Nicholas Angel


 * "I never forgot the clear sense of right and wrong I felt at the wheel of that pedal car. I had to prove to myself that the law could be proper, and righteous, and for the good of humankind. It was from that moment that I was destined to be a police officer."


 * - Nicholas Angel

Nicholas Angel is a fictional character and is the lead role in Hot Fuzz.

Angel was a police officer in the Metropolitan Police Service. An exceptional officer, he was transferred to the Sandford Police Service as he was making his colleagues look bad, and uncovered the true motives of the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance.

Early life
Nicholas Angel was born and schooled in London. He traced his early interest in police work back to his uncle Derek, who worked as an officer in the Metropolitan Police Service, and who brought the five-year-old Nicholas a police pedal car. He took to it instantly, riding around in it "every second" he was awake, arresting kids twice his size for littering and spitting. The resultant beatings he received from this goody-two-shoes behaviour did not deter Nicholas, who wanted to be just like Uncle Derek.

However, it transpired that Derek was for selling drugs to students - the proceeds of which presumably went towards buying Nicholas' pedal car. Nicholas' Uncle was later arrested. Young Nicholas, refused to play in the car ever again, though his desire to uphold the law remained, strong as ever. The only time in his childhood Nicholas could remember as wanting to be anything other than a police officer was during the summer of 1976, in which Kermit the Frog became his role model.

The Metropolitan Police Service

 * "I prefer to think my office is out on the street."


 * ―Nicholas Angel

He graduated from Canterbury University in 1993 with a double first in Politics and Sociology, and later graduated into the Metropolitan Police Service after attending Hendon College of Police Training and receiving the Baton of Honour. He displayed great aptitude in field exercises, particuarly urban pacification and riot control. During his time at the Met, he integrated himself into the local community, and improved his skills with courses in Advanced Driving, Advanced Cycling and extra-vocational activities such as fencing, judo and chess.

In 2001 he began active duty with the SO19 Armed Response Unit, and received a bravery award during "Operation Crackdown" - during which Nicholas shot a Kalashnikov Weilding Crackhead, earning himself his first, and only, kill.

Nicholas began a relationship with Jeanine, a forensics officer, and despite considering marriage, even Nicholas realized he was devoted more to his job than to his girlfriend. They split up, though remained in contact. He also hoped to retire to the country in around twenty years time. In 2006 he received nine special commendations, achieved the highest arrest record for any officer in the Met - 400% higher than any other officer - and suffered three injuries in the line of duty. The most recent of these was a knife wound sustained to the right hand by a man dressed as Father Christmas.

Shortly after this incident, Nicholas' sterling efforts were noted by his superiors, who believed that his exemplary standards were showing the rest of the police service to appear lacklustre. In an attempt to rectify this, the Sergeant, Inspector and Chief Inspector reassigned Constable Angel to the Sandford Police Service, where he would be promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Angel had no choice but to accept.

Behind the scenes

 * The character's name was inspired by the real-life Nick Angel, music supervisor on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz - though the character is only referred to as "Nick" once in the film.
 * Early drafts of the script gave Nicholas a love interest in the form of "Victoria", though she was cut when the writers realized the real love story was between Nicholas and Danny Butterman. Many of Victoria's lines were given directly to Danny.
 * The final scenes hint at fascist overtones in the character, as confirmed in the DVD commentary and evidenced by his sombre, militaristic dress and the call to "round up some hippy types".

Appearances

 * Hot Fuzz