Characters / The Fifth Element

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Korben Dallas

Portrayed by: Bruce Willis

Dubbed by: Bernard Métraux (European French), Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese; VHS/DVD/Blu-ray version), Yoshito Yasuhara (Japanese; Nippon TV version), Nachi Nozawa (Japanese; TV Asahi version)

The protagonist. A former soldier of the elite special forces unit of the Federated Army, now a divorced cab driver. After meeting Leeloo, he has to go on a mission to save the world.

• Badass Normal: Leeloo is an Ultimate Lifeform bred to fight, he's just an Old Soldier with plenty of experience.
• Ballistic Discount: Tricks the mugger into disabling his gun, then pulls his own sidearm and steals the mugger's gun. A slide-down weapon rack in Korben's apartment implies that this is apparently a regular thing.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Leeloo brings it out in him.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: He initially tries to back out of the mission, but after Cornelius and Leeloo barge in to steal his tickets, he reluctantly decides to take it to go after them.
• Catapult Nightmare: His introduction is to starting awake in his cubicle apartment. Interestingly there's no indication that he had a nightmare, but it's a direct cut from the scene in which General Staedert's vessel has been attacked and presumably destroyed by the Great Evil, implying that he's had some sort of premonition.
• Catch a Falling Star: Happens by accident. Leeloo dives off of a ledge to escape from the police and crashes through the top of his cab.
• The Comically Serious: At least in comparison to Ruby Rhod.
• Composite Character: Inspired by the futuristic taxi drivers S'Traks from Valérian and Harry Canyon from Heavy Metal.
• Deadpan Snarker: In true action movie hero fashion. Very unavoidable considering he’s played by Bruce Willis
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: The Diva dies in his arms.
• Dispense with the Pleasantries: When Mr. Shadow makes a beeline for Earth after Zorg is destroyed and the Element stones are secured, the President has to tell him the bad news. He tries to soften it by praising his heroics on Fhloston Paradise, but Korben just wants him to get straight to it, so the President glumly gives a weary Korben one more earth-saving job to do.
• Dude, She's Like in a Coma: He kisses an unconscious Leeloo. He realizes this is a bad idea when in the next moment she's woken up and is pointing his own gun at his head while angrily saying something in an alien language. Fittingly, what she says is translated by the priest as, "Never without my permission".
• Dulcinea Effect: Moved enough by the shaky pleading of the unintelligible redhead that just fell through the roof of his cab to get into a high-speed chase with the police. He's at least smart enough to realize that he's getting into far more trouble than he can really afford, and admits that his rationale essentially boils down to "fuck it, why not?"
• Empty Fridge, Empty Life: When he searches his fridge for food early on, it's basically empty except for a box of cereals. This emphasizes how he has fallen on hard times after exiting the army.
• Establishing Character Moment: Barely reacting to a mugger at his apartment door threatening him with an enormous gun, tricking him into turning it off, and then taking his gun from him and putting it in a rack with half a dozen others, implying that this happens to him all the time.
• Gangsta Style: He points his gun at the amateur mugger sideways, increasing his badassitude and intimidating the mugger even further.
• A Glass in the Hand: He is standing with both hands on a light fixture when Munro cheerfully reveals he rigged a contest in preparation for the mission Korben is refusing. Said light fixture is promptly torn off the wall.
• Homage: His character heavily evokes other Bruce Willis action films
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Fleeing from the cops after Leeloo has crash-landed into his taxi, he breathes a sigh of relief and notes that "if they don't chase you after a mile, they don't chase you". Immediately, four cop cars rise up behind him. "Maybe it's two miles."
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Our first sign that he's the hero is that he sweet-talks to his cat. He even gets needled that he prefers his cat to women.
• Love at First Sight: He is clearly smitten with Leeloo the moment he lay eyes on her.
• Majorly Awesome: He held the rank of Major in the Federated Army's Elite Special Forces.
• Mandatory Unretirement: He is a special forces soldier who gets called back into service for a mission after retiring and working as a cab driver. As per the trope, he has no interest in the mission and only ends up agreeing to it because of a case of Always Save the Girl.
• Men Are Uncultured: Subverted, he's utterly awestruck at the Opera. This is also a case of Enforced Method Acting. Bruce Willis never saw this performance before it was filmed and was naturally moved by it.
• Neck Lift: At the end of their first time meeting, he lifts Ruby Rhod by the neck and presses him against a wall to make him shut up.
• No Translation Necessary: He leans over to kiss an unconscious Leeloo. She pulls his gun and points it at his head. He acquieces, saying,"You're right, you're right, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." Leeloo replies with "Senno ecto gammat!" Dallas seems to have gotten the gist, because when he later converses with Father Cornelius about it:
  Dallas: When she woke up she said a bunch of stuff. I didn't understand any of it... What does "ecto gammat" mean?
  Fr. Cornelius: Uh... Never again without my permission.
  Dallas: That's what I thought.
• One Riot, One Ranger: Korben is the government's choice to go retrieve the stones "discreetly," instead of sending an entire team. Justified by General Munro in that he's a former member of one of the finest units in the Federated Army, he's the most decorated soldier in the entire unit (meaning if anyone can do it he can), and he's the Sole Survivor of the unit (so they can't exactly go ask the others).
• Retired Badass: Has recently left the army. General Munro is assigned to bring him back for One Last Job.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: In an uncommon male example, one of Korben's T-shirts has a cut-out at the back.
• Shoot the Hostage Taker: After he takes out a few of his men, the lead Mangalore holds Cornelius hostage and threatens "One more shot, we start killing hostages! Send someone in to negotiate!" Korben's method of "negotiating" is to calmly walk in, Boom, Headshot! the leader, then ask "Anyone else want to negotiate?" while waving his gun around at the rest.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: At times wears an orange or grey sleeveless shirt (perfectly expected).
• Sole Survivor: Apparently the only member of his highly-elite special forces unit that's still alive, which is the final reason why he's being offered the mission by General Munro.
• Super Multi-Purpose Room: Not actually a hideout, but his apartment has a lot of super multi-purpose room features, simply as a space-saving convenience.
  Leeloo: Autowash!
• The Taxi: He drives one, after retiring from the military six months ago. We find him very close to losing that job; finding Leeloo pushes him over that edge.
• Tempting Fate: As he's funneled into the VIP lounge to appear on Ruby Rhod's radio show.

  Korben: [to flight attendant fangirl] Yes, I'm sure you're very excited, but I'm on my vacation, and I don't want to be bothered. I'd like to remain anonymous.
  [cue massive fanfare, followed by Ruby Rhod sliding into the scene wearing a mic/headset]
  Ruby Rhod: KORBEN DALLAAAAAAAAAAAAS!!! Here he is, the one and only winner of the Gemini Croquette contest!

• Try and Follow: When chased by police in his cab, he is able to lose his pursuers by taking a dangerous route downwards into heavy traffic and then into a thick fog.
• Victory Through Intimidation: "Anyone else wanna negotiate?" - Korben Dallas, after some Aggressive Negotiations.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: Instead of, say, "Corben".
• You Are Already Checked In: Multiple people try to check in with his identity. It becomes something of a Running Gag. Cornelius does it smartly, as he creates a multipass in the name of Korben David Dallas for his assistant David. The spaceport people have no idea what Dallas looks like or what his full name is. Thus, David can still respond to his given name and not look out of place. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, the shape-changing Mangalore boss tries to use the face of Dallas's neighbor, who had been picked up by the police when they mistook him for Dallas; it doesn't end well for him (we can also thank Cornelius for that, as he was the one who switched the door tags before the police came to arrest Dallas).

Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat / Leeloo

Portrayed by: Milla Jovovich

Dubbed by: Barbara Kelsch (European French), Rica Matsumoto (Japanese; VHS/DVD/Blu-ray/TV Asahi version), Rikako Aikawa (Japanese; Nippon TV version)

The titular Fifth Element, the supreme being who is needed to save the Earth from destruction.

• Action Girl: When she gets into a fight, you'd better pray she doesn't close the distance. The only time she loses a fight is when she goes up against Zorg wielding the ZF-1, who doesn't let up on the firepower.
• Action Girlfriend: She's an Ultimate Lifeform that was bred for war.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: As the Fifth Element, she is essentially life personified.
• Artificial Person: Was created by the Mondoshawan; prior to her reconstruction in a human government hospital, she was in fact treated as nothing more (or less) than the focal point of an elemental Converging-Stream Weapon.
• Artistic License – Biology: Her genetic makeup being made of the same fundamental building blocks as ours, but considerably more dense (in what is shown to be a pentehelical layout) means nothing as far as her supposed appearance, intellectual priorities, etc. There's no indication she'd even resemble something recognizeably alive to a human brain, let alone something that would be constrained by normal human anatomy or physicality. A fact she repeatedly displays via her resistance to damage (falling several stories through the roof of a car without even a cut), superhuman strength (smashing unbreakable transparent material), and other feats of Beyond the Impossible. The fact that the Scientist in question seems to think that she's "human but better" is fairly silly.
• Badass Adorable: Leeloo is cute, innocent, has No Social Skills and no nudity taboo and is perfectly capable of breaking every bone in your body without breaking a sweat. Which she will do if you cross her, and especially come damn close to doing if you kiss her "without her permission."
• The Beautiful Elite: Fittingly of course, the most perfect life form in the Universe would be the most perfect beauty as well.
  David: (after witnessing Leeloo strip in front of him) Wow, they really did make her...
  Cornelius: Perfect, yes I know.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's kind, sweet, playful, and devoted to protecting all life...but if you piss her off, she can take down an entire platoon by herself.
• Big Eater: Likely a byproduct of the regeneration process, but holy HELL, Leeloo was hungry! She polishes off an instant roast chicken, dumps the bones in the trash, and immediately goes back for another.
• Birthmark of Destiny: Has the symbols for the four elements on her wrist. As her hand was the only part of her body that survived a space battle, and she was reconstituted from that, she may have had other markings originally.
• Break the Cutie: The moment she learns about human's history and propensity for war.
• Bring It: She performs this hand movement when she fights the Mangalores during the opera on the spaceship. Beautifully accompanied by a melodious chord sung by the opera diva, whose on-screen concert is running at the same time.
• Broken Record: She practices some of her proper nouns like this.
  Leeloo: Multipass! Mul-Tee-Pass!
  Korben: She knows it's a Multipass!
• Car Cushion: Jumps from a building and falls into Korben Dallas' taxi. There are huge amounts of cars flying on several levels, so she was bound to hit one eventually, before she could get hurt.
• Catching Up on History: When she is regenerated From a Single Cell, she catches up on the last 5,000 years of human history by speed-reading the encyclopedia. This causes some difficulty when she gets to the entry on War.
• Clone Jesus: Though she isn't really cloned per se.
• Cosmic Keystone: She is one part of it, along with the four-set stones.
• Cute Bruiser: She is tiny, but she is strong enough to break out of a "bulletproof" glass sarcophagus and knock out a dozen Mangalores in hand-to-hand combat and tough enough to survive crashing through the roof of Dallas's cab.
• Despair Event Horizon: Reaches this point when she finishes reading about war, during her travel back to planet Earth with Korben and his friends to save the planet. Her morale was already waning when suffering all the violence they went through while looking for the sacred stones needed to save Earth (including a scene when Zorg injuries her with his firearm to take the actually-empty stones' box from her); and by the time she sees the picture of a thermonuclear explosion, she decides that saving humanity is not worth it.
• Element Number Five: A personified version.
• Escaped from the Lab: She escapes from the lab that genetically reconstructed her after the Mondoshawan ship she traveled aboard was attacked by Mangalore fighters and destroyed.
• Expy: Was based on Laureline from Valérian.
• From a Single Cell: Leeloo is regenerated from a hand in a glove with a few living cells remaining. The doctor who restores her practically quotes this trope when explaining the process, saying "A couple of cells are still alive. It's more than I need".
• Genetic Memory: Her DNA was explicitly stated to be vastly more complex than regular DNA, which allowed her to retain her knowledge of her native language after she was regrown from her severed hand.
• Glass Cannon: As described by the Diva, Leeloo is more fragile than she seems; she can fight, but she can be hurt, and her heart is even more vulnerable than her body.
• Heroic BSoD: Descends into despair as she sees humans' inhumanity to their fellow humans, almost losing it completely when Diva is killed, and then decides to read up on the "WAR" section of the encyclopedia. This becomes an important plot point almost immediately afterward, as she initially refuses to save the Earth if war and violence are all it has to offer.
• High-Dive Escape: Her escape from the lab comes to a halt when she exits the airduct system and finds herself on the rooftop of the government building with no way out. When the Police threaten to recapture her, she decides to jump off.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: No qualms on stripping and changing clothes in front of men.
  David: They certainly made her...
  Vito: Perfect. Yes, I know.
• Instant Expert: Learns English in the space of about a day, by speed-reading the 23rd century equivalent of the Encyclopedia Britannica. In the novelization, she learns all the languages of humanity. Justified by the fact that her DNA contains 200,000 memo strands, which probably explains her inordinately fast learning time for everything, not just languages.
• Kick Chick: During the fight scene with the Mangalores. One high kick to a Mangalore's chin was actually done with a prop leg because Mila Jovovich couldn't bend her leg that far.
• Klaatu Barada Nikto: She says "Klaatu Barata Nikto" shortly after getting into Korben's cab in the novelization.
• Kubrick Stare: Gives one to General Munro, before she punches through the unbreakable glass, knocks him out while snatching away his card and finally escapes the lab.
• Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb: Acts very naive and flighty at times, but when it's time for business, just pray you're on her side and not her enemy.
• Love Be a Lady: She is implied to be Love, and when it is synthesized with the use of biotechnology, it takes on the form of a beautiful woman called Leeloo. Luc Besson later clarified that the Fifth Element is actually sex, or more specifically the ability for life to reproduce. Leeloo being female and carrying enough genetic data to sustain thousands of species were hints that Leeloo's role as a protector was intended to be more motherly than warrior.
• Martial Pacifist: She's horrified as she learns what humanity has done historically, but she knows how to kick ass when necessary.
• Motor Mouth: Most of her lines in the Ancient Language, especially when she says her full name.
• Ms. Fanservice: In her iconic thermal bandages costume mostly, but she tends to provide Fanservice in her other costumes.
• Mysterious Waif: She is just some girl who falls into Korben's cab while running away from a government experiment.
• Naked on Arrival: Justified, since her whole body was regenerated From a Single Cell and the machine cannot replicate clothes.
• Naked on Revival: She is reconstructed From a Single Cell, and naturally clothing doesn't come with that, though the machine puts bandage-clothing on her shortly afterward.
• Name That Unfolds Like Lotus Blossom: According to Luc Besson's published dictionary for the "divine language, her full name translates to "Precious Stone of the Earth, Defender of Light and Life, the Honorable".
• Not Enough to Bury: All that was left of her after her starship crashed was her right hand. That was enough to re-assemble her.
• Offhand Backhand: Caps off her fight scene on Fhloston Paradise by smashing one into a Mangalore's jaw.
• Older Than They Look: Granted Leeloo's current body looks to be in its mid 20's or so. But her spirit has been around a long time if she's fighting evil every 5,000 years.
• OOC Is Serious Business: The one time she doesn't speak in You No Take Candle, it's fairly arresting:
  Leeloo: What's the use of saving life when you see what you do with it? ...I don't know love. I was built to protect, not to love, so there's no other use for me.
• Overly Long Name: Her full name (Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat), on top of being in an alien language, is more of a phrase than an actual name so Korben just narrows it down to "Leeloo". "Ekbat De Sebat" is actually her title; the rest of it translates as a description of what she was created to do.
• Phlebotinum Girl: She's the ultimate being, created for the sole purpose of unlocking the full power of the stones to bring the Light of Creation to give life where there is none, and to combat evil. Even her DNA is like a human, but far more complex and clearly engineered.
• Please Put Some Clothes On: Vito Cornelius and Korben Dallas simultaneously spin around when she suddenly undresses in the middle of Dallas's apartment, and engages in light conversation until she's put her clothes back on before looking again (Vito's a monk and Korben is just embarrassed). It happens with Vito and apprentice David too, exactly the same way.
• Post-Historical Trauma: Her breakdown towards the end, once reading about the dreaded W for War in the encyclopedia. She sees a huge montage of images from World War One, World War Two, The Vietnam War and so on.
• Quizzical Tilt: She gives a tilt of her head to General Monro before breaking through her "unbreakable" container and taking from him the key to opening it.
• Raised Hand of Survival: When she crashes into Korben's cab, he turns around and asks if there are any survivors. The first thing he sees of Leeloo who is buried under debris is her raised hand touching the divider.
• Readings Are Off the Scale: Leeloo's DNA has over 200,000 "memogroups," as opposed to a normal human's 40.
• Really 700 Years Old: Granted Leeloo's current body looks to be in its mid 20's or so. But her spirit has been around a long time if she's fighting evil every 5,000 years.
• Really Was Born Yesterday: Is literally Born Yesterday as a fully developed adult woman but has the behaviour, intelligence and attitudes of a young child.
• Samus Is a Girl: Everyone who has knowledge of the supreme being assumes that she is male until they meet her. The professor in the prologue refers to "this man, this perfect being..." Professor MacTilburgh assumes likewise before reconstructing Leeloo, only to find out that she's... "I told you, perfect". Vito Cornelius is also surprised to find out the supreme being is female:
  Cornelius: He... [pause for stare] He's a she.
• Saving the World: She saves the Earth from the Great Evil (a sinister planet-sized entity that aims to clash against the planet), after she and her friends manage to gather the first fourth elements (Leeloo herself is the fifth).
• Sci-Fi Bob Haircut: Has unnaturally bright orange bobbed hair. Unusually for this trope, it's fairly messy.
• Sealed Badass in a Can: After being released, she takes down a squad of Mangalores singlehandedly.
• Sealed Good in a Can: New and Improved, it's Sealed Good in a Rock!
• Shout-Out: Her red hair is one to Laureline, the co-protagonist of Valérian.
• Stripperiffic: The "thermal bandages" outfit cover just enough of her body to keep the film at PG-13.
• Vibrant Orange: Has bright orange hair and is a playful, innocent young woman.
• Waif-Fu: She wipes out an entire group of Mangalores with nothing but martial arts moves.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: One of the more attractive features Korben mentions to Finger when he dreamily describes his "Big Fare" are Leeloo's striking blue eyes.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Cornelius resorts to cracking Korben on the back of the head with his military trophy in order to get his tickets, Leeloo spends their time exiting the apartment angrily shouting at him in her language, clearly not pleased that he did that. To his credit, Cornelius does say he's not proud of that, but they don't have time with the fate of the world at stake.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: She was explicitly designed to be perfect.
• You No Take Candle: She learns English to communicate with the rest of the cast, her delivery starts stilted and she becomes more comfortable with the language as the film goes on.

Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg

Portrayed by: Gary Oldman

Dubbed by: Dominique Collignon-Maurin (European French), Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese; VHS/DVD/Blu-ray version), Masato Sako (Japanese; Nippon TV version), Tsutomu Isobe (Japanese; TV Asahi version)

The Corrupt Corporate Executive in charge of the MegaCorp that seems to already control much of Earth, Zorg aids Mr. Shadow in finding the stones to destroy the Earth, selling out his race in return for a massive payment.

• Arms Dealer: He is a primary supplier for the Federated Army, and has no problem handing out weapons on the side for the Mangalores to continue their own little war.
• Bad Boss: He neglects to tell the Mangalores who failed him what the red button on the ZF-1 does, leading to their death, and later kills an employee for failing to get on board the ship to Fhloston.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Zorg gets some pretty wonky scenes, including one where he nearly chokes to death on a cherry while giving a big villain speech, but shows time and time again that there's no low he won't stoop to if there's a profit in it, from laying off a million taxi drivers, to murdering his Mangalore soldiers who fail him, to even trying to help Shadow destroy the Earth for a payday.
• Bond One-Liner: When arriving with his spacecraft at Fhloston Paradise, he is alerted by ground staff that there is a bomb in the hotel. He mows down all personnel with his ZF-1 and exclaims "I know!"
• Card-Carrying Villain:
  Vito Cornelius: You're a monster, Zorg.
  Zorg: I know.
• Catchphrase: "I know".
• Character Death: He is killed when he returns to Floston Paradise to resume his search for the elemental stones. After defusing the bomb he'd set earlier, one of the Mangalores uses their dying breath to trigger the dead-man switch on their own bomb.
• Combat Pragmatist: When faced with Action Girl Leeloo, he simply keeps shooting at her with the ZF-1, giving her no opportunity to mount a counterattack on him.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He owns a huge MegaCorp that has holdings in everything from weapons manufacturing to starships to taxi companies. In fact, the Supreme Council comes to him directly and asks him to fire half a million employees in order to help the economy.
• Cry Laughing: Brilliantly done when he opens the chest that he thought contained the alien elemental stones and it's empty.
• Description Porn:
  Zorg: Voila, the ZF-1. [activates a ZF-1 and holds it] It's light; handle's adjustable for easy carrying; good for righties and lefties; breaks down into four parts; undetectable by X-ray; ideal for quick discreet interventions. A word on firepower. Titanium recharger; 3000-round clip with bursts of 3 to 300. With the replay button, another Zorg invention, it's even easier. [lights reveal a mannequin in police gear] One shot...[shoots mannequin]...and replay sends every following shot to the same location. [turns around, shooting in the direction of the Mangalores; bullets curve their trajectory and hit the mannequin instead] And to finish the job, all the Zorg oldies but goldies. [fires every weapon at the mannequin as he mentions them] Rocket launcher...arrow launcher with exploding or poisonous gas heads, very practical...our famous net launcher...the always-efficient flamethrower. My favorite. [winks at the Mangalores] And for the grand finale, the all-new 'Ice-cube System'. [fires a cloud of liquid nitrogen which freezes the remains of the mannequin. Mangalores applaud politely for the carnage.]
• The Dragon: He reports directly to Mr. Shadow, who has assigned him to gather the stones so that Shadow can destroy the Earth. Despite being a subordinate to the Eldritch Abomination, Zorg is The Heavy of the film, with his boss having next to no screen time and even fewer lines.
• Dragon with an Agenda: It's painfully obvious Zorg sees Shadow as nothing but another payday, without any real loyalty to his boss. While Shadow sees the destruction of Earth and ending life as some sort of purpose he must fulfill, Zorg just intends to profit off the mass death and destruction, knowing his boss will pay handsomely for his assistance.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He spares Cornelius after the latter saves him from choking, despite knowing the priest to be a threat to his plans. This contributes significantly to his ultimate undoing.
• Evil Cripple: A mild example. He has a slight limp and Cornelius makes mention of it. Every other footstep from him also seems to have something of a metallic sound to it, suggesting that one of his legs may be prosthetic.
• Evil Virtues: Gratitude. When Vito saves his life, Zorg doesn't have the man executed for either his berating speech or unhelpful behavior. He lets the man go.
• Failed a Spot Check: He apparently didn't think to check if the stones were actually inside their box until he was onboard his ship and flying away.
• Faux Affably Evil: His southern charm and politeness only serves to enhance his cruelty.
• Flat "What": His response when he learns one of his lackeys failed to take Korben Dallas' spot on the plane.
• Handicapped Badass: While he has a distinct limp, he's an impressive gunfighter. Zorg even managed to critically injure Leeloo in the final third of the movie.
• The Heavy: The villain who drives the action of the film, with "Mr. Shadow" as the actual Big Bad.
• Insane Troll Logic: He helps bring on the end of the universe, intending for his MegaCorp to make money cleaning up the damage despite the fact that he and anyone who could pay him would be destroyed with it.
• I Owe You My Life: He considers himself indebted to Father Cornelius after the latter saves him from choking to death on a cherry, though he makes it clear that he considers the debt to be repaid by letting Cornelius leave alive.
• Ironic Name: All other factors aside, his given names (Jean-Baptiste Emanuel) are incredibly inappropriate for an insane weapons magnate with a fetish for "creative destruction".
• Karmic Death: He plants a bomb on board Fhloston Paradise, quite possibly so nobody can tie the attack to his organisation. While he manages to disable his own bomb before it explodes, he's killed when the Mangalores detonate their own, larger bomb right next to him.
• Large Ham: Since Evil Is Hammy (as he presents the ZF-1, Gary Oldman even winks at the camera).
• Laser-Guided Karma: He deliberately fails to tell the Mangalores about the self-destruct button on the bottom of the ZF-1, which they press and accidentally blow themselves up with. This causes them to cut professional ties with Zorg and go after the stones themselves. When both parties arrive at Fhloston Paradise, one of the Mangalores returns the favour and detonates a bomb, killing themselves and Zorg in the blast.
• Laughably Evil: Yes, he's a nasty and cruel scumbag, but also a funny one.
• Little "No": Zorg's reaction when he spots the Mangalores' bomb.
  Zorg: [blankly] Oh, no.
• Meaningful Name: Employed ironically with his personal names — "Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel", (French for John the Baptist and Romanized Hebrew for "God with us") — are incredibly ill-suited for a Corrupt Corporate Executive who's trying to end the world for his own selfish reasons.
• Missing Steps Plan: Plans to make money cleaning up after the universe is destroyed and doesn't seem to realize he'll be destroyed with it. Even if it is only Earth being threatened as he seems to believe, it's questionable how the return could possibly exceed his losses given that he owns a significant percentage of the planet's economy.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: He's a Large Ham who fills part of the movie with comical sketches... and he's also a deranged money obsessed man willing to sacrifice his entire homeland for a quick buck. He also almost kills Leeloo, the only chance the World has to survive, by forcing her into the ventilation shafts and then shooting at the ceiling.
• Oh, Crap!: He gets this when one of the Mangalores activates the backup countdown on their bomb. Also has this reaction just from being told "Mr. Shadow" is calling him.
• Pet the Dog: When a captive Vito stops him from choking to death, Zorg at least has the courtesy to have him released in payment, saying that he won't kill him on this occasion.
• Powerful and Helpless: For a brief moment, all of Zorg's wealth and power and influence counts for nothing when he chokes on a cherry and there's nobody to save him but his enemy.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Quite fond of this when he's mad:

  Zorg: I! AM! VERY! DISAPPOINTED!

• Right-Hand Cat: Is seen sitting in his office petting a little alien creature (apparently named Picasso) that looks like a little elephant.
• Rummage Sale Reject: From the plastic thing that covers half his head to his colorful clothes, Zorg's just not hard to notice.
• Sissy Villain: For a man who commands fear he really isn't much of a physical threat to anyone.
• The Sociopath: He's willing to let the Earth and all the people who inhabit it to be destroyed by a supernatural malignant force simply for profit and power. Even his men are not safe from him.
• Southern-Fried Genius: A villainous variation.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the novelization, he survives the hotel exploding by creating a forcefield around himself. He lands on an iceberg on an uncharted part of the planet, then his phone battery dies as he's calling for help. Though, his fate isn't looking good...
• Straw Nihilist: His entire life philosophy is based around the idea that life is destruction, chaos and disorder.
• Surrounded by Idiots: He is contemptuous of the Manglores and his henchmen. He then attempts to take matters into his own hands and fails just as badly as they did.
• Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: He defuses his own bomb, five seconds before it was set to go off, and breathes a sigh of relief. Then a dying Mangalore sets his own bomb, with a five-second timer.
• The Unfettered: In order to fulfill his greedy scheme he has no qualms in making a deal with The Ultimate Evil in order to destroy all life on Earth in exchange for a high price or disposing of his men when they're not more useful to him or they fail him.
• Unflinching Walk: Though he actually stops just prior to the explosion, Zorg qualifies when he tricks the Mangalores into blowing themselves up. He doesn't even flinch at the big boom in the tunnels, while his assistant freaks out.
• The Unfought: Korben never faces Zorg directly — in fact, the two never even see each other at any point in the movie. The closest they come is just barely missing each other once on Fhloston as Korben and the heroes step on to one elevator, and Zorg steps off another elevator, catching the briefest of glances at him as the doors close and then continuing on his way. Zorg does encounter the Action Girl, Leeloo, but at this point she's outgunned and has to retreat. Instead, Zorg meets his end thanks to his own underlings.
• Villain Ball: Attempts to take matters into his own hands in the finale despite being a CEO with no real-world combat experience. He blunders into the case without checking its contents and has to return to try and find it. Only to be blown up when the Mangalore's activate their bomb.
• A Villain Named "Z__rg": Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg. Especially significant as the whole movie is a reconstruction of sci-fi movies and comics of the 1970s and 1980s.
• Villainous Breakdown: Zorg has one surprisingly early when the Mangalores fail to deliver the stones. He then has an even bigger one when he himself fails, though this is justified as he knows what will happen if he fails Mr. Shadow.
• Wicked Cultured: He previously visited Vito claiming to be an art dealer and asked questions about the stones. His office is also decorated with what appear to be alien sculptures.
• You Monster!: Priest Vito Cornelius tells him "You're a monster", to which Zorg replies "I know".

Aknot

Portrayed by: Clifton Lloyd Bryan (Mangalore), Vladimir McCrary (human)

The leader of the Mangalores, a mercenary race hired by Zorg to find the sacred stones.

• Bald of Authority: His human guise is bald and he is the Mangalore leader.
• Be Yourself: Zorg encourages him to just stick to his Mangalore face.
  Zorg: My dear Aknot, what about those two little planes you borrowed? [sees Aknot's human face] Aknot, is that you? What an ugly face. It doesn't suit you. Take it off. [Aknot's face transforms into a Mangalore's] Much better. Never be ashamed of who you are. You're warriors, be proud.
• Boom, Headshot!: Shot by Korben after demanding that someone enter to negotiate.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Aknot and his team were hired by Zorg to retrieve the stones, but failed to do so. When Zorg fails to tell them about "the little red button," they decide to take the stones for themselves.
• Keystone Army: According to Korben, Mangalores give up without a leader. Aknot's death leads the group to surrender.
  Korben: We need to find the leader. Mangalores won't fight without the leader.
• Made of Iron: He was caught in the very same explosion that presumably killed quite a few of his fellow Mangalores, but escaped alive if injured. Even then, he's not so hurt that he can't take part in the battle on the cruise ship.
• Old Soldier: He's considerably older and more scarred than the other Mangalores.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Mangalores were recently in a conflict with the Federation and were effectively scattered into the wind. They're working for Zorg in exchange for weapons to continue their fight. Zorg can barely hide his disgust.
• Space Orcs: Mangalores are ugly, brutish spacefaring mercenaries with a generically warlike culture, hired by the Big Bad to attack the Big Good, steal the MacGuffin, and generally cause havoc.
• The Usual Adversaries: The Mangalores seem to have a legitimate grievance with humanity, since they're always violently attacking humans throughout the movie. The last words any of them speak are "for the honor".
• You Are in Command Now: He assigns his second-in-command, Arkanit, to infiltrate the cruise ship. When they fail to take Korben's identity, Aknot reassumes command to seize the ship by force.

Father Vito Cornelius

Portrayed by: Ian Holm

Dubbed by: Michel Ruhl (European French), Tamio Ohki (Japanese; VHS/DVD version), Umeji Sasaki (Japanese; Blu-ray version), Kyoji Kobayashi (Japanese; Nippon TV version), Ichirō Nagai (Japanese; TV Asahi version)

The priest who studied the prophecy of the Fifth Element.

• Badass Preacher: He's perfectly comfortable talking down to Zorg in the man's own office even after being manhandled by his security. He also willingly takes a shot to ambush Korben, a special forces operative built like, well, peak-fitness Bruce Willis.
• Faint in Shock: When Korben brings Leelo to him and shows him the birthmark on her wrist, he faints at the realization that she is the "Supreme Being" his order has awaited for so long.
• Human Shield: Ends up being one of these. He was saved by Korben's Improbable Aiming Skills.
• Legacy Character: The priest seen at the beginning of the movie in 1914 promises those taking away the stones that he would pass down the information so Earth would be ready for their return. Presumably, Vito is of that line of priests and apprentices.
• Murder by Inaction: Subverted. Immediately after Zorg gives Cornelius a diatribe about survival of the fittest and the necessity of destruction, he starts choking on a fruit. Cornelius takes some time to point out the irony, but ultimately hits him in the back to save him.
• Nervous Wreck: Not as bad as David, but he is extremely twitchy when he tries to hold Korben at gunpoint and demand his tickets.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers one to Zorg right before saving his life.
• Save the Villain: When Zorg chokes on a cherry in his presence, he delivers the saving slap to his back, but not before pointing out how powerless Zorg is in that moment.
• Secret-Keeper: The keeper of the secrets of the Fifth Element in the distant future the majority of the film takes place in, just like his distant predecessor from 1914. He inherited the key to open the room where the four stones and the Fifth Element have to be placed to deter the Evil.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Delivers an absolutely brilliant one to the choking Zorg after his villainous speech, by pointing out that his grand empire will come tumbling down all because of one... little... cherry. Vito smacks him on the back, of course. The look on Vito's face as he Saves The Villain says it quite plainly: Being Good Sucks.
• The Smart Guy: He's the resident expert on the Shadow, the Stones, and the Fifth Element. That said, there are things he doesn't know (particularly in regards to more current events) which Leeloo needs to reveal.
• Tap on the Head: He gets the tickets to Flhoston Paradise by cracking Korben on the back of the head with one of his military trophies. When Korben gets back to his feet, he looks more pissed off than anything. Then again, he was only down for a few seconds, so it's possible he wasn't unconscious, only stunned.
• You Will Be Spared: This happens between Zorg and him.
  Jean Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg: You saved my life, and in return I'll spare yours... for now.

David

Portrayed by: Charlie Creed-Miles

Dubbed by: Julien Sibre (European French)

The apprentice of Father Vito Cornelius.

• Bad Liar: Granted, we don't see much of future airport security, but frankly, it's a miracle he was able to get as far as the departure gate.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After Korben boards the flight, David swipes Cornelius' whiskey at the spaceport bar and asks for another.
• Nervous Wreck: To an even bigger extent than Cornelius. It's something of a Running Gag that every.single.scene where he appears has him getting suddenly startled by someone, or something. His default setting seems to be trembling constantly, looking sideways at all times, and flinching uncontrollably when touched or called.
• Running Gag: Almost every time David appears, someone or something makes him jump out of his skin. It's inverted at the end, when he's the one to make someone jump.
• You Were Trying Too Hard: After trying numerous ways to activate the four elemental stones, they all give up. David laments "We're not going to make it..." and sighs, inadvertently activating the wind stone. Turns out the stones need their classical element to activate (wind for wind, earth for earth, water for water, fire for fire).

Priest

Portrayed by: John Bennett

Dubbed by: Jean Lagache (European French)

A priest who accompanied an archaeological expedition in 1914 to ensure they wouldn't uncover the secret of the Fifth Element.

• Legacy Character: Inherited the knowledge of the Fifth Element to protect its secret.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: He finds no other solution to stop the archaeologists from uncovering the room of the Five Elements than trying to poison the water he wants to serve to them.
• No Name Given: He is not named.
• Secret-Keeper: A keeper of the secrets of the Mondoshawan and the Fifth Element, he also inherits the key to open the room where the five elements must be placed to deter the Evil when the Mondoshawan carrying it gets crushed by the stone door. He then vows to keep passing the knowledge on when the other Mondoshawan take the Five Elements away to protect them as World War I looms on the horizon.

President Lindberg

Portrayed by: Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr.

Dubbed by: Jean-Michel Martial (European French), Tesshō Genda (Japanese; VHS/DVD version), Shiro Saito (Japanese; Blu-ray version), Kinryū Arimoto (Japanese; Nippon TV version), Kenji Utsumi (Japanese; TV Asahi version)

President of the Federated Territories.

• Bald of Authority: He's the leader of Earth and its territory.
• Blind Black Guy: He is blind in one eye, as was the actor.
• Deadpan Snarker: While hearing Korben's mission going south live on the radio, he asks Munro "is that your idea of a 'discreet operation'?" Also, this gem:
  Fog: W-where did he learn to negotiate like that?
  Lindberg: I wonder.
  Munro: (looks sheepish)
• Disapproving Look: Gives these constantly, but it's especially strong when Korben turns a quiet recon mission on the Fhloston Paradise into a bloodbath.
• Our Presidents Are Different: A fictional president who apparently governs the entire Earth. Fits into President Iron (though he'll still listen to advice) and President Minority (being black, assuming such paradigm is still in effect in the 23rd century).
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Cornelius is able to slowly convince him that the Great Evil is beyond the military's capabilities, to the point where he has doubts just before General Staedert fires on the Dark Planet. Afterwards, he listens intently to Cornelius.
• Tempting Fate: After General Staedert fires at the evil sphere, the President asks, "Did you destroy it?" to which Staedert replies "I'm about to, sir." Actually, it's the other way around.

General Munro

Portrayed by: Brion James

Korben's former commanding officer, who enlists him to save the world.

• Armchair Military: He spends the film at the President's command center while Staedart and Tudor fire on and blockade the Dark Planet respectively.
• Benevolent Boss: Aside from a few minor jerkass moments, he seems like a pretty nice guy.
• It's for a Book: He gets his first look at the reconstructed "Supreme Being" (in the form of a Naked on Arrival Milla Jovovich), and mentions wanting to take some pictures.
  Gen. Munro: I'd uh... Like to take a few pictures.
  [Mactilburgh casts a suspicious look]
  Gen. Munro: For the archives.
• Made of Iron: Leeloo breaks his nose and he is frozen in Korben's refrigerator, yet is no worse for wear.
• Old Retainer: Inverted. He recruits Korben because he is literally the best man for the job.

General Staedert

Portrayed by: John Neville

Dubbed by: Bernard Dhéran (European French)

A Federation general who is the first on the scene when the Dark Planet forms.

• Character Death: He dies when the Evil attacks his ship.
• General Ripper: His recommendation about the Dark Planet before they even know what it is is to blow it up. "My philosophy, Mr. President, is to shoot first and ask questions later. I don't like uninvited guests." Even when President Lindberg expresses some concerns and tries to rein him in, he comes dangerously close to disobeying his superior and fires anyway.
  Lindberg: Staedert?
  Staedert: Yes sir?
  Lindberg: I have a doubt.
  Staedert: [flatly] I don't, Mr. President.
• Oh, Crap!: When the Dark Planet absorbs his attack and actually growing bigger as a result, and learns there's no bigger missile on board.

  Staedert: [worried] ... What do we have that's bigger than 240?
  Captain: ...nothing, sir.

• Sacrificial Lamb: The first victim of the Evil.

Professor Mactilburgh

Portrayed by: Christopher Fairbank

Chief scientist at the Manhattan Nucleological Center.

• For Science!: His eagerness at regenerating Leeloo is spurred on by how perfect he finds her cells.
  Munro: Sounds like a freak of nature to me.
  MacTilburgh: Yeah. Can't wait to meet 'im!
• Oh, Crap!: At the end of the film, President Lindberg asks to speak with Korben and Leeloo on live TV... and Mactilburgh sees that they're having sex inside the regeneration chamber.

Mr. Kim

Portrayed by: Kim Chan

A Thai restaurateur that Korben orders lunch from.

• The Bet: He bets Korben's lunch that his mail brought good news. Upon opening it, he finds it's actually a pink slip.
  Korben: At least I won lunch.
• Cool Boat: His flying restaurant resembles a Chinese junk.
• Large Ham: "You are FIRED!"
• Magical Asian: Subverted. He tries to be super-positive to Korben so it can bring him good luck, only to find out Korben just got fired from his job.
• The Pollyanna: He's quite cheerful and assures Korben that, after his string of bad luck, he must now have good news. He's wrong, but at least Korben won a free lunch.
  Mr. Kim: Grandfather say, "It never rain every day".

Ruby Rhod

Portrayed by: Chris Tucker

Dubbed by: Tom Novembre (European French), Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese; VHS/DVD/Nippon TV version), Yūji Mitsuya (Japanese; Blu-ray/TV Asahi version)

The popular, highly flamboyant D.J. who's hosting the Fhloston Paradise competition.

• Adaptation Name Change: His first name is "Loc" in the novelization, based on an early script.
• Alliterative Name: RR.
• Ambiguously Bi: He's clearly, if not exclusively, interested in women, but is otherwise about as campy, shrill, and effeminate as a movie character can possibly be. He Screams Like a Little Girl, he dresses like a Star Trek-themed drag queen, and oh yeah, his hair is shaped like a penis.
• Boldly Coming: When he's seducing the flight attendant, he mentions he's "been this way before with a human", implying that he sleeps around with aliens as well as humans.
• Buffy Speak: Falls into this when the Mangalores strike the cruise ship. What's worse, despite how vague the description is, General Munro knows exactly who he's talking about:
  Rhod: They're warriors, and they're ugly. They got big teeth, big foreheads, big ears, and they stink.
  Munro: Mangalores.
• Camp Straight: He has the mannerisms and appearance of a stereotypical Camp Gay. He's also definitely into women, being shown having energetic sex with a stewardess on the flight to Fhloston. Though he also describes Korben in very flattering sexual terms on his radio show, he's probably playing up to his (apparently mostly female) audience.
• The Casanova: Has an army of screaming fangirls, has apparently slept with many women (some non-human), his second act in the film is seducing a flight attendant during take-off, and was able to record an emperor's daughter's talented singing voice.
• Catchphrase: "Are we green?" and "BZZZZZZZZ!" (while flapping his hands at someone he wants to go away - lit. "Buzz Off").
• Classical Music Is Cool: From our point of view, Ruby breaking into Lionel Richie's All Night Long (All Night), is just a funny moment in the eccentric DJ's patter. In-universe, however, he's making reference to a song that's nearly 300 years old.
• Deadpan Snarker: Just before the opera begins, he drops a line that drips sarcasm.
  Ruby Rhod: And now it's time for Korbie to say the word of the day! So, tell me, ma man! You happy in the big world?
• Future Slang: He is a flamboyant entertainer who speaks in rapid fire lingo of the future setting. We mostly gather that "Green" is the equivalent of "cool".
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: In-Universe, he has a group of Japanese schoolgirls waiting for autographs aboard the flight to Fhloston Paradise.
• I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: At the opera house, he kills a Mangalore prisoner with an accidental discharge of the weapon handed to him by Korben.
• Incoming Ham: From his very introduction. Even before he speaks, he's introduced by a loud bombastic brass fanfare.
  Ruby: KORBEEEEEEEEN DALLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!
• Informed Attractiveness: The only way you could believe that Chris Tucker dressing like RuPaul is one of the sexiest media personalities in the universe is to have one or more of the female extras explicitly tell you they find him sexy, though that's really the point; we're clearly meant to share the viewpoint of Korben, who only finds Ruby silly and annoying.
• Kavorka Man: Despite dressing and behaving in a fashion that evokes Camp Gay, the ladies love Ruby Rhod, and he loves them right back.
• Large Ham: Both as a radio host and in person. Takes it a nod further by cross-dressing.
• The Load: When assisting Korben he does little more than flail and scream.
• Motor Mouth: Every single line of dialogue.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's meant to be a futuristic parody of the musician Prince. The real person was originally considered to play the character, but he had scheduling conflicts and allegedly thought Besson's costumes were too feminine.
• Non-Dubbed Grunts: The French dubbing of the movie still uses Chris Tucker's voice for Ruby Rhod's shrill screams. The French voice actor, Tom Novembre, just cannot go that high.
• Overly Long Scream: Is prone to these when things get hectic. The biggest explosion in the film is accompanied by one. He even stops halfway through to draw some ragged breaths before going right back to screaming his lungs out.
• Plank Gag: He accidentally knocks out a flight attendant behind him by swirling around his mic-cane.
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Fires off a "no" string when he finds out that what he's looking at is indeed a bomb. Predictably played for laughs.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Usually when explosions are going off. At one point he accidentally shoots a Mangalore and scares himself.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of the film.

  David: Yeah!!!
  Ruby: Ahhh! What's wrong with you?! Whatya screaming for? Every five minutes, there's a bomb or something! I'm leaving. Bzzzzzz!

• Tempting Fate: When he and Cornelius find the bomb left by Zorg...

  Cornelius: It's a — it's a — it's a — it's a — it's a — it's a...
  Ruby Rhod: No no no no no no. 'Cuz if it was a bomb, the alarms would go off 'cuz all these hotels have bomb detectors, right?
  [the alarms go off]

• Uncle Tomfoolery: An obvious parody of Prince as a Camp Straight musician who's a lothario with the women in spite of his campy style and mannerisms. He's incredibly loud, self-centered and cowardly, making him function in the plot as a comic-relief load.
• Verbal Tic: "Korben, m'man?"
• Wasn't That Fun?: He proclaims the attack of Fhloston Paradise as the "best show I ever did".

Portrayed by: Maïwenn (actress), Inva Mula-Tchako (singing)

Dubbed by: Maïwenn (European French)

The Opera singer and keeper of the stones.

• Alien Blood: She bleeds blue.
• At the Opera Tonight: A literal Space Opera singer.
• Character Death: She gets fatally shot by the Mangalores in search of the stones.
• Future Music: Her solo mixes classical opera with techno.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: Well, "blue" in this case.
• Half-Human Hybrid: The novelization says she is a genetically-engineered hybrid of humanity and every alien species in the galaxy except the Mangalores.
• Horned Humanoid: According to the novelization, the top part of her head is a horn.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: She has the four element stones inside her body and hands them over to Korben after she is shot.
• One-Woman Wail: The Diva's song starts with a melancholic chanting, but becomes more upbeat during Leeloo's fight against the Mangalore soldiers.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Maïwenn Le Besco wears an entire foam and latex headpiece as part of the costume. Aside from her headtail and skin tone, Plavalaguna is fairly human-looking.
• Treasure Chest Cavity: Stores the stones inside her own body; the fancy box in her room is just a decoy.

Fog

Portrayed by: Lee Evans

The security chief aboard Fhloston Paradise.

• Frontline General: He's shown leading the security team to retake the bridge, though he's pretty much outgunned until Korben shows up.

An ancient alien race that created the ultimate weapon against evil. Their name is "Monduchivans" in the language originally spoken by Leeloo.

• Ancient Astronauts: They visited the Earth since Ancient Egypt and formed an alliance with human priests to keep the Fifth Element safe on Earth until 1914.
• Ancient Order of Protectors: The Mondoshawan's Earth followers seem to have elements of this. One is willing to kill an archaeologist who is on the verge of discovering the elemental weapon.
• Benevolent Precursors: They set up a secret order on Earth to safeguard the elements needed to fight the Ultimate Evil. They came back to remove the elements to a safer place when World War I threatened them, and they were in the process of returning them when they were shot down by Mangalore warriors flying illegal starfighters supplied by Mr. Zorg. But even then, they had been clever enough to anticipate it and hid four out of five of the Elements somewhere else instead.
• Big Good: They are a very old species who installed the weapon on Earth and instructed the brotherhood of priests to care for it.
• Feet-First Introduction: The first thing we see of them when they enter the Ancient Tomb is their stomping metal feet.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Twice: once with the key to the temple, and once with Leeloo herself.
• Indy Hat Roll: Subverted. The archaeologist's panicked assistant opens fire on them inside the Egyptian temple, unwittingly activating a self-defense locking mechanism in the Element's chamber. Although most of the aliens and their human contact escape, the last one who was injured by the gunfire is too slow to make it through and shoves its hand between the stone slabs to pass the key on to the human monk. (Presumably, the alien itself was crushed by the door.)
• Little Green Man in a Can: Are only seen in shells that have really big waddling rears with tiny dog-like heads that give them a very odd Humpty Dumpty appearance. The clunkiness is reminiscent of practical space suits and the shell preserves a sense of mystery about their true form-maybe they're giant eggs. The Mondoshawan have extensively modified themselves with cybernetics to adapt to life in space. The outer shell effectively is their body, and is only barely capable of moving around in terrestrial environments.
• Mechanistic Alien Culture: Are they beings wearing powered suits of armor, or are they Mechanical Lifeforms? It's pretty ambiguous. Then again, some of the dialog during Leeloo's reconstruction scene implies that the Mondoshawan have DNA.
• Properly Paranoid: Because they never fully trusted humans, they gave the stones to the Diva and later inform the government on where to get them.
• Starfish Aliens: Implied, given their extremely large and bulky environmental suits.
• Tiny-Headed Behemoth: Their bodies were huge. Their heads? Not so much.

"Evil" or, as it refers to itself, "Mr. Shadow", is a sapient moon-sized star-like entity, bent on the destruction of all life everywhere — starting with Earth.

• Anti Matter: The novelization says he's made from it.
• Big Bad: The main antagonist of the film that has bribed Zorg into assisting it with the destruction of Earth. Although it hinges on being a Greater-Scope Villain with how little screen time it receives, Shadow is very much the mastermind of the threat to all life.
• Black Speech: Just its voice is enough to make Zorg bleed from his head.
• Brown Note: His voice over a telephone call and in space is able to cause psychic nosebleeds in General Staedert and Zorg.
• Character Death: Leeloo uses her powers to kill it and render it as a moon.
• Colony Drop: Takes the form of a moon-sized sphere and hurtles itself towards the Earth. It's implied that the Moon is the remains of a previous close call.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: The movie introduces The Great Evil, an angry, black sphere that doesn't even have a proper name, let alone a motivation. But how would Bruce Willis find a cute thousand-year-old alien girl to nail without it?
• The Dreaded: Everyone who's aware of the evil is terrified of him. Even his collaborator Zorg.
• Eldritch Abomination: A sentient planet-like entity bent on the destruction of all life.
• Eternal Recurrence: Reappears every 5,000 years.
• Evil Counterpart: The prophecy explaining the use of the stones includes a mention that if pure evil stands in the center instead of pure good, death and destruction will fill the universe, which makes "Mr. Shadow" a sort of evil version of Leeloo.
• Evil Sounds Deep: "Mr. Shadow" appears only as a voice on the telephone, and it's about as deep as you can get and still be comprehensible.
• Faux Affably Evil: Politely asks Zorg if he is disturbing him.
• Homage: Basically a beefed-up, Evil Sounds Deep version of the Loc-Nar.
• It Can Think: The government and military originally assume it's just some strange planet-like mass that just up and appeared, even when Father Cornelius warns the President. However, as the military ship prepares to fire missiles at it, the entire surface suddenly solidifies as if in preparation to tank the attack, which several scientists note would imply some form of intelligence. And that's before it grows bigger and moves to destroy the ship after being shot. And before it contacts Zorg, establishing itself as his boss.
  Staedert: Upfront loading of a 120 ZZR missile. Marker lights on the objective.
  Scientist: Its structure has just solidified on the surface.
  Head Scientist: I think it's anticipating the attack. Anticipation denotes intelligence.
  Cornelius: The most terrible intelligence imaginable, Mr. President.
• Karmic Death: Killed by The Power of Love (Word of God here.)invoked
• Knight of Cerebus: Even Zorg gets in on some of the comedy but when the Evil is onscreen, the comedy grinds to a stop. Even its jokingly asking Zorg if it's disturbing him comes across as more of an intimidation than a joke and Shadow being around means the film is dealing with the world-threatening consequences of his very presence.
• Made of Evil: A living planet that represents evil.
• The Man Behind the Man: While Zorg appears as a callous, greedy businessman and the Evil a separate threat, it's revealed part way through the film Zorg is seeking the stones to aid Shadow in the destruction of Earth in return for a massive payment. Even after Zorg is killed, the Evil moves forth on its plans alone and becomes the final threat by itself.
• Mythology Gag: Considering that the entire movie is based off the Harry Canyon story from the French Heavy Metal it's natural that Mr. Shadow is a seriously beefed up version of the Loc-Nar. Both are Omnicidal Maniacs, both speak in very deep voices, both have human allies, and the goal of both is the extermination of all life. There's even a female warrior (in Mr. Shadow's case, Leeloo) required to finally defeat them.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Shadow sees his purpose as being ending life and intends to destroy the planet Earth, killing off all of humanity to this end.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Gets a fairly chilling one during his phone conversation with Zorg, complete with stigmata.

  Mr. Shadow: I. Want. The. Stones.

• The Voice: Assuming the giant mass we see isn't actually "Mr. Shadow", just what it can be perceived as in normal spacetime.