Character Index
Cast and Crew Index

Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford.

"I need you Deck. I need the old Blade Runner. I need your magic."

Rick is called back from retirement to deal with a little problem. He needs to find some escaped Replicants and 'retire' them. He reluctantly accepts the job as he has "no choice".

A complex character at the centre of the Blade Runner movie. He is the subject of the biggest debate about the film - is he a Replicant himself? Ridley Scott put a lot of clues into the film to make us consider this question.

Don't get too carried away with the recent reports, where journalists got all excited because Ridley Scott "finally cleared up the mystery" in the recent "Edge of Human" documentary. He has often stated in interviews over the years that Deckard is a Replicant, so that is nothing new at all. Indeed, the Future Noir book, written ages ago, details all this, plus the methods employed to make us ask the question.

When Ridley says, "Yes, Deckard was a Replicant," he does so with that wicked grin challenging us to continue doubting, (or perhaps just knowing that many will). Cast and crew are very divided on their belief on this matter and Harrison Ford actually played the character as human. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter whether we "know" if Deck-a-Rep or Deck-a-Human as this is just part of the bigger question explored in the movie, i.e. "what is human?". In fact it adds an extra layer that would be destroyed if it actually were made explicit.

We explore humanity through Deckard's relationships. With his fellow Rep-Detect policemen, Bryant and Gaff. With the Replicant Rachael. And with his Nexus 6 opponent, Roy Batty.

There will be more explorations of the character in due course.

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