Characters / Glass (2019)

Page for the characters appearing in Glass.

Beware of spoilers!

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Characters introduced in previous films:

• Unbreakable: David Dunn / The Overseer, Joseph Dunn, Elijah Price / Mr. Glass, Mrs. Price, Jai.
• Split: Kevin Wendell Crumb / The Horde^note Split personalities: Barry, Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Orwell, The Beast, Casey Cooke.

Characters introduced in Glass:

The Horde's other split personalities ^note that did not appear in Split

Luke

Luke

A movie-loving personality with a Southern accent.

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• Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: "Everybody knows priest dies at the end of The Ex-ohr-cyst".
• Deep South: His accent seems to come from there.
• Write Who You Know: invokedAccording to M. Night Shyamalan, this personality is based upon an editor who worked with him on previous movies and apparently has a habit of spoiling films.

Felida

Felida

The personality of a Latina woman.

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Other characters

Ellie Staple

Dr. Ellie Staple

"We are not meant to have this much power."

Portrayed By: Sarah Paulson

"It's amazing to meet you. It is simply extraordinary. Maybe this will all make sense if I explain who I am. My name is Dr. Ellie Staple, and I’m a psychiatrist. My work concerns a particular type of delusion of grandeur. It's a growing field. I specialize in those individuals who believe they are superheroes."

A psychiatrist specializing in delusions of grandeur who treats patients convinced that they are superhumans.

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• Above Good and Evil: As Elijah dies, she mentions that the Ancient Conspiracy's members—including herself—view themselves as this.
  Dr. Staple: They got it wrong in the comics. They talk about secret evil groups trying to stop the heroes. I don't think we are particularly evil, and we don't choose sides. We try to stop both of you. If there is one of you... the opposite of you appears. It escalates; we step in. There just can't be gods amongst us. It's not fair. It has worked just fine for 10,000 years—our way. Take consolation in the fact that you were right about your theory. Be at peace.
• Admiring the Abomination: She's so amazed when Mr. Glass, the Horde and the Overseer are brought together before her for the first time that she almost cries.
• Agent Scully: She uses rational explanations to point out how superhuman acts they committed weren't, attempting to gaslight them in order to make them doubt their abilities. In reality, she's more akin to the Cigarette Smoking Man working with an Ancient Conspiracy in order to keep the public unaware that superhumans live among them.
• All for Nothing: Her main source of comfort after failing to prevent the superhumans' deaths is that ultimately it was better for them to die rather than the truth of their existence being revealed to the world. Then Mr. Glass' Thanatos Gambit kicks in and their existence is exposed anyway, prompting a Villainous Breakdown from her.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Judging by what she says, she doesn't seem to believe that her three newest patients (Mr. Glass, the Horde, and the Overseer) are comic book-like superpowered individuals—despite the many unnatural event they've been involved in. It's subverted when it turns out that she's Obfuscating Stupidity because she knows their abilities are real. She only says otherwise because she wants them to believe they are not what they are.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Dr. Staple asks The Overseer, The Horde, and Mr. Glass why there's only three people with superpowers in the whole world. This devastates the Overseer and some of the Horde to the point they start doubting their abilities. The answer's that the Ancient Conspiracy she's part of has stepped in every time superhumans' conflicts escalate to the point it may catch the general public's attention.
• Big Bad: She's technically the true antagonist of Glass, being the face of an Ancient Conspiracy of Cape Busters seeking to keep superhumans from becoming public knowledge—implicitly to prevent Beware the Superman scenarios from becoming reality.
• Blatant Lies: A downplayed example comes in the form of her "explanation" for the climatic battle. Her deceptive summarization stems from how she's a member of the Ancient Conspiracy.
  Dr. Staple: These patients... were very disturbed. Let me just simply state everything that occurred was related to drugs in their systems or their heightened state of mania.
• Break Them by Talking: Her specialty's doing this by giving out logical and rational explanations for various superpowers which are primarily meant to cause superhumans to doubt their abilities.
• Cape Busters: A variation on this, as she hopes to distance her patients from the "delusion" that they are superhuman. She's actually a rather direct version, but hopes to prevent the rise of superhumans through gaslighting rather than execution.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Her scenes and her outfits tend to have a shade of dull, washed-out pink to them. With how the trilogy relies so heavily on this trope for the three leads, this is a clue that Dr. Staple plays into the destiny-based Hero/Villain system far more directly than she initially appears to—as she's been actively opposing them the whole time.
• Consummate Liar: The lies she uses to gaslight her patients are so plausible and told with such skill that two out of three immediately believe her—and even the audience may initially think she's merely Entertainingly Wrong.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To both Elijah and the Beast. Unlike them, she's a completely normal human whose only assets are a solid grasp of psychology and the resources of an Ancient Conspiracy on her side. Furthermore, while Elijah and the Beast have Super Supremacist beliefs, Ellie's dedicated to playing her part in covering up the existence of supers.
• Don't Create a Martyr: It's a less altruistic quality of her line of work, as gaslighting superhumans into believing they don't have powers ensures martyrs can't be made out of them. However, Mr. Glass posthumously makes himself, the Horde, and the Overseer martyrs for other superhumans through leaked security footage—making the Ancient Conspiracy's machinations become meaningless.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Going by a few comments Ellie makes, it's heavily implied she prefers for superhumans to be convinced their powers don't exist rather than being Killed to Uphold the Masquerade.
  • Just before David's murdered, she says this while her voice seems to almost become wobbly...
  Dr. Staple: I would have left you alone... but when the Horde showed up here, then I just had to come.
  • ...and during the movie's denouement, while reporting to the organization she's part of, Dr. Staple says this with conviction about gaslighting superhumans.
  Dr. Staple: This is the most humane and effective method.
• Evil Gloating: A rewatch makes it clear Dr. Staple's subtly doing this whenever she explains the ways each superhuman's cell is designed to contain them.
• Foreshadowing: Quite a handful of elements point to how there's a lot more to her than meets the eye.
  • She not only leads armed cops to the Horde and the Overseer, but also has them stunned unconscious and moved to the Raven Hill Memorial Hospital under her care. There's no due process involved, and all Joseph does is plead with her to let David go. While it doubles as an example of Hollywood Law, the Ancient Conspiracy's existence probably helps to explain this—as not only could judges and lawyers have been helping to enforce the masquerade, but it may clarify why Dr. Staple calls the shots during their arrest.
  • Ellie claims the particular "delusion of grandeur" her work addresses is "a growing field," yet she asks her newest patients why they're the only three superhumans who exist if there's supposedly more of them out there. However, if they're the only three superhumans in existence, how can she be a specialist who knows how to treat the supposed "delusion" she speaks of?
  • She talks about how she doesn't believe her patients are superhumans, but she's prepared for what they may do. Numerous specific safeguards (like a steel door and a water pump for David) are designed to keep any of them from escaping, and there's a surgical laser present in case she decides any of them have to undergo a lobotomy. There'd be no need for such safeguards if they're people who truly don't have superpowers, and the extent of these preparations hints at how she's got access to an Ancient Conspiracy's resources.
  • What's more, Ellie never stops to ask for her superhuman patients to demonstrate their respective abilities. She wouldn't even need a demonstration because she's always known their superpowers are real.
  • Ordering for Elijah to effectively be lobotomized is already illegal and unethical on her part. Aside from being another example of Hollywood Law, stuff such as ethics and legality would be among the last things on the mind of a participant in an Ancient Conspiracy.
• Gaslighting: She's a master at doing this, coming close to convincing both the Overseer and the Horde into thinking they've imagined their powers in only three days.
• The Heavy: Dr. Staple's been acting on the Ancient Conspiracy's behalf since long before the movie's events.
• Hoist By Her Own Petard: Both this trope and Nice Job Fixing It, Villain come into play once it's clear her decision to make sure more cameras are installed is her biggest mistake.
• Karma Houdini: It initially appears she and her accomplices will get away with everything... but the trope's subverted thanks to Elijah's real plan. With the Ancient Conspiracy's efforts toppled, it can be presumed that their members (Ellie included) will be thoroughly investigated.
• Masquerade Enforcer: This is what Ellie's career truly involves, as she's charged with helping to make sure the public never finds out about superhumans. It's most emphasized in the scene when she's reporting to other members of the Ancient Conspiracy about what happened at the Raven Hill Memorial Hospital.
  Dr. Staple: All three were real. Quite special, actually. If you approve, I will move to the next city.
  Female conspirator: Will there be any repercussions?
  Dr. Staple: No one saw them. I know what my charge is... convince them. This is the most humane and effective method. We're not executioners, and we don't need martyrs. If that fails, use the machine... and I understand how important what we're doing is. Maintaining balance. Keeping order.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: This doubles as an example of being hoisted by her own petard. If she didn't have so many cameras installed around Raven Hill Memorial, then Elijah's plan to bring about the start of The Unmasqued World would have fallen apart.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: She does this while acting like an Agent Scully as part of her gaslighting because she's fully aware her three patients are indeed superhumans.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The first time, it's when she finds out the Overseer, Mr. Glass, and the Horde have escaped their cells.
  • After the three superhumans are killed, it happens for the second time when she learns Mr. Glass streamed Raven Hill Memorial's HD-CCTV security footage to a private site as part of his final plan.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: David's around 20 years older than Ellie—who's unmasked as the film's true Big Bad.
• Properly Paranoid: She doesn't believe they actually have powers, but nevertheless, she has more security cameras installed. Not only does she know they're really supers, but she realizes too late that Mr. Glass wanted her to install more cameras as part of his Thanatos Gambit.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Though she gaslights the three superhumans and causes the deaths of two of them, she's just doing her job. She goes out of her way to personally comfort both David and Elijah in their dying moments, reassuring them that their powers were always real.
• The Shrink: She's a psychiatrist who specializes in patients with comic book-related delusions of grandeur... or so she says.
• Tattooed Crook: Downplayed, but during The Reveal, there's a Wham Shot showing Ellie's got a black tattoo of a three-leaf clover on her left wrist—the same tattoo seen on the cops who murder the Horde and the Overseer.
• Villainous Breakdown: She gets a short but pretty satisfying one when she realizes Mr. Glass outsmarted her and shared masquerade-breaking security footage right under her nose. She walks into an empty hallway of Raven Hill Memorial, pauses, and screams out of sheer frustration.
• Walking Spoiler: Talking about Dr. Staple in-depth is virtually impossible to do without revealing the whole truth about her.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Like the Ancient Conspiracy's other members, she views herself in this way. Implications say that besides trying to make sure there won't be any cases of Beware the Superman, she's gaslighting the superhuman trio in an attempting to make sure her co-conspirators don't decide they have to die.
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Ellie's a psychiatrist alright—and a member of an Ancient Conspiracy who's got access to their connections as well as their resources.

The Real Masterminds (Major Spoilers)

Unnamed Ancient Conspiracy

^{Click here to see some of the other conspirators.} 

The climax of Glass reveals the existence of a nameless and secretive organization whose goal is to prevent the rise of superhumans—through gaslighting and murder.

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• Above Good and Evil: They don't think of themselves as "particularly evil" since they "don't choose sides." After all, as Ellie describes, one superhuman appearing leads to their opposite doing the same—with things escalating until they step in. However, the scale of what they do and the overall lack of remorse about it all cements them as being the greatest evil in the trilogy.
• All for Nothing: Centuries upon centuries of machinations come undone when Elijah ensures that footage of the climactic battle will be uploaded online for people around the world to see.
• Ancient Conspiracy: Having been around for 10,000 years, the chilling extent of their reach along with their resources shows with everything Dr. Staple does and says in the movie.
• Beware the Superman: Deconstructed in that an unsaid implication of their goals is how it's clear they really don't want to take any chances with either superheroes or supervillains causing harm to people without powers.
• Cape Busters: The organization's specialty is covering up the existence of superhumans.
• Dirty Cop: The Reveal all but retroactively establishes the armed cops who brought David and Kevin to Raven Hill Memorial as this—because they're most likely among the conspirators.
• Don't Create a Martyr: Killing people with superpowers who haven't been successfully gaslit is their last resort because dead superhumans' legacies could inspire other superhumans to follow in their footsteps.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Anyone from any walk of life can join their shadowy ranks.
• Even Evil Has Standards: It's heavily implied methods they think are "humane and effective" are always their first resort when dealing with superhumans.
• Gaslighting: They've used their influence and their resources to make the public believe superpowers can't exist in reality. However, their attempts to bring superhumans on board with that belief have… mixed results.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of Glass, as they're responsible for creating and then enforcing the masquerade that quietly hangs over the trilogy's world. Before the movie's events, they tell Ellie to go to Philadelphia—feeling that Mr. Glass, the Overseer, and the Horde have drawn far too much attention.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: This trope meets Nice Job Fixing It, Villain for them because of their decision to have Elijah, David, and Kevin dealt with.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Given what Elijah's final plan involves, it can be presumed the organization's going to be thoroughly investigated for everything they've done.
• Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Their last resort's murdering superhumans who don't comply with their more "humane and effective [methods]." You know, like being gaslit into thinking their own superpowers don't exist.
• Killer Cop: Cops are among those who off noncompliant superhumans—best showcased with how the Horde and the Overseer die.
• The Man Behind The Woman: They're behind the connections and the resources Dr. Staple utilizes.
• Masquerade Enforcer: This is what they do in modern times, with the most visible enforcers in the film's events being Ellie as well as numerous Dirty Cops and Killer Cops in Philadelphia.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Combined with Hoist by His Own Petard. It turns out sending Dr. Staple after Philadelphia's three resident superhumans sets off a chain of events which culminate in the masquerade being permanently broken. Whoops!
• No Name Given: The names of other conspirators and even the organization are kept under wraps, highlighting just how secretive they are.
• Remember the New Guy?: They've been up and running for ten millennia, yet there weren't really any hints to their existence in Unbreakable or Split.
• Silent Antagonist: As a whole, the organization's a downplayed example of this trope since it's rare to hear any of their members talking aside from Ellie.
• Tattooed Crook: Downplayed, but it's shown that the conspirators have black tattoos of three-leaf clovers—with at least some of them getting the tattoo on their wrists.
• Tempting Fate: One conspirator asks "Will there be any repercussions?" while Dr. Staple reports to them about all that's gone down. Thanks to Mr. Glass' Thanatos Gambit, their efforts are All for Nothing, and it's likely their Karma Houdini Warranty will expire.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Use the machine" seems to be their way of saying "kill noncompliant superhumans."
• Walking Spoiler: The very fact they exist is a massive spoiler in and of itself.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: They see their machinations as "maintaining balance" and "keeping order" in a world where they feel any of the "gods amongst [them]" may cause a Beware the Superman scenario.

Clarence Crumb

Dr. Clarence Wendell Crumb

Portrayed By: Bryan McElroy

The late father of Kevin Wendell Crumb.

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• Call-Forward: He was a psychiatrist specializing in split personalities, which is the condition his son has later been affected by.
• Posthumous Character: As shown in a flashback, he died in the Eastrail 177 disaster, which was caused by Elijah Price and of which David Dunn was the sole survivor.

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