caucasian colleagues aside from par-for-the-course petty disagreements, and seems to have no trouble taking orders from Cyrus, a white man (although he does make it clear to Poe that this is purely out of self-interest - see The Starscream below).
- Mind you, it's implied his prejudice has mellowed out a bit during his incarceration, and he's characterized as being one of the more level-headed of the group.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Was the first of the cons to escape and he tackles a bunch of cops by himself shouting "Allahu Akbar!"
- Malcolm Xerox: He's an eloquent black militant who hates whites. Poe even calls him out on it, wondering why he's taking orders from a white guy.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Calls white folk things like "pig" and "hillbilly".
- Red Baron: "Diamond Dog".
- Scary Black Man: A given since he's a criminal played by Ving Rhames.
- Shout-Out: His memoir Reflections in a Diamond Eye is one to Reflections in a Golden Eye
.- His name is likely a reference to David Bowie's album Diamond Dogs.
- Slashed Throat: Cuts one of the guards' throats with his cuffs.
- The Starscream: Outright intends to be this once the cons reach their destination.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Wrote a book that critics called a wake-up call for the black race. As a result, there were plans to have a movie adaptation with Denzel Washington playing as him.
- Western Terrorists: He bombed an NRA convention.
Baby-O
Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell
"If I don't get my shot soon, someone's gonna send flowers to my mother."Portrayed By: Mykelti Williamson
Dubbed By: Kunihiko Yasui (Japanese, home video dub), Tetsuo Goto (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Javier Rivero (Latin American Spanish)
Cameron Poe's friend and cellmate.- Crisis of Faith: After getting shot, he admits that he's no longer sure he believes in God.
- Determinator: Tries to rescue Bishop from Johnny 23 while in the late stages of dying from lack of insulin.
- Living MacGuffin: One of the reasons Poe refused to leave the plane was to get his insulin.
- Real Men Love Jesus: Subverted. He reveals after getting shot that he doesn't actually believe in God.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Ends up Taking the Bullet for Poe (after finally getting his insulin) even after Cyrus already figured he's The Mole. He survived, but still...
Garland Greene
Garland Greene a.k.a. the "Marietta Mangler"
"There is no medicine for what I have."
Played By: Steve Buscemi
Dubbed By: Issei Futamata (Japanese, home video dub), Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Humberto Vélez (Latin American Spanish)
A notorious serial killer, nicknamed "The Marietta Mangler", who is feared by just about all criminals onboard (except for Cyrus, who dubbed him "a national treasure").- Affably Evil: He's one of the most dangerous men on the plane - but calm, snarky, and seemingly harmless.
- Alliterative Name: Garland Greene and also his nickname "Marietta Mangler"
- Brick Joke: Unaccounted for after the ending plane crash. We don't see any of him until right before the credits... when he turns out to have made an absolute fortune gambling in Vegas.
- The Butcher: He is known as "The Marietta Mangler".
- Chewing the Scenery: When he sings "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" during the plane crash.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Definitely gives off this vibe.
- Creepy Monotone: Most of his scenes.
- Deadpan Snarker: With quotes such as "Define irony. Bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash." It makes sense given who he's played by.
- Dissonant Serenity: A helicopter shooting bullets all around him and a plane crash couldn't crack this man.
- The Dreaded: The most dangerous criminals in the country get trumped by a little man in white.
- Expy: He's clearly based on Hannibal Lecter.
- Genuine Human Hide: Mentions sawing a woman's head off and wearing it as a hat for days.
- Informed Attribute: Had supposedly killed more people than any convict on the plane, and had the absolute highest amount of security for transporting him. However, whilst he definitely alludes to having formerly killed people, we never really see any of his murderous aspects on-screen, to the point where it looks like he just might have been cured of them. It's still implied that he murdered one of the guards and that doing so made him "feel better".
- "It" Is Dehumanizing:Johnny-23: "What the fuck is that ?"Agent Starkey: "That's Garland Greene, man."
- Karma Houdini: Though all his villainy is in his backstory. During the movie, Garland instinctively realizes Poe is a good guy pretending to be a hard con, and has a lengthy dialogue about ironic situations about how a good man has to act evil to survive. The fact that Garland intentionally leaves a little girl alive during the plane refueling hints that by the end of the movie Garland has decided to act good.
- Longer-Than-Life Sentence: The teaser trailer says that Greene is serving seven life sentences, one less than Billy Bedlam, but it is believed that he has killed more than twenty victims.
- Lunatic Loophole: Besides Poe and Baby-O, he is the only passenger of the plane who survives and doesn't get arrested at the end.
- Serial Killer: With a body count of 30.
- The Stoic: Even when the plane is crashing, he sings "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" while other prisoners are panicking and shouting at him to shut up. He even seemed to enjoy it.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: There's nothing at all about his appearance that hints at his vicious crimes.
- Villain Cred: Cyrus calls him a "national treasure" and orders him released.
- Wild Card: It's unclear what he's going to do at any given time, acting more like a ticking time bomb everyone is slightly wary of.
Billy Bedlam
William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford
"I'm serving eight consecutive life sentences. I am not getting off this plane."Played By: Nick Chinlund
Dubbed By: Yosuke Akimoto (Japanese, home video dub), Masahiko Tanaka (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Octavio Rojas (Latin American Spanish)
A mass murderer who massacred his wife's family after catching her cheating on him.
- Ax-Crazy: He's not called "Billy Bedlam" for nothing. See Disproportionate Retribution.
- Beard of Evil: Like Cyrus, he sports a goatee.
- Dies Wide Open: After getting impaled in his fight with Poe.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Gets killed midway through the film despite being touted as one of the big bad trio and replaced by Swamp Thing in the climax.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Our Billy caught his wife in bed with another man. He left them alone but drove four towns over to his wife's family's house. He proceeded to kill her parents, her brothers, her sisters, and even her dog.
- Evil Laugh: He has an intimidating chuckle.
- Family Extermination: He killed his wife's entire family after he caught her having an affair but spared his wife's life.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's constantly angry. As noted by Garland Greene:"Happiness for this gentleman hurts."
- He Knows Too Much: Finds the info on Poe's status as a parolee in the cargo hold. A minute after that, he's dead.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: During a fight with Poe in an enclosed space, he's pushed back onto a bent-outward pipe.
- Jerkass: Even outside of being a mass murderer, he is just a dick in general.
- Longer-Than-Life Sentence: He's serving eight consecutive life sentences (200 years) for each one of his murders which is why he balks and rejects Cyrus's suggestion that he be one of the prisoners to be dropped off in Carson City because he doesn't wanna miss the opportunity to spend the rest of his life in exile not having to pay for his crimes.
- Red Baron: "Billy Bedlam".
- Revenge by Proxy: Murdered his cheating wife's family.
- Slasher Smile: Billy is usually wearing a big, horrible grin.
- Villainous Friendship: Seems to be the only one who likes Cyrus without fearing him.
Swamp Thing
Earl "Swamp Thing" Williams
"Nobody on this plane gives a flying fuck. Get it? Flying fuck? Thank you! I'm here all week."Played By: MC Gainey
Dubbed By: Masaharu Sato (Japanese, home video dub), Minoru Inaba (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Raul de la Fuente (Latin American Spanish)
An expert hijacker. He becomes the new pilot.
- Accidental Murder: Caused Pinball's death when the latter failed to get on board the plane in time. Pinball tried to get back into the plane by clinging onto the landing gear; when Swamp Thing closed the landing gear doors, Pinball got crushed to death.
- Affably Evil: He seems like a fun guy except for the company he keeps. MC Gainey, who has a history of playing mostly villains, considers him a favourite.
- Beard of Evil: Again, due to being played by legendary beard-haver MC Gainey.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Larkin floods the fire truck Swamp Thing drives. He smashes through the windshield and probably got run over.
- A deleted scene shows him being arrested by Larkin right after Cyrus's death. He's lying in the street injured but is well enough to remark about the shame of being arrested by a cop wearing scandals.
- Deadpan Snarker: He can match Cyrus in this regard pretty easily. A given since he's played by MC Gainey.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Check his quote.
- Hidden Depths: Looks to be a barely literate redneck but is surprisingly intelligent, able to easily pilot the plane and get rid of the tracker. It says a lot that Cyrus respects him enough that he sees him as a crucial part of his plan.
- Iconic Outfit: His helmet.
- Mr. Fixit: Knows quite a bit about planes and how to keep them going.
- Southern-Fried Genius: He's a Southern redneck, and also one of the most intelligent characters and certainly the most technically proficient.Pinball: What's up, man. So, you Swamp Thing?Swamp Thing: That's right.Pinball: Flyin' the plane?Swamp Thing: That's right.Pinball: It's amazing the shit you white trash know.Swamp Thing: [laughs] That's right!
Johnny 23
Johnny Baca a.k.a. "Johnny 23"
|"I got a spot on my arm just for you."Played By: Danny Trejo
Dubbed By: Kōji Totani (Japanese, home video dub), Ryuji Mizuno (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Jose Alfredo Camacho (Latin American Spanish)
A serial rapist, so named because he was convicted of 23 counts of rape, but he claimed to have raped 600 women.- An Arm and a Leg: Loses his arms while dying in the plane crash.
- Apocalypse Anarchy: While the convicts engage the sheriff deputies and National Guard troops in a massive shootout in the boneyard, Johnny decides now is the time to march into the "Jail Bird" and rape Bishop with impunity.
- Badass Boast: Subverted: Being called Johnny 23 or Johnny 600 would be a great accomplishment if it was for sleeping with the women consensually, but bragging about raping them? Just makes him more depraved and odious than he already is.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Dies (or so we must assume) when one or both of his handcuffed arms are torn from the rest of his body. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even he's wary to be around Garland Greene and approaches him with caution.
- Faux Affably Evil: He has a disarming smile and easy demeanor and is played by the very charismatic Danny Trejo, but we are never allowed to forget just what a vile piece of work he really is underneath, to the point that other prisoners detest him.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Both the good guy and the main bad guy hate this man. No one bats an eye when Poe cuffs him.
- Hate Sink: On both sides of the Fourth Wall. It's a given that a Nice Guy like Cameron Poe would hate Johnny, but it says a lot about how rotten Johnny is when every other mass-murderer and psychopath on a plane stuffed with mass-murderers and psychopaths loathe breathing the same air that he does. Truth in television too, as rapists are regarded as the lowest of the low in real prisons alongside those who hurt or sexually abuse children. Rape truly is the last line you do not cross if you want to be regarded as an actual human being by the prison code of honor.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Tries this twice with Bishop, the first time after the cons take over the plane and the second time during the airfield shootout. Fortunately, Poe is there to kick his ass both times.
- Karmic Death: He's chained up after trying to rape Bishop. When the plane has crashed, he is found dead, with his still-restrained arms ripped off.
- Lack of Empathy: He shows absolutely NO remorse for his victims or misgivings about his crimes and takes great and sadistic pride in the fact that he made innocent and defenseless women suffer.
- Meaningful Name: So named because he was convicted of 23 counts of rape. He claimed to have raped far more than 23 women, though, boasting that his name would be "Johnny six-hundred if they knew the truth".
- More Despicable Minion: He's the worst of the convicts working under Cyrus. While Cyrus may be an Ax-Crazy, sadistic Serial Killer, he is also pragmatic, respectful of his henchmen of different races, and despises rapists, which is why he barely tolerates the smug, misogynistic, and equally sadistic Serial Rapist Johnny who boasts of having committed 600 rapes. Cyrus outright threatens to throw him out of the plane if he tries to rape the female guard Bishop (which he later indeed attempts), and even the other inmates on the plane hate his guts.
- Pariah Prisoner: All the other prisoners on the plane, even serial killers like Garland Greene and terrorists like Diamond Dog, hate his guts for the many rapes he's committed.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He's a misogynist who refers to his victims as "marranitas"; "little piggies", as in "squeals like". It's a common misogynist insult in Latin America, referring to women who enjoy sex, particularly degrading or hard sex.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: In a plane filled with criminals, Cyrus considers him to be the worst of the worst.Cyrus: I despise rapists. For me, you're somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty. But, in your case, I'll make an exception.
- Serial Rapist: The number in his nickname is for each woman he has been convicted of raping. He even states that he'd called "Johnny six-hundred" if people knew the real number, implying that the convictions are just a small number of the women he assaulted.
- The Sociopath: In a movie full of violent convicts, he stands out for his smugness and lack of regard for anyone but himself.
- Tattooed Crook: Courtesy of being played by Danny Trejo. Notably, Johnny states that the 23 hearts tattooed on his arm each represent a woman he's raped. He boasts that the real count is more like six hundred — the hearts are just for the rapes he's been convicted of.
- Token Evil Teammate: In a plane full of psychotic criminals, that's saying something.
Pinball
Joe "Pinball" Parker
"Did you hear something that sounds like a damn plane?"Played By: Dave Chappelle
Dubbed By: Akimitsu Takase (Japanese, home video dub), Tomoyuki Dan (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Ricardo Mendoza (Latin American Spanish)
- Apologetic Attacker"If you get through this alright, hope you don't hold a grudge."
- Bald of Evil: A convicted criminal sporting a shaved head.
- Black Dude Dies First: Of the inmates directly involved in the takeover of the Jailbird, he's the first to die.
- Butt-Monkey: He's on the receiving end of most racist jokes from Cyrus.
- Car Cushion: He falls from the plane onto a moving car.Diamond Dog: Bye, Pinball!
- Chekhov's Skill: His skills in arson were important in the hijacking.
- Deadpan Snarker: Well, he is a Dave Chappelle character.
- Didn't Think This Through: It's not a good idea to run alongside a plane.
- Distracted by the Sexy: He meets a cute girl while stashing the transponder and forgets to get back on the plane.
- Faux Affably Evil: Pinball is able to pretend to be just a fun guy but he's actually a serial arsonist who will happily set fire to people, even fellow inmates on a flight, and let them burn.Pinball: Armed robber, arsonist, dope fiend. I'm a hell of a Nice Guy. I just got caught.
Poe: Aw, shucks. - Freudian Slip:"I work for the Department of Erec... Corrections."
- Karmic Death: He tries to get back on the plane. Unfortunately for him, the only guy who sees him is the guy he burnt earlier, who simply smiles as he gets caught in the plane's landing gear.
- Playing with Fire: Pinball is an arsonist.
Cindino
Francisco Cindino
Played By: Jesse Borrego
Dubbed By: Shunsuke Takamiya (Japanese, home video dub), Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Herman López (Latin American Spanish)
A drug lord who is funding Cyrus the Virus's escape plan, with the promise that he would bring them to a non-extradition territory.- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Larkin foils his escape attempt by wrecking his plane, he tries begging Cyrus for mercy. Cyrus doesn't buy it and burns him.
- Asshole Victim: The coward definitely deserved death after betraying Cyrus.
- Blatant Lies: He desperately tries to bluff Cy about his attempted escape.Cindino: "We were coming... to get you."
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: From what Poe knows of Cindino's history, he guesses that the drug lord's probably not the best of allies. He was right.
- Clashing Cousins: Cindino firebombed a yacht with two of his own cousins onboard (although whether they were collateral damage, rivals over his control of the cartel, or white sheep of the family is unclear).
- Killed Mid-Sentence:Cindino: "Cy-"
Cyrus: "-onara!" (Lights the gasoline from the plane) - Man on Fire: An enraged and betrayed Cy sets him on fire.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Decides to leave the rest of the cons when things start to get hectic. Though he was planning to do so in the first place.
Sally-Can't-Dance
Ramon "Sally-Can't-Dance" Martinez
Played By: Renoly Santiago
Dubbed By: Creator/Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese, home video dub), Shoto Kashii (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Genaro Vasquez (Latin American Spanish)
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: It isn't clear whether Sally's a camp gay man who wears a dress or a transwoman (which, given the time the movie was made, might well be due to the filmmakers' ignorance).
- Plucky Comic Relief: Of the Queer People Are Funny variety.
- Shout-Out: His nickname refers to Lou Reed's fourth album of the same name.
- Sissy Villain: To the point where Poe slaps him instead of punching him during a fight.
- The Smurfette Principle: The closest thing to the only female prisoner. He's referred to as "girl" and "sister" by other inmates and a cop calls him "lady" when he gets caught.note
Viking
Viking
Freeze, little bitch boy!"- Played By: Conrad Goode
- Dumb Muscle: He's the burliest of the convicts.
- Evil Is Bigger: The tallest and certainly one of the strongest convicts. However...
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Despite his physique, he is dispatched extremely easily by Poe during the climax (by a punch, a knee, and an elbow).
- Walking Shirtless Scene: He goes shirtless after being liberated by the hijackers.
Warlock (a.k.a. "Cochise")
Warlock (a.k.a. "Cochise")
Played By: Richard L Duran
- The Dog Bites Back: When he sees Pinball, the man who racially taunted him and then set him on fire, running after the plane and trying to signal them not to leave without him. Warlock just smirks, leans back, and makes no move to tell anyone.
- Dual Wielding: Carries two AR-15's during the boneyard shootout.
- Last Stand: It takes two groups of National Guard to bring him down.
- Only Knownby Their Nickname: On-screen he's only ever referred to as "Cochise", the label Pinball hangs on him. The name Warlock only appears in the credits.
Carlos
Carlos
- Played By: Emilio Riviera
- Say Your Prayers: Carlos is seen crossing himself and muttering a prayer right before the plane crashes. He survives the crash but is arrested immediately afterward.
Law Enforcement
Larkin
U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin
"I told you today's flight was gonna be special."Played By: John Cusack
Dubbed By: Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese, home video dub), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese, TV Asahi dub), Jesús Barrero (Latin American Spanish)
- Badass Bookworm: He is a walking thesaurus with extensive knowledge of all the important convicts within the plane and criminal behavior (he tries to remind Simms of how to act convincingly like a convict before placing him on the plane), not a bad shot, and helps Poe repeatedly.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's played by John Cusack, so this is a given. He's most snarky when Malloy fucks up.
- Description Porn: Describes Billy Bedlam, Diamond Dog, and Cyrus the Virus but skimps when it comes to Poe. Justified, considering that compared to the others, Poe is a freaking saint who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Deuteragonist: Plays this role to Poe's Protagonist.
- The Lancer: The Deuteragonist and the only ally among the law enforcement that Poe has.
- Mr. Exposition: He gives us the backstories of the Carnival of Killers who are on board the plane.
- Oh, Crap!: After decoding the message that Cyrus was going to hijack the plane.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The Con Air debacle is sure to put a major dent in Larkin's career, but at least he helped Poe get back to his family.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He doesn't want to shoot the plane down as there are innocents on board.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Lampshaded. Malloy refers to him as "Dictionary Boy" to which he responds that "Thesaurus Boy" would be more appropriate.
- Strawman Political: An interesting case. He's every bit the liberal stereotype, showing empathy even for Cyrus himself by describing him as "a true product of the system"... except he's also the competent, on-point badass Deuteragonist. Not to mention law enforcement would appear to be an unusual career choice for this kind of character to begin with.
- Tempting Fate: He assures Ginny that the only things that the Jailbird guards are going to worry about are "stale peanuts and a little turbulence".
Malloy
D.E.A. Agent Duncan Malloy
"Fuck off, Agent Larking! This flight's closed."Played By: Colm Meaney
Dubbed By: Shinpachi Tsuji (Japanese, both dubs), Carlos Segundo (Latin American Spanish)
- Cool Car: His car is awesome. Larkin borrows it to get to Lerner Airfield, where it gets destroyed.
- Inspector Javert: Considers all of the cons to be monsters.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Malloy might be Jumping Off the Slippery Slope but he is right that the plane needs to be destroyed as it cannot reach an airport in time and ends up being forced to land on the Las Vegas Strip, causing an untold number of property damage and possibly civilian casualties.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Malloy is aggressive, short-tempered, irritable, and downright bloodthirsty, not to mention the level of vitriol he levels at Larkin. When it comes down to it, however, he does the right thing.
- Large Ham: He's pretty much constantly shouting, which suits his Hot-Blooded nature.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Colm Meaney's heavy Dublin accent is fairly hard to conceal, to be fair.
- Never My Fault: Larkin makes it clear that he does not want Simms to carry a gun onboard the plane. Malloy ignores him and gives Simms one, which gets him killed. Later finding out that Simms is killed, Larkin scolds Malloy for disobeying him while Malloy blames him and the guards onboard for Simms's death.
- Officer O'Hara: It's never made clear if he's supposed to actually be Irish or just of Irish descent, though Colm Meaney's accent is difficult to cover up anyway.
- Pet the Dog: He cancels his order to shoot down the plane when he talks to Poe directly via radio and is told of his plight.
- Rabid Cop: He pursues the cons with complete disregard for the Jailbird staff hostages.
- Vanity License Plate: "AZZ KIKR"
Simms
D.E.A. Agent Willie Simms
"I'm DEA! Do you know what the fuck that means?"Played By: José Zúñiga
Dubbed By: Dai Matsumoto (Japanese, home video dub), Nobuyuki Furuta (Japanese, TV Asahi dub)
Malloy's partner who goes undercover so he can glean information from Cindino, but he gets caught up in the prison break.- Hero Antagonist: He's a D.E.A. agent, but he's not there to help Poe.
- Sacrificial Lion: Shot by Cyrus in a stand-off.
- Too Dumb to Live: Blows his cover, takes Pinball hostage, and tries to single-handedly take back the plane armed only with a tiny pocket pistol.
- Villainous Breakdown: He seems at first to be the opposite of Malloy, smooth and calm. That doesn't last long in a crisis.Simms: "I can't control it? I can't control it!?"
