Line #171 Characters/DarkCity1998


1	[[foldercontrol]]
2
3	!Humans
4
5	[[folder:Murdoch]]
6	!!John Murdoch
7	->'''Played By:''' Creator/RufusSewell
8
9	* AmnesiacLover: To Emma, who he doesn't remember being married to. [[spoiler:Because he never was]].
10	* BadassLongcoat: He has one, and it's pretty nifty.
11	* BecomingTheMask: In a sense. He ultimately chooses the [[spoiler:final]] name given to him by the Strangers to be his own name.
12	* TheChosenOne: He is TheEveryman, even compared to the other, quirkier city inhabitants. But for whatever reason, he also has the same ability to 'tune' as the Strangers do. There's no prophecy or anything like that, and Schreber seems to consider this just an unfortunate (from the Strangers' point of view) side effect from their constant experiments.
13	* ClearMyName: He starts out trying to do this, then things get more complicated.
14	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Despite his own panic, he takes the time to save a dying goldfish, making it pretty clear from the beginning that he's a good guy at heart.
15	** Among John's vague, false memories is that he was raised in an aquarium and that he has a fondness for fish. His first action when seeing a fish in danger is to rescue it. Which is what he does when waking up at the hotel.
16	* GoneHorriblyRight: Dr. Schreber taunts the Strangers with the fact that they may have inadvertently destroyed themselves with Murdoch.
17	-->'''Schreber:''' Maybe you've finally found what you're looking for, and it's going to bite you on your-
18	* HeadBlast: In the climax, Murdoch discovers he has the Strangers' power of "tuning" (telekinesis), which manifests as a rippling, translucent beam from his forehead. When he finally gains conscious control over his tuning, John destroys the Strangers' underground lair with multiple mental blasts, and engages the BigBad Mr. Book in a BeamOWar.
19	* InstantExpert: Though he has the ability to tune throughout the movie, he only becomes a true expert after Schreber gives him the memory serum.
20	* KubrickStare: Just to make it a little more ambiguous, he throws out one of these every so often.
21	* MeaningfulName: He is supposedly a ''john'' who ''murders'' prostitutes. A prostitute even notes that his first name is appropriate.
22	* NakedOnArrival: Wakes up naked in a bathtub.
23	* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler: John is given this history in his fake memories. He experienced the death of his parents in a housefire when he was a boy, and he was subsequently raised by an uncle. Schreber at some point mentions that he views traumatic childhood memories as essential for his creations, which might indicate why John had that memory. ]]
24	* PersonOfMassDestruction: [[spoiler:He eventually becomes this once he gains his "tuning" powers (with some help from Schreber) and uses them to defeat The Strangers.]]
25	* RealityWarper: Shares this ability with the Strangers.
26	* SerialKiller: Is one, [[spoiler:or at least is meant to be one this time around]].
27	* TookALevelInBadass: He starts off as confused, almost naive man trying to figure out his identity. By the end, [[spoiler:he becomes '''God''']].
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Bumstead]]
31	!!Inspector Frank Bumstead
32	->'''Played By:''' Creator/WilliamHurt
33
34	* BadassLongcoat: Due to the noir setting, and he is certainly no slouch when it comes to action.
35	* DarkIsNotEvil: Wears a dark overcoat like the Strangers but is a decent, reasonable man.
36	* DeadpanSnarker: He has a very deadpan, stoical sense of humour.
37	* InspectorJavert: He is on the trail of John, who he believes to be a SerialKiller. However, he does turn out to be a little more rational than the average Javert.
38	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Takes his job seriously, but is concerned about finding the truth and protecting people, not merely catching suspects. [[spoiler:It gets him killed]].
39	* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: To John. He pursues him, but doesn't do so doggedly and is willing to let John tell his story.
40	* ThrownOutTheAirlock: [[spoiler:He breaks a wall into hardened space, and falls out before the Strangers repair it]].
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Schreber]]
44	!!Dr. Daniel P. Schreber
45	->'''Played By:''' Creator/KieferSutherland
46
47	* TheChewToy: Undergoes regular, although largely off-screen, injuries at the hands of the Strangers.
48	* CreepyGood: [[spoiler: He is a paranoid, unsettling [[HerrDoktor German scientist]] with a [[RedRightHand deformed eye and a limp]], but he's actually working to ''stop'' the Strangers, while he himself is essentially their prisoner.]]
49	* TheDogBitesBack: When he [[spoiler:gives John the memories he needs to defeat the Strangers, thus ending their entire race]].
50	* EvilGenius: For the Strangers, although very reluctantly so.
51	* GeniusCripple: He may suffer from a bad heart, a lazy eye and a limp but he's very good at what he does for The Strangers.
52	* GuiltRiddenAccomplice: Schreber absolutely hates working for the Strangers and is tormented by his role in betraying his own race, but lacks the strength or courage to do much more than covertly sabotage them. [[spoiler:Until the trip to Shell Beach]].
53	* HerrDoktor: [[spoiler: Subverted in that rather than being just a stereotypical mad scientist, he's actually trying to ''help'' John.]]
54	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:As the Strangers have no emotions, they didn't even know where to ''start'' dissecting human consciousness. Thus, they permitted Schreber to retain his scientific skills and artistic talents, but forced him to erase everything else. As in they forced him to create a false past consisting of nothing save serving them, and didn't even perform the procedure themselves - they forced him to jam the syringe into his own head, meaning the man he was symbolically committed ''suicide.'' Or at least that's what he remembers]].
55	* MrExposition: Throughout the movie, most notably during the OpeningNarration and John’s InstantExpert DreamSequence.
56	* NervousWreck: He is living in constant fear and wracked by guilt. Given what The Strangers do to him on a daily basis, it's more than justified with him.
57	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: In-universe, his breathy German accent vanishes [[spoiler:in the memories he gives Murdoch. Presumably, Shreber isn't leaving anything to chance, and is trying to avoid an accidental mondegreen -- he uses a healthy version of himself for the memories, one without the injuries he suffered at the hands of the Strangers when they forced him to delete his own memories. He even lacks the scar tissue around his eye]].
58	* TheQuisling: Has pretended to fill this role for the Strangers by helping them run their experiments, but he's actually LaResistance, working toward their destruction.
59	* RedRightHand: Subverted. He has a drooping eyelid and speaks as if his lungs are damaged. He initially seems like a villain, given that he's TheQuisling, but turns out to be LaResistance.
60	* ReluctantMadScientist: Schreber despises working for the Strangers, but fears them too much to actively resist [[spoiler: until John comes along.]]
61	* ServileSnarker: To the Strangers.
62	* TheSvengali: [[spoiler:A rare sympathetic take on this, but he still ultimately manipulates Murdoch into danger for his own gains]].
63	* VerbalTic: Normally, he speaks in short, clipped sentences, carefully emphasizing every word. This is because he has a weak heart and is in a constant state of exhaustion; whenever he is stressed, his speech degrades into a stattaco of gasps - unable to speak more than one or two words at a time without taking a deep breath.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Emma Murdoch]]
67	!!Emma Murdoch / Anna
68	->'''Played By:''' Creator/JenniferConnelly
69
70	* TheChanteuse: Her job [[spoiler:this time around]].
71	* DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest: Acts as one to John as [[spoiler: Anna (formerly Emma)]].
72	* FemmeFatale: Subverted quickly. She's got the look, but she's a NiceGirl who wants to help John regain his memory.
73	* LivingMacGuffin: For Murdoch [[spoiler:and Mr. Hand]].
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Eddie Walenski]]
77	!!Det. Eddie Walenski
78	->'''Played By:''' Colin Friels
79
80	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Walenski keeps saying that there is no case, his wife is not his wife, that things keep changing on a nightly basis, that everyone's past has been erased, and the only way out of the trap they're all in is to kill oneself. He is, of course, utterly and completely correct.
81	* DrivenToSuicide: When he realizes there's no way to leave the Dark City, [[spoiler:he chooses to kill himself in a manner that leaves them nothing to play around with - jumping on a subway track just in front of a speeding car]].
82	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: You'd go crazy too if you found out [[spoiler:that your entire life is a lie manufactured by a dying alien race that messes with your head on an hourly basis]].
83	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Someone, he figured out everything that was happening in the city, and apparently spent a while trying to tell people and/or escape.
84	* RoomFullOfCrazy: He has one with chalk writing on the floor.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:May]]
88	!!May
89	->'''Played By:''' Creator/MelissaGeorge
90
91	* BlackBraAndPanties: May strips down to a dark bra and panties (and then strips those off) when she thinks Murdoch is one of her johns.
92	* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:She falls victim to Mr. Hand's newfound urges]].
93	* MsFanservice: Played by the beautiful Melissa George, and she appears topless.
94	* SingleMomStripper: Or prostitute, anyway.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	!Strangers
98
99	[[folder:In General]]
100	!!In General
101
102	* AlienBlood: They melt into goo or turn red and dissolve into flakes when they die; the [[spoiler:dead human bodies they use as vessels]] have black blood.
103	* BadBoss: It's strongly implied that the Strangers beat Dr. Schreber within an inch of his life before forcing him to erase his own memories, leading to things like his bad heart, lazy eye, and limp. They also do things like dangle him off of very high balconies when he gets snarky with them.
104	* BaldOfEvil: All of them.
105	* DyingRace: They are studying humans because their HiveMind society is dying out and they need the secret to individuality.
106	* EldritchAbomination: Squid-like beings that use corpses as hosts.
107	* {{Expy}}: WordOfGod said they were inspired by Riff Raff from ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', even before Richard O'Brien was cast as Mr. Hand. They are similarly pale, bald, dressed in black, with CreepyShadowedUndereyes and monotone voices, and like him they are aliens.
108	* AGodAmI: They have this kind of mentality in regards of what they can do. [[spoiler:They ain't bluffing.]]
109	* HiveMind: [[spoiler:They're all a bunch of alien worms living in human shells and all share the same thoughts of what to do.]]
110	** Played with. Despite the above, each has their own quirks. Mr. Wall mourns their dead. Mr. Book leads. Mr. Hand has his own opinions. It is mentioned that they have shared memories, but their thought processes are apparently different.
111	* KillItWithWater: [[spoiler: One of their key weaknesses.]]
112	* KubrickStare: They are pretty good at these.
113	* LampreyMouth: [[spoiler: The aliens' real bodies have one amidst a ring of tentacles.]]
114	* LooksLikeOrlok: Intentionally so since the movie is a visual homage to GermanExpressionism and FilmNoir, with lots of SchizoTech.
115	* MisterDescriptor: All the Strangers use the naming convention "Mr. [noun]".
116	* PsychicPowers: "Tuning", represented as a wave effect from the user's forehead which either works as a directed burst of force or warps the City to their whim.
117	* PsychoKnifeNut: Their weapon of choice are sinister knives.
118	* RealityWarper: They are able to change aspects of the City as they please.
119	* StarfishAliens: They may look like HumanAliens, but they are actually translucent squid-like creatures who use human corpses as vessels.
120	* TheStoic: A race of stoics, right off the assembly line with [[CreepyMonotone creepy monotones.]] [[spoiler: Mr. Hand is arguably the only Stranger in the film who subverts this trope, and as a result comes off as creepier and scarier than his fellow abominations.]]
121	* TragicMonster: Commit horrific acts with little to no remorse, but are a DyingRace desperately trying to find a way to save themselves.
122	* VerbalTic: Their odd predilection for making clicking noises and ending sentences with the word "yes". They also always pronounce John's name (and [[LastNameBasis address him as]]) as "Mis-ter Mur-''Doch''."
123	* UncertainDoom: The remaining members, after the climax, given how John kills or scatters them. They were already a DyingRace anyway.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Mr. Book]]
127	!!Mr. Book
128	->'''Played By:''' Creator/IanRichardson
129
130	* BigBad: As the leader of the Strangers, he's the antagonist of the entire film.
131	* DuelToTheDeath: [[spoiler:Book is killed by John during the final battle, dying when he's thrown into a collapsing water tower]].
132	* ImpromptuTracheotomy: [[spoiler:Gets stabbed in the throat with a knife]].
133	* UseTheirOwnWeaponAgainstThem: During his final battle, Book is seriously injured by his own throwing knife. It was handled by John at the time, who proceeds to expose the aquaphobic Book to water.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Mr. Hand]]
137	!!Mr. Hand
138	->'''Played By:''' Creator/RichardOBrien
139
140	* AffablyEvil: Mr. Hand, like the other Strangers, is polite and soft-spoken but unlike the others he seems a little more genuine. This becomes especially more apparent after he melds with John's intended memories.
141	* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: He is rather pathetic — almost pitiable — in his final moments with John, wherein he [[BlueAndOrangeMorality fails]] [[EvilCannotComprehendGood completely]] to understand the true nature of humanity, or the truly evil nature of his actions. It's rather sad when he admits to John that he's dying, especially assuming that when he's gone, there will [[LastOfHisKind be none left.]] ]]
142	* ColdHam: While all the Strangers have elements of this, everything Mr. Hand does is quietly menacing without him ever raising his voice.
143	* TheDragon: For Mr. Book, technically.
144	* DragonTheirFeet: Although it was already forewarned there would be side effects to his taking on the human memories, Hand still [[spoiler:survives the deaths of the other Strangers including Mr. Book to have one final conversation with Murdoch before dying]].
145	* DragonWithAnAgenda: After taking Murdoch's memories, it's implied he's got personal motives for finding Murdoch beyond the wellbeing of the other Strangers.
146	* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:He knows he's dying from rejecting Murdoch's imprint, so with all other Strangers dead, his race is finished. So when he meets John, they have a rather civil conversation in which he explains his motivations]].
147	* TheHeavy: While Mr. Book is the leader of the Strangers and the BigBad, he stays underground and is never seen in the city itself. Mr. Hand is the one who pursues John, comes up with new plans and is the most immediate danger.
148	* ItsPersonal: Melding with John's intended memories makes his pursuit of him much more personal.
149	* SerialKiller: Mr. Hand quickly becomes very bloodthirsty after melding with John's intended memories, the memories of a SerialKiller. [[spoiler:He murders May and the police chief]].
150	* SoftSpokenSadist: He has a very soft, gentle voice that becomes even creepier after he gets John's memories.
151	* UncannyValley: Intentionally used. Upon gaining John's memories, he becomes more human in manner. This only serves to make him more terrifying to the audience.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Mr. Sleep]]
155	!!Mr. Sleep
156	->'''Played By:''' Satya Gumbert
157
158	* CreepyChild: Just how creepy is he? [[spoiler: You know the massive spirals that the Strangers carve into the prostitutes' skin?]] Turns out that's Mr. Sleep who does the job.
159	* CrosscastRole: A child with the male honorific "Mr.", however he is played in closeups by a girl, and in the long shots by her fraternal twin brother. Of course, the ''character'' doesn't have to be male - the strangers may not have paid any attention to gender.
160	* UndeadChild: Technically. [[spoiler:Once again, the parasites inhabiting the corpses of those who once lived]].
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Mr. Wall]]
164	!!Mr. Wall
165	->'''Played By:''' Creator/BruceSpence
166
167	* TheBrute: He's the largest and most physically powerful of the Strangers.
168	* FauxAffablyEvil: Like the other Strangers, he's coldly but unfailingly polite.
169	* OnlySaneMan: Possibly. When the Strangers are preparing to [[spoiler: inject Mr. Hand with John's memories]], Mr. Wall is the only one to object, asking them if they remember what happened "[[NoodleIncident last time.]]"
170	* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:He's killed along with Bumstead when they breach the wall]].
171	* ThrownOutTheAirlock: [[spoiler: Along with Bumstead.]]

Context Characters / DarkCity1998