History Characters / TwelveAngryMen

* NothingPersonal: How he approaches the case and resulting discourse. He makes clear he has no personal bias against the defendant, even expressing sympathy for his terrible background, and is voting guilty based solely on the evidence. He also keeps his discussions with other members relatively civil and avoids making things personal, the sole exception being his disdain for Juror #10, who he makes no effort to hide his disdain for.

* EvilOldFolks: In his mid-fifties and a vile racist.

** He tends to say "You know what I mean?" after a racist remark. In a case of TruthInTelevision, this can be a way for bigots to look for validation for their beliefs from other people.

->'''Played By:''' Creator/MartinBalsam

->'''Played By:''' Lee J. Cobb

->'''Played By:''' E. G. Marshall

->'''Played By:''' Jack Klugman

* GrewASpine: A little bit. He gets more willing to call the other jurors out on their shit as the show goes on.

* VerbalTic: "You know what I mean?" and calling people "my friend." The latter is coldly thrown back at him when he asks #2 for a cough drop, and is told, "I'm all out... my friend."

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Friendly and amicable, doing his best to make sure everybody has a chance to voice their opinion and weigh it against exhibits and evidence. In his day job we find out he's an assistant football coach.

* NoodleIncident: He recalls an incident a few weeks back where he had a squabble with a fellow banker when expressing doubt over #3's claim that people who yell stuff at the top of their lungs mean what they say. We don't hear the end of it because #3 interrupts him.

** Like the rest of the jurors, he's disgusted by #10's racism.
** He's also clearly appalled by #7 when he switches his vote to "Not Guilty" simply because he wants to leave.

** When he contradicts his own, earlier argument.

* UngratefulBastard and TeensAreMonsters: After his final rant, he glances at the photo of him and his son and angrily says, “Rotten kids. You work your life out ... “ before ripping up the photo. Earlier, he comments that he grew up being taught to respect his elders and that the youth of the time (latter half of the 1950s) were spoiled rotten, lawless, disrespectful and ungrateful, all leading to a swift, sure downfall of society of the time.
* VillainousBreakdown: His final act in the play before the end and final vote. In contrast to #10's breakdown, which was met with disgust, his is more pitiful and invokes sympathy from the other jurors.

* GracefulLoser: When his factual reasoning for voting guilty has been overwhelmingly debunked, he doesn't get upset or dig his heels in and simply changes his vote, accepting that he was wrong.

* NothingPersonal: How he approaches the case and resulting discourse. He makes clear he has no personal bias against the defendant, even expressing sympathy for his terrible background, and is voting guilty based solely on the evidence. He also keeps his discussions with other members relatively civil and avoids making things personal, the sole exception being his disdain for Juror #10 who he makes no effort to hide his disdain for.
* OnlySaneMan: Of three major holdouts (the other two being three and ten), he's the only one to stay calm, whose reasoning is motivated by logic rather than personal bias, who is willing to calmly listen to others and even make concessions and when the evidence becomes overwhelming, he changes his vote with no issue.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[spoiler:When #8 manages to disprove one of his points, he's visibly flustered.]]

* ShutUpHannibal: Is the juror that finally [[spoiler:puts #10 in his place after his VillainousBreakdown]]. For added awesome points he does this without changing the tone or volume of his voice.
-->'''Juror #10:''' Listen to me!\\

* StoicSpectacles: He wears them [[spoiler:and it even becomes a plot point]].
* TokenGoodTeammate: Easily the most sympathetic of the final three holdouts, due to voting "guilty" because he really has reached that conclusion through logical thinking rather than emotional baggage (like #3) or prejudiced views (like #10). [[spoiler:He even delivers a ShutUpHannibal to #10 when the latter's prejudice [[VillainousBreakdown goes too far]]. The second that the biggest piece of evidence is put into doubt, he changes his vote.]]

* BerserkButton: Juror #3 gets #5 riled up when he starts accusing him of changing his vote to "not guilty" and insists that since #5 grew up in a slum neighborhood, he's the one to blame. Which makes it pretty awkward when it turns out that #9 was the one who changed his vote.

* ReverseGrip: His background lets him refute the evidence of the defendant's much taller father having a downward stab wound, something only possible with such a grip, as he knows no experienced switchblade user would do it.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: In the 1997 version during the first bathroom break, he asks #8 how he'll feel if it turns out The Boy was guilty and goes on to commit another crime. Although #8 sticks to his guns, he's clearly rattled by the question.

* RageBreakingPoint: He threatens to punch out Juror #3 after the latter repeatedly interrupts #9.

** For all his indifference, he doesn't condone violence, which is shown when he holds Juror 3 back from viciously assaulting Juror 8.

* PluckyComicRelief: The main source of humor in the film. Deconstructed since while the group was okay with him at first, by the end all the other jurors have had enough of him making light of such a serious situation.

* RogueJuror: If not the TropeMaker, definitely the TropeCodifier. In this case, however, [[UnbuiltTrope the rogue juror isn't actually convinced of the defendant's innocence at first]]. He just wants to forestall an overly hasty deliberation.

* BecomingTheMask: Initially changes his vote just to ensure #8 gets to plead his case, despite personally still believing the defendant to be guilty. As the film goes on and more details come into place, he becomes one of the ones more strongly preaching the boy's innocence.
* CoolOldGuy: More so as the movie progresses, which includes taking note of a few small details which the other jurors failed to pick up on.
* HiddenDepths: He's assumed to a doddering old man but shows he's much smarter and more aware than he may appear.

A bigot whose prejudice causes him to be another main antagonist to #8.

-->'''Juror #10:''' Listen to me!\\

* EvilOldFolks: In his mid fifties and a vile racist.

** He tends to say "You know what I mean?" after a racist remark. In a case of TruthInTelevision, this can be a way for bigots to look for validation for their beliefs.

* ImmigrantPatriotism: He takes a moment to gush about the jury trial system, and how it could only happen in a democracy like the United States. They never say where he came from, but the implication is that the country he was from is ''not'' a democracy. He also berates #7 for refusing to take the process seriously, and makes a point to make sure he is speaking English more properly than the bigoted natural-born #10.
* NiceGuy: Like many of the others, he is an affable gentleman but not one to cross or insult their duty in the jury room.

%%* DeadpanSnarker

* TheBadGuyWins: [[AmbiguousSituation Possibly.]] The whole point of the story is that the jurors have to decide if he stabbed his father or not. If he did, then he has killed someone and gotten off scot-free. In the end, they conclude [[spoiler:not that he's necessarily innocent, but that they have reasonable doubt he's guilty]]. If he ''is'' genuinely innocent, then real killer is still at large (though within the realm of the movie, the investigation would be considered ongoing, so it's more of a matter of them not covering the part where someone actually gets caught and convicted as guilty, since that's not the focus). And that's not even getting into whether or not his father might have deserved it.

* TheGhost: In the stage play, where he doesn't ever appear and is only discussed.

* IllKillYou: He shouted this to his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] the night he died, which has obviously come back to bite him in a pretty major way. However, has #8 points out, just because he said it in a moment of anger doesn't mean he ''actually'' did it.

* NiceHat: Wears a straw fedora throughout the film.

* KnifeNut: He is described as an experienced knife fighter, who would definitely have used a switchblade properly. He turns out to have possibly been ''too'' good with a knife to be the murderer when #5 puts out that an experienced knife fighter would thrust the knife upwards under-handed instead of down in a ReverseGrip like the death suggests.

* LightIsGood: Juror #8 traditionally wears a white coat or shirt. He's the first one to believe the boy could be innocent.

* TheDeterminator: Even when opposed by 11 other jurors, he stands his ground and manages to convince all of them why he believes the defendant is not guilty.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Like the rest of the jurors, he's disgusted by #10's racism. He's also clearly apalled by #7 when he switches his vote to "Not Guilty" simply because he wants to leave.

* RogueJuror: If not the TropeMaker, definitely the TropeCodifier. In this case, however, the rogue juror isn't actually convinced of the defendant's innocence at first. He just wants to forestall an overly hasty deliberation.

->'''Played By:''' Creator/JohnFiedler

* AmbiguouslyJewish: He's hinted to be some kind of minority, and his actor in the 1957 version is Jewish.

[[folder:Juror [=#1=]]]

->'''Played By:''' Jack Warden

->'''Played By:''' Martin Balsam

->'''Played By:''' John Fiedler

->'''Played By:''' Ed Begley

* GracefulLoser: When his factual reasoning for voting guilty has been debunked, he doesn't get upset or dig his heels in and simply changes his vote, accepting that he was wrong.

* NothingPersonal: How he approaches the case and resulting discourse. He makes clear he has no personal bias against the defendant, even expressing sympathy for his terrible background, and is voting guilty based solely on the evidence.

* PrematurelyBald: Not exactly. Even if the top of his head is bald, he still has some hair on his sides and back of his head. But balding while being 32 years old (in the 1957 version), it's obviously premature.

* TheSpock: He's certainly the most rational of the group, concerning himself purely with the facts. Despite being one of the last holdouts in favor of conviction, he listens to all of his opponents' arguments with an open mind. Once all of his objections have been rebutted, [[spoiler:he changes his vote without complaint]].

* TokenGoodTeammate: Easily the most sympathetic of the final three holdouts, due to voting "guilty" because he really has reached that conclusion through logical thinking rather than the prejudiced views of #3 and #10. [[spoiler:He even delivers a ShutUpHannibal to #10 when the latter's prejudice [[VillainousBreakdown goes too far]]. The second that the biggest piece of evidence is put into doubt, he changes his vote.]]

!!Juror #1

!!Juror #2

!!Juror #3

!!Juror #4

!!Juror #5

!!Juror #6

!!Juror #7

!!Juror #8

!!Juror #9

!!Juror #10

!!Juror #11

!!Juror #12

[[folder: The Boy]]
!!The Boy

* DirtyCoward: When #11 politely asks him a question, he insults him for being an immigrant. But when he gives him an actual [[spoiler:TheReasonYouSuck speech]], #7 cowers and gives #11 an answer he wants to hear.

* StoicSpectacles: He wears them [[spoiler:and even becomes a plot point]].

* PrematurelyBald: Not exactly. Even if the top of his head is bald, he still has some hair on his sides and back of his head. But having a balding while being 32 years old in the 1957 version, it's obviously premature.