Characters / Fury (2014)

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Staff Sergeant Don "Wardaddy" Collier

Played by: Brad Pitt

Dubbed by: Jean-Pierre Michaël (European French)

A battle-hardened U.S. Army staff sergeant in the Second Armored Division who commands an M4 Sherman "Easy Eight" tank nicknamed "Fury" and its veteran crew.

• Berserk Button: Don really hates the SS. When Americans bring in a surrendering soldier, Don approaches the soldier before straight up assaulting him, making Bible have to tear him away.
• Bilingual Bonus: He's fluent in both English and German (though it's still very heavily accented), which gives him an edge in conversing with the German locals and something he uses to his advantage when it comes to taunting the Nazis.
  SS Soldier: <We're going to skin you alive!>
  Don: <Shut up and send me more pigs to slaughter!!>
• Determinator: A long time ago, Wardaddy made a promise to the crew of Fury that they were all going to make it out of the war alive. He's already starting to slip on that promise (the film starts with him having lost his assistant gunner), but he's so determined to not give up that it results in a truly epic Last Stand for the tank that secures supplies for an entire division.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: A minor example. He has moments where he's a bit hard on his men, especially towards the New Meat Norman. Despite this, he never comes off as truly mean-spirited and is actually more of a Father to His Men.
• Everyone Has Standards: He'll kill any Nazi that poses a threat to him and his men, even Hitler youths. But he does not tolerate harassment towards surrendering German civilians. Especially from Grady.
• Face Death with Dignity: Even though he admits he's scared, he gives Norman the chance to escape the tank and calmly accepts his fate when the Nazis drop several grenades right in front of him.
• Father to His Men: He may not act like it all the time, but he promised his crew that he would get them back home. Shame he couldn't keep that promise.
• Jerkass Has a Point: His words may be harsh, but Don is nonetheless right when Norman protests executing a captured German soldier for wearing a U.S. Army coat.
  Don: "Not right"? We're not here for right and wrong. We're here to kill them. Why are you here? You're here to kill him. Do you know why he's here? He's here kill you. He's here to kill you, Norman.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a tough as nails staff sergeant who will mercilessly kill any Nazi he sees, including Hitler Youths, but he's also A Father to His Men and doesn't tolerate senseless harassment towards civilians.
• Last Stand: When a column of Waffen-SS are approaching Fury (which has a broken tread but is still weapons-capable), he is willing to stay behind and kill as many as he can, motivating the rest of his crew to stand by him.
• Pet the Dog: For all his harsh attitude towards the Nazis, Don does show a softer side towards German civilians, as he acknowledges that they're just trying to get by and have nothing to do with the war.
• Sergeant Rock: Wardaddy is the meanest, toughest, most hard-as-nails sonofabitch out of the Fury's crew, to the point that he's still mowing down SS troops with the tank's .50 caliber gun until a sniper gets him In the Back.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Right from the get-go, it's clear he has anxiety from his years in the war.
• Would Hurt a Child: He's willing to shoot any German child pointing a gun at him. Given how dangerous a Hitler Youth with a Panzerfaust is, you could say it's justified.
  Wardaddy: Next German you see with a weapon, you rake the dogshit out of 'em! I don't care if it's a baby with a butter knife in one hand and momma's titty in the other, YOU CHOP HIM UP!!!

Private Norman "Machine" Ellison

Played by: Logan Lerman

A fresh recruit whose only experience in the military is a clerk typist.

• Affectionate Nickname: He earns his nickname "Machine" after finally being accepted into the crew, semi-ironically because he's a "fightin' killin' machine". He doesn't get called it for the rest of the film after getting it though, with the crew still only calling him "Norm" or "Normie".
• Beware the Nice Ones: While Norman is easily one of the kindest members of the crew, he starts to grow more of a backbone over the course of the film and even starts standing up to Grady. Since he’s the hull gunner, he also likely has the highest kill count of any of Fury's crew in the final battle.
• Blood Knight: He starts to become this over time. After gunning down several Nazi soldiers with the tank gun, Norman admits that it "felt good".
• Break the Cutie: There's little room for doubt that the things he witnesses have forever changed him.
  • His failure to shoot a Hitler youth wielding a Panzerfaust ends up destroying the commanding officer's tank, killing the entire crew. You bet he got chewed up for it.
  • During a skirmish with anti-tank guns, Norman hesitates under fire, jeopardizing his crew.
  • Angered with Norman's incompetence, Don forces him to execute a captured German soldier by wrestling the pistol into his hand and forcing him to pull the trigger.
  • After building a comforting bond in a German girl named Emma, Norman is helpless to watch her get killed by German artillery.
• Children Forced to Kill: Downplayed in that Norman clearly isn't a child. However, it's still quite shocking when Wardaddy puts a gun in his hand and forcefully wrestles him into executing a surrendering German soldier.
• Gaining the Will to Kill: Basically his entire character arc. A young typist at the start of the story, Norman becomes more battle-hardened and trigger-happy by the climax of the film.
• Harmful to Minors: Downplayed, as Norman clearly isn't a child, but he's absolutely horrified at getting to witness the excruciating death of the tank platoon leader after his tank was hit by a Panzerfaust-wielding Hitler Youth soldier, leading to the deaths of his crew while he's unfortunately caught in the middle of an ammo cook-off, then spends several seconds screaming in agony while burning to death before finally pulling out a gun and killing himself.
• It Gets Easier: As the New Meat, Norman is apprehensive about using his weapon against enemy soldiers, even against a volkstrum squad that blew up the tank in front of the Fury. During the battle when the Fury's tank column relieved a platoon of pinned down infantry, Norman has a breakdown, insisting he was a typist not a machine-gunner. When the Fury reaches a town full occupied by an entrenched German battalion, Norman starts to become an effective gunner, and even admits that "it felt good" gunning down German soldiers. In the final battle against the Waffen-SS battalion, it's Norman who kills the first soldier who opens the hatch to investigate the immobilized Fury and fires his machine-gun until it runs out of ammo.
• New Meat: He's the newest, and youngest, member of the team as well as the most inexperienced. You can imagine how things go for him…
• Sole Survivor: He's the only member of the tank crew that survives.
• Took a Level in Badass: Deconstructed. He becomes more hardened and capable nearing the climax of the film, but his psyche is clearly damaged from all the horrors he's seen and committed.

T/5 Boyd "Bible" Swan

Played by: Shia LaBeouf

The Tank Gunner and Token Religious Teammate of the crew.

• Affectionate Nickname: "Bible" is almost too fitting for him.
• As the Good Book Says...: He quotes the bible a lot throughout the film, which is where his nickname of "Bible" comes from.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's a devout Christian and overall Nice Guy, but that won't stop him from giving a Nazi a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• Catchphrase: He shouts, "ON THE WAY!" before firing each shell. This is actually standard procedure to keep the loader from getting maimed by the recoiling breach.
• Comfort the Dying: After the opening battle, Bible finds a mortally wounded German slowly dying. After asking him and getting confirmation that he's a fellow Christian, Bible stays with him and prays for him during his last moments.
• Covered in Mud: When he gets into a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown with a Nazi during the climax.
• Deadpan Snarker: When he isn't quoting from the Bible, he can be this.
  Bible: I'm done trying to convert you heathens. You mind if I continue invading Germany?
• Eye Scream: His death; being shot through the eye by a sniper.
• The Heart: He's the most compassionate among the crew and the only one who doesn't chastise or belittle Norman.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Here, Searg-!
• Nice Guy: A bit downplayed. Bible still has a fowl mouth and gets into arguments with Grady, but he's also one of the more soft-spoken of the tank crew and doesn't give Norman that much of a hard time compared to the rest of the crew.
• Religious Bruiser: Bible is a religious man and a tough soldier to boot. As the Fury's main gunner, he gets to operate the big gun with the foot trigger and blow the shit out of enemy fortifications and tanks with heavy munitions.
• Token Religious Teammate: He's the most outspoken Christian out of the entire tank team, in a surprisingly real and non-stereotypical way.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Grady. Bible seems to tolerate Grady the least among the crew, but is visibly devastated when he's killed by a Panzerfaust.

Corporal Trini "Gordo" Garcia

Played by: Michael Peña

The driver of Fury and one of the original crew alongside Don, Boyd, and Grady.

• The Alcoholic: Gordo is always seen drinking from the bottle.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • His nickname is "Gordo". The direct Spanish translation is "Fatso".
  • He throws out some of the harshest curses in the film, but always in Spanish.
• Cruel to Be Kind: He's a bit hard on Norman during the first fight, but that's because if he screws up, he puts the rest of the crew in danger.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He throws himself over an active grenade to save the rest of the crew from getting blown up with him. Sadly, only one of them gets out of it alive.
  • His sacrifice is even more meaningful if you recall that earlier in the film, he pointed out the escape hatch on the floor of the tank to Norman, warning him that if anything went wrong, he was going out that hatch and he wasn't going to wait for Norman or try to help him. He sure changed his mind...
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a bit surly at times, but he cares about the rest of the crew and is loyal to Don.
• Mummies at the Dinner Table: A deeply sad example as he refuses to let go of his co-driver Red's hand, despite the latter having his entire head blown off until gently persuaded by Don to let him go.
• The Navigator: He's the one who drives the tank.
• Token Minority: He's the only Hispanic member of an all-white crew. During WWII (when the American military was still segregated), Hispanics were classified as whites.

Private 1st Class Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis

Played by: Jon Bernthal

Fury's loader and part of the original crew under Wardaddy.

• The Bully: He's the most antagonistic towards Norman out of all the crew.
• The Engineer: While he's officially the tank loader, Grady is also the one seen performing battlefield repairs on the Fury the most often
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be insensitive and downright unpleasant sometimes, and is a general pain to work with. Nearing the climax, though we start to see that he's not so bad when you get to know him.
• Kick the Dog: He needlessly harasses Emma and Irma, much to Don and Norman's ire.
• Pet the Dog: Near the climax, he gives Norman a sincere apology for how he treated him and says that he thinks he's a good man. He's even the one who gives Norman the nickname, "Machine".
• The Pig-Pen: While none of the crew are shining examples of cleanliness, there being a war on and all, Grady stands out as particularly disgusting usually being covered in some sort of grime plus his noticeably-yellow teeth.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He starts out a pretty obnoxious Jerkass, but eventually starts to warm up to Norman.
• Tough Love: Though it seems at first that he's a callous, borderline Sociopathic Soldier, after Emma and her cousin dies he tries to help Norman snap out of it by getting in his face and berating him for thinking he's special that he lost someone in war. It's the first sign that he's not as much of a dick as he seems.
• Troll: He seems to enjoy getting on Bible's nerves the most.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Probably most prominent with Bible.