History Characters / TheTrumanShow

* LaserGuidedKarma: Though Christof faces a little to no comeuppance for gaslighting, imprisoning, and manipulating Truman (not to mention attempted murder), it can be implied that the closest he gets to karma is the fact that seeing Truman exit through the door, leaving the studio, and thus, ending the show completely, was enough for him to get more than what he bargained for.

Chosen out of six unwanted pregnancies and the first child to be legally adopted by a corporation, he is unaware that his daily life is broadcast continuously around the world. He has a job in the insurance business and a lovely wife, but he eventually notices that his environment is not what it seems to be.

* BubbleBoy: He was born and raised on a TV show and the director does everything he can to protect Truman, as well as keep him under his protection.

** He forbids Truman's [[NobodyPoops bathroom breaks]] and [[DiscretionShot sleeping with Meryl]] to be broadcast, the camera [[TakeOurWordForIt will fade to the scenery of Seahaven]], giving the unknowing actor as much decency and privacy as can be afforded. That said, it's a toss-up if this is his idea of decency or if broadcast standards and practices won't allow him to show those "scenes."

* BlatantLies: Tries to assert that Truman can leave Seahaven whenever he truly wants to. This is laughable considering that assertion was made to a former extra, on the same week where the lead actor has made numerous attempts to go, and yet ''been denied'' every single time.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2ec40276ffc2339436330cf5b2fc392d.png]]

* HeelFaceTurn: In a deleted scene. During the Truman's escape, he runs into Marlon while disguised and Marlon sees right through it. Instead of alerting everyone else, Marlon pretends not to recognize him and goes in the opposite direction to give Truman the opportunity to get to the boat.

* PetTheDog: In a deleted scene, where he recognizes a disguised Truman but chooses to turn a blind eye to help him escaping.

Truman's mother: Christof orders that she attempt to persuade Truman to have children.

!!Hannah Gill (Meryl Burbank)

!!Marlon (Louis Coltrane)

!!Lauren Garland (Sylvia)

!!Angela Burbank (Alanis Montclair)

!!Kirk Burbank (Walter Moore)

!The Star

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

!The Cast

->"Well, for me, there is no- There is no difference between a private life and a public life. My-My life... ''is'' my life, ''is'' 'The Truman Show.' 'The Truman Show' is a lifestyle. It's a noble life. It is... a truly blessed life."
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/LauraLinney

* AbusiveParents: Intended to become this. She was to be the mother of Truman's child, who would then be the "star" of his/her own show as well...she seemingly had no problem with this.

!!Louis Coltrane
!!!Marlon

->"It's all true. It's all real. Nothing here is fake. Nothing you see on this show is fake. It's merely ''controlled''."
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/NoahEmmerich

!!Sylvia
!!!Lauren Garland

->'''Played By:''' Creator/NataschaMcElhone

!!Alanis Montclair
!!!Angela Burbank
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/HollandTaylor

!!Walter Moore (Kirk Burbank)
->'''Played By:''' Creator/BrianDelate

!The Crew

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

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

** On an artistic level, he says that one of the main draws of his show is that people can see a real person play out his life. But just like any director worth his salt, he micromanages literally everything and everyone on the set.

* DemiurgeArchetype: Christof is a metaphorical example of the archetype. He is the creator and director of a RealityShow that broadcasts the daily life of Truman Burbank, an actual live person who is unaware that he is the star of the program in question. For this end, Christof crafted an entire false reality which he has complete control over, which is a giant television studio [[FakeTown disguised as a seemingly normal seaside town]], complete with actors and extras who play Truman's friends, neighbors, and family. He is obsessed with ruling every aspect of Truman's life, and when the latter becomes suspicious of his environment, Christof orchestrates events to {{gaslight|ing}} him into staying in the set and keep him from discovering the truth. [[spoiler:He even goes as far as to summon an artificial storm to prevent Truman from escaping by boat, even if it could end up drowning the sole star of the show.]]

* AbusiveParents: In a metaphorical sense, the overprotective variety towards Truman as he believes he's protecting Truman from a cruel and unjust world. However, he's still willing to manipulate Truman and inflict lifelong psychological trauma to maintain control over his life. [[spoiler: In the ending, he opts to try killing Truman instead of letting him escape ''his protection''.]]

* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: He created The Truman Show because he saw how miserable life can be for the homeless and he wanted to save Truman from the fate of being an orphan. However, it's very clear that he's become addicted to controlling Truman's life and has forgotten that Truman is still a human being, not a plaything. [[spoiler: It's also telling that Christof's argument for convincing Truman to stay is that he "saved" him from poverty and homelessness. Christof goes as far as to say that he is better than [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency Truman's own biological parents because he didn't abandon him when he could have as a baby]].]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [[spoiler: Even after surviving a storm and digging his way out of his basement, Christof still can't comprehend why Truman would want to leave his protection and tries to talk him out of it.]]

* AGodAmI: Has these feelings towards Truman. By the climax he's reached the point he believes he has the right to [[spoiler: kill him for the sake of the show.]] There's also a moment in the end [[spoiler: where he speaks to Truman and describes himself as "[[BlasphemousBoast the creator...]] [{{Beat}}] of a television show, that gives hope and joy and inspiration to millions."]]

* KnightTemplarParent: He created the perfect world for Truman after seeing how the homeless suffer from poverty but has become so obsessed with protecting him and maintaining the perfect world that he's forgotten that Truman is still a human being with his own thoughts and desires. He instills aquaphobia in Truman so he wouldn't try to flee Seaheaven and removed Silvia because she wasn't the person Truman was supposed to love. [[spoiler: When he realises that Truman has escaped, he decided to trigger a storm that could kill him rather than let him go.]]

-->'''Christof:''' Cut transmission!
-->'''Simeon:''' Cut transmission??
-->'''Christof:''' CUT IT!!! (angrily does it himself)

* FailedASpotCheck: Not as hyper-competent as his boss, he fails to notice Truman was [[ObfuscatingStupidity feigning complacence]] to let down whoever/whatever's guard he suspected had him under surveillance. Christof ''[[SurroundedByIdiots is pissed]]'' after realizing this, and would've probably fired him, if not for the fact [[spoiler: that Truman escaping that same night puts them ''all'' out of a job]].

[[/folder]]

* InLoveWithTheMark: A friendship example, Marlon laments the fact that he deceives Truman on a daily basis since he likely grew up on the show with Truman. A few deleted scenes indicate that he's beginning to side with the Free Truman movement by asking if they will go back into one-channel format after Truman dies.

* PetTheDog: In a deleted scene, he turns a blind eye to Truman escaping.

* AntiVillain: Indeed, if you look at Christof's actions, primarily in the final scene, you see that he shows a deep caring for Truman and the message he gives to the world, which would portray him more as a WellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler:The characterization, however, is ruined when you remember that about a scene earlier, Christof was trying to capsize Truman's boat, knowing that it could easily kill him.]]

* VillainousBreakdown: Has a pretty dangerous one of these in the third act.

* {{Narcissist}}: He believes he knows better than everyone else and goes as far as to imprison a man all his life and ensure he lives an idealic reality at the cost of psychological trauma and personal freedom.

* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: According to the writers, he genuinely ''did'' start with noble intentions. It's just decades of having complete control over one town [[ControlFreak has made him fanatically obsessed with maintaining it.]]

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seahaven is Christof's utopia. Unfortunately, the means have little to no regard for Truman's mental or physical well-being.

* VillainousBSOD: Taken to the most literal extreme possible, with the very end of the movie being him spacing out as the screen he was watching Truman on goes blow, with his head soon slumping against it in despair.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The people who play his friends and family go out of their way to avoid him and mostly only care about their paycheck. In this case it might be less a sign of Truman's personality and more that the "cast" of the show are associated with him because they're actors and not his friends.