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| - The primary Villain Protagonist of the series. He is the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic County and ends up somewhat accidentally in the world of organized crime after he begins investing in bootlegging. Played by Steve Buscemi.
* Abusive Parents: His father was horribly physically and emotionally abusive to him.
* Affably Evil
* Aloof Big Brother: To Eli.
* Anti-Villain: While he's certainly corrupt, Nucky is also motivated by a desire to help his constituents and is a very sympathetic figure because of his kindness to others and tragic backstory.
* Arranged Marriage: To Margaret, in order to avoid jail since she couldn't be forced then to testify against him.
* Badass Boast:
* "Wanna be a gangster in my town? You pay me for the privilege"
* "Want to see how I do business? Show your face in Atlantic City!"
* "I will ruin you. All of you."
* Beware the Nice Ones: He can be a pretty nice guy, just don't cross him.
* Calling the Old Man Out: One of them in the Old Man's funeral, no less.
* The Chains of Commanding: His enemies think that his job could be easily done by anyone. They are so very, very wrong.
* The Chessmaster: Nucky is trying to become one following Rothstein's advice. Since he has no real options left at the moment, he will retreat, put all his pieces back on the board, maneuver them into position and then strike back.
* Clothes Make the Legend: Colorful shirts and suits, red flower and bowler hat.
* Deadpan Snarker: And a master of the Stealth Insult.
* Equal Opportunity Evil: While not without prejudice, he's one of the least bigoted characters in the series.
* Expy: Based on the real historical figure Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, with the name changed so the writers have more leeway for telling his story. The character also seems to be older than his real counterpart, who was 37 in 1920.
* Even Evil Has Standards: Despite being fine with political corruption among many other crimes, he strongly disapproves of spousal and child abuse.
* Friend to All Children
* Grammar Nazi
* Honorary Uncle: To Margaret's children.
* Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although sometimes it can be really deep.
* Karma Houdini: The show's plot could be summed as "watch Nucky Thompson weasel out of the problems he's getting into".
* Kavorka Man
* Kick the Son of a Bitch: When Eli comes crawling back to him in "Gimcrack and Bunkum", Nucky tells him to "get on [his] knees, bend down to the ground, and kiss [his] fucking shoes, you piece of shit". They then get into a knock-down, drag-out brawl. It's a long time coming.
* Lonely At the Top: While he has wealth and prestige and is known for his charm, he manages to alienate Jimmy and his brother Eli, and has no friends except for Margaret.
* The Man Behind the Man: Mayors, senators and even presidents owe him their position in some way.
* Mangst: Childhood abuse, dead wife and infant son.
* Manipulative Bastard
* Nice to the Waiter: He is nice to constituents who he patronizes, but he's a pretty big jerk to Eddie.
* He also gets more and more jerkish to Harlan after he begins working directly for him. This pretty much confirms that Nucky has a problem dealing with people on a regular basis, and that after a while he begins to take them for granted and stops being polite altogether - thus his problems with Eli, Jimmy and even Margaret.
* Only Known by Their Nickname
* Parental Substitute: First to Jimmy and later to Margaret's children.
* Promotion to Parent: In "Two Boats and a Lifeguard", when he asks Teddy to call him "Dad", and in "Georgia Peaches", when Teddy casually does.
* Redemption Rejection: Just a few scenes after basically telling Margaret he'll make a Heel Face Turn he tells Jimmy "You don't know me, I'm not looking for forgiveness. Right before shooting Jimmy in the head.
* Screw the Rules, I Have Money: This has become something of a personal philosophy as a result of all of his experience with corrupt pols and the benefits of graft. It's also probably Nucky's Fatal Flaw, as he's very prone to throwing money at friends and loved ones in circumstances where he should be taking an active emotional interest.
* Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Usually Nucky is the connection that people call on to get out of trouble. However, when he gets into legal trouble himself, he is not shy calling up his connections in the White House and later, New York, to get out of it.
* Sleazy Politician
* Thicker Than Water: Proves that Eli means more to him than Jimmy.
* This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Nucky himself pulls the trigger to end Jimmy's life.
* The Unfavorite: His father constantly expresses scorn toward him, yet secretly feels that he's the only son who can handle himself.
* Villain Protagonist
* Wicked Cultured
* Would Not Hit a Girl: Although comes perilously close to it in "Under God's Power She Flourishes". File:Pitt-as-Jimmy-Darmody 7416.jpg Smart and resourceful, Jimmy was the product of a relationship between his teenage mother and the Commodore. He was more or less raised by Nucky, who pressured him to pursue an education in Princeton, during which he also met his fiancée and later wife, Angela. However, he abandoned all of them to join the army during World War One and came back different - and a lot more ambitious. Played by Michael Pitt.
* Abusive Parents: The more is known about his relationship with Gillian, the more that it looks like an evident case of this.
* Amazingly Embarrassing Mother: Oh, boy.
* Affably Evil: He's an intellectual who is a good friend and tries to be a good father and husband, but he's also a cold-blooded killer.
* Badass in a Nice Suit
* Berserk Button: People lying about military service/expressing "chickenhawk" attitudes seems to be this for him.
* Never make lewd comments about Jimmy's mom. Don't assault her, either. In fact, just be very polite to her in his presence.
* Blood Brothers: With Richard Harrow.
* The Chains of Commanding: In Season 2.
* Clothes Make the Legend: His blue suit, a gift from Al Capone.
* Daddy Issues: The Commodore is his actual father, Nucky pretty much raised him. Lampshades this in "What Does the Bee Do":
* Dark and Troubled Past: And not just World War One, either. We don't realize until "Under God's Power She Flourishes" just how dark.
* Dawson Casting: Michael Pitt is 29 at the start of the series, Jimmy is 22-ish.
* Decoy Protagonist
* The Dead Have Names
* Disproportionate Retribution: Don't hit him. You'll regret it.
* Driven to Suicide
* Face Death with Dignity: Seeing as he knew what was going to happen when he told Harrow he didn't need him and went to meet Nucky without a gun.
* Genius Bruiser: Nucky and Angela remind him constantly that he has brains to be something better than a gangster, but he won't listen.
* Guns Akimbo: In "The Age of Reason".
* The Gump: He's a completely fictional character who has an important role in the development of organized crime in America.
* Hazy Feel Turn
* Hookers and Blow: Pushed Up to Eleven in "Under God's Power She Flourishes". When the hooker part is played by your mother, you really have gone off the deep end.
* Hot-Blooded: A bit of a hothead since the beginning, but gets more and more so as the series goes on.
* Hot Dad
* Hypocrite: Probably because of the attitudes of the time, he has no problem cheating on Angela while he is away and even considers abandoning his family altogether and moving to California before his lover dies, but he reacts violently when he merely suspects that Angela was having a relationship with a photographer while he was in the army. He is, however, surprisingly cool when he learns that she was actually seeing the photographer's wife.
* It's Personal: Pearl's death, which makes him decide to take down Sheridan's entire gang and kill the mook that personally targeted her.
* Jumping Off the Slippery Slope / Took a Level In Jerkass: As soon as the Commodore is paralyzed and Jimmy takes the reins, he gets a lot more vicious and assholish.
* Kick the Son of a Bitch: In "Under God's Power She Flourishes", when drunk, he attempts to choke Gillian after she insults and belittles the late Angela's memory. FINALLY.
* Killed Off for Real
* Mommy Issues: Probably the understatement of the century.
* Mugging the Monster: He is the "victim" of one in "Ourselves Alone", and it ends exactly like you'd expect.
* My God, What Have I Done?: In "Under God's Power She Flourishes".
* No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Pretty much any time a fight devolves into physical violence. Once he lays out the first punch, he just can't stop himself.
* Oedipus Complex: He and Gillian are very close, and he only wants to take out his adopted father, Nucky, because Gillian insists he do so.
* Played up during "Under God's Power She Flourishes" when we flashback to Jimmy's time at Princeton to see that he and Gillian once had a drunken night of sex which drove Jimmy to join the army. The present day storyline of the same episode has Jimmy stabbing his biological father, The Commodore, and finishing him off at his mother's request.
* Parental Incest
* Punch Clock Villain
* Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue, to Al Capone's Red.
* He's becoming the Red to Richard Harrow's Blue.
* Returning War Vet
* Sacrificial Lion
* Self-Made Orphan: Halfway. He kills the Commodore when he tries to stop Jimmy from killing Gillian.
* Shell-Shocked Veteran
* Slashed Throat: Does wonders with a combat knife.
* The Starscream: To Nucky, and later the Commodore (arguably).
* Son of a Whore
* Start of Darkness: The second season episode "Under God's Power She Flourishes" flashes back to his time at Princeton culminating in an incestuous experience with his mother, which lead him to join the army.
* The Strategist: To Torrio in Season 1. He tries to be one for Nucky, but Nucky's actually a better planner than Jimmy is.
* Suicide by Cop: After doing the best he can to settle things in his life, he goes unarmed to a meeting with Nucky, knowing that it's a set-up
* Villain Protagonist
* Villainous BSOD: Hits this three times in "Under God's Power She Flourishes". First, he hits it in flashback, he was thrown out of Princeton, slept with his mother, and joined the army, then hits it after being informed of Angela's death in the present day, then again after attacking his mother and killing his father. File:Margaret-Schroeder 4680.jpg A poor, young Irish mother of two and (thanks to Nucky) widow. She is initially aided by Nucky only out of pity, but they fall in love with each other and begin a relationship as the series progresses. Margaret begins a luxury life as a kept woman and is probably Nucky's closest emotional connection. Played by Kelly Macdonald.
* All Girls Want Bad Boys: Nucky is an obvious improvement over Hans, but he's still a mob boss. And then she falls for Owen...
* Armor-Piercing Slap
* Betty: To Lucy's Veronica.
* Beware the Nice Ones: A non-violent example. She's way smarter than other people credit her for and has a lot of determination.
* Black Sheep: Was one when she left home, although her younger sisters (too young to remember the reasons anyway) consider her their Cool Big Sis. Her older brother Eamonn is still wary of her.
* Cool Big Sis: To her sisters, especially the youngest, Ayllesh.
* Dark and Troubled Past
* Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally.
* Determined Widow
* Domestic Abuse: Suffered this from her drunken, lazy husband.
* Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Nucky prefers her to keep her speech Irish-accented and free of Americanisms.
* Face Heel Turn: Her awesome moment in "Ourselves Alone" probably qualifies as this.
* Fake Irish: Kelly MacDonald is actually Scottish.
* Hot Mom
* Hypocrite: An increasingly prominent aspect of Margaret, what with her disapproving almost everything Nucky does, but being fine with paying the Church (with his money) as an easy way out of her own sins.
* It's All My Fault / It's All About Me: After Emily gets sick in the second season, she gets paranoid thinking that it is nothing but divine punishment directed to her for her "sinful" life.
* Lady Macbeth: Seems to be going in this direction in "Ourselves Alone", but by "Two Boats and a Lifeguard" (after Nucky is shot), pleads with him to leave the gangster life.
* Lie Back and Think of England: While still attached to Nucky, she loses interest in having sex with him as season 2 goes on.
* Morality Pet: She and her children are this to Nucky.
* Obfuscating Stupidity: Saves the day using this in "Ourselves Alone".
* Overly Long Name
* Precision F-Strike and C Strike: Margaret generally never swears, which makes the moments she does significant, as Lucy finds out.
* Raised Catholic
* Rags to Riches
* Shut UP, Hannibal: To Lucy, in two different occasions.
* Silk Hiding Steel: A morally ambiguous example.
* Teen Pregnancy: Revealed in "Family Limitation". Her immigration file notes that she was 16 and pregnant when she sailed from Ireland, but lost the child on arrival.
* The Teetotaler: Begins the series as one, but abandons it as she is corrupted by the good life.
* Token Wholesome
* Took a Level In Badass: In "Ourselves Alone", when she steals Nucky's ledger from under the police and again in "Gimcrack and Bunkum" when she breaks up the fight between Nucky and Eli by frog-marching Eli out with a shotgun to the head.
* Took a Level In Jerkass: She's pretty mean to her maids in the second season, although it's presented as somewhat understandable in light of her own background in service and continued feeling of uncertainty about her family's future/her place in society.
* Your Cheating Heart: With Owen in season 2.
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