Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) / Characters

Character page for Kenneth Branagh's film adaptations of Hercule Poirot stories. MAJOR SPOILERS abound.

For the source material, see here.

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Recurring Characters

Hercule Poirot

Played By: Kenneth Branagh

Appearances: Murder on the Orient Express | Death on the Nile | A Haunting in Venice

A world-famous Belgium-born private detective and the self-proclaimed "greatest detective in the world". Poirot has an eccentric, vain demeanor and comes off as bumbling to the untrained eye, yet he possesses an unmatched analytical intellect and a great skill for investigating crimes.

Adaptational Angst Upgrade: This Poirot has a backstory involving scars obtained during the war and the death of a woman he loved dearly- both of which haunt him to the present day. Also, he is an atheist in this version, due to the horrors he experienced during both World Wars. Poirot never displayed such angst in the books.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Poirot is consistently shown as a short and plump man- an appearance that was closely captured by David Suchet's famous portrayal of the detective. Branagh's Poirot, on the other hand, is taller and slimmer and overall looks much more dignified and imponent. However, this Poirot's mustache is used to hide severe scars in his face that he obtained during World War I- something the detective never had in the books.
Adaptational Badass: In the books, Poirot was never described as being physically fit and rarely took part in any action more extreme than running. In this film, he's at least competent enough in a fight to knock out Doctor Arbuthnot when the righting of the train knocks him off balance, though it does make sense since in the book he was a former police officer.
Adaptational Backstory Change: In the novels, Poirot was already a renowned detective and retired Belgian police chief when World War I broke out, at which point he came to England as a refugee. This series' version of Death on the Nile depicts him as a soldier during the war, and he aspired to be a farmer after the war was over. The tragic death of his lover Katherine is seemingly what drove him to become a detective.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Inverted. In the books, Poirot is said to dye his hair and mustaches, a fact that somewhat embarrasses him. In these films, Branagh has him sport a dignified gray.
Adaptational Nice Guy: Poirot here is much more amicable and polite than his literary counterpart. He's still an Insufferable Genius, but he's generally more Innocently Insensitive than anything else.
Age Lift: Poirot, while still an older man, seems to be younger than his literary counterpart. The literary Poirot, while perpetually an old man, debuted in 1920 as such, while the Poirot in the films served in World War I as a young man and in the present may be prematurely grey haired.
Ascended Extra: Downplayed. Poirot was undoubtedly the star of the novels, but he was a Non P.O.V. Protagonist who was observed by the novel's Watson and had much of his interior life concealed from the audience. Here the focus is on him primarily and his internal conflicts are a main focus.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's a rather polite and friendly man despite his pomposity and eccentricities. He's still dangerously intelligent, and his manners are often a way to set suspects at ease so he can do his job more effectively.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Poirot is a very eccentric man. He's obsessed with finding order in all things no matter what, to the point that after stepping in camel poop, he deliberately steps his other foot in it so his feet will be even. He's also quite vain and pompous. He's still Hercule Poirot, a quintessential Great Detective, for a reason.
Character Exaggeration: In the books, Poirot is very proud of his brains and quite vain about them, however he won't usually demonstrate that to suspects, as part of his strategy to give them a false sense of security and appear only as a Funny Foreigner until he's ready to corner them. In these films, however, he challenges the suspects directly while calling himself "the greatest detective in the world".
Evil Stole My Faith: Unlike the very Catholic Poirot from the books, this one is an atheist- or at least became one after witnessing the horrors of both World Wars, as he explains in A Haunting in Venice.
Gentleman Snarker: He's quite witty, but it's filtered through his polite and sophisticated mannerisms.
Great Detective: Wouldn't be Hercule Poirot otherwise. He boasts about being the greatest detective in the world and backs up his claims everytime. He is famous and respected for his work, with every movie having him being approached in order to solve cases.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. Poirot isn't mean so much as he is Innocently Insensitive, and he's generally quite polite with most people. He's still vain and arrogant, and often quite blunt about his feelings even when it's socially unacceptable.
Nice to the Waiter: Nice To The Bread Baker specifically. He even gives a short monologue marveling at something so beautiful being mass-produced so often.
Poirot: Mohamed...ah... (hugs him) Mohamed, my friend, you are an artiste.
Not So Above It All: The first time we ever see this Poirot truly marvel at something, it's regular breads being prepared by a regular baker.
Poirot: I can see the soul of the city in these humble breads. The world insists on destruction, but here, masterpieces are baked to order every day!

Bouc

Played By: Tom Bateman

Appearances: Murder on the Orient Express | Death on the Nile

Poirot's friend and nephew of the owner of the Orient Express.

Beneath the Mask: For an Upper-Class Twit and a self-proclaimed "terrible person", he's quite compassionate under the surface.
Death by Adaptation: Bouc never died in the books, but here, he's killed by Jacqueline in Death on the Nile.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a hedonistic Upper-Class Twit mostly concerned with his next thrill and he's a self-proclaimed "terrible person". However, when persuading Poirot to investigate Ratchett's death, Bouc convinces him to do so because Marques and Arbuthnot will likely be blamed because of their race. He's also willing to put himself in danger to see justice done.
Upper-Class Twit: By his own admission, Bouc's position is a product of nepotism and he spends most of his time getting drunk and having sex on his uncle's dime.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Mrs. Hubbard

Caroline Hubbard / Linda Arden

Played By: Michelle Pfeiffer

A widow seeking a new husband.

Beneath the Mask: Caroline Hubbard is a goofy, cheerful and flighty woman in search of love. Linda Arden is broken by the destruction of her family and has become suicidally depressed.
Deadpan Snarker: Caroline Hubbard is quite witty and prone to joking around.
Driven to Suicide: Linda Arden tries to shoot herself with Poirot's gun in the climax to atone for orchestrating Ratchett's murder. Fortunately, it was unloaded.
Everyone Has Standards: She's flirty with everyone, especially Poirot, but she refuses to reciprocate Ratchett's advances and recognizes him as bad news from the start. For good measure, Caroline Hubbard is a disguise for Linda Arden, who still bitterly remembers Ratchett murdered her granddaughter.
Master Actor: Linda Arden was regarded as one of Broadway's finest actresses and was critically acclaimed for her performance. She's able to effortlessly disguise herself as Caroline Hubbard just through a wig and her own talent.
Sad Clown: Caroline Hubbard is a goofy, cheerful flirt only interested in having fun. Linda Arden is deeply broken from how Daisy's death destroyed her family and actively suicidal.

Pilar Estravados

Pilar Estravodos

Played By: Penélope Cruz

A Spanish missionary.

The Alcoholic: She was one in the past, before giving it up when it helped Cassetti kidnap Daisy.
The Atoner: She became a missionary to repent for her alcoholism, which led to her not noticing Cassetti infiltrating Daisy's room until it was too late.
Religious Bruiser: Poirot notices Pilar has calloused hands akin to a boxer while interrogating her. She simply replies she learned how to fight since she often goes to dangerous places "in case God is busy."

Edward Ratchett

Edward Ratchett / John Cassetti

Played By: Johnny Depp

A shifty art dealer and the murder victim. In reality, Ratchett is John Cassetti, a gangster and kidnapper who murdered Daisy Armstrong.

Asshole Victim: Ratchett is clearly a predatory Jerkass from the get-go and involved in all sorts of shady activity. He's also a child murderer and an extortionist responsible for all of the Armstrong family and their friends' ills. No tears are shed when he dies, and Poirot even lets his murderers go.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He's handsome, but he's such a Jerkass that he's utterly repellent despite that fact.
Hated by All: Everyone who knows him personally despises him, even his staff. Part of this is because they're secretly trying to kill him as revenge for what he did to Daisy Armstrong.
Jerkass: He's cruel and abrasive, and sexually harasses Mrs. Hubbard despite her obviously finding it uncomfortable. He's even worse than a mere Jerkass, as it's revealed he murdered Daisy Armstrong - a child - and still forced her parents to pay a ransom for her safety.
Karma Houdini Warranty: Cassetti had escaped all consequences for murdering Daisy Armstrong. However, the remaining Armstrong family and their friends tracked him down and murdered him as revenge.
Obviously Evil: He's a sullen, sleazy Jerkass from the get-go, so it's easy to see he's bad news.
Would Hurt a Child: He murdered Daisy Armstrong while holding her for ransom.

Dr. Arbuthnot

Played By: Leslie Odom Jr.

A doctor and former soldier.

Adaptational Villainy: Just like in the small screen adaptation starring David Suchet, the doctor has gone from being an innocent bystander who assisted Poirot's investigation to being a member of the "jury" that sentences Ratchett to death. In fact, he goes so far as to shoot Poirot at one point, though he deliberately grazed him and tried to frame himself as the only culprit. It also applies to the other half of the Composite Character, as in the same scene Dr. Arbuthnot makes a rather jarring claim that Cassetti didn't deserve a trial. Col. Arbuthnot in the book and previous adaptations firmly believed that trial by jury was a sound system, which was in fact the point of gathering twelve people to exact revenge on Cassetti to begin with.
Composite Character: He combines the characters of Colonel Arbuthnot and Doctor Constantine.
Deadly Doctor: Subverted. He seemingly tries to kill Poirot to cover up his role in Ratchett's death, but Poirot realizes Arbuthnot wouldn't kill an innocent man and was simply trying to take the fall for the murder.
Friendly Sniper: He's a perfectly amiable and friendly man who served as a sharpshooter during the war and was remarkably good at it.
Nice Guy: He's the friendliest and most helpful of the suspects.
Out-of-Character Alert: After revealing himself as the killer, he tries to shoot Poirot but only manages to graze his arm. Poirot realizes after the fact that Arbuthnot, an expert sharpshooter, could only have missed at that close a range if he had done so deliberately.

Gerhard Hardman

Gerhard Hartmann / Cyrus Bethman Hardman

Played By: Willem Dafoe

A racist Austrian professor, or so it seems. In reality, he's a Pinkerton shadowing Ratchett.

Adaptational Name Change: Cyrus Hardman is now Professor Gerhard Hardman. Subverted; this turns out to be an alias.
Adaptational Villainy: He wasn't a racist in the original novel, and he's implied to be a Nazi. Subverted, as it turns out he's an undercover Pinkerton - and he's trying to make sure Poirot doesn't suspect he's working with the other passengers to cover up Ratchett's death.
May–December Romance: He was in one with the Armstrongs' maid, and she loved him back even when he said she should really look for someone younger. It's part of the reason he wanted Cassetti dead, as the maid became a scapegoat for the kidnapping and she took her own life as a result of it.

Princess Dragomirovich

Princess Natalia Dragomirovich

Played By: Judi Dench

A member of the Russian monarchy.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Inverted. She pretends to be a haughty Grande Dame, but in actuality is close with all of the other conspirators and last seen casually playing cards with her "governess".
Grande Dame: She's an elderly, haughty elite who is overly uptight and treats everyone with disdain. It's an act so Poirot won't suspect she's one of the killers. (For bonus points, she's played by a Real Life Dame, Judi Dench.)
Rich Bitch: An elderly variant, but she still acts like a petulant and spoiled child. It's implied she was putting on an act to fool Poirot.

Hector MacQueen

Played By: Josh Gad

Ratchett's secretary and a former lawyer.

The Atoner: His father was a district attorney who falsely prosecuted a maid for Daisy's kidnapping and murder. MacQueen participated in the murder of Cassetti to atone for the miscarriage of justice.
The Mole: He worked for Ratchett only to keep tabs on him for the murderers.
The Starscream: He hated Ratchett and was secretly embezzling from him. Not to mention that he was in on the murder plot.

Mary Debenham

Played By: Daisy Ridley

A governess and Dr. Arbuthnot's secret lover.

Maligned Mixed Marriage: She keeps her relationship with Arbuthnot a secret because a mixed race relationship is deeply frowned upon in the 30s.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Mary gets in a nice one against Professor Hardman as he spouts racist rhetoric supporting the separation of races. However, given the revelation that they are all accomplices, this is most likely a subversion, since they may have planned such an interaction:
Hardman: It is out of respect for all kinds that I prefer to keep them separate. To mix your red wine and the white. would be to ruin them both.
(Mary pours a glass of white wine into her red wine)
Mary: I like a good rosé!

Edward Henry Masterman

Played By: Derek Jacobi

Ratchett's butler and valet.

Servile Snarker: He's Ratchett's butler, but he still snarks at him and insults him to his face. Since he's dying, he doesn't care about concealing his hatred for his boss.
The Starscream: He participated in the plan to kill Ratchett, having been Colonel Armstrong's batman during the war.

Death on the Nile (2022)

Euphemia

Played By: Annette Bening

Bouc's mother, who tags along with him on his trip to Egypt.

Outliving One's Offspring: Her son Bouc dies during the events of Death On The Nile.

Linnet Ridgeway

Linnet "Linny" Ridgeway-Doyle

Played By: Gal Gadot

Adaptational Nationality: In the book, Linnet is an American, but is living in England and is of partially English descent. In this film, Linnet's nationality is unspecified (with Gal Gadot using her natural Israeli accent), and it is only mentioned that her father did business in both England and the United States.
Adaptational Nice Guy: Linnet is more sympathetic here than she did in the original novel and previous adaptations. She genuinely feels at least somewhat apologetic for taking her friend Jackie's fiancee from her, but makes a valid point that Simon shouldn't be forced to be with someone he no longer loves. In her last conversation with Jackie, she even makes an attempt at reconciliation. She also seems more sad, than bitter, about the fact that her wealth potentially damages all her relationships. We later learn from Rosalie how Linnet befriending her at school paved the way for her to be accepted by the other girls too.
Berserk Button: Being stalked by Jackie everywhere she and Simon go becomes this for her.
Boom, Headshot!: How she dies.
Dramatic Irony: A flashback towards the end of the film shows that the last word she ever said was "Simon" while still asleep. Mere seconds before he kills her, without her learning the identity of her murderer.
Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Almost did this with Simon at the top of a narrow walkway the Abu Simbel, before a rock is shoved at them.
Slain in Their Sleep: Her ultimate fate.

Simon Doyle

Played By: Armie Hammer

Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Almost did this with Linnet at the top of a narrow walkway the Abu Simbel, before a rock is shoved at them.
Mating Dance: With Jacqueline, at the beginning of the film. Their opening scene is a steamy dance that stops just short of the two ripping each other's clothes off and humping in the middle of a crowded nightclub dance floor.
Outlaw Couple: With Jacqueline.

Jacqueline de Bellefort

Jacqueline "Jackie" de Bellefort

Played By: Emma Mackey

Affectionate Nickname: Simon and Linnet call her by her nickname, Jackie, instead of her full name, Jacqueline.
Better to Die than Be Killed: After her and Simon's plan is discovered and revealed to everyone, she chooses to kill Simon and herself to avoid being arrested, and possibly executed by hanging.
Mating Dance: With Simon, at the beginning of the film. Their opening scene is a steamy dance that stops just short of the two ripping each other's clothes off and humping in the middle of a crowded nightclub dance floor.
Murder Makes You Crazy: She is visibly more unstable after killing Louise and Bouc than she was at the beginning of the film.
Murder-Suicide: After her and Simon's plan is foiled, she kills him and herself.
Outlaw Couple: With Simon.
Stalker with a Crush: She becomes this for Simon after he ditches her to marry Linnet. Subverted in the end, because Simon actually never left Jackie and they planned Linnet's murder together.
Went Crazy When They Left: After Simon leaves her for Linnet, she won't let him go and starts to stalk the couple. Subverted, because she and Simon were still together in secret. It was all an act on her part.
Woman Scorned: Jackie is a subversion of this trope. At first it looks like she killed Linnet because she took Simon away from her but eventually Poirot figures out that Simon and Jackie are still together and planned the whole thing from the very beginning.

Salome Otterbourne

Played By: Sophie Okonedo

Rosalie Otterbourne

Rosalie "Rosie" Otterbourne

Played By: Letitia Wright

Louise Bourget

Played By: Rose Leslie

Andrew Katchadourian

Andrew Katachadourian

Played By: Ali Fazal

Dr. Windlesham

Dr. Linus Windlesham

Played By: Russell Brand

Marie Van Schuyler

Played By: Jennifer Saunders

Mrs. Bowers

Played By: Dawn French

Katherine

Played By: Susannah Fielding

The Lost Lenore: For Poirot, as she died more than 20 years before the events of the film and her death still weights on him after all that time.

A Haunting in Venice

Rowena Drake

Played By: Kelly Reilly

Adaptational Heroism: The original murder that she is trying to cover up was an accident, instead of the cold and calculated crime she and her accomplice committed in the novel. Also, unlike her literary counterpart, this version of Rowena doesn't murder a child (though she certainly threatened to).
Make It Look Like an Accident: After she finds her daughter dead, she stabs a "mark of the children's vendetta" on her back and throws her body into the river, to make it seem like she fell victim of a curse rather than of an overdose of her honey.
My Beloved Smother: Maxim complains it was the reason why he broke his engagement to Alicia, as Rowena just couldn't stand the idea of her daughter having a life of her own. She hated the prospect so much that she started to poison Alicia to keep her isolated and dependent.
Outliving One's Offspring: She outlived her only daughter, Alicia.
Riches to Rags: Used to be an acclaimed opera singer, but seeks to sell her Venitian palazzo nowadays as she cannot take care of it anymore. Because she's giving all her money to a blackmailer.
Tantrum Throwing: Her reaction to her daughter's engagement was to destroy Alicia's rooftop garden and leaving for another country in a huff to procure the flowers she used to poison her daughter.
Would Hurt a Child: No qualms whatsoever to threaten the preteen Leopold's life in order to force his father to commit suicide.

Alicia Drake

Played By: Rowan Robinson

Accidental Murder: For all the hints she was deliberately murdered, Alicia ultimately was killed by sheer mistake. Wanting to soothe her night distress, Olga gave her to drink some tea sweetened with poisonous honey, causing her to quietly overdose in her sleep.
Canon Foreigner: She doesn't have a book counterpart.
I Never Got Any Letters: Maxim actually regretted dumping her and tried to contact Alicia, only for Rowena to intercept the mail and throw it in the trash, leaving the poor girl persuaded he never loved her.
I See Dead People: Part of her distress was relentless hallucinations in which the children rumoured to have died in the palazzo spoke to her, wanting for Alicia to join them. She even ends up being a dead person seen by her mother and Hercule Poirot.
Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Her rabbit plushie is occasionally seen, and she apparently insisted to sleep with it in spite of being grown enough to have a fiancee.
The Ophelia: A beautiful young woman who sinks into madness after being dumped by her lover, is associated with flowers through her rooftop garden, and whose body was found in water.

Ariadne Oliver

Played By: Tina Fey

Adaptational Jerkass: She was simply Poirot's friend in canon, but here, while Poirot acknowledges her as at least some kind of friend, she takes credit for making him so famous by writing about versions of his cases and manipulates him into attending the séance just so that she can get new material for a new book.
Adaptational Nationality: This version of Ariadne Oliver retains Tina Fey's American accent, implying that nationality for the character, rather than British like in previous Poirot adaptations.

Joyce Reynolds

Played By: Michelle Yeoh

Adaptational Villainy: In the novel, the worst she was guilty of was being The Friend Nobody Likes and a Compulsive Liar. Her film counterpart is a con woman preying on grieving people who have lost their loved ones, as well as a sexual predator harassing her young assistant.
Age Lift: Went from a 13 year old girl in Hallowe'en Party to a woman in her early 60s.
Asshole Victim: Not only does Poirot expose her as a fraud, she's also revealed to have sexually harassed her extremely vulnerable assistant Nicholas.
Dies Differently In The Adaptation: In Hallowe'en Party, Joyce was drowned in a bobbing for apples bucket. Here, it is Poirot who meets that fate and nearly dies from it, while the person responsible shoves Joyce over a balcony and leaves her impaled on a statue.
Malevolent Masked Men: Introduces herself wearing a black cloak and a white mask (justified since it's Hallowe'en) and doesn't have the cleanest morals.
Not-So-Phony Psychic: Mayyybe. As Poirot is busy breaking her trick down to pieces, Joyce suddenly enters in a trance state, speaking with Alicia's voice and flinging distressing details about the way she died. Her assistant Nicholas also claims she was gifted with genuine power, but would rely on fraud as the gift was unreliable.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the book, she's Leopold's sister.

Nicholas Holland

Played By: Ali Khan

Desdemona Holland

Played By: Emma Laird

Dr. Ferrier

Dr. Leslie Ferrier

Played By: Jamie Dornan

Adaptational Heroism: He's a far cry from the novel's Leslie Ferrier, a lawyer's clerk who was complicit in forging a will to strip a poor immigrant from her rightful inheritance.
Driven to Suicide: His death was actually this. When Rowena threatens to kill his son if he doesn't end his own life, he chooses to save his son's life over his own.
Love Martyr: Loves Rowena from afar and looked after Alicia when she was sick despite having stopped practicing. That is part of Rowena's gambit as he would have not been in a right state of mind to see Alicia was being poisoned. He also did write notes that Alicia was being poisoned but didn't connect the dots or was unwilling to. To top it off Rowena asks hims to commit suicide or she'll kill his son.
Papa Wolf: His son is the only reason why he keeps on living. When Rowena threatens Leopold's life, the doctor unhesitatingly commits suicide to protect the boy.
Related in the Adaptation: He's Leopold's father here, whereas they are completely unrelated in the novel.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: The poor man helped to liberate Bergen-Belsen, and it left such a mark upon him that his career was wrecked post-war. He suffers a panic attack when seeing children's toys and bones in the palazzo's basement, as it's too alike to the German camps.

Leopold Ferrier

Played By: Jude Hill

Adaptational Heroism: He's much more sympathetic than his book counterpart. He's still a blackmailer in the film, but he did it to pay off his family's bills due to his father's inability to work, which wasn't the case in the novel.
Blackmail Backfire: He threatened Rowena through letters to reveal she poisoned Alicia in order to obtain money for the bills. It directly led to Rowena murdering Joyce Reynolds and Leopold's father, as she suspected them from writing the letters.
Creepy Child: Dismisses other kids as idiots, claims he speaks to ghosts, and blackmails a murderess instead of going to the police.
I See Dead People: He insists the dead children haunting the palazzo are real. It's never made clear if he's having an overactive imagination or is a genuine medium.
It's All My Fault: After Rowena is exposed as Alicia's poisoner and a murderess, Leopold blames himself for writing the blackmail letters that turned her paranoiac.
Related in the Adaptation: He's Leslie Ferrier's son here, whereas they are completely unrelated in the novel.
Spared by the Adaptation: In the book, he's one of the murder victims.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the book, he's Joyce's brother.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Justified by his father being a Shell-Shocked Veteran unable to pay the bills or keep a career due to his trauma, forcing Leopold to take care of everything. He also realizes Alicia has been poisoned by her mother on his own, by reading his father's notes.

Maxime Gerard

Played By: Kyle Allen

Chekhov's Gunman: Mentions he's a chef in his first scene. When he gets cut on the hand, he puts honey on it and comments it's not the wildflowers honey Alicia cultivated in her garden. It helps Poirot to solve the mystery.
Gold Digger: Initially, he did wanted to marry Alicia for money and later gloats he met another woman ready to finance his dreams, but it's subverted when he admits he truly loved Alicia rather than her inheritance, keeping a picture of her in his wallet and coming to the séance because he hopes to hear of her again.

Olga Seminoff

Played By: Camille Cottin

My God, What Have I Done?: The poor woman is horrified when she's informed her well-meaning attempt to soothe Alicia's freak-out only caused her to die from overdose.
Spared by the Adaptation: In the novel, she's one of the murder victims.
Token Religious Teammate: She used to be a nun and is extremely superstitious, calling Joyce Reynolds a servant of the Devil.

Vitale Portfoglio

Played By: Riccardo Scamarcio

Alessandro Longo

Characters / Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh)

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