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| “ | Scotland, this nation brought the world television, the steam engine, golf, whiskey, penicillin, and of course... The deep fried Mars bar. It is great being Scottish, we're such a uniquely successful race. And as my wife Carol always says, there's no place like home. The games are always, repeat, always being played... | „ |
| ~ Bruce's opening narration. |
| “ | The same rules apply. | „ |
| ~ Bruce's most famous quote and last words before committing suicide. |
Bruce Robertson is the main protagonist of Irvine Welsh's 1998 novel Filth as well as its 2013 film adaptation of the same name. He is an incredibly corrupt and depraved sergeant detective residing in Edinburgh who is infamous for his violent tendencies, explosive temper, perverted behaviour, xenophobia and manipulative tendencies. Over the course of the story it becomes clear that Bruce is suffering from a mental breakdown and much of what he does, says and conveys is inaccurate or twisted in some way.
He was portrayed by James McAvoy in the film, who also portrayed Kevin Wendell Crumb in the Eastrail 177 series, God Emperor Leto Atreides in Frank Herbert's Dune books, Wesley Gibson in Wanted and David Percival in Atomic Blonde. Additionally under the assumed identity of his ex-wife Carole he was portrayed by Shauna Macdonald.
History[]
Early life[]
Bruce was born into a world of resentment from an early age with his entire hometown despising him before he was even five years old for being the son of a rapist, on top of this Bruce's stepfather was an incredibly abusive man who would often force Bruce to eat coal. On top of this some time in his youth Bruce accidentally killed his younger brother by pushing him into a coal bunker for a joke something which caused his already estranged and cruel father to denounce him.
With the entire town still hating him Bruce opted to join the police force in an attempt to gain respect and distance himself from his criminal father; something of which backfired as the town still despised him. He also married to a woman named Carole during adulthood and had a daughter with her. However she ended up leaving Bruce along with their daughter after his Bipolar Disorder became worse. As a coping mechanism Bruce began dressing up as Carole in an attempt to keep the delusion that the two were still together.
Filth (Novel)[]
After a young man revealed to be the Ghanian Ambassador's son was mugged and killed in an alleyway Bruce was put onto the case something which he accepted in an attempt to gain a promotion in spite of not intending to actually solve the case and instead engage in his own amusement of annoying, manipulating and tormenting his co-workers and excessively drinking and drug taking. Around this time as well Bruce had gained a particularly nasty tapeworm while also constantly prank phone calling Bunty Blades the wife of his best friend Clifford and was put on the additional case of finding their phantom phone caller, in spite of knowing that he himself was the one performing the calls.
Later on Bruce attempts to save a man having a heart attack in the middle of the street only for him to die anyway leaving Bruce showing severe remorse and pity for the man's wife Mary. He is later visited by she and her son on a few occasions throughout the story.
Bruce and Clifford then take their annual trip to Amsterdam during which Bruce's mental state drops significantly and he begins becoming disorientated and having constant hallucinations to the point of total insanity. This continues after he returns home and after being scolded by his boss for not solving either of his cases and showing up to work in a completely wrecked state Bruce becomes desperate and frames Clifford as the phantom phone caller to his wife. Bruce takes this charade too far however and opts to beat Clifford to a pulp in his holding cell before returning to reality and becoming overwhelmed with guilt.
Bruce flees from the station and dons his Carole getup to try and cool himself off. Unfortunately however during a walk he gets kidnapped by Gorman and his gang in the midst of one of his hallucinations. The gang then arrive at an abandoned warehouse, in which Bruce is brutally tortured and beaten by Gorman although his fiery temper remains when he demands Gorman to get away from his wife's things. Bruce and Gorman engage in a one-sided brawl mainly thanks to Bruce still being tied to a chair, however when Gorman picks up Bruce and begins making out with him Bruce sees an opportunity and bites the criminal's tongue off before throwing him out of the window in disgust.
In the end it is revealed that Bruce was in fact the man who killed the Ambassador's son in his Carole disguise, something which winds up leaving him out of promotion prospects, with the rest of the force revealing that they had already known this and were merely protecting him out of loyalty. Ashamed Bruce relents before surprisingly enough his tapeworm confesses to Bruce that it thinks he is a genuinely good man; regardless however Bruce is overcome with shame and commits suicide by hanging.
Filth (film)[]
The film's events are slightly altered from the novel with Bruce appearing as more heroic than his original counterpart; due to him not actually being responsible for the murder of the student and how he demonstrates more remorse for his actions.
The other significant difference from the novel comes towards the end with Bruce failing to receive the promotion with Lennox getting it instead and Bruce himself ends up being demoted. Overcome with trauma and grief Bruce records an apology video to Clifford before preparing to hang himself from a mantel in his hallway only to hesitate as he sees Mary and her son arriving at his door. Once they leave thinking Bruce isn't in; he looks to the audience telling them that "the same rules apply" before laughing maniacally and kicking the chair from under his feet, killing himself.
Personality[]
Bruce was a repulsive, corrupt, immoral, egotistical, wrathful, pretentious and sadistic manipulator who constantly used those around him for his own personal gain and had little care for his peers. On top of this he was also wildly hedonistic to downright disgusting and perverted degrees. In spite of this however Bruce's personality came out thanks to tragedy, insecurity and guilt all built up from his childhood trauma of losing his brother to an event he blames himself for and an abusive parental figure he has unwittingly gained traits from. Bruce was also very weary of compassion and blew it off often times when it was given to him.
In spite of this Bruce himself was a man who did value life and often times tried to save those in need and would often offer up his assistance to those who experience loss.
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 Villains
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