EDDIE VALIANT
Played by: Bob Hoskins
Role: Hard-Boiled Detective, Cynical Loner
PL 5 (85)
STRENGTH 2
STAMINA 2
AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7
DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 1
Skills:
Deception 6 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Toons) 9 (+11)
Expertise (Song & Dance) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 9 (+12)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 5 (+6)
Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Detective Gear, Cartoon Gun), Fast Grab, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 2
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +7
Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Will +6
Complications:
Prejudice (Toons)- Eddie shows at best an eye-rolling disgust towards Toons (holding a bit of a soft spot for Betty Boop), and at worst an all-out bigotry. It all stems from the loss of his brother, Theodore.
Relationship (Teddy Valiant)- Eddie & Teddy were tight as it got, and regularly goofed-off and helped out various Toons in need (saving Goofy from a spy rap, and rescuing Donald's Nephews). But when a Toon dropped a piano on Teddy's head, everything changed.
Addiction (Alcohol)- Eddie spends a lot of time drunk. He IS a Noir Detective, after all. He's nicknamed "Jack Daniels" by his former co-workers, and Roger Rabbit uses it to find out where he lives ("But the LIQUOR STORE GUY- he knew!").
Reputation ("Didn't You Used to Be Eddie Valiant?")- Eddie was well-known for his "Detective To the Toons" cases, and people still give him a hard time over it- especially now that he's a drunk.
Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (85)
-Eddie is your classic Film Noir Protagonist- hard-assed, sarcastic, bitter, drunk and prone to dealing with large-breasted dames who have problems. Of course he's got a Rick Blaine-like Sad Past to deal with and lots of booze to drink down, and he has to get over his prejudice against Toons long enough to save the most annoying roommate in HISTORY, even if he doesn't really want to. Words cannot describe how great Bob Hoskins was in this role- he had to basically act for himself in DOZENS of scenes, merely PRETENDING Toons were in front of him (scenes were "blocked" using models, and the voice actors were just off-camera to help, but it's mostly Bob 90% of the time- he notes that you can't look right at the wall- you have to focus your eyes three feet in FRONT of yourself). And he does it REALLY WELL- many scenes are convincing, and shots where you can see he's not really holding onto something are few and far between. Keep in mind that Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman & Hayden Christensen gave some of the worst, most emotionalless performances in cinema history in the same circumstances (the first three are actually talented actors, too). To be frank, he absolutely deserved an Oscar that year, but wasn't even nominated- this is one of the greatest performances ever. This film should have made him an instant star, but being short, old & overweight combined with starring in that theatrical abortion known as
Super Mario Bros. did his career in pretty well.
-There's so much great stuff with Haskins' acting. Despite being a boorish, drunken grouch for the whole movie, he shows genuine affection for Betty Boop in a fatherly way ("Yeah, you still got it"). His reaction of Jessica Rabbit is along the lines of Sam Neil's "Holy SHIT!" reaction to seeing a Brachiosaurus for the first time in
Jurassic Park. That scene where he happily looks at the photos of him and Dolores on vacation... and then immediately tears up when he spots the pictures of himself with his dead brother (and right then, the camera pans over to the desk, where Teddy's stuff sits covered in dust). The countless scenes with Roger and the Weasels. And then he has to pull off a song & dance routine like a clown.
-Eddie's a good Noir Detective, being a solid fighter (enough to handle a gang of Weasels at once, and beat the snot out of a barfly with ease), a good Investigator and fairly Stealthy, but he's not tough enough to withstand gunfire or the like. PL 5 suits people like him just fine- extremely skilled, but still human. At one point, he uses a gun that fires Toon Bullets (ie. sentient but moronic Western Stereotypes), which is like an Unreliable Gun (Blast 5 or so), but he fails to really accomplish anything with it. Using a gun would boost him to PL 6.
About the Performer: Bob Hoskins has a pretty minor career, being a short, chubby actor, but his co-stars always spoke highly of him. This is his most popular role by far-
Mario Bros. killed off all the momentum it gave him, however. Nonetheless, he had won many awards before he died, so definitely had credibility and respect.