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*[[spoiler: KilledOffForReal: He is brutally beaten to death by Eli in a fit of rage.]]
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!! BRI Agent Warren Knox[[spoiler:/[=BoI=] Agent James Tolliver]]
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!! BRI BIR Agent Warren Knox[[spoiler:/[=BoI=] Agent James Tolliver]]
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* BiggerBad: In Season 4. As the newly appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation, he embarks on the institutionalization of extremely intrusive but effective investigative procedures along with highly selective hiring standards that enable BOI agents such as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jim Tolliver]] ]] with the resources to pose a far greater threat to Nucky Thompson than Van Alden ever did.
to:
* BiggerBad: In Season 4. As the newly appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation, he embarks on the institutionalization of extremely intrusive but effective investigative procedures along with highly selective hiring standards that enable thereby providing BOI agents such as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jim Tolliver]] ]] with the resources to pose a far greater threat to Nucky Thompson than Van Alden the Treasury Department ever did.
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* BiggerBad: In Season 4. As the newly appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation, he embarks on the institutionalization of intrusive but efficient investigative procedures as well as highly selective hiring standards thereby providing agents such as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jim Tolliver]] ]] with the resources to pose a far greater threat to Nucky Thompson than their counterparts in the corruption-ridden Treasury Department.
to:
* BiggerBad: In Season 4. As the newly appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation, he embarks on the institutionalization of extremely intrusive but efficient effective investigative procedures as well as along with highly selective hiring standards thereby providing that enable BOI agents such as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jim Tolliver]] ]] with the resources to pose a far greater threat to Nucky Thompson than their counterparts in the corruption-ridden Treasury Department.Van Alden ever did.
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* BiggerBad: In Season 4.
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* BiggerBad: In Season 4. As the newly appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation, he embarks on the institutionalization of intrusive but efficient investigative procedures as well as highly selective hiring standards thereby providing agents such as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jim Tolliver]] ]] with the resources to pose a far greater threat to Nucky Thompson than their counterparts in the corruption-ridden Treasury Department.
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->''"I think it’s time, considering the respect the position deserves, you begin referring to me as 'Director Hoover'."''
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->''"I think it’s time, considering the respect the position deserves, you begin referring to me as 'Director Hoover'.'Director' Hoover."''
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->''"I think it’s time, considering the respect the position deserves, you begin referring to me as 'Director' Hoover."''
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->''"I think it’s time, considering the respect the position deserves, you begin referring to me as 'Director' Hoover.'Director Hoover'."''
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[[quoteright:268:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_j-edgar-hoover_8390.png]]
[[caption-width-right:268:"You're proposing there is a nation-wide conspiracy?"]]
[[caption-width-right:268:"You're proposing there is a nation-wide conspiracy?"]]
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[[caption-width-right:268:"You're proposing there is a nation-wide conspiracy?"]]
->''"I think it’s time, considering the respect the position deserves, you begin referring to me as 'Director' Hoover."''
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* [[spoiler: BigBad: In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of the story arc's BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
to:
* [[spoiler: BigBad: In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of the story arc's BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest most direct threat to Nucky Thompson and ultimately succeeds in placing his associates.entire organization within J. Edgar Hoover's crosshairs by the end of the season.]]
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* CassandraTruth: He's (correctly) convinced that the major American crime bosses in New York, Atlantic City, Chicago, and Florida are all working together. However, his superiors don't believe him, no matter how much evidence he gathers.
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* [[spoiler: CassandraTruth: He's (correctly) convinced that the major American crime bosses in New York, Atlantic City, Chicago, and Florida are all working together. However, his superiors don't believe him, no matter how much evidence he gathers.]]
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* CassandraTruth: He's (correctly) convinced that the major American crime bosses in New York, Atlantic City, Chicago, and Florida are all working together. However, his superiors don't believe him, no matter how much evidence he gathers.
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* VillainousBreakdown[=/=]HeroicBSOD: After getting ignored one to many times by his superiors, and having an important sting operation go awry under his watch, Knox's sanity begins to quickly fray.
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* InspectorJavert: Is obsessed with bringing down Marcus Garvey since he believes the civil rights movement is a threat to America. As a result he largely ignores the issue of organized crime.
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[[quoteright:315:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boardwalk-empire-recap-season-4-episode-11-havre-de-grace-knox-tolliverpng-78a1f7243081d80c1_4247.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:315:[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]
[[caption-width-right:315:[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]
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[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boardwalk-empire-recap-season-4-episode-11-havre-de-grace-knox-tolliverpng-78a1f7243081d80c_3305.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]
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[[quoteright:260:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_warren-knox_98.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:260:[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]
[[caption-width-right:260:[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]
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*BadassBoast: "Hit me again, you'll regret it." Says this with a DeathGlare.
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* AffablyEvil: While he's corrupt and on the take, he's a rather likable guy and is presented much more sympathetically than Van Alden.
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* AffablyEvil: While he's corrupt and on the take, he's a rather likable guy and is presented depicted as being much more sympathetically sympathetic than Van Alden.
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-->'''Knox:''' "Do you think I'm crazy?"
-->'''Eli:'''"I don't know ''what'' you are..."
-->'''Eli:'''"I don't know ''what'' you are..."
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Changed line(s) 170 (click to see context) from:
* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler: While much of his strange behavior is [[later revealed to be an act ObfuscatingStupidity]], it is nonetheless apparent that there is something mentally wrong with him given his fanatical dedication to enforcing "justice" at all costs along with the sadistic manner in which he carries it out.]]
to:
* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler: While much of his strange behavior is [[later [[ObfuscatingStupidity later revealed to be an act ObfuscatingStupidity]], act]], it is nonetheless apparent that there is something mentally wrong with him given his fanatical dedication to enforcing "justice" at all costs along with the sadistic manner in which he carries it out.]]
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* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler: While much of his strange behavior is [[later revealed to be an act ObfuscatingStupidity]], it is nevertheless apparent that there is something mentally wrong with him given the fanatical zeal in to enforcing "justice" at all costs as well as the sadistic manner in which he carries it out.]]
to:
* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler: While much of his strange behavior is [[later revealed to be an act ObfuscatingStupidity]], it is nevertheless nonetheless apparent that there is something mentally wrong with him given the his fanatical zeal in dedication to enforcing "justice" at all costs as well as along with the sadistic manner in which he carries it out.]]
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* [[spoiler: BigBad: In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
to:
* [[spoiler: BigBad: In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a the story arc's BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
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* ManipulativeBastard[=/=]TheSneakyGuy: [[spoiler: Early in the season 4 premier he sees Agent Sawicki take a bribe and also hears a bootlegger complaining about how the bootlegger's warehouse has been broken into so many times that he's rigged a lethal booby trap for the next thief. Tolliver promptly pretends to receive a tip that sends Sawicki and himself to the bootlegger's warehouse, and pretends to be so incompetent that Sawicki actually orders him to stay by the car... and out of harm's way. Sawicki gets mortally wounded, Tolliver kills the bootlegger as he comes to see who tripped his trap, and then calmly tells the dying Sawicki that he'll call for help... as soon as he gets over the shock that is affecting him. He then simply watches Sawicki die.]]
to:
* [[spoiler: ManipulativeBastard[=/=]TheSneakyGuy: [[spoiler: Early in the season 4 premier he sees Agent Sawicki take a bribe and also hears a bootlegger complaining about how the bootlegger's warehouse has been broken into so many times that he's rigged a lethal booby trap for the next thief. Tolliver promptly pretends to receive a tip that sends Sawicki and himself to the bootlegger's warehouse, and pretends to be so incompetent that Sawicki actually orders him to stay by the car... and out of harm's way. Sawicki gets mortally wounded, Tolliver kills the bootlegger as he comes to see who tripped his trap, and then calmly tells the dying Sawicki that he'll call for help... as soon as he gets over the shock that is affecting him. He then simply watches Sawicki die.]]
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* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler:Later he's revealed to be a CowboyCop playing ObfuscatingStupidity.]]
to:
* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting.
Changed line(s) 172 (click to see context) from:
* BigBad: In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. [[spoiler: His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
to:
* [[spoiler: BigBad: In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. [[spoiler: His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]]]
* BitchinSheepsClothing: His All-American good lucks serve as a convenient mask for his ruthlessness and sadism.
* BitchinSheepsClothing: His All-American good lucks serve as a convenient mask for his ruthlessness and sadism.
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* CleanUpTheTown
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* CleanUpTheTown[[spoiler: CleanUpTheTown]]
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* DudeWheresMyRespect: He's unamused by Hoover stealing his theories and not giving priority to his investigations.
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* [[spoiler: DudeWheresMyRespect: He's unamused by Hoover stealing his theories and not giving priority to his investigations.]]
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* FairCop: His All-American good lucks serve as a convenient mask for his ruthlessness and sadism.
* FBIAgent:He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take down bootleggers
* {{Foil}}: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's pay roll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox [[spoiler: AKA Tolliver]] is an undercover [=BoI=] agent that really wants to get rid of alcohol and corruption within the BIR, starting by the dirty agents Sawicki and Elliot.
* FBIAgent:He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take down bootleggers
* {{Foil}}: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's pay roll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox [[spoiler: AKA Tolliver]] is an undercover [=BoI=] agent that really wants to get rid of alcohol and corruption within the BIR, starting by the dirty agents Sawicki and Elliot.
to:
* FairCop: His All-American good lucks serve as a convenient mask for his ruthlessness and sadism.
FairCop
* [[spoiler: FBIAgent:He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take downbootleggers
bootleggers.]]
* [[spoiler: {{Foil}}: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's pay roll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox[[spoiler: AKA Tolliver]] (AKA Tolliver) is an undercover [=BoI=] agent that really wants to get rid of alcohol and corruption within the BIR, starting by the dirty agents Sawicki and Elliot.]]
* [[spoiler: FBIAgent:He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take down
* [[spoiler: {{Foil}}: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's pay roll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox
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* [[spoiler:ObfuscatingStupidity: After spending the season premiere looking like a laughably naïve and idealistic guy, he shows his true colors as the second coming of Van Alden.]]
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* [[spoiler:ObfuscatingStupidity: After spending the season premiere looking like a laughably naïve and idealistic gullible guy, he shows his true colors as the second coming of Van Alden.]]
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* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Van Alden.
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* [[spoiler: SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Van Alden.]]
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* WellIntentionedExtremist
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* WellIntentionedExtremist
[[spoiler: WellIntentionedExtremist]]
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[[caption-width-right:260:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]
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* BeenThereShapedHistory: He's on first name basis with J. Edgar Hoover.
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* [[spoiler: BeenThereShapedHistory: He's on first name basis with J. Edgar Hoover.]]
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* [[spoiler: KnightTemplar: Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist federal agents unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism serve as a harbinger for the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership]].
to:
* [[spoiler: KnightTemplar: Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist idealistic federal agents agent unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism serve as a harbinger for the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership]].
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* [[spoiler: KnightTemplar: Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist federal agents unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism [[Lawful Evil make him a harbinger of the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership]].]]
to:
* [[spoiler: KnightTemplar: Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist federal agents unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism [[Lawful Evil make him serve as a harbinger of for the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership]].]]
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* KnightTemplar
* [[spoiler: LawfulEvil: Type 1. Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist federal agents unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism make him a harbinger of the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership.]]
* [[spoiler: LawfulEvil: Type 1. Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist federal agents unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism make him a harbinger of the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership.]]
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* FairCop
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* FairCopFairCop: His All-American good lucks serve as a convenient mask for his ruthlessness and sadism.
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* [[spoiler: LawfulEvil: Type 1. Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealist federal agents unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the unflinching brutality of his methods along with his barely concealed sadism make him a harbinger of the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership.]]
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Changed line(s) 172 (click to see context) from:
* [[spoiler: BigBad: Shaping up to be this in Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
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* [[spoiler: BigBad: Shaping up to be this in In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. [[spoiler: His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
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[[Characters/BoardwalkEmpire Return to Boardwalk Empire Characters]]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Federal Agents]]
!!BIR Agent Nelson Van Alden A.K.A. George Mueller
->'''Played by''': Creator/MichaelShannon
[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nelson-van-alden-boardwalk-empire-16731108-330-495_309.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:''"I used to believe in God, but now I don't believe in '''anything''' at all."'']]
Originally an overzealous Prohibition agent who vows to bring down Nucky and one of the primary antagonists in the show. As stoic and ruthless in his private life as he is in his professional life, he and his wife are extremely Christian and trying to have children. Secretly lusts after Margaret Schroeder, but finds himself disgusted when she sets up house with Nucky; this, coupled with his failure to bring Nucky to justice because of his graft and the barriers produced by his own superiors sends him in a downward emotional spiral that includes fathering a bastard with Lucy Danzinger, ruining his marriage, killing his corrupt partner and becoming a fugitive when he is exposed as a murderer. Season 3 finds him under an assumed identity in Chicago, just as AlCapone begins his rise to power.
!!Tropes:
* AbusiveParents: Or at least fanatical ones that were the source of his preoccupations:
** In "A Dangerous Maid", he reveals near total ignorance about the concept of theatre. When questioned about it, he reveals that an aunt once took him to a Christmas pageant, which enraged his fundamentalist parents, who subsequently cut off all contact with her.
** In "Under God's Power She Flourishes" he reveals that his parents were followers of a fanatical reverend who predicted the Rapture for 1892. His father "gave away" their farm and they lived penniless for two years, waiting for a Rapture that did not come. Apparently, his father somehow blames Nelson for all of this.
* AmbiguousDisorder: ''Something'' seems to be wrong with him, given his excessive stoicism.
* AndCallHimGeorge: He kills Sebso while trying to [[ItMakesSenseInContext baptize him]].
* ArmorPiercingSlap
* BadBoss
* BeenThereShapedHistory:
** In Season 3, Van Alden inadvertently saves Dean O'Banion from being beaten (or killed) by Al Capone in New Year's Eve 1922. Months later, Capone's men find him selling bootleg liquor on his own in Capone's territory, fueling Capone's rage against O'Banion.
** In Season 4, [[spoiler: Van Alden gets so sick of Capone's antics that he points a gun at him during the disturbs of election day 1924 in Cicero. Frank Capone sees this and reaches for his own gun, which is in turn seen by a plain clothes police force, and the police kills Frank as a result.]] Ironically, a few episodes later Van Alden saves [[spoiler:the life of Al]], getting him out of the line of fire after [[FiveSecondForeshadowing spotting armed men in the next building]].
** When Torrio orders O'Banion's murder, the Capones grill Van Alden for information and he offers to do it himself for one thousand dollars. [[spoiler: He fails and the murder is committed by Frankie Yale and two Sicilian associates as per History; Van Alden ends being the anonymous employee of O'Banion that was in the shop's back room when the murder happened.]]
* BoomHeadShot: Makes three consecutive ones in "Marriage and Hunting".
* ButtMonkey[=/=]ChewToy: Nothing goes right for him. Ever. The weirdest part is that he gets it worse when he actually [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished tries to do the right thing]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Over three seasons, the tale of his corruption is also that of his humanization.
* CleanUpTheTown: His original aim, before the task breaks him emotionally.
* TheComicallySerious
* CowboyCop: A KnightTemplar variant - he's good at his job, just maybe too zealous.
* CrisisOfFaith: The whole series is one for Van Alden. From TheFundamentalist in early Season 1 to HollywoodAtheist Type I by the end of Season 4.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: His attempts to lie low wile on the lam in Chicago make him come across as an inoffensive coward.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the implacable CowboyCop with his own strong moral code who comes to the new city to clean it of organized crime. While having this goal and believing in it fervently, Van Alden is as far from a KnightInShiningArmor as he can get.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: In Season 1. Upon arriving in Atlantic City, he opens an investigation into Nucky Thompson with the intent to bring him down at all costs. Despite initially presenting a substantial threat to Nucky and his associates, Van Alden becomes increasingly distracted by suspicions of corruption within his own department before ultimately morally compromising himself to the point that he can no longer effectively carry on his crusade against organized crime.
* TheDogBitesBack: In "The Pony", when he presses a hot iron to the face of one of his co-workers after being the constant subject of their jokes
* DoubleAgent: Much to his chagrin, Capone and O'Banion use Van Alden to spy on each other.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Gets tired of O'Banion's prankster attitude towards him and complains about it to the Capones, who are interested in recruiting him.
* {{Expy}}: A HolierThanThou HeroAntagonist with a secretly vicious and sinful nature, who flagellates himself over his inappropriate desires for a red-headed woman? Hi there, [[{{Series/Carnivale}} Justin]].
* FallenOnHardTimesJob: He becomes a not very successful door-to-door salesman in Cicero after his law enforcement days are over. He's offered an ambiguous job in the gangster ''industry'', becoming a bootlegger, enforcer and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking flower delivery boy]].
* FamilyValuesVillain
* TheFundamentalist: In the first two seasons. In season 3, his religiosity seems to have faded away. In the season 4 episode "Marriage and Hunting", he outright says that he used to believe in God, but he no longer believes in anything.
* GenreBlind: While working for O'Bannion he decides to sell a few bottles alcohol on the side without O'Bannion's knowledge or permission. Even worse, he does so in Capone's territory. When Capone's men grab him, he thinks they are Prohibition agents. Despite his various dealing with gangsters and bootleggers he clearly still does not understand how the illegal booze business works.
* GiveMeASign: At the end of the first season he decides to leave Atlantic City unless God gives him a sign. Then Lucy shows up pregnant.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex:
** Inverted. Van Alden is shown to be sexually repressed, which is the cause of some of his corruption. He has a stiff relationship with his bland wife and has to go through some pretty extraordinary lengths to get them both in the mood.
** The sex with Lucy was quite wild, but felt just wrong.
* HairTriggerTemper: His hot-bloodedness frequently contrasts to Nucky and Rothstein's more cool, collected natures.
** Inverted in season 3 when he has to restrain himself as he's keeping a low profile, but his stoicism gets broken anyway.
** Does so again in season 4 when involved in a gangster attack upon a political rally, where he's initially refuses to attack anyone, but breaks out in berserker rage when someone hits him.
* HeroAntagonist: Briefly, although he soon becomes just a KnightTemplar.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: See above. For additional {{irony}}, he becomes a petty bootlegger in season 3.
* HolierThanThou
* [[HookersAndBlow Hookers and Booze]]: "The Emerald City".
* HumiliationConga: "A Return to Normalcy", "The Age of Reason", "Under God's Power She Flourishes", "Resolution", "Bone for Tuna" "A Man, A Plan"... Van Alden doesn't really get Humiliation Congas from time to time, ''he lives in one''.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Done in such a way that it borders on KickTheDog territory.
** In the third episode he tortures a wounded and moribund witness to get information. His dark side mostly goes downhill from there.
** He tries to baptize Agent Sebso (who is Jewish) by force under the belief that it will make him confess that he killed his main witness and botched his investigation on purpose (which Sebso did). Sebso dies, either by drowning or by the panic causing him a heart attack.
* {{Jerkass}}
* KarmaHoudini: Two victims after, in "Under God’s Power She Flourishes" his karma seems to catch up to him and he is charged with murder... but he escapes in the last second and starts a new life under a secret identity in the Midwest, where he quickly gets a third (if accidental) victim, and his second Prohi.
** In Season 4, he murders three people in broad daylight. They are in a back alley and the shots are covered by a passing train, so when Van Alden goes to the place again by midnight the bodies are still there, [[{{Squick}} covered in flies.]]
* KavorkaMan: He is not ugly, but his personality would alienate everyone. Nevertheless, the current count is of one different sex partner per season.
* KnightTemplar: In seasons 1 and 2. By season 3, he abandons the pursuit of justice, and is only concerned with preserving himself.
* MuggingTheMonster: ''Every single one'' of his new coworkers provoke him, constantly, everyday, unaware of who he really is. They finally [[RageBreakingPoint get a glimpse]] of it in "The Pony".
** [[TooDumbToLive Not that they learn their lesson]]. In "Marriage and Hunting" three go after him to exact their "vengeance". [[spoiler: Van Alden pulls out a gun and shoots them.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In "Under God's Power She Flourishes" Mickey Doyle offers Van Alden to give the date and place where Luciano, Lansky and Capone will meet to divide their profits from selling a batch of illegal liquor; Van Alden would arrest them and the money be divided between him and Mickey. Nelson refuses and instead goes to work to continue the prosecution against Nucky Thompson, discovering that the witnesses of Sebso's murder have decided to talk forcing him to become a fugitive. Season 3 finds him living in near-poverty with his new family. Had he decided to take the money, they would live a lot better.
* NoSenseOfHumor: Even if he claims otherwise.
* OhCrap: Michael Shannon turns these into a form of art, but the golden award goes to the scene where Van Alden sees that Deacon Cuffy has brought Sebso's belongings to the post office in "Under God's Power She Flourishes".
* PervertedSniffing: The first time he meets Margaret he steals her hair ribbon and is later seen sniffing it in his room.
* PetTheDog:
** In season 1, he contradicts his wife when she says her infertility means she's not a real woman.
** He's somewhat humanized in "A Dangerous Maid" and does something nice for Lucy. He also shows his wife a nice evening in "21", although besides her, no one else would probably find his behavior very sympathetic.
** The scene where he first holds his infant daughter and names her Abigail - after asking the infant's own opinion on various names - is tremendously humanizing for him.
** He's a decent husband to Sigrid.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Is shown to have some pretty racist attitudes towards Jews, and refers to Nucky's black supporters as "darkies". Plus, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking he considers Chinese food "filth" without even tasting it]].
* PreMortemOneLiner: "I am relaxed".
* RageBreakingPoint: He puts with [[ExtremeDoormat a lot of abuse]] from his new coworkers in the third season since he wants to stay under the radar, until he finally erupts in "The Pony". Torrio's description of Pompeii in the same episode is a perfect analogy to Van Alden at the work place.
-->"The people. They live for generations next to this mountain, not knowing that it is a volcano. Then the eruption happens. The lava covers everything."
* RelativeButton: In "The Pony". Van Alden swallows all kind of insults, DudeNotFunny jokes and laughs at his expense during the third season. Then the [[FatBastard office clown]] decides to make a leud comment about ''[[BerserkButton his wife]]''.
-->'''Coworker:''' Are you ''maaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrriiiied?'' ''(cue UnstoppableRage)''
* SecretIdentity: George Mueller, a Cicero salesman.
* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny
* SlasherSmile: In season 1, when he's told that a witness has been found who can identify Jimmy as having been in the woods the night of the massacre.
* StalkerWithACrush: Toward Margaret.
* SurroundedByIdiots: The other Prohibition agents working in Atlantic City don't seem very competent and Van Alden does not really trust them. He even walks in on two of them wrestling on the office floor during business hours. When Prohibition started the government was not picky when it came to hiring agents and the low pay did not attract many competent candidates.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Sometimes.
* ATasteOfTheLash: His back is completely scarred because he used to whip himself when he had impure thoughts.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In "Marriage and Hunting," he gets fed up with being bullied by both the Capones and O'Bannion and embraces his psychotic tendencies, as well as [[spoiler: killing his former coworkers in cold blood when they try to jump him.]]
* TheUnsmile: Done when he tries to "seduce" Margaret in Season 1, and again in Season 3, when Sigrid presses him to smile.
* UnstoppableRage: "The Pony".
* WhosLaughingNow: Not that Van Alden really laughs, but his psychotic smirk after he gets himself fired in "The Pony" is a clear quivalent of this.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: He is proven to be a murderer, divorced by his wife, and becomes a fugitive at the end of Season 2.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: Oh, you would really not.
!!BIR Agent Eric Sebso
->'''Played by''':Erik Weiner
[[quoteright:288:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/agent-sebso_3818.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:288:"[[BlatantLies You can trust me, goddamit!]]"]]
Van Alden's Jewish partner at the beginning of the series and TheMole in the Prohibition Unit for Nucky. He is accidentally murdered by Van Alden at the end of the first season in a misguided attempt to make him confess his crookedness.
!!Tropes:
* AffablyEvil: While he's corrupt and on the take, he's a rather likable guy and is presented much more sympathetically than Van Alden.
* AndCallHimGeorge: He dies when Van Alden tries to convert him to Christianity and/or make him confess that he ruined the case against Jimmy on purpose.
* BeleagueredAssistant: With a twist - Van Alden is crazy, but he is really more efficient than Sebso.
* BumblingSidekick: As part of ObfuscatingStupidity.
* TheDanza
* DirtyCop
* FaceHeelTurn
* InformedJudaism: At first he seems completely secular and the only mention of his heritage is him [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage speaking Yiddish]] as part of a joke in "Broadway Limited". In "Paris Green", however, he adamantly refuses Van Alden's attempt to forcibly convert him and which leads to his death.
* LastNameBasis: His first name isn't revealed until after his death.
* MauveShirt
* TheMole
* PreemptiveDeclaration: Uses this before killing a witness he was paid to silence.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: After killing said witness, he hits himself in the head with a rock to make it look like he was attacked.
* YiddishAsASecondLanguage
!!BIR Agent Stanley "Stan" Sawicki
->'''Played by''': Joseph Aniska
[[quoteright:223:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stan_sawicki_4529.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:223:"I have not been paid yet."]]
One of two agents that are assigned to work under Van Alden in Season 2, following Sebso's demise. He is of Polish descent.
!!Tropes:
* [[spoiler:BloodFromTheMouth]]
* [[spoiler:CruelAndUnusualDeath: Shot by a shotgun tied to a door, left to choke on his blood while his "partner" stares at him joking he'll do nothing.]]
* DirtyCop: In Season 3 he can be considered a member of Nucky's organization.
* TheEeyore: In Season 2, in contrast to Clarkson. He does not believe that they can CleanUpTheTown and as the season goes on he loses all faith in the job.
* [[spoiler: KarmicDeath]]: If he did in fact set Owen up,[[spoiler: his own death can be practically considered LaserGuidedKarma. Fed up with Sawicki's corruption, his new partner Knox talks him into making a bust knowing that it will get Sawicki killed.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Clarkson's red.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Clarkson in Season 2.
* UncertainDoom: As of the end of Season 3. He's back for the first ep of Season 4. [[spoiler:Then dies.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He goes with Owen to kill Masseria in "A Man, A Plan...". Owen's body is returned in a box, but we didn't hear from Sawicki for the rest of Season 3.
* YouAreInCommandNow: After Clarkson is WIA and Van Alden runs away, leaving him as the only "prohi" in town.
!!BIR Agent Clarkson
->'''Played by''':Joel Brady
[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_clarkson_8631.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:220:"We are prohis, Stan. We are going to make an arrest."]]
The second agent assigned to work under Van Alden and Sawicki's partner.
!!Tropes:
* AccidentalPervert: He gives a guide ("If Jesus ever came to Atlantic City") to Van Alden's wife Rose, believing that it lists the town's churches. It's actually a guide about the places where Jesus would ''not'' go.
* CleanUpTheTown: And the Squad too. He is a firm believer of this.
* CowboyCop: He convinces Sawicki to overrule Van Alden's orders and investigate Mickey Doyle - and perhaps Van Alden himself.
** NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: He gets an explosion to the face for his trouble.
* LastNameBasis
* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Sawicki's blue.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Sawicki in Season 2.
* TwoFaced: While he agonizes after catching an explosion to one side.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: WordOfGod says that he didn't survive his injuries.
!! BRI Agent Warren Knox[[spoiler:/[=BoI=] Agent James Tolliver]]
->'''Played by''': Brian Geraghty
[[quoteright:260:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_warren-knox_98.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]
A federal agent who travels to New Jersey for the expressed purpose of apprenticing under Agent Sawicki. [[spoiler: He is ultimately revealed to be a special agent sent to Atlantic City to root out government corruption on behalf of the newly constituted Bureau of Investigation.]]
!!Tropes:
* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler:Later he's revealed to be a CowboyCop playing ObfuscatingStupidity.]]
* BeenThereShapedHistory: He's on first name basis with J. Edgar Hoover.
* [[spoiler: BigBad: Shaping up to be this in Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
* BumblingSidekick / CluelessDeputy: Introduced as one in "New York Sour", [[spoiler: but it's actually an act.]]
* CleanUpTheTown
* CowboyCop
* DudeWheresMyRespect: He's unamused by Hoover stealing his theories and not giving priority to his investigations.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: He uses these to avoid swearing.
* GratuitousGerman: As a [[spoiler: former member of Military Intelligence during WorldWarOne]], he speaks it fluently and drops some sentences in "Erlkonig".
* FairCop
* FBIAgent:He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take down bootleggers
* {{Foil}}: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's pay roll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox [[spoiler: AKA Tolliver]] is an undercover [=BoI=] agent that really wants to get rid of alcohol and corruption within the BIR, starting by the dirty agents Sawicki and Elliot.
* IndyPloy: After being rebuffed by the bank holding Eddie's account(s) (holding in turn Nucky's money), Eli trusts him to retrieve it. Knox then tells the banker that Eddie is suspicious of being an Anarchist activist and convinces him to turn in the contents after threatening with prosecution for obstruction of justice.
* KnightTemplar
* ManipulativeBastard[=/=]TheSneakyGuy: [[spoiler: Early in the season 4 premier he sees Agent Sawicki take a bribe and also hears a bootlegger complaining about how the bootlegger's warehouse has been broken into so many times that he's rigged a lethal booby trap for the next thief. Tolliver promptly pretends to receive a tip that sends Sawicki and himself to the bootlegger's warehouse, and pretends to be so incompetent that Sawicki actually orders him to stay by the car... and out of harm's way. Sawicki gets mortally wounded, Tolliver kills the bootlegger as he comes to see who tripped his trap, and then calmly tells the dying Sawicki that he'll call for help... as soon as he gets over the shock that is affecting him. He then simply watches Sawicki die.]]
* NewMeat: So it appears.
* [[spoiler:ObfuscatingStupidity: After spending the season premiere looking like a laughably naïve and idealistic guy, he shows his true colors as the second coming of Van Alden.]]
* RabidCop
** JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Pulls a rather tame one by the standards of the trope in "Erlkönig". [[spoiler: The [[ManipulativeBastard psychological part]] proves more effective.]]
* SarcasticConfession: After he becomes the head of the Prohibition enforcement in Atlantic City and meets Nucky, he tells him: "I do intend to take my duties with the utmost seriousness and to enforce the existing laws to the best of my abilities." Everybody is shocked before he adds that he was just joking. [[spoiler:Actually, Tolliver was serious since he's an undercover [=BoI=] agent.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Van Alden.
* TheTeetotaler
* [[spoiler:UndercoverCopReveal: He is actually an undercover Bureau of Investigation agent posing as a corrupt BIR agent.]]
* WalkingSpoiler
* WellIntentionedExtremist
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Bureaucrats]]
!!Esther Randolph
->'''Played by''': Julianne Nicholson
[[quoteright:288:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/EstherRandolph_1485.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:288:"I run naked through the pages of the U.S. criminal code."]]
The Assistant US Attorney assigned to prosecute Nucky for election rigging, embezzling, murder and bootlegging. Unlike her predecessor, who was on the take, she represents a challenge to Nucky because of her profesionalism and the fact that she can't be bought by [[HookersAndBlow the usual means]] since she is a teetotaler and [[CaptainObvious a woman]]. During her stance in Atlantic City she is also assigned the same room where Van Alden has his office, causing conflict with him.
!!Tropes:
* BrainyBrunette
* CrusadingLawyer: Not even her superiors are interested in persecuting bootleggers.
* DeadpanSnarker
* EmotionlessGirl
* EnemyMine: Nucky makes her an offer she can't refuse in season 3 - team up with him to take down Harry Daugherty and George Remus. Nucky gets his enemies taken care of, and Esther rebuilds her career from the damage Nucky's failed trial did to it.
* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Randolph and her assistant use this trope to great effect as an interrogation technique when trying to needle Ray Halloran for information. Halloran even makes a joke about the two of them being married (they're actually only sleeping with each other).
* GoKartingWithBowser: In Season 3 she accepts Nucky's invitation to breakfast.
* GoodIsNotNice: However, she's one of the few law enforcement characters who isn't corrupt or a KnightTemplar
* HelloAttorney
* [[HeroAntagonist Heroine Antagonist]]: She's probably the most moral character on the show.
* JurisdictionFriction: Has a brief case of it when she moves in and takes over a part of Nelson's office, including his desk.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Replaces the real Assistant Attorney General during the Prohibition era, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Walker_Willebrandt Mabel Walker Willebrandt.]]
* ReassignedToAntarctica: After her big case against Nucky flounders, she is assigned to prosecute bit-time bootleggers on night court.
* SilkHidingSteel
* SmartPeopleKnowLatin
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female employee in the building, for obvious historical reasons.
* StealthInsult: Pulls a few on Halloran.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With [[FoeRomanceSubtext Nucky]] in Season 3.
!![=BoI=] Director J. Edgar Hoover
->'''Played by''': Eric Ladin
[[quoteright:268:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_j-edgar-hoover_8390.png]]
[[caption-width-right:268:"You're proposing there is a nation-wide conspiracy?"]]
A rising federal star who serves as Acting Director of the Bureau of Investigation.
!!Tropes:
* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Introduced as an incorruptible law enforcer who is determined to scourge corruption from both sides of the law.
* FairCop[=/=]YoungAndInCharge: He is only 29 when he becomes acting director of the [=BoI=]. Frederick Elliot doesn't take Hoover seriously because of his age and [[JustAKid calls him a child]] upon being questioned by him when they first meet.
* FBIAgent: A proto-agent, as the Bureau of Investigation would become the FBI in 1935.
* FirstNameBasis: He refers to a trusted agent as Jim and has no problem with the agent calling him Edgar in return.
* {{Foil}}: An untainted official, unlike the crooked agents of the BIR.
* GladIThoughtOfIt: After dismissing it, he steals Tolliver's theory about the existence of a nation-wide criminal network.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: One of the few non-fictional law enforcers.
* HistoricalPersonPunchline: In his first episode, "Resignation".
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Scoffs at the idea of a large-scale network of organized crime (which is very much TruthInTelevision).
* TheComicallySerious: Especially when contrasted with [[ThirdPersonPerson George Remus]].
* UnderNewManagement[=/=]JurisdictionFriction: His Bureau of Investigation takes over the corrupt BIR. Bootlegging is the BIR's jurisdiction but the [=BoI=] is brought in due to the corruption among BIR agents.
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: He's introduced at age 29, with his historical personality already fully developed.
!!BIR Supervising Agent Frederick "Fred" Elliot
->'''Played by''':Peter [=McRobbie=]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BE_supervisor_elliot_4882.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"You are a Prohibition agent, not BulldogDrummond!"]]
Van Alden's superior while he is still in the BIR.
!!Tropes:
* AllThereInTheManual: His name.
* TheBusCameBack: Appears again in Season 4 after being absent during 3.
* ByTheBookCop
* DaChief
* DemotedToExtra: In Season 2.
* [[spoiler:DirtyCop]]: Shown to be working with [[spoiler:Nucky]] in season 4.
* FakeAmerican: Peter [=McRobbie=] is Scottish.
* NotSoFastBucko: About half his dialogue with Van Alden.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: To Van Alden. Elliot is only interested in the fight against illegal liquor, not caring about its use to finance organized crime.
* OhCrap: His reaction when he realizes his bosses are tired of his corruption and inaction and have sent in the [=BoI=] to clean up his mess.
* PoliceAreUseless: And he's not even [[DirtyCop on the take]] as far we know.
** [[spoiler:"Resignation" reveals that he is. Probably was since the beginning.]]
* RousingSpeech: In the Pilot, before the new BIR recruits.
* StupidNeutral: Elliot is aware of Nucky's many crimes as a corrupt politician including embezzling, tax evasion and election fraud, and his number one agent believes that he is related to five murders and another attempt. What does he do? Nothing! He is a Prohibition agent, he and his men are not going to persecute other crime but bootlegging. Even if bootlegging is rampant in the town because of a certain Mr. Thompson's influence in the first place. What, passing the evidence to the correct department, you ask? [[PoliceAreUseless Why?]] [[spoiler:He's corrupt. That's why.]]
[[/folder]]
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Federal Agents]]
!!BIR Agent Nelson Van Alden A.K.A. George Mueller
->'''Played by''': Creator/MichaelShannon
[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nelson-van-alden-boardwalk-empire-16731108-330-495_309.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:''"I used to believe in God, but now I don't believe in '''anything''' at all."'']]
Originally an overzealous Prohibition agent who vows to bring down Nucky and one of the primary antagonists in the show. As stoic and ruthless in his private life as he is in his professional life, he and his wife are extremely Christian and trying to have children. Secretly lusts after Margaret Schroeder, but finds himself disgusted when she sets up house with Nucky; this, coupled with his failure to bring Nucky to justice because of his graft and the barriers produced by his own superiors sends him in a downward emotional spiral that includes fathering a bastard with Lucy Danzinger, ruining his marriage, killing his corrupt partner and becoming a fugitive when he is exposed as a murderer. Season 3 finds him under an assumed identity in Chicago, just as AlCapone begins his rise to power.
!!Tropes:
* AbusiveParents: Or at least fanatical ones that were the source of his preoccupations:
** In "A Dangerous Maid", he reveals near total ignorance about the concept of theatre. When questioned about it, he reveals that an aunt once took him to a Christmas pageant, which enraged his fundamentalist parents, who subsequently cut off all contact with her.
** In "Under God's Power She Flourishes" he reveals that his parents were followers of a fanatical reverend who predicted the Rapture for 1892. His father "gave away" their farm and they lived penniless for two years, waiting for a Rapture that did not come. Apparently, his father somehow blames Nelson for all of this.
* AmbiguousDisorder: ''Something'' seems to be wrong with him, given his excessive stoicism.
* AndCallHimGeorge: He kills Sebso while trying to [[ItMakesSenseInContext baptize him]].
* ArmorPiercingSlap
* BadBoss
* BeenThereShapedHistory:
** In Season 3, Van Alden inadvertently saves Dean O'Banion from being beaten (or killed) by Al Capone in New Year's Eve 1922. Months later, Capone's men find him selling bootleg liquor on his own in Capone's territory, fueling Capone's rage against O'Banion.
** In Season 4, [[spoiler: Van Alden gets so sick of Capone's antics that he points a gun at him during the disturbs of election day 1924 in Cicero. Frank Capone sees this and reaches for his own gun, which is in turn seen by a plain clothes police force, and the police kills Frank as a result.]] Ironically, a few episodes later Van Alden saves [[spoiler:the life of Al]], getting him out of the line of fire after [[FiveSecondForeshadowing spotting armed men in the next building]].
** When Torrio orders O'Banion's murder, the Capones grill Van Alden for information and he offers to do it himself for one thousand dollars. [[spoiler: He fails and the murder is committed by Frankie Yale and two Sicilian associates as per History; Van Alden ends being the anonymous employee of O'Banion that was in the shop's back room when the murder happened.]]
* BoomHeadShot: Makes three consecutive ones in "Marriage and Hunting".
* ButtMonkey[=/=]ChewToy: Nothing goes right for him. Ever. The weirdest part is that he gets it worse when he actually [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished tries to do the right thing]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Over three seasons, the tale of his corruption is also that of his humanization.
* CleanUpTheTown: His original aim, before the task breaks him emotionally.
* TheComicallySerious
* CowboyCop: A KnightTemplar variant - he's good at his job, just maybe too zealous.
* CrisisOfFaith: The whole series is one for Van Alden. From TheFundamentalist in early Season 1 to HollywoodAtheist Type I by the end of Season 4.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: His attempts to lie low wile on the lam in Chicago make him come across as an inoffensive coward.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the implacable CowboyCop with his own strong moral code who comes to the new city to clean it of organized crime. While having this goal and believing in it fervently, Van Alden is as far from a KnightInShiningArmor as he can get.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: In Season 1. Upon arriving in Atlantic City, he opens an investigation into Nucky Thompson with the intent to bring him down at all costs. Despite initially presenting a substantial threat to Nucky and his associates, Van Alden becomes increasingly distracted by suspicions of corruption within his own department before ultimately morally compromising himself to the point that he can no longer effectively carry on his crusade against organized crime.
* TheDogBitesBack: In "The Pony", when he presses a hot iron to the face of one of his co-workers after being the constant subject of their jokes
* DoubleAgent: Much to his chagrin, Capone and O'Banion use Van Alden to spy on each other.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Gets tired of O'Banion's prankster attitude towards him and complains about it to the Capones, who are interested in recruiting him.
* {{Expy}}: A HolierThanThou HeroAntagonist with a secretly vicious and sinful nature, who flagellates himself over his inappropriate desires for a red-headed woman? Hi there, [[{{Series/Carnivale}} Justin]].
* FallenOnHardTimesJob: He becomes a not very successful door-to-door salesman in Cicero after his law enforcement days are over. He's offered an ambiguous job in the gangster ''industry'', becoming a bootlegger, enforcer and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking flower delivery boy]].
* FamilyValuesVillain
* TheFundamentalist: In the first two seasons. In season 3, his religiosity seems to have faded away. In the season 4 episode "Marriage and Hunting", he outright says that he used to believe in God, but he no longer believes in anything.
* GenreBlind: While working for O'Bannion he decides to sell a few bottles alcohol on the side without O'Bannion's knowledge or permission. Even worse, he does so in Capone's territory. When Capone's men grab him, he thinks they are Prohibition agents. Despite his various dealing with gangsters and bootleggers he clearly still does not understand how the illegal booze business works.
* GiveMeASign: At the end of the first season he decides to leave Atlantic City unless God gives him a sign. Then Lucy shows up pregnant.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex:
** Inverted. Van Alden is shown to be sexually repressed, which is the cause of some of his corruption. He has a stiff relationship with his bland wife and has to go through some pretty extraordinary lengths to get them both in the mood.
** The sex with Lucy was quite wild, but felt just wrong.
* HairTriggerTemper: His hot-bloodedness frequently contrasts to Nucky and Rothstein's more cool, collected natures.
** Inverted in season 3 when he has to restrain himself as he's keeping a low profile, but his stoicism gets broken anyway.
** Does so again in season 4 when involved in a gangster attack upon a political rally, where he's initially refuses to attack anyone, but breaks out in berserker rage when someone hits him.
* HeroAntagonist: Briefly, although he soon becomes just a KnightTemplar.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: See above. For additional {{irony}}, he becomes a petty bootlegger in season 3.
* HolierThanThou
* [[HookersAndBlow Hookers and Booze]]: "The Emerald City".
* HumiliationConga: "A Return to Normalcy", "The Age of Reason", "Under God's Power She Flourishes", "Resolution", "Bone for Tuna" "A Man, A Plan"... Van Alden doesn't really get Humiliation Congas from time to time, ''he lives in one''.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Done in such a way that it borders on KickTheDog territory.
** In the third episode he tortures a wounded and moribund witness to get information. His dark side mostly goes downhill from there.
** He tries to baptize Agent Sebso (who is Jewish) by force under the belief that it will make him confess that he killed his main witness and botched his investigation on purpose (which Sebso did). Sebso dies, either by drowning or by the panic causing him a heart attack.
* {{Jerkass}}
* KarmaHoudini: Two victims after, in "Under God’s Power She Flourishes" his karma seems to catch up to him and he is charged with murder... but he escapes in the last second and starts a new life under a secret identity in the Midwest, where he quickly gets a third (if accidental) victim, and his second Prohi.
** In Season 4, he murders three people in broad daylight. They are in a back alley and the shots are covered by a passing train, so when Van Alden goes to the place again by midnight the bodies are still there, [[{{Squick}} covered in flies.]]
* KavorkaMan: He is not ugly, but his personality would alienate everyone. Nevertheless, the current count is of one different sex partner per season.
* KnightTemplar: In seasons 1 and 2. By season 3, he abandons the pursuit of justice, and is only concerned with preserving himself.
* MuggingTheMonster: ''Every single one'' of his new coworkers provoke him, constantly, everyday, unaware of who he really is. They finally [[RageBreakingPoint get a glimpse]] of it in "The Pony".
** [[TooDumbToLive Not that they learn their lesson]]. In "Marriage and Hunting" three go after him to exact their "vengeance". [[spoiler: Van Alden pulls out a gun and shoots them.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In "Under God's Power She Flourishes" Mickey Doyle offers Van Alden to give the date and place where Luciano, Lansky and Capone will meet to divide their profits from selling a batch of illegal liquor; Van Alden would arrest them and the money be divided between him and Mickey. Nelson refuses and instead goes to work to continue the prosecution against Nucky Thompson, discovering that the witnesses of Sebso's murder have decided to talk forcing him to become a fugitive. Season 3 finds him living in near-poverty with his new family. Had he decided to take the money, they would live a lot better.
* NoSenseOfHumor: Even if he claims otherwise.
* OhCrap: Michael Shannon turns these into a form of art, but the golden award goes to the scene where Van Alden sees that Deacon Cuffy has brought Sebso's belongings to the post office in "Under God's Power She Flourishes".
* PervertedSniffing: The first time he meets Margaret he steals her hair ribbon and is later seen sniffing it in his room.
* PetTheDog:
** In season 1, he contradicts his wife when she says her infertility means she's not a real woman.
** He's somewhat humanized in "A Dangerous Maid" and does something nice for Lucy. He also shows his wife a nice evening in "21", although besides her, no one else would probably find his behavior very sympathetic.
** The scene where he first holds his infant daughter and names her Abigail - after asking the infant's own opinion on various names - is tremendously humanizing for him.
** He's a decent husband to Sigrid.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Is shown to have some pretty racist attitudes towards Jews, and refers to Nucky's black supporters as "darkies". Plus, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking he considers Chinese food "filth" without even tasting it]].
* PreMortemOneLiner: "I am relaxed".
* RageBreakingPoint: He puts with [[ExtremeDoormat a lot of abuse]] from his new coworkers in the third season since he wants to stay under the radar, until he finally erupts in "The Pony". Torrio's description of Pompeii in the same episode is a perfect analogy to Van Alden at the work place.
-->"The people. They live for generations next to this mountain, not knowing that it is a volcano. Then the eruption happens. The lava covers everything."
* RelativeButton: In "The Pony". Van Alden swallows all kind of insults, DudeNotFunny jokes and laughs at his expense during the third season. Then the [[FatBastard office clown]] decides to make a leud comment about ''[[BerserkButton his wife]]''.
-->'''Coworker:''' Are you ''maaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrriiiied?'' ''(cue UnstoppableRage)''
* SecretIdentity: George Mueller, a Cicero salesman.
* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny
* SlasherSmile: In season 1, when he's told that a witness has been found who can identify Jimmy as having been in the woods the night of the massacre.
* StalkerWithACrush: Toward Margaret.
* SurroundedByIdiots: The other Prohibition agents working in Atlantic City don't seem very competent and Van Alden does not really trust them. He even walks in on two of them wrestling on the office floor during business hours. When Prohibition started the government was not picky when it came to hiring agents and the low pay did not attract many competent candidates.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Sometimes.
* ATasteOfTheLash: His back is completely scarred because he used to whip himself when he had impure thoughts.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In "Marriage and Hunting," he gets fed up with being bullied by both the Capones and O'Bannion and embraces his psychotic tendencies, as well as [[spoiler: killing his former coworkers in cold blood when they try to jump him.]]
* TheUnsmile: Done when he tries to "seduce" Margaret in Season 1, and again in Season 3, when Sigrid presses him to smile.
* UnstoppableRage: "The Pony".
* WhosLaughingNow: Not that Van Alden really laughs, but his psychotic smirk after he gets himself fired in "The Pony" is a clear quivalent of this.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: He is proven to be a murderer, divorced by his wife, and becomes a fugitive at the end of Season 2.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: Oh, you would really not.
!!BIR Agent Eric Sebso
->'''Played by''':Erik Weiner
[[quoteright:288:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/agent-sebso_3818.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:288:"[[BlatantLies You can trust me, goddamit!]]"]]
Van Alden's Jewish partner at the beginning of the series and TheMole in the Prohibition Unit for Nucky. He is accidentally murdered by Van Alden at the end of the first season in a misguided attempt to make him confess his crookedness.
!!Tropes:
* AffablyEvil: While he's corrupt and on the take, he's a rather likable guy and is presented much more sympathetically than Van Alden.
* AndCallHimGeorge: He dies when Van Alden tries to convert him to Christianity and/or make him confess that he ruined the case against Jimmy on purpose.
* BeleagueredAssistant: With a twist - Van Alden is crazy, but he is really more efficient than Sebso.
* BumblingSidekick: As part of ObfuscatingStupidity.
* TheDanza
* DirtyCop
* FaceHeelTurn
* InformedJudaism: At first he seems completely secular and the only mention of his heritage is him [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage speaking Yiddish]] as part of a joke in "Broadway Limited". In "Paris Green", however, he adamantly refuses Van Alden's attempt to forcibly convert him and which leads to his death.
* LastNameBasis: His first name isn't revealed until after his death.
* MauveShirt
* TheMole
* PreemptiveDeclaration: Uses this before killing a witness he was paid to silence.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: After killing said witness, he hits himself in the head with a rock to make it look like he was attacked.
* YiddishAsASecondLanguage
!!BIR Agent Stanley "Stan" Sawicki
->'''Played by''': Joseph Aniska
[[quoteright:223:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stan_sawicki_4529.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:223:"I have not been paid yet."]]
One of two agents that are assigned to work under Van Alden in Season 2, following Sebso's demise. He is of Polish descent.
!!Tropes:
* [[spoiler:BloodFromTheMouth]]
* [[spoiler:CruelAndUnusualDeath: Shot by a shotgun tied to a door, left to choke on his blood while his "partner" stares at him joking he'll do nothing.]]
* DirtyCop: In Season 3 he can be considered a member of Nucky's organization.
* TheEeyore: In Season 2, in contrast to Clarkson. He does not believe that they can CleanUpTheTown and as the season goes on he loses all faith in the job.
* [[spoiler: KarmicDeath]]: If he did in fact set Owen up,[[spoiler: his own death can be practically considered LaserGuidedKarma. Fed up with Sawicki's corruption, his new partner Knox talks him into making a bust knowing that it will get Sawicki killed.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Clarkson's red.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Clarkson in Season 2.
* UncertainDoom: As of the end of Season 3. He's back for the first ep of Season 4. [[spoiler:Then dies.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He goes with Owen to kill Masseria in "A Man, A Plan...". Owen's body is returned in a box, but we didn't hear from Sawicki for the rest of Season 3.
* YouAreInCommandNow: After Clarkson is WIA and Van Alden runs away, leaving him as the only "prohi" in town.
!!BIR Agent Clarkson
->'''Played by''':Joel Brady
[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_clarkson_8631.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:220:"We are prohis, Stan. We are going to make an arrest."]]
The second agent assigned to work under Van Alden and Sawicki's partner.
!!Tropes:
* AccidentalPervert: He gives a guide ("If Jesus ever came to Atlantic City") to Van Alden's wife Rose, believing that it lists the town's churches. It's actually a guide about the places where Jesus would ''not'' go.
* CleanUpTheTown: And the Squad too. He is a firm believer of this.
* CowboyCop: He convinces Sawicki to overrule Van Alden's orders and investigate Mickey Doyle - and perhaps Van Alden himself.
** NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: He gets an explosion to the face for his trouble.
* LastNameBasis
* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Sawicki's blue.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Sawicki in Season 2.
* TwoFaced: While he agonizes after catching an explosion to one side.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: WordOfGod says that he didn't survive his injuries.
!! BRI Agent Warren Knox[[spoiler:/[=BoI=] Agent James Tolliver]]
->'''Played by''': Brian Geraghty
[[quoteright:260:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_warren-knox_98.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]
A federal agent who travels to New Jersey for the expressed purpose of apprenticing under Agent Sawicki. [[spoiler: He is ultimately revealed to be a special agent sent to Atlantic City to root out government corruption on behalf of the newly constituted Bureau of Investigation.]]
!!Tropes:
* AmbiguousDisorder: He comes off as having an odd, slightly off kilter demeanor and way of acting. [[spoiler:Later he's revealed to be a CowboyCop playing ObfuscatingStupidity.]]
* BeenThereShapedHistory: He's on first name basis with J. Edgar Hoover.
* [[spoiler: BigBad: Shaping up to be this in Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of a BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI currently poses the greatest threat to Nucky and his associates.]]
* BumblingSidekick / CluelessDeputy: Introduced as one in "New York Sour", [[spoiler: but it's actually an act.]]
* CleanUpTheTown
* CowboyCop
* DudeWheresMyRespect: He's unamused by Hoover stealing his theories and not giving priority to his investigations.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: He uses these to avoid swearing.
* GratuitousGerman: As a [[spoiler: former member of Military Intelligence during WorldWarOne]], he speaks it fluently and drops some sentences in "Erlkonig".
* FairCop
* FBIAgent:He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take down bootleggers
* {{Foil}}: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's pay roll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox [[spoiler: AKA Tolliver]] is an undercover [=BoI=] agent that really wants to get rid of alcohol and corruption within the BIR, starting by the dirty agents Sawicki and Elliot.
* IndyPloy: After being rebuffed by the bank holding Eddie's account(s) (holding in turn Nucky's money), Eli trusts him to retrieve it. Knox then tells the banker that Eddie is suspicious of being an Anarchist activist and convinces him to turn in the contents after threatening with prosecution for obstruction of justice.
* KnightTemplar
* ManipulativeBastard[=/=]TheSneakyGuy: [[spoiler: Early in the season 4 premier he sees Agent Sawicki take a bribe and also hears a bootlegger complaining about how the bootlegger's warehouse has been broken into so many times that he's rigged a lethal booby trap for the next thief. Tolliver promptly pretends to receive a tip that sends Sawicki and himself to the bootlegger's warehouse, and pretends to be so incompetent that Sawicki actually orders him to stay by the car... and out of harm's way. Sawicki gets mortally wounded, Tolliver kills the bootlegger as he comes to see who tripped his trap, and then calmly tells the dying Sawicki that he'll call for help... as soon as he gets over the shock that is affecting him. He then simply watches Sawicki die.]]
* NewMeat: So it appears.
* [[spoiler:ObfuscatingStupidity: After spending the season premiere looking like a laughably naïve and idealistic guy, he shows his true colors as the second coming of Van Alden.]]
* RabidCop
** JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Pulls a rather tame one by the standards of the trope in "Erlkönig". [[spoiler: The [[ManipulativeBastard psychological part]] proves more effective.]]
* SarcasticConfession: After he becomes the head of the Prohibition enforcement in Atlantic City and meets Nucky, he tells him: "I do intend to take my duties with the utmost seriousness and to enforce the existing laws to the best of my abilities." Everybody is shocked before he adds that he was just joking. [[spoiler:Actually, Tolliver was serious since he's an undercover [=BoI=] agent.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Van Alden.
* TheTeetotaler
* [[spoiler:UndercoverCopReveal: He is actually an undercover Bureau of Investigation agent posing as a corrupt BIR agent.]]
* WalkingSpoiler
* WellIntentionedExtremist
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Bureaucrats]]
!!Esther Randolph
->'''Played by''': Julianne Nicholson
[[quoteright:288:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/EstherRandolph_1485.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:288:"I run naked through the pages of the U.S. criminal code."]]
The Assistant US Attorney assigned to prosecute Nucky for election rigging, embezzling, murder and bootlegging. Unlike her predecessor, who was on the take, she represents a challenge to Nucky because of her profesionalism and the fact that she can't be bought by [[HookersAndBlow the usual means]] since she is a teetotaler and [[CaptainObvious a woman]]. During her stance in Atlantic City she is also assigned the same room where Van Alden has his office, causing conflict with him.
!!Tropes:
* BrainyBrunette
* CrusadingLawyer: Not even her superiors are interested in persecuting bootleggers.
* DeadpanSnarker
* EmotionlessGirl
* EnemyMine: Nucky makes her an offer she can't refuse in season 3 - team up with him to take down Harry Daugherty and George Remus. Nucky gets his enemies taken care of, and Esther rebuilds her career from the damage Nucky's failed trial did to it.
* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Randolph and her assistant use this trope to great effect as an interrogation technique when trying to needle Ray Halloran for information. Halloran even makes a joke about the two of them being married (they're actually only sleeping with each other).
* GoKartingWithBowser: In Season 3 she accepts Nucky's invitation to breakfast.
* GoodIsNotNice: However, she's one of the few law enforcement characters who isn't corrupt or a KnightTemplar
* HelloAttorney
* [[HeroAntagonist Heroine Antagonist]]: She's probably the most moral character on the show.
* JurisdictionFriction: Has a brief case of it when she moves in and takes over a part of Nelson's office, including his desk.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Replaces the real Assistant Attorney General during the Prohibition era, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Walker_Willebrandt Mabel Walker Willebrandt.]]
* ReassignedToAntarctica: After her big case against Nucky flounders, she is assigned to prosecute bit-time bootleggers on night court.
* SilkHidingSteel
* SmartPeopleKnowLatin
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female employee in the building, for obvious historical reasons.
* StealthInsult: Pulls a few on Halloran.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With [[FoeRomanceSubtext Nucky]] in Season 3.
!![=BoI=] Director J. Edgar Hoover
->'''Played by''': Eric Ladin
[[quoteright:268:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_j-edgar-hoover_8390.png]]
[[caption-width-right:268:"You're proposing there is a nation-wide conspiracy?"]]
A rising federal star who serves as Acting Director of the Bureau of Investigation.
!!Tropes:
* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Introduced as an incorruptible law enforcer who is determined to scourge corruption from both sides of the law.
* FairCop[=/=]YoungAndInCharge: He is only 29 when he becomes acting director of the [=BoI=]. Frederick Elliot doesn't take Hoover seriously because of his age and [[JustAKid calls him a child]] upon being questioned by him when they first meet.
* FBIAgent: A proto-agent, as the Bureau of Investigation would become the FBI in 1935.
* FirstNameBasis: He refers to a trusted agent as Jim and has no problem with the agent calling him Edgar in return.
* {{Foil}}: An untainted official, unlike the crooked agents of the BIR.
* GladIThoughtOfIt: After dismissing it, he steals Tolliver's theory about the existence of a nation-wide criminal network.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: One of the few non-fictional law enforcers.
* HistoricalPersonPunchline: In his first episode, "Resignation".
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Scoffs at the idea of a large-scale network of organized crime (which is very much TruthInTelevision).
* TheComicallySerious: Especially when contrasted with [[ThirdPersonPerson George Remus]].
* UnderNewManagement[=/=]JurisdictionFriction: His Bureau of Investigation takes over the corrupt BIR. Bootlegging is the BIR's jurisdiction but the [=BoI=] is brought in due to the corruption among BIR agents.
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: He's introduced at age 29, with his historical personality already fully developed.
!!BIR Supervising Agent Frederick "Fred" Elliot
->'''Played by''':Peter [=McRobbie=]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BE_supervisor_elliot_4882.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"You are a Prohibition agent, not BulldogDrummond!"]]
Van Alden's superior while he is still in the BIR.
!!Tropes:
* AllThereInTheManual: His name.
* TheBusCameBack: Appears again in Season 4 after being absent during 3.
* ByTheBookCop
* DaChief
* DemotedToExtra: In Season 2.
* [[spoiler:DirtyCop]]: Shown to be working with [[spoiler:Nucky]] in season 4.
* FakeAmerican: Peter [=McRobbie=] is Scottish.
* NotSoFastBucko: About half his dialogue with Van Alden.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: To Van Alden. Elliot is only interested in the fight against illegal liquor, not caring about its use to finance organized crime.
* OhCrap: His reaction when he realizes his bosses are tired of his corruption and inaction and have sent in the [=BoI=] to clean up his mess.
* PoliceAreUseless: And he's not even [[DirtyCop on the take]] as far we know.
** [[spoiler:"Resignation" reveals that he is. Probably was since the beginning.]]
* RousingSpeech: In the Pilot, before the new BIR recruits.
* StupidNeutral: Elliot is aware of Nucky's many crimes as a corrupt politician including embezzling, tax evasion and election fraud, and his number one agent believes that he is related to five murders and another attempt. What does he do? Nothing! He is a Prohibition agent, he and his men are not going to persecute other crime but bootlegging. Even if bootlegging is rampant in the town because of a certain Mr. Thompson's influence in the first place. What, passing the evidence to the correct department, you ask? [[PoliceAreUseless Why?]] [[spoiler:He's corrupt. That's why.]]
[[/folder]]
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