Characters / Troy

Characters in Troy.

The Greeks:

Achilles

Achilles

Portrayed by: Brad Pitt

One of the greatest warriors to have ever lived, may possibly be a demigod, descended from the sea goddess Thetis. He fights for no one but himself, and only takes part in the Trojan War to earn his place in history.

• Achilles in His Tent: Spends most of the war sulking in his tent and refusing to fight after Agamemnon dishonours him by taking Briseis.
  "We stay until Agamemnon groans to have Achilles back!"
• Adaptational Sexuality: Well, depending on which version you go by. Him and Patroclus are lovers in post-Homeric literature, but they were kinsmen beforehand. They're said to be cousins here.
• Age Lift: He was younger than Patroclus in a lot of sources, but is portrayed as an older mentor here.
• Animal Motifs: His motif is the lion.
• Anti-Hero: He's very anti-authority and a bit of a jerkass, killing Hector for petty reasons.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saves Briseis from being raped and/or killed by her Greek captors.
• Broken Ace: The greatest warrior in the land, and has nightmares about all his victims waiting for him at the River Styx.
• Confusion Fu: Of all the natural gifts of combat Achilles has, his greatest strength seems to be just how unorthodox his style of combat is, moving and attacking in unusual ways that allow him to claim openings others could not. His fight with Hector helps underscore this, comparing Hector's experienced, orthodox fighting style with Achilles' flowing, dynamic style which included things like stabbing with a spear from behind his own head.
• Deadpan Snarker: From his first scene, where he responds to a child saying he's heard he can't be killed with "wouldn't be bothering with the shield then would I?"
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite seeming like a Jerkass at first, he treats Briseis decently, refuses to kill Hector on the first day of the war, and wants to protect Patroclus from conflict.
• Famed In-Story: Achilles is the most prominent example, as his name is feared across the Aegean. Funnily, King Triopas in the beginning of the story doesn't fear Achilles much.
• A Father to His Men: He treats his soldiers decently, and they have great respect for him.
• Glory Seeker: His main motivation for fighting alongside Agamemnon's forces is the glory that comes with being part of such a conflict.
• Hidden Depths: He surprises Briseis with his when he speaks eloquently about how the Gods envy them because they are mortal.
• Hot-Blooded: Especially when Patroclus is killed. He attacks both Eudoras and Briseis, two characters he cared for.
• Ladykiller in Love: Downplayed. He's introduced having had a threesome with two unnamed women, and he genuinely falls in love with Briseis.
• Mr. Fanservice: His sculpted physique is often shown in many scenes, and even in clothes, his biceps or legs are still on display.
• One-Man Army: Quoth Agamemnon: "He's going to take the beach of Troy with fifty men?"
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He was ready to leave Troy after one spat too far with Agamemnon. Patroclus' death changes things.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: In one scene, he tells Briseis that he has dreams of all the men he's killed waiting for him in the Underworld.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After Hector's death, he has a Heel Realization and shows respect to Priam, not only returning Hector's body to him but declaring that no Greek will attack Troy for twelve days in respect for the funeral customs, also giving Briseis back to him and telling him "you're a better king than the one leading this army". He also enters Troy to not sack it but make sure Briseis isn't hurt in the carnage.

King Agamemnon of Mycenae

King Agamemnon

Portrayed by: Brian Cox

An evil and power hungry tyrant who has been trying to conquer all of Greece, and now commands most of it. He uses Helen's elopement with Paris as an excuse to declare war on Troy and claim it for himself.

• Adaptational Villainy: Agamemnon wasn't exactly a Nice Guy in the poems, but he only sacked Troy to avenge his brother's humiliation, and had no interest in power. Here, he's a tyrant who even exploits Menelaus's death as a chance to continue the war.
• Adaptational Wimp: His mythological counterpart was a One-Man Army whose abilities even Achilles had a grudging respect for. Here, he's an armchair general who doesn't fight his own battles, and gets killed by Briseis of all people.
• Benevolent Boss: Agamemnon to his highest vassal lords. He accepts their homage gracefully and addresses them like treasured friends, promising them glory come the victory. Giving Briseis to his demoralised men is also a rather twisted application of the trope. Achilles seems to be the king's one exception, as the two have incompatible philosophies and openly despise one another.
• Bullying a Dragon: It never occurs to him to not antagonise the man who has brought him many victories and provides great morale for all his men.
• Death by Woman Scorned: He's killed by Briseis, whom he had mistreated multiple times in the film, and was implied to be about to rape her before she stabs him.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Rather than getting to sail home, where he's stabbed by his wife, he is killed by Briseis during the fall of Troy. He doesn't even appear to have a wife in the film.
• Dirty Coward: His only major kill in the movie is stabbing a distracted Priam in the back.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He seems to care a lot about his brother.
• Evil Counterpart: To both Hector and Achilles; the former by being the villainous older brother and leader, and the latter by having a massive ego, desiring Briseis and being sent into a blind rage by the death of a kinsman.
• Evil Is Petty: Rather than conquering Troy and establishing a new government to keep it in his control, he has the entire city burned because of Menelaus's death.
• Evil Overlord: He's only interested in conquering all of Greece, and then wants to rule Troy as well.
• Fatal Flaw: Greed and pride, both of which lead to him continuing the war, and bring about his downfall.
• General Failure: He's painfully incompetent at actually leading the army, and wouldn't have even taken the beach if it hadn't been for Achilles and Ajax.
• Hate Sink: In a story full of Gray-and-Gray Morality, he's an utterly loathsome villain with little to no redeeming qualities.
• Large Ham: He's fond of loud speeches and booming his voice as much as possible.
• Leave No Survivors: He orders and encourages the Greeks to Rape, Pillage, and Burn the city of Troy and to "spare no one" in the Director's Cut.
• Straw Misogynist: He treats Briseis as though she were an object, jokes about raping her in front of Achilles, and threatens to do it while Troy is falling.
• Villanous Breakdown: Becomes increasingly unhinged and manic after his brother's death.

Queen Helen of Sparta

Queen Helen, later Princess Helen of Troy

Portrayed by: Diane Kruger

The famed beauty of Sparta, and Menelaus's unhappy wife. She falls in love with Prince Paris and decides to elope with him back to Troy, knowing that war is likely to ensue.

• Adaptational Backstory Change: She was royalty already in mythology, and possibly a daughter of Zeus too, and she had multiple suitors campaigning for her hand. Here, Menelaus was the royalty, and she was sold into marriage with him.
• Adaptational Sympathy: Helen is usually portrayed as anything from a Cosmic Plaything to an outright Gold Digger. This is one of the most sympathetic Helens, portraying her as a depressed trophy wife who is fully aware of everything her actions have caused, and she carries the guilt.
• Age Lift: The film says she was 16 when she was married to Menelaus, and in mythology she was 14.
• The Atoner: After the first day of the war, she all but states she doesn't care if Menelaus kills her or makes her his slave, because it's preferable to the guilt she feels for starting it.
• The Beautiful Elite: The Queen of Sparta, and one of the most beautiful women in the film.
• Death Seeker: Downplayed. She says she considered suicide while married to Menelaus, and she is ready to give herself over to the Greeks out of guilt for the dead soldiers, knowing that it'll result in her death.
• Decoy Protagonist: While she's the impetus for starting the war, she is not actually the protagonist of the story.
• Diamonds in the Buff: Paris presents her with a pearl necklace while she's fully nude.
• Fallen Princess: Sort of. She is queen at the start of the movie, and is demoted to merely being a princess in spirit, since she and Paris aren't officially married yet. This however is a significant upgrade for her.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's golden-haired and a very kind, sweet woman. Although an adulterer, she wants to give herself up after one day of war because of the guilt.
• Head-Turning Beauty: When Priam meets her, he says that "for once, the gossips were right" about her beauty.
• Honorary Aunt: She's seen nursing Hector's baby son during his funeral, while Andromache is mourning.
• It's All My Fault: She's destroyed by guilt after seeing the funerals for all the dead soldiers.
• Ms. Fanservice: She appears topless in the extended version and is dressed very flatteringly throughout the film.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Well she wasn't single in the sense that she was forced into her marriage with Menelaus, but she insists to Paris that she wants "someone I can grow old with" rather than a fighter.
• Sympathetic Adulterer: She was a trophy wife to a man twice her age, and "wanted to walk into the sea and drown" throughout their entire marriage.
• Unexplained Accent: In a movie where everyone is speaking in British RP, she has traces of Diane Kruger's German accent.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Helen is the same age as Paris, but feels much older than him, because she's been made weary and cynical by her marriage to Menelaus. She is however very practical and wise about relationships.

King Menelaus of Sparta

King Menelaus

Portrayed by: Brendan Gleeson

A boorish and bloodthirsty king who had been hoping for peace with Troy before Helen's elopement. Now he wants her back just so he can kill her himself.

• Adaptational Backstory Change: Helen was raised to be his trophy wife in the film, and married into the royal family. In mythology, Helen herself was royalty, and Menelaus was in fact one of the few suitors to not actively campaign for her hand; only winning it when everyone agreed to draw straws for her.
• Adaptational Ugliness: He's described as handsome in some sources, but portrayed as boorish and significantly older than Helen to prop up her falling for Paris without Aphrodite's intervention.
• Adaptational Villainy: He receives a much harsher portrayal, as a Blood Knight who made Helen wish she was dead while married to him. In the myths, he actually held no ill-will to Helen for her affair with Paris, and they were somewhat Happily Married.
• Age Lift: He's portrayed as at least late 40s here (Brendan Gleeson was 48). Some sources state him as 30 when the war broke out.
• Boisterous Bruiser: He's a Large Ham and a known warrior.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: He's clearly toying with Paris during their duel and ends the fight quickly once he gets serious. Then he receives one by Hector.
• Death by Adaptation: He survived the war in mythology and even sailed home to Sparta. Here, he's killed relatively early in the war.
• Evil Counterpart: He's portrayed as this to Paris, as both feud over Helen, both are the younger brother, and both had reputations as womanisers.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: It's said that he has grown tired of war and looks to make peace with Troy. But Helen's elopement extinguishes all of that and spurs him to go to war with Troy.
• Sacred Hospitality: It was his hospitality that was soiled and now he wants revenge.
  "What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality, eat his food, drink his wine, embrace him in friendship, and then steal his wife in the middle of the night?"
• Sacrificial Lion: He's the first major character to fall in battle, killed by Hector, showing that Anyone Can Die.
• Unexplained Accent: His brother is played by Brian Cox disguising his Scottish accent under British RP. Brendan Gleeson's natural Irish brogue seeps through more obviously.
• Worf Had the Flu: His defeat at Hector's hands is explained as him having previously grown tired of war, and therefore not being in as good shape as he previously was, and Hector being younger and fitter, as well as him being distracted trying to get Paris.

King Odysseus of Ithaca

King Odysseus

Portrayed by: Sean Bean

The playful and benevolent King of Ithaca, known as the only man Achilles will listen to. Also responsible for building the famed wooden horse that would bring about Troy's destruction.

• Deadpan Snarker: He says two snarky things about Menelaus to his brother hours after his death.
  "The men believe we came here for Menelaus's wife. Won't be needing her anymore."
• Genius Bruiser: Shown in full when he comes up with the Trojan Horse and in the Sack of Troy, he plows through even the Appollonian Guard.
• The Good King: He's king of Ithaca and portrayed as a jovial and benevolent sort.
• Hero of Another Story: He's a supporting character whose main function in the plot is to be a friend to Achilles before coming up with the wooden horse idea.
• King Incognito: In the director's cut, he's introduced pretending to be a shepherd to Agamemnon's envoys.
• Morality Pet: He's the only one Achilles listens to and treats as an equal.
• Narrator All Along: Revealed earlier than most examples, but he narrates the first scene and doesn't appear until nearly half an hour into the film.
• Only Sane Man: He's the most level-headed character on the Greek side, best exemplified by his callout to Agamemnon's complaints about Achilles's loyalty.
  "I don't care about his allegiance; I care about his ability to win battles."
• Punch-Clock Villain: He's a good man, but is subservient to Agamemnon to protect his kingdom.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He takes part in the war because his kingdom can't afford to have Agamemnon as an enemy.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's also in the Trojan Horse and when night falls, he signals the men inside to open the gates and get the rest of the Greek armies into Troy.
• Saved by Canon: Being the protagonist of the Odyssey means he's one of the characters not likely to suffer Death by Adaptation, as well as being the narrator. For added hilarity, he's played by an actor famous for dying in most of his roles.
• Troll: In the extended cut, he trolls Agamemnon's envoys by pretending to be a commoner bad mouthing himself and eventually quips that he hopes Agamemnon has smarter generals.
• Unexplained Accent: Everyone else speaks in RP, but of course he speaks with Sean Bean's distinctive Yorkshire accent.

Thetis

Thetis

Portrayed by: Julie Christie

Achilles's mother, hinted to be the very goddess of the sea herself. She offers him advice on which path to take.

• Angel Unaware: The boy who wakes Achilles at the start tells the audience that his mother is rumoured to be an immortal sea goddess. She was indeed a goddess in some traditions, and in others just a sea nymph. The movie doesn't say either way, although Achilles claims to have seen the gods.
• Hot God: The only (possible) god to appear in the movie, she's shown as very beautiful and elegant, as well as being played by 60s and 70s screen beauty Julie Christie.
• Mad Oracle: Downplayed. If she's not actually a goddess, she seems to think she knows what will happen to Achilles's future.
• Silver Fox: She's grey-haired and portrayed as very beautiful. Her actress was a famed fashion icon of The '60s after all.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She appears in only one scene, but she tells Achilles what will happen if he goes to Troy, and that's what convinces him to fight in the war.
• Tragic Keepsake: She gifts Achilles with seashell necklaces, which he then places on Patroclus's funeral pyre and gives Briseis as a parting gift.
• True Blue Femininity: She wears an elegant blue dress as befitting a possible goddess.
• Water Is Womanly: She gives her motherly advice to Achilles while standing in the sea, and the water helps give her a feminine presence.

The Trojans:

Hector

Prince Hector

Portrayed by: Eric Bana

The noble and kind-hearted prince of Troy, beloved and respected by all. His devotion to his country and protecting his brother however will be his downfall.

• Adaptational Badass: He actually kills Ajax in the movie, when he didn't in the myths.
• Adaptational Heroism: He's considerably better in the film than he is in the Iliad, where he desecrated Patroclus's corpse and told Paris he wished he'd never been born.
• Animal Motifs: He's associated with horses.
• Big Brother Instinct: He's very protective of Paris, even killing Menelaus for him.
• Composite Character: He's combined with Polydamas, who gave the advice in the mythology.
• A Father to His Men: Hector shows great care for his soldiers and laments that they have to die en masse for such petty reasons as Paris taking away Menelaus' wife.
• Foil: He's the good foil to Achilles, being more rational, tempered and heroic.
• Honour Before Reason: Despite his spoken disdain for "honour", he stops the battle after Patroclus is killed, and accepts Achilles' Duel to the Death.
• If I Do Not Return: Before he falls in battle to a vengeful Achilles, he shows his wife the escape tunnels beneath Troy.
• Ignored Expert:
  • Before Paris duels Menelaus, he advises Paris to "make him swing and miss" until the older man tires, instead of matching him blow-for-blow during the duel.
  • He advises his father to not attack the Greek encampment (having noticed Achilles' absence in the prior battle), fearing this would unite and embolden the demoralised Greeks. Indeed, this sets off a chain of events which would eventually lead to the Sack of Troy.
• Mr. Fanservice: Not as much as Achilles or Paris, but he's very well-built and gets two shirtless scenes.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: His Undying Loyalty to Troy is repeatedly emphasised. He'll defend his King and country to the last, before any personal feelings.
  "Children and fools fight for honour. I fight for my country."
• Nice Guy: Eric Bana even chose this role because he felt Hector seemed like "such a nice guy".
• Only Sane Man: He's the only one on the Trojan side who has any idea of what real tactics in such a war would be. Any time his fellow Trojans decide to do something stupid because of 'favorable omens', he seems to be fighting the urge to Face Palm.
• Prince Charming: Out of him and Paris, he's a good man and loving husband to Andromache, as well as being a doting father.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Troy's first prince, top commander and very best fighter. He comes closest to matching Achilles in single combat, when dozens of men had failed. He's also the only Trojan shown taking on the Myrmidons up close and winning.
• Technician Versus Performer: He's the technician to Achilles's performer in terms of fighting style - with a more orthodox technique.
• War Is Hell: Finds nothing glorious about seeing men dying in battle, and knows happens to the losers of a war.
• Warrior Prince: He's the heir to the throne and leads the men in battle up until his death.
• What Were You Thinking?: Chews out Paris for eloping with King Menelaus' wife after their nations had just made peace.
  "You Fool!! Do you realize what you've done?!"
• Worthy Opponent: He considers Achilles to be one, and intends to pay full respects to his body if he is victorious.

Prince Paris

Prince Paris

Portrayed by: Orlando Bloom

Hector's hedonistic younger brother, known for "bedding merchants' wives and temple maids", now recently having fallen in love with Helen of Sparta. He persuades her to return to Troy with him, kicking off the entire war.

• Adaptational Badass: He lands a hit on Menelaus and kills Achilles in a fairer way than the myths.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: His mythological counterpart was raised as a shepherd after his mother had a vision of giving birth to a ball of fire, which was attributed to him being an omen of doom, and was sent into the wild to be killed; the man sent to do so, Agelaus, couldn't bring himself to and raised him, with Paris not discovering he was a prince until the Judgment of Paris. None of this is in the film, where Paris is said to be a Royal Brat who beds "merchants' wives and temple maids". He also had a romance with a nymph that naturally is left out of this version.
• Adaptational Heroism: The film softens him considerably from a callous womanising Evil Prince to a more naive Ladykiller in Love.
• Adaptational Wealth: In mythology, he was raised as a shepherd and had no idea he was a prince. The film's version appears to be a Royal Brat.
• Adaptational Wimp: The film has him cowardly running from his duel with Menelaus when the latter starts winning. In mythology, he only survived the encounter because Aphrodite intervened and took him inside the city walls.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: To Hector initially, but mercifully matures throughout the film.
• Chekhov's Skill: He's shown to be a skilled archer early on, and he kills Achilles by shooting him with several arrows.
• Composite Character: Paris is the one who suggests burning the wooden horse, which was said by Laocoön in the myths.
• Ladykiller in Love: He's got a reputation for stealing other men's wives, but he's legitimately in love with Helen.
• Mr. Fanservice: He's the first of the men in the film to get a shirtless scene, and it's not his last.
• Pretty Boy: Played by a young Orlando Bloom at the height of his status as a teen heartthrob. Priam says "women have always loved Paris".
• Properly Paranoid: He is rightfully suspicious of the Greeks' "gift to the gods".
• Spared by the Adaptation: During the fall of Troy, Paris is traditionally killed in a duel with Philoctetes, but survives the film.
• Took a Level in Badass: Starts out as a naive idiot, who actually runs from his duel to the death with Menelaus, but becomes maturer and more competent as the film goes on.
• Warrior Prince: Not at first, but he becomes a competent fighter by the end, even being the one to kill Achilles.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: He starts out quite idealistic, believing his love for Helen can conquer anything, and even thinks a duel between him and Menelaus will end the war.

Briseis

Briseis

Portrayed by: Rose Byrne

The beautiful and pious cousin to Hector and Paris. She has decided to become a priestess to Apollo, but is captured by the Greeks on the first day of the war, and made Achilles's slave.

• Action Survivor: While not a full blown Action Girl, she does come close to killing Achilles in his sleep, and stabs Agamemnon to death. She also punches one of the Greeks who tries to rape her.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: The Byzantine poet John Tzetzes describes her as having curly black hair, and Dares the Phrygian said she was blonde. She has light brown hair in this film.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Inverted. She falls for Achilles when he shows that he's more than "a dumb brute".
• Badass Pacifist: She stands up to the two men from the enemy side that are holding her prisoner, who are literally fighting over who gets to keep her as a slave, and declares that she doesn't want anyone dying for her.
• Beautiful Slave Girl: Technically she becomes Achilles's slave when she is given to him, but of course he views her as his lover.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: She warms up to Achilles because he started treating her well.
• Break the Cutie: A happy virgin priestess at the beginning, she's captured by the Greeks and made Achilles's prisoner. She nearly gets gang raped and even if she and Achilles do become lovers, he man handles her at one point, and she then loses her cousin to his hand. And after making it home, her city falls around her, and she's nearly raped by Agamemnon. Finally, Achilles is killed in front of her, killed by her own cousin.
• Chastity Dagger: She carries a dagger in her possession after returning to Troy and uses it to stab Agamemnon. No doubt spending time among the soldiers and nearly getting gang raped motivated this.
• Composite Character: She has some elements of Chryseis (the priestess of Apollo), Cassandra (being a younger female relation to Paris and Hector), and Clymtenestra (she stabs Agamemnon).
• Head-Turning Beauty: On seeing her after returning to Troy, her own cousin gushes that her beauty "grows with each new moon", and Priam jokes that her choosing to become a priestess to Apollo disappointed many of the city's men. The Iliad describes her as a great beauty too.
• Related in the Adaptation: She's a cousin of Paris and Hector in this film, when she wasn't related to them in mythology.
• Royal Brat: Achilles can tell she's royalty from the way she snaps at him, noting that she's used to giving men orders.
• Silk Hiding Steel: While seeming like The Ingenue, she actually snaps at both Agamemnon and Achilles, both of whom are her enemy captors, and tells them to stop fighting over her. She also stabs Agamemnon when he tries to rape her.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: She and Achilles start (consensually!) making out while she's physically holding a knife to his throat. Subverted however when Achilles choking her in a rage after Patroclus's death signals the end of their romance.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Her and Achilles are on opposite sides of the Trojan War and, although they do fall in love, Achilles ends up killing her cousin for revenge. Knowing he's not good for her, he gives her back to Priam so she can return to Troy. He only goes into Troy during the fall to make sure she's protected, and dies because he's comforting her (Paris mistakenly thinks he's attacking her).
• Token Religious Teammate: She's a priestess to Apollo, chews Achilles out for mocking the gods, and actually goes to a statue of Apollo to pray as Troy falls.
• Unkempt Beauty: She spends a good chunk of the film having to live in the Greek camp, with minimal bathing facilities, but still looks beautiful. Achilles even says that "you'll never be lovelier than you are now".
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Despite being captured from Apollo's temple, she still seems to have different outfits while Achilles's prisoner.
• Virgin in a White Dress: She's wearing white when the Greeks capture her. She noticeably stops wearing white after she's lost her virginity to Achilles.
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: She sasses Achilles from the beginning. This is justified however, since she's a prisoner, and Achilles made it clear he wouldn't harm her.

King Priam of Troy

King Priam

Portrayed by: Peter O'Toole

The wise and benevolent king of Troy, famed as a great warrior in his time, but now places his faith more in the gods than perhaps more practical solutions.

• Adaptational Intelligence: As noted below, he doesn't need Hermes to guide him to Achilles's tent in the film.
• Break Them by Talking: Talks down Achilles from his rage and makes him feel the weight of all the men he's killed.
  Achilles: [Hector] killed my cousin.
  Priam: He thought it was you. How many cousins have you killed? How many sons and fathers and brothers and husbands? How many, brave Achilles? I knew your father, he died before his time. But he was lucky not to live long enough to see his son fall.
• Composite Character: In the Iliad, he finds Achilles's tent because Hermes guides him. Here he says he knows his own country better than the Greeks.
• Fatal Flaw: Despite being wise, his flaw is putting too much faith in the gods and his priests.
• General Failure: Even though he is respected by Achilles for his nobility and goodness, Priam is painfully this kind of leader. He takes the opinion of his crazy old priest more seriously than that of his son Hector, who is a respected warrior and general in his own right, perhaps because he believes the gods are on Troy's side. This ends disastrously and Priam's choice (encouraged by said priest, no less) to let the Trojan Horse inside his city is what dooms it. Had he burned it as more sensible voices warned him, the Greeks would have likely given up and returned home.
• The Good King: He's a benevolent, grandfatherly man, who even earns Achilles's respect. Achilles tells him he's "a much better king than the one leading this army".
• Good Is Dumb: Following on from the above, the fact that he doesn't listen to his sons' advice and focus on priests' divinings is what results in the fall of Troy. The extended cut makes this a little better, where he explains that Hector came down with a near fatal fever as a child and he prayed to Apollo to spare him, and when Hector made a miraculous recovery, he swore to always put faith in the Gods.
• Papa Wolf: He admits that he would fight thousands of battles for Paris. Hector however retorts that, at his age, he wouldn't be the one fighting.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He sneaks into Achilles's tent to confront him about Hector's death, and later grabs a sword to try and defend Troy when it falls.
• So Proud of You: Loves Hector dearly and his last words to him are "No father ever had a better son".
• Watching Troy Burn: Literally. Priam walks out onto the balcony to see the city in flames, and is heartbroken.

Princess Andromache

Princess Andromache

Portrayed by: Saffron Burrows

Hector's devoted wife and mother to their son Astyanax. She fears losing her husband to battle, and desires for him to retire so they can raise their son in peace.

• Action Mom: She does the below with her baby in her arms.
• Action Survivor: She doesn't fight in battle herself, but she does lead the people to safety when Troy starts falling.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Described as blonde in most sources, she's brunette here.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: Inverted! Achilles was responsible for killing all her seven brothers in mythology, but that isn't mentioned here.
• Break the Cutie: A sweet, kind woman who loved Hector, and she has to watch her husband die and flee her home. At least the movie doesn't adapt what happens to her after Troy falls.
• Demoted to Extra: She appears mainly as Hector's wife, although she does get to be responsible for leading the people out of Troy during the fall. She gets a little more in the extended cut.
• Fallen Princess: By the end, her husband has died and she has to flee the city into the wild.
• The Lost Lenore: Hector becomes hers halfway through the story.
• My Girl Back Home: She was this for Hector, and he carved a wooden horse to give as a present to their son.
• Mythology Gag: When showing her the escape route, Hector alludes to the Greeks throwing the babies from the city walls and taking the women as slaves, "and that for you would be worse than dying", which is actually what happens to Andromache in the myths.
• Proper Lady: She's a poised, refined princess of Troy.
• Regal Ringlets: Her hair is curled, reflecting her status as a princess of Troy.
• Satellite Love Interest: While Briseis and Helen get more characterisation compared to their respective men, Andromache is more defined by her marriage to Hector.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Despite being very feminine, she's extremely strong willed, and leads the people to safety while Troy is falling apart.
• Stepford Smiler: While she seems positive at first, in the extended cut, she reveals that she lost seven brothers and Hector is her Living Emotional Crutch.
• Took a Level in Badass: Spends a lot of her screen time weeping or worrying, but when Troy begins to fall, she keeps her head and is responsible for getting the people to evacuate.
• True Blue Femininity: She's often clad in blue, as befitting a feminine Trojan princess.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She causes Achilles's death by telling Paris she doesn't know where Briseis is, and he goes into the city to look for her, giving him a clean shot at Achilles.