Peter Creedy

Peter Creedy is an antagonist in the V for Vendetta comics. He is also the true main antagonist in the 2006 film of the same name.

He is portrayed by Tim Pigott-Smith.

Biography
Creedy is the leader of the Norsefire secret police, known as the "Fingermen". Unlike Norsefire's leader, Adam Susan, who genuinely believes in fascism, Creedy is a cold-blooded opportunist whose only goal is absolute power. A pompous, ambitious yet inept man, he is held in contempt by sophisticates like Helen Heyer and it is strongly suggested that senior officers in the police force have little respect for him. Eric Finch's right-hand man Dominic coolly rebuffs his offer of 'closer co-operation' in spite of his implied threat that anyone who isn't on his side will regret it later.

It quickly becomes clear the reason for his lack of respect is that Creedy is somewhat incompetent. He and his men let V escape from the NTV broadcasting center after the 'Guy Fawkes' video is broadcast, and he lets Rose Almond through the police cordon during Susan's last public appearance, not suspecting that she will assassinate him. Nevertheless he and his forces subsequently take total control of London. However, his term as the "emergency commander" is short-lived, as his chief of staff, a Scottish gangster named Alistair Harper, turns on him after being given a substantial bribe by the manipulative Helen Heyer. Harper and his men grab Creedy and hack him to death with a razor.

In the film
Like in the comics, Creedy is the head of the Fingermen in the live action film. Although Adam Sutler is more prominent as the Chancellor, the real power of the Norsefire lies within Creedy and his influence over Sutler, so the latter serves as the true main antagonist of the film. His complete ruthlessness is shown in the film, in which he evolved from a petty criminal to an ice-cold sociopath; V describes him as "a man seemingly without a conscience, for whom the ends always justify the means" and the mastermind behind the bio-engineered plague, which is later blamed on terrorists and used to terrorize the public into giving Norsefire total control. In a meeting with Inspector Eric Finch, a disguised V suggests that it was Creedy's idea to use the virus not on "an enemy of the country, but rather the country itself."

The Finger's trademark is the black bags they put over the captives' heads. One such instance is when the Chancellor orders variety show host Gordon Deitrich arrested for mocking Sutler on his show; Creedy personally shows up at Deitrich's home and beats him with a nightstick, splitting open his face. Dietrich is then taken away and executed for possessing forbidden material (the Finger's finding a copy of the banned Quran hidden in his house sealed his fate).

During the second half of the movie, Creedy has fallen out of favor with Sutler because of his failure to stop V's activities and the public actions resulting from them. One night while tending his flowers in his home in suburban London, Creedy is confronted by V, who offers him a deal; V offers to turn himself over in exchange for Sutler. After facing further criticism from Sutler, Creedy accepts the offer.

V and Creedy meet in an abandoned tube station and after V has been given his chance to personally bid farewell to him, Creedy personally shoots the hated dictator in front of V. But when V violently refuses to take off his mask, the Fingermen open fire but fail to take him down. A mortally wounded V cuts down all of Creedy's Fingermen as a horrified Creedy looks on helplessly. Fulfilling his promise that Creedy would die with his hands around his neck, the masked vigilante corners Creedy and snaps his neck, killing him.

Trivia

 * Creedy is similar to Dorian Tyrell from The Mask; They both planned to kill their own bosses and move up in the world. They did manage to kill their bosses, but they failed at their main goal, which was to kill the hero.