Line #176 Characters/TheShapeOfWater


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6
7	Characters found in ''Film/TheShapeOfWater''.
8	----
9	[[foldercontrol]]
10
11	[[folder: Elisa Esposito]]
12	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elisa.jpg]]
13	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/SallyHawkins
14
15	A mute woman who works as a cleaning lady in a government laboratory in Baltimore, Elisa is a foundling who was discovered one day near a river with strange scars on her neck, presumed to be left from her vocal cords being removed. She forms a strong bond with the Amphibian Man over the course of the movie, coming to empathize with him and realizing that he's a sapient, feeling being, and risks her life to help him escape.
16	----
17	* AlliterativeName: '''E'''lisa '''E'''sposito.
18	* AllWomenLoveShoes: Elisa is very fond of high heels and owns multiple pairs. On her journey to the bus stop, she is distracted by the latest pair of heels on a revolving platform in the shoe store window in the same way that Strickland is later distracted by the latest model Cadillac on a revolving platform at the car dealership.
19	* AmbiguouslyHuman: She was found as a baby near a river, unable to speak presumably due to the gill-like scars on her neck. [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, the scars wind up actually functioning as gills.]] Del Toro confirmed in an interview that [[spoiler:Elisa is [[HalfHumanHybrid not entirely human]], and described [[AdamAndEvePlot her and the Amphibian Man]] as [[LastOfHisKind the last of a species]]]].
20	* BeastAndBeauty: The Beauty to the Amphibian Man's Beast.
21	* BeneathNotice: The biggest reason her romance with the Amphibian Man goes unnoticed and she is able to help him escape: she's a mute cleaning lady. Strickland is only interested in her for a brief moment when contemplating an affair with her, although in the novel he's rather obsessive about her.
22	* BrainyBrunette: Zelda describes her as very educated and she quickly comes up with a plan to save the Amphibian Man.
23	* ChangelingFantasy: [[spoiler:The lack of information about her past and the fact that the Amphibian Man turns her scars into gills at the end leave open the possibility that she was originally a fish person just like him, which WordOfGod ultimately confirms]].
24	* CowardlyLion: Giles praises Elisa for being very brave and relaxed when they prepare to free the Amphibian Man. She admits that she is actually ''very'' terrified.
25	* CuteMute: Older than many versions, but she is often very innocent-looking and is unable to speak due to a childhood injury.
26	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:She's near fatally shot by Strickland at the end of the film, but is then healed by the Amphibian Man]].
27	* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:After a hell of a lot of struggle, including briefly dying, she finally manages to live happily ever after with the Amphibian Man beneath the ocean]].
28	* GoodScarsEvilScars: She has scars on the sides of her neck that look like gills, which are the reason she is mute -- it's assumed that they're left over from her vocal cords being surgically removed. [[spoiler:However, the Amphibian Man heals them at the end of the movie, giving her gills to breathe underwater.]]
29	* InformedAttractiveness: Inverted. She's seen as "not much to look at" within the film, though clearly the Amphibian Man doesn't think so.
30	* InterspeciesRomance: She ends up falling for the Amphibian Man because he can empathize with her in a way other people can't.
31	* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: Elisa masturbates furiously as part of her daily routine, as she is both extremely lonely and sexually frustrated, and, being mute, it's very hard for her to proposition men. WordOfGod says it's also meant to humanize her character, to avoid the perfect and innocent character that people could read her as.
32	* MaybeEverAfter: InUniverse, as her friends have yet to learn that she survived her bullet wounds like the audience does. Still, Giles informs the audience that he likes to believe that Elisa is somewhere living happily ever after with the Amphibian Man, and it can most likely be assumed Zelda feels the same.
33	* MeaningfulName: Her surname "Esposito" is a name given to foundlings, and she herself was found as a baby on the side of a river, already unable to speak.
34	* MosesInTheBulrushes: She was found as a baby near a river, presumably abandoned by her biological parents.
35	* MsFanservice: Elisa is shown completely naked [[BathtubScene in her bathtub]] twice -- first while she masturbates (a part of her regular morning routine -- she's even got it on a ''timer''), then while about to have sex with the Amphibian Man, later when underwater as she floods the room for this.
36	* MysteriousPast: We never learn how she got those scars on her neck or who her real parents were.
37	* OddFriendship: With Giles, the secluded old artist who lives next door.
38	* PlatonicLifePartners: With Giles again.
39	* TheSpeechless: She is mute and uses American Sign Language to communicate. Part of her attraction to the Amphibian Man is that, since he can't speak either, he doesn't think of her as lacking anything.
40	* StealthInsult: She clearly and deliberately tells Strickland to fuck himself, taking advantage of his lack of understanding of sign language.
41	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]]. Elisa is more comfortable with water than most humans. When she floods the bathroom to the top window, she doesn't worry about drowning, nor does she put her head above water to breathe. After only a minute or two, Giles opens the door and all the water comes out. In the final scene, [[spoiler:she suffers a DisneyDeath when Strickland shoots her and she falls into the flooded dry dock, too weak to swim. The Amphibian Man revives her and turns her neck scars into gills so she can breathe underwater.]]
42	* VirtuousCharacterCopy: She's initially based on Kay Lawrence from ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'', but her character is developed much differently to make the romance with the Amphibian Man more believable. While Kay is Dr. Reed's SatelliteLoveInterest who reacts to the Gill-man with fear and revulsion, Elisa is an independent woman who feels sympathy to the Amphibian Man, eventually falling in love with him due to his gentle personality rather than his alien looks.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:The Amphibian Man]]
46	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asset.jpg]]
47	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/DougJones
48
49	A mysterious piscine humanoid retrieved from a river in Amazonia, the Amphibian Man is transferred to the government facility where Elisa works at the beginning of the movie. He's subjected to torture and profoundly inhumane treatment, as his handlers see him as nothing more than a lab animal to sacrifice on the altar of winning the space race against the Soviets, but manages to form a bond with Elisa that eventually grows into something a lot stronger.
50	----
51	* BeastAndBeauty: The Beast to Elisa's Beauty.
52	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: How Giles forgives him when the Amphibian Man eats his cat: the Amphibian Man does not understand human customs and rules, and so cannot be hated simply for eating what seemed to him as easy food. Even then, the Amphibian Man appears to learn that eating people's cats is not something that'll get you friends and is later seen peacefully playing with the ones he didn't harm. His attack on the cat may have also been a reaction to it hissing at him, which he took as a challenge. The other cats react to him calmly, so he doesn't attack them.
53	* ColdBloodedTorture: He's repeatedly subjected to this by Strickland, who torments and electrocutes him in a destructive attempt at tearing information from him.
54	* CuteMute: He cannot speak, like Elisa. However, he can make weak vocalizations. He's much easier to understand when he signs. Still, he is the film's romantic hero.
55	* DarkIsNotEvil: He wouldn't be out of place in a Lovecraft horror story or a '50s monster movie, but he's unquestionably a good soul.
56	* TheDogBitesBack: He bites off several of Strickland's fingers in retaliation for all the ElectricTorture. [[spoiler:He is also the one to kill Strickland in the end.]]
57	* EarFins: A somewhat more subtle example than some other Fish People, but he has fins or gills on the sides of his head in place of ears. They flare out whenever he's agitated.
58	* ExoticEquipment: Elisa described him as having a retractable penis.
59	* {{Expy}}:
60	** His design is clearly based on the Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon. He even comes from South America.
61	** He also looks similar to Abe Sapien in ''Film/{{Hellboy\|2004}}'', which was also directed by Del Toro, and both are portrayed by Doug Jones. Plus, both of them love eggs and have magical hands.
62	* FishPeople: He's a scale-covered, finned humanoid who lives in water as his primary habitat, but he apparently has two completely distinct respiratory systems that allow him to breathe either water or air, [[spoiler:albeit temporarily as he needs to dwell in water to survive long-term]].
63	* GodGuise: The Amphibian Man was worshiped as a deity and given food offerings by a primitive tribe in the Amazonian region. [[spoiler:This turns out to be justified when it is revealed the Amphibian Man can not only [[HealingFactor rapidly regenerate from injuries]] but also [[HealingHands heal the wounds of others]].]]
64	* GoodIsNotSoft: The Amphibian Man is empathetic for the most part, but is still a dangerous creature that shows aggressive behavior when provoked. [[spoiler: Strickland [[{{Fingore}} learned it the hard way]]. [[KarmicDeath Twice]].]]
65	* HealingHands: It turns out that the Amphibian Man can [[spoiler:heal the injuries and diseases of others with a touch, including regrowing lost hair]]. At the end of the movie, it is revealed that [[spoiler:[[HealingFactor this also applies to himself]], to the extent of [[ImmuneToBullets shrugging off bullet wounds]], and that he can even reshape human physiology.]]
66	* {{Hermaphrodite}}: WordOfGod is that the Amphibian Man has both sets of reproductive organs.
67	* ItCanThink: When Bob[[spoiler:/[[DoubleAgent Dimitri]]]] witnesses the Amphibian Man connect with Elisa over hard-boiled eggs and music, he comes to the conclusion that he's a sentient creature that does not deserve to be [[TheyWouldCutYouUp torn open while alive by Strickland and General Hoyt]]. This is also the reason why [[spoiler: even though he's ordered to by [[DirtyCommunists his handlers]] to euthanize the Amphibian Man and compromise the possibility that the Americans should get any useful information from his vivisection, Dimitri sabotages his mission by helping Elisa to liberate the Amphibian Man.]]
68	* KlingonsLoveShakespeare: Elisa wins him over by playing jazz, and he's later awestruck at a movie screen.
69	* NonHumansLackAttributes: Subverted. His chest and crotch are streamlined, with no visible nipples or genitalia. However, after she gets to know him better, Elisa learns that he does have genitalia that only become external when in use (which the audience doesn't get to see first-hand), much like a whale's or dolphin's.
70	* RiddleForTheAges: Just what is he, exactly? Is he the last of an extinct race? Is he a mutated human being? Is he actually a god? We may never know.
71	* SingleSpecimenSpecies: There are never shown to be more creatures of his species [[spoiler:except maybe -- ''maybe'' -- Elisa]], and Strickland refers to him as an aberration of nature. He may be some sort of {{mutant\|s}}.
72	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Boiled eggs.
73	* VirtuousCharacterCopy: He is Guillermo del Toro's answer to Universal's Gill-man but unlike his predecessor, the Amphibian Man is more gentle and understanding, only being hostile to those who try to harm him or Elisa. Unlike the [[MarsNeedsWomen Gill-man's lust for Kay at first sight]], Amphibian Man's love for Elisa is developed gradually over the course of the film, emphasizing that it's Elisa's personality, not looks, that attracts Amphibian Man to her.
74	* VolcanicVeins: They shine with bio-luminescent lines when he's using his powers and seemingly as a way to communicate.
75	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: This is something many other characters grapple with when dealing with him, as he is clearly intelligent and empathetic, but also visibly inhuman.
76	* YouSexyBeast: He's an [[FishPeople Amphibian Man]] and he's Elisa's LoveInterest.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder: Zelda Delilah Fuller]]
80	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zelda_4.jpg]]
81	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/OctaviaSpencer
82
83	Elisa's friend and fellow cleaning lady, Zelda serves as an interpreter when Elisa needs to communicate with people who cannot understand her sign language.
84	----
85	* BadLiar: She calls herself this, and proves it during her and Elisa's interrogation from Strickland where she can barely keep a straight face when asked if she knows anything about the missing "Asset". Only Strickland's [[BeneathNotice lack of attention]] keeps them from being found out.
86	* NotSoAboveItAll: She seems to have a prejudice for people of short stature, claiming she never met a single short man who behaved nicely and calling them "[[DepravedDwarf Mean little backstabbers]], all of 'em".
87	* SassyBlackWoman: She's not afraid of [[ServileSnarker insulting her husband and bosses]] when they aren't around. Considering [[TheSixties the early '60s]] weren't exactly accommodating to women and people of color, [[StepfordSnarker one needs to find catharsis where they can get it]].
88	* SeenItAll: She shows disgust at all the blood in the Amphibian Man's chamber, but other than that she seems unfazed by the fact that the room is practically drenched in it.
89	* TokenBlackFriend: To Elisa, whom she frequently translates for and serves as a buddy to. She's also the only major black character.
90	* TranslatorBuddy: She's the one who translates Elisa's sign language when Giles is not around.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder: Giles]]
94	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/giles.jpg]]
95	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/RichardJenkins
96
97	Elisa's friend and apartment neighbor, Giles is a down-on-his luck advertising illustrator struggling to find employment, as well as with his ongoing mid-life crisis and his closeted homosexuality.
98	----
99	* AlliterativeName: The novelization reveals his full name is '''G'''iles '''G'''underson.
100	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He becomes attracted to a friendly waiter at the local diner, only to discover that the man is a racist and homophobe when he tries to make a move.
101	%%* CampGay: A more subtle than most examples, but he still counts.%%How?
102	* ClassicalAntiHero: He's a neurotic mess with a failing career, and a bit of a coward to boot, but he's an undeniably good person.
103	* CoolOldGuy: He's in his later years and a charming, sweet-natured and warm person.
104	* CrazyCatLady: Male version; a lonely poetic soul who keeps at least a good half-dozen cats in spite of being a self-professed financially-struggling "starving artist".
105	* DodgyToupee: He wears one during job interviews. Elisa is not impressed by it.
106	* {{Gayngst}}: His sexuality causes him loneliness and stress, especially when he finds out the guy at the pie shop he was crushing on is a homophobe and a racist.
107	* HairTodayGoneTomorrow: One of Giles' great regrets is that he no longer has the hair he had in in his youth. He resorts to wearing a toupee when he wants to impress people, such as the diner owner. He is overjoyed when [[spoiler:the Amphibian Man uses his HealingHands to cause his hair to regrow]].
108	* LikeASonToMe: It's implied throughout the movie that he basically raised Elisa.
109	* NervousWreck: He's not great under pressure. [[spoiler: He nearly gets caught when trying to extract the Amphibian Man because of it]].
110	* NiceGuy: A sensitive, kind and soft-hearted soul who is compassionate towards his fellow humans (and of course The Amphibian Man), and is notably one of the few '''non''' racist white men in this movie - though early on he's established as trying too hard not to avoid taking a stand on that issue, when he doesn't want to watch a news report on anti-racist demonstrations. He is even quick to forgive The Amphibian Man for eating one of his cats in hunger, in spite of being initially understandably horrified by the sight of him doing so.
111	* PapaWolf: For most of the movie he is a very affable and timid man who avoids confrontation like the plague, however towards the climax [[spoiler: after Strickland shoots Elisa]] he picks up a wooden block and ''viciously'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes beats Strickland with it.]] And yes, it is ''very'' satisfying to watch!
112	* PlatonicLifePartners: He has a close bond with Elisa, but it's merely platonic as they both have different sexual orientations -- he's into men, she's into fish men.
113	* StarvingArtist: He describes himself as one, and for good reason -- his work, drawing advertisement posters, is considered obsolete because of photography.
114	* StraightGay: He is no different from any other middle-aged man in early 1960s America, except that he just happens to be gay. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as in any way showing his sexual orientation would have ''serious'' consequences then. As it is, he gets into trouble by hitting on a man.
115	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He keeps a whole mini-fridge full of slices of key lime pie, but not to eat them -- he doesn't much like them. He's only buying the pies as an excuse to see the waiter at the diner that sells them, whom he has a crush on.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder: Col. Richard Strickland]]
119	[[quoteright:278:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strickland.jpg]]
120	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/MichaelShannon
121
122	The movie's main antagonist, Col. Strickland is a hard, prejudiced and arrogant man who views the Amphibian Man as nothing more than, well, "The Asset" -- something to be used up and cast out for the benefit of the nation. He has a sadistic and controlling side that becomes visible early in the movie, but which comes more and more to the fore as the Amphibian Man's escape and its repercussions on him push him past the brink of rational thought.
123	----
124	* AbhorrentAdmirer: He starts developing an attraction to Elisa out of a very misogynistic fetish for silent women. She's clearly creeped out by it, especially due to his extremely creepy, domineering way of "flirting" with her.
125	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The version of him in the novelization is simultaneously both better and worse. The novel version is often aware of the boundaries he's pressing or overstepping, is mildly more self-aware, and feels guilt or horror over some of the things he's done in the past, though not enough to change his ways. The film version is far more classist, the book version shot a dolphin and [[spoiler: [[WouldHurtAChild murdered a baby in Korea]]]]. Most notably though is [[spoiler: his death; the novel Strickland weeps and follows an astonished "You are a god" with an apology, and is happy to die, feeling that he's "opened", that [[DeathEqualsRedemption all his sins leave him]].]]
126	* AntiRoleModel: In the novelization, his son is shown early signs of TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior, such as being caught dissecting a lizard and [[StrawMisogynist talking down to his sister and mother]]. Rather than reprimanding him, Richard feels nothing but pride for his son.
127	* AssholeVictim: Even at the very start of the movie, it's hard to sympathize with Strickland when he loses his fingers to the Amphibian Man.[[spoiler: You only feel satisfaction when the Amphibian Man kills him.]]
128	* BigBad: The film's main antagonist -- his cruelty towards his prisoner and obsession with recapturing and vivisecting him provide the impetus for the story's central conflict.
129	* CompensatingForSomething: His whole character seems to be built around this. His favorite weapon is an unusually long cattle prod, the car salesman gets him to buy a Cadillac by appealing to his masculinity, his various rules seem to be how he views a man remaining in control, and he craves the approval of a higher-ranked man, Hoyt.
130	* ControlFreak: A prime example; as a white male in a position of power in the '60s, he'll do anything and everything to maintain dominance in a situation. This even extends to his sexual proclivities, as he seemingly gets turned on by silence in women and actively covers his wife's mouth when she starts to mention that he's bleeding on her during intercourse.
131	* DadTheVeteran: He served in Korea and has a wife and two kids.
132	* DeathByDisfigurement: Doomed by getting [[{{Fingore}} two of his fingers bitten off]] by the creature, which although stitched back on quickly turn necrotic. Sure enough, [[spoiler:he gets offed by his former victim before the movie's through]].
133	* ElectricTorture: He regularly tortures the Amphibian Man with an electric cattle prod.
134	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: You get a good gist of what he's like when he enters a bathroom with a bloody cattle prod, acts condescending towards Elisa and Zelda, and washes his hands ''before'' he takes a piss because of some InsaneTrollLogic.
135	* {{Expy}}: Like the Amphibian Man being based on the Gill-man, Strickland himself seems to take after Dr. William Barton from ''Film/TheCreatureWalksAmongUs'' as both characters are {{Jerkass}} personal handlers of the monsters undergoing SanitySlippage and take it out on the female leads.
136	* FauxAffablyEvil: He keeps up the idea that he's a typical nuclear family man when he's really just a cruel and despicable individual.
137	* {{Fingore}}: He gets two of his fingers bitten off by the Amphibian Man near the beginning of the movie. [[LaserGuidedKarma Once you get to know him, you see it was totally earned]]. Said fingers continue to provide disgusting, visceral horror as they are stitched back on, turn black, rotten, oozing, and gangrenous when the surgery doesn't take, [[spoiler: and are ultimately ripped off his hand by the man himself as an intimidation tactic during an interrogation]].
138	* HateSink: A bigoted, sadistic, and misogynistic government agent who tortures The Amphibian Man multiple times, due to deeming him just an animal.
139	* HidingBehindReligion: Very poorly. He uses biblical scripture when it suits him but his cruelty is very visible and he has an unspoken ZeroPercentApprovalRating.
140	* IkeaErotica: {{Invoked\| trope}}. In the novelization, when he fantasizes about sex with Elaine, he thinks of them moving dryly like "blocks of wood" on a white sheet.
141	* InnocentlyInsensitive: There is no indication that Strickland has any inkling of respect to Zelda in the film, making various off-color remarks like she was not even there. Strickland in the novelization however finds her proclivity to constantly say "yes, sir" and "no, sir" to be rather irritating. He recalls a fellow soldier that happened to be black being court-martialed for a crime he did not commit because he would not contradict his commanding officer. This shows that while he does have some semblance of awareness to unfair racial prejudices, such views are also rather short-sighted given how limiting and hostile America was for both women and people of color at the time.
142	* InsaneTrollLogic: Washes his hands ''before'' using the urinal, but not after, because he believes that doing both is a sign of weakness.
143	* {{Jerkass}}: Oh, yeah. Not three statements go by without him being condescending to his peers (or almost anyone around him, really).
144	* LargeHam: Courtesy of being played by Creator/MichaelShannon: "''WHAT! '''IS SHE SAYING?'''''"
145	* TheLastDance: Realizing that his [[spoiler:fingers have long gone septic and he is dying from gangrene, Strickland decides to settle all his unfinished business with the Amphibian Man and the various cast members who have crossed him at the end of the movie]].
146	* MeanBoss: He is not at all nice to those he has authority over.
147	* ObsessivelyNormal: He believes in completely blending in, and doing everything contemporary society and his superiors ask of him or tell him is the "manly" thing to do. But he does this to the point of InsaneTrollLogic, and the end result is that he comes across as more than a little disturbed.
148	* OhCrap: [[spoiler:At the end, when he sees that the Amphibian Man has healed himself of his gunshot wounds and is moving in for the kill. It also seems to be a realization that he's been dealing with something beyond anyone's ability to understand.]]
149	* OneLastJob: He believes in the novelization that handling the Amphibian Man will finally be enough for Hoyt to have no more hold over him.
150	* OralFixation: He is constantly popping green candies into his mouth, and claims they are symbolic of his personality: plain and simple. Most of the time he likes to make them last, but, when stressed, he crunches them. After he [[{{Fingore}} loses his fingers]], he alternates sucking candies with popping pain pills.
151	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Classist, racist, sexist, xenophobic and a hypocritical religious zealot, quoting the Bible when he finds it convenient with a ''literal fetish for women who don't talk''. Basically the worst side of American culture during the '60s incarnated into one hell of a bag.
152	* ProfaneLastWords: He is in disbelief before getting a SlashedThroat from the Amphibian Man who recovered from his bullet wound.
153	--> ''"Fuck. You ''are'' a god."''
154	* RedRightHand:
155	** The surgery to reattach his fingers bitten off by the Amphibian Man is unsuccessful. Throughout the movie, the fingers -- like Strickland's mental state in general -- progressively deteriorate, until they're completely black with gangrene.
156	** Also paralleled in a pathetic fallacy manner when the collision with Giles' van damages one side of his Cadillac.
157	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: In the novelization he sees Giles' van hit his car and cries out in a high voice that Giles first believes comes from a woman.
158	* StandardFiftiesFather: Deconstructed. His home life obviously brings him no pleasure, despite a very loving wife and two good-seeming kids. The mediocrity drives his need for compensation.
159	* StrawMisogynist: There are three female characters he interacts with (Elisa, Zelda and his wife Elaine) and he gets at least one moment each to express his offhanded contempt for their autonomy. He also seems to have a very sexist fetish for silent women, covering his wife's mouth when she complained about him bleeding on her when they are having sex and his creepy fascination with the mute Elisa.
160	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Strickland loves cheap green candies and is seen popping them constantly. He even claims they are symbolic of his personality: plain and simple.
161	* UncleanlinessIsNextToUngodliness: Despite his fastidious and controlled appearance, Strickland has some very ''weird'' standards of hygiene -- his establishing scene has him walk into the bathroom with a bag of candy, wash the blood off his hands, and stand at the urinal hands on hips, never touching his penis (meaning that he audibly makes a mess when he turns to speak to Elisa); afterward, he ''then'' tucks himself back in (presumably getting a little urine on his hands), zips his fly, pops a candy into his mouth, and leaves without ever washing up again because he claims doing it twice is a "weakness of character" and indecisive. It's subtly implied his surgery wouldn't have gone so drastically wrong so quickly if he had just swallowed his pride and taken better care of himself.
162	* VillainousBreakdown: Strickland's descent into this is a slow burn, beginning with when he has his fingers bitten off by the Asset--the first time things notably go awry onscreen for him. As the film progresses, Strickland's sanity whittles away as the events of the film--the escape of the Asset, his boss verbally annihilating him for his failures, and [[YourDaysAreNumbered his stitched-up fingers going fatally gangrenous]]--build on his shoulders. By the film's end, Strickland is a bleeding, haggard wreck on a psychotic, murderous single-minded crusade to kill the Asset, a far cry from the faux-family man he presented himself as in the beginning.
163	* VillainousCrush: He has an attraction to Elisa due to his fetish for silent women.
164	* VillainRespect: At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:as he's about to die, he calls the Amphibian Man "a god", finally acknowledging it as a fascinating and powerful creature, instead of a sub-human monster.]]
165	* VillainsOutShopping: Strickland's one glimmer of real happiness and satisfaction comes after he buys the teal Caddy and is shown tooling around in it like a big shot, getting waved at by pretty young women on the highway. [[ThePreciousPreciousCar The grille and right fender are damaged less than 24 hours later]], adding insult to injury.
166	* WellDoneSonGuy: He has a bit of this relationship with Hoyt in their final scene together, desperately looking for a way to still get Hoyt's approval despite losing the "Asset".
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder: Dr. "Robert Hoffstetler" / Dimitri]]
170	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dimitri_21.jpg]]
171	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/MichaelStuhlbarg
172
173	A scientist studying the Amphibian Man, and secretly a Soviet spy sent to keep tabs on and sabotage American attempts at passing the Soviets in the Space Race. "Robert" shows an empathetic side that both his erstwhile and actual superiors lack, pushing against Strickland's excessive cruel treatment of the Amphibian Man even when convinced he's nothing more than a dumb animal. Once he realizes the Amphibian Man's sapience, he actively aids Elisa in helping him escape.
174	----
175	* AllThereInTheManual: The supplemental book ''The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times'' gives his real full name as Dimitri Antonovich Mosenkov.
176	* AntiHero: He's an invaluable, loyal ally of the heroes, but he's also a Soviet spy with zero compunctions about murdering a gate guard to help speed the breakout of the Amphibian Man along.
177	* BigDamnHeroes: He saves Giles from being arrested by the gate guard when he [[spoiler:stabs a poison syringe into his neck]].
178	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:He gets shot multiple times by his fellow spies, including one through the ''cheek''. After that, he gets dragged around by said face wound and tortured by Strickland to make him reveal where Elisa and the Amphibian Man are]].
179	* ChummyCommies: A Soviet agent and a loyal ally to the heroes. He even rebels against his KGB superiors for them, but nothing indicates he's lost his belief in communism as a philosophy.
180	* DieLaughing: [[spoiler:Dmitri's final vocalization is a deliriously satisfied chuckle as he rubs it into Strickland's face that it was the ''cleaners'' who broke out the Asset, not a specialized ops team.]]
181	-->'''Dimitri:''' [[spoiler:No names! No ranks! ''They just clean!'']]
182	* DoNotCallMePaul: He does not like being called Bob. At all.
183	* EvenEvilHasStandards: As he explains to Mihalkov, while he came to America out of patriotism for Russia, he also came to learn. In fact, the only semi-evil things he does are to turn over information on the facility to his Russian handlers and viciously killing a checkpoint guard when the escape started going south. Otherwise, his main focus is on keeping the Amphibian Man alive.
184	* FirstNameBasis: Overwhelmed by the amount of trust Elisa and Zelda has in him, Dimitri reveals his true name. [[spoiler:Sadly, it's the last time he speaks to both of them.]]
185	* ForScience: A sympathetic version, as he feels the Amphibian Man is much more valuable to study while alive, in addition to realizing he is much more intelligent than the mere animal others view him as.
186	* HeelFaceTurn: He begins as a Soviet spy relaying information about the Amphibian Man project to the KGB, but he ends up defying both his superiors and the people he's infiltrating to rescue the Amphibian Man from death. Notably, when he confronts Elisa, he at first asks "who do you work for?" -- then drops it, indicating he doesn't care so long as he can get the Amphibian Man to safety where it belongs.
187	* ItHasBeenAnHonor: He says this to Elisa and Zelda after he reveals his true name to them, emotionally touched when she tells him (through signing) that he's a good man.
188	* MinionWithAnFInEvil: While he does work for the KGB during the Cold War, he doesn't have the heart to kill the Amphibian Man to prevent the US from learning its secrets.
189	* OneLastJob: In the novelization, he believes that if he handles the Amphibian Man situation he gets to go home to the parents he hasn't seen in decades.
190	* RealMenCook: Or bake, that is. A fellow Soviet agent compliments him for his butter cake.
191	* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Both the Soviets and Strickland are dimly aware that he betrayed them both and is trying to get away with it. [[spoiler:Both parties wind up giving him a very excruciating and prolonged demise.]]
192	* RussianGuySuffersMost: Not only does he get [[spoiler:filled with bullets by his own compatriots, but Strickland [[CruelMercy saves him]] [[ColdBloodedTorture only to torture him]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath before he succumbs to his wounds]]]].
193	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:As he lies dying, he mockingly tells a furious Strickland that it wasn't the work of a highly trained espionage squad that got the Amphibian Man out of the facility, it was just the cleaners who did that. Unfortunately, this implicates Elisa and Zelda, both of whom were earlier considered BeneathNotice by Strickland, which leads Strickland straight to them.]]
194	* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: His speaking mannerisms are very weird. Considering he's a Russian pretending to be an American, it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]].
195	[[/folder]]
196
197	[[folder:General Hoyt]]
198	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hoyt.jpg]]
199	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/NickSearcy
200
201	Strickland's superior and the army officer in charge of the project studying the Amphibian Man.
202	----
203	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The novel's version of Hoyt knows how to use acting FauxAffablyEvil to his advantage. The movie depicts him as blunt and coarse.
204	* ControlFreak: It's heavily implied the main reason he decides to kill the Amphibian Man is to assert his dominance when Dr. Hoffstetler told him he couldn't.
205	* GeneralRipper: General Hoyt has hints of being a slightly more restrained version of this. He seems to be pushed to ordering the Amphibian Man vivisected more by the doctor's insistence that he ''can't'' than by Strickland's arguments why he should.
206	-->'''Hoyt:''' ''[pointing to his shoulder board]'' Count the stars. There are five of them. That means I can do WHATEVER THE ''[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]]'' I WANT.
207	* GreaterScopeVillain: The main motivation for Strickland to do what he does. In the novelization, he never appears directly and is never directly quoted, but his presence looms large in all of Strickland's narration. Late in the book, it's revealed that when Hoyt and Strickland were fighting together in Korea [[spoiler: Hoyt had a whole village killed and the bodies piled into a mine, but suspected that the villagers had been innocent and if any of them were alive they could crawl out and cause bad PR. His solution was to send Strickland in there with a knife, and when he kills the last survivor -- an infant -- he comforts Strickland as if the other man were a small child.]] Hoyt used this incident to blackmail Strickland into doing many other things for him over the years.
208	* KickTheSonOfABitch: His final speech to Strickland, who obviously craves his approval, is to make it clear this may be Strickland's first fuck up, but it's still a huge fuck up that will cost Strickland his career if not fixed immediately.
209	* MeanBoss: He doesn't treat Stickland with much respect, [[{{Jerkass}} which probably isn't a bad thing]]. For more details, see KickTheSonOfABitch.
210	* SmallRoleBigImpact: He isn't in the film for long, but his presence is what motivates Strickland, he makes the call to kill the Amphibian Man, and his speech in his final scene is what drives Strickland over the edge.
211	* SophisticatedAsHell: He makes a long speech about how Strickland will be erased from history and forgotten if he fails to recapture the Amphibian Man. Excerpts from this monologue include "an alternate universe of shit" and "unfuck this mess".
212	* VillainHasAPoint: Hoyt is by no means a sage (''especially'' in the novelization) but he's not wrong on stating that a decent man would avoid making a SEVERE EpicFail. Strickland pitifully reminding him he's been a good boy won't fix the problem that he allowed the Asset to be taken away from a top secret facility.
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Fleming]]
216	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fleming.jpg]]
217	-> '''Played by:''' Creator/DavidHewlett
218
219	The nervous, unassertive head of the security at the government facility, who quickly gets relegated to being Strickland's toady once the latter takes over.
220	----
221	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: He's a nebbishy nervous wreck; Strickland, as soon as he arrives, is pushing him around without getting the least resistance. The last time we see him is when Strickland commandeers his car and kicks him out of it.
222	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Him immediately reporting the Amphibian Man's escape to General Hoyt is what causes Strickland's descent into madness to start snowballing.
223	* YesMan: After Strickland arrives and takes control, Fleming turns sycophant and spends the rest of the movie brown-nosing him.
224	[[/folder]]
225
226	[[folder:Mihalkov]]
227	[[quoteright:217:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mihalkov.jpg]]
228	->'''Played by:''' Nigel Bennett
229
230	Dmitri's handler and direct superior in the United States.
231	----
232	* BigBadEnsemble: He serves as a secondary antagonist, although has very little effect on the overall plot beyond directing Dimitri and later trying to kill him.
233	* DirtyCommunists: In contrast to [[ChummyCommies Dimitri]], he's a hard, amoral spy wholly dedicated to the Soviet cause and fully willing to kill over it.
234	* NothingPersonal: Understandably zig-zagged, given that he's a spy with an unshakable commitment to his motherland. As he points out to Dmitri, whether the Amphibian Man is an intelligent being or not is immaterial, because if there's no feasible way to delay the creature's execution and get it into ''Soviet'' hands in time, it has to be destroyed and the corpse made unsalvageable to sabotage American scientific progress. Dimitri potentially sabotaging his USSR handlers, on the other hand? He views that as an ideological betrayal, and even the ''chance'' of it he takes ''very'' personally.
235	[[/folder]]
236
237	[[folder:Elaine Strickland]]
238	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsow.png]]
239
240	->'''Played by:''' Lauren Lee Smith
241
242	Strickland's wife.
243	----
244	* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: It's hard to say just how she feels about Richard in the film given the focus, but in the book when he was away for sixteen months capturing the Amphibian Man she started to realize that she didn't need him and that she enjoyed making decisions on her own. With his return she tried to convince them both that she was a loving and happy wife, but it's increasingly obvious that she's growing more and more afraid of him as he becomes less and less like the man she married.
245	* AscendedExtra: Her most prominent moment in the film is having her mouth covered in the middle of sex with Richard. She's one of the novelization's six POV characters, although she's also the least connected to the others and the least relevant.
246	* CareerVersusMan: Novelization only. She takes a part-time job with hours comfortably within the hours Richard spends at work, knowing [[StayInTheKitchen he wouldn't like her working]]. She's conflicted when offered a full-time position, and even more so when she sees how her boss lies cruelly to Giles. In the end [[spoiler:she chooses her career, but it's also TakeAThirdOption: she takes the kids and skips town before the finale, confident that she can get a job anywhere]].
247	* ExtremeDoormat: Her arc in the book is her growing out of this.
248	* {{Housewife}}: It's what dear Richard wants, and it was enough for her, once. As she starts working she can't keep up appearances in quite the same way.
249	* InSeriesNickname: Elaine is referred to as Lainie in the novelization.
250	* LettingHerHairDown: She initially wears a beehive hairdo; her choosing a more casual and wavier hairstyle like her coworkers coincides with her last illusions about her marriage disappearing.
251	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / TheShapeOfWater