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* ImproperlyParanoid: Both film and novel make it clear that Szell's paranoia is out of control, and he expects thieves and treachery at every turn. [[spoiler: It's why he targets and eventually stabs Doc, because he's afraid Doc will attempt to rob him of his precious diamonds. Babe also suffers a lot because this paranoia makes it impossible for him (and thus, his minions) to believe that Henry wasn't able to provide Babe with any information as he died, instead pitifully drowning in his own blood in Levy's living room and thus keep interrogating him for a possible DyingClue. When Szell finally DOES accept that Babe knows nothing, he decides that Babe still knows too much and attempts to have him killed.]]

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* ImproperlyParanoid: Both film and novel make it clear that Szell's paranoia is out of control, and he expects thieves and treachery at every turn. [[spoiler: It's why he targets and eventually stabs Doc, because he's afraid Doc will attempt to rob him of his precious diamonds. Babe also suffers a lot because this paranoia makes it impossible for him (and thus, his minions) to believe that Henry wasn't able to provide Babe with any information as he died, instead pitifully drowning in his own blood in Levy's living room and thus keep interrogating him for a possible DyingClue. When Szell finally DOES accept that Babe knows nothing, he decides that Babe still knows too much and attempts to have him killed. This comes back to bite him hard at the end.]]


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** Even after realizing that Babe really doesn't know anything, Szell deciding to have him killed anyway because HeKnowsTooMuch is logically understandable since he'd spent the last several scenes torturing Babe. Would you do that to someone and expect them to NOT go to the cops or run their mouth to someone else about it? No, didn't think so.
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* SadisticChoice: A subverted heroic example. Babe [[spoiler: corners Szell and initially forces him to eat his own diamonds or be shot. When Szell swallows one then, for obvious reasons, refuses to ingest anymore and calls Babe's bluff, Babe settles for tossing the rest into a reservoir. He clearly wasn't expecting Szell to go diving headlong down the stairs after them.]]

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* ThwartedEscape: [[spoiler:Babe is able to escape Szell's torture and hops onto Janeway's car to run away. Janeway drives around the block long enough to find out that Babe truly doesn't knows anything, and drops him back with Szell's men to allow the doctor to feel absolutely sure]].

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* ThwartedEscape: ThwartedEscape:
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[[spoiler:Babe is able to escape Szell's torture and hops onto Janeway's car to run away. Janeway drives around the block long enough to find out that Babe truly doesn't knows anything, and drops him back with Szell's men to allow the doctor to feel absolutely sure]].
** [[spoiler: Babe later pays Szell back with this by showing up out of nowhere, gun in hand, just as Szell exits the bank with his precious diamonds thinking he's scot-free. A short pursuit ensues which ends with Babe giving Szell a SadisticChoice, then forcing Szell to fatally TakeTheThirdOption]].
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* MrFanservice: Doc who is seen doing push-ups in his hotel room with his top off looks in remarkable shape.

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* MrFanservice: Doc who is seen doing push-ups in his hotel room with his top off whilst topless looks remarkably in remarkable shape.
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* MrFanservice: Doc who is seen doing push-ups in his hotel room with his top off looks in remarkable shape.
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* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler:Szell is about to get away with a lifetime of murder and torture, with a stock of diamonds, to live out his remaining years in wealth and power... and then, just as he claims his diamonds and is about to walk out of the film, Babe finds him.]]
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* MadnessMantra: Szell's constant questioning of "is it safe?" highlights how ImproperlyParanoid he is. Even more clear in the novel where there are a few segments from his point of view and he repeats the question over and over and over again in his mind.
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* BittersweetEnding: Leaning more toward the bitter side. [[spoiler:Babe survives and has his revenge on those who wronged him but both his brother and his love interest are both dead, add to that his experiences throughout the story have left him traumatised and it's clear that the movie ends on a melancholy note rather than a triumphant one.]]
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* SkipTheAnesthetic: The novel notes that Babe prefers to skip the Novocain when having dental work done: "[H]e hated the needles and the hours of numbness worse than the few minutes of actual discomfort." (When Szell has him, of course, he isn't even given the choice.)
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* DoesntLikeGuns: In the novel, Doc feigns an antipathy for firearms in Babe's presence, in order to distance himself from his [[LivingADoubleLife other persona]].
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* NeverTrustATitle: From the title, you might be expecting an inspirational sports film like ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' . The marathon aspect barely factors into the movie (other than justifying why Babe can run like hell so well), though, which is an espionage thriller from start to finish.

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* NeverTrustATitle: From the title, you might be expecting an inspirational sports film like ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' . The marathon aspect barely factors plays into Babe's characterization (it gives him an unusually high pain tolerance and the movie (other than justifying why Babe can ability to run like hell so well), though, which hell), but genre-wise the story is an espionage thriller from start to finish.
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* AmbiguousEnding: Although [[spoiler: everyone who crossed him is dead, including Szell and his two thugs, and won't bother him anymore, Babe is essentially a broken mess, having lost his potential love interest and his brother, his possessions given away to distract the bad guys, and his brother's wristwatch sacrificed, and being battered, robbed, tired and comfused, he goes off aimlessly; whether he graduates from his school or walks homeless and poor will never be known.]]

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* AmbiguousEnding: Although [[spoiler: everyone who crossed him is dead, including Szell and his two thugs, and won't bother him anymore, Babe is essentially a broken mess, having lost his potential love interest and his brother, his possessions given away to distract the bad guys, and his brother's wristwatch sacrificed, and being battered, robbed, tired and comfused, confused, he goes off aimlessly; whether he graduates from his school or walks homeless and poor will never be known.]]
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Szell is loosely based on Josef Mengele. Funny considering that Creator/LaurenceOlivier played a Nazi Hunter determined to catch Mengele in ''Film/TheBoysFromBrazil''.

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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Szell is loosely based on Josef Mengele. Funny Funny, considering that Creator/LaurenceOlivier played a Nazi Hunter determined to catch Mengele in ''Film/TheBoysFromBrazil''.the 1978 adaptation of ''Literature/TheBoysFromBrazil''.
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* AmbiguousEnding: Although [[Spoiler: everyone who crossed him is dead, including Szell and his two thugs, and won't bother him anymore, Babe is essentially a broken mess, having lost his potential love interest and his brother, his possessions given away to distract the bad guys, and his brother's wristwatch sacrificed, and being battered, robbed, tired and comfused, he goes off aimlessly; whether he graduates from his school or walks homeless and poor will never be known.]]

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* AmbiguousEnding: Although [[Spoiler: [[spoiler: everyone who crossed him is dead, including Szell and his two thugs, and won't bother him anymore, Babe is essentially a broken mess, having lost his potential love interest and his brother, his possessions given away to distract the bad guys, and his brother's wristwatch sacrificed, and being battered, robbed, tired and comfused, he goes off aimlessly; whether he graduates from his school or walks homeless and poor will never be known.]]
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* AmbiguousEnding: Although [[Spoiler: everyone who crossed him is dead, including Szell and his two thugs, and won't bother him anymore, Babe is essentially a broken mess, having lost his potential love interest and his brother, his possessions given away to distract the bad guys, and his brother's wristwatch sacrificed, and being battered, robbed, tired and comfused, he goes off aimlessly; whether he graduates from his school or walks homeless and poor will never be known.]

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* AmbiguousEnding: Although [[Spoiler: everyone who crossed him is dead, including Szell and his two thugs, and won't bother him anymore, Babe is essentially a broken mess, having lost his potential love interest and his brother, his possessions given away to distract the bad guys, and his brother's wristwatch sacrificed, and being battered, robbed, tired and comfused, he goes off aimlessly; whether he graduates from his school or walks homeless and poor will never be known.]]]

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