| 1 | '''WARNING''': Due to the many twists and turns present in the book, NO SPOILERS WILL BE MARKED. Read the book or see the movie before reading if you wish to go in unspoiled. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 4 | |
| 5 | !Main Characters |
| 6 | [[folder: Nick Dunne]] |
| 7 | !!Lance Nicholas "Nick" Dunne |
| 8 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nick_dunne.jpg]] |
| 9 | %%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]] |
| 10 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BenAffleck |
| 11 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/JeanPierreMichael (European French) |
| 12 | |
| 13 | An ex-writer, now a college professor, who becomes the prime suspect when his wife, Amy, disappears. |
| 14 | ---- |
| 15 | * AbusiveParents: His father was extremely emotionally abusive to every member of his family, which left Nick with very poor examples. Averted by his mother, who he loves very, very much. |
| 16 | * AdaptationalNiceGuy: He comes off as a much nicer, more normal guy in the movie. |
| 17 | * AntiHero: It'd be a stretch to call Nick a good guy, but in the end, he's the one keeping Amy in check and making sure she can't ever do to anyone else what she did to him. |
| 18 | * ButtMonkey: Overlaps with ExtremeDoormat and HenpeckedHusband. He loses his job, his wife walks out on him and tries to frame him for murder, he's loathed in the media, everyone, from his ex-lover to his wife's family gradually turns against him, the only exceptions being his lawyer and his sister and even they speak to him like dirt. You can make a drinking game out of every time someone calls him an idiot. Subverted in the second act of the story when he [[TheDogBitesBack starts to fight back]] and becomes a bonafide ManipulativeBastard who almost catches up with Amy but by the end, he's still basically her prisoner. |
| 19 | * ChronicHeroSyndrome: Invoked and heavily deconstructed. Nick always wants people to think of him as a good guy, which results in him refusing to take Andie or Go's (wise) advice on owning up to things that paint him in a bad light. As a result, he's put in an even worse light. |
| 20 | * ConvictedByPublicOpinion: And it almost results in him getting the death penalty. |
| 21 | * DeadpanSnarker: Nick has an incredibly wry and sarcastic sense of humor. |
| 22 | * DiggingYourselfDeeper: Nick can't stop digging and admit to some of his shittier behavior because he can't face facts about himself. |
| 23 | * EmbarrassingFirstName: "Someone with my face does not need to be called Lance". |
| 24 | * EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Nick isn't the nicest or most moral fellow around, but he did genuinely love his mother. |
| 25 | * FatalFlaw: Nick's inability to see his love interests for who they really are proves to be his downfall. He lampshades himself that he can't be around angry women, fears becoming a misogynist like his father, and projected a ManicPixieDreamGirl image onto both Amy and Andie and used them to escape from his problems, only to become shocked and disappointed when their flaws and darker sides come to life. It may be said more generally that his flaw is that he prefers fantasy to reality. |
| 26 | * FrameUp: He didn't actually kill Amy, but she went to great lengths to make it ''look'' like he did. |
| 27 | * HappilyMarried: At first, his marriage to Amy was as close to perfect as it could be. Not so much by the time the book begins. |
| 28 | * HeManWomanHater: He very much ''doesn't'' want to be one, but shades of his father's own rabid misogyny bleed through every now and again. |
| 29 | * HenpeckedHusband: By the end, he's essentially this for Amy, not daring to rebel against her for fear of what she may do. |
| 30 | * HeroicSacrifice: Of a sort. He's willing to stay with a woman he absolutely detests in order to protect their child from her. |
| 31 | * HeroicSelfDeprecation: Maybe not quite "heroic", but Nick is certainly very aware of his flaws and doesn't hesitate to lampshade them. |
| 32 | * HeroWithBadPublicity: What Nick believes he is, especially at the end. ''Heavily'' deconstructed, as Go and Amy frequently point out he did a lot of bad things and is almost happy to be in his supposed unhappy ending. |
| 33 | * HiddenHeartOfGold: Nick at his worst can be as manipulative, dastardly, and deceiving as Amy can be. What puts Nick ever so slightly out on top? He seems to genuinely care for at least ''some'' people like Margo and his child-to-be. |
| 34 | * IAmNotMyFather: Nick despises his father and doesn't want to turn out anything like him. [[AbusiveParents It's not hard to understand why]]. |
| 35 | * IceKing: He has trouble showing his emotions, especially to strangers, which does not endear him to the public. |
| 36 | * IncriminatingIndifference: His lack of any strong emotional reaction in public to Amy's disappearance makes him a suspect to both the media and the police. Amy was actually relying on this trait of his as part of the FrameUp. |
| 37 | * JadeColoredGlasses: Nick seems to have lost all enthusiasm for life, even before Amy's scheme. |
| 38 | * LovingAShadow: He projected a sort of ManicPixieDreamGirl image on both Amy and Andie in different ways early on in both relationships, only to become put off when they showed they were a lot more flawed and complex than Nick cared to know or believe. |
| 39 | * MamasBoy: He positively ''adores'' his mother, and was devastated by her death. |
| 40 | * ManipulativeBastard: Shows off his skills when he manages to get the media (and Amy) back on his side. |
| 41 | * MiddleNameBasis: Nick's first name is Lance, but he's [[OnlyEverKnownByTheirNickname known by a nickname form of his middle name]], "Nick" for "Nicholas." |
| 42 | * TheMovieBuff: Which makes sense, since his former job was to write movie reviews. |
| 43 | * MostWritersAreWriters: He used to write for a magazine before getting laid off. Lampshaded when Nick notes the dot-com bubble put "real writers" like him out of job. |
| 44 | * MrFanservice: A minor case in the film as Ben Affleck had just started working out to play [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice Batman]] and was in very good shape. It does help explain why Amy stayed as long as she did and why Andie was into him. |
| 45 | * NotWithThemForTheMoney: To his credit, Nick honestly doesn't seem to have married Amy for the Elliott family fortune; he wasn't even aware she was rich until they'd been dating for a while, and while he certainly ''enjoyed'' not having to worry about money, even Amy doesn't seem to really believe it's why he married her. He does express reservations about Amy almost entirely emptying their trust fund to help her parents, but he and Amy were both jobless at the time, so his hesitation is, at least, understandable. |
| 46 | * OhCrap: He gets a few throughout the story, but he utterly ''freaks out'' when he finds what's in the shed. |
| 47 | * OneHeadTaller: In the film, as Ben Affleck is 6'4 and Rosamund Pike is 5'9. |
| 48 | * PapaWolf: He stays with Amy when he finds out she's pregnant so he can protect their unborn child from her. |
| 49 | * PetTheDog: |
| 50 | ** In the book, it's mentioned that he noticed a homeless man squatting in the empty house across the street from his, and left a paper bag full of sandwiches on the porch the next morning. The guy was spooked and left before he did this, but still, it's the thought that counts. |
| 51 | ** Also in the book, Rand mentions how Nick once rescued a mouse from a glue trap, spending an hour trying to catch it so he could release it safely outside. |
| 52 | ** He seems sincere in wishing Andie well in the end, and bears no ill will towards her. |
| 53 | ** In the movie, he rescues Amy when she's being hounded by reporters at an ''Amazing Amy'' launch party. He's also the one to straight-up call Rand and Marybeth assholes for plagiarizing her childhood, which Amy seems to appreciate. |
| 54 | ** Also in the movie, he's shown cuddling and petting his and Amy's cat a few times. Ironically, in the book, Amy's the one to show fondness for the animal. |
| 55 | * PlatonicLifePartners: With his twin sister, Margo. |
| 56 | * RichSuitorPoorSuitor: The "poor" to Desi's "rich". |
| 57 | * SadisticChoice: Amy gives him one in the finale -- either he leaves her and she raises his child to despise him for abandoning them and the public turns on him once more, or he stays married to a psychopath in order to protect his kid from her. |
| 58 | * SlaveToPR: By necessity, once the investigation begins and the media hones in on him as a suspect, but even before the whole thing happened, Nick's ''very'' concerned with coming off as a NiceGuy. As Go puts it, "You would lie, cheat, steal -- hell, even commit murder, just to convince people that you are a good guy". Unfortunately, with the media, he is ''terrible'' at it. |
| 59 | * StepfordSnarker: Nick is sarcastic, self-effacing, and an incurable cynic, and it's clear that even ''before'' the plot happened, he was deeply depressed. |
| 60 | * TheSociopath: He ticks off many qualities, but he's nowhere near as bad as Amy. Ultimately averted, as he does genuinely love Go, and elects to stay with Amy because he wants to protect their child from her. And it's implied that, deep, ''deep'' down, he loves Amy in spite of it all. |
| 61 | * TallDarkAndHandsome: In the film where he's played by Ben Affleck. |
| 62 | * TeacherStudentRomance: Nick's sleeping with his student, Andie. |
| 63 | * UnreliableNarrator: He omits important plot points in his narration. |
| 64 | * WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Nick admits that he loses interest in Andie almost immediately when Tanner tells him he has to end it. He's never been more obsessed with Amy than when she is no longer around and he can project whatever he wants onto her. |
| 65 | [[/folder]] |
| 66 | |
| 67 | [[folder: Amy Elliott Dunne]] |
| 68 | !!Amy Elliott Dunne |
| 69 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amy_dunne3.jpg]] |
| 70 | %%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]] |
| 71 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/RosamundPike |
| 72 | |
| 73 | Nick's wife, the daughter of a famous pair of authors who made a book series named after her. Goes missing on the morning of her and Nick's fifth wedding anniversary, and all the evidence begins to point to Nick... exactly as Amy hoped it would. |
| 74 | ---- |
| 75 | * AbusiveParents: Amy's are of the emotionally abusive variety -- even Nick admits that he can see why being used as the basis for a fictional character who just naturally excelled at everything she did and was "perfect" in all the ways the real Amy herself was not didn't exactly lead to Amy becoming a mentally healthy, stable person. |
| 76 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Which is not to say that Amy of the book isn't a villain. She is, but while Amy of the book framed her ex-boyfriend for rape and dropped the charges after scaring him, Amy of the film [[NightmareFuel let him get convicted; he now can't get a job and is falsely on the sex offender's register.]] |
| 77 | * AlphaBitch: In her high school days, though she did a good job of concealing it -- just ask Hilary. |
| 78 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Her own fictional counterpart was this to her growing up. Anything Amy failed at, Amazing Amy excelled at. Needless to say, it left Amy with a few issues. |
| 79 | * AxCrazy: Amy's craziness is subtle at first, but the more we get to know her, the more obvious it is that she's completely nuts. |
| 80 | * BabyTrap: How Amy ultimately triumphs over Nick, knowing he won't walk away from his own child, even if it means staying with her. |
| 81 | * BadassBoast: She has a couple: |
| 82 | -->'''Amy''': Did you think I'd let him destroy me and end up happier than ever? No fuckin' way.\ |
| 83 | '''Amy''': I'm the cunt you married. The only time you liked yourself was when you were trying to be someone this cunt might like. I'm not a quitter, I'm that cunt. I killed for you; who else can say that? You think you'd be happy with a nice Midwestern girl? No way, baby! I'm it. |
| 84 | * BatmanGambit: A lot of her schemes ride on Nick reacting exactly the way she expects him to. It works... until he figures out how to play at her level. |
| 85 | * BeingEvilSucks: Despite her victory at the end, Amy is doomed to remain just as miserable for the rest of her life. Nick even says he feels sorry for her because of it. |
| 86 | * BelievingTheirOwnLies: Despite (or maybe because of) her skills as a manipulator, Amy is susceptible to this. It can be difficult at times to know if she's manipulating the reader or genuinely believes what she's saying. |
| 87 | * BeneathTheMask: She acts like a smart, free-spirited, and kind woman. In truth, she's a twisted, manipulative sociopath with zero empathy for anyone. |
| 88 | * BettyAndVeronica: Inverted. Appears to be the Betty (blonde, kind, victimised) to Andie's Veronica (brunette, alluring, dangerous), but couldn't be more clearly the DarkMistress Veronica. |
| 89 | * BigBad: She faked her kidnapping and set up everything to get back at Nick. |
| 90 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: Amy seems like a nice, worldly, funny, charming girl, but is in fact a ruthless sociopath. |
| 91 | * BrooklynRage: She's a born and bred New Yorker with a truly staggering capacity for anger and resentment. |
| 92 | * CantTakeCriticism: Amy treats every disagreement and threat to her pride as a personal affront and will lash out at anyone who questions her or refutes her. |
| 93 | * CatchPhrase: She often begins stories or anecdotes with, "Let me set the scene", especially in her diary. |
| 94 | * TheChessmaster: She was behind almost everything that happened in the book. |
| 95 | * CompetitionFreak: She's always eager to be the smartest, most accomplished, ''best'' person wherever she goes, and strives to make others jealous. One reason she hates North Carthage is because none of the locals are looking to compete, either being good-naturedly impressed or amused by Amy's overachiever tendencies. |
| 96 | * ComplexityAddiction: She complicates things ''way'' more than she needs to by leaving clues for Nick, when the plan would've worked just as well to just plant the evidence and get the hell out. Hell, had she ''not'' left the clues, Nick never would've realized she was still alive, much less been able to convince her to come home, and almost certainly would've gotten the death penalty. Nick lampshades this, and comments that Amy ''really'' wants him to know she screwed him over, so he can admire how clever she is (He does, in spite of himself). |
| 97 | * ConsummateLiar: Amy rarely, if ever, tells the complete truth, even when it's in her best interest. |
| 98 | * ControlFreak: Of the most extreme kind. Amy is absolutely convinced that she knows what's best for people and sees no issue in forcing them to change their behavior to suit her. And god help you if you happen to disagree with her. |
| 99 | * CrazyPrepared: Amy prepares for over a year to fake her own death and frame Nick for it, doing a lot of research to get every last detail perfect. |
| 100 | * CuteButPsycho: She's gorgeous, and completely insane. |
| 101 | * DeadpanSnarker: Subtler than Nick, but she's still very sarcastic. |
| 102 | * {{Determinator}}: When she makes up her mind to punish somebody, she will get the job done. No matter how long it takes. Or how much effort and research she has to put in. Or how much ''physical injury'' she has to do to herself. As Hilary puts it, "This girl, this little fifteen-year-old ''cracked her own ribs''. Who was going to believe me?" |
| 103 | * DitzyGenius: She's not only highly intellectual and witty but a psychological mastermind with a foolproof plan to frame Nick, who knows exactly how to make him walk right into her trap. That doesn't change the fact that she’s a sheltered rich girl who's remarkably naive about money, paying ten dollars per gallon of milk at a gas station without realizing that the clerk is ripping her off and making herself an easy target for robbers by traveling with a belt full of cash. After the inevitable occurs and she's left without a penny, she also fails to realize how going to Desi for help will backfire on her. Nick mentions that one of her blind spots is an inability to see through flattery, since [[{{Narcissist}} she believes even the most extravagant compliment to be exactly what she deserves]], allowing him to easily lure her home with promises of repentance and undying love. |
| 104 | * DontYouDarePityMe: At the end of the book, Nick realizes just how truly miserable Amy really is deep down and tells her he that feels genuinely sorry for her. And it actually manages to seriously get under Amy's skin. Her last lines of narration in the book is spent vehemently denying that Nick was right and that she will not let him have the last word, just before she also admits that she cannot stop thinking about what he said. |
| 105 | * DisproportionateRetribution: The absolute queen of this trope. Amy will make you look like a violent psycho for forgetting she's allergic to strawberries, frame you for rape for dating casually and seeing other girls, and frame you for murder for cheating on her. |
| 106 | * TheDreaded: Has taken on this for Nick by the end of the film. |
| 107 | * DudeMagnet: Which, depending on the situation, can be either a strength or a downfall for Amy. |
| 108 | * DumbBlonde: Inverted. She's brilliant, and hoo boy, does she want you to know it. |
| 109 | * EliteSchoolMeansEliteBrain: Amy went to Harvard and has a graduate degree from Columbia. [[spoiler:She's also an EvilGenius who framed her husband for her own murder.]] |
| 110 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Played with. Given her ruthless manipulation and FrameUp of him, most would scoff at the idea that Amy loves Nick, including Nick himself. However, she also genuinely yearns for the early days of their marriage, because it was the only time in her life when she was ever happy, when she was being Nick's perfect girl and he was being her perfect man. She occasionally has bouts of affection for Nick, even when she's in the process of framing him, and when she sees his videos where he proclaims love for her, she finds herself wanting to go back to him. In the end, she kills Desi to exonerate Nick and return to him, and tells him she wants to go back to the way things were, except better this time, because this time they'll both know exactly what is expected of them. Given her utter LackOfEmpathy and willingness to hurt Nick if he tries to leave, it's hard to call this "love", but her narration gives the indication that she at least ''believes'' she loves him. She certainly likes herself better when she's with him and believes that they were made for each other, able to understand and hurt each other like no one else can. For Amy, that's probably as close as it gets. |
| 111 | * EveryoneLovesBlondes: Amy's blonde hair (embodied by Creator/RosamundPike) sets her out as very beautiful, especially in comparison to the brunette Go. |
| 112 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: She seems genuinely unable to understand the concept of unconditional love, being offended that such a thing was expected of her in a marriage. She's also unable to grasp empathy as she has none of it herself, though she's capable of making people feel sorry for her whenever she wants. |
| 113 | * EvilGenius: Amy is very smart and will make damn sure everyone knows it. |
| 114 | * EvilIsPetty: Pretty much all her actions are [[DisproportionateRetribution completely over the top reactions to minor slights]]. The crowing example is probably framing her former boyfriend, Tommy O'Hara, for raping her, simply because Tommy felt uncomfortable with her controlling nature and politely asked her to give him some space. She also takes time to spit in Greta's drink after Greta unknowingly insulted her. |
| 115 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: She's beautiful and completely unhinged and ruthless. |
| 116 | * FakingTheDead: Turns out she wasn't murdered or kidnapped -- she just wanted everyone to think she was. |
| 117 | * FalseFriend: To Noelle especially but, in general, Amy is this trope to most people. |
| 118 | * FatalFlaw: Her ego. Amy can't comprehend anyone being even as smart as her, and usually assumes everyone is much stupider. This backfires on her hugely with Greta and Nick. |
| 119 | * FemaleMisogynist: Subtle, but it's there. Amy has a lot of negative beliefs about men and women and how they socialize. When Greta and her boyfriend, Jeff, rob her, Amy immediately writes off Greta and thinks that Jeff put her up to it; choosing to address him instead. She is completely stunned when Greta freely admits that the robbery was her idea, and then proceeds to physically hold her down as she pulls up her dress and yanks off her money belt. She also mocks Go for how needy she is with Nick. When she sees Andie on TV, she goes into a short angry SlutShaming rant about her (though it's not surprising, given Andie did seduce her husband). |
| 120 | * FemmeFatale: Amy knows perfectly well how to use her sex appeal to her advantage, and is definitely dangerous (if not fatal) to every man that knows her. [[spoiler:And fatal to Desi, attempted to be fatal to Nick.]] |
| 121 | * {{Foil}}: To Go -- Amy's traditionally feminine, elegant, sophisticated, and seems like the ideal woman, but is evil at her core, unlike Go. |
| 122 | * FreudianExcuse: Downplayed in that Amy was already exhibiting some sociopathic traits in her early childhood (she noticed herself that she was unable to experience joy in the same way her peers did it). But as noted above, her parents ''really'' didn't do her mental well-being any favors growing up and their behavior undeniably played a huge part in why Amy is so messed up now. |
| 123 | * AGodAmI: Nick and Go consider her to have this pathology and they're not wrong. |
| 124 | * HairTriggerTemper: It's subtle, but the way she reacts to minor slights indicate that Amy has a serious anger problem. |
| 125 | * {{Hypocrite}}: She is enraged at the idea of women adjusting their attitudes to please men when she expects men in her life to adjust themselves to suit her expectations and becomes enraged if they don't. |
| 126 | * IfICantHaveYou: If she can't have Nick, she would rather frame him for murder than let him leave her for a younger girl. |
| 127 | * InferioritySuperiorityComplex: As massive as it is, it's clear that Amy's ego is extremely fragile and she is almost totally unable to handle criticism or dissent from anyone. |
| 128 | * InformedPoverty: Invoked to underline Amy's SpoiledBrat and MoneyDumb tendencies. To hear ''her'' tell it, Nick left her completely destitute when they moved to Missouri following them both being laid off--she even describes herself as "penniless." Except all evidence points to that being far from accurate: they can afford to rent a decent-sized house in a town with a major homelessness crisis during a recession, Amy doesn't work and there's no indication that she particularly needs to, there's no mention of them struggling to pay bills, and Amy even admits she's never needed to pay attention to the price of gas. They're not as well-off as they were, but they are most definitely ''not'' poor, especially not once they move to a town with a lower cost of living than New York (i.e., ''anywhere''.) |
| 129 | * InsufferableGenius: A bit. Amy's very, very intelligent, and she wants everyone, including the reader, to know it. |
| 130 | * ItsAllAboutMe: As far as Amy's concerned, she's always right. Always. And anyone that disagrees deserves to have her wrath rained down upon them. |
| 131 | * {{Jerkass}}: In addition to being a complete sociopath, Amy is also snobby and unpleasant to any she sees herself as superior to, which is almost everyone, and she is clearly pleased when she doesn't have to pretend to be nice anymore. Even before they found about her scheme, Go makes no secret to Nick about not liking Amy. |
| 132 | * KickTheDog: Befitting a sociopath, she does this a few times. |
| 133 | ** [[EvilIsPetty She spits in Greta's drink after the latter unknowingly slights her]]. |
| 134 | ** She plants the items she bought to make Nick look guilty in ''Go's'' woodshed, effectively framing her as an accomplice. This is especially noteworthy as Go, unlike Nick, the Elliotts, or even Andie, didn't even ''do'' anything to Amy. Except, of course, be one of the few people that disliked her. Although it did have the bonus of hurting Nick by implicating his twin sister in the crime. |
| 135 | ** She refers to Noelle as "good dog" when Noelle angrily denounces Nick during an interview and insists he must have killed Amy. |
| 136 | * LackOfEmpathy: She's genuinely puzzled by other people's empathy for others. |
| 137 | * LaserGuidedKarma: Getting robbed by Greta. Turns out it's not so nice when people you thought were your friends turn on you out of nowhere. Which is exactly what Amy has done to multiple people. |
| 138 | * ManicPixieDreamGirl: Subverted. At first she seems to be a "Cool Girl", a smart, funny, laid-back woman who's impossibly gorgeous and loads of fun to be around, but this was all an act. She lambastes both the trope and the people that believe it, but she also admits that for Nick, she was willing to give it a try. |
| 139 | * ManipulativeBitch: She plays the media, her husband, the cops, Desi, and even the readers like a fiddle. |
| 140 | * MoneyDumb: Dear Lord, yes. Amy's legitimately very clever, but she was so rich and spoiled growing up that, when on the run, she honestly believes she can survive on $12,000 for an entire ''year''. And then eats through a lot of her budget because she was unwilling to put up with some discomforts. She also takes ages to realize a cashier has regularly been ripping her off by charging ten dollars for a carton of milk. When she figures it out, she only says that she thought that was a ''little'' high. |
| 141 | * MostWritersAreWriters: She wrote quizzes for magazines before getting laid off. |
| 142 | * {{Narcissist}}: Hoo boy. She fits this trope like it was made for her. She has zero empathy for anyone, she is obsessed with being seen as perfect and proving how smart she is, she is unable to handle criticism of any kind, she has an extremely high opinion of herself and a low opinion of everyone else, and she is completely self-absorbed. |
| 143 | * NeverMyFault: Comes with the territory of being a narcissistic sociopath; Amy is incapable of accepting blame, or even seeing herself as in the wrong. Most notably, she thinks all her actions in framing Nick are totally justified and any trouble her scheme leads to is on the stupidity of others, not her own actions. She also never even considers that she might possibly be even ''partially'' to blame for the marriage breaking down. |
| 144 | * NothingNiceAboutSugarAndSpice: Amy wears a lot of angelic white, uses fluffy gel pens, a master of the FalseRapeAccusation, and is a huge fan of Creator/JaneAusten and love stories. She's also plotting to frame her husband for her own murder, and gets dressed up in a lacy slip in order to murder her ex-boyfriend while they have sex. |
| 145 | * OnlyChildSyndrome: Her parents' projection of her into the world through the character of Amazing Amy conditioned her for a life of needing external validation and constant attention, to the point where she seeks to fill the hole left by her parents' preferring her fictional counterpart to the real Amy through seeking out opportunities for manipulation whenever she craves it. |
| 146 | * ThePerfectionist: Everything has to be just "so" with Amy, and God help you if it's not. It's why her plan for disappearing takes so long -- she spent the better part of a year working out all the details. Hilary theorizes that this is the ''real'' reason she decided to punish her, and later, Nick; because they saw she wasn't perfect. |
| 147 | -->'''Hilary''': I feel like Amy wanted people to believe she really was perfect. And as we got to be friends, I got to know her. And she wasn’t perfect. You know? She was brilliant and charming and all that, but she was also controlling and OCD and a drama queen and a bit of a liar. Which was fine by me. It just wasn’t fine by her. She got rid of me because I knew she wasn’t perfect. It made me wonder about you.\ |
| 148 | '''Nick''': About me? Why?\ |
| 149 | '''Hilary''': Friends see most of each other's flaws. Spouses see every awful last bit. If she punished a friend of a few months by throwing herself down a flight of stairs, [[OhCrap what would she do to a man who was dumb enough to marry her]]? |
| 150 | * PetTheDog: Before she stages her disappearance, she takes the time to say goodbye to Bleeker, their cat, and make sure he has enough food to last him for the next couple of weeks while everyone is distracted by her going missing. |
| 151 | * PrefersGoingBarefoot: The film depicts her as a pretty hardcore barefooter, usually only donning shoes indoors at fancy parties. |
| 152 | * {{Pride}}: A huge part of her personality. Amy is absolutely convinced of her superiority to everyone around her, whom she regards with disdain, and she is convinced that she is right about everything and will go to extreme lengths to protect her ego. |
| 153 | * ProudBeauty: Constantly talks about how beautiful she is and how this leads to people being putty in her hands. |
| 154 | * PsychologicalProjection: In one of the fake diary entries, she writes that Nick resents her because she sees his imperfections and he can't stand it. While Nick certainly has many flaws and many reasons he resents Amy, this isn't really one of them. However, ''Amy'' certainly has a noticeable habit of punishing anyone who dares see fault in her. |
| 155 | * PsychopathicWomanchild: How else do you describe someone who's ruined people's lives, up to and including framing them for murder, for slights, both real and imagined, that most people would've just talked to people about? |
| 156 | * PurelyAestheticGlasses: She doesn't need glasses, but wears some as part of her disguise when she's in hiding. Greta isn't fooled. |
| 157 | * PyrrhicVictory: Amy ultimately gets away with everything, but at the end of the story, Nick earnestly tells her that he feels sorry for her because she has to wake up every day and be the same miserable person. This comment is what ultimately manages to really get under her skin. |
| 158 | * RapeAsBackstory: Subverted. She was apparently raped by her ex-boyfriend Tommy O'Hara, but this was all a set-up to get back at him for seeing other girls. She also told Desi she was [[ParentalIncest raped by her father]], and wrote in her (fake) diary that [[MaritalRapeLicense Nick forced her into sex]]; she admits in her narration that the claim about her father is a lie, and the one about Nick is likely false as well. |
| 159 | * RichBitch: She was raised in wealth, and is a highly immoral sociopath. |
| 160 | * RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Downplayed, because Amy is an EvilGenius, ''but'' her wealth means that she is easily tripped up by things that could catch more working-class folks. In the book, she messes up by not realizing that a shop owner could just jack up the price of milk, and she consistently underestimates everyone as being less smart than she is. |
| 161 | * SmugSnake: She's ''very'' confident in herself, and for the most part has the skills to back it up, but [[TooCleverByHalf she does overestimate herself at times]] -- and ''underestimating'' others. |
| 162 | * SoBeautifulItsACurse: Amy wishes people to think this of her (and she is considered beautiful), which is part of how she frames Tommy, Hilary, and Nick. Comes true in that Desi is never able to see her as more than a beautiful possession, and Greta recognises her quickly, or at least realises that she's trying to disguise her real appearance heavily. (It's never explicitly confirmed if she guesses that Amy is ''Amy''). |
| 163 | * TheSociopath: Amy has absolutely no empathy for anyone, is highly self-centered, and is willing to lie, cheat, steal and murder to get what she wants. |
| 164 | * SoftSpokenSadist: In the film, she never raises her voice above a normal speaking tone. |
| 165 | * SpitefulSuicide: Her plan was dependent on her taking her own life at the end, something she seems perfectly willing to do to hurt Nick. When her plan falls apart due to the unforeseen interference from Jeff and Greta, she's forced to improvise, which results in her ultimately not going through with it. |
| 166 | * SpoiledBrat: Her sense of entitlement and her vanity, combined with her massively wealthy background and disdain for lower-class people, give the impression of an extremely spoiled child that never grew up. |
| 167 | * StepfordSmiler: Amy comes off as an elegant, cheerful, well-adjusted lady, but beneath the mask, she's a vicious, insane, manipulative, schemer... and beneath that, she's almost empty inside. |
| 168 | * TautologicalTemplar: Amy is absolutely convinced that she is right in every situation and her actions are justified as a result. |
| 169 | * ThanatosGambit: Her initial plan was dependent on killing herself and being discovered to make sure Nick is executed. She doesn't seem to regard doing so with any more thought than anything else in her plan. |
| 170 | * TooCleverByHalf: Amy is indeed very socially and technically intelligent, having been able to pull off a complicated scheme with many moving parts and manipulated several people through various {{Batman Gambit}}s into framing Nick for her disappearence and murder. However, due to her high opinion of her own intelligence and her dim view of other people, she manages to screw up her own plan of staying under the radar simply by seriously underestimating some of the people she encounters along the way. She comes up completely short against Greta and Jeff, experienced petty criminals who utterly outmatch her in terms of low cunning, as they quickly realize from a few interactions that she has quite a bit of money on her, is travelling alone, and cannot go to the authorities, allowing them to rob her blind and get away with it completely scot-free. She then turns to Desi for help, only to manage to overestimate how much control she has over him and how dangerous he actually is, forcing her into improvise an escape plan that undermines her original scheme. |
| 171 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Amy is the girly girl to her sister-in-law, Go's, tomboy, though the two of them clash consistently and are not friends. |
| 172 | * TraumaCongaLine: Subverted. If you take her word for it, her life has been full of suffering -- she's allegedly been stalked, raped, cheated on, lied to, abused, kidnapped, and nearly murdered. While there is truth to a ''couple'' of these claims, for the most part, the most horrific thing in Amy's life is Amy herself. |
| 173 | * TricksterGirlfriend: A very dark subversion. She has many aspects resembling this trope, but instead of being a kindhearted person who messes with her loved one "just for fun", she's a dangerous sociopath who's ''very'' serious about her schemes, and actually intends to ruin people's lives. |
| 174 | * TheUnfavorite: She managed to be this to "Amazing Amy", who doesn't even ''exist'', as well as several stillborn babies that her parents had before her. |
| 175 | * TheUnfettered: Amy will do ''anything'' to get her revenge, even being perfectly willing to die to make sure her plan succeeds. |
| 176 | * UnreliableNarrator: In her diary entries in the first part of the book, she outright lied about many of the events described. Even in her own internal monologue, some of the things she describes are clearly influenced by her own rather warped point of view. |
| 177 | * VillainHasAPoint: |
| 178 | ** Though she's a {{Hypocrite}} about it, Amy's rant about how women are expected to conform to things men like to be deemed attractive partners does hold some merit. |
| 179 | ** She also brings up the point that when Nick threatens to walk out on her, ''nobody'' will ever be able to live up to her and that the Amy he married will always be the love of his life, regardless of all the shit she put him through. Nick even admits she's right that he'd inevitably get bored with a simple, uncomplicated woman and would always end up comparing her to Amy. |
| 180 | * VillainProtagonist: The book is just as much about Amy as it is about Nick. |
| 181 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: Invoked -- she spends much of her preparation for her "death" making sure people would miss her, acting friendly and social to neighbors and creating a diary filled with fabricated accounts of her husband abusing her. By the end, only Nick, Margo, Boney, Tanner, Desi's mother, Tommy, and Hilary know the truth about her. The general public doesn't have a clue, hailing Amy as a hero and blameless victim. |
| 182 | * WalkingSpoiler: It's hard to talk about her without revealing that she's a sociopath. |
| 183 | * WickedCultured: She's elegant, sophisticated and classy with nothing but disdain for those less cultured than herself. As for wicked, well, [[CaptainObvious are you just getting that now]]? |
| 184 | * WomanScorned: Her response to finding out Nick is cheating on her? Frame him for murder. |
| 185 | * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Nothing excuses what she did, but she clearly has deep psychological pain as a result of her childhood and her subsequent inability to show her true personality to anyone besides Nick. Nick even subtly undermines Amy's ostensible victory by pointing this out to her on the ''last page of the book;'' he says that he feels sorry for her because she lives such a hellish existence, and she has to wake up every morning and just ''be'' herself. Amy can't stop thinking about it, no matter how much she wants to. |
| 186 | * WoundedGazelleGambit: She'll do ''anything'' to come off as the victim in any given situation. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder: Margo Dunne]] |
| 190 | !!Margo "Go" Dunne |
| 191 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/margo_dunne.jpg]] |
| 192 | %%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]] |
| 193 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/CarrieCoon |
| 194 | |
| 195 | Nick's twin sister, and his main ally after Amy disappears. |
| 196 | ---- |
| 197 | * AesopCollateralDamage: InUniverse, she's this to Amy's EvilPlan, since the items Amy bought to frame Nick as a reckless spender are hidden in ''her'' shed, making it look like Go may have been in on it. |
| 198 | * AloneAmongTheCouples: Nick is married and cheats on his wife; Go is still single, and Nick says she's very unusual among her friends. |
| 199 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Due to her status as TheLadette; the fact that her relationships with men are always short-lived and disastrous; and the internalised self-loathing and loathing for other women she displays (due to growing up with her father's misogyny) - it's not too big of a leap to wonder if she might be hiding her sexuality, either out of shame or just because she has very poor self-awareness. |
| 200 | * AudienceSurrogate: Go often says what the audience is thinking -- including, "Nick, you ''fucking'' idiot". |
| 201 | * BreakTheCutie: The climax of the movie is this for Margo, seeing her twin brother locked in the MasochismTango with a sociopath. |
| 202 | * BrutalHonesty: Go does ''not'' mince her words. |
| 203 | * DeadpanSnarker: Which is basically her only means of survival throughout the story. |
| 204 | * FemaleMisogynist: Downplayed. She doesn't hate other women, but she intentionally distances herself from feminine things, partially to avoid being mocked by sexist men like her father. |
| 205 | * {{Foil}}: To Amy -- Go's masculine, rude, crude, and is far less superficially charming than Amy, but is ultimately a better person. |
| 206 | * HeroWithBadPublicity: Invoked. Go doesn't do anything wrong and behaves completely morally throughout, but is still suspected (especially in the film) as to being in an incestuous relationship with her brother and possibly assisting him in the murder of his wife. |
| 207 | * HollywoodHomely: A rare InUniverse example. Nick points out that she isn't really ugly, but rather, she's cute in an unusual sort of way, comparing her to screwball comedy heroines of the [=1930s=]. He theorizes that she would've been considered attractive if she had been born in another era, rather than one that favors slender, ultra-feminine women. |
| 208 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's rather abrasive and rude, but ultimately, Go's one of the most moral people in the book. |
| 209 | * TheLadette: She enjoys "masculine" things such as hard liquor and dirty jokes, and dislikes traditionally feminine things. |
| 210 | * [[SirSwearsALot Lady Swears-A-Lot]]: Befitting her masculine personality, Go's pretty heavy on the profanity. |
| 211 | * MaidenAunt: Appears to become this at the end to Nick and Amy's son. |
| 212 | * MoralityPet: To Nick. Even when the audience isn't sure if they can trust Nick, it's clear that he truly loves Go, no matter what. |
| 213 | * PlatonicLifePartners: With Nick, her twin brother and best friend. |
| 214 | * OnlySaneMan: Constantly. She frequently calls out Nick, dislikes Amy, and is about the only person who can see both of them for what they are. |
| 215 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: |
| 216 | ** The fact that she wonders for even a ''second'' if Nick really is a murderer is a sign of how good Amy's FrameUp is and how badly he's coming off, since Go has been his best friend since birth and nothing could shake her trust in him until now. |
| 217 | ** Nick notes that she ''never'' cries in front of others, especially not men, and even he hasn't seen her cry since they were kids. When she finds out Nick is staying with Amy to raise their son, however, she bursts into tears. |
| 218 | * {{Tomboy}}: Something of a Deconstruction of one, actually. Growing up with a drunk, misogynistic father has made Go reluctant to be seen as stereotypically feminine for fear of being insulted and belittled by her father like her mother was. |
| 219 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Played up and deconstructed between her and Amy, as Amy deliberately plays to people's more feminine expectations of her, while Go deliberately invokes the image of TheLadette to escape misogynistic mockery by men. |
| 220 | * UndyingLoyalty: She stands by Nick through everything, even when she's furious at him for lying to her. By her own admission, she'd love Nick even if he really did kill Amy, and she sticks by his side even when a tiny part of her worries it may be true. |
| 221 | * TheUnfavorite: She believes her parents favored Nick, especially their father due to Nick's gender. Nick sees where she's coming from there. |
| 222 | * WhatTheHellHero: She ''rips'' into Nick for cheating on Amy, not telling her about it, and then ''lying to the cops''. |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder: Desi Collings]] |
| 226 | !!Desi Collings |
| 227 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/desi_collings.jpg]] |
| 228 | %%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]] |
| 229 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/NeilPatrickHarris |
| 230 | |
| 231 | Amy's ex-boyfriend, who turns out to be about as crazy as she is. |
| 232 | ---- |
| 233 | * AdaptationalHeroism: Desi is still controlling but some of his more overtly creepy traits, such as his [[IncestSubtext relationship with his mother]], are removed from the film, making him more sympathetic. |
| 234 | * AdaptationalUgliness: Downplayed a great deal, but even Nick is taken aback by his handsomeness in the book, whereas Neil Patrick Harris is obviously going for the snakier, less clear good looks. |
| 235 | * AffablyEvil: Even while keeping a woman prisoner, he's impossibly polite. |
| 236 | * AmbiguousSituation: In both the book and the movie, it's said he attempted suicide after Amy dumped him. The book has Desi deny it, and Amy later admits to the reader that she made the whole thing up. However, in the movie, Desi doesn't comment when Nick brings it up, and in fact walks away when asked for his side of the story. Amy never comments on it, either, leaving it unclear if the movie version of Desi actually did try to kill himself or not. |
| 237 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He wanted Amy back, and he certainly got that... |
| 238 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: He repeatedly woos Amy with promises of taking care of her and letting her have whatever she wants, but when they're back together, she realises that he's extremely controlling, manipulative, and simply wants her to bend to his will. |
| 239 | * ChronicHeroSyndrome: A very dark example taken to its logical extreme. Desi ''loves'' playing the hero to damaged women. Many of his girlfriends after Amy had eating disorders or were suicidal. As Amy puts it, Desi's never happier than when he's sitting at someone's sickbed. So, Amy plays the abused wife so he'll come to her rescue. |
| 240 | * ControlFreak: At least in regards to Amy -- he wants her to go back to being the Amy he knew in high school, whether she wants to or not. This is one of the main reasons Amy realizes she needs to bail on Desi as soon as she can. Nick, at least, basically let her do what she wanted. |
| 241 | * DemotedToExtra: Downplayed, as he's still an important player in the movie, but there, we don't officially meet him until ''after'' we know Amy's a psychopath and that he didn't hurt her. In the book, Nick goes to see him earlier, and Desi's treated as a [[RedHerring legitimite suspect]]. |
| 242 | * DrivenToSuicide: Subverted. According to Amy and her parents, Desi tried to kill himself in Amy's bed after Amy dumped him. When Nick mentions this to Desi, Desi claims he doesn't know what he's talking about. Turns out Desi was telling the truth -- while he ''was'' very clingy after Amy dumped him, that particular part of the story was made up by Amy in a ploy for sympathy. |
| 243 | * FauxAffablyEvil: It's never clear if he falls into this or AffablyEvil, but it's clear that he is ''not'' to be trifled with after being turned down by Amy. |
| 244 | * FirstGirlWins: An extremely dark, villainous example. Amy was his first serious girlfriend and he remains totally fixated on her to this day. As his mother puts it: |
| 245 | -->We've never been allowed to forget about the brilliant Amy Elliott. |
| 246 | * FrameUp: Amy ultimately pins the blame of her disappearance on Desi, which the public eats up thanks to his StalkerWithACrush tendencies. |
| 247 | * GildedCage: His house is very beautiful, but it's still basically a prison. |
| 248 | * HasAType: According to Amy, it's victimized women who need a white knight. And look like his mother. |
| 249 | * LousyLoversAreLosers: Though he hardly needs the help (given that he's already shown himself to be possessive, creepy, and with a severe white knight complex that leads him to fetishize rape and eating disorders), Amy also notes that Desi is terrible in bed and hasn't matured past their teenage hookups. [[spoiler:She then murders him and frames him as a serial rapist and a kidnapper.]] |
| 250 | * LovingaShadow: With Amy. Amy repeatedly points out that he wants her to go back to exactly how she was before and has no interest in the fact that her personality and interests have changed a ''lot'' since high school. |
| 251 | * MamasBoy: Like Nick, he's very close to his mother. Unlike Nick, the relationship is [[IncestSubtext downright creepy]]. |
| 252 | * ManOfWealthAndTaste: He comes from a rich family, lives in a very grand, elegant home, dresses up to the nines and evidently has a taste for fine wine in the film. |
| 253 | * MurderTheHypotenuse: In a by-proxy, roundabout kind of way. He urges Amy to continue hiding out, and wait for Nick's trial to end -- even though Desi knows perfectly well that, if she does that, Nick will most likely get the death penalty for a murder he didn't commit. In absolute fairness, he ''does'' believe Nick is an abusive monster, but still. |
| 254 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: Very downplayed, but the book has Desi say that he will ''never'' lose Amy again, no matter what he has to do to keep her there. Amy, however, has completely bought into her belief that she can manipulate Desi and she can do whatever she wants. |
| 255 | * OutWithABang: In the book, Amy kills him right after sex. In the movie, she kills him ''during'' sex. |
| 256 | * PsychoExBoyfriend: Even years after Amy dumped him, he's still very much in love with her, and when she's staying in his house, he makes every effort to keep her there indefinitely. |
| 257 | * RedHerring: For most of the first half of the book, we're led to believe he killed or kidnapped Amy. He didn't, but he does help to hold her prisoner (essentially), only after she comes to him for help. |
| 258 | * RichSuitorPoorSuitor: The "rich" to Nick's "poor". |
| 259 | * SharpDressedMan: He's always impeccably dressed. |
| 260 | * SlashedThroat: Amy slashes his throat with a boxcutter and in the movie, [[{{Gorn}} we're treated to watching him desperately grabbing his throat as he gushes blood all over her and the bed.]] |
| 261 | * SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: He tells Amy that he's not going to force himself on her...while standing over her, staring down at her intently and delivering the line in a CreepyMonotone. |
| 262 | * StalkerWithACrush: He never got over it when Amy dumped him. |
| 263 | * UnwittingPawn: Amy plays him like a violin. |
| 264 | * VillainousIncest: Possibly. We never discover if he and his mother, Jacqueline, had an incestuous relationship, but it's creepy ''as hell''. |
| 265 | * WickedCultured: As Amy points out, he can discuss classical symphonies and quote Proust in German and in addition he's a manipulative, unstable ControlFreak. |
| 266 | * {{Yandere}}: He "protects" Amy by refusing to let her leave his house -- which itself has been ready for her arrival for ''years''. |
| 267 | [[/folder]] |
| 268 | |
| 269 | [[folder: Tanner Bolt]] |
| 270 | !!Tanner Bolt |
| 271 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tanner_bolt.jpg]] |
| 272 | %%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]] |
| 273 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/TylerPerry |
| 274 | |
| 275 | A lawyer known for defending men accused of killing their wives, who Nick eventually hires when things start going south for him. |
| 276 | ---- |
| 277 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: In the movie, he cracks up when he hears about Amy's scheme, saying, "It's just the craziest thing I've ever heard! I love it! I mean, for you, it sucks, but you've gotta have at least a grudging respect for your wife at this point". Needless to say, Nick doesn't see the humor in the situation. |
| 278 | * AmoralAttorney: Played with. Tanner has a reputation of being this, certainly willing to defend amoral people, but he's actually a decent guy. |
| 279 | * CompositeCharacter: In the film, he takes over his wife's role of being TheSocialExpert. [[RaceLift And her race.]] |
| 280 | * DeadpanSnarker: "You two are the most fucked-up people I've ever met. And I specialize in fucked-up people". |
| 281 | * FamedInStory: For ''defending wife killers''. |
| 282 | * HappilyMarried: He and his wife, Betsy, are incredibly happy together. |
| 283 | * JerkassHasAPoint: He's not usually very polite when he's making a point, or calling Nick out for doing something dumb, but he's usually completely right. |
| 284 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a cocky attorney known for defending murderers, and he doesn't come cheap. Despite that, he believes Nick when he professes his innocence, and genuinely wants to see Amy go down, and is upset when he realizes that isn't going to happen. |
| 285 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Exploited and played with. Tanner's name is ''synonymous'' with wife killers, which means that Nick both feels he has to hire him and really doesn't want to. Any time his name is mentioned, people instantly assume Nick is guilty, but he is a brilliant lawyer. |
| 286 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Being a slick, media-savvy, bespectacled African American lawyer with a reputation as an AmoralAttorney, it's not hard to draw parallels between his movie version and Johnnie Cochran. Bonus points for making a name for himself defending [[Creator/OJSimpson men accused of killing their wives]]. |
| 287 | * OnlySaneMan: He's relatively unaffected by the Elliott-Dunne family's insanity, and he likes it that way. |
| 288 | * PetTheDog: In the book, he takes the time to text Nick and asks if he's alright even after the charges against him are dropped and Tanner's moved on to a new case. |
| 289 | * PunchClockVillain: He defends people who are almost certainly guilty of murder. But that's just his job -- after all, it's their constitutional right to a lawyer representing them, too (And, for all we know, some of his clients may have only ''looked'' guilty and were ConvictedByPublicOpinion the same way Nick was). |
| 290 | * RaceLift: In the book, he's white, but in the movie, he's played by the black Tyler Perry. |
| 291 | * SharpDressedMan: He's always in a suit. Justified, as he's an attorney. |
| 292 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: He and his wife at home. It's meant in a lighthearted, loving way, though. |
| 293 | [[/folder]] |
| 294 | |
| 295 | !Secondary Characters |
| 296 | [[folder: Andie Hardy]] |
| 297 | !!Andie Hardy |
| 298 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/andie_hardy.jpg]] |
| 299 | %%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]] |
| 300 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/EmilyRatajkowski |
| 301 | |
| 302 | A student in Nick's college class. Also his mistress. |
| 303 | ---- |
| 304 | * AdaptationalDumbass: She comes off as ''much'' ditzier in the movie, partially due to her more limited appearances. |
| 305 | * AdaptationalNiceGuy: The movie's portrayal of her is dumber, but also more naïve and innocent, while the book showcased a vindictive and jealous side. |
| 306 | * AdaptationNameChange: In the film, her surname becomes Fitzgerald. |
| 307 | * BettyAndVeronica: Inverted. Appears to be the Veronica (dark haired, sexy, morally grey) to Amy's Betty (uptight, blonde, married), but the opposite proves true, as Andie is gentle, sweet, and shallow, while Amy is extremely intelligent and deadly. |
| 308 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: She's got ''nothing'' on Amy in this department, but given that she's sleeping with a man she knows perfectly well is married, and how quickly she turns on Nick when things start looking bad, it's safe to say she's not quite the sweet, nice girl next door she plays. Of course, this isn't the first time Nick's fallen for a woman with a hidden dark side. |
| 309 | * ClingyJealousGirl: Really the only way to describe someone who won't stay away from her boyfriend even when ''whether or not he's a suspect for murdering his wife'' depends on it. |
| 310 | * CuddleBug: Nick mentions that Andie's very much into touching -- hugging, cuddling, touching someone's shoulder, and, of course, sex. |
| 311 | * TheDitz: Treated as this by both Amy and Nick, but it's never clear how ditzy she is. |
| 312 | * DumbassHasAPoint: She's not ''dumb'', exactly, but she's clearly not as intelligent as Nick or Amy. Nonetheless, she suggests early on that she and Nick just tell the police about their affair, since she's his alibi. Nick shoots this down, but in hindsight, he ''really'' should've taken her advice. |
| 313 | * EndearinglyDorky: During her press conference, where she comes off as cute, awkward, sweet, and nervous. This makes the public sympathize with her and allows her to escape the media shitstorm relatively unscathed. |
| 314 | * GoodBadGirl: She knows Nick is married and she's very seductive, and Amy scorns how she manipulates public perception of her, but Andie also genuinely tries to help Nick (although she makes everything worse), and Nick is happy for her when she moves on in the end. |
| 315 | * HiddenDepths: She ''knows'' how to work the media to her advantage. |
| 316 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Her boyfriend is under investigation for ''murder'', and she complains that she hasn't called her. |
| 317 | * ManicPixieDreamGirl: Played with -- Nick certainly sees her as one, which is one of the main reasons Amy hates her, but she just makes matters worse for Nick in the end. |
| 318 | * TheMistress: Sleeping with the married Nick. |
| 319 | * MsFanservice: In the movie -- but really, what do you expect from a character played by Creator/EmilyRatajkowski? |
| 320 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives one to Nick in the book when he tries to dump her. |
| 321 | -->'''Andie:''' Fuck you. You think I'm some dumb kid, some pathetic student you can ''manage''? I stick by you through all this -- this talk about how you might be a murderer -- and as soon as it's a little tough for you? No, ''no''. You don't get to talk about conscience and decency and guilt and feel like you are doing the right thing. Do you understand me? Because you are a cheating, cowardly, selfish ''shit''. |
| 322 | * SmarterThanYouLook: Even Amy admits she's not exactly the dumb party girl she assumed she was. |
| 323 | * TeacherStudentRomance: She's Nick's student as well as his lover. |
| 324 | * TooDumbToLive: Played with. While she's not nearly as careful as she should be, given her situation, Amy admits that Andie's smarter than she took her for -- she's careful with what she posts on social media, and knows when it's time to bail on Nick and get public sympathy on her side. |
| 325 | * UnkemptBeauty: Nick thinks she looks better in jeans and a T-shirt than she does in a formal dress. |
| 326 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Genuinely seems to ''like'' Nick and believes him when he plans to leave Amy, but has no idea that they're being watched by Nick's insane wife, Amy, and this results in Nick being framed for murder. |
| 327 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the movie, she just sort of vanishes after her press conference. Averted in the book, where Nick mentions that she began dating a guy her own age, and never replied to Nick when he texted her and apologized. |
| 328 | [[/folder]] |
| 329 | |
| 330 | |
| 331 | [[folder: Detective Boney]] |
| 332 | !!Detective Rhonda Boney |
| 333 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/KimDickens |
| 334 | |
| 335 | One of the cops assigned to the case. |
| 336 | ---- |
| 337 | * AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the book, she's described as ugly, which Kim Dickens most certainly is not. |
| 338 | * AlwaysOnDuty: She's working the case day and night. |
| 339 | * FairCop: In the movie. She's not exactly a sexpot, but Kim Dickens is still a lovely woman, and by extension, so is Boney. Averted in the novel. |
| 340 | * GoodIsNotDumb: Is an intelligent and well-meaning police officer. Amy thinks she can trick her, but Boney figures out something is wrong with the case very quickly. It's only when Nick pulls out of Boney's attempt to catch Amy that her plan fails. |
| 341 | * HeroAntagonist: Rhonda is intelligent, reasonable, and perceptive, but Nick instantly dreads and fears her because she always picks up on Amy's clues. Even Amy comes to be suspicious of her as she guesses something is wrong when Amy is "rescued" from Desi. |
| 342 | * HollywoodHomely: Only in the film, as she is played by Creator/KimDickens. In the book, she is described as genuinely ugly. |
| 343 | * IronLady: She's tough, intelligent, and determined. |
| 344 | * MustHaveCaffeine: She's often see with a cup of coffee in her hand in the film. |
| 345 | * OnlySaneMan: Along with Tanner, she's one of the few to not be dragged into the shitstorm of insanity that is the conflict between Amy and Nick, and also refuses to side against Nick until she has absolute proof (Her proof isn't real, as it was planted by Amy, but she couldn't have possibly known that). |
| 346 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: More so in the film, when she is more clearly supportive of Nick and tries to hear out his side of the story. |
| 347 | * ThoseTwoGuys: With Gilpin for a large part of the book. |
| 348 | * UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain: Clearly not the case in the film (though Kim Dickens is roughed up to play Boney), but in the book, described as very ugly while Amy is very beautiful, while also being one of the few people to see through her lies. |
| 349 | [[/folder]] |
| 350 | |
| 351 | [[folder: Officer Gilpin]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | !!Officer James "Jim" Gilpin |
| 354 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/PatrickFugit |
| 355 | |
| 356 | Boney's partner in the Amy Dunne case. |
| 357 | ---- |
| 358 | * AdaptationalAttractiveness: Unlike Boney, he isn't outright described as "ugly" in the book, but Nick notes that he has heavy bags under his eyes and white hairs in his mustache. In the movie he looks better-rested, possibly younger, and is clean-shaven. |
| 359 | * TheLoad: {{Downplayed| trope}}. He seems competent enough, but of the two investigating detectives he's the one who takes the evidence at face value, facilitating Amy's FrameUp of Nick. |
| 360 | [[/folder]] |
| 361 | |
| 362 | [[folder: Ellen Abbott]] |
| 363 | !!Ellen Abbott |
| 364 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/MissiPyle |
| 365 | |
| 366 | The host of ''Ellen Abbott Live'', a talk show that tends to cover stories of abused, kidnapped and murdered women. She jumps on Amy's story when she goes missing, and quickly hones in on Nick as her prime suspect. |
| 367 | ---- |
| 368 | * ConvictedByPublicOpinion: Her show quickly leads to this for Nick -- the public turns on him before there's any actual ''proof'', even fabricated "proof" planted by Amy. |
| 369 | * IfItBleedsItLeads: Presumably the reason her show tends to focus on horrifically abused women so often. The show is clearly more exploitation than it is actual ''news''. |
| 370 | * MamaBear: Amy describes her as being very "protective and maternal" towards the women she talks about on the show, but it's never clear if this is merely invoked. |
| 371 | * MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome: Ellen's show's tendency towards this trope is {{Exploited}} by Amy, who sweetens the pot not only by being pretty and white, but also by being kind of famous (being Amazing Amy and all), and also being pregnant. That last detail, especially, is what pushes her story to the front. |
| 372 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: It's probably not an accident that Ellen has a ''lot'' in common with Nancy Grace. Grace said in later interviews that she loved Pyle's satirical portrayal of her and that the film version of Ellen Abbot was her favorite fictionalized version of herself. |
| 373 | * SmarmyHost: Especially in the eyes of Team Nick. In the movie, the smarm factor is turned up with Ellen not-so-lightly implying {{Twincest}} between Nick and Go as part of a smear campaign. |
| 374 | * TalkShow: She is the host of a cable news talk show, ''Ellen Abbott Live'' |
| 375 | * TheUnapologetic: In the movie, she interviews the Dunnes, and before the cameras come on, Nick takes her to task for accusing him of being an incestuous murderer on national television. She doesn't offer so much as an "I'm sorry". |
| 376 | [[/folder]] |
| 377 | |
| 378 | [[folder: Greta]] |
| 379 | !!Greta |
| 380 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/LolaKirke |
| 381 | |
| 382 | A young woman Amy meets while in hiding during the investigation. |
| 383 | ---- |
| 384 | * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She has a ''bad'' case of this, by her own admission. Though Greta's not exactly a nice girl herself. |
| 385 | * AmbiguousSituation: She figured out Amy was a liar and on the run pretty quick, but it's not clear whether or not she suspects she's ''Amy''. In the book, Amy worries she's connected the dots, but it's possible she was simply being paranoid. |
| 386 | * AudienceSurrogate: Invoked in universe; Greta follows the Amy case with great interest and Amy is delighted when she follows along as the audience is "supposed" to. |
| 387 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: Greta at first comes off as abrasive, but harmless and even pretty nice. Then she robs her friend blind. [[VillainProtagonist In her defense]], [[TheSociopath the "friend" was a monster]]. |
| 388 | * BookDumb: She's not especially educated (though she does appear to like reading), but she ''is'' quite StreetSmart, and she knows how to get by with very little cash. To say nothing of how she figured out that Amy was lying about her identity. |
| 389 | * DeadpanSnarker: She gets in a couple snide remarks at Amy. |
| 390 | * DomesticAbuse: She's hiding out in the Ozarks after leaving her abusive boyfriend. She admits she goes through a lot of guys that beat her up. |
| 391 | * EveryoneHasStandards: It's minor but Great does tell Amy to be more careful in future and notes that there are a lot of people out there much worse than her and Jeff for Amy to be wary of. |
| 392 | * {{Foil}}: To Amy. In a lot of ways, they're polar opposites. Amy went to fancy schools and grew up wealthy while Greta has spent her life poor and struggling to get by, presumably with little education as well. Amy is used to wealth while Greta can get by with little. But they both give off the vibe of being harmless to cover their ruthlessness and both betray people who saw them as friends and never expected such behavior. Her relationship with Jeff also serves as a foil to Nick and Amy. While Nick is kept in the dark about Amy's true nature and is absolutely horrified when he finds out, Jeff knows exactly what Greta is like but loves her anyway, participating in their robbery of Amy, and they seem to be genuinely close. |
| 393 | * HiddenDepths: She likes to read Ray Bradbury novels in her downtime. She was also observational enough to realize Amy was lying about her identity. |
| 394 | * {{Irony}}: She thinks Nick killed Amy and is keen to see him die for it, yet her actions are responsible for him surviving. |
| 395 | * KarmaHoudini: She and Jeff never receives punishment for robbing Amy. Hard to feel sorry about this, though, considering it's ''[[TheSociopath Amy]]''. |
| 396 | * LowerClassLout: A textbook example. |
| 397 | * MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: It's heavily implied she's the more ruthless one of her relationship with Jeff. When Amy immediately assumes Jeff forced Greta to rob her, Greta is quick to point out that ''she'' is the one who convinced him. Greta is also the one who actually physically attacks Amy during the robbery, by holding her down and yanking her money belt off her person, while Jeff's part is "merely" threating her from a distance. |
| 398 | * OnlyOneName: We never find out her last name, and Amy even doubts that "Greta" is her real first name. |
| 399 | * PrefersGoingBarefoot: Forgoes any shoes other than flip-flops. |
| 400 | * SherlockScan: From just a few interactions, Greta quickly figures out that whoever Amy is, she is someone who has quite a bit of money on her person, as she pays everything in cash, and she is trying to keep a low profile by wearing a disguise (Greta points out that she can tell that Amy's glasses are fake, her haircut is deliberately unattractive to make her more unrecognizable, and she has blonde roots showing in her dark hair), so she won't be going to the authorities, if, say, someone were to force her to hand over all her money. |
| 401 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: She's just some random girl that Amy befriends while on the run, but her action utterly torpedoes Amy's plan and forces the latter to come to Desi for help, which enables Amy to create a perfect cover story for her disappearance once she changes her mind about killing Nick. |
| 402 | * SmarterThanYouLook: Amy assumes Greta's just a ditz whom she can control. ''Big'' mistake. Greta is in fact an experienced petty criminal who quickly saw through Amy's deception, resulting in her and Jeff not only managing to effortlessly rob Amy, but also get away with it scot-free and derailing her scheme in the process. |
| 403 | * SpannerInTheWorks: She's the reason Amy ends up having to go to Desi -- she was forced to call him after Greta robbed her. |
| 404 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: For Desi, at least. Had Greta not robbed Amy, she wouldn't have gone to him and he wouldn't have been murdered. She's an inverse of this for Nick as her actions resulted in him avoiding being framed for murder and maybe even the Death Penalty. Ironic considering Greta believes his guilt and seems to be pushing to see him die. |
| 405 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Greta and Jeff disappear after robbing Amy, but it's invoked at the ending as they're the only loose end in Amy's plan. She's not overly worried about them, but knowing that they are still out there do give her a pause. |
| 406 | [[/folder]] |
| 407 | |
| 408 | [[folder: Betsy Bolt]] |
| 409 | !!Betsy Bolt |
| 410 | !!!'''Played by:''' |
| 411 | |
| 412 | Tanner's wife, an expert on correcting public relations nightmares. |
| 413 | ---- |
| 414 | * AdaptedOut: She's not in the movie, her role given to Tanner. |
| 415 | * AlliterativeName: '''B'''etsy '''B'''olt. Though "Betsy" is usually short for "Elizabeth". |
| 416 | * BrainyBrunette: She has dark hair and seems to match her husband's intelligence. |
| 417 | * BrutalHonesty: Her first comments on Nick with the press? "You're ''awful''". Even Nick admits she's right. |
| 418 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Her method of throwing jelly beans at Nick whenever he screws up? It actually ''works''. |
| 419 | * DeadpanSnarker: |
| 420 | -->'''Betsy''': ''(while imitating Sharon Schieber)'' I aim for absolute authenticity. Aside from my Georgia accent. And being black. |
| 421 | * HappilyMarried: She and Tanner clearly love each other a lot. |
| 422 | * SassyBlackWoman: She can hold her own against her husband, easily. |
| 423 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: With her husband. |
| 424 | * TheSocialExpert: Betsy knows how to work a crowd and what Nick needs to do to get the public back on his side, and is determined to prepare him. Even if that means chucking jellybeans at his face whenever he messes up. |
| 425 | * SouthernBelle: She has a thick Georgia accent. |
| 426 | * StatuesqueStunner: She's noted for being both incredibly hot and incredibly tall. |
| 427 | [[/folder]] |
| 428 | |
| 429 | [[folder: Noelle Hawthorne]] |
| 430 | !!Noelle Hawthorne |
| 431 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/CaseyWilson |
| 432 | |
| 433 | Amy's best friend, a pregnant woman who already has three children and is suspicious of Nick, who claims he's never heard of her. Turns out Amy befriended her in order to manipulate her into turning the public against Nick and to make her look good. |
| 434 | ---- |
| 435 | * AdaptationalAttractiveness: Like with Boney, she's ugly in the books yet played by Casey Wilson in the movie. Then again, it's Amy that describes her as ugly -- it's unlikely that Amy wouldn't be biased, though a woman with newborn triplets would probably have let herself go. |
| 436 | * AttentionWhore: According to Amy, "ugly girls are such thunder-stealers". Of course, this is ''Amy'' saying this, so who knows if it's true. |
| 437 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: Invoked. Amy used her for precisely this silliness, knowing she could manipulate Noelle's ditziness for her own advantage. Nick sees her as a mild annoyance and totally ignores her -- which turns out to be a mistake when she reveals Amy's apparent pregnancy to a whole audience of press just as Nick is about to regain the narrative. |
| 438 | * DumbIsGood: Why Amy bothered with her -- she wanted a "local idiot" she could use to make her seem like a good person once she was gone, and handily, Noelle being pregnant meant Amy could [[{{Squick}} steal her urine]] to fake a pregnancy. |
| 439 | * HeroAntagonist: Though her actions serve to make things worse for Nick, she genuinely believes he's hurt her close friend. |
| 440 | * NaiveEveryGirl: Noelle is kind, sweet, kinda dumb, and falls for every line Amy gives her. This proves ''very'' useful to Amy. |
| 441 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Doesn't have the largest role, but is very important to showing first how little Nick knows Amy (as he didn't realise they were friends), then how manipulative Amy is, and her whole pregnancy gives Amy the way to fake her own. |
| 442 | * UnwittingPawn: To Amy, and it's unlikely she'll ever learn the truth. |
| 443 | * WhamLine: She delivers one of the movie's earliest: |
| 444 | -->'''Noelle''': Where's your wife, Nick? What'd you do with your ''pregnant wife''? |
| 445 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out how she reacted to Amy's return. |
| 446 | [[/folder]] |
| 447 | |
| 448 | [[folder: The Elliotts]] |
| 449 | !!Rand and Marybeth Elliott |
| 450 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/DavidClennon and Creator/LisaBanes |
| 451 | |
| 452 | Amy's parents, who got seriously rich off their children's book series, "Amazing Amy", based on the real Amy. Though they at first believe Nick's story, they slowly begin to suspect him along with everyone else. |
| 453 | ---- |
| 454 | * AbusiveParents: Not intentionally, but basing a fictional character off of your daughter and making that character absolutely perfect in all the ways your daughter wasn't is not exactly what you'd call good parenting. It gets worse when Amy disappears -- they act more like their fictional child has disappeared than their real one. |
| 455 | * AdaptationalJerkass: They both come off much worse in the movie, thanks partially to not having as much screentime. While neither of them are portrayed as being good parents in the book, they're clearly scared out of their minds for Amy, and Rand in particular joins Nick and some locals for a risky search of the abandoned mall to try and find a lead. They also make a genuine effort to comfort and help Nick, at least until they become convinced he killed their daughter (and even then, when Amy comes home alive, Rand ''does'' apologize to him). All of these redeeming moments are gone from the movie, making them come off as ''total'' assholes. |
| 456 | ** Marybeth also gets her tragic backstory omitted from the movie; she suffered more than a half-dozen miscarriages and stillbirths prior to Amy, giving her a FreudianExcuse for how she treated Amy. Even Amy admitted that Marybeth compartmentalized the losses relatively healthily, rarely dwelling and only mourning their would-be birthdays, which Amy delighted in disrupting. |
| 457 | ** That said, the movie also glosses over the scene in which Amy's parents need to borrow from her trust fund, relegating it to an unseen conversation; in the book, it's a painful scene in which Amy's parents demonstrate that their financial hardships are due in large part to their selfish and ill-informed decisions (overspending, borrowing too much) and rush Amy to wire them the money ASAP because they can't even survive a few more ''days'', making it really seem like Amy had no choice in the matter. You can actually see in the novel why Amy is even more pissed at them. In the film, their situation is mainly caused by their publisher dropping them, and Amy's approach to it appears much more pragmatic. |
| 458 | * AesopCollateralDamage: InUniverse, they're ''extreme'' collateral damage to Amy's plan to punish Nick, since they get led to believe their only child has been murdered by her own husband and are scared out of their minds. Amy acknowledges this in the book but says she doesn't really care. In fact, she even decides that they deserve it, since they put so much pressure on her to be "Amazing Amy". As Amy puts it, the best part about her plan is that "everyone gets punished". |
| 459 | * TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: Both of them are child psychologists but were borderline emotionally abusive towards their daughter, passive-aggressively expressing disappointment in her by using Amazing Amy to compensate for the real Amy's flaws and shortcomings, not realizing that doing this could cause psychological damage to the Amy (which it actually did). They also both failed to notice (or maybe even chose to ignore) Amy's sociopathic traits. |
| 460 | * CreatorCouple: InUniverse, their entire schtick is that they're a married pair of authors who wrote a children's book series based on their own child together. |
| 461 | * HappilyMarried: They are ''ridiculously'' affectionate and cutesy together, almost to the point of being creepy. Amy notes that the pressure to live up to such a happy relationship was rather suffocating - she never even saw them argue as a child. |
| 462 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: They honestly don't seem to have ever noticed or considered how their work had a seriously damaging effect on Amy and seem to have thought it was a loving tribute to her. |
| 463 | * LovingAShadow: Amy feels that they loved their "Amazing Amy" book character more than her and made said character perfect, flawless, and lovable in a way she herself could never live up to, no matter how she tried. |
| 464 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: Marybeth had five miscarriages and two stillbirths before Amy -- all girls, all named "Hope". |
| 465 | * ParentalIncest: Subverted. Amy admits to having told Desi her father raped her, but this was just to appear as the "damaged" woman Desi wanted. |
| 466 | * ParentsAsPeople: Were they great parents? Probably not. Did they have a hand in making Amy the psycho she is today? Almost certainly. But do they genuinely love her? Probably. |
| 467 | * PassiveAggressiveKombat: According to Amy, they used the Amazing Amy books to do this in expressing all their disappointments with real Amy. It's not hard to see where she would've gotten the idea, though they insist it wasn't meant to be insulting in any way. |
| 468 | * SickeninglySweethearts: They hang all over each other in public, flirt with each other constantly, exchange flowers ''every week for fifty years'', apparently get along ''so'' well that even normal bickering in a relationship is completely foreign to them, are never seen apart... ''eegh''. Regardless of how you feel about Amy, you can understand why she finds their marriage to be somewhat nauseating. |
| 469 | * StageMom: Not in the traditional sense of course, but they are both a variation called the "Script Mother" (and Father in this case) which refers to writers who see their children as muses for their work, but not in a good way as they tend to either use humiliating events and exaggerated personal problems as inspiration or, as seen by Elliots here, passive-aggressively create the fictional versions to be idealized versions of their offspring. |
| 470 | * StrawHypocrite: In the book, Marybeth is clearly upset when recalling Hilary Handy's supposed stalking and imitation of Amy as "if Amy is a piece of fiction". This is coming from someone who did exactly that alongside her husband. |
| 471 | * RichBitch: Both of them are very wealthy, and generally uppity and unlikable -- this is more pronounced in the movie, though Marybeth comes off far worse in this regard, sneering at the locals and complaining Missouri smells like feces. |
| 472 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: Amy calls them this (although "villain" is very loosely applied here). She dislikes that they're given so much sympathy, as she hoped they'd be treated more negatively for what she sees as their terrible parenting. |
| 473 | [[/folder]] |
| 474 | |
| 475 | [[folder: The Dunnes]] |
| 476 | !!Bill and Maureen Dunne |
| 477 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/LeonardKellyYoung and Creator/CydStrittmatter |
| 478 | |
| 479 | Nick and Go's parents, who divorced when they were children. Bill was an abusive misogynist, while Maureen, though loving, is a bit overprotective and doting, especially towards Nick. At the start of the novel, Maureen has died and Bill has long since gone senile. |
| 480 | ---- |
| 481 | * AbusiveParents: Bill was of the emotional variety, especially towards poor Go. |
| 482 | * CharacterDeath: Maureen dies before the novel begins, and Bill finally dies towards the end. By then, though, with all the shit Nick's gone through, it's practically a footnote. |
| 483 | * DemotedToExtra: Not that they were ever ''huge'' players, but they get much less to do in the movie than they did in the book. Maureen, in particular, is regulated to a silent role. |
| 484 | * DomesticAbuse: Bill was emotionally abusive to Maureen. Nick comments that Bill probably never thought of himself as abusive, since he never hit her. |
| 485 | * GoodParents: Once she got away from Bill, Maureen was definitely this. It's safe to say that whatever good is in Nick and Go came from her. |
| 486 | * HeManWomanHater: Bill hates women. ''Really'' hates them. |
| 487 | * MoralityPet: Weirdly, Maureen seems to be one of the few people Amy ''doesn't'' hate, and even sort of likes. Not that it matters in the end. |
| 488 | * MyBelovedSmother: By her own admission, Maureen spoiled Nick. |
| 489 | * PosthumousCharacter: Maureen dies before the novel begins, but appears in Amy's diary entries. |
| 490 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: |
| 491 | ** Maureen's battle with cancer is what causes Nick to move himself and Amy to North Carthage. |
| 492 | ** If Bill hadn't indirectly shaped Nick into the person he is, the story would be ''extremely'' different. |
| 493 | [[/folder]] |
| 494 | |
| 495 | [[folder: Hilary Handy]] |
| 496 | !!!'''Played by:''' |
| 497 | |
| 498 | An old classmate of Amy's, who apparently stalked her before shoving her down the stairs. Keyword here being [[FrameUp "apparently".]] |
| 499 | ---- |
| 500 | * AdaptedOut: She's not in the movie. |
| 501 | * AlliterativeName: '''H'''ilary '''H'''andy. |
| 502 | * BreakTheCutie: Amy's betrayal had this effect on her, though she seems to have recovered and is now living a pretty normal, well-adjusted life. |
| 503 | * DrivenToSuicide: According to Boney, she's had suicide attempts in the past, though they obviously didn't succeed. |
| 504 | * FrameUp: The target of one of Amy's first. Amy set her up to seem like a creepy stalker, before throwing ''herself'' down the stairs and claiming Hilary pushed her. |
| 505 | -->'''Hilary''': The girl ''cracked her own ribs''. Who was going to believe me? |
| 506 | * KillAndReplace: Subverted. Amy made it ''look'' like this was her plan for Amy, but it was all a set-up. |
| 507 | * LoonyFan: Again, subverted. She appears to be this for "Amazing Amy", but she's not. |
| 508 | * RedHerring: She's suggested early on as being a potential suspect, Amy's father explaining what happened between her and Amy, and claiming that she's ''scarier than Desi''. She also gets rather hostile when Nick calls her. However, it soon becomes clear that Hilary is honestly innocent, and that she has ''damn'' good reason for being bitter. |
| 509 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: She was so traumatized by what Amy did to her that when she was expelled, she didn't bother trying to fight it. |
| 510 | * StalkerWithoutACrush: Amy set her up to look like one. |
| 511 | [[/folder]] |
| 512 | |
| 513 | [[folder: Tommy O'Hara]] |
| 514 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/ScootMcNairy |
| 515 | |
| 516 | An ex-boyfriend of Amy's, who she claimed raped her. He didn't. |
| 517 | ---- |
| 518 | * AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In the book, Amy let him panic for a few days before dropping the rape charges. In the movie, however, she didn't drop them, leading to Tommy having to plead guilty to a lesser charge to avoid jailtime, resulting in him having to register as a sex offender and ruining his life. |
| 519 | * ButtMonkey: His life has been absolute shit since he met Amy as she framed him for rape, forcing him to register as a sex offender and completely ruining his life. |
| 520 | * DisproportionateRetribution: He politely asked Amy to back off when he felt she was getting a bit too controlling. Amy framed him for rape and got him registered as a sex offender, ruining his life. |
| 521 | * FalseRapeAccusation: On the receiving end of one. The evidence was pretty damning, but it was all planted by Amy. |
| 522 | * FrameUp: Yet another victim of Amy's. |
| 523 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: Downplayed. Starts to go into a bit too much detail with Nick about what Amy and him did the night before she accused him of rape. He stops when he notices how uncomfortable Nick is hearing about his wife that way and apologizes. Nick is understanding enough despite his discomfort and prompts him to continue his side of the story (sans intimate details). |
| 524 | [[/folder]] |
| 525 | |
| 526 | [[folder: Jacqueline Collings]] |
| 527 | |
| 528 | Desi's mother. |
| 529 | ---- |
| 530 | * AdaptedOut: She's not in the movie. Notably, with her gone, Desi's creepy incest vibes are absent. |
| 531 | * BreakTheHaughty: In the book, Desi's death is this for her. While a very unlikeable, creepy, and unnerving character, she's clearly broken-hearted about Desi's death and champions his innocence. It's probable that she'll ''never'' recover. |
| 532 | * CassandraTruth: The last we see of her in the book, she's insisting that Amy framed and murdered Desi, but she's viewed as being too hysterical with grief to be reasonable. Of course, she's completely correct. |
| 533 | * FrameUp: A minor example compared to the others, but Amy once scratched her own face and told Desi that Jacqueline attacked her. Amy's justification for this is that Jacqueline "may as well have" because of her cold attitude towards Amy. |
| 534 | * IdenticalStranger: The last straw for Amy regarding her and Desi's relationship was when she met Jacqueline and realized she looked ''just'' like her. [[UsefulNotes/OedipusComplex Amy is understandably creeped out.]] |
| 535 | * IncestSubtext: She is ''way'' too close to Desi for comfort. |
| 536 | * MyBelovedSmother: Her relationship with Desi is just a bit too close for comfort. |
| 537 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: She outlives Desi, her youngest (and favorite) child, who was murdered by the woman he obsessed over for years, and then posthomuously framed for kidnapping and raping her. |
| 538 | * ParentalFavouritism: It's not clear, but she has three older sons who've all moved out. Desi, however, she keeps very close to her. |
| 539 | * PervertDad: An extremely rare female version. If she and Desi's relationship ''wasn't'' straight-up sexual (which is never clarified), she is completely possessive of him, hates all his girlfriends, and expects him to treat her like his girlfriend. |
| 540 | * RichBitch: She's not so bad when compared to the Elliotts, but she's still quite snooty. And very rich. |
| 541 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: She never liked Amy, but it's implied that it's because Amy was getting in between her and Desi, not because Amy's a ruthless sociopath. Then again, Jacqueline quickly puts two and two together and realizes Amy is framing Desi at the end, so maybe she ''did'' have an inkling of her true nature. Not that it does her much good. |
| 542 | [[/folder]] |
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