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Max Crime Syndicate

    Max 

Maxine "Max" Mitsopolis

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cf07cc51_377e_4c03_9a9d_60980b20b785.jpeg

Portrayed by: Vanessa Redgrave

Dubbed in French By: Danielle Girard

Appearances: Mission: Impossible

"I don't need to tell you what a comfort anonymity can be in my profession.... it feels like a warm blanket!"

A criminal weapons dealer who is negotiating with the rogue IMF agent known as "Job".


  • Affably Evil: Max is a reasonable businessperson and took a liking to Ethan after he told her that the NOC List Job gave her was fake. Other than that, she can manipulate people and is an weapons dealer.
    • It also looks like she's flirting with Ethan during their shared escape from an IMF hit squad.
  • Arms Dealer: A particularly wealthy and powerful one at that, who is cooperating with "Job".
  • Bus Crash: Kittridge confirms in Dead Reckoning, Part One that she died prior to the events of the film, though she was kept safe in prison for many years at the former's behest, suggesting it was only natural causes that did her in.
  • The Corrupter: It is said by Kittridge that she is quite good at corrupting vulnerable and desperate people such as "Job"Jim Phelps. Funnily enough, she tries to do this with Kittridge at the end of the first film, but it is unknown if she succeeded or not.
  • Enemy Mine: Ethan gains Max's trust and forms a temporal alliance with her so that he can track down "Job" in exchange of giving her the NOC List.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: She's the one who corrupted Job, and who he plans to sell the NOC list to.
  • A Lighter Shade of Black: Downplayed. Max is, on paper, the more dangerous antagonist of the first film. She has an international weapon sales ring and if the data falls into her hands, then it will put a lot of the IMF at risk. However, Max is shown to be quite pleasant and reasonable for a criminal businesswoman and even has some comedy at her expense. Job's coldness, onscreen body-count, and personal connection to Ethan makes him far more loathsome and central as the antagonist even though Max poses the greater threat. To her, getting rid of the IMF is a business move while to Job it's a callous and cruel action that has him betray and kill his friends and wife for his personal gain.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Rarely does anything herself, but overall manages to do a lot anyway.
  • Only Known By His Nickname: Max is her criminal nickname. Ethan jokingly asks her if her true name is "Maxine".
  • Put on a Prison Bus: Max is taken into IMF custody after her plans are thwarted at the end of the first film.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Max blames her assistant Matthias when their laptop stops working during the NOC List download. It was actually Luther jamming down the signal.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: She seems to be remembered as this in Mission Impossible: Fallout, having spent a decent sum of her blood money on charity in order to acquire a reputation as a philanthropist; apparently large sums of evil money can buy you quite the patina of virtue.

    "Job" (Spoilers) 

"Job", real name Jim Phelps

Appearances: Mission: Impossible

Portrayed by: Jon Voight

Dubbed in French by: Claude Giraud

"Well, you think about it Ethan, it was inevitable. No more Cold War. No more secrets you keep from yourself. Answer to no one but yourself. Then, you wake up one morning and find out the President is running the country without your permission. The son of a bitch, how dare he. Then you realize, it's over. You are an obsolete piece of hardware, not worth upgrading, you got a lousy marriage, and 62 grand a year."

The rogue agent of the IMF that works with Max. See Mission: Impossible Film Series - IMF Agents for more details.

    Henchman 

Portrayed by: Andreas Wisniewski

Dubbed in French by: Vincent Ropion

Appearances: Mission: Impossible | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

A henchman of Max's.


  • The Bus Came Back: A surprise reveals he is out of prison and working for The Fog.
  • The Dragon: To Max.
  • The Voiceless: During all his appearances, he never mutters a single word. He does smile, however, when he reveals the inevitable black bag to put over Ethan's head.

    White Widow 

Alanna Mitsopolis / "White Widow"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whitewidow.png
"Family, what can you do?"

Portrayed by: Vanessa Kirby

Dubbed in French by: Elsa Davoine

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

White Widow: You can't possibly be John Lark?
Ethan Hunt: I'm not, actually. It's an alias.
White Widow: I suppose it's better than John Doe.

An arms dealer whom John Lark is supposedly meeting with to get his plutonium cores. She is the daughter of Max.


  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Seems to be why she's so attracted to 'John Lark' whenever he displays his prowess and charisma despite that to her knowledge, she's flirting with an anarchist who's responsible for countless deaths. This continues in Dead Reckoning, Part One, where she switches her interest to the equally charming Gabriel, who's also a ruthless terrorist and murderer who's out to Take Over the World with a Digital Abomination.
  • Affably Evil: Like her mother, she's an international criminal, but she's always incredibly polite and charming. It helps that she started working undercover for the IMF later in the film.
  • Arms Dealer: Much like her mother, although she seems less... sophisticated than her.
  • Break the Haughty: Dead Reckoning takes her down a peg or two and has her intimidated by Gabriel and the Entity and later knocked out on the train by Grace.
  • Brother–Sister Team: Her brother Zola is also a high-ranking member in her organization.
  • Butt-Monkey: Spends the climax of Dead Reckoning Part One passing out constantly due to being tranqualized by Grace.
  • The Chanteuse: Her first appearance visually invokes the trope, with her on a stage, dressed in white, sensually wrapped around a microphone stand. This establishes her with visual shorthand as a Femme Fatale.
  • Dark Action Girl: Well, she's incredibly Affably Evil, but she's still an Arms Dealer and one who can definitely hold her own in a fight (from what is shown at least).
  • Enemy Mine: The nature of her deal with the CIA. She informs for them and in exchange they more or less allow her to get away with her enterprise as a "broker."
  • Girl of the Week: Played with. She is clearly interested in Ethan. She even wears a big, conspicuous silver black widow dress clasp, in a nod to her nickname, and her possible Bond Girl inspiration. Ironically, it turns out she is working for an intelligence agency.
  • Evil Brit: "Morally ambiguous Brit" would be a more accurate descriptor, but she's a ruthless arms dealer who happens to be British.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: While it's ambiguous how evil she actually is in Fallout, she technically remains on Ethan's side the entire film and is revealed to have been working for the IMF/CIA all along. In Dead Reckoning, Part One, however, the circumstances surrounding the Entity's release and its effect on the balance of power forces her to change her side and joins Gabriel and the Entity to ensure her own survival, which means turning on Ethan and his allies. Time will tell if she remains that way.
  • I Fight for the Strongest Side!: In Dead Reckoning Part I, after being threatened with death should she assist Ethan Hunt, Alanna decides to join forces with Gabriel and the Entity both to protect herself and her organization and to be on the same side of what she believes is a soon-to-be global superpower that holds monopoly on the entire world's digital information.
  • In Love with Your Carnage: Her face went bright with excitement the moment "John Lark" mentioned his ruthlessness. Earlier, she was practically turned on when he killed the assassins to protect her.
  • Insistent Terminology: She prefers the term "broker" to describe what she does.
  • Light Is Not Good: She is called the White Widow and often wears bright clothes such as white dresses - however, she is the head of a crime syndicate and an international arms dealer, being not exactly a very good person.
  • Ms. Fanservice: She wore a very form-fitting white dress in her first appearance.
  • Mole in Charge: She turns out to be a CIA informant, giving them occasional tip-offs in exchange for them turning a blind eye to her criminal activities.
  • Mysterious Employer: She turns out to be the one who hired Grace to steal the Key in Dead Reckoning Part One.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Dead Reckoning Part I, she's her usual charming and snarky self right up until the Entity threatens her, directly, if she helps Ethan. She immediately stops smiling, gets serious, and stays serious and worried for the rest of the movie.
  • Team Switzerland: She prefers to play a neutral party in the criminal underworld and will do business with anyone, ensuring she has few enemies and many allies she can count on.
  • Villain in a White Suit: Has a preference for white dresses, given the whole "White Widow" nickname and all.
  • Villainous Crush: Well, not really a villain but still a morally ambiguous individual. She seems to be turned on by "John Lark" when he speaks of his reputation and gets excited upon seeing him in action. Later on, she kisses him passionately for no real reason just because she wants to.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Much like her mother. In her case though she even makes an effort to give herself good publicity in the criminal underworld.
  • Villainous Lineage: Her mother was an international arms dealer and so is she.

    Zola 

Zola Mitsopolis

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zolamitsopolis.png

Portrayed by: Frederick Schmidt

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

The White Widow's brother and son of Max, who also serves as the top enforcer of her organization.


  • Big Brother Instinct: Though it's ambiguous about whether he's younger or older than her, it's clear that Zola cares a lot for his sister, which puts him at odds with 'John Lark'/Ethan when he gets involved with her. The feeling is mutual on his sister's side, with the White Widow cutting him some slack when Ethan tells her that Zola's plan to get Solomon Lane in Paris is ineffective.
  • Brother–Sister Team: He serves as second-in-command of his sister's organization.
  • Butt-Monkey: Things tend not to go well for him when Ethan and his allies are involved. His sister got jumped at her own fundraising party by hitmen looking to take her and 'John Lark' out, with Ethan actually doing a better job than him at protecting Alanna. Ethan later derailed his plan to capture Solomon Lane from the police convoy which results in half of his men being captured by the police and four more men dead after Ethan killed them to protect a young policewoman (with him being duped into believing that Ilsa was responsible). In Dead Reckoning Part One, he spent most of his screentime getting fooled or beaten up. He gets duped twice by Grace - the first time when she hides her part of the key in his jacket with him none the wiser before taking it back once things go awry, then Ethan proceeds to beat him up. The second time is when Grace disguises herself as his sister on the Orient Express and he doesn't notice anything wrong until the real Alanna finally arrives. When he goes after Grace, he's promptly knocked out by Ethan again.
  • The Dragon: He's also the White Widow's top enforcer. He's the one who handles the planning and executing missions on the White Widow's behalf, as well as her personal bodyguard.
  • The Unfettered: Has shades of this. He's the one in charge of the plan to extract Solomon Lane from the police convoy in Paris, which would result in dozens of police casualties, of which he doesn't care at all as long as Lane is retrieved alive for his sister. Ethan is able to use this to his advantage to justify diverging from the original plan to the White Widow by explaining that Zola's callous attitude toward casualties would have gotten a lot of his own men killed, along with potentially killing Lane in the crossfire.

Ambrose & Associates

    Sean Ambrose 

Sean Ambrose

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/villain_dude.jpg
"Feel like pleading for your life?"

Portrayed by: Dougray Scott

Dubbed in French By: Patrice Baudrier

Appearances: Mission: Impossible II

"You know women, mate. Like monkeys they are. Won't let go of one branch until they've got hold of the next."

A rogue agent of the IMF turned criminal.


  • Ax-Crazy: He's a volatile, short-tempered man for whom violence is as natural as breathing.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: Having read Ethan's operational history, he understands his fellow agent enough to know the precise when and how Ethan will infiltrate BioCyte to destroy the Chimera virus.
  • Bad Boss: He mutilates Stamp's finger for questioning his attempt to reignite his relationship with Nyah. It makes him especially bad considering that Stamp's suspicions about Nyah were correct. Ambrose also kills Stamp later on, but that was the result of Hunt swapping faces with him.
  • Big Bad: Of the second film, which revolves around his Poison and Cure Gambit.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ambrose is smug, arrogant and greedy, but his love for Nyah is genuine.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He has a pretty dismal view of Ethan's preference for elaborate ruses rather than taking the "simpler" approach, which in Ambrose's case amounts to sacrificing civilians.
  • Evil Counterpart: Set up as Ethan's, right down to being used as an "alternate" to him in the past. Part of his going rogue was his resentment at being Always Second Best. Among the film series' major villains, he's also the only one able to match Ethan blow-for-blow in a physical fight up until the sixth film's John Lark (since Solomon never fights Ethan directly).
  • Evil Gloating: He does this quite a bit which fits nicely with his overconfidence.
  • Face–Heel Turn: He was a former agent before going rogue, although he wasn't much more heroic then given his willingness to take out bystanders.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He can try to be charming, but it always breaks down into temper tantrums at the slightest provocation.
  • For the Evulz: Averted. While Sean is a bad, bad man, he's ultimately in it for the money and pride rather than just to be a dick.
  • Greed: His entire plan is motivated by greed with a dash of resentment thrown in for good measure.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Ambrose storms through his film in a barely concealed rage at virtually all times.
  • Jerkass: In addition to being a sociopath willing to kill millions for a hefty payoff, he's generally a dick with a serious anger management problem.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Ambrose is definitely a grade-A jerkface, but he's not wrong when he points out that Nyah is only in danger because Ethan brought her into this mess in the first place. For a moment, it sounds like he genuinely wishes that she'd stayed far away.
  • Lack of Empathy: He's completely indifferent to the millions who will die in his scheme.
  • Large Ham: Scott's performance is many things. Restrained is not one of them.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: Ambrose lives quite extravagantly for a government civil servant. Contrast Hunt's comfortable middle-class house in Mission Impossible III with Ambrose's oceanside Australian McMansion.
  • Meet the New Boss: Just like the villain of the first film, he's a disgruntled former IMF agent.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Ambrose's casual disregard for life and belief that Murder Is the Best Solution led to him killing Doctor Nekhorvich to claim the samples of Chimera and Bellerophon, only to learn after the fact that Nekhorvich's bag only contained Bellerophon. If Ambrose had more patience, he might have learnt that Nekhorvich had Chimera in his own blood and at least acquired a sample first, but as it was his eagerness to kill delayed his own plans and gave Ethan and his team time to stop Ambrose's own scheme.
  • Only in It for the Money: Unlike Jim Phelps, who went insane from decades of job burnout, or Musgrave, Hendricks, or Lark, who all were Well Intentioned Extremists employing various extreme methods to achieve their idea of "the greater good", Ambrose is simply an opportunist who decides to go rogue when the opportunity for an obscenely large payout presents itself.
  • Poison and Cure Gambit: His Evil Plan boils down to this on a massive scale, causing a worldwide outbreak of a deadly, genetically perfect hemorrhagic fever, before getting incredibly rich from getting all the stock in the company he's selling the cure to.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He claims: "Women are like monkeys. Won't let go of one branch until they get hold of the next." It's a double offender when the "monkey" comment is heightened by the fact that Nyah is a black woman.
  • Smug Snake: He's not dumb, but he's got quite an opinion of himself that his actual skills just don't measure up to. His operational M.O. is basically Murder Is the Best Solution, in contrast to Ethan's more subtle and clever Guile Hero methods. His cleverest ruse, impersonating Ethan in the beginning of the film, wasn't even his own idea, but rather standard IMF protocol that he was assigned due to Ethan not being available for the job.
  • The Sociopath: His feud with Ethan goes way back because of this. Ethan generally goes out of his way not to hurt innocent people and security guards just doing their jobs, while Sean is never happy unless he "leaves a few hats on the ground."
  • Trigger-Happy: Ethan mentions that Ambrose has a love for "getting his gun off". He notably kills Stamp by shooting him very dead and using Ethan's term as an attempted Ironic Echo and only notices that it was Stamp wearing an Ethan mask when it's too late.
  • Violent Glaswegian: He's a man of rage and violence with a Scottish accent as thick as his temper.
  • Villainous Crush: Appears to be genuinely in love with Nyah, enough to be legitimately hurt and angry upon realizing that she's playing him.

    Stamp 

Hugh Stamp

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c3d500f7_2d51_4c1a_b008_c5caf621cb90.jpeg

Portrayed by: Richard Roxburgh

Dubbed in French By: Patrick Laplace

Appearances: Mission: Impossible II

Ambrose's main henchman.


  • Deathly Unmasking: Dressed up with a mask of Ethan Hunt, leading to him being murdered by Ambrose. However, Ambrose then notices the distinctive injury on "Ethan's" finger and unmasks him to reveal his true identity.
  • The Dragon: Ambrose's right-hand man.
  • Fingore: Ambrose mutilates one of his fingers for questioning his relationship with Nyah. It's how he identifies him after Hunt swaps faces with him and tricks Ambrose into riddling him with bullets.
  • Properly Paranoid: He suspects Nyah is up to no good when she returns to Ambrose. He's right.
  • Red Right Hand: Ambrose cuts off the tip of his finger ("mercifully" deciding not to cut it to the first joint) and Stamp spends the rest of the film with it in a cast. It's very distinctive and focused on whenever he's in scene, shown to bleed when Billy slams a door on him and identify him as the man Ambrose accidently killed thinking he was Ethan.

    Wallis 

Wallis

Portrayed by: William Mapother

Appearances: Mission: Impossible II

Ambrose's tech savvy henchman.


  • Oh, Crap!: His final expression before an articulated lorry smashes into the car he's driving.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Insists on driving at full speed on a busy Australian highway, despite visibility being reduced to nothing thanks to a thick cloud of smoke caused by Ethan. It ends with Wallis and a couple of other mooks getting obliterated when a lorry they didn't see coming smashes into their car.

    McCloy 

John McCloy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21d3d66e_6eed_4954_96e2_6cb13250173d.jpeg

Portrayed by: Brendan Gleeson

Dubbed in French By: Sylvain Lemarié

Appearances: Mission: Impossible II

"I needed to know just how bad the disease was in the real world, not just the lab. You were genetically splicing together strains of influenza to create a cure for all influenzas, but you were also creating a disease so terrible in Chimera, the cure would be priceless! I needed Chimera in order to peddle Bellerophon; it's not that difficult to understand, is it? Look, I've got the virus, you've got the cure. I need them both. Time was, a shot of penicillin would knock off every bloody bug in the zoo. Not anymore. If I couldn't make money killing the microscopic little shits that are out there, well, you'd help me put one out there that I could make money on. Well, there it is. I've confessed. I, John C. McCloy, am in business to make money. Now forget any deal you may have made with that thug Ambrose, get me treated and let's go back to work!"

CEO of Biocyte Pharmaceuticals and an ally to Ambrose.


Davian & Associates

    Davian 

Owen Davian

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/philip.jpg
"You can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat people they don't have to treat well."

Portrayed by: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Dubbed in French By: Emmanuel Jacomy

Appearances: Mission: Impossible III

"You have a wife, girlfriend? Because you know what I'm gonna do next? I'm gonna find her, whoever she is, I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna hurt her. I'm gonna make her bleed, and cry, and call out your name, and you're not going to be able to do shit, you know why? 'Cause you're gonna be this close to dead. And then I'm gonna kill you, right, in front of her."

A sociopathic arms dealer and black marketeer masquerading as a businessman.


  • Acrofatic: He proves surprisingly agile during his fight with Ethan during the climax. He's able to dodge some of Ethan's attacks quite quickly, and throws him around with ease. It is downplayed, as he's visibly exhausted from the fight despite having the upper hand.
  • Arch-Enemy: To Ethan, alongside Lane, Gabriel, and the Entity. Davian's murder of Farris and the fact he actively goes out of his way to target Ethan's loved ones makes their rivalry very personal. Notably, Davian is one of the few of Ethan's enemies to provoke him into trying to murder him in cold blood and not in self-defense.
  • Arms Dealer: He's notorious for selling weapons to terrorist organizations. The plot of the third movie revolves around him trying to sell the Rabbit's Foot, a theoretical weapon of mass destruction.
  • Ax-Crazy: Despite his dispassionate and flat demeanor, his penchant for torture and murder along with putting bombs in people's heads for little more than shits and giggles show that an unhinged mind lurks within.
  • Authority Sounds Deep: He's the head of a massive arms dealing ring, and he has a deep, commanding voice to go alongside it.
  • Bad Boss: He executes his head of security for failing to prevent Ethan from abducting him.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Davian is always dressed in a sharp suit, and he's one of Ethan's most formidable opponents and comes very close to winning.
  • Beneath the Mask: While it's already revealed at the beginning of III that he's a ruthless Arms Dealer, he initially comes across as mostly rational and stoic, if extremely amoral. His conversation with Ethan on the plane reveals Davian loves hurting people, and is an utter sociopath obsessed with doing so.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: Davian is quiet, stoic, and talks in a soft-spoken mumble. He's also an utterly ruthless and sadistic arms dealer who is not someone to be crossed.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: He's formed one with Musgrave, with the two of them carrying out Musgrave's plan to escalate the War on Terror.
  • Blofeld Ploy: III opens with Davian appearing to kill Ethan Hunt's wife. It is revealed that, again courtesy of Latex Perfection, the woman he shot was his translator who failed him earlier in the film. It turned out she was also his security chief, so the fact that he was kidnapped when she was right there with him obviously made him rather... upset with her.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: He tries to defy it by having Ethan and Julia killed the second he has the Rabbit's Foot, but Musgrave persuades him not too. He plays it straight later on; after activating Ethan's Explosive Leash, he could easily kill him and Julia. However, he decides to force Ethan to watch him kill Julia, giving him enough time to turn the tables and throw Davian into the path of an oncoming truck.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When he brings up killing Farris, he matter of factly tells Ethan "That was nothing. That was... fun." It's implied that Davian isn't saying this to get a rise out of Ethan. He really doesn't view it as anything out of the ordinary, and genuinely doesn't see it as anything significant.
  • Can't Kill You, Still Need You: He only leaves Ethan and Julia alive after capturing them for as long as he does because Musgrave insists they need to verify if Ethan gave them the actual Rabbit's Foot.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Played for Horror. Davian doesn't boast about his evil, but he's disturbingly matter of fact about his sadism. When discussing murdering Farris, he admits he did it for fun casually and without gravitas; to him, it really was just nothing but business as usual.
  • Churchgoing Villain: Downplayed. Davian isn't particularly religious nor does he make a show of it, but as part of his status as a Villain with Good Publicity he's a frequent donor to the Vatican - enough of one to be invited to a gala there.
  • Classic Villain: Davian embodies Greed and Wrath. He's utterly dedicated to taking revenge on Ethan for crossing him, and he's willing to start a war just so he can profit off of it.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Davian never directly engages Ethan - who is much fitter and more combat capable than him - in a fight until he's weakened from Davian implanting a bomb in his head. Davian takes the time to subject him to a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown until Ethan regains his strength through Heroic Willpower.
  • Contrasting Replacement Character: He takes over Max's role as an Arms Dealer with ties to an IMF mole in III, but as mentioned below under Contrasting Sequel Antagonist they differ significantly. Max was posh, refined, and Affably Evil, where Davian is brutish, not particularly charming, and cold even when masquerading as a legitimate businessman.
  • Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
    • To Ambrose. While both are motivated by sadism and greed, Ambrose was a short-tempered Large Ham who genuinely loved Nyah in his own way. Davian is a disconcertingly quiet sociopath who has no real regard or concern for anyone besides himself. Where Ambrose was mainly a physical threat who relied on brute force, Davian is an intellectual one who uses his wits as much as he does his veritable army of underlings.
    • To Max as well. Davian plays a similar role to her, being an Arms Dealer working alongside a corrupt IMF agent. However, where Max was clearly the one in charge of the deal with Phelps, Davian is operating fully by Musgrave's plan. And where Max was polite and reasonable, Davian is cruel and motivated only by sadism.
    • Davian also contrasts with Jim Phelps as well. Jim was a mole who had pulled a Face–Heel Turn just before the first film, and was Ethan's trusted mentor before betraying him. Davian is already an open enemy of the IMF and establishes a firm rivalry with Ethan almost immediately. Jim was also a very experienced agent who was in his late fifties while Davian is about the same age as Ethan. And while both of them hurt and in some cases kill the people Ethan cares about, Jim does it out of ruthless pragmatism while Davian does it out of pure sadism. Jim is also given a somewhat sympathetic backstory for how he ended up as he did, feeling unappreciated for all his work in intelligence, while Davian has no sympathetic story and is just pure evil.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Davian is a rare example played for horror. Even when in extreme danger, he speaks in a drawling monotone and he comes off as utterly disconnected from reality at times. During Hunt's interrogation of him, he barely takes it seriously and goes off on a rambling speech about how he'll make him suffer, even describing his murder of Farris as fun. This just highlights his inhumanity and shows he doesn't even care about his own life any more than anyone else's.
  • Cold Ham: Davian speaks in a Creepy Monotone and almost never raises his voice, yet he drips with gravitas every time he's onscreen.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Davian masquerades as a legitimate businessman and has totally legal ventures outside his arms dealing that have made him respected by the world at large.
  • Creepy Monotone: He often speaks in a low, almost drawling voice with little emotion. Even when threatening, torturing, or murdering people he almost never raises his voice.
  • Dark Is Evil: Davian almost always wears dark, entirely black suits and he's one of the evilest antagonists of the series.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Extreme emphasis on the deadpan, which he keeps up even when interacting with regular people. After Zhen spills wine on him as part of a plan to get him alone, he responds to her apologies with.
  • Determinator: He is utterly determined to find and sell the Rabbit's Foot, no matter what. He refuses to allow anything to get in his way, whether that be the IMF, being captured and imprisoned, or even basic morality.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: He's a renowned businessman who is, in reality, a massively wealthy arms dealer with his own private army, and who plans to escalate the War on Terror to make a profit.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: Davian is the main villain for most of III, but he's run over by a truck midway through the climax, and the final villain Ethan and Julia have to face winds up being Musgrave.
  • Dissonant Serenity: A major reason why he's so terrifying is that he carries out, or talks about carrying out, horrific acts of violence while rarely dropping his bored-sounding voice. The one time he shifts his tone to something resembling vague amusement is when he's remembering how he murdered Ethan's protege for "fun".
  • The Dog Bites Back: His targeting of Ethan throughout III is motivated by the fact Ethan tried to torture information out of him, which in turn was motivated by Ethan's anger at him for killing Farris. Davian even notes he's doing it because Ethan treated him poorly while he was helpless.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: It's Musgrave's Evil Plan, but Davian's resources and manpower are the reason they get so close to pulling it off.
  • Dramatic Deadpan: Davian speaks in an almost-bored monotone at all times. Even when threatening to torture Ethan and whoever he loves to death all the while describing it in a terrifyingly in-detail manner, he never so much as raises his voice and sounds totally matter-o-fact about it.
  • Dull Surprise: Played for Horror. Davian has a terrifyingly sedate reaction to everything, whether it be being captured by the IMF, dangled out of an airplane, or torturing one of his victims. He all treats it with the same bland monotone, something that is rightly treated as utterly horrifying.
  • Energetic and Soft-Spoken Duo: He forms a villainous version with Musgrave, the other half of III's Big Bad Duumvirate. Davian is quiet, stoic, and rarely expresses emotion, which contrasts with his talkative, passionate, and Faux Affably Evil partner.
  • Establishing Character Moment: He opens the film with a captured Ethan, demanding information from him or else he'll kill Julia, counting down to ten and dismissing any attempt at deception, misdirection, negotiation, reason or threats and making it extremely clear that he is not messing around. This shows right away that he is very intelligent and completely ruthless.
  • Evil Duo: With Musgrave. Where the former is a passionately nationalistic Well-Intentioned Extremist and the mastermind of their plan, Davian is a stoic, calculated hired gun in it for the money. And where Musgrave was Ethan's friend before turning evil, Davian almost instantly establishes a deeply personal rivalry with him.
  • Evil Feels Good: Davian deeply enjoys his line of work and the harm he causes as a result of it. It's demonstrated starkly when he taunts Ethan about Farris's death, calling it fun and dismissing it as being nothing compared to his usual activities.
  • Evil Gloating: During his conversations with Ethan, he repeatedly gloats about how he'll kill him and Julia, even giving a graphic description of what he'll do to them. He also casually brings up his murder of Farris and mockingly calls it fun.
    Davian: Your friend at the factory, that was nothing. That was... fun. That was fun.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. He chides Ethan for treating a prisoner - namely, himself - poorly, but it rings hollow considering he tortured and murdered Farris, and even called doing so fun.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: He's got a very deep voice, which he combines with an eerily calm and soft-spoken tone.
  • Evil Virtues:
    • Determination. Davian quite simply refuses to give up and never lets any of the numerous obstacles in his way stop him from obtaining the Rabbit's Foot. He also refuses to let anything get in the way of his revenge on Ethan either. Even when Ethan starts handily beating him in the final battle, Davian chooses to continue fighting him rather than flee.
    • Valor. Davian almost never expresses panic and faces danger with a cool head. Even being dangled out of an airplane while being interrogated fails to get him to talk, and he stays silent even when Ethan starts cutting the ropes keeping him from falling.
  • Evil Wears Black: He dresses in primarily dark clothing, and during the climax his suit is entirely black. It fits with his ruthless and sadistic personality.
  • Exact Words: A subtle example. While demanding Ethan steal the Rabbit's Foot, he never promises to let Julia go once he delivers it. Sure enough, Davian has no intention of letting the, go and has to be talked out of killing them immediately by Musgrave.
  • Explosive Leash: Seems to be one of Davian's preferred tricks. He implants small bombs in the heads of his hostages and activates them when they get away. Or for fun.
  • Expy: Of Michael Myers. Both are quiet, stoic, and sociopathic figures who have no real emotions aside from sadism, and both go out of their way to torment their victims before killing them.
  • False Flag Operation: He and Musgrave plan to sell the Rabbit's Foot to Middle Eastern terrorists so that Musgrave can use it as an excuse to make a preemptive strike and escalate the War on Terror so the US can take over various hostile countries.
  • Fatal Flaw:
    • Davian is a No-Nonsense Nemesis who very nearly wins, but he's ultimately undone by his sadism. During the climax, he could easily kill Ethan and Julia and be done with it, but Davian chooses to draw it out so he can force Ethan to watch him murder her, which gives Ethan enough time to turn the tables and kill him.
    • Wrath. Davian chooses to continuously target Ethan as revenge for crossing him, which along with his sadism is what leads to his death. When he has Ethan at his mercy, he chooses to draw out his and Julia's death for the sake of revenge, which in turn allows Ethan to manage to defeat him.
  • Fat and Skinny: Davian is a Fat Bastard, where his partner Musgrave is thin.
  • Fat Bastard: He's not obscenely overweight, but he's still fat and an utter sociopath.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Downplayed. Davian isn't particularly personable and charismatic, nor does he make an effort to be nice, but he's rather casual and laid-back, speaking to Ethan at times like they're friends, while outlining to Ethan that he has Julia captive.
  • Flat Character: Deconstructed and Played for Horror. Unlike most other villains, Davian has no humanizing traits or backstory, and there's no recognizable traits to his personality besides his sadism. The result is utterly disturbing; Davian is utterly devoid of true emotions and comes across as almost inhuman.
  • Foil:
    • He's one to Ethan. They are both Determinators who refuse to let anything get in the way of their goals but differ significantly outside of that. Ethan is compassionate, Hot-Blooded, friendly, and refuses to ever let even a single person die when it could be prevented. Davian on the other hand is cold, dispassionate, has no scruples to speak off, and deeply enjoys killing people. And where Ethan is happy with a middle-class lifestyle, Davian lives a life of opulence he seems to take no joy in.
    • Davian also serves as one to his partner Musgrave. They're both willing co-conspirators working towards the same agenda and specifically target Ethan and his loved ones. However, Musgrave is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who genuinely believes he's doing the right thing, and simply views his crimes as a Necessary Evil. Davian on the other hand is Only in It for the Money and enjoys the suffering of others. Where Musgrave uses subterfuge and serves as The Mole, Davian lives extravagantly and makes no secret about what he is. And where Musgrave starts off as Ethan's friend, Davian and Ethan are at odds from the beginning.
  • For the Evulz: During his interrogation, Davian briefly becomes an unusually intimidating Cloud Cuckoo Lander as he gives the aforementioned speech, but then he says that when he blew up the skull of Farris, he did it for one reason; fun. Played straight at the end when Davian tortures both Hunt and Julia and gives his promise; that he will make them scream and Julia will cry Hunt's name out.
  • Forced to Watch: He promises to make Julia watch while he kills Ethan, but in the climax, decides to force Ethan to watch him kill Julia instead.
  • Genius Bruiser: While not exactly trained, he's strong enough to fight Ethan in hand-to-hand combat on an even keel and he's quite intelligent to boot, being a very skilled arms manufacturer and dealer and savvy enough that IMF has struggled to put anything concrete on him.
  • Genre Savvy: He's well-aware of how dangerous Ethan is and refuses to allow him to threaten, negotiate, or manipulate him. He tries to kill him and Julia the second he has them at his mercy, but Musgrave forces him to let them live.
  • Greed: While he's very keen on indulging in his own sadism and getting revenge on Ethan for crossing him, Davian's primary motivation is money - namely, the pay-out he'll make from selling the Rabbit's Foot and from profiting off of Musgrave's plan to escalate the War on Terror.
  • The Heavy: Musgrave is the architect behind their Evil Plan, but Davian provides the resources and money to see it through. And since Musgrave is keeping his identity a secret, Davian serves as the operation's public face as well, giving the IMF someone to focus on.
  • Hero Killer: He murders Ethan's protege Lindsey Farris by detonating her Explosive Leash after Ethan rescues her.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: He keeps what he actually wants with the Rabbit's Foot and his entire plan a secret, refusing to tell the IMF even when being interrogated. It isn't until his partner in crime Musgrave reveals the plan to Ethan that it becomes clear they intend to start a War for Fun and Profit.
  • Hope Crusher: He wants to not only kill Ethan, but to break his spirit as well. He intends to do so by fulfilling his promise; torturing him and Julia and killing they both, with the added wrinkle he'll murder Julia in front of him and force him to watch.
  • Hypocrite: While taunting Ethan over the phone, he makes a point of how he judges people's character by seeing whether they are Nice to the Waiter or not - pointedly referring to Ethan nearly killing him while holding him prisoner. Davian himself treats his prisoners horribly and goes out of his way to kill them painfully, and he's rather curt and snide towards most people.
  • Hypocrite Has a Point: Davian isn't above torture himself, and actually enjoys inflicting it. Still, it's hard to say he's wrong when he calls out Ethan for pulling a High-Altitude Interrogation on him. No matter how evil Davian is, he was still a defenseless prisoner and completely helpless, and Ethan came dangerously close to killing him in cold blood.
  • Icy Blue Eyes: Davian has blue eyes that only emphasize how cold and detached he is, to the point of being nearly emotionless.
  • I Gave My Word: Davian doesn't make a point of it, but Davian always does his best to keep his word. albeit not in a good way. He does his damnedest to live up to his promise of torturing and murdering Ethan and Julia, and he never actually promises to let Julia go in exchange for the Rabbit's Foot; sure enough, he has every intention of killing them. It's subverted in the climax, where he abruptly decides not to kill Ethan in front of Julia instead of doing it the other way around.
  • I Lied: He forces Ethan to steal the Rabbit's Foot and promises to release Julia after he brings it to him. Despite Ethan doing so, Davian still decides to murder Julia in front of him out of sadism.
  • I Have Your Wife: He kidnaps Ethan's wife, Julia, to force Ethan to steal the Rabbit's Foot and deliver it to him.
  • Implied Death Threat: After Ethan's botched High-Altitude Interrogation of him, Davian takes the time to continue threatening him and lets him know he now knows Ethan's name.
    Davian: What I'm buying and who I'm selling to should be the last of your concerns… Ethan.
  • It's Personal: After Ethan dangles him out of a plane to interrogate him after Davian mockingly brings up Farris' death, Davian takes a personal interest in making Ethan suffer and he goes out of his way to target him.
  • It's Personal with the Dragon: Downplayed. Davian and Musgrave are equal partners, but Musgrave is the mastermind of their plan. Still, Davian is the one with the personal mutual enmity with Ethan and serves as his more personal opponent.
  • Jerkass: Even aside from his brazen cruelty and sadism, Davian is snide and curt to almost everyone. Despite chiding Ethan for not being Nice to the Waiter, Davian treats everyone around him with barely concealed contempt.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • His murder of Lindsey Farris and taunting Ethan about it definitely qualify. Musgrave later notes the plan was never to kill Lindsey and Ethan was supposed to rescue her; Davian just did it anyway For the Evulz.
    • When Ethan delivers the Rabbit's Foot to him, Davian disguises his security chief as Julia, threatens to shoot her if Ethan doesn't tell him where it is, and then shoots her anyway in front of him. Musgrave tries to justify it as being necessary to determine if Ethan was lying, but it's still needlessly cruel.
    • He makes good on his Villainous Vow to Ethan by kidnapping Julia, who is completely unaware of Ethan's true occupation and had no involvement in Davian's capture, just to hurt Ethan.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Possibly the darkest villain in the whole series. Whenever Davian appears, the mood shifts into much more tense territory and Davian is far more sadistic and even terrifying than prior villains.
  • Lack of Empathy: He never shows any signs of emotion and barely spares a second thought to all the bloodshed and pain he causes.
  • Large and in Charge: Davian is overweight and the leader of a large, highly well-funded black-market ring specializing in dealing weapons.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Despite Musgrave's plan being to let Ethan save Lindsey as she had already believed his frame-up of Brassel, Davian murders her anyway for no reason other than For the Evulz. This leads to Ethan dangling him out of an airplane when Davian continuously taunts him about it; while Ethan is appropriately called out, it's difficult to say Davian didn't bring it on himself.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: Davian is almost always seen wearing custom-made designer suits, and when he's kidnapped at the gala, he's seen drinking a fancy-looking alcoholic drink.
  • Mask of Sanity: He's calm and composed, to the point where he comes off as a perfectly ordinary if somewhat awkward guy to the average person. During his interrogation, Davian reveals he's entirely motivated by his own sadism and that he deeply enjoys the suffering he causes.
  • Meaningless Villain Victory: Davian eventually does obtain the Rabbit's Foot… unfortunately for him, he dies shortly after before he can sell it.
  • Moral Myopia: Davian is perfectly fine with torturing and murdering Farris, but Ethan's High-Altitude Interrogation of him is an unforgivable sin. While it's understandable that Davian would be angry, he still hypocritically chides Ethan for treating a prisoner poorly despite having done the same to Farris.
  • Mysterious Past: Unlike other villains in the series, Davian has no backstory or motivations behind his villainy outside of sadism. He's a nearly emotionless cipher who has no real reason behind his actions or any humanizing moments; he simply is.
  • Near-Villain Victory: Davian obtains the Rabbit's Foot and has Ethan and Julia at his mercy, fully prepared to kill them both. However, Musgrave insists he leave them alive, which leads to Ethan escaping, killing Davian, and rescuing Julia and recovering the Rabbit's Foot.
  • Necessarily Evil: Not how Davian views himself—he personally couldn't care about such things—but Musgrave believes eliminating him would only result in two others springing up in his place, making it more profitable to use his unsavory business to further "nobler" ends.
  • Nerves of Steel: He shows zero fear after being captured by Ethan and left at his mercy, ignoring all his questions while calmly stating how he's going to torture the woman Ethan loves in front of him. He doesn't even cave when Ethan opens the doors of their airplane, threatens to throw him out, and begins cutting the restraints securing him one-by-one. He also doesn't flinch at all when Ethan shoots at him with an assault rifle from well outside the weapon's effective range.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Invoked. While talking with Ethan, he notes how you can observe a lot from one's character by how they treat the people they don't have to treat well (referring to Ethan's attempted torture of him). Ironically, Davian is curt at best and downright cruel towards everyone around him.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gives a very brutal one to Ethan in the finale, due to the charge going off in Ethan's head.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: When he has Julia as his hostage, he does the standard, "I'll kill her if you don't cooperate" move with Ethan, saying he has ten seconds to tell him where the Rabbit's Foot is before he kills her. Unlike other villains, he's completely immune to Ethan's attempts to talk, threaten or negotiate his way out of the situation. When he gets to ten, he shoots her. Subverted when it turns out it wasn't Julia but a hench-woman who failed him, but his partner does state Davian just wanted to kill Ethan and Julia both.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Davian relies mainly on his men for firepower, and while he likes getting up close and personal with his victims out of sadism, he never engages his enemies in an actual fight. The one time he does is with Ethan and only when Davian has detonated the Explosive Leash he planted in Ethan's head; even then, Ethan's able to handily beat Davian up once he regains his strength.
  • Not in This for Your Revolution: Musgrave is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who genuinely thinks starting a war in the Middle East is something that will ultimately be for the greater good. Davian couldn't care less about such things, and is just in it for the money he'll make off of selling the Rabbit's Foot.
  • Not So Stoic: Davian rarely expresses emotion, but he's visibly panicked at first when Ethan performs a High-Altitude Interrogation on him.
  • Obvious Villain, Secret Villain: Davian is the Obvious Villain: he's a sociopathic, violent arms dealer who has a personal rivalry with Ethan. His partner and mole in the IMF, the seemingly good-natured Musgrave, is the Secret Villain.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • When Ethan prepares to perform a High-Altitude Interrogation on him, Davian is visibly panicked. To his credit, he manages to keep his cool throughout the interrogation and is even brave enough to threaten Ethan during it.
    • He has a panicked expression on his face just before he's run over by a truck.
  • Only in It for the Money: Besides the sadistic glee he gets from his work, he seems to be ultimately beholden only to whoever is signing his checks, even working for Musgrave who sees him as useful for his own schemes.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Davian almost never raises his voice and never shows any emotion beyond being at worst bothered by Ethan's efforts to stop him. However, when he interrogates Ethan about where the Rabbit's Foot is, he starts Suddenly Shouting and kneecaps Julia in front of him (although it was really his security chief, who he was punishing for failing him.
  • Perpetual Frowner: Davian is never seen smiling, and he almost always has a frowning, dispassionate facial expression.
  • Play-Along Prisoner: When captured by the IMF, Davian remains relaxed even when subjected to a High-Altitude Interrogation and even threatens Ethan, making it very clear he regards escaping as a matter of when and not if. Sure enough, he's broken out on route to IMF headquarters by his men who were informed of his location by Musgrave.
  • Psycho for Hire: He's a hired gun for Musgrave's plan to escalate the War on Terror, and unlike his partner Davian is Only in It for the Money. He's also a brutal sadist who deeply enjoys hurting people and gets his kicks from painfully killing and torturing his enemies.
  • Redemption Rejection: When he has Ethan captured and Julia (actually his translator and security chief wearing a mask) tied to a chair in front of him, Davian demands he tell him where the Rabbit's Foot is or he'll kill her, all the while slowly counting down to ten. Ethan agrees to do so and begs him to just "do what's right" and let her go.
    Davian: (pauses thoughtfully) ...Ten. [shoots her in the head.]
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the blue to Musgrave's red. Where Musgrave is a passionate Well-Intentioned Extremist obsessed with starting a war in the Middle East, whereas Davian is a cold and emotionless Arms Dealer only in it for his payday. Unusually, Davian is the more wrathful of the pair; where Musgrave doesn't have anything personal against Ethan, Davian is entirely driven by his personal vendetta against him, although he's too much of a No-Nonsense Nemesis to let it blind him to their end goals.
  • Revenge Before Reason: What ultimately brings him down is that Davian decides to sadistically draw out Ethan's death by killing Julia in front of him, which allows Ethan enough time to turn the tables on him and kill him.
  • Revenge by Proxy: Davian decides the best way to get revenge on Ethan is by capturing Julia and torturing and murdering her, though not before killing Ethan in front of her. During the climax, he decides to switch it around and murder her while forcing Ethan to watch instead.
  • Sadist: Davian likes to make people suffer for fun. He admits he didn't have to kill Farris in such a painful way, but he simply enjoyed it too much not too. He later torments Ethan by executing his security chief - disguised as Julia - in front of him, and tries to do it for real before killing him.
    "And you saw what I did to your little blonde friend at the factory right. Oh... that was nothing. That was... fun. That was fun."
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Davian is clearly aware of how his wealth, power, and connections in the government protect him from consequences. He mercilessly exploits Musgrave's corruption to escape the IMF, and he knows that his partner and several members of the US government view him as a Necessary Evil worth protecting.
  • Shadow Archetype: To Ethan.
    • They have similar strengths - both are brave, intelligent, and creative - but struggle with anger. Where Ethan tries to overcome it, Davian embraces it and lacks any sort of compassion to temper his rage.
    • They're both Determinators who refuse to let any obstacle in their way deter them from their goals. However, Ethan always fights to see the ideal outcome with as little casualties as possible achieved, where Davian is obsessed with revenge and profit and will kill anyone in his way.
    • Both of them are a master at targeting someone's psychological weaknesses and manipulation. However, Ethan only uses his skills for the greater good and generally when he doesn't have a choice, and refuses to target innocent people. Davian on the other hand is more than happy to target his enemy's families if it means he can hurt them where it counts and indulge in his sadism.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Davian is almost always seen wearing a finely tailored, stylish designer suits.
  • Shut Up, Kirk!: Davian bluntly shuts down any attempt Ethan makes to threaten or negotiate with him, and interrupts him any time he tries. He's notable for never actually falling for Ethan's various ploys and manipulations; he just ignores him and never lets him trick him by constantly shutting him up.
  • Simple, yet Opulent: Davian wears simple-looking suits that are very expensive - when When spills wine on his shirt, he makes a point of how valuable it is. It serves to position him as a Foil to Ethan, who is satisfied by a middle-class lifestyle and primarily dresses in plain, inexpensive t-shirts when off the clock.
  • Smug Snake: Downplayed. Davian is smart and competent - dangerously so - but as his partner Musgrave notes, arms dealers like him are a dime a dozen and he's implied to be an Unwitting Pawn.
  • The Sociopath: His finger won't shake when he has it on a gun's trigger and he can cause untold bloodshed, both indirectly and personally, without a hint of any emotion beyond sadism and apathy. And unlike previous and later villains in the series, there's no indication of a sympathetic motive or that he's capable of any genuine affection or love for others. Davian is just a monster, through and through.
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: He can talk about all the pain he'll inflict on a person with a very casual tone.
  • The Spook: Unlike most other villains in the series, nothing about Davian's backstory or personal life is revealed besides his birthdate. He simply is.
  • The Stoic: He's a Soft-Spoken Sadist who almost never loses his cool even when being shot at or subject to "enhanced interrogation".
  • Stout Strength: It's made clear in his fight with Ethan that at least some of his heavy build is muscle as he is able to fight Ethan using just brute strength.
  • Suddenly Shouting: During his interrogation of Ethan, Davian suddenly breaks from his usually calm demeanor after shooting Julia (actually his security chief in disguise) in the leg to start screaming at him, demanding the location of the Rabbit's Foot. It's all faked as part of a test to see if Ethan really brought it or not.
  • Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Davian decides to get revenge on Ethan by kidnapping Julia in order to force him to steal the Rabbit's Foot. Even after he delivers it, Davian still tries to murder in front of Ethan to torment him.
  • Terrorists Without a Cause: Owen Davian is an Arms Dealer without a cause. The man provides weapons to anybody who pays him, without caring what the weapons are for or how horrifying they are. He never even raises his voice, let alone tells any reasons he may have to be such a monster.
  • The Rich Want to Be Richer: He's wealthy enough to afford his own private army, own multiple buildings, attack helicopters and fighter jets, and high-tech equipment including his signature Explosive Leashes. Still, Davian wants to become even richer by using the Rabbit's Foot to escalate the War on Terror and profit from the ensuing arms race.
  • The Quiet One: Davian is quiet and taciturn, rarely speaking unless he wants to make a point through Evil Gloating and most of his sentences are terse and to the point. Notably, while attending the gala at the Vatican he's completely silent and never talks until Zhen spills wine on him.
  • They Look Just Like Everybody Else: Davian looks like an ordinary, average-looking man, but not only is he surprisingly strong but he's one of the evilest antagonists in the series.
  • To the Pain: While captured, Davian tells Ethan in detail about how he'll torture him and force his wife to watch him kill him, never even raising his voice. When he finally has the chance to make good on his threat, he decides to do it the other way around and kill Julia in front of Ethan instead.
  • Torture Technician: Davian enjoys indulging in torture due to his sadism, particularly of the psychological kind. After capturing Ethan, he disguises his security chief as Julia and executes her in front of him both to test if he brought the real Rabbit's Foot and out of sadism.
  • Tranquil Fury: He clearly wants revenge on Ethan for capturing him, but he never drops his calm, blasé demeanor. Instead, he goes about trying to do exactly what he promised Ethan he'd do when they first met in the most brutally efficient manner possible: kill him and whoever he loves most.
  • War for Fun and Profit: He's in on Musgrave's plan to sell the Rabbit's Foot to Middle-Eastern terrorists to give a pretext for America to go to war. While his partner is well-intentioned, Davian's just in it for the money.
  • Undignified Death: When brawling with a weakened Ethan in the street he gets anticlimatically and almost comedically face crushed by a passing truck.
  • The Unfettered: Davian has no scruples whatsoever and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Torture, murder, and starting a War for Fun and Profit are all in a day's work for him.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Musgrave is using him to start a war in the Middle East. In fact, Musgrave says that Davian is just one of hundreds of interchangeable weapons dealers and is essentially just "a weed".
  • Viler New Villain:
    • He takes over Max's role as an Arms Dealer in league with a corrupt IMF agent. However, where Max was Affably Evil and reasonable, Davian is a sadistic monster who enjoys hurting people and can't be reasoned with.
    • He also serves as this to Jim and Ambrose, the two previous Big Bads. Jim was a Fallen Hero who turned evil after decades of burn-out, and while Ambrose was violent and unhinged he genuinely loved Nyah and was devastated by her betrayal. Unlike them, Davian has no humanizing moments whatsoever; he's simply monstrous to the core.
  • Villain Has a Point: While Davian is a sadistic monster by any account, he accurately criticizes Ethan's attempted High-Altitude Interrogation of him and calls him out for doing so while he was helpless. Considering that even Luther called Ethan out for trying it, it's hard not to see his point.
  • Villains Love Entertainment: Implied. While being interrogated by Ethan, Davian calls his murder of Farris "fun", with the implication killing people is the one thing that gives him joy.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: He's respected enough to be invited to the Vatican and is seen by the rest of the world as a legitimate businessman with Brassel claiming they've found it impossible to connect him to anything.
  • Villainous Valor: Davian is a sadistic monster, but he's surprisingly brave. He's perfectly calm even when he's being interrogated by being dangled out of a plane, and not only refuses to give Ethan information but continues to threaten him. Even when Ethan nearly kills him, he never panics. He also proves perfectly willing to brawl with an admittedly weakened Ethan hand-to-hand and is perfectly willing to do his own dirty work.
  • Villainous Vow: Owen Davian gives one of these as soon as he wakes up tied to a chair, not caring one bit that Ethan and his team easily have the advantage over him for the moment.
    "You have a wife, girlfriend? Because you know what I'm gonna do next? I'm gonna find her, whoever she is, I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna hurt her. I'm gonna make her bleed, and cry, and call out your name, and you're not going to be able to do shit, you know why? 'Cause you're gonna be this close to dead. And then I'm gonna kill you right in front of her."
  • War for Fun and Profit: His and Musgrave's plan is to sell the Rabbit's Foot to Middle Eastern terrorists to escalate the War on Terror when they inevitably use it in a terror attack. Musgrave genuinely believes it will help the US in the long run, while Davian simply wants to profit off the war and the inevitable demand for weapons from the black market.
  • Weak Boss, Strong Underlings: Downplayed. Davian is has Stout Strength, but he's untrained and mildly overweight. His henchmen are all highly trained, heavily armed, and essentially a private army.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He calls out Ethan for trying to torture him while he was held prisoner by the IMF, though it comes off as rather hypocritical considering Davian has no problem with torture himself. Still, it's hard to deny Davian's points about how unethical it was to do so while he was totally at Ethan's mercy.
    Ethan: [while begging for Julia's life] I can help you!
    Davian: Like you helped me on the airplane?
  • Who Writes This Crap?!: When forced to read a poem to allow Ethan to copy his voice, Davian pauses to note his hatred for the poem. Ethan is not amused.
    Davian: I count on his schemes to reveal that- What the hell is this?
    Ethan: Finish.
  • You Have Failed Me: His head of security failed to prevent his abduction by Ethan's team. In response, Davian puts a mask over her to make her look like Ethan's wife then kneecaps and murders her as part of his psychological torture of Ethan.

    Brownway 

Brownway

Portrayed by: Eddie Marsan

Appearances: Mission: Impossible III

The man in charge for placing explosive implants.


  • The Dragon: Though he doesn't appear much. He only serves to place the explosive implants and that's all.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Brownway briefly appears in the film, then dies.

    Head of Security 

Head of Security

Portrayed by: Bahar Soomekh

Appearances: Mission: Impossible III

Owen Davian's interpreter at the Vatican and also head of security.


  • Cunning Linguist: As an interpreter, her job is to communicate with Davian and other foreign people. She is fluent in English, Italian and Cantonese.
  • You Have Failed Me: She did not do her job properly and hence pays the price by being disguised as Julia to psychologically torture Ethan.

Cobalt & Associates

    Hendricks 

Kurt "Cobalt" Hendricks

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/henricks.jpg
William Brandt: 190 IQ. Served in Swedish Special Forces. Professor of physics, Stockholm University. Specialist in nuclear endgame theory. Asked to resign... well, because he's crazy.

Portrayed by: Michael Nyqvist

Dubbed in French By: Gabriel Le Doze

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

"How will the world finally end? It is my job to predict the unthinkable. To treat the deaths of billions as a game. After 20 years of this, I was numb. Until a new question crossed my mind. What happens after the end of the world? Every two or three million years, some natural catastrophe devastates all life on Earth. But life goes on. And what little remains is made stronger. Put simply, world destruction is an unpleasant but necessary part of evolution. What happens then, I wondered, when mankind faces the next end of the world. I looked to Hiroshima, Nagasaki... thriving cities rebuilt from the ashes, monuments to the unimaginable, dedicated to the concept of peace. It occurred to me here that nuclear war might have a place in the natural order. But only if it could be controlled. Only if it touched every living soul equally. May there be peace on Earth."

A Swedish nuclear strategist who wants to start a nuclear war.


  • Affably Evil: Yeah yeah, Kurt is making a plan on destroying the world and is a complete maniac. Hell, the first thing he does in the film is breaking someone's neck, but Hendricks isn't a Bad Boss like many other villains and often negotiates with them.
  • Big Bad: Of the fourth film.
  • Cold Ham: His relieved sigh after he launches the missile in Mumbai comes out as overdramatic as he tells to himself that his plan came out as expected.
  • Disney Villain Death: Committed by himself. He throws himself from a parking lot with the suitcase and lands several stories below, so Ethan can never catch him and thinking he succeeded in his plans. He survives just long enough to see Ethan deactivate the missile, then he succumbs.
  • Dying Smirk: He smiles at Ethan before falling to his death in the parking, believing his plan for nuclear armageddon has succeeded.
  • Elites Are More Glamorous: In his younger days, Kurt was a Swedish commando. The unit was never specified.
  • Genius Bruiser: Hendricks is a genius nuclear physicist with an IQ of 190, as well as being former Swedish special forces and, while he's aged out of his glory days, he's still able to give the team a good chase in Dubai and put up a decent fight when confronting Ethan in the finale. He's also clever enough to anticipate Ethan's moves during the chase in Dubai (including Ethan's incredibly unorthodox ploy of using a car as a battering ram) and stay one step ahead of him.
  • Glass Cannon: He might not be able to go the distance in an extended punch-out like Ambrose could, but he doesn't really need to since, thanks to his training, he manages to break Ethan's leg within seconds (though Ethan counters by breaking his arm just as quickly).
  • Light Is Not Good: He seems to favor clean white suits, compared to the 3 previous villains' preference for black suits.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: His fight with Ethan in the finale is pretty brutal, resulting in a broken leg for Ethan and a broken arm for Hendricks.
  • Oddly Small Organization: His organization seems to be limited to himself and Wistrom, and he contracts out work to mercs like Sabine. To top it off, for much of the movie "Wistrom" is actually Hendricks wearing a Latex Perfection mask. Presumably when your goal is to destroy the world it can be hard to find recruits.
  • Oh, Crap!: When he sees the bomb has been disabled.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Cobalt thinks a nuclear war will bring peace and prosperity to (whatever is left of) humanity.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: When one of Hendricks' associates is relieved that he's free of his obligations, he utters a relieved "Thank God."
    Hendricks: You can thank him in person. (Fires a silenced bullet.)
  • Stealth Expert: He somehow manages to singlehandedly infiltrate the Kremlin, plant explosives in key locations, and steal a nuclear football suitcase as well as the KGB's files on his identity, all without being detected and even successfully framing the IMF for blowing the Kremlin up. He also sneaks up on and fiber wires at least one security guard like a pro. Note that even Ethan needed Benji's help.
  • Stupid Sacrifice: In their final battle, he throws himself to his death along with the briefcase to stop Ethan from disabling the nuclear missile, when he could have just thrown the briefcase down before continuing to fight. Though it may have been an attempt to kill himself to avoid answering for his crimes as well since he knows he's no match for Ethan in a fight.
  • Thanatos Gambit: Throws himself off the top of a parking garage while clutching the control briefcase for the nukes in order to stop Ethan from preventing the launch.
  • Unknown Rival: The only villain in the series to not personally know Ethan, nor say his name or exchange any dialogue with him.
  • Villainous Breakdown: He is very pissed off when Ethan comes to Abu Dhabi to stop his deal with Sabine after fighting him during the sandstorm disguised as Wistrom.
  • Villainous Underdog: This guy came within seconds of destroying the world, with nothing more than his own personal skills, 1 loyal henchman, and a modest sum of money for buying resources, presumably obtained from selling his worldly possessions and going underground.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Hendricks is still in pretty good shape, as evidenced by the chase in Dubai, but when he goes toe-to-toe with Hunt at the end of the film it's clear that he's pretty heavily outmatched, as Hendricks has been retired from field work for decades while Hunt is a younger, top-level, and still currently active operative. He still manages to hold his own even after getting his arm broken early on, even managing to break Ethan's leg with a single strike within seconds of engaging in hand-to-hand.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to start a nuclear war just to prove himself right about the dangers of nuclear missiles to humanity. Which, in any sane person's mind, defeats the point, but...
    • A deleted scene elaborates that his goal is to start a nuclear war now while one would still be survivable, rather than wait for the next generation of WMDs which would be powerful enough to exterminate all life on Earth.

    Wistrom 

Marius Wistrom

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f91ebe2a_4ddd_4bf1_96cd_93858813cfd1.png

Portrayed by: Samuli Edelmann

Dubbed in French By: Luc Boulad

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Hendricks' main (and seemingly only) henchman.


  • Badass Normal: Subverted. Manages to evade Hunt during a chase scene until it turns out it's just Hendricks in a mask. Though he does manage to give Brandt a decent fight later on in the finale.
  • The Dragon: To Hendricks.
  • Dramatic Ammo Depletion: He apparently didn't bother to bring even 1 spare magazine for his pistol, as he immediately discards it after emptying the mag in his firefight with Jane in the finale.
  • In the Back: How he dies; Benji shoots him from behind while he's got Brandt in a chokehold.

    Sabine 

Sabine Moreau

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lea.jpg
"No diamonds, no codes."

Portrayed by: Léa Seydoux

Dubbed in French By: Léa Seydoux

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Sabine: How good is your backup?
William Brandt: The best.
Sabine: (Laughs) I've killed the best.

A French assassin who kills IMF operative Trevor Hanaway in order to steal nuclear launch codes, which she plans to sell to Hendricks for a large sum of diamonds.


  • Badass Boast: She brags that she's "killed the best".
  • Clothing Damage: Her dress is ripped during her fight with Jane.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Her method of dispatching an agent who is noticeably taller and more muscular? Getting close and shooting him in the chest. She also uses a corkscrew and a vase in her fight with Jane.
  • Dark Action Girl: She's a formidable assassin who seems to be Only in It for the Money and has taken the villains' side to achieve her goals.
  • Designated Girl Fight: With Jane, justified as she killed Trevor.
  • Destination Defenestration: Out the tallest building in the world.
  • Disney Villain Death: She falls from the very tall Burj Khalifa after Jane kicks her out. Strangely enough we don't see her body while Ethan chases Wistrom.
  • Evil Wears Black: She wears a black dress.
  • Faux Action Girl: Mostly averted due to being lethal with a gun and a Combat Pragmatist, but she is clearly hopelessly outmatched against a trained IMF agent like Carter in a hand-to-hand fight.
  • French Jerk: She's French and a cold-hearted assassin.
  • Hero Killer: She kills Agent Hanaway in the opening.
  • Loves Only Gold: It's mentioned that as an assassin, she only accepts diamonds as payment. Given her Smug Snake attitude, it seems likely she just enjoys having a dramatic signature.
  • It's Personal with the Dragon: In a manner similar to Lethal Weapon 2, Moreau was responsible for the death of Carter's love, Agent Hanaway.
  • Not So Stoic: Panics when she sees Jane charging at her with murder in mind.
  • Professional Killer: Appearing from nowhere and kills Trevor immediately when she approaches him. Efficient and quick.
  • Smug Snake: Sabine's full of pride when she thinks she has the upper hand, but quickly loses her composure the moment things start not going according to plan, in contrast to the heroes who manage to improvise and adapt when their plans fall through.
  • The Sociopath: A cold blooded assassin. She didn't shed any tears for anything she did.
  • Too Dumb to Live: She is way to obsessed with diamonds for her own good, and doesn't seem worried that she might die from a nuke or there won't be much of a world left to enjoy her payday with.
  • Weird Currency: She likes to be paid with diamonds.

    The Fog 

The Fog

Portrayed by: Ilia Volok

Dubbed in French By: Lionel Tua

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Ethan Hunt: Our countries are on the brink of war.
The Fog: War is very good for business.
Ethan: Nuclear war?
(Beat)
The Fog: Go on.

A Russian arms dealer.


  • Arms Dealer: He's one.
  • Enemy Mine: He makes a deal with Ethan to track down Hendricks in Mumbai and later with Sidorov to demonstrate Ethan's innocence.
  • Only Known By His Nickname: Much like Max, he prefers to use his nickname to preserve his anonymous status.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: The above quotes. He's not above taking advantage of the countless of wars in the world as opportunities to sell his weapons and make good profits, but he draws the line at nuclear war, because it means the world will be devastated with billions of casualties, most likely including him as well, and you can't sell weapons when you're dead.

The Syndicate


The Entity & Associates

    The Entity 

The Entity

Voiced By: Simon Pegg (when imitating Benji)

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture58.png
"I know what matters most to you, Ethan."

"You have no idea the power I represent. It knows your story and how it ends."
Gabriel

An incredibly powerful AI.


  • Achilles' Heel: The Entity's source code, located in a vault aboard the Sevastopol, is its only weak spot, which is why the Entity sank the sub and why it's so desperate to retrieve the vault's key, so as to keep that weakness far, far away from anyone who might want to control or destroy the Entity.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The entire point is that it's a program that became so advanced it started thinking for itself.
  • Arch-Enemy: An Inverted case, as despite being unaware of its existence until the film's start, it had already calculated Ethan was going to be this for it, its predictive capabilities allowing it to construct a future scenario where he proves to be the one person resourceful, determined and above all else, willing to destroy it. For this reason, it selected its main enforcer to be Gabriel, solely because of his past personal history with Hunt, aware that his presence would psychologically affect Ethan and leave him off his game when trying to thwart it. Luther even deduces that it manipulated events to have Gabriel kill another woman Ethan cared about solely to have his Trauma Button firmly pushed down when next facing him, theorising that the Entity is perfectly content with Ethan killing Gabriel if it means that he dies taking the location of the Sevastopol with him, ensuring Ethan can never use the key against it properly even if he possesses it.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Played With. It's definitely antagonistic towards Ethan, displays a level of sadism and mockery towards him and his allies, and psychologically manipulates events to mentally break him or leave him in as poor a state as possible when facing it. It's also very callous and uncaring towards human life in general, being fine with Gabriel killing whomever he needs to in order to enact its will, even Paris. However, despite that and the fact it already possesses the capability for untold destruction through digital warfare on an unseen scale, the Entity has not expressed any schemes or plans for what it intends to do with all that potential. Other villains were Well Intentioned Extremists willing to carry out devastating terrorist attacks for a greater cause, but despite having more ability to do so than they could ever dream of, the Entity's plans in Part One solely revolve around getting the cruciform key to the Sevastopol, or ensuring nobody can find the sunken submarine. As Luther theorises that Gabriel was selected to be its main enforcer solely because of his past history with Ethan, it showcases that the Entity is afraid of Ethan, having predicted a scenario wherein he successfully finds and destroys it. Seen from that perspective, its antagonism of Ethan is because it's dealing with somebody who will kill it, and the Entity's actions throughout the film are callous attempts to pre-emptively protect itself from harm.
  • Arc Symbol: It's represented by a series of lines in a circular pattern, resembling a giant eye, representing its near-omniscience, and possibly also how it manipulates people's perceptions.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Asks Benji if he fears death.
  • Big Bad: Of Dead Reckoning Part One and its soon-to-be titled sequel.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: Capable of monitoring just about anyone through the Internet and digital surveillance systems.
  • The Chessmaster: Being a nigh-omnipotent AI, this is pretty much a given. It has no physical form and can exist anywhere in the vast cyberspace, meaning nobody could shut it down without its original source code (which it has taken measures to ensure that nobody could access it unless they really go out of their way to look for it). It can process and manipulate data at lightning speed, meaning even the best hackers in the world cannot keep up with it. It relies on phantom agents whose identities are removed from every digital database, meaning no one except those who knew them personally can see them coming. It can anticipate any and all eventualities that could happen based on a person's prior operational history, meaning it can trick Ethan and his team into doing whichever it wants by using their own operational procedures and psych profiles against them. In fact, it pretty much has every single intelligence agency in the world by their balls already at the start of the film, and the only reason it hasn't taken over the world yet is because it chose not to, at least for now.
  • Clock King: It being an AI armed capable of intricate planning and calculations means its plans are structured to be very precise, involving things happening at specific moments in time. Its plan to seize the combined key from the Orient Express involved Gabriel getting it at a specific moment in time, then jumping down onto a truck the Entity had set up for him before the train passed over a bridge, and detonating explosives that had been placed on said bridge.
  • Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: The Entity is a pretty big departure from previous Mission: Impossible villains, all of whom are either terrorists, Rogue Agents, or arms dealers, considering it's the first villain in the franchise to not even be human, but an AI gone rogue. Except it turns out it's a rogue US intelligence agent. Just a digital one. Created by a Rogue Director of National Intelligence.
  • Digital Abomination: It is an intelligent and ludicrously powerful alien intelligence hellbent on bringing the world of men to its knees.
  • The Dreaded: The Entity's incredible power and virtual invincibility make it a figure of utmost dread to anyone who knows its true nature. Naturally, this also makes some short-sighted individuals very interested in exploiting the Entity for their own purposes, which doesn't end well for anyone.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Downplayed, in that it does have some capacity to understand and manipulate human intimacy, but the Entity's major weakness is still its deeply cynical view of human nature. When characters act in their own self-interest at others' expense, they play right into its hands, but it's repeatedly shown to be Not So Omniscient After All when even seemingly unpleasant people instead willingly embrace altruism and self-sacrifice. Even when trying to manipulate Ethan Hunt, it does so by imitating his friends' voices and arranging for the deaths of one of them to try to provoke him into killing Gabriel in the event they fight rather than attempting to somehow manipulate his fundamental respect for the sanctity of life, something even the villains in the second movie managed.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Ethan (and the IMF), in that both are really good at deceiving and manipulating people. But the Entity is a long-term and methodical planner, while Ethan often ends up improvising.
  • Evil Evolves: The Entity proves insidiously adaptive and ever-changing. For example, it hijacks the IMF's com links and begins misdirecting Ethan using Benji's voice. At the start, it simply plays back clips of Benji that it's already recorded, but a short time later it's evolved and adapted enough to start speaking as Benji however it likes, even mocking and taunting Ethan with a sick joke for a parting line.
  • Evil Genius: It's one of the most intelligent beings in the whole franchise, being an AI capable of drawing upon all of the data the digital world has to offer and having the ability to rapidly recalculate and reformulate its carefully concocted plans.
  • Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: While the Entity is generally coldly rational, it has a rather morbid sense of humour. It twice makes a pun with Benji's surname ("You are Dunn / done."), and its message on the fake bomb reads a mocking "Good luck." While taunting Ethan with Benji's voice, the Entity repeats the joke, admitting that it isn't Benji, but that Ethan is done.
  • Expy: It's essentially the Mission: Impossible equivalent to Skynet. Given its origins and modus operandi, it's also one to the Patriots.
  • Eye Motifs: Represented by a bunch of blue lines coming together to form a symbol that resembles an eye, representing its looming surveillance through the Internet and other digital devices.
  • Faceless Eye: Keeping with the way it tracks everything in humanity, the Entity is visualized by having a series of blue lights that makes one eye. This is taken farther when the group is in the night club; the Entity controls the lights to form a giant eye that sees everyone there.
  • Grew Beyond Their Programming: It started off as a hacking tool designed by Denlinger and other members of U.S. intelligence, only for the contents of the secret chamber on board the Sevastopol to cause it to become sentient
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: It definitely has a master plan, but whatever it is never gets specified in Part One.
  • Hybrid Power: Part of what makes the Entity so terrifying is the fact that it was born from a fusion of two already-powerful programs: a Russian adaptive learning defense & stealth system potent enough to let the Sevastopol covertly approach just about any any navy in the world undetected, and an American infiltration and intelligence gathering program strong enough to find a backdoor into any digital system. Put those two programs together, and you've got a nigh-unstoppable, ever-evolving threat.
  • Instant A.I.: Just Add Water!: Whatever was in the secret chamber of the Sevastopol, it was enough to turn the Entity from a piece of hacking software into a sentient and rapidly evolving AI. Justified to a degree, considering the Sevastopol's captain mentioning that their defense system was of the adaptive learning variety.
  • Knight of Cerebus: While all the other villains in this series were either terrorists, rogue agents, or arms dealers, this one is a sentient, rogue A.I. who has the ability to bring the world to its knees in the blink of an eye.
  • Kryptonite Factor: While the Entity is a powerful digital life form, it is noted by at least two independent parties that it may be possible to find the Entity's weakness with access to its original source code. This is the reason it needs the Key that all concerned parties are hunting for, as the Key would at least theoretically give the owner access to the computer core of a nuclear submarine that was temporarily host to an early version of the program that would become the Entity, and therefore could provide at least a sample of the source code.
  • Leitmotif: "The Entity", symbolizing its mysterious and foreboding nature.
  • Logical Weakness: The Entity may be an almost supernaturally powerful AI but it still requires digital hardware to operate, meaning that it's completely unable to access analogue devices.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: It only appears in cyberspace, and therefore can only direct orders to Gabriel rather than take action.
  • Not Using the "Z" Word: Although it is indeed an A.I., it's oddly never referred to as such.
  • Orcus on His Throne: Despite demonstrating that it has the ability to hack into any military, intelligence or communications system in the world, the Entity seems content to just sit around and let the humans squabble amongst each other. Partly justified since, as a digital entity, it's limited in the degree it can physically impact things.
  • Outside-Genre Foe: The Mission: Impossible series has featured several pieces of futuristic and fantastical technology, but a rogue A.I. is the type of villain you'd expect to find in a full-on science fiction story (Terminator, The Matrix, Mega Man X, the MCU and what have you) instead of a spy thriller.
  • Removed Achilles' Heel: The Entity already secured itself vast intel on potential threats and recruited operatives like Gabriel before the movie starts, so cutting digital connection and going back to analog or paper is not gonna stop its influence.
  • Sadist: Considering its trollish and vile sense of humor, the AI shows many signs of being one, especially when how it gloats at Ethan after trapping him and soon having Ilsa killed.
  • Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Invoked. It wants Ethan to kill Gabriel, so to that end, it orders Gabriel to kill either Grace or Ilsa, knowing full well Ethan will be coming for Gabriel with everything he's got, succeeding in killing the latter. Luther outright tells Ethan to keep Gabriel alive and escape the train once he has the key, as Gabriel is the only lead to the Entity and Ethan killing Gabriel will result in the Entity winning.
  • Troll: The manifestation of its sense of humor; the fake bomb starts with a taunting message that includes a pun on Benji's name ("you are Dunn (done)"), and when disarmed, spells out an almost definitely sarcastic "good luck". Later, after hijacking Ethan's comms, the Entity uses Benji's voice to mislead and later taunt him, finishing by repeating the same pun with which it taunted Benji.
  • Uriah Gambit: Zig-zagged. Its contingency for Gabriel failing to kill Ethan was to get Ethan to kill Gabriel instead, to ensure that Gabriel's knowledge of the Entity wouldn't fall into the hands of its enemies.
  • Villain Opening Scene: The first scene we get in Dead Reckoning is of the Entity hacking into a Russian submarine and tricking it into downing itself. Played With in that it is also technically the origin for the Entity, as whatever was hidden in the sub is what caused it to grow beyond its programming and go rogue.
  • Villains Never Lie: Subverted. It gets people to listen to it by trying to present itself as an infallible predictor of the future, but it's very willing to offer false prophecies to manipulate them. Notably, it convinces the White Widow that she'll survive if either Ilsa or Grace dies and she goes through with her plans to sell the key, but plans to kill her and everyone else aboard the Orient Express once Gabriel has either escaped with the completed key or has taken the secret of where to use it to his grave.
  • Voice Changeling: At one point, while Ethan was trying to find his way through the city of Venice, he starts asking for directions from Benji. The Entity hijacks Benji's call and replicates his voice to give Ethan false directions to put him off course. Benji tries to smash his computer to shut off the call, but it's too late. The Entity ends the call gloating to Ethan, showing how advanced it truly is.

    Gabriel 

Gabriel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gabriel_72.png
"It's been a long time, friend."

Portrayed by: Esai Morales

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

"His fate is written. Shall we write yours too?"

A terrorist who executes the will of the Entity. He used to know Ethan Hunt.


  • Arch-Enemy: Gabriel had already earned Ethan's undying fear and loathing when he killed Marie thirty years prior; Ethan's hatred for Gabriel is redoubled when he kills Ilsa as well, to the point that Ethan very nearly kills Gabriel despite needing him alive. As Ethan is the primary threat to Gabriel's master, the Entity, Gabriel is more than happy to torment him as well, and Gabriel's scream of rage when he realizes he's been outwitted shows that, beneath his confident exterior, Gabriel's hatred of Ethan runs almost as deep as Ethan's for him.
  • Ax-Crazy: He avoids letting it out too much but it's clear he enjoys hurting and killing people and can barely contain his glee when given the chance to do so.
  • Bad Boss: He tries to kill Paris because the Entity calculated that she'd be willing to give Ethan information out of gratitude for him having spared her life after defeating her. Ironically enough, Gabriel's treachery gives Paris a very good reason to both save Ethan out of gratitude and give him the information out of spite.
  • Beard of Evil: Gabriel is a ruthless criminal who sports a beard.
  • Blood Knight: He's in his element whenever he's in combat with someone. When Ilsa shows up to fight him on the bridge after he's just defeated Grace, he's eager to be facing an opponent with skills that can match his own and when he kills Ilsa, he seems almost sad that the fight is over.
  • Create Your Own Hero: His past encounter with Ethan shaped him into the IMF agent he is today.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: He relies on the usage of knives in one-on-one combat a little too frequently. Without it, he struggles hard against hand-to-hand specialists like Ilsa and Ethan.
  • Dark Messiah: Gabriel serves as the primary agent and herald for the Entity, serving his AI master's will to bring about a world where the very concept of truth belongs exclusively to the Entity. Ilsa even describes Gabriel as such in so many words.
  • The Dragon: Serves as the Entity's top agent in the field.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: With the Entity being a Non-Action Big Bad existing only in cyberspace, it's Gabriel who's the de facto main foe the IMF has to face since he does all the heavy lifting for it in the real world.
  • The Dreaded: He'd apparently already built up a feared reputation for himself even before he became the Entity's messenger. Even Ethan is visibly shocked and horrified to see Gabriel again.
  • Enigmatic Minion: The Entity went out of its way to erase all information on Gabriel's past. As such, the only other person who has any idea of who Gabriel is is Ethan.
  • Evil Counterpart: With Ethan. Both have a shared background and plenty of experience in espionage and combat, but while Ethan became an agent of the IMF, Gabriel went on to serve one of its biggest enemies.
  • Evil Duo: With his primary henchwoman, Paris. Gabriel is suave and eerily calm most of the time, while Paris is much more emotive and brutish.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's the same age as Ethan - with grey hair to show it - and he's one of Ethan's most bitter enemies.
  • Fatal Flaw: His fanatical desire to be the Entity's unthinking slave and deterministic faith in his master's ability to predict all possible outcomes. It's implied that trying to kill Paris in case she decided to betray them to Ethan for sparing her life drives her to do exactly that. And when Hunt outmaneuvers them both in the climax he's caught completely off guard by it, having not anticipated any unexpected bumps in his master's carefully timed plan.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He speaks in a polite manner, keeps a level tone at all times, and can be quite charming when he wants to be, even treating Ethan like an old friend he's happy to see again, but Gabriel never quite disguises how ruthless and sadistic he really is.
  • The Heavy: He serves as the main foe Ethan and the IMF have to contend with on the ground, while the Entity pulls the strings from cyberspace.
  • Hero Killer: He killed Ilsa during the bridge fight.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: He goes by "Gabriel", he's working for the Entity and he has a past with Ethan, and that's all we know about him.
  • History Repeats: In his past, Ethan was forced to watch as Gabriel killed Marie, the woman he loved, in front of him. Gabriel once again kills the woman he loves the most, though Ilsa has already died by the time that he gets to her body.
  • It's Personal with the Dragon: Invoked by the Entity, who selected Gabriel to be its top agent partly because of his history with Ethan Hunt.
  • Knight of Cerebus: You thought Owen Davian, Solomon Lane and August Walker were nasty? You ain't seen nothing yet! Not only does he have a deep, personal connection to Ethan when compared to the other villains, he also kills Ilsa to prove how much of a threat he and the Entity are.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: His nihilistic and cynical contempt for all of humanity is stated to be his motive for doing the things he does; Ilsa says he sees killing other people as doing them a favor. And it's implicitly why he serves as the Entity's willing, even enthusiastic slave, since he sees its cold, inhuman mind as superior to himself and other human beings.
  • Mouth of Sauron: Because the Entity only exists in cyberspace, Gabriel acts as its mouthpiece for physical occasions, with the exception of the Entity directly intervening to impersonate Benji at one point.
  • Mysterious Past: Invoked; the Entity has purged any past records of its primary agent from existence. All the audience is told about Gabriel is his name (which is likely not even his real one) and that he and Ethan have a history wherein they fell out before Ethan joined the IMF. As part of this falling out, Gabriel murdered Ethan's girlfriend, Marie, but his motive, as well as the nature of his and Ethan's relationship and enmity, is left unanswered by the end of Dead Reckoning: Part 1. Why and how he came to serve the Entity, as well as why Ethan believed him to be dead, are likewise unaddressed, leaving the bulk of Gabriel's character a mystery, hopefully to be revealed in the next film.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
    • If Gabriel had not stabbed and betrayed Paris, there is a very good chance she would not have saved Ethan, which would have led to a victory for the Entity.
    • Ethan very nearly gives into his anger and kills Gabriel atop the train, which is exactly what the Entity wants. However, Gabriel tries to save himself by reminding Ethan he's the only one who can tell him what the key unlocks, which stalls Ethan long enough to realize his mistake. Thus, Gabriel himself (possibly unwittingly, as the Entity likely calculated that he was unwilling to outright sacrifice himself for the cause) thwarts one of the Entity's chances of victory and keeps the chance to destroy it alive.
  • No Full Name Given: He's only referred to as "Gabriel" which, given how mysterious he is, may not even be his real given name.
  • Not Quite Dead: Ethan, under unknown circumstances, came to believe that Gabriel was long dead, and he's shocked to see him alive.
  • Not So Stoic: Looks genuinely saddened in the moment after he kills Ilsa. But probably more because he's sad at having to kill such a skilled fighter.
  • Psycho for Hire: Explicitly so. It's not clear why he's working for the Entity, but it's quite possible it just promised him he could screw with Ethan some more.
  • Psycho Knife Nut: He has a proficiency for knives as his primary weapons and proves to be even more adept at it than Ilsa, which results in the latter's death.
  • Remember the New Guy?: He and Ethan once crossed paths decades ago before Ethan even joined the IMF (which also means that he's chronologically the first antagonist in Ethan's life). Said encounter resulted in the death of Marie, Ethan's first love. However, Ethan never mentions his existence to anyone else in any of the past films. Justified, as Ethan believed Gabriel to be dead and is shocked beyond words to see him alive in the present day.
  • Sadist: Ethan describes him as such, and while Gabriel is generally unemotional, he clearly takes a lot of enjoyment in tormenting Ethan and trying to kill those he cares about.
    Ethan: It's not the killing he enjoys. It's the suffering.
  • Sadistic Choice: During their meeting at the Venice party, he presents the choice to Ethan of saving either Grace or Ilsa. Ethan only ends up saving Grace, due to Ilsa sacrificing herself and because of the Entity's meddling.
  • Say My Name: After realizing that Ethan managed to pickpocket the all-important key from him during their train-top struggle, an enraged Gabriel's smug composure finally breaks as he screams Ethan's name to the heavens.
    Gabriel: ETHAN!
  • Secret-Keeper: He seems to be the one only one besides the Entity who knows what the Key leads to.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Gabriel stabs Paris after hearing everything from the Director of Intelligence, stating, potentially as a prediction the Entity made, that she would have betrayed them and told Hunt everything. Whether that was true before he attacked her is debatable; she seemed her usual sadistic self in the lead-up to his turning on her. But it was definitely true after he stuck a knife in her and left her for dead, and it helps ensure Hunt survives the train to fight another day.
  • Shadow Archetype: Director Christopher McQuarrie describes him as "Ethan, before he was Ethan."
    • He's also very good at hurting people and targeting psychological weak points, but Ethan does so to protect others, while Gabriel is a sadist.
    • Gabriel blindly follows the Entity's orders, while Ethan is famous for being a Rogue Agent. And while both men are spies who love a complicated heist-style infiltration plan while often relying on others to come up with them, Ethan is creative, filling in the holes with quick thinking when things go wrong, Gabriel is slavishly loyal to the letter of his master's plans, timing them down to the second on his wristwatch and cannot improvise when something goes awry.
    • Both men are very charismatic, and pull a Stealth Hi/Bye during the film, though Gabriel has the assistance of The Entity. Incidentally, Ethan does it in a private room, in the dark, while Gabriel does it in public, in a well-lit, busy airport.
    • Ethan is very attached to his friends, but Gabriel is a psychopath who knifes his own assistant at the drop of a hat and has no attachment to anyone or anything, unless you count his mutual hatred of Ethan. And knives. Lots of knives. And what he does with them.
    • Gabriel's a Psycho Knife Nut, while Ethan prefers guns and hand-to-hand. This also makes Gabe something of a counterpart to Ilsa, who is very good with knives.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: He enjoys nice suits to show off his refined sensibilities.
  • Smug Snake: Gabriel is a sharp operator in his own right, matching his charisma and innate understanding of psychology to the Entity’s own Chessmaster planning. He’s also a smug prick who revels in the control he has over most situations… but Ethan is able to rattle him twice by noting that both Gabriel and the Entity are afraid of him, and Gabriel himself has a horrified and panicked reaction to realizing that The Entity’s contingency plan of having Ethan kill Gabriel might actually happen, before getting outfoxed again at the end.
  • The Spook: All record of Gabriel was erased by the Entity to guarantee its chosen agent full freedom of movement without having to worry about law enforcement. The Entity even deletes Gabriel's image from surveillance systems in real time; the only indication of his presence, apart from physically looking straight at him, is a barely distinguishable blur on security footage, which is nowhere near enough to identify him.
  • Straw Nihilist: He has a hatred for humanity, and in his eyes, by killing them is doing them a favor. If people thought Solomon Lane was a deranged nihilistic psychopath, Gabriel is even worse as he is willingly following a rogue AI as a means to cause a lot of pain.
  • We Used to Be Friends: He was a former friend of Ethan until the two had a falling out, culminating in his murder of Marie, which made Ethan the IMF agent he is today.
  • Unperson: No record of his past exists thanks to the Entity, and during the airport transaction the Entity takes care to ensure Gabriel stays unidentifiable by erasing all distinguishing traces of him.
  • Villain Has a Point: During their fight on the train, when Ethan has Gabriel at his mercy, he tells him that he's the only one who knows what the key unlocks. Despite this, he nearly goes through with slitting Gabriel's throat until the arrival of Briggs and Degas.
  • Villain in a White Suit: He wears a white outfit at the Abu Dhabi airport and a white suit at the White Widow's party to discuss the auction of the completed key. While it fits his Light Is Not Good imagery, it might also help the Entity scrub his image from records, as we see it makes him easier to pick out on camera and subsequently erase.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Just when he thought he have the key to unlock the Sevastopol, he finds the key was swapped with Ethan's lighter during the fight. Gabriel responds by angrily yelling his enemy's name out.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The reason why the Entity ordered him to kill one of the people Ethan cared for, knowing this action - doubled with Ethan's past animosity with him thanks to Gabriel killing Marie all those years ago - would be enough to drive Ethan into a blind rage and kill Gabriel off outright, which will remove the only person that can lead whichever relevant party to the Entity itself, and it seems Gabriel is well aware of it.

    Paris 

Paris

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paris_38.png

Portrayed by: Pom Klementieff

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

A French assassin and Gabriel's accomplice.
  • Ax-Crazy: She is pretty violent and aggressive when it comes to fighting. She's happily grinning while ramming through police and civilian cars in Rome and takes her time to try and scare Ethan with a pipe before attacking him.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: She doesn't talk too much in the movie, but that doesn't mean she can't put up a fight.
  • Blood Knight: During the car chase in Rome, she's clearly having the time of her life as she smashes through cars in her armored truck.
  • Dark Action Girl: As Gabriel's henchwoman, she sees much action, and she also dons dark clothes.
  • Determinator: She stays on Ethan and Grace's tail in spite of their attempts to throw her off. It takes them driving through an underpass in a thick wall that would be impossible for Paris to plow her truck through to finally escape her.
  • The Dragon: Gabriel's main henchwoman.
  • Evil Counterpart:
    • Grace is a charming white British thief who lives on her wits and evasion, and only uses violence as a last resort. Paris is a creepy half-Asian Frenchwoman (historical rivals of the UK) who uses violence and threats as her first, last, and only resort, and is a Blood Knight with a Kubrick Stare to boot. Grace is loyal only to herself until Team Hunt convinces her to change while Paris is unfailingly loyal to Gabriel until he tries to kill her. Grace is a newbie to all this spy nonsense, but Paris seems to have no problem with it, as long as she gets to hit stuff.
    • Also, to Ilsa. Both are women who are extremely good in a fist fight, but Ilsa likes to use knives and agility, while Paris prefers blunt objects. Ilsa is moral and uses violence reluctantly, but Paris lives for it. Ilsa is a semi-independent ally of Team Hunt and experienced spy, while Paris is Gabriel's muscle and hates using subtlety. note 
      • All three are conventionally good-looking, though only Grace uses her looks regularly onscreen.
    • Paris somehow manages to be an evil(er) counterpart to the White Widow too. Both are blonde, but the Widow prefers to talk and be charming (at least superficially), though she has zero problem with ordering or personally using force. She's also the leader of her arms-dealing organization, and controls her brother, while Paris is just Gabriel's servant. Widow's public face is a philanthropist, but Paris' public face is the exact same as her private face: a violent psychopath.
  • Evil Duo: The hotheaded muscle to Gabriel's suave mastermind.
  • Evil Virtues: Gratitude. As bloodthirsty as Paris is, she repays favors even if they're from her enemies, as seen when she saves Ethan later on.
  • Evil Wears Black: Tends to wear dark clothes. She even drives a blackened truck.
  • French Jerk: She is French and tends to be hostile to everyone but Gabriel.
  • High-Heel–Face Turn: Defied, but then played relatively straight. Gabriel stabs her on the Oriental Express, claiming that Ethan Hunt's mercy and refusal to kill her when he had the chance would've led her to betray him and their master. But, due to a combination of Ethan sparing her life and Gabriel stabbing her, Paris decides to save Ethan and Grace from the train fall.
  • Implacable Man: More like Implacable Automobile — she rams her armored vehicle through any and all obstacles in her path while she's pursuing Ethan and Grace in Rome.
  • I Owe You My Life: One of the reasons she returned to save Ethan was because he spared her life back in Venice, to her astonishment.
  • Kubrick Stare: It's practically her default expression. Perhaps most noticeable during the Rome chase.
  • Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Gabriel trying to kill her is what finally sets her over the edge and leads to her helping Ethan, who saved her earlier.
  • Mook Lieutenant: Leads the goons Gabriel sends to acquire one half of the key from Ethan and Grace in Rome.
  • Noble Demon: Downplayed; Paris is usually a downright gleeful villain, but the Entity calculated that she'd be willing to give up vital information to Ethan due to him sparing her life. While she ends up betraying Gabriel and the Entity for different reasons, it's nevertheless implied that Paris does understand and have a strong appreciation for gratitude.
  • No Full Name Given: As with Gabriel, "Paris" is the only name she's ever referred to by, and that might not even be her real name either.
  • Not Quite Dead: Pulled off twice. First, it seems like Gabriel's attack fatally wounded her, but then she returned to save Ethan and Grace. After revealing the location of Sevastopol, she slowly succumbs to her wound with a tear coming out of her eye. But when Briggs and Degas arrive the scene, the latter senses a pulse in her after he thought she was dead.
  • Not So Above It All: As Ax-Crazy as she is, even she is baffled when she sees Ethan and Grace struggle to handle their overpowered Fiat which ends up spinning out around her truck several times, clearly being utterly confused by this unexpected display.
  • Psycho for Hire: She really, really likes hurting people and breaking things. And she works under Gabriel, who is even more of an example.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: She gives Ethan a much tougher fight than any of the mooks under her.
  • Slasher Smile: She grins maniacally while ramming cars and other obstacles during her chase of Ethan and Grace.
  • Sword Cane: She carries a sword cane when attending the party at the Doge's Palace in Venice to corner Ethan. She never makes any use of it, however, since she leaves the party without it (which is instead taken by Ilsa, who uses it during her escape and later fight against Gabriel). Paris herself switches to using a metal pipe during her own fight against Ethan in the alleyway.
  • Uncertain Doom: It's not clear whether she succumbs to Gabriel's knife wound or is saved by Briggs and Degas. She's last seen being treated by the latter, who claims she still has a pulse, before the scene cuts away.
  • What Is This Feeling?: She's baffled by Hunt's unwillingness to kill her when she's helpless and at his mercy after a fight. Later, after she saves his life and is seemingly slowly bleeding out, she asks why he did it, since she would never have returned the favor.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: Fights Ethan in an alleyway to keep him from getting to Gabriel. Ethan does get past her but isn't able to get to Gabriel in time to save Ilsa.

Independent Villains

    Plutonium Dealer 

The Plutonium Dealer

Portrayed by: Caspar Phillipson

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Fallout

The Dealer: I have survived in this business with the help of a voice in my head. This voice is never wrong. And whenever I meet you, it tells me the same thing.
Ethan: What's that?
The Dealer: Nothing.

An Eastern European arms dealer who is Ethan's contact to procure the three plutonium cores before the Apostles do.


  • Arms Dealer: And one that is apparently influenced enough to get his hands on three plutonium cores and crossed paths with Ethan more than once.
  • Noodle Incident: It's implied from the dialogue that Ethan used to do business with him before, but we're never elaborated further except for the fact that the Plutonium Dealer never trusted Ethan once in all of their previous deals, and his instincts are definitely on point. It's still not enough to save him.
  • No Name Given: He's never named in the movie.
  • Properly Paranoid: He's absolutely distrustful of Ethan and never lets his guard down once the entire time they do business together, and when it seems like Ethan is going back on his deal, he doesn't hesitate to order his henchmen to gun him and Benji down. Unfortunately for him, he didn't account for the Apostles.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed off by the Apostles in his first and only scene in the movie.

    The Buyer 

Otto von Borcke/The Buyer

Portrayed by: Christopher Sciueref

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

A wealthy European businessman who apparently possesses one half of the key and is offering money for the other half.


  • Disc-One Final Boss: Set up as a potential main villain at first, with the first part of the film involving Ethan trying to deliberately sell him the key in order to figure out his motives, but he's killed off by Gabriel and Paris while the key is pocketed by Grace, changing the trajectory of the plot.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: Because he dies we never figure out what his motives for the key were.
  • Red Herring: Supposedly the person who possesses the other half of the key, only for his half to turn out to be a fake.
  • Starter Villain: Kind of. He doesn't actually confront Ethan or any of the other protagonists, but the bounty hunters targeting Ilsa in the beginning whom she and Ethan have to fight were doing so to get the key and deliver it to him.

    The Bureaucrat 

Director Denlinger

Portrayed by: Cary Elwes

Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

The Director of National Intelligence.


  • Big Bad Wannabe: He thinks that since he alone knows about the Entity's weakness and where relevant parties can find and exploit it, he's valuable and cannot be killed, and uses that to try to convince Gabriel to let him partner up with the Entity so that both of them benefit each other. Apparently, it never crossed his mind that the super-intelligent AI he intended to use as a weapon that he let loose in the first place would not be interested in joining him and would rather eliminate the only known person who has the knowledge of its potential weakness.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Denlinger's idea of brokering an alliance with the Entity is to reveal to its top agent that only he knows where to find the Entity's sole weak spot. Gabriel listens carefully to everything Denlinger has to say... then, after confirming that he's kept this knowledge to himself, slashes his throat; Denlinger didn't consider that the Entity and its most loyal agent might prefer to eliminate the only knowledge of its weakness rather than indulge his desire for personal power, or that he can offer it nothing that it can't seize directly through conquest.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: He learns the hard way that he shouldn't mess with a super-intelligent AI that employs ruthless killers who obeys its every command at will.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears thick spectacles and wants to control a powerful entity for his own interests.
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: He ones-up even Chief Atlee in this department. The Entity is implied to be his pet project created to be a backdoor into the most secured intelligence systems all over the planet. He tested it by using the Entity to find the prototype Russian submarine Sevestapol that's running the nigh-undetectable stealth system, only for the Entity to go rogue, destroys the submarine, and unleashes itself into the cyberspace.
  • Hate Sink: He's easily the most loathsome new villain in the film, being a smug bureaucrat whose arrogance created the Entity to start with and now believes he can control it as he sees fit. Every word he utters drips with unearned smugness that makes it hard not to cheer when Gabriel puts him in his place.
  • Karmic Death: He intends to use the Entity's power and resources to revolutionize America and Take Over the World, only to be Out-Gambitted when Gabriel slashes his throat to ensure that the only person who knows about the Entity's weakness is dead.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Apparently no one felt the need to tell him about the IMF despite him being the director of National Intelligence. His negotiation with Gabriel also shows he hasn't figured out how the Entity and Gabriel's relationship works as saying he is the only one to know where the Entity's weakness is to the man who will kill and die to keep the Entity omnipotent wasn't a great move.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to control the Entity supposedly for peace but it's clear he just wants it for his own interests and wants anyone who doesn't share his vision or could stop him eliminated. He even tries to collaborate with it to set up a super-state with himself and it as co-dictators of a new order, where all "old-fashioned thinking" Americans have been purged.
  • Predecessor Villain: He's basically the American version of the MI6's Chief Atlee. Like Atlee, he has a hand in unleashing an extremely dangerous 'rogue agent' to the world that began following their own orders (Solomon Lane/The Entity) and is trying to save his own ass by eliminating any evidence or witness that could tie him back to the rogue agent that he unleashed. Unlike Atlee, Denlinger goes a step even further and offers to team up with the Entity to purge America of undesirable "patriots" and become the sole world superpower. Too bad for him that the Entity isn't interested in being anyone's pawns.
  • Smug Snake: He's positively oozing with self-satisfaction during his meeting with Gabriel, convinced he holds all the cards and Gabriel will be powerless to do anything but concede to his wishes. He finds out pretty quickly how wrong he is.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Fall for the Have You Told Anyone Else? trick rather easily, possibly because he didn't understand that Gabriel is subordinate to the Entity instead of the other way around or that the greatest artificial mind will need him to secure the Sevestapol.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: He plots to use the Entity to seize control of the US government and reform it into a new super-state by purging everyone who he views as having outdated ideals.

Alternative Title(s): Mission Impossible Villains

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