Spy Thriller Character Types

Common character types:

Men vs Women: 

Men are usually portrayed as independent, strong, muscular, brave and smart. Often the protagonist or antagonist. They are also usually young and white. While women are represented as more emotional, weaker, and pretty. They are often shown being saved by the male protagonist/captured by the male antagonist. For my film opening I want to go against this stereotype because I don't exactly like it, it feels it is more for the male gaze. That is why I am going to look into more of a femme fatale character type that can also be seen in this genre.  

The main character/protagonist for this genre is usually very smart, observant, can be cold, morally complex, and are very skilled in combat. A great example of a spy thriller protagonist is James Bond. The protagonist can often be seen wearing tailored suits, all black outfits for missions, practical clothing, and they wear lots of props as well. The often have accessories like watches, earpieces, and weapons. 

James Bond is the protagonist of his franchise and he portrays the typical spy very well. He is usually seen in his suits, is quite serious, and carries around the weapons for his mission. 

The double agent look like any other character, the thing that truly stands out about them is personality, theres is usually very charismatic, secretive, manipulative, and driven by revenge. But their costume can sometimes reflect how they are hiding their true identity so they where neutral professional clothing that lets them blend in. 

The main antagonist can be very smart, usually one step ahead of the protagonist, dangerous looking, and usually motivated by something like power or revenge. They are often seen in costumes of suits, luxury brands, very put together look, sometimes they use specific colors like dark coats to symbolize their personality. 

Le Chiffre is the antagonist from Casino Royale and he is wearing dark colors, a nice suit, clean hair cut. He overall looks very put together but also gives off a dangerous vibe, especially with the makeup done on his right eye. 

The hacker (tech savvy) character is a little often socially awkward, very analytical, loyal to the protagonist, and is usually not in fight scenes, they support from wherever the base is. Often use lots of props like glasses, headsets, laptops, and more tech things.

Q from James bond is the computer expert in the film and you can see that he is a little bit scrawny, wearing glasses, and carrying around equipment. His look shows the typical techy character in this genre.  

The femme fatale in this genre are often see and seductive, dangerous, very skilled in combat, and usually more rare. The female leads in spy movies are becoming a lot more common now but were not see a lot before. Their costumes usually are made to show strong silhouettes. 

Evelyn Salt is the female lead, you can see that she's wearing dark clothes somewhat cinched at the waist making it more feminine and she is also carrying her weapon making her look more dangerous. She goes against the common stereotype. Her makeup is bold with heavy eyeliner and her cheekbones being very accentuated. 

Reflection: In this genre it is very common to see characters who are very smart and most of them are great at combat. They are I also noticed that the costumes use a lot of formal clothes and lots of props. The makeup used is usually only after combat to see the effect of their fighting unless it is a woman.

Citations: 

Grundy, Amber. "Representation of Characters in Spy-Thriller Films." SlideShare, 7 Nov. 2014, https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/representation-of-characters-in-spy-thriller-films/41263566.

harrymakesfilms. "Thriller Costume Research – General Stereotypes." Harry Makes Films, 15 Nov. 2014, https://harrymakesfilms.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/thriller-costume-research-general-stereotypes/.