Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Alain Charnier

In the strictest sense of the word, Charnier is the criminal, but The French Connection's characters just aren't that black-and-white.

Charnier is an intellectual, charming criminal, and Popeye is an abrasive, renegade, and inconsiderate-to-death cop. Whether you call Charnier and Sal antagonists, or hang that title on Popeye? Well, that's a matter of taste.