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The Shelbys
The Authorities
Inspector Campbell
Chief Inspector/Major Chester Campbell
"One thing I have learned is that you and I are opposites, but also just the same. Like an image in a mirror. We hate people, and they in turn hate us, and fear us. […] Men like us, Mr. Shelby, will always be alone."
— Cambell to Tommy
A zealous, high-class Ulster loyalist police officer from Belfast, who is sent into Birmingham by the government to recover the stolen guns.
- Asshole Victim: Perhaps the single biggest example on the show next to Father Hughes, being a sadistic, raping hypocrite who‘s assassinated by one of his victims.
- Bad Boss: He has no problems with asking his henchmen to carry out criminal acts, and then throwing them under the bus once they have outlived their usefulness.
- Big Bad Ensemble:
- With Billy Kimber in Season 1
- And with Darby Sabini in Season 2.
- Dirty Coward: Many, even within the police force itself, view him as such, as he was able to ride out the Great War far away from the front lines. As a result he is frequently mocked for his non-existent veteran status.
- Evil Cripple: In Season 2, he walks with a cane after sustaining a serious injury from being shot by Grace.
- Fatal Flaw: Campbell's is his sadism, as he cannot resist toying with his prey and giving them a chance to fight back, since it never occurs to him that they will. This leads to him getting shot by Grace in the Season Two opener, allows Tommy to escape from under his nose because he chose to come gloating about how he had Tommy on the ropes while Tommy was badly injured in hospital and when he brags about raping Polly, assuming she'll be too terrified of him to fight back, she shoots him what is heavily implied to be his crotch, finally killing him for good.
- Faux Affably Evil: He'll smile at you, play up the harmless demeanor… right until he sticks the knife in and tells you how disgusting he finds criminal scum.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: He is probably based on Charles Rafter, the police inspector who crushed the real life Peaky Blinders. Both are tough Irish cops who showed up to deal with the Birmingham crime problem, but the real officer was not nearly as corrupt as Campbell and he was far more effective in actually dealing with the gangs, which he did by hiring hundreds of new officers and giving them leeway to literally fight the gangs and overwhelm them with sheer numbers.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Recruits Tommy precisely because he's a notorious gangster and killer, but doesn't consider that when he crosses the line against Tommy's family, that he'd be killed by Polly, a member of that notorious gangster family.
- Hopeless Suitor: For Grace, who he clearly has a crush on despite the fact she's young enough to be his daughter, to the point of proposing to her at the end of Season One. She declines and Campbell doesn't take it well.
- Hypocrite: He hates the Shelby family for being criminals despite spending most of his screentime torturing suspects, conspiring to murder dissidents, raping women and making corrupt backroom deals with criminals.
- Karmic Death: He finally gets killed by Polly, one of his rape-victims.
- Kick the Morality Pet: He was a fatherly Benevolent Boss to Grace, which was his one redeeming quality. Then seconds after she resigns, he tries to propose to her and when she gently turns him down, accuses her of being seduced by Tommy and attempts to kill her at the train station.
- Knight Templar: While he is clearly dedicated to his job of upholding the law, he has no problem with employing excessive brutality and underhanded methods to do so.
- Like A Daughter To Me: How he claims to feel about Grace. His affections are obviously of a much less wholesome nature, though.
- Officer O'Hara: He comes from Ireland, though he averts most of the stereotypes associated with this trope.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: A firm believer in this.
- Precision F-Strike: He never usually swears, but when he captures Freddie Thorn's superior, Stanley Chapman, he has this to say:
- Campbell: Mr. Chapman, you're fucked.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: We knew Campbell was a rapist in 1.06 when he abuses the Chinese prostitute. Then, he forces Polly to sleep with him in exchange for releasing her son from prison, only to rape her anyway when she's not playing along to his liking.
- Sadist: He has no qualms about tormenting people, be it physically or mentally (though he clearly prefers the former over the latter), and it is implied that he even enjoys it. He doesn't appear to be fully aware of it though. Case in point: when sleeping with a Chinese prostitute he ends up hurting her severely during the act, and he seemed surprised to discover that she is bleeding from the mouth afterwards.
- The Sociopath: Despite claiming to be on the side of justice, it's pretty obvious that he only cares about himself.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Subverted. At first, he appear to be one as he's trying to stop the notorious Peaky Blinders, but then reveals himself to be a Sadist who tortures and rapes people, proving himself to be worse.
Grace
Grace Helen Shelby née Burgess
"I'll fight you with my fists and show you how a rich girl fights. I'm from a tough family, too."
— Grace to Aunt Polly
An Irish Unionist whose parents were killed by the IRA. She works under Campbell as an undercover agent, and infiltrates the Peaky Blinders in disguise as a barmaid to gather information, but ends up feeling increasingly drawn to Tommy.
- The Baby Trap: What she pulls on Tommy in the season 2 finale. It works, as her husband ends up "committing suicide" and she marries Tommy about two years later.
- Becoming the Mask: She ends up falling genuinely in love with Tommy, and although her loyalty is ultimately still to the Crown, she ends up being willing to gamble her career to help him.
- The Chanteuse: The "Irish pub singer" subset—beautiful and melancholy as ever.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Grace, in the final scene of 3.02, is shot by an assassin gunning for Tommy. Her death is used solely to motivate Tommy into becoming even more cruel and cold, as well as get the new foundation some sympathetic charitable donations.
- Damsel in Distress: Shot in 3.02 by an assassin aiming for Tommy. She dies.
- Easily Forgiven: Lampshaded by Polly, who tells her point-blank that even if Tommy forgives her for spying on him and selling him out to the police, the family will never forget and Polly will never accept her.
- Femme Fatale: More so in season 2, where she is much more mysterious and her motives are questionable.
- Honey Trap: What Campbell makes her into for Tommy. It works, but backfires on Campbell.
- Hypocrite: In Season Two, she has the nerve to act all offended when she comes to see Tommy and he assumes (correctly) that she's there for sex. That very night she has sex with him, right after extolling how good and kind to her her husband is, then informs Tommy in the season finale that she's pregnant with his baby. She also doesn't seem to remotely care about her husband committing suicide.
- Ice Queen/Defrosting Ice Queen: Particularly in season two, Grace is quite aloof and distant, except when she's with Tommy.
- Informed Attractiveness: A lot of comments about her looks are made, though given the lack of women around in Season One you have to wonder if it's merely because she is a girl rather than her being especially good-looking.
- Never My Fault: She blames the reason for the relationship not working out solely on Tommy not following her to New York, apparently expecting him to ditch his family, friends, business and entire life in Birmingham for her and takes no responsibility over the fact she sold him out to the police and made no effort to salvage the damage she'd done except to ask Campbell (whom she already knew had been trying to have him killed the entire Season) to spare Tommy.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Her and her husband are trying to have a baby, but they can't. She and Tommy don't mean to get pregnant, but she does.
- In Love with the Mark: As Polly spots, she fell for Tommy for real.
- It's All About Me: Grace often acts to serve her own interests or immediate gratification and becomes very critical when other people don't cater to her desires, such as ignoring both Campbell and Tommy's instructions to shoot two different IRA members out of her own personal vendetta, blaming Tommy for not ditching Birmingham by running away to New York with her, cheating on her husband or expecting Tommy to drop everything else he's doing when she reveals to him she's pregnant.
- The Mole: Within the Peaky Blinders. Tommy eventually promotes her all the way to accountant.
- Morality Pet: For Tommy in season three, as he tries to protect her from the violent side of his business.
- Odd Friendship: Arthur and Grace strike one up when they begin running the Garrison. Arthur speaks to her like more of an equal than a simple barmaid or secretary would be, and Grace teases him about his terrible head for numbers.
- Put on a Bus/The Bus Came Back: Grace leaves for America in the season 1 finale. She returns toward the end of season 2.
- Rich Bitch: Polly pegs her as one during the Season One finale and when Grace counters that she comes from "a tough family too", Polly laughs in her face.
- Sex–Face Turn: The classic cliché, played very straight
- Silk Hiding Steel: Grace has no problem drawing guns on people, even hardened criminals, and shooting people, all in perfectly tailored dresses.
- Smug Snake: Grace is very sure of herself and tends to overstep her mark a lot, which Polly never hesitates to call her out on.
- Spotting the Thread: As part of her disguise, she claims to be from central Ireland, but Tommy figures out that she is actually an Ulster Protestant when she fails to do sign of the cross upon entering a church.
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
(Played by Andy Nyman & Richard McCabe.)- Da Chief: To Campbell.
- Deadpan Snarker: Frequently at Campbell's expense.
- Historical Domain Character: A very famous one.
- Sympathy for the Devil: He respects Tommy a great deal, since Tommy is a veteran like him.
Inspector/Sergeant Moss
Inspector Moss
(Played by Tony Pitts.)Birmingham policeman. Initially a Sergeant and Campbell's right hand man, eventually promoted to the rank of Inspector, and the most prominent recurring police character thereafter.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments.
- Friend on the Force: Somewhat subverted. While Moss does generally appear to be on the Shelby payroll as of the start of Season 2, he's far from being their puppet; he will act against the Peaky Blinders if ordered to by his superiors (Campbell in Season 2, the unseen Chief Constable of Birmingham at the end of Season 3). Despite these blips, on the whole he seems to be reasonably friendly towards the Shelbys, though not at all comfortable with some of Tommy's antics.
- Groin Attack: Suffers one at the hands of Polly when arresting Michael on Campbell's orders.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: For the most part Moss is a lot more upstanding and competent than most of the police to appear in the series. He genuinely dislikes naked corruption and is disgusted by Campbell's hypocrisy in allowing Billy Kimber's men to enter Birmingham heavily armed. It's true he takes the occasional backhander and gives them the odd tip-off in return, but he's far from being a truly corrupt cop.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Finally asserts his authority in Season 4 furiously breaking up a gunfight between Tommy and Luca Changretta's henchmen with a host of armed policeman, declaring that the Rule of Law is finally being restored.
In Birmingham
Freddie Thorne
Freddie Thorne
"Oh, my Ada. I'm just a poor Communist frog with a big mouth."
— Freddie to Ada
A Communist agitator — Bolshevik unionizer specifically — and married to Ada Shelby.
- Badass Bookworm: As a Communist unionizer, he's well versed in economics, current global events and Marxist theory. But as a man who grew up in Small Heath alongside the Shelby brothers, he's streetsmart and tough, and as a war veteran can handle himself in a gun fight.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the Season one finale, Freddie returns with the last gun, to fight alongside the Peaky Blinders.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Ada.Freddie: I love her, Tommy. I've loved her since she was 9 and I was 12.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: After being a major part of season 1, Freddie dies between seasons 1 and 2 of illness.
- In Love with the Gangster's GirlAda: I'm with you 'cause you're the only man 'round here not scared of them.
Freddie: Oh, I'm scared of them all right.
Ada: But you love me more than you fear them, right? - Informed Judaism: In series 6, Ada tells their son Karl that Freddie was Jewish, his family having changed their name to Thorne after facing antisemitism in Birmingham. This is the first and last mention of this in the show, although for what it's worth, he is played by a Jewish actor.
- Meaningful Name: Freddie Thorne, as in a thorn in Tommy's side.
- We Used to Be Friends: Freddie and Tommy were best mates at school, used to go swimming in the river, and Freddie saved Tommy's life in France. All things that Freddie now regrets.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Freddie is presumably from Birmingham, since he grew up with the Shelbys. Iddo Goldberg uses an accent that's part-Brummie, but has Irish and Liverpool accents mixed in.
Lizzie Stark
Lizzie Stark
A local prostitute in Birmingham, and later a secretary for the Peaky Blinders.
- Amicable Exes: Lizzie and John seem to be on pretty good terms by the end of season 2, considering that he called off their engagement in Season One because she was still secretly working as a prostitute.
- The Chew Toy: How she's treated by the Shelbys. Tommy makes her a secretary, but not only does he expect her to play the whore for him when his plans require it, the family refuses to allow her any say in who she dates or what she does in her off-hours.
- The Flapper: Dresses the part for the Garrison reopening, and has bobbed hair as well.
- Friend to All Children: Part of the reason John wanted to marry her, as Lizzie is very good with children and he was hoping for a mother figure to rein in his many kids. She proves to be very doting to her own child and to Charles, treating him like her own son.
- Girl Friday: From season 2 onwards she is this to Tommy: an employee he can trust to keep quiet about his correspondence and serve as a decoy in more dangerous situations.Tommy: Things are starting to happen, Lizzie. I need someone who can look the other way sometimes.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: While in season 1 she proves herself unwilling/unable to give up being a prostitute to marry John, in season 2, she's one of Tommy's most trusted employees.
- Ignored Enamoured Underling: She is Tommy's secretary and in love with him. Tommy definitely cares for her, but her love is unrequited. In the final episode of series 2, she attempts to explain her feelings to him, but gives up trying when it becomes evident that he's not even listening. This is ultimately subverted several seasons later when Tommy and Lizzie get married.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Tommy outright admits in Season Three that Lizzie is part of the reason why he didn't completely go over the edge after Grace's death.
- Love Martyr: She loves Tommy despite the fact that he often treats her badly.
- Mama Bear: She pulls a gun on Aberama, Tommy and Johnny Dogs when a fight breaks out too close to the house where her daughter is.
- Morality Pet: Seems to be Tommy's, when he chooses to acknowledge it.
- Replacement Goldfish: She may be Tommy's for his dead first-love, Greta Geraci. She does look a lot like Greta, and even asks Tommy if he's kissing her or Greta.
- Settle for Sibling: Ironically, she ends up marrying Tommy after pining over him for several seasons, even though initially she wanted to marry John.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Mosley tries to taunt Lizzie about her former profession at a fancy event, Lizzie calmly replies that as she recalls, when he slept with he was completely wasted and couldn't get it up, leaving Mosley stunned silent. Even Tommy is impressed with her snark.
- Sleeping with the Boss: With Tommy.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's 5'9.
- Third-Option Love Interest: For Tommy. Series 1-3 have him in a complicated love triangle with May and Grace, and Lizzie is the third option.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Lizzie is quite bitter and moody in Season 4, which is somewhat understandable given how Tommy and the Shelbys treat her, but when she spots May in Tommy's office she rudely demands to know why she's there, snarks that Tommy can't help himself when he sees something "rich and exotic" and drunkenly refers to May as "Tommy's whore" when ranting about him to Polly. Bit rich, considering Lizzie's former profession...
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The whole Shelby/Changretta conflict ends up being kicked off because Lizzie starts dating Angel Changretta, which sends John into a rage that results in him blinding the boy.
Danny Whizz-Bang
Daniel "Danny Whizz-Bang" Owen
(Played by Samuel Edward-Cook.)One of Tommy's best friends, Danny is a loyal member of the Peaky Blinders, but his daily struggles with a very serious case of shellshock, which frequently leads him to believe he is back on the frontlines makes him a bit of a liability.
- Faking the Dead: After he accidentally kills a Italian man during one of his fits, Tommy helps him to escape the wrath of the man's brothers by staging a mock execution and funeral for him.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Almost all the men were in WWI, and none of them came back the same, but Danny Whizz-Bang was the worst affected.
- He's even introduced having a violent flashback. Later on, he addresses Tommy as "Sergeant Major" and himself as "Private Whizz-Bang", showing that even though every man is experiencing it to some extent, he's still in the war at all times.
- Take Care of the Kids: His last request to Tommy.
- Taking the Bullet: Does this at the end of season 1 when Billy Kimber draws on Tommy. Kimber manages to hit Tommy once but Danny takes Kimber's second shot at the cost of his life, allowing Tommy to plug Kimber in the head.
Harry Fenton
Harry Fenton
(Played by Neil Bell.)- The Bartender
- The Confidant: To Tommy, particularly in 1.06, when it seems like the Peaky Blinders will be wiped out by Kimber and his men. Harry gives Tommy a pep talk that consists of "you're bad men, but you're our bad men".
Charlie Strong
Charles "Charlie" Strong
(Played by Ned Dennehy.)The Shelbys' uncle, and the owner of a boatyard on the Cut.
- Con Man: A mild version. Tommy's frequently telling him off for "spinning yarns" to others about Tommy.
- Deadpan Snarker: Charlie is less than fond of all this legitimate business going on in Season 2. He'd much prefer less-honorable ways of business and doesn't mind letting Tommy know it.
- Lean and Mean: He's quite lanky and he rarely has anything nice to say.
- The Ferryman: A rare television example, in 1.01, Charlie takes Danny Whizzbang out of Birmingham on his boat and down to London.
- Grumpy Old Man: Never, ever smiles.
- Mr. Exposition: He gives some concerning the fate of the Shelby's mother in the Season Five finale, confirming that she committed suicide shortly after Finn was born and had apparently been behaving highly erratically prior to that, hallucinating and claiming to speak to spirits.
- Shipper on Deck: Seems to be one for Tommy/May - he rather pointedly tells Tommy he should give May a tour of The Garrison and later he smuggles May into Small Heath and is noticeably more polite and honest with her than others.
- Shipping Torpedo: In contrast, when setting up a dinner for Tommy and Jessie Eden, he rather pointedly tries to stop Curly from putting on music for them and lingers long enough that he almost needs prompting to leave.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: He seldom speaks, but when he does, he usually drops a lot of F-bombs.
- Those Two Guys: He's rarely seen without Curly.
Johnny Dogs
Johnny Dogs
(Played by Packy Lee.)A cousin through various marriages to the Shelby family, he's also loosely allied with the Lees. In season two, Tommy trusts him with running the export business at the Birmingham docks.
- Lovable Rogue: Everyone knows Johnny's not serious about hijacking the Shelbys' booze racket, or telling fortunes at Tommy's wedding, or any of the other things he tries.
- Romani: A Romani character played by a Romani actor, and the most visible tie to the Shelbys' Romani side.
- Serious Business: When he hears Aberama Gold is going to show up, he insists on Charlie helping him make a proper feast because he doesn't want the Golds thinking they are poor.
- Team Switzerland: Between the Shelbys and the Lees in season one.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah "Jimmy" Jesus
(Played by Benjamin Zephaniah.)A street preacher of Jamaican origin in Birmingham.
- Badass Preacher: More so in season 2, where he carries a gun and has taken up knocking heads again.
- Combat Medic: Jeremiah hasn't picked up a rifle since the war, but will make wisecracks about God while he's digging a bullet out of you.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: According to Benjamin Zephaniah, Jeremiah is partially based on a real person who was known to the locals of 1920s Birmingham as Jimmy Jesus. He was a Jamaican soldier who fought with men from Birmingham in WWI, moving there after the war ended and took to roaming the streets of Birmingham preaching the Bible. There was, however, no known evidence of him being a member of a backstreet razor gang.
- Dreadlock Rasta: He's a preacher, and his dreads reach his waist.
- Preacher Man
Isaiah
Isaiah
(Played by Jordan Bolger.)Jeremiah's teenage son, a Peaky Blinder.
- Bash Brothers: He and Michael make quite the effective bar-brawling pair.
- Casanova Wannabe: We never actually see him do more than flirt with and eye up women.
- Demoted to Extra: He has faded in importance over the seasons, to the point he barely has any speaking lines.
- Hot-Blooded: Has quite the temper, which is useful for his boxing skills.
- The Quiet One: Even Tommy praises Isaiah's closed mouthedness, when it comes to protecting the Peaky Blinders.
- Those Two Guys: Always seen with either Finn or Michael—the younger Peaky Blinders.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Has appeared shirtless in a number of episodes, usually while he's boxing/bare-knuckle fighting.
Jessie Eden
Jessie Eden
(Played by Charlie Murphy.) "You don’t have a women’s lavatory on the second floor because no women get this far up."
— Jessie, in response to being asked why she is applying her lipstick in the men's toilet at work.
A union leader at one of Tommy's factories and a member of the Stechford branch of the British Communist Party.
- Broken Bird: Her childhood sweetheart returned from war with such bad Shellshock that he shot himself in the head, a fact that obviously still pains her deeply.
- Call-Forward: She is mentioned in Series 3, and then appears in Series 4 and 5.
- Historical Domain Character: She was a real life unionist factory worker, who lead an interesting life and once called 10,000 women out for a week’s strike in 1931
. - Ms. Exposition: During a conversation with Tommy, Jessie sheds some more light on his backstory prior to the war, as she has a friend who knew him growing up and is the first person to bring up his Lost Lenore Greta Jarossi.
- Plucky Girl: She's not afraid to call out anyone, including a dangerous gangster, and even goes up against armed police in Season Five.
Other Criminals
Billy Kimber
Billy Kimber
(Played by Charlie Creed-Miles.)Billy Kimber is the premier gangster in Birmingham in the first season. No one crosses him and gets away with it, so Tommy attempts to make a deal with him.
- The Alleged Boss: Kimber is frequently shown to be dimwitted, impatient, and completely lacking in subtlety. The only thing he really has going for him is his brutality. As a result, his consigliere and Hypercompetent Sidekick, Roberts, is effectively the one who keeps the business side of his criminal empire afloat.
- Asshole Victim: Nobody pities him when Thomas blows his brains out because of how much of a pervert and slimeball he was. Not even his own men seems to care much.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Inspector Campbell in Season 1.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He is introduced and talked about as if he is a dangerous crime boss, but it's more of a case of Informed Attribute (see The Alleged Boss above) and Tommy easily manipulates him. Once they are brought into a gang-war he is quickly killed by Tommy. In the end, he was nothing more than a mere Starter Villain.
- Casanova Wannabe: He's confident that he can seduce any woman he wants. Turns out his strategy is to force himself onto them while bragging about how rich he is.
- Decapitated Army: How Tommy prevails against him. Kimber arrives with a force that outnumbers the Blinders three to one, and the Blinders themselves are preparing to Face Death with Dignity. But all it takes is for Tommy to give Kimber a Boom, Headshot! to end it then and there. It turns out the only reason Kimber's men ever obeyed his orders is because he paid them. They rather nonchalantly leave without any resentment against the Blinders after it's done.
- Decomposite Character: The real Billy Kimber was as much like the fictional Tommy Shelby as the fictional Billy Kimber, as like Shelby he was an ambitious and very successful gangster who built a criminal empire based on gambling and racecourses that expanded throughout England into London where he crossed one Alfie Solomon and the Jewish and Italian mob, though in real life they pushed Kimber out of the city. The real Kimber was even a Peaky Blinder in his youth rather than one of their enemies.
- Evil Counterpart: To Tommy. As the first series progresses, we learn that Billy clawed his way from poverty in the slums to gang dominance to rich semi-legitimacy. The first arc of the show is about Tommy's ambitions to expand and diversify the family business and name. Billy Kimber shows what can become of this, however, as he has no one to trust or rely on and no true respect from his underlings or peers. He holds nothing but contempt for two bit gangsters and the dirty poor, going so far as to call them animals immediately after admitting he used to live the same way.
- Frontline General: Say what you want about the scumbag, he leads his thugs from the front to face the Blinders head-on in a shootout.
- Hate Sink: A sleazy, incredibly arrogant thug and attempted rapist with delusions of eloquence and a complete lack of any sympathetic qualities, who is nowhere as intelligent or dangerous as he thinks.
- Historical Domain Character: Although a few liberties are taken.
- London Gangster: A textbook example, down to the accent.
- No Indoor Voice: Kimber tends to shout when he talks, showing him to be a rather uncivilized thug in spite of his money and success.
- Starter Villain: He is the first major obstacle Tommy and the Peaky Blinders are faced with and he is ultimately disposed of at the climax of the first season.
- Slimeball: Kimber considers himself a ladies' man and master seducer. His attempt to seduce Grace, however, shows that he is neither of those things, and he quickly loses patience and tries to force himself upon Grace when it becomes clear that his token and inept attempts at being charming won't get him anywhere.
- Smug Snake: He has a big mouth and admittedly is quite brutal and nasty. But at the bottom of it he relies too much on his more collected associates too keep his business stable, which he most certainly couldn't do on his own.
Darby Sabini
Darby Sabini
An Italian gangster from London, heading one of the biggest and most dangerous operations. Doesn't take kindly to the Shelbys encroaching on his territory.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Major Campbell in Season 2.
- The Ghost: Becomes this after season 2, making no physical appearances despite being name-dropped multiple times and even directly impacting the plot when he helps Luca Changretta in his vendetta against Tommy.
- Hair-Trigger Temper
- Historical Domain Character
- Karma Houdini: Unlike most other prominent antagonists he gets out of season 2 with both his life and criminal organization still intact (albeit weakened) and even assists Luca Changretta in an assassination attempt on Tommy in season 4.
- London Gangster
- The Mafia: He is head of the Italian gangs.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: In Italian and English, too.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Billy Kimber. Both are moustachioed, thuggish London Gangsters with anger issues who believe themselves to be more sophisticated than they actually are, and share the role of Big Bad with Campbell. In real life, Kimber and Sabini had a pretty long-running feud throughout the '40s, which Sabini won.
Alfie Solomons
Alfie Solomons
(Played by Tom Hardy)
A Jewish gangster operating in Camden Town, and uneasy ally of the Shelbys.
- At Least I Admit It: Does not take it well when Tommy accuses him of "crossing the line" by selling him out to the Economic League. He becomes truly enraged that a remorseless murderer, racketeer, thief and gangster like Shelby would dare accuse him of being somehow worse than him.Alfie: How many fathers, how many sons, have you cut, killed, murdered, fucking butchered, innocent and guilty, sent 'em straight to fucking Hell! JUST LIKE ME! And you fucking stand there — you, judging me — stand there and talk to me about crossing some fucking line?!
- Beard of Evil: Due to being a gangster.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Prone to downright bizarre flights of verbal fancy as he is, not to mention a plethora of physical and mental tics that disconcert most people, only an idiot would underestimate Alfie. In addition to being a fearsome physical specimen, he's also lethally cunning and utterly without loyalties.
- Character Tics: He strokes his beard when thinking.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Alfie is always quick to sell out his allies for his own gain be it the Peaky Blinders (who he has already screwed over three times) or Darby Sarbini.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Gives off many vibes of being this, much of the time. Doesn't mean he won't beat you to a pulp and/or kill you outright, just that he'll be creative with it.
- Commonality Connection: He tries a few times to liken the historical plight and current mistreatment of Jews and Roma. Tommy isn't particularly interested in the conversation, but Alfie seems at least somewhat genuine about the kinship.
- Everyone Has Standards: Although he's outraged that Tommy would hold him in contempt for doing, well, exactly what men like them do when he betrays him to the Economic League, he's also genuinely disturbed and regretful that Tommy's son was kidnapped as a consequence of said betrayal. He insists that he had no idea the League would take that course, and Tommy believes him.
- Faking the Dead: By Season 5 he is pretending to be dead. He continues to do so in Season 6, even while rebuilding his power in the criminal world.
- Gratuitous Use of the Tallit: Wears one correctly, for once, but real Jews do not wear it during Passover.
- Genius Bruiser: For all his instability and brute strength, he runs a successful legitimate business and is multi-lingual.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When Tommy figures out he betrayed him to the Economic League, which led to Tommy's son being kidnapped, he rages at Tommy for being a multiple murderer but acting like Alfie has "crossed a line."
- Karma Houdini: Alfie never receives punishment for his actions, even when he betrays his allies at the drop of a hat and he tends to come out on top of most of his dealings.
- Even getting shot dead by Tommy didn't stick, as it's revealed in Season Five he's alive and living quite comfortably, though he is blind in one eye.
- By the end of the series, Alfie has become the premier bootlegger in Boston, and apparently he has gotten married to a woman named Edna. All the while, the world still thinks he is dead.
- Kosher Nostra: The Solomons of London are a Jewish gang that control Camden Town. They even hold a seder in 2.05, during which the Jewish gangsters are wearing traditional prayer robes beneath their other attire.
- Large Ham: One of the largest in the series, but no less terrifying.
- Manly Facial Hair: One of few characters to sport a beard and one of few characters to fear ABSOLUTELY no-one.
- Obfuscating Insanity: He verges wildly from beleaguered indifference to murderous intensity to explosive violence, with no real rhyme or reason, and is completely fearless. He also runs a powerful criminal empire and wealthy legitimate business, and can outfight the most dangerous gangs and outfox the most cunning gangsters around. He's certainly not what anyone might call reasonable, but it's very unlikely that he's nearly as mad as he seems.
- Opportunistic Bastard: Solomon tends to shift his allegiance according to who can give him the best offer, and has no problem squeezing who ever comes to him for extra benefits if he can get away with it. Case in point, he betrays the Peaky Blinders once the Italians are desperate to come to him with an peace offer, and manages to pressure them, despite their very obvious reluctance, into returning all the territory they took from his gang in their own turf wars. Tommy later manages to get him back on his side, but it takes threatening him with blowing him and his headquarters up, and even then Solomons manages to score quite the favorable deal for himself.
- In the next season, he goes along with the Shelby's until the Economic League makes him an even better offer for the loot in the White Russians' strongroom, and promptly betrays Tommy to them. Interestingly enough, Alfie insists that this trope is what all of their ilk are, have to be simply to survive, and Tommy is a fool for thinking himself different.
- In the fourth season, Alfie returns to set up a boxing match between the Peaky Blinder's Romany challenger and the current welterweight champion of the region. And of course, almost immediately makes a deal to get Luca Changretta's men into the fight to attack and kill Arthur and possibly Tommy. Though knowing that this would likely fail, it's possible Alfie just did this to anger Tommy so he would be killed by him, rather than succumbing to his cancer.
- Pet the Dog:
- Alfie has a dog he apparently genuinely cares about. When he reveals to Tommy he is Secretly Dying, he asks Tommy to find someone to look after his dog.
- He tells Luca Changratta that he donates money to a charity that helps blind Jewish people because of a cousin he had.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He calls Italian-American gangster Luca Changretta "a fuckin' wop," and half-Romani Tommy a "fuckin' Gyppo." Of course, Luca is equally rude about Jewish people, so him and Alfie are even on that score. He is proud to have fought the Italians in the war, so his animosity may have begun there or even earlier. He also makes a few insensitive and ignorant comments about Romani, but far fewer than most characters, and seemingly only to push Tommy's buttons as he quite respects his fellow oppressed people, in his way.
- Secretly Dying: Alfie doesn't make an appearance in season 4 until quite a ways in, and once he does, it's noticeable he's looking somewhat more ragged and with some sort of skin condition, like a severe eczema. It isn't until his very last scene in the final episode he reveals to Tommy he has extensive cancer, probably from the gas during the war.
- Religious Bruiser: As ruthless as he is, he seems to hold his religion and people in very high regard.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: We knew Alfie's apology for turning on Arthur in season two and team-up with the Shelbys in season three was too good to last. He sells Tommy out to the Economic League and gets Charles kidnapped.
- Troll: As seen with in his negotiations with... well, almost everyone, Alfie does have a pronounced and definite predilection for fucking with people just because it amuses him.
- Verbal Tic: Alfie cannot go more than a couple of sentences without using the word "mate". He throws in "yeah?" a lot as well.
- Wake-Up Call: By Season 6, Alfie Solomon is just sitting around listening to opera, hoping for something to do as his "final act". Tommy tells him that his Uncle Charles is killed in Boston, and offers a trade that would give Alfie about 5 tons of pure cocaine ready to be shipped to Boston, allowing Alfie to acquire an enormous sum of money, rebuild his power, and seek revenge.
Luca Changretta
Luca Changretta
(Played by Adrien Brody.)The son of Vincente Changretta who has moved to America and built a Mafia empire. The circumstances of his father's death cause him to return to England and target the Peaky Blinders.
- Avenging the Villain: His entire vendetta in Season 4 is to avenge his father, Vicente Changretta, a minor antagonist from Season 3 who sent an assassin after Tommy which resulted in Grace's death.
- Big Bad: He's the main villain of Season 4.
- Defiant to the End: Realizing Tommy's outmaneuvered him and his own men have betrayed him, Luca seethes for a second then makes a last attempt to kill Tommy.
- The Don: For the Sicilian-American branch of the Changretta family.
- Et Tu, Brute?: He's clearly wounded when Matteo turns on him along with the rest of his henchmen in the Season 4 finale.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He loves his mother and often voices the advice she gave him in how to wage his vendetta against the Peaky Blinders. He lets her act as his ambassador to set terms of surrender for the Peaky Blinders, heeding her advice that letting them live with nothing would be crueler than killing them all.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Luca's father was very dear to him, so in retribution for the Shelbys ordering his death, he's going to destroy every single one of them.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He shares Tommy's refusal to harm children. Luca also values the lives of the men who follow him, making sure their loved ones are notified of their passing, giving them last respects, and calling Tommy "an animal" for killing one of his men after the man was already wounded.
- Expy: For the younger Vito Corleone that we see in The Godfather Part II. Their arcs are similar in that both return to Europe from New York with the intention of avenging their fathers. The key difference being that Vito was the successful protagonist in his story, and Luca being the Big Bad during season 4. Luca and his father can even be thought of as a Decomposite Character representation of Vito, with Vincente having a strikingly similar appearance to the elderly Vito seen in the The Godfather, while Luca has the distinctive nasal voice that Marlon Brando made so famous.
- Honor Before Reason: He lampshades the fact that the smart move would have been for him to have the Shelbys assassinated right away before they had time to prepare. However, he intends to honor his father by following the traditions of the Sicilian Vendetta and that requires that he first informs his targets that he is coming to kill them.
- Karmic Death: Is killed by Arthur, whom he had just attempted to assassinate.
- The Mafia: Leads a branch of it. Luca is Sicilian, can call on soldiers on both sides of the Atlantic, and is a hell of a lot more dangerous than his old man ever was.
- Oral Fixation: Instead of smoking, Luca is usually seen with a toothpick in his mouth.
- Pet the Dog: After the mooks he sent out for a hit never return, he has two other subordinates wire their families to inform them of the deaths.
- Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: The Sicilian-American Black Hand are a kind of gangster that the Shelbys haven't encountered before.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Even moreso than Tommy, usually the pre-eminent dresser on the show.
- Smug Snake: For all of his pretensions of culture, style, and family connections, it turns out he's just another arrogant criminal lowlife. When he thinks that he's beaten the Shelbys, he drops his veneer of professionalism and demonstrates how much of a loathsome Jerkass he is. He gropes and insults Polly, takes great relish in the prospect of destroying the Shelbys' lives, gloats about murdering John and Arthur Jr., and forces Tommy to sign over all of his businesses on his knees, simply to humiliate him.
- Wicked Cultured: "I'm just here as a lover of the theatre."
- Worthy Opponent: While most of the show's main villains so far have been characterized as brutes, rapists, and even pedophiles, Luca Changretta stands out as an oddly honourable figure. Sure, he's a murderous Mafia guy, but he's never needlessly cruel, his motivation is sympathetic, he Wouldn't Hurt a Child, and he's pretty clearly not really any worse a guy than Tommy. At least until he thinks that his victory is completely assured.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: He agrees to make sure no children are harmed during his war against the Peaky Blinders and he's true to his word.
Other Characters
May Fitz-Carleton
May Fitz-Carleton
(Played by Charlotte Riley.)A horse-trainer and widow that Tommy encounters at an auction. She trains his racehorse for Epsom, and falls for Tommy along the way.
- Aborted Arc: Was set up to be Tommy's long-term love interest in season two, planning a business (and potentially romantic) future together. Come season three, Tommy is married to Grace and May is nowhere to be found, with no explanation of what happened. It could potentially be a case of Real Life Writes the Plot, as Charlotte Riley was unavailable due to other commitments and a real-life pregnancy during season three's filming. She does return in Season Four.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Well, she's in love with Tommy Shelby.
- May: Well, you've told me about her like a gentleman. Now kindly go back to behaving like a gangster.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Well, she is a horse-trainer and tells Esme that she grew up riding, something the notoriously standoffish Esme actually approves of.
- Broken Bird: When it comes to matters of the heart. She's falling for Tommy, but it's been hard for her after her husband died in WWI, having to run the horse-training business herself. She likens herself to a lighthouse, saying she's kept everyone else away and hidden in her mansion.
- Femme Fatale: Subverted. She dresses the part of one, but she's actually upfront and honest about her intentions.
- Only Sane Man: During all the chaos of season four, a refreshing change is Curly updating her on what's going on, and her "oh my god, you're all insane" reactions.
- Rich Boredom: May admits that being around Tommy makes her feel alive, something her cut-throat, stifling background doesn't afford her.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Doing business with gangsters doesn't frighten her, nor does walking into a very rough part of Birmingham all alone.
- Stiff Upper Lip: She tears up when thinking of her deceased husband, but is quick to brush it aside. Later when Tommy attempts to break up with her, May is visibly upset but keeps her composure anyway...and it helps that Tommy seems rather reluctant to break things off...
Tatiana Petrovna
Duchess Tatiana Petrovna
(Played by Gaite Jansen.)An exiled Georgian duchess, Tatiana is a major player in her aunt and uncle's plans for setting up the Shelbys.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Like her whole family.
- The Baroness: Well, Duchess, but the tropes apply: cold, ruthless, sadistic, sexual.
- Brains and Bondage: Downplayed, but she's fairly intelligent and sexually dominates Tommy during the orgy scene in season 3.
- Cute But Psycho: Tatiana is gorgeous. She's also completely deranged, even trying to play Russian Roulette with Tommy and pulling the trigger on herself.
- Death Seeker: Anyone willing to put a loaded gun to her temple and repeatedly pull the trigger is probably one of these.
- Erotic Asphyxiation: With Tommy. She also pushes him to his knees and shoves him into bed, although the latter may have been a hallucination on his part, since she was, you know, choking him.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even she seemed creeped out by Father Hughes.
- Evil Gloating: She gleefully informs Tommy that the sapphire he gave Grace is cursed and even after Grace is dead, she continuously brings her up to taunt him.
- Femme Fatale: Is she ever. Flat-out tells Tommy she was going to seduce him to make sure of his cooperation, and informs him she still might.
- Foil: To Tommy. Both are the frontrunners in their family's power schemes. Both are incredibly cold and calculating. Both use their charm and sex appeal to get what they want, and if that fails, resort to violence. Both have an aunt who truly calls the shots in their family.
- Karma Houdini: Unlike the rest of her family, she makes it out of season 3 in a even better position than before, having doublecrossed them by letting Tommy steal their treasures for her.
- Rich Bitch: Beautiful, but extremely haughty and classist.
Izabella Petrovna
Grand Duchess Izabella
(Played by Dina Korzun)
An aristocrat in exile, she is plotting to overthrow the communists in Russia. The aunt of Princess Tatiana and wife of Leon.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Has no qualms in having the Shelbys killed as soon as the job is completed.
- Evil Matriarch: She is clearly the head of the family.
Leon Petrovich
Grand Duke Leon Petrovich
(Played by Jan Bijvoet)An exiled Georgian duke, he's been camping out at the Ritz eating caviar while his wife Izabella plots to overthrow the "red" Russians.
- The Alcoholic: Can't hold his vodka, and gets very nastily drunk if he touches the stuff.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Is also perfectly fine with setting up the Shelbys for death.
- Big Eater: Eats large helpings of caviar.
- Faux Affably Evil: Plays the charming exiled aristocrat well, but as he shows Tommy during their lunch at the Ritz, he will do very bad things to see his family restored.
- Henpecked Husband: Grand Duchess Izabella pulls the strings in this family. She even tells Leon if he's allowed to drink or not.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Befitting a member of the Tsarist nobility, he's an anti-Semite and constantly shittalks Alfie for being a Jew in Russian, until he realizes that Alfie can understand Russian.
Reuben Oliver
Reuben Oliver
(Played by Alexander Siddig)A painter related by marriage to Grace, he finds his eye drawn by Polly at Tommy and Grace's wedding dinner.
- Give Geeks a Chance: He's a dorky middle-class widower and painter who wears bow ties while Polly's a Nouveau Riche notorious gangster.
- Insecure Love Interest: Polly is his. He's honestly infatuated with her and willing to "enter her world", however dangerous. She's afraid he's only after an affair, or worse, using her to feed information to her enemies.
- Nice Guy: What he appears to be, smitten by Polly and friendly to the rest of the Shelbys.
- Put on a Bus: Was plotting a life with Polly at the end of season 3, but after the shocking events of 3.06 and 4.01, is nowhere to be found in season 4.
-
Reclusive Artist: Seems to be very talented, but withdrawn and has few friends. - Romancing the Widow: Besides being a widower himself, he informs Polly fairly straightforwardly that he plans to seduce her. She seems to be all right with the idea.
- Tranquil Fury: Only loses his temper when Polly suggests he's joking about her to all of his friends — he quietly and emotionally informs her that his only friends were through his wife, and she's dead.
Father John Hughes
Father Hughes
(Played by Paddy Considine)An Irish Priest with his fingers in many pies: the Russians, the Economic League, and matters of the church back in Birmingham.
- Asshole Victim: Getting stabbed to death is vicious, but considering Hughes is a pedophile and torturer it's a very fitting and satisfying death, especially since it is done by Michael, one of his rape-victims.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With the other members of the Economic League.
- Evil Is Petty/A God Am I: After Tommy (accurately) accuses him of informing to the Soviets (and making a not-so-subtle implication he knows he's a paedophile), Hughes extorts him into publicly apologizing by reciting the Catholic Act of Contrition with Hughes' name in place of God's.
- Hate Sink: A Faux Affably Evil Smug Snake who enjoys mistreating his foes physically and verbally as soon as he has the upper hand, and a Pedophile Priest.
- The Heavy: While only just one of the many members of the Economic League, he's the one with the most influence to the plot for season 3.
- Karmic Death: The Pedophile Priest gets murdered bloodily by Michael, whom he abused when he was younger.
- Pedophile Priest: Hinted-at in his first appearance in 3.01, when he tells Tommy he expects to visit the children in the orphanage the Shelbys are building. In 3.05, it's revealed that he molested Michael at age six when Michael was taken from Polly and put into Hughes' care.
- Sinister Minister: Right from his very first appearance.
Aberama Gold
Aberama Gold
(Played by Aidan Gillen)Head of a very old and well-respected Romany family, called in by the Shelbys to assist with the threat posed by the Black Hand.
- The Dreaded: Everyone freaks out when his name is mentioned, with multiple Shelbys questioning if even contacting him is a good idea.
- Hated by All: Tommy is the only one to support calling on him for help, and even he makes it clear that these are extenuating circumstances.
- National Weapon: Seen using American-made weapons like a lever-action rifle to dispatch the Changretta assassins at John's funeral as well as a Colt Single-Action Army on screen.
- New Old Flame: He and Polly knew each other from way back and it's implied they once had romantic feelings for each other, which they start up again in Season Four. Unfortunately, just after Aberama proposes to Polly, he's killed in the Season Five finale.
- Outliving One's Offspring: In "Black Cat", the Billy Boys come for him and while it looks like they intend to murder him, they instead leave him alive to deliver a message before crucifying Bonnie right in front of him.
- Papa Wolf: He adores his son and when he dies, he falls into total despair and goes on a vicious Roaring Rampage of Revenge to avenge him.
- Psycho for Hire: Set up as this, although so far, it seems like his reputation is exaggerated..
- Shrouded in Myth: No one knows very much about him, with his son Bonnie and his three as yet unseen daughters being the only proof he has a side other than violence.
- The Worf Effect: He's set up as a dangerous Psycho for Hire in Season Four, but in Season Five he's pretty effortlessly neutralised by the Billy Boys and can only watch helplessly as they murder his own son before his eyes.
Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
(Played by Sam Claflin)- Big Bad: Of Season 5.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Jack Nelson in Season 6
- The Chessmaster: Even more so than Tommy. Mosley proves himself to be a manipulative and ambitious schemer who is always resourceful and prepared for any situation.
- Corrupt Politician: A self-interested schemer with connections to the government.
- Faux Affably Evil: He has a very sophisticate, well-mannered demeanor and rarely raises his voice. He is also a fascist and an ambitious political schemer.
- Historical Domain Character: Oswald Mosley was a real life politician in Britain and the founder of the British Union of Fascists.
- Large Ham: When speaking publically, giving off a very Hitler like vibe.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Apart from the obvious that he is a Fascist and Anti-Semite, he also uses slurs like "queer" and "wog".
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Because he is one of Churchill's closest men.
