Augustus Landor

 is a fictional character appearing in the 2022 film The Pale Blue Eye, from which he serves as the protagonist. He is portrayed by Christian Bale.

Throughout The Pale Blue Eye
Augustus Landor is a retired detective who investigates the hanging of Cadet Leroy Fry at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Landor is an alcoholic and a widower who lost his daughter, Mattie, a few years earlier.

During the investigation, Landor finds evidence that suggests Fry was not the one who hanged himself, but that he was murdered. Landor enlists the help of Edgar Allan Poe, who is also a cadet at the academy and has shown an interest in the case. Together, they deduce that the murder may be linked to black magic rituals.

As the investigation progresses, more cadets go missing and are found dead, with their hearts and genitals removed. Landor and Poe suspect the Marquis family, particularly Dr. Daniel Marquis and his children, Artemus and Lea, of being involved in the murders.

Eventually, Landor and Poe discover that Landor himself is the killer. He was avenging his daughter's rape by Fry, Ballinger, and Stoddard two years earlier. Mattie killed herself after the incident, and Landor pretended that she had run away. Landor left a note for Fry, luring him to a lonely spot before hanging him. Later, he killed Ballinger and mutilated his corpse to make it appear that the cadet had been murdered by the same "madman" who had desecrated Fry's body.

Poe confronts Landor with the evidence, but he burns the notes and lets his daughter's hair ribbon float away in the wind. The story ends with Landor standing at the cliff where his daughter leapt to her death, saying "Rest, my love."

Personality
He is a complex character with several personality traits. He is a retired detective who is willing to take on a challenging investigation despite his struggles with alcoholism. He is also a grieving father who has not recovered from the loss of his daughter and seeks revenge for her rape and subsequent suicide.

He is also a man of intelligence and deductive skills, as shown by his ability to solve the mystery and track down the killer. He is also capable of acting ruthlessly and taking the law into his own hands when he feels justified, as demonstrated by his role as the murderer.

Appearances

 * The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

Trivia

 * The character is named after Walter Savage Landor, an English writer and poet who lived from 1775 to 1864.