Characters in City of God

2. LIL DICE/LIL ZE
Lil Ze/Lil Dice since a young age was always
tempted by the power and thrill of firing a gun and
the excitement of drugs and gangs. Lil Ze is shown
as starting from the bottom and making his way up
to the top of the drug trade to seek ultimate power.
He does this by having no mercy for people standing
in his way to gain wealth and power. The first key
event we see this character in is the hotel scene
where he has a gun and kills many innocent people
then goes missing. This is the start of Lil Ze. We see
this character die towards the end of the film as he
is shot by ‘the next generation’ of little runts who he
had originally gave guns too.

3. LIL DICE/LIL ZE
Throughout, this character has always seen to be loyal to Bennie his childhood
friend as Lil Ze’s overall plan is to seek power with him. He also is involved with the
tender trio who almost take him under their wing to show him the ropes of crime
and hold ups. A key scene that Lil Ze is involved in is the mass shooting scene at
the end of the film. He is shown to be the leader of the gang as he faces of to the
police and a rival gang. He shows no mercy throughout as he is finally arrested by
the police after a long battle then killed by hoodlums after being released. This
character connects to the central themes of poverty as he has grown up with
nothing and has always had a real hunger to gain wealth and this has come through
drugs. Also is he is connected to the themes of power and conflict as he is a leader
of the top gang in the city of god and whenever he is also shown to be at the heart
of violence whether it be him committed it or ordering someone else too.

4. ROCKET
Rockets story is very different to other
characters as he does his best to avoid trouble to
try and get out of the cycle of the gangs and
drugs. He is shown from an early age as not
following the pack as he does not want to turn
out like his brother ‘Goose’ as he sees beyond
the favela as he tries to seek a good life, with
money, a career and safety. He does this as he is
given a camera by his good friend Bennie and
ends up working for a local newspaper taking
vital shots of gangs in the favela.

5. ROCKET
This character has positive relationships with most characters as he is seen as the
most likeable in the film. In particularly he is shown to have a strong relationship
with Bennie who provides him with his first camera and the opportunity for him
to do something positive with his life. He has a up and down relationship with Lil
Ze as Lil Ze is jealous of the attention Bennie gives him but still gets him to take
pictures of him and his gang to show to the media, so therefore helps to gain the
gangs trust. A key scene for the character of Rocket is where he is trapped
inbetween Lil Ze’s gang and the police in what turns out to be a shootout. He
takes shelter and shows a lot of bravery to capture the scenes that are prevailed in
front of him. He connects with central themes of poverty as he is shown to have
nothing but grasps the opportunity to take up his dream of becoming a
photographer when he is given a old camera.

6. BENNY
Benny is a well liked character throughout the
film. He is a gang leader and top drug dealer
but passes it down to Lil Ze as he intends to
leave. He is well liked by Lil Ze so has the
respect from most social groups in the favela.
He is a very intelligent character as he falls in
love with a character called Angelica who he
tries to leave the city of god with but at his
leaving party is unfortunately shot and killed.
He helps to provide Rocket with a camera and
see’s beyond life in the favela.

7. BENNY
He has good relationships with Lil Ze, Rocket and numerous other
characters as he has grown up with them and has gained a lot of respect.
The key scene that he is involved in is his leaving party which ends in him
being shot. He is shown to bring together different social groups in
celebrating him moving on which shows how much he is liked. He is killed
accidently by a character called ‘Blacky’ who was supposed to kill Lil Ze.
This scene is important as it sparks the rage of Lil Ze against his rival
gang. This character connects with central themes of power as he is a well
respected gang leader and drug dealer. Also he connects with the theme of
poverty as he comes from having nothing to gaining wealth through drugs
to help provide for himself but also sees beyond the favela and strives to
have a better life for himself and his girlfriend.

8. THE TENDER TRIO
The tender trio consist of the characters: Shaggy, Chipper and Goose.
They are an untouchable trio who performed hold ups and crime in the
earlier days. Each characters have different paths when the trio splits:
Chipper is the lucky one as he turns to religion and we see no more of
him in the film, Goose is killed by Lil Dice after trying to escape and
Shaggy the gangs leader is killed by the
Police as he tries to escape the city of
god with his girlfriend as they tried to
strive for a better life. The tender trio
were a well known and respected
gang in the community as their were
no real rival gangs.

9. THE TENDER TRIO
They have a very close relationship with each other and take Lil Dice and
Bennie under their wing to learn the trade of crime so that one day they can
lead their own gang. A key scene within the film is when the gang hold up a gas
truck and tell the local community to take the free gas for themselves. This
shows that the tender trio mean well despite committing these type of crimes as
they always think about their local community. This scene is important as it
shows the difference between why gangs in the old days (for the community)
commit crimes and why gangs do it now in the modern days (for power and
wealth for themselves). This group of characters connect with the central
themes of conflict as they are shown as having guns and using them in hold
ups. Also another theme they connect with is power as at this time they were the
most powerful people in the community and were very well respected by others.