History Characters / Tenet

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Early in the film, she tries to leave Sator to drown at sea, although the Protagonist [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou has to save him]]. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Kat deviates from the plan (to let Sator die believing his plan succeeded) in favor of killing her hated husband after telling him that his apocalyptic scheme would fail.]]

* TheWrestlerInAllOfUs: Uses some impressive wrestling moves in his hallway fight, including a full body flip.

* BadassInANiceSuit: At the very least he's well-trained in close combat, and wears nice suits for a good portion of the film.

* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Sator isn’t tiny, but is noticeably shorter than his wife. Doesn't stop him from being incredibly intimidating, especially in the scenes depicting their [[spoiler:domestic violence.]]

Sator’s right-hand man and top enforcer.

** He's also shocked at the idea of spending ten million dollars on a vacation, asking Kat "where did you go? Mars?". This is one of her first clues that he's not who he claims to be as such lavish trips are pretty standard for people in her social circle and ten million isn't almost nothing to people with billions.

** At the other fancy restaurant (where he met Kat), in his PreAssKickingOneLiner he claims to have ordered "hot sauce" of all things.

** During the opera siege, after he discovers the KORD troops planting bombs to kill the audience, he collects the bombs and throws them away, despite his colleagues telling him it’s “not our mission”.

-->'''Sator''': How would you like to die?\\
'''The Protagonist''': Old.

* ExperiencedProtagonist: ZigZagged. On the one hand, he is a seasoned CIA operative who was involved in intervening in an anti-terrorist operation in Ukraine before he got recruited to join Tenet. On the other hand, his line of work does not normally involve time literally flowing backwards around him, in contrast to a protagonist such as [[Film/{{Inception}} Dominic Cobb]], whose line of work revolves around that film's plot device involving dreams.

* NiceGuy: Despite the nature of his profession, he is a polite and selfless individual who cares about both his allies and innocent civilians, as illustrated by his actions in the ActionPrologue. This sets him apart from Sator [[spoiler: and makes him the perfect BigGood Foil to Sator's BigBad]]

* PintsizedPowerhouse: The Protagonist isn't ''short'', ''per se'', but he is the shortest of the main cast (John David Washington is 5'9", Robert Pattinson is 6'1", Elizabeth Debicki is 6'3", and Kenneth Branagh is 5'10"), yet constantly proves himself as one of the most capable soldiers and agents in the film. [[spoiler: Oh, and the ending reveals his future self is the head of Tenet, which would mean he only gets more capable as the years progress.]]

* TinyGuyHugeGirl: He's considerably shorter than Kat (John David Washington is about 5'9 while Elizabeth Debicki is 6'3 and that's without the heels Kat usually wears).

** At the fancy restaurant, when the waiter subtly reprimands him for omitting Sir Michael Crosby’s [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever honorific]], he [[TheUnapologetic seems rather unfazed]] by this (admittedly minor) faux pas being pointed out.

** The subtlest one: during the Freeport heist, he asks the salesman for an "expresso".[[note]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4hvh5e8-nw&t=70s It’s pronounced "espresso"]].[[/note]] (This may or may not even be intentional on his part, but either way, it fits.)

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Neil takes the knowledge of his upcoming demise remarkably well and faces it with absolute calm, grace and even some humor.]]

-->'''Neil''': What's happened's happened. Which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. [[TheAntiNihilist It's not an excuse to do nothing]].\\
'''The Protagonist''': Fate?\\
'''Neil''': Call it what you want.\\
'''The Protagonist''': What do you call it?\\
'''Neil''': Reality. [[FaceDeathWithDignity Now let me go]].

** [[spoiler: He was the mysterious GasMaskMook who saves the Protagonist's life with an inverted bullet in the opening scene of movie--and the same one who appeared at Stalsk-12 making a HeroicSacrifice for the Protagonist--indicated by the red-string-attached trinket on his backpack.]]
* NiceGuy: Neil is a charming, polite person who hits it off almost immediately with The Protagonist and [[spoiler: has no issue sacrificing his life for the good of the world.]]

* YourDaysAreNumbered: [[spoiler: Figures out in his last scene that he will [[StableTimeLoop eventually]] come back again through time to help Ives and the Protagonist again and won't make it. However, since his face-covering helmet also covered any sign of age, there is no telling how far in his future that event is.]]

* OhCrap: Mahir is appropriately alarmed when he sees [[spoiler: Kat kill Sator before the algorithm is disarmed.]]

** This also isn't [[Film/JackRyanShadowRecruit the only time]] Kenneth Branagh plays a villain [[spoiler: [[YourDaysAreNumbered who's dying of cancer]] and spends the climax miles away from the conflict.]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: A very minor case. When Sator catches The Protagonist snooping around his Yacht, Sator threatens to put a bullet in his head. Referring back to an earlier threat, the Protagonist quips “No balls down my throat?” Sator appeared slightly amused and then quips back “There will be no time for such things.”

* CrazyJealousGuy: Sator is entirely willing to have the Protagonist beaten by his cronies or castrated because he might be having an affair with his estranged wife. [[spoiler: It turns out this mindset extends to the entire world; he intends to wipe out all of existence rather than let it go on without him.]]

** [[spoiler: He colludes with people from the future to collect the Algorithm for them in exchange for gold and knowledge of time-inverting mechanics, which become his assets to build a life of wealth and power he would never have seen otherwise.]]

* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Sator isn’t tiny, but is noticeably shorter than his wife. Doesn’t stop him from being incredibly intimidating, especially in the scenes depicting their [[spoiler: domestic violence.]]

* YourDaysAreNumbered: [[spoiler: Is SecretlyDying from inoperable pancreatic cancer.]]

* LargeAndInCharge: Standing at 6’5” and sporting an athletic build, Volkov leads Sator's men.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: In the ending. As the Protagonist said before, "You're an ArmsDealer, friend. This may be the easiest trigger I have ever pulled." The fact that she was about to have Kat killed at the end also helps.]]

* BigGood: [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], she actually works for the Protagonist's future self. Also, she attempts to have Kat assassinated after everything has been resolved even though the Protagonist made her promise that she wouldn't.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: Willing to have Kat shot, but wants it done before her son can see it, to spare him the potential scarring.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: She sold Sator the (uninverted) bullets his army uses. However she didn't know he was working for Tenet's enemies and that is how they figure it out. [[spoiler: She also orders the Protagonist to lead Sator to the last part of the algorithm which almost results in the destruction of the world. However both of these instances are subverted: she knew the protagonist was going to fail, and helping Sator was the only way for Tenet to get their hands on the whole algorithm and as she was working for the Protagonist's future self the entire time, she probably already knew Sator was the bad guy and that it was going to work out in the end.]]
* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler: When the Protagonist kills her for trying to have Kat assassinated, he reveals his epiphany that she has been in his employ (his future self's employ, at least) from the very beginning.]]

!1! '''Played by:''' Anthony Molinari

!! '''Played by:''' Anthony Molinari

* {{Foil}}: For [[BigBad Sator]]; they may both be willing to lie and manipulate in service to their goals, but the Protagonist is heroic where Sator is villainous, selfless where he is selfish, and treats Kat with kindness and respect, whereas Sator treats her as his property and shamelessly abuses her. The Protagonist is also an American who is implied to be a WorkingClassHero, while Sator is a Russian oligarch, tremendously wealthy, though both men have [[spoiler:powerful backers from the future (Tenet--and therefore himself--for the Protagonist, and the unknown GreaterScopeVillain for Sator)]].

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-> '''Played by:''' Dimple Kapadia