Rustin "Rust" Cohle

Detective Rustin "Rust" Spencer Cohle is a brilliant but disturbed Detective serving in the Louisiana State Police. Cohle serves as one of the two main protagonists of the HBO crime drama True Detective alongside his partner, Martin Hart of season one.
After losing his young daughter in a tragic car accident, his became a broken man that dedicated every part of himself to his job, at the same time making him a hard and cold person, losing all faith in everything and everyone around him. However Cohle's hardened personality has made him almost the perfect detective as he is able to get into the mind set of even the most evil and depraved criminals that his job pits him against.
He is portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, who also voiced Buster Moon in Sing, and Beetle in Kubo and the Two Strings.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Rustin Spencer "Rust" Cohle was born on November 6, 1964 to an unnamed father in Texas, but lived the majority of his childhood in Alaska. Rust later returned to Texas presumably due to not liking the cold temperatures, and became a police officer at the Houston Police Department. 
Around this time, Rust met a woman named Claire, and the two eventually married and had a daughter together, Sophia. After his daughter was tragically killed in a car accident, Rust turned to alcohol, which led to his divorce from Claire. His substance abuse led to him turning to drugs after transferring from robbery to narcotics, and he later killed a meth head who injected crystal meth into his child. Afterward, Cohle was given the chance to go to jail or go deep undercover for narcotics by a state attorney, and he chose the latter.
While going undercover of several years, Rust survived gunshots wounds and was transferred to a mental hospital in Texas. After being released, he was offered retirement by his superiors, but he refused and wanted to be transferred to the homicide division. Being transferred to the homicide division in Louisiana, Rust moved there and become somewhat a recluse, living in a barren apartment that only had a bed and books on criminology. Due to the loss of his daughter and alcohol and drug abuse, Rust has become a pessimistic individual and has a negative view on society in general. 
It's also implied that his abuse of drugs and alcohol has caused him to have insomnia and visual hallucinations. Despite his troubles, Rust is known to be a dedicated and brilliant detective, and received the nickname the "Taxman" due to him carrying a large ledger.
==True Detective==
===1995===
Rust is partnered with Martin "Marty" Hart by three months, and there first case is of the Yellow King, where they find a victim killed in a sacrificial way. Investigating the crime scene, Rust believes that this isn't the killer's first victim, noting how the killer was too specific with his murder methods. While working together, Rust and Marty come at odds due to Cohle's negative and cynical perspective on society and people. However, the two come at goods terms once they get to know each other, but Rust still shows disappointment at Marty for cheating on his wife.
When confronting Reggie Ledoux after finding connections to him for the murder, Marty kills him after finding that Reggie has murdered and tortured two children. Rust assists Marty in covering up the crime by staging evidence at the crime scene, such as using an assault rifle to make the case that Reggie fired at them, and Marty killed him in self-defense. Afterward, Rust and Marty are considered heroes, receiving commendations and promotions for their actions.
===2002===
Around 2002, Rust learns from a suspect that Reggie and his relative Dewall didn't act alone in their murders, causing Cohle to become obsessed with reopening the case. Despite the suspect committing suicide, Rust begins to investigate on his own, going to Reverend Billy Lee Tuttle, who had been close to rumors of child molestation. Tuttle then speaks to Cohle's superiors on Rust pestering him, which causes Rust to be suspended. When Marty's wife, Maggie seduces Rust to get revenge on her husband's infidelity, this causes their friendship to be strained. After engaging in a fist fight with Marty outside the police department, Rust quits the police force and becomes a drifter. Rust returned to Alaska and became a fisherman, but returned to Louisiana and worked as a part-time bartender.
===2012===
When murders start happening that are similar to the ones back in 1995, Louisiana detectives Gilbough and Papania call in Rust and Marty to interview them. It's revealed that Gilbough and Papania believe that Rust is the killer, considering that he led Marty during the 1995 case and understood the killer's frame of mind. After the interviews, Rust and Marty reluctantly work together to find the killers, and their investigations lead to them learning that the Tuttle's, Reggie and Dewall were related to the Childress family, whom are connected in committing torture, child abuse, and murders. Ted Childress, who was a sheriff at a time, secretly told Sheriff Steve Geraci to get off the original case, thus allowing the Childress family to continue their crimes.
Rust and Marty travel to the Childress home, and found that Ted's son, Errol, is the serial killer and kill him in the catacombs behind the Childress residence. Solving the case, Rust and Marty have one last conversation, where Cohle tells Hart that he believes that the light is winning.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Matthew McConaughey received critical acclaim for his role, receiving numerous awards and nominations.
Category:Male
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Officials
Category:Tragic
Category:Nihilistic
Category:Lethal
Category:Fighters
Category:Addicts
Category:Obsessed
Category:Tricksters
Category:Loyal
Category:Suicidal
Category:Charismatic
Category:Masterminds
Category:Parents
Category:Retired
Category:Nurturers
Category:Protectors
Category:Successful
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Mentally Ill
Category:Redeemed Villains
Category:Chaotic Good
Category:Misanthropes
Category:Martial Artists
Category:Big Good
Category:Virtually Resourceful
Category:Falsely Accused
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Pessimists
Category:Victims
Category:Scapegoat