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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | The night after he was released, Margaret's parents came home. That was the little girl's name, Margaret Sims. And they found Charles Gish sitting in their living room. He was watching television and Margaret was sitting next to him. And he had cut her open right down the middle. And the parents found Margaret's heart in the freezer. Charles figured they'd probably want to keep it. | „ |
| ~ Peter Novak talking about Charles Gish killing Margaret Sims. |
Charles Gish is a minor antagonist in the 2000 sci-fi/thriller movie The Cell.
He is a pedophile that Peter Novak tried to prosecute during his time working at the DA, and the main reason behind Novak's motivations and actions in the first place.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- Despite not appearing on screen, his actions have enough of an impact on the plot, as what he did is central to Peter Novak's motives, not to mention Peter gives a ton of detail about the case and what Charles did to Margaret.
- He molested Margaret Sims, who was only a little girl. The only reason he got released was due to one piece of faulty evidence.
- The night after he got released, he went over to Margaret's house before killing her, cutting her open right down the middle, and putting her heart in the fridge.
- His defence attorney claimed that he was insane during the time of the murder. While Peter Novak does seem to confirm that Charles was mentally ill, he also makes it clear that the insanity was a complete lie made up by the attorney.
- What makes this even worse was that Charles was able to walk free due to this and his past life of sexual abuse, so he faced no punishment for his crimes.
- While at first it may seem he fails the standards to Carl Rudolph, who killed at least seven women and performed sadomasochistic and necrophilic rituals on them, Charles has the unique crimes of both pedophilia and child murder, so he easily stands out.
- Overall, his vile actions are the main cause of Peter Novak joining the FBI due to a belief of the justice system being flawed as well as triggering implied traumatic memories of Novak's past.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He doesn't have enough characterization, as his personality isn't fully known about, but is known that he is perverted, mentally ill and somewhat remorseful for what he did, so he still has enough characterization to be Near Pure Evil.
- He seems to have some remorse for what he did, as Peter claimed that Charles had left Margaret's heart in the fridge because he thought they'd want to keep it.
- While Peter calls him out on his tragedy of being sexually abused a child, he is still given some sympathy by both Catherine and the story for his past.
Trivia[]
- He and Martin Stargher, are the only two villains in The Cell to be Near Pure Evil.