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New York Police Department
Popeye Doyle
Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle
"Alright, Popeye's here! Get your hands on your heads, get off the bar, and put your hands on the wall!"
Played By: Gene Hackman (1971-1975), Ed O'Neill (1986)
Appearances: The French Connection | French Connection II | Popeye Doyle
"You ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?"
The main protagonist of the films. Doyle is a reckless, cynical, and brutish cop not afraid to bend the law if it means getting his man.
- Accidental Murder: He accidentally guns down Mulderig at the climax of the first film while trying to hunt down Charnier.
- Anti-Hero: He's brutish, reckless, somewhat racist, and something of a Jerkass in general. Still, he's trying to take down a ruthless heroin trafficker and is trying to see justice done.
- Bigot with a Badge: He's a massive racist on top of his other off-putting traits, frequently dropping racial slurs and frequently roughing up black suspects.
- Catchphrase: "You ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?"
- Cowboy Cop: Despite being one of the progenitors of this trope, Doyle is a stark deconstruction. His rule-bending and recklessness winds up letting Charnier escape and causes the operation to capture him to end as a massive clusterfuck.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first scene has him chase down a drug dealer and, after restraining the man, pummel him even after he's helpless on the ground for making him chase after him.
- Jerkass: Popeye is an abrasive, racist, and brutish man with a very short fuse and a propensity for violence.
- Noodle Incident: Mulderig claims he hates Popeye because one of his hunches led to a cop getting killed, but nothing is ever elaborated on.
- Police Brutality: He's very prone to beating and harassing suspects.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: He drops numerous racial slurs about blacks and Latinos, and his attitude towards women is hardly any better.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the violent Red to Cloudy's comparatively more reserved Blue. They're both pretty violent, but Cloudy will at least try to negotiate with people whereas Popeye will simply Troy to bulldoze over them.
Cloudy Russo
Detective Buddy "Cloudy" Russo
"It's a goddamn desert full of junkies out there. Everyone waiting to get well."
Played By: Roy Scheider
Appearances: The French Connection
Popeye's somewhat more restrained partner and best friend.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's much more prone to sarcasm and witty remarks than his blunter partner.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Especially in comparison to Popeye. Cloudy's just as violent as his partner, but he makes an effort to be polite even to people who are insulting them and comes across as slightly more compassionate.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The comparatively more reserved and reasonable to Popeye's violent Red. Athe very least, Cloudy tries to negotiate with people and reign Popeye's more abrasive behavior in.
Walt Simonson
Captain Walt Simonson
Played By: Eddie Egan
Appearances: The French Connection
Popeye and Cloudy's boss.
- Only Sane Man: For the law enforcement characters in the first film. Compared to Popeye's Cowboy Cop antics, Russo's tendency to go along with it, and Mulderig's obsession with his petty vendetta against Doyle, Simonson comes off as the only one with his head on straight.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He justifiably grumbles about Doyle's Cowboy Cop antics, but he still gives him the necessary resources to catch Charnier and even when his decisions are wrong (such as pulling Popeye and Cloudy off the case before Pierre can pull a hit in them) he still has a good argument for doing it.
FBI
Bill Mulderig
Agent Bill Mulderig
"Last time you were dead certain, we had a dead cop!"
Played By: Bill Hickman
Appearances: The French Connection
An FBI agent assigned to aid in capturing Charnier.
- Jerkass: While it's hard to deny his criticisms of Popeye are valid, Mulderig spends most of the investigation whining about Popeye and Cloudy's methods without ever contributing something himself and just pointlessly insulting everyone.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He accurately points out that Popeye's disregard for procedure makes him a terrible cop.
- The Load: Mulderig doesn't really contribute to the investigation so much as he complains the entire time about everything Popeye and Cloudy do, regardless of how benign it is.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He's fine with Popeye's Police Brutality, and is more lashing out over a Noodle Incident that left a cop dead. He relentlessly criticizes everything Popeye and Cloudy do, even if they're following procedure to the letter.
Charnier's Syndicate
Alain Charnier
Alain Charnier
"I haven't done an honest day's work in years."
Played By: Fernando Rey
Appearances: The French Connection | French Connection II
The head of a massive heroin-smuggling ring.
- Affably Evil: He's polite, witty, urbane, and a loving boyfriend. He's also utterly ruthless and more than willing to commit murder to escape justice.
- Beard of Evil: He sports a beard and is a ruthless crime boss.
- Big Bad: Of the first two films. Popeye's quest to capture Charnier drives the plot of each.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's quite prone to witty remarks, though they are always delivered in a civil manner.
- Karma Houdini: Escapes justice at the end of the first film.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Popeye guns him down at the end of the second film after managing to corner him.
- Nouveau Riche: He was once a poor longshoreman before starting his criminal enterprise and becoming rich through it.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He's regarded as a legitimate businessman by those not in the know about his true career.
Pierre Nicoli
Pierre Nicoli
Played By: Marcel Bozzufi
Appearances: The French Connection
Charnier's right-hand man and primary hitman.
- Ax-Crazy: Even beyond his work, he comes off as pointlessly violent. A deleted scene has him violently assaulting a prostitute for daring to confront him about short-changing her.
- The Dragon: He's Charnier's right-hand man.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: After gunning down the Marseille Detective, Nicoli casually eats a piece of his baguette.
- Jerkass: In comparison to Charnier's polite mannerisms, Nicoli is sullen and hostile at all times.
- The Sociopath: He has no qualms about murdering civilians while carrying out a hit, and comes across as much more violent than his more pragmatic boss.
Sal Boca
Salvatore "Sal" Boca
Played By: Tony Lo Bianco
Appearances: The French Connection
A drug dealer working for Charnier.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Implied. When Popeye hits on Angie, she notes that Sal would probably attack him in sight for it.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He seems to genuinely love his wife Angie.
Angie Boca
Angie Boca
Played By: Arlene Farber
Appearances: The French Connection
A drug dealer working for Charnier.
- Affably Evil: Comes across as quite friendly while talking with an undercover Popeye.
