< Rocky (film)

Rocky (film)/Characters


Rocky Balboa

Played by: Sylvester Stallone

Rocky:"You knocked him down, why don't you try knockin' me down now?"

  • Book Dumb: Although by the end of II he's writing poetry for a comatose Adrian and by III he's clearly come far in his acting ability, as is evidenced by the many successful commercials he appears in.
  • Captain Ersatz: Half Rocky Marciano, half Joe Frazier, and inspired by a Chuck Wepner fight.
  • Determinator: As seen in the numerous examples below, this is practically the core of his entire style - he might not be the strongest offensively, but he can take infinitely more punishment that seems humanly possible which lets him ride out fights up to the double digit rounds that most of his opponents have never needed to go into.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: To Adrian.
  • Fighting Dirty: Against Tommy, and when Spider Rico pushes him into Unstoppable Rage at the start of the first movie. Most seem to forget that Rocky isn't just a trained champion boxer... he was a former enforcer and knows how to throw down in a street fight.
    • Should be noted that when he fought Spider Rico he was still an enforcer who broke thumbs for a living.
  • Mr. Fanservice
  • Nice Guy: In spite of spending most of his adult life beating people up for a living Rocky is incredibly sweet and kind to everyone. It's especially evident in Rocky Balboa where he puts up with having his picture taken with Robert's boss despite overhearing him berate him earlier, gives former rival Spider Rico free meals at his resturant, and responds kindly to every single person who says "Hey, Rock!" or "Hi Champ!" on the street.
  • Rags to Riches: Takes this trope on a roller coaster ride. In I, it's rags. He does better for a while in part II, but quickly goes through the money from fighting Apollo and doesn't catch on doing other things. After winning the rematch with Apollo, he's solidly rich through III and IV. V sees him going back to rags, and by the 6th movie he seems to have found a happy medium, making a decent living as a successful restaurateur.
  • Gradual Grinder: He'll be in the fight for the long haul. You better be able to handle it.
  • Genius Bruiser: During the fight with Clubber Lang, Rocky uncovers his weakness (i.e. he burns out quick) and gets him to throw everything at him in the first round by taunting him excessively. It works rather well to his advantage and is the shortest fight in all the films, closing out in about three rounds.
  • Made of Iron: How else do you describe a guy who goes for 15 rounds with a World Champion and still comes out strong?
    • Drago said it best:

"He's not human. He's like a piece of iron."

Adrian

Played by: Talia Shire (1976-1990)

Paulie

Played by: Burt Young

Mickie Goldmill

Played by: Burgess Meredith (1976-82, 1990) [1]

Apollo Creed

Played by: Carl Weathers (1976-85)

Clubber Lang

Played by: Mr. T (1982)

Ivan Drago

Played by: Dolph Lundgren (1985)

Tommy "The Machine" Gunn

Played by: Tommy Morrison (1990)

Mason "The Line" Dixon

Played by: Antonio Tarver (2006)

  • Boring Invincible Hero: At the start, he's unpopular with fans due to a string of easy, quick wins.
  • Captain Ersatz: Of Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite being the current Heavyweight champion and undefeated, he didn't got any respect from the crowd. He did get it after his fight with Balboa.
    • There's a bit of Truth in Television here. There have been many fighters who didn't get the respect they deserve because the guys around are nowhere near their level. Therefore, it creates the illusion that a dominant champion is fighting nothing but bums. In contrast, Muhammad Ali receives platitudes not just because of his tremendous skills, but because of the high level of the other heavyweights around, nearly all of whom Ali fought and beat.
  • Jerkass With A Heart Of Gold
  • Punny Name
  • Villains Out Shopping: We first see him playing basketball with some friends.
  • Worthy Opponent
  1. ↑ appears in the fourth and sixth movies in archive footage
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