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USS Missouri
Casey Ryback
Chief Petty Officer Casey Ryback
Played By: Steven Seagal
A former Navy SEAL demoted to a cook for striking a superior officer who winds up being the only crew member not to be captured by the terrorists.
- Action Hero: He's the protagonist in a "Die Hard" on an X scenario, so this is a given. Not to mention being played by Steven Seagal.
- Berserk Button: He'll put up with a lot with nothing more than a wry smile but do not ever mess up his cooking.
- Chef of Iron: He may have been demoted to a cook, but he's remembered his Navy SEAL training. He's as good at cutting throats as he is cutting onions.
- Combat Pragmatist: Casey doesn't fight fair, using any advantage he can think of and taking opponents out as quickly and brutally as possible.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has quite a few witty quips:Tate: Why do I have to carry all the bags?Ryback: Listen, I'll carry all the bags if you kill everyone we run into.
- Real Men Cook: After being demoted, he takes a job as a cook on the USS Missouri. In the sequel, he even owns his own restaurant. Ryback may well be the trope codifier.
- Real Men Wear Pink: A former Navy SEAL with multiple citations and extensive training in weapons and martial arts. He's also an excellent chef who takes pride in his cooking.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: After a disastrous mission, he was restricted to hold one of two ratings: Yeoman or Cook. The sequel implies that this might have been reversed before he left the Navy, since he's seen wearing Lieutenant's bars in the second film's ending.
Jordan Tate
Jordan Tate
Played By: Erika Eleniak
A Playmate hired as entertainment for the party who falls asleep and inadvertently evades capture.
- Action Girl: Ends up as Ryback's number two, becomes one by the end of the film, and even saves Ryback at one point.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She's very busty, as seen in the Male Gaze shots when she first boards the ship and in her iconic cake scene.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her most well-remembered scene in the film is the one where she pops out of a cake while topless. Downplayed as she gets into a non-revealing combat uniform very quickly and spends the rest of the movie in that.
- Plucky Comic Relief: She provides most of the laughs in the film. Well, all the laughs that Strannix and Krill don't provide, anyway.
- Satellite Love Interest: She ends up with Ryback at the end of the film, but their relationship isn't focused on much in the film.
- Took a Level in Badass: Becomes a full-fledged Action Girl over the course of the film.
Captain Adams
Captain JT Adams
Played By: Patrick O'Neal
The captain of the Missouri.
- Died on Their Birthday: He is murdered on his birthday by his traitorous XO, Krill, who used preparations for the Captain's party as cover to bring his terrorist allies on board.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's on good terms with Ryback, respects him, and has taken notice of Krill's misbehavior in his performance review.
- Sacrificial Lion: He is shot by Krill during the takeover.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He has a couple of scenes before Krill shoots him.
Ramirez
Tackman
Tackman
Played By: Damian Chapa
Granger
Granger
Played By: Troy Evans
Flicker
Flicker
Played By: David McKnight
Green
Commander Green
Played By: John Rottger
Nash
Private Nash
Played By: Tom Wood
A naive rookie who is forced to help Ryback during the fight to reclaim the Missouri.
Taylor
Ensign Taylor
Played By: Glenn Morshower
Harris
Commander Harris
Played By: Bernie Casey
Terrorists
William Strannix
William Strannix
Played By: Tommy Lee Jones
A CIA agent gone rogue who seized control of the Missouri.
- Ax-Crazy: Strannix is utterly insane, though he's definitely not in the same league as Krill, and at least tries to be professional for most of the film.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He's incredibly over the top and often seems to be on a totally different wave length to everyone else but that doesn't stop him from being a terrifyingly effective opponent.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a dry wit and a habit of making snarky remarks. Of course being played by Tommy Lee Jones, it would be weird if he wasn't this.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Courtesy of Tommy Lee Jones's naturally deep voice.
- Evil Is Hammy: He chews scenery like it's popcorn, and his rants have to be seen to be believed.
- Face–Heel Turn: He used to be a good guy until the pressure of his job and ungrateful superiors caused him to go crazy.
- Fallen Hero: Strannix was a heroic CIA agent who is implied to have stopped countless dangerous scenarios before the pressure and ungrateful superiors caused him to snap.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's pretty jovial and affable for a ruthless terrorist before his Villainous Breakdown.
- Genre Savvy: He expertly avoids grabbing onto the Villain Ball, and treats Ryback as a serious threat the second he discovers him.
- Large Ham: Tommy Lee Jones clearly has a blast playing him.
- Laughably Evil: Strannix's hamminess and quips make him utterly hilarious.
- Noodle Incident: He and Ryback know each other but it's never specified how, albeit heavily hinted that Strannix is the intelligence operative whose bad information got some of Ryback's compatriots killed and who he got busted down for punching.
- Rogue Agent: A CIA agent gone rogue and has since become a terrorist.
- Villainous Breakdown: He has a bad one that results in him trying to destroy Hawaii out of spite.
Commander Krill
Commander Peter Krill
Played By: Gary Busey
The unhinged XO of the Missouri, who has partnered up with Strannix to get revenge for his career being stalled by his mental instability.
- Ax-Crazy: He isn't exactly the most stable guy around. When reading his own personal file after killing Captain Adams, he's enraged to discover that he's being recommended for a psychological evaluation.
- Evil Is Hammy: It's Gary Busey, what did you expect?
- Evil Is Petty: Krill betrays the Missouri to Strannix because he was angry over his mental instability stalling his career.
- Jerkass: He's unlikeable even before the takeover and revelation that he's working for the terrorists, belittling Casey Ryback every chance he gets and even spitting into the soup Ryback is making when the latter makes a comment he dislikes.
- Karmic Death: He's killed by the guns of the ship he betrayed.
- Klingon Promotion: He invokes this after the death of Captain Adams upon discovering his own performance evaluation. For the remainder of the film, he wears Adams' eagles in place of his own silver Oak leaves.
- The Neidermeyer: In contrast to Captain Adams, he goes out of his way to be a complete asshole to the Missouri's crew and has a personal dislike towards Ryback, even before he's revealed to be The Mole. He later attempts to drown the ship's crew, justifying it by stating that they never liked him anyway.
- Large Ham: Again, it's Gary Busey. Did you expect any less?
- The Mole: He was this among the crew before the takeover.
- Villainous Crossdresser: He turns up at the Captain's party in drag. There's a reason for this, though: It serves to draw suspicion away from him as The Mole until it's too late.
Daumer
Daumer
Played By: Colm Meaney
Strannix's right-hand man.
- The Brute: He serves as the muscle for Strannix and Krill.
- Fighting Irish: He's one of the main villains and played by Colm Meaney, keeping his natural Dublin accent.
- In the Back: Jordan shoots Daumer from behind while he has Ryback at gunpoint.
Shadow
Shadow
Played By: Eddie Bo Smith
Another of Strannix's henchmen.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He is obviously perturbed by Strannix's Villainous Breakdown.
- Scary Black Man: He's a big, strong black man who works for the bad guys.
Pitt
Pitt
Played By: Richard Andrew Bones
Strannix's tech expert.
- Evil Genius: He's the one controlling the Missouri's weapons systems.
US Government
Admiral Bates
Admiral Bates
Played By: Andy Romano
A high ranking member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's the one who's responsible for coordinating the U.S. military's efforts against Strannix, and he's pretty good at his job. He also gives Ryback his utmost support throughout the film.
Nick Garza
