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Fred C. Dobbs
Fred C. Dobbs
Played by: Humphrey Bogart
- Alas, Poor Villain: Though it's more pitiful than anything.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Naturally tries this once Gold Hat and his surviving bandits catch up to him. Doesn't work.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With "Gold Hat."
- Death by Materialism: Is killed after trying to murder Curtin and get away with all the gold.
- Face–Heel Turn: Dobbs goes from a down on his luck guy trying to make a living to a desperate murderer over the course of the film.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's nothing, but trouble for the other two guys, despite their best intentions. And it only gets worse as the pile of gold grows.
- Gold Fever: One of the most prominent example in whole cinema. It's not the gold that drives him mad, but the ever-increasing paranoia he will be robbed from it, making him do worse and worse things
- Hypocritical Humor: Chides a Mexican boy for begging when he's out panhandling.
- Jerkass: Even before the Gold Fever gets better of him, he's shown of having a mean streak.
- Karmic Death: Ultimately ends up dying because of the gold - not due to his partners turning on him, but because he abandoned them and tried to make it on his own.
- Lack of Empathy: Any decency he appears to show later in the film is just him being sarcastic or fastidious.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Left Curtin to uncertain death, only to be killed himself for his shoes and mules.
- Mysterious Middle Initial: Fred C. Dobbs.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The Mean.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: Starts as the protagonist and is played by Bogart, who got first billing. As the story unfolds, his greed and ever-increasing paranoia turn him to be dangerous to just be around.
- Sanity Slippage: Dobbs gets increasingly more unhinged and paranoid as the movie goes on.
- Third-Person Person: Starts talking like this as his paranoia sets in.
- Token Evil Teammate: At first neither he nor Curtin are any better than each other. But over time he starts getting more greedy and selfish, while Curtin reveals humility and shows a bit more of a conscience.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Regardless of how much the other two stick their necks out for him, he will always slip back into his cynical, greedy mindset.
- Villain Protagonist: His ultimate predictment, even if at the start of the story he's just an average Joe down to his luck, like the other two.
Bob Curtin
Bob Curtin
Played by: Tim Holt
- Anti-Hero: Makes some questionable decisions, such as considering leaving Dobbs to be buried alive in a collapsed mine shaft, and deciding to kill Cody despite knowing so little about him, but he always gains a conscience about both afterwards; he saves Dobbs in the former situation, and regrets letting Cody die in the latter.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: More or less. He goes through a lot during the film, finally escaping from a crazed Dobbs with his life. Though all the gold is lost in the process, he can still move on with his life.
- Foil: Becomes this to Dobbs.
- Gold Fever: Though not nearly as bad as Dobbs.
- Hidden Depths: While Howard is an old, jaded prospector that Seen It All and Dobbs is just plain asshole, Curtin shows the most remorse and consciousness.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The Inbetween. Not much better than Dobbs at first, but grows to have more of a consciense later on.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: In case of Cody, he's talked into it, but we never know what he would do if the bandits didn't show up. Later, when he has every reason to just shoot Dobbs, he let him live - the courtesy isn't replied in kind, though.
Howard
Howard
Played by: Walter Huston
- Ambiguously Evil: Seems to take on novice prospectors more as a challenge to see if they can resist Gold Fever than anything.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's just an old guy with a big, fast mouth, ain't he? Until he is in the field and shows up all his skills and experience.
- Motor Mouth: All the characters talk a mile a minute, but he's the fastest talker of them all.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The Nice. He seems to be fascinated with challenging people's morality, yet he's by far the most charitable of the three.
- Only Sane Man: Proves himself to be this.
- Seen It All: He spend his life prospecting. For him Dobbs is just another greedy jerk and unlike Curtin, he just rolls with his unhinged behaviour. His dialogues imply he saw it countless times prior and even was in that spot himself, too.
- Stronger Than They Look: Dobbs and Curtin take him for an old man they'd have to carry on their backs, but when they're trekking through the mountains he's more durable and energetic than the two combined.
- Token Good Teammate: Considering who his companions are, it's not that hard to be one.
Cody
James Cody
Played by: Bruce Bennett
- Adaptation Name Change: Robert W. Lacuad in the book, James Cody in the film.
- Cutting the Knot: The bandits kill him when the men defend their position, meaning nobody has to actually murder him in cold blood.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Tries to join the group, but the mistrust him and decide on killing him.
- Tagalong Kid: They really don't want them there
- Take a Third Option: He suggests this to the trio, thinking he will talk them into letting him join and just earn his share. Turns out they decided Murder Is the Best Solution.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: The letter they find on him is his wife writing down concern of their kid.
Gold Hat
Gold Hat
Played by: Alfonso Bedoya
- Bad Liar: Can't pass himself off as a mountain policeman if he tried, even if he didn't need to show anybody "any stinking badges".
- Bandito: Leader of a whole bunch of them.
- Face Death with Dignity: But he won't face his death by a firing squad without his hat.
- Fat Bastard: Portly and malevolent.
- Faux Affably Evil: Acts friendly and personable until you don't give him what he wants.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Is caught, arrested and executed after stealing donkeys after a young police informant finds the donkeys' distinctive brand on them.
- Laughably Evil: Alfonso Bedoya gives him sort of a sense of humor.
Pat McCormick
