Foil

Character Role Analysis

Hans Gruber and John McClane

Captain Obvious here, to tell you that Die Hard's central hero and central villain are foils for each other. What a surprise, right? This is a case of the cowboy cop versus the debonair devil. While Hans cares about money, John cares about his wife. While Hans quotes Plutarch, John quotes W.C. Fields. It's high versus low culture, folks, and we both know which one wins.