Lethal Weapon/Characters

Main Cast

Martin Riggs

Portrayed by Mel Gibson

• Anti-Hero: Type II in every movie but the first.
• Ax Crazy: Primarily in the 1st movie, mellows down in the sequels. Hence he's also...
• Because You Were Nice to Me Riggs relationship with Murtaugh in general. While on the job Riggs and Roger sometimes get on each other's nerves, Roger and his entire family when not on the job are extremely welcoming and kind to him. Not only does this make him violently protective of them, but it gives him better resolve over his suicidal tendencies.
• The Berserker
• Byronic Hero: In the original.
• Badass
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Cartwright Curse: Until the third movie. Although Lorna does get shot in the climax of Lethal Weapon 3, and for a while there it looks like she may not survive.
• Cowboy Cop
• Deadpan Snarker
• Death Seeker: In the first movie.
• Eighties Hair: In every movie except the fourth.
• The Gadfly: Enjoys teasing ol' Rog to no end.
• Good Is Not Nice
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He actually pretends to have this in order to scare his enemies.
• Hot-Blooded
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Justified. He was a Special Forces Sniper in Laos and Vietnam. He once made a hit that he thinks only ten other people in the world might have been able to make.

Riggs: It's the only thing I was ever good at.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Large Ham: Especially in the first movie. He's become more composed in the sequels.

"Do you really wanna jump?! DO YOU WANNA?!?"

• Lightning Bruiser
• Salt
• Sociopathic Hero: Just in the first movie.
• Title Drop: In the first movie, Roger refers to him as a "lethal weapon."

Roger Murtaugh

Portrayed by Danny Glover

• Badass Mustache
• By-The-Book Cop
• Catch Phrase: "I'm too old for this shit." Inverted in the fourth movie.
  • "Riggs you crazy sonuva b...." as well
  • "Go spit, Riggs!"
• Character Tic: He cracks his neck before shooting people.
  • This is typically followed by a Boom! Headshot!.
• Deuteragonist
• Heroic BSOD: After killing an old friend of his son's out of self-defence, leading on to...
  • Drowning My Sorrows
• Overprotective Dad
• Papa Wolf
• Pepper
• Sanity Chain
• Retirony: Subverted in the 3rd movie.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Though, he does carry an automatic as a backup weapon.
• Younger Than They Look: Danny Glover was only 40 years old when he filmed the first movie despite supposedly being "too old for this shit". Murtaugh was written as an older character (50 in the first movie).

Leo Getz

Portrayed by Joe Pesci

• Butt Monkey
• Catch Phrase: "They fuck you with/at..."
• Chew Toy
• Cluster F-Bomb
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Motor Mouth
• Nice Hat: In the fourth movie.
• Plucky Comic Relief

Rika van den Hass

Portrayed by Patsy Kennit

• Disposable Woman: Murdered by Vorstedt
• Nice Girl

Lorna Cole

Portrayed by Rene Russo

• Action Girl
• Cowboy Cop
• Distaff Counterpart: To Riggs.
• Pregnant Badass: Kicks the asses of Wah Sing Ku's goons in the 4th movie.
• Tsundere

Lee Butters

• Genius Bruiser: He has a psychology degree.
• Hot-Blooded
• Large Ham
• Meaningful Name: He constantly tries to "butter" his father-in-law up.
• Mistaken for Gay: Thanks to Riggs, poor Roger believes Lee swings that way.
• My Name Is Not Durwood: Riggs and Murtaugh have major difficulty in getting his name right.
• Uncle Tomfoolery: A not too offensive version.
• Wretched Hive: Where he had grown up in, and the reason he joined the police force.

Villains

General McAllister

Portrayed by Mitchell Ryan

• Big Bad: In the 1st movie
• Disc One Final Boss: Killed when his car explodes, with Joshua taking over as the main antagonist.
• General Ripper: He used to be this.

Mr. Joshua

Portrayed by Gary Busey

• Backstab Backfire: Trying to shoot someone in the back when you are surrounded by cops is not a smart idea.
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• The Dragon
  • Dragon Their Feet.
• Establishing Character Moment: Allowing the general to burn his arm, while Joshua clenches his teeth and takes it, establishing Joshua's loyalty (and insanity).
• Evil Albino
• Evil Counterpart: To Riggs in the 1st movie.
• Fisticuffs Boss
• Psycho for Hire

Arjen "Aryan" Rudd

• Big Bad
• Diplomatic Impunity: And he's not even a consul or ambassador.
• Politically-Incorrect Villain
• You Have Failed Me...

Pieter Vorstedt

Portrayed by Dennis O’Connor

• Backstab Backfire: His attempt to shoot Riggs from behind gets him crushed by a cargo crate.
• The Dragon
• Kick the Dog: Takes a sadistic pleasure in revealing to Riggs he killed his wife, and only because he mistook her for Riggs. He also gleefully tells him that he had “quite a bit of fun” with her.
• You Killed My Father: He's responsible for the death of Riggs's wife.

Jack Travis

• Big Bad
• Evil Brit: Well, played by a British actor, anyway. The character is American.
• Dirty Ex-Cop
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Killed by the same "Cop-killer" bullets he has stolen and smuggled.

Wah Sing Ku

Portrayed by Jet Li

• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
• Badass: Probably the most Badass character in the entire series.
• Catch Phrase: "In Hong Kong, you'd be dead".
• Dragon Ascendant: He killed his boss, which he threatened to early in the film.
• Dragon-in-Chief/Big Bad
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones
• Implacable Man
• Lightning Bruiser
• The Triads and the Tongs: One of these guys.

Other Characters

Michael Hunsaker

Portrayed by Tom Waits

Mickey McGee

Portrayed by Jack McGee

Captain Ed Murphy

Portrayed by Steve Kahan

• Da Chief

Detective Megan Shapiro

Portrayed by Jeanette Goldstein

Detective Tim Cavanaugh

Portrayed by Dean Norris

Detective Eddie Estaban

Portrayed by Nestor Serrano

• Character Death: Killed by a bomb.
• Mauve Shirt

McClaskey

Dr. Stephanie Woods

Portrayed by Mary Ellen Trainor