Kill Bill/Characters

Kill Bill

Deadly Viper Assassination Squad

The Bride/ Beatrix Kiddo AKA Black Mamba

—"I've killed a hell of a lot of people to get to this point, but I have only one more. The last one. The one I'm driving to right now. The only one left. And when I arrive at my destination, I am gonna kill Bill."

A former assassin who was gunned down on the day of her wedding and fell into a coma. Believing that her child has been lost as well, she seeks revenge against Bill and the four assassins who attacked her wedding.

Action Girl
Action Mom
Anti-Hero: Type IV
Badass
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. She gets the ever-living shit kicked out of her.
Dark Action Girl
Deadpan Snarker
Determinator: NOTHING will stop this lady from getting her revenge on the Deadly Vipers. Not even being Buried Alive.
Hair of Gold
Honor Before Reason
Hot Chick with a Sword
Hot Mom
Made of Iron
Mama Bear
May-December Romance - With Bill. Heck, she even tells her husband that he's her father.
Ms. Fanservice: Implied, but not shown often. Many characters have described her as just as beautiful as she is dangerous. The closest the viewer would get to fanservice was a lingering shot of her rear during an airport scene in Tokyo, when she's on her way to fight O-Ren.
Noble Demon
Left for Dead - By Bill and his crew. To be fair, Bill did put a bullet in her brainpan after the others had gotten through kicking the shit out of her, which would kill most people.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The Trope Namer.
Sociopathic Hero
Trauma Conga Line
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Really hates the idea of having underage kids exposed to violence. First, shes' very unhappy when Vernita's five-years-old daughter Nikki witnesses her killing of her mom, later attempts to talk the teenaged Gogo from fighting her, then spares the youngest of the Crazy 88 and spanks him for "fucking around with the Yakuza" before sending him back home, and finally would rather have a momentary truce with Bill rather than killing him in front of their daughter B.B.

Bill AKA Snakecharmer

Played By: David Carradine

—"...there are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard."

Head of the Deadly Viper Assassins, he is the Bride's primary target and former lover.

Affably Evil: Very much so.
Badass Grandpa
Badass in Charge
Big Bad
The Chessmaster
Curb Stomp Battle: Defeated relatively easily by the Bride
Damned By Faint Praise: When asked about the Bride's fiance, Bill says "I like his hair."
Deadpan Snarker
Disproportionate Retribution: In his words, he "overreacted".
Even Evil Has Standards: Would never kill someone in their sleep for this reason.
Face Death with Dignity
Genre Savvy
Honor Before Reason
May-December Romance: With The Bride, Elle and probably Sofie.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He says that when he found the Bride, he had been "trying to track down the fucking assholes (he) thought killed (her)".
Villainous Valour

Elle Driver AKA Californian Mountain Snake

Played By: Daryl Hannah

—"Dying in our sleep is a luxury our kind is rarely afforded. My gift to you."

A former rival of the Bride who appears to be in a relationship with Bill.

Ax Crazy
Badass
Blondes Are Evil
Dangerously Genre Savvy
Dark Action Girl
Deadly Doctor: She’s not a real doctor. She just dresses as one to sneak into the hospital where the Bride is trapped in a Convenient Coma.
Deceptive Disciple
The Dragon
Evil Counterpart: To the Bride.
Eyepatch of Power
Eye Scream: Happens to her twice, once at the hands of Pai Mei, the other at the hands of the Bride herself.
Hot Chick with a Sword
Hospital Hottie: Again, not a real medical professional. Do not contact her for medical advice.
Lady Macbeth: If she's in a relationship with Bill while the events of the movies take place.
Large Ham
Light Is Not Good: Her sequence at the hospital. Bonus point for having also blonde hair and pale complexion.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a brief one to the dying Budd, telling him that the Bride deserved to die at the hands of someone better than him.
Smug Snake
Villainous Breakdown: To be fair, you’d probably be less than stoic if you had your only remaining eye ripped out.
Wham! Line: "Know what I did? I killed that miserable old fool"
What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate is left unknown.
Worthy Opponent: To the point that she kills Budd for giving The Bride an unworthy death in her opinion.

Elle: (on her feelings) Regret that maybe... the greatest warrior I ever met met her end at the hands of a scrub, alky, piece of shit like you. That woman deserved better.

Budd AKA Sidewinder

Played By: Michael Madsen

—"That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die."

Bill's brother, who lives in a trailer out in the desert and works at a "titty bar" as a bouncer. He and Bill are not on good terms.

The Atoner: Shows shades of it.
The Brute: Doesn't mean he's stupid.
Combat Pragmatist
Dangerously Genre Savvy
Death by Irony
Genius Bruiser
Honor Before Reason: His actions after the rock-salt buckshot might be interpreted as this (with traces of The Atoner). He was well aware of what kind of training the Bride had had with Pai Mei, so he was giving her the chance to claw her way back out of her grave if she had the will to do so.
I Lied: He didn't actually sell his Hattori Hanzo sword
Karmic Death: Ends up being killed by a Black Mamba.
Obfuscating Stupidity
Retired Badass: Nowadays he's a bouncer/janitor at a crappy titty-bar.
Warrior Poet

O-Ren Ishii AKA Cottonmouth

Played By: Lucy Liu

—"The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your fucking head. Just like this fucker here. Now, if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, now's the fucking time!"

The head of the Yakuza in Japan, who became an assassin after killing the Yakuza boss who murdered her parents.

Berserk Button: If someone brings up her heritage in a negative light, they'll lose their head.
But Not Too Foreign: Father was a Chinese-American soldier stationed in Japan. Mother was Japanese. This is largely the result of Lucy Liu, O-Ren's actor, being Taiwanese-American.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: In her revenge. Having learned that her parents's murderer was not just a Yakuza but a Lolicon, O-Ren used herself as a Honey Trap to catch him of-guard ... and when Matsumoto was drunk and almost naked, she stabbed him to death.
Dark Action Girl
Dark and Troubled Past - It's so dark, it had to be an anime sequence to possibly avoid an NC-17 rating and some people getting arrested.
Disc One Final Boss - The Bride spends the whole first movie going after her -- and she's just the first bad guy on her hit-list.
The Dreaded
Evil Genius
Expy: O-Ren's character
Hot Chick with a Sword
Lady of War: She's the page image for a reason.
- Little Miss Badass: Avenged her parents' bloody murder when she was barely 11 years old.
Off with His Head: Does this to Boss Tanaka for insulting her heritage and for disrespecting her.
- At the end of her battle with the Bride, she loses the top of her head, since the Bride scalps her.
Precision F-Strike: Actually three, at the end of her speech after her Berserk Button is pressed. Though given her usual polite and collected demeanor, it seems almost like a Cluster F-Bomb for how out of place it is.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Over her syndicate; she encourages her lackeys to question her if they feel that a plan of action is unwise. In her own words, "no subject will ever be taboo." Unless it involves her heritage.
Woman in White
Worthy Opponent: Is the only DiVA that The Bride seems to respect.

Vernita Green AKA Copperhead

Played By: Vivica A Fox

—"Black Mamba. I shoulda been motherfuckin' Black Mamba."

She lives as a suburban mom named Jeanie Bell, marrieed to a doctor.

Action Mom and Hot Mom
Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight
Dark Action Girl
Dark Chick
Hufflepuff House/We Hardly Knew Ye: Gets a lot less development than the other Vipers.
Knife Nut: The Bride even ditches her Cool Sword to engage her in a knife fight. Vernita tries to kill her with a gun hidden in a cereal box and fails. Shoulda stuck with her knives.
Laser-Guided Karma: She thought she'd escape her past after marrying a doctor and becoming a mother. She was totally wrong.
Retired Badass
Sassy Black Woman

Associates of O-Ren Ishii

Sofie Fatale

Played By: Julie Dreyfus

—"Burn in hell, you stupid blonde! I'll tell you nothing!"

O-Ren's best friend and lawyer.

Amoral Attorney: She's the lawyer of the boss of all Yakuza bosses.
An Arm and a Leg: Loses one arm when the Bride calls out O-Ren, and loses the other arm during the Bride's interrogation of her in the trunk.
But Not Too Foreign: Half-Japanese, half-French.
Dark Is Evil
Hello, Attorney!
Expository Hairstyle Change: When she's watching over the El Paso murders, Sofie has her hair in a long ponytail. In the present, she wears her hair up in a bun. At the end, after being mutilated, she wears her hair down while talking to Bill.
Fate Worse Than Death: The Bride cuts off both of her arms, the right one as a means of making a point to O-Ren, and the other one during her interrogation.
- It should be noticed that this is left somewhat ambiguous in the American version, as we don't see the Bride cutting off her other arm.
Sharp Dressed Woman
What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate is left hanging at the end of the first movie.
Woman in Black: Or as The Bride puts it: "Woman dressed like she's a villain on Star Trek."
- Woman in White: Wore a white dress during the El Paso murders

Gogo Yubari

Played By: Chiaki Kuriyama

—"You call that begging? You can surely beg better than that!"

One of O-Ren's bodyguards, she is a schoolgirl who enjoys killing.

Ax Crazy: Holy shit, yes.
Composite Character: The original Kill Bill script had two Yubari sisters, Gogo and Yuki. Yuki was the crazier one of the two, and would end up destroying the Pussy Wagon in an explosive shootout when the Bride got back from Japan. Tarantino used elements from both characters in order to create the Gogo of the movie.
Dark Action Girl
Epic Flail: Uses this in her fight with the Bride.
Giggling Villain
- Girlish Pigtails: But she sometimes has her hair in these.
Last Second Chance
Little Miss Badass: The youngest fighter in the entire series and one of the craziest.

The Bride: What she lacks in age, she makes up for in madness.

Mook Face Turn: Defied. The Bride gives her a chance to walk away, but she laughs it off.
School Uniforms Are the New Black
Tears of Blood: As she is dying from having a nailed board driven through her skull
Psycho for Hire: Hoo boy, yes.
Zettai Ryouki: In her school uniform.

Johnny Mo

Played By: Gordon Liu

The head of O-Ren's personal army, the Crazy 88.

Bald of Evil
Boss in Mooks Clothing
Cool Mask
The Dragon: To O-Ren
Dual-Wielding
Meaningful Name: While there are only about three dozen Mooks in the fight scene, the number was chosen for its significance to the Japanese.

Bill: There wasn't really 88 of them, they just called themselves the Crazy 88.
Budd: How come?
Bill: I dunno, I guess they thought it sounded cool.

Other Characters

B.B.

Played By: Perla Haney-Jardine

—"Freeze, Mommy!"

The Bride's daughter who, unbeknownst to her, is still alive.

Creepy Child: Poor, poor Emilio.
- Though let's be fair to B.B.... if you were raised by none other than Bill after you're taken off your mom's womb, well, what else would you be? We can only hope that having said mom take care of her now can be helpful.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior
Walking Spoiler: Her existence in the second film, particularly her being very present in the trailer spoils The Stinger of the first movie.

Nikia "Nikki" Bell

Played By: Ambrosia Kelley

Vernita/Jeanie's daughter, who is about B.B.'s age.

Children Are Innocent
Dissonant Serenity: She takes her mother's murder right in front of her eyes with surprising aplomb.
Sequel Hook: Tarantino has said that if he ever makes a sequel to Kill Bill, it will involve Nikki seeking revenge on the Bride for killing her mother.
- Cycle of Revenge: And if there is a sequel to that sequel, B.B. will seek revenge on her for killing her mother.

Buck

Played By: Michael Bowen

—"My name is Buck, and I'm here to par ty."

An orderly who rapes and pimps out comatose patients.

Affably Evil: Yeah, he's utterly repulsive, but he sure is a nice guy to his customers... who are obviously just as repulsive as he is.
Asshole Victim
Cool Truck: The Pussy Wagon, which is appropriated by the Bride when she kills him.
Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: This scumbag likes to rape comatose people, and has a sideline of pimping their bodies out to his customers.
Meaningful Name
Orderlies Are Creeps
One-Scene Wonder: He’s grotesquely memorable.

Earl McGraw

Played By: Michael Parks

—"This tall drink of cocksucker ain't dead."

A sheriff who investigates the El Paso massacre.

Esteban Vihaio

Played By: Michael Parks

—"I must warn you, young lady, I am susceptible to flattery."

Head of the Acuna Boys, and a former father figure to Bill.

Affably Evil
Disproportionate Retribution: Notes that Bill's reaction to the Bride walking out on him was quite harsh, and claims "I would have just cut your face." Then we meet one of the victims of this treatment, and see that she's now sporting a hideous scar running from her lower lip up to the base of her nose.
Domestic Abuser: Poor Clara.
Evil Old Folks
The Man Behind the Man: Acuna, Mexico, is controlled by a ruthless gang known only as "The Acuna Boys." The members of this gang are the fatherless offspring of Esteban's prostitutes, and take orders exclusively from him- the retired gentleman of leisure.
Not So Harmless: For a good deal of the meeting between him and the Bride, Esteban seems just a tad lackadaisical for a gang-leader; then Clara the prostitute shows up with a horribly mutilated face, and the audience realises just how dangerous he is under that sleepy exterior.
Parental Substitute: Esteban was the first of Bill's adopted father-figures, and still fondly remembers taking him out to the movies.
Retired Monster: Also a Retired Badass and Badass Grandpa.

Hattori Hanzō

Played By: Sonny Chiba

—"Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, And like a forest it's easy to lose your way... To get lost... To forget where you came in."

A weapon smith who once taught Bill, and who forged swords for the Deadly Viper Assassins.

Karen Kim

Played By: Helen Kim

—"Not that I have to be at this range, but I'm a fucking surgeon with this shotgun."

An assassin in Lisa Wong's criminal organization who was sent to stop the Bride from killing her employer.

Alliterative Name
Badass
Dark Action Girl
Hitman with a Heart: Lets the pregnant Bride leave after she promises to abandon her assignment.
Hot Chick in a Badass Suit
Shotguns Are Just Better
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Much of why she was skeptical of The Bride's claim at first. When it was confirmed she was pregnant, she left and even congratulated her.

Pai Mei

Played By: Gordon Liu

—"The exquisite art of the samurai sword? Don't make me laugh! Your so-called exquisite art is only fit for Japanese fatheads!"

A martial arts master who trained Bill, The Bride and Elle.

Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
Asshole Victim: Really, can you blame Elle Driver for killing him?
Balls of Steel: The Bride finds this out the hard way.
Disproportionate Retribution: Very fond of this. Ripped out Elle Driver's eye because she called him a "miserable old fool" and killed an entire temple of unfortunate monks because one of them didn't return a nod he gave him.
Drill Sergeant Nasty
Hermit Guru
Insufferable Genius: Just don't tell him that.
Jerkass
Legacy Character: A popular fan theory regarding the character; Bill mentions the incident which he developed a special technique took place at a time that would make him impossibly old.
Old Master: He's more of a cruel and evil master than the kindly Mr. Miyagi type and according to the film's mythology was responsible for the destruction of the Shaolin Temple because a Shaolin monk that he passed on the road didn't return the slight nod that he gave him. He's been known to snatch out the eyes of those who look on him with defiance and snap the backs and necks of those who give him sass like they were twigs. This eventually gets him killed when he snatches out Elle Driver's right eye for calling him a "miserable old fool," and she retaliates by poisoning his fish heads.
Pet the Dog: After knocking her bowl of rice to the ground (long story), he gives the Bride his own bowl. There's also the fact that he taught her the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique and no one else.
Politically-Incorrect Villain: Bill despairingly notes that Pai Mei, "...hates Caucasians, despises Americans, and has nothing but contempt for women." So of course his greatest student, the only one he teaches his Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, is a blonde, American, woman. Who also learns to love him as a father, joyfully snatching out Driver's left eye as vengeance for him. He also hates the Japanese as well.
You Fight Like a Cow: Often insults the bride while she is sparring with him.

Rufus

Played By: Samuel L. Jackson

—"I was a Drell. I was a Drifter. I was a Coaster. I was part of The Gang. I was a Bar-Kay... If they come through Texas, I done played with them."

The piano player at the Bride's wedding.

The Cameo
The Faceless: All we ever see is the back of his head.
Sacrificial Lamb: Was one of the people blown away in the wedding party massacre that kicked off the plot.