Martin Riggs

Riggs joined the U.S. Army at age 19, eventually becoming a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, receiving specialized training in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat.

These skills would later serve him well when he became a police officer. Most of Riggs' time in special forces was in Vietnam, where he served as an assassin under the CIA's "Phoenix Project" directive; while his ability as a trained killer would later plague his conscience, he thought of it as "...the only thing I was ever really good at."

In 1984, Victoria Lynn, Riggs' wife of an 11-years marriage, dies in a car accident, sending him into a deep depression.

Driven to the brink with grief and anger, he regularly puts himself (and anyone else near him) in harm's way, secretly hoping someone will put him out of his misery, something he has been unable to do himself.

This total disregard for his safety gives him an edge over his enemies, turning him into a "Lethal Weapon".

By the end of the first movie, he has resolved these suicidal thoughts.

In the second film, it is revealed that his wife's death was actually a murder attempt on Martin himself, gone wrong.

In Lethal Weapon, Riggs is transferred from the narcotics division to the homicide division after a shooting incident.

He is partnered with fellow detective sergeant Roger Murtaugh in hopes that the older, more conservative veteran will keep him in line.

After a rough start, the two become good friends and practically family, even though Riggs always gets on Murtaugh's nerves.

By the end of this film, the two have worked together to rescue Murtaugh's daughter, who had been kidnapped by drug lords and military mercenaries.

In Lethal Weapon 2, Riggs discovers some shocking details about his wife's death.

It is revealed that the South African crime lord Arjen Rudd that he and Murtaugh are pursuing had in fact ordered his death in 1984, but his enforcer, Pieter Vorstedt, killed Victoria by mistake and, to cover their error, made the murder look like an automobile accident.

After avenging the deaths of his wife and Rika van den Haas (whom Riggs had briefly become involved with romantically before she too was murdered by Rudd and his minions), he is able to finally put his demons to rest and move on with his life.

His badge reads: Detective LAPD (not Detective Sgt) badge number 5893.

He met Sgt. Lorna Cole (played by Rene Russo), an internal affairs officer, in Lethal Weapon 3 during an investigation into the disappearance of weapons from L.A.P.D. impound.

The two found themselves to be equals in temperament and attitude (not to mention that Lorna is shown to be a fan of the Three Stooges, like Riggs), and worked closely together after a stolen impound gun was found to be involved in a shooting incident where Murtaugh was forced to kill a friend of his son's in self-defense.

The two ended up falling in love, and moved in together after the end of the film.

In Lethal Weapon 4, Riggs and Cole are still living together, and Cole is pregnant with their child, but they have dodged the issue of marriage.

Both Riggs and Murtaugh are promoted to Captain by the fourth film in order to keep them out of trouble, but by the end of the movie their status is returned to Sergeant.

At the end of the film, Riggs makes peace with his first wife Vickey and marries Cole, while she is giving birth; at the same time which is done by a Rabbi, Murtaugh's eldest daughter, Rianne, is giving birth as well, and Cole's and Rianne's children are in the hospital's nursery together.

Links
Wikipedia
Lethal Weapon Wiki
Copyright Owner
Warner Bros.
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