History Characters / OnceUponATimeInHollywood

* VillainOfAnotherStory: Went on to try and rally support for Manson after his arrest in real-life and was later arrested for trying to murder Gerald Ford, although the changing timeline casts this future into question.

* BadassBoast: Defied. In the final act, [[spoiler:he tells Cliff that he's "the Devil", who's come to "do the Devil's business". Cliff immediately mocks him, telling him he remembers him saying something "dumber than that"]].

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Was involved in some of Manson's later movies in real-life, but during the events of the film, it's unclear if she's involved in anything nebulous or sinister yet [[spoiler: or if she ever will be given the change in the timeline]].

* TokenGoodTeammate: Interestingly played with. She plays this straight In the context of just what the movie she’s even less malevolent than Flower Child or Snake and her screen time consists of pleasantly showing around tourists and being absent when everyone else gets mad and starts throwing abuse at Cliff. This is completely averted In the context of future real life events though, where she was a killer, albeit one of the first members of the Manson family to confess and cooperate with the police after being arrested.

* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: Evident after Cliff beats him up, as everyone else gets angry and frightened on his behalf, calling him a flower, and one of the woman moths that she loves him as Cliff puts him to work changing the tire without giving him a rag to wipe his face first.

[[/folder]]

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/AlPacino

* ChekhovsGunman: He gives Rick the idea to act in a SpaghettiWestern as a way to jumpstart his flagging career. Midway through the film, as Cliff and Rick are sitting down to watch an episode of ''F.B.I.'', Marvin gets on the phone to a producer to give Rick a referral, thus setting up the TimeSkip.

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/EmileHirsch

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/TimothyOlyphant

One Rick's co-stars on the pilot for CBS western ''Lancer'', portraying gunslinger and series lead Johnny Madrid Lancer.

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BruceDern

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/LukePerry

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/DamianLewis

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/KurtRussell

--> '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/SydneySweeney

--> '''Portrayed by:''' James Landrey Herbert

* BullyingADragon: Slashes one of Cliff's tires and makes the mistake of standing around and smirking about it.

--> '''Portrayed By: ''' Victoria Pedretti

* NiceGirl: Very pleasant and helpful towards both the tourists, which just adds to the FridgeHorror when you consider her real-life counterparts actions.

[[folder: Leslie "LuLu" Van Houten]]

* AddledAddict: Not too evident in the film itself, but he does show some signs of drug use, and in real-life was hooked on drugs by Manson [[UnwittingPawn to make him dependent on the family]].

* DumbMuscle: Part of his role.

* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: Evident after Cliff beats him up, as everyone else gets angry and frightened on his behalf, and one of the woman moths that she loves him as Cliff puts him to work changing the tire.

----

** This also extends to Rick's character, Jake Cahill, on ''Bounty Law'' -- an amoral BountyHunter who makes no effort to bring his targets in alive, and in fact describes other bounty hunters who do as "amateurs." Possibly a TakeThat to ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'', whose main character Josh Randall (played by Rick's rival, Steve [=McQueen=]) preferred to bring his quarry alive.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Rick claims that Creator/SteveMcQueen beat him out for the lead role in ''Film/TheGreatEscape''.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''“In this town, it can all change ([[Main/BadassFingersnap snap]]) like that.”'']]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''”Anybody accidentally kills anybody in a fight, they go to jail. It’s called manslaughter.”'']]

* CombatPragmatist: Cliff does this on several occasions, making use of hitting a person's vulnerable points.

** After Steve Grogan stabs a tire on Cliff's car and refuses to replace it with the spare, Cliff proceeds to pound the tar out of him until he acquiesces.

* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: During the climax, [[spoiler:against Patricia, after she stabs him in the hip with a knife. He proceeds to smash her face against available blunt surface in the house, reducing her to nothing but... red]].

[[caption-width-right:350: ''”I’m in the movie. I play [[Film/TheWreckingCrew Mrs. Carlson]], the klutz.”'']]

* AlternateHistory: [[spoiler:As a result of Rick encountering the Manson acolytes beforehand, the Polanski residence isn't attacked, and Sharon and her unborn baby (along with all the other party guests) survive. The final shot of the film has her and Jay Sebring inviting Rick up to the house for a drink]].

** YMMV on the HappilyMarried part. And the film makes it clear that Jay's hanging around because he assumes Polanski is going to screw up and he'll be able to win over Sharon.

* SacrificialLamb: Many of the scenes involving her are devoted to showing how innocent she is, thus setting up the tragic events of the real-life incident that inspired the film. [[spoiler: Except, in this timeline, she doesn't die, and remains alive to greet Rick and have a drink with him, Sebring and the other party guests at the very end of the film]].

* TriangRelations: Sharon and Roman are in love, but they're still best friends with Sharon's ex-boyfriend Jay Sebring, who in turn is still carrying a torch for Sharon. Steve [=McQueen=] voices his suspicion that Jay's staying around Sharon in order to pick up the pieces when Roman inevitably breaks her heart.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''”Charlie’s gonna dig you.”'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:”Fuck you, Katie! Sorry I don’t know the name of every facist on TV in the 50’s!”]]

[[caption-width-right:350:”I’m the devil. And I’m here to do the devil’s business.”]]

[[caption-width-right:350:”Jesus Christ Sadie, keep it together!”]]

[[caption-width-right:327: ''”If he comes this way, let me know.”'']]

* AlternateHistory: [[spoiler:Linda decides to flee from the group after they encounter Rick outside his house, whereas in real-life, Kasabian acted as a lookout during the killings, being stationed outside the house to watch for intruders]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:As the group walks up the hill to Rick's house, she claims that she left her "knife in the car", which causes the exasperated Tex to hand her the keys so she can run and get it. She uses the opportunity to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere steal the car and flee the area]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''”I love that stuff, you know, with the killing.”'']]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''”You still with Rick, eh?”'']]

* ThereNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Cliff essentially turns her face into red paste during the final confrontation, after she had just stabbed him in the hip]].

* CombatPragmatist: Cliff does this on several occasions, making use of hitting a person's vulnerable points and using

* AntiHero: Cliff is usually a NiceGuy, but the fights with Bruce Lee fight shows he has no patience for bullshit whilst remaining relatively calm but dangerous, which makes it plausible that he might have killed his wife.

* RantInducingSlight: The sight of an old taxicab idling outside his house gets Rick so angered that he stomps outside in his nightrobe and proceeds to yell at them, ordering him to leave the area before he calls the cops. [[spoiler:[[ForWantOfANail This causes]] an AlternateHistory, when the occupants of the vehicle (the Manson acolytes - Tex, Patricia and Sadie - opt to attack ''his'' home instead of the Polanski residence]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Rick is a temperamental, alcoholic {{Manchild}}, but he genuinely cares about Cliff and stand by him when no one else will. Despite it seeming like he takes advantage of him at first, Rick stands up for Cliff despite the cloud of alleged murder hanging over his head, keeps him paid and on call as his driver/handyman, and goes out of his way to find work for him even as his own career falters. Then, on the set of ''Lancer'', Rick quickly bonds with his younger co-star Trudi — tellingly, his first reaction after throwing her to the ground in a scene (a late addition to the script which was Rick's idea) is immediately checking to see if she's okay (which she is, as wardrobe added padding under her dress).

* IAmNotSpock: In-Universe. Rick has trouble escaping his persona as "Jack Cahill" from ''Bounty Law''. His subsequent work as a special guest villain on other shows doesn't help; as Schwarz points out, the story might concern a young hero beating up an experienced villain, but what the audience sees is new cowboys (and other TV heroes) kicking Jack Cahill's ass. The new TV pilot in which we see Rick actually act still casts him as a heavy, but subtly averts this; the costuming and design gives Rick a different look than he usually has, and the director specifically tells him that this role needs "Rick Dalton the actor, not Jack Cahill."

* HilariousOuttakes: During the credits, Rick is seen filming an ad for Red Apple cigarettes during his ''Bounty Law'' days, during which he praises the company and the flavor of the cigarettes. As soon as the camera stops rolling. he starts bitterly complaining about how horrible the cigarettes taste and how the cardboard cutout of him has a double chin.

* DrinkOrder: Cliff is shown drinking Bloody Marys in multiple scenes. His wife was enjoying one when she died, suggesting that he hasn't gotten over her death.

* TheAlcoholic: As the film begins, Rick has had his license suspended due to driving while drunk, and he nearly blows his role in ''Lancer'' due to drinking one too many whiskey sours the night before.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Besides his {{Jerkass}} tendencies, Rick is otherwise cordial to most people. [[spoiler:This goes out the window when Sadie crashes into his pool during the final confrontation -- he immediately gets out of the pool, goes to his garage, gets out ''a flamethrower'' and roasts her. He is later acquitted of any charges for acting in self-defense against a home invader]].

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Played with; Rick has a heavy smoking habit and a persistent bad cough that he just can't seem to shake, with the implication that the two are connected being clear. However, it's never really made an issue of or discussed, and we never see him diagnosed.

** Cliff responds pleasantly (if slightly forceful) when he discovers that the commune has slashed one of his tires during the trip to Spahn Ranch, and orders Clem to fix it. When the latter refuses and laughs at him, Cliff brutally hits him several times, warns all of the female members to stay back or else he'd punch out Clem's teeth, and orders him to fix the tire under threat of additional violence.
** The same thing happens in the finale, when [[spoiler:the acid-tripping Cliff encounters the three acolytes and starts laughing in his fever high. Upon realizing that they're not being taken seriously, Sadie orders Tex to shoot, leading Cliff to order Brandy to attack Tex. What results is a NoKillLikeOverkill sequence where Cliff and Brandy (and eventually Rick) absolutely ''destroy'' the attacking party]].

* CombatPragmatist: Cliff does this on several occasions.

* CoolOldGuy: In his mid-50's but acts and even moves like a man half his age, making clear why Pussycat would be attracted to someone old enough to plausibly be her grandfather.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Cliff is very unassuming and easygoing, but he regularly shows to be a lot more aware of what is going on and calculated than you would expect. He seems to let Bruce Lee get the first hit before slamming him into a car. Even his dog, Brandy, seems just a lovable lapdog. [[spoiler:In the climax, while high on acid, he absentmindedly mocks the three attackers before handily taking them out, only being knocked unconscious as a delayed reaction to a knife wound to the hip]].

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:She is ''the'' reason why the acolytes elect to attack Rick's house first, claiming that they should make an example of Rick by [[{{Hypocrite}} killing the actor who inspired them to kill in the first place]]. She starts things off by ordering Tex to shoot Cliff, which gives Cliff plenty of reason to kick off the chain of events that eventually leads to her death at the hands of Rick and his flamethrower]].

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Possibly ''the'' most prominent example in any of Tarantino's films, with her being mauled, hit in the face with heavy can (causing potentially-lethal head trauma), lacerated and immolated]].

* NoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Mauled by a dog, gets a GroinAttack, stabbed and has his head stomped in by a man who is tripping on acid]].

* AddingInsultToInjury: [[spoiler:As Cliff is smashing Patricia into the phone receiver, it makes a handful of notable dinging noises, making the shot comical in effect. Given the real-life character's involvement in the murders, this was likely intentional]].
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Like the rest of the acolytes, she was planning to massacre the inhabitants of the Polanski residence before Rick's action caused a divergence from history, and likely would have done the same to Rick and his wife had Cliff not been present. As a result, her comeuppance at Cliff's hands (especially after stabbing him) comes off as justified]].
* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler:She manages to get a shot in on Cliff by bum-rushing him in the Dalton residence, stabbing him in the legin the process. Upon gloating at him after doing this, he responds by [[NoKillLikeOverkill bashing her head into every single surface he can find, reducing her face to a pulp in the process]]]].

[[caption-width-right:350: ''”My hands are registered as lethal weapons. We get into a fight, I accidentally kill you? I go to jail.”'']]

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: ...depending on whether Cliff's UnreliableNarrator flashback is to be believed. Lee is portrayed as a loud-mouthed braggart who lectures the film crew about how amazingly badass he is.

* ActorAllusion: Western star Stacy is played by Timothy Olyphant, best known for his starring roles in westerns Series/{{Deadwood}} and Series/{{Justified}}.

* NiceGuy: As stated above, he’s a rather pleasant fellow and happy to work with Rick.

* MrExposition: Breaks down the relationship between Jay, Sharon and Roman at a party their all attending at the Playboy Mansion.

A veteran stunt coordinator and an old friend of Rick and Cliff

* ActorAllusion: He's a stunt coordinator, and Kurt Russell played Stuntman Mike in Tarantino's Film/DeathProof.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Sharon has blond hair and is arguably the nicest person in the film, giving a ride to a complete stranger, chatting up the employees at a local theater and [[spoiler:even inviting her next-door neighbor up for a drink after he had to immolate an intruder]].

* FootFocus: She can be seen placing her feet above against the windshield as Cliff gives her a life back to the Ranch.

[[folder:Sadie[=/=]Susan Atkins]]

* NoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Possibly ''the'' most prominent example in any of Tarantino's films, with her being mauled, hit in the face with heavy can (causing potentially-lethal head trauma), lacerated and immolated]].

* UnderestimatingBadassery: [[spoiler:Like the rest of the attackers, she apparently didn't realize Cliff (an ex-army member and stuntman) was in the house, along with his trained attack dog, were in Rick's house, nor did she realize that Rick had easy access to a flamethrower in his garage]].

[[folder:Tex[=/=]Charles Watson]]

* CoDragons: He, along with "Squeaky" Fromme, manages the affairs of the commune at Spahn Ranch, as they were in real life.

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:Despite his bravado and attempted usage of a knife, Tex is a drug-using hippie who quickly falls to the combined attacks of Brandy (attacking [[GroinAttack his sensitive parts]]) and Cliff, who easily disarms him and stomps his head against a door frame]].
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: [[spoiler: But hey, you would, too, if a pit bull was biting your nuts.]]

[[folder:Katie[=/=]Patricia Krenwinkel]]

* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler:She manages to get a shot in on Cliff by bum-rushing him in the Dalton residence, stabbing him in the hip in the process. Upon gloating at him after doing this, he responds by [[NoKillLikeOverkill bashing her head into every single surface he can find, reducing her face to a pulp in the process]]]].

* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler:Of the three attackers, Patricia's only roles are to force Francesca out of bed, threaten her with a knife, then try to bum-rush Cliff and stab him when he's distracted. It seems to momentarily work... until he picks her up by the hair and goes to town on her face]].
* NoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Cliff essentially turns her face into red paste during the final confrontation, after she had just stabbed him in the hip]].

[[folder:Flower Child[=/=]Linda Kasabian]]

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:After the argument in the car, Linda immediately gets cold feet and decides to get the hell out of the area, playing things off by pretending she left her knife in the taxi before commandeering it, driving off and leaving Tex, Sadie and Patricia stranded]].
* TokenGoodTeammate: As in real life, [[spoiler:Linda refuses to participate in the murders. While it's unknown what happens to the Manson clan in this AlternateHistory where Cliff and Rick thwart their crimes, it's likely she still performs he real life counterpart's HeelFaceTurn and testifies against the family]].

* AlternateHistory: Played with. Rick was up for McQueen’s role in ''Film/TheGreatEscape''. However, while we see alternate footage of Rick in the role, he backed out and McQueen was able to take the part.

[[folder:Diane “Snake” Lake]]

* Main/{{Courier}}: Squeaky has her relay what she sees from Cliff’s arrival.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: She’s barefoot in every scene she’s in.
* TokenGoodTeamMate: Like Flower Child. She doesn’t appear as malevolent or sinister as the other members.