Bolivar Trask (X-Men Movies)

"The mutant threat is the defining issue of our time. We can choose to stem the impending tide of extinction or we can stand by passively and allow it to wash away any remnants of our species."

- Bolivar Trask in the movie.

Bolivar Trask is the main antagonist of X-Men: Days of Future Past (and Bigger Bad in the future). He is the head of Trask Industries and creates and army of Sentinels to destroy mutants.

He is portrayed by Peter Dinklage who also played Miles Finch, Simon Bar Sinister and Captain Gutt.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Prelude
Even from his early years as a research assistant, Bolivar always maintained a particular interest in the origin and evolution of humanity. Following in the footsteps of Mendel, Watson and Crick, Trask made it his goal to unlock the mysteries of human DNA. What he did not anticipate was the discovery of the X-Gene, a genetic finding that would prove to be the most significant of the 20th century.

Trask soon hypothesized the impending extinction of the human race. His early theories were ridiculed by his contemporaries and with no one to fund his research, Trask cared enough about humanity to invest in the founding of Trask Industries in 1967. Since its founding, Trask Industries has been at the forefront of human progress, partnering with domestic and international governments since the Nixon administration. Trask’s early ambition for genetic progress continues to fuel our technological innovations today.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Trask experimented on mutants for their DNA to create robots called Sentinels whose sole purpose is to track and kill mutants (despite Trask having respect for them). Among those he experimented on and killed were Azazel, Angel, Emma Frost, Banshee, and Riptide (though a viral marketing suggests Azazel and Angel were dead before Trask experimented on them), although Mystique (X-Men Movies) was able to save Havok, Toad, and Ink from this fate. Mystique sought revenge on Trask for killing her comrades by shooting him in the forehead. However, this would lead to an apocalyptic future; When Mystique shoots Trask in the head, this triggers the awakening of the sentinels, because of Trask being killed by a mutant and because of Mystique being experimented and tortured on for her DNA to complete the sentinels (eventually she died in the past future). The sentinels would then bring about an apocalyptic future once they begin targeting humans as well. For this reason Wolverine was sent back in time to prevent Trask's death.

Trask was denied funding for his Sentinel project. Mystique tried to kill Trask, but Wolverine, Charles, Hank, and Magneto stopped her. However, as a result of a battle from Magneto trying to kill Mystique, the people were horrified by the existence of mutants and Trask's sentinel program was approved; furthermore, Trask obtained Mystique's blood and used it to create the sentinels.

After saving President Nixon from being killed by Magneto, Mystique tried to kill Trask, but Charles Xavier convinced her not to, averting the bad future. Because a mutant saved the president, the sentinel program was shut down, and Trask was later arrested for selling military secrets, according to a newspaper.

Trivia

 * This version of the character is played by Peter Dinklage making Trask a little person.
 * While in the original comic book version of Trask was never a hero by any means, he did eventually come to realize that Mutants are not a threat to humanity and even heroically sacrificed his own life to stop the Sentinels. Neither of those happen in to the Days of Future Past incarnation.
 * In the film X-Men: Days of Future Past, Bolivar Trask said he named the Sentinels after the guardians of the citadel. In actuality, it was taken that he meant The Citadel, the real-life military academy in SC, and that its guards were dubbed "Sentinels".