Electric, terrifying, charismatic, complex. Roy Batty was everything a cyberpunk antagonist should be: morally ambiguous, ultra-violent, flawed, philosophical. And if there’s a difference between cyberpunk protagonist and antagonist, well, those differences are too small to contemplate here.
Roy Batty embodied the physicality and intellect of a Replicant that was truly more human than human. Chess master, deliberate misquoter of William Blake (Fiery the angels fell; deep thunder rolled about their shores; burning with the fires of Orc), giver of one of the greatest death monologues of all time. Furious in his will to live, to save those he loves, to wreak vengeance on those who wronged him. Roy Batty was the most searing and most real character in the greatest film of all time.
And it was Rutger Hauer who imbued the character with this power. It was Rutger Hauer, too, who gave Roy Batty some of his greatest lines.
So it was with some sadness I heard that Rutger Hauer had died. I can’t say I was a great fan of his roles outside the film. He was good in Ladyhawk, of course, and I remember him popping up in random genre roles (Sin City, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman Begins). He featured in the cult classic, Salute of the Jugger. But nothing ever lived up to his scene-stealing, soulful performance as Roy Batty.
There is little more to say, other than this: Hauer’s moments will not be lost, like tears in rain, but live on forever in our celluloid memories.
I shall leave you with some of the greatest lines of modern cinema, written by Rutger Hauer: