Charlie Hesketh

"Ironic. You like a gentleman; I look like a pleb."

- Charlie encountering Eggsy again.

Charles "Charlie" Hesketh is a major antagonist in the 2015 spy action comedy film Kingsman: The Secret Service, and the secondary antagonist in the 2017 sequel The Golden Circle. He was one of the candidates dismissed from Kingsman and years later the highest-ranking member in the Golden Circle criminal organization.

He was portrayed by Edward Holcroft.

The Secret Service
Following Agent Lancelot's death at the hands of Richmond Valentine and his henchwoman Gazelle, the secret intelligence agency Kingsman opened a vacancy for a new agent to replace him. Kingsman leader Chester King recruited Charlie as a candidate with high hopes that he would succeed. During his training at Kingsman, Charlie formed a rivalry with Gary "Eggsy" Unwin and Roxy Morton.

He, Gary, and Roxy became the last three candidates in the training program, but Charlie ultimately failed (what was unbeknownst to him) a test where he was tied to the rails of an oncoming train and fearfully revealed Kingsman's information to a lunatic in exchange for his life. He realized that it was a simulation and King condemned Charlie's cowardice by calling him a "bloody disgrace". Gary and Roxy continued their training while Charlie was sent home.

Out of complete bitterness, Charlie turned over to Valentine in his plot to use SIM cards in order to wipe most of the human race and build a new world order for the survivors. During Eggsy's mission to defeat Valentine at his mountain bunker and save the world from chaos, Charlie reappeared as one of the party guests, explaining that his family was invited. Wielding a knife, Charlie apprehended Eggsy and blew his cover to Valentine as payback against Kingsman. In response, Eggsy tasered Charlie with his ring and punched him in the face, knocking Charlie unconscious and damaging his neck implant. This resulted in him surviving when all of the implants were triggered to explode, blowing off his arm and his vocal cords instead of his head like everyone else.

The Golden Circle
Charlie returned in the sequel (which takes place a year after the original film), where he is hired by the notorious criminal mastermind Poppy Adams as her right-hand, as she is formulating a plot for her organization (known as the Golden Circle) to take control of the world with the usage of recreating drugs. It is also revealed that he lost his right arm after Eggsy electrocuted him damaging the microchip installed on his head making it blow his arm and vocal cords instead of his head when Merlin and Eggsy activated them, Poppy implanted him a cybernetic-enhanced right arm that can retract as his will.

As such, Charlie is involved of Poppy's true plan to lace every drug with a toxin that can cause users to develop mania before dying in order to put an end to the War of Drugs and receive full immunity. As part of the plan, Charlie was sent over by Poppy to hack into the Kingsmen' mainframe, which he managed to succeed with his cybernetic arm during a car chase in London. This allows Poppy to have her forces to send out missiles to destroy all Kingsman residences and locations, killing most of the agents including Roxy.

As Eggsy, Harry, and Merlin head over to Cambodia (where Poppy's hideout is located) to activate several antidote drones to foil Poppy's plan, Charlie intercepts them by engaging into a fight against Eggsy, determined to finish him off in revenge. However, Eggsy manages to take Charlie's prosthetic arm off, Eggsy offers Charlie to make the fight fair by fighting with one hand behind his back, however Eggsy finally defeats and finishes off Charlie by breaking his neck, killing him for good and avenging all of the fallen Kingsman, Roxy, J.B, Brandon and Merlin. Poppy would later join Charlie in death after being injected with a lethal dose of her toxin by Eggsy and Harry.

Personality
Charlie is a traitorous, arrogant, and spoiled young man who takes pleasure in belittling Eggsy and Roxy. Despite showing remarkable physical skills during his training at Kingsman, Charlie was later revealed to be a coward under pressure and held a grudge against Eggsy and the agency after his failure to replace Lancelot (even though it was Charlie's own fault).

During his membership in the Golden Circle, Charlie is shown to be much more reserved, overconfident, nihilistic, ruthless, and is loyal to Poppy to a fault, following her orders without question and committed to her plans.