Sandbox / Hamilton Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr, Jr.

Leslie Odom, Jr. as Burr

Originated by: Leslie Odom Jr.

Other productions: Daniel Breaker (CBO), Giles Terera (West End), Nik Walker (Second U.S Tour), Donald Webber Jr (Puerto Rico/San Francisco), Joshua Henry (Chicago)

"Talk less. Smile more. Don't let them know what you're against or what you're for."

One of Hamilton's political rivals and for the most part, the narrator of the musical. Burr and Hamilton begin the story as good friends, but Burr's political ambitions and lack of strong beliefs drive a wedge in their relationship. Burr eventually gets elected as the third Vice President of the United States after losing to Jefferson.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: He chuckles at Hamilton's semi-affectionate imitation of his "talk less, smile more" Catchphrase.
• Adaptational Sympathy: In real life, Burr never expressed remorse for killing Hamilton in their duel and his "the world was wide enough" quote later added confusion if he was being sincere or not. In the musical, Burr is immediately regretful of what he did after seeing Hamilton throw away his shot. Moreso, Burr is given lines to explain why he thought Hamilton would shoot and to show his concern over Theodosia becoming an orphan.
• Affably Evil: His lack of principles and rivalry with Hamilton aside, he's one of the more respectful characters in the whole show.
• All-Knowing Singing Narrator: Burr acts as this; his "bastard, orphan, son of a whore" line (and variations thereof) is used to segue into the next segment of the story. He has some limitations however, usually reflecting gaps in historians' knowledge. Eliza takes over the narration at the end.
• Ambition Is Evil: As with Hamilton himself, this is played with. Late in the play, Burr proclaims that he wants to be in "the room where it happens" but still does not espouse any strong principles as he throws himself into politics — he seems to want power for the sake of having it.
• Anonymous Killer Narrator: The opening number is sung by show's whole cast, and the end of the song reveals their relations to the title character. The last one to describe himself, and the one who narrates throughout the show, is none other than Aaron Burr.
  And me? I'm the damn fool that shot him!
• Antagonist in Mourning: He really regrets killing Hamilton, even referring to himself as a fool for having done so. Most of the end of "The World Was Wide Enough" is Burr bemoaning the fact that he killed Hamilton, when really neither of them needed to die, and how he'll forever be painted a villain for this mistake. In real life, even close friends of Burr were notably disturbed by his seeming lack of remorse or reaction after shooting Hamilton. This changed slightly later in his life and he really was quoted with the "the world was wide enough for Hamilton and me" line.
• Anti-Villain: He gets a much more positive portrayal here than he does elsewhere. The show establishes that he's a complicated, conflicted man with admirable qualities and often highlights the fact that he and Hamilton are Mirror Characters. Arguably this play is the most positive portrayal of Burr that remains accessible to the average person.
• Arc Words: "Talk less, smile more" and "Wait/Waiting", demonstrating his caution and lack of decisiveness.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Hamilton asks Burr a sharp one, basically confronting him on his indecisiveness. It gets repeated in the second act during "The Room Where it Happens", and Burr still dances around the answer, since he essentially seeks power and prestige for it's own sake, rather than doing something with it.
  Hamilton: If you stand for nothing, Burr, what'll you fall for?
• Attention Whore: Aaron Burr sometimes shows a tendency towards this, with his trait of wanting attention and power, but not necessarily wanting to do anything concrete with it. It is especially visible in the song 'The Schuyler Sisters':
  Angelica Schuyler: Burr, you disgust me!
  Aaron Burr: Ah, so you've discussed me.
• Big Bad: His rivalry with Hamilton is constant throughout the play, and Act II sees this rivalry twisted in malice that ultimately leads to him fatally shooting Hamilton.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Burr, most of the time, is reserved and withdrawn and even comes off as more of a Nice Guy than Alexander. However, pushing him far enough will not end well, as Hamilton learned after endorsing Jefferson over him (though Burr immediately regrets killing him in their duel after seeing too late that his opponent threw away his shot).
• Boring, but Practical: This is basically why Hamilton went to him to defend the Constitution: Burr is much more efficient as a lawyer than the Insufferable Genius that is Alexander, who goes on and on to show off his smarts while Burr gets straight to the point.
• Break the Haughty: Shooting Hamilton in a duel and realizing too late that Hamilton had no intention of shooting him finally breaks Burr's ambitions for power.
  I was too young and blind to see. I should have known, I should have known the world was wide enough, for both Hamilton and me.
• Character Development: The Act II song "The Room Where It Happens" marks the turning point of Burr's character in the show, where he slowly starts becoming more proactive in order to get a position of power.
• Character Narrator: This is a given, as he frequently addresses the audience in the midst of his interactions with other characters.
• The Charmer: Like Hamilton, he's a bit of a ladies's man. At one point, he tries to hit on Angelica and fails rather spectacularly. He puts this to good use in the 1800 elections.
  Burr: Ladies, tell your husbands Vote for Burr!
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: During the opening number, the entire company (including Hamilton) is dressed in off-white - with the single exception of Burr, who's dressed in black. This makes him stand out as the play's narrator, marks him as the antagonist (and an Antagonist in Mourning at that).
• Compliment Backfire: He tries to praise Washington's evasive strategies when they meet. Washington hates being forced to evade and flee all the time and wants someone who has an idea of how to not fight that way, so he dismisses Burr.
• Composite Character: A minor example but Burr wasn't Charles Lee's second, Evan Edwards was.
• Deadpan Snarker: He is much dryer and succinct in his raps than Hamilton and basically everyone else in their group of friends. He is also snarky.
• Deuteragonist: To Hamilton's protagonist, and their differences fuel much of the conflict in the second act.
• The Ditherer: The Wishy-Washy type - it's almost his defining character trait. Burr definitely supports the revolution, but wants to make sure he's on the winning side before declaring that openly. He tells Hamilton that whilst he privately supports the new Constitution, he's unwilling to help write the Federalist Papers in case they turn out to be "backing the wrong horse". He's supportive of popular leaders such as Washington and Jefferson, but offers them no new ideas for fear that they might be controversial. Even when he admits that his grand goal is to be in "the room where it happens", he never says what he hopes to do once he's there - he's willing to just follow along with whoever's in power.
• Doting Parent: He adores his daughter Theodosia and only wants the best for her. His greatest fear during his duel with Hamilton is that his daughter will be orphaned and alone if he dies. (Historically, Burr was known to have supported the idea of women's equality and gave Theodosia an excellent education.)
• Dramatically Missing the Point: During his presidential campaign, he tells Alexander that he's doing what he learned from him: chasing what he wants, but there's a key element that Burr missed, and that is fighting for your deeply-held beliefs whereas Burr is simply chasing what he wants for personal gain.
• Establishing Character Moment: The cautious, noncommittal Burr gets a brilliant establishing first line:
  Hamilton: Pardon me — are you Aaron Burr, sir?
  Burr: That depends. Who's asking?
• Et Tu, Brute?: Burr is shocked to learn that Hamilton supported Jefferson's bid for president instead of his, especially considering he and Hamilton had been on good terms and Hamilton had always hated Jefferson.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: His wife and daughter adore him as much as he adores them.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: "Evil" being used loosely here. Burr is Happily Married with Theodosia and adores his daughter and would do anything for her.
• Everyone Has Standards: He's appalled by Hamilton's willingness to "sell the capital down the river" in exchange for getting the votes necessary to get his financial plan through Congress and calls him out on it.
• Exact Words: invoked When asked how he graduated from Princeton so quickly, he replies "It was my parents' dying wish before they passed." Hamilton assumes that, like him, Burr was motivated by their death to prove himself. In the Hamiltome, Lin-Manuel points out that Burr is neglecting to mention his father was the president of the college, which puts a new spin on Burr's words.
• Family Eye Resemblance: His daughter, Theodosia, has his eyes.
• Fatal Flaw: Sloth. His indecisiveness makes it hard for people to know what he stands for, or to trust him.
  • Burr shows he's ready to follow Washington, but Washington needs someone to give him ideas and relieve the burden of the Revolution. Hamilton offers his talents and those of his friends as well to Washington, leading him to be Washington's "Right Hand Man."
  • He loses his chance to contribute to the Federalist Papers because he's unsure whether to back the new constitution. Said papers turn out to be a roaring success and are still part of governmental studies curriculums to this day.
  • When having to choose between Burr and Jefferson, Hamilton admits while Jefferson isn't a friend, at least Jefferson has ideals that he can be trusted to fight for, while Burr doesn't seem to have any and will go with whatever platform is the easiest route to power.
• Final Boss: He is the final antagonist to confront Hamilton, and the one to kill him.
• First Friend: As contentious and troubled their friendship proved to be later, Burr is undeniably this for Hamilton.
• First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Burr is kind of a quasi-example. He's clearly not the main protagonist, and the majority of the songs concern events that either don't feature him or aren't hugely relevant to him personally, some of which he does provide narration for (such as "Say No To This"), but he is the second most important character, and by the end of the musical his narration becomes much less peripheral and much more personal. Compare the opening to "What'd I Miss", in which he otherwise doesn't appear, to the opening for "Your Obedient Servant", set to the same melody:
  How does the bastard, orphan, immigrant, decorated war vet, unite the colonies through more debt? Fight the other founding fathers 'til he has to forfeit, have it all, lose it all, you ready for more yet?
  How does Hamilton, an arrogant, immigrant, orphan, bastard, whore's son somehow endorse Thomas Jefferson, his enemy, a man he's despised since the beginning, just to keep me from winning?
• Foil: To Hamilton. Hamilton wrote his way up the ranks and has no legacy to protect, Burr feels the need to protect his parents' legacy. Hamilton is a passionate go-getter not afraid to show his ambition, Burr prefers to stay cool and quiet about his chances. Hamilton often acts like an ass but stands for what he believe is right, while Burr is affable to those around him but stands for himself above all else.
• Fourth-Wall Observer: He knows the audience is there and talks to them for most of the show. Sometimes other characters join in for a moment.
• Friendly Enemy: Although they come to oppose each other politically, Burr still values their friendship and is relatively friendly with Hamilton.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • Hamilton likes him enough but doesn't like that Burr lacks resolve. Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan actively tease him, with Lafayette noting, "You are the worst, Burr..." upon his appearance at Hamilton's wedding, although it's worth noting that they always try to include him and only remark disapprovingly because Burr refuses to join them in anything.
  • In Act II, nobody cares for him at all - Hamilton is pissed Burr took his father-in-law's seat in the Senate and even though they all worked together to confront Hamilton about his affair, Madison and Jefferson can't stand him and openly taunt him once he loses the election to Jefferson. Jefferson even goes so far as to change the policy regarding how the Vice President is chosen (although Burr still serves as VP for the first term of Jefferson's Presidency).
• Hammy Herald:
  • For Washington in "Right Hand Man," in which he announces Washington's arrival in a pro wrestling-announcer manner, interspersed with the company's excited "Here comes the general!"
    Burr: Ladies and gentlemen! The moment you've been waiting for! The pride of Mount Vernon! GEOOOOOORGE WASHINGTON!
  • For Lafayette in "Guns and Ships," before Lafayette goes off on a very fast tangent about his military exploits.
    Burr: EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE FIGHTIN' FRENCHMAN!
• Happily Married: invoked It's clearer in the Cut Songs, but he and Theodosia I are obviously happy together. (This also lines up with history — by all accounts, he genuinely loved her.)
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Starts off as Hamilton's friend, even if they disagree on some things. Then he changes parties to run against Hamilton's father-in-law. This pisses Hamilton off, but Burr still wants to remain friends, and for the most part, they seem to be on good terms. Then Burr aligns himself with Jefferson and Madison, and helps them confront Hamilton, which leads to the Reynolds Pamphlet being published, which in itself leads to Hamilton's personal life and career being ruined. However, the two are still friendly during the Election of 1800, Burr saying that he's chasing what he wants because of what he's learned from Hamilton... and then Hamilton endorses Jefferson over him, and says Burr has no principles. Then Burr decides Hamilton's the reason he's failed, and the two exchange some polite-but-scathing letters, each accusing the other of being at fault. Then, Burr shoots him. But it's clear he wishes he hadn't and genuinely regrets it. Jeez.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Inverted. He tells the audience he's a terrible shot in The World Was Wide Enough, but the Real Life Aaron Burr was a great shot.
• Historical Hero Upgrade:
  • In regards to his relationship with Alexander Hamilton. Burr in the play is initially welcoming and supportive, if skeptical, of young Hamilton, and the two later share a somewhat inconsistent but sincere friendship. Burr and Hamilton actually met significantly later in their lives than is portrayed in the play,^note Admittedly, no one has pinned down with certainty when the two first met. Hamilton and Burr moved in the same social circles in New York before the war, and both served for a time on Washington's staff, so it's not unreasonable for Miranda to show them meeting in 1776; but there's little evidence for their having any real relationship until the 1780s, when both became active in law and politics. If they knew each other before then, neither man thought to record it. and their relationship before the duel was far more neutral and professional than we see on stage. In that same situation, Burr evinced no remorse about shooting Hamilton^note The reason being contrary to how the play depicts it, Hamilton did not actually aim for the sky during their duel, and in fact may have been the one to shoot first even if he did intend to miss. Thus, Burr may have never realized he wasn't acting in self-defense, and as such felt no remorse, and apparently considered it hypocritical for people to lament the fate of a man who if he had been a little more competent would have been "his" murderer. Despite his repentant narration at the beginning of the musical and in the aftermath of the duel scene, in reality Burr never expressed personal remorse for the duel until much later in life, where he admitted in a mocking way that, "Had I read Tristram Shandy rather than Voltaire, I would think the world was not 'wide enough' for himself and Hamilton". The duel itself did not in any way tarnish Burr's reputation in and of itself, at least in America (internationally it ruined him, because Hamilton was more well known in France and England). The subsequent trial over the land-scheme in the western territory, which ended in his acquittal as it happened, but was forced through by Thomas Jefferson to more or less run him over, was far more damaging to his career.
  • The play also omits post-Hamilton-assassination Burr conspiracy.
• Historical Villain Upgrade:
  • The real Aaron Burr was well-known for being friendly and generous, and nearly bankrupted himself on more than one occasion for charity purposes (often pawning his possessions to give money to others). He was an outspoken proto-feminist, a Revolutionary War hero, opposed to slavery (significantly more actively than Hamilton did) and very much opposed to discrimination against immigrants. He also did not change parties to run against his friend's beloved family member; he joined the political scene as a Democratic-Republican in the first place, and didn't know Hamilton particularly well when he ran against General Schuyler.^note The real cause of Hamilton's animosity towards him was the underhanded way he broke up the Federalists' monopoly on the New York banking system. In Hamilton, Burr is selfish and manipulative with no stance on slavery or on the American Revolution, who obsesses over Hamilton's immigrant status and consistently stabs his allies in the back for purely selfish reasons. Burr is also shown gloating over Hamilton's downfall in "The Reynolds Pamphlet" alongside Jefferson and Madison (and is even the one that implies that the truth about the affair would spread even after the other two promised to remain silent and left), even though historically he sympathized with Hamilton in that instance^note Burr actually represented Maria Reynolds during her divorce from James, and believed that James arranged the affair to blackmail Hamilton with Maria as an unwitting pawn. Burr also openly criticized Jefferson's eagerness to exploit Hamilton's private misfortune for his political benefit as unseemly. Indeed, Hamilton's biographer, Ron Chernow, concludes that Burr was virtually the only person involved in the Reynolds Affair to behave honorably. and even helped defuse a potential duel between him and James Monroe over the latter's role in exposing the scandal (which Miranda even noted while narrating a Hamilton episode in Drunk History).
  • Additionally, this version of Burr is portrayed as a privileged and wealthy "trust fund baby" in order to make him more of a Privileged Rival figure to Hamilton; the real Burr did come from a wealthy family, but had a rocky relationship with them at the best of times and was eventually disowned; he graduated from university at 16 not because of his wealthy important father, but rather simply because he was a genius and had a generally good work ethic. Burr spent most of his life in the middle class, actually less wealthy and powerful than Hamilton, who came from a poor background but eventually married into the Schuyler family and was a favorite of George Washington himself.
  • Real life Burr also took a lot more abuse from Hamilton before snapping and challenging him to a duel. In the show, Burr challenges him pretty much immediately after Hamilton endorses Jefferson for President and costs him the election. Burr took this fairly well in real life, largely because he still got to be Vice President for a term. It was only when Hamilton sabotaged him again in New York's governor election in 1804^note Largely because Burr, running against another Republican, campaigned for Federalist support which infuriated Hamilton enough to personally convince New York Federalists not to support Burr and then further slandered him among his professional colleagues that he challenged him^note No one is certain what Hamilton said to their peers that Burr found so offensive, but the most accepted possibility is that Hamilton claimed that Burr was having sexual relations with his own daughter.
  • On top of the above, Burr was not Charles Lee's second in his duel with John Laurens.
  • This is also played with in that while stage Burr is almost certainly more of a villain than real-life Burr, his popular reputation is so bad that the musical's version is still one of his most sympathetic portrayals, making it both a Historical Villain Upgrade (relative to the complexities of actual history) and a Historical Hero Upgrade (relative to the more common perception of him.)
  • The play omits the fact that he successfully broke up Federalists' banking monopoly that prevented people who weren't already wealthy from getting loans by setting up a Manhatten water company and allowing it to lend money. This is commonly considered the historical reason for Hamilton's antagonism towards him.
• "I Am" Song: "Wait For It", in which he explains his backstory and overall worldview.
• "I Want" Song: "The Room Where it Happens" is this for him, where he reveals his desire to have a high political position. (Unusually for an "I Want" Song - but appropriately enough for the indecisive, secretive Burr - "The Room Where It Happens" comes late in the show, about halfway through the second act, with Burr's motives having been obscured before that. Even more than that, the song itself isn't revealed to be an "I Want" Song until about 4 minutes into the 5 minute song!)
• Interactive Narrator: Other characters occasionally chime in, though.
• It's All About Me: He's accused of having this attitude by Hamilton in "Your Obedient Servant", citing Burr's lack of convictions and his lust for power as the reason why he voted for Jefferson over him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He comes off as less of a jerk than Hamilton, but he still has his moments, such as telling Laurens, Lafayette, Mulligan and Hamilton that if they're not careful with their voices, they might as well be shot. Other than that, a lot of his Jerkass moments notably revolve around Hamilton only and if the latter wasn't around, Burr can easily pass off as a Nice Guy.
• Large Ham: Burr, as a character, is rather reserved in his interactions with others, and is constantly admonishing Hamilton and his friends for their bombastic behavior. As a narrator, however, he hypes these same people up with ridiculous enthusiasm. Most notable in "Guns And Ships" when talking about Lafayette's accomplishments in the army and ends his part of the song clinging to a railing.
• Last-Name Basis: He's not once addressed by his first name, representing how he's so guarded that no one feels like they know him.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Burr is portrayed in a much more sympathetic light than King George.
• Madness Mantra: A subtle one. The phrase "I wanna be in the room where it happens" becomes more and more prevalent in the second half of the play as his rivalry with Hamilton intensifies, even creeping its way into his conversations. It reaches its crescendo after Hamilton ruins Burr's chances of presidency.
  Burr: I wanna be in the room where it happens.
  The room where it happens,
  The room where it happens.
  You've kept me from the room where it happens
  For the last time.
• Mirror Character: Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton are both Child Prodigy orphans who graduated early from Kings College, and are ambitious career driven men. They both try to make themselves of value to Washington during the Revolutionary War and afterwards, practice law right next door to each other. They both even suffer complicated romantic personal lives, but are dedicated to leaving behind a legacy their children can be proud of. All of this serves to highlight the big dramatic differences between Hamilton and Burr: whereas Hamilton comes from absolutely nothing and is desperate to prove himself, Burr comes from a respected family and is concerned about protecting his legacy. Moreover, Hamilton seems equal parts driven by his ideological vision for the United States as well as his personal strive for glory, while Burr on the other hand is willing to be and say whatever he needs to in order to grasp power. This ultimately leads to Hamilton and Burr becoming rivals, with Burr changing parties and colluding with Hamilton's political opposition to keep Hamilton from gaining more power and Hamilton later supporting Thomas Jefferson, his most vocal critic, over Burr in the presidential election because Jefferson has clear beliefs about the country while Burr has none.
• Mr. Exposition: Comes with the territory of All-Knowing Singing Narrator; especially after timeskips where he contextualizes the current happenings.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Admits in the very first song that he regrets shooting Hamilton; after he actually does it he yells out "Wait!" as if immediately regretting doing so. In the Where Are They Now epilogue, he admits this outright.
• Neutrality Backlash: Aaron Burr is famously vague about everything, making it hard to know what he stands for. It comes to bite him many times in the musical.
• Neutral No Longer: In Act II, Burr starts to act more like Hamilton by actually working to get what he wants, though it's downplayed in that while he is more proactive, he still doesn't have any strong-held beliefs that are driving him to achieve power.
• Never My Fault: Played with. In "Your Obedient Servant", he blames Hamilton for his failures in life because he would always best him which is technically true, but Hamilton retorts that this happens only because Burr has no principles and no one trusts him, which is also hardhittingly true.
• Nominal Hero: During Act I where he is aligned with the Continental Army, but he's not forthcoming about the revolution like Hamilton and everyone else in their friend group.
• Nothing Personal: When Hamilton confronts him about taking his father-in-law's spot in the Senate, Burr responds that he was only taking an opportunity, and sees no reason why their friendship should end because of this.
• Not So Above It All: He starts out "The Reynolds Pamphlet" being happy but not resorting to gloating like Jefferson does, but by the end of the song he's dancing around Hamilton and going just as crazy as the rest of the ensemble.
• Not So Stoic: After Hamilton endorses Jefferson over him, Burr is finally fed up with Hamilton always sabotaging him. "Your Obedient Servant" shows that Burr is all out and cannot contain his resentment anymore.
• Offended by an Inferior's Success: He hates Alexander Hamilton, because Hamilton is an obnoxious, overly ambitious bastard immigrant who nevertheless finds success at everything he does.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: By the end of "Your Obedient Servant", he's resorted to using terse, barely-worded sentences that are Punctuated! For! Emphasis!.
• Orphan's Ordeal: Not as prominent as Hamilton's, but it's another trait the two men share - Burr grew up in wealth and privilege, but he constantly feels the crushing pressure to live up to his parents' legacy, and his greatest fear is that his daughter will grow up without a father like he did.
• Papa Wolf: He'd do anything for his daughter, Theodosia.
• Parental Abandonment: His mother and father both died when he was young. He completed school in record time because it was their dying wish.
• Parental Love Song: Shares "Dear Theodosia" with Hamilton, in which they sing to their young children about how they'll make America a better place for them.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Eager to avoid outright confrontation, Burr disambles and strikes indirectly as his preferred method of taking people down.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Despite his frequent annoyance with Hamilton in Act I, he still comes to the wedding and genuinely congratulates him on marrying Eliza.
  • He shows sympathy for Eliza after the Reynolds Pamphlet is publicized.
• Phrase Catcher: "Aaron Burr, sir". It even happens when he introduces himself.
• Privileged Rival: Whereas Hamilton comes from a poor background and he worked himself up, Burr comes from a wealthy family with important people as its members.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Yes, Burr survives his Duel to the Death, but his reputation is forever ruined with Hamilton's blood on his hands, as well as the soul-crushing guilt of killing a man he once considered his friend.
  When Alexander aimed at the sky, he may have been the first one to die, but I'm the one who paid for it.
  I survived, but I paid for it...
• Rage Breaking Point Burr goes through the play being outdone by Hamilton again and again, taking it relatively well. It's when Hamilton votes for Thomas instead of him that sets off the murderous rage that causes the duel.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The pragmatic and slow to anger blue oni to Hamilton's hotheaded, fast-talking, confrontational red oni.
• Remarried to the Mistress: Inverted. He began courting his wife Theodosia when she was still married. After her husband died, she married Burr.
• The Resenter: Increasingly so over the second act over Hamilton's political prowess. Interestingly, the only time he directly competes with Hamilton for a position, he shows relatively little ill-will when he is passed over. It's only after his failed bid for president that he gets murderous.
• Rival Turned Evil: Despite butting heads politically several times, Hamilton and Burr remained relatively amiable until Burr found out that Hamilton endorsed his opponent, Jefferson, in "The Election of 1800". At this point, Burr becomes Hamilton's enemy.
• Sanity Slippage Song: He becomes increasingly frantic throughout "The World Was Wide Enough", in which he shoots Hamilton.
• The Stoic: In contrast to Hamilton's hotheadedness, Burr is a lot more reserved and even-tempered. But when Hamilton endorses Jefferson instead of him, his mask starts to crack.
• Sympathetic Murderer: As the story goes, he ends up killing Hamilton in a duel, but the musical makes the circumstances of the murder clearly sympathetic. For one, Burr tells us in the moments leading up to the duel why he thought Hamilton would surely shoot him, and thus he has to shoot him first. The other reason is Burr's daughter Theodosia, who would be orphaned if he died. And when Burr realizes too late that Alexander didn't intend to kill him, he's utterly heartbroken and regretful.
• This Is Gonna Suck: When Washington shows up after Laurens' and Lee's duel, Burr mutters a dismayed "This should be fun..."
• Tragic Villain: An indecisive man seeking to honor his parents' legacy and prove his worth, Burr's ambitions and jealousy of Hamilton lead him on a slow, yet steady path to villainy.
• Unreliable Narrator: At the start of the story, Burr's narration is generally neutral, but as the story progresses and he and Hamilton progressively rub each other the wrong way more and more, his narration of events becomes more and more negative and personal up to the point that he at one point outright calls Hamilton corrupt (something the play doesn't otherwise imply at all).

  Burr in the opening line of the show: How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore, and a Scottsman dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

  Burr after losing the presidency because of Hamilton's lack of endorsement: How does Hamilton, an arrogant orphan bastard, whoreson somehow endorse Thomas Jefferson, his enemy, a man he's despised since the beginning, just to keep me from winning?

• Villainous BSoD: After Burr shoots Hamilton, realizing too late that he threw away his shot, he becomes so shocked that he doesn't even bother to rhyme for four lines.
• Villainous Lament: The second part of "The World Was Wide Enough" is Burr expressing his regret over shooting Hamilton and realizing too late that he intended to throw away his shot.
• Villain Protagonist: Burr winds up becoming the Big Bad, but he's also only behind Hamilton in terms of prominence and it's ultimately his story as well. He is also the primary narrator for most of the story.^note Odom Jr. was even nominated for Best Actor alongside Hamilton's actor Lin Manuel, and ultimately won.
• Villain Song: "The Room Where It Happens" is where Burr shows his true colors to the audience and starts descending into villainy. Also doubles as an "I Want" Song.
• Villains Out Shopping: For most of the show, Burr is shown clashing with Hamilton repeatedly in politics. "Dear Theodosia" is a song that puts him in a more sympathetic spot as he's cooing his newborn daughter and promising to be there for her always.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Hamilton, for most of the show. Both of them can actually get along enough to work together, but their clashing personalities inevitably cause some sort of argument.
• We Used to Be Friends: Although their fundamental differences showed early on in their friendship, they don't really conflict until Hamilton endorses Jefferson for the position of president.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Burr calls out Hamilton for selling the nation's capital in exchange for the votes he needs to establish a national bank. Hamilton brushes him off and tells him he got what he wanted and that's all that matters.
• X Meets Y: The show's casting calls describe his style as Mos Def meets Inspector Javert.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: After years of waiting, Burr finally decides to go all-out in order to become president by openly campaigning and charming the voters. It gets taken away from him when Hamilton votes for Thomas instead, and it sends Burr into the murderous rage that causes the duel.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: In "Your Obedient Servant", Burr demands an apology from Hamilton for costing him the presidency, but Alexander refuses and tells Burr to "cite a more specific grievance", then proceeds to send him an itemized list of 30 years of disagreements. Burr is understandably miffed.
  Burr: Sweet Jesus.
• You Taught Me That: This is his response to Hamilton questioning his open presidential campaign, he's finally chasing what he wants. Though Hamilton's endorsement of Jefferson over Burr shortly after shows that while Burr is indeed chasing what he wants like Hamilton would, he still missed the point of having principles to fight for.

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