History Characters / FargoSeriesBlumquistFamily

* TheRedBaron: Thanks to Dodd being flexible with the truth, he becomes known to the Gerhardts as The Butcher of Luverne, a deep-cover hitman for the Kansas City mob.

* TheDitz: She's so wrapped up in herself that [[DidntThinkThisThrough she doesn't really seem to think things through]]. [[spoiler:Note that her running over Rye in the first place wasn't actually a crime, as he was wandering about on the road in poor visibility, and that if she'd called the police as soon as possible, she wouldn't be in all this trouble.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Peggy is practically a compulsive liar, is narcissistic, has trouble with feeling empathy for others, and is [[DidntThinkThisThrough incapable of basic planning]] or even seemingly fully comprehending the consequences of her actions unless it's right in front of her. One theory is that she's a fairly [[TruthInTelevision realistic representation]] of somebody with [[TheSociopath anti-social personality disorder]] who is not necessarily violent or sadistic. Hank is the first to notice that she has trouble grasping reality, stating that she's "touched". She hallucinates the leader of her seminar, and has a creepy conversation with him about self-actualization. [[spoiler:She also has a vivid one about being smoked out by Hanzee.]] She increasingly confuses reality and fiction to the point where she might even be considered schizophrenic.

* FunnyWalk: Downplayed, but she has a noticeable, animated way of walking. Kirsten Dunst said it was inspired by her dream association work for the show after she had a dream about ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Peggy is practically a compulsive liar, is narcissistic, has trouble having empathy for others, and is incapable at basic planning or even seemingly fully comprehending the consequences of her actions unless it's right in front of her. One theory is that she's a fairly [[TruthInTelevision realistic representation]] of somebody with [[TheSociopath anti-social personality disorder]] who is not necessarily violent or sadistic. Hank is the first to notice that she has trouble grasping reality, stating that she's "touched". She hallucinates the leader of her seminar, and has a creepy conversation with him about self-actualization. [[spoiler:She also has a vivid one about being smoked out by Hanzee.]] She increasingly confuses reality and fiction to the point where she might even be considered schizophrenic.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Downplayed. Peggy isn't ''evil'' and it's not hard to sympathize with Peggy's yearning to be more than a small-town beautician married to a butcher's assistant, but she's also a self-centered loon with very narrow consideration to anyone who isn't herself, and her ambitions drive these more selfish impulses and cause a ''ton'' of damage in the process..

* TheDitz: She's so wrapped up in herself she doesn't really seem to think things through. [[spoiler:Note that her running over Rye in the first place wasn't actually a crime, he was wandering about on the road in poor visibility, and that if she'd called the police as soon as possible, she wouldn't be in all this trouble.]]

** [[spoiler:For Lester Nygaard. Both seem like harmless, fairly amiable nonentities on the surface, but underneath they're both incredibly self-centred and don't care who they hurt as long as they themselves are all right. However, as the series progresses, it becomes clear that she's more of a...]]

-->'''Ed:''' It's about this guy who, every day, he-- he pushes this rock up this hill. Like a boulder. And then every night, it just rolls back down. [[{{Determinator}} But he doesn't stop. You know, he just-- he keeps goin']]. And-- and he wakes up every day and starts pushin'. By which I-I-I guess I'm-- I'm sayin' it doesn't matter what they throw at me. [[BewareTheNiceOnes I'm gonna take care of what's mine]].

* TheButcher: He works as one and [[spoiler:[[RuleOfSymbolism is framed symbolically]] when he kills Rye Gerhardt in self-defense, the scene [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything reminiscent of a hunter killing a wild, dangerous animal.]]]]

* MotiveRant: She gives one to Lou after she's finally caught.

!!Peggy Blumquist

Peggy is a small town beautician in Luverne, MN, but inside she knows she could be so much more. She’s on a quest, really, to become the best Peggy Blumquist she can be, which means not just being a wife and one day mother. Her husband, Ed, is a traditional man with timeless goals (buy the shop, raise a family), but Peggy can’t help but think there’s more to life than just Luverne, Minnesota.

* AmbitionIsEvil: It's not hard to sympathize with Peggy's yearning to be more than a small-town beautician married to a butcher's assistant, but her ambitions drive her more selfish impulses.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without explaining how the tropes apply to the character. Just the trope name is not context. Just a character's name is not context.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Peggy is practically a compulsive liar, is narcissistic, has trouble having empathy for others, and is incapable at basic planning or even seemingly fully comprehending the consequences of her actions unless it's right in front of her. One theory is that she's a fairly [[TruthInTelevision realistic representation]] of somebody with [[TheSociopath anti-social personality disorder]] who is not neccesarily violent or sadistic. Hank is the first to notice that she has trouble grasping reality, stating that she's "touched". She hallucinates the leader of her seminar, and has a creepy conversation with him about self-actualization. [[spoiler:She also has a vivid one about being smoked out by Hanzee]]. She increasingly confuses reality and fiction to the point where she might even be considered schizophrenic.

* CharacterDevelopment: A hallucination of her motivational speaker after taking out Dodd makes her "fully actualised". From then on Peggy is considerably more decisive, brave, and violent, as well as supportive and loving to Ed.
* ConsummateLiar: Despite being bad at keeping it, Peggy is shown to be able to trick everyone with her lies, [[BelievingTheirOwnLies especially herself]], since she uses [[HalfTruth Half-Truths]], ExactWords and PlausibleDeniability to justify herself and her actions.
* CorneredRattlesnake: [[spoiler: As Dodd finds out, Peggy can be at her most dangerous when she's surrounded and cornered.]]
* TheDitz: She's so wrapped up in herself she doesn't really seem to think things through. [[spoiler: Note that her running over Rye in the first place wasn't actually a crime, he was wandering about on the road in poor visibility, and that if she'd called the police as soon as possible she wouldn't be in all this trouble.]]

** [[spoiler: For Lester Nygaard. Both seem like harmless, fairly amiable nonentities on the surface, but underneath they're both incredibly self-centred and don't care who they hurt as long as they themselves are all right. However, as the series progresses, it becomes clear that she's more of a...]]
* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:To Lester Nygaard. Both start in a similar place, trapped in relationships they find stifling, Lester to a woman who despises and belittles him and Peggy to a man who loves and supports her. Lester just accepts his lot, but Peggy actively tries to improve her situation and status in life. The difference is most tellingly shown however by their character development in their respective seasons. Lester starts off as a sympathetic character but loses that trait by through his actions throughout the first season, while Peggy starts off unsympathetic but gains audience sympathy as her character develops. Lester killed Pearl and was prepared to abandon Linda while Peggy stands by Ed throughout and at the moment when she's about to go on the run changes her mind and goes back to support him. The single biggest difference though is their actions in the final episodes. Lester sends Linda to her death at the hands of his season's BigBad to save himself and dies fleeing his just rewards, while Peggy goes to fight her season's BigBad to defend Ed and ends up living and accepting her punishment.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: [[spoiler:Runs over a man in her car, drives back home with him stuck in the windscreen and parks both the car and him in the garage, calmly makes dinner, exchanges small talk with her husband Ed about going to a self actualisation seminar and never once thinks of telling the cops or even Ed that there's a dead guy in the garage. Once it turns out Rye was only NotQuiteDead and Ed kills him she convinces Ed to cover up the events because if it came out things would be all over for her. Even when she's caught by Lou, she never accepts responsibility, blaming the person she ran over as the cause for her misfortune and never accepting any responsibility.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: When she tasers Dodd.]]

* NotSoHarmless: [[spoiler: She smashes a sink over one of Dodd's men, and then repeatedly electrocutes Dodd with his own cattle-prod.]]

* PetTheDog: As unhappy as she was in their marriage Peggy still clearly cared about Ed, her plans to go on the lamb always included taking Ed with her, and the one time she considered leaving him behind she instantly changed her mind. Following her character development she becomes much more protective, loving, and supportive of Ed, to the point that she's willing to try and [[spoiler: fight off Hanzee with an ice pick to protect him and breaks down in tears when he dies.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: When she encounters Dodd, who she [[spoiler: repeatedly tasers and ties up]]. She's still out of her depth, but not as much. By "The Castle," [[spoiler: she's become observant enough to realize what an awful idea sticking around at the Motor Motel is, capable of getting the drop on Lt. Schmidt, and even able to temporarily fend off ''Hanzee Dent.'']]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: "It's just a [[spoiler: FlyingSaucer]] Ed, we gotta go."

A butcher's assistant at Bud’s Meats, Ed is a gentle giant. All he ever wanted out of life was to become his parents, and so he married Peggy and they settled into his parents’ old house. Now Ed is working to buy the butcher shop and trying to talk Peggy into starting a family. Ed avoided serving in Vietnam due to a single kidney so his mettle has never really been tested. But that is about to change.

* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: After killing Rye.]]

* WhatDoesHeSeeInHer: Seriously though.

* LiteralMinded[=/=]MistakenForBadass: Due to disposing of Rye's body, Ed is incorrectly referred to as "The Butcher", a hitman working for the Kansas City Mob instead of his profession as literally being a butcher.

[[folder:Peggy]]

[[folder:Ed]]

* TheSociopath: The biggest indicator being not that she ran a man over with her car and tried to cover it up, but that she ran a man over with her car and continued on with her day like ''absolutely nothing had happened.'' '''She made dinner while he was still stuck in the windshield!''' However, it becomes progressively clear through the season that while Peggy is far from a good person and has a host of mental issues, she's not a sociopath. She does love Ed and most certainly feels emotion.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Peggy is practically a compulsive liar, is narcissistic, has trouble having empathy for others, and is incapable at basic planning or even seemingly fully comprehending the consequences of her actions unless its right in front of her. One theory is that she's a fairly [[TruthInTelevision realistic representation of]] somebody with [[TheSociopath anti-social personality disorder]] who is not neccesarily violent or sadistic. Hank is the first to notice that she has trouble grasping reality, stating that she's "touched". She hallucinates the leader of her seminar, and has a creepy conversation with him about self-actualization. [[spoiler:She also has a vivid one about being smoked out by Hanzee]]. She increasingly confuses reality and fiction to the point where she might even be considered schizophrenic.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Peggy is practically a compulsive liar, is narcissistic, has trouble having empathy for others, and is incapable at basic planning or even seemingly fully comprehending the consequences of her actions unless its right in front of her. One theory is that she's a fairly [[TruthInTelevision realistic representation of]] somebody with [[TheSociopath anti-social personality disorder]] who is not neccesarily violent or sadistic. Hank is the first to notice that she has trouble grasping reality, stating that she's "touched". She has hallucinates the leader of her seminar, and has a creepy conversation with him about self-actualization. [[spoiler:She also has a vivid one about being smoked out by Hanzee]]. She increasingly confuses reality and fiction to the point where she might even be considered schizophrenic.

-->''"I'll tell you what, if it was me, and we had to run, I wouldn't look back. For what? [[SmallTownBoredom The dazzle? This house?]] This is Ed's house. He grew up here. His mom washing his undies, his father taking his paper to the commode. You ask me how come I buy all these magazines? I'm livin' in a museum of the past."''

* AWolfInSheepsClothing: She is shown to keep her motivations pretty well under wraps. What she truly wants and how she plans to get haven't been revealed yet.

* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:To Lester Nygaard. Both start in a similar place, trapped in relationships they find stifling, Lester to a woman who despises and belittles him and Peggy to a man who loves and supports her. Lester just accepts his lot, Peggy, however, actively tries to improve her situation and status in life. The difference is most tellingly shown however by their character development in their respective seasons. Lester starts off as a sympathetic character but loses that trait by through his actions throughout the first season, while Peggy starts off unsympathetic but gains audience sympathy as her character develops. Lester killed Pearl and was prepared to abandon Linda while Peggy stands by Ed throughout and at the moment when she's about to go on the run changes her mind and goes back to support him. The single biggest difference though is their actions in the final episodes. Lester sends Linda to her death at the hands of his season's BigBad to save himself and dies fleeing his just rewards, while Peggy goes to fight her season's BigBad to defend Ed and ends up living and accepting her punishment.]]

* BlondesAreEvil: Or, more accurately, [[TheUnfettered amoral]].