History Characters / IClaudius

* EvilStepmother: Acts as this to Brittanicus, and possibly Octavia, who are also her first cousins. She does so in a manipulative, passive agressive manner,flaunting her power in front of him.

* FreudianExcuse: The series never explicity invokes this, but it can be imagined. Her childhood consisted of the early death of her father in suspicous circumstances and systematic destruction of her family by Tiberius. She then witnessed the unhinged reign of Caligula who coerced Agrippina and her sisters into incest with him, murdering one of the others and then banishing Agrippina and the third. Her only other sister was executed by Claudius (though not stated in the TV series.) This would serve to explain why she is so heartless and manipulative, using it as a survival mechanism.

-->'''Tiberius''': "They say a snake bit her once... and died."

-->'''Augustus''': "Quinctilius Varus, '''WHERE ARE MY EAGLES!'''."

* KickTheDog: Treats Claudius like dirt throughout the series. Even when she reveals her plan to commit suicide to him, she makes sure to remind him how much of a disappointment he remains to her despite his disabilities not being his fault.

%%* KingOnHisDeathbed

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: He was Tiberius' hatchet man who also duped Tiberius into killing his family so that he could eventually be Tiberius successor. Still he had some PetTheDog moments with his kids and has at least some moderate scruples compared to his successor Macro. Tiberius immediately recognizes that Macro is worse than Sejanus when Caligula explains that Macro is knowingly letting Caligula sleep with his wife to climb up the social ladder.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: He was Tiberius' hatchet man who also duped Tiberius into killing his family so that he could eventually be Tiberius successor. Still he had some PetTheDog moments with his kids and has at least some moderate scruples compared to his successor Macro. Tiberius immediately recognizes that Macro is worse than Tiberius when Caligula explains that Macro is knowingly letting Caligula sleep with his wife to climb up the social ladder.

* PetTheDog: Tiberius' scenes with Drusus are there to establish that he did in fact have some redeeming points in his youth, and probably suffered from severe mentall illness the Roman medical establishment didn't understand, let alone have any treatments for.

* VorpalPillow: Tiberius's fate. When he falls ill and seemingly dies, Caligula is declared emperor. Tiberius then revives, and Macro quickly strangles him with a pillow.
%%* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: She is referred to by "Agripinilla" in the series, likely to distinguish her from her mother Agripinna the Elder (who was also a major character).

* VorpalPillow: Tiberius's fate.

* HairTriggerTemper: After going insane. Celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Actium, and he throws a fit. ''Don't'' celebrate it, and he throws a fit. Please don't mention the fact that his grandfather was a commoner.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Tiberius becomes emperor, all right. Unfortunately, he drags Rome into an age of terror and debauchery.

* FreudianExcuse: The series never explicity invokes this, but it can be imagined. Her childhood consisted of the early death of her father in suspicous circumstances, the systematic destruction of her family by Tiberius. She then witnessed the unhinged reign of Caligula who coerced Agrippina and her sisters into incest with him, murdering one of the others and then banishing Agrippina and the third. Her only other sister was executed by Claudius (though not stated in the TV series.) This would serve to explain why she is so heartless and manipulative, using it as a survival mechanism.

* VillainousIncest: She is in an incestuous relationship with her son, which she also uses as a method to control him.

* BeneathNotice: The exchange he makes for a life of humiliation is safety from all the snapping and plotting of the palace. In a PoliceState run by Sejanus, Claudius can get a letter to Tiberius unsearched and uncensored because nobody thinks he's even capable of being involved in anything important.

->Played by: Kevin Stoney

->Played by Sheila White.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: He's very popular with the people of Rome, so much so that when he steps down Augustus begs him to come back when his reputation takes a hit.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Another very popular member of the royal family. When exiled, Augustus complains that the citizens continue to demand her return.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Like Agrippa, he commanded a considerable amount of popularity amongst the people. It's a major factor in Livia's decision to kill him as she was wary of the power it could give him.

** If her son, Drusus, hadn't died of his wounds after being crushed by a horse, she would have killed him to prevent his devotion to returning Rome to a Republic from ever baring fruit.

!!Tiberius Claudius Nero

* BestFriend: Until the events of the final episode, he remains Claudius's most long lasting and loving friendship.* * BoomerangBigot: He has no genuine care for the Jewish people under his command, constantly deriding them and sees them as "a quarrelsome people who drive all their rulers mad".

* KarmaHoudini: Only in the TV show, where he disappears without trace with no explanation given.

* AntiVillain: Tiberius's bad tendencies are more the result of a certain moral and ethical laziness than any sort of calculated villainy.

* BrokenAce: Tiberius is physically strong, one of Rome's greatest generals, speaks several languages and is no intellectual slouch. Too bad he's moody, resentful, jealous and depressed.

* TheEeyore: It's extremely rare to find him actually happy at any point in the series - his introductory scene is him complaining to Drusus that nobody will ever understand how miserable he ''inherently'' is.

* FourStarBadass: A very capable general.

* HappilyMarried: To Vipsania until Livia ruins it.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He outlives his son Castor and his nephew and adopted son Germanicus. He also outlives Germanicus' sons, Nero and Drusus, his biological great-nephews and adopted grandsons, who die in captivity that he put them under at Sejanus' instigation.

* ThePeterPrinciple: Tiberius was a very skilled commander and as much as Augustus didn't like him, he couldn't deny Tiberius's military success. As emperor, Tiberius's failings become far more apparent as his confrontational personality and sour demeanor frequently lead him to fight with officials and his callousness is further highlighted when he starts running the realm into the ground for his own selfish reasons. Other characters note that he ran the technical aspects of the empire well enough and that his reign was very much RepressiveButEfficient, but by the end of his rule he just let it all fall apart.
* PetTheDog: Tiberius's scenes with Drusus are there to establish that he did in fact have some redeeming points in his youth.

* SketchySuccessor: Played with. As a heir to Augustus he is for the most part portrayed as a depraved tyrant; yet Claudius acknowledges that he was competent at governing the empire and that the majority of the population had little reason to complain during his reign, with only the minority suffering from his repressions. However, the trope is played completely straight during the last years of his reign, when he just stops caring about the administration of the empire whatsoever.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Easily one of the series's most notable examples. While most other particularly depraved antagonists [[BitchInSheepsClothing hide their true nature when they debut]] (i.e. Caligula and Messalina), Tiberius started out with a decent amount of sympathy. He wasn't a particularly good person but he had a number of good points and was more pressed into the climb to power by his mother. After ascending to power, Tiberius becomes a much more malevolent character; turning spiteful, cruel, and paranoid. At the end of his rule, he grooms Caligula to be his successor so he may bring ruination to the Empire and make everyone suffer.

* DirtyCoward: By Roman standards. [[spoiler:A man in his position would have been expected to commit suicide so that his honor could be preserved and his family wouldn't lose their estate. Instead, Piso tries to blackmail the emperor.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: He and his wife a major political crisis by interpreting vague instructions as orders to commit murder.

* YouKnowTooMuch: He's convinced that his letters will save him. [[spoiler:Instead Livia coerces his wife into killing him and making it look like suicide.]]

* SergeantRock: "They say your drills are bloodless battles, and your battles are bloody drills." According to Claudius, Tiberius never praised his soldiers and often overworked them ("Let them hate me as long as they obey me"), but they respected him because he shared their hardships on campaign (including sleeping without a tent) and always charged at their head in battle; many actually preferred service under Tiberius because he was not squeamish about releasing them to looting when an enemy town or city was sacked.
Tiberius, however, is fair, even sleeping without a tent if his troops couldn't have one.

* SergeantRock: "They say your drills are bloodless battles, and your battles are bloody drills." Tiberius, however, is fair, even sleeping without a tent if his troops couldn't have one.