Characters / The Most Wanted

The Most Wanted 1994 Characters:

Ho Chi Yung/Cat

Portrayed by: Sean Lau Ching Wan

• Anti-Hero: Cat isn't trying to be a hero. He's an undercover cop trying to stop Yip Foon's reign of terror in Hong Kong.
• Establishing Character Moment: Cat is first seen gambling his money away betting on horse races. Even though his recent bet wins, he couldn't collect on the money and had to leave borrowing money from others. This reveals how unreliable Cat is as well as the fact that even though he wins taking a huge risk, he ends up empty handed when everything is over.
• The Gambling Addict: Cat as well as Officer Cheung. They love betting on horse races.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Cat in spades. He has a crap ton of gambling debt that always gets Loan Shark Chiang to hunt him down. His situation gets worst after the botched robbery almost leaves him dead. He accidentally kills Sap, gets framed by the police, and then has to kill his girlfriend when the man he was tasked to bring to justice subjects her to be burned alive
• Mistaken for Thief: After failing to stop Yip Foon from escaping the recent robbery, Cat is thrown under the bus due to being shot by the cops during the robbery. His blood allows the police to frame him.
• Not What It Looks Like: When Cat accidentally kills Sap, he calls Officer Wong trying to defend himself. It gets worst after Sap's body is found.
• The Scapegoat: An unwilling type. Cat ends up in this situation when he is shot during the robbery and leaves his blood at the crime scene.
• Trapped by Gambling Debts: Cat became undercover to escape having to deal with Loan Shark Chiang, who he owes close to a million dollars.

Sap

Portrayed by: Bowie Lam Bo Yi

• Et Tu, Brute?: Sap has this realization When he got one of the other thieves killed by Yip Foon while Cat was the real traitor all along. He dies by Cat's hand after goading Cat to shoot him.
• The Dragon: Sap, Cat's friend from his time in jail, is this to Yip Foon. After Sap dies, Yip Foon hunts down Cat to kill him for betraying the gang.

Lily Ching

Portrayed by: Eileen Tung

• Broken Bird: She was sexually abused from the age of ten back in Mainland China. She immigrated to Hong Kong to escape that life.
• Damsel in Distress: She was the victim of a robbery outside of Cat's home that Cat rescued her from. In the Climax, Cat was unable to save her.
• A Friend in Need: Lily helps Cat before and after she learns that he's an undercover cop. This gets her killed by Yip Foon in the climax.
• Friendless Background: Lily is an Illegal Immigrant in Hong Kong. After fleeing from Mainland to escape her forced work as a prostitute, she had no friends before meeting Cat. Sadly, her relationship with him gets her arrested by the police and later killed by Yip Foon.
• Greater Need Than Mine: Lily goes out of her way to aid and protect Cat from the police, who threaten to deport her if she didn't help them find Cat and later Yip Foon, who shoots her, beats her, and then throws her into an active bonfire.
• Mark of Shame: Lily has a flower tattoo on her chest. It's not a cute tattoo. It's the mark of a prostitute. She only showed it to Cat to let him know that she is his friend and wanted him to trust in her.
• Mercy Kill: Cat gives her this after Yip Foon throws her into an active bonfire.

Supt Cheng Ming Fen

Portrayed by: Kent Cheng Jak Si

• Acrofatic: For a man his size, he runs fast enough to catch criminals. When he pursued Cat, he came close to catching him.
• Fat Idiot: Averted. He is very competent at his job.
• The Gambling Addict: Like Cat, he takes joy in betting on horse races.
• Stout Strength: When pursuing a pick pocket, the pick pocket made a mistake in jumping out of a walkway down to Cheng. Cheng proceeded to punch him right into a fence.
• You Are Fat: He is called Fatty.

Mak

Portrayed by: Mark Cheung Lui

Supt Wong

Portrayed by: Kam Hing Yin

Officer Li

Portrayed by: Joseph Lee Kwok Lun

Loanshark Chiang

Portrayed by: Lee Siu Kay

• Determinator: He and his men are forever hunting Cat down to get their money.
• Evil Debt Collector: Cat sees Chiang as this.
• Loan Shark: He pursues Cat every chance he gets because Cat owes him close to a million dollars.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Cat hints that is what Chiang would do to him if Cat didn't pay back his debt.

Yip Foon

Portrayed by: Robin Shou

• Big Bad: Yip Foon, as the movie states as the most wanted criminal.
• Evil Laugh: Yip Foon does this after throwing Lily into the bonfire in the climax.
• Fashion-Victim Villain: When Yip Foon is first revealed in the film, he's wearing a loud 90s stripe vest with loud colored pants. Being that he is the main villain in the film, he looks like he's wearing pajamas and he just woke up to talk to Sap. Not helping is the fact that his fashion sense was common in the 90s.
• King of Thieves: Yip Foon is this in the eyes of the police.
• Obviously Evil: Yip Foon guns down civilians, policemen, and his own men without remorse.
• '90s Hair: A carry over type and it's a decent mullet.
• Phantom Thief: Sap identifies Yip Foon as this because he keeps changing his appearances. That way, the police can't catch him.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's portrayed by Robin Shou, who is six feet tall, has dark hair with a slight tan, and is goodlooking. It goes up to 11 when he wears his bomber jacket in the robbery and climax.
• Villainous Breakdown: Yip Foon suffers from this twice when the he suspects that a mole is among his group of thieves due to the police almost catching them. The last one is when he goes to hunt down Cat after Cat accidentally kills Sap.
• Villains Want Mercy: Yip Foon breaks down and cries out that he'll turn himself in because Cat shot him with his own gun. Cat, having enough of Yip Foon's bullshit, decides to kill him via blowing up gas tanks around Yip Foon.
• Would Hit a Girl: Three scenes showcase this:
  • In an early part of the film, while Cat is at home contemplating about the debt he owes Chiang, he sees Yip Foon mugging Lily.
  • In the robbery, he kills some of the women working at the jewelry store he had his gang rob.
  • In the climax, Yip Foon shoots Lily, hits her with the butt of his AK47, chokes her, and then throws her into an active bonfire next to him. What makes him terrifying is the fact that he threw her into the fire just to watch her burn alive. He even mocks Cat by saying she has a pleasant burning smell. Cat, heartbroken that he can't save her lest Yip Foon kills him, kills her to spare her from burning alive.