A page describing the central characters of the 2011 film Killer Joe.
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Detective Joe Cooper
A detective in the Dallas Police department who moonlights as a hitman. He is both an antagonistic Force and a central character in the plot.
- Antagonist Title: The titular character of the work, "Killer" Joe is initially brought in by the Smith family to perform a hit, only to prove much more than they're ready to handle in his dangerous psychopathy.
- Dirty Cop: Well, yeah. In addition to moonlighting as a murderer for hire, Joe casually tells Chris he won't arrest the gangster he owes money too despite knowing of his activities because he "likes [him]".
- Dirty Old Man: He yearns for the much younger Dottie and strong-arms her family into letting him take her on a "date". There, Joe plays to power dynamics to uncomfortably seduce Dottie. From thereon he begins sleeping with the Smiths presumably for access to Dottie.
- The Dreaded: All the other criminals know Joe is far more dangerous than they and rightfully fear him. By the work's end he's terrified Ansel and Sharla into helping him try to kill Chris.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Ansel and Chris and Rex in particular think they can hire (or manipulate) the insane killer to kill Chris' mother Adele so they can get their money. Joe quickly shows he's too much for Chris to control, practically destroying his life; and is implied to murder Rex after catching him trying to use Joe for his own scheme.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He's a very attractive man, but his beauty is solely skin deep. He's a psychotic killer for hire who won't hesitate to commit gruesome acts of violence at the drop of a hat.
- Fair Cop: He's a police detective (in his day job anyway) played by Matthew McConaughey so he definitely qualifies.
- Faux Affably Evil: Joe generally interacts with a bizarre, shallowly friendly manner of speech to Dottie. It is quite superficial though and immediately under the facade rests his bizarre psychopathy.
- Killer Cop: A Dallas PD detective moonlighting as a hitman. He has no issues with killing people to supplement his income.
- Professional Killer: Makes a side living as a hitman. No doubt the skills he acquired in law enforcement have made him a competent assassin as he knows the ins and outs of crime scenes, thus he'd know how to clean up evidence and arrange deaths to look like accidents.
- Psycho for Hire: There's very clearly something wrong with Joe; he shows no remorse over the gruesome things he does, snaps quickly from psychotic episodes to civility and in general seems to have a very messed up way of looking at the world. The audience never gets any insight into why he is this way; if it was something that happened to him as a child, on the job as a cop or if maybe he's just a screwed up individual just because.
- Rabid Cop: Though while working "non-traditionally", Joe is an officer and lunatic who beats Sharla down before raping her in anger when he discovers she lied to him. He also brutally beats Chris as well.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Leaving aside the Questionable Consent of his encounter(s) with Dottie, Joe beats and sexually assaults Sharla with a chicken drumstick during the climax, fully establishing just what a monster he is and how out of depths the Smiths were to call upon his aid.
- Would Hit a Girl: Damn right he would. Towards the film's climax, he mercilessly beats Sharla bloody after learning of her treachery.
Chris Smith
A Texan drug dealer currently heavily indebted to gangster "Digger" Soames. He enlists Joe's help after finding out about his hated mother's life insurance policy.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Chris is a scummy drug dealer plotting to kill his own mom for money but he does love his little sister Dottie and is the most reluctant to let Joe pursue a relationship with her.
- Stupid Crooks: He took Rex's word that his sister Dottie was the beneficiary of their mom's life insurance policy. Rex manipulates him into hiring Joe to set Chris up as the fall guy while he gets the money.
Ansel Smith
Chris' father who Chris talks into working with him for the hit on his mom and Ansel's ex. Initially reluctant, the promise of money ends up swaying him.
- Agonizing Stomach Wound: Ends the film shot in the gut by the hysterical Dottie, with the sudden end making it unclear if he lives or not.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Insists on splitting the money they get from killing Adele with his current girlfriend Sharla. This later goes out the window when Joe reveals to Ansel Sharla's been cheating on him.
- Stupid Crooks: Like father, like son, Ansel pretty well takes the moronic Chris at his word about Adele's life insurance policy, only to find out Rex is the real beneficiary when meeting with a lawyer.
Sharla Smith
Ansel's current girlfriend who plots with him and his son to use Joe to kill Adele. She's secretly seeing Adele's boyfriend Rex behind Ansel's back.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Absolutely averted when Joe gets his hands on her. He brutally smashes her nose and chokes her before sexually assaulting her.
- Smug Snake: Seems to think Rex will be able to make off with Adele's insurance money after using Joe to kill her. The psychopathic Joe is quick to catch and dispatch Rex before beating and raping her for trying to double cross him.
Dottie Smith
Ansel's second child and Chris' younger sister. She's an odd girl and the kindest of the family but still wants to see her mother dead for her previous abuse.
- Beware the Nice Ones: In the final scene, Dottie loses it at all the violence happening around her and grabs Chris' gun to start firing off at everyone. She kills Chris, wounds Ansel and ends the film with her finger hovering over the trigger at Joe, leaving his fate unclear.
- Cloudcuckoolander: There's something off about Dottie, who's extremely naive and yet more aware of Joe's being than you'd think.
- Nice Girl: At least compared to the rest of her family, Dottie comes across as quite sweet and isn't directly a criminal beyond being okay with the hit on her abusive mother. She acts quite sweet to her family and Joe, at least until all the violence breaks her at the end.
