History Characters / TheLastSamurai

* NonActionBigBad: While he accompanies his troops in battle, he never gets involved in the action himself, and defers generally defers to Bagley when it comes to strategy. When he overrules Bagley in the final battle, his inexperience in the field sees it blow up in his face.

* WidowWoman: Algren killed her husband at the end of the first battle between the samurai and the Imperial army.

* WeaponOfChoice: He favors a good old Winchester Model 1873.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: That name tho.

* MyMasterRightOrWrong: A reconstructed inversion of the trope; Katsumoto makes very clear that if the Emperor wanted him to set aside his rebellion, put aside his weapons, and even die (or not), he’s only need to order it. It’s not lost on him that Mutsuhito is kowtowing to his advisors, who are the real enemy in Katsumoto’s view, so he doesn’t see his actions as treasonous; if he was properly ordered to stand down it’s indicated he truly would have done so, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: TakingTheBullet for Algren]]

* HeroKiller: He kills numerous Imperial Japanese soldiers and Zebulon Gant during the Fog Battle.

* NoNameGiven[=/=]OnlyKnownByHisNickname: His real name is never revealed and he is only referred to by Algren's nickname of "Bob".

* AskAStupidQuestion[=/=]EvilCannotComprehendGood:
-->'''Bagley:''' Algren, what is it about your own people you hate so much?
-->'''Bagley:''' Son of a bitch thinks he can win...

* KarmicDeath: Is killed by the same man he so traumatized, and with the same weapon he scoffs at nonetheless.

-->'''Bagley''': The rebels don't have a single rifle. They're savages with bows and arrows.
-->'''Algren''': Whose ''sole'' occupation for the last one thousand years has been war.

* BaldOfAwesome: Has a completely shaved head.

An industrialist and pro-reform politician who dislikes the old samurai and shogun-related ways and quickly imports westernization and modernization while making money for himself through his railroads. Coming from a merchant family that was like many repressed during the days of samurai rule and the cause for his extreme dislike for their nobility, he assumes a great deal of power during the Meiji Restoration and takes advantages of Emperor Meiji's youth to become his chief advisor, wielding power similar to that of the Shoguns. He's designed to evoke the historical figure of Okubo Toshimichi, a leading reformer of the Meiji Restoration.

* InsultBackfire: Gets one to the American Ambassador Swanbeck, who is complaining that Omura isn't expediting the arms trade deal as fast as he would like and that perhaps the Americans might speak to some other Japanese official to get what they want. Omura retorts that if that's the case, ''he'' can easily negotiate a deal with the French or British to supply Japan's army.

* BadassMustache: A veteran of the US Army and a formidable soldier who has a pretty nice stache.

* {{Expy}}: Reviews have noticed Bagley bears a striking resemblance to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer George Armstrong Custer]] himself (who is mentioned in the movie), sporting the same sort of hair-style and facial hair, having served in the 7th Cavalry, participating in the slaughter of Indians and being arrogant and racist.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Notwithstanding his greed and hunger for power, he is astute in recognizing Japan's need for modernization and industrialization in the context of the expansionism and imperialism of the westerns nations in the Nineteen Century.
* ManipulativeBastard: Does this a lot to the emperor in order to push Japan through modernization to line up his pockets.

* {{Jerkass}}: Bagley is a man of the times who believes in his own cultural and racial superiority and has no qualms about massacring "lesser" peoples, inclusive women and children.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: A man who considers Native-Americans and Japanese to be subhuman species certainly qualifies.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Woefully underestimates the samurai, believing them to be no more than "savages, with bows and arrows." and that the army's guns will be enough to secure victory. It seems to have learned his lesson by the time of the rematch.

* {{Seppuku}}: After being defeated in the Fog Battle, he committs this with some help from Kastumoto.

An ex-US Army soldier who served with and is loyal to Algren, and talked him into coming to Japan. He, along with Algren, commands the nascent Imperial army before confronting the samurai. He is later killed in their first battle by Hirotaro.

The 122nd Emperor of Japan, he presides over time of change that witnesses the Empire of Japan rapidly transform from an isolationist feudal state to an industrialized world power, which included transferring power from the samurai Shogunate to him. That era would later be known as the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration, named after Mutsuhito's posthumous name.

* TheGoodKing: Katsumoto believes him to be this until he realizes that the emperor puts his trust in Omura. Truly becomes this after Algren brings him Katsumoto's saber when he realizes the value of Bushido.

* JustAKid: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. It's repeatedly shown throughout the movie that the responsibility of leading his people despite his young age makes the emperor consistently seeks answers from his elders of what is the right thing to do, making him susceptible to Omura's manipulations while Katsumoto pleads with him to find his own wisdom.

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: He does this Zebulon Gant and was preparing to do the same to Algren, but ended up getting killed through Algren's [[DefiantToTheEnd defiance]] and [[CombatPragmatism pragmatism]].

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He may have little screentime in the film, but his death by the hands of Algren jumpstarts the latter's journey for atonement in Katsumoto's rebellion.

Nathan Algren is a Former US Army captain, and a bitter alcoholic traumatized by the atrocities he committed during the Great Sioux War. He is approached to train the newly created Imperial Japanese Army in order to suppress the samurai-headed rebellion of Moritsugu Katsumoto against the reforms of Japan's new Emperor. Taken prisoner by said rebellion after a disastrous battle, he starts learning the ways of the samurai and ends up embracing their cause.

* ExperiencedProtagonist: He's already a trained and experienced military Captain who fought plenty of wars with the Native Americans before the start of the film.

* MightyWhitey: Averted. Algren is the main character and learns the ways of the samurai, but he's never shown to be any better at being a samurai than the Japanese. The only advantage he has over the Japanese samurai is his knowledge of western war tactics, which comes in handy by the end of the film against the Japanese imperial army.

* NailedToTheWagon: Algren begins the movie suffering from acute alcoholism as a way of drowning out his guilt at his actions when he was part of the American cavalry, but after his capture, Taka begins withholding sake from him in an effort to force him to sober up. After a brutal transition period where he is forced to confront the demons of his past, he winds up sober, even declining the offer of whiskey from Omura when he returns to the capital.

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: While Algren is an entirely different character in the film, he's loosely based on Jules Brunet (A French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War) and Frederick Townsend Ward (An American mercenary who helped Westernize the Chinese army by forming the Ever Victorious Army).

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Subverted. Of the loyalist characters, he is the only one (initially at least) that seems to appreciate the danger of the samurai pose.

* BadassBeard: Has one throughout the entire film.

* BadassBeard: Sports one in the movie.

%%* BeardOfEvil

%%* WeHaveReserves

[[folder:Sergeant Zebulon Gant]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/003TLS_Billy_Connolly_006_4538.jpg]]
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BillyConnolly

An ex-US Army soldier who served with and is loyal to Algren, and talked him into coming to Japan. He, along with Algren, commands the nascent Imperial army before confronting the samurai. He is later killed in their first battle by Hirotaro.

%%* BadassMustache

%%* KarmicDeath

%%* BadassBeard

* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: More like [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Samurai Cannot Comprehend Westerners]]. Ujio initially believes that Algren is the same as him, thinking that it is shameful to be captured by the enemy and that he should commit suicide to maintain his honor. Katsumoto has to repeatedly tell him that Americans are not the same as them.

* WarriorPoet: Aside from warfare, Algren is also a highly intelligent man who's knowledgeable on foreign culture, languages, and history.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler: Katsumoto barely holds back tears after Nobutada is shot during his escape.]]

* MadeOfIron: The man is an indomitable fighter, shrugging off any wound he takes. [[spoiler: In the end, it takes a bullet to the back and direct cannon blast to finally take him out.]]

* RedHerring: He is ''not'' the last samurai of which the title refers to, but to Katsumoto and his men.

* WesternSamurai: An American Army veteran who is hired by the emperor to train conscripts, but [[GoingNative goes native]] amongst the samurai he was supposed to help fight against. He later teaches himself to speak Japanese and studies the samurai's fighting techniques, and the samurai forge him his own sword and suit of armor.

* OnlyAFleshWound: In the final battle.

* ArcherArchetype: Composed, independent (within the boundaries of Bushido). On the other hand, his attitude towards Algren is one of the friendlier among the samurai.

* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: More like Samurai Cannot Comprehend Westerners. Ujio initially believes that Algren is the same as him, thinking that it is shameful to be captured by the enemy and that he should commit suicide to maintain his honor. Katsumoto has to repeatedly tell him that Americans are not the same as them.

* MadeOfIron: The man is an indomitable fighter, shrugging off any wound he takes. [[spoiler: In the end, it takes a bullet to the back and ''four'' Gatling gunshots to finally take him out.]]
* MasterSwordsman: The best fighter in the village.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: TakingTheBullet]]
* NotAfraidToDie: [[spoiler: Fearlessly charges forward to save Algren from a bullet]].

* [[MalevolentMaskedMen Malevolent Masked Man]]: He's never seen without his traditional ''menpō'' (samurai battle mask), and [[LeaveNoSurvivors takes no prisoner]].

%%* StopWorshippingMe