Line #208 Characters/BoardwalkEmpireFederalLawEnforcementPersonnel


1	[[Characters/BoardwalkEmpire Return to Boardwalk Empire Characters]]
2
3	[[foldercontrol]]
4
5	!Federal Agents
6	[[folder:Nelson Van Alden]]
7	See Characters/BoardwalkEmpireChicagoGangsters
8	[[/folder]]
9
10	[[folder:Eric Sebso]]
11	!!BIR Agent Eric Sebso
12	->'''Played by:''' Erik Weiner
13	[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/agent-sebso_3818.jpg]]
14	[[caption-width-right:288:''"[[BlatantLies You can trust me, goddamit!]]"]]''
15
16	Van Alden's partner.
17	----
18	* AndCallHimGeorge: He dies when Van Alden tries to convert him to Christianity and/or make him confess that he ruined the case against Jimmy on purpose.
19	* BumblingSidekick: As part of ObfuscatingStupidity, Sebso plays the part of the incompetent stooge. He mishandles evidence, he's slow-witted and is a hindrance to Van Alden.
20	* CharacterDeath: He's accidentally killed by a crazed Van Alden during a forced baptism.
21	* DirtyCop: He's a prohibition agent, but he secretly works to sabotage his own investigation at the behest of Nucky Thompson.
22	* FauxAffablyEvil: Sebso is disarmingly clumsy and foolish, or at least that's the part he plays. In reality, he's a ruthless DirtyCop.
23	* InformedJudaism: At first he seems completely secular and the only mention of his heritage is him [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage speaking Yiddish]] as part of a joke in "Broadway Limited". In "Paris Green", however, he adamantly refuses Van Alden's attempt to forcibly convert him and which leads to his death.
24	* LastNameBasis: His first name isn't revealed until after his death.
25	* TheMole: For Nucky Thompson and his syndicate.
26	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Initially, Sebso just seems wildly incompetent. It's later revealed that he's actually corrupt, and his supposed incompetence is due to him actively working against the investigation he's part of.
27	* PreemptiveDeclaration: He uses this before killing Billy Winslow.
28	* WoundedGazelleGambit: After killing said witness, he hits himself in the head with a rock to make it look like he was attacked.
29	* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: As part of his InformedJudaism.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Warren Knox / James Tolliver]]
33	!!BIR Agent Warren Knox[=/=][=BoI=] Agent James Tolliver
34	->'''Played by:''' Creator/BrianGeraghty
35	[[quoteright:308:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boardwalk-empire-recap-season-4-episode-11-havre-de-grace-knox-tolliverpng-78a1f7243081d80cvwx2013_9841.jpg]]
36	[[caption-width-right:308:''[[spoiler:"I'll find the weakest link in Nucky's chain. And I'll break it."]]]]''
37	Atlantic City's newest Prohibition agent, Knox is hoping his proximity to the Thompson Organization will yield substantial rewards.
38	----
39	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:No one shed any tears when Eli bashed his brains in.]]
40	* AxCrazy: Increasingly revealed to be this as Season 4 progresses.
41	* BeenThereShapedHistory: [[spoiler:He's on first name basis with J. Edgar Hoover.]]
42	* BigBad: [[spoiler:In Season 4 along with Dr. Narcisse as part of the story arc's BigBadEnsemble. His investigation into the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy on behalf of the BOI poses the most direct threat to Nucky Thompson and ultimately succeeds in placing his entire organization within Hoover's crosshairs by the end of the season (albeit not quite the way he intended).]]
43	* BitchinSheepsClothing: His All-American good lucks serve as a convenient mask for his ruthlessness and sadism.
44	* BludgeonedToDeath: [[spoiler:Eli bashes his head in with a vase.]]
45	* BumblingSidekick / CluelessDeputy: Introduced as one in "New York Sour", [[spoiler: but it's actually an act.]]
46	* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler:He's (correctly) convinced that the major American crime bosses in New York, Atlantic City, Chicago, and Florida are all working together. However, his superiors don't believe him, no matter how much evidence he gathers.]]
47	%%* CleanUpTheTown
48	%%* CowboyCop
49	* DudeWheresMyRespect: [[spoiler:He's unamused by Hoover stealing his theories and not giving priority to his investigations.]]
50	%%* FairCop
51	* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:He (almost) never raises his voice, and gets along very well with Eli's family, this is all an act, of course. He also attempts to induce Stockholm Syndrome on Eddie when he's interrogating him and on Eli when he becomes his informant.]]
52	* FBIAgent:[[spoiler: He is an undercover agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to root out corruption in the BIR and take down bootleggers.]]
53	* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler: To Sebso. Both have their own goals and hide them from their superiors by playing ObfuscatingStupidity, but while Sebso is a corrupt agent on Nucky's payroll that is sabotaging Van Alden's work, Knox is an undercover [=BoI=] agent that really wants to get rid of alcohol and corruption within the BIR, starting by the dirty agents Sawicki and Elliot.]]
54	* GoneHorriblyRight: As per his page quote his plan to [[spoiler: break the weak link in Thompson's chain]] proves so effective that [[spoiler: Eddie Kessler winds up killing himself]] after doing exactly what Knox wanted [[spoiler: and informing on Nucky.]]
55	* GoshDarnItToHeck: He uses these to avoid swearing.
56	* GratuitousGerman: As a former member of Military Intelligence during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he speaks it fluently and drops some sentences in "Erlkonig".
57	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: His sadism and need to establish dominance over the people under his thumb often gets the better of him, as he cannot help himself from wanting to see them squirm before him. This manages to seriously backfire on him twice. First is when, [[spoiler:he pushes Eddie too far and drives him to suicide]]. The second time is [[spoiler:he overtly tries to unnerve Eli by visiting his home in the guise of an insurance agent. His strange demeanor during the visit, however, leaves a strong enough impression on June that she later mentions the weird "blue-eyed" insurance agent that came by their house to Nucky, and this brief physical description is enough for Nucky to put two and two together]].
58	* IndyPloy: After being rebuffed by the bank holding Eddie's account(s) (holding in turn Nucky's money), Eli trusts him to retrieve it. Knox then tells the banker that Eddie is suspicious of being an Anarchist activist and convinces him to turn in the contents after threatening with prosecution for obstruction of justice.
59	* IcyBlueEyes: He has a particularly cold and dead way of staring at people; something that is only made more pronounced by the fact that he also has bright blue eyes and [[TheUnblinking almost never blinks]]. In fact, his piercing blue eyes are so notable that when [[spoiler:June mentions the strange blue-eyed insurance agent who came to speak with Eli, Nucky immediately figures out who she is talking about]].
60	* {{Jerkass}}: He pushes the {{Relative Button}} a little too much with Eli, and his interrogation of Eddie Kessler, which includes but is not limited to bringing up his past, which includes adultery, embezzlement, and the threat of deportation if he doesn't cooperate, causes him to [[DrivenToSuicide Commit Suicide]]
61	* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler:Despite posing as a corrupt BIR cop on the take, he is subsequently revealed to be an idealistic federal agent unwaveringly committed to purging the U.S. of crime. However, the sheer brutality of his methods along with the sadism he exhibits when employing them make him a harbinger for the authoritarianism his organization will soon come to embody under Hoover's leadership]].
62	* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk60_CCmas Early in the season 4 premiere]], he sees Agent Sawicki take a bribe and also hears a bootlegger complaining about how the bootlegger's warehouse has been broken into so many times that he's rigged a lethal booby trap for the next thief. Tolliver promptly pretends to receive a tip that sends Sawicki and himself to the bootlegger's warehouse, and pretends to be so incompetent that Sawicki actually orders him to stay by the car... and out of harm's way. Sawicki is wounded by the shotgun booby-trap, Tolliver kills the bootlegger as he comes to see who tripped his trap, and then calmly tells the dying Sawicki that he'll call for help... as soon as he gets over the shock that is affecting him. He then simply watches Sawicki die.]]
63	* NewMeat: So it appears.
64	* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:After spending the season premiere looking like a laughably gullible guy, he shows his true colors as the second coming of Van Alden.]]
65	%%* RabidCop
66	** JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Pulls a rather tame one by the standards of the trope in "Erlkönig". [[spoiler: The [[ManipulativeBastard psychological part]] proves more effective.]]
67	* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: He is punched, kicked, choked and finally bludgeoned to death by Eli.]]
68	* SarcasticConfession: After he becomes the head of the Prohibition enforcement in Atlantic City and meets Nucky, he tells him: "I do intend to take my duties with the utmost seriousness and to enforce the existing laws to the best of my abilities." Everybody is shocked before he adds that he was just joking. [[spoiler:Actually, Tolliver was serious since he's an undercover [=BoI=] agent.]]
69	%%* SmugSnake
70	%%* SoftSpokenSadist
71	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: [[spoiler:To Van Alden.]]
72	* TheSociopath: He seems rather harmless and clueless at first, but between his ability to use this first impression to his advantage, his very unscrupulous methods and ability to lie effortlessly, his capacity for sadism, and the cold and unblinking manner in which he stares at people, it gets increasingly obvious that there is something seriously "off" with him.
73	%%* TheTeetotaler
74	* TheUnblinking: Study his eyes in any given scene and you'll quickly notice he almost never blinks, but regards everyone with cold, unmoving eyes, even during conversations.
75	* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler:He is actually an undercover Bureau of Investigation agent posing as a corrupt BIR agent.]]
76	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: After getting ignored one to many times by his superiors, and having an important sting operation go awry under his watch, what little sanity Knox possesses begins to quickly fray. ]]
77	* WalkingSpoiler: Despite seeming being a very straight-forward [[NewMeat newbie agent]] in his first appearance, there is quickly revealed to be much more to his character, which makes it hard to discuss him in any kind of detail.
78	%%* WellIntentionedExtremist
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Stanley Sawicki]]
82	!!BIR Agent Stanley "Stan" Sawicki
83	->'''Played by:''' Joseph Aniska
84	[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stan_sawicki_4529.jpg]]
85	[[caption-width-right:223:''"I have not been paid yet."'']]
86	One of two agents that are assigned to work under Van Alden in Season 2, following Sebso's demise. He is of Polish descent.
87	----
88	%%* BloodFromTheMouth
89	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Shot by a shotgun tied to a door, left to choke on his blood while his "partner" stares at him joking he'll do nothing.]]
90	* DirtyCop: In Season 3 he can be considered a member of Nucky's organization.
91	* TheEeyore: In Season 2, in contrast to Clarkson. He does not believe that they can CleanUpTheTown and as the season goes on he loses all faith in the job.
92	* KarmicDeath: If he did in fact set Owen up, [[spoiler: his own death can be practically considered LaserGuidedKarma. Fed up with Sawicki's corruption, his new partner Knox talks him into making a bust knowing that it will get Sawicki killed.]]
93	* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Clarkson's red.
94	* ThoseTwoGuys: With Clarkson in Season 2.
95	* UncertainDoom: As of the end of Season 3. He's back for the first episode of Season 4. [[spoiler:Then dies.]]
96	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He goes with Owen to kill Masseria in "A Man, A Plan...". Owen's body is returned in a box, but we didn't hear from Sawicki for the rest of Season 3. The fact he's back in town at the start of season 4 would suggest he set Owen up.
97	* YouAreInCommandNow: After Clarkson is WIA and Van Alden runs away, leaving him as the only "prohi" in town.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Clarkson]]
101	!!BIR Agent Clarkson
102	->'''Played by:''' Joel Brady
103	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_clarkson_8631.jpg]]
104	[[caption-width-right:220:''"We are prohees, Stan. We are going to make an arrest."'']]
105	The second agent assigned to work under Van Alden and Sawicki's partner.
106	----
107	* AccidentalPervert: He gives a guide ("If Jesus ever came to Atlantic City") to Van Alden's wife Rose, believing that it lists the town's churches. It's actually a guide about the places where Jesus would ''not'' go.
108	* CleanUpTheTown: And the Squad too. He is a firm believer of this.
109	* CowboyCop: He convinces Sawicki to overrule Van Alden's orders and investigate Mickey Doyle - and perhaps Van Alden himself.
110	** NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: He's caught up in Owen's explosion of Mickey's still for his trouble.
111	%%* LastNameBasis
112	* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Sawicki's blue.
113	* ThoseTwoGuys: With Sawicki in Season 2.
114	* TwoFaced: While he agonizes after catching an explosion to one side.
115	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: WordOfGod says that he didn't survive his injuries.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Mike Malone / Mike D'Angelo]]
119	!!Mike Malone a.k.a. Mike D'Angelo
120	->'''Played by:''' Creator/LouisCancelmi
121
122	One of Eliot Ness' agents, acting as a mole in Al Capone's organization where he has become a well respected and high-ranking member of Capone's inner circle.
123	----
124	* FakeNationality: In-universe, he is an Irish-American agent posing as an Italian-American gangster. The actor is actually Italian-American.
125	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: He really existed.
126	* TheInfiltration / TheMole: A non-corrupt fed in the Chicago Outfit.
127	* OhCrap: Shares a very extended one when he [[spoiler: watches Capone interrogate Van Alden and Eli, shoots Van Alden, and gets handed the ledger that brings down Capone's empire]].
128	* ThePlan: After learning that Van Alden is a former BIR agent being wanted for murder, he pressures him and Eli into stealing the ledgers detailing Capone's tax evasions, ensuring that he will be judged in federal court by a jury he can't buy.
129	* RememberTheNewGuy: Because of the unplanned 7 years-long time jump between seasons 4 and 5.
130	* UndercoverCopReveal: He does this to Van Alden when he addresses him as "Nelson", then repeats it by calling Eli "''Sheriff'' Thompson".
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Eliot Ness]]
134	!!Eliot Ness
135	->'''Played by:''' Creator/JimTrueFrost
136
137	A Chicago Treasury agent who has publicly declared that he will bring down Al Capone.
138	----
139	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: He's a fictionalization of the man who would eventually be one of the first to publicly oppose Al Capone.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	!Bureaucrats
143
144	[[folder:Esther Randolph]]
145	!!Esther Randolph
146	->'''Played by:''' Creator/JulianneNicholson
147	[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/EstherRandolph_1485.jpg]]
148	[[caption-width-right:288:''"I run naked through the pages of the U.S. criminal code."'']]
149	The Assistant US Attorney assigned to prosecute Nucky for election rigging, embezzling, murder and bootlegging. Unlike her predecessor, who was on the take, she represents a challenge to Nucky because of her professionalism and the fact that she can't be bought by [[HookersAndBlow the usual means]] since she is a teetotaler and a woman. During her stance in Atlantic City she is also assigned the same room where Van Alden has his office, causing conflict with him.
150	----
151	%%* BrainyBrunette
152	* CrusadingLawyer: Not even her superiors are interested in persecuting bootleggers.
153	%%* DeadpanSnarker
154	%%* EmotionlessGirl
155	* EnemyMine: Nucky makes her an offer she can't refuse in season 3 - team up with him to take down Harry Daugherty and George Remus. Nucky gets his enemies taken care of, and Esther rebuilds her career from the damage Nucky's failed trial did to it.
156	* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Randolph and her assistant use this trope to great effect as an interrogation technique when trying to needle Ray Halloran for information. Halloran even makes a joke about the two of them being married (they're actually only sleeping with each other).
157	* GoKartingWithBowser: In Season 3 she accepts Nucky's invitation to breakfast.
158	* GoodIsNotNice: However, she's one of the few law enforcement characters who isn't corrupt or a KnightTemplar.
159	%%* HelloAttorney
160	* [[HeroAntagonist Heroine Antagonist]]: She's probably the most moral character on the show.
161	* JurisdictionFriction: Has a brief case of it when she moves in and takes over a part of Nelson's office, including his desk.
162	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Replaces the real Assistant Attorney General during the Prohibition era, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Walker_Willebrandt Mabel Walker Willebrandt.]]
163	* ReassignedToAntarctica: After her big case against Nucky flounders, she is assigned to prosecute bit-time bootleggers on night court.
164	%%* SilkHidingSteel
165	%%* SmartPeopleKnowLatin
166	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female employee in the building, this being the 1920s and everything.
167	* StealthInsult: Pulls a few on Halloran.
168	* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: She's a much better person than Nucky. Unlike other law enforcement characters, she's neither cruel nor corrupt. Before she was assigned to prosecute Nucky, she worked as a lawyer representing the most disadvantaged: draft dodgers and prostitutes.
169	* UnresolvedSexualTension: With [[FoeRomanceSubtext Nucky]] in Season 3.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:J. Edgar Hoover]]
173	!![=BoI=] Director J. Edgar Hoover
174	->'''Played by:''' Creator/EricLadin
175
176	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hoovervwx2013_99201_372.jpg]]
177	[[caption-width-right:350:''"I think it's time, considering the respect the position deserves, you begin referring to me as '''Director''' Hoover."'']]
178
179	A rising federal star who serves as Acting Director of the Bureau of Investigation.
180	----
181	* AbortedArc: At the end of S4, he forces Dr. Narcisse to become a snitch for him and bring down the UNIA [[CallItKarma from the inside]]. This is not revisited in S5, which is set 7 years later and Hoover's character is absent.
182	* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Introduced as an incorruptible law enforcer who is determined to scourge corruption from both sides of the law.
183	* FairCop[=/=]YoungAndInCharge: He is only 29 when he becomes acting director of the [=BoI=]. Fred Elliot doesn't take Hoover seriously because of his age and [[JustAKid calls him a child]] upon being questioned by him when they first meet.
184	* FBIAgent: A proto-agent, as the Bureau of Investigation would become the FBI in 1935.
185	* FirstNameBasis: He refers to a trusted agent as Jim and has no problem with the agent calling him Edgar in return. This is subverted as their relationship goes sour when he demands to be addressed as "''Director'' Hoover."
186	* {{Foil}}: An untainted official, unlike the crooked agents of the BIR.
187	* GladIThoughtOfIt: After dismissing it, he steals Tolliver's theory about the existence of a nation-wide criminal network.
188	* GreaterScopeVillain: In Season 4. As the new Director of the Bureau of Investigation, he institutes highly selective hiring standards and ruthlessly efficient investigation procedures that provide his organization with the resources to infiltrate and thoroughly investigate Nucky's massive criminal empire. It is this fact that enables [=BoI=] agents such as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jim Tolliver]]]] to pose a far greater threat to the Atlantic City political machine than BRI Agent Van Alden ever did.
189	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: One of the few non-fictional law enforcers.
190	* HistoricalPersonPunchline: In his first episode, "Resignation".
191	* InspectorJavert: Is obsessed with bringing down Marcus Garvey since he believes the civil rights movement is a threat to America. As a result he largely ignores the issue of organized crime.
192	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Scoffs at the idea of a large-scale network of organized crime (which is very much TruthInTelevision).
193	* TheComicallySerious: Especially when contrasted with [[ThirdPersonPerson George Remus]].
194	* UnderNewManagement[=/=]JurisdictionFriction: His Bureau of Investigation takes over the corrupt BIR. Bootlegging is the BIR's jurisdiction but the [=BoI=] is brought in due to the corruption among BIR agents.
195	* YoungFutureFamousPeople: He's introduced at age 29, with his historical personality already fully developed.
196	[[/folder]]
197
198	[[folder:Fred Elliot]]
199	!!BIR Supervising Agent Frederick "Fred" Elliot
200	->'''Played by:''' Creator/PeterMcRobbie
201	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BE_supervisor_elliot_4882.jpg]]
202	[[caption-width-right:300:''"You are a Prohibition agent, not Literature/BulldogDrummond!"'']]
203	Van Alden's superior while he is still in the BIR.
204	----
205	* AllThereInTheManual: His name.
206	* TheBusCameBack: Appears again in Season 4 after being absent during 3.
207	%%* ByTheBookCop
208	%%* DaChief
209	* DemotedToExtra: In Season 2.
210	* DirtyCop: Shown to be working with [[spoiler:Nucky]] in season 4.
211	* NotSoFastBucko: About half his dialogue with Van Alden.
212	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: To Van Alden. Elliot is only interested in the fight against illegal liquor, not caring about its use to finance organized crime.
213	* OhCrap: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0TDTH-Ddfw His reaction]] when he realizes his bosses are tired of his corruption and inaction and have sent in the [=BoI=] to clean up his mess.
214	* PoliceAreUseless: "Resignation" reveals that he is a DirtyCop. And probably was one since the beginning.
215	* RousingSpeech: In the Pilot, before the new BIR recruits.
216	* StupidNeutral: Elliot is aware of Nucky's many crimes as a corrupt politician including embezzling, tax evasion and election fraud, and his number one agent believes that he is related to five murders and another attempt. What does he do? Nothing! He is a Prohibition agent, he and his men are not going to persecute other crime but bootlegging. Even if bootlegging is rampant in the town because of a certain Mr. Thompson's influence in the first place. What, passing the evidence to the correct department, you ask? [[PoliceAreUseless Why?]] [[spoiler:He's corrupt. That's why.]]
217	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / BoardwalkEmpireFederalLawEnforcementPersonnel