Brother Where Art Thou Candidate for the Little Man

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Characters / O Brother, Where Art One thousand?

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Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney)

A slick-talking, intelligent man who was sent to the penal subcontract for practicing law without a license. He gets word that his wife is before long re-marrying, but can only make it in time to cease the nuptials if he convinces the two men chained to him to agree to help him escape. Accordingly, he spins a story of a huge sack of cash from an old bank job that is in danger of existence buried forever if they don't reach information technology in time.

Based on Odysseus from The Odyssey, the smart, but arrogant, hero who constantly finds himself in trouble on his journey back domicile to his wife.

Berserk Button: Is very sensitive about his hair and brand of pomade, Dapper Dan. Don't offer him whatever other brand and don't help yourself to his supply.
Con Human being: Everything near him for the offset 2/3 of the movie is a complete lie and he gets by on bluff and charm alone.
Deadpan Snarker: He has only two modes: loquacious and sarcastic. Sometimes both.
Guile Hero: Much like the character he's based on. Subverted, however; he makes his style in life by existence charismatic and eloquent, but he'south actually not that skillful at it, largely due to his overconfidence and vanity.
Showtime Begetter Wins: His wife is getting set to marry once again, but eventually goes back to him (with all their children). Maybe. If he can find that ring...
The Hero: Or and so he thinks.
Pete: Since nosotros been followin' your lead, we ain't got aught but problem.
Indy Ploy: Clearly makes things up on the fly, with maybe an hour'south preparation. They're successful for virtually equally long, and Pete'southward quick to mutter that they jump from one batch of trouble to the next.
Insufferable Genius: Relatively. He's got a quick mind at least and is quick to try and prove it, which is magnified when he's standing next to Pete and Delmar. That said, truthful to the original character, he'due south a impact too arrogant about it, is quick to assume he knows more he does, and isn't really a good leader, which kind of sees him bouncing betwixt this, Miles Gloriosus, and Know-Goose egg Know-It-All.
Large Ham: He'south total of himself, and likes it!
Heart Name Basis: Nigh ever referred to by his middle name.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Likes to put on an air of composure and intelligence by using big fancy words to explain things in a verbose fashion.
Everett: Say, whatever of you boys smithies? Or, if non smithies per se, were you lot otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of bumming wanderin'?
Sir Swears-a-Lot: A chip loose with his "damns", but nothing that would become blanked out on basic cable.
Sophisticated as Hell: He has, as he puts information technology, the "souvenir of gab". When he slips into Detestable Genius style, he'll offset espousing odd facts mixed with simple, Southern colloquialisms.
Surrounded by Idiots: A common complaint of his. ("Y'all two are only dumber than a bag of hammers!")

Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro)

In jail for unknown reasons, Pete only had two weeks left on his sentence, but Everett'south treasure is also tempting to laissez passer upward. Extremely rough-effectually-the-edges, simply honest to a fault, Pete constantly butts heads with Everett, but continues to tag along in the hopes of using his share of Everett's treasure to open up upwards his own restaurant.

Butt-Monkey: He's beaten, kidnapped, and fifty-fifty appears to be turned into a toad.
I'll Kill You!: Shouts this to his cousin Launder when he realizes that Wash did indeed sell him and the others out for the bounty.
Pete: I'm gonna KILL you, Judas Iscariot Hogwallop! You miserable, equus caballus-eatin' son of a-!
Jerk with a Heart of Aureate: He's irascible and prickly, but he's fundamentally good-natured.
The Lancer: He is Everett's Foil and always goes against whatever he says.
Large Ham: In true John Turturro mode.
Thicker Than H2o: He believes in this, equally information technology'southward why he leads the gang to his cousin Wash's place for a identify to residual, eat, and finally get the bondage off. He'due south immediately aroused when Everett proclaims Wash sold them out to the police that very night ("Wash'due south kin!"), and gets fifty-fifty moreso when Launder confirms it, so he ends upwardly calling Launder "Judas Iscariot Hogwallop". Despite this, he calls Everett out for stealing Wash'south pocket watch.

Delmar O'Donnell (Tim Blake Nelson)

A dim-witted just kindhearted human being in prison for robbing a convenience shop in Yazoo. He'due south superstitious and gullible, but ultimately the about decent of the bunch. He's far more than agreeable than Pete, and dreams of buying back his family unit farm from the bank that foreclosed on it with his share of the treasure.

Phone call to Agriculture: This is his motivation for getting the money — he wants to buy back his family farm, believing that he isn't a true homo without owning state.
Cloudcuckoolander: "We... idea... you... was... a toad!"
The Ditz: Which helps him beingness duped by Everett'southward "intelligence".
Friend to All Living Things: During lunch with Big Dan, nosotros see Delmar covered with and enthralled by butterflies.
Kindhearted Simpleton: The friendliest of the grouping.
The Cast Boaster: That really is him singing In the Jailhouse Now toward the finish of the movie.
Nice Guy: He gets along well with both Everett and Pete.

Governor Menelaus "Pappy" O'Daniel (Charles Durning)

The incumbent governor of Mississippi, also a flour tycoon and radioman. He's losing badly against his opponent Homer Stokes, due both to being dogged by accusations of corruption, and due to the mis-management of his campaign by his two idiot helpers and idiot son. He unwittingly gives Everett and his group a variety of escapes from their troubles.

He's a Composite Grapheme representing both Menelaus and Zeus from The Odyssey, being a helpful authority figure in contrast to Sheriff Cooley.

Fat, Sweaty Southerner in a White Suit: The movie is fix in the Deep S, so the politicians needed to be that! That said, he's more self-centered and neutral than the usual example.
Grumpy Old Man: Until he's really on his rival's phase, nosotros just ever come across him griping to and about his employees.
Historical In-Joke: Pappy O'Daniel was a Texas senator, only hither he'south the Mississippi governor.
Large Ham: In both size and boisterous mental attitude.
"Nosotros MASS-COMMUNICATIN'!"
Bottom of 2 Evils: He might be a Jerkass and very likely a Decadent Politician, but he still comes out looking better than his KKK opponent.
Only Known past Their Nickname: "Pappy."
Sir Swears-a-Lot: Particularly while whapping his employees with a hat.
Surrounded by Idiots: His son and a couple of yes men. They, uh, never debate the point.

Sheriff Cooley (Daniel von Bargen)

The lawman tasked with bringing Everett's group back to the subcontract. He's a heartless man who takes a perverse pleasure in pursuing the boys, and clearly plans to summarily execute them rather than bring them in. He'due south implied at various points to be the Devil himself, aiming to collect on a debt he's owed.

He represents Poseidon from The Odyssey existence a completely combative authority figure who is constantly in the fashion of Everett'south journey domicile.

Allegorical Character: Much similar Poseidon in The Odyssey, he represents inhuman ability without mercy, in this case, the police force itself. He may also actually be the Devil, so in that location's that.
Big Bad: Of all the colourful characters the escapees meet on their journey, Cooley is definitely the near unsafe and dogged in his pursuit to capture and kill the iii.
Death by Irony: Poseidon is killed past a flood. Well, maybe just defeated.
Muddied Cop: It's clear from the get-become that Cooley doesn't care near picayune details similar who is innocent and what their rights are.
Inspector Javert: A very cruel example. Getting escaped prisoners is his task, only he'southward outright psychotic well-nigh it (he sets a befouled on fire to attempt to smoke them out, for crying out loud) and when they get a pardon, he nevertheless captures them and gets fix to hang them (and Tommy, who has washed no law-breaking at all other than being with them).
Perchance Magic, Maybe Mundane: There'due south some hints that he might be the Devil (ie. Tommy's description of the Devil he met in the crossroads), and his exposition about 'human institutions' when confronted about his methods casts more doubt to his true nature.
Not Enough to Bury: When the flood apparently kills him off, all that the camera shows of him is his glasses floating downstream.
Obviously Evil: How he got the job is anybody'due south estimate. Then again, if he really is the Devil, he probably wasn't actually called for it and made his own style in...
Constabulary Brutality: Cooley and his gang whip and torture Pete in hopes he'll own upward to the whereabouts of his compatriots.
Satanic Archetype: His cruelty and bizarre appearance, including the fact that his mirrored shades reflect flames at times, make him look similar the devil.
Sinister Shades: Cooley always wears his shades, fifty-fifty in the night. Disturbingly, they oft reflect flames when you meet a close-up of his face.

Daniel "Big Dan" Teague (John Goodman)

A greedy, sadistic, 1-eyed Bible salesman, taking advantage of the Low to button his product. He beginning encounters Everett'south grouping at a restaurant where he tricks them into paying for his meal and so violently mugs them. He later appears at a Ku Klux Klan rally, revealing the full extent of his cruelty.

Based on Polyphemus the Cyclops from The Odyssey, who cannibalizes Odysseus' men in violation of Sacred Hospitality.

Arrow Catch: Catches the Confederate flag hurled like a javelin between his hands earlier it tin stab him in the face, which gets a few impressed thank you from his beau klansmen. Non so lucky with the behemothic flaming cross though.
Asshole Victim: Mugs the heroes after they pay for his meal, and so is afterward present at a Klan rally. In one case a giant, flaming cross falls on top of him, we're given exactly nothing to mourn.
Eyepatch of Ability: He's a cyclops analogue. At that place may be a double significant: while his rank is never stated, the primary officer of a local KKK chapter during the period was called the "Exalted Cyclops".
Fat Bastard: Greedy, violent, Ku Klux Klan member...
Imitation Affably Evil: Puts up a friendly, amicable front before showing his true colors by chirapsia the hell out of Everett and Delmar and robbing them blind.
Jerkass: Robs the heroes, eats their food, and squishes the toad they thought was Pete, and Delmar tried and then hard to protect. And that'due south all before we learn he's a member of the KKK.
Karmic Expiry: Crushed past a flaming cantankerous in a KKK rally.
Large Ham: Notes that it comes in handy in his line of work selling Bibles.
The Nose Knows: He noticeably takes off his hood and gets a big sniff of the air earlier he rushes after the heroes and reveals them, all but stating he recognized Ulysses' Dapper Dan.
Red Right Paw: He has one heart, and is a KKK member.
Sophisticated as Hell: Every bit with Ulysses, he can brand a short point with long streams of dialogue.
Stout Strength: Capable of quite the beating with a big stick, merely more impressively (given his lack of depth perception) catches a flag staff thrown as a javelin.
Villainous Glutton: Meets Ulysses and friends at a restaurant, and eats a lot.

Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas King)

A young, simply incredibly gifted blues musician whom Everett picks up on his way dorsum from the crossroads from selling his soul to the Devil for his musical talent. Despite his obvious talent, he lives in abiding fearfulness of the Devil coming to collect.

Deal with the Devil: How he learned to play the guitar.
Delmar: Oh son, for that yous sold your everlasting soul?
Tommy: Well, I wasn't usin' it.
Historical Domain Character: Basically an expy of the real-life blues guitarist Tommy Johnson, every bit well as Robert Johnson - both of them rumored to accept gotten their musical skills in a Deal with the Devil.
Squeamish Guy: It's kind of ironic, seeing equally how he sold his soul to the Devil, simply Tommy is one of the nicest guys in the film.
6th Ranger: Joins the group after being picked up by the side of the road.
Token Minority: The merely black guy in the main characters.

George "Babyface" Nelson (Michael Badalucco)

The famous bank robber himself, Nelson runs into the boys by adventure and takes them along on one of his bank jobs. He falls into a funk immediately after, wandering off and allowing the boys to savour the spoils on their ain. Heavily implied to be manic-depressive, his robberies being the result of a mania-fueled want for excitement and notoriety.

Berserk Button: Calling him "Babyface".
Historical Domain Character: Though the real life Nelson died in 1934, whereas the film is set in 1937.
Insistent Terminology: It'southward "George Nelson", non "Babyface".
Big Ham: In his manic moments.
Mood-Swinger: Nosotros see him bicycle through highs of gleeful violence and throwing money around, along with lows of sitting and moping. Ulysses suggests he'due south what nosotros'd phone call bipolar nowadays.
Sugar-and-Water ice Personality: Is surprisingly genial for a banking concern robber, even in his depression moments - until someone calls him "Babyface".
Trigger Happy: To the point he shoots some cows that laissez passer by!

Homer Stokes (Wayne Duvall)

Pappy O'Daniel'due south electoral opponent, Stokes is running as a reform candidate in a brilliant and highly successful entrada using a dwarf to represent his friendship with "the petty man." Despite his posturing as a muckraking populist, Stokes is actually a deeply malicious man and a loftier-ranking fellow member of the local Ku Klux Klan. His campaign manager, Vernon T. Waldrip, is before long to marry Everett's married woman.

Accidental Public Confession: He has to admit that he was at a Klan rally in society to out the heroes every bit escaped convicts. He doesn't seem to listen though, thinking his constituents would be okay with it. They weren't.
Big Guy, Fiddling Guy: With his dwarf sidekick, who not simply plays the office of "the little man" in his political muckraking, but helps him with his Klan activities, too.
Corrupt Hick: Appears to be a reform candidate. And is actually a high-ranking Jerkass in the Klan.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Despite loudly claiming to be a friend of the "piffling human being" (with accompanying little person) both before and during, he can't read the mood of the crowd when he interrupts the Soggy Lesser Boys' performance at his own campaign rally and is consequently run out of town on a rail.
Honor Before Reason: In that his personal sense of honor as a Klansman requires him to jump out of his chair and demand the crowd disown the Soggy Bottom Boys for being integrated and miscegenated, refusing to back down even as the crowd turns against him.
Jerkass: He'south a Klan member who wants to lynch Tommy up for the offense of being black.
Big Ham: Not and then commonly (well, as much equally a politico tin be hammy), only he really cuts loose at the Klan rally.
Villain with Good Publicity: He's much better at candidature than Pappy, and therefore much more popular. He's easily the worse of the two morally.

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