A fact he is very aware of.
He’s either pathetically anxious (Mr. Cust The A.B.C. Murders), not overly intelligent (Ralph Paton The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) or bitter and jaded (Jerry Burton The Moving Finger) . He wants personal freedom, peace of mind, love, the courage to keep living. He stands in his own way. The Poor Chap is a classic Man v. Himself example.
Note: just because I title him “The Hero” does not mean that he can never be the murderer. We’re just really bummed out when he is (Norman Gale Death in the Clouds)
The Arrogant Jerk: Often handsome, though doesn’t have to be. He does have to have “something” that appeals to women. If not physical appearance (Michael Shane After The Funeral), it’s his radical political ideologies (Howard Raikes One Two Buckle My Shoe) or talent (Amyas Crale Five Little Pigs ).
The Curmudgeon: “Bah, kids these days...Bah, women don’t understand how hard finance is...Bah these foreigners with their Socialism...Bah these police are bothering me...Bah stop touching my ancient artifacts/medical equipment/mysterious letters."
He’s middle aged or older. He’s either portly or very thin. His nationality doesn’t matter, he appears as French (Georges Death in the Clouds) German (Dr. Bessner Death on the Nile) American (Rufus Van Aldin The Mystery of the Blue Train) and English (Lord Caterham The Seven Dials Mystery).
When Christie doesn’t want him to be two dimensional, she gives him someone he loves very much. Usually, a daughter.
The Butler: Of course. Wherever English nobility are, there is an ancient, white haired old man to wait on them. He's loyal, never impolite, never shocked, though he can be unnerved. My favourite, Gudgeon (The Hollow)...cool as a cucumber when he found a handgun in a basket of eggs. He cleaned it and put it away. Of course. As a good servant should.
The Very English Man: He gets uncomfortable around emotional displays (Leonard Clement Murder at the Vicarage), flamboyance (Dr. James Sheppard The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), foreigners (Col. Melrose The Love Detectives). He can’t imagine that anyone would want to live anywhere other than England. He’s “modest”, be that a natural part of his personality (Douglas Gold Triangle at Rhodes) or because it’s improper to boast (Lord Mayfield The Incredible Theft. Very much about playing by the rules of society and country.
Arthur Hastings is the favourite example of this character, and it’s his inherent sweetness that allows the reader to forgive his priggishness.
A very specific Very English Man is The Very English Soldier: eminently respectable, full of stories about shooting, India, and a whole lot of people that no one else in the cast has ever heard about or cares about.
The Copper: Tenacious. Unimaginative. Suspicious of psychology. Truly believe that people have nothing to fear if they’re innocent by law. If there’s a private detective (amateur or otherwise) involved in the case, the Copper is usually patronizing in attitude. That is, they are patronizing until the p.d. proves their ability beyond reproach.
Many of Agatha Christie’s Coppers return for a few more stories (Superintendents Spence & Battle, Sir Henry Clitherling), and the shared history is pleasing to long time readers. Certainly in the case of Chief Inspector James Japp, who was not only a collaborator of Hercule Poirot’s, he became a very close friend.
The Foreigner: The Foreigner varies depending on the situation. Sometimes he’s comic relief (Akibombo Hickory Dickory Dock), sometimes he’s a serious character used as the scapegoat (Jacob Tanios Dumb Witness).
Agatha Christie was a well traveled woman, and she didn’t seem to have the mistrust of foreigners that many of her characters did. The unifying trait her Immigrants and Visitors seem to have is that they are not what the British meant or expect them to be.
Sometimes, of course, The Foreigner is a brilliant, witty, dapper little Belgian. A man with fantastic mustaches and particular tastes in food, who does "not approve of murder".
