History Characters / BoardwalkEmpireThompsonFamily

* UnstoppableRage: He beats two people to death on seperate occasions, both out of blind rage. First one was a KickTheDog moment, and the other guy was an AssholeVictim. Poor George'O Neil never hurt anyone, but [[spoiler: KnightTemplar Agent Tolliver]] on the other hand......

* AscendedExtra: Plays a very small part in Season 3, gets his own arc (and a lot of screentime) in Season 4.

* TheOtherDarrin: ''Very'' obvious. Csolak has blonde, straight hair; Rosenfield has red,curly hair. The fact that his brothers have been consistently cast only highlights it.

** He ''is'' nice to constituents who he patronizes, but he's a pretty big jerk to Eddie. In "Family Limitations", Margaret asks Eddie if Nucky is nice to him. Eddie loyally responds that he is. (In the same episode, Nucky berated him first for not knocking loudly enough, then for knocking too loudly). In "Two Imposters" he realizes that he has known Eddie for years but never bothered to find out whether Eddie has any family (he is actually married and has two children) or where Eddie lives.

* TookALevelInBadass: His development as a whole, from power broker and kingmaker to half-gangster and then full-fledged kingpin. By season 3 his NonActionGuy persona is gone, in "Two Imposters" he single-handedly kills three of Rosetti's men in a firefight. With a shotgun. Through a closed door.

** In "Two Imposters", he is really unhappy that Nucky got his son William involved in their war with Rosetti.

* MoralityPet / {{Protectorate}}: In "Two Imposters", the supreme JerkAss Nucky Thompson redeems himself by putting himself between Willie and what he though at the time were Rosetti's men. Eli is also angry with Nucky for putting Willie in the line when he decided to seek refuge at the lumberyard Willie worked at.

* PromotedToParent: "Man of the house" while Eli is in jail.

** He criticises Chalky for letting his affair with Daughter Maitland interfere with his business. [[SarcasmMode It's not like Nucky would do something like that!]]

Nucky and Eli's old and progressively more senile father. He was abusive to the first and protective of the second during their childhood, and still remains more attached to Eli in the modern day - in part, however, because he knew that the more intelligent Nucky was more capable of making his way into life. Played by Tom Aldredge in his last role, and by Ian Hart in flashbacks.

* YourCheatingHeart: Has an affair with Billie Kent while married to Margaret.

The primary VillainProtagonist of the series. Originally the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic County, he ends up somewhat accidentally in the world of organized crime after he begins investing in bootlegging during UsefulNotes/{{Prohibition}}.

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/SteveBuscemi

The primary VillainProtagonist of the series. Originally the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic County, he ends up somewhat accidentally in the world of organized crime after he begins investing in bootlegging. Played by Creator/SteveBuscemi (and Nolan Lyons as a child and Marc Pickering as a young man).

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/SteveBuscemi

-> ''"If you wanna be a gangster in my town then you'll pay me for the privilege."''

!!Tropes:

-> ''"If you wanna be a gangster in my town then you'll pay me for the privilege."''

** Eli is the only one savvy enough to not proclaim victory when Nucky resigns as Treasurer and warns Jimmy that he must be planning something. Jimmy's response?

** Eli is the only one to not proclaim victory when Nucky resigns as Treasurer and warns Jimmy that he must be planning something. Jimmy's response?

** In "Blue Bell Boy", he decides to go out to Tabor Heights to scout things out following Gyp Rosetti's takeover of the town, and he notices that the local cops are all in Rosetti's pocket and Rosetti is assembling men for an ambush. Not only is he repeatedly blown off by Mickey, but the truck drivers outright ignore him on the side of the road yelling to them that it's a trap and drive in to their doom.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Unlike Nucky, he is pretty racist and frequently uses ethnic slurs, and by his commentary in one scene where he advises Nucky on how to deal with Margaret, it's implied that he beats his wife.

* TenMinuteRetirement: In the first season, a scandal breaks out after he is shot while collecting bribes for Nucky, forcing Nucky to suspend him until the upcoming election is over. Although he is restored immediately, the relationship between the two brothers is considerably damaged.
* TookALevelInBadass: He doesn't trust the Tabor Heights sheriff so he goes alone at night to scout out what is really going on. Eli discovers that Rosetti is setting up an ambush and the police are working for Rosetti. He tries to warn the convoy, but they don't listen, making Eli the SoleSurvivor. Earlier, Owen who is usually a good judge of Badassery, picks Eli as the man to consult about how to deal with Rosetti's first road block.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot/ TheCharacterDiedWithHim: Very narrowly averted since the episode featuring the character's death was filmed mere months before the actual death of actor Tom Aldredge from natural causes at the age of 83.

* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain: Goes back and forth and toes the line thanks to [[BlackAndGrayMorality the setting]] and [[ALighterShadeOfBlack his more nefarious antagonists]]. While certainly corrupt at the beginning of the series, Nucky was also motivated by a desire to help his constituents and a very sympathetic figure because of his kindness to others and tragic backstory. As the show progresses he becomes more and more evil and even gets his own hands dirty.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Regardless of the current state of his relationship with Margaret, he genuinely loves Teddy and Emily like they're his own children. In "The Milkmaid's Lot", when he's suffering from a concussion and short-term memory problems, one thing that he keeps remembering (and mentioning) is that Emily was supposed to get a pony for her birthday.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"What am I? The repudiated?"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:"We all have to decide how much sin we can live with."]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"What am I? The repudiated?"]]

[[caption-width-right:230:"Look who's here: the big shot."]]

[[caption-width-right:234:"You had enough to worry about."]]

[[caption-width-right:266:"My dad said he'd kill me if I got in trouble like this."]]

[[caption-width-right:172:"She completely broke with reality."]]

* StartOfDarkness: Told in {{flashback}}s during the 5th season. In 1884, when Nucky was 12, he beat a disrespectful kid that earned more money than he did working honestly. This attracted the attention of [[EvilMentor the Commodore]], who gave him a job as a hotel bellboy. There, he saw a client murder a prostitute, but instead of bringing him to justice the Commodore and his sheriff "[[NoodleIncident solved the issue]]" in secret, so the incident wouldn't harm early Atlantic City's appeal as a tourist destination.

* ReallyGetsAround / YourCheatingHeart

* VillainProtagonist

* DeadpanSnarker: And a master of the StealthInsult.

* AbusiveParents: His father was horribly physically and emotionally abusive to him.
* AlcoholicParent: Unlike Eli, [[TheUnfavorite only Nucky]] suffered his wrath.
* TheLostLenore: His first wife, Mabel. She killed herself after the death of their [[IllBoy first child.]] And while he gets over Billie's death pretty quickly, he still feels the need to avenge her by killing her murderers.
* RagsToRiches: From beggar child to one of the richest and most powerful men in the country.

* TheUnfavorite: His father constantly expresses scorn toward him, yet secretly feels that he's the only son who can handle himself.

* [[AntiHero Anti]]-HeroicBSOD: Big-time in "The Milkmaid's Lot", resulting from a concussion sustained in the explosion that killed Billie.

* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: Nucky found her caring for their child days after he had died, unable to accept it. That was [[WhenYouComingHomeDad the only time]] [[MyGreatestFailure he held him.]]

* OfCorpseHesAlive: Mabel's first and only child, Enoch Jr., died shortly after birth. Mabel fell into denial and continued to bathe, dress and care for him as if he was still alive, until she was discovered by a busy Nucky days later.

* OfCorpseHeIsAlive: Nucky found her caring for their child days after he had died, unable to accept it. That was [[WhenYouComingHomeDad the only time]] [[MyGreatestFailure he held him.]]

[[folder:Sheriff Elias "Eli" Thompson]]

** In "Blue Bell Boy", he sees the warning signs that Gyp Rosetti is springing an ambush of their next alcohol shipment in Tabor Heights. Not only is he repeatedly blown off by Mickey, but the truck drivers outright ignore him on the side of the road yelling to them that it's a trap and drive in to their doom.

** In "You'd Be Surprised", with Nucky and Owen unreachable, Mickey Doyle is in charge of a liquor convoy from Atlantic City to New York. Eli is the only one who realizes how incredibly bad idea it is to take the convoy through Tabor Heights but Mickey and the drivers ignore him even as he stands in the middle of the road trying to warn them that they are driving into an ambush. During an earlier confrontation with Rosetti, Owen asks Eli's opinion on what they should do and Eli correctly advises him that if they try to fight they will be massacred.

* {{Expy}}: Some passing resemblance to Fredo from ''TheGodfather'', particularly in the second season.

** Nucky destroys Walter's Edge's chances of winning the vice-presidential nomination on [[UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding The Harding Ticket]] after the senator double-crosses him. The guy who ends up getting the nomination instead [[UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge is this dude you may have heard of...]]

** Nucky destroys Walter's Edge's chances of winning the vice-presidential nomination on [[UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding The Harding Ticket]] after the senator double-crosses him. The guy who ends up getting the nomination instead [[UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge is this dude you might of heard of...]]

** Nucky destroys Walter's Edge's chances of winning the vice-presidential nomination on [[UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding the Harding Ticket]] after the senator double-crosses him. The guy who ends up getting the nomination instead [[UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge is this dude you might of heard of...]]