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This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | You're here to fall in love, to experience love. But now I need you to listen very carefully, and take what I say very seriously, alright? Don't try to escape. Don't cry out for help. And do not try any of your kickboxing tricks. Now I'll do what I can to help you not break these rules, but if you do Kate, you will really disappoint me. There now. See. That didn't hurt did it? Don't worry. You're with Casanova. | „ |
| ~ Casanova explains his rules to Kate as he is sedating her. |
| “ | Good night...sweet Kate. | „ |
| ~ Nicholas Ruskin's last words before Alex Cross kills him. |
Casanova (real name: Nicholas "Nick" Ruskin) is the main antagonist of the 1997 film adaptation of James Paterson's 1995 thriller novel, Kiss the Girls, the second installment of the Alex Cross series. Like his literary counterpart, he is a serial killer/rapist and the accomplice of The Gentleman Caller, while working as a police detective.
He was portrayed by Cary Elwes, who also played Donald Curtis in the English dub of Porco Rosso, William Boone in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Dr. Jonas Miller in Twister, Paxton Powers in Batman Beyond, Sir Edgar in Ella Enchanted, Ted Bundy in The Riverman, Lawrence Gordon in the Saw franchise, Aquaman in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Larry Kline in Stranger Things, Denlinger in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning and Pistol Pete Whipple in Knuckles.-while his voice when in his Casanova guise was originally dubbed by an uncredited Jeff Kober, who also portrayed Eugene Hoff in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In later airings, he was dubbed by Tony Goldwyn, who also played The Gentleman Caller in the same film, as well as Michael Drucker in The 6th Day, Carl Bruner in Ghost and Samuel Braithwhite in Lovecraft Country.
Biography[]
When Nick Ruskin was a teenager, he snuck into Coty Pierce's home in Boca Raton on June 1975, where he spent his time in the attic, watching her and her family through the vents. One night, he finally decided to sneak out of the vents to "declare [him]self", and raped and killed Coty, her younger sister Carrie, and her mother.
At some point in his life, Nick somehow met William Rudolph, who would eventually go by the alias of "The Gentleman Caller". It's implied they've known each other since high school, seeing as to how Casanova mentioned covering his murder of a homecoming queen named Roe Tierny in 1975. The two began their own killing sprees, with each one helping the other get away with their crimes. Nick began kidnapping young and beautiful for the lair he built in the woods where he would sedate them and rape them. Given that Will was a plastic surgeon, he supplied Casanova with the drug Sistol, which he would use to sedate and weaken the girls. He'd pick women based on both their physical beauty and their intelligence. Should one break his rules, he would either kill them by lethal injection, or take them to the woods, where he would tie them to a tree, chop their hair off and leave for wild animals to kill. When interacting with his victims, he'd wear a mask over his face, each one being a different one from time to time. At some point, Casanova kidnapped the niece of Det. Alex Cross, Naomi, and subjected her to the same treatment as that of his other victims. He also forced Naoami to use her violin skills to play the instrument whenever he'd rape or molest his victims. Nick's regular job was that of a police detective for Durham, North Carolina. On duty, he'd ironically take Alex Cross to his own crime scene of one of his victims to study the killing.
For his next victim, Nick set his eyes on Kate McTiernen, regularly stalking her and observing her life in her house. He had been doing so for at least seven months. Upon finally deciding to kidnap her, he broke into here house at night and attacked her from behind in her room. She managed to fight him off, but as she runs down the stairs, it is revealed that Casanova moved her fish tank in the way of the stairs. She crashes into it, which subdues her long enough for him to shoot her with his stun gun.
After Casanova takes her to his lair, he goes over his rules with her before drugging her. He then sends pictures of her unconscious body to Will on the internet, while talking with him over the phone about how Kate's "extra special". Despite Casanova's warnings, Kate indeed breaks his rules by calling out for help and practicing her kickboxing moves. At some point, Nick slips a card with a picture of Kate's naked body, as well as Casanova' signature, through underneath Alex's apartment door. He manages to get away before Alex runs down the halls with his gun to pursue him. Nick manages to meet with Alex and the cops to discuss this, without arousing any suspicion on himself, even when he compliments the handwriting on the card. Alex presumes that Casanova is doing this to assert his power over his victims, as well as the cops themselves.
Somehow Casanova finds out about Kate breaking his rules and poisons her sandwich so she would get sick. He tries to subdue her with a syringe, but she manages to fight him off, narrowly escaping into the woods as he chases here. When he finally corners her to the edge of a cliff, she jumps into the river below. After Kate is rescued and taken to the hospital, she aids Alex Cross in tracking down Casanova as well as the Gentleman Caller.
They manage to discover the latter's identity as William Rudolph. However, he escapes once they track him down to his cabin before he almost claims another victim. William arrives in Casanova's lair, where he shows fascination over his partner's "collection". Annoyed over William invading his own space, he nearly shoots the man dead as he expresses his sick infatuation for Naomi. Alex and the police, as well as Kate, track them into his lair, causing the two killers to flee the scene. As Alex chases them into the woods, they nearly shoot him from a distance, but he manages to fatally shoot one of them as they both run off. The one shot is revealed to be William Rudolph. Alex presses him for Casanova's identity, but in his last dying breath, he merely brags that Cross will never find him.
After the police free Casanova's victims and take apart his lair, Nick goes over to Kate's house to cover for the next police shift. Cross deduces that Nick is Casanova when he studies both their hand writing and sees the similarities. He tries to telephone Kate at her house, but Nick, already prepared for this, cuts her telephone wire before he can call her. Cross is then forced to drive over there. As Nick is helping Kate make dinner, he reveals himself as Casanova and they engage in a fight. He overpowers her for a while and attempts to rape her. However, she gains the upper hand, brutally beating him up and handcuffs him to her stove. Unfortunately, he quickly grabs her kitchen knife and slits her arm, weakening her. He then tears out the glass tubes and attempts to blow them both up with his lighter.
When Cross arrives to try to talk him down, Nick gives a speech about how he feels his "animal self" come alive any time he looks at a beautiful woman and that he merely wants to break them down through rape and torture, and how Cross, deep down, is no better than him. He also taunts him about how he raped Naomi the whole time he had her in captivity for 10 days, getting to know her like Cross never did, but Cross counter taunts that he's not like him, rightfully knowing Naomi got to know that Nick is a total psycho, as his words didn't affect Alex at all. He attempts to turn on the lighter, but before he can do so, Cross manages to outsmart Nick by shoot him through a milk carton so the muzzle blast from his pistol does not ignite the gas. Nick consequently dies as a result, thus finally putting an end to his pathetic life and the extent of his heinous crimes.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Cross' claim that he would ignite the gas in the house if he open fires is most likely false. This is shown on Mythbusters in the episode Inverted Underwater Car, as the narrator said that Cross had nothing to worry about, since methane does not ignite well, and shooting through milk still ignites hydrogen.
External Links[]
- Casanova on the Pure Evil Wiki