Robert Angier, also known as Lord Caldlow, is the main protagonist/antagonist of the 1995 Christopher Priest book The Prestige and its 2006 film version. He is an aspiring magician who blames his rival Alfred Borden for the accidental death of his wife and seeks to destroy his life.
In the film he is played by Hugh Jackman, who also played Keller Dover in Prisoners, Vincent Moore in Chappie and X-24 in Logan.
History[]
He was born Robert Caldlow, but wished to become a magician and changed his name so as not to embarrass his family. At first, Angier and Alfred Borden were stagehands for another magician, and were good friends. However, when Angier's wife drowns during a trick gone wrong, Angier blames Borden for tying a knot she couldn't undo, and is outraged when Borden can't remember which knot he tied. To get revenge, Angier infiltrates one of Borden's shows and shoots two of his fingers off.
He relies on his mentor Cutter for advice on how to pull off more elaborate tricks and become a successful magician. He learns a trick that will allow him to make a bird "disappear" without harming it, but Borden sneaks into his next show and sabotages the trick, and the manager kicks Angier out. Becoming more obsessed with his rival, Angier spies on another of Borden's shows and is astonished when Borden seems to transport himself across the room. He decides to steal the trick, tracking down Gerald Root, an out of work actor, who happens to look just like him. Angier stages an illusion where he disappears behind a door, drops below the stage, and Root comes out the other end. The trick is a great success, but Angier is angry that he has to spend the ovation hiding under the stage. To make things worse, Borden eventually finds out about it and sabotages the trick, injuring Angier in the process.
Angier wants to know exactly how Borden's trick is done, so he sends his mistress Olivia to spy on Borden and steal his notebook. The notebook is encoded, so Angier and Cutter kidnap Borden's assistant Fallon and bury him alive, forcing Borden to write down his method. Borden hands Angier a note with the name "Tesla" written on it. Angier travels to Colorado to meet with Tesla, convinced that he built a machine for Borden that allows him to do the trick. Tesla agrees to build Angier a similar machine.
However, Angier then discovers Borden tricked him, and that "Tesla" is only the cipher for Borden's notebook, but not his trick. However, Tesla completes his machine as requested, and Angier finds that it can replicate anything placed inside it. Angier tests the machine and uses it to clone himself. He's taken aback when he sees his clone appear and shoots him dead, ignoring the clone's protests that he is the real Angier.
Angier then returns to London with a plan for revenge. He stages a series of shows, using Tesla's machine to clone himself, stunning the audience as he seems to transport across the theater. He also kills his own clones during the trick, with each clone being dropped into a water tank below stage and drowned. One night, Borden sneaks in and goes backstage to try to discover how the trick is accomplished. As Angier planned, Borden is found in front of the water tank as the latest clone is drowning. Borden is arrested and wrongly convicted of Angier's murder and executed by hanging.
However, it's revealed that Borden has a twin who had been frequently trading places with him as both "Alfred" and Fallon. The surviving twin (Albert) tracks Angier down and shoots him, avenging his brother (Freddy). He questions Angier about whether what he did was worth it. Angier is unrepentant and says it was worth it, because he got to amaze the audience and see the looks on their faces.