History Characters / Macbeth

* DeadpanSnarker: Macbeth's revisionist accounts of past events bring out the snark in him during his conversation with an unnamed lord.

* DefiantToTheEnd: To his credit, even after [[NoManOfWomanBorn learning that Macduff was not, in fact, "of woman born" (technically speaking)]], he still elects to go down swinging.

* TheWeirdSisters:
** Macbeth's descent into villainy is triggered by his encounter with three old and freakishly ugly witches who predict that he is destined to be king of Scotland, which prompts Macbeth to murder King Duncan. In act IV, Macbeth seeks out the witches again and receives three more prophecies which lull him into a false sense of security. While the witches manipulate Macbeth, their prophecies are truthful, just worded in ways apt to be misinterpreted by Macbeth, and they do not interfere with fate directly.

* HeroAntagonist: To counter Macbeth's VillainProtagonist. Macduff is a good and noble knight out to avenge his family's deaths, get revenge on the one who killed them, and reclaim the throne for the true heir. All very standard protagonist stuff, but the play isn't called ''Macduff'', is it?

* TheCaligula: Considering that Caligula planned to kill Emperor Tiberius himself but wasn't able to do it (and Caligula was rumored to have smothered him with a pillow), this can nearly be literal. Regardless, Macbeth starts to become extremely paranoid and arrogant, killing his best friend Banquo with no qualms and murdering Macduff's wife and son a while after. He also displays much arrogance towards Hecate and the 3 witches, even to his end when fighting Macduff.

* TheCaligula: Considering that Caligula planned to kill Emperor Tiberius himself but wasn't able to do it (and Caligula was rumored to have smothered him with a pillow), this can nearly be literal Regardless, Macbeth starts to become extremely paranoid and arrogant, killing his best friend Banquo with no qualms and murdering Macduff's wife and son a while after. He also displays much arrogance towards Hecate and the 3 witches, even to his end when fighting Macduff.

* BestFriend: Early on, he and Macbeth were best buddies. However, when Macbeth becomes King, Banquo becomes suspicious of him while Macbeth is jealous of Banquo's heir Fleance. [[spoiler: He decides to end that line by trying to kill Banquo and Fleance, but only Banquo dies]].

* FaceHeelTurn: Introduced as a valorous and loyal general to King Duncan, ends as a ruthless Tyrant whose death is celebrated by the people.

* OutDamnedSpot: The famous sleepwalking scene: Lady Macbeth is guilt-ridden over Duncan's death, dreams that she has a bloodstain on her hand and she cannot get it out.

* AgentProvocateur: Regardless of the production, ''they'' are the ones to plant the seeds of ambition in [=MacBeth=] and his wife, knowing the ProphecyTwist that awaited him.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Macduff is ''dead set'' on taking Macbeth down after Macbeth orders the death of Macduff's wife and child.

* BornOfADeadWoman: Until fairly recently, C-sections were only performed on women who suffered DeathByChildbirth. This is part of why NoManOfWomanBorn applies - Macduff was born from a ''corpse''.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He leads Scotland's forces to victory against Norway and its King Sweno, and personally kills the treacherous Thane of Cawdor. Duncan rewards him for his efforts by giving him the thanedom of Cawdor. He's also one of the most powerful and influential men in Scotland, to the point of thinking that he's a natural contender to be the next king. When he murders Duncan and forces Malcolm to flee, the rest of the nobility consider him the best choice to be king.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Even before his SanitySlippage, he seems to have had hallucinations, and Lady Macbeth excuses his seeing the ghost of Banquo by saying that he's always had fits like this.

* BigGood: His role in the play. Essentially, he is the Optimus Prime to MacBeth’s Megatron.

* ManipulativeBastard: One interpretation of him. He has a long scene where he plays off Macduff's beliefs and fears (while Macduff is mourning the loss of his wife and child no less) in order to persuade him to join in the effort to overthrow Macbeth.

* HeroAntagonist: To counter Macbeth's VillainProtagonist. Macduff is a good and noble knight out to avenge his families death, get revenge on the one who killed them, and reclaim the throne for the true heir. All very standard protagonist stuff, but the play isn't called ''Macduff'', is it?
* ItsPersonal: From the start Macduff works to prove Mabeth's guilt in slaying Duncan for justice, but after Macbeth has his entire family murdered it goes from justice to straight up revenge.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Macduff is ''dead set'' on taking Macbeth down after he orders the death of his wife and child.

* IgnoredEpiphany: He's well-aware that what he's doing is wrong and considers backing out of the plot to kill Duncan, but ultimately goes through with it.

* {{Foil}}: To Macbeth. While the title character is persuaded to abandon anything feminine (read: feelings), Macduff openly weeps when he learns that his children are dead.