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Characters from the following books by James Ellroy.

The Black Dahlia
The Big Nowhere
L.A. Confidential (This film version has its own character page)
White Jazz
Perfidia
This Storm

LAPD

Bucky Bleichert

Officer Dwight W. "Bucky" Bleichert

A former middleweight boxer who joined the LAPD to escape being conscripted into the military.

Alliterative Name: Bucky Bleichert.
Anti-Hero: He's cynical, shrewd, cold, voyeuristic, and has a violent temper, but his heart's ultimately in the right place and he's a loyal friend. He also blackmails Madeline Sprague into having sex with him.
Been There, Shaped History: Bleichert was a participant in both the Zoot Suit Riots as well as the Black Dahlia murder.
Broken Pedestal: Discovering Lee was the mastermind behind the Boulevard-Citizens bank robbery and actively used him to eliminate witnesses shatters Bleichert and destroys a lot of his faith in the man. Discovering that he covered up crucial evidence to the Black Dahlia case in exchange for a massive bribe from Georgie Tilden only destroys it further.
Calling the Old Man Out: He berates his father for his abuse, indirectly causing his mother's death, and in his view forcing him to snitch on Hideo Ashida and his other Japanese friends thanks to him joining the German Bund Party. He then caps it off by using the winnings from his fight with Lee to put him in a nursing home filled with Jews, viewing it as an Ironic Hell for his father.
Category Traitor:
- He forced himself to forget how to speak German just to spite his father.
- His fellow police believe this after he turns in John Vogel and results in Fritz's suicide.
Dark and Troubled Past: Bleichert's mother died while he was still a child when she drank rubbing alcohol that a scammer sold her and claimed was booze, leaving him trapped with an abusive father. After a successful career as a middleweight boxer, he joined the LAPD to escape the draft, only for his father's membership in the Germand Bund Party to cause Alien Squad to blackmail him into snitching on his Japanese friends, something that still haunts him.
Deadpan Snarker: Bucky is very prone to snarking, especially whenever he's around Koenig.
Dirty Cop: While he's downright tame compared to many of his colleagues, he blackmails Madeline Sprague into having sex with him with his knowledge of her involvement in the Black Dahlia case and Vogel's influence results in him becoming increasingly prone to beating suspects. Still, a very mild example by 1940s LA, especially in James Ellroy's books.
Earn Your Happy Ending: He ultimately leaves Los Angeles behind and reunites with Kay in Boston to rekindle their relationship.
Establishing Character Moment: Bleichert finds himself in the middle of the Zoot Suit Riots where the LAPD is called in to restore order but he hates the idea of fighting the Navy or the Mexican victims. So he flees.
Famed In-Story: Had a decent local heroes reputation due to his boxing career.
Girl on Girl Is Hot: Bleichert starts having an extended fantasy about lesbians while investigating the crime that goes into graphic detail.
"I thought about women with women. Not lez types. Soft girls with hard edges."
Green-Eyed Monster: He covets the Sprague's wealth, especially since they're first-generation Americans like Bucky and his own family, but are separated by wealth and power.
Jerkass Has a Point: Bleichert doesn't want to spend any time on the Black Dahlia case even before he becomes judgemental about her lifestyle. He points out that this is the case that is best left to the FBI and the focus the LAPD is giving it is distracting from other murderers, including one Bleichert and Blanchard were hunting.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's cold and somewhat unhinged, but his heart's generally in the right place and he's deeply loyal to Kay and Lee.
Lightning Bruiser: Bucky specialized in being one of these as a boxer. He puts on considerable weight to fight Blanchard in the boxing match and ends up losing clean.
My Greatest Failure: He deeply regrets selling out Hideo Ashida to the LAPD with false evidence to save his own career, especially since Hideo was only persecuted out of paranoid bigotry.
My God, What Have I Done?: Bleichert has this reaction to the killings of the four pot users he was trying to shake down for information on a local child molester.
Nazi Grandpa: Actually, Nazi Father. His despised father is an avowed Nazi whose ties to a Neo-Nazi organization jeopardized Bleichert's efforts to join the LAPD. This is just one of the many reasons Bleichert despises his father.
Not So Stoic: Bucky's pretty stoic right up until he beats Blanchard to a pulp for supposedly killing Junior Nash, and he only gets worse from there.
Politically Incorrect Hero: He's racist and homophobic, as well as making some quite sexist judgments of Elizabeth Short.
Properly Paranoid: He automatically suspects the worst of everyone around him, which actually makes him a fairly skilled detective due to his talent at picking up on lies and inconsistencies.
Rank Up: Goes from patrolman to Warrants detective based on his performance during the boxing match.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the stoic and composed Blue to Blanchard's Red. Where Blanchard is emotional and is prone to outbursts, Bleichert is cold to the point he's called out on it.
Sanity Slippage: His increasing obsession with the Black Dahlia case, Vogel's influence, and Blanchard's disappearance results in the previously professional and composed Bleichert becoming increasingly impulsive and violent. It gets to the point where he nearly strangles a prostitute to death while hallucinating her to be the Black Dahlia.
The Stoic: He's fairly composed, especially compared to Blanchard. At least, at first. As the Black Dahlia case and Lee's disappearance starts to wear on him, he gradually starts to lose it and his violent temper becomes increasingly apparent.
The Stool Pigeon: Bleichert ratted out two of his Japanese friends to get into the LAPD. It is notable, even among the incredibly racist LAPD, that this marks him as someone untrustworthy.
Taken Off the Case: He loses his job at Warrants as well as his role in the Black Dahlia case after beating a teenage suspect for giving a false confession.
Took a Level in Jerkass: He becomes increasingly violent and angry under Fritz Vogel's influence, and his obsession with the Black Dahlia case only makes him more unstable. It eventually results in Kay leaving him after she catches him having sex with Madeline, who had styled herself after Elizabeth Short.
Undying Loyalty: He's deeply loyal to Blanchard and Kay. It's a shame Blanchard didn't return the favor.
Unstoppable Rage: Whenever he gets mad, Bucky's about as unstoppable as you'd expect a former boxer to be. Notably, he's able to pummel Blanchard (who had beaten him in their staged fight at the beginning of the novel) into submission with ease once he seemingly kills Junior Nash.

Lee Blanchard

Sergeant Leland C. "Lee" Blanchard

A charismatic former boxer turned LAPD officer and Bucky's partner. Lee is somewhat famous for having stopped a bank robbery early in his career, and a rising star in the department.

Addled Addict: He's addicted to Benzedrine, and he uses it often to help keep himself awake when he has to deal with a massive workload. He starts using it increasingly frequently as he investigates the Black Dahlia case to the point that Kay and Bucky actively worry that he's undergoing Sanity Slippage.
Been There, Shaped History: Was both a police officer during the Zoot Suit Riots and also investigated the Black Dahlia murder.
The Big Guy: Was a heavyweight boxer before he became a police officer and still primarily is known for his punching power.
Broken Ace: He's a rising star in the LAPD with a bright future and Loew's favor, but he's a Benzedrine addict still haunted by his sister's disappearance and likely death. Not to mention that his reputation is all based on a lie.
Celibate Hero: Isn't sexually involved with his girlfriend and is implied to be unable/unwilling to due to having sex with a woman when his sister was kidnapped.
Cowboy Cop: Blanchard is initially presented as one; he's a deeply passionate cop who is prone to emotional outbursts, is willing to operate outside the law, and he will kill suspects in self-defense. It's eventually revealed he's a full-blown Dirty Cop who was far less principled than he presented himself as.
Cruel and Unusual Death: He was chopped apart with axes by the Rurales under Captain Vasquez's orders. Later, it's revealed it was Madelaine Sprague.
Dark and Troubled Past: His sister was abducted and most likely killed while he was having sex with his girlfriend, and he blames himself for it especially since he had resented her for being his father's favorite. It influences his obsession with the Black Dahlia case.
Deadpan Snarker: He's very prone to wisecracking and snarks almost constantly. Bleichert even lampshades it a few times.
False Friend: He took advantage of Bleichert's loyalty to trick him into killing the only witnesses to the Boulevard-Citizens bank robbery by provoking them into a gunfight. He does still seem to genuinely care about Bucky, but it's still filtered through a lot of selfishness.
Famed In-Story: Was a well-respected heavyweight boxer.
Freudian Excuse: His little sister, Laurie, disappeared as a child and he believes she was murdered by a degenerate of some kind. As such, he is particularly motivated in solving Elizabeth Short's murder.
It's All About Me: He definitely has shades of this. When Bleichert beats him for supposedly killing Junior Nash^note, Blanchard flees to Mexico and declares to anyone who will hear that Bleichert is dead to him. He completely ignores that not only had he done far worse to Bucky, but the impact his disappearance will have on Bleichert and Kay.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Blanchard is initially set up as a ruthless but heroic man who genuinely wants justice for Elizabeth Short and a genuinely good guy. However, over the course of The Black Dahlia it becomes clear that Blanchard is a deeply selfish Dirty Cop who will happily violate any of his supposed principles for money.
Killed Offscreen: He's apparently murdered sometime after he flees to Tijuana under the orders of Captain Vasquez to steal the loot he got from the bank robbery. This turns out to be a Red Herring and it was actually Madelaine Sprague stealing back her father's blackmail money from him.
It's Personal: His little sister's death motivates him to want to solve the Black Dahlia case.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Kay believes he wanted her and Bleichert to hook up.
Rank Up: Goes from patrolmen to Warrants detective due to his boxing career as well as the bank heist he solved.
Not So Above It All: Blanchard has been depicted as a stone cold badass for much of the early book but is loudly crying after killing two people in the botched information shakedown.
Politically Incorrect Hero: He's throws around the most slurs out of everyone in the series, and he at one point taunts a Mexican man by mockingly repeating Spanish and noting he'll probably get the death sentence because of his ethnicity.
Put on a Bus: He flees to Tijuana halfway through The Black Dahlia during his mental spiral, where his actions eventually result in him being murdered by the Rurales.
Rescue Romance: Kay fell in love with him because he rescued her from Bobby De Witt.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Bleichert's Blue. Lee is emotionally compromised and impulsive, while Bleichert is calm to the point of being accused of outright coldness.
Sexless Marriage: Doesn't have relations with Kay despite being in love with her.
Stepford Smiler: He's cheerful and affable to a fault, but it's an act that hides a massive guilt complex, which isn't even getting into his Benzedrine addiction and his corruption.
Taken Off the Case: His increasingly erratic behavior combined with an explosion of rage after watching a porn film starring Elizabeth Short results in this.

Mal Considine

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Considine

A LAPD officer promoted to captain. He is involved in a custody battle with his wife, Celeste.

All for Nothing: Considine's massive efforts to keep custody of his son end up meaning nothing as he dies taking down the Wolverine killer.
Beware the Nice Ones: Meeks, Smith, and other ostensibly far more badass characters give Mal Considine a wider berth than his otherwise unassuming demeanor would seem to require because, during his stint as an Army officer in Europan theater of World War II, when he witnessed the inside of a concentration camp first-hand, he walked into a room where the camp's commander was held and unloaded his sidearm into the latter's face. Subverted when we discover that Considine is guilty of Domestic Abuse.
Boom, Headshot!: Mal takes a bullet to the face.
Cowboy Cop: Mal gradually becomes this to keep custody of his son and to take down the Wolverine. It gets him killed.
Deal with the Devil: Mal is only interested in retaining custody of his son. He makes a deal with DA Loew and later Claire De Haven to try to keep it.
Domestic Abuse: Mal proceeds to beat his wife so badly that she needs reconstructive surgery. This was triggered by her claim the Nazi he killed was actually not sexually abusing her and in fact sabotaged the gas chambers at a death camp.
The Hero Dies: Is one of the two protagonists who dies in the book.
Morality Pet: Mal has this reaction after he beats his wife to the point their son tries to stop him.
My God, What Have I Done?: Mal has this reaction after he beats his wife to the point their son tries to stop him.
Rank Up: Is promoted as part of his deal with the DA to investigate communism.

Jack Vincennes

Det. Sgt. John "Trashcan Jack" Vincennes

A morally jaded cop and consultant for the popular show Badge of Honor. Jack is a blackmail victim of Dudley's as a result of his own crimes but his conscience leads him to slowly work towards doing the right thing.

Accidental Murder: Jack showed up to a stakeout while drunk and high, and when it escalated into a shootout he began firing randomly. He accidentally killed an innocent couple, much to his own horror. Dudley had it covered up, and holds it over Jack's head so he'll work for Dudley and assist in his plans.
Addled Addict: Jack was previously an alcoholic junkie to the point it impacted his job. It culminated in him accidentally shooting two civilians when he got into a shootout while high, which Dudley used to blackmail him into his services. Jack quit drugs and booze afterwards out of guilt.
Affably Evil: He starts off as this. He's a Dirty Cop guilty of murder and blackmail, but he's also extremely charming, witty, and friendly. Joan Morrow discusses this, contrasting Jack's amicable yet ruthless personality with Ed's staunch morals.
Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Part of his backstory. He showed up to a stakeout drunk and high, and when it escalated into a shootout Jack accidentally killed an innocent couple while trying to gun down an attacker.
Anti-Villain: Jack is a murderer and a corrupt cop who helps ruin countless lives for his own publicity, as well as somewhat reluctantly aiding in Dudley's schemes. However, he's guilt-ridden over his own actions and hates himself for what he's become, keeping him firmly sympathetic despite being a horrible person.
The Atoner: He accidentally kills a young couple, and to make it up to their kids, sends money each month.
Blackmail: Dudley and Loew employ him to serve as a bagman and take photos of their enemies doing illicit activities so they can blackmail them.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a talented detective but is far more concerned with his fame than cracking cases. Russ Millard notes that Jack only puts in the bare minimum of work in Ad Vice because he finds it boring and only puts in just enough effort not to get fired.
Broken Ace: Jack is famous, a local hero, charming, witty, and handsome. However, beneath his sterling reputation is a Dirty Cop guilty of murder who is tormented by self-loathing and cripplingly obsessed with fame.
Defective Detective: He's both corrupt and a murderer on top of his love of the spotlight Badge of Honor gets him. He was even worse in the past while on drugs, which led to him accidentally shooting a young couple dead.
Dirty Cop: He's very corrupt. Jack has murdered people in cold blood in the past to prove his loyalty, and he works as a bagman for Dudley Smith to help further his and Ellis Loew's plans via blackmail.
Even Evil Has Standards: For as homophobic and corrupt as Jack is, he's genuinely outraged that Timmy Valburn is cheating on Billy Dieterling with Bobby Inge.
Fake Ultimate Hero: Thanks to Sid's articles, Jack is regarded as a local hero and he's admired by many for busting drug addicts and dealers alike. In reality, Jack is a wreck and a Dirty Cop who has murdered severe people and his accomplishments are all part of a sleazy scheme to get publicity. He's even a semi-willing participant in Dudley Smith's schemes.
Forced into Evil: Downplayed. Jack is plenty shady on his own and has murdered people of his own volition, but he participates in Dudley's schemes because of the blackmail material Dudley has on him.
Heteronormative Crusader: He's morally disgusted by gay people and views them as sexual deviants. He's mostly disgusted at first with Patchett's enterprise because he caters to gay people, and he's quite cruel to Timmy Valburn simply because of his sexuality.
His Own Worst Enemy: Jack is ultimately his own worst enemy, and his self-destructive behavior is ultimately the reason for a lot of his suffering. Dudley wouldn't be able to blackmail him if he hadn't shown up to work high and accidentally shot an innocent couple, which causes him no end of suffering. And his unhealthy obsession with his own fame alienates everyone around him.
Hypocrite: While working in Narcotics, he became addicted to drugs while still being tasked to hunt down drug dealers and drug addicts. He admittedly quit after accidentally killing two civilians during a drug trip, but he's still well-aware that if it were revealed he'd be ruined.
In-Series Nickname: He's known as "Trashcan Jack" in the novel by his colleagues, for the time when he murdered a man and dumped the corpse in a dumpster.
It's All About Me: He's perfectly willing to ruin people's lives for the crime of smoking pot or being gay if it helps him keep his fame. He only gets involved in the Nite Owl investigation because he was trying to find something to bring himself back into the spotlight - and then to try and find the blackmail material Sid has on him.
Killer Cop: He's a murderer several times over. He murdered a perp and dumped his corpse in a trash can as part of some kind of initiation ritual into the LAPD, and he also accidentally murdered a young couple while in a drug-addled haze.
A Lighter Shade of Black: He's corrupt, but unlike most of the Dirty Cops populating the LAPD, Jack is well-aware he's a horrible person and draws the line at wanton murder. In a world where torturing and flat-out executing people is common practice among the police, it makes him a relatively lesser evil.
May–December Romance: The middle-aged Jack strikes up a relationship with Karen Morrow, who is still in her twenties.
Morality Pet: His girlfriend Karen Morrow brings out Jack's softer side and he actively tries to hide his sleazier activities from her because he doesn't want to disappoint her.
My God, What Have I Done?: He's guilt-ridden over the murders he's committed. While he's especially horrified of having accidentally killed two civilians and sends their children money regularly, he's also regretful of having murdered a criminal as part of an initiation ritual.
Noble Bigot with a Badge: Jack isn't particularly noble at first, but he's one of the few Dirty Cops in the LAPD to feel guilty about what he is and he shies away from pointless murder and brutality. He eventually decides to do the right thing and try to redeem himself.
Nominal Hero: He starts off as this. Jack isn't trying to expose the villains' plans for any altruistic reason, but because he thinks it will help rejuvenate his fading fame. He later shifts to trying to find the files Sid is blackmailing him with so the murders he's committed won't be exposed.
Oh, Crap!: While he keeps himself outwardly composed, internally Jack panics when he starts suspecting that Sid knows about Dudley's blackmail material and is threatening him to stay away from the Bobby Inge case.
Police Brutality: He was involved in the Bloody Christmas assault, although only in as far as a single punch when one of the victims stained his suit with blood. It's still enough to have the brass blackmail him into testifying, though.
Politically Incorrect Hero: Jack refers to minorities primarily through racial slurs and shows some antisemitic attitudes, even calling Loew a slur when he brings Karen to watch Jack testify against his colleagues. He's also very homophobic and is irrationally disgusted by gay people.
Recovered Addict: Jack was formerly a junkie and an alcoholic, but he quit after he shot an innocent couple while drunk and high.
Villain with Good Publicity: Jack is famous in L.A. for his consultant role on Badge of Honor and his work in Narcotics, and he's widely regarded as a hero. In reality, Jack is a Dirty Cop, blackmailer, and murderer obsessed with fame. He's also aware of this, and it's one of the reasons Jack hates himself so much.
Villainous Friendship: Subverted. He gets along well with Sid Hudgens, but there's no real friendship between them and the two are simply using each other. Sid is also quite willing to threaten Jack when he starts becoming a threat to his plans and tries to blackmail him.

Bill Koenig

Sergeant Bill Koenig

A member of Warrants Division known for his bad temper and stupidity.

Boom, Headshot!: He's shot in the face by an unknown assailant in 1947.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: He's killed by an unidentified assailant completely unrelated to the plot of The Black Dahlia.
Dumb Muscle: Koenig's strong and prone to police brutality, but he's as dumb as a rock and absolutely incompetent. The only reason he's a sergeant is because Vogel took the exam for him.
Literal-Minded: Thanks to his stupidity, Koenig sometimes takes Bleichert's sarcasm literally.
Bleichert: No shit, Sherlock.
Koenig: My name's not Sherlock.
Bleichert: No shit.
Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Koenig shuts down Bleicherts attempt to get off the Black Dahlia case by pointing out he outranks him.

Russ Millard

Lieutenant Russ Millard

The shift commander of the Warrants Division and an all-around honest cop.

Big Good: In The Black Dahlia. He is the only decent cop in the LAPD and who encourages Bleichert to do the right thing.
Killed Off for Real: Dies as part of the investigation into Dudley Smith.
Nice Guy: He's a friendly, upstanding man and one of the only cops in the Quartet not to have any major personality defects.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Russ returns in L.A. Confidential, and is largely aligned with Exley. Fearing for the safety of the Nite Owl Suspects, advises Exley he's got them stashed for safekeeping. They escape, and the aftermath causes him so much guilt and shame that he has a fatal heart attack.
Only Sane Man: Millard is one of the only genuinely well-adjusted LAPD officers in the Quartet, and spends most of his time trying to encourage the best influences of his fellow officers.

Harry Sears

Sergeant Harry Sears

Millard's partner, a mild-mannered man with a major stutter.

Beware the Nice Ones: His unassuming demeanor and stutter makes him easy to underestimate, but he's absolutely competent at his job and scarily good at interrogations, being able to break suspects without so much as laying a finger on them.
Satellite Character: He doesn't get much characterization outside of being Millard's partner.

Dudley Smith

A successful but rightfully terrifying policeman, Dudley is a brutal officer with a particular disdain for minorities known for going too far where cruelty is concerned. Unsurprisingly, he's quite corrupt and acts as the main antagonist of the series overall. For his film incarnation see here.

Ax-Crazy: Dudley is quite the charming gentleman, but it all masks that he's a brutal sadist who commits the most heinous crimes with glee.
Bad Boss: Dudley is quite nice and friendly to his allies and is willing to give them material benefits, but he ultimately doesn't give a damn about them. He will betray them if it benefits him or if they outlive their usefulness, no matter how long they've worked alongside him.
Big Bad: There are tons of villains in the quartet but as soon as he's outed as the perpetrator behind the Sleepy Lagoon murder in the climax of The Big Nowhere, he becomes the central figure behind much of the corruption and chaos in Los Angeles. The next two novels keep him as the primary antagonist despite other villains with their own schemes and he remains active until the end of White Jazz.
Bigot with a Badge: Dudley Smith was already established as a racist Dirty Cop in previous LA Quartet books but the majority of his Evil Plan in White Jazz is designed around exclusively marketing heroin to the black population of Los Angeles in hopes of keeping them "contained."
Bigotry Exception:
- Dudley is bigoted against every minority, but he's willing to ally with the Jewish Ellis Loew because he shares Dudley's far-right politics. Dudley still refers to him with antisemitic slurs and condescendingly claims he's a good man in spite of being Jewish, but still shows some possibly sincere fondness for him.
- Despite all his bigotry and homophobia, he genuinely did care about Hideo Ashida and consider him a friend, despite him being both a Japanese-American and gay.
"Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: While instructing Jack to help him blackmail some influential celebrities and politicians, Dudley objects to Jack's blunt assessment that's what they're going to do. Dudley prefers the term "reciprocity of friendship".
The Chessmaster: Dudley grows into a devious mastermind by the time of the original LA Quartet, managing to stay in the shadows and play the criminal game from most of the police and protagonists while plotting to consolidate the city's crime underneath him.
Control Freak: He's a vicious racist and abusive family man. Not wanting his niece dating a Hispanic, he literally tortures her boyfriend to death to get rid of him and years later stops by her college campus to remind her what he'll do if she goes against his racist dating demands again.
The Corruptor: He's great at getting his hooks into people and the likes of Lee Blanchard, Hideo Ashida and even Bud White for a time all fall prey to his scheming to make them worse and worse to his benefit.
Cowboy Cop: In his younger days, Dudley's violent tendencies get the top brass to dispatch him for easy solutions to dangerous criminals, at one point he and his underlings simply approach a confirmed rapist with shotguns to viscerally blow the man apart.
The Don: A variation, since he is a Dirty Cop, but certainly qualifies, since he aspires to have control of all the criminal activities of Los Angeles.
Dragon-in-Chief:
- In L.A. Confidential he goes from an enforcer under Pierce Patchett to relegating his "partner" to a scared survivalist with the Nite Owl shooting. Between his threats and intelligence, Patchett is left helpless on the sidelines while Dudley runs amok as the true power between them.
- White Jazz has him quite broker the deal for JC Kafesjian and the LAPD, acting more like an enforcer to the higher up corrupt cops but shows through the novel he's once again the real power in the organization despite his rank as a mere Captain.
The Dreaded: Dudley's most eerie ability is that nearly everyone he meets feels something foreboding about him. Many of his intros to viewpoint characters have them saying they feel uncomfortable or even scared around him.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Generally averted, as Dudley betrays even alleged close friends, and is so neglectful of his actual family that he frequently forgets his children's names. However, he genuinely does care about Hideo Ashida and sincerely mourns his death.
Evil Mentor: He serves as this to Bud White, trying to help him become even better at being a Dirty Cop and make him into another one of Dudley's loyal henchmen. Bud for his part is terrified of Dudley and never warms up to him, although he appreciates that Smith lets him beat and kill suspects with impunity.
Eye Scream: The assault that leaves him permanently disabled also sees his attacker brutally tearing one of his eyes out.
A Father to His Men: Dudley affects this image to gain loyalty from his men, but in reality it's subverted. Despite some of his underlings' almost cultish loyalty to him and Dudley's fatherly demeanor, he's very quick to throw them under the bus if it benefits him.
Fate Worse than Death: Dudley Smith ends up with brain damage severe enough that it renders him non-lucid for long periods of time and no longer a threat to anyone. He ends up cared for by nurses and the subject of various biopics.
Faux Affably Evil: Despite the ominous feeling of dread his very presence seems to instill in everyone, Dudley plays the part of a mild mannered, almost-fatherly figure, peppering his dialogue with lexicons, insisting on being referred to by first name and playing chummy with his fellow officers.
Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: Dudley is racist against all minorities, but he has a special hatred for black people and he's motivated primarily by finding a way to "contain" them away from white people out of a genuine belief they're inherently threatening.
First-Name Basis: Insists on being called by his first name and does the same to other characters, trying to present a friendly image to hide his true, monstrous nature.
From Camouflage to Criminal: He worked as an OSS spymaster during World War II, and he's a corrupt cop behind nearly all of the crime and misery in Los Angeles.
Greater-Scope Villain: He's neither seen nor mentioned in The Black Dahlia but Perfidia reveals he's the reason why Lee's in so deep as a Dirty Cop in the first place, having corrupted him into becoming a criminal hitman in the first place.
Hero Killer: For a given value of hero, but Buzz Meeks is one of the main protagonists of The Big Nowhere and does his best to combat Dudley's criminal empire. Dudley murders him in the prologue of LA Confidential.
Hypocrite: Dudley—in an atypically blunt fashion—exclaims his need to suppress minorities into being docile. Yet when Jack confirms that Dudley wants him to 'run bag on' (shake down) his celebrity friends for campaign money, Dudley takes umbrage and states that he prefers the term 'reciprocity of friendship', though it's exactly what Dudley wants Jack to do.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: Dudley ends up with brain damage and is cared for by a variety of nurses while ranting incoherently about containment in between singing Irish songs.
In-Series Nickname: He's frequently referred to as "Dud" by his associates.
Karma Houdini Warranty: In White Jazz, he gets a beating that leaves him so broken and brain damaged he'll never be able to hurt anyone again.
Knight Templar: Dudley is so deeply racist he believes Los Angeles's black population and minorities in general needs to be "contained" and kept docile for the greater good, which drives many of his actions.
Large and in Charge: He's not the tallest character in the setting, unlike his film version but Dudley is well over 6' and mentioned to have a broad, intimidating frame and a Lieutenant and later police Captain.
Manipulative Bastard: Dudley's perfectly happy to string people along into thinking they're on a team and dispose of them after they've outlived their usefulness, with even his alleged friend and partner for well over a decade Mike Breuning becoming a quick patsy to die once Dudley's done with him.
Mask of Sanity: A very subdued and disturbing one. He never loses his cool demeanor, and he comes off as a rational individual but psychologically trained characters outright believe he's ultimately motivated by an enjoyment of hurting people.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dudley likes to present himself as well-intentioned, but he's motivated primarily by racism and his own greed.
Police Brutality: Many of the characters engage in intimidation tactics to get confessions but Dudley's the worst of all as a vicious murderer who tortures a young man to death out of racism; literally strangles a baby to death; and sets up a program to beat and scare criminals out of LA.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Given the time, most of the characters are casually bigoted and Dudley presents at the same level but in private he's far worse, literally beating a Mexican boy to death for dating his niece and intending to distribute his heroin to predominantly black neighborhoods to "contain" them.
Power Fist: He forces the prisoners witness to the Bloody Christmas incident to retract their statements that Bud participated in beating them by beating them into it with brass knuckles. When Dudley shows them to Bud, they're chipped and covered with blood.

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Receives one in White Jazz that ends in him getting brain damage and losing an eye.
Officer O'Hara: Plays up his folksy Irish mannerisms as a means of softening his image.
Rabid Cop: He's vicious when bracing people about the Sleepy Lagoon Murder, which turns out to be a killing he committed himself out of brutal racism.
Sadist: He's defined by his enjoyment of hurting people and seems to get off on feeling powerful from it. After discovering Danny Upshaw's homosexuality and knowing a scheduled polygraph test will destroy Danny's career, he literally kisses Danny on the lips as a final mockery, something that ends up driving the broken Danny to suicide.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Dudley always uses two-dollar words even in casual conversation. Ed even describes him as a "lexophile with a brogue".
The Sociopath: Subverted. Dudley is extremely violent and depraved beneath his gentlemanly exterior, and he has no hesitation about betraying even longtime allies if it suits him with no remorse. Yet he genuinely does come to care about Hideo Ashida despite his rampant bigotry and homophobia, even weeping when he dies.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: During the Nite Owl investigation, both Deputy Chief Green and Russ Millard commiserate that despite working with him, they don't particularly like Dudley and are disturbed by his virulent racism.
Villain Protagonist: Perfidia and This Storm cast him as a POV character during the World War II setting... being Dudley, he uses the conflict to become a war profiteer with an assortment of vile schemes preying on oppressed Japanese-Americans.
Villain Respect: He has some admiration for Bud White's brutality and bravery at least in the sense that it makes him a good underling, and protects him from the aftermath of the Bloody Christmas incident because he doesn't want to waste Bud's potential.

Jack Tierney

Captain Jack Tierney

The commander of Warrants Division.

Da Chief: He's the head of Warrants Squad, and prone to screaming down any of his subordinates that dare annoy him.
Puppet King: As Tierney himself admits, Loew is the one who really runs the show at Warrants Division.

Fritz Vogel

Sergeant Friedrich "Fritz" Vogel

Koenig's more intelligent partner.

Abusive Parents: He's emotionally abusive of John and constantly insults him to his face.
Butt-Monkey: He gets absolutely no respect from his colleagues. Captain Tierney outright mocks him in front of the rest of Warrants Division, and people spread various embarrassing rumors about Vogel's personal life.
Dirty Cop: To the point that the rest of the LAPD is collectively ashamed of him, which says a lot considering how corrupt the entire department is. Unfortunately, thanks to his status as Loew's right-hand man, he's still given considerable leeway and makes him able to ruin Bleichert's reputation when he nearly exposes his attempts to force innocent men to confess to the Black Dahlia murder.
Driven to Suicide: He shoots himself in the head after Bleichert exposes his crimes.
Jerkass: He's a brutal, spiteful thug with no qualms about beating confessions out of innocent men, and he's extremely petty and confrontational to boot. Not even his son is safe from Fritz's verbal abuse.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: For all his faults, he does seem like he genuinely likes Bleichert and wants him for a partner. However, the second Bleichert angers him, it becomes clear that Vogel viewed him as a naive rube he could mold into a Yes-Man and he instantly turns against him.

John Vogel

Officer John Vogel

Fritz Vogel's good-for-nothing son.

Jerkass: He's a violent moron who beats prostitutes as a past-time.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Fritz frequently insults him and throws homophobic slurs at him.
Would Hit a Girl: Beats up a prostitute in order to get information out of her.

Ray Pinker

A forensic chemist working for the LAPD.

Deadpan Snarker: He's constantly making sarcastic remarks.
Historical Domain Character: He's based off a real man who really did work for the LAPD.
Plucky Comic Relief: He's a notably comical character who constantly cracks jokes, providing levity in the otherwise extremely dark L.A. Confidential.

William Parker

Chief William H. Parker

The police chief of the LAPD.

Ascended Extra: He's a minor supporting character in the original Quartet, but he's a major character in the prequels and a viewpoint character in Perfidia.
Historical Domain Character: He's based on the real LAPD chief.
Internal Reformist: Extremely downplayed. Parker's fine with Police Brutality, but he's one of the few to frown on using it pointlessly and sides with Ed because of this.
Minor Major Character: He doesn't appear all that much in L.A. Confidential, but the fact that both Dudley and Ed have his favor plays a major role in the plot.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Downplayed. He's fully complicit in the LAPD's corruption and quite willing to listen to Dudley, but he takes a liking to Ed for his staunch morals and frowns on outright police brutality for the most part.

Mike Breuning

Detective Mike Breuning

A corrupt detective working for Dudley Smith.

Undying Loyalty: He's deeply loyal to Dudley, and Bud notes his devotion is slavish and almost cult-like.

Richard Carlisle

Detective Richard Carlisle

A corrupt detective working for Dudley Smith.

Undying Loyalty: Bud observes he's slavishly loyal to Dudley in an almost cult-like fashion.

Thad Green

Deputy Chief Thad Green

The deputy chief of the LAPD and Ed's superior.

Politically Incorrect Hero: He's a Reasonable Authority Figure who throws around a few racial slurs, though he's horrified by the volume of Dudley's bigotry.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's one of the few officers to frown on using Police Brutality to get confessions, and he's quite supportive of Ed while still acknowledging how much his fellow officers dislike him. He also recognizes Dudley Smith is bad news specifically because of his racism, as well as trusting the kindly Russ Millard instead.

Art De Spain

Lieutenant Arthur "Art" De Spain

Preston Exley's best friend and one of Ed's mentors.

Mentor in Sour Armor: He's quite cynical about the LAPD and its office politics, and tries to dissuade Ed from being a By-the-Book Cop. He still does his best to mentor him and help him succeed.

LA County Police

Danny Upshaw

Deputy Danny Upshaw

A Los Angeles County Deputy investigating the Wolverine killings.

Archenemy: The Wolverine killer becomes the focus of his obsession.
Armored Closet Gay: Danny Upshaw thinks he's this, flirting with multiple women and cultivating a reputation as a ladies' man. In fact, it's more Everyone Can See It and the realization of this contributes to Danny's suicide.
Bothering by the Book: Danny Upshaw uses the fact that food and beverages are under the control of LA County to threaten people he can't technically arrest in Los Angeles proper.
By-the-Book Cop: Starts as one of these but gradually becomes a Cowboy Cop the more he becomes obsessed with the Wolverine killings.
Deal with the Devil: Agrees to help investigate communist activity for more support in finding the Wolverine.
Driven to Suicide: Danny Upshaw in a bid to avert anyone finding out about his homosexuality
Everyone Can See It: Danny believes this as his activity starts to suspect his obsession with finding the Wolverine killer is motivated by his own repressed homosexuality.
Gayngst: Danny Upshaw is actually a severely repressed homosexual.
The Hero Dies: Danny is the first of the protagonists to die due to being Driven to Suicide.
Honey Pot: Is sent to seduce Claire de haven as part of his investigation into communist activity.
Jurisdiction Friction: The LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Department are loggerheads over Cohen. Thus Danny gets stonewalled by the LAPD when he first tries to investigate the Goines murder. A free hand in running the case is his top condition for joining the anticommunist task force.

District Attorney's Office

Ellis Loew

The politically ambitious deputy district attorney and the real head of Warrants Division. Later elected to District Attorney.

Ambition Is Evil: Loew is planning a massive union-busting witch hunt for communists in order to bring attention to his political campaign. It causes no end of trouble at the end of The Big Nowhere.
Armored Closet Gay/Straight Gay: Loew is a closeted homosexual, but shows no effeminate traits. Nor does he show any sympathy for "some homo actor" who died.
Asshole Victim: He may have reluctantly helped Dudley, but was still an arrogant Smug Snake of a lawyer. Notably, this is the first time Exley is fine with White's Police Brutality.
Badass Boast: He claims to have invented the Good Cop/Bad Cop technique, and isn't intimidated by White and Exley at first.
Jerkass: He's short-tempered, entitled, and throws a hissy fit whenever things don't go his way.
Laser-Guided Karma: Buzz Meeks takes the opportunity to burn down his house with all of the grand jury's accumulated evidence on the communists.
Persecuting Prosecutor: He's very willing to cut corners to get what he wants, and encourages officers to use violence to get information out of their suspects.
- Averted in the movie - He originally refused to cooperate in Smith's corruption and wanted to prosecute them, but was then blackmailed. - but played straight in the book; he is mostly funded by extortion run by Jack and only wins the DA campaign thanks to his opponent being framed also by Jack. His downfall comes when Ed uses these to leverage himself above Dudley in the police chain of command.
Red Scare: Loew intends to take advantage of this in The Big Nowhere in order to make a name for himself.

Criminals

Cohen Crime Syndicate

Mickey Cohen

An infamous LA gangster who has connections within both the city government and the Hollywood elite.

Affably Evil: Mickey Cohen is a ruthless gangster but a pleasant enough man with his own code of honor.
Even Evil Has Standards: He orders hits on those who exploit women via blackmail or are involved in bestiality.
Friendly Neighborhood Gangster: Bizarrely, Mickey is one of the few characters in the book who seems to be genuinely motivated by disgust at the abuse and ill-treatment of the women under his protection. This along with other Pet the Dog moments, makes him closer to a Noble Demon than most characters, including the protagonists.
Historical Domain Character: He's based on the real Mickey Cohen, who was just as feared and infamous as his novel counterpart.
Historical Hero Upgrade: Mickey Cohen in real life was known to have a hair-trigger temper and exceptionally prone to unnecessary violence.
Kosher Nostra: The head of the Jewish mob in LA and successor to Bugsy Siegel.
Noble Demon: Mickey Cohen is a far better person than most of his Dirty Cop associates.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly, he is prone to keeping his temper and only using force when necessary or when his code is broken. A sharp contrast to the real Mickey's reputation.

Buzz Meeks

Turner "Buzz" Meeks

An ex-cop turned enforcer for Mickey Cohen and Howard Hughes. Becomes one of the protagonists of The Big Nowhere.

Antihero: Is a corrupt Dirty Cop and a general scumbag but wants to make up for driving Danny Upshaw to suicide.
Ascended Extra: He's a minor character in The Black Dahlia before becoming one of the main protagonists of The Big Nowhere.
The Atoner: Buzz attempts to make up for the fact he got Danny Upshaw killed.
Defiant to the End: Even when Dudley has Buzz at gunpoint, Buzz still tries to shoot him without a hint of fear. He's also able to take most of his assailants with him.
Dying Moment of Awesome: He's murdered by Dudley, but not before he's able to kill most of his assailants and nearly shooting Dudley himself.
The Fixer: Buzz Meeks has this job for Howard Hughes. He covers up his various affairs with actresses both underage and otherwise. He also cleans up for Howard's friends.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: In White Jazz, Mickey Cohen is no longer the feared gangster he used to be despite being out of prison. He only holds a few small gambling businesses and is firmly under Dudley Smith's control.
Killed Off for Real: Buzz is killed by Dudley Smith a week after the events of The Big Nowhere.
My God, What Have I Done?: Buzz kills a Dirty Cop in self-defense and Danny Upshaw is blamed for it due to the fact they'd been in a confrontation the previous day. This leads to Danny's suicide.
Private Detective: Buzz is the head of security for Howard Hughes, which roughly gives him this feel before he's hired by the Grand Jury and becomes indistinguishable from a cop.
Redemption Quest: Takes up the quest to go after the Wolverine to redeem himself.

Johnny Stompanato

Mickey Cohen's chief enforcer.

Butt-Monkey: to Bud White.
Demoted to Extra: from the book (where he is a key part of Mickey Cohen's clique) to the film.
Historical Domain Character: One of the few in the movie, along with Lana Turner. His history is fudged with for comedic purposes.
Spared by the Adaptation: In the book his real-life manslaughter is brought up to Ed; said death means Ed has no evidence linking Dudley Smith to anything.
The Informant: to Bud, although he insists that he doesn't do that anymore. Bud asserts otherwise.

Others

Charles Issler

A former cop turned pimp who frequently confesses to the murders of prostitutes.

Dirty Cop: Played with. He is a cop who has turned to sex trafficking and hates himself for it.
False Confession: He is prone to confessing to the murder of prostitutes despite just being a pimp.
Reluctant Monster: Sally Stinson notes that Issler's constant false confessions are motivated by his guilt over his profession, but it's clearly not enough for him to stop.
Sex Is Evil, and I Am Horny: His hatred of his profession leads to him confessing to much worse crimes.

Junior Nash

Raymond Douglas "Junior" Nash

A petty criminal and the primary suspect in the Black Dahlia murder case.

Killed Offscreen: Lee murders him in a fit of rage under the belief he killed Elizabeth Short. Though it's later revealed Blanchard hadn't killed him, and had confessed to Bleichert to cover up he had accepted a massive bribe to bury crucial evidence to the Black Dahlia case.

Sally Stinson

A prostitute working under Issler.

Butt-Monkey: She's destitute to the point she was forced into prostitution, and John and Fritz Vogel beat her to a pulp to learn Issler's whereabouts.

Bobby De Witt

Robert "Bobby" De Witt

A violent pimp who Lee Blanchard arrested for the Boulevard-Citizens bank robbery.

Asshole Victim: Pretty much everything that can go wrong for Bobby does, culminating in Blanchard hiring Mexican hitmen to murder him, but it's hard to feel bad for him given the abuse he put Kay through.
Karmic Butt-Monkey: He's framed for bank robbery, sentenced to five years in prison, is beaten to a pulp by Bleichert the day after his release, and is murdered on Blanchard's orders shortly after. However, given his abuse of Kay and countless other women, it's difficult to feel bad for him.

The Wolverine AKA Coleman Masskie

AKA Coleman HealeyColeman Maskie is the illegitimate son of Reynolds Loftis. He is driven insane by a combination of witnessing the Sleepy Lagoon murder, his father sexually abusing him, and his crush choosing his father over him.

Bandaged Face: Bandaged Face: Danny Upshaw hears a lot about a kid with bandages covering a supposedly burned face who used to hang around Marty Goines and help him commit burglaries. In reality, the bandages were the aftermath of plastic surgery. The bandaged kid was Coleman Masskie, Reynolds Loftis' illegitimate son. Reynolds commissioned a facelift from Terry Lux to make Coleman resemble him perfectly, as part of his own twisted incestuous fantasies. At the time he was seen with the bandages, Coleman was recovering from his second visit to Lux, to undo this job by breaking every bone in his face.
Boomerang Bigot: Hates gay men but is also a queer man himself.
Complexity Addiction: A lot of the issues would have been solved if he'd just outed his father as a homosexual or killed him.
Dark and Troubled Past: Was an abused young orphan boy created by a mentally ill woman to give to the church before he found his rich father, only to be sexually abused by him. He was also a witness to the Sleepy Lagoon murder but too scared of the killer Dudley Smith to come forward.
Depraved Bisexual: Coleman's sexuality is questionable as he abuses gay men but also lusts for Claire De Haven. He does, however, have a sincere lust for Danny Upshaw.
Evil Versus Evil: His goal is to destroy Reynolds Loftis, his father, for sexually abusing him as well as Claire de Haven for covering it up.
Parental Incest: Coleman's father begins a sexual relationship with him after getting him plastic surgery.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He commits sexual assault on the bodies of his victims.
Scary Teeth: The killer mutilates his victims' corpses using a set of dentures he fashioned out of wolverine teeth. Buzz and Mal get to see this in person during the climactic shootout.
Serial Killer: Is one of gay men in Los Angeles, murdering them and mutilating their bodies.
You Are What You Hate: His victims are all gay men but he is a bisexual man himself.

Communists

Claire de Haven

A beautiful upper-class woman who is a major leading figure among the Hollywood Left.

Broken Pedestal: Claire Katherine De Haven is a figure on the Hollywood social circuit and is a communist sympathizer in order to help people in need. She also enabled a known rapist and murderer get away with his crimes as well as protected Reynolds Loftis despite the fact he had sex with his own son. This ruins the opinion of Mal Considine, who carried a torch for her.
Femme Fatale: Is a key factor in driving Danny Upshaw to his death. Arranging a movie screening of her having sex with a man to gauge his sexual interest in both, letting him know she knows that he's a gay man.
Hypocrite: Claire de Haven preaches communist rhetoric and working-class values but is a rich Uptown Girl who uses her connections to get herself as well as her friends out of trouble with the authorities.
Karma Houdini: Claire gets away with everything in The Big Nowhere, except maybe a guilty conscience.
Jerkass Has a Point: A lot of her complaints about the Hollywood system and police in Los Angeles are 100% accurate.
Love Makes You Evil: Protecting Reynolds Loftis is something that enables the Wolverine killings to go on far longer than they should.
Moral Myopia: Whenever the police or government does something wrong, it's evil and vile. Whenever a communist party member does something wrong, they have to be protected.
Smug Snake: Claire believes she's beyond reproach and can win in the public eye despite the fact the papers as well as system are all stacked against us.
Women Are More Innocent: Invoked by Claire as being a beautiful woman able to fake cry on demand helped protect her from the HUAC.
You Are What You Hate: Claire is a rich woman who abuses her connections to protect her friends from the consequences of their actions. She's also a communist.

Civilians

The Spragues

Madeline Sprague

The rebellious and spoiled daughter of a wealthy LA business magnate.

Adaptational Name Change: Her name is changed from Sprague to Linscott.
Cloud Cuckoolander: Madeline shares deeply personal information at the drop of a hat, tells horrific stories about her family during bed, and seems fascinated by her resemblance to Elizabeth Short.
Girl on Girl Is Hot: Attempts to invoke this with Bleichert by saying she had sex with Elizabeth Short once. Subverted in that it makes him deeply uncomfortable, though whether it's because of the same sex nature of her liaison or the fact Elizabeth was horribly murdered or both is unclear.
Identical Stranger: Madeline and Elizabeth Short apparently resemble one another strong enough for everyone to notice it with any connection to the case.
Spoiled Brat: Emmett gives her pretty much everything she could ever want, and she still slums it with the poor of Los Angeles for fun, as well as having engaged in an affair with Elizabeth Short.
Rebellious Princess: She's wealthy and the daughter of a powerful conservative businessman, but she prefers to spend her time slumming it in the poorer parts of Los Angeles.

Emmett Sprague

A wealthy and influential Scottish businessman.

Affably Evil: He's friendly and jovial, but he's sleazy as hell and a Nazi sympathizer to boot.
Bad People Abuse Animals: After his pet dog brought him a newspaper reporting on the deal that made him rich, Emmett shot the dog so he could have it stuffed to "commemorate the moment".
Corrupt Corporate Executive: He got his money from working with Mickey Cohen, and all of the apartments he built are shoddily constructed tenements; fifteen of them collapsed during an earthquake and killed everyone inside, which he quickly covered up.
Dad the Veteran: He fought in World War I.
Fiction 500: Is one of the richest men in Los Angeles due to taking advantage of the construction boom and using shoddy practices.
Hate Sink: Everything about Emmett is repulsive and the fact he likes Breichert is meant to make the reader uncomfortable.
Politically Incorrect Villain: He's an avowed Nazi sympathizer who openly regrets that the US fought against the Germans in World War II.
Racist Grandpa: He is Madeline's father rather than grandfather but a Nazi sympathizer who embarrasses her with his views.

Ramona Sprague

Madeleine's drug-addicted and resentful mother.

Ax-Crazy: Is the actual murderer of Elizabeth Short.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Her motivation for the Black Dahlia murder was jealousy that Georgie was sleeping with her and her resemblance to their daughter.
The Dog Was the Mastermind: Ramona Sprague has no apparent connection to Elizabeth Short or motive to want to kill her in such a horrific way. Bleichert is completely confused at the evidence leading to her until she explains she was driven mad with jealousy over Georgie's affair.
Jerkass: She angrily curses Madeleine out for dating a "common policeman" like Bucky and is in general a stuck-up prude.
Rich Bitch: Ramona believes her own husband is beneath her and despises the working class. Her story at the table also makes fun of Bleichert's home neighborhood.
Secretly Dying: Is already seriously ill from Lupus at the start of the novel.

Martha Sprague

Madeleine's artistic sister.

Cloudcuckoolander: She spends the entirety of Bucky's dinner with the Spragues sketching a drawing of him and Madeleine having (very graphic) sex.
Spanner in the Works: Bleichert never would have been put on any of the Sprague family, or even met them, without her sending clues to the police.

Dieterling Family

Raymond Dieterling

A famous owner of an animation studio and Preston Exley's business partner.

Mr. Alt Disney: He's clearly inspired by Walt Disney, being the creator of an animation studio famous for its characters such as Moochie Mouse and Danny Duck.

Billy Dieterling

Raymond's son and a closeted gay man.

Others

Kay Lake

A mysterious former criminal and Lee Blanchard's girlfriend. Becomes a protagonist in Perfidia.

Ascended Extra: Becomes a protagonist in Perfidia and helps the LAPD against communists.
Dark and Troubled Past: Bobby De Witt subjected her to brutal physical abuse and forced her into prostitution, which motivated Lee to frame him for the bank robbery.
Guy on Guy Is Hot: Kay says of the boxing match, "I hope both of you look good with your shirts off".
Femme Fatale: She's a beautiful woman with a checkered and mysterious past, though she's given much more depth than the typical Femme Fatale, and it's clear form the get-go she cares about Lee and Bleichert.
Female Gaze: Kay Lake suggests this is why she enjoys watching the boxing match between Bleichert and Blanchard. Both of the men getting sweaty without their shirts.
Modesty Towel: Removes one of these in her and Blanchard's apartment to seduce Bleichert. It doesn't work, in part, due to Bleichert being in no mood due to having just killed two people.
Ms. Fanservice: Much attention is paid to how describing beautiful Kay Lake is and how good she looks naked, particularly when she's trying to seduce Bleichert.
Mysterious Past: Her past with Bobby DeWitt is shrouded in mystery and false information, and Bleichert is actively curious about it.
Sexless Marriage: Kay Lake claims she and Blanchard don't have sex despite living together as a couple.

Lorna Maltikova

Lorna Maltikova/Linda Martin

An aspiring actress and one of Elizabeth's friends, who starred in a lesbian porn film with her.

Abusive Parents: Heavily implied to come from a family of these as the thought of returning terrifies her.
Break the Haughty: When she's brought in for questioning, she's initially arrogant and confrontational. Within a matter of minutes, she's brought to the point of tears and pathetically begs Millard, Bleichert, and Sears not to send her back to her parents.
Dark and Troubled Past: It's implied she ran away from home to get away from her abusive parents.
With Friends Like These...: Her immediate response to Elizabeth's death is to obtain a copy of the porno they started in together to sell it for as much money as possible.

Elizabeth Short

An aspiring actress and the infamous "Black Dahlia" murder victim.

Consummate Liar: Pretty much everyone who knew her notes that Elizabeth constantly told outrageous lies, most often claiming that she was married to or in a relationship with a war hero.
Cruel and Unusual Death: A Glasgow Grin was carved into her face. Elizabeth Short was also tortured for two days before she was disemboweled and cut in half. Sadly, it was Truth in Television.
Ethical Slut: Elizabeth casually dated numerous men but despite the period's Deliberate Values Dissonance treating it as heinous, seems to have done nothing wrong or even noteworthy to a modern reader.
Freudian Excuse: Her compulsive lying and egotism appears to be a coping mechanism from having abusive and neglectful parents who flat-out admit they don't care that she's dead.
Historical Domain Character: She was entirely real, though James Ellroy fictionalized the investigation into her death to give her more closure than she got in real life.
Little Black Dress: Elizabeth has gained her reputation as the Black Dahlia because she always wore black outfits as a way to attract the attention of directors.
Posthumous Character: Elizabeth Short dies before the protagonists (or reader) ever meets her.
Small Name, Big Ego: As multiple people point out, she simply assumed she was the next big talent without putting any real work into her acting skills simply because she dressed in all black.
Undignified Death: The killer proceeded to pose her in a suggestive manner and left her body in the middle of a vacant lot.

Georgie Tilden

Emmett Sprague's best friend and partner, who began living as an itinerant handyman after being disfigured in a car wreck.

Asshole Victim: Emmett disfigured him with a knife and framed him for the Black Dahlia murder, but Tilden is a necrophiliac psycho who was complicit in the murder, so it's hard to feel bad for him.
Ax-Crazy: He has a perverse obsession with dead bodies and frequently digs them up and collects their body parts. When Bleichert enters his home, Tilden immediately tries to murder him with a scalpel.
Sanity Slippage: Tilden was never all there to begin with, but being disfigured seems to have driven him completely off the bend.

Vasquez

Captain Vasquez

A Rurale in charge of the law enforcement in Tijuana.

Dirty Cop: He is believed to have killed Lee Blanchard and nearly kills Bleichert as well, though Bleichert is able to save himself.
Karma Houdini: He gets off scot-free for nearly killing Bleichert.
Pragmatic Villainy: Has no interest in arrousing the attention of the FBI just to kill Bleichert.

Joseph Dulange

Corporal Joseph Dulange

A soldier who claims to have murdered Elizabeth Short.

False Confession: He is one of the many men who confess to murdering the Black Dahlia but did not.
Jerkass: While he clearly didn't kill Short, he's still a creep with some very misogynistic views on women.

Preston Exley

Ed Exley's father. Preston is a former LAPD officer famous for capturing the Dr. Frankenstein killer, who capitalized on his fame and used it to become a construction magnate.

Affably Evil: Preston is a friendly, cultured man who is quite polite and well-mannered. As Ed learns, he's also corrupt and got his position through moral compromises.
Death by Adaptation: He's a Posthumous Character in the film, having been merged with his late son Thomas Exley.
Opportunistic Bastard: He taught Ed to be as opportunistic as he was so he could succeed, and always encourages his son's ruthless careerism. Preston himself is just as ruthless as Ed, but has the charm to back it up.
Outliving One's Offspring: His son Thomas was killed prior to the novel. Ed is well-aware Thomas was his father's favorite, fueling his desire to impress the man.
Parents as People: He's a loving father to Ed, but it's clear to Ed that his late brother Thomas was his favorite and that Preston isn't satisfied with how stoic and uncharismatic Ed is.

Inez

Inez Soto

Portrayed By: Marisol Padilla Sánchez

A student who is kidnapped and raped by the main suspects of the Nite Owl killings. Exley's attempts to verify their role in the massacre conflict with her want for vengeance.

Demoted to Extra: Is one of the most important characters in the book but is in only a couple of scenes.
Framing the Guilty Party: In the movie, knows that the police won't care about a young Mexican girl being raped, but will stop at nothing to kill the criminals if they think they killed six white people. So she goes along with the frame job to get justice. In the book, she does so to make Exley feel better. Later, she throws it back in his face.
Lying to Protect Your Feelings: In the book, she tells him her rapists were involved in the Nite Owl murders.
Maligned Mixed Marriage: Ed Exley has a long affair with Inez Soto, who he meets during an investigation. He never marries her, because it's the 1950s, and marrying a Mexican woman would hurt his police career.
Manipulative Bitch: Book only. However justified, she proceeds to play on Exley and Bud's feelings both to make herself feel better as well as lies about a murder investigation.
The Mistress: Exley makes her this in the book and it feeds into her resentment of him as a lover.
Ungrateful Bitch: Exley believes this of her given he's provided her a home and job as well as position. Inez believes this means he considers her just a whore.
Sympathetic Adulterer: Averted. While the book Inez has many reasons to resent Exley's treatment of her, she deliberately seeks out Bud White (the man Exley hates MOST) to have her affair as well as continues it for four years.

Timmy Valburn

An actor who voices Moochie Mouse and Billy Dieterling's boyfriend.

Ambiguously Evil: It's left unclear at first if he's involved in something sinister, or if Timmy opposes Jack's investigation simply because he doesn't want his sexuality to be exposed.
Jerkass Has a Point: Jack treats him as unreasonable for opposing his investigation, but Timmy's primary grievance is that he simply doesn't want his sexuality to be exposed.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He threatens to use his connections in Hollywood against Jack to stop him from exposing his sexuality.

Bobby Inge

A gay prostitute who distributes porn for Pierce Patchett.

Combat Pragmatist: When Jack tries to arrest him, Bobby escapes by throwing vodka in his face and running while Jack's distracted.
Small Role, Big Impact: He rarely appears onscreen, but Jack's pursuit of him causes him to start investigating with the villains' conspiracy.]]

Karen Morrow

Jack's idealistic girlfriend and later wife.

Break the Cutie: Karen starts off as idealistic and perky, but after marrying Jack she quickly becomes disillusioned with him and his self-destructive personality.
Broken Pedestal: She idolizes Jack at first, but comes to gradually hate him after seeing the darker sides of his personality. However, when he confesses his crimes to her, she appreciates his honesty and decides to try and save their marriage.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: She starts off as this, admiring Jack for stopping her from trying marijuana and viewing him as a hero. She becomes increasingly cynical over time.

Characters / The L.A. Quartet

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LAPD

Officer Dwight W. "Bucky" Bleichert

Sergeant Leland C. "Lee" Blanchard

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Considine

Det. Sgt. John "Trashcan Jack" Vincennes

Sergeant Bill Koenig

Lieutenant Russ Millard

Sergeant Harry Sears

Dudley Smith

Captain Jack Tierney

Sergeant Friedrich "Fritz" Vogel

Officer John Vogel

Ray Pinker

Chief William H. Parker

Detective Mike Breuning

Detective Richard Carlisle

Deputy Chief Thad Green

Lieutenant Arthur "Art" De Spain

LA County Police

Deputy Danny Upshaw

District Attorney's Office

Ellis Loew

Criminals

Cohen Crime Syndicate

Mickey Cohen

Turner "Buzz" Meeks

Others

Charles Issler

Raymond Douglas "Junior" Nash

Sally Stinson

Robert "Bobby" De Witt

Communists

Civilians

The Spragues

Madeline Sprague

Emmett Sprague

Ramona Sprague

Martha Sprague

Dieterling Family

Raymond Dieterling

Billy Dieterling

Others

Kay Lake

Lorna Maltikova/Linda Martin

Elizabeth Short

Georgie Tilden

Captain Vasquez

Corporal Joseph Dulange

Preston Exley

Inez Soto

Timmy Valburn

Bobby Inge

Karen Morrow

Alternative Title(s): The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere

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