Characters / There Will Be Blood

Daniel Plainview

Played by: Daniel Day-Lewis

• Abusive Parents: He does genuinely care about H.W. in the early days as the boy grows up, but he is also emotionally abusive towards his son, becoming particularly distant after H.W. goes deaf, and subduing him with whiskey in goat's milk whenever he doesn't want to deal with him. And then he disowns him after an adult H.W. informs him that he's starting his own oil business.
• The Alcoholic: Daniel is constantly shown swigging whiskey. One his the first scenes is him pouring whiskey into a baby bottle and offering it to the infant H.W., having no idea how to parent. Several scenes begin with him being awoken from a drunken stupor.
• Anti-Hero: Daniel Plainview is a Nominal Hero, though some would argue he's almost a Villain Protagonist.
• Badass Boast: Daniel does an epic one while chasing a helpless, panicking Eli in the closing bowling alley-scene.
  "Did you think that your song and dance and your superstition would help you, Eli!? I am the third revelation! I am who the Lord has chosen! Because I am smarter than you! I'm older! I am not a false prophet, you snivelling boy! I AM THE THIIIRD REVELATION! I-III AM THE THIRD REVELATION! I TOLD you I would eat you! I TOLD you I would EAT YOU UP!"
• Being Evil Sucks: Daniel's immense wealth and success bring him no joy and he ends up bitter, alone and miserable with no one in the world who sincerely cares about him.
• Berserk Button: Don't ever tell Daniel to turn away from a business to take care of his family.
  Daniel: One night I'm going to come to you, inside of your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm going to cut your throat.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In public, he does his best to play the part of a model citizen.
• The Chessmaster: He spends the entire movie maneuvering his way around people, often playing into their wants and needs in order to further himself or to deliver a crushing blow to their ego as seen with his climactic teardown of Eli at the end.
• Cold Ham: Before the third act, Daniel was mostly quiet and reserved. Even then he managed to be as dramatic as he is during the final scene.
• Conversation Casualty: Daniel Plainview wakes up the man who claims to be his brother, and forces him at gunpoint to say who he really is. During the man's confession, Daniel puts away the gun. When the man is done explaining himself, however, Daniel unexpectedly draws the gun again and kills him.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's an oil magnate who will use every dirty trick in the book to get his way.
• Devil in Plain Sight: Daniel is the devil in plain view. Get it?
• Enemy Eats Your Lunch: After Daniel is finished rubbing his successful oil pipeline in the faces of a group of rival oil men, he snags a whiskey from their table and downs it, then returns to his seat.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Daniel sincerely cares about his son HW, but this begins to degrade after HW loses his hearing, and once he learns that HW plans to leave him and create his own business, Daniel spitefully tells him that he's not his son and that he's an orphan that he used to sucker people into giving him what he wants. HW replies that he 'thanks God that he has none of him' inside of him and leaves.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Possibly. Upon learning that Abel Sunday beats his youngest daughter, Mary, Daniel uses his authority to publicly admonish him and put a stop to it. However, it's also left unclear whether Daniel did so as part of genuine Pet the Dog moment or merely as a way to assert his dominance over the Sunday family (or possibly both). Regardless, despite his rather poor treatment of H.W. as the film progresses, he never once lays a hand on him, implying that physically abusing a child is too far even for him.
• Evil Gloating: Daniel spends the last scene drunkenly lording his absolute superiority over Eli before savagely murdering him.
• Evil Virtues: For all his many faults, Daniel's work ethic is undeniable. He also shares in the dangers of oil drilling (doing permanent damage to his leg in an early accident), is never seen ordering subordinates to do something he wouldn't do himself, and keeps a cool head and takes personal charge in a crisis. He is also never shown to betray or screw over anyone except Eli, and while his "family man" persona may be a PR stunt, there is every indication that he does benefit the people and communities he works with and keeps his promises to them. While it is debatable how much he loves H.W, he also didn't hesitate for a second to sprint to the dangerously spewing oil derrick when H.W got hurt, again showing his personal courage.
• A Father to His Men: Downplayed, as he doesn't really value their lives, and only expresses mild annoyance when one of them dies. But he doesn't ask them to do anything that he wouldn't do himself.
• Faux Affably Evil: While he can have some genuine moments of humanity, namely with his fake brother and son, at his core he's a greedy, egoistical jerk hiding behind a civilized demeanor.
• Friend to All Children: While Daniel sees only the worst in adults, he does see children as innocent and not deserving of his contempt, and he treats them with unconditional kindness. He makes a point of being kind to Mary Sunday and loudly pronouncing to her that she will be physically hit no longer by her father Abel while in his presence. Daniel also is kind and caring to H.W before and after the explosion that causes the boy's deafness. He sends his son away purely because he's emotionally ill-equipped to care for him, and shows genuine remorse for it during his "baptism".
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Daniel Plainview starts out as a dirtied gold-seeker just trying to find some rare minerals without blowing himself up with his own TNT. By the end of the story he has stepped on anyone he has needed to in order to advance his own goals, exploited just about anyone with a speaking role, ^note  the only notable exception being Paul Sunday. and killed anyone who betrayed him.
• Greed: Daniel's defining trait. He will stop at absolutely nothing if it means getting more oil and more money.
• Hollywood Atheist: Daniel is not at all religious and shows nothing but scorn towards Eli and his church. Right before he humiliates and kills Eli in the film's climax, Daniel forces Eli to denounce God as a superstition.
• I Have No Son!: He pulls this on H.W. only because he wants to forge his own path in life. This is more to do with Daniel's own guilt in failing to care for him properly, causing him to believe his son is trying to punish him; Daniel rationalizes this away as the adult human nature that he finds so contemptible is finally kicking in in H.W, so Daniel can defeat his own guilt by thinking that his son had always been against him, especially because he's not even a blood relative.
• Informed Flaw: One of the sins Eli levels against him is "lusting after women," which is an odd appraisal of a lifelong bachelor portrayed as virtually asexual. While he fantasises about fathering a large brood, he never expresses interest in any particular woman; and the one time we see him in disreputable female company, he's no more than his "brother's" patron, and utterly miserable to boot. Possibly an intentional embellishment of his poor moral character, as his accuser is a false prophet.
• It's All About Me: At his core, Daniel only cares about himself and his own needs. While is shown to be capable of sincerely caring for other people such as HW and his false brother, he showcases that he's always concerned about how they make him feel rather than caring about their well being. It's this trait that eventually drives HW away from him.
• Jerkass: He is a vicious, amoral and ruthless sociopath who is quick to beat up and murder his victims.
• Large Ham: Daniel, in spite of being very stiff and reserved much of the time, occasionally breaks into mania. Memorable scenes include Daniel murdering his impostor half-brother, yelling with a napkin over his head in a posh restaurant, killing Eli, "disowning" his son and taunting him for being a "bastard from a basket!" and of course the "I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!!" lines, along with the visual acting out of the analogy. (*slurrrrp!*)
• Lonely at the Top: During the final chapters of the film, Daniel, having amassed a massive fortune through his oil business, lives in a stately mansion with only an elderly servant to meet his needs. Though he has achieved his goal of shutting out the world, it's clear that's he still not happy. Once he cuts H.W. out of his life, there is no one left in the world that he cares about. He's entirely alone and still miserable.
• Manipulative Bastard: He gets ahead by manipulating others into giving him what he wants and then leaving them high and dry once they do.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Daniel Plainview. Just in case you don't quite get it, it's referring to the saying "Devil in plain view."
  • Daniel only ever refers to his son as H.W. Using initials in place of one's first name is an old-timey custom used primarily by adult professionals (and is still popular with authors). Daniel uses his son as the face of his brand, referring to him as his "partner." Therefore, H.W.'s identity is founded on his value to Daniel's business.
• Mind Rape: Daniel lays a truly savage one on Eli in the climax, reducing the man to tears. For bonus points, we only have Daniel's word on Paul's success and the drainage of Eli's land, but his delivery is strong enough that the victim doesn't question it. and then he bashes Eli's brains out with a wood bowling pin. While he could be telling the truth, he did lie to Eli to twist him up with brother/jealousy issues. He said he gave Paul $10,000 dollars for the information, when really he only gave him $500. Eli has spent much of the film trying to get paid $5000 for selling his land, while Daniel has made a disgustingly large fortune off of it. That being said, he very well could've given Paul the full payment offscreen during the time skip.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Daniel does not like people. However, it is hinted throughout the movie that deep down, he does desire connection with other people.
  Daniel: Are you an angry man, Henry?
  Henry: About what?
  Daniel: Are you envious? Do you get envious?
  Henry: I don't think so, no.
  Daniel: I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.
  Henry: That part of me is gone. Working and not succeeding, all my years, failure has left me... I just don't care.
  Daniel: Well, if it's in me, it's in you. There are times where I... I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I want to earn enough money, I can...get away from everyone.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Daniel states that his goal is to make enough money to build a giant house and live away from everybody. This is exactly what he does, but he doesn't enjoy his isolation, having become alienated (at best) from everyone we've seen him care about.
• Sanity Slippage: He's completely lost it by his twilight years.
• Self-Made Man: Daniel is a miner who almost literally pulls himself up by his bootstraps in the beginning after he falls into a pit hole and breaks his leg. He escapes death and becomes a succesful entrepreneur.
• The Sociopath: Daniel seems like a sociopath in the way he manipulates people and seeks domination over them, but he's actually misanthropic. He hates most people and only allows himself to care for a select few. The film tracks how these few human relationships end in tragedy.
• Sociopathic Hero: At best, he's this. He's got little in the way of ethics, but it could be argued that most of the people he directly competes against aren't saints themselves.
• Stepford Smiler: Daniel Plainview spends much of the movie in his public persona, trying to charm people into selling him the right to drill for oil on their land. He even uses his own son as an appealing "face" for the company and his image as a "family man".
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • The second half of the movie is essentially a very long breakdown for Daniel, as he becomes more and more unstable as time goes on. He has a few moments which definitely count by themselves, though, in particular, him slapping the hell out of Eli because Eli couldn't cure H.W. of his deafness, his telling H.W. that he's not his son, and finally, his "The Reason You Suck" Speech given to Eli at the end of the film, culminating in him brutally murdering Eli.
• Villain Has a Point: Getting Eli to denounce his faith is undoubtedly a dickish move, but the fact that Eli was willing to do so at all if it meant getting money out of it proves that Eli is a hypocritical Slimeball who uses his religion to advance himself and exploit others, something Daniel had long ago figured out.
• Villain Protagonist: If you don't view him as a Nominal Hero, he's purely this, being a ruthless oil baron seeking to dominate his competition and stepping on a lot of people along the way.

Eli Sunday

Played by: Paul Dano

• Ambiguously Gay: At the end, he praises Bandy's grandson's physical beauty, then breaks down crying about having sinned in ways he'd never thought existed. He may just have been crying about having lost all his money in bad investments.
• The Antichrist: Eli is considered a false prophet.
• Asshole Victim: As their conflict is a clear cut case of Evil Versus Evil, it's hard to feel sorry for Eli Sunday when Daniel kills him.
• Butt-Monkey: While he's just as opportunistic and corrupt as his nemesis, he does suffer more humiliation than Daniel.
• The Chew Toy: There are 2 scenes where Daniel would often beat up, humiliate and emotionally torture Eli as an act on vengeful intimidation.
• Dirty Coward: Not only is Eli weak-willed, spineless and cowardly, he's also a self-righteous, whiny, greedy and manipulative hypocrite.
• Devil in Disguise: Eli is the devil disguised as an angel.
• Egocentrically Religious: Of the Utilitarian type. He is only religious in as far as what he can get out of it and when given a test to sacrifice his so-called beliefs for money, he does so without much hesitation. Daniel proceeds to then tell him that the oil areas that he wants a cut of have already been drilled, and are completely worthless, which break his spirit.
• The Fundamentalist: Subverted, he pretends to be this. But really he's a hypocritical charlatan who only cares about himself.
• Fatal Flaw: Greed. Whenever money is involved, expect any good sense he has to get thrown out the window. He decides to ask Daniel, a guy who hates his guts, for money twice and predictably, it doesn't end well.
• Hypocrite: He pretty much contradicts all of his religious sermons with how he carries himself throughout the movie, being a cowardly and greedy man who is willing to mooch off of others to get himself ahead.
• Jerkass: He is a smug, cowardly, hypocritical, religious zealot who was manipulates people into thinking that he's a morally sound Preacher Man.
• Large Ham: He is pretty dramatic and intense himself, first seen when he appears to exorcise a woman with arthritis at the start, and again when he puts Plainview though his embarrassing 'baptism' experience.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's manipulated the people of Little Boston into accepting him as their preacher, in spite of being demonstrably off-kilter.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Eli Sunday is named after Eli, which is both the Hebrew name of God as well as a Biblical Israeli judge. There is irony in the divine interpretation of the name, because although Eli Sunday starts his own church to preach his own gospel (as if he were God) he is shown to be instead incredibly immoral and powerless, unable to heal H.W. and easily physically subdued. The Biblical judge Eli dies suddenly after learning that his power has suddenly been stripped from him, a close parallel to Eli Sunday's powerless desperation in the face of the oncoming Clutch Plague.
• Mugging the Monster: During the baptism scene, one can argue that Eli knew damn well what he was doing, especially considering how he emphasizes the child abandonment, but slapping and humiliating a man like that in front of god and company was not the wisest decision Eli Sunday ever made.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Paul Dano is infamous for his pathetically girlish screams which is best shown whenever he's being bullied by Daniel.
• Sinister Minister: He is obsessed with his church and is probably just as much of a egotistical and power-hungry narcissist as Daniel. Although he is greedy, very cowardly, a mooch, extremely weak, and clearly a screw-up, his followers are drawn to his bombastic sermons.
• Sissy Villain: He is a cowardly, physically unimpressive sycophant who Screams Like a Little Girl when seriously threatened. Daniel has little trouble gaining the upper hand in their conflicts.
• Smug Snake: Eli Sunday is a great example of this trope. He can be charming and charismatic but when faced with a bigger bully than himself he breaks down screaming and crying. He has no trouble beating up his dad but when Daniel drags him through a pool of mud he barely tries to defend himself.
• Too Dumb to Live: While it's true that Eli was desperate for money, it should have been screamingly obvious that Daniel wasn't going to help him when he tells him that the land has been drilled. And the volley of insults coming his way should have been another clue. And when Daniel starts throwing objects at him, he still cowers and tries to reason with him. Keep in mind that Daniel is decades older and has been walking with a limp the whole movie. Anyone who valued their life over handouts would have gotten the hell out of Dodge.
• Villains Want Mercy: Eli's last words are used to beg for forgiveness right before Daniel savagely beats him to death with a wooden bowling pin.
• Villainous Breakdown: Eli seems to be trapped in a perpetual villainous breakdown. Even when he's "winning", he comes across as desperately strung-out.