History Characters / Unbreakable

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/PatrickPoivey (European French)

* SuperStrength: A {{downplayed}} variation; David is shown to be able to wrench open the door of his burning car to save Audrey, and in a deleted scene, is able to bench press an excess of 500 pounds. He doesn't really know about this initially, however, so he doesn't really know how much he can ''really'' lift. ''Glass'' shows [[spoiler:he's significantly stronger than the Beast, with the latter needing to use agility to keep up in a fight]].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:He sincerely believes that what he's doing will help the world by giving them heroes to believe in and encouraging others with abilities to reveal themselves.]]

* HurtingHero: He's a hero set upon by a variety of traumas from his childhood, [[spoiler:and by ''Glass'', he's a widower mourning his wife]].

!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' | ''Film/{{Split}}'' | ''Film/{{Glass}}''

!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' | ''Film/{{Glass}}''

!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' | ''Film/{{Glass}}''

!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' | ''Film/{{Glass}}''

* MeaningfulName: He shares a name with Bill Dunn from "The Reign of the Superman", a short story penned by one of Superman's co-creators. Bill also had a friendship with a very intelligent man who awakened him to superhuman powers [[spoiler: and ended up becoming his enemy in the end]], though he turned out much worse than David.

* AgentScully: She doesn’t believe Elijah’s theory at all, and even dismisses David’s never being sick as her simply forgetting about it.

* {{Expy}}: His role in ‘’Glass’’ is similar to the character Oracle from Batman comics.

* LamarckWasRight: Tragically {{subverted}}. While his father is unbreakable, he ''isn't''. [[spoiler:This drives him over the edge, and culminates in him trying to shoot David.]]

* AffablyEvil: He's always polite and genuinely regards David as a friend and seems saddened at [[spoiler: the prospect of becoming his arch enemy]].

* BigBad: [[spoiler: He's actually this, having engineered disasters to find someone like David, then [[EvilMentor mentored]] him in becoming a superhero, so Elijah himself could become a villain in opposition, thus validating his purpose in life.]]

* CardCarryingVillain: [[spoiler: His appearance in ''Unbreakable'' originally paints him as a TragicVillain, one clearly tormented by what he decides is his true purpose in life and shows regret that many had to die for him to find his superhero archnemesis. By ''Glass'', he's sporting {{Psychotic Smirk}}s and doing an EvilLaugh, fully embracing his villainous identity... but it's all to ultimately encourage people to accept and embrace their unique gifts.]]
* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: [[spoiler: About a half hour into Glass, Elijah is revealed to be the true protagonist of the film, contrasting against the prior two main characters for one reason: Elijah is a supervillain, rather than a superhero or civilian like David and Casey were. While David relies on strength, and Casey charisma, Elijah is a super genius who has intricate plans spanning months, if not years, in advance.]]
* CreateYourOwnHero: [[spoiler: This was his goal the entire time, to cause acts of terrorism until he found someone with superhuman abilities to act as the hero to his villain.]]

--> '''Elijah''': You know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world. To not know why you're here... That's... That's just an awful feeling.
** In ''Glass'', [[spoiler: having been kept from fulfilling this purpose for so long by an AncientConspiracy working against super-powered people, Elijah's new purpose becomes dismantling this conspiracy and creating a world where super-powered people can live in public view. He succeeds, at the cost of his life.]]

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: He's of course grateful towards his mother for all those comic books she gave him as a child, [[spoiler: and tries comforting her about his own death by telling her that he already succeeded with his true plan.]]

--> '''Elijah''': Now that we know who you are, I know who I am. I'm not a mistake! It all makes sense! In a comic, you know how you can tell [[spoiler:who the arch-villain's going to be? He's the exact opposite of the hero. And most times they're friends, like you and me!]] I should've known way back when... You know why, David? Because of the kids. They called me Mr. Glass.
* EvilGenius: [[spoiler: He's extremely intelligent, enough to pull off multiple acts of terrorism without ever getting caught and manipulate others effortlessly, and he's David's arch enemy.]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: He goes from a lonely kid with a medical condition to [[spoiler: a diabolical supervillain.]]
* GadgeteerGenius: [[spoiler: Has a solid enough grasp of architecture and engineering to burn down hotels and cause train crashes amongst other terrible incidents, while managing to successfully MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. In ''Glass'' he is also able to figure out how to sabotage medical equipment so that his own lobotomy is a failure without the doctors' noticing.]]

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Elijah has spent years longing for a greater purpose and to be more than he is and believes being a [[spoiler: supervillain]] is what will allow him to finally do so.

* PsychopathicManchild: [[spoiler: At his core, Elijah is still just a lonely kid desperate for a greater sense of purpose who has long since stopped seeing comic books and superhero stories as fiction and is determined to bring them in to the real world.]]

* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: His plan in ''Glass'' was one he knew he would not survive, but fulfilled its intention of exposing the existence of both super-powered people and the AncientConspiracy against them to the world, which will enable more super-powered people to come out of hiding.]]
* TragicVillain: [[spoiler: While his actions are horrifying, Elijah's sad backstory, desperate longing for purpose and sincere regret at what he had to do can't help but make him sympathetic.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: He sincerely believes that what he's doing will help the world by giving them heroes to believe in and encouraging others with abilities to reveal themselves.]]

* WorthyOpponent: [[spoiler: How he regards David, as the only one who can stop him.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: Kevin (as The Beast) learns that [[spoiler: his father died in the Eastrail 177 incident that David survived]], [[spoiler:turns against Price, and kills him]].

* HateSink: You can't hate [[spoiler: Elijah]] despite all he's done but you can absolutely hate this guy due to his reprehensible crimes.
* TheHeavy: A large and imposing man who can throw David Dunn’s entire body weight into a wall and leave a dent. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Elijah’s mother, who talks about the “soldier villain” versus the “mastermind.”

* EvilGenius: [[spoiler: He's extremely intelligent, enough to pull off multiple acts of terrorism and manipulate others effortlessly, and he's David's arch enemy.]]

* {{Sadist}}:

%%->'''Voiced by:'''

* BaldOfAwesome: When Bruce Willis isn’t asked to don a hairpiece, you know you’re in for something good.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:He inexplicably finds David's revolver and tries to shoot him, to prove to his mom that David has superpowers.]]

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/BruceWillis, Davis Duffield (age 20), Colin Becker (age 10, ''Glass'')

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/RobinWright, Laura Regan (age 20)

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Spencer Treat Clark

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Chance Kelly

* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:After witnessing a Clover member mercilessly drown his father and unable to but lash out at them for it. Joseph sends out the videos of the fight and murder he received from Mr. Glass in order to make the Clover Conspiracy pay for it by exposing their murders and ruining their operation.]]

* Expy: His role in ‘’Glass’’ is similar to the character Oracle from Batman comics.

* TheHeavy: A large and imposing man who can throw David Dunn’s entire body weight into a wall and leave a dent. [[Lampshade Hanging Lampshaded]] by Elijah’s mother, who talks about the “soldier villain” versus the “mastermind.”

* YourCheatingHeart: Implied, with the conversation she has with David. [[spoiler:In a deleted scene, this may be the case.]]