This a character sheet for the Jet Li sci-fi action film The One.
Yulaw
Played by Jet Li
"You call it murder. How could I murder myself, a hundred and twenty three times? I just took those wasted energies and put them into one container... me. It made me faster, smarter, stronger. What if that is our fate? To unite with our other selves. To be unified forever. To be one. I will be The One."
Gabriel Yulaw was once an officer of the Multiverse Authority (MVA). On a routine mission, he was forced to defend himself against an alternate version of himself. He soon discovered killing duplicates of himself in parallel universes made the surviving versions, including himeself, stronger and more powerful. Yulaw then began traveling across dozens of parallel universes killing 123 versions of himself in the process. Only a single alternate version stands between him and his goal to become The One.
- Alternate Self: The Evil Twin to Gabe Law.
- Ambition Is Evil: Basically lost all compassion on his way to trying to become a Physical God.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy
- Ax-Crazy: He's a power hungry madman and a very brutal fighter to boot.
- Badass Boast:
- Yulaw's speech at the end:
Yulaw: "I am Yulaw! I am nobody's bitch! You are mine. I don't need to know you. You only need to know me. I will be The One!"- Gives another one to Gabe's wife.
Yulaw: "Just so you know, I'm going to take that gun and kill you before you can pull the trigger. There's nothing you can do, except give it to me." - Big Bad: Irredeemably so.
- Deadpan Snarker: Despite being evil, Yulaw does have a sense of humor, albeit a dark one. Here a few good ones from the film:(To a cornered and confused Gabe) The good news is you're not crazy. The bad news is... (Shoots him)(While shuffling through the radio for good music, Yulaw finally lands on one with heavy metal. He starts to smile and bob his head a bit when Roedecker puts a gun to his temple) Just when I find something I like in this universe.(Roedecker yells at Yulaw to put his hands on the floor) The floor? This is a hospital. The floor is full of germs. Want me to get sick?(After being beaten, Roedecker tries taking down Yulaw with a super grenade, telling him he has two choices: surrender or die. Yulaw's response?) Third choice. (Runs up to him with super speed and snaps his neck, disarming the bomb at the same time.)
- Dodge the Bullet: What Yulaw loves doing when evading capture from authorities or when he just wants to show off.
- Drunk On Power: The first time Yulaw killed one of his alternate selves was actually in self defense. When he realized he had gotten superpowers from the incident, he went from being a protector of the multiverse to being its greatest threat. Yulaw tries to justify his actions as fulfilling humanity's destiny but he is clearly nothing more than a power-crazed murderer who cares nothing for how many dead bodies he has to go over in order to become invincible.
- Evil Doppelgänger: To Gabe.
- Evil Former Friend: He was once a friend of Roedecker.
- Eviler than Thou: He kills Lawless, a infamous criminal that the rest of the underworld hates. This establishes that Yulaw is a much greater threat, especially when he has access to MVA technology and has knowledge of the energy shared between his counterparts.
- Fallen Hero: He was once an agent of the MVA before going on his killing spree. Roedecker laments the man he's become, strongly implying he was once a good man not unlike Gabe Law.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's soft-spoken and polite when justifying his plan to kill his alternate selves and become "the one," but his speech also clarifies that he feels no guilt over his serial murders and barely considers his counterparts to be people. When Gabe is confused at seeing Yulaw's face, the latter tries to reassure the former by saying "the good news is you're not crazy" before shooting him. When Roedecker tries to apprehend him in a car, Yulaw makes small talk about the radio music and calls Roedecker his "buddy" before killing him.
- Genius Bruiser: Yulaw becomes mentally as well as physically stronger with each version of himself he kills.
- Godhood Seeker: Yulaw believes he will become a god if he kills all of his alternate selves.
- I Shall Taunt You: See Badass Boast above.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Nails Lawless in the head from an impossible angle with a bullet. This is implied to be the skills and energies of all the counterparts Yulaw has murdered.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Downplayed and justified. After killing almost all his alternate counterparts and getting away with each crime, he's beaten by his final counterpart and sent to the Hades Universe as imprisonment, but the authorities can't execute him. While he's pissed about his situation, he makes it clear he has no desire to give up on becoming the One and beats the shit out of all the other prisoners to establish dominance. Since he and Gabe are the only two remaining versions left, whatever universe the last version is in (or even the whole multiverse) could possibly be destroyed if either one of them dies before the other. It also might possibly render the last version an invincible being incapable of being stopped.
- Lack of Empathy: He sees his alternate selves as containers of "wasted energy" rather than individuals with their own lives. During his speech about how he isn't guilty of murdering his counterparts, he also neglects to mention all the cops he murdered in order to evade arrest.
- Made of Iron: Yulaw, as a result of killing all of his counterparts save for Gabe, can take nearly any punishment that is dished out to him. It takes Gabe beating him into submission to finally inflict some damage. Yulaw's goal in killing Gabe is to make himself truly invincible.
- Moral Myopia: He doesn't view killing other versions of himself as murder but rather taking "wasted energies" and placing them in a single stronger form. He even suggests that what he's doing may be the ultimate destiny of all humanity. This could actually explain his lack of compassion when dispatching those who get in his way. After all, according to him, he's actually doing them a favor.
- Multiversal Conqueror: He believes that by being "The One", he would become a literal god and then set off to conquer everything.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Yulaw is able to sense alternate versions of himself. In fact he's got enough of a hold on it to track his duplicates wherever they go.
- Seeking Ultimate Strength: Yulaw, has the objective of killing every single alternate version of himself in the Multiverse to gather all of the universal power spread throughout them into himself and become "the one". Nobody actually knows what the heck will actually happen if he succeeds, but the fear that it will cause severe damage to the Multiverse at the least is enough for the heroes to try to do anything to prevent it from happening.
- Serial Killer: He hunted and killed 123 of his alternate counterparts in order to monopolize their shared energy, and Gabe Law is his next target.
- The Sociopath: Yulaw only cares about Yulaw, period. Everyone else is either a pawn to be manipulated or an obstacle to be destroyed.
- Strong and Skilled: Before getting his powers, Yulaw was an MVA agent who had to kill another version of himself in self defense which implies he was fighting a foe just as formidable as himself before gaining his essence. He just gets even more BADASS.
- Superpower Lottery: Super-Strength, Super-Speed (which renders everything in Bullet Time), Wire Fu-type Flight, invulnerability and endurance, heightened intelligence and intuition, advanced martial arts skills as well as impeccable aim. All as a result of killing his other selves.
- Teleportation Sickness: Traveling through wormholes to alternate universes is a painful experience and notably the only time Yulaw is vulnerable to capture is after having just arrived through one.
- There Can Be Only One: "I will be The One!"
- The Unfettered: Yulaw's fighting style (Xing Yi Quan) is meant to reflect this trope: he's quite direct and doesn't care whom he hurts in his single-minded goal to become the One. This is also shown in Yulaw and Gabe's training montage to tell their difference by the way the utilize their respective fighting styles; Yulaw has a vast roof at his disposal, but uses only little of the space with Xing Yi Quan, while Gabe uses all the space he has in his much more compact room with Baguazhang.
- Victory Pose: Strikes a very smug version of this whenever he takes out one of his duplicates. Also implied to be him feeling/absorbing his energy boost during the Quickening.
- Villainous Breakdown: When Gabe starts to gain the upper hand in their final battle, Yulaw becomes noticeably more deranged and desperate in his attacks. Being sent to a prison world in the end does not help his mental state.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: His abilities and what he's done to achieve them have left him a very warped individual. He enjoys his more villainous actions a little too much.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Whenever he kills an Alternate Self, he can feel their energy making him more powerful.
Gabe Law
Played by Jet Li
"It was me. He wasn't trying to hit Ronnie. He was trying to hit me. Before I saw him, I felt him. I felt me."
Gabriel "Gabe" Law is a Happily Married LAPD police officer who, for reasons unknown to himself or his spouse, has been getting faster and stronger lately. Suddenly Gabe has a run in with a man who not only looks exactly like him but is also trying to kill him. Things go from bad to worse however given Gabe is blamed for Yulaw's crimes and his wife's life is now in danger.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: He is willing to accept the rest of his life in jail being seen as a wife and cop killing nutjob. Fully aware he could escape anytime. Thankfully, Funsch subverts this for him.
- Alternate Self: He's basically what Yulaw was before he started killing to become The One.
- Despair Event Horizon: After TK's death he no longer cares if he lives or dies, only that Yulaw is dead first. In fact even when he decides to bring Yulaw to justice instead, he doesn't even care about being sent back to be wrongfully convicted for all of Yulaw's crimes.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Gabe earns his after finally taking down Yulaw and being sent to an alternate universe where he's reunited with an alternate version of his wife and gets to live peacefully again.
- The Fettered: Whereas Yulaw is The Unfettered, Gabe is honorable, ultimately handing Yulaw over to the MVA instead of killing him to avenge his wife. This contrast is foreshadowed by their usage of their respective fighting styles during the training montage; Yulaw has a vast roof at his disposal, but uses only little of the space with Xing Yi Quan, while Gabe uses all the space he has in his much more compact room with Baguazhang.
- Flipping the Bird: When Gabe transcends from Unstoppable Rage to Tranquil Fury during the final confrontation with Yulaw, he shows (while smiling slightly) his right hand's fingers raised, with the middle one being bent forward.
- Good Counterpart: To Yulaw.
- Good Is Not Soft: Gabe's a nice guy, but can be stern and strict when he needs to be. After meeting Yulaw, his patience and tolerance starts to wear thin. Yulaw murdering his wife is when Gabe decides to come for his head.
- Happily Married: To TK.
- Heartbroken Badass: After his wife's death.
- Love at First Sight: His description of the first time he met TK.
- Made of Iron: Like Yulaw, Gabe slowly starts growing stronger over time, to the point that only Yulaw can hurt him now.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: He senses Yulaw before he's even seen him. It gives him enough warning to evade his gunfire during their first encounter.
- Nice Guy: Everyone loves him in his universe for embodying this trope, which is why they find it so strange when they think "Gabe" (Yulaw) has gone on a killing spree.
- Strong and Skilled: This version was already a cop in a SWAT team implied to have a superb resume before the killings of his alternate universe incarnations started empowering him.
- Superpower Lottery: Same as Yulaw, though he isn't as entirely aware of it.
- Teleportation Sickness: Much like everyone else, he's debilitated by traveling through wormholes.
- Tranquil Fury: After attempting to meet Yulaw head on fails, Gabe adopts a more controlled focused approach that plays to his own strengths rather than Yulaw's more aggressive direct approach.
- Unstoppable Rage: Subverted. Yulaw kills TK in front of him in order to specifically provoke this response and have Gabe come straight at him directly. In doing so he actually plays right into Yulaw's hands and is noticeably losing until he adopts a different strategy.
Lawless
Played by Jet Li
"You want that thumb?"
The convict, known only as "Lawless", is under heavy guard and being transported from prison to protect him from killers. Though he's clearly made many enemies both in and out of prison, little does anyone know that it's Yulaw who poses the biggest threat.
- Alternate Self: This version of Law appears to be a career criminal. With a nickname like "Lawless", it's safe to assume his rap sheet is probably staggering.
- Badass Boast: When one of the police transferring him goes to touch him, he simply asks if he'd like to keep his thumb. Prompting the officer to wisely rethink that course of action.
- Criminal Doppelgänger: To Gabe. Yulaw on the other hand is a worse criminal than him.
- Dead Man Walking: Not only is he's due to be executed for his crimes making him a more literal version of this trope but he's also surrounded by convicts wanting to kill him before the state gets a chance. Too bad for them, Yulaw beat them to it.
- Death Row: Where he's being moved to.
- Decoy Protagonist: Some promotional materials and trailers played up Lawless as a main character, suggesting his involvment in the battle for becoming the one. He is killed off very abruptly in the film's opening.
- Empowered Badass Normal: He was already a well-known criminal before Yulaw's rampage. An entire prison of inmates wants to even the score for all the people they knew that he's taken down. One convict screams murder at him for taking out his whole gang. It's implied his added strength and speed have given him an edge in crime. Though presumably like Gabe, he's unaware of just how far his abilities stretch.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's a convict who's even referred to as "Lawless" by MVA officials at Yulaw's trail and it's very likely it's on his birth certificate.
- Hated by All: The other criminals hate his guts.
- Killed Off for Real/We Hardly Knew Ye: Yulaw kills him with a single shot within the first 5 minutes or so.
- Moe Greene Special: How he dies. Courtesy of a surprise bullet from Yulaw.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Senses Yulaw's presence nearby. It doesn't save him though.
- Self-Restraint: Strongly implied he could quite easily escape given his abilities, especially once it's just a pair of handcuffs restraining him. Subverted in that he likely doesn't know he's holding himself back.
- Super-Strength: We get display of this early on when he kicks a jail door and dents it.
- Superpower Lottery: Technically applied as he's equally powerful as Gabe and Yulaw, but is probably completely oblivious to it.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Didn't see that one coming, huh Lawless?
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Whilst Lawless is being moved from his cell, he's under armed guard due to the Police knowing his life is under threat. They assume it is one of the dozens of criminals he managed to cross. Whilst they are very much gunning for him, little do they know the biggest threat to his life isn't even from this universe.
T.K. Law
Played by Carla Gugino
"Or maybe it's part of what's been happening to you. People get older Gabe, they don't get stronger. They don't get faster all of a sudden."
Gabe Law's loving wife and a veterinarian. She's the only one Gabe can bring himself to confide in regarding having nearly been killed by himself. TK's also been concerned about his increasing strength and speed over the past couple of years.
- Alternate Self: Massie Walsh's Good Counterpart as well as her "Happy Universe" version.
- Back from the Dead: Gabe is sent to an alternate universe with a version of TK that's still alive.
- Bluff the Impostor: "It wasn't a bookstore."
- Happily Married: She means the world to Gabe and vice-versa. Which makes what happens to her all the more tragic.
- Kindly Vet: Gabe mentions that this is how he first met her when he brought in an injured dog.
- Undying Loyalty: Even when faced with an insane story about an Evil Twin running around, her faith in her husband telling the truth never wavers. Though she's smart enough to have him get an MRI first. This also applies to Yulaw's version of TK who is quite happy to risk her own safety and freedom to break Yulaw out of jail.
Massie Walsh
Played by Carla Gugino
The Alpha universe version of T.K. and Yulaw's girlfriend who assists him in his escape from his sentencing. Despite being onscreen for only a few minutes, she has so much tropes stuffed into her.
- Alternate Self: TK's Evil Redhead counterpart and Yulaw's lover.
- All There in the Manual: Her name is only revealed in the credits.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Despite the explosion she sets off, she doesn't have so much as a scratch on her.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing/The Mole: She is among the few who get to witness Yulaw's trial, and the only one siding with and helping him.
- Cool Shades/Sunglasses at Night : Presumably to protect her eyes from the effects of the bomb she gets off.
- Dark Mistress: As Yulaw's consort.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She blows Yulaw a kiss as he flees to Gabe's universe.
- Evil Redhead: One assisting an evil man at any rate.
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her clothes flaunt her curves.
- Karma Houdini: Her involvement in Yulaw's escape is never discovered.
- Male Gaze: Oh boy. First we get an overhead view of her cleavage from a mirror on the wall. Then afoot to head view from front, twice in a row, and then head to ass from back, focusing on the latter part for sometime before going down to her legs.
- Oh, Crap!: She has this all over her face when her explosive mouse is discovered. Unfortunately they were a second too late.
- Purple Is Powerful
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Gives off a rather vampy vibe.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She's only onscreen for Yulaw's escape and is never seen again in the film, but her actions put the plot in motion. Ironically, one of Yulaw's victims is her alternate self.
- Stocking Filler
- Tricked-Out Shoes: One of her pumps contains a secret compartment (presumably to bypass security clearance) where she stored a mouse with a bomb implant to set off Yulaw's escape.
- The Voiceless: Doesn't utter a single word.
- Undying Loyalty: Risks herself to help Yulaw.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never shown what happened to her after her only scene.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Not her, mind you, but rather the bomb implanted mouse that she stored in her shoe.
Roedecker
Played by Delroy Lindo
"Funsch. You stick to procedure. It all works out."
MVA Agent Harry Roedecker. As part of a multiversal police force, whose purpose is to prevent crimes across dimensions, Roedecker and his partner are tasked with taking in Yulaw and stopping him from achieving his goal.
- Alternate Self: There's a version of him who works at a gas station in Gabe's universe.
- The Atoner: Subtle but his conversation with Yulaw reveals he once helped him when he began killing his duplicates across the multiverse. This would also explain his reluctance to break MVA protocol given he likely did so to help Yulaw in the past. However regardless of how long he aided Yulaw and the extent of that help, he regrets ever allowing him to kill a second victim.Roedecker: "I wish I'd never let there be a second."
- Badass Normal: Roedecker, a mere mortal, manages to go toe-to-toe with Yulaw for a just over a minute.
- Badass Longcoat: It's somewhat symbolic when Yulaw tears it in half after literally kicking Roedecker out of it.
- By-the-Book Cop: He has to constantly remind Funsch that they have to stick to procedure and do things according to MVA guidelines. There's good reason for this too given firstly the universe they are in do not know about the multiverse and thus there are a lot of civilians in danger. Secondly it's implied Roedecker abandoned protocol to help Yulaw in the past and we all know how badly that went. However this trait is subverted when things escalate and Roedecker decides that going off procedure is a necessary risk.
- Car Fu: Uses this to catch Yulaw off guard whilst he's distracted by Funsch.
- Combat Pragmatist: He uses pretty much every trick he can think of from fire extinguishers to car doors when fighting Yulaw.
- Evil Former Friend: Yulaw and Roedecker were once fellow agents and friends.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Roedecker attempts to appeal to the man Yulaw once was and accept he has to stop. Though its a futile gesture and he's seemingly resigned to that fact.Yulaw: "Why'd you come, Harry? You miss me?"Harry: "I miss who you were."
- Killed Off for Real: Yulaw kills off Roedecker by snapping his neck.
- Taking You with Me: Attempts this with Yulaw, but he's too fast and stops him pressing the bomb's trigger.
- Use Your Head: He does this on Yulaw in their fight. Unfortunately, he hurts himself more while Yulaw is barely affected by it.
Funsch
Played by Jason Statham
"Just give me the go ahead and he'll never make it to the hole."
MVA Agent Evan Funsch. Roedecker's partner brought in to help him capture Yulaw. Constantly frustrated by the MVA's strict guidelines and procedure.
- Badass Normal
- Cowboy Cop: In stark contrast to his partner Roedecker.
- Dark and Troubled Past: In a conversation between Roedecker and himself it's strongly implied Funsch grew up in a very rough place. He very likely came from a war-torn universe.Roedecker: "I know where you're from. I know what you've been through. But this place is different. Not everyone here is a combatant."
- According to the now-defunct official website, he's actually from the Beta Universe, recruited by MVA from LAPD. Based on Roedecker's words, we can assume that LA in the Beta Universe is really bad.
- Genre Savvy: Knows his partner has failed to stop Yulaw and doesn't kill Gabe despite getting the signal to do so.
- Precision Bullshit Strike: Delivers a great one at the end of the film:Funsch: That order is bullshit!
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Sends Gabe to another universe with a chance for happiness rather to a lifetime of jail in his own in thanks for his help.
- Trigger-Happy: Roedecker has to constantly tell his partner to show restraint. It takes his death to finally mellow Funsch out.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Quite rightly calls his boss out on wanting to send Gabe back to his own world despite helping subdue and capture Yulaw. Considering he could have easily killed him and his reward is now a lifetime of being seen as a murderer, he's perhaps too kind in his strong objections.
- Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him?: His attitude towards Yulaw. Of course once there's only two versions of Law left killing him brings about the same scenario the MVA are trying to prevent. Roedecker also points out they're not here to be his assassin but to bring him to justice for his crimes.
