Hot Fuzz, Every Main Character, Ranked By Intelligence

The so-called Cornetto Trilogy delivered its second entry with the hilarious and wild buddy cop movie Hot Fuzz. The movie reunited Edgar Wright with his Shaun of the Dead leads, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as a colorful cast of terrific characters.

The movie follows an overly ambitious police officer who is transferred to a small town where a mystery is soon afoot and the bodies start piling up. Though the town of Sandford initially seems to be filled with simple country folk, some are not as simple as they seem, while others are exactly as simple as they seem.

10 Michael Armstrong

Before his days of playing The Hound on Game of Thrones, Rory McCann delivered a hilarious performance as Michael Armstrong, an employee at the local supermarket. Nicknamed Lurch, Michael is a hulking man who always has a bewildered expression on his face.

He only communicates by saying “Yarp” and “Narp,” and even those responses seem to require considerable thinking on his part. He is basically a blunt instrument doing whatever he is told and not really giving any thought of his own.

9 Tony Fisher

Sergeant Fisher is one of the members of Sandford’s police team whom Angel is forced to work with. Though he holds a higher rank than his colleagues, Fisher represents the worst of the small-town policing as he is an incompetent and clueless man.

Fisher likes to pretend he is in charge, but whenever there is a decision to be made, he just asks Angel to make it for him then pretends he was thinking the same thing. He does show some spark of intelligence during the climax, but that seems like a fluke.

8 Bob Walker

Walker is the oldest member of Sanford’s police force and the one that is the hardest to figure out. Though the others seem to understand him fine, Walker speaks in a very mumbling way that is nearly impossible to decipher.

Walker generally looks to be lost or not paying attention to anything that is going on around him. While he may be as oblivious as he appears, it could also be that he is just an old man who doesn’t really care anymore. Both options seem plausible.

7 The Andys

Though they are two separate characters, DS Andrew Wainwright and DS Andrew Cartwright do seem like one person and are even collectively referred to as “The Andys”. The two are inseparable detectives in Sandford but would always rather be at the pub than investigating crimes.

When Angel begins introducing the idea of a serial killer in Sandford, the Andys do question the theory in some legitimate ways. However, as the evidence piles up that something is going on, the fact that neither of them acknowledges it means they are either dimwitted, lazy, or, most likely, both.

6 Doris Thatcher

As the only female in the police force, Doris Thatcher is the butt of a lot of jokes. However, most of the jokes come from Doris herself. She has a very bubbly personality, never taking the job very seriously, even in the midst of death and violence.

Doris shows the same sort of skepticism as to the other police officers when it comes to Angel’s wild theories, but she never seems as willfully ignorant as they are. She might not be a very motivated police officer, but she doesn’t really do anything obviously unintelligent.

5 Danny Butterman

Danny Butterman initially seems like the least intelligent cop in Sandford, and he does a lot to earn that reputation. He is an immature man-child who seems to have learned everything he knows about police work from action movies and is constantly screwing up, from losing his equipment to drunk driving.

However, once he is partnered up with Angel, Danny shows that he has the potential to be a great cop. He helps uncover the truth about the investigation and even figures out a way to get Angel out of town safely. Despite his poor first impression, Danny is a promising police officer by the end of the movie.

4 Tom Weaver

The Neighborhood Watch Association or (NWA) in Sandford seems like a group of older citizens with too much time on their hands who think they are running the town. In reality, they have a lot more power than it seems and wield it in some very deadly ways.

Tom Weaver is the head of the NWA and seems to run it very efficiently. He keeps a close eye on everything and is very well-informed even if he is eventually outsmarted by Angel and Danny.

3 Simon Skinner

Former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton turns in a hilarious performance as Simon Skinner, a Sandford businessman who owns the local supermarket. He also has a penchant for making himself seem like the guiltiest man in town, despite his outward charm.

Skinner certainly has the other police officers fooled, though that isn’t saying much. But he also outsmarts Angel on occasion. Making himself see like the obvious murderer could either be a clever ploy to distract Angel or just a very large ego.

2 Frank Butterman

Frank is Danny’s father and the head of Sandford’s police department. He appears to be a charming and reasonable man but is eventually revealed to be in league with the NWA and willing to kill anyone to keep his town perfect.

As insane as his motivations might be, Frank goes about it all quite cleverly. He convinces the other officers that the murders were all accidents and even gets Danny to go along with lying to Angel. He also manipulates Angel quite effectively, almost making him believe he is going crazy.

1 Nicholas Angel

Though he does turn into the typical action hero cop at the end of the movie, Nicholas Angel maintains that intelligence is what makes a good police officer. He comes into this new environment and is able to determine that something is not right immediately.

While everyone else brushes off the strange occurrences, Angel begins piecing it all together. Even when he turns into the super cop, he comes in with a plan and takes down the bad guys while convincing the other cops of the corruption that has been under their noses the entire time.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2030 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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